My Favorite Ethical Clothing Companies

Hello friends!

We live in a sad, scary world. There is no getting around that. Slavery is at an all time high. Like, in all of history, all time high! I see the numbers and it just all feels so overwhelming. Where do you even start? How can you even make a dent? I know that as a Christian I am called to serve the poor, the orphans and the widows. I want to do that! But where to start?

I am a firm believer in baby steps. Yes, sometimes people can dive in and make sweeping, life changing steps, but if we all just start moving in a better direction, change will come. There are a lot of different places we can start. Today, I'm focusing on what we wear.

Enough: A Book Review & Giveaway

Hi friends.

Have you ever started reading a book for one reason, and realized rather quickly that God put that book in your hands for so many other reasons? 

This is that book.

Becoming Mama

Hi friends.

Remember when you were little and your moms had all the answers? Seriously, they knew what to make for dinner, what you should do when you're bored, and where to find all of your lost things. All questions could be answered, and no answers were wrong. Well, at least until we hit 13.

Here's the thing that I've learned about motherhood...

I HAVE NO ANSWERS!

I am completely out of my depth. I have no idea what I am doing. The fact that I am entrusted with two tiny lives to mold into productive adults is absolutely baffling.

So I read everything I can get my hands on. I listen to the "experts", and a get frustrated by the Mommy Wars. Every day I worry that I'm doing something wrong. That somehow I am ruining their childhood. I should have been playing instead of cleaning the kitchen. No! If they live in a messy house they will never learn to pick up after themselves! But there's always time for a story! But there's so much laundry to fold!

I keep thinking that someday, someday I will become the mama I want to be for them.

But here's the truth:

I don't have to become Mama. I already am Mama.

From the moment these two amazing, exhausting, perfectly imperfect little beings entered the world, I was Mama. Nothing in my power could ever fully prepare me for it. On my own, I am not capable of the love that they require.

But God is.

All my life He has been walking beside me, loving me with the most perfect love imaginable. It is because of His perfect love that I am able to give my children even a fraction of the love they deserve. Mama isn't something I can become. It is something He made me. He chose these two for me, and me for them.

I don't have to become Mama. He made me Mama.

And I am so glad He did.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Are you here for the Ultimate Baby Blog Hop? Welcome! I'm so glad you're here! We have an amazing lineup for you this week, and you don't want to miss it.

First of all, there is an incredible list of bloggers behind this thing! I'm honored to even be a part of it. This team of women has been working their tails off to bring you the best of the best!

How can you make sure to get all of this goodness for the next 10 days? Here's how:

1. Check out the main landing page HERE at Lemon Lime Adventures (She's the mastermind behind this thing, and she's pretty much amazing. Go show her some love!) All the bloggers on this team, and how to find and follow them will be over there!

2. Follow us on Pinterest! Everyone will be linking their posts to this board, so don't miss all the goodies.

Follow Dayna :: Lemon Lime Adventures's board Everything Baby on Pinterest.

Oh, and did I mention the giveaways?

Look at these giveaways!

I mean COME. ON! Have you every seen anything so great? All throughout the week there will be chances to win prize bundles, as well as flash giveaways. If you are a new mom, know a new mom, or think you might ever be a new mom, you want in on this!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to read what some of the rest of this fantastic group has to say about celebrating motherhood? Check them out!

Celebrating Motherhood | Real Stories from Real Moms ~ Lemon Lime Adventures

Sweet tooth: from mother to children ~ La Cité des Vents

Happy Mother’s Day {Free Printable} ~ Bare Feet on the Dashboard

The Day I Became a Mom ~ The Jenny Evolution

Being a Mom of Growing Readers  ~ Growing Book by Book

How We Ordered a Baby ~ Let the Journey Begin

I Always Said I’m Not A Baby Person ~ Pink Oatmeal

Celebrate Motherhood: They Call Me Momma ~ The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide

Mom to Three: Two Here, One in My Heart ~ Still Playing School

Time After Time ~ True Aim Education

A Hand Made Family ~ Hand Made Kids Art

Four generations ~ Wildflower Ramblings

Ten Things I Learned From Motherhood ~ Conceving Piper

3 Poems Celebrating Motherhood ~ BPhotoArt

#ItWasMom ~ Trust Me, I'm a Mom

5 things to love about multiples ~ Bambini Travel

A Letter To Myself (As a New Mom) ~ Peace but Not Quiet

Celebrating Mothers Day from the Couch ~ ALLterNATIVElearning

Happy Mother's Day from a First Time Mom ~ The Realistic Mama

I'm Not Super Mom, Just Mom to 3 Super Little Boys ~ Makeovers & Motherhood

Becoming Mama ~ It's A Long Story

Celebrating Grandmotherhood, the World's Best Job ~ Living Montessori Now

“If You Feed Them They Grow” and Other Funny Mother’s Day Quotes from Lalymom

Simply Mom ~ Plain Vanilla Mom

The Ultimate Baby Series and Giveaway ~ Natural Beach Living

Alright, friends, have fun! I'll be back later in the week with some fun baby stuff!

