I feel like "Debbie Downer" today. Am I allowed to do that? I would say yes but not just because I am 9 month pregnant. I think we are ALL allowed downer days. I normally do not use nor like to use my blog as a venting place but I felt like today would be a good day to actually put my feelings and emotions out in writing. Again - I don't do that often enough either. I wish I did.
Today is Friday, February 15th. It is the date of birth of a very special man in my life. My Granddaddy. I would love nothing more for Liam to grace us with his presence today. But I've given up on that wish - especially since it is 2p already. Something drastic would have to happen quick. (Then the other side of me is not quite prepared like I would like and so that would not be good either!!) This is a day that I think about my Granddaddy for mainly the entire day. My Granddaddy was always my main man, besides my Daddy, of course. We loved to fish together, go on trips, go to the movies and just about anywhere we felt like going! It was a very hard day when he died almost 11 years ago. I wasn't quite sure how we were to continue on with life without him. It almost seems unfair to go on. And I would give ANYTHING for him to know my boys!!
Tomorrow is Noah's birthday party and I feel like a slacker momma. (Poor Baby!!) His birthday is not until the 24th of this month but I decided it was best to have his party early because of Liam. Now I am wishing I had waited until after Liam. And let me just say -- for the record -- it absolutely stinks to work for an inflatable company and not be able to use an inflatable for your son's birthday all because it is too cold outside! UGH!! I started planning Noah's party in September - yes, 5 months ago. He wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. I tried to discourage since we had already had one but there was no changing his mind. So I looked and pinned on Pintrest and marked as favorites in Etsy and just about had my game plan down. We were able to get free tickets to the Birmingham Monster Jam show in January so we took Noah. Little did I know that it would start a new phase with us. He absolutely loved it!! And in just 5 weeks, our monster truck collection has grown from 2 trucks to 12! He is obsessed - literally!! Needless to say, his party has changed to Monster Jam. (Not to be confused with just Monster Trucks in general -- it must be Monster Jam!! Grave Digger and all!!) So I went back to the drawing board. Pinning and "Favorite-ing" Monster Jam birthday ideas. Then I got sick! Blah!! It just went downhill from there. I feel like his little party has been thrown together, nothing executed as this planner momma had visioned. I told myself that it wouldn't matter because we still had the moonwalk -- that is until the weather people reported an "Arctic blast" of cold air for February 16th. There was even talk of the "S" word but I think it is extreme North Alabama. So, we had to cancel the moonwalk and now it will just be a party in the house I guess. Nothing special. Nothing fancy. I am very thankful for a huge playroom downstairs because I guess that's where the kids will play. As of Tuesday morning I had no clue what I was even going to do for a cake for his party. (Seriously, slacker momma here!!) Aunt Jonica and Ree Ree both offered to help wherever they could. Aunt J has been really sick so I was afraid to ask her - honestly! Ree Ree offered to make cupcakes for us just after I decided to do little chocolate bunt cakes as "big tires". The kids will each get to decorate their own tire. I think it will be a fun activity for the little ones. It will end up being a good party, I have no doubt. Just hate it when my plan doesn't follow through.
So what am I doing now? I am looking at Pintrest and Etsy and planning Noah and Liam's birthdays. I HAVE to make up to Noah next year for his big 5th birthday and it will be Liam's 1st. They must be done correctly! (Yes, I think it is an illness that I have. HAHA!) I've convinced Noah to have an airplane birthday and we will have his party at the Southern Museum of Flight. Noah and I decided that Liam needs a Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday. By the way, there is some super precious Hungry Caterpillar birthday stuff out there. I think I do need to start planning now and start buying now! HAHA!!!
I think I have vented enough for one day. I'm gonna cheer up, finish out this work day and go meet my boys for dinner and birthday party shopping.
~Randi
Friday, February 15, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
The Story of Liam - as it continues to grow
My doctor asked me last week how my pregnancy with Noah went. My response - FLAWLESS. Then she asked, "Was he a good baby?" My response - YES! She said, "Darn, I was hoping you would have issues now and then have a good baby also." Yes, that means, I can not seem to win with this pregnancy with Liam. He has thrown me curve balls the entire time.
As I mentioned in the previous post (which was forever ago!!) Liam was quite a surprise for us. We were trying to get pregnant but were having some issues. Let me rephrase - I was having some issues. My body would not cooperate and do what it needed to do for the pregnancy to be an option. We tried for month - help from the doctor to regulate things. May/June was our last month to try to regulate before a more drastic measure would be taken. It was beginning to get frustrating, I was discouraged and began to wonder if Noah might be an only child. The thought scared and upset me but I knew I would be happy with my little buddy. My disappointment came more for him.
