~A Heart For Home Sweet Home~

Latest Press Release

2010-01-29T09:28:00.001-05:00

Here is the latest Press Release from FHG.
Please continue to pray that God would move on the hearts of all involved both on the US and Haitian side to do what's best for these children and unite them with their forever families as soon as possible.

Paperwork Lost for Some Humanitarian Paroled Orphans

Paperwork losses and ongoing negotiations block children's departure from Haiti
(Port-au-Prince, Haiti) Twenty-nine children from the Maison des Enfants de Dieu (Children of the House of God) orphanage, who qualified for humanitarian parole, had their paperwork submitted to the U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince last weekend. The paperwork for 11 of those children has been lost at the Embassy and needs to be resubmitted.
There is still no word on when the Haitian government will release the approximately 300 to 400 remaining children, who qualify for humanitarian parole under the U.S. guidelines, and reunite them with their adoptive families in the United States. Parents were told on a recent conference call with the Department of State, the Joint Council on International Children's Services and others that this process would NOT take weeks or months, but days.
Kim Harmon, President of the U.S. ministry, For His Glory Adoption Outreach (FHG), asked all who care about these defenseless Haitian orphans to, "Please continue to urge our government officials to press this issue so that our children are not left in this state of limbo between the U.S. and Haitian governments. Do not let our children be forgotten."
FHG is a ministry to the people and children of Haiti. Our ministry is dedicated to fundraising and assisting the orphanage, Maison des Enfants de Dieu, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. For previous press releases and updates visit http://www.forhisgloryoutreach.org/

Why Pray for Haiti? (Or why pray at all??)

2010-01-28T09:58:00.002-05:00

WHY PRAY?
I came across a very thought provoking blog post this morning that tackles the following questions:
Why should we pray for Haiti?
Does it REALLY make a difference??

Check out the post and the discussion/comments that followed Here
and then come back and tell me
Why do you pray??

A Call to Prayer and Fasting

2010-01-28T09:07:00.007-05:00

While I am rejoicing that some children affected by the earthquake 2 weeks ago have finally been reunited with their anxious adoptive parents, there are still MANY, many more who are stuck in Haiti. The government of Haiti's recent decision to halt ALL children leaving the country not only affects those families waiting for their children to come home, but also limits what the orphanages in Haiti can do and provide for the untold thousands of other children who were left destitute by this terrible tragedy.
The ministry that is associated with my nephews' orphanage released the following call to prayer and fasting last night. Would you join with me in lifting up this country, their leadership and especially the children?

Our God is a God who listens to the cries of His children!

A CALL FOR NATIONAL PRAYER AND FASTING ON JANUARY 28TH FOR THE ORPHANS OF HAITI:

(Kingsland, Texas) We are deeply grateful to God for all of the Haitian children who have been united with their adoptive parents. We sincerely thank all of the governors, senators, congressmen and government departments who have joined in the effort to secure the safety and well being of these defenseless Haitian orphans. Unfortunately, there now seems to be a mountain standing between the orphans who remain in Haiti and the safe and loving homes of their adoptive families. That mountain is the Haitian Government's new, and still undefined, exit process for children with foreign adoptive parents. With limited resources available to Haitian orphanages, this process has stopped the departure of orphans with humanitarian parole status and directly affects our ability to care for those children orphaned since the earthquake.

I call on all adoptive families, relatives, friends, churches, Christian ministries and all those who care for Haiti's orphans to set aside Thursday, January 28th, as a day of fasting and prayer. We are asking God to intervene, not only for the children in our Port-au-Prince orphanage, Maison des Enfants de Dieu, but also for all the surviving orphanages in Haiti. In addition, we want to include those children who now have no one and no place to go because of the limitations of Haitian orphanages. We would like you to specifically pray:
· For the immediate safety and security of the orphanages, the staff and children. In recent days, we have received verified reports of Haitian criminal gangs targeting orphanages as locations with potential stocks of food and water.
· That God will provide the water, formula, food, shelter and supplies needed by the surviving orphanages of Haiti to care for the swelling number new orphans. Our orphanage alone accepted 40 new orphans on Tuesday, January 26th, but many more have no place to go. The needs of these newly orphaned Haitians are immediate.
· That God will comfort and strengthen orphanage staffs in Haiti. Most have lost their homes and many have lost loved ones. Yet they have continued to selflessly serve the orphans in their care.
· That the ongoing discussions between the U.S. and Haitian governments will quickly produce a workable process to allow orphans to be united with their foreign adoptive parents where they will be safe and loved. And that the cries of the orphans will be heard in the hearts of the negotiators. Each child who departs Haiti opens up much needed space for those children who now have nothing and no one.
For His Glory Adoption Outreach

Still Waiting, But God is Working Miracles!

2010-01-22T16:21:00.001-05:00

Long story short:
The children from my nephews' orphanage are STILL at the orphanage in Haiti.
Workers decided NOT to walk the children the 2km on Wednesday, opting instead to send several workers to the Embassy to process the paperwork. (Turned out to be a VERY good decision as they were turned away and asked to present more documentatin.)
Thursday, an attempt was made to drive 114 of the children (toddlers and older kids on a bus, and infants in a van) to the Embassy, but horrible road conditions, dead bodies and the unbearable heat in the bus led the workers to decide to head back to the orphanage. The younger children were beginning to get ill. You can see coverage of this trek here (covered by Soledad O'Brien from CNN). The team got permission to process the remaining paperwork without the children present and that is what's currently going on now.

Sooo many blessings have occured in the past few days! Supplies have been given, buses and vans donated, Samaritan's purse has gotten involved, doctors and even a search and rescue team are now with the children and are committed to seeing them through this journey!

One of the doctors present with the children just posted this on her FB page: "Pierre (the Haitian director of the orphanage) has been invited by CNN to be interviewed for the Telethon for Haiti tonight by C Anderson Cooper broadcasting to an estimated 40 million people. Is God Good or What???? THIS IS REALLY FOR HIS GLORY!"

I am so grateful for all of the people all over the world praying for these children and am so relieved to see so many giving of themselves to ensure that they make it safely to their families!
God IS so good. "An ever present help in times of trouble."
Thank you Jesus for working your miracles even in the midst of chaos and trouble. You ARE SO Good!

Urgent 133 Orphans & Workers Attempting a Walk to the US Embassy for Evacuation

2010-01-20T08:49:00.001-05:00

Breaking News and Prayers Needed This Morning!!!
Below is a press release from the For His Glory Adoption Outreach Website.
All 133 children are en route by foot this morning to the US Embassy to be evacuated.
They have very limited supplies and won't be provided any additional while at the US Embassy.
Please pray for the safety of these children and for the orphanage workers who will be attempting to keep all of them safe and together as they make the walk to the Embassy and then for their safety and protection as they travel together to the US.

Press Release: January 19, 2010
Orphans Intend to Depart Haiti
Orphans begin procedures to depart Haiti at U.S. Embassy
(Port-au-Prince, Haiti) On January 20, 2010, 133 orphans from the Maison des Enfants de Dieu (Children of the House of God) orphanage will begin the difficult process outlined by the U.S. Department of State for humanitarian parole and onward transportation to the United States. In accordance with instructions received from the State Department, as relayed by the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) at 8 p.m. today, orphans along with orphanage staff members have been instructed to arrive at the U.S. Embassy as early as possible on Wednesday morning. JCICS warned that no food, water or facilities would be available for the children while processing at the U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince.
JCICS further relayed that orphanage requests to the U.S. Embassy for security and transportation for the children have been denied by the State Department. The U.S. ministry associated with this orphanage, For His Glory Adoption Outreach (FHG), was also asked to stop requesting security, transportation or even water at the orphanage location. Following discussions with staff and board members in Port-au-Prince, the difficult decision was made that all 133 children, including approximately 60 children under the age of 3, will begin early in the morning of January 20th to walk the over 2 kilometers to the U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince. This decision was made due to the limited staff available and the increasingly dangerous security situation at the orphanage in Port-au-Prince. The staff will carry as much water, food and baby formula as possible with them for the orphans while processing at the U.S. Embassy. JCICS relayed that once processing is completed, the orphans will travel to the United States on "cargo jets to locations that are not often known until an hour or so before the flight leaves."
Kim Harmon, President of FHG, acknowledged that "this arrangement is far from ideal for the safety and well-being of the children. We are calling to all who care about these precious children to pray earnestly for their safety tomorrow."
FHG is a ministry to the people and children of Haiti. Our ministry is dedicated to fundraising and assisting the orphanage, Maison des Enfants de Dieu, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

URGENT CALL TO ACT - Tuesday, January 19, 2010
We need you all to act again on behalf of all our children. Currently, we have two families from Argentina and one from Canada adopting. Our governments are not cooperating and working together to get all our kids out, they are dragging their feet. We are going to start losing babies due to dehydration if we do not evacuate these children quickly to the U.S. and then process them here. We do not have time for a one by one assessment of the state of their adoption process and issuance of visas prior to evacuation.
Please, begin contacting your governors and continue to pressure your senators and congressmen to get a plan in place, quickly, to evacuate the children to the U.S. The Argentinean and Canadian Governments could then work with the U.S. to bring their children home from the U.S. Time is of the essence. This is not going to look good for the U.S., the State Department, the other world governments or the United Nations if our children, who survived the earthquake, begin to perish because the governments and agencies would not work together to quickly evacuate all the children in the orphanages.
This needs to be a united effort. PLEASE CALL YOUR GOVERNORS, SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE.
We have confirmed reports that Governor Ed Rendell form Pennsylvania went to Haiti and has brought back 54 children to Pennsylvania from an orphanage. If this can happen for them, it needs to happen for all the orphans that are suffering in orphanages with little supplies, starting to experience diarrhea and sicknesses due to the conditions.
PLEASE ACT NOW ON BEHALF OF OUR BABIES AND CHILDREN.
Thank you,
Kim Harmon,
President

Please Contact Your Congressmen and Senators!!

2010-01-18T10:53:00.002-05:00

For His Glory Outreach released the following statement this morning:
January 18, 2010

Kim is asking all families to please contact your local media. Tell them that the orphanage that Geraldo Rivera was at during his two hour special last night is your orphanage where your kids are. We need to CONTINUE to get the message out that these kids need to come home. And we need the public to join us in being loud with our government that this is what needs to happen.

And we need everyone to contact their Senators and Congressmen, and ask everyone you know to contact them as well. It is a federal holiday, but call and leave voicemails, emails, etc. We have to keep pushing, letting everyone we can know that we are there, and we need help, and we need to get the kids out. Thanks for your help!

