Sweet baby V turns 2

My sweet baby girl,
You are two!!  Yahoo!  You are already so much fun that I'm excited to see how your personality show itself in the next year.
Within the last couple of months you decided that you like words and have decided to use them.  Before it was basically a bunch of gibberish.  Granted, it was your own little language with odd phrases you'd use again and again, so we knew they meant something!  We just didn't know what.  You're not always crystal clear on what you're saying but it sure is easier to understand you and what you want to get across!
Within the last week or two you have started saying "bless you," "I [for]give you," and counting to ten "one, two, free, foy, figh, sic, semmen, eigh, nine, ten, oonchie!!"  We have no idea what "oonchie" means but you sure do like that word.  Oh!, and "hine"!  That means "come on!" and you've been saying it for some time now but it's just too cute to not add.  Especially when you say "Hine!  Quick!!"
You still don't have much hair but it's starting to finally come in.  You even have a little section of bangs and a sweet baby mullet.  Only a little one though so we don't feel the need to cut it :)
You love to have screaming matches with Sissy and sometimes you're just shrill enough on your own.  It's piercing really.
You love, love babies.  And you seem as though you're nearly out of being one yourself.  It's like you've just blossomed into a little girl over night, leaving your toddlerness behind the day before.  You'll carry stuffies or babies around and talk to them to make sure they're all right.  You'll love them, ask them a question, and then give them a big rocking hug while wearing a huge smile on your face.
You're just full of love.  You're also full of feistiness.  Let's just say you are full of personality.  You'll say something to us with this quizzical expression on your face, you're hands up in a shrugging position, and head cocked.  It is by far thee cutest thing ever.  And sometimes you'll just keep talking in a gibberish fashion because you know you have our attention and you love it!
You love the claymation cartoons that will sometimes drive me nuts.  There are days that I miss Yo Gabba Gabba just because the claymation can be so ridiculous.  You also love "Feesh" which is Finding Nemo.  I'll take that over Pingu (which you're watching right at this moment).
Anyway, sweet baby, I love you.  You are amazingly sweet, funny, precious, bright, feisty, lovable, my "snuggle bunny," wild, caring, joy of a girlie.

Love you much,
Momma

I completely missed my eldest's birthday letter post...

Dearest A,
Life got way too hectic around your birthday and then decided to stay that way.  You are now 5 years (2 months and 23 days) old.  You are beautiful.  You have such a kind heart.  You're my sweet and sour kind of girlie.  When your sweet, you are oh so ever kind, loving, gentle, thoughtful, gracious, giving, and good.  And when you are sour, well, let's just say that there are time outs.  You have mine and daddy's temperaments equally, although you do lean more so toward being more like daddy.  This is also why you both butt heads so much.
You're quick and do your best to learn.  You enjoy school but are starting to find it a little boring, which I can fully understand since you are learning the exact same curriculum as last year.  However, you weren't quite ready to move along since you started too early to begin with.  My dear, you are definitely a first born since we're completely experimenting with you!  We love you so much though, and are really trying to be good parents who love you with our whole hearts, discipline you when necessary, forgive you when you're in the wrong and apologize when we are.
You are feisty and certainly take after me when teasing (tickling, playing, or the like).  Sometimes we don't always know when to stop!  But we're both learning and we both drive daddy nuts in the process.
Daddy and I are both learning (as we always have been and always will be) to be careful about what we say and how we act.  Not just around you and your sister but in life as well.  We want to teach you well but you seem to be picking up on our bad habits more so than the good!  I'm sure that's not entirely true as you are more naughty with us than around others.  But we're trying to stop you from picking up more on the bad than the good.  It's really only our impatience that you seem to pick up on well but what we really want you to learn from us to be loving and gracious, kind and gentle, strong and confident, proud and yet humble.  To love others and to always see the good in them.  To give people the benefit of the doubt (like daddy) but to always make them earn your trust (like me).
I'm excited to watch you continue to grow and learn.  I don't ever want to squelch your strong personality but to show you how to use it for good.  You're already pretty awesome at being five so keep at it.  And I'll try to be more on time next year for you birthday letter.
I love you much,
Momma

Here's the low down, the scoop.

