I'm Perfect. Aren't You?

A few weeks ago I shared with you that I was chosen to do a book review for Jill Savage's newest book "No More Perfect Moms."  Jill is the CEO of Hearts at Home, an amazing ministry that is all about encouraging and equipping moms in all seasons of life!  

I had the privilege of meeting Jill last summer at She Speaks.  I knew quite a bit about her since her ministry is based in my town, plus I know her daughter in law, but had never actually met her in person and introduced myself.  She is such an amazing women!  She has such an amazing heart and she blessed me so much at She Speaks by eating dinner with me one night!  

But back to the reason for this post..."No More Perfect Moms."  I can't even begin to describe how excited I am about this book!  I have read through the first few chapters so far and already have teared up many times.  I've felt a lot of judgement in my short time of being a mom:  judged about being a working mom when others thought I should stay at home, and even judged others about many things myself.  I am guilty.  Guilty of setting too high of expectations on myself and on others.  Guilty of thinking I knew better about something than another mom did.  Guilty of thinking my way was "the" way.  

Before I even knew Jill was working on this book God was breaking my heart on the matter.  He was revealing to me my hardened heart and helping me realize that I didn't appreciate being judged by others or having high expectations placed upon me, so why would I do the same thing to others?   He was helping me understand that it's sin.  Flat out wrong to judge another whether you think you know better or not.  It's time to break down our barriers and differences between one another ladies and start encouraging one another as women of God to be faithful to what He calls each of us to, and that might look differently for your family than mine.  

No More Perfect Moms will help you...

• Change your unrealistic expectations to realistic expectations in order to better manage everyday challenges.

• Give grace and love to your husband and children even in difficult family life circumstances.

• Increase your confidence when you resist the urge to compare your insides to other women's outsides.

• Discover the beauty of grace when you stop judging yourself and stop judging others.

• Find freedom from disappointment when you embrace your real family, your real challenges, and your real, but imperfect, life.

As we start the New Year friends I encourage you to check out Jill's book.  You will not be disappointed!  Don't buy it yet though!  You can read all about it here.  

Also, Jill has a FREE 31 day email challenge that starts on January 1st!  Visit this link to sign up now!  

Also, visit here to find out all the details about purchasing the book.  If you wait until February 4-9th when the book is released you will get lots of extra bonuses! 

Finally, would you please share this with your friends?  Whether it be this blog post or a direct link to the books website, if you have ever felt judged as a women, as a wife, or as a mother than don't you think many others have felt the same?  Please share this book with them too because each of our hearts need to be healed from the judgement by God's truth!

Blessings,

I'll be out for the rest of the week.  I'm enjoying a little time away with my family!  Be back soon!

  

Morning friends!  I can't even begin to express how excited I am about the news I am sharing with you today!  Last summer after coming home from the She Speaks Conference, I had tried to start researching more options for how I could get myself home more hours for week to be more of a work at home mom than a work away from home mom.  In the process I inquired to my friend Theresa who also attended She Speaks about some freelancing questions.  She is a wealth of knowledge and has done freelancing for years!  Ultimately as I prayed about it more I knew freelancing on non scriptural topics wasn't for me.

After much prayer I knew God had set the verses in Titus 2 on my heart for a reason and as I continue to pray about what that means in writing, speaking, and life coaching, I continue to try to trust Him as He stretches and molds me to look more like Him.  I am so glad you each are along for the journey friends!  I know He wants the very same for you.  To set aside your failures, trust Him that He will give you confidence in your fears, and follow after His heart to look more like Him so you too can live a life on purpose.  I'm a work in progress friends, so glad you decided to join me!

And now without further ado, my news....Theresa has chosen to share me on her business feature for the International Christian Mompreneur Network.  You can check out the article here !!

So blessed to even be considered!  Thank you Theresa for your help encouraging moms everywhere!

Blessings,

Leaving a Legacy

With all holidays comes visiting family and friends that we don't necessarily see too often the rest of the year, and with that, at least in my mind comes extra thoughts of pondering and contemplating life.  Deep right?  :)

Dave is still blessed with 3 living grandparents.  All of mine have long since passed away, and with each one I watched my parents struggle to know how to handle having an elderly parent.  I watched my grandparents fight for control.  I watched their eyes sadden as they lost their spouse, lost their house when they no longer could live unassisted, lost their drivers license, lost their health, etc.  No matter who it was they each lost something as they neared the end of their lives.  I now watch Dave's parents going through the same thing as they help assist their own parents with new living situations, etc.  It's heartbreaking.  It's hard and as a mom myself now I am realizing someday I too will go through this with my own parents, with Dave's parents, and ultimately my children will help us through this phase of our lives someday as well.  

