Saturday, November 29, 2008

The King and His Daughter


The king was conducting business before his throne. Everyone in the castle, even his wife, knew that it was forbidden to interrupt him while he was working. After all, he was the king. He commanded legions of soldiers and created law for the entire domain. His name was legendary. Young men spoke it with awe; old men, with reverence.
He sat before the leaders of state, a pensive expression on his face as he studied the documents in his lap. Suddenly the door to the room burst open, startling the dignitaries gathered in the room. The patter of little feet could be heard running across the hard stone floor, directly toward the king on his throne. The small assembly audibly gasped, stunned at the intrusion and not knowing what the king's reaction would be.
"Daddy, Daddy! I found a yellow flower!" It was the king's small daughter.
In a single motion the king swept the little girl off her feet and into his lap, scattering the important papers to the floor. His preoccupied countenance immediately transformed into sheer delight as he smiled broadly at his child and then examined her small prize. while the luminaries waited, she sat there with him, her tiny form cuddled in the crook of his strong and gentle right arm. With her head pressed against his chest, they shared secrets and some small talk. He made her giggle, and then, after kisses and a big hug, the little girl, smiling from ear to ear and glowing with contentment, climbed down from her daddy's lap and ran out of the room.

I read this story this morning in a book I'm reading. The author went on to say that our Daddy is like this king. Isn't that awesome, He is the King of kings, Lord or lords, the great I AM and yet He loves us so much and will allow us to jump up in His lap anytime, He is never to busy for us.
He also thinks we are beautiful, whether we are short or tall, skinny or chunky, it just doesn't matter, we are beautiful because we are daughters of the King. He wants to meet our deepest needs. He wants us to know that we are beautiful, valued and deeply loved.

Have a great week!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Your second child and beyond!

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about you and your second baby.

1. Were you married at the time? yes
2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? Shock, Zach was just 14 months and we had just moved into our first home. You can get pregnant while nursing and before having that first period!
3. How old were you? 28
4. How did you find out you were pregnant?
I went to the dr. thinking I had an ulcer because my stomach was so upset and hurt so much. The dr. made me do a blood test first. He came back in the room and said, (I will never forget this as long as I live) "Well Beth you are going to have to name this ulcer!"
5.Who did you tell first? Dave
6. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes but didn't find out
7. Due Date? November 17th, I think.
8. Did you deliver early or late? a week late!
9. Did you have morning sickness? I was so nauseated all the time, didn't throw up just felt so sick morning, noon and night.
10. What did you crave? M&M's again and Dr. Pepper and mexican and oranges
11. Who irritated you the most? Everything because I felt so bad
12. What was the sex? Sweet baby girl
13. How many pounds did you gain throughout your pregnancy? 35
14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? HEMOROIDS!!!!!! Even worse than with Zach. They wanted to do surgery but I wouldn't.
15. Where did you give birth? Memorial Hosp. NLR, no longer there.
16. How many hours were you in labor? Water broke at 12:00 Thanksgiving Day! Delivered at 9:34 that night.
17. Who drove you to the hospital? Dave
18. Who watched? Dave and the nurses and the dr.
19. Was it natural or c-section? Well I had an epidural but it didn't take because of the hemroids. I had been in bed for 3 days with them before going into labor. After Kristyn was born, the anastesioligist came up beside my bed and said "honey are you planning on having any more babies?" I said NO. She said, "good because I gave you enough medicine to numb the biggest of men and you didn't numb because of your hemrroids!" So, I felt it all baby!
20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? Afterward, anything they would give me.
21. How much did your child weigh? 8-4, 19.5 inches
22. What did you name him/her? Kristyn Anne James
23. How old is your child today? She turned 19 on Sunday the 23rd of November.
Okay mommies, re-post this as My second baby and send it to all the other mommies plus the mommy who sent it to you.

Your First Baby

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about you and your first baby.

