Friday, March 27, 2009

A Look Into Steven's Party

Everyone gathered in our small apartment to celebrate.

Conscience Clause

"You have strong convictions, but President Obama says that doesn’t matter. He’s ready to rescind the Conscience Clause.

"The Conscience Clause was implemented by former President George W. Bush to give physicians and nurses the choice to act according to their conscience — to not participate in abortion procedures if it conflicts with their personal convictions. If President Obama makes this damaging move, if he reverses the Conscience Clause, pro-life doctors and nurses will be forced into performing abortion procedures, despite their individual beliefs.

"The announcement was made Friday, March 6, 2009. Since the official announcement was made, the public now has 30 days to file comments with the White House ... so we’ve got 30 days to make our voices heard at the White House.Make a difference in this nation and stand for the freedom to act according to your conscience.

"Sign the online 'Petition to Protect Pro-Life Doctors' below now. It will be delivered and filed at the White House no later than April 8, 2009. Get the word out now. BE HEARD! Petition to Protect Pro-Life Doctors"

Follow this link to sign the petition: http://beheardproject.com/

Red Envelope Project

Please visit: http://www.redenvelopeproject.org/

They are encouraging everyone against abortion to send a red envelope to President Obama on March 31st.

On the outside of the envelope, write:

"This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception."

Mail to:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20500

Eating Cake

Eating his is first piece of cake.

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Steven's Birthday Party!


We had 20+ people come for Steven's first birthday party. We rearranged our living area to fit everyone in. It was a very nice time of visiting and food.

Steven seemed to be a little confused as to why all these people were in HIS space. He was not as smiley as usual and snuck away a few times to his own room. Here he's in his own world "reading" his book.
The kids enjoyed the balloons.

Aww, there's a smile!

Rev. Lanning reading Steven's birthday Psalm.

Daddy holding the cake. Banana cake made with baby-friendly ingredients.


His second piece of cake.

Home-made banana icecream (only ingredient: bananas)

Daddy, Mommy & Steven

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Steven's FIRST birthday TODAY


I wanted to trim Steven's hair as soon as it got a little long; Sven wanted to let it grow out a little before his first cut. So, we agreed to give him his first haircut on his first birthday - today. It's a little choppy, but not bad for a mom who's never cut a 1-yr-old's hair before or a 1-yr-old who was crawling all over and pulling at his mom's hands as she tried to cut. No one was injured :)

Before:

After:

Monday, March 23, 2009

Reading on the Potty

Steven was enjoying "reading" his book while working on going #2. (His bouncing around at the end of the video was him focusing more on going #2 than on "reading".)

Saturday, March 21, 2009

More Walking

Happy Boy

We were driving around for over 2 hours today. Steven barely made a sound, even though he stayed awake the whole time. I was so impressed with how wonderful he was, I had to take some pictures at the tale end of our drive - he was a very happy boy!

6 Months Pregnant


Walking

Steven was about to take his bath. My mom-in-law requested a video with Steven walking. He was tired, so a little tipsy. :) I'll post another one after Steven's had a nap.

Kicking in the Tub

He learned to kick and splash in the tub today! He was having fun watching the water flow over the side of the little tub.

Finally! Batteries...

We've been without batteries for a few weeks and haven't been able to capture little Steven on camera without them! Finally, I've got batteries and will do my best to make up for the deficit.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Some Updates on Us...

STEVEN:
On Walking ~
He's walking real well now. He gets a very concentrated look on his face, lists his fists in the air for balance, and walks all over the house. He'll even hold things while walking. He does a pretty good job at keeping his balance, although he still tumbles often.

On Teeth ~
He's got 6 teeth now. His last top two teeth have finally made their appearance. I say "finally" because I could see them through his gums since December!

On Pottying ~
It's always been a rough road when he's been teething. He's been getting more of his poo's in the potty as of late, which is nice. I have to distract him with toys most of the time when he needs to potty, in order to get him to sit for a minute. He's too interested in "doing something", not just sitting there. :)

On Playing ~
He's been doing more of "putting things into" something instead of just "taking things out". Today he was taking toys out of one container and putting them into another. Yes! He's getting closer to learning "put away" and "clean up" :) He still loves his books. Today we came home from doing laundry at a friend's house and I put him in the livingroom to play. He went right to a book of his, sat down, opened it up and started "reading". He'll sit and "talk" and giggle at the pictures. It's too precious!

