Hello all! Alan, Adeline and I will be visiting the church in Michigan next weekend. We're leaving on Friday the 5th and coming back the night of the 7th. Please pray for this weekend - that the Lord would do what He wants to do and that we and the people at the church would get a good chance to really get to know one another.
We covet your prayers as this process continues.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Picaboo
A little while back I created a Picaboo photo book of Adeline's first year. I ordered a couple of copies and really liked the way they turned out. If you wanted to get one, or make one of your own to order, but didn't get around to it, now is a good time because you can get 25% off your order if you purchase by August 28th. If you download the software and create an album of your own you get your first book free (up to $9.99). I thought it was fun and will probably be using it again one day.
Enjoy!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD
I know what you're thinking - how many posts are there going to be in a single day? This is the last one, I think... :)
I just wanted to share that God has been doing some amazing things in me these last few days. He has shown me things that I have been holding onto that I had no idea about. I'd like to share the story with you, because I am so excited and so hopeful and I want people to know.
On Sunday evening Alan and I sat down to pray and journal together. After inviting the Holy Spirit to speak to us and do His work in those moments, Alan suggested we journal out all of our wants. We were going to write down everything we wanted - not just now, but anything we could possibly think of wanting - from an overall sense of satisfaction in life to a fireplace in our home one day (can you guess which of those two was mine? ;-)
So I sat there, pen in hand (I'm always the secretary :) and wrote down the couple of things Alan initially said. Then Alan asked me what I wanted, and I couldn't write. I didn't want to. I felt angry. Frustrated. Overwhelmed. In despair. Alan attributes what happened next to the speaking of the Holy Spirit. He said to me, "Make a column on the other side of the paper. You [speaking to me] are going to write out all of your fears." I thought, this is dumb. Like this is gonna help anything... I started writing nonetheless and several pages, many minutes, and lots of tears later I finally stopped. I never, until that moment, knew how much I was afraid of, and the topics ranged from one extreme to the other: fear of being forgotten all the way down to the fear of never living somewhere with a fireplace. Fears I never told God before. How could I? I had never told myself.
Once the fears were out the wants started flowing. The list of wants was not nearly as long as the list of fears, but we wrote and wrote until we could think of nothing else. Now God knows. Now we know. There is indeed so much freedom in that amount of honesty and openness - not only before God but between one another within our marriage.
Believe it or not, that was only the beginning of the story... :)
Earlier last week, before Sunday, I sat down to do something called the Daily Examen (this isn't the greatest link but one of the better ones I found). My boss had sent it out to our D.Min. staff so we could use it to prepare for our staff retreat which took place Wednesday this week. The five steps to the Examen are 1. Thanksgiving 2. Intention 3. Examination 4. Contrition 5. Hope. When I read through it last week to try to sit down and do it I got to the Hope section and thought, this exercise is not for people like me in my situation in life. Oh well. And I gave up on it. I didn't know at the time that the reason I couldn't do it was probably because I had been feeling pretty hopeless.
After Sunday, on Monday afternoon, I sat down to try to do it again. It was a whole different ball game. The whole thing doesn't take much time at all (even though I did write it all out) but it made all the difference in my day, my week, my life. I felt like I could sit there and be perfectly honest with God, telling Him exactly the things which came to mind for which I was thankful that day, what I really wanted for the day, how I had experienced His love that day, how I had sinned that day, and what choices I would make that day to allow Him to lead me to a brighter tomorrow.
THEN... on Wednesday morning at our staff retreat we spent two hours in solitude and quiet that we could basically spend however we wanted. (How cool is that that I have a job that pays me to spend two hours alone with God!?) During some group prayer time my boss read the account of the feeding of the five thousand from John. He also mentioned that in the account in Matthew's gospel when the disciples tell Jesus the number of loaves and fish they have, Jesus says to them, "Bring them to me." I spent a lot of time meditating on this phrase during my two hours. Bring them to me. I felt God telling me that I was to bring everything I am to Him. Jesus asked the disciples to bring to him what they had. They could not bring more than what they had and in doing so had to bring their inadequacies as well. But the miracle is that Jesus indeed worked with what they gave Him, but He did not work the miracle until they gave Him what they had. In that moment I felt so thankful that God had prompted me to bring myself to Him - mostly my inadequacies - on Sunday and spared me that experience yesterday morning. I felt like this extra time of solitude that I had been given allowed me to tie up the loose ends and continue to move ahead since Sunday's breakthrough.
