TGIF

We have had a busy day today. We went to MOPS this morning. I had to take a few pictures of Harper before we left because I thought she looked so cute. If I don't do it before - forget it. She is always a mess later on. ha!
I took this picture with my phone so it's terrible quality but we made cute necklaces today. You just take a square piece of glass (not sure where they come from) and glue a piece of scrapbook paper on the back. Then we glued a hook on the back and they had these cords for us.
After MOPS - I met my friend/neighbor Melissa for lunch at Mimi's. One of my favorite places. We ran into a lot of friends there including my cousin Mike. He held Harper for a while and she really liked him. I think she knew they were related. ha!
I was a little scattered so I totally forgot to take a picture of Melissa. Meals out are so crazy these days with Harper. I can barely eat because I'm so busy keeping Harper occupied and feeding her one thing after another. Melissa recently announced she is pregnant. I'm SO thrilled. They have been trying for a while and had a failed IVF this summer. I have prayed and prayed for her and God gave her a miracle. You can go to her blog and read about it!

I put together a little pregnancy survival kit for her - including tums, "What to Expect when you are Expecting", stretch mark cream, bra extenders and toilet seat covers. ha! A sweet friend sent me one when I announced and I wanted to do something fun for her. She is always such a giving person.
We are going to busy all week celebrating Thanksgiving. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for this year. I'm pretty sure you can all guess what I'm MOST thankful for! :-)

I will probably be a little absent this week but I'll hopefully pop in a few times with some updates! In the mean time - have a wonderful holiday and I hope you are counting your blessings today. No matter what storm you are going through - there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for!!!

Also - KAREN MILLER - you are the winner of the Christmas shirt! I drew #842 and that was you!

P.S. I have FOUR AMAZING (did I mention AMAZING) giveaways coming up in the next couple of weeks!! Get excited! I'm not going to be doing any more giveaways besides those four I already committed to until at least the first of the year. It's just too crazy this time of the year but I'm excited about the ones coming up!!! Stay tuned.......................

Show Us Your Life - PETS

Today is all about Show us your Pets! Most of you know that this is my dog Dawson. Scott gave him to me for Christmas in 2002. A year before we got married. We had gone to Barnes and Noble one day in November or December and someone was outside selling little Bichon puppies. I had never seen a Bichon before but I held one and loved it so much. And then right before Christmas one cold night - Scott rang my doorbell and when I opened it - he pulled this little white ball of fur out of his coat. And it was love at first sight.
I put him in my bathroom right off my bedroom that night with a baby gate. He bounced and cried all night. I tried it again the next night. Same thing. So the third night I gave in and put him in bed with me. Seven years later and he still sleeps with me. Only now it's right between me and Scott.
Bichons are great dogs because they have sweet personalities and they don't shed! They are great for people with allergies.
But in these two pictures - you can see how life has changed this year. Dawson used to be the grand dog. He used to be #1 around here.
And someone has stolen his place. (Don't worry - my dad wasn't driving the 4 wheeler in either of these pictures. They just sat on it for pictures).

But Dawson will always be my first baby and I dread the day he ever goes to doggie heaven. He is my little shadow. He follows me constantly. He loves Scott but he is a momma's baby.

Tell us about your pets!?!?!

P.S. I'd also love it if you would go read Shaun's post and Patricia's post. They are worth a few minutes of your time!

Compassion and Giving

So I wanted to answer a few questions about Compassion. If you have more - I'd be happy to add on to this post and try to answer them.

1. First - how did I get to go on this trip and how can you go on one?

I was asked to go on this trip. Compassion has taken four trips now with groups of bloggers. You can go back and read about the trips HERE. You can also submit your blog to be considered for future trips. Keep in mind they like to have blogs who have pretty high traffic because the idea is to get the word out and tell the story of Compassion to as many people possible.

BUT Compassion also takes group trips that you can go that would be very similar to what we just did. I told Scott last night I would rather go on another trip like this one than go to the beach. Sure I love relaxing in the sun and eating shrimp at night but hugging little children and realizing that you are SO blessed and making a difference - is priceless.
2. What if you can't commit to sponsoring a child? Can you make a one time donation?

ABSOLUTELY - go HERE and you can help with disaster relief (like the hurricane that hit El Salvador) or to the Child Survival program or to clean water projects. This is just as impactful!
3. Can I send my child something besides letters?

Just because of the cost this would involve - they don't allow packages. This would increase costs to Compassion and might take away from the actual support of the children so they ask that you just send letters. You can make extra donations to your child. The family does not receive the money. Instead - leaders of the project that child is at will find out the needs of that child - food, clothing, medicine, school supplies - and buy that amount and give it to them. They keep all receipts of what is bought and meticulous records.
4. Do you only support children as long as they become Christians?

NO! We support children of many faiths but the goal is to relieve them from poverty in JESUS name. The gospel is taught to these children and 95% of them do come to know the Lord. It is not forced upon them but rather shared in love because we don't only want to fill their material needs - we want to fill their spiritual needs. It is a Christian organization that works through evangelical churches and it does not apologize for that!
5. What if I have to stop supporting my child?

