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Another Day Another Blessing

It's been an interesting last few weeks by far. Amy is now crawling which is kind of crazy to think that she's old enough to be crawling. She's going to be 8 months on Sunday as I turn 20. Laurie will no longer be able to say she has a teenager in the house haha. Amy pulls herself up on things so it definitely won't be long until she is walking and I'm going to have to chase after her.
I was laying down the other night and a song that I remember hearing over and over as a little kid. As I was listening to it, it made me tear up because it reminded me so much of my grandfather when I was his little girl.  Well I'm still his little girl, but anyways it is just an overall great song.

Butterfly Kisses 

There's two things I know for sure

She was sent here from heaven

And she's daddy's little girl

As I drop to my knees by her bed at night

She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes

And I thank God for all of the joy in my life

Oh but most of all

For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer

Stickin' little white flowers all up in her hair

Walk beside the pony daddy it's my first ride

I know the cake looks funny daddy but I sure tried

Oh with all that I've done wrong

I must have done something right

To deserve a hug every mornin'

And butterfly kisses at night

Sweet 16 today

She's lookin' like her mama a little more every day

One part woman the other part girl

To perfume and make up from ribbons and curls

Trying her wings out in a great big world

But I remember

Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer

Stickin' little white flowers all up in her hair

You know how much I love you daddy

But if you don't mind

I'm only gonna kiss you on the check this time

Oh with all that I've done wrong

I must have done something right

To deserve her love every mornin'

And butterfly kisses at night

All the precious time

Like the wind the years go by

Precious butterfly

Spread your wings and fly

She'll change her name today

She'll make a promise and I'll give her aways

Standing in the bride room just staring at her

She asked me what I'm thinkin'

And I said I'm not sure

I just feel like I'm loosin' my baby girl

And she leaned over

Gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there

Stickin' little white flowers all up in her hair

Walk me down the isle daddy

It's just about time

Does my wedding gown look pretty daddy?

Daddy's don't cry

Oh with all that I've done wrong

I must have done something right

To deserve her love every mornin'

And butterfly kisses

I couldn't ask God for more than this is what love is

I know I've got to let her go but I'll always remember

Every hug in the mornin' and butterfly kisses

As I listened to it last night and looked at the lyrics, I realized daddy could be replaced with mommy and it would make perfect sense.

I can't wait to see my family in two and a half weeks. I get to see family that I haven't seen in forever so I'm rather excited. My baptism is in well obviously that same amount of time and I'm looking forward to it so much. God's has blessed me so much over this time that I can't imagine sometimes as to why me. We have the tendency to ask that question, but we have no right to he doesn't answer to us, we answer to him. On that note I came to the realization not too long ago that what we do reflects not back on us, but back on God. So we truly need to watch what we do because it's not us we're reflecting it is God.

7 month picture :)

Had the opportunity to have So Long Solo do a house concert at our house!

She Loves her grandpa :)

Don't Forget to Tell Your Mom You Love Her!

I can't believe the anniversary of my moms death is going to be here in a little over a month. It seems weird that its going to be 8 years since she died, but I know she's looking down from Heaven smiling at her little girl. I know she'd be proud of the young woman I've become. Mom you've got a beautiful granddaughter named after the most wonderful woman. You will always be my biggest role model, not because I'm a single mother like you, but because you showed me the strength to live life. You showed me what it takes to be a strong woman in a world that does nothing, but bring women down. You showed me a woman of faith and that is the most important gift a mom can give to her kids. I hope that as Amy grows I can show her the same strength and the same faith that you showed me. Thank you mom, I love you and I miss you. But, I wouldn't be the young woman I am today without the help of God. HE changed my life around and even though I forget to thank him sometimes for that, He still knows.Thank you God for showing me that life is so much better with you in it.

