The message of JOY continues

I am learning to see more clearly when God is trying to give me a message. Slow learner that I am it takes a few (okay many) times sometimes. So this months virtue of the month at church for the children is JOY (see we are continuing on the lesson of Joy!). And the definition they give the children is "finding a way to be happy even when things don't go your way". How about that! Great virtue to cultivate in adults too!


We have had many joyful things going on in the last month. Here are some pictures to catch you up.



November 18-22 - Steve, Emma and Norah flew to IL for a visit with family and friends in Bloomington and Bettendorf. Norah's first time on a plane! She giggled all the way through take off! They had a blast. Visited with family and tons of friends in Bloomington! Sam and I had a good time in Texas, although there were times the house was a bit too quiet!

December 4th - Our Emma turned 8! Someone pointed out that she is half way to driving. How is that possible? This may have been the first birthday that she and friends were able to play outside. Ya gotta love the Texas weather!

December 4th - Sam hit the 4 month milestone. What a happy content little guy! Currently in 12 month clothes - 23 lbs and 27 1/2 inches. Thankful we bought the infant carrier that goes up to 30 lbs, although not sure my back will be able to handle it!








December 9th - Norah's first (possibly of many!) performances on stage! Her preschool class had a little Christmas concert. She was front and center and having a great time!














Norah has also been spending some time "reading" to Sam.











That's all for now, hope you are able to witness and experience lots of joyful activities this Christmas season!

Joy, joy, joy

We changed the name of our blog to reflect how God is working in our lives. He continues to bring a message of living joy filled - regardless of our circumstances. If you look at the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22) wouldn't you know it right after love comes joy! Also, check out the scripture to the left.

Our circumstances are really good, no complaints here, but we could choose to complain if we lingered long enough about stuff, like lack of sleep, sick kids in the middle of the night, temper tantrums, or endless other minor things. So here are some of our recent joyful moments!

First Halloween in TX - 2 batgirls and a startled black cat! The neighbors all get together for a cookout and hand out candy. Funny - if we were in Illinois, the last cookout of the year would likely be Labor Day weekend!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Just a regular morning before school - needed a 3 month picture of Sam!


Oh and we can't forget our 15th Anniversary. Thanks to some wonderful neighbors we had dinner out without children for the first time since Sam was born! It was fantastic.

Kiddo update!

Future Illini player?!The shirts say "I'm a little batty!" Emma is still a big fan of bats and Norah is always willing to join in on the fun!11 weeks old and 19 lbs! Lots of cute baby to love on!
All is well here - just enjoying this crazy full season of life that we are in.

Ouch - shots, shots and more shots

I know you are about to fall over that I would get another post out so quickly! We are trying!!


Norah and Sam both had doctor appointments yesterday. Both had to get immunization shots. Ouch! Norah was so brave and wanted to go first to show Sam that it would be okay. She was rethinking that decision about the time the 2nd needle went in.

So today is a lay around and get our legs feeling better day for Norah. Sam has been fighting a cold and is just not getting over is, so now we have entered the world of using a nebulizer. Never done that before. So far he is doing good with it.

Our little man is 2 months old and weighing in at........17 lbs and 3 oz! Which is the 95% for his age. Norah on the other hand is 31 1/2 lbs and in the 25%! He is not looking very enthusiastic in this picture, but look at those cheeks!




Speaking of cheeks, check out Norah after "applying" some makeup from one of her birthday presents! Future clown or entertainer?!

Where does my joy come from?

Great question to ponder... Is my joy based on my circumstances or my relationship with God. Is it based on the blessings He has provided or on Him? I am learning it is best to find my joy in Him. "For the joy of the Lord is your strength!" (Nehemiah 8:10).

So what's been going on with us? What are our current circumstances? Some of which I have to choose to be joyful in and others that are super easy to find joy in.

1) I'm now 40. Funny to be 40 with an infant - he'll keep me young, right?! Thanks to all for the visits, presents, cards, calls, emails, etc to help me celebrate. Joyful is sometimes a choice and sometimes easy on this one!

2) Steve outdid himself for my birthday by flying in 4 of my best girls from IL to celebrate! What a fabulous fun surprise and a wonderful weekend. As the commercial says - "Priceless"!! Don't you love their outrageous disguises!? Can't say enough about the 4 husbands who were single dads for a long weekend to make it possible, as well as my hubby who pulled it all together. Easy to be joyful here!

