18 months old

I'm about to go over and post about our little one and a half year old daughter on her blog, so hop on over there to read all about her. :)

An advent prayer

We purposely put our gift giving nice and early this year, so we are able to both enjoy it and to focus on this season of expectation and preparation that is Advent. I have only really come to understand the meaning of Advent (which began yesterday) in the past two or three years, and I am appreciating it more each year. For those who don't know, Advent is the season during which we focus our attention on celebrating Christ's first coming, and humbly, prayerfully, and eagerly expect and long for Christ's second coming when he will return to redeem all creation and rule with power and authority. That gives us a lot to think about and prepare for over the four weeks before Christmas.

I especially appreciated this Reformation Advent prayer in our bulletin yesterday:

"Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen."

Gift giving

From this past Thursday to Saturday Becca and I got to stay with the newlyweds Lisa and Mark at their apartment in Kzoo. We went to Kzoo for a baby shower for my friend Angie who is visiting from England for a month. The shower (or baby party, as I told Becca) was on Thursday, and we were going to head back Friday, but decided to wait out the ice storm and left Saturday morning after visiting briefly with my sister-in-law, Kristi.

Even though we arrived home in the late afternoon, we decided to keep our evening plans of exchanging our gifts as a family. Nate ran out to get us some sandwiches from Panera while I fixed us some salads and heated up some other food for Becca. We had a nice dinner, cleaned up and then gathered around the tree to say a prayer and open gifts. We had such a nice, relaxing time. In case you are wondering what we gave each other, I'll tell you. :)

Nate got a long-sleeved Lands End shirt from me that he says he wants to wear everyday because it's so cozy (it's a winter tee-shirt, so a bit thicker and softer than the normal ones). I had originally intended to also give him a book called "Calendar: Christ's time for the Church", but he bought it before I could give it to him, leaving me with an extra copy that we were able to give away. Instead, I made a gift for him: a little coupon type thingy that has things on it I will make for him when he gives that coupon to me, such as molasses cookies, orange julius, apple turnovers, foot rub...I can't think of the other ones. Becca gave him some white hangers, which sounds like a funny gift, but Nate is like Monk when it comes to hanging up his clothes and likes his hangers to be all the same color: white.

We gave Becca three gifts (one practical, one spiritual, one fun): a pair of yellow and white slippers I knitted to match her ducky pajamas; the book "All Things Bright and Beautiful" which illustrates the hymn of the same name (illus by Bruce Whatley); and a photo album with a frame in the front filled with pictures of Becca with family members and friends--she has loved looking through this over and over, as esp. likes the picture on the front of her and my parents' late cat Socks.

Finally, Nate was very thoughtful in what he gave me and I loved my gifts. I got "Stepping Heavenward" by Elizabeth Prentiss (from my wishlist), Never Been Kissed on DVD (I admit, I like that movie :) ), a CD with gospel songs from the Moses Hogan singers (an amazing choir I had gone to see in high school with Choral Ensemble--the CD I bought from their concert had been badly scratched by a puppy), and "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" by Margaret Sidney, which is one of my favorite books. I can't wait to read it to our children.

Whew, what a long post.

Decorating

We spent the evening (before Becca went to bed) putting up Christmas decorations which included:

1. Our three foot tall fake Christmas tree with lights attached (we hope to get a real one next year). Becca helped Nate put ornaments on it. Becca was especially interested in an ornament that my mom bought her last year, which makes train sounds when you push a button. I was reminded why we avoid toys that make noise after Becca pushed the button for the tenth time. I have to admit, though, that it was quite adorable to watch her bounce up and dance to the train sounds.

2. Our advent wreath and candles (from Bronner's Christmas store last year)

3. Our advent calendar (from desiringgod.org--I tried to link it, but their site doesn't have it up right now even though I know they are still selling it). It's basically a large rectagular piece of burlap with a dowel rod in the top. On the top is the nativity scene outline with numbers so you know where to put the figures. The bottom half is sectioned off and numbered, so that you put the figures in their places until it is the day to move them up (did that make sense?). Both the top and bottom have velcro pieces by the numbers. The nativity figures also have velcro on them, obviously. :) Included is a laminated brochure with what to say each day when you put up the next figure--you end up telling the nativity story each day with a phrase added, so it is really helpful for teaching kids the story of Christ's birth. The people, angels, star, and manger are wooden, but the animals and wise men gifts are plastic. I think it costs around $25 plus shipping. Maybe I'll try to put up a picture since their site is not up.

4. White lights up on the balcony railing

5. Presents around the tree--Nate even wrapped my gifts while I rocked Becca to sleep. He's so sweet. I'm hoping that Becca doesn't decide to unwrap anything early (she only has to be tempted until Saturday night. :))

6. Other random decorations, not including the stockings. I tried putting them up, but haven't decided how they will fit into our gift giving. I have heard of some families using the stockings for sibling gift giving, as in each child is responsible for putting a gift in one sibling's stocking. As of right now, Becca doesn't have a stocking, and Nate and my stockings face the opposite way, so it is hard to hang them next to each other. Maybe if I get ambitious one of these years, I'll make stockings for all of us.

I'm off to bed. I was in bed by 9pm last night and had the best night's sleep. I'm hoping for another good one tonight.

Posts to write

1. Children's Bibles
2. Thoughts on cloth diapering after 15+ months of it
3. New Becca things (I'm keeping track on our calendar in the kitchen, but need to find time to actually post it all on her blog)
4. Signing with babies/toddlers

Can't think of anymore right now, but I'm pretty tired. Off to bed...or to watch a House episode on Netflix once Nate stops playing WOW.

Christmas decorating and gift wrapping

Here is an easy way to decorate a mantle for the holidays:



I'm sure I've violated some interior decorating law with how stuffed I have our mantle, but I like how festive all the presents look up there. We will put up a Christmas tree next weekend, but I think the presents will stay up there and I will put the presents for Nate and Becca under the tree. Putting the presents up high also helps keep them away from curious toddler hands. The presents for Nate and Becca won't be under the tree for long because we open them as a family in very early December (to help us enjoy giving one another gifts, but focus on the true meaning for the rest of Advent-that's our hope anyway).

Sorry to all those who are envious that I have all my Christmas shopping done and wrapped (about 90% of it, since the last 10% of it includes food that I don't want to make until right before I give it). I don't mean to rub that in or anything, but to encourage you also to try and get most of your Christmas gift shopping and wrapping done before Advent. I try to put together a gift list for everyone in early September and spend September and October ordering, shopping, and making the gifts.

Another thing I started doing last spring is making gift bags out of fabric. I don't make every single gift bag since I do have left over paper ones and a little bit of wrapping paper, but I'm trying to build up a stash. They are so easy to do (I make really simple ones) and look so nice. Here are the only three gifts that got fabric gift bags this Christmas:



Go to the fabric stores after the holidays and pick up some clearance Christmas fabric to use for next year.

17th month pics

My wonderful computer genius husband has put up Becca's 17th month pictures over at our gallery. PIctures include our trip to Texas and to see Grandma Froyd. Here is a picture to tempt you. :)



Yes, there are quite a few (96 to be exact), but that will just keep you busy while I find the time to write actual posts. :)

If you have lost or forgotten the username and password, just let me know and I'll try to get it out to you. Enjoy!

Farm trip

I will be heading to the Apple Family Farm in the next week or two to pick up a few items at their store, so let me know if you live in the area and either want to come with me or want me to pick up something for you. You can just email me.

See previous post for a link to their site. Email me if you'd like to know if they have something you would like.

