Two Things I am Reading Right Now

I am currently finishing up reading this book. I have heard so many different viewpoints and stances regarding vaccines. I have friends with children that have never given one vaccine. I have friends with children that have given every single one. There is definitely controversy over many issues and of course, everyone has an opinion. I simply wanted to do the research so I know what the vaccine is, why Adelyn is getting the shot, and all the information for it. I feel much more confident in my decision because of this book. I recommend it to any mom unsure of vaccines.

I am also reading this book. And I am loving every single page of it. Once we finished studying Beth Moore's Esther, we decided to start this book and discuss it every week. It is an incredible book. It is challenging and focuses on us putting our priorities back where they should be: on God.

Here is a part of the book that I read recently:

"But it's easy to think about today as just another day. An average day where you go about life concerned with your to-do list, preoccupied by appointments, focused on family, thinking about your desires and needs.

On the average day, we live caught up in ourselves. On the average day, we don't consider God very much...."

This is a little convicting to me (okay, a lot convicting)... I am all about my to-do lists. Making a huge list. Crossing things off. Oh the joy of crossing things off. It feels so good. But honestly, in the midst of my to-do list, I am so focused on getting things done (which isn't necessarily bad), but I am not focusing on God.

Let us not live so caught up in ourselves. Amanda, do not live so caught up in yourself. Focus on God. Focus on others. Focus on what really matters.

Thank you Lord for continually teaching me and changing me and disciplining me for good. I am changed because of it.

There is Something About Crossing the Finish Line

And no, it was not me that crossed the finish line. Hello people? I just had a baby 6 weeks ago. What do you expect from me? I can not run 26.2 miles in this season of my life. However, me and 4 of my friends did run the RELAY in the OKC Memorial Marathon today and I will post some pics at the bottom! But this blog post is focused on what I felt as I was there standing at the finish line waiting for Elizabeth to finish the last leg of our relay......

I do not know if it was because in 2007 I did run the full 26.2 miles in the OKC Memorial Marathon and I know how the people felt today as they crossed the finish line...

Or I do not know if it is because I just had a baby a few weeks ago and am highly hormonal that made me so emotional....

But there was something today that made me just want to sob.....

Was it the woman with one leg that ran the full marathon as she pushed a handicap girl (her daughter?) in a wheelchair?

Was it the man with down syndrome that crossed the finish line with the biggest smile I have EVER seen?

Was it the dad that carried his daughter that last mile and crossed the finish line with her?

Was it the man that held up his hands in the air and loudly thanked God for helping him finish all 26.2 miles and cross that finish line?

Was it the men that wheeled themselves in their wheelchair 26.2 miles? (I can not even imagine how their arms must have felt).

Was it the relay team of girls that were running to fight leukemia and they all 5 held hands as they crossed the finish line?

Was it the people that were running in memory or honor of someone? a family member? a friend? a neighbor? a co-worker?

I do not know what it was, but there was something I saw as they all crossed the finish line:
A huge accomplishment. A mindset that was not giving up. A goal that was reached.

Their faces said it all. It was HIGHLY EMOTIONAL (hormonal or not, okay?) I am so proud of everyone that ran in it. If you ran the full marathon, the half marathon, the relay, the walk, etc, CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a HUGE DEAL!

People ask me how did I run 26.2 miles? How long did I train for it? What made me do it? etc.... It is a rather long story but I will try to sum it up in a relative short way.... (however I am known for making a short story longer by adding details.... I will try to be brief).

I did it for one reason.
For the symbolism.

I ran 26.2 miles so I could learn more about what it means to be a Christian.

For instance, being a Christian is not easy. You do not just "commit your life to Christ" and everything is "hunky-dory" (is that even a word)? It takes work. You have got to "train," if you will, to be Christian. What does training consist of? Getting to know the Lord more. Reading His word. Praying. Talking to Him. Studying. Talking about Him to others, etc.

Same thing with a marathon. You do not just show up on race day, never running a mile in your life, and run 26.2 miles. You have to train. Start off slow. Run only 1 mile. Run only 1 miles a few times in a row. Slowly move it up. Eat right. Drink right. Wear the right clothes (for instance, I can NOT run in t-shirts to save my life... I HAVE to wear a tank top if I want to have a successful run. I know, it's weird. Don't judge). It takes months of training.

You CAN NOT GIVE UP. Do you know how hard it was for me to train for the marathon? You have NO IDEA (unless you have done it before, then you probably can relate). It was the hardest freakin' thing I have ever done. So is being Christian.

You can NOT GIVE UP being a Christian.

Will you have bad days? Yes.
Will you struggle? Yes.
Will you do things that do not make sense to other people and perhaps be judged for it by them or "persecuted" for your decisions? Yes.
Will you give up? No.

You have got to persevere when it gets hard. Period. You have got to trust the Lord that leads you. Period. (I say "you" but please know I am preaching to myself here, amen?) You have got to know that His ways are higher than our ways. Period. You have got to know that there is a purpose for what you are going through. Period.

