Let me tell you why...

This is why I hate Halloween: It's not because of the scary things, it's not because of the begging kids who come door-to-door, it's not because of the costumes... it's the candy. For those of you who know us well, you know that we don't give our kids much in the way of sugar. Part of it is due to the fact that Leeann has some dietary issues that are made worse by juice and sugar, part of it is that she turns into a raving lunatic when she has it, part of it is that so many people try to give it to her everywhere she goes, that we'd rather just say "No, she can't have any," part of it is because we don't want our kids to be a sugar-addict like we turned out to be (heaven forbid we want our kids to have healthy eating habits!), but mostly, it's because our kids don't need it! Tell me what 11 month old, or 3 year old NEEDS sugar? The funny thing is, though--we are the ones that are treated like bad parents when we keep our kids from sugar!

Oftentimes people try to sneak our kids sugar, because they know that we don't give it to them and they think we're mean. Mostly though, people just don't think to ask before they plop a handful of something sweet into our little-ones hands. Or if they do ask, it's after they've already given it to them, as if that's going to help! In Costco yesterday, a well-meaning employee gave Leeann and Titus each a tootsie roll. First of all, Titus can't eat tootsie rolls, the kid barely has one tooth! Second of all, it tortured Leeann because I (had to) let her carry it around all day, but I wouldn't let her eat it.

We made it through Halloween without much of a hitch. We visited many homes of people that we know, and Leeann collected plenty of candy in her little purse. I told Leeann that she can eat a piece of her candy... when she goes poo-poo in the big girl potty. It seemed to be a good compromise, and she didn't complain! We had fun going door-to-door and having lot's of people melt over how cute Princess Ariel was! I just somehow wish we could do Halloween without the candy, but that would defeat the purpose I suppose!

It's an uphill, tough battle trying to keep sweets from our kids. Literally everywhere we go, everyone wants to be 'the favorite' by spoiling our kids. The most immediate way to spoil kids is to give them candy, and so that's what people do! Argg! I understand we are the minority, so I don't expect the world's view of giving candy to kids to revolve around us... but if you are reading this-- now you know :0) Please descreately ask Rob or I before you offer something sweet (or anything really) to our kids. We are doing our best to instill healthy habits in our kids even though church events, holiday's, birthday parties, and people who want to give our kids treats, abound!

Some things aren't worth fighting for, but we both feel that this one is. It will be harder and harder to keep them from sweets as they get older and spend more time out of our care, but we're hopeful that as the years pass they won't be addicted to it, and that it will be easier for them to partake in moderation. We're also hoping that by that time they will have more self-control, so they won't turn into raving lunatics throwing tantrums! And just in case you are wondering, Leeann does get some sugar. Not much, but some. At birthday parties she gets a small piece of cake and some ice cream. If we are somewhere where all the other kids are getting a treat, I usually give her a tiny bit of what they are having, and/or an alternative that she likes. And every once in a while we share something sweet with her. It's not like she's never tasted it, or she never gets any. We just don't want to let her have large amounts of sweets, or to have them everyday-- but we would like to be the ones to say when, and how much she gets.

And that my friends, is a post that turned into a rant... thanks for reading! And now, for your viewing pleasure... the cutest kids in the universe!




 

Happy Birthday Mr. Rob!

Yesterday was Rob's birthday. We essentially didn't have a moment of down-time (being that it fell on a Sunday this year) so we didn't really do anything birthday-related. Some friends of ours, Craig and Mandy and Rob and I did go out to dinner for Rob's birthday on Friday night though. And, I might say he got a super cool present... it's something he was hoping for, but very unlikely to get! Thanks to his mom and step dad, my dad and Tasha, Craig and Mandy and the kids and I, however... he got what he was hoping for. I won't ruin his surprise though, you can check out his blog www.robbuhl.blogspot.com, I'm sure he'll update it soon with some more information on his cool new present. Either way, you should leave a message on his blog and wish him a happy belated birthday!