The end of June came and my body still had not done what it needed to do. More frustration came. The nurse gave me one more dose of medicine to trigger things with the instructions to call for an appointment with the doctor. I was already upset because 6 months before I found out I was having thyroid issues (which is common in women) and knew that could be one cause of issue. Then reality hit that I was getting older and things weren't as "easy" as they used to be. Yes, it is hard to admit that! I've always been the baby - and now I'm the old one having issues! UGH!! Back to the story - so I took the final round of medicine and waited patiently. Nothing happened. The day Keith and I were to leave for Kid's Camp (for my first trip ever) I noticed I had a pain that seemed all too familiar. I took a pregnancy test and was SO excited to see a little "+" sign. I asked Keith if that is what I think it is and he agreed to my findings. He told me not to get too excited that we should call the nurse. She told me the same thing Keith said: "Don't get too excited yet. Could be false positive from the medicine." I told her I had no clue how it could be positive since my body did not do what it needed to do - so I thought. I'm still puzzled.
So mum was the word. Couldn't tell anyone. I went to the Dr the next week for blood work. Received a phone call the next day -- I was excited to answer the phone. Not so much. The nurse told me that I was in fact pregnant but my numbers were very low and that was not a good thing. She phoned in a prescription of progesterone that I was to take immediately that evening and again the next morning and come in that afternoon for more blood work. My numbers needed to double by the next afternoon. I was crushed. I called Keith in tears completely unsure what to think. I cried out saying "I want to tell my mom!!" Why is it - a girl always needs her momma - no matter HOW old she is!!! He agreed and we decided to tell just our immediate family and the church staff what was going on. We felt our little bean needed all the prayers we could get. We needed him to stick! I cried on my mom's shoulder that night and she assured me that we would get through it no matter what. God had a plan and HE was in control. Our sisters each seemed to already know that we were pregnant - how they do that, I have NO idea!!
The blood work the next day was encouraging but not as we had hoped. It was higher which was definitely a good thing but had not quite doubled. This meant that I would be on the progesterone twice a day every day for the first 12 weeks and I had to have my blood taken every week. It was a long 12 weeks but definitely worth it. The lab girls at the dr office are wonderful!!
Everything seemed to truck right along. At the 12 week mark, the nurse went to hear the heartbeat and couldn't find it. Talk about another freak out moment. I headed to ultrasound and she found him tucked really high just fluttering right along. And trust me - he has been there the WHOLE time! I swear he is kicked back on my ribs!!! HAHA!
At 20 weeks we headed back to ultrasound for measurements and gender reveal if we wanted. We had the tech write it down and we hosted a gender reveal party for our family and close friends. That's when we found out Robert Liam would be joining our family. Noah was so excited. I admit, I was convinced he was a girl because he had been dealing me fits so much!
The 24 week appointment came and it was time for the dreaded sugar test. Yep - failed it the week of Thanksgiving. Trust me, I enjoyed every bite at Thanksgiving dinner because I knew I had a 3 hour test ahead of me and the results of that test may tell me I couldn't eat anything that we enjoyed at Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I passed my test and could carry on.
Christmas came and I started my every 2 week appointments. I could not believe we were already to this point. We had just moved to Corner in December and everything was hectic to say the least. I sat in my appoint on Jan 3rd and told Dr. Kennedy that I had a feeling I would not make it all the way to March 11th. She said that I was measuring a week ahead and he was already head down. Needless to say - I freaked because we had not even put up the crib yet. (We JUST did this weekend. HAHA!) She told me I better get to work. 2 weeks later I was headed to my appointment and cancelled on the way because Birmingham was having a small snowstorm. It was horrible trying to drive and quite honestly, I didn't want to have a wreck and have to go to the hospital in snow and ice. I rescheduled my appointment for the following Monday afternoon.
The weather was cleared the next day and everything was back to normal. Saturday was mom's bday so we headed to Trussville for a bday party for one of Noah's friends then to lunch with Mom and Rinda. We enjoyed dinner with Gigi and GrandDanny before loading back up to head North to Corner.
Sunday was a typical day for us. Church that morning then we grabbed lunch and did our weekly grocery trip. Nap time came and it was wonderful! As it was time to get ready for church, I started having a pain in my back that felt like it was coming through to a spot between my ribs. I don't think I had ever been in so much pain. Seriously! I tried to make it at church but it didn't happen. I started feeling nauseated and light headed. I sat in the room with Keith and called the on call doctor. He told me it was probably a muscle spasm and how I could relieve the pressure. Nothing worked. I told Keith something wasn't right and I felt we needed to head to Brookwood. We called parents on the way. Let me just say - they ALL beat us to the hospital. LOL! Disadvantage for living 45 minutes from hospital! They had a wheelchair waiting when we pulled up and had me registered with the nurse. Advantage to parents beating us to hospital! We weren't there long before the nurse told me I was having contractions and my bp was raised. It wasn't long after that I started throwing up. I cried because Keith and Mom saw me get sick. The nurse came in and became my best friend with the medicine she put in my iv. It was obvious we were not going anywhere that night. The on call Dr came and evaluated. He still thought muscle spasm but said my OB would probably order a gallbladder ultrasound the next day.
