New Years Resolution

I don't typically do New Years Resolutions, but.....after spending the entire day washing, folding, organizing, putting away, and sorting through piles of clothes, I've decided that 2010 will be the year when I actually PUT AWAY the laundry after I wash and fold it.

Anyone else making any resolutions this year? Hope everyone has a fun filled evening! :)

Christmas Recap

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! :)

It feels like the past few days since my last post have been so packed full that it's hard to know what to even write about. My mind is having difficultly separating the interesting to write about from the more boring events. 

Christmas week flew by this year. After an eventful 30+ hour trip that should have taken about 8, Jarred's sister made it here on Sunday (I think? My days are all mixed up!) For those of you who don't know, we live in a big old farmhouse on the dairy that Jarred works at. The house is divided into 2 houses...we live in the big side and his parents live on the other. We had tons of fun going back and forth while Auntie Jess was visiting. We played lots of cards - hearts mainly and my first and last game of peanuckle after which Jarred said, "you're intelligent! Why couldn't you get it together in that game?" haha (he meant it very lovingly and jokingly, but it was true...my mind could not keep it all together!)

Living close to family is a blessing and a curse on holidays. We get to be together with all of our family and not miss out on anything, but it also means a lot of running back and forth and not a lot of resting. We went to our church's Christmas Eve service, spent Christmas morning with my family and the evening with Jarred's family. After putting Emma down to sleep on Christmas Eve, Jarred and I were able to spend a few minutes alone to share our gifts with each other. This year I had asked for him to come up with something on his own. He is VERY good at getting exactly what I ask for, but this year I wanted him to put thought into getting something that HE thought would bless me. It was a struggle for him, but in the end, I was completely surprised by a BEAUTIFUL new piece of furniture for our home and I LOVE it! I knew he had it in him! :) Emma of course was spoiled by her grandparents and aunts and uncles. She is still a little too young to get into ripping open the packages (she just wanted them in her mouth) but she is enjoying playing with all of her new toys and Momma's enjoying dressing her up in her cute new outfits! I love having a little girl! :)

Speaking of the little lady, I felt SO bad this morning when I went to go get her from her crib only to find that she had thrown up (lots) and slept on it all night long. The poor girl had a rash from sleeping on the wetness and smelled so sour! I'm sure she forgot all about it after a quick bath, but Momma felt terrible. She wimpered a little and talked for a few minutes after we put her down, but I thought nothing of it and before long she was quiet. I didn't check on her when we went up to bed...I know I couldn't have known and it's not a big deal, but I felt like a pretty crummy Momma! She's also got a runny runny nose and working hard to cut her top 2 front teeth so we're laying low and working on feeling better! Sick babies break your heart...Hopefully she'll be back to her usual happy self before long!

Merry Christmas!

Isn't there some old saying about how things come in threes?? Our little family (of 3) will definitely have had 3 not so fun doctor appointments after tomorrow is finished! It started on Tuesday with my annual trip to the female doctor...enough said. Then on Friday, hubby went to the oral surgeon to have his 4 wisdom teeth plus an additional tooth removed. Tomorrow we will finish off the fun as Emma heads to the pediatrician for her 6 month appointment and shots. Let's just say we are ready to be done with doctors for a little while!

Jarred's been such a champ about his teeth. I have to admit I was nervous about this whole ordeal, knowing how painful it can be and listening to him adamently declare that he WOULD be back out to work the next day. Indeed he was and although he is in some pain, he isn't one to complain. I think I've heard him complain more about not being able to eat real food than about the actual pain! I keep telling him that I'd LOVE to be eating the pudding, ice cream, mac 'n cheese, etc that he's eating. All those yummy dairy-filled foods....mmmmm.

I probably won't blog again until after the Holidays - with family and busy schedules it's just not high on my priority list - so I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday

Ok so the whole point of the "wordless wednesday" posts are to have the pictures speak for themselves and give you a glimpse of what's going on in our lives but since I've never done one before, I figured I had to explain. So without further adu (ado?) (adeu?) (I don't know how to spell that word!), or further talking...enjoy our first family sled ride! :)

Wordle

I saw this fun thing called a Wordle on a sweet friend's blog and thought I'd give it a try. Basically it pulls random words from all of your blog posts and creates a "word cloud" with them. I was cracking up looking at mine because there are SO many food words! I guess I talk about food a lot between Em's allergies to my cooking experiences...haha! Enjoy! :) EDIT: I'm still working on trying to make this big enough so you can really see what it says. In the meantime, sorry it's so tiny!

6 Months Old

Guess who is 6 months old?!?

Here's what she's up to these days...

-Right around 5 months she mastered sitting up without any support (from anyone else or her arms). She loves to flap her arms like a bird and play with her toys.

-She is VERY close to crawling. She can get herself into position, move her legs but she hasn't quite figured out how to move those arms so she falls forward onto her belly. I don't think it'll be long before this little one is mobile!

-Emma still nurses about every 3-4 hrs. She has oatmeal for breakfast, a veggie for lunch, and fruit for dinner. She loves fruit but seems to be taking after her mommy and is not at all crazy about vegetables.

-She typically takes a morning and afternoon nap and then goes down to bed around 7 or 8. She will sleep around 11 hrs at night.

-She wears 3-6m clothes.

-Her fine motor skills are really getting good - she is working on learning how to pick up puffs to eat and she is great at picking up different toys or other things she may want (mommy's glasses, sweatshirt strings, etc!)

-All of a sudden her "talking" is actually starting to sound more like real talking. Instead of just cooing and yelling, she is making more consonant sounds and it sounds OH so cute!

I can't believe half a year has flown by already! I asked Jarred if it was too early to start planning her first birthday and he just shook his head. I know it'll be here before we know it! Happy half birthday sweet girl! :)

edit: I forgot to mention that she now has 2 tiny little bottom teeth coming in! Overall she has been an angel about the teething process, although she did fuss a little bit between the first and second. I can't blame her though...it must be uncomfortable!

No whey - I ate tofu!

Yesterday I decided that if I'm really going to do this non dairy thing long term, then I might as well go for 100%. After looking up a few recipes that sounded good, I drove a little farther to go grocery shopping at a Giant that has a really nice vegan/organic section (vegans don't do dairy either) and stocked up. I got dairy free chocolate chips, macaroni and cheese, ice cream - I figure if I have dairy free treats around, I'll be less tempted to eat other things (like the pounds of chocolate bars, brownies and pumpkin roll that Jarred brought home from his hunting trip....thanks darling).

