The last few days...

have been a whirlwind. I can't believe that less than a week ago, I was sitting in a waiting room holding my daughter and waiting for news that my husband made it through open heart surgery. He did, and today my friends, he is home. Home. With me and baby Paighton. We are back together again.

I wish I could tell you everything that happened, every feeling, every moment, but I can't. The post would be too long.

I know it is Thanksgiving in just two days. But to me, at 30 years old, each day is one of Thanksgiving. Each day my heart grows more full. Full of the things in life that have made me who I am today. I have more "life" now than ever.

Who I can I thank for this. My Father. The one in heaven who created me and my soul. He provided me with the strength, love and courage to make each new day better than the one before. I am created in his image. And to know that he loves me, a small town nobody girl from Iowa, is a powerful thing. I'm not perfect, and he doesn't expect that from me. So Lord, today I am thankful for that.

I am thankful for my husband, my best friend, who you have given me more days with. I am thankful for my little girl who you knew would be perfect for me, and for my family and friends, who I am able to share my life with.

As each day passes, I will be thankful to you for each of these things, as well as the challenges and blessings that are to come.

With many thanks,
~S

Five Question Friday

Thanks Mandy for reminding me! :) So here are today's questions:

1. What is your favorite "eat" on Thanksgiving?
Totally going with mashed potatoes here. A big fluffy warm lump of mashed potatoes. With a well. A well large enough to hold a big pat of butter. And until recently, I wasn't a fan of topping that off with a pool of gravy. Until recently. I guess your tastebuds change a little once you have a baby!


2. What is the name your best girl friend and the best trait about her or how you met (or heck, both!!)
Mandy said it best-I am blessed with so many friends that love me. I think the best thing about my 3 best friends (Alissa, Mandy and Jill), is that they remind me of who I am and who I want to be. They help me to be a better person, and for that, I am forever grateful.


3. What would you say is one of your "weirdest" quirks?
My weirdest quirk? What do you mean? I'm not weird! (no jokes please :)). I would say my quirk is that I have to have the "center" of everything. A pan of brownies, lasagna, casseroles, etc. I hate the edges. That's why I married Ryan-he would always cut me out the middle piece.

4. What is your favorite genre of music? (Hip hop? Classical? Rock? etc.)
I really do like all music...in fact, my hubby has turned me onto some bluegrass music which is very fun. Don't worry Nelly-you're still in my playlist.

5. Are you a Night Owl...or an Early Bird?
Early Bird. The only time I was really a night owl was in college. There is NO WAY I could stay out as late as I used to. Forget it. I would rather get up early and be at peace with the sun.

So that's it! All about me in 5 questions! :)

Mom and dad are coming down on Tuesday and will be here through Thanksgiving! YEAH!!! I got some Christmas shopping done yesterday-WHOO! I really need a countdown added to my blog for this!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Love~
S

A short story

So this post won't be very long-but I promise more later! The above pictures are of one of the Maple trees in our back yard from last week. They are ABSOLUTELY beautiful. I LOVE the colors. Unfortunately they have already lost their leaves, but I am glad I got a few pictures of them. We really want to plant another Maple this year, in honor of Paighton's birth, but I am not sure if we are going to get there.

We have been busy! I have been trying to figure out my back to work schedule :(. Ryan has been watching Paighton for a few nights this week while I run errands, etc. It is weird to leave her. Not my favorite, but it has to be done.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. My list is a million miles long of things I have to be thankful for. And it keeps growing. Praise the LORD!

Things are going to get much busier here with us. But for right now, we are happy spending time together as a family. Ryan has tomorrow off, so we plan on hanging out together, just the 3 of us (ok, and a little belle dog too) :).

Last but not least, a new picture of Paighton! :) Ryan got a new recliner this past weekend (he never let me forget that I MADE him get rid of his old one-so he was deserving of an upgrade). I took Paighton's picture in it-she looks so tiny in it!

Last but not least, I would like to have a moment of silence for the passing of the Saturn. This was Ryan's very first car and we still had it, up until this afternoon. One of Ryan's co-worker's purchased it (no, we didn't give it away), so we know it is going to a good home. My husband shed a little tear...it was his "baby". (he keeps saying "why do you make me sell all of MY things...." HA!) So honey, thank you for making the sacrifice and selling your most prized possession. Paighton's college fund thanks you!


