| Hello family and friends! With life being so busy these days, I have decided to start my own online journal! Don't worry... this will not become my only source for keeping in touch! However, my hope is that this will allow me to keep in touch better, especially with my family and friends back home! Lately, by the time I do get around to calling anyone these days, I feel like it takes an hour just to give an update about my life (which really makes me wonder....do things in my life change that much or am I really that bad about keeping in touch??). Then it takes another hour to get an update on your life (which I always love to hear about, but I am thinking you should get an online journal too)! Although I love catching up on the phone (I know that is so much more personal), I have to be careful because I love it so much that I can often find myself spending the entire day on the phone! Again, I promise to still call and email, but if you feel like you haven't heard from me in a while, I hope this really will keep us in touch. I only have one request... if you visit, please don't forget to write a message in my guestbook! As for my friends that I am blessed to live near and spend time with, I am sorry that I even struggle to keep in touch with you at times! I hope you will also enjoy being updated through my online journal. It will take me a little while to personalize my web page and add pictures, but be sure to visit every so often to check for updates. Anyway, about my life...gee, what is new? Well, I guess it depends how long it has been since we have talked. The newest news would be that Chris and I are going to start trying to have a baby in March. So you are probably asking "Why March?" Well first let me tell you, I miscarried last year in July. I was only 6 weeks and for some odd reason I would have assumed that would make the loss easier than being 6 months or even further along, but I now know the reality is my heart became attached to the new sweet life within me from the moment I found out I was pregnant! I will always wonder if I was carrying a boy or a girl, or what our child would have been like or looked liked. I still don't understand why I am not sitting here today still pregnant about to give birth in a week (March 5th was my due date), but I am so blessed to know that God knows why and that is all that matters because He is the one who "gives and takes away" just like the song "Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman and Beth Redman says. I love the part..."though there is pain in the offering, my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name!" That is how I feel and that is what my heart will choose to say! No matter how much pain there is, I have placed my trust and faith in Christ and I am so thankful for the two beautiful boys he has already given me here on earth and for the child I never got to meet. So why March? Actually, besides the fact my doctor recommended we wait a few months, before we knew it we were going on 8 months, so we finally decided... we are ready! March would be bittersweet to get pregnant because although I am sad to not give birth to our child we lost, it would be such a blessing to conceive a child in March. Did I mention Chris and I will also celebrate 6 years of marriage March 31st (every year gets better)? What a sweet anniversary gift that would be! An even sweeter gift would be to have a baby right before Christmas! We would be due in December if I were to get pregnant in March. I know it is all in God's timing but it is still fun to hope! The last reason is a funny one though because everyone keeps telling us "You guys need a girl" and Chris really wants a girl. We always laugh at all of the silly myths we hear about when it comes to "how to have a girl." We thought in Feb. we would start trying and then we looked at a silly Chinese Lunar calender (a calender that is suppose to predict whether you will have a boy or girl based on your age of conception), and the calender predicts if I were to get pregnant in February, I would have a boy. However, March, April, or May all predict a girl (I hope it will be sooner than May)! Chris is so funny because he said " Oh, honey God decides what He wants us to have," but then he said "has that really proved to be true for your friends?" I laughed and told him "funny enough it has for several friends" and he said "okay let's just wait until March!" Do you think he wants a girl or what? Again, we know it is only up to God but I am glad we can have fun! Lord, we praise you for just giving us children at all! We will rejoice to add to our family another child! We will see what happens! That is our latest news! I am also back in school! I am only taking one class to get my feet wet again (it's been a while!), and let me tell you...my feet are soaked! I don't know how I was ever a single mom, working full-time, and in school full-time before! It is a lot tougher this time (I do have three kids now though if you count Chris!...just kidding). It feels really good to be finishing what I started even if it is tough. I just pray God will give me the strength and ability to endure the busy road ahead of me! I keep telling myself that finishing school won't take forever (the road will end!) and it will be so worth it! As far as the rest of the gang, Chris is loving his job working with youth and playing basketball every chance he can get! As far as our kiddos, they are growing up way too quick. Cameron is girl crazy and such a social bug! Riley thinks girls are gross and is super shy one minute, then super goofy and outgoing the next! He gets in trouble at school a ton for being too silly...I am not sure where he gets that from!....LOL! Riley likes attention but hates being in front of a crowd. He is about to be in a play where he actually has a part other than just singing in the choir (not that there is anything wrong with that, especially if you ask Riley)! Although he is not that thrilled about it, his part is small so he is willing to try it. I have to say I am proud of him for that. People think I like stuff like that, but I have huge stage fright! I would not want a part in the play either! Shhh....don't tell Riley that, I want to be an encouragement to him! Cameron was in a play around Christmas time and he had his own part too; however, his part was one he made up himself! He was waving and talking to people when he should not have been and then running back and forth from the stage to Chris and I. He was a mess! He had to be a ladybug and hated his costume! It was so funny because he looked like a little girl! I think the boys are such a mix of both Chris and I. Chris just claims that all of their good qualities come from him! I'm not sure what that says about me.  I will post pictures soon! Take care and don't forget to sign the guestbook! By the way, I promise not all of my journal entries will be this long! Hugs, Shelly |
