Sterk Family of 4

Mini Update

2010-03-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, this isn't going to be much of a post because I really don't have time. It's 9:30ish, we're still getting used to the time change, and Joshua is still sleeping (gotta wake that boy up)! But I do want to pop in to say "hi" and to let you know that I've kind of gotten into Flickr (though I am due for some new pics, especially of the kids), so that is one place you can follow me a bit more. Admittedly, I'm posting sewing projects a bit more (all of these public places still leave me a little uneasy about just anyone being able to look at pics of my kids...even here on the blog), but you can still keep up with me if you like. My username there is mjandco.

Anyway, we are all doing well. Matt is busy with school, taking classes online with National University--1 class every 4 weeks! He's majoring in Psychology now; I'm pretty sure we have a winner :). He has such a gift working with teenagers, so that's the direction he's thinking. Oh, and he transferred to the high school this year and it has not taken long for the admin to be impressed.

Joshua has been going to preschool 2 mornings per week and he loves it! Just had a second parent-teacher conference yesterday and apparently he has come out of his shell and is flourishing. Still learning appropriate social skills ;), but I can definitely see how much he has learned. Lately he's been loving pulling out his little Spiderman computer, turning on the "Spell Your Name" option, and asking how to spell everyone's names. He's getting pretty good about recognizing when a letter is in anothers' name. Still as silly as ever; so much like his daddy :)

Carly is 21 months already--yikes! She truly is Miss Personality, still as particular as ever. Add "terrible twos" to that and it's quite a combination! She is very smart and picks up new words EVERY day. She learns a lot from her big brother, too. She's been singing her ABCs (not all correct, but she follows along well) and has learned some counting (incredible!). Carly cracks me up because she loves her babies and other girly things, but is totally in love with trucks, trains, tractors, Spiderman, Handy Manny--lots of boy things, too!

I finished up one of my classes in January (had to get an extension) and decided I needed a little break. I'd planned on March 1st being the start date to study as I can try to test out of a few classes (7 left!). But I've been enjoying the extra time to sew and not be stressed, so I need some good motivation to get myself going again!

Well, I wrote more than I intended, so that's good news for those of you who actually wanted to hear from us ;). My least favorite part of blogging is having to find and edit photos, and I'm just not going to take the time to do that right now (though pics are one of my favorites about others' blogs!). Anyway, please feel free to leave a little comment and let me know you visited :). Oh...and Happy St. Patricks Day!

We're Alive!

2009-07-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

For the 3 of you who read this, if you even check this anymore. What have we been up to lately I'm not going to get into a bunch of details, but here at least are some photos from this summer.

Carly's 1st Birthday (June 6th)

Carly with her Aunt Melissa (my sister)

Opening gifts at her polka dot party.

Father's Day:

Matt & Joshua

Carly & my almost 4-year old brother, Hudson

Carly & I with my dad

Carly & Jen

Such a good little model, wearing an outfit I made her modifying this pattern.

4th of July:

We started a new tradition this year, leaving at 6 a.m. to watch the hot air balloons fill and fly in Bear Valley, complete with a yummy pancake breakfast. Early but so worth it.

I will try to write more and add more photos soon. Saturday we had a tractor party for Joshua and Monday is his 3rd birthday! Someone will have to show me how to input a slideshow to make things easier (Rhiannon?). Lots of love from the Sterk Family.

Good intentions aren't always good enough...

2008-09-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

Especially for a blog. And here again I realized I promised pics "in a few days." What was I thinking? Better late than never, right...?

Joshua's second b-day was great. After a fun Elmo party, we spent his actual birthday with my dad, his wife, and my little brother. Of course Aunt Melissa and Uncle Daniel (my sis and her hubby), affectionately referred to by Joshua as "Essa" and "Gunc-Unc", and my 12-year-old cousin Ayla were all there to share the day. We went to none other than Chuck E. Cheese...and it is a place I will not soon return to. It was fun to see Joshua having such a great time at least. Afterward we went to Essa and Gunc-Unc's for presents (including a mini powerwheels quad from Grandpa & co.) and yummy cupcakes Melissa picked up from Sweet Surrender.

Let's see, what else has happened? Carly has continued to grow so much. She is such a little chubbers and definitely could take on her mommy's nickname of 'Thunder Thighs' (a baby nickname; come on folks, don't be mean...I just had a baby). I absolutely love all of the bittersweet changes she's going through. She's discovered her hand a often sucks it and she's cooing and smiling (SO CUTE!). She never fails to give ample smiles and "squeals" to the fan and any other large dark object she sees. This one is definitely a girl folks (maybe that's why Joshua still calls her 'Girl"...or "Girl-Girl" when we try to emphasize Car-ly). She is high maintenance, very particular. If she doesn't like the way you're holding her, she'll tell you. She likes to be able to look around to see everything. If she's content and you mess with her in any way, such as kiss her, adjust her, stop bouncing (awake or when helping her fall asleep), set jer down too soon (while bouncing & patting her to sleep)...she'll let you know right away that didn't make her happy. And she doesn't always stop immediately when you attempt to remedy the situation, lol. Even still, she is an absolute doll. Her particularity intimidates her daddy, but he adores her nonetheless. And her brother continues to adore her as well. He still will stop what he's doing to come see her in her swing, leaning on it to kiss and hug and stare at her even while mommy and daddy tell him not to. He'll kiss her foot, try to lay on her while she's on the floor, and recently he's started talking 'baby talk' when he hears us talking to her. He'll get high-pitched and say "Hi, Baby Girl." So sweet.

For my own memory (or lack thereof), here's a list of his vocab. Loves his colors: lellow (sometimes with a 'y'), oge, bean, pwuple, boo, bown, bap, pimp. We haven't had much luck with red or white, and sometimes he gets lazy and tells us the wrong color name. He says tons of family names, and asks for them often. One is cousin Bobby, which has led him o be able to say Mommy finally, and Daddy once or twice (usually he'll say dee-dee), but he still calls us Mama and Dada or "Mom" when he's lazy (his generic name for everyone's names he doesn't know or can't pronounce). He can say: tactor, go chchs (chargers), tayt-you (it took a mere week for him to start saying it...and correctly...without being prompted), peas (please), and plenty more I can't thonk of. Though he still makes ample conversation and stories in his own language (lots of hard consonants...complete with facials, hand gestures, and giggles), it seems like he gains a new word every couple of days now. Recently it's been "ach" (watch) and "own touch" (don't touch). He's still as busy a ever, pulling out toys and dismissing it for another after only a few minutes. He loves Daddy best, especially the newly found piggy-back rides (more like horsey-back) around the house. He's been getting into more trouble and having more trouble minding (though he still minds better than many we've seen) and we're hoping it's the age. This week he's mastered clinbing up into his booster seat which no doubt led to yesterday's climb into Carly's swing (thankfully she has with me) and climb up to look into the crib. From a few times of swimming with Hudson, who is hands down the best 3-year-old swimmer I've ever seen, Joshua thinks he can swim on his own, too. Like when he's tried to push Matt away and when he suddenly bolted into the deep-end at Hudson's b-day party last weekend (Daddy had just jumped in and barely looked in time). With ords and actions, this kid definitely thinks he can do more than reality.

