Thursday, December 2, 2010

A few more shirts




I left some out!

Christmas shirts





Well, I am covered in minky dot fabric and thread from head to toe! I finally have a few shirts done that I will be selling. These will be available in any size, including adult! Let me know if you would like to order. If you live out of town, they will ship quickly so you have them for the big day. Thanks again for looking.

Friday, November 19, 2010

More turkeys




Here are even more. I got 5 more orders to fill and then I can start on Christmas. I am hoping to have a pay pal account that people can use soon. I will keep you posted. I will be getting a NEW sewing machine sometime next week. I have hand stitched all of the turkeys so far. It honestly is kind of relaxing!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

More turkeys





Here are a few more that I have done. I will be sick of turkey by next Thursday!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Turkey shirts!


I tried my hand at appliqueing tonight! I want to sew so badly but am a big old chicken. I finally deiced that I just had to jump in and learn as I go. These are my first shirts and I am beyond thrilled with how they turned out. I posted a pic on facebook and already had 4 people order them! Now remember I am JUST getting started. SO be nice! HA!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Thankful

I meant to do this yesterday and link to the Thankful Thursday people but kinda missed it! I can still be thankful on Friday! HA! I thought it would be fun to look at the many blessings that surround me.
Like I said in the last few post, it has been a rough year for our family. It would honestly be easier to sit back and be sad or hang on to the negative that has happened. But I decided that it was time to feel joy again. God has never left our side and never will. For that alone, I am very thankful.
I am thankful for God's grace. His love knows no limits and He will never leave us. God loves me for the sinner that I am. He sent His son to die for me. Jesus paid with His life for us all. I cant think of one more thing that I could be more thankful for.
I will share more things I am thankful for in the next few days.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

When it rains it pours

So sorry I haven't been regular with the updates on Sam's dad. He is now in a nursing home and we aren't really sure if he will be able to go back home. We are hoping that this nursing home will be able to continue some intensive therapy and get him as close to the old self he was.

Two weeks ago my uncle was tragically killed by a drunk driver. He and his 14 year old daughter were leaving a high school football game and they were both struck while crossing the street to their car. My uncle pushed my cousin out of the way and took the full hit. My cousin had a broken right ankle and chipped bone on the right leg. Her left leg was badly bruised and she will be in a wheel chair for a few more weeks.

We found out yesterday that the man that hit them was drunk. He will be arrested and charged with vehical manslaughter. His 14 yr old step son was in the truck with him so he is looking at charges for that as well. We had suspected from the night it happened that the man was drunk but we were just waiting on the results to come in.

Our comfort in all of this is that my uncle accepted Jesus a little over a year ago.

Our family has had a very rough year. Sometimes I let myself drift and wonder what in the world have I/we done. I do know that God doesnt give us more than we can handle. I also know that in all of this pain we are going through that there will be a bigger blessing in the end. It would be a bigger tragedy to let myself become so consumed with anger that I miss the blessing.

Friday, October 15, 2010

improvement

Sam's dad is doing better! He was even moved to rehab yesterday. Lots of people have been praying for him and he can feel it. It is a relief to see Sam less worried/stressed about his dad. We know there is still a long road ahead but God has gotten us this far!

Friday, October 8, 2010

A rough two weeks

I hate sickness. No, I hate things that take people from you that you love. It has been a very long two weeks. I hate watching my husband hurt.
Two weeks ago, my father in law went in for a heart cath. He came out of surgery and was fine. An hour later they noticed his speech was slurred and he wasnt acting right. He had a massive stroke. They figure he had it after he was brought out because he was fine for a while. He ended up slowly losing his speech, movement on his left side and honestly his personality. He ended up becoming aggressive and that is not like him. He spent the next 5 days being sedated and restrained. He also developed a very bad pneumonia.
They woke him up a week ago and he is moving a little better. We dont know what he remembers and who he remembers. He still hasnt regained any speech. He will be having to get a feeding tube tomorrow because he has failed two swallow test.
Please pray for him and us. He has a very long hard road ahead of him.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Josie's shower!

I co hosted a cute shower for a dear friend today! Monica will be welcoming her baby girl in October and we just can't wait! Her nursery is really cute with bold colors and birds. I LOVE her bedding! This is a pic of the cake. I saw it on Jill's blog for her baby shower and knew I had to have it! Not sure if that is ok or not (please dont judge! LOL)


I just realized I never took a pic of Monica or any people for that matter! Oh, I am so not the person to had the camera too. Anyway here are some more pics.