Below is a copy of the email I sent to both my Congressman and Senator. Please feel free to copy and use to contact YOUR constituents as well. (I used Google and simply did a search for "Congressman, DE and Senator, DE and easily found the email links and phone #s for each)

"My request is regarding the following orphanage in Port Au Prince and the EMERGENCY EVACUATION of children already matched with adoptive families here in the US:

Maison des Enfants de Dieu houses 138 orphans at Delmas 31 #32 in Port Au Prince. This week's earthquake have left these children with substandard housing and a lack of access to food and water. They received food and water yesterday but this was only after an urgent cry for help went out and people connected to the orphanage began desperately seeking help from any sources they knew of. They were only given a 1/2 day supply; obviously this will quickly run out. They are also concerned with their safety as the exterior walls to the compound have collapsed and looting is an issue in all of the city. They have sick children and many babies who have been drinking regular milk rather than formula for lack of a better alternative. Please advocate for the children of this orphanage to be evacuated to the US as there are not places in Haiti that can adequately take in this many people at once. Many of these children have been matched with adoptive parents who are willing to care for them and complete their adoptions stateside. There is paperwork to establish who these children are; they are not newly orphaned children with no identification. These children need to be evacuated from Haiti as staying in Haiti at best means life in a tent city and at worst means starvation or death from illness.
I implore you to contact the State Department and ask them to issue the approval for this to take place!
From the JCICS website...
"It is Joint Council’s position that the U.S. government should immediately grant humanitarian parole to all children being adopted by U.S. citizens. At present, Joint Council is appealing with the U.S. government, specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to issue humanitarian parole for any child that has been referred to an American family. Humanitarian parole, if granted, would eliminate the need for a visa. Humanitarian parole would also minimize the paperwork and possibly eliminate the need to find documents, which have been destroyed in the earthquake. Given the urgent needs of the children, the fact that the Haitian government has lifted all exit requirements and that the children have adoptive families, we believe that humanitarian parole is the most humane solution to this crisis. Please note that Joint Council has not received confirmation for humanitarian parole but we are working diligently towards that end. When and if humanitarian parole is granted, we will publish the information widely. "
The Haitian government has lifted all exit requirements. That is a huge deal. That means it is just up to our government to agree to let children who have been matched with families in and to come up with a plan to do so.
Thanks cannot even begin to express my gratitude for your timely and urgent help in this matter,
Jennifer D. Ream
Wilmington, DE
P.S. I have two 9-year old nephews who were adopted from this very orphanage and JUST arrived HOME the week before Thanksgiving. I am so grateful that they are home, but there are so many other families waiting for their children to be saved. Please help."

Not only will this allow the children from this one particular orphanage to come home, but it will allow ALL Haitian children currently in the process of being adopted from the US to be evacuated out of the unthinkable circumstances they find themselves in.
Please do what you can, pass along the information and pray that God will do "exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine!"
To God Be The Glory!
~Jenn~

Please pray for a miracle, NOW!

2010-01-16T17:13:00.004-05:00

Below is an excerpt from my sister-in-law Julie's blog. The orphanage where she and her husband just recently adopted two of their boys is in dire need.

Please pass this along to all you can and ask for urgent prayers on behalf of the 100 or so children (from infants to teenagers) who are in desperate need of a miracle right now.

"This is the heartbreaking message posted by our orphanage here :" (Once on the site, scroll down to read the updates)

URGENT CALL FOR PRAYER
We received word from Pierre this morning that the situation in the orphanage is becoming dire. We would like to ask EVERYONE that receives this to use this information to get on your knees before our Lord and ask Him to provide.
We have one nanny that is deceased and the orphanage needs her body to be removed.
The orphanage has no drinkable water.
In addition they need:
formula for babies
medicines
IV fluids (one child is currently on an IV)
charcoal to cook
diesel
cash to buy supplies if they find them. They are running out of cash and there are no banks open to get cash, so it needs to be delivered by someone already on the ground or by helicopter.
Others are beginning to rob them of what supplies they do have.
There are helicopters flying over the orphanage and they have made a sign on the roof that says they are an orphanage and need help.
The staff is also working to get together all the paperwork for each child that has an adoptive family in a way that it can be attached to their body if there is an opportunity to evacuate.
For His Glory is doing everything we can on this end to contact people who may be able to help. Please pray. Currently, that is the best thing you can do to help.
Trusting in Him,
For His Glory

Our hearts are broken for this indescribable situation. Lord, please deliver them!

Haiti--Your Urgent Help is Needed!

2010-01-14T11:19:00.002-05:00

I have been devastated watching and hearing the reports coming out of Haiti after the recent earthquake. These people already have so little and now their country lies in ruins and lives hang in the balance.
This tragedy is one that impacts my family and I on a more personal note as my sister-in-law Julie and her husband Rob just recently completed an almost 3 year journey of faith and adopted two 9-year old boys from Haiti. "A" and "J" lived in a wonderful, Christian orphanage very close to the epi-center of the earthquake and arrived home in the US just a week before Thanksgiving. I cannot begin to tell you how much I am praising God for sparing them and for bringing them home when He did!
My heart is breaking, however, for the many, many adoptive families who still have children living in Haiti AND for the people of Haiti as a whole as they have been impacted by this earthquake and the devastation to their country.
Please take a moment to visit the "For His Glory Orphanage" website and pray how you could help:
http://www.forhisgloryoutreach.org/home

My husband and I donated today out of deep sense of urgency to help these precious people who so desperately need all of our help.
Please consider doing whatever you can!!

Please Pray

2009-10-29T11:08:00.003-04:00

***Update***
Stellan is absolutely, completely, undeniably, MIRACULOUSLY HEALED!! Can I get an "Amen?!!"
It's taken me ~~a while~~ a ridiculous amount of time to post this update, but on November 9th, Stellan went in for his second ablation of his heart and it was a rip-roaring success! You can read all about that day HERE. So many, including myself, are praising God for His hand upon this sweet babe and for restoring him to complete health. I look foward to watching him grow and THRIVE!!

Original Post:
Along with literally THOUSANDS of other readers, I am praying for sweet little Stellan today.
If you're unfamiliar with his story, or his Mama, or the rest of the MckFamily, head over to their family blog here: http://www.mckmama.com/
Stellan, who turns 1 years old today was diagnosed with SVT in the womb, born healthy and presumably normal, but at 4 months began having bouts with SVT (super fast heart rate) once again. He has been hospitalized and gravely ill numerous times, flown by medical helicopter to Boston where he received an ablation of his heart at 5 months and since then has had on-again/off-again bouts with SVT.
He is currently hospitalized, and this bout of SVT came on VERY suddenly and has really hit his poor little body hard.
Please take the time today to pray for him and to ask our Great God, who is the ultimate Healer to do a miracle for Stellan and their family and restore him to complete health.
Happy Birthday sweet Stellan! Praying you get to eat your birthday cake real soon big boy!

The BEST (and easiest) Stuffed Mushroom Recipe Ever!

2009-10-20T13:09:00.001-04:00

Trust me when I tell you that your friends will be BEGGING you for this recipe! I know this because
a. Begging is how I came to have it (I've got no shame...) and
b. It's what happens to me every time I decide to make these delectable little morsels and take them to a party, get together, etc.

The greatest thing about this recipe (other than the begging and adulation described above) is that it's soooo easy to make with very few ingredients. (My kind of recipe!)

Here's what you'll need:

3 packages of regular sized mushrooms, stems removed and discarded
10 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
3/4 Cup Hellman's Mayo (no substitution here, bring out the good stuff!)
1 1/2 Cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar
Lawry's Season Salt, to taste

Here's what you'll do:

Take a 1/4 sized teaspoon or small melon baller to core out the mushroom stems and enlarge the opening of the cap slightly (to allow for more stuffing.)
Wash mushroom caps thouroughly and set them on papertowel to drain/dry.
Cook bacon and crumble.
In a bowl, mix together the crumbled bacon, mayonnaise, cheese and seasoning salt.
Fill each mushroom cap with the cheese mixture and place cheese-side up into a 9X13 baking dish.
Broil for approximately 7 min. or until cheese is melted and just starts to brown.

Warning! Be prepared to either:
a. gain approximately 3 pounds (from eating as many as you can yourself) or
b. spend time handing out the recipe cards you very wisely made up in advance to save you from being smothered with people vying for your attention!
Unless that was your goal all along...in that case~~
Revel in it!! :-)

What's your favorite recipe to take to party or get together?

Dinner Diary-Bowtie Festival

2009-10-09T18:55:00.002-04:00

I'm still loving all the inspiration and great recipes I'm getting over at Tiffany's blog Eat At Home Cooks. If you haven't had the chance to check it out--Go there NOW! (Well, okay, maybe not RIGHT now, but as soon as you read this post, GO!)

Tonight I tried out her recipe for Bowtie Festival and it was a HUGE hit! Don't you just love it when you can razzle and dazzle your family? Thanks Tiffany!

I wanted to share it here, but for detailed pictures (ours was gone so fast I didn't even get a chance to take a pic!) be sure to check out Tiffany's site!

Bowtie Festival:
1 box bowtie pasta
4 Tbs. butter
2 cups half & half
1/2 cup white wine (I could only find the non-alcoholic version, which was fine with me!)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
12 oz.pre-cooked bacon, diced
2 cups Parmesan, shredded
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tomato, finely chopped (I omited this since NONE of us like tomatoes!)

Boil the pasta according to the package directions. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cooking until soft. Add the red pepper, wine and bacon to the mix and cook for a minute. (This kept the red peppers slightly hard, next time I may try cooking them longer.) Whisk in the half and half, then the cheese, allowing the cheese to melt. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and put it back in the cooking pot. Pour the sauce over it and stir it together.
(Optional: Top with the chopped tomato.)

I served Caesar salad with ours and it was sooo good!

What have YOU been cooking up in the kitchen lately? I'd love to hear!

"Casting" Our Cares Away...

2009-10-02T21:34:00.002-04:00

So our little one had his big appointment on Wednesday to have his cast removed.
Yeah!! ((Can you hear the chorus of angels singing??))
It was a day we have all eagerly anticipated over the past 3 weeks.
Although we're thankful for modern medical marvels such as casts, having a 16 month old wearing one has definitely affected our day-to-day.
Of course, with no more cast, we wouldn't be able to enjoy...

Wearing Daddy's big sock over his arm at the dinner table...

Attempted "sponge baths" over the kitchen sink; washing his head/hair with the sprayer ~~while his head rests comfortably on an overturned soup pot~~ while he cries and flails his arms wildly; angry that we would DARE to force this manner of bathing on him!

Cleaning the spaghetti sauce, bananas, oranges, gravy and cheerios out of his hair with wipes in an attempt to avoid the aforementioned "sink" bath.

Constantly worrying that I would forget to pick up the dog dish full of water and he would proceed to splash to his hearts content and his cast's demise.

But alas, I need not mourn too long...

After having his pumpkin-y colored cast removed and new x-rays taken, it was determined that one of the two fractured bones still needed a little TLC and healing time so....
Hello, fall-ish Navy Blue color!

See? I don't mind a bit!

And..."Hello!" to one more week of dirty boy!

Just kidding, cause I SOOO give him a bath EVERY night.

*Ahem*

Company and a Yummy Breakfast Treat

2009-09-25T22:29:00.001-04:00

This weekend is a pretty big weekend in my household. It has nothing to do with birthdays, or family members, anniversaries or traditions. Well, actually now that I think about it, this event probably could be counted as a tradition. A tradition that my husband looks forward to every year and one that we have been SOOOO blessed to recieve 4 free tickets to: The annual meeting of the Penn State Nitany Lions with my husbands' beloved Iowa Hawkeyes. Woot! Woot!! Oh yeah, we are headed to Happy Valley, baby!
I've been hearing/reading alot of smack-talk going down between my husband and his Penn State buddies this week (we are pretty surrounded courtesy of living so close to Pennsylvania!) and I'm hoping that his Hawkeyes will pull off a victory. Ya'll know my heart is still in Florida with my 'Noles, but hey, I love my hubby and thus root passionately for his team! Go Hawks!
We are taking our 4 year old with us and my Father in Law flew in tonight (all the way from IOWA!) just so he could travel with us to the big game tomorrow. My son is soooo excited to go. This will be his first time going to a REAL football game and he's been talking about it all week.

