52 Days of Thanks and Praise

With the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving approaching ever so quickly, I thought I might just share a few things that are going on in our lives, and the things that we are learning as we are a part of Elevation here in Charlotte.  Pastor Steven has challenged and encouraged us as a church body to spend the last 52 days of the year saying and showing our thanks to God. He has even given us cards with wonderful praise prompts to start our day off in the right way! Here's a quick shot of one.

 It sounds easy enough, right? To be completely honest, it is an easy thing to do because of the many things that God has blessed us with.  Philip has done a really good job.  He has been very consistent with his praise prompts, and has been very intentional about showing and speaking his praise. I, on the other hand, have taken something that should be so easy and made it somehow difficult to accomplish.

At first I blamed it on the fact that I'm pregnant and I'm forgetful.  Some days I'm just too tired, other days, I was going to do it, but got distracted by Parker.  What I have realized is that is has nothing to do with any of those things.  I have chosen to not say and show my praise.  Not because I think it's a bad idea, or because I don't think I need to.  If there is anything that I have learned in the past few weeks it is that God is worthy of my praise, and there is no reason that should be holding me back from giving him praise even if and when I don't feel like it.

So, I am stepping up my game folks.  That's right, I am going to give God the glory, honor and praise that he deserves.  I am making it a priority to finish off the year by showing and saying my praise.  I want to be the type of person that finds the blessings in each situation.  That takes some practice on my end, and that is what I plan to do.

My Stud Muffin
As I go through my pictures on my phone I find it very easy to find things to thank God for.  I am so thankful to have a man of God as the head of my household.  Sometimes I can't believe that I get to be married to this guy.  He is so good at loving and cherishing me.  I am so grateful that each day he gets up and goes to work in order to lead us as a family in ministry, but also to provide for me and Parker.  He does all of this without complaining, and yet still finds time to treat me to a baby moon (a night out in Charlotte) before Camden gets here.  He also gets up in the middle of the night with Parker as this Pregnancy develops and my body is a little more reluctant to rolling (Yes, I am now having to roll) out of bed to comfort him or take him potty.  Plus, Philip is an incredible dad.  I always knew he would be, but I am getting teary eyed just thinking about how much he loves and cares for our son. He can get Parker giggling like no other person. :) It warms my heart.

My Little Monkey

That brings me to another person to be thankful for.  Parker, our firstborn son who has challenged me, taught me a love that is deeper than any other I have ever experienced, and proven to me that I can do much more and sleep much less than I ever thought possible. He is growing and developing into such a wonderful young boy, and I can't wait to see what kind of brother he is going to be, what kind of young man he will become, and one day the kind of husband and dad he will be to his own family.  Let's not talk about that too much though.  I'll be in tears before I can finish this post!    

      

                                                                                                            

My Bun in the Oven

I am so blessed to be able to be carrying this spunky little boy, Camden, with me wherever I go.  He is on the move most of the time, and even when he is still he seems to have a gentle reminder of his presence with hiccups.  God has given me fairly easy pregnancies, and as I am becoming uncomfortable in these last few weeks I try to remind myself that it is all for a very special creation that God has incredible plans for.  I am coming up on 35 weeks this Tuesday, which kind of blows my mind!  I can't believe this part is already coming to a close.  I am nervous and excited about the next step, but I can't wait to meet him.

My Church

I am so thankful that Philip and I have always been a part of a body that has invested in and cared for us.  We have been so blessed to come from a place like TMCC that took time to grow us, prepare us, and send us out.  We now get to see the fruit of that labor that was poured into us, through what we get to be a part of at Elevation.  They have also helped grow us in new and different ways, and what is exciting is that as Parker gets older we get to see the ways his life is being molded and transformed.  This is the craft that Parker brought home from church today.  It is simple, but as I read over it I realized how true these things are.  It reminded me of some things that I need to stop and thank God for throughout the week!

