He's ONE!

Today is the 1st birthday of my precious nephew, Riley! This little guy is so adorable, kissable and so much fun! We were able to meet him for the first time when he was about a week old and fell in love with him then. I was just newly pregnant with Cora and after holding him couldn't wait to hold my own baby! We have watched him grow from newborn, to infant, to a walking boy! He is definitely the "Italian Stallion" of the family, getting a lot more of his daddy's Italian genes than his sister got. He is always ready to greet you with a smile and look at you with his big, beautiful, brown eyes! Look out! You'll get lost in them! His newest accomplishment is that he is now WALKING! We got to witness that excitement last weekend. Happy Birthday, Riley! We love you so much and are so excited to celebrate with you next weekend!

5 Months Already???

Can you believe she's 5 months old? It's amazing, really! She seems to really enjoy "talking" and babbling and giving us what-for! :) It's so hilarious! She has 2 teeth (still not able to get photo of those) and I believe she's working on some more. She's getting very strong, loves her bouncy thing, loves to sit up (hopefully one her own soon) and loves to be interacted with. Here are a few photos of this last month! :) Enjoy, I mean, she is SO CUTE! :)

Taken this morning. She's looking at Daddy!

She loves reaching out for Molly now.

This is about as far as we can get her to roll over. The stinker seems to refuse to roll all the way over!

She loves to read and loves to eat this book!

We got to see the cousins last week. Sophia will be 5 years old in November!

Riley is lots of fun and very interested in his cousin. He'll be ONE tomorrow!

She still LOVES her baths!

Beware the Evils of...LUNCHMEAT!

Ooooooo...aren't you scared? Aren't you shaking in your boots (or sandals, since it is summer!)? Due to Cora needing a special formula (Alimentum by Similac, which is, by the way, the most expensive kind you can get), and since it's costing us $300.00 a month we decided to sign up for WIC. If you're not familiar with WIC it is a government program designed to help Women, Infants and Children up to age 5. They provide food "packages" for the mom of cheese, bread, juice, beans, peanut butter and some $$ to go towards buying fresh fruits and veggies. Apparently, the whole WIC system has just undergone a renovation so things are slightly different then they used to be. Now, the pkg for the mom is available until your child reaches 6 months and then the child stays in the program until age 5. The pkgs for the child change according to their development and nutritional needs. In any case, right now, we need help with formula!!! I know we won't be on WIC until Cora is 5, but for now it'll help meet a need! So, all that to give you background as to our time at the WIC office yesterday! :)

We had a meeting scheduled at 4 p.m. yesterday, which we quickly realized was an arbitrary thing, not really a meeting. After sitting in the waiting room for about 45 min listening to a bunch of kids screaming, playing LOUDLY, parents yelling louder at them to "BE QUIET," we were finally called back. We sat with a nurse (?) who asked all sorts of questions to be sure we qualified (we do). She then weighed and measured Cora, weighed and measured me and took a pin prick of my blood to check my iron. Then it was BACK to the waiting room where the previous screaming kids were replaced by new ones! We waited some more and were called back to meet with another nurse (her lab coat said she was a RN). She did the setting-up. There was MUCH confusion as to why we weren't already in the system, she couldn't understand that we were just now signing up for WIC. I'll spare you all the details, but we eventually got it figured out.

Now to the title of my blog! :) After asking us such questions like: do you put pop in your baby's bottle, honey on her pacifier, etc. the lady saw that we were intelligent people and good parents. We kinda got the feeling that she was TRYING to find something to lecture us about and wasn't finding anything. I mean, we do eat fruits, veggies, don't smoke or drink, etc. What more could there be???? Well, thankfully for her, she kept at it and FINALLY found something that we were doing "wrong". That's right folks. WE EAT LUNCHMEAT!!!!!! GASP! Can you believe it???? We aren't drunks, don't smoke, don't do drugs, but we sure do love us some lunchmeat! Well, talk about a attacking something! She said to me, "you do steam your lunchmeat, right?" I said, "no, what do you mean, 'steam it'?" Well, that brought on a big lecture about the evils of lunchmeat and ended with giving us another pamphlet clearly outlining the dangers of the vile stuff. Brother. The lady didn't seem to understand that I wanted to make my baby's food, but she sure did understand that we eat lunchmeat. (By the way: we eat stuff that is thinly sliced chicken breasts, ham, roast beef, not processed, or with preservatives. Quite fine and healthy and not needing to be steamed.)

Well, after our time in the WIC office we left wondering what our fearless leader was thinking wanting to give our country government-run health care. Can you imagine dealing with this sort of thing every time you needed to see a doctor? But, that's a topic for another day and not at all to do with this blog! If you want to read a good blog on health care, read this from my husband's blog. Very interesting!

Oh, and beware lunchmeat! It'll get you!!!

The Sparrow

On my way to work I was listening to the song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow." I love this song. I know it's old, but I just love it. It's so true, isn't it? Scripture says that God knows when a sparrow falls. It's very interesting to think about. Sparrows are just these little, brown, almost non-descript birds that are everywhere. They just kinda blend in and you really just forget they're even there. However, GOD knows they are there. In fact, he knows they're there so much that He knows when one dies. Wow! What an awesome thought.

