New York City 2012

I was blessed with the opportunity to take a trip to NYC with my mom last week.  Years ago, we started an annual tradition of going there to celebrate Uncle Lewis (her brother) and my birthday.  We hadn't gone in 5 years, which is hard to believe, but I was busy getting married and having a child...ha!

So...we thought it would be a good idea to try to go this year before Gregg and I expanded our family more (little did we know, baby #2 would join me for the trip!).  Gregg agreed to stay with Zeke, which was another huge blessing.  They had a guys weekend while we had our girl time!

Here we are the first evening in the city:

We went to Calle Ocho for dinner with Lewis, then went back to our hotel (Hotel Beacon) to rest for our busy Sunday.  I went to a Physique 57 class Sunday morning, then came back to shower and get ready for church.  Below you'll see a picture of one of the NYC studios.

Next, we were able to visit Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  This is Tim Keller's church.  He has some great books and DVDs if you're interested!  Rev. Abraham (not sure of his last name) preached at the Upper West Side location.  We enjoyed his sermon and the brass quartet that played traditional hymns.

After church we found a cafe for lunch, then rode the subway to the theatre district.  We saw Newsies and my precious friend, Kristen Tate, joined us for the show.  This movie was one of my favorites during adolescence, so the songs were all quite familiar!

After the show, we went to dinner with Kristen and her husband, Morten.  I can't believe I didn't get a shot of Morten.  They are the most adorable couple and we had fun getting to know him better and hear about his new Danish restaurant that will be opening in NYC fall of 2012!

Finally, Kristen grabbed a cab for us and we headed back to the hotel to collapse!  It was a long, wonderful day, but we needed to get to bed early.  We had tickets to see Live with Kelly the following day (Monday).  We got up early and headed to the Columbus Circle studio to wait in line.  It was raining, but that didn't stop us!

We waited a couple of hours, but once we entered the studio, everything moved pretty quickly.  Gelman warmed up the crowd, then at 9:00am Kelly came out with Carrie Ann Inaba as her co-host.  Chris Pine, an actor, and Andy Cohen (a host) were the guests along with Blues Traveler. 

During the commercials, Kelly came out into the audience to meet people and sign autographs.  She always took a microphone so everyone could hear her.  She was hilarious and adorable.  Every time we've been to the show, she has been this way, which makes us love her even more!

After the June 25th show was over, the co-hosts went back to change.  They recorded the introduction and closing for July 5th too, which meant we got to stay for that.

It was a long, but fun morning.  We headed back to the room to eat lunch before we went shopping.  We walked A LOT, and ended up back at our hotel to get ready for dinner with Lewis at Porterhouse.  This was our late birthday celebration!

Tuesday morning we got up early to take a Physique 57 class together.  I was so proud of my mom for completing the class even though her knees were bothering her.  She did great.  My morning sickness slowed me down a bit, but I still had a blast!

After that it was time to shower, eat lunch, and walk around the city a little bit before Lewis took us to the airport.  He has a Tomtom navigation system that is set to the voice of a Hungarian grandmother.  It was one of the highlights of the trip...heehee!

We were so sad to leave, but looked forward to getting back to our loved ones.  Gregg kept Zeke awake so I could see him before he went to bed.  He was happy to see Mama AND Wynna!

It was a time with my mom that I will always cherish.  I thank God for her love, wisdom, friendship, and faith.  She blesses me more than she'll ever know!

HIS perfect timing

Over the past several months the Lord has done a work in my heart.  I was desiring to know Him more and felt like I wasn't hearing Him.  He placed it on my heart to make some changes in our home.  We got rid of the wireless network and moved our laptops upstairs.  I committed to only log onto the computer during Zeke's nap time (like right now!) or for a few minutes in the evening if something was pressing. 

As a result, I have felt pure freedom.  I don't feel the pull to check my email multiple times per day.  I'm not on Facebook as much, which has enriched the relationships of those who I actually see or talk to each day.  I find that I'm able to accomplish so many more of the daily tasks I want to complete.  Zeke has my full attention when we are playing and won't have to grow up with a mommy glued to a screen all of the time.  I've also noticed that Gregg and I have had more quality time together in the evenings.  Even if we just watch a television show together or read alongside one another, it seems we are both more in tune. 

The Lord has also convicted me of my unhealthy focus on myself and constant thoughts about having another baby.  They always say the best way to step outside of yourself is to do something for someone else.  I debated whether I should even write this here because I don't want it to sound like it's anything I've done. 

