laughter

you always hear 'laughter is the best medicine' and so many studies have been done to prove this theory...or at least how laughing daily helps to decrease your stress, which in turn helps your blood pressure, heart rate, etc

and it's true; laughing is so much fun and does make you feel happier all around

we had our small group party today/tonight

john, sophia, and i are so blessed to have this small group

we have learned, grown, cried, worked, and laughed with these people for the past 2 years

it has been an awesome journey!

this year, we decided as a small group to adopt a family through our local combined community services (which helps coordinate services to the community by local churches instead of each church trying to do its own thing all the time...awesome concept!)

so we collected money, got wish lists from our family, split up at wal-mart, shopped, bugged the poor cashier lady who had to swipe every bill we gave her to make sure it wasn't fake (yes, we paid all cash :) ), wrapped the presents, ate GOOD food, then had a white elephant/yankee swap game

it's always fun to see what people will bring to white elephant gift exchanges

this year included some tacky decorating signs, a drew carey bobble head, a laser pointer, leopard print cappuchino cups, elephant skin, and a home made mouse catcher...we laughed the entire time!

and what's even cooler is to look back on a year ago when we did this same thing...we had 10 couples, one baby, and three babies on the way

this year we have 8 couples, 3 babies, and 2 babies on the way

it is so much fun to experience life with these couples (i should probably say families now :) )...and it's even more fun to laugh with them!

oh ye of little faith

so lately i have been worrying more than usual

i guess i've told myself it's ok because i'm a new mom, i've cut back on work substantially (which means cut back on pay), i have new responsibilities at work and home, etc

well, i have no excuses

i know i worry and it's not right

i need to trust God more

and He's been proving that to me over and over again lately

a few quick examples:

-our van

first off, God blessed us by practically giving us this van; see my grandpa taylor has alzheimer's and had been saying last Christmas 'sometimes i just want to take my keys and go driving'

not a good idea when he has forgotten most things already; so his sons (including my dad) decided the van should probably be taken away...so we bought it...huge blessing from God because it was in great shape and cheap

well, it started acting up recently...we took it in and what we thought was a few hundred dollars problem at the most turned out to be over a grand and it needed more fixes if we were going to drive it far...like driving it to South Carolina this Christmas

unfortunately my grandpa's alzheimer's has gotten worse and he's been very upset lately about whoever took his van from him...so we can't drive it and risk him seeing it...thank you God for this blessing in disguise

-our dishwasher

about two months ago our dishwasher took a poop

we have been fixing up our house and most of our appliances are black...except for the dishwasher and fridge, but both work fine so why replace them?

when the dishwasher broke, i told myself we didn't need one, and we didn't

but God knew i wanted one...and my parents went above and beyond and surprised me for Christmas and my birthday and bought me a black one...one john and i had looked at :)

thanks God!

-our stove

then about a week after the new dishwasher was installed, i tried to bake a pumpkin roll (for work) and banana bread (for fun)

after the oven had been at 375 degrees for an hour, i noticed it didn't seem very hot...in fact, i could touch the oven racks...not a good sign

we called a place that said if we brought it to them it would be, at the cheapest, $100...if they came here, well over that

well, i kind of need an oven...so we asked dad to take a peek at it...he didn't have any ideas either

except that idea that someone in their church fixes ovens for a living

he came over today, after being at his real job all day, looked at the oven, told us that what the store on the phone had thought it would be wasn't the actual problem...looks like instead of a few hundred dollars, it's about a $12 part! amazing!

God, You are awesome! thank You for providing every step of the way!

these are moments i need to see more often...because i know they happen more than i realize!

just when you think...

just when you think you know what you're doing, your child decides to show you you're not

i have been trying to get sophia on a routine--eat, wake for a bit, sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, wake, eat, and so on and so forth

she has fought the length of the naps sometimes...but nothing like today

her first nap, she slept for 2 hours without making a peep...tricked me here

then the second nap, she was up within an hour and SCREAMING...she continued to do so for about 25 min before i finally picked her up and changed her diaper

back to bed only to cry for another 15 min before i just finally picked her up and went on with the day

then after her 4 pm feeding, she did the same exact thing...of course this time while i am in the middle of baking and my oven decided to take a poop

so i rushed to mom's, baked my goods, let them play with sophia for a bit, then came home

she ate like usual and went to bed...only to scream and scream and scream

so i tried to change her outift, her diaper...which i even moved up a notch to help her fat little thighs have some extra breathing room...burped her more, tried to feed her again

and then the same exact thing when i put her down again...angry screaming

so i tried feeding her for a third time...which she did for almost an hour and then FINALLY fell asleep

maybe she was just suckling for comfort, i'm not sure, but she finally fell asleep after that

i am scared she may be teething...anything that comes near her little hands goes straight into her mouth...and she gnaws on it like there's no tomorrow

who knows...but everytime i think i have this child figured out and a routine down, she has to show me who's boss...or at least that i'm not

