But boy, this is definitely a better stage than newborn…I’m realizing more and more, that I’m not a big fan of the newborn stage…all they do is eat, poop, and sleep.  no interaction…not exciting.  All I am to them is the food-source.  Don’t get me wrong…I mean, they’re still very special…but I love the stage where they start to actually interact with you, copy you, make silly noises at you, look into your eyes and smile and giggle when you make funny faces or noises, etc.

Recently:  his newest sound is a motor sound…Before that, it was a kissing pop.  It’s hard to explain.  :)  Here is a few videos of my little cute guy with his new sound he’s found  :)

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Never throw out anybody.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

“Be still and know that I am God”  ??

WELL…That can be applied even in nature!  ESPECIALLY in nature!  EXAMPLE:  I went for a walk on the path behind our apartment this morning…I couldn’t sleep  because my skin was itching from my allergy to cats/etc…and I walked probably about a mile.  But I saw squirrels, this snake, butterflies, a hawk, blackberries I hadn’t noticed before, etc…ONLY when I STOPPED walking, and just looked around and took in what was around me.  It’s amazing how much wildlife actually crawls out of the woodwork when you actually slow down to look and listen!  :)

SAME APPLIES TO OUR WALK WITH GOD!  IF WE SIT (OR STAND) STILL AND LISTEN AND PAY ATTENTION, THERE’S NO TELLING WHAT KIND OF WONDERFUL THINGS WILL COME “OUT OF THE WOODWORK” AND BRING PEACE AND EVEN (gasp) JOY INTO OUR LIVES!!!!

At any rate, that’s what my little adventure was this morning.   It’s quite refreshing to have such a great lesson…while doing something that I love doing!

-SELAH

But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! (John 15:7)

 

This is kind of a trick verse…cuz if you “remain” in Him…and you memorize His word…your DESIRES become more self-LESS, so when He says “ask for anything you want”, if your heart is in the right place spiritually, then what YOU WANT, will be things like:

• to hunger after God’s word

• to be passionate about your relationship with the Almighty God!

• to become more of a humble leader

• to want more of HIM, and less of YOU.

• to not judge others so easily

• to love those who are even harder to love than everyone else.

ANYWAY…YOU GET THE POINT.  THESE ARE DESIRES THAT DON’T COME TO THE “NATURAL MAN”…WE WILL NATURALLY WANT THESE THINGS WHEN WE ARE MORE IN THE BIBLE, AND WHEN WE ASK GOD TO GIVE US THE HUNGER TO WANT MORE OF HIM.  THOSE WILL BE THE THINGS WE WANT.  NOT TEMPORAL, SELFISH, CONCEITED THINGS.

HERE is what you could make:   http://www.letteringdelights.com/onlinetool/

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earlier this day…  I thought I’d post this, since I was entering this contest  :)  It would be nice to be able to win something, especially since our spending budget is basically at $0 right now.

THIS IS THE POST:

To all my fabulous followers, do I have a treat for you! CSN stores recently contacted me, and wants to give one of you a

$50.00 Gift Certificate!!

I have been on their site looking at all the great stuff they have, and believe me, there is a lot! They have over 200 online stores that carry everything from beautiful TV Stands, to furniture, toys, home decor, and so much more! You can check out all their stores HERE.

Baby John is now 6 months old, and is as stubborn as they come, cute as ANYTHING, a big flirt, and fun to play with.  I would not trade him for ANYTHING in this world!  NOTHING.   SURE…having a baby has made it a totally different life, but that’s ok!  I wouldn’t go back if you tried to make me.  It’s wonderful, and I love being a mother.  :)

Psalm 136:1-3

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER. Give thanks to the God of gods.  HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER. Give thanks to the Lord of lords.  HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER. to Him who alone does great wonders. HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.   [HIS LOVE....it endures......it stays....it never changes....forever....not just for today, not for when He just feels like it...FOREVER.  it's hard to truly grasp this sometimes...]

Ephesians 4:22-32

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new int he attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.  Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  In your anger do not sin.  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.  He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.  Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. [ya...Sara needed to read this.  She's been a bit frustrated lately, and is more prone to take it out on others...  :(]

Monday morning, October 11th…9:15 a.m. I woke up to my bed soaked underneath me!  I got out of bed, and soon after, realized that my water had broken!  It just was more obvious than I expected.  I didn’t see it coming.   I yelled for John, but no answer.  OF ALL the mornings for  him to drive somewhere THIS  had to be it!!!  (the only words at this point that were coming to my mind, were cuss words)  He called me back soon, and before I knew it, he was back home!  he must have FLOWN back!  …we rushed to the Maternal Observation.

