Draven has arrived...

My precious daughter blessed my life on Thursday, January 19, 2012. Draven Koh Mc Vay is perfect and growing like a weed. Brixton has grown quite fond of her as have I and her daddy... There will be much more to come but for now she is calling (well crying for me) so until I have a free 5 minutes :)

Because if I don't post April is going to beat me hahahahaa....

Ok so I honestly am probably the WORST blogger EVER!!!!!! It has been more then a year since my last post. I really can't even come up with a good excuse as to why it has taken me so long to get back on this site. I mean, I still have both legs to walk to the computer; Both of my hands and all of my fingers are still intact so I am ABLE to type about my life; and of course Brixton and I are still alive and kicking so there are TONS of things I could be sharing with this beautiful world! I think I just get so far behind I think, 'Well crap it's already been 2 months I'll just wait a little longer... and then that turns into more then one year later! Even though I'm not blaming anyone or anything in particular, life is just CRAZY!

Proof Brixton and I are still alive and kicking

I could post about a million posts to catch up, but instead I think it best to just continue on and start over. A rough draft of the events we have had happen over the last year would be like a chapter book so I will have to summarize instead.

Scott and I started dating in November 2010. I can't believe it's been almost one year! I am so in love with him it's hard to put into words. Brixton is warming up to him more and more with each passing day. It was a difficult transition from having all of my attention to sharing some of that with Scott. They are manly men together. Scott took Brixton fishing for the first time this summer. It turned out to be a semi bust, but I think over time it will be a special way for the two of them to bond. We have also been able to take Brixton to the Blank Park Zoo many times but it didn't amount to the fun he, and all of us, had at the Omaha Zoo.

I think the gorillas were one of Brixton's favorites.

Scott helping Brixton with a vine swing.

Brixton's usual pose because, like his mom, he would rather take the photo.

I love going to the zoo so I am sad that it is getting colder out, but we will go again and again and again. I'm signing Brixton up for some classes at the zoo so he is able to enjoy going during the colder months. I am sure to have updates about those as well. (As long as I can keep this up!)

In other exciting news... for those of you that are unaware... Scott and I will be welcoming a baby girl in January. I am overjoyed to be having a daughter. I'm sure Scott is as well, but Brixton on the other hand... let's just say he's really, really wanted a baby brother. I believe the conversation went a little like this:

ME: "Do you know what the baby mommy is having is?"

BRIX: "Yeah, it's a baby brother." (HUGE smile on his face)

ME: "Awe I'm sorry buddy, but it's a baby sister."

BRIX: (Look of disgust!) "AHHH, I DIDN'T WANT ONE OF THOSE!"

We later had a talk about why he wasn't getting a brother and who decides on a brother or a sister. It was interesting, but I'm hoping he will get over the desire for a brother and love his sister more then ever! He has a big heart and loves to help so I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll just never forget that look and expression of emotion on his face that day! (There will of course be more to update on the baby and Brixton's adventures as they grow and learn together so stay tuned!)

Brixton's rest time is now over, and that means my blogging time is also over! Now that we are working on having a better schedule I hope to get these times more frequently but we shall see. I am going to try my best... until then....

God is all around us!

Here is a shot of how amazing God was this morning on my bike ride!

It's hard to imagine people don't believe in God or that he created our Earth and everything in it. How intricate it is! I am still amazed daily of the blessings we are given from him. Just look around and he can be seen! Stop the excuses, OPEN YOUR EYES AND HEARTS for GOD!

Romans 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

This verse has been on my heart for the last week or so. I remember back 4.5 years ago when I was blasting though life, living it however I wanted. I believed in many different evolutionary theories and was a huge promoter of NOT LOVING GOD. I didn't need a "HIGHER POWER" to get through things because I had alcohol, drugs, self harm, anything and everything to subside any type of emotional distress or feelings that I wanted erased as quickly as possible. I had grown up in an amazing family, and I even attended Catholic mass with my grandmother on occasion. I just didn't believe. I was blind to EVERYTHING the LORD had given to me, to the world. To reflect on my own life and how insa

ne of a lifestyle I was living, I am at times shocked and amazed that the Lord STILL WANTED ME on His team. Salvation couldn't have come at a better time in my life. I was lost, on a winding road to HELL without an exit sign for miles. It was a ride that I had bought and paid for without any form of refund except through CHRIST'S BLOOD and THE CROSS!