My Home Sweet Home

I'm going to end my post on this, not because I'm out of things to be thankful for, but because you might be are probably tired of reading :)  This is where I get to see so many of the things that I'm thankful for under one roof, on a daily basis.  It is often times, (more recently than usual) messy and noisy.  But that also means that learning and life is happening.  It is also where I get the honor and privilege of serving and caring for my family.  I know God has given me the opportunity to do that here, and I plan to do it to the best of my ability.  

My challenge to you would be to take this week, and even the rest of this year to give praise and thanks to our God and Savior.  If you would like to have access to the praise prompts we read each day, just go here to 52 Days of Thanks and Praise. He is worthy when we feel like it and when we don't!  Happy Sunday and enjoy a short work week!

With Love, From Charlotte.

The Not So Terrible Two's!

November 1st was a special day in the Engle Household.  As you may have read in the last post, Parker turned two years old.  It's interesting that you always hear about the terrible two's, kind of scary even, for us first time moms.  I haven't experienced that yet (granted Parker just turned two, so we've got some time) What I've also heard more and more lately is that it's really terrible three's!  I guess I have a lot to learn :)

Anyways, so far Parker's second year hasn't been terrible at all.  I can't even describe how much I love seeing the huge ways he is learning.  It kinda blows my mind when I see him do or say something he's never done before.  He  always seems to have another trick up his sleeve waiting to bust out when I least expect it.  Need some examples?

His vocabulary in general has increased immensely just since being here in North Carolina.  The other day, he told me he was hungry.  What I've noticed is when he learns a new word he uses it several times, day after day, so he can practice.  When he's telling me he's hungry, many times he isn't actually too hungry, he's just trying to practice and learn when and how to use this new word.  It's so similar to the way that I increase my vocabulary in a new language.  Once I learn something new I feel the need to use it often so I don't forget it! I love seeing his brain work.

He has also started singing along with the songs that Philip and I frequently sing to him before bed.  He has started to request specific songs for us to sing.  Some of his favorites are Jesus Loves Me, Daisy Daisy, and Twinkle Twinkle.  I frequently see him putting his animals down for naps while he sings, prays, and covers them up with blankets.  Here's a fun video of him putting his animals down for "night night"

One last example before I move on is the way he is developing and growing his imagination.  He likes to mimic what Philip and I do on a regular basis... In the following video he decided that his leftover milk in his cereal bowl was actually him mixing eggs for breakfast.  

He is also learning letters, numbers and colors.  He of course has a long way to go, but it amazes me how interested he is in all of this.  

In order to celebrate this special guy not only did we go to Chuck E. Cheese on his birthday, but we threw a small birthday party for him.  To those of you that came to his birthday party last year you can probably guess and understand why I went with a smaller version this year :) I went a little crazy and we had about 75 wonderful people there last year, but I couldn't handle that kind of undertaking. Considering we just moved into this house, Philip's parents, Stuart and Cindy, came in the night of the party, and well I'm 33 weeks pregnant and just not moving as quickly as usual!

We invited the kids and parents from the small group that I started, and also all of the prodigy friends from the program.  It was Disney Cars themed and I just put together a few goodies and cupcakes and then ordered pizza for the main course.  Thank you for all your help Pinterest and Sara!  

 I had so much fun prepping for the party, I always like that kind of stuff.  And I think the table came together nicely.  Those little Lightning McQueen cupcakes were easy, yummy and fun!

That night Stuart and Cindy flew in and got to be a part of the festivities.  We had a great weekend with them, showing them around Charlotte, eating good food, sleeping in (because they woke up with Parker!) showing them around our campus at Elevation, and just enjoying some good conversation.  We also got to visit the Discovery Place Museum, which Parker loved, and we intend to go back as much as we can!

