The Joy is in the Journey

Cakes, Texas, Valentine's

2012-02-17T14:36:00.003-06:00

I'm sitting in a quiet house listening to the the wash machine and dryer and smelling a chocolate cake in the oven! Jaxen is still napping and it is a Friday! Friday's are my days off and I look forward to them so much! I love getting to play with my Jaxen and get things done around the house!

This past weekend we attended a church in Texas to candidate for a youth pastor position there. It is 10 hours from our current home and praise the Lord we were able to fly! That 10 hours is projected but I'm sure they don't take my 2 year old in to account for the timing! We had a fantastic trip! We absolutely love the pastor and his family! The were so welcoming and made us feel like part of the group just sitting around the kitchen table! Their youngest daughter is 7 and my Jaxen was smitten! He would have followed her anywhere! The church there will be voting on hiring us this upcoming Sunday and then the ball is in our court.

Valentine's Day was Brandon and my's 9th one together! We both had to work all day but that night we went to Fazoli's which is where our first date (group date) was in 2004 and sat in the same booth!! Then we went to see the movie "The Vow"! Loved it! There were a few things in the movie I wish they would have left out but overall good!

The above pictures are 2 cake orders I've made and then Jaxen posing showing his tattoo!

It's been a while

2012-01-14T14:10:00.003-06:00

Hello friends! It's been a while so here are some of my favorite pics since I've blogged last!

Sorry I have slacked lately in the blogging dept. With Christmas crafting I have been super busy and married to my hot glue gun the month of December, now January is here and the decor is back to normal in the house so here I am blogging again!

I'm sitting in a nice warm and quiet house thinking of how blessed I am! We had a fantastic Christmas with both sides of our families! It was odd not having my daddy there however I'm sure their celebrations in Heaven are way better then anything we could do down here! Gifts were given and received and the moral of the story we are very loved!

We are still actively pursuing a full time ministry position to wherever the Lord has for us! We do however struggle with the thought process of serving some place we wouldn't choose to be members if we moved to the area. We want an up and coming church, nothing liberal but we love good worship music and great preaching. We prefer bigger churches with more then 1 staff member. So we struggle with the option of taking a job simply b/c its offered to us and there is evidently a need to reach people in the area and is that where our preference is to be. It might sound silly or over thought but it is something we discuss often especially now we have a child in the mix. So please pray with us as we follow God's will in our life and pray that the job He has for us will show itself clear very soon!

As you can see above the cake orders coming in! I absolutely love them! In the midst of it all its a bit stressful but at the end when you know it turned out exactly the way you wanted it to be it is so worth it!

too blessed

2011-12-03T23:17:00.002-06:00

I am sitting in bed on my lap top as Brandon is asleep next to me snoring away! Jaxen is in the next room breathing heavy to where I can hear him from here and the 2 basset hounds are snuggled up in the other room cozy and quiet on their beds! I am so blessed! I take so many things for granted that I don't pause to observe them most of the time! I am surrounded with so many people that love me and poor their love onto me! God has blessed us with good health, a roof over our head, food in the pantry, more clothes then can fit me, too many shoes to count, great relationships, a fantastic church with the Godliest pastor I've ever been under, a good paying job, friends that are a hoot, family lives close, the list goes on...
Today as a service project with our small group from church we volunteered at the Salvation Army. We unloaded a truck full of food and then sorted and re-packed the food for people to be given! I wasn't around the poor and desperate people that need the food, but it still blessed me. It blessed me in the way that it was so nice to see how much food was donated to people there was no face with. Thankful I live in a country where food is one thing we never go with out!

Crazy Love

2011-11-10T16:03:00.002-06:00

I haven't blogged often for simply lack of anything blog worthy. Some days all I want to write about is missing my dad and how much of a void I feel without him here. But I choose to not be depressing or sad. Other days I feel that I'm simply going through the motions between working, mom-ing, wife-ing, etc. simply living life with nothing new to blog about.

However, I am here today to post about the current book we are doing our Bible study on Wednesday nights about! My husband is leading a small group Bible study at church on Crazy Love. I'm not a reader! I'll define that better...I pretty much loath reading books. I get bored and it takes me forever to read anything since I make different voices up for each character. The book Crazy Love is a very convicting read!

"Have you ever wondered if we're missing it? It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe-the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor-loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. ...when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything."

Luke 6:32-36 says If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even "sinners" love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even "sinners" do that. And if you lend to those from who expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even "sinners" lend to "sinners," expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

I am learning so much! Even growing up in church and being around Christians my entire life there is so much to learn about how to love like Christ!

update

2011-10-20T22:08:00.003-05:00

I've added some new things to the Etsy store today! I plan to finish 8 new recipe boxes and upload them by the end of the weekend! Keep checking for new items! My new favorite is the duct tape brooch! Check it out! www.onegirlscurls.etsy.com

My baby turned 2 in Sept!! I still can't believe I am a parent of a full blown todler! I look at people that have 11 year old children and they seem so old and that stage of life seems so far away! I'm afraid we'll be there before I want! Here is a picture of my sweet baby on his birthday!

Jesus Bring the Rain

2011-09-26T20:38:00.003-05:00

I have set down to start this blog many times and have ended up hitting the back space button and staring at a blank page. My dad has won battle of cancer! He is no longer suffering in the awful cancer ridden body that was once the shell I hugged and loved on for 27 1/2 years! Heaven gained a great man on September 14, Wednesday night around 5:40 pm. I'm sure the angels rejoiced for the weary soul that was able to walk on the streets of gold that he had only dreamed about but became reality in the blink of an eye. I'm sure he was welcomed in the presence of my God with open arms and greeted with "Well done my faithful servant, welcome home!"
We all sat by his bedside as he slipped from this life to the next. I wish I could say we knew what was happening, but truthfully we did not know what was happening that very moment. However, we were there as a family and we all had a very private time that I will never forget. We had a beautiful funeral service Friday night Sept. 16 here in Springfield and then we all traveled up to his home town in Indiana and had another set of services up there along with a burial service on Tues Sept 20. Salvation was preached at both services and I know my dad would have been very proud of how everything was handled and said.
Since my dad was diagnosed with cancer he learned to play the guitar, simply to play and sing one song. In June of this year he sang and played Mercy Me's "Jesus Bring the Rain" so I will close with an exert from the song that he sang and lived with all his might.

I can count a million times

People asking me how I

Can praise You with all that I've gone through,

The question still amazes me

Can circumstances possibly

Change who I forever am in You?

Maybe since my life was changed

Long before these rainy days

It's never really ever crossed my mind

To turn my back on You, oh Lord

My only shelter from the storm,

but instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray,

Bring me joy, bring me peace, bring the chance to be free, bring me anything that brings You glory, and I know there'll be days when this life brings me pain but if that's what it takes to praise You, Jesus, bring the rain

The Big Boy Bed

2011-09-09T16:58:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged for a few weeks, partly because I don't want all my posts to be depressing with how Dad is doing so I was waiting for "something" blog worthy to type about! This week we have taken apart the baby crib and given Jaxen his big boy bed!!
He now has a car bed! He loves it! He immediately stood up and said "jump, jump!" I was confident he would adapt quickly and without problems. However, I was slightly wrong! The first few nights were awful!! After 45 minutes of blood curdling screams we decided it wasn't going to be as smooth as we hoped for! But each night has gotten a little better and we're anticipating normalcy any night now!
Next Saturday my baby boy will be 2!! We're planning a McDonald's birthday party so I will have pictures soon!!

Barbie Cake/Roller Skating!

2011-08-22T15:18:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we got to go to Brandon's home town to celebrate our niece's birthday! Here is a picture of Jaxen sportin' his back pack with his cousins! He loves being the center of attention and the only boy! This picture was taken at Spaghetti Warehouse and the kids loved playing!
Our Emily was turning 7 and had a skating party! We were very anxious to see how Jaxen did with skates and everything that goes with that! Loved every bit of it!! They didn't have his size of skates so he was wearing 3 sizes too big! At first we stood him up and it was hilarious! He was like a wet noodle but within 20 minutes he was doing great and refused to use our hands for help! He was taking baby steps and didn't fall hardly at all! Being a parent puts such a great new spin on everything!

I got to make the cake for the party! This was my first Barbie cake and it was a blast! It took me 2 hours to decorate it after it baked for more then 2 hours but it was so so worth it! Emilly loved it and I'm super stoked that she'll remember it forever!!!