It's no secret that this season David and I find ourselves in is difficult. It has had it's ups and it's many downs. We've struggled with a lot of different things, but we are always brought back to the fact that God LOVES us and CARES for us and PROVIDES for us. He knows our needs--emotionally, spiritually and physically. He knows this is not an easy time. He knows when this season will end. I am encouraged to know that through this storm God knows I'm here. He knows that I'm having a rough time, but he loves me enough to take me through this time so I can grow in my faith.

Take heart that God knows you! He is so aware of everything that happens in this life that he knows when a little, tiny sparrow dies. How much more does he love you??

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. Matthew 10:29 NIV

She Did It!

Cora is now the proud owner of 2 teeth! Her 2 middle bottom teeth have poked through and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. She was a bit cranky, drooly, and didn't nap like she usually does, but all in all I think we came out of it no worse for wear! Now, she is rewarded 2 little, white teeth. They're so cute. Of course, they're not fully grown through, but they have cut the gums so the worse of it is over! Two down, 26 to go! :) She will hardly let us see the teeth, so getting a photo is, at this point, impossible, but I thought the one above was awfully cute, even if you can't see the teeth! :)

"Bueblerry" Muffins

Well, here we are again, the end of another weekend. I had decided a bit ago that I would get back to baking more, like I used to. When I got pregnant I was so sick that being in the kitchen literally made me throw up. Then, Cora was born and well, long story short, I just stopped baking like I used to. As I've mentioned, I have a friend who has a food blog. She has inspired me to get back to into the kitchen and get baking again, much to my husbands delight! :) I make a lot of muffins but for some reason I've always used box mixes. I don't know why, I just have. But, this time I realized we have a lot of blueberries that aren't getting eaten and maybe it would be tasty to make some muffins! :) So, that's just what I did! :) Shocking, I know! :) :) They turned out DELICIOUS!!! The recipe makes 12 and between my husband and I we're already eaten 4. :) I thought I would share some photos and also the recipe. You'll notice that right now my recipes all come from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook due to all of my others being packed away at the moment. So, without further adieu... 

Blueberry Muffins

from Better Homes and Gardens

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 recipe streusel topping

1. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper cups; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture; Set aside.

3. In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture al at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy--did you know if you over-stir your muffins you'll have pointy muffins instead of round curved ones?). Gently fold in blueberries.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling each 2/3 full. If desired (I highly recommend), sprinkle with streusel topping (see recipe below) over muffin batter in cups. 

5. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 min. or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 min. Remove from muffin cups.

Streusel Topping:

3 Tbsp. flour

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. butter

Cut butter into dry ingredients until topping becomes course (size of peas). Sprinkle on top of muffin batter in cups.

Conversations with a 4 1/2 month old!

Well, we all know we can't reason with children younger than 4, usually. We know you certainly can't reason with a child who is only 4 1/2 months. I had this "conversation" with Cora last night:

Scene: changing table, getting her ready for bed

Cora: SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Cora, honey, you're OK. Please stop screaming.
Cora: Screaming and pushing herself backwards with her legs, thus resulting in banging her head into the end of the changing table. Louder screaming ensues.
Me: (frantic) Cora! Are you OK? (Followed by picking her up, checking her head and then laying her down to finish.)
Cora: More screaming...
Me: David! I need your help! I can't get her to lay still long enough to get her pajama's on! She keeps banging into the end of the table! (I had since put her stuffed bunny at the end to protect her head)
David: Cora, it's OK. You're OK.
Cora: stops screaming.
Me: sigh...

Is this a look into things to come? She was SO MAD and it was obvious!!!!

This morning we had another conversation. It went a little something like this:

Setting: our bedroom, 5:30 this morning (same conversation yesterday morning, by the way).

Cora: bleh, bleh, giggle, giggle; picks up legs and bangs them on her mattress, more cooing...
Me: Cora, honey, it's too early to be awake. Why don't you go back to sleep? (I then turn on Squiggy and put her paci in her mouth).
Cora: promplty spits paci out and wiggles her legs really fast and flaps her arms and smiles really big at me as if to say, "Mommy! It's you! I'm so glad because I'm AWAKE!"
Me: Seriously, it's not time to get up. Please go back to sleep.
Cora: more smiles, more flapping, more wiggles.
Me: Sigh...

Well, we can see our daughter definitely has a mind of her own! She must have gotten that from her father! :) Looks like life is going to only become more interesting...

The Cogs are a Turnin'

Well, at long last the "wheels" have been greased and it would appear things are moving in the world of church stuff. The church we have been most interested in has FINALLY finished everything they need to do to receive pastors' profiles and received their batch of profiles last night. A BIG sigh of relief, let me tell you! Now, they have not yet called David, but we do know David is in the stack of profiles, and we also know they are interested in him (he preached there 2x in January). Plus, the head of the search committee asked our contact at this church for a copy of David's resume (which the man had). So, this is very encouraging to us!!!!! Does this mean the job is ours? No, but it does mean that things are and will be happening!!! Please pray for us as we go through the process with this church. Here are some things to keep in mind...