All that said, I wanted to have something on hand for us to eat in the morning without getting my kitchen too dirty before heading out. We are trying to sell it for goodness sakes and it's sooo hard to keep everything "potential-buyer-clean" while still living in it!!

I remembered that I had a really yummy Egg Souffle recipe buried in one of my cookbooks and decided to dig it out and throw it together for tomorow.
I thought I would share it here as it's super easy to whip up and is soo good! (This recipe was given to me by a sweet "host Mom" during our travels with our vocal group MISSION.)

Egg Souffle
6 slices of cubed bread
6 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 lb. of cooked sausage or bacon, drained and crumbled (I used two boxes of the pre-cooked bacon)
2 cups milk
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt or salt (I used salt since my FIL is deathly allergic to red pepper/chili pepper...no ER visits for us this weekend, thank you!)

Beat eggs, add all other ingredients.
Put in a casserole dish and refrigerate at least 12 hours.
Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 min. or until set in the middle.
Enjoy!

Here is a picture of it ready to be baked in the AM! So easy and so good!

Be blessed!
~Jenn~

Doing Fine

2009-09-16T18:49:00.001-04:00

"It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life....and I'm feeeeling Gooood..."

Ever have one of those weeks where so much happens all at once that it's hard to catch your breath? These past few weeks have certainly been like that for us!

For starters, almost two weeks ago, my husband (enjoying a Friday off of work) decided that he wanted to treat our boys and kept them home from daycare to spend some quality time with them. They had a ~~nutritionally balanced~~ yummy breakfast at McDonald's and then decided to pay one of our favorite fall destinations a visit.

Ever since our firstborn was an infant, we have loved taking the boys to a local orchard during the fall season. Beautiful decorations, pumpkins of various sizes, wonderful homemade pies, horse rides, various rich colored blooms, a playground and petting zoo make this a memory-making destination each time we go.

Jeff enjoyed letting the boys pet the goats and play on the playground for a bit, and then gave our youngest (15 months old) a piggy-back ride on his shoulders. As our four year old walked ahead of him, my husband tripped/stepped into a hole in the gravel which sent both of them hurtling forward and our little one somersaulting over his right shoulder. My husband kept a firm grip on his right arm to prevent him from hitting the ground and hitting his head. Of course, the whole thing scared our little guy and he cried for a bit, but recovered quickly and they went on with their day: lunchtime, naptime, playtime, etc.

When I got home, we both noticed that he just wasn't acting like himself. He would cry off and on for no apparent reason. My husband mentioned what had happened and we started wondering if maybe he had tweaked his shoulder. A few strategically placed squeezes later, we weren't convinced that there was really anything wrong. He was still using his arm to point and could lift it fine. However, he cried through most of dinner and nearly all of his bath time, which gave us more reason for concern. After his bath, I laid him on the changing table to put his jammies on. As soon as I attempted to (gently) put his right arm in the sleeve he started bawling. My husband and I looked at each other and the decision was made. We were headed to the ER.

I am ever so glad that we made that decision because two hours, a little TV, a lot of fussing, and a couple of x-rays later we had our diagnosis: both bones of the forearm were fractured about two inches above his right wrist. Needless to say we were heartbroken for him and my poor husband felt TERRIBLE!! I'm still convinced that he probably saved him from an even worse injury had he fallen on/hit his head on the gravel! Of course, this is the same little boy who just TWO months ago was in that same ER getting 4 stitches in his eyelid after big brother tried to "swim" between his legs in the bathtub!

(Note to the baby hospital....we really do love our children no matter how this looks!)

Anyways, our little guy got his cast on a week ago and is doing splendidly!

See?

Also, pay no mind to the various items on his floor. He really should try to pick up after himself a little better.

Ahem.

As if all of that wasn't enough, for some reason I've also chosen the last 2-3 weeks of my life to become a little more adventurous in the kitchen and have cooked up a whole slew of new homemade concoctions that I have NEVER attempted before.

Having spent the first couple of years of our married life dining on such finer things as Dinty-Moore-Beef-Stew-Over-Rice, Tuna Helper and Grilled Cheese with Ramen Noodles, to say that making things from scratch is HUGE for me might just be the understatement of the year.

My husband has been ~~wondering who body snatched his wife~~ happily devouring every meal and has really spoken to my "love language" with comments such as "Your batting 1000!"

(It's really a good thing I love sports so much and will gladly take a sports analogy like this to my cooking as the sincerest form of compliment!)

Here's a short list of the things I've made (from scratch) for the first time in my life recently:

(Blogs about several of these will hopefully be forthcoming. More on that in a bit)

Homemade Bread (6 loaves of it!) without the use of a bread machine OR a free stand mixer (although I am now on the hunt for used versions of either...)
Stuffed Shells
Homemade Pizza Dough (for Calzones which I had also never made)
Homemade Pie Crust (for the yummiest Quiche Lorraine. I made a double batch of my mom's recipe, but this was my first time NOT using a store-bought crust. It was soooo much better homemade!)

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls~ (Oh my word, ya'll....these were THE.BEST.EVER!! I only used half of the dough and it made 7 pans full! These would make a great gift-giving idea. But don't steal, cause I'm thinking I will give these out for the holidays. I will definitely be posting about these oooey-gooey heavenly morsels from this great mama cook soon!)

Stromboli (pretty basic, but my first time making it and my first time using frozen bread dough. Pretty cool when you're in a rush, but I think the next time I'll just whip up the homemade pizza dough I used for the Calzones. Cause I can so totally "whip it right up" now. Uh-huh, yeah.

Hopefully I can find the time in the next week or so to put up the recipe

posts for all of these, but I'm not sure that will happen since this went up last night:

Yep, our house is for sale.

(*Sniff*)

No really, it's a good thing. It's just one of those things that you know God is in, and you know He's telling you to do, but you still have those moments where you're like "Are you sure?!"

God has put such a burden in my heart that my purpose, my calling is to be home with my children. I have already missed sooo much precious time with them and they will only be small for a season and I don't want to miss.any.more!

We have loved our house and have soo many wonderful memories, but we know that I would never be able to stay at home while in this house. We're trying to make the right decisions (even though they're REALLY hard sometimes) and following alot of common sense. (We'd make Dave proud!)

Please be praying with us for the sale of our home and that God would provide just the right place for us, whether that be another home, or an apartment, or a townhouse. We know that all of this is in HIS hands and we are trusting in that!

So, now between working full-time, whipping up homemade creations in the kitchen, loving my husband and children, cleaning up the pee and poop my diabetic dog is leaving for me everyday and trying to keep my house potential-buyer-clean, I'll still be trusting Him to take care of every insane, crazy, stressful moment and hopefully ~~live to blog about it~~ enjoy every minute of it.

That, and learning how to do cool things with my blog that may, or may not annoy everyone else who reads it like ~~striking through perfectly good words just to satisfy my own sense of humor.~~

Be blessed,

~Jenn~

~My Boys~

2009-09-02T19:36:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share some recent pics of my favorite little men.

We've had a great summer, and are eagerly looking forward to the fall and winter months.

For now though, I'm enjoying reflecting on God's goodness and spending some time thanking him for these two precious boys!

~Brothers~

~Seriously, how cute is he?~

~Growing up waaay too fast!~

~A Whole Lotta Dough~

2009-09-01T21:14:00.001-04:00

I'm not quite sure, but I probably should be embarrassed to admit the fact that I'm 32, and two weeks ago was the very first time I've ever made homemade bread. EVER.
While I'm in the confessing mood, I should also point out that I was never that "into" helping my mom in the kitchen. I didn't grow up with a love of cooking or any sort of natural inclination to just throw a little-of-this and a little-of-that and whip up something that could be called edible.
No, I was much more content to let my younger sister hone her cooking skills in the kitchen with my mom, while I fine-tuned my ability to spot an "off sides" or a "pass-interference" while plopped down in front of a football game with my dad. (Which reminds me of a pretty funny story from when Jeff and I were newlyweds which I will have to save for another day...)
Ahem.
Well, fast forward 7 years of marriage and two kids later and I FINALLY feel like I am starting to get my groove on in the kitchen! For about the last 3 weeks, I've been cooking up all new recipes that I've procured from other people's blogs and I am having a BLAST! Okay, maybe blast is a little too strong of a description, but suffice it to say that I'm enjoying my husband telling me I'm batting 1000 lately with my cooking! HA!
So, back to the bread. Having never made it before, I didn't realize that I could be saving alot of money by baking my own bread. Not only that, but when you make it yourself, it's way healthier and simply delicious!
I found my soon-to-be-first-ever-baked-bread recipe at an AWESOME cooking blog called Eat At Home Cooks. The author of this blog shares VERY simple, affordable, and delicious recipes in a way that novice/semi-novice cooks like me can really appreciate. In addition to showing a photo of the ingredients and the final product, her steps are easy to understand and she blogs about any embellishments made or what she would do differently the next time. I also love love LOVE that she has weekly, printable menu lists that I can take to the store and do all of my shopping for the week. This type of menu planning means that we are eating out less (thus saving $$) and also enjoying home-cooked meals every night! When I saw her recipe for this bread, I knew I had to give it a try! I also decided that making 6 loaves of bread for the first time wasn't enough for one afternoon and dove head-first into another dish that I had yet to try my hand at....Stuffed Shells. Both recipes turned out sooooo yummy and have now been added to my "staples."

Below are the pics of my afternoon. Enjoy!

The Dirt Bike

2009-08-29T19:25:00.001-04:00

Today our church had a yard sale.

However, this wasn't your average, run-of-the-mill yard sale.

No, my friends, this was an outreach; a ministry opportunity; a venue in which the love of Jesus could be shown to our community freely.

And by freely, I really mean freely because, well, everything was given away for free!

What a fantastic idea!

I didn't make it, but from what my husband tells me, it was a great success! People were blown away and more than a little surprised to see that our church was literally giving things like GPS systems, treadmills, furniture, picture frames and clothing away for free.

Last week, my husband drove a truck and trailer over to a members house to pick up several items that they would be donating for the yard sale. Later, my 4 year old joined him and happened to notice that one of those items was a dirt-bike just his size.

Well, you can be sure that he asked Daddy about it and my husband told him that while he couldn't have it (because it was for the yard sale) they could certainly pray that maybe no one else would want it and then maybe he could have it. (All left over items were donated to Goodwill and, well, up for grabs.)

Needless to say, our little guy has been praying that he might be able to have the dirt bike and several times today while home with me (while Daddy was at the yard sale) he would ask me to call my husband to check on the status.

When my husband got home he told my son that "it was there for a while and the next thing I knew, it was gone!"

Someone else had been blessed by it.

I could tell that he was a little bummed and this became even more clear when the two of us were sitting together at the dinner table tonight. Our conversation went something like this:

M: "Mommy, I'm sad"

Me: "Why buddy?"

M: "I'm sad because I didn't get the dirt bike"

Me: (wanting to somehow make a life lesson out of the situation): "I know honey, but it's okay...someone else was blessed with it."

M: "But I wanted the dirt bike!"

Me: "Well, guess what buddy..."

M: "What?"

