Charlotte Walking!!

Well, at 11 months Lil Miss started taking a few steps, and now she is full on walking! Of course, she still crawls about 75% of the time but she walks pretty well! I imagine in a few weeks she'll be a pro! Here is a cute little video.





In other news, we still haven't heard back from Thomas' company in Jackson, MS that he interviewed at over a month ago. They told him they would let him know of their decision before Thanksgiving... And well.... Haven't heard a thing yet! I guess this could be a good or a bad thing? So for now we're on pins and needles waiting to hear back!

The Supremacy of Christ

The Children by John Piper

"The Children" by John Piper

Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.

Somewhere safe from all the dangers,
Somewhere safe from crack and AIDS,
Safe from lust and lurking strangers,
Safe from war and bombing raids.
Somewhere safe from malnutrition,
Safe from daddy’s damning voice,
Safe from mommy’s cool ambition,
Safe from deadly goddess, Choice.
Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.
* * * *
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, eating, meeting, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
Why the milk no longer nourished,
Why the water made them sick,
Why the crops no longer flourished,
Why the belly got so thick.
Why they never knew the reason
Friends had vanished out of sight,
Why some suffered for a season,
Others never saw the light.
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, eating, meeting, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
* * * *
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
Glory for the gift of living,
Glory for the end of pain,
Glory for the gift of giving,
Glory for eternal gain.
Glory from the ones forsaken,
Glory from the lost and lone,
Glory when the infants waken,
Orphans on the Father’s throne
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
* * * *
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven’s happy crowds.
Songs with lots of happy clapping,
Songs that set the heart on fire,
Songs that make your foot start tapping,
Songs that make a merry choir.
Songs so loud the mountains tremble,
Songs so pure the canyons ring,
When the children all assemble
Millions, millions, round the King.
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven’s happy crowds.
* * * *
Do you see the children waiting?
I can see them all aglow
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,
Who of us will rise and go?
Will we turn and fly to meet them
Will we venture something new?
I intend to rise and greet them.
Come and go with me, would you?

Listen to an amazing sermon about the sanctity of life by John Piper here:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/3528/Video/

Imported Blog

I decided to import my old blog onto here so it would be easier to find. And so my little records of (well, some of) Charlotte's first year of life can be on here.

Sunday Naps

No, not for me, silly! For da baby. :)

Sundays are pretty hard on us. I love to go to church and I love to go to the Bible study it has afterward, but before I had a child I never realized how important naps were for growing babies! Every other day Charlotte has 2 naps.... One at about 9:30am that lasts anywhere from 1-2 hours and one in the afternoon at about 2:30pm that lasts about 2 hours (or more). On Sundays, however, church starts AT 9:30, so poor thing is always ready and willing to jump in the bed right when we get there, but.... We have to thrust her into the nursery that is fully of all kinds of wonderful colorful TOYS to play with! What joy! :) Soooo we usually have to deal with a fussy baby pretty much all day. After church (we usually leave before Bible study for this reason, if anyone is wondering... I just can't concentrate about God when my baby is screaming because she is waaay overtired) we have to drive around for about 30 mins for her to have a little catnap in the car. Then we go to lunch and then go home so she can get a longer nap in.

Such is life when you have a baby!! It used to be much worse when she was taking 3-4 naps a day, haha... Yeah, talk about being overtired! I swear that child was about to slap me on some of her more tired days!

God, I can't wait until she goes down to 1 nap... Maybe, just MAYBE, we will be able to get out of the house for more than 2 hours at a time! And go to church.... for the WHOLE time.

MaHaHahA I luv to mak muma crazE wit mi nap habitz!

Samsonite

Meet..... Samson. Or as we like to call him - Samsonite, Stinky Sam, or "Dah" in Char language. He is a 2.5 year old mini chihuahua. Well, I dont know if he is actually a mini chihuahua but he sure is tiny! He hovers around 5 lbs on a good day and is just a big ball of cuteness. And sweetness. He loves to be pet more than any other dog I have ever seen! If he sits by you and you decide, oh, I dont know, maybe my hand needs a BREAK from stroking your fur, he will start clawing at you until you start up again. Crazy, I know, I dont know WHO taught him this trick, but I think it's pretty clever for a dog with such a small brain! He loves his mama and I like to say he's my little shadow. Even when I am using the bathroom he sticks his nose under the door to make sure I'm still there!

Christmas is upon us!

 Just a little picture of Charlotte to get you in the holiday spirit! :)

Psalm 130

This chapter has resonated with me for the past few weeks. For those who don't know me very well, I have struggled with depression for years, probably since I was in high school, although I guess then I didn't really know what to call it. This past year has been particularly difficult. To be honest, being a mom is not what I thought it would be. Maybe I'm just selfish still and God is trying to strengthen me through all of this, but most of the time I just feel torn. I miss being able to sleep in with my husband and do nothing all day long. I miss having all the time in the world I want to read my Bible, listen to amazing sermons, and be with friends without worrying about naptime or bedtime. Do not get me wrong, I love my sweet girl so very much and I consider it the highest honor to be called her mommy (that is, when she finally says it, ha). The cute little things she does makes my heart melt and sometimes I stand back and wonder how God could create something so amazing and allow me to actually be a big part of her life. But there have been times, especially when she was first born, that I just wanted to give her up for adoption. I've always wanted someone to just come and take her for one full day just so I can have a break. I wish we had family nearby that would do this, but that just doesn't happen to be our circumstance.

