on the road home.

still being cute. real cute.

happy christmas owl wreath.

I am really proud of my front door wreath:







I've had this vine wreath for a long time and really love it's versatility (aka it's like the blank canvas of wreaths).
I wrapped some leftover fir from Christmas tree trimmings in and out of of it, then hot-glue-gunned some floral moss on one side and the sweet little owl. : ) He was actually a Christmas tree ornament at Target, as are the copper colored ornaments I hung off the fir branches.
Sweet, huh?

It makes me smile, just thinking about it. Leave a comment!

the conservation bath.

a hat I made for Isaiah.

more mama love.

mama love.

I pulled this from some notes from IHOP. It's pretty much rocking my world right now:

D. “Everyman, Everyday Worship” According to this definition, every human being can worship God every day, all day long.

“I…have resolved to make the love of God the end of all my actions. I have been well satisfied with this single motive. I am pleased when I can take a straw from the ground simply for the love of God, seeking Him and nothing else – not even seeking His gifts.” – Brother Lawrence, Practicing His Presence.

E. Even if we don’t love what we do, we love who we are doing it for.
20"So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her." Genesis 29:20 (NKJV)
<interjection: what a love story....I want to watch a movie expound on that a little!>

F. Results: Even the mundane (1) becomes joy, presence, discovery of God; (2) intimacy, constant communion; (3) Power is released.

IV. GREATER LOVE

A. How did Jesus define love? Jesus defined the greatest possible expression of love as the laying down of our life for another.
13"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." John 15:13 (NKJV)

B. No one exemplifies this more than mothers. But most feel their offering is worthless, God is passing them by. It is the exact opposite.

my peaceful girl

Waaaay too cute

Happy Tuesday

I'm a Baby, I'm a Baby, I'm a Baby!

please come!

i will be one of the vendors at this event!!!

i know the details are fuzzy--
Wednesday, December 10, 6-10pm
NoDa's Historic Neighborhood Theatre
All Original Artwork + Live Music + Food/Drink
nodarioty.org

let me know if you can make it!

I should clarify

Okay, when I said I want to hibernate I meant this:
in the winter, it's cold, dry, cracking-skin dry coldness. I really don't like that part. And a lot of the first days of winter I spend wishing I could just stay in bed. Honestly, it's the best place to be when it's cold, yeah?
Warm, cuddly, and with a humidifier going on the nightstand you won't dry out. So I think it would be awesome to fatten up on pumpkin pie all fall just to hibernate in bed through the snow storms. : )

Anyway, since we can't do that....

Today Levi and I went out with both the kiddos-- something we haven't done a whole lot. I think Zoey just absolutely hates her care seat. She cries about 90% of the time she's in it. Like when I took her for a walk in the stroller with the car seat and she had just had a nap and nursed, yet she screamed a good 3/4ths of the 25 minute stroll. ? I know she'll grow out of it eventually, and I'm counting on it because I love walks....sigh. Especially in the spring. : )

Anyway, we went out with Isaiah and Zoey to look at some houses in Charlotte since we're moving out of our current home come January 1.
It was pouring down rain most of the time and Zoey cried a heck of a lot, but it was a good time. We got to see inside one house and got a few numbers for some others we're interested in. It would be great to actually experience Charlotte's culture a little bit more, and by moving closer we hope to be able to do that.

I need to go to bed but...had to share an Isaiah/Zoey story. First of all, Isaiah loooooves Zoey and is so great at kissing her, loving her, offering her his food, toys, stickers, etc.
And, of course, he's two, so he's very curious. Earlier today I was doing something on the computer about 5 feet away from Zoey who was lounging in her bouncy seat when I noticed Isaiah doing something with her face. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her grimace and quickly jumped up to get closer.
Low and behold, Isaiah had just stuck a PENNY in her mouth. THANKFULLY it was just on the tip of her tongue and I grabbed it as fast as momma's grab things that are dangerous (very fast-- like a ninja).
I tried to explain to him how that wasn't good, but I couldn't get mad at him, since he didn't know any better, obviously.
It definitely scared me to realize that he could so innocently put her in real danger!! Mercy, please Lord!