Me: "Our church was actually giving away all of the stuff at the yard sale for free!!"

M: "They were?(eyes wide) Why?"

Me: "Well, buddy, because we wanted to use today as an opportunity to reach out to people in our community. We were giving things away to show people the love of Jesus and to use this as an opportunity to invite them to our church where maybe, just maybe, they might hear about Jesus for the very.first.time.ever!!"

M: "And bring the dirt bike back?!?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahh....we have a long way to go folks. :-)

Be blessed,

~Jenn~

Q-U-O-T-E of the Day

2009-08-23T14:18:00.001-04:00

Recently we've taken great delight in the fact that M is showing an increased interest in reading and spelling out words.

This is great, of course, except my husband and I are realizing that our days of spelling out things to each other like "Do you think we should go "s-w-i-m-m-i-n-g"? or "How about a trip for "I-c-e-C-r-e-a-m" after dinner"? without getting a reaction out of him are quickly coming to a close.

It won't be long before we say something like "I really think he should go to 'b-e-d' soon!" to which he'll aptly reply, "But I don't wanna go to bed!" :-)

Well!

This increased interest in spelling took a funny turn while at the dinner table this afternoon. Here's a brief transcript of how the conversation went:

M: "Daddy, can we go to blah, blah, blah....?" (Well, he didn't really say that, but we couldn't understand what he was saying except that he was trying to spell something out.)

Jeff: "What did you ask buddy?"

M(more determined): "Can we go to "V-E-E-T-V-Y-P-E-L?" (slight snickers and smiles from us at this point)

Me: "Well, buddy, can you just use the word to ask us where you want to go?"

M: "Yeah! Can we go to the 'Circus'?!?"

***********************************************

Kids are sooo funny!!!

Be blessed,

~Jenn~

Joy

2009-08-22T19:55:00.001-04:00

Early morning snuggles & giggles
Taking my oldest on a yard-sale "adventure"
Blueberry muffins and iced cold lattes
Finding treasures just for us in the rain
Watching his heart buying gifts for others
Joy in being a family
A hot tub big enough for all of us and our memories
Putting off busyness to simply play
An easy lunch of grilled cheese & diet cokes
Naptimes...oh, glorious naptimes! :-)
Heart to heart talks with the love of my life
Thunder and lightning between the clouds and sun
Lazy Saturday afternoons at home
The pitter-patter of little feet down the hall
Binkys and tickles
Bath time and bubbles; jammies and bedtime stories
Food and shelter and love and blessings

The nudging from the Holy Spirit to drink it all in today
and to treasure these moments
of JOY.

~ A Little Linky Love~

2009-08-21T10:58:00.001-04:00

Recently my heart has been encouraged by several different (some of them VASTLY different) people and their blogs. My husband would say that I've been obsessed with my reading, and in reality, he's probably a bit right.
A writer I am not.
However, I do LOVE to get lost in good writing and I love to be surprised by humor. I love to hear stories from other moms that remind me instantly of something I've either recently experienced, or at least can empathize with. Most of the women whose blogs I follow would probably *gasp* at my use grammar, spelling and prose. But I digress.....
Mainly, I wanted to introduce you to several people that I, myself, have never met.
Some of their stories are beautiful; some tragic; some hilarious, but all are heart-warming and worthy of reading.

Today I wanted to list two of my favorites:

My Charming Kids is the blog of "MckMama." She's probably just as commonly known (worldwide I tell ya!) as mama to sweet baby Stellan. I first heard of this miraculous little boy when I noticed another friend was "Praying for Stellan" on Facebook. I clicked on the link and instantly fell in love with this sweet-cheeked cutie and the amazing story of his life! I've followed along as this little guy has quite literally fought for his life on several occasions, defied all the odds, baffled the medical community and proven that God is ultimately in control and truly does answer prayers! His mama blogs about the journey God has them on, as well as the crazy, hectic life they live with three other little ones running around. Her stories will have you laughing out loud! Check it out.

Through MckMama's blog, I've also had the privelege of being introduced to Angie of Bring The Rain.
Oh.My.Goodness. This gal is the real deal. Angie created Bring The Rain as a way to chronicle her family's journey on a road of love and loss; heartbreak, triumph and healing. She is quite possibly one of the most beautiful writers I've come across in the "blog world" and is just lovely inside and out. She also happens to be married to Todd Smith of the Contemporary Christian Recording group Selah. Together they have 4 little girls~three on this earth, and one who dances in the arms of Jesus~
You won't want to miss the privilege of reading their story...just have a box of tissues handy!!

Oh, and there are so much more! For now, though, I hope you'll enjoy getting to know these gals as much as I have.
What are some of your favorite blogs??

Be blessed,
~~Jenn~~

Meet the Objects of My Obsession, er, Affection...

2009-08-18T22:47:00.000-04:00

The Journey Begins...

2009-08-18T10:07:00.001-04:00

My first post on my new blog!

Now some of you (or maybe none of you) may be wondering, "What in the world was wrong with your OLD blog? You know, the one you haven't updated in nearly a year?!?"
Touche'
Well... yeah. You're right.

However, because sooo much has changed in my life since my last post on my old blog, that THIS blog and title seemed so much more appropriate!
Because, you see, I am a woman on a MISSION!

****I am COMMITTED to doing everything possible to become what I know God is calling me to be...a STAY-AT-HOME MOMMY!!!***

There, I said it.
Out loud.
For all the world to see.
Somehow, it makes it feel more attainable....or at least, it makes me feel more accountable. And believe me, I can use all of the accountability I can get! I hope to use this blog as a way of keeping track of my failures, my successes, the tips and tricks I'm learning as I go along, the encouragement I gain from other mommies out there who have walked this road before me and as a way of journaling my hopes, dreams and prayers along the way.

Wanna come along for the ride? :-)

Now, a little about myself and WHY I want so badly to be home....
My husband and I have been married for 7 1/2 years now, and he is the BEST thing that's ever happened to me! Of course, we've had our fair share of ups and downs, but now, the downs just make the ups that much sweeter! We are continually growing and learining how to love each other better and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us! He also happens to be the Worship Director at our church. You can check out our AWESOME church here.
The two of us met while working for the missions organization WorldHelp in Forest, VA where we toured and traveled with the now-disbanned vocal group MISSION. It was, in a word, suh-weet!! We got to see so much of the country, meet many, many wonderful people, record an album, take showers at truck stops...Oh yeah...awesome. We have loved being in ministry for most of our married life and it is still such a privilege to use the gifts God has given us.

Together we have two of the sweetest little munckins that call me 'Mommy'.
My oldest, M, is 4 1/2 and daily brings to mind all of the many times my mother would say to me while growing up "I hope you have one just like you someday!!!!"
Now, somehow in my mind, I always pictured that IF this came to pass, it would most certainly come in the form of a petite, brunette, freckle-faced, tom-boy princess...but, apparently, in God's wonderful sense of humor, He chose to fulfill this "prophesy" by blessing me with the most energetic, baseball obsessed, stubborn/strong-willed, all-BOY you could imagine! :-) I love him to pieces and I know that God has big plans for his life, but BOY does he keep me on my toes AND on my knees daily!

My youngest, sweet baby H, is 15 months old today and goodness does he make us all laugh! He loves music (MUCH to my delight!) and his favorite, as of late has been to bob his head up and down with the beat of "Vertigo" by U2 blasting from our minivan's sound system. LOVE IT.
He has become quite the busy boy recently and I'm realizing very quickly how much still needs child-proofing in my house!! He adores his big brother, loves bath-time, HATES being on the changing table and has slept through the night since he was 9 weeks old. And he's going to be JUST. LIKE. HIS. BROTHER! :-) I think my Mom may have wished a little too hard for sweet justice to take place here on earth!

As for me, I have worked full-time in the medical field for the past 12 years as an Sonographer (fancy term for Ultrasound technician.) My first two years in the field were spent scanning babies and bellies but the past 10 years, I've mainly specialized in cardiovascular ultrasound, or hearts and blood vessels. As much as I love what I do and as thankful as I am~especially in today's economy~ to HAVE a career and a job, I sooo long to be home with my children!!! I know that there is so much that I am missing on a daily basis and so much that I could be pouring into their little lives! Although we have wonderful childcare for our boys, it's still childcare all the same and could never compare to being HOME with their mommy.

I'm not exactly sure what this journey will look like, or how long it will take us, but there are four things that give me hope that we will get there:

We have a PLAN! Not too long ago we were introduced to Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover book. If you haven't read it yet, Go.Get it. NOW!! It is absolutely a MUST read for anyone stuck in debt (which we are), those that want to improve their family's financial future (which we do) and want to live like no one else (which we will!!) We are using this wonderful tool to make a clear cut plan towards taking control of our finances. It's gonna take ALOT of hard work and probably even more sacrifice, but in the end we know that it will be worth it.
I am realizing that there are sooo many others out there in this big crazy world who have the same hopes and struggles as I do! I would love to make this a place where other moms can connect to share tips, advice, or words of wisdom of how they ARE walking or HAVE walked this road before me.
I have a vehicle. Well, actually, two that sit in my driveway. But what I mean is that I have a means. Even though I work full-time, I have started my own business that eventually I hope will replace my full-time income and allow me to transition **HOME**!! I am soooo excited! Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be a instant fix to our situation? Probably not. But I'm a hard worker and since I don't shy away from a challenge very easily, I am more than willing and able to put in the effort for the desired results. Not only that, but I feel soo good about what I'm doing. My business is actually HELPING others! Now, I know I had some of you up until #3, but let me assure you that I don't plan on using this blog solely as a means of promotion (although a little never hurt anyone, right?) :-) Suffice it to say that if you're a mom like me who's tired of the rat race and YOUR greatest desire is to be able to work from home and be with your children than go check out my website! You can find the link at the top left side of my blog. I'd love to have you join me!
Lastly, but certainly not least is the fact that I serve a VERY Big God, who has VERY Big plans for me. Yep, in fact he promised!! Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my very favorite verses of all time. The reason for this is simple. He loves me. He has a plan for me. And HIS type of future is the ONLY kind I want! "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE." Can I get an Amen?!?! How awesome that God wants the very best for me? I can be confident of this AND in the fact that He has this same plan for my family and especially my children.

So, off we go! I am excited to start this journey and to "journal" as we go. My hope is that along the way I will be blessed to develop friendships with other moms who also have a "Heart for Home Sweet Home." Be Blessed!
~~Jenn~~

Back with a Quote of the Day

2008-10-13T10:52:00.001-04:00

So, first of all, let me say that I can't believe it's been over 3 months since my last posting!! I guess if you're reading this, you can't believe that there's actually a new posting! What a slacker, huh? Well, much has happened in the last three months and I'm excited to share all of it thru my blog, but since I am writing this from my desk while on a break from work, let me introduce everyone back to my blog with a quick new "Quote of the Day"...

One of the exciting things that has occurred since my last blog is that M FINALLY decided he was through with pull-ups and yucky pants and is potty-trained!!!! Can I get an "AMEN?!" (Of course, whatever will I blog about now??)

This happened all-of-the-sudden one day when H was about 6 weeks old. M just decided he was ready, and never looked back. Yea!

