I BELIEVE in Friday Traditions

Every Friday morning our local Christian radio station, Positive Life Radio (www.plr.org), plays their “I Believe” segment around 8:15 a.m. And every Friday I make sure Kendry and I are in the car and on our way to daycare and work prior to 8:15 so we can hear it. This has become our Friday morning tradition, if you will; and even though its Friday and I’m already in a good mood, listening to this segment positively makes my day. I usually tell Kendry “Here’s our song, bud!” and then I crank it up for us to rock along together. My kiddo might think I’m a bit eccentric.

The “I Believe” segment works like this: all Friday morning, up until about 8:00 a.m., listeners can call in to the station and leave an “I Believe” statement. Those statements are then compiled to fit in with the song by Wes King. Its awesome! Here, take a quick listen to the song (minus the statements):

These statements range anywhere from "I believe God will give me a great day today" to "I believe God will protect my son while he is stationed in Iraq" to "I believe my daughter, who went home to be with the Lord last week, is now resting in His arms". Can you see why I love this segment? It brings tears to my eyes every single week. What an inspiration to hear other Christians voicing their faith in God - for the simple things in life, and the profound.

I've been meaning to call in my own "I Believe" statement for the last few weeks. Maybe next Friday. What would I say?

I BELIEVE that next Saturday will be a beautiful day to celebrate Kendry's 1st birthday outside.

I BELIEVE that God will bless us with more children in His time.

I BELIEVE that God is already directing the footsteps of my beautiful little boy, even if he isn't walking yet.

I BELIEVE that my husband is my best friend, an incredible father, and a hardworking provider.

I BELIEVE that my sisters are one of God's greatest blessings in my life.

There is something so powerful about voicing these statements aloud.

What would your statement be today?

For those of you outside of the broadcast area, you can also listen to the Positive Life Radio broadcast online. Maybe if you tune in next Friday you'll hear my "I Believe" statement.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Ten

1. Its an awfully blustery day again here. As they say in "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day": HAPPY WINDS-DAY!

2. The Fashion Police called Wednesday morning. Camo pants, a baby blue shirt with a puppy on it, and Nike tennis shoes? I’ll give you one guess who was responsible for dressing the kiddo that morning.

Lucky for Kendry, camo is essentially a wardrobe staple around these parts. You can pair it with just about any piece of apparel from your closet and no one in this town will give you a second glance.

By the way, thanks for the camo pants, Grandma. They fit him really cute!

3. On the way to daycare on Wednesday morning Kendry and I saw a car with two inches of snow on it. What on earth?! Its nearly May, people!

4. The Gimlin Home Improvement Project of 2010 is painting the exterior of the house...by ourselves. Justin is getting a few bids to see exactly what it would cost to hire somone, but chances are we'll be rolling up our sleeves in the next month or so and taking on the project sans professionals. If you have any tips/suggestions for us, please feel free to share them.

5. It seems like Kendry amazes us each day with something new he can accomplish on his own. This last weekend it was climbing into and sitting down in his little rocking chair (aka Grandpa Richard’s childhood rocking chair) all by himself. You’re looking at one proud little kiddo.

And then the pride took a huge hit with the botched attempt to climb back down. SPLAT! No children were harmed in the filming of this event, folks. Surely rug burns on your nose don’t hurt that bad, do they? (And don't call me Shirley!)

6. HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, PAXTON!!

7. With only two months until our Alaska trip, Justin and I started brainstorming our flight strategy for Kendry the other night. Bring the carseat? Bring a stroller? Crush up some dramamine and sneak it into Kendry's juice cup before the flight? The fact that our kiddo has no desire to sit still these days has me more than a little worried about keeping him tethered for 3.5 hours at 30,000 feet.

8. I'm pretty sure I am WAY overdue for seeing a chick flick by myself at the theater. Good thing the summer movie season is almost upon us.

9. To make or to buy? That is the question. The Supermom in me wants to tackle the very first birthday cake myself - we all know how much I LOVE to bake! But my practical side says to outsource this task. Supermom may already have her hands more than full with the setup and decorations. One more week to decide.

10. I'm thinking to do an amateur 1 year old photo shoot with Kendry on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully I'll have some neat pics to share with you next week.

National Infertility Awareness Week

April 24th through May 1st is National Infertility Awareness Week.

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term after 12 months of trying to conceive. Infertility is a disease of the reproductive system. One third (30%) of infertility can be attributed to male factors, and about one third (30%) can be attributed to female factors. In about 20% of cases infertility is unexplained, and the remaining 10% of infertility is caused by a combination of problems in both partners.

