We forgot to take lots of pictures, but we did take pictures of Elena and Michelle fingerpainting. :)
Showing posts with label Amazon biz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazon biz. Show all posts
Monday, November 15, 2010
Michelle's Visit
We were so glad to have Michelle here to visit for the week after Elena's birthday. We all enjoyed having her, but especially Elena! She never had to be by herself. Mimi took her to the playground, on walks, kept her company while Mommy took care of Olivia, sat with her while she ate and gave her lots of presents, all week long! Andrew and I got to go out on a date while she took the kids, which was such a blessing! And while she was here, Billy and Rachel came through on their way to Mexico. It was so fun to be all together! Michelle cooked for us and we enjoyed all being together.
We forgot to take lots of pictures, but we did take pictures of Elena and Michelle fingerpainting. :)
We forgot to take lots of pictures, but we did take pictures of Elena and Michelle fingerpainting. :)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Good News!
As many of you know, Andrew's business has been having some problems--namely Amazon holding money that he has earned. As of Sunday, though, he is set to receive money from Amazon for selling his books! We are so happy, praising God for allowing Andrew to continue to provide by doing what he loves.
Also, this weekend, we made a significant investment in inventory. Our friend is getting out of the business, and he was kind enough to sell Andrew his entire inventory for a very good price. As you can see, we now have a house FULL of products for Andrew to sell, which made the news from Amazon even more welcome. I tried to capture the amount of stuff in our living room on Saturday, but even these pictures doesn't do it justice!
Elena had fun crawling around, "helping" Daddy go through boxes. :)
Thanks for all your prayers--they have been very welcome during this time of re-aligning priorities and waiting for God to make our path straight. This time has allowed Andrew to start seeking a job in the ministry more seriously again, and we have some interviews in the near future, so now you can pray for that! In order to serve in a church as we would like, though, we have a long path ahead--first, getting a call (or getting hired), then ordination, which includes three killer tests and a series of oral exams, as well as several other hurdles. We are confident, though, that God is faithful, and when he leads us down this path he will provide!
Also, this weekend, we made a significant investment in inventory. Our friend is getting out of the business, and he was kind enough to sell Andrew his entire inventory for a very good price. As you can see, we now have a house FULL of products for Andrew to sell, which made the news from Amazon even more welcome. I tried to capture the amount of stuff in our living room on Saturday, but even these pictures doesn't do it justice!
Elena had fun crawling around, "helping" Daddy go through boxes. :)
Thanks for all your prayers--they have been very welcome during this time of re-aligning priorities and waiting for God to make our path straight. This time has allowed Andrew to start seeking a job in the ministry more seriously again, and we have some interviews in the near future, so now you can pray for that! In order to serve in a church as we would like, though, we have a long path ahead--first, getting a call (or getting hired), then ordination, which includes three killer tests and a series of oral exams, as well as several other hurdles. We are confident, though, that God is faithful, and when he leads us down this path he will provide!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Eight Month Update
This is a video of Elena crawling, from a really good angle. I was laying on the floor. :)
Our messy eater!
June has been an interesting month, with the ups and downs of Andrew's job--unfortunately more downs than ups. We've kept trucking along, though, and Andrew has been working hard to find a way to get by until the Amazon mess gets straightened out. God has been faithful to provide!
Elena has been growing and changing, of course! Now eight months old, she is so strong, and her moods are really showing through with more expressions. She's also starting to show her will--Mommy and Elena have been fighting about whether or not she will touch the radio in her room. Since she has more control over her body, she can tell us what she wants now--when she's done playing with a toy it gets a chuck. She can throw pretty far when she's worked up! She also loves to drop things just to see what will happen. Mommy tires of that game long before Elena does! She can roll a ball, though she can't always make it go where she wants it to go.
Her crawling has improved--she's so fast now. We underestimate her all the time! She has also started cruising. She cruises along the couch and the coffee table, usually after something she's not supposed to have! She also climbed up two stairs on Sunday! I put the diaper bag on the stairs so that she couldn't spread the contents everywhere before we went to church, but those stairs didn't stop her! The first time she did it she was a little scared, so I thought she wouldn't do it again. Next thing I know she's standing on the second step peering in the diaper bag! I guess it's time to get a downstairs gate!