Hmm, healthwise Joshua has to wear an eyepatch 3 hours a day (we're not always on top of that) for lazy eye. He's really good about it, though twice now has pulled it off prematurely and "explained" it to me with his palms up, head shaking, jibberish, and "boom" with demonstration of peeling ot off. We're still waiting )2 weeks now) for a referral to another eye specialist. Carly had an EKG and chest x-ray last week b/c of the small pulminary valve that was discovered in the hospital at 1 day old; we're still waiting to hear about that, too.

Like I mentioned, we went to my dad's in Long Beach last weekend for Hudson's b-day. We came back Saturday night so we could go to the Family Camp service at the lake here in Tehachapi. The Nazarene church, our old curch, does it every Labor Day weekend. It's where I was baptized 11 years ago (in a baptismal, not the dirty lake, lol). We were looking forward to seeing the Gibbs, our former youth pastor & his wife (my former JV cheer coach, too) & kids, but they didn't stick around. We did get to see the church's former Brazilian pastor, Alex (who gave the message, which I sadly did not catch much of while caring for both kids amidst the servicethder the big oak), who wound up marrying a gal at the church (Toni, 3 years older than me). They moved back to Brazil and have three beautiful little girls (6, 4, and 2 months). It was a fun weekend.

The schoolyear has brought Matt back to work as well as back to the classroom. Please pray for him as we think he is going to fully go for teaching (and stick with it!). He only needs 5 classes to transfer, then he'll possibly get his degree and credential online with National University.

I've been trying to bust out sewing projects. Carly's valance, crib skirt, and 1 pillow are complete; 1 pillow left and the quilt just needs to be quilted and bound. I've had quite a few requests for burp cloths and small blankets lately, so I've busted those out. I've also made a dress and a pair of pants for Carly. My list of "to-do's" is much longer though. Oh, and I got to redeem my kids-free scrap day recently. Matt watched the kids (with help from niece Madi and nephew Kyle) while I scrapped at the lss in Bakersfield with my sista and my sis-in-law Stef; lots of fun.

Once again, a too-detailed novel for you. That took nearly an hour, Joshua is finally awake, and throughout the day I will add pics as I can. :)

Playing Catch Up

2008-07-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't think it'd take so long to write again, but I guess daily life has just been busy. I'll do a quick run over our past month to play catch up.

Let's see, Carly's bili levels slowly crept down to 10.8 at 2 1/2 weeks, but 3 days later they hopped back up to 11.3. She was having no trouble gaining weight, though, weighing in at 7 lb. 13 ounces the day of that higher bili reading, 3 weeks old. The pediatrician said we didn't need to check the levels again until her 1 month check b/c they figured the jaundice was from breastfeeding. Those trips to Bakersfield were adding up, so that was especially good news.

A few days before that we decided to get one last Disneyland trip in before our passes expired. We met up with my dad, his wife, and my cutie brother Hudson. I realized afterward I didn't go on any of the mere 4 rides experienced that day, but it still was so much fun. I don't see myself ever tiring of that place, though I admit that it is definitely tiring to go with a toddler and newborn. The highlights: Carly took her first picture with Minnie and Joshua kept cutting in line to give Mickey hugs- priceless!

We enjoyed a relaxing 4th of July at my sis-in-law's. Stef and Scott have
transformed their backyard into this beautiful and tranquil place you really would have to step into to fully appreciate. Maybe sometime I'll get some photos for you. Here is Carly relaxing with her Nana (Matt's mom) and wearing an adorable top that Marie got her.

Last Sunday my dad came up to visit and wanted to go swimming. I didn't get any pics of it, but my baby brother is such a fantastic swimmer. He will be 3 in one month and really truly swims. Joshua isn't exposed to a pool on a daily basis like Hudson, but he still just loves water. He was jumping in to Matt and also enjoyed being dragged around on a raft. Carly had her first pool experience, which she wasn't too sure about, but it only lasted a few minutes b/c of a man who decided to smoke right next to us in the pool. But she sure looked adorable in her little swimsuit that her Aunt Melissa got her (my sis).

We've been enjoying normal day to day life, I suppose. Too busy for my taste; I'd rather play with my babies all day (welll, maybe actually have some time to sew, too).

Today we had Joshua's b-day party and tomorrow (the 27th) is his real 2nd birthday. Give me a couple days and I will definitely have some photos and details to share. I just can't believe that my baby is 2 years old! K, I have to catch some shut eye. It's really late right now and I don't have many hours before I need to get ready for church. So tired!

Another long week

2008-06-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

We've had another long week, but thankfully it was better than the previous one. We made three trips to Bakersfield to check on Carly's bili levels. Though others tried to reassure me that she looked better, to me Carly looked the same as when we'd left the hospital last Thursday. Her level had been 11.8 then. Sure enough, mommy knows best because on Tuesday it was up to 15.5. The dr. hoped this rebound was on it's way down, so she told us to come back for another blood draw the next day to determine if she'd send lights home with us (no more hospital, yay!). On Wednesday and it was pretty much the same at 15.2, so they decided to give us the day off and come into the office Friday for just a skin reading and to reevaluate.

I did not pray about all of this nearly enough. I'm sure I could give an excuse like new mommy exhaustion and the busyness of going to Bakersfield and back so often, and I'm sure this is all true to an extent. Mostly I think I just wasn't relying on the Lord, and with two babies and a husband that all mean so much to me, there's no reason for me to not give praise and total reliance to the One who has blessed me so. He is so good despite my failures, and I know many others were faithful to prayer. When we went back Friday my sweet girl was down to 12.5. Praise God!!!!!!! And thank you so much for your prayers; they did not return void.

We would be greatful for continued prayer for Carly, and also for the family for a new health issue. Our baby boy slept in his big boy bed in his big boy room for the first time last night, and without any trouble. When I checked on him this morning he was sweetly sitting against his pillow, just looking out the window. I climbed up on the bed with him and right away noticed goobers all around his right eye and also saw that it was red. Yep, Joshua has pink eye for the first time and Matt also has it. Please pray that they heal quickly, that it doesn't return, and that Carly and I don't get it.

I was bummed that this meant a third Sunday away from church and a cancelled dinner with friends this evening. But we are still going to Bakersfield to shop for a "new" car finally, and we'll be able to stay the night at my mom's to continue our search tomorrow if needed as well as to take Carly in for another skin check.

Though we did get our family/newborn photos taken Tuesday at Picture People (which we haven't even had time to look at yet), we've fallen prey to not taking as many pictures with #2 already. These pics are from the 12th and 13th. Hopefully we'll get in lots of pics this week, including something for her birth announcement (which I am NOT making this time around!). So stay tuned for newer, recent pics.

Our Surprise Child

2008-06-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

So far in her short existence our Carly Dawn has proven to be a child full of surprises. The first was her conception, which Daddy and Mommy had not planned on being so soon. Next was the time of her arrival...both pretty big things in my opinion. The following is incredibly long and detailed (as usual), probably more so for my own benefit (my memory is so poor lately and I will want this for Carly's scrapbook). So please don't feel bad if you end up skipping over a lot.