Daddy and Jaxen

2011-08-15T21:59:00.002-05:00

I am so thankful that God chose to give us months to spend preparing to give Daddy to Heaven! So many people don't get any warning their loved one is dying and don't get to say how much they love them or mentally and emotionally prepare themselves. I thank God tha tHe has given us this time with my dad! The top picture that is shown was taken on June 10 and the bottom picture was taken tonight. 2 months and here we are! His belly is so swollen from retaining fluid so it is hard to tell how much weight he has lost, but he sure does look skinnier! Let me get this out there...I refuse to say that he is "loosing the battle to cancer" or when he dies that "he has lost the battle to cancer"! He is the strongest man I know for enduring what he has gone through these past 3 years and what this awful disease is doing to him he isn't loosing any battles! He is gaining his mansion in Heaven and getting to be with his creator! We are loosing him but he isn't loosing anyting! That's my rant! :o)

My Jaxen

2011-08-11T21:30:00.002-05:00

Oh my little Jaxen! He has captured my heart so much! He will be 2 on September 17th and is, as the saying goes, "all boy"!! All my life I wanted to be a mom, who doesn't! For whatever reason God chose to let us have dificulty getting pregnant. I can't say that I know why He chose for us to wait, but what I do know is that Jaxen was so worth every struggling month of a failed pregnancy test and every tear that was shed during that time! He has brought me such joy and fun! He loves to wrestle and rough house, but also knows the perfect time to cuddle and hug! I believe that being a parent helps me realize a glimpse of the sacrifice it was for God to give Jesus up! How could a Father willingly give up his only son, whom was perfect and without blame for me...a selfish, pathetic, Christian whom deserves to hell without escape! God is so gracious to us to offer us that sacrifice and a way out!

It's Monday

2011-08-08T21:37:00.002-05:00

I just started reading the book "Crazy Love." I will tell you I am definitely not, nor have I ever claimed to be a person that enjoys reading as a form of entertainment! That being said I am taking my time and really enjoying each page of this book! Brandon will be teaching the book as an elective on Wednesday nights at church starting in Sept. but I wanted to get a head start on it since I don't read very fast and wanted to take the class with him. The author explains in depth his view on how we should respond to what Christ has done for us! He has such a down to earth approach and a real way of expressing his views! I recommend this book to anyone that wants to look at Christianity in a fresh view!
Dad is still hanging in there. He has lost more weight and is much more sluggish then he used to be. It's hard to believe that 2 months ago we were taking our family pictures while Amber was in town, I look at those every day and am so thankful that we got them done when we did! That was God's timing for sure! He doesn't look like himself or even carry on much of a conversation much any more. 2 weeks ago I had Friday off work and he wanted to come help me get some things done and so during Jaxen's nap time he was helping me with dishes. Standing there next to each other I asked him if he was scared of what was going to happen within the next few months and he answered a confident no and that he was just ready to go now and would rather not have to wait and be a burden on anyone in the future. I reassured him that we would all take care of mom for him and to not worry about that. We spoke of who all he will see in heaven that has preceded him and how cool that will be to hold my sister Lisa's baby she lost! We all have that peace that passes any understanding of what is happening. God is in control and we all know that this is part of His plan! Thank you for your continued prayers!

A letter to God

2011-07-18T22:14:00.002-05:00

If I could write a letter to God this might be what I would write:
Dear God,
I respectfully have a few questions that are on my heart lately that I need your help with. Nothing silly like why in the world did you give us mosquito's although that would be nice to have an answer to. But more serious questions like for instance, why is it that we tithe and give to missions like you ask us to, but there is still more month at the end of the of our budget? Why do you allow young school aged girls that come from awful backgrounds and have no means to support a child get pregnant while I have friends that are good Godly Christians are unable to get pregnant? Why do you allow abortion to be legal and take so many innocent lives every day? Why the horrible "natural" disasters? Why is it that we are willing to serve You in full time ministry but we can't seem to get a job doing so? Why are you allowing my Dad to endure this horrific disease we call cancer? Why will you take his life so early, before he is able to see my brother get married or my son go to kindergarten? Why does he have to feel such pain in the body you have given him here on earth? How can I have such a peace and not be upset with you the giver and taker of life? What will this "daddy's girl" do on Father's Day next year?
Love, Melissa

If God were to take time to write back it might look like this:
Dear Child,
I love you so much! Please be patient and realize you can't see the whole picture that I have drawn for you. I wish you could see your life through my eyes and know that I have a reason for everything that is aloud to happen there on earth. Take joy in knowing that your earthly Dad will be with me soon and I will show him the wonders of Heaven that only you can dream about! He will get to meet Peter, Moses, Abraham, and Joseph, he will sit and listen as they tell their memories first hand. I have prepared a place for him and it is something out of this world! It has a KC Chiefs room that is one of a kind! Know that he will be ok and feel no more pain once He is with me. I know you will miss him but you will make it just fine on the memories you have made with him in 27 years.
I love you my child!
Your Heavenly Father

Shatto house update

2011-07-11T21:11:00.003-05:00

Update on the Shatto house!

* This past Thursday night was my last cake decorating class, I had an absolute blast learning all that I did! My final cake didn't turn out as good as I would have liked! It was meant to be a 2 layer chocolate on chocolate cake, however the icing turned out too thin and the top layer literally slid off the bottom layer...long story but we ate the bottom layer at home and I took and decorated a small 1 layer chocolate cake! I have been asked to do my first birthday cake for someone else! I talked them into allowing me to do cupcakes instead since I feel more confident! I'm excited!

* We introduced Jaxen to the potty chair! He's not a fan! We'll see!!!

* The last picture is a photo of a custom ordered recipe box I made for a friend! My etsy store is doing good so far. I've sold more off line then through my etsy store, which is fine with me! I will be hosting a vendor booth at an upcoming sale in August and I am super stoked about that!

* Dad is doing pretty good! The Dr.s office drained 5 1/2 liters of fluid off his stomach area today! He's lost weight and seems to be more sluggish but overall is still doing well! We are going on our "daddy daughter date" tomorrow night! That's his fathers day gift! We will be going to see Thor!

* I am letting my current craft projects dry while I blog this!

* I am so blessed to be so content in my life! I see so many people that are so unhappy and want to change so many things! I am so thankful for a loving and supportive husband and family!

One Girls Curls

2011-06-29T21:50:00.002-05:00

I am very excited to inform you all that my Etsy store is up and running! I know in the realm of life this isn't that big of a deal but today in my life it is a big deal! I feel accomplished and anxious! I've already made sales from friends at work! I felt like it was a big under taking to start it all up and get an original of each craft ready to go. I must say the hardest part was finding a name for the shop! I had settled on 4 different names at different times and each one I wanted was already taken! So then I was back at square one! Brandon actually came up with One Girls Curls for me! He is so supportive and helpful during this Etsy craze! Check out my shop at www.onegirlscurls.etsy.com Enjoy!!

cute as a button

2011-06-27T19:51:00.002-05:00

This is a picture of my latest craft project! I hope to have my etsy store up and running by the end of the week! I will be sure to blog as soon as I do and post pictures! This upcoming Thursday night will be cupcake night in our cake class! I am loving the cake class that Brandon

got for me! I am learning so much and I feel it's realy practical stuff I will use!

Thankfull!!

2011-06-16T22:04:00.003-05:00

There are so many days I just sit and am overwhelmed with thankfulness! I am so thankful that my baby sister got to come for a visit! A wonderful family in our church has a beautiful huge house and were going on vacation and offered there house to us to use so we could all stay together while Amber and Trevor were here! They fully stocked the fridge and let us simply be at home in their house! What a blessing! All 13 of us were able to stay under one roof and enjoy each other! That is truly loving like Christ! Who just gives up their house!!

I am thankful for the time we are given with my dad! He is beginning to decline quickly. He is now having to take his pain medication more often, his body is retaining fluid, he can't eat as much as he once did, every time he sits he sleeps, he needs at least 6 naps a day to continue, but I am so thankful he has a great testimony during this all! Sunday night at church he sang Mercy Me's 'Jesus Bring the Rain' if you haven't heard the song it simply states that why would the bad things in our lives make us love God less...what's a little rain...whatever brings Him glory just bring the rain! The congregation gave a standing ovation and I don't believe there was a dry eye in the house. Jared got up to preach directly after dad sang and was so choked up he broke down before he could continue.

On a lighter note...the above picture is my very first cake from my cake decorating class! Brandon got me these classes as my Mother's Day gift and it is so much fun! I feel so accomplished and like I actually did a good job! The instructor is so kind and makes you really believe you can do it so easily! I don't desire to be a professional baker or cake designer by any means but I will be able to make Jaxen's birthday cakes!

Family pics

2011-06-12T15:26:00.003-05:00

This extened weekend has been absotly wonderful! My baby sister and her husband came in town and we haven't seen them in almost a year. We all got our family pictures done, attended a baseball game, took mom to the Princess Diana exhibit in Kansas City, and we're staying in a big house all together! We are so very blessed to get this time together!

creativity

2011-06-06T21:22:00.003-05:00

My creative juices are a flowin'!! I've always thought of myself as creative and desiring to be artistic in some fashion, but never really lived up to either of those descriptions like I wanted to. I wouldn't say that I can whip something out of the air and sell it for $100 with out trying by any means, but I am simply coming around to the experimental side of creative projects! Don't ask me to paint or draw anything, but give me some ribbons and buttons and I'll surprise you! My near future goal is to start an etsy store and make some extra money. Nothing amazing or making enough to pay the car payment by any stretch of the imagination, but maybe enough to pay our Internet bill or... living on the edge the utility bill! We'll see! My latest project in the picture is button earrings. They are so very easy and they really catch the eye! I posted a picture of them on facebook and not even trying to I sold 7 pairs to 1 person!! I am selling them 2 pairs for $5. So yes, after using a calculator I discovered I made $17.50 on my first ever selling order!!! And that my friends will pay the Internet bill this month! (not that we cannot pay it...just allocating it in my head makes me feel good!) My next project to accomplish is a recipe box! I can picture it in my head and I have purchased all the materials needed so I just need to find time to accomplish it! Pictures to come soon...hopefully!

