100 on the 100th Blog

Many of you have read Tarah's blog and you have gotten to know our family, but with her 100th blog I want you to really know how amazing and special she is, so I have decided to tell you 100 things I love, think are funny, and think you should know about my wife.

1. Woman of God - This is what initially attracted me to Tarah, seeing her faithfulness and love for God.

2. Wonderful Wife - Tarah is a Proverbs 31 woman and she would have to be to put up with me.

3. Wonderful Mom- Long before we got to bring Jericho home I knew that she was an amazing mom. I saw her sit 8 weeks on bed rest for Grace and 27 weeks with Gideon and 38 weeks with Jericho. She sacrificed so much for our children and it only continues on a daily basis.

4. Loves God's word - I love seeing Tarah reading her bible and her passion to implement it into her life.

5. Intercessor - If Tarah knows you she is praying fervently for you and your family. This is one of my favorite aspects of Tarah.

6. Beautiful - I am constantly stunned by her beauty

7. Integrity - Tarah is always above reproach in everything she does

8. Caring- Tarah's heart for hurting and needy people never ceases.

9. Passionate - Everything Tarah does is with passion and 100%

10. Loving - When you are around Tarah the love of Christ radiates from her.

11. Athletic - Tarah has always been involved in sports and been athletic and anytime we play I have to give it my all just so I don't get beat by a girl.

12. Wise - I constantly go to Tarah for her advice because of my tendency to rush into things.

13. Analytical - There are times when I come home with this great idea and share it with Tarah and she picks it apart to make sure that I cover ever basis from start to finish. This was very frustrating until I realized the benefits in planning.

14. Baker - Tarah loves to bake and I love to eat, so this works out really well, she makes these peanut butter bars that make people go crazy. She put them in an auction and they sold for around 25 dollars.

15. Learner- Tarah loves to learn new things. Right now we are shifted to eating more natural and organic foods and she has a good friend that is teaching her how to do it. (Thanks Jen)

16. Encourager - I am a words person and God placed me with the right wife who looks for ways to encourage me and she does a great job of it.

17. Motivator- Tarah is very good at challenging me.

18. Hot Chocolate lover - I have never met anyone who drinks more hot chocolate

19. Hot Shower Taker - If she could she would take 10 long hot showers a day

20. Pillow Protector- Nothing but her head can touch her pillow. On vacation she doubles pillow cases her pillow to avoid any unwanted germs.

21. Loves Clean Sheets - we probably change our sheets 3 times a week and we would more if we had more sheets to put on the bed.

22. Packer Fan - Don't come near the house if the Packers are losing. She won't even let me be a true Packer fun because I didn't grow up loving them.

23. Bigger Favre Fan - I keep telling her the true test of her Packer fan-ness (mad up word) is if when Favre leaves she is still as big of a Packer fan.

24. Card Player - You should see this girl shuffle, I think we can get this girl a job as a dealer in a Vegas. She beats me at all card games.

25. Skippo Winner - In our 3.5 years of marriage I have only beat her 4 or 5 times out of 100.

26. Blog spy- There are many people in the blog world that Tarah reads all their blogs, but never leaves them a comment, so I call her a Blog Spy.

27. Bump, Set, Spiker - Tarah loves playing volleyball and I enjoy watching her. (Go Eliminators)

28. Question Asker - When Tarah and I first started dating we would sit for hours and Tarah would ask me every question she could think of and this still carries over to our late night talks.

29. Puppy Trainer - Tarah trained our dog Gamba to ring a bell when he wants to go outside, army crawl, shake, and many more tricks.

30. Hard Worker - Tarah is a very hard worker, she is up early and goes to bed late.

31. Mold Hater - Tarah told me that if she would only marry me if I agreed to clean out the refrigerator.

32. Organizer - Our house is completely organized, every draw, closet, and cabinet. I am scared to get her a label maker.

33. Quick Laborer - With Gideon it took only 5-10 minutes of pushing and with Jericho 2 hours of labor and only 7 min of pushing.

34. House Cleaner - She does a great job of keeping our house clean and smelling good.

35. My biggest help - She helps me so much with our Children's ministry. She has stayed late, worked hard, and prayed for our kids ministry.

