The Millsap Family Updates

A year

2010-11-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

One year ago today, my husband got on a plane to go bury his best friend Dave. News of his death was shocking to the both of us. The day he died, we'd just gotten home from a Thrive "Family Feud" night which Robby had made the game board for and it went flawlessly! People had so much fun, we came home so happy, then Robby got a call from our friend Daniel. Robby said sadly, "Dave's dead". Our life hasn't been the same since. He left behind a wife and 3 young children. He was 31 years old.

Driving to Bakersfield last weekend, we were 1/4 mile away from a fatal crash. Sitting on a 2 lane California Highway, we saw a helicopter land on the street in front of us to airlift injured people to the hospital. One car swerved in front of the car coming in the opposite direction and was hit. An 81 year old man did not survive the crash. Death is real and it can happen at any moment.

A few weeks ago, Robby and I saw D.A. Carson speak on "Why does God allow suffering." I wanted to share some of what was discussed that evening because, none of us know when our death will happen. Carson in his opening statements said that "if you live long enough, you will suffer. If you don't, someone will be bereaved". Cancer, heart attack, car accident, losing a child, dying to a bullet... we all know someone who's gone through it or is going through it. The worst thing is to pretend the problem isn't there. CS Lewis said "100% of us will die." Grief is something we have to deal with in this life, it's sad and very emotional.

What do you think happens after we die? Genesis 3:19 says "For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return."

The reality of death can make people uneasy, people don't want to think about it's finality. The truth is, a man's soul will always be restless till he finds rest in God. Psalm 32:1 says "My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from Him." For me, I have peace about death, because my hope isn't in this life alone. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says "we do not grieve like those who have no hope". Through Jesus Christ, we can live for eternity in heaven with Him. There's heaven to be gained and hell to fear.

Did you know that God suffers? His Son died on the Cross, carrying the burden of our sin so that we could be with God! We know too that Christ also suffered 1 Peter 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."

I know that there was a Creator God who made this earth. Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

Our kids had an art project due today which had them collect leaves of different colors. There are so many different shapes of leaves, different shades of leaves, looking at something so simple as leaves becomes so complex when you think about how those leaves came to be when we stop and look :) Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." ... "Be still, and know that I am God!" He wants us to look in awe at what He has made and give Him glory for it. Romans 1:25 "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."

We won't have all the answers to all our questions, we can't see things from God's perspective this side of heaven, faith is required. We have faith knowing God is sovereign (in control, supreme authority) over everything. Hebrews 11:1, 3, 6 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

You need to be sure too that you have repented of your sins and have surrendered your life to Christ because we know "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME" Matthew 7:21-23.

Another thing that Carson mentioned is "dying well". A friend of theirs was slowly passing away over a period of months and through her suffering, people were praying for miracles, that she'd be healed, but we know sometimes it's not God's Will that all will be healed. Having peace with that and being able to help reconcile others to God is better than questioning "why me". Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12- that he suffered. He prayed 3 times for God to take away his "thorn in the flesh" but his affliction wasn't removed, instead God said "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And Paul's response was "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

We all know in our hearts the undeniable truth, we can try to excuse it, come up with ways to doubt it or make up theories. Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them."

I don't know when Christ is going to return, I know it's been 2,000 years since he walked on this earth but the Bible says 1 Thessalonians 5:2 "for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night" and it'll be too late to proclaim Him as Lord of your life. What are you waiting for? Psalm 39:4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life."

We need faith, but we also need to turn from sin, repenting (a 180). 1 Peter 2:21 "For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps." Carson spoke about how people say "it's my cross to bear", which really was an honor, being counted worthy of suffering for Christ. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:16-18

I know that this isn't the last time we'll experience death and grief. This has been a tough year for us. Robby lost his best friend who was like a brother to him throughout High School and was the best man at our wedding.

I don't want to have regrets of not sharing the truth with people. I don't know when my life here on earth will end. Ephesians 5:16 says to "Make the most of every opportunity" If something I've written stirs something in your heart and you'd like to talk about it, please don't hesitate to call me. I'd love to discuss whatever is on your mind.

James 4:14 "you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

PS If you see Robby around, give him a big hug, a phone call, invite him out to lunch, you can be a great friend to him. His birthday is this coming Tuesday, November 23rd (it won't appear on your facebook pages) He'll be 31.

The photo is the last one of them taken together the last day we saw Dave alive.
Robby and Dave with their sons, Thanksgiving, 2008

A New site!

2008-10-23T10:24:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!
I started a new blog to keep track of the things I'm learning! It'll sort of be like an online journal of the thoughts on what I've been reading about and learning from various places. You can find the site at: http://millsapmarvels.blogspot.com

October

2008-10-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

We thank the Lord for answered prayers!

This week has been big for our family :)
Tuesday morning, I had 4 wisdom teeth pulled. I've heard so many horror stories of friends experiences! My Mom and sister Holly came for two days to help take care of our family and we were so blessed by that! I am so thankful for all the prayers received as I'm feeling great with very little pain! Tuesday I have my 1 set of stitches removed.

Last Friday marked a huge milestone! Christian celebrated his 1st year of life! We are do thankful for the 2 children Gods given us to care for. He's now 23 pounds and has started to walk! He says "Mama, Dada, more, up and Ab (Abby) :) He can also sign "more, all done and please".

In other family news....
My father, Don, underwent heart valve replacement surgery 1 year ago and is doing great! We also received word, my sisters husband arrived home Sunday from his 15 month tour in Iraq! This was his 3rd tour.

Continued prayer for Robby's dad Greg is appreciated. His latest bone marrow biopsy showed no change. His Doctor started him on chemo, every 3 weeks for the next 15 weeks.

Things at the Millsaps are always busy! We continue to serve the Lord at Compass Bible Church and find ourselves there numerous times a week and loving it!

Abbys growing up so fast. She's going to be 3 in January and trying more and more to tell us when she needs to use the potty! :)

The kids are up and running so it's time to end this blog!

Baby Items

2008-09-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

Some of you may have a new baby, are expecting a new baby, or, know of someone who could use some items! I currently have these things I'd love to borrow out so others can use!

Within Arms Reach Side Co Sleeper crib-

Boppy cloud pattern-

Bathtub that fold down for easy storage- Jen Gray

Black Baby Bjorn-

Baby swing Laura Ashley pattern-

Infant Car Seat Laura Ashley pattern-

Extra Infant Car Seat base- Chiara Hawley

Toy mobile- Katy McCrory

Bouncy Seat Fisher Price- Katy McCrory

Nursing shawl and burp clothes- Katy McCrory

If you'd like to borrow something listed above, please just leave me a comment or send an email to rebeccamillsap@yahoo.com!

Race for the Cure

2008-09-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Katy and I have signed up to do the 5k for the breast cancer run/walk! That's 3.11 miles ;) It's in Newport Beach on Sunday, September 28th! The race we're doing starts at 9:45 and you can sign up to race or donate funds to help support the cause! You're also allowed to bring a stroller along! The kids will be joining me!

Breast cancer is a cause that's very dear to my heart. My next door neighbor and I were very close. She gave me lots of motherly advice, spent lots of time with me when I was a child, and encouraged me in so many ways. I was the Junior bridesmaid in her wedding :) She passed away from breast cancer at 38 when I was 11 years old. Her name was Abbe, who we named our daughter after :)

http://www.komenoc.org/

My fundraiser link if you're so inclined! http://www.ockomen.org/race/rebeccamillsap
Katy's fundraiser link! http://www.ockomen.org/race/runsuperkaterun

I'm still here :)

2008-09-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

I do apologize for not blogging more :( I haven't had a lot to write about other than that we're still here! The kids are getting big, Christian's 10 months and has 8 TEETH and Abby's 2 1/2 and very talkative! Robby's working hard still for our family. Being self employed, he's busy being our family provider. As for me, I've gotten involved in helping with the Care ministry at church this Summer and love being able to serve our church family! We're gearing up for the Thrive marriage ministry to start again this Fall! Our small group we lead is already full with 10 couples and 25 children (3 of those haven't arrived just yet!). Robby's still loving serving whenever he can on the worship team. We're looking forward to men and women's Bible study starting up next week too! We both are attending church retreats this Fall too!

We still have Disneyland passes through March and, recently joined the YMCA! I've loved taking the water aerobics course! (I've gone 4 times in 6 days!)! It's been 3 1/2 years since I stepped foot in a "GYM". Robby's swimming laps too on his lunch breaks!

We are still praying fervently for Robby's Dad who has been battling stage 4 cancer since diagnosed in May. The Doctors are still trying to find the right medication to treat all his symptoms. Please remember to keep the Millsap family in your prayers.

Also, Robby and I have joined www.facebook.com and update that often with what we're up to! If you join, let us know! :)

Latest update on Robby's Dad

2008-06-17T11:05:00.001-07:00

Last week he went in to his Doctor in Bakersfield who recommended they remove his spleen and then start chemotherapy. He's been diagnosed with Stage 4 B cell lymphoma.

Greg decided to a second opinion and switched Doctors! This new Doctor works at a Cancer Crisis center and has a whole team he works with! The other Doctor commuted between hospitals, was a hematologist and not a specialist in cancer, and he hadn't seen many cases like Dad's.

The new Doctor is treating Greg with with a chemical treatment to try and get his body to start producing blood again. They are hoping to see results this week! Once all his treatments are completed, he'll start chemo.

The first day of treatment (Wed. the 11th) the Doctor had to stop because Greg's body started shaking and when they'd ask him questions, he was unresponsive and wouldn't answer them. He received half the treatment he needed and went back again Thursday for the second half. This time, there wasn't a bad reaction, which is a praise!

Greg had his blood drawn yesterday (Monday, the 16th) and we should know the results tomorrow (Wednesday, the 18th) to see if his blood level has increased.

Thank you for your continued prayers and concern for Greg.

Latest news

2008-06-05T19:54:00.001-07:00

Robby got a call tonight at 7:15PM from his parents. The Doctors have confirmed Greg has B cell lymphoma. Greg has been diagnosed with B Cell Lymphoma. The Doctors have said they believe it’s low grade and that it’s treatable!

He’s having a heart scan performed Friday, June 6th to make sure it’s in good condition. Greg starts chemotherapy on Tuesday, June 10th, every three weeks for the next 6 months. Another huge praise is that he won't have to be admitted to undergo treatment! (thanks Katie for reminding me!)

Pray that the chemotherapy would be effective
Pray that attitudes stay positive and for their spirits to be up as they focus on God during this time
Pray that the Lord would bless Greg with excellent medical care and the Doctors will have wisdom
Pray that their hearts would draw great comfort in knowing God's love for them.

Thank you all for your continued prayers! We've appreciated all the emails, posts, comments and phone calls!

Not much to report!

2008-06-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Robby arrived home Wednesday afternoon! The kids and I are happy to see him :)

We are still waiting to hear back from Greg's doctors about his culture samples and what "for sure" he has. Once there's a firm diagnosis, treatment can be scheduled and he can be readmitted to the hospital. Once we know, I'll do another post. They said either tonight or tomorrow.

Update. Greg is home :)

2008-06-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!
Robby's Dad is HOME!

The Doctors still aren't 100% sure what he has. Apparently, both these diagnoses' have specific signs and symptoms that Doctors look for and these signs just aren't present! Robby said tonight that the Doctors say it's most likely B Cell Lymphoma but the tell tale sign usually is swollen lymph nodes and he doesn't have that symptom. The CT Scan came back looking good so that's a praise :) The Doctors are going to run a few more tests to try and further filter down what Greg has.

Most likely, he'll be admitted to a different hospital for treatment, as early as Monday. The hospital where he was doesn't do chemo. Robby said he'll most likely need a round of chemotherapy every three weeks for the next few months.

His body still is not producing blood on it's own. The Doctors gave him two blood transfusions again today since his count began to drop. This should "hold him over" till he's re-admitted next week. The procedure usually is out patient but they'll keep him overnight the first time since it can be rough on your body.

Robby's said too that with chemo, his hair will fall out and there will be side effects. We're still so thankful that Dad is still living and can be treated for whatever this is! The Doctors still are very positive and say whatever this is, is very treatable!

My husband said he'll try and return home tomorrow sometime during the afternoon so please be praying for a safe drive! Bakersfield to Mission Viejo can take a few hours!

Thank you to all our friends and family who've been praying! Thank you too for being so willing to help out while Robby's been gone! I've enjoyed some great fellowship this week! My inbox every time I open my laptop is just flooded with support and prayers!

Please continue to pray for Dad as his body fights this and pray for a FIRM diagnosis since the Doctors still aren't sure!

Robby's Facebook page summed it up the other day. He wrote "Thanking God for another day." James 4:14 says "you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." We don't know when our last day on earth might be. This really makes you wonder, what happens after I die? That's a good question! I'm glad you're thinking that! If you're wondering, please, please, call me, let's chat! There's a wonderful place called heaven that has it's doors ready to open up just for you and in heaven, there's no more death, pain or sorrow, only love. God sent His son Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that we could live with Him one day. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Again, an awesome site to read... www.howtogeteternallife.com and click on the "Umbrella Analogy" in the top right corner! It'll walk you through just a basic description on how to become a Christian today! We're not guaranteed a tomorrow!

Update! Good news :)

2008-06-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

We'll know more tomorrow, they did a CT Scan tonight. The Doctors think that it's 1 of 2 things.

1) Hairy Cell Leukemia

2) Lymphoma

I got to talk to Robby for about 5 minutes. He said that if it's leukemia, (his symptoms are very much like Hairy Cell Leukemia) they can start treatment on Wednesday and can take as little at 5 days or as many as 14 days to treat. It's a form of cancer that's not "curable" but can be put into remission!

Lymphoma is some sort of tumor Robby said it they might need treat for 3 months.

Either case, this looks very very treatable and the Doctor sounded very positive! Robby's Dad and family are very happy! Praise God!

Robby said he'll probably come home Tuesday.

Thank you for your prayers!!!

No update yet...new test to be done today

2008-06-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

Greg is having a CAT scan on his stomach and chest at 6:00PM tonight (Monday), no word yet on bone marrow test results! Please be praying :)

Prayers appreciated :)

2008-05-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Our daily Bible reading today was 1 Kings 18. I especially remember this passage because our Pastors wife Carlynn did an awesome study about prayer and used this example in the Old Testament. We find the people of Samaria in a great famine. There hadn't been any rain in 3 years. In verse 42 we learn how Elijah prayed. He crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees. He continued to pray this way, 7 times be bowed his face to the ground and he didn't stop praying until a rain cloud appeared. Great passage!

Last night, Robby and I came before our Heavenly Father in prayer. We prayed in this same way, faces to the ground, united in prayer for Robby's Dad.

Thursday night Greg (Robby's Dad) was admitted to the hospital with a very low platelet count. The Doctors said they were surprised he hadn't died and that if he'd cut himself, he would have bled to death. Since then, he's been receiving blood transfusions, trying to get his blood level to increase. It appears his body has stopped producing blood. We're not sure why but we do know that God is in control. They didn't have to give him a transfusion today so the blood they've given him is staying in his body. That's a praise! Today, the Doctors did a bone marrow test today at 11:30. They won't know the results until Monday. His Dad is 50 years old.

Psalm 139:13-16 "You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my Mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Another note, it's important too when faced with serious conditions like this to make sure that you're right with God. We believe there's more to this life than just Earth. We believe and hope in Heaven and the saving power of Jesus Christ. All of our days on this earth are numbered. We know it's just a matter of time before we die. If you haven't accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, if you haven't surrendered your whole life to Him and His will, or if you're not living a life that's praiseworthy and glorifying Him, you can do that today!!! Visit www.howtogeteternallife.com to learn more. Feel free to contact me if you want to know more about Christ and how much He loves us and wants us to spend an eternity with Him! We have hope! We know that when we die, we go to a better place! We know there's more to this life! :) We can look at this grim situation with Robby's Dad and find joy! Knowing that when we die, in heaven there will be no more death, pain or sorrow, only rejoicing and incredible worship!

Please be praying for Robby and his family. His Dad's name is Greg, Mom is Terry and sister is Katie.

Our family is praying God's will be done for his Dad. Robby and I are at peace knowing that God can heal and God can call people home. We will rejoice no matter what the answer is. Thank you for your prayers!

Central Coast! 2 new posts!