I'm going with Zach.
1.Were you married at the time? yes
2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? I was so happy, I sat in my chair at work and rocked.
3. How old were you? 26
4. How did you find out you were pregnant?
I had a feeling. Went to the dr. to have a pregnancy test, (showing my age here), it came back negative. The next day I went back and said, I just think you need to do this again, so they did a blood test and low and behold, I WAS. A moma knows!
5.Who did you tell first? OMG I cannot remember her name right now, I can see her as plain as day but can't remember her name, we worked together and she was sitting in front of me when I got the call...then dave, of course.
6. Did you want to find out the sex? No, but I knew it was a boy. We didn't get to find out in those days like you do now.
7. Due Date? Jan 20, 1988
8. Did you deliver early or late? 2 days late
9. Did you have morning sickness? Not with Zach
10. What did you crave? M&Ms. I would go to the dr each month, weigh, then go and buy a lb. bag of M&Ms and just enjoy, with a dr. pepper of course.
11. Who irritated you the most? I don't remember being to irritated with Zach.
12. What was your first child's sex? Boy
13. How many pounds did you gain throughout your pregnancy? 35
14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? HEMOROIDS!!!!!! Toward the end, the very top of my leg would cramp while in public, like at the store. Other than that, we were both healthy little puppies.
15. Where did you give birth? Memorial Hosp. NLR, no longer there.
16. How many hours were you in labor? 3 hrs. 58 minutes. At the hospital for 1 hr 58 minutes.
17. Who drove you to the hospital? Dave
18. Who watched? Dave and the nurses and the dr.
19. Was it natural or c-section? All natural
20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? UMMM, wanted an epideral badly, walked into the hospital asking for one but there was no time for anything, so he was all natural.
21. How much did your child weigh? 8-12, 22 1/2 inches
22. What did you name him/her? Zachary David James
23. How old is your first born today? 20 years, 9 months, 29 days, just a little baby! He is also 6'3" weighing in around 220!

Okay mommies, re-post this as My first baby and send it to all the other mommies plus the mommy who sent it to you.

Award

I couldn't figure out how to get the award to this post, so please know you have been given an award!!!!

"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!



Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."


I am supposed to give this to 8 bloggers.



Thank you Betty. I love your blog too. Keeper of the Skies. We have known each other for 15 years and I love you so much! I love how you have just taken off with your blogging. I so see where the creativity comes from in Megan and Tori!!!!



Whitney has the funnest pics of her sweet sweet family. She is just the funnest person and always just happy. eoffadventures



Becky is a godly, intelligent woman that loves people and God and inspires me to persue God more. Her blogs are always challenging spiritually and honest and real. weepyseeds.



That is it for me.
beth
















Saturday, November 22, 2008

My BABY is ENGAGED!!!!


Once again I say, how do our children grow up so fast!

Week before last I get a phone call from Micthell (Kristyn's boyfriend) and he ask me to lunch when they came home that weekend. I immediately said no (i was kidding of course) because I knew what he wanted. He called Kristyn's dad and asked him to go at the same time.

Saturday, November15, we met at The Olive Garden in North Little Rock for lunch. He was so cute, you could tell he was nervous, stretched a few times, chit chatted about nothing, then he did it. He said, "well you all know why were here, well Ms. Beth you knew when I called you, I would like to ask your permission to marry your daughter?" He and I were making eye contact and he had tears in his eyes. So sweet.

We talked for a while, I had things I wanted him to know that were important to me for him and Kristyn as they became a family. Her dad talked to him as well. Oh, I asked him if he had the ring and he said yeh right here and he showed it to me. The minute I saw that ring, I just started crying and it was so hard to get control again. It just like hit me that this child of mine was going to marry this young man sitting across from me. I had all these things to say to him and I had to try to do it while crying the entire time. Of course by the end I gave him my blessing.

From the time he called to ask me to lunch, I have just cried so much. I'm not upset, just I don't know in shock, like Steve Martin in Father of the Bride. I watched the CMA's and when he sang "Your gonna miss this", I just boo hooed! I've heard that song a million times but that night, whew, it was rough.

