Tuesday, August 31, 2010

19 months

We are beginning to see glimpses of our daughter's heart. She is a tender and sweet girl. She cries when others cry and laughs when they laugh. She is quick to share her toys with other kids, and runs to give hugs to our friends when they come to visit. She doesn't like missing out on family prayer time and hugs. She reaches up to take our hands in hers saying, "Amen. Amen. Amen." Last night she was sitting on Rodney's lap saying, "Please Daddy." And when asked, "Do you love daddy?" She replied, "I do."

But it's not all hugs and smiles here in our home. We started doing "time outs" this last week, and she walks to her time-out wall, though we have a lot of work to do in this area. I did, however, hear something that sounded like "sorry" today. This realm of parenting certainly keeps me on my knees.

I am thankful everyday for this precious, sweet girl that the Lord has entrusted to us.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

in Texas limbo

I have had a couple of challenging weeks. No, I've had a challenging six months that has only shown itself in the last two weeks.

About a month ago, we learned that our time in Texas would extend for another year. Rodney's new management came down for a visit and discovered that Rodney has a pivotol role still to play for the business. Rodney and I both believe that this is truly the best decision for CAT and a good decision for our family. But that doesn't mean the news hasn't at times been hard to swallow.

I am used to transience. I lived in six states before I turned 7 and then moved overseas at the end of elementary school for a five year chunk of my life. As a result, I start to get a cabin fever of sorts after a couple of years; I become ready for new adventure. So you would think that life in a new place should come easily. It normally does.

I think the last two years have been hard because we still haven't found a church home. We loved our first church but sin destroyed the church, prompting the move to the second church. After countless attempts to find community and serve the Body, Rodney and I still feel as though we were strangers in a community where we've been involved for a year and a half.

The Lord has blessed us with a couple that have become very close and dear friends. We actually met them when they were visiting the church over a year ago and invited them over to our home. John is a worship leader and has been filling in at another church, where they now feel led to attend. We just visited two Sundays ago and felt "the fit" immediately. The preaching was excellent and Word centered, the music God honoring and glorifying, and the people are kind and tenderhearted, easy to talk to. And they have Sunday school, which we have been missing.

So that's the present news - here for another year and at a new church. I have many more thoughts, particularly about how the last two weeks have been challenging, but that will wait until another day.

Meanwhile, my sweet daughter is still awake in her crib (even though I put her down about 25 minutes ago). Below is a recent pic of her new to us table that I recently found on craigslist. She loves to sit with her books and babies!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

the pony tail and some cheese

It's been a busy week:
  • Abigail is finally getting over her cold from last week...
  • Abigail's 18month check-up -- 26 pounds! and tall! This is why when after people ask how old she is they say, "She's a big girl!"
  • Rodney and I had a quiet but sweet 4 year anniversary.
  • and Rodney is traveling again this week, which makes the week feel like a bit of a blur.

I have been meaning to sit down and really "blog" ... it will come...


"cheese!"




Tuesday, August 3, 2010

fun in the windy city (in pictures)

My hubby had a business conference in Chicago last week, so we tagged along. We got to see friends, family and spend lots of time together. So here is our week in pictures and captions!
Our sweet girl enjoyed sitting up in the window of our hotel room 20 floors up. She brought her baby along for the view. We could see Navy Pier from our room and were right on Michigan Ave...
we ventured into the city while daddy had morning and lunch meetings...

but Rodney was able to meet up with us sometimes in the afternoon!

We had daddy all to ourselves Thursday afternoon, and we walked to Navy Pier.

and went to the Sears tower (now called Willis Tower I think)...she was not afraid of heights!

Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Dave joined us on Friday afternoon, and we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the surrounding parks and good food.



we got to see more Grandparents on Saturday:)

She is a well loved little girl...


Buckingham fountain

Grandma and Grandpa

Abigail's first White Sox game!

we walked all over Chicago and enjoyed the cool breeze and shade on Lake Michigan...

and here is her 18 month picture. I can't believe that my baby is one and a half!

Our flight was very delayed coming home on Sunday, but Abigail slept in my arms all three hours of the flight, making the 3am home arrival more bearable. This was truly miraculous, as I can count on one hand the times she's fallen asleep in my arms! We had a great week seeing family and friends and are already looking forward to our next visit home.