2008-05-03T00:26:00.001-07:00

Robby and I have taken a Coastal vacation every year for the last 5 years. We absolutely LOVE it! The last 3 years we've stayed in Cambria http://www.seecambria.com/"where the pines meet the sea!" This is a little town that's filled with so much fun! There's little shops, great coffee, a cute grocery store http://www.cookiecrock.com/.

Another area we love to visit is Solvang. http://www.solvangusa.com/ This is a sweet Dutch Village where you'll find lots of fun little shops and some great food!

Something we noticed during our visit is how badly these towns have been effected by the economy and also the gas prices! A lot of the stores are closing and homes and businesses are being put up for sale! These towns thrive off of tourism! Without tourists, I'm afraid these wonderful little cities might cease to exist!

We rented a vacation home in Cambria (we've visited the same home for the last 3 years) and it's comparable to what you'd pay for a hotel room in Pismo Beach! The home we rent is a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2 living rooms, a dining room and a walk in kitchen in office. It's very spacious and there's also wireless Internet in case you need to look up directions anywhere!

If you're looking for a fun family vacation, there's SO much to see along the Central Coast! Having gone up there so much, we're still finding fun things to do as a couple and as a family! We've picked fruit off the vine, we've gone to Maritime Museum in Ventura, Aquariums, drive-in movie theatre in San Luis Obispo, picnic lunch by Nojoqui Falls, Danish chocolate malts in Solvang at www.ingeborgs.com. We've yet to go to Santa Barbara but I'm sure there are fun things to do there too!

If you haven't gone up the Coast before, I'd encourage you to look in to it! :)

Our vacation! :)

2008-05-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

This blog is long overdue!

Technically, our vacation started last Thursday! Robby took the entire day off work and we went to Disneyland. The kids were SO good! We spent most of the day riding NEW rides which really kept Abby's attention! We did Jungle Cruise and Autopia Cars which Abby just LOVED! We had an awesome lunch too at Country Bear! Their bacon cheeseburgers are DELICIOUS!

We drove home just in time for the kids to have a short nap in the car, grabbed our Thrive notebooks and went to church!

Friday morning, we woke up early and headed up to LA to visit with my parents :) They offered to watch our doggy Paris while we were away! Abby cried when we left, missing her grandparents and her dog! The kids love seeing their grandparents and Auntie Holly :) My Mom also lent us an awesome square pack n play which Abby slept really well in!

After leaving my parents house, the kids fell asleep and we drove all the way to Buellton! We stopped at Taco Bell for lunch and gassed up the car, then, back on the road. We stopped and shopped for a bit in San Luis Obispo then drove through to Cambria! One of our favorite things to do in Cambria is visit their grocery store! It's called Cookie Crock. What's neat is, Camrbia doesn't have any major chain stores. You won't find a Starbucks, a Blockbuster, an Albertsons, a CVS Pharmacy. We picked up some snacks and drinks then headed home after ordering dinner from Moustache Pete's alfredo to-go! Robby and I watched "Cloverfield" which was a little scary but very entertaining!

Saturday, we woke up and took the kids to the beach! This was Christian's first time! Abby loved running through the waves, getting her clothes all wet! We came home, did naps then went to a JJ's Pizza in town :)

Sunday morning, the family went SHOPPING! We hit the Pismo Outlet mall where Abby bought a new Minnie Mouse doll. We went to Gottchalks in San Luis Obispo and purchased some new shirts! We also got 2 new beach towels ;) While out shopping, Abby's window got stuck. It rolled down but refused to roll back up! The two beach towels provided a safe "window" for Abby till we were able to get it repaired (Monday morning)! We drove to dinner with the window rolled down which Abby thought was hilarious, having never really experienced wind blowing in her face on the freeway! We ate at our favorite steak restaurant in Pismo Beach called McClintocks. They have the best bacon wrapped filet mignon and comes with a TON of sides. You get salad, potato wedges, garlic bread, beans and ice cream :) After eating such a filling meal, we drove back home and everyone went to bed early! We did watch a little bit of "Monster In Law" which was playing on TV.

Robby woke up Monday and took the truck to the Ford dealership in San Luis Obispo. They were able to fix Abby's window and he was back at the house before lunch time! We had talked about possibly driving up to Monterey that day to go to the Aquarium which we'd heard was so great! We had lunch in Cambria, the kids fell asleep in the car and 2 1/2 hours later, we arrived in Monterey! It was a MUCH longer drive than Robby and I had expected! Still, Abby had fun and the kids were PERFECT on the car ride! After spending a few hours at the aquarium, we turned around and headed back home since it was 4:30 and would be DARK by the time we arrived back! I'd wanted to go on the 17 mile scenic drive that so many people have said is so fun and also romantic. Maybe another trip!

Some cute memories:
Abby saw the sea otters and kept says "SEE WATER"!
Christian was drinking his bottle when we stumbled across an exhibit for baby whales. They drink 2,000 bottles a day vs. Christian's 6 bottles a day. Facinating ;)
It was pretty cold in Monterey SO I took a cute pic of Robby, Abby and Christian in their hooded sweatshirts!

Tuesday, it was time to head back home. Even though Cambria is a 5 hour drive, we like to stop so much that it really takes about 8 hours, start to finish! We started our morning with breakfast at a nice French Cafe. We dined on hot chocolate and croissants, reminiscing of our trip to Paris last year :) Ahh :) After we ate, it was time to get everything loaded in the truck and ready to go! We left at 10-, drove to Solvang which is about 70 miles South of Cambria. This quaint little Dutch Village holds a lot of childhood memories for me. We used to go there a lot with my parents and grandparents and, I have an adorable little Dutch dress from my childhood that I keep meaning to get a photo of Abby in before she grows out of it! We enjoyed going in a few of the shops there but our kids are still too little to really ENJOY shopping or behave well while shopping! We had a nice pizza lunch, Abby enjoyed a chocolate ice cream and then we started driving again! We tried to stop at the Toy Shop in Carpenteria off of Santa Claus Lane but, it's GONE! The store went out of business :(

We went shopping in Camarillo :) It's always fun to get some new things while away from home. Robby came back with a pair of Lucky Brand Jeans and a new pair of shoes from Kenneth Cole! I enjoyed going in Ann Taylor and Gap!

Our trip ended at Grammy and Grandpa's! We enjoyed a nice Chinese Food dinner and conversation :) Our dog had enjoyed her stay and Abby was especially glad to see her!

We got home Tuesday night around 9- and I'm still unpacking from our trip! It's amazing how much laundry you go through when you're gone for 5 days! :)

I'm very thankful we were able to take this family vacation and just spend quality time together. This was our first time away from home since Christian was born :)

Testimony. Have you thought it through?

2008-04-10T10:42:00.001-07:00

Having just read Shannon's blog, this really had permeated my mind today and has inspired me to really reevaluate things and write some stuff out!

A few weeks ago at Women's Bible study, our group leader challenged us to share our testimony. The room went silent! Having gone through the Partners Discipleship Program with church, I'd had to share my testimony with my friend Chiara who was taking me through the book. It's still a work in progress :)

Here's my testimony:
I grew up in a Christian home but I know that doesn't make me a Christian. I went to church every Sunday as a kid, again, doesn't make me a Christian. The church I went to was very much into "the sinners prayer" which you won't find written out in the Bible. As friends around me were getting saved, I came to my parents and asked them, how do I become a Christian? At 11 years old, I had a desire in my heart to become a Christian. I knew that there was heaven and hell and knew that Jesus had died on the cross to save me from sin. My parents helped lead me to the Lord through reading me scripture, praying with me and having me pray on my own, making sure that this life of becoming a Christian was what I really wanted. In March of 1992, I got baptized. This gave me a feeling of freshness, a symbol to me of being buried with Christ in His death and then raised to walk in a new life. I grew up believing that my heart had be washed of my sin through baptism.

In High School, through AWANA Scholarship Camp is when I really started to take my faith seriously. The speaker showed 2 Ray Boltz videos. The images were of a man and his son, imprisoned in modern day, because he believed in God. Another video a man was taken to trial and with the scales on the desk, they measured to see if there was enough evidence in his life to convict him of being a Christian. This pierced me. I pictured my life. Would there be enough evidence in my life to prove that I'm a Christian? I cried and I remember rededicating my life to Him.

Since then, I've tried to live a life that would show that, I believe in God, that I'm a Christian saved by faith and by grace, and that I live my life for Him.

I came home from Camp that year and put my faith in to practice. I started serving whole heartedly in our AWANA program, having a great desire for Jr. High kids to come to know Him. I felt that's such a trying time for kids, going through so many changes in life, you want to guide them on the right path. I reevaluated the relationships I had with people. Are these friends who are helping my walk or hindering my walk? I made a dating standards checklist for guys to determine who I would go out with. I trusted God with my future, having Him direct my path out of High School.

At 20, while serving on the worship team at church, God blessed me with Robby, my husband of 6 years. He's the answer to my prayers. Through everything we've been through in our marriage, God has proven to be faithful to us both and bless us in our life together. We're continually growing together in our walks, we serve together, and we're developing more of a relationship with Him. We have the same goal, to know God, to serve God and now to raise our children to know and serve Him too.

Here are the Ray Boltz videos that had such a deep impact on me.
"One Drop Of Blood"

"I Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb"

Definition of Allegiance: Commitment, the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action.

For everyone 29 and under!

2008-04-10T01:23:00.000-07:00

Did that title line catch your attention? The following statistics a girlfriend of mine sent me and I seriously couldn't sleep until I posted this for all of my friends to read. It really makes you reevaluate! I know I'm 27 and fall under the category of being "saved" in High School. Please, take a few minutes to read below.

My girlfriend Shannon (she's on my myspace top 8) and also on my friends links on the right under Primicerio) is a Christian author/speaker to teenage girls. She wrote this on her blog this week and it really had an impact on me.
It's 1:25am and this just kept running through my mind! :)

I'll list the statistics that really hit me first, then you can read her post!

61% of young adults who attended church as a teen become completely spiritually disengaged during their twenties.

Only 20% of young adults who attended church in their teen years remain spiritually active by the age of 29.

http://yourmomentisnow.com The post is Debunking the teenage alter call

Please take a few moments to read it!

Photos, finally! More another day!

2008-04-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

Our last trip to Disneyland, Robby sat with Christian while I took Abby on Dumbo! During the 30 minute wait, as Christian just kept staring at Daddy, daddy taught him how to say "Dada"! I'll try and get a video of him saying it soon!

Spontaneity! :)

2008-03-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

I hardly ever take time out to write a blog and appreciate my husband much. Yes, my birthday post did mention some of his great gift purchases but, none give justice to how great of a hubby he is :)

There are three things that make me very happy in life! 1) when someone helps me with the kiddos 2) when someone helps me with housework 3) when I get to go to Disneyland!!! Bear with me, I'll link them all together later on in this post!

Robby's always helpful with the kids AND cooking, but, there are some recent incidents I thought I'd share!

Yesterday, I'd helped assemble prayer journals for church! I was supposed to be there at 8:30 to help! Running late, Robby came out of worship practice, unloaded the stroller and both kids while I was able to place random items in their diaper bags! Then, he picked them both up from Sunday school, got Abby donuts and entertained them in the stroller till the team finished the notebooks!

On Good Friday, my friend Jen had asked me to help with the Eggstravaganza. I had no clue how I'd be able to help much with my two kiddos in tow! Robby took the entire day off from work, strapped Christian in the baby bjorn and entertained the kids for HOURS! Then, he loaded them both in the car, took them home, fed them both and got them down to nap at the same time! That's HUGE!

I recently took on a new responsibility, helping with the Care ministry at church! I found myself Wednesday night, doors closed in my room cause Christian was awake from his nap and grumpy and Abby was crying cause I was on the phone :) Then, I heard the door open. My husband was home! There wasn't a dinner on the table, or, a happy family to greet him at the door (something I try and do!)! He immediately changed both kids attitudes from sad to happy, scooping them both up! I was able to complete my call knowing both kids were being well care for.

Sundays are family days these days! Since getting Disneyland passes, we've loved trying to take the kids there every Sunday after nap! Yesterday, Abby asked for Chuck E. Cheese instead :) We had such a great day! Chuck E. Cheese, then we got a sitter and Robby and I went to Disneyland together ALONE for the first time since November 10th, 2006!

While preparing to go, the house needed a quick pickup! Christian was a little fussy and wanted Mommy! Daddy showed awesome initiative and picked up everything that needed to be cleaned before the sitter arrived! He did this on Saturday too when a couple of friends came over to play xbox after helping a friend from Thrive move.

Robby and I had a blast @ Disneyland! There wasn't more than a 5 minute wait for anything (except for Space Mountain, 30 minutes)! In two hours, we tackled Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear!

It was so fun cuddling on the tram, walking hand in hand (not having to navigate the stroller through the crowds!)! We LOVED our time together!

When Robby had asked me to get a sitter for Sunday night, I figured we'd do the normal dinner and a movie but he spontaneously suggested Disneyland and we had SUCH a GREAT time!

Last night when we got ready to leave Disneyland, Robby looked at me and said, 6 years and we're happier than ever! :) Every year gets better and better!

I can't get the photo feature to work right now so I'll post more later! Gotta get busy! I have 181 photos to be downloaded from the camera right now!!!

I love you Robby :) (April 13th will mark 7 years we've been together!)

Blessed! :)

2008-03-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

What a great Easter! We were able to visit with both sets of family over the weekend :) we've been feeling so blessed lately by family!

I just wanted to mention something our Pastor talked about on Sunday. He asked, if my home burned down tomorrow, how many homes across Orange County would take his family in? We don't just have blood related family, we have extended church family!

Both our parents blessed us immensely this week. Robby's parents brought us their extra car since our Honda was totaled. Also, my parents fixed our water heater within 24 hours of it breaking when it gave out this week!

In addition, I have to note that numerous people over this course of this month have offered us their cars, to give us rides places, to use their shower while ours had cold water! I had a 7 month pregnant girlfriend of mine offer me her car cause she and the kids could walk back and forth from school and work so that I could have a car! I also had a girlfriend last week come babysit my 2 children plus her child for 3 1/2 hours while I attended a Care meeting at church! We appreciated all offers of help and truly feel so blessed!

I'd told both sets of parents this weekend how much we just love our church and, that if our kids aren't home, they're usually at church or visiting with friends from church! I love that! How great to immerse ourselves with Christian family!

I just want to say thank you to everyone, our parents, our friends from church, everyone :) My heart overflows!

Eggstravaganza!

2008-03-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome FREE event our church does for the community! It's THIS Friday from 9:30am to 11:30am at the dinosaur Park. It's off of Alicia Parkway and Paseo De Valencia. Robby and I will be there with both of the kids! Come check it out and invite all your friends!

2 fun Disneyland Sundays :)

2008-03-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, after returning home from the marriage retreat, we took the kids to Disneyland! Abby got to see the princess parade for the first time and loved it! She was having so much fun, she held on to Robby's hair! Sleeping Beauty blew a kiss her way and Abby blew a kiss right back! She got so sad when the parade ended. We told her that the princesses went to bed :)

Today, we met up with the Hawley bunch! They did a great job showing us the lay of the land! We took Abby to "the island" for the first time and had fun running in and out of the caves!

Here are some photos from our 2 Sundays at Disneyland!

Crunch

2008-03-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

Ouch!

Robby and I were stopped on the 15 freeway Friday night and were hit in the back by 2 other cars.

Right before we got hit, we'd enjoyed a nice dinner and a movie. It was 9:30pm and we were discussing how early it was and how we could watch another movie in our hotel room cause it was so early! We were waiting in a backed up line to exit the freeway when we heard a crash behind us. There was a few seconds of pause and relief where Robby and I thought we'd missed the accident and then BAM!!! The Tahoe that hit the Civic that hit our Accord, both cars had their airbags deployed but we were able to drive our car after the accident!

Our Honda sustained a substantial amount of damage. The Insurance assessor came today and said there's $3,200- worth of damage and until the body shop gives a final estimate, we're not sure if the car will be "TOTALED" or not. Either way, we're thankful to have not sustained any injuries other than whiplash and that our kiddos were safe at home, and not in the back seat!

Thrive :)

2008-03-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

Robby and I were so happy to see SO many Thrive couples at the Marriage Retreat! There were 12 couples!

We sat at a table with Mike and Shannon Primicerio and Kristi and Michael Carlson and got to know them better :)

We also enjoyed talking with the other Thrive couples there, the Grays, Darms, Kroekers, Donaldsons, McCrorys, Youngmans, Konkins and Sanchezs!