Believe it or not my two hours was not yet up at this point so I decided to pick a book of the Bible to read. I landed on Habakkuk. I knew it was short, I hadn't read it in a while, and it also contains one of my favorite verses, 2:20. When I got to the end of the book I was reminded of some of my other favorite verses that had not come to mind in a long time...
I just wanted to share that God has been doing some amazing things in me these last few days. He has shown me things that I have been holding onto that I had no idea about. I'd like to share the story with you, because I am so excited and so hopeful and I want people to know.
On Sunday evening Alan and I sat down to pray and journal together. After inviting the Holy Spirit to speak to us and do His work in those moments, Alan suggested we journal out all of our wants. We were going to write down everything we wanted - not just now, but anything we could possibly think of wanting - from an overall sense of satisfaction in life to a fireplace in our home one day (can you guess which of those two was mine? ;-)
So I sat there, pen in hand (I'm always the secretary :) and wrote down the couple of things Alan initially said. Then Alan asked me what I wanted, and I couldn't write. I didn't want to. I felt angry. Frustrated. Overwhelmed. In despair. Alan attributes what happened next to the speaking of the Holy Spirit. He said to me, "Make a column on the other side of the paper. You [speaking to me] are going to write out all of your fears." I thought, this is dumb. Like this is gonna help anything... I started writing nonetheless and several pages, many minutes, and lots of tears later I finally stopped. I never, until that moment, knew how much I was afraid of, and the topics ranged from one extreme to the other: fear of being forgotten all the way down to the fear of never living somewhere with a fireplace. Fears I never told God before. How could I? I had never told myself.
Once the fears were out the wants started flowing. The list of wants was not nearly as long as the list of fears, but we wrote and wrote until we could think of nothing else. Now God knows. Now we know. There is indeed so much freedom in that amount of honesty and openness - not only before God but between one another within our marriage.
Believe it or not, that was only the beginning of the story... :)
Earlier last week, before Sunday, I sat down to do something called the Daily Examen (this isn't the greatest link but one of the better ones I found). My boss had sent it out to our D.Min. staff so we could use it to prepare for our staff retreat which took place Wednesday this week. The five steps to the Examen are 1. Thanksgiving 2. Intention 3. Examination 4. Contrition 5. Hope. When I read through it last week to try to sit down and do it I got to the Hope section and thought, this exercise is not for people like me in my situation in life. Oh well. And I gave up on it. I didn't know at the time that the reason I couldn't do it was probably because I had been feeling pretty hopeless.
After Sunday, on Monday afternoon, I sat down to try to do it again. It was a whole different ball game. The whole thing doesn't take much time at all (even though I did write it all out) but it made all the difference in my day, my week, my life. I felt like I could sit there and be perfectly honest with God, telling Him exactly the things which came to mind for which I was thankful that day, what I really wanted for the day, how I had experienced His love that day, how I had sinned that day, and what choices I would make that day to allow Him to lead me to a brighter tomorrow.
THEN... on Wednesday morning at our staff retreat we spent two hours in solitude and quiet that we could basically spend however we wanted. (How cool is that that I have a job that pays me to spend two hours alone with God!?) During some group prayer time my boss read the account of the feeding of the five thousand from John. He also mentioned that in the account in Matthew's gospel when the disciples tell Jesus the number of loaves and fish they have, Jesus says to them, "Bring them to me." I spent a lot of time meditating on this phrase during my two hours. Bring them to me. I felt God telling me that I was to bring everything I am to Him. Jesus asked the disciples to bring to him what they had. They could not bring more than what they had and in doing so had to bring their inadequacies as well. But the miracle is that Jesus indeed worked with what they gave Him, but He did not work the miracle until they gave Him what they had. In that moment I felt so thankful that God had prompted me to bring myself to Him - mostly my inadequacies - on Sunday and spared me that experience yesterday morning. I felt like this extra time of solitude that I had been given allowed me to tie up the loose ends and continue to move ahead since Sunday's breakthrough.
