Ella is 1!

It is crazy to think that our munchkins are now 3, 2 & 1! Life with kids that close in age is wonderful and altogether insane. ;-)

Our home is a zoo sometimes! But I pray it is a happy one. ;-)

Ella's 1st birthday was April 1! It was fun dressing her up in the special birthday dress and taking pictures like we did the others. :-) She is such a sweetheart and her happy giggles make us laugh. She adores her big sister and brother and grins when daddy gets home. She loves to sing, explore outside, snuggle, and eat chalk. (blah.) Oh, and she looooves chocolate.

Playtime!

Chloe: "Mum, we are going to sit here and watch the flowers grow."

Zachary: "Yes mum! We is."

:-)

Goals for 2013

This is my overarching desire for 2013...whether worshipping, cleaning, changing diapers, or playing with our littles. :-)

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

- Saint Patrick of Ireland

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Some of the books I want to read in 2013 ( in no particular order):



1) One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Vaskomp
2) The Mission of Motherhood, by Sally Clarkson
3) The Ministry of Motherhood, by Sally Clarkson
4) Desperate, by Sally Mae and Sally Clarkson
5) Fit to Burst, by Rachel Jankovic
6) Transforming Grace, by Jerry Bridges
7) Idols of the heart, by Elyse Fitzpatrick
8)
9)
10)


{I'll be back to finish up later...!}

Grace for Today

My children are sweet vivacious in-my-face-or-hanging-from-my-leg-ALL-day children. I love them desperately but there are days when the temptation to treat them like obstacles looms and tries to entangle me. It's days like today where I really begin to learn what true grace is.

I'm thankful for God's unconditional love. His affection for me, His daughter, is not dependent upon what I do or even what I do not do. Regardless of my actions, His demeanor isn't cool towards me, rather He eagerly awaits my seeking His face and even reaches out to me, reassuring me of His love. He isn't annoyed by me! He doesn't collect up the times I've offended Him or brought Him pain and then lash out at me in anger when I do it once again! Such love is hard for me to understand some times. It's much easier for me to think I have to be next thing to perfect, and then just maybe - if He is having a good day - it will be okay. But that isn't Grace! That isn't my Lord. :-)

There are moments where I am tempted to ignore my babies, to send them off to another room away from me, even for just a minute. Anything for SOME quiet! But God does not hide His face from me. Instead, He treasures me. There are moments when I'm tempted to react in anger rather than responding in love. After all...look what they did! Again! :-P But that isn't grace. That isn't love. That isn't treasuring.

So today, my babies, I treasure you. It doesn't matter that I have a disgusting toilet, a dinner party to prepare for, packages to send off, or laundry to do (well, maybe you can come with me to put the diapers in...those ARE necessary!). It doesn't matter that you are being whiny, smeared lipstick all over the couch and your sister's Bitty Baby that she hasn't even seen yet (aka Christmas present), that you are evading nap time once again, that you disobeyed me, that I'm exhausted, that my hair turned orange, etc. You are mine. I'm going to choose to extend grace (albeit pathetic in comparison to His!) to you. Why? You are mine. I love you.

That doesn't mean I won't correct you. There is a reason Mr. Pow-Pow is kept accessible. :-P But I'm not going to keep you from me. Our relationship is far more important than any wrong done. Our relationship (and the depiction it is of God's relationship with us all) is far more valuable that my to-do list or me-time. But after briefly correcting you, I'm going to hold you and remind you of how much I love you, how God has a special plan for you, how precious you are to Him and to Daddy and to me. And I'm going to tell you to go get that blankie and pillow of yours...you can have your quiet time nearby mum today.

Time for some *PINK* cake!

Well, we enjoyed a fun surprise on Tuesday that caused me to go out and hurriedly make a pink cake before Dwight got home from work. The reason? Well... we found out we are having another little girlie in March, and that is how Daddy was going to find out! :-) (That was the plan anyway, I accidentally blurted it out when Dwight was teasing me... so hopeless at hiding reactions!) I had no preference for either a boy or girl - since I already know how fun and unique each can be! I guess I just didn't want to wait this time until the birth - impatient, impatient!