Andrew Peterson

On Kristen's recommendation from her blog, I went over to Andrew Peterson's site to listen to his whole CD, The Far Country, online. She is right, he has some amazing lyrics. I'm tempted. I already have the song "More" from iTunes, but they are all so good. Just look at these few lines from "For the Love of God":

Now, love is not a feeling in your chest
It is bending down to wash another's feet
It is faithful when the sun is in the west
And in the east

"More" is my favorite at the moment. Read these lyrics, or don't, and just go over to his site and listen to it:

This is not the end here at this grave
This is just a hole that someone made
Every hole was made to fill
And every heart can feel it still
Our nature hates a vacuum...

There is more
More than all this pain
More than all the falling down
And getting up again
There is more
More than we can see
From our tiny vantage point
In this vast eternity
There is more

I won't write more, mostly because I like listening to the actual song even better and I want you to go over there too.

You can listen to "The Far Country"

or

"Behold the Lamb of God: The True tale of the coming of Christ".

TCOYF update

Still reading Taking Control of your Fertility. I always have this problem with getting stuck halfway through informative books. I think it's because I hit the chapter about analyzing your chart and I didn't have much of a chart analyze yet, so I stopped.

A couple of thoughts:

1. Being consistent in taking my temperature is difficult for me, not because it's a difficult or annoying task, but because Becca has been waking up anywhere between 2 and 5:30am. This is a problem because you have to get three consecutive hours or more of sleep before taking your waking temperature.

2. The temp thing is sort of a problem, but not really. The other two signs: cervical fluid and position of cervix, have been obvious enough that I know where I am in my cycle, but it would really help for the extra affirmation in the temperature.

3. It is good to keep in mind, as a friend of mine said, that God is still in control of our fertility. We can follow this book perfectly, and not get pregnant right away or at all. I think that must be the hardest of all, following the rules, but not getting pregnant. May those who struggle with this find comfort in our loving Father who knows our bodies and the future.

4. My thermometer doesn't work very well. It's supposed to keep the temperature I last took in its memory, but it doesn't. It only keeps 97.70 in its memory. For awhile I thought I just had the most consistent waking temp, but then I realized that it wasn't ever changing when it was supposed to. On the plus side, it makes me get up to go and read the temp, so I am actually out of bed on time.

Apple Family Farm

Becca and I visited the Apple Family Farm store today for the first time to buy some ground beef and eggs. Their beef is grass finished and a certain kind of breed that does well in the cold, so it is not as fatty. You can read more about the type of cows they have by clicking on the beef in the last sentence. Their chickens are free roaming, not caged. They have other items in their store too, but I can't find the page on their site that lists everything.

When we arrived a bus full of children that had just toured the farm was pulling out, so I parked near the house. A woman walked out and introduced herself and took Becca and I on a tour of the store, which is in a small red trailer on the property. It was so personal and helpful, and she was so friendly. The store operates on the honor system, so you just go into the store, get what you need, write out a receipt, and leave your money or check. Pretty cool. The other cool thing was to find out that the family are not only really cool farmers, but fellow believers in Christ. Nothing cooler than finding other brothers and sisters in Christ.

I will definitely be going back, probably only once or twice a month. You can read about why Becca is excited to go back to the farm on her blog.

Language Barrier

Becca and I ventured out to the local Mexican grocery store today. I went in search of homemade tortillas, but couldn't find any. When I went to check out I wanted to know if they had any tortillas that they made in the store, so I asked the woman at the counter. The answer she gave me..."No comprende". Uh-oh. My Spanish is pretty rusty, but I thought I might give it a try. She tried to point out a few things on the package that she thought I might be talking about, but I was so overwhelmed about speaking in Spanish that I didn't listen. Finally I said, "Hace las tortillas in la tienda". No, she said, and motioned that they were brought in from outside the store.

I talked to Lisa tonight (my best friend who is much more fluent in Spanish than I am) and she said that I did pretty well. Phew!

Project--Crocheted balls and bag

I made three soft crocheted balls and a bag to hold them for our ring bearer's birthday (he is not so much ring bearer size anymore :) ). Here is the pattern, created by a grandma whose grandsons wanted to throw around balls in the house.

To stuff the balls, I was thrifty and used strips of Nate's old cotton undershirts. I had made one before this set and stuffed it with the polyester stuffing from craft stores, but I didn't really like it for two reasons: 1) particles of polyester were flying everywhere while I was stuffing it and I didn't like the idea of those flying around in the air and inhaling them; 2) the ball was almost too light and difficult to catch. Nate's t-shirts made the balls a lot more solid, had no polyester dust, and had the added bonus of reusing something that was past it's intended use. Plus it was free!

Below are pics of the finished product.

The three balls:


Just the bag, with my own tweaking of the pattern:


Here Becca is helping me load the balls into the bag:


And all tied up (a little bright because of the flash):


These soft balls are great for juggling, playing catch indoors, or for practice on your tossing into a bucket skills. :)

Trading Pests

I think we traded large Texas roaches for lots of Indiana spiders. Although they are much smaller than the roaches, we have quite a few of them and pop up just as sneakily as the roaches. Ewww...bugs.

Ergo baby carrier update

I realized that I haven't posted a picture of me using the Ergo, so I had Nate take a picture of me today before Becca and I took a walk outside to drop off the rent, see the ducks, and play at the playground (it was gorgeous here today!).



I still really like the Ergo carrier. It is getting easier and easy to put on and adjust to the right fit. It's so comfortable and has been such a great thing for us to have on trips, for walks, and around the apartment. If you are thinking about buying a Baby Bjorn carrier, don't. Buy the Ergo instead. They are pretty much the same price, and the Ergo is a ton more comfortable, and better looking.

New posts

I made two posts today on Becca's blog. You can view them via the following links:

Visiting Michigan

Making Gingerbread

17 months old

Becca is 17 months old today. If you'd like to read more about that, head on over to her blog for the post.

Trip to Texas

We just got back on Monday night (read Tuesday morning at 3am due to delayed flights and bad weather) from our trip to Texas to visit Nate's parents and sister. It was so nice to see them, and worth the delays we experienced on both ends of the trip. We do hope that our next trip down there is less eventful in the travel department.

Poor Becca was sick the entire time we were there. She had been coughing and sniffling before we left, but really didn't feel well on the plane. She had a fever and seemed really out of it and upset while we were flying. She did sleep most of the flights, but it was a fitful sleep. Her fevers were off and on for our trip and she had a hard time taking naps because of her full nose and cough, which sounded like it was a painful one. Because of her being sick, we were sad to not come to Christ the King on Sunday to visit. It was a part of our trip that we had really been looking forward to, but may next time. Nate and his dad stayed home with her while Nate's mom, Cara and I went to church. Becca did slightly better on the way back on the plane, at least not sleeping as fitfully.

Becca loved seeing her Mima and Popo and Aunt Cara. She got lots of play and reading time in with them all. Today she talked to me multiple times about them all. Mostly the conversations went like this:

Becca: Popo
Me: Yes, we saw Popo at his home in Texas.
Becca: (waving) buh-bah
Me: We said Bye-bye to Popo, didn't we? Do you miss Popo? Who else did you see?
Becca: Mi-mi
Me: And who else?
Becca: Kee (Cara)
Me: Yes, you saw Mima and Cara. Do you miss them too? Maybe we will see them again soon.

It's cute how she remembers them.

Oops, gotta go, Becca is up. I'll try to post pictures on Becca's site.

Faith in the Face of Apostasy

On our trip to Texas I finished reading Faith in the Face of Apostasy (subtitled: The Gospel According to Elijah and Elisha) by Raymond B. Dillard. It is part of the series called The Gospel According to the Old Testament.

