Need You Now

Need You Now (How Many Times)
Plumbfrom the album Need You NowBuy on Amazon | iTunes 

Well everybody's got a story to tell And everybody's got a wound to be healed I want to believe there's beauty here Cause oh, I get so tired of holding on I can't let go, I can't move on I want to believe there's meaning here 
(Chorus) How many times have you heard me cry out "God please take this"? How many times have you given me strength to Just keep breathing? Oh I need you God, I need you now. 
Standing on a road I didn't plan Wondering how I got to where I am I'm trying to hear that still small voice I'm trying to hear above the noise 
Chorus 
Oh I walk, oh I walk through the shadows And I, I am so afraid Please stay, please stay right beside me With every single step I take 
How many times have you heard me cry out? And how many times have you given me strength? 
Chorus 
I need you now I need you now

This song. Has helped me get through the last 2 years. 

There is beauty here: 

In the past 2 years: 

My husband was laid off from a good job, that allowed me to be a stay at home mom 

(hence the name of this blog).

We were worried that we would have to put our child in public school, something neither of us wanted, but thankfully God has provided us a way to keep in the local Christian School for at least another year.  It's also not the most expensive private school: we pay about $2,000/ year, which equals about $200/ month. While it's not 'free' we believe it is a better education, and the community has been great- we pray for the teachers and I know they pray for our family.

I was offered a part time position (during school hours) for a non-profit organization. While we have to pay for my son to go to daycare this summer, because last summer dad was able to take care of him, for free, I am able to take my daughter to work with me (for now). Thankful for a good day care provider and very thankful that my job allows me to have her at work with me! 

Husband was hired as a temporary, now a full time delivery driver for FedEx 

(but the contractor doesn't pay insurance). 

Found out we were pregnant in May of 2013, only to have a miscarriage. 

Found out we were pregnant late in 2013, and this one was a viable pregnancy - she's beautiful! 

Our daughter was born on May 20, 2014. 

I thought my world was ending when my husband got laid off, and in my mind, it was, and in a way, it did. My world was taking care of our son, getting him to school, volunteering at the school and working on my volunteering that I did for a local non-profit organization. The thought that they wouldn't 'call' him back never occurred to me at the time (we'd been through one layoff with this company before), but that has come true, as it's been a year and a half, I first mentioned it here. 

It's hard to believe today marks one month of my daughter being born! Where did the time go? She's so precious, and I know, after a hard day of delivering boxes, my husband enjoys holding our soft, squishy, wiggly baby - even if she is crying. 

Some things about my daughter: 

• She hates being bundled (unlike most newborns) she likes to have her hands free. 
• She is a very warm baby. They say to layer baby, like whatever you are wearing and then plus 1 layer. Not this girl. She's hot! 
• She's started turning her head when she hears mom or dad's voices. 
• Although she's only one month old, she still fits into most newborn clothing, and probably will for another month or two! 
• She's a snacker: she will eat, then (maybe) burp, then take a nap, wake up and want more food (repeat). My son was different, he would eat, burp, eat (switching sides), burp and then take a nap. Boys and girls are so different. But I am a snacker to, if I have sweets in the house (cookies or bars or anything) I will snack on that stuff all day long. 
• Her big brother is in love with her. Adores her. Thinks he has to kiss her. Every. 5 minutes. Sometimes every 10 minutes! 
• She spits up more than my son ever did, in fact, I'm not sure if we have a clean burp cloth in the house right now. Oy! 
• Loves to fall asleep on mom or dads chest, we think this is because she loves to hear the sound of our heartbeats. 
• Likes to take naps anytime I am wearing her. I have a sling at church and a Moby wrap at work. 
• She is starting to enjoy bath time (almost).
• She is full of grunts, and squeals, and squeaks. In fact my boss calls her 'Squeaky baby.' 
• All in all, she really is a good baby and only wakes me up in the middle of the night a few times. 

2013... a year of blessings

There is so much that happened to our family in the year 2013!

My little guy turned 5! Being 5 is the best! Hard to believe he will be 6 in a few short days.

He's the one in the black shirt on the left, with his friends around the Lego Party table. 

Hubby got notified at the end of January that he was part of the layoff at his old job, which was effective the first week in February. Ouch.

Hubby went on unemployment and through God's provisions and a little help from family and our church, we were able to keep our house. Although it never was that close, somedays it sure felt like it!

Hubby went on a number of interviews, including one phone interview that - had he gotten that job would have required a move. Hubby even worked a few times for a local place, and got paid for that. Hubby landed working at a contractor position for FedEx, and by the last week in December was interviewed and hired full time by FedEx. Almost 11 months to the day. While it doesn't offer health benefits, it does however put us back up - financially - to where he was with his old job. So now we can afford to buy health benefits on our own.

Who doesn't love a handsome man in uniform? 

At the end of April, I got offered my current position at a local non- profit organization I have been passionate about since 2010. Although it is part-time, it's nice to be paid for doing something you like to do!

In May I figured out I was pregnant, only to be told by the doctor I would loose this little one. But, by far, the best doctor ever- because before she left the room after telling us this, she gave both my husband and I- hugs! Read a little more about that on the Dear Friends and Family post.