Well, I should say that this mostly refers to daytime training, as we are still working on our night-time successes. Most mornings, M will wake up "clean and dry", but every now and then he'll be wet. This was the case the other morning when Jeff went in to wake him up. Noticing his pants, Jeff asked him "Awww, buddy....your pants are wet...did you go pee pee?" to which M emphatically replied, "No Daddy!...it's DEW !!" :-)

You gotta love how the mind of a three-year-old works!!

Brothers

2008-07-05T20:46:00.001-04:00

One of the most common questions I'm asked these days is "Who do you think H looks like?" to which I have been responding "M!" Seriously, it's almost like giving birth to twins just three years apart!

I was taking pictures of H today while he was in his crib in an attempt to capture him smiling. I finally got a good one and immediately had a flash back to a picture I have scrap booked of M around the same age. I thought I'd post both on here so you can see for yourself how similar they are! The one on the left is M at about 7 weeks, the right is H (he'll be 7 wks tomorrow).

Cool, huh?

Back in Blogger Land

2008-07-04T15:53:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the long break between blogs...life has been pretty busy with two kids! :)

Since my last post here's a run down of what we've been up to:

H has been growing like a weed!! At birth he was 7lb 3oz. At 6 days old he was 7lb 2oz (they give babies 2 wks to get back to birth weight). At 10 days old he was 7lb 12oz (that's 10 oz in 5 days!) and at 29 days (or one month) he was 9lb 2oz!!! I think he might just be our chunky-monkey! :-)

Two weeks after H's birth my in-laws came into town and spent several days with us. We traveled with a 3 yr. old and newborn (no small task) and did a day trip to the Jersey shore with them.

Jeff attended his first Nascar race in Dover, DE on May 31st with his Dad. They had a blast! Jeff's cousin, Brian, produces one of the Radio programs for Motor Racing Network and was able to get Jeff into the pits and even in the pre-race driver's meeting. He was only feet away from many of the drivers. Pretty exciting for him!

H attended his first service at Fellowship on Father's Day and we celebrated the day by taking Jeff and my Dad out to Lonestar Steak House.

M has been working on his swimming skills and loves to jump into the pool at the Y!!

I celebrated my 31st birthday!! We went out to dinner with my Dad and our friends, Ben and Courtney and had a great time throwin' down some mean BBQ at Famous Dave's. I LOVE me some Famous Dave's brisket! Mmmm...

Jeff, myself and "the boys" (I just love saying that!) went on our annual RV trip to the Jersey shore the last week of June. We have a campground that we LOVE going to that's not too far from Sea Isle City, NJ. It has a man-made lake, paddle-boats, fishing pond, playground, pool, kiddie-pool, club house, putt-putt course, supply store and ice cream shop! And to top it off, it's only miles from the ocean!

This was our 3rd year going and it's always a lot of fun. We also went to the Cape May Zoo and for a walk down the Sea Isle boardwalk, got ice cream, made S'mores, enjoyed our campfires and went out to dinner a couple of nights. I have to say though, that this year was probably the most stressful, but believe it or not it was M who was the most difficult! We've skipped the terrible twos and have plunged head-first into the terrible threes!! You can check out our family pics from our vacation by clicking on the "Family Photo Albums" under "Links" on the right.

My Mom was finally able to make the move up to DE and my parents moved into their new apartment this past Saturday!! Yeah, they're here!!

Unfortunately, I returned to work this past Monday. Although I'm very grateful for my job, my heart aches to be home with my children...

Well, that pretty much catches you up on our household for the last 6 weeks. Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July celebrating the wonderful freedoms we enjoy!!

The Birth Story of Baby H

2008-05-29T14:37:00.001-04:00

Here he is!! :-) I've been so excited to get back on the blog and introduce him to you! I know many of you read Jeff's blog as well and got the news of H's arrival from reading that, but I also know that many of you out there would like to have more DETAILS of how the actual labor and birth went and what our birth experience was like. I, for one, am a total birth story junkie having read sooo many this pregnancy! I also wanted to write out everything as I remember while it's fresh in my memory so we will always be able to remember this very precious day when God blessed us with our second son!
For those of you that just want the nuts and bolts of what happened: 20.5 hours of labor...made it to 10cm and pushing...no pain medication...still ended up with an emergency C-section. WHAT?!?:-)
Now for those who want the details, read on! I want to warn you in advance...this is VERY LONG and detailed (for our own record if for nothing else!)

As many of you know from my previous blogs, Jeff had a HUGE event that he was preparing for on Saturday, May 17th. We were having a big dinner/celebration service for all of our volunteers at Fellowship and part of this was a time of worship with Jeff leading. Thankfully, we were able to attend this no problem and I made sure to ask everyone who I spoke with that night to go home and PRAY!! (I forgot to specify that it would be better for labor to start AFTER the following morning's services--but I hear Ben did an awesome job of filling in for Jeff--Thanks Ben!! :-) Well, we got home from the event that Saturday evening and finally crawled into bed around 10:45pm. Fifteen minutes later, at 11pm, I had the first contraction. Of course, I had been contracting off and on for 3 weeks by this point so I didn't think anything of it and just tried to fall asleep. However, unlike with previous contractions, sleep didn't seem to be possible this time! After a couple of hours of trying to sleep between them and feeling very restless, I finally woke Jeff up and told him that I thought we might be gearing up for the real thing. (I probably should have let him sleep cause I don't think he ever really fell back asleep after that). I ended up going downstairs and propping up in the recliner and again tried to rest between contractions. All that night they were averaging 7 min. apart.
Around 6 AM, I went back upstairs and told Jeff we should start getting things ready in case we needed to head to the hotel soon. Yes, you read right, I said hotel, not hospital! Since we live an hour away from the hospital, the plan had always been to get a hotel room just down the street from the hospital, so that I could labor there as long as possible and not be miserable with the more serious contractions in the car. My midwife had told us that the worst thing we could do (with me attempting a VBAC this time) would be to get to the hospital and only be 1-2 cm dilated. This is basically what happened with M and of course, the longer I labored in the hospital, the more nervous everyone would get. So, the hotel seemed like a good alternative (and Jeff could rest a little easier knowing that we wouldn't wait too long at home and end up having H in the car during our hour long drive!)

I called Ronni (my midwife) and let her know what had been going on and she too thought it would be a good idea to make our way. So, we woke my Dad and told him we were going to be heading to the hotel soon and then I jumped in the shower. By this point M was awake and he was very excited when Daddy told him that Mommy and Daddy were going to the "baby hospital" and that H was going to be born! His little face lit up and he got so excited. However, he wasn't quite as thrilled to find out that he wouldn't be going with us! We told him he was going to get to go to church with Pop Pop and that he would be able to visit the "baby hospital" and H after he was born.

While I was showering and going through my checklist of things we would need, Jeff had been trying to reach Ben to break the news that he would be doing the music that morning for our services. He must have called him 20 times or so over the next hour and couldn't get an answer! (We found out later that Ben's phone had been on vibrate--he was shocked to see he had missed 20 calls and had like 5 messages! :-) We ended up heading over to the church first (about 8AM by this point) so that Jeff could get as much together for Ben as possible. He finally got thru to him (thankfully!) and told him the news. All this while the contractions had gone to about 4 min. apart and did seem to be getting a little harder. We finally hit the road and made it to the hotel with them still 4 min. apart. As SOON as we walked in the door to the hotel room, they spaced back out to every 7 min. or so. Argh! This was not what we were hoping for! I started getting worried that this would turn out to be another false alarm. However, in my gut, I really believed this to be the real thing. I called Ronni and asked if I should walk to get them going again or try to sleep since I hadn't really slept at all the night before. She thought it would be better to sleep so that's what we did. I slept, of course, in between the contractions but only for an hour. I was too restless to stay in bed any longer than that and the contractions were getting stronger.
I called Ronni again and this time she suggested the tub/shower. She basically said that if I could "manipulate" the contractions (make them space out by resting, or speed up by being active) that we weren't quite there yet and that they would still need to "coordinate". So I made a bath for myself but was very uncomfortable as it was just a standard sized tub. I tried this for about 5 min. and the contractions jumped from 7 min. to 3 min. and I was definitely starting to use more and more focus with my breathing. I decided to ditch the bath and try the shower. This is when things really started to happen! My contractions suddenly went to every 2 min. and required A LOT of focus! I would lean my head against the wall and breathe in for 4 slow counts and then breathe out for 4 slow counts. I waited for several contractions to pass before telling Jeff that we needed to make our way to the hospital. This was it!! We called Ronni who said she would meet us there.
The car ride over was NOT fun, as every bump with a contraction was horrible! I was gripping the door and just trying to breathe and relax as much as possible! Finally we pulled up to the Emergency Room entrance and Jeff secured a wheelchair. Ronni met us and took me while Jeff went to park the car. Even though we were preregistered, I still had to sit at one of the cubicles and give information like my insurance card, etc. I had one contraction while sitting there and just buried my head in the pillow that was on my lap and asked the lady behind the desk to kindly wait a moment until it passed! We finally got thru with all of that and made our way upstairs to my room. I changed into a gown and had several contractions while doing so. They were definitely getting more intense! After getting an IV in place (with a hep-lock so I wouldn't be tied to a line or pole) Ronni did the first check. I could NOT believe it when she told me I was 5 cm! I was thrilled! With M, I had gotten an epidural at 4 cm, 9 hours after the first contraction and 6 1/2 hrs later was still only at 5 cm when they decided to take him via C-section for heart decelerations and failure to progress. Now, here I was dealing well with the pain and 5 cm on my first check! Woo hoo! This was about 2pm by this point.
An hour and a half later Ronni checked me again...7 cm!! I again was shocked! All the while I had been telling myself things like "You're not there yet...one contraction at a time...you can do this...these aren't the really bad contractions yet!" I'm totally convinced now that how you mentally tackle the contractions really can make a difference!
By 4:30 pm Ronni decided to break my water to get things moving a little more. She did, but not much seemed to change. Time seemed to drag on at this point and I was becoming more anxious for the end to be near! It was getting harder to hear/find H's heart beat with the external monitors and he was starting to have decelerations at the peak of the contractions, so they decided to put an internal monitor (attached to his head) so that they would be able to hear it constantly. This was NOT FUN as Ronni had to wait until I was in the midst of a contraction to place the wire! After this, we waited....Ronni kept telling me that I would start to feel a pressure in my bottom area which would signal that H was making his way lower in the birth canal and that pushing would be soon. I started to feel an ever so slight pressure, but things seemed to be taking longer to progress, the contractions were getting harder to "manage" and I was worried about his heart rate which you could audibly hear drop with every contraction. Ronni kept assuring us that things were still good because in-between the contractions he would have accelerations where his heart rate would speed back up. This was a good sign. More time passed with a slight increase in pressure but also an increase in his heart decelerations. I could tell everyone was getting nervous (as was I...it's a very unsettling thing to hear your baby's heart rate drop!) We decided I should try a different position so I got on my knees and leaned over the head of the bed. I was getting VERY uncomfortable and tired at this point and told Ronni that maybe we should call for the epidural. H's heart rate got worse in this position so she had me turn back over and checked me again. (I found out later, but not at this point, that I was fully dilated during this and subsequent checks). Every "check" by the way, occurred DURING a contraction, not after or before, which to me was THE most miserable part. By this point, Ronni was trying to get his heart rate up and would tap on his head during the contractions. Basically, the rest of the story went like this: I pretty much started losing control because the pain was so bad, the OB was called and she too was checking me during contractions and trying to manipulate his head (to which I lost control and was crying and screaming and saying things like "I can't breathe!...I can't do this!") and everyone, including me, was becoming VERY concerned about H's safety. I was told to push with the next several contractions and started hearing talk of a C-section. Ronni was really encouraging me (and she told me later both she and the OB were seeing if I could get him low enough to use the vacuum to get him the rest of the way) and telling me things like "You can do this...push, push, push...down low, now PUSH, he's right there Jen...PUSH!" I did with everything I had (probably about 10 times) but he just wasn't budging! By this point, the anesthesiologist (also a women) FINALLY walked in and made the announcement that they may need to put me under with general anesthesia to which I greatly protested and the OB agreed. Ronni had me push one last time and I did, desperate to get him out, wanting to avoid the C-section, but knowing and understanding that H's safety was all that mattered at that point and I wanted him out and safe NOW! When that push didn't bring him any lower, the call was made. Jeff was by my head, and had been holding my hand and whispered his encouragement to me at that point. He had been so wonderfully supportive of my attempts at a vaginal birth and he knew how disappointed I would be. The staff quickly wheeled me into the OR (which was just at the end of the hall) and got me onto the surgical table. This is when, thankfully, I finally received the epidural and they started prepping and draping me. One of the staff members went to get Jeff and have him don the surgical "garb" and I was so relieved when he was brought in and sat beside me. Ronni too was there and holding my hand. At one point she whispered in my ear, "I'm so sorry...you did sooo good! We just want him to be okay" and I reassured her that I did too!
At 7:24 pm, Our sweet baby H took his first breath in this world and proceeded to scream his little head off---the best sound EVER!! Jeff and I both were crying and I was soo relieved to hear him so strong! His apgars were 9 & 9 at birth--which is excellent! He weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 20.5 inches long.
With M's C-section, I saw him for about 10 seconds before he was quickly whisked him away and it was 3 hours before I would hold him or see him again. However, this time, I was so thankful that he never left the room! I watched him being cleaned off and he looked so big in the warmer! I was grateful that although there were extensions for my arms to rest on, they weren't strapped down like they had been with M and quickly after wrapping H up they brought him to me and I was able to hold him and kiss him and look at him while they worked on me. Jeff and I just sat there and marveled at this beautiful little boy! It seemed so surreal to me that he was finally here and that he was OURS! His little fingernails were so long that the staff kept remarking that they were the longest they'd ever seen! He was so calm and quiet and we couldn't get enough of him! He stayed with us the whole time and was wheeled with us back to the labor room where I was able to nurse him for the first time. We were told by the OB there were several things working against us during my labor. One was the fact that he was in a posterior, or sunny-side-up position which meant that his back was to my back and he was facing my front. This makes it very difficult (although not impossible) for a baby to navigate thru the birth canal as their chins end up being tucked instead of extending through. The other issue, which was compounded by his position was that he had the umbilical cord around his neck. This was why with the peak of every contraction--as he moved lower in the birth canal and his chin tucked more--he would have the heart decelerations.