The book has 11 chapters and each chapter is divided up into sections with questions at the end of each section for use journaling or reflection or for group use. I skipped over the questions, but if I were to use them on my own, I might choose one and journal about it. The sections are packed with information and discussion on whatever passage it is about. Dillard wrote in a way that is both easy-to-read and intelligent, but not written over the average person's head. His purpose was to nourish our faith and provoke worship by showing how the Old Testament is Christocentric (Christ-centered) and equally as important to the growth of our faith in Christ as the New Testament is. He uses much comparison between Elijah and John the Baptist, and Elisha and Jesus.

One thing that was repeated throughout the book was the two purposes of miracles. This stuck with me and gave me a good perspective of God's purpose in performing miracles. Dillard says that 1) Miracles are redemptive: they overcome the results of sin; and 2) Miracles anticipate the re-creation of the universe that will be free from sin and its effects (praise God!).

I love books that give the Old Testament a good name, as it were. It's so easy to brush of the OT as being, well, old and not in effect anymore, but it is essential for us to know the OT in order to truly understand the New Testament and the gospel. I highly recommend this book.

Pictures are up!

Nate fixed Becca's Thirteenth Month pictures and added Becca's Fifteenth and Sixteenth Month pics over at our gallery. Lots to look at, so head on over there when you get the time.

You asked for it :)

The "You" would be my dear friend Kate who said that I finally posted a picture of myself in one of the previous posts. So, I will post a few more of me...and some other people too, of course. I'm also trying to post a few more of Becca on her blog today.

First is a pic of my little family at Lisa and Mark's reception. Aren't we cute? Too bad we couldn't get Becca to look at the camera too:



Here I am with my lovely daughter in her new pjs given to her by Nate's mom:




In the back row from the left are my brothers Justin and Chad and my cousin Jim. I'm on the front left, then Beppa (my mom's mom, we call her Beppa because it's Frisian (a Dutch province of the Netherlands) for grandmother--at least that's what they tell me :) ), and finally my cousin Alyssa.



And finally, here I am with one of my birthday presents, which might seem strange to you, but has sentimental value to me. It reminds me of my grandparents' house since it has been hanging in their back entry way for as long as they've lived in Holland, and I always to and touch in when I come to visit them, so Beppa gave it to me.

Poor Nate

My poor hubby is sick. Please pray that he would be better soon. Pray also that I don't get sick, since I am taking care of him and Becca, who is also recovering from something similar to what Nate has.

I'm off to go and check on him.

Sick

We've all been sick around the Froyd household for a couple of days. Runny noses, sore throats, aches, low fevers, etc. Trying to pump up on the vitamin C foods and other immune system boosters. It seems to have helped Becca, since the runny nose she had on Saturday didn't get any worse. Nate and I got it a little worse than she did, which is how I would rather have it be. Nevertheless, she did surprise us this morning with a bug of a different sort, which you can read about on her blog.

Posts at Becca Blue Eyes

If you haven't been over there in a bit, I posted a few pictures on Becca's blog.

Ergo

With three months of allowance and a little bit of birthday money from Nate, I bought this:



I wore Becca in it tonight on our walk and it was very comfortable. I was a little tired afterwards, but not sore. Probably tired because I've been lacking in the physical activity department. Most of her weight is carried on my hips and some on the strap across my upper chest. Almost none on my shoulders.

I'm ready to go hiking...who's going with me? :)

Mark and Lisa's Reception

Last weekend we were in Grand Haven for Mark and Lisa's wedding reception (they were married on July 28). It was nice to see them and see the wedding video and pictures. We had some yummy food provided by her family and got to see my buds. Here are some pics:


I figure since the pics are on my camera, I get to choose what to post. :) Here is Mark scrubbing his butt with their new dish scrubber. Too funny!


The cute, happy couple


Here we are still, after ten years of being friends (much longer for Lisa and Kortnie, since I moved there after they were already friends).

New blog

Another friend and sister in Christ from Texas is blogging. I have linked her on my side bar. Her daughter and my daughter are almost a year apart in age and share the same first name.

More of TCOYF

I'm still liking the book. Nate even got to hear some of it on the way too Michigan on Friday. The reproductive anatomy (both female AND male included) was quite comprehensive. I new much of it, but their were still new information. The whole time I was reading it, I just kept thinking how amazing God is to think up this all. It's incredible how our bodies work, in particular, our reproductive organs (are they called organs?). Nate even learned a few things about himself that he didn't know before. He's such a good sport, listening to me read about this. I'm hoping that I can even convince him to read the whole book (he did read part of the Art of NFP) to really involve him in the whole process. That's one thing I really like about FAM or NFP is that it encourages both husband and wife to be involved.

I don't know if I mentioned it already, but I really like Toni's charts in the back of the book (you can copy as many as you want--no ordering them when you need more--very refreshing). They are quite comprehensive (that's my phrase for the evening if you didn't notice), including places to write down what you did for exercise, extra space for writing different changes you personally experience during your cycle like breast tenderness, cramps, headaches, etc. And it all fits on an normal size sheet of paper.

I need to get to bed if I am actually going to start charting tomorrow morning and exercising too. I'm had the hardest time over the last ?? months (I've lost count on how many months it has been since I had some regular exercise every day) getting up on time (5amish--not too bad if I actually get to bed by 10pm).

TCOYF

I just received the book Taking Control of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler from Amazon.com. My good friend Kate recommended it to me since I was looking for a book that explained the Fertility Awareness Method (which is NOT the Rhythm method, but is very similar to NFP with a few exceptions) without the push for not using a barrier method during fertile times of your cycle.

I am just in the first chapter, but with the exception of the title**, I really like it. She starts out by talking about what you should know and why you probably don't concerning fertility, ovulation, and methods of birth control. I'll try to keep mentioning if I like it or not. One other thing I like better than the Art of Natural Family Planning is that she provides multiple charts that she says to copy (if you own the book) and they fit on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper instead of a legal size one like the NFP one had that you had to keep ordering more of when you ran out.

Even if you are not married, it's good to know how God has made our bodies to work. Being educated about the cycles our bodies go through, as women, is a good thing, something that very few women are encouraged to do by their mothers or doctors. This doesn't only have to be a book for married women who are trying to prevent pregnancy or become pregnant.

**You may wonder why I don't like the title. It struck me the first time that I heard it that God is ultimately in charge of my fertility, but he does give me the ability to learn how he has made my body to work. I don't think the author is a sister in Christ and I, therefore, can understand why she named the book as she did. God in his common grace has given her and others like her insight into the female cycle of fertility. Even if we completely understand our cycles, God is still in charge of it, and we must with our husbands be constantly bringing the subject of our fertility and having children to him in prayer, asking him to reveal to us if we have good, God-honoring reasons to be doing what we are doing with regards to our fertility and conception (birth) control.

Raising Your Children For Christ

I don't know if I've posted these quotes before, but as I was flipping through my journal pages to find a blank page on which to journal, they caught my eye. They are worth reading again and again, I'm realizing, especially as Becca gets older.

The quotes are from Raising Your Children For Christ by Andrew Murray:

Our aim should be to restore our family life to what God created it to be--a mirror and foretaste of the love of heaven.

Parents can often see their own shortcomings and failures in the sinful behavior of their children--this should make them very patient and wise in disciplining their children.

Let all your dealings with your children be done in love. Angry words, sharp reproof, and impatient answers are infectious.

I didn't write the page numbers in my journal. Makes me want to keep reading it. I stopped about 2/3 of the way through as I often do with non-story books. A bad, bad habit that I need to ask God to help me change.

Becca's blog

You can access our blog for Becca posts here: http://beccablueeyes.blogspot.com. There's not much there yet, but keep checking back. I'm fighting with Blogger Beta a bit, so it's not quite how I want it to look yet.

15 months old

I have so many things to write down that I hardly know where to start. This may be a rambling post, so try to stay with me.

