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.

Happy New Year!

Being that it's a new year and all, I figured I would actually write a little. Things have been fairly crazy the last couple of weeks with holidays and weddings and such. We also finally weaned V from her pacifier, which took a little longer than I had hoped. However, she seems to be sleeping better at night without it, which makes all of us grateful.

We also decided to move down to Grand Rapids earlier than planned. It was getting too expensive to live so far away from Joe's work, our doctors, etc. We had hoped to buy a house this spring but decided just to rent for a few months longer and take our time looking around at where we want to buy. I am excited to be going back to the city and am glad that we will be 45 minutes closer to the hospital I'll be delivering at at the end of the month, especially since we're starting to get more snow now.

I have been thinking about making a list of goals that I would like to accomplish this year in different areas of my life. I will probably share them in another post, but one in particular I would like to accomplish is to do more crafty/creative things with Verity. She is getting to the age now where she is more interested in stuff like that and can listen to instructions better, so I have been reading up on blogs and got a book for Christmas that should give me some ideas. Hopefully I can do at least one activity a week with her. For Christmas we got her some coloring books and she has been enjoying that:

We haven't had any issues with her trying to color on something other than the paper...yet. :)

Well, I suppose I should be thinking about dinner. Happy New Year everyone!

Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago, we went and had our pictures taken so we would have a half-way decent one for our Christmas card. It is the first time since we were married that we had something like that done. V wasn't real cooperative, but we got some nice pictures. Maybe by the time Felicity is here she will be more into it. Here are a few of them:

As far as life goes, things have been pretty good. Joe moves to second shift tomorrow, which will be a nice change as that is what we have been used to. I am also glad he will be around to help more during V's awake time. I have been unable to pick her up this weekend without being in extreme pain so the less I have to do it, the better at this point. We are fairly settled in to the cabin now and with our Christmas decorations up, it feels more like our own home. V is learning more and more words every day and has also picked up new skills, such as putting her garbage in the trash can and helping me unload the dishwasher. I really have been enjoying the time I have with her at home and am excited to be able to do more activities with her as she grows.

Well, Joe just brought me some applecrisp so I am going to go enjoy that now. Until next time.

Just in case

...you were wondering what we've been up to recently.

That's all for now. Enjoy. :)

An update of sorts

So it's week two of life up north. Besides the vast amounts of rain we've had, making it difficult to spend much time outdoors, things have been going really well. Verity has mostly settled back into a normal sleep schedule, which makes everyone happy, and is starting to eat more table food here and there again. In fact, she is taking her second nap of the day right now, which is the reason I am on here right now.

Actually, I feel like I spend more time online now than I did pre-Michigan; however, I have been a LOT more productive than I ever was in Louisville...well, post-V anyway. It's amazing how enjoyable cooking/housework is when you can do a little every day so it doesn't pile up like crazy. I have been able to actually stick to the meal plans I've made so far, keep up with the laundry fairly well, AND enjoy time with V. It's nice to sit down after she's gone to bed and not feel guilty since I have accomplished something with my day. We will see what happens once Felicity makes her appearance, but for now, things are going smoothly.

Joe is enjoying the pace of his job, as well as knowing he will be done at the same time every day. He still works up cases for the company he was working for in Louisville here and there, but he can choose when he wants to do it so it works out nicely. He is looking forward this weekend to be able to relax. After driving back and forth to KY for the last three, he is ready for a break.

Well, I probably should do something with my time; it's a lot easier to get stuff done when V is sleeping! Hopefully now that I have more time at home I will be better about updating this thing.

The end of an era...

Well, the time has come. After a few whirlwind months (thus the lack of posts), it's finally moving day. Everything...well, almost everything we own will be in Michigan by the end of the day. It's crazy to think that we're moving from this:

...to this:

Part of me still doesn't believe it's really happening. I've told several people that it just feels like we're going on a long vacation. I remember saying the same thing when we moved down here.

A lot of major changes happened in my life here in Louisville; the city holds a lot of dear memories. I got my first "real" job, had my first adultish apartment, bought new cars, lost a baby, had a baby, and lost my pets here. I also grew much deeper in my faith and made some lifelong friends in the 4.5 years we've lived here. As big of a blessing as this move will be for our family, I really will miss this place. Everything seems bittersweet, but I suppose that's how life is. Anyway, more updates on life back in the frozen tundra to come soon. Sorry for the corny nostalgia. :)

whirlwind

The past month and a half have been pretty crazy around here. Between V and Joe's birthdays, our anniversary, traveling, a new pregnancy, and the normal stuff of life, I feel like I can hardly think straight sometimes.

