Quick recap of 2015

While I'm waiting for my pictures to load, I thought I would share a couple of highlights from the past year.

1. We started the process of international adoption in June and tonight learned that our dossier is currently being translated into Bulgarian. Once that process is completed it will be sent off to the Ministry of Justice and we will formally be on the waiting list!
2. James and I were blessed to go on a DTS mission trip to Indonesia in June. We were on the island of Java for about two weeks. It was an experience like no other I've ever had; it was exciting to share our faith and encourage others on the other side of the world.
3. Our little girl turned 2 this summer and we were able to celebrate with tons of family who were in town for a wedding.
4. We went on a family vacation to North Carolina over fall break. The views were breathtaking (both of the Smoky Mts. and the Vanderbilt Mansion) and many wonderful family memories were made.
5. James and I were able to travel to Cancun to celebrate another wedding with quite a few family members. It was a much needed vacation!

Just a couple of pictures from the past year (in no particular order).

3 little girls

Its been awhile since my last update, and I'm a bit embarrassed by my lack of posting. So for the few of you who check in every now and then - "Hello!"

The biggest change we've had is that our little girl is growing like a weed and currently going through a language explosion. Yesterday she sang both "Jesus loves me" and "twinkle, twinkle, little star" without prompting, and is trying out new words and phrases everyday. Some are considerably easier to understand than others. One that we haven't figured out yet is something that sounds a bit like "Billy!" (or "Bill-whee!") which she shouts when extremely excited and wound up. She loves story time and has even started to "read" us stories. One of her current favorites came from Great Aunt Janet - "My Car."

(Story time with Ethel and Gus)

She's quickly approaching a second birthday this summer, and we're hoping that family from out of town will be able to attend the bash. So if you're coming to a wedding in July, we'd like to formally invite you to a birthday gathering the afternoon of Sunday, July 19th. We're hoping for beautiful weather for outdoor games, cake, and ice cream!

Same old, same old

 
Time keeps marching on for our family. (Not a whole lot is new, but we're just fine with that.) However, its easy to become complacent with life, so I'm making a concerted effort to recognize and enjoy the little things this holiday season.

As the Thanksgiving holiday is almost upon us its always nice to engage in the old exercise of reflecting on one's blessings. Among my top items are family (and not just this cute little one), friends, economic security, health, and a whole host of other large categories that are normally mentioned around the table at dinner time come T-Day. Yet when I break each down (even at a surface level) its amazing to reflect on the different components that are encompassed by the categories of family, health, etc. Its a great exercise to actually sit down and "count your blessings" by "nam[ing] them one-by-one" as the old Sunday School song goes. In completing this exercise, I'm betting that I'll have a much better understanding about how my "same old, same old" life is not one that I should take for granted.

Won't you join me in being thankful?

1+

She's over a year and unstoppable! 

Walking, running, smiling, and laughing are her regular activities. (Though she has figured out how to throw a tantrum.) She loves riding in her wagon, "Wolfgang" (her stuffed coyote), and reading books.  She's learned how to say "Hi!", show her muscles, and can find a few items when asked where they are in the room. She's evening learning to negotiate the dog-eat-dog world of the toddler class at day-care. (She even has battle scars to prove it - it took 6+ hours for today's bite marks to disappear.)  

Baby Dedication

Our little "dandelion" was dedicated at church a couple of Sundays ago, and we were blessed to have most of her extended family with us to celebrate (including one aunt from Georgia and an uncle from Oklahoma).  It is incredibly humbling to know that friends, family, and our church community are lifting us up and walking along side of us. Our "village" was present and that meant the world to us!

9 months

Its amazing to think this sweet girl is 9 months old.

The stats:

1. Limited rolling - just a contortionist worthy stretch is all that's needed to get her toys.

2. Crawling/scooching has started, though only backwards.

3. Pulling herself up on laundry baskets and people seems to be a favorite activity.

4. Finger foods are being mashed by two tiny teeth.

5. Attending a new day care with the large red stroller and many more kids her age.

6. Eleanor the elephant and McNally the monkey are the two favorite toys to date.

7. Month 9 clothes and size 3 diapers need frequent changing due to the most disgusting poo I've ever witnessed.

8. High fives and waving aren't frequent, but we're working on it. 

9.  Crazy hair, full smiles, and squeals of delight!

Mr. Seal

At the six month check up, things were looking good. Our gal is currently in the 75% of height and 50% for weight. She's wearing 6 month clothes, but has graduated on to a few 6-9 month outfits. She's sitting on her own for extended periods, but is not interested in rolling at all (which we've only witnessed a handful of times since the first roll at Thanksgiving). Within the last month she has started on rice cereal, formula (for daycare), and has recently tried mashed carrots which were a huge hit. She loves playing "peek-a-boo," dancing to ABBA with mommy, pinching lips/tugging hair, and sucking on squishy blocks. Her current favorite toy by far is Mr. Seal. She loves chewing on and conversing at great lengths with this toy. (I've tried to upload a video of this. I hope it works!)