She still loves electronics. The computer, Daddy's video game controller and Mommy's red cell phone are her favorites. She is less and less interested in baby toys, though she loves things like the paper towel roll or an empty soda bottle. Whatever Mommy or Daddy has--that's what she wants.
When we read her books, she engages a bit more, though the hinge concept (turning pages and closing the book) is still very distracting from the story. :) She also loves to work the hinge on doors and on the lid of the washing machine, after bouncing up and down to the rythm of the clothes agitating.
Elena is a good little eater now, although she's still picky. This month we've added carrots and green beans to the repertoire. She likes avacado a lot now, and carrots she will tolerate. She still only wants banana in the fresh food feeder! She doesn't like the whole grain cereal as much as she liked the beech nut cereal, so I usually try to mix it with something else now. She still loves her puffs--she downs those things. Now that she's eating them whole, they are a very low-maintenance snack, which makes them Daddy's favorite! The best way for me to get her to eat anything, in fact, is to let her feed herself. Even with the spoon--I hold on to the end and let her put the spoon into her mouth with her hand. Which means, of course, that food gets everywhere! As you can see above! It's funny, though, even with the mess, she eats more of the food. She can drink from her sippy cup by herself, and she drinks, with help, from water bottles or from a big-person cup. Still no teeth!
This month she went through a weird time when she got totally off her sleeping schedule (she definitely rejected the scheduling with three naps), but she's normalized again, back to her old 7pm bedtime with just two daytime naps. Elena and I have come to an agreement about how she will fall asleep--I hold her sideways and she sucks her thumb. Not quite as good as the old cuddling, but better than her laying on my lap! She gets too distracted if I just lay her down, though. She still takes pretty short naps, although she will surprise us with a three-hour every once in awhile. Usually it's two one-hour naps along with an 11 or 12 hour night. After falling alseep by herself, she wakes up usually one time in the early morning between 4:30 and 5 to eat, going back down until between 6 and 7. It's a blessing to have a nice quiet evening.
She's a great self-soother now. She sticks that thumb in her mouth and all is well. :) Often she won't use the thumb when she's still in a scary situation, though--she wants her Mamma.
She can be very verbal, although she's very quiet in public. The closest thing she says to a word is "dada," which I think she knows to say when Andrew is around. She doesn't know that it means only him though. With so few sounds, she can't be that limited yet. :) She also says "baba" and "geegoogaa" kinds of sounds. Plus she's started to do a whistle! She curls her tounge up and sucks air in and it makes a train whistle sound. The first few times I heard it I had no idea it was her!
Although she's a pretty serious kid, she does like to laugh. Some of the things that make her laugh are pretty typical, like tickling--she's most ticklish under her arms--and blowing rasberries. But some things are just her own little sense of humor--she thinks it's hilarious when someone burps or hiccups. She also laughs when I rub my hand up her tummy to her neck, or when I make a surprised face.
One thing Elena loves is water. Whether it's in the bathtub, splashing in the sink, at the pool or the splashpark, or even in the toilet or a fishtank, she can't resist! Mommy didn't let her touch the water in the fishtank, but she did get into the toilet once--yuk!
As Elena begins the evolution from being a passive baby to an opinionated toddler, I find that parenting is changing and definitely getting harder in some ways. It's nice that she's more independant, but having patience with her and training her to understand "no" is pretty challenging. It's so rewarding, though, to see her learning, to see how pleased she is when she accomplishes something. She is such a sweet girl. Her affection for Andrew has grown, which is great to see. And she is starting to interact with other kids a little more, though we're definitely in the beginning stages of learning "gentle."
Being Elena's mommy is such a joy. I can't wait to see what's in store for us in the days ahead. :)
Our messy eater!
June has been an interesting month, with the ups and downs of Andrew's job--unfortunately more downs than ups. We've kept trucking along, though, and Andrew has been working hard to find a way to get by until the Amazon mess gets straightened out. God has been faithful to provide!