Before you ask, yes, I did (and probably still do) have post-partum depression and while, of course, it has gotten better over time, I still have these bouts where I just feel so hopeless. So out of control with life, like there is no way it could ever get better. And then I read these verses.



¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
 ² O Lord, hear my voice.
       Let your ears be attentive
       to my cry for mercy.
 ³ If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
       O Lord, who could stand?
 ⁴ But with you there is forgiveness;
       therefore you are feared.
 ⁵ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
       and in his word I put my hope.
 ⁶ My soul waits for the Lord
       more than watchmen wait for the morning,
       more than watchmen wait for the morning.
 ⁷ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
       for with the LORD is unfailing love
       and with him is full redemption.
 ⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
       from all their sins.

...and I identify with the writer of this psalm. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. I know that my God has not forsaken me and He knows my struggles and holds my depression in his hand. He knows the desires of my heart which is to be a godly Christian, good mother, a good wife, a good nurse, a good... fill in the blank. My hope is in Jesus Christ to sanctify me more and more each day. There are days I see no progress, but then look back on my life and see how far He has brought me. Praise God for His grace and His all encompassing, unfailing love.

Praise to the LORD, the Almighty

I'll be completely honest when I say there are not many female singers I enjoy listening to, especially when it comes to Christian music/hymns. But Christy Nockels is not one of these singers. She makes singing seem easy (its not! for me anyways) and I just love listening to her powerful rock solid voice. On Facebook today someone posted a status with a part of the lyric of this song. Of course, I had to immediately listen to it 10 times. In case you haven't heard it, it is an old hymn but it sung at a Passion conference one year. The link to listen to it is at the bottom, if you're interested. If not, just read the lyrics. Powerful stuff.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
The King of creation
O my soul, praise Him
For He is thy health and salvation
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near
Praise Him in glad adoration

Praise to the Lord
Who o'er all things so wonderfully reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings
Yea, so gladly sustaineth
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth

Praise to the Lord
Who doth prosper they work and defend thee
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do
If with His love He befriend thee

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him
All that hath life and breath
Come now with praises before Him
Let the 'amen' sound from His people again
Gladly for aye we adore Him

You can listen to this song here.

just because.

Because I can't post a blog entry (or 2!) without having a picture of my sweet munchkin, here she is in all her glory -- and all her mommy's complete nerdiness.

TMMO.

Considering the totally massive amount of student loans that Thomas has acquired over the last *ahem* EIGHT *ahem* years in college, we have been trying to come up with ways in order for us to pay them off A.S.A.P. The ultimate goal is to be debt free (of course, besides having a mortgage, but then we'll get that paid off A.S.A.P. after the student loans are paid off!) within just a few years after he graduates. We'll probably have to live like paupers for a few years, but that is ok! I'm already practicing! I am an avid couponer and CVSer! If you don't know what CVSin' is, you need to jump in the boat because you can really save some serious moolah. And make some too. You can get a good tutorial here.

Anyways, so we've all heard of Dave Ramsey. I had heard of him and knew he was the "money man," but never really understood why. Apparently he was a self-made millionaire by the time we was 30, and then lost it all. Alllll of it. But then he picked himself back up and made himself a millionaire AGAIN. And of course now who knows how much money the man has. He's written a book called, "The Total Money Makeover," and he has a website that helps you with your budget. We just signed up with a free trail so maybe this is something that can really help us? I don't know. I just know that I want to be home with my baby as soon as I can and I just want to get these hovering cloud of debt out of our lives. I know that if we are faithful God will supply all our needs. And we can live off of beans and rice for a few years. Right?

at it again.

This be my... Oh, I don't know... 5th blog? 5th times a charm, right?

Right?

Anyways, I've decided to follow the crowd and start yet another blog. Will anyone read it? I won't get my hopes up, but I think it can help friends and family follow our lives as it begins to get somewhat interesting.

For starters, I guess an introduction is due. I am Hilary, and I will probably be the main contributor to said "blog." I am a young twenty-something and I am married to another young twenty-something. We'll call him Thomas. We have been married (almost!) three years in December. Last year, a day before our 2 year anniversary, our sweet baby girl was born - Charlotte Rose. She is probably who I will talk most about on here. What else do mommies talk about other than their pretty babies? :)

We are first and foremost devout Christians. But we hope that you know that already. Our one true desire is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. We must decrease, and He must increase.

I graduated from Auburn University in May of 2008 with a nursing degree and I have been pretending to be working as a nurse ever since. I like my job, but darn it, the day we pay off Thomas' loans is the day I put in my two week notice. I long to be a SAHM (stay at home mom for all you folks unfamiliar with the innerwebz) but that will have to wait a few years because of said loans. I will go into that in detail later... If the hubs approves... We'll see.

Thomas is STILL a student at Auburn University in Industrial Engineering, woo hoo! I'm married to a soon-to-be-engineer! That's gotta count for something, right? This will be his eighth, yes, EIGHTH year in undergrad. Honey, do I need to say it again? EIGHTH. Long story.

I just got finished working the night shift.

Laterz.