The best thing about hubby being 'laid off' in the summer, is that I went to work and didn't have to worry about my little guy, because I knew dad was in charge. While they did some stuff that I wouldn't have done - like they tried to light a pile of leaves on fire with a magnifying glass and other dangerous stuff. Most of the ideas came from this book: 50 Dangerous Things (You should let your children do). It really is a good book, and teaches the children how to do things safely. I'd rather let hubby teach him how to light a fire in the backyard than him figuring it out with a lighter in the basement with friends a few years down the road!

I also co-directed our Vacation Bible School this year, and it went pretty much without any major fiascos.

Here's my little cowboy at Vacation Bible School! 

Here we are at the end of a very long day, at Adventureland, thanks to my brother-in-law and the company he works for! This 5 year old got some of his 'firsts' out of the way on this trip. First time on a big-kid roller coaster -The Tornado (he did not like), but he did like a more subtle roller coaster that is called The Underground. The swimming in the wave pool was the best, because we had recently put out some money for swimming lessons - he was able to swim (like a fish) in the wave pool, when it wasn't waving. 

Mommy and my silly little boy at the end of a great day at Adventureland. 

In August, my husbands family farm was named a Century Farm by Farm Bureau, so almost the whole family got to go to the Iowa State Fair.

Here's my little guy holding his ticket, getting ready to get on the bus to go to the fair, 

no this wasn't posed- he's just that good! We had a great day!  

Almost the whole family celebrating being a Century Farm! 

Later in August I was able to go to Women of Faith with my mother-in-law to hear some great speakers, and some awesome singers. I was only able to do this by way of budgeting and saving money the Dave Ramsey way! 

My mother - in - law and I outside the Wells Fargo Center after Women of Faith. 

 In September, my little pre-schooler turned into a Kindergartener - officially. Yikes!

Being a little silly for first day of school photos. 

In October I entered a local photo contest, and won a $25 gift certificate! Here is the photo I took, well, I had a great subject! 

My little guy in front of the Amtrak train, with his train conductor hat on.

October brought fall leaves and an awesome Iron Man suit - another bonus of hubby being laid off for so long, he came up with this project all on his own, and made it light up. All I did was buy the suit at our local Aldi's store! While it lit up good for the photo, come Halloween Night we watched the lights slowly die and fade out. Oh well! 

Iron Man in my living room! 

We have a friend who decided to start her own photography business! Go Autumn! So we invited her out to our family farm to take some photos of the 3 of us. They all came out great! Happy Day Photos is the place to go, if you are in the area! See more of our family photos here. 

Our family, 2013. 

For Thanksgiving break we went up to see my brother, who lives in Minneapolis. My parents met us there, after packing up everything they own and selling their house near Charlotte, North Carolina. We had an early Christmas celebration and yes- I was crazy enough to go to the Mall of America on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. No, it wasn't that bad. 

Here are the 3 boys- my son and his cousins. 

No, his younger cousin K does not like photos! 

We also made the big announcement of us having baby #2 while we were up there. Watch the video on this post. 

In December we wrapped up the old year with the boys playing Mario Kart and mommy eating ice cream. Is there any better way? 

Happy New Year to all! 

2014 will be the best year yet, because 2013 had some low points, that's for sure. But it also had some pretty great times, most of which wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for some great family! 

What's in store for 2014? 

1. New job for Roy, with a new route and a new to him FedEx truck! 
2. Sarah's job is moving locations (about a block away)
3. Little boy turns 6, with a dinosaur party (more on that later)
4. Sarah has to decide if she wants to do a gender reveal party for baby. 
5. We will welcome baby #2 into our little family in June! 

Back to Work

Well, it's been two weeks since my husband got called back to work. So... our financial situation has improved drastically. We've also made some major financial decisions..... our first one was to join the Financial Peace University class our credit union was offering.

The class was a gift from my parents last Christmas- but we hadn't had the opportunity to use it until recently!

Today we finished Baby Step #1- so we are excited about that!!! We had almost finished baby step #1 around the time he was laid off full time- that helped us get through in that emergency situation!

Health Insurance doesn't kick in for us until November 1st, even if we are going to have to pick up a majority of the costs, but at least we'll have health insurance again! So life is returning to somewhat normalcy. No more worrying if one of us gets hurt or sick "how will we pay for it?"

FPU is probably the best thing that we could have done for ourselves! We are now on a budget- sticking to it- and we feel richer already! We are going to pay off our credit cards with Gazelle Intensity! We can be debt free in 2 years or less if we put our minds to it (besides our house)!!

My problem is I like to shop! I've used most of my 'blow' money for the month (over half of it went to someone who needed the money more than I do!).

We've made financial mistakes in the past- but we are going to turn that around, and stop spending like we had been, and be debt free in no time!

Most of Americans are dragging a $450/month car payment behind the car they are driving. We are blessed we don't have that problem.... that's $450/month we don't have to worry about. Plus our car loan will be paid off in January- which means that money can go toward a credit card and we'll pay them off one by one!!!

As Dave Ramsey says:

Today I choose to....

Live like no one else so later I can Live like no one else!

God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good.