3 couples from group 6 were there :) James and Katy, Taylor and Becky and Robby and I :)

We had SUCH a great time and, if you can go next year, I'd highly recommend it! We each received mini-piggy banks to start saving up for Marriage Retreat 2009! What an awesome time to reconnect with our spouses!

We're Home! ! ! ! ! :)

2008-03-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

Things are almost back to normal at the Millsap house! ;)

My Mom came early Friday morning and we took the kiddos to the Mall for a 3 hour shopping spree! It was so much fun! We also did lunch @ Ruby's and the kids came home and took a great nap!

I frantically packed and we left the kids in my Mom's capable hands! I didn't worry at all the whole time we were gone! My Mom even found time to send us email updates on how things were going at the house!

We came home to two happy children! Abby was coloring with markers with Grammy when we walked in! She said "Mommy, Daddy, I color!"

Thank you Mom for taking on the tremendous job of watching our two kiddos for 48 hours BY YOURSELF!!! You did an awesome job and we're so thankful for you :)

Leaving the kiddos!

2008-02-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

This weekend, Robby reserved us two nights @ the Temecula Creek Inn! Our church is hosting it's annual marriage retreat there! We are so excited to go but I find myself a little timid!

My Mom (who raised four kids) is coming to our home to watch our two kids! This will be the first time I've left Christian overnight and, we've never stayed away from Abby for 2 nights! As I'm writing up their schedules for my Mom, I'm already beginning to miss them :) I know they'll be in great hands! I'm just nervous!

I know too that these "feelings" I feel aren't right. The worry, fear, anxiety, timidity, nervousness, these aren't from the Lord.

Matthew 6:34 says (and I'm going to post it in a few different translations)
Do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NASB)

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" (NIV)

This whole passage talks about how God provides for and meets all our needs and that I can trust in Him that all things will be taken care of :)

If you want to say a prayer that Abby and Christian will be on their best behavior for Grammy and that Robby and I will have an awesome time investing in our marriage while we're gone, that'd be awesome! Prayers are always appreciated!

Pastor Mike reminds us all the time that, our spouses should be our first priority over our children. Usually, kids grow up and move out. It's the spousal relationship that lasts.

PS After putting this post up, I checked on Abby. She'd gotten into my purse and put Mommy's lipstick on ;) This is not the first time I've left Abby unattended where she's put on Mommy's makeup. A few weeks ago she coated her eyes with mascara!

Favorite worship song?

2008-02-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write a post on a worship song that I can't seem to listen to enough these days. I find this praise song chorus so powerful that some days I can seriously be moved to tears, it's that Good. I want to share the words with you.

My iPod is full of randomly picked songs, not albums. Most of these songs, I've heard on Robby's iPod and ended up downloading them! I'm always looking for new Christian music to listen to! A girlfriend of mine just recommended Mandisa (American Idol) and it's really rockin!!! What songs do you enjoy?

The splendor of a King,
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice,
All the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at his voice,
And trembles at his voice

CHORUS(1):
How great is our God,
sing with me
How great is our God,
and all who sing
How great, How great
Is our God

VERSE(2):
Age to age he stands
And time is in His Hands
Beginning and the End,
Beginning and the End
The Godhead, Three in one
Father, Spirit, Son
The Lion and the Lamb,
The Lion and the Lamb

CHORUS(1):
How great is our God,
sing with me
How great is our God,
and all who sing
How great, How great
Is our God

CHORUS(2)
Name above all names
You are Worthy of all praise
and My heart will sing how great
Is our God
(x2)

CHORUS(1):
How great is our God,
Sing with me
How great is our God,
and all who sing
How great, How great
Is our God

CHORUS(1):
How great is our God,
Sing with me
How great is our God,
and who sing
How great, How great
Is our God

It's just so awesome to think about how Great our God is :)

Another song I love is by Nicole C. Mullen. It's called "Redeemer". I love just listening to this song and thinking how great our God is, that He created the world we live in and how soverign He is over everything.

Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
and Who told the ocean you can only come this far?
and Who showed the moon where to hide 'til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?

Well I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives:
All of creation testifies
This life within me cry
I know my Redeemer lives, yeah.

The very same God that spins things in orbit
runs to the weary, the worn and the weak
And the same gentle hands that hold me when I'm broken
They conquered death to bring me victory

Now I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within we cry
I know my Redeemer, He lives
To take away my shame
And He lives forever, I'll proclaim
That the payment for my sin
Was the precious life He gave
But now He's alive and
There's an empty grave.

And I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my Redeemer,
I know my Redeemer
I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
I know that I know that I know that I know that I know my redeemer lives
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
I Know I know
He lives He lives yeah, yeah I spoke with him this morning
He lives He lives, the tomb is empty,
He lives I gotta tell everybody

WOW! What a birthday!!!!!

2008-02-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

Gosh, where do I begin!?!

Hmm, let's start with Saturday! Our Thrive Small Group met at Chuck E. Cheese for our monthly get together :) Our friends the McCrorys brought my favorite dessert, Trader Joe's Cheesecake (with chocolate to top it off)! We also had a gift of free pizza and tokens from our friends the Larsons! Our whole group sang happy birthday! We had such a fun time running around playing games, switching tables, and talking!

Saturday evening we had the opportunity to visit Robby's Mom. She was in Garden Grove for a teacher's conference so we drove up to Mainplace Mall and met her for dinner :) We were able to go back to the Hyatt and the kids got to play with "Mimi" in her hotel room! I got to open my present, a cute green top, some nice flower petal soaps and comfy white slippers!

Monday night, our family drove to see my family in Manhattan Beach. My Mom had made potato cheese soup and turkey sandwiches for dinner with carmel cake for dessert! I received a bunch of sentimental gifts, including a snowflake pin that was my grandmothers. I also got 2 cute movies, "Mr. Mom" and "Baby Boom"!

My gifts from Robby and the kids were a complete shock! First, a gift from Robby. "Phantom Of The Opera" tickets that are in row H of the orchestra! It's coming to the Orange County Performing Art Center! Then, from the kids :) Premium Disneyland Passes!!! I was SO surprised! I wasn't expecting either of these gifts!!!

Today is my actual birthday! I had a lot of fun celebrating today! :) I met some girlfriends for playtime at the Mall and lunch! Chiara brought chocolate cupcakes!!! I was even blessed with gifts, a sweet smelling candle, some nummy lip gloss, cute notepad and post its, a Busy Mom's Guide to Bible Study book and an Olive Garden gift certificate!!!

Then, Robby came home early from work and we took the kids to Disneyland and Rain Forest Cafe! This is my absolute favorite place to go with Robby :) We always have a blast! We'd had passes for 2 years prior to the kids being born. It used to be a weekly date night for us, listening to the violinist play while we enjoyed Italian food @ Naples. Abby's favorite ride, Tea Cups! She also wasn't too big of a fan of the gorillas at Rain Forest. She ended up eating her entire dinner and dessert sitting on Mommy's lap! Christian slept through the entire "rain storm"!!!

It's now 10-! Both kids are asleep and I've been able to listen to voicemails, emails, instant messages and myspace messages from girlfriends and family and received cards in the mail. Today, I'm just feeling so blessed, special and loved by SO many! Thank you so much for making my 27th birthday SO special!

Thanks to:
Robby, Rosemary, Robby's grandparents, my Mom and Dad, Robby's Mom, Holly, Aunt Julie, Chiara, Laura, Alycia, Rachel, Carrie, Megan, Paula, Meg, Lindsey, Kana, Jen T., Lori, Katy & James :)

This weekend should be awesome too as Robby reserved us 2 nights at the Temecula Creek Inn for our church Marriage Retreat! My Mom is coming to watch the kids for the 3 days we'll be gone :) Thank you Mom and Robby! :) This will be our first time leaving Christian overnight and, we've never left Abby for 2 nights! This should be a fun new experience for our family! :)

Mike's Message

2008-02-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

James 1:22- Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.

This week, our church hosted a ministry fair. Pastor Mike put together a 55 page book of all the ministry needs and opportunities in our church! They passed them out last weekend, asked us to thumb through it and pray about where we need to serve.

His message was short, but very good! He said that in most churches, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Yet, we're all given gifts, that means each of us. 1 Corinthians 12:7 says "Each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." This means that every person should be involved in some aspect of service. God has enabled YOU to fulfill a particular role! :) Service should permeate our lives! We're to always be growing, moving forward in our Spiritual walk and maturing.

I thought about my friend Chiara. Thursday nights, she and her husband lead our Thrive Marriage ministry at church. On Wednesday, she co-leads a Women's Bible Study table and every other Sunday she blesses Mommies of the church by watching the babies in the nursery! I think about Jen who teaches the 2's class on Saturdays and leads a table at Navigating Motherhood. Sarah also leads at Navigating Motherhood and leads a group with her husband at Thrive. There are a lot of other things these women are involved in at church too including accountability and leading women through the partners program.

I really started to evaluate what I do for the church and felt very convicted. I don't merely want to be a consumer. I bring the kids to church Sunday to "hear" but, I don't "do" anything for the church. I come on Wednesday mornings to Bible study to "hear" but I don't "do" anything.

Pastor Mike said that it's his job as Pastor to instruct the people of the church so they can be adequately prepared to do something. We're not supposed to be there to "get" something. Also, when we serve at church, it's the MOST important way we can spend our time here on earth because, when we're serving God's people, I'm serving God! The longer we've been attending church, the more prepared we should be to lead.

I really liked another thing Pastor Mike said regarding "Spiritual Gifts". So often we take the "spiritual gifts" test when, in the Bible there's no set list of gifts presented! We stumble over this "gift list" so much that we don't get involved cause, "it's not my gift". We need to have more of the "ATAPAT" attitude. That means "Any Thing, Any Place, Any Time", just be willing to "do"!

I liked too that it doesn't have to be a lifelong commitment to one ministry. We can try things out for a few months and see how we like it. Also, sometimes God may call us to different ministries. I LOVED serving in AWANA for years but our AWANA ministry at church meets the same night as our Thrive Marriage Ministry. I'd love to get involved in AWANA again someday but right now we're serving in Thrive! (and loving it by the way!)

This week, I started putting Christian in the nursery! That's probably why I was able to hear all of this weeks sermon! ;) Before he was born, Abby and I were serving in Navigating Motherhood kids ministry and doing Saturday night toddler ministry. It's time for me to get involved again! :)

I really enjoyed reading through the "Opportunities to Serve" booklet. It's amazing seeing how God is working in our church! I had a lot of fun running from table to table signing up for different ministries to help in!

If you're free on May 10th, we're having Compass Bible Church's 3rd Annual Spring Tea from 11:00am to 2:00pm and Pastor Mike's wife Carlynn will be speaking! I'll be hosting a table too! :) My Haviland China and Heisey Crystal will finally get some use! ;)

Something else to think about...
What church do you call home? Are you 100% committed to one church? How are we serving?

Remember, we're not supposed to jog our way through the Christian life. We're running the race to win the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

Hebrews 12:1-3 Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

Good verse for me to remember

2008-02-20T22:56:00.001-08:00

Philippians 2:14-15 says (New International Version)
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

The Message Bible Translations says it this way:
Do everything readily and cheerfully- no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light0giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing.

Thinking about the last couple of posts I've done, I feel like I've complained in them. So, if you're wondering what happened to my posts, I deleted them! I'm sorry for grumbling. I really need to work on my attitude, my negativity and my responses. Friends, hold me accountable to this! :) Thanks for all the comments on my posts too! Keep em coming!

Happy Valentine's Day! (a day late!) ;)

2008-02-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share some photos from this week!

Also, my Mom sent me a great Bible verse that spells out the word Valentine ;) I can't make it show up in a line when I type it out though! Basically it's John 3:16 but you highlight in red the letters that spell out VALENTINE. I can't do it justice on here!
For God so loVed the world,
That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life;

A HUGE thank you to Thrive for hosting a very Romantic Valentine's Dinner! Chiara did such a GREAT job making heart shaped cake centerpieces for each of the tables plus decorating! Thank you :)

For fun, we got to go play with some friends this week and decorate cards and cupcakes!

A few of these photos are of Abby making Valentine's for "friends"! She got to pass them out last night :) She carefully put stickers and foam hearts on each paper plus colored on each one very carefully :) Thanks Jen for the awesome clothes saver apron!

I also put some pics of the kids Dr's appointments! Abby's big enough now that she stands on the big person scale! They gave her a gown to wear in the hallway :) Too cute!

Growing up too fast :'-(

2008-02-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

I took both kids to the Doctors today for their "well check ups". Christian is now 16 pounds, 4 ounces and is 25 1/2 inches long. Abigail is 26 pounds and is 34 1/4 inches tall! That puts her at 45% for her weight and 70% for her height. I told Abby's Dr. I'm a little concerned by her eating habits. She nibbles at food and then after a few days downs 3 plates full of whatever we're having! The dr. told me that kids are like gasoline tanks. When they are on empty, they refuel! That made me feel a lot better! I took pictures of the kids but can't find the cord to take the pictures off at the moment! Will update this post later ;)

AMAZING WEEK!!! :)

2008-02-08T21:47:00.001-08:00

Ok, I'm too excited to go to sleep right now SO I thought I'd catch up on my blogging! Wow, it's been a while! A lot has been going on!

First off, I'll start with tonight! Our church marriage group (Thrive) hosted a FREE babysitting night! For 3 hours, these couples watched our kids at the church so other couples could go on a date night! Robby and I went to a movie for the first time since November 23rd! It's also been our 3rd date since Christian was born (he'll be four months old on Sunday!)! This was SUCH a fun night, getting out with Robby to see a romantic comedy :) Abby had a BLAST too! She did not want to leave her class when we came to pick her up!

In other news, last Saturday, (02/02) Robby and I celebrated our 6th year of being married! He made reservations at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse! We'd never been before and it was AWESOME! The steaks are served on a 500 degree plate so that each bite of your steak stays warm! The server makes sure that any extraneous dish or utensil you're finished using is removed from the table immediately. The person that seats us, greeted us by name! Robby made our reservation on Tuesday and the earliest dinner time slot available was 8:30! it was SO nice! They also gave us a complimentary dessert :) The cheesecake with fresh berries was so good, it made my mouth water! I had to close my eyes and saver EACH bite! I brought that dessert home and enjoyed it again!!!

My sister Rosemary has been in town visiting from Germany! We enjoyed getting together numerous times over the past few weeks! I planned a surprise dinner get together with some friends of ours from High School. It was fun reminiscing and being together again!

My brother Phil turned 20 this week! For the first time since last January, my entire family got together. All my siblings and both my parents were present. With my brother being away at school in Michigan and then my sister living in Germany, it's been difficult getting us all in the same place at the same time! Rose and Phil were both home in October but my Dad was still in the hospital. Then, Nathan and Rosemary were here in July but Phil was in school. I got a group picture of all of us.

The kids are still enjoying their new beds! I included some recent pics of them! Christian LOVES this glow worm toy! It sings and it's face lights up! He sleeps with it every night! Abby has to have her 2 bobo's (blankets)! It's neat cause each of these items came from a set of grandparents and our kids LOVE them! (Glow worm from Millsaps, blankets from Archibalds) Both kids go to the Dr's on Monday for their well check ups! Christian will be getting his 4 month shots :(

We have a busy month ahead of us :) Robby and I are leaving the kids with my Mom for 2 days to attend our Church Marriage Retreat! This will be the longest the two of us have ever been away from either of them! Also, my 27th birthday is coming up :) Stay tuned....

Abby is 2 :) (Note: 1 of 3 posts from today! Scroll down!)

2008-01-22T16:43:00.001-08:00

We had a little party for Abby's 2nd birthday! The pics are long overdue :) We had a tough time planning this one since Abby knows so many friends from all her activities at church. These are pics of the 27 kids and 23 adults that were present!

We're so blessed to have such an awesome church family!

Thank you too to my parents, brother and sister who came and kept my 2 kids entertained! Christian slept on my Dad the entire time, my Mom made the mac and cheese, Phil entertained our dog, and Holly chased Abby around the house!

Abby loves the show "Blue's Clues"so we had a Blue themed party!

Her best bud Carter was out of town for her party so we had CarCar and Chiara over for a playdate and cupcakes!