So.
We're not moving.
Yes, you read that right.
Le'me 'splain.  No.  There's too much.  Le'me sum up.
(name that movie!)
Anyway, here's what happened the last couple of months:

Our house was not selling.  We maybe had a total of 8 people interested in our house in the 11 months our house has been on the market.  No bids.  No offers.  Nothin.
So, I started praying.  It all seemed just too weird to me that nothing was happening with our house.  I started wondering if maybe we weren't suppose to move.  I asked God that if we weren't suppose to move that He would protect us by not letting our house sell.  We really couldn't afford to move, the launch for the church plant had come and gone, the pieces just weren't falling into place for us to go anywhere.
I prayed that if we weren't suppose to move that He would not only protect our house from selling but that He would also put it on my husband's heart to stay here since he was the one who felt the call to move in the first place.
Then, in the last two weeks I decided to spruce up the house to make it homier for showings.  I bought new throw pillows for the couches and bought plants for the front porch.  I worked really hard one day on the porch, planting plants, moving furniture around, and decorating the outside to make it purdy.
So as we're all sitting outside on our newly decorated porch as a family I said to Bryan, "You know what's gonna happen?  We're gonna make this house all nice and homey and just the way we want it and then someone is gonna come along and wanna buy it."  And he said. "Yeah, I want to talk to you about that..."
At first I thought, "Oh no, he doesn't want to move any more."  But then relief washed over me and a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  And it's not that I don't want to be out that way but it just didn't feel like the timing was right.
After the girls went to bed, we talked that night over everything and decided that we felt God was telling us not to move but to stay here and do the things here that we were wanting to do there.  We've already started an outreach group for events to reach out to the community surrounding our church.  We've met more of our neighbors and we're hoping to connect with them.  We've even met some other fellow Christians outside of our church that we're hoping to connect with them as a small group or even just to fellowship.  And something I've really been praying for has been another little girl for A to play with within our own block, and lo and behold, we met another little girl just her age that same day we decided not to move.
God is answering our prayers just in a different way than we imagined.  It's so cool how He works.
And when I told our (Christian) realtor that we wanted to pull our house off the market and why, she agreed that it's the best decision financially and that we should definitely do it if that's what we feel God's telling us to do.  She also said that this last year has been weird because she had been watching all the houses around us sell for the same price but it was like we were in our own little bubble!  So there it is.  God has been protecting us this entire time from moving and we didn't understand it all until now.

So, we're here to stay.  At least for now.  :)

Interview With A Four Year Old

I saw this interview on pinterest and I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Here are the answers she gave me:

1. What is something mom always says to you?  Love you
2. What makes mom happy?  When you get your hugs
3. What makes mom sad?  When I don't listen
4. How does your mom make you laugh?  When I tickle you
5. What was your mom like a child?  You gave your mom hugs cause she likes hugs
6. How old is your mom?  Four? No, six.  I don't know.
7. How tall is your mom?  40,000
8. What is her favorite thing to do?  Clean (I must do that often)
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?  Help clean the dishes (I guess that confirms it!)
10. If mom becomes famous, what will it be for?  For being grumpy (she says with a smirk and a giggle)
11. What is your mom really good at?  Numbers
12. What is mom not very good at?  Putting plastic on the windows because that's what daddy's do.
13. What does your mom do for her job?  Clean (hm...)
14. What's your mom's favorite food?  Grapes and pizza no, and salad.
15. What makes your mom proud of you? When I help you.

It's back on the market

Our house is officially back out there.
After chatting with our new realtor (same company) we are going to do a FSBO and hope for the best.  I'm a little nervous with all that it entails so if you'll be praying with us, that'd be grand.  Our realtor will still be helping us as much as she can so we won't be completely alone but we will be the ones to show our house and field calls and whatever else along those lines.  We're also dropping the price.. by a lot.

Alright God.. you've got this...