guess she's just God's built in humility lesson for me

thanksgiving

this time of year, everyone talks about what they are thankful for...it seems to be the thing to do

well last year, i was more panicky than thankful...although the thankfulness came shortly thereafter

last year on thanksgiving day, i had this weird feeling i needed to take a pregnancy test-no reason, just a feeling

so i told john i needed to shower, went into the bathroom, and peed on a stick

lo and behold it came up positive...like really quickly positive

they tell you to wait two minutes to read it, but within 30 seconds it was positive

i just stood there...we had been trying and i should have been jumping up and down, but i had no clue what to do right then

and you know how in your head you have all these cute ways to tell your husband...like becky on 'full house' did? well, they left my head at that moment

so i asked john to come to the bathroom...he was in the middle of installing our kitchen cabinets

finally i convinced him to walk into the bedroom and all i could think of to say was 'is this positive?' needless to say he just stood there and stared at me

then we were both excited

we waited about a week (john claims it was 3 weeks) to tell anyone...which was 10 times harder for john than it was for me

and now this year we are so thankful everytime we look at our little bundle of joy

i guess this year i am more thankful than i think i've ever been before! thank you God for my little sophia and all the joy she gives us day after day!

God moments

normally when i go grocery shopping, i am quite organized-list, bags to put groceries in, time it so sophia will be napping, etc

well, today God had other plans

i had a list, and bags, and sophia was close to napping...in fact she fell asleep on the way to our first stop-sherman & lins (our local scratch 'n' dent store)

i usually find most everything i need there..and for cheaper

not today though...i found one whole item on my list

waste of gas if you ask me

so i then headed to aldi's...sophia is still sleeping in her carseat while cuddling her stuffed puppy dog :) so cute and of course i had forgotten my camera at home

i get to aldi''s and all if goshen's amish community seemed to be there...along with the rest of warsaw

i walked in the doors and sophia woke up...but was thankfully happy and cute, so i talked to her as i did my shopping (now i have an excuse to talk to myself :) )

as i found my final items and got in line (which i might add was enormous), two people cut in line as i was getting my now fussy baby out of her carseat

i was slightly annoyed but something about holding a cute little baby girl made me not care that much

when i was done and paid, we went out to the car

sophia continued to be cranky if i put her in the carseat...so i held her (God's idea)

see normally when i shop, i park right next to the cart area so when i'm done i can load her in her carseat and the groceries all in the car, put the cart up, and head home...not today

since she was fussy i held her, put the groceries in the car, and for some odd reason decided to take her along when i put the cart up

as i push the door to the van closed, i then decide to check which pocket i put my keys in...none of them...i locked us out of the car

on a normal day when everything would have gone according to my plan, i would have locked her in her carseat in the car too

God thankfully had a different plan for today and allowed me to only lock my purse and groceries in the car

my mom then came to the rescue with a spare key a little while later and reminded me that thankfully God made me continue holding sophia while i locked the van up

so thank you God for 'messing things up' so that sophia and i weren't crying on opposite sides of the van door in 40 degree weather!

new things

every time my dad, my mom, john's mom or dad, or anyone close to us that goes about 4 or 5 days without seeing sophia says 'wow! she has changed so much!'

i tend to not see the little changes that happen every day as sophia grows

i can tell she is growing as she grows out of diapers and clothes, but not the little inches

but i do notice when she does new things

for instance, earlier this week i was folding laundry on the couch with her next to me on her activity mat

well i looked at her at one point to interact with her and she was on her side...crazy

then she has decided that it is fun to grab anything and everything that her little hands get near

she grabs any toy that is within her line of vision

she grabs my shirt every time she nurses and stretches it as far as she can and lets go (as if it will snap me :) )

she grabs her toys when i change her diaper

she grabs her pacifier every time it goes in her mouth...which can be problematic when she then pulls it out

she grabs hair and john's beard (which he tells me does not feel very good)

it is a lot of fun to see these things happen, especially as she becomes more interactive...which is SOOO much fun

needless to say, with each new thing she does, i fall deeper in love with her

genetics

you know those times in your life when you stop and go, "oh crap! that's something my mom (or dad) does!"

what's even worse is when your dad laughs out loud and says "did you just do that? your mom used to do that all the time!"

guess i'm more like my mom than i thought

see, when i am about ready to nurse sophia, i check to see which side is fuller and start her on that side

the way i check is to just test with my arms (so i'm not grabbing myself in public...sorry, but true)

well i guess that's EXACTLY what my mom used to do before she nursed us when we were little...and i guess i do the EXACT same thing that she did

so weird

i know i look like my mom and at times i hear myself say something that sounds just like her too

then i watch john and see things that he does and it is so like his dad

like when john tells a story, he leans forward...if there is a table nearby, he leans on it too

john's dad does this too (it is fun for me to watch and see this :) )

i wonder what parts of me sophia will get?