Today :)

2008-01-22T16:06:00.000-08:00

Today, my girlfriend Jamie drove down from Torrance to visit :) She and I have known each other since 8th grade. We met through AWANA at Community Baptist Church in Manhattan Beach. We went to AWANA Scholarship Camp together, competed in AWANA National Competitions together in Chicago, camping in Joshua Tree, I introduced her to her husband, we've been in each others weddings, I was at the hospital when she had her 1st child :)

I had a fun time today reminiscing :) I don't have a lot of friends that I can say I've known for oh my goodness, 13 years! We've been through good and bad times, high school boyfriends, parents having scary surgeries. It's neat to see how our relationship changes throughout the years, how we've gone from two 14 year olds to married adults with kids!

Here are some pictures of our 5 children! Shannon is 7, Jacob is 5, Kaitlyn is almost 2, Abby is now 2 and Christian 3 months!

Sad

2008-01-22T15:58:00.001-08:00

In the past week, 2 young actors have died of apparent drug overdose. These were guys my age, who I grew up watching in films like "Tom and Huck" and "First Knight". Heath Ledger, age 28, has a 2 year old little girl. I think about how sad it'll be for his little girl not to grow up knowing her father. Brad Renfro was 25.

News like this makes me sad. How there's something inside all of us that's missing, that's longing for completion. These guys turned to drugs instead of to Jesus. :(

My sister, Rose

2008-01-16T15:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my sister Rosemary turned 24. I wanted to take a moment to talk about how I'm so proud of the woman she's becoming :)

Almost 2 years ago (this May) she married her High School sweetheart Nathan. Shortly after that, she moved to a foreign land, Germany to begin their life together. She's been living there for over a year now. Nathan is deployed currently in Iraq but she's been a pillar of strength. She found a great job working on base with preschoolers, one of her favorite ages. She does a great job :)

My sister and I are hardly alike at all, night and day! we've had our ups and downs but we're family and I'm so happy she's in my life. I can learn a lot from my sister. Rose has a good heart. If/whenever we fight or have a disagreement, she's always the first to apologize or make things right, even when she didn't start it or cause it or was in the wrong! She's very selfless, wanting to help others wherever there's a need, great at putting others above herself. These are two things I struggle with! She also is very committed. Once she makes up her mind to do something, she's 100% about it. She's also great at keeping in touch with me. Keeping up with the two kids, I can get pretty awful at writing or calling people. Rosemary remembers every date, every birthday, every anniversary and is great at sending cards, letters, calling, etc! She's also very independent.

I admire her for moving across the World to a foreign Country where she didn't know anyone besides her husband and had a good attitude about doing it too! This was way different from me. When Robby and I got married, the first 3 years we spent living less than 10 minutes away from my parents house and saw them usually 3 times a week. That changed a lot when we decided to move to Orange County. The thought of moving 50 miles away from everything I knew was a little scary for me!

I still remember when we brought Rose home from the hospital. We had a lot of fun growing up, playing with dolls, dressing in twin dresses, roller blading, bike riding, making "fast food" mud pies! We also loved torturing our little brother Phil and making Holly get things for us since she was the baby! We have a lot of good memories together!

Happy birthday sis. I love you :)

Updates on the family :)

2008-01-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well after a whole 9 days of Abby sleeping in her toddler bed, she's totally grasped the concept! She goes down for her nap but I need to be diligent in making sure she has her lunch first and gets in her bed before 12:30! she has a short window for nap and if I pass it, she can't/won't fall asleep!

We moved Christian into his crib last week and it's been tough! He was waking up at 3:30 or 4:30 in the morning and would just cry. Abby even walked in to comfort him one night :) So sweet! Sunday night, he cried for 30 minutes before he finally conked out! Monday night, it took him 12 minutes to calm down before I heard him playing with his toys. He eventually fell asleep without another peep! Last night, Robby laid him down and he didn't fuss ONCE! He's getting the hang of it! Yeah!

Did I mention too that Abby's started potty training herself? For her birthday, I'd purchased a potty chair, knowing we'd start that sometime during her 2nd year of life. She's totally got it down. She comes running to me saying "POTTY ChAIR POTTY CHAIR" when she needs to go! Unfortunately for me, I'm not always able to drop what I'm doing to take her! She doesn't really want to wear diapers anymore either. We bought special princess pull ups, big girl diapers for her. This is a fun experience :) I'm not ready to switch to big girl UNDERWARE but we'll get there eventually. Right now we're enjoying our tries!

Robby and I have been getting up at 6- to read the Bible together and do our Bible study. I haven't been going to bed early enough either to feel rested when the alarm goes off at 6-! I also GAINED back 1 of the 6 pounds I'd lost. Bleah.

That's all the new news going on here :) Eventually, I'll get some pics up from Abby's little birthday party!

SO PROUD! :)

2008-01-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

Things are going well here @ the Millsaps house. Abby's getting accustomed to her big girl bed :) She knows not to come out of her room at night once we've put her to bed. Last night it took her about 30 minutes to call asleep, yesterdays nap was 15 minutes, todays nap, we'll see :) We also transitioned Christian into his own room yesterday. He didn't like his big boy crib :( He cried and cried, we went in a lot to calm him down and hold him. Abby was even saying "it's ok baby". So sweet! He's in there napping right now, doing great :)

This morning, Christian was up at 5- sad in his room so by the time I got him back to sleep at 6-, I was exhausted! Plus, we were up late watching Pirates 3 ;) Abby woke up at 8- and came running in, in a great mood and said "Mommy up"! haha It was funny having her come tell me to get up outta bed! Sweet moments! She was surprised too that Christian wasn't in our room!

I had to blog about my great day yesterday though. Abby was such a sweetheart. We got her haircut at the mall and I told her if she was a good girl she could have cookies. Well, we bought 6 mini-chocolate chip cookies then swung by Robby's office to say hello. When I gave her a cookie, she asked "one more for Daddy"? The look in her face and the way she said that meant that she wouldn't eat that cookie unless there was one for daddy. That was such a selfless act, wanting daddy to have one since she'd already had one :) Ah, melted my heart! (BTW, we're not eating desserts these days, New Years Resolutions!!!!! We're both 6 pounds thinner, believe it or not! Amazing how much weight we lose when I cook! ha!)

Christian is 3 months old today. This is my all time FAVORITE age of babies! He's so much more alert, on a schedule, sleeping through the night! Everything is exciting to him! He loves sisters kisses too :) He's reaching for toys and able to hit and grab at things now too. His hand/eye coordination skills are really starting to show! So impressive!

Life is so good. God is good :) Robby has been awesome this week too helping me get everything done around here, furniture moved, tree put away. He even took my truck in for an oil change (I also had a light out) so that I wouldn't have to take the kids and entertain them while we waited :)

I thought I'd post this cute picture of the kids today! Now that Abby has her own TV, I posed some pics with her and Christian :)

On a spiritual note...

2008-01-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

Our Pastors wife spoke yesterday at Bible study and I wanted to share some of the points that stuck with me :)

First, how we're called to obey the law of the land even down to the littlest rules. How we need to set an example for our children and for people around us. This means, obeying traffic laws which are there for our safety. Bringing the trash cans in on time, not taking candy and drinks into the movies when it says "NO OUTSIDE FOOD". Obeying the Home Owners association laws. Putting our grocery carts back in the holders when we're done instead of abandoning them in the parking lot! (I'm especially guilty of that one since I have both kids in the cart, I just leave it wherever I parked!) This will help teach our children to respect authority, ultimately God is the authority in our lives and if we don't obey the laws, why would our children? We need to not disregard the authorities in our life. That means, our bosses, our government and our Pastors. We submit ourselves to authorities for "the Lord's sake". Honoring the laws honors and gives glory to Him :) We don't want our children to think that God's rules are too restrictive and reject Him. We do not want to be the reason our kids deny Christ.

Romans 13:1-2 Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

Another authority over us is our spouses. Recognizing that God put Robby as the head of our household and learning to submit to and obey what he says. This has always been tough for me, I always have comebacks or an opinion to share. Bear with me, I'm working on it! A great book I'm reading (slowly) which I recommend, "The Excellent Wife". Someday I'll grab my book and do a post on all I've been learning from it!

Carlynn also spoke on what would our society be like if we did not have laws? Laws are in place to commend those who do right and punish those who do wrong. We would be in danger if we lived in a lawless society.

Thankfully, the small sacrifices God asks of us in this age are miniscule compared to Christians who lived before us. We're not stoned in the streets or cruicified for preaching Gods word. Daniel 6:4-5 shows a great example of how others should view us. "The commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. Then these men said, "We shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God. Reading this passage, if we do the right thing, if we keep the rules, others will only be able to slander us for doing the right thing and obeying the rules! we want to make sure we're a good example too, to our neighbors, in line at the grocery store, driving on the roads. People are watching :)

Another good point. How often do we take advantage of the grace God has given us? Do we continue to sin, knowing He's forgiven us anyway? James 4:17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin. This great verse found in Romans 6:1-2 says What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Another verse, Hebrews 10:26 For it we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

The choices we make daily, are they going to help or hinder others? Heaven or Hell is in the balance! We do live forever, it's our choice where we will spend eternity.

Favorite moments of the holiday season

2008-01-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

This year, Robby and I invested in a manger scene for our front yard. We thought, it'd be great for our neighbors to see, plus, we didn't put my Grandpa's hand crafted manger out this year so the kids wouldn't destroy it! Well, every day, multiple times a day, Abby loved to see the manger scene. In the morning, afternoon and night time, she'd look out the window to see if the wind had blown Mary, Joseph and Jesus over. We'd go get the mail and she'd have to run over and give these life size statues kisses and say hello. When we'd leave the driveway, Abby'd wave and excitedly say "bye Jesus!"

It was exciting to see Abby learn about Jesus this year. We'd read her the story of Jesus being born in a manger, Mary riding a donkey, there was no room in the inn, angels shouting glory in the highest! We'd fish reading and she'd say "again, read again please".

We put Mary, Joseph and Jesus away today but I had to take a picture of them to help remember this special Christmas moment :)

Crazy few days

2008-01-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a few minutes away from my non napped toddler to write a blog about what's been going on this week at the Millsaps :)

This past weekend, Robby and I took the kids up to Ikea to invest in a new "big girl bed" for Abby. That involved painting Christian's bedroom, disassembling Abby's crib for Christian's room, reassembling the crib, assembling the big girl bed and washing sheets for both bed and crib. We also moved out the entertainment cabinet from Christians room to put in the playroom so the kids can watch DVDs. We still have yet to put the TV and DVD player back and move Christian's dresser.

This has been quite a challenging week with Abby since we're trying to get her to sleep in her new bed. The first night (Sunday), we didn't have her nap in the afternoon and it took her 90 minutes before she fell asleep. The next day, she fell asleep at nap time in 30 minutes. Last night, she went to bed in 30 minutes, no complaint at all. Today........NO NAP! She stayed in her room for almost 2 HOURS and no nap. :( Hopefully it won't be this challenging tonight. It's been cute hearing her wake up in the morning though, she won't come out of her room until we say ok :) She just stands at her door and talks to me till I say, you can get up now :)

Christian will be 3 months old on the 10th. He's getting so big and so much more alert! He's still sleeping through the night (8:00pm to 6:00am) which I am SO thankful for. I have yet to transfer him into his own room. Robby says he's an easy roommate ;) Abby will be 2 on Saturday the 12th :)

It'll be nice to be back in a routine this week. Women's Bible Study resumes tomorrow and Thrive Thursday! For now it's back to watching Abby who's entertaining herself quietly in the playroom next to me. She loves to put her toys away in the new entertainment cabinet :)

Christmas photos :)

2008-01-02T23:45:00.000-08:00

We're home! The Millsaps have been on an extended vacation! We visited my parents, sister Holly and brother Phil Christmas Eve and Christmas Day then came home that evening! I enjoyed all of my favorite homecooked meals, potato soup and sausage biscuits and gravy! Abby packed her toys in the cute new bags my sister Rose sent from Germany!

Wednesday, we washed clothes, cleaned house and packed our bags for a trip to Bakersfield. The kids were SO good! We left Thursday morning and came back home Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed visiting so much family over the holiday! Check out some of the pictures below :)

We're still adjusting to being back home after being gone so much! I'll catch up later :)

Hobbies anyone?

2007-12-19T23:25:00.000-08:00

Robby and I had a big talk last night about Mommy getting some time off! My outlet these days is my kids. A Mothers work is never done. My job is not a 9:00 am to 5:00 pm job. Robby really saw how busy the day is when he had both kids on Monday! There are dishes to keep up with, 2 kids diapers and clothes to change, plus the general upkeep of the house to consider. What do Mom's do for a break? My kids won't always be home with me. I need to find some hobbies. I have girlfriends that run and swim, I have girlfriends that go to the gym. I have girlfriends that read. I'm looking for a hobby. Any suggestions? :) What do other Moms do?

This weekend, I get to go out for a Pamper Mom Day! Robby had purchased a spa gift certificate last year for Christmas and I haven't used it yet! I thought, OH, I'll use it after Abby's birthday. OH, I'll use it when we get back from Paris! OH, I'm pregnant, I'll use it once the baby arrives! Christian is now two months old and it's time to cash it in! Also, my savvy internet skills found a great bargain too where I can get a manicure, pedicure, haircut and 1 hour massage for the use of my gift certificate! Awesome :) Looking forward to Sunday! ;)

Sickness hits the Millsap house!

2007-12-19T23:12:00.000-08:00

You'd think that since I haven't been out of the house in FOUR days that I would have found plenty of time to update my blog! Not so! Life has been a little crazy here at the Millsap household!

Saturday, we went to a really fun birthday party at the park! Notice the pic of Abby hitting the piniata! Saturday night, we toured "Candy Cane Lane", saw the lights and snow and visited Santa. Notice the pic of Abby crying on his lap!

Sunday morning, about 10 minutes before we left for church, Abby threw up, twice! I wasn't present at the time. Being Mom, I'm the last to get ready after everyone else is dressed and ready! I hear Robby saying "It's ok, it's ok" and I'm thinking, did she hit her brother, what's going on, why is he saying "it's ok"? I walked out of my room and found the answer to that question really quickly!

I stayed home with Ab's on Sunday. Notice the pic of her sad face. She asked me to take a picture of her. We've learned a new phrase here "throw up". I chased her around the house most of Sunday morning with a trash can in hand! Poor baby! Once she woke up from her nap Sunday afternoon, all she wanted was "Grammy soup". My Mom makes this awesome potato soup which makes everything in life all better :)

Monday morning, 6:30. The whole family is awake and Mom is now sick! Robby, who's behind on work stayed home and took care of both kids ALL day! This is no easy task! He was even able to get both kids to nap simultaneously AND took them to the mall for cookies! Great job Robby!

Tuesday, I still wasn't 100% but was able to entertain the kids all day using my good friend, TV. :) Also, since food didn't sound appealing whatsoever, I survived on plain cheerios till Robby made dinner that evening :) Mmm, chicken and fried rice! Nummy!

Wednesday morning, Robby and Abby have the sniffles. We'd been invited to a cookie making party but due to the sickness going around the Millsap house, I opted we should stay home! Abby napped for 3 1/2 hours today, catching up on lost sleep from the past few mornings. She woke up to a nice treat too! Since we weren't able to go make cookies, cookies came to us! My friend Chiara and Abby's best buddy Carter brought cookies by! She also got manger stickers and a blowup snowman ball! That was so sweet and totally made her day! See the photo of happy Abby holding her cookie plate!

Well, I need to get to bed! I'm off to a cookie exchange party tomorrow and just finished baking 3 dozen cookies! :)

Spring Cleaning a little early! :)

2007-12-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

I'm on a mailing list for a church in Aliso Viejo (it's right off of Alicia near Crown Valley?) that donates used children's clothes to families who are in need. Below is an email I got from her, requesting items! I try to hand down most of Abby/Christian's clothes but they also accept items like formula, wipes, antibacterial lotion, whatever families can spare for other families! I'll post the email below! It's called "Kids' Closet"

I keep a Huggies box in Abby's room and when the kids grow out of something, in the box it goes! They are great for holding things and less flimsy than a bag!

This has prompted me to take all my maternity clothes out too and start sorting through the pre-pregnancy clothes I own! Looks like I'll be going to Goodwill this week too!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you up for a challenge?

See if you can fill a bag with your kids' too small clothes and shoes (infant to size 14). Start simple - do one drawer (or if they're big enough, have them help you).

