What a break!

Last week was fall break for our kiddos, from school.  We had a fun, restful, rejouvenating getaway to Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri.  We stayed for 2 nights, then went to my parents Farm in NW Arkansas and stayed a night there.  It was a great week!  Sometimes, you just need to "get away" from the every day to-do's of life. 

Big Cedar has a lot of things to do on the property.  We played mini-golf, canoed (the kids and tony did this one), swam in several pools, and hiked around in the gorgeous weather.  We will definitely be going back sometime in the near future!

I didn't take my real camera out much, but did take some photos of the kids.  Well, trying to get a photo with all three kids looking wasn't easy, and didn't really happen.  They sure are cute though! 

I will trust you, Lord

I just got back from urgent care with Caroline.  It seems she has some kind of weird rash.  It will go away, and isn't anything life threatening or crazy like chicken pox or measels. The rest of us most-likely will not get it.  "It's just something kids get."  said the doctor.

"What?" I thought...

Kids get numerous runny noses, colds, splinters, and (apparently) rashes in their little lives.  It's just something that happens.  As I was was driving home, the doctor's words kept resonating in my thoughts and I began to wonder.

Does God think this about us, His children?  When we sin, does God think, "Another one of my children stumbled, it's just what they do."  I'm not sure why I thought that.

The nurse took us to a room and after she took Caroline's vitals, we waited for the doctor to come in.  I was thinking... as Caroline's mother, all I wanted to do was take away her "itchies" and make her feel better.  I ached as I sat in the room waiting for the doctor to come in, watching sleepy-eyed Caroline tell me she was scared.  She gets scared easily these days, and is afraid of most things little girls are afraid of (like spiders and the dark), as well as things most little girls don't have to think about (another post on that later). As I rubbed her back, I prayed that this wasn't going to be a big deal.  I remember taking her to the doctor for a bruised foot last year and finding out she had kohler disease--that was a huge deal.  I was praying this wasn't going to be another big "to-do". 

It wasn't a big deal, but I was glad I took her just to be sure.  We stopped for an ice-cream cone on the way home.  I told her she was brave and that I was proud of her.  We talked about how there was nothing to be scared about.  She agreed that she had worried for "no reason at all".  I explained that God tells us that worrying is a sin, and it only hurts our heart.  I asked her how it made her feel to worry and she said she wanted to cry.

I wonder if God cries when we sin?  Does he look at us like I look at my precious Caroline? I think he probably does.

Lord, forgive me when I don't trust you.  Forgive me when I sin and worry about things I have no control over.

From rashes to worrying...

I promise to trust you, Lord.

Back to the Blog

Well, it's been 6 months.  Our sweet Hazel is rolling everywhere, sitting up, and trying her tastebuds at some table food.  The kiddos started in a new school this year.  Tobin is in 2nd grade and doing awesome.  Caroline is in Kindergarten and loving every second of it.  We bought a house and moved when Hazel was 6 weeks old so I put blogging on the back burner.  We have been planting roots deeply into the ground and are so thankful for God's continued blessings over our little family.


We bought a house on 3 acres in a little town outside of Tulsa and we are loving the country/small town feel. 

(Here are the kids in front of the new house, the day we closed)

We have lots of projects to do around here, but we are so excited to call another house OUR home.  Now that we are somewhat in a daily routine I thought it was about time I start blogging again.  The thought of catching up overwhelms me, so I will just take it day by day.  There will be new posts (about who knows what) and I'm sure there will be "catch-up" posts as well.

Thanks for keeping up with our family.  

Introducing:

Hazel Hope Cobb
8lbs 9oz  - 19 Inches
born 7:40 am April 3rd, 2014


We are so in Love...

8 days to go!

 I took this Prego-Selfie today. I am 38 weeks.  She feels lower today than she even did yesterday.  I'm starting to feel really tired, lots of pressure, but not completely miserable yet. I"m so thankful to be carrying this sweet girl and am just trying to enjoy every second I have left.  I'm not going to lie though, I'm ready to meet her!

Because I have gestational diabetes, my doctor has me doing kick counts twice a day.  Sunday, the baby's kicks were not measuring up and got everyone a little worried so we went to labor and delivery to be monitored.  The baby looked beautiful on the monitor! We are once again so thankful that God is taking care of me and this sweet baby.

 This picture was taken at 37 weeks.  I am pretty convinced I'll be having a 9lb + baby.  We will see.

 
Tony took this pic of me Sunday evening after we got home from church.  It's a more flattering position that the one I took today ;)

 Here I am at 36 weeks.

