yesterday

Yesterday was my last day watching Michael... tear. :( I started watching him right after his first birthday & now he's about to turn three! He has grown so much. Eli is following right behind! We will be keeping in touch so that Eli & Michael can still occasionally play together.

**Ruby's surgery went surprisingly well! Praise the Lord! For more detailed info visit my sister's blog.**

Pray for Ruby

This picture is of Eli & our niece, Ruby. My sister, Amy, adopted Ruby from Liberia in June. She weighed less than Eli. She has come so, so far in the last 7 months. Ruby has a big surgery tomorrow to fix her throat that was severely damaged years ago. Basically the doctor will fix it so that she can actually eat through her mouth. The prepping for the surgery starts today. This little girl is awesome!! We love her so much, so join us in praying for her. :) (for more info on her check out my sister's blog)

Snow

It's snowing! It's been snowing all day & its actually sticking! Eli looks out the window & says, "no" while pointing to the snow. At church this morning, it was really beautiful to see the snow gently falling out the windows of the sanctuary. I really love watching snow fall. It seems to make everything slow down & seem more calm & quiet. I don't know if it was b/c of the snow, but I started feeling really sensitive & emotional. My heart just ached w/ love for my boys- wanting them to know the Lord. While I was worshipping I was thinking about how the baby is starting to hear now, mostly he is able to hear my voice. I thought how sweet it is that my baby inside my womb can hear me worshipping God. I started singing louder & more fervently. I started to pray for our little boy. "Lord, please give this little boy a heart that wants to worship you. Soften his heart toward you even now, in the womb. Call him to a life that seeks to please you. Give him a heart that is easily convicted & sensitive to your leading. Please, Lord, mold him into a man that loves you w/ all his heart & wants to worship you in everything he does. Amen."

Proud Mommy

Okay, I have to brag about my smart little boy. First of all, he is potty training himself! We have been doing sign language w/ Eli since he was really little, so whenever we change his diaper we sign to him & verbally tell him that we're changing his diaper. About a month & a half ago Eli started doing the 'change' sign right before he'd soil his diaper. We started taking him to the potty every time he did this & would say, "Poopy! Good job! Poopy!" We also started doing the actual sign for poop. Now Eli always says, "Poo Poo" & does the sign right before he has to go. He doesn't always tell us in enough time, but I'd say that when we're home, 90% of the time he does his "Poo Poo" on the toilet! I think most kids are about 2 or 2 1/2 before they start doing the potty training thing, so I'm sure it'll be a long process for us (he doesn't get the 'pee pee' thing at all) but I am still so proud of Eli! I am so proud of him mostly, b/c he initiated it- we've never pressured him about using the potty. :)

The other thing is this morning I was writing down a bunch of stuff about Eli for his baby book. One of the things I mentioned was that Eli is talking more & more. I started jotting down a few words & before I knew it, it turned into a huge list of words. I was so impressed that I wanted to share it w/ you. So here's the list of all the words Eli, who is only 16 months, says: (you don't have to read this part.... I'll never know)

Uh oh
No- no
Mama
Mommy
Dada
Hi
Hello
Bye- bye
Bink (pacifier)
Eat
Bite
More
Please
All done
Hot
Cheese
Milk
Bread
Banana
Balloon
Ball
Bonk
Sorry
Poo- poo
Duck
Dog
Roro (Russell)
Mima (Michael)
Nana
Light
Snow
Burr
Yay!
Whoa!
Oh no
Baby
Brruuumm (sound effect for moving vehicle)
Boo (peek-a-boo)
Belly
Nose
Ear
Eye
Yes
Bible
Book
Night- night
This
Shoes
Down

"Fine"

I talked to a nurse from my doctor's office yesterday. She said the ultrasound results came back 'fine'. I said, 'oh, so everything measured good?' She repeated herself, 'It came back fine.' Okay. The heart beat was 124. Lower again. I'm going to ask the doctor some questions @ my next appointment in February. So, I guess that's it!
Oh, Happy Birthday Mom!!!

ANOTHER BOY!!!

