Change

Be strong and courageous

is the new Sally motto.

Change is coming

some expected

yeah new baby!

Change is coming

some unexpected…and a little scary

Change is coming

and we would appreciate your prayers.

Much love,
The Woman With 4 First Names

A Year Full Of Buttercup

Our daughter turned 1 this month.  She's now been on this earth, outside of the womb, one whole entire year (plus some days).  Wow.

Last year when it was time to switch the calendar to February I was anxiously awaiting my body to GO INTO LABOR.  After all my due date was February 2nd and I was ready to have my body back as my own and to meet the baby that was growing inside of me.  My baby had other plans, she was content being all snugly in the womb.  Hence being induced and going through 36 hours of labor that resulted in a c-section.  That was what my daughter had in store for me.  My daughter's name is Madden, we had several possible names picked out and I told Mustang that in order for her to be "Madden" she would have to come out with some spunk.  She did. 

I remember...

• holding her and letting her sleep in my arms because I couldn't bear to put her down
• taking more pictures in her first year of life than we probably will for the next five
• hearing her laugh for the first time
• how excited we were when she slept through the night the first time...and then when it happened again
• looking at little kids shortly after Mustang and I began dating and wondering if we did get married what our kids would look like, be like...and being blown away the first time I was able to see Buttercup
• how Buttercup's smile has always been big and beautiful
• how this year offered us our first glimpses into her personality
• saying multiple times how Buttercup is her Daddy's daughter...a little social butterfly
• Mustang telling people that she's a Momma's girl
• thinking I would only call her Maddie...and realizing that I actually prefer Madden or Madds
• her first steps (at least the ones that I got to see)
• falling in love with and appreciating her more every day

This past year has been wonderful, great, hard, sleep-depriving, anxiety-ridden, fantastic and full of love.  Seeing my husband as a father...I fall in love with him time and time again.  We are so thankful for our Buttercup, she has brought so much joy into our family and we are looking forward to living life with a 1 year old!

Much love!
~The Woman With 4 First Names 

Tarzan and New Year's Resolutions

Tonight was a good night.  I don't say that because most nights aren't...because most nights are good nights...this one just definitely was very good and I wanted to acknowledge that and those that I shared it with!

I created this blog with the original intent of focusing only on the good.  Giving a one-sided view and with maybe a sarcastic side-note here or there into some of the hard things.  But I want to focus on the good.

WHY?

Because I am blessed.  I am so blessed.  And I want to acknowledge that...I want to stay rooted in that...I want to live out my favorite lyrics "you have been changed to bring change".



Our VERY Blessed Family

I also want to be honest.  I have struggles.  And this last year those struggles rooted themselves in me...in my habits and in my home.

Which means this next year is going to be about breaking some bad habits...about rooting myself in God's word...about beating on God's chest a little (or a lot) because He can handle it.

Therefore, I resolve to be a bit more Tarzan-like this next year.  I resolve to love others more.  I resolve to be the me that's been changed so that I can be a part of God's plan.


Buttercup says "Bring it on 2012!"

Much love,
The Woman With 4 First Names 

Hairs Got Cut

I think Buttercup approves! 

Much love,
The (shorter-haired) Woman With 4 First Names

 And, PS - I swear I'm not a ghost...color and my skin just are at odds.  Buttercups rosy cheeks and red-button nose really stand out in this picture!  Just call her Rudolf...but don't actually because name calling isn't very nice.

Gifts From the Heart

Mustang and I put a $25 limit on Christmas spending on each other.  The main reason being because we continue to participate in Advent Conspiracy through our church.  Advent Conspiracy (http://ac.wcrossing.org/default.aspx?page=3684) challenges people to...Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All...confused?  It boils down to re-thinking the way you do Christmas in order to focus on worshipping Jesus, prioritizing spending time and making memories over spending money on gifts and releasing extra dollars to others in the world who are in need.  One of AC's purposes...to solve the water crisis our world is in...from the website: "more people die each year from drinking dirty water than from the world’s hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes combined".  Ultimately, a small single paragraph trying to explain all that is Advent Conspiracy can not do the job nor is it the intention of this post...but our participating in Advent Conspiracy means less dollars available to spend on gifts for each other...and the purpose of this post is to talk about what Mustang and I did with the $25 we had to spend.

Let's start with me...because ladies first, right?  As in...let's start with what I 'purchased' for Mustang.

I fretted and I hummed and I hawed...what, WHAT do I get him???  After hemming and hawing and fretting, I decided on a multi-dimensional approach.  Mustang had four things to open last night when we exchanged gifts.

