Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Mary Kay

My husband says that I should do a blog post about Mary Kay. (He just realized that this is what I am working on. I'll quote him: "Wow! You're such an obedient wife sometimes!" Ha!)

Many of you might already know that I casually sell Mary Kay products. AND, I give a 25% discount to people that I like. ;)

I'll be putting in an order at the end of this month. Let me know if you'd like anything! For new items, check out http://www.marykay.com/whatsnew/ecatalog/default.aspx or ask me for a catalog.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Kid Not Included

Need a dining room table? Be the first to contact us in response to this blog post and this beautiful, well-used table is yours. This rare collectible was formerly owned by certain high-class individuals (aka Rodney & Stacy Mitchell). Kid and delivery not included.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Unpacking

Each time we move, we seem to be transporting more and more stuff. This time (with considerable help from friends) we filled the largest truck available from U-Haul. So I guess next time we'll be making multiple trips? Unless, of course, we manage to find the time to get rid of some of our stuff.

Some of it is useful stuff that we're just not putting to good use. The rest is probably junk that we just haven't had a chance to get rid of. (I hate throwing things away--I'd much rather give them to someone who will find a good use for them.)

All of this to say, this blog needs some more giveways. (It's been too long since the last one!) Here are a few good resources I ran across while unpacking that I've been sitting on too long. They're free to a good home. If you want to take them to pass on to a friend as part of a Christmas gift, I have no problem with that. I just don't want them sitting on my shelf collecting more dust when someone else could be benefiting from them.

The Bible-Driven Church (John MacArthur, MP3 Audio CD)

Open Their Eyes: Doing What Only God Can Do (John Piper, DVD)

Quest for Joy: Six Biblical Truths (John Piper, Audio CD)

The Pleasures of God (John Piper, MP3 Audio CD)

One item per person, but feel free to claim as many as you want once this blog post is over a week old. Folks who live outside the Sacramento area may be asked to cover shipping costs.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Minority Rules...

It's a boy!

What do you think?

My ultrasound appointment was moved from this morning to this afternoon, so I thought I'd put up the question to all of you and give you a few hours to guess... (Of course David says I should have put this question up a long time ago to optimize responses, but oh well...=). So, at this point in our born children, we're half and half -- 2 boys and 2 girls. What do you think this one is? Get your guesses in! I'd put up some kind of cool poll ticker on the blog, but I don't know how to do that... So you'll just have to leave your guesses in the comment section!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Great-Grandbabies


My cousin, Cara and her almost 2 year old daughter, Brooke came to visit a couple evenings ago... We really enjoyed seeing them and squeezed in several quick pics of all the kids together for my grandparents -- this is all their great-grandbabies in one spot! This is my favorite pic -- though it was hard to choose! -- I love all the feets!!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Some thoughts...

Some of you know that I spend an evening each week volunteering at a local pregnancy center that desires to help women who are pregnant and struggling through difficult situations. I also write a monthly article about the center for our church newsletter, as our church supports this pregnancy center. Recently, one story weighed heavily on me and the article I wrote ended up too long to be published in the church newsletter. My sweet husband has encouraged me to post the story here... So, in petition for your prayers, here it is.

----

Our God Reigns!

“Do they really have fingers and toes? It says that this one is 9 weeks old… Are there really fingers and toes?” I got up to find a pin for her that shows the exact size and shape of a baby’s two feet at ten weeks of pregnancy, sharing that this symbol is often used by the pro-life community because of that amazing truth. The baby is so tiny, but so amazingly formed.

She sat in the counseling room where the intake questions were being asked before she would take the pregnancy test that she desired. When she walked into the room, she had immediately been drawn to the fetal development replicas sitting in a velvet case on the end table. Later, she watched, transfixed as I flipped through a book that beautifully shows the baby’s development as it progresses through the 40 weeks of pregnancy.

“Do you think they could tell what sex my baby was? When I had my abortion, do you think they could tell? They wouldn’t let me look at the [ultrasound] screen… I asked, but they wouldn’t let me.”

