Shameless

Disclaimer: this post is a shameless plug in an attempt to sell our Tahoe. Bear with me...I'm doing it for my man. :)

If you can look past the dungeon-looking garage and falling apart ceiling in the picture below (apparantly 1800 era farmhouses did not come fully equipped with luxury garages), you'll see our 2003 Chevy Tahoe. Our 2003 Chevy Tahoe that is currently for sale. The picture is slightly scary, but really, it's a great vehicle and we've enjoyed it!

You see, I married into the VanderPlate family KNOWING that my man loves to farm. I knew that he would rather spend the day out on the river wakeboarding than do just about anything. I knew he likes the country rather than the suburbs and I knew that his momma spoiled him with yummy delicious food that I'm still trying to live up to. (just kidding, he likes my cooking, but for real...she set the standard high!) What I DIDN'T know was that he goes through vehicles like they are going out of style. He's owned no less than 8 trucks (the man's only 23 people. so that makes 8 trucks in 7 years) and he only buys used. And then there's me....I come from the suburbs from a family who drives a vehicle until the fix costs more than it's worth and we only bought new. So...I've had a lot to learn and many opportunities to trust my husband's leadership. It's been a fun journey. :)

I could make this really longwinded and tell you all about why we're selling the Tahoe, but I'll just keep it simple. My parents are giving us their gently used, but no longer needed mini van FOR FREE. So....bye bye Tahoe (and loan) and hello minivan (and no debt)! 

So...if you're interested, here are the Tahoe's details: (bear with me...I wouldn't be able to tell an engine from a carborator if you paid me so don't expect nitty gritty details. ha)

It's a 2003 Chevy Tahoe with 3rd row seating. It has tan leather interior and power everything. CD player and cassette player. It has 121,000 miles on it but it runs great. We bought the Tahoe from Jarred's boss and they were the original owners. It's been well cared for.  We purchased a bumper to bumper, unlimited miles warranty on it that still has about 3 years left on it and is transferrable to the next owner. This week we are putting on new tires, brakes and having it inspected to get it ready to sell. I didn't tell my husband I was posting this so I'm not exactly sure the exact amount he's planning on asking for it but I know it's around $10,000. Kelly Blue Book puts the Tahoe right around this price and when you factor in the warranty that we purchased for over $1000, it's a great deal! 

Let us know if you're interested or know anyone who might be! 

p.s. Even Miss Emma has enjoyed driving it! :)

The Toddler Contract

Two posts in one day!! This was too cute not to share. This is what I find when my hubby goes to bed early and I'm left to my own devices to entertain myself. It made me laugh as I thought about my very near future. :) Enjoy!

If Little Kids Ruled the World 

"The Toddler Contract"

I. FOOD
1. For breakfast, there will be only milk from my sippy cup while I'm watching television (see section II)
2. From breakfast until what you probably call lunch, I will be provided with an unending supply of cookies. No arguments.
3. For lunch I will eat yogurt. Anything containing fruit on the bottom will make me pick out the fruit and throw it on the ground or else throw it up on your carpet.
a. So no fruit on the bottom.
4. From lunch until dinner I will enjoy having something to lick. Why not a lollipop? Why not seven?
a. Between licks, I may place the lollipop on your grandmother's Turkish rug. This will be okay by you.
5. For dinner I will have macaroni and cheese. Any attempts to give me vegetables in addition to the macaroni and cheese will result in tears.
a. And don't you dare hide anything in the cheese sauce, because, my god, how you will rue the day.
6. After dinner, you may provide me with ice cream.
a. No frozen yogurt. Trust me, I know the difference.

II. TELEVISION
1. The TV will be on all the time, unless I say differently. You are to sit by my side, quietly, hands folded in lap, while I watch my shows.
a. You may arise to fetch me a snack.
2. No diaper changing or pleas to engage in physical activity will be tolerated during watching of television.
3. Turing off the television will result in much kicking and screaming.

