My Boys at Work

Recently I have had to bring the boys to work on two separate occasions. Silas had to be dropped off a couple of weeks ago when our child care provider's son got sick at the last minute, and Ed had an appointment. Silas really liked Mommy's office...especially playing with the paperclips in Mommy's desk. It's been about a month and I am still finding paperclips in odd places in my desk drawer.

This week, Ed had to be out of town on Monday and Tuesday, so I picked Timmy up from school and brought him to the office for a couple of hours. The first day he did his homework and was really excited to be at my office.

The second day, he did his homework, but after that he was bored. So, I looked down at my "To Shred" pile and decided to let Timmy shred the pile for me. You would have thought I had just given him candy to eat. He was so excited! I had quite a bit of paper to shred, and we filled up one bag and started on another one. A little while later, he comes to my desk and says, "When I get older, I am going to get a job as a shredder, because I am really good at it." I just laughed and said Ok honey... When the pile was finished, he wanted more, so I took the time to clean out my desk and found more for him. He was so excited...See...
I liked having the boys at the office and being able to let them meet my co-workers. It was nice for the boys to be able to see where mommy works. If your company has "Bring your son or daughter to work day"...I HIGHLY recommend you partaking in the event. It was ALOT of fun for me to make memories with the boys!

Emma's 1st Shower

On Thursday, October 8th, my friend in Acworth, Sloan, threw a GA shower for me. It was the first shower I have had for Emma. I couldn't believe how precious all the decorations were and the PINK!!!!! It was SO fun to open gifts with pink and purple and brown...no BLUE! It hit me when I was opening up my gifts that "Wow! I am REALLY having a girl!" I had never had a baby girl shower, only baby boy showers, so opening up the girlie stuff was such a special treat. Here are some pics that my friend Keri took for me. Enjoy!!!!

The Table Spread of all of my favorite desserts!

The "E" hairbow holder that Sloan made for Emma's bows.

The boys helping me open a gift from Jenn and Gracyn.
It's the bumper for Emma's crib!

A precious purple gown, hat and blanket

I love this adorable sleeper. Emma will have lots of wear
out of her sleepers since she is due in January.

My friend Keri made me this adorable diaper cake.
It's so cute, I don't want to take it apart.
I will just have to wait until Emma needs size 1 diapers.

My last shower will be a family shower in North Carolina on November 14th. I am looking forward to this shower most of all, because for the first time, my little sister will actually be able to come to my baby shower...AND she is even getting to host it for me at her house. I am truly blessed!

My Precious Boys

I haven't posted in about two weeks, and I'm still not quite ready to share about our season of change, but I wanted to post about my boys.

Timmy has been growing up so much. Helping with Silas, laying hands on my belly and talking to Emma, being such a loving little boy. He's at the age where he is understanding more and more about how important God is in our life. We pray with him before bed and on the way to school, and we have been reading a Bible story book at night as part of our night time routine. Somehow we have lost the book, so Ed and I have just been telling him Bible stories from memory. I talked about Shadrach, Meschach and Abendnego and the next night Ed told him about Daniel and the Lions Den. He loves it when we tell him the stories and always reminds us at bedtime that he needs a story. Well, last night I decided to start reading the Bible to him. I started in Luke 1 with the story of Zechariah and Elisabeth. He thought it was really cool that "my name" was in the Bible like "his name" is in the Bible. I love his heart for the Bible, and how much he enjoys reading it. So, later that night, I heard his bathroom door open and I go to check on him. He was sitting on the toilet, reading his Bible. It was like the Bible was his "toilet reading" so to speak. When he first started to read, he read Psalms 23, so he enjoys reading that Psalm over and over again. I am hoping that Ed and I are able to be the parents that we need to be and raise Timmy the way God wants us to. I hope that Timmy comes to know Christ as HIS personal Savior and grows up to love God with all his heart, soul and mind.

Silas has officially moved out of the crib. I felt like it was time to move the twin bed into his room since he seemed to be getting too big for the crib. Unfortunately for Ed, it hasn't turned out to be the best timing.... Saturday was the first day he was to sleep in his big boy bed...at nap time, he REFUSED to stay in the bed. He kept crying and coming out of the bedroom, so I kept putting him back in the bed and telling him "night night" and that routine happened about 3 to 4 times. After that, he was getting the snubs, so I decided I would lay down on the floor next to his bed, wait til he fell asleep and then crawl out. It worked for about 45 minutes and then he woke up/sat up and saw that I wasn't there and out the door he came. I decided, naptime was over and we went about our day. Ed came home from work that evening and I shared with him about our "big boy bed" fiasco. So, Ed said he would give it a try. Wouldn't you know that the boy went right to sleep with no tears or coming out of his bed!!!! I couldn't believe it...Ed was beaming with pride that "Daddy can take care of business." Well, fast forward to Monday...when Silas was in the crib, he wouldn't cry out for Ed until after 9:00 most mornings...now that he can get out of bed..in walks Silas to our bedroom around 8:00....needless to say, Ed wasn't quite ready for this to happen. If you know my hubby, you know that he is a night owl and NOT a morning person. So, 8:00 was a little early for him..but he managed. We thought Silas might be sick or not feeling well, so Ed took him into the doctor, and sure enough...ear infection in his left ear. All day Silas was VERY clingy, wanting to be held, and never wanting to be put down. He didn't nap on Monday, so when I put him to bed around 7:30...he went to bed with no crying or fussing and went to sleep pretty quickly. Well, this morning at 6:00...I hear Silas crying...it was actually at 5:58 because my alarm is set for 6:00 and I knew my alarm hadn't went off yet...I waited to see if he would just cry himself back to sleep, but a few minutes later...I hear his door open and out he walks crying for "Da Dee", I try to keep him quiet so that Ed can sleep while I am getting ready for work, but Silas will have none of this...he cries even harder for "Da Dee" and goes straight into our bedroom and snuggles up next to Ed. I leave Silas in there thinking that maybe he will fall back to sleep, but about 5 minutes later, out walks Ed with Silas. I felt soooo bad that Silas was up so early. See, Ed works in the evenings, and doesn't get home until after midnight/1am so Ed hadn't had much sleep. I told Ed I still had an hour before I needed to leave for work, that I would keep Silas and he could go back to bed. Before I left, I put the pack n play up in Silas' room so that Ed could lay him back down and Silas would sleep and not be able to get out. I don't think that the timing of moving Silas into a big boy bed was very good...but it's too late to turn back now. Silas is usually an excellent sleeper, I think he is not sleeping well because he doesn't feel good. I am REALLY hoping that he will take his naps today....I know his little body needs the rest.

