Pray for the Bridges

My heart aches tonight for Matt & Andrew Bridges and their family.

Matt and Andrew lost their father, Nelson, in a horrible accident that occurred this evening. The Bridges are very special to our family. Matt and Andrew were two of the most faithful students in Josh's youth ministry in Amarillo, and Matt took Josh's place as youth minister when we moved to Fort Worth. Over the years, we came to know the rest of the family, and we grew to love them as well. Nelson was one of the kindest men you'd ever meet, and he always had a smile on his face. He will truly be missed.

I am asking that you please pray for the Bridges family.

Brenda, Kelli, Matt, Andrew, and Ashley: we are praying for you.

I Can't Think of a Good Title...

...But I do have a good post for you. It's just a little too random to fit under one title.

I was on a roll. For the first few days of this month I posted everyday, but I'm not sure what happened the past three days. I was bragging to Josh the other day telling him I was doing good keeping the blog updated. Psh. I guess I spoke too quickly.

Well... I guess I kind of have an excuse for my absence. I posted a picture of my first diaper cake on Facebook, and not too long after that I got a message from a friend asking me if I could make one for her great nephew. Um, yeah of course I would! I was so excited to have the opportunity to create another one, especially one for a little boy this time.

I have found a new hobby: making diaper cakes! I can't get enough of it! When I am finished with one I'm ready to get started on another. I love decorating and seeing the diaper cake come together. Now every time I'm out somewhere and see something cute I catch myself thinking, "Oh that would be perfect on a diaper cake." Somehow I refrain from spending money, but it's not easy!

Of course you know I can't just go on and on about it without some pictures, right?

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Ah! I just love that little monkey. Isn't it the cutest?

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Speaking of monkeys, I have a little monkey of my own around here. A little monkey that is mischievous and silly! Earlier today I told Josh, "Noah is too quiet. He must be up to no good." And sure enough, look where I found Noah hiding today.

I caught you! His sweet smile sure does make up for his orneriness. He is so funny. I actually couldn't believe he crawled in there all by himself. What a independent little guy.

Guess what else Mr. Noah did today? He took his first step! And both Mommy and Daddy got to see him do it. Yay Noah! I'm thinking it isn't going to be long before he is chasing Einstein around the house. It will be good for Einstein though; he could stand to loose a few pounds.

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Josh was on the computer this afternoon and he yelled at me to come see something. So I walked over to the computer and squealed (no pun intended--you'll see) with giddiness as I laid my eyes on this:

I know one thing for sure: my sister, Megan, is squealing over these "teacup pigs" too. Megan and I love anything that is "teacup." Teacup pugs, pigs; you name it, we like it. Are they not the cutest little piggies you've ever laid your eyes on? I can just imagine Noah swinging that little pig by his curly tail, so for the sake of the pig we better not get one. That, and the fact that they cost a whopping $1,100 each. If you want to read more about them, click here. The article is actually pretty interesting. Apparently they are pretty good pets, but with swine flu going around I'm sure there won't be too many purchased. Haha.

One last thing before I go: would you please lift my grandmother, Gigi, up in prayer. The day before yesterday she fell down a steep flight of stairs, and thankfully has no broken bones or internal injuries, but she is very very sore as you can imagine. Thank you so much!

Have a wonderful night!

What a Relief!

One of the hardest things about moving from Amarillo was leaving a wonderful pediatrician behind. We have been in Fort Worth since June, so for four months we have not had a pediatrician. It was probably very stupid of me to wait this long, but choosing a doctor for Noah is such a big decision. As you can imagine, the list of pediatricians here is endless. I didn't know where to start, and even though we've asked around, we haven't really had any recommendations. So I put the search off until about a couple weeks ago.

One night while I was at work I had some down time and decided that it had been long enough; I had to begin my search for a pediatrician. One thing I knew for sure was the doctor needed to be in the Cooks Children's network, and be board certified in pediatrics (duh). Starting there did narrow my search just *a little* bit. With a lot of internet searching, asking around, and prayers I am happy to inform you we have found a pediatrician! And what a relief it is!

