So lately I have been wanting to blog. Really! I look at all these amazing women on other blogs that I follow and I wish that I could be a Mom like them or a wife like them. To me their life seems absolutely perfect and I know all to well...

...my life is not perfect.

That is humbling.

So here I sit wanting to blog about the cloth diapers that I used, the completely natural 17 hour labor that I had, the amazing whole foods I have been making for my family, my clean house, the latest DIY project I have been doing, the latest devotional the Lord has laid on my heart and so many other things. Yet. I can't.

Real life of Katy here:

I wanted to use cloth diapers, even bought them. They are adorable and I love them. However, when little man was two weeks old we took a trip to NY and they got left behind. So, he has been in pampers for his entire 6 week life.

Now, there is a really neat alternative (completely chemical free and plant based disposables) that I will be using that I just found and LOVE (more on that later) but still-I wanted to do cloth.

I was so set on a natural home birth. I had it all planned out in my mind and was SO excited for it. Then-my blood pressure rose and I ended up in a hospital with a birth that EVERYTHING I did not want to happen-happened.

I felt HORRIBLE for having an epidural and really struggled with GUILT that I was not a good enough Mom for my son just because I could not handle the pain (my labor was induced).

The thing was though that once I got the epidural I was able to sleep for a few hours which I really needed for when I started to push (considering I had not eaten anything and had not really slept well the night before due to contractions) but still-I wanted a completely natural birth.

I want to be completely whole foods/organic when it comes to the foods that I am feeding my family. However, first of all it is quite expensive and second of all I am somewhat lazy at times when it comes to making meals. Quicker is so much easier and I hate that sometimes I sacrifice nutrition or even variety for something that is easier.

The neat thing is that while I am not quite where I would like to be I am a lot farther towards healthier living then I was a year ago but still-I want to be where I NEED to be...now.

I want to have a perfect house. Real life-it is hard for me to motivate myself and so it does not get cleaned the way it needs to. Actually right now it does not really count because we don't even have a house since we are in NY with family but still-I want to create a haven for my husband and son.

The neat thing is that soon we will be heading back to Florida and I will have the opportunity to work on being more motivated and creating a haven for my family in my little white house.

I want to do so many DIY projects! Thing is that I just don't have or don't MAKE the time.

I want to change that. I want to MAKE time for projects instead of just being in awe of them when I see them on pinterest.


I want to be able to share the latest thing that the Lord has been teaching me or write a devotional that He has laid on my heart. Truth to be told I can't because I have really been struggling with spending time with Him.

That is GOING to change. And it started last night when Jason and I sat and prayed over Elijah and asked the Lord to help us be parents that HE wanted us to be. It started when I asked the Lord's forgiveness for not MAKING HIM A PRIORITY and trying to live life...well, without Him.

One of my biggest vices is the time that I spend on the computer. It really is hard for me to not waste hours of my time on it. That was also something I repented of.

No. I am not perfect. In fact, I am far from it. But I want to be more like Jesus and right now that involves me taking the time to really re-prioritize my time starting with the time I spend on the computer.

I will still be around but-I will be much more careful to not let wanting my life to be like ____________________ but instead focus on the life that God has given me and living it first and foremost for HIS honor and glory and then investing it into my little family that He has blessed me with.

I am not perfect.

I am me and yet I am striving to be more like HIM. Because without Jesus Christ...life is really never truly able to be LIVED.

So many times life is about me. So many times all I think about is what I want in a situation. It needs to end. Jesus needs to be the center of my life once again instead of me trying to fit Him in my life where it is most convenient for me.

What about you? Do you ever struggle with feeling imperfect or with comparing yourself to those around you? Do you struggle with not having Jesus the center of your life? Have you talked to the Lord about it lately?

We had communion today for church and I sat in the back ,with my sweet little man cooing away, and I talked to the Lord about it. About making Him the center of my life once again. About spending more consistent time with Him in the Word and in prayer.

I re-surrendered.

And I continue to re-surrender...and I am pretty sure it will be an everyday thing. But you know what-that is ok. Because honestly that is real life for me right now...

I am re-visiting three posts from the year 2012 :) This post was origionally published on June 3, 2012. Enjoy!

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A long time ago (ok so less than two years ago because that is how long I have known him) I was just starting to get to know Jason. "Oddly enough" he had started spending a lot more time with us at church and Bible studies and just hanging out (ok don't judge me I was still in denial lol).

At the time we went as a group to clean a friend of our families house. They were returning from a year in the mission field and the people that had been renting their house had just up and left leaving a wreck at their house (literally it smelled so bad we were gagging the first time we went in).