Though I saw this client more than a week ago, she still lingers heavily in my heart and mind. Today, as I sit in the rare quietness of my home, my thoughts return to her and again, I cry out to God for this young lady, so innocent in so many ways, but so burdened already by the weights of this sin-filled world. I cry out to God for her... and for the baby that I hope and pray is still safely in her womb.

And I think about her story. It really infuriates me to think of a doctor and nurse refusing this young girl, 17 when she aborted her first child two years ago, the information she requested. I’ve heard this before many times. Often when a woman goes in for an abortion, an ultrasound machine is used to determine how far a long she is in her pregnancy and to make sure that the abortion is completed “correctly”. (I still shudder at the thought.) But, the monitor is turned away from the woman. Most of the time she doesn’t ask to see… but I’ve never heard of a woman being allowed to see the baby if she asks.

My anger and my heartache mounts as I contemplate this movement that prides itself on the choice given to a woman – the choice to determine for herself what she will do with her pregnancy. This movement so often gives lip service to the need to reduce the number of abortions while defending the need for it; but when it all comes down to it, when the woman is on the abortion table, she is refused the information that the doctors can so readily see before they’re eyes – the jumps, the wiggles, the quick heart-beat of a baby waiting to be born into this world.

I wonder at their motives – Do they really think this is what’s best for this young lady? Have they been completely numbed to this view of life on the ultrasound screen? Do they fear that if she sees the baby, she’ll be moved by sympathy and refuse the abortion? Do they think continuing the pregnancy would be more detrimental than this procedure? Or, are they more motivated by their job security and paycheck than by the interest of the lives they hold in their hands?

In all my emotion at the collective slaughter of these innocents, I step before the throne of God. “God, you made these babies! You alone form them in their mother’s wombs. You gave them as gifts, as blessings to their parents. You made these women!! And yes, You also made these abortion doctors. They, too, were created by You. Oh, the devil must stand in glee as he deceives and destroys Your beloved creation!”

At once, I am humbled by the majesty of God. In my grief and horror, I have forgotten the sovereignty of our Lord. He holds the stars in their place and our feet on the ground. Do I really believe that somehow all this horror and destruction has escaped His notice? Have I forgotten how powerful our God is? Even as I cry out to Him for this young lady and her baby, have I already cast aside any hope?

Our God reigns! He who knowingly sent His perfect Son to become a man and walk on this earth, and then lovingly led Him into the hands of murderous men to be sacrificed on our behalves, He reigns! He is the same God, and one day, one day, the devil will be forever thrown behind the gates of hell and he will no longer wreak destruction. For those who have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, there will be no more pain and no more tears and no longer will man sin against a Holy God.

Pray for a blind nation that is blessed by God’s creation all around it but fails to acknowledge the creation of God in a womb. Pray for those who purposely deceive and destroy, numbing their victims with ignorance as they lead them to slaughter. Pray for those who allow themselves to be deceived in order to hide or convenience their sin. And pray that all of them would have their eyes opened to the grace and forgiveness offered through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And please continue to pray for all of those at the Pregnancy Center that wish to share the truth and love of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Moving Time

We're thankful to God for His provision of a new home for our growing family! For those of you who don't know, we're moving this month to a larger rental house just a few miles away from where we currently live. Althought it will cost a little more each month, the 500 or so additional square feet of space and better state of maintenance should be well worth the additional expense.

If you're in the Sacramento area, please come help us move--contact us for details. For the rest of you, below are some photos of the new place. Come visit soon!



Monday, October 20, 2008

Diapers for Two

Well, I was gonna wait on this post for a few days in hopes that I could report a "first accident free day" in the process, but since a dear reader asked about it in a comment to our previous post, here ya go!

We took diapers away from Mikey last week (4 days ago, to be exact!) and he's doing great! In fact, last night he stayed dry all night! Now to be fair to all of those who argue that a kid is not potty trained until he is accident-free and pull-up free, we're not there yet... Mikey is in big boy underwear most of the time, but we have been using pull-ups when he's sleeping and during times in which we don't want a mess if he does have an accident (like when he goes to church!). And though we've had a couple days in which he only had one accident, he still does have accidents on a daily basis.