We found out at the end of May that Verity is going to have a new little sibling. This pregnancy has been quite a bit different from V's. I am a lot more nauseated this time, and my sense of smell is VERY sensitive. The only real similarity is the migraines, which hopefully will subside in a week or two; they did last time. We had an ultrasound on Tuesday and were very thankful and relieved to see Baby Martin moving around with a healthy heartbeat. (S)he is due January 31, but we'll see what happens as far as that goes.

Verity's birthday was a lot of fun; we had a big party at the park with her friends and opened presents on her actual birthday. She also had a party with Grandma and Grandpa Thiel and was able to open her gift from Grandma and Grandpa Hill when she went up to visit for Grandma Brown's 80th birthday. She really learned to enjoy cake.

Some friends came and watched Verity for the day while Joe and I went to Cincinnati to have an anniversary date. We went to the aquarium, the Harry Potter movie, and a Reds game. We had to leave early because I got really sick, but it was fun to be able to spend some kid-free time together for a day. Hopefully we'll be able to do that again soon.

Well, I suppose that's long enough for now. I really need to update this blog more often so posts like this don't occur frequently. Sorry for the weird format. I was trying something new and it just didn't look right. I ended up deleting a bunch of pictures to make it fit. Grr...

Sunday

This is the second Sunday I have worked in a row. While I enjoy working weekends to an extent, as it's just less stressful, I am a little tired of missing church, my afternoon nap, and time with Joe and V. Today is Joe's birthday so it makes me feel a little worse to be working. We did have an anniversary date yesterday so we were able to spend some fun time together, but it would've been nice to celebrate his birthday as a little family today.

Anyway, the last several weeks I have been following Women's World Cup, the final game of which is played today. The US will be playing Japan and I really hope to be able to watch most of it. I was able to catch the semifinals last Sunday as I wasn't terribly busy except between games, but this game is much more important so hopefully I won't have to miss much.

I guess this post is pretty pointless, but since my posts have been lacking lately, I figured I would post something. Off to test more pee.

A little bit of this...

I realized today that it's been over a month since I last posted! I guess that's because we've been so busy over the last few weeks. Anyway, here is a brief update.

*Verity turned one last weekend! I can't believe my baby isn't a baby anymore! She's had a pretty good birth-month if you ask me. She's more or less had three parties over the last three weeks. That's more than I've had in the last four years. Anyway, it's been fun watching her eat her first sweets, opening gifts with her, and celebrating with friends and family.

*Pita breathed her last breath this past Wednesday. She was beginning to get more aggressive with visitors and with me, so we decided to put her down. We were afraid she would get that way with Verity and didn't want to risk any problems. It was a hard thing to do; it's been a difficult few days since she died for Joe and I.

I guess those are the two biggest things that have been happening. I'll post more pictures from trips/parties when I get them on the computer.

A Pantry Full of...

Yes, that's right. Baby food. For the first three months of V eating solids, we mostly made our own, but as our schedules got more hectic and her palate diversified, it got more difficult and convenience won out. That's where this picture comes in.

Babies R Us had a huge sale on Earth's Best Organic baby food last week. 20 for $10. The cheapest I have ever seen it anywhere else is 69 cents a jar so I was ecstatic. It helped that I had several coupons making several of the jars free. I left the store with 78 jars of baby food. The bottom shelf of our cupboard now looks like the baby food section of Target, but that's okay. From left to right, we have breakfast, grains and fruits, fruits, veggie/fruit combos, veggies, entrees (meaning things such as rice and lentils, green bean casserole, etc.), and soups. Yes, I am a little OCD about how my cabinets are arranged. Part of this comes from working at Kmart during my high school years and having to straighten shelves for hours on end. Part of this comes from working in a lab now. If you looked at the rest of my house you would never guess how organized I can be. Anyway, we are hoping this is the last of the baby food we will be buying, since V has been eating more of what we are eating now.

