Monthly Archives: April 2019

{the hands of my beloved}

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This afternoon, I’m finding myself particularly thankful for the hard-working hands of my beloved, and the way he uses them to care for myself and our son.

He was recently asked to work on a couple of furniture projects for some friends of ours. Ready-made plans didn’t exist for either project, so he’s been designing these builds from scratch.

After several delays, he was able to start the actual making this past Saturday, and I asked if I might capture some of the process.

He is so careful with each detail- he puts time into meticulous measuring, and painstaking attention is paid to every angle so that the final product will turn out the way it ought.

I love watching him work.

His traits of being cautious and careful carries over in the way he tenderly looks after myself and our tiny son.

He uses those hardworking hands through very long days to provide for our needs and to work towards our dreams, and then uses those same hands to find mine while he prays over our dinner each night. It is such a blessing to go before our Father above with hearts in unison and hands tightly clasped; together in this as with the rest of our lives.

It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

We are quickly approaching our season of “anniversaries”….the anniversary of the first message he sent my way, the anniversary of my “ultimatum” email, the anniversary of me opening the door to him standing on my daddy’s porch with a big smile for us to meet in person for the very first time….this is a special season of the year for us. It is incredible to think that there was a time before our lives were entwined together. God is so good, and so faithful to us. I am so very thankful for all of the answered prayers that came to me in Daniel. He is truly so much more than I ever could have even hoped for in a spouse. <3

{simple joys}

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“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The clock of life seems to be ticking ever faster these days. One day flows into the next, and I’m never sure of just how life flies by with more expediency as each moment passes.

I’m watching my tiny son grow up. Though he is but a little babe; a man-child now, already I see the stirrings of the grown man he will be one day. The firm set of his brow when he is deep in thought, and the determination he is using to become more independent and mobile. The days are long, but the years are short, and I know it will be but a brief time he will be in my home with me before he flies our nest and builds one of his own.

I’m thankful for this season of rest the Lord has provided for me. Through the hard work of my husband, I am able to stay here and feather our nest and care for our little boy. It has been a welcome reprieve from the craziness of working, and balancing night shift and other life changes. God knows what we need when we need it.

I find myself admiring the beauty in the simplest of things…

The way the silverware looks in the drawer all clean and shiny.

The way the sunshine streams in through the front door in the afternoons.

The fresh smell of Oliver’s laundry all washed and ready to be folded and put away.

The way the banana muffins look as they come out of the oven…hot and gooey with chocolate-y goodness.

I’m thankful for how God continues to reveal Himself as we’ve been praying through some major life decisions. We’ve got our laundry list of things that we are hoping to accomplish and work towards, and at the end of the day, God is faithful. He continually leads us right where we are to go, and firmly shuts doors that we are not meant to walk through.

I’m so thankful for our simple, and joy-filled, quiet life. Life is such a precious gift- may I never take even one minute for granted.

{a few postpartum helps}

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Hello friends! I wanted to quickly take a minute to blog a little about some things that I have found indispensable during the postpartum recovery time, while it’s still somewhat fresh in my mind. 🙂 I realize that this is the first baby I have brought home, but I do think that these suggestions might be helpful to other moms, as they were a huge blessing and help to me! 😀

Freezer meals! One of the things that was immensely helpful to me was having some meals put away in the freezer for the time after Daniel went back to work. We were blessed and were able to have him home for several days due to changes going on at his job, in conjunction with holiday off time and vacation days, but even so, I was so, so thankful for those meals in the freezer!! I put away as many as I could, and then my sweet mama delivered several others. It was so nice to not have to worry about what we were going to eat while I was still working on getting back on my feet! There were also some wonderful friends of ours who delivered meals and even sandwich fixings after we got home from the hospital. That was such a HUGE blessing!

If you tore at all during delivery, the Earth Mama Herbal Perineal spray was so wonderful! I was alternating using it and spray Dermoplast. I felt like the tear was healing much faster than what I was told to expect from my doctor’s office, and I think this spray is really what made the difference.

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After things settled down and we were ready to start going back to church, I realized that none of my church clothes fit at all. They were all either maternity and too big, or pre-maternity and too small. I found these dresses on Amazon, and for the most part, they have been AMAZING and not terribly expensive.

I ordered this black one:

I also ordered this burgundy one:

And this blue one:

The black one and the burgundy one have been great, but the blue one, while comfortable, developed fuzzballs on it really easily, and I’d only worn it three times. I’m going to get a clothes shaver and see if that helps, but that was disappointing. I’ve worn the black one and the burgundy one several times, and they both seem to be holding up really well. They have been awesome for nursing and have been very forgiving of my post-pregnancy shape.

My mom found this awesome Epsom salt rub at Walmart several months ago, and it became a lifesaver for my backaches while I was pregnant. After I had the baby, it still felt so good rubbed into my back. It also was the most effective thing I used to treat the dreaded “h’s” that showed up after pushing for so many hours. That isn’t what is was labeled for, but I found where someone had tried that in the Amazon reviews and decided to try it myself. LIFE CHANGER, folks.

I also realized a few weeks after bringing our little guy home that I was dealing with some baby blues. Mom suggested increasing my vitamin D consumption, so I did that and noticed a huge difference within just a few days. If it had been more sunny outside during that time, I would have also been soaking up as much sunshine as possible.

After the 6 week mark, it was time to start working in some exercise routines. We’ve been using Dr. Oz.s 7 minute workout here, and I’ve been alternating a few of Leslie Sansone’s 1 Mile Walk-At-Home videos (also on YouTube) as well. I realized when pushing that I had very little upper-arm strength, and I’m also trying to work on getting rid of some of those extra pounds I put on during the pregnancy. I haven’t lost a whole lot of weight thus far, but I can definitely see some muscle definition and toning making an appearance, and that makes me really happy. 🙂

The other thing that was really helpful was transitioning Oliver onto as much of a consistent sleep routine as I could. We follow the EASY baby schedule as much as possible, and it’s truly been awesome! He actually prefers to sleep in his bed, and throws the biggest fit if we’re out-and-about and it’s naptime. 😀 He sleeps in his bed overnight, and he usually wakes up when we are getting Daniel out the door for work, so I feed him and put him in bed next to me for morning snuggle time before we start the day. He loves his routine! I know that we’re rapidly approaching that 4 month sleep regression time, but I’m sure enjoying the good rest we are getting right now!

I sincerely hope some of this will be of help to you. Many blessings on this rainy spring day!
~Mrs SuperShevy