I slept off and on pretty much all night - thanks to the wonderful medicine. Poor Keith did not. Dr. Kennedy came in that morning to check on me. She told me the sad news that I couldn't eat or drink anything ALL day and that I would have to go to radiology for the ultrasound. I was upset to find out that my gallbladder has "too many gallstones to count". That can't be good! The nurses all told me that gallbladder surgery can be done while pregnant. That thought freaked me out! Dr. K sent a surgeon in to check on me. He told me that I am too far along and Liam is too high (as he has been the WHOLE time) for them to do anything now. The good news is that my gallbladder is not infected so there is no rush to get it out at this time. Liam can keep cooking. Bad news is that I am on a very limited very strict diet here on out. No fat/lowest fat diet - ie: lots of grilled/baked chicken or fish. No dairy (which is a big killer for me), no creams, cheese, coffee, carbonated drinks, fried foods, etc. As Dr. Littleton said, if it tastes good, I can't eat it.
This also means that Liam is in no danger, he did not cause the gallbladder issues though pregnancy can contribute to inflammation. I was discharged on Tuesday with instructions to rest and recover, a prescription of pain pills in case I get into trouble and to call Dr. Littleton after I deliver to set up surgery to have it removed 2-6 weeks after Liam is born. How lovely is that - 2 recoveries ahead of me. Double time for Keith to be off from his new job. Nice!!
It's been 2 weeks since all of that happened and as of last Tuesday I was already down 5 lbs. I'm trying to find a bright side to this ordeal. The end is not in sight for us - I guess that is a very good thing. Just means momma is miserable. Liam is still has high as he can be but I have not even started the progression part. My bp was raised last week at the dr office but it came down before I left so nothing to worry with right now. We will go as long as we can and won't start talking about induction until 38/39 weeks unless we start having issues. I am 35 weeks today so I still have a little while to go! My belly has gotten much larger and I am having contractions already but nothing consistent. Life must carry on at this point.
Keith started a new job today and Noah started his new school last week. The baby bed and changing table have been set up. Waiting on the bedding to arrive, washing clothes and getting organized is what is going on now. The ladies at our church gave me a tea yesterday and I was more than thrilled with everything. Liam received lots of amazing things and I was so honored. God has brought us to an amazing place at Highpoint. I still feel like I am dreaming that we are here with them. As Keith keeps reminding me - all of this is just another chapter in our book. I'm just anxious for the chapter on Liam's birthday!
~Randi
As I mentioned in the previous post (which was forever ago!!) Liam was quite a surprise for us. We were trying to get pregnant but were having some issues. Let me rephrase - I was having some issues. My body would not cooperate and do what it needed to do for the pregnancy to be an option. We tried for month - help from the doctor to regulate things. May/June was our last month to try to regulate before a more drastic measure would be taken. It was beginning to get frustrating, I was discouraged and began to wonder if Noah might be an only child. The thought scared and upset me but I knew I would be happy with my little buddy. My disappointment came more for him.
The end of June came and my body still had not done what it needed to do. More frustration came. The nurse gave me one more dose of medicine to trigger things with the instructions to call for an appointment with the doctor. I was already upset because 6 months before I found out I was having thyroid issues (which is common in women) and knew that could be one cause of issue. Then reality hit that I was getting older and things weren't as "easy" as they used to be. Yes, it is hard to admit that! I've always been the baby - and now I'm the old one having issues! UGH!! Back to the story - so I took the final round of medicine and waited patiently. Nothing happened. The day Keith and I were to leave for Kid's Camp (for my first trip ever) I noticed I had a pain that seemed all too familiar. I took a pregnancy test and was SO excited to see a little "+" sign. I asked Keith if that is what I think it is and he agreed to my findings. He told me not to get too excited that we should call the nurse. She told me the same thing Keith said: "Don't get too excited yet. Could be false positive from the medicine." I told her I had no clue how it could be positive since my body did not do what it needed to do - so I thought. I'm still puzzled.
So mum was the word. Couldn't tell anyone. I went to the Dr the next week for blood work. Received a phone call the next day -- I was excited to answer the phone. Not so much. The nurse told me that I was in fact pregnant but my numbers were very low and that was not a good thing. She phoned in a prescription of progesterone that I was to take immediately that evening and again the next morning and come in that afternoon for more blood work. My numbers needed to double by the next afternoon. I was crushed. I called Keith in tears completely unsure what to think. I cried out saying "I want to tell my mom!!" Why is it - a girl always needs her momma - no matter HOW old she is!!! He agreed and we decided to tell just our immediate family and the church staff what was going on. We felt our little bean needed all the prayers we could get. We needed him to stick! I cried on my mom's shoulder that night and she assured me that we would get through it no matter what. God had a plan and HE was in control. Our sisters each seemed to already know that we were pregnant - how they do that, I have NO idea!!
The blood work the next day was encouraging but not as we had hoped. It was higher which was definitely a good thing but had not quite doubled. This meant that I would be on the progesterone twice a day every day for the first 12 weeks and I had to have my blood taken every week. It was a long 12 weeks but definitely worth it. The lab girls at the dr office are wonderful!!
