Slacker+Pictures+A Big God=Post

Man, I've really slacked off on the whole blogging thing. I have pretty good reason though. 

No no, I'm not pregnant :) {you moms of many know thats the first thing that came into your mind!}

I've been working on starting a little photography business.

It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time. And this is the first time in 4 years that I'm not pregnant or nursing a baby every 2-3 hours so we figured I should give it a shot!

I started out in hopes of making some extra money to pay down some debt. {read: the car loan}. I was listening to Dave Ramsey {love that guy!} and he suggested taking photos on the side to a guy trying to get his debt snowball rolling. So, I thought.... hey I need to do that!

I got some stuff together and started advertising on Facebook and to friends. I figured Christmas is the perfect time to get this started since everyone wants Christmas photos! 

Then, we got the bill for Audrey's eye surgery she'll be having on Nov 17th {keep her in your prayers please!}.

WOWZA!

So....that's what all these session fees are going towards right now. 

Its so cool because we prayed for the provision to cover all these medical fees and between photo sessions, homeschool school picture sessions, family and our local corporate fellowship {that would be the Church} the Lord has provided and met those needs above and beyond anything we could imagine! 

{wait...isnt there a verse that promises that somewhere!?!?}

But, enough babbling from me....just check out my photography blog at:

LindsayLanePhotography.blogspot.com

or become a fan on Facebook here 

or by searching Facebook for Lindsay Lane Photography. 

Heres a few shots of my sweet kiddos I did last weekend!

 

Give a Cup of Food

This is a repost from last year. I thought it was worth reposting and reminding everyone that 1 click will give a cup of food to a hungry person. And, it wont cost you anything except a few clicks. 

I just ran across a way you can help give 1 cup of food to a hungry person around the world.

All you have to do is click the link above. Your simple click will donate that cup of food. We so easily click links to online celebrity gossip or the most current sale at our favorite store. So, I don't think its too much to ask you to click the link to help give food to the hungry. You can click everyday and make sure give that hungry mouth a meal.

 

Coming out of hiding....

So, here I am. Coming out of hiding. I've been planning on picking up the blogging again once life settled down a little.

And...

we'll here's hoping it has!

I'm excited to start our Christmas giving goals again. Remember last year and why I originally started this blog?

Well, its that time again!

My friend Stephanie over at Life As Supermom was inspired by this last year and has already started blogging through their plans to Give Christmas Away this year! So cool!

As a kick off to coming out of hiding and rejoining the {consisten} blogging world again I've entered a contest that could change the course of our families lives! If I won we could use the winnings to pay off our car and other small debt and become 100% debt free!

How cool would that be!?

Can you imagine the giving opportunities we'd have with the cashflow released from becoming debt free??

And...how fun would it be to get to be a "Good Mood Blogger"!!!

So, can you take some time everyday to cast a vote for me?

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Raw{e} Girly

I decided to join this weeks Raw{e} theme over at Sailor and Company.  I had the perfect picture for last weeks theme but with everything going on with my dad I didn't have time to get it off my camera and onto the computer....much less my blog. Oh well. This weeks theme is girly. What could be more girly than playing outside on a swing set dressed as a princess?! This is Audrey a few months ago. Its also one of my favorite pictures of her. I think one reason I love it so much -- other than the fact that it's an adorable picture!-- is because the colors are so vibrant straight out of the camera!

 Please continue to keep her in your prayers. We have her MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning. I really have peace that everything will come back fine and her eye problem is just some freak thing. Once the results are back we can set a date for surgery and get her taken care of and back to normal! God is good!

In Memory of My Dad- Mark Fredde

Derek and I put this together in memory of my dad.

Two Weeks Ago

Two weeks ago I lost my dad.

He had had a massive heart attack the previous Sunday and was on life support. 

After running a CT scan, a base line test for brain activity and talking to the nuerologist to get an idea where everything stood with his brain we made the decision to withdraw the machines that were keeping him alive.

I believe he was probably already gone on Sunday. The paramedics had to resuscitate him at the house and again at the ER. It was estimated he was without oxygen for 20 minutes in the ER alone. That wasn't counting the time without oxygen at the house before the EMTs arrived. I believe they brought his physical body back to life with machines.

