Monday, February 28, 2011

Things You Should NEVER Say to a Pregnant Woman

1. I can tell you're having a girl...I can tell in your face. (First off, we don't even know if we're having a girl. Secondly, this is just your polite, which isn't even polite, way of saying my face has gotten fat).

2. Are you sure there's only one in there?

3. How far along are you? (added with a bewildered look on their face)

4. You're really starting to show (which means you're really packing on the pounds now!)

5. You shouldn't eat that (usually when I want to drink the pickle juice or something insane like that)

Now let me confess something....were any of these comments made from my dear family or friends that may be one thing. I would probably slap them in the face because my pregnancy hormones get me all "woman's rights, I'll kick you in the face like" BUT these are people who have no idea what my life is like or who I am as a person. Really. You want to talk to me about a deep subject like how I am carrying my child???? Do you want me to make you feel insecure about something so amazingly important as CARRYING A LIFE!!!!! I mean really. Come on.

Okay, I'm over it now. I just wanted to let those of you out there who say these awful things to people that your words have impact. SO....even though you make think my face has gotten way chubbier (I agree) or that I look like I'm going to deliver twins next month, please keep your opinions to yourself, okay? Thanks.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Valentine's Day Highlights

Jared had this fantastic idea one day last week that he wanted to pass out Valentine's to all of our church members on Sunday during the Sunday School hour. In all honesty, I'm confessing my not so positive attitude at first. On Saturday, we signed 100 valentines and stuffed them with candy. Not exactly what I wanted to do, BUT the Lord quickly got my attitude in check. While I was signing valentines, Jared and Sam (together) were stuffing each valentine with a candy. Now, if you don't know my 19 month old you may think that's so sweet. But you fail to realize the teachable moment in this one afternoon. You see, my son loves to eat. I don't mean he's a good eater. I mean the kid wakes up in the morning saying "snack" and walks around the house all day saying "snack". HE.LOVES.FOOD. Now...for him to give these snacks away without eating them was a big deal. The even bigger deal came the next day. Sam walked around Sunday morning handing out those valentines to everyone he saw. He knew what he was giving away at this point and didn't budge not once. If he saw someone new walk in the door, he dug in his bag to give them a valentine. I couldn't help but be a proud Momma. Not because this was my idea, because it was my giving husband's idea, but because of the fact that at the young age of 19 months, Sam was already learning about sacrifice and giving. How I regretted that my attitude was not as cheerful as Sam's was at first. The sacrifice may be small but to a toddler who loves food giving it away without having a little bitty sample is unfathomable. But what a great lesson the Lord taught us all. Lord, continue to give us teachable moments with Sam and with myself.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

No Sweeter Sounds

1. There's no sweeter sound to a Mama's ears than to hear this...."uh ew". What is that you ask? That's Sam's way of trying to say "love you". What's sweeter and cuter is the high pitch way he tries to say it just like I do.

2. Another sweetness that I'm sure he will begin to use a lot more is "psss". Insert picture of sweet, innocent grin on face of cutie pie Sam. That's his way of saying "please?". Only he looks way cuter than I ever could.

3. Finally, Sam's latest word that brings me such joy. "two?" Sam wants "two?" of everything. If he's getting a cracker, he'll say "two?" so that he can have one for each hand. How's that for obsessive?!? Please Lord don't let me rub off my OCD tendencies on him. :)

Sam is quickly learning how to charm his Mama! Such a sweet boy he is! And there are no sweeter sounds that this Mama loves to hear than his!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

"No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They've got him all backwards." 1 John 3:6 The Message