Love to you all!!!

~S

Our first Halloween

was amazing! Paighton did so good! She wore her costume-which involved a large hat, and had a great time with the neighborhood kids! She is so adorable (again, I'm biased, but we're still going to go with it! :))

It was a beautiful day here and we walked down to our neighbors house for the party. We are so blessed to have great friends and neighbors. They are amazing, funny, thoughtful, caring, etc, etc. I can't imagine living here without them! We then came back home and met up with cousin Will (Pirate Will-he looked adorable in his little outfit and sword!), Aunt Nicole and Uncle Ryan, along with Gammy and Grandpa. It was so much fun seeing all the fun costumes on the trick or treaters!

Yesterday Ryan and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary. It has been 6 years filled with challenges and joys. I hope the next 6 are filled with more joys (of course :)), but I love my husband now more than I did the day we got married. I look back sometimes and think, "gosh, I was so young". I got married at 23. But our love and relationship has blossomed into more than I could ever imagined. Ryan is my best friend and loves me for who I am. We have the same thoughts, beliefs, morals and I look forward to raising our daughter to be a happy little girl. (Even if she picks up a few bad habits from daddy along the way HA!)

I am starting to get more accomplished while Paighton is napping, which is a good thing. There were many days where I just wanted to lay in bed and take a nap!

Paighton will be going to the doctor on the 5th for her TWO month appointment. Um, father time, could you please turn the clock back? About one month would be GREAT! I can't belive how fast time goes by. She is a big girl! She is sitting in her bumbo seat and moving all around. She hates to sit still...again, already? I am a little nervous about the round of shots she will be getting on Thursday, but hopefully it will go well. If anyone has any tips for surviving the "shots" appointment-let me know! :)

We love you all!

~S

Properly Packaged

Happy Tuesday! Paighton is sleeping and mommy decided to write a little note on the blog!



GG (Great Grandma Thurston) sent Paighton a package yesterday! Her first official package! It had lots of GREAT stuff! We will be wearing our goodies all this week! Yeah!

We also figured GG would like to see Miss Paighton, so we recorded a video for her! (Please excuse the greasy hair-a tshirt and sweats seem to be the only things in my wardrobe these days!)

I can't wait for Halloween! We are going to have our first family pumpkin carving tomorrow night. Whoo! Then its a halloween party at work on Friday and a party at the neighbors house on Saturday!

Then Sunday is the big day! 6 years of marriage to my wonderful husband. Not sure what the plans are, but I think this year it might involve hanging out with my Paighton girl. :)

Hope you are having a great day! We love you!

~S

Weekend of Fun

So the Geiter household is kind of exhausted this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa left today (sigh). We were very busy this weekend!

My parents arrived on Thursday night and we all sat down to a wonderful dinner together. Pork chops and mashed potatoes. Yum.

Friday morning my parents ran an errand and once they came back, mom, Paighton and I headed to Holiday Mart. Holiday Mart is a show that is put on by the Kansas City Junior League. There are over 100 vendors that sell their goods. Anything from Christmas and home decor, clothing, jewelry, baby/kids items and food. It is awesome. We spent 5 hours there and were shopped out by the end of the day. It was a GREAT day. Mom and I got some fun stuff, and of course Paighton got a few things too! :)

Saturday mom and I went to the craft store and Ryan and Dad hung out at Bass Pro shops. Then Ryan and I went on an actual date on Saturday night. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!!! We went to see "Law Abiding Citizen" (my review: a VERY dark movie-I felt like I needed to go watch cartoons to cheer myself up!) and then went to Old Chicago for dinner (also yummy!). It was nice to get out as a couple, but I won't lie, I did call home during dinner to check on Paighton. What mommy wouldn't? :)

This morning topped off a great weekend with a trip to IHOP! No Sunday morning is complete without pancakes. (I see a theme for the weekend: FOOD!) It started to rain later this afternoon, so we have been laying low tonight.

I do have to post pictures of the creation that Mom and I did this weekend. At Holiday Mart this lady was selling the cutest bow hangers. They were boards covered with fabric and had strands of ribbon down the front for the bows to attach to. Mom and I decided we could make one of our own! The following is what we came up with! I love it and will be hanging it in Paighton's room tomorrow!

Notice that it is full of bows already. This could present a problem. :) But I love it and I am so glad we did it! It was pretty easy~Thank you mom for your help!

