Favorite Bible Verse

This week at Kelly's Korner, the Show Us Your Life topic is "Favorite Bible Verses."  What a great topic! :)  I have loved reading the responses!

Over the past six months, my life has been turned upside down... tossed side to side... twisted... thrown down... picked back up... you name the emotion, I've experienced it.  Through it all, though, I've clung to the promise that God has a plan.

My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11.  It has been since college... it applies to my life no matter the circumstance.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

When I was in the hospital and found out Addie was coming way early, I honestly had such a peace and kept repeating this verse in my head... God has a plan.  He is in control... Was it always easy to think this?  No.  Was I Positive Patsy all of the time?  No.  Were there days that I wanted to throw things and scream because I didn't know what was going to happen in the next 24 hours of my baby's life?  Definitely.  Thankfully, God never left me during all of that and His promise was still the same.

Now that Addie is home with us, Eric and I are still going through so many changes in our life, and we have so many unanswered questions about our future, but because of the promise God gave us in this verse, we know that His timing will be perfect and that what He has planned for us will be exactly where we should be.  

We are especially thankful that God included this little beauty in His plan for us:

Things that I love :)

This week at Kelly's Korner, the Show Us Your Life theme is things that you love/things that make you happy.  How fun!  Here are a few of mine:

Jesus.  Sounds cliche', but it's so true.  The miracles in my life are proof that He exists and that He is awesome. :)

This picture shows where my heart is... my husband, Eric, and our little girl, Addie.  Life is so much sweeter with them in it!

That smile.

Sun and Sand Yankee Candles.  If you've never had one, you should get one.  It brings the beach to your home.  We want to live by the beach one day, but until then, I have these little beauties.

My two favorite stores.  I could spend hours (and hundreds of $) in these places!  Speaking of, I'm headed to both today! :)

Mexican food is my fave!

Enough said.

Clean laundry... the smell... the feel... everything.  Now, I am not a big fan of actually doing the laundry, but once it's finished, I love it!

Photography.  I love capturing a smile or a laugh on camera!

I absolutely love gardening!  This is something I've come to love since I've been married.  I love being outside taking care of the garden/yard with Eric.  I do the flowers; he does the grass.  It works out well!

My niece, Abbie.  I just love her to pieces!  She makes me smile... all the time. :)

Our fave nurse, Carly, and the entire Baptist NICU.  If not for these wonderful people, our little girl would not be here.  They worked tirelessly to help her survive and thrive.  We will never be able to thank them enough.

Last, but certainly not least... family and friends.  I love nothing more than being with my family and friends.  These are just a few pictures of the many important people in my life.  I love family dinners, Thanksgiving family reunions in Mississippi, playing Catch Phrase at Christmas with the family, my Mama's gumbo, going to the driving range with my Daddy, having margaritas with girlfriends, cookouts and cornhole... the list goes on and on... :)

A Day in the Life...

Today, I've decided to participate in a blog that I've followed for a while... Kelly at Kelly's Korner has "Show Us Your Life" on Fridays, and today she has asked us to tell what our typical day is like.  

So this is a typical day for a Mommy with a baby in the NICU. :) Keep in mind, none of our days are the same, but this schedule is one of my favorites that we've had during the past 50 days in the NICU.

7:30-9

Wake up, pump, eat breakfast, watch GMA :)

9-10

Shower, get dressed, maybe throw a load of laudry in the wash

10-10:50

Travel to the hospital in Nashville to see Addie

10:50-11

Find a spot in the parking garage, get scrubbed-in to the NICU

11:00 feeding...

Take Addie's temperature, change her diaper, feed her, and cuddle :)

12-12:30

Pump again

12:30-1:45

The NICU closes for lunch, so we head out to grab a bite, too.

1:45-2

Back to find a spot in the parking garage, and scrub back in to the NICU

2:00 feeding...

Temp, diaper, and food for sweet Addie... and some extra cuddling and watching her sleep :)

4:00

Pump again

We stay in the NICU until her next feeding at 5:00... just watching and loving on her as much as we can.

6:00

NICU closes, and we head back to the house.

7:00

Dinner time (sometimes brought to us by sweet friends and family!)

8:00-11:00

Run errands, watch a little TV, clean up around the house, etc.  Sometimes it feels like our day starts when we get finished with dinner...

11:00

Pump again.. then get ready for bed.

Usually around 11:30 or 12

Lights out.

We sleep pretty well each night so that we are ready to start it all over again the next day.  This schedule may not sound like much, but it's pretty draining!  No matter how hard it is, though, we wouldn't do it any other way.  You do whatever you have to do to see this sweet face each day:

I can't wait to start our own schedule when Addie gets to come home with us!  Hopefully, that will be in the next couple of weeks! :)