Happy Halloween

We had a great time last night celebrating Halloween. Our church participated in a Trunk or Treat. All of the churches in our town joined together to put on a Trick or Treating option for the kids in the town. We all met in a church parking lot and every person chose a theme for their car with correlating costumes. It was a ton of fun seeing what everyone came up with. My goal was to find something creative and cheap. So our theme was Night at the Movies. You can see below what our trunk looked like and Brian and I were dressed as ushers and Halle as a box of popcorn. She loves popcorn so she really understood what she was and got so many compliments. Plus she's a little stinker and would not wear anything on her head, so this was my costume that I actually thought she'd wear around. It was a great thing that our community did for many kids and it was more social than just sitting in our house greeting trick or treaters. Now we get to enjoy the candy!

My little singer

Halle started singing this song the other day and I realized it's been playing a lot on the radio. It's so sweet how she's caught on and knows all of the words. She doesn't know it yet, but she's worshiping God already!

Yay for visitors!

This week one of my bestest friends in the whole world flew all the way to TX with her sweet little girl to visit us. It was so much fun to have her here and to show her our new home. It was great to be able to see Halle, with 6 month old Mya, and to kind of break her in as big sister. She mostly loved Mya, except for the few times where I heard,
"Mya is looking at me."
"Why is Mya touching me?"
"What's Mya doing with my cup?"
"I want to play with that."
We had many teachable moments on sharing and taking turns, but Halle really was a great helper and a sweetie and very gentle with such a little one. I loved having a friend here, and it's amazing how we can just pick up from where we left off like no time has passed between us. We figured out we met our freshman year of college- 9 years ago! We've been through a lot since then and it's so fun to see how our lives are now. Here's some pics of our time together...






One of the highlights of her trip would be our trip to the pumpkin patch. Halle loved running around and taking it all in. It was a fun thing for us to do with our girls!







I'll be so sad when they go home tomorrow, but I'm so thankful they were able to get a little taste of our lives here in TX and we'll just have to look forward to the next visit!

26 weeks

It's amazing at this point to imagine getting tons bigger- I already feel huge!!

House tour

I was feeling a little better today so I took some pictures of the house, even though it's not up to par for showing condition. There are still many things to be put away, many pictures to hang, rooms to be painted, etc. But here's a quick look at our house!

Two views of the kitchen






The family room



One of my favorite parts- the fireplace!






This is our dining area- Halle was not wanting to eat her lunch- hence the sad face in this picture.






View from the living area towards the front door



Master bedroom and bath- we have a stand up shower and nice bathtub. Those cabinets need major work- I don't know why there's a pink stripe on the top. This bathroom is yet to be painted. Still trying to decide what I want to do with it.





Here is the guest bath which needs to be painted, and Halle's current room which will become the baby's when she arrives.





This is the guest room which will become Halle's room and it still needs to be painted. And, here's our patio and backyard.








It's our continual work in progress, but we're so glad to finally have a home!!

The Evil Swine

That's right- the swine flu has infected the Bradford household. About a week ago, Brian started to feel sick and I followed a few days later. We both tested positive last Thursday for flu A, which in our area, they are saying is the swine flu because there are so many cases. Thankfully we've both been on antibiotics since Thursday night. And thank the Lord that Halle has not gotten anything more than a runny nose. We're continuing to pray that she doesn't get it. It's been extremely hard to manage the household plus Halle feeling so sick. Thankfully either Brian or I have had enough strength to get by. And we are so blessed to have had meals dropped on our doorstep each night. Our church family has taken good care of us. I'm anxious to get feeling better. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to recover. Thanks!

Home Sweet Home

And here it is! We're in our house! What you can't see is our garage full of boxes- and a house that's half unpacked. I cannot express how wonderful it feels to be in our own home with our own yard, and our own everything really. It's so fun to put everything in it's place and settle! What you also can't see is my really cute fall wreath and my fall decorations by my door. I'll post more pics this week when things are more put together. We're so thankful to be home!

Oh Jonah

What is this picture you ask? Well, lend me your ear...

This Sunday, my wonderful husband started preaching a new series on Jonah. This weeks was called, "Jonah on the Run." Jonah is not a book I frequent much, and is not something I've studied much. This week we talked about the first chapter where God calls Jonah to Ninevah, but he basically picks up and runs as fast as he can in the other direction. Brian talked a lot about hearing from God and how we respond. This part really resonated with me. The act of hearing God is a tough one- we always ask, "Did I hear that right," or maybe you heard him, but don't want to do it, or maybe we think our plan is just way better. All of these responses I can fully say I'm guilty of.

It's interesting that we just started this series, because last week I was really struggling with all of the changes that have happened in our life. I was feeling homesick, overwhelmed, lonely, and even questioning God's purpose in bringing us here. Let me just say that I am fully confident that we are in the center of God's will in being here, and it's really been a great transition. We have a lot to be thankful for. But that doesn't mean that it's always easy. But listening to the way that Jonah ran from God, I really thought about the way that I've responded to Him.

Brian's sermon had a lot of parallels to running a race. At the end, he showed a video clip from the Olympics on Barcelona, I think maybe in 1992, but can't be sure, where a runner was running the 400 M race and very quickly into it, he pulled a muscle. Years of training and preparation for his dreams to be so quickly crushed. The amazing thing was that after the runner was down for a few seconds- he kept on going. He hobbled his way along that track and midway through, his dad ran out put his arm around him and finished the race with him. Was I crying- yes! It was incredibly touching of how a father comes alongside of his son and carries him. Not only is God doing that with me, but he's already ran ahead of me. Wow- what a great feeling.

