Goodbye, Great Grandma

The world lost a wonderful woman this morning.  She truly was a great grandma.  Goodbyes never get easier and today our family is simply hurting.  We miss her already and will forever hold her in our hearts.  Our family would so appreciate your prayers today and in the days to come.  Pray especially for my grandma, who lost her mother...and for my mom, as this loss comes so soon after losing her own mom.  This is just so hard. 

Happy TO You, Valerie!

Today our Sweet Pea turns four.  Four?!?  How did that happen?  

The day we welcomed her to the world was both one of the happiest and scariest days.  We are forever grateful to the NICU nurses and doctors...but, most importantly, to our God who is our Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.  Our story could have been different and we don't take her health for granted. 

She has filled our days with an endless storehouse of memories.  We can hardly imagine our lives before she arrived.  She is permanent piece of our lives and we wouldn't have it any other way. 

She is quite the little chatterbox and still loves to entertain us with her musical compositions.  She is always eager to tell daddy all about our day, talking his ear off the moment he walks in the door from work.  Sometimes, she talks so much and so fast, we have to ask her to slow down and give us all a break! 

We love seeing her personality develop.  She has the most tender heart, displayed when she cried and cried right along with her brother as daddy tried to get out a sliver on the bottom of his foot.  She rushed to his side the moment the sliver was out and ordered us to give him a bandaid to make him feel better.  She hugged him tight and wouldn't rest until his crying stopped.

She is very particular about what she wants, declaring she won't wear that shirt with those pants because they don't match or insisting she wear princess shoes to ride her bike.  As much as she loves her brother, she also loves to be in charge.  Imaginary play is often initiated by her...and ended the moment he decides he wants to do things his way instead of her way. 

She understands more than we often give her credit for.  She knows she is going to have a baby brother and that he is growing in mommy's belly.  She reminds me we will have to go to the hospital to have him and she has already declared that she wants to hold him and give him kisses.  Every night before bed, the kids both make sure to hug and kiss my belly and say goodnight to their little brother. 

She understands sickness and death more than any four year old should have to know.  She still talks about her great pappi and great mommy and, after retelling a story, she reminds me they got sick and died.  She knows the sadness that comes from saying goodbye, but she also knows that there is a God who hears our prayers and heals our hurts.  "Mommy, we pray to God to feel better?" she reminds me often when the burdens of sick and hurting loved ones weighs us down. 

She is very much a girlie-girl.  She loves all things princess and pink.  She believes that a girl can never have too many shoes (something she certainly didn't learn from me!) and loves to coordinate her clothes with hair accessories and jewelry.  She tells me how she wants her hair done each day and what clothes she wants to wear. 

We look forward to watching her story continue to unfold...but we also wish we could slow down time, because all too soon she will be spreading her wings and leaving this nest.  For now, we are going to hold on tight and enjoy the ride!


 

A "Happy To You" Celebration

Last Saturday, we joined my family for a fun day at the zoo and then cake and ice cream to celebrate two birthday girls, my sister, Melissa, and our firstborn, miss Valerie.  Valerie calls birthdays "happy to you"s and was so excited to celebrate her "happy to you" with her aunt "Seda".  She told my sister, "my happy to you is your happy to you!"

The kids had a blast at the zoo.  Valerie, much like her daddy, quietly took it all in, while Almanzo spent the day entertaining us with his conversations and imitations of the animals.  They were mesmerized by all the animals, especially the giraffe.  They were not, however, impressed with the goats, who leaned over the fence begging for food.  They were happy to see the animals as long as they didn't have to be close enough to touch them! 

After a successful tour of the zoo, we enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading back to my parents' house.  We laughed as my sister, Melissa, insisted we go around the table and share about our favorite animal.  The best answer was when my brother, DJ, answered, "James!", because my uncle James and his family joined us for the day. Haha!

Back at my parents' house, we enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake made by my mom and requested by the birthday girl, Melissa.  Once the kids were adequately sugared up, they kept us entertained with their wild antics.  There is never a dull moment with these two!

Valerie and I are both excited to use all the fun learning tools she received as birthday gifts as we begin our adventure in preschool at home this year.  We are still not completely sure about whether God is leading us to homeschool for kindergarten and beyond, but the kids are both looking forward to enjoying some learning fun at home.  The teacher in me is equally excited to try out some preschool curriculum and plan out lessons in preparation for kindergarten.  I still can hardly wrap my mind around the fact that our firstborn will be four a week from today!

 

Alison & Timothy Cho

My friend, Alison, got married on probably the hottest day of the year, July 5th.  Despite the almost unbearable heat, it was a beautiful wedding.  I somehow forgot about the sweat dripping down my legs as I listened to their pastor speak bold words of truth about God's love story and His purposes for marriage.  I wish I could have recorded his sermon, because it was so beautifully said.  It was also a blessing to be able to visit with two sweet women, friends I hadn't seen in a long, long time. 