Becca is actually 15 and a half months old, now, since I've been so lazy on getting this up. She is turning into quite the little girl, as opposed to the infant girl she used to be. When I look at old pictures I can hardly believe how fast it's gone. She is walking very steadily now, but still falls down at random times--I think she's a bit clumsy like her momma. :) Becca has also moved from the zombie arms up in the air walking to pumping her left arm back and forth by her side while she is walking. It's adorable. She has become more able to climb up things, like small plastic tubs, stairs, and child chairs.

Being in the kitchen with mommy is one of her favorite things. She loves to help load and unload the dishwasher, mostly the silverware, but sometimes the small plates too. She hands us or puts in one at a time, and shuts it for us when we are done. She also enjoys throwing things away, but I have to watch that she doesn't walk over there with things I want to keep to throw them in the trash. Sometimes while I'm washing dishes Becca will stand on a chair and rinse off some of the dishes for me...usually that entails filling up a cup with water and pouring it out--hopefully in the sink and not on the floor. :) I think if I let her, she'd play in the sink all day long.

Eating is another favorite activities. I have found that Becca does a better job eating when I use an ice cube tray as a dish. She likes having a few slices of apple, or pieces of cheese, or small squares of a sandwich, or a few blueberries in each little cube compartment. For lunch I will usually put apples slices and cheese and bread out in the tray on a chair and she will graze while playing. For breakfast and dinner she usually sits in her seat with a tray--breakfast includes scrambled eggs and bananas and dinner is yogurt, a veggie (I'm getting better at this since their aren't too many veggies she eats), and whatever we're eating (lasagna has been a recent favorite). Becca just started drinking a little bit of whole milk at one meal a day, but otherwise drinks water all the time. We're down to nursing about three times a day--after getting up, before the afternoon nap, and before bed.

Becca continues to try new words and sounds. She sees ducks a lot on our walks after supper, so she says "cah-cah" for quack. She also knows the sounds for dogs and sheep. She's been trying to say cracker (she really likes graham crackers) when she wants one to eat, and because of the book "Blue Hat, Green Hat" and eating blueberries (another treat she likes a lot) she's been trying to say blue--"boo". Sometimes I think that she's a little behind in her talking, but then I stop worrying when I remember that all children develop at different speeds. We still enjoy all the ways she communicates with us using signs and other means and know the talking will come when she is ready--we just keep trying to do our part by talking with her and reading to her.

We haven't been to the doctor yet for her 15 month check-up. We left right before it would have happened. I'm going to try and make an appointment with someone here soon.

I think that's enough for now. I think I need to start a Becca blog so I can make shorter more frequent posts. There is so much stuff happening with her that I'm sure I'd always have something to write about.

To Blog

1. Children's Bibles
2. Becca's 15 month update (must do this by Sunday!)
3. Psalms and Hymns CD
4. Buried Treasure

Digital photo services

I need recommendations (and non-recommendations if you don't like a certain store) on where to get my digital photos printed. I used Wolf Camera in Texas and was very pleased with the quality of the photos, but we don't have Wolf Camera here. I tried a place called Cord Camera, but over half of my pictures are grainy (like the resolution is too low) and I know it's not the resolution of the pics (I'm taking them back in tomorrow because they said they would reprint them for me--note to self, look at ALL the pictures before leaving the store). I tried Kodak Easy Share Gallery and was somewhat pleased, but did find that some of the pictures weren't great...however, that time it might have been just our camera being on its way out.

Anyway, what do y'all use?

Becca Pictures Up

I just sent out an email today with a username and password to get into our picture gallery for Becca's pictures. Before we left for Indiana Nate put up Becca's 12th, 13th, and 14th month pictures, so they are up for perusal. For some reason, though, there are only about 6 pictures in her 13th month folder, which is way less than are supposed to be up there. Nate said he would fix that soon (I know he's pretty busy with starting work).

If you didn't get an email with the username and password, please email me or leave me a comment and I will get it to you...unless I don't know you or something. :)

A Becca update is still on the way. I just got the computer back during the day time this week, since Nate's laptop arrived yesterday, so I'll get up here one of these afternoons and post.

Cute Becca Pictures

Here is Becca at the state park we went to yesterday for a picnic with friends. She was having fun picking up little leaves in the grass.


As promised, here is a picture of Becca using a level. We did not prompt her to use it at all. She must have just been copying what we were doing. It cracks me up.


Becca was a little worried the first time we went to play on the grass next to our building, so she had to hold Daddy's hand while she stepped on the grass for the first time.

Apartment Pictures

We've been living in our new place for two weeks exactly, and it feels much like home already, thanks in part to getting all the unpacking and most of the decorating done very quickly. Also, it helps that we really enjoy our new apartment. There are only a few things we would change, but those are minor in comparison to what we enjoy about it. Here are the pics:

Once you get in the front door of the apartment, you go straight up 15 steps to this view of the dining room. It's a nice size for us and has a window that gives lots of light.


Right next to the dining room is the kitchen. It's a long, narrow kitchen, but not too small. We solved the lack of pantry space by purchasing a small two shelf cabinet with a drawer above the cabinet that I use for napkins and baby washcloths. Becca loves the small cabinet and I have been sure to put only things in there that I don't mind Becca taking in and out of it.


From the dining room you would have this view of the living room. It's not too large, but cozy enough for us, since we don't need room in there for a TV or anything right now. To the right of the living room is Becca's room, the laundry closet, and then a hallway to the bathroom and our room. To the left are stairs going up the the loft area.


This would be a view of the living room from right outside Becca's room.


This is Nate' office "in the works" and is located in the loft area. It is larger than it looks. he also has his very own bathroom up there that he has promised to clean, so I don't have to...right, honey? :)


This is the view of the living room from the loft area stairs.


Last, but not least, is the grassy area to the left of our building. Two things we really enjoy about the complex are the common grassy areas and the large trees.


I decided to leave out the bedrooms because they are just too hard to take pictures of.

Books I just read

Just on here for a quick moment. I wanted to mention two books I just read that I would highly recommend:

The Hiding Place by Cornelia Ten Boom

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

I picked them up at a Half Price Books back in Houston just before we left and read them this past week. Both take place around the time of the second World War. Neither are extremely long and both had me up reading late into the night when I should have been sleeping.

Apt. pics and Becca update still to come. I have the pictures on the camera, but now need to load them on the computer.

We are going out to enjoy the beautiful weather at a park with friends. Hope everyone's Labor Day is going well.

Too funny

A fifteenth month Becca update is on its way, as are pictures of the new place (we're all unpacked and just have to hang a few more pictures up before I take pictures to post), but I just wanted to pop in with a few Becca things that have made us laugh:

--When we burp or Becca burps, Becca will say "buh" and smile.

--Becca hangs out in our dressing room area with me while I get ready in the morning and apparently has been watching what I do after I comb or brush my hair. I gave her a small travel brush to use and she promptly went over to the trash can in the bath room and started to pretend to pull hair out of it and throw it away!

--I bought Becca a Snack Trap cup that she loves to have filled with O's or other small treats. This morning she came to me with the cup in one hand and her arm wrapped around a rather large container holding Puffins. I just had to give her some for all her effort in carrying that thing over to me with one arm.

--Becca watched us use the level today to hang up our beautiful quilt wall hanging that Nate's mom made for us. Later I was in the kitchen and Becca walked in with the level and started putting it up against the cabinet doors like she was leveling them. :) I do have pictures of that one and will try to put them up soon.

Hiatus

Due to moving and all that entails, I'll be taking a break from posting for a week or so. Our internet also doesn't get hooked up until the 25th, so that presents an obstacle to blogging.

We leave Saturday and hope to arrive Monday. We are praying that God would make our way safe and keep us alert. We also need prayers that we would show the love of Christ to the others on the road as well as to each other as long hours of driving can make some of us (me? :) ) a little cranky. I am looking forward to the trip, but also looking forward to the end of it, when we arrive, Lord willing, at our new home.

