Friday, December 30, 2011

Mercy's Birth Story




These have been three of my favorite pictures so far. The last one was taken the day after Mercy was born. Look at all that hair!

Our family will be sharing Mercy's birth story coming from the eyes and hearts of some very special people. Before I let those special people share their perspective....I am going to share mine.

Twelve days had passed since our estimated due date. I was finding it very difficult to walk with all the pressure and some pain as well. I was also experiencing mild contractions off and on. The baby was getting bigger. Our midwife checked me that day for the main reason of us kind of knowing how quickly we needed to get out the door and head her way once true labor began. Without giving details, she told me that we needed to come right away! That night before supper and bed I was so uncomfortable. Surely this can't go on much longer. We all headed to bed a little early and I actually slept pretty good through the night.

Around 5:47 I awoke to go to the bathroom. Soon after I had a contraction. This was not unusual, so I didn't think too much about it. 10 minutes later I had another one and both were fairly strong. I woke Keith up and told him that this may be the real deal. A few minutes later I had another contraction. It was time to wake up mama and the four girls that would be going with us. It was also time to call the midwife and our sitter to come over to stay with the three little ones. First call to midwife and no answer. Second call and no answer. Two calls to sitter and no answer. A call to sitter's husband and no answer. Midwife called back almost immediately. She said she would begin to get things together. Keith calls our backups and gets the husband on the first try. They come over almost immediately and everyone is about ready to go. As I was giving the wife instructions on the little ones a very strong contraction came and I had to stop talking and just let it happen. It was time to go!

We had a 40 minute drive ahead of us. The contractions were coming pretty regular and I would get a really hard one that was followed by a milder one. I was praying, focusing, trying to relax, and giving Keith directions as well. Girls were giddy with excitement. The sun had not come up yet. It was still dark out.  I remember telling myself that I would tell Keith to help me walk through the different parts of my body during a contraction to make sure that I was fully relaxed. I was having LOTS of pressure. I was also beginning to wonder if I could do this again. What if I had hours left of this kind of pain and pressure?

When we pull into the driveway everyone begins to unload and take in all of our stuff. I don't know if I will make it inside. I get out and have to stop at the front of the van. Please let me make it inside is what I began to pray. Once the contraction let up, I walked as fast as I could to get inside and down the stairs. Barely down and I have to stop again. It passes and I get on the floor. Everything was happening fast.  They begin to fill up the pool. I am trying to think good thoughts. The flow of the water was relaxing. I prayed for breaks in between the contractions. It was the only way I thought I could make it. With the next contraction I knew we were not going to make the pool.

"Keith....." He came over and I told him it was about to get very hard. He talked calmly and lovingly to me and assured me that we could do this. They stopped with the pool and began to get the bed ready. Another contraction and I felt the urge to push. "Mrs. Brenda....." She began to quickly give orders to put a tablecloth under me. It became clear that we were not going to make it to the bed. I barely could get my legs up so they could get the tablecloth down when another contraction came and I began to push the baby out only to hear everyone tell me to slowwwww dowwnnnnn! What?? I reluctantly obeyed. I waited for another contraction, buried my head in the pillows on the floor, held on tightly to Keith's hand, and pushed with all my might. I heard Keith say, "Breathe Nichole." I decided that I would be glad to breathe once this baby was out. And I did not take another breath until SHE was out. It was instant relief like you would not imagine. 8:05 a.m.. Only minutes after arriving. 25 at the most. 

I lay back to look up to see my midwife for the very first time and she hands me our precious little girl. Her color looked great and she had a head full of hair. At this point everything looked fine, until I delivered the placenta and that is when I began to lose blood again. Thankfully it got under control and although I had to be very careful with getting up for several hours, I regained enough strength to be able to go home later that day.

It was a very special time for me. I was able to really enjoy Mercy for the rest of the day. She and I and my family. There was even a couple of hours when Keith took mama and the girls back home that I had her all to myself. I couldn't sleep. All I could do was thank the Lord for His great mercy and grace that He showed to us that day. He had answered my prayer for a fast delivery and for it not to happen in the middle of the night. I didn't deserve one bit of what He chose to give to us that day. But out of His great love.....

The only thing I would change is I would have left our cell phones in the van. It was nice to send out messages for people to pray and them respond. But, we could have waited to read their responses later. It was too tempting with our phones there by our side. Technology can drive me crazy sometimes.

