Kiera's Suppertime Concert

Kiera has been singing the tune "Ba Ba Black Sheep" (not the words, just the notes) for months and I have tried several times to get it on video, but she always stops singing or I don't catch it on time. This week, I finally got it! I'm so proud of her that she can sing it, even though it may not be perfectly on tune. :)

This Past Week

Last week, we welcomed my sister-in-law, Amanda, home.  We watched her hug her boyfriend for 5 minutes first before we all got a turn. :)

My Epicure order also arrived last week Friday.  I set up a display of all my free stuff on the kitchen floor and left it there until Jared got home!

We didn’t bring Kiera to the airport since it was past her bedtime, so we put her in a pretty white sundress on Sunday when Amanda saw her for the first time.  We went to my parents’ house for Father’s Day later on that day.

Over halfway through my pregnancy :)

Kiera was watching the neighbors’ dog

My parents’ neighbor gave Kiera a dog biscuit to give to the dog.  Kiera, of course, didn’t understand that and promptly put the dog biscuit in her mouth and ate it!  SO gross!  She was not at all affected by it…at least she hasn’t been barking or anything!  I finally got a picture taken with Kiera since I’m pretty much always the one behind the camera.

We went out for Father’s Day with Jared’s family on Monday, so I put Kiera in a new summer outfit that my Mom bought for her.

We’ve been totally taking advantage of the hot, sunny weather and going for walks to the park every day.  The other day, they had all sorts of activities and booths set up for kids and then they had a small free lunch, so I met a friend and her kids there.  I basically spent the whole morning pushing Kiera on the swings, so after 2 hours I was way overheating and it was time to go home!  It’s been a pretty relaxing week since our cell group is over for the summer, the Baby + Me class that I was going to is over, and I only have one piano student left now.  I got discouraging news at the doctor this week: I still have a bladder infection, so now I’m on round 3 of antibiotics.  I finally ordered an all-natural product called D-Mannose that is supposed to clear up bladder infections more effectively than antibiotics, so I’m really praying that it works!  If you could all pray, too, I would REALLY appreciate that!

The Unveiling of Our Finished Basement

After living in our house just over 2 years and getting work done in our basement as we had the money, it is finally finished (except for the ceiling)!  We hope to finish the ceiling this summer if we have enough money.  We started off with a completely open concrete basement that wasn’t even insulated.  This was the staircase + bedroom while it was being studded

The bedroom after it was drywalled

The staircase + Kiera’s future bedroom finished with her new bedroom furniture (we don’t have bedding for her yet).  The paint is gray, although in some lighting it looks blue, but it’s actually gray.

The rec room while it was being studded

The rec room after drywall

The finished rec room

The 7-foot rec room closet before

Finished closet

The storage/furnace room before

After

Laundry area during studding

Finished laundry area

Bathroom before

Bathroom after

Ta da!  We are very happy with it, we almost doubled the size of our living space, and now we can officially say we have a 4-bedroom 2-bathroom house. :) 

Busy Busy

Yesterday morning, I woke up Kiera and we went to the chiropractor. Then, we met up with my Dad and drove to the passport office to hand in Kiera's passport application. We got there and the lady said, "The passport pictures are no good because the place you got them done at way overexposed them." She said I would have to go back to the store and either get a refund or get them to redo them for free and I would have to come back by 5:00 the next day at the latest so that they could continue to process the application. We live an hour and a half away from the passport office, so that wasn't an option. Thankfully, we found out as we were about to leave the building that they take passport pictures right in the same building. Then I found out that they only except cash and I didn't have enough cash on me, so my Dad gave me cash to have new photos of Kiera taken and I'm hoping the other store will give me a refund. Also, as I was just about to pay, Jared called, so I picked up the phone and then Kiera tripped and fell and started crying very loudly and my Dad was not in the room at that time. Doing 3 things at once wasn't working, so I told Jared I had to go, I picked up Kiera, and then paid the lady. I was almost pulling my hair out at this point. Once that was all sorted out, my Dad took us out for lunch (thanks again Dad). I came home, made supper, and tidied up the house. Then, I taught piano while supper was in the oven and then we ate after that. I had another student come once we were done eating and then our cell group came over to our place. Normally, we meet at our cell leader's house, but they're on vacation right now. So, it was a crazy day! Now I'm just relaxing at home until we go meet my sister-in-law at the airport! She has been teaching at a school in Africa for a year. Kiera is almost a completely different person since she last saw her, so I'm looking forward to seeing Amanda's reaction. I'm so happy that side of our family will be altogether again. :)