Rob has been a wonderful friend, an incredible husband and and the greatest daddy ever! I'm glad that we get to celebrate another year with him. Happy Birthday Rob!

Miss Manners

We've been working on manners with Leeann for the better part of her life now. It's really cute when she finally "get's it". She's started to ask "May I?" whenever she wants something, or wants to do something. "May I get down? May I have another bite? May I come into your room?" May I was something we've worked on for what seems like forever.

Well, lately we've been working on conversations. When we sit down for dinner I tend to over emphatically ask Rob how his day was and what he did at work. Then she tends to copy me and ask the same questions. Every once in a while Leeann will chime in at random times during the day and ask me how my day was.

Well, this morning Leeann woke up and came downstairs and looked at me through sleepy eyes. "How was your day mommy?" It was hard to answer since it just got started... I don't think she's quite gotten the context yet... but it was still cute :0)

In other news: I've been experiencing random pains again. They come and go, and they have for several years now. It started in my shoulder occasionally then spread to my hip and now it's settled in my knee and is causing me quite a bit of pain there. It makes it difficult to function in day-to-day routines. These last two night I haven't slept well either because of it. Just about the time it gets so bad I can't stand it anymore, it seems to let up, or go away all-together, only to come back again at some point. My last really painful time was in late July, and I've only had random occasional pains since then.

I feel like an old lady sometimes... and I'm only 24!

The kids don't seem to know that mommy's in pain. I'm pretty sure they would just play contently and quietly all day if they knew! I don't know if they've been overly fussy, or if I've been overly irritable but these past couple of days have been awfully stressful around here. Maybe we just need to get out of the house? Now there's a thought! Maybe that's what we'll do today? Hmmm...

Just about the time I think about how "rough" my life is, or how much "pain" I'm in... I go here: www.rebekahspage.blogspot.com. I only met Rebekah once, on Leeann's adoption day (her dad was our lawyer), but that one meeting and lot's of blog-reading later, my perspective on life may never be the same. It's a good perspective! With that, I'm going to stop complaining :0) I hope your day is wonderful!

Get me a one way ticket...

... to the looney bin! It's a wonder any mom escapes child-rearing without at least one trip to the looney bin.

Titus has been crying for oh, about 2 hours now. Snuggling doesn't help, he's not a snuggler. Isolating him doesn't help, he just cries. Feeding him? Not interested. Wet diaper? Not a drop. Tired? Yup, but he's not giving in.

So what do I do? I give him a cup of formula. Maybe he's thirsty? He downed half of the cup in 3.2 seconds. I set the cup down so I could burp him, as is customary 1/3 to 1/2 way through a cup. He doesn't want to burp, he's screaming at the top of his lungs lunging toward the cup, so I give him more. He get's most of the way to the bottom and starts crying again, so I try burping again. Still not interested, but still screaming. So I try for a little snuggle time, maybe he's sick and just needs mommy? Man, am I not very wise! The whole cup of formula came up, right down the front of my shirt, and all over him. Keep in mind, he'd been screaming for more than an hour at this point so my nerves were already fried!

This was an almost verbatim repeat of an episode last Friday night, but Brenna was over and was able to help me clean up the situation. This time, I was all alone. Leeann was offering to help because she's so sweet, but the reality is... well, Brenna was a little more helpful!

The only redeeming factor is how cute Titus was in the shower as I was trying to clean him off. I placed him out of the water but he was cold so he scooted into the water. I placed him backwards so it wouldn't get in his face, but he turned around and looked straight into the water and held his mouth open like a little birdy trying to drink the rain! It was so cute! I have a fear of water in my face, so he didn't get that from me! He's in his crib now, settling down. I need some Starbucks, or Steamers, or ice cream... or something! It's been a long day and it's only 3! Maybe I just need a nap, or maybe that one way ticket?

