Merry Christmas!

Family Christmas pictures are highly overrated. I give up.

I'm tempted to add "Happy Easter" to the title of this post so I don't have to feel guilty for not posting anything on here for awhile. Just kidding. I wish I could just speak out my post and have them magically appear on here. I find it very hard to feed or burp a baby while typing. :)
I think the best thing about Christmas is that it last so long. Sometimes it feels way to busy, but I do love all the get togethers and the food of course. :) It has been especially fun this year to show off Callie.

Speaking of Callie, she is a very good baby. She's almost 3 weeks old and still just wants to sleep most of the time. Its VERY hard to wake her up. She does have some fussy times mostly because she has a hard time burping. Any suggestions? Once she settles at night she is sleeping great. She usually goes between 6 or 7 hours between feedings at night. The problem has been getting her to settle after the last feeding of the day. Once again, it seems like she has a burp or gas or something and it takes awhile to get that taken care of. She is a sweet baby and even smiles for us once in a while. My Dad seems to have the magic whatever it takes to make her smile. She smiles more for him than anyone else. He's very proud of this. :)

We are enjoying having my parents here. They are at the beginning of a 6 month break from their work in Thunder Bay. They will be around our area until the end of January. They have been a big help to us while adjusting to a new a baby. I think I'm going to be very spoiled at the end of this time.

Isaiah is four and very proud of it. He continues to entertain us with clever thoughts and comments. He is a great big brother to Callie and loves to "check" on her. He isn't always such a great big brother to Nate, but when they want to they can have a lot of fun together. Their kind of fun usually includes running around the house chasing each other or throwing things and laughing as loud as they can.

Nathan is, well, Nathan is Nathan. He is such a little charmer. I feel like I don't often comment on stuff he says like I do with Isaiah's comments. He's a funny little kid, but it is more how he says and does stuff than what he says or does. He gets a lot of attention everywhere he goes. I think it's his pudgy checks that people like. He also is a good big brother to Callie, but doesn't pay as much attention to her as Isaiah does.

Both boys spend a lot of their time playing with Duplos and cars. Any car from the CARS movie is a big hit, especially with Isaiah. The boys bought Callie the car, Sally, for Christmas. I found the car balancing on her face the other day. I'm thinking Nathan was somewhere close by.

Not much has changed lately for Jeremy and I. Well, I lost a few pounds, but that was expected. :) Jeremy has been without much work for awhile now. It has been nice to have him around more, but no work is a stressful too. God has been so faithful and has provided for us in amazing ways. Jeremy is finishing up the bedroom he built upstairs for the boys. Once it is finished Isaiah and Nathan will move up there. I have mixed feelings about having them sleep "so far" away from us. I'm just an emotional, sentimental mother, but what's new? I love being a stay-at-home mom, but often feel like I don't handle the challenges that come with it. I'm thankful for grace and children and a husband that are quick to forgive.

And that pretty much wraps up what's been going on around here. I can't believe we are at the end of another year! Who knows, maybe I'll do a better job of updating this thing in 2010. :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

More Pictures

Daddy's little girl. It's very sweet to watch these two.

8 days old

"Thunder Bay" Grandma meets Callie and Mater all in the same day.

Isaiah is very proud of his baby sister.

Welcome home Callie. Meet Wingo, Boost, Snot Rod and DJ.

Callie Noel

One of these days I'll get on and actually give you a full update on our lives as a family of 5, but until then here is a picture of Callie. So far she is an excellent baby. She loves to sleep. :)

Introducing...

I think most of you have heard, but for those how haven't, Callie Noel joined our family on Tuesday, Dec. 8th. Right on her due date. She weighed 8lbs 2 oz. She is a sweetheart and we are really enjoying her. Jeremy and Isaiah fight to hold her. She has Jeremy's number for sure. :)I'll try to get some pictures up soon. My apologizes for taking so long to post this.

Christmas Play

Here are a couple pictures of the shepherds from our Christmas play this morning. The second one cracks me up. :) They all did a great job.

I know it's time to post something, but I'm having trouble coming up with anything creative. No baby yet. My due date isn't until Tuesday. I keep trying to tell myself that I could go way past that date, but my heart is very ready to birth and hold this baby. A friend is going to post on facebook when the baby is born. If you haven't joined fb yet you'd better do so if you want to hear the news. Just kidding. I'll get it up on here soon afterwards too.

Jeremy took the boys to church tonight to practice for the Christmas program. All three of them are shepherds. If you go to our church on Sunday look for the little guys wearing old bed sheets and curtains and you'll find Isaiah and Nate. (Jeremy's outfit is provided) I had to make their outfits and wasn't feeling very creative. I'll be surprised if Nate doesn't fall flat on his face at least once. His got a little too long.

I'm slowing getting our Christmas decorations up. I love this time of year! Our tree is up and the lights are all working -thanks to Jeremy. I still haven't put any of the "toy's" on it yet. I keep thinking one of these days I'll have Isaiah help me, but I just haven't found the right time and the energy all at the same time. I'm enjoying the clear lights just fine for now.

I'm listening to lots of Christmas music too.

Well, since I do have a quiet house to enjoy I should get off of here. Hopefully I'll be posting something again soon.

Isaiah Turns 4

Isaiah turned four on the 12th, but because Jeremy was out of town we didn't have the party until tonight. I just looked through the pictures and realized that I didn't really take that many. Usually I have way too many so I I shouldn't complain.