Everything seemed to truck right along. At the 12 week mark, the nurse went to hear the heartbeat and couldn't find it. Talk about another freak out moment. I headed to ultrasound and she found him tucked really high just fluttering right along. And trust me - he has been there the WHOLE time! I swear he is kicked back on my ribs!!! HAHA!
At 20 weeks we headed back to ultrasound for measurements and gender reveal if we wanted. We had the tech write it down and we hosted a gender reveal party for our family and close friends. That's when we found out Robert Liam would be joining our family. Noah was so excited. I admit, I was convinced he was a girl because he had been dealing me fits so much!
The 24 week appointment came and it was time for the dreaded sugar test. Yep - failed it the week of Thanksgiving. Trust me, I enjoyed every bite at Thanksgiving dinner because I knew I had a 3 hour test ahead of me and the results of that test may tell me I couldn't eat anything that we enjoyed at Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I passed my test and could carry on.
Christmas came and I started my every 2 week appointments. I could not believe we were already to this point. We had just moved to Corner in December and everything was hectic to say the least. I sat in my appoint on Jan 3rd and told Dr. Kennedy that I had a feeling I would not make it all the way to March 11th. She said that I was measuring a week ahead and he was already head down. Needless to say - I freaked because we had not even put up the crib yet. (We JUST did this weekend. HAHA!) She told me I better get to work. 2 weeks later I was headed to my appointment and cancelled on the way because Birmingham was having a small snowstorm. It was horrible trying to drive and quite honestly, I didn't want to have a wreck and have to go to the hospital in snow and ice. I rescheduled my appointment for the following Monday afternoon.
The weather was cleared the next day and everything was back to normal. Saturday was mom's bday so we headed to Trussville for a bday party for one of Noah's friends then to lunch with Mom and Rinda. We enjoyed dinner with Gigi and GrandDanny before loading back up to head North to Corner.
Sunday was a typical day for us. Church that morning then we grabbed lunch and did our weekly grocery trip. Nap time came and it was wonderful! As it was time to get ready for church, I started having a pain in my back that felt like it was coming through to a spot between my ribs. I don't think I had ever been in so much pain. Seriously! I tried to make it at church but it didn't happen. I started feeling nauseated and light headed. I sat in the room with Keith and called the on call doctor. He told me it was probably a muscle spasm and how I could relieve the pressure. Nothing worked. I told Keith something wasn't right and I felt we needed to head to Brookwood. We called parents on the way. Let me just say - they ALL beat us to the hospital. LOL! Disadvantage for living 45 minutes from hospital! They had a wheelchair waiting when we pulled up and had me registered with the nurse. Advantage to parents beating us to hospital! We weren't there long before the nurse told me I was having contractions and my bp was raised. It wasn't long after that I started throwing up. I cried because Keith and Mom saw me get sick. The nurse came in and became my best friend with the medicine she put in my iv. It was obvious we were not going anywhere that night. The on call Dr came and evaluated. He still thought muscle spasm but said my OB would probably order a gallbladder ultrasound the next day.
I slept off and on pretty much all night - thanks to the wonderful medicine. Poor Keith did not. Dr. Kennedy came in that morning to check on me. She told me the sad news that I couldn't eat or drink anything ALL day and that I would have to go to radiology for the ultrasound. I was upset to find out that my gallbladder has "too many gallstones to count". That can't be good! The nurses all told me that gallbladder surgery can be done while pregnant. That thought freaked me out! Dr. K sent a surgeon in to check on me. He told me that I am too far along and Liam is too high (as he has been the WHOLE time) for them to do anything now. The good news is that my gallbladder is not infected so there is no rush to get it out at this time. Liam can keep cooking. Bad news is that I am on a very limited very strict diet here on out. No fat/lowest fat diet - ie: lots of grilled/baked chicken or fish. No dairy (which is a big killer for me), no creams, cheese, coffee, carbonated drinks, fried foods, etc. As Dr. Littleton said, if it tastes good, I can't eat it.
This also means that Liam is in no danger, he did not cause the gallbladder issues though pregnancy can contribute to inflammation. I was discharged on Tuesday with instructions to rest and recover, a prescription of pain pills in case I get into trouble and to call Dr. Littleton after I deliver to set up surgery to have it removed 2-6 weeks after Liam is born. How lovely is that - 2 recoveries ahead of me. Double time for Keith to be off from his new job. Nice!!
It's been 2 weeks since all of that happened and as of last Tuesday I was already down 5 lbs. I'm trying to find a bright side to this ordeal. The end is not in sight for us - I guess that is a very good thing. Just means momma is miserable. Liam is still has high as he can be but I have not even started the progression part. My bp was raised last week at the dr office but it came down before I left so nothing to worry with right now. We will go as long as we can and won't start talking about induction until 38/39 weeks unless we start having issues. I am 35 weeks today so I still have a little while to go! My belly has gotten much larger and I am having contractions already but nothing consistent. Life must carry on at this point.