We are still in the process of getting our insurance all worked out, but I decided today to go ahead and make the call to the pediatrician's office to make sure she is accepting new patients. From what I've heard, this group of pediatricians can be difficult to get into see, so I was a little nervous when I called to inquire. A lady picked up the phone, and then I preceded to tell her we just moved here... blah blah blah... and then asked her if they were accepting new patients. Of course I was on hold for a few minutes-- the anticipation was killing me. She got back on the phone telling me they are accepting new patients!! I am so thankful, because I'm not sure who my back up would have been. Another answer to our prayers!

Pretty soon I will be making a call to the office again to set up an appointment. With all the flu stuff going around, it would be good to get him in to see the doctor and get acquainted in case we have to go in when Noah's really sick. Plus in two months it will already be time for his 15 month well check up.

It was hard leaving Dr. Fletcher behind in Amarillo, but we are excited about meeting Noah's new doctor. We will keep you updated.

Project Big Boy: Success

Wow, it is October 1st already! How did September come and go so quickly? Well I just love the Fall weather; it is the best! We took a family walk together last night, which is something we haven't done in a long long time because of the hot weather. The weather last night felt like good ol' Amarillo evenings which are always so nice and cool. I'm guessing we probably won't see much snow around these parts though. I'll just be thankful for what we have!

I just got back not long ago from grocery shopping, so this will just be a quick post. Noah and I have to get up early (this morning) for Bible study. I have just been absolutely loving every minute of the studying of the Psalms and being a part of a women's Bible study. I have grown so much, and I am so thankful for this wonderful opportunity.

Noah has also been enjoying his Wee Care group. Last week the nursery workers said he did so much better. I knew after a few times of going he would be ok. During a break I decided to go peek my head in to see how he was doing, and Noah was just as happy as could be sitting in a highchair eating his snacks along with another friend in the nursery. After we were finished I went in to pick him up and he was snoozing in a swing with a blanket on him. It was the cutest thing. He would have never sat long enough in a swing to fall asleep at home. I guess the distraction of the other babies playing kept him preoccupied long enough to fall asleep.

The only thing I have been a little anxious about is Noah being around a bunch of other kids with all of the yucky stuff going around right now. We are still in the process of getting our insurance and pediatrician all lined up, so I am just praying for good health! Would you please pray for Noah (well all of us) for God's protection as we enter the flu season.

Before I go, remember the post Noah is...? And remember how I told you he wasn't a fan of juices? Well I was wrong. He loves apple juice, orange juice, and milk (hey, it's cow juice!). When we give him any of those in his sippy cup, he chugs it like you wouldn't believe. I guess sometimes kids have to try things out a couple times before they figure out whether they actually like something or not. Here's a picture of Noah and his apple juice:

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!



P.S. Oh, how could I forget! Ha. The main reason I wrote a post tonight was to let you know that Project Big Boy has been successful! He's not crying for his bottle any more, and, as I wrote above, he's taking all kinds of liquids from his sippy cup. Yay! I think it is safe to say we have weaned Noah from the bottle. Boy does it feel good. Again, I thank you so much for your prayers and support. It definitely wasn't as hard as we thought it was going to be.

Project Big Boy: Day 3 & Walking Like a Senior Citizen

I think I would be safe to say Project Big Boy has been successful so far. I say so far because I don't think we are there yet. Noah has been doing so well with the weaning process. We didn't hear one peep from him last night; he slept straight through. It was difficult getting up with him at 7:30 am, but it's okay. I loved waking up with my little guy and spending some good quality time with him. We ate breakfast together, shot some hoops with his little basketball goal (thanks Nana & Roger!), read a couple of books, and watched a Baby Einstein. By that time, it was time for a nap and Noah went right to sleep without any problem--he was asleep within five minutes. Everything has gone so smoothly, well, until tonight. Noah cried for about 30 minutes before he went to sleep. It is so hard to listen to him cry and not be able to do anything to soothe him. But we have come a long way, and I honestly believe we are getting closer and closer to having him weaned. Thank you again for your prayers. We really appreciate them so much.

