So this is what catching up feels like...

To the few followers I have, sorry I have been so horrible about keeping up with this.  I have been meaning to post for a while now and it just never seems to happen.

Anyway, I'll try to be better, but for now, here's a brief update on life:

Joe is still working second-shift at Spectrum and is also on call now at night every third week.  They've pushed his start time back half an hour, which has actually been nice since Verity naps a lot better when he's here to put her down.  For whatever reason the whole potty-training thing made nap/bedtime a nightmare between her and I.  He does a lot of the financial stuff for the church we're at and meets with a group of guys during the week for "guy time."  Right now he is dreaming about gutting the bathroom in the basement and DIYing it...maybe in a few years.

Verity is 2.5 and will be 3 in June!  We put in her application for pre-school last week; I can't believe how big she is getting!  She enjoys reading and being outside and anything to do with other kids.  It has been so neat to be able to have conversations with her about how different things in the world work and especially about God.  You can literally see her little mind processing all the information as you talk to her about it.  There are definitely hard days at this stage but I think once spring comes and we are able to be outside more that will help; sometimes naughtiness stems from boredom and with all the snow and a baby sister it hasn't been easy to get outside very often.

Felicity just turned 1 at the end of January.  I can't believe I don't have any babies in the house anymore. :(  I am dragging it out a little since she isn't walking yet, but I'm sure that will change soon.  She changes so much every day and I've really been enjoying the baby stage with her.  She loves to follow Verity around and try to imitate the things she's doing and she LOVES to eat.  She is starting to get a mind of her own but she is less stubborn than her sister about most things.  It's been fun to see the similarities and differences in their personalities.  She has been sick a lot this winter, which has been sad, so hopefully she will get healthier as the weather warms up.

I pretty much do the same things day in and day out.  Clean the house, cook meals, run errands, repeat. It seems like it's never-ending, and sometimes I complain, but I am very blessed to be able to be home with the girls and have so much flexibility with my schedule (unless you count nap/bedtimes. :) ).  I host a women's group from our church here on Thursday nights so that has been encouraging and have been serving on Sunday mornings in different ways as well.  I've been learning a lot in the last couple of months about my identity in Christ, how the gospel affects my marriage and parenting and eliminating processed foods from our diet (although I can't seem to kick the Pepsi habit).  I still have a long ways to go in all those areas and many more but we're all in process.

Well, next time I'll try to be a little more brief and maybe include some pictures...since next time might be next week instead of next year.  Thanks for reading!

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A bit of an update

So I really haven't been on here in a while and figured I probably should post some sort of an update.  Maybe next time I'll actually take the time to put up a video/pictures, too.  Things have been pretty crazy around here.  Here are just a few things that have been taking up the Martins' time:

• We started the dreaded potty-training with Verity.  It has gone...so-so.  Some days are good and some are not.  Some days I feel like a model parent and some days I feel like pulling my hair out. And yes, our life basically revolves around the bathroom right now.  Worst.  Stage.  Ever.
• Felicity has started solid foods.  She'll eat basically anything and seems to enjoy it all.  I've been trying to make most of her food from scratch; we did for the first few months with Verity but convenience won out and we switched to jarred after a while.  I'm hoping Felicity won't have some of the texture issues that Verity does because everything isn't pureed so smooth.  We'll see though.  
• We painted the girls' rooms and the living room and are enjoying our home MUCH more as a result.  It's so nice to have some bright colors in our home and now I can start hanging things up in those rooms as well.  The colors in here before weren't horrible, but they did nothing for the floors and were sort of dark for the size of the rooms, so it has been a nice change of pace.  Joe has been enjoying doing some work outside.  He cleaned out the garage last weekend and cut down some branches that were hanging over the roof.  We now have plenty of wood for any fires we might like to have in our fireplace this fall/winter, which is nice since it is expensive to buy.  
• The church plant we are involved in, Redemption City Church, started having regular services last month.  We have been keeping busy serving in the nursery and as greeters, and Joe is also an usher.  We also have community group (like small group) and life groups (which are men/women-only) on rotating weeks.  It has been nice to be able to gather as a large body to worship and hear the Word preached again.  I have really missed our church and the people down in Louisville and am glad to have a chance to get involved with a like-minded group of people here in Grand Rapids.
• I have been trying to cut out a lot of the processed foods our family eats and have been reading up on healthy eating as far as organic produce, antibiotics and hormones in meat and dairy, and so forth.  It has been extremely eye-opening, but daunting (and a little more expensive) as well.  We have been able to save money in some ways though, by making things like our own seasoning packets (way cheaper and no additives), baking mixes, and things like apple sauce.  I found some recipes for "cream-of" soup substitutes that I would like to try.  Once we have a deep freeze I want to start doing more homemade pizza crusts, muffins, etc. that can be made, frozen, and used as needed.  Homemade stuff tends to taste so much better and I like knowing what's in the food that I'm feeding the girls.  I also want to have a garden next year so we can make our own sauces and salsa and some other things.  

Well, that wasn't as brief as promised, but I was on a roll.  Until next time.