3) Enjoying my family - Steve continues to love the weather here, even when it was blazing hot, he loved it! (Crazy man I say!) Emma is thriving at school and loving soccer! Norah is our big 4 now!!! She is loving preschool and spunky, silly as ever! Sam's first smiles and coo's this week. He is 2 months old and is well over 15 lbs. Easy to be joyful here!

4) Sleep deprived!! Enough said. This one requires choosing to be joyful in spite of my circumstances and repeating to myself "Sleep is overrated!!"

As for the rest, it is a lot of family time and baby time which is fabulous (minus the sleep deprived part!). Taking care of Sam keeps us close to home and with the weather cooling off, we are starting to get outside more. In fact, Steve and the girls went to a pumpkin patch this weekend to get some pumpkins.

Until next time,

Nancy

Finally....an update!

Lots of updates to include this time: Emma started 2nd grade and signed up for soccer, Norah started preschool, Sam is a month old and growing big time and Grandma Bromm came to visit.

Emma's first day of 2nd grade. Starting soccer this year!

Grandma Bromm, Nancy, Sam, Emma and Norah (not so happy about picture taking!)


Sam - 1 month old. Weighing in at 12lbs 10oz!


Norah 1st day of preschool!! Goofy goofy Monkey!!


If you are familiar with Martha and Mary, the sister duo in the bible, most (okay all!) would say I am a Martha. I'm excited to say that I'm beginning to learn to be more like Mary. She was present and enjoyed/cherished being in the presence of people, especially Jesus, her Lord and Savior! I'm learning to be more present and less about tasks. Those of you that know me well, know that this is nothing less than the work of the Holy Spirit in my life!

How do I know this is happening? You see yesterday when Norah was off to her first day of preschool the house was far too quiet! As I was looking around the messy paper pile and forgotten toys that I had been encouraging, (okay nagging!) the girls to clean up was a nice reminder that little people I love live here, play here, and laugh here. I want so much to cherish these days that seem so long and sleep deprived.

As a wise friend recently put it....."To thrive and not merely survive my day." So next time you see me or talk to me, be sure to ask how my Martha to Mary transformation is going.

Yea God!!! - Sam is here!

Yea God! This is a phrase used frequently at our new church and in our church life group to give God the glory and it is so appropriate for this update.

YEA GOD!!! - Sam arrived on Wednesday 8/4/2010 a healthy baby boy - 8lbs 5oz and 20 inches long. Brown hair (made his Daddy proud!) and a good loud cry. And suddenly here we are over a week later and finally getting an update and some pictures out!

For those of you that have read Francis Chan's book - Crazy Love - hopefully you remember this question from Chapter 7....."What are you doing right now that requires faith?" Also, "But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come though."

When I first read this book in the spring of 2009, I would have told you several areas that I thought were requiring me to live by faith and be a bit out of my comfort zone. Looking back, those are almost laughable, not to minimize the steps God was taking me on, but what he had in store for our family was going to require a whole lot more faith and a whole lot less comfort (for a time) than I could imagine.

I plan to never forget the lesson that God has so lovingly taught me through the last 10 months.....He is completely trustworthy and faithful (Psalm 33:4). His grace is sufficient for me and my family (2 Cor 12:9) and HIS joy is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). When I focus on what brings HIM glory and not my comfort, ahh....then the day goes by with a peace that only He can provide.

Well if you made it this far - you may be screaming at the computer - where are the pictures of the baby!!!! Here he is! Okay - a few other pictures first!

Final prego pictures of mama - Trial run the week before delivery!

Family picture - morning of Sam's arrival (no not our dog - Heidi, the neighbor's dog - she's like family though!!)

Healthy little Sam!!

We love our new baby brother!


Our little man - 1 week old.

Check back soon and we'll try to keep updating as our family grows and changes!

Any day now.....

Wow are we having the true Texas summer weather now - could get to 106 today. 102 on Saturday and 104 yesterday.....hot, hot, hot. Praise God for air conditioning, community pools, and lots of movies for the girls!

So no baby boy yet - but soon, very soon. Quote from our doctor "No one is pregnant forever." Praise God for that! Week 38 and 39 truly gets a gal ready to be done! The girls can't wait for their brother to get here. Last night Norah asked Steve, "Can you make Sam come tonight?"

While we wait we've had lots of fun with little lizards in our house - 2 already. One in the kitchen made Emma scream and jump. He didn't survive the capture event. Sad little girls after that. The second one was in our shower (truly I didn't think this one deserved to live), but Steve thought otherwise and so it was captured at 10:00 at night and survived to see the next morning. The girls were thrilled!