Elena has been growing and changing, of course! Now eight months old, she is so strong, and her moods are really showing through with more expressions. She's also starting to show her will--Mommy and Elena have been fighting about whether or not she will touch the radio in her room. Since she has more control over her body, she can tell us what she wants now--when she's done playing with a toy it gets a chuck. She can throw pretty far when she's worked up! She also loves to drop things just to see what will happen. Mommy tires of that game long before Elena does! She can roll a ball, though she can't always make it go where she wants it to go.
Her crawling has improved--she's so fast now. We underestimate her all the time! She has also started cruising. She cruises along the couch and the coffee table, usually after something she's not supposed to have! She also climbed up two stairs on Sunday! I put the diaper bag on the stairs so that she couldn't spread the contents everywhere before we went to church, but those stairs didn't stop her! The first time she did it she was a little scared, so I thought she wouldn't do it again. Next thing I know she's standing on the second step peering in the diaper bag! I guess it's time to get a downstairs gate!
She still loves electronics. The computer, Daddy's video game controller and Mommy's red cell phone are her favorites. She is less and less interested in baby toys, though she loves things like the paper towel roll or an empty soda bottle. Whatever Mommy or Daddy has--that's what she wants.
When we read her books, she engages a bit more, though the hinge concept (turning pages and closing the book) is still very distracting from the story. :) She also loves to work the hinge on doors and on the lid of the washing machine, after bouncing up and down to the rythm of the clothes agitating.
Elena is a good little eater now, although she's still picky. This month we've added carrots and green beans to the repertoire. She likes avacado a lot now, and carrots she will tolerate. She still only wants banana in the fresh food feeder! She doesn't like the whole grain cereal as much as she liked the beech nut cereal, so I usually try to mix it with something else now. She still loves her puffs--she downs those things. Now that she's eating them whole, they are a very low-maintenance snack, which makes them Daddy's favorite! The best way for me to get her to eat anything, in fact, is to let her feed herself. Even with the spoon--I hold on to the end and let her put the spoon into her mouth with her hand. Which means, of course, that food gets everywhere! As you can see above! It's funny, though, even with the mess, she eats more of the food. She can drink from her sippy cup by herself, and she drinks, with help, from water bottles or from a big-person cup. Still no teeth!
This month she went through a weird time when she got totally off her sleeping schedule (she definitely rejected the scheduling with three naps), but she's normalized again, back to her old 7pm bedtime with just two daytime naps. Elena and I have come to an agreement about how she will fall asleep--I hold her sideways and she sucks her thumb. Not quite as good as the old cuddling, but better than her laying on my lap! She gets too distracted if I just lay her down, though. She still takes pretty short naps, although she will surprise us with a three-hour every once in awhile. Usually it's two one-hour naps along with an 11 or 12 hour night. After falling alseep by herself, she wakes up usually one time in the early morning between 4:30 and 5 to eat, going back down until between 6 and 7. It's a blessing to have a nice quiet evening.
She's a great self-soother now. She sticks that thumb in her mouth and all is well. :) Often she won't use the thumb when she's still in a scary situation, though--she wants her Mamma.
She can be very verbal, although she's very quiet in public. The closest thing she says to a word is "dada," which I think she knows to say when Andrew is around. She doesn't know that it means only him though. With so few sounds, she can't be that limited yet. :) She also says "baba" and "geegoogaa" kinds of sounds. Plus she's started to do a whistle! She curls her tounge up and sucks air in and it makes a train whistle sound. The first few times I heard it I had no idea it was her!
Although she's a pretty serious kid, she does like to laugh. Some of the things that make her laugh are pretty typical, like tickling--she's most ticklish under her arms--and blowing rasberries. But some things are just her own little sense of humor--she thinks it's hilarious when someone burps or hiccups. She also laughs when I rub my hand up her tummy to her neck, or when I make a surprised face.
One thing Elena loves is water. Whether it's in the bathtub, splashing in the sink, at the pool or the splashpark, or even in the toilet or a fishtank, she can't resist! Mommy didn't let her touch the water in the fishtank, but she did get into the toilet once--yuk!
