Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Die, blog, die!

2008-09-07T20:49:00.002-05:00

So finally this is goodbye.

Only, not really.

(I still blog over here as you probably already know.)

But this blog

is dead.

Goodbye!

Josiah has pneumonia

2008-09-06T10:18:00.002-05:00

He had a fever for seven days, he lost nearly two pounds - Josiah has been one sick little dude lately. We went to his doctor the first time and she said "it's probably just teething or a little bug" and sent me home to feed him Tylenol (ick.) So when he as no better on Thursday we went to see the doctor again and this time they did blood work etc. then sent him to have an x-ray of his lungs to "rule out" pneumonia. I got the call later that day that he did indeed have pneumonia and that the doctor had called in a prescription for him. So now he's fever-free and smiling and eating a little but man-o-man he is NOT sleeping. Yesterday the only sleep he got before 9pm was pretty much in my arms nursing. He'll lay there quietly in my arms but he has trouble falling asleep and if I put him in his bed he screams and screams. Poor little guy.

procrastinating

2008-08-29T13:02:00.004-05:00

I'm sitting here at the computer with hundreds of photos to re-sort, edit etc. to prepare to burn a CD for Mark & Heather and give it to them on Monday. But I'm not sure where to start, so I thought I'd post a couple pics from the wedding that I didn't take!

This photo was taken by my sister in-law and it is of me talking with Heather. You can see Daniel in the background with Josiah konked out on his shoulder.

Josiah & Daniel - photo by my very talented younger sister, Abi!

This is a photo Daniel took (and processed) of me and Josiah at the reception.

My little girl Emma was the best flower girl in the world!! (another photo by Abi)

I love this one because you can see all of the cameras everywhere! There were maybe 30-40 guests and at least 15 people takeing photos!

Okay, back to work now!

just another day

2008-08-20T09:45:00.001-05:00

We did a little "art therapy" for my grumpy-kins. After painting for about ten minutes she said "I'm happy now" Maybe I should try that sometime!

Brain clutter

2008-08-15T20:26:00.002-05:00

I had a few random thoughts I wanted to share, but they have nothing to do with each other...

Today I played my music on my new cell phone as I shopped in Wal-Mart with Josiah & Katie-Abigail. I played that Jack Johnson so that anyone in about atwo feet radius of me could hear it. The kids loved it! I danced in the paper towels aisle with Josiah and sang along with Katie-Abigail. I never really thought I'd be doing something like that, but it was such a bright spot in this week.

Today I also bought a 2 DVD set with "Remains of the Day" and "Sense and Sensability" that seems like a rather odd pairing "Howards End" would have gone better with "Remains of the Day" but in any case I really like "Sense and Sensability" (with Emma Thompson) so I bought it. I rented "The Jane Austen Book Club" this week and that put me in mind of how deeply those books have affected who I have become. "The Jane Austen Book Club" was a very satisfying chick flick, I thought. It ended right at every point.

The other day when I was washing through the weeks worth of dishes I'd let pile up I found a hugely overbaked, dry, week-old waffle from the time I made waffles for K-A's B-day. Eeeew!!

dieting hint

2008-08-12T19:53:00.002-05:00

I just discovered a new dieting hint and I thought I'd pass it along: if you're craving something, just buy a little snack size of it. Yes, it's not a better deal, but it'll give you what you want with no extra! For example: I have been craving Fig Newtons all afternoon long. Who craves Fig Newtons? I know. But my Dad liked them a lot and I guess I have fond memories of eating Fig Newtons around the table with the fam as a kid. I don't know. Anyway. Tonight when I finally got to the store I bought my little one-serving bag of Fig Newtons and now do not have the rest of the package calling to me from the Kitchen cupboard.
So there. That's that.
Moving on...

Today's Daily Thought from Real Simple

2008-08-12T09:35:00.001-05:00

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. — Robert F. Kennedy

Happy Birthday Katie-Abigail!

2008-08-10T17:06:00.005-05:00

This past Friday was Katie-Abigail's third birthday. It was a quiet day, for the most part.
I made waffles

(note to self- don't do that again on a school day).
The big girls were tired from being at school all week, so I promised I'd pick them up from school. After they left I gave Katie-Abigail the little tea set I'd bought her at the consignment store I work at.

We now have a family tradition of buying the birthday balloon at the Dollar Tree so before lunch Katie-Abigail, Josiah and I ran out to buy that and some "pink milk" (like in Charlie & Lola) also, since we have been sick all week and the kitchen is an enormous disaster, I bought a cake from Kroger. (Note to self: don't do that again either) It turned out to be a rediculously little amount of cake under an enourmous amount of crappy, brightly colored icing - ick.

After I picked up the big girls I took them all to Rita's but ended leaving in a hurry when Katie-Abigail and Josiah start s c r e a m i n g - yes, I was that Mom on Friday. It was humbling but I came away from that moment realizing that I'm not a great mom because my kids never misbehave, I can be a great mom by the way I handle their misbehavior. And that was pretty much the day.

Things I LOVE about Katie-Abigail:

Her name. We were told we had a 75% chance of having a boy while I was pregnant with K-A so I was so excited about "finally" having Josiah, but I remember telling Daniel "at least if it does happen to be a girl she'll have a great name" Daniel hates talking about baby names, and I couldn't find any name other than Katie that we both liked. (Emma was almost named Katie - but that is a story for a different day) but there was a couple at church who had twins named Katie & Emma and I didn't want to have the same thing, but then I also didn't want to not name my baby what I wanted because of someone else saying "there's no telling how long these other people will be in our lives" so Daniel and I decided on the double name "Katie-Abigail" The "Abigail" coming from my little sister, who I'm very close to. (My older sister's name is Kathryn so it's kind of like K-A is named after both of my sisters) then she also has the middle name "Elise" which I think it a totally beautiful, perfect midde name.

Her eyes. All of the other children have light eyes, and it was such a pleasure to have a child whose coloring favored mine over Daniel's. Josiah's eyes are turning more green than blue which I think is really cool, but Katie-Abigail looks the most like me, I think. So that is special.

Her ability to bring a smile to our faces. Daniel and Beth tend to favor each other - they get along really well whereas Beth and I don't but then the same is true about Emma and myself. We get along really well but Emma drives Daniel crazy sometimes. Katie-Abigail is our shared favorite child. She ears her emotions right out there for everone to see - the good and the bad. So sometimes that means she's doing her fire-alarm, ear-drum peircing scream, sometimes that means she's the silent ice-princess but othertimes she is increadibly endearing.

Her empathetic nature. Emma is also empathetic, but Katie-Abigail is our most sensitive to how the people around her (another reason why I call her "mini-me") it's so precious to watch those moments of caring between siblings.
The way she says "thank you" and "you're welcome" it is inescribably cute, Daniel has wven said he almost doesn't want to teah her the right way to say "thank you" yet she says "you're welcome" with such clarity that I'm always shocked that it's coming from such a little mouth.

First Day of School

2008-08-05T11:09:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of school. Emma was sick with a fever and what turned out to be a strep virus, so she stayed home. It actually made it a bit easier for me, like testing the water before you jump in. I dropped Beth off in her classroom, she was as cool as a cucumber. I said "do you want me to stay with you for a few minutes?" and she said "no, that's okayI'll get used to it."

The worst part was waiting for the bus to bring her home. The last hour dragged by and for the last twenty minutes or so I sat very still outside straining my ears listening for the sound of Beth's bus. I paced back and forth on the driveway, fearful thoughts coming up and quickly set aside. Waiting for my happy, tired girl to come back home.

Beth enjoyed her first day of school quite a lot. She used big, extravagant words like "fantastic" and "amazing" to describe it to her Daddy and Grammy. The first thing she said to me off the bus was "I didn't learn anything" to which I replied "well than what did you do?" I expected her to say "playing" or something like that but her answer was simply "mostly line-ing" which is her made-up word for standing in a line. She said "there are rules about hands and feet!" like that was the most unthinkable thing in the world. She did not like waiting for the bus and she did not like one certain boy who "breathed on me".

Today is the first day that both Beth and Emma are away at school. They stepped up onto the bus like it was the most normal, ordinary thing they'd ever done. It was hard to watch them leave and the quiet here is very strange but I am getting so much done! I finally bleached the sippy cups threw away all of the markers without lids and organized the coloring books - things I've been putting off for a solid month.

It is like the clock has been turned back to when Beth & Emma were little - only now it's Katie-Abigail & Josiah and I have a totally different perspective then I had then. It's really different then what I'm used to. Much calmer for one, that's for sure. I almost feel guilty for how much I am enjoying their absence. I love them to pieces and a miss having them near to me, but I am really enjoying this new, slower pace.

Ready for school

2008-07-31T12:06:00.003-05:00

We're meeting Beth & Emma's 1st Gra & Kindergarten teachers today. The girls are SOOO excited!!

A day with my girlies

2008-07-30T13:06:00.003-05:00

Today has felt like what I imagined motherhood would be like. After breakfast we sat down together and made a list of all the fun things we could think of to do today and then set out to do them!
When I was pregnant with Beth this is what I imaginged - a four or five year old with long blond hair in pig tails (like my little sister) and we would bake chocolate chip cookies and make crafts and I would homeschool her and we would make notebooks full of historical charicters and scientfic observations. I don't think I ever imagined having more than two children. God certainly had different plans for me!! Beth and I used to fight about craft projects all the time! Not until I finally realized that it mattered more to her that she do it herself than that it turn out at all did Beth start having fun with them. Obviously, motherhood has been nothing at all like what I had imagined.

Emma's painting "Girl about to pick a flower"

Beth has been sick with a fever and a rash for what is now four days. She's feeling better today but we've spet pretty much the whole week on the couch watching movies and TV online. So today with no laundry urgently needing to be done and no mess in the kitchen I set aside the entire day to just be with them and do the messy thing that I often put off. So today we've painted, made "books", took a walk, dressed up and put on glitter "make-up" I cut their sandwiches with my metal quarter cup measure which was fabulous!! You could get two round scrummylicious sandwiches. It was like something strait out of "Fancy Nancy"! We played Uno and now Emma is having a bubble bath while the little kids nap. This is the last week before my big girls start school and it was so nice to have a day like this!

growing up

2008-07-21T08:36:00.004-05:00

Just now my girls have been playing so nicely together and today I feel a little bit sad about the big girls going to school in just two weeks. There is a piece of my heart that wants them to be little always - to have them stay close to me forever. But to live is to change for change is the nature of life here and now, and my I am confident that this is a good decision for this year. So I'm just going to savor today and enjoy this moment while it lasts.

Thursday was "beach day" the kids all had such a good time, even the baby! We played in the sand and splashed in the lake, I got an awful sunburn on my back but we had a lovely day. It was nice to be with them without distractions and to spend some time in the sunshine! My camera is still in the shop so these are all from my cell phone.

I got a new cell phone!!

2008-07-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

I upgraded my cell phone last night! I got the cool new Nokia 5310 Xpress Music phone. I love it! (The 5610 is also really cool too but it's not available yet) It's super easy to use, it's slim and very cool looking in black and orange with music controls right there on the body of the phone and a jack so I can hook up earphones or my car's CD player adapter without any extra accessories - sweet!
I first thought about upgrading my cell phone when I was grabbing a couple of CDs to add to my collection in the van and I thought to myself - this is SO last decade. It's normal now to keep your music on your mp3 player, blackberry or whatever. I am going to keep mine on my 1GB memory card that came with my new phone! It was cheaper and more efficient for me to simply upgrade my cell phone rather than buying an mp3 player. I can't wait to load my tunes on my sweet new cell phone.

I thought this was good

2008-07-16T13:12:00.002-05:00

I got this link from RealSimple.com it's "how to make more time for yourself." There was some good advice such as suggesting you step back and make a wish list of things you'd really like to do. Also, limiting "to do" lists to 4x6 cards with only one or two "must do" things on them. Check it out for yourself!

Quick Fish

2008-06-26T21:08:00.002-05:00

I made this tasty fish dish the other day. I found the recipe in the Everyday Food Magazine that I somehow have a subscription too. I think this is the first thing I've made from it but it was awesome! Of course I didn't follow the recipe I more or less followed the picture. Here is mine, served on Orzo. I used Kraft's Roasted Red Pepper Salad Dressing in stead of all the herbs in the recipe.

more fresh

2008-06-24T10:31:00.003-05:00

I made this salad last night for dinner and it totally rocked! My kids loved it, Daniel even ate it without any salad dressing!

