Blessings Abound

I sit this morning thinking about all the blessings in my life. I keep hearing the song "How Great is Our God" by Chris Tomlin running through my head. I want to share with all of you just some of the things that are blessings in my life. The list could go on and on, but this is what comes to mind:

1. A God who loves me in spite of my sinful nature -- GRACE!
2. Ryan, a wonderful husband who also loves me in spite of my sinful nature :)
3. Lily Grace and Wyatt Ryan -- what would my life be without them?
4. My Mom and Dad who help me so tremendously.
5. All of my family and friends, Michigan and Illinois alike, who love me and support me in this journey called life.
6. A great friend who is a terrific example of faith in all situations.
7. A GREAT church where I am able to worship God and grow in Him.
8. A small group with people who care and challenge me in ways they don't even know.
9. The insurance in MI that covers 100% of the cost of Ryan's CF medical care!!!
10. Ryan's great job and the flexibility they offer with Ryan's health.

There are so many more blessings: a roof over my head, food on my table, a car to drive, my health... I could sit here all day and list the things I am thankful for, but I am a busy mom with two kids who are waking up :)

Thank you, God, for all your blessings in my life!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to wish everyone a very, happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your time with your family and friends and hopefully find some time to relax.

Grammy, thanks for the Thanksgiving cards.

We love them and we ask Mommy and Daddy to read them a lot!

Bubble Beards!

Lily and Wyatt have finally decided that tubbie time is a great adventure! Bubbles were the key to our success -- Wyatt gets all excited for his tubbies. Both Lily and Wyatt can hardly stand it as the tub fills up and the bubbles grow bigger and bigger.

Daily Adventures

The kids are still suffering from their colds, but the doctor says they are just colds. They did have a better day today and actually took good naps! They are both starting to talk more. In the following video, you will hear Lily say: thank you, touchdown, and all done. Wyatt says tractor. I also told them to say "cheese" when I took their pictures tonight and they both did with really cheesy grins on their faces....too cute!

(Sorry about the length and quality of the video...it wouldn't let me edit and I didn't want to have to cut out the only video with the kids sort of talking in it.)

Just Another Day?

Yesterday was an interesting day. The kids were a little "off" because Ryan was back at work after a 3 day weekend. I decided that it would be good to stay home all day and just let the kids play. I ended up putting them down for their naps a little early because they were so cranky and acting really tired. Well, they slept for about 30 minutes. There was some crying up in their cribs, but mostly it was playing and laughing. Unfortunately, Wyatt got so excited that he somehow managed to crack part of his front tooth off. I felt really bad for just leaving them up there and hoping they would go back to sleep. Thankfully, it isn't too bad and it doesn't seem to bother him.

Lily had a good day. I had my Dad switch her car seat around. She was still facing backwards because technically kids need to be at least 20 lbs. to face forward. At her 18 month appointment (4 weeks ago), she weighed 19 lbs. I honestly doubt that she is 20 lbs. because she had only gained 1lb. 3 oz. in the 3 months between check-ups. I had her switched because her legs were getting too long to fit; she was starting to push off the back seat. I am not sure if that was dangerous or not, but she was getting really mad! Now she gets mad when I take her out. :) I am happier too, because I can push my seat further back!

When Life Doesn't Make Sense

I was given news this morning that a 4th grade student from Westminster lost her fight with cancer. Death is always very sad, but when a child dies it seems so difficult to understand. I did not know Taylor or her family, but I knew her teacher and some of her friends. I have read about Taylor almost every day on her Caring Bridge Site and I was so saddened this morning to read her mom's entry. Thankfully, Taylor is no longer suffering but is now rejoicing in the arms of Jesus. Please pray for the Baum family as they deal with the loss of this little girl; pray that this family will be surrounded by the love of Christ.

You can read Taylor's story at the following site:
www.caringbridge.org/visit/taylorbaum

New Things

When we were in Illinois this past weekend we got Ryan's step stool that he had as a child. Lily and Wyatt love having it at home. Lily will push it around so she can see in the bathroom mirror. Today I put it in the kitchen and they stood looking out the window together.

Lily and Wyatt also got Halloween bags from Grandma Patty of fun "toddler" treats. It was full of things that the kids had never tried before: Gerber Graduates fruit snacks, fruit bars, and cereal bars; juice boxes, and teddy grahams. They LOVE the treats! Thanks Grandma Patty.

Head Banging and Christmas

Here are a couple new videos of the kids. I have one more on the camera that will not download and it is my favorite. Hopefully Ryan will be able to figure it out for me later.