I've been busy making cute little things for my new girl.  Little spit-up bibs and burp cloths are my most recent projects.

 We are doing cloth diapers with this baby, after she gets out of the newborn diaper stage.  We have been working on our diaper stash and getting ready for her, all around!
 

 

We are all ready to see this baby.  The kids drew this on the sidewalk last week. That's Tony and me, holding hands, with hearts above our heads.  Can you tell which one is me?

 Please be praying for us as we await this baby's arrival.

My C-Section is scheduled for April 3rd at 7 am.  We appreciate your support and prayers. We will keep you all updated as the date gets closer!

Catch Up Post: Christmas, Winter, Snow, Birthday, and Baby Update

 It's been 3 months since I've blogged. A lot has happened. I debated about updating all of our Christmas pics, talking about how great it was and updating everyone on how our winter was.  To be honest, I can't make myself go there... all the way.  Here are some snippets and pics to sum it all up.  That's what everyone wants to see anyway, right? photos!

We had the Cobb Family Christmas at our house this year. 

 It was great to have Mimi and Mamaw here all the way from Oklahoma City. 

 After Christmas morning at our house, we headed to Arkansas for some good 'ol Allen Family Christmastime.  It was filled with tradition, yummy food and lots of laughter. I set up the tripod and we took some family pics.  Here we all are!

 Caroline and Zoe are at the age where they play wonderfully together, most of the time. They were such buddy-buddies this trip!

 My love, me, and the bump.

 The kids and I made our first "homemade" gingerbread house.  We were snowed in for several days and didn't have a kit, so I just used what we had (mostly leftover Halloween candy) and they had a ball! I think we started our own tradition. 

 We got LOTS AND LOTS of snow this winter. In fact, as I type this we are having a "snow day".  The kids have used all their snow days for this calendar year. I'm not sure what they do to start making them up now. I guess we will see won't we?!

Caroline turned 5 in February.  I am still in disbelief! We only had a family party this year. My parents came over for the party, and so did cousins Indie, Kinzi, Zoe and Ezra! We had so much fun!  She wanted a Hello Kitty party, so that's what she got.

 

 

I had two amazing showers.  One in Edmond, and one here in Tulsa.  God has gone above and beyond to provide for this baby.  We feel overwhelmed and so loved!

 

 
My mom came over for the Tulsa shower and I snapped this of her and the kiddos before she left.  She will be back when the baby arrives.

okay, here come the belly pics.  Part of the reason I decided to post today was because I was worried that one day this baby girl would get on this blog and find no updates of when I was pregnant with her, like I did Caroline.  Here are the catch-up belly pics.  (feel free to skip over them)

31 weeks

 32 weeks

 34

This was taken yesterday, one month till my C-section. 

Baby Update:

35 weeks, 1 day pregnant

29 days to go until my Scheduled C-section on April 3rd.

Baby Girl is measuring 3 weeks ahead of time. Yes, 3 weeks big. Ooops

Weight gained till now, only 3 lbs.

Gestational diabetes diet and exercise program going great!

Feeling good, except I'm having intense lower back pain. 

Spending every available second with my big kids, enjoying them.

We are in full "get ready for baby" mode around here!

Getting excited!  We cannot wait to meet her!

Still haven't decided 100% on a name yet.

That pretty much catches me up around here. I'll do my best to update as we get closer to baby--  especially now that I don't have the dreaded catch-up post to do. Ha! 

 

"Elf On The Shelf" Has More to Do With Jesus than Santa In Our home.

I hear things all the time from Christians about how bad and Sacrilegious Santa Claus is.  I don't think Santa is necessarily Sacrilegious, or against Jesus' birth, I just think some people focus on Santa too much.  When I grew up we 'did' Santa in our house.  Every Christmas morning, there would be an unopened gift from Santa and goodies in our stockings.  Then, we would walk over to our wooden nativity set and unwrap baby Jesus and sing Happy Birthday to him.  That's right, Jesus was wrapped as a present.  It may seem cliche, but as my Caroline tells me, isn't he the BEST gift of all?  I don't think I was screwed up because I believed in Santa.  I may be screwed up from other things, but Santa was definitely not the cause.  I also grew up in a Pastor's home and all of my favorite Christmas memories involved my family and our Savior. 

If you research the original St. Nick, you know that he secretly left things for the poor, or those who were in need.  What's wrong with that anyway?  We have always told our kids about the original St. Nick.  We also love watching Christmas movies like Elf or Miracle on 34th Street, or The Grinch.  Anyone knows that the Grinch is make-believe, just like Santa, but it's fun to watch on TV and there are good morals in the story.  People who let their kids watch Mickey Mouse but not watch Santa cartoons--well, I just don't understand the difference I guess. How is one make-believe character any different than another?  Now, before you get all angry and mad at me and start writing me hate mail, please know this is just my opinion.  Hear me out.

