Less than a month ago I was happy with life. I have J and the Kids and we’re back in Texas and God has restored so much to me!  I was thankful, content and excited about my life. Which until recently aren’t things I had felt in regards to my life in quite some time.  Just as I was reveling in the awesomeness that is my life, in one day  all of it seemed to have turned around. It litterally felt like my world was confined in a snowglobe and God just decided to pick it up and shake it around.

 Everything I knew for the past 27 years was shattered into a gazillion pieces and while I didn’t feel that I had been abandoned by God, I didn’t feel he was very nearby either. Thankfully I feel that I have been able to push through my lonliness. I don’t think I would have been able to do that if it weren’t for my amazing, supportive Husband and my awesome friends who have been there to encourage and uplift me.

 I still feel, to an extent, that every once in a while God picks up my world and shakes it around a little bit. Today I think, was one of the worst days. However I also believe that it’s not Him being malicious. We learn from the things that hurt us. Whether or not we learn something that is beneficial to us or detramental to us relies soley on whether or not we turn to God for direction and comfort or turn towards ourselves.

I am determined that I am going to continue pressing into Him and finding my comfot in Him. I am also learning to lean on J more and more. I find myself finding solace in my crafts. They help me clear my mind and focus on things that are going on around me.

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22, 23

But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble. Psalm 59:16

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning,And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:7-10

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning,And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:7-10

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7

<3 Mama

 Here is my most recent creation.

They went over really well at my friend’s baby shower!

 So with the use of my mother’s sewing machine I managed to put together some baby girl Ballet slippers. Granted, they aren’t perfect. However for a first attempt I think they came out pretty darn nicely!!

   It was pleasant to discover that products that are made out of  recycled items are more common! I managed to pick up pencils and notebooks along with a few other items that were at least eco friendly. One of the neatest things I found was a pencil case that is made by a company called Terracycle. Terracycle uses empty food and drink packaging to create an earth friendly alternative to sending these trash items to the landfills. The are fun looking and seem to be very sturdy and durable! My kids thought they were the coolest thing. Also, unless you have already dropped hundreds of dollars on school supplies and are totally broke, like me, then they are extremely affordable. They are conveniently priced at about $2.00 each.

My kids are really excited about going back to school and they share my enthusiasm for being good stewards of what we’re given, such as the Earth we live on.  Although next year, I start buying school supplies much earlier, like now.

Erin

Starring Isabella Jordan

Yeah ok. So its not plural and it is a total rip off of the 1939 classic and yeah ok, Mickey Rooney isn’t in the cast and MAYBE it doesn’t quite have any similarities. However, that was my night.

My baby girl is teething  hard. I started giving her 1 oz of organic chamomile tea watered down to fill a 4 oz bottle right before bed and for the most part I’ve been able to avoid giving her tylenol. She loves her tea, just like her mommy. It has become a nice little before bed ritual: Put brother and sister to bed. Watch TV with daddy. Then it’s time to nurse, take a relaxing bath, put some comfy pajamas on and have a nice warm bottle of tea.  Unfortunatly last night wasn’t the ideal night. On a normal night she won’t wake up until around 6 a.m.  This morning it was somewhere around 2:30 A.M. poor thing. After she nursed and fell back asleep she was pretty restless for the rest of the night. It made me thankful for all those nights she does sleep through, and the mornings when daddy makes it a point to make a fresh pot of coffee for mommy before he leaves for work.  I still look forward to these teeth cutting though. ^_^

Erin

Unfortunatly while I was pregnant with Isabella I did my research on Burt’s Bees only to find that they had been bought out by Clorox.  I went ahead and bought the buttermilk bar soap anyway, I didn’t think they would change the formulas enough to make that big of a difference. Boy was I wrong! Not only did they change the scent,  after I used it on her about 3 times, when she was about 2 weeks old, she started breaking out with baby acne.  Both of my other children had it pretty bad when they were babies, but I guess I never connected  the baby acne with chemicals.  As soon as I was able I went to the store and started looking for organic baby wash.

I wanted something that smelled flowery and girly.I smelled and compared way too many soaps before I came across

Nature’s Baby Organics shampoo and body wash, lavender and chamomile scented. It was exactly what I was looking for. I found it at Babies R Us. They happend to have a travel kit that included 2 ounce bottles of the shampoo and body wash, hair conditioner/detangler, an unscented baby lotion and a calming spray. It was perfect. I wasn’t really wanting to spend $10 on a bottle of shampoo until I knew that it was what I wanted. I purchased it, took it home and started using just the body wash on Isabella every other day. Within 4 days all the baby acne and irritation from the other baby soap was almost entirely cleared up! For me, spending $10 on a bottle of that soap is totally worth it. After the baby acne was all cleared up I tried out the other products that came with the travel kit. I love it all.  It comes in 2 different scents: Lavender Chamomile and Vanilla Tangerine. I highly reccomend this product.

Erin

Erin