bits 'n pieces

New Blog

I don't have much time, but I wanted to take a moment to let you know that my big sis, Shawn, has designed a new blog in WordPress for me.  I have yet to figure out exactly how to use it, but I think that it is pretty cool and I hope to be posting to it soon. 

Here is the new link to my new page so that you can check out my new look.  I can't take ANY credit for this at all.  The coolness and everything else is courtesy of my big sis, Shawn.  So, please check out my new site and don't forget to change the address in your bloglines or any other subscription service you may use.  I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to posting to it soon.     http://www.auntiepea.com/bitsnpieces

Have a great evening!

The results are in...

I received the phone call this morning from the specialists office.  And, just as we planned and expected, the baby is FyA positive.  That means that the baby has Dan's blood and more importantly, NOT mine.  So, we are starting the journey of amnio's every 4 weeks.  If it goes like last time, it will be more like every 2 weeks.  I had already rescheduled my amnio for this Thursday at 3:30 with the hopes that I would be able to cancel it.  That's not going to happen, but it is probably for the best anyway.  I'm sure on Thursday I will get a better idea of how often they think I will need to have the amnios.  We'll also be able to figure out a good schedule for delivery.  Then I'll have to coordinate that with my regular doc.  I have a pretty good idea when it will be, but it all depends on scheduling it with the doc and the hospital.  It will definitely be nice to have a specific date to look forward to. 

So, we are wrapping up our long and lazy weekend here at the Hower household.  It's been nice just to hang out at home and not have a huge list of things to do.  We did go shopping for our fake Christmas tree this weekend.  I have always done a real tree in the past, but it always had to be a frasier fir which are about $25-30 around here.  They are definitely the most beautiful and softest christmas trees I have ever known.  But that price is just outrageous.  So, I am spending the big bucks this year, but it should only take a few years to have itself paid off when you figure $25/yr for a real tree.  Besides, I won't have to worry about the nasty needles being all over my house.  Kylie can't wait for us to put the tree up.  We could have done it this weekend, but I wasn't ready to get all my Christmas stuff up from the basement and decorate.  That may be our upcoming weekend task. 

Well, I have a busy week ahead of me.  Lots of church stuff this week.  My life group is meeting on Wednesday night and then I have a children's ministry meeting on Thursday night.  I'm sure this weekend will just fly by.  I probably won't have time to check in with you all until Friday.  I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to hearing from you.

Long Weekend

It's hard to believe that it is only Friday of this weekend and I don't have to get back to work until my normal Tuesday.  So much I probably could do, but it is cold and snowy in MI and I just want to stay in my warm house and do nothing.  The kids have been pretty laid back the last few days - a little sick - just wanting to watch videos and cuddle on the couch.  I'm not complaining at all because neither of my girls are not much for cuddling (I'll take it when I can). 

Wednesday night started my Thanksgiving happenings.  I had a Thanksgiving Eve service at our church that I had to work in the nursery for.  We had a joint service with a Spanish speaking church that uses our building every Sunday after our two services.  It was very neat to see and feel the two community's worshipping God and being thankful together. 

Thursday morning was a "normal" morning since we didn't have to be to my MIL until noonish for lunch.  Me and the girls watched the Macy's Parade.  The girls like to see all the balloons and kids floats and I just like to watch all the fanfare in New York.  After the parade we headed over to the in-laws for a traditional Thanksgiving lunch and watched the Lions-Packers game.  After lunch we headed back home to get the girls down for naps.  Then we did absolutely nothing at night.  Normally we would have celebrated Thanksgiving night at the local roller skating rink with my extended family & friends, but they closed this year so we won't be doing that anymore.  I tried to think of something fun to do, but nothing really jumped out at me.  I thought about going to the Bee Movie or go bowling, but I think that both of those things are a little advanced for our 3 yr old and 1 1/2 yr old.  At least, I can't justify spending that kind of money for something they won't enjoy all that much.  Oh well, we stayed inside and had fun anyway.  I guess we will look for new traditions to start in the next few years when the girls will be able to enjoy them more. 

