New Journey's

It looks like Eliza will have to go see a cardiologist at Devos. Based on the EKG, they saw some abnormalities that her doctor wants to have checked out. She will have to have an ultrasound of her heart and I guess they will be looking for a hole or some other obscure thing.
It makes me feel like she is so fragile but she really isn't! Maybe that's why she is sick all the time!
As of right now the appt. is on Nov. 4. I am trying to get it sooner because of the baby coming.

It also looks like that sweet older couple is going to take Gus on Monday! They are going to have him for a week trial and see how he and the other dog adjust to each other. If all goes well they will keep him!
If not, they will give him back. We all know what I will be praying for!

I also had to have a little chat with Adrianna about stealing. Her teacher, Miss Bev, pulled me aside after school today and told me that Adrianna took some of the dollhouse toys and put them in her backpack. Then a little while later she took them again when she thought no one was looking. I have a little clepto on my hands. My mom reminded me that I stole a red crayon from preschool and told her that we didn't have that color at home! She promptly marched me back in to school and make me give it back and apologize. I think it was to the same teacher that I kicked on the first day of school!
After lunch today we talked about it and she did tell me what happened. I hopefully made her realize that what she did was wrong and that Jesus was not happy. She finally got around to saying I'm sorry and we also wrote an apology note to her teachers. She is upstairs right now coloring a picture for them. I also read her a story about greed and being thankful for the things that God has given us.
She is getting to that stage where she is noticing that she might not have something that someone else has. In her mind, she thinks that because she doesn't have a particular thing, it is okay to take it. We definitely have to catch those thoughts now!
I also had her pray and confess to Jesus what she did. She started singing "God our Father, we thank you for our blessings, Amen"! Isn't it so freeing that God forgives us and loves us so much!
She also lost her movie priviledge for 2 days.
I had no idea what to do, but the Lord layed it on my heart and hopefully we can keep molding her into His image! We will fight one battle at a time!

Bye Bye 30!

Wow! I have had an amazing birthday! It started last night when my parents took the kids for the night. We went to a car show at the new church they are looking at and then the girls just stayed with them. Shawn and I went and got paint for the nursery and when we got home were able to do some of our devotional book together.
This morning Shawn and I went out to breakfast at Panera before church. Chai tea, hubby, and quiet..what more could I ask for?:)
We met up with my parents, Sarah, her friend Joe, and the girls for lunch at Olive Garden and it was so good!
We came back to the house and my Dad and Shawn painted the nursery and I LOVE IT! It only took them 1 1/2 hours to paint and they didn't have to go to Home Depot! THIS is a big accomplishment! This has probably been the shortest home project we have ever done! Usually they have to go to Home Depot at least 3 times. No joke! I can't wait for it to get all put together.

My mom and I played a rousing game of Scrabble and then the Howells came over for pizza, apple crisp, and pumpkin dessert.
Shawn and my parents went together and got me a CD player/radio for under our counter. That way we can reduce the amount of stuff in our dining room and make room for baby stuff!
Shawn is actually putting it together right now! I really appreciate them all giving up their day to celebrate with me!

Things are starting to come together and I really don't think I am going to have 4 weeks left until this baby! Oui...... We'll see what the doctor says on Friday. I think he has already dropped and I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions as well as some other things. Please pray I can make it!!!

So, another birthday is over and I have left the 30 year olds behind! I can't believe it has already been a year when I was dreading turning the big 30! Shawn was excited that he could check 3 age categories in the church bulletin now! (preschool, 22-30, and 31-44, or something like that!)

Thanks to everyone who helped make my day special!

I'm Abby Cadabby and I'd like to play with you...I'm just so happy to be friends with you!

After we went apple-picking everyone came back to our house for Eliza's party. We decided to have her party in our garage. I don't know why we didn't think of it before with previous parties! Duh! There were about 25 of us and we always try to cram in our house! It was a little chilly, but with some space heaters, coffee, and 25 bodies, it worked great!
We got subway which was the greatest idea I think I've had all year! It came already assembled with all the toppings. All we had to do was cut it and serve it! It worked out so great and was hardly any preparation for us. It was nice not to be crowded in our house and to have room to move. The kids had a blast playing outside and they could just run free and be wild. They enjoyed making candy necklaces and playing on the swing set. It was great fun!