I ran that day for the Lord.
I ran that day to be changed.
I ran that day as a symbol as my walk with the Lord.

I will train. I will not give up. I will persevere when it gets hard.

You want to get to know God better? Train for a marathon. I promise you, you will be changed. And it will be the most rewarding experience of your entire life. And it will be one of the biggest accomplishments you will ever have.

It will be hard.

But, oh, it will be so worth it!

(These are tiny pictures, but these are from 2007 when I ran the full marathon).

Crossing the finish line.... Can not even describe that feeling!!!!

Below, are the pictures from this morning at the OKC Memorial Marathon 2009.

TEAM ADDIE
Sara- ran 7.6 miles
Amanda- ran 3.1 miles
Tyler- ran 3.1 miles
Elizabeth- ran 6.2 miles
Deborah (missing)- ran 6.2 miles
TOTAL=26.2 miles
WAY TO GO TEAM ADDIE!!!The Finish Line....
19,000 people ran in the Marathon. Thousands of others were volunteers! It was all amazing!

Running for my sweet princess: Addie

Happy 1 Month Adelyn!

My daughter seriously is already a month old! ahh! Time is flying by. Here is a little about Adelyn at one month old:

-She is on a pretty good routine. She still eats every 3 hours (unless she is going through a growth spurt). During the night she goes longer between feedings.

-She is much more aware of things and we find her constantly staring at things.

-She LOVES her swing.

-She is a cuddler and loves to be held and always be next to someone.

-She does not like to sleep anywhere but with us. We love this because it is cute and we love being close to her and cuddling with her, but we don't love it because we don't want her to get used to it and never go to her crib.

-She is great at riding in the car. I sometimes forget shes with me because she is so quiet. Sometimes she gets fussy if we stop at stop signs or red lights, but once we go, she's good.

-She loves bath time.

-We give her a baby massage every night with the sleepytime lotion and it works wonders. The other night I put her to bed at 10:00 and she slept until 4:00am (6 hours of uninterrupted sleep! woo-hoo!)

-Colby does one middle of the night feeding every night with a bottle. I am SO THANKFUL for this. I do not function well with only 2 hours of sleep. I have offered to do all of the feedings but he wants to. It is a special bonding time between him and Addie.

-I read one book to her every day. She usually is looking at the wall or not paying attention at all (ha! what do you expect out of a 4 week old). But it is so fun and I always want to do that when she is older so why not start now. It is never to early huh?

-Her eye color changes and looks different every day. Most days they are brown. Some days they are blue. Some days they are brown with a blue rim around it. Who knows what color they will eventually become.

-I fall more in love with her every single day. I kiss her a lot. I talk to her a lot. I stare at her a lot. And I take pictures of her a lot (but only with my i-phone because I lost the battery charger to my camera---or someone hid it from me because of how many pictures I took those first couple of weeks). Just sayin'.

Okay, enough information and lets see some cute pics!!

How can you not love that sweet little face? Actually it is not little, it is rather chunky. Adelyn, I can not believe you are one month old! I hope you always know how much your mommy and daddy love you and cherish you.

Easter in Kansas

We celebrated Easter in Kansas with Colby's family! It was a very great time and we enjoyed getting away. Adelyn has incredible grandparents and great-grandparents. I feel so blessed. Here are just a few pictures:Her "1st Easter Bib"

Her bunny slippers!Celebrating Easter with her two other cousins

(Colby's sister and sister-in-law's babys)
Adelyn, Logan, and Blake

Colby is 29!!

My sweet husband is officially 29 years old! We had a combined birthday party with our dear friend (and roommate) Brett who turned 28! Brett is a good friend of Colby's from college and moved from Kansas to Oklahoma and has been living with us since January. We like to call him "Dupree." We have enjoyed opening up our home to home and Adelyn has loved having him as her nanny! ha!

Happy Birthday Boys!Colby and Brett with their birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Husband! I hope you had a great birthday! Your first birthday as a daddy! Love you!

Week 3 (a couple days late)

On Monday sweet Adelyn turned 3 weeks. I feel like I was in the hospital delivering her years ago. And she looks so different to me from when we were in the hospital. I hate how fast time is going by. I really am trying to enjoy every second of her when she is this little, but I feel like every time I pick her up from a nap she is bigger. I hate that. Stay little Addie, stay little!

Adelyn at 3 weeks:
-her eyes are open a lot more.
-she is always looking up towards the ceiling. Not sure what she sees there but that is where her eyes are focused the majority of the time.
-she's been on a little growth spurt eating a lot more frequently (especially during the middle of the night).
-she has more facial expressions than I can count. I think she is going to be Miss Personality when she gets older.
-she smiles a lot in her sleep. Do babies dream at this age or what? I am not sure what causes her to smile, but it's way cute!
-if anyone is wondering why my blog kind of stopped or why you have not seen a facebook album of my daughter, it is because someone hid my battery charger to my camera.... I am not going to point fingers, but one day Colby told me to stop posting pictures because I was a crazy mom, and then the next day my battery charger is gone... pretty convenient huh? He said he did nothing with it, but it's kind of suspicious.