That's about it from us! I hope you all have a great week! We love you all!

~S

One in a Million

My smiley girl is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Okay, so I'm a little bias. However, I have evidence to support this claim!


Hello Cuteness! (She gets it from her mommy)

I have to post this picture of our first baby. She has done VERY well with Miss Paighton. She doesn't get quite as much attention, but she's taking in well. She's even given her a few wet sloppy kisses for good measure!

Paighton and I have two lunch dates this week, plus a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Thurston. We can't wait!! Grandma, Paighton and I are headed for an all day girls shopping trip, and Grandma and Grandpa have graciously agreed to babysit so that mommy and daddy can go for dinner and a movie. (I don't think we had to twist their arm TOO much) :)

Yesterday I went to weigh Paighton and she is almost 10 pounds! Big girl she is! Our little sack of potatoes! :) She doesn't go to the doctor for another 2 weeks, so we'll see what she is at then.

And now, for a parting smile...

I wonder if it's possible to just stare at her all day long.....yep, it is. :)

Love

~S

Land of Pumpkins

Greetings from Kansas! We bring you more pictures of Princess Paighton! Yeah!

This is as close to her full smile as we have been able to catch on camera. She is talking all of the time now (the apple does not fall far from the tree) :)

She has these little pink bunny slippers to keep her feet warm. Seriously too cute.

And now some pictures from our Pumpkin Patch adventure today. Yes, I know she will never remember this, but it was fun to take her outside, thank the Lord for the sunshine today!!!

We had a great day today! I am so excited to continue making these memories for our family. These are the days that I have been dreaming of and I have to thank God for this blessing. She is amazing and I couldn't ask for more!

We are looking forward to a great week. Both sets of Grandparents will be in town and Halloween is just around the corner! Whoo!

Love to all of you!

~s

Pictures say a million words

We recently had our family pictures taken by my very good friend and AMAZING photographer, Rebecca Peters. We used to work together and she quit her job to pursue her dream of being a photographer. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful she is and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for her!

She has created a slideshow and I have attached the link:

http://www.rebeccapetersblog.com/families/paighton-newborn-session

Thank you Rebecca for capturing our miracle in pictures! God bless you!

Hope you all enjoy!
Love~
S

Rules

Miss Paighton and I have already had to discuss the rules of this household. More like the rules for the changing table. They are as follows:

1. Once your dirty diaper is off, it is not okay to pee before the new diaper is on.

2. Farting is not okay when trying to clean off your bum.

3. Please do not poop into a new diaper 10 seconds after it has been on.

4. Do not laugh and smile at mommy after doing any rule listed above.

5. Always remember that mommy LOVES you.

I am sure we will add more to the list, however, we hit all 5 rules today and I felt the need to review.

Onto the pictures!

"Mommy, I would like to think that over just a minute longer"

I bought this outfit for her a while ago since she didn't really have any clothes that fit, other than pj's. I love the little sweatsuit!

I was trying to get a picture of her yawning. She threw up 2 seconds later. So there you go.

She is such a cute sleeper, I love listening to her talk in her sleep. So here is a video from just the other day.

We tried a different kind of bottle yesterday and she seemed to do better with it. So we'll have to make sure it works and then can go get more of them.

So that's all we have for today folks. Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

**EDIT: Sarah, it is not Monday. It's Tuesday. Seriously, the days are going by too fast**

Love

~S

Happy Friday!!

Hello! It's been a busy day around here! We had lunch with Daddy and then went to Target and took candy to my work. I always have a full candy jar in my office, I couldn't let my team starve! :)

5 question Friday sounded fun! Here are my thoughts:

1. The one thing I reach for most in the day these days is our camera. I hate missing any moment. I keep trying to get a picture of her smiling, but I have yet to do so. She smiled at me 7 times yesterday. Yes, I counted. It was the highlight of my day! :)

2. Hmm, the furthest I have been from this home is either L.A. or NYC. Since Kansas is pretty much the center of the country, I figure they are approximately the same distance. I was only in L.A. for less than 24 hours, but it was so much fun!

3. I have a Samsung something or other. It was free. I have one in Orange and Ryan has the same thing in blue. We're boring but our phones were free. You know how cheap my husband is! I would LOVE an I-Phone and almost bought myself one for my 30th birthday, and then I thought "I am having a baby in two weeks. Maybe I should save for the hospital bill". I hate being responsible.