Lately I have been reflecting on a lot of my past and how it has influenced my life today. Even though I wasn't, and still am not, a perfect Christian, my heart yearns DAILY for the SPIRT of GOD to be in me. Through his WORD and PRAYER, the characteristics of the God I love and serve are made apparent, and I continue to try and strive to put them into my life practically.

The Lord has truly blessed my life with the ability to do hair, and He truly saved my life by giving me Brixton. I honestly believe my own self-destruction would have killed me had I not been given such an incredible gift from God. I was drowning in a sea of bad choices, negative friendships/relationships, and a 100% commitment to the world. I knew truth but didn't care. I was going to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I probably w

ouldn't have graduated school on time let alone early, nor would I have turned from the lifestyle I was living. I never thought I, Ashley Harvey, would have a rock bottom. Maybe I never actually hit it; it's definitely possible the Lord saved me from it before my face was mangled by sharp rocks as I plunged to death by the world.

Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says:

"These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

This verse shot me right where it was supposed to, MY HEART! It makes me think of questions to be in prayer about:

• Am I coming to the Lord with my mouth in prayer, yet not trusting His answers in my heart?
• Do I SAY I am living for the Lord and honoring Him, yet not believing it in my heart?
• What are the desires in my heart and do they honor the Lord?
• How often to do I put the Lord on the back burner to worship the world?
• Am I divided by my desires for eternity in Heaven and my desires to "fit in"?
• Can I demolish this division?

I continue to pray for these things in my life and also in the lives of others around me. I THANK GOD DAILY for my salvation, and for saving me from MYSELF! I did not deserve to be handed a detour from Hell and honestly NO ONE does! BUT the Lord wants me, wants you, wants us to be on his team. He loves us and wants all his children to know who he is.... what is stopping you?

1 Timothy 2:3-4

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

My precious son as he sleeps... the only time he is calm! I love him!

Trials=Trusting in the Lord

I LOVE MY SON!!

Hello again bloggers. Amazingly enough I am blogging just ONE day after my last post instead of MONTHS AND MONTHS. I really want to share my life the Lord has given me with everyone who takes the time to read this so I'm trying to be diligent in sharing any and everything in my life with all of you!

I had many misconceptions about life as a Christian for a very long time. At first I didn't understand why I should be praying for trials. I mean who really wants to ask for something to go wrong, right? But I have been learning this a lot, especially over the last year to year and a half. Trails have been helping me with my walk with the Lord and I've just been trying to run at full force towards He who is my savior.

James 1:2-8 says... Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Perseverance never had a huge meaning in my life except for in running. I always trained in practice and needed great perseverance to finish the race, but once it was over I was done. Now in the race of life with Christ, it doesn't end and I can only trek on with FAITH and TRUST in Him. It is such a blessing to know when I am unsure or feel as though I don't have any wisdom, I can turn to the Lord and ask; leaving anxiety and worry to the side.

1 Peter 5:7 says... Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Psalm 116:3-7 says... I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: "O Lord, save me!" The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

Trust and patience has never been a strong suit in my life. But I had been diligently praying for my sister to come to know who God is and to find salvation through Christ since day one of my own salvation. The lives her and I lead were going no where fast except to end in eventually DEATH and ETERNITY IN HELL. I praise God and thank him daily for my salvation because without it I have no idea where I would be in my life. He truly does answer prayers and trusting in him pays off. My sister knows who God is and now attends a bible study and church service weekly. I have seen her attitude change in many positive ways even in her situation. (I'm unsure she wants certain parts of her life right now revealed, but if you know her be praying for her!!) There were times that I just wanted to give up and patience was lost in my life and I would get so angry at God because I wanted instant answers, but He does answer in his own GOOD and PRECIOUS TIMING!

*A good friend of mine shared this verse with me today and I want you all to read it too!

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

As I am now faced with a new trial in life I must remember how prayer, patience and trust in God will get me through it. I know that God is so good and his plan should and will always out weigh my own. Here are some more pretty incredible verses that I have been praying over! I love you all!

Psalm 40:1-4 says... I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit; out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand; He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to

our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

(prayer: Let God lift me up and out of any despair. Keep feelings of love; not bitterness. God will set me on a solid

foundation. Keep praising you Lord I must!)

Psalm 40:8 says... I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

Psalm 86:6-7 says... Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy; In the day of my trouble I will call to

you, for you will answer me.

Psalm 86:11-12 says... Teach me you way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that

I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your

name forever.

