God knows my name

i ran across this poem this morning, i wrote this a couple years ago while rich and i were on a road trip...i normally don't share my writings and poetry with anyone but rich, but i feel God wants me to share more of my heart, and to continue writing...

i was ten when i met you, you had always been there but i met you,
with tears and sadness,
you wiped them away,
with arms of love and a voice of truth, "Be still and know that i am," i inhaled, "God."
Your Spirit, the image of Your Son on the cross with my sadness piercing His hands and feet, kept me near to You.
I walked with You awhile, but slowly the intimacy faded as i pulled away,
i began to create an identity in the world, with a handful of Your truths,
trying to follow my own path of desires, which manifested confusion, deceit, anger, and that sadness i had already pierced Your hands with,
grieved Your Spirit so deep until i almost lost that sweet gentle voice that had once spoke,
"Be still and know that i am God," into my heart,
i cried out to You with all of me,
approaching Your throne humbly and confidently,
laying at your feet
The place i know i can always be at rest, at peace, and in love.
My hands are raised, my head is tilted towards You,my mind is free, my limbs unchained......
God knows my name.

---

See how Windows connects the people, information, and fun that are part of

Nate and Melanie's visit

a couple weeks ago,rich's oldest brother (nate) and his wife (melanie) came to town to visit family and to go to Orcas Island to meet up with the other guys in his Doctorate program. We had sooo much fun with them while they were here!! They of course loved there nephew Samson and he adored both of them! We had lots of laughs had great food and good family time! Its so cool to see Rich and Nate together...they are 12 years apart and rich has always looked up to his big bro, but over the last few years they have gotten really close. As you can see in the pics they look so much alike and sound similar too! :) and the best part about it is that Melanie and i have gotten to be good friends too, i just love her!! they have two beautiful girls, our nieces are Syndi and mya. We wished they lived closer(they live in Fresno,Ca) and are praying after Nate gets his doctorate, he will find a job up here or at least Portland. It is going to be so fun for Samson to grow up with his cousins and his new favorite auntie M!!! We love you guys!!!

Praise!!!

This is Samson praising God this morning during our morning devotional...We were singing to Israel's newest cd the song "You make all things new, yes You make all things new and i will follow You forward." (we love that song) and i always raise Samson's hands as we worship and sing out "hallelujah" and today he just left his hand raised on his own!!! ah!! it made this mama so happy, so i had to take a picture!:) Samson loves our morning time with the Lord and he loves when mama reads him the Word, and smiles and talks and "amens" while i read and study out loud to him! this is our favorite time of the day and i so look forward to this time with Jesus and Samson:)

update.....

ok..so i am a horrible blogger!! it has been months since i have updated this and actually 3 1/2 months to be exact! A beautiful little man has been taking up most of my time:)
So now that Samson is on a kind of normal nap schedule i can sit down and write:)
Our lives have changed sooo much, those first few weeks were so hard, but oh so worth it. Samson has brought so much joy to our lives and to the rest of our family. As Rich always says, "he is a life-bringer, and brings life wherever he goes," that is so true. I cant go grocery shopping without someone (men and women) stopping me to say how beautiful or handsome he is, and if he is awake he normally responds with a smile:) He is such a happy baby, always smiling, laughing or cooing..he rarely cries but when he is hungry or over tired. He sleeps 10-12 hrs through the night and has 3-4hr nap during the day. When he is up he is eating:) He eats sooo much! At his last appointment a month ago he was already weighing 14lbs! at two months! He is in the 95th percentile for weight and 90th for height! we just skipped past the 3 month clothes and straight to 6-9 months:)
Samson looooves going to Grammie and Grandpas house, we spend a lot of time there, my mom and dad adore him and have been such a blessing to us! I've always appreciated my family, but now that i am a mom i appreciate them even more. Family is sooo important to us.
Rich is such an amazing father...he is always playing with Samson when he is home,he prays over him every night and morning, and he loves to rock him to sleep. Samson just loooves his dad! seeing them together brings tears to my eyes!! i was such a sap before i had samson and it has only intensified. I am so overwhelmingly in love with our little family and so thankful God has blessed us with our son.

(these beautiful photos that i posted were done by a friend of ours from church, Sarah Sweetman..she is amazing and so sweet!!! Her prices are great too! check her web site out @ www.sarahsweetmanphotography.com.)

Samson Isaiah Mullen - March 1, 2010

He's almost here!!!!

I cant believe the day is almost here that we will get to hold our baby Samson in our arms! Its crazy that this time next week he will b here and either b napping or cuddled up with rich or i:) thinking about him and how great it will b to meet our firstborn son brings tears to my eyes!! i have been very emotional lately; i know some of it hormones but mostly anticipation and excitement.:)

The past 2 weeks have been hard cause i am definately wanting to "nest" and being on bedrest i am not able to do all the things i feel "have" to be done before samson gets here. I have been getting very fustrated but just trying to take one day at a time and have now realized that Samson will not care if the kitchen cabinets are perfectly organized and the hall closet cleaned out! Thankfully i have an amazing husband who loves to clean and has been working so hard to keep the house in good shape and doing all the things on our "before Samson" list:)

I would not have been able to survive this month and a half of being bed rest with out my mom. She is working less days so she can take care of me. On the days rich works i come over to my parents and hang,or mom comes to me. We go to costco and i drive the cart or we just hang and have tea or a latte and talk:) Besides my husband she is my best friend, and i have come to appreciate her even more during this time.

I am thankful for my friends who have come to visit and hang with me(and charlie and rich), and the ones that have brought us delicious meals:) Rich and i feel so blessed to have all of you in our lives and are extremely grateful!