Even though I felt like he was already gone having to actually be apart of making the decision to have the machines withdrawn- the machines that were keeping his body alive- was one of the most awful decisions of my life. One I hope to never again have to make. 

Lots of people have asked if I was close to my dad. Regardless of how close or distant you are from a parent when their death comes you're still losing a mom or dad. But, to answer the question; yes and no. There have been times in my life that I have been closer to my dad. Unfortunately, the last 2 1/2 years have not been one of those times. Partly by our (Derek and my) choice and partly by his. But, whats done is done and you can't change time. Previous to that my dad has been in and out of my life by his choice. 


When I look back at my dads involvement, or lack thereof at times, in my life I feel an amazing amount of grace and forgiveness for him. Two things only the Lord can supply me with. Without the Lord holding my hand, in my relationship with my earthly father, through my life I could have developed into a bitter woman from the experiences with my dad. But, the Lord has given me his eyes to see my dad through and grace to see that my dad was just a hurting person. 


That Sunday morning, before I had gotten word of my dads heart attack, I was standing in the shower having this conversation with God. Derek and I had been reading a book that prompted our conversation the night before as to why, if our faith is really that important to us, aren't we screaming from the rooftops and banging down the doors of our friends and family members that we love making sure they get their relationships right with the Lord. There were 3 people who came to mind as I was standing in the shower talking to the Lord about this. Wondering why I haven't made sure these people know what the Word says about where they possibly stand with the Lord. My dad was one of them. One person who accepted the Lord as a child but bore no real fruit as an adult. One person who, out of shear love for him and Him, I should have made sure he knew how much I loved him by making sure he knew how much He loved him. 
But I didn't. 
And, I know that ultimately that is the Holy Spirits work. But, I also know that as a believer and follower of Christ its my job to spread His truth. 

And, I failed with my own dad. 

I don't know where I stand theologically on the whole once saved always saved. Or can you lose your salvation. Or anything like that. But, what I do know is that we don't know the number of days the Lord has ordained for us or anyone we know. And how important it is to make sure we're right with the Lord always. And to make sure we're carrying out our responsibility here on earth to share the gospel. 

And, I hope that I one day get to see my daddy again.


My dad wanted to be cremated so we put off a memorial service for a few weeks. This Sunday is the service. Please continue to pray for my family. Please pray for my boldness when it comes to the 2 other people the Lord brought to mind that morning. Because my faith is important enough and I do love them enough to make sure they're aware of what the Word says.

Audreys Eyes

Many have asked how Audreys eye appointment went this afternoon so I thought the easiest thing was to write it all out on here and share it via my blog....rather than over and over again on an individual basis.

The opthamologist diagnosed Audrey with something called Cyclic Esotropia. She said it is very rare and often caused by trauma, which is not the case for Audrey. After reading up on it a little apparently some opthamologists can go their entire career and never have a patient with it. Another site said 'its extremely rare and poorly understood.' Her CT scan in the ER on Friday came back clear but this Dr wants to do a MRI to see if there is something else going on that the CT scan wouldnt/couldnt pick up on. She mentioned looking at the smaller tissues and checking for brain leisions. Needless to say the fact that she wants to do a MRI kinda freaks me out so we decided we want a second opinion. We have a scheduled appt with another Dr on Friday. Praise God they had a cancellation and could get us in so quickly! So, we'll see from there. THe Dr today told us the only way to correct this is surgery so we shall see.

Basically Cyclic Esotropia means a cycle to the eye(s) crossing  inwards. 24 hours straight, 24 hours crossed. This is EXACTLY what is happening with Audrey. Around nap time (before and/or after) her eye might try to straighten on a crossed day or try to cross on a straight day, but thats momentary and doesnt last. 

The Dr told us to patch the 'good' eye a few hours a day on the crossed days but everything we've read online (either from the very very limited studies we've found or from parents themselves) says that can make it worse. So, we'll be happy to get a second opinion, and possibly third, and be able to go from there.

So, thats where we stand with Audrey. Please just pray for her appt on Friday and some more answers from that Dr.