Titus's Stats

Titus went to the doctor on Tuesday and he's still off the bottom of the charts. He weighs 15 lbs 9 ozs and he's 26.25 inches long. The doctor said out of a thousand kids his age, he'd be one of the 5 smallest! He's still not overly worried because Rob and I are obviously small, and he's still proportionate and developmentally right on cue. He's got a thought in mind for how big he ought to be at a year, and if he doesn't meet that than he'll start checking things out just to make sure. My poor child is going to be toted around in his backward facing infant carrier until he's 2!

But, he's happy as can be and developing just fine. Rob and I both have brothers who are over 6 feet tall. I was a little hopeful that Titus might get some of those genes, at least enough to make him average, but it looks like he's definately going to be a little one! The doctor guesses he'll probably be 5'4" or maybe 5'5". We'll see!

Pastor's Appreciation Month

That's right folks, it's Pastor's Appreciation Month.

Moral of the post? Let your Pastor know you appreciate him! That's all...

WOW!

Our church held an "Advanced Foundations Banquet" on Friday night to take advanced pledges toward our Capital Campaign. We are planning on building a 3,500 sq ft foyer (our current foyer is the size of a postage stamp!) and some offices to accomodate the growing number of staff and volunteers. We are also hoping to remodel the children's and nursery wings and maybe even the youth room too. Our goal is to raise $1 million in one time gifts or three year pledges. We raised $434,000 of it at our adanced foundations banquet. The majority of the families in our church will get the opportunity to make pledges on November 5th. It's quite exciting! God is doing great things in our church and I'm excited to get to be a part of it!

3 a.m.

My dear sweet son decided to wake up at 3:00 this morning. Needless to say, I was not too excited! He's been sleeping through the night for nearly 2 months now. I sure don't miss those middle of the night adventures! A jar of baby food, a diaper change and a little bit of snuggles later and we both went back to sleep for the night.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot to mention here. Life seems to be going on as normal lately. The dishes still get dirty, the kids still need fed and the laundry still needs done... and on and on it goes!

Alone Time, Attitude, Conference and Root Canal

Alone Time

Rob, Leeann and Titus went up to visit Rob's family last Wednesday night and they stayed up there for 3 whole days! Did you catch who wasn't there? Me! That's right, I spend 3 whole days childless. It was good, but it was also hard... that's a long time to be without my babies! I nearly lost it when I put Titus into his car seat as I sent them on their way. We all survived, and Rob actually did really well with the kids. I secretly think it's really good because it makes Rob more confident in his abilities with the kids (Titus especially!). He does wonderfully with them, sometimes he just needs a little bit of encouragement :0)

We had originally taken those days off and planned a family trip up to WA., but then I got a flyer in the mail for a Children's Ministry Conference in Eugene. The speaker was Craig Jutila who's the Children's Pastor at Saddleback, and I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear him speak, especially since it was less than an hours drive from here. We thought about rearranging our days off, but than decided that maybe it would be best if Rob went ahead and took the kids up with him. It worked out well. In fact, I'd say it was a God thing!

Conference

Wow! The conference was amazing! Julie (a friend of mine who also works with kids at our church) went with me to the conference. I don't feel like I would do justice even beginning to try to explain the many things he talked about. I appreciate his ministry and the ministry of his church. They do a lot to train other leaders to be effective in ministry, regardless of their size or location. Their goal isn't to grow their church, but to win kids to Christ and grow them spiritually... wherever it is that might be! They do that by training leaders from other churches to do ministry effectively wherever their at. It's exciting!

Attitude

Titus has an attitude lately. It's getting on my nerves. My sweet, laid-back even tempered little boy is undoubtedly getting an opinion of his own! Any time I put him in his pack-n-play he screams. If I walk into a room, he screams. If I put him in his exersaucer, he screams. This isn't a cute scream either. It's obnoxious. I know that he just wants to explore his world, but man, my nerves are shot! :0)

Root Canal

I went into get a cavity filled yesterday and came out with a root canal. Apparently it was worse than they thought it was. I was a little worn out yesterday, and my teeth are hurting this morning, but it hasn't been too bad so far. Do you want to hear a great story?