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Noah got a walker for his birthday from his great-grandmother, Gigi, and boy does he love it. If only he had more room to walk around with it I think he would use it all the time. And when he uses it to walk around, it is the. cutest. thing. ever.

About a month before Noah's birthday, I was talking on the phone with Gigi, and before we got off, Gigi asked me what she could get Noah for his birthday. I immediately thought of a walker. She asked me to send her an email of one, so I did a little searching and sent her a link to a walker I found on the Babies R Us website. And it was so funny because before we got off the phone, Gigi said to me, "Now, don't you let anyone else get this for him." It was sweet because she was so excited to get the walker for him.

Anyway, I wanted to post a picture and video of Noah and his walker. I think I could watch this video hundreds of times and never get tired of it.

Ah! Love it. Off to catch up on Survivor with Josh. Goodnight!

Project Big Boy: Day 2 & the State Fair of Texas

I'm back with a Project Big Boy update, but first I want to say thanks for the prayers, support, and encouragement you have given us. Parenting is difficult at times, but it's a lot easier when family and friends are supporting us with prayer and encouragement. Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." We have done that, and I thank God for his help as we have begun the process of weaning Noah from the bottle.

So, here is the update: Today we laid Noah down for a nap when we got home from eating lunch. We changed his diaper, but his pj's on, kissed him, and put him in his bed without a bottle. Of course we expected him to cry, and he did, but it didn't even last for five minutes. I peeked my head in his room, and he was sound asleep. And he slept for almost 3 hours! Talk about answered prayers.

Getting Noah to go to sleep at night without a bottle has always been very difficult. But guess what? Tonight wasn't difficult at all. I rocked Noah a little bit, we said a prayer, and I put him in his bed (again without a bottle), and I tell you the truth, he was asleep within five minutes. I took Einstein out to go potty, and when I came back in the house, it was completely quiet. Sweet little Noah fell asleep without the bottle! So far so good! Thank the Lord. Please continue to keep praying for us.

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On Friday night, Josh got a page from Aric Randolph, our pastor at New Life Deaf Fellowship, and Aric asked if we wanted to join their family in going to the State Fair of Texas on Saturday. We were excited they asked us because we have been wanting to go, and thought it would be fun to go with friends. We had so much fun with the Randolphs, and let me tell you, if you haven't been to the State Fair, you are missing out. Of course, we grew up in Amarillo with the Tri-State Fair. The Tri-State Fair is okay until you go to a real Fair. The parking lot at the State Fair is bigger than the fair in Amarillo. It's crazy!

Noah was such a good little boy the whole time we were there. He got to taste the yummy goodness of a Fletcher's Corny Dog (the original corn dog) for the first time yesterday. Who doesn't love corn dogs from the fair? Noah also loved the animals. His favorite was a calf, named Beauregard, who was sitting next to Elsie the cow. Noah just laughed and laughed when Josh bent down with Noah to look at Beauregard, and Noah even started crying when we left because he wanted to stay and look longer. It was so much fun watching him get excited about the animals. We have some tickets left over, so we might go back sometime this week or next. There are so many animals we didn't get to see while we were there, and there were so many yummy foods we didn't get to try. You can only eat so much fried food before you start feeling sick to your stomach. At one point, we came across a big bundle of cotton, and Noah picked a small piece of it and tried to feed it to Daddy. It was so funny. We had such a great time! I wish I would have brought my camera to take more pictures, and I wish I would have thought to get a picture of our family and the Randolphs together, but I got some pretty cute ones on my phone.

Josh, Noah, and Big Tex. Noah was pretty scared of Big Tex,
so we didn't stick around too long.