Compassion will keep your child in the program and give them the same support they were getting previously and that is funded by general donations. They will try to get them a new sponsor.
6. How have I changed since going on this trip?

I don't think it has made me more giving because I have always had a giving heart and I have always known that God has blessed me WAY beyond what I deserve. I always try to look for ways to give. Most of the time when I hear any kind of need small or big - I try to do something to help. But I think it just opened my eyes even more to how much WE have and how parts of the world have so little. It also opened my eyes to the joy and happiness you can have with out all of this "STUFF". It's made me realize that Jesus is really all we need.

I went to Target yesterday and felt so guilty to be spending money. I DO want to sell everything I own and just live in a cave. BUT I also realize that God has blessed me so I can bless others and I take that seriously. Scott and I since we got married never give each other Christmas gifts. Our church has a Christmas store where we supply toys and then families can come and shop for their children. 800 families are expected to come this year. Scott and I always go shopping and spend the money we would have on ourselves to buy toys. I can't tell you how much more joy I get from that than from opening some present I don't need.

I'm not sharing about my giving to "brag" on myself because I'm embarrassed at how little I do after seeing how big the need is. We are working at giving more than ever. I'm sharing because I want to give you some ideas and then I would love today in the comments if you would share ways you give. I know not everyone has spare money these days - but I've always said giving of your time is harder than giving out money sometimes. Volunteering at a local shelter or food kitchen is a great way to give.

When I met the girls at the Arkansas Promise House - home for teen mothers - I was burdened for them and I sent them a lot of baby stuff and plan to send another big box next month. We have planned for months that for Harper's birthday we are going to ask for NO gifts but instead that people bring items off a list we provide that the Ronald McDonald House in Tulsa could use. We were so blessed to stay there during Harper's NICU stay that we want to bless them in honor of her on her birthday each year. We have donated to them and will continue to.

You can always find opportunities to give or mission trips to go on through your local church and I urge you to explore those opportunities!

YOU CAN NEVER OUT GIVE GOD!!!!!

(photos by Keely Scott)

Total Mom Day and Giveaways

Today has been one of those "I know I'm a mom" days. We met up with my BFF Laurie at Olive Garden for lunch. Seriously - the soup, salad and breadsticks lunch is my favorite thing EVER! They probably run when they see me coming because I want so many refills. ha!

After lunch - Harper and I headed to Target. It was time to buy the big girl car seat. I can barely get her buckled in her infant one anymore - we have exceeded the 20 pound weight limit. We have a lot of holiday travel coming up so it could wait no longer.

(Please don't let this post turn into a car seat debate but we got the Graco My Ride 65. The main reason I picked this was that you can stay rear facing up to 40 lbs and it's something like 5x safer to keep babies rear facing so that's what we plan to do as long as possible). (When she's 16 - we'll THINK about letting her face front. ha!) (no driving or dating until she's at least 25)

So I go out to the car and put Harper in the car first. It's 40 degrees today and very cold. I drop my keys and phone in the front seat and go to load the car seat in the back. My car never automatically locks and I've always been meticulous about checking to make sure it doesn't.

Well guess what? I go to get in the car. And it's locked. Harper, my keys, my PHONE, my caramel apple spice - all locked in the car. I have no phone. I can't run back into target and leave her. So I just stand there looking stressed. (I still had my bag on my shoulder which is why I did have a camera to document this craziness! ha!)

And this sweet girl pictured above, Savannah, comes out. She asked me if I was okay? I told her no and could I borrow her phone.

and then she says............"Wait - are you Kelly? From Kelly's Korner? I read your blog and you have been an inspiration to me" and I thought "well - all that is going to change now that you have met me and realized I'm crazy and I'm standing in a parking lot with my baby locked in the car" ha!
She very sweetly called the police for me and at least 3 cops came to my rescue within 5 minutes!
Thank you SO much Savannah - you saved me today! I couldn't have been helped by anyone nicer!
Then we headed to Wal-Mart and Harper was so tired by all of the afternoon's adventures that she slept through our visit. Yes - Wal-Mart and Target all in one day. This was the last day I can take Harper in in her car seat and put her in the buggy. We are moving to the big seat tomorrow!!

Several of you have asked me a few things about my trip like how do you get to go on one and how has the trip changed me. I was going to write about all that today but I thought I would share my crazy day instead. I'll write about it tomorrow - so if you have ANY questions about my trip or Compassion - ask away and I'll answer tomorrow.

And in the meantime - I have a very exciting giveaway going on HERE. And a blog friend is giving away something from Kerusso which is an organization that supports Compassion - so I'd love for you to check it out HERE!