Bring that bag, just one, to Kids' Closet at 30071 Ivy Glenn Dr 92677 (LNPC parking lot)

The reason I'm challenging you is because yesterday a Head Start preschool director came and "shopped" for several families in Buena Park.
Our stock is nearly wiped out, praise God! We have helped so many families have a blessed Christmas season.
At the same time, we ought to fill it for the other families who are still in need and who are still finding us.

Please, don't wait until your ENTIRE kids' clothes have been sorted through. We need clothes now. Do a little at a time.

Fun day so far! :)

2007-12-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

OK! Both kids are napping, an opportunity for me to update my blog! Amazingly, I'm not craving a NAP right now since I've been awake since 6-! I'll crash hard tonight I'm sure!!! :)

Busy morning! I'm becoming more and more forgetful! We were invited to a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party this morning which I completely forgot about! Thank you Chiara for reminding me! Here are some fun photos of the day! We made little craft books (reminded me of "Pat The Bunny") where we felt the hay from the manger, a piece of blanket like swaddling cloth, aluminum foil like the shiny star and a cotton ball like the fluffy sheep! Then, we decorated a manger page with stickers, sang Christmas carols and had birthday cupcakes where we sang Happy Birthday Jesus! We also had a felt board where Paula read the Christmas story :) It was a LOT of fun!

Also, Christian is 2 months old today! He's such a sweetie! As I mentioned in my blog earlier, he slept 9 hours last night, 9:00pm till 6:00am! Let's hope he repeats that tonight! Here are some pics I took of him today in his Christmas light outfit (thanks Laura!)! He's beginning to talk a lot more and looks around a smiles a lot! He follows our voices around the room too and enjoys it when sister is near :) A little girl at the party this morning was looking at Christian and Abby got very defensive! She started telling her "MY BABY"!

Ok, back to laundry and dishes! :)

God did it! What an answer to prayer!

2007-12-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

God totally answered my prayer in so many ways this morning! When the alarm went off, Robby and I both got up! I slept from 11- till 6-, the first time in weeks that I've gotten a full 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Christian slept from 8:15 till a little after 6- but I was able to do my full Bible study homework completely uninterrupted! Then, I was able to pray through my notebook while my hand kept Christian's bottle in his mouth! What an amazing time with the Lord today! Robby and I have both been so encouraged! He wants us to do this again tomorrow! I just had to post this! That's the first time Christian has slept ALL night! Praise God! Please just continue to pray that we'll continue to get up! :)

A lady at Thrive a few weeks ago was talking about how we have our ideals on how our "quiet time" should be. For myself, I like it quiet, no distractions, just God and I on the couch with my Bible and prayer notebook. With 2 kids in the house and a husband, that doesn't happen! She told us that God meets us wherever we are, He's just happy we took the time, He just wants us. :) Just thought I'd pass that on!

NO time to blog :'( sniff sniff

2007-12-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

Life here has gotten a bit busier these days! Christian is awake a lot more and both children are desiring more love!

This week will bring about a big change. Robby found an office space! He moved in this weekend, starting bright and early tomorrow! We'll miss having him around the house!

Good news is Christian is on a pretty good schedule these days! He'll be 2 months old tomorrow morning :) He's sleeping between 6 and 8 hours a night. Tonight his last bottle was at 8:15 and went to bed right after that, so I'm wondering when he'll wake up! When I try and wake him at 11- to feed him, he doesn't want to wake up! He's BIG enough that the Dr. said he could go 11 hours, doesn't mean that he wants to though! Plus, with him sleeping in our room still, I don't like to hear him cry! I let him whimper for a while and when it turns in to crying and changing his diaper doesn't make him happy, then I give in and feed him a bottle, knowing it'll make him happy! We're down to 1 feeding during the night though instead of 2! I'm happy about that!

I'm going to try and commit to getting up at 6- am every day to start my morning off on the right foot! That will include, WAKING UP (I'm much more of a night person than a morning person), doing my Bible study with Robby, then I won't be such a zombie when the kids wake up! Usually, I let one of their 2 cries wake me! We'll see how this new plan works out!

This morning, I was up at 5:30 am giving Christian a bottle. By the time he was through, it was 6- and my alarm for church would be going off in 45 minutes! Instead of laying in bed thinking about all the things I could be doing, I got up and did them! I felt very productive and by the time 7- rolled around, I'd packed the kids diaper bags, had dressed and put makeup on, did my hair, did the dishes, loaded the car and I wrote out a list of things for Robby not to forget! I'm very proud of him! He took both kids to church today on his own! His first outing out with both of them! I sang in the Christmas choir at church and needed to be there by 8-! He wasn't far behind me, arriving 20 minutes early for the 9- service! ;)

Well, it's 10-pm already and I'm going to get up at 6-am! It should help that Robby's plan is to get up at 6- to start work! Pray we'll keep each other accountable!

I really miss blogging. Right now, I feel that my time is better spent making sure Abby doesn't throw something at brother while I'm typing away! ;)

Breast cancer

2007-11-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

This is true, check out http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/breastcancersite.htm

Breast cancer awareness is important. We named our Abby after a close friend of mine who lost her fight.

Please click on the site below to help women in need get free mammogram screenings!

Rebecca :)

---- A favor to ask, it only takes a minute....

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors /advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

AGAIN , PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10 TODAY

Something to think about

2007-11-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

In church lately we have been learning about striving for holiness.

Pretty much everyone has heard 1 Corinthians 13 at some point, it's usually recited at weddings.

Today in Women's Bible study, we were challenged to put our own name in the text where the word love appeared. It was very convicting.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Rebecca is patient, Rebecca is kind. Rebecca does not envy, Rebecca does not boast, Rebecca is not proud. Rebecca is not rude, Rebecca is not self-seeking, Rebecca is not easily angered, Rebecca keeps no record of wrongs. Rebecca does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Rebecca always protects, Rebecca always trusts, Rebecca always hopes, Rebecca always perseveres. Rebecca never fails.

There isn't one thing listed there that I'm not constantly struggling with! There is major room for improvement in each of these areas of my life. I fail daily in my fight to "be holy for He is holy". (1 Peter 1:16)

I'm going to print out this passage of scripture with my name in it and try and read it every day to remind myself what God's standard of holiness is for my life and strive for that! :)

"Are you nursing?"

2007-11-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

My least favorite question these days is "are you nursing"? Allow me to vent a little bit on this topic :)

The first month we had Abby, she didn't nurse well. I stressed out in the hospital with nurses trying to help me get her to nurse, then meeting with the lactation consultant. Then, coming home, she wouldn't latch on well, we used a shield that still didn't help much. I stuck with it and, at her one month appointment we learned she hadn't gained any weight. I was ready to quit, throw in the towel, just go to formula. The Dr. said we'd need to breastfeed, then supplement then pump and to do this every 2 hours for 2 weeks. I also started taking fenugreek to help increase my milk supply. It was very difficult but we stuck with it and she gained weight. She thrived :)

I absolutely hate nursing in public. I don't like nursing in front of family, although it's natural, I just feel awkward. When we'd go to Bible study, I'd nurse in another room, by myself where I just felt isolated from everyone! Then, if I tried to pump a bottle so I wouldn't have to feed in public, I'd stress cause I wouldn't get enough extra milk pumped.

This time around, I knew what to expect. I didn't let the nurses try and help me breastfeed. I came home and just started bottle feeding. I know the benefits of breastmilk and don't mind pumping to give it to him. It's easier for me to pump then it is to try and get Christian to nurse, especially if Abby's sitting there.

I had a quick talk with Jen Gray on Sunday. I was feeding Christian a bottle while walking the halls after church to pick up Abby. She encouraged me saying that the important thing is that I'm feeding Christian :)

I love knowing exactly how many ounces of milk he's getting a day. I love that he's not 100% dependent on me feeding him, Robby or Abby can give him a bottle anytime!

Each time I'm asked if I'm nursing, I begin to feel insecure. Is what I'm doing wrong? I started surfing the web and found an excellent support group for Moms who pump! A lady on the site says we as pumping mom's can say we're nursing our kids, even though it's not from "the tap"!

Here is a photo of Abby feeding Christian, something that couldn't be done if I exclusively nursed! :)

http://www.exclusivelypumping.com/

What to blog about?

2007-11-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I wrote. A lot has been happening, where to start?

Last Tuesday, which was a whole week ago, we had plans to visit my family in LA. Monday night, my Dad was taken via ambulance back to the hospital. He was released today is home and already back working in the office! Robby and I still decided to take the kids up to Manhattan Beach after my brother called saying he missed me :) He's been in school in Michigan the last six months. Rosemary also was flying home to Germany on Wednesday so this was our last opportunity to say goodbye to her. We had a fun time hanging out at my parents house catching up and visiting. Rose also came to visit the Friday before and played with Abby. There are some cute pics of the two of them laughing!

Well, Halloween was almost a week ago! The Millsap family dressed as the cast of Star Wars! We attended our church Fall Fest where an estimated 4,000 people came! It was a lot of fun! There was a giant slide, a hay maze, a train ride, booths, free Carl's Jr. and a bunch of our friends!

Friday night was Thrive activity night where we enjoyed a night of free babysitting! The group played Jeopardy and we had fun socializing with adults!

This Saturday we took Christian to the Irvine Spectrum! It was nice to be able to get outside in the fresh air! Most of the smoke from the fires has cleared. Abby road the carousel with her Daddy, Robby and I got some new clothes and then the four of us enjoyed a delicious lunch at Corner Bakery (thank you Travaglias)!

I made it to church this Sunday with both kids in tow! This was the earliest I've had to be out of the house without Robby's help! It was down to the wire, 8:35 and I couldn't find Abby's shoes! A quick call to Robby's cell and we were able to track em down! He even came out to the parking lot to help unload the double stroller, 2 kids, 2 backpacks, purse and Bibles! We had 10 minutes to spare! By myself, it takes about 6 minutes so it was nice to have help!

Monday night, I joined the church Christmas Choir. We'll perform 2 special music songs December 8th and 9th! I was excited to see some people I knew there too! (Karen and Julie!) Yey! Robby was so sweet, committing to take care of the kids every Monday for the next month! He's really been encouraging me to get out more!

Ok, that's all I have time for right now! Christian calls :)

Busy, fun-filled weekend!

2007-10-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Last night, our /thrive group had an awesome Hawaiian Luau dinner which all four Millsap's attended! the food and fellowship were both excellent! This was Christian's first outing (besides the Dr.'s!). He did really well and big sis Abby enjoyed playing with all the other children! Our friends the Orndorff's hosted the event and have a great big backyard which Abigail loved running around in!

This morning, we all got up and went to the 9:00 am service at church. Robby took time off from worship team to help me adjust to getting both kids up, fed and dressed for church! It was very nice having him home. Many hands make light work! Church was awesome! I only missed a week (and it was a guest speaker the week I missed) so it was great to be back! I've only been out a few times this week so it was good to see friends today! Christian, Robby and I sat in the main sanctuary (instead of the cry room) while Abby went to class without any complaint! Pastor Mike has been talking specifically on the topic of sin and how we must make every effort to fight sin in our lives! The study we're doing in Hebrews has been great!

This afternoon, we're off to LA! We're going to visit my Dad who's being released right now from the hospital, 5 days after heart valve replacement surgery! He's recovering really well, thanks everyone for your prayers! It'll be a quick visit just to go say hi as, I'm sure, he'll be tired from a busy day!

If we're home in time too, I have our Mom's night out tonight! We're sharing holiday recipes at my friend Chiara's house which should be a lot of fun! The last time I looked, 15 mom's were coming! Robby's going to watch both kids (and game 7 of the playoffs) while I'm gone ;)

Ok, I'm off to take a quick nap before both kids wake up and it's time to go!

A week old today!

2007-10-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

WoW! What a week! We thank God for all He has done!

I had my first outing with both kids on Monday! Christian had his newborn checkup! He's a healthy boy! He's having trouble nursing, but this might also be related to how I've been having a busy week adjusting to two kids! He sleeps great through the night, in fact, I have to wake him up most nights to get him to eat! Because he's such a big guy too, our Ped's Dr. says he can sleep 8 hours straight without eating. Last night he went 4 1/2 before waking up hungry That's not quite 8 ;) He's also learning to sleep without me holding him, a bad habit I started with Abby that I'm not beginning with Christian! When he cries in the night, I sit up and hold him in bed and we fall asleep together! He came home from the hospital on a feeding schedule too which has been working out great for us so far! Christian's such a big guy, he's already in 3 month clothes!

Also on Monday, Robby went in to his office and resigned! God is so good! He has provided more than enough work for Robby to officially be self employed! This is a desire Robby has had since we met! I am so happy he now has the opportunity! He's working mostly from home and the kids and I are loving it!

Tuesday, (yesterday) my dad had open heart surgery to replace a misshaped valve. Today, he's awake and breathing on his own and talking! What an answer to prayer! He has a long recovery but today was already saying he thinks he's doing well :) His first words were "How are the kids" and told my mom "I love you" :) Depending on how he does in the hospital the next few days, he should be home Sunday or Monday.

We've been enjoying lots of visitors this week too! Abby loves having all her friends come to visit and play! Yesterday was Christian's first time really being awake and interactive in the morning so, Abby and I got a toy out for him! Check out our pics and videos!

We're a family of four! :)

2007-10-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

It's SO great to be home! This week has just been filled with answered prayers! Thank you to everyone who's been praying for my family! Keep them coming!!! They are greatly appreciated!

A MAJOR THANK YOU to my Mother!!! She came down Tuesday afternoon to be with Abby and stayed till this morning! She was absalutely amazing! She not only cared for our 21 month old (she's 21 months today!!!) she also did a TON around our home to help out! We were so blessed by having her come stay and really appreciate the sacrifice she and my family made by having her come stay here :)

OUR DELIVERY EXPERIENCE! :)
Robby and I got up and left for the hospital at 6:40! We arrived on time, checked in and were in our room (#284) by 8:00am. My Dr. came in and broke my water and my contractions started almost immediately! They put me on pitocin at 8:15 at 2 (I guess you can start at 2 and go up to 20)! By 9:15, I was @ 5 centimeters dilated so my nurse stopped the pitocin! By 10:00am, the anstecioligist had come in to give me my epideral. I was at 8 centimeters and in transition!!! My contractions were literally right on top of each other, no break inbetween. I had a very chatty anstecioligst! ;) I remember telling Robby to tell him to SHH! ;) After about 15 minutes, I started feeling great again! My epideral worked SO well, I couldn't have asked for a better experience! I was seriously laughing through the contraction pressure at that time :) I could feel the pressure of the baby coming down but NO PAIN! Awesome :) I was then told that the baby would be here by lunch! This made me really happy since I hadn't had anything to eat since 10:00pm!

My Dr. had a 12:00pm appointment so my nurse said we'd do a test push to see where we were :) That was at 11:00am. After my test push I was told we'd start pushing in 10 minutes :) Robby called my Mom to let her know the status ;) That was 11:24! I had probably 3 good sets of pushing. Christian's heart rate was dropping which concerned the Dr. a little bit. I remember pushing and the baby heart beat monitor stopped. I looked at Robby who told me the Dr. had taken it off his head. With his heart rate getting lower, my Dr. said I might need help with the vacuum to get him out. I just prayed to not be nervous and to get him out. His cord was wrapped around his neck too but loose enough that the Dr. got it off :) At 11:49, 11 minutes of pushing, Christian arrived!

I felt such relief that he was OUT! Dr. Raffo put him right on my chest! I kept waiting for his cry! The NICU Nurse cleared his nose and throat and he started crying :) Robby and I were crying :) Birth is amazing! We had a son! Praise God :)

We got to spend a lot of time with Christian before family came to visit :) Abby was home napping :) It's funny cause everytime I'd call my Mom I'd have to say "no baby yet" and when Robby called to tell her the news, he said "baby" :) That was at 12:11. Robby went home and picked up Abby to come meet her new brother. My Dad was holding him :) We asked Abby who that was and she said "Baby Brother Christian". She gave him kisses and recieved a cool buckle puzzle and "I'm a big sister" book as a gift from brother! She gave him a baseball rattle to play with :)

Thank you to our church and to Thrive! Both brought us beautiful flowers that we're enjoying now at home! It was great to have some visitors too! Thank you Chiara and Carter, Darin, Alycia, Julie and Clyde for coming to visit! My sister Rose is home from Germany too so she got to come see Christian! My parents and Holly too came to visit twice :)

We got home this morning at 11:00am :) We're a family of four now :)

Robby's family is here for the weekend helping! It's great having extra hands around! A BIG THANK YOU to them also!