We got to work but there were two places people did not want to touch. That was the two bathrooms. We truly thought that we were going to have to replace to toilets they were so beyond disgusting.

We worked the first evening and then continued to come back and work on the house over the next few days. The toilets had stilled not been cleaned and no one out of the group was going near them with a 10 foot pole! Then-one night Jason did something that made such an impression on me and spoke volumes about his character.

I remember distinctly working in the living room and glancing up to see him quietly scrubbing away at the worst toilet out of the two. He didn't make a big deal about it. He didn't draw attention to it. He just did it. He took the least desirable job that no one wanted and did something about it. Humbly. Quietly. Without a word of complaint.

I remember just standing there amazed. Watching him and realizing that I had seen just another thing that proved that he was a man of depth and character.

He scrubbed that toilet for a long LONG time and by the time it was done it looked brand new. Once it was done he just moved on to the next thing that needed to be done but that left such an impression.

Why do I bring this up again?

Well, last night I was laying in bed absolutely exhausted and unable to move. When all the sudden I blearily opened my eyes and there my husband was-cleaning the toilets. His sister came today and he was doing his best to help clean.

Now, you have to understand, that the bathroom is a chore I really do not like at all and so just seeing him sacrificially just serving and trying to make things easier on his very swollen, exhausted pregnant wife just reminded me again what depth of character my husband has.

He is such a prince. Truly, he was so worth waiting for! To think that God blessed me with such a godly man truly humbles me. I am so thankful!

Besides Jesus-Jason is the best thing that has ever happened to me.


Who would have thought that scrubbing toilets would be a reminder of how blessed I truly am? God is so good!

What little reminders has God placed in your life lately? I would love to hear about it :)

"I started this a few days ago and am now just publishing it! Better late then never ;)

I am sitting in the dining room with my sweet little boy sleeping in the swing. The dishwasher is chugging away. An early lunch I made for my love is sitting on the stove waiting to be put away.

It is peaceful in here.

I just realized how peaceful it was. In spite of some things.

It is not my dining room. My baby boy is not sleeping in his swing. It is not our dishwasher chugging away. It is not our stove that heated up my husbands lunch.

I have been struggling these past few weeks, well ok, months, with-contentment. We are truly believing that the Lord has us moving on to the next chapter of our lives and right now that means that we are having to wait.

I have been doing a lot of looking around at others and comparing what they have that I don't have.

Not really a good idea...

I am learning the importance of being content in the here and now. Not looking around at others but instead realizing the importance of just looking at Jesus.

Only Him.

I need to keep reminding myself of that. Look only to Jesus...and believe that He knows what is best for this time of waiting."

It is hard to believe that almost a year ago exactly my little guy was snug in my belly! No really he was!


And now he is here with us! He truly has changed our lives in the best way ever!


It is amazing the things that can happen in a year! 2013 is almost upon us so I decided that I would do a look back on 2012.

I am going to be reposting my three top posts from this last year within the next few days so stay  tuned! I hope you enjoy them!

Tis the season! Christmas is almost here! This morning Jason and I were looking at pictures from the last year and I just have to say that I am feeling so very humbled and blessed! God is so good!

I am sorry that I have not been posting as much as normal. We have moved to a new apartment and internet access is very limited. I really appreciate people checking up on me just making sure we have been ok :) You are all such a blessing!

You know how we all go through different seasons in life? For example:

Christmas season 2011 we were still in Florida. We did not have our own Christmas tree because we came back up to NY for Christmas to visit. 

Christmas 2012? Well, we are officially moved back to NY. We are now in our own apartment that we absolutely love and our sweet baby boy is now eight months old!

Eight months!

When did that happen???

My photographer friend Holly came and just blessed us with a session with Elijah and wow what an adorable little guy he is (no I am not biased at all lol).

If I could think of one word to sum up my little man it would have to be this: He is a character.


This is my little guy! The little hat, suspenders and bow tie-what a cutie :) Can you see the twinkle in his eyes? It is there most of the time :)


See those eyes? Oh my goodness I love this kid so very much! I don't know when he started to grow up but oh my he is growing up so quickly-too quickly!


See that smile? He literally smiles almost all the time! I have never seen a more contented kid! He is so very happy! So happy! Such a joy to have around :) He melts my heart with that smile :)

The other day it happened. He started to crawl!!  Slowly at first but he is definitely  starting to get the hang of it!

My life will never be the same again! *grin*


He is a little over six and a half months old! Where has the time gone? Definitely trying to her ish each and every moment! It really does just fly by!!