Today has been a very boring day.  I have gotten a few little "housekeeping" things done that have been put off for quite a while.  But by this afternoon I was ready to get out of the house for a little while.  So, we had lunch and all got ready and headed over to the in-laws again to say hi to a relative from the U.P.  It was just nice to get out of the house for an hour.  Now we are back home for naps and I am doing nothing but catching up on blog posting and blog reading (I'm not in the mood to comment so I have just visited your sites, sorry!).  I'm not a shopper at all, so I have NO desire to get out and battle the crazy crowds.  There are things that I would like to go out and get because we need them and I have a husband home to watch the girls, but I don't need the stress of shopping.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get out to some of the stores and take care of some things on my list.  For those who don't know me well enough, I am not talking about Christmas gifts.  I don't even like to think about shopping for Christmas until I absolutely HAVE to.  I can never make up my mind about what to buy so I wait until I am forced to make a decision and then deal with the consequences.  It's probably a bad attitude to have about Christmas shopping, but it stems from a deep hatred for shopping in general. 

So, we don't have much planned for the rest of the weekend either.  Sunday will be a busy day because we have church in the morning and then we are going to my family to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of them.  I'm looking forward to that meal - my mom is an awesome cook.  Then, we made plans with one of my best friends to do dinner at night.  There will be a lot of eating on Sunday.  :) 

I had my amnio scheduled for Tuesday, but as of Wednesday this week, the results had not come back from the first one so I rescheduled it for next week Thursday.  I figured there was no sense going to work on Monday and my amnio on Tuesday if we didn't know for sure whether or not another amio would be necessary.  Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday I will know if I have to have the rest of the amnios.

This is getting really long, but I will leave you with my latest LO, which of course is a desktop.  Didn't have many pics to choose from for November so they aren't great pics, but it's better than nothing.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving Day weekend! 

Too much for a title

It seems like forever since I have been able to post or even read most of your blogs.  I certainly haven't had much time for commenting even if I have visited.  Sorry 'bout that!  So much has happened since I last posted, that I don't even know where to begin. 

Halloween went well.  We went out with our old neighbors on the golf carts thru a big subdivision behind our old house.  The girls had lots of fun.  Kylie was Snow White and Kennedy was a UofM cheerleader.  They went from door to door saying "trick or treat" and saying thank you for the great treats.  It sprinkled a little bit, but all in all it was fun.  After that we went to my in-laws and got the kids goodie bags from them and showed off the costumes.  It ended up being a late night for the girls and for us - I still had to pack for Jamaica. 

Thursday we headed out for Jamaica.  We had 3 flights so it ended up being a very long day.  But when we got to Jamaica and got thru customs, we had a nice lounge to get a drink and wait for our shuttle to the resort.  When we got to the resort, we met our friends that were getting married and the vacation began.  They were kind enough to pay for our rooms to be upgraded which was really nice since the building that we would have been was right next to a new hotel/resort going in right next door and they work thru the night in Jamaica.  We had a really nice room and a great time with our friends.  The weather was alright.  It was hot & humid starting as soon as the sun came up.  Then it rained every day in the afternoon or evening.  That was alright with me because it gave me an excuse to rest in our room - that's what vacation is all about for me.  The wedding went off without a hitch and it was a beautiful sunshiny day.   We left the island on Monday morning and it ended up being another VERY long day.  The 3 flights we had coming back home were pretty much all bad (bad weather, I think).  Our 2nd flight left late and we ended up having to RUN like mad to get to our next flight (not what I call stress free travel - especially being pregnant).  And to add to the stress, we wanted to get home to see our girls because we had gotten word when we arrived back in the states that they had come down with hand-foot-mouth disease the day we left.  It's not a serious virus or anything, but I felt bad that our family members had to take care of the girls when they felt miserable.  They all survived and handled the situation probably as good or better than I would have.  It was so good to get back home and sleep in our own bed. 

The pregnancy is going well.  We are just playing the waiting game to get our results back from the amnio.  This baby girl is as active as Kylie was.  Kennedy was not very active in utero - possibly a result of the antibody attacking her blood.  Anyway, when this baby is active she is very active.  I am trying not to get my hopes up about what the results are going to be, but it is hard because of different signs (too complicated to list here).  I am prepared for the whole amnio ritual, but it would be a huge blessing to not have to do them.  The other day I was thinking about this pregnancy and found myself feeling good and actually glad that the amnio phase is here.  I can deal with the amnios, I just had a really hard time with feeling miserably sick.  So, I am glad to be at a point where I don't feel like I have much to complain about.  There's always room to complain, but right now things are good.  We haven't really come up with any names yet for this little girl.  I have one that is stuck in my mind, but Dan doesn't really care for it.  I guess if we can't find one that we are both in love with then I will probably get to pick the name.  But, for now we will keep our eyes, ears and minds open. 