Infertility has a strong impact on self-esteem. Suddenly your life, which may have been well-planned and successful, seems out-of-control. Not only is your physical body not responding as expected but it feels as if your entire life is on hold.



Fittingly enough, it was two years ago this week we had our very first appointment with Dr. Thyer at Seattle Reproductive Medicine and received our first glimpse of hope in our fertility struggle. Isn’t it amazing what God can do in just two years? Our beautiful miracle baby boy will turn 1 in less than two weeks. Nothing is impossible with our God!

Please use this week to say an extra prayer and/or encourage any friends or family members who have struggled with infertility. You may not understand what they are going through, or the emotions they are feeling, but acknowledging their situation and letting them know you care helps more than you know.

If you know someone looking for information and/or support, these websites are great resources:
http://www.hannah.org/
http://resolve.org/

To all my IF friends: you are on my heart this week!

Family Fun at the County Fair

That’s right, I said county fair. In April? You betcha! For those not familiar with our neck of the woods, Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington are considered “twin cities”, being located right across the river from each other – specifically, the Snake River. Lewiston is located in Nez Perce County, where they hold their county fair, like most normal places, in early fall. Clarkston is located in Asotin County, where they hold their county fair in the spring. In my opinion, this is probably done to keep the two fairs from competing with each other. In Justin’s opinion, this is done for the sole purpose of allowing one county to rip you off in April, and the other county to rip you off in September, as you pay at least $8/person to simply get in the gates. And if you have a wonderful wifey like me, who insists on attending each fair, well…that theory might have a bit of clout.

We have lived in the LC Valley for nearly four years now and, until this last weekend, had never attended the Asotin County Fair. As official Washingtonians, I figured it was high time we experience this community highlight, especially since we have attended the county fair on the Idaho side a few times already.

Friday was positively gorgeous so after work we packed up our gear and headed out to Asotin for the fair. And by gear I mean jackets, diaper bag, pacifier, stroller, sunscreen, blankets, snacks, toddler cup, water, and, of course, the camera. Whew! We were ready for a nap before we even pulled out of the drive. But hey, if you’re paying $16 to get your family in the gate (Kendry was free) you’d better be darn sure you have the proper supplies to stick around for awhile.

We ate a delicious dinner as soon as we arrived: greasy burger for Justin, tacos covered w/ cilantro for me, and a classic county fair hot dog for Kendry. While I love that my son isn’t a picky eater (yet), I would not have been disappointed if he disliked hot dogs as much as I do, if only so I didn’t have to tear those yucky things into bite-size pieces for him. Alas, he LOVES hot dogs. Definitely his father’s son.

Then we cruised around to look at the animals: goats, sheep, pigs, etc. I don’t consider myself a city girl, but I always have questions for Justin when we are around farm animals. Once upon a time, Justin showed steers at the county fair.

Yep, thats my handsome hubby as a skinny little farm kid. He looks pretty small next to that steer, doesn't he?

Anyway, this time I had to inquire as to why several of the sheep were wearing lycra swimsuits. Okay, so they weren’t really swimsuits, but they might as well have been. Very form-fitting, not very flattering, revealing every ounce of cellulite - you know, your typical lycra. Justin figured it was probably to keep their recently sheared coats looking nice for show. I didn't take a picture of the sheep we saw, but I found this photo to give you a visual:

Except the ones we saw were in decorative prints/patterns, just like swimsuits. The one in this photo even has a turtleneck! Don't tell me this doesn't remind you of those full body swimsuits the Olympic swimmers wear. Someone should tell this little fella he needs some lycra leggings or all that leg wool is gonna slow him down on his 100m backstroke.

Then we wandered through some of the booths where, much to my delight, I learned that Miche bags now come in a larger size! These are the purses with the different shells, so you can have just the one purse, but with a bunch of different styles for it. I have always wanted one, but once I had a kiddo I realized there was no way I could keep all my things in the smaller sized purse. But Miche heard my dilemma and upgraded. How cute is this bag?!

I know you are not surprised its in animal print. I do have the same genetic coding as one Linda C. Binder after all.

Anyway, then it was on to the highlight of our evening: mutton busting. For those who don’t know, mutton is a sheep. And busting is riding. Mutton busting = sheep riding. You might think it cruel and not the least bit entertaining to watch people trying to ride sheep, except that the “people” riding them are merely 5-7 years old. And trust me, its adorable! The first time I saw it was actually at the start of the movie “8 Seconds”. And as it turns out, I even married a former mutton buster. Albeit, he admits to me he doesn’t recall ever staying on his mutton all that long. Having seen my husband ride a mechanical bull as an adult, this admission does not surprise me one bit. But that’s another story.

