Sneak Peek

We got a CD of our family pics today! Don't know if I'll ever put all of them on here. It would take too long. Maybe after we go through them some more we'll pick some of the best ones and do a slide show or something. They turned out so good considering it was really windy, I still have some "baby weight" hanging around, and we rushed to get ready with a toddler and a baby!

Church Staff Christmas Party

Since I haven't posted in a while I decided to do two posts today.

We had our church staff Christmas party last night.

It was a lot of fun. Merrae stayed at a friend's house with one of the church day care workers and two other girls. She was so excited to be there and play with new toys and two girl friends.

Matt, Matthis, and I went to the party. There are 4 other staff members who have newborn little boys. 3 out of the 5 had little red, white, and black plaid shirts on (including Matthis). It was cute seeing them all dressed the same. It was also comforting seeing and hearing their babies. It made me feel like I'm not alone in this challenging newborn stage of life.

The food was catered by "Babe's Chicken". It was so good. Chicken fried steak, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cream styled corn, salad, and bisquits. Several of the staff had made desserts. My favorite was a buttermilk pie and homemade whip cream made by our worship leader. YUMMY!

We had a white elephant and normal gift exchange where you bring one of each, pull a number, and as your number is called you get to pick out a present not knowing if you'd be getting a normal one or white elephant one. Or, you can "steal" a gift from someone else that you want and that person has to pick a new one. A gift can be stolen 3 times before it is frozen.

We had some fun gifts go through our hands before they were SO RUDELY : ) stolen. I had stolen a reindeer that pooped jelly beans (for my brother John....so appropriate if you know him) and a santa that grew hair (for my brother Mark who has no hair). But, they were stolen from me. Darn. We also had some movie tickets that were stolen, and an I-tunes card that was stolen. We ended up with a coffee press (not bad) and a white elephant motorized ice cream cone. You put the ice cream in and it rotates it for you while you lick. Pretty funny.

The white elephant gift we brought was a CD we made called "Russiasian Christmas" and it was Matt singing Christmas carols in a different language he called "Russiasian". I did back ground vocals. Sooo funny. Thankfully someone who could appreciate it got it.

We love the church staff Matt gets to work with. They are so much fun and love God/ Jesus Christ with all their hearts. We are so blessed and consider the people in our church "our other family". It'd be that way anywhere we were members of too. All those who follow Christ are brothers and sisters. Family. That's nice to have when you aren't able to be with your regular family all the time.

Family Pictures and a Random Phone Call

We got family pics taken yesterday by a friend of ours at church. Hope they turn out good! We should get a CD of them tomorrow.

When we got home from doing that we received a phone call from an apartment complex nearby. They had our info somehow and asked if we were still looking for an apartment. I don't remember ever checking into this place many months back when we were trying to find a 3 bedroom apartment. But, anyhow, I guess they were desperate for new tenants and he made it sound worthwhile to go check them out. Our lease here isn't up until the end of March and we are hoping to have enough money saved up for a down payment on a house. We are squeezed into a 2 bedroom apartment right now. It's working just fine but we are starting to feel on top of each other lately.

Anyhow, we have been praying about where God would have us live and that He would open something up, give us the money, etc. He has been providing TONS of work for Matt and we are trying to tuck as much away as possible. It's been comforting watching God open things up for us financially.

We don't want to start looking for a house until enough money is in the bank. When we got this phone call and went out today we started thinking maybe this is God's plan for us....kind of a stepping stone. All of the other 3 bedrooms we've checked into in the past were what you'd be paying for a house payment. These apartments were much cheaper, very new, and only a little more than what we are paying for our apartment now. We are getting a really good deal too.

There is a playground and a theater open until 10 every night that looked great for Matt to have his "Filmosaic" meetings in (his independent film group). It's also real close to where we are living now and there is a Market Street grocery store opening up right down the road from it (kind of like Central Market). There is also a mall (where we can do our power walking), a Wal-Mart, and a donut shop! Whoo Hoo! We were surprised to find out the complex takes Great Dane's. Most apartments in this area do not (which is silly if you ask me. They are so docile).