Smile Is All I Can Do :)

Smile is all I seem to be able to do lately. Even when I'm having a bad day I can't help but smile. Why, you say? Why not, life hasn't been better in well ever. I having a future to live for, a happiness to look forward to a place of sweet perfection to look forward to. There's nothing not to look forward to in life with Jesus in it. God has done such a 360 with my life that I can't see why I didn't come to him sooner. He's given me day after day to live with my daughter, and now has given me a job that I am looking forward to starting in the morning doing what I love doing helping others. My baptism is exactly 38 days away and 37 days from my testimony and I couldn't be more excited.
Amy started crawling on Sunday and boy did it take a lot for this mommy to keep her tears back. She's still trying to get a hang of it and boy is it funny. It's more of crawl, fall, scoot and repeat. It's pretty amusing to watch. She's up to 19lbs 15oz as of last Thursday so she's probably hit 20lbs by now. She's 29 inches and obviously still growing. It's crazy she's so long that she has to wear 12-18 month clothes because of it. Though it's funny because her weight isn't quite in that size of clothes. She can put away a lot of food and I'm told babies have hollow legs, because you sure can't tell she eats so much. She had a slight relapse in sleeping all night, but has thankfully returned to that sleeping all night.
Well that's all for now. Have a blessed weekend :)

The Blessings Continue

In these past couple of weeks, I just feel as if I haven't stopped moving. Whether it's doing something here at home or out doing something elsewhere, I haven't stopped and given myself time to do a lot of thinking, praying, or meditating. Oh, how dangerous that can become if you let your life go on for too long like that. We all have busy schedules no doubt. Some more than others, but we MUST take time out of our busy schedules to make time for God. If we don't we, risks falling back into the past, back into that sin that we strive so hard to stay away from. 

I just realized yesterday that a year ago this weekend was when I started going to Alto church. It's so weird to think it has been that long already. A lot of people ask me why I moved to Michigan and a year ago I couldn't tell you, but today I can tell you that I moved to Michigan because that's where God led me to go. Even though I wasn't a Christian and didn't stop and listen to God for the most part, I somehow decided to listen to his calling for me to go to Michigan. Boy am I glad I did too. Alto is my home, and every person in church is like family to me. 

Last weekend Amy and I went to Taylor, MO. It took a lot of convincing to get me to go due to my eeriness of how people were going to take that I had a child. I had absolutely nothing to be worried about because God worked everything out. I stayed with an awesome couple, who ironically she was originally from Tremont (which is where I am from) and she joined the church as a single mom too. It was nice just to talk to someone else who had been in the same place that I am. I met some other awesome people, some other sisters who joined as single moms and even a dad who joined as a single dad. I didn't feel an ounce of judgment from anyone and that was definitely just a God thing. I can't thank God enough for the wonderful weekend I had.

As the day of my baptism continues to get closer, I'm becoming more, more excited, and less and less nervous. God is just continuing to strengthen my peace day after day. Only 42 more days :) Not that I'm counting. 

Amy is just continuing to grow and do more things. She had her six month checkup (even though she was 7 months on the 4th) yesterday. She weighs in now at 19lbs 15oz and 29 in long with a head circumference of 42 I believe. She wears 12-18 month clothes for the most part, but still fits into some of her 6-9 month clothes. She got four shots yesterday that included her flu shot and it hasn't been a fun past 18 hours. She never got cranky with her other shots, but this time that wasn't the case. Let's just say last night was a rather long night. 

I'm going to get that ball if it's the last thing I do :)

She loved chasing that ball across the floor

I will just take a minute and pose for a picture :)

She's figured out how to take the wooden piece out of the slider.

Aaron was trying to get Amy to crawl. 

I think she's going to walk before crawling 

Got some bed head going on :)

She likes eggs

Definitely become a poser for pictures

By what we have for dinner tells you if Terry is home or not :P

God's Life to Live Not Mine!

I forever hear that it is my life I will do what I want. However, in reality, it is not our life to live and NO; we cannot do what we want. Our lives are meant to be lived according to God's word. I am so grateful that God found a way to bring me back to the wonder of His grace. I was a sinner saved by the blood of Jesus and the grace of God. It always amazes me how God can love a wee sinner like me, but then I read his word and I know that I don't need to understand, I just need to realize that my life is to be lived to show the wonder of his glory and grace. I just love being able every morning to sit down and have the freedom to read my Bible and study the word and instruction God has given to us. Lord willing I will be able to make that forever covenant with God on the weekend of November 17 and 18th and I can't even express how ecstatic I am about that weekend. 

