After participating in Becoming Me's blog Mission tour I re-read my mission and have decided that I need to be brave, start sharing more of my heart and be more true to my mission. I had a light bulb moment today thanks to dlyn and Kristen. Until this moment I was only chronicling what happened on a day-to-day basis. But if I truly want to be able to look back and see how far I've come, I have to include everything that happens, not just the happy moments.

I mentioned on my mission that I struggled with infertility and secondary infertility. The disappointment and heartache we've endured has made me hesitant to talk too openly about that area of my life, except with my very close friends and family. But I am praying that starting today, this blog will also become a pregnancy journal.

I am currently 6 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I find it hard to be excited and share my happiness because of what has happened in the past. I have been praying that everything will be okay, that this baby is forming perfectly the way that God designed them to grow, and that this baby would be born full term at the time God appointed for them.

It has not been easy to keep fear or doubt from creeping in, but I am a very goal oriented person, and my personal goal is to overcome fear and doubt, and do everything possible to ensure this pregnancy continues. That means I pray hard all day, every day, and read scriptures, trying to commit them to memory to build my faith. I realize there is only so much you can do, but I am willing to do whatever I can.

So please keep us in prayer and believe with us that we will be a family of four this March!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

"I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow."

Jeremiah 31:13

My Blog Mission

Becoming Me is hosting a Blog Mission Tour from July 13-18. Since I'm fairly new at blogging, the reason I decided to start blogging is still pretty fresh in my mind. I started blogging mainly to chronicle my son's growing up. And so my mission simple-

I blog in order to chronicle each beautiful day the the Lord has blessed me with. The favorite parts of my days are filled with loving the Lord, and being a Mommy to EJ. After a long battle with secondary infertility God gave EJ to us, hence- Love being EJ's Mommy. I want to remember the blessings and be able to look back and see how far I've come and what I've learned from life lessons. I want to meet new people who so passionately open up their hearts and share with the world and invite us in.

Thanks for listening, blessings to you all!

Praise the God of Earth and Sky...

This morning we woke up to a slightly overcast day. The temperature was only 80 degrees, so I took EJ to the park. As we were walking we started praising God and thanking him for what we were seeing, and the trip became so full of thanksgiving, it made me realize how often I go through life taking for granted the little things.
We started off thanking Him for the day that He had created, for our health and legs that work so we are able to walk, our neighborhood and home, our neighbors and then it grew from there.

EJ saw a bird and started flapping his arms, so we thanked Him for the beautiful songs birds sing that our ears get to enjoy, and as he pointed to flowers, I saw the backdrop of green grass, and the blue sky and we thanked God for making such a beautiful color palette. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everything were black and white?

It carried on until we had thanked God for everything from vehicles that get us to and from, the other children at the park that EJ played with, the cool breeze we felt on our faces, the friendly smiles we got to share, and ultimately, for God's imagination. What a wonderful morning it was!

"I will praise you oh Lord my God with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever."

-Psalms 86:12

My Favorite Things About Today

My husband and I have started playing a little game. At night when we are laying in bed I ask him what his favorite part of the day was. After he has figured out what his was, he'll ask me the same question, and I always find it so difficult to choose one favorite part. So today I am going to share all of my favorite parts.

1. Waking up next to my hubby and hearing EJ calling us from his room
2. Sitting next to EJ at lunch and hearing him say "MMMMMMMM!!" as loud as he could when he took his first bite of the lunch I made him.
3. Waiting for about an hour for an appointment today only to find out that God had been there before me and realizing AGAIN...that he is my provider!
4. Going to the Farmers Market, YUM!
5. Driving home from San Juan, a little over an hour drive and listening to a couple of CD's from church and refreshing my spirit.
6. The BIG hug EJ gave me as I got him out of the car.

These are the little things that make me so happy!

Movie Date

This morning we had another "first" with EJ. One of the theaters here in town shows rated G movies on Tuesday mornings for free for families with children, so Joey and I decided to take EJ for the first time. We figured there would be other children and parents there so it wouldn't be such a bother if he fussed or talked a little, because I haven't yet figured out how to teach him to whisper.

Anyway he did a beautiful job of sitting still and not wanting to run around. We did give him a sugar free sucker to keep him busy. We had such a great time partly because he enjoyed it so much and it wasn't a struggle to keep him there, and because it was something new. We will definitely be back this summer!

Here's a funny story

Last Friday, I left the house to run to Target to get diapers. From my house to Target it takes about 5 minutes. So the entire trip took maybe 20 minutes. I figured I could get this errand done right before EJ's last swim lesson.

So as I am returning home, I turn the corner, into our driveway while the garage door is opening, but I stopped. I put the car in park and sat there for a minute looking out my window puzzled. On the left side of the driveway (the side that my husband parks on) is this mountain of dirt. HUGE PILE. Big enough that if he pulled in, his Jeep would not have been able to go any further because the pile of dirt was too high.