Psalm 86:15-17 says... But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in

love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your

servant and save the son of your maidservant. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my

enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

I pray anyone who reads my blog and doesn't know Christ, will really seek Him out and put your faith and trust in him. Anyone without salvation, I pray you yearn for it and in time come to know who God is and what he has done for you.

September 2010 already!!

HAPPY ALMOST SEPTEMBER!!!

So blogging never really tops my list of things to do with my time, but I really want to do a better job about sharing my life, Brixton's life and what God is doing in each of them with any and everyone. So bare with me as I try to do a better job of posting amazing adventures of our walks with the Lord.

The Lord has truly blessed my life in so many ways. I am surrounded by amazing people and involved with great fellowship. (www.thedtc.org) God

has really been laying a lot of things on my heart lately, and I've been praying to keep remembering that the Lord is my refuge and my strength. My hope must always be in him and nothing more or less. His timing and plan is always b

etter then any one that I can come up with.

Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those

who take refuge in him.

No matter what God is completely flawless. How great to server such a strong and faithful God.

Brixton and I monkeying around! He brings me such joy. I thank God daily for him. He truly refines me as a mother and woman of Christ.

POTTY TRAINING!!!

Brixton, my mom and I have begun the insane task

of potty training. I am trying so very hard to be patient in the whole thing, and it has been working thus far. He gets so excited when he goes in the "big pot" and gets to flush everything down the toilet. He is still working on actually telling us when he needs to go to the bathroom, and it sure is a blast when he has underpants on and forgets to say he has to go. I've started cleaning up messes more often now. Never having a child other then Brixton, and I've only potty trained a cat in the past, I have no idea what the best thing to do is. My son is so patient with me during this process as well. I can't believe he is growing up so fast!! I will probably throw a party when he is no longer in diapers with all the money I will save :) I'll keep you all posted when that even is taking place ha ha.

PART-TIME!

With a lot of prayer and patiently waiting, I have gone part time at the salon. (www.bellasalonsandspas.com) There were a few reasons I was praying over and seeking the Lord on in this area of my life. I didn't want to make the decision based on an selfish desires or laziness. I really began to have a desire to home school Brixton since December 09/January 10 as well as the quality of time he and I were abl

e to spend together. It finally came to a reality this month. It has been such a blessing. Although I probably won't start a lot of the preschool work until he turns 3 (December 19th... it's so crazy how close it is!!), I have been able to spend more time loving the women of my bible study as well as Brixton. I've been organizing and getting a place thought out for school time vs play time and it is a great feeling to get rid of so much stuff!

God truly is so good, and Brixton and I are in it together. I pray f

or him to be raised in a Godly home with a mother who fears the Lord. I pray for guidance in parenting and can't wait to embark on the path the Lord sets at our feet.

Proverbs 31:26

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

I will try to be more proactive with this blog from here on out! Love from me and Brixton

God Bless!

it's catch up time!!

So I have dropped the ball completely with the blog I started for Brixton, but... I'm here to update it! So much has been going on in our lives and I'm pretty sure that is why I have had a lack of minutes to update you all on our lives! So sorry.

What has been going on since last posting?? Halloween has come and gone along with Thanksgiving... and believe it or not, it's almost Christmas! Brixton's 2nd birthday is around the corner as well. I am amazed at how quickly that event has come front and center. He is still my baby boy even though he is trying to be as independent as possible for an almost 2 year old.

So Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and I tried to get Brixton into it but he didn't really seem to care too much. One of my mom's coworkers was nice enough to let us borrow a frog costume...

Brixton and his first love, Aubrey (dressed as a can of Bb classic hairspray)

The suckers were his favorite!

The weather was not on our side this year for trick or treating so my mom brought mr. handsome to the mall. He and I went to probably 3 or 4 of the stores handing out candy before he was done. So instead of getting more candy, we sat at Bella watching all the kids in their costumes getting candy and Brixton started in on the 5 pieces he had received. Suckers were the top pick of the night.

THE SCIENCE CENTER!!!

Aubrey and I took the boys (Eli and Brixton) to the Science center downtown! They loved spending a couple of hours playing wit all the fun things there. We played with bubbles, a huge ball wall and of course Brixton found a train and tracks to play with.

Eli is exploring!

2 Future builders maybe??

Building with gears.

Brixton was in a trance while watching the gold ball.

Eli and Aubrey playing.

Water fun

A big ball wall o' fun!