As if this week couldn't possibly get any worse....

I wanted to put a quick update on my blog to let our friends know whats going on and how they can pray for us.

We have our first scheduled family vacation (ever) scheduled to start THIS Friday. The plan is to go to Orlando to visit some friends and spend a week at Disney World. The kids have been looking forward to this for months. The past 2 weeks have been brutal for them because of the anticipation and excitement.  


I'll start with yesterday since that was the worst day and work my way backwards. This might be long so bare with me. 


Yesterday morning, right before we go to church, my brother called to let me know  my real dad had a massive heart attack. Without all the gory details hes basically on life support and theyre trying to get him stable enough to do a CT scan to check for brain activity. It is believed he was without oxygen for 20-30 minutes. He was worked on for awhile at the house by the EMT and then again worked on for awhile at the ER to get him back. As of now hes not breathing on his own at all and is in a medically induced coma to let his body rest. He was having seizures yesterday until they could get those under control with meds...which then caused some different problems. They had to stop the seizure medication and get those other issues taken care of and reintroduced the meds at a slower pace. As of right now we're waiting for them to get the CT scan done to be able to know what all has happened/is happening.
There is so much more to the story but those are the basics. Please just keep my dad and my family in your prayers.

This past Friday Audrey woke up and about an hour into the morning her eyes went crossed. And, she couldnt uncross them. We have never noticed her eyes crossing before and this was very sudden. We took her to Childrens Medical Center ER and after a CT scan to rule out any kind of nerve damage or anything else causing interferance with the nerves controlling the eyes it was determined she has Strabismus. Lazy eye is commonly called Strabimus but they are not the same thing. There is a difference. From everything I have read Strabismus can cause Lazy Eye but Lazy Eye is not always Strabismus. 
This was very very sudden and pretty much freaked me out. Even the Childrens Dr was stunned about the suddenness of its appearance. Since its a holiday weekend we couldn't get into the Pediatric Opthamologist until Tues. The eye obviously bothered her because she was holding it closed, either with her hand or winking it closed, all day. I ran by the store and picked up eye patches. Once I patched her 'good' eye it made the 'bad' eye go straight. She woke up Sat morning with her eyes back to normal, which was wonderful. She woke up yesterday with her eyes crossed again.  We had her patched all day so she didnt have double vision, holding her eye closed with her hand or by winking, and could play normally. She woke up this morning with her eyes back to normal again. Everything I've read says this can come and go but (obviously) still needs to be corrected.

So, please pray for that appointment tomorrow as we'll get an official diagnosis and a plan of action.

With all this we thought....ok, another bump in the road for our trip. Even if we cant get her glasses in time for our trip we can just patch her eye on the days theyre crossed and she'll have to enjoy Disney World that day. Kinda sad but still doable.

Thursday I was having issues with my new blackberry my brother had given me. So, I took it to the Verizon store to see what was wrong. She suggested a software upgrade and when she did it it crashed my phone. Her response was basically 'ohh, the white screen of deaht. Sorry.' And sent me on my way. I didnt understand how I could walk into Verizon with a working phone and walk out with a phone they crashed and not be given a replacement phone...or something. I figured since I wasnt the one who actually bought the phone that was the reason. So, I was without a phone for several days. (If you called or texted and I didnt respond, that is why) 

 Last Sun (Aug 29) Derek was playing flag football with some guys from church and he slipped as he was running (full speed, he wanted me to add), fell and cracked his collar bone in 2 places. 11 days before we were supposed to leave for Disney. Inconvienent but manageable. 


So, this is where we stand. Its been an awful week and hopefully tomorrow we'll have a better understanding of everything going on with Audrey and with my dad. 


I have a phone again so I can recieve texts and phone calls again. 


Thanks in advance for all the prayers!

Edited to add: I have an amazing amount of peace about everything right now (thank you Jesus!). I'm praying that no matter the outcome God will be glorified through all the circumstances and it will all work together for good. Im clinging to His promises and constantly reminding Him of them ;)

$50 GAP gift card for $25!!!!

GROUPON  

 Have you heard of Groupon? 

They post unbelieveable daily deals for your city or in todays instance for a national brand. 

