Monday, September 8, 2008
Taylor's First Vacation Bible School
Taylor was able to attend the preschool class at Desperation Church's Vacation Bible School since I worked the snack bar. She has a GREAT time! The first Bible story she learned about was Jesus healing the blind man by spitting in the mud, rubbing it on the man's eyes, and telling him to go wash his face. When she came home she told me that she learned about Jesus and the "mighty mud". The rest of the week she told me that she learned about "Jesus and da' sick people". I guess the "mighty mud" is the one that really stuck for her. She did very well at the ending ceremony and LOVED being on stage in her church. Enjoy the photos!!!
The American Idol Concert
Everyone knows that Taylor is a HUGE American Idol fan...so we've made it a yearly tradition to go see the concert when it comes to KC. Last year it wasn't a big deal because Bella was only a few weeks old and all she wanted to do was nurse and sleep. This year she is quite a bit bigger and requires a bit more maintenance. Daddy carried Bella in on a pouch on his back rather than toting her in on his arm. She's gotten very heavy these days.
Both of the kids did VERY WELL for the first hour. I was smart and smuggled in some chicken nuggets, goldfish, and teddy grahams for the kids along with juice pouches. Things got a little dicey once the food ran out.
We bought about 30 minutes of time by allowing the kids to sit together in the same seat. They both thought that this was totally fun. Then the turf war began with whose seat they were actually sitting in. Eventually neither one of them wanted to sit down and preferred to be up...but not in one spot. We couldn't let the kids run around so the next hour was pretty difficult. The pictures below should tell the whole story.
Eventually the usher took pity on me and gave Bella and I seats in the handicapped section which was much cooler and had much more elbow room. Both of the kids managed to stay awake (barely) to the end of the concert. They were GONE by the time we got home! We'll have to have a better plan for next year.
Both of the kids did VERY WELL for the first hour. I was smart and smuggled in some chicken nuggets, goldfish, and teddy grahams for the kids along with juice pouches. Things got a little dicey once the food ran out.
We bought about 30 minutes of time by allowing the kids to sit together in the same seat. They both thought that this was totally fun. Then the turf war began with whose seat they were actually sitting in. Eventually neither one of them wanted to sit down and preferred to be up...but not in one spot. We couldn't let the kids run around so the next hour was pretty difficult. The pictures below should tell the whole story.
Eventually the usher took pity on me and gave Bella and I seats in the handicapped section which was much cooler and had much more elbow room. Both of the kids managed to stay awake (barely) to the end of the concert. They were GONE by the time we got home! We'll have to have a better plan for next year.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Taylor Gets Her Tonsils & Adenoids Removed
Well, it was the fateful but inevitable day when Taylor undergoes the knife to get her tonsils and adenoids removed. When she woke up this morning we told her that she was going to see Dr. Rouse and that she needed to show him KiKi. She was pretty pleased that she got to go out in her favorite type of jammies which she calls her "zipper".
Bella was dropped off at Carrie's house, a good friend of mine here in Liberty, and Taylor was a little sad that she didn't get to go play with "Shake" (Shae) and Kendall with Bella. Apparently she had a good day with Shae and Kendall and played so hard she ended up taking a 2 hour nap.
We arrive at the hospital and Taylor is in good spirits letting the nurse take her vital signs. She made sure the nurse dressed KiKi just like she was dressed even down to having the same bracelet to identify her. Kiki had to have her vital signs taken as well. When the O.R. nurse came to take Taylor back she didn't want to ride the wagons or drive the 
Barbie Jeep back to surgery, she wanted the nurse to carry her. Luckily Dr. Rouse met her out in the hall and walked back with her. She REALLY likes him.
Later he told me that she made sure to show him the teddy bear (KiKi) twice. I guess she didn't understand why she wasn't getting to go home since Dr. Rouse had already seen the teddy bear and that's what I told her we were there to do. Dr. Rouse told Taylor that KiKi needed to have her tonsils & adenoids out so he was going to give both of them the surgery at the same time. Taylor was okay with that. He accompanied her back to surgery and was there with her when she fell asleep.
She woke up in recovery on oxygen and that sort of freaked her out. She kept spitting out her pain medicine so they had to put it in her IV. She let me hold her
and she drifted in and out of sleep in my arms. Jay came back and we swapped places about halfway through recovery. They moved us to a holding room where we could both be in with her and she wanted to get up and move around. She was so drugged that she staggered like a drunk. I had to hold her arm to keep her steady.