Brixton loves trains

Eli met a stuffed furry friend

Jolly Holiday Lights

My mom and I took Brixton to see the display of lights in water works park. He is fasinated by Christmas lights. He always talks about the lights on our Christmas tree and the "downtown lights" we see when we go to church on Saturday nights. I've been using the lights to teach him colors. So far everything is BLUE! It's funny. He knows the words for other colors but he just really likes blue so he lives in a world full of blue things. I started giving him choices of different colors. So if there are green lights, I ask if they are green or orange (or any other color) so he can start to know that there are other colors to the world other then blue. So far it works about every 20 times or so.

Driving to see the lights.

A lighted reindeer display. Brixton liked this one, he even knew it was of reindeer.

After jolly holiday lights, we went to help some other girls from church babysit the Rude trio. They are the most adorable kids! It was great for Brixton to be able to hang out with Quin, and that ment I was able to get some baby time in!

Quin and Brixton did so well playing together. They shared car and colors!

Rex taking a quick snooze.

Beautiful baby Myla in pink

Baby time. Brixton wanted to "hold baby". He kept saying it over and over. It only lasted for about 5 minutes before he wanted to me to take Rex back so he could get down and play some more with Quin. He was so careful with Rex though. It was great to see him be so calm with him; a rare occasion in the life of Brixton.

2 of the cutest boys ever.

So there are some updates of Brixton's life. He is growing and changing faster then I ever imagined. He talks better and better every day, and has quite the vocabulary for a 2 year old. Just the other night I came home from work just in time to hear all the detail of the "baket-a-ball game" he went to with his Nanny. He just kept saying, "i go baket-a-ball game. bounce ball in hoop". It was a joy to see the excitement in his little eyes. I am so very blessed to have been given such an incredible gift from the Lord. I can't even begin to imagine life with out my baby boy.

Thank you all for visiting! We love sharing our lives with you, and I hope to keep up with the blog a little better... until then!

Pumpkins, Pizza with Aubrey and Cardboard "Car"

I think fall is my favorite time of year. The leaves are changing and the weather starts cooling off. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas means tons of family time. It's exciting to see Brixton start to do all the things I love doing in the fall.

We took a tiny road trip up to Ames to visit Aubrey and to of course get some Great Plains pizza. We had some lunch and then Aubrey gave us a tour of her new apartment before we left. Brixton got to meet Gizmo. They are old friends from when Aubrey used to watch Brixton for me so it was nice for them to rekindle their friendship! He also got a new balloon and met her roommate's rabbit. Great day in Ames!

Brixton has also fallen into another one of my old habits. When I was younger, I had a "car". It was an old cardboard box that I piled all my favorite toys and my blanket in so I could go bub-bye. I was getting ready to put this box from his diapers in the recycle bin when Brixton started putting his stuff in it and pushing it around. I just couldn't take it from him after that. It just took me back to pictures my mom took of me when I was a little girl. One day he'll grow out of it, but until then I'll let him keep "driving on".

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Getting to dress up in a fun costume and of course FREE CANDY. I love candy and I'm afraid Brixton is taking after me fast. He loves m&m's just like his mommy. I also enjoy seeing the cool things people carve into their pumpkins. My friend Cara and I took Brixton to the pumpkin patch and he loved it. He just wouldn't stop saying "punkin, punkin, punkin" the whole way to pick up Cara. He was running in and out of the rows of pumpkins. The funny part was he didn't want to take one home. He picked out some gourds instead. It was a fun trip to the patch, and we are hoping to go again to get one to carve... or paint that might be a safer option.

Thank you for spending time reading and catching up with me and Brixton's life. We are truly blessed to have such amazing people in out lives, and I am extremely blessed to have such a great little inspiration in my life. Stay tuned for more of our fall adventures!

Brixton sure loves animals! Gizmo is Brixton's favorite cat.

Aubrey is probably Brixton's favorite Bella girl because she gives him balloons.

Brixton, Aubs and Gizmo

Brixton met a new bunny friend... one of Aubrey's roommates.

Filling his "car" and getting ready to go.

I love this smile!

Picking out some things to take home

This one's not quite right

Peek-a-boo... I see you!

My handsome little man and his pumpkin

Getting sized up with the apple because Brixton didn't want to!

Cara, showing Brixton how it's done!

Best picture of the day... his smile all because he loves "punkins" as he calls them...

The best little guy ever. I just love him!