TODAYS groupon deal is a $50 GAP gift card for $25!!!!

Thats half off people!! You can use it for sale stuff too....so that makes you're sale purchase even sweeter!

Click here and go grab the deal as soon as you can! This morning their website crashed because of how popular the deal is....you don't want to miss out!

{Don't click the google ad if its Groupon ad. Click any of the above links so I get your referal ;) }

Raw{e} Vintage

This weeks Raw{e} theme is Vintage.

This is a picture of an old childs bike that sits in the yard on my husbands grandparents land.

Here is the straight out of the camera untouched shot.

The Lindsay Files- Middle School years

I've really dropped the ball over the past 3 weeks with blogging. Especially with The Mommys Piggy Tails meme of recording my youth. Since I didn't write my 6th or 7th grade years I thought I would just smush 6th, 7th and 8th grades all together and do 1 big happy {or maybe not so happy??} middle school post. {I'll have to come back and add the embarrassing awkward middle school pics}

Sixth grade started out well. We were in a new school with lots of new faces. Four different elementary schools fed into my school that year. We were the Griffin Middle School Griffins. I was still in LEAP {what they called the gifted and talented program} and that was the first time I remember realizing one of my teachers thought completey differently than I did. {Read: she was a liberal with a completely different worldview} Not only was my LEAP teacher different but so was my History teacher. One of my other sweet innocent friends and I had this teacher for history and he made no secret of the fact that the Bible was nothing more than a good history book. Wow, welcome to middle school Lindsay. 

That year I experienced mean girls at their finest. I still had my close circle of friends but the need to be cool as the lowest girls on the totem pole really took full force that year. I guess being a good girl wasn't the coolest thing anymore. 

My friends Tiffany and Amy both moved off that year, making me one sad girl. I guess my mom decided she had had enough of the public school system and that ended my school career in The Colony.

Seventh grade was my first year of homeschooling. Looking back on it I really appreciate that period of my life. My mom was trying to make enough money to stay at home as a single mom and some of the families of our church stepped in and would help homeschool me during the day. 

That was also the first year that I was old enough to be apart of the youth group at church. I remember getting on the bus for our very first year youth camp and wondering what I had gotten myself into! Fortunately, I made quick friends with kids I only sort of knew before. I don't remember much about that first year at camp other then the van ride there! 

Seventh grade was also the year I was introduced to Christian Rock. No, I'm not talking about Micheal W. Smith or Steven Curtis Chapman. I'm not even talking about Petra or Styper. I'm talking about Five Iron Frenzy and MXPX. {What you've never heard of them??} I have to say those bands changed my life....

Eighth grade brought about more changes in my life. Big changes.  I started off continuing to homeschool but after Christmas break my mom put me in a Christian school. She was getting married and we could actually afford a Christian school. {well, I assume thats why I got to go there! ha!} 

The school I went to was a Fundamental Baptist Church which meant skirts only for this pants wearing girl. I actually kind of enjoyed the skirts only thing until it came to play sports. Yes, my friends, we were required to wear coulottes for sports. We played softball, on-the-field-against-other-teams-softball in coulottes. We had our baseball socks up to our knees and sported cute navy blue skirt shorts. We were quite the sight I tell ya. 

With the end of my middle school years brought the biggest change in my life to date. My mom had gotten remarried and we were moving to Colorado. I was leaving everything I had ever known in my life so far and moving several states away. 

Leaving the only house I could remember living in.

Leaving the town that I had spent my life living in.

Leaving the church that I had grown so much in and had shaped so many of my life values.

We were leaving Texas and moving to Colorado.

Welcome to the summer going into high school. 

The summer I spent knowing no one at all but learning to really love the Colorado landscape.

Can you pull it out?

Over at Sailor & Company a new meme has started and I thought it would be fun to include our most recent funny from Audrey. (She shares them with us alot!)

Audrey is constantly walking around with big 'ol wedgies stuck up in her hiney. She never said anything to me about them and never complained. But, one day last week I called her over to me and said 'Audrey, you have a big wedgie in your bottom' and I pulled it out. And then she went on her way playing again.