36. Snake Hater - Tarah hates snakes, so do I.

37. Eagle ears - Tarah can hear anything, anywhere, our kids are in trouble.

38. Neat Freak - Tarah has to have everything in order.

39. Fridged Foot - Tarah's feet are always freezing and she always puts them on me.

40. Sheet Tucker - She always has to have her sheets tucked in at the foot of the bed.

41. OCD - Tarah is borderline OCD with needing things to be just right. Its not a bad thing though.

42. Thinker - You can sit in a room with Tarah and she may not say much, but you look at her and know she is in deep thought.

43. Mascara Lover - The only makeup that Tarah wears on a regular basis is Mascara.

44. Hoody Lover - On any given day you can stop by our house and Tarah is dressed in jeans and a hoody.

45. Picture Taker- Ever since Tarah started this blogging thing she has a camera with her every where she goes. The picture of the sleeping people in the mall are an example.

46. Loves her family - Tarah is really close to her family and loves talking with them.

47. Time Saver - Tarah always has me put toothpaste on her toothbrush if she is running late and she feels this saves her time.

48. Pillow Talker- Every time we crawl into bed and I am almost asleep she begins a long conversations.

49. Precious Moments Collector - Tarah has a whole lot of Precious Moments figurines

50. Planner - Tarah is very good at planning.

51. Closet Closer- She has to have the closet door shut completely before she falls asleep.

52. Cold Sleeper - She loves to have the room cold when she sleeps - even though her feet are always freezing.

53. Noise Maker- She needs a noise maker to help her sleep, she can't handle if it is perfectly quite.

54. Football Fan - Her favorite thing to watch is sports and football is her favorite sport to watch.

55. Hiccuper- Tarah has hiccups that sound like a little dog. I never heard this until we were engaged to be married. I thought there was a little dog on the other end of the phone.

56. Multitasker - Tarah can do like a hundred things at once especially when she is cooking, when I cook there is only one thing I can do at a time.

57. Silly - Tarah tries to act like I am crazy, I wish some of you could see the silly side of Tarah.

58. Body Popper - He knees, elbows, ankles, neck and every other bone in her body pops constantly.

59. Word Maker Upper - We makes up words all time time, like our pillow talk we call HoJo time and the commercials that are longer and in the middle of the show we call swoohoo's.

60. Leftover Maker - Tarah tends to cook for a family of 6 so come by if you are hungry around 6:30.

61. Hates to eat Leftovers - Although Tarah makes lots of leftovers I tend to get stuck eating them.

62. Bomb Shelter Stocker - Tarah likes to have a year supply of everything in stock. I have to admit it is nice when we run out of stuff, but it's a little tough on the budget.

63. Loves Being Pregnant - Everything about being pregnant Tarah loves.

64. Ear Wiggler - She can wiggle her ears

65. Bread maker - Tarah loves to make our bread from scratch. I love it to.

66. She can pick things up with her toes.

67. Stubborn - She is a very hard person to argue with, you can't change her mind.

68. Talker - She loves to talk with people. Wait to call her after 7pm and you will save us millions.

69. Quality Time - Tarah loves quality time. This is her #1 love language.

70. Grocery Shopper- Tarah loves to walk around grocery stores.

71. Loves walks - Tarah loves to just go for walks. We have trails behind our house that we love to go for walks on.

72. Window Shopper - We spent 3 hours in a mall the other day just looking and not buying a thing. Pretty impressive.

73. Loves the outdoors - We love the nature

74. Loves Camping - We try to go camping every year

75. Indecisive - It is very hard to get Tarah to make a final decision on anything.

76. Scarer - Tarah loves to scare me as often as possible and it works.

78. Breakfast Food Eater - Tarah loves to eat breakfast food anytime of the day, especially cereal.

79. Loves to read - Tarah reads about 3 books at a time.

80. Tongue Roller

81. Sight Seer - We love to go sight seeing. I do some work on a lake up here and it is surround by small mountains and we love to just drive around to different sights.

82. Road Tripper - Not so much now that we have a baby but we have taken many long trips. Our longest was with a baby 26 hours. That will never happen again.

83. Hand Sanitizer- Tarah sanitizes and/or washes her hands probably a 100 times a day.

84. One on Oner - Tarah loves to sit down with people and talk with them one on one.

85. Loves Campfires - We have a fire pit and we are out there about every night in the spring.

86. Snuggler - Tarah loves to snuggle on the couch

87. Long Arms - Tarah was made for sports her arms are abnormally long.

88. Good Listener - Tarah can sit and listen for hours.

89. Good Cook - Tarah loves to cook and is great at it. She has now started making everything from scratch which creates a lot of dishes, but it is well worth it.