4. Coke. Really, a diet cherry coke from Sonic is my favorite. MMMMM.

5. We had a great wedding day. I spent the day with my girls, ate turkey sanwiches at the church for lunch, and then we partied hard at the reception. It was a good time had by all. And now being a wedding planner, I would say that weddings are WAY out of control. People forget that day is supposed to be about getting married, not that the salad dressings are on the "wrong" side of the table. Sorry, side rant, but it had to be said.

And now for what you have all been waiting for, Paighton girl! Ryan bought this bib for her at BRU, needless to say it was on clearance. Shocking.


Paighton has been working on her tummy time, and loves to lay on mommy and daddy to do it!

Such a sweet face......

My two favorite people.....

We shot a little video of tummy time. Grandma's and Grandpa's will love this one!

I also took a video of her this morning while waking her up. She is so cute in the morning, just like daddy, she has to streeeeettttccccchhhhh it out and she makes all kind of funny sounds. Hilarious. I would post it, but it's too big to upload. Pooooh. I will try and post it on facebook.

Hope you guys have a great evening! We love you!

~S

Rainy Day

It's a cold rainy day here, perfect for cuddling! I of course had a few new pictures of Paighton girl, so here they are!

I am working on my bow collection Auntie Mandy. I look good in red! :)

Auntie Mandy-mommy wanted you to see my cupcake bib. She says you really like cupcakes!!

We have just laid low here today. Nothing too exciting. Paighton has been such a good girl. She is doing better with the bottle. And still sleeping through the night. We are very blessed!

I am going back to the doctor next week for my check up. I can't believe it has been 6 weeks already!

And Kat's blog was "Thankful Thursday", so here are a few from me:

1. My family.

2. Frozen meals that can be made in a jiffy!

3. Chocolate Chip Cookie bars. Yum.

4. Bottles. Now daddy can feed miss Paighton and mommy has a little more freedom.

That's about it for us today! Hope you are all having a great day!

~S

I love Kisses!!

I love Kisses! I bought this the other day at Carter's. I love her in it! Although it's a little big still, we are starting to grow into our outfits!

My dad left today. It was so good to see him. He came at just the right time to refuel my heart. I miss them very, very much. But Grandpa got to love on Paighton girl, as you can see below. Grandma will be here in a few weeks to go on a girls shopping trip!

My dad brought me down a gift from my grandpa. It was my mom's wooden rocking chair from when she was little. My grandpa had it all this time and was holding onto it. It was very nice of him to send it down for Paighton to use. For my mom's protection, I won't tell you how old it is! :)

We are thinking about trying to introduce Paighton to a bottle, however I am not sure of the best process to do so. We have all of the stuff, and I know that Ryan should probably be the one to introduce it, but I am worried that she is just now going to want the bottle and not me? We'll see how it goes, we have been very lucky so far with feedings, so hopefully this goes just as smoothly. Any suggestions?

Tonight is the Packers vs. Vikings game. I am hoping Brett Farve has an injury in the first two minutes and can't play in the game. HA! Just kidding (maybe). :) It should be a good game. We need to beat the Vikings to be ahead of them in our division! Oh the pressure! I was really hoping Paighton could fit into her Packers onsie, but it is still too big. :( Maybe during the playoffs (assuming we can make it that far!).

We went to see Ryan's cardiologist this morning. His aneurysm has grown again to 5.1. It was 4.9 when we went 6 months ago. We have been directed to go to the vascular surgeon to have him review Ryan's case. If he agrees, Ry will have to have a heart catheter to make sure there is nothing else blocking the arteries. Once that is clear we can schedule surgery. Lots to think about.

Anyways, one last picture of my baby girl. She was only 5 days old, but she is already is saying her prayers! I love her!

Lots of random thoughts today! Thanks for reading!

Love,

~S

What to name this post?

Okay, so there are maybe 3 people in this world that might read this post, but Mandy and Kat called me out, so there is no turning back!!

There are a lot of things to say in this post-so I wasn't sure what the title should be? State of the Union-our first 30 days? Blessed to be a mommy? Five Question Friday? I'll try and hit all of these!!