I don't think there is anything wrong with making Christmas cookies, surrounding our family with tinsel and twinkle lights, or opening presents. I do see something wrong with the way our "world" looks at Christmas, with the materialism, and "want want want", but that could be a post of it's own and frankly, that's not my point in this post. I've probably rambled enough already.  "Rachel, get back to the Elf Party"...

You see pictures of everyone else's "ELF" that they've named and post funny pics on Instagram or Facebook.  I saw a post on Pinterest the other day that was called "100 new elf on the shelf ideas".  Really? 100?  I'm not interested in getting our Elf out in September, but whatever floats your boat I guess.  

Tony and I have talked about "doing" Santa in our house, but doing Santa differently.  We got an Elf on the Shelf when Tobin was 4.  It was a gift, and Tobin named him Francis.  I thought he was cute, but I had always hated the way some families use Santa as bribery to make their kids behave.  I've had numerous conversations with other mom's, and even some of my family members, about the good and/or bad of doing Santa.  I believe that if we honor Jesus Christ, and make the Lord the center of our home and holiday memories, there is nothing wrong with a little "ELF" fun.  

The problem was, I searched all over the Internet for ideas on how to use the Elf, and still have our home centered on Christ.  I didn't find many.  I did find some good ideas, but they didn't fully incorporate what I longed for my kids and our Elf.  I liked the letter that Rachel over at http://followinginmyshoes.com/ , but it wasn't exactly what we wanted.  I used parts of her letter, and added some of our own family values.

I thought I would share with you the letter that came with Francis when he arrived this year:

=====================================================

"Dear Tobin and Caroline,

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season. Did you have fun decorating the Christmas tree?  

I thought we would do something a little bit different this year.  This time of year – this time we call “Christmas” – gets very busy and kind of crazy.  Everyone just focuses on “want, want, want.”  Have you been telling your Mommy and Daddy what you want for Christmas?  It’s OK to want a few things, but I’ve seen people – grown ups and kiddos – get very selfish with all the stuff they want.  They want so many things that they forget the whole reason we even have Christmas….

 Jesus – God’s son who was born a long, long, long time ago…

The very first “Christmas present” ever given to the whole big world. 

I don’t want you kiddos to forget about Jesus as you prepare for Christmas.  I want you to enjoy all the fun – hot chocolate, singing Christmas songs, making yummy goodies, watching fun movies, and presents – but I don’t want you to forget the most important present: God’s love for us and His son, Jesus.  I don’t want you to forget that it’s still important to love others … to be nice to other people … to help other people (even your Mommy, Daddy, and each other) … to show other people how wonderful Jesus is.

So, I’m here to help you kids (and your Mommy and Daddy) remember these important parts about Christmas: Jesus, God’s love and our job of joyfully sharing that love with others through our gifts, kind words and loving actions (the things we do for one another).

I’m going to hang out in all kinds of places in your home this year, and each day I will bring you a challenge, an activity to do together and an Advent Scripture (from the Bible) to help remind you to:

• Love each other
• Speak nicely to one another
• Help each other
• Help your friends and neighbors too
• Give to people who don’t have all the stuff you have
• Remember that God loves you kiddos so, so, so much.

I can’t wait to go through this Christmas Season with you and most of all, I can’t wait to Celebrate Jesus’ birthday with you soon!

Looking forward to seeing great things and wonderful love from each of you,

                                                       ~Francis
========================

I enclosed an Advent Calendar with a "challenge" each day. I am using a calendar that I found here. Today's challenge was "I will secretly do a kind act for someone"  the family activity was to "play a board game together" and the verse was "Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."  I gathered these daily items from several sources. There are some really good ones here.  I also added a few of our own. If you google "Children's Advent" you will come up with thousands of ideas.  I want our children, our home, and our Elf to be focused on Jesus this year.


Now, what's wrong with that?  Well, I don't think anything is.  We will be counting the days till Christmas and celebrating our Savior's birth.  You may disagree with me, and that's okay.  This post is not to change your mind, or convince people what they are doing isn't right.  If you like bribing your kiddos with your Elf On The Shelf, or if you only do Jesus in your home, that's fine too.  I'm not here to judge you, or your traditions.   I just ask that you focus a little more on Jesus this year.  Celebrate HIM!