He was very excited about turning four, however he was disappointed that he doesn't seem to be any bigger. He was VERY excited about the party tonight. He actually took a nap, but when he woke up at 4:00 he was ready for the party to start. I told him to eat a sandwich and then it would soon be time for the party. When the sandwich was done he was frustrated that it still wasn't time for his party and told me I should have given him a bigger sandwich. I should have given him a big plate of vegetables!

Today is also Jeremy's birthday. He was very kind to share his day with Isaiah. Jeremy's dad shares a birthday with Isaiah so we kind of had a three way party. We discovered that Eldon was 27 when Jeremy was born and Jeremy was 27 when Isaiah was born. Isn't your life richer now that you know that?

When I finished decorating Isaiah's cake I let him "decorate" a cake for Daddy and Pappy. He loved it. I'll let you decide who decorated what. One comment about Isaiah's cake -"no taste red" is not no taste red when you use half the bottle of food coloring. I forget that colors get darker as they sit. Oh well, at least McQueen wasn't pink as I feared he would be.

Waiting for everyone to come to the party.

Isaiah decorating a cake for Pappy and Daddy

Christmas Shopping

I still have Christmas shopping to do, but I think I'm farther along than I am most years at this time. That is a good thing considering my due date is 4 weeks from yesterday.

If you still have shopping to do check out my Avon site. (For the record Avon isn't just for your Grandma any more. :)) Right now you can receive free shipping on any order shipped directly to you if you use the coupon code FSWER. How's that for easy shopping!

Or if you would rather earn money then spend it think about having an online party. Then you could do some serious shopping!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Nova Scotia

Where do I start. I had a wonderful trip to visit Robyn. I had a hard time believing I was actually going until I was sitting on the plane and now that I'm home it almost feels like it was a dream -a very good dream. Here are some highlights:

-Talking. We talked and talked and I think there are still a few things we didn't cover. When you've known each other for as long as we have (probably since we were 2??) there is a lot to talk about.

-I really enjoyed getting to know Robyn's four daughters. Robyn is a great mother. I watched with interest and awe as she mothered four children. I didn't seen any balls or cars in the house. I did seem some very cool paper dolls and and doll babies. :) I enjoyed hearing girl talk.

-Drinking coffee. I should have kept track of how much we drank (or maybe not :)) Robyn even made us pumpkin lattes. Wow! I also got to enjoy a cup from Tim Horton's. I'm always amazed when I'm in Thunder Bay, and on this trip as well, at how many people you see carrying a cup from Tim's. It's amazing! I don't see many people carrying cups of any kind around here, let alone from one coffee shop, well maybe Starbucks, but nothing like Tim Horton's.

-Along with the coffee cups I saw a lot of different sights. The beauty of the area is in having "bush" and ocean right next to each other. I felt like I was in Ontario, and yet I wasn't. I loved seeing all the little fishing boats and houses and of course the ocean.

-We visited Peggy's Cove, population 45, on Sunday afternoon. I really think that was my favorite place to see. The waves were amazing. The lighthouse was beautiful. Then you turn around and look at the tiny village and see little brightly colored buildings, lobster traps, even a little church with a steeple. It felt like something out of a movie or a good book.

-We visited Lunenburg on Monday. Another very neat little town. I loved all the red and green buildings and ships and fishing boats.

-Robyn and I went to a farmer's market on Saturday morning. The place was packed, but it was very interesting. So many different types of vendors and cultures. We each had crepes. Mine was honey, almond and lemon. Very good!

Honestly, the only thing I didn't like about the trip was missing Jeremy, Isaiah and Nathan. I talked to Jeremy everyday on the phone, but the boys weren't too interested in talking for the most part. Just hearing their voices in the background made me want to cry. I'm such a wimp. They all did great without me, but I'm thankful to say they were happy to see me come home too. There is nothing like being away from Jeremy for a few days to remind me again that he is my best friend and I miss him when we're not together. I'm sure Robyn got sick of hearing "I wish I could show this to Jeremy". It's amazing how another person can influence you. I can assure you that 7 years ago the tower built to honor the man that invented the time zones would not have interested me at all! (I did see it by the way, I just can't remember the name. And it is such a good/odd name too. Robyn, you'll have to help me)

Now that you're bored with details, here are a few pictures.

Four of my hosts. :)

The following pictures are from Peggy's Cove.

(This picture will hopefully satisfy requests for belly pictures. :) 34th week)

Placentas, Perogies and Purell

I don't like germs, but I'm not a freak about them either. I believe our bodies were created to fight sickness, if we take care of our bodies. Of course we all get sick sometimes though so I have been making sure we all wash are hands more often and do it well due to the sicknesses that are going around right now. Today I was reminded again of just how important it is to wash hands.

Jeremy was home today so I did a Wal-Mart run while the boys were taking their naps. I waited in line as at the checkout. Right before the cashier started ringing up my purchases she sneezed right into her hands. She then pulled out a paper towel, blew her nose and then started running my stuff through the scanner. I just watched her and tried to figure out if there was anyway I could get all these groceries home without the added germs. As I was pushing my cart away from the checkout I noticed the lady that had been waiting behind me (and had seen the whole thing) hand the cashier a bottle of hand sanitizer and asked her if she'd mind using it. I don't think I would have the guts to do that, but rest assured that if you were the third person in our line your groceries should be somewhat safe. I don't mean to be unkind by sharing this story. I felt bad that the lady had to work when she was sick, but it reminded me again, that my health, or lack there of touches more than just me.