We're having another boy! Yay! We are so excited. This picture isn't great b/c his hand is over his face. It was hard to get a good shot of his face b/c he's head down & very low. It's funny to see the difference btwn Eli & this baby b/c @ Eli's 20 week ultrasound he was moving all around & doing somersaults; this baby was very calm, occasionally moving his head side to side or waving his arms. Maybe this boy will be a clam one...

I'll post another update once the doc calls w/ the measurements to let us know if everything looks healthy. :)

Down

This has been a difficult week for us. I had another doctor appointment on Monday, &. I was looking forward to it because I've had a few concerns. I shared w/ the doctor that I'm not showing as much as I was w/ Eli @ 20 weeks, I don't feel the baby move very often & I feel very fatigued & out of breath. She really didn't put my mind at ease. She said since my ultrasound is next week, that will be the best way to take a look at the baby & see how he/she is doing. She said that I am small, but some women just take awhile to start showing. We listened to the baby's heart beat & it was 130 beats/minute. She said that was a healthy heart beat, but I was a little worried b/c last time it was 153 beats/minute. I came home & looked it up online & found out that anything from 120-160 is healthy. Eli was always in the high 150's sometimes 160. Maybe the baby was sleeping?? I'm really eager to go to the ultrasound appointment next week!
On Wednesday afternoon I just got knocked out w/ the flu. From 4:30pm to 4:30am I was throwing up every half hour. Eli woke up @ 11pm & got sick every half hour until 2:30am. Jonny got sick @ 6am. He didn't get quite as sick, but was definitely down for the day. Then he got a migrane later that afternoon. We were all knocked out. Our bodies are still recovering & exhausted. Eli has been sleeping all day, & when he's not sleeping he's just laying on us. Talk about feeling miserable!! This is the second time I've had the flu this pregnancy & I've had a few colds. Maybe that's why the baby is smaller, but I've been feeling him/her move more... maybe he/she is wondering where the food supply is. :) That's all; have a good & healthy weekend!

January 6th

Two years ago today we found out that I was pregnant w/ Eli. Two years ago Eli was just a little clump of cells intricately forming together to make our sweet little boy. Now look at him. Amazing!
Its so funny to look back at my time being pregnant w/ Eli & to recognize his personality even while he was in my womb. The day we found out I was pregnant, I went into OSU Health Services to get some blood work done. I was having horrible abdomen pain, & we thought maybe it was my appendix. Come to find out... there was a monster growing inside of me! Then, I spent the next 3 months being horribly sick. Most people know we refer to Eli as 'our little monster' or 'The Monster', mostly b/c his first five weeks w/ us were so hard!! Eli had trouble adjusting to the cold, cruel world. He was a very high maintenance newborn. He fussed so much, & the only thing to keep him calm was to be on our feet bouncing & rocking him....ALL DAY! He missed the womb, so we tried our best to mimic the womb for him. We'd play loud, white noise, we'd swaddle him up tight & snug, we'd bounce him, we'd do anything we could think of to make him happy. (FYI: For those who experience a difficult newborn , Dr. Harvey Carp's 5 S's is a need-to-know.) We also loved on Eli so, so much. Even though he was so difficult, there was this incredible feeling of love we had for him.
That's what I wanted to write about- this crazy love I have for my son. I think he's wonderful. I love him so much I worry. I recently wrote some New Year's Resolutions, & one of them was to pray for my family every day. That sort of stems from this weird thing I deal w/. I have a problem of worrying too much. It's not good, the Lord tells us not to worry. Philippians ch. 4 talks about not worrying & trusting God. Our pastor has said before that when we're worrying we're not trusting God. You can't do both at the same time. That stings. I want to be a woman who trusts God w/ all her heart. I especially want to trust God w/ my family. But for some reason I have this warped mindset that the more people I cherish, the more likely something bad will happen to one of us. Jonny & Eli mean the world to me; I love them so, so much. It brings me to tears how much I love them. And now w/ another baby coming, that's going to be another person I love. I want to keep them all safe & healthy & perfect forever. But I can't; as much as I act like it, I'm not in control. God is in control. He is actually the better one to be in control... I know all this stuff, but I still worry. When I found out I had melanoma this summer my initial reaction was total fear & worry. Fear of death & worry for my family. In reality, in the big picture, that is so silly. Why was I afraid of dying- I get to go to heaven! Hello! Heaven! And meet my maker, there is nothing better than that. I think b/c my mind has only experienced the 'best' as being w/ my family, I can't wrap my mind around something even better, so I hold on to what is good right now. And why did I worry for my family? B/c they wouldn't have me to take care of them? Yah, it'd be really hard & sad for them, but the Lord would always be there w/ them. They'd be okay, & the best thing is that I'd get to see them again- forever! I don't mean to sound like I have it all figured out, b/c I don't. I struggle w/ worrying all the time. I often need to remind myself of what is true. And all the time I need to pray. When I feel myself starting to go the 'worst situation' I need to pray. I need to pray for my family every day b/c I love them so much!!
sorry... I guess this post would have been better in my private journal than on our blog for everyone to read. ;)