If I know you and you don't receive an email from me in the next two weeks with our new address and phone number, that might mean that I either don't have a current email or might have overlooked your email address while clicking through them. Send me an email and I will correct that.

I'm off to bed.

Unbuckle that baby!

Every month I receive the Parenting magazine (I was signed up for x number of free issues when we ordered from an online disposable diaper site a while ago) and dutifully sift through the pages in order to find the handful of things that actually don't make me cringe (sorry if you like Parenting magazine, but they lost me with a subtitle of "What Matters to Moms"--I thought Parenting included dads too). Anyway, this time through the best thing I found was about getting your baby out of all the "containers" they are put in throughout the day...read on for excerpts:

Unbuckle your Baby!
Between his car seat, stroller, swing, and Exersaucer, your baby could easily stay strapped inside one thing or another all day. But while that may be convenient for you, it's not so good for him. Many experts believe that there's been a 'containerization of babies' in recent years...It's an unfortunate trend, because infants benefit and learn from being held closely. While you have to be able to put your baby somewhere safe when you're making dinner or need a break, here are easy ways to cut back on nonessential container time:
1. Leave the car seat in the car...look for chances to forgo the heavy lifting...when you are running into the store just to get milk.
2. Sideline your stroller. Try an occasional jaunt around the block with your baby in your arms.
3. Keep him close at home. Chatting on the phone or cleaning up? Put your infant in a sling or front carrier. The motion may lull him to sleep.
4. Try tummy time...when you're folding laundry or just want to relax, give him a chance to lie on his belly.

Thanks to the moms who encouraged me to keep the "container time" to a minimum by the example y'all set with your own little ones.

Conner Prairie Living History Museum

I am so excited that we will be living less than two miles away from the Conner Prairie Living History Museum--at least while we are staying at our rental. I vividly remember visiting ones similar to it when I was younger and I can't wait to take our kids.

If anyone with kids comes to visit us, we'll definitely have to go. And the Family Plus Membership would make a great gift from grandparents eventually...hint, hint. :)

One more

To blog:

Read and Learn Bible

Knowing God

I hope this to be the first quote in a series of quotes from parts of Knowing God by J.I. Packer that stood out to me as I read it. I'll give them one or two at a time in the order that they come in the book. Thanks to Kate for spurring me on to do this by her wonderful post on reading Knowing God. I hope it will spur you on to read Knowing God too.

This quote is from the chapter called "God Incarnate" and it's on page 63:

The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity--hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory--because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

Although I like all the present giving and receiving, the baking yummy goodies, the decorations, and the songs, the above quote needs to be at the center of it all or Christmas mean nothing. What a beautiful message we have to share with the world, all through the year, but especially at the time of year when so many either put their hope in worldly goods or in people who will disappoint in the long run or in nothing at all. Christ is our hope and he is what we celebrate and who we worship at Christmas and the whole year through. That is what I want to think of at Christmas and what we want our children to think of too.

Sidebar Update

I have added my friend Chara's blog called Food Life to my sidebar. She's just added a post called Eating Plastic and it's really good. She is an excellent cook (chef?--what exactly do you call it? :) ) and has a sweet kitchen that I am envious of. :)

I also added my best bud's new husband Mark to my roll. Sorry it took me so long. Now he needs to post, once he gets the time. :) Sorry, Kort, I had to move you down to put Mark by Lisa.

The Westing Game

Nate's sister Cara recently lent us her copy of The Westing Game, a Newbery Medal winner (1979?) by Ellen Raskin. Nate and I spent a few evenings and one longer car ride enjoying the book (me for the first time and Nate reading it for the fifth time, at least). Until the end, I was still trying to fit all the puzzle pieces together. I really liked how Raskin threw in lots of clues and hints throughout in a way that was sort of subtle or hidden instead of right in your face. Sometimes you missed them because they were so offhand.

This 192 page mystery is about the sixteen people (and a few extras besides) involved in a contest to figure out who is Samuel W. Westing's murderer. They are paired up and given clues to figure out the answer, and the winner will be the heir of his large fortune. The book is so densely packed that it's useless to tell you anymore because there is so much to tell. Read it. It won't take too long and I think you will enjoy it.

To blog

Just so I don't forget in the midst of moving to blog these things:

1. The Westing Game
2. Knowing God quote (part 1)
3. Clean-up my side-bar and add my friend Chara's blog to it.

I guess there were only three things. Maybe I'll find time for them before we head north.

Another word

I forgot Becca's favorite word lately:

op/pop--drop (usually uses this right before or after she drops something)

And we found a favorite past time today for Becca while Becca and I were waiting for Nate to be done with a meeting--drinking from and playing in the drinking fountain.

The Case For Kids

I just read the above article from Christianity Today magazine on supporting large families. It was a really great article--balanced, honest, and encouraging. I don't read CT, but found it linked via Chief Executive Mom. I'll quote the same part that she did to tempt you:

The Case for Kids
A defense of the large family by a 'six-time breeder.'

"I do not encourage couples to have more children than they want. I tell younger women the truth: If you aspire to be a mother, you aspire to a job without pay that is harder than any job you’ll be paid for. It’s a job with no time off, only time away. I tell them they should not have children to derive anything from them—not love or joy or fun or a legacy. It is possible that any or all of these may come, but there will be long stretches when little fulfillment is in sight.

"So why do we have children at all? So much is against the whole enterprise. Children cost too much money. They cost too much of ourselves. Children undo us. They show us how much and how little we’re made of. They come, it often seems, only to break our hearts. And we let them. We invite it all. We admit perfect strangers through our doors and decide before we even know who they are to love them wildly, without condition, for as long as we live."

To find out what else the author Leslie Leyland Fields writes, read on.

Words

Becca was quite the babbler today. Nothing she says is extremely clear, but some words do pop out of the baby gibberish:

ahh--apple (when she sees one she says this until I give her some)
bye-buh--Bible (for her Bible story books that she loves to read)
cuh-cuh--cat (usually accompanied by the sign for cat)
cah-key--cookie (Nate was holding her in the kitchen when she pointed down at the container full of cookies and said this--an emphasis on the "c" and "k")
beh-yee--belly button--she said this today when I told her what she was pointing at on my stomach)
eh-yee--eye (while pointing at our eyes or poking us in the eye)
hi-yee--hi (sometimes while waving)
ma-ma--mama (she only uses this when I am not picking her up right away or not giving her something, otherwise she mostly signs mommy)
bah--book or ball (uses it in context in order for us to figure it out)

Fun stuff. Those are all I can think of for now.

Packing

It begins. Nate packed all our books and his CDs while I was in Michigan. Tonight we packed about 3/4 of our closet in boxes. I have a handful of clothes still left in my closet. I mentioned to Nate that only about a quarter of my clothes are left in the closet and I wear those clothes 75% of the time. I know that will change a bit once we move back to an area of the country that has seasons.

I should say that Nate has been doing most of the packing, and it is much appreciated. He's great at packing, and I don't just say that because I don't want to do it. He just has a way of fitting things in just right. My turn will come when I have to pack the kitchen toward the end of this week. Now that we're packing I'm so glad we took the time to go through everything a month ago and give away all we could and even do some advanced packing in various plastic bins. It's really helped. I hope we can continue to keep our worldly possessions to a minimum.

Today was our second to last Sunday at CTK. Linc preached an especially convicting and encouraging sermon from John 11:1-44. (his sermon should be up there in the next week) Oh, how we will miss our family there, but we look forward to the church family God has prepared for us in Indy.