It has been wonderful studying the book of Colossians with a group of women online. I never realized how much one verse could affect a person one way in his or her life while affecting someone else in a different way. Today we read in Colossians 1:19-20 and it speaks so much about how We have to truly be willing to allow God to live through us and shine through us. You know we have to reach out to the lost and obey all Gods commands to us whether they are great or small. There is no picking and choosing. God gives us that peace in our hearts that just strengthens every time we do what he asks without questioning him. We are only given that peace in our hearts because God was willing to give up his son for us. That was the ultimate gift to us and the ultimate price. What are we doing in return to thank God?  I'm just really enjoying reading this book so far and I'm sure as the study goes on I will continue to enjoy it. 

Amy just continues to be Amy. She scoots around so quickly that she gets to the other side of the room almost quicker than a baby that crawls does. It is amazing how much she can get into already. She has managed to crumple up quite a few pages in Laurie's hymnbook due to being too quick. I had to literally clear everything but her toys off the floor today to keep her from getting into things. Well this post is rather short due to me needing to pack for the weekend trip to Taylor, MO, which I am rather excited about :) Hope everyone has a blessing filled weekend!

So Much To Be Thankful For!

Wow, I cannot believe it is already the last few days of September. Time just seems to be passing me by so quickly. Amy is 6 and half months old already and it just seems so crazy. It seems like yesterday that Laurie and I were driving to the hospital that morning. It just still amazes me how God has taken my life and just turned it around so much. He took me from a life of sin, despair and darkness to a life full of happiness, peace and joy. He has shown me that there is more to life than what I was doing. It has just been so amazing to see how God has been working in my life, the past few weeks. I do not think we always take the time to stop and reflect on how God has worked in our lives. Every day I learn something new. It is not always big and many times, it is small, but God is continuing to teach me every day. Over the last few weeks, I have just seen the joy in trusting God fully with everything in life and trusting that when he closes one door he opens a window. He does not leave us in a rut and he is always faithful making sure we are taken care of. I am doing a bible study with a wonderful group of women on the book of Colossians and it has been amazing so far. It has taught me how much we have to rely on God for life. How important prayer is and how much God truly loves us enough to bring us out of darkness into light and into his kingdom. I feel so blessed that God has just given me so many good people to surround me. There are people that have come into my life that I cannot imagine not being there now. They have all influenced my life one way or another. All these people have just helped me to grow stronger in my Faith in some way or another.

It has been an amazing experience just to watch my little girl grow. She is 6 and a half months already (yeah I know I mentioned that already). She has now started to be able to pick up finger food and get it to her mouth, which is a huge help when she eats lunch because I can get something done while she eats. She has started to get into EVERYTHING now and I feel like I am always saying no that is not for you. She's definitely gotten on this kick of chewing on paper, which is hard sometimes because it's hard to keep an eye on her twenty four seven. She is scooting herself around on her tummy and gets to the other side of the room rather quickly. It is crazy to think that she is probably going to be crawling in the next few weeks. I do not know that her mommy is ready for that stage yet. I am not sure that I am ready for her to be getting into things even more. It was funny today though, I went into the living room to see what she was doing and she was taking the plant our of the pot by the fireplace. Let’s just say she had dirt all over the carpet. I finally decided to tie the fireplace doors together because she keeps opening them and closing them, in the process pinching a finger or two. She is doing a lot more of sitting up when I put her in the sitting position. She actually sits and plays with her toys instead of lays and plays with her toys. It is just a blessing every time she advances into something new; before I know it, she is going to be all grown up on her mommy. However, I do not want to think about that quite yet.

Tomorrow is my last day at Heidi's Farmstand; it is a joyous yet very sad. It is always a joyous moment when you submit yourself fully to the will of the Lord instead of trying to get around it. I am definitely going to miss working with the awesome people I work with and seeing the sunrise every morning. Although I am not sure, I can say I am not going to miss the early mornings. Tomorrow is also the first day of my FAVORITE season...fall. Fall has just so many happy memories, yet sad memories in it. I am definitely going to miss not being able to look out my window at the combine and tractors going through the fields. Being surrounded by trees is an adjustment for me, but I am slowly adjusting to it. It helps that this is the second year in a row that I am going to be missing harvest around home. I am definitely longing right now to help clean out the combine at the end of the season. Yeah, that might make me seem like a slight dork, but I can honestly say I enjoy making sure the grain tank is all cleaned out and make sure all the crooks and crannies are blown clean. My greatest memories of fall will always be riding in the combine with my grandfather. I miss those times. I even rode with him during high school when most kids would rather be doing other things. One of the greatest things of fall is that you get to wear sweatshirts and jeans. I have to say I love my sweatshirts and jeans (although I am starting to become more comfortable in skirts). With the slight chill in the air, a sweatshirt is just a great addition to an outfit. I get to cuddle up on the couch with Amy wrapped in a blanket and just sit snuggling with her for hours.