 I am continuing to regain strength. The hemoglobin that I worked so hard to get up to an 11 dropped down to under 9. So, we will keep doing what we have been doing for months and hopefully in no time I will be back to normal. Mercy is doing great. She nurses so well and has already gained back the weight she lost plus 4 more ounces, making her 8 pds. and 12 ounces. She is beautiful and sweet and everyone adores her. We have truly been blessed with another little life that we pray will fall in love with our Lord and serve Him all the days of her life.

Thankful for mercy and Mercy,

Nichole

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Standing Ovation...for my mom



Yesterday my mom and dad left to head back down south. My mother had been with us an entire month. Daddy was ready to get her back with him. It will only be a little over 2 wks. before we see them this next time. Our family Christmas will be on into the middle of January.

Right before they left mama had gone to take Maleah to the bathroom and I told everyone to let's clap and cheer for Granna for all she has done for us and show our gratitude when she comes back in the room.  I gave them permission to be as loud as they wanted to be. Finally she came in and everyone stood to their feet and clapped and cheered.

Keith leaned over to me and said, "Look at Mallory". When I looked at her she had turned away and so I looked back at Keith with a puzzled look that said "What?" With tears in his eyes he told me she was crying. As we sat down Mallory kept her head slightly turned away and was wiping tears off her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. And now we were all three crying. Mallory had been moved by the love she had for her Granna.

You might ask why all the fuss when you will be seeing them soon? I think we all realize how special our moments together were. We will never get those moments back again. We will have the memories. And even those won't tell everything in its entirety. You see, Granna cooked, cleaned, bathed, swept, and washed. She read, colored, soothed, laughed, talked, and corrected. She loved in a way that was sacrificial and spiritual with its intentions. What child does not know what that is, even if they can't put it into words.

Our children will never forget..... and an investment has been made for generations to come.

So, a great big HIP-HIP-HOORAY for my mother (and sweet daddy) and our children's Granna!!

Thankful for witnessing an example of a spirit of servanthood from our Lord,

Nichole

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

We are RICH


During nap time yesterday, while my parents were out taking our oldest four daughters to spend their gift card to American Girl, my friend Andrea came over to show me how to use a few of her wraps for the baby. I am a big fan of the Ergo carrier, but not when the babies are really little. So, if I can figure these wraps out, I think I will love them. She took this beautiful picture while she was here. 

Just precious is what Mercy has been to all of us. Today she is a week old....actually it is 2 minutes away from the time that I had her last week. So thankful that we are on this side of the birth!!

We have had a great week with many coming to visit. Keith's dad, brother, and sister have been able to visit us. This has never been the case with us living so far away. My mom and dad have been here and will leave out today. My brother, Jason and his family were able to come for a night. My mom has done so much of the cooking and cleaning and making sure that I was getting my rest. Although, I cannot go out and run a marathon anytime soon, I do feel like I am doing better quicker than I did with the last baby.

My heart is truly overwhelmed with gratitude and emotions I cannot even adequately express. Keith brought me his Bible a few days ago and had me read a couple of verses that spoke deeply to our hearts. With the celebration of the birth of Christ and all it means to us as believers only added to this special time for us. It has kept everything in right perspective. Our lives are not our own. They belong to Him. And in Him do we place our full and complete trust. No matter what. In this brings great peace knowing that He loves us. 

The world's wisdom would tell us having all of these children is foolish, but God's Word calls them a blessing and a gift and arrows in the hand of a might warrior. And, for myself and Keith, these verses tell us how truly RICH he and I are....

"Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." Proverbs 24:3-4

Thankful that my home is filled with all precious and pleasant riches.....every room.

Nichole

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Meet Mercy Anne


Tuesday morning at 8:05 we gave birth to our precious little Mercy Anne Boggs. She weighed 8 lbs. and 8 oz.  and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. It was a fast labor and delivery. It was first thing in the morning and after a pretty good night's rest. God had answered two of my prayers. I asked that it wouldn't happen in the middle of the night and I asked that it would go quickly. Many others were praying for us as well.  We are thankful that He chose to answer both of these prayers.

We have been thinking of the name Mercy for quite some time. We just weren't sure about it. We also had Caleb picked out for a boy. We knew that both had significant meaning for where we were at this point of our life. When the midwife announced that we had a little girl, we knew no other name would testify of what God was doing in our lives right now, except the name Mercy. "How do you want to spell it?" I was asked. The only way was to spell it just like we read it off the pages of God's Word. Now to agree on a middle name. Our girls wanted us to use the name Ann. As we thought about it I remembered that Ann means grace. Mercy and grace....exactly what God has given us in great abundance. Ann it was, but with an e. Anne.