Nap time?

I've always had a lot of respect for women (and men) who decide to stay at home to raise their children. After staying home for the first 5 1/2 months, I have a much greater respect for stay-at-home parents. Considering that I never aspired for that position in life, I was surprised that there were times that I really enjoyed a domestic centric schedule. However, I'm looking forward to working 

away from home and regular adult interaction. 

You'd think someone this cute would be agreeable when it comes to taking naps. However, this is not the case at all, which has made preparing to head back to work a bit of a challenge. This has led to some late nights lately - a trend that will most likely continue for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, I'll be able to manage a new schedule that involves both family and work. It'll be a bit of a juggling act I'm sure, but it'll be a new chapter in this saga. 

Impromptu

Our first measurable snowfall (~7") meant an impromptu family outing to the backyard for snow angels, snowballs, and a snowman. 

Continuing on that theme we visited Mimi and Papa's church for a Christmas program, which asked for audience participation. Congregation members were invited to grab a costume and join the program as a character from the Christmas story. What a great idea for a program!  We decided to join in as shepherds herding our little lamb down the aisle. 

"Where's ...?"

Waldo was found this past Halloween at GG's house hanging out with one extremely windblown parrot. This Waldo made many appearances around town, and even received a couple of jars of baby food for her first trick-or-treat experience. (However, it was the parrot who enjoyed the candy!) The costumes were fun to make, and next year James said he'd get into the spirit with us. Any ideas on a cute (but easy to make) family costume theme?

Over the last couple of weeks we've tried to enjoy the remaining nice fall weather with frequent walks uptown and playing in the leaves. The last couple of days have been unseasonably warm, and I'm inclined to believe its the calm before the storm. Fortunately we're prepared as I was able to finish her car seat blanket and cover for this winter (picture to come in a later post). 

A couple of updates about our little girl: 

1. She was in the 98th percentile in height and 50th percentile in weight at her 4 month check up. 

2. She rolled over for the first time this Thanksgiving weekend (front to back), but has yet to make a repeat performance.

3. She's recently decided to refuse a bottle unless it contains freshly expressed milk and a latex nipple (which was discovered through MUCH trial and error). Perhaps there is an issue with lipase since she's refusing frozen milk that has been thawed, though I'm not 100% certain she's not just picky. 

4. She's got one set of "pipes" and isn't afraid to use them. 

5. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas has recently become a favorite story.

6. She's free with her smiles and enjoys laughing, as long as no one has a camera or cell phone out to document the occasion.  

3.5 months

 It's amazing to think we have a baby who is almost four months old. 

She's one special little lady, with a budding personality. Just a quick update with a more extensive one to follow after her 4 month check up in a couple of weeks. 

The kiddo is a champion thumb sucker, and as a result has been sleeping through the night (10 p.m. to 8 a.m.) for the past month. She is cooing and even starting to laugh. She loves checking out her hands, gnawing on fingers and cooled teethers, and grabbing toys on her play yard. She seems to be left-hand dominant, but perhaps its too early to tell. Tummy time is still a bit of a struggle, but she's handling it better than before. She sits in a bumbo seat to play, enjoys being pulled into a sitting or standing position, and "flying" with daddy. She's just recently graduated to a size 2 diaper and is wearing 3-6 month outfits. Her favorite songs include "I love trash," "Moon, moon, moon," and "I'm a little duckie." 

She also did well on her first vacation to Hocking Hills. We had a great time visiting, hiking, and relaxing with family. 

Projects

When we found out we were expecting, James and I started having discussions that wouldn't have crossed our minds pre-Baby C. One of the big ones we had right away was cloth v. disposable diapers. Quite a few friends and family members had used cloth diapers and had great things to say, but we also heard from many experienced moms, who had to use them with no alternatives years ago, that disposable were a great idea and the washing/drying (not to mention toilet dunking) of cloth could get old rather fast.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we liked the idea of being "earth friendly" and the idea of cloth diapers being more cost friendly (over time); however, we also liked the convenience of disposable diapers. So we came to a compromise - cloth diapers at home and disposable "on the road." Since we weren't sure how all of this would play out, I decided to try sewing some diapers (under the supervision of a couple of experienced sewers). This significantly decreased the cost of the diapers, which made the idea of them much more appealing. Also, James was able to rig up a diaper sprayer to help with the dunking situation. So here are a couple of pictures of our cute model wearing the cloth diaper (sans cover) and another showing her duck diaper cover. So far, I have been really satisfied with the cloth diapers for home use and am considering making more in larger sizes.