The love of my life!

2011-06-03T12:38:00.003-05:00

Dear Brandon,

I love you so much! Tomorrow we are celebrating our 6 year anniversary! I still remember the first phone call we had that lasted for hours as we both layed in our dorm rooms so anxious to learn more about each other! You are so good to me and always have been! You've taught me what it truly means to be happy!

I still have the wedding gifts you sent me through out the day while I was getting ready! I remember seeing you for the first time that day as I walked down the isle towards you to begin our new life together!

You are such a Godly man and amazing dad to Jaxen! You work hard to provide for us and always make sure we are taken care of before you take care of yourself! I remember our first kiss like it was yesterday! I love you so much! Thankful for the past 6 years and looking forward to the next 60!

I love you!

Love, Your wife!!

Some fun

2011-05-26T17:14:00.007-05:00

Brandon and I went on a late date night to go see Pirates of the Caribbean on opening night last weekend! We went after the Relay for Life so we had a late night and it was very fun! There were only like 10 people in the theater and our fun glasses are our 3D glasses! Aren't we cute! Next Saturday we'll be married for 6 years! Some days I can't believe it's been that long and other days it feels like we've been married forever (in a good way).

This upcoming weekend we'll go down to Joplin for Brandon to work in the Walgreen's down there and I'll stay with my sister while he's working. The tragedy of the tornado is so close to us! My older sister and her family are within 5 miles of the devastation. It is all so close to home! It seems like this week that is all everyone is talking about! I pray that in some way God will get the glory from this awful tragedy people are having to suffer!

Last night Jaxen was watching the video camera recordings of the past year that we've taken of him and he was cracking up at himself! He is absolutely funny!! The above picture was taken last Saturday when I went on a girls shopping day with my friends and Brandon and Jaxen had a boy's day! Which entailed playing in the mud puddle of course!

Outside!!!

2011-05-13T15:45:00.004-05:00

The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately! Jaxen would live outside if he could! That's all he wans to do is play play play! He has been trying to say more words this week, which is good b/c he is a little slower at speaking then what I would like. I think he's in the process of working on his 2 year mollers. Joyful!! He is sitting right next to me drinking his milk in his right hand and playing with my hair in his left hand!

Thank you for continuing to pray for my dad! He started a chemo regeminet this past Monday. This particular chemo is not for his type of cancer and has less then a 10% of doing any good. The dr. didn't choose to do any scans before he began this treatment which is annoying and makes me feel that she doesn't even think it will work. Please pray for him and his spirits! He has rough days and good days. He is still working full time but we're not sure how much longer he will be able to keep that up. Again, thank you for your prayers!

Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T22:19:00.004-05:00

This is a picture of my mom and I. It's not from today but since it's Mother's Day I thought it was fitting.

What an absolutely amazing day we had as the Shatto family! God gives us Mother's Day every year as an uplifting gift that we get spoiled and loved on!

I am so thankful that I get to celebrate today with other mothers! That is not a job that I take lightly! As a little girl I couldn't wait to celebrate Mother's Day and everything that it stood for. As we were trying to get pregnant with Jaxen it was difficult to endure others be joyful on Mother's Day, as selfish as that sounds, but as I look back on that tough time on our life I believe it truly makes me appreciate so much more of what other people go through and also being a mom.

Unfortunately, you don't have to pass a test to be a parent and take a baby home from the hospital! So many people take parenting way too light hearted and not serious enough life the amazing responsibility that it is. God has placed an eternal soul in our hands that we get to shape and mold to serve Him!

Oh, for Mother's Day Brandon and Jaxen spoiled me by giving me a gift certificate to get a pedicure, a gift certificate to Charming Charlie, and my favoritest cake decorating classes!!

My funny guy

2011-05-02T18:38:00.003-05:00

Here is a picture of my little man! This was taken last week an hour after bed time! Brandon was getting Jaxen ready for bed and being silly put Jaxen's pants on his head and was dancing, Jaxen decided he wanted the pants on his head and so Brandon gave him what he wanted and boy was it funny! He was so funny and energetic! He ran laps around the house with these pants on his head shrugging his shoulders. He makes us laugh so much!

It's so nice to have such a light hearted comedic relief during some tough days we have! We found out this past Thursday that the insurance will not pay for the trial chemo drug that the St. Louis dr. wanted him to try. So needless to say he was quit depressed and down this past week. Please keep our family in your prayers!

My baby sister is coming home this June for about 10 days so were very much looking forward to her visit! We'll be taking family pictures and having lots of family time! Looking forward to making memories!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T18:58:00.002-05:00

We had an absolutly wonderful weekend! God is so very good to give us this extra time with our family as we live in Springfield and as Dad is fighting his battle of cancer! We had practiced the "egg hunt game" with Jaxen at home so during the egg hunt at church he would atleaset have an idea about what the concept is. At home it went great and he completely understood the concept. So Saturday we felt good about his hunting abilities and were confident that he could keep up with the best of them. What actually happened during the hunt was very cute. He really just wanted to play in the big open gym space. He was picking up eggs ever so often and sometimes he would put them in his basket and sometimes he would put them in his friends basket. He really couldn't care less about them all! It was funny!

Sunday we got to celebrate Christ with our amazing church family! We have the best church family there is! I wish I could put into words how wonderful it is worship with fellow believers of like faith loudly and to the top of my lungs!

A baby book moment

2011-04-18T17:55:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we took Jaxen to his first movie theater! It was a chickie movie, Disney's "Tangled." He did amazing! I had no doubts since he's such a good movie watcher at home! He just sat on my lap and was in awe of the giant screen! He was on cloud 9 with the popcorn too! Brandon took the popcorn bucket off Jaxen's lap to eat his portion and without looking away from the screen Jaxen reached over and grabed it back and put it on his own lap to eat again! We just laughed and enjoyed the moment of our little boy having the time of his life! These are the moments!

Thankful for my Dad

2011-04-11T18:23:00.003-05:00

Last Wednesday we took Dad up to a cancer specialist in St. Louis to see if there were any more options they could come up to treat Dad. I went with expectations they would have something that was unheard of down here in Springfield. Sitting in that room with mom, dad, and Lisa we were given the news that unfortunately they had "exhausted all medical treatments" that were known to help his cancer. The Dr. was so nice and intelligent and as he's going through this information. I sat there with a lump in my throat and kept waiting for him to say "but...this is what I think we should do!" They have put dad on a waiting list for a trial drug however this drug has not been proven to help colon cancer only pancreas cancer or lung cancer. The waiting list is very long and they only accept a few people at a time. We're not even sure his insurance will cover the trial drug. That was the Dr.'s only option.

That day is when I realized this awful disease will take my Dad's life. When he was originally diagnosed in June 2008 they said they can't cure him only treat him, however there has always been another option, another treatment, another med that can help, there's always been some good news to go along with the bad news. This time there was no good news. Since that day I have made sure to tell Daddy I love him everyday!

There are times I have to fight off being depressed and weepy and thank God for giving us these next months to enjoy every minute we can with him!

I thank God for giving me a Christian family and loving me enough to give me this time to let my dad know what he means to me! Some people lose a parent in a crash or other immediate circumstances that they don't get the chance to tell them how much they mean to them and how thankful they are for them. I thank God for everyday!

Please Pray!

2011-03-31T17:38:00.001-05:00

Please pray today for my dad! He was diagnosed almost 3 years ago with 2 separate stage 4 cancers. Since then he has been through 2 surgeries and countless rounds of chemotherapy.

Last Monday his oncologist here in Springfield told him there was nothing more they could do for him and that they couldn't get the cancer to stop growing. He has spots on his liver, lungs, and areas around his stomach lining.