Keith started a new job today and Noah started his new school last week. The baby bed and changing table have been set up. Waiting on the bedding to arrive, washing clothes and getting organized is what is going on now. The ladies at our church gave me a tea yesterday and I was more than thrilled with everything. Liam received lots of amazing things and I was so honored. God has brought us to an amazing place at Highpoint. I still feel like I am dreaming that we are here with them. As Keith keeps reminding me - all of this is just another chapter in our book. I'm just anxious for the chapter on Liam's birthday!
~Randi
Monday, December 3, 2012
Life's updates
How terrible of a blogger am I? Oh my goodness. So much has happened that I am not even sure where to begin.
I'll start with the most exciting - Noah is going to be a big brother!! He could not be any more excited!! Robert "Liam" is scheduled to make his appearance in March.
This pregnancy came as a shock but we were excited. There is a story to Liam but I will save that for another blog post. HAHA!! Don't want to turn this post into a book itself.
The next interesting piece of info is that we are moving to Corner. We are so thrilled. We got rid of our house in September and have been living with Gigi and GrandDanny since. We are going to be renting a house from someone at our church so timing works out great. It is a much larger house than we had - has a full basement with a perfect room for an office (photography), a den/playroom and a guest bedroom. There are only 2 bedrooms on the main level but the master is actually too large for us so Liam will be sharing with us for a while.
God has definitely been keeping is eye on us. He's taken some drastic measure to get our attention but we have no doubt that Corner is where we are supposed to be. The only downfall is being further away from our parents. Noah is going to have to change schools which will mean that my mom will not be able to pick him up in the afternoons - for that, I am very sad! We are hoping that she will still be able to keep him on Fridays, even though we will still be paying for 5 days of school. It is very important to me that Nina has her Noah time! My Grandma Dison kept me while my mom worked and I would not trade my memories with Grandma for anything and I want to make sure Noah has similar memories with my mom!
Maggie is not sure what is going on. She has not been to the new house yet but I know she will love it. She has a huge yard that will be fenced in soon and I know there will be lots of smells for her little nose. What she doesn't understand is that her "cousin" lives next door. A 13" beagle named Abby is her new neighbor. Abby is only 4 years old but is much heavier than Maggie and honestly looks much older. But we've heard she is just as lazy as Maggie. I think they will get along well!!
We are looking forward to some great things God has cooking right now. Liam's arrival will be huge for us and tons of excitement is going on at church. Just reminding ourselves that it is totally God's timing and not ours. Unfortunately that is a hard lesson to learn.
This is it for now. I promise to update more often (I really will try - I promise!!).
~Randi
I'll start with the most exciting - Noah is going to be a big brother!! He could not be any more excited!! Robert "Liam" is scheduled to make his appearance in March.
This pregnancy came as a shock but we were excited. There is a story to Liam but I will save that for another blog post. HAHA!! Don't want to turn this post into a book itself.
The next interesting piece of info is that we are moving to Corner. We are so thrilled. We got rid of our house in September and have been living with Gigi and GrandDanny since. We are going to be renting a house from someone at our church so timing works out great. It is a much larger house than we had - has a full basement with a perfect room for an office (photography), a den/playroom and a guest bedroom. There are only 2 bedrooms on the main level but the master is actually too large for us so Liam will be sharing with us for a while.
God has definitely been keeping is eye on us. He's taken some drastic measure to get our attention but we have no doubt that Corner is where we are supposed to be. The only downfall is being further away from our parents. Noah is going to have to change schools which will mean that my mom will not be able to pick him up in the afternoons - for that, I am very sad! We are hoping that she will still be able to keep him on Fridays, even though we will still be paying for 5 days of school. It is very important to me that Nina has her Noah time! My Grandma Dison kept me while my mom worked and I would not trade my memories with Grandma for anything and I want to make sure Noah has similar memories with my mom!
Maggie is not sure what is going on. She has not been to the new house yet but I know she will love it. She has a huge yard that will be fenced in soon and I know there will be lots of smells for her little nose. What she doesn't understand is that her "cousin" lives next door. A 13" beagle named Abby is her new neighbor. Abby is only 4 years old but is much heavier than Maggie and honestly looks much older. But we've heard she is just as lazy as Maggie. I think they will get along well!!
We are looking forward to some great things God has cooking right now. Liam's arrival will be huge for us and tons of excitement is going on at church. Just reminding ourselves that it is totally God's timing and not ours. Unfortunately that is a hard lesson to learn.
This is it for now. I promise to update more often (I really will try - I promise!!).
~Randi
Thursday, May 24, 2012
The Voice of God
Do you ever listen intenally for the voice of God? How does God speak to you?
It took me so long to realize the many ways that God uses to get through to us. Sad to admit, I know, but it is true. God has used so many different ways, people, songs, etc. to get into my thick skull. He has used dreams, scriptures, voices/thoughts in my heart, songs, and I could go on and on. It is such an amazing feeling knowing the full presence of God, listening to his words (often through others) and just feeling his arms wrapped around you. Oh my goodness, love it!!