I am so thankful for my boys and for how much fun they are watching them grow up. I can't WAIT for Emma to get here so that I can see my boys with their baby sister! I am a little worried about Silas, but we talk about babies and Emma all the time...I am just not sure he has put two and two together. I only have 13 weeks left....time will tell.

Season of Change

Our family is currently going through a Season of Change. It's not official or complete yet, so I won't share details until it is, but life in the Lockwood house has had it's ups and downs. Ed and I have been reflecting on this past year, Sept 08 through Sept 09, and discussing the journey our lives have taken in Georgia.

There have been many blessings along the way: friendships started, relationships strengthened, health restored, a new baby girl on the way kicking me as I type, and so much more. There have also been tests and trials on this journey, times of brokenness, desert times, and feelings of loneliness.

Since we have now passed the "year" mark of living in GA, we have once again needed to refocus our attention on God and what HE wants from us. Unfortunately, I can tell you from personal experience, that when things were going "good" I tended to put God on a shelf, but when things were hard, and uncertain is when I would cry out to God for help. This is not something I am proud of, and it's something that I had to confess to God. See, God is a jealous God, and HE wants me to place HIM first in my life.

I recently joined an online Bible Study called Bloom. For our first book, we are reading Francis Chan's, "Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God". We have only went through the first two chapters, but it has REALLY opened up my eyes to so many things. One of them being how holy and majestic our God is. Another thing is how in the Bible, it says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Phil 4:4) Chan follows this verse with the following paragraph:
"You'll notice that it doesn't end with "...unless you're doing something extremely important." No, it's a command for all of us, and it follows with the charge, "Do not be anxious about anything." (v. 6). That came as a pretty staggering realization. But what I realized next was even more staggering. When I am consumed by my problems - stressed out about my life, my family, and my job - I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsiblities."
So, this whole year, when things have been hard, and rough, and uncertain...I have been commanded to rejoice, and by NOT doing so, it's like me saying that I know what's better for me than God. I got stopped on this page for a day or two, and then picked up the book and finished the chapter. So many times I feel like I am just going through the motions of everyday life. I want my life to be intentionally focused on God...I want to have such a relationship with HIM, that I don't need to "wait until my quiet time" to have a conversation with my Saviour. To be able to stop what I am doing and PRAY when I am prompted to pray, to be able to release all my cares on HIM and let go, not holding anything back...to trust FULLY on the ONE who already knows what the outcome of this "CHANGE" will be.

Last night in my quiet time, I picked up the Our Daily Bread devotional book and turned to September 23rd. The verses assigned for that day were just what I needed to hear in that moment, "John 14:12-14 - Truly, truly I say to you, whoever belives in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in this Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." Then, this morning, I turned to September 24th, and the title is Contentment and the verses are Matthew 6:24-34 when it talks about do not be anxious, about God clothing the lilies of the field, take no thought for what you shall eat, what you shall wear, etc. SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM and ALL THESE THINGS shall be added unto you.

I must share a blessing that happened recently in my life that supports these verses I read today concerning, "What shall I wear?". Ed and I have recently made new friends who go to our church and live just down the road from our house. They have 2 small boys, a 20 month old, and a 8 month old. A couple of weeks ago, we were hanging out with them at the their house when the subject of "maternity clothes" came up. Ed and I are extremely tight with our money right now, so buying me maternity clothes for the winter is way down on the list of priorities. Well, out of the blue, my friend goes, "Elizabeth....hold on...I'll be right back." She leaves the room and comes back down the stairs carrying two VERY large tubs of...you guessed it...maternity clothes! There are SO many clothes in these tubs that it's like Christmas morning every time I need to pick out something to wear. I was so BLESSED by this amazing gesture. Now, I am totally set when it comes to winter maternity clothes. This just proved to me that GOD IS watching over us and HE does CARE about the little things in our life.

Please continue to pray for our family as we are in this season of change that God's peace and direction would be so real to us. I will try to update the blog more regularly...if there is even anyone reading this blog still...it really does help me to put my thoughts on "computer".

God Bless each of you!