Josh decided this could be Noah's first car. I don't think so.





Josh and Caleb sportin' their sunglasses.
Don't I have such a cool husband? Not.



But I DO have a cool son!





Noah looooved playing with the cotton.



I guess Noah thought it was cotton candy.



Mmmmmmmmm....Fair Food.



At the end of the day, Noah was all tuckered out.

A Heart of Praise

Psalm 100:4 says, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name."

I could not think of a better scripture to express the praise and gratitude I have for our Lord. This past week and especially this evening my heart has been filled with thanksgiving for the blessings and answered prayers God has poured out on us. I wanted to share my thankful heart with you tonight.

Fall has arrived in Fort Worth! Yay! I have never appreciated the coolness of the Fall weather until we moved here. The past couple of weeks it has rained and rained and rained, and oh how wonderful it is! I am praising God for the rain he has provided. Over the past two days we have even been able to turn our air conditioner off, open up all the windows, and enjoy the cool air. I thought we'd never be able to do that here. Ha. But I praise God and thank Him for the cool refreshing weather. It has been wonderful!

About a month ago, just after we celebrated Noah's birthday in Amarillo, Noah starting having issues with constipation. To make matters worse, the constipation led to Noah having a sore little bottom. Well, sore would not be the correct term to explain how much pain he was in. He was completely miserable. We decided to add more fiber, fruits, and vegetables to his diet hoping it would resolve the problem. It definitely helped; we noticed a big difference. But the constipation would get better over a couple days, and then would come back. It seems like it got worse and worse every time. We decreased his milk intake, but that didn't help. So we decided to switch to soy milk, hoping it would be easier for him to digest. Nothing worked; Noah was still constipated and miserable. The skin on his bottom began to break down even to the point of bleeding. How frustrated and heart broken we were for Noah. Honestly, I started to worry thinking there might be a underlying problem. I started looking on the Internet to see what else we could do to help Noah. We were getting to the point where we felt Noah should go see a doctor. It was that serious. But during all of this, God our Healer was right there.

One evening while I was cooking dinner Josh came in the kitchen and said he felt like we should lay hands on Noah and pray over him for healing. He said that we had done everything but spend serious time in prayer asking God for healing, and that was the first thing we should have done.

So later in the evening while Noah was sleeping, we quietly went into his room and laid our hands on him pouring our hearts out to God asking Him for healing for our child.

Psalm 30:2 says, "O Lord my God, I cried to You and You have healed me."

That is exactly what God did for Noah. He healed him completely. I cannot even tell you the relief and joy it brings to see my child free of pain. And I cannot thank and praise God enough for hearing our prayers and answering them. Since the night we laid our hands on Noah and prayed for him, Noah has not had one day of constipation, and his sweet little bottom is completely back to normal! I know some of you were praying for Noah as well, and I thank you.

Lastly, I am so thankful for God's provision. He has taken care of our every need, and continues to do so daily. We have been through a few rough patches since we moved here, but God has taken care of us. Josh told me the other day his work is having to cut back everyone's hours, so when he signed up for hours he was not sure exactly what he would get. But despite the company's cut in hours, God has provided more than enough for us. I am so thankful and my heart is full of praise for God's care and provision for us.

"Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts" -- 1 Chronicles 16:9

Hope you are having a great evening, and I hope you are reading this post meaning our blog issues are resolved!

Feeling Like Poo

Poor poor little Noah. He has had a rough day. Actually it seems like he has had a rough week. Changing to whole milk and eating solids has been rough on his system. He has been in so much pain lately, and my heart breaks for him to see him this way. We have slowed down on the milk products and have focused on putting more fiber and fluids in his diet, so we are hoping that will do the trick! Tonight we let Noah stay up a little bit since he hasn't been feeling very well.

Please keep Noah in your prayers this week. Little babies aren't supposed to hurt. :(

R.I.P. Jeep Grand Cherokee

I know I was supposed to show you more pictures of our new home today, but I have something else I would like to show you.