On top of that we have a precious aunt, grandmother, and best friend with the name Ann. I will think of them all when we say her name.

She is precious and doing well. I can't wait to share our birth story in the next few days. It was like no other.

Thankful for the peace and strength and safety He granted to us all during this time,

Nichole

Monday, December 19, 2011





Our little Maleah just turned 2 a few days ago. She baffles all of us with her personality and her "grown up" actions. She has been sitting in church with us since she was born. Once she became vocal, we had to train her at home how to sit quietly in our laps, so that we could make it through a service without becoming a distraction. She absolutely LOVES to write. We plan to buy her many notebooks for Christmas. She will actually draw a face with a body and pretend she is writing. Thankfully this keeps her entertained for most of the service.

Yesterday at church we heard an moving message on the love of God. You know, it never gets old hearing how much God loves us and desires for us to love Him back and walk this life showing His love to others.  I want to share with you a few scriptures from 1 John 4 and maybe we can all ask ourselves if we are displaying this love to those who we come in contact with day in and day out? To our husbands and our children?

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God has manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:7-11

May I love this way.

On another note, we are still waiting on this precious little baby to make his/her arrival into this world. I can't say that I blame him for wanting to stay tucked away in a safe and warm place. BUT, I believe all of us on this end are ready to be introduced! Today marks 12 days past our expected due date with really no clue if it will be today or tomorrow or when??! We will all go and visit the midwife again and today I am going to ask her how big she thinks this baby is. Or maybe not :)

Blessings on you today and may we show the love of God through godly words and actions.

Nichole

Friday, December 16, 2011

"Love Them with Organic Body Care" Package


We are excited to introduce the last of our "Love Them With..." packages (for now) with a few of our organic body care items. You will find that all three have a lot of the same all-natural, organic ingredients that our family has come to love.

It means a lot to be able to whip these up and use them for dry skin, chapped lips and face, cracked hands and heels, eczema, etc... and feel good about what I am applying. Using all natural and organic ingredients only benefit and nourish our skin and bring healing as well. 

Of course you can purchase these individually or as a package. 


 We offer 3 different organic chapsticks:

Peppermint Red- contains coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, grapefruit seed extract, peppermint oil, stevia, beet juice for color
                                               $2.50

Minty Fresh- contains coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, grapefruit seed extract, peppermint oil, stevia
                                               $2.50
 
Lemony Sweet- contains coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, grapefruit seed extract, lemon oil, stevia
                                               $2.50



We also have an organic hard lotion bar that is made with coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, and grapefruit seed extract. It has worked great on all of our dry skin. I have used it for Maleah's eczema over the last 2 years and it works great to keep it nice and moisturized to prevent itching and worsening of the eczema.

Unscented Hard Lotion Bar
                                             $7.00

Lavendar and Vanilla Scented Hard Lotion Bar
                                             $7.00



Lastly, we have a 2 ounce container of organic whipped lotion made with coconut oil, beeswax, aloe vera juice, vit. e oil, avocado oil, and grapefruit seed extract.

Unscented Whipped Lotion
                                            $4.00

Lavendar and Vanilla Scented Whipped Lotion
                                             $4.00

"Love Them With Organic Body Care" package- 3 chapsticks, 1 lotion bar, 1 whipped lotion
                                              $17.00

You can pay by check or pay pal. Just send me an e-mail and let me know what you would like to order. Also, please let me know if this is being sent to someone you care for and if you would like a personalized card to go along with it.

Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks,

Nichole

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Love Them With Extracts


No baby yet, so I figure we just keep marching on in contentment and keep ourselves occupied with the things we would like to get done before he/she arrives! So, we want to introduce two of our extracts that we have been working on. One (vanilla extract) has been in the making for six months! Both are delicious and we hope you might decide to try them out.

Pure Vanilla Extract is made with organic vanilla beans and alcohol. No water and no sweeteners added. It has been "aging" for six months now. It is rich and dark. You could actually use less than the recipe calls for because of how strong it is. We go through it like water...well, almost. The smell is fantastic and will bring great flavor to any dish that requires vanilla.

