Please Pray

My nephew Caleb has an appointment at Shriner's Hospital tomorrow at 9am. Please keep him, his parents, and any doctors he may encounter in your prayers. Thanks. :)

I Love Snow Days!

Nothing like an extra day off in the middle of the week to help me accomplish things! This past weekend was a BUST, I did absolutely NOTHING. It was just a lazy weekend to hang out and be lazy. Soooo...now I must take advantage of this snow day and do something!

As of right now...I'm on my second cup of coffee. I watched my dvr'd Jon & Kate Plus Eight from Monday. (What a nice new house! I'm jealous!) Now I'm watching my dvr'd American Idol from last night. (Simon's my favorite.) My plans for the rest of the day include taking the ornaments and lights off the tree. Yes, it's true, our tree is still up. I've been a major procrastinator. The scary thing is it's a real tree...which I've quit watering...so when John carries it out, it'll be sure to leave a trail of needles atleast an inch thick. :) And I'll have to listen to him complain about it. Oh well.

I also plan on catching up on ALL my laundry. I have basically all the clothes done, but I have tons of sheets, bath towels, dish towels, washcloths, rags, etc. to do. The bathroom and kitchen both need a major cleaning. Plus I promised John that if I had a snow day I'd do some shoveling in the driveway. So as long as a spot is cleared for his truck by 4pm when he gets home from work, he'll be happy. I feel bad because John's Dad usually ends up snowblowing our driveway. And I'm fully capable of shoveling. (Yet another downside to not being pregnant still. I would have been able to get out of shoveling.)

As I look around the living room I realize that it needs to be cleaned too. Ah well, I have Friday off, so as long as I do some picking up in here, the major cleaning (putting away Christmas stuff which covers every surface) can wait till Friday.

The snow continues to fall. I'm going to finish my coffee, finish American Idol, make a to-do list (because I always work better when I can cross things off) and get to work. I PROMISE!

Sledding Fun!

Today was sledding day at work! Since we've had appropriate snow (and temperatures) we've been outside twice. I was dreading it. Ten kids, each with their own snowpants, boots, coats, hats, mittens, scarves, gloves, etc. But honestly, it's a blast. It's a lot of work to get out there, but once we do it's great. ALL the kids tried sledding and enjoyed it. Some choose not to do it so much, others sled down time after time after time. Some would rather eat snow. :) But atleast they're all out there, and not crying!!

This is Mason, isn't he adorable? He's moving up in a week.

Julius...with his eyes closed. :)

Ned, peeking out under his hat, and Dominic. They're both moving up too.

Jade, she'll be moving up as well.

Dominic! With his Batman hat!

Abby & Alexa...I'm keeping them! :) They were the little daredevils on the hill!

They were such good little climbers after they flew down the hill!

Dominic & Julius getting ready for a ride.

Jade & Abby excited to sled!

Colin (he's moving up) and Alexa....watch out, Colin's holding the reins!

The whole crew! Dominic, Abby, Ned, Julius, Alena, Alexa, Mason, Colin & Jade!

I never want to hear a mother with one or two kids complain about taking them outside in the snow!!! :)

Babysitting

John and I babysat last night for our nephews! I always love spending time with the boys, and I think John has more fun than anyone! He's not a huge fan of babies. Not much fun, according to him. But he did take care of Zach a few times last night when I had to do laundry and stuff. The rest of his evening was spent playing with Caleb! He picked up his train set from his parents house and set it all up for Caleb. He also bought some musical instruments a few days ago to put in Caleb's toy basket that we have at our house. It's so fun for me to see John so excited to spend time with him and play with him.

So John and Caleb spent the night playing with trains and instruments. There was a little red recorder that Caleb was determined to play. He tried and tried and tried. Every once in awhile he would get a little whistle out, but he couldn't figure out how to just blow. He kept humming, and that just wouldn't work. His determination (and the silly looks on his face) made John and I laugh SO HARD, so then Caleb would laugh and try again. Then he played the kazoo, which he liked, but I think the vibrations tickled his nose. He kept laughing and rubbing his nose after he played it!