Here are some updated pictures of our little princesses. Hope you enjoy them. Next update.....baby Sam had better be here! Take Care all!

Finally - a picture of the prego belly!

Hi yall!

Seems like some of you will not be satisfied until you see the proof that this pregnancy truly looks like a basketball shoved under my shirt - so here you have it! Picture of the belly and Norah being her goofy self! She is already sticking her tongue out at her brother!

Also wanted to include pictures of our adorable little ladies after haircuts today. Norah announced a week ago "Mom - I've been thinking in my head that I need a haircut." Since she is forever independent and wants to do things on her own (good thing with baby coming soon!) - she has been combing her hair more often - less hair means easier combing and less screaming!

Emma has quickly gotten her blonde blonde summer look and only wanted a trim.

Baby is good - 35 weeks and counting. Pretty soon Steve won't be so outnumbered around here!

We're still here!

Is it really possible that we have not updated for over a month? Where has the time gone....certain that is going to be something we continue to say for the next, oh I don't know 20 years!

Baby update: All is well - 33 weeks last Sunday and doing great! Emma continues to hope for an August birth - she calls it the birthday train. We would have a b-day each month Aug through Dec. I could go for earlier if this Texas heat continues like it has and everyone confirms it will!

Quick recap of the last month:

May visit - Larry and Jean made time to visit us on their way back from a trip to Haiti. Quote from Norah as we were heading out one morning, "Who will babysit Mr. Larry while we are gone?" Ah out of the mouths of babes! Or did Jean set her up for that before returning to Illinois and leaving Larry in our care a few extra days!


Another May visit - My sister Ann, hubby Chuck and sweet Madeline came for a visit over Memorial Day. The girlies had a blast playing, playing and playing. Toured the Dallas World Aquarium. The men had time for some golf before the Texas heat kicked in. Anyone noticing a theme here with the HEAT!



June 4th was the end of school for Emma and the start of our looooooong trip to Illinois and Indiana. Final total we spent approximately 34 hours in and out of the van in a 9 day period....no more long trips for this pregnant momma! For those of you with public restroom phobia's - I highly recommend avoiding this much travel while pregnant!

We were thrilled to spend time with many of you while back in Bloomington - miss ya already! The girls had a fantastic time with all their neighborhood and small group friends. Thanks for making time for us and helping us have a great week.

We visited with both sides of the family - Steve's in Illinois - great day at Aunt Deb and Uncle Tim's house with Grandma and Grandpa joining us.

Ended our trip through Indiana to be with Nancy's side of the family. A quick visit to the farm that led to Norah setting a frog loose in Aunt Marian's kitchen! Wonder where she got the frog from - Uncle Mark?! We were able to stop them before the turtle made it's way in as well! Also spent time with Grandpa and Grandma - celebrating their 50th anniversary a bit early (8/20/2010!). Definitely not going to be there with little one arriving around August 8th.


We were so thankful to have safe travel back home to Texas. And thankful that our house has 2 A/C units. The main part of the house was 92 degrees when we got home!! All is well after several calls and the repair man got here the following day.

The girls are finally enjoying their vision of sharing a room and having bunk beds. Are we crazy to give Norah something higher to climb and potentially jump off of?! For now she is following the rules.

Likely some things we have missed, but in an effort to finally complete an update - that's all folks!

What's new....

Howdy yall! - still doesn't roll off the tongue for me, but I'm told it will. It's only been 2 months, so we'll see. Here's some highlights from our world.

We are starting to prepare for baby. Emma is thrilled that the room she and Norah will be sharing was painted green this week. Same color she had in Bloomington. She got Norah to go along with it by promising pink and orange flowers for the walls. Anyone know a good website for wall stickers?!

Norah has ventured into the world of swimming. She had 2 weeks of lessons and loved it! The girl is a fish - a crazy one, but a fish no less. Now if we can just get her to rest and float on her back....no easy task - just ask Miss Pat the instructor!

Steve has been enjoying the great weather and early morning runs. That might be slowed down for a bit - he may have broken or at least severely bruised a toe while playing a crazy round of hide and seek with the girls. The big green chair in the living room won!

Baby and I are doing good. 28 weeks and counting.