Last night she came up to me and said 'mommy, I have a wedgie. Will you pull it out?' and she lifted up her dress.

I was cracking up as were her big sisters. It was so hilarious coming from such a little thing!

Rain

I've been feeling a little blue lately.

I'm kinda worn out.

Burnt out.

I dunno....just tired.

Sometimes we forget to stop trying to do everything on our own and just rest in Jesus. 

Why am I always forgetting that?

Back after I had Owen I was going through a really down period and I would play this song over and over and it really ministered to me during that period.

I ran across another blog the other day where the author is having a really rough patch and I shared this song with her, in hopes that it might minister to her like it did me.

I decided since I'm feeling kinda blue again lately there is probably someone else out there who this might bless too.

We are blessed to be led into worship by these guys every week at corporate worship.

New Stuff...BABY stuff!

....in my Etsy shop! 

I decided to list some baby items.

I've been making baby sets as gifts for friends and since people always say I should be selling these sets I decided it was about time I did.

We're saving for our vacation so any sales will go towards that.

After that we'll be saving towards Christmas and finishing our bedroom addition.

We're trying to give in an even bigger way this Christmas.
Once August hits I feel like it means we should star getting serious about how we're gonna give and what we're gonna give to this Christmas season. 

Anyways, visit my shop and buy some items :)

And refer your friends.

If you refer someone and they purchase something have them mention

Because He Gave and YOUR name

and I'll knock $5 off their order 

and you'll get a $5 credit. 

That means refer 3 friends who place orders and you'll get 3 FREE burp cloths!

You can do free, right?

I can also do custom orders. 

Like this: 2 burp cloths, guitar bib, tie onsie and initial onsie.

Or a custom order like this:
Ruffle back (not pictured) appliqued onsie, matching chenille bib and chenille burp cloth.

Or custom clothing orders like this:

If you're interested in anything I pictured but don't have listed in my shop email me at Lindslane82@gmail.com and put ETSY in the subject line. And we'll talk prices and setting up a custom order for you!

Visit Homegrown Bows On Etsy!

The Lindsay Files- Part 7

If I thought 4th grade brought good and bad experiences I never would have expected what 5th grade would bring. 

A new school. 

More death.

And, the realization that sometimes being cool trumps friendship.

My 5th grade teacher was Mrs. Auer. I really liked her. She was tall, thin, elegant and had really good handwriting. She was also a neighbor of my moms best friend. When we'd visit my moms friend I'd pop down the street and say hello to my teacher. I thought that was pretty cool.

We were the first 5th grade class at Morningside Elementary. 

Once again I was in the same class as my good friends Tiffany, Amy, Natalie and Katie. I was still in LEAP and loving it. I ran to be President of our student council and made Vice President (the principles daughter won for President. I'm sure it had nothing to do with her last name or anything. Just sayin'.... *smile*). My mom started working from home that year so I got to spend alot more time with her. 

 Im in the white shirt on the left. The girl leaning over is my friend Natalie.

We also started going to a new church. A church that would change the course of my life. {more on that later}

My brother Corey joined the Navy and was shipped off to Chicago. Before he left he bought me a pair of K-Swiss. Those shoes meant the world to me! 

That was the year that I began to realize that sometimes being cool means choosing not to do what was right or good. Some of my close friends (not the ones mentioned above) decided I wasn't cool enough to be good friends with anymore because well, I was a good girl. It wasn't too bad and I didn't really suffer any bullying because fortunately being good girl was still a good thing in the 5th grade. 

In 4th grade I had been Mrs. Claus {as in Santas wife}, a lead part, in our school play. In 5th grade my friend Amy {she was the one with the matching outfit in 4th grade} and I tried out to be extras in a production of The Music Man that our local high school was putting on. We both made the cut and we got to perform in the high school productions as 5th graders. That was a great experience!