Be blessed,

Heather

Bring a little boy home!

Hi friends!

Meet Merissa!

A couple of weeks ago Merissa, of Little House Living,  shared that she and her husband were preparing for their first adoption fundraiser.  The blogging community quickly shared their need for donated items and hoped that many of you would come alongside of them in that effort.  But, to our surprise, Merissa announced on Easter Sunday that they had just been chosen to be the parents of a healthy baby boy born on that same day (read the full story here)!  

Today the blogging community has the opportunity to come alongside of Merissa and her family as they adopt this precious baby boy into their family!

Merissa and her husband are traveling to pick up their baby boy this  Wednesday and bring him home, but that have not had time to fundraise.

They need $12,000 in 10 days with just 3 remaining!

$12,000 sounds like a lot doesn't it?

It is.

But, with each of us giving at least $10, it's really not that much!

Can you forego a cup of coffee or a fast food lunch this week in order to bring home a new life?

Not only that, would you share this with your friends?  Email it, Facebook it, Tweet it, Pin it, Stumble it, G+ it.  Whatever you can do.  And if you're a blogger that might be willing to blog about Merissa's story, please leave a comment below or email Christie and we'll forward you the details!  

Life is worth it.  Adoption is worth it.

Let's bring this baby boy home!!

<<<< DONATE HERE >>>> 

Lord, I Need You

I've never believed that God does things like this to us. It's just not how He works. I will probably never understand why He allowed them to happen, but I don't blame Him for it.

I can't.

If I did, I wouldn't be able to cling to Him as desperately as I have been these past 4 months.

{Read more at Fancy Little Things}

Congratulations, I'm so sorry.

"Congratulations! I'm so sorry."

It's a strange combination, right?

I've heard a lot of it lately.

If you follow me on Instagram, you have probably seen that our son Owen has made his way into the world. He's amazing, and we're thoroughly smitten!

You also probably saw something that I only hinted at in these pictures.

Those legs are my dad. On November 6th he flew home from Arkansas after a successful business meeting with WalMart. That evening, just as I was putting dinner in the oven, my sister called me saying that Dad had had a seizure, and was on his way to the hospital. Off we went.
We met the rest of my family at the emergency room. Dad had had several large seizures, and was still having smaller ones, despite medication. an MRI showed an "artifact" in his brain, but there were no answers. He was admitted to the Cardio/Neuro ICU at our local hospital, fully sedated and on a ventilator. Over the next two weeks he underwent countless tests, multiple MRIs, a wicked bout of pneumonia, and two brain biopsies. In those two weeks, his diagnosis moved from possible vasculitis, something easily treatable, to brain tumors, to advanced brain cancer: Glioblastoma Multiforme. The tumors seemed to grow before our eyes.

On November 19th, we went from discussing moving Daddy from a the ventilator to a trach tube so that he could come off of sedation to learning that our only real option was to take him off the ventilator all together and "keep him comfortable".

On November 20th, I went into labor.

On November 21st, Owen Robert was born.

On November 22nd, my dad died.

"Congratulations, I'm so sorry."

I remember telling a friend, as I was having my first contractions, that I didn't know how to do these two things at the same time. How do you do two things that so desperately do not go together?

I still don't know.

Life lately has been full of things that don't go together.

One of the best days and one of the worst days of my life.

New baby gifts at a wake.

"Congratulations, I'm so sorry"

Every 21st of the month we celebrate another month with Owen, and every 22nd we grieve another month without my dad. Those two days will always be connected in the saddest of ways. I was so afraid that somehow to joy of Owen's birth would be tainted by the loss of my dad. But you know what? It wasn't. This little bundle of perfect was exactly what we needed to get through the hardest days. Just having him settled on our chests made everything a little bit easier.

Grief is a funny thing. Some days are good, and some days I feel like it punches me in the face. I know that that is normal, and that we still have a long way to go on this journey. However, our grief gets to be balanced by joy, and that is something I am so thankful for. Sometimes things that shouldn't go together fit together perfectly. I don't know why these two things had to go together, but God does. I'm so glad to have Him walking beside us through this, because I have no idea where I'm going.

Be blessed,
Heather

Do Good with #SoleHope

Hi friends!