Outdoor Fun

This past week-end, we very much enjoyed the gorgeous warm, sunny weather! I had almost given up hope of summer ever coming, so I'm very thankful that it has! Jared + I took Kiera to the park. She quite often asks to "fwing" (swing) and then she says, "A-wee!" She could stay on those swings almost all day!









































We went to a bridal shower for my cousin + her fiance and Kiera went on the trampoline for the first time. She LOVED it! She kept asking us to bounce + dance, so we took turns bouncing her as she didn't want to get off the trampoline. This is her with my cousins.

Epicure Party

Last week, I had an Epicure party at my house.  I had about 15 women show up and there was so much great food! 

On the left is a plate of crackers, then a bowl of spinach dip (AMAZING), then a bowl of sourdough bread pieces, and pretzels to try all the different dips with. 

My friend, Allison, was the consultant and she brought all the dips + products along, plus she made the spinach dip + pueblo bean dip.

On the left is a fruit tray I put together with Epicure’s Lemon Chiffon fruit dip, then a vegetable tray I put together with Epicure’s Lemon Dilly dip, and Allison made the bean dip to go with the taco chips.

For booking the party, I got a free Lemon Chiffon fruit dip, a free recipe book (5-Ingredient Recipes), plus $15 of free product.  I wasn’t doing the party for the sales; I was doing it for the food + a reason to have a party, so I picked out the 2 dip mixes that I wanted and figured that would be it.  Well, it turns out the party was a huge success and the total order was over $500, plus Allison graciously added a few outside orders to my party, so I ended up getting $69 worth of free product and 2 free seasonings!  I was TOTALLY blown away!!  I chose: herb + garlic dip mix, smoky bacon ranch dip mix, summer berry fruit dip mix, salsa mix, barbecue seasoning, taco seasoning, cheese potato topper, marinara sauce mix, white cheddar popcorn seasoning, maple popcorn seasoning, + the Top 12 Collection Recipe book.  AMAZING!  It was totally worth it to have the party and it was a lot of fun!  I’m thinking of making this an annual event.  Thanks again Allison!  You did a wonderful job!

So Many Appointments

Last week, I had a doctor's appt. and then they called me yesterday and said, "You have an ultrasound tomorrow morning," and the hospital is over an hour and a half away from where we live. I was like, "Oh. Thanks for the advanced notice!" I quickly called my Mom and she booked the morning off of work to baby-sit Kiera. Jared took half a personal day so that he could have the morning off. His work gives a few personal days a year in addition to vacation time and sick days. I was so relieved to hear that everything with the baby looks healthy! Praise the Lord! It was so neat to see the baby's profile and the arms + legs with the tiny little hands + feet! We did not find out the gender, so you'll have to wait along with us! Next week I have a dentist appt. and the following week I have another doctor's appt.

Jared also had an appointment yesterday with an eye specialist. He's been having problems with his eye for almost a year now. He's been getting lumps in his lower eyelid and the doctors have been treating it like a sty and keep giving him pills that don't do anything. He finally got an appt. with a specialist and it was originally supposed to be for this week Friday and then they postponed it to next week Friday. This past Monday morning he woke up and his eye was almost swollen shut and it looked so bad that he actually wore safety glasses (which look like big sunglasses) at work for part of the day. He called the specialist and asked if they had any openings sooner and at first the receptionist said no, but then he pleaded with her and told them he could barely see and was in a lot of discomfort, so they squeezed him in at 4:30 yesterday. It turns out he has what's called blepharitis in both eyes, although he only has symptoms in one eye and he has to take prescription eye drops for 2 weeks and then he's scheduled for surgery to get the lumps removed at the beginning of July. We're both so thankful that an end is in sight with this problem! As long as he keeps cleaning the area around his eyes, he shouldn't get anymore lumps. Apparently it's a fairly common eye problem, although we had never heard of it before. Jared had actually googled his eye symptoms before the appt. and he figured that's what he had. Good ol' google! It's been a busy but good week and I'm so thankful for positive news!