Christian Gregory Millsap
8 pounds 14 ounces 20 1/2 inches long
October 10th, 2007

I'm hoping to catch up on email early next week :) My inbox is kinda full right now, 140 unread! If you don't hear from me for a while, sorry, I'll be in touch :) Please don't hesitate to call, if we can get to the phone, we'll answer, if not, please leave a message. Our ringers will be turned up and down throughout our new adjustment process! :)

PLEASE KEEP THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR PRAYERS FOR OUR FAMILY!
That Abby will continue to love brother! She's adjusting well!
That Christian will nurse well once my milk supply comes in.
That Christian's appt. will go well on Monday. He's a little jaundice.
That my Dad's surgery will go well and he'll recover quickly. This takes place on Tuesday morning.
I had enough time to update my blog AND do a slideshow!!! ;) Not bad for a Mom of 2 ;)

PRAISES! Answers to prayer this week!
Details! God has been in every detail of this delivery!
Smooth delivery
Smooth recovery I'm feeling really good!
Baby is healthy
Christian seems to be really mellow and not been really fussy!
Abby was well cared for while we were gone
Robby and I are rested and are continuing to grow even closer together as our family is growing!

Today is the day!

2007-10-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

Robby asked me last night "how well does a pregnant woman sleep the night before she knows she's going to have a baby?" The answer: um, not too well ;) I laid in bed for an HOUR just thinking and praying about what is to come! Then, was up four times and couldn't get back to sleep at 4:30 since I'd "rested" so much! :) I then decided to get up and do ONE last blog before going in to the hospital to be induced! It's so exciting to know that today our son will be born! I can't wait to meet him! :)

Thank you so much to all of our friends and family! I have been so encouraged by all the emails and phone calls and prayers! Robby and I are SO blessed!

To recap, we go in to Saddleback this morning @ 7:00am! I'm not allowed to eat any FOOD. I'm wondering if Jamba Juice counts! My last meal @ 10:00pm, a piece of pizza, a vanilla yogurt and a glass of milk, yum! Unfortunately, I'm sitting here hungry!

Still no signs of me going into natural labor! This baby boy is just so comfortable in there! He's being evicted today ;) I'm really feeling a sense of peace about this whole thing. Another huge blessing, my Mom is here! She came yesterday afternoon and is staying with Abby till Friday morning! This is a huge relief for me, an answer to prayer, that the details would work out!

We'll have our cell phones with us! I will probably LOVE to have visitors on Thursday too if anyone wants to come by! ;)

Is he EVER coming out!?!

2007-10-08T22:19:00.001-07:00

This afternoon, I was CONVINCED my water broke. Robby, Abby and I went to Boston Market for dinner and then went to the hospital. The setting was ideal, my Dr. was on call. Nothing. We walked the Labor and Delivery floor for an HOUR. Contractions were every 4-6 minutes. Nothing. The nurse checked and I'm 3cm and 70% and 5 days OVERDUE! We're scheduled for an induction in 33 hours which seems FOREVER away! I'm SO ready to meet my son. My Dr. did an ultrasound and my amneotic fluid is low but will last till Wednesday. If we go into labor tonight/tomorrow AM, my Mom's busy with my Dad's Dr's appointments. SO tomorrow I'll be taking it easy, waiting to be induced Wednesday! I was/am hoping to just go in to labor, but this baby just doesn't seem to want to come out!!! I'm going to go get some sleep! :)

UPDATE! Induction date!

2007-10-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

I got a call from the hospital this morning! We're scheduled for a precautionary induction! We're supposed to go to Labor and Delivery on Wednesday morning @ 7:00am! This is, of course, if Christian hasn't already made an appearance by then! There's light at the end of the tunnel! He'd only be a week overdue at that point!

Please keep your prayers coming! I'd rather him just arrive then have to go through induction! Thanks!!!

No baby

2007-10-05T03:16:00.000-07:00

We watched Christian's due date draw close, then pass :) He's now 2 days overdue. The days are going by slowly now as I anticipate his arrival!

This weekend, a BUNCH of my girlfriends are going on the Women's Retreat with church! I am SO bummed to not be going. I knew right away when it was scheduled that I was due to have a baby 3 days before the Retreat. I knew too that I wouldn't be taking a "less than 1 week old" on Retreat, numerous reasons including, Abby'd be jealous, me leaving for 3 days with the new baby! I also couldn't leave a newborn at home while I went :) Since Christian hasn't arrived, a big part of me feels like I could GO to retreat and he'll just wait till I get back! He's been the most mellow baby! I've truly been blessed to have had such a smooth pregnancy! Instead of driving out to Murrietta, I'll be sitting at home this weekend. I know it's the wise, responsible thing to do! I'll definitely go next year though! Christian will probably be 1 by then, and Abby, 2 1/2! Wow! Robby will have his hands full ;)

Hopefully, this will be my last post before baby ;) Time will tell!

No change

2007-10-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

I went to the Dr. this morning and we're still at 3cm and 60%. His "official" due date is tomorrow. My Dr. suggested we schedule an induction on the calendar in case I don't deliver in the next week. She wanted the 10th but, there are SO many babies that are 'overdue', there's no induction dates available until the 17th!!! My nurse assured me that someone will deliver and a date will open up! I'm hoping we won't even have to go that route, that my water will break SOMETIME soon and I can have a nice natural delivery!!! :) We'll see what God and this baby have in store! :)

"Current Prayer Requests"

2007-10-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

I decided to add a new section to my page to keep people updated on how they can be praying for the Millsap family! It's brief, but it's self explanatory I think!

There are a lot of big things happening at the Millsaps! This week, we should see the arrival of our baby boy! That's HUGE! Another big thing, Robby is working on signing contracts with companies so he can work full time from home, fully self employed! He's home this week waiting for baby with me :)

My Father, Don, is scheduled to have a valve replaced in his heart October 16th. My sister Rose is flying home this week to be with the family. Her husband Nathan is a soldier in the Army, currently stationed in Iraq.

My brother Phil is driving home from Michigan (where he's been attending Guitar making school for the last 6 months). He leaves October 26th.

Also, our Thrive marriage group is off to a great start! We're getting ready to start up our Men and Women's accountability groups!

I think that's it! Just wanted to get some of these thoughts/prayer requests down on a BLOG! There's SO much on my mind these days! Thanks everyone for your continued prayers for us!

He's back! :)

2007-09-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all your prayers! Robby arrived home safely from Men's Retreat and Baby Christian has been very good all weekend! My next Dr's appointment is scheduled for Tuesday morning! Robby will be working from home till he arrives :)

I had a great time visiting with my Mom and sister! They were awesome! Abby and I loved having them around! They were a HUGE help too around the house!

This should be an exciting week for us! I reminded Robby before he left that, when we had our ultrasound, the tech thought our due date was closer to the 5th! My Dr. at the beginning had said the 3rd. I am so excited for his arrival! :)

Non Profit Organizations

2007-09-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

I decided to add a section to my page called "Non Profit Organizations". Currently, I only have 1 listed! This is something that's dear to our hearts! A close couple from our church have a little girl named Jordan Joy who was born a year ago (9/30) with a cleft lip and palate. They made us aware of this awesome website where for $250- can give a child a new smile :) Robby's sister Tara was also born with a cleft palate. You can read all about Jordan and her amazing story! They are linked to my page under "Gray Family"!

As I find more non profits that touch our hearts, I'll add links to to the section!
Thanks for reading!

Other updates! :)

2007-09-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much about the rest of the family lately! My mind is mostly on baby these days! I did want to share some photos I've taken in the past couple months!

A few weeks ago, I had Abby's pictures done @ JC Penney! They turned out great! They have AWESOME money saving coupons too! Free sitting fee and $3.99 for a sheet, plus a free 8x10 just for going! These are available on their website to simply PRINT out! We're planning on going again once baby is a little older :)

Robby and I had a nice getaway weekend at Disneyland Hotel 2 weeks ago! Robby's family came down to watch Abby while we stayed overnight! We had a nice dinner and just felt so relaxed! It was awesome! Robby also surprised me with a trip to see "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat" last month! Dinner Theatre was a lot of fun!

Abby's 20 months now! She's talking up a storm these days! She's working on 3 word sentances! Mommy up please? Love you my Daddy. Every day she learns how to say more and more words! Robby and I are having fun trying to figure out what she's saying to us! Recently also, she learned how to use a STRAW! She's never been interested until Daddy got some nummy lemonade! She still likes to tip the cup up though, so liquid spills out the top all over her!

Check out our pics! :)

Week 39!

2007-09-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your prayers yesterday!

I went to the Dr's and she said I'm still @ 3cm but now at 60% instead of 50%! She said the baby could come anytime this week! Rather than schedule an induction, since everything looks fine too, we're going to wait it out and see when little Christian decides to arrive! I asked too how big she thought he was and, she didn't think he's @ 8 pounds yet! is a Abby was 8lbs 4 ozs and 2 days early so I'm hoping he won't get SO big in there that I'll need an emergency C section! I go back to the Dr. on Tuesday, the 2nd, the day before he's due!

I was really hoping baby would arrive Wednesday. That was MY plan though, not God's timing obviously! If you could pray that if the baby doesn't arrive today that he'd wait till Monday? ;) That way, Robby can still go to the Men's retreat and not have to race home!

My Mom is coming this Friday to stay with Abby and I through the weekend while Robby's gone! We should have a fun time watching TV, eating snacks and most importantly, taking it EASY on the couch ;)

Oh another huge praise! The last 2 nights, I've gotten 7 hours of sleep! The first night was completely uninterrupted sleep too and the 2nd night, I only woke up once and was able to go right back to sleep! I'm feeling a lot more rested, surprising for being so far along! When I had Abby, I was rested everyday since I could sleep in ;) That's not the case now since Ab's is up by 7-!

Will keep you posted on baby progress!

Getting things accomplished!

2007-09-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

First off, with Halloween approaching, Robby and I wanted to come up with some creative costumes for the kids! I found an awesome website that had what wanted and, if you blog about them, you get free shipping! This is great because, I didn't have to DRIVE to find them, I just looked online! Their prices are really good too and don't forget the free shipping offer! (you get an email after you place your order) Their website: www.halloweencostumes4u.com

Next, another big thing off my mind is my THANK YOU cards! Having a surprise shower thrown, I was completely caught off guard! I hadn't even purchased cards to write thank you's on yet! I wrote the last one this morning at 4:00am ;)

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I go in to the Dr's for my 39 week checkup! I'm wondering if baby Christian is EVER going to arrive! I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude, but each day I grow bigger and bigger and get more and more uncomfortable! I'm ready to have this baby OUT! :) Sigh :)

Well, I'm off to get a few hours of sleep before Bible study and Dr's! Great news is, Robby is going to take a 1/2 day tomorrow and watch Abby while I'm at the appointment and then starting Thursday will be working from HOME till baby arrives!!! :)

More tomorrow...

Week 38 1/2 ;)

2007-09-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

We are 11 days away from my due date! My last checkup Monday put us at 3 cm and 50% effaced. I thought my water broke Wednesday but a 2 hour trip to labor and delivery proved otherwise. We had 4 false alarms with Abby ;) I'm am eagerly anticipating meeting our little boy!

Other updates:
Today, Abby and I went out running errands, a very brave thing for me as I've been trying not to go anywhere in the event we go into labor! I was SO proud of myself! We went to 3 stores, more than we've done in WEEKS! As soon as I drove in the driveway and was applauding myself for getting SO much accomplished, my pride faded quickly. As I got out of the truck, I totally fell on my BUTT! This scared me SO bad! I started screaming for Robby to come help as I lay helpless on the garage floor. Looking back, it's pretty comical but NOT at the time! He comes RUNNING out of the house with the dog, wondering what is going on! Thankfully, I didn't fall on my stomach. My poor rear took the brunt of the fall. It wasn't raining when we left for our errands but by the time we got back, the car was soaked outside which made for a very slippery garage floor. Of course, I was in flip flops too which provided no traction whatsoever!

This made me remember when I was pregnant with Abby! I was probably 3 weeks away from delivery and was out getting last minute Christmas errands done when I fell hard on my knees walking up a step into Office Max. Again, I was so proud of all that I accomplished, I thought I'd do ONE more store since I was feeling so great! Again, thankfully, I didn't fall on the baby!

Last update for the week, I'd request prayer for my Dad, Don. He had an angiogram on Tuesday that detected a valve in his heart that needs to be repaired. He's supposed to go in for surgery sometime in the next 26 days, date is pending. It looks like it'll be in the 2nd week of October, a week after baby is due.

I know God's perfect timing is going to work everything out :) Robby leaves for Men's Retreat this Friday through Sunday so ideally, I'd want the baby to come before or right after that! ;) I'm hoping before! We'll see what happens! :) I'll keep you posted ;)

Making Progress!

2007-09-10T11:16:00.001-07:00

Ok! I went to the Doctor today for my 37 week checkup! She said we're 50% effaced and at least 1 loose centimeter dilated! Over the weekend, I had 3 pretty strong contractions too, which is exciting! I'm HOPING for Sunday, the 16th since family will be in town! It's the MOST convenient date ;) We'll see what God has in store though! The Dr. said it could be anytime, or he could come on time! We technically have 23 days till my official due date!

Thank you Chiara for watching Abby while I was at the Doctors and thank you too to Tiffany and Meg who offered! It's SO much easier going in for an appointment when Abby isn't there :)

Another HUGE praise, Robby found out today that he'll be able to take a full week off from work to help with the new baby! This is awesome news!

Thanks to all our friends for their continued prayers! Everything is looking good! Check back in a week for another update! I go to the Dr's again NEXT Monday! :)

Summer FuN!

2007-09-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

All good things must come to an end!

This Summer, Abby and I tried to stay as cool as possible! This was achieved by trying to plan as many water events as possible! Practically every Wednesday our WBS group got together at some sort of pool or water park. Abby and I also took 2 weeks worth of swimming lessons @ the Jr. College. We even did the beach once!

Here's a photo slide show of all the fun we've had with friends this Summer!

Chiara Hawley!

2007-08-26T22:00:00.001-07:00

I was so flattered that Chiara would take time out of her busy days to write about me on her blog! Her goal was accomplished! I was completely encouraged and very touched by the words she wrote. I'd like to respond by telling you a little bit about the woman of God I've come to know!

First, let's talk about Chiara's never ending service and dedication to ministry!

Nursery
Every other Sunday, she serves in the church nursery! She's there faithfully watching our babies under 1 while we are able to hear Pastor Mike speak! This is a huge commitment! In fact, I know of times where the Hawleys left LATE for vacations just because they were serving in nursery the weekend of their trips! That's dedication, sacrifice and service! When Carter has been sick too, instead of calling the church and saying she can't serve, she and Ryan team up! Chiara brings Carter to church and when she goes into the nursery, Ryan takes him home!

WBS
Last year @ our Women's Bible Study, Chiara was in charge of our CARE ministry! She coordinated meals and took donations for group gifts for our leader. For this coming year, she's leading her own group, having the desire to help other women grow in their walk and in their role and wives and mothers! I know she will be great at this (and I signed up for her group!)!

Partners
God totally blessed me by signing up for Partners! I'd asked to meet with another young Mom so I could bring Abby with me to the meetings. I was "Partnered" with Chiara! This really is how we've gotten to know each other! I was very thankful that she agreed to take me through! I still have 2 chapters to go! It's been an awesome experience learning from her as we go through the Study!

Thrive
Chiara and her husband Ryan head up our married couples ministry at church. This requires huge commitments! They (and the Gilmores) coordinate the lesson plans, the ministry teams, scheduling for the entire year, everything!!! She also handles cooking for all of us Thrive leaders whenever we meet! That's a huge undertaking! Plus, she and Ryan try to attend all the group dinners/outings which is another big time commitment!

Accountability
Once a month, I know Chiara meets with a group of women too with the sole purpose of keeping each other accountable as Godly women! Then, meets weekly with her specific partner to be even more accountable!

Misc. Service
With the upcoming Family Flick Event, Chiara signed up "wherever needed". She's willing to be used wherever needed. That's huge. Not all people would feel comfortable saying, I'll do whatever you need me to do! This includes me!!! She's now signed up for numerous flyer outreach days and I'm sure a LOT more! I know for my planning part in the event (games!) Chiara has been so helpful being a creative mind to bounce ideas off of! Just being available to talk to when you need advice or help with something, Chiara has been excellent! She's also serving at the sign up tables for Thrive and Navigating Motherhood over the next couple of weekends AND this is after she'll have served in the nursery!!!