We are going to a cancer specializing hospital in St. Louis this upcoming Wednesday and we have an appointment at noon to see what they can do for him there. Please pray that God heals dad and gives him a full recovery! Pray that our family has peace and patience. Please pray that dads spirits stay up and positive. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-03-19T16:51:00.000-05:00

This past week we got to celebrate my moms birthday! I would tell you how old she is but I'm sure she'll be reading this and would surely kill me for letting you in on that information!
As you can see in the picture there are 3 candles on her cake, those 3 candles stand for being a cancer SURVIVOR for 3 years!
I have the best mom in the world! She would do anything for our family and she's shown me how to be a Godly wife and mother! I remember growing up and how special she would make us feel on our birthday's by making our favorite meals and putting so much thought into our gifts. We didn't have much money so she always made sure that our gifts were special! She always put so much thought and love into each find!
Mom, I love you so much and I thank you for making me the women I am today! You are so special to me and I try to pattern my mothering after you!
I love you more!
Melissa
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Back to Blogging

2011-03-12T14:00:00.005-06:00

I am back to blogging! We haven't had Internet at the house so it makes it unfeasible to blog often. We had tax money set aside and last night we went to Best Buy and came home with Brandon a Mac and myself an Asus netbook! I love it! I am currently sitting at my moms using their Internet in hopes we will have Internet at home sooner rather then later.

Jaxen will be 18 months this week! He is so much stinkin' fun! He has learned that he likes to make us laugh. He is definitely an entertainer! Being a mom is the greatest job ever! He brings so much joy and laughter to my soul after a long day of work! Just seeing his face in the morning when he wakes up and he wants nothing more then to cuddle with momma and drink his milk is the best part of my day!

We have had 2 interviews with East Side Baptist Church in Topeka KS and are going up to check out the church the weekend of March 27th to see if we are a good match so please keep that in your prayers! We both feel like we are so very ready to jump back into full time ministry and can't wait to see where the Lord places us!

3 Months!!!!!

2009-12-15T16:05:00.003-06:00

Here are some current pictures of our little family! Jaxen will be 3 months this Thursday! I can't believe how big he's getting! He went to the Dr. yesterday and is in the 20 percentile for his weight and between the 5-10 percentile for his height...so he's just a lil' fella! He weighs 12 lbs and 8 oz and is 22 1/2 in long. He is drooling a lot more which the Dr. attributes to teething. He tries to sit up while he's laying in my lap, has no concern with rolling over whatsoever, and is cooing like crazy!! Enjoy the pictures!

update

2009-12-05T14:51:00.003-06:00

Wow! It's been forever since I've posted a blog on here!! Since my last post we have been fired and relocated back to Springfield MO. God is definitely trying our faith right now during this transitional time in our lives. We are so thankful that we both got our old jobs back and were able to start this past week. We are currently staying with Jared and Kim Bumpers and it is going really well! We were a little worried since Jaxen is obviously a baby and babies cry a lot, but it is going very well! It is nice to be close to my side of the family and to have Jaxen by his Papa and Grandma.
He is getting so big so fast! He is "talking" up a storm! He is definitely a morning baby. His smiles melt my heart!! He is so precious! He has done wonderful during the transition of moving! He has his bad days and his good days thankfully more good days then bad.

some new pics

2009-11-02T21:07:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures that we just uploaded to the computer. Everything is going good here! I get to go see Beth Moore live this weekend with my church ladies, can't wait! Brandon and Jaxen will be together all day Friday and Saturday without Mommy... but it will be worth it!!

6 weeks!

2009-10-29T16:46:00.002-05:00

Greetings! Jaxen is 6 weeks old today! I can't believe he's already that old! Doesn't seem like more then 2 weeks ago that we went through the process! I had my 6 week check up and everything went well.
Jaxen is getting bigger and bigger each day! He is smiling and cooing when he is in a good mood. We are trying to introduce a bottle with my milk to him so Brandon can help with feedings and because I have a ladies retreat to go to next weekend and would like to leave Jaxen here with Brandon. We've tried a few different types of bottles with no success. Last night Brandon did get him to take 1 oz. out of a different bottle and we jumped for joy!!!
Our '01 Chevy Blazer bit the dust last week on the trip my dad and I made to Indiana to introduce Jaxen to his extended family. There was no way it would make the 6 hour drive back home, so we sold it as is to one of my cousins up there. There is a trustee in our church who is good friends with the owner of a Kia dealership here in town, he pulled some strings and got it worked out for us to get a brand new 2009 Kia Optima at wholesale price. The dealership didn't make a penny off of us which is an absolute blessing!!! God provides! We are dreading the monthly payment but we also know it is much safer for our family right now.

2 1/2 weeks

2009-10-05T13:53:00.003-05:00

Things are going really good here in St. Charles at the Shatto house! All of our family has been and left now so it is finally down to the 3 of us. We are so thankful that our family was able to come and spend time getting to know Jaxen and help us out around the house. Jaxen is doing amazing! I just can't get enough of him! Every time his eyes are open I just can't stop talking to him! When he sleeps I find myself just staring at him cause he's so darn cute! He's eating really well. Right now he is eating eery 3 hours for 30 minutes. He sleeps so good at night! He only wakes up to eat and by the time he is done eating he is already back to sleep! As of right now I don't mind getting up every 3 hours during the night and spending time with him, I know that I'm the only one that can feed him and give him what he needs!
Brandon is doing amazing! Did I mention in my last blog that the day Jaxen was born he gave me a beautiful necklace that has Molly's, Toby's birthstones in paw prints and Jaxen's birthstone is a little boy with a baseball hat on. He is such a great dad! It is so sweet to see them nap together! He is great at changing diapers! He diffinetly takes his turn! Seeing him with Jaxen makes me fall in love with him over and over again!

My little man!

2009-09-22T20:41:00.003-05:00

Now introducing Jaxen Kayne Shatto weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 20 in long! Jaxen was born Thursday night at 7:20 p.m. after a wonderful 12 hours of labor! Brandon and I are on cloud 9 as you can imagine and so very happy and thankful to have a healthy baby boy! My labor was absolutly wonderful... we started pitocin at 7:15 a.m., broke my water at 8, got an amazing epidurl at 11:30, started pushing at at 6:15 p.m. He is eating great and sleeping even better! He is absolutly perfect and I couldn't be any happier to be this tired!

Whoohooo!

2009-09-15T21:14:00.003-05:00

I had a Dr. apt today and I am still at 1 cm dilated but I am now 60% thinned out! That is a pretty big change since Thursday when I wasn't thinned out at all. So now that I have made good progress on my own my Dr. is moving my induction up from 6 p.m. on Thursday night to 6 a.m. Thursday morning. One of my only questions to him was "Can I eat a donut before I go in that morning?" And he said yes! So sometime Thursday we will be holding sweet baby Jaxen in our arms!!!! If you are on Facebook we will be updating status' through out the day on Thursday, so stay tuned...

Being Induced!

2009-09-12T21:36:00.002-05:00

I had my ultrasound on Friday morning and they found that my amniotic fluid is lower then my Dr. would like for it to be. That being said he is going to send me in Thursday night to start the inducing process!! I'll have a Dr. apt Tuesday at 4 p.m. and I'll know more after that!

Dr. Apt

2009-09-10T21:13:00.002-05:00

I had my weekly Dr. apt this morning. There is absolutly no change since last week. Which is a huge bummer!! Still dilated to 1 with no thinning. He is sending me to get an ultrasound tomorrow morning. My stomach is measuring 3 weeks behind my due date so he wants to make sure that Jaxen is still developing properly. He wants to make sure I haven't lost any amniotic fluid and that Jaxen isn't too small. I'm excited to get to have an ultrasound...we haven't seen Jaxen for 20 weeks so I'm anxious to see him again! I'll post again and let you all know how it went when I can!

38 weeks...wow!

2009-09-08T12:44:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that I am 38 weeks pregnant! I am so blessed with having an amazing pregnancy! I absolutly love being pregnant! If Brandon would let me I would be a seroget and make money for us this way, ha!
We had a great weekend! My family came up to enjoy the long weekend and we had a great time! We all went to the zoo Saturday and walked around. Great times! On Sunday someone pointed out that they couldn't believe I was 2 weeks away from delivering and I still had ankles, another woman said, "hey she did 2 weeks of camp this summer, it would take more then a zoo afternoon to take her ankles away!" Thought that was cute!
Jaxen's room is simply awaiting decor hung on the walls, everything is washed and in it's correctly labeled area for him to come we are simply needing to put up all the decorations.
I went to the Dr. last Thursday morning and he said I was dilated to a 1 but not thinned out at all yet. I go again this Thursday morning so we will see what he says then.
I didn't post this when it happened b/c I felt dumb about it but now it's funny. The night before I turned 37 weeks I had a massive ugly cry break down! They say when a baby is 37 weeks he is full term and able to be born at any time...we were laying in bed and Brandon said you could have Jaxen tomorrow...I lost it! Not the pretty glistening tear down the face...the snot full ugly cry that takes you into not breathing! I said I wasn't ready to have him and I was enjoying carrying him inside me and didn't want him outside of me yet! At the time it wasn't but now it is pretty funny to think about!
I'll post again if Thursday's Dr.'s apt brings new news!

37 weeks and a great shower!

2009-09-01T20:54:00.002-05:00

My church family threw me and Jaxen a shower on Sunday! Our ladies haven't ever really been big on baby showers so I didn't get my hopes up on a specific number on attendance but I walked into the shower and there were like 40 people there!!! I can't tell you how stinkin' amazing of a shower it was! The ladies went above and beyond to make me feel way loved! There were a quite a few people that pitched in and all got me my car seat and stroller combo!