Generosity

Once again, we were recipients of my in-laws’ generosity this past week.  My uncle + aunt were having a garage sale and Jared’s Dad called and said, “We would like to buy Kiera a bed + dresser for her new room and they have a beautiful set here for $100.”  I was TOTALLY blown away as it was in the back of my mind that eventually we would have to buy Kiera those things and wasn’t sure when or how we would have money for that.  I will show you pictures once I show the rest of the pictures of the basement.  Then, Jared’s step-mom stopped by a few days later with a huge bag of homemade perogies that they had bought from someone.

I was SO blessed as they have given us so much.  Almost all the furniture in our house was provided by them, except our downstairs couches which my parents gave to us.  I am SO thankful for our families.  If you’re reading this, thank you incredibly much!!  You are tremendous blessings in our lives!

New Things

This past week, Kiera was walking and she tripped and hit her mouth on the coffee table. We didn't think it was a big deal until blood started pouring out of her mouth! We quickly got kleenex and a cloth and tried not to freak out because we didn't want Kiera to see that. Thankfully, it wasn't any of her teeth. She cut the inside of her lip, but it sealed up immediately. No stitches necessary. That's the first time she's done anything to draw blood, so that was a bit scary for us!

We discovered that Kiera likes to eat sunflower seeds. We crack them open for her and then give her the seed and she really likes it! Jared also taught Kiera her first German word: zoat. For those of you who don't know low German, that's the word for seeds or sunflower seeds. The full word is knokzoat. So, Kiera got it right the first time, but then kept calling them "yoat." SO funny! She also learned the word raining yesterday as that was what the weather was like. Whenever we hold hands and pray together at supper or when we lay hands on her to pray with her at night, she always says, "Amen," at the end. I love that! Jared's stepsister is coming home from Africa in 2 weeks and she's been gone for 10 months, so Kiera is basically a completely different person from when she left last August! I was really praying that Kiera would be walking by the time she came home, so I can check that one off. :) I love seeing her growing and changing.

The Final Exam

Tonight is the big night! Jared has been in school part-time (on + off) for over 3 years taking college courses for his Accounting Certificate. He's been in school now for almost 2 years straight, since he took a course through the summer last year. That means he's been working full-time and going to school part-time for Kiera's whole life. Tonight, he writes his final exam for his last course in the Accounting Certificate program! He's going into the exam with about 108% in this course due to getting the bonus questions correct on a previous test, so he needs 79% to get an A+ in the course and 60% to get an A. He's not feeling well (he has a fever and his stomach isn't feeling well), so that's not great for writing an exam, but I've been praying for him all day and I'm sure he'll do fine. This is the 10th course and so far he has gotten 7 A+'s and 2 A's and one or two courses his final mark was 100%! He's hoping to graduate with honors, but either way, I am SO proud of him! God has given him a mind that is totally geared toward accounting and he is one smart guy! He'll be taking a year off of school now which is perfect timing with the next baby on the way, and then he's thinking about going back and taking more courses that would eventually transfer into the CGA program. I'm so excited that he will be done for now and we'll be able to spend more time together as a family without him having the stress of homework, studying, and the 2 hours of driving to and from school every week!
Holding up a red bean during a game of Bohnanza

Funny Moment of the Day

We were getting ready to go out today and Kiera was looking at her "Jonah" book. There's a picture of Jonah and the whale on the cover and she pointed at Jonah and said, "Baby!" and then she pointed at the whale and said, "Nemo!" That's a pretty big Nemo, ha ha! She makes me laugh so much! :D