I knew coming into this appointment that I was going to have to pay some money out-of-pocket. We are doing just fine financially, it's just the unexpected expenses that stress us out a little. You know, like dentist appointments and root canals and stuff! Well, last week we received a gift that covered all but $16 of my dentist appointment. God is good! But oh wait, it gets better!

Sunday Rob and I received a check. We were quite overwhelmed with the amount of money that unexpectedly came through our hands. We talked Sunday night about why God would do that, and what he wanted us to do with it. Well, we didn't have to think long, because Monday morning came around and I needed an emergency root canal. And apparently after a root canal you need to get your tooth crowned. Total cost? $2 more than the check we had just received! Crazy huh? I think God has really been working in my heart to trust him. He's the provider of all things and he cares about me. He cares about you too, do you trust him even when things seem impossible? The bottom line is without that check, if I had gone in yesterday morning and found out that I needed a root canal (and the money attached to it) I would have cried. I would have cried really, really hard. But instead, I laughed. I laughed because God was showing me in such a tangible way, that he indeed is in control and that he cares!

My Babies!

Here's another plug for Precious Portraits :0) I almost wanted to cry when I saw this picture, it's so sweet. I told you these two adore each other!

10 Months Old Today

My baby boy is 10 months old today. I've said this before and I'll keep on saying it--time flies!

Titus has one tooth (his bottom right)
He sits up for extended periods of time without problem
He's ditched the army crawl for the baby crawl
He climbs up on furniture and walks around it
He loves to clap his hands, especially when he see's someone excited, or when you tell him no!
His favorite song is ABC's, he stops crying when you sing it to him, especially if your name is Leeann
His favorite person is his sister
He smiles--a lot!
He loves to laugh and giggle
He sometimes says 'da-da'
He travels well, we rarely have problems with him in the car, but that might be because he gets to just stare at his sister!
He's sleeping through the night, on average 11 hours even
He's starting to revolt against the pack-n-play, he wants his freedom
He's super squirmy. Changing him and bathing him are very difficult at this stage
He's never met a food item that he didn't like, just like his sister
He loves going on walks
He's rarely fussy when we're around people or in a new place, he's just taking in the world!
His eyes are brown around his pupil, then they're blue on the outside. What color does that make his eyes? Blown?
He's still in 3-6 month clothes for the most part
He's still off the bottom of the charts in height and weight
He still looks like he's about 6 months old
Anytime I walk into the room he starts crying. It gets obnoxious!
He's the most handsome little boy I ever did see!!!

And now you know most everything there is to know about my 10 month-old son!

Signed,
Proud Mommy

Lazy Boy

I am making a prediction: Titus is going to be lazy. It's just a prediction, but now it's in writing. No, I don't know this for sure, but it's a good guess at least. Here's why-

Titus has never been willing to 'work' for his milk. Because the body works on supply and demand, if you don't use it you lose it. We recently started switching him over to formula to keep him hydrated. Or, try to anyway, because nursing wasn't providing him with what he needed. Well, the problem is, he wouldn't drink it. He'd get a few drinks here and a few drinks there, but he'd leave 1/2 to 3/4 of a 6 oz sippy cup of formula in the cup. This obviously isn't enough to keep him hydrated. He's been super-fussy lately and I imagine that was part of the problem, but he just wouldn't drink it.

Well, Saturday night Rob took the stopper out of the cup (it's a valve that makes it spill-proof) and Titus downed almost the entire cup in a matter of about a minute! He drank two full cups yesterday also by using this new method. You see, he's very capable of sucking liquids out of a sippy cup with a stopper in it. He's been able to for months now, but he doesn't want to work for it so he'll stop after the first couple of sucks. As long as it's free flowing though, the kid will drink to his hearts content! So, for now, we'll go with the stopper-less sippy cup, and we'll see if my prediction turns out to be true!

7th Heaven

I went to Eroica's house last night and watched the season premier of 7th Heaven...