Pure Lemon Extract is made from the zest of organic lemons. No water and no sweeteners added. It has a bright, citrus smell and will add a great lemony taste to your baking. Lemon cookies, lemon poppyseed bread, lemon poundcake....the list goes on.

Pure Vanilla Extract- 2 ounces
   $7.00

Pure Lemon Extract- 2 ounces
    $5.00

"Love Them With Extracts" Package
     $10.00

Standard Shipping
     $6.95

If you are interested in purchasing, then please send me an e-mail and we will get these out to you along with a personalized card (if it is for someone you love) and a recipe card to get you started using your pure extracts!

Nichole


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Celebrating 14 Years of Marriage


Happy Anniversary Keith!

Words cannot express my gratitude to the Lord for bringing you into my life. My love for you has only grown deeper and purer.

I pray for many, many more years of this life together with you.

To the father of all these wonderful children and one to be.....I love you,

Nichole

Monday, December 12, 2011

Happy Bday to Maleah and Joshua!


We have celebrated two birthdays in the last few days. Maleah turned 2 on the 9th and Joshua turned 6 today. December is obviously a month of celebrating for us and will continue to be so when this new little one decides to come! We are still waiting. I had an apptmt. today with our midwife and she told me that at some point the average length of a pregnancy was 41 wks. and some odd days. It is harder to tell now with so many c-sections and planned inductions. Women just don't want to go a day over their expected due date.

I really am trying not to say that I am late. I have just gone past the date that was calculated for me. She also told me that in all ob/gyn textbooks you will see that a full-term pregnancy is anywhere from 37 wks. to 42 wks. Doctors just don't practice with that mindset. The baby is in perfect position and everything looked great. I have had no swelling except for sometimes at night after I have been up on my feet all day. But, it does make me a little nervous about having a BIG baby! And so we just try to be content and enjoy all that we have been given in these little birthdays and a special day tomorrow as well.

I thought I might share some pictures of these two blessings in our lives and their big day. We don't do anything big. Usually it consists of them picking out their favorite food and desert. I will cook that for them and Keith will take them out on a special date. After we eat the birthday meal they open their gifts. I pray that they know how much they are loved without the big bday party. It just became too much on us financially and sometimes physically exhausting. Maleah got homemade whole wheat chocolate cupcakes with a buttercream frosting that was colored pink with a little beet juice. Didn't change the flavor at all. And, actually they were very good cupcakes. I was surprised. Joshua chose a summer favorite....homemade chocolate popsicles. He loved them.




















We love you Maleah and Joshua! We are very thankful for you both!

Nichole

Friday, December 9, 2011

Love Them With Organic Popcorn...and a addition to our chocolate package



We have been popping our own popcorn now for over a year. We have also been buying organic popcorn kernels to do that. Corn is one of the top grains that are genetically modified. We try real hard to steer clear of anything that has been genetically modified. Something in my gut just says something is not right when we begin to mess around with the genetic makeup of a seed. I believe science is proving and will continue to prove that. I would encourage you to do some research on gmo foods for yourself and help protect you and your family.

I would like to introduce our "Love Them With Organic Popcorn" trio.  In the trio package you will receive a homemade caramel popcorn made with raw honey, butter, and sucanat (molasses granules), homemade sweet and spicy popcorn made with different organic spices that create a very interesting and tasty snack, and homemade popcorn made with sea salt and cracked pepper.

"Love Them With Organic Popcorn" trio package
             $9.00

Organic Caramel Popcorn
             $3.50

Organic Sweet and Spicy Popcorn
             $3.50

Organic Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper
             $3.50

Standard Shipping
             $6.95

Also, in addition to our Chocolate Package we want to offer an alternative chocolate syrup that uses organic raw cacao powder and sucanat (molasses granules).




Homemade Chocolate Syrup made with organic raw cacao powder
                                            $8.99

Please contact me by email and let me know if you would like any of the packages we have offered so far. We also sell individual items as well. If the package is going to someone you care about, then we will send a personalized card along with an ingredients card with recipes and cooking tips as well.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Nichole
nicholeboggs@gmail.com

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Perfect for a rainy day


This is what it looked like yesterday outside our back door. This is what is has looked like for the last couple of days.  Come to think about it, this is what it has looked like half the time we have been here! Lots of clouds and rain. But, there is something cozy and comforting about cloudy days and being stuck in doors...if your kids having something to do.