As Elena begins the evolution from being a passive baby to an opinionated toddler, I find that parenting is changing and definitely getting harder in some ways. It's nice that she's more independant, but having patience with her and training her to understand "no" is pretty challenging. It's so rewarding, though, to see her learning, to see how pleased she is when she accomplishes something. She is such a sweet girl. Her affection for Andrew has grown, which is great to see. And she is starting to interact with other kids a little more, though we're definitely in the beginning stages of learning "gentle."
Being Elena's mommy is such a joy. I can't wait to see what's in store for us in the days ahead. :)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Rain, Rain, Go Away
It rained for four straight days here! We're not used to so many clouds. Yesterday when [there] was a rare break in the rain, I snapped some pictures of little Elena in our backyard. That was one, I'll put the rest at the end. It's been a weird few days anyway with Andrew's job--if you haven't heard, Amazon suspended Andrew's account. So he's been essentially jobless for the last week. But, God is faithful, and hopefully it will all work out. We've started to be more earnest about applying for ministry jobs, so you can pray that one will come through and we won't have to depend on Amazon anymore!Elena's been good--crawling all over the place! She is getting bolder and gaining more endurance. She can crawl across the whole downstairs now in search of Mommy. The barricaides we put up won't hold her in anymore! She's our little adventurer. She is pulling up on everything now, too. She can't always do it, but she sure tries--coffee table, chairs, Andrew's buckets, couches, toys, the sliding glass door--you name it, if it's taller than she is, she's tried to pull up on it. She's getting stronger and stronger, and starting to look more like a little girl.
She's consistently eating solids now. She'll eat a tablespoon of dry cereal mixed with water, about an inch worth of banana and quite a few of those little baby puffs. She loves those things. She is even working on getting them into her mouth by herself. Because she is eating solids now, I have to be careful about giving her paper--she used to just crinkle and shake, now she will eat it!
I think there might be teeth on the horizon for our little one. Yesterday she was really fussy and sticking her hands in her mouth, what looked to me like her mouth was hurting. We'll see!
In other news, we had family pictures taken last Saturday. I'll post them when we get them back! Our friend Aubrey is a photographer and graciously offered to take pictures of us. It was really fun, and I've heard that they came out great. Those will be fun to see--and my hair is done, so you can get a good look at it. :)
Today we had our MetroLife Moms Meeting. That was really fun--I wish we had them more often. But it was very exciting--Elena stayed in the nursery! We left her in the stroller, and when she started to fuss one of the workers strolled her around. Then she took a nap. Go baby! She did wake up and start to cry, but it never got so bad that they came and got me. That was a great feeling.
Here are the rest of the pictures--this was the fussy day, so not many smiles. But she did make some cute/silly expressions for the camera. :)
Saturday, April 25, 2009
What a big girl!
Elena sat up on her own today! I'm so proud of her. :) She's been sitting up when I've set her up first, but today she was just playing on the floor, I looked over and she was sitting up! She did it twice! She wasn't stable, but she was up. My big girl! She's also been getting up on her hands and knees a lot, looking around, rocking back and forth. She'll do it when she's trying to get somewhere--creep a little, get up, get back down, creep a little more. I think she knows that she could get around better up higher, but she hasn't figured out how to crawl yet. She'll get there soon, though! I can't believe how fast she's growing!
In this video, she creeps across the living room floor--probably about five or six feet. She loves cell phones. :)
Not only is our girl growing, our business is growing. God is really blessing Andrew with some good business connections, but that means our house is overflowing with stuff he's selling! It's pretty crazy--we have boxes behind the couch, stuffed in corners--all over the place! I'm not a big fan of the boxes everywhere, but I think it's great that Andrew has been getting so much to sell at such good prices. He's been very excited about his biz lately, further encouraged by our jump to using stamps.com. How did we ever do without it? He's loving the control it gives him. We are still aiming to be in ministry, and we are continually praying for that, but in the meantime, it's fun for Andrew to use his good business sense and have God bless us in this area.