First, five question Friday:

1. My favorite ABBA song? Well, I have to admit, I don't really know many of them, so Dancing Queen it would have to be. It reminds me of the 70's disco bar we used to go to when I first moved to KC. Someone tried to hit on my husband (boyfriend at the time) our first time there. Too funny.

2. Why I love fall? Because it's awesome. The thing I love the most is watching our two maple trees in the backyard turn color. They aren't there yet, but I check them everyday. Ryan and I want to plant a tree for Paighton in our backyard, I think I would like it to be another maple. They are so beautiful to me!

3. What store would I go to with unlimited funds? Um, Coach. Simple. Bonus is that I could find something for mommy, daddy and Paighton all in one store. Sweeettt!!

4. My favorite snack food? Do chocolate chip cookies count? I could sit down for chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk for any meal. I craved them even more when I was pregnant. MMMM, I think I might have to make some today!

5. My first car? Was my mom's new Oldsmobile Cutlas Calais. I shared it with my mom. Too bad I totalled it 4 months after I got my license. Sorry mom. From there it was a game of "rotate a car" with my dad always finding and selling cars. My first car that I bought myself was a Chevy Lumina. We called him Lenny. By the time we got married, he had a broken air conditioner, the driver's side window didn't work and you couldn't open the passenger door. Needless to say he was traded in for Abby the Altima!

Our State of the Union: 30 days has FLOWN by. I can't believe she will be a month old on Sunday. She is a super good baby, and has a personality already (shocking, as she is my child) :). She slept 3 out of 5 nights this week and only wakes up once a night on the other nights. The daytime is getting interesting as she is learning that I will pick her up when she cries. I try and let her fuss a little because I know she just had her diaper changes, was fed and fell asleep. But the angry screams have begun to come from her little lungs and she will tell you she is not happy. I will put her down for a nap, she will sleep for 30 minutes and then wake up crying. Not sure what is going on, but we'll work through it. Hopefully mommy can keep her sanity through it! But I love her and that's what mommy's do. Which leads me to my next thought:

How blessed I am to be a mommy: We had our family pictures taken yesterday, and the one where I am sitting in the chair on our front porch, yeah, I was crying. I was looking at her and thinking how long I had waited to sit with our baby and love her. So many firsts that we will get to do together. It's amazing. I tell her all of the time how much I love her, but I also tell her that she is just on loan to mommy and daddy. She will always be God's child, first and foremost. I asked him a long time ago to take this baby and hold her in his hands. To always watch out for her and bless her with his love. And I will always believe that she is his child first, and our blessing to raise and teach her to love. Just on loan....and I am okay with that.

My dad will be down here today as he is going to the Nascar race with my hubby. We bought seats for this season at the track last year before I got pregnant, as I really wanted to go to the Nascar race. Paighton threw a little kink in the plan, but was well worth it. So grandpa and daddy are going to redneck it up and I know they will have a great time! Grandma is jealous that she isn't here too, but she is coming in a few weeks to go shopping with mommy, so we will get lots of grandparent love in!

I have posted a few pictures of my princess. I love her eyes. I could look at them forever. They tell a pretty cool story. :)

My husband is such a nerd...I took this picture of him and Paighton and when he saw it, he said "dude, look at my guns. They are awesome". Seriously honey? So next time you see him, let him know you were impressed not by the baby, but by his muscles. HA!

Alright, I think that's about all I have for today. I do solemly swear that I will post more often so that everyone can keep up with Princess Paighton (and mommy on occasion!)

Love

~S

I've been busy....

Yes, it's about time that I blogged....I have just been a little busy!

So all of the maybe 4 people that read this blog already know that we are expecting Princess Geiter on September 5th. There are NO words to explain how AWESOME this experience has been. It seems like the 3 little babies we have lost are not gone, just seem like such a long time ago.

Honestly, things have been GREAT! I never got morning (or evening sickness), not really tired, and I just really started wearing maternity clothes in the last week or so. We are at 24 weeks tomorrow! TIME IS FLYING BY. I can't believe it sometimes. How quickly your whole outlook on life can change in an INSTANT. Okay, I am using a lot of caps here, but I feel very adamant about these things. This pregnancy has been the best thing that has happened to me since I got married 5 years ago. I'm not kidding. Wanting to be a mommy so badly, and then my deepest desire coming true more and more each day has filled my heart. My big mommy heart.

