Something I'm Considering

For a while now I've been following Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy. On Wednesdays she has a WIWW (What I Wore Wednesday) post. Read here for her latest post. Anyways, if you don't want to read I'll summarize. She started this weekly ritual because, like me, she would stay at home all day in her p.j.'s. She is a stay at home mom with 3 children. She wanted accountability for what she wore and posting what she wore all week was her way of making her get out of her "lazy" attire and feel better about herself. As weeks went by others have joined her and linked up. So, that's what I'm considering. Since staying home with Brady and losing around 60 pounds (includes weight gained with Brady) I have become one slouchy dressed momma. I hate that too. Every morning for work I would try to dress up and be presentable....including jewelry and cute shoes. But now I'm feeling like "who/what do I have to dress up for?" so I usually stay in my pajama's. Poor Wes. I know he comes home and thinks sometimes "Who am I married to? A homeless woman?" I'm sure there are lots of women out there that can relate. In fact, there are! They've all linked up with Lindsey.

While viewing all these courageous women's posts, I have been inspired. I am not bringing home any money. Therefore, I can not go shopping like I used to and WHERE I used to. It's just not going to work. Sooooo, these women have inspired me to thrift shop. Why in Heaven's name did I not try this before?! There are some great "buys" out there. You just have to take the time and look. I am also going to try and use what is in my closet. Like I said, I've lost A LOT of weight....so much that I'm starting to get a little worried it won't stop. No, I'm not complaining....and no, I'm not bragging. It is wonderful but not when all your clothes are falling off of you and you don't have money to go spend on a new wardrobe. So, I'm going to try and use what will fit and then I've also been thrift shopping here and there.

I think God is also teaching me lots of things with this stay at home mom thing. Material things are SO not worth it. I mean, we're not going to take these fancy shoes to heaven. *smile* Being a SAHM has been an adjustment for sure. I'm definitely not regretting. I'm just sayin'. Life is not the same. I want God to work on me and if adjusting and thrift shopping is a start....well, then have at it God.

So instead of looking like this picture below, hopefully you will see next Wednesday some actual clothes. Maybe I won't leave the house, but I can still put on some clothes that are more presentable. I KNOW it will make me feel better. So stay tuned for next Wednesday. Y'all will have to hold me accountable. I have to do this....not just for myself, but for my family. *smile* I'm sure you will be getting some laughs. Hopefully, I won't embarrass myself too bad. Are you in the same boat? Are you going to be brave enough to link up? I'd love to have a partner next week so I'm not feeling so alone.

And no, the thumbs down is not because the Cowboys are playing AWFUL this year (which, they really are, let's face it!) but it's because I'm dressed so awful. My full length mirror is in the room Brady is currently sleeping in so this is the best shot I could get.

Dallas Cowboys Shirt: Foot Locker (or one of those similar stores)

Heart Pajama's: Walmart

White Socks: Walmart

Glasses: Guess (TSO - TX State Optical)

Since June

So if you read the last few posts below you will be caught up on what happened before Brady. Now, life after Brady. OH MY GOODNESS, it is wonderful! Of course things have not been perfect but we have slowly adjusted and I think we are figuring things out. Being a mommy is the most wonderful blessing ever given to me. Brady is now 4 1/2 months old and he is changing every day. I knew time would go by super fast but I never dreamed it would go as fast as it has. Those pictures below of us in the hospital seem like a dream. Was he really that little? Was I really that big?! Hahaha

As you know, Brady is an answer to MANY prayers. But, in July, another prayer was answered. One that I really thought would take a lot longer. I had been on maternity leave for about 6 weeks and had about 2 weeks left. I was still having problems with blood pressure so I really wanted to stay home a bit longer than 6 weeks. The plan was for me to go back to work part time and take Brady to daycare after my maternity leave was up. I think for the first month of Brady's life I would pray and cry and ask God to give me the strength on the day I had to take him to daycare.

Wishes and Prayers REALLY do come true!

I remember praying one day "Lord, if it is your will for me to stay home please open the door. I know it says in your Word that you will always provide. So Lord, if it is meant to be I know you will provide and things will work out." I BELIEVE in God's Word. I believe that if we pray and we believe, things will work out for the good. One Saturday in July I received a letter from my boss. I NEVER get letters from my boss....he always calls. So I knew this was important. He basically said that he knew where my heart was and that he knew I wanted to stay home with Brady but that it might not be financially able. He said he wanted to give me a severance package so that I could stay home with my son. I could NOT believe it. Here it was, BLACK & WHITE......my answer to my prayer. At first, I didn't want to believe it was my answer. I bawled and bawled. My heart was telling me one thing while my head was trying to play catch up and sort things out. Should I really quit? This job has been the absolute best job I could ever have, my boss is extremely wonderful to me(and that's an understatement), could we make it still with the severance package?, what would Wes think? Then I prayed and God let me see.....THIS WAS MY ANSWERED PRAYER!!! I prayed, I believed, and He answered. Praise God!!!

I'm not sure I've ever been happier!

Now I have the BEST job ever...being a stay at home mom. God is good....all the time.

So when you feel like giving up, when you feel like there is no way on this Earth that God would answer your prayer, just think of me. My life is a testimony of what God is capable of doing....and ALL within a year. This time last year I had just found out I was pregnant. This time last year I would have never dreamed I would be staying at home with Brady.

I praise God for what He has done and what He is going to do with the rest of my life.