Let me explain to you what happened two days ago. I was driving home from work, and I was probably about 10 minutes away from home when the "Check Gauges" light came on in my car. I thought, "Hmm, that's weird," but I wasn't the least bit surprised to see the light come on. My Jeep has seen better days. I was a little concerned, and knew we would get it checked out, but I didn't realize how bad it really was.

I was just a few minutes from home as I pulled up to a stop light. All of a sudden, I started to freak out! My car was smoking! As I was carefully driving home I prayed over and over my car wouldn't die or blow up!

Whew! Thank the Lord I made it home.

Still shaking and in shock, I went upstairs and explained what happened to Josh. He went down to the Jeep to look under the hood, and he found that the coolant had leaked out completely. We thought that was strange. To make a long story short, he went to the store and bought some coolant thinking maybe that would hold it over until we could get it to the shop on the weekend.

The next day I got up to go to work and felt confident it was safe to drive my car. As I was driving I kept glancing at the temperature gauge to make sure it was in its correct position. It was, and everything seemed like it was working fine. I made it to work without any problems.

After a long day at work I got in my car not thinking anything about the problems we had with the car the day before. Again, when I was just about 5 minutes away from our apartment, the check gauge light came on, and the temperature gauge maxed out. I thought to myself, "What in the world is going on??" I called Josh freaking out saying, "It's doing it again, the light came on!" Thankfully the good Lord was watching out for me because I made it home before it started smoking again. Josh looked under the hood and the coolant he had replaced the night before was gone! "Ok, so that definitely wasn't the solution," he said to me.

So early this morning we took the Jeep to Firestone, and I'm not even going to go into detail about the frightening drive over there because I would like to forget all about it. Basically, the car died every time we had to make a stop and the brakes would lock up. It was scary!! But we made it to the shop, again, in one piece. We went back home and waited to hear back from the mechanic about the tests he ran on the Jeep.

When the mechanic called, I think we were prepared for what he was about to tell us. He said basically we would need a new engine, and that it would cost about 5 to 6 thousand dollars to fix it. We decided with the jeep having almost 130,000 miles on it and becoming less and less dependable, it would just be better to invest in a new car.

So that's what we did all day today, and we are completely exhausted. I thank God for his provision. We prayed for his guidance, that he would lead us to the perfect car, and He did. We didn't even know where to start looking, and we were nervous about car shopping with an 11 month old, but the search for a new car went so smooth. And sweet Noah was such a patient little guy. It was a long day for all of us, but we now have a wonderful, dependable car. Thank you God for providing for us.

So do you wanna see it now? Here is our new Toyota Camry!

Isn't it beautiful!? I never thought I would want a small car, because I loved my SUV so much, but I absolutely love it!

More house pictures to come tomorrow! Have a wonderful night!

I Still Can't Believe...

... I am 26 today!

For some reason 26 hit me a little harder this year. I guess it's just that I'm that much closer to 30. Oh well.

Despite the mourning over turning 26, I had the best birthday! I got to spend the day with my three favorite boys: Josh, Noah, and Einstein!

We originally planned on a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo today. I know. Why would a 26 year old want to go to the zoo for her birthday? Well I can't give you a good explanation why, but I thought it would be a fun family activity. Josh thought it would be fun too, but he still gave me a hard time about it. Imagine that.

We decided it would be better to get up early and go so we wouldn't leave the zoo completely wet from the humidity later in the afternoon. The weather is something we are still trying to get used to, and I think it is gonna take us a while. I thought the weather would affect me more, but it's funny because Josh is the one always complaining about it. Anyway, to make a long story short, we ended up sleeping in a little too late. Oops. So we decided we would go either this weekend or first of next week.