She also has really enjoyed the teething biscuits that Earth's Best makes. (I know, I sound like a commercial for the company, but they really do make great products.) Here she is enjoying one now:

In fact, she loves them so much that she is only allowed to eat them in the highchair because otherwise she gives the dog a bite between bites of her own. Speak of the devil, it's nap time. Teething biscuits can't take care of all her tears. :) (Although sharing a popsicle with daddy seems to. )

Tandem

It has taken me WAY too long to get this book review out, but here it finally is. It seems that whenever I have thought about writing it, I've been at work or someplace that hasn't allowed me to post to my blog. So here it is...

I've sort of been on a fiction kick lately, and after reading the synopsis for the book Tandem, by Tracey Bateman, I thought I would send away for it. When I received the book in the mail, however, I was a little disappointed. I could tell from the cover it was going to be about vampires, which had not been mentioned at all in the blurb on the Blogging for Books website. I wasn't in the mood for another Twilight knockoff, especially some poorly done Christian one, but I decided to give it a chance anyway.

The main storyline was semi-interesting; there are ritual killings going on in a small town and no one knows who the killer is. I thought it would be fairly difficult to deal with vampires in a Christian novel without it coming off as stupid or cheesy, but Bateman does a fair job of it. There are a few minor storylines that need more development. Apparently there is a prequel, Thirsty, and if you didn't read that there are parts that aren't detailed enough to make much sense. Toward the end there is a section that seems like it was just kind of thrown in to wrap up some loose ends with a few characters; it wasn't really satisfying to me. The part that bothered me the most though was the relationship between the main character, Lauryn, who is an unbeliever, and Billy, a preacher's kid who has just returned from the mission field. Bateman seems to not have a problem with a believer pursuing a romantic relationship with an unbeliever at all. I am not comfortable with this being promoted by a Christian author when I have seen it cause so many problems in real life amongst people I know.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was the attention it gives to Alzheimer patients and what their families go through. Lauryn has to take care of her dad all by herself (she has no other family to help) and the author paints a good picture of the physical, mental, and emotional toll it takes on her as her dad's Alzheimers gets worse . This wasn't enough to redeem the book for me, however.

If you're interested in previewing this book, you can download chapter one for free.

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

And the winner is...

ME! Last week, I entered several giveaways on the BabyBuys blog. This isn't unusual for me; I enter giveaways on Moneysaving Mom, Bakerella, and other blogs I follow. However, this is the first time I've won something...and what did I win??

Okay, so BK isn't the greatest restaurant to win a giftcard to; the point is, I won something! If nothing else, I won ten dollars worth of sodas. :) The card came in the mail today.

It encourages me to continue entering these giveaways. Who knows, maybe next time I'll win the iPad or the $500 giftcard to Target!

Grabbag

Be careful; you never know what you might read about in today's post...

*We have a future dancing queen on our hands, as we found out after church Easter Sunday while visiting the Myers in Virginia:

V also met a potential suitor on the visit:

Apparently she hasn't made her mind up about little boys yet. Her daddy is okay with that.

*Moving on to another random topic, I thought I was in fairly good shape after 2.75 months of Turbo Jam. Then I did a 15-minute Turbo Fire workout on Tuesday. I was wrong. I don't think I've ever had that much sweat dripping off of me in my life. I have been sore ever since. What was I thinking?

*Work has been a bit of a bear lately. It really is tempting to gag when a patient hands me a specimen in the waiting area of the ER and says, "By the way, there's a worm in this. But don't worry, it's not alive or anything." Really?? Somehow I don't feel like I signed up for this part of the job. (By the way, there really was a worm in it.)

Turbo what?

Beginning Monday, I'm going to be starting a new workout program. Turbo Jam has been fun, but I am ready to up my intensity level...I think. Here is a sample of what I've been doing:

I know the video is a little long, but that's YouTube for you. They don't even have a great video for Turbo Fire (what I start Monday) yet that isn't basically an infomercial, so I didn't bother to post it, but just think Turbo Jam on crack. I'm slightly nervous after watching a few of the videos, and will probably die next week, but I think it will help speed up my weight loss and I also think it will be a good challenge for my body, although there are definitely ways I could make Turbo Jam more intense. I have about 20 more lbs. to go to reach my final goal weight, which is exciting, and about 10 until I reach my pre-Verity weight. I also have biceps now, although I don't think you will be able to actually see them until my arm fat goes away. For a girl who's never been able to do a pull-up though, that's saying something!