My Baby

Three years ago today I lay in the hospital imagining what he would look like. What he would smell like, sound like, and feel like. If he would have hair or if he would have rolls for me to pinch. Three years ago today I wondered if it was possible to love another babe like I had loved my first. I wondered if I could do it. If I could be a loving mommy to another little boy. If he would steal my heart like his older brother had.

Well, three years ago today, my heart was stolen all over again. A precious little babe, perfect in every way, all 7 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches of him. I loved him before I ever knew him, but that love exploded on December 27, 2005 at 10:31pm when I held in my arms my handsome adorable Elijah Jake.

And today, three years later, I love him more than I ever have. And I know that one or three or even ten years from now, I will love him, in that very moment, more than I ever have.

I love you baby boy. More than you could possible know. Because you will ALWAYS be My Baby!

Short and Sweet

it will be......
God is good, really REALLY good. He continues to encourage our Total Money Makeover with blessing after blessing. The kids are good, the hubby is good, I am better now that I have antibiotics in my system:) I haven't posted for a while because I have been SO busy, as usual this time of year! Ken is layed off from construction for a while, but God continues to provide. All is well in the Carlson world:) Except I still have not gotten Christmas cards out yet!!! Maybe you all will have them by New Years! Oh and I finally started writing my anger letter that my counselor assigned me. It feels BEYOND good to vent sometimes:) And I am continuing to read this great book called Trapped In The Mirror which is opening my eyes to some really interesting things.

I guess it isn't exactly short and sweet!

Blessings to everyone:)

This is HUGE!!!

This is big people. Really really big! You have to go to MCKMAMA's blog and check out this post.

You can also check it out by clicking on the Rebel for A Cause icon on the right column of my blog!

Help the cause and maybe win big while doing it!!!!!

The Truth

It speaks for itself. You HAVE to watch the WHOLE thing!!!!

Thanksgiving

As you all may or may not know Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Like tomorrow infact!
So I was thinking of ALL the great things I have to be thankful for:)

Like:
My super hot hard working hubby,
my crazy fun always loud boys,
my quiet soft spoken girl,
my furry smelly never wants to pee outside in the winter dog,
my bigger than I deserve house,
my nicer than I deserve vehicles,
my fun rewarding sometimes crazy job,
my full cupboards fridge and freezer,
my new Total Money Makeover audio CD's that were on sale for 10$!!!!!!!!!
my warm cozy blankets and bed,
my great great super de duper friends,
my really cool Bible with fancy tabs,
my sweeter than I deserve in-laws,
my family,
my money that God blesses me with to pay my bills,
my dirty laundry(cuz that means we have clothes!),
my Compassion Intl sponsored children's artwork and pictures they sent:),
and above ALL ELSE...........

MY TOTALLY AMAZING FORGIVING SOVEREIGN LOVING JUST FAITHFUL GIVING FRIENDLY ALWAYS THERE FOR ME EVEN THOUGH I DON'T DESERVE HIM TO BE........
GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

My Inner Esthetician

This one is for you Jenni C. my esthetician friend!!!! I am getting intouch with my inner esthetician:) Modeling the Arbonne exfoliating masque with thermal fusion. It's HOT!! Literally!

Yes, SCARY I know! Eli kept running away from me!!! Jaden kept asking if that was my halloween mask! I can only imagine what Ken would have said if he had been home!

Money Makeover Update!!

I have not updated since starting this Total Money Makeover journey we are on. So far things are going smoothly, for the most part. Thankfully I have always had some what of a budget and tend to be type A with my checkbook and stuff. That really helps when crunching numbers every month! I have started using the envelope system that Dave Ramsey suggests in his book, and I actually really enjoy it. It is true that when you are using cash, you tend to watch much more closely what you are spending it on.

I am excited to start attacking my debt, but I have been hard on myself through the process. I really want to be extreme and start selling stuff and knocking out debt left and right. Ramsey suggests that most people can attack the debt snowball and be done in about 2 years. That just isn't going to happen unless I sell a kid or a kidney on the black market! I would love to be debt free in 2 years, but the only way to make it happen is for me to work full time and then some, and for ken to work full time and then some. While I hate having all this debt, I hate even more the thought of making my kids go through the busyness ALL over again. They already have been through so much with me being in nursing school for 2 years. I just can't bring myself to do that to them again.

So, we wait. We persevere. We endure. We trust that God is seeing us through this. And we have faith that He will bless us unimaginably while we strive to serve Him with our finances.

So we are still going strong, taking one day at a time. I am excited to be on the other side of this and scream, "We are debt freeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!"