Then Sunday night a gentelmen whose wife died about a year ago came up to me and said, "My wife would have wanted to do something for your shower and I'm not good with words, but you and your husband mean the world to me!" He then gave me a $100! He got tears in his eyes and alls I could say was thank you and gave him a big hug! Isn't that amazing! I have a Dr. apt Thursday morning, if anything is new or changing I'll be sure to post it.

Dr. apt

2009-08-27T21:45:00.002-05:00

I am 36 weeks and had my first weekly dr. apt today. Everything looks like it should as of right now. He checked me and I am not dilated at all or thinned out yet. However my cervix is beginning to soften but that's about it. I am definitely more tired then I used to be. I am not sick of being pregnant yet...yet!
We are taking the teens camping this weekend. It's about an hour an a half away and we get to sleep in cabins so I figured I'll go and experience the fun!

35 weeks!

2009-08-18T21:19:00.002-05:00

Here are Jaxen and I at 35 weeks! I can't believe it's already so close to the end! We're headed to Springfield this weekend Friday and Saturday for a baby shower. Mom and my sisters are throwing a shower for us and I am pretty excited! Not much is new here. Experienced my first contraction last week...it was half over before I realized what it was. So far all of Jaxen's clothes, bedding, and blankets are washed and ready for him. After this weekend's shower I'm sure I'll have more to get ready but as of right now I'm ready to go.

34 Weeks!

2009-08-10T08:19:00.002-05:00

Well here I am and made it through another week of camp! Last week we took our jr. high and it went great! I came home with a head cold though that I can't seem to shake, probably just from being over tired.
Jaxen is doing good! He is so far up my ribs I have no idea where he is going to grow and go for the next 6ish weeks. I'm sure he will find a place he hasn't already invaded some how. During camp I think I wore him out more so then being at home but now that we are home he is moving around a lot more. We were sitting in church yesterday morning and he got the hiccups and you could see my belly just bounce. Such an exciting and unusual feeling! We are trying to get his room finished quickly. I will post some pictures of his finished room as soon as we can.

A great week at camp!

2009-08-01T14:59:00.002-05:00

We left last Monday with 12 of our high school students to attend camp for the week. It was absolutly amazing! I was 32 weeks pregnant and a little worried about how I would handle lack of sleep and change of schedule through out the week but it went wonderful!

Our students responded fantastically to the spirit moving through the camp. Josh Barret was the speaker for the week, I hadn't heard him before and he did a fantastic job! We had prayed for him for over 2 months that God would speak through him and He totally did!

I got to lead 1 of my girls to the Lord Tuesday night, as always is a great experience! The excitement never gets old when I get to lead someone to Christ! We had students say they were giving up cussing, stop living the comfortable christian life and start living an on fire for God christian life! Praise the Lord for a fantastic week!

We leave with our Jr. High students on Monday for another full week! Please pray that it all goes just as good for this next week too!

Heading to camp!

2009-07-23T10:11:00.002-05:00

We leave for sr. high camp on Monday! I am so stinkin' excited I can't wait! I love camp with a passion! I seriously haven't missed a summer camp since 4th grade! I will be 32 weeks pregnant. We take the jr. high the following week but I'll post how our first week goes!
Please pray that God will really take our students walk to the next level with Him! So many of them come to church, but it doesn't flow over to their daily life. They don't cuss at church or drink or wear things that are toooo inappropriate on Sunday or Wednesday's nights but outside of church it's a totally different story! I'm sure there are many adults like that too. I love working with teens b/c they're modable and impressionable. They can be deffinetly challenging but they are so rewarding!
I've been feeling great and can't believe I am within 9 weeks of my due date! I am totally growing bigger and bigger! It's harder to get out of bed, shave my legs, get dressed, carry laundry baskets, etc. But it is an experience that I have loved and am so glad I'm getting to go through. My lower back is hurting more often so Brandon is becoming and expert back rubber! My teenage girls spent the night Friday night and painted my toes and finger nails for me!

29 Weeks!!!!

2009-07-06T08:11:00.002-05:00

Holly cow I'm 29 weeks pregnant!!! That's insane! Roughly 11 weeks to go...crazy! I'm still feeling great and enjoying it all. I definitely get out of breath easier and can't wait to fit into my American Eagle jeans again, but everything is great and well worth the experience!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted b/c it's been crazy around here so I'll do a quick update. We got to go on vacation to see family in Oklahoma and Springfield at the end of June. We had a shower thrown for us in Oklahoma and got spoiled with gifts! Vacation was great getting to spend it with family and having no schedule! Sleeping in is the best!!

While on vacation, both of my parents got the results to their scans and they are both doing great! Mom's came up clear and they will just monitor here with continued scans every 3 months for a while! Praise the Lord! 1 1/2 years of chemo and bless her heart it was all worth it! Dad's scans came out nice too. His liver and lyphnodes didn't show any spots of cancer and the only tumor that was left was in his colon. He had surgery this past Thursday to remove about a foot of colon that included the tumor and he went through surgery great! He gets to go home today and continue to take it easy for a while. Last June he was diagnosed with 2 seperate unrelated stage 4 cancers and they thought surgery would be too dangerous to do so the fact he was considered for surgery is a miracle in itself. Thank you for all of you who prayed for them!

26 weeks!

2009-06-15T08:55:00.003-05:00

Good morning! Lets see...what all has happened since my last blog?
1. We finally named our son, Jaxen!!
2. We had a great week of VBS with our church family! I got a pie in my face for the girls loosing the penny march for the week but it was all for a good cause! We raised like $888! Our high attendance night was 74 kids!
3. Jaxen is moving like crazy! Feels so out of this world!
4. Mom and Dad both get scans done this week to see if either/both of their cancers are in remission!!
5. I'm getting my hair highlighted tonight, hooray!
6. Still trying to think of something that Brandon, Me, and Jaxen can all be for Halloween that matches each other...ideas welcome

4 years ago!!!

2009-06-04T10:33:00.002-05:00

4 years ago today I married my best friend! I can't believe we are celebrating our 4 year anniversary already! Seems like it was only 4 months ago sometimes but other times feels like it's been 40 years!!! I am so thankful God has our entire life planned out and mapped how He wants it to go and all's we have to do is follow the road signs! He knew exactly what He was doing when He gave me Brandon! Sounds cheezy but he totally completes me! I am horrible with directions and following signs...for instance I get lost in the mall...Brandon is great at that and now also has GPS!!! I sometimes tend to get hyper and over excited about things, Brandon calms me down and levels me out. He doesn't close the cabinet doors...I walk behind him and do it for him. I don't read very fast and so when the information pops up for a show we are watching I'm done with 2 lines and he's already finished the paragraph, he reads it aloud so we both finish at the same time. I totally suck at technology...sometimes can't even add a new contact to my cell phone, he was like born with all the know how embedded in him. Pretty much, he's amazing!

24 weeks!!! and a Picture!

2009-06-01T21:57:00.002-05:00

Here I am at 24 weeks standing in front of the baby room we painted last week! Nothing new going on here for us...hate the hot weather coming in and hate to see our seniors graduate and move on...all part of life

23 weeks!!!!

2009-05-25T10:18:00.003-05:00

Good morning and happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of those who served our country!!! I am waiting for Brandon to wake up and our friends are coming over and we're painting the baby room!!!! I can't wait! We took before pictures and so I'll post some before and after pictures when we get done. I've been feeling the baby move quite a bit lately but last night Brandon got to feel him for the first time last night! I was so excited to finally get to share the experience with him. It's still not very strong from the outside but I was very thrilled that Brandon got to feel him! I painted my toe nails Saturday while Brandon was taking a nap and it is definitely getting harder to maneuver to reach them. Brandon got hives over the weekend for the first time. We can only narrow it down to be from a chicken sandwich he ordered from TGIFridays. So bless his little heart he's all itchy and blotchy!!!!

Pregnant...or...fat?

2009-05-11T12:39:00.003-05:00

Greetings readers! Happy late Mothers Day to all the Mothers! Brandon treated me so good yesterday! (as always) I got a new pair of p.j.'s and an adorable little onsie that says "Mommy Rules". We went to lunch then had a great nap! Then got to watch Bride Wars after evening church. Pregnancy is still going great! I feel like I'm growing more and more but yesterday at church someone said...so when are you going to get pregnant...urg!!! I thought I looked pregnant finally instead of just fat!!! Oh well! I am feeling him move at night more then what I used to but still not strong enough for Brandon to feel it from the outside. We got to go register for our baby showers Friday night! Oh that was fun! We registered at Target and also Babies R Us...check it out. I need to post current pics...but maybe I just look fat...lol! Have a great week!