I love feeling her kick and punch and roll summersaults! She is very active and likes to wake me up about 3 am every morning these days. Seriously, how lucky am I?

Ryan and I continue to be very blessed (although the house being struck by lighting wasn't my favorite... :)). We have so many family and friends that are so gracious and want to throw us baby showers to welcome our baby girl. I was also invited to the Ellen Degeneres Mother's Day show by a friend who has shared the loss of her last two pregnancies with me. We didn't realize HOW MANY items we would be blessed with from the show. I mean a $700 stroller really? :) We have donated the crib to a family that really needs help, and I am so glad the show allowed me to bless them as well!

Things just seemed to have turn around for us (I am knocking on wood) and I can only know to enjoy these blessings for right now. Parenting is NOT easy, but these last six months have been amazing. I can't believe we only have 16 weeks left! We better get to parenting class.... :)

Lastly, I ask for your prayers for my husband this October. He will need to have his Aorta replaced as his anuerism (sp?) has grown to a size that is a risk to him. I know he will be fine and that this is happening so that he can be around for a LONG time for his daughter and myself. However we are both just a little (or lot :)) apprehensive and I ask that you pray for peace in his heart. I am a true believer that your attitude is half the battle when facing these type of challenges and I hope my husband begins to understand that. I want him to enjoy his little girl, not be so fearful of her birth as he associates that with "D-Day". Make sense?

Anyways, I thank you for reading this far....you guys are the greatest and we love you!

~S

Dates

Does anyone else ever feel like we are controlled by dates! Seriously, go with me here.

There always seems to be a date on the calendar that we can't wait for-vacations, birthdays (i'm skipping mine this year), anniversaries, visits from friends, etc. I wish I could just know that today is good. I should look forward to today and know that it is one more day that I have on this earth.

So, I have a few dates that I am looking forward to, but today I know that things are good. Things are great. And when I do come to those important dates, things will be EVEN BETTER!

Hope all is well for you!
~S

Updates and such

Congratulations Kat! There are just so many things to say! I can't wait to hear more stories of your new adventures as mommy and daddy! This truly calls for a Florida celebration! If only Mandy would get on a plane! Love you M! Thank you for being such a great friend to my favorite person in the whole world. She loves you muchly, and I am so glad you guys take such good care of each other! It is wonderful to have friends like that!

It's been a while since I have posted, and honestly, I have lots to say, but I can't. I am posting today to try and find a little peace in my heart and mind. Turning off my mind is VERY difficult for me, as you can see as it is 2 am here and I am not sleeping. My body needs some peace and relaxation, and I am trying very hard to do that. For those of you that know me, this is not easy. I would classify myself as "high strung" and an anxious person and finding a peace to let everything happen as it needs to is difficult. I am a planner, I do it all day at work and I try to do it in my personal life as well. HA! That never works, but I seem to think I need to have control. So, maybe that should be my goal for each day, just letting go of the control and going with the flow!

Enough of that-Mandy, I miss Brooky today. I watch her Christmas video all of the time. I love it. It looks like you had fun at the swim meet! I loved the "frustrated" picture. She is amazing. Do you just look at her and laugh when she does things like that? Hee Hee, she is funny.

It's super bowl Sunday this weekend. My prediction is the Steelers, but we'll see. Kurt Warner is an Iowa native so maybe I should be cheering for him instead? :) We are going to see our new nephew this weekend. He's awfu cute and he likes to talk to Aunt Sarah a lot! We are going to have so much fun together!

Anyways-Kat-did I mention I was so excited for you?? :) Maybe once or twice!? Whitney will be SO loved!

Have a great Wednesday!
~S

response to doubt

So many of you have responded to my last post. Sorry to be such a downer, it just REALLY got to me and I needed to hear other throughts. I am so lucky to have all of you and your thoughts and prayers. I am working through these questions and you have all helped me to move forward in my faith. That is for sure a BLESSING provided by God. I have decided to post a copy of my sister's response. Her's is just one of many that have begun to fill my heart back up. I would post Mandy's too, but there are things in the message that I am just not prepared to share yet.

I love you all and thank you for being my (for lack of a better term) faith support. I would NEVER be this far without all of you. You know who you are! I love you all....