The last 10 I want to share with you some of her favorites!

90. Favorite Sweet - Chocolate Chip Cookies

91. Favorite Movies - Notebook and Sweet Home Alabama (She could and has watched them over and over agian)

92. Favorite Sports Team - Green Bay Packers (in case you haven't figured that out yet)

93. Favorite Pizza - Pepperoni

94. Favorite Sport - Volleyball

95. Favorite Kitchen Utensil - Spatula

96. Favorite Preacher - ME- I bribe her.

97. Favorite Shirt - Her Be Big shirt, but she usually only wears it when she is pregnant.

98. Favorite Verse - Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living, But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

99. Favorite Saying - "Life is hard, but God is good."

100. Favorite Place to be - Home - with her favorite people & puppy

Tea for Two

"Tea please!"

"Thanks daddy."

"Mmmm, this is good!"

"My daddy is silly, but I sure do love having tea parties with him."

"Daddy, can I try pouring the tea?"

"This is hard but I think I got it!"

"I sure am glad mommy and daddy got me this tea set for Christmas, now daddy and I can play all the time!"

Imagine Christmas

In case you guys were wondering, I'm sure you were, my husband is a very good actor! We had a Christmas Eve service tonight and they did a play called Imagine Christmas. This play had mimes, dancers, singers (both young and old), guitar solos, and funny angels. Guess which one Seth was. Yep, he was a funny angel. It fits him doesn't it. Seth and his buddy Rob did a wonderful job acting as did the rest of the cast. (The pictures aren't the best because you couldn't use flash and it's hard to take steady pictures while holding a wiggly infant - sorry.)

I really enjoyed watching Seth, I've never seen him act before. He is very animated, as you can see, which made the parts he was in that much better, in my opinion, but I could be just a little bias.

At the end of the service they all lit candles and sang. I love the how it looked with all the lights off and the candles lit!

In between the 2 services they had a carriage ride and then you could go in and warm up with some hot chocolate. It was cold, but it was our 1st chance to take a carriage ride as a family, we had a great time!

Just in time!

You may be wondering what you are looking at. I didn't see it at first either. This is our basement but what you're supposed to be looking at is in the upper left hand corner.

Right there see it? I didn't. For the last month I've been looking for it and didn't see it. But why should I. I never would have thought of putting it there, but my husband did. He was trying to keep it dry (our basement has flooded a few times) so that I could use it this year.

What is it? It's my wrapping paper! I almost bought some more today because I was desperate, I still have some gifts to wrap, I used gift bags for the ones I've already wrapped, but I don't have bags big enough for some of the other gifts. Seth and I searched high and low today and Seth found it, but he was the one that hide it! The case of the missing wrapping paper is solved and just in the nick of time. It is Christmas Eve after all. Well, I got some gifts to wrap. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Things That Make Me HAPPY!

Hearing my husband loudly sing "This is the Day the Lord Has Made" to my daughter while I enjoy a nice hot shower

Asking the puppy where Jericho is and watching him look for the baby and then getting excited when he finds her

Picking up our first professional family photos

New babies! Congratulations Andrea, Grandma Jen, and family!

Knowing that tomorrow is my daughters 1st Christmas!

Good Morning

Please excuse my baby talk.

How can you not have a good morning when you are greeted like this!

What a difference a day can make

Yesterday was frustrating

and crazy.

I woke up with a major headache.

Jericho's been going through a growth spurt

wanting to eat

all the time

and she's not feeling the best

spitting up

and fussy.

I was an emotional basket case.

The thought of going to the store had me in tears.

We went to the cemetery (it was the 20th)

They don't plow it (very annoying)

we got stuck (for the 2nd time, even more annoying)

the baby was crying the whole time (growth spurt)

and we got some disappointing news right before bed (that's a blog all by itslef)

BUT

today

was much better

very productive

and relaxing.

Jericho still wanted to eat all day

and she didn't sleep well

BUT

I got my focus on the Lord

instead of myself

what a difference a little focus adjustment makes!

I enjoyed rocking my baby to sleep (for every nap, she was still having a rough day)

I got laundry done

and organized a few (major) things (that I've been putting off)

got ironing done

which I hate

but not when Seth is sitting talking to me.

