It's been awhile...

...since my floors have been mopped.
...since I have felt completely rested.
...since I've read a magazine in the month it was designed for.
...since I've returned an email, phone call or text  in a timely fashion.
...since morning talks have consisted of more than "Ba", "Gu", and "Ma".
...since making a balanced dinner has been a normal occurance.
...since my coffee table hasn't been dust-colored.
...since my hair has been done before 10am.
...since I have gone an entire day without dealing with another's poop.
...since raspberries meant fruit rather than "cute" spitting.
...since doing laundry hasn't come with a sense of pointless despair.
...since I have drank coffee sitting down.
...since I've been able to blog without feeling guilty for time spent.

...since I've been so completely and overwhelmingly grateful and happy for the life God has given me.

I'll be back into the blogging world this week!  In the meantime, if you read my blog on a regular basis I would love it if you would become a public follower and/or leave me a comment and let me know what you would like to see more (or less) of on this site.

Yellow Finch Designs GIVEAWAY!!!!

Yellow Finch Designs GIVEAWAY!!!! Have you checked out this blog? It's fully of wonderfull little lovelies all week long! I want the current give-away SOOO bad!

We Remember...

I spoke with one of my best friends in the world and she warned me.  She told me not to go here in order to avoid tears today.  She knows the cracks and crevices of loss.  She has had the same cracks in her own heart as I have.  I couldn't stay away, however, and  now I sit here with eyes overflowing.  So much pain has flooded so many different hearts.  The same kind of ache can be felt all across the world.

Today is National Miscarriage and Infant Loss day.  Today I remember my sweet babies in heaven.  If they were here they would be 8, 5 and nearly 2.  I miss them.  I wonder what they look like.   Would they be funny like daddy or too serious like mommy?  I wonder what their favorites things would be.  I have never seen them, but I love them.

I am comforted by this fact.  They are with Jesus.  They get to see Him.  I don't understand how it all works, but I like to imagine what it must be like for them to grow up in heaven, to crawl up in Jesus lap, to hear stories of battles and praise from David, to pray with my interceeding Great-Grandma.  I like to picture them running up to my Bible devouring Grandpa last fall when he went to be with Jesus himself.  They are loved.  They are being taken care of by their Creator.  That is the most lovely, peace-filled thought ever.

Now, as I type, I hear the voice of the baby God allowed to be here with me.  "Ba ba ba, squeal, ma ma ma wa ya ba"...the most beautiful sound ever heard in this mama's ears.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

Thank you God for all of my babies.  Thank you for caring for each one in their own unique way.  I remember those that are with You, today.  I pray for all of the other mamas dealing with their own loss.  Comfort them today, Lord.  Thank you for healing our hearts and performing Your will in our lives.  You are good.

Chick Flicks...

My husband, Brian, is doing a series at Switch called "Living with Leverage".  Tonight he'll be discussing purity, specifically, purity in romance/sex.  So...with this in mind (and at his request), I'd like to list my top 5 all time FAVORITE romantic chick flicks (I had to label them romantic because Beaches would be on my top 5 overall):

Please Keep in mind this was REALLY hard to narrow down:

5. The Wedding Planner : Matthew McConaughey/J-Lo and a classic "just about to marry the wrong one, but runs after the right one in the end" plot...sigh

4. Woman of the Year:  Few scenes are better than Hepburn attempting to make waffles in order to get back her man. 

3.  Pride and Prejudice: Doesn't matter the version...every girl wants a Mr. Darcy...

2.  Sleepless in Seattle: Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks/top of entire state building/"It's you."...need I say more?

1. Affair to Remember: There is no better romantic movie than this Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr "love against all odds/put others first" flick...I can literally quote the entire movie and STILL cry when I watch it.  Not even anger or misunderstanding could stop their love, hope prevails!!!...double sigh

Honorable Mention: Some Kind of Wonderful, Sweet Home Alabama, Sabrina, You've got Mail, Desk Set, Roman Holiday, and just about any Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock movie from the 90s.

Bliss...

We've had quite the weekend in the Becker household and it's not even Sunday yet! 

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful day with friends at the pumpkin patch.  For Elli it was a day of firsts...first time in a wheel barrow, first time seeing a pony, first time seeing, feeling, and licking (yuck) a pumpkin, first time on a hayride, first time tasting hay (yuck again), and first time falling asleep before the fun was over (ok, maybe that one isn't a first). 

Today we had a wonderful morning filled with pj's, homemade biscuits, and dancing with our little one.  It was pure bliss.  The rest of the day has been filled with seeing one of Brian's old friends from college, touring Ikea for the dozenth time, squeezing in a bowl of homemade chicken and barley soup at home, leader meetings at Starbucks, and then a BBQ with our new Switch lifegroup hosts to finish off the night.

Although busy, it's been a nice kind of busy.  I love my life.  I love my family.  Again...pure bliss.

Friday Favorites: Fall (pt 2)

Wow.  The week seemed to crawl by and then, WHAM, it' was Friday!  This is a tiny bit late, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

As I've said before I LOVE LOVE LOVE fall!  Among many other things, one of the things I love about fall is our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  This year was especially fun because we finally had our own baby to enjoy it with! 

Instead of listing off a bunch of things I love about the pumpkin patch, I thought I'd show you some of them instead:

Hooray for Customer Service!

I'm one of THOSE people.  You know, the type who has to research and weigh my options before eventually (and slowly according to my husband) making a decision.  So, as you can imagine, when it came to making purchases in preparation for our little one, I was out of control.  Consumer reports and a few helpful books became my best friends as I figured out which crib, stroller, carseat and baby monitor we would get. 

For the most part, it was totally worth the work.  We ended up getting a great carseat  that was rated very high, but priced moderately low compared to lesser rated models.  The same goes for our jogger stroller (well, WE didn't pay for that, but we DID pick it out), which we are very happy with.  Our baby monitor, on the other hand, was quite a disappointment.  We purchased the iVibe from Graco, which was supposed to have extra far reception, which we really wanted for our summer trips (youth camp, vacation, etc).  Unfortunately, it had problems from the beginning and then 6 months into very gentle it completely stopped working.  I was SO frustrated because it was NOT a cheap model!

When I tried to contact Graco I got more frustrated because they only operate on eastern time (LAME) which made it hard for me to contact them.  BUT, today I finally connected with them and gained victory!  It turns out I had a faulty monitor (duh).  I explained what had happened and without any questions or proof of purchase they are sending me a brand new replacement within the next 10 business days!  YAY!  Thanks, Graco, for being customer friendly (even if you do go by EST).

Wonderful Weekend...

I just wanted to share a few pics from our quick (but much needed and appreciated) weekend away to Depoe Bay.  It was a sweet treasure to be able to be just the three of us for a few days.