This morning was one of those mornings. I was on my way to work, just praying and talking to God, asking for him to interveen in a situation. I had turned the radio down to focus on my conversation with God when I realized that Mandisa's "Stronger" was on the radio. I have heard this song many times, sing with it every time but this time my heart opened to hear the words. I know it was from God! It completely spoke along with the words that I was praying.
I'm not going to post the words to the whole song, but I will post the words to the chorus, in case you have not heard it. I highly reccommend going to youtube.com and looking it up. You will not be disappointed and I pray that you will be moved like I was.
"When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
And things can only get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger
Gonna make you stronger, stronger, stronger
Believe me, this is gonna make you ...
Try and do the best you can
Hold on and let Him hold your hand
And go on and fall into the arms of Jesus
Oh, life your head it's gonna end
God's right there
Even when you just can't feel Him
I promise you that He still cares"
~Mandisa
~Randi
It took me so long to realize the many ways that God uses to get through to us. Sad to admit, I know, but it is true. God has used so many different ways, people, songs, etc. to get into my thick skull. He has used dreams, scriptures, voices/thoughts in my heart, songs, and I could go on and on. It is such an amazing feeling knowing the full presence of God, listening to his words (often through others) and just feeling his arms wrapped around you. Oh my goodness, love it!!
This morning was one of those mornings. I was on my way to work, just praying and talking to God, asking for him to interveen in a situation. I had turned the radio down to focus on my conversation with God when I realized that Mandisa's "Stronger" was on the radio. I have heard this song many times, sing with it every time but this time my heart opened to hear the words. I know it was from God! It completely spoke along with the words that I was praying.
I'm not going to post the words to the whole song, but I will post the words to the chorus, in case you have not heard it. I highly reccommend going to youtube.com and looking it up. You will not be disappointed and I pray that you will be moved like I was.
"When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
And things can only get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger
Gonna make you stronger, stronger, stronger
Believe me, this is gonna make you ...
Try and do the best you can
Hold on and let Him hold your hand
And go on and fall into the arms of Jesus
Oh, life your head it's gonna end
God's right there
Even when you just can't feel Him
I promise you that He still cares"
~Mandisa
~Randi
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Fighting Away the Devil
I feel like all that I have done lately is fight with Satan. Sometimes I feel like he is winning but I will not let him overcome!!
This weekend was "one of those weekends." It was a never ending weekend and for the first time ever, I said, "I am ready for Monday and ready to go back to work!" Oh my goodness. Friday was a long day at work followed by a great evening of crafting with the women at church. Saturday was not so bad either, just long. I photographed a wedding and coverage started at 2:30p and went until 11p. Very l...o...n...g... day. Great wedding though! I get home about 11:30p to find Keith already in bed. That did not sit too well with me but I let it go. I wasn't able to go right to bed because my ears were still ringing from the loud noise of the band. (This is where I really started to feel old! HAHA!) I finally head to bed about 12:15a, just start to dose as Noah decides to come to bed with us. I must break my child of that habit, I am tired of being kicked by a 3 year old who sleeps sideways. Anyway!! We wake up about 5a to the sound of Maggie having a breathing attack. We get her calmed down, back asleep and sure enough she has another attack about 6a. I should have just stayed up at this point.
As we are getting ready for church, Keith tells me that he has a bad headache. Translation = migraine! Just lovely, huh!! We head to church, me driving of course. I have no idea how Keith made it to church without throwing up. Seriously! The drive to church is a long and curvy road. Have I mentioned it's a solid 45 minute drive? I pray the entire drive up, begging for Keith not to be sick. I begin coming up with a game plan in my head, trying to figure out what we will do for Children's Worship with Keith being out. Once we get to church I text messaged all of our parents asking for extra prayers because Keith is at church with a migraine. Let me just tell you about the power of prayer!! We prayed that migraine away! SERIOUSLY!! Several of the parents knew Keith was not feeling well but you could not tell he had been in so much pain.
Sunday services ended up going very well ... until I get a phone call from Dorinda. It turns out that my cousin, Jason, was involved in a motorcycle accident Sunday morning. When motorcycle meets deer, the deer usually wins. Jason was at UAB hospital with 9 broken ribs, a broken wrist, a broken collarbone, a punctured lung, messed up spleen and a brain bleed. My reactions were, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The freaky thing is Jason had been on my mind since the wedding the night before. We had a Birmingham officer at the ceremony with us and we had a certain situation during the ceremony that I wanted Jason to find out about. I guess that will have to wait! It turns out that Jason will be fine but he has a long recovery ahead of him. He has had surgery to repair his collar bone and he will have to have surgery to repair his wrist. Fortunately the brain bleed has stopped bleeding.
Sunday afternoon comes with more bad news. We learn that a Clay-Chalkville High School senior has decided to end his life. This just roughly 4 weeks away from graduation. Talk about a heavy heart for the family and friends of this guy.