When Ronni came to visit the next day she told me I had an "AVBAC--an "Almost VBAC" as I couldn't have gotten any closer to birthing a baby vaginally than what I did! :-) She also said that had he been facing the right way he would have "slipped right out!" Argh! Little stinker!! All in all, I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing me to experience labor the way I did. This time I KNOW that I did absolutely everything I could to have the best birth possible for my baby and for me and that there was nothing I could have done different to prevent this C-section. I also praise God that he's safe and healthy and such a precious gift!! Thanks to all of you who were praying for us! God is so good!!

We are now home, of course after spending 4 days in the hospital. The worst part of the C-section is the recovery! I'm feeling better every day, but have to keep reminding myself to take it easy--not something I'm good at! We've had company the first two weeks (my mom came up the first week and my in-laws were here from last Weds. to this morning. It's been nice having extra hands and help!! Life seems a little crazy these days with two kids, but so far M has been wonderful with H. We had pictures taken again by Tammy and Stephanie this morning and I will post a link to that album as soon as I get access. Thanks again for your prayers! We love our new little man and can't wait for everyone to meet him!

Quote of the Day

2008-05-15T19:00:00.001-04:00

The other morning M had a rather yucky #2 accident in his pull-up. Jeff was the unfortunate one who "discovered" the occurrence and ended up having to undress him and hose him down in the shower. About this time, I get the call for help from Jeff who proceeds to describe for me how when asked "M, why did you go poopie in your pants?" he responded very matter-of-factly "Cause it was fun." Not exactly what we want to hear from our 3 year old! He got in trouble for this, (he lost a privilege) not because of the accident, but because of the attitude behind it. Well, this morning Jeff and M were reading a book in our bed and all of the sudden Jeff could again sniff out an "accident". This time when Jeff asked him, "M, WHY did you go poopie in your pants?", he was very quick to respond, "Because it's NOT fun!!"

Words of Encouragement

2008-05-15T07:55:00.001-04:00

God has used the last 24 hours as a time of encouragement for me. I've had several of you call to encourage me and share your stories of waiting on your little ones, being overdue, etc. These have definitely helped to encourage my spirits! I've also had God speaking to my heart and mind through His word and wanted to share the following passage which just seems sooo appropriate to everything I'm feeling and going through right now. One, because it speaks to how God knows everything about me. Every thought, worry, and my future (near and far!) Secondly, I love that it speaks of how He knows everything about H! He is knitting him together even right now and loves him even more that Jeff and I do! Thank you God that you know us so well and that you have our days planned ahead of time!

Psalm 139:1-16 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Bummer...

2008-05-14T13:30:00.001-04:00

Well, just returned from my midwife appt a little while ago. I'm bummed since she was NOT able to do the "sweep" like we were hoping for. Baby H is in good position (low and at "0 station"), but he's just not quite ready to come yet! So, we continue to wait and pray and hope and dream of holding him very soon! I don't go back to see Ronni until next Weds. but she (and we!) are hopeful that I will deliver before then!
Physically, I'm feeling pretty good. For me, this has been a little mentally taxing, though. I keep getting myself psyched up to go and then I have to change gears again. Jeff made a good point on the way back from the appointment saying that hopefully all of this is going to lead up to a quicker/easier labor and delivery! I'm so thankful I had him with me to try and cheer me up. Although, I have to say he was just a bit too giddy for me! :-) I think he was relieved that it WASN'T time for him to "gear up" just yet!
Thank you all so much for your prayers for us. I know that God is ultimately and completely in control!!

The Smallest Details

2008-05-13T09:37:00.001-04:00

We had another "teaser" day this past Saturday with me contracting all day long (I REALLY hope this all helps to shorten the real thing!). At one point they were every THREE minutes and I was pretty hopeful. Of course, this was while I was sweeping/mopping my kitchen floor, but still!!
I had a hard time sleeping last night. I woke up at 3AM and no matter what position I tried, felt short of breath. I finally propped up on 2 pillows and laid there wide awake for what seemed like forever! This is like waiting for one big party and you don't know when it's going to happen!
I go for my next appointment with my midwife tomorrow and she told me last week that if I'm still around, she will try to "sweep my membranes". I leave it for all of you to Google the meaning of that if you don't know, instead of providing details here! :-) Suffice it to say that if she can do this, and if it's successful, there's a good chance that we could be heading to the hospital tomorrow night!
This is also a very busy week at work for Jeff with a HUGE VIP event taking place on Saturday and rehearsals for him tomorrow night, so not quite sure how all of that will work out and this is definitely putting more stress on him. I'm so glad that God has the very smallest details of our lives in His hands! It's times like these that I finally get the knock on the head from Him that reminds me that I really have NO control over ANYTHING and that all He requires of me is to just lay everything at His feet and TRUST that He knows what's best for all of us! :-)
Keep your prayers coming as we are in the final stretch! (No pun intended! HA!) Hopefully my next post on here will include pictures of our new little man!

Quote of the Day

2008-05-06T19:36:00.001-04:00

Of course we might be partial, but M is such a funny kid! He is always saying stuff or doing stuff that makes us laugh. I always say that I need to write these funny quotes down so that I can remember them later, but usually forget. Today it occurred to me that I could start a "Quote of the Day" list on my blog! That way, I can jot them down as they happen for our amusement as well as yours and have them to look back on in the future.

So, here's one from today (imagine it with all of the enthusiasm and gusto that only a 3 year old could put into it):

"Mommy, I told Miss Liz (his preschool teacher) that she can come over to our house and eat Macaroni and Cheese!!"

Random, I know, but I couldn't stop laughing! :-) I can't wait to hear what Miss Liz thought!

I'd love to hear some funny or memorable quotes from your kids!

Waiting Game...

2008-05-06T09:12:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm still "great" with child although we had a tease last Friday and were convinced he was coming that night! I had contractions all day, starting with my ride into work. By the time I got off, they were still coming fairly regularly, although not getting any stronger. Jeff and I had planned one last date night before this baby comes (one of the GREAT benefits of having Pop-Pop living with us!!) so we headed out to dinner and to see a movie. We ended up eating at an Indian Restaurant, (something we've enjoyed since our honeymoon in London) and I was remarking about how I hoped I wouldn't be experiencing this meal again later!! What was I thinking eating Indian anyway??
Well, all throughout our dinner I was letting Jeff know when I would have a contraction. At that point they were 4 minutes apart and starting to feel stronger. We were so excited! We decided at that point that it would be a good idea to skip the movie and go home and go to bed. We know from experience how hard it is to labor in the middle of the night and not get any sleep! With M, my labor started at 9:45 PM and he wasn't born until 1:26PM the next day.
So, we threw all of our "labor" bags in the car and went to bed....and woke up the next morning!! Argh! What a tease!! :-) Although I'm very happy my body seems to be gearing up, I'm VERY anxious to get this show on the road! Haven't had much to get too excited about since then, so it's still a waiting game. God's in control and I know he'll come at just the right time! But it's soooo hard to wait! :-)

News Gator

2008-05-01T19:47:00.001-04:00

Updated (1/28/10):
While NewsGator was good for a while....it's no longer the tool I use to organize all of the blogs I read.
If you haven't already, check out Google Reader! It's free if you have a Google account (also free) and A-mazing!

Original Post:
Recently our Lead Pastor, John Cremeans blogged about a cool online tool for anyone who, like me, has several blogs that they like to follow on a regular basis. It's called NewsGator (www.newsgator.com) and it's AWESOME!! Using NewsGator, you can list all of the blogs that you like to follow and when you sign in, it will actually tell you if any of your blogs have new posts! If they do, you can click on it and read it right there! This is such a time saver and you don't waste your time going to blogs that haven't changed any since the last time you visited. Neat, huh? I just made an account for myself the other day (it's free) and I LOVE it!

Just thought I'd share the joy! Happy blogging!

Update

2008-04-30T19:19:00.001-04:00

Today was my appointment with my midwife and just wanted to give everyone an update. I've been having contractions (on and off) but pretty regular since this past Saturday. At one point on Saturday they were every 5 min. and this lasted for about 45 min. Then, on Sunday they seemed less frequent, Monday during dinner I had another 1/2 hour or so at regular intervals and then yesterday, not much. So it seems to be an every other day kind of thing for me. Of course, I know that this is all just "warm up" for the big event, but I am grateful to be contracting so early! Hopefully (Lord willing) this will help to make my true labor shorter! HA!