On a totally different note. Rachel posted on facebook tonight that she could eat a perogie. Oh man, did that make me hungry for perogies. The amazing thing is that I have some in my freezer. My friend Tina used to make them for me fried with onions and bacon and of course served with a ton of sour cream. So good. I was fighting the urge to make some after reading her post, even though it was 9:00 and this baby does not need any more carbs. Then I was looking at some pictures on fb that a friend posted of her newborn baby. What a cute baby girl! She also posted a picture of her placenta. Now, the picture was pretty amazing, especially since I'm 34 weeks pregnant, but it was kind of gross too as such pictures can be when you're pregnant (or not). I am no longer hungry for perogies! It did peak my interest in placentas though so I did a search and read this. Don't tell me there's not a God!

Marriage

We recently had to purchase a new printer/scanner. Why is it that it's cheaper to buy a whole new printer than replace the ink? There was more to it than just the price of ink, but still, some things just are not right in this world. I've hardly looked at the thing, but Jeremy was having fun with the scanner and the paint program on the computer. this is the picture he was using. It was taken at Hans and Angela's wedding three (!) years ago last month. I was tempted to use it as my facebook profile photo, but decided fb is just too public. Not that this blog is very private. I know all 4 of you that read it. Hopefully I haven't embarrassed anyone. I like the picture and the fact that I'm very happily married to such a handsome man. :) I usually only post pictures of the boys, but since the first word in the title of my blog is Marriage I thought I's celebrate it. :)

In other news. Jeremy is currently working on a bedroom upstairs for the boys. It's pretty messy right now, but we're excited about it. Isaiah loves to "help" Jeremy. He spends most of his time talking about how he can hammer harder than his brother and how he is such a good worker. Nathan would love to help, but he'd probably hide all the tools and drywall.

I can hardly believe that next Thursday I fly to Nova Scotia. It still feels like a dream. I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to Jeremy, Isaiah and Nathan, but I will, and they will be fine. By the time I get home there will be only about 6 weeks until my due date. Time to get ready!

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

I just found this recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup. I've been wondering if there was a way to make this stuff. I hate using the bought kind, but the easies, quickest recipes always call for cream of something. Have you tried anything like this? Maybe you all do this already and I am the last one to try it. I'm very excited!

Sad Day

This picture has nothing to do with our sad day. My mom sent these boots for the boys. They love them. However, they do take them off a lot. It's not uncommon to see them walking around the yard in their bare or stocking feet. Especially Nathan.

This afternoon Isaiah called me outside to see a little caterpillar he had found. For the next 1/2 hour he carried it around. At one point he told me he was "picking off that yellow stuff". I told him that wasn't a great idea. Nate was pretty excited about the caterpillar too, but Isaiah didn't let him get to close -most of the time. They eventually brought the poor thing into the porch. Somehow it ended up on the floor and the next thing I knew Isaiah was crying and very upset with Nathan. When I went to investigate Isaiah cried "Nathan stepped on the caterpillar". Sure enough, I could see two yellow smears on the brick and then the remaining chunk in a little pile. Nathan was sitting a few feet away looking as if nothing had ever happened. When I looked at his sock (he had taken his boots off) I could see lovely yellow caterpillar guts. Great. I almost cried right along with Isaiah because he was so upset. I also tried hard to hide a smile. Life is not fair.

End of the Day

It's been a good day. This morning I sorted through the boys winter/summer clothes. I hope it doesn't get real warm again because I've put most of the shorts and t-shirts away. They have plenty of clothes. I've decided that Nate could use a good pair of jeans. However, I hesitate to even buy a good pair because jeans always seem to wear out in the knees, even if they only wear them to church and the like. Isaiah needs a pair of shoes for church. He'd wear his rubber boots if I'd let him. My pride gets in the way sometimes. Other times I swallow hard and look the other way.

This evening I gave Jeremy, Isaiah and Nathan all haircuts. I almost wrote "tonight I gave all three boys a haircut", but I didn't because Jeremy is not a boy. I get tired of hearing grown men referred to as such, even if it is in a joking sort of way. It just seems disrespectful. do you agree? Am I totally off my rocker? Respect is not a bad thing. Back to the haircuts. I don't think I charge enough. What a job. We bought the clippers soon after we were married and I think they are about worn out. If you know what Jeremy's hair is like you'll understand why. Nate's hair is going to be just like it I think.

On to better and brighter things. I'm going to Halifax, NS the end of next month! Someone (who wishes to remain anonymous) is making it possible for me to make a trip to see my dear friend Robyn. I can hardly wait. I know it will be very hard to leave Jeremy and the boys, but they will survive. (note: I'm more sure of this than Jeremy -you can pray for them. :)) I've never been the to east coast of Canada. I'm looking forward to seeing some new things and of course just hanging out and talking and talking with Robyn. Maybe I'll even update my blog once or so just to let you know what we are up to. If I have time that is.

Lastly, here's a conversation I had with Isaiah yesterday. He had just told me he wished he could have a toy moose. I have NO IDEA where that came from.
Me: Did you know that Thunder Bay Grandpa hunts moose with his gun?
Isaiah: Why does he do that?
Me: So he can eat the meat.
I: That's disgusting!

I decided not to tell him about cows or chickens.

Brothers

Last Saturday our church hosted a bluegrass festival at the community center. The boys loved the moonbounce, mini golf and other games planned for the children. They each came home with a little plastic flash light. What is it with boys and flashlights? They love them! Isaiah and Nathan are definitely entering a new phase in their relationship. We're starting to see the brother bonding thing happen. Here are some examples.