Believe it or not my two hours was not yet up at this point so I decided to pick a book of the Bible to read. I landed on Habakkuk. I knew it was short, I hadn't read it in a while, and it also contains one of my favorite verses, 2:20. When I got to the end of the book I was reminded of some of my other favorite verses that had not come to mind in a long time...
Though the fig tree does not bud,
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength.
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength.
Hab. 3:17-18, 19a
Anyone got a spare fleece??
Alan and I are in the process of once again trying to figure out what is next for us. We are praying daily for Him to work a miracle by August 31st and/or to give us unmistakable direction for what to do next. Job things are once again in the air (irons in the fire but no confirmation for anything yet) as is the housing situation. We are asking God to help us discern what to use as a fleece (a la Gideon) as an instrument for a sign from Him.
We thank those of you who are joining with us in prayer for these things.
We thank those of you who are joining with us in prayer for these things.
Alopecia Areata
Some of you know that since about late June, early July, I started to lose large chunks of my hair. Hoping it was simply stress-related I decided to wait it out because, at the time, it looked like things were going to be changing for us rather soon. Well, when Virginia didn't work out and we started our process over again I decided I had to go to the doctor about it. My primary care immediately diagnosed me with a condition called Alopecia Areata and referred me to a dermatologist, telling me that to treat it she would likely give me steroid injections in my scalp. I'm thinking, that sounds fun.
I had my derm appointment on Monday and she did say that the shots were one treatment option. Then she further explained that due to the size of the balding areas on my head I would need to have somewhere in the ballpark of 50 little shots with no guarantee that it was actually going to work and there was a likelihood of my having to repeat this treatment again in 3 months. Did I mention she also said it's quite painful?? I was very pleased when she recommended not to go with the shots and offered me other options.
After listing a few options we landed on steroid creams. She prescribed two - one for night and one for the day - and also men's extra strength Rogaine (OTC) for when I wasn't using the other two. However when I went to get them filled my insurance only covered one. Guess which one! The cheapest! Of course! The daytime cream they wouldn't cover - the $207 one of course - so we're working on that. In the meantime I'm just going to wait it out (one of the "treatment" options she listed) and see how things go. It will largely depend on what I hear back after a week or so, once the 12-page appeal process has been completed for the secondary meds.
Anywho, that's my sad story with Alopecia, and I only post it here partly so those who know what's been going on can get the story without me having to share it a gazillion times! Oh, and the derm also had my blood checked for a thyroid condition, anemia and Vitamin D deficiency as those things can cause hair loss. The derm described the Alopecia by saying that for some reason my body is attacking its own little hair follicles. Alopecia Areata is more common in those with family members with autoimmune disorders, like a thyroid condition.
So that's it. I go back in October (if we're still here...) for a follow-up. If we're not still here I'll follow-up with a derm wherever we do end up. Thanks for your prayers for my hair :).
I had my derm appointment on Monday and she did say that the shots were one treatment option. Then she further explained that due to the size of the balding areas on my head I would need to have somewhere in the ballpark of 50 little shots with no guarantee that it was actually going to work and there was a likelihood of my having to repeat this treatment again in 3 months. Did I mention she also said it's quite painful?? I was very pleased when she recommended not to go with the shots and offered me other options.
After listing a few options we landed on steroid creams. She prescribed two - one for night and one for the day - and also men's extra strength Rogaine (OTC) for when I wasn't using the other two. However when I went to get them filled my insurance only covered one. Guess which one! The cheapest! Of course! The daytime cream they wouldn't cover - the $207 one of course - so we're working on that. In the meantime I'm just going to wait it out (one of the "treatment" options she listed) and see how things go. It will largely depend on what I hear back after a week or so, once the 12-page appeal process has been completed for the secondary meds.