My first recipe that I tried for dinner last night was chicken fettucine alfredo. It called for soy milk and silken tofu which by the way looks like a block of cream cheese. It turned out pretty well after a large amount of salt to cover the blandness and although it definitely has a slightly different taste than regular alfredo sauce, Jarred gobbled it up and said it was good! I struggled a little bit to mentally get over the tofu that I knew was in it. Tonight I'm trying a chicken pot pie so we'll see how that goes - it doesn't call for tofu so I should be good!

p.s. Please pardon my lame attempt at a "dairy-free" joke of a title. Whey is a dairy-based ingredient but it is pronounced like "way"....get it? haha

Snow, teeth, and eczema :)

Aren't we a cute little family on our farm? haha Jarred's brother took some pictures for us a few weeks ago for our Christmas card - this isn't the one we chose for our card, but I still really like it! The mistyness in the background ALMOST feels like snow! Speaking of snow...I've heard from a few people that it's supposed to be a snowy winter and although I won't have work "snow days" I am really excited to get snowed in and watch movies and drink warm tea in my pjs.

This morning Emma was chewing on my finger and I felt something sharp as I pulled it out of her mouth. I couldn't believe it when I further examined the situation and realized...my little baby has cut her first tooth! She's been drooling like a faucet and putting everything in her mouth for a few months but she hasn't been fussy at all so it was very unexpected! How in the world did she get old enough for this already!?!?

Over the past few weeks I've been noticing that she has what looks to be some mild eczema on her sweet little body. It's really dry, rough and occasionally gets red. I've been trying to figure out if it's because of the dairy I've been having, because of our hard water, or just how her skin is. Seriously, getting different opinions and advice from various doctor's is confusing and frustrating so I finally decided to get in contact with a friend of mine who has 4 kids and has been through it all with allergies (airborne nut allergies, a kid with an allergy to almost all foods, etc.) to get some wisdom from her. Her advice was to cut out all dairy until she is older (like 2) while her digestive tract is still strengthening and growing. Not to bathe her in soap, pat her dry so the moisture stays on her skin and then lube her up with Aquaphor. My natural inclination was to feel discouraged but she encouraged me to remember that it could be MUCH worse - cancer, developmental delays, all kinds of things. I CAN DEAL with a milk allergy. God knew all of these things and chose me for this job of raising Emma. It was refreshing to be reminded that I can do this, it's not the end of the world and God will give me everything I need to do it.

One of those days...

Yesterday I totally had 'one of those days' where everything seems to go wrong; to the point of it all being pretty humorous. Case in point:

-I picked up a few things (including our 3rd baby monitor...this time I wised up and got a different one WITH a warranty) from Kmart. My brand new debit card wouldn't work. The lady at the bank had told me that any ATM should activate it so while my cashier stood with my stuff, I used Kmart's ATM. Still no luck. I head back to the register to ask if they could continue to hold my purchases while I run to the bank and as I slip my phone back into my diaper bag....oops! there was my new card all along. I was still trying to using the old one.
-We finish the purchase and in my haste to get out of the store I pushed the cart with Emma in it toward the exit only to hear "MA'AM! Did you want your purchases?!?!" I left all the bags at the register. ugh
-I made peach cobbler to have last evening as I hosted a scrapbooking night. Emma was sleeping but I had heard her stirring so I was trying to be very quiet as I opened our very creaky oven door. As I leaned over to put it in, the scarf I was wearing hovered over the oven door and I began to contemplate whether that was a fire hazard. I obviously can't contemplate and work at the same time because I proceeded to dumb the peach cobbler down the oven door. It was a crisis because you can't just scoop it up when the oven is at a toasty 350F! Luckily with the help of my mother-in-law...we were able to salvage the cobbler.
-Next I wanted to make sure our downstairs bathroom was working properly because it had been acting up lately. I had about 10 minutes until I was expecting the ladies to come so I quickly gave it a trial flush and watched in horror as the water overflowed all over the bathroom floor.

Like I said...it was just one of those days! So thankful for a new day and a sense of humor to laugh at all of my mishaps.

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...

Yesterday Jarred's aunt invited Emma and I to come out to a local rec center to swim with a few other little kids. Aside from the bathtub, she's never been in the water before so I was excited to see how she'd do. I was keeping my fingers crossed that she'd enjoy it because her daddy has big dreams for her to become a wakeboarder or at least a "river rat." I'm not sure I want my daughter to grow up to be anything that involved the word "rat" in the title! haha She was a little hesitant at first, especially when Aunt Lynn tried to hold her instead of Mommy, but by the end she was splashing and sucking on a rubber ducky. Success! :)

Speaking of successes, I successfully made another chicken yesterday WITHOUT Jarred's help. After seeing what an easy job it was to remove the giblets last time, he refused to help me hold the chicken. Luckily I was able to slide it out of the bag right onto the pan and grab that little bag of grossness without actually having to hold the chicken in my bare hands. It was slightly less intimidating than my first attempt so I'm thinking by the time I'm 37 I might be up to actually holding and touching it. We'll see...no promises! Side note: because I refuse to do any major touching of the chicken I don't tie back the wings like the instructions tell me. What's the purpose of that anyway?? I guess we can all be thankful I'm not in charge of making Thanksgiving dinner this year. I'd clearly be clueless and we'd be having a turkey with no wings tied back, mashed potatoes because I love them and no veggies because I hate them. Oh and dessert of course. A good healthy meal. (not) Maybe my new year's resolution should be to try to start cooking more vegetables.


or not. :) Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Not Yet

My sister-in-law has said, "isn't it amazing how the voice of God comes right out of the mouth of your spouse sometimes?" (or something like that. Sorry Yo for totally butchering that, hopefully the gist made sense) I've recently been experiencing a little taste of that in our home and it made me laugh at God's sense of humor.

I love the holiday season and everything about it. I love Christmas decorations, holiday food, the smells of the season, the music, the excitement...I love love love it. In fact, I love it so much that when the radio stations start playing Christmas music immediately after Halloween is over and the shopping malls have Santa's out months early, I don't mind at all! I crank it up in my car and start thinking about gifts and new traditions and snow and all sorts of fun! My husband on the other hand, as I shared in this post, finds it annoying and often groans "not yet!" When I starting talking about what we might get people this year, he pleads "not yet." And when I want to decorate, he says "not yet." We tease him about his scrooge-ness, and the more we tease, the worse he gets.

So "not yet" has been on my mind, and toss a little Beth Moore bible study into the mix and my wheels start turning. Scripture is FILLED with situation after situation where people are praying, wanting, crying out for something and God seems to respond quietly with a "not yet." His timing is perfect, yet often much slower than we seem to think it should be. Although we don't audibly hear it, many of our prayers are answered with a 'not yet beloved, not yet.' I wish we could hear his gentleness as He whispers it...

To the young teenage girl who thinks this is "the one" and is contemplating intimacy...not yet.

To the couple struggling with infertility and praying desperately for a baby...not yet.

To the single mom working two jobs to make ends meet, wondering when her break will come...not yet.

To the sick one, praying to be healed...not yet.

It's not what we want to hear, but often exactly what we need. God isn't trying to be mean or laughing as we suffer, He just knows that it's not time yet. The truth is that this season that we're in right now has value and a purpose. I don't want to wish away today and miss the treasure it has in store for me because I thought tomorrow seemed better.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 - 'There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.'