I'm looking forward to a fairly laid-back weekend.  We've got the big U of M vs Ohio State game on Saturday that we are sure to be watching.  This has been a great year for College football.  Our U of M season didn't start out all that great, but it has turned out to be a fairly decent year.  I can honestly say that no matter who wins the game tomorrow, it will be a great game.  Of course, I am a Michigan fan thru and thru, so I hope that Michigan can pull off an incredible win and become the Big 10 Champions.  If they win against Ohio State, they will definitely deserve the Championship and the trip to the Rose Bowl.  And then there's the NASCAR race on Sunday.  I am a HUGE Jeff Gordon fan so I hope that he can make a come back and win the Nextel Cup Championship.  But, my number 2 driver is Jimmie Johnson so I would also be happy if he wins the championship.  All in all, it's going to be a great sports weekend.  I haven't always been a sports fan, but I think it's cool that my hubby has converted me to enjoying these two sports because we can watch them and talk about them with eachother.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to this big sports weekend. 

Well, I better finalize this because it is getting way too long.  Most of you have probably already checked out.  I hope to get some pics of the wedding up this weekend.  I may even work on my November desktop.  I know that November is already half done, but if I don't do it, I will get out of the habit of scrappin'. 

I hope you all have a great weekend!

This 'n That

I know it's not much of a title, but I have a little bit of everything going on today.   I guess if I posted daily, it wouldn't include so much information and I could probably come up with more creative titles. 

First of all, thank you to all of you with your encouraging words.  I am definitely getting past the disappointment and sadness about having another girl.  I can't say that I am excited about it yet, but I'm getting closer.  It's nice to know that I am not the only one who has felt this way and that I'm not being judged because I do feel this way.  So, thank you all!

Things have been a little crazy around our house the last week or so.  We had so much going on and on top of that the girls were sick.  I finally took them to the doctor on Friday to have them checked out.  It turns out that Kennedy really was sick and had to be put on a nebulizer for a few days to clear up her lungs.  I hope and pray that she doesn't come down with a permanent asthma condition - this weekend was a nightmare trying to give her her breathing treatments.  I truly sympathize with anyone who has a child with this condition.  I'm sure that the child gets used to having the treatments, but Kennedy pretty much fought every waking treatment I had to give her so we tried to do most of them during naps or sleeping.  Kylie wasn't too bad, but the doctor said that it wouldn't hurt for her to do a couple treatments as well.  Kylie didn't mind them a bit, I think that she did them so that she didn't get left out.  I took Kennedy back to the doctor for a re-check last night and the doctor said that we can cut back to 2 treatments a day for 2-3 days and then stop them altogether.  So, it looks like we will have a normal weekend again.  Of course, now I have to fight off the same cold before we leave for Jamaica.

I'm starting to stress a little bit about leaving on vacation.  So much to do, so little time.  My little sis, Manda, gave me a bag of her summer maternity clothes to try on and I haven't gotten around to trying them on.  I know that she always has the cutest stuff so I am sure they are super cute, but I just have to sort thru them to figure out what to wear down in Jamaica.  That's another thing too, I haven't even begun to think about packing.  I am such a last minute packer, but I know that I won't have much time after Monday.  Right now, I am planning on doing all my packing on Monday since that is my day off.  I have to pack for both of us, so it's a little bit more work to figure out what both of us are going to wear.  Although, Dan doesn't care that much and he'll wear pretty much whatever I pack and tell him to wear.  I stress more about what I am going to wear that I do about him (he'd wear the same outfit every day).  I also need to work on printing a schedule/list for the adults that are taking care of my girls.  All of our sitters are very well qualified and know the girls well enough to not need a daily schedule for them, but I want all of them to have each other's contact information so that they can coordinate the pick up and drop off times with each other.  It's funny that I worry so much about this before I leave, but when I am gone, I don't think that I even worry for a second about how they are doing and if things are going well.  I miss them when we are gone, but I don't worry about them.  Now that I am posting this, I think I need to check with Shawny about getting one of her awesome to-do list templates.  That might help ease my stress - I do well with to-do lists.  I did get my dress for the wedding part of the vacation and it seems to fit pretty good.  Now all I need to do is figure out how to make the dress less see-thru and get some shoes/sandals to match.  If anyone has any ideas, I am open to them (shoes or slip).  :)