The thing that seems the craziest about this year is that my mom will have been gone for 8 years in about a month and a half. It does not seem like it has been that long ago, but at the same time it seems like it should be so much longer. I have wonderful memories of my mom and the time we spent together. I always enjoyed cuddling with my mom, especially during storms (which I used to be highly afraid of). Having Amy just has reminded me of the joys I had with my mom when I was a kid and makes me want to make sure Amy has those same great memories that I have of my mom. I was just thinking the other day of how I am going to explain to Amy that he grandma lives in Heaven. Someday when Amy is old, enough I will take her to see her grandmas' tombstone. I just want to make sure that Amy knows her name comes from a truly wonderful woman. A woman who was the definition of strong, I look forward to telling my daughter all about her grandmother; how someday she will see her when she gets to Heaven. I was talking with someone Wednesday about my mom and I was telling him that a few weeks after she died, I saw her standing in the living room clothed in white, just glowing. Therefore, there is no doubt in my mind that she is in Heaven looking down. 

One of the fruits of the spirit is love. I got to see firsthand the true definition of what I see as love, when I headed back to Illinois Labor Day weekend. My grandparents are the epitome of love. My grandmother had back surgery back in July. My grandfather just stepped in doing the cooking, helping her get ready in the morning; he even puts her shoes on for her. True love is someone who is eager to take care of someone without expecting something in return, no word of complaint, just joy and happiness. Talking with my grandma the day I was leaving to come home, I was amazed to hear that they have never yelled at each other. It just floored me to hear that, even in time of irritation and anger they never got to the point of yelling at each other. Shows how love endures all, even in the hard times. If I am not mistaken, they have been married for 56 years this year, maybe 57. I have a horrible memory. Anyways, they have just showed me a lot just through example how one should act. 

This is Love!

Best Friend

and Aunt!

It will be a year that I started going to Alto church Columbus Day weekend. It is somewhat crazy that it has already been that long. I have to say I have met some wonderful people since I have been here in Alto. I have to say one of my greatest influences is my best friend Moonlight. Yeah, I know you are jealous of her name, lol. We became very fast friends. I went to church the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend and definitely hid by my aunt. Moonlight never once if I remember how she said it even saw me and she sees everyone on their first Sunday. Well I skipped the next weekend, and decided to come back the following weekend. From what I understand, she was encouraged to call me up and see if I wanted to hang out with her for a bit. That Saturday night was the start to a great friendship (sounds a little cliché I know). I remember that Saturday night quite distinctly. Playing through her ringtone list, seeing how much it would take to annoy Aaron, giving Aaron a horrible time (yeah believe it or not we did), don't really remember seeing much of Ben at all, but to say the least we had a good time. I remember the Sunday Moonlight asked me if I would be available to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, it was about two weeks before her engagement was announced. Let me tell you that was a long two weeks of waiting. We lived with each other for about two months and it was always said if you see smoke coming from Lansing Moonlight and Kasi got into some type of mischief.  We were not that much of trouble I promise. She just showed me a lot by actions of what a life with Christ can be like and how much happier I could be. I could not say enough about Moonlight and how great of a best friend she is unless you wanted to read a three-page post about it and I am sure you all do not. So we will just say life would not be the same without our craziness and quiet conversations telepathically (which her husband will never understand). God has definitely blessed me with a great best friend and Amy with an amazing Aunt.

1st Day In This Big World!

2nd Day In This Big World!

3rd Day In This Big World!

Almost 1 Month Old

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months!

This is what happens when you leave Amy in the Living Room by herself for too long!

So adorable :)

She stopped and posed for the camera

Little cheese ball during dinner :)

First bath in the sink!