Don't misunderstand me. I don't mean to compare my longing for the holiday season to the cry of a couple's heart waiting for a baby. I know they are not even NEAR to being on the same level and I don't mean to make light of desperate prayers. That was simply the thing that got my wheels turning as I began to meditate on a much bigger God lesson. So I will probably still sing along to the Christmas music on the radio and smile as people begin to decorate their homes, but this was a good reminder for me to breathe deep, slow down, and enjoy where I'm at.

This and That

Not too much going on lately so here's a quick list of random things we've been up to or thinking about...(in no particular order)

1. I don't think I've mentioned yet that Emma has completely learned how to sit up by herself. It's hard to say exactly when it happened because she did the tripod sit (supporting herself with her arms) for a little while and then transitioned into longer and longer times on her own. It makes her seem like SUCH a big girl! how has almost 6 months gone by already?!?!

2. We also recently said Goodbye Trailblazer, Hello Tahoe. My mini-van loathing hubby has wanted a Tahoe since we started thinking about trading in my little Yaris for a bigger vehicle so he's thrilled. I'm pretty impartial but I do have to say I miss the Trailblazers heated seats!

3. This weekend is the second Antioch Prayer Initiative at our church. It's basically just 24 hours of intercession and worship hosted by our church but in conjunction with several other local groups. I wasn't able to make it to last month's so I'm excited to join in tonight.

4. The dairy dilemma continues....I haven't been overly careful with my dairy intake (caution got thrown to the wind slightly as I rediscovered just how wonderful it is to be able to cook and eat with dairy) and I think I may have overdone it. Emma's back and legs have what looks to be eczema on them and I'm thinking it's due to the dairy. So once again I'm laying down my love for all-things dairy and taking it out of my diet to see if her skin clears up. oy vey.

5. Emma has 'found her voice' this week. She's been babbling for months but she just figured out how to yell and she's been perfecting it these days. It's so cute to watch her wind up to let out a yell....her arms flap like a little bird out to the sides and her mouth opens up wide and finally a scream comes out. I know someday I'll be asking her to PLEASE stop yelling but at this point, it's still really cute!

6. My sink is STINKY and I need help! A few weeks ago I made homemade meatballs and when I washed out the bowl I used to mix the ingredients some of the raw meat went down the drain. I'm thinking that's what the smell is but I can't get rid of it! I've tried putting a lemon down the disposal but it still smells. Should I do more lemons? Any other suggestions?!?! ?Seriously we have enough stinky smells on this farm and I do not need a smelly sink to top it off! HELP!

ok so this may or may not have been the most exciting post I've ever made, but it's been a week since my last and I had to do something! :) Enjoy the weekend...can you even believe Thanksgiving is coming up this week?!?!

I'm "that" girl today

I am finally getting around to cleaning out the last closet we had shoved random boxes in when we moved. yes that was over a year ago. Job, pregnancy, renovations, baby and laziness are my excuses. haha

Anyway, it's actually pretty fun to unpack boxes over a year later. It's like getting little presents when you are reunited with thing you totally forgot you owned!
Such as....my Christmas CDs! So yes I am THAT girl today..listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving has even been celebrated. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I wasn't married to the one and only Mr. Ebeneezer Scrooge. I thought it was very appropriate last night to bring up the subject of Christmas gifts for relatives seeing as we're already halfway through November. I was quickly informed that we will not be discussing the C word or any related topics until Dec. 15th. ha Don't worry...two can play this game. I won't "discuss" it but you can bet I'll be decorating this home immediately after Thanksgiving is over. :)

Have a great weekend!

Oh and in case there are any other closet Christmas listeners prior to Thanksgiving, AM radio station 1390 is playing all Christmas music already. Enjoy!!

5 Months

Emma,

You are FIVE months old today!! I can hardly believe almost half a year has gone by since you've been born. Time seems to fly with you around!

The Stats....
You don't have a doctor's appt this month so we don't know for sure. Here's my educated guesses :)
Weight: 15lbs
Height: 24 in
Eats: you nurse every 3-4 hrs during the day and we've been doing baby food in between feedings to introduce it to you. You LOVE it!
Sleeps: you take a good morning and afternoon nap and sleep all night. I am definitely way beyond blessed with your sleeping habits!

What Emma's up to these days...
-you learned to sit up recently all by yourself! You've been doing the tripod sit for a few weeks but about a week ago you figured out how to sit for a few minutes without any support!
-trying to put anything and everything into your mouth. still no sign of teeth yet!
-getting really good at your hands to grab things you want
-watching Praise Baby in your exersaucer (I usually only use this if I need to grab a quick shower or make dinner but you light up and smile so big at all of the babies)
-more baby babbles - you are still a very calm, quiet and patient baby but every once in a while, you seem to let loose with a big story!
-laughing more and more especially when we undress you. I'm not sure if it tickles you or you just really like it but you laugh and laugh! You also like when Mommy and Daddy make funny noises.
-eating more and more baby food! Although I'm still primarily breastfeeding, I've been offering food in your high chair about an hour after you nurse, before you fall asleep for a nap. Your favorites are sweet potatoes and bananas!
-finally starting to grow some hair! haha it's not getting much longer yet but definitely a little thicker. I'm dreaming of the days of pigtails, barrettes, and bows!

You are getting more and more adorable every second and we absolutely adore you! I think I might burst with excitement as we get closer to this holiday season. It's my favorite time of year and I can't wait to share it with you this year! We love you baby girl!

A Poem for My Mac

Apple, dear apple I miss you so much!
oh how I wish you would respond to my touch.

We do not know why your screen remains black
but we do know for sure that you're all out of wack.

Your keys are still working, you still make some noise
and Emma's been offering to share her sweet toys.

But baby toys simply won't do in this case
We want to watch online shows in this place.

So please please start working, I don't like this dell
and Jarred is apt to continue to yell. (at the dell, not me)

I promise to love you with sweet tender care
because you and me, we make quite a pair.

The End.

I was JUST coming out of my blog slump when WHAM! our mac breaks! We aren't sure what's wrong with it and don't have money coming out of our ears to pay the Apple people to fix it so we're still working on getting it up and running again. My father-in-law loaned us an extra Dell he had sitting around so I'm so grateful to be back online but definitely missing our mac! I'm also really hoping that we don't have to get a new harddrive because ALL of our pictures on our that computer and are not backed up anywhere else. eek. I think I learned my lesson on that one. Always back up important things.

I've been really enjoying putting dairy back into my diet, but I think I went a little too far. I didn't go with my dairy-loving instincts and have ice cream or even a glass of milk, but I did make a casserole for dinner the other night that had cream of chicken soup and some cheese in it. Em hasn't thrown up really or even gotten very gassy but yesterday I noticed her poor little back was covered in an eczema-like bumpy rash. So once again I'm going to cut dairy out to make sure it causes the rash to go away and then we'll start over again.