• Nathan still doesn't understand the "rules" to racing cars the way Isaiah would like him too, but they do play with cars together. One throws a car and the then they both laugh like it's the funniest thing they've ever seen. We love hearing them laugh, but our red living room wall now has a nice, white nick out of it. :( No more throwing cars.
• During prayer time before meals we close our eyes and usually hold hands. Lately it's been a battle to get them to close their eyes and be quiet. One boy looks at the other and starts giggling or making odd noises and it's all over.
• They dump sand in each others hair. Let me tell you that sand is VERY hard to get out of hair!
• Isaiah chases Nathan around the house while Nathan runs for his life laughing and screaming until he falls face first into the carpet and hurts his nose. He cries. Then they do it all over again.
• They get sent to the backyard to play until Daddy gets home because Mommy is tired of the running, throwing, laughing and crying.
• They strip naked and jump like crazy men in Nate's crib until someone (usually Nate) is crying because he bumps his head or because Mommy or Daddy finally decide to put a stop to it. The question that always remains, how exactly did that blanket get wet??

So, if I am carrying a girl, will she want to throw cars and balls and take flashlights to bed? And the biggest question of all, what do we name her? I'm thinking something that means, peaceful, quiet, gentle, etc. Any suggestions?

Recipe

Here is the link for the Roasted Tomato Soup I mentioned in my last post. Let me know if you have trouble getting it. It was in one of the last issues of Taste of Home so I can't take credit for any of it. :) I added homemade croutons and cheddar cheese to it.

Friday Night

I'm feeling the need to update, but not sure what to say. I'm starting to think seriously about Christmas shopping. Could this possible be the year that I actually get it done early? If a new baby doesn't get me moving what will?!

Before Christmas, however, is fall. My favorite season of all. Sweatshirts and jeans, apple pies and pumpkin rolls, leaves and mums, it doesn't get much better. Bring it on!

Last night I made a roasted tomato and fresh basil soup for supper. It was great and was even healthy. It even smelled healthy.

Isaiah has started speech therapy. Many of you know this has been a concern of ours for awhile. Especially since he was tongue tied until he was 21 months old. It's encouraging to see him making progress. He enjoys his teacher and all her toys too so it's something he looks forward too. If you ever have a baby that is tongue tied fight to have them clipped it at birth. It's worth it.

Nathan is doing great. Thank you for all your prayers. I took him back to our family doctor on Wednesday. It felt great to leave with a healthy child this time. The ENT doctor still wants to see him. I'd like to skip that appointment, we've had a lot lately, but I guess we'll go to one more.

I've forgotten, again, what week of pregnancy I'm in. I used to think that people that forgot such important things were crazy. Hmmm... I just know I have three more months to go. I think. Jeremy, bless his heart, looked at me one day and said "I guess they aren't like a month off or something". :( I'm very grateful for a healthy pregnancy and baby so far. If weight gain comes with that I guess I'll be thankful for that too.

I've taken on a new adventure and decided to sell Avon. Mostly because I don't know anyone that sells it and I really like some of their products. They have the best eye makeup remover I've ever used, and I've tried a lot.

Jeremy and I are getting ready to watch a movie. Nothing like a date night at home on a Friday night. :) Right now Jeremy is telling the boys a story about Brother Hans and Brother Jonathan racing around their house and their Dad scaring them. Isaiah is eating it up.

Thankful

Someone get me out!

I'm so glad today is a holiday. We're going to be lazy and not feel bad about it! I can't tell you how glad we are to be home and that the doctors didn't make us stay until today. I realize I've posted a lot about this last week and you may be tired of reading about it. You may stop now. :) I view my blog as kind of a journal.


Thank you for all your kind comments on the previous post. My mom mentioned something about the doctor's having wisdom. There were several times during the last week when I felt God's presence so strongly. There were times when verses, or even just parts of a verse would come to my mind. God really doesn't leave us alone in difficult times. There were also a couple time when Nate would wake up at night crying. I'd try to get him comfortable and ask him if he wanted me to sing him a song. His response was usually yes. I'd rub his face and sing, usually Jesus Love Me because that is one of his favorites. I was always amazed to watch him relax and fall back to sleep. Even a mother's touch can't do that.


Isaiah did amazingly well through this whole time. He is a child that does well with a routine and set schedule and when that is missing tends to fall apart quickly. We are so grateful to my aunt and Jeremy's parents who were able to take care of him. He went to work with Jeremy and Hans on Thursday and I think that was a highlight of his week. He was excited to see Nathan. When I brought Isaiah home on Saturday night Nathan just looked at him and giggled and smiled. They were very glad to be back together again.

Nathan's Week

Do you ever wonder what is going to happen in any given day or the near future that you don't know about yet? Not really a fearful thought, just a thought. What is in store for this week. I don't know where to start this post so I'll just give you a run down of our week.


Monday: Nathan woke up from his afternoon nap crying. This happens sometimes, but this time he didn't snap out of it. We noticed he was holding his neck funny and didn't want us to move it. He was also running a low temperature. The stiff neck scared us so we called our doctor's office. They advised us to watch him closely and make sure the temperature didn't get too high.