Matt, Joshua, and I headed to the dr. Thursday, June 5th for my 36 week check. I knew the odds of me already being dilated were pretty good, since I was already 3 cm and 80% effaced at 37 weeks with Joshua. However, we didn't expect me to already be 5 cm and 80%. My dr. hooked me up to fetal monitors for nearly an hour, during which time I had 3 contractions. She told me she was concerned about us driving back to Tehachapi in case I went into labor and didn't make it back in time. Since I'd made it to the day before Joshua's due date (at which time I was 7 cm & 90%) before they walked me over to the hospital to induce me, Matt and I really weren't worried. Still, we were totally unprepared and hadn't even packed bags.

We decided to hang around in Bakersfield for a while. We went to Olive Garden for dinner with my mom and the entire time I kept record of my contractions. Oddly enough, they kept coming, mostly at an average of 10 min apart. With Joshua whenever I'd start to have some sort of regular contractions, they'd stop or become irregular. But these ones weren't stopping. At this point we figured we should go home and pack, just in case, but still thinking it was just a precaution. We arrived in Tehachapi around 10 pm and let Joshua sleep in the car while we got everything together. My contractions kept coming...and getting closer together.

My sister told me I should be on bedrest since the dr. (and us as well) wanted to see if I could make it just one more week. Anything prior to 37 weeks is considered preemie. But by the time we had finished packing (nearly midnight) I was worried about us making it to the hospital in time. My contractions were about 4 min apart, and even though we were so exhausted and wished for at least an hour to rest, we got in the car, dropped Joshua off at Matt's parents', and flew down the hill. We got to the hospital at 1 am and I was 6-7 cm, 90% effaced.

Time really seemed to fly by. Within 45 min I was getting some meds through the IV and by 2:30 I got my epidural. The latter didn't work as well as last time (I didn't feel a thing with Joshua). I could "feel" numbness in my back and my right leg would not move for me, but I could feel tightening of the contractions a little easier and especially the pressure as the time to push drew nearer. At some point I told my nurse about the pressure and when she checked I was either 10 cm or close to it and almost fully effaced. She told me to call her when I got an overwhelming urge to push, and it seems like it was only 5 min later when that came. Within minutes the nurse had checked me again and the room became busy in preparation for delivery.

I don't know how much more I would've felt without the epidural, but I screamed while pushing and had a hard time breathing. Even with an oxygen mask everyone had to keep reminding me to breathe slowly and the pain and pressure were so strong I wanted to push even between contractions. Thankfully I pushed for only 20-25 minutes (as opposed to an hour and a half with Joshua, though it didn't feel like that long). At 5:44 a.m. on Friday, June 6, 2008, our beautiful Carly Dawn was born. Though only 2 days shy of being 4 weeks early, she was 6 lb. 10 oz. (only 8 oz. less than her big brother's birth weght) and very healthy, so she did not have to spend any time in the NICU. She surprised us again with a full head of thick, dark hair and definitely favoring her daddy in the mouth, chin, and cheeks (though also looking ver similar to her brother).

A huge blessing to Mommy in this early birth was definitely the smaller size, resulting in only an episiotomy, as opposed to the painful 3rd degree lacerations and month-long recovery that occurred with Joshua's birth. I was able to walk around on my own after just a few hours and take care of my little girl- Praise God! Because of Carly's preemie arrival we did have to stay overnight, not being released until about 5 pm Saturday. She was found to have a slight heart murmur, for which the pediatrician ordered an ecko-cardiogram (sp?), which found Carly's pulminary valve to be a little small, which now requires a visit with a cardiologist later this month. But we were very thankful to go home that evening, especialy because we missed our Joshua so much.

This would be the end, where I'd tell you a little more about my sweet Carly, but we received another surprise and had a much longer week than anticipated. On Sunday my sister, Melissa, noticed that Carly was looking like "a carrot" and told us to be sure to have it checked the following day at Carly's well-baby check. Melissa is a nurse in the neonatal ICU at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield. Sure enough, at the appointment Monday afternoon Carly was found to have a bilireuben level of 17.4 (with the skin reading). They sent us over to Memorial Hospital where Carly was admitted to the pediatric unit to be put under the lights for jaundice.

That first night (Monday) her bili level was at 19, the following morning it had only gone down to 17, and Tuesday night it was at 14.3. Wednesday morning it was down to 11.6, so she was taken off the lights at 10:30 am to see how her body would do on its own. I was so thankful at this point because I could finally hold my baby girl anytime I wanted. Up until that point she needed to stay under the lights as much as possible, hooked up to monitors and an IV, had a little visor on to protect her eyes from the light, and could only come out when nursed every other feeding (I pumped for the other feedings). And the poor baby was poked so many times. While Matt and I were glad Carly's bili levels had lowered, we were worried that off the lights her recovery would take longer. This seems to have come into play since Carly's bili was at 11.8 Wednesday night and still hadn't changed the next morning. Even still, the pediatrician discharged Carly on Thursday, and now we still have to watch her coloring and continue to have her monitored by the doctors until the jaundice completely clears.

Thankfully Memorial is the only hospital in Bakes where I was able to stay in the room with Carly, anywhere else I would've been sent home. But this was the hardest thing I've had to go through with my babies. I already had missed Joshua while in the hospital for Carly's birth, and again I was away from him for days. Matt took him home Monday evening (after the poor baby hadhad diarrhea all day), he was definitely sick Tuesday, so I only saw Matt a few hours Tues evening when he brought me a bag. Then Matt woke up sick Wed morning and I finally saw them again when they picked us up Thursday. The whole week Joshua wuld ask for me or look around for me, and his little phonecalls were such blessings. He has only spent 5 nights away from me his whole life, all within a week's time.

This whole situation would be difficult for anyone, and tack on the crazy hormones of one recovering from childbirth and you've got a woman who can hardly keep from crying; it was so hard. Yet I praise God because He never left us, He never let go through this trying week. He was faithful to care for us, to send Christian friends for fellowship, encouragement, and prayer, and to speak to me through His word. This past week there have been so many things, both small and large details, which He used as blessings despite the difficulty. And I trust that He will continue to care for us all, especially to completely heal our sweet baby girl.

So sorry for the amount of info here. At the very least I hope you enjoy the photos. I have to tell you really quick how much Joshua loves his baby sister. Not once has he been mean or acted jealous of the attention she gets. He does get upset whenever Carly gets her pacifier because he's only allowed to have his for sleeping. But he absolutely adores her. He wants to hug and kiss her all the time and he calls ger "Girl" (guhl) from when we called her "Baby Sister, Little Girl" in Mommy's tummy. It's just precious!

Please keep Carly in your prayers. I can't help but be a little concerned that her bili levels increase and result in another trip to the hospital. I'll try to add more photos this coming week. All that's posted here are from last weekend and she's definitely changed since then. Lots of love to you from our new family of 4!

She's here...early!

2008-06-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

June 6th, 5:44 a.m.
6 lb. 10 oz., 17 1/2"
Healthy and home.
We're ecstatic...and exhausted.
More soon, I promise!

Do I have to?

2008-05-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

I promised Marie I'd update by today. I truly am thankful for friends who keep me accountable to updating here (yes, that also includes you, Theresa & Rhiannon & Nichole), but goodness this feels like such a chore to me! When all is said and done I like having at least one place where I can look back on certain things about Joshua, mostly because I haven't scrapbooked or even journaled tidbits in over 8 months. But this really is not my favorite thing to do. Okay, enough whining :) here goes.

