Widows, orphans & a giveaway

I have a wonderful friend, Megan, whom I have known for a long, long time. Lets just say she was 12 and I was 16 when we met. Megan is the type of person that will always make you feel loved, valued and worthwhile. I am lucky to have known her for so long.

I remember many, many years ago when she went on a mission trip to Uganda. She was excited to see the world but more so to love on people. She traveled alone to a new country {she is much braver than I am!} and immersed herself in their culture. Unfortunately she ended up getting very sick on that trip {with Malaria} and it did not end up being the experience that she had hoped for. Thankfully, God had bigger plans and she fell in love with the people there.

It was as a result of that trip that she met an equally as amazing woman of God, Kelsey. Like Megan, Kelsey had a passion to help people know their worth through Christ, and understand that He is their provider and healer. It was after a mission trip to Uganda, when Kelsey was a sophomore in college, that her heart was burdened for the people. Several years later, along with a local Ugandan pastor, she started a ministry called ROWAN–Rural Orphans and Widows AIDS Network.

The area of Uganda that Megan and Kelsey visited is no stranger to the AIDS epidemic that has crippled Africa. And the people there receive no support or funding from their government. Many women are left without husbands and providers. Many more children are left without parents . And as a Christian myself, I know that the Lord has called us to worship Him by caring for those who need to know His HOPE and know His LOVE.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress… {James 1:27}

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. {Psalm 82:3}

Seek justice. Encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless and plead the case of widows. {Isaiah 1:17}

After visiting with Megan throughout the years about this ministry, I have decided to help in any way that I can. I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Kelsey {who is currently living in CO} and witnessed firsthand her heart and vision . She told me that one of her main goals while living stateside is to get the word out about ROWAN. Since this is a grassroots ministry, with no major celebrity backing, Kelsey along with her small volunteer staff are responsible for raising funds and raising awareness.

It is in that spirit I want to give you the chance to win one of two wonderful gifts, made by women in Africa, whose lives are being changed by ROWAN.

 or you can

 Here are the details of the giveaway:

**To enter you must LikeROWAN on FB{click here} and comment about that below

**You will get an extra entry for posting about ROWAN (with a link to their FB page or their website) on your own FB page. {add an additional comment below}

**You will get two additional entries if you blog about this giveaway. {comment below}

**This giveaway is open until Monday January 30th at 7 p.m. MST

**If you win, I will contact you by email for your information and mail the bracelet or necklace to you.

 **Even if you don’t win, you can still get some wonderful jewelry for 10% off using the code: ali when you check out. Plus shipping is always free in the US.

Go to http://loverowan.wazala.com to shop and support this amazing ministry!

**all pictures from courtesy of rowanLOVE.com and rowanlove.wazala.com**

Smorgasbord of thoughts

Today I am 12 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

And here is Little Farm 2.0′s most recent picture, taken exactly one week ago:

S/he was so cute doing little baby sit-ups the entire ultrasound and making me giggle just as the ultrasound tech was trying to take a picture. You can call us the troublemakers.

I am starting to feel just a little bit better. But to be honest, there were a few weeks there that was living day to day just trying to make it. I can’t imagine being one of those women who throw up their entire pregnancy. I fear that Elijah would be an only child had that been the case.

Right now I get the sickest in the evenings and spend a lot of my time just laying around. Working out this time has not been anywhere on my radar but hopefully I can soon. I even struggle to make plans with friends and family (in the evening) because all I want to do is lay down and sleep. But then I remember how much of a blessing it is to bare a child and that I have the hope/promise of new life as a reward for all of this discomfort. It sure makes me more sensitive to those who suffer for no cause or are fighting cancer each day. Health is such a precious thing.

Elijah is getting a cuter personality with each passing day. He is starting to talk more and is hilarious. Yesterday we were driving around and he started to say “mommy” over and over and over. It was music to my ears. But the funny thing is he barely can say “mama” and always calls me “dada” so I have no idea where he heard mommy and why he decided to say it when he did. But it sure is precious and I couldn’t wait to get home from work today to hear it again.

Tonight I was getting ready for bed and he decided to turn on the radio. We have it programmed to a Christian station. He starting singing in a baby babble voice and lifted his hands to the worship song. It melted my heart because I always pray for him to have a spirit that is sensitive to the things of God.