I made this hat for "squishy face" last week, thanks to a tip from Lora! : )


Another picture, just because she is so lovable.

winter

I wish i could hibernate.

aldi grocery store

I like to shop at Aldi for this reason and several others: they don't give you bags, you either have to buy theirs or bring your own OR reuse the packaging boxes that their food comes in (available at checkout), you have to use a quarter to get a cart (incentive to bring it back and reclaim your quarter), and it's small-- no wasted space on advertising or cosmetics. Just food.
And so the food is economically priced. It's nice to see HOW they save money. As opposed to Wal-Mart, where prices are slashed, but I wonder at what cost to their employees, providers and quality of products?

thinking about amy

I was thinking about questions that I can't answer.
I was thinking about friends who go through stuff that I can't figure out...
so naturally I was thinking about my sister, Amy, too.
I have so many, many unanswered questions. So many nagging "what ifs?" that can swirl up into a whirlwind in my mind in mere seconds.

And all I know is what IS.

Honestly, what could have been isn't worth dwelling on.

I may be starting to understand that. To understand that what happened HAPPENED. That it is over.

That answers don't bring peace.

All I know is that what is, IS.
Amy is gone. Everything is different now. It just is. I can't change it, I can't pretend it didn't happen. Sometimes I get really angry thinking about how much has changed. But I hope that that will pass eventually.

I hope I really can understand how to accept what is irreversible and find peace there.

Abortion Clinic Wall

I cannot even believe this.
Well, I can. But I'm still shocked:


New wall at abortion clinic. on 12seconds.tv

The low wooden fence was built about a year ago, but within the last few weeks this new privacy fence has gone up.

What you see here are some friends of ours praying with life tape over their mouths. This is a weekly event here in Charlotte where a simple, silent life prayer is prayed ("Jesus, I plead Your blood over my sins and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and send revival to America!") outside of this abortion facility.
Sometimes there is also a woman or two who stand without life tape to try and talk to the couples walking in.
Apparently, their presence is making a difference!
Unfortunately for the abortion providers, the presence of the prayers will still be there whether they can technically see those who pray them or not.


Wow.
That's all I can say for now....

Pictures!

Finally got the pictures from my camera uploaded, so I'm going to be posting a few every day. : )


Isaiah turned 2 on October 17, 2008.



I put him in a very "manly" outfit for his birthday party that weekend.
He got these trains from my parents. Trains are one of his new big loves at this age.... turns out there are all kinds of things created just to fascinate children age 2+.
Like Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder, to name a few. : )



When some of my family came for Isaiah's birthday they got to see Zoyenka for the first time!!


This is getting to be our classic sibling shot.



Oh, sweet family.


Goodnight,
heather

Naps and glory

Today nap time started out very rough. Isaiah claimed he needed to
poop on the potty multiple times, disrupting our naptime routine and
delaying the inevitable "sleepy time" which was his plan, I think.
He also had a melt down when I left the room, loud enough to keep Zoe
from falling asleep for awhile in the next room over.
Finally he went to sleep and about 30 minutes later Zo popped her eyes
open. I had been resting for maybe 25 minutes at this point and felt a
little refreshed but frustrated that it couldn't have lasted longer.
I sort of gave up at that point and took Zoe downstairs.
Ok I am actually going somewhere with this...
A short while later Zoe went back to sleep and was out for 3 hours
while Zay slept almost as long and woke up cheerful for the first time
in quite awhile!
I was able to make bread, eat a salad and talk with Cathy M. for the
first time since Zoe's birth day! Glory!
:)
Anyway, the rest of my day has been cute-- Levi brought home Five Guys
and Isaiah ran around naked. We're about to enjoy another episode of
The Office. glory, glory.
Two of our beloved roomies who have been out of town for the last 2
months are probably coming back this weekend, making us all very happy.
All this to say I have recovered from the stressful naptime poopy kick-
off.
How was your day?

Zoyenka and mommy

I cannot even believe I have a gorgeous baby girl.
She is like a dream... and now she looks right at me a 'coos' with her beautiful, peaceful little voice.
Levi, Zay and I are so completely taken with her.
Levi already says that she's gonna be able to get anything she asks for from him. : ) ha! She does have a very convincing cry. You can tell she's letting you know what she thinks.

