I'm soooo behind with blogging!

So much has happened in the past few weeks, that I haven't been able to keep up with the blog. So it may take several posts to get everyone caught up. So check back over the next few days for more updates! Here are some pictures that we took when Emma turned 2 months old and just a few days before Samuel's birthday. Some pictures are with our digital camera and others are with our film. Emma was 23&1/2 inches and around 12 pounds at her wellness visit.

Going After the Goal

What keeps us from achieving our goals? Is it not having enough time in the day, or becoming complacent with the day-to-day activities so much that we forget about them? Or are you like me, and find yourself afraid to take the first step to make it happen because of the uncertainty of what might happen...mostly of the possibility of failure. I have been attending a Curves 6 Week Boot Camp intensive exercise class. I apprehensively went the first day and had my body measured and weighed. Being the mother of two (one of which is fresh out of the womb!), you can only imagine how mortifying this was for me! After having Samuel, and then having trouble with my thyroid, I never lost THAT baby weight. So here I was faced head on with my biggest fear ever, failure. My biggest fear of becoming pregnant again was not having two small children, but dealing with the pride of knowing that I was going to gain even more weight. I became so dissatisfied with myself and my body that it affected every aspect of my being. Sure I had made goals to lose weight, and to become a happier person in general. But lets face it, I was all alone. In this feeling of loneliness, I only separated myself from my family and even worse, God. This was certainly a formula that would set me up for failure. However, through searching and the Lord reawakening of my spirit, I found myself in a place of desperation. A desperation to become the woman that God created me to be. I began this six weeks afraid of the unknown...how much weight would I lose? But I have gained so much more than I ever thought possible. I am so thrilled to say that I have lost all of the weight gained with Emma! I have set a goal of losing 10 lbs by the end of this, and I intend to reach it! It will take work and dedication, especially to healthy eating. But nothing comes without a cost. We must decide if the cost is worth reaching our end destination. My biggest transformation however, has been mentally. I have learned to set long term goals, and temporary ones that will help me reach the long term ones. Life is so precious, a true gift. God lavishes his children with gifts and goodness, but if we aren't in a place mentally to receive it, then we miss out. Its amazing the revelations that we receive when we get our head in the game and keep playing. It is too easy to decide to "sit it out" because we are intimidated by the desires of our heart. But there is hope! God gives us the abilities that we need to pursue Him(when we align our hearts to His) and His desires. Go after God and be willing to do a little work, and watch your goals being reached...even if it is one day at the time!

Couldn't Resist!

Okay, so I said that I wasn't going to post any pictures yet, but I couldn't resist. Especially since my mother has asked me for a couple of days now when I was going to put up some pictures of Emma. So here are a few from this evening...enjoy Mama!

The Big Two's

Okay, this blog may be a little disappointing because there are no pictures, but I assure some will be posted this weekend. I wanted to give a quick update on the children. Emma turned two months old today! She is 23inches long, and weighs 11 lbs 8oz. The doctor says that she is healthy and growing just like she is supposed to be doing. She is doing a lot of smiling and picking her head up when she's on her tummy. She recognizes Samuel, which is so sweet. It will be fun to watch the two of them as they develop their relationships. Samuel is just shy of his second birthday so we are trying to teach him how to say his age. Right now he not interested so much in that! He is so silly and has such a fun spirit about him. He is becoming more and more creative as he learns to manipulate and manouver his toys to get them to do what he wants them to do. He is really into standing up on things right now, which means we have to keep a close eye on him! This weekend we are going to take pictures, so we will post them as soon as possible. David is busy with seminary and the church. I have started taking an exercise class, and love it! All in all, the Blackwood family as a whole is growing physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. God is so good!

Cowboy Samuel!

Samuel is going to be a cowboy for Halloween this year, so of course he has a new cowboy hat. He loves it! Today was such a beautiful day, so we went outside and let Samuel play. He wanted to wear his hat, so we let him. I love his red shoes and how they look with his hat. I took a lot of pictures with my film camera, but I did manage to take a few with my digital so that I could post them. Samuel is really changing and growing. Today he said his first prayer, "Dear God, thank you for today. I love you! Amen." He is also learning to sing songs. His favorite song is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Samuel is also enjoying learning to jump. I can hardly believe that he will be two years old in a couple of weeks! Emma is doing good today. I will be posting pictures of her soon, because she will be two months old! Time is flying, but we are having a blast! Enjoy the pictures!