Busy Weekend

Last Thursday morning we headed off to Minnesota to visit with Bryan's brother and sister in law and their two kiddos.  We had been anticipating this trip since November so when I woke up Thursday morning not feeling too great I was bummed.  However, they told us to come on up if there was no fever, so we did!  Thankfully my sis-in-law-in-law is hippieish so she had some all natural remedies for me to try.  Some berry syrup and echinachea tea.
Thursday night the boys had a hockey game to go to so Alyssa and I were left at home to watch the four kiddos.  It was nice to sit and talk although we practically had to wait until the kids all went to bed.
Friday I felt like I got hit by a truck but I kept on with the syrup and tea.  Bryan had a lunch with a co-worker so we just hung around the house until about three then we headed to the Mall of America.
We went to the aquarium and then Buffalo Wild Wings.  Those two things plus all the walking to get there, trying to ride the Dora the Explorer Ferris Wheel but finding it was WAY too expensive, and buying the girls' swimsuits took us nearly 6 hours.  It was crazy that we hardly did anything!!
Saturday I was starting to feel way better so the manly men went out shooting at a range while us women stayed home with the kids (don't worry, they paid us back). After they got home, Alyssa and I went shopping with only her baby.  We went to the smaller mall (which was still way huge) and went in to Charlotte Russe.  Super cute store!!  We had so much fun trying things on, shoes, clothes, jewelry, it was great. We even found some super awesome deals so that made the trip even better.  We ended up spending 3 hours in just this one store but it was totally worth it.
We headed back and took the family swimming at the pool they have in their apartment.  It was great!  The kids had a blast and completely wore themselves out so we got them to bed pretty quickly once we got back to the house.  Then us adults ordered some Chinese food and watch Gran Torino.  Such a great movie!
Sunday I was feeling loads better (Thank you berry syrup!).  We went to church then to a pancake house for supper.  It was seriously some of the best breakfast food ever.  They even had gluten free foods so I was able to have the GF cinnamon french toast.  Yum.
All weekend Alyssa and I had talked about how we missed our nose piercings and that we should get them redone.  We didn't really have the opportunity until that afternoon and we thought that if we didn't do it right then, we weren't going to be able to.
So we found a shop and headed that way.  Sans kids!!  The place was called Aloha Monkey so we were super skeptical but we thought we'd try it out.  It was super clean, bright and everyone looked professional- even with all their tattoos!  The guy who helped us was really nice and did his best to calm our nerves.
I think once you get it done once you know it will hurt so it makes you even more anxious to get it done a second time!
Alyssa went first and did great.  Then it was my turn and I was still so nervous but I knew I really wanted it back so I was going to go through with it.  So glad this guy was super nice!!
He and I were joking about making sure it was done through the previous hole (which was very obviously still there) and when it was over he said "I made sure it was perfect cause otherwise you said you would've f***ed me up!" I laughed and said "yes but not in those words" and he replied "pretty close!" haha :)
Anyway, we had a lot of fun and are hoping to do it again in a few months.  But I think this time we'll need to save some money for all the shopping Alyssa and I like to do!

Sleep Less in Iowa

So, I don't normally do Lent, not being Catholic and all.  Well, that and I never really understood why people would give up things just because it was for lent.  Like, no internet or no sweets.  If you're not doing it to grow closer to God then what's the point?
(I know some people do give up those two things, among others, to grow closer to God, I'm just speaking of those that only give up things just to give them up for 40 days and for no other reason. Also, I'm speaking of no one in particular.)
But this year I've found something to give up, so I'm going to give it my best.

I've been following along with our church's Bible in a Year and it's going alright.  I really have to work

at finding the time, which, to me, is awful.  It's awful that I have to find the time to be in God's Word.  

So for 40 days I will be giving up an hour of sleep in the morning to be in God's Word.  

If you know me, you know I love my sleep.  I cherish it, mostly because I really need it.  Having hypothyroid I get really tired if I don't get plenty of sleep and I need about 10 hours every night.  And with no nap in the afternoon, my sleep at night becomes very precious.  And waking up in the middle of the night to nurse the Little, my extra morning sleep is even more precious.  So you can see what it is that I'm really giving up here.  You other momma's can relate!!
I guess this'll mean that I need to give up my evenings and go to bed earlier.  That's not easy since the hubs is a night owl (and really, so am I) and that's our time together.  But we'll get it figured out.  And then maybe we can have a new routine that really works after the 40 days is over.
I'm really going to give this my best shot.
Wish my God speed, or well wishes, or pray for me, or all the above!  Cause I'm gonna need it.