Saturday, July 17, 2010

Yes, I am just now doing some pics!




Some pics of Jake from the 4th! Hey, at least it is still July! HA!

Daegon's diaper cake



Did this one for a friend today. Sweet little Daegon will be here soon!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

I just decided that I have to start putting pics on here. ALL of the cute blogs I read share pics. I was supposed to start putting pics up of the diaper cakes and things I make and never did. I then turned it into a family blog and kept the no pic trend up. I am a retard! HA! I will have Sam get me started. I am a blogging newbie still I guess! I promise I will post some pics before Monday (I almost said tonight,but cant get to ahead of myself!)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Pray for Bennett

Please pray for baby Bennett! He was born very early (almost 27 weeks!) I cant imagine what having a micro preemie would be like. I know Adrienne would greatly appreciate all the prayers.
It hits home because Adrienne has the same clotting disorder that I do (and Bennett is our last name)Ha! She has lost several pregnancies and then was blessed with this miracle boy. Please lift all of them up. She and her hubby have three adopted children also.



Monday, June 28, 2010

Thank you

Thank you all for the sweet comments on our last post. We are hanging in there and doing better.We still haven't said anything to Jake because we still aren't sure what is going to happen.
It has been one week since we found out that our baby wasnt going to come home. It still seems strange to walk by her room that is all set up. I know we will pack things up, but not right now.
We are praying for God's will to be done in this whole matter. We are also praying that His plan be shown. He isnt finished working yet! We know that.
Jessica

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Dear Summer Grace

It has been four days since we found out you werent coming home to us. Four very long, hard days. All your stuff was ready for you. I even had your hospital bag packed. I NEVER imagined it would be this hard.
Jake still doesn't know. We are waiting to make sure that this is really going to happen this way. We have many telling us they feel that your birth mom will change her mind again. We don't want to tell Jake you aren't coming and then you do get to come home. I hate to break his heart.
I don't know what to do with your things. Friends have said to wait. I just cant deal with packing them away right now. Your crib is still up and waiting. The bedding Callie made will be in later this week. Many things we have had monogrammed for you will also be coming in.
I know each day will get better. God is taking care of us and you right now. Just know baby girl, there are many people and churches praying for you no matter what happens. That gives me peace. You will always be prayed for no matter who your mother is.
Love always

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The end

I am numb, sad, angry, any emotion you can think of honestly. The birth mother decided that ( with her mothers coercion) to keep the baby. She (the grandmother) had no intention of leaving us alone after Summer Grace became ours. we found out that this had kind of been the plan for a while. I havent slept or eaten in two days. Please pray. We will be telling Jake today and I am just not ready for that.
Jessica

Thursday, June 10, 2010

4 weeks!!

It seems like the doc is wanting to induce the birth mom at 38 weeks! This leaves us with only 4 more weeks until we get to meet our daughter! God knows the plan and how everthing will go. We are excited to be in the home stretch now.
Sam finished painting the room today and we are getting all of the things moved back in. I am making some things as well. I am going to work on a bow holder. I am just going to do and inital one at first. Once we pass the 2 week time period I am going to do a fancier one.
I am amazed when I look in the closet and see baby girl things. I never dreamed this would happen. I love that God takes care of us. All things have happened in His time, not ours. Jake prays for her each night. He has a little calendar that he is marking off the days until her due date. I LOVE it!
Well I am off to work on some more girlie things. Thanks for all of the prayers!
Jessica

Friday, May 28, 2010

Dear Summer Grace

You will be here in just a few weeks! It has been an emotional roller coaster since we found out you were going to join our family. Everyone is so excited about your arrival.
Jake talks about you all the time. You will always be Baby Summer to him! When he meets someone that hasn't heard the news, he blurts it out before anyone else can. We are loving watching him talk about you. He prays for you almost every night. He also prays for your other mom too! I think it is super sweet.
Your Daddy is working on the room as we speak. You will have to share a room for a bit with big brother, but he is really excited about that too. Daddy talks about how you will be his little princess and how you will hunt for bugs with Jake. Daddy is so proud of you already.
I am getting things together too. Your bedding will be here before long. I fell in love with a giraffe print and pink. We will have a baby shower once everything is settled and you are ours. You will have so many friends at church. All little girls! There will be 7 baby girls born this year.
You have an amazing story and you are not even here yet. One day I will sit down and write it out for you. We just want you to know how much you are already loved and adored. You are a blessing and we thank God for this chance to love you.
Mommy, Daddy and Jake

Friday, May 21, 2010

so excited

I am so excited about the diapers we are going to use!I never thought I would be giddy to see the ups man with a big box of diapers! Hubby was a little worried, but laughed anyway.
Gdiapers are amazing. I practiced using them with my friends baby today and was very impressed. She is long and lean and I was worried there would be leaks. Not one single leak! I used the disposable, biodegradable refill. Diapers.com shipped the wrong size cloth so I will still need to practice with those. Just wanted to let you know my new obsession!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

This scares me!