Here are a few taken with my i-phone....

3's About Me:

THREE NAMES I GO BY

* Mommy
* Amanda
* M.O.F.T.M

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE

* Nanny
* To-Go Waitress at Outback Steakhouse
* Wedding Planner

THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED

* Plano, TX (birth-age 15)
* Edmond, OK (15-current)
* Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico (study abroad in college)


THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH

* The Bachelor
* The Office
* Jon & Kate plus 8

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN

* Florida
* New York
* Kansas

PEOPLE THAT E-MAIL ME REGULARLY

* Brides
* Colby's mom
* Electronic bills

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS

* Louies chips and queso and fries
* waffles
* cupcakes from Cuppies&Joe or cookies from Eileens

THREE FRIENDS I THINK WILL RESPOND

* Amy Woolsey
* Becca Gantz
* Janae DeWeese

THREE THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
* Booking my 2010 calendar with Embellished brides
* Dreaming huge things for Embellished and seeing things happen!!
*Adelyn growing up and having siblings!!

I want to know your 3 things! Copy and paste this into your blog and erase my answers and add yours! Let me know you do it so I can read it!!!

He loves you, can you see it?

I had the sweetest moment (or maybe the saddest moment) last night with my sweet daughter, Adelyn Ryan and want to share it with you.

She is 2 1/2 weeks old. She loves snuggling with mommy and daddy. We will place her in her swing, or bouncy seat (which she loves all her stuff), but she gets bored or is not getting any interaction or someone scratching her back or playing with her hair so she cries, and then one of us go and pick her up. Then we go snuggle with her and she is happy as can be and doesn't make a peep.

So, last night we are snuggling in bed. At 2 1/2 weeks old, their eyesight is not fully there and they can not see all the things we see at the distance we see them at. I have no idea what she can see or what it looks like when she sees it, but I know she has a hard time seeing me.

I am always calling her name, talking to her, trying to get her attention when she is wide awake and she is staring at the opposite direction. She does not even move her head in the slightest direction of where I am.

I am just staring at her and talking to her last night, and the love that I have for her just hits me....hard. And I about start crying. And I just look at her and tell her I love her. And I can not stop telling her. And I want her to know. So, I start saying her name. Trying to get her to look at me. She is not looking anywhere in my direction. All I want is for her to know how much I love her, and to see me tell her, and she can't.

It reminds me of our relationship with God. How many times is he calling our name and wanting to talk to us and we are not even listening. We do not even move our heads into His direction. He loves us and tells us ALL the time, but we just do not hear it. He wants us to look in His direction (maybe even for the first time). He wants us to hear how much He loves us. He wants us to look at Him at all times.

Thank you Adelyn for drawing me closer to the Lord and being the sweetest daughter! I love you!

2 Weeks!

I took this picture on Monday when Adelyn was two weeks old, I am just 2 days late in posting it.

Not much has changed form week 1 to week 2.

A little look into our schedule at two weeks:

7:00am- wake-up, eat, change diaper, a little bit of wake-time (watch Baby Einstein, swing, bouncy seat, playmat, etc)

8:00-10:00am- sleep, have visitors that hold her, errands, etc.

10:00am- wake-up, eat, change diaper, a little bit of wake-time (watch Baby Einstein, swing, bouncy seat, playmat, etc)

11:00-1:00- sleep, have visitors that hold her, errands, etc.

1:00pm- wake-up, eat, change diaper, a little bit of wake-time (watch Baby Einstein, swing, bouncy seat, playmat, etc)

2:00-4:00-sleep, have visitors that hold her, errands, etc.

4:00- wake-up, eat, change diaper, a little bit of wake-time (watch Baby Einstein, swing, bouncy seat, playmat, etc)

5:00-7:00- sleep, have visitors that hold her, errands, etc.

7:00- wake-up, eat, change diaper, a little bit of wake-time (watch Baby Einstein, swing, bouncy seat, playmat, etc)

8:00-10:00pm- sleep, have visitors that hold her, errands, etc.

10:00-- This is my last feeding that I do for the day. Sometime in the day I pump a bottle and Colby does the 1:00AM feeding. So, once I am done feeding her at 10:15 or so, I go to bed and then she does not wake up until around 7:00 after Daddy feeds her. So I am sleeping from
10:30pm-7:00am since we brought her home from the hospital. Now you know why I always have so much energy with a newborn!

Happy 2 Weeks Adelyn Ryan! You are still a perfect, healthy, super easy child. You have set some really high standards for our future children because of how easy you are. We love you so much!!!