Ingredients: Lettuce, Spinach, Strawberries, Nectarines, Grapes + Turkey Lunchmeat (for Daniel)

Then this was lunch:

I call it "salad on a bun" you take head lettuce and rip off a big chunk, keep the chunk together as you wash & pat dry. Spread a little creamy salad dressing on a bun to keep the lettuce in place add lettuce wedge & fresh vegetables! It's very satisfying.

too funny!!

2008-04-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

you've just got to see this at A.C's blog!

Guilt-Free Homeschooling - Part 2

2008-04-03T19:40:00.003-05:00

So here is what I would consider a good day - it is a day in which I am focused and present. It's a day when I respond positively and to whatever happens, not out of a sense of guilt or a desire to just accomplish a task, but with awareness that this mission I've embarked on - to educate my children at home - is a long one. My goal is never to fill out a perfect attendacne report but to try to do what is best for each child in each day. Some days that means realizeing that what Beth really needs to do is play outside, and so I cut the day short and let her go. Other days it means confronting her tendancy towards being sloppy and making her re-do the assignment. I think a sucessful day is not so black and white as when I get up or what I do when so much as it is in the attitude I have as I go through it.

guilt-free homeschooling

2008-04-02T11:45:00.001-05:00

I got an email today from my homeschoolers group. It was one of those "how to homeschool perfectly- just like me!" emails and I just laughed at it and thought I'd share my thoughts:

10 Keys to Homeschool Success
Beverly Whalen March 31, 2008

Many mothers seem to struggle with homeschooling. They obviously have the desire to be a help to their husband in this area, but as the family grows, they can't figure out how to "fit it all in." I hope these tips can help someone (1 Corinthians 14:40).

1. Have time with the Lord
Lamentations 3:23
Get up at the scheduled time, before the children wake. This is an absolute necessity if you are going to have a successful day. If you examine your "good" days versus your "bad" days, you'll find that you started your "good" days communicating with the Lord. Honor the Lord first of all, then put your first load of clothes in the washing machine.

2. Don't teach your children slothfulness
Proverbs 19:15
Get the children up at the scheduled time. There is no place for "sleeping in." There may be a cause for an "hour delay" due to an unforeseen late night the night before. This should be the exception and not the rule. The earlier you start school, the earlier you finish.

3. Reward good behavior
Psalm 18:20
Offer incentives for chores done promptly. We use a sticker system. Twenty-five stickers earn a tool for the boys. The girls combine theirs for a DVD that Dad and Mom approve of.

4. Approach school time with purpose
Isaiah 46:11b
Start school with prayer and Bible, and work on school only at the scheduled time. Use a family-friendly curriculum. Many subjects can be taught together. Older children should be disciplined enough to do their schoolwork alone, with occasional help. When older children have a schedule to go by for chores and schoolwork, they shouldn't have to interrupt Mom while she is teaching and helping the little ones. Don't answer the phone during school time. Invest in an answering machine if you do not have one.

5. Bring order through discipline
Proverbs 13:24
Keep the schooling environment orderly. Limit the activity of little ones during school time. For example, don't allow drinks except at break time. If there are two or three floors, everyone should stay on same floor (a gate is helpful). Children should know their boundaries. Yes, little ones like to be with Mom. They can play with blocks at your feet or sit on your lap and play quietly while you teach.

6. Finish what you start
Acts 20:24
On your scheduled break, you can have chore inspection and catch-up time.
Unfinished chores can be completed at the loss of break time. When nursing a baby, schedule breaks at nursing time, or nurse the baby before school and after school. Many nursing babies can take a nap during school time. Provide a snack. Start back up on time.

7. Don't let household tasks interfere
Luke 16:1
Housecleaning, cooking, folding laundry, yard work, supper preparation, and other household projects should all take place before and after school time. Many of the housekeeping tasks should be delegated to responsible children. Take time while children are young to teach housekeeping tasks one-on-one so that they can do these chores well as they become older.

8. Use school time only for school tasks
Don't try to work in the kitchen or get laundry in during school time, and don't schedule appointments during school time. School time should only be school time. Dentists, doctors, and orthodontists want your business, and they will work with you. Our dentist will schedule our whole family in one afternoon if needed, and we have a family of ten! If you leave your place during school time, you can't expect others to stay where they should be. Have children do their instrument practice as part of their individual schedules before or after school time, not during it.

9. Enjoy your family
Psalm 128:2
When schoolwork is caught up and chores are all finished, set aside one night a week to watch a video or DVD.

10. Reverence your husband
Ephesians 5:33b
Work at putting your husband first. The children need to know he is number one in your life. Have a time each day just to converse with him alone, with no interruptions. If your husband works at home or works irregular hours, do not schedule his time. He must oversee all that you schedule, because he will have to answer to God for how he has taught and trained his children to walk in the right paths.
Many moms don't want to be so rigid. Balance is essential in a homeschooling family, and as a whole, our weakness is not being scheduled enough. Our family, friends, and neighbors often watch us, criticize us, and laugh at us because of our lack of commitment to the very task we preach about.

Beverly Whalen is the wife of David Whalen. They live with their eight children in the country near Enon Valley, . Their oldest child, Jeremiah, is 20 and mentally disabled. Their oldest daughter, Susanna, is 18 and teaches a variety of stringed instruments. Twins Naomi and h are 15. They enjoy piano, violin, and harp. Jared and Nathan are 13, also twins. Uriah is 10, and Levi is 6. The boys are taking beginning music lessons and enjoy the Haflinger horses on the family farm. The family sings and plays together as a ministry in their church and likeminded churches. They have been homeschooling for 16 years. Copyright 2007.

If you're like me this is the way your day actually goes: The night before you have such wonderful intentions to have your quiet time that you set your alarm an hour early. You think surely me children won't wake up an hour before they usually do! But yes, they will and they do. During the night you not only get up to nurse the baby you have to get up with the toddler once too! The morning comes way too soon but as your alarm buzzes you think I'm going to do it. I'm going to have my quiet time today. You get up, pour yourself a cup of coffee and snuggle down into a comfy chair in the semi-darkenss. No sooner have you cracked open your Bible then you hear the wail coming from the bedroom. You sigh, set your Bible aside and go to the wailing toddler. You try to buy a few more minutes with a sippy-cup of milk. You nestle down into your chair, this time with more of a sense of urgency and desperation then before. You start to pray, but no sooner have you closed your eyes and begun your prayer than your preschooler comes bouncing in as only preschoolers can. She is full of chatter and giggles and demands for the day. "Can I have some breakfast? Can I have a cup of juice? Can I watch a movie? Are we going to go to the park today? I had a really sill dream. Let me tell you about it." So much for the quiet time.
You put a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave for your children then go to your washing machine to start up a load, only to find the load that you forgot about on Friday morning. It's now Monday morning and the clothes stink. You put in more soap and start the load up again.
You feed your children, and get a couple of bites of the preschooler's leftover oatmeal for yourself before your kindergartener finishes. You clean up the toddler and change the baby's diaper while the kindergartener gets dressed and makes her bed. The baby wakes up, you sit down to nurse and see your coffee cup from this morning, pretty much untouched and stone-cold. You put it in the microwave to reheat, pour yourself a cup of water and sit down at the kitchen table to nurse the baby and help your kindergartener start her math. You finish nursing put the baby down and unload the dishwasher while the kindergartener does math problems. During the time it takes you to unload the dishwasher and your kindergartener to do one lesson of math you have spanked the preschooler once and the toddler three times. Putting away the coffee mugs reminds you of the coffee still in the microwave and so you heat it back up again and sit down to go over the spelling words with the kindergartener, who is having a bad attitude, so you spank the kindergartener and sit her down to do her spelling words all over again.
Your preschooler and toddler come out whith about four layers of clothing on so you follow them back to their bedroom where you discover that every single article of clothing that they could have reached they have and have dumped them all onto the floor. This is doubly exasperating because just yesterday you took an hour to re-neaten these drawers. All of the shirts that were painstakingly put into neat little piles are now strewn all around the pink bedroom. You instruct them to put the all the clothes away - you'll deal with sorting them out (again) later. You start to help them but the baby starts to cry.
You hold the baby on your hip while helping the kindergartener finish up her spelling words. You take the coffee out of the microwave, but it's way too gross to drink so you turn the tea kettle on. While you are listening to reading practice the tea kettle sings. You pour yourself a wonderful cup of tea and go to check your email while it steeps and your kindergartener takes a quick break to run around outside.
You forget all about your tea, so when you come back to the kitchen to begin the science worksheet you have to dump out your would-have-been-wonderful cup of tea out into the sink.
You read about internal organs to your kindergartener who is completely not-interested and distracted by the preschooler and toddler who want to watch a movie, want to have a snack, want to go outside.
"FINE!" You yell. "If you're not going to pay attention to your lesson I'm not going to teach it!" You send her out of the kitchen and breathe deeply while the guilt overtakes you. You go find your kindergartener, who is on the couch looking at one of the big, fat books she likes to check out of the library. You apologize for loosing your temper, and then put on a movie. You sit on the couch, surrounded by your little ones, absent-mindedly run your fingers through your preschoolers silky strait hair (you've learned now how to do it so that it never hurts the child even if she has a tangle or two). You fix the kids peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, it looks so good that you have one too. They finish up their lunch and you settle them down for naptime/quiet time then sit down in a chair to nurse the baby. As you sit there you think about the laundry and the kitchen floor that didn't get swept last night, oh and maybe you should try to have your quiet time now. You lay your head back for a moment and close your eyes. A few minutes later you wake up to hear the kindergartener and preschooler it sounds like they've turned their beds into one big slide again. You sigh and tell yourself Oh well, maybe tomorrow will be better. But it probably won't. It's two o'clock, you still haven't had a shower, yesterday you didn't take a shower until after dinner! Collapsing in a pile on the floor, you play with the baby and send the big kids outside to play (and get filthy dirty from head to toe!) You remind yourself that this is season of life is passing so quickly! The kindergartener was just a baby not long ago and will grow up and leave all too soon!

I wanted to write more about guilt-free homeschooling, what a good day for me looks like but K-A just broke a glass outside!!!

children

2008-03-26T19:18:00.002-05:00

Today I gained a new respect for families who make the decision to only have a couple of kids - it is SO much easier! Emma has seasonal allergies and today I gave her a dose of allergy medication for the first time this season and she was definitely hyper-active. For those of you who know Emma it's hard to imagine, I know. But she was rolling around on the floor saying "I'm Rabeoli" (her way of saying ravioli) over and over and over and over. That sparked a distant memory that possibly she's had this reaction before, which is why I only give it to her on horrible days like today. So anyway because Emma was so hyper I spent "quiet time" outside with Emma trying to help her channel her energy. We played with a ball we put together a puzzle - it was lots of fun. Usually she does those things with her sisters, but today she did them with me! I really really enjoyed the one-on-one time with her. I also spent the evening with her because Katie-Abigail went to bed a little bit early tonight and Beth got sent to bed early tonight. So it felt like most of the day I only had two children and it was so much easier than the usual chaos.
But then tonight as I was feeding Josiah I realized that having more children is so much more fun. It's double the personality and craziness. It's also double the confidence because each time we have a baby there are fewer surprises. I don't always know what I'm doing, but I know what I'm doing more of the time now. And that is huge.
So anyway, I thought I'd share those random thoughts...

Mary - the dog

2008-03-20T19:31:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday we adopted a new dog! Her name is Mary and she is a Boxer/German Shepherd mix.

We still have our other dog Daisy, the Labrador. She was very timid and submissive towards Mary at first. Today is ther first day that Daisy hasn't cowered on her pillow. Mary has been very gentle and hasn't hurt Daisy at all just growled a little.

Mary has been a really great dog so far. She is perfect with the kids, she hasn't made any accidents in the house, even though she used to be an outdoor pet. She's done excellently on a leash (Daisy - not so much). She still needs training, for sure. The difference in acceptable behavior in an outdoor pet vs. and indoor pet is pretty big. So we're still teaching her things like not to beg or get into trash.

I think we must have totally lost our minds to have adopted another big dog. since she's come it feels like our house has shrunk about three feet! But it's so great to have her!