Joshua is nearly 22 months already. His 2nd b-day is getting closer and closer, not my favorite thing. He really is turning into such a big boy. He hasn't grown a ton physically, but his personality and comprehension are so much fun. He understands so much more, even if his vocab can't match it all. He loves his family, especially his cousins (Kyle, 13; Madi, 11; Evan, 7; Savanna, 4). Anyone he can name he asks about at least a few times each day, to which Mommy responds, "Ky-Ky is at school" and so on. He LOVES to tell stories and take over conversations. He jibbers in his own language, complete with body language such as pointing and shrugging shoulders and anything else that he feels like...and even laughing like he's just said something funny. Once in a while we catch a word we understand, so we know what he's saying. It will be so much fun the more his vocab grows and we can hear more of what goes on in his adorable head.

Let me tell you, this kid is all boy. He loves anything that makes noise...vacuums, Daddy's tools, Mommy's sewing machine, cars & trucks, airplanes, the choo-choo trains we hear from our house. One of these days I'll record his mimic of these sounds, really need it at least for us. If others didn't know better they'd probably think he was yelling, but he's just being loud like the fan or whatever. He loves helping his daddy with things. Lately he's been trying to help as Daddy puts his new room together. This includes grabbing his toy hammer and hammering away with Daddy, grabbing the screwdriver and twisting it around, grabbing a paint stick and attempting to dip it and then put it on the wall. His favorite thing is to be outside. Many days, even before he's gotten out of his p.j.s, he is at the door asking to put his shoo-shoos on. He runs, helps Daddy, plays with the cat and dog, picks flowers (fau-fau), rides his bike (or rides with Daddy), and most importantly digs in the dirt. He's been improving a little, but most days he throws a pretty big fit when it's time to come in. Sometimes he'll stand at the door crying with shoes in hand for 30 min. or more. The weather has been pretty warm this week, so at least he's been able to convince Mommy to go out too.

Matt and I have been hard at work to transition our small home to accommodate our newest member. We were so blessed to buy this house nearly 5 years ago and though we've been here longer than planned (and we know we'll be here a lot longer), God has enabled us to make it work for us. It's just over 1000 sq. ft. with three bedrooms. Our 3rd room was formerly the office/guest room/craft room and is now a nearly complete big boy room. The desk and computer went into the master bed and Matt custom built some wonderful shelves in Joshua's new closet. It works so well that I was able to organize all of my sewing & scrapbooking supplies onto the top shelves, leaving plenty of room for our family games in addition to Joshua's clothes and many toys. It's a little messy still b/c of some supplies I'm attempting to destash as well as those that I need to make into items for my shop. Once it's cleared a bit I'll be sure to take some photos. At that time I'll also include photos of Joshua's new room. Matt painted last week, the twin bed is in complete with bedrail, furniture is in and getting filled, toys are moving in. We'll shop for the comforter this week and I'll be making a valance, pillow sham, and some small pillows. I promise pictures when it's all done.

Don't know how long it will take to transition Joshua into sleeping in his new room. I tried to lay him in there for naptime today, but he wasn't ready. We'll just keep getting him used to it and try every day. As for his current room, we won't have it completely turned into the baby's room until after she arrives. I'm making the bedding myself (again, I promise photos when it's all done), but we decided to not paint until after she's born...just in case. By the way, "she" is officially named now. We ended right where we started, with the exact name we'd had chosen when pregnant with Joshua. But Matt wanted to be 100% sure nothing better came up. Our sweet baby girl will be named Carly Dawn. Dawn is my mom's legal first name, though when she was 6 months old my grandmother had finally had enough of people mistaking her for a boy Don, so she switched her to her middle name, Marilee. My sister's middle name is Dawn, so we wanted to honor the two of them. I love that both of our kids have something special. Matt's brother goes by Danny and Melissa's (my sis) hubby is Daniel, so it was natural to name our firstborn Joshua Daniel after his uncles. This weekend we settled on a backup boy's name, just in case, but I won't share that unless we really do get surprised.

Anyway, I'm tired, Matt is ready to crawl in bed, so I better wrap this up. I've posted a pic of me from last week...er...almost 2 weeks ago. I was 32 weeks preggo in this shot and Wed I'll be 34. My body is so much more uncomfortable this time around, but it's crazy to think I'm down to my last 6 weeks. I feel like I still have so much to do and I know our lives are about to change drastically very soon. The other pics are of my boys out on the hammock, Joshua about to climb onto the ladder while "helping" Daddy paint, and the final one was taken this evening of Joshua on his big boy bed just before stories (though he did not stay there). Hope the few of you who read this are well and still awake after this gigantic novel I've written. Love you lots and *hope* to update you again soon.

Tag, I'm It

2008-03-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

This is the second time my friend Marie has tagged me (in a week, mind you!) and I promised I'd actually comply this time. So here goes:

The Rules
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I always use this one when something random is asked of me, because my memory is shot and I'm not that interesting. When I was 14 one of my friends (who now is actually a cousin through marriage) invited me to stay the weekend at her dad's. He worked on the set of Baywatch and there was a premiere at the studio for their new season. The room they showed it in was a makeshift bar and the placed was literally packed. Melissa and I were scrunched up next to the bar waiting for it all to begin when I looked up at a towering David Hasselhoff who stepped on my toe as he squeezed by; he just smiled, oblivious.

2. One thing that really deeply annoys me is the sound of people eating. Those who chew (and speak, too) with their mouths open, smacking their food around drives me nuts. But it's also the sound of those with mouths closed that makes my skin crawl. Something about the saliva and food swirling around- YUCK! I have to run out of the room when possible, turn on some music, or when I'm not in the comfort of my own home I discreetly plug my ears when able.

3. Along the lines of #2, only two have ever NOT bothered me when eating: my dog Pete (probably most dogs for that matter, since the food is dry) and my adorable Joshua.

4. Going along with Marie on this one, I can't stand hearing my own voice played back on a message or videotape, etc. I don't sound quite so high pitched in my own head as I apparently am in real life. Sorry everyone.

5. Again with Marie, there is nothing I long for more than for my children to know the Lord. It's a fear of mine that they would choose a life of sin over salvation; not something I dwell on, but it lingers back there. I believe there's no greater responsibility I have as mother, so I pray that though on my own I will fail, that my God will grace me with words and actions that will guide my precious babies to Him.

6. Gosh, I have to come up with two more? Let's see, this may be stretching it, but here goes. I didn't get the hiccups even once when I was pregnant with Joshua. But once I could feel it, he had the hiccups at least once a day for the rest of the pregnancy (and on a sidenote, while nursing Joshua's hiccups were what stopped him from spitting up more until the next feeding).

7. Boy, this is tough...again, stretching it here. I truly have a problem with thinking of things quickly when I need to. I'm terrible at games or anything that requires quick thinking, I really think I have an actual brain problem with this. Just the other night we played BuzzWords (hope I got that right) with Matt's family and though I really did know a good chunk of the answers, I only answered about three times because I just could not get my brain to cooperate.

Okay, pretty poor, but that's all I've got.

I don't know many who blog, so my tags are going to have to be limited to Cheryl, Gina, Emily, and Jordana. Theresa, I would've tagged you, but someone else beat me to it :).