1. Pray David will stay forefront in their minds.
2. Pray they will be drawn to David (and me eventually) throughout this whole process.
3. We have prayed for months (since Oct 2008, actually) that this would be where God would place us. Pray with us that this is His will.
4. Pray for us that we will have continued patience, that we won't put the "cart before the horse" and that we will just wait on him--all very hard things to do!!!
5. Pray that the Spirit would move on both sides (the church and us) and make it very obvious to both parties what His will is for the church and for us.

I could go on, but it basically boils down to praying for the Lord's will would to be done and that we and the church will hear his voice clearly.

Thank you for praying! We greatly appreciate it. We both feel as though change (GOOD change) is coming soon and that our time of waiting is coming to a close. We hope and pray this to be true.

Update on Cars

Well, I could go into a long story about the cars, but I'll spare you the details and just say this: Due to the woman not having car insurance we will only be getting the van repaired (it's at the shop now), and thankfully, that will be covered by our insurance company. The Honda is old, on it's last leg, has almost 180,000 miles on it, the 2nd car so we only have very basic insurance on it (hence our insurance co won't replace it. If the woman had had insurance we'd have been able to get the van fixed, replace the Honda and get a rental car.). Also, in MI you have to pay extra to get a rental car while your car is being fixed. Well, we didn't pay for that because we had 2 cars and well, who would've thought BOTH cars would be out of commission at the same time due to the same accident? We have gone back and forth as to what to do now for a second car. Do we need one at this point? Can we afford it? Are we able to trade in the Honda for the "cars for clunkers" deal? We haven't completely decided, though we're leaning towards just making due with the van until David gets a job. A little on the annoying side, but oh well!

So, there you have it. An update, though not exciting! :)

"The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him." Lamentations 3:25 NLT

Who Says Nothing Happens in Osseo?

Here are some photos of the accident. The "rest of the story" is after the photos. I can't seem to get things to cooperate this morning....

Back of the Honda. Trunk was popped open.

The driver's car.

Last evening, around 6:00 I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready, and David was taking care of Cora, watching TV in the living room when we heard a CRASH! BANG! I come flying out of the kitchen in time to see David flying out the door only stopping to give me Cora and yelling, "Call the police!" I look outside and see that someone has run into our PARKED Honda, which was then slammed into our PARKED van! David went out and saw there was a girl (early 20s) sitting in the car, dazed, with no seatbelt. He had to ask her several times if she was OK before she responded. When she did she said she was fine and got out of the car. (this all happened very quickly) A sheriff pulled up literally less than a minute after it all happened. He proceeded to ask the girl what happened, etc. She kept saying she was "OK," which of course was obvious she was not. Amazingly enough she didn't have a scratch on her considering she came full speed (no skid marks on road to indicate she had tried to stop) into 2 parked cars and she wasn't wearing a seatbelt. After a few minutes another sheriff came and then a MI state police with another officer with him and then the amublance along with several neighbors.

What we came to learn was this girl had taken out a telephone pole down the road dropping a package of some kind...drugs???? Then she went into a ditch only to land into our cars. She had just recently been in jail for wreckless driving and was driving on a suspended license. Also, one of the witnesses had seen her "huffing" from an aerosal can while she was driving and evidence would prove so.

I am thankful for MANY things in this situation. First and foremost is this: David, Cora, Molly and I often are found taking walks at the same time this all happened. I do not believe in coincindences and know that the Lord made it happen that I wasn't fixing dinner until later last night. There are many kids in this neighborhood who love to ride bikes and play outside at this time. Last night, there were no children outside. The Lord kept many of us safe including this girl who caused it all to begin with. I am also left with a burden for her. I don't know who she is or where she comes from or what her life is like, but clearly it's not a very good one. I have been praying for her since she "came" into our lives last night.

I am also left to wonder, "What more, Lord?" It just seems to keep coming. But, I am reminded that cars are replaceable and my husband and child are not. I am reminded that the Lord knows our needs and our finances. He knows it all. David is meeting with the insurance people this morning to see what needs to be done. The Honda is, I'm sure, done for. The van is still driveable but we can't get the passenger door open. So...

I found this verse yesterday and little did I know how much it would mean today. "The LORD is good to those how depend on him, to those who search for him." Lam. 3:25 Yep, we're depending on the Lord!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Today would have been my grandpa's birthday. I have already mentioned what a wonderful man he is. (Click here to read about him.) He went home to be with the Lord on June 22 and has been greatly missed ever since. But! What a birthday to be having today! :) I wonder what it's like to celebrate one's birthday in Heaven? Do you celebrate? Well, if you do, I'm sure it's the best ever!

Typically we would celebrate my grandpa's and cousin Steve's birthdays at the same time. Steve's is on Friday. I have a lot of memories of combined birthday parties. I'm guessing this will be a hard one for Steve this year.


Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you so much and still miss you!