Fourteen Months Old

I'm a little late in the Becca update, but I have good reasons. :)

Our little baby is already fourteen months old and starting to act more toddlerish than babyish. We are enjoying all her new discoveries and abilities and we thank God each day for loaning her to us.

Busy--When I think of Becca lately, I think of the adjective "busy". She is rarely ever sitting still unless she is confined to her car seat or high chair, or sleeping (and even then she moves around a lot as I can attest to when she has slept in the same bed with me recently). Becca will stick around while we read her a book of her choosing, but even then, she's crawling over our laps. She is pretty steady while walking and chooses it 9 times out of 10 over crawling. She loves to push just about anything around the room: laundry baskets, trash cans, boxes, child-size tables, her rocking moose, her stroller, etc. Her favorite things to play with at my parents' house were the unopened soup cans on the bottom shelf of my parents' pantry. She had a blast moving them all over the place.

Communicative--This was another adjective that came to mind. Whether with signs or her beginnings of speech, Becca is constantly communicating with us about what she sees, wants, or what we are doing. On Monday night while we were out for dinner with my parents and brother, Becca saw a baby and a dog (a sweet little pug that sniffed her hand and let Becca pet her). All the way home Becca kept making the sign for baby and the sign for dog (patting the top of her leg over her knee). She would kind of sit there for a minute and then turn to me and make one of the signs. It's so neat how the signs enable her to communicate what she was thinking, so I could then talk to her about what she had experienced. Without the signs I don't think I would realize that so much is going on inside her young mind. I could go on about how Becca has used the signs, but I'll stop for now.

Going on with speech communication: Becca just started waving and saying "hi" in this cute little sing-song way that sounds more like "hi-ee". So cute! She also points to our eyes and says "eye"--just the beginning part of the word. Apple is "ah" and yogurt is kind of this sound she makes in her throat just to imitate the part with the "g". I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of for now.

We've been working on connecting the senses--see, hear, touch, taste, and smell--with the body parts that perform those senses. We started just because there was a page in one of her books that talked about the senses. I think she has it pretty well memorized which sense goes with which body part, which doesn't mean she totally understands it, but at least when we tell her to smell something, she knows that she does that with her nose.

Random other things--Becca has been becoming a better eater for the moment. She's added strawberries, blueberries, Butch's Beach Burritos chicken soft tacos, scrambled eggs, and pasta to her diet. She still mostly drinks water and mommy milk, but we have tried a few sips of mommy's orange juice. I feel that we fall short in the dark green veggie category, but we're going to work on that. Graham crackers are her new favorite thing thanks to Nana and Papa (my parents).

Becca got a baby doll from my parents' last exchange student, Aunt Cassia, and Becca loves to carry her around by her soft head, give her kisses, and stick her thumb in her mouth. She also insists that we give her baby kisses and hold her, but if I hold the baby for too long, Becca has to make sure that she is still able to cuddle with mommy too.

That's all I can think of for now about Becca.

Here is my other random update, though:

Nate accepted a job with a company based in CA. We will not have to move to CA, but have decided to move to the Indy area. Nate will work from home, so we have been sure to find an apartment with an extra room for his office. He is very excited about the work he will be doing. We are both having mixed feelings about the move. We are sad to leave Nate's parents and sister, our friends, and our church here and overwhelmed about the move, but at the same time we are excited to get settled into an area where we hope to live for a long while and that is close to other friends and family. We will be leaving Texas in the next three weeks. Please pray for a safe, uneventful trip and for a good transition into a new area and especially into a new church. We have a few PCA churches we would like to try to attend.

In Michigan

Becca and I are in Michigan right now. We arrived last Tuesday to come and say a temporary goodbye to my grandpa and Becca's great grandpa (we call him Bopie). We spent Tuesday evening and then most of Wednesday afternoon and evening with Bopie and Gramie at the Faith Hospice center. Bopie was hardly responsive when I was there, not opening his eyes and only squeezing my hand to let me know that he knew I had come.

After we left on Wednesday night we got a call around 10:30pm that he had gone to be with Jesus. Gramie, his wife, got to hold his hand while he drifted off, just as she had wanted to. It was sad, but also a great relief since he had been declining in health over the past two weeks and been in the Hospice center since Friday the 21st. We have the visitation tomorrow and the funeral on Monday. We head back to Texas on Tuesday.

Bopie (pronounced with an "ah" for the "o") was my dad's dad. His full name is Lionel Drooger. He was never given a middle name by his parents, but we always said that his middle name was Cole after his mother's maiden name. Most people never called him Lionel, though, because he was known to most as Bud, and to us as Bopie. Bopie always had a nickname for everyone--Chadaroo from Kalamazoo for my brother, Trish-the-dish for me, Tomas for my dad, Stevanovich for my dad's best high school friend Steve. He was extremely laid back and pretty easy to get along with unless you got in the way of his dessert, which he always called "dee". I didn't hear him talk about his faith in the Lord much, but I know he believed. He always read from the Bible after meals, sang or whistled hymns around the house, and prayed before meals. Bopie was married to Reanne Marie, my grandma, for 59 years. Some of his last words to my grandma were "I love you too".

I don't think it has hit us all yet. It's hard being the ones left here to miss him. My grandpa was in his nineties, but I never thought it would happen this quickly. We will miss him so much, but are also rejoicing that he trusted in Christ for his salvation and is now in paradise awaiting the day when Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead and give him his renewed body. What a glorious day that will be for those who are saved!

I leave you now with one of the songs I sang to Bopie during our vigil by his bedside:

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye,
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.

All o'er those wide extended plains,
Shines one eternal day,
Where God the Son forever reigns,
And scatters night away.

No chilling wind nor poisonous breath,
Shall reach that healthful shore,
Where sickness, sorrow, pain, and death,
Are felt and feared no more.

When shall I reach that happy place,
And be forever blessed,
When shall I see my father's face,
And in his bosom rest.

I am bound,
I am bound,
I am bound for the promised land.
I am bound,
I am bound,
I am bound for the promised land.

Update

My head hurts right now, so I'm not thinking clearly enough to write this, but I realized it had been quite a while since I posted.

I have much to write, but I want to update certain people via email before I write it on here.

So I guess you could say this isn't really an update. Just a small post to say that I will post real news soon and that we are still alive and well.

Hobbies

I have many hobbies--probably too many, but that's the way it is because I don't want to give any of them up. The scrapbooking that I took up a little over a year ago is put on hold until we move into a new place in the next month and a half (Lord willing). I am quite behind on Becca's babybook/scrapbook, but once we are settled it will be my main hobby priority.

Lately, crocheting has been my hobby of choice. I was a faithful knitter for many years (my grandma taught me how to knit when I was in grade school, but I really picked it up in college) always saying that I liked knitting better than crocheting, but that was because I had no idea what I was doing when it came to crocheting. I was inspired to pick crocheting up again after a friend made a simple crocheted car seat blanket for Becca and then to seriously get into it after seeing another friend make adorable baby booties at GameFest. At this point in my life I have found that crocheting is more appealing than knitting because I can finish small projects very quickly. It takes me two evenings after Becca is in bed to finish a baby hat with a cute hat topper. Completing something creative is therapuetic in the midst of days filled with lots of repetitive things...laundry, diaper changing, housecleaning, etc. I'm thankful to stay home and most days I enjoy it, but there is just something helpful about making something and not having to do it over again. Plus, with all the women around me having babies it makes for cute, handmade gifts that are fun to give. I'm not completely giving up knitting, though. Once I find some yarn I like, I plan on making another Easy Peasy Sweater.

Yay for creative outlets. I love being creative because it reminds me that I am made in God's image by showing how I make/create things too...though, not so much ex nihilo. Thank you God for fun and therapuetic hobbies.