"Biblically speaking, sin entered the world when Adam and Eve chose to eat from the forbidden fruit. It was then that the angel Gabriel (who we know as satan) fell from heaven into hell. Thus creating the battle between good and evil. The truth is that we live in a broken world. There is sin, ugliness, hatred, disgusting thiings that happen. Not because God lets them happen...but because this world is BROKEN. People are BROKEN. If you believe there is a heaven and there is good, then there has to be a counter to that, unfortunately. There is hell, there is evil, and unfortunately we are all touched by some of those things because we are in this world, this broken, sad world. But the bible tells us that we are not OF this world. We are created in his image to be his light in this broken world. When you weep, He weeps with you, when you are joyful, He laughs with you. HE LOVES YOU. Think of it as you would a child and parent. Parents bring children into this world because before that child is born, they love them, they want an extension of themselves, someone that will live on and experience wonderful things. But with life comes some heartache. Things happen to children that parents can't stop, but time and again that child will return to their parent because that is where they feel safe, and known, and loved unconditionally. Parents will spend their lives trying to protect their children from hurt, but despite that, life happens. We are touched by the hurts of this world, and we are never the same. But life can still be beautiful. It can still be meaningful. God wants nothing but the best for you. That doesn't mean that we are completely protected from the evil in the world. I wish it did. But while we are in the world it is a reality. God did not create you to be in pain. He does not like these hurts any more than you do. But they are a reality. He will be there when you question, He will be there when you turn to him, and he will be there if you choose to turn away from him. You are his daughter. If you don't believe anything else right now...believe that He loves you more than you know. Even if you can't love Him back right now...hold on to that."

fear and hope

This one might be a long one kids....hold on with me.

We just returned home from a sermon at church today about why bad things happen and how we can be better Christians to those going through the suffering.

I am really, really confused right now. I was really looking forward to today's sermon and hoping to find answers, when really, I have so many more questions. Pastor Adam suggested that God doesn't make bad things happen to people, he just walks through them with us. Okay, I can understand that, but then, who makes the bad things happen? Why do they have to happen? And really, if God doesn't make the bad things happen, then does he make the good things happen? And why only the good and not the bad? And if he can't make the good or bad things happen, then what's the point? Why do we thank him for our blessings if he isn't in control of them?

The scary thing is, this shakes everything I have believed in. And during the sufferings I have gone through, I turn back to God and say "there is a plan" and put my faith in him. Believing in him provides me with hope. But now I am questioning why? What can he really do about it? And if he can do things that are loving, why not provide more of these things during suffering. I don't see that. I don't understand.

I am scared. I am going through things right now, at this very moment that I turned over to God, but am now wondering why? How am I going to get through it if no one has control?

Hump day!

Get your mind out of the gutter! HA!

It's Wednesday, we made it through half of the week! Way to go! You can do it, only 2 more days!

I have this weekend off (thank you Lord) and am planning on going with 5 other women to the large bridal show at the Convention Center. I know, you are thinking "She must be crazy" :) However, one of my very bestest friends in KC is getting married in September and she has been waiting through 13 years (yes, I said years) of dating to get to this point. So we are all READY to get this party started! I don't normally like to be around brides on my day off as they are enough to work with at work, but we are going to do it for her!

Anyways, how was your day? Did you have anything fun happen? Did you just barely make it through the day? Don't worry, put your cares to God and be confident that he will walk with you through it. Blessings today? Thank God and be confident he was walking through those blessings with you!

You all are always in my thoughts. I pray for you often!

Happy Hump Day!
~S

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year...and all that jazz

Hi! Sorry for the delay...things are just coming down from a whirlwind of activity over the holidays. I was a good girl this year and got lots of goodies from Ryan's family. My family will be doing our Christmas in a few weeks when we head home for my dad's retirement party.

We spent New Year's Eve with friends out to dinner and a few rousing games of bowling. Then after many beverages (not me, I was the DD. Go figure) they wanted to go to IHOP for snacks/breakfast/dinner. Keep in mind, this was a 1:3o am. We didn't get back to our house until 2:30. I then realized that at 29, I am NOT equiped to stay out that late any more. I am too old. We had a great time but I am still catching up on my sleep!

I am ready for a fresh start in 2009 and am looking forward to bigger and better things. Things are going to happen in our lives, I just know it. Look for good stuff from the Geiter household. Someday, sometime, miracles are coming!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Look forward to reading about your adventures in 2009!
Love
~S