Other service acts, she babysat Abby for 3 hours while Robby and I had our ultrasound and Dr's appointment. This was all during Carter's nap too! She entertained Abby, when she could have been doing something else with that time! Also, she's volunteered to take care of our friend Tobi's son while she's on bed rest preparing for baby #2!

Chiara put together a wonderful women's tea table and encouraged all of the women in our WBS and Thrive groups to come! She made her table look so pretty! There were also little personalized gifts for each of us! What a great way to put her hospitality talents to use!

Now, let's talk about her example!

Attitude
This is something too that I really admire about Chiara. Every Thursday night, she and Carter drive to Thrive together while Ryan drives from work to meet them at church early when they start to set up. This was one of my biggest challenges where Chiara has set such an awesome example! With Robby serving on the worship team, I really HATED having to get Abby ready for church by myself. Seeing Chiara's attitude as she does it weekly has really made me have a change of heart! I appreciate that and all the hard work she and Ryan do for this awesome ministry!

Parenting
She sets a wonderful example of how to raise children! Carter and Abby sometimes see each other as many as 4 times a week! Chiara sets an excellent example for discipline that I strive to achieve! I'm constantly learning from her, what I can do to be a better parent to Abigail!

Encouraging
She's so good at encouraging others! Just by showing up for events planned helps encourage those who planned it! Whether it's a Mom's Night Out or a Wednesday or Friday morning activity, she's there to help support other Moms! It's not easy to get out of the house sometimes with kids! She's helped plan Mom's Night Out events and Wednesday morning activities for our WBS group over the Summer and has sent numerous positive emails to help encourage me as I set up dates for us all to go out!

Prompt
Another great example we can learn from is Chiara's promptness! If an event is supposed to start at 10:00, she's there BY 10:00! There was one week where we were supposed to meet at a park and at 10:03 she hadn't arrived and I got worried! She's that ON TIME! It turns out we got the days mixed up ;) Chiara is considerate of people's time too, when we meet for small groups Wednesday and Thursday, making sure we pick up our children ON TIME. That's a HUGE relief to the child care workers!!!

Honesty
Another thing, Chiara is very honest. She is open with her struggles and weaknesses, posting things we can learn and grow from on her blog! She's someone women can relate to and look up to as a wonderful Godly example of a wife and mother and child of God!

I am so blessed by her friendship!
Thank you!

Sleepless nights!

2007-08-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

This week, Abby has woken up numerous times and on multiple nights. She's had a little bit of a cold all week long which contributed to her waking up! Of course though, on the nights she has slept, I haven't been able to sleep! After going to bed around 11:30 tonight, I woke up at 4:00 unable to go back to sleep.

With less than 6 weeks to go until our little guy should arrive, I'm not sure how to feel. It's definitely in my mind constantly that he'll be coming soon and, am I ready for the changes it'll bring to our life? Abby and I are in such a routine! We get up the same time every day, we're able to get out of the house easily, she sleeps through the night, she has a nap schedule! All that is about to change and for a long time too!

I've wanted to do so much this year! I wanted to help with Navigating Motherhood, and serve in the multiple kids ministries! I've just had to say "no" at least until I see how I'll do with the second baby coming!

I'm not anxious about him coming. I'm not worried at all which is great! I'm excited to meet my little boy! I can't wait to see what kind of temperment he has! So far, he's been a MELLOW baby! This would be great if he stayed like that! One of my friends said he's storing up all his energy for when he arrives!!! Scary thought!

With Abby, I had a hard time adjusting to being a Mommy. I was totally new to it! Everything stressed me out. I constantly wanted Robby to help me and, if he wasn't home, I'd constantly be calling him for advice! I've become a lot more independent, thankfully!

I want to do better (is that proper English, can you say that "do better") this time! I want my kids to see the best in me. I want to not get frustrated and not have meltdowns! :) I want to know that I can be a Mommy of 2!

All these random thoughts running through my head! Feeling the baby kicking every now and then. Savoring our dates, not knowing when our next outing will be! Enjoying these last few nights of just our family of 3 before he arrives. Trying to get as much sleep as I can before he comes!

Enough thinking, it's time to get ready for church! The family will be up in 30 minutes!

Oh Wow! People do read this! :)

2007-08-15T15:36:00.001-07:00

Today is the first DAY I've noticed that there's a comment section on the blogs! I've slowly come to this realization as friends of mine have said, "leave me a comment" or, "I haven't received any comments"! This really intrigued me!

Thank you to all my friends who read my blog and for commenting! I'm sorry I haven't commented on your pages! I DO read them and enjoy them immensely! I'll be sure to comment from now on ;)

Please Pray

2007-08-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update! I got a call from my sister Rosemary today. She and her husband Nathan Jackson have been stationed in Germany. Nathan is in the Army. She informed us today that Nathan has been deployed to Iraq. This is his 3rd tour. Please just pray for his safety and for my sister to be strong during this time. They are both Christians :) The two of them just celebrated their first anniversary in May.

Getting Excited!

2007-08-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today, the baby dresser arrived for Christian! It looks SO nice! We've temporarily put it in Abby's room :) She was excited to hear that it's for the new baby! She runs in there to look at it and says "baby"! She also loved showing it to Daddy when he got home from work!

Tonight, Abby helped me go through 3 bags of fun purchases! It's time to start cutting tags off of outfits and getting them washed in Dreft and put in the drawers! A girlfriend of mine today gave me size 1 diapers! It's amazing how little they look compared to Abby's size 5's!

About a month ago, we purchased an organizer too for Abbys toys. I'd removed all the "baby" toys and put them in a bag for Christian to play with once he arrives. Abigail enjoyed playing with ALL of them tonight!

We have less than 8 weeks to go or more specifically, 54 days left till his due date!

My daughter, the climber!

2007-08-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months, Abby has enjoyed the challenge of:
learning how to climb into her stroller
learning how to climb the 2 step step-ladder in the garage

Well today,
she learned how to climb BACK into her highchair! Apparently, she can lift her little foot high enough to place on the foot board and then LIFTED herself back into the seat. This is due to her fascination with buckles!

I wonder, if my little GIRL is this active and adventurous and boys are supposed to be even MORE active than girls, how will my little BOY be?

Another busy week! So original!

2007-08-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday started with a spontaneous trip to DISNEYLAND! We were watching a Rick Steves Tourism Show about Naples, which made us miss our favorite date spot "Downtown Disney's Naples". This led us to calling a sitter to see if she could watch Abby while we went out to eat! The sitter wasn't available so Robby said "let's go to Disneyland"! At 3:00 in the afternoon we left! Abby had a BLAST! She LOVED the rides! In fact, after the rides were over, she'd start crying because she didn't want it to end! Her favorite was the carousel, which she rode with Daddy 3 times!!!

I also learned that I can't leave Robby unattended for a minute! I literally ran into a restroom in Disneyland for a minute to make sure they had a baby changing table! I came back out and he'd purchased MINNIE EARS for Abby! I do have to admit, she looks pretty cute in them! He said he didn't even look at the price tag, they could have been $1,000-! She said she wanted them so he got em! Abby's SUCH a Daddy's girl. When he's home from work, all she wants to do is sit in his lap. He says he's looking forward to having 2 babies sitting with him! Only 57 more days till Christian's due date!

Earlier in the day, we got to show Daddy all the pool moves we'd been learning at swimming class! The YMCA had an open house day to check out their newly renovated pool! Abby had fun splashing around their wading pool area designed just for little kids! Pictures won't be posted until the end of Summer I'm afraid, they are on our KODAK WATER camera which still has a few shots to go!

This past week was busy with Swimming again! I also took Abby to a free showing at Regal Cinemas of "Elmo In Grouchland"! She lasted for about an hour! Once I set her in her own chair in the theater, she just wanted to keep climbing in and out of it! We've since purchased this movie on DVD! It's $5.50 at Target ;)

Wednesday morning, we skipped going to the beach with our Bible study group. It's just too tough watching/chasing Abby at the beach. I came home way too tired! We ran errands instead and, Abby got her first professional hair cut! You sit in a ROCKET SHIP and, each child has their own TV and basket of toys to play with! Her little curls are gone but I'm sure they'll grow back! At least her bangs are straight now!

Thursday after swimming lessons ended, Abby and I rushed home to finish packing for a 5 day trip! We were invited to a cousins wedding in Clarksburg (Nor. Cal.)! We split up the drive by going to Robbys parents house in Bakersfield! Robby took a few days off of work so we could take our time coming home and enjoy our family visit. He went golfing Friday morning, I got to go shopping at the mall with his Mom, sister and Abby! We had fun! Then, Saturday morning, we all drove to Sacramento to our hotel before going to the wedding! Carpooling was so much fun! We've done this once before for a family reunion last year in San Jose! Abby loves having the WHOLE family in the car! She did well too on the 4 1/2 hour drive!

The wedding was beautiful! The brides dress was gorgeous, the weather was nice and cool, and the location, a beautiful vineyard at sunset! Abby got to meet her cousin Natalya who's 3 months older! She really enjoyed dancing with her! We got to visit a little bit too with Robby's awesome grandparents! It was great to have the family all together!

At our hotel, Abby LOVED the adjoining room! In the morning, she was able to knock on the door that separated our room from her grandparents room and enjoyed running back and forth between the two! We brought our portable DVD player too and she kicked back on our bed and watched her Elmo DVDs.

Robby and I had a nice date over the weekend too! Robby's parents watched Abby while we went and saw the new "Bourne" movie, ate dinner and just enjoyed each others company walking around the Marketplace in Bakersfield. We listened to the fountain, went to the bookstore, held hands. It was very nice :)

We came home yesterday afternoon. It's good to be back home. Robby liked having a few days off from work and we liked having him around! The suitcases are all unloaded, the car is clean again, now I just have to catch up on laundry! :) Maybe later ;)

A busy week!

2007-07-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

This week, Abby and I did at least 2 things each day, every day! I think it finally caught up with us this afternoon how busy we've been! We had a lot of fun though!!!

Monday-
We were scheduled to go to the park with my prayer partner Tracey but unfortunately, it was RAINING! Strange for the middle of July? Instead, we went to McDonalds Playplace where Abby enjoyed playing with Tracey's 3 girls! Then in the afternoon, we started our first "Mommy and Me" swimming lesson! Abby learned how to kick kick kick and we sang lots of fun songs! Swimming is great! It's 30 minutes where we're staying cool in a pool AND two of our friends are taking the class with us!

Tuesday-
We met a new friend at a Park in Mission Viejo! A friend of a friend introduced us via email and we decided to get together! Our kids had fun playing in the sand and Abby enjoyed going down the BIG KIDS TUBE slide! Abigail has gotten very good at climbing steps at the playground. A few months ago she'd trip and fall on her face but now climbs up them really quickly and enjoys the challenge! She'll go out of her way to go up a big step rather than take the easy two step route! Of course, we had our 2nd swim lesson and Abby learned the back float and how to get dunked under water! Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a big FALL and you pull them into the water from the wall. She didn't enjoy this very much but is getting better at getting her face wet!

Wednesday-
This was probably our most fun event of the week! Our Women's Bible Study group met at a Petting Zoo in San Juan! Abby REALLY enjoyed feeding the animals! She saw sheep and can say BAA now! She also fed rabbits and goats. They also had a train ride which she loved! At swimming Wednesday afternoon, we practiced the back float and kicking again! The teacher gives each child a floating fish and when they throw it, we have them try and kick to it!

Thursday-
This morning we stayed HOME and did laundry! My new neighbor dropped by for a little visit too while we were cleaning! ;) We did afternoon swimming lessons and Abby was a pro at climbing the steps to get out of the pool! She hesitated jumping in though! Thursday night was dinner at our friends the Hawleys house! Abby's "best friend" is Carter Hawley who's 16 months! They are taking swimming together :) We have seen Carter twice Tuesday, twice Wednesday, twice Thursday and twice on Friday!

Friday-
We went to the beach! Abby and I woke up really late (8:30) yet still managed to pick up breakfast and get to Laguna by 9:30! This was definately the most difficult thing I've done with Abby yet this week! Getting the beach bag on the beach, walking Abby to and from the water, keeping us cool in the hot sun and then, when you leave, what a pain getting all that sand off!!! I'm going to have to rethink taking her to the beach alone again! We met up with some friends there but without Robby, it was hard! I also didn't feel well sitting in the sun after eating a DONUT for breakfast ;) Friday evening we were invited to a movie in the park! "Curious George" was showing! We had fun visiting with friends from church! Abby had her first cotton candy! She was so sweet! She loves her daddy so much! She just sat on the blanket with him and cuddled while eating her chips and candy! ;)

Saturday-
Today, after cleaning house a little bit more, we went SHOPPING! We purchased a new dresser for our baby boy! With less than 10 weeks to go, it's time to start washing baby clothes and getting things prepared for his arrival! How exciting! I have a Dr's appt. Monday morning to check on how things are going but I'm feeling fine :) What a praise!

That's all for now! I'll try and post another update next week!

Weekend with my family!

2007-07-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend was nice. We visited with my sister Rosemary and her husband Nathan. My brother in-law is in the Army and they have been stationed in Germany since October! It was great to be able to spend some time with them both! Friday, they came for lunch and fun time with Abby and in the evening we enjoyed pizza and Coldstone! They stayed overnight and then we all got up Saturday morning and drove to my parents house in Manhattan Beach. we hadn't visited with them in a few months so it was really nice to see them. Abby had a great time playing in the playhouse my dad had built for us when we were children. There was a toy piano, a baby doll and crib, a little stroller. She had a blast! We also took her to the toddler park down the street which she loved! Sunday, we took these photos of the family and said our goodbyes.

Photo from left to right:
Nathan Rosemary Holly Judy (my Mom) Don (my dad) Robby and Abby

I did it!

2007-07-19T21:05:00.001-07:00

It seems like all of my Orange County friends have BLOGS so I decided to make one too! I usually post our updates on my myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/rebeccamillsap) but not everyone is a member of myspace!

Now that I finally figured out how to put slideshows on here, I decided to let my friends know that I have a page up and running! Honestly, I'd registered for this page back in February but haven't gotten around to doing anything to it until now!

Here it is! I'm not sure how often I'll post but do check back!

Thanks!
Rebecca :)

Abby and Baby Updates from the last few months!

2007-06-30T21:00:00.002-07:00

Abby 18 month update! 7/16/07
Current mood: awake

Ok, so instead of doing the responsible thing while my daughter naps like, folding the laundry, straightening up the house and unloading the dishwasher, I'm going to post an update on my blog!

We had Abby's 18 month Dr's appointment today! Our little girl is now 24 pounds 9 ounces and 33 inches long! This puts her in the 90th percentile for her height and the 60th percentile for her weight! Looks like she's got her daddy's tall genes! The Dr. was impressed with her vast vocabulary consisting of over 30 words and was really surprised when I said she can do some two word sentences! He said that usually comes later! Sure, it's "up please" or "hi daddy" but they are 2 word sentences! She also got two shots! She took the first one with not even a flinch but the second shot stung and she cried for a few minutes. She's a trooper though! :) I opted to still not get the chickenpox shot, even after our church scare! (I did find out at my dr's appt. last week that I AM immune to chickenpox, which will be great for when I'm treating my kids when they catch them!) As far as health goes, she's healthy too! Belly looked good, heart sounded great and her back is straight! All huge blessings!

In other news, we are 10 1/2 weeks away from our due date! If anyone has been praying I'd sleep better, thank you! It's working! I sleep about 5 1/2 a night now at least (and only having to get up once during that time)! This has been great! Hopefully I'll be able to keep sleeping up until our baby boy arrives! :)

After the Dr's, Abby and I got to visit with her Grandma Millsap at the Irvine Spectrum! She was shopping with some girlfriends today! They drove all the way from Bakersfield to "hit the mall and the beach"! We had a great time seeing her!

My sister and brother in law are in town from Germany visiting for the next two weeks! It'll be nice to get to visit with them a little bit over the weekend! Also, my dad turned 62 today! :) It also seems like my parents won't be moving to Montana anytime soon. Their escrow fell through but they are at peace with it for now, which is good.

That's about it for this week!

26 down, 14 to go! My baby has clothes! 6/17/07
Current mood: ecstatic

Today was SUCH a great day! It was just a GREAT day! My cheeks still hurt from SMILING SO much!

