Impulsive is my middle name...

I was just thinking that I was getting SO bored taking care of two babies, working, keeping house..etc, etc....that I really needed one more thing to take care...so I decided to add one more baby to the mix. This time one of the furry kind. I little fluffy furry kind.

Meet baby Moe.

He sleeps on fluffy pillows and cuddly blankets.
He's fat, lazy and we like him.
:)

Adding icing to my cake of self pity...

I'm at my parent's house helping my mom get ready for tomorrow. Michael reaches into the freezer and almost pulls out a sugar free fat free (flavor free) ice cream bar and is stopped by my mom saying "Don't eat those, those are for the fat people." He quickly responds: "Oh, you mean you and Cindy."

.........

again, please pass a sliver of tofurky and raw cranberries....

Let me have one slice of tofurky and raw cranberries, please...

So, this past week I got to enjoy another one of my husbands paid weeks off..gotta love that. We decided to go to Atlanta to hang out and do some shopping. It was all great fun...
ultra laid back and relaxing...
so happy, care-free!
that was...
until I decided I wanted some new clothes...

Super cute jeans on sale....................................$29.99
Awesome zebra print satin jacket on sale.................$39.99
Seeing your undressed self in a dressing room mirror six weeks after having a baby................

BRUTAL





Pass the calorie free celery please!

P.S.

HAVE YOU NOTICED I'M EXCITED ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS!! :)

Check out our new etsy shop!

My mom and I are selling awesome holiday cookie mixes. We usually make them every year, and this year we have decided to make a shop online. Check it out and tell your friends! :)

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade TheHandmadeHoliday.etsy.com

The most expensive left turn of my life...

So, today started off being a really great day...I was up early because I had a great night's sleep..(I had somehow managed to have both babies in bed by 9! Only by the grace of God, I'm sure! :)) Anyways..so I am having a great day. I was dressed...I actually had a free moment to do my hair and makeup...I feel presentable for the first time in a while and it feels awesome. So I decide to make lunch plans. I don't want to keep all this to myself..I need to get out of the house!

I get in my car..and start heading to my desired location. I'm driving down Wheeler Rd. excited about meeting my lovely friend Hope for a relaxing lunch date...

I come to the stop light...It's green...but I need to make a left turn so of course I wait until the oncoming traffic passes and then I make my turn....and that's when it happened. I see blue lights behind me. I'm confused. I turn and look at the babies. They are both seated and buckled. I'm buckled. I know I wasn't speeding. Hmmm...must be a routine traffic check. No big deal.

The HUGE officer comes strolling up to my reluctantly rolled down window...and must have noticed the confused look on my face, because he asks me if I didn't see the sign... I stared briefly...."Sign...what sign?"

Well, come to find out...there is not just one sign...there are THREE signs now that say

NO LEFT TURN.

I know I need to get my eyes checked...but really...THREE signs that I missed??? How blind can I be???


So, if you are looking forward to being able to buy your children Christmas presents this year - I would advise you to pay attention to the roads signs around all this crazy road work in Augusta right now...because it will cost you $300 for an"improper left turn"!!!!

and just fyi...the minimum ticket price for speeding on 1-20 or anywhere around the road work is $625...so I suggest you slow your roll! ;)

Brandon, Cindy and Rylie welcome with love....

Jackson Scott Rutherford!

Making his grand appearance October 4th 7:27 am 7 lbs 12 oz 19 inches long

We are super excited and happy to have Jackson finally arrive! We LOVE him.
(obviously, but you just cant say it enough :))

Adjusting to life with two babies has been relatively easy for me. I think I was so stressed about it before he was actually born, that I built it up to be way harder than it actually is. Of course, this is being said after only one week of experience and without going anywhere alone yet. Who knows when that will happen. I'm such a paranoid freak I will have to have straps, and buckles and tracking devices with built in hand sanitizer attached to them which will be attached to me...so I don't lose them or lose my mind. Lest we forget the t-shirt I will make to wear that says...please don't touch my children or I will break your arm. Not a bad idea, really.

I think I'll just stay home awhile...and enjoy the two hour at a time sleep intervals, cold spaghettios that I keep forgetting to eat and the ongoing dilemma of now how am I supposed to go the bathroom? I can't leave Jackson and Rylie alone together...not that she would purposely hurt him..but she just loves him sooo much...she just might squeeze and love a little tooo much. So, now I am required to bring at least one of them with me. Sometimes both. Heck, let's have a party.

Speaking of potties...being in mid potty train with Rylie and with the addition of a new little pooper...the diapers are flyin'. It's a good thing we pay extra for twice a week trash pickup, is all I can say.

One thing that I am still not used to is changing a little boy though. I am still getting peed on at least once a day...I just keep forgetting about the built in sprinkler system!

Overall, it has really been awesome. I am totally in love with them both and cannot imagine life without either of my beautiful babes. They are the absolute joy of every morning and the beginning of my sweet dreams every night. I am so thankful for the blessings God has entrusted me with and I am so excited to have another little squishy baby to squeeze.

my little monster...I mean princess...