Seth and I made Peanut Butter Balls

Then we watched a movie

and played with the sweetest baby ever

Yes, today was much better!

Thank you Lord for focus adjustments!

Oh, I also thought about how thankful I am that 2 years ago

today

I got to hold my baby boy

for the 1st time!

She did it . . . . and I missed it!

Jericho and I were on the floor playing today when I decided to bust out my camera (pic is from today) because Jericho was on her tummy and she wasn't crying. Very rare people, she's not a tummy girl. So I'm snapping a few pictures and by this time Jericho starts squirming because she been on her tummy for a whole minute (that was sarcasm in case you were wondering). Being the nice mommy that I am I put her on her back so she wouldn't scream, only to pull her to her side and then to her tummy, being a not so nice mommy, because I'm trying to teach her how to roll over. While she was on her tummy (and not screaming, again rare) I decide to change the CD in the CD player which means I have to turn my back to Jericho, after changing the CD I turn back around and . . . . . she's on her back.

Wanna know what my first thought was - hey who turned the baby over (ask I look at Gamba) then I realize what happened. . . . Jericho rolled over for the first time. . . . and I missed it! I was so happy for her that I started clapping and being silly and she laughed and was excited, but then I got a little depressed because I missed it. To make myself not think about missing it I called Seth to inform him of Jericho's newest accomplishment. He said that he was going to quit his job because he misses everything (Mr. Over Exaggerator) but I quickly reminded him that I stay home and I missed it, so there is no need for him to quit his job. After getting off the phone I did what any parent would do - I tried to get her to do it again so I could see it. No such luck. She started screaming and throwing a fit which reminded me that it was nap time. So, I figured I would blog about it while she was sleeping and we'd try it again when she wakes up. Speaking of waking up, I think I hear her, wish me luck!

Praise the Lord. . . . . in everything you do!

So I've never done a "Wordless Wednesday" before and I was going to today because I was looking through some pictures last night and I found some that I wanted to share but since I'm writing I guess I can't call it "Wordless Wednesday." Oh well, I guess this is just another Wednesday post, like every other post that I've done on a Wednesday, maybe next week. Anyway, here are the pictures I wanted to show you of my sweet babies Praising the Lord even while they sleep!

Oh there is one more thing I want to point out. When I look at these two pictures Jericho actually looks kinda of small to me and Gideon looks big, but the red teddy bear at the bottom of Gideon's picture is a beanie baby, he was little, very little, even when he was all sprawled out.

They're driving me CrAzY!

I have had the hiccups at least 7 times today, AT LEAST! It's driving me crazy! It has actually been awhile since this has happened. When I say awhile I mean like a few weeks maybe a month or two but that's being generous. I'm not sure what causes me to get them all the time, maybe I just don't know how to breath right, but I think part of it is hereditary. You may be laughing at me right now but I'm serious. My mom gets the hiccups all the time too, so does my younger sister. My older sister doesn't usually get them but she is just like my dad and I don't think I've ever heard my dad have the hiccups. I don't think my brother really gets them either which makes me think that it might be more of a girl thing too. I've already done a post about how often Jericho gets them.

Who knows maybe I'm crazy thinking all this stuff, maybe not, all I know is that hiccups drive me crazy! I even tried to ask my doctor if there was anything I could do so that I wouldn't get the hiccups so much but he was no help. He told me that no one is really sure what exactly causes them or why some people hardly ever get them while others always get them. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. It's just that the only way I can get rid of them is if I plug my ears while I'm drinking and swallow around 10 times, but after doing this 7+ times a day, especially if I get them very close together, I get very water logged and then I get a belly ache. It's just not fun. Plus, many times they sound crazy. I was in a store once and got them a lady came flying around the corner looking around, when she heard me she looked up embarrassed (she was looking low to the grown as she came flying around the corner) as she told me that she thought there was a dog that somehow made it's way in the store. Nope, no dog, just Tarah with her crazy hiccups. I'm telling you it really is ridiculous.

I'm posting this video to show that I might just be onto something with this hereditary hiccups stuff. It also shows how crazy and annoying (don't worry sometimes they sound worse than this) my hiccups can be. You have to listen closely to hear Jericho's they are cute and quite hopefully they will stay that way.

