Back to Work

Well I’ve been back to work for three weeks now, and I think I’m getting a little use to getting up so early in the morning. I definitely miss spending the entire day with Makayla. She has grown so much over the summer, and I am so proud of all the things she is learning. She just learned to say “juice” and is trying to say “baby” too. I am so thankful to God for blessing me with such an awesome daughter. I love every part of being a wife and a mom and wish I could be a sahm all year long. Luckily, I am teacher so I get to look forward to being a sahm every summer; now that is a true blessing!

I will be honest and say there have been a few times when I wondered if what I do every day as a teacher truly makes a difference. Sometimes I feel like my daily tasks at work are so monotonous.  I certainly know other people may feel the same way. My days and weeks feel so busy since I’ve been back to work. I just really want to make sure I am giving the same energy to my family as I’m giving to my students. I work my butt off trying to be a good teacher, a good role model, and a good employee. And I strive so much to be a good wife, mom, daughter, sister, and friend. How can I do all of this? Only with God’s help of course! I find myself thinking of Mary, mother of Jesus. Can you imagine what Mary must have gone through? She was about to get married to Joseph and an angel appears to her and tells her she will be with child and will give birth to a son. She must have felt such a huge responsibility. She must have wondered if she was doing things good enough, and if she could be the person God wanted her to be. But Mary trusted God through it all, and her story teaches us that in order to be willing to accept God's plan for our lives, we must know Him, believe in Him, seek Him and trust in Him. It’s a journey of being obedient to God through everything, including the small things.

God is always so faithful, and knows exactly what our needs are. Early last week we had Parent Orientation at school. Once it was over a mom of one of my former students came up to me. She reminded me of how irritated she felt when her son got me as a teacher 3 years ago. She said she just knew the entire year could be thrown in the trash since I was a “new teacher”. She really didn’t have to remind me of this however, because I remember the night clearly. I was a brand new teacher at my school, completely blinded by excitement that I failed to prepare myself for parents that didn’t want their child to have a “new teacher”. Anyhow, last week she told me something that I really needed to hear at that time. She said, “We really thought that year was going to be awful, but it turned out to be the best year, and Johnny (made-up name) still misses you. He has that country project ya’ll did still sitting in the garage and won’t get rid of it! We really hoped our daughter would get you as a teacher this year.” Wow! Now that made me feel like maybe I made a difference in someone’s life. I hope and pray that God allows me to do that as often as possible.

So no matter what I am feeling inside or what I'm going though, I know there is a Maker, my Maker, who is greater than anything! And you know what? In all the busyness of life God never leaves me or forsakes me; He is for me.

“So faithful
So constant
So loving and so true
So powerful in all you do
You fill me
You see me
You know my every move
You love for me to sing to you

I know that you are for me
I know that you are for me
I know that you will never forsake me in my weakness
I know that you have come down
Even if to write upon my heart
To remind me who you are”

God Bless,

Shawna

 

Digital Scrapbooking

I have enjoyed traditional scrapbooking for several years now, and have almost finished Makayla’s first year scrapbook. It is going to be such a great little memory book for her to look back at one day. She will always know how much we love I her! I have been trying to get a picture of MG praying. Every night at dinner we put our hands together and say a prayer. She caught on really quickly and puts her hands together and squints her eyes. She only does it for about 3 seconds, but that is pretty awesome for a 13 month old. Anyhow, I would love to put a picture of that in her scrapbook; it is so precious!

So this summer I started learning a little more about digital scrapbooking. I have dabbled in it before while creating websites and such, but never had the time to learn more. This summer I learned a little about it and started doing some pages. There is still so much to learn, but I don’t have the time. I hope to put these pages into the Shutterfly albums I make at the end of the year. Here are the ones I did for the ‘back to school/work’ slideshow that will be shown next week at a staff meeting.

August Already

I can’t believe my summer vacation is coming to an end. It feels like it’s only been a few weeks, but in reality it’s been a few months. Makayla and I have had a wonderful time spending our entire days together. It has really been the perfect time. She has grown so much over the last year, and I’m so glad that as a working mom I was able to see those 1st big milestones with my own eyes. In fact, she started crawling and took her first steps on weekends when Tim and I were both home. We couldn’t have asked for anything better!!! Now that she has been walking for 2 months she has become a little pro and looks absolutely adorable! So I thought I would give a few update on Miss Makayla…

New word she learned: waffle (it sounds like bopple, and it is sooo cute!)
Favorite place to eat: Cracker Barrel
Clothes: Wears 12 mo (has for several months now) She can wear some 18 month clothes.
Teeth: 2 up top, 3 on bottom…plus 1 more coming in on the bottom and 2 more coming in on the top! She has done very well with teething. Yay!
Favorite TV Shows: Super Readers, Dinosaur Train, and Sesame Street (I definitely limit the time and days I have the tv on cartoons because I don’t want MG to ever be a television junky! The shows are good though.)