Speaking of eating/cooking, I made my very first chicken the other night for dinner. Oh my goodness, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I was so excited for this feast and taking a stab at a "real" dinner. You know you haven't really conquered homemaking 101 until you've cooked a thanksgiving-like dinner (or at least that's what I tell myself) So, I take the chicken out of the package and all of a sudden I freeze! The directions are telling me to pick it up and remove the giblets but the chicken looked remarkably similar to a small child laying on his/her belly (minus the head and legs of course). So I call Jarred over to pick it up for me and remove the giblets and he says, "no way!" No way?!? what do you mean no way? You stick yourself shoulder deep into a cow's rear end and you can't do this? To which he replies, "The cow's are alive, THIS is different!" hahaha I'm still trying to figure out how that makes sense! Anyway, I finally get him to pick the thing up and I take responsibility for removing the giblets. (all the while I'm trying to tell myself that you cannot turn back now! you bought the thing, thawed it, opened it up...and you don't want to get an F in homemaking 101!) I cannot tell you how much I silently rejoiced and praised Jesus when I saw that little giblet package already sticking a little bit out so I could grab it without putting my hand where the sun don't shine. (I've always wanted to use that phrase haha YES.) So I'm rejoicing in my success and giving myself a B+ in homemaking because I didn't actually pick it up or tie back the wings and Jarred yells "WHAT? You mean it comes in a packet?!?!?! You made all that fuss and it's packaged? I could have done that!!!" hahaha It was an experience to say the least and in the end it tasted delicious!

Have a great weekend...enjoy the warm weather while it lasts! :)

Allergy Testing

Today was the big day. I took Emma in to see the allergist to discuss her possible milk allergy. Like I mentioned before, it has been a rough road cutting out dairy, then trying to reintroduce it, then taking it back out and then trying again to reintroduce it. Each time we reintroduced it, we were supposed to watch for symptoms but then you read into every little thing and second guess yourself if it in fact was due to the dairy or if it was just a coincidence or nothing at all! Although the pediatricians had suggested not having her tested, we prayed about it as a family and I talked with another friend who went through the same situation. We decided we had nothing to lose by having her tested so we went ahead with the appointment. 

I had to laugh as we walked into the office. You could tell most of their clients are adults because every nurse and receptionist stopped by our room to ooh and ahh over the baby. After talking with the doctor, he decided to test for a milk and nut allergies so she was going to have 4 little pricks on her back. They had me lay her down on her belly and I didn't realize they had started, but when the nurse did the first little prick Emma looked up at me with the biggest little eyes as if to say "what are they doing mommy?" and started to cry. It wasn't a bad cry like shots, and she calmed down after a minute or two but it still made my heart ache for my sweet little girl. The test confirmed that she does in fact have a milk allergy (so I wasn't a mad woman reading into non-existent symptoms!) but it looks very minor. She didn't have much of a reaction which is a GOOD thing! I am allowed to continue eating small amounts of dairy to try to help her build up a tolerance for it but not go over board and cause her to have an allergic reaction. Its a fine line but I'm happy to have an answer! They would like to have us come back when she's a year to have blood work done to see more indepth how she's doing. At this point I'm not sure I'll go ahead with that. It seems a little much to put a one year old through bloodwork when she's happy, thriving and not having weird symptoms. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it I suppose.

We are off to Lowe's for a little family trip. Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Slump

I have officially declared that I am in a blog slump! I was going great guns until my temporary inability to post pictures through me all out of sorts and I didn't recover well. I need morediaper stories or run ins with famous celebrities to liven up my blog life! Until I bounce back, you can refer back to those much more witty enjoyable posts to remember that this is a fun blog to read and you don't want to write me off! :)

Here's my "excuses" why I haven't been blogging much (aka what we've been up to):

- both my husband and my baby girl got sick over the last week so I've been busy caring for them by making lots and lots of homemade soups, creating soothing teas, and tending to their every whim (minus the soup and tea, but it sounded good and I really have been caring for them)

-we are preparing to have Em tested for a milk allergy this week but in the meantime I've been following the pediatrician's recommendation to try to reintroduce dairy into my diet and see how it goes. I'm not sure who wouldn't be able to easily decipher why a baby is throwing up: over eating, dairy allergy, too much tummy time, too much bouncing, etc etc. It's EASY to figure out, especially because she can talk and tell me. NOT I've been pulling my hair out feeling like I'm reading into every little thing and then second guessing everything. I'm so very much looking forward to hearing a definite yes or no. Pray for clarity!

-Jarred's preparing to have his wisdom teeth out and so we have a consultation this week about that. We don't have dental insurance so I reluctantly asked how much this 30min. consultation would cost. Would you believe me when I say $76???? Almost $100 for someone to look in his mouth and say, "yep those things need to come out. Let's schedule a surgery date." Goodness gracious! In all seriousness, we really are praying that they are impacted because then it will be considered a "medical procedure" and our medical insurance will cover costs, minus our deductible. If you could join us in praying over this, we would really appreciate it!

-and most importantly: I am getting baptized this Sunday! :) The journey leading up to this could be a whole blog post of its own, but needless to say, I'm very excited, nervous, and overjoyed to be doing this! 

Thanks for bearing with me during my "blog slump". Until next time, Emma and I will be thinking of exciting new posts! haha

First Family Trip

I started writing this blog post earlier, right before bed, but decided I was too tired to finish it. Now it's 2am and I'm downstairs on the couch which has now become my bed for the rest of the night due to a sick husband taking over ours upstairs. It's been a rough week for our family - first Emma came down with a cold and now Jarred seems to have gotten something. I'm praying healing, strength and protection over my family tonight!

We were able to get away this weekend for a little family trip to the cabin. It was our first time going away since Emma was born and I wasn't sure what to expect. Much to my delight, she turned out to be SUCH a great little traveler! We timed the trip right around her afternoon nap so she slept a good portion of the drive (it's only 2 hours anyway) and she had Daisy, our dog, to entertain her the rest of the way. I wasn't sure how she would sleep in her pack n play but she did great! 12 straight hours both nights! It rained Friday and half of Saturday so we popped in some movies and just relaxed! My hard working hubby doesn't relax easily so it was a breath of fresh air to do absolutely nothing for a few days. He even did most of the cooking and cleaning for us....I didn't complain once. :)

And now for the best news of all: right before we left, we stopped at Radio Shack and picked up the camera upload thing that we needed. I was so excited to be able to share pictures with ya'll again! Here's a few from our weekend. Enjoy! 