A (very late) Book Review

So last summer about this time, I went to pick a new book from the Blogging for Books program to read.  Turns out the only book available was one I would never have chosen if it wasn't pretty much forced upon me.  The book, You Were Born for This, by Bruce Wilkinson, seemed like some sort of hokey self-help book.  However, I wanted to be able to get more books so I requested it and tried to read it.  Needless to say, it took me an entire year to be able to get through it.  If I hadn't felt guilty about not holding up my end of the deal, blogging a review, I probably would've just taken it to the used bookstore after the first chapter.

Anyway, the book was basically about how God wants to use us to perform everyday miracles and we just have to be willing to put ourselves out there.  While I do think that God does want to use us to bless people and that we are oftentimes oblivious to (or too selfish to notice) the opportunities He gives us, there were a few issues I had.  For one, I felt like he kept plugging his other book (The Prayer of Jabez), which is not one I am super fond of.  The thing that bothered me the most though was the premise that if we don't step up and do these things, God can't work the way He wants to work and will not be able to accomplish His will.  If I could find the book right now (we just moved), I would quote the author on this, but oh well.  Anyway, it seemed to limit God's power.

You can preview this book here.


I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Catch Up

So I guess I'm not very good at this now that I have two little ones around the house.  Maybe I'll make it my goal to do a once-a-month post just to keep the few who read this in the loop. :)

Things have been pretty crazy around here lately.  We closed on a house last Wednesday and are starting the packing process...again.  This will be the seventh place we've lived since we've been married, and V's fourth place.  Hopefully it will be the last for a very long time.  We are excited to move in; the house has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, meaning we won't have to share a room with Felicity any more.  :)  It also has a nice sized yard, which will make taking the girls outside to play a lot more convenient.  We got Verity an inflatable pool with a slide for part of her birthday present, which will be a lot of fun for her once we are all moved in.

Speaking of Verity's birthday, I can't believe she is going to be two next weekend!  The last two years have just flown by!

                                                                      One week
             

One year

Two years

She is so grown up it's scary.  This season isn't the most fun with her; she is SUPER strong-willed and I have had to battle with her over a lot of things.  However, there have been a lot of sweet things about it as well.  I really enjoy playing games with her, reading to her, singing with her, and being able to have semi-conversations with her.  It's really amazing how much her little brain soaks in as she observes and listens to her surroundings.

Felicity is really growing fast as well.  She is four months now and rolling over.  She is also enjoying sitting up (supported, of course).  I couldn't believe how fast time had gone when I took her to the pediatrician and she told me we could start Lissy on rice cereal whenever we wanted.  Crazy!

She is a big girl; almost 17 lbs at her last appointment!  She's wearing clothes V was wearing when she was a year.  It's amazing how different they are.

Well, hopefully I'll do a little better with updating this, but if not, this will work for a while. :)

 

So...

It's been a while since I've posted. I really thought I would have more time to do so but once Felicity arrived on the scene it got infinitely busier. Now that we have a semi-routine, I figured I'd hop on and do a bit of an update.

Felicity arrived on January 27th at 1:09 p.m. It was a SUPER short labor (which I am thankful for considering how much pain was involved) and everything went well. She has been very healthy and is developing normally thus far; in fact, she is so healthy she is wearing clothes that Verity wore at 7 months already. Anyway, she has been a very easy baby and is sleeping around 7-8 hour stretches at night. She has been smiling and responding more to us every day, which has been fun to see. Just this week she has really gotten into the animals hanging from her bouncy seat, which you can view below if you're interested:

Verity has been getting used to being a big sister. After about six weeks, she seemed to realize the baby was here to stay and that she may as well enjoy it. She has been trying to help soothe Felicity when she cries and has also tried to share various things with her, including food, her sippy cup, her binky, books, and even the cat she sleeps with. It's adorable when it isn't something that could hurt Felicity. Verity has also been learning her ABCs and how to count. For a long time her favorite Sesame Street character was Elmo but now all she wants to watch is the Count. The other thing I have really been enjoying is listening to her learn to sing songs. Every night before bed, since she was three months, we have sang a few songs and prayed and it's so precious to hear her sing parts of the songs she has learned and ask to pray. There was supposed to be a video of her reading her Bible below, but blogger seemed to have some issues with it, so just imagine a little girl saying, "God," and "Jesus," in a cute little toddler voice.

Other than that, not much is new. My goals need serious updating; many of them went by the wayside. I didn't think about the fact that I was going to be adjusting to another family member in the house at the time I made the list. Silly. We are going to hopefully start looking at houses in the next week or two, which is exciting. More next time.

2012 Goals

Not a very creative title, I know, but I just want to get these up here so I have some accountability. Anyway, here are my goals for this year. I may try to be a little more specific on some of them in the future, but for now they will do:

Personal:

-Read through the Bible reading plan I started each month

-Work out 4-5 times/week (once Felicity comes and I get the okay)

-Read 1 non-fiction book/month. This month I've read one already, so I am reading another one.

-Only check Facebook 1 time/day. I know that is ridiculous but I think I spend too much time on there.

Family:

-Have at least one date night/month with Joe

-Do one craft/new activity with V each week

-Teach V her ABCs by March

Home:

-Follow chore planner. I bought a downloadable one off the internet and it is really nice; it breaks everything down so it's more manageable and already in list form.

-Stick to our budget!!! This one will get more specific but for now I just wanted something down on paper about it.

We will see how all these go. I think they are fairly doable. Time to clean the V up from lunch.