If you have time and want to read about an amazing family (not the Williams:)...

I came across this blog this afternoon while on the March of Dimes "Share Your Story" website...it's an amazing story of a family in North Carolina...the husband, Nathan, is a worship leader at their church...his wife Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis, is awaiting a double lung transplant, and just a couple of weeks ago gave birth to their "miracle baby" Gwyneth Rose at just 24 weeks gestation. Their story is an amazing testimony to the power of prayer and the strength and the hope that we can only find through Jesus. If you have time to read some of it, please do...if not, please say a prayer for their family. Tricia is still in ICU and on a vent following the birth (she still has not been able to see her baby girl) and Gwyneth Rose is making great progress in the NICU.

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com

Mommy's Little Seal (aka Jake this morning)

Jake and Addi have both been pretty snotty and congested the past few days...Jake mostly though, which of course makes his "floppy airway" as his doctors like to call it even floppier and noisy when he cries, laughs, or just gets out of breath running around. We went to the doctor yesterday just to make sure that we didn't need a round of steroids for it and decided that since it wasn't causing great alarm so far to hold off...steroids make him crazy...guess that's why they call it 'roid rage. Anyway, very early this morning I was awakened by what sounded like a baby seal barking and the sound was coming from Jake's room...croup. He's been doing much better since he's been up for a while, but it looks like we need to be finding someone to watch him in the morning for church and if we're not better by Monday we'll be 'roid raging away! :)

New favorite TV channel

Over the past few weeks, since the holidays are over, we seem to be spending more time at home, which is a good thing, but has also caused a new TV obsession of sorts in our home...Addison and I watch Food Network all the time! We can't get enough...it's not that we're cooking all the tasty treats we see (we have tried a few), but it's just that we love watching them do it and then Addi and Jake like to "pretend" cook in the living room floor (which means that almost every pot, pan, utensil, etc. that I have in my kitchen has been ending up in the living room floor). Anyway, today I had some friends and their kids over for lunch and Addi was telling them all about her favorite shows...they were obviously expecting Backyardigans, Dora, etc. but instead she said..."Me and Mama love to watch the lady on Food Network with the gray hair...she always says to start with a stick of butter!" So...Giada, Rachel, Paula, and Emeril, you'd better watch out. Addi is well on her way to her own food show and she too believes that you should always start with a stick of butter! :)




By the way, for lunch we had 3 new recipes from Mrs. Deen...we had her white bean chicken chili, her mandarin orange salad with homemade sweet and sour dressing, and blueberry (the picture shows cherries, but the blueberry was really good) cheesecake tarts for dessert...I figured all of that up and we actually only used 2 tablespoons of butter in the whole meal so that's not too bad if you ask me (of course there was a quite a bit of sugar and some cream cheese here and there, but not too much butter!) :)

Quick Update on the Kiddos

Addison is loving playing Webkinz on the computer...she's taking very good care of her virtual pet bunny "Milkshake"...she feeds her each day, buys her fancy clothes and jewels, and even puts her down for a nap whenever she's finished playing...sadly that will probably be the only pet poor Addi has for a good while...we've got enough to take care of as it is without any animals running around needing attention! Addi's also right on the verge of learning to read...she's writing lots of words for us to display on the bulletin board (words she's currently writing and in her exact spelling - Addison, Dad, Mom, Jake, Mark, and boobi - don't ask...we're not sure and it's probably best not knowing what she's trying to say), she's sounding out lots of 3 letter words, and trying to read some bigger words too, but I think she's memorizing a lot of those. It's good though and she's really learning most of it on her own or at preschool...I know, that doesn't say a lot for her former first grade teaching mom! :)

Jake is saying lots more words now...you may not understand them at first but he is definitely coming along with his speech. Words he consistently says are - "Mama", "Daddy", "Addi", "juice", "water", "bite" - that's what he calls his pacifier, not something he does much anymore thankfully, "more", "want down", "ooooh gross" - this is not one that is particularly nice to hear him say when you've just put dinner in front of him, but by the looks of him he's certainly finding something that he likes to eat every now and then, "chicken" - whenever we drive by McD's, and "I stuck". He also knows some animal sounds...he growls like a tiger and snorts like a pig...we're so proud! :)

Happy 2008!

It's hard to believe that Christmas is over and 2008 is here, but we continue to be thankful for and blessed by our family and our friends and hopeful for what the new year will bring. We wrapped up the holiday festivities last weekend with Mom's family and it was a great time spent with family that we don't get to spend nearly enough time with, but still great that we're all able to get together at least this one time a year.

Speaking of the new year...on Tuesday night (Jan. 1st) I decided to cook a healthy, but still yummy dinner for our little family of four. During dinner I thought we could talk about some plans/resolutions for the new year. I started by sharing that I would like to do a better job of cooking dinner at home more (eat out less) and to make sure that my kids eat healthier foods (more fruits and vegetables, less chicken mcnuggets - and just so you know...Jake is already unhappy with that one!). Anyway, I asked Addison what she thought she and Jake would like to do in the new year (I was thinking she would come up with something like learning to ride her bike without training wheels or for Jake to learn how to talk more or something like that) and she simply said, "I think my resolution will be to say "HAPPY NEW YEAR" and Jake's should be to get a haircut. So, as of January 3rd both my kids have achieved their goals for the new year - Addi yelled Happy New Year to all of us and Jake got his hair cut yesterday morning!