Boy or Girl?

2008-02-21T22:14:00.000-08:00

I know you were expecting this earlier, but our appointment was after Matt got off work and we needed to do some grocery shopping before we headed back to Tehachapi. It just now occurred to me that I should've taken a poll. I know not many people visit this blog, especially since so many must've given up on me months ago with my posts so few and far between. But it would've been fun to have those of you who did see my last post comment and give me your guess, boy or girl. You know, it really isn't too late for that. Haha, just kidding. I won't make you wait any longer.

Our ultrasound went really well today. Because this baby moves and kicks so much less than Joshua did, I made sure to get a little sugar in me ahead of time in attempt to encourage some movement. Boy did we ever get it! Baby was kicking and flipping and moving all over the place. The picture was much clearer than I remember it being with Joshua, too. We saw a perfectly complete spine, including tailbone, the four chambers of the heart, different parts of the brain, kidneys, profile, everything. No cleft lip, heartrate at 155 beats/min. The complete head measurement was a big thing (for us) in contrast to Joshua's ultrasounds. We had to go back two additional times because the little booger just wanted to tuck himself in without budging (not that we minded the extra excuses to see him). Baby weighs about 13 ounces which is right on track. And even though the u/s was only 2D we did get to see that Baby's feet were all the way next to the head; we even saw Baby grab one foot, so cool!

Have I made you read through enough yet? Tell me the truth, how many of you actually scrolled down to this part before reading everything because you were too impatient? Are you ready? Baby is..................

A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it? How perfect is that, a precious boy followed by a precious girl?! We certainly are blessed either way and would've been thrilled with another boy, but we get to have one of each, so exciting! The u/s tech took her time getting measurements of everything else before finally checking on the gender. On the screen we saw two little legs sticking out and between them...absolutely nothing. I must say that I am tempted to be a little leary without having a second u/s to confirm this finding. But then I think about how much this kid really did move all over, how much the tech moved that probe all over my belly to get every angle checked thoroughly and nothing "extra" popped up anywhere. With Joshua's ultrasounds it was very obvious from the get-go. That first one I laid on the table with a full bladder not realizing that the equipment there is so good that this was not only unnecessary but a hindrance. When I returned from, ahem, emptying ;) the tech told us she could tell what we were having immediately before I got up. So, for those of you who are also tempted to be leary, I think we're safe!

Matt and I are so excited. And even though Joshua hasn't shown any excitement, not even while watching the ultrasound on the 'TV' (hehe, obviously he doesn't comprehend any of it yet), we know he's going to love having a new baby sister...especially picking on her ;D. About a week ago Matt said his guess was a girl, without explaination. About a week before I realized we were expecting, I was daydreaming about having a little girl. And every time I've thought about the baby since, my mind has gone on autopilot that it's a girl. I've had to force myself to consider the possibility/probability of it being a boy. Not in a bad way, of course, but it's just funny how the mindset for boy versus girl really is different. God really did make the two sexes different, so naturally the dynamic of a family is going to change depending on it having two boys or two girls or one of each. In a way I just feel like this is too good to be true because I get what I've wanted for a very long time, a son of my own and a daughter of my own. God is amazing!

Of course I'd planned on just making a quick announcement on our findings and all of you get stuck reading a wordy novel. Sorry, that's just how I write, no matter how hard I try to keep it simple. This doesn't by chance make up for my lack of posts, does it? Blessings to you all; I really am so thrilled to share our exciting news with you :)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T12:01:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I will no longer "promise" to post photos or anything within a certain timeframe again. I can't stand that I can't be held to my word. Daily life just keeps me busy and I don't know how anyone (especially those who I know are busier than me) can possibly keep up a daily blog...or even a weekly or monthly one!

Happy Valentine's Day to you! Matt gets a 4-day weekend and that's when we'll celebrate. The last time we attempted to go out on V-Day itself we said we'd never do it again; we went to see 50 First Dates, so whenever it was that came out.

Poor Joshua is sick with a cold. His nose and cheeks are so red. At least he got to enjoy some fun outside over the past few weeks. We had quite a bit of snow started with the week of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Matt got a 2 day week, followed by two 3-day weeks, and now this long weekend means two 4-day weeks. 6 snow days in all with the last one accumulating about 6 inches in town; haven't seen that since high school. So, we've got some fun sledding memories. This past weekend my dad came up for a visit and of course that meant a trip to the park for the boys. It was such a beautiful day! Hudson is talking up a storm now, most everything he says is comprehendable. Joshua talks tons, but most of it is his own gibberish. On a side note, it's hilarious to listen to him tell stories and use his hands. The other day he was telling me something (complete with half-laughs every now and then) and when I looked down at a paper in my hands he got up and tapped my hand as if to say, "Mama, look at me while I talk." After another minute I did it again, as experimentation, and sure enough he immediately tapped me to get my attention again. It was the cutest thing!

Please continue to pray for Matt and his pursuing firefighting. On Tuesday he tested for Kern County FD along with about 3200 others. It'll be a few months till the results come, but only the top 200 get to move on. It can be tempting to get discouraged, so please pray for perseverance and faith. While Matt finishes his last fire class this semester I decided to take a break. Not because I need or want it, but because I didn't want to take on a whole lot with my pregnancy. The plus side is now I have time to catch up/finish some orders for some very patient customers, I finally am able to drive down for Wed. morning women's Bible study (well, when weather and health allows), and more importantly I'm enjoying so much more time with Joshua. Nearly every day he surprises us with something new, whether it's just showing an understanding to what we say, or doing something in more of a big boy way.

The first trimester was really rough, just like with Joshua. Surprisingly, my nausea has almost completely disappeared, but the food aversions and sensitivities to smells are abounding. I'm 20 weeks, which means halfway done! My belly is growing at a much quicker pace than last time and things are starting to get uncomfortable. BUT I've been feeling the baby kick, one of my favorite things, and one week from today we get the wonderful ultrasound. It's been hard to wait, just dying to know if Joshua is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister. Without making any promises, I don't think I'll have any trouble next week posting at least that much anticipated news. :)

Merry Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

We got word back that Matt did not make the Firefighter 1 Academy, but all is well. It is only a class, good for the resume but guarantees nothing. And while we know the Lord would've gotten us through it, it really would have meant an extremely stressful 4 months in our future. So for that avoidance I am thankful. We know God is in control, so Matt's going to keep it up and we'll see where He takes us. He has one more class starting in January and Kern County Fire is taking applications next month as well.

Joshua has been silly as usual. He's getting better at running, though not avoiding hitting his head often (he's so accident prone!). His vocab now includes 'cheese', 'pa-pa' (his pacifier), duck sounds - I'm sure there are more that I can't think of at the moment. He nods his head 'yes' and surprisingly 'no' has not entered the vocab yet, just shaking his head no, mostly when he doesn't want to eat anything. Later this week he'll be 17 months. It seems like he was just that little thing who's favorite thing about last Christmas was chewing the tags. We didn't get a tree this year, sort of b/c of my sensitivity to smells, sort of b/c of money, and when it comes down to it, a tree is not at all what Christmas is about. But Joshua sure has enjoyed looking at others' trees. He loves the lights and especially the little 'kid' tree that Nana (Sharon) puts up; he's allowed to touch the ornaments and he enjoys taking them off and setting them inside the branches. I PROMISE that by the end of the week I'll have some photos up of him from tomorrow, from Disneyland earlier this month, and maybe another stray.