Anywho, that's my sad story with Alopecia, and I only post it here partly so those who know what's been going on can get the story without me having to share it a gazillion times! Oh, and the derm also had my blood checked for a thyroid condition, anemia and Vitamin D deficiency as those things can cause hair loss. The derm described the Alopecia by saying that for some reason my body is attacking its own little hair follicles. Alopecia Areata is more common in those with family members with autoimmune disorders, like a thyroid condition.
So that's it. I go back in October (if we're still here...) for a follow-up. If we're not still here I'll follow-up with a derm wherever we do end up. Thanks for your prayers for my hair :).
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BPA Update
The FDA recently came out with yet another study that BPA has been ruled safe. An article about it can be read here. The report can be read here. At the bottom of that page you can also find more details about what BPA is and some other articles. Anti-BPA activists and concerned parents alike are questioning the study based on the argument that the experts on whose word and studies the FDA and the ACC based their report are biased towards the chemical and therefore might argue it as safe even if it isn't. They are calling for other experts to be consulted. Experts they argue are objective about BPA.
Personally I'm done being worried about it. I have taken steps to make sure that I don't use BPA bottles for future children just in case - plus I just think glass baby bottles are kind of cool :). But for those of you who might be wanting or looking for more info, I hope this helps.
Personally I'm done being worried about it. I have taken steps to make sure that I don't use BPA bottles for future children just in case - plus I just think glass baby bottles are kind of cool :). But for those of you who might be wanting or looking for more info, I hope this helps.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Happy Anniversary, Alan and Meredith! You've won an all-expense paid trip to... the Emergency Room!!
Yep... Happy #5 to us.
Yesterday when I was out watering our landlord's plants I was nibbled on by quite a few bugs. One in particular, on the inside of my left thigh, began itching immediately. Being bitten, however, since living in the shoebox is nothing new, so I shrugged it off and went about my day.
At 7:00 this morning, when I headed to work, I noticed that the bite had swollen to 3" in diameter. Hm... no ordinary mosquito. Must be another spider bite.
At 1pm this afternoon after arriving home from work I notice that the swollen area has spread another inch all the way around. Needless to say I'm not feeling too great about this.
Alan heads to work about 2pm and Adeline and I took a nap then a walk (once we woke up :). At about 4:30, after the walk, I notice the redness is getting worse and it hurts to walk. Hm... not good. I called Alan at work and he encouraged me to try to do some research online after calling friends to see if anyone might be able to come over to sit with Adeline while I borrow their car to head over to the ER. Mind you I'm not thinking this is necessarily an emergency, however the Dr's office is closed and it's a weekend and I'm thinking this needs to be looked at.
I secure the help of a friend and moments later - about 5 - Alan calls back and says he's in the car on the way home to take me to the ER. Turns out he did some research of his own and discovered it was better to go to the ER and he knew me well enough to know that's it's something I really didn't want to do on my own. At least we would get to spend a couple hours of our anniversary together!
Once I finally saw a Dr in the ER he said it might actually be a tick bite and because they can carry Lyme Disease it was good I came in. He put me on antibiotics and gave me another drug for the itchiness. I should be feeling better by Monday.
We went to the pharmacy to drop off the Rx's and then went to the grocery store while we waited. We picked up some fried chicken for dinner, ate it in the car, then picked up the Rx's, headed home, then Alan left again for work to finish up his shift.
So that about brings us to the current time. Thankfully we learned early on that less is more as regards anniversary celebrations so of the five we've had, this one is actually pretty okay ;-).
By the way, Adeline said "up" today :). So many words!
Yesterday when I was out watering our landlord's plants I was nibbled on by quite a few bugs. One in particular, on the inside of my left thigh, began itching immediately. Being bitten, however, since living in the shoebox is nothing new, so I shrugged it off and went about my day.