III. TOYS
1. There will be many.
a. They will always be strewn about the house so that I may simply reach down and pick up a toy, no matter where I am.
b. They will be loud, complicated and contain many small pieces. I enjoy shooting noises that go w-shooop! or zim zim zim.
c. Nothing that results in any type of learning, please.

IV. FRIENDS
1. They should be available whenever I'm in the mood to use someone else's toys or ingest someone else's cookies.
a. These friends may not ever so much as look at my toys or my cookie supply.
b. Ever, ever, ever.

V. SLEEP
1. Is when I say, where I say, and how I saw. If I want to sleep upside down with my legs locked around your neck, then that's how it will be.
a. And you will enjoy it

VI. AFFECTION
1. Occasionally I enjoy being hugged and kissed. I stress occasionally.

2. I will not be pelted with wet-mouthed assaults on an hourly basis. Should you feel the need to hug or kiss, you must provide me with a written request.

a. And then wait for me to offer my pudgy cheeks.

Hopefully she has mercy on her poor momma and only one or two of these will become her desires. haha And seriously, I want to eat her up in her little swim suit...food on the face and all. :)

Happy Father's Day!

Although Jarred is hoping that we are able to have at least one boy at some point, I love love love watching him with his little girl. There's just something about a manly, tough, calloused hand farmer that melts when he comes in and sees her. He's teaching her his love for Turkey Hill Iced Tea, all about the cows, how to ride in a tractor and four wheeler, how much fun the river is, and she's teaching him about gentleness, dying to self, and Father's love. It's incredible to watch and they are blessed to have each other. So Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband...we love you!

See what I mean?? She's one lucky girl! :) 

Fingers Crossed

One of my favorite blogs to read is "Our Adoption Adventure." A friend from college is documenting her and her husband's journey through adoption. Her posts are thoughtful, honest, funny, cool, and real and I love it! She just hit the big 100 posts mark and to celebrate she's doing a giveaway! As they wait for their baby, Michelle has been working on seriously amazing crafty projects and she's going to do a free personalized canvas wall art for the winner and I'm SO SO SO hoping it's me! Hop on over to her blog to try for your chance to win and be blessed by her writing! 

The cake diaries

So, it's official that my tiny peanut of a one year old (16 lbs people....2nd percentile!), is NOT interested in cake. She's definitely my daughter because I'm not a big fan of cake myself. Here was attempt one, on her actual birthday. We attributed her lack of interest to the fact that she was burning up sick. 
And attempt numbero duos. VP family night...cupcake style. This was the most into the whole cake scene that she got. She mashed it a lot and tasted a few bites.

Enter my Grammy. She made my ducky loving baby her very own Ducky cake! :) Soooo cute! (the toothpicks were to keep the plastic wrap that was covering it from sticking to the icing) SURELY the girl would love this cake! We even made sure to give her this cake BEFORE dinner so she'd be good and hungry.

alas, attempt number 3 = fail. She cried, turned her head away, and refused to take a bite. haha Looks like my little lady is going to stay petite for quiet a while if she keeps up her refusal of all desserts! :)

And just for fun....a picture from one year ago! :) I can't believe how fast time has flown by!

Birthday, Sick Day

Em's first birthday was pretty anti-climatic, a little sad actually. Around lunchtime she was really fussy and a little warm, so I took her temperature. I was convinced she wouldn't have a fever only because every other time I think she's warm and swear she must have a fever...she doesn't! I figured this would be just like all the other times, but to my surprise, the thermometer went right up to 102. Poor thing. So we've spent the last 3 days hanging out in our pjs, cuddling a LOT (can't complain about that!), and relaxing. We called into the doctor's office to check dosage amounts on Ibuprofen and they said that probably within the next day or two she'll come down with something. Today she's starting to show signs of a cold coming on, but she goes into the office tomorrow for her 12 month appt so I'm sure we'll find out what's going on in her little body. Poor girl....but doesn't she look so darn cute in her giraffe pjs and bunny slippers? I just want to eat her up!