This is Mary

This is Daisy

August Rush

2008-03-13T08:40:00.002-05:00

This is what you are going to do the next time you drop by Blockbuster or stop at the movie kiosk at WalMart (or Publix) - you are going to rent "August Rush" then you are going to snuggle down on the couch and enjoy one of the best dramas of the year. The music in this movie is nothing less than amazing! There are only a few movies I recommend 100% but this is one of them.

new blog

2008-02-11T08:35:00.001-05:00

click here to see my new blog

it's mostly artsy-type stuff.

zazzle

2007-12-24T13:48:00.000-05:00

I am in the process of posting some of my photography for sale on Zazzle.
It's a crazy-cool site. You can create mugs, t-shirts, prints and much more. I created a photo mug for Christmas and was really pleased with the quality and customer service site.
Check out my zPanel!

make custom gifts at Zazzle

My last post

2007-11-13T11:12:00.000-05:00

It was one week ago today that Daniel told me he'd become an atheist.

To be honest, I wasn't totally surprised. It had been slowly dawning on me that it appeared that Daniel was questioning his faith. He was reading atheist websites and watching debates on YouTube and was speaking about "Christianity" in a less and less personal way. Earlier that Tuesday evening as Daniel was watching a presentation on YouTube called "The God Who Wasn't There" I was thinking - "what if Daniel becomes an atheist? Could I still love him and remain committed to him?" Right there I decided that yes, whatever happened with Daniel I would still love him. Even if he lost his faith.

The Bible is very clear what someone in my position is supposed to do:
1 Peter 3
1Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

1 Corinthians 7
13And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

So on that never-to-be-forgotten Tuesday night I told Daniel that I loved him whether he believes in God or not and then I listened as Daniel told me his story of how he lost his faith. I heard a lot of hurt behind his words, a lot of frustration and dissapointment too. For the first time in my life I knew Daniel really trusted me and that he was finally convinced of my committment to him. I cried as Daniel said he felt like he'd lost everyone but me.

It's been very difficult and almost surreal. Daniel and I have built our entire lives around our belief in God, we have taught our girls to know and trust in God, now that Daniel denies the existence of God... it is hard to even put into words how painful that is. At the same time this has been a very clarifying experience. I see very clearly what is important and what is not. God has been very good to me, I see His grace at work in my life, encouraging me and strengthening me in my faith.

Daniel has been very gracious. He's allowed me to carry on "as usual". We are looking for a new church and Daniel has even agreed to come with us. We continue listening to Christian radio in the car, even when he's around, and Daniel hasn't been bothered. I continue to teach our girls the Bible without any resistance from Daniel. He hasn't tried to argue me out of my faith and he's made it very clear that he loves me and is committed to our marriage and my happiness. He's obviously come out from under a dark cloud of discouragement - he's been more gentle and helpful with the girls, more open with me. He's still my loving, giving, good husband. I love him now more than ever.

So anyway, I think that for now it would be best if I don't blog for awhile. I'll still be writing, just not publishing my thoughts on the internet! I don't want to vent (there's a super-great article about that at ungrind) but I also don't want to create a facad and I really need the "extra" time that I spend here blogging to be with the Lord and write in my journal.

Please pray for us! Pray that my faith would be strong and that God would make his presence more and more manifest to me. Pray that we'll find a church that will wrap its arms around our whole family and be a community of support to me. Pray that our girls will be protected. But if you pray for nothing else please pray that the hurt that has led Daniel to this place will heal and God would draw Daniel to Himself again.

I will continue to post photos on my photo-share page. So if you'd like to see how our family is growing please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/faith-raider/ I've disabled comments on this post. If you'd like to contact me you can do so via email. Blogging has been an awesome experience. I'll miss you.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Another Huckabee post

2007-11-09T13:31:00.000-05:00

I don't know what y'all think about my "political" posts but I'm gonna' keep on rattlin' away about Mike Huckabee for President. I've actually wanted to write this post for a while but didn't have much to say... but today I found this post over at OneMom's blog about her opportunity to meet Gov. Huckabee. Here's a quote:

We talked a bit about education, and how some conservatives continue to nail him because he actually went to talk to the NEA (National Education Association … of which between 30 and 40% are republicans), and that his vision to restore art, music and physical education back into the schools in all grades causes people to label him a liberal politician who wants to pour huge amounts of money into education and take away parents rights. Public education is the only option many families have (especially in this tough economy), I continue to be amazed at conservatives who blast Mike Huckabee for promoting education.
We also talked about homeschooling (which I am a homeschooling mom). He is the only Governor to ever appoint a homeschooling parent to the State Board of Education. He firmly believes that the administration of schools needs to be at the state level and at the district level. He also firmly believes that as President it would be vital to work with the states to assure that parents had the freedom to make the education decisions for their children - if that’s Public Schools, then let’s make sure they are the best they can be, but that the government at any level must never forget that the children are the parents’, they do not belong to the government. Parents rights to choose public, private, parochial, charter, and homeschool must not be taken away.
Check out the OneMom blog for the rest of the post and some great photos of Gov. Huckabee. I can honestly say that Mike Huckabee is a better Presidential candidate than I could have ever have hoped to see this election. He's strong on the important issues typical of Republicans - abortion, taxes, immigration etc. but he also champions the issues that Republicans tend to neglect - education, energy independence etc. Let's give him a chance to be a positive voice for our Nation.

internet friends

2007-11-08T19:31:00.000-05:00

I just got an email that totally made my day, it was from someone who lives nearby, but we've never actually met (yet) with some words of encouragement that I wanted to post here. At this point in my life I'm feeling really disconnected so to have someone say "you need to chill" was just great. I tend to expect a lot of myself, yet at the same time I can be sooooo lazy - it's like a split personality thing or something. I'm no perfectionist but I am an idealist and sometimes I struggle to find a clear perspective. So anyway... thank you Jennifer

Hi Faith,
I tried to comment on your blog and had trouble signing in ...
I just wanted to tell you that I THINK YOU NEED TO CHILL!!
That sounds really mean, but what I mean is, it sounds like you are doing SO MUCH and have your hands SO FULL that to think you are frustrated that you're not doing MORE probably isn't a good thing!
I'm amazed at how much you're accomplishing! My oldest is six and we STILL don't really do anything that would look like "schoolwork" ... and that' just fine by me!
Most people don't even HAVE four kids ... ever!!
I remember reading in a homeschool book by Lisa Whelchel to not worry about not doing enough with the five year old while you're nursing the baby and chasing the toddler. "Read a bedtime story, count some M&Ms, maybe sort some laundry, and consider it a productive day."
Anyway, hope this is encouraging to you. You might want to read "Productive Day or Not?" at my blog.
- Jennifer

Josiah - 7 weeks old

2007-11-08T13:03:00.000-05:00

Josiah 7 weeks old

I gave Beth a haircut too!

I meant to cut it longer but I really like this short style on her.

NaBloPoMo

2007-11-07T12:38:00.001-05:00

Maybe you've heard that November is National Bloggers Month and lots of bloggers are blogging every day of the month. If ever there was a time when I don't have time to participate it's now! However the NaBloPoMo website is really cool it seems like a facebook for bloggers. There are "groups" of bloggers - one I noticed was "hip homeschoolin' mamas" and another for mommy bloggers. So if you're lookin' for some fresh faces and new blogs to read - check it out!

new start

2007-11-06T15:39:00.000-05:00

Our second quarter of homeschool started on Monday, so I sat down last Friday to plan out this week of school. I beat myself up a lot because of how little we've accomplished this whole month of October, it seems like I'm constantly having to re-start homeschooling. I'm sure this blog is a testament to that. I wonder how many times I've written or said that I'm starting homeschool or that I'm starting for real this time, or we're really seriously starting... I am sure it's been often. But then over the weekend I realized that this is sort of a normal thing. We're all re-starting, re-grouping, re-organizing and pushing forward with a new determination to make progress.
These two days of starting-again with school have been good. At the same time I often feel like I'm loosing my mind - trying to talk to three girls at the same time. I like the sense of accomplishment I feel at the end of a day. Right now I'm enjoying History & Science the most. We're learning about George Washington in History and about Plant Classification, specifically conifers, in Science. It's SO cool. We watched videos on YouTube today about coniferous forests, tomorrow I want to show Beth a video about Christmas Tree farms, maybe we'll take out first-ever field trip and go to a Christmas Tree farm - or maybe not. And we're going to do a backyard nature walk this week, weather permitting, to collect pine cones.
On a different note, I bought some Archer Farms Pineapple Peach Salsa at Target on a whim the other day and it is AWESOME - really mild and sweet. I put some in a pasta-skillet last night and it was simply delish'!

Josiah - 6 weeks old

2007-11-02T06:10:00.000-05:00

Josiah is six weeks old now. It's getting hard now. He & Katie-Abigail are my "little ones" and Beth & Emma are my "big girls" and wow, it's a lot. It's like both hands are always full with either one set of children or the other. I have come to this place where I am so far out of my "comfort" zone that if God doesn't come through for me everything is going to fall apart. But I've been challenged to not try to wiggle out of my desperate need for the Holy Spirit, but rather to hold these two truths tightly - one in each hand - in one hand, is my desperate need for empowering grace and in the other is a confidence that when I call for help He will answer. He will not leave me, He will not abandon me, He had ordained this for me and He will be faithful to sustain me.

So this is Josiah at 6 weeks - he looks like such a boy to me. He rolled over for the first time on Wednesday night! I could hardly believe it. Everything about the way he looks says "boy" to me. His hands are bigger, they look like they will grow to be big, strong hands. Everything about him is bigger than my girls. But he is also really complicated. Josiah seems to really need me for emotional security, similar to the way it was with Emma, but fiercer, it'll be interesting to see how he grows. I think he will be a very strongly atatched person. I feel very bonded to him, even more than with my girls. But it's different. Everything is different, and yet it is all the same too. He sleeps and nurses and poops and spits up and the cycle goes round and round. I've been trying to keep him up a bit more during the day and that has helped our nights a lot.

Katie-Abigail is really having a tough time adjusting, she is much more emotionally volitile than she used to be, which is really saying something. When she was a baby we called her our "zero to sixty" girl because she'd go from crying to ear piercing screams in a second. So to say it's worse is really saying something. She's such a joy, but it's so hard to see her fussing all day long, struggling to adjust to her new place in the family.

Yesterday Beth cut Emma's hair!!!!!!! Her beautiful, long blond hair. They were "resting" in their room and when I came in to tell them that they could get up Emma had a handful of her own hair in her hand. I was very close to tears. I just looked at her mangled hair and thought "what am I going to do?" Emma said "I won't be able to go to church until my hair grows back out" when I told her that she'd have to come to church with us, she cried. I was able to cut her hair into a cute little bob and we'll just let some of the shorter layers grow. I'll probably tim her hair every three to six weeks until the short layers grow out. I have to admit that overall she looks really cute with her new look.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2007-10-31T15:03:00.000-05:00

Today, they were playing Christmas Music on the radio!! How crazy is that?! But it was SOOOO much fun. They were spreading some light on this dark day and it certainly made my day. At first I was thinking "it's way too early to start playing Christmas music on the radio" although I have to admit that I've been listening to one of my KennyG Christmas CDs on and off all month. But as the girls started singing along and we got into the mood it was really, really fun. It made me actually look forward to Christmas this year.

yummy recipe

2007-10-26T11:36:00.001-05:00

1 cup water
2 Tablespoons Butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar (sometimes I put in 1/2 cup)
3 1/3 cups bread flour (sometimes I use in 1 cup of whole wheat)
3 teaspoons yeast

Set in bread machine on the "dough only" setting.
When it's done I divide it into two equal parts
Divide those lumps into about six rolls each which I bake in 9 inch round cake pans.
Sometimes I dip them in 2 Tablespoons melted butter - I only do that if I plan on serving them warm. Today I dipped them in butter and then dipped them in a cinnomon & sugar mix - it was like super-easy cinnamon rolls!
Let the rolls sit out to rise for about 20 minutes more
This is what will make them nice and fluffy, if you put them in the oven right away they'll be quite dense.
Bake at 375 for about 12-15 minutes. Enjoy!

I found this recipe for cinnamon rolls and it has become my standard bread-dough recipe, my family loves this. I could make up a batch twice a day and they'd all be eaten. It's so easy! This is the first time that I've been able to get Daniel to eat bread with whole wheat flour in it. He enjoyes it SO much. He says that's because it is so sweet, even with the whole wheat flour. I also use this recipe to make sandwich rolls for Daniel's lunches, but for the girls the dinner-roll style work for sandwiches too.

Awake!