At 7:00 this morning, when I headed to work, I noticed that the bite had swollen to 3" in diameter. Hm... no ordinary mosquito. Must be another spider bite.
At 1pm this afternoon after arriving home from work I notice that the swollen area has spread another inch all the way around. Needless to say I'm not feeling too great about this.
Alan heads to work about 2pm and Adeline and I took a nap then a walk (once we woke up :). At about 4:30, after the walk, I notice the redness is getting worse and it hurts to walk. Hm... not good. I called Alan at work and he encouraged me to try to do some research online after calling friends to see if anyone might be able to come over to sit with Adeline while I borrow their car to head over to the ER. Mind you I'm not thinking this is necessarily an emergency, however the Dr's office is closed and it's a weekend and I'm thinking this needs to be looked at.
I secure the help of a friend and moments later - about 5 - Alan calls back and says he's in the car on the way home to take me to the ER. Turns out he did some research of his own and discovered it was better to go to the ER and he knew me well enough to know that's it's something I really didn't want to do on my own. At least we would get to spend a couple hours of our anniversary together!
Once I finally saw a Dr in the ER he said it might actually be a tick bite and because they can carry Lyme Disease it was good I came in. He put me on antibiotics and gave me another drug for the itchiness. I should be feeling better by Monday.
We went to the pharmacy to drop off the Rx's and then went to the grocery store while we waited. We picked up some fried chicken for dinner, ate it in the car, then picked up the Rx's, headed home, then Alan left again for work to finish up his shift.
So that about brings us to the current time. Thankfully we learned early on that less is more as regards anniversary celebrations so of the five we've had, this one is actually pretty okay ;-).
By the way, Adeline said "up" today :). So many words!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sick... + New Tricks I can do!
Today I am just not myself. Daddy noticed I wasn't feeling well when I woke up from my extra long nap this morning and I had exploded out of my diaper :(. Then Mommie took my temperature tonight before bed after I didn't really have an appetite all day and felt really warm to her and it was 101.2 degrees. Not good. I'm going to try to get a good night's sleep tonight and Mommie will check my temp again in the morning. Pray I feel better soon. It's no fun to be sick.
In other news, though, before I got sick, these last few days I've done a couple of new fun things. Mommie and I like to watch the Olympics together so she taught me how to cheer. When our USA team members are competing I say, "Go! Go! Go!" I must say I am so adorable when I do it, too :).
Also, on Friday I was playing with Daddy when all of a sudden I decided it was time for a nap. I picked up Doug and went to my crib and just stood there holding the railing looking in. Daddy picked me up and put me in bed and I was out like a light. Daddy was so impressed that I put myself to bed :).
That's all for now. I'm going to rest now.
Love,
Adeline
In other news, though, before I got sick, these last few days I've done a couple of new fun things. Mommie and I like to watch the Olympics together so she taught me how to cheer. When our USA team members are competing I say, "Go! Go! Go!" I must say I am so adorable when I do it, too :).
Also, on Friday I was playing with Daddy when all of a sudden I decided it was time for a nap. I picked up Doug and went to my crib and just stood there holding the railing looking in. Daddy picked me up and put me in bed and I was out like a light. Daddy was so impressed that I put myself to bed :).
That's all for now. I'm going to rest now.
Love,
Adeline
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Contentment
I've been thinking a lot about contentment over the last 36 hours or so. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians that he has learned to be content in whatever circumstances he is. What does this mean, to be content?
Whenever I wonder about what a word means in any given context I go straight to the dictionary. I figure that I should start with whatever variety of definitions the English language offers me before I go doing any Greek word studies. So I went to dictionary.com (after having no luck with merriam-webster) and they provided me with the following:
Whenever I wonder about what a word means in any given context I go straight to the dictionary. I figure that I should start with whatever variety of definitions the English language offers me before I go doing any Greek word studies. So I went to dictionary.com (after having no luck with merriam-webster) and they provided me with the following:
satisfied with what one is or has;
not wanting more or anything else.
not wanting more or anything else.