My pregnancy is going well and I am 12 weeks (13 on Wednesday). The weeks seem to be going rather quickly, though I still wish I was much further along. The nausea isn't letting up, no surprise, and daily my meals are a struggle. My next appointment is on Thursday when we will get to hear Baby's heartbeat. At the end of February is when we expect to find out the gender, though Matt's Gram loves to tell people, "We don't know what SHE is yet."

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas season, focusing your hearts and minds not on the shopping and gifts, nor tasks of cleaning and cooking, nor anything else but on our Savior. That sweet and precious baby Jesus is the only reason for celebration. The One who was born among sheep and cattle to be the pure and spotless Lamb who bore our sins. I pray that He is the One you celebrate, the One you give to, the One you praise and give thanks to for all of the blessings in this world (and not merely the material ones) not just tomorrow but each and every day of the year. Praise be to the Prince of Peace!

Lots of love,
The Sterk Family

Long Overdue!

2007-11-08T00:42:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written. Things around here are busy as usual. Let's backtrack a bit: Joshua is 15 months and started walking at 13 1/2 months. He's quite good at it now, though still has his falls and gets beautiful bruises on his noggin. He's saying...well, mimicking...lots of words like shoes, hi, mama, dada, socks, five (very random). He knows the meanings of so many things, it seems like we discover something new each day. He also likes to mimick sounds that the dog and cat make. He's a pretty good boy, though he's getting quite a bit into the defiance, not obeying Daddy and Mommy though he knows exactly what we're saying, and now hitting. He even hit other kids at church on Sunday- what a bully! If you know of any good Christian parenting books, please let me know!

Also, last week we found out that Joshua is going to be a big brother. Did you have to read that twice? That's right, your eyes did not deceive you. We're going to have another baby! BIG surprise to us, because we were going to wait another 6 months to try! God is so good. About a month ago now I was having a few stressful days, totally overwhelmed with all of my responsibilities, stressed that the shop had been very slow for sales. The Lord really laid it on my heart that I should discontinue my Etsy shop, in fact my business altogether. My priorities have been out of whack for months and everything seems to be suffering. So I prayed about it and committed to quitting the shop for now. I really need to sell as much as possible first, but hopefully most of that will be done by the end of next month. Anyway, I got such a peace when praying about this and even started to look forward to another baby (I haven't felt this way since Joshua was born because I haven't wanted him to grow up). Well, it was pretty much exactly when the Lord changed my heart that I conceived- completely unknowingly. If that isn't confirmation, I don't know what is!

Matt has been busy with his classes and work and getting in shape. He applied for the firefighter 1 academy which is mostly good experience and good for your resume. They only allow a limited number of applicants to take the physical abilities test, and then there is an interview. This physical is extremely difficult and Matt took it Saturday and passed! Thank you, Lord! Interviews are in December and if he gets this we're in for a long 4 or 5 months. He'll be working, driving to Bakersfield for the academy two weeknights from 6-10 pm and all weekend 8-5. Plus, he'll possibly take his very last class online as well as do his best to be there for Joshua and I. But we trust God to get us through if given the opportunity!

I will try to get some new pics up of Joshua soon, but I just wanted to finally write, especially since my yahoo email is being lame and hasn't been working the past few days. I hope all is well and you're experiencing the Lord's blessings to the fullest as we approach a day of Thanksgiving!

After Labor Day

2007-09-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

We got to spend a nice Labor Day weekend at my dad's in Huntington Beach. First on the agenda was a few hours at Disneyland. Joshua loved it this time, especially enjoying Dumbo (which he flapped his arms like a bird for while squealing with delight), and we also had time for the merry-go-round, the tea cups, and small world. It was great getting to see so much of Hudson. Joshua had fun trying to play with Hudson, though Hudson was less than thrilled at the thought of having to share his toys. He has said 'Joshua' a few times, but he likes to call him 'Baby.' I can't count how many times we heard, 'No, Baby!' Heehee!

A busy fall has officially begun for us. Matt and I both started our classes last week. Matt drives to Bakersfield each Tuesday and Thursday night plus has one online class. I'm taking one class online with Moody Bible Institute; hey, I have my hands full too b/c I go to school and work at home while simultaneously taking care of Joshua- give a mom some credit! ;D

I realized I was supposed to show you some cool photos since the last post. I honestly forgot for a couple of weeks what I'd been referring to. No pics, but I'd meant to tell you God blessed me with a brand new sewing machine! My first machine is a Brother that Matt got me a few years ago for Christmas. It's worked well, but is a starter and several months ago I'd taken it to get fixed and, well, I paid for nothing. My mother-in-law was kind enough to loan me her Kenmore machine for longer than I'd intended. So, when she returned from a long summer vacation eager to do some sewing, I didn't know what I'd do. But, God provided the means and I got a Bernina 220, which I love! It has some amazing decorative stitches and is just a great machine to use for my business. I know it's going to last me a very long time!

Well, as long as this is I'm short on words tonight, so until next time.

I warned you!

2007-08-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, months later, here goes.

Happy 1st Birthday, Joshua! Funny, once this day came and went I stopped crying dreading its arrival. On the day itself we had a nice time doing the normal and also made a trip to the park to play. Unfortunately, I accidentally formatted my camera (wasn't thinking!) and every photo from his big day is gone. This mom's heart is broken, but at least there are some others from the party. He was so good for the party! He even sat nicely with both Matt and I to open ALL his gifts. Notice how happy he was that Mom forgot to have him wear his crown for cake. Haha ;)

By the way, the adorable shirt Joshua's wearing... I made it! My first attempt at clothing. Matt's Gram is the most amazing seamstress, and she guided me through it. She even folded down the pattern b/c I bought the wrong size. I can't wait to make another!

My one sale has turned into 28, plus a few custom orders on the side. I am so incredibly blessed! Let me tell you, though, it's quite overwhelming to start a new business with a baby and husband and home, trying to complete tons of projects so you can get your name out there and sell your stuff. This past year has been a big blur of very little sleep, and the past few months it really has had nothing to do with Joshua. I'm up until *gasp* 2 am and later most nights, and I feel like I still haven't quite gotten the hang of the balancing act this all is. By God's grace I have made sales, though, and I know He keeps me each day though I fail time and time again to get my priorities and life organized.

The past couple of days have been nice, though. I haven't had a sale for a week, which means a little less running around. And the Lord has helped me resist the urge to check my shop every 10 minutes so I can really enjoy time with Joshua. Biased or not, our baby boy is just the most handsome thing we've ever laid eyes on. He's such a riot, his little personality blooming as it is. Lately he loves to take things apart, be it all of the toys out of their basket, all the books off the shelf, all of the lego blocks Daddy's made into a "J", everything out of Mommy's purse (including every credit card, paper, etc. out of my wallet!). He is a giggle box, especially when Daddy or Mommy laugh and he just has to join in the fun. He's crawling like a pro, zooming all over the house, loves to hold fingers and walk around, and he's starting to get brave enough to try standing on his own. He stood a full 30 seconds today, quite a feat ;). Perhaps the silliest thing he's doing lately is what Daddy appropriately named 'bulldozer.' He crawls with the top of his head on the floor sometimes, and it just makes us burst into laughter.