Smile...

...Good times had by all!

aMAIZEing...

Leeann and I took Rob and Titus on a surprise date to a local corn 'maize' on Friday night. It was the first night they were open, and because it's early in the season there weren't many people there. We entered into the maze about 7 o'clock in the evening, just as it was starting to get dark. We wandered around for maybe 5 or 10 minutes and then ended up back where we started. We were both thinking it was kind of silly and that there had to be more to the maze than that--so we headed back in to see if we could get further into the maze. Their advertisement says it takes most people about an hour to get through it, and we were up for the challenge!

We got lost. Really lost. At the beginning of the evening it was still a little bit light out and we strolled through the tall stalks of corn. Rob had Titus in a carrier on his chest, and I was pushing Leeann in her jogging stroller. We were just moseying along having fun. As it got darker, and we got more and more disoriented; our strolling turned into a very fast-paced dire search for the exit. Rob and I were trying to keep calm, because at this point Leeann didn't realize there's anything frightening about being lost in a corn maze in the pitch dark with nobody around! At different points in time however, Rob and I were both panicking. We couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of us and we had tried every feasible path we could find. At one point I walked through the stalks (off the trail) toward some light and I found a new set of paths that we hadn't seen in a while. We knew we needed to get there, we just didn' t know how. So we set off to find out how to get there. We got lost again and it was nearing 9:00. Eventually we opted to stop looking for the exit and start looking for that place that I had walked through the stalks again. We eventually found that place and I told Leeann to cover her face because we were going in! So with all of my might I forced the jogging stroller through the stalks and we emerged onto a well-lit, well worn path. About 30 seconds later we were out of the maze and I felt like I could breathe again! It sounds silly, but it was honestly scary! We met the owners at the exit; they were just about to go in the maze looking for us. The sweet lady informed us that they plow emergency exits into the maze right about the first time someone gets really lost in there! I assure you if there had been emergency exits, we would have taken them! We sweetly smiled and made a little bit of small talk, then Leeann got to pick out a pumpkin for her and one for Titus and we headed toward our car. We didn't bother to tell them that we had 'taken the road less traveled' to finally get out of the maze. I'm sure by seasons end, we won't be the only ones!

If you would like some of your own family fun, I recommend taking your little ones (or even just your spouse) to the Iverson Family Farm in Jefferson, Oregon. I will make a small recommendation though--do it in the daylight and leave yourself plenty of time!

Gonna Be a Bear

In this life I'm a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to Hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're a mama bear everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

YEP, gonna be a bear!

I got this as a forward this morning in my inbox. If it makes you smile as much as it made me smile, it's gonna be a good day!

Church Stuff

This week we split into three services at our church. It was a big week for us as a family because the Children's Ministry had to make a lot of adjustments to accomodate that change, and Rob is now preaching at the 3rd service each week! We've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this week to see how the numbers would fall. There was actually a great showing in each of the 3 services, confirming that this was likely a good choice. The children fell pretty heavily into 2nd service though, so I'm scrambling trying to find some more teachers to meet the needs there. God is good though, too many kids is a great problem to have! We have lot's of exciting things going on at our church right now, I'm glad to get to be a part of what's going on. We continue to run around like chickens with our heads cut off, but life sure is fun these days!

A Tooth!

Yes folks, Titus has broken a tooth in! It's his bottom left tooth, and it's barely poked it's way through, but it's definately through because you can feel the sharp little guy.

It's funny how excited I got over a tooth, but I rejoice with each milestone I see in my kids, it's nice to see them growing healthy and happily! What an exciting day (for some odd reason!). I just wanted to share my joy and excitement with you!

My Little Girl over the Years

My Little Guy is Getting Big

She peed on my bed!