2007-10-26T11:07:00.000-05:00

The other night I couldn't sleep. I got up for a glass of milk and a chocolate chip granola bar, my Bible was on the table so I opened it up and read these words from Isaiah 52:1 "Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments"
I woke up the next morning with these same words playing over and over in my mind, so I got up, took a shower and got out of my sweatpants. Now I know that that's not the primary interpretation of this text but I highly recommend it.
This morning I was wearing floppy, sloppy comfy clothes, smelling like milk & spit-up and thinking "this is so hard! All I want to do is get back in bed." But then these words from Isaiah 52 came back to mind and I got dressed, put up my hair and now I'm thinking "I'm ready for the day." It's amazing how God speaks!

Josiah - 5 weeks old

2007-10-24T12:54:00.000-05:00

My sweet little boy is 5 weeks old today!! He starting to smile more and more now and he's trying so hard to hold his head up!

Tip

2007-10-24T12:12:00.000-05:00

Love this tip from RealSimple!

A Confession of a fake Super-Mom

2007-10-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

I’m doing it again. I promised myself a hundred times I wouldn’t let myself walk down this road. Yet here I am, trying to be super-mom again. Trying to be strong, trying to be independent, trying to hide my weakness behind the appearance of keeping my act together. So there I sat last night, nursing my one month old at the end of the day, on the verge of tears because I just can’t do it! My house is a mess from the backdoor to my bedroom, I’ve lost my temper half a dozen times, I’ve ignored my husband, I’ve slacked off with homeschooling, I skipped my quiet time. I am exhausted and about to fall apart. I cry out to God at this moment “God, I need you to speak to me!” But Josiah starts to get fussy so I draw a warm bath.

We get in the tub together for the first time since he was born. It used to be our evening ritual. Nearly every night before bed I would take a warm bath so we could both calm down. He would be kicking inside me, so fiercely it hurt, and my back and my hips would be aching at the end of the day, so we’d soak in the tub together until I was half-asleep.

We sit in the tub, skin to skin. We relax into the warm water, his rapid breathing slows as he nestles his head under my chin. I look at his beautiful newborn body and notice my floppy post-partum belly and I am overwhelmed by my weakness. I feel it at my very core. Right now, I am very weak.

I remember a verse I have been praying for myself this month, its from Isaiah 40:11 “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” “Gently lead me, oh please Jesus lead me gently” I pray.

This verse speaks to me. It says that “those with young” (or the “nursing ewes” in the New American Standard translation) will be lead with a special gentleness and that tells me that I need to be led gently, that there is something special about this season of being a nursing mother, something that causes me to have a special need to be led gently. That it’s okay to be weak.

You see, I expect myself to perform like a super-mom and when I do I am setting myself up to live under a pile of guilt as high and as overwhelming as my pile of laundry. I think my self-imposed standards and self-inflicted expectations come from a heart of self-righteousness. It’s performance-driven and legalistic. And it’s crippling. But when I think about what my Shepherd expects of me there is peace. He doesn’t expect me to be out in the front leading the herd, he expects me to be in the back, in weakness, being led with gentleness during this season as a nursing mother.

This morning I just laid there in bed, not even wanting to get up, feeling so guilty and overwhelmed, feeling a strange mix of self-pity and self-loathing. I got up because I have little ones who needed breakfast, and bigger ones who needed a peacemaker. But my hope is not in my ability to get my act together and muster up the strength to check everything off of my “to do” list today. Rather it is finding an even greater strength to embrace this season of weakness and seek the supernatural power that comes from the Holy Spirit, the kind of power that causes me to soar on wings as eagles (Isaiah 40 & Psalm 103).

I know I won’t be in this season for long. Soon my baby will grow up, the physical demands will be less and I’ll need to step up out of the back row, but for now I want to stop striving, and beating myself up all of the time. I want to stop playing the part of super-mom and just follow Jesus as he tends his flock like a shepherd, and gathers his little ones in his arms, he carries them close to his heart and gently leads the nursing mothers.

Sunday's Debate

2007-10-22T10:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday night was the latest GOP Debate, a night that Daniel and I have been eagerly anticipating. Since we don't have a working TV we packed up our four little kiddo's and camped out at Daniel's office to watch the debate on the big-screen TV there. We popped up a couple bags of pop-corn, munched on swiss rolls and waited for the Republican Candidates to take the stage. I thought it was interesting to notice that the focus group was nearly unanimous that what they are looking for in our next president is a clear communicator, a strong leader and someone who will steer America away from the high taxes and "socialism" of Hillary Clinton.
From my point of view this debate wasn't so much about the winners as it was about the losers. I can't point my finger to any one clear winner of the debate but I can say there were some definite losers. So here is my countdown of candidates least likely to win the Republican nomination.

The first and most obvious candidate least likely to win the nomination is Ron Paul. He was the only candidate to be booed, which happened loudly and more than once. Ron Paul reminds me of a miserly old scrooge - like the guy from the Uncle Sam "I want YOU" posters. He seems totally out of touch with the American people and he can't seem to say anything without coming back to money. It's ridiculous.

Second place in the debate last night is Duncan Hunter. Why was he even there? He contributed practically nothing and had very poor presence.

Third is Tom Tancredo. Ditto the above. He had better presence than Duncan Hunter but not much.

The number four spot goes to John McCain, his performance last night was a flop. While he is obviously very patriotic and has impressive credentials, he simply cannot communicate well enough to become our next president.

Coming in fifth is Fred Thompson. While he is a good social conservative and a media favorite, pretty much what you see is what you get. His political opinions sound about as gloomy as he looks, and his negative campaign makes me wonder what he's trying to hide.

This leaves us with the top three: Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani & Mike Huckabee. Mitt Romney really wobbled during last night's debate and my level of confidence that he could be our next leader plummeted. Coming under heavy fire for his inconsistent social conservatism all I heard from him was "I'm proud of what I've accomplished" and "I'm pro-family". If you ask me, that's canned, and it is the very last thing I want to hear from a presidential hopeful.

Rudy Giuliani also missed a big chance, and while he gave an impressive performance he completely fumbled one of the most pivotal questions in his campaign: "What makes you different from Clinton?" His reply was basically "she'll raise taxes, I'll lower them." As a candidate running as a fiscal conservative but social liberal, that's really not comforting.

Then there was Mike Huckabee, who did an outstanding job. He was kind but strong on the issues. FOX News wrote: Turning the tone of the debate in a different direction, Mike Huckabee rejected the catfight, noting that he's content to let the other candidates fight it out. "Shed each other's blood and then I'll be ready to run for president because I'm not interested in fighting these guys. What I'm interested in is fighting for the American people, and I think they're looking for a presidential candidate who's not so interested in a demolition derby against the other people in his own party," Huckabee said.
Huckabee tends to be marginalized and overlooked by the media. Some don't consider him to be a "top tier" candidate, but he proved at the debate that he's of the same caliber as the so-called "top tier" candidates, despite his lack of funding. He is definitely the polar opposite to Hillary Clinton and I think that is exactly what the country wants, it's certainly what this country needs. I think the biggest weak spot he showed last night was being too vague about health care, and while Huckabee had a good answer it would be better if he could be more specific. You can read about that issue on his website if you're interested.

Let me leave you with a quote from Huckabee's speech to the Value Voters FRC Action event: "I don’t want ever for us to let expediency or electability replace our principles as the new value. The new value needs to be the old value. We believe in some things. We stand by those things. We live or die by those things."

Debate response on Huckabee's blog
Huckabee Values Voters Poll Results Video
Byron York on this weekend

Mars Hill Church

2007-10-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

Katie-Abigail was sick so we watched a sermon from home today. At first I was feeling rather guilty. Usually if one of our children is sick then one parent and that child stays home and the rest go to church, but today we all stayed home. It felt really weird. But I was SO blessed. Our church does a webcast of the service but there was no audio today - kinda hard to listen to a sermon without audio - so we watched a sermon from Mars Hill Church preached by Mark Driscoll. The sermon we watched was from the end of Nehemiah called "Fighting Fathers" and it was AWESOME.
If you're not familiar with Mark Driscoll you've really got to check him out. Mark Driscoll has really figured out what the church is for - teaching the Bible and figuring out how to live life for Jesus. I've been in churches where it's all about teaching the Bible but the relationships just weren't there in such a way that there could be a transfer of wisdom & application. Because you can't learn how to live life for Jesus - how to be a good mom or dad husband or wife - from just sitting in church on Sundays and attending home Bible studies on Wednesday nights, and you certainly can't learn to live life for Jesus alone with your Bible. We all need that one on one mentoring relationship. But then I've been in churches where it's all about relationships and learning to live our lives but there's not the foundation of Biblical truth to uphold it all and to keep the focus Godward. Mark Driscoll seems to have found a out how to do both and it's inspiring to hear him preach!

Emma wrote her name!!

2007-10-19T15:54:00.001-05:00

Today, for the very first time, Emma wrote her name all by herself! She was making a get well soon card for Uncle Mark and just generally doodling on a paper towel she'd found when I caught her writing her name! Someone scribbled it out before I had the chance to scan it in :-( however it is a very happy and important day in our house today!
The really really cool thing about this is how little I've worked with Emma on writing her name. She's done a little bit of pre-writing practice and I've showed her how to write her name a couple of times but really she's taken a majority of the initiative in learning to write. Also, it seems like most children write their name in all upper case letters when they learn to write it for the first time, I know Beth did, but Emma get's offended if you write her name that way. She especially notices the upper case "A" at the end. So Emma has always insisted on writing her name in the more grown up form. How funny!

Josiah - 4 weeks old

2007-10-17T09:18:00.001-05:00

Today Josiah is 4 weeks old. It's been getting harder and harder as Josiah gets older and my hands feel fuller. But Josiah is such a dear sweet baby! It's just a joy to have him. He's got a bit of infant acne and my lighting was way off when I took photos of him yesterday. But he's getting so big I just had to post new photos of him.

p.s. he weighs 9lbs already!