We'll see what happens. It's just nice knowing there are options and that God has this back up plan for us should we feel like we need more space before we can afford the house. Merrae seemed like she really liked it too.

Shots

Took Matthis for his 2 month check up today even though he's 2 months and 3 weeks. : ) I had been reading a book about immunizations by Dr. Sears called "The Vaccine Book" that a friend told me about. There's so much controversy about shots these days due to different things. It's an interesting book. The author is not against immunizations, he just recommends spreading them out so your child doesn't get as much aluminum at one time.

I just got the book and I felt like I was cramming for an exam. I didn't get to study it the way I wanted to so I prayed and asked God to give us wisdom and protection. I even had held off on a few of Merrae's shots her last two visits I was so concerned.

Thankfully God has given us a pediatrician who is older, experienced, and who takes the time to deal with our concerns. She even looked at the book, read the schedule Dr. Sears suggested and agreed to follow it with us to put our minds at ease.

I'd rather air on the cautious side. So, today Matthis had 2 shots out of the 4 that she normally does. He had the DTap and Rotateq. Merrae had 2 shots....chicken pox and flu. She said she didn't mind waiting on MMR until she is a bit older.

We'll go back in a month to do Prevnar and HIB and in another month after that we'll do some others. We're spacing them out.

Merrae hadn't had shots in a while so she didn't know what to expect. I told her it was going to pinch and even pinched her arm so she'd know what I was talking about. Still didn't prepare her very well. She screamed and cried so hard. Poor baby. She didn't want those bandaids on at all afterwards. She pulled them off in a hurry. I think it was a pretty good experience for her though even though it hurt. She now knows what to expect and that it's over fast. She also got a sticker and saw that Matthis had to get shots too. Matthis was asleep when they gave him his and he cried for a few seconds but it wasn't a big deal at all, thank goodness.

Glad all that is over with and we came to a resolution with our doctor. Thank you God for working things out and giving us wisdom, putting our minds at ease.

I was also happy to find out that the med. we have Matthis on for reflux doesn't have aluminum in it.

Here's Matthis' stats for those that care...
13 lbs. 7 oz 70th %
24 1/2 in. 80%
Head 41.2 cm 55%

She said he looks good! (Mom, Merrae's ears looked good too)

Sad

We just found out Matt's brother and family are moving away from our area. My sister-in-law, Jamie, is accepting a position in Memphis at St. Jude's Children's Cancer Ist. They live about 35 min. away right now and we don't see them too much but it's just nice knowing they are nearby. You don't realize how much you take things for granted sometimes. They plan on moving as soon as their house sells or at the end of the school year.

So sad......

We love it here but sure miss family. Maybe they will soon see the light and move where we are!!!!!! : ) HINT HINT HINT

8 Hours

Well, believe it or not, I got 8 hours of sleep last night! Pretty close to the 12 I was hoping for! :) Of course the sleep was split into segments but it happened! Matt took Matthis out of the room this morning for me so I could sleep another couple of hours. What a wonderful husband. I'm so blessed. I never want to take him for granted. God answered my prayers that I started praying back in high school for a husband. God is so good.

Today has been fun so far. I put Merrae down for a nap at 12 and she played in there for 2 hours then finally went to sleep an hour ago. So, I've had just Matthis (who has been sleeping) and I've been partying it up!!!!!!!!!!

We put up our Christmas decorations last night. We put up our Christmas lights outside the night before. Merrae keeps taking baby Jesus from our glass nativity and carrying Him around. I found him in her little train car this morning. So cute and neat that she wants to play with Him. I'm really trying to instill in her that Christmas is Jesus' birthday this year since she is so moldable right now. I'm becoming more and more aware of just how much she is influenced by the things I do. Makes me want to live focused on God constantly so I set a good example.

Today we are going to a local resort with another friend and her little girl to see decorations and tonight there will be a parade with Christmas floats for Merrae to see...downtown on Main Street.

SLEEP

I wish I could sleep 12 hours tonight......... But it's not going to happen. : )