how you can help!

my sister and brother-in-law are in the process of bringing a sweet baby home from the democratic republic of congo. in case you were unaware, the adoption process is an expensive one. a home study can be 1500-2000 dollars and the agency that they are using requires nearly 8000 up front for the dossier (that doesn't include the home study money!). most people don't have that kind of money lying around...well, at least we don't! but that doesn't change the desire God puts on your heart or what He has called you to! that is when fundraising comes in!

here you can read about how exactly you can partner with lara and nathan (and lylah) to bring their baby (her sibling) home from africa.

"religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world" james 1:27

thanks in advance for your help!

11 months!

i'll start by saying, this months photo shoot was the HARDEST yet! it took some serious tag teaming. :)

so exactly 4 weeks from to day, bella joy will be 1. ONE! how is that possible!? today we are celebrating 11 months! i'm sure we will have lots of fun and we are thankful that it will likely include playing outside!

this month has been another one of those amazing-learn-something-new-every-second kind of months. we laugh, A LOT!

at 11 months bella joy:
-loves giving kisses. she gives people kisses. she gives bebe and poppy kisses when we do facetime on the phone. she gives her babies kisses. she gives animals on puzzles kisses. she loves to give kisses.
-says mama and dada (sometimes we are pretty sure she says other things like bye bye, hi, dog) and signs more and water.
-LOVES bread!! we usually make grilled cheese (with veggies snuck in) at least once a day and she gobbles it all up!
-takes steps. crawling is still the preferred method, but if she would realize that walking would get her places faster, i think walking it would be. she takes a few steps and then drops to her knees and crawls the rest of the way.
-sleeps through the night and takes 2 naps a day.
-still has 4 bottles and 3 meals a day. (although today we are going to start substituting some whole milk and work toward milk in sippy cups--right now she just drinks water out of her sippy cups).
-in the afternoon when she hears the garage door open, she gets SO SO SO excited! to say the girl loves her daddy is an understatement.
-can follow simple instructions like "get your paci" or "give baby a kiss".

so now with 2 baby showers for my SIL and coming niece behind us, we are in FULL birthday party planning mode. oh what fun the next month will be!!

i'm not complaining...

...just a minor vent, as i sit in my warm little house in the country with 5 inches of snow on the ground and more falling from the sky. i'm not a snow hater. i do prefer spring and warmer weather, but a snow hater i am not. but here are a few things that i am very very tired of...

-my husband not being able to make it home from work because of snow on our country roads. seriously sick of it.

-people telling people not to be snow haters. one of my facebook friends statuses today made me cringe! it said something along the lines of how much they loved the snow and that snow haters should stop hating because snow lovers don't hate on the warm weather that we get 3/4 of the year. now, maybe we shouldn't complain about the snow, but i'm pretty sure...no, i am POSITIVE that people complain just as much when it is 100 degrees outside. AND if your husband couldn't get home from work, you would be annoyed too!

-people saying that everyone is driving like they are 80..."its just snow!" yeah, that drives me bananas too. go into a ditch just one time with your crying baby girl in the back seat and see if you still drive 60 in the snow! when you have a child in your car, you are going to drive a little differently, no matter what the weather is like!

ok, thats the end of my vent. the snow in my backyard is beautiful! but the snow on the road in front of my house is not so much. sometimes i wish all of our roads where tunnels so that the snow wouldn't get on them. we are definitely looking forward to the warmer weather that is being predicted for the coming weekend.

meatless monday

in an effort to save a little money on groceries this year, we have implemented meatless monday! tonight's dinner was delicious and filling. my sweet hubby is a meat eater if i've ever seen one, so i'm very thankful that he is on board with this. and i was even more thankful when he took his first bite of this meal and said "that is actually REALLY good!" and then when he finished he said "and that was super filling!" yay!

you too can make this delicious cheesy green bean skillet by following this link to finding joy in my kitchen! "SnoWhite" has tons of wonderful recipes! she is actually my go-to site for finding "made from scratch" recipes.

familybook

Click here to view this photo book larger

10 months!

saturday bella turned 10 months old! we are in the double digits and 2 months shy of a year. our little darlin' didn't disappoint on making her self seem so big this weekend either! she is doing new things daily, and often multiple new things in a day!

at 10 months you:

• are wearing mostly 9 month clothing and the occasional 12 month clothing. but only when wearing your cloth diapers. this past weekend on a trip home we used disposables for the first time in 6 or 7 months and realized that bella is a lot smaller than her cd's make it seem!
• still have 4 milk feedings a day and 3 meals (kind of) a day. you have been on somewhat of a hunger strike for a few weeks. you still gobble up breakfast but lunch and dinner are hit and miss.
• have 8 teeth! and you know how to use them (and how you shouldn't use them too...biting!) you love to take little bites of your cheerios and other snacks.
• would crawl 24/7 if we would let you...and we don't because you must sleep!
• take 2 naps a day. one around 9 and one around 2.
• go to bed for the night at 7. when teething isn't bothering you, you sleep until 6 or 7 am.
• can clap your hands! (one of the new things from the weekend!)
• can sign more! (another new thing!)
• can stand up without pulling up on anything, but you still mostly use things to pull up. and you "cruise" all over the place.
• are really starting to enjoy walking with your push toy.

so as sweet cindy starr taught us tonight, we will keep playing, praying, persevering, and preparing you through your growth and development. happy 10 months (and 2 days) baby girl!

follow up...

so week 1 of goals for the new year wasn't too bad. as for our family goals, we mostly kept them. i mean, we didn't miss any of our bible in a year readings, we memorized our scripture for the week (this week is matthew 1:23). we prayed together a few times (not every day though). we did NOT have 3 intentional times together. so sad for that. but we aren't giving up!

my personal goals went pretty well too. i didn't wake at 530 every morning but i did work out 4 of the 5 weekdays. and i believe that i have lost 2 lbs! i'd say thats pretty good for 1 weeks in. i started reading my first book (which i've been wanting to read for a long time now) treasuring God in your traditions. i'm very excited about this book. and i really should be able to finish it quickly considering how short it is...but we shall see. :) i made bread on sunday and used it for our lunch sandwiches yesterday. it was very yummy but far from perfect, so i shall keep trying. i've been clipping coupons some (and have had adam print some coupons at work since we have no ink in our printer) and have some kashi coupons that will allow me to get 3 boxes of cereal for a little over 2 dollars. yes, the goal is to not buy cereal as frequently, but when its that cheap, i think its ok!

bella is doing great with her goals! :) she is standing without holding onto things for longer periods of time each day. she still doesn't associate sounds with things to make words, but i know it won't be long! how on earth is she going to be 10 months old this week!? goodness, make a momma cry.

how are you doing on your 2011 goals?!