For some strange reason, Lily and Wyatt love to hit their heads on different things. Lily especially finds this hilarious -- hope it makes you smile.

Yesterday afternoon I had the television on when the kids came down from their nap. They saw the commercial for the new Hallmark singing Christmas figure (the one on the sled) and they got super excited. Great-grandma Jean gave me the Hallmark Christmas figure two years ago for my birthday and I actually have it at the townhouse (99% of our Christmas stuff is in storage at my grandma's house). I got it out for Lily and Wyatt and they think it is GREAT! They both know how to turn it on and if you watch carefully you will see that Lily is holding hands with the snowman while he sings. It could be a long month and a half until Christmas. :)

Weekend in Illinois

We went to Illinois this weekend to celebrate both Grammy and Grandpa Steve's birthdays. We were super busy, like usual, but we had a great time. Lily and Wyatt are really starting to remember people and warm up more quickly. They both had colds for our trip, but they did great! It was so good to see a lot of friends and family, but there are so many people we don't get to see when we come back to visit. Hopefully we will be able to see more people during our longer Christmas visit!

Lily had fun reading Grammy's birthday cards with her.

Wyatt thought that Grammy was quite funny while reading books!

They both had a great time getting into trouble any way they could at Grammy's house: climbing stairs, opening cupboards, picking up breakables.

Lily and Wyatt love playing out at Grandpa Steve's. They got a special treat this visit -- Grandpa got out his tractor! Lily took 1 1/2 rides and although Wyatt LOVES tractors he would not take a ride (except on Mommy's lap). They were also able to go exploring in Grandpa's BIG yard. They both love to walk through all the leaves on the ground.


Wyatt had to have faux-hawk like Uncle Mark!

Wyatt and Lily were being goofy with the different discoveries of Grammy's cupboards. At one point, Lily was walking around carrying a can of soup under each arm. She was so proud of herself!

U of M

We have received an update on our going to the University of Michigan for Ryan's transplant evaluation. I was delighted to open up the mailbox and see that we had a packet from them. They scheduled us to go in for the appointment next week Thursday, November 8. Unfortunately they did not contact us to see if this would work and it does not. Ryan will be in Kentucky next week Wednesday through Friday (Nov. 7-9) for work. Ahhh! Ryan did call to reschedule and they have us going on Thursday, Dec. 20. They only have evaluation days twice a month and the 2nd one for November would be on Thanksgiving and the first one in December is booked. I am thankful that we now have a date scheduled and that my mind can be somewhat at ease. Please be praying that Ryan is able to start the 6 week exercise program before we go; it is my understanding that he has to complete that before he can be listed.

Getting Rid of Pollution

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: ... to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

I tend to struggle with making quiet time a priority in my life. I know that it is important, but I manage to find so many other things that are more "important". In reality, what is more important that my spiritual health and my relationship with my heavenly Father? What is more important than teaching my kids what it means to have a personal relationship with my savior? The answer is: NOTHING.

The verse above is James 1:27. James is probably my favorite book of the Bible and I have read it several times, yet yesterday was the first time I took notice of this verse. I know the best way to keep myself from being polluted by the world is to spend time with God. I just need to make sure that I am doing it.

Lily and Wyatt's 1st Jack O Lanterns

Lily and Wyatt's 1st Jack O Lanterns!

Auntie Val carved the pumpkin with the star eyes and I carved the one with the crazy mouth. Ryan was in charge of camera duty and Lily and Wyatt took care of being cute!

Wyatt and Lily experiencing the pumpkin innards for the first time!

I put a table cloth on the floor and Wyatt did NOT like that. He refused to step onto the table cloth so it took him a little while to get into the fun. Lily, of course, was in on the action right away! She was sticking her hand into the pumpkin, carrying around the "gick" and even eating the pumpkin seeds (oops). Wyatt did eventually enjoy putting his hand into the bowl of pumpkin innards and even had fun flinging it around; He too tried eating a pumpkin seed.

Enjoying the finished product.

Wyatt likes to put his fingers into the different facial openings (a little dangerous with lit candles inside). Lily likes figuring out the puzzle of putting the tops back on the pumpkins. Thankfully neither of the kids is afraid of the pumpkins and they enjoy having them lit. The continually go to the kitchen table and point at them. I think Lily would like to carry them around like she does with her little pumpkins. Kids find joy in the simplest things!