Tuesday: Nathan woke up still fussy and not turning his head. He also wasn't eating anything and drinking very little. I made an appointment at the doctor's. I thought we'd go in, he'd tell us what the problem was maybe give Nate a prescription and we'd go home. He checked for strep throat, but that was negative. He finally told me he was concerned because he couldn't figure out the problem. This of course made me even more concerned. He sent us to the lab right away for blood work. Nathan did not enjoy having his blood taken, I cried right along with him. Then we went home to wait. The results from the blood worked showed his white blood cell count was 16,000. That's high, but the doctor didn't feel we had to do anything right then. He told us as long as the Tylenol or ibuprofen kept the temperature down and if he was drinking at least something we didn't have to head into the ER that night, but he wanted to see him again in the morning. If I didn't sleep well Monday night Tuesday night was even worse. Nathan would wake up crying and I could tell he just wasn't comfortable. His temperature stayed down if we kept him on medicine.



Wednesday: Not much different. About 1 to 2 hours after he'd have ibuprofen he'd crawl off the couch and try to play a little. He still wasn't moving his neck. He also wouldn't eat hardly anything and was drinking very little. He'd be up for about an hour then he's start to complain again and say "Seep, seep" (sleep). Back to the doctor we went. I should say by this time, I was exhausted and even more emotional than usual. This time we were sent for a neck x-ray. About 5 minute's before they called us back I remembered that they wouldn't let me anywhere near an x-ray machine because I'm pregnant. It was too late to try to call Jeremy so I just decided to go ahead. I don't know about you, but I like to be with my kids when they are going through things that our unfamiliar. It was not easy to leave Nate with the x-ray technicians and walk out of the room listening to his crying. More tears. I'm pregnant, they were very kind and understanding. Back to the doc to find out the results. There was some swelling in the neck. Probably infection. He was sending us straight to the ER for a CT scan. I left the office in tears. Jeremy would meet us at the ER.



I'm sure I looked a site walking into the ER with my big belly and trying to carry a 30 lb sick boy wrapped in a blanket. Fighting the tears. Why do I have to keep crying? Jeremy walked in while we were registering. Many, many more tears. When Jeremy's around I don't have to be a strong. Seeing him walk in was such a relief. I'm crying while I right this. I'm pregnant, please be understanding. :)

We signed in at 2:00. I've never experienced an ER before. The nurses and everyone were great, but let me tell you it's not fun sitting for hours on end waiting and waiting. they were really busy. I think it was about 2 hours before we saw the doctor. I'll try to keep this short (I know, I've already failed). Nathan just sat on our laps or asked to "seep" and laid on the bed and slept. Putting in the IV was not fun. They finally sent us for a CT scat. So Glad Jeremy was able to be with Nate the whole time. I was able to watch from another room. Back to the ER for more waiting. Some thing's wrong with the IV. It all has to be redone in the other arm. Finally hear the results. There is some sort of abscess in the neck. Sometimes these things can be taken care of with antibiotics, sometimes surgery. It looks like we could be heading to Hershey or Geisinger for surgery. Can this really be happening? The ENT doctor is recommending we transfer. However, Hershey is saying it might not be necessary. (I hope I'm getting this all right. I've listened to so much lately, it gets a little blurry). Now we're seeing a hospital doctor instead of the ER doctor. They are going to admit us instead of transferring for now. More waiting. It was 9:30 before we finally got to a room. About 1:00 AM before the nurse told us they wouldn't be bugging us for at least 2 hours. Thanks.

Thursday: Nathan is still pretty out of it and not moving his neck and doesn't want to eat anything or drink. No longer has a temperature. Thank you Lord! The ENT Doctor sees us at 5:00. He wants to see his white blood cell count go down by the next morning and see him drinking something. If this doesn't happen we'll be transferring to another hospital. Praying, praying. Nathan did have an awake time of being happy and moving around some without the aid of Tylenol in the evening. Drank a little. Definitely seeing some improvement. Praying, praying.

Friday: Blood cell count is down to 11,000. Nate is definitely improving. Still not moving his head, but looking and acting much better. Looks like we'll be staying.

Saturday: This is getting way too long. I'll end it by saying, we're home! Nathan is feeling much better. I don't know how we would have entertained him much longer in the hospital. He was about to start climping the walls. The ENT doctor would have had us stay at least until tomorrow or Monday so he could stay on the stronger antibiotics, but isn't against us coming home if we keep a close eye on him. Another doc is saying he's fine. Our decision was to bring him home. He will be on antibiotics for 10 days.

I'll be amazed if anyone is still reading this. :) We are so grateful for all your prayers this week. We believe God is healing Nathan. He was such a trooper. He got so sick of being poked and listened too. He (and I!) especially did not enjoy the 5:30 or 6:00 AM blood work.

Isaiah is doing great. He has spent time with my aunt and uncle and grandma and is now with Jeremy's parents. We'll pick him up tonight. I miss him a lot, but he seems to be having fun. Nathan often would ask for "zaha?". they talked on the phone a little this morning. Nathan just kept smiling and saying "Hi, Zaha, hi zaha". I love my boys. Now I'm ready for all four of us to be home!




Very common sight for the first day or so. I think the Lord prompted me to grab this blanket before heading out the door on Wednesday. My mom made it for him and it was something familiar for him.
Starting to improve. Trying to eat a cut up hamburger. (Lovely hospital food). He wouldn't touch ice cream or Popsicles -very odd. He wanted a lot of bread at first. And asked for candy ALL THE TIME.

Up and smiling and playing games with "Puppy".
Enjoying a wagon ride from Pappy. You can see how he's holding his head. This is getting better.

Waiting for one more dose of meds so we can go home. Watching TV. He was pretty spoiled. When we finally got him outside. he just kept grinning and saying "outside!" "outside!". :)

Little Isaiah

Jeremy's Mom gave us this picture. I was amazed at how much Isaiah's smile resembles Jeremy's. Jeremy was 4 1/2 on this picture. What a cute little kid!

