Esther 4:14

As I was reading the other night, God pointed me to this passage in the Bible:

“If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” – Esther 4:14

This is SO powerful because I have known that I have a calling from God to reach out to this dark world for His glorious Kingdom, as we all do, and I have really been praying into exactly what he wants from me, as his faithful servant. I definitely know that direction, but it isn't fully clear yet as to when and how to take action. Money is a large portion of the wait, but I know God will provide me in His timing with all of the resources I need to take flight with this calling.

I just love the articulation, “you were made queen for just such a time as this” — we are called as followers of Christ to reach out in His name and not stay silent. This is such a relevant command, especially in the wake of the disaster our world is facing through these perilous times. We are to be queens & kings for Christ now more than ever . . . by that I mean LEADERS. We are to lead people to Christ and the abounding, endless love and hope that he has for all those called according to His purpose — that CAN be everyone if they choose!!

SO, get out there in this mess, don't try to hide or segregate yourselves and your family from what is going on now with the economy, government and society. We must dive in and radiate Christ’s light and help those in panic and need. The jobless, homeless, seniors who have lost all of their retirement money and many others come to mind. Seek these people out, and help them in Jesus' name. Pay for their dinner, help them look for a job, point them to the limitless resources of our merciful God. We are being called to serve a powerful purpose in such a time as this, so let's get out and show the weak, lonely, desperate, lost and so on, the love of our AWESOME God. You go, you Kings & Queens of Christ.

These are a few of my favorite things!

I have been wanting to do this for quite a while, so here it is. My faves roll, in no particular order:

Aveeno Baby Lotion (I even use it, it is amazing.)
It is rated with an overall health safety score of 2 0ut of 10 (the lower, the safer)


www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
Thorough resource to look up any hygiene/personal care product and see how safe (or unsafe) it is for you. It rocks! This is where I make most of my product decisions from.

Mrs. Meyer's Baby Room Freshening Spray
I use this daily in Noah’s room, on his car seat and even other places around the house. It is a safe version of Febreeze, and oh so fresh!


Mrs. Meyer's Lavender Cleaning Products
You can purchase the All-Purpose Cleaner, and dilute to make it into countertop spray, toliet cleaner, you name it! It will last a long time, and it makes me feel like a queen because it is such a rich and exquisite fragrance.

Head Organics Shampoo & Conditioner
Your hair will be sleek & shiny with no bad chemicals!


Apple iMac
This is my life!! Never will I ever use a pc.


Birds
They are a symbol of the freedom we have in Christ and how abundantly he provides for all creation


Blue Bell Cookies n Cream Ice Cream

Starbucks Non-Fat Decaf Peppermint Mocha WITH Whip

Magazines Magazines Magazines!
Martha Living • Domino • Southern Accents • Real Simple • Elle Decor • Parenting + More

Tom’s of Maine Apricot Deodorant - Aluminum Free
Aluminum is found is nearly all deodorants, and it has a huge link to breast cancer . . . this is a great and deliciously scented safe alternative.


www.retailmenot.com
The most amazing resource for online coupon codes!

Capri Blue Candles
Amazingly fragrant and decadent. (Volcano is my favorite, although they are all fabulous!)


That was fun! I will do more of these in future posts! Enjoy!

where did march go?

Well, yes, it has been insane!!! The month of March consisted of the following:
• coordinating outfits, etc for Noah's six month photo shoot
{Photography by Shan Renee}








• hosting a fabulous lingerie shower for my dearest friend Jennifer


• feeling like i was in college again at her bachelorette (no, i didn't drink, but
we did have a BLAST at Louie Louie's, a piano bar)
• hosting a booth at our church's The Titus Project, youth girls event
• LOTS of work, and I mean LOTS
• visit from my mommy (Gran) for a week!