Thank you, Alison and Timothy, for letting me be part of your wedding day and witness such a beautiful wedding ceremony.  May you be blessed with a marriage built on the only solid rock that will carry you through every storm this life brings your way and a lifetime filled with real, lasting love.

PS - I encourage you to read the article about the covenant of marriage Alison and Timothy shared in their wedding program.  It is well written and beautifully explained.  

Wordless Wednesday

Project Life: Weeks 18 - 21

April 29 - May 5

The week started out with good, solid preaching from one of our favorite evangelists, Mike Manor.  Sunday night, Ted watched the kids while I enjoyed ladies' night which included dinner, fellowship, and music followed by Mike sharing his testimony.  On Monday night, we switched off and Ted was blessed by the preaching and fellowship of men's night.  It was good for both of us to have the time to refresh and refocus. 

My mom joined me this week, taking an entire day out of her busy schedule to help me deep clean the house.  And, by deep clean I mean pulling out the stove and refrigerator to sweep and scrub the floors behind them, wiping down the inside and outside of all the windows, vacuuming every nook and cranny, polishing the kitchen cabinets, and getting on our hands and knees to scrub and scrub all the floors.  She came prepared with all her cleaning supplies including some Clorox wipes and rubber gloves for the kids to join in on the cleaning "fun".  It's so fun to see their helpful spirits and how proud they are when they accomplish little tasks. 



The week ended with our first ER visit for stitches.  The kids and I visited my grandparents for the day while my aunt and uncle from Chicago were in town.  They were having a blast running around the house with "great poppy" until miss V ran smack into the corner of the wall, leaving a large enough gash in her forehead that required three stitches.  It was quite the day, but she was so brave, not even crying when they gave her a shot to numb the wound before stitching it up!

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May 6 - 12

This week began with a fun mom's night out with some sweet new friends God has blessed me with through MOPS this year.  Amazingly, every one from our "table" was able to join us and we enjoyed an evening of sweet fellowship and laughter.  The kids have loved going to "mots" every other Friday and talk for days afterwards about the "puttets" and "friends" and "light-light" games they play with the high school students who bless us with their ministry in the nursery.  We are already anxious for next year's MOPS meetings to resume!

Ted and I were busy this week preparing our home for sale, finishing up last minute projects, cleaning out the garage, and tidying up the day to day mess before signing papers with our real estate agent.  It has been a long process since January of decluttering, house projects, and deep cleaning the house from top to bottom.  We are anxious to see where God would lead our growing family.  

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May 13 - 19

This year, I spent mother's day enjoying a day "off" from parenting.  Ted spent the day in full on daddy mode while I joined my brothers, sisters, and cousins for a cousin's day at the ballpark.  We enjoyed beautiful weather for tailgating and an exciting Brewers vs. Cubs game at Miller Park.  Last year was our first year planning this outing and it has become a yearly tradition that we all look forward to.

Our house officially went up for sale this week.  I've grown to love this little house we call home, but we are quickly outgrowing its walls.  With only two bedrooms and a third little one on the way, we finally decide to go for it and pray that God would direct the right owners to our house and help us find the right house to move our growing family into.

I also finally felt well enough for some walking outings with the kids.  Pregnancy is rough for me and each consecutive pregnancy gets harder, but I remind myself often that it is worth it and that the moment this little one is in my arms I will forget about all the hard days.  It felt so good to get out, exercise, and enjoy some fresh sunshine.  And, of course, the kids loved going to the park and burning off some of their boundless amounts of energy.  

We also said goodbye to good friends as they embark on a new adventure.  We know where they are moving is exactly where God wants them, but, oh, do we miss them!  I don't think I could even put into words the impact of their friendship and fellowship has meant to Ted and I as well as to our little ones. 

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May 20 - 26

This week we had the joy and privilege of "meeting" our third little blessing via ultrasound.  We took big brother and big sister along for the fun and the look on their faces when the baby popped up on the screen was priceless.  Almanzo kept saying, "Baby in the water?" and Valerie just stared in awe.  She couldn't stop talking for the rest of the week about how she got to see the baby on the "puter" and listen to the little pitter patter of his heartbeat.  Yes, this little one is a BOY and we couldn't be more excited to be welcoming another little boy into our home in October.

It really is amazing how fast our little ones are growing.  The conversations we have with them are more in depth and always keep us on our toes.  After catching Valerie hiding in our bedroom after being told numerous times that it was off limits, I asked her if she was supposed to be in there.  Her response? "No, I was in my castle!"