Community for the Kingdom of God

2007-10-17T05:55:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend Daniel & I attended a Bible Conference at our old church. (We were members there until just after K-A was born, all of our girls were baptised there and we love the people there dearly) Dr. Richard Pratt was the speaker and it was awesome. He is a the adjunct professor of Old Testament at RTS Orlando and director of Third Millenium Ministries . Every stereotype you might have of what a seminary professor of the Old Testament would be like is blown out of the water by Dr. Pratt. He's so great to listen to! He's funny and passionate about the Gospel, I've never met a Presbyterian more passionate about world missions, and this weekend he was all up in our faces. It was refreshing and very challenging.
Over two days and four sessions he challenged every member of the congregation to become a missional community for the Kingdom of God. The two points I can still remember are these:
1) We need each other because of who we are.
God said at the very beginning "it is not good for the man to be alone" and it if it was true of the first man at the beginning of the world when everything was perfect and mankind's relationship with God was perfect, then it is surely true of us today. It's not good to be alone. Sometimes we say "the only person I need is Jesus" but in my experience we saying that because a) we've bought into the lie of individualism or b) we're trying to justify our withdrawal from a painful situation. Either way it's totally unbiblical.
I can testify from my own personal experience the blessing of living in community. It's been about two years since Daniel and I were really settled down and committed to a community of believers but that season of our lives when we have been living in community was marked by great personal growth and relational harmony. Having a small group who you can be real with, who you can share your struggles with, to pray with you and for you, to talk about God with, to help hold you accountable, it is a precious, precious thing. I miss it so much.
While we were on the South side of Atlanta this weekend we spent a lot of time with some friends who we used to be super-close too. We lived right around the corner from each other when Emma was a baby. Once a week Adam and Daniel would get together for breakfast in the morning before work, Jessica and I prayed together nearly every week and were on the MOPS leadership team together. Just being around them again this weekend was terribly encouraging. Talking about our marriage and parenting, seeing their weakness and sharing ours it was very very encouraging. I was encouraged hearing that this other godly couple fight, like Daniel and I do, and about a lot of the same things, yet are happy and 100% comitted to each other. I was encouraged to see know that I'm not the only one who struggles with being tired all of the time and who is overwhelmed at times with trying to keep on top of everything there is to do to keep a home. When we are with Adam & Jessica there's no pretense, no smoke screens, no facad. These kinds of relationships are wonderful. During the time since we left that church and then moved up here to the north side of Atlanta I have often felt like my world is just falling apart and then I realize that it's mostly because we lack a support group - a community.
2) We need each other because our mission is too big to accomplish alone.
Our mission on this earth is, to use the language of Dr. Pratt, to make the whole earth into the garden of Eden, a place fit for God to dwell. Some people teach that this world doesn't really matter, (I even heard one preacher say that he thought that the earth would become the "lake of fire" no wonder that church isn't reaching the lost) however in the framework of Kingdom Theology that is nonsense. Our purpose on this earth is to extend and expand the Kingdom of God. We don't live here on earth to have a relationship with God and to "glorify God" in some sort of mystical, non-discript individualistic way before we fly away to heaven. No! We bring some of heaven down to earth. We take back as much of the enemy's territory as we can, we spend every day of our lives passionately and purposefully fighting in the war against sin and Satan and actively seeking to expand the Kingdom of God here on the earth. And we can't do that alone.
This fight is very real. Especially here in America, especially here in Atlanta. Dr. Pratt said that statistics have shown that by 2025 Atlanta could be one of a handful of predominantly Muslim communities. Rev. Stenner at New Hope is from Brighton, England and would often tell stories of what it was like to be a Christian in a post-christian culture. It's very sobering. It's no great leap of faith to think of my children raising their children in a post-Christian culture. We're practically there already. One thing that means for you and I is that we must be terribly purposeful in raising our children to be strong in the Lord. We must teach them to think like Christians, we must teach them to view everything in Kingdom terms. We must not allow ourselves to become distracted or let other things become the priority - good things like sports, the arts and even education - the one thing we must do is prepare our children to stand strong in a world that is going to stand against them. With Islam at our doorstep, we must train them to be "soldiers" in this spiritual war. And we can't do that alone.
Dr. Pratt shared a great quote in one of his messages from Calvin who wrote in a letter to an English speaking church in Berlin that was fighting amongst themselves "you fight each other as if you are at peace with the world." And oh, how we fight. We fight as denominations and "movements" and churches. We keep brothers at a distance who ought to be our friends and allies. We fight as friends, we fight as families. We are very good at fighting, and I think Dr. Pratt made a good point that we fight and we distance ourselves from other believers because we do not realize that we really are in a battle. We are in a fight for our future and our children's future and their children's future. What sort of church - what type of Christian community and model of Christianity - will we pass down to the next generation? Oh, we must must be sure it is a passionate, missional one! Properly and purposefully united to fight this battle together.
This leads me to a little rabbit trail - you would not believe how hard it has been for us, as Charismatic Presbyterians, to find a place in the Christian community!! It's not too difficult to find Evangelical Charismatics, it's not impossible to find Reformed Charismatics even, but it has been very very very difficult to find a congregation that is willing to accept our Covenental Paedo-Baptistic convictions. (Or a Presbyterian church willing to accept our Charismatic convistions!) This has been terribly discouraging. The issue of Baptism really shouldn't be dividing people as it does. Just in case you're not convinced that this is a dividing issue read this article by Sam Storms about the leaders of Together for the Gospel. I think it's important for believers to study the Scriptures, be informed about both sides of the debate and develop a strong position however, excluding other believers only because of their views on Baptism (and Spirit-Baptism too) is "fighting each other as if you are at peace with the world". Okay, I'll step off of my soap-box now. (ha!)
This weekend raised some questions for me. The first one is this: Do I desire to live in community for the sake of my own comfort or for the sake of advancing the Kingdom of God? Living in community really is so much better that living outside of community. If you don't have a small group that is your spiritual community I strongly encourage you to do whatever you have to do to become a part of a small group, make the commitment and then give it some time. It has made all of the difference in my life - in my walk with God, in my marriage, in how I parent. Living in community has added so much stability and comfort to my life. So it's tempting to seek after a new community now for the sake of comfort. But I've been convicted that that is the wrong reason to seek to be in community. I need to be committing myself to living in community so that I can advance the Kingdom of God! I need the support of other believers, not just so that I can be comfortable and have friends, but so that I can go out and fulfil my mission in the world.
My second question is very similar: Do I desire to live in community so that my battle will be over or so that I can become engaged in advancing in the war? What I mean is this - living on your own is a battle. Everything seems harder when you're on your own. It's wearying. Fighting your battles alone is exhausting. Exhausting is not a strong enough word. It's like drowning, or dieing an inch at a time. It's desperate and defeating. Being in community brings hope and courage and strength. But the temptation is to desire community so that it will be easier to fight my personal battles and not so that I can link arms with my brother and sisters in Christ and engage in the war for the Kingdom of God.
It's almost become cliche in some circles to talk about being missional, it's another thing to really be missional. It's hard to live it out. I read a book by Mark Driscol last week called "Confessions of a Reformission Rev." I ate it up - it was like reading a novel! Only it is the story of how he fumbled through forming and growing his missional church in Seattle. He is also a key leader in Resurgance and the founding leader of the Acts 29 Network. He is one of the best examples of missional ministry that is doctrinally reformed. I've also benefited personally from the example of the local Newfrontiers church plant - Jubilee Atlanta, though they aren't reformed in the traditional meaning of that term.
I hope I've left you something to think about. I'd love to hear about your community and especially about how you are advancing the gospel together. If you know of any resources for missional community please share!!

E & J

2007-10-13T13:40:00.000-05:00

I was looking through some old pics of Emma and I think there is a resemblance between her and Josiah - what do you think?

Scrapping a bit

2007-10-12T21:16:00.000-05:00

Daniel went to bed early tonight and I did some digital scrapbooking. I thought I'd share a couple of the pages here.

I was having a creative block so I scrap-lifted a layout from my "inspiration" folder, that helped me with the "toes" pics. I used the same kit I'd used for a couple other pages so that the "artsy-ish" photos would coordinate, since I really do hope to print these in one of those photo books you can order from snapfish.

a bit of randomness

2007-10-12T13:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I wore my jeans!! I was so happy. I've been living in my sweatpants & maternity shorts for the past three weeks. Of course as soon as I came home from Life Group Josiah spit up all over me & my jeans but oh well. These jeans are about two sizes larger than my ideal size, but I'm quite satisfied... for now.
I've been listening to the music on the website for Plumb's new CD "Blink" for the past two days! It's lovely. I especially love the song "Sleep" :-) (ht: Bethany)
The weather has turned cold again so I got out our cold-weather clothes from storage. I was going to do this before Josiah was born but then I thought that it could be several months until cold weather came. Guess I was wrong! The girls went crazy! They just love trying on all their "new" clothes. And I am reminded again of God's provision for us.
I love, love, love this time of year. It's my favorite time of year. The A/C gets turned off for the better of about two months and the windows stay opened. I love wearing sweaters in the morning and evening. I love cuddling up with a blanket and coffee or cocoa or tea. I love taking a time-out in the early morning to enjoy a hot cup of tea and a little R&R in the middle of my day. I love the colors of the season, the anticipation of Christmas, the cold in the morning. It's a wonderful time of year.

Love Him More

2007-10-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

I came upon a great post today! Read it here

Josiah - 3 weeks old

2007-10-10T15:46:00.000-05:00

The honeymoon is over. Josiah is awake more now and I've got both hands very full. Most days I'm done at 3:00 and just give up on trying to do anything more until dinner-time. I spend my days in sweats and have to change my shirt at least twice a day - all of these bodily fluids!!!! So gross. I have no schedule yet and life feels rather out of control. But I know that this season is short and just try to enjoy the sweet moments.
Josiah's changed so much in just three weeks. He's chubby now. His eyes are a beautiful dark blue (for now). His hair is ever so blond. It's completely strait and sticks up at the top of his head. He tries to work those neck muscles more. He naps in the swing in the morning. I put him in my sling for the first time today. It helped a LOT. Though Beth said it was for girls. Because it's pink, I guess. My big sister got me into babywearing, she gave me my first sling. Anyhow, Josiah's sleeping really well - though I'm a complete zombie. He usually only gets up twice to nurse, but he likes to be close so sometimes he'll cry because he doesn't want to be in his bed. I just kissed him and he gave me the biggest smile!!! Baby smiles are the gems of this season of life!!! I finally broke down and bought mylecon (sp?) drops for his gas and have used it exactly once. I just knew that would happen. I should have bought them on the way home from the Hospital! I also bought some of that "Sleep Better" baby massage gel. The first time I used it Josiah cried for probably five whole minutes!!! I don't think he liked it. Daniel said it made him smell like a girl. I don't think he slept any better.But what I didn't buy was more pacifiers. Daniel gave him a Nuk one day and now he won't take any of our other pacifiers. I had a package of Nuk's in my hand while I was at the store and I said to myself "I don't really need these. I have a bunch of passies of every shape and size. Besides I've never lost this passie." That very day I lost that passie! That was the same day I lost my nursing pads. I found them this morning by the diaper-changing stuff. All that to say that my mind must be out on vacation. I have been able to do some school work with Beth. She's already forgotten so much, especially in math. sigh. And now Emma wants to join in! Not the best timing. I'm letting her do some pre-writing practice and she is working through one of Beth's workbooks that Beth has already finished. She's got a terrific attitude about it but it's just one more activity to organize and try to oversee. But we'll get through this time!

Debate

2007-10-10T11:29:00.000-05:00

The latest GOP Presidential Debate will be aired on FOX News this Sunday from 8:00-9:30pm
I'll be watching the debate with this question in my mind: is Mitt Romney really the "best qualified" to become the next president? Or are some Christian leaders supporting him because they think he's got a better shot at winning the nomination? His religious beliefs aside, I am really not convinced that he would make a better leader than Huckabee. Yes, he has more business experience but will that make him a better leader? It seems that Huckabee has more leadership experience and he has really done some good as the Governor of Arkansas, I've not heard what real good Romeny has done in his very liberal state, aside from cutting taxes.
Yes, Huckabee might be the underdog in the top tier but considering his lack of funding he's really close. There is still enough time for him to gain momentum, especially if the Christian community gets behind him as their candidate. I read a headline today that said that the Christian conservatives are considering nominating a third-party candidate, but in my opinion doing so would ensure a democratic victory by splitting the Republican vote. If the Christian conservatives are looking for a Christian conservative to represent them in the White House, Mike Huckabee is the one.
One of the things I like about Mike Huckabee is how he is running his campaign so graciously. I saw a video on YouTube the other day, it was part of an interview of Huckabee responding to a question about Hillary Clinton and he was very very gracious at a moment when he could have been critical. This man appears to truly be above reproach.

Huckabee post-debate video. A must see. He's very gracious
Homeschoolers and Huckabee - AWESOME!!!
Moms for Huckabee
Donate "a buck for Huck"

Are you a slacker mom?

2007-10-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

Follow this link, take the survey, click through the adds, and get your results, for a bit of silliness!! My quiz score: Zen Mom How do you do it? Even when explosions are all around, you are able to take a deep cleansing breath and chant your mantra "this too shall pass." You are a calming influence on your kids in a hectic world. Yeah right. Leave a comment with your result :-)

Mike Huckabee

2007-10-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

So last night was the Republican debate. I wasn't able to watch the entire thing but I saw quite a few clips from it online. It was a good oportunity to become a little more familiar with the candidates running for president.
I'm a stay at home mom and not at all "into" politics, everything I know about current politics usually comes from my husband, and generally I've been quite pessimistic about the 2008 presidential election, I just didn't think there were any good candidates, period. My parents usually voted Republican and the one time that I've voted in an election I voted Republican too but I was willing to vote Democrat just to get a good leader, one that would finish what President Bush started, but I didn't know of a good leader on either side at least not one that had a glimmer of a chance of outrunning Clinton & Obama. I asked Daniel who he thought it would all boil down too and he said "Giuliani vs. Clinton" and I said "well why even vote" to which Daniel replied "even Giuliani is better than Hillary Clinton"
But then I found out about Mike Huckabee and I'm a little bit more optimistic. I feel like now I have a candidate I can vote for with confidence and considering that he is already in the top four in the polls, feel that I have a candidate that just might win. Yesterday one of the top national news talk dudes (Michael Medved) said that if the religious conservatives all got behind Mike Huckabee he could definitely win. And according to this poll it looks as though Mike Huckabee is trailing only a little behind (go to page 17 in the .pdf) and, in my opinion, deffinietely has a shot at winning this if we will get behind him and support him.
So last night was quite interesting. I was shocked by some of the candidates and their terrible answers, I was disapointed by the unevenly distributed questions and in the end I was the most satisfied with Huckabee (who I was pre-disposed to approve of) and Romney (but he is a Mormon). Sometime soon I'll write a post comparing the two but for now read this.
Last night Daniel & I gave "a Buck for Huck" which is such a neat idea. I'll deffinitely do it again. Anybody can give $1, right? And if everybody who visits my blog gave just $1 we could raise over $100 for Huckabee's campaign in about one week - now how cool is that?
Well, I need to go, the baby just spit up all over both of us - how lovely - but I'll leave you with this thought. This election matters, it matters a lot. We all know that. You'd have to live in a cave or a commune not to. We can make a difference and we can have hope for the 2008 presidential election. But it starts now.