Fish adventures - well some of you knew Dorothy and she passed on. We then brought home Aqua - she only lasted 2 days. Makes you start to wonder if you are doing something wrong. Went back to the pet store with the dead fish to get another "victim" possibly? But happy to report that #3 - Fireball is doing great!

I received a lesson about fish from the gal at the store - actually it was more of a severe reprimand! Apparently it is "too loud for the fish" if you tap the outside of the container to see if it is an active one or not. She was dead serious. I had to contain my laughter til after leaving the store. Needless to say, I don't tap loudly on Fireball's tank!

We are excited and the girls are counting the days to visits from Mr. Larry and Miss Jean - next week and then Aunt Ann, Uncle Chuck and Madeline are coming on the 27th!

Can't wait to spend time with good friends and family.

Finally an update!

Not sure how well we are doing at this blogging thing....but if you've been looking for an update from us, here it is.......

We are approaching the end of week 7 in Texas and truly feel like we are settling in. The weather has been great and we are enjoying our time outside. We are meeting some really great folks and love how God continues to go before us and provides for our needs.

Baby is almost 26 weeks along and doing great. Lots of moving around, so he should have no problem keeping up with big sis Norah.

Last week we had our first friends from Bloomington visit. Mr. Correll and Mr. Thomas (along with 2 work friends) were big fun for the girls! Great dinner company for us! And Mr. Thomas was able to help Emma answer a question that has been on her mind since we moved in ...."Do you think Mr. Thomas can touch the light in the entry way?" Answer =>

After this next stunt, Steve started the van, we thought we needed an ER visit!! =>

Part of what made Emma excited about moving to Texas was being closer to her good buddy Gavin. So we made a 6 hour road trip to Arkansas this past weekend. The kids had an absolute blast riding on the go-cart, 4 wheeler and playing near the pond and in the mud.

No Arkansas trip would be complete without an animal story. This one involves a possum (rather possums) for our future story telling! There is a twist though - it's not Nickie and Nancy this time but Ross. Let's just say if the Possum Queen pagent in Booneville found out what he did he might lose his 2nd place trophy! You'll have to ask him about it if you want more details.

On a sadder note - Emma's first pet Dorothy the fish died today. She has been with us for 8 months. What a trooper - even survived the move. She will be missed, but we are going to move on and find another fish this weekend. Also, somehow the girls and Steve got me to agree to some pet frogs. Those will be joining us in June.

We are planning a Midwest visit (Illinois, Iowa and Indiana) before travel becomes completely out of the question, ie too many pit stops for Mommy! June 5th - June 13th. Plan to be at Eastview on 6/6! Hope to see some of you there.

I'm quite certain there are other things to report, but those are the highlights my tired mind can think of. Take Care Y'all!

IT'S A??????????

Big day at our house yesterday. Dr. Appt went well and baby is healthy!

God has decided to continue with the theme of change and new experiences. So to add to our joy and fun Baby #3 is going to be a boy!

Norah insists that she wants a girl, but did soften this morning to say she loves babies. We are sure she will love this one with the same passion she has for everything else in life.

Texas living update:

We are getting more settled all the time here in Frisco.

Emma - Finishing her second week of school - she is enjoying Fisher Elem. She definitely thinks of her Grove friends & neighborhood friends often and has plans to write them this weekend.

Steve - settling in at work. Learning the tricks for getting to/from work in the least congested way. Hoping his car survives the pace on the Tollway! He is over the disappointing end to the Illini season (at least he seems to be!). Great spring weather certainly helps with that.

Norah & Nancy - getting back into our routine of BSF and Moms In Touch prayer time. So great to meet new friends through these international groups. Still trying to unpack a few more boxes each day - I think they are like rabbits and multiply quickly!

Hammie - ???? who is this many of you are thinking! It's our squirrel. Before moving Norah was very upset that we couldn't bring our 'pet' squirrel from Illinois with us. Hard to explain that we couldn't catch him much less transport him. Anyway - yesterday morning, who should we find in our backyard under the bird feeder....Hammie!!! The girls and I were thrilled. Brave little guy - lots of dogs in our neighborhood!

Church - we are so excited to have found Bent Tree Bible Fellowship. Feels so much like Eastview I expect to look down the row and see at least 5-10 friends!! We are excited to get plugged in there.

Update from last post - finally took Norah to repair the damage from her hair cutting experience. She was a little princess at a place called Sweet and Sassy. Came out with glitter in her hair and on her face - loved every minute of it!

We hope you have a wonderful and blessed Easter. Praise God that Jesus is alive and risen.