The little riders are so brave as they come out of the shoot, hanging on for dear life, their little helmeted heads bobbing like crazy as their mutton sprints across the arena. Then slowly they start slipping off the side and -boom!- they hit the ground. At that point most of them want to burst into tears right then and there - rightly so as they have just been thrown from a moving animal - but they know everyone is watching, so they take deep breaths to hold in the tears and try to smile really big for the audience.

I wasn’t able to capture any of the contestants on video as I was too busy keeping ahold of Kendry, who totally caught his second wind once he was surrounded by all the activity and cheering. But here is a clip of some mutton busting:

Kendry was quite observant of the mutton busting. Could he have possibly been jotting down some mental notes on what to do and what not to do when he takes his first ride a few years from now? We'll see.

He also got to meet his first rodeo clown:

And, being surrounded by cheering and clapping, Kendry finally learned how to clap. We have been trying to teach him clapping for the last few months, but apparently our demonstrations just weren't as convincing as that of the rodeo spectators.

In summation, it was a wonderful family evening - great weather, great food, fun farm animals (in weird apparel) and great entertainment.

Ten

1. I usually start drafting these "Ten" blogs at the start of my week and finish near the end, but the site likes to post it with the date I first started the post, which I really don't like. For example, last week I did "TOF" (Ten on Friday), but it published with Tuesday's date since thats when I first started drafting. Ten on Friday on Tuesday? Like that makes any sense. I know its silly to even bother worrying about this discrepency, but thats just me. So from here on out I'm simply calling these weekly posts "Ten".

2. I'm wondering if eating sticky-chewy Milk Duds in the week following my wisdom tooth removal was not so wise. (Get it? Wisdom tooth, wise? I crack myself up!) Anyway, I may have given myself dry socket. Not fun.

3. The battle is on! Justin's despised little enemy, the back yard mole, is back this spring and already left some fresh holes in Justin's cherished yard the other morning. Not that we can confirm its actually the same mole from years past, but I like to think it is. Like its a neverending battle for turf between this annoying little creature and my husband. Which one will prevail and be crowned king of the back yard? Only time will tell...

Between you and me, I find the whole thing somewhat comical. Just don't tell Justin. It reminds me of Caddyshack; except, of course, in that case it was a gopher. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get yourself educated in pop culture.

4. If only I had bought stock in Robeez and Pediped a decade ago. My little sprout is now wearing 18-24m clothes, and is quickly outgrowing a size 5 shoe. He has outgrown nearly all of the hand-me-downs from cousin Caden, with the exception of a few 3T items to still grow into. Finding more hand-me-down clothes isn't too difficult, especially with yard sale season upon us, but shoes are a different story. Kendry is still learning to walk, so I am a bit selective about which shoes I even want him wearing. The future sports mom in me gets cold sweats at the possibility of deforming my child's feet with cheap shoes, thus derailing his certain future as a basketball/football/track star. But really, its hard to find previously owned shoes in a 5.5 or 6 that aren't completely worn out; the crawling, walking and falling routine of the early toddler really takes its toll on their shoes. On the flip side, why would we want to buy new when he'll outgrow them by summer's end? I suppose this is what they mean when they say kids are expensive, huh? Too bad the price for IVF doesn't include a lifetime's worth of shoes.

The toesies at 1 month:
The toesies now:

These photos probably don't mean much to you, but I love his cute little feet!

5. With the weather getting warmer my new fave is McDonalds large sweet tea for $1 deal. Then my hubby so kindly pointed out that a single cup of the tea probably has more sugar than a pitcher of Kool-Aid. I reminded him he wants me to fatten up a little anyway, so whats a little extra sugar here and there...and here and there...and here and there. In case you were wondering, Justin was wrong; McDonalds.com says the large sweet tea is only 230 calories.

6. The dogwoods are in bloom here! B-E-A-utiful!

7. This week I completed Kendry's photo birthday banner. It is so darn cute! My next project: his birthday t-shirt. Normally I would post some pics on here for you, but I've decided to keep these projects under wraps until the big day. Sorry!

8. Yikes! I turn 30 three months from today! Why, God, why?!

9. Just for kicks, let's take a look at one year ago, when I was still just a young 28:

WHOA! Who belongs to that belly?! Didn't they warn her about wearing horizontal stripes?