Friday, November 9, 2012-my little man took another step towards growing up...

In July one of my best friends in the world Rebecca was able to come and visit us with her husband for a few days. It was so much fun!

One of the days we spent at a park by in our area and she was able to take some family pictures.

Recently she has been really working to get her photography business up off the ground and yesterday she was able to edit and post our pictures!

















Please check out her photography business-JuReam Photography!

You can visit her blog for more information here at Butterfly Days.

Also check out her facebook page: 

I am not really a political person. Meaning: I do not like confrontation or the possibility of making someone upset. Today, however, I am going to risk that for him:


But wait...it says that is a baby! But according to its gestational age which is nine weeks it is not a baby-if we want it to not be. If we want that little peanut of a being then YES!!! It is a BABY!!!! But what of the baby that no one wants?

Society has decided that it is exceptably to just get rid of it in such a way that it will never be a "problem" again...they kill it.

Life...one of our basic rights and yet millions have been slaughtered without much remorse.

Abortion kills and destroys not only the innocent babies but also the lives of the mother (more on that in a later post).

My heart breaks for these precious children that have never been given a chance to really live. My heart breaks for their Mama's who will never know the joy of holding them in their arms, that first smile, the first laugh...

My heart breaks.

But then I wonder what can I do?

Well, there is something I am going to do on Tuesday and that is this:

I am going to vote for LIFE.

I have started following an organization called Live Action and yesterday they sent out an email and I felt compelled to share it with all of you:

"When discussing the candidates and the issues at stake with your family and friends, there are five things that you should make sure they know about President Barack Obama.

1) President Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act FOUR times, horrifyingly voting against protecting babies who survived abortion
 and voting in favor of leaving them to die
 -- a vote against this legislation was a vote for infanticide. [Source]

2) On his third day in office, President Obama repealed the pro-life "Mexico City Policy". By doing this, President Obama made groups that perform and promote abortion eligible for U.S. foreign aid funds. [Source] 

 3) Planned Parenthood's funding jumped from 33% to nearly 50% -- over $487 million in taxpayer funding now goes to the abortion giant (under Obama and his administration). This is almost half a billion dollars that American families are forced to pay in tax dollars to the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. [Source]

 4) President Obama refused to sign an emergency budget, putting funding the military at risk, until Planned Parenthood funding was included in the budget. This was following Live Action's Sex Trafficking investigation, showing Planned Parenthood aiding and abetting the sex traffickers of underage girls. [Source]

5) The President has pushed for his 'pet legislation', The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), which would help fund 'community health centers' (Planned Parenthood is their prime target). Additionally, the HHS mandate would force all Americans to fund abortion and contraception, with no exceptions for religious institutions nor religious individuals who are vehemently against abortion and contaception. [Source]

 Please continue to engage your friends and family, and encourage them to vote for life. Nothing is more fundamental to a society than the right to life. Life must come first when casting our ballot on Tuesday November 6th. Have you pledged to Vote for Life?"
We must do something to stop this massacre of millions of babies!! We as Christians are called to defend those who cannot defend theirselves! What are we doing about it?

As for the other candidates in this election-where do they stand on the issue of LIFE? Check out this article here: Live Action Insider Guide to the 2012 Election.

This is Saturday and I have decided (in an effort to make blogging more regular around here) to make Saturdays the day that I share with you some of my favorite posts from fellow bloggers that have encouraged me or impacted me in some way.

So here we go:

I love my friend Callie from over at Through Clouded Glass! She is such an inspiration to me! One thing she has inspired me to want to try is a gender reveal party for whenever our next little one decides to come along! Check it out here: "Our Second Gender Reveal Party."

Through my sister Jen's friend Sarah I was able to meet September McCarthy from over at One September Day. What a blessing she is! And an inspiration! Truly she is one of those people I walked away from going: "Wow, someday when I 'grow up' I want to be like her." When I first checked out her blog her story really impacted me. Check it out here: "The Refiner's Fire-Our Story".

Ok, this is just a fun blog that I love but here it goes. I love the Duggar family! They are such an inspiration to me and I really enjoy their show! I recently found this blog with updates about them and videos and thought I would share it with you. Check it out: Duggar Family Blog.

This post from The Purposeful Wife on holiday cleaning actually really helped me! It has some great links to so cleaning schedules and is a great resource! Check it out here: "Your Holiday Cleaning Plan..."

Have fun reading! I will be on the look out this next week for some links to share with you all next Saturday!

What are some posts that have impacted you lately? I would love to hear about them!

Blessings!

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