Good things to come. . . We are doing our annual family pumpkin carving party on Saturday night.  I have such fond memories of these events when I was child.  We would all carve our pumpkins and then line them up for Grandpa to judge them.  I think the winner received a dollar or something small like that, but I remember Grandpa making a big deal of EVERY one of the creations.  I don't know how he picked a favorite because he knew how important it was to make sure that everyone realized that he thought all of them were special.  Great memories of a man who has been gone so long yet I can remember those feelings like they were yesterday.  Our modern day pumpkin carving parties are not near as large and we don't judge the pumpkins, but we do set them all up for display and take a picture of all of them lit up in the dark of the night.  I will try to get pics of the pumpkins all lined up so that you can get a glimpse of how much fun we have at these events. 

Then, I have my first amnio on Monday afternoon and oddly enough, I am looking forward to it.  We won't have results for a few weeks, but we are one step closer to being able to plan the rest of the pregnancy.  It will just be nice to know if I have to go thru all the amnios again or if I will blessed enough to only have the one amnio.  I'm not stressing about this one at all, it's just one of those things that will be nice to have an answer to.  Especially when people who know me ask me if I know anything yet.  It will be nice to be able to answer them with a real answer instead of saying, "I don't know, we haven't even had the amnio yet."  Now I'll be able to say that we've had the amnio and we have to wait a few weeks for the results (just one step closer). 

Wednesday is Halloween and we have made it our annual "trick-or-treat" event to go out with our old neighbors.  Before we moved, we went out with them on their golf carts thru a large subdivision right behind our house.  It was so much fun that we kinda made it a tradition.  The bummer is that this year I found out that one of the golf carts is on the fritz and they aren't sure that they can fix it before Halloween.  I hope that they can, but if they can't, maybe we'll go to one of the local churches and get our candy fix there.  I'm not much in the mood for walking around a big subdivision when it will likely be Michigan cold & rainy/snowy.  Besides, we have to get to bed early Wednesday night so that we can get up bright and early to drop the girls off at the sitters and get to the airport on time.  **starting to stress just thinking about that week**

Well, I think that sums up my thoughts.  I really need to work on getting things in order before our vacation.  I'm getting back to work now so I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!

The News

Hi all,

I only have time for a quick post because I have a splitting headache and I want to take a little nap or at least rest my eyes while the girls are doing the same.  We had our 20 week ultrasound today and the baby looks great.  Good steady heartbeat, cute toes and fingers, and all the other important things that they look for at this stage.  That's the great news!  The other news isn't really bad, but I am a little sad about it.  The ultrasound gave us a very clear picture between the legs and it's a GIRL.  Yep, that will make 3 girls and our family complete.  I wish I didn't feel so disappointed and sad, but I guess that is part of being human.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I really really really REALLY wanted a boy.  There are so many reasons why I wanted a boy - too many to really right down.  Of course, as any good mom, I am happy and grateful that this baby girl has all the important things to make it healthy.  I know that God's plans are bigger than mine and that they are PERFECT.  I also know that eventually I will be excited about having another girl - it may take a few months, but I'll get there.  There are obvious financial reasons why having a girl is a good thing (hand-me-downs, not having to re-paint the bedrooms, etc).  It's hard for me to explain how I am feeling.  Happy the baby is healthy.  Sad/disappointed that it is not a boy.  I'm not angry with God for not "granting my wishes," but I just wish that He had.  Alright, enough of my little tantrum.  Time to start being grateful for a healthy baby and start praying for this little girl to have momma's blood instead of daddy's blood.  :)  I'm not getting my hopes up though. 

On a positive note, it's my parents anniversary today.  Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Our anniversary is tomorrow and I am getting a pedicure.  I also have to find some sunless tanning lotion so that I don't look like an albino.  If anyone has a good suggestion for a good but affordable sunless tanning lotion or spray, let me know. 

I hope you all have a great week!

New LO & Thank You's

My first thank you is to Shabby Princess for posting another montly desktop.  Without her, I don't think that I would be doing any scrappin'.  Of course, I am not so sure that my kiddos are going to appreciate LO's with dates to remember and a monthly calendar.  LOL.  Anyway, it is keeping me interested in the scrappin thing so that is a HUGE accomplishment - baby steps.  So, without further ado, here is my October desktop.  The pics are from our trip to Crane's Orchard and one of the frequent wagon rides around the back yard. 