It was at this point that I was ready to give up and go straight to bed. But the power of prayer is amazing. It seems that Keith and I keep getting hit with so many curve balls lately but we just try to take each one as they come at us. Someone at church told me that we must be doing something right for Satan to keep attacking us. I hope that is what it is. We will just keep fighting and fight like we have never fought before.
~Randi
This weekend was "one of those weekends." It was a never ending weekend and for the first time ever, I said, "I am ready for Monday and ready to go back to work!" Oh my goodness. Friday was a long day at work followed by a great evening of crafting with the women at church. Saturday was not so bad either, just long. I photographed a wedding and coverage started at 2:30p and went until 11p. Very l...o...n...g... day. Great wedding though! I get home about 11:30p to find Keith already in bed. That did not sit too well with me but I let it go. I wasn't able to go right to bed because my ears were still ringing from the loud noise of the band. (This is where I really started to feel old! HAHA!) I finally head to bed about 12:15a, just start to dose as Noah decides to come to bed with us. I must break my child of that habit, I am tired of being kicked by a 3 year old who sleeps sideways. Anyway!! We wake up about 5a to the sound of Maggie having a breathing attack. We get her calmed down, back asleep and sure enough she has another attack about 6a. I should have just stayed up at this point.
As we are getting ready for church, Keith tells me that he has a bad headache. Translation = migraine! Just lovely, huh!! We head to church, me driving of course. I have no idea how Keith made it to church without throwing up. Seriously! The drive to church is a long and curvy road. Have I mentioned it's a solid 45 minute drive? I pray the entire drive up, begging for Keith not to be sick. I begin coming up with a game plan in my head, trying to figure out what we will do for Children's Worship with Keith being out. Once we get to church I text messaged all of our parents asking for extra prayers because Keith is at church with a migraine. Let me just tell you about the power of prayer!! We prayed that migraine away! SERIOUSLY!! Several of the parents knew Keith was not feeling well but you could not tell he had been in so much pain.
Sunday services ended up going very well ... until I get a phone call from Dorinda. It turns out that my cousin, Jason, was involved in a motorcycle accident Sunday morning. When motorcycle meets deer, the deer usually wins. Jason was at UAB hospital with 9 broken ribs, a broken wrist, a broken collarbone, a punctured lung, messed up spleen and a brain bleed. My reactions were, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The freaky thing is Jason had been on my mind since the wedding the night before. We had a Birmingham officer at the ceremony with us and we had a certain situation during the ceremony that I wanted Jason to find out about. I guess that will have to wait! It turns out that Jason will be fine but he has a long recovery ahead of him. He has had surgery to repair his collar bone and he will have to have surgery to repair his wrist. Fortunately the brain bleed has stopped bleeding.
Sunday afternoon comes with more bad news. We learn that a Clay-Chalkville High School senior has decided to end his life. This just roughly 4 weeks away from graduation. Talk about a heavy heart for the family and friends of this guy.
It was at this point that I was ready to give up and go straight to bed. But the power of prayer is amazing. It seems that Keith and I keep getting hit with so many curve balls lately but we just try to take each one as they come at us. Someone at church told me that we must be doing something right for Satan to keep attacking us. I hope that is what it is. We will just keep fighting and fight like we have never fought before.
~Randi
Saturday, March 31, 2012
From the Couch to a 5K
Today is what I hope to be the beginning of a new beginning for Keith and me. We accomplished our very first 5k. If you don’t know, that is 3.2 miles. We did not run the entire thing; in fact, we did not even run half of it. But you know that is ok. We accomplished our goal either way. (1) We completed the race (2) We did not come in last!! We did a run walk combination but running a portion and then walking. We alternated the entire race. I don’t know how much we actually ran but it is more then I expected to be able to run.
In my adult years weight has never been a friend of mine. I am continuously up and down. I loose a couple of pounds to only gain double what I lost. I am the largest that I have ever been. I am not about to tell you what I weigh, haha! Though I am very tall, I can fortunately hide my weight very well. But I am still not about to give up that number. Maybe I will give it to you once I get fit.
This race is just the beginning for Keith and I. I am very excited to see what we do from here. We are determined to continue training and we look forward to more 5ks. We recently had a friend suffer from a massive heart attack at a young age and he lost his battle. His death has been an eye opener for both of us. We have realized that we have Noah to live for and we need to live like we do. We have changed our eating habits, included more veggies in our meals (which is huge for Keith!!) and we have cut drastically on our carbs, pastas and breads. Keith is a very picky eater and does not like vegetables or anything green. He is definitely a meat and bread kind of guy. I love vegetables but have often found myself giving them up to cook what he would eat. (Enter weight control issue!!)
I have recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I know, sounds big, right? Well, in fact, it could be. It means that my thyroid is not producing correctly. It is under active. Basically, it means I feel tired all of the time and more or less, could have issues loosing weight. I take medicine for it every day and probably will for the rest of my life. (Oh it makes me feel so old!) But I am determined to win this battle and hopefully be able to come off of my medicine. I also have heredity high cholesterol (Thanks, Dad!!) It was in the 200’s in my 20’s. Yeah, I know!! Getting my rear in gear will hopefully help some future heart issues. I kind of like my heart beating and would like to keep it that way!