• While casually shopping frantically searching at Target for something fun and inexpensive I ran across a golf score counter thingy.  It helps you keep track of you strokes and putts...but not mother dogs.

• The second gift was a coupon for a date night for January totally planned by ME...stay tuned in January to learn the details. 

• The third gift...well the third gift speaks for itself:

•  The fourth gift was a framed picture collage from 2011 for Mustang to add to his desk collection at work.

And what did I get for Christmas...well a picture says a thousand words, right?

Do you know? 

Can you guess? 

Stumped?

Inside this very unassuming box was 52 cards...that's right 52 pre-written cards from Mustang to ME.  There was an additional card on top of the box (sorry I did not capture my pictures correctly)...so in total 53 cards...for me...ME.  One for our Christmas gift exchange night and the rest...one card for each week of the next year.  Some weeks I get to pick which day I want to open the card...other weeks I have specific days that I must open the card...January 1st is a specified day week...I'm guessing February 6th and/or 14th might be specified day weeks, as well as July 18th...but I have not checked to see how many are specified days.

I, also, was the lucky recipient of 2 additional beads for my charm bracelet.  Hallmark $7 each...gotta love a steal.



Don't worry folks...Buttercup was there and having a blast eating the wrapping paper that her own gifts were wrapped in.  She didn't quite get the whole unwrapping thing but loved her gifts once they were OUT.

Merry Christmas!

~The Woman With 4 First Names

Fa La La La La...

We decked our halls! 

Okay...2 posts in one day I know after such a long dry spell...crazy!  But as I'm sitting here trying to keep the house quiet to allow Buttercup some good rest (she's been a bit 'off' this last week) I just can't help myself!

So...we decked our halls!!  Christmas decorating is going to be a time of good cheer and grand memories in our house I just know it.  Mustang and I LOVE IT.  It's 'slap-your-momma' fun!  (Sorry insider joke for those that get Mustang's southern humor). 

It starts by pulling out our fake Christmas tree.  It took awhile to convince me to go fake, but ultimately I have no sense of smell so why deal with the additional mess that a real tree makes when I can't smell it? 

The fluffing begins...

It's all about your light strategy people...you have to layer the lights in.

Buttercup was VERY interested in the whole process.

Leave it to Mustang to pull out the Baby Bjorn so Buttercup could be in on the action...

Mustang...your head is shinning...

My most favorite thing about decorating for Christmas is putting out the Nativity Set.  It was my favorite thing to do growing up and it remains at the top of the list now as an adult.  I can't wait for Buttercup to be old enough to help but just being able to point out baby Jesus to her and have a tid-bit of how it might be in years to come made my heart sing (off-key probably but still it SANG!).

And no sooner had it begun and we were done.  The tree was up and decorated and beautiful and the Nativity Set was placed in its home for this Christmas season. 

Merry Christmas!!
~ The Woman With 4 First Names

The External Processor and The Worry-Wart

Which one of those would you like to be?  Which one of those do you think I am?  Which one of those do you think Mustang is?  Are we both both of them?

My husband is an EXTERNAL PROCESSOR.  Capital E, capital X, capital TERNAL PROCESSOR! 

I am a WORRY-WART.  Capital W, capital O, capital RRY-WART!

Whoow!  Feels good to dump that out!

I grew up in a town of 300ish people.  I was so afraid of being kid-napped that I wouldn't even walk from our house to our garage (maybe 50 feet) by myself after dark.  My parents might have gone a little overboard on stranger danger with me.  I also have an over-active imagination...and for some reason have never 'day-dreamed/fantasized' about good and lovely things happening, but instead imagine and live out the worst of the worst in my head.

Mustang has no filter, he says what is on his mind (oh boy does he!).  He needs to wrap his head around situations.  He needs to tell people about what he's dealing with - the good, the bad and the frustrating.  He needs to vent...to me.  He needs loving input...from me.  He needs validation...from me.  He needs ME to listen and to hear him.

Did I mention that I'm a worry-wart (capital W and all that jazz)?  I have yet to learn how to be there for my husband and support him and hear him and love him through the bad and the frustrating without becoming paralyzed by my worry.

So where is the balance?  I have NO IDEA.  And that's okay for me right now.  I'm looking towards 2012 as a time of less worry, more supporting and in general a year of hope and faith.  The church I go to just did a sermon on hope and, as I was reminded last night, it was AMAZING!

I am so little in God's grand plan and I want to make it so that He can use ME, use MUSTANG, use BUTTERCUP in HIS STORY.  There is no reason to worry when you know you are under His Grace.  But those are easy words to write and HARD words to live out.  My prayer for 2012 is that I grow in this area...that I grow BIG in this area.

Much Love,
~The Woman With 4 First Names