Visiting Santa

We went to the mall last weekend (I know I'm a little slow posting) and the nice people at "Santa's Village" actually let me snap a few pictures of Jericho on Santa's lap instead of making me pay the ridiculous amount for them to take the picture. Jericho didn't seemed to mind the big guy in the red suit to much. She actually seemed to enjoy it (I think it was because her daddy was being funny and making her smile.) We had fun taking Jericho to see Santa and then walking the mall as a family.

While we walked we saw a few shoppers that were all Christmased out and in need of a nap. Definitely one of the highlights of our walk.

Footprints

This morning I read this post and Boothe, a mommy who recently lost a daughter to trisomy-18, once again is able to put into words what I have felt (after Gideon died) but have never been able to describe. I like how at the end of the post she talks about getting her high school diploma and the difference between that and the night her daughter died. She is talking about grace and how she can't describe how grace was there the night her daughter died, how she didn't (and still doesn't) understand how she made it through that night but the reason she survived was because of God's grace. It's so true. That's one of the things I was trying to say at the end of this post. The grace of God is a wonderful thing.

At the very end of Boothe's post she said that her husband got a tattoo of her daughter's name, Copeland. Isn't that a pretty name it's different but I really like it. I just about fell over when I read this because that's exactly what Seth did, got a tattoo of Gideon's footprints and name, after her died. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, I'm not a huge tattoo fan, but I love it!

I have actually thought about getting one myself. I know some of you are going to be shocked and totally against this but I want your opinion either way. I've been thinking about getting Gideon's foot prints on my foot. Just his footprints, no words. I can't decide if I want one on each foot or if I want his toes facing me or the other way. What I originally thought was to put them both on one foot, I was thinking my left foot, and have one a little higher than the other like they were walking and have them walking off my foot, his toes facing my toes, as if they were walking ahead of me. But what do you think? If I do decide to get them. The other things I was thinking is having them the same way, like they are walking, just turn the feet as if they were walking into my heart. Gideon's foot prints would just represent him but all my babies Grace, Jericho, and any future ones the Lord blesses us with. They would represent all the little feet in my life that make a BIG difference.

When people asked me about my tattoo I would first tell them about the poem Footprints In the Sand and how God doesn't leave us when we are going through hard times but carries us through and then I would go on to explain that they were my son's actual footprints and that the Lord carried me through when I thought I wouldn't make it. I would use it as a testimony and an opportunity to share my faith.

I've have been thinking about this for 2 years now and have decided that I would really like to get this tattoo. One of the big things keeping this from happening is that the guy who did Seth's is not longer in the area and if I do it I want to make sure it is done right. I also need to pump myself up for the pain. I've heard that your foot is a pretty sensitive area when it comes to tattoos, and my feet are pretty bony.

So, what do you think? Do you have tattoos? Are you glad you got it? Have any other idea on what might look cool when I get Gideon's footprints?

My Giggly Girl!

So I'm sure if I would have only posted one of these two videos you still would have gotten the picture that my daughter is absolutely adorable and that she is giggling more and more every day and we are really enjoying it, but I couldn't pick which one to post so I figured why not post em both. Plus I don't think that either set of Jericho's grandparents have gotten to see her giggle yet. So, Moni & Papa and Mimi & Boppa these videos are for you. ENJOY!

Random Thoughts

I can't sleep and so I am blogging. Don't know how smart that is but hopefully at the end of this I will be able to fall asleep and have sweet dreams - not crazy ones like what I've been having.

I'm finding that when I'm thinking about things (I'm very analytical) I tend not to blog as much. I don't know why I don't just blog about what I'm thinking but usually don't. I think the reason I do this is because I'm one of those people that think about and process things in my head first and then I talk or write about them. Seth is the opposite. He process as he talks which means he changes his mind like a million times. I am learning to just keep my mouth shut, although a few smiles tend to sneak out now and then, and let him talk. He is learning to let me think and process things and then waits for me to come to him when I'm ready to finally talk. I think this is why we are so good together, but also why we drive each other crazy. It's quite interesting when we have a big decision to make, especially if it needs to be made quickly.