It is amazing how busy two kids can make you! I remember feeling this way when I just had Samuel, now that I have two children, I think it is actually true! I am proud to say that showering is done on a daily basis (any mothers reading this know what I am talking about!), and at least two meals are being eaten a day. So I feel like I am making process. Emma is doing great. She is growing so quickly. She is beginning to hold her head up and really looking around. At about 5 weeks, she gave us a big smile and has been doing so since then! Samuel is cutting the last of his canine teeth, which is a relief for everyone! As we are getting close to his second birthday, he is talking in sentences (still hard to understand though...haha) and really putting together concepts. The cutest thing he does is say "hallelujah" and "praise the Lord". Unfortunately I don't have those on video yet, but I do have Samuel feeding his elephant a bottle. One afternoon I was feeding Emma, and he grabbed an old bottle and started feeding elephant, wiping him with a cloth, and even burped him! Below is a little video that we were able to get along with a few pictures.







You never know what kind of picture you might get to take at our house these days! Samuel loves to have fun!

Family

Here is a couple of pictures with daddy and mama with there babies! We love them!

Time is Flying!

I can hardly believe that it has been a month since Emma was born. She is beautiful and healthy. I think that she is going to be a feisty little thing, she has already rolled over! I'm not so sure that it was on purpose, but regardless she turned from tummy to back. Samuel is still doing a great job with her. He gives her a kiss every night before he goes to bed. I am excited about our family and how it is growing. This is just a group of different pictures, with nothing in particular.

First Family Outing

So today got off to a rough start. Samuel has been cutting two canine teeth which have made him completely miserable. Needless to say, this morning he only wanted his daddy and would not have anything to do with me and Emma, his Uncle Josh, or Grace. This was not good because David has church and cannot carry Samuel around with him, which he just cried anyways! We laid him down for a nap around 10:30am (atleast 3 hours ahead of normal) and he fell right to sleep. So we did not make it to church and I had to take off Emma's dress from Costa Rica that her Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Daniel got for her so that it wouldn't get messed up in hopes that she will make her debut at Mt. Pleasant UMC wearing it next week. Fortunately a couple from the church brought us pizza, soda (which I seem to be living off of these days!), and dessert for lunch! Samuel did better once he woke up from his nap and things seemed to be getting better as the day progressed. This led us to decide to go to the park together as a family. This is the first place that we have gone as a family, and Emma's first real outing. She cried all the way to the playground (10 minute drive), which surprised me because she has done very well in the car. Turns out that she has a stinky diaper that I did not realize until we were already away from the car! As soon as I finished changing her, David ask for a new diaper for Samuel because he too had a stinky diaper! We decided to go to a new playground due to the crowd that the current one had. It ended up being a good move and we had a great time. Samuel loves his Uncle Josh and Grace and they did a great job playing with him. These are some pictures from today.

We love Grandparents!

God knew what He was doing when He made grandparents. Over the past two years we have found how important it is for a family to have grandparents be active in their lives. I am so grateful that God has given us two great sets of grandparents and healthy, active great-grandparents as well! They have helped us so much in keeping Samuel when we needed it, or offering David and I support emotionally, physically, and mentally. We know that they pray for us and our children, which is vital in the Christian faith. My parents and David's mom have been great these past few days in helping us adjust to Emma's arrival. And we know that if Dixon were here, he would have a huge bow on the door and stork out in the front yard! My father has done an excellent job in taking care of Samuel while mama was at the hospital with Emma and me, which I am sure was a very busy task with a 21month old. We are fortunate that David's grandparents are active in our lives as well. They offer us wisdom and comfort that comes through a life time full of experiences. Below are a few pictures of them with Emma, helping us celebrate new life. Some are at the hospital, and as you can see in the bottom, mama came home with us to help with whatever we needed. She has helped cook, clean, feed Emma, keep Samuel, offer emotional support to me, pray, and much much much more! Thank you to our parents and grandparents for everything!