Confessions

We aren’t going to church this beautiful Sunday morning (I’ll explain), so I felt the intense urge to embrace the Catholic ritual of confession. Instead of a dimly lit, private confessional, I’m using the internet. That’s just as private, right? 

Here’s my confession: I am a terrible, awful, down right rotten mommy-nurse! 

Seriously, y’all, it’s bad! If by some crazy spoof I was in the running for “Mother of the Year” award, I’m officially disqualified now that the stomach bug has found our little house. Let me paint you a picture...

Thursday night, we all went to bed happy and healthy. I was looking forward to not having to run out the door to take Asher to school and actually being able to get some stuff done around the house.

Friday morning I am awakened by the sweet sound of, “Mommy! MOMMY! My belly hurts!”  I drag myself out of bed and fuss for Asher to go to the bathroom and go back to bed. He obeys and then, of course, starts throwing up IN his bed. Vomit and bedding... my favorite combination!

I’m usually not a squeamish person, BUT I. do. not. do. vomit. well. Guess who is the only person in our house capable of cleaning up vomit. Yep, you nailed it, ME! You so smart!

When there is vomit involved, I am not nice. For some reason, it’s like I’m personally offended by the vomit. I know they don’t do it on purpose and in fact cannot help it at all, but try to tell my stomach that! And I know I should be sympathetic and sweet, but y’all... it’s vomit. Immediately, my face goes into involuntary “this is totally disgusting” mode, I’m holding back my own vomit and “Ughhhhh... bleh... Ewwww!” is slipping out between held breaths. Clean up cannot go fast enough and people cannot get far enough out of the way. If it's covered in vomit, washable and cost less than $15 it's probably going in the trash. 

Once I do get it cleaned up, I know I should go snuggle in close to my sick child and kiss their sweaty head while they continue to deposit last night’s partially digested dinner into the toilet, but my senses are being assaulted and apparently my senses are cowards. The most I can muster is a back rub with an outstretched arm. My affectionate word choices include, “Are you done, baby?” and “Do you feel better now?” Internally, these are pleading prayers for a end to the nastiness. 

After the first episode of upchuck, I am anxiously awaiting the next, because it’s rarely just one... that would be too easy. I watch the culprit patient very carefully for any sign of impending sickness. If they open their mouth for more than 2 seconds I am sprinting across the room with a bowl and frantically asking, “Do you feel like you’re going to be sick again?” Avoiding vomit clean up at all costs is vital!

So, Asher had the bug all day Friday. He got very efficient at using the provided bowl. I love my Pampered Chef mixing bowls by the way... maybe this one a tad bit less now though. For the record I did not make him sleep on the floor. That was his choice. 

Last night and today was Brayden’s time to shine. Lance went to a friends house last night for some bearded buddy time, so I took the boys to Burger King for an ice cream cone, because they are good and they are 69 cents. 

Immediately upon finishing his ice cream, like not even 30 seconds after his last bite, Brayden said his belly hurt. We have a bit of a “boy who cried wolf” situation with Brayden and belly aches. He usually gets them when we are asking him to finish his meal and they magically go away when people mention dessert. So my oh so sympathetic reply was, “Reeeeally?!?!” He said it really hurt so we headed home. I put the boys in bed and Brayden started screaming that his belly hurt bad. 

Now, you have to understand something else about Brayden. He acts like you are ripping his fingernails off when you try to cut them and if he falls and scrapes his knee you would think he was in need of a knee replacement. If “dramatic” started with an “e” it would have been his middle name (all the men in Lance’s family have “e” middle names). I’m not sure what we did as parents to encourage this behavior, but whatever it is, DON’T DO IT!

Rational conversation is completely pointless when he is like this. I ask him, “How bad does your belly hurt?” and he replies, “I CAN’T SAY HOW BAD IT HURTS. ONLY ME KNOWS BECAUSE IT’S MY BELLY.” Alrighty then! That was helpful. I ask, “Do I need to take you to see a doctor, baby?” and he says, “NO!! I AM NOT GOING TO THE DOCTOR... Will they give me a shot? AHHHHHHHHHH!! I WANT DADDY! PLEASE CALL DADDY!” No problem! Gladly! This screaming went off and on for about an hour. Somewhere around 9:30pm Brayden went to the bathroom, and let’s just say we finally understood why his belly hurt so bad. I knew what was probably coming next... it showed up around 3:00am. Vomit. Then again around 7:00am and this time it was all in the bed. Perfect! Two for Two!

