This is my son Matthew listening to his uncle playing Guitar. It was so cute (but I must admit, he is really pooping in this pic - haha!)

I was just talking to someone about how cool it is to have little siblings cuz I know they look up to me. My little sister (now 15 years old) knows that I will pray with her anytime, and we will often share what God is teaching us through His word and just life in general.

I think as Matthew gets older it will be awesome to have an older, but still kind of young uncle!

10 things:

10 Things I love:

1. Christian retreats

2. The feeling when you know you've made a difference in someone's day

3. God's holy word

4. Helping toddlers learn about who Jesus is

5. Learning from all your mistakes (big and small ones)

6. God's grace

7. Secrets (because it's better than gossip)

8. Overcoming spiritual warfare

9. Re-decorating

10. Knowing that you don't have to compare yourself to anybody

today's events

today: met up with my grandparents in Streetsboro while they were on their way from PA to Indiana. It was nice to see them, and they really enjoyed seeing Matthew of course. Maybe we will see them for Thanksgiving?

Met Leah at Bellasano for some lattes. Tried the new pumpkin spice and it was good but maybe needed to be a little sweeter and more pumpkin flavor. I always enjoy time with Leah :)

For dinner I made up my own recipe:
cook chicken on the stove with (canned) jalepenos and garlic seasoning
put in the crock pot with taco seasoning for 1/2 hour (on low)
add white beans and rice pilaf and cook on low for 15 or 20 minutes.

It was very yummy - but spicy. If you dont like spicy, dont do jalepenos, or only a small amount.

we borrowed Jason's truck tonight to pick up Grandma June's kitchen table that Grandma and Grandpa are graciously giving us. Its a lot smaller than the table we were using, but its newer and has 4 chairs (our old one only had 2). I picked some fresh flowers from Grandma June's garden to put on our new table :)

I REALLY REALLY want to paint the apartment since we are going to be here another year...BUT...Im such a procrastinator, plus that would take extra money and time :/

I did just rearrange and even with the new table, Im still not content. Just ready for a big change I guess. Its disappointing that Shaun couldnt get the job he wanted. We are super blessed though. God is so good!

crazy is normal

well, i guess I haven't written in a while. I must admit, it is mostly because of something I had previously written which I shouldn't have. I guess all I can say, is I hope I learned my lesson in revealing too much on a public blog. Oh well. lesson learned.

First of all - anyone have any advice on starting to wean Matthew off the bottle, and/or using time-outs/smacking his hand?
2nd - (HOPE NO MEN ARE READING THIS- lol) I have been having irregular bleeding between periods. Is it something that I should be worried about or is it common? (Ive never had it before)


hmmm...I don't know what to start with.
Yesterday was a crazy day, but lately crazy is normal. I wish I could say I had a relaxing morning, but even though we didn't have plans, I still had to get a birthday gift for my friend Emily's little boy Dylan who just turned one. We were going to his party at 2 and of course i had last minute shopping to do. I did however use my portion of the clothing budget for this month, and didn't feel guilty for it! (since we have been following a budget) I bought a cute long sleeve shirt and a wonderful pair of skinny jeans (which is my first pair). I really wanted a pair, not only cuz they're cute, but also cuz now that winter is approaching I wont look so silly tucking my pants into my boots.
Anyways...Just Matthew and I went to Dylan's party and it kills me that I dont really get to talk to Emily much at these parties, since Im too busy chasing Matthew around and she's busy with her 3 kids and the guests. Shaun didn't come because Vanessa and him were working on something for Shawn for the upcoming retreat he will be attending! Its called Koinonia, and we call it a 'short course in Christianity', although it is mostly Christians who attend. It is just a good refreshing weekend where you are blessed by other Christians (through them serving you meals and other suprises ;)). Theres worship, and 'talks' or messages. Theres time for communion and reflection. Its pretty amazing!! I am going to be on the womens weekend again in October. Im super excited!
After the party I came home for about an hour, then went to church. Thanks to Becky I was able to get a break from Matthew while he was in the nursery although I ended up keeping Kaden with me cuz he didnt want to be with the kids. I was glad to see Emily and Dave there. And there is a nice girl named Sarah that has been coming. I hope we can continue to get a few more people each month to come every week. (did that make sense?)
Steve Baird gave the message and shared his testimony again which is always amaizing. God has broken him of a drug and alcohol addiction and now he goes into prisons and ministers to the men there. Our church has commited to beking cookies for the inmates in the prison ministry.