Here are some other perspectives: OneMom, It's Huckabee or Hillary by Janet Folger
Check this out too on YouTube

post-baby bod

2007-10-09T11:53:00.000-05:00

Here's a good article from "loosing weight after baby"

ht: Mom's Look

oh the things my little ones say

2007-10-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

Recently Emma has been saying "Satan is my enemy, but God wants me to love my enemies. So I love Satan, even though he's my enemy." What's a Mommy to say to that?!

Presidential election

2007-10-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

Daniel showed me a really neat website. It's called "Select a Candidate 2008" and this is how it works: answer a few questions about political issues and you will receive a list of all of the political candidates and how they match up with your political positions. It's quite helpful.

My favorite candidate was Mike Huckabee and here's why (and all of this is copied from his website):

A significant part of his adult life was spent as a pastor and denominational leader. He became the youngest president ever of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

"My faith is my life - it defines me. My faith doesn't influence my decisions,
it drives them."
"My convictions regarding the sanctity of life have always been clear and consistent, without equivocation or wavering. I believe that Roe v. Wade should be over-turned."
"I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My personal belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life."

Under Huckabee’s direction, Arkansas has been recognized as having created one of the nation’s best school accountability programs.
Continuing to call for a national emphasis on living a healthy lifestyle, Huckabee completed his fourth book, “Quit Digging Your Grave With A Knife and Fork.” This 12-stop program is a no-nonsense approach to managing one’s health through lifestyle change rather than a simple diet and exercise plan.

"We don't need universal health care mandated by federal edict or funded through ever-higher taxes. We do need to get serious about preventive health care instead of chasing more and more dollars to treat chronic disease, which currently gobbles up 80% of our health care costs, and yet is often avoidable."

As former chairman of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission, Huckabee worked with the 37-state coalition to develop energy policy and lobby Congress on energy matters, such as the regulation of oil and gas production.

"The first thing I will do as President is send Congress my comprehensive plan for energy independence. We will achieve energy independence by the end of my second term.
Read More about the issues on his website.

a thought amid the chaos

2007-10-05T21:40:00.000-05:00

Emma & Josiah

I'm just loving the cooler weather we've been having - it seems to be going away now but it was lovely while it was here. I have been spending a lot of time outside with the kids & the camera. Yay! I finally got some new ones of Emma.

Today had some lovely moments too, which were interrupted by projectile-spit-up. You know, the kind that shoots out of them like they've become a human fire-hose. It got all over the sheets, which I forgot to put in the dryer until we were ready to go to bed. So now Josiah and Daniel are asleep on the couch and I'm on the computer!

But in the forefront of my mind is this thought: this season is fleeting. Josiah will grow up in a flash, just like his sisters and before I know it I'll be missing these baby days. This knowledge brings mixed emotions - sadness (I can't hang onto these baby days for long), relief (I won't be living in sweatpants and a shirt that smells like spit-up forever) excitement (what will he be like as he grows up?), but mostly it just helps me accept the chaos of now. I don't have to have it all together, I don't have to try to get everything done, life is crazy. It won't always be this way.

Oh, I just heard the buzzer!! Goodnight.

Beth finally learned how to ride her bike!

Miss Potter

2007-10-05T10:33:00.000-05:00

When I saw the trailer for "Miss Potter" I was disgusted and thought that this was yet another American butchering of a British personality, but a couple of friends saw it recently and said they enjoyed it so I thought I'd give it a try.
I watched it last night by myself and enjoyed it SO much. It's right up there with "Finding Neverland" maybe even better. The cinematography is just amazing, the acting is surprisingly good, the story is beautiful and dramatic. It's filmed entirely on location which you'll appreciate - the landscapes are breathtaking. Though the film covers a pretty long period of time it never feels rushed, partly I guess because there are just a few key characters that are well developed.
My favorite scene is at the end when you get a peek into Miss Potter's home. It's so very beautiful. I found it inspiring for my own home.

Josiah - 2 weeks old

2007-10-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

Sleeping with Daddy

Josiah's two weeks old and I think I'm slowly adjusting to the chaos of it all. My house is a total mess and "staying on top of things" is not even a possibility. Getting a shower is an accomplishment. Any schoolwork Beth gets done is a victory. But I'm just lovin' this baby!! I know this season will be over in a flash!

my not-so-good morning

2007-10-01T07:01:00.000-05:00

It's 8am, and I'm already exhausted. I woke up this morning with the youngest three in bed with us - nice if they are sleepy & cuddly, not so nice when K-A & E want to chat. So Daniel gets up and I follow in a minute. It's that time of year, my favorite time of year, when the mornings are sooooooo cold. But that's not so great when you get up half-dressed to the sound of "daddy! daaaaa-ddy!" coming from the Living Room. I arrive to find out that K-A has soaked herself. Out comes "demon-mama" and my morning is ruined. E is following me around as I try to get K-A changed & dressed warmly, saying "can I have a Pop Tart?" How many times can you say "yes" before they stop asking?! I snap at B and send her to pick up her room. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
But you know, writing this all is very therapeutic, because I realized as I wrote that even though this morning was a bummer, I can always just start over. I can remember yesterday and my decision that this week would be better. I can draw near to God and find strength and fresh perspective. I can take a second to enjoy the sound of Emma singing "Do you know the colors of our Rainbow" to Josiah. I don't have to wallow in my bad attitude, or the guilt of a bad morning.

2Peter1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Beauty for ashes

a garment of praise

for my heaviness

Beauty for ashes

take this heart of stone

and make it Yours

- Shane & Shane

My children

2007-09-28T10:42:00.000-05:00

Beth (5), Emma (4) holding Josiah (1 week) & Katie-Abigail (2)

Daniel asked me to try to take some pictures of all of our children... this is what I took today. It's a start anyway!

Josiah Leeland - 1 week old Scrapbook pages

2007-09-27T09:08:00.000-05:00

Papers are from September's Free Kit "Citrus Freeze" by Anne Langpap downloaded from twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com Alpha blocks are from the Free Kit "Spring Breeze" by Shabby Princess downloaded from www.shabbyprincess.com Font is MA Flirty

Josiah Leeland - 1 week old

2007-09-26T10:50:00.001-05:00

This photo was inspired by Amy

Josiah is one week old today! He was weighed today @ the ped.'s office and he was 7lbs 2ozs! Yay, back up to his birth weight! Last Friday he was down to 6lbs 6ozs. That's pretty normal for a breastfed baby, but it's great to know that Josiah's on-track again! While we were at the pediatritian's office we met a really sweet Christian couple (they actually knew who the biblical King Josiah was!) they had four older children and had just adopted a fifth, as we were leaving the mother said something to the effect of "don't stop having babies now." That is the first time I have ever heard someone say anything like that. Usually they ask me if we're done having kids yet. I was so encouraged.
Today is also Daniel's first day back to work - so far, so good. I haven't had a melt-down (yet - the day is still young) or a big bleed, so I'm happy. Actually, I think I'm having a better day than Daniel! Really, I'm feeling pretty good - now that I'm over feeling like I've got rocks in my bra - and I'm really pleased with my recovery.
Josiah has been a dream-baby! Although I'm looking forward to when he's a bit more awake & nursing more regularly. He hardly ever fusses. He loves to poop in a clean diaper! He's already lost his umbillical cord! He's smiled at me more times than I can count. The girls are doing well in general. Katie-Abigail is 100% loving towards Josiah, but she's been crying WAY more than usual and seems to be trying to manipulate me more... two year olds are SO terribly complex! Emma climbed into my lap at lunchtime today and said that she wished that she was the baby. Beth just wants to be the mama! She is constantly asking to hold Josiah... it's so sweet, but overwhelming.
Right now he's sleeping in my arms and he must be having a good dream because he's been smiling in his sleep. Babies can be so very expressive when they sleep! Speaking of sleep - I'm off for my nap!

There are TONS more photos of Josiah on my flickr page

More photos of Josiah

2007-09-25T13:28:00.000-05:00

HOUSE

2007-09-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

Daniel & I have been counting the days...

Season 4 of House starts tonight!!!! We don't have TV reception so we download the episodes from iTunes. We are totally hooked - it's a brilliant show.

Jo-jo-see-ya

2007-09-24T07:41:00.000-05:00

Katie-Abigail has been learning to say Josiah's name. Here is her latest attempt.

Happy little man

2007-09-22T15:34:00.000-05:00

Baby boy

2007-09-21T18:12:00.000-05:00

Well, I have a few minutes to write about the birth of our sweet boy...
I started having contractions at about 8:30pm Tuesday night, but I didn't take them seriously, I've been having contractions on and off all month and they've always gone away... we got the call we'd been waiting for from the hospital at about 9:30PM for my labor to be induced, so we got our girls up and took them to the home of some dear friends of ours who live nearby and headed to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital I'd been having regular contractions for about two hours but they weren't very painful. However, when the midwife checked my cervix during the admission procedure she said that I was already dilated to a 6! So they started me on the pitocin and around 12:00am (Wednesday) my contractions got more intense but they were pretty irregular, which was weird, it made it hard to anticipate the next contraction. Then the big contractions came - the "opera" contractions as my friend Neisha calls them - and I knew I'd be ready to push soon. So my (wonderful) midwife, Julie, broke my water and I started pushing. It was the most intense experience ever. I'll just leave it at that.
Josiah was out in just a couple of pushes and I cried when I saw that I'd finally given birth to my BOY!! He was all purple because he'd breathed in a lot of mucus and he bruised his face during the birth, but they still let him lay on my belly until the placenta was delivered and then they suctioned him out. I just cried and cried. They weighed him at 7lb 2ozs, 19 inches long, my biggest baby yet! I can not imagine how much harder it would have been to deliver him if he'd been born next month!! The labor & delivery nurse was really encouraging, she said that this birth was inspiring. I don't know if she was just saying that to be nice or what, but I've been encouraged by that...
Anyway, he nursed right away and he did just an amazing job. Then while I was trying to burp him Josiah started turning blue! That was quite scary. But the nurses suctioned out one of his lungs again and put him on a pulse/ox monitor and by the time they'd finished his oxygen level was up to 100%. I'm so glad that it was nothing more than that.
They moved us to our recovery room around 5am and we got some rest before Daniel left to get the girls. Beth said "now I'm almost six!" Katie-Abigail said "hey boy" and "baby's cool" Emma said "can I hold him some more?" It's almost overwhelming how they all want to hold him and touch him at the same time.
Diane kept the girls from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon - what a TOTAL life-saver! I was SO thankful to have a friend nearby who was willing to keep our girls for such a long stretch!!
Josiah was circumcised Thursday morning. I've got to tell you, when the nurse was showing us how to care for Josiah's circumcision I was thinking "what have we done?!" it looked terrible!! but it's already healing up nicely and looking more normal. The staff at the hospital were really great, I think this was definitely the best experience we've had so far.
We came home Thursday afternoon, Daniel was SO ready to be home! He said "we're their patients, not their prisoners!". I'm just glad to be home again, with my girls nearby, even though it's exhausting. Nights are still pretty tough, last night Josiah was practically inconsolable, I guess it was gas, or something. That was difficult but other than a couple of episodes like that he's been such an easy baby. He doesn't spit up a lot or anything. Although on Wednesday while we were changing his diaper Josiah was peeing, pooping and spitting up all at the same time!!!!
So Daniel & I are COMPLETELY exhausted, but it's awesome to have our little boy here!! I'm really pleased with my recovery so far. I feel so weak and at just a time when I want to be strong for my family. This time around I think my little post-partum belly is so cute (whereas with the girls I thought it was totally disgusting) I thought about taking a picture of it.
Okay, well my computer-time expired a while ago... I'm sure there will be more to write later.

Josiah Leeland

2007-09-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

Josiah Leeland Raider was born on September 19, 2007 at 2:27am

He weighed 7 lbs 2 ozs at birth and is 19 inches long

There's a ton to write but no time right now! You cam see photos here.