Yup, folks, the need for getting my daughter potty-trained is becoming more and more a matter of desperation. She came and crawled into my bed this morning to wake me up, but it was different than usual. She didn't climb all over me like normal and try to wake me up. She actually let me sleep for a while and I was thankful... until I realized it was because she had soaked through her pull-up and was leaking onto my bed. It's okay, I was really hoping I could spend the whole day doing laundry! In fact, I can't think of a better way to spend my Friday morning! Urggg. I'm getting desperate!

The Cure

Leeann discovered the cure for stretch-marks today! We were snuggling and she had her hands on my tummy. (side note: She has a fascination with tummies. Anytime she sees bare skin on someone’s tummy she’ll touch it, even if she doesn’t know you very well! This was all good and well when she was playing with baby brother in mommy’s tummy, but baby brother has been out of mommy’s tummy for 9 months now and the fascination is as strong as ever!) Well, anyway, she saw some of the stretch marks on my hip and asked me with a very worried look on her face, “Mommy, you got an owie?” “No, I have stretch marks.” I replied. “It hurts?” “No.” “What happened?” I explained where stretch marks come from and that seemed to appease her momentarily. “An owie?” she asked again. “I’m okay Leeann, it doesn’t hurt.”

“I make it all better!” she excitedly proclaimed, and then she leaned down and kissed them. She immediately wiped her face, but she seemed pretty proud of herself for kissing mommy’s owie all better. Unfortunately, they didn’t go away upon the magical kiss, but I won’t tell her that just yet. I want those special owie-fixing kisses to remain magical for as long as humanly possible! But for now, the search for the cure still remains…

Life

It seems like I've thought of several things worth blogging lately, but now that I have time to sit down and blog about them, I don't remember what they are. Weird eh?

One of them that I do remember is Leeann having a conversation with her daddy who was making muffins. They had been in the oven for several minutes when Leeann looked up and said, "Daddy, the muffins are crying." "Why are the muffins crying?" he asked. "Cause they want out!" It was cute.

For those 'keeping score' of our recent random string of stressing incidences, let it be known that garbage disposals and wash clothes do not get along well. Our xbox which doubles as our dvd player is having some issues, and our "carpenter ants" are just plain (big) ants, but they are nesting in a big patch of dry rot under our house. Good thing for good friends who are carpenters and are gracious enough to take a few hours out of their lives to help little peons like us! Do any of you know much about fixing broken garbage disposals or xboxes? Thought I'd ask!

The three of us with teeth went to the dentist this week. It's a new dentist for us and we liked it. Leeann got to go for the first time and was less-than-thrilled, but did well (at least that's daddy's report). Rob and I got our teeth cleaned for the first time in way too long. I've got a big cavity bordering on needing a root canal. I've got a small one also and some other minor issues. Rob's got a few minor issues too, but no cavities. Just in case you were wondering :0) He always wins!

Leeann has perfected a second language recently--whineeze. It's grating on my nerves! She's so sweet and helpful and polite most of the time, but she can be so stinking whiny at other times. Urg! She went to the doctor this week for her well-child check up and screamed at the top of her lungs when they put the plastic thing on her head to see how tall she is. She's perfectly average for her height and weight. That's encouraging. You should have seen her reaction to the shot, it was far worse. She's been milking her 'owie' for days though, showing her band-aid to anyone who will look (even if it means pulling her pants down in public, she's got a thing or two to learn about modesty:0)

In other news, we've resulted to full-fledged bribery. She now gets a jelly belly each time she goes to the bathroom. We just started tonight, and we'll see how this goes. Hopefully it will motivate her to begin recognizing that she needs to go? We had our second successful poo in the big girl potty today (before the jelly beans even). Of course it was immediately followed by the rest of the poo in her pull-up, but hey, progress is progress right?

Titus hasn't been much better in the whining area, he's had several boughts of fussiness lately. There have been many times that I've just let him cry and cry and cry. You can only do so much to appease a nine-month old! He's weighing in at a whopping 15 lbs, 5 oz. Still off the bottom of the charts! Yup, that's my son! I started putting him on some formula this week. He hasn't had any up to this point, but he's getting it once a day now. Hopefully that will help plump him up a little and it will help to make sure he's getting the nutrition and liquid he needs. Still no signs of teeth. He's started standing up on things though. Scary! He stood up in his crib this morning and cried bloody murder. I went up to get him and he was standing up and holding on for dear life. He didn't know how to get down! The more mobile he gets the more complicated life gets! Life is fun though!