First, Abby and I went shopping with my girlfriend Carrie for BABY BOY clothes! I picked up soe really cute outfits for Christian! This made me feel really good since, as of right now, I don't have ANYTHING for him! Robby and I did go "window shopping" over the weekend to look at things we might purchase but as of now it's "too soon". I still have 3 months to go ;)

It's hard for me because, as SOON as we heard Abby was a girl, we were decorating her bedroom THAT weekend! I feel I'm a little behind since, we found out over a MONTH ago (wow) that we're having a BOY!

Ok, so back to today!

Awesome day shopping with my girlfriend!

Then, I come home and my Dad helps me figure out a TON of mini-obsticals around our home! 1 for instance) It takes my washing machine 10 minutes to fill up with water! This means it takes OVER an HOUR for a load to get washed. He was able to loosen some valve and, it's like 8 MINUTES faster, making each CYCLE faster which, makes laundry GO FASTER! This is HUGE for me as, I've had the water people come out to check my pressure to fix the problem. I've been living with it for 3 years just figuring that Orange County Water flows slower than LA water ;)

Ok, so after Dad helps fix things around the house, I get a phone call!

My sister in law calls and we talk for like 30 minutes! It was SO great! She's SUPER excited about her new nephew and can't wait to give me the hook ups cause, she has a JOB in a BABY STORE! Everything she described sounds SO cute too! I can't wait to check out the shop!

Then, after talking with Katie, my brother Phil calls! Now, Phil moved to Michigan May 6th and I've only gotten 1 myspace from him since then! (and it was a general bulletin with a hi Bec thrown in) We talked for 30 minutes! That's the longest I've EVER talked to my brother on the phone! It was awesome!

Of course Abby, not used to seeing Mommy on the phone for SO long ;) insisted on me giving her chocolates to keep her happy! This resulted in her not wanting to eat dinner :) Oh well! These were SPECIAL calls!

Today was a great day! I just had SO much fun! Thanks Katie and Phil, thanks Dad, thanks Carrie!

PS Robby called at lunch ;) That's a highlight of the day too as we usually only get to talk online! Can't let my great day end without a shout out to my hubby ;) Love you!

Sleepless nights and no binky! 6-18-07
Current mood: hot

We have less than 4 months till the new baby arrives! I had my first "bad night" of sleep since being pregnant! We went to bed about 12- and 4:30, I was wide awake! Since it was a Saturday night/Sunday morning, I didn't get an opportunity to nap either, but made it through the day!

Also, Saturday night, Abby left her ONLY binky at church! This meant that she had to learn to fall asleep without it! She cried off and on for an HOUR before finally konking out! We found her binky in the nursery Sunday morning but decided that she could live without it! Pray for me this week as I constantly am saying to her "where's your binky, put your binky in" anytime she gets whiney!

In other news, for Father's Day, Robby continued our landscape project! He ripped out 4 existing plants including a jasmine and a bugenvilia! We planted 2 beautiful palm trees in their place and, fixed a broken sprinkler line! Robby was such a pro, walking in to Home Depot knowing exactly what PVC pieces he needed :) Very impressive! Our front yard is really looking great these days! Next, we want to tackle our corner where our huge King Palms have grown. It's just covered in ground cover neither of us like and flowers we find "not our style"!

Abby had fun playing in the mud! We gave her a hand shovel and she liked putting dirt into a bucket. Such a helper ;) It's only when she decided to taste the dirt that we brought her back in the house!

Our neighbors house had been on the market but just sold this week! If escrow goes well, we should have new neighbors next month! We've heard it's a nice young couple with a young child! We're looking forward to making some new friends :) After our neighbors moved and had renters move in, we never met them! I told Robby, we'll be sure to bring cookies over or something to introduce ourselves with!

We had a BUNCH of friends this weekend dedicate their children at church! It's awesome to see the amount of young couples in our community! There were 12 different families and we knew 7 of them!

In other news, with less than 16 weeks to go, it's time to start thinking about preparing for new baby! We've decided to get an awesome side bed bassinet for him to stay in until Abby's 2 and we buy her a big girl bed for her birthday! Hopefully, that plan will work well! Once he's sleeping through the night (hopefully at 8 weeks, like Abby did!) we'll move him into his own room! This will allow us to keep our guest room too through the holiday season in case family or friends want to come visit! :)

Abby's getting better at playing on her own, not wanting so much of Mommies attention! She's a sweetheart! Today, she grabbed my hair brush and loved brushing my hair into my eyes! She has this new face which is totally mine! She SCOWLS! I need to get a photo of it! It's the face I use when I'm totally annoyed!

Summer is here and we're enjoying more days at home. Being out of the house Wednesday mornings, Thursday nights and Friday mornings for church can be tiring so it's nice to have a break :)

It's getting warmer here! I'm very thankful we have air conditioning ;) Robby bought these "hurricane fans" or "tornado fans" (not sure what they are called ) also which help cool things off! It's only been like 81 here but I know it's going to get hotter, especially the bigger I get!

We had our Dr's appt. last Monday which went well! I'm measuring right on for 24 weeks, my blood pressure is low which is good! Now I just need to go for my glucose test and hopefully pass that!

Well, I'd better go check on Abby! That's all our current news! :)

Nothing new to report 6-14-07
Current mood: awake

Yesterday, we hit week 24 of our pregnancy! Our little boy is much more mellow so far than Abby was! I've been feeling good, just TIRED all the time.

Abby and I are still enjoying being home together! I think she knows baby brother is coming because she's become VERY clingy! She just wants to get her hugs in while she can :) She loves to give my belly kisses which is SO sweet! We're working on playing on her own instead of wanting Mommy's full 100% attention!

Robby and I got away for a night this weekend! We went camping with 3 other couples from our church. This was the 3rd time ever we'd left Abby overnight! We had a fun time visiting with couples! Also, while they went on a 6 mile HIKE, Robby and I got to relax at our campsite, reading and napping!

Summer is finally here! Our marriage group and Bible study group has taken a break till September. I'm still meeting the girls from our marriage group once a month for accountability which is really awesome! Abby and I also do a park day with the girls from Women's Bible study! Next week, we're going swimming! :)

I'm also staying on top of planning a once a Month Mom's night out! The more I'm home with Abby, the more I see the need for a break sometimes! It's great to be able to just hang out and talk with other Mothers and not have to worry about our kiddos! Plus, Abby gets to spend some terrific quality time with her Daddy!

My sister Rosemary and brother in law Nathan are coming to visit for 2 weeks during July! We're looking forward to seeing the both of them!

Oh, we are landscaping our front yard :) Kinda cool. This is a project Robby and I are working on together, designing where the plants and flowers should go, de-weeding planters. We spent most of Memorial Day weekend working out front!

Well, I think that's about it for now! We're just taking it easy at home these days! :)

Update on life :) 3-8-07
Current mood: happy

I can't remember the last time I blogged! Just a few updates on a couple of things :)

Paris was incredible! We really enjoyed our trip! I can't believe it's been over a month since we went!

Abby is almost 14 months now and weighs in at a nice 22 pounds! My biceps are getting huge!!! ;) She's running everywhere now which is fun! When we go to the store now I can actually have her walk and hold my hand :) It's pretty cute! We're a little slow moving but we get it done ;) What else? She can sign 4 words (more, please, thank you, all done) and she can talk a little too! She says Mama, Dada, Dog, Bottle, baba, cracker, gurt (yogurt), she loves food and can communicate how to get it! ;) She's really smart too! The other day she lost something under the couch so she laid on her belly and said Mama while staring under there trying to get her toy! She loves balls and books right now. She's also started to help out with the laundry, pulling the socks out of the basket while I fold :) She also loves to attempt to crawl into the dishwasher and enjoys splashing in the dirty dishwater that collects in the door while I do a pre-rinse!

In other news, we're expecting another baby! Robby and I are very excited! :) I'm feeling really good, no nausea like I had with Abby which is a blessing! I do try and get a nap in everyday with Abby though! I came home from Paris so jet lagged, so exhausted when really, I was pregnant! Our new baby is due October 3rd which puts me at 2 1/2 months or 10 weeks, however you want to look at it! We're curious to see what a big sister Abby will be. Will she be kind and nurturing or jealous!? Whenever I attempt to sit near Robby or cuddle, she gets really upset and feels left out! Also, when I hold other babies, she hasn't been too happy about that either! We're hoping to teach her to LOVE her new baby sister or brother :) They'll be almost 21 months apart!

I also just celebrated my 26th (golden b-day)! It was a fun filled weekend! We went to visit both of our families and told them the great news about the baby through a cute "big sister" shirt we had Abby wear! Then, Monday night Robby arranged for our friends from church to babysit while we went out to dinner! When we came home, our small group was there with cake! A total surprise! My best birthday yet!

Robby and I are just so blessed. We're both really happy where we are right now. We have an awesome church family, awesome families, a sweet little girl, a good home, a great job. God is good and we thank Him for all He's provided.

Well, that's about all I have to share right now! I have to get Abby and I ready for church tonight! Write soon! :)

Some previous posts from myspace I thought I'd share :)

2007-06-30T21:00:00.001-07:00

So blessed, so important! 7/3/07
Current mood: happy

I just got a photo from our Women's Bible Study group leader! There are 14 Mom's in our group! These are women who I meet with on a weekly basis. We go through a Study together that our church staff puts together. Last year we did James, next year is 1st Peter. It's been so incredible having so many friends! I handle sending out all our prayer requests and praises! I love too being able to email any one of them for advice, whether it's about naps for Abby or transitioning to a toddler bed! These ladies are in the same stage of life as I am! We're all working on a common goal too, becoming Godly women, wives and Mothers! What a HUGE blessing our church has been to Robby and I! We just LOVE it!

This doesn't even mention the great THRIVE Marriage Group we have on Thursdays! Our group has been together over 2 years, 6 couples and it's been great knowing them and seeimg their families grow! When we started, there was 1 baby in our group, now there are 7 and 2 on the way!

If you don't have an awesome group of women like this, I suggest you find one! It's so great!

Obedience and patience! :) 6/18/07
Current mood: hopeful

Something else we're really working on with Abby is to obey Mom and Dad and to be patient! We have her say please and thank you since month 10 of life and now she can actually SAY the words please and thank you (in her own baby language)! She's also gotten really great at, when we give her what she asks for, she automatically says thank you now without us prompting her! We love instilling these Godly characters in her :) She also loves to pray at meal time! Since she turned one, we've been taking ahold of her hands and we thank God for our meals! She says "Mamen!" when we finish!

Abby is learning too to not be impatient while she waits for Mom or Dad to, get her juice, make her dinner, get her toy down, etc.

I just purchased some CD's I used to listen to as a child called "Hide Em In Your Heart" by Steve Green. They are scripture verses set to music and, they came with a free DVD of the songs too! These will be great for driving in the car! Robby and I have been listening to some of the Disney DVD's as they play in the backseat and some of them say some words that children just don't need to learn! We were listening to "Madagascar" and they say "damn"! Is that really necessary? Yes, it is rated PG! "Toy Story" says "idiot" and when you listen to "Peter Pan" they say "imbecile"! Not the most edifying word. The worst is when Rose and I used to watch Pinocchio and I called Rosie a jackass after watching it!

Having been raised that babies aren't sinners, I've seen Abby be completely defiant to what I've asked her to do! I definitely see that she has a will of her own and she's not always wanting to follow what her Mommy asks her to do! I'll tell her "no" and she'll look at me and do it anyway, not caring what the consequence will be! She now knows how to say the word "no"! and really knows how to use it! She'll grab my cell phone which is a "don't touch, a no no" and I'll say "give it to Mommy". She looks at me, looks at the phone and then, as she's reaching out to hand it to me realizes, I want to keep this! She says "no!" and pulls the phone back, running towards her room to get away from me!

Our goal for our children is for them to grow up to love the Lord and follow Him. This means that Robby and I need to instill in them Godly morals and characteristics as well as pray for them!

I've started reading a great book called "Dare To Discipline" by Dr. James Dobson and have also purchased "Shepherding Your Child's Heart" by Ted Tripp and a book called "Temper Your Child's Tantrums" by Dobson also. We're hoping that by reading these books, they'll help give us guidance in raising our children :)

Abby's favorite things to do now when frustrated are:
To throw herself on the floor, face down and just scream
To hit Mom or Dad in the face (not acceptable behavior)
Hold her breath till her face turns red in protest!

We're enjoying these challenges as it challenges us to daily try and set a good example for her to follow.

Today I was thinking, wow, only like 4 more years till she'll be in school full time and then I'll be left at home without the kids! That made me a little sad and was a little scary! The plan right now is to send our children to Public School SO I really want to make sure my kids know the truth before sending them out into the world! Right now, Abby's only exposure to other kids is just her church friends! That'll change once we're in school!

I need to make the most of every day with her, hoping that if we "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."
[Proverbs 22:6]

Reminiscing- 6 years How Robby and I met!

2007-06-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Reminiscing- 6 years How Robby and I met! 4-12-07
Current mood: happy

Time to take a few minutes to think back a bit :) Tomorrow, it'll have been 6 years since my first date with Robby Millsap! I remember how he asked me out :) I was at work in El Segundo and he IMed me! He said we worked really close (Santa Monica is a little far from El Segundo) and that we should go out to lunch sometime. I said ok and he said "let's skip lunch and go to dinner and a movie instead"! That worked for me too! Now, we set our date for FRIDAY the 13th! I didn't really know Robby (at all) so I didn't know if this was a BIG prank he and the worship guys were playing on poor me, or if this was a genuine date! I came home from work and got ready to go out :) He arrived RIGHT on time, very prompt! I made sure to answer the door instead of making him come in and meet my family :) That can be overwhelming, 5 people!

He was very polite all evening! We had a nice dinner @ Black Angus where, I made sure to eat a TON of meat! (His ex was a vegetarian, something Robby knew he couldn't spend his life with). We then stopped by his nice 2 bedroom apartment that he shared with our worship leader and friend, Brian. Robby grabbed his jacket, we talked with Brian and his fiancee Angela for a few minutes, then we left for the movies :)

We saw "Joe Dirt"! Not the most romantic movie but, it was a first date :) Robby didn't even attempt to hold my hand! I began to wonder if he even liked me at this point!!!

After the movie, we went to Starbucks for coffee (which I don't drink). I had a hot chocolate ;) We then went back to his apartment to watch another movie and just visit. We ended up not watching the DVD and just took the opportunity to talk and get to know each other better.

I don't recall the time but sometime after 12- I got a call from my Dad asking if I was alright! Time had been flying by as we sat and talked :) I told him I'd be home later, we were out talking, I was fine :) Robby ended up taking me home at 4:00am that morning!!!

During the night, I had fallen in love. I looked deep into his beautiful blue eyes and could see his sweet heart :) I came home and told my Mom, "he's the one". Having dated a few people, my Mom was skeptical, but I was convinced that I could spend the rest of my life with Robby. I couldn't sleep I was so excited!

Not knowing Robby's dating history, i didn't know if he was a Joshua Harris doesn't believe in kissing Christian, or if he thought kissing was alright? I remember sitting next to him on his sofa and asking if he believed in kissing on the first date! I loured him in! :) Sparks flew and fireworks exploded haha :)

The next day (April 14th) I waited for him to call, no call! He popped online and asked if I'd like to go out Sunday evening after church, I said sure. Sunday was Easter and I spent the last holiday ever @ my grandparents house. Looking back, I wish I would have invited Robby since he and his roommate had Weinerschnitzel's for lunch! I remember going out for ice cream with my girlfriend Beka and couldn't talk about anything but Robby and our date!

Sunday evening, I played it cool. I waited for him to come talk to me, pretending like nothing had gone on between us the night before. He came up after church and asked if we were still on for dinner so I said sure. We went to Olive Garden, my favorite place to eat :) I wish I could remember his exact words, I was just in a state of shock that a guy could say them! He said something to the effect that he'd like for us to start a relationship with the intention of marriage! I'd been waiting my whole life for a guy to say that to me! I said, I think I can handle that! :)

That was it! September 17th, Robby proposed! He could hardly contain his excitement and even ran into the wall running to go get the ring! That still brings a huge smile to my face :)

02/02/02 we were married :) We just celebrated 5 years together!

I love my life :) I have a great husband, a wonderful daughter and a new baby on the way! We are truly blessed! God has fulfilled the desires of my heart :)