Laughter

In my last post I wrote about how Miss Emma's little personality is emerging more and more each day. This week she figured out how to giggle and it is so darn cute if I do say so myself! She has this raspy little laugh bubbles right up from her toes. She loves to laugh with her Wadi (Jarred's mom - lovingly named by Em's cousin) and the more Wadi laughs, the more Emma laughs back. The other night they went back and forth for probably 10 minutes, just cracking each other up! She loves to laugh and smile at the babies on her Praise Baby DVDs. She will sit quietly and watch the TV but as soon as a baby's face comes on the screen, she lights up with a big smile and giggles at it. I love to think about what she is thinking: what makes her laugh one time yet when you do the same thing later, she has a stone cold serious face. All the while, we as parents dance around, talk in funny voices, and act like goofballs just to see her smile and hear that sweet laughter. So tonight as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep (clearly unsuccessfully, hence the blog post) I got to thinking about the spiritual equivalent of all of this. If we only knew how much the Lord delights in our laughter and joy. I believe He loves to bless us just to see our faces light up and hear our laughter. I want clearer vision to see the silly, unique, special, personal ways He blesses my life just because He can and because He LOVES me! Sometimes I recognize a blessing, but I'm not so quick to "laugh" to let Him know how much joy it brought to me. What a bummer it would be if I did things that really did make Emma happy, but she never laughed or smiled so I knew how joyful I made her. I believe God longs to hear your voice, your laughter letting him know that you are blessed and happy and love Him for it! This morning during worship time we were reminded that God wants to hear our voice. He wants our honest, not-so-eloquent thoughts - happy or sad - telling Him what's on your heart. Sure He knows it, but He loves loves loves when we tell Him anyway. So I just encourage you (all of you lurkers out there who read but never comment) to spend some time letting Him know what's on your heart. If you are joyful, laugh with Him like Emma and her Wadi. If you are hurting, cry out and wait for His faithful peace to embrace you. 

On a lighter note - I have been tickled as one by one people admit to reading my little blog. Many more people than I imagined! 

And finally - I have to give a shout out to a college friend who designed my new background and header. I'm loving it! :) I am pretty clueless when it comes to most technical stuff, but she is a genius I'm pretty sure! After JUST starting a blog, she already starting designing her own stuff! If you're in the market for a fancy new look, check her out! 

You know you live on a dairy farm when....

.....you get 70 lbs of ground beef, signed sealed delivered to your front door!

 I'm still working on getting through all of last year's beef so today I decided to make a meatball recipe that I hadn't tried yet that calls for 3lbs of ground beef. It was perfect timing, my mother-in-law called to see if we wanted to come over for family night tonight but she wasn't sure what to make for dinner. I glanced to my mess of a kitchen filled with meatballs and said....I can help with that! :) We are so blessed to be able to get beef (ground, roasts, steaks) for free each year but I'm ALWAYS looking for more recipes to be able to use it up. If you know any good ones, I'm all ears!

Emma and I have been busy little beavers this week! My grandmother and aunt came to visit for the long weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving weekend...did ya'll know I'm Canadian?) and my grandmother is going to make all of our window treatments as a Christmas gift. I was beyond blessed but definitely a little stressed. She leaves tomorrow so our week has been filled with trying to pick out patterns and fabric so she can take it all back with her to finish. I'm not a quick decision maker when it comes to pretty permanent fixtures in my home so I was stressing a little to think fast on what we'd like! 

I feel like everyday this week Emma is learning something new. Recently when I put on Praise Baby for her, she giggles and smiles so big when a face comes on the screen. Uncle Dan (who is studying to be an eye doctor) would be proud to know her eyes must be developing nicely! And she has turned into a total Daddy's girl (he is eating up every second!) I crack up everyday when he comes home for lunch and I'm trying to feed her some baby food. The girl cranes her neck around so she can stare and smile at her daddy! Who needs to eat when I've got my daddy to smile with! It's such a fun age (ok every age is I think) but we are loving it as her little personality emerges more and more!

Well I'm off to finish up my meatballs! Enjoy the weekend! 

Relaxing

Sunday afternoon we had a few friends over to watch the Eagles game and they brought their (VERY nice) camera along. Not that I'm jealous or anything. I like having to take 14 pictures to get one good one. I like the fact that I can't take pictures in the evening because the lighting screws up my camera. Who wants nighttime pictures anyway!?!? Anyway, Ellie took some cute pictures of Emma and their little lady who is about 2 months younger than Em. Here's a cute one of us. I think Emma's in the beginning stages of teething. There's no sign of teeth in the near future but she's drooling all the time and everything goes into her mouth to get chomped on. 

Speaking of everything going into her mouth, I've reintroduced pacifiers! She still won't take them but she's not quite as dramatic as she used to be (picture gagging, choking, and crying). She chews on them. These next 2 pictures crack me up. We never really used her boppy pillow, but she's not a big fan of laying flat on her back so it worked perfect to kick back and watch Praise Baby while Mommy cooked dinner. I was laughing so hard!

I still don't have a new camera uploader, these were the last 2 pictures I had uploaded before it broke. I've been saving them for a slow blog day. :) Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend! 

4 Months

Out of all of the posts to be bummed about not having pictures to go with it, this one is a big bummer! I'd love to show you Emma in all of her 4 month old cuteness next to Bear Bear. Although the pictures I tried to take yesterday didn't turn out so well so it's okay...we'll try to get better ones another day!

The Stats:

Height: 23.5in

Weight: 13lb 5oz

Eats: about every 3 hours during the day

Sleeps: about 10-12 hours straight at night (don't hate me) and just settled into a morning and afternoon nap routine AND she puts herself to sleep now which is GREAT!

What is Emma up to these days....

*watching Praise Baby DVDs

*having her belly tickled (I love hearing those first little laughs)

*flying like an airplane with Daddy

*sitting up with a little help still

*putting EVERYTHING in her mouth and drooling like a faucet - teething perhaps?

*becoming a momma's girl and making her preferences known to others that may try to hold her

*playing in her exersaucer

*rolling around all of the time - it's much harder to change her diaper these days!

*wearing a size 1 diaper and size 0-3m clothes

*getting cuter and cuter! :)

I've been trying to figure out what I want to do about starting solid foods. Typically you start between 4-6 months and she was showing some of the physical signs of being ready to try. I gave her some rice cereal and sweet potatoes a few days ago and she did great! Her pediatrician recommended waiting a little while longer because she's growing great and doing well with just my milk. I think I'm going to continue nursing pretty exclusively but have the baby food as back up in case I want to leave her with anyone. She won't take a bottle so this way they can feed her if she gets hungry and I can be away for longer. Case in point: tomorrow I am getting my hair cut so we'll see how it goes! 

Tough Decisions

Having a baby forces you to make some serious decisions about where you stand on certain issues. After a lot of thought, research, and prayer, we've decided not to celebrate Halloween as a family, but then you have to decide what exactly that means. Our obvious decision was not to engage in Trick or Treating, but there are other things that are related to the "Halloween" season like carving pumpkins. I'm not sure I've totally made my decision...do you know the history of the Jack O'Lantern? It's an old Irish legend about a mean old drunk named Jack who played a trick on the devil and made him promise to not take his soul when he died. Jack wasn't allowed into Heaven, but as promised, he wasn't allowed into Hell either. He had to wander in the darkness between the two so the devil threw him an ember to help him see. Jack put the ember in an old turnip and hence...we have the first jack o'lantern! Not such a nice story is it? Like I said, I haven't totally made up my mind, but I did find this analogy that I really like - it puts a different spin on the whole jack o'lantern thing.

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see. 