It's a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-24T16:49:00.002-05:00

We had our ultrasound this morning and it went fantastic! As soon as she turned the monitor on we could tell he was proud to tell us he's a boy! She didn't even have to go down and try to make him move his legs, he was all out and about proud of it! He weighs 9 oz and his foot was 1 1/2 inches...he had the hiccups while she was measuring all of this so it was funny to watch him bounce! We are narrowing down between 4 names. We like Gavin, Brayden, Jaxon, and Cooper. It's amazing that God chooses to grow a child like this! I don't know how people don't believe in God especially after having a child.

18 weeks!

2009-04-20T16:34:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I'm 18 weeks!!!! That's 4 1/2 months!!! How crazy is that! It's gone relatively fast until these past few days since my Dr. apt is Friday morning to find out if we are having a boy or a girl! I am very anxious to know! My apt is at 10 a.m. so thankfully I don't have to wait all day long, just wait until Friday! I'm definitely having growing pains in my stomach lately...but that's ok cause it just means the baby is growing! When I saw my Dr. in the end of March my goal was to not have to see him again until another month check up, ever since the beginning of the pregnancy I've never made it a full 4 weeks in between visits, I always wind up with complications of some kind so I'm very thankful that I got to wait a full 4 weeks before seeing him again.

17 weeks!!

2009-04-16T19:09:00.003-05:00

As of Sunday we are 17 weeks pregnant! Can't stinkin' believe it is going so fast! We go next Friday morning the 24th for the ultrasound to find out if we are having a boy or a girl! Can't wait to see what we are having! I think I've felt Squishy move 2 times within the past few weeks. I'm ready to start feeling it more often and regularly. We had a great Easter day this past Sunday! Dad has 2 more doses of chemo and then he'll get scans to see if his cancer's are in remission. Mom gets her scans in June to see if her's is done as well! I am loving the weather, we get to walk the dogs more often and they enjoy that!

Dare 2 Share...What a great weekend!

2009-03-30T13:00:00.001-05:00

What a wonderful weekend we had with our students this past weekend! We got to take them to a Dare 2 Share conference here in St. Louis. This conference is so much more then a pep rally, it really challenges and teaches the students how to witness to their friends step by step! They got out of their box and really experienced change! We are so blessed to have the coolest job in the world! I mean that! We get to hang out with students that we can be absolute dorks around...go to camps, retreats, activities, and McDonalds like all the time! God has blessed us with so much and the place that we are in at our lives right now is absolutly amazing! Last night was teen service at church and Brandon got to really share his heart with the church family about reaching out to the students and becoming mentors to them. It was a great and emotional message! Instead of ending it with a typical invitation and alter call he encouraged the church family to come down and take a student by the hand and take them to the alter and pray with them specificly about their week. We ran out of teens fast and there were more adults willing to pray but no more teeens. One of the boys was bragging b/c the pastor picked him to pray with...he was glowing with pride that he got picked! It was so neat to see the church family connect in a great way to the students.

I am 15 weeks!! I can't believe that next Sunday I'll get to say I'm 4 months pregnant! That blows my mind! I had a regular check up on Thursday and everything sounded great. The heartbeat was 158 beats a minute. I have an ultrasound scheduled for April 24th to see if we have a boy or a girl! Very excited to find out! We put up a big marker bored in the teen room and half says boy and the other half says girl and we're letting the students put their name on the side they think we are having. So far there are double the names on the boy side...we'll see whose right!

Some pics!

2009-03-16T18:51:00.003-05:00

This weekend I got to take my teenage girls on a girls only weekend retreat. It was great great fun! BBC put on a great program! My girls had an absolute blast! They got to stay in the dorms, we did face masks, played games, just great bonding time! I posted a few pics of the group!

I am 13 weeks pregnant! I am feeling great and can't wait to see my mom, dad, and brother this weekend!

12 weeks!!

2009-03-09T11:32:00.003-05:00

Greetings friends! Sorry it's been a little bit longer then normal since I've blogged...things get a little hectic around here sometimes. Well we are 12 weeks!!!! Hooray!!!! I definitely have a pooch!!! I need to take a pic and post it for you but I don't think it's cute yet still just weird...ya know. We got to hear the heartbeat last week!! It was 162 beats a min. I wasn't supposed to get to hear it for another few weeks but I was spotting and the Dr. wanted me to come in to get checked out. Turns out I have an irritated cervix. He said no need to worry it can happen all the time and some people don't know what causes it. It's not close to the baby and it should heal up like a scratched knee. It was a little scary not knowing what was causing it but it's all ok! I got to go maternity clothes shopping this weekend! It was a lot of fun! Not much else is going on...

Look at my Baby!!!!

2009-02-26T21:23:00.004-06:00

We had a great Dr. apt this morning! I love my Dr.! The ultrasound tech. brought up the baby on the screen and I set up and said, "Oh my gosh! It's huge!!" A month ago it was just a little blob and now we can clearly see body parts! It blows my mind that a living thing is jumping around inside of me! God is amazing and how He chose to grow life!

10 WEEKS!!

2009-02-23T10:26:00.002-06:00

Well...I'm 10 weeks so that is very exciting! We're treckin' right along! My clothes are all much tighter then they were before! I'm down to like 3 dresses I fit into for church. I've lost 3 lbs. but haven't had any morning sickness so far! We get to go to the Dr. Thursday morning and see Squishy! I went to bed Friday night craving some really saucy spaghetti! I had a dream that night that I was at my grandma's house and my sister, mom, and grandma all fixed like 10 different types of spaghetti all for me! So needless to say...I went and got some spaghetti Saturday for lunch! My Brandon is gone for 2 days. Our pastor's wife's dad passed away and him and a few of the deacon's are driving up to Michigan to be there for the family. It's a 9 hr drive, bless his heart! I've been gone and left him here over night a few times but this will be my first time here without him. Have a great week!

9 weeks!

2009-02-16T21:32:00.002-06:00

Greetings to all! We are 9 weeks and Brandon thought of a name to call him until we find out if "it" is a he or a she...Squishy!! From Finding Nemo, when Dori sees the jelly fish and says "I will call you Squishy, and you will be mine. You will be my Squishy!" And something very exciting happened tonight! We parked in the parking spot for "Expectant Mothers" for the first time tonight! I made sure that there were still other parking spots available just in case there was some one that was very pregnant and actually needed to park closer to the store. So that's my pic! Still no morning sickness! My taste buds are kinda throwing me for some loops but it's all worth it!

Wkd plans?

2009-02-06T17:15:00.002-06:00

Greetings! Not much new to blog about this past week! I'll be 8 weeks on Sunday and thankfully I still haven't had any morning sickness! We got up this morning to find that the dogs had gotten into the trash in the garage and dragged it all over the yard! It was disgusting! Needless to say they are way grounded! I have a girls activity tomorrow and I'm introducing them to the $1 Jewelry Galore! I'm sure they will become addicted as I am! We're going to friends house tonight to eat Imo's pizza for the first time and play their Wii! Have a great weekend! What are you all up to?

Our first ultrasound!

2009-01-29T17:03:00.002-06:00

God is amazing! The way that a person is formed and grows inside of another blows my mind! This morning we got to see this little blob inside of me that we call baby! We got to see the heart beat but couldn't hear it since I'm only 6 weeks.
I do have to go get another ultrasound in a month to check on 2 cysts that are on my ovaries and are rather large. The Dr. said they should dissolve by themselves but wants to check on them to make sure. So we get to see the baby again!!!

Monday Morning

2009-01-26T10:00:00.003-06:00

I had a great weekend! I got to go down and visit with my family! Brandon didn't get to come with me but it was still fun! I've yet to win a game of Monopoly but it's still on of my favorite games! I made it back in time for Winter Jam!! It was amazing! $10 and you get to see New Song, Toby Mac, Hawk Nelson and some other groups! It was great! Our students really enjoyed it!

I had a friend ask me blog about all my symptoms and everything that was going on during the pregnancy, so I will do my best!! I am 6 weeks right now and so far no morning sickness! Praise God! I've been told that my cramping is normal that it's my uterus growing...those are starting to lighten up! I do have to go to the bathroom ALL the time! I've been to the library and got like 7 book on pregnancy and a friend brought me "What to expect while you're expecting" so I feel very informed so far! As far as names we have a few that we really like but I'm not going to say definitely what we'll use as far as names until we find out if we're having a boy or a girl...or both!! My ultrasound is this Thursday morning to measure the baby and make sure everything is progressing as it should and at that time we'll see if there is more then one!!! B/c I was on so may fertility pills the chances are higher then normal...so we'll see! I'll be sure to post and let you know!

WOW...I'm PREGNANT!!!!

2009-01-19T19:56:00.003-06:00

So...it's been stinkin' forever since I've been on here! Christmas was great aswell as New Year's. We had a gret winter retreat with our teens!
As many of you now by now...Brandon and I are expecting a little Shatto!! We have been on fertility treaments for the past 9 months so this is a very exciting time for us! My due date is Sept 18th. I go back for an ultrasound Jan 29th and at that time we will see if we are having more then one. Thank you to all those that have prayed with us during this time in our lives!!!