Candace, our midwife, and a few nurses ran a few tests, and sure enough…the water HAD broken!  So after a while there (we all know how FAST the hospital works sometimes,  lol) John and I went to “Labor & Delivery” (we had gotten to the hospital at 9:45, and arrived at the Labor and Delivery at 11:15ish)

Our original plan was to have an all-natural water-birth with the midwife’s help…it all started exciting..but my body just wasn’t catching up to the water breaking…my dialation still hadn’t changed in a week.  They said after a while, that if I didn’t start having contractions soon, they were going to have to induce me with “Petocin”; an artificial drug used to enhance and jump-start contractions…  (made with a  hormone that the body releases)  So the midwife (Candace) and nurse (Beth) hooked me up to this machine that distributes it evenly.

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, the contractions started…and continued for 17 hours!!!  There was one point where the medicine was TOO strong, and it made the contractions overlap eachother, OFF THE CHARTS!  (the scale 1-12, they were 13-14′s)  I even impressed both the midwife and nurse!  In-between drugged fogginess, I remember hearing them say “I’ve never seen anyone with such a high pain-tolerance!”  and “She handles the pain better than anyone I’ve seen!”  THAT WAS AN ENCOURAGEMENT!  :)

After what seemed like forever, they checked, and I hadn’t made more than 1cm in that amount of time!  :(  So they gave me an epidural to see if that would help bring the baby down and make the change that was needed.  Well, THAT pretty much knocked me out.  (I tried to tell the doctor who put the needle in me, that I have “vaso-vagal” response, and to watch out…he didn’t believe me till they put the needle in my spine…and was surprised when I went into a slight shock reaction to it)  A few more hours of a pain medicine before that…and that knocked me out, too!  Although the main meds wore off in a short time…

OK–>  sooo…6AM came, and they checked again…and I had NO changes, except maybe 1/2-1 cm!!!  (I was up to a 6) We decided to wait until 8 to see if anything we did helped.  (re-positioning, stretching the cervix, epidural, etc.)  Lindsay came in for the new midwife shift, and we all decided that we had run out of time, and decided that because of no time, no change, and baby not moving, we had to do the c-section.

So they got me ready, and took me (coming in and out of conscienceness, all drugged up) to the O.R.  15 minutes later, they let my John come & hold my hand.  :)  (they put morphine, Demerol, stadol, and a local anesthesia to be able to do the incision.)

WE GOT TO HEAR THE FIRST CRY FROM OUR BABY!!!!!  AND EVEN THOUGH I WAS GROGGY AND BARELY THERE, THIS EMOTION I’VE NEVER FELT BEFORE, HIT ME SO HARD, THAT I HAD TEARS OF JOY!!!  ”I’M A MOTHER!”  IT FINALLY HIT ME!!!  THIS IS OUR SON!!!  HE’S OURS!  HE’S MINE!!!  A GIFT OF LIFE, FROM THE LORD! SIMPLY AN AMAZING THING!  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)

Here’s the adventure, and how God can change things at the snap of a finger…We basically ended up doing everything we DIDN’T want to do!  BUT the important thing, was that the baby was healthy, whole, and out.  :-D

“BABY JOHN”    JOHN WILLIAM RONEY IV.

BORN:  OCTOBER 12TH, 2010

WHEN:  9:44AM VIA C-SECTION

WEIGHT:  7LBS. 6 Ozs.

LENGTH:  17″ LONG

I AM ON MY KNEES, LORD.

THIS ROAD IS SO FAR, SO HARD.  SO WORTH IT!

There are so many emotions surging through me right now:

scared, nervous, overwhelmed, sad, excited, confused, worried, tired, depressed, happy…  I feel like a bloated whale, weighted down.  It’s hard to move, hard to sleep, hard to walk any sort of distance, hard to feel comfortable, hard to watch my body we bloated and puffy, always tired, and sick of feeling this way!  I just want it over with.

I’M ON EDGE…ALL I CATCH MYSELF THINKING IS NEGATIVE THOUGHTS…EVERYTHING IS UPSETTING ME…

I’M A WRECK!

(is this from being pregnant?  why does my heart feel so heavy?)

Some of it is probably from all the things that have happened recently between us and our recent business partner (the relationship has ended, and we didn’t receive what we were owed)…some of the feelings are just from sadness, because I’m going to miss the friends we HAVE made down here!  The church we’ve been going to; North West Baptist Church,  has been our biggest blessing since we moved here in late February this year!  the sermons are wonderful, worship is awesome, and the people have been so nice & open to helping us!  (we’ve even gotten a ton of baby stuff from them, too!)