It seems like most 2 year old's LOVE Elmo and Sesame Street. We had an Elmo theme for Adrianna's 2nd birthday and I wanted to do something like that for Eliza. We decided to do Abby Cadabby and Sesame street for her birthday. I didn't want to miss the window of her loving all those cute characters!
My parents bought her the singing Abby Cadabby doll and she loves it! She was so amazing to watch open her gifts! She opened every card and tore all the paper with such care. She would finish with one present and say "More presents please!". I hardly had to help her with any opening! She was such a joy to watch.














Abby has a silky dress and Eliza's thumb went right in her mouth!











Mmmmmm...yummy goodies!







Once again, my aunt is amazing! If you read a previous post, you would remember how frustrated I was with this cake. My aunt said she would decorate it and she did a FABULOUS job! It was so last minute and I felt so bad. I have this expectation of wanting to make and decorate my kid's birthday cakes. Not so much this year. I guess I should cut myself some slack, but I couldn't help feeling a little sad about it.
She does so good with matching the colors perfectly and it turned out so cute! The thing I hate the most about cakes is cutting them!





Sweet birthday girl!










Eliza actually blew out all the candles!
She was the life of the party!








Thank you to all of our family who came to celebrate Eliza's day. I can't express enough how much it means to me to have our family and friends there. Some people drove 2 and 3 hours to celebrate! I know things change as the years go by and people will make decisions not to come, but for all of you who gave of your day to make us feel special, we really appreciate it! We were blessed by your time and your gifts to our sweet girl.
The day after the party she kept walking around and saying "Happy Birthday" over and over!

Apple-Picking Tradition

Nothing says Fall to me than Apple-picking! It is our family tradition to go every year. We usually go to Crane's Orchard in Fennville. I LOVE going with our family and especially seeing how the kids love to find the bright, red apples on the trees. We also love to eat one too! It is probably my favorite fall activity! Our family from Detroit came for apples and for Eliza's birthday party. We had a great weekend! We went picking on Sunday morning and then went out to eat. (which I was a little miffed because there were 17 of us and they automatically take out the tip. Well, they took out 40%!!!!!! grrr....)
Anyway, here are a few fun shots of the first part of our day together.


Eliza LOVED eating the apples. We had to prevent her from eating more than one! I think she would have eaten about 5 of them!






Colin was so excited to show off the apple he found!











My grandparents are amazing! They have come to every family birthday, event, concert, and activity since as far back as I can remember! Eliza is named after Grandma and they are both an amazing example of love and God's grace. It just wouldn't be a party or event without them!








My sister Jen, and her hubby Keith.









This is our annual apple picture! We always take one like this...I can't help feeling like the stuffed pig....for more reasons that the obvious!







Adrianna and Grandma Jody.









Adrianna was a pro at picking apples. It is amazing to see how grown-up she is getting!










And you wonder where Eliza gets her cheese from...:)
(this is my dad)









This is my dad's mom. We are so glad she can come to our parties and events too! It is such a blessing for me to have my grandparents willing and able to come celebrate with us!










Hmmm...do we have enough apples?! I think we picked about 50 pounds of them!
Here are the kinds we picked:
Jonagold
Cortland
Pioneer
Jonathan





This is my sister Sarah...she's a goof!








My sweet pumpkin pies!









All 4 kids having fun together! Alex is almost 8, with Eliza, Colin, and Adrianna.








Sweet cousins!







Uncle Scott, Aunt Sue, and Alex!
They come to everything too and are so supportive. They are so fun because they love to do things and be a part of family activities.






Now I just have to find time to make tons of applesauce, pies, and crisp!

Happy 2nd Birthday Our Sweet Girl!

I can hardly believe Eliza is 2! She has been such a joy to our lives! She continually makes us smile and helps us enjoy life more. It seems like only yesterday that we were re-assured that God does renew His promises to us and He is so faithful! She has a special place in my heart because of our loss before she was born and how God put joy back in my soul with her birth. I look at her and sometimes am blown away by the blessing that God gave to us....so undeserving!