Fun Fall Films

Here are some movies of Lily and Wyatt enjoying life. I must admit that I think you will enjoy the last movie the most, but unfortunately there are two less humorous movies in front of it. Please forgive my camera work...I am not very good at filming when I am moving.

Fall Frolic

I was driving past the park today and saw all the fall leaves beginning to cover the ground. It was beautiful and I decided that I should take Lily and Wyatt to explore. Last year at this time they were only 6 months old, not exactly the age of leaf playing so this was their first experience with leaves. Oddly enough, Wyatt seemed to enjoy it more than Lily; I put him down at the park and he just took off. They would both pick up the leaves and just look at them. The awe and wonder of one year olds is a good reminder of how we should view God's world.

Indian Summer

What a beautiful weekend that God gave to us! We thoroughly enjoyed the warm weather this weekend as a family. Yesterday morning the kids and I ran a bunch of errands with Grandma. Ryan was feeling good, so we were able to have some fun family time out on the town Saturday night...Applebee's and the toy aisle at WalMart :) Today all four of us were able to go to church...3 of us ended up in nursery, but that was okay we had fun playing with the other kids. Tonight we took full advantage of the Indian summer and went to Grandma and Papa's house to swing, although Wyatt didn't want to swing and Lily was in the swing for all of 5 minutes. The kids had fun watching the neighbor's dog play frisbee. I hope that you were all able to enjoy the great weather this weekend.


Lily and Wyatt walking with Grandma and Papa, trying to get up onto the big deck.

Lily had fun touching the pine tree in the backyard and Wyatt had fun exploring with Papa.


Look out, here comes Lily! Wyatt is watching the neighbor's dog run in the yard.

18 Months and Doing Well

We just got home from the doctor and he said that both kids were "doing well". The ear infections are all cleared up -- YEAH! I shared with him my concerns about the kids lack of words. He asked if they were understanding directions, jabbering, making animal noises, etc. Since I was able to answer yes to all of those things he said that he was not concerned and that they were doing fine. They did have to get 2 shots (one being a flu shot), but now we are done with shots until they are 4.

THANK YOU, GOD, FOR OUR HEALTHY, HAPPY KIDS!!!

Here are the kids stats from today:

Lily:

19 lbs. (3%)

30 1/4 in. (10%)

Wyatt:

24 lbs. 12 oz. (30%)

33 in. (70%)

A Little Like Mommy

I have to share a funny story about Lily with you and it will be funnier to those of you who know me and my need to have everything picked up and put away.

Lily has taken to picking up every little thing that she finds on the carpet and bringing it to me to take care of. She has the innate ability to find the most minuscule crumb or fuzzy and pick it up. She is also much better at picking up toys and putting them in the right place than Wyatt is. Lily also hates having anything on her hands, she will wipe them off herself and she loves to scrub in the tub.

All that being said, today I asked her to go put her milk cup in the kitchen. She would walk to the kitchen and them come back holding the cup. The kitchen counter is still a little out of her reach, so I figured that she would just set it on the floor in there or put it on the dining room table. After about the third time of going to the kitchen and coming back with her cup I heard a weird noise. I was sitting on the couch with Wyatt and turned to see that she had opened the dishwasher and put her milk cup in there all by herself! Apparently she is a bit of a neat freak like her mommy!

Little Elephants

Okay, so I was not sure if I wanted Wyatt to be the chicken for Halloween. I decided to try the elephant costume and I think that it is better. Ryan and I thought that it would be more fun to have our own "herd of elephants". Besides, we figure that we will only be able to dress them alike for so long.

The Elephant and The Chicken

In my opinion, the laughter of children is one of the best sounds in the world; especially if you are a mom and it is the laughter of your children. I hope that you enjoy the following video of Lily and Wyatt. I hope that it makes you smile. It is filled with laughter.

The reason for the costumes is probably obvious -- Halloween. We don't plan on taking the kids trick or treating, but there is a Halloween Parade at Ryan's work and we will probably go and see their cousins. We were planning on just having Lily be a Bear's cheerleader and Wyatt be a Bear's football player because we had those outfits in the house. We didn't want to spend a lot of money on Halloween costumes that they were only going to wear for a little while, but Old Navy has them on sale. Besides...we think they are pretty cute!

Pumpkin Patch

I brought the kids to a farm stand today to see the pumpkins. Lily loved it, Wyatt did not (he still isn't feeling very well). We got some little pumpkins to bring home, but we will hopefully go with Ryan this weekend and get some bigger pumpkins to carve. Hopefully we will get better pictures of Wyatt and some of the kids together too.