My second thank you goes out my my big sis, Shawny (aka Auntie Pea).  She's got a new blog design/location so check it out by clicking on the above link.  I just saw it today so I hope that she doesn't mind me giving the link to it.  Back to my thank you.  I've been meaning to say thanks for a couple weeks now since she gave me this awesome gift.  To most people it might not be a big deal, but to me it is huge.  I've been meaning to get the Casting Crowns album since before it came out.  I am just a procrastinator on things that I don't consider "necessary" or things that cost money.  Well, she got the album for me and I absolutely LOVE it.  If you haven't heard of them, check out their website.  They are probably my ALL TIME FAVORITE Christian band.  I just love that their music is so genuine and honest.  I think that all of their songs remind me that God loves me for who I am and that there is absolutely nothing that can change it.  Anywho, I just want to give Shawn a big public thanks for giving me something that just lifts me up. 

I haven't posted in a while so I suppose I should give a little update on how things are going in our household.  Not a whole lot has changed - pretty much the same routine.  On Monday we go to have the ultrasound and hopefully find out if we are having a boy or girl.  I'm really excited just to find out.  We are taking Kylie with us because I think that she will find it to be really cool - she'll be fun to watch.  On Tuesday, Dan and I will be married for 8 years.  WOW - the time has flown by and so much has changed in our life since that day.  We have had our ups and downs as all couples do, but overall I am really glad to have him as my husband and best friend for life.  The funny thing about our anniversary is that Dan will be watching the girls while I go to get a pedicure with my friend April.  We will probably celebrate next weekend, but for sure when we go to Jamaica to watch our friends get married.  The next couple weeks are going to be really crazy with doctor appointments and getting things ready for our vacation.  I'm starting to stress a little bit about everything.  And I am hoping that is the reason I am having headaches and really bad back pain.  I feel like I am a becoming a regular pill popper lately.  This pregnancy has got me taking more prescription meds than I have taken my entire life.  I suppose I could give another thank you to my boss for offering such great health insurance. 

Well, I think that pretty much covers the haps for now.  I'm sure that I will be back on Monday afternoon to post about the ultrasound.  I'm horrible at keeping secrets - which is why I never try to keep the sex of our baby a secret.  So, I hope you all have a great weekend and we'll see you on the flipside.   

A Personal Challenge

I've been wanting to post about some things that have been on my mind lately in regards to religion.  Our church is in the middle of a new series called "Making room for Life."  You can check out our church's website at www.vpm.org.  They do have sermon mp3's online if you want to listen.  Kennedy used to have her picture in the slideshow on the mainpage, but I didn't see it there today.  It was quite possibly the cutest pic on the website.  Not that I have any biases towards her or anything.  {wink*wink}
 

Not too long ago our leadership team spent lots of time in study and prayer in order to re-define what we believe God's mission is for our church.  Here is what they came up with: "To make followers of Christ who are committed to a lifelong pursuit of loving God and loving people."  I find this to be a simple but profound statement of what our goal is at Victory Point Ministries.  And of course, when a new mission statement is developed, it shows up in almost every sermon.  This past Sunday's teaching was no different than most of our sermons, it kinda hit home.  It wasn't necessarily about the mission statement, but the mission statement was mentioned often, and it really got me thinking about it and trying to understand it better.  In order to understand it better, I have to break it down into smaller sections.  The first section is about making followers of Christ.  Our main goal as Christian's is to spread the good news - work hard at making sure that ALL people hear the amazing story of Jesus.  The second part is about making follower of Jesus who are COMMITTED. It is important to be committed to our relationship with God.  We can't just make followers of Christ and then leave 'em hangin' without further instruction and help.  We need to encourage one another and help each other grow closer to God and each other. 