But, he's also staying dry longer and initiating trips to the potty on his own. He'll typically stay dry during his nap, too!

Honestly, though, after all the drama we went through trying on and off for over a year to potty train Eliana, and then with how long it took for her to get the hang of it even when we drew the line for her, I am quite pleased with how well potty-training is going this time around. In fact, in some strange way, it's actually been *fun* to watch Mikey basically potty train himself. I am thankful, though, to have had the experience of potty-training Eliana. I'll never lack sympathy for someone struggling to get a 3 1/2 year old out of diapers because of her... though if all my kids were like Mikey in this area, I might wonder what in the world was wrong with that parent.

So, with all that said, and according to our random definitions of such, we now only have two lil' ones in diapers. BUT, WE ARE NOT CHANGING OUR BLOG NAME OR LOCATION! (I made David promise that before I took the diapers away from Mikey!) "Diapers4three" well describes how we spend our mornings and a good chunk of our lives in general... and since I don't think that I'll be able to keep up this pattern of potty-training a child every six months, we do expect to have three in diapers next spring.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Happy Birthday, Danny!


*Okay -- for all you sticklers out there, I realize that I'm a day late. Sorry. I got busy yesterday, and I'm not so organized as to have pre-made this post ages ago! ;)*


Happy Birthday, Danny!

We can't believe that you're TWO YEARS OLD!! Amazing! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that you were just the tiny babe...



We love you, Kid. We love your twinkly eyes and your creativity. You're definitely the one who gets into the most mischief, just because you think of what we wouldn't want you to do before we think to tell you not to do it! You're constantly thinking and doing something! But you also always have time to give hugs and cuddles... So, so sweet.

And we love, LOVE your goofy smile.



Yeup. That one.


We thank God for you, and we look forward to this next year with you and all that follows! You truly are a gift from God. We pray that God will be working in you and that you'll love Him with all your heart. We love you, Danny! Happy, happy birthday!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Turbulent Times

The speed at which the current financial crisis is unfolding makes it a bit tricky to keep up with. But I find this stuff fascinating, so I've been trying to stay up to speed as much as possible. If you're like me and find these matters of interest, I recommend the Marketplace podcast from American Public Radio.

Of all the programming on NPR, I'd have to say that Marketplace has grown to be my favorite, although I do also enjoy Car Talk from time to time. Marketplace does a great job at making business and economic news accessible, educational and even entertaining. I used to just hope that it would come on during my commute, but now that I have an iPod, I can listen whenever I feel like it.

The Economist is also a great source of information for those of you who have time to read.

On a related note, given the dramatic declines this year in the stock market, it seems to me that this may be a great time to start investing some money into a Roth IRA each month, particularly if you have a long-time horizon ahead of you. Whatever you do, don't panic and cash out your retirement portfolio. These charts should give you a clue why.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

But for the joy...

Girltalk has a great post today about how we deal with interruptions. In it, they quote C.S. Lewis:
“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own,’ or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time.” The Quotable Lewis, (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1989), 335.

I've been thinking about some similar issues lately. With a baby not sleeping well the last few nights (read: weeks), I'm tired. Being in my first trimester, my body obviously needs extra rest, and often, I'm not feeling so well throughout the day. It's easy for me to start thinking about things temporally, and in doing so, I get grouchy. And defensive. And irritable. And before anyone says, "Well, maybe you just have too many kids...", let's just say, don't go there. But that's another story for another day.

Now, I know that in some ways, this is just a season. First trimesters are usually hard on me. My house is usually a wreck during this time. During this time, food is a whimsical obsession that both tempts me regularly and also leaves me completely disgusted at the concept of preparation and thus calling my husband pleading for take-out. Tired, I can get easily frustrated with the noise levels that often seem to erupt from my four "four and under".