My dear friend Lora is in the hospital right now delivering her "mystery" baby (they didn't find out the sex). I'm so excited we'll have kiddos just 2 months apart. AND I'm so excited for her that she's done being prego -- since she's gone exactly 2 weeks past her due date just like I did! I know the relief. : )

It's late, I should go to bed.
Thanks for reading. : ) Goodnight.

Zoe holds herself up

Respect

I want to always be respectful of my children.
I want to treat them respectfully because they are not any less of a
person while they are small.
I want to respect them because I hold in reverence my God who made
them as individuals-- they have their own destiny, their own
personality, their own style.
I want to respect them even when these attributes differ from mine.

I think that something our culture teaches us is that it's ok to be
rude to children. I'm not exactly sure why but it's almost like
because kids are innocent enough to not understand it's okay to mock
their choices or ideas or how they act.
I'm not promoting child-worship where everything children say and do
rules... But I AM convicted that we (speaking as a parent) only have
authority over our children for a little while as ordained by God, not
because we are better people than our children or because kids are
dumb and adults are smart (after all, Jesus told us that we have to
come to Him as a little child).
As a parent, I really want to carry this responsibility humbly and
love my babies well by showing them the respect that is due EVERY
person.

This is the Dividing Line

Here are a few videos about what I would consider to be the dividing line in this election: Life.
For those of you who I know love Jesus and babies, this is relevant stuff that should impact how we vote on Tuesday.

Let's be sure that our vote will put to action the beliefs we hold dear and let us not be ashamed when we are held accountable for the values we upheld or trampled under foot in this election!

This first video addresses the importance of the issue of life:


This video pretty much sums it up:


Lou Engle lays the smack down:


"Just like slavery was everybody's issue,
so abortion is everybody's issue."
-Lou Engle

Hmmmm

My last few picture entries have actually had a bit of text attached
but for some reason it hasn't shown up.
I guess that's a little glitch to work out... I'll just add in the
text in later.
Anyway.
I'm going to put up my first "political" video soon. Check back...

I love....

Lots of butter melting on toast.

Yellow and red leaves.

Putting my cold feet on my warm Levi when I get in bed.

My babies in cute sweaters!

Wearing my button up boots.

It's fall, ladies and gentlemen, and I'd like to know what some of your favorite autumn memories are as well as your current pleasures. : )

P.S. I'm still waiting for my blood to thicken as it feels INCREDIBLY cold in the wind at 40 degrees right now! Not cool!
So that's why I need some reminders of fall's "good side."

Latest Sibling Shot

Isaiah is still loving his "bobby" (baby) "woah-wee" (Zoe)!

Zoe, however, has recently come into contact with the bumps and bruises associated with the role of little sister. :/

I don' think Isaiah has done anything hurtful on purpose-- balls have a way of getting a little out of control when flying through the air, and he's not exactly concious of what all his limbs are doing all the time. : )

Zoyenka does look pretty concerned in this picture, doesn't she?

Anyway, I'll try and get a good 'beauty shot' soon....

I'm going to bed now, and am awefully thankful to be able to at 10pm! I guess we've fallen into a bit of routine-- both of the kids sleeping quite well at night and not (usually) waking before 7:30am.

In a lot of ways I feel like having a second baby is way easier than just the one. /peaceful sigh and smile/ I know I'm blessed.

P.S. I would like to clarify that when I say my kids are sleeping good at night I mean that they don't wake up at 2am and want to play. They still wake up at 2am -- Zoe to eat and Isaiah to climb out of his bed and into ours -- but it is of little consequence in my mind because they go right back to sleep and so can I. : D

Zoyenka vegging out on mama's milk

Blogging Mobile

This is a test for my new phone-email-to-blogger thing. I will update
way more with this-- including pictures!! :)

Sent from my iPhone

Got My Bangs Trimmed

So at the request of several people, here is a picture of my hair, aka "new" haircut.
It's not a dramatic change, but my bangs needed a facelift and I now have some pretty sweet layers.