What are your thoughts on Halloween, jack o'lanterns, trick or treating? I know it can be a controversial topic. Here's some food for thought that really convicted me...

If we tell our kids that it's okay to go trick or treating because it's just for fun then we are teaching them that as long as we are "just having fun" things are okay to do. What do we say to them then when they get a little older and go to a party where they are playing with a Ouiji Board...just for fun. The truth of the matter is, scripture tells us that there is a spiritual realm and that includes the heavenlies but it also includes a dark evil realm. When we start messing with things that tap into or call out the dark spiritual realm, even if we are just doing it "just for fun," we are engaging in a spiritual battle and now we've sided with the Enemy. I know I may come across as a wack-o, over protective, closed minded mom on this, but I love my daughter with all of my heart and I want God's best for her. If she misses out on a little "fun" one night a year but gains an eternal perspective, that's a price I'm willing to pay. She may question me on it someday and may even get angry about it, but I'm making these choices with a pure heart desiring her to learn to take a stand for what she believes in and be in the world but not of it. Why waste time making sure they don't miss out on one silly thing a year when it has no value in Kingdom reality! I believe God will bless our pure heart motive in big ways and will give our children things WAY more valuable than a bag of candy. I heard someone say sometime that they want the highest levels we can reach be the floor that our children stand on. So true! We CAN and WILL raise up a powerful generation! Thanks for getting deep with me....what are your thoughts? (that means....leave comments! haha)

p.s. I have no idea why my font went all crazy in my last post. The craziness of the 3 Redneck Tenors just got everything all out of sorts I guess! :) 

Celebrity Sightings!

Today has been a pretty uneventful day which doesn't make it easy to spice up these picture-less posts but I'll try my best. I got some cleaning...er, I mean I watched Law and Order episodes online this morning while Emma took a short nap and then we headed to Target after lunch. I don't know about you, but I can be very oblivious to things around me unless I consciously focus on it. For example, if you were to ask me how much a loaf of bread costs or whether the store brand item is cheaper than the name brand...clueless. I guess part of it is that I was raised not having to worry about money or question whether we had enough for something so I don't pay attention to it. I've been working on that lately...trying to pay attention to how much things cost and look for bargains. It's actually pretty enjoyable! I've been trying out the Target brand things (diapers, detergents, paper towels, etc) they are WAY cheaper and I'm finding them to be just as good in most cases! 

Back to the important, exciting news....on our way home, I found myself driving behind celebrities!!!! Our Trailblazer was right behind none other than....The 3 Redneck Tenors! For a split second (or 15) I debated the hazards of getting out my camera and taking a picture while driving 65mph on the highway. It was risky but come on...The 3 Redneck Tenors! And then I remembered the sad demise of my picture uploading thinger (I can NEVER remember the name of that thing!) And after all of that mental processing, I remembered that I had left my camera at home. So, I checked out the world wide web once I got home to find out more about these certain celebrities and I could not stop laughing at their homepage. 

"Join Billy Bob, Billy Joe, and Billy Billee as they mix NASCAR with Beethoven, lite beer with Puccini and even kick up a little dust with Ave Maria Dixie! You'll travel with our 3 redneck cousins from their modest beginnings in Paris, Texas, where they discover that belting out a high C causes pigs to move faster and bar brawlers to scatter; all the way to their triumphant debut at New York's famous Carnegie Hall."

I'm still debating whether I really believe those are their real names....3 cousins named Billy? I remember trying to think of names for Emma and we checked lots off of the list because we knew other people who had already used that name. But this family....no, they don't mind sharing names. They just throw in a second name behind it to make it unique. Poor Billy Billee's mom! I wonder if she just couldn't think of any other name that sounded right....how about we just do 2 Billy's but spell the second one a little different! PERFECT! hahaha 

Well Emma is taking what I hope will be a nice long afternoon nap so I should get a few things done around here (and by "get things done" I really mean watch another episode of Law and Order online.....or 4)

oh and in case you were wondering, we missed the 3 Redneck Tenors concert. They performed on the 4th at the American Music Theater. bummer....

Sad blog day....

Last post I said something crazy like I would try to post something non-baby related in the near future but to be clear I wasn't really into the idea. Posts are way more fun when they include cute pictures of babies or pictures of ridiculously stuffed cars full of junk. So actually the pictures do it for me. I like a thought provoking post every so often but too many in a row get a little much. Well prepare yourselves for "a little much" coming from this here blog. My little device that I put my memory card in and plug into the computer to upload the images broke. Right on the very day when hubby and I had a serious talk about trying harder to be frugal. I wasn't sure if "I need a new one asap so I can write fun posts on my blog" sounded very frugal so I refrained from saying that to him. Needless to say, I can't upload pictures. :( I'm working on a few other ideas to spice up the picture-less blog life. Bear with me in the meantime. :)

A Girl and Her Shoes

Seriously - What girl doesn't love a good pair of shoes? If you would have known me around the age of 4, you would have known about my obsession with Jellies. Despite bloody, blistered feet from awful plastic shoes, I wore my Jellies with pride, refusing to take them off because I loved them so much. Following that trend, I started a love affair with Keds. I'm not sure why I loved them so, but those little white shoes were all I wanted. My mother on the other hand would refuse to buy them with flagrant claims like "poor arch support"...clearly she didn't understand the sacrifices that need to be made in the name of fashion.  

So while doing a little shopping at Old Navy the other day for my hubby, I came across a cute pair of shoes for my girl. The bumbo was the perfect seat for her to check her cute self out in!

It also got chilly enough this week (hello Fall!) for bundling up! I probably overdressed her a little bit because I not only put a fluffy warm jacket on her but I also draped a big blanket over her legs. Oh well - rather be safe than sorry! Anyway, I'm not sure she could get much cuter! She must have been nice and cozy because she fell asleep both times we took trips to the store. 

I have to share this funny story from bible study this week and yes it's about Emma and for those of you who are thinking "does this girl talk about anything other than her daughter?" I'll try to post something different next time! So my girls group started a Beth Moore study (The Patriarchs) 2 weeks ago. This week as we gathered to watch the video together, there were more girls there than ever before. Seriously there were people on the floor and the room was packed! So everyone is quietly listening to Beth's teaching as she says, "and He caused the winds to blow!" And immediately, right as she finished that sentence, Emma lets out a nice big stinker. She couldn't have timed it any better! Her winds were certainly blowing very well! :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Random, but Happier :)

Ok, I promised a much happier, funny post so here's my best at this point. I'm going to have to start with this picture because I still laugh when I look at it! Emma and I went to visit my friend Lindsay yesterday and the three of us went to Borders. This was what I parked next to....