America at Home

2007-09-18T08:48:00.000-05:00

Bethany mentioned this on her blog - it's a nationwide photography project taking place September 17-23. What a cool idea!! Here's a quote from the site:

For seven days, everyone in America is invited to join 100 of the nation's
leading photojournalists to capture "the emotions of home." The goal of the
project is to capture the extraordinary diversity that makes up American family
life, representing a broad range of economic, geographic, racial, political, and
socially diverse lifestyles.

waiting

2007-09-18T08:39:00.000-05:00

So here I am, still waiting... my midwife called to say that it's not likely that I'll be able to come in today. Probably this evening or tomorrow. I'm on the induction list so it's going to happen, it's just a matter of when and what to do while we wait!

the beginning of the end

2007-09-17T11:30:00.000-05:00

This morning I had my appointment to see the midwife. I got to see my favorite midwife she is just so nice, anyway, she said I was dialated nearly to a 4!! (though my cervix is still a little bit posterior) I can feel it too, today, I'm pretty sore. She scheduled me to be induced tomorrow, while she is on call. I am totally thrilled. I was hoping that she would be the one to deliver and I've been wanting to be induced. I really didn't think that being induced before my due date would be an option, but when I mentioned it to her she was very willing. I can't imagine details working any better, I feel overwhelmed by God's goodness to me.
Emma is starting to freak out a bit which is surprising. She doesn't like the idea of being away from us for a whole day and has been crying on and off all morning. So please pray that she'll have an extra-measure of bravery tomorrow.

The Painted Veil

2007-09-16T19:17:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to mention this for a while now and keep forgetting. Daniel and I saw this movie called "The Painted Veil" with Edward Norton and Naomi Watts and it was wonderful. It's a movie about a young woman and her husband and their time in inland China. Their marriage is a wreck at the beginning but is healed at the end. It's such a sweet story but not syrupy-sweet. I highly recommend it.

bad days better

2007-09-16T18:13:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to a song from the new Shane & Shane album called "bad days better" it's just a sweet, sweet, song, you can listen to a sample of it here.
Yesterday was such a "bad days better" sort of day. The weather was amazingly cool for the middle of September in GA and Daniel made braces for our living room windows so that I can keep my windows open! Our old windows would always fall down again whenever I tried to open them. Usually I'd just leave the door open with the baby gate up but that makes Daisy anxious... so anyhow I'm just really grateful for such a handy-dandy husband.
I have been weirdly emotional and and my feelings have been totally irrational this week. I was a complete mess on Friday, but I went and visited my dear friend who just had her baby boy a week ago and it was just so encouraging to be around her, she was very sympathetic and supportive - it was a sweet moment of how "community" is supposed to work.
Today was another beautiful-weather day. We went to the park (we are blessed to live close to at least three really great parks!) and then made pretzels! It'll be more fun next time, when I am more confident that they'll turn out okay :-) they were totally yummy. I got the recipe here.

38 weeks

2007-09-15T12:24:00.000-05:00

It's exactly two weeks now until my due date!!

baby thoughts

2007-09-14T12:46:00.000-05:00

I'm totally a mess today and I've been thinking of this song...

Thought you’d be here
by Wes King

We thought you’d be here by now
Your mother and I
We’re praying through our tears that somehow
We might hear your sweet cry
Have we waited too long
It’s getting harder to be strong
Is there something we’ve done wrong

But if you like dancing
I’ll make it rain rhythm and rhyme and melodies, child
And if you like dreaming
Your mother will make your imagination run wild
Somehow, we thought you’d be here by now

We have a room just for you upstairs
It’s right down the hall
So we’ll be close should you ever get scared
We’ll come when you call
It’s a room full of stories
Waiting to be told
Longing to behold

And if you like laughing
I’ll plaint you a circus of smiles and ferris wheels, dear
And if you like living
Your mother will fly you to worlds both far and near
Somehow . . .
I never knew the silence could make me so deaf
I never knew I could miss someone I’ve never met
Miss someone I haven’t met yet

Katie-Abigail and the potty

2007-09-14T07:12:00.000-05:00

For a couple of months now I've noticed Katie-Abigail's growing interest in the potty, however I have stubbornly refused to even attempt to potty-train her. I'm just so not ready for the accidents and the messes and the FRUSTRATION of potty-training a two year-old. However this week Katie-Abigail has been asking to sit on the potty several times a day. So far she hasn't actually put anything in the potty but it's neat that she's taking so much initiative.
So today I took her picture while she was sitting on the potty and I asked her if she liked sitting on the potty and she said " 'es, pah-ee coo' " which I take to mean, "Yes, sitting on the potty is cool". Silly girl.

still here... again

2007-09-14T06:33:00.000-05:00

I really didn't think I'dbe here this morning to write this post but here I am, again. I was hoping labor would kick back up last evening or this morning but it hasn't so we're back to the waiting game. No contractions or anything. Oh well, it's only like two weeks until my due date. Although when each day feels like a week and each week feels like a month it's hard to wait. I am exhausted physically and emotionally. I can feel that my hormones are totally wacky, I actually cried when Katie-Abigail was fighting nap-time! But it's only for a little while longer, and when I get to hold my little guy it'll all be worth it.

still here

2007-09-13T17:40:00.000-05:00

Well, my contractions haven't stopped but they have slowed down, it seems, so I guess I'll just putter along for awhile longer. So I'm off to Life Group!

labor

2007-09-13T11:28:00.000-05:00

Marianne, you are so sweet. I finally feel I've been able to catch up on the sleep/housework I missed from my hospital adventure, but now I feel like I may have started labor. I'll have to wait and see if this progresses or if it's just a particularly bad day with braxton hics. I'll post again late tonight if I'm still here!

My trip to the hospital

2007-09-11T10:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I started feeling kinda' down - I was thinking about how little affect all my contractions seems to be having, how my last two births were pitocin induced or pitocin assisted and I was thinking "why am I waiting around for something that just isn't going to happen?" After the girls went to bed I was telling Daniel how I was feeling so Daniel prayed for me. Almost immediately I started seeing a spot in my vision - like when you've looked at a light or someones just taken your picture with a flash- only instead of fading away it got worse. Within twenty minutes my vision was seriously fuzzy in patches so I laid down and we watched an episode of "House" on the computer, I got a massive headache so Daniel brought me some ibuprofen (which, by the way, was the wrong choice of meds), my headache didn't go away so I got up and checked my pregnancy handbook listed spotted or blurry vision and headaches as symptoms to cause concern so I called the office and spoke with the on-call midwife. She said "You should have taken Tylenol, go take a couple Tylenol and if your headache doesn't go away completely in 45 minutes come into the hospital. So an hour later my headache hadn't calmed down at all so we called our neighbors and friends from Jubilee and packed the girls up so we could go to the Hospital. It was kind of weird because at that moment I was more worried about the stress on our girls then I was worried about my headache which was getting so bad I was feeling nauseated. But the girls handled it amazingly well and we got to the Hospital in no time. The nurse and midwife were both terribly sweet. They checked me out, drew some blood, gave me some meds for the headache and then sent me home at about 2am and then I went to my appointment at the OB office at 9am. The midwife there was really really sweet and concerned about my headache, it was very reassuring to know that I'd done the right thing to go into the hospital, I always second-guess myself about these things.
She did an exam and I'm almost dilated to a 3! How cool is that. My cervix is still high but not posterior (yay!) she also saw a little bloody show, I've been loosing my mucus plug for weeks now and this is the symptom I've been particularly watching for. So we'll see. I still might go 41 weeks, there's no way to be certain, I'm just really glad to be making progress.
I feel totally awful today, I think the meds they gave me are still wearing off because I am finding it difficult to concentrate and my body still feels pretty relaxed. I'm sorta' wishing there was an over-the-counter version I could take of that stuff I felt soooooooo relaxed.
Well, I need to put my girlies down for their nap so I can get some rest. I'll keep y'all posted.

A trip down memory lane

2007-09-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

Bethany posted some old baby photos on her blog, which put me in mind to do the same - although with a different theme... so here goes!

This is a photo of Beth. I was just 18 when she was born!

And here is Daniel with Beth. He was 22.

Beth was born at 39 weeks and 6 days (ha!) One day before her due date. I was dialated to a 3 for three weeks. Those were some looooooong weeks, let me tell you! I was already measuring 9cm when I was admitted to the hospital!! It was a pretty short labor, I started laboring early in the morning and Beth was born just after lunchtime.

Fall '02

Emma was born at 41 1/2 weeks. Oh, that was just miserable too! I felt like I really was going to be pregnant forever!! At 40 weeks we almost stopped being excited. I was induced (right in the middle of Daniel's college finals!) and it was the best labor ever. I was only in labor for about an hour. It was great.

Here's Emma in the Hospital

Emma

Katie-Abigail in the Hospital

Katie-Abigail was born at 38 1/2 weeks. I was so terrified of having a quick labor again that we jumped the gun and headed to the hospital at the very first sign of labor. I was maybe at 2 and the next morning I was just at maybe 4. They probably should have sent me home but instead they started a pit. drip, broke my water and Katie-Abigail was born before lunch!

Beth, Spring '02 Emma, Summer '03Katie-Abigail '05

37 Weeks

2007-09-10T11:50:00.000-05:00

I've hit that "any day now" stage... I still have about twenty days until my due date but I am just itching to get this baby out of me! I've been having contractions all day, every day, with harder contractions at night. Nothing as bad as some of my friends have had and nothing close to false labor, so I think I've come to terms with the fact that none of these contractions are indicators that I'm going to have this baby soon, I've just hit a new plateau of uncomfortableness (if that is really a word). Thankfully today I fell better than I have for probably a month! I've been getting my laundry done and cleaning the house. My sister said "maybe you'll get your house all in order and then go into labor!" That sure would be nice, so long as it's tomorrow morning and not tonight when I'm already exhausted :-) Although it's so much easier to be patient on a day like today when I feel good.
Katie-Abigail has finally caught onto the idea of a new baby coming, although I don't think she's connected my big ol' belly bump with a baby, but she knows that the car seat that Daniel recently installed in the van, and the bassinet that I set up in her room are for Josiah and she tries to say his name (it usually sounds something like "see-ya") I'm really glad for that. I've been trying to assume that Katie-Abigail will welcome her little brother, just like her big sisters welcomed each other into our family, but the sometimes there is that gnawing fear in the back of my mind that she won't, so any sign that she is comprehending what is going on is a good thing.
Yesterday we were talking to another couple and telling them that Beth was almost six and Beth said "No, first my brother has to be born and then I'll be almost six" and I overheard her tell her teacher at her Wednesday night Bible class "My mommy has a baby in her tummy and she has three more appointments and then my brother will be born" so I guess she's got this thing all figured out. Emma has asked a few times when "pinkie butt" will be born (that's her nickname for Josiah) I told her to wait four more Sundays - to this she replied "and then how many days after that?" so we've tried to help them understand that we don't know when or what day Josiah will be born. It's hard for them, though.
Someone called me today and said they'd heard a rumor that I'd gone into labor! I called Daniel and we had a good laugh about that.
A really cool and providential thing happened on Saturday, but in order to appreciate it I have to back up to Friday. On Friday I was putting away some newly-washed baby clothes and wondering if what I had would be enough. I was especially looking at my scanty supply of 3-6 months and trying to figure out how many packages of sleepers & onesies I'd need to buy especially trying to figure out when we'd have the money to spend on that. But then I thought "you know, it'll be several months before Josiah is in 3-6 months clothes, I'll just wait a little while and see what happens, who knows, maybe God will provide it for us." So I decided not to spend any of my birthday money or any more of my grocery money on clothes for Josiah and just wait and trust the Lord. The very next day one of my good friends (who just had her baby Saturday night!!) called to say that one of her neighbors had sent her a big box of baby boy clothes and that since she had more than enough clothes for her little guy she'd send it on to me. It was exactly what I needed! Most of it was 3-6 months, with lots of cute onesies and rompers. How cool is that?! God is so good.

Current craving: chocolate-covered cream-filled krispykream doughnuts!! It's a good thing they only come in boxes of six or I would be buying them much more often!

photo credit: roboppy on flickr

a good laugh

2007-09-07T21:38:00.001-05:00

This was SOOOO funny. My girls have done a few things like this - never all in one day though. I laughed SO hard!!

36 Weeks

2007-09-04T11:22:00.001-05:00

I had my thirty-six week appointment this morning and everything is looking fabulous! I was pretty confident that everything would be good but it's always reassuring to hear it from the midwife. She said she was pretty confident it would be at least another week before our little guy makes his appearance - which was exactly what I wanted to hear! I just hate the "any day now" feeling! Josiah's head was still down but still a bit high and my cervix was 1cm dialated, about halfway thinned out, but still really high. I won't get another exam until much later, it's just not that reliable of a predictor of when I'll actually go into labor and it's such a pain to get babysitters for every single appointment. So anyway, that's the news!