We have also found that if we pray over him in the spirit when he is upset, it immediately calms him down. It is crazy and I am sure a controversial topic among people who read may read my blog but I wanted to document it here (mostly for me) since I find it so fascinating. I so want my sweet boy to know the pleasure, love and purpose found in serving the Lord.

Away I ramble… and am running out of thoughts. I think it may be time to lay down and take it easy. Hopefully I will be able to carve out some more time to blog soon. I do miss it when I can’t do it as often.

And I apologize for not commenting more on your blogs, we have a new internet policy of sorts at work and I have been steering clear of the internet while I am there.

Just know..

If you are waiting to have your baby–I am praying for you.

If you are struggling with first trimester sickness–I am praying and empathizing with you.

If you are raising three kids–I love reading your stories

If you are my friend of 10+ years–I wish I had the money to visit you. Right, This. Second!

If you are my family that has been giving me so much love and support–I thank God for you.

If you are my hubby that serves me all day every day–I do not deserve you but love you more each passing day.

If you are my dear friend that I don’t see enough–I hold you in my heart.

And for anyone else I may have missed (hello pregnancy brain)–I too, am, thankful for you and the stories that you share.

And if any one of you needs prayer, please don’t hesitate one little bit to send me an email. I love to pray: dafarmer06 {at} aol {dot} com

 

 

 

Are we related?

No? Then you may find this post/video a little boring. Unless your name is Megan. If it is, then you too will find the following hilarious.

I finally captured sweet Elijah busting a move. Granted he still is holding back quite a bit but you can see a few moments where he gets so excited he may just burst!

And if you can’t think of a good reason for all his excitement then wait till the end of the video when he brings his BFF on screen to dance with him.

Oh how I love this kid!

*W* is for Western Stock Show

Neither of us had ever been to the National Western Stock Show before so this was a new experience for the both of us. I grew up loving horses and even tried my hand at some barrel racing back in the day so I wasn’t completely out of my element. It was David’s idea for us to go {great idea babe!} and I was really wanting to get out and do something fun as a family after all the holiday busyness.

We went on opening day thinking that it wouldn’t be too crowded since it also happened to be free day at the Denver Zoo. There were a lot of people but not so many that we didn’t have a great time.

On our way inside, we had to walk across a catwalk to get to the correct entrance.It was quite the little hike up a lot of stairs {with a stroller and 25 pound toddler} but worth it to see Elijah’s reaction to seeing his first live cow. He loves to say “moo!” at the big guys.On a side note, I personally thought it was comical to see all the people vacuuming the cows to make them pretty.

Once we had our fill of watching the livestock, we discovered that we actually had to take a bus to the front entrance. It was Elijah’s first bus ride and he definitely felt cool. There are a lot of different things to do at the stock show but we really just went for the petting zoo. Elijah doesn’t have a long enough attention span to watch the rodeo or other events. Plus we aren’t really ones to buy products at the expo. But I must confess that there was a steam mop on display that I developed a small crush on. David may have been a little embarrassed.

Elijah loves animals so we thought that the petting zoo may just be the highlight of his life. And I think it was. He wasn’t the least bit timid. He went right up to the animals and started hugging…and petting…and hugging some more. He was making his way around the arena so quickly that my iPhone couldn’t keep up {sorry for the blurry pic}.Once we were done petting every animal at least twice, we went to the chicken area. He didn’t like them as much but I thought this bird was crazy looking:After we ate lunch and looked a few more animals, it was official…our little guy was a real cowboy!It was definitely fun to go and something I would recommend doing. But it is anything but cheap. Thankfully Elijah is still young enough to be free but with parking, lunch, and admission it cost us about $55 and that was without seeing any shows. I am thinking that if we plan ahead in the future we can find some coupon discounts.

Little Farm 2.0

It is so crazy wonderful how quickly we were able to get pregnant this time. With Elijah, it took a lot more tears, prayers and waiting. And yet I still feel that both of my babies are equally as miraculous.

With Elijah it was a miracle that it even happened. I had not had a peri.od in over a year and none of the medical interventions we had tried were working. I feared that I may never, ever get pregnant.

With Little Farm 2.0 {David’s name for our new baby}, we secretly decided to stop preventing pregnancy and just see what happened. I distinctly remember a certain moment where I was worrying if trying to get pregnant this time would be like last time. I even felt a some panic sprout in my soul. Then I heard the Lord say to my heart, “You have yet to even ask me for what you want.” It was true.

You see I was letting fear into my heart which was the perfect breading ground for worry and doubt. I had not even brought my desires to the Lord. So it was right then, in that moment, that I asked the Lord for another child. And He miraculously answered my request.

When I found out that I was indeed pregnant, it was early one Saturday morning. I had been depressed, tearful, extremely tired and nauseous {on and off} for about a month. I worried that something {else} was wrong with me because I had taken 3 pregnancy tests throughout the month each with a negative result {they were very, very early tests}. When I saw that faint pink line, I just smiled. Then later that morning, I text David that he was going to be a father again. I know…it was a perfect way to do it for this day and age.

Then we kept it a secret for over a month. The people I work with immediately sensed something was up {I guess I started eating a lot or something} so I did end up telling them. Which was good since I have felt pretty crappy since finding out and they may have questioned my work ethic. We told our families on Christmas the same way I told you all…with the picture of four pairs of shoes.

It was so fun that no one was expecting it. My mom was utterly shocked. David’s mom jumped out of her chair. And David’s stepmom {Nancy} was equally as excited. The funny thing is that Nancy actually had a dream that week that I was pregnant with a girl. I even had to lie to her and tell her I wasn’t pregnant. Lord forgive me.

I am only 10 weeks along {tomorrow} but am definitely starting to show. Everything is looser this time around I suppose. I even feel like I have put on a few pounds as a result of eating every 2 hours just to keep from throwing up and not having a single ounce of energy to work out. We have had an ultrasound and were able to see the beautiful heartbeat. It still amazes me that the heart starts beating so soon and that you can see it. I remember seeing Elijah’s and then when he was born, putting my ear to his chest to hear it on my own ear for the first time–beautiful.

I am due August 5th, 2012. I know due dates are essentially a ‘best guess’ but I love mine. It just so happens to be the day that my mom and dad got married. You probably don’t know the special thing about Elijah’s birthday {June 11th}. Both my mom and dad were born on the 11th of their respective months. Call me weirdly sentimental {it’s true} but when you lose your dad at such a young age, making a connection to his life in even the smallest of ways is special.

So there you have the beginning of the story to Little Farm 2.0′s precious life. We are truly blessed and God deserves all the glory.

Elmo, Chicken and some Firemen

Today has been great.

No work. Some cleaning. A little play. And time to nap that is now being spent blogging {thanks to a stuffy nose and heartburn…both mine}.

This morning Elijah did the most amazing dance when he discovered that Elmo was going to be one of the guests on Good Morning America. He was definitely more excited than he was about Christmas. What can I say, his love for Elmo runs deep.

Then I was a good mom and decided to make the rest of his day by letting him watch and entire episode of Sesame Street. More dancing ensued. Speaking of which I seriously need to record him dancing for you all. It is just the right amount of cuteness and cheesiness. Apparently he takes after his dad in that department as well…

So while he sat on the couch mesmerized by the TV,

I tried to clean. I gave myself the hour and then stopped. It was a miracle.

Why you ask?

Well because I usually start cleaning and cannot stop until it is all spotless. But this little baby, growing inside of me, has already loosed me up in ways I never thought possible. There are times I leave the bed unmade, the clean laundry in a pile on the floor, mirrors streaked and just take a bath. Then I eat my 5th meal of the day and plop myself directly in front of the TV to watch Modern Family {a show I swore I would never watch}. It’s like I am a completely different person thanks to the constant fatigue and nausea.

After E took his morning nap and I got ready, we went to meet a friend at Chick-fil-A. It’s interesting how I meet my friends there to ‘catch up.’ I even try to coax them into the play area just to give us 30 more minutes to talk. Elijah is a good boy but he doesn’t like to be in one place for long periods of time and going to a sit down restuaunt or Starbucks only gives me 30 minutes of chat time. Today I even did the unthinkable just to get a few more moments of adult conversation…I gave Elijah my iPhone. Yes I now hang my head in shame.

After lunch was over, I took E to the car and changed what could be recorded as the smelliest diaper ever. I gave him my keys to play with so that none of his explorative little fingers would touch the…well, you know. Then I put him in his seat, gave him some water and shut the door. ooops! I ended up locking my sweet boy in the car with my keys and him strapped in. Shoot.