We have a little party planned (just family) on this coming Saturday so we'll see if that happens depending on how she feels, but my parents had a few little presents for her on her actual birthday so they came over to dinner and cake. By then Emma had some good medicine in her and was feeling good enough to open presents. It was much more fun than Christmas because now she's old enough to actually tear into things. She was very dainty about it. It cracks me up how girly she already is!

I was looking forward to seeing her smash the cake and dig into it, but she was too full from dinner so she didn't want to eat ANY cake. She spent most of the time trying to pick the sprinkles off of the top and then we gave her a spoon and she mushed it around on her tray. We tried to feed her a little bit so she'd taste how yummy it was, but she kept turning away and crying. Maybe Saturday she'll get into it! :)

Happy Birthday Emma!

Yesterday was Emma's FIRST BIRTHDAY! :) I have no idea where the year went...it flew by! I'm going to do a bigger post on her 12 month stats soon, but I have a sick baby girl so we've got a cuddle date on the couch. Poor thing celebrated her birthday with a 102 fever. For now, in case you're a newer reader and never heard her birth story, you can read it here. Enjoy!

Up to no good....

I think almost 12 months is SUCH a fun age! My little lady is getting into EVERYTHING these days but she's still young enough so it's cute and not naughty yet. I'm trying to enjoy every second of it before we really have to start training and disciplining her. Here's a little sampling of her mischief lately...

Em helps her Daddy eat his poptart every morning. I just shake my head and laugh at their little tradition. He comes in for breakfast and she makes a beeline to the kitchen to meet him. They warm up the poptart and sit together on his recliner. It's so cute....not so healthy, but pretty cute. (and in case you're worried about her health, she really only gets a few bites and then she gets a nutritious breakfast of oatmeal right after.)

Emma plays with her bathtub toys while I take a shower in the morning. For literally 2 seconds, I walked into our bedroom to get my clothes and when I came back, this is what I found...

And this morning, she insisted on trying to climb up this toy. She is a monkey with a capital M. haha

Faith

My daughter's full name is Emma Faith. It's definitely not a coincidence that she continually teaches me more and more about faith and how to walk it out. Yesterday she went back to the allergist and had bloodwork done to more definitively find out what she's allergic to. I'm really looking forward to having clear results! But I was more than a little anxious about having her blood taken. I felt terrible to put her through that and pictured her screaming while we held her down so I just kept covering it in prayer. To be honest, I was praying it would be a pain-free experience, but didn't really believe my prayer. You know the type of prayer you pray wishfully, but never actually put any heart into it because it seems so unrealistic? 

*God, the doctor's say it's terminal, but You are a Healer! 

*Redeem the years of infertility and countless months of waiting and bless them with a baby.

*Take away the depression and fill him with Joy. Transform him into a new man.

We pray all kinds of things, big and little, but don't really believe God to deliver. Deep down, we mostly believe that that person is going to die, they'll never have a baby, and he's never really going to change because our experiences, our culture and logic all tell us that impossible things don't happen. Miracles maybe happen once in a while to 'other' people, but it'll never happen for me. Why do we doubt God like that? It's really just a lack of faith and trust that God is who He says He is and can/will do what He says He can/will do! I'm just being honest, because I know I pray those prayers more often than I'd like to admit and I'm guessing some of you do too.  

"Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Mark 9:23

That verse comes from a section in scripture where a desperate father brings his son to Jesus. The boy had a spirit in him that for years caused him to have seizures and foam at the mouth. The disciples had tried everything they knew to cast out the spirit, but nothing worked. After Jesus commanded the spirit to leave the boy, the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to cast it out. He responded (I love this) "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." Our prayers DO matter and they CAN and WILL change things if we believe. 

And just for a little encouragement, Emma whimpered ONE TIME during the entire experience and did not cry at all. AND a dear sweet friend of mine just broke the news that she is expecting a baby after struggling to get pregnant for some time! My heart is bursting with excitement over all the praises!!! I love that we serve a God who wants our prayers and listens to our requests! :)