Well, so much for having nothing to say. I'm falling asleep at the computer though, so I'm going to have to call it a night!

The Cousins!!!

These are some of Leeann & Titus's cousins, KayLee, Ashly, Amanda & Josh. We went to the park with them last week when we were on vacation and we had LOTS OF FUN! We wish we had family closer sometimes, but for now we'll have to settle for long visits on vacation. Below you'll find some pictures that highlight our day at the park!

 

Just having Fun!!!

Pictures in the park

 

Amanda

 

Ashly

 

KayLee

 

Josh

 

More Pictures from Seaside

Our attempt at a family picture with a tripod


Rob and his buddy Craig displaying one of their bad habits!
(Just kidding, they are candy cigarettes from one of the candy shops that boasted the biggest selection of candy in the NW. I saw all sorts of my favorite candy as a kid, it was quite fun and a definate trip back through time!)


What can I say? He's cute!

 

Seaside

Fun in the sand

It's cold and squishy between my toes!

Fun on the boardwalk

More fun on the Boardwalk

 

More Seaside Pictures

This is Leeann in the candy shop. We let her pick out any candy she wanted and she chose Jelly Beans. She got 1/4 pound of them and she was in heaven! There's nothing quite like a kid in a candy shop!


She was just a little excited...


Daddy took her on a carousel ride


Come on Titus, just a little smooch?

 

Could it be?

Titus has slept all of the way through the night for a good week or so now! Needless to say, I'm quite happy about this (way over-due) development!

In other news: We've been keeping super-busy around here as always. Rob is working on a virtual tour DVD for our new building project at church, and he's been putting in long hours for that. In fact, he's at the church right now even and it's Saturday! They are hoping to have it done this weekend though, so that will be good. He starts preaching every week beginning September 10th. He'll preach the 3rd service. They're calling it the "Red Line" service, because the music will be a bit louder than our other 2 services. I'm excited for all of the exciting changes taking place at our church.

I'm LOVING my job as Children's Ministry Director. It's honestly a dream job for me! Right now I'm knee deep in all sorts of stuff preparing to launch our Fall ministries, it's all quite exciting! The church bumped me up to 20 hours per week, which will be a little bit of a stretch in regards to me balancing my time at home and work... but the added pay is a huge blessing beyond words! One day at a time :0)

Speaking of, we ransomed our car from the shop yesterday. It was quite trying to only have one car for the week. Would anybody like to buy a Buick?!?!? Just teasin, I don't know if I'd wish that kind of evil on anyone! God continues to provide for us in amazing ways. We recently received a generous gift from some very special people *thanks* that covered all but $6.84 of our mechanic bill. The best part is, they gave us this money before we even knew our car was broken again. God knew, and God used them--God is good! I've said before that God is always faithful to give us what we need, and to make sure any extra doesn't stay around very long! It's our lot in life :0)

The kids are growing quite quickly. Leeann is a full-fledged beautiful little girl. There seems to be very little about her that remains from the baby stages (except the diaper thing, but don't get me started!) Titus is pulling himself up on things, clapping and otherwise mimicking others' behavior. He's getting up to the sitting position all by himself and he likes to chant "da-da-da-da-da". Why wouldn't he chant "ma-ma-ma-ma" when I'm the one that does the majority of the feeding, changing, bathing, cooing etc.? Because daddy's cooler, that's all there is to it!

It's fun to see Leeann and Titus play. He pulls her hair and she talks to him and snuggles with him. She tries to play with him just like daddy plays with her (chasing, tickling, roaring). Life is fun around here! They're both growing up so fast. Titus is 9 months old today. I swear I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday, where does time go?