I thought to myself, is this a practical joke? I looked around and didn't see anyone, so I quickly called my neighbor, because she has a fantastic view from her kitchen window of our short little street. I asked her if she had seen a truck in our driveway, but she hadn't. I told her about the dirt and she immediately came out to investigate, but before she reached my yard, I spotted a white truck pulling a flatbed trailer, full of dirt, with no tailgate heading down our street. I yelled at my neighbor-"I'll be right back," and I quickly turned the car on and took off after him. I was certain he had backed into our driveway at some point to turn around, and had lost a load of his dirt and it irritated me!

I followed him down the road until he got to the dirt field area of our neighborhood. He turned onto a dirt road and I quickly followed, all the while honking my horn. He finally stopped and as I was turning off the engine I noticed that the dirt on his trailer was a different color than the dirt on my driveway which made me second guess myself. But I still got out and asked the man if he had backed up into a drive way at any point during his trip to the field. He looked at me like I was a little crazy and replied
"No, I didn't. Is everything okay?"
Realizing at this point I didn't have circumstantial evidence I sweetly said,
"Well I just got home and found this huge pile of dirt on our driveway, and when I saw you driving by, I thought maybe you had backed up into our driveway and I was just going to let you know that you had lost a bunch of your dirt."
He politely said " Well thanks, but we're just getting rid of this dirt, but we are coming from Thistle, (another street in our neighborhood)."
At that moment I considered asking him and the young men in the truck with him if they would mind coming to our house and shoveling it onto their trailer and hauling it away for me, but I decided that would be asking a lot.

So I returned home, and called my husband to see if he knew what was going on. He didn't answer. Well by this time I had to get EJ to his swim lesson. So we left. As I am pulling into the driveway of the pool my husband called me back and I told him what was going on. He started laughing and said he had no idea what was going on. So after swim lessons, my husband called again to tell me he figured out where the dirt had come from. Apparently, he had talked to a friend of his about our grass last week. The friend had recommended we use some topsoil on an area that was dying, and I guess his friend decided to be nice and bring some to us, which was really sweet. But he didn't call either of us to let us know!

Here's the funniest part of the whole story-
So that evening my husband was outside cutting the grass and applying the topsoil, when a white truck turns onto the street and stops in front of our house. A man gets rolls down the window and asks my husband if he lived here, and if that dirt on the driveway was his.
My husband started laughing and said "Yes, it is, are you the guy my wife chased down today?"
The guy laughed and said "Yeah, it surprised me, but when I came back down the street I saw what kind of dirt it was, and I was going to tell you if you didn't want it I'll take it!"
So my husband told him about the mix up with his friend, and apologized for me chasing him down.
Needless to say I am not proud of what I did, and I am so hoping I don't run into him at the grocery store or somewhere in our neighborhood!

On the quest for justice

It's a little after 9:00 pm on Sunday. My husband and I are winding down our day, in our pj's already. EJ has been fast asleep for a little over an hour, the neighborhood is quiet, and it's dark outside. Suddenly, the phone rings. The first thought that goes through my head is Uh-Oh, what happened? I reach for the phone and barely glance at the caller id before answering.

"Hello?" I say
"Hi, can I please speak to Tara?"
"This is her." (Before I can ask who is speaking, the female caller begins a spiel)
"I'm calling from New Mexico Survey and I have a brief..."
(I cut her off) "Are you kidding me? Ma'am where are you located right now?"
"Where am I located?" she replies
"Yes, what city are you in right now?"
"Well, I, why ma'am?" she asked me
"Do you realize that in Albuquerque it's 9:00? AT NIGHT?"
"Yes I do ma'am."
"You realize how late it is and you are still calling people's houses interrupting their nights?"
"Yes."
"WHO TOLD YOU it was okay to call people this late at night? Do you realize children are asleep? Do you not care if you wake them up? Do you realize only bad thoughts come to mind when you hear the phone ring at this hour? What is the deal?"
To which she replied-"I understand thanks" and proceeds to hang up on me.

She didn't really care. My passionate speech did nothing to persuade her that what she was doing was a complete injustice and horrible inconvenience., The questions I asked should have at least caused her to pause and reflect and realize that I was right, it is wrong to call so late and that she should seriously consider finding a new job.
So then I began to wonder what happened to the do not call list? Did we fall off? Do we have to re-register? So I will be investigating that today.

PS- A little side note
I obviously didn't complete the survey last night because of time. But I do refuse to complete any survey when I am called because of a segment I watched on TV few years ago. It was an investigative report about how burglars, or predators can find out so much about you by asking seemingly harmless questions which happen to coincide with questions many legitimate surveys ask.
For example -
What is your average household income?
This answer is loaded because it can tell them what type of home you may live in, and the quality of things you may have in your home.
How many people in the home work?
This can tell them whether the home is vacant during the day or not
What is the highest level of education completed?
This gives them access to demographic info such as whether you have a professional career or not, and also can give them an idea of your income
What radio station do you listen to the most?
This question allows them to categorize your age. For example statistics show that older, upper class individuals listen to classical stations, while teens and early twenty somethings listen to hip-hop and rock stations.
So just an FYI. I realize not every burglar or predator is dedicated enough to figure all of this out and take the time to actually do this research, but you never know who is on the other end of the phone!