Hello Mom Diggity readers!!

I am beyond honored to be here writing in this lovely space with you all today, while KK and her family snuggle up and continue to fall in love with their newest little member.

My name is Amber and I blog over at beautifulandbeloved.com.

You can read about me HERE.

I have a lot in common with Miss Kara-Kae and I know exactly where she sits today, the mother of three babies under the age of three.

I recently had my fourth baby just two weeks after my oldest turned five.

Here we are…

in all our crazy beautiful love.

I love being a mama,

I love it a lot.

I can’t believe these littles belong to me.

Who am I?

Am I anywhere near capable of being the mama that they deserve??

The answer is no.

Yet here we are…

I am theirs and they are mine, and that is God’s perfect design.

These little ones know me from the inside, they know the sound of my heart beat.

They were knit together inside of my womb.

Nothing comforts them like the nape of my neck or the twirling of my hair between their chubby fingers.

Nothing makes them squeal with joy like the sound of my voice coming down the hall toward their rooms.

And nothing, no nothing, can make a scrape or a bump stop hurting like my special mommy kiss.

I am not a perfect mom.

I don’t organize projects and play like the moms on pinterest, although I do love to dream about it.

I don’t fold laundry, I more just shove it into drawers or hang it up.

I don’t cook only organic foods, or even make sure they eat all their veggies.

There are some moms who do these things, and that is amazing, because that is just the kind of mom that their kids need.  That is the kind of mom that God designed them to be.

I am my own kind of mom, the kind that God designed me to be.

I am a mom that gives affection by the minute, you can’t walk past me without getting kissed or snuggled.

I am a mom who shows her kids how to play with each other and be independent in problem solving and imagining.

I am the mom who spends 30 minutes every night snuggled up in bed with each babe individually to see what they loved about their day then playing the game “what do you like better _____ or _____” until my brain is fried.

And in the areas where I fall short {way short} God will step in and fill the gaps.  That is what is incredible about His grace.  It covers me in every aspect of my day.  Without His AMAZING Grace, I wouldn’t make it through a day.

And one day when we receive our adopted son {I just know that it will be a boy, in my soul, I just know}.  I will be the perfect mom to meet his needs as well.  God is already getting him ready for us, getting us ready for him.  We will fit together perfectly, and where we need it, Gods grace will cover us and fill in the gaps.

What kind of mom are you??

Did you know that you are the perfect fit for your kids??

God designed you that way.

In Love,

It’s about that time to start thinking about Christmas Cards and guess what??
I’m so excited to announce the release of my very own line of Christmas Cards!!!!!!

Go here to see pricing & full information!

Each card is fully customizable and I will work with you to design it to fit your family. I hope these are a blessing to your family during this crazy time when you may not have the time to worry about making your own cards!

Yippeeee!!! Christmas is coming! 

We go on vacation in two days, and I’ll just come right out and admit it…I’M A NUTCASE. Glad we got that out of the way before I continue with this post. I start frantically stressing out about 5 days before we leave and my mind won’t stop racing. I somehow make it until 4 days before to start packing. Well, I did this time at least. I’ve been known to pack MUCH farther in advance, but we won’t go into my complete craziness.

I was a little concerned about space for this trip, because there are 4 of us now, and we will have two extra people in our car. So after doing a full day of completely stressing out, I cleaned out my van from top to bottom and rolled up my sleeves and decided I was going to do this if it killed me.

Then I was off to pack. After making a very detailed list of everything I need, I started sorting clothes. I start with the kids first, because somehow they always take up the most space with all their junk. I decided to try a new packing method to help save on space. It drives me crazy how my kids clothes take up SO MUCH SPACE and I always pack for about 87 months when we are only gone for 8 days.

STEPS FOR PACKING LITTLE ONES

1. Choose an outfit for each day.

2. Seal outfits in individal ziplock bags.

3. Specify child and day on the bag. This is even husband proof…ahem…making vacation easier on mama
(When the girls are a little older I will probably just pack outfits and not assign them to specific days so they can choose what to wear)

4. Be amazed at how much space you just saved!!!!

5. Send me chocolate as a thank you!

(ps. I pack about 4-5 extra outfits because my kids are messy. and seal up the jammies in a bag as well.)

That is 8 DAYS worth of clothes for 2 kids. Yeah, you’re welcome. 

So, I love taking pictures. Love it. But buying a big fancy camera hasn’t really ever been in our budget. What kinda of a blogger am I without the latest and greatest?? It’s a shame, really. I kid, I kid.