I immediately thought, "Shoot. Here I am whining about my situation in life, constantly wishing I was somewhere else and often praying to God asking him to do something about it. I am not satisfied with what I have and I definitely want something else."
Then I thought about it some more... If content simply means that I am to be straight up satisfied with all things and circumstances in my life, how am I to ever get anywhere? If I was perfectly content living in my shoebox in Massachusetts with a somewhat meager income, why would I ever move on? If I was perfectly content based on dictionary.com's definition above, then I've already reached the pinnacle of my life, have I not?
Clearly this was not the right conclusion to come to. So I brought the conundrum to my wise and loving husband who had no doubt thought of this before (he's thought of just about everything before! :). He told me that he used to think that to be content in all things was to settle. To have the mindset of, "Well, guess this is it! Nothin' I can do. I suppose I should just be cool with it." It occurred to me that settling is where my English word study had brought me (and I use the term study loosely - I just looked it up in a dictionary... online!!). The idea of settling was what I could sense was not what the true biblical definition of contentment was.
Then Alan said he had learned that being content in whatever circumstances you are is more about trust than it is about settling. I felt such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders! Trust!! Of course! Contentment is being satisfied with who and what you are, with what you have knowing and trusting that God's good and perfect will reigns in our lives.
Warren Wiersbe in the Bible Exposition Commentary (Victor, 1989) goes further, stating, "The word 'content' actually means 'contained.' It is a description of the man whose resources are within him so that he does not have to depend on substitutes without."
So not only can I trust in the God of the universe to lead me when the time is right - and I firmly believe he can and often does use discontentment to do so - I already have all the tools I need within me to survive the trials of this life which at the moment includes but is not limited to living in a stuffy, spidery shoebox.
So here I am at the end of this very brief and far from thorough little "study" and I feel that I can confidently say with the Psalmist,
Then I thought about it some more... If content simply means that I am to be straight up satisfied with all things and circumstances in my life, how am I to ever get anywhere? If I was perfectly content living in my shoebox in Massachusetts with a somewhat meager income, why would I ever move on? If I was perfectly content based on dictionary.com's definition above, then I've already reached the pinnacle of my life, have I not?
Clearly this was not the right conclusion to come to. So I brought the conundrum to my wise and loving husband who had no doubt thought of this before (he's thought of just about everything before! :). He told me that he used to think that to be content in all things was to settle. To have the mindset of, "Well, guess this is it! Nothin' I can do. I suppose I should just be cool with it." It occurred to me that settling is where my English word study had brought me (and I use the term study loosely - I just looked it up in a dictionary... online!!). The idea of settling was what I could sense was not what the true biblical definition of contentment was.
Then Alan said he had learned that being content in whatever circumstances you are is more about trust than it is about settling. I felt such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders! Trust!! Of course! Contentment is being satisfied with who and what you are, with what you have knowing and trusting that God's good and perfect will reigns in our lives.
Warren Wiersbe in the Bible Exposition Commentary (Victor, 1989) goes further, stating, "The word 'content' actually means 'contained.' It is a description of the man whose resources are within him so that he does not have to depend on substitutes without."
So not only can I trust in the God of the universe to lead me when the time is right - and I firmly believe he can and often does use discontentment to do so - I already have all the tools I need within me to survive the trials of this life which at the moment includes but is not limited to living in a stuffy, spidery shoebox.
So here I am at the end of this very brief and far from thorough little "study" and I feel that I can confidently say with the Psalmist,
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-26
Yay God :)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
AG Pictures
So I was just visiting my sister-in-law's blog and she's already uploaded her pictures from the weekend she spent in AG when we were there, so I'm going to cheat for the time being and just let you look at hers till I have more time :). So click here.
Update from Adeline
As I was preparing to type I decided to go crazy on the keyboard and now there is no more "a" key... Mommie says that should make it fun trying to update the blog from now on!! Oh well. Now it just matches the "u" key :).