I don't want to boast...about myself.  I want to boast....about God!  He led me to organize a fellowship of the ladies in my neighborhood to discuss starting a Bible study.  I didn't know much about these ladies, aside from their names.  We live in a small neighborhood of thirteen homes.  I put fliers in their mailboxes and waited for their replies.  I heard from two ladies the first day, and that was it.  I finally called the women the night before the fellowship and one other lady said she would be there. 

Wow, did God go above and beyond (as He always does)!  Those three women were each interested in attending the study.  They each longed for something like this for various reasons, in addition to desiring a sense of community.  We get to have both.  We get to grow in God's Word together and get to know each other.  We begin a four week study on July 10 and one of the ladies already asked me what we would study next!  God is so good!

Now many of you know Gregg and I have desired to have another child.  I took a pregnancy test on Monday, June 18th, which was negative.  God really gave me a peace about the negative test result. I had written the following in my journal prior to that on June 14, 2012:

"God, please help me to abide in you no matter what my circumstances. I want to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and really surrender my worries. Thank you for these truths."

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. ~ John 15:4

...,casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 10:5

I truly was praising Him for this new opportunity with the women in my neighborhood, in addition to the extra time Zeke and I will have together as Mommy and only son.  I was praising Him in this circumstance of not being pregnant and He was blessing me through His Word, Gregg, Zeke, my mom, Christy, Dena, Teresa, and the women in my group.

This morning (June 20th), I woke up feeling nauseous.  I decided to go ahead and take another pregnancy test just to be sure.  To my GREAT surprise, it was positive!!!  Gregg and I are expecting another baby somewhere near the end of February 2013! 

God brought me to a place of total peace and trust in His plan before he allowed me to see the positive test result.  I was pregnant that whole time, but I wasn't ready for the news until today.  I know the result could have been different this time, and I would have (and was) okay with that.  I was able to focus fully on getting to know the ladies last night before finding out the exciting news today.

I am beyond thrilled, though, that God is knitting together our precious second child in my womb.  I praise Him because this child is fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Your prayers would mean the world to us right now.  We have to deal with decisions about treatment options for my thyroid and blood sugar.  We want to be wise and protect this child as much as we can, but also trust that God loves him or her even more than we do.

Praise God!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Father's Day, by the way!  Here are a few of our photos from Father's Day 2012:

Then Zeke said...

Zeke is saying so many cute things now, that I couldn't possibly write them all down, but I wanted to write a few of my favorite words and phrases...

'Pway...pway again" = Pray...pray again (he's always eager to pray at mealtimes and randomly, and doesn't want to stop...praise God!)

"I yuv you" = I love you

"Luh-bee" - Lovey (his blankie)

"Happy laps" = He loves to run laps around his room before nap and bedtime while squealing (Mommy and Daddy often join in too)

"Z-E-K-E, spells Zeke!" = Loves to say this each night as we put him to bed and he sees his name on the wall

"Bauble" = Bible

"Hug, big hug, Mama" (also "kiss on cheek") = He wants a big hug and kiss on the cheeck, but we have to do it twice,which is okay with me!

"I okay" = I'm okay (says right after he gets hurt like he's trying to convince himself he's okay!)

"Mount moo cakes" = pancakes (not sure how this developed, he calls mountains mount moos!)

"...too" = says too after pointing out any object that he sees twice (i.e. ball...ball too, antelope, antelope too, light bulb too)

"Chelle, chickens, baby, bak-ball hoop, move car, great job, bye bye chickens" = Miss Michelle, baby, basketball hoop, move the car, great job, bye-bye chickens (all referring to his memories of swimming lessons...she has a chicken coop in her back yard!)

"Bye bye poop poos!" = When I flush his poo poo after changing his cloth diaper (sorry if that's TMI!)

"Kitty-cat, Meow" = When referring to our cats

"Geen coal wah-er" = Green cold water (his green glass water bottle)

"Papa new light bulb" = My mom had my dad replace a light bulb in their bedroom.  Now he says this every time he sees the lamp.  He also, basically, points out any light bulb he sees...ANYWHERE!

"Papa sick it" = Papa will fix it (He thinks my dad can fix anything!)

"Gunna water dat plant" = I'm going to water that plant (we have a hanging plant on the front porch he loves to help water)

"Geen boon" = green balloon, which actually refers to any color, size, or shape balloon!


I know I'll publish this and think of several others I wanted to add, but that's it for now.  He brings joy and laughter to our home everyday.  I thank God for allowing me to be Zeke's mom!