Mommy-Guilt and God's Provisions

So today I complete my first week of work in the past six years. You know, "REAL work" - not this stayin' home and eating bon bons business that my hubby thinks I've been doing since I became a Momma. Last week I interviewed and got offered a job up at our church. I was looking for a job keeping kids during the ladies' Bible study, and ended up hearing about a job running our church's coffee shop and bookstore. So I interviewed for it and got called the next day! It's working 30 hours (well, supposed to be 30 hours...but the way I want it to be I'll be putting in more than that I am sure) a week doing everything you can think of that's required to run these two growing ministries in our church (ordering and preparing product, staffing volunteers, etc.). I was really pumped to get the job, and even more pumped to be "bringin' home some bacon" to help out our family of 6. This week's been crazy because there's a 4 day special event going on up at the church that has required the cafe to be open. Plus the normal 6 services that we do every week. So needless to say I've been busy this week. And thennnnnn.....the Mommy Guilt set in. And what's PITIFUL is that I'm working SO much LESS than "real" working Momma's work. My awesome boss is a guy who went to Haiti with Jason and is being SOOO flexible. I made it clear that I was going to rock at the position he was giving me, but that my first job is to my four little bosses. And it's been great. I've worked when the big kids are at Mother's Day Out while my Mom watches Macy and Houston, during naptimes, and evenings when Jason can be here with them all. So it really is the IDEAL job for me. But after about day three I started feeling bad for even going back to work for just part-time. (However, the kids could so far totally couldn't care less.) So I threw myself a little hormonal, over-whelmed pity-party one night and vowed to suck-it-up. So the next night I finished up a few minutes early and was able to sneak into service for a little bit of the praise and worship before heading home to tuck my sweet kids into their beds. While in worship the Lord changed my whole thought process about my new work adventure. Yes, I was excited before by the challenge the new job gave me, but I still thought of it as "working because I HAD to". In service that night it became clear to me that God was once again blessing us with His provisions. We needed some extra income, and this job kind of just landed in my lap. And do you realize just HOW many people right now are looking for jobs in the cruddy economy? So I stood there during worship in awe, once again, of how our Father is providing for our family. In awe of His blessings and provisions. And OH how thankful I am! I'm thankful that I'm able to work at our church which we ADORE, thankful for co-workers that are understanding and super-flexible with my schedule, thankful for my Mom who has graciously committed to chasing a two and three-year-old around two mornings a week, thankful for a supportive husband who has totally rocked at caring for these four crazy kiddos four straight nights this week. So NO MORE Mommy Guilt from me. Just a grateful Momma lookin' forward to another challenge. Oh and the happy, shrill screams of "MOOOOOMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY" when I walk in the door are just a bonus.

Prepare yourself for some cuteness!

I took Miss Macy down to the Greenway park today to get some energy out in this BEAUTIFUL weather we are having here in middle Tennessee. Oh, it's just gorgeous out (as I type this on the back deck with kiddos swinging on their playground). I took my camera with me so I could snap some pictures of The Princess to mark her being home 3 months. She LOVED playing the creek. Next time we will be going back with our rainboots so she can actually get down and dirty (I wasn't about to let those new Mary Janes get all soggy!).

Her Partner in Crime was along for the fun. Ohhhh the things these two get into!

As you can see I am having loads of fun with my new fancy-smancy photo software. Maybe a little too much fun. :)

Hope you all are having beautiful weather too!

First attempt at a hair-do

So, I have three sick kids (Macy, Hannah, Houston) and have been stuck in the house all week. What do I do to amuse myself, you may ask? I *pretend* to be able to do a hair-do on Macy. But, "She only has an inch of hair", you may say. Yeah...well...that's why I say "attempt".

If you look really hard you can see four little bundle poofy things in the front of her hair.

Yep, that's about as elaborate as I could do.

Once her hair grows in and is heavy enough to loosen up some, I really do think the child is gonna have some rockin' awesome hair. She's got these tight spirally curls all over her head. I always wanted a curly-headed kid. Well, I've got me one now!

Of course, Macy wasn't the only one who wanted to be sportin' the cool hairstyle. And yes, I totally took a picture AND am posting it on the internet so all of his high school buddies can find it someday. But...ain't he pur-ty? :)

Both kids loved their new hair-dos, and I had fun attempting to try something new. However, I think we will keep relying on Macy's plethora of headbands and bows to accessorize. And in order not to mess-with-his-gender-identity, we will just keep Houston dressed like a boy.

And you may think, "Oh, how ridiculous for her to even try to style hair that is only an inch long". Well I am, in fact, the same Momma that once did this.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

3 months home!!!

Look who's been home in Tennessee for 3 months tonight!! Whoop whoop! But GOOD GRACIOUS where has that time gone? I mean geesh! - 3 months is a quarter of a year! Has time really flown by that quickly??? And then on the other hand I feel like she's been ours forever. Oh how we just love her to pieces. I can't imagine life without her. And every "lost" piece of paperwork, every extra day we had to wait for our referral, and even counting down the days until we could bring her home are ALL becoming a distant memory. I was reminded of that this week as a sweet friend of mine is waiting to bring home her kiddos - how when you are in that moment it seems like it's taking forever. OH how I cried while I waited to bring our Miss Macy home just TRYING to be patient. And NOW that she's home - that just seems so long ago! She was worth every single day of waiting though!

Unfortunately, Macy's "3 Months Home Anniversary" wasn't all that fun. Both she and Houston were up screaming during the night (very odd for our house since everyone sleeps 12 straight hours) and then I was awoken this morning with Houston puking his guts up. I spent the entire day in the rocker or on the bed cuddling with him. And JUST when he started perking up this evening, Macy spiked a fever of almost 102 degrees. AGHHH! So then the evening was spent cuddling with her on the couch. But that girl is one tough cookie - she's dealing with it much better than her bigger-little-brother. But I WAS able to snap the above picture while we were cuddling tonight. She's even cute when she's sick, ehh?

Happy 3 Months Home, Macy B!!!!

Come on and "like" me!

Well now that I have my new snazzy jazzy camera and some rockin' awesome editing software, I've decided to step up my photography business a little bit! I am really excited to see what happens with this! I've enjoyed photography for years, and stayed really busy with it while we were saving money to bring Macy home. Well now the sweet girl is home and adjusting beautifully, so Jason and I feel like it's time for me to step it up a notch! I'm launching a "Facebook" page and I'd love you to sign in and "LIKE" it. Check by there often because I am going to be posting about specials, giveaways, and featured sittings coming up this Spring and Summer. (You know, if it EVER gets warm again!)

So sign on into Facebook and "LIKE" my page: Amanda Humphrey Photography!

P.S. I'm wanting to launch a website too - if you know of anyone who does web design, let me know!