My friend Theresa tagged me for something, so I'll try to post that tomorrow along with some fun photos- something I'm just dying to share!

My first sale!

2007-06-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

Yipee! I'm walking on air! I've been a little discouraged these past few days, wondering if I got myself into something ridiculous and somehow misinterpreted the opportunities God has created. Wednesday afternoon I checked on my etsy shop (which I admitedly do many many times per day!) and saw that an item was missing. I figured I must've left it in edit, somehow, though I didn't think so because I'd just listed it a few hours before. It took a minute before I saw on my front page: 1 item sold. Disbelief and excitement swept over me!

My very first buyer is a fellow etsian seller (and excellent scrapper) who I have been chatting with for the past month. How wonderful that my new friend is my first customer- yeah Gina! I'll add her shop link as soon as I figure out why my silly blog isn't allowing me to edit my linke :).

Just wanted to share my wonderful news with you and here's hope and a prayer that I have many many more sales to come!
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=5623931

Busy Busy Busy

2007-06-20T14:20:00.001-07:00

Well, so far I haven't had any success on etsy, but I'm hoping that changes soon. My items seem to be viewed a lot and I've had lots of "hearts" (marked as a favorite) and compliments.

My wonderful sister-in-law, Stef, has partnered up with me selling things in a shop downtown called Le Marche. My blankets and frames are already in the shop, and Stef has some projects in the works, including some gorgeous designer pillows. Plus, next month I will have an ad in a FREE Kids Directory that can be found in businesses all over Bakersfield. Hopefully I can start selling soon!

Joshua has been quite busy crawling all around. As an anniversary present to Daddy & Mommy, he began crawling (June 1st). He's getting quite good at it. His first birthday is very quickly approaching, which honestly leaves me teary-eyed...and not out of joy. We enjoy each and every day with our little blessing, but it is just very difficult for me to let go of the fact that time passes quickly and we never regain what has passed...and grown. Life goes so very quickly, and it is such a tremendous gift from God.

We've had a very busy month! Two weekends ago my "baby" sister graduated from college! I can't believe she beat me, and she will officially be a nurse very shortly. Lst Friday Joshua met his Great Grandma Bev (my mom's mom). He was a very good boy, impressed her very much. Saturday we attended a wedding in San Clemente; the ceremony was right on the beach and we even saw a couple of dolphins swim by. Joshua was so good and barely made some raspberry sounds :). For Father's Day we spent the day in Huntington/Long Beach with my dad. Brunch at Ruby's on the pier, "playing" on the playground on the beach, watching everyone race superkarts, playing with Hudson, and dinner at On the Border...it was quite a busy day for our baby. This coming weekend includes a trip to San Diego and....Disneyland! I'll try to post some photos by the end of next week. :)

It's actually an update....FINALLY!

2007-05-31T10:25:00.001-07:00

Well, I guess I don't have to tell you [AGAIN] that I really am not good at blogging. I have good intentions, I'd like to post often to share little tidbits of our lives, especially to show you how Joshua is growing. It's just so hard to find the time!

Well, 10 months have now flown by since Joshua was born. What a JOY...and a handful :)...he is! He's still such a good baby, but a lot more vocal than a lot of people anticipated (I think he gets the latter from his mommy). He's still on the small size, weighing in at 16 lb. 8 oz. at his 8-month appointment, but very healthy. Clapping, shaking his head no (in fun!), and waving have all been added to his list of accomplishments in the past month or so. Oh, and he finally has his first tooth! Even bigger than that, at 9 months Joshua finally graduated from roller to army crawler! Eventually we may get to crawling, but he loves to pull himself up onto things and he is so cute walking around the room (while holding onto fingers, of course!). His vocab includes dadada(still his fave), mamama, bababa,nenene, and gigigi. He can be quite the noisy chatterbox, or quite serene, just depending on his mood! Other babies are (of course) quite interesting to him, too, though cats and dogs definitely take the cake!

As always, we've been quite busy around here. Matt just finished up his first semester taking fire classes. He had a lot on his plate and was in Bakersfield two nights a week, but it's over...for now. He'll be taking on at least one class over the summer and hopes to have them all done by the end of the year. He's looking to get some experience now as either a reserve firefighter or possibly working as an EMT (he takes the national registry test in a week or so, so please pray!). The schoolyear at the junior high is also nearly over and the plan so far is for Matt to work summer school.

I thought that my busy-ness would subside a bit when my semester ended a couple of weeks ago, but I was wrong. I chose to not take a summer class but to attend a Bible study instead. It's been difficult to be involved when Westbrook Chapel is 40 minutes away, so this will be a great way to get to know other women at the church. More importantly, I'm really looking forward to this study on prayer!

As if having an active and fairly demanding baby boy and joining a Bible study weren't enough, my busy-ness is almost busier because I'm starting my very own BUSINESS! That's right, I've really gone crazy this time. For awhile I've been trying to think of a way I could possibly bring in a little income while caring for Joshua at home. Several ideas came and went, but I finally got excited when I made a couple of baby blankets for my preggo friends from high school, Emily (Rosander) Sardo and Shannon () Ross. I've been sewing for several years and have made quilts, simple blankets, and (LOTS of) burpcloths. I became inspired at the outcome of these two little blankies and thought, why not? Melissa (my sis) came across a website called Etsy; you should definitely check this place out. It's filled with "shops" of people from all over selling their handmade arts and crafts. There are some very beautiful items from some extremely talented people. I set up my shop (with incredible graphic designs by my incredible bro-in-law, Daniel) and opened for business last week. No sales yet, but there's been a lot of traffic to my shop. Please check it out and spread the word if you like it, at least about etsy.com, if nothing else! http://mjandco.etsy.com

Again, I promise to TRY to write more often, especially so you don't have to read a novel every time you check us out. I hope you enjoy the pictures of Joshua. The one at the top was taken a few days ago at my mom's, when Joshua swam in the pool for the first time. He LOVES his baths, so kicking and splashing in a GIGANTIC bath where Daddy, Grandma, and Mommy also fit was a blast. You should have seen him giggle watching Daddy jump in! The photo below was taken a month ago, but you can see him standing at the coffee table. I hope you are doing wonderfully- God bless!!!

No Photo, Oh Well

2007-03-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

I've realized I tend to not post because I want to add a photo of Joshua each time (he changes so quickly), but this isn't always feasible when I need to alter it in photoshop....so....I'm just going to write to you now without one.

That said, Joshua is 8 months! In the past month he has been doing so many new things. I think we've gotten to the stage where there's something new almost every day. He is a major mimicker now. Let's see, a couple of weeks ago he started rocking back and forth. He'll copy us if we start rocking back and forth, and tonight he was rocking with the music from his new Leap Frog music center. Whether that was a coincidence or not I have yet to find out. And Joshua does the cutest thing with Matt. For awhile he'll make this noise that's like a growl, just without the vocals (if that makes sense)...kind of a gurgling in his throat, but like a growl. Anyway, Matt started doing this with his "claws" in the air while calling Joshua a grizzly bear and the two of them will just go back and forth growling at each other. Joshua gets the biggest grin on his face! He has also resumed opening and closing his mouth (the first time he did this was while watching Daddy eat a sandwich). He didn't do it for a couple of weeks, but now he'll do it across the room at me- so cute! One more thing, this week I noticed him moving his tongue forward in his mouth, sometimes accidentally making a slight clicking noise. So, I will click and he'll mimick. He's so smart! Okay, he's doing what every baby does, but I'm allowed to be enamored with my son, lol!