After repeating the clean up scenario from Friday with a few more gags and ill tempered word blurts, I announced that we were out of Ginger Ale and sacrificially volunteered to get dressed and go to the store. I mean somebody has to do the hard stuff right? 

Brayden has had it a bit worse than Asher, but he’s actually handled it like a champ. He hasn’t complained too much about throwing up. He did, however, scream like a banshee when his brother dropped a book on his forehead shortly after this picture was taken...

So that’s my confession. I do not have the “good nurse-mommy gene” and I’m not quite sure how to acquire it. For the record I also lack the “good nurse-wife gene” either, so this nasty little bug better be done with this house. Just Sayin!

Until next time! -K 

Post-Election Day Thoughts for Christians

Well, it’s Post-Election Day! The internet and the television are in a frenzy about the outcome of this presidential election. I thought I would add my two cents for those of you who care enough to read it. Nothing ugly, I promise!

I vote, and I vote conservatively. I choose to vote this way for many reasons... I choose to vote on behalf of the unborn. I choose to vote in favor of less government bureaucracy not more. I choose to vote for biblical marriage. I choose to vote for less taxation and more responsible spending. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I probably did not vote to re-elect the President. For several months, I’ve had a feeling that the President would remain in the White House, but that didn’t make me any less disappointed with the outcome of the election.

This morning, as I laid in bed thinking about things, I heard a simple question in my head, “What would you have said out loud in that moment had the election gone the way you had hoped?” It didn’t take me very long to reply inwardly, “I would have said, ‘Praise the Lord!’” Then another simple question popped up, “Why wouldn’t you still say that regardless of the outcome?” Oooooooooo, yowzers!

The truth of the matter is, as Christians, we SHOULD praise Him in every situation! I have continually heard people say, “God is in control,” “Jesus is still King,” etc. Yes, he most definitely is in control, and of course he is still King, but are we actively praising him for it regardless of whether we are satisfied or disappointed with our circumstances? 

I was sorely convicted before my feet had even touched the ground! Once I got up, I found this short Psalm. What a wonderful confirmation of what SHOULD be overflowing from my soul!

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Can anyone else say, “WOW!”? I mean how appropriate is that? Praise the Lord!

Until next time! -K

N-O-V-E-M-B-E-R

I guess I took a bit of a break from blogging. Sorry. :) I wish I was better at posting more frequently, but sometimes it just ain’t happenin. 

I hope you guys had a great October, and hopefully none of your children went into a sugar coma! That month went by crazy fast, right? It will be Christmas before we can blink an eye. 

I thought I would be ubber cheesy today and do an acronym for November. So this is a random thoughts post since I am just going to make stuff up to fit the acronym. That’s what people do right? 

N - November (I think using the acronym word in the acronym is a no-no but deal with it!) is Adoption Awareness Month. 

We don’t have much of an update on our own adoption other than we are getting closer to starting our home study. I’m really praying we can start earlier than January. 

I never had the pleasure or pain of “trying” to have a baby. Both of my boys were sweet surprises. However, the last few days I have felt what I imagine may be similar to the pain of a woman with a barren womb. I want so badly to have my girls... to love them and care for them. I see other adoptive moms who have faces to match with the love they feel in their hearts, and I feel very barren. I would never have dreamed that I would have this longing for two children who have no blood relation to me and who live on the other side of the world. I know that this process will take a long time and in God’s perfect timing I will have those faces, but oh it’s so hard for this impatient momma to wait... and we've only just begun. 

So, in the mean time I read a ton of articles/blogs and watch a ton of YouTube videos about adoption, [country in Asia], adoption stories, interracial families, etc. 

Here is one I found this morning. I cried. So sweet!