• being overtaken by a terrible icky cold/ upper respiratory/ sinus infection
• Noah being sick with an upper respiratory infection
• visit from Mike, Nathan's dad (Grandpa to Noah) for a long weekend

• Nathan's birthday
• being in Jennifer's wedding


• trying to get this fabulous website done that i have been working on for over a year!!
• preparing for my dad's arrival this thursday

can you see??? However, I am feeling so blessed to have been able to have such a fabulous and busy month. In spite of what the world is trying to tell us, God is still God of the Universe, and I am refreshed at that encouraging reminder. He is bigger than our economy and personal woes. You go God!

Noah's first bouquet of flowers

My dad, Noah's Grandpo, sent him this adorable bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day that was encased in a metal vintage fire truck! My dad said he got it for Noah for the truck, not really the flowers, but let me just tell you, that Noah BEYOND thoroughly enjoyed the flowers!! So, Dad, here is how much your grandson loved the gift . . . Love you lots!

Happy Valentine's Day from Noah and Zoe

He is the most precious blessing God could have ever given me. I have been exposed to way too many blogs and friends of friends that have babies that are very ill in the hospital, undergoing surgeries, fighting cancer . . . I don't know why God has exposed me to these, but it is an honor to pray fervently for these amazing families, who are completely relying on God's strength to get through. It also makes me thank God for Noah's health and safety, and I look at him with the most intense gratitude toward God. My heart aches literally for these families. I won't post links or anything to these families blogs, but please pray for them.

Noah is a true gem to me, and this Valentine's Day, I am at a loss for words to describe the gratefulness and love that I have for this precious boy. He is wearing a shirt in the photo that says, "Heartbreaker", and I mean, that boy just breaks my heart over HOW STINKIN ADORABLE he is!!!!! He has now been introduced to solid foods as of three days ago, and he is loving him some peas!!! He is such a great eater, and he just took to it immediately. He was like, "Why did you make me wait this long for this good stuff?!"

I wanted his Valentine's photo to be very red and lovey dovey!! I tried everything in my power to get Zoe on the couch next to him and pose for the photo, but she was much more into trying to get me to play with her toy. So, she didn't get in the photo. :(

Noah Thomas Hasse is the love of my life. I can't imagine one day without him, I don't even remember what life was like before him! The same thing goes for the most amazing husband in the entire world. Nathan is the keeper of my heart, and I am honored to be his wife. God is good. This Valentine's, I have a heart of gratitude. For my family, friends and most importantly, the God of the Universe. Happy Valentine's.

UPDATE ON TREY!!!

I talked to Sarah this morning, and Trey was in the OR ready for the biopsy, and the doctor came in and said at the last minute that there was no need to do it because his blood counts came way up (still low, but not of deep concern)!!! They think he could possibly have Parvo Virus.
They are going home from the hospital today, yippee!!! They have to go back on Thursday for another blood test.

So, keep praying for him, that he is healed of anything that is wrong in his body. Thank you so so much for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Sarah and the family are so grateful! Many blessings.

Please pray for my precious cousin, Trey . . .

So I only have 3 first cousins total — Sarah, Amy & Connor. My cousin Sarah's son Trey, was sick last week with a fever, so they took him to the doctor and had his blood tested. It turned out that all of his blood counts were low, so they admitted him to the Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH to run various tests to determine the cause. Well, all of those tests came back negative, and they did another blood test, which told them that his blood cells aren't replenishing themselves currently. He is going in for a bone marrow biopsy tomorrow morning, and we are praying that the result doesn't point to Leukemia, which is a possible cause of what is going on. Please pray for my precious family, Trey, Sarah, Todd (his brother), Austin (his step-brother), Kim (my aunt, Trey's grandma), Sean (Trey's dad), Sean (Trey's step-dad), Amy (Sarah's sister, my cousin), Valerie (Amy's daughter) & Ethan (Amy's son). We are a very close family, and these kids are really being affected by this. Please pray for a favorable outcome, but most importantly God's will in all of this. Pray for strength for Trey and also for his mommy, Sarah. Thank you so much.

In the photos, Trey is the adorable blonde on the right of his mom Sarah. Todd is behind her and Austin next to him. Sarah's hubby, Sean is left of her.