More importantly, though, my bad attitude signals the smallness of my brain. Instead of seeing the magnitude of God's love, grace, and provision in all these events, I focus on my selfish destructive desires that are being thwarted.

My house is a wreck, but God's grace is sufficient. He has already covered all my sins by surrendering His perfect Son to the hands of sinful men to be sacrificed on the cross. Though I desire to be perfected, I don't have to be perfect. And I certainly don't have to live up to random societal expectations when God has already fulfilled within me, through faith in Jesus, all that is needed for me to be able to spend eternity with Him in heaven.

God gave me the best husband in the whole world as the (well, almost) perfect companion to navigate this season in our lives. He's sweet, he's faithful, he desires more than anything to be the man that God created him to be, all the while trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and he lovingly cares for me and our children in my weakness. He even graciously picks up In-n-Out for us to get me out of preparing that dinner that I was just obsessing about.

God has created four beautiful children, and is currently forming another in my womb, that are regularly sweet, hilarious, adorable, cuddly reminders of how worth it any physical discomforts might be as we wait for this next child to be introduced to our family. Each one adds a dynamic to our family that we could not have imagined, yet God did. Truly, we have so much for which to be thankful. I LOVE my kids. I thank God that He knows, so much better than my small little selfish brain, what is best! And I thank Him for giving David and I the grace and ability to welcome these little ones into this world. This alone is nothing short of a miracle. The fact that God so chose to create these precious eternal souls through us is nothing short of mind-boggling.

And on top of all that, He gave me four sleeping children that have allowed for the time for me to sit in front of this computer and type up all these ramblings AND eat lunch! How amazing is that?

Even with seeing all this, I know that my vision is so limited in what God is doing. And it leaves me begging, "God, let me see more of You. Regularly remind me that You are so much bigger than my small focus. Change me into the image of your Son, that I might love my husband, my children, my family, and this world through Your eyes and with the desire to see Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven!"




Friday, September 12, 2008

P.S.

Selah plans to surrender her roll as baby of the family in about 33 weeks or so. Once again, we are humbled and thankful for God's sweet provisions and blessings!

Happy *slightly belated* Birthday, Mikey!

*The Minnesota Auntie did a good job pointing out the fact that I didn't do a post for Mikey's birthday yesterday. My apologies! We're doing the whole "cake, etc." thing tomorrow, so I hadn't really thought too much about it... But without further ado!*

Happy Third Birthday, Mikey!

We love you so much. You really are a delight to us all... We love your passion and enthusiasm, all rolled into a laid back, usually go-with-the-flow personality. We love the way you play hard and sleep hard (and I love the fact that I have a hard time remembering the last time that it was you that woke me up in the middle of the night!)

We love the excitement that you express every time you see a basketball hoop in someone's driveway or a soccer ball on the front of a tshirt. We love your dimples and the way you crack your baby sister up, just by "talking" to her.

We thank God for you, Michael Joseph, and though we can't believe three years have already passed, we look forward to seeing more and more of the person that God created you to be! We hope and pray that someday soon, your greatest excitement and joy will be found in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

We love you, Mikey! Happy, happy birthday!
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Capitol Ministries takes the politics out of ministry to politicians

UPDATE (10/09): We are no longer endorsing Capitol Ministries. Please see this post for details.

From Good News Daily:

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren moderated a debate – they prefer to call it a dialogue – between John McCain and Barack Obama. A coalition of groups including Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, and the American Family Association will hold its annual Values Voters Summit just weeks before the November election. And every year or so another magazine lists the most influential evangelical groups or leaders.

But could it be that the Christian group having the most lasting impact on the political life in this country – and its leaders – is one most evangelicals have never heard of? California-based Capitol Ministries began when Ralph Drollinger began leading a Bible study for state legislators in Sacramento. [read full story]

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Happy Birthday, Eliana!



Happy, happy 4th birthday, sweet Elly. You truly are a gift -- an answer to prayers. We thank God for you! We love your sweet heart to your brothers and sister, your joyful personality and love for life (and accessories!), your creative nature and the delight you find in figuring things out... we love how you so quickly say sorry and offer exuberant hugs when you realize you've been wrong. We love how you love people and we love the stories you tell. We love you. Happy Birthday!