Finally she started to eat some jello and that is why they finally decided to release her. Instead of us being in recovery for 2 hours we were kept 3 hours b/c of her stubborn refusal to put anything in her mouth. The discharge nurse wheeled her out to the car in the wagon. Taylor was thrilled to finally get to come home. She was even happier when Daddy brought Bella back home. The neighbor's cat came to visit and both kids sat at the door looking out. It was pretty funny to see a drugged Taylor and a happy Bella sitting together.
Bella was dropped off at Carrie's house, a good friend of mine here in Liberty, and Taylor was a little sad that she didn't get to go play with "Shake" (Shae) and Kendall with Bella. Apparently she had a good day with Shae and Kendall and played so hard she ended up taking a 2 hour nap.
We arrive at the hospital and Taylor is in good spirits letting the nurse take her vital signs. She made sure the nurse dressed KiKi just like she was dressed even down to having the same bracelet to identify her. Kiki had to have her vital signs taken as well. When the O.R. nurse came to take Taylor back she didn't want to ride the wagons or drive the 
Barbie Jeep back to surgery, she wanted the nurse to carry her. Luckily Dr. Rouse met her out in the hall and walked back with her. She REALLY likes him. Later he told me that she made sure to show him the teddy bear (KiKi) twice. I guess she didn't understand why she wasn't getting to go home since Dr. Rouse had already seen the teddy bear and that's what I told her we were there to do. Dr. Rouse told Taylor that KiKi needed to have her tonsils & adenoids out so he was going to give both of them the surgery at the same time. Taylor was okay with that. He accompanied her back to surgery and was there with her when she fell asleep.
She woke up in recovery on oxygen and that sort of freaked her out. She kept spitting out her pain medicine so they had to put it in her IV. She let me hold her
and she drifted in and out of sleep in my arms. Jay came back and we swapped places about halfway through recovery. They moved us to a holding room where we could both be in with her and she wanted to get up and move around. She was so drugged that she staggered like a drunk. I had to hold her arm to keep her steady.
Finally she started to eat some jello and that is why they finally decided to release her. Instead of us being in recovery for 2 hours we were kept 3 hours b/c of her stubborn refusal to put anything in her mouth. The discharge nurse wheeled her out to the car in the wagon. Taylor was thrilled to finally get to come home. She was even happier when Daddy brought Bella back home. The neighbor's cat came to visit and both kids sat at the door looking out. It was pretty funny to see a drugged Taylor and a happy Bella sitting together.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
And now there are three!
We found out on Tuesday, May 20th 2008 that we are expecting our third child! The estimated due date (according to babycenter) is January 21st 2009. We are thrilled! We told Taylor that she is having another baby and she said that she wanted another "sister". So we'll see if she gets her wish. Cousin Joey is adamant that he needs a boy cousin. We're just thrilled with finding out that I am pregnant! Please be praying for our growing family!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Taylor's First Recital
Taylor has been taking ballet and tap at Studio 10 since January. She LOVES her dance class. Of course, as you all know, children in dance classes have recitals. Tonight was Taylor's first recital.
She was required to have her hair parted on the right and into a low bun. It was to be slicked back with no bangs hanging down. This required the use of a very small hairnet and a billion bobby pins. Taylor HATED getting her hair done. However, the other requirement was to wear stage makeup. She thought that this was the greatest thing ever. She liked me to put blush and lipstick on her and when it came time to do her eyeshadow she told me to put "Tinkerbell dust" on her eyes. So that worked for me! She even told her daddy that he couldn't kiss her because she didn't want to rub off her lipstick!
She's had two dress rehearsals. The first one was last Wednesday at the studio and she cried through it. She "didn't want to be an angel or a bride" and she most certainly didn't want to dance. She wouldn't do anything but stand there and chew on her finger. The second dress rehearsal was at the theatre and she did great at it. In fact, she couldn't wait until to day for her to dance on the "BIG stage".
She performed at two shows, a 2 o'clock matinee and a 6 o'clock evening show. She did GREAT! There wasn't an ounce of nerves in that child. She danced her little ole heart out and waved at the people in the crowd. She just adored performing.
After the first performance we went to grab something to eat at a Chinese buffet and she was asking to go back and dance again. Luckily after the second performance she was tired enough to be okay with going home.
Bella did well attending her sister's recital...well, at least the first one. She slept through most of it. By the second one she'd had her fill and I had to stand at the side of the theatre and either dance with her, walk with her (by holding her hands), or keep her occupied with playing with my necklace. We left at intermission of the second show since Taylor was done performing.
