Sorry

I haven't blogged in a while, and I skipped Fab 5 Friday.  Oops!  I've had my hands full with Emma, who is STILL teething.  I think she's working on one or two top teeth now.  Thankfully her teeth don't seem to be disturbing her sleep.  She's still sleeping for about 12 hours at night, and her naps have been good .  I'm also trying to start transitioning to the sippy cup, but I underestimated her love / dependence on good old Dr. Brown.  I am hoping to wean her to the cup before I have to start switching from formula to milk, because both at once will be a disaster.  I've also been planning Emma's birthday party, which is coming up pretty soon.  We finally got a new wireless printer (yay!) so I can print the invitations as soon as I get some cardstock.  I also set up her 1 year pictures with bgb photo (Brie's blog is here).  I have heard good things, so I'm excited.  We haven't had any other pictures taken, but I do want some pictures of my big one year old.  I've picked out a couple of cute outfits for the pictures, and a fun personalized Elmo shirt for her party. 


We bought an SUV on Saturday.  It's a 2008 Saturn Outlook, and it's midnight blue.  I'm in love with it.  Although I'm not as in love with the gas mileage.  It has some pretty cool features.  Mostly I'm happy to have something bigger than my car.  It's a lot easier to get the car seat in and out.  The back windows are a little bit tinted, so Emma loves looking out them.  In my car, the sun is so bright she just tries to avoid it however she can.  We tried window shades, but they were useless.

Mobile

No, Emma's not crawling or walking yet.  Thank goodness.  But this is how I have been finding her in her crib:

She's rolling over onto her stomach and somehow flipping herself completely around so that her head is where her feet were.  I finally got a decent picture of her new tooth.  Please ignore the spit up on her bib; she had just eaten a lot of orange foods.

Here she is watching Duke play this morning.  She was fascinated.

And finally, just some pictures I thought were cute.

Fab 5 Friday

Here are my current 5 favorite things:

1.  iGoogle - I think I already used this maybe, but oh well.  I hadn't used it in a while, so this week I thought I'd mess around with it some.  I love having my gmail, facebook, twitter and google reader all in one place.  It makes my life so much easier.


2.  ESPN360 - Since canceling the cable, I have watched a lot of games here.  Sometimes our internet connection is iffy, which slows it down a lot, but that's more Insight's fault.  Insight will most definitely never make my Fab 5 list.

3.  Tickle Me Elmo - 

I got this for Emma at Lil Angels Attic.  For $7.50.  It's hilarious.  We love Elmo around here.  I think he cracks me up more than Emma.

4.  So Long Insecurity -

I finally finished Adopted for Life and was able to start this.  So far, I love it.  It's good to know that so many other people have the same feelings I do, because I usually feel like I'm completely alone in them.

5.  Dave Ramsey Envelope System - I finally broke down and ordered the "official" envelope system and coupon organizer.  We've been making our own envelopes since taking FPU, but they look so pathetic.  I was tired of my money not being organized (and don't even get me started on my coupons at the grocery).  So far, I love them.  And they both fit into my small purse (yay! I got to switch to my spring purse).

Pain & Suffering

I have been hearing and reading so many stories lately of sick children.  Children with cancer and other conditions.  Kids that suffer.  And their parents who have to watch.  I know that there is pain and suffering and death in our world, and I understand the reason behind it (not really), but I am having a hard time trying to rationalize the pain and absolute suffering that some children go through.  I'm sure it can't be rationalized, and I know we don't understand God's ways, and all that, but why does it happen?  Obviously adults suffer and die, and it's terribly sad and tragic, but as adults, we've screwed up.  Not saying that people who get sick are being punished, but I could much better understand say, me having cancer than Emma.  Maybe not understand it, but live with it.  Handle it.  So why does God allow children who are so innocent (and yes, I know we are all born sinful...thank you, Adam & Eve) to go through so much pain.  I think this is mostly due to the story of Layla Grace, which has really broken my heart since I first started following it.  So why does it happen?  I know and believe that God is just and is always absolutely right and does what is best for us.  And I definitely know that Layla Grace is in a much better place now.  But why did she have to endure so much?  Why do the millions of orphans around the world have to suffer?  Why do kids have to suffer through abuse?  I don't have an answer, but I'd like one.  I don't think there is one.

On a MUCH lighter note, the cable is officially gone!  Well the classic and the DVR anyway.  We still have basic.  I watched 16 & Pregnant online.  That show just irritates me now.  Every episode shows a boy / father who is even dumber than last week's.  I think this week's takes the cake.  Seriously, the biggest loser on the face of the planet.  Also, I think the girl's parents might win the Most Naive / Stupidest Parents Award.  Even after her bf got her pregnant, they still let them spend the night together...in the same bed...unsupervised. 