My oldest brother Shawn {well, his first name is Mark but since he's a junior the family calls him Shawn} had moved back home and gotten a dog that year. He picked this irresistible bouncing black lab pup and named her Hannah. The personality that at first was irresistible turned into a the dog from...well you know. She chewed everything. Ruined lots of my brothers shoes and books. He was done with her and wanted her gone. By this time though I had fallen in love with her. So, I convinced my mom she couldn't go anywhere. And she didnt. Hannah did have a problem with getting out the yard though. She would jump our fence and get picked up by animal control. At one point Hannah was found by a sweet woman. She fell in love with Hannah but soon realized we were her owners. My mom had told the lady she could keep Hannah because Hannah caused so much trouble getting out constantly. And, she was an extra expense my mom didn't need. The lady asked my mom if we wanted Hannah and we did, she just cost a little too much to keep. So, instead of keeping Hannah the lady arrived at our door one day with a few HUGE bags of dog food and a specially made dog house just for Hannah. What a sweet woman she was!

That year wasn't all good though. My dad, step mom and step sister had moved back to Dallas. My step moms cancer had been in remission but in August they found out it had returned. My step sister was only 4 months older than me but a year older in school. My step mom faught the returning cancer until December when she lost her battle and died on December 5th. My 11th birthday. Since she had passed away in her sleep I remember wishing they could change the date so that the date of her death was not my 11th birthday. My relationship was never the same with my dad from that point on. It took until I was 16 for him to even acknowledge my birthday again. But, really, that didn't even matter. I honestly didn't care too much. I believe the Lord allowed my heart to not grow bitter and even at such a young age to understand the hurt of others and to heave forgiveness undeservingly, just like our Savior has done for us. I had just wished my step sister didn't have to lose her mom and that my dad didn't have to lose his wife. My step sister ended up moving in with her real dad and her step mom and we pretty much lost touch for the most part. {Not anymore thanks to Facebook though. :)}

I look back on my years through elementary and can really appreciate all the things I experienced. The good and the bad. I was so outgoing and involved in everything at school. I had lots of close friends and a mom who put an Eternal focus on life. 

We left 5th grade being the big kids on campus and entered the world of 6th grade. A grade full of experiences that changed my life. We entered the world of middle school.....

The Lindsay Files-

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

9 years

Last week our biggest baby turned 9 years old.

Really, 9 years??

It seems like just yesterday she entered the world and forever changed our future. 

The Lord used that little life to change the course of 2 big lives all for His glory. 

Like the song says 'a baby changes everything'  and so it was for 2 young parents starting their lives together. 

We could have never imagined 9 years ago that the Lord would draw us closer to Him through the birth of our first child.

A girl.

Our Miss Liss.

From just a little thing she has always had compassion and encouragement for others and been full of life! She seems to excel at everything she pursues and even at a young age showed a love for the Father.

She is a huge helper and makes the perfect oldest child in our family.

We thank God that He chose to use her little life to change the course of our big lives.

She is our first blessing and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Photo Challenges

I'm participating in the Iheartfaces and Paper Mama photo challenges for the very first time! This weeks theme is "over the head" and "action" so I thought this picture was perfect for both of them! 
Here is Derek throwing Owen up in my parents swimming pool on the 4th of July.

Raw{e} Mirror Images

This weeks Raw{e} theme over at Sailor & Company is Mirror Images. My first thought was the obvious; a mirror. But, then I thought  there are other surfaces that make mirror images besides mirrors. 

So, here is a picture of Owen when he was about 6-7 months playing on my parents hardwood floors. I love how the floors reflected the toys and him as he was sitting there. 

My Flower Girl

Saturday Ava was the flower girl in Derek's cousins wedding. I've become good friends with the bride and when they asked Ava to be their flower girls she was beyond excited!

I know some wondered why we would let Ava if Elisa wasnt included (assuming Audrey wouldnt know the difference) but we felt like this was a perfect way for Ava to feel special. Being the second girl, and the middle child for awhile, there are few times when she gets special attention for just her. Elisa has had many opportunities in her life to be the star, whether it be through excelling in sports (when she played them) or just being the oldest child in general, so this gave Ava her chance.

Getting dressed up like a princess is right up Ava's alley so she had such a memorable experience! Dereks cousin, who is 4 months younger than Ava, was the ring bearer and they just made such a cute little duo!

I was so excited to have my own camera to get to capture her all dressed up and not have to rely on the wedding photographer to get some good shots.