I was reading The Design Girl's blog today and was so sad! Now that we have the possibility of having a little girl it makes me sick. I do know that dance studios have the girls dance to music that I think isnt always appropriate, but come on. This momma would not have let he little girl (the girls are 7) even practice this much less get on stage in front of people.
Hop over to the blog here and see for your self. She even linked to Beyonce's video and she is wearing more clothes than these LITTLE girls.
Why do we insist that our girls grow up so fast. It makes me sick.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Thank God for friends

I honestly have been having a tough few days. I know there are going to be tons of emotions as we get closer to the day of our baby girl getting here. On both sides.

The birth mom is staying with a very dear friend of ours until the baby gets here, and I am getting to see both sides of this process. I get to hear how she talks about going home empty handed. How she feels she is giving away her heart. I know that my friend isn't trying to scare me. She is honestly struggling with being on both sides as well. She said she cant come see the baby right away and then go back home and mourn with the birth mom.

I know that it is Satan trying to steal my joy. I have had FEARS the past few days like never before. Fears of her backing out, fears of her changing her mind before the adoption is final, fears of her being in the same town. Fears. I wont let Satan steal my joy.

I was on Facebook this morning God used a friend. She posted the following verses that I know by heart. Trust in the LORD with all your heart!! Proverbs 3:5-6 For I know the plans I have for YOU, says the LORD!! Jeremiah 29:11 Isn't if funny how we know verses but seem to forget them in times of trouble ect. Crystal didn't even know how much I needed to be reminded that GOD knows the plan for us and this baby girl. She also didn't know how much I needed to be reminded to fully TRUST HIM.

Thank you God for using friends for gentle reminders. Thank you God for loving me even when I (we) forget all that you have told us to do. Thank you God for all that you have done for our family now and in the future. I may not know the plans, but YOU do.
Please keep praying for the birth mom and us.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

This is why I REALLY want to cloth diaper

Have you seen the new P@mpers diapers? They have redone their cruiser and swaddler line. Now, this may bring joy to many moms, but many are having trouble. My family included!
We used the Swaddlers and cruisers with our first kiddo and loved them. They were soft and didn't leak at all for us. We couldn't say that about others. I wanted to do cloth with Jake but was a little (a lot) intimidated. He was also in daycare and I figured they wouldn't be to happy about it.I had been reading up on cloth diapering since we are adopting a newborn in July. I figured anything we could do to save money would help since I am now staying home. I know they will be an investment up front, but think it is worth it.
I was at my cousins last week and he kept putting his hands down the back of his diaper and seemed very uncomfortable. I asked her what in the world he was doing and she said he had a bad rash like she had never seen before. She said that she took him to the doc because it had even started to form little blisters. Her doc told her to stop using the new P@mpers because they were causing many (click here to see some of the stuff)for little one. He said to not use them again unless they went back to the previous type!! Little man has been out of the diapers for a while and they started to see results soon after the switch. Man, it really makes you think about all the chemicals we are letting our babies sit in!
I am going to give cloth diapering my best shot this time around. Here is a great site on how to get started! Yes, I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and it is their decision to do what they want with their babies behind! I am just saying this is mine for our family!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Our names

I love Kelly's blog! She is a funny lady, but most importantly, she is a lady after God's heart. She has a beautiful family too! She is doing something fun today with baby names. I thought I would jump on the wagon and share how we came up with ours.

Jacob Maxwell
Jake is our oldest child. I really had no choice on his first name. Jacob is Sam's middle name and he always wanted to be called Jake. He figured since he never had the chance then his son would. I loved the name so it was no biggie. Maxwell was just something we stumbled upon. My initials are JMB so we thought it would be neat for his initials to match mine. A friend said for us to say the names together a few times and see if they meshed. We really liked the way it sounded.