10. Bring on the painting project! I am determined to get a good start on painting my laundry area this weekend. Ahhh, tackling painting while chasing after my 11 month old - now that is multi-tasking at its finest! Stay tuned...

In Between

Followers be advised: This blog entry is going to be a bit deeper (and longer) than my usual entries. No photos of Kendry, no photos of our yard and foliage, no photos of my neurotic cleaning/organizing projects (like you would miss those anyway). Its just me and my thoughts. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Having experienced some interesting emotions over the last few weeks, I began conferring once more with my online friends in the reproductively challenged community, whom, I'm very ashamed to say, I have essentially avoided since becoming pregnant in late 2008. Ironically, the very reason I am currently reaching out to these fellow IF (code for "infertility") friends is the very same reason I began avoiding them a year and a half ago: I have become an "in-betweener". Before you start thinking I am so hip that I have formed my very own slang term to describe a generation - what the heck is a "tween" anyway? - allow me to clarify for you. I am in between in that I know the hardships of infertility, which means I have a kinship with members of the IF sisterhood; but I also know the joy of finally becoming a parent, which grants me admission to a club on the other end of the spectrum: parenthood.

To my non-IF friends, I have joined their ranks as a parent. We brag about our wonderful (and in my case brilliant) children and dissect the many facets of parenthood, and I realize some of them have probably forgotten (at least for the moment) that not too long ago I was an outsider with barely a slim hope of ever joining their exclusive club. Some of them really do forget, casually asking "So when do you think you'll have Baby #2?" And I smile politely. If only it were that easy. But the truth is in that atmosphere even I don't feel like I am an IF survivor. I feel just like the other parents around me. I feel normal. I feel like I could go home and tell Justin "Let's try to get pregnant again", and mere months later we would be announcing our pregnancy to these same friends.

To my IF friends, I am an ally, but I can also cause them pain. We are all going through the battle together; but along the way I managed to find a victory in fertility treatment. Others have as well. We all celebrate these victories together; but when the victory doesn't come to you, it hurts to be around those who have found it. You are happy for them, but you hurt just the same.

Does parenthood remove us from the IF sisterhood? Not quite. We are still infertile, and as long as we desire to have more children, we will continue to experience the pain and emotions of IF - perhaps now with a little guilt mixed in. God has blessed us with the very thing we desired, a child. So why aren't we content? Simply put, our hearts desire more than what biology has given us to work with.

I recently visited a blog called Stirrup Queens, where I learned about Infertility's Common Thread, a concept I now have referenced on the right side of our blog. The blogger's description of how this concept got started really hit home to me:

"...there should be a secret handshake for those who have experienced or are currently experiencing infertility. She was finally pregnant after multiple miscarriages and she wanted infertile women to know when looking at her pregnant belly that she was one of them still - in heart and mind..."

This is the sentiment I want to communicate to my IF friends. I may have been blessed with my miracle baby, but I am still one of you. I have been there. I am still there.

Right now I have at least 12 or 13 friends who are currently pregnant. I am so very happy for every one of them - one in particular as she is making me an auntie again! Some are having their first baby, others their third or fourth. And at this very moment I feel like an outsider among them again. Not because I am not currently pregnant, but because I don't know if/when I will be pregnant again.

One fellow blogger, now into her 2nd trimester after IVF, captured it so well:

"Hope becomes such an integral part of the IF journey, we try to protect ourselves against the worst possible scenarios while still balancing the hope that what we so desire could really happen."

God has blessed us above and beyond by giving us the miracle that is our beautiful son, and I thank Him every day for Kendry. But since my childhood I have known I wanted to have many children; I never saw myself with only one child. One day when I was feeling particularly down I simply cried out to God and asked Him why I had those dreams of so many children when He knew I was going to face IF. I heard a small voice reply "Child, who do you think placed that very dream in your heart?" And then I understood God gave me those dreams and desires for a purpose. So I do have hope. I firmly believe God will bless us with more children. When? I do not know. As Joyce Meyer says: God is never late, but He is rarely early either. He knows the exact moment we will be ready for what He has in store.

So is the emotion and confusion I am currently experiencing inappropriate? Is it wrong for me to claim that I have hope, but still express my frustration? God gave us emotions for a reason, but we have to be careful that our emotions do not control us. I would love to be pregnant again tomorrow, but until that opportunity comes I have to choose to still live every day to the fullest, appreciating every single moment. And I have to refuse to be a slave to the emotions of the IF rollercoaster, knowing that even during the "in between" God is working His bigger plan. May He be glorified through it all!