The last part could be broken down into 3 parts, but I first want to look at it as a whole, "with a lifelong pursuit of loving God and loving people".  That's what the Christian faith/journey is supposed to be about.  A never-ending journey, a lifelong pursuit.  That statement says to me that I will never fully reach complete maturity or ever finish the race until I die.  What a relief that is to me - I don't have to worry so much about being the perfect Christian or about doing all the right things.  All I have to do is keep running the race and working on becoming more like Jesus Christ.  God is well aware of my imperfections and flaws and everything else and He understands that I am trying to become more like His Son, but that I will never get there until He fully redeems me in eternity.  I serve a loving, caring and understanding God who knows me better than I know myself.  He knows when I can do better and when I have given it my all.  How awesome is that?!  The next part describes what our job is as a follower of Christ.  Jesus is the perfect example of this.  He demonstrated perfectly what it means to love God and love people.  If we look to his life as an example, we should clearly see what God expects of us.  This past Sunday, our pastor focused on how "loving God and loving people" is all about relationships.  First, we love God, which is a personal relationship with Him.  That personal relationship looks different for everyone.  I love how our pastor said that "relationships can sometimes be messy", why would our relationship with God be any different than our human relationships?  Not everyone is going to look the same - God didn't intend for us to look the same and to have the same relationship.  His entire purpose for creating us is so that He can have a relationship with us.  He doesn't care if it's neat or messy - He just wants to be in relationship with us.  Second to creating us for His own pleasure and to be in relationship, He also created other humans for us to be in relationship as well.  Our pastor mentioned that in the story of creation (Genesis 1-2), it is clear that after God saw all that He had created in the Heavens and on the Earth, it was all good and He was pleased.  However, after God created man, He said that something was NOT good.  He saw that Adam would need a helper or companion to be in relationship with, so he created a woman.  He said that it was not good for man to be alone.  He created man to be in relationship with Him and saw that it was important for man to be in relationship with others as well.  That's where the loving people comes in.  God created us to be in relationship with one another and He sent Jesus to show us what that love relationship is supposed to look like.  The Bible is filled with stories about how Jesus loved other people.  And not just the chosen people of God, but every person.  In fact, I don't know the Bible inside and out, but I am pretty confident that there is not even ONE person that Jesus didn't or wouldn't love.  He loved and was in relationship with some of the biggest outcasts in society.  His followers were constantly shocked by the types of people He would be in relationship with.  Jesus loved and reached out to tax-collectors, prostitutes, the sick, you name it, He hung out with 'em.  That is what we as Christians are to do as well.  We are called to be in relationship with one another, go thru life together, get down & dirty with one another, however you want to say it, we are meant to be together and encourage one another. 

This is where my challenge comes in.  I personally don't hang out with the so-called social outcasts.  One of the areas that I have been challenged in is to hang out with and be in relationship with people I wouldn't normally hang out with.  I can't say that I have done that yet.  Another area I have been challenged in is to be in relationship with other Christians.  Other believers can help us along our journey.  They are supposed to be a safety net or a place where we can share openly & honestly and learn more about God and our relationship with Him.  I must admit that since my last group went different directions, I haven't been real diligent in finding another group to be involved with.  My biggest challenge right now is working on the relationships that I am currently involved in.  I don't know what that means or even what that looks like, but I know that it is something I need to work on.  I keep searching for what God is asking me to do in my relationships.  How can I be a better wife, mom, daughter, sister, employee, etc...?  What does it mean to love the people that I am currently in relationship with?  Right now I feel like a lot of my relationships are messy and not always all that loving (hopefully that will change).  I know that God is a gracious God and that He understands where I am at and what I am going thru.  I also know that the closer I get to Him, the more love I can receive from Him and as a result I will have more love to dish out.  God doesn't fill us up for us to keep it to ourselves, He fills us up so that His love will overflow into the lives of  those around us. 

Well, that got much longer than I anticipated.  It's probably a good thing God never called me to be a pastor or a speaker.  I can get a little long winded.  :)  In fact, I even had more stuff I wanted to blog about, but now this one has gotten way too long.  If you are still reading, thanks for listening to what God has been laying on my heart.  Maybe tomorrow I can post some more light-hearted stuff that I've been thinking about.   

Cool Stuff on the Web

I just received an e-mail with this amazing video.  I think that it is so cool that this kinda stuff is also out there on the WWW.  This is a video of what I would call artists interpreting a song called "Who Am I" by one of my favorite Christian bands, Casting Crowns.  Click on the next link if you want to watch the video:  Casting Crowns Video.

And, not too long ago, I received this cute video too. 

I'm sure you have seen it, but I find it completely adorable and wondering how on earth she has memorized all that at such a young age.  It just goes to show how impressionable our youth are. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my quick post.  These are two things that I found to be really cool and amazing that even good "God" stuff is online.  It's not all junk out there. 

Have a great afternoon!