O - Obama... no, totally kidding. I’m not going there. However, I read an old puritan quote by John Newton that came in my Grace Gems email. 

“The whole system of my politics is summed up in this one verse, ‘The Lord reigns! Let the nations tremble!’ Psalm 99:1”

Amen!

V - Veggies are my BEST FRIENDS for the next 10 days. I started an AdvoCare herbal cleanse today, because over the last month I have been a sugar whore and have said yes to any sweet that crossed my path... and I liked it way too much. Soooo nothing like a good cleanse to trim that waistline and feel cleaner. Wish me luck! 

Oh and “V” is for Vegas, too! I am heading to Vegas this month with a few friends to photograph a huge travel agent convention. This is my first trip to Vegas, so I’m excited. I’m not a big gambler, so no body needs to worry that I am going to gamble away all of our adoption funds. :) But how stinkin cool would it be if I played a slot one time and won $50,000! I would be the crazy girl screaming, “Oh, PRAISE JESUS!”

E - Eggheads... that’s who we have driving on the roads in Columbus, GA! During rush hour yesterday, we about died on the interstate because the people in front of us decided it made perfect sense to slam on breaks in the middle lane because people in the right lane were exiting. I'm going to move on before I sin...

M - Moving again! It seems as if we are playing musical houses! Yes, we found out that we CAN stay in the house we own, but after talking it over, we agreed that we probably needed to move back to the house that Lance’s dad owns and sell ours. It would give us double the space and double the bathrooms (we only have one here). I REALLY do not want to move, but we think it’s the best option right now. We are praying that our house will sell quickly this time around. 

B - Beards are manly and sexy... unless they are gross. I love Lance’s beard. It’s “No Shave November” and so all these normally clean-shaven men are attempting to grow beards. There is no attempting for Lance... his is good to go. I did ask him to trim it down a while back. We had been watching "Eureka" (awesome show by the way) and the character Nathan had a closely trimmed beard. I liked it... on him... not on Lance. So, he grew it back out. Much better. 

E - Every preschool class must go to the Pumpkin Patch. Asher’s class was no exception. He is so cute and sweet. I love my boys!

R - Reading is for people who have lots of free time... I am not one of those people, but I wish I were so I could finish some books. I’ve been reading the “Game of Thrones” books thanks to our friend Brandon. The first one was great and I’m enjoying the second one, but I just cannot find the time to read that dang book! I’m about halfway through. 

I also started reading a parenting book by John Rosemond called “Family of Value". I've only gotten through the first chapter, but so far I agree with it. Don’t ask me what it was about... I don’t recall now... I just know I agreed. 

Then of course I really want to read my Bible more... I need the Lord to give me discipline regarding this. I’ve been doing a Bible study on the book of James with a group of ladies at our church and that has been great... when I get to go. This was a verse that stood out to me big time in James:

Can anyone else say, “Ouch!”?

Well, y’all. This is where I have to say goodbye and go clean my house. I’ve got a sink full of dishes and about 150 crushed CoCo Puffs on the kitchen floor. I’ll stop the description there.

Until next time! - K

A Letter To Kristian

Today, friends, is not mine and Lance’s 8th wedding anniversary but Tuesday was. I’m late posting because we have been traveling through Europe, walking along cobble stone streets, sipping decadent coffee together and forgetting we are Georgians. Well, not really, but a girl can dream right? We didn't go to Europe but we did watch the sunset from the top of a parking garage while we drank coffee and ate donuts. Same thing, don't you think?

You know how they say you love each other more as the years pass? Well, it’s true, but I think that’s because every year you get more and more “okay” with the things that drive you crazy. I’m kidding. These last eight years have been a journey worth taking. I love my man and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!

When you were in grade school, did your teacher ever make you write a letter to yourself in the future? I had to do that in middle school and I received the letter the year I graduated high school. I thought it was pretty cool, but for some reason I really worried about those kids who moved away and never got their letters. It still bugs me even now. Yes, I’m completely aware that I’m weird. 