Zachary was a good boy, as usual. I fed him his bottle (while I ate my dinner) and then he was content to just sit in the bouncy seat and watch Caleb play for awhile. He's such a happy baby. Here's some pictures from our evening together.


The happy Zachary

Not the best picture, but Caleb loves this firehat!

Caleb enjoyed his chocolate chip cookie from Uncle John

Playing ball with Uncle John...the recorder as a bat :)

Playing the recorder (upside down)

Smiling while playing, he loved entertaining us :)

Such a sweet boy

Time to try the kazoo!

Gotta try that recorder one more time!

Showertime

Yesterday was Christine's baby shower. We had a great time, and she got TONS of stuff! Some moments were hard for me, but I got through it without too many tears...I'm proud of myself. :) Here are some pictures from the day. I didn't take as many as I'd like to because of being busy helping her, but I did get some!


Here are the many cupcakes Sarah, Mom & Daniela worked on

Mom made all the candies, Sarah made all the cupcakes and Daniela helped decorate them!

The set-up was gorgeous
Mom made the diaper cake, and even had ribbon on it in Christine's colors, pink and brown

What a load of gifts!

lots of guests

more guests

and even more guests!

Dad helped ALOT with the food!

Keelin liked the bathtub

I think she's a tiny bit too big for it! :)

Zachary had a great time

Sweet little grin

and the woman of the hour! Congratulations Christine!

Happy Birthday to ME!

The end of last month...the end of 2008...I turned 28. All my family came to celebrate with me and we had a great time. I decided to share some pictures instead of a long blog.

Christine & I



Happy Birthday!



I got them all!

John, Dad & Caleb playing

Matt having fun

There it goes!

Caleb loves knocking over towers

Grammy & Caleb

Grampy & Zachary

Matt being silly

I honestly can't believe I'm 28, but I'm so grateful for my wonderful family who loves me. I'm hoping this year brings many blessings and joys my way!!

Everyone will be Amazed

I don't know exactly how to start this post. For some reason, it's been easier for me to openly discuss my own personal problems. But talking about Caleb has been harder. When I was 7 years old I had to be hospitalized for dehydration. At some point during that whole ordeal I remember my Dad saying he wished it was him going through it instead of me. Obviously I don't have my own kids yet, but I love my nephew to pieces, and I know that feeling my Dad had. Maybe not as much as a parent, but it's the next closest thing.


Caleb was the first baby born into our family. A much-prayed-for pregnancy that resulted in the cutest little boy. He's a little clone of his Daddy. He's a happy, laid back, smiley boy. He may be entering his 'cantankerous twos' but we just love him so much. Just thinking about him makes me smile. He loves trains and dogs. He likes giving treats to Zoe. :) I would do anything for that boy.


It's so hard to not know why Caleb isn't walking. It's so hard to know that something is wrong, but not know what it is, or how to fix it, or where to turn for help. It's hard to keep my mind from thinking, "It's not fair!" Of course it's not fair. So many things aren't fair in this world. But why Caleb? Why our family? Why are Dave & Amy forced to endure this huge trial, when it seems they've dealt with more than their fair share already? I'm sure that God has answers to these questions. I know He does. I just wish we were already on the other side of this huge cavern, seeing things through His eyes. I know that God never gives someone more than they can handle, with His help. But I feel like there's a breaking point.


There are a couple verses that I've been reading alot lately, and I know others in my family have been too. Mark 2, verses 11&12 begin with Jesus speaking to a paralytic, '"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"'


Here's the reason! This is the answer to every "WHY?" question we've ever asked concerning Caleb. Everyone will be amazed! They will be praising God! GOD will receive all the glory for making Caleb able to walk and run! Many people will believe, because it will be something miraculous that they've never seen before!


I can't wait for the day when Caleb is walking and running and driving us all nuts because he won't slow down! I know that day is coming. God is an all-powerful, all-knowing God. He doesn't make mistakes, and he doesn't make empty promises. God isn't surprised by anything. Our faith is in Him. His timing isn't our own, but it is perfect. In the meantime, we pray, pray, pray. Please join us!