So much sadness....

I had a great day and then I heard that a young woman that I went to school with had passed away.

My heart aches for the life that is no longer here and for the family she leaves behind. I turn my eyes toward Jesus, knowing that He has welcomed an angel home. She is now in the presence of our Lord and her pain and anguish is gone.

As we mourn for the beautiful life that has left this Earth, ask God to heal our hearts knowing that she is in good Hands!!

We must treasure the time we had with her, knowing that we will see her again in Paradise!!

"And Jesus replied, I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43 NLT)

God bless,
Kristina

Just one of those days...

I'm just having one of those days where everything seems to be falling into place!! It's truly has been an awesome day.

Last night, Emily slept in her own crib in her own room for the first time ever, so I got amazing sleep. When I ventured downstairs this morning, I stumbled upon the pleasant surprise of all of our laundry being done. My husband is the BEST!!!! The kids had great attitudes all morning. We found a front row parking spot at the grocery store, where the littles behaved wonderfully. I went to make a call to sign Aiden up for an afternoon class, when I was informed that my wonderful husband, who did all of the laundry, also stopped by their office, talked to the Instructor, set it all up, and brought home the brochure!! I was able to complete all of my chores. OH...to top it all off my mother-in-law made lasagna from scratch and sent home an extra batch ready to be placed in our oven. I am one lucky lady :)

I hope your day was just as wonderful and your night is even better!!

God bless,
Kristina

Cleaning up...

Cleaning up...

I've been on this power purge to de-clutter our home. It started out just cleaning up clutter around the house. As the years have gone by, clutter just seems to have accumulated in every corner of our house. As the clutter disappeared into "Goodwill" boxes, I started realizing that this was more than just a "spring cleaning" of our house, it was a life cleansing. God was using this process of de-cluttering our home to open our eyes to the junk in our lives.

We fill our lives with meaningless junk just as we fill our homes with clutter!!

~Constantly checking Facebook for updates
~Talking on the phone for hours while chores/children wait patiently
~Reading book after meaningless book but never touching the Bible
~The list goes on and on....

I'm guilty!! Ouch...it hurts to say that I have done everyone of those things and more. I read blogs more than my Bible at times. I check Facebook too much. I talk on the phone while my children play instead of playing along with them..

So as I continue on with the power purge to get rid of the excess in my home, I take that challenge for my life. I will power purge the excess in my life. I will spend more time reading His Word and enjoying His blessings and less time keeping up with online gossip.

I challenge you as well.

Now, this doesn't mean never check Facebook again (I know I still will), but let's check it less often. Maybe set time limits to when/how often we check it. Let's read the Bible as well as our favorite blogs/books. Afterall, the Bible is God's Blog/Book directly to us. It should be the most important post/book we read all day!!

Keep up the good cleaning, both in your homes and your lives!!

God bless,
Kristina

An answered question -

Babies, what a blessing they are!! God tells us this many times throughout the Bible.

"Children are a gift from the Lord ; they are a reward from him.
Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates."(Psalms 127:3-5)

Why all this baby talk? Well my best friend asked me to write on this topic. She asked me to talk about how we came to the decision of letting God bless us with children in His time. Sounds crazy I know!! I didn't (and still don't at times) always understand our decision. It was one we struggled with many times. After prayer and Bible study, we knew it was the best choice for us if we really wanted to surrender to God. I mean, how selfish of us to ask God to take control in every aspect of our lives but keep our fertility only for us!

The main question I get asked is why would we want to bring more children into a world with such an unstable economy. Our response - GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES!!

When I worked at the hospital, God provided. After I became pregnant with Aiden and left my job, God provided. When Derek and I were both unemployed while raising littles and a baby on the way, God provided. And now, God is still providing. Derek has consistent work, which is such a blessing. I am able to be home with our children, another huge blessing.

"Aren't you afraid that you'll have 20 kids?" My answer - I didn't expect to get pregnant with Emily when Aiden was 5 months old but it worked out. It's hard at times but I wouldn't change it. Emily just turned a year old and I'm not expecting (as of now). God has perfect timing and knows when/if we will have more children.

"What about Formula, it's so expensive?" My answer - breastfeed, it's what God intended!!

"Diapers are overpriced!!" My answer - save the money you spend on lattes each day and buy diapers instead or invest in cloth ones :)

My children have never gone without and with grandparents like theirs, I doubt they ever will (LOL)!!

It really just comes down to serving The Lord and budgeting properly.

I know this post will get the most comments to date, but I'm proud of our decisions and when The Lord provides, we willingly accept His blessings.

God bless,
Kristina

Keeping faith...

I have decided not to post blogs on weekends as this time is mainly focused on family. I am sorry for not blogging yesterday though. It was a busy day.