***Awesome photos provided by Meegan Weaver Photography

Playing Catch-Up (June)

Now, June is the most important month. My due date with Brady was June 26th. On June 8th I had gone to a scheduled check up. While I was there they had to check my blood pressure 3 times because it was high. If it had not gone down I was told I would have to be put on bed rest. I didn't want that happening. I was trying to finalize some stuff at the office the next day. The plan was to get done what I needed to finish and then start working part time up until the baby came. Well, June 9th I went to work and got stuff all done. I worked really hard and was worn out. Earlier that morning I had seen what looked LIKE a lot of gnats flying around me (they really weren't). I later found out that was a sign of high blood pressure. When I got home that evening I checked my blood pressure with 2 different blood pressure machines about 20 times because each time it was exceptionally high. I think the highest it got was 180/110..maybe even higher. So after trying to relax and get it down I decided to call the doctor. The doctor said he had no other choice but to send me to the hospital. WHAT?! Are you serious? My overnight bag was not completed, we had Logan with us (what should we do with him?), would I be staying overnight?, we had just finished eating dinner so the kitchen was a mess. I was not prepared for all of this. So I rush around and get my bag packed. Luckily, I had made a list and was checking it off. To try and make this a little shorter....I stayed overnight, blood pressure was still high, got induced at 7:00 a.m. June 10th, labored till 9:00 p.m., pushed till 10:30, had c-section and Brady Clayton Bohannon was born June 10th at 11:19 p.m. He was 8 pounds 3 ounces and 21 1/4" long. And life as we knew it was forever changed. Thank you Lord for this wonderful, beautiful blessing to our lives.

I wish someone would have told me how awful I looked.

Makeup and a brush would have been nice. I was still pretty tired from all the medicine.

Proud big brother

All ready for the trip home


He's Home!!!

Playing Catch-Up (May)

May

In May I had a baby shower here in town and my 2nd session of maternity pictures but with Devon Jones of Devon J. Imagery.

Baby Shower

Maternity Pictures by Devon J. Imagery

Playing Catch-Up (April)

I'm not sure I even need to do this because I don't know if any of my readers are not close friends and family. Anyways, I'm going to catch my blog up on where I have been the last several months.

April

In April I had all on ONE day....my last birthday in the 20's..yep I hit 29!, my first baby shower back home in Sherman, and had my first maternity photo shoot with great friend Kisha (Kisha Christman Photography). It feels so weird looking back at these pictures. I enjoyed being pregnant so much. I can't believe I was so big.

My cute cake

Opening presents

Me and my Dad being silly - comparing bumps Ha!

Maternity Photos by Kisha Christman Photography

It has been TOOOOO long, ya'll!!

Wow, it has been way too long since I have posted. And I'm not promising it won't be a long time again before I post after this. *knock, knock* Do I still have people who want to read this blog?

One of the times that my head hit the pillow during the night, while getting up numerous times with Brady, God placed a verse on my heart. (We had a rough night last night.)

Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Then things started rolling around like crazy in my head. I knew right away I needed to blog about this.....and if it was really important and from God that I would remember it for me to post today. And what do you know, here I am. *smile* I'm so glad God has given something to me. I've been needing Him A LOT lately. I just have to say that I am SOOOO blessed. Some of you may not have any idea what has been going on in my world these last few months and I'm so sorry. I will try to get you up to date in some other blog posts later, but again, I'm not making any promises.

ANYWAYS......that verse...was He trying to get my attention or what? He for sure knows that I have not been doing so hot on the reading my Bible and working on my relationship with Him. I am being flat honest here. It's my blog and I'm not embarrassed to be honest. But since getting pregnant with Brady my brain has been elsewhere. It's hard to even get all of this out because my brain is going so fast to try to get it all written before Brady wakes up. I feel like such a failure. I was hoping this would not happen....hoping my relationship with God would not grow stale....but it has. The only time during the week that I can really focus on Him and feel Him is on Sunday mornings when I'm helping lead Praise & Worship. I LOVE it! I get so happy. Sometimes lately while singing I get this huge smile on my face and I can't even sing. I would love to be like that all week. But I allow things to get in the way. I get so consumed with mommy things that I barely have time to take a shower or brush my teeth. Can I get an amen?! I KNOW there are other mom's out there reading this that can absolutely relate. You know, before I became a mommy I thought that being a mom and/or staying home with a child would be easy at times. Oh, we'd go to the park, we'd read, I'd be dressed cute, I'd be able to have a clean house because I'd be at home every day, I'd be able to have dinner cooked for Wes when he gets home......boy was I completely wrong! Being a mom is hard work. Thank God I get to stay home. How you working mom's do it, I have no idea!

So while I was in bed having that scripture pop in my head, I began to think. What can I do to "have thy word in my heart" more? What can I possibly do to maybe help get HIM in my head more during the day? I have to do something because I want to be the best example for Brady that I can. I want to show him what it's like to have a relationship with God and to know Him more. So I got an idea....I believe God gave me the idea. I'm going to make up scripture cards and place them around the house. It will get my attention, I hope, and not become a common thing in my house that I will eventually overlook. I want these cards to be reminders to me throughout the day that God is real and I HAVE to give Him more attention, more love, more time. I will place these scripture cards around the house where I visit often....the sink while I'm washing bottles, by Brady's changing table, on my bathroom mirror, on Brady's toys (of course out of the way so he doesn't grab them), in my car, and by the washer and dryer. My first one is below. I put it in my bathroom. I want to see these cards and be reminded that God is with me. I want to speak to Him more often. So when I see these cards throughout the day I hope it will remind me to do some different things at that time, like saying a prayer, singing a worship song, or thanking God for what He has done for me that day.

So, tell me, what do YOU do to get the Word in your heart? What do YOU do to help you stay focused on Him? Please share with me. I'd love to hear your ideas.