Anyway, Ronni did check me today and said that part (the first part) of my cervix is 1 cm, but not the whole cervix. She actually whipped out some playdoh and made a fake cervix out of it to demonstrate! Jeff's comment afterward was, "I've seen too much...." :-))

Of course, being only 1cm (sort of) is not much, but in my mind...it's something!! To me, it means I'm not imagining things and we're starting to gear up! Yea!

I'll officially be 38 weeks on Friday (in 2 days), but as a comparison, I had M at 39wks, 1 day. I also don't remember having so many "practice" contractions before going into labor with him. Sooooooo, it may be anytime now!

Keep us in your prayers!

Big News!

2008-04-27T13:44:00.001-04:00

No, H hasn't arrived quite yet, but I do have other, exciting news to share with all of you. For some time now my parents have been praying that God would open the doors that would allow them to move up to this area. My Dad is originally from N.Jersey and my Mom is a Baltimore native. They've lived in Florida most of their marriage and have spent the last 6 years in North Carolina. They, of course, like any good Nana and PopPop have longed to be closer to their grandchildren and have been looking for job opportunities in the area.

Well, two weeks ago we learned of an opportunity for my Dad which he applied for and accepted which means they will be moving to the area!! Praise God! I'm so excited to have family close by again especially now that we have children and I know my parents are thrilled.

My Mom is currently researching nursing positions in the area as well.

The biggest short term effect of all of this for Jeff and I is the fact that Dad has moved in with us temporarily. He started his new job today, while my Mom still has to work out 30 days notice with her current employer AND the lease on their current apartment doesn't expire until mid-June. Of course, they didn't want to have to pay for two places at the same time, so we offered to have Dad stay with us!

Boy are we about to have a full house! :-)

Please continue to be in prayer for all of us (especially for my Mom, who is now by herself until the end of June).

Lots of exciting things happening around here!

Sick Day

2008-04-23T09:27:00.001-04:00

For those of you that follow my hubby's blog, you know that Jeff has been feeling under the weather lately. M, too, ran a fever a couple of weeks ago and now has a cough. For myself, I've had a sore throat and what I thought were allergy symptoms, but now I'm not so sure. All of my head congestion has moved to my chest, and I've been coughing so bad the last couple of days that it hurts to talk and my voice is just about gone. YUCK!!

So, with all of my symptoms coming to a head today and just generally feeling physically run down, I took the day off and am going to try to rehydrate, rest and sanitize EVERYTHING!! :-)

Please be praying for the health of our family. Of course I feel like this baby could come any day now and I certainly want to feel better before going into labor AND definitely want to bring him home to the healthiest home possible! Thank goodness the weather has been pretty pleasant here lately and we've been able to open the windows and get some fresh air in the house.

We appreciate all of your prayers for us! Now, it's on to a large glass of O.J.!

Friday Night Nesting

2008-04-18T18:22:00.001-04:00

As I type this Jeff is on his way to watch the Phillies game with some friends and believe it or not, my "nesting" is so bad, that I chose to stay home on a Friday night to CLEAN instead of go to the game! HA! So, in order to keep myself on track (and to ensure, hopefully, that I don't spend the night on BLOGS) I am going to write down my goals for the night:

(By the way M stayed home with Mommy too and is happily watching Disney's "CARS" movie for the upteenth time!)

Finally pack our bags for the hospital!
Finish washing, folding and putting away the washcloths and hooded towels I dug out of boxes yesterday
Wash and then sterilize all of the old bottles, pacifiers and "pump" parts that I also found in boxes
Put a change of clothes in the car (just in case)
Clean the kitchen
Give M a bath and put him to bed
Sweep the dog hair (the bane of my existence) off of the floors!!
And for good measure...If I have ANY time left, clean the fish tank!

Doesn't this sound like an exciting Friday night?!

Now, too bad I wasted 20 minutes looking for a picture to go with this blog...

UPDATE:

It's now 10:00 and I've completed NONE of my tasks for the night! (*Sigh*) Jeff, who's been suffering from weird cases of dizziness all week called me from the game not long after I signed off to ask me to come and pick him up. (You know he's not feeling well if I have to take him from a Phillies game!!) Please pray for him, he's really been struggling to feel well lately.

Better luck tomorrow, I hope...

Luminosity Photography

2008-04-17T17:17:00.001-04:00

Updated: Sorry to say this link no longer works! So bummed. But seriously, check out their site HERE

Original Post:
No, that's not MY belly, but I did want to post a link to the slideshow of the AWESOME photos we had taken this past Tuesday night. Stephanie and Tammy did such a fantastic job, and I think you'll agree they definitely have a gift! We had such a fun time taking them and I'm thrilled to be able to share them with all of you! We are counting down the days till we can hold our precious new little boy!

Here's the link:

http://www.photobiz.com/slideshowbiz/slideshow.cfm?slideshowID=16729&photographerID=1589

Sorry it's so long, but this will take you directly to our slideshow. The pictures scroll thru pretty fast; if you want to view them slower just pause the show (bottom right) and then you'll be able to scroll thru one at a time. Would love to get some feedback of what you think!

Hope you enjoy!

Almost There!

2008-04-12T22:04:00.001-04:00

The countdown is definitely in full swing at this point! I hit the 35 week mark on Friday, and as you can see, I'm running out of room! I'm feeling tired a little easier these days and forget about tying my shoes or painting my toenails!! HA!

Actually I'm excited to be using a gift certificate that Jeff treated me to for a spa package this coming Monday! I'm having some maternity photos taken by some wonderful friends of mine, Stephanie L. and Tammy L. on Tuesday--you can check out their site here: www.luminosityonline.com

They do awesome work! Soooo, Monday night I'm treating myself to a haircut, a manicure and a pedicure. At least my hair and nails will look good!! :-) I'll have to post a link to the photo album once I have access to it. Please continue to pray with us for continued health for both myself and baby H. We are so anxious to meet him!! Pray also for the transition for M. He is excited to meet his baby brother, and we talk often of how things are going to be once he's here, but I'm sure his arrival will bring some new challenges for us all!

Now, it's on to packing our bags!!

Answered Prayers

2008-04-08T11:26:00.001-04:00

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Phil and Jenna Bachetti on the arrival of their new BABY GIRL!! Phil and Jenna (and of course Grandparents Ray and Linda) have ferverantly been praying that God would bless them with a baby girl this time and HE has answered their prayers! Thank you God for taking care of this little girl and for blessing this family with her birth. Please take care of Jenna now as she recovers and I pray that Fellowship would shower them with blessings and support!!

Weekly Highlights

2008-04-05T19:07:00.001-04:00

Ok, so I know I've been a total slacker this past week with the blogging...something that totally annoys me as well! It's been a busy week with many events that I could have been blogging about, but as you already know, have neglected to do until now.....no longer!! I have made a new vow to myself that from this point on: I WILL blog even if I don't have pictures to go with my "stories", I WILL blog about useless, random musings that happen to only be tiny insights into my life, and I WILL sometimes combine the ENTIRE events of the week into one posting instead of feeling guilty for not posting for each one separately!!! There, now I feel better.

Sooooo, to kick off my new resolutions, let me bring you up to date on some of the highlights of THIS week. Sorry, no pictures as of yet, but I WILL try to post some later!

Last Saturday (March 29th) the WONDERFUL ladies of Fellowship held a baby shower for our VERY soon to arrive little man, H. It was a great time, and I am so thankful to Kathleen and Courtney for putting this together for us. You guys rock! I never really expected to have a shower for our second, so I've been incredibly thankful and humbled that you all wanted to do this for us! We are so blessed by Fellowship and all of our friends!
This shower also inspired me to FINALLY get out all of the bins I've had stored in the basement with all of M's infant clothing. It was fun to unpack and wash all of his little outfits and relive the memories of when he was that small. It also makes H's pending arrival seem that much more REAL! I had fun this week getting everything clean and put away in his closet.
The nursery is really starting to come together! This is also very exciting to me as I am definitely in my "nesting" period and want everything to be just right before his arrival. This week we bought the rug for his room (we have all wood floors in the bedrooms) and just today bought the changing table and put it together. Thanks SOOOO much Nana and Grandma for helping us with this! It's beautiful! Next week we are planning a yard sale and we hope to use whatever we make from that to purchase a new glider/ottoman. So exciting!
This past Wednesday two very cool things happened. The first was my 34 week visit with my midwife, Ronnie. She is wonderful and makes me feel so at ease and confident about my attempt at a VBAC. For any of you guys reading who don't want the details of what that means, you might want to skip to the next bullet point NOW! Of course, VBAC stands for Vaginal Birth After Cesarean, as M ended up a "C" after 16 hours of labor, me being stuck at 5 cm, and his continual heart decelerations. I was very disappointed of course after having a wonderful, uncomplicated pregnancy and knew that I would want to attempt natural birth again with our next. Well, this has NOT been an easy thing to get support for!! Most OB/GYNs and hospitals discourage it or are not very supportive (from what I've found) with the idea of a VBAC. Ronnie is the fourth provider I've seen during this pregnancy and I just started with her at 28 weeks! It took me that long to find a provider AND a hospital that would be supportive in this endeavor!! Please be praying with me/us for a healthy labor and delivery and above all a healthy little boy! The second cool thing happened Weds. night. I had a staff meeting for my job that evening at 5:00 which ended up being another surprise baby shower for myself and another coworker who's expecting her second as well! I was soooo surprised! We had a great time and we each received $100 worth of gift cards for the babies! How cool is that?!
That brings us to today. M started running a fever this morning and again this evening so I probably will be keeping him home from church tomorrow. I'm disapointed to miss being able to be in the audience tomorrow for a couple of reasons. God recently led us to a new sound engineer (who rocks!) and I was looking forward to "hearing" what the music was going to sound like tomorrow from OFF the stage! The band is also doing a new favorite song "Break Free" which is totally rockin' (M requests it now EVERY time we get in the car) and I was looking forward to hearing it for the first time at Fellowship. I pray that in all these things that God will receive ALL of the glory!

For now, I am sooo tired, having worked this morning for four hours, and I am definitely ready for some "down time" with Jeff (who was wonderful enough to give our little boy his bath and put him to bed!) Now it's onto some popcorn, chillin' and watching WHATEVER! Well, that's it for all of my updates! Hope you all have a wonderful week and a blessed Sunday!!

John & Kate + 8

2008-03-28T10:58:00.000-04:00

I LOVE this show! John & Kate Gosslin are the amazing parents of 2 sets of multiples: Twin 7 year old daughters and 3 year old sextuplets! Can you imagine?? Well, they are such a neat family to watch--they open their home and their lives for the rest of us to take peeks at how they do it through their show "John & Kate + 8". You can check out their website here: http://www.sixgosselins.com/Home.html

They also take time to travel around the country and often do speaking engagements in local churches. This Sunday they will be in Avondale, PA at Elk Creek Church (check out my link for Pastor Mike Silliman's blog!) and I have two tickets for it!! Unfortunately, I forgot that I will be singing this Sunday at our own church and won't be able to attend. If anyone would like to go to this (or know any other BIG Fans of the show) let me know as soon as possible! You can comment here or email me your interest. I'm sure you'll be blessed by their testimony!

Lessons From A Three Year Old

2008-03-27T22:30:00.001-04:00

Last week M was able to paticipate in 3 seperate Easter Egg hunts. (At his preschool, in our neighborhood and then at a friend's house on Easter Sunday).