I'm trying to find the words to say about this picture, but I think it speaks for itself. haha Jarred cleaned out my trailblazer 2 days ago and grumbled about the half eaten poptart and several other pieces of trash he discovered. I had to show him this picture to assure him that it could be worse. WAY WAY worse. I think I may need to pray for this person because clearly he/she has a problem. I also may pray for the other drivers he/she may pass on the road because I'm pretty sure this is a driving hazard! Side note: You should have seen me trying to discretely take this picture. As I'm trying to zoom out so I can capture the optimal amount of craziness, a person pulls into the spot in front of this car. I quickly tried to put away my camera, totally embarrassed that he had seen me trying to take a picture of someone else's vehicle and he laughs and says, "whoa." I think he understood my need to capture this and share it with the online world. 

If for some reason you are from Harrisburg and this is your car, I apologize for taking this picture without asking and posting it online for all to see. Please know I'm praying for you and your vehicle filling craziness! :)

Ok now onto other random things. I got Emma her first Praise Baby DVD the other night and here she is loving it! She's sitting in her exersaucer (other fav. these days) staring at the TV. If you haven't heard of Praise Baby, it's pretty much identical to Baby Einstein, but with praise and worship music. 

Here's another cute shot of Lindsay reading to Emma on our trip to Borders. We were looking for dairy-free cookbooks so that I can rejuvinate my love for cooking. Seriously I did used to really enjoy  cooking but ever since I gave up dairy, I've dreaded it! It's hard to enjoy it when you're making the same 6 meals over and over again and you aren't excited about eating what you are making!

Hope ya'll had a great weekend and are enjoying the more "fall-like" weather! I need to get moving on some cleaning around here so that I can settle in with a blanket and read the newest Nicholas Sparks book that Lindsay let me borrow! :)

Honesty

Can I be honest with ya'll? (even if it's only the 1 or 2 of you who actually might read this?)

I've been debating whether or not to post this. I'd be much easier to do a happy post about how much fun we had taking Emma to her first Lampeter fair on Friday night or the fun family night we had tonight watching a movie, but I feel the Lord asking me to share my heart - to be vulnerable and honest about what I'm working through these days. So in obedience, I'm going to write it. If you're looking for a cute post with pictures and happy thoughts, skip this one and I promise to do one of those next time. For now....here's my heart.

I cannot tell you how much I adore my daughter. Literally I often feel like my heart just might explode open and spill joy and adoration everywhere. It's hard for me to believe that my dream of becoming a mother to a beautiful baby girl is a reality! And yet, I have a deep sadness in my heart these days. You see, most (if not all) of the major, well-respected spiritual leaders in our country are in agreement that we are nearing the end times. I've heard everything from 2012 being the end of the world to definitely within the next 50 years to within our lifetime or our children's. I feel 2 main things about this. My first fleshly instinct is fear. I am terrified of pain and torture. It is all to easy for my imagination to jump right to what it might be like or what we will have to go through. Not only what I will have to go through, but my daughter. My sweet, delicate baby girl. It terrifies me. The other feeling I have about end times is a deep, dull sadness that I feel every day. I am so incredibly excited for every part of life and raising my daughter. I can't wait to do her hair and watch her go off to kindergarten for the first time. I want to be excited with her about her first crush and eat ice cream out of the carton together as I help her with breakups. I want to pick out prom dresses, look at colleges, watch her daddy give her away and rejoice with her as she has her own babies. I want to experience it all! There is SO much life I want to live! I find myself almost mourning the loss of these experiences when I think about end times. Scripture calls us to "hasten the day" and be praying for Christ's return and yet I find myself wanting so badly to pray that it wouldn't happen for a long long time. 

Tonight as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep I began to realize the only thing that will help me through this "depression." I MUST fall so deeply in love with this man Jesus that all else pales in comparison to His return. I need to know Him in a much more intimate and real way so that His return is something that I do look forward to and want to come quickly. I need a more real faith - a tangible, inquenchable hunger to know Him more and more as my Bridegroom. I've come a long way in my faith but there's so much farther to go. It almost feels impossibly far away - to get to that point. But I can take a baby step and I know that He will meet me there and walk with me the rest of the way because He is GOOD and He is FAITHFUL. 

Isn't it amazing how a little tiny baby who can't even speak yet can teach me so much about my faith? 

Raising Her Right

I have a bachelors degree in elementary education. I taught 4 and 5 year old professionally for 2 years. I planned and held weekly parent workshops assisting moms and dads learn how to help prepare their child for school. I believe in the power of reading with your child. I know the benefits of being immersed in a literacy-rich home environment are profound. I could write plans in my sleep about how to incorporate early literacy your every day life. 

and yet,

this is how we spent our evening: watching the latest Glee episode online and anticipating watching Bones and House and Lie to Me and Greys in the weeks to come. Oooh how happy I am Fall tv is back! haha Emma will be fine I'm sure academically but somebody has got to teach this girl the joy of primetime tv!! :) 

Wordless Wednesday: Walking!

So typically on Wordless Wednesdays you don't write anything but since it was my first time joining in, I thought I'd explain it a little. I went for a walk tonight with a dear friend from my girls group. It was such a nice night and we had a great time talking together! I let Emma sit forward in her stroller instead of in her carseat and she did great! I think she really enjoyed getting to look at everything. Here are a few pictures I snapped before Miss Carla got there. Enjoy! :)

Apple Day 2009

You did WHAT today Momma??

A recap of the VanderPlate Apple Day 2009....

First you get LOTS of apples! We went to Cherry Hill Orchards and bought their 2nds which turn out great, but are much cheaper. (I say much cheaper but really I'm not sure how much it would cost otherwise...all I know is they were $8.00 for a half bushel and I got 3 half bushels!) So you slice up the apples and cook them over the stove until they are nice and mushy.

Next we dumped the cooked, mushy apples into this sauce maker and Uncle Josh turned the crank. The skins separate from the sauce and out comes the applesauce!

Then we have our servant children stir in the sugar. haha This picture of Abbey cracks me up! She was doing her "eyes" but it looks like we are forcing small children to make applesauce for us!

Levi gives it another stir using both hands to do an extra great job!

Finally we have our panel of baby judges rate our work. They took their job very seriously. Note the deep concentration in their faces....

The verdict is in and....

Both girls showed their disdain by gagging. Emma was especially disgusted. More sugar please Momma!!

Our final result: Lots of yummy applesauce for the coming year! :) It turned out very pick! I haven't been a big applesauce fan after a good couple years of having to swallow my pills in a spoonful of applesauce, but something about making it yourself makes you enjoy it a lot more! I did 10 of them without sugar so I can use them as baby food for Emma. So far we've got peaches and applesauce for her to enjoy....I can't wait to start trying them! 

What I'm Eating These Days...

How's this for ironic: my husband is a dairy farmer and my daughter has a milk allergy.

Jarred's still in denial about it. Because I'm exclusively breastfeeding the little lady, that means that I have to cut out all dairy from my diet. Don't get me wrong, I'd do anything for her and really it's not so bad, but life without dairy in your diet can be a real drag some days. 

Here's the list of dinners that I cycle through (I'm getting tired of them so any new ideas are greatly appreciated!)