Do you have anything you're giving up for Lent?

How am I doing?

I have a rare moment to blog!  Yay!
I've been wanting to update how I'm doing with my New Years Goals.  I gotta say, I'm doing pretty great!

1. I have only had any kind of bread once and that was on some chinese food.  I felt terrible after eating it! Ugh.  So I haven't had it since.  And without any grains, I'm feeling really good.

2. I've also been doing pretty good without any sweets.  I haven't had anything since last year.  That is great for me.  Cause I love me some sweets.  Right now I'm craving brownies and chocolate covered cherries but I will prevail and not have a thing!  It's just what works for me.
So, by giving up grains and sweets alone, I have already lost 10 pounds and dropped a pant size!  Huzzah!  It's encouraging.

3. Now I'm going to start incorporating more exercise into my routine and hopefully my body will continue to show wonderful progress.

4. I'm still going strong with my Bible in a Year.  I will get a few days behind here and there but I'll catch back up.  I like the one we're doing.  It doesn't have you just read straight on through but different books with each other and it gives you a really cool perspective.

5. I am daily improving myself on being a better wife and momma.  It's definitely a challenge some days but I love my family and because of that I want to keep working hard at being better more.

A relatively normal post.

It seems like the flu and colds are going around.. and around and around.  I think our household was sick twice through.  It seemed to start with me as well as end it with me and it all began back in October.  I think.  Anyway, it was long.  And the second time through was a doozy.  I haven't had a knock-me-down-n-out kinda cold for a few years so I guess I had it coming, but geesh.

Aside from all the sickness, Christmas was good and fun.  It was interesting trying to figure it all out with V's birthday on Christmas Eve but we got it.  Sorta.  I'll have it better figured out next year.  I hope, anyway.
We started out with my side of the family.   We were missing a few family members as well as non-family members.  We usually have a few non-relations join us for festivities.  And it's a joyous good time!  But not this year and that's okay too.  We watched movies, played games, hung out, ate too much junk food.. Ugh.
After a few fun filled days there we came home for a day and then went on to Bryan's side of the family.  We spend a good three days there with everyone which was also too much fun.  However, I think it's where we got the second dose of sickness.  (It's okay Vera, Aunt Seppy still loves you!!)
It was still a lot of fun and good times, puzzle doing, hanging out, chit chatting over tea, too much good food.  Mmm.  My mil's mashed potatoes.. so very good.
New Year was uneventful.  The girls went to bed as normal and Bryan and I tried catching up on Once Upon A Time.  It was lame.  And then I remembered four years ago we hung out with all of our friends for NYE.  It was a blast.  Sometime we'll do it again.  Maybe V won't be such a light sleeper by the time she's two.  Anyway- Yay 2013!  Bring it on!
However, we did have a great NY day ringing it in with our friends the Pitts.  Yummo food!  And I was good and stuck to my goals. (Which are going great, thank you for asking :)
And on Wednesday night we had our long lost friends the Lloyd's over!  We haven't seen them in the 6 months since they moved to Texas.  It was great to see them.
Anyway, Christmas is down and put away and my house is feeling normal again.  I've gotten back on my routine and the house is getting cleaner and cleaner.
So, now it's time to start preparing for next Christmas.  Isn't that the way it goes?

27/30 Things: Body parts

{To know what I'm talking about, and to see previous 30 Things posts, start here}

27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?

Uh.. I've got nothing.  Ha!  Okay, how about my belly.  Why?  Because I don't like the way it looks.  It used to be flat and smooth, and teeny teeny tiny.  BUT!  Although it's (way) less than flat and so not very smooth at all, it has housed two beautiful little girls.  It's held them as they grew and formed, as they were being created into something truly precious.  And, although I don't care for the way it looks now, it holds precious memories of miracles, growths, and births.  And I hope the stories aren't finished yet.  Because I wouldn't trade my babes for a flat tummy.  
(Although you momma's that can do both, GO YOU!!)