The first to take place this year was at his preschool which is actually housed in a church. It was the church who put on the hunt and M was sooooo excited to participate. I was too, until I heard the age breakdown they would be using. You see...they decided to split the hunt into 2 different age groups--2 1/2 and under and then 2 1/2 and up. What this meant for my newly turned 3 year old was that he was at a serious age disadvantage!! He was up against 9 and 10 yr olds and this was really the first hunt that I think he could even comprehend what he was supposed to do!

Needless to say, he didn't get many eggs (4 total and two of them just had pieces of paper with a # on it) and meanwhile I'm hearing all of the other kids bragging "look, I got 10"..."Oooo, well I got 14!" and things like this. So, in my human/mother nature...I was pretty miffed about the whole thing! Afterwards, M was looking at his eggs (and realizing that a couple of them had candy in them) when up walks a little girl from his class named Claire. Now Claire and her brother had just walked in, which meant that they had missed the whole hunt and didn't have any eggs. I don't know why, but I felt prompted to ask M if he would like to share with her. Without a second thought he reached in and grabbed an egg for her and then proceded to try and give ALL of his eggs away! Wow! What a lesson for mommy! Here he was, excited to share whatever he had, and all I could think about was how unfair things had been for him! I was humbled and so proud of his sharing spirit! How much more do I need to be like that with all of the "things" God has blessed me with? Not just material possesions, but my faith, forgiveness, peace, true joy!! Sometimes, I just want to live in my bubble and focus only on what God can do for me, instead of what God wants to do with me or through me! God doesn't want me to hold on too tight to all that I have, but rather look for opportunities to give!! What a cool thing that God can use our kids to teach us lessons!

Love This Church!

2008-03-19T13:02:00.000-04:00

Check out the AWESOME new look of Fellowship! This past Sunday was the "rollout" date for the new lights and design and I'm so pumped! Of course, these are just material things, but it's one more step for Fellowship, and it's one more step in our process of "Redefining Church in the Deleware Valley"! Sunday's service was amazing with God receiving all of the glory! I'm so grateful to be serving in such an awesome ministry and am really looking forward to what God will do this Easter Sunday!

31 week Pics

2008-03-17T22:04:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is...my first online belly shot! This is from today (31weeks,3 days). Only 8 1/2 weeks left until our second little man is due. Please be praying with us for a safe, speedy and successful--as natural as possible--birth! I'll try to keep the belly shots coming (no matter how big I get!) :-)

Party Time!

2008-03-17T21:51:00.001-04:00

Saturday was M's birthday party and it was so much fun! We had great weather and a wonderful time! The kids all LOVED the Moonbounce and we were sooooo glad that we had it there. (My coworker was kind enough to lend it to us for the occasion...thanks Laura!!) We also had the special treat of being able to offer horse rides courtesy of the Berkeyheisers--how cool is that??--thanks guys!! :-) I think we ended up with about 17 kids which was wonderful and M had a blast! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate him with us! I'm gonna try to add a slideshow of the party pictures so keep checking back!

Another Day To Celebrate

2008-03-13T19:55:00.000-04:00

Today my wonderful husband turns 34! Not much time to post tonight, but wanted to get that out there and give everyone the opportunity to leave some birthdays comments for the birthday boy!! Love ya honey!!

Happy Six Years!!

2008-03-10T19:11:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, March 9th, Jeff and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! I don't think either of us could have imagined how blessed and full our lives would be in such a short time! We both have wonderful jobs, Jeff is part of an AWESOME, KICKIN' Church and staff and we both are so thankful that God led us to ministry at Fellowship! You can check out our church here: www.fellowshiptoday.com We have a wonderful little boy and another due soon, a great home, rich friendships, the love of our Creator and most of all a deeper, more wonderful love for each other than we could have dreamed possible! Last night we took the time to describe the top 10 things that we love about each other and it was a neat thing to share...here are some of my favorite things about Jeff:

His unshakable faith and life as a Christ follower. Without this, our life and the fullness we experience daily would not be possible.
His loyalty as a friend. Not just to me, but to many all over the US. He has such a tender heart for his friends.
He is SUCH a wonderful Daddy! He is so encouraging to M and loves his little boy! In many ways, he balances me out and it's wonderful to be on the same page in the way that we are choosing to raise our children. I can't wait to see him with two boys!
He is so wonderful for putting up with me and all of my "stuff"!! He is so patient with me and my life is so rich having him as my very best friend!
He is so gifted and talented and I love that we both share such a passion for music and for praise! He has grown so much in this area since coming to Fellowship (all glory to God!) and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him in this area!
He is so much fun to be around!! Always, always being silly or making me/others laugh. I love his sense of humor and his zest for life!
He is such a romantic...even more so than me, I have to admit! He is wonderfully thoughtful in this area and I learn so much from him!

God, thank you for my wonderful husband and for the years you've blessed us with. You are to be praised for all that you have brought us through and for what you are molding us/shaping us into. May we always be used by you, as individuals and as a couple, to show others your perfect love and may we strive to live out this perfect love in our lives as well!

Happy 3rd Birthday M!!

2008-03-07T22:05:00.002-05:00

Today, March 7th, our sweet little man has turned 3 years old!!! We are still in awe of what a precious gift he is from the Lord and praise God for the privilege it is to be his parents. To celebrate this occasion I thought I would bullet some of the things we love most about M:

He's such an entertainer! Two weeks ago at Sunday School, he got up with his "air guitar" and announced "Okay ev'ry buddy...I gonna lead music...We gonna sing about Jesus" and proceeded to sing "Santa Clause is coming to town!" at the top of his lungs...(we still have some work to do, I know)
He has such a tender heart. This little boy who doesn't stop for ANYTHING will immediately come to our aid if hurt or expressing sadness of any kind...."Aww...you ok mommy??"
He is super, super smart! Now I know every parent thinks this, and I don't think he's quite ready for the Mensa High-IQ club yet...but he truly amazes us! This morning he was teaching ME about the planets in our solar system!! I always ask him, "Sweetie, who made you so smart??" To which he responds with a grin, "God and Jesus!" :-)
He loves to give hugs and kisses. I know this won't always be the case so I'm soaking it all up now and don't even want to imagine the day when this won't be the case!
He is becoming more independent everyday! He can brush his own teeth and dress/undress himself. Of course, this can sometimes lead to other issues (just see my previous blog) but it really frees up our hands and gives him such a sense of accomplishment. I know this will also make a big difference when Hudson arrives.
He loves school and learning and seems to make friends easily.
He loves to read and spell out the letters in words. I know it won't be long before he's reading like a champ!
He can't wait to be a big brother! He'll talk to my belly and say things like "Hi baby, I'm your big brother!" and "I can't wait to meet you!" and gives my belly kisses. I'm glad he's gonna have a brother to grow up with!
He's such a happy kid! Granted, he has his moments like everybody else, but really is such a joy and makes us laugh all the time.

God, thanks for our sweet boy. Thanks for keeping him safe and healthy and for teaching us so much about ourselves in our daily calling to parent him and shepherd his little heart! Thanks for using days like today to remind us of how much you've blessed us!

Surprise Load

2008-03-05T22:40:00.001-05:00

I love to watch American Idol! Rarely, however, am I through with M's bedtime rituals to sit in front of the TV by 8:00 to watch it live, so of course, we DVR it (or digitally record it) with our cable box. This works out great, because every now and then I get the urge to do a little laundry between putting M to bed and "relaxing" for the rest of the evening.

The other night was no exception. I knew that I was running low on clean pants for M and the uniform I needed for work the next morning was in the hamper. So, I grabbed his hamper and a few of my things and threw them in.

Finally, onto my show! Well, I also sometimes have the very bad habit of becoming soooo tired while "relaxing" to A.I., that by the time it's over (usually 10:00 or so by now) I don't want to get up so I'll end up watching something else we have "saved" on our box, or the news...whatever.

The other night was also no exception to this habit. Needless to say, somewhere around 11:00, I finally drug myself off of the couch and headed upstairs to change the clothes to the dryer, wash my face and thankfully sink into my warm bed.

Very groggy at this point, I walk to the laundry room and squint as I turn on the light and open the washing machine lid.......

Now for those of you with small children, or for those who've ever had one of your child's diapers get "too full" with fluid...you'll understand what I'm about to describe next. What I saw when I opened the wash was nothing less than an entire tub and load of clothes COVERED in slimy, gooey, "nuggets" of diaper crystals. The kind that are supposed to stay tucked away in the fabric of the diaper and absorb the moisture. Yeah...those...

Well, in my haste to throw the laundry in and sit down to my show I had neglected to sort through M's clothes which by now, it was clear to me, had contained a USED diaper!!

So, here I am, EXHAUSTED, just wanting to go to bed, but I can't because the uniform I need for the next morning has Gooey Diaper nuggets stuck all over it!

It took about 45 min. and a quick search of Google to come up with a plan:

I basically shook off every single piece of clothing I had just washed back into the washing machine (no small feat when you're washing an ENTIRE load of little toddler clothes!) and threw them into a basket until all that was left was a tub bottom covered in goo. Then I wet a wash cloth and scraped it all out. Then I threw in a completely different load (with my uniform included of course) on HOT with two BIG scoops of OxyClean (a Google suggestion) and went to bed praying my efforts would work. Well, it did the trick! On one of my several nightly trips to the bathroom I opened the wash to discover nothing but clean clothes and joyfully changed them to the dryer.

Whew!!!

Moral to the story....

Just because your toddler can dress himself or put on his own PJ's...doesn't mean that he will think it necessary to take the used Pull-Up out of his pants BEFORE tossing them into his hamper!!:-)

One lesson painfully learned and now passed on to you!

Life is good :-)))

Monster JAM!!

2008-03-04T15:27:00.001-05:00

This picture is a couple of weeks old, but I wanted to share our "Monster Jam" experience. M is totally into watching the big trucks on TV with Daddy and was sooooo excited to find out that we were going to go see them live in Philly. Daddy made sure we had the ear plugs, we invited some of our other friends with small boys and off we went! Needless to say, even with lots of prep of reminding M how loud the trucks were going to be (he was telling everyone "yeah, they goin' to be REALLY loud!) this picture says it all. Total sensory overload!! :-) The loud noise, the smell, the flashing lights...the heights!! it was all a little too much for him and he spent the first 3o min. not too sure about the experience. We had a hard time getting his earplugs to stay in and eventually we put the hood of his jacket up to help hold them in. After that, he wouldn't let us take it off! I was SWEATING with him sitting in my lap with his big, winter coat on, but he would NOT let it go! :-) So funny... Eventually, believe it or not, he FELL ASLEEP! (As you can see below). Too bad since he missed the most exciting parts! Better luck next time I guess :-)

Finally in Blogger Land!!

2008-03-04T14:42:00.000-05:00

So....drum roll please.....this...is...my first blog, EVER! (Jeff is definitely the veteran blogger!) I think maybe I've posted a comment here or there, but forever I have wanted to start our own family blog! And now, here it is! With this I hope that Jeff and I can keep all of you posted on all of the cool, not so cool, quirky, funny, hectic, stressful, wonderful things that go on in the Ream household! Keep checking in for updates :-)

~A Heart For Home Sweet Home~

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John & Kate + 8

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Another Day To Celebrate

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Surprise Load

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Finally in Blogger Land!!

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