Now we are all exhausted and will enjoy a nice down day tomorrow!
She was required to have her hair parted on the right and into a low bun. It was to be slicked back with no bangs hanging down. This required the use of a very small hairnet and a billion bobby pins. Taylor HATED getting her hair done. However, the other requirement was to wear stage makeup. She thought that this was the greatest thing ever. She liked me to put blush and lipstick on her and when it came time to do her eyeshadow she told me to put "Tinkerbell dust" on her eyes. So that worked for me! She even told her daddy that he couldn't kiss her because she didn't want to rub off her lipstick!
She's had two dress rehearsals. The first one was last Wednesday at the studio and she cried through it. She "didn't want to be an angel or a bride" and she most certainly didn't want to dance. She wouldn't do anything but stand there and chew on her finger. The second dress rehearsal was at the theatre and she did great at it. In fact, she couldn't wait until to day for her to dance on the "BIG stage".
She performed at two shows, a 2 o'clock matinee and a 6 o'clock evening show. She did GREAT! There wasn't an ounce of nerves in that child. She danced her little ole heart out and waved at the people in the crowd. She just adored performing.
After the first performance we went to grab something to eat at a Chinese buffet and she was asking to go back and dance again. Luckily after the second performance she was tired enough to be okay with going home.
Bella did well attending her sister's recital...well, at least the first one. She slept through most of it. By the second one she'd had her fill and I had to stand at the side of the theatre and either dance with her, walk with her (by holding her hands), or keep her occupied with playing with my necklace. We left at intermission of the second show since Taylor was done performing.
Now we are all exhausted and will enjoy a nice down day tomorrow!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Celebrating the Passover
We have just celebrated Passover with our DC family at the Liberty Community Center. We had a Messianic Jewish ceremony at the meal. The whole thing lasted about two hours. It is something that our church does every other year. Our children did very well considering it was a lot of reading and being very quiet.
When we prayed to bless the meal I had to cheat and take a picture of Taylor praying. She was praying so hard that her little eyes were wrinkled from squinting so hard. We had a cup of grape juice that is to be used as the 4 cups of the passover and Taylor REALLY wanted to drink it all at once.
Jay was the only man at the table so he served us all of the parts of the passover meal. Taylor liked washing her hands and drinking the juice when I told her to. She was a good sport and tried the raw parsely (she didn't like it), the matzah (she liked it), matzah with horseradish (she liked that surprinsingly enough), and the matzah with horseradish and the apple stuff (she really liked that). We had an unleavened meal with unleavened brownies as dessert. The brownies were all that she ate...luckily mom brought goldfish.
Bella was a little rowdy. She LOVES Pastor Michael's daughter Michaela and she would see her sitting at the head table and fuss for her. Michaela LOVES Bella so whenever we had a break she would come and get her. Bella just looks at Michaela and coos and laughs. Taylor adores Michaela as well and Pastor Michael is practically a celebrity in Taylor's eyes.
It was a lovely evening of remembering all of the things the Lord has done for us throughout the years ending with the ultimate sacrifice he made for us on the cross.
When we prayed to bless the meal I had to cheat and take a picture of Taylor praying. She was praying so hard that her little eyes were wrinkled from squinting so hard. We had a cup of grape juice that is to be used as the 4 cups of the passover and Taylor REALLY wanted to drink it all at once.
Jay was the only man at the table so he served us all of the parts of the passover meal. Taylor liked washing her hands and drinking the juice when I told her to. She was a good sport and tried the raw parsely (she didn't like it), the matzah (she liked it), matzah with horseradish (she liked that surprinsingly enough), and the matzah with horseradish and the apple stuff (she really liked that). We had an unleavened meal with unleavened brownies as dessert. The brownies were all that she ate...luckily mom brought goldfish.
Bella was a little rowdy. She LOVES Pastor Michael's daughter Michaela and she would see her sitting at the head table and fuss for her. Michaela LOVES Bella so whenever we had a break she would come and get her. Bella just looks at Michaela and coos and laughs. Taylor adores Michaela as well and Pastor Michael is practically a celebrity in Taylor's eyes.
It was a lovely evening of remembering all of the things the Lord has done for us throughout the years ending with the ultimate sacrifice he made for us on the cross.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
DC Women's Retreat
DC had its women's Retreat on April 11-13th at the Windermere Conference Center. We were scheduled to meet at the church at 1:45pm on Friday April 11th and we were to be leaving at 2:00pm. I had a MOPS meeting that morning so I got home at 12:30pm and couldn't put the kids down for a nap only to be woken up an hour later so I had to feed both children lunch and then try to pack with two very nosy, 20 million question, demanding children. Believe it or not, I got packed. Jay called to tell me he was running late so I go off to the church with the two kids by myself and pray that he'll make it there in time. He did.