The Zombie Walker

Becca continues to walk more and more, often choosing to walk over crawling to get somewhere. She has these two funny/cute things she does with her arms when she walks: sometimes she walks with her arms kind of out in front of her, which makes me think of a zombie...and the other cute thing she does is wave her arms up and down if she is really excited while walking. Too fun.

Watching Becca learn to walk and both of my grandfathers and Nate's grandmother struggle to continue walking has made me appreciate how easy it is for me to keep my balance while walking. I am so thankful for how easy it is for me to walk around.

My picky eater

I'm sitting on our bed blogging and I can hear the fireworks going off downtown. I'm a little sad that I don't get to see any this year, but I'm accepting that it's just not our time right now with a 13 month old to get to go out to fireworks. I did get to see them last year (even with a one month old) as we drove back from Nate's parents' house--we had the view of a sweet display all along the horizon, since outside the city limits people can light them off from their backyards.

But anyway, this post is not about fireworks, it's about Becca (big surprise, eh?). By "picky" in the post title, I mean that Becca was eager to pick food off my plate today. That was okay with me because it meant that she finally ate scrambled eggs and begged for more. She also wanted my brown rice at dinner with her sweet potatoes and chicken. At Whole Foods this evening, she eagerly tried the samples of honey dew melon, Australian cheese, and chicken, and she shared a Jamba Juice strawberries wild smoothie with me. It was kind of nice to have her so eager to eat new things since she has been so picky over the last month. I just hope it lasts.

A little late

Nathan and I celebrated our third anniversary this past Wednesday. When I say celebrate, I mean that we talked on the phone for a few minutes to catch up on the day--Nate's in Canada at a conference until tomorrow. :( I was staying with Nate's parents for a few days while he was gone, but now I'm back home because my brother Chad (the one in the senior pics a few posts back) is staying with Becca and me. It's his first time visiting since we moved down here three years ago. He just spent a week on a mission trip to Honduras and was able to make a his layover last for a few days instead of a few hours. We're glad to have him.

I look forward to celebrating with Nathan when he returns. I know he has enjoyed being at the conference in Canada. I would be remiss to leave out the mushiness of how I appreciate and love my husband in this post on our anniversary, so if you don't want to hear about what a wonderful husband and father Nate is, I suggest you don't read on. :)

This past year has been our third year of marriage, but I daresay it has been the year we have learned the most about being together because it has been our first year as parents. It has made us appreciate having quality time with each other and made us realize how important it is to our marriage to make time for just us because it helps us work better together as parents as we love, serve, and train Becca in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This past year of marriage has been difficult (as we learn to be both spouses and parents), yet enjoyable. Being a wife and a mother (on top of everything else) is hard, but I would not have it any other way. I love being Becca's mother, and I especially love being Nate's wife. Nate is a helpful, encouraging, faithful, supportive, and loving husband and father. I think about all he does for us and I am so thankful.

Thank you, God, for giving me the husband who is just right for me. I cannot imagine ever being married to anyone else and I don't want to. :) I love you Nathan. Happy anniversary.

Walking!

Becca entertained us tonight by walking back and forth between us. She was so giggly and happy about it. She has been able to get into a standing position while not holding onto anything for a while now, but tonight she would stand up in the middle of the room and laugh while she stood there for a minute and then take four or five steps before falling on her diapered-bottom giggling the whole time. She didn't crawl for a whole ten minutes or so while she went back and forth between us and chairs and her walking toy. We were most exceedingly amused.

Thirteen Months Old Today

Becca has started doing so many fun new things in the first month of her second year of life. There is so much to tell that you will have to forgive me for going on, but I'm so amazed at all the things she is learning and doing.

Becca's new interest in feeding herself is what sticks out the most. She has enjoyed using her pincer grasp for many months now, but lately she has been most interested in using a spoon or fork. This has tried my patience more than once, but I am trying to just sit back and let her learn at her own pace. The food will eventually get to the mouth and when it does we usually both clap and smile. I usually come to the table armed with two small spoons--one for me to use and one for her to use. She still lets me help quite a bit. Becca's first year has also brought on a bit of pickiness in her eating. I lean on a few known favorites (sweet potatoes, banana, apples, pears, cheese, yogurt, bread with cream cheese or peanut butter) and supplement with things (read: hide these in the favorites) I really want her to eat like green veggies, avocado, meat, and poultry. Becca still nurses about 4-5 times a day. We just dropped the 10pmish feeding this month.

We continue to enjoy signing with Becca. Feeding time is accompanied by many signs, but we have also been adding some outside of that time. She recently learned to sign daddy and mommy and puts them to use frequently, usually coupled with the sign for "where". While staying at our friends' house and my parents' house in the midwest, Becca was using the signs for "where"-"cat" a lot and enjoyed following the kitties around (sadly my parents just put their cat to sleep a week ago--it was for the best, though). We've tried to teach Becca the sign for "yes", but she has developed her own much cuter way of communicating that: by bouncing up and down excitedly. It's so funny. We've also started playing the "where's your ________ (hair, nose, ears, tummy, hands)" game and she loves it and does really well. And one more signing thing, sort of...Becca folds her hands with us when we pray--only at the beginning of the prayer.

Becca's verbal communication has been developing too. She tries to mimick our sounds, often times just mimicking one consonant or vowel in the word. She does "hoh-hoh" for hot; "bah" for ball and book; "cuh-cuh" for cup. It's fun to see her watch our mouths as we form the words and then try them herself.

The most exciting thing the last two days has been that Becca has taken about 5-6 steps on her own each day. I'm not eager to have her running all over the place, but I love seeing the look on her face when she tries walking and succeeds. She continues to enjoy pushing around her Little Tykes walking toy and likes to hold onto our hand(s) and walk around.

Reading continues to be one of her favorite things to do. She will often take a book off of her bookshelf and bring it to us to read to her. If I am laying down on my back in her play area to spend time with her, she will come and bring me a book to read and then climb up on my stomach and sit facing me while I read the book. It's so sweet. Sometimes in the middle of reading a book she will start making kissing sounds and come give me a kiss. She knows how to melt my heart and make my day. :) (On a side note, Becca also makes kissing sounds if she sees Nathan and me give each other a hug and a kiss--she'll just look up at us and make kissing sounds...too funny. We usually pick her up then and give her kisses too.)

Water play has been another of Becca's favorite things. And by water play, I mean playing in our glasses of water. She also likes to try to drink out of our glasses and does a pretty good job if we are careful not to tip the glass up too far. I think she prefers playing in our water glasses or washing her hands to taking a bath. I hope to take her swimming sometime this summer.

I think that's it. It's all I can think of right now, at least.

I must join

I must join those blogs I have read to day in wishing the fathers in my life a happy Father's day. To my grandpas, my father and father-in-law (otherwise known as my father who lives nearby), and most especially, my sweet, supportive husband who is a patient and loving father to our cutie of a daughter. I wouldn't want to raise her up in the nurture and admonition of our loving heavenly Father with anyone else.

(Note to self: remember that it is Father's Day *before* it is mentioned at church. You can see how my mind is taken up with other things lately such as job vs. grad school, getting back in routine from our trip, etc. It's a good thing that Becca gave her daddy a gift before we left for our midwest trip. It's a good thing she's so computer savvy and ordered it off Amazon since her mom is so forgetful.)

Senior Pictures

Here is one of the pictures of Chad that I like. This is from a picture CD, so it does not look as good as the actual photo.



Here's another one. It's darker in the actual photo, but the CD picture looks much too light.

Enjoying the Midwest

We are enjoying our time up here in Michigan. Becca had her first taste of Butch's Beach Burritos on Thursday; the weather has been absolutely gorgeous; taking Chad's senior pictures is going well (except tonight*); it's been great to see family and friends; the weather is gorgeous (did I mention that already?).

