Videos of the Kids

This is how Kiera often interacts with Blake. He's totally used to it and it doesn't phase him at all.

This is Blake "talking" a bit a few weeks ago

Awards

A while back, Kat from The Good Life nominated me for the Sunshine Award.  That was so sweet of her!  Then this week, my sister brought me to tears when she nominated me for the

Sunshine Award

the Fabulous Blog Award

and the Beautiful Blogger Award

For the Fabulous Award, I have to list 5 current obsessions:
1. Reading the Bible every day
2. My kids
3. Playing Farkle on facebook
4. Entering to win free stuff and getting coupons online
5. Eating healthier and exercising (Tae-Bo)

For the Beautiful Blogger Award, I have to list 7 facts about myself:
1. I function best on 9 hours of sleep
2. One of my favorite candies are Skittles
3. I wish it was summer all year
4. I'm looking forward to being 30 not because of the age but because we'll hopefully be out of or almost out of the diaper stage
5. We hope to have 3 kids
6. I hope to have laser eye surgery in several years from now
7. My favorite thing to do is spend time with family + friends

I nominate Lynette for the Sunshine Award, Ruth for the Fabulous Blog Award, and Jenene for the Beautiful Blogger Award. :)

Pictures of Thankfulness

“Praise the Lord, oh my soul; and all that is within me, praise His holy name.  Praise the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits" Psalm 103:1-2

In spite of Kiera being sick and now me getting a cold, I am thankful for:

175. Teddy bears

176. That the heated seats in our van work now because Jared replaced a $1 fuse!

177. Silliness: Trying on Nana’s glasses

178. Tummy time

179. That I bought Kiera runners for the very first time!  My Mom usually beats me to it every season, but not this time. :)

180. Little girl braids

181. Going for walks with the kids

182. Button-up shirts

183. Cribs

184. Unusually warm April weather

185. Little chairs for little people

186. Striped shirts

The Van Purchase

Last week Wednesday, we went to look at the van we now bought. I had seen it online for a while and kept telling Jared that we should go look at it. He was hesitant because it was from an unfamiliar used car lot and the price was between $1500-$3000 less than all the other similar Odysseys we were finding online. He thought maybe something was wrong with it. I told him it wouldn't hurt to go check it out, so we did. We got there and it was quite scuzzy-looking and in a not nice neighborhood. The salesman was a short Greek guy with rotting teeth and a cane and his manager was a middle Eastern man. They had a lot of nice vehicles on their lot, though, and it was jammed full. They had to move 2 other vehicles just so we could access the van! He told us right away that the price wasn't negotiable and that if we liked it we would buy it and if we didn't then we wouldn't. Simple as that. He said they fix the vehicles + safety them right there, so it costs them less than getting the work done elsewhere and then they price them right the first time so there's no "bartering." We test drove it, loved it, and put a deposit on it right away. We know that Honda recommends changing the timing belt at 100,000 km and this van has 111,000 kms (69,000 miles), which is very low mileage for a 2003. It's normally a $700 repair and if the timing belt breaks, it turns into a $2000 repair. We asked if it had been done and he said he would call Honda and find out. He said if it hadn't been done, they would do it for us for $200, which is a steal of a deal! They told us that they would have it ready on Thursday at 5:00. He called Jared on Thursday morning and said the timing belt hadn't been done and they had to order a part and they wouldn't get it until Monday. So we had to do a bit more waiting and that was hard because I just wanted to tell everyone, but didn't want to say anything until the van was on our driveway. They had it ready on Monday at 6:30, so Jared went with a friend to pick it up. I absolutely love it! It is fully loaded with leather seats, cd/dvd player, sto n go, rear air + heat, climate control, and power everything. One of my favorite features are the power sliding doors. It is so comfortable and it actually makes me not want to drive our car! I drove it for the first time today with the kids in it and have never felt more like a Mom! We are so thankful that God has provided after what felt like "the search that never ends." It's so nice not to have to think about it anymore or spend hours looking online. I'm doing a happy dance!

Hilarious!

I'm SO glad I didn't do anything like this after my wisdom teeth surgery!

Happy 5 Months!

My baby boy is 5 months old today.  Time is flying by!  He has slept through the night almost every night for the past 2 weeks, so that feels refreshing!  I pray he continues that trend.  This past week-end, we had 3 Easter gatherings, plus church in 24 hours and the kids did so well despite the change in their schedules.  Kiera didn’t nap at all on Sunday and Blake got 3 very short naps in (2 were in the car).  All 4 of us have very minor colds right now, so that’s not good, but it could be way worse!  On Sunday, my Mom-in-law took a few studio pictures of Blake, so here they are.  I think his head is a bit big, but I know he’ll grow into it and it’ll look different once he has more hair.  I still think he’s SO cute!

Too Much Drama

We have had quite the week. On Tuesday, we decided to go test drive 2 vans since all the looking we have done has been online and we hadn't actually driven anything! The first van we drove was a fully loaded 2004 Honda Odyssey with heated leather seats, sto n go, dvd, power everything, the works! I immediately fell in love with it. After that, we went and drove a Grand Caravan. That's what we've been looking for and it paled in comparison to the Odyssey! I know that both do the same job and for those of you who drive one, I'm not dissing it, but the Odyssey is in a whole different class. There are good reasons why the Odyssey is the top-rated van! It was such a smooth, solid, and quieter ride. We had already given the go-ahead to our friend to bid on up to 4 different Grand Caravans at an auction the next morning, so we felt sick to our stomachs about the whole thing. We didn't feel it would be right to change our minds and go back on our word, so we prayed that if we were supposed to have the Odyssey, that we would be outbid on all 4 vans. On Wednesday afternoon, our friend called us and said that we got outbid on 3 of the vans and then the last van they had been bidding on, we had still been $1200 away from our max. bid and then the auctioneer sold it to someone else in the middle of the bidding! That should have technically never happened except that I think that was the hand of the Lord. So, we made an offer on the Odyssey and the owner accepted. Jared went to the bank on Thursday morning and got a bank draft and we were going to pick up the van yesterday evening. In the afternoon, the owner of the van called Jared and backed out of the deal. It turns out, his girlfriend decided she wanted to keep it (instead of her Caravan...I don't blame her), so no van for us. We were both really upset, but then God reminded me that He still has a good plan and He must have something better in mind for us. He has really been testing our faith, our patience, and our trust in Him. I was reminded of these verses: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4 Yep, He's sure been developing perseverance in us! There are a couple of similar Odysseys that we've found online for similar prices, so I hope to go see them next week. It's been a week full of ups and downs, but there was an unexpected blessing in the mail yesterday. It turns out I got a small income tax return! We thought that my income tax came to $0, but apparently not. Yay! Van or no van, I'm so thankful to be celebrating Easter this week-end and what Jesus did for us on the cross! We are blessed beyond words!