We began our day at the doctor. I had an appt. at 9 and she had her 2 year well-child at 10:15.
It looks like I will start NST's at 36 weeks. I will probably have an amnio at 37 weeks and if the lungs are ready they will deliver. I am also having a growth ultrasound sometime in the next few weeks. I am still measuring big so my doc is keeping an eye on that.

Everything was great with Eliza except the doctor heard a heart murmur when she was listening to her. She mentioned a possible hole in her heart but it would have sounded the same when she was lying down as well as when she was sitting up. The murmur was more faint when she sat up. So she had to have an EKG. She did really well and just layed there while the test was going on. A pediatric cardiologist will read it and if is abnormal, she will have to go see him. If it is looking okay, then her doctor will just monitor it whenever she goes in for appt.'s.
She also had to have 2 shots! Happy Birthday sweetie...:)

We went to my mom's for lunch and both girls took naps! Adrianna was complaining of a stomach ache most of the day but nothing every came of it. She hardly ate anything all day.
We got home and I proceeded to drop 2 of my favorite glass bowls on the kitchen floor. They of course shattered into a million pieces and my dear husband cleaned it up for me! Just as we were about to be done cleaning that up...Adrianna threw up all over the living room floor. I should have seen it coming because she was wailing that her stomach hurt really bad.
She only did it once and seemed to be a little better.
After a warm bath and a movie both girls were in bed and sleeping within 10 minutes!

We bought Eliza an Ariel doll which she actually picked out! Periodically I will let her walk around the toy aisles just to see what she likes. I never know what to get her! Most of the time she will look at something and either say "No thanks" or " All done". She found this Ariel doll and would not put it down. She kept kissing the box the entire time we were in the store!
I wrapped it up and we gave it to her this evening. I have never seen her get so excited about a toy! She had the most precious look of utter glee and excitement on her face! She kept saying Ariel over and over and wanted to come her hair. It also probably helps that her fin is silky. She has an obsession with anything silky! We also got a doll that you can just snap the clothes on. She played with that for a few minutes then gave it to Adrianna!

Over all it was a pretty quiet birthday after we got the glass and barf cleaned up!
We had to decorate the garage for her party on Sunday and Shawn had to mow. I tried to decorate her cake but had an emotional break-down and couldn't do it. Every frosting color I mixed was wrong and it just kept getting more and more frustrating.
I think my aunt is going to rescue me!

Shawn has been such an amazing help to me when he has been home.
I feel bad that I can't do much and it has been very difficult lately. I guess I just need to lower the expectations I have on myself!

I am looking forward to a great weekend with family! We are going to Shawn's competition tomorrow evening. On Sunday we are going apple-picking and having Eliza's party.
I love these weekends when our family from Detroit comes and we can all just enjoy time together. I need that quality time with our families!

Too cute for words!

Among the MANY talents of my aunt, she used to decorate cakes professionally. She has helped me over the years with many tips for doing things and making them easier. I asked her to come and help me decorate the sesame street cookies for Eliza's birthday.
She graciously said yes and even made the frosting and tinted it to the exact colors of all the characters. It saved me A LOT of time and frustation! It took us about 3 hours to do all the cookies. I must say, they turned out FABULOUS!


The girls had to get in on the fun too! Adrianna did so good squeezing the frosting out. I sense professional decorating in her future...:)






Little ham Eliza loved dumping as many sprinkles as possible on the cookie!











Our little Princess is growing up and needs a lot of assurance lately. She did so great helping out!










The finished product! I am so happy with how they turned out!
Thanks so much to my aunt for helping. We had a great time and I am trying to learn all I can from her! She is so creative and anything she makes turns out so great!

We'll be taking orders...:) just kidding...:)

The bed is FINALLY here!

Both girls are very happy with their new beds! Last night was their first night sleeping in the same room and it actually went better than I thought. Adrianna only came out once to tell us that Eliza was keeping her awake. Eliza chatted for a while but they both fell asleep pretty quickly.

I like the fact that they are a little farther apart than we orginally thought. They can't reach each other and Eliza can't stand on her bed and bug Adrianna! I'm just waiting for the stuffed animals to go flying through the air!