I learned that God is more interested in my character and who I'm becoming than my comfort. And, that God will take you where HE wants me to go, but he's saying, "I'm here Shannon, let's finish the race together." So at the end of our service, we all picked up our marathon numbers- 512- yep that's mine, that I can tack onto my shirt and keep running. What a comfort to see through Jonah's story that there is no where we can go to run from God. And more importantly that he wants to run with us.

I'm so excited to continue in the next couple of weeks learning about Jonah. In a week or 2 our new website will be up and if you want you'll be able to listen to Brian's sermons. I hope this is encouraging to you as well wherever you are in the race- that we need to keep running WITH Him who wants to hold us up.

23 Weeks

Today baby girl is 23 weeks! They say at this time, she's about 1 lb and about 11 inches. I feel like my belly is getting bigger just this week. Which also means my body is hurting more! Ah the pains of pregnancy. Oh well, she'll be worth it. I'm feeling better, so I'm so thankful for that!

Big girl

I decided today that it was time to give Halle a little more independence. I told her she could pick out her clothes for today. Tada!! Look at her outfit- a mother could not be more proud than when her child picks out an outfit that matches. I'm glad she's caught onto my fashion sense. She even let me put on this adorable headband for 2 pictures until she couldn't bear it any more. I settled for one pony tail. She even put the skirt on mostly by herself and partially helped with the shirt. My little girl is growing up! Although I said she was little and she said, "you're little too Mommy," I guess that's a compliment and I'm going with it.






And our little reader keeps on keeping on- I love that she loves to read and it occupies much of our days together!



Quick update: Some of you know I had a short visit to the hospital this past weekend for some blood pressure and breathing issues. Everything checked out ok and baby girl is doing great. I'm so thankful for all of our church people who came to our rescue this weekend, especially since Brian was 2 hours away when this all went down. We've been greatly cared for and I've been feeling better- just praying my blood pressure stays normal and I have no more little episodes.

Updates

House: We are planning on closing on our new house on Sep. 30 but there's a chance that date could be moved up which would be fabulous, so we could get in earlier to paint and get everything ready. We are planning on moving on Oct. 3! The countdown is on and I cannot wait!

Pregnancy: I'll be 22 weeks tomorrow- yay! Baby girl is moving a ton and is very happy. I've had a few minor issues with blood pressure, which my doctor assures me is normal mid-pregnancy. I've had to make sure I stay very hydrated and rest lots. But other than that, I'm just so thankful to have my appetite back and to be feeling normal!

Halle: My efforts with potty-training have shrunk back due to the tears whenever "undies," or "sitting on the potty" are mentioned. The once excitement for going potty in the potty has dissolved. Halle is telling me now that, "when I 5 I go to kindergarten." I try to tell her that she is only 2 and 5 is a long ways away. She also frequently requests going to the airport or on a plane to see her grandparents. It's so fun to imagine the thoughts that go on inside her head about the baby. She tells every one that, "Mommy has a baby in her belly," and she'll kiss my belly. She also tells me that when little sister gets here, she'll help feed her a bottle. I just wonder how much of that she really grasps.



Me: My basic point of focus is the house and picking things out and wondering where certain things will go, and what we need to buy. I'm so anxious to be settled and to finally have a place to call "home." At church, I'm heading up our Women's Ministry which has been fun. I'm in a women's group reading a book called, "The Search for Significance," which has been really great so far and a chance to go deeper in relationships with other women. We're also launching another group based on the book, "Apples of Gold," which I've been wanting to start for years. It's going to be great and I'm so glad I found a group of women to pull it off. I also joined the Early Childhood PTA, which meets once a month and then has events in-between for moms and their kiddos. There's a few ladies I know who are in it, and it will be a great way to meet new people. So we're staying busy!

Brian: Brian is doing a great job at our new church- it's been wonderful to see him fit so perfectly into a role as the lead pastor. He's making many changes and doing great things. Our new website will be up soon and then I'll post the link so you can check it out. Our church has many needs and our biggest right now is finding a more permanent facility to meet in. We have to set up and tear down each week and it's getting exhausting and limiting for what we want to do as a church. I've never seen a church with so many people serving and giving of their time, and that's amazing to see.

That's about it for now!!

Kelsey Lu

Today we said goodbye to Kelsey. Kelsey was the most wonderful dog, pet, and friend. There is no other dog, so friendly, so loving, so faithful, so obedient than Kelsey. Unfortunately her life was cut short due to kidney failure, and today was her last day. Going "home" will not be the same, and Halle's best play mate will be gone. If Kelsey could write to us now, I believe she'd say something like this...


I will miss you all,

I will miss:
my nightly walks, my bones, trying to get a treat out of my kong, visits from Grammy, laying next to you when you're on the couch, table scraps from Dad, playing at the park with Halle, watching you water the flowers, sitting on the lawn watching people go by, the sound of you coming home, long pets from Quinn, getting my belly rubbed, playing with Lucy, all of the attention, sitting by your side, playing tug-of-war with my sock toy, my duckie, feeling how much you all loved me, and being a part of your family.

Thank you for the best life a dog could ask for!

Love, Kelsey Lu

I know some people don't understand the dog-owner relationship, but Kelsey was truly a part of our family and will be missed greatly. Halle talks about Kelsey nearly every day so I'll have to figure out how to tell her about "doggy heaven."

Goodbye Kels- Sweet Dreams!

Football season is here!

This weekend kicked off college football and our house loves football! I surprised Brian with making him a cake for his favorite team, LSU and we were all dressed in our gear. Both of our teams pulled off wins this weekend which was great and made it fun for us to cheer them on. Go Irish! Go Tigers!! Halle is getting the hang of cheering for the Tigers, but mostly still says, "Go Cubs!"









And here are a few other pics from our past week, playing at the park and at the apartment. Only a few more weeks until we close on the house- it seriously can't come soon enough! I can't wait!