We've been part of the new small group program at our church since the fall. We've done some great studies, and had some wonderful time together. It's so fun getting to know new people! One of the things each small group is supposed to do is participate in at least one service opportunity every few months.

Well....we've been slacking on that one.

Not on purpose, I swear! I hate to say it, but we live in the land of the hyper-involved family. It is hard to find a time that everyone has available, besides when we are in our group. So, we needed something that we could do as a group, during group.

Enter SoleHope.

Have you heard about SoleHope? They are doing amazing things, and you can help them do them!

Here, take a minute or two and learn all about them:

See? Amazing, right? The easiest way to jump in and do some good is to host a shoe cutting party, which is what we did. How it works is you order a shoe party kit for the size party you want to have. They range from 10 to 100 people, and are great for everything from small groups to youth groups! I ordered our 10 person kit and we picked a date. Since we were meeting when we usually did, we had a much better turn out. Still not everyone, but...such is life!  These parties couldn't get much simpler! You get a kit with 1 shoe size. It includes pattern pieces, a sample set, and instructions. At your party you trace and cut shoe pieces and bundle them together. These are then sent back to Sole Hope. Easy peasy!
Trace...

Cut...

Trace...cut...

Almost there!

Snap a pic of the cutie...

DONE!!

We got 4 complete pairs done! We could have done more, but we ran out of milk jugs for the plastic pieces. The great part is, we still have plenty of traced pieces to cut, so we can bring them to group next week and cut as we chat! We'll get more shoes made, and more people will get to be involved! Win win! If you're looking for a service opportunity, I cannot recommend Sole Hope enough. They are changing lives in Africa, and it is so easy to be a part of it! I am sure we will do this again! Be blessed, do good! Heather

Our Favorite Bible Storybooks

Hey there, friends.

Part of our bed time routine for quite a while now has been reading a book, and then a bible story. If it's a late bed time, then the bible story wins out. We want to make sure that Abbey is getting into the Word every day. Now if only I could get myself into the Word every day....does story time count?

Anyway.

We've tried a few different children's bibles, and I though I would share our favorites with you.

1. My First Hands-On Bible

This is actually the preschool version of the Bible that we give to our 2nd Graders at church as their "first bible" every year. It isn't the entire bible, but has most of the major stories, and some of the not so common ones as well (Balaam's talking donkey, anyone?). It includes little prompts throughout the stories to get kinds involved, and each story ends with a prayer. It is straight from the NLT translation with some condensing, so it can feel a bit "formal" sometimes for story time, but we like it a lot. When we first started reading it with Abbey we HAD to read Jesus Calms the Storm...every night...for a long time. I guess if I have to repeat a story, that's a good one to repeat! She pretty much had it memorized...



2. The Jesus Storybook Bible

We've checked this one out from the library at least 3 times. I really need to break down and buy it. I love the artwork in it, and it has much more of a "storybook" feel. Stories are paraphrased, and at the end every single one of them is tied back to Jesus. I love it. It has given me perspective on stories that I had never thought of before. Who says story time is just for the kids?

3. Jesus Calling Bible Storybook

This one is our most recent addition. It also had gorgeous artwork, and a storybook flow. At the end of each story it has a scripture verse and a "Letter from Jesus" just like the Jesus Calling devotionals. We haven't had it for long, but it's quickly becoming our go-to.

Do you have a favorite Bible story book? I would love to hear about it! Leave it for us in the comments.

Be blessed!

Heather

I Struggle

The other day a saw a picture of a friend of mine on Instagram.

It was tagged #Jesuscomesoutofherpores, and it's true. It does.

I saw that tag and my heart did a funny thing. It sort of squished up into a little ball and dropped into my stomach.

#Jesuscomesoutofherpores

I want that. So badly.

Here's the thing...I struggle. And don't get me wrong, I know for a fact that this Jesus-exuding friend of mine has worked to have the relationship with God that she does. She. has. WORKED. So I know this is not easy, but I struggle.

I say I'm going to read my bible every day....but I struggle.
I say I'm going to do a devotional...but I struggle.
I say I'm going to keep a prayer journal and pray every day...but I struggle.

But you know what? The struggle is progress.

I used to not read at all
I used to not own too many devotionals
I used to not pray unless I needed something

The struggling means I want it. The struggling means I'm not content with where I am. The struggling means I want to work.

So, rather than letting the struggle frustrate me, I'm going to allow it to motivate me.
When it feels hard, I'm going to remind myself what I'm working for.
When I'm tired, I am going to allow Jesus to meet me with the grace that he always has for me.

Thank you, Lord, for grace.

And I'm going to keep working. Not because I can earn anything on my own, but because the more time I spend with Him, the more He shines through me.

and I want Jesus pores.

Be blessed!

Heather