We secured me a place in Marilyn Humphrey's car and raced back to the house to drop off Jay's truck. We (Marilyn, Erin Stolfus, Candice Fields, and Devon Tapp) all squeezed into Marilyn's car and took off. It was a great ride down to Windermere with some awesome conversation. As soon as we arrived it was time to eat dinner...you can't get better timing than that!
I started to get a little nervous. I looked around the room and thought "what am I doing here???? I don't really know anyone!". Luckily we had a randomized dinner and ice breaker questions so I started to get to know people right off of the bat. We then had some "sister friend time" where we got to know our roomates before worship and our speaker for the night (Melissa Schellinger).
My roomates were Leah VanGorp, Wendy Assel, Candice Fields, Sue Thompson, and Linda Bishop. We had a WONDERFUL time getting to know one another, cry together, and pray together! Below is a picture of all of us on our last day at Windermere.
VAlerie Brown read Max Lucado's book You Are Special and it totally made me weep. If you haven't read it, you should! Melissa then talked about having God self esteem rather than focusing on having good self esteem. Hello...reach me right where I am. Every time that girl speaks God uses her to speak directly into my heart!
After that time with her we played games (Apples to Apples in my case) and ate some seriously bad for you goodies. Man was that room loud with 60 chatty women! We had a little mini spa going on with Angel doing some eye brow plucking, parafin wax for your hands, and the skits even had cucumbers for your eyes! This is one of those times I LOVE being a woman!
The next day we had an intense time of worship, prayer, and healing. We cast all of our "dots" into the bonfire that night. It was a rebirth for me. I can't even begin to tell you how that day changed my life. I wept like I was at a funeral when I let go of all of my dots and God just loved on me right where I was and for who I was. I have NEVER been so in love with my Jesus than I am today and it all started with that night.
It was surreal to have to leave the retreat. But I will tell you that my love for Jesus grows deeper every day. He has given me a peace that I can't even begin to explain to you. I WANT DESPERATELY to get to know him better and to be closer to him, to be in his arms, and to feel his embrace. It's an awesome feeling and my prayer for you is that you too will discover his remarkable love and acceptance.
We secured me a place in Marilyn Humphrey's car and raced back to the house to drop off Jay's truck. We (Marilyn, Erin Stolfus, Candice Fields, and Devon Tapp) all squeezed into Marilyn's car and took off. It was a great ride down to Windermere with some awesome conversation. As soon as we arrived it was time to eat dinner...you can't get better timing than that!
I started to get a little nervous. I looked around the room and thought "what am I doing here???? I don't really know anyone!". Luckily we had a randomized dinner and ice breaker questions so I started to get to know people right off of the bat. We then had some "sister friend time" where we got to know our roomates before worship and our speaker for the night (Melissa Schellinger).
My roomates were Leah VanGorp, Wendy Assel, Candice Fields, Sue Thompson, and Linda Bishop. We had a WONDERFUL time getting to know one another, cry together, and pray together! Below is a picture of all of us on our last day at Windermere.
VAlerie Brown read Max Lucado's book You Are Special and it totally made me weep. If you haven't read it, you should! Melissa then talked about having God self esteem rather than focusing on having good self esteem. Hello...reach me right where I am. Every time that girl speaks God uses her to speak directly into my heart!
After that time with her we played games (Apples to Apples in my case) and ate some seriously bad for you goodies. Man was that room loud with 60 chatty women! We had a little mini spa going on with Angel doing some eye brow plucking, parafin wax for your hands, and the skits even had cucumbers for your eyes! This is one of those times I LOVE being a woman!
The next day we had an intense time of worship, prayer, and healing. We cast all of our "dots" into the bonfire that night. It was a rebirth for me. I can't even begin to tell you how that day changed my life. I wept like I was at a funeral when I let go of all of my dots and God just loved on me right where I was and for who I was. I have NEVER been so in love with my Jesus than I am today and it all started with that night.
It was surreal to have to leave the retreat. But I will tell you that my love for Jesus grows deeper every day. He has given me a peace that I can't even begin to explain to you. I WANT DESPERATELY to get to know him better and to be closer to him, to be in his arms, and to feel his embrace. It's an awesome feeling and my prayer for you is that you too will discover his remarkable love and acceptance.
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