More Elena trivia... she's recently discovered her tounge and her ability to blow air. It's so cute. :) Sometimes I'll see a little frown and wonder what's going on, then I'll just see her stick her tounge out--she was just feeling her lip with her tounge. And she loves to blown air on anything that goes in her mouth--mommy's arm, the pacifier I stick in her mouth sometimes still (haha--she actually does like them, just to play with. Not to suck on!), mommy or daddy's glass of water. We put the glass up to her mouth and let her blow on the water. Maybe she'll start to like the taste. When it's really cold she'll taste it, make a face and do a shiver. It's so cute!
The other day she was watching me eat my oatmeal and looking like she wanted some, so I made her some cereal. She actually didn't mind it too much. She took a few bites. I mixed it with water this time so that it wouldn't tease her. After she was done I let her play with it, to hopefully have her put some in her mouth. That didn't happen, but she was a happy camper! haha. We'll get this together eventually.
In this video, she creeps across the living room floor--probably about five or six feet. She loves cell phones. :)
Not only is our girl growing, our business is growing. God is really blessing Andrew with some good business connections, but that means our house is overflowing with stuff he's selling! It's pretty crazy--we have boxes behind the couch, stuffed in corners--all over the place! I'm not a big fan of the boxes everywhere, but I think it's great that Andrew has been getting so much to sell at such good prices. He's been very excited about his biz lately, further encouraged by our jump to using stamps.com. How did we ever do without it? He's loving the control it gives him. We are still aiming to be in ministry, and we are continually praying for that, but in the meantime, it's fun for Andrew to use his good business sense and have God bless us in this area.
More Elena trivia... she's recently discovered her tounge and her ability to blow air. It's so cute. :) Sometimes I'll see a little frown and wonder what's going on, then I'll just see her stick her tounge out--she was just feeling her lip with her tounge. And she loves to blown air on anything that goes in her mouth--mommy's arm, the pacifier I stick in her mouth sometimes still (haha--she actually does like them, just to play with. Not to suck on!), mommy or daddy's glass of water. We put the glass up to her mouth and let her blow on the water. Maybe she'll start to like the taste. When it's really cold she'll taste it, make a face and do a shiver. It's so cute!
The other day she was watching me eat my oatmeal and looking like she wanted some, so I made her some cereal. She actually didn't mind it too much. She took a few bites. I mixed it with water this time so that it wouldn't tease her. After she was done I let her play with it, to hopefully have her put some in her mouth. That didn't happen, but she was a happy camper! haha. We'll get this together eventually.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Update
The first video is now up! Sorry for the delay... technical difficulties. Thanks for the help, Dad!
Also, our little one had a stellar checkup at the pediatrician's this week. She is still in the 75th-90th percentile for weight at 12lbs 12oz, and she's officially grown off the charts for height at 24 1/2 inches long! She had four immunizations, which did not thrill her, but she did better than last time!
We took it slow after that for a few days, but we had a good homegroup on Wednesday--we're going through an evangelism series that seems like it's going to be really good. And, of course, last night we went to watch the Gators game--go Gators! That was a lot of fun, and not only because we won! It's always fun to hang out with our friends.
Book selling is going well. Getting tons of orders, so I've been trying to help out. It's amazing--everybody's doing it now! First Dad, then us, now Andy and Kelly, Julie, the Riccios! Crazy.
Hope you have a good weekend!
Also, our little one had a stellar checkup at the pediatrician's this week. She is still in the 75th-90th percentile for weight at 12lbs 12oz, and she's officially grown off the charts for height at 24 1/2 inches long! She had four immunizations, which did not thrill her, but she did better than last time!
We took it slow after that for a few days, but we had a good homegroup on Wednesday--we're going through an evangelism series that seems like it's going to be really good. And, of course, last night we went to watch the Gators game--go Gators! That was a lot of fun, and not only because we won! It's always fun to hang out with our friends.
Book selling is going well. Getting tons of orders, so I've been trying to help out. It's amazing--everybody's doing it now! First Dad, then us, now Andy and Kelly, Julie, the Riccios! Crazy.