Other projects in the works hit a bit a road block after the birth. (The nursery border is still only half painted!) Yet, we have enjoyed the fruits of our pre-baby projects a bit this fall. The two gardens that were planted earlier this spring have been producing a nice amount of fresh produce that we've started to preserve for the winter season and are enjoying for weekly dinners. Also, we've had enough to donate to a local charity as part of our church's GROWTH project that we started a couple summers ago.

One quick project I was able to squeeze in between nursing and naps was preserving herbs. Normally I dry the herbs from my tiny herb garden. However, I saw an idea on a website that called for freezing herbs in olive oil. I decided to give it a try with a little rosemary this fall, but haven't tried cooking with it yet.

Newest addition

After an afternoon of "nesting" and a dip in the pond with Mom and TY, our little girl arrived two weeks early after a crazy, quick delivery. Since then, she's met many family members, friends, and well-wishers and been a hit with them all. In a couple of day's she'll be a month old, and she's starting to look a little less like a newborn and more like a well-fed baby.  Before long, she'll be moving out of the newborn clothes she's used for the past couple of weeks. 

So far she's not too wild about tummy time or bath time, but other than that she's been a real peach. She loves snuggling, movement (walks and car rides), and exercising her lungs. She's certainly turned our lives upside down and we're enjoying it!

Bump

I'll have you know that approximately 1 lb. of that bump is baby, which is scheduled to arrive late July.

Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...

This year we're celebrating Thanksgiving in Oklahoma. James' youngest brother moved out here to be a youth pastor this past summer, so we decided to make the trip out to see him.  While I wouldn't recommend the 14+hour drive to anyone, I'm enjoying my first trip to OK. So far we haven't seen a lot of the area but we did get a night tour of his church and we've seen a little of the town. Tomorrow we'll go down town to the shops and specialty stores. We hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!

Election Day!

Election Day - it's more exciting than game four of the World Series, my birthday, and the opening night of the newest movie all combined. Perhaps I'm a nerd, but I get excited about elections. I enjoy watching the televised debates, reading election updates, political discourse on the radio, checking the polling stats, etc. I love that citizens impact history on nights like tonight! No matter which way this election goes, I hope all enjoyed exercising your political rights and freedoms at the polls today!  

Brief overview of the trip

We started in London, and enjoyed a lot of the sites from the outside.

After London, we made it to Portsmouth and crossed the English Channel to Normandy to tour the beaches and soak in some history.

On to Lyon and a visit with Bertlinde.

Hiking in Switzerland was breathtaking (literally!).

Attending the wedding of Annemarie and Volkmar was a great experience.

Heidelberg was gorgeous and then we headed home.

Made it to Bertlinde's house without major problems but may have a lovely parking fine coming in the mail due to parking (illegally ?) In Lyon for the art market. We enjoyed some lovely cathedrals, a priory, and châteaus near Bertlinde's and went to see her home in the South. I need to learn some French cooking tips ...but would most likely gain too much weight. We've arrived at Interlaken after going a bit off the beaten path. Beautiful flowers, mountains, and we love the sound of cow bells.

Hello from Caen, so far the trip has gone well...but knowing a bit of.basic French would help quite a bit. Touring Omaha beach and American cemetary tomorrow. Will prove to be very interesting. Enjoyed London... much easier to navigate...perhaps because language was not a big factor? Hoping to make our remaining connections to Bert ok. Perhaps this will lead to more stories.

Summer relaxation?

School is out and it is time to kick back, relax, and have some fun. However, it seems that is not in the cards for me this year. There seems to be a long list that just keeps growing and growing...kind of like the weeds in my strawberry patch. To do list for the summer: 1. Finalize plans for trip to Europe (I absolutely hate vacation planning, but love the end result. Therefore, this is the biggest headache I have currently. I'd like to give the car rental agencies in Cherbourg a piece of my mind... who closes a car rental place in a port town at 5 p.m. when the Ferry doesn't arrive until 7:30 p.m.? THAT threw a wrench in the plans...) 2. Continue to look for different employment options (an ongoing task that started a while back). 3. Finish the kitchen remodel (perhaps by the end of June?) 4. Finish the bedroom closet remodel (perhaps by the end of June?) 5. Paint the upstairs office and move the bedroom pieces that have been in the basement for three years into their rightful spot upstairs (perhaps before the end of August?) 6. Finish planning a baby shower for a close friend 7. Continue running (We've started and now that I'm past the being extremely sore stage, I'd like to keep it up for a while) By the amount of to-do lists I've posted, one would think that we're getting a lot accomplished; yet to be fair I think I'm posting the same things repeatedly. On a slightly different note, the New Year's resolution of one new thing/day has hit the back burner though I'd like to come back to it soon.