Summer Grace
Summer Grace is the baby girl that we are adopting in July! We have had many bumps in the road as far as more pregnancies were concerned. Many rough doctors appointment and test outcomes this year. We thought the season had passed for us to have more kids. Once we fully turned everything over to God, He truly showed us His Grace by opening up the door for this baby. We loved the name Summer and it is by God's grace that we will have her. Summer Grace was the perfect name.

God has blessed us with an amazing son and soon to be daughter. Please keep praying for us and the birth mom. I can't even imagine what she is feeling right now. If you would like to help us bring Summer Grace home, please click on the donate button on the side. We are blessed beyond belief with amazing friends that are helping us along the way. Summer Grace has a truly amazing story and she isn't even here yet!
Hugs,
Jessica

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Update

I will be posting an update later today. There has been a lot going on the past 3 weeks. Please keep praying for us as well as the birth mom and her family. Thanks to all that have donated so far. We feel truly blessed! Summer Grace already has such a wonderful story and she isn't even here yet.
Jessica

Thursday, April 8, 2010

fundraiser

We are doing a Celebrating Home( home interior) candle fundraiser if you know anyone that wants candles let me know! I also have the catalog that has the dips and food to pick from. They will be in before mothers day so it would be the perfect gift!! We will get to keep 50% of the profit to go towards the adoption! Help us bring our baby girl home!javascript:void(0)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

God is so good!

We have been so amazed at how faithful and wonderful God is. We have always known that, but to see Him working through this adoption is amazing. We truly have been blessed with wonderful friends and family that are helping us bring our baby girl home. We are in awe. Thanks to all that have helped so far.
We were able to meet with the lawyer this morning and got everything started. The first big hurdle is out of the way and now we just wait. I beg you to pray for everything to stay on course and hopefully by July 29th we will have our baby girl! We are thinking we will name her Summer Grace. It is by God's grace that we were matched with her and God's grace is carrying us through all of this.
Thanks you all for your prayers and support!
Jessica

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

We need your HELP!

God has given us a wonderful opportunity to adopt a baby girl! Read about it here. We met with our lawyer today and got the information we needed to get started. Then we found out that the father is ready to terminate rights. When I called the lawyer back he said that if we brought him the 1722.00 in the morning that the paper work would be started TOMORROW!
I know that to many that is not a large sum of money. It is for us. Especially with me staying home. Gods hand has been in this since the beginning and we know He will provide somehow. Please if you feel lead to help us in getting our baby girl please donate. Any amount will be a blessing. We know that God will be glorified in this whole process. We trust in Him. Please click on the Paypal button below and know that you are helping not only us, but this little girl as well!










Sunday, April 4, 2010

We're Adopting!!!

It has been a trying year,several years, for us as far as expanding our family. I had so many bad doc reports and health worries that we didn't know what to do. Sam and I wanted more children, but he also wanted me to live.
We were contacted months ago about a little boy who was needing a home. We were very open and prayed about it. I specifically prayed that if this was not meant to be our child that God would show us quickly. I was not going to be able to handle a long drawn out adoption emotionally or financially. God answered our prayers quickly and with out doubt. The door to that possible adoption closed just 5 short days later.I have to admit that there was slight disappointment, but relief as well. I knew that God was hearing us too!
I got a phone call this past Thursday from my very dear friend. She had been in contact with a young woman she has known for many years. She is young and 24 weeks pregnant. She told Peri that she wanted to give the baby to someone that could provide the type of life she couldn't. She had been dealing with the decision for a while and she was looking someone, but didnt know where to start. She loves her baby and doesn't want to just hand it over to someone. She knew that Peri would be able to guide her. Peri also knew we were looking for a baby.
Peri and I talked for a while on Thursday and I spoke to Sam. We decided we wanted to meet with her. We found out we would get to meet her just two short days later! Saturday felt like it drug on forever. My stomach was in knots. I was a wreck! I couldn't figure out what to wear, what should I say. Lord help me I had no idea what to do. We were possibly meeting with the mother that could change our lives for ever.
Time for the meeting came and it was awkward at first. After we finished dinner everything went beautifully! I cant thank Peri enough for helping both the birth mom and me relax and just talk. Sam and I had been praying for some things specifically. Things dealing with the openness of the adoption and others. All the questions, and prayers were answered almost exactly like we had been praying for. We ended the meeting 3 hours later!
I know we still have a ways to go until July gets here. Prayerfully, all will keep on track and we will adopt a baby GIRL! No matter what happens this baby is already loved by two mommas. I also know that I have been incredibly blessed with a special friend. Thanks Peri for all you have done. You are a blessing!