As I watch them go through it I can't help but wonder what I will have to give up in my own life? What will I lose?  What will I gain?  And I realize, that all these things that each of our own family has worked so hard for, ultimately will be lost.  Whether its a house, a financial investment, whatever is left over when we are gone, won't be ours anymore.  It will be passed onto the next generation or given to a charity or somewhere else there is a need.  Though I don't think as Christians we are called to be financially irresponsible, it really made me think hard and deep about the type of legacy we want to leave for our own children.  Will I work so hard my entire life to gain financial success and accomplishments and forever be known as the person with a million trophies, and millions of dollars, or will I be the women whose heart for God was evident in all that she did?  Financial gain or not, was obedient to Christ in all that I did in this life?  Someday when I die will I stand before our Savior and hear "Well done, good and faithful servant?"  

Financial gain is not bad.  Nor are accomplishments in this life whether big or small, but like all things, they can be bad when not done for the glory of God.  What about you?  What type of legacy will you leave behind?  Will it be a life filled with "We need a better car, better house, bigger retirement portfolio?"  or will it be a life filled with "God asked me to go here so I did.  He wanted me to serve there so I did.  He asked me to lay down my life, and I did." 

I pray that each and everyone of us will choose to dive deep into the very heart of God to seek out His very best for our lives and not lose a moment of choosing to live and leave behind the legacy that He desires for us to live!

Blessings,

From our Home to Yours

Photo credit:  Made and created on Shutterfly.com

Merry Christmas!!!

Blessings,

Gingerbread Cookies

I'm pretty sure I mentioned in a previous post how obsessed Abbie is currently with the Gingerbread Man on our Christmas Tree.  Well I don't really like sweets sitting around the house too often because I don't have self  control about anything dessert related, but come on...it's Christmas, and I have a kid now.  Everyone knows how much fun making Christmas cookies with your family is.  So we opted for making these delicious Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies.  They were perfect and really not your true Gingerbread cookie.  They were more of a sugar cookie with a hint of ginger and cinnamon.  Absolutely perfect and delicious!

Gingerbread Cookies 

(Submitted by Kim (footballgrl16 on allrecipes.com)

1 (3.5oz pkg) of cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Cream together pudding mix, butter, and sugar until smooth.
2. Stir in the egg.  Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon and stir into the pudding mixture.  Cover and chill dough until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease baking sheet and roll out dough on a lightly floured area until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut into shapes using cookie cutters of your choice.  Place cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven or until cookies are golden brown.
5. Cool on wire racks.
6. Once cool, frost using your favorite butter cream frosting.  I found that mine looked much prettier when I used my decorator tip for detailing on the cookies.

We may or may not have gotten in a flour fight....pretty sure I started it :) 

Rolling some dough, cutting some cookies, and eating some frosting!

Enjoying some cookies with Dad

Pretty little Gingerbread Men!

Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie recipe?  Please share your favorites and links to recipes if you have them!

Blessings,

DIY: Simple Wood Manger

I know I have mentioned this manger before, and believe me there are far more talented DIYers in the world, but I only can get better the more I practice!  I initially saw this idea online and went hunting for a tutorial.  All I could find were pictures so we guessed from looking at the pictures and this is what we came up with!  The point of this manger is merely for looks and for teaching.  I wanted to have something tangible for our family during the holidays that would help remind us to give and do nice things for others around us.  This manger allows us to do that perfectly while also teaching the Christmas story.  During the holiday season when we do something nice to help out another person or for our kids, when they do something without being told, etc they get to add a piece of straw to the manger to help make Jesus' bed.  On Christmas morning I will put a baby Jesus in the manger. Abbie is so young its hard for her to grasp, but she is starting to understand and you have to start somewhere.  I think in the future I would like to continue this during the rest of the year by having a glass jar on the counter in plain sight of our family that we add brightly colored glass marbles or something to.  Then as we fill it up maybe we could use it as a rewards system to go do a fun thing as a family or something.  I haven't fully thought about that yet but parenting is always a work in progress!  So here it goes...our manger.  Hope you enjoy!

Materials

• (4) 1 x 9 inch wood pieces (we almost could have just used lathe)
• (2) 14.5 x 4 inch pieces cut from (use 1/8 inch plywood)
• Wood glue
• Yellow Construction Paper

**To be honest...you can make the manger as big or small as you want to just make sure your pieces are all the same as listed above.  The size we made ends up being about the size of a medium to large slim shoe box

Directions

1. Gather your materials and cut all pieces as listed above using a table saw.  The (4) 1 x 9 inch pieces will need a notch cut half way down on all pieces.  Only cut half way through them though.  See illustration below to help you visualize how this will all come together.  The 4 pieces will be used as the legs/base of your manger forming to "Xs" like this:  

     2.  Place a thin line of wood glue at all sides of the seams on your mangers "legs" to securely fix the "joint" in place.