Saturday, August 9, 2008

Google Street View

Did you know that our house is now on Google Street View? If you live in Sacramento or any other major metropolitan area, there's a good chance yours is, too. Check it out.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Sacramento Real Estate

This graph (click on the image to see a larger version) may be of help to those of you who, like us, are attempting to make sense of the turbulent Sacramento real estate market with the hopes of someday buying a house. In addition, we've found the following two blogs to be of assistance:

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Capitol Ministries Update

UPDATE (10/09): We are no longer endorsing Capitol Ministries. Please see this post for details.


I've been rather negligent in keeping you all posted on my new job. Here are a few quick updates:

  • We've released our 2008 annual report [pdf]. Check it out if you haven't already.

  • You can listen to audio recordings of the 2008 California Capitol Bible studies.

  • The Capitol Ministries blog is now seven months old. If you haven't already stumbled upon it, you may want to consider subscribing by RSS or e-mail so you will know more specifically how you can be praying for us.

  • Last, but not least, we're pleased that Zach Stoever is now working with us. It seems that he is pleased, too, if his announcement is any indication.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

da babies...

Selah will be 6 months old tomorrow... My, how time does fly...




For comparison, this was Eliana at 6 months... Not much difference, except for maybe about 4 lbs and the color of their eyes.


And just in case you forget how cute the older ones are...=)

Friday, July 4, 2008

Hope's Journey Update




Shortly after I made the last post about Charity's dream to start a recuperation center for children who have been burn injured or disabled, she changed the name from Hope Springs to Hope's Journey Int'l. (Hope Springs is just too commonly used!) She also has a blog set up -- check it out at hopesjourneyintl.org and please keep her in your prayers!



Monday, June 16, 2008

"1 Comments"

Have you ever noticed that on Blogger, when there is only one comment on a blog, the bottom of each post reads "1 comments." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this isn't proper English.

Since it was bugging me I finally took the time to figure out how to fix it. A quick Google search, one small edit to our blog template and Diapers4three is now grammatically correct.

If you'd like to make this fix to your blog, you'll need to go to the "layout" tab, select "edit html" option, expand the widgets, and replace "data:top.commentLabel/" (and the surrounding <> brackets) with the word "comment."

See here for detailed instructions.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Hope Springs

Some you know that my two older sisters, Charity and Roseanna were in a horrible car accident when we were teenagers. I thank God that they are alive. In the process, they were seriously burned and went through many stages in the process of recovery -- a long story for another day.

Through all of this, Charity has had a dream of starting a therapeutic ranch where burned, traumatized, and disabled children and young adults may reside year-round as they continue with their therapy and recovery. It is to be a place of physical and emotional healing before they journey into their everyday lives.

Charity has grown in dependence on Christ as she has walked through this life-changing ordeal and has seen His loving care and grace in bringing her through the healing process. She wants to share that love with others who are going through similar circumstances, and I can't tell you how excited I am to see what God does with this ministry.

Charity has worked with Solid Rock Foundation Ministries for the last several years and they are partnering with her to start Hope Springs. In fact, in the last week, they have gone into contract on property for a ranch in beautiful Ouray, Colorado (the lovely little town where that David boy finally proposed to me! =)

Charity is working on a mailer -- if you would like to get her newsletter, please email Solid Rock at srfm[insert at sign here]solidrockfoundationministries.com with your contact information and ask to be added to the Hope Springs contact list. Or, if we have your contact information, leave a comment and we'll forward your contact information to her.

Thank you for your prayers!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Learning Our Letters...Yankee Style

This one should make Grandma and Uncle Tony proud.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Public Notice:

Okay, okay... so it probably is nothing, but I can't help thinking that there is someone out there horribly offended that I didn't call them back...