I got a little birthday money and was dreaming about what I could buy with it. A new bag for The Influence Conference? Well, that was taking care of because my precious new friend Rebecca is making me one to carry! All I could think about was a new camera. 

About 2 and a half years ago when I was about to pop with Jessi Girl, my mother-in-law gifted me her camera. My first dslr. It was seriously one of the best things anyone has ever given me. I was obsessed. I learned so much from that camera, but lately I’ve kinda been stuck. I want to do more, and I felt like it was limiting me. I was ready to upgrade and learn more! That camera was a major blessing to me and I hope it’s a major blessing to the sweet new home it’s going to (one of my local blog readers, hi Toni!!).

I got some really great pics out of that camera and so many memories.

Pause with me for a nostalgic moment, shall we?

Pictures like these:

And, oh man. I’m so glad I caught this happy cow moment:

OH, and this. Just makes me smile:

I had some good times with that camera. But, I sold that bad boy and bought myself a new one!!!!!!!! Thank goodness I was able to sell some stuff to cover the cost of the camera without giving my hubby a heart attack!

Now I will be sitting at my doorstep waiting for this beauty to arrive:

I’m so thankful for this investment for our family and my business!

that being sung in my best destiny’s child voice.

Well, I survived. Are you guys sick of hearing about this dang spider bite yet? I hope so. Because I’m sick of talking about it!! This thing dang near killed me, but I made it out alive. I’m still pretty sore, and I’m still moving pretty slow. But I’m a million times better!! I’m so thankful my mom stayed with me all week. I couldn’t even pick up my babies (still can’t) or even get off the couch for an entire week. I’ve had 2 babies, a shoulder surgery and a gallbladder surgery…and I’ve never experienced pain like this. I had to be on heavy pain pills for a week. That just made my whole body crazy.

Thankfully now I’m just on Tylenol and starting to feel a little more sane. I keep thinking “man I still feel so exhausted and nauseous”…and then I remember I’m PREGNANT! Oh, right! The baby!!! Holy cow.

I’m so thankful for coming through this thing and me and the baby are just fine. What a scary situation this was. Trust me, don’t go google “brown recluse spider bite”. You will lose your lunch. There are some pretty nasty things that can happen. I really am thankful to have been protected and healed from this situation.

Thankful that this whole in my side only looks like a gun shot wound and not the grand canyon. And my tiny bump is already growing!!

Back to my normal pregnancy and motherhood ramblings! Thanks for your prayers and support!

I’m trying not to throw up while I sit up to write this post. It has been one heck of a week. Remember that time I got eaten by a spider? Yeah, it’s really given me a run for my money.

Wednesday at 3:34am – THE BITE

Wednesday - A trip to the urgent care, followed by a trip to the ER.

Thursday - Pain, swelling and lots of annoying side affects. Very little sleep. I HUNTED AND KILLED THAT BEAST.

Friday - More intense pain and crazy swelling. My belly started swelling which just scared me being pregnant. Went to the doctor, they thought I was coming down with shingles.

Saturday - Pain got worse and swelling spread. Threw up everything I put in me. Off to the ER again. They confirmed that I did not have shingles, but it’s all just from the spider bite. Rushed me off to ultrasound to check the baby, and all seemed fine. We were only measuring 5 weeks and it was hard to see much because I could barely lay down to be checked. Celebrated my 28th birthday in the hospital with a pudding snack pack and a turkey sandwich. Yippeeee.

Sunday - My birthday. Boy, wasn’t that fun. After being at the ER until 3am, I was exhausted and layed on the couch all day. Super exciting. The pain is ridiculous.

Monday - More pain. It just won’t stop.

To sum up the week? I HURT.

This bite is just stupid. I’ve had two babies and I don’t think I’ve ever been in this much pain.

As if I wasn’t already horrified of spiders.

We are Thunder Fans. Duh. We are from OKC and if you are from here and aren’t a part of the Thunder bandwagon family, then you are living under a rock. Our cute little city got this NBA team a few years back and WHOA we made it to the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City is on the map now for more than the horrific bombing and yearly tornadoes. Talk about your positive PR!

Even though, we are a bit behind…everyone still believes we will come back and win. HECK YEAH!

Know who else believes?

Zoey. Even at 9 months old she can rock that beard.

THUNDER UP!

(psssssssst…..use the code “THUNDERUP” for 70% off my remaining ad space today only!!!)