I have read six and a half books in the last month, an amazing series called Mark of the Lion by Francine Rivers (i will have to blog about them later), and a completely different series called "lets eat cake." ( both books mich loaned me..we are forever book partners)i am now reading a book called Babywise and learning about feeding and napping schedules for baby.:) I have also been reading all sorts of cooking and decorating magazines my mom passes down to me and have lots of fun recipes to try when im off bed rest:) I have also redecorated the whole house in my mind during this time:)

i love that it has been so sunny here and everything is starting to bloom:) i cant wait to put Samson in his moby wrap and work in the yard:) I have pots i want to plant tulips and other flowers in and am gonna attempt to plant herbs as well:) We have a huge backyard, and we may tackle some landscaping back there as well:) Rich has dreams of a sports court:)

Rich's album is getting mixed and mastered as i write and we are so excited for the long awaited arrival of his first album:) if you want to download his first single and take a look at his website go to www.mullenmusic.com. He also is launching his own line of rubs for meats and veggies..its called Rich's rubs and seasonings...they are amazing. My favortie is the smokin house blend, and the pumpkin curry blend:) They are all handmade,natural,salt free or low salt and they are so good! He has started selling some and we have gotten good feedback! We are looking forward to selling them this late spring and summer at the farmers markets! Stay tuned for the website and more info on what markets he will be at this summer:) i think he will do fabulous especially with cute baby Samson strapped to his chest! i am so proud of him!

so that is what is going on with the Mullen's! I'll leave you all with my favorite Scripture i have been meditating on during this time..."You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

My Target Shopping Trip...

Today was a great day!! As many of you know i love to shop, and Target is probably one of my most favorite stores...especially on a budget! So rich took me down to target just a quick trip to grab a few household items and things for Samson's room. When we walked in the front we both spotted the automatic chair/cart and burst out laughing!!! so being the nerd that i am, i sat down happily in the scooter and took off!!! Rich and i couldn't stop laughing!! People were just staring and glaring at us, but i didn't care! i got to spend a whole hour in target looking up and down the isle's gathering what we needed for us and to complete Samson's room:) On another note i will have to write later about target and nursing bras!!lol
So i am thankful today that i have found a way to get out of the house while on bed rest and do one of my favorite activities:) If any of you know any other stores besides Target and Costco that have these amazing scooters please let me know!! and stay tuned for more nerdy,fun adventures with the Mullen's!!!:))

My first post!!

first of all i am so excited that Heidi set this blog up for us!! i love to write and have wanted to start blogging for awhile now,but am a little slow on getting these things started...so Heidi suprised me @ shower #2 with the mullen family blog and had some of my friends write wonderful posts to me! of course being 8 1/2 months pregnant i cried my eyes out! what a wonderful gift!! thank you Heidi and to all of you who wrote such beautiful words of encouragement and advice to me! i love you all!

so just to update some of you, this blog came at the perfect time...i am 36 weeks pregnant this week and got put on bed rest last week for the rest of my pregnancy. I have PIH(pregnancy induced hypertension) and as a result of that and from being on my feet too much and not resting..my amniotic fluid was low. So we have been going to the dr. twice a week and my fluids are up and blood pressure is down! Praise God! Dr. still wants me on bed rest, but now i can at least do quick grocery store trips, laundry, and of course drive to moms house:) The dr. is happy with how Samson is growing, he is already 7lbs 8oz is what they measured on the ultra sound. They are only 80% correct give or take a lb...so he could be 6lbs or 8lbs, we are praying for 6!:) Rich and i think he will come early and are praying he'll come around 37 weeks...so next week! i will keep you all posted! i cant wait to post pics of our beautiful baby boy!:)

From Peanut...

To My Sissy,
Thank you so much for being you! I love you so much! Thanks for always being there for me even when I didn't deserve it. I know I can come to you about anything and you never judge me! That's why I know you will be a fantastic mom. You are patient, understanding, loving and funny! God has truly blessed me with THE best sister I could ask for. I'm so grateful to have you in my life! I know Samson will be a mamas boy LOL! Thanks again for being you, I love you with all my heart.
Love ~ Peanut

From Richard...

I thank God for my wife, she has truly changed my life. God has blessed me with a pure and blameless woman of God and I wouldn't want to have a family with anyone else! God has given me the one my heart and soul has longed for! Our son Samson is so very blessed because there is not a better mother in this world for him then my wife, Lauren C Mullen.
~Richard Mullen

From Erica T...

Dear Lauren,
You will be the most wonderful, caring, loving and strong mother. I know Samson will be the luckiest little man to have a mother like you.

"A son's best friend is his mother"

Can't wait to meat the little bundle of joy!!

Congratulations!!
Erica T.

From Sue...Momma #2

Lauren and Rich,

You are about to embark on a new life! Life with Samson, you will be parents, how wonderful! You will be called Mom and Dad, how exciting! You will forever turn your head whenever you hear “Mom” or “Dad” called out in a crowd or wherever you are, and no matter how old you are, this is a permanent change to your hearing:) You are now a member of the club!

Your heart will grow bigger with the love you have for your son. I remember how much love I felt when I looked into my babies eyes, incredible, and it struck me then to think how God loves us and our children even more, how amazing and what a blessing!

Lauren and Rich, I know you will be fabulous parents, as I see and hear such excitement and such love from you both as you talk about your son and speak about all the preparations you are making for Samson. Enjoy each and every stage of your son's life and the changes it brings to your lives as you all grow together as a family. God bless all three of you!

Best wishes and lots of love, Sue

PS...available for babysitting:)