"Cast all your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22

what we've been up to the last few days

Here is an entry of randomness! Let's see, last week was very busy with work and Mr. Noah! I helped one of my dearest friends, Jenn, make invitation pockets for her gorgeous wedding invitations, Noah and I had lunch with our beloved DOEdoe & Uncle Fun (Donya & John) of DesignEnvy, whom I freelance design for (they are like family to us!) He sat in a restaurant high chair for the FIRST time at that lunch!, and we have been trying to fight off a cold that Noah has developed!

Gramps AB (Alex) bought Noah the most precious outfit just because . . . it is Polo! He has already worn it. Thanks Gramps AB!

I am very inspired to start making lots of different cupcakes. Wish me luck. I will be posting my successes (and/or failures!) Oh yeah, and I got out by myself today, which was much needed and had fun finding a few bargains, my favorite being a gorgeous rug for my kitchen which was only $6.99!!!

OH YEAH, and I bought Noah his first baby food! I am going to try to make it, but I thought this 100% organic baby food would be just as sufficient for now, until we get a food processor.

Much love and many blessings.

"Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself; how I praise you! I will honor you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer." Psalm 63:3-4

the things i love about Noah . . .

• the way he gets so excited to see me when i get him out of his crib in the morning or from a nap! he gets the biggest smile on his precious face.

• how he plays with my index finger and fingernail to fall asleep as i rock him.

• how he gets so excited any time zoe comes around him, or even in the same room . . . they are connected somehow! it is amazing.

• his talking. he talks all the time, i LOVE it.

• how he smells and how he feels.

• picking him up from his crib and just holding him so close to me and loving on him.

• how his ear will leave a perfect indention on my arm after i feed him!

• his spitting sounds, he is hilarious.

• his expression when we sing "This Is The Day The Lord Has Made" every single morning.

• that he falls peacefully asleep as I pray out loud over him, if I don't he fights sleep badly!!

• that he has been sleeping through the night since he was 3 weeks old!! 8 hours or more!

• how he kicks his adorable chunky legs in the bath and splashes me and the entire kitchen!!

• when he spits up, how he just smiles so big like nothing happened!

• that he can't stand to not be in on the action, and the second you bring him where the party is, he is perfectly happy.

• that he LOVES other babies and children, and he now reaches to touch their hands.

• reading to him is a joy because he actually listens and looks at the pages with me!

• his SMILE will truly make anyone melt.

• his LAUGH will make you laugh so hard you cry! he has done it to several people!!!

• he doesn't really cry, just whines, and i love that!

• that he loves having the ABC's sung to him, and really it's the song that can calm him if he is hungry or fussy!

• that he is so easy going. he just hangs out and goes with the flow.

• that he lets me sleep in the morning after i bring him to bed with me! he will lay there and talk and look at the ceiling perfectly content.

Oh, goodness, there are a million more things, but I am so beyond blessed and honored that God created Noah for Nathan and me to be his mommy and daddy. He is a joy every second of every day. I can't wait to get him out of his crib in a few short hours!

anyone seen my comforter?

yes, it's true. i washed my big comforter at the laundry mat, put it in the dryer, go home to eat dinner, return to the laundry mat, and my comforter is gone. a guy in there said a young gal left with it in a little red car. well, lesson learned here: DON'T LEAVE ANYTHING UNATTENDED AT A LAUNDRY MAT. i guess we will just have to be cold tonight. [the comforter is in the background of this photo] hopefully they still have this comforter at stein mart. it was on clearance back in october!!!

Zoe is a hero . . . saved a house and lives.