Also, our baby is mobile, but not on all fours yet. Joshua rolls everywhere, including smack into the entertainment center or couch or whatever is in his way, though he sometimes doesn't quite get he should roll the other way so he ends up smacking his head over and over. He also has started to roll onto the brick in the entry and the kitchen, which says "OUCH!" to me, but he doesn't seem phased. Today Joshua rolled to get something I had and once he was on his belly I moved the item further to his side to see if he'd move for it. He did!, and almost turned 45 degrees, so this is the closest to scooting thus far. Matt is very eager for Joshua to crawl. I'm not in as big of a hurry, but I have been wondering if he'll be interested soon. So, we'll see how quickly this will progress.

Okay, I need to sign off. Joshua and I have a day in Bakersfield ahead of us, and I'm going to attempt to do a bit of homework before bed to make up for tomorrow. Joshua will be taking his 8 month pics at Picture People (I'll see if I can load a link for everyone to see them). A slight pat on my back, I set a goal to finally finish the quilt I began while I was pregnant so we could have it in the pictures. It was almost done before Joshua was born, but I just haven't had the time. Very sad, two-thirds of a year later and it's finally complete. What a wonderful feeling, though (even if it was a super easy quilt and I'm just lame for taking so long)!

I'll add a new pic soon. This weekend Melissa, Joshua, and I are going to the baby shower of my friend Emily (Rosander) Sardo from high school- fellow jr. miss'r and graduate. My dad is meeting us for lunch, so we get to see Hudson, yea! We'll definitely get some cute shots of the two boys together ;). Love you!

Exciting news!

2007-03-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I'm an avid scrapbooker (that is, when I have time). My fave scrap store in Bakersfield announced a contest beginning in February with gift certificates to the store as awards for 1st ($50), 2nd ($35), and 3rd ($20) place. Melissa (my sis) and I decided to give it a shot because from experiene we know that there usually aren't too many people who enter, which would give us a good shot at a fun shopping spree. The challenge was to scrap a purse photo album. We finally worked on ours a few days before they were due, and let me tell you I lost a lot of sleep because you can't scrap during the day taking care of a baby and doing homework! When we turned them in we got pretty excited because there were a total of 9 entries and we deemed ours in the top 4 (not cocky, maybe a little biased and confident, :D). All of the purses were left out in the store for two weeks to be voted on by customers. Well, yesterday I got a call and was told that I won 2nd place! And when I asked who won 1st I found out it was none other than Melissa! Yipee!!!! I was so proud to tell the gal that she was my sister! So, while we really didn't have much competition, which means we most definitely would not have done so well in a magazine or even online contest, we're still pretty stoked! And, we have some cash to spend at our favorite store (oh yeah, Melissa's almost more hooked than I am now, going to the store for crops on a weekly basis with her nursing friends- not fair!). We think we'll spend it at the end of next month when we go for National Scrapbooking Day (okay, okay, I don't call your hobby lame, jk)! Below are some pics and here is the link to the store where we're announced! http://www.simply-scrapbooks.net/suggestions.aspx?pageID=11-82-0

I'm so bad at this!

2007-03-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, finding the time to post on this is a little harder than I thought. I hope you forgive me for taking so long to write, but I definitely think I'll be posting more often from here on. For starters, there's a photo I don't have today that I want to make sure I get by the weekend. Besides, Joshua is growing so fast and he'll be hitting some major milestones in the coming months.

He's 7 1/2 months and in the past few weeks he has been trying out some new skills. He now uses his thumb and index finger to pinch and pick up things; not mastered, of course, but he's doing so well! He's expanded his vocals to include the phonetics of "d"- dih, duh, da, day, dee- he loves repeating these sounds and trying out various combinations. This is definitely his favorite now, because even though he started out with "m" sounds, including ma & mama (obviously without knowing the meaning, same with da), he hasn't used it in weeks and won't repeat when we try to get him started. Joshua has also been practicing his raspberries. He tried them out about 2 months ago, but only for a couple of days. In the past week he has been blowing raspberries like crazy, with plenty of drool in the mix. It's fun to join in or even start them and watch him mimic.

There's a fun new toy that Joshua has discovered this month- the balloon. He loves to hit them (with help of course) back and forth, grab hold and bang them everywhere (even on his head, he doesn't mind at all), attempt to suck on them, and today he giggled so hard when Daddy rubbed his hands on one causing it to make sounds. When Joshua first started laughing, the giggles were few and far between. Now, his laughter brightens up our home several times a day- it's one of the most wonderful sounds I've ever heard.

Speaking of Joshua's laughter, you have got to check out this video I placed on YouTube. Joshua was taking a nap on Matt and started giggling. He did it for several minutes and then Matt figured out he could get Joshua going just by laughing. I just caught the tail end of it all. Disclaimer: I don't have any video-editing software, so it isn't cut and the sound isn't right, but it's cute anyway!

Hope you're having a great week and I'll post again soon!

Welcome!

2007-02-07T21:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my (our) new blog! My friend Theresa suggested this might be easier to keep everyone updated with Joshua (oh, and I guess Matt & I as well, lol), so I'm giving it a shot.

Joshua is 6 months old- already half a year! His personality keeps blossoming and he seems to be a more animated version of what he's already been. He is quite the talker. He loves to squeal and gurgle whenever he feels like it. He went in the church nursery for the first time this Sunday and when I picked him up the gal commented on how much he'd been talking! He can roll over both ways now, though when he rolls onto his tummy he seems to forget that he can roll to his back again. Joshua also started sitting up a couple of weeks ago and is stronger every day. He can sit and play for such a long time and seems to entertain himself better this way because he isn't constantly watching Mommy. He leans forward to grab his toys and just gets smarter by the day! No teeth yet, but he is eating lots of baby food- he is such a good eater.

Things are busier than ever in our house this year. In addition to the normal workload and picking up our niece and nephew from school each afternoon, Matt and I have both returned to school. Well, I should say that I've returned after my "maternity leave" that began last June. I'm starting out with just one class this semester, and I'm still working toward my BS in Biblical Studies with Moody Bible Institute online (only 9 classes left!). Matt has actually gone back to school. He graduated with his AS in Admin. of Justice in '03 and is now taking a very different route. He needs to complete only 7 classes to get an associate's in Fire Technology, and he is quite the bigshot by taking on 3 of those classes this semester. Two of these are online fire classes and the third is an EMT course which he drives to Bakersfield for two nights a week, (about 6 to 8 or 9 p.m.). Matt is still working at the junior high as truant officer, but as this is not a career and still has not shifted to full-time hours, he's felt for a while that something else is necessary. So, it looks like my hubby is going to be a fireman! And he is already doing so well getting into shape by running every day. We never expected the Lord to lead us in this direction, but He laid it on Matt's heart and has opened the door, so here goes!Thanks for looking! I'll post as often as I can and will be sure to include new pictures of Joshua! God bless!