I love...

2008-12-12T22:32:00.003-06:00

I love this time of year! I love seeing the commercials on t.v. of the troops wishing their family a Merry Christmas, hate they can't be with them but love that they still say Christmas and not "Happy Holidays". I love how Wal-Mart's parking lot is absolutly crazy busy b/c everyone is rushing around to get their presents. I love wearing a scarf and mittens. I love cookies and hot chocolate with friends. I love Christmas carols. I love family and the anticipation of knowing what I bought them and can't wait for them to open them. I love when people say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays. I love my church family. I love my puppies that cuddle even more b/c it's cold outside. I love my husband more every day b/c the man he is!

Wow!!

2008-12-02T19:56:00.002-06:00

Well, I will update you all on everything that has happened in the past week.
All our our family got in safely last Wednesday night for Thanksgiving! Praise the Lord that my Dad didn't end up in the hospital after his chemo like he normally does.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I truly believe that I could have fed 20 more people and still had left overs! We had so much stinkin' food!
We got up and went shopping on Black Friday! That was great fun!
The pastor and his wife, Brandon, and I had to drive to Springfield to attend a pastoral Christmas dinner on Monday.
We drive down Monday, check into the hotel, get dressed and drive down to the church the dinner is to be at and not a soul in sight!!! We were a week early! The dinner is next Monday!!! Isn't that hilarious!!!
So we go to Cheddar's and laugh about having 2 days off.
Then we go to my parents apt to visit for a little while and I landed in the Emergency Room!!!
I found out I have Kidney Stones...dang they hurt!!!
Thankfully I passed 2 of them today and so hopefully that is all there is. Now I need to go see a urologist some time.
I can't wait to get my Christmas stuff up! I wold normally have it up already but it's been a little crazy the past few days so hopefully this weekend we will have a Christmas filled weekend!!!

God is good!

2008-11-19T17:53:00.002-06:00

Praise the Lord! Dad found out today that his stage 4 lymphoma is now in remission!! They are starting the stage 4 Colon cancer treatments now! This is a huge answer to prayer! Thank you all for praying for my family during this rough time! All my family is coming in for Thanksgiving including Brandon's parents from Oklahoma and my grandparents from Indiana! They will be getting in one week from today!!! Then Christmas!!!

My Babies!

2008-11-08T21:27:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to post some recent pics of my babies! We found that little coat for Molly at Target for $2.50 a few weeks ago! They are too precious! I never thought these sweet little dogs would bring me such joy every day but they totally do! They are getting along great since their wedding and are the perfect little couple!

Voting!

2008-11-04T21:47:00.002-06:00

I consider myself to be very patriotic! I get tears in my eyes when American's win gold in the Olympics and they play the national anthem. I stand with pride when the national anthem plays prior to baseball games. I desire to hug every military personal I see in uniform. But I never feel more patriotic then when I get to vote! I love wearing that little sticker on my shirt that say I voted! Thank God we are in a country that gives us the freedom to chose our leader. Even tho the results may not turn out the way I have voted it is great to see so many people get involved in the voting process.

Halloween Pics

2008-11-02T21:22:00.004-06:00

Here is the love of my life and I on Halloween! He was Richard Simmons and I was his #1 fan! It was a blast!

Mission's Conference

2008-10-23T21:46:00.002-05:00

I have had a great week! Our key note speaker was Bro. Jennings and he also got to stay at our house and we had a great time getting to know him better! The missionaries we had this week were such a blessing! We had Tarl and Adrianne Reeves, Josh and Lani Joyce, and Rommone and Annette Perez. It was a great time of fellowship and challenging our faith! I love the weather that is going on right now and I totally busted out the pink pea coat tonight!!
Halloween is coming...what is anyone's plans???

Pastor Appreciation Day

2008-10-12T22:19:00.002-05:00

We had a really great weekend! We got to take 16 of our students camping and it couldn't have turned out any better!!! It was great! The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time!
Our church family surprised us today with $500 for clergy appreciation day! What a blessing!!

Target Experience

2008-10-08T09:23:00.002-05:00

I have got to be the dumbest person around! I made a complete idiot of myself last night at Target. I was checking out the dollar bins near the front of the store and lady had these way cute festive little barrettes in her hand. Our conversation went as follows...
"Oh my those are soooo cute! Are they for your dog?"
"No, they're for my daughter!!"
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry please forgive me!! I'm such an idiot!"
(Rolling eyes) (Turning to walk away) "ugh!!"

I had to just walk away and find a spot to go laugh! I guess since I'm so caught up with dogs that everyone else is too...even people at Target buying hair accessories.

On the up side...Brandon got me a pink camo sleeping back for our student camping trip this weekend! I'm pretty stoked! And I got this way cute umbrella that is see through and trimmed in pink, and it's the kind that looks like a bell, and it was originally $16.99 but I got it for only $4.49!!!!

Great Weekend!

2008-10-06T09:54:00.002-05:00

What a great weekend! It all started with the end of a kinda rough week. The Blazer isn't running right and the mechanic says nothing is wrong with it, the baby I sit for had a rough time getting re-adjusted to the schedule after being on vacation, our next door neighbor's dog passed away so Toby was sad he lost a friend, just a all around crazy week.
The greatness started Friday! The baby did a lot better through out the day and I had an amazing hair day! The kind of hair day you want to go get your driver's license picture taken so you can remember it forever kind of day! I told Brandon I'm having such a good hair day I'm gonna blog about this...he thought I was a little silly but I didn't care.
We got our basement bedroom carpeted and we put the base bored on Friday night. So that made us feel accomplished. Saturday we did some more stuff around the house and rented Baby Momma stinkin' hilarious!!! Laughed so hard!
Sunday I had a friend from high school in the area and so we got to eat lunch and catch up together! It was so nice! Then Sunday night we had a great night at church!
God is so good to us and we are so undeserving.
How was your weekend??

What a great vacation!!

2008-09-29T22:29:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we had a great trip! We had a great much needed vacation! We got to spend about 2 days in Springfield and then 3 days in Branson with Brandon's family! We got to shop, enjoy family, hot tub, sleep in, swim, eat... God has blessed us with great family and friends!!
I started putting up my fall decor today!!
Molly got her stitches out and her a Toby are now being able to be outside together and begin a daily schedule! They are stinkin' funny!!

MY MISS MOLLY

2008-09-21T22:14:00.000-05:00

This is my Molly!! We have betrothed Toby to this precious sweet little girl! We found her on a web cite for the Human Society Thursday night of last week and called first thing Friday morning! Brandon took Toby and they went to bring his bride home! She just had surgery on Thursday so she has to take it easy and Toby really wants to play but he's too rough right now. We've been wanting another dog for Toby to play with for a while but just haven't found one worthy of his love! She is 28 lbs (12 lbs smaller then Toby) & 2 yrs old. She's so precious and sweet spirited! Let me know what you think of the LOVE of Toby's life!!!

New Bible Study

2008-09-11T22:11:00.002-05:00

Tonight was the first night of our ladies Bible Study!! We are doing Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore! If any of you ladies haven't ever done a Beth Moore Bible Study I encourage you to to gather a group of friends and start one...any of them! My favorite so far is Believing God. She has such a gift of expressing herself and spreading the Word for ladies to learn! I feel myself stretching in my faith and learning and relearning things that I forgot, God has blessed her to touch hearts! One thing she said tonight in her lesson was that God chose to use exclamation marks 136 times in the New Testament. She found that great b/c she considered herself a living exclamation mark. I am from here on out stealing that saying! I too consider myself a living exclamation mark!!

My new phone!!

2008-09-11T13:57:00.003-05:00

Greetings!! I received my new cell phone today!!! I'm so very excited about it too! It's an LG Vu. The best part of it, I got an amazingly good deal on it! We were due for an upgrade on phones which offers a discount and for some reason in the past sometime they have in their computer that I'm an outstanding costumer that deserves an extra $100 off a cell phone! Not saying I'm not an outstanding customer it's just funny b/c they gave me this discount and not Brandon and we're on the family plan. So I got a touch screen phone that was originally $329 for the amazing price of $30!!!! It is very very fun! And b/c I got such a great deal on it I took the liberty of ordering a polka dot face plate on ebay that should be arriving any day. Just wanted to share my great deal with you all!

Are you stinkin' kidding me!!!

2008-09-05T17:07:00.002-05:00

You wanna know what drives me crazy!!! People complain and go on and on about American's being fat but healthy food is way more expensive!
For example...I make pigs in a blanket for lunches occasionally. Fat free Ball Park hot dogs were $4 for a pack. Farmland regular hot dogs were on sale for $1.
That's why I'm 30 lbs over weight... I'm blaming it on finances...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

Not much!