Give Me the Bear and No One Gets Hurt

Kendry has a really soft bear blankie he got from GG (aka my grandmother), which he absolutely loves. He even makes this distinct, excited humming sound at the very sight of it. We usually just give it to him when its time to go to sleep, or when he needs a little extra comforting. I often wonder if he loves it so much because we have presented it to him for comfort almost since his birth, or if its simply that precious to him, as if he knows who it came from. I am sure its the latter.

Having figured out how to cruise between pieces of furniture on his mission to learn how to walk, Kendry has now discovered that he can stand beside his crib and reach between the rails to retrieve his blankie whenever he wants, not just at bedtime nor naptime. Once he gets it through the rails he literally smothers it with love.

Thanks, GG! We love you, and your bear blankie!

TOF

1. Spring has sprung! And we've got the tulips to prove it.

2. My friend Jessica and I are having a yard sale at her house tomorrow. Talk about a lot of prep work. But I will be relieved to have all these needless items out of the house - and maybe make a penny or two in the process.

3. I am having so much fun getting things together for Kendry's 1st birthday party!

4. Ahhhh...my wonderful craft closet is organized at last, just in time for my projects for Kendry's birthday.

5. When I walk out the door at 5am to hit the gym I hear a rooster crow down the street: "Cockadoodledoo!" And when I leave the gym around 6:15am I hear another rooster crow: "Cockadoodledoo!" I may feel like its way too early to be out of bed, but this sound reassures me that its time to start the day. I love that I live in an area where I wake up to the sound of a rooster rather than traffic. That being said, I could probably live without the sick sounding donkey two houses down.

6. Its time to start brainstorming a Father's Day gift for Justin...

7. The day after Kendry was born I was surprised to find my jaw was incredibly tense and sore. It seems I failed to practice the relaxation techniques for labor and instead chose to clench my jaw the whole time. So for the last year I have suffered from painful TMJ. Having shared this with my dentist, he had me fitted for a night mouth guard last week - which, BTW, cost us $400 since our insurance doesn't cover it. Thank goodness for our HSA. Anyway, night one with the night guard: I managed to pull it out during the night and dreamed that I placed the quarter-sized contraption safely on my nightstand. Wrong. I actually buried it somewhere in the covers and, after a short panic attack, found it the next morning. Night two (last night): I managed to keep it in the entire night. Yeah me! Unfortunately, my jaw feels even more tense today. I may have gotten taken on this purchase.

8. Kendry is becoming my little helper around the house.

"What's that, Mommy? You need a tissue?"

"No, I am not turning on the annoying buzzer to scare you when the laundry cycle is done. Honest!"

9. It is supposed to near 80 degrees here today! We are certainly ready for warmer temperatures and sunshine, but 80 in April? It might be a bit early for my taste, and I'm certainly not ready to dig out my sunscreen yet.

10. Yesterday I discovered that Kendry is biting the railing of his crib. I know this is a common thing for kids to do, but come on! His crib is positively beautiful, only now it has beaver-like tooth marks around the edge. Grrr! I suppose some day down the road I will fondly point out the bite marks to him and reminisce about his baby days; but for now I'm simply choosing to be frustrated. Who knew babies and their teeth could be such a tumultuous stage?

Is "Moo" a Word?

Kendry has a neat musical toy that has a rhyme, a song and a sound for five different animals - a dog, a cow, a sheep, a mouse, and a monkey. As an adult, I especially get a kick out of the woman singing the songs. Really, who knew there was a soulful rendition of "Baa Baa Black Sheep"? Something tells me her musical career never made it farther than Fisher-Price.

I don't think we officially pinpointed Kendry's very first word; somewhere along the way he picked up "Mama" and "Dada". Not that its a competition, but I'm sure "Mama" was first. And now, thanks to the wonderful world of audio toys, we'll be adding "Moo" to his tiny vocabulary.

Chicks Dig a Man With Wheels

On Sunday night we assembled the Little Tykes Coupe we bought Kendry for Christmas. I feel like a slacker parent admitting it has taken us nearly four months to even get it out of the box, but its not like Kendry really would have used it before confidently getting his feet under him.

It may take a little time for him to figure out how to "drive" it, but he enjoyed turning the steering wheel and can push himself backwards.

Silly mommy thought it wouldn't be necessary to install the floor board attachment. Sure enough, Kendry slipped right out the bottom of the car - either that or he was demonstrating his early passion for auto mechanics. "Hand me a wrench, would ya?"

