Stepping out of our zone.

8/19/13 at 11:20am I became saved, I gave my life completely to God. I asked him to forgive me for my sins and I vowed to strive to make him proud daily. At that exact moment in time I felt like I could conquer the world, run a mile, re-build the twin towers with my bare hands. I felt indestructible!
Although that exact feelings has lessened with time, I still feel proud and ready to better myself. I want to shout from the rooftop that I'm a child of an AWESOME God.

Society has a way of making you feel like you shouldn't boast about being a follower of Christ. At the same time being a "follower" of Justin Bieber, Drake, Miley Cyrus, etc. is just fine! Being a huge fan of celebrities is "normal". Bringing Miley up in a daily conversation? No problem. Bringing Jesus up in a daily conversation? Alarms go off! Teenagers, adults, people of all ages aspire to be like these celebs.. From hair styles to fashion. Why? Because they're noticed?

I've realized I subconsciously restrain myself from telling people I talk to, how God has been in my daily life. He's everywhere in my life and instead of me witnessing to others even when I have an open opportunity to speak about it, I avoid it. I realize it could bring tension to the conversation or I just don't wanna step out of my comfort zone and bring it up. Nothing would make me happier than to have someone bring God while we're talking even if its completely random, instead of waiting for someone else to, why don't I? This is a big issue I'm dealing with here lately. God is constantly blessing me in so many ways and I know I could be a wonderful witness for him if I could just step out of my comfort zone and forget the "normal".    

I was fresh out of high school, hanging out with a friend and we were checking our Facebook. Someone updated their status to a Bible verse... My friend commented on how the other girl was such a "God fanatic/ Bible thumper".. I rolled my eyes and said "Haha yeah!...". I look back now and I'm amazed at myself, not in a good way! In my opinion being a "God fanatic/Bible thumper" is a great thing! God died for little ol' me, he blesses my life more than I could even explain. God is greater than anyone could ever start comprehend... I'm not apologizing if I'm a little fanatic over him. I mean, he is my savior and all!

This is really just a long promise that I'm going to practice stepping out of my comfort zone and letting people know just how amazing our God is.

Hello October; Willies 4 1/2 month update!

So much has changed this month already! For starters, at the beginning of the month Will started sleeping all night instead of waking up for his usual 4am feeding. I gave my life to God 100% to God, no holding back. Curt started his new job Monday and Willie had his 4 month check-up Wednesday!

I was raised in a Baptist church most of my life. I've other Baptist churches but I've always came back to the one I was raised in since my family goes there and everyone knows me. Curt works(ed) for a lumber company and delivered some things to a southern baptist church in town. Curt met a man and quickly started discussing religion, they got each other fired up (motivated) and the man invited us to the church. Since we were already members of a church, I was weary of it but Curt reminded me that there was no harm in giving it a shot.

That August afternoon we tried it out. We were hooked! It was MUCH larger than we were used to but everyone was still like family. Everyone was so welcoming and just "regular ole people". Laughing, joking, God fearing people. The preacher was awesome as well. He made Bible study fun and made me want to read Gods word constantly.. By the time we left, we knew we had found our new church home. Tuesday September 24, 2013 I felt the need to pray. I prayed about everything, I prayed about my life, my past, my future, my family but mostly myself. I prayed hard that God would forgive me for my past sins and I knew I wasn't going to be perfect but I was going to try my hardest to make him proud. I was going to live through him, I was going to glorify him in everything I do. From being a wife, mommy, daughter, sister, friend and daughter of God. Its a constant struggle but prayer, faith and reading his word helps more than I could begin to explain.

September 29, 2013 I was baptized!

This past Wednesday we took Will to get his 4 month shots, I hate them! I cry harder than he does!
He weighed 20.3lbs and he is 24inches long. Hims a big boy! The doctor suggested we try starting him on baby food. Veggies first! He wasn't a fan of green peas but boy, he sure did love the carrots!

(Mommys messy)

My little big man

My little miracle is now a big chunko! 

Willie Drake is now 11 weeks old & 1 day! Since I haven't updated ya'll in a little bit here ya go;

-At his 8 week checkup he doubled his weight and now weighs 14.5!