26/30 Things: Popular notions

{To know what I'm talking about, and to see previous 30 Things posts, start here}

26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?

Hm.. I'd have to say being a Christian.  I think a lot of people take on the title of Christian very casually.  You can't just claim to follow Christ, you have to actually live it too.  Now don't get me wrong, I am not perfect and in so many ways.  I fail daily.  DAILY.  But every day I wake up and try to live my day for God.  I don't always get it right but I do try.  
I feel like people who claim Christianity but don't live it make life a lot harder on those of us who really do try.  Christ calls us to love.  Everyone.  Unconditionally.  To show grace and mercy.  To treat others the way Christ would.  In love.  To care for others.  Not judge others.  To lift each other up.  Not pick and choose who we're going to love that day but to love every person we come into contact with. 
Truth: I do fail to do this.  A lot.  But every time I mess I up, I try to make up for it.  
I've been forgiven.  I've been shown grace.  Mercy.  Love.  Every day.  And because of that I work at returning grace, mercy, and love right back out into the world.  And when I mess up, because I always do, I'm forgiven again and again I try to go back out there to love on others.  
Christ calls us to love.  And to love we must do.
One of my favorite quotes is by dcTalk:

The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians.  Who acknowledge Him with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world, simply finds unbelievable.

So let us love others.  Let us show Christ through our actions and our words.

25/30 Things: Historic Person

{To know what I'm talking about, and to see previous 30 Things posts, start here}

(I promise I haven't forgotten about this.  I know it has taken me MONTHS to get this done.  I just never had easy access to a computer before but now I do!  So let's get this thing finished, whadya say??)

25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?

For some reason I always go to Paul from the Bible (Saul turned Paul).  I would love to know his story personally, the things he went through to share the Gospel, the hard times he endured and how he overcame them, how he got through to people.  But then I think, why wouldn't I just go straight to Jesus.  Of COURSE I want to meet Jesus!  But I figure, Paul is human, he struggled and failed but he still made a go of things.

The other person I'd want to meet is Mother Teresa.  Her life she lived simply and only for God.  To love others as he loves us!  Her life revolved around others and how she could shine Jesus through her every day actions.  She loved to love, she lived to serve, and she made great effort to show Christ to every one she met.  
I want to be like that.

As far as what I'd eat.. I'd eat whatever they were eating!  

Happy New Year

It's 2013 Folks!!  Wowza.  I can hardly believe we don't have flying cars yet!  I remember the end of 1999 and thinking how scary the 21st century was going to be because flying cars and all the spacey stuff would soon follow the turn of the century.  But here we are.  Flying carless.
Anywho.
This year I'm going to try to better myself.

1. Give up sweets.
Hi, my name is September and I'm a chocoholic.  I've done it before, gave up anything sweets related that I was addicted to.  6 months.  I can do it again.  And I'm going to by the grace of God because, my goodness, I just can't seem to get ahold of myself.  I wish I were one of those people that could just have a taste once a day and then be done.  But no, I have to have a taste, eat the rest, and then lick the dish.  I also turn to chocolate when I'm stressed instead of turning to prayer.  So, things have got to change.

2. Go grain free.
I'm sure I've mentioned before that I have hypo-thyroid.  Well, I've done some research and have found that gluten can greatly increase the difficulty of thyroid function when it's already not working very well.  So, although I'm not going to go completely gluten free, I am going to go grain free and as gluten free as possible.  It always works when I go on the Maker's Diet, which now it all makes sense because of the lack of grains.  But this time I'm going to just stay away from grains and eat a ton more veggies and fruits.  Nothing to hard or difficult.  I've gotta make these resolutions easy so I still with them!

3. Exercise more.
It's not that hard, just get up and get moving for a half an hour or so to get the blood pumping.

4. Read through the Bible in a year.
The Pastor of our church has a plan all set up and all we have to do is follow it. I've already done mine for today.  Not too bad.  Although I may have either wake up before the girls do (which is no easy task for me) or read it before I go to bed.  One way or another, it'll get done.

5.  Better wife, better momma.
I just want to keep improving and be the best to which my family deserves.

All in all, easy resolutions.  Nothing too hard, nothing too fancy.