I recently updated Rylie to a queen size bed as opposed to her tiny toddler bed. She is just so tall and the toddler bed just inst practical especially whenever we have guests. However it is extremely difficult to still find little girly stuff in queen size...so we decided to get creative...

Here's a picture of her new bed. :)


I found some super cute, frilly sheets and shams (that are actually soft) at Ross for like $20 and a pink queen size blanket/comforter that I loved but didn't have a price on it. I took it to the front and they ended up giving it to me for $5 opposed to the $40 the rest of the blankets were going for! *favor* I then bought some princess and pink fabric to make the throw pillows. Rylie and I stuffed them together :)

This has got to be my favorite thing though....



She had a small wooden coloring/activity table...that was pretty much ugly, old and boring looking. I covered the top with the princess fabric and the bottom with the matching pink fabric. Accented all with a little ribbon, of course! :)




The back opens up to store her coloring books, paper, crayons and colored pencils.

I would have before pictures but my little monster/princess decided to chew up my other memory card....

but who can get mad at that face????

so I don't feel left out...or maybe so I will now be left out....

I fortunately am one of the few people that haven’t gotten to suffer through horrible yearbook pictures and I was really starting to feel left out, so I went ahead and had some made for different years….hope you enjoy :) So if you are ever really itching to spend your time wisely and productively check out yearbookyourself.com and have a good laugh!











ps thanks stephenlechner.com for the idea :)

the lastest project...

The before kitchen:




The new updated kitchen:









This is the room where you will typically find me most of the time....please feel free to picture me with my perfect hair, cute apron, sexy heels...making gourmet meals for my family...homemade apple pies for the homeless....all with my pretty manicured fingernails....

HAH!

Quotes from Brandon...

Brandon has been reading...non stop. It's been making me feel slightly behind...I'm supposed to be the reader out of the two of us...:) He's been on average a book a day. Wow.

He also keeps notes when he's reading...in his very pretty -especially for a man- handwriting.

Here are some things he's written down lately, that really stood out to me as well:

Those who know their unworthiness *seize* grace.

By believing men to be better than they are, you diminish how amazing the King's grace really is.

There is no such thing as a private moment, God is our audience for everything we do in the dark.

We live our lives in eternity's lobby, walking toward a door that will forever seal our destiny.

To be disappointed in yourself is to have believed in yourself. Be careful in whom you trust. Trust the king, not your ability to follow Him.

These are mostly from the book Edge of Eternity.

New hobby...

I just decided to start a new hobby...something I can easily do at home and to keep me busy while I'm pregnant. Here are pictures of my first project:



Cute little dress for Rylie

Not necessarily a cheap hobby :), but definitely fun, addictive and rewarding!

baby bump!

Little baby Rutherford is growing!

Thank you Lord for a healthy baby boy!

My little reader....

She climbed on top of her shelf and created her own reading spot :)

She loves to read!

Exists to...

Today was Brian Fields first official day as our Senior Pastor...I was so excited to be there for his first official service. I love Brian and am so excited and looking forward to the future of Grace Fellowship with him as Pastor.

He talked today about why our church exists and a lot of the points he made really stood out to me, so I wanted to share :)

"We don't worship to see God, we worship because we SEE God.
We don't obey to see God, we obey because we SEE God.
If you are more excited about ANYTHING above God...you have never SEEN Him fully.
If you SEE Him, you won't be able to help yourself."

wow. Wow. WOW....that's a lot to take in but also makes total sense...it's like...why haven't I ever thought of it that way :)...I guess that's why we have Pastors :)

One other thing that really caught my attention was...

"Jesus didn't hang out with sinners and become like them...He hung out with them and they were CHANGED."

There are so many times that I feel like I'm not making a difference to certain people. I want what God has for them, I want them to know that He loves them, that He has SO much more for them than what they are settling for...that HE has a purpose and a plan for their life...but I hate the image of Christians who shove things down your throat or who say one thing and live another...

I have at times lived in such a fear of being a hypocrite that I wouldn't say anything at all. I have come to a place now where I feel like I need to stop being fearful and just do what God tells me to do. God has commanded me to preach the Gospel. He didn't tell me to preach the Gospel when I feel like I am a super holy being...but as I am going...today...now. I am never going to be perfect...so I can't wait for the right day when I am feeling super spiritual :) to share Christ...the time is now.

No fear, no apologies...LOVER of JESUS...CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD...WORSHIPER OF CHRIST...DISCIPLE MAKER...KINGDOM BUILDER...every minute of my every day to worship, to serve, to glorify and be satisfied in the delight of my Father.

Living your best life now...

Some of my favorite thoughts:

As long as you can't imagine it, as long as you can't see it, then it is never going to happen for you.

Our own thoughts and attitudes are condemning us to mediocrity.

We have to conceive it on the inside before we're ever going to receive it on the outside. If you don't think you can have something good, then you never will. The barrier is in your mind.
You must conceive it in your heart and mind before you can receive it.

What you keep before your eyes will affect you. You will produce what you're continually seeing in your mind.

If you foster an image of defeat and failure, then you're going to live that kind of life.