Hope you have a good weekend!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Visit to Strang
Today we took a trip to my former place of employment for everybody to see the baby. :) DeWayne was kind enough to take me around--as a non-employee, I couldn't be trusted to go around by myself. ;) The Strang crew loved her--they oohed and ahhed appropriately. And I kept telling her, "These are your friends--they knew you before you were out!" She was very good for them, showing off, of course.
Here we are with the CR team. She was snoozing most of time we were visiting them. It was great to see them and catch up. And see the last mag I edited before I left. It's always fun to see it finalized.
Some of her admirers.
I don't know what this face is. But it's funny. :)
Here she's checking everybody out. Who are all these people? And why do I recognize their voices? :)
Here we were visiting the production pals. They were a very appreciative bunch. Wendy, the third from the left, said something very sweet--"she's your best project ever." :)
In other news, we all went down to Ft. Pierce on Sunday to check out a church that was looking at Andrew for their pastor position. It was our longest trip ever with the baby--2 hours each way. She did great, though. She slept almost the entire way. I learned a trick--roll all the windows down and she thinks she's outside, which she loves. The only drawback was the 65 degree temps, but she was all covered up, and it worked out.
But about the visit--we pretty much decided that it's not the place for us to go, although if God makes it clear that we should take a call there we'd be willing. It's certainly not ideal, but one thing we are coming to realize is that no job in ministry is going to be ideal! We'd really like to at least have a starting job in a place with people we relate to--maybe a suburb of a city or something, with strong men in leadership as well as families. This church drew from a more rural crowd, and there was no one in their twenties attending the church at all. Also, there was a gap in men between thirties and seventies. That could be changed of course, but being a solo pastor there would be very difficult. So, Andrew's applying for some other jobs. This has turned out to be a lot harder than we thought it would be!!
In the meantime, Andrew is busy with his Amazon biz. He got a whole bunch of product on black Friday, so he's hoping to sell a whole bunch before Christmas. It's all going very well, which of course means our office/nursery is getting pretty crowded!
It seems like Christmas is really sneaking up on us this year. Before we know it, it will be time to go on our trip! I can't wait to see everybody, but I have to admit I'm a little nervous about how E bear will do. But worrying won't change anything. And I'll have lots of the best help I could ask for!
Here we are with the CR team. She was snoozing most of time we were visiting them. It was great to see them and catch up. And see the last mag I edited before I left. It's always fun to see it finalized. 
Some of her admirers. 
I don't know what this face is. But it's funny. :)
Here she's checking everybody out. Who are all these people? And why do I recognize their voices? :)
Here we were visiting the production pals. They were a very appreciative bunch. Wendy, the third from the left, said something very sweet--"she's your best project ever." :)In other news, we all went down to Ft. Pierce on Sunday to check out a church that was looking at Andrew for their pastor position. It was our longest trip ever with the baby--2 hours each way. She did great, though. She slept almost the entire way. I learned a trick--roll all the windows down and she thinks she's outside, which she loves. The only drawback was the 65 degree temps, but she was all covered up, and it worked out.
But about the visit--we pretty much decided that it's not the place for us to go, although if God makes it clear that we should take a call there we'd be willing. It's certainly not ideal, but one thing we are coming to realize is that no job in ministry is going to be ideal! We'd really like to at least have a starting job in a place with people we relate to--maybe a suburb of a city or something, with strong men in leadership as well as families. This church drew from a more rural crowd, and there was no one in their twenties attending the church at all. Also, there was a gap in men between thirties and seventies. That could be changed of course, but being a solo pastor there would be very difficult. So, Andrew's applying for some other jobs. This has turned out to be a lot harder than we thought it would be!!
In the meantime, Andrew is busy with his Amazon biz. He got a whole bunch of product on black Friday, so he's hoping to sell a whole bunch before Christmas. It's all going very well, which of course means our office/nursery is getting pretty crowded!
It seems like Christmas is really sneaking up on us this year. Before we know it, it will be time to go on our trip! I can't wait to see everybody, but I have to admit I'm a little nervous about how E bear will do. But worrying won't change anything. And I'll have lots of the best help I could ask for!
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