the Sleep Wars

Sleeping as never been a big issue for Amelia. She has always slept well at night and goes down without much fuss. Truly, we have been blessed with such an easy, laid back baby. However, lately this hasn't been the story. Although sleeping through the night is still normal, PRAISE GOD, but getting her down for both naps and bedtime is an increasingly harder task. In part, because she wants to do nothing but see what's going on with things and the new crawling doesn't help.

Her screams and fights when time to sleep have me reaching the depths of myself for patience to figure out what to do next. She doesn't relax, so just rocking her won't help because it just turns into a wrestling match. Sigh, it's been a struggle. And she used to be great at going to sleep in other places than her own crib, but again, her desire to be in everything has caused that to stop. So then I'm dealing with an overtired bug.

Letting her scream herself to sleeps sounds good in theory, yes, but it seems to only add fuel to the fire. It is nice to know that, much like everything else in parenting, is a trial and error process. I know and trust the Lord with provide sufficient grace to grant me the patience I need in my fight. And eventually ...

She WILL fall asleep...

Our shopping spree

So Saturday we decided to proclaim it "See how much money we can spend in one day ..."

For quite some time we've been talking and looking at getting a big "L" desk. Currently, we are just using a spare dinning room table. Although it provides us with ample space, it does not have drawers and cabinets for all the stuff we might need them for which makes that "ample" space less available for studying, reading, computering... so we finally decided to get it.

Also, with warm weather steadily approaching we are in need of our first mower. so, purchase number two. THEN, we are finally doing something with our sunroom. Right now it is such an eye sore. Looking forward to some big patio chairs and some color to spend summer evenings together out there. (I'll make sure to post before and after pictures)

I was able to spend the afternoon with my good friend from college doing some shopping and lunch. It was great to check up and hang out. To top off the spending spree, we got UFC fights on Pay-per-view to watch with my sister and brother-in-law. Love it!

We have, however, got calls about "suspicious" spending on our card... HA!

Looking forward to new house projects and I'm pretty sure we can't spend any money for several months ;)

On your mark, get set ...

GO!

Amelia has officially started to crawl, squirm, and inch her way forward. It has been a long time coming and it will be interesting to see what kind of trouble she can get herself into. She is also eating new things every day, sleeping much better, and chatters all the time. We are enjoying this age!

James left for a short business trip today and it only makes me thankful that he doesn't have to do this often. Glad he is only gone for a few days and pray he is safe to and from Atlanta...

Bath time fun ...

It's so funny the things she thinks are hilarious...

Basketball!!!

2nd only to the NFL playoffs, March Madness has arrived!!! Last year we did brackets with my sister and brother-in-law... and I beat them all. This year, I plan to repeat. Looking forward to the next couple weeks!

On a related note, Uncle Michael and the Danville Warriors won regionals and have semi-state coming up. We drove to Shelbyville twice in one day to watch both nail-biting games. We got to see some family and old friends, as well as sweating (literally) through the intense games. It's been fun to go watch them play this year being so good... quite reminiscent of some football seasons my high school years. We are proud of Michael and looking forward to Saturday... Good Luck, Michael!

Footloose

Footloose was good and we enjoyed getting out.

Amelia and Ellie playing before we left

Waiting for the show to start

Julia and Landon

Thanks Nana and Papa for watching the kids and the tickets!

Hump day...

It's only Wednesday and it feels like it should be at least Friday by now. I've been in this awful funk all week... not sure why... and all I want to do stay in my pjs and be lazy, which doesn't work with a 7 month old. BUT tonight we are going to Beef and Boards with my sister and brother-in-law. My parents got us tickets and are babysitting the 3 weasels. Looking forward to a middle of the week date night.

Maybe this is just what I need to get some energy back ...

Spring is coming...

It was another good weekend, and the weather was so refreshing. Even though it's still not that warm, above 40 and sunny was a special treat. I took a walk for like 45 minutes on Saturday and it was amazing.

James's grandparents were up this weekend for Uncle Michael's sectional games. It was good to see them and catch up. Looking forward to warmer weather to visit them on the lake. We spent Friday and Saturday night at the High school watching Uncle Michael win sectionals which was fun. Amelia did well even though they were late nights. She even got a picture with her uncle afterwards.

We also got some exciting news on Friday... Luke (James's brother) got engaged! We are so excited for them to start their lives together. And I'm excited for another sister.

We finished the weekend like usual worshiping at church. We taught this week for the 3-4 years olds... out of control. They are awesome but even with only 6 things can get out of control. We got to tell them about Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall.

Looking forward to the week ahead.

My first Ponytail

Check out my new hair-do...

Weekend Wonders

I got a much needed break this weekend. On Friday night, I rode up to Chicago with my sister. She had a conference to attend Saturday so I got to be her car buddy. It was nice to just relax and take my time getting up and ready. Having time to myself to shower, read, etc. was refreshing. And I'm pretty sure I ate out for every meal last weekend. wow... Thanks to my wonderful husband who stayed at home to watch Amelia, who was up every two hours.

We got our first letter from our girl we are sponsoring in Indonesia. I am looking forward to supporting and praying for her and seeing what God has in store for all of us through this process.

We are doing a study in small group called Gripped by the Greatness of God and this week we are reading Isaiah 40 talking about His awesomeness. How mighty and big is our God.

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength." 40:28-29

Praise be to the God of the Universe! What a blessing to know He is seated on the throne.