Nate-Nate

They call me Nate-Nate.

I'm fast, but I'm quiet.

If I ride into your town

I'll find things you've hidden and

Hide what you've found.

These glasses are my brothers.

He's probably looking for us both.

So far no one has claimed the helmet...

Oh, and I break for gum and ice cream.

Watch out. They call me Nate-Nate.

I need a swift kick

It's Friday and I feel like I have NOTHING to show for my week. I'm blaming it on the heat. There are a lot of things I've learned to live with/enjoy since moving "south" 10 years ago. The humidity is not one of them. I don't understand it. I don't like it.

I'd like to make some kind of pizza pop overs. Have you ever made them? I'm thinking of something that tastes like pizza that would work well for Jeremy's lunch. Any suggestions?

We are planning a camping trip. Any good suggestions for easy food for a camping trip?

Have you ever noticed the odd mix of music a radio station plays for an hour before and for at least an hour after two hours of playing the top 25?

Jeremy: "I should have been a caboose dude". If you know Jeremy this will make sense. :)

Jeremy: "What does a woman really want?"
Sabrina: "To be taken care of. Protected. Pursued." (and more that I can't remember)
J: "So, how's that working for you".
S. laughing so hard her belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly.

Isaiah: "Can I bite my fingers off"? (where did that come from?!)
Me: "I don't think so".
I: "Why?"
Me: I don't think you're teeth are strong enough.
I: Are God's teeth strong enough?

This is a random post.

For Melanie: Here's that great cookie recipe I was telling you about.

Here are a few random pictures to go with this random post.

Best way to give haircuts. Veggie Tales and graham crackers.

A "spider"

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Nathan turned 2 today. It feels like it was just last summer that I gave birth to him. Where has the time gone? He's a great little guy. Full of laughs. He's starting to talk a lot which makes us laugh even more. I'm pretty sure I heard him trying to sing "Jesus Loves Me" in his crib this morning. He walked around this morning saying "Happy Birthday". He some how seems to understand that birthday means something special. When I showed him his cake I'm almost sure he asked for a spoon.

We had a "small" party for him tonight. It was all family, but turned about to be about 20 people. We had a great time. Nathan (and Isaiah) are enjoying the new toys. Here are a few pictures. My parents gave Nate the suite case -we missed having them here!

Life

I think I should call this picture "teeth"! I found this sleeping bag at a yard sale for $1.00. I was pleased and the boys loved playing with it.

I feel it's time to update. What to say. Life seems to be spinning out of control. How do we get so busy? What have we been up to?

• I took Isaiah to the doctor yesterday. He's healthy, but we are going to have him evaluated by a speech therapist. His speech continues to get better, but there are still some things that he has trouble saying. Often the beginning sounds of a word are missing. For example car would be "ar". There is no lack of words in his brain it's just a matter of pronouncing them correctly. I have no idea what to expect with a speech therapist, but hopefully he will enjoy it and learn from it.


• I took Nathan to Wal-mart last night to get his pictures taken. He just looked at the lady with a sober face. We did finally get a smile out of him, but it took him awhile to warm up to her. For what I paid I'm pleased with the picture I got. Nathan has a fascination with putting things into things. This morning Jeremy found a matchbox car in each of his work boots. This morning I also I found a toy helicopter in Jeremy's lunchbox. The boys have two matchbox cars that have removable wheels. (Probably not intended to be removable, but if it comes off Nathan will figure it out). Over that last few weeks almost all of the 8 wheels on these two cars have gone missing. This doesn't bother Nathan a bit, but it drives his older brother nuts. Sunday I caught Nate crawling under his bed. when he came out he was holding a little cement mixing truck and was pointing inside the tank on the back and saying "wheel". When I investigated I discovered all the wheels that we had been missing. Often when things go missing around her poor Nathan gets blamed.
• Jeremy is staying busy with construction work. We are very grateful for the work he has been getting. The lack of a consistent schedule is a bit hard to get used to, but I'm adjusting.
• Not much is new in my life. Just trying to stay caught up and on top of life. I continue to gain weight much quicker with this pregnancy than I did with the other two. Is because it's my third pregnancy, because it's a girl, or because I'm just plain down eating too much? (no need to answer that question :))

Homemade Yogurt

Awhile ago I posted about making yogurt in my crock pot. I was so excited about it. Now I'm even more excited because Karla suggested doing it like this and it works great! Plus it doesn't take 13 hours like the crock pot recipe. Just thought I'd share the love. Thanks Karla!

Welcome

I am very late posting this, but here is a picture of our new niece, Natalie Jade! She was born to Jeremy's brother, Hans, and his wife Angela. She is a doll! We've only been able to see her once, but hope to see her again in the next day or two. Congratulations Hans and Angela!

Friday

Since it's Friday morning and I'd like to get my house cleaned today I decided to post something on my blog. It's only 8:00.

I've heard different ones of you talk about homemade laundry soap. I'll be honest with you and say that when I first heard about this I thought it sounded like a great frugal idea, but decided right then it wasn't for me. I mean, how good could the stuff be? Well, my mom and sister-in-law tried it and liked so I thought I'd give it a try. Still thinking it was a bit crazy. I had recently started buying more expensive soap because it seemed like the cheap stuff that I had been getting (yeah, you know the stuff I'm talking about) was not getting anything cleaned and our clothes seemed to fade so quickly. So, with that in mind I could hardly imagine anything that cost around $.03 a load (Cindy's figures) could be worth anything. Then I tried this recipe from http://www.tipnut.com/

Recipe #1
1 quart Water (boiling)

2 cups Bar soap (grated)

2 cups Borax 2 cups Washing Soda
Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.
Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.
Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (will gel).