    

     3.  Place glue on upward facing portion of manger legs and attach the longer boards to legs as illustrated below.

     4.  Place medium weight book on top of manger after all parts are securely glued together in order to help wood planks lie flat.  

    5.  Wait for your manger to dry and then enjoy!  Cut up thin strips of yellow construction paper to use as "straw" for Jesus bed.

**The manger I originally saw online that I liked had a triangle wood piece fitting at each end of the manger to hold the straw in.  We had one done and not the other and finally I decided I don't care...we can do it for next years manger.  So that is something you can always add.  You just have to measure your angles and cut out a triangle with a table saw that would fit in that spot on both ends.**

I can't say I did this on my own.  My hubby cut the wood for me, and I just glued it together, but have you ever seen Ana White?  She is amazing!  The girl had never used tools in her life and now has completely turned their house upside with DIY projects and is a master mind with a saw, drill, and hammer.  Check her out.  She is awesome!  Hope you enjoy a simple project for your Christmas season!

Blessings,

When You Don't Agree With Your Husband...

Photo credit: themoneycouple.com

I have to say, the bible has some pretty black and white truth on wives and our actions towards our husbands.  Most of it does not come as an easy pill to swallow, but just because its hard to hear doesn't mean we get to ignore it.  Just because it hurts to do doesn't mean that it isn't sin when we choose not to do it.

Ephesians 5:22 says 

"Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord."

Ephesians 5:24 says

"Now as the church submits to Christ so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands."

It shouldn't be too hard right?  Say your husband asks you to run his dry cleaning in for him on your day off.  Your response:  "No problem!  I can do that for you!"  (Wow!  Such enthusiasm!)  You think to yourself....submission..check!  I can totally do this!  It's a piece of cake!  Not so fast. What about when it gets hard?  What about when he asks you to respect his leadership in your home on an issue that you disagree with him on?  What if its something you feel passionately about then you should dig your heels in right?  Wrong.

1 Peter 3:1 says

"Likewise wives be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives."

Now most of us here who are married probably have husbands who are believers, but if you are a wife whose husband is not a believer and you are, take heart dear friend.  Would you cling tightly to God's word and trust Him even in this?  Even when its hard to see that He really does has a plan in it?  Would you keep praying for your own heart to love your husband unconditionally.  That God would continue to mold you into the wife He wants you to be and that your husband would come to salvation?

If you are a single woman, or in a dating relationship please do not forget that God's word speaks clearly about pursuing a romantic relationship with nonbelievers:

2 Corinthians 6:14 says

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.  For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?  Or what fellowship has light with darkness?"

Maybe you both were married as nonbelievers and now you are a Christian, but your husband is not?  Now what do you do?  Whether our husband is a believer or not, we will rub up against conflict in our marriages.  We will disagree at times.  We will say things we shouldn't.  But ladies what is most important in these moments is not that we get our own way it's that we obey God's word and how he says we must respond to our husbands authority in our homes.  With submission.  With respect.  With trust.

Your heart maybe yelling "But what if I am not sure I can trust his decision making abilities right now?"  Dear friend if your husband isn't asking you to outright sin with what he is asking you to submit to then you still must submit.

If your husband is asking you to do wrongful things like breaking laws, hurting someone else, stealing, etc then I recommend you seek help from a trusted authority, but for most of us this won't be the case.  What most of our husbands ask us on a regular basis is to respect them, trust them, submit to them and to keep on doing those things even when they do make a poor decision.

Here are a couple of common scenarios:

If your husband asks you to work to help provide for your family in a hard time then you do it.  Even if you want to stay home full time with your children, trust him.  You can still talk about your desires and tell him that you really would like to stay home if you can, and then try to work together to come with a plan that works for you both.

or say...

your husband wants to buy a brand new car with all the bells and whistles and you want to buy the frugal car with close to 100,000 miles that gets good gas mileage.  You can still discuss both options together.  Tell him (in a respectful way) why you are concerned about buying a brand new car, that it might stretch your budget too much, that you don't want to be in debt, etc.

Here are a few recommendations that I have in regards to handling issues that you disagree with your husband on, and to be quite honest I fail at these more often than not, but God's word still remains unchanged whether I want to do this or not....I, as a wife must submit to my husbands authority:

1. Have open minded discussions with your spouse on issues you disagree about.  Have you ever thought that you might be over analyzing what your spouse is really saying and that you actually might really agree with him you just heard what he said in a way he didn't really mean it?
2. Pray together about decisions.
3. Ultimately step back, let go of your control freak and trust the choice your man makes.  Even if you disagree with it.  That's where it should stop....keep it in your head and go to God.  Pray about it.  Ask God to help you see his plan in it and pray to change your own heart to trust your husband further in this, not for God to change your husband's heart.
4. When you mess up and get  upset with your spouse, say something you don't mean, or disrespect them, repent for it and apologize, and just keep praying for God to change your heart to be a better wife.  That you would choose the bible's way of being a Godly wife and let God give you the strength to do so instead of trusting your own failing strength time and time again.

Ladies please remember that I don't have it all together....at all!  I laughed to myself a bit when I felt like God wanted me to write this.  Really God?  Me?  I deserve a big fat F on my report card when it comes to respecting my husband sometimes.  I even read this to my husband before I posted it to make sure I am being biblical and that I am not being too hypocritical since he of all people should know how often I fall short.  Truth is...we all fall short.  God asks us to come to Him as we are.  Broken and bruised and no matter how many times you fall short....lift your eyes upward and let His mercy and grace heal you and bring you hope that we really can be the wives He has called us to be.

Blessings,

Let's Get Real: The Spare Bedroom

I'm dreading this post friends.....not because it's a bad one, but because it is forcing me to be transparent and show you my less than perfect me.  If you weren't here for my first post last week on being real then please read it here.  These "Real" posts are about me really showing you my life today as it is, not how you would see me if you gave me a little time to get myself and my house ready.  As I walked past the spare bedroom today my heart sank.  The room I've had on my to do list to clean for weeks now yelled at me...yelled at me that I had to share it with you too.  Grrr....its seriously ridiculous but here it goes.....

Our Spare Bedroom:

First of all yikes!  That's the first thing that comes to mind.  Now I know I am not the only one whose spare bedroom or basement or _________________ (you fill in your own blank) looks like this:

I find that I struggle time and time again with finding storage space in our tiny home.  It's 1350 square feet with hardly any closet space.  How in the world do you do it?!  Normally I am pretty on top of this room but at this time of year lots of extra things are around the house that can't be put away.  This room right now is mostly piled with presents for Christmas that need to be wrapped, Christmas decorations in boxes, Dave still has some of his gag gifts out from his birthday party, I see some books, a comforter my aunt gave us that I don't know what to do with in that black garbage bag, some art that still needs to be hung up on the wall and some other stuff I can't tell from looking at the picture cause it is too small right now.

On the bright side my sewing machine table is clean.  Yay!  Something positive!  (Err negative if you understand that that means I haven't been using it :) I must say when you live in a small house clutter drives you nuts 247.  I find myself constantly cleaning up things and trying to reorganize to find better systems.  I can't handle mess very well and because this is the only room in our house not used on a regular basis.  If we don't have time to find a home for it right away, it will probably get thrown in the spare bedroom.  Now it just takes a guest coming over to stay with us to make me find some motivation to clean it....so who wants to come stay with us!!???  

So in honor of my good friend Lydia who blogs at Walking with Dancers who was sad last week after I posted my first "Being Real" style post, when she tried to post a picture of her kitchen table mess on my Facebook wall and it wouldn't let her....why?  Because I disabled my Facebook page Full Heart Full Home from being people being able to upload pictures to it in fear someone someday may post something inappropriate.  So I am offering an exception to the rule....I want you to share your pictures!  Like my facebook page here: Full Heart Full Home and add your own picture of your real!  Don't be ashamed ladies.  Be encouraged that none of us is perfect!  More than anything I want us all to be women on this journey together- living life for Jesus the best way we know how and ladies....it ain't always going to be pretty and it most definitely won't be perfect!  

Blessings,

In The Trenches of Motherhood

The following was written after a very bad day in my world of motherhood.  As I sat down to write this post I must admit it wasn't a planned one.  I had other thoughts for what my posts this week would look like, but after the day I had, I needed to share with you and I pray God has something in this for each of you:  young or old, married or single.  I give you my heart....

For all you veteran mothers out there...

I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry I ever judged you.  Any of you!

I'm sorry for judging you, mom who is still nursing her 18 month old child, thinking he or she was too old to be doing so.  I never understood it until I had a child and we breastfed until 15 months and she decided it was time to quit but I would have kept going much longer in a heartbeat had she wanted to.

I'm sorry for judging you, new mom who both baby and child seemed to catch onto breastfeeding from birth, and never had any problems.  Breastfeeding took us so long to catch onto but we made it, and you did it too, and neither you nor I are better than the other for it.

I'm sorry for judging you 40 weeks pregnant mom who only gained 20 pounds.  I worked out almost everyday of my pregnancy, gave into some cravings but didn't overeat, who only had gained 26 pounds at 36 weeks gestation but for some reason gained almost 14 pounds in the last 4 weeks.  We both tried.  You did great and so did I and I don't need to be mad at you for it.  Nor do you need to judge me and assume I ate cheeseburgers everyday!

I'm sorry for judging you, mom who chose to not have natural childbirth.  I'm not a stronger women because of having a natural childbirth.  Childbirth is one of the most intense physical things we will ever go through.  No one should feel like they had less of a birth because of what happened during their labor.