-He was 24 inches 

Likes

-Eating

-Bouncing 

-Sitting up (with his back against something)

-Making noises

-Seeing whats going on

-Swinging

-Watching TV (esp wrestling with daddy!)

-His paci

-His giraffe

-Bathtime 

-Warm water

-Standing up when mommy has ahold of his hands 

-Slobbering on everything (haha ;))

-Light-up toys 

-Mobiles 

-Mommy & daddy making funny noises

-Hank Jr. ;)

-Smiling

-People smiling at him

-Mirrors

Dislikes

-Not being able to eat AS SOON as he gets hungry

-Dark places unless its bedtime

-The quiet 

-When his clothes get wet at all

-Anyone being sad/mad

-Having to put any effort into going to the bathroom!

He's definitely a happy baby! He's 93% of the time smiling and making sweet noises. He'll "talk" to ya all day long(like hims daddy! haha) and  listen to whatever you wanna tell him. He's been so alert since the first night the nurse handed him to me but hes steadily becoming more alert with each passing day! He's so smart and he'll try to copy whatever you do. Although I try to keep him from doing it too much, he'll raise himself up when you have ahold of his hands. He'll even take a few steps from my waistline to my chest if I'm holding him laying down. He's so strong and big! We fall more in love with him everytime we look at him. He's just amazing!

New fresh start-- Leviticus 13:58

Monday night as I was talking to my momma about God and "getting right" with him, I got chills and a warm cozy feeling.. I knew it was God telling me to "get right" too. That night I talked to Curt about it and how I basically had no choice, I was going to get right with God. I've talked about it on here before but once again- there can be excuses every Wednesday and Sunday as to why not go to church. Don't feel good? Tired? Only day off? Just gonna go next Sunday?

What if you KNEW God was going to come to earth on Tuesday morning and call people to heaven or send some to hell, would you go to church this Sunday? Of course you would! But in reality you don't know when God is going to come back. No one does. Now is the best time to start fresh.

In life its pretty hard to find someone who is willing to wipe a slate completely clean, start over brand new, forget every bad thing you've ever done. That's why God is God, not Sam, Joe or Susie. He forgives you completely! No matter what you've done. All you have to do is repent, mean it.

As me and Curt prayed together tonight, I realized he starts out every prayer by saying "God please forgive us for our sins..."- not that I'm trying to tell anyone how to pray but it bothered me that he does it every prayer. Don't ask God to forgive you unless you plan on trying to do better with your life. He'll forgive you for sure, he promises that but mean it.

God loves everyone regardless of their sin and every sin is equal in Gods eyes. Lying, killing, cussing, drugs, cheating, etc.. He loves each one of us the same, even the evilest of people have God on their side if they'd just go to him.

After you wash & dry clothes, don't you love that fresh,. warm, soft feeling? Imagine that feeling on yourself when you sincerely repent & seek Gods forgiveness.  A new, fresh, warm start on life! Gets me re-excited just thinking about it! haha :)

That was mine and Curts bible study tonight by the way! Thought I'd share :)

Getting healthy!

As most of you know if you follow my facebook and twitter updates, I had an aunt pass away Saturday morning after a few short months of battling cancer. She was told that she had two weeks to live on Thursday and by Saturday 3:35am she passed away. Words can't describe how much I hate this. She was so funny, sweet and would say anything! I did and always will love her SO much! All this got me thinking how short life really is. You never know when it's your time to meet God face to face. Lifes too short to be anything but happy and feel absolutely the best you can!

 

No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on  the couch.

 Monday 7/15/13 I decided to start working out again, starting slow definitely. OH MY GOSH, DO I FEEL BETTER! 

10 set-ups

15 crunches

20 leg lifts 

10 push ups 

15 squats

Running in place (bringing knee's to chest) for atleast 15 mins 

May not be the technical names for the exercises but you get my point! I'm definitely not trying to lose weight, I'm happy with my weight (119) but I feel so much better, better about myself and I'd like to tone up of course. I did just have a 7lbs, almost 8lbs baby- 8 weeks ago. I need all the calories I can get since I lose so much through my skin but I can consume calories in a healthier way AND I'm trying to drink more water.. I'm cutting WAY back on coke and Dr.Pepper but I refuse to give up sweet tea! One step at a time, right? ;) 

How can I not blog?