I have been so pleased with this soap! I do treat stains with Shout before I wash them and of course there are somethings that I soak in oxy clean (powder, not the spray -don't get me started on this stuff, it's amazing) because I can't get the stains out, but for the normal day to day grim this soap works great. It doesn't make much suds, but it works. You should try it. P.S. Our Wal-Mart does not sell the washing soda, but Giant does and maybe Target. It is washing soda you want, not baking soda.

Off to clean my house. The picture at the top of this post has nothing to do with laundry soap, but it makes me laugh so I thought I'd share it.

Well...

The ultrasound lady person thinks we're having a girl! We don't have any pictures with "three lines" like I've seen, but there were no boy parts that we could see. I was hoping for a more certain answer, but that's life with ultrasounds. We'll know for sure in about 20 weeks. I'd say we're maybe 80% sure it's a girl, but we'd better have a boys name ready too. :)

It's always so exciting to see the baby moving around. Such a miracle. Before I was a mother I used to wonder how it was possible to be as excited for a second or third child as you are with your first. I should not have worried! I can hardly wait for December -boy or girl. :)

Sunday Night

We've had a good weekend. Last week we had VBS at church each night so we enjoyed a day at home yesterday. Jeremy and I each accomplished some "work" and then spent time relaxing. Last night we played our third game of Catan Cities and Knights. It's growing on us. The first game was a complete waste of time. There is a lot to learn, but we like it. Have you played it?

One of Jeremy's ongoing projects over the last few weeks has been taking down a play set at my grandparents house that they didn't want anymore, bringing it to our yard and then setting it up again. It turned out to be a bigger job than he anticipated, but it was well worth it. The boys love their new "fort"! We even ate lunch in it yesterday. As I type this Jeremy and Isaiah are out there reading a book. Bill Peet is the choice for tonight.

My Saturday was full of home type stuff like making zucchini bread, laundry, cleaning the bathroom that sort of fun stuff. I also tried to return a book to the library that was overdue, but the night drop box was locked. That was rather annoying. Kind of thought a night drop box was there so I could drop off books after hours. Hmm.

Here are a few pictures. Mom the last one is for you. :) Any guesses on if I'm carring a boy or a girl?

Kids

Part of the reason I wrote what I did yesterday and why it struck me is due mostly to the questions that Isaiah has been asking lately. I wish I could remember them all. I should start writing them down and then post a whole bunch of them.

One question I heard him ask Jeremy the other night was "Why does Jesus love bad people if bad people killed Him?". Jeremy does a great job of facing these questions head on. I'm not sure how he answered that question, but a few minutes later the phone rang and it was for Jeremy. I took Jeremy the phone and he told Isaiah he could ask me the question they were discussing. Jeremy looked at me and said "we're on the sword of the Spirit". :(

The Trinity also confused Isaiah. (why wouldn't it?) We've gone though different questions about it. One was "Is Jesus in God's belly?

Maybe I shared this already on here, but several months ago Isaiah ask my aunt (lives across the street) if he could borrow and purse from their toy box. I wasn't too sure about it, but decided to see what he would do with it. Awhile later I looked outside to see Isaiah taking stones out of his "purse" and throwing them at Nathan. When I asked him what he was doing he told "I'm David and he's Goliath". Pray for Nathan. Daily.

I'm sure you all have stories like this. Kids are so smart! I feel like my brain wears out by the end of the day trying to come up with answers to his questions. I am thankful for a bright little boy though. :) Nate is just starting to talk. We'll see...

Talking and Walking the Truth

Lately I have been a bit discouraged and somewhat fearful as I listen to the news and hear others talk about how life as we know it is changing and will continue to do so if things continue as they are now. I don't fear so much for myself, but I do for my children. Will they be strong enough in their faith to stand for what is true? Will they face persecution because of their beliefs? Will they stand and lead our churches and other believers no matter the cost? I have often voiced/cried out my fears to Jeremy and asked the question, how do we train them now so they will know the truth and stand for it? Jeremy's responce is often along the lines of "We live it".

Along with these thoughts the last few weeks I have felt spiritually dry. Have you been there? I long for meaningful time with the Lord, but just don't seem to connect. Last week I sat down and asked the Lord to show me something, anything. I'd like to say I then opened my Bible and it randomly fell open to a verse that spoke to me and immediately ended this dry time. It didn't happen like that, but I started to see God in different things. Verses that I guess I've "hidden in my heart" began to come back to my mind and force me to meditate on them. I don't mean long hours of silence pondering a certain verse, I just mean thinking about it during my days off and on. "Mediate" sounds so high and lofty!

Deuteronomy 11:18-19 (all of 11 -great chapter) kept coming to mind. I couldn't even remember how the verses went, but I knew they talked about teaching your children as you go through life. Yesterday I finally dug up the passage and read it.

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up". Deuteronomy 11:18-19

I can do that! I can talk to my children about what a great God we serve. About what truth is, about life and death and a place that is even better than a 5' swimming pool or a chocolate ice cream cone. I can also tell them about hell and the cost of sin. I can read them Bible stories (accounts, not fiction) and we can talk about David and Goliath and read the story AGAIN and AGAIN and maybe slowly the truths of this Living and Active Word will start to stick and they will start to hunger for truth and search for it as they search for that precious lost Matchbox car. Maybe, just maybe, with God's prompting and a lot of prayer I (with Jeremy) can raise these children even when life as we know it is changing before our eyes. Be encouraged, we can do this!