I'm sorry for judging you mom whose parenting style is different than mine.  Truth of the matter is God puts different things on different parents hearts.  They are all biblical, but each family is a little different and mine won't look the same as yours.  So you own it girl!  You do the very thing God has laid on your heart for your family and do it well.

I'm sorry for judging you working mom whose heart is always torn in 2 to balance both career and family.  I used to think you were wrong, choosing to work outside of the home, but I know better now.  God led me there too.  I think to teach me to the depth of my heart how much working moms need Him too.  How much judgement you put up with on a daily basis from other moms/womens opinions of your choice to work outside of the home.

I'm sorry for judging you stay at home mom whose life I assumed was filled with glorious mornings and sunshine filled smiling days with happy children all day long and perfect dinners every night.  As a part time mom I understand both working mom and stay at home mom worlds....neither one is a walk in the park!

I'm sorry for judging you mom whose 2 year old boy is having a temper tantrum by the fishtank in Walmart.  Old me would have said "My child will never do that" until I had a toddler.  Now I know better.

I'm sorry for judging you mom whose teenagers choose to be potheads, get pregnant and not care about school.  Old me would have said "I will raise my child up right and he or she won't ever do that"  Really?  All we can do as parents is try.  We can pray and we can mold as much as we want to, but ultimately they will make decisions we don't agree with regardless of how much we raise them up in God's will and their choices don't have anything to do with a poor reflection of our own character.

I'm sorry for judging you, women with raggedy clothes, straggly hair, and dirt smudged on your cheek.  How dare I not show you compassion for I don't know your story, and you don't know mine.  And for as much as my heart has been trampled to death by the brutal wound of judgement and assumption...how dare I show you that same discourtesy.

Matthew 25: 33-40 says about our Final Judgement Day:

"And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left.  Then the King will say to those on his right 'Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick  and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and cloth you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?  And the King will answer them 'Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

Has your heart been wounded by judgement from other Christians?  Non Christians?  Dear friends their judgement is wrong.  Sin.  Not their job.  It's God's.  I love this song by David Crowder about how much God loves us regardless of who we are, no matter how sinful our lives have been.

May we today, regardless of how young or old we are, each choose to set aside judgement and stand beside one another in encouragement as the body of Christ to live this life together, never better than the other, but holding one another up in the journey.  

Love and Blessings from My Heart to Yours,

Life Lessons in a Pie

I've always been kind of old fashioned and like many women I set the bar high when I first got married to what kind of homemade meals should be put on the table on a daily basis by my willing hands.  Time out while I let you in on a secret:  Before I left school for college I had all of made about 2 meals in my life which consisted of macaroni and cheese in a box, and spaghetti (aka boil noodles and add a jar of sauce :)  I quickly became disappointed that no knowledge of cooking left for a pretty disappointing, unrealistic reality, not too mention the fact that my husband is a real chef.  I was already a failure before I even tried to cook!

Well I finally started to get over the whole fear of not being the best at cooking in our home and finally started appreciating the resource I was married to.  I still have so much to learn but I can say my ability in the kitchen far exceeds my macaroni and cheese days, but I am far from chef status as well!  Well I started making somewhat of a bucket list in my mind...you know the "Things I Must Do Before I Die" type of list and on that list was "Make a Homemade Pie."  Terrifying.  I know.  I loathed the thought.  The only women I knew who made homemade pies were much older than I.  No one my age (at least that I knew) did such a thing.  All I ever heard about was how hard it was too make a homemade pie and that they all resorted to using premade piecrusts.  This made my heart sad.  Do I need to have a homemade pie crust?  No, but knowing that I would never try based on fear was really saddening to me and so I went to the best resource I know.  My mother-in-law.  She makes a pretty amazing pie and I know how much she loves baking and to be honest I really love hanging out with her.  She has one of the most beautiful hearts of any women I know and I am so blessed to call her my mom (my second one at that!).  So without further ado, I give you the "Never Fail Pie Crust" generously given to me by Dave's mama, which she learned from her own mama "Granny Smith." (don't miss my closing words at the bottom...I have a challenge I don't want  you to miss!)

Never Fail Pie Crust

                                                                    By Granny Smith 

3 cups flour

1 1/4 cup shorterning

1 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

7 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp vinegar

1.  Cut shortening into the flour and salt.

it should look like this....

2.  Combine egg, water and vinegar in separate bowl. 

3.  Pour the liquid into flour mixture all at once.

4.  Blend with spoon just until flour is all moistened.

5.  Shape into ball and wrap with saran wrap.

6.  Let dough sit wrapped in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.  

7.  Now you are ready to roll out your pie crust.

8.  Sprinkle plenty of flour onto your counter top and place dough ball

in the middle.  Sprinkle some more flour on the dough 

so it won't stick to your rolling pin (you can be pretty liberal

with the amount of flour)

9.  Roll your rolling pin back and forth in one direction a few times and then go back and forth a few times the other direction like you are rolling out a repeated "X" on your dough (see pictures below).

10.  Rolling your dough this way will help you to make a large circle/square of flattened dough instead of one long piece.  You need to roll it out so its wide enough to fit the diameter of your pie plate with a little excess.

11.  My mother in law was being my photographer so she wanted to catch one of me in there too :) 

12.  Hold your pie plate over the area once in awhile to make 

sure the dough is large enough to cover the pie plate.

 13.  Once your dough is a wide enough diameter to fully cover your pie plate you need to carefully take both hands and gently work them under one half of your pie dough, fully supporting the underside of that half, then bring it over and gently lay it on top of the other half of the dough like in the picture below (you may need to use a spatula or something to help you lift the dough carefully off the counter).

14.  Now you will fold the dough in 1/4 piece, again be very careful and gentle or you can rip the dough.  Fully support your sides at all times or the weight of the dough will rip itself.

15.  Now take your folded up 1/4 size pie dough and lay it in your pie plate only 

covering 1/4 of the plate (see picture below).

16.  Continue to gently unfold your pie dough onto your pie plate so its covering half of the plate.

17.  Then take your last half of the dough and cover the other half of your pie plate.

18.  Fully covered pie plate!  Just smoothing out the edges and

        gently pressing the dough into the seams of the pie plate.

19.  Cut off the excess edge of your pie crust with a knife (using a sharp one prevents it from tearing).

20.  Then pinch edges or use other design tools (you could use some sort of cool decorating stamp or just use a fork....I always just pinch).

There you have it!  A  ready to fill pie crust!  You don't need to bake this crust before filling and this crust can be used  with any type of pie filling.  Just follow the instructions on your chosen pie recipe and bake accordingly.  And just for kicks here is a picture of me taken over 2 years ago when I made my very first pie with my mother in law.  You can't really tell but I am about 17 or 18 weeks pregnant with Abbie here.  

My challenge to you this holiday season is to try something new.  What have you always wanted to do but are just too afraid to try?  Fear of failure standing in your way?  What about the fear of not being perfect which always just keeps you from trying?  God does not desire for us to live in fear.  He wants us to fully breath in his goodness.  2 Timothy 1:7(ESV) says:

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control."

What is fear holding you back from today friends?  Whether it be as simple as being too afraid to bake a homemade pie, or it's letting go of the fear of failure in finally pursuing your God given passion, it's time to let go, and let God.  Step out in faith sweet friends and really breath in the goodness God has for you!

Blessings,

Abigails Birth Story

Welcome to all of the ladies from the Mommy Blog Hop.  It's been over a year and a half now since my daughters birth, but I still remember that day like it was yesterday!  I know how much I love reading birth stories so I wanted to step back in time for a moment and share my heart from that day.  As I reread through  it myself so many memories washed over me....A scary beginning for one of the strongest little girls I've ever met!
Thanks for stopping by friends and I hope you join me again soon!
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Seems kind of funny that it was hard for me to even update the blog on my pregnancy, and now I want to write up our daughter's birth story. I guess I want to write it so that I never forget it. There are so many small details that don't matter to anyone else but me...but that's why they are so important. I never want to forget any of them! So here it goes...

Saturday April 2nd 2011 1:00AM
I woke up to one heck of a contraction. Of course I had been having braxton hicks contractions for weeks now. I know not to get excited unless they actually are consistently time able. I try to go back to sleep but that doesn't work. They aren't horrible contractions but it is too painful to sleep. I decide to get up and go wait it out and see if they really are true contractions. I sit on my birthing ball for awhile and watch TV. Sure enough these contractions are consistently about 5 minutes apart. 5 minutes? Aren't they supposed to start out further apart then that, I would be in labor for hours, and then eventually after hours they would be really close together and out would come our baby. They started to become 4 minutes apart and only about 30 seconds long. I decided around 3AM that this was true labor and I should wake Dave. Dave wakes up, super excited that today is the day, and we decide since they are getting closer together we should go to the hospital. I finish packing my toiletries into my hospital bag. Dave loads up the car and we take off. I should have known that I wasn't that far into labor when I decided I could still do my makeup before leaving at 3AM.

We get to the hospital and they hook me up to the monitors. Sure enough I am having contractions (really? did they have to hook me up to tell me that?) however my stats are no different then my doctors appt a week before...3cm and this chick says I am a -3 station...seriously? My doctor says I was a +1....I ask and she tells me that it all depends on the person measuring you...there is no actual "scale." I decide to believe my doctor because #1 he is a doctor (she was a nurse) and #2 it made me feel better to think I was further along! Since I'm overdue they say they normally don't let overdue moms go home but they did give me the choice....Dave and I decided to get the heck out of there before the on call Dr arrived and threatened to break my water since I wanted to do things as naturally as possible.