Anyway, as you may know we are back from California. We got in Tuesday night and were home about midnight. I was so tired and must have still been on west coast time because I slept in till 9am on Wednesday! Then I napped for about 30 minutes in the morning, and about 45 minutes in the afternoon. I looked so tired that Mommie put me down for the night at my usual bedtime - 6:30ish - but I was wide awake and kicking just an hour later! I finally went to bed for the night at 10pm and slept till 10:00 this morning. While Mommie says it was nice that she and Daddy got to sleep in for a change, she doesn't like this whole staying on west coast time thing. I guess I'll have to work on that.
Anywho, I think Mommie left off on Sunday morning when we were still at Grandma Jo's. After I woke up from my nap we headed down to Grandmother & Pa's for the Fantasy Football draft and to play and swim. Daddy drafted while Mommie and I played and swam really :). I went in the pool for the first time and wasn't quite sure what to think about it. But I sure did look really cute in my little tankini that Amma gave me for my birthday! Here is a picture of Amma's side of the family. From left to right, top to bottom: Daddy, me, Mommie, Papa, Amma, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Brian, Grandmother and Pa, Uncle Rob, Aun
t Megan, my cousins Abby, Sophie and Amy and my first cousin once removed Garrett. Our family friend Denise took this second picture of us after being out in the sun and swimming all day. I don't think my cuteness wanes a bit after a full day, do you?? :)
On Monday, our last day in California, Mommie and Daddy tried to keep me on a normal schedule so I'd be well-rested for the airplane ride home on Tuesday. So while I was napping they had a lot of fun playing Papa's Wii. Daddy was sore for 2 days! That evening we had a family gathering for Grandma Jo's birthday which was Tuesday. I went o bed early :).
Tuesday was the flight home and it was a long day but overall I did okay. I was pretty happy to sleep in my own bed that night. Now I'm still working on adjusting to being home.
Mommie will post more pictures and some videos sometime soon. For now, I think we both need a nap :).
Anyway, as you may know we are back from California. We got in Tuesday night and were home about midnight. I was so tired and must have still been on west coast time because I slept in till 9am on Wednesday! Then I napped for about 30 minutes in the morning, and about 45 minutes in the afternoon. I looked so tired that Mommie put me down for the night at my usual bedtime - 6:30ish - but I was wide awake and kicking just an hour later! I finally went to bed for the night at 10pm and slept till 10:00 this morning. While Mommie says it was nice that she and Daddy got to sleep in for a change, she doesn't like this whole staying on west coast time thing. I guess I'll have to work on that.
Anywho, I think Mommie left off on Sunday morning when we were still at Grandma Jo's. After I woke up from my nap we headed down to Grandmother & Pa's for the Fantasy Football draft and to play and swim. Daddy drafted while Mommie and I played and swam really :). I went in the pool for the first time and wasn't quite sure what to think about it. But I sure did look really cute in my little tankini that Amma gave me for my birthday! Here is a picture of Amma's side of the family. From left to right, top to bottom: Daddy, me, Mommie, Papa, Amma, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Brian, Grandmother and Pa, Uncle Rob, Aun
t Megan, my cousins Abby, Sophie and Amy and my first cousin once removed Garrett. Our family friend Denise took this second picture of us after being out in the sun and swimming all day. I don't think my cuteness wanes a bit after a full day, do you?? :)On Monday, our last day in California, Mommie and Daddy tried to keep me on a normal schedule so I'd be well-rested for the airplane ride home on Tuesday. So while I was napping they had a lot of fun playing Papa's Wii. Daddy was sore for 2 days! That evening we had a family gathering for Grandma Jo's birthday which was Tuesday. I went o bed early :).
Tuesday was the flight home and it was a long day but overall I did okay. I was pretty happy to sleep in my own bed that night. Now I'm still working on adjusting to being home.
Mommie will post more pictures and some videos sometime soon. For now, I think we both need a nap :).
Sunday, August 3, 2008
California
Hello Faithful Blog Readers! Sorry it has been a while since we posted. We've been living it up in California!!