A little of This, A little of That and Christmas Shirts

This post is just a bunch of random things I'm combining together:

For the last 7 years - we have been used to Dawson begging at our knees while we eat our meals. But yesterday Scott was trying to eat lunch and suddenly he had two beggars. Ha! I couldn't help but snap a picture!
When we found out that Harper was a girl - her aunt and uncle sent her this dress. I just love it. I dressed her up today to take her to Bible Study. I thought she just looked precious. She was in the nursery with about 4 boys but they had to take her over to the bigger kids room for a while because she was so loud and active. ha! All the younger boys were trying to nap! ha! Get used to it boys - I have a feeling it will be this way for the rest of your lives. The guys trying to nap and the women wanting to talk. ha!
Nothing makes Harper happier than when daddy comes home for lunch. They were having fun playing in the floor today while he was here. (notice her favorite toy is tupperware)

She is standing on her own a LOT now and today she has started trying to reach forward and step! Yikes ! I'm not ready for a walker! She always puts her hands in the air when she stands like "Ta Da!!"
An anonymous blogger sent Harper this precious Christmas outfit and something for me. They didn't give me their name or return address so I just want to thank you if you reading this. That was SO sweet and Harper is going to be precious in that outfit. I can't wait for her to wear it!
It came from here (http://www.julianneoriginals.com/) - thinking she is the one who sent it???
And speaking of Christmas outfits......ya'll know how I am NUTS over monogramming (I'm pretty sure most of you think I'm just plain nuts!) ha! Well - I'm giving away one monogrammed Christmas shirt from http://www.initiallyyoursdesigns.com/

Just leave me a comment and tell me who you want to give it to and on Friday at noon I will draw with the random number drawing and pick a winner!!!

(I have several fun giveaways coming up in the next few weeks so get excited and stay tuned!)

When Can I go again?

I've been sad today

I have wished all day that I was still in El Salvador

I want to wake up early, put on my tennis shoes and go hug those sweet faces full of so much love, joy, and hope. I want to whisper "Dios te Bendiga" in their ears (God Bless You) and speak spanish with my country twang.

I went there just hoping I could bless them. Praying I could make a difference.

I left being blessed by them more than they will ever know.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Ten Months

Harper - you are 10 months old!

What are you up to these days?

You weigh around 21 pounds

You wear a size 3 diaper

You wear mostly 12 months clothes

• You are an eating machine. You eat pretty much anything I give you - which is a lot. You love carrots, avocados, bananas, cheese, sweet peas, sweet potatos, peaches, pears and pretty much anything else.

• You are completely weaned and LOVE your bottle. I can't believe how easy it was to wean you and how great it has worked out.

• You take a good 1-2 hour nap every morning but refuse an afternoon nap.

• You are mostly sleeping through the night now. You go to bed early (because of the no afternoon nap) and sleep from around 6 to 6.

• You spent a week away from us for the first time. You stayed with your grandparents while we went on a mission trip. I think we couldn't believe how great you did!

• You have so much personality and the brightest eyes. You are SO social!

• You are SO vocal and are constantly talking and making noise. The only "real" word you say is Dad-da. But I know once you get going we will never get you to be quiet. You are going to be a talker!

• You have EIGHT teeth! Four on top and four on bottom. And they are BIG teeth!

• You never stop moving. You are constantly crawling, standing or pulling up on things. You stand by yourself a lot now. When you get a little steadier - you will most likely walk. I know you will be walking by your first birthday if not sooner!

• You clap your hands all the time! Especially when you think you have done something Great!

• You have changed SO much. I look back at your earlier months and can't believe you big you are now.

I still can't believe you are MINE!

Thank You for Giving to the Lord

Today was a special day. Our Sunday School Teachers for the last 6 years - Jason and Michelle are moving to Charlotte, NC in a few weeks. (WHAT is UP with NC? All of our friends keep moving there! ha!) So we had a special class today honoring them and our pastor and associate pastor came and spoke and we all shared how they had touched our lives and then we had a big potluck lunch in TRUE Southern Baptist fashion! :-)
Scott and I shared how much Jason and Michelle have impacted our lives. I can truly say that I never grew in my Christian walk until I joined my current church and this class. The people in our church and class are such genuine Christians. Some of the most Godly people I have ever met. Jason has challenged me SO much in my faith. Two things that I will never forget is that 3 years ago Scott began to question his salvation and Jason came over late at night to pray with him and helped Scott accept Christ. He has been such a HUGE mentor to Scott. It has changed him so much and has completely changed our marriage.
Also the day after Harper was born when Scott was in Tulsa and I was still trying to get out of the hospital - that was the hardest day of our lives. We were being told she would likely not live and we were separated. And Jason and Michelle drove to Tulsa and spent the entire day with Scott. He needed a Godly friend that day and they filled that need. They will never know how much that meant.
We are both better for knowing them and will miss them dearly.

Do you have a Christian mentor other than someone than your family? My parents have obviously been the biggest influences on my life but I would love to hear who in your life has challenged you and helped you to grow spiritually. If you don't have someone like that in your life - I pray God helps you to find someone. I think we all need mentors to help us to grow.

It makes me want to break out into a chorus of "Thank you for Giving to the Lord......I am a life that was changed..................."