Well thank God we did.....we went home and we walked, and walked. I bounced and bounced on the birthing ball. I am trying not to eat too much but also have no idea when this period of my labor will end. I try to sleep...can't sleep. Contractions still mild, but too close together to get sleep. I doze off for short catnaps as I can. Dave is trying to get as much homework done as he can cause he knows...we are going to the hospital at sometime...not sure when but this baby is coming. About 7PM that night I finally convince Dave he needs to sleep cause I am going to need him at some point and I don't want us both being tired. He heads to bed while I try and make myself comfortable in the living room distracting myself with movies, birthing balls, showers (as I can cause the water makes contractions oh so much more bearable!), and sleep...still not having it. I am so fricking tired at this point. I have now been in labor for almost 24 hours.

About 11:30 Saturday night something just sporadically changed. My contractions were still consistently 5 minutes apart, but now about 60 seconds long...and much stronger. I realize I am in active labor now. So I bounce on the ball, I take a shower as I need to, use my breathing techniques if it helps...about 2AM the contractions are starting to get hard! I decided to wake up Dave cause I needed someone to coach me with breathing, and I knew I couldn't do it by myself anymore. He wakes up and very quickly my contractions go from 5 minutes to 3 minutes....hard, long intense contractions. I was getting really shaky but attributed this to the fact that maybe the house was a little cold. Thought about taking a shower to help with pain but wasn't sure I could hold myself up anymore. Stationed myself on the birthing ball cause that was the only thing helping at this point. Gripping the mantle seemed to help for some reason...my other hand gripping Dave's as needed. I looked at him, knowing that I was a first time mom and that this part of labor would probably be about 6-8 more hours, I said I can't do this for that much longer. These are so intense. Take me to the hospital now. I want the epidural (I at this point am thinking I am probably only 5-6cm dilated and can't do this for forever!) Dave is trying to stall cause he knows deep down I don't want any drugs. Finally I look at him and say I don't care anymore I want to go now! Load up the car now! He is running around the house throwing in the last few things we needed (most was packed from the night before) and at the same time running back to me to coach me through contractions.

We get in the car and I swear we drove down the bumpiest road I have ever driven on (I have since driven down it and it's not so bad but that night...holy cow it hurt to drive down it!) Dave later told me that on our way to the hospital my contractions were less than 2 minutes apart, and I in turn didn't tell him that as we pulled in I felt pelvic pressure and I knew that I was mistaken at that point...I was almost ready to push. We waited in the car for one more contraction so that I would have time to get into the hospital without having one. Me being me...I insisted on walking into the hospital from the parking lot. Someone later pointed out how insane I am for that. Just goes to show how independent and stubborn I can be I guess! We get inside, and Dave puts me in a wheelchair and about punches the guy in line in the ER cause I obviously was one very in labor mama. They had seen us 24 hours before so they knew us already! A nurse came to push me up to labor and delivery and I am pretty sure I about made her wet her pants. She looked at me and obviously realized how far into labor I was and said has your water broken? I said no. I said I am starting to feel pelvic pressure. I hear her say to another nurse "we need to check her now!" I think she was just scared to deliver me in an elevator :)

They wheeled me up into labor and delivery, and I knew the drill. Earlier that day I had kindly went into the bathroom. Changed into the lovely gowns and came out for them to check me. Not now. I immediately started stripping as I walked across the room and pretty much fell onto the bed (in hindsight Dave and I both found this to be pretty hilarious cause I could have cared less at that point!) The nurse checked me and sure enough all that was left to dilate was the lip of my cervix. They called my doctor and I was thinking oh I hope he can get here in time cause there is no way I am going to be able to hold back pushing once that urge starts. Sally (my main nurse) was a godsend. Just as the contractions got really intense and I was having trouble with the breathing techniques Dave and I had practiced she got in my face and helped me with a new one that made things much more bearable! My doctor walked in the room about 5 seconds before I felt the urge to push and I could not hold back. I let out a load moanish groanish type sound...sounds horrible, but its the only thing you really can do when you feel the natural urge to push. I'm not sure that people with epidurals ever feel this? I have no idea. So maybe you will understand what I am talking about. My water still had not broken so he broke it and we got right down to pushing. I pushed about 5 times total. I was having trouble focusing at first but again Sally my little nurse angel helped me the whole time. I remember being really loud when I was pushing...Dave reassured me later that I didn't say anything bad though! I had discussed with my doctor before that I really didn't want an episiotomy if he could help it. I understood sometimes its necessary but if I was only going to tear a little bit I would rather tear. He agreed, but said a lot of times with first time moms its really hard to prevent. Before my last push he said "Bridget look at me..if you don't want me to cut you, you need to get this baby out now" I pushed with everything I had, him coaching me so I wouldn't tear, and out came our baby. At 5:25AM on Sunday April 3rd, Abigail Elizabeth, finally decided to arrive.

My first reaction was, what is it?" (we had waited to find out the sex).  Dave looked at me and said "Who cares" and I was like "Well I care." I was so high on my post delivery endorphins that I didn't realize what was happening. Our baby was blue. Not slightly blue. Not sort of gray. Blue. Limp. Lifeless. What I didn't know when my doctor said I needed to get this baby out now, was that her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. This isn't too uncommon, but since he could already see her head, he knew she was blue and needed to be out now. They lifted the leg and said it was a girl and immediately started working on her to get her to breath. It really didn't hit me until much later how tragic it could have been, but God just gave me such a peace throughout the whole thing. I started to see her color turn more pink. I heard a whimper and I knew she was fine. Dave was a mess. Tears streaming down his face. So worried about his baby girl. I don't know why I was so calm. God just blessed me with it I think. I didn't get to hold her after she was born. They wrapped her up brought her to me and let me hug and kiss her and said she was having some breathing difficulty so they were going to take her to the nursery to get her breathing better. Dave took off with her to make sure she was ok. I was left sitting there, crotch bared to the world, really happy that labor was over and that we had a girl! I wanted a girl but was 95% sure it was a boy. Don't get me wrong I would have been happy with either! My doctor said I only needed one stitch! So excited about that! I can handle one stitch! Dave came back in to check on me....still really emotional and our doctor prayed with us. What a moment I will cherish forever. They soon told us that our baby's oxygen levels were not going up as quickly as they would like and they wanted to transfer her to the NICU at OSF St. Francis in Peoria. I am not sure why this still wasn't all phasing me...I just knew she was fine. I wasn't worried at all. We got to go into the nursery shortly after and I got see her. Touch her. Talk to her. She looked exactly like my newborn picture....spitting image! I'm curious to see what traits of Dave and I become apparent in her as she grows.

This is a picture of Abbie...first time I really got to see her after they were working on her in the nursery:



My doctor told me he was going to get all my discharge instructions together so that I could be released to go with her. Didn't hit me until later that this doesn't happen. Who gives birth and walks out of a hospital two hours later? Another huge blessing...had I not given birth naturally, or needed more stitches I would have been stuck in the hospital and she would have been an hour away from me. Instead I got to go be with her.

In the meantime I can remember sitting in my room almost immediately after giving birth thinking man...I am so hungry! Since Abbie didn't get released until about 8:30AM they let me order breakfast...biscuits and gravy never tasted so good :)

This is a pic of us with nurse angel Sally right before we left the hospital to go to Peoria:



The medical team from Peoria soon arrived to transport Abbie. They brought her by my room before they left. She was in the scariest contraption I have ever seen:



After Abbie left we packed up our things and got ready to go. We planned to stop at home briefly...I of course really wanted a shower, and we needed to pack a few extra things since we would be in Peoria for a few days. I felt bad as we pulled into our driveway wondering if our neighbors saw us. My stomach was obviously much smaller, we arrived home basically in our pajamas, and no baby. If I was our neighbor and would have seen us I would have thought the worst. I made a point to call one of them later to make sure they knew. I took the best shower ever cause you just feel gross after giving birth and we packed up the rest of the car and were on our way. My parents were hilarious....they actually drove to Peoria immediately upon talking to me after Abbie's arrival and were waiting there for us before Abbie even left Bloomington.


We arrived in Peoria close to 11:30 or 12 and Abbie was already on room air and doing well. This is our first family picture:



I finally got to nurse her around 3PM that afternoon and she latched on like a champ. Even though she was staying in the intensive care unit the doctors at St Francis said she was doing so well they were going to just treat her like any other newborn. We just had to wait to make sure some lab results came back in the clear and we would be able to go home. Dave and I stayed in a hotel while in Peoria and I fed her throughout the day, and tried to pump what little milk I had at the time to leave with them for overnight. I was a little worried about nipple confusion since they would be giving her bottles at night. Monday was hard cause she hardly would nurse at all...just slept all day, and you know how hospitals are...they push and push you to say they need "x" number of ounces when really its quite normal for them to be sleeping that much. I was worried they wouldn't let me go home if she didn't have enough wet diapers...Tuesday morning came...Bloodwork looked great and I got there that morning and she immediately latched and did great with breastfeeding...I think she was just tired Monday. We left the hospital around noon on Tuesday. Here is a picture with one of our main nurses Diane right before we left:



I have no regrets about any of Abbie's birth story at all. Already only 10 days post her birthday I remember every moment fondly. I never knew how much my heart would change in a second...the moment she came into the world. She already had a piece of my heart...her daddy's too. What a blessing she has been! Your world changes so drastically in an instant. Just when I thought I couldn't love Dave anymore, I saw him become a father, and I fell in love with him all over again. God could not have given me a more amazing husband and father for our children.