I get to be the one.

Today I was very overwhelmed just thinking that my little “baby”, our last baby will be ONE. Today more than most days I found my-self saying to people, “Seth’s two and Emerson will be one next month…” But I think it finally sunk in.

Next month I will have two toddlers… I will have two walking, two talking and two wanting my attention every second of every day. And just like that, we don’t have babies anymore.

I really wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my kids more than words can explain.

Each day being pregnant with Emmy was a struggle. It was a new battle every morning and a fight to keep her “safe” in my womb. I say “safe” that way because the condition I had while pregnant with both of my kids definitely could have had them in heaven with the Lord any minute while in my tummy. She was born at 36 weeks and spent a week in the NICU…hardest week of our lives. (more on that on her birthday!)

 In hard days it’s definitely not the first thing I go to in being thankful…trust me… those days I want to run and hide and be back in 20 minutes because I missed them terribly. But today for some reason I was overwhelmed (in a good way) of how FAST my kids are growing up.

When I’m exhausted from being up all night with one or both my kids, or when I hear “all done mommy!” at 445 am, when hot coffee spills on me because my kids are trying to sit on my lap, or when I hear “read to me mommy” and then there’s a tantrum that lasts longer than I want, I am eternally thankful for each day that Jesus gives me to be their mother. I am forever thankful that my husband works his butt off so I have the privilege to stay home and not miss anything. (YES, I said privilege) and I’m thankful for when I am having a rough day, I want to pull my hair out, I want to run scream and cry all at the same time my kids see me when they wake up from a nap as if I am the BEST person in the world. I have zero fault in their eyes. To them I am a safe place.

And I can’t help but think of how Jesus uses parenting as a model of how He loves us. He is our safe place, He is our refuge, He finds zero fault in us. To Him we are the best thing that has ever walked this earth. It literally boggles my mind.

We are shaping humans, tiny baby humans to be adults…not when they turn 18 and we kick them out and say, “you’re and adult now” but right at this moment. When they are 2 and 1 years old we are raising them to be godly, honest, and loving adults. What we do now, how we raise them now molds their adult life…Crazy to think that right?

Today I encourage you moms that are having a rough day, week, month, or year take every moment with your children for granted, they are only this little once…

I’d like to thank JJ Heller for making me cry when this song came out son shuffle while cleaning and sparked this post lol.

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(as I got done writing this my 2 hour time slot of “me time” was definitely shortened by and hour and a half. Thanks Emmy)

worry: give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.

“Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you…” 1 Peter 5:7

I’m somewhat of a “worrier”. I worry a lot, even when I have zero reason to. In this chapter in life we are in a difficult one and it is SO easy to just worry about the un-knowns instead of trusting in God. It’s also easy to read scripture and say, “Okay, I get it I should trust You” and you do it for less than 4 hours and go back to worrying again. That’s me.

I hate to admit that, I wish I could say 365 days a year I completely trust God and have zero worry. But I don’t. Sometimes when I think of the stuff I had gotten so stressed out about I laugh because it was so dumb, and others are reasonable things to get stressed out about.

The thing I have to remind my self is that I have absolutely no control of what is going to happen. (I think that stresses me out more than anything) I wish I knew each step of, “If I do this, then this gets checked off and then I can move on to get towards that goal” But God is mysterious that way. He doesn’t do that for a reason. We wouldn’t have to trust Him. I’m still working on that trust thing. It’s a hard thing to do, especially when you feel helpless and can’t control a situation. The word’s “Do what You will.”  Are sometimes difficult to say, but you know what? He has NEVER failed me. Even in my doubts, my insecurities, my inability to keep my word, my lack of trust, sometimes my lack of faith…He has never failed me. So why do I worry? Because I’m an imperfect person, who needs a perfect God to show me each and every day that He has my back.

If you think of us, please be praying for our family.

No one is hurt, sick, upset, or in devastation. We just desperately need prayer.

“Do not fear, for I am with you;Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Love to you all, Alyssa

Christmas, New Year, Oh My.

It’s the New Year! I can’t believe it went by THAT fast.

It was first our son Seth’s 2nd birthday… I officially have a 2 year old. Before we left for Christmas vacation we had a small party for him. I’m still in shock I can have conversations with him. but look how cute he is: 

We had a wonderful Christmas with my husband’s family up in Pennsylvania. I forget each time we go how beautiful that state is. It was very busy being up that way filled with family and friends! But most of all my wonderful sister-in-law got engaged while we were there! And my best friend got engaged days before! Yay for weddings! It was a very, very exciting time for all of us. Now it’s planning time! It was also my husbands Birthday on New Years! I made a surprise dinner with my mother-in-law, got the kiddos down, and we longed for midnight to come so we could finally sleep haha.

With Christmas came colds and flus…that was the bummer. It started with my Father-in-law and a downward spiral after that…yes, that means my kids got it and my husband who “never gets sick” caught it as well. We were supposed to leave PA on December 28^th…we didn’t leave until January 2^nd because everyone was so sick. Everyone had fevers, and coughs, it was horrible. I was the only one who didn’t get sick surprisingly. And I have multiple auto-immune diseases I was for sure thinking I’d be the first one sick! But with a strict protocol of Oregano oil and cold/flu bomb I was not going to get sick. It’s amazing what Essential oils can do really.

The flight home was long…the same amount of time as it took to get there but it really felt like an eternity. Emerson spiked a fever and Seth could NOT get comfortable on the Red-eye flight home. We finally rolled up to our house about 3am. Thinking they’d fall asleep perfectly we were wrong.. we maybe all got about 2 hours of sleep and my loving husband had to work that day. It was definitely a long trip home, but it was SO worth it. We had SO much fun in PA, even though the last days everyone was extremely ill we loved being there. We all wished and hoped for a white Christmas but of course that happened the day after we left. Boo.

Everyone is feeling much better. With cold/flu bomb every hour to sipping on oregano oil we have all beat this terrible cold for good! Now we are back to regular life and just like that Christmas is over.

With the New Year was a chance for me to break out of my shell. My little introverted shell. I decided to do what I never thought I’d do because it puts me on the spot, but I became an affiliate with Spark Natural Essential oils. Whew. I said it. Not only is it a chance for me to share what I’m doing, but it gives me a chance to do what I love. And that’s helping people.

If you are interested in learning about oils, or need to stock up on your supply feel free to use this coupon code:”  alyssa “ and receive 10% off! Just click the link and happy shopping! I’ll post more about how I use essential oils daily on the next blog.

http://idevaffiliate.sparknaturals.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=5117