So, we made some homemade play dough yesterday. I have made it before with okay results. This was a new recipe and it worked fantastic! They played for hours. I had to make them put it up last night after church. Some are already opening theirs this morning. It was great. I have a feeling it is what they will be doing a lot today. From Maleah on up to Madison, it was a success. Pretending they were creating cupcakes for a cupcake challenge helped keep the entertainment going. It is soft and squishy, just like play dough from the store. I would recommend buying cheap flour and salt before making this. Not your good stuff. Like we did.
I mean, you are not going to eat. I hope.



Mallory, Joshua, and Stephen mixing it up. The others did their own as well.





Working on their masterpieces

Just a few of the finished products



Homemade Play Dough

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil ( I used peanut and it worked fine)
food coloring (4 drops to as many as you need to get it the color you are looking for)

Put all the ingredients into a medium pot and give a good stir making sure it is all incorporated. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. As soon as the ball is formed, remove from heat and dump onto counter or wax paper. Wait for it to cool and then knead until nice and soft. I noticed that the color deepened after we kneaded it. We made 6 different colors.

Hope you give it a try.

Thankful for inexpensive entertainment on a day we all have to stay inside,

Nichole

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Baby Countdown and Maternity Pics


Well, today is our due date and the baby countdown will continue.....

Any signs? That is what most are asking. Not really. Just waiting on God's perfect timing. He knows when the date will be and we are trying hard to trust that.

In the meantime my good friend, Andrea, has really encouraged me to let her take some maternity pictures of me before having this baby. I have never had maternity pictures. If she had not persisted, I probably would not have done them.

My mom is here right now, helping and waiting for the little one to arrive. Sunday she watched the children while Keith and I headed out to a nearby field to get some shots of this great-with-child mama. Andrea was great. It took maybe 30 minutes and she did a fabulous job!

I do have to say that it was a little awkward. I have never really had pictures taken of me, except family pictures. It felt odd. But, I am so glad I did it. And, so glad that Keith is in the pictures with me. Because, even though I am the one carrying the baby, it is just as much about him as it is me. God chose both of us to bless with a new life. We have done this thing together 7 other times. I am so thankful that it has been with the love of my life and my soul mate. He is a great and godly husband and father.  I am a very blessed woman to have him. What a gift!

I thought I might share a few of the pictures. It was fun :) .  I will treasure them always.








Thankful for Andrea encouraging me to do something I probably would have never done,

Nichole

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Love Them With Spices


We are very proud to introduce two of our very own creations of spice mixes that we have been tinkering with for over 2 years now. We have found a combination that we really like and have successfully used them for quite some time.



Our motivation for the spice mix was my husband's love of the taste of a juicy steak from Longhorn. How could we come as close as possible to taste he loved so much? So, we began to google and play around with different spices. We use the spice mix and add a couple of liquids to make a marinade and we are pretty happy with the results. I am not claiming it is just like Longhorns (may be better :), but it is has met the satisfaction of Daddy Boggs! We have also used this mix to rub on roasted chickens, fried turkeys, roasted potatoes, and additions to soups. All ingredients are organically grown. No preservatives.



We love spicy food at our house. Tacos, fajitas, burritos, chili....you name it. I had to create a taco seasoning that we all liked that I could feel good about feeding my family. This mix has been tried and true. With the combination of different chili spices, garlic, onion, etc...along with arrowroot as a thickening agent, we have loved the way our dishes have turned out with great flavor. Just this past weekend I added it to chili for the first time. It was fantastic. All ingredients are organically grown and no preservatives.

So, if the one you love and care for likes spices as much as we do, how about sending them a "Love Them With Spices" package? Oh, and there is nothing wrong with ordering this for yourself!

A package will include one of each spice mix, along with a personalized card, and a card with ingredients, recipes, and cooking tips. The more spices you buy, we will take off a buck or two or three.

Love Them With Spices Package

Organic Spice Mix: $4.99
Organic Taco Seasoning: $4.99

Total: $9.98

An extra $6.95 will be included for shipping
Tax included in price

Buy 3 spices for the price of $14.00
Buy 4 spices for the price of $18.00
Buy 5 spices for the price of $22.00
Buy 6 spices for the price of $26.00

Until we can get payment set up on the site here, please send me an e-mail with your name, address, and quantity. Also, let me know if this is going to someone you would like to send a care package to and we will be glad to include a personalized card for you.


Hope to hear from you soon,

Nichole