Hilarious! :-)

Minnie Mouse, a Spider and a Little Fireman

Tonight, Caleb and I went out to kids' night at Texas Roadhouse with friends.  The kids dressed up for the event, and the restaurant had candy and games ready.  We had lots of fun.

Caleb was a fireman.  We had the yellow coat thanks to his cousin Seth, so we just bought a hat. Kaylee was the cutest little spider ever...and Taylor was Minnie Mouse.  They were hysterical. 

Leah and her husband Jason went through childbirth classes with us, but it wasn't until we met her again at Toddler Time at the library that we became friends.  They're adorable, aren't they?

Sidenote:  Thanks for the prayers and comments, friends. I/we are so grateful for you. 

 And Mrs. Mitchell, if you read this again, would you please give me a way to write you back.  I was so excited to see your sweet note, Rachel, and I would love to catch up with you again, my friend. 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Dad!

We love you!  :-)  

Still Waiting...

When you're single and dating someone, people often ask,

"When are you getting married?" 

When you're married without kids, people often ask,

"When are you guys thinking of having kids?"

When you are married with kids, people often ask,

"When are you guys thinking of having more?"

Although these questions have been known to be annoying, I often find myself asking them in conversation.  I, personally, have never minded responding to them either, but answering that last one has been getting a little harder lately. 

As many around here already know, Brandon and I have been wanting to get pregnant again for over a year now...since last August. Because my pregnancy with Caleb was unexpected, I think I expected to have a baby nine months from when the date we decided we wanted another one.  I never dreamt it would take the fifteen or so months we have been waiting for a positive pregnancy test.  God has had other plans, it seems. 

Some days are honestly hard, but thankfully most are not.  Overall, the Lord has shown His goodness to us in so many ways.  I have grown more and more grateful for what He has given me...especially in our son...and I am cherishing each stage of his development.  I have been able to better understand the struggles with infertility of some of my very best friends.  And, most importantly, He has reminded me again and again that it is He who is directing my life, and the plans I so carefully lay out aren't always His.  I am just grateful that His plans are so much better than mine...and so glad that one day I will get to see just how true that is. 

So, I guess I am writing this to let you in on our struggle and ask for prayer.  Please pray that we will trust Him and get to know Him better through this process of waiting.  Please pray that we would walk well with Him through this...and that we would follow as He guides.  We have thought and talked about adoption for a while now, as there is such great need out there for homes for so many kids.  We had planned on having a few of our own before possibly adopting, but God might have other plans for us.  Please pray for guidance with that as well.  THANK YOU so much. 

  

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding; 

in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Fye-a-tuck

As most little boys do, ours loves fire trucks.  Our friend, Mark, is a fire chief at a station here in town, and we went to visit him and check out a real life fire station...since we have been reading about them so much lately. 

Just as we were getting ready to go, they were sent out on a call.  Caleb was fascinated to see the firemen leaving to help people.  He especially loved the lights and sirens.  

Mark and the other firemen were great...and so willing to answer our questions.  It was a really fun experience...and one I am sure we will try to repeat with friends someday. 

"Bye fye-a-tuck!!!"

A Big Boy Bed

We were blessed from the beginning with an absolutely amazing sleeper in Caleb.  He has inherited that, I would say, from his parents...and we had lots of help along the way from the BabyWise books by Gary Ezzo (AMAZING).  

So, when we decided to transition Caleb to a toddler bed, we were thinking it would be as easy as everything else has been along the way.  Well, not so much.  He screamed so much that first night that Brandon ended up spending the night in his room.  The next week or so went the same way.  He didn't nap.  I wasn't getting any sleep during the night or even during the day.  I wasn't getting anything done...and I was so tired.  

The screaming never stopped, so we decided he wasn't ready...or I wasn't ready.  Something like that.  So, now the opening in his crib is pushed up against the wall, and I am sleeping at night again.  He has security back, and I have my three hour window during his nap to get stuff done. Our home is happy and peaceful yet again. 

But, I would welcome any thoughts other moms have on the subject from your own experience. I could use all the help I can get for when we try it again in a few months. 

Albuquerque

We have had a very busy few weeks, and I have been very bad at updating our blog.  A lot of that has to do with the "my little boy is not sleeping so I don't feel like uploading pictures...I just want to sleep" phase we have going through lately.  More on that later. 

Two weeks ago, Caleb and I joined the Washburns and headed up to Albuquerque to see the Hoppes in the hospital as well as the Christensens.  We had such a great time...and it was definitely not long enough, in my opinion.

 

Baby Izzy is amazing!  He looked great and is really among the cutest little boys in the world. His surgery went really well, and he was released from the hospital just a few days after our visit...weeks earlier than expected.  God answers prayers pretty well, doesn't He?  And that little boy is so blessed to have such great parents.

You'll see many more pictures of Izzy soon.  We had a fun photo shoot today, and I got to spend tons of time looking at that little cutie through my viewfinder.  Good times.  :-) 

 

Caleb and I got to spend some good time with Kyle and Chrissy and their six-month-old, Ina.  We miss them a lot since they moved up north.  Chrissy and I got up at four thirty in the morning and RODE BIKES to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  It was pitch black...and such an adventure.  It was so good for me in every sense of the word.  

There is something about Albuquerque that makes it wonderful for hot air balloons.  Hundreds of balloonists from all over the world gather together there for the largest balloon invitational on the planet.  It should definitely be on everyone's life "to-do" list. 

Thanks, Kyle and Chrissy, for your unbelievable hospitality!!  

Finally...

We get to meet Baby Izzy!  Caleb and I will head up to Albuquerque in the morning to go see this precious little answer to so many prayers.  I am really excited to see him and his amazing parents.  We are going up with the Washburns, which will be fun.  And, we will be staying with Kyle, Chrissy and Ina...whom I haven't seen in what feels like ages.  So, I am very, very excited about the weekend ahead of us.  

Brandon will stay home because he was asked to speak at a leadership conference the university is hosting.  It is an awesome opportunity, and he is looking forward to it.  Please continue to pray that the Lord would provide more and more opportunities to serve the campus like this.