So, my birthday was filled with swimming, mexican food, and a little bit of shopping! Both Josh and Noah were good sports and let me drag them around the mall. We all had so much fun together. It doesn't matter what we are doing. We could have done absolutely nothing today and I would have been perfectly content. All I wanted for my birthday was to have my family together, and that's what I got! Here is a picture of me and Noah at dinner:

Oh and by the way... I got the job in the Newborn Nursery at North Hills Hospital!!! I couldn't be more excited. I called to tell my grandmother, Gigi, about the job and she said to me, "it is God's birthday present to you." I couldn't agree more! God provided, and I am so thankful for this opportunity to grow. What a blessing to see God at work in our lives here. Thank you so much for your prayers and for being my faithful blog readers!

Before I go I have some exciting news to share with you. My younger sister, Abby, is getting married! I still can't believe it! It seems like just the other day I got married, and now it's Abby's turn. We have a lot of fun wedding planning ahead! Congratulations Ab! Love you!

I guess tonight I resumed my title as the "Blog Hog!"

The Lost Pictures

Thank goodness our computer has a lot of memory on it. I think it's called RAM?? Well whatever it's called, it's a good thing we have it because I think I have taken about a million pictures. Seriously. I'm not joking. I LOVE to take pictures. And I especially love to take pictures of Noah. In fact, I have toyed with the idea of getting myself one of these or something like it:



Well... definitely not now. But maybe eventually after I save some money I can get one. Josh told me that if I do get one I have to take classes to learn how to use it. I agree. But as for now, my little pink camera is wonderful and I'm so thankful to have it to be able to capture memories of our sweet little Noah.

Anyway, as I was scrolling through pictures tonight I came across some I realized I had not posted. They're of Noah playing with Jacob and Denae, some of his church buddies. We had a baby boom at our church, so they are all close in age.

Noah, Jacob, and Denae all posing for the picture. You have no idea how difficult it is trying to get three babies to look at me all at the same time.



Noah and Jacob. Aren't they just the cutest little boys you've ever seen?!



Playing together so well.



The next picture is of Noah and Angie, one of his Sunday School teachers and a very close friend of mine. Both Noah and I miss Angie!



We really miss our church family in Amarillo. I have to be honest, it was difficult going to another church this past weekend. The people were wonderful and very warm and welcoming, but it's just not the same. However, change is good, and we are very excited to join New Life Deaf Fellowship, and we know God has a plan for our family there. Please pray for us as we become a part of the family at NLDF.

Hope you are keeping up with me! I told you I was going to be posting a lot this week. Have a great night!

Catching Up!

Oh my goodness! It has been so busy around our house, especially this past month. Last week I was beyond stressed out. I looked around and all I could see was stuff EVERYWHERE! And I'm sure Noah being sick contributed a little to my stress. Poor baby. He was sick literally all week and I could tell he was just miserable. Today was Noah's last day to take his antibiotic, and I'm so glad he is starting to feel better. By the way, Noah weighed almost 22 lbs when we went to the doctor last week. Such a big boy! Here are a few pictures of the sweet little guy. Isn't his smile contagious!?






Packing is coming along, and has actually gone smoothly. Our house is looking so empty: full of boxes and nothing on the walls.




It kinda makes me sad to see it this way because this was Noah's first home. But, the more I accomplish around here and the closer we get to moving (9 days!), I get very excited about the new adventure we are about to take. Will you please continue to keep us in your prayers as we finish up everything around here.

Before I go, I have wanted to share with you for quite some time about Baby Dedication Sunday our church had on May 3rd. It was a very special Sunday. Before God and our church family, we dedicated Noah to the Lord. Both Josh and I committed ourselves to teach Noah about Jesus, to teach him the Word, and to bring him up in a godly home where he is loved and protected. Noah has been such a blessing in our lives, and as parents, God has given us a great responsibility to teach Noah the truth and to be godly examples in his life, and we pray for God's leading as we do so. Here is a picture of us on Baby Dedication Sunday.



I have a lot of catching up to do, so keep a look out! Have a great night!