It's pretty much the nicest day ever outside, so I'm about to get Miss Emma up from her nap and take a walk. 

Emma Update

We've enjoyed several days in a row of not being sick!  Hopefully now that spring is almost here, all the sickness is behind us.  We still haven't taken Emma back to the church nursery.  Instead we take her to the 8:00 service with us, and my parents take her to the 9:30 service.  They drop her off with us after we're done with out Sunday School class.  She does really well, although she likes to talk a little.  Apparently she sleeps most of the time my parents have her, which is good.  We might take her back to the nursery next month.  Or we might not.  She finally has her first tooth.  It's not all the way in, but it has definitely popped up through the gum.  It only took 3 months.  Within the last couple of weeks, she has started clapping, waving and trying to point.  Well, she learned to wave first, but then she became preoccupied with clapping, so now that's what she does.  She also finally picked up the sign for "more" during meals.  Unfortunately, it was exactly the same time that she picked up clapping, so her more sign is more of a clap.  But we know what she means, and she does it all on her own.  It's so fun to see her learning so many new things.  We went out to eat yesterday and she got to sit in a big girl highchair for the first time.  She seemed to like it, although she did hit her head on the table once.  She had her own snack and she was proud.  We have her 9 month well visit this afternoon; no shots, but she will have blood taken.  I think it's just a heel prick, so hopefully it won't be bad.  I can't believe she will be one year old in just 2 months.  I have got to get busy planning her party.  She still isn't crawling, but she rolls all over the floor.  I'm not sure she's going to crawl, which will be ok with me.  She naps really well (usually one short nap of 40 minutes and one long nap of about 1 hr 30 min) and still sleeps for about 12 hours at night.  We definitely can't complain about her sleeping habits.  We've cut back just a bit on her formula, and she has 3 solid meals a day.  That has seemed to help her reflux quite a bit, although she still spits up some.  We're hoping to get her off her medicine in 2-3 months, but we'll see how she's doing.  All in all, Emma is doing great.  We have fun every day, but she especially loves it when Nick is home and we can all play with her.  She loves to constantly be the center of attention.  She also loves to be outside. 

Fab Friday (on a Monday)

Well, I am already starting to run out of things (actual tangible things) to write about.  So I'm going to add in some different things.

1.  Google Reader - I have posted before about my love for my iPhone.  With Google Reader on my iPhone, I can keep up with all my favorite blogs.  And thanks to copy and paste on my iPhone, if I find a new blog I like, I can add it.  I used to bookmark all the blogs I read and go through every single one of them.  Google Reader might be my best friend.

2.  Spring - Not a thing, but my favorite season!  I know that spring is not technically here yet, and I'm sure it will probably get cold again.  But the past several days have been so nice.  Today it is close to 73 degrees, according to our thermometer.  I've been able to turn off the heat, turn on the fans, and spend some time outside.  It's also gotten me in the mood to switch out my winter clothes.  I love getting summer clothes out!

3.  Basketball - I think I might have mentioned this?  With conference tournaments starting, basketball is on.  A lot.  And by the end of this week, it will be on ALL DAY!  Even if I cancel cable, I am going to keep basic cable, at least for now.  So I'll still be able to watch the tournament.

4.  DVR - Canceling the cable means saying goodbye to the DVR.  It's been a good friend...on some days, my best friend (like Friday, when I watch all my Thursday night shows).  I'm not sure what I will do without the DVR, but I'm hopeful that I can find my shows online.

5.  9 month old babies - haha, this is not technically a person.  But it just so happens that I have a 9 month old baby, and we are having a blast.  She is so much fun to be around.  I'll post an update in a few minutes, but so far, this age is my favorite.  Although I've said that about every age so far.

Compassion

I've been reading a couple of blogs from Compassion's Kenya trip this month.  I had been thinking about sponsoring a child for the last few months, so this was one of those Jesus things, where the timing works out.  The stories are funny and inspiring and heartbreaking all at the same time.  So today we signed up to sponsor a little 6 year old boy in Kenya.  I'm so excited!  I get to write to him and send pictures.  He likes soccer!  I may never meet this little guy, but I'm so excited to get to know him and to help him and his family.  Lately I have really been feeling an urge to stop thinking about my small world and all my material possessions, and to help people.  I think it must be from thinking through the whole adoption thing.  We had a speaker at the Adopting for Life conference talk about James 1:27, and I feel so convicted by that:

²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.