So I frantically called David–because that is what husbands are for. He called a locksmith who told him that I needed to call 911 since Elijah was inside. So I called and they sent the fire department to extract my son. Lights, sirens and everything. It probably took them 5 minutes to get the door open and Elijah was already sweating from being in there for 10-15 minutes. Poor thing. The firemen were so gracious and helpful. I was really thankful that they came so quickly and did it for free. That was a moment when I felt like my tax dollars do matter.

Then my sweet hubby showed up to offer his moral support and I convinced him to go on an impromptu frozen yogurt date.

Now we are home. I am sure the evening will be less eventful. Unless, Elmo decides to make an appearance on Wheel of Fortune. Then we will definitely have more dancing.

 

Merry Christmas! {a little late}

I know Christmas is looooong gone in most of your minds but ours just ended on Thursday with our last family gathering. For us, celebrating Christmas officially started on the 3rd of December; and if you are counting, that is 26 glorious days of Christmas for the Farmer’s this year. Hence the reason I have been a little MIA on this little blog. But I couldn’t let 2011 pass without officially saying “Merry Christmas!” and talking a little walk down memory lane.

Here is our card from this year:

**pictures taken by Meg Marie Photography

And I always think it is fun to take a look back at all our past Christmas card photos and even try to envision what our 2012 Christmas card may look like…

2006–Our first Christmas together. We were married in August and in November sent out a ‘thank you’ postcard for all our wedding gifts with this picture {our pictures really did take 3 months, ugh!}. That year we decided to forgo sending Christmas cards.

2007–Turbo’s first Christmas.

2008–One of my favorites

2009–Pregnant with Elijah and our first Christmas in Denver

2010–Elijah’s first Christmas

and perhaps this is what the Christmas card will look like in 2012…

Except with people, not shoes.

Out shopping

The view from here:

Elijah and I are finishing up some important Christmas shopping today and I am currently parked at our last stop. But the little guy is too cute to wake up from his power nap. So I am sitting in the car with the heater blasting like the “green” mom that I am. And since I really need to go to the bathroom, blogging seems like the best distraction. Thankfully, David bought me this completely unnecessary but very much wanted IPhone for my birthday a few months back. Otherwise I would have to do something really valuable while I sit here, like pray. But just like usually happens when I sit down to blog, Elijah has woken up crying. So off we go to do some shopping… Merry Christmas to you all!

Accomplished

I just finished cleaning the house, washing {and folding!} all the towels and bedding. I also  did some minor painting and touch-ups around the house and finally got around to organizing our office. Elijah and I read about 10 books, colored for a little while, played and did a mini photo shoot {see below}. We also ate lunch and breakfast. I could also tell you how many diapers I have changed but I don’t want that to be overkill.

Somedays, when I don’t feel like I have accomplished much it helps to write it all down. To see that I really did something instead of focusing on all the things that are left to do. Should I note that I have yet to officially start Christmas shopping or mail our Christmas cards? Or that I have not taken a shower? Or blogged in weeks? Nah…that would make me look a little too human.

I know all of you are wanting to know if Elijah has yet to say “mama!” And sadly, the answer is no. But he can now say, “Bubbles, bubba, baby, Turbo, the ‘M’ in Elmo, Papa, night-night, ‘where is it’, apple, banana, crack-crack {for cracker}, cookie {for his beloved fig newtons}, wow! and bye.”  They are all pretty cute.

Speaking of Elmo, if you have a toddler that loves him TO DEATH, then you need to head on over to YouTube. Instead of watching an entire episode of Sesame Street, hoping and praying that Elmo will make an appearance in the first 10 minutes to delight your child, you can have an instant 3-minute clip of the little, red guy. It is amazing. So far I have probably watched 15 clips in the last week and how could I not share my favorite:

Speaking of Elmo…

You may think he is obsessed but I think it’s just love.

Those eyelashes!

I will give you a prize if you guess the correct number of Elmo’s in this picture, hehe.

All I know is that this picture I saw on FB could not be more true:

Except that Elijah’s “Elmo region” may be just a bit larger than normal.

Right now

I just put the finishing touches on some gifts for our neighbors.

This year I decided to make some {yummy!} chocolate pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving instead of my usual Christmastime goodies. We have a very busy December and this was something I could do now to eliminate stress later. I am all about planning ahead!

While we are not incredibly close with any of them, we are very thankful for our nice neighbors.

Do you all do anything for your neighbors for the holiday season? I am always looking for some good ideas.