*Beef BBQ

*Steaks

*Hamburgers/Hotdogs

*Pulled Pork Sandwiches

*Grilled Chicken

*Tacos

*Spaghetti

*Crock Pot Roast

Here's the list of things I'd love to be eating:

*Cheesecake

*Ice Cream

*Pizza

*Bagel with Cream Cheese

*A nice creamy, cheesy casserole

*A sandwich with a piece of American cheese on it

*Cookies

*Ranch dressing

pretty much everything delicious has dairy in it. Randomly, many brownie mixes are dairy free so I make a fresh batch just about every other day. Brownies and Ritas are my sweet-treats these days...

In other news: the mouse met its match with the rat poison and died a slow and stinky death in our family room closet. He has been removed, many thanks to my father-in-law and I am a happy camper again! :)

Mouse Adventures

When you live on a farm, you know that Fall is on its way when....mice start appearing in your house. Rationally I am well aware that they don't hurt anything and they are way more bearable than rats, but I just don't like co-existing with them! I especially don't like feeling like I don't want to to lay my baby down on the ground while I get something down for fear that a mouse might scurry across her adorable little body. Anyway, we have a little visitor in our family room (I'm convincing myself that he is the ONLY mouse in our house and he ONLY lives in the family room....please don't burst my bubble, it helps me sleep at night!) Jarred spotted him the other night and the next day, Mr. Mouse graced me with his presence. This mouse must be eating well in our house because this guy doesn't even scurry! He waddled across the carpet as I sat on the couch feeding Emma. So now I'm paranoid to sit like a normal person on our couches because I'm sure he's going to be under it and come touch my feet! The point of this ramble was this: after eating dinner, we went outside last evening so I didn't have to worry about Mr. Mouse. Emma was lucky enough to get her first 4-wheeler ride and by "ride" I really mean "sit" because they didn't go anywhere. I hope this little girl has a little bit of adventure in her when she gets older for her daddy's sake. Here they are on their "ride".....don't mind the fact that the little lady isn't looking at the camera. She was looking for mice on the ground I think.

I am really proud of this next picture and I think it is SO cute! I have a pretty crappy camera so capturing good pictures is a feat in and of itself. The lighting has to be great, my hand can't be shaking at all and everyone has to hold their pose for a good couple seconds which isn't easy with a 3 month old. 
Any good suggestions for getting rid of mice? Last year as a birthday (or maybe Christmas) present, my parents got me the things you plug into the wall and it supposedly makes a high pitched noise that gets rid of them. Guess they aren't working...I've also heard of putting rat poison in the basement and attic and of course there's good old traps but I'm leery of them with a baby who's nearing the age of getting into everything. Life on a farm is fun, but somedays I would love a brand new house far away from mice and manure! :)

The Princess and the Pea

Emma is a great sleeper. She started sleeping through the night (about 8-10hrs) when she was only 1 month old. I really can't complain about being too tired because of her and in reality I don't feel all that exhausted. I do; however, tend to crash when my head hits the pillow every night.

This morning Emma woke me up at 5:15am. She had gone to bed earlier than usual so she was ready to talk and eat before the sun was up. I changed her diaper and took her downstairs to feed her. She always falls back asleep right away after these early morning feedings so shortly before 6am I carried her back upstairs, put her down in her crib, and crawled back into my own bed to catch a few more hours of sleep. I decided to flip my pillow over to get a fresh new fluffy spot and in the darkness my hand hit what I thought was a folded pair of socks under the pillow. As I lifted it up, wondering what a pair of socks was doing under my pillow, it hit me.

This was not a sock.

It was......an old dirty diaper.

oh my. I am almost embarrassed to type it!! Several days ago (I'd like to say 2 days, but in reality I think it was more like 3 or 4. ok maybe even 5) Jarred brought Emma over to our bed in the morning and we enjoyed some smiles and baby talk with the little lady. I ended up changing her diaper on our bed (it was just a wet one) and teasingly tossed the dirty diaper onto Jarred's side. He laughed and tucked it under my pillow. I remember watching him do it and laughing back, but I must have gotten side tracked and never taken it out. 

How can a person not notice a lumpy blob under their pillow? Wouldn't you smell it at least a little bit? Wouldn't you think my hand would slip up under my pillow and I'd feel it? 

Like I said, I crash when I hit the pillow and I've been sleeping well.

yuck!

3 Months

Well hello there! Guess who is 3 months old today??

Seriously...can she get any cuter?!? 

At 3 months, Emma....

*smiles all the time when you talk to her.

*sings/talks herself to sleep (majorly cute!)

*loves to be held facing out so she can see things!

*rolls like a rockstar from her back to her belly....still working on belly  to back

*sucks on her fist constantly

*has boycotted all bottles and pacifiers

*really enjoys the Bumbo and exersaucer

*is a Momma's girl when she's sleepy

*sleeps 9-10hrs a night

*is exclusively breastfed every 2-3 hrs during the day

*wears size 0-3m clothes

Here are some fun pictures from our little photo shoot this afternoon. I'll have to tell you the story behind the 

bear sometime, but for now...enjoy!

Moving. VanderPlate Style!

Yesterday we were helping my in-laws move into the other sid

e of our house. It is never a dull moment around here. Here's an example....

The Problem: A large dresser needs to be moved into the second floor bedroom, but the stairwell is fairly narrow with a twist.

The Solution: (See below for visual aid) My handsome husband to the rescue while we all held our breath!

p.s. By the time I ran into the house to get the camera they already had the dresser moved, but you get the idea....

Busy Girls!

Disclaimer: I am still new to this blogging thing and obviously have NOT figured out pictures yet. I wanted to do a fun post with lots of pictures from our week. I carefully picked out exactly which pictures I wanted to share and uploaded them and....they are totally out of order! I don't know how to fix them so they're just going to stay that way and you'll have to deal with it! ha! I'll tell you about our week in reverse order! :) 

We have been having LOTS of visitors lately! It's amazing how after having a baby, everyone all of a sudden wants to get together with "me!" I know in reality they really just want to see the little lady, but I can't complain...it's been fun! Last night Emma and I made a trip to Palmyra to visit friends, Kurt and Kelly, from college. It was fun to get out and see them in their new home! Emma requested that before our next visit, they work on getting her a playmate to play with! :)

My parents came over on Wednesday evening with my dad's mom (Oma). We did a totally unplanned 4 generation picture. I'm on the ground partly because there wasn't room on the couch but also because I have peach stains all over my shirt which leads me to the next pictures.....
We did PEACHES! This year my mother-in-law and I tried freezing them instead of canning them! I had picked almost 50lbs of peaches so it took quite awhile, but Emma did GREAT all afternoon and we ended up with all of these bags. I'm really excited to be able to make peach cobbler, peach pie, and best of all, puree them for baby food!!!

and finally....how cute is she??? She's loving the Bumbo chair these days! She chews on her fists and hangs out in this wonderful little seat. Her daddy and I even ate dinner at the SAME TIME for the first time in a while while she said in her chair. It was such a treat, but a reminder that our baby girl is getting so big already!  p.s. Check out her incredibly cute jeans! :)