On Sleeping ~
He's getting very predictable with his afternoon nap - he most always takes one without any or much fuss. If we're at a friend's house, I can even lay him in their crib or playpen and he'll go to sleep. Up until recently I was putting him to sleep in his carseat when we were at someone else's house, but he likes to be able to lay flat. There's one thing that will keep him from going to sleep for his nap if he's laid down - if he poo's his diaper shortly after being put down. Then I need to change it and he'll go to sleep.

He goes down wonderfully at night, too. Oh, I'm so grateful for a good sleeper! He gets his bottle, goes potty, we pray and sing, he's normally giggly and happy at this point, then he gets tucked in and he goes to sleep. About 2 hours later he sometimes lets out a cry and we go potty him (while he's still asleep) and put him back down. I like pottying him when he's asleep, he's so cute! He sits there with his eyes closed, goes pee and then is right back to peaceful rest when he gets laid back down.

SVEN:
On Preaching ~
He's been preaching the second Sunday of each month at Sunrise Assisted Living for the past two months, and will continue to do so. He'll also be preaching every time there's a 5th Sunday in the month at another nursing home. I'm so grateful to be able to hear him preach again! This past Sunday he preached about there being many voices proclaiming who Christ is, but that we must only listen to Christ's voice and why. After his very sound sermon, as we were packing up our belongings, the song in the background sang to a pretty tune, "Many roads to one God..." Oh, how awful and sad!

On School ~
We're both looking forward to Sven's graduation in May from Kuiper College.

On Work ~
Sven's going to be teaching a Greek class for a couple months, coming up at the end of this month. You can view his add and sign up for it at: http://www.homeschoolbuilding.org/Item.php3?id=8218

It's been a hard-go for employment. Many times he's had interviews scheduled, only to receive a call saying the position's filled. We have full faith that for purposes of His own, God has been withholding employment from Sven and will continue to do so until he sees fit. In the meanwhile, Sven faithfully continues to seek employment, and we continue to seek and trust God for our financial means. We're thankful to God for this trial, as we trust it's for our good and His glory.

On Cooking ~
Until Sven finds employment, he's been cooking dinners during the week so that I can have more time sewing. I can not even say how grateful I am for this!! Not only do I get a break from something I don't particularly desire to do (cook) in order to do something I highly enjoy (sew), but I get such tasty dinners, too! He's a fine cook indeed!

CRYSTAL:
On Scarlet Stitch ~
I'm highly enjoying co-running our business Scarlet Stitch with my business partner, Jill Buie. Currently, we're working on building up our inventory. In order to do so, we have 4 people working for us as sub-contractors, sewing on a per-piece basis. I love being able to hire friends and friends of friends, helping them out as they help us! We look forward to bringing more on our team as we become more and more established. We're currently looking into broadening our borders by offering drop-shipping services to other online companies interested in our products.

On Sewing ~
The more I sew, the more I want to sew. I just love it! I've created my diaper line and have sold some, looking to sell more. I'll wait to really advertise until Scarlet Stitch is well underway. In the meanwhile, I'm working off of word-of-mouth and enjoying every order that comes in! I'm working on making my own diapers for my babies, fitting in that personal sewing around the rest of life! I've got a number of projects in mind and onhand that will get fit in there, too.

On Being Pregnant ~
Things are going well. I feel pretty good. The baby is moving a lot. It likes to kick and punch my bladder, though. I don't feel too huge yet, so that's nice. I've gained less weight than with Steven, but still a healthy amount - and I'm measuring the same. We're looking forward to meeting our new blessing in just over 3 months!

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We appreciate your prayers for our family. We're highly enjoying God's goodness here in Michigan. Loving our friends here and our little one. It's been a trial financially, but God is ever faithful. May He conform us to His image.