And here are some new pictures of Zoyenka! : )





She has some pretty intense eyes, and she can really furrow her eyebrows up. Isaiah doesn't understand yet that she isn't mad at him when she looks at him that way and he'll kind of whimper and point at her eyebrows when she does. : )
Aren't her cheeks simply delectable? Don't you just want to eat them?
I think her hair may turn blond or a lighter color because her eyebrows and lashes are light, light brownish blond.

BABY GIRL!

Again, my regularly updated blog goes down the shoot-- but with very good reason this time!!
: )



Zoyenka Aulana Bethune was born Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 5:15am.

Here are some shots of life today-- one week from birth day.


Sweet glowy moments.


Real life juggling.


Still time for just Zay and mom to hang out.

We have been swaddling Zo since she was born and I would just like to take this opportunity to promote a little dvd called "the happiest baby on the block" to you all...
basically, it has saved my sanity. Zo sleeps much better than Isaiah did at this age. Granted, each child is different, but just watch the dvd and see if you're not convinced it will work wonders in your newborn's life.
It doesn't just teach you how to swaddle, it teaches "5 S's" to soothing babies from 0-3 months, often the hardest time to figure out what your newborn needs.
So far I have never been unable to soothe Zoey and calm her down using the S's, if not to sleep, at least to a calm wakefullness.
It has been SUCH a confidence builder in being able to take care of her and rest well at night. : )
Ok I'm done.

wow!

I don't know what happened to my previous blogging spree, but it obviously ended! : (

Here's what I had for a snack today, tomatoes with fresh basil pesto, salt and fresh ground pepper:


It was so beautiful! Hahaha.

Anyway, it is August 31 and our baby is still inside my belly. So I'm assuming he/she just isn't ready yet. OR I'm not ready, but I think I am.
It's weird thinking about going into labor again and kind of knowing what to expect but realizing it could be really different, too.
I'm hoping to be able to relax my entire body better at least during the early contractions. Actually, I'd love to be able to do that the whole way, but if I end up running around squatting and kneeling and finding a new position with every contraction, that's okay too. I'm sure it helps things along, it's just exhausting.

Isaiah is so lovey with other kids, especially babies, that I know he's going to just LOVE having our own baby to hold 24/7.
Here he is with a friend's 4 month old (yes, he is huge for his age).


I've got to run and finish feeding Isaiah dinner. Hope to keep updating here more often! Check back. And check out featherstitch.com

Today has been hard

I know Isaiah has his reasons. Maybe he misses da (actually I know that's true, but I don't know if it's a reason), maybe his mega-molars are trying to break through, or maybe he senses an upcoming change in the family....
Anyway, he must have some good reasons for the daily fits- falling on the floor kicking- and the regression from coming quickly when I call, from sleeping through the night, from taking solid naps....
But regardless, we are still pre-english communication and so I have little way of knowing what's going on in his little heart and a PRETTY good idea of what's going on in mine.
Some frustration, some disappointment, some anger?, some confusion, and mostly a lot of impatience. And yet over all of this goes love....
I was reading the other day about how God did all this amazing, amazing stuff for the Israelites but a few years down the road they forgot. Or at least they didn't remind themselves consciously, I'm betting it was still somewhere in their memory.
It jogged my memory, though, of some of the really incredible things He's done for me, like Isaiah. I remember the day I first felt I was pregnant. I asked God if I would have babies and I felt Him smile at me as if to say, "You don't have to worry about that."
Suddenly I had this warm sensation that I was holding new life inside of me.
Five days later the pregnancy test said PREGNANT and I cried.
Months and months later, what felt like so long to us, Levi touched our baby for the first time as he came slip-sliding out. Isaiah's first literal touch from another human being was his daddy's hands.
All these things I am so incredibly grateful for.
And at the end of a day like today, when my first baby, a complete little piece of humanity formed from the love of me and my man, falls asleep in my arms and I look at his sweet angel face, I remember.
And I feel love.

my babies

This is 36 weeks! (or somewhere near there)


Isaiah had a fork in his hand.... it's unrelated. : P


Look we can do the same scrunchy face!


He does this now whenever he knows we're taking
a picture. *cheese*