Now that you know how I work, here are a few of the things, in no particular order, that I've been thinking about: How to be a better wife and mommy. I want to put God first and my family next. Sometimes I feel like I'm way to selfish. I've been struggling with my scheduling. Should I do one load of laundry a day or should I wait and do it once a week? How often should I do my grocery shopping? What days do I want to clean and what days to I want to be in the kitchen baking? How much food should I freeze so we have easy meals? How much time, if any, should I set aside to do things that I enjoy, such as blogging? How much tummy time should I give Jericho? Do I need a schedule or should I just go with the flow and do want needs to be done when it needs to be done? A lot of little things like this have been on my mind lately. I felt like we got into a pretty good routine a few weeks after Jericho was born but lately I have been cooking, I used to be afraid to cook, everything from scratch and I'm finding that I really enjoy it but because I'm still getting the hang of things I've been spending much more time in the kitchen and other things have gotten kicked to the curb. I know that as the weeks pass things will once again fall into place but if you have some time saving tips I'm all ears!

Another thing I've been thinking about is Christmas and why we celebrate. I grew up in the church and I know very well that we Christmas is when baby Jesus was born but this is one of the first years that I have actually thought about the depth of that night. The night that our Savior was born. How different would our lives be if Jesus wouldn't have been born. There truly would be no reason to live. I feel like my eyes are being opened in a whole new way. I need to think on this some more because there are things that I want to say I'm just not sure how to put them in words yet.

I have also been thinking about Susie, Joshua's mommy. I wonder how she is doing and what she is thinking. I pray for her often. It's hard being told that your son is going to die and trying to prepare your heart and your head for that (although there really is no way to prepare for this) while at the same time praying and asking for a miracle and truly believing that it could happen. As a christian mommy that's what you do. You prepare for reality but also believe in your God and your faith. They seem like two parallel lines that never cross (and that's what they are) yet somehow those lines come together but you'll never be able to explain how. You just know that they did and that God's grace made it possible. People will ask you how you got thought it and you will wonder yourself but you won't be able to explain. Some people get the miracle that they pray for, we did twice with Gideon, but other times God's plans are different than what you ask for. How do you prepare for that?

There are other things that have been on my mind too but I'm finally tired. I'm going to go crawl into bed and snuggle with my husband!

P.S. I'm sorry if things don't make sense. It's late!

Yes She was!

Read her shirt!

(Click on image to make bigger)

Pray for Joshua's Family!

Joshua's family got some devastating news when they went to the doctor at the end of last week. My heart is aching for them. Rather than me trying to explain I'm going to ask you to go check out their blog so you can read their words rather than mine. Please be praying for them.

Christmas Present

We did get a Christmas tree today so technically I do have a Christmas decoration up. It's not decorated yet. Does it still count? Can we say it does. I need it to count. Does it help that we are hoping to decorate it later tonight. That means it counts right?! Although I'm not sure where all my Christmas decorations are, so I don't know if the whole decorating tonight is going to happen. Does that mean it doesn't count? Shoot, I tried, maybe next year. I don't think I hid my decorations on purpose but I could have done it subconsciously. . . . . . . . hhhmmmmmm . . . . . . . this might be more serious than I thought!

Anyway here are some pictures from out tradition, we're on our second year, of cutting down a tree. No, we did not go to the same place that we when to last year, our check book can attest to that.

It started to snow just as we got in the car to go get our tree which was kind of fun, but not really with a baby. Oh and I'm noticing that I like to pick the "no so Christmasy" Christmas trees. What is a "not so Christmasy" Christmas tree you ask. Well, it's the trees that most people wouldn't pick because they are not perfect. This year our tree is tall and very skinny and has a few bare spots and I guess it's kind of Charlie Brownish. I'm not sure if it's the Grinch in me coming out again or if it's the Charlie Brown in me. Seth says it's the Charlie Brown in me, it's the same reason I wanted to get the puppy with the heart mummer, and it's why I usually cheer for the underdog. Either way here are the pictures!

I'm ready to go mommy! I think.

It's cold out here! Do I have to show my face?!?

The pink thing sticking out of my jacket, that is Jericho.

Ok, I will, but not for long!

The "Not so Christmasy" Christmas Tree is picked

I think I can

I hope I can

I'm almost there

I did it! We have a tree!

Proof that Jericho was really there.

What Jericho did the whole time.

Christmas Past

So as of now I don't have a single Christmas decoration up. Is that horrible? I do enjoy Christmas I really do but it hasn't always been the easiest season of my life, especially the last 3 years, because of this I'm finding that I have a hard time decorating and getting in the swing of things. I guess in some ways you could call me a Grinch at least when it comes to decorating.