Tuesday, July 29 - We made the flight out here. Adeline did okay. It's hard for a little person to be cooped up for so long, and her sleep schedule was so off. We did finally arrive in California and after picking up our rental car and exiting LA (faster than we thought we would) we had our first stop at In-n-Out - it's always one of the very first things we do. From there we continued to head up the coast and stopped off in Santa Barbara for a couple of hours to visit with Alan's grandpa who recently had a stroke. He was elated to see us and really enjoyed our visit - especially seeing little Adeline running around. After our visit we finished our road trip up to Alan's parents' house in Arroyo Grande. By the time we got in it was after 9pm and of course feeling like after midnight to us. Adeline didn't sleep very well that night so we ended up snuggling her close in our bed. She was okay after that :).
Wednesday, July 30 - Alan spent today with the guys celebrating the final days of his friend Mike's bachelorhood. They went shooting and played some game where they pelted Mike with grapes and blueberries and made him strip... not sure I want to know more. Anywho, while Alan was out doing "Guy Stuff" Adeline and I went up to Morro Bay to visit with our friend Rhiannon (whose husband was also engaging in the aforementioned manly activities). Rhiannon and I visited while Adeline and Nayeli (Rhiannon's two-year-old daughter) played together. It was funny to see Adeline be the baby. I'm so used to her being the older big one :). We went back home and headed to bed fairly early. Alan was supposed to be out camping with the guys that night, but because he was lacking a sleeping bag he came back home to sleep - after a shower because he smelled like campfire :).
Thursday, July 31 - Today the manly activities began again in the morning. They went down to the lake and did some crazy things. After getting cleaned up Alan and I headed out to the wedding site for the wedding rehearsal. Adeline stayed home with Grandma and Aunt Laura. After the rehearsal we went to the rehearsal dinner where they served delicious tri-tip. Oh how I miss California food!! Since Adeline was hanging out with Grandma and Aunt Laura Alan and I went out, just the two of us, after the rehearsal dinner. We were going to go somewhere for dessert but couldn't think of anywhere to go. We ended up getting a package of Dibs at the grocery store and then we sat in the car by the Pismo Beach pier and gazed out at the ocean. It was nice. We miss our ocean.
Friday, August 1 - Today was the day Alan and I set aside as family time. When we finally got going in the morning around 11, we went out to visit Grandma at work to show off Adeline. That made Grandma's day, and everyone was excited to finally see this little girl they've heard so much about. We then went up to San Luis Obispo to go to another one of our favorite food spots - Firestone Grill. We always get the steak cobb salad and it never disappoints! We walked around San Luis for a bit and then went to Alan's grandparents' house for dinner with the fam. We saw Alan's Aunt Beckie and Uncle John there, too. It was a good time of visiting and catching up. For the second time this week, however, Adeline was moved in the middle of sleep and therefore did not fare too well that night. She slept with us again.
Saturday, August 2 - Grandma came into our room and picked up Adeline in the morning when she woke up so that Alan and I could sleep in a bit. That was nice, although sleeping in these days is more like just resting till 8am. Oh well. Grandma watched Adeline again while Alan and I went out for Jamba Juice - yet another thing that does not exist in Mass that we really miss. We came back home just in time for Alan to get showered and head off to the wedding to be with the guys for a couple of hours before the ceremony. Grandma and I got Adeline all ready and headed off to the wedding. It was about 100 degrees outside and the entire group of guests was seated in the hot sun. All things considered Adeline did very well. We partied, danced, ate, had fun with friends we hadn't seen in years and miss dearly before we parted company with the Central Coast folk at about 9pm. From there we drove down to Orange County and stayed with my Grandma Jo. Again, super late night for Adeline. We got to bed around 1:30am.
Sunday, August 3 - That brings us to today! We skipped church this morning because of the late night we had last night. That and I wanted to preserve Adeline's nap time at all costs! Once she wakes up we'll head down to Newport Beach to my Grandmother and Pa's and swim and play and do the Fantasy Football draft.
I think that brings y'all up to date! There will be more later in the week when we arrive home.
Much love to all,
Meredith - for The Conrows
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