We are about to embark upon another busy week, with Thanksgiving right around the corner.  We are looking forward to going to Ohio to visit with my mom's side of the family.  I can't wait for Grandma's cooking and some down time in the quiet little town of Sugarcreek!  Have a great rest of your weekend, and remember to give God glory and honor, because He is worthy all the time! 

With Love, From Charlotte.

Such is life...

Can you believe it's November?  I have to say, I love this time of year, but it always goes by too quickly in my opinion.  There just isn't enough time to enjoy all this season has to offer.  We have been packing it full with things like moving, trick and trunk or treating, and of course birthdays.  

Last friday (9 days ago)  Philip and I moved from an apartment to a town home. We were able to find a nice little house to bring baby Camden to once he's born.  Now, I have moved many times in my 27 years.  In fact, I once counted, and before I went away to college my family moved 12 times.  Granted they were all in the same town and I never had to change schools or churches because of it, but all I'm saying is I've been there and done that whole, pack up the house, load the truck, clean both houses and unpack thing.  To be honest, I don't like doing it all that much. Anyone with me?  

Well, last Friday Philip and I woke up to the sounds of a crying Parker, I went in to check on him, and he told me his belly hurt.  Any of you experienced moms would've run to the bathroom to get over tile and or a toilet.  But not me, I thought my poor baby just needs me to hold and comfort him, he'll be ok. Warning, yucky story ahead!   About 30 seconds later I was covered in vomit, and so was my poor sweet Parker.  As I am yelling for Philip to come help, all I can think of is the fact that we have movers and friends coming to help us move in less than 2 hours.  Well, such is life right?  (I'm learning that more and more these days :)) Time to tough it up and get through it!  So we did.  Parker was miserable all day.  Not only was I no help at all, but I probably was more in the way than anything.  I am also sure that as Parker vomited in the middle of the living room as everyone was eating their pizza, that our non-parent friends were thrilled they decided to help us that day. Shout out to all of you that gave up your day off to come help us, we couldn't have done it without you.  Just thought I would help give you an idea about the joys of parenthood that you will hopefully one day experience. 

Anyways, we are in our new house.  It is a wreck, and I still don't have it all unpacked. Due to the fact that the next day, once Parker recovered from the flu, he went straight into a full fledged nasty cold which became an ear infection.  He is now doing well and has been on antibiotics, but it's been a not-do-much-other-than-survive kind of week.  Here are a couple of pics of the new place, like I said, nothing is done, but hey we are real here on this blog and this is just how it is :)

Even after the move and the terrible sicknesses, Parker pulled through and got to enjoy a few fun events this last week. We had an outreach event through Elevation to dress up and pass out candy at our cars for trunk or treating.  We had a fun night as a family and got to serve others at the same time.  Philip and I decorated our car in a broncos theme and our friends decorated theirs as Panthers.  We set up a grill and pretended to tailgate as we passed out candy.  Parker got to wear his Elmo costume.  There were other little kids that would come up to him and give him hugs because they thought he was the real deal :) So Cute!  We taught him to say "treat please" and then "thank you" after each piece of candy he received.  By the end of the night, he was a pro. 

We then had Halloween, and I just had to share this video of him trick or treating because a few times throughout the night, people gave him extra candy because he was so adorable.  

Throughout the night he would tell me and Philip "one more house".  By the next morning he knew very well what candy was, and that he wanted more.  In fact that is what he asked for the next morning for breakfast.  :)  With it being his birthday, I was tempted, but instead he settled for chocolate chip pancakes.  His birthday was packed with Yummy food, a fun playground, a nap and of course Chuck E Cheese for dinner.  He is still talking about the "puppets" and pizza from that night.  

We have been so blessed to be his parents, and I can't wait to see the big things that God is going to do in and through him.  Please pray for him as we enter into another big transition coming with a baby brother.  Also pray that we follow God and seek his will in the way we bring up our boys.  What a huge blessing yet responsibility that has been given to us!  We hope your Sunday has been one of rest.  We love and miss you. 

With Love, from Charlotte.