I must tell you this awe-inspiring story of my precious Boxer, Zoe. On Sunday, I was doing laundry and other such things around the house while Noah was napping and Nathan was on call at work. Zoe was whining to go outside, and I was in the middle of changing out the laundry, so I told her to hang tight, I was almost done. Well, about a minute goes by, and she is not letting up and being much more persistent than usual. So, I said, "Ok, Zo, you can go out." Well, our back door has a half window on it, and I was looking down a Zoe to let her out, and as I opened the door, she backed away from it, hesitating to go outside. I said, "Zoe, you were begging me to go out, GO OUT SILLY GIRL." Now, keep in mind that there is no way for Zoe to see out back when she is inside because the door window is too high. So, I shut the door and looked up (outside) and the neighbor's yard that backs up to my backyard is literally billowing with smoke and flames. I mean BILLOWING. I grabbed my phone and called 911 to get the firemen out there. My call was the first call into them. So, I had everything ready to jet out of my front door with Noah and Zoe just in case the fire headed our way. I watched, and the firemen showed up 5 minutes later and ran into their backyard fighting the fire. They put it out and then were surveying the scene for a few hours. Shortly thereafter, the Fire Marshal showed up on our front step. I told him that Zoe truly told me about the fire, and you know what he said . . . "If we had gotten there 30 seconds later, there was a huge pile of leaves that was about to ignite next to their garage, and that would have caught their house on fire and done a lot of damage. One of the kids was sleeping in the room right by the garage also." SO, Zoe was so persistent because she literally smelled trouble. She is the most amazing dog in this universe.

This is truly hilarious . . .

It really is amazing what the sticker top to a baby wipes refill can do to entertain Mr. Noah!!

Noah's Baby Dedication

We were so honored on Sunday to dedicate Noah back to the Lord. Noah is God's to begin with, and this dedication ceremony at our church was a public proclamation that we completely trust God with our son and will seek Him out every step of the way in raising Noah.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

This is our heart for Noah, that he would seek to know God and submit to His will each and every day of his life. It is my prayer that he would be a radiant light of God's love. That he would bring great change to this dark world for God's kingdom.

My mom, Alex, Nathan's Mom, Doug, and my Gramps all came in from out of town. I know that my dad would have been there in a heart beat, but he is over 2,000 miles away! Thanks for all of the prayers from our other family members also. It was truly a blessed day! Oh, and I had the most fabulous cake recipe from my friend Kayla (Dream Whip Cake with Buttercream Frosting), and the center collapsed and my frosting job was very rushed at 1am, so it ended up being quite ugly!!! But, it was made with love by my mom and me for Noah!

Let's all take a moment to pray for each of our children (in my case, 1). Pray whatever is on your heart and ask God for His direction for each of their lives. Also, that He would guide you in raising them and if they are already on their own, that He would guide them in every decision and that they would glorify His name! And, if you don't have children yet, pray for them! Or pray for the children that are in your life.
They are such a special gift, and we should take a moment to really soak that in!

God's Richest Blessings over you.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Blogging again!

I am back! To say the least, getting ready for Christmas and wrapping up work before the New Year was crazy! It seemed as though all of my jobs landed all at once with deadlines all before Christmas. So, many nights of staying up until 3 am consistently paid off because I somehow got it all done.

We had a marvelous Christmas in Albuquerque, and Noah had such a great time celebrating Jesus' birthday for the first time. He was the star of the town. We visited so many wonderful family members and friends, and we even had a mini high school reunion with about 15 of our closest high school friends. It was fabulous! My friend Gabby was there, who I hadn't seen or talked to since graduation 6 years ago, and she didn't know that Nathan and I were married or had a baby! It was quite the surprise.

We spent Christmas morning at my mom and Alex's. My Auntie Sheryl and Uncle Robert were there all the way from Cali! Noah met them for the first time, and it was very special. Christmas evening was with Nathan's mom and Doug, and we had a wonderful time with them. Christmas Eve was special because we went to Nathan's Dad and Grandpa's for Red Chile Enchiladas and Tamales. Yum yum. We also got to see Aunt Deana, Uncle Rick and Nannie (Nathan's fam). Well, that was that.

The New Year was rung in with yet again, Red Chile Enchiladas and Tamales accompanied by Lime Sherbet and Sprite to toast with - that is a tradition. Noah was of course, sleeping. I don't blame him!

Noah is nearly sitting up on his own, and he discovered his feet the other day. He now grabs them at any chance he gets. He loves to sing with us (he really does sing in his own way!), and he is mesmerized by Zoe, our Boxer. Zoe loves him too.

Well, that is enough for now, I will be posting regularly now. Love to all. Many blessings in His glorious name!