Good Morning

I really need to get to work, but decided to say hi.

• I got at 6:15 to walk with my aunt this morning. It always seems like a really bad idea when the alarm goes off, but I feel great when we're done.
• I have a bunch of hamburger and ground turkey thawing out. I found a good sale a couple weeks ago and now I plan to make stuff for my freezer. What would you make? I'm thinking of beef burritos, taco meat, meatloaf, meatballs. Hmmm... So many options. I LOVE having prepared food in the freezer.
• Last Saturday I washed the windows in the living room. They looked great when I was finished, but now I see streaks. :(
• I went to BB's yesterday. I always spend so much money there, but each time I go I think I do a better job of buying things we use and need rather than ending up with a bunch of junk that I buy because it's so cheap.
• Yesterday I was trying to explain to Isaiah that Mommy and Daddy don't have money to buy him everything he wants. He's response: "I'm sorry you don't have lots of money". We've been talking about starting to have him "earn" an allowance. What age is the right age to start giving an allowance? I told him soon he can earn some money so then he can save up to buy things he wants. He told me "Can you just earn it for me? I'm too little".
• I am amazed at how much this baby is moving! Maybe by the third one you just know better it feels like. We find out in two weeks if this is a boy or a girl. I'm guessing a boy. We'll see.
• I can't think of anything else to say so I guess that means I need to get to work.

Wow!

(This picture has nothing to do with this post. Mom wanted to see Nathan with his new haircut:) Like the swimmers he's wearing?)

First of all, I have to say it's nice to know that there are still people in the blog world! Thanks for the comments and guesses (or should I say guess. :)) I was going to wait until I received the stuff to tell you what it is, but oh well. Rhonda, I should give you a price -you're good! I ordered a set of cake decorating tips and a book on cake decorating. I got the book mostly because it pushed my total over $25 so I could get free shipping, but hopefully I'll learn something too.

Mom, I think you know me well. You said cake decorating is a duty. That's pretty close. However, I do enjoy it because the boys enjoy the cakes. I have no desire to do cakes for anything other than my family's birthdays, but even for that I'd like to learn enough about decorating to make the cakes look presentable. My husband always tells me it's important to have good tools for any job you have to do so I'm hoping these tips will help me out somehow. One of my biggest frustrations is the consistency of the icing. I use a recipe my Grandma used for years to decorate wedding cakes and my mom and aunts use the same recipe and it always turns out for them. Mine always seems to "melt". Why is that?

Lastly, Melanie, swagbucks are great! Basically you earn "bucks" for doing searches online. I downloaded their toolbar onto our computer so whenever we pull up Internet explorer to search something it's right there and easy to use. Sometimes you'll google something and earn nothing, the next time you might earn one or two bucks. It's so exciting. Once you've earned so many (45 bucks will get you a $5 Amazon gift card) you can cash them in for different prices. The Amazon cards are the best that I see, but you can also get music downloads and other gift cards too. Try it!

Love It

Yesterday I ordered about $60 worth of product from Amazon and only paid $7.98 out of pocket. Makes me smile! The two products I ordered were on sale totally $27.98. I applied the $20 in Amazon gift cards I've earned from swagbucks leaving just $7.98 to actually pay.

What did I buy? That's the exciting part. It's something that I've thought would be nice to have for a long time, but since I only use them 2 (soon to be 3) times a year did not feel it was worth spending much money on. The hobby is something I enjoy doing, but always get rather frustrated when I do it. Any guesses? I'll post some pictures when I get the "stuff".

Pictures Part 2 -The Beach

These are some pictures from our trip to the beach with Jeremy's family. They are not in order because I didn't feel like posting them backward to put them in the right order. Lovely blogger.

At the sand dunes

Heading to the pool close to our house. Isaiah loved it. Nate wasn't so sure.

Sink or swim!

This little girl, Kassidy, is one of the sweetest babies I've ever known.

The guys spent hours doing this. They made it look so fun and easy. I didn't try it.

Cousins

Fist time at the ocean. Scared at first, but then started to really like it.

Flower Beds

We have been trying to improve the outside look of our house this summer. It's stuff we've been wanting to do since we moved here, but this is the summer we are getting it done. Feels good! One thing that we've talked a lot about is what to do around our screened in porch. The previous owners had white stone around it and planted a couple bushes. I imagine it looked great when they first did it, but I think you'd have to keep adding more stone to keep it looking nice. Plus, I'd rather have flowers/plants to look at instead of little white stones. Another problem was the parking in front of our house. When it would rain we'd get lots of nice mud to drive and walk in. Lovely. We (probably Jeremy's idea) decided to kill two birds with one stone. We dug up the old white stones in the back and filled in the mud hole out front. Jeremy counted something like 12 five gallon buckets of stone that he hauled out. It worked great! Now for the flowerbed in the back. Today Jeremy made a raised bed around the porch. I love it! Now we have to find dirt to fill it in with and then I'm hoping to plant perennials. Is it too late in the year? I hope not. Any suggestions?

We plan to do the same type of thing along our front steps, but Jeremy decided we need new concrete steps soon and it isn't worth building the beds if we're just going to tear them out again. So I'm trying to decide if there is anything I can do to make the front look at least half decent for the summer. I guess I could at least pull the weeds. :( Here is a before and after picture of what Jeremy did today. I can't wait to see it with plants!