But if you develop an image of victory, success, health, abundance, joy, peace, and happiness...nothing on earth will be able to hold those things from you.

my hotel lobby...

"Your mind is like a hotel lobby...You can't always control what comes in, but you can control what stays." -Wade Trimmer

Lord, help me keep my hotel lobby clean! :)

the unknown thought process of a pregnant woman...

Lately, I have been having days with random bursts of energy...but I guess I should've expected that...I did pray that God would prescribe me a couple shots of OCD every day until I can keep my house the way I want it. What I didn't expect was the extra booster shot of "master carpentry"...I don't remember praying for that...but I don't remember a lot of things while I'm pregnant.


Here I am, a little over 5 months pregnant, taking on the job of completely ripping out baseboards, installing beadboard, painting, installing quarter round molding, chair rail molding...and whatever else pops into my little pregnant 'nesting' head...
the scariest part is my dad dropping off -and trusting me with -his saws, nail guns...and other random tools...and me attempting to use them.

Over all, I think I've done a pretty good job and have only walked away with a couple injuries...

First one, I decided it would be a brilliant idea to paint the bathroom while I gave Rylie a bubble bath...killing two birds with one stone, right? Of course, I need to reach the areas over the bathtub so I walk along the edges of the tub, to paint this area. How many signs did I need to tell me that was an idiotic idea? Pregnant. Wet tub. Splashing 2 year old, in the wet tub. Slippery flip flops. I'm completely unbalanced on solid ground.


Even with all the bright, neon signs begging me to not do the obviously stupid..I do it anyways. Within 2 minutes, I am in the bathtub fully clothed, with a scraped up and bleeding arm. (somehow, managing not to land on my child.)

Second one, was a little bit simpler but hurt a whole lot worse. I, against all warnings that I shouldn't attempt to pick up heavy things, decide to pick up a very large piece of bead board (wood). IT WAS IN MY WAY..and I'm am certainly not going to wait 5 minutes until someone is around to help me move it...I needed to move it..right then! I dropped it on my un-shoed toe and busted it open...OUCH!

Have I learned from my mistakes...probably not..I am still as impatient as ever and when I want something done...I normally want to do it myself...

I know this is the time when I should be kicking my feet up and relaxing...the only time in my life when I can expect other people to serve me, and me just sit back and relax....I should be watching movies while eating ice cream, reading lots of good books, painting my toenails (while I can still see them)

.

...but here I am trying to work my butt off...what am I thinking? I guess I just can't bring myself to sit still for 5 minutes....

My house is coming together...I love redoing things and decorating...now I just need to get a shot of "lots of extra money" so I can buy some new furniture :)

blow out the candles!

Today is Brandon's birthday.... so here is an entry dedicated to my really old 26 year old hubby :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Since Brandon had to work today, we went and did a pre-birthday celebration at the drive-in theater last night. We saw Indiana Jones and Iron Man. Indiana Jones was definitely a let down....very "scientology".

On the other hand, Iron Man was pretty good. I know nothing of comic book figures, but this was still a really interesting and action packed movie to watch.

Overall, had a really fun night at the "Big Moe". :)

LOVE YOU! :)

two little baby feet...

I was so excited to wake up this morning, I could barely sleep last night...(besides the fact that I am pregnant and barely sleep any night)...today was the exciting reveal of what sex our new baby, due in October, is. We watched as the ultrasound showed the face, the arms, the beating heart, the legs and the view that made it impossible to doubt that it was definitely a boy :)


Of course, I should have already known... Rylie has been picking out boy clothes and blue blankets from the very beginning...she has never wavered from her claim that she was having a baby brother.

Now all I'm wanting to do is go out and buy something blue! :)

Making the bed that I lie in while I'm waiting to die...

Sounds depressing right? What a way to start a new blog...:) Well if you read further, it will make a lot more sense...and hopefully will be a little more inspiring..and a lot less depressing.

This is an excerpt from a book I'm reading right now.... The book is called *Chazown* by Craig Groeschel (pronounced khaw-ZONE) from the Hebrew, meaning a dream, revelation or vision.

It's actually the first page... Check it out:


"Most people take a long time to die. Think about it. There are those few who go suddenly. Accidents. Heart attacks. Gang shootings. A soapy slip off the edge of the tub. But for you, chances are that at the end of your life, you will die in bed. Waiting.

And while you wait, you will very likely have days, weeks, even years to think, to look back on your life.

Imagine yourself there, lying in bed and reflecting. Reading back through the chapters of your life story.

What did my life add up to?
Did I really matter?
What did I live for?
Who will remember me?
What will they say about me when I'm gone?
Why was it important that I existed?

So many questions. So much time. Will you lie there with no regrets? Some regrets? Nothing but regrets?

Imagine.

Or not. I mean, you'll probably have time to thank about it when you get to that bed. So you could just wait. (Millions do.) See what comes. Wait until the final pages of your life story to see how it reads to you then.

But that's no way to end the story of your life.

Here's one more thing to think about:

The decisions you are making today are actually making the bed you will lie in while you wait to die."