Move ahead to yesterday, Friday, November 21st. I knew it was going to be this night and Kristyn was clueless. I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning and could not go back to sleep. I knew she was going over to his apt. for dinner at around 5:30 p.m. So, I just kept waiting for the call. She finally called, she was real quiet at first, in shock I do believe. I said "well what did you get for your birthday?" and she just made a little laugh.She was coming home this morning for her birthday but Mitchell wasn't coming because he has to work Sunday. Well they both got in the car and headed home last night. Isn't that sweet. He proposed in a sweet romantic way and she said she started crying and couldn't stop.

The ring, its beautiful. Its a solitaire on a small band. I cannot remember right now the cut, its something new. Its kind of a rectangle. It looks perfect on her little hand. As they were driving home, it started sinking in and she started getting really excited and they spent the drive home calling the important people in their lives. Just so sweet!

You know that someday these things will happen but its kind of like watching this happen to someone else. Because the entire time, I'm thinking she is just a baby, how can we be here, at this place, at this time. I've prayed for her husband all her life, just didn't know it would come so fast.

The plan right now is spring of '09. I would love for her to have at least 2 years of school behind her. For those of you that don't know, they have been dating for 3.5 years. Mitchell just completed the Springdale, AR police academy and is now a policeman in Springdale.

The one thing I can say for the boy, he loves my daughter. I can see it in his eyes and the way he treats her and takes care of her and allows her to be herself. For this, I am thankful!

I look forward to all of the excitement and the planning and watching them in their lives together. Honestly though, I cannot imagine the day of seeing her walk down that isle in that wedding dress with all of their loved ones there watching them commit their lives to God and to one another. I know for sure there will be lots of kleenex because his family will cry as much as me! Memories are being made by the moment!

Thank you Lord that you have blessed me with such wonderful children...truly, I am thankful!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Happy Birthday Kristyn!

The month was November and the year 1989. Although not planned, we were about to deliver a wonderful baby girl. A gift from the Lord. I believe it was yesterday that I was largely pregnant with child, not knowing it was a girl. Where does the time go?



Things that began with her that have become and I guess have always been a part of her personality:



She was a week late...is always pushing the button to be anywhere on time. We have gotten into more arguments over her being ready on time. She doesn't mind having us "wait on a woman".



Social...every time I was nursing her and she heard anything, off the breast she went so she could see what was going on. Of course, she didn't really mind what perdicament she left me in!



Didn't like to sleep...oh to get that child to take a nap...at daycare they finally made an agreement with her, you don't have to sleep but you have to lay here. So, she did, for the most part! To this day, she goes and goes and goes and then one day she will crash and burn.



Stole my heart...the moment she was born I knew the Lord had blessed me and was trusting me with this wonderful child. I had never wanted a girl because of the relationship I had with my mother. I now know that God gave me Kristyn to prove to me that all relationships don't have to be like the one I had with my mother. What a blessing she has been. My heart swells with love for this child...we have laughed more together than I guess I've laughed with anyone. Conversations about everything from dolls to bikes to playing sports to boys to girlfriends to speechs to dresses to sex to her future and everything in between.



Life now is a little different. She is in her first year of college, no longer a child. She has so many goals and is working hard to achieve those goals. I have to tell her sometime, slow down, enjoy where you are just a little.



I look forward to having an adult relationship with her and hopefully the Lord will give us many years to laugh together, cook together, shop together, watch movies together and have great conversation together.



My birthday prayer for my sweet girl would be that she fall so in love with Jesus and that He would always be the center of her life. I've learned that is the only way to live and to live free and in peace.



So, this Sunday, November 23rd, we celebrate her life of 19 years. Thank You Father that you trusted me with your child and allowed her to be my child on this earth. What a priviledge and an honor. I wouldn't change a hair on her sweet head. I love you Cissy aka Kristyn aka Louise aka Kristyn Anne!!!!