These last couple of weeks have really been hard on our family. Within weeks, both of our toddlers (I still can't believe my baby is now a toddler!!) have not felt their best. It's been sleepless nights, crocodile tears, and snuggles all around. It's times like these that I tend to get down but God whispers in my ear that He is by my side always. It's in these times that the devil does his best to bring us down. The enemy uses our weaknesses to try to separate us from God's presence. I know I did my fair share of grumbling these last few weeks instead of being thankful for ALL the wonderful things that were going right.

I know that colds and flus are going around like crazy. I pray that it passes your family but if it does make it's ugly appearance, turn to the Almighty for strength. Know that this too will pass. God is the ultimate physician and He can bring you through this.

As this month comes to an ending and plans for next month start forming, I pray that health returns to our home as we have many things planned in our near future.

I pray that God's presence shines brightest in your life!!

God bless,
Kristina

Emily

A year ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl after 54 hours of labor.

Emily is such a blessing to our family. She is funny and sweet. She can melt your heart with her smile. She's a snuggle-bug to the core. She loves her babies and snuggles them and us. We are truly blessed by the Lord.

Today, I have decided that I am taking a few "mommy tips" and putting them to use. I am getting up on my terms. I usually get up when one of the kids wakes up or when Derek's getting ready to leave. Not today, I am getting up and seizing the day. I have a list (lol) and goals. Today, with God's mercy and help, I will make today the best day the kids and I have had....EVER!!

I'm going to have patience in every word that flows from my mouth. I know with focus and prayer, I can thrive and do all my chores, clean, and raise happy children all in the same day!!!

TODAY, I CHOOSE TO MAKE THE MOST OF MY DAY.

Emily can't have anything with dairy or red dye 40 in it, as she is severely allergic to both, so I am making her dairy-free blueberry muffins to snack on later instead of cake.

I hope you all have a blessed day!!

God bless,
Kristina

Needing to make a better "mommy plan"..

Alot of people think that being a stay-at-home mom is easy. It's not. It's hard work. There is no start time, no end to my shift. I do alot each day although my house doesn't always look like it. I have to make a budget and stick to it!! I have children, animals, and a husband to tend to, meals to plan, chores to do. I'm not the best at accomplishing it all without being totally overwhelmed at times. I know I need help....

I like to feel in control, but lately I've felt like my life is utter chaos at times. I start out with a great attitude but by day's end, I get overwhelmed and exhausted at times. I have become tired of living this way. I don't want to just go day to day. I want to succeed.

My theme for 2013 has been "let go and let God". I need to learn to let go of the plans I have for my life and go with whatever it is that God has planned for me.

God says that woman are to be "keepers of the home" so I know this is where I am meant to be, it's just hard at times. My friendships are strong but I don't see my friends as much now that our family is so busy.

I love my children and wouldn't want to be anywhere else but hete at home with them each day. This isn't meant to be a post to complain but a post where moms can help other moms to manage their days more efficiently and effectively.

How do my fellow sahm's deal with everything without getting exhausted?

I know most of you say "find a babysitter and get out more". That sounds nice but I don't feel that is what God wants for our family. I don't want to leave my kids with others, I just want to learn to manage my day with more ease than I do now.

Please leave helpful tips/comments that have worked for you and your family!!

Starting over....

I call this post starting over for more reasons than I can explain....
I'm not only starting this blog over but my life as well.
I want this blog to be a place where I can put my thoughts and goals as well as a place where my friends can talk to me about anything. I want to focus on a few topics such as family, faith, finances, being a wife, and being a stay-at-home mom.

I've lived in WA my whole life. I wasn't raised in a Christian home but longed for God at an early age. I went looking for a sense of belonging. I fell in love with Jesus and asked him to come into my heart shortly after. I attended church all through childhood and into my teens. It wasn't until high school that I strayed away from God. I wanted to fit in with my peers more than I wanted to followJesus. I strayed so far away that by my 17th birthday, I was 7 months pregnant. By 19, I was married and found out that my son had autism. That shook my small world. My then husband and I argued about everything and thought the only rational thing we could do is have another baby?! I gave birth to a daughter as well as getting a divorce by 22. I worked alot and couldn't afford daycare so my daughter moved in with my ex. My son, however, did not know how to handle such an extreme change in his routine. He cried and cried. We went and stayed with my parents, where he seemed to drastically calm down. It was then that I made the decision that my son was better off with my parents than with me. That was and still is the hardest decision of my life. It still is a difficult subject and was the cause of years of depression.

God heard my heart breaking and knew I needed change because He had me cross paths with my childhood crush, who has changed my life incredibly.

Together, Derek and I have decided to follow Christ and look to Him for guidance. We've been blessed with a wonderful marriage, buying a house, starting our own construction company as well as 2 more children, who happen to be 15 months apart. I also gave up my career at the hospital to be a stay-at-home mom.

We see my older son (now 10) often and my older daughter (now 6) comes over every other week.

We are continually growing as people and as Christians. These blogs are the stories of my life. My true life. My life of raising littles....

Kristina