Beth

2007-09-03T19:02:00.001-05:00

This is the end of our second month of homeschooling, I just wanted to post this photo.

Countdown to D-day

2007-09-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

Well, it's September. The month of my due date. Throughout this pregnancy I've been telling people various things when they ask me when I'm due, mostly I say "the beginning of October" because September 29th is so close to October and I really thought he'd come later rather than earlier since he'd measured a couple of days smaller than my due date on his ultrasounds. But then sometimes I tell people "the end of September" and to a very few people I tell them "September 29th" but I don't like to repeat that date too often since it means so very little to everyone but the midwife.
It's hard to believe that the time for Josiah to be born is finally here. For God to give me this son is nothing short of a miracle, I have wanted him and prayed for him for a while now. I was at Target the other evening, by myself, in the baby isle. I was looking at baby blankets and touching them, feeling their softness. I almost cried. I want Josiah so much it scares me. I am so blessed to be giving birth to this child.
Honestly, I've been getting more and more uncomfortable and I've had more braxton hics this time around then ever before. Today I was having contractions all day long - just little, irregular ones, but still it's pretty exhausting. As much as I want to keep on telling myself that I still have four more weeks I still feel like he could come any day. I hate this feeling, I hate the impatience of it all. But it'll all be worth it in the end.
I am really looking forward to going through the whole "baby stage" again. I get more and more excited about it the more I think of it, in a quiet sort of way. I'm sure there will be moments and seasons when it'll be hard, but on the whole I can hardly wait to be the mother of an infant again.

Baby clothes

2007-08-30T18:38:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I got out all of my baby clothes, I sorted them out by size and seperated the neutral layette from the pink. They've been washed, dried and sitting in a basket getting wrinkled until today, when I sorted again, folded and put away all the cute little onesies, layette gowns, sleepers and adoreable outfits. I don't have a lot, I especially don't have a lot of BLUE but what I have I love! I enjoy baby clothes so much, they are so terribly small and so sweet and so clean. Not for long, I know, I know. But for now, it's really nice.

Scrapping Inspiration

2007-08-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

I don't usually do this but I was so completely amazed at this layout I wanted to post a link on my blog. CLICK HERE

More about Daisy

2007-08-27T12:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I asked Daniel why he wanted a dog, I mean, it makes sense for me to want a dog, being pregnant and wanting my sweet cuddly baby, but it doesn't make a lot of sense for Daniel to want a dog. So anyway, Daniel's reply was that he started wanting to get a dog soon when he saw how Katie-Abigail interacted with his sister's cat, how excited and loving she was. I think that's just so sweet.
Daisy has been great so far, so far Daniel seems to be her human-of-choice. When Daniel left for the store to get her food she whined at the door for him, and when he's home she follows him around. We put her bed in our room - the colors even coordinate! She had a really great first night. You could tell she was a little home sick but she was very quiet and well-behaved. She's barked at the girl's strollers :-) I guess they freak her out. She follows me around the house - whatever room I'm in, she's laying close by. It's so sweet.
She obeys the commands "come" and "sit" really well and I'm working with her on "lay down" especially during mealtimes - she's responding really really well. I got Daisy to roll on her back this morning so I could rub her belly! Yay - that always feels like a big step in dog ownership to me.

Beth says "Daisy is the best dog in the universe"
Emma has been following Daisy around the house laying down next to her whenever she can, she and Beth made up a "bed" in the Living Room so that they could pretend they were taking a nap with Daisy.
Katie-Abigail mostly calls Daisy either "dodgy" or "ar" her two words for doggy and "arf" (the sound a dog makes - she also calls cats "meow"). She has been trying to "read" her books to Daisy. Katie-Abigail really really likes having a dog in the house and is getting more and more used to how big she is - this morning she was a little timid but by lunchtime she was much more easy. It's absolutely adorable.

Daisy

2007-08-26T18:38:00.001-05:00

We did it! We got a dog. Her name is Daisy. She is an almost-six year old golden lab. She has made an amazing transition so far and we could not ask for a better pet. The girls adore her. She reminds me a tiny bit of Barkley in "You've Got Mail" and I keep thinking about that scene with Tom Hanks at his laptop saying "Who's that happy dog." Silly, I know. I'll write more about it tomorrow and hopefully have better photos soon, but I wanted to post this today... so here she is!

Daisy

Have we lost our minds?

2007-08-25T10:53:00.000-05:00

The photo is of Beth with "Peanut" one of Lucy's puppies from the fall of '06

For the last week I have been longing for a puppy. I mean it. Absolutely longing. I have only mentioned it in passing to Daniel maybe once. Yesterday I had to MAKE myself keep driving past this animal adoption place I saw as I was driving to the pediatrician's office. I have been talking myself out of it over and over and over.
So here is the weird part. Last night as I was climbing into bed I asked Daniel what he'd been doing while I was soaking in the bath and he said he was looking for a dog on craigslist!!! Have we lost our minds?!!! So now I'm trying to talk myself and Daniel out of this all the while we are trying to keep this from leaking out to the girls because they have been asking when we'll get another dog ever since we moved. We are definitely insane.

what is a verb?

2007-08-22T11:10:00.000-05:00

Beth and I sat down to do a grammar lesson. We reviewed the different types of nouns she's learned so far and I was going to introduce the definition of a verb but the definition in my grammar book is atrocious! So I looked it up online and discovered tha a verb is a word that…
denotes
expresses
describes
or indicates

an action
occurrence
event
state of being
emotion
or existence

it also links two words together, or helps another verb.

So what is the definition of a verb?
I asked Daniel when we were talking on the phone earlier and he said"a verb is an action word". Not quite what I was looking for...
So Beth went off to play and I am hoping that I can come up with (or someone sends me) a memorizable definition of a verb before her next grammar lesson! :-)

Baby Shower

2007-08-21T07:44:00.000-05:00

I had a baby shower on Sunday! It was SO awesome. It was a "gift card" shower was for myself and Neisha, who is due to have a C-section at the end of the month. It's her third child but first boy for both of us.
Every woman should have a baby shower for every baby :-) It was really thereputic. So many people told me how cute my little preggy-belly "bump" is and over and over again when people asked me how I was feeling I'd say "pretty good for being this pregnant". I mean, when you ask a pregnant woman how she's feeling the answer is pretty relative. I'm not going to tell you about all of the weirdness and uncomfortableness of the last month and how each month just gets to be more and more agonizing. I am having a healthy pregnancy without complications and I'm greatful. So I say something along the lines of "I'm doing really well" or "I'm feeling pretty good." after all I'm not feeling as horrible as I will be in another month! :-) And it's really thereputic to say over and over again "I'm doing fine." eventually you start to believe it youself. ha!

Anyway. We were greatly blessed by the gift cards, I have more than enough to get what I need to get ready for Josiah's arrival!

This is the one photo I have related to the shower - should have brought my camera :-( It's the diaper cake that they gave me. Isn't it beautiful?! I just love the toille!

Photos

2007-08-17T09:09:00.000-05:00

Baby movie

2007-08-16T20:16:00.000-05:00

This is the first time I've tried this. Hope it works! It's a video of the baby moving my belly around. The movement is rather subtle, I guess. But I thought it was really cool and wanted to share it!

More pregnancy thoughts...

2007-08-16T09:50:00.000-05:00

Next Tuesday is my last appointment with the midwife before I start going every week and the countdown to D-Day begins.

With this new season of pregnancy there are a so many of conflicting thought and emotions going on. On the tough days I wonder how I'll survive!! Life feels too unsettled and unready for a baby. But on the other hand I love, love, love, love, LOVE babies. I love the whole baby stage-thing. I love the built-in reason to say "I can't make it" or "I'm sorry but I won't be able to help out with that right now" and no one really seems to thinks the worse for it. And I love sitting at home with my sweet little baby, nursing and reading and cuddling. I probably won't venture out of the house without Daniel for the next six months, except for doctor appointments. I'll go a little stir-crazy, I'm sure, but it'll be over all too quickly.
I feel like I've bonded more with this baby than with any other, I've talked to him more, I feel him all of the time and can often descern body parts, which is an amazing experience. So all of this to say, I am getting really excited about the arrival of our son...

Digital Scrapbooking

2007-08-16T07:52:00.000-05:00

This is for you, Marianne, and anyone else interested in digital scrapbooking! Digital Scrapbooking is an awesome alternative to paper scrapbooking. It is more versatile, costs less and makes ZERO mess!! It haven't quite figured out how best to publish my scrapbook pages. I am pretty sure you could upload them into a program like Shutterfly and order a book, or you could burn them to a DVD as a slideshow. Let me just warn you now - digital-scrapping can consume an enormous amount of time. One nap time will be gone in a flash. Anyway...

All you need to get started are your digital photos, a photo-editing program (I use Picture-It) a digital scrapbooking kit, which you can download for free at any of the sites below, some inspiration and a little creativity and you're ready to scrap! If you're crunched for time you can even download pre-made pages - just crop and drop your photos into the blank spaces, add a little journaling and your done! (I found some great layouts at scrapbook-bytes). If you're just starting out I recommend you start out by doing a few "scrap-lifts" which is where you duplicate the layout of someone's page but with your own choices of papers and your own photos. I also recommend that you take the time to download some extra fonts. You can find lots of free fonts on the Internet and they add so much more personality to your page than using something generic like ComicSans!

So if you're interested in diving into the digi-scrap world let me give you a few of my favorite websites:

The Shabby Princess - this website has great FREE downloads, as well as kits for purchase, tutorials and lots of inspiration! I use the kits I've downloaded from this site really often. It's super high-quality stuff.

Two Peas - this website has a huge store, some great free downloads of both digi-scrap kits and fonts, and a pretty large gallery. I've been using a lot of stuff from this site recently.

Scrapbook-Bytes - this is the best community spot for digi-scrappers I'm aware of. There are lots of scrap challenges and the gallery is absolutely massive. This is a great place to post your layouts for comments, though you're likely to get 100% positive feedback and not a lot of helpful criticism. There are free downloads here as well but the quality is generally poorer. You'll find tons of links to other designers as well.

I added some more pages to my Scrapbook set on Flickr. I added a few pages from when I was just starting into digital scrapbooking - it's pretty lame - but that's how we learn!

Fracture

2007-08-15T11:18:00.000-05:00

Daniel and I watched this last night. It was really good. Anthony Hopkins was perfect and Rosamund Pike was lovely, as always. There was excellent character development and a superb plot. Watch the trailer here.

More photos of Katie-Abigial

2007-08-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Katie-Abigail's Birthday

2007-08-15T06:49:00.000-05:00

All elements were downloaded from 2peas

fonts used: 2peas GG Mix & BethsCuteHmk

My baby is two!!

2007-08-10T07:58:00.000-05:00

I call her "Mini-me". Daniel calls her "Tiny Tyrant" She is Katie-Abigail Elise and on Wedesday she turned two years old. She acts like a two year old too, except that she generally take two naps still - amazingly enough. She has a deffinite opinion about nearly everything and has started those screaming fits that are so common in two year olds when they have something to communicate and it isn't getting through. Her speaking skills are amazing - she's already using three and four word sentences like "I want more please" and her vocabulary is quite large and clear for a child her age. She likes to immitate her sisters and try to say her ABCs and count. It's also really cute how she uses please and thank you so regularly. She is a true joy to our family. She is empathetic and the first one to give hugs to a crying sister, sometimes she'll even try to interrupt us when we're discipling her sisters with a smile or a hug. She makes us laugh and warms our hearts. She's strong and indepent like Beth and sensitive like Emma, she is extreemely quiet around people she doesn't see regularly but she is loud and active at home and around people she's familiar with.

Her birthday was a fun day. We braved the near-unbearable heat for a bit to play with the ball outside, Katie-Abigail just loves to be outside. I made a cake which looked pretty bad but turned out to taste quite yummy! Daniel bought her a baloon, which was her favorite present, and a board book of animals and a ball.

She's not a baby anymore, not much at all. It's comforting that we've got another on the way so I don't have to feel sad about it one little bit!! :-)

Baby

2007-08-09T09:25:00.000-05:00

I ought to have been spending the morning cleaning but I sat down to create a baby registery "real quick"!!! yeah right!! The Baby Registry at Amazon.com is really difficult to use - I don't recommend it. Target's is TOTALLY fun!

Anyway I thought I'd put the links here:

Amazon.com

Target.com

And this is my nursery theme: