Change is coming!

Since finding out we're having a girl, Ryan and I have been talking a lot about change...Things we need to change in our home and in ourselves.

In fact, Ryan (in the car on the way home from our ultrasound) said that his first thought in the doctors office, was "I'm going to have a daughter...I need to become a better man!"

I told him my first thought was, "I'm going to have a daughter...I have a lot to change about myself!"

For me, my desire is to be my daughters primary model of 1 Peter 3 and Titus 2. I want her to see first hand through my example that beauty is not about outward adornment but that a gentle and quiet spirit is what is of great worth. I don't care if she is fashionable or if she gets many compliments on her beauty...I want her focus to be inward--looking at her heart and what her Lord sees when examining her.
So that means I have some areas I need to focus less on--and some areas I need to focus more on--because I want to lead by example. I don't want her growing up seeing me get excited over a shopping trip or new shoes. I don't want her to watch me at the mirror adding things to my face that God has already created "fearfully and wonderfully".
I want her to see the opposite: A momma who is content with how God made her and a momma who is excited about eternal things like,
-the Word
-serving, loving and joyfully submitting to my husband
-taking great delight in loving, training and teaching my children
-adding to my family all that the Lord desires and ridding our home of the things that he detests
But then there are also the physical changes in our home that need to happen. Switching room, rearranging beds, etc.

We'll be making the current upstairs into the boys room.



We'll soon have bunk beds (thanks to my generous sister and brother-in-law, Marjie and Nate!), SJ's crib, and most of the toys upstairs.

And the boys current room will become our new baby girls room


(We'll be painting it and replacing the sports theme, of course!!!)

It's a...

We had our sonogram on Friday and found out Baby Wheeler #4 is a GIRL!!!

We're all so excited! Here's a quick synopsis of the reactions...

Grace: Laugh/Cried at first, then violently grabbed our doctors arm and said, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Then cried and laughed more. I looked over at Ryan and said "See? You CAN make girls!"

Ryan: Cried and kept thanking the Lord! (She'll be born right around his birthday so this is definitely the best gift for him!)

T-Man: Hugged me and said, "Oh momma, I'm so happy it's a girl!"

Boo: "A Gurl baby? Oh yes!"

SJ: Just kept on eating his food :)

My mom: this video says it all--(*notice her leg goes up with her hands...true sign of being a former KC Chiefs Cheerleader)...


My dad: "Are you serious" and lots of tears!

My sisters: Cried and rejoiced with us!

Ryan's parents: (we had to tell them over the phone from Kansas City) were shocked and thrilled!

Ryan's sister: SO excited and said "I'm SO surprised!"

Speaking Their Love Language

Thanks to the MOMYS, I have been paying closer attention to what love language each of my children "speak".

I have to admit, I've never been very big on the 5 love languages. In fact, I don't even really know what my love language is nor do I really care...it's just not something I examine very closely.

But when it comes to my kids, I've found it SO much easier to connect with them when I'm "speaking" their love language.

For example, T-Man's primary love language is quality time. Once I really thought about his most common requests, it was just so apparent to me that quality time is what is MOST important to him in his relationships.

For those of you who have come to our home, you've probably heard T-Man tell Ryan and I "we need some time"...which means, "please leave so I can have [MooMaw] to myself". His most common questions are "Will you sit with me for a little talk?", "Will you come play ______ with me?", "Can I go to the store with you--just you and I?" and lately "Can we have a date night?"

So now that I'm aware of how he gives/receives love, it's much easier to take time out of my day in order to love on him! To be honest, before discovering all this, it was hard for me to be "side-tracked" from my daily To-Do List. But know that I take time to see things through T-Man's eyes, I know it's more to him that just a talk, just a game, just a car-ride...it's LOVE to him!

As for Boo, I'm still trying to figure out what his love language might be. My closest guess right now is giving/receiving gifts. It doesn't take a whole lot to make him a very happy boy...a surprise pizza for dinner, giving him a turn on the coveted guitar, a dum-dum sucker from the farm store, a new sippy cup, or just any new addition to his life and he's happy for days!

So when T-Man and I take our date night soon, I'll be sure to pick Boo up a little present to let him know I was thinking about him too!

We're in the business of making Men!

The city asked to take down a tree in our front yard (because of interference with power lines), so after I struck a deal with them--that we could keep the tree to use for firewood (they usually don't do this)--we gladly accepted the offer!

We rely on wood in the winter because we heat our house with a wood-burning stove, so this was such a blessing!

So after Ryan got home from work, he suited up for tree-cutting! And before I could even find T-Man to tell him Daddy needed help, I saw T-Man already in the front yard, suited up and carrying logs to his wagon.

Ryan cut...

And T-Man hauled...

We've been teaching T-Manabout hard work, perseverance and the responsibility of being a man, husband and dad.

So when he was getting tired of hauling the logs, he came to the front door and said...

T: "Momma, I'm getting a little tired."
G: "Yeah, you sure are working hard. Do you want to take a rest?"

T: "No, my Daddy needs me. But will you get me a drink?"

G: "Sure and you know what else girls do for men when their working hard?...They cook them a big dinner, so that's what I'm doing for you and Daddy!"

T: "OOOoooohhh...Spaghetti?!?!"

G: "Sure! Spaghetti it is!"

He's our Wonderful Wrestler?

For the month of December, the memory verse I've introduced to the boys is Isaiah 9:6,
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

As we have been learning and studying this verse, both a funny and a special story have happened in the past few days.

First the special story:
As I am teaching T-Man and Boo to study the scriptures, I've been pausing after each phrase and explaining it using other scriptures. I read "For to us a child is born" and ask the boys, "Who is this child who was born to us?" They exclaim "JESUS!" Then I say, " '...to us a son is given'. Who gave His only son?" They exclaim again saying "GOD!".

So during family worship Tuesday evening we're going over all this with daddy and talking about the Trinity as seen in this verse. We could tell T-Man's wheels were turning (we LOVE it when we see this happening!) and he asked us "So if Jesus is God's son, who's son is the Holy Spirit?"

It was such a precious time to be able to explain how God is one, but in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. He really, really got it and it just made me think about how often I think of the Trinity without being shaken with awe at how great and awesome our God is and all three of His persons.

Now for the funny:
As we memorize this scripture I'm going to add a "name" for Jesus as we go, so I can explain it in depth to them. So, right now we're focusing on "Wonderful Counselor".

When I asked -Man this morning to quote the verse to me, he got to "And his name shall be called..." paused for a long time thinking quietly and finally said, "Wonderful....Wonderful....Wonderful Wrestler?"
It was so funny that I laughed and he looked at me very seriously and said, "Momma this is not something to laugh about".

~Oh how I LOVE my "job"!!!