Its SO SO SO nice to have a day off today - AND not have any plans - well, not till tonight at least. Im just focusing on cleaning up a bit, then will go grocery shopping and make a yummy dinner. I think I will use that steak I bought last week and whip up some carmelized onions and chipotle chiles with it and serve it in a tortilla like a burrito. mm...I cant wait :) I love food - lol.

I also have a recipe for a 'salad' using zuccini and cucumber, fresh lavendar and oregeno. I think I will make that to take over to my parents on wednesday. My grandparents are coming for a night, and Im so excited to see them! They live in Florida but in the summer they work in Maine (?) at a campgrounds. I think if they continue to do that every summer, they will continue to visit us on their way from Maine to Indiana (where my Papa is from originally). They have seen Matthew twice. Right after he was born (he was maybe 6 weeks old), then at Christmas time (he was 5 months old). So its been a while! He is completley different now! Walking, NO, running all over the place. He definitely has a personality of his own!
We have started time outs now, and I think he started his terrible 2's early. He is a handful, but luckily sleeping right now :) We are just trying to be consistent with not letting him do certain things, like push the buttons on the Tv, or hit us in the face. Yes, he already does that. Today I was going to change his diaper, which he hates, and before I could lay him down on the floor, he looks at me with an angry face and starts swinging his arms trying to hit my face. Oh boy....Im in for a fun journey! haha

Well, I guess I should start getting stuff dont now.
Have a great day everyone!

rollercoaster

Where do I start? How much do I say?
I guess I should update after my last blog. I wont give detail because they are too painful, and Im sure there are people who would not want to know details. I dont mind talking about it, if someone is curious. Anyways...We lost the baby on Monday. I was 11 weeks along and everything looked great according to a couple ultrasounds we saw. One of them, being at the hospital that morning. I am not mad at God, but I am confused as to why He had us so optimistic earlier that day. The baby was moving around on the ultrasound, and the heartbeat looked great. My doctor says she thought maybe it was because the baby wasnt implanted very well into the uterus since they couldnt find anything on the ultrasound that morning. The good thing is that she doesnt think it will happen again since the baby was fine up until the actual miscarriage. My husband wants to keep trying soon so our kids will be 2 years apart in school. I decided that I would like to just keep doing what we did before. We are usually careful during the time of ovulation, and alll other times, we arent as careful. If we get pregnant, I am fine with that, and if we dont, Im fine with that too. Its all in God's hands.

All of this has make me think of my goals. I feel like the positive I can get out of this, is that I can workout more, and try to lose more weight before we do get pregnant again.I asked Shaun for a membership to the YMCA for Christmas, but he thinks I wouldnt get our moneys worth. I really would love to use the pool, and occasionally the weights or track. I would also love to cook more. I make a really good lasagna, meatball soup, chicken/veggie soup, and Shaun makes a good broccoli/cheddar soup, chicken parmesean, and spaghetti parmesean. A more non-realistic goals is to learn a foreign language. I would definitely learn German considering I took it in high school and Ive been to Germany and Switzerland. Its not that I couldnt have done these things being pregnant, but because I was so tired, it was hard to achieve my goals. Now I know I will have more time and energy.

I am excited to start volunteering for Hospice. We havent heard back from the coordinator after finishing our orientation, but she should be calling to let us know where they need volunteers to visit.

Passion/Holy week is upon us.
"See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. Many were amazed when they saw him beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person. And he will again startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about." - from Isaiah 52.
"He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave" from Isaiah 53