As I mentioned in a previous post Christmas Eve was when I started having problems with my first pregnancy. The next year Gideon was born and on Dec 21 I got to hold him for the first time, I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present, but on Christmas Eve he started having problems that he never recovered from. Last year we were pleasantly surprised with another unexpected Christmas gift in the form of another pregnancy (Jericho) but before I knew I was pregnant I was a Grinch. I was mad that Gideon wasn't with us to celebrate Christmas and I didn't want to decorate or do anything that had to do with Christmas. My family was coming to visit, which I was excited about, and Seth reminded me that they were spending Christmas day with us so we should probably decorate and get a tree. I agreed but only days before Christmas. Because of my procrastination on the whole getting a tree thing we didn't have a whole lot of options. You'll never guess what we ended up doing, you're going to have to see for yourself but first let me tell you, or warn you, that the place where we went to cut down our tree only cost $10 a tree, that right there tells you how ghetto it was.

That's right we cut down the bottom of one and the top to another, not even sure if they were the same kind of tree but they were similar, and we glued and screwed them together. What kind of glue did we use you ask. Wood glue of course!

Even though I was trying to be a scrooge and didn't want a tree, Seth reminded me of my family and talked me into it. I'm so glad he did. We had so much fun trying to figure out what tree (or 2 trees) to get and how to put it together. We made some great memories but I will admit that it was pretty ghetto and I am now officially a redneck! I'm willing to admit it. Seriously though how can you not after you allow your husband to talk you into doing something like that.

The tree actually looked great and we got quite a few compliments on it! The only down side was that in pictures the tree looked two different color greens, but in real life you couldn't tell, so I guess it wasn't that big of deal. It was worth the memories and the story that we got to tell!

Junk in the Trunk. . . and I Mean Junk!

I just had to share these pictures. Jericho had exploded, yes that is poop that you see seeping through her sleeper, so I laid her down on her tummy, which she hates, so she wouldn't get poop everywhere and so she could finish doing her business and so I could finish making my bread (I guess I should say, so I could finish learning how to make my bread- Thanks Jen). She ended up crying herself to sleep, although she did manage to get her thumb in her mouth to comfort herself a little, I think she was trying to make herself feel better about the situation she was in because it wasn't pretty and me being the mom that I am let her sleep even though she was a mess. She didn't seem to mind for the time being.

Not for Men

I don't know if I have any male readers out there, but if there are any you might want to skip this post. It's not really the kind of think that men enjoy hearing about.

With that said, women I need some insight and advice. I spent most of the day on the couch because I got mastitis for the 2nd time. For those of you that don't know what mastitis is it's a bre*st infection that women can get when they are bre*stfeeding. Let me just tell you it's NOT fun! Last time I got it I was miserable for 4 days. It wasn't nearly as bad this time but I had all the symptoms that are listed on the link and I have done nothing but sleep and lay around and pray that Jericho would sleep longer than her usual 1 hour during naps.

I don't understand why I keep getting it. I'm eating healthier than I ever have before, I've been taking acidophilus since the last time I got mastitis, and I haven't done any of the things that say could cause repeated episodes. (there is a list on the link) It does mention that it could be from the mom's immune system being run down, acidophilus helps keep your immune system boosted, and I've always been a pretty healthy person. I can't remember the last time I've been sick, not including the mastitis, it was sometime before Seth and I were married. The other things it says could cause mastitis is being fatigued and/or stressed. I have to tell you that this is the least amount of stress that I have had in our 3 years of marriage and I don't feel fatigued, I usually get 8 hours of sleep at night. We do have times that we get very busy (who doesn't) but I'm pretty good about taking it easy after weeks like that. I did have to have a lump removed on the side (it's been in the same spot both times) that has been giving me problems a few months before I got pregnant for Jericho. I'm wondering if this is what is causing the milk to get plugged.

So ladies, what do you think? What do I do? Jericho is only 3 months old and I really don't want to be going through this every couple months. Got any advice? Do you think it's because of the surgery or something else? Hopefully it won't be a problem again but I'll take any advice I can get it if will keep me from getting mastitis again.

For any men that continued to read, I told you that you probably wouldn't enjoy it. Maybe next time you won't be so nosey!

