Thursday, September 27, 2007

Still not about Sofi's birthday...

Okay, an event in the life of a friend has superseded Sofi's birthday again. The Lord has granted Denise and Jonathan the desire of their hearts! They are expecting!! (albeit rather tentatively atm) Those of you readers who know our two year journey through Infertility can appreciate how near to my heart is their joy in this matter. This is their 26th month of TTC and it has been a hard one at times as, despite many, many tests and procedures, no diagnosis or cause for their IF was ever discovered. But now the Lord has opened the womb for them and a new journey begins. One still fraught with hardships and heartache, but filled with joy as well. Even if the Lord does not grant that they meet their son or daughter in this life, they are now parents. Congratulations, Jonathan and Denise!! Praise the Lord!! Our prayers are still with you daily......

Monday, September 24, 2007

Not about Sofi's birthday

Okay, I know there are some of you expecting me to blog about The Party of The Century, but I don't have the pics yet, so I'm postponing that till then.

Instead some random "catching up"....

I'm so thrilled these days with the way the Lord is blessing our business! (My Sisters' Weddings) It's been our goal to do about six or so weddings a year and we realized this month that we are averaging two a year for the last three years! Now that might not seem like a lot, but it's 1/6th of the way there! Yay :) We are interviewing with another bride right now for a wedding next summer. So this year we interviewed with three brides (not counting this one) and got two weddings and we're now interviewing for next year's crop of brides. It's so encouraging! So, pass the word around, you guys!!

Judah has begun night-time sleep training-- Marc Weisbluth style. For those of you who have read "Healthy Sleep habits, Happy Child", you know what I'm talking about. For the rest, it's basically a program of eliminating night-time waking. And yes, we do let him cry. I know it's very controversial, but it worked wonders with Sofi and so far it's going really well with Judah.The idea is that the crying is simply that of protesting lack of interaction, and for the sake of your child's health (and your own sanity) you have to teach him that bedtime is inviolable. Judah is much easier than Sofi in that his crying is not the heart-wrenching sobs of an abandoned baby, but rather indignant shouts of protest. He really doesn't cry, he just yells. We called Mom and Dad tonight to let them hear it :)

Anyway, after three nights of no waking for feeding on my part (we turn the monitor off), I am a new woman!! I think maybe we can handle four or five kids! :) Just kidding. Two is enough for now. I believe that God in His wisdom would never give us twins. We can only handle one baby at a time over a several year time span.

Prayers for tonight:

Sleep for all of us (always at the top of my list)
Sam's health
Laurie's recovery and Josiah's continued health
Denise and her little baby beans
My husband--that God would uphold him always
My children, that God would give us grace and wisdom in raising them
Myself, that God would enable me to truly love my children (for only by His grace can I love unselfishly) and that I would be able to communicate that to them daily, that they would never doubt it

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Baby Beardsley makes an appearance!!

Welcome Josiah Thomas!! All the relevant info is on the Beardsley blog (see sidebar). Laurie had a disgustingly fast labor-- for a first time mom... But we are glad for her sake :) (Also somewhat jealous)

Congratulations to Mom and Dad!!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Life with Judah

He's teething, so life with Judah this last week has been... interesting. Not much daytime sleep and lots of night time waking. Today he finally got a decent nap and is sooo much happier, but even with ouchy teeth he's such a happy, jolly baby.

So many of my friends are on baby watch these days.... Denise waiting on the results of her little precious embryos, Laurie waiting for little baby Beardsley to make an appearance, Laura C. with only three months to go before baby Lillian arrives, Tabitha, and all the others. Such a wonderful time in our lives as women. Even with all the heartache that it can bring, the gift that God has uniquely given women-- of participating in the giving of life-- is such a precious one. Lord make us faithful stewards of this gift! Give us wisdom and strength, teach us to lean on You for both.

Sofi got to try out for a role in the Rockingham County Ballet Company's performance of The Nutcracker this weekend! She was very excited ahead of time, but somewhat disappointed when it turned out that the audition consisted of "doing the same old stuff I've been doing in Miss Cindy's class...." Mom was glad to know that it was all very easy for her, though. They'll be choosing and assigning based on the girl's ability to follow instruction and not fall apart on stage. Both things I believe she's capable of. We'll find out in two weeks what parts she got! Check back for details.... :)

Friday, September 7, 2007

Checkin' in again.........

So, it's been a while... We've been sick, sick, sick. The flu, or something like it--haven't eaten well in days. Experienced the scary phenomenon of my milk supply dwindling to almost nothing as a result. It's funny how much I take that for granted, even though some of my close friends have experienced difficulties in that area. It's another one of those things, like infertility, that strike close to one's identity as a woman. I guess a parallel would be the feeling a man might get when unable to get a job to provide for his family. Breastfeeding for me is "providing" in the same way that Jeremiah's work "provides" for our family financially. Anyway, it's been a very emotional week.

In lighter news: Sofi and I have created a recipe for a great summer snack that we'd like to share with you. It's sugar-free and can be low-fat if you'd like. Tastes sooooo good!


Sofi's Banana Pudding "Milk"shake:

2 frozen bananas
1 cup yogurt (more or less depending on the consistency you want)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to a blender and blender at high speed until smooth. ENJOY!!