Keith has already lost a little over 10 pounds in our little weight loss journey and I have lost but not as significantly. Running this 5k this morning is definitely a good start for us.
For documentation purposes, I am posting a picture of us from this morning at Sloss Furnace after our race. (Excuse the horrible looks!!) So, thank you, Rumpshaker 5k. We look forward to more races in the future!!
In my adult years weight has never been a friend of mine. I am continuously up and down. I loose a couple of pounds to only gain double what I lost. I am the largest that I have ever been. I am not about to tell you what I weigh, haha! Though I am very tall, I can fortunately hide my weight very well. But I am still not about to give up that number. Maybe I will give it to you once I get fit.
This race is just the beginning for Keith and I. I am very excited to see what we do from here. We are determined to continue training and we look forward to more 5ks. We recently had a friend suffer from a massive heart attack at a young age and he lost his battle. His death has been an eye opener for both of us. We have realized that we have Noah to live for and we need to live like we do. We have changed our eating habits, included more veggies in our meals (which is huge for Keith!!) and we have cut drastically on our carbs, pastas and breads. Keith is a very picky eater and does not like vegetables or anything green. He is definitely a meat and bread kind of guy. I love vegetables but have often found myself giving them up to cook what he would eat. (Enter weight control issue!!)
I have recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I know, sounds big, right? Well, in fact, it could be. It means that my thyroid is not producing correctly. It is under active. Basically, it means I feel tired all of the time and more or less, could have issues loosing weight. I take medicine for it every day and probably will for the rest of my life. (Oh it makes me feel so old!) But I am determined to win this battle and hopefully be able to come off of my medicine. I also have heredity high cholesterol (Thanks, Dad!!) It was in the 200’s in my 20’s. Yeah, I know!! Getting my rear in gear will hopefully help some future heart issues. I kind of like my heart beating and would like to keep it that way!
Keith has already lost a little over 10 pounds in our little weight loss journey and I have lost but not as significantly. Running this 5k this morning is definitely a good start for us.
For documentation purposes, I am posting a picture of us from this morning at Sloss Furnace after our race. (Excuse the horrible looks!!) So, thank you, Rumpshaker 5k. We look forward to more races in the future!!
~Randi
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
God, are you serious? Me?
Do you ever feel like God is asking something of you but you are not quite sure what to make of it? Sure, we all go through this at some point in our lives. That is part of God’s plan. Will we follow through? Will we run and ignore? How will we follow through?
I have just returned home from an amazing weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with the wonderful ladies of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. If you don’t know, my dad is the pastor of this church. Each year their ladies attend a women’s conference. I have had the privilege of going with them for the last 3 trips, this one included. We decided that this was their 6th year to go. Let me tell you, it is one weekend every year that I thoroughly look forward too. It is a weekend with very Godly women attending a well known conference with well known speakers. It is weekend that I cannot come home from and not feel the blessing of Christ. I love coming home feeling refreshed. This was a weekend I definitely needed after the year that we have had. (Yes, our neighborhood is still in turmoil and let’s just say that I do not come home feeling refreshed in the afternoons. But that is a whole other post for another day!!)
While sitting and listening to 3 very talented speakers this weekend, I felt a tug on my heart. Yes, it was one of those God tugs. The tug is something that I have wanted to do but not sure how to do it. The thoughts that I kept having were “yes, this is something I want to do and have wanted to do. But me?” I thought about this “thought” all the way home from Tennessee just trying to tell myself that it is nothing I would be able to do. There is no way I am equipped for that job. In a way, I was telling God no. How dare I? Shouldn’t I know better than that by now?
I came home, so excited to see my family. I came home to Noah waving at me through the window. I rush over to him and pick him up, expecting a hug and he says “NINA!!” Yes, of course, he was excited to see my mom! LOL. We went through our evening routine, put Noah to bed and I soon followed. I typically lie in bed and watch tv to fall asleep but not last night. I decided to read from a little devotion book that Mrs. Tiny gave us in a goody bag for our trip. It is something she does each year and we always look forward to. The devotion book is called “God’s Promises to a Woman’s Heart.” (How fitting, huh?) Nanny had opened her goody bag on the way to Tennessee and read the first devotion to Mom and me as we traveled. I decided to skim back over it last night as I breezed through to day 2. But the verse on day 1 caught my heart. It says:
“My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19.
No lie, that’s really the verse. Talk about a slap in the face. Day 2 (yes, it gets even better) says:
“I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food.”
Psalms 132:15.
Not only did I try to tell God no yesterday because I did not feel equipped to handle the task that he is giving me but he turned right back to me and said “Yes, Randi, YOU can do this. I will meet your needs and bless you with abundant provisions.” So, with that being said, I am not sure what God has up his sleeves, but I am excited to see where he takes me. I will follow his guidance and just trust. Please pray for me that I will be open to listening to the word of Christ.
~Randi
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