I've been convicted of this in a lot of different ways....especially the part of "making a practice of sin". You see, I'm what you would call a planner, an organizer, an obsessive person, and certainly a person of principles. Now you might be saying to yourself...aren't those good things? Isn't that what gets the job done at times? At times yes. But at times, my personality and the sin that is so prevalent in my life is NOT. GOOD. How so? Let me explain....because I'm such an obsessive person, I can't let things go. EVER. Scenario #1 If you said you were going to do the dishes, they have to be done RIGHT NOW, and I can't move onto anything else in my brain until they are done. So if you're not going to do it my way, which is right now, move and let me do it (which will really tick me off). Scenario #2 Because I'm a person of principles, I seem to focus on those principles rather than the person at hand. This comes up in my life more times than I can count. Let me further explain...in the first scenario said person didn't do the dishes. Now, rather than to take into consideration that said person could've gone grocery shopping, done laundry, had an awful day at work, fill in the blank, it doesn't matter. The principle was that said person was supposed to do something and they didn't do it.

Do you see how these things can become a problem? My natural reactions to things is to always get mad, to become "principled", to become controlling. But those things happen when I make a practice of putting my needs in front of others. My natural personality comes out and my view of others being first and me being second is clouded. On Sunday, Jared really focused on this principle and I had to laugh because I felt so much conviction from the Lord, and it's pretty hard hearing it through my husband. He talked about rather than fighting with your family, you need to start fighting for them. He used the example of Abram and Lot in Genesis. When they were running out of room and started fighting they just parted ways. Abram knew that it wasn't worth the argument. He chose the person (Lot) over his principles (the fact that he could've made Lot go away since everything he had was bc of his uncle in the first place). So often, I choose principles over people. That's not what Abram did and that's certainly not what Jesus did. Because I've made a "practice of sin", choosing people over principles doesn't come easy for me. So I'm trying, with the Lord's help, to focus more on people and less on my controlling, principled self.

I challenge you to do the same. The next time you feel the urge to get upset or angry, ask yourself, "Is it worth damaging the relationship? Is this issue really more important to me than this person is?" Those two questions have really shaken me and challenged me to the core. Not that I have it all together, but I'm becoming more aware of the sin in my life, and how if I want to be like Jesus, I've got to get rid of it. Otherwise "I've got him all backwards".

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Pregnancy Update

I admit. I've been an awful blogger lately. I realize that some of you read my blog pretty regularly to keep up with the Hollier happenings, but I just didn't want to blog when I felt so awful....BUT I'm feeling much better these days so here's the preggo low down.
1. Went for prenatal visit on January 11. The nurse put me on a religious vitamin routine of B6, ginger root, and Pepcid AC to help with the awful, AWFUL sickness. That was on a Tuesday. She told me if I didn't feel like a new woman by Friday to call the doctor. Well Friday rolled around and I still was sick as a dog...I mean running out of my classroom people! If I were a stay at home mom I would probably make myself tough it out, but getting sick in a public school restroom is just gross. Call me a wimp. I don't care. Anyway, the doctor prescribed me the most angelic, holy, God given medicine called Zofran. And I've been a new woman ever since. Thank you Jesus!
2. Yesterday (February 7) I went for my 10 week visit with the doctor. The nurses tried to find the heart beat just like they tried with Sam and to no avail they couldn't find it. I will admit that a part of me didn't want them to find it just so I could get an ultrasound (for those who don't know this happened with Sam the first 4 visits to the doctor...I got lots of pictures!). I layed down and began explaining all this to the new nurses who had since joined the practice and before you know it they sent me to get an ultrasound! Yay! And that's what we saw! Our little one's heart beat was 173 and it was moving around like crazy! If we have to get an ultrasound next month when we go, the ultrasound tech said she'd be able to tell if it was a boy or a girl by then. So here's to me praying that this little one moves as much as big brother did! We're so excited and can't wait to find out what he/she is and welcome it into the family. I'm also very excited that I'm feeling better. I didn't have this trouble with Sam so this was quite unexpected and frankly unwelcome!
There's nothing like seeing your baby moving on that monitor. It's an undescribable feeling. The only word I can think of is "miraculous". There's nothing I could have done that would be good enough to deserve the honor of carrying and raising children. There is not a harder more humbling experience. God's grace is sufficient. He is so good. We're just praising God for our little one.