Laundry

So, this is a picture of Eli helping me w/ the laundry. I recently read that getting kids into the habit of helping around the house at an early age is a very good lesson to learn. It teaches them that they are part of a team, & everyone has to pitch in. This isn't very hard to start b/c Eli is interested in EVERYTHING we do. In fact, I am more often telling Eli "No-no let Mommy do that" b/c he just gets in the way! :) Lately, however, I've been letting Eli help me w/ the laundry. His little arms can barely hold two articles of clothing from the washer to the dryer, but he is so eager & willing to try. It's totally cute! When we're folding the laundry, he tries to shake out the wrinkles like I do & then clumps the clothes in a little ball- that in his mind seem to resemble Mommy's folded piles. Then, of course, he sometimes gets distracted, like in the photo above. :)
We've also been more active on getting Eli to clean up his toys when he's done playing, & although he's still got to work on it, he's learning really quickly. In fact, we find ourselves being held accountable to him. Jonny will leave his shoes in the living room & Eli will point them out saying, "Uh oh". Then he'll pick them up & take them to our bedroom. Also, anytime we drop something Eli says, "uh oh" until we bend over & pick it up. Although its not so fun sometimes & laundry time seems to last longer, I find something precious about Eli's patience & eagerness to pick up after our messes.
It may seem hard to believe, looking at this picture, but I think we can really learn a lot from little kids. Have you ever noticed how kind, innocent, observant, brave & curious little kids are? Why do these great qualities have to fade w/ age? I wish I was as willing to clean up my own mess, not to mention others' messes, w/ such a sweet heart.

Happy New Year!

Oh, my! It's almost been a month since my last post. Well, Happy New Year!

One of my New Year's Resolutions from last year was to read all the books of the Old Testament that I hadn't yet read...which was most of them...& I did it! It was so cool, too. I've avoided a lot of those books b/c I've always thought they were so dry & boring. I listened to our pastor's old verse-by-verse messages online while I read & it helped so much. I actually learned a lot from it. Maybe some year I'll be able to be real disciplined & do one of those 'read the bible in a year' studies.

Anyway...I haven't made a list this year, & I'm not sure that I'm going to make some formal list or anything, but there are a few things I'd like to see myself accomplishing. I read something the other day that said, "the Christian walk is a series of new beginnings, and what better time for a new beginning than at the beginning of a new year?" So these are a few little things I'd like to make my New Year's Resolutions:

*catch up on Eli's scrapbook
*re-read the New Testament
*pray for my family every day
*Be slow to speak & to get angry and quick to listen & to think the best of others.... to love first.

Now that I've put this out there... I guess I better pray the Lord gives me strength to do these things.

Our time down in Klamath was nice. It snowed the entire time we were there, so we got a really white Christmas. We finally got to surprise Jonny's parents w/ our big news (they were the last ones to find out... thanks to Becky spilling the beans to Grandma!) They seemed pleased. If the new baby is anything like Eli, everyone is going to LOVE this baby. Our time down in Klamath proved how much everyone absolutely adores our little boy! How are we going to expect him to share all the attention w/ someone else!?