{Due to harassment}

Yep, you got it.  I am being harassed about not posting enough.  Apparently there are a few of you who check my blog regularly and I have not done a very good job posting regularly.  So, this post is to apologize for not posting regularly.  Although, while I am apologizing, I must tell you that the person who has brought this to my attention is my dear sis, Shawn.  And quite frankly, she hasn't been posting near as much as she used to,either.  I know that she is the one who was kind enough to help me set up my blog AND made me a really cool banner, but her kindness certainly doesn't leave her exempt from a little harassment from me.  (You know I love ya Shawny!)

I guess since I am posting I might as well give you an update on my life.  Things have been pretty good for me and the pregnancy.  I am finally starting to feel a little better - meaning I only feel sick every once in a while (and mostly at night).  Which has been a real blessing since my hubby has been quite sick with bronchitis for the last couple of weeks.  I love how we've been working together like a team lately.  When I was sick he helped out a ton (and I felt bad for not doing my normal stuff) and since he's been sick I have gone back to doing my normal stuff (and he has mentioned that he feels bad for not being to help as much).  I think this is what a marriage is supposed to look like.  We certainly have our issues, but I am enjoying where we are at right now (working as a team and giving & receiving grace).  I am definitely getting weary of the sickness stuff, though.  I am really praying hard for an illness free fall & winter for our whole family.  My next appointment is this coming Friday - now that the sickness is gone, I am looking forward to just hearing the baby's heartbeat.  I don't feel quite as pregnant and I am not really starting to show all that much.  Of course, I notice the difference, but not many others do and hearing the heartbeat will be cool reassurance.  For some reason my mind has started to thing about the horrible possibilities (like miscarriage).  I am normally a very laid back person and I don't worry about things like this, but lately my mind is questioning whether or not everything is going OK.  I'm not flipping out or anything, but I am really looking forward to my appointment on Friday (which is totally unlike me). 

The girls have been doing good.  They have definitely been pushing buttons and trying our patience (which neither Dan or I have lately).  I guess that is quite normal at 3 and 1.  :)  Kennedy just had her 18 mo. check up and she is in the 75th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight.  I was shocked at the height thing because she looks so petite and if you know Dan & I, we don't have much for height in our genes.  But, all went well at the appointment and the nurse practitioner reassured me that Kennedy is right on track for speech.  I figured she was pretty normal, but she certainly doesn't talk as much as Kylie did.  Kylie was speaking lots of words clearly at 1.  She would utter a word and you didn't have to guess what she was trying to say.  Kennedy doesn't say too many words that we can understand clearly (takes a little guessing).  It's amazing how different the two girls are.  One thing they do have in common is energy - they are both very high energy!  This past weekend I took them to Crane Orchards to pick apples and I was very glad to have my MIL & FIL along with me (Dan was home sick).   I did get some pics, but not many because my girls are always on the move.  We all had a great time - it was a beautiful fall day in MI. 

As I said, Dan has been sick the last couple of weeks.  However, he did feel good enough to run in the Off Road Derby at Hudsonville Fairgrounds on Sept 8th.  He wasn't sure he was going to, but he worked up enough energy to get his car loaded and go racing.  He took 3rd in his heat, which meant he would advance to the C-Main (the race where all 3rd place winners duke it out for the win).  The problem with how they ran the races was that they had 15 heats which meant they put ALL 15 cars in the C-Main.  That meant utter chaos and an almost impossible situation to win.  At one point all the cars that were still running piled up in a corner and they pretty much all sat at a stand-still until somehow they figured out a way to push the stuck cars out of the way.  Kinda boring for those of us that watched because they just sat there and didn't do much.  They finally did break free and the race continued.  I think that Dan finished 4th in the C-Main so he didn't win anything.  He did win $30 for taking 3rd in his heat so he got his $25 entry fee back plus an extra $5.  They doesn't even come close to the cost of running these events, but he does it for fun, not the money (good thing, right?).  Besides, me and the girls love watching these races!

Well, that sums up the haps in the Hower household.  I'm looking forward to this fall - I love fall weather.  We have a wedding we have to go to this weekend and not much else planned for the weekend.  Next week Wednesday night I am throwing a joint BeautiControl party with my sister, Shawn.  If anyone is interested in attending or wants to place an order, just let me know.  One of my good friends, Trisha Cook, is a consultant and I usually like to help friends out with their small businesses.  One of my best friends sells PartyLite and I do one or two shows for her a year, too.  In fact, I have one of those planned in October.  I'll have to post more info about that later.  OK, I was only going to do a short post and this turned out to be huge so I am going to sign off for now.  Enjoy the rest of your week!