Today, I’m going to reverse that idea. I decided I would write a letter to my pre-marriage self. I wonder what it would have effected had I actually gotten this letter... probably a great deal since it would likely have gotten me admitted into the mental hospital. “Hey y’all! Look at this letter I got from eight years in the future!”

Dear pre-marriage Kristian,

Don't freak out, but it's me/you writing you from 8 years in the future. Looks like it’s a couple of weeks before you say your vows to Lance... before God and man. You’re probably busy being concerned about the reception decor and the tuxedos you have to reorder. Oh, that hasn’t come up yet? Well, it will, and you will cry big tears, but it will be okay. However, I should warn you, first off, that Ava Maria is a REALLY long song, and you may want to consider cutting out a few verses. Second, you should prepare your control freak self for the fact that one of your flower girls will not go down the aisle, so your perfect symmetry is going to go out the window. Third, you may want to eat some food the morning of your wedding, because you won’t eat much at the reception or afterward.

Also, you should probably sit down with your vows and really think about them. You will be promising to “honor and obey” your husband. Remember how, according to your marriage counseling, he’s an “otter” and you’re a “lion”? Yeah, honoring and obeying is not going to come easy for you. It's going to be something you have to work on... for the rest of your marriage. I know you think this isn’t really a big deal, but it is. This will rage a war against you on the inside... you must learn to tame the lion and the lion’s tongue!

Oh, and you know how you think you don’t want kids? Ha! That’s just so hilarious, because you’re going to have two boys. Neither of them will be planned. They are going to drive you absolutely insane and yet you are going to love them so completely. But wait, I’m not done with the kid thing! You’re going to adopt two more kids! Yep, no kidding! And get this, they will be GIRLS! Gasp! You, yes you! So have fun with that. Nope, birth control will not save you... that’s what is so funny. :) Oh and Brayden is six so you do the math!

I’m just going to tell you now, you are NOT your mother. You are not a “June Cleaver” you are a “Frankie Heck”! I wish I could say that you get better as the years go along but, so far, that has not been true. You will have way too much stuff and clutter and you will hate it. You will have a constant mound of laundry in multiple places in your house. You will one day have stuff in more than one house! I’m hoping one day you will become more disciplined and organized, but I haven’t gotten a letter from far future Kristian yet and I have my doubts.

You will learn a great deal over the course of the next eight years. You will come to realize the importance of finding your sufficiency in Christ alone... not in your husband or anything else. You will learn the hard consequences of sin that you are unaware of right now. You will discover what grace and mercy truly is and you will learn that you must give grace and mercy because it was first given to you. Many years from now, you will learn that you are not in control and never will be... this will be a hard and ongoing lesson. You will learn so many things about Lance and one of those things is that he is not a mind reader. You will both BEGIN to learn how to communicate with each other, but that is also a hard and ongoing lesson.

You will learn a lot of little things over the next eight years. You will learn that laundry has to be rewashed twice if you let it sour in the washing machine. You will learn not to let your kids eat in the living room. You will learn what household cleaners kill ants on contact. You will learn that you will never be able to make a bed like your mother does and you will be okay with that. You will learn that water just doesn’t cut it on your son’s morning hair. You will learn that Lance will NOT ever learn to put his socks anywhere besides the floor next to your bed. You will learn that you completely stink at buy cars. You will learn the importance of not having debt. You will learn that Lance takes longer showers than you do. You will learn how to stop your husband from snoring. You will learn to cook and you actually won’t be half bad at it. Oh, the things you will learn... the list is endless.

There will be good times and there will be bad times. You will laugh so hard you cry and you will cry so hard you vomit. There will be times that you cannot get close enough to him and there will be times that you cannot get far enough away. You will experience just about every emotion possible. I cannot prepare you for everything... some things must simply be lived through. Rest assured though, you will cherish the good as well as the bad. All your experiences will be like the very ring he will place on your finger as a symbol of your devotion... precious gold forged in the fire decorated with beautiful diamonds created under tremendous pressure.

Kristian, marriage is hard, it’s complicated but it is a wonderful adventure. You will love this man and there will be no words that can describe that love. Marriage was not designed by this world... it was designed by the Creator of the universe to mirror His own love for His people... His bride. One day you will see this and you will understand that God created you and He created Lance and He united you together for His glory and your joy. This one truth will become a catalyst for your love for each other.