I'm learning much in my senior picture taking venture. My uncle gave me some pointers tonight on how to use fill flash when taking pictures with sidelight or backlight. I can't wait to use his advice. We've got three rolls of pictures with many good possibilities already. Chad is such a natural; he does a great job choosing a pose and looking completely comfortable. It makes my job so easy.

I got my hair cut. I'll have to post a picture of it soon. It's very different than what I usually get done. A little bit more messy and I even have brush to the side bangs. I really like it, though, since the many layers provide volume and took out some of the bulk.

Becca is having a little bit of a hard time the past few days. I think partly because I've been of two or three times for photo shoot sessions with Chad. Nathan and my mom are fabulous caretakers, but I think she's just used to me being around (which I don't think is a bad thing, as some people might). Plus, we have been around a lot of people lately. Her observant personality has been kicked into overdrive and she has been a bit more anxious than usual. It normally takes her awhile to warm up to people, but it's even more with all the "new" things and people around her.

*Tonight Chad and I went to P.J. Hoffmaster State Park (just a mile from my parents' house-I love that place) to "re-take" some pictures that needed some fill flash and ended up not taking any pictures. My camera kept blinking FEE and wouldn't take any pictures. Apparently it means that I didn't have my lens set to the smallest aperture, but I didn't have the manual along with me to find that out there. Bummer, since it was just the perfect evening for some great shots.

Making Bows

I spent an hour and a half tonight making my first bows for Becca's hair (as if I didn't have enough hobbies). I was inspired to attempt this new-to-me craft after buying a simple alligator clip style bow for Becca (much easier to put in a toddler's hair than a barrett) at a secondhand store for $3.00. I couldn't find them anywhere else for less and I've heard you can spend way more than that.

Here is the bow I bought:



I spent way less than 50 cents on each bow/headband that I made tonight, plus I got to have fun picking out ribbon. Note: the peach looking bow is actually light pink.



They're not anywhere near perfect, but they are way less expensive and maybe with some practice they will start to look more professionally done.

I had to search quite a bit to find good, free instructions. You can go here for instructions on all sorts of ribbons, bows, and other hair things: Girly Things. Most of my bows were based on the "Simple mini bow" instructions. You don't have to have a daughter to make them. I'm sure you could find some little girl in your life who would like a pretty bow made by you. :)

For the younger toddlers, I'd recommend getting the alligator clips. They are the ones that look kind of like an alligator opening his mouth--hence the name--and don't require any fastening, just pinch open and let it spring back closed around the hair. You might also want to have a glue gun. I recommend dental floss instead of the carpet thread that she says to use. Oh and one more note: the grosgrain ribbon (has widthwise lines, kind of corduroy-like) was the easiest to work with, although the stretchy, ruffly ribbon was pretty easy too. The satiny, smooth ribbon is hard to keep in the right place.

Enjoy!

Memorial Day 2006

I'm one-year-old today!

Becca here. I put Mommy down for a nap, and now I have time to write a post about me. She was pretty tired after reading all those books to me after lunch. Daddy likes to read to me too.


I've changed a lot over the past month. I do all sorts of new things. Daddy and Mommy have taught me some sign language, so we can communicate with each other even though I can't talk yet. Mommy says I'm starting to catch on really quickly. I make the sign for "more" quite a bit.

And I also try to use my manners and say "please" (especially when I really want something).

I also like to sign "play", "water", "potty" (toilet), "where", and others I can't remember right now. I am starting to try to make the sounds I hear Daddy and Mommy say, like "hah-hah" for hot and "bah" for ball, and "cks" for blocks and trucks. Maybe I'll start talking a little more soon.

In my free time (I have a lot of that right now) I like to do lots of fun things. Even though I have so many fun toys and books, the vacuum is one of my favorite "toys". I get so excited when Mommy takes it out.

Stroller rides are another of my favorite things to do after dinner with Daddy and Mommy. It gives them time to talk. Here I am with my wheels:

Daddy and Mommy took me to the park a couple of times and I loved playing there. I spent a lot of time pushing around this turtle and putting wood chips under his shell.

Mommy helped me go down the small slide. I kept wanting to go down again.

Daddy is one of my favorite people to play with. I get so excited when he walks in the door and whenever he leaves the room, I sign "where" to Mommy. Daddy and I help Mommy by putting wet laundry in the dryer.

Daddy can make me laugh like no one else when he dances with me and tickles me (he's the purple one).


Daddy and Mommy think I'm a pretty cool kid--observant, full of smiles, giggles, hugs, and kisses, and they are so happy that God gave me to them. I have a full time job teaching them all sorts of things and giving them lots of new experiences as parents.


Oops, mommy's up and coming to get me...

We love you, Rebecca Joy. Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Becca post

Poor little Becca Boo is teething right now--three first year molars at once. She's had a bit of a fever yesterday and today and wouldn't take more than an hour nap today, so it was a rough one. She has been playing pretty well, though, so that's good. Her foot is healing up pretty well (and my thumb is getting much better--praise God).

Nate's parents and sister came over on Saturday for the Becca birthday bash--a small, but fun party for Becca. It was fun to see her enjoy her new gifts--some books*, a rocking moose (IKEA), Little Tykes Wide Tracker Activity Walker, some cute clothes, a wooden shape sorter (Natural Baby), and my personal favorite, the Wee Ride Centric Carrier so Becca can ride on my bike with me (I'll let you know how I like it once we actually get out riding). Becca loves pushing around her Little Tykes walker and putting the plastic envelopes in the mail slot on the front. Endless amusement.

Becca ended up being a neat cake eater, much to our picture taking disappointment. But it was still funny to watch her put her finger in the frosting and then have Nate lick it off. She wouldn't dig into her cupcake on her own, so Nate had to break off pieces for her.

We had a nice day. I'll be posting a true Becca update when she turns one on Wednesday!

*Books Becca got:
Green Eggs and Ham
The Lorax
Mis Animales/My Animals by Rebecca Emberley
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
One Fish, Two Fish

Sidebar Additions

Link Additions

Sarah's Blog--Finding My Glasses
Sarah's Art Studio

Both of the above links are websites with the same author (obviously)--a woman from our church who just started painting about a year and a half ago. She does beautiful work. We are so tempted to buy one of her available paintings (and we just might if we can choose one). You should check them out. Sarah and her husband Reese led our community group this year in their home. We just had a final meal together tonight.

Currently Reading Additions

The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer

I really shouldn't have started reading it already with three other books on my current reading list at the moment, but I couldn't resist. It's basically similar to Teaching the Trivium, but with more of a secular bent insofar as it doesn't really mention teaching from a Christian worldview. I do like it and I'm hoping I'll find some way that classical education and Charlotte Mason overlap, since I like things about both. I especially like the chapter I skipped ahead to on the controversial "socialization" topic. I hope to be posting on it soon.

Books Read in 2006 Additions

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I really like reading children's books. I had tried to start this about a year ago and it just didn't take. For some reason it doesn't draw me in like other stories. It wouldn't be high on my list on the moment of books that we would read aloud to our kids (there are too many good ones), but I'll have it around if they want a book to read.

Books to Read

How to Read the Proverbs by Tremper Longman III

I've had this book for awhile, but just haven't picked it up to read it yet. I enjoyed his How to Read the Psalms, so I'm sure I'll enjoy this one too.

Faith in the Face of Apostasy by Raymond B. Dillard

This is supposed to be about Elijah and Elisha and Nate said I should read it after I read through I and II Kings and commented to him about not getting in the way of the Old Testament Prophets. I'm interested, but I'll have to finish some of my other first.


Sorry about not providing links for the books, but I'm feeling lazy tonight. I'll at least provide the link to Amazon.com for you. :)