2008-09-03T22:24:00.002-05:00

Greetings! Not too much to blog on lately, all my teens are back in school now and I'm just back to my regular day routine. My Grandma and Aunt was driving through to visit the rest of my family so we got to spend a few hours with them on Monday! I wish we lived closer, I love my grandma dearly!
I watched Sarah Palin's speech and I really like her!!
We're looking to buy a bigger vehicle and it's not going too well right now.
Arby's has their Arby Q's back for only .99...amazing!!!!

Are you serious?!?

2008-08-29T08:35:00.002-05:00

I know that everyone out there reading this is not a republican, and I respect that!

Barack Hussein Oboma is a very likable man! Handsome, intelligent, family man, etc. But I was stinkin' annoyed last night watching his speech! As a Christian I'm against the fact that he is pro-choice so that throws him out for my vote immediately!! He talks about all these changes he is going to bring and he might vary well do it, but he was also talking about true patriotism... I feel that I am very patriotic...however, he was standing up there bashing our current president and telling us all what he has done wrong. True patriotism doesn't bash the authority that this country is under. He should respect President Bush and not bash him. Bush has put in his time, there isn't any more he can do so why try to get people against him?!? This country voted Bush in not once but twice, so that means that in the crowd of democrats that are clapping and shouting when Oboma bashes Bush probably voted him in 2 times!!

And I think it's pretty hilarious that we as a country are trying to chase a man named Osoma Bin Laden and on Barack's signs it says Oboma/Biden. Don't those two names combined sound rather similar to anyone but me? Hello!!!!...his middle name is Hussein!

Just some thoughts that were driving me crazy last night! I know I'm up with all the political garb and talk but it's my blog!

Crazy Amazing Weekend!

2008-08-25T09:38:00.002-05:00

Now that we're in the ministry it seems that the days of the week that I look forward to even more so now are Sunday's and Wednesday's. Sunday was absolutly great! Over the past 2 months we've been averaging about 210ish on Sunday mornings and yesterday we had 290!! We've been planning the annual end of the summer Block Party for months and at the beginning of the week it called for rain. There wasn't a cloud to be found yesterday! God blessed us with absolutly wonderful weather and a great turn out! There was food, games, face painting, bounce house, adult game show, door prizes, etc. you name it and we had it! Our pastor and his wife's daughter-in-law was due with their first grandchild Sept. 1st, but they received THE call Saturday morning that the baby was on the way so they rushed to Indiana to welcome the baby into the world and we took on more responsibility. Everything turned out better then we thought it would!! Praise the Lord for His merciful weather forecast in spite of the meteorologists!!

God is Stinkin' Amazing!!!

2008-08-20T22:24:00.002-05:00

Any body out there ever had a morning that started out the pits! So bad that you wanted to go back to bed and get out to start it all over?! Well my morning started out like that! The flesh side of me wants things to go the way I think they should go (can I get a witness) although I know I need to be patient and wait on the Lord!
So rough morning...great night!!!
I have a 15 year old girl that used to come to church for the pure social aspect of enjoying her friends company. I've been praying for this girl to get saved and take God serious for over a year now. She grew up Catholic and has a Mom that is Muslim, talk about confused! She came to me last week to say that God or something was telling her to come talk to me about salvation, that right there was enough to blow me out of my seat and have to pick myself back up! So we sat down and answered a few questions about it and I told her I would get her a Bible and we would talk again next Wednesday...this is next Wednesday! Praise the Lord! She got saved tonight and I couldn't be any happier! He knows exactly what He is doing and when He is doing it, I have to just get out of the way and let Him have His way!

An Average Monday

2008-08-18T21:31:00.002-05:00

Who doesn't love a great deal?!? We went to Hobby Lobby tonight and the ribbon I wanted to make more vases was 2 spools for $1.00!! Needless to say I stocked up for a while!
In other news, Dad has his chemo treatment this Wednesday so please continue to pray for him and Mom.
We had to take Toby to get his yearly shots today. He cried like a baby! I don't know how I will ever take my kids to go get shots when that time comes b/c it killed me to watch Toby have to go through it!!

Honey Bun Anyone?

2008-08-13T08:58:00.002-05:00

Good morning! Brandon and I had a great night last night! 90% of our students started back to school today so last night we took them all a Honey Bun with a little note on it for breakfast for their first day back to school. We got to see 36 of our 50ish students within 3 hours! It's amazing the smiles that a small Honey Bun brought forth! We are at such a great place right now with the youth group! God is really blessing!! They are all maturing in the faith and becoming more faithful! It's great to see what can be done when they give their lives to Christ!

Pics of Vases

2008-08-11T16:50:00.002-05:00

Here are my vases I blogged about earlier. I thought I would post some pics. It is nice to know I have a creative side! Took me a while to find it but here it is.

My Daddy

2008-08-05T21:03:00.003-05:00

Some of you may not know that both of my parents are fighting cancer right now. My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in Feb. In June my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma that has spread to his bone marrow and stage 4 colon cancer that has spread to his liver. They are both undergoing chemotherapy right now. Without getting all depressing about it, just simply please keep them both in your prayers! My dad was admitted into the hospital today after becoming extremely sick last night. His white blood cell count is way, way, way, down which means he can't fight off any infections and is very, very, week. I spoke with him on the phone and his speech was slow and soft, so even tho I can't see his newly bald headed body I could tell that he was very sick. Thankfully we're only 3 hours away from them but I do wish I lived closer at times. I sure don't know what people do without Christ!

What a GREAT GREAT Day!

2008-08-02T21:38:00.003-05:00

What an absolute great and amazing weekend day I had! God is sooooo stinkin' good that it takes my breath away! It started early this morning with the Beth Moore simulcast that touched my soul! She truly has a gift from God to teach in a way that will grip your soul and change your life! She really challenged me in my walk with Him! Then tonight we had our girls night with the youth group girls. I started this at the beginning of the summer the first Saturday of every month I do just a girls activity. They have all responded wonderfully to it and really looked forward to them. Tonight we ate, did face masks, paraffin hand wax, and painted each others nails. Talk about a great bonding time! I figured I would have some that wouldn't want to do the girly things and just sit there and make fun of the rest of us but it wasn't like that at all! It was amazing and I'm so happy that God has created a unity between all the girls from various backgrounds and families. Thank God for his overwhelming mercies!!

Great Target Shopping!

2008-08-01T08:31:00.002-05:00

Through the week there isn't much to blog about in my every day life of babysitting 4 kids at home. Last night we went to Target to birthday shop for my niece Ashley that will be 4 in August. We perused down the shoe isle not expecting to find much...I felt as if I had died and gone to Heaven! Not 1, not 2, but 3 isles of shoes where marked down somewhere between $3-$8!! I must have spent forever there trying on every pair that caught my eye! I called everyone I could think of that would appreciate my shopping trip to see if they wanted me to buy them a pair too. All in all I walked away with 3 pairs of shoes for me and 1 pair for my sister so I didn't go over bored! I have the best husband in the world, he stayed by my side and helped me find the sizes I needed and didn't tell me no once!

So excited I almost cried!

2008-07-29T07:50:00.003-05:00

Well, it happened for the first time last night in the history of me being a youth pastors wife... 1 of my girls asked for boy advice! To some this may not seem like a big deal, but it is! Just the fact that she valued my opinion enough to ask sincerely was enough to make me cry! Who knows if she'll follow through with what I told her but now next time it will be easier for her to ask me advice b/c she already has about the big stuff!

Flower Vases

2008-07-25T11:29:00.002-05:00

I've never been one to keep up with a hobby especially a creative one. Recently I've got into designing flower vases. I use a blank glass vase get ribbons and buttons that color coordinate and glue them in a decorative design around the vase. I started making one as a gift idea and it turned out great! I'll get some pictures and post them. I've thought about making them to sell but don't know where I would get the opportunity to sell them at. Just wanted to share what is making me happy right now! Thanks for reading...what are your hobbies?

No more MOHAWK!

2008-07-21T17:15:00.002-05:00

Brandon decided to mention in a sarcastic manor that the boys going to camp should all get mohawks not thinking that the 12 and 13 year old boys would really do it, they show up to church with crazy mohaks the Sunday night before we leave for camp. After 2 back to back weeks of camp it got shaved off today! For those of you who don't have the honor of knowing my husband, he is crazy about his hair and what it looks like. So it's just funny to see him with a shaved head and no hair! Thats all!

Sr. High Camp

2008-07-18T16:52:00.003-05:00

God is so good! After a great week of jr. high camp we had another fantastic week but with our sr. high! It's amazing that we've been here for over a year and this is our 2nd camp with our students! It is a lot more fun when you know the students! It's great to get away for a week to focus on Christ and our relationship with Him.

Jr. High Camp

2008-07-13T16:46:00.000-05:00

God is amazing! We just got back on Friday from a week long with our jr. high group! We took 8 students and one of our girls got saved while there! We had an absolutely wonderful time! It blows my mind that God gives us a job where we can go to camp every summer and get paid for it! There is something about leaving cell phones, mp3's, and t.v.'s at home and driving 3 hours away with no parents that brings out the best in students.