Yesterday when I got home from Bible Study, there were two messages on my answering machine. The first was a message from my dad that was happily incorrect, and the second, ???. I went to hit delete at the end of my dad's message and the answering machine assumed that I wanted to delete the message that I had not yet listened to instead of the one that had just played. And no, we don't have caller id.

It was probably some automated phone call reminding me to go vote, but if not, and you called me yesterday and I haven't yet called you back... it's because I didn't get your message! Sorry!

Congrats Mr. Benoit!

From the Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert:

Senate District 37:
Winner: JOHN BENOIT
Loser: Russ Bogh and David Peters

Benoit 56.4 percent
Bogh 32.4 percent
Peters 11.2 percent

Current member: Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert
District: Riverside County

In a campaign in which little separated the two Republicans, this race turned on character and personal attacks. Capitol Alert documented some of those barbs in April, and the mud never let up.

The race also drew large amounts of independent expenditure spending, particularly for a Republican primary. Eleven outside groups spent money in the race for a total of roughly $1 million. Benoit, who is currently in the Assembly, bested Bogh, who termed out in 2006, by a wide margin.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Good Liberal Web Sites

At times it seems that the knee-jerk liberal reaction to any real or imagined problem is to propose a new mandate, regulation, subsidy or tax. Accordingly, it's refreshing to find folks who appear to be liberals building web sites that take a free-market approach to solving such problems.

Two such sites I've learned of this year are:

Catalog Choice - Save a tree without hugging it: Sick of receiving unwanted catalogs in the mail? Simply plug in your name and address, select the catalogs you don't want anymore, and in some mysterious way this web site will notify the companies sending them to cease and desist from doing so. So far it seems to have worked for the ones I plugged in. (h/t Lynne)

Free Rice - Learn stuff while feeding the hungry: This site tests your vocabulary. For every word you get right, the sponsors will donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. In other words, you get to feel good about playing games. I doubt the free rice approach will do anything to drive down high rice prices, but hopefully some of it will get to the folks most in need. Even if it doesn't, at least we can all learn some new big words. (h/t NPR)

Do you know of any other "good liberal sites" you'd recommend? If so, leave a comment.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Together for the Gospel

Smokey and I are enjoying listening to the free audio recordings of the Together for the Gospel conference during our commute to work. I commend them to you.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Together for the Gospel, our pastor, who attended this year's conference, provides a good description on his blog. Here's an excerpt:

The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” This good news of God’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is revealed in Scripture. Sadly however, Satan is constantly working to distort, diminish, and decentralize the power, hope, and riches of the gospel. This is tragically evidenced in many churches where the clear, precise, bold, authoritative, and gracious proclamation of the gospel no longer holds central place in the life of the church. As one saint from the past has said, “the main thing about the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Well, THE main thing is the gospel, and the church in every age must labor diligently to keep the main thing the main thing!!

To that end, one of the marvelous works God is doing in our day to help us keep the main thing the main thing surrounds a conference known as “Together for the Gospel” (”T4G” for short). This is a bi-annual conference that was first held in April of 2006 in Louisville, Kentucky, and then again this past April 15-17. The purpose and heartbeat of the conference grew out of the deep friendship of four men who share a common passion for the gospel: Dr. Albert Mohler, Dr. Mark Dever, Dr. J. Ligon Duncan, and C.J. Mahaney. Their vision has been to champion the centrality of the gospel, and to encourage friendships among believers, pastors in particular, who share a common passion for the gospel (even though there may be differences in secondary areas of doctrine and understanding). Each of these men spoke at the conference, along with messages from Dr. John Piper, Dr. John MacArthur, Dr. R.C. Sproul, and Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile.

I had the privilege of attending this year’s conference with my son Zach. Additionally from our church, Chuck Meadows, and with his son Ryan and son-in-law Dan attended. We joined about 5500 other people, mostly pastors, who attended the conference. Suffice it to say that the conference was profoundly refreshing and impacting. But rather than trying to describe it all for you, I would encourage you to go to the T4G website at http://www.t4g.org/. There you can learn more about the men who spoke at the conference, see pictures, read the T4G statement of affirmations and denials concerning the gospel, and also listen to and/or download the messages. I was encouraged, convicted, and helped by all of the messages.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Selah @ 3 Months



Monday, April 21, 2008

Expensive Gas, Cheap DSL


We filled up the minivan yesterday. $3.75/gallon. $66.50 for just one tank. Ouch.