And not that anyone else cares what kind of schedule MG is on, but I wanted to put this on my blog so I can look back at it one day. Everyone knows that I am “Miss Sentimental”!

Schedule (which is about to change next week when I go back to work)
8:30            Wake up, get ready for the day (We love sleeping in!)
9:00            Typical Breakfast: waffle, milk, fruit
9:30- 11:00 Play time with Mommy, go strolling, watch Elmo’s World
11:00          Typical Lunch: meat, vegetable, fruit, milk or juice
12:00-2:30  Nap
2:30            Wake up, snuggle time, read a book
3:00            Snack Time: cheese, fruit, yogurt, or whatever I find
3:15-6:00    Playtime, and anything else we plan for the afternoon
6:00            Typical Dinner: meat, vegetable, fruit, milk or juice (basically whatever mommy & daddy eat for dinner.) Sometimes she doesn't get a meat and eats cheese pizza or cheese bread.
6:30            Playtime
7:00            Bath time, get ready for bed
7:30            Milk bottle (This is the only bottle she really gets now. Hopefully no more bottles soon!)  Playtime, family stroll, read a book, play with Jazz & Rose, then settle down.
9:00            Bedtime

MG started going to the church nursery almost 2 months ago, and needless to say it’s not going so well. As soon as we get into the hallway where her room is she starts crying. I hope it gets better very quickly! She has really become attached to her mommy and daddy. She is a lot like me when I was little; sensitive and very sweet. I am just happy that she loves her Nana and Grandad because I can leave her with them and she is perfectly content. Last weekend she went over there to play with Amelia and Anna Catherine. It was a hoot! Makayla acted like a little hotshot; running around, grinning, not wanting to leave, and basically thinking she was as old as the other girls. It was so cute and funny to watch. Here are a few pictures.

And now…here are some updates on our bun in the oven. I had my 16 week appointment last Tuesday and everything is going well. The baby’s heartbeat was 158! I think I felt the baby move once at 12 weeks and once at 14 weeks. Over the past week I have been able to feel the little one move more, especially at night when I’m lying in bed. It is so neat, and I know I will get to feel the movement more and better in the next few weeks. We will find out if our baby is a boy or girl at the end of this month!

Have a Blessed Week,
Shawna

Married for 4 Awesome Years!

Today and forever you are my dear husband, my best friend, the one God made for me, and my one and only love. I love you Tim!

Four years ago today I married the man of my dreams. I searched and searched for the perfect anniversary card, but year after year I can never find the perfect one. Of course I ended up buying one, but it just doesn’t say everything I feel in my heart. I started this blog as a way to preserve memories and precious thoughts. I will eventually print all the entries and make them into a little book my family can look back at. So while I’m not going to include the letter I wrote for Tim, I am going to include the words to a song that really became ‘our song’.

When God Made You

Its always been a mystery to me,

How two hearts can come together,

And love can last forever.

But now that I have found you I believe,

That a miracle has come when God sends the perfect one.

So gone are all my questions about why,

And I've never been so sure of anything in my life 

Oh I wonder what God was thinking,when he created you.

I wonder if He knew everything I would need,

Because he made all my dreams come true.

When God made you, He must have been thinking about me.

Ooo ooo,I promise that wherever you may go, wherever life may lead you,

With all my heart I'll be there too.

And from this moment on I want you to know,

I'll let nothing come between us, and I will love the ones you love.

So gone are all my questions about why…about why

Oh I wonder what God was thinking when he created you,

I wonder if He knew everything I would need,

Because He made all my dreams come true.

When God made you He must've been thinking about me.

He made the sun He made the moon,

To harmonize a perfect tune,

One can't do without the other they just have to be together.

And that is how I know its true,

Your for me and I'm for you and my world

Just cant be right without you in my life 

He must have heard every prayer I've been praying

I've been praying He must've knew everything I would need

When God made you, He must've been thinking about me.