A Bit About Jericho

Jericho got her first Christmas present in the mail before Thanksgiving. It was beautifully gift wrapped and everything, but could mommy wait till Christmas to open it - nope - especially since it came before Thanksgiving, I don't know many people that could wait that long to open it, sorry Great Grandma Truesdale, but thank you so much for the doll Jericho loves it! This is an American Girl Bitty Baby doll. You can pick out the eye, skin, and hair (even though there isn't much) color that you want so it will look like your child. You can also get clothes for your child so that they match their doll but they don't have baby sizes so we'll have to wait till Jericho gets older for that. It's kind of crazy but I would have loved it when I was a kid. Jericho's great grandma did a great job, the doll looks just like Jericho. Thanks again Great Grandma Truesdale!

We went over to a friends house last Thursday to watch the Packer game, they were 10-1 and were playing a team that was 10-1. Jericho loves watching and cheering for the Packers. We had a wonderful time even though the Packers lost. Brett Favre got hurt early on and Jericho was telling him to get better so he could come back and play. The Packers played well and hung with the Cowboys even though Favre and a few other were hurt. It also didn't help that the referees made a few bad calls against the Packers but that's sports and life. Jericho and I just hope Favre is going to be well enough to play next week, which it sounds like he will be. Homemade pizza, popcorn, and the Packers what more could a girl ask for. Thanks KT!

Ok so these two video are pretty much the same - I know - but you can't talk about the Packers without talking about (or showing) Favre and just as I was saying something about him in the 1st video they showed the replay of him getting hurt so I had to put that one on and in the 2nd video Jericho was talking (cheering) a lot more so I had to put that one one too. I did for her grandparents. They get to hear her on the phone sometimes but never get to see it. Plus one set of grandparents are Packer fans and the other are Bear fans. They need to know that Jericho is very much a PACKER FAN! She told us so.

Jericho has been giggling here and there for awhile now but usually she does it once and then just smiles the rest of the time. Well, yesterday I got her to giggle and she just kept giggling and giggling. It was the cutest thing. I wish I could have gotten it on video (then maybe I would have only posted one of there other videos) but I didn't. I was having to much fun watching her giggle, she was giggling at me laughing, and I didn't want her to stop and if I would have tried to get the camera I'm pretty sure the giggles would have subsided and I wouldn't have gotten it anyway. I love this baby girl she truly is living up to her middle name - JOY! I know there will be many more giggle attacks (or whatever you call it) and I look forward to them, but I sure did enjoy the first one!

Oh, in case you were wondering the pumpkin rolls were a hit at Thanksgiving. Everyone loved them, even the one I tried to destroy.

Puppy Love

The Outfit

The outfit that Jericho is wearing in this picture is the outfit that I bought for Grace, our first baby. We found out around Thanksgiving that I was pregnant and from day one both Seth and I thought it was a girl. We were so excited about having a baby. Christmas was coming and I thought it would be fun to get Seth something from our baby, plus it was an excuse to buy baby stuff! I wanted to get an outfit. It was going to be for our baby but I would give it to Seth because I wanted it to say Daddy's Little Girl or something similar. I also wanted it to be pink we did after all think it was a girl. This is what I came up with. I don't know if you can read the shirt but it says Daddy's Little Sweetie with a bunch of candy pieces all around it. I love it!

The outfit holds bitter sweet memories. The day we told our parents that I was pregnant, Christmas Eve, I started having problems and was put on complete bed rest shortly after. I ended up having a miscarriage in my 2nd trimester and our sweet Grace never got to wear her outfit. It was hard. I'm so glad I got the outfit; it is the only thing that we bought during the pregnancy. A few months after the miscarriage I remember taking the outfit down, I had put it in the closest that we were going to make the nursery, and I tucked it away in a box knowing that someday the Lord would bless us with a baby girl that would one day wear it. I remember looking at the outfit when I was pregnant with Gideon thinking no this baby will not wear it, we thought it was a boy, it was not meant for this baby but maybe the next baby will wear it. Again I took the outfit out when I was pregnant with Jericho, we already knew it was a girl, and I remember asking, Lord please let this be the baby that gets to wear the outfit. Thank you Lord for answered prayers.

Jericho was not her perky self when I took this picture so we didn't get any smiles out of her. So, Seth decided to make the face that she was making. I think Jericho looks like her daddy especially when they are making the same face.