We are so thankful for God's preservation of this lil' one's life! At the appointment (which was my first for this pregnancy) we discovered that I was 17 weeks along instead of the supposed 12. She was so big and cute - with really long legs and arms! We didn't realize I was so far along because I had severe 1st trimester bleeding during the time we were packing and moving (must have been more stressed out than I realized). I didn't know there was a baby, so I didn't think anything of it (figured it was confirmation that I wasn't expecting!), but looking back now we can only thank Him for protecting her. And extra thankful for the friends and family who came and did the heavy lifting with Dwight! Guess it makes sense now why I was so tired and nauseous during that time... I just chalked it up to being a wimp (which I am). ;-) They did a quick anatomy scan and she looks healthy as can be!

She is such a little wiggleworm (just like big brother and sister). It is fun to feel her moving about! During the ultrasound, she waved her little hand at us. Zachary and Chloe enjoyed that! She is beautiful. :-)

Thank you for our children, Lord! We sure love them! :-)

Family Pics, part 2 (from this Spring)

Leaves, Pumpkins & Life @ the Baileys.

Happy Fall to you! Isn't Fall amazing? I love the sound of crunchy leaved as we step on them, the smell of baking pumpkin in the air (Libby's pumpkin factory is a few blocks away!), and the cool days that leave me wanting to curl up with a blanket and a cup of tea (is it nap time yet?). God has been so good to us amidst this crazy year and we are left very thankful and humbled by His mercy to us.

Dwight has been working at Samaritan Ministries Intl. (a ministry offering affordable heath-care coverage for Christian individuals and families seeking an alternative to typical health insurance while supporting the body of Christ in their needs) which is based out of the Peoria, Illinois area. It is an amazing story of how we found out they were looking for a CPA, weren't interested, had a change of heart, and then the job was made available to him. It has definitely been an example of God's goodness in our lives!

As you know from a previous post, we were kind of in a "where are we going to live?" panic when we were faced with finding housing on a short time frame (10 days!) in an area that basically just didn't offer much. ;-) Little did we know, my uncle had a home listed for sale in the area (but hadn't had any interest), and he called and offered to let us stay there with a very reasonable rent. It was such a relief to be able to move into a wonderful area right away! It was another miracle worked out!

The next couple weeks were insane as the realtors informed us of how we brought "good luck" to the home. Hah. Hah. Hah. :-P Basically, that meant that in the first 14 days of living there, the house was shown or prepared to be shown seemingly 10 times, each on a different day. It was a challenge to have it looking presentable on short notice (and like we didn't just get there!) with two little ones, but God gave grace and bits of energy to get us through. Yet, I cried a lot. Isn't it crazy how we (ahem *I*) can become so self-centered amongst something that is such a good thing??? Then there were offers put on the house and we were told that we would probably be needing to move in the next couple of weeks.

To make a long story short, WE ended up buying the house. We were so happy to be able to be settled into our very own home, with the closing behind us, just 2 months after moving into the area! When we were job hunting and wondering how everything was going to go, there is no way I could have ever imagined such goodness. :-) It is a loverly 2-story home with plenty of room for us to raise a growing family in (decent-sized yard too (once the weeds are cleared!) and in a wonderful & safe area with the library and parks just a short walking distance away. Supposedly built in 1873, it has so much of the fun character that comes with an older home - high ceilings, rope & pulley windows that are really tall, woodwork & wood floors, stained glass window, and even a humongous boiler living in our basement. ;-P It will be so fun fun to make "ours!" An added bonus is knowing that it really needs no work done to it - my uncle pretty much did most everything already (though we do want to do some exterior work, but that is inconsequential compared to the inside)! After helping my family tear our home down to its studs earlier in my years (I know... they have been so many of those) and then renovate it... that is music to my ears. :-P

So life is continuing on and the kids are growing and growing! Chloe turned 2 last month (can you believe I have a two year old???!), and Zachary (9 months) is a cruiser on the move. Dwight and I were able to spend yesterday going to a wedding of a friend of ours in Indiana (sans little ones - veeeerrrry rare occurrence), it was so much fun to be able to be together and talk! He is my best friend and I love him so very much!

Happy Fall and Thanksgiving season to you all! :-)