So, in couple of weeks, when those doors open and your father walks you down the aisle toward that handsome, blue eyed, dark haired boy, know that you are in for WAY more than you bargained for and it will be WAY better than you can possibly imagine. Enjoy the journey.

Love,

Future You

Until next time! -K

Be A Part Of The Story!

You should totally be doing a little dance right now because #1 it is Saturday and #2 I actually did what I said I was going to do and posted a new blog this weekend! And just because I can, I will sprinkle this post with cuteness for your pure enjoyment. :)

I shared with you in my last post how I planned to used Kristian Ogden Photography to help raise funds for our adoption. Beginning October 1st, all proceeds from my portrait sessions will go toward bringing our little girls home. 

I’m hoping that we can partner with a new non-profit organization called Clement Arts in the near future, but we are still working out what that relationship will look like, so I am starting things off this way for now.

Normally, when clients choose to do a portrait session with Kristian Ogden Photography, they are charged a session fee ($150-$225) and then they purchase print products afterward. In the past I have charged $50 for a single digital image. What I’m getting at is these new package prices are greatly discounted. I truly hope this not only helps us raise funds but also helps bless other families.

The Session Packages are for newborn sessions, baby/toddler sessions, children sessions, family sessions and couple’s sessions. I still do not shoot weddings or high school seniors. Here are the packages:

$300

-30-45 minute session

-10 digital negatives

$500

-1 hour session

-20 digital negatives

$750

-2-3 hour session (great for newborn)

-25 digital negatives

$900

-2-3 hour session (great for newborn)

-25 digital negatives in both color and black &white (50 total)

Of course there are plenty more details on my website HERE.

Please consider helping support us in this way, and if you know anyone else who is looking for a portrait photographer, pass this info along. When you support our adoption, you become part of our little girls’ story. That means a lot to us!

I do want to say that if you have a photographer already, PLEASE don’t take your regular business away from them. I have  a lot of photographer friends in the area, and the last thing I want is for this fund raising effort to have a negative impact on their business.

If you have any questions about the photography or how you can help bring our girls home in other ways, please feel free to email me at krisogden@hotmail.com. 

Until Next time! -K

Adoption Update :)

Howdy y'all! I have had a busy day with Asher’s field trip this morning, but I wanted to go ahead and post a small update about the adoption process for those of you who are following along. All two of you. :) Ha, just kidding.

This is kind of a random thought that I’m throwing in for free, but just so you know, there is this little box on the bottom of each post that says, “Post a Comment.” It works and it doesn’t bite. Just sayin. Comments = Love in blog world. :)

Ok, so update... For those of you who haven’t read some of my other posts, we are adopting two little girls from [country in Asia]. 

We have settled on an agency. This was a pretty easy decision. We have some friends who are adopting from India through this agency, and I spoke to the director several weeks ago. I felt a peace about it from the first phone call. We will submit our application this week or next (although this really is just a formality). Our next real step with the agency is to complete a contract and throw down $7,250 on the table... sooooo that will probably be within the first quarter of 2013 unless God provides that chunk before then.

We will, however, begin our homestudy process through Lifeline Children Services in January if not before. We only need $1,150 in order to get that ball rolling, and this will be a 3-4 month process, so we are confident we will start this no later than the first couple of weeks in January. I think starting the homestudy will help me a lot with the anxiousness, because I will have something to work on. 

I spoke to a social worker in Georgia yesterday and asked her some questions about our house. We still live in the house we bought after we got married. We have had it on the market for over a year, but apparently God was not ready for us to sell, so it’s no longer listed. It’s a three bedroom and one bathroom house. Of course since our family will be growing by 50% our first thoughts were, “We need a bigger house!” and while we do want a bigger house, we can fit comfortably here and our mortgage payment is way less than rent, so we plan to stay until we are ready to buy or build another house. However, we were concerned putting the two girls in one room might be an issue during the homestudy, but the social worker said it was fine. That is great news since moving into a larger home before we start the homestudy would really delay the process and if we decided to move during or after the homestudy, that would also have negative effects. 