But at least not everything is expensive these days. For any of you who still haven't made the switch from dial-up to DSL, you might consider AT&T's $10/month plan.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Boys


Courtesy of the lovely Stacy Mitchell...


Sunday, March 30, 2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A Poll for You...

When Eliana was 8 months old, I got tired of waiting for her to consecutively sleep through the night and we called her on it, telling her that she was old enough to sleep through the night and we weren't going to buy any stories she had to tell to the contrary in the wee hours of the morning any longer... Within a few nights, she was sleeping fabulously, and thanks to this, I got a bit of sleep myself before Mikey made his appearance months later.

It seems that our little angel likes us to have to call her bluff. So last week, after several failed attempts at potty training over the last year, we drew another line in the figurative sand for sweet Eliana. We informed her that she was too big for diapers and she couldn't have them anymore. It's been an interesting week, but on the whole, she's moving in the right direction and there is, indeed, grand hope that by the time she turns 26, she will no longer be peeing in her pants.

I have no great stories to share about our child being potty trained in a weekend... It seems that a 3 1/2 year habit doesn't break that easily in a child as determined as Eliana... but the accidents seem to be fewer and we are only putting her in pull-ups at night... (Well, other than for church the other day, but that proved unnecessary... and doesn't add to the story much.)

Which brings us to a bit of a debate between David and I that I bring to you in hopes of you solving! Now David says that I have to provide a balanced review to you without telling you which one of us is on which side, because he is convinced that you would all vote for me if I told you which side I'm on. So, here's my balanced, anonymous version of the debate:

One of us insisted on changing the name/location of our blog once Selah was born, though the other warned that this might be a little unnecessary due to the impending potty-training of Eliana. Now, the other says that Eliana, though not fully potty-trained yet, is technically no longer in diapers, making the label "Diapers for Four" a little deceptive. The first one says that a pull-up at night is the same thing as still being in diapers, so we still have four in diapers.

In presenting this dilemna to some friends, we have discussed future blog names/locations that might lead to a bit more stability and more seldom name changes... A progression of blog names might possibly include future phases in our lives like diapers4ever, diapers4gotten, diapers4grandkids, and diapers4us... Not that our identities are wrapped up in diapers or anything...

So... here's the question for all of you: Do we still have four in diapers, or not?

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Posing...



Isn't She Pretty?



Happy Kids...




This is great!

Catching up on a little blog-reading this morning...found this great list of how to reduce stress related to "trying to get everything done" on Because I Said So!

1. Delegate - This is where you tell the kids, "You WILL clean up your rooms, vacuum the family room, and set the table, or I will lose it and run away from home, leaving you to eat nothing but Fruit Loops and Kool-Aid fish for the rest of your lives.

2. Say no to non-essential things - "Hey Mom, can you go to the grocery store? There's nothing to eat in the house.""Sure there is! Look in the couch cushions. Those Cheerios can hold you over for at least another week."Or "Hey honey, are you going to do laundry sometime soon? I don't have any clean clothes.""Eh, I've got your old boy scout uniform packed away in the attic. Just pull that out and wear it."

3. Make a list - I find this especially helpful. Make a list of everything you want to get done during the day, then cross off tasks as you complete them. If you do something that isn't on the list, write it down and then cross it off. Trust me, it'll make you feel like you're really accomplishing stuff. Make sure to add all ordinary things like brushing your teeth, going to the bathroom, and drinking a cup of coffee to the list.

4. Baby steps - Break tasks up into smaller chunks that are easier to handle. Like cleaning one room instead of worrying about cleaning the whole house at once. Or like eating just one piece of pizza at a time instead of trying to devour the entire thing at once.