How could I quit blogging? I have so much to say!
Since I'm writting a book soon I'm not going to give much medical detail anymore or anything like that, yall will have to wait ;) but I will keep updating about Willie and the family. I have so many readers that are almost like family, I can't hardly just quit ya! 
So here's a little update- 
Willie is 7 weeks old, 8 weeks Saturday :(. Time is flying entirely too fast! At 6 weeks he was 10lbs 14oz and 22 inches. Hims a big boy like his daddy. He's eating like a horse and such a happy baby. His likes and dislikes consist of... 
Likes; 
Riding
Outside
Fourwheelers
Trees
Snuggling
Being sang/talked to
All the attention
Swinging 
Tummy time
Music (especially Hank Wiliams Jr. & Led Zepplin)
His paci 
MILK! (Formula)
Dislikes;
Pooping

So as you can see, hes a pretty happy baby! He wakes up one time in the night about 3-4am and sleeps till 7 and will sleep pretty much however long I let him lol. I'm pretty sure he's hitting a growth spurt because he's sleeping SO much more than usual, never seems to be full anymore and is growing like a weed. 

Other exciting news- 
WE MET THE WESTLAKE FAMILY TODAY! 
Since they vaca near two hours from Arkansas during the summer, they stopped in to visit on the way back home. Meeting Brenna was amazing! She definately shocked me at how active she was and how she had such a big personality, shes so sweet! I'm not really sure what I expected though? She was definately a mommy & daddys girl and woudn't even think about letting me or Curt hold her but hey, can ya blame a girl?! Atleast she aint gonna go to a stranger! haha 

I was SO nervous all night last night and this morning. Possibly more nervous than on my wedding day. Ridiculous, huh? Everything went great though! Evan and Courtney are so down to earth and Connor was PRECIOUS! Taught me that the "stool" next to the chair was an autimin NOT a stool, that Curt could NOT fit in his sandels and that he's give us Brenna if we'd let him have a toy truck (fair trade, right?). He made me laugh so much! We even went outside and played catch while Brenna took a bath! 

I hated them leaving and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna work on convincing them to move to Arkansas. Worth a try! hahaha. We figured out Illinios is only 6hrs away from here so we'll definately go see them soon. I doooo love road trips!  Brenna and Willie LOVED each other, Brenna would try to hold Wills hand and willie would smiiiiile big. Thinking SOMEONE has a crush (Willie)!

Willie Curtis-Drake; 7weeks 

I'm a mommy now!

I've been MIA  for a little over a month thaaaaats because I'm a mommy now!

Thursday May 23, 2013 I was admitted into UAMS to be induced at almost 41 weeks. After being in labor for 3 days I had my perfect baby boy; William Curtis-Drake Turner! At 19 3/4 inches long, 7lbs 10oz he was healthy as could be. Perfect tan complexion, head full of dark hair and big beautiful eyes.

They started the Pitocin Thursday afternoon but I wasn't dilating near as fast as they wanted and when they upped the speed of the drops coming out of my IV Willies heart-rate dropped so they kept having to slow it down then gradually speed it up. I got an epidural when my contractions started getting rough but it was only working on one side; whichever side I was laying on & it was very uncomfortable to lay on my back.

After three days and doing everything possible to have a vaginal delivery we had to do a c-section because I was too narrow. I had to be put to sleep instead of using the epidural because it was only numbing my right side. Luckily, by the grace of God everything came out great for everyone!

Seeing as how I'm planning to start writing a book here pretty soon, I doubt I'll be blogging too much. However, I plan on vlogging alot more from now on on my YouTube channel. Capturing our familys life on video will be so sweet to look back on, I still watch the first video Curt & I made together! :)

If you have any questions ask on any of my social networking sites or email me!
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Vine- Stephanie Turner
Twitter- @StephOnliine
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