Ways God has Blessed Us

I have been thinking in my mind of all the ways God has answered our prayers and blessed us through this time with our sweet Laney and me being home from work, and here's the list that's been in my mind:

1. Lots of diapers (see previous post for pictures)

2. Breastfeeding ~ formula is so expensive and I am so glad to not have to purchase any this time. It's so nice that God provided so that the main two expenses for a new baby - food & diapers - are free!

3. Meals ~ our Sunday school class is AMAZING! They have blessed us with a meal every other day for almost an entire month. Most meals have lasted us two days. This is not only a blessing b/c I don't have to cook dinner, but also b/c we don't have to pay for any groceries except milk, cereal, sandwich stuff, etc. I am so thankful to be a part of such a genuine, serving, loving group of people.

4. Family & friends ~ my mom, Brian's mom, our close friends... coming through and meeting our needs before we even knew they were needs. We are truly blessed.

5. Disability check ~ sorry to be so blunt, but we are so thankful that my disability insurance covered most of the cost of me being out of work for these 6 weeks.

6. Godly guidance ~ this time at home has give Brian & I more clarity in our future decisions and one of the biggest decisions that I am thrilled about is that I resigned from my job for next year, which means I get to be a semi- stay at home mom next year!!!! I will still go back to work in two weeks to finish up this school year and I will probably still need to find some part-time work after that, but no more "job" to go to every day!

7. Quality time with Avery & Tatum ~ it has been so good for me to be home every day with my "big girls" b/c it's given me a chance to be consistent and to teach them things that it's hard to do when I go to work every day b/c the consistency is not there. Not that all my goals have been accomplished, but I can see some progress in certain attitudes & behaviors that have been needing to be dealt with. We still have a long way to go, though!

8. Quality time with Brian ~ being up late at night waiting to feed Laney has given Brian & I some fun times watching movies together and just hanging out. Recently we've watched "The Bucket List", "Into the Wild", "27 Dresses" and "Fireproof." They were all really good, too! You can probably tell which ones I chose and which ones he chose, but the point is we got to watch them together with our newborn, which is a sweet memory I will cherish.

9. Sleep ~ Last night, for the first time, Laney slept from 10:00 pm - 5:00 am! Hallelujah! I could not be happier! It probably won't happen again tonight, but that's okay, at least I know she can do it now, so hopefully it will become "normal" soon.

10. Undeserved grace ~ I must admit I have not had my quiet time with the Lord or spent regular time with Him at all since Laney came. I mean I pray everyday about whatever is on my mind, but I haven't read my Bible or had a focused prayer time in weeks. I know God understands the life of a mother of 3, but I also know there have been times I have had the time to spend with Him and I have chosen to do other things. The great thing about it is that God gives me grace and rewards me for the littlest effort I do put forth to seek Him. He's not mad at me, He just keeps loving me. He is an amazing God.

Here's some pictures:

Laney - One month old

The three muskateers

Where's Tatum?

Since Brian had to be at baseball practice early on Valentine's morning, he left this on the table for the girls... what a sweet Daddy! He's quite the artist, too!

I walked in her room during naptime today, and Avery was "feeding" her baby!!! Ha!

What a good little momma!