4. Take a deep breath and relax. Remember what's important and things will fall into place. If they don't, just take some time out and escape the stress for a little while by going shopping for bowties at your local mall.


What great advice! I was already able to apply one of these handy tips. While copy/pasting this blog post, my children found and administered enough handsoap to their bodies and clothing for me to write "Bathe children for the next year" on my list and cross it off! (See, Honey -- I've already been VERY productive today! ;)

PS -- Sonia (David's mom) recently took some cute pictures of the kids and emailed them to me, so I'll be posting them as soon as I figure out how to crop myself out of the background!

Monday, February 18, 2008

How horrible!!

Okay -- so this post isn't full of pictures of our, admittedly, very adorable children. (Sorry, Nora!) That would require me taking pictures of them, which would probably require me putting non-drooled over clothing on them and snapping quick pictures within the next 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, it is most likely that Mikey's clothing will look exactly like he did before I changed his clothing and Eliana will have already requested Peanut Butter and Jelly and more "nook" (milk) and I will have discovered that the camera batteries are dead and there will be at least one child that needs his/her diaper changed. There! That's my list of excuses for not posting pics this morning...we'll see about later.

---

However, I was rather horrified by a blog post I saw by Al Mohler this morning (please, nobody point out the fact that I had time to read a blog post but not post pics... I have a whole other list of excuses for that one). I had heard of "suicide" websites and thought the whole notion was rather sad and, yeah... sad. But this was rather horrifying:
"One of the most notorious figures on the internet suicide scene is Nagasiva Yronwode, a self-confessed satanist who runs a shop selling occult books and charms in the small Californian town of Forestville, north of San Francisco.

Yronwode, 46, describes himself as the "outreach director" for an extremist cult called the Church of Euthanasia, which advocates suicide as a means of saving the world from the effects of overpopulation."


I'm at a loss for words.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Hey, Mamas...

Anyone heard about the studies out there connecting SIDS to fumes given off by crib mattresses? There's an interesting article here and we're wondering if anyone else knows anything about it...

In the meantime, we'll probably be ordering a mattress cover.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

It's a Glow Worm!

Remember Glow Worms? You squeeze their tummies and their faces light up?

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Saturday, January 19, 2008

We've Moved!

At least until Eliana figures out the proper use of a potty seat, we're moving our blogging over to Diapers for Four. If you subscribe via e-mail and wish to continue doing so, you'll need to re-subscribe on our new page.

Thanks for your readership. As an incentive for you to go check out our new page, we've posted a video of baby Selah. Enjoy!

Selah Joy Video

Friday, January 18, 2008

Selah Joy

Selah Joy

Born January 18 at 8:50 pm

8 lbs, 20 inches long

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Need a Toddler Bed?


We're looking to clear out some space and decided that it's time to say goodbye to Eliana's race car bed. Could any of you Sacramento area readers put it to good use? If so, please contact us asap.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Potty Seat Recalls and Such

2007 was the year of the recall, especially for kid's products. Even our Winnie the Pooh potty seat was "recalled." Evidently, Tigger's orange paint contained lead.
The "recall" merely allowed us to request a clear patch to place over Tigger to ensure that our kids wouldn't lick him. (And, no, our kids weren't licking Tigger, nor are they using the potty seat like they're supposed to yet.)

There are a number of web sites that provide recall information, such as recall.gov. The problem with many of these web sites is they don't include pictures of the stuff being recalled, and they tell you about every single recall under the sun.

I've found the Consumer Reports Blog on Babies and Kids to be a helpful source of recall information pertaining to children's products. You can subscribe by RSS so that every time there is a major recall, you'll see an image and description of the product being recalled.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Free Scripture Memory Song

It's much easier to memorize something if it's set to music. In fact, I'm sure at times we've all gotten lyrics stuck in our heads that we could do without (think "It's a small world... or "Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh....") Can you think of others?

Well, what if those lyrics were Scripture? What if we memorized something worthwhile while listening to our ipod?

Give it a try. Download a free song to help you memorize Psalm 30:4-5.

(Hat tip: Challies.com)