Ten on Wednesday

1. To mark the start of another baseball season Kendry aptly sported his Seattle Mariners onesie on Monday.

2. Is it a sign that I'm getting old when my beloved Girl Scout cookies are tasting too sweet for me to eat? Seriously, I waited all year for these babies to arrive and now this?! Whats happening to me?!

3. Our spare bedroom is once again a work in progress. Actually, its the closet that I'm working on, which requires that everything currently in the closet be removed and piled on any piece of furniture or open floor space I can find, and then placed back into the closet in a structured order that only my OCD self could concoct. I should have a picture of a wonderfully organized craft closet to show you next week. I'm giddy just thinking about it; how sick is that?

4. A little shout out to my sister Angel, my guru for all things fashion and cosmetic. You will be so proud of me, sis - I just purchased my very first hair straightener this week!

5. Justin has been hard at work getting our lawn started for the year. It is so wonderful to have a big fenced yard where Kendry will be able to run and play to his heart's content.

In order to fully appreciate the work that has gone into our yard you have to see a before and after. When we moved into our house in the fall of 2006, two-thirds of the back yard was just pasture grass and the other third was an overgrown garden. We cleaned up the garden mess, had the whole area leveled, had a sprinkler system installed, and then hydro-seeded. Ta-da!

BEFORE:AFTER:

I anticipate us spending a lot more time back there this summer as we keep up with our little toddler.

6. Hmmm...my Easter decorations storage box appears to have shrunk since I pulled out my decorations a few weeks ago. There is no way all the decorations are fitting back into that one storage box. I wonder how that happened.

7. I got a filling and my fourth and final wisdom tooth pulled this afternoon. Why just one, you ask? Well, I was a poor little young'un, just out of college, when I couldn't wait any longer to get my bottom two wisdom teeth pulled by an oral surgeon. Looking back, I should have just hit up the P's for a small loan and had all four teeth pulled rather than just the two. Let me tell ya, its a much better experience when you get to sleep through the procedure as opposed to watching your dentist brace himself to pull out a tooth from the farthest corner of your mouth with a pair of dental pliers.

8. Does anyone else think it is positively fascinating what you can find at the $1 store? I'm saving so much money shopping there for Kendry's birthday rather than the party store. Alright, so our small town doesn't actually have a party store, but you understand my point.

9. Hooray for a "Friends" marathon in my jammies and in bed at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday, with no hubby or kiddo in the house! Going to the dentist bites, but spoiling myself during the recovery phase is divine.

10. And as a follow up to last week's 10, do I really need to explain why this Easter outfit is beyond cute?

I didn't think so.

Oh Joyous Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter celebration this year. Granted, we have a wonderful celebration every year as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Talk about a joyous occasion! And there is something even more precious about it when you have a child. Allow me to share our celebration with you.

I had the table set on Saturday. Eat your heart out, Martha.

Ironically, the eggs in my centerpiece are, in fact, a Martha Stewart Easter craft.

Justin and I did prepwork on Saturday evening for our Easter brunch. Fortunately, our menu allowed for most of the dishes to be prepared ahead of time and then popped in the oven the following morning. Simplicity is wonderful. Our menu consisted of baked french toast casserole, honey yogurt fruit salad, banana crunch muffins, deep-dish ham and onion quiche, and maple candied bacon. Perfection!

Justin's grandparents joined us for church. But before we left the house we snapped a few pics because, let's face it, you really can't count on a baby's Easter outfit to last an entire day. (Amazingly enough, however, it actually did!)

Aren't my boys handsome?After church we headed back to the house to enjoy our delicious meal and let the kiddos play. Amanda, Jeremy and Ava came down from Spokane to spend the day with us. These two little cousins will be toddling around together very soon.
While still a little young to understand the thrill of an Easter egg hunt, they certainly loved playing with the eggs. It will be fun to hide the eggs for them next year.

Rain was in our forecast for Sunday, but God blessed us with some sunshine instead, which made for some good outdoor photos.


And the day wouldn't be complete without a family photo.

It was a glorious Easter. Thank you, Lord, for sending your Son that we might have life to the fullest!

Early Horsemanship

If you know anything about Justin and his father, you know it will only be natural for Kendry to enjoy horses as he gets older. While our dream house plans include acreage where we can have a few horses, that dream is still a few years (and at least one more IVF cycle) down the road. So in the meantime, Kendry will just have to continue practicing his early riding skills in the comfort of our own home.

Alright, so the dismount needs a little work, but otherwise I think he is a natural.