Lots of people have been asking how we plan to raise the  almost $40,000 we need to bring our girls home. Lance and I have talked a good deal about this over the last few weeks and there are about 4 different ways we anticipate using to raise our funds.

1. AdvoCare - Lance and I were introduced to AdvoCare in November of 2011 and it has changed our lives. AdvoCare is a 20 year old heath and wellness company, and it has helped us create a healthier lifestyle that has led to us losing a lot of weight. By simply helping others, AdvoCare has afforded us the opportunity for me to stay at home with our boys again. Lance and I also see it as an opportunity for us to earn large portions of the funds we need for our adoption. 
2. Kristian Ogden Photography - As some of you may know, I am a photographer and I’ve owned my own business for over five years now. In recent years, I have focused mainly on newborn and children portraiture. Beginning this October, I will begin a “digitals for donation” type structure of my business and all proceeds will of course go into our adoption fund. I will post a more specific blog about this with a link to my website probably this weekend. I’m hoping this will not only benefit us in helping bring our girls home but also be a blessing to other families in our community. 
3. Mountain Majesty Handcrafts - Apparently I’m just flat our artsy. Don’t hate! :) I also make jewelry, candles, soaps and other handmade gifts. Once I can get things established better, I will also start promoting these items and all proceeds will go to our adoption fund.
4. Grants - Once we finish our homestudy, we can begin applying for grants. Hopefully, since we will be adopting two children, we will be able to get some decent grant money. 

So that’s pretty much where we are right now. I guess that update wasn’t so short after all. 

If you choose to pray for our family, here are some things that you can pray for specifically:

-Pray that God strengthens our faith and gives us peace in trusting in his providence. 

-Pray that God provides the means.

-Pray that things go smoothly and without delay.

-Pray for the hearts of our extended family.

-Pray for our boys that God will begin to mold them into givers/servants and that they would be more grateful and less selfish.

-Pray for Lance and I to be unified throughout this process and for our love and grace for each other to grow.

-Pray for our girls, wherever and whoever they are. Pray for their protection, provision for them and comfort for them.

-Pray for the birth parents of our girls. Pray for God’s grace in their lives. 

-Most importantly, pray that God be glorified through this adoption.

Thank you for your prayers!

Until next time! -K

This Old Man, He Played SIX...

Today, my friends, is my eldest child’s 6th birthday. How in the world did SIX years go by so stinkin fast? Did I find a Delorean in 2006? Nah, I think I would have remembered that. 

To convince you of what an amazing mother I am, I am doing the required “birthday blog post” for Brayden. Enjoy the pictures. :)

First, let’s start out with a good before and after picture picture because every mom knows the birth of your first child changes more than your sleep...

See? I was skinny and flat chested before having a baby. 

See? I was not skinny OR flat chested after having a baby... well, at least until 6 years later.

Ok, now that we have the important stuff out of the way, let’s talk about Brayden’s actual birthday. 

Remember how I told you I have issues with control? Well, that was true six years ago when I was pregnant. I had my whole perfect labor and delivery planned out! Literally! I had hired a doula and typed up copies of my very specific birth plan to give the doctors and nurses (Oh, how they would have laughed at that while they ate the goodies from my nurses goodie basket). Guess what? Yeah, didn’t happen... not a single bit of it. 

Brayden apparently takes after his mother in the fact that he is extremely hard headed. He takes after his father in the fact that he has a big head! He just could not swing that sucker around as much as he tried, and yes he actually tried,  I felt it. He was butt first breech. I think they have a technical term for it, but I like “butt first breech.” So, I didn’t get to experience regular labor and deliver... I got gutted like a fish.

At 7:44AM on September 26th, it was worth it...

Being a mom is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it’s also one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. There are no words to describe how instantly you can love someone until you hold your baby for the first time. I still stare at them from time to time and wonder how it is that these children are mine... that they came from my own body. It blows my mind how creative our God is. 

Happy 6th Birthday to my big baby boy!

Until next time! -K