Being a mom is quite an adventure. Mom’s around the world can all relate to those days when we look at our children and say “PLEASE, JUST STOP MOVING!” ha ha ha…

Today was a Ziva day.  She was at Mimi’s house yesterday, which, often means copious amounts (and I mean COPIOUS amounts) of blueberries and other fruits.  So, after struggling through morning sickness while changing her first nasty diaper this morning I had to spirit her off the changing table and let her run around in her diaper while I had another session with my face in the toilet.  It’s exhausting throwing up, so I figured the kids would be OK running around in just thier diapers/undies for a little while so I could “re group” and hopefully get some more food down my throat in the hopes that something would stay.  I set myself up on the couch to relax (we’ve had a busy week, so I’m sore all over too) and shortly there after Vienna comes RUNNING down the hall screaming “MAMA…ZIVA’S GOT POOPIE IN HER BUTT CRACK!!!!” What!?!?!  I get up expecting to see a flow of “blueberry revenge” up Ziva’s back, which is often what happens after she consumes her body weight in the “they’re so good for you” fruit.  Noooooo such luck!  As I reach my bedroom (where the changing table is) I see Ziva… 10 wipes strewn about her, rear end COVERED in black blueberry crusties… COVERED! and not a diaper in sight!  I get her cleaned up, get a diaper on, get some pants and a shirt on (in the hopes she can’t get those off as easily as her diaper) and start the hunt for the diaper.  I hunt, and hunt, and hunt… worried that my nose is going to find it before my eyes do and that it’s going to start another round of toilet facing!  After an HOUR I gave up… but when the girls and I started some Mac & Cheese lunch for the girls I found that she’d left her diaper, complete with ginormous “gift” neatly deposited in the trashcan   ahhh… Thank the Good Lord that she’s got some of her father’s “tidy” tenancies!

This isn’t the first time Ziva’s tried to take care of her diaper herself. Lately I’ve been finding her about once a week.  She climbs up on the changing table and takes her diaper off and starts wiping… this is just the first time she’s done it with a “messy” diaper.  Thankfully with Vienna’s example she’s potty training quite well right now… so hopefully before baby #3 arrives I can have her in panties during the day… oh, wouldn’t that be something!!!

But, the day moves on.  I get my tummy calmed down and decide to Facebook the above event of the day.  But since the computer makes me a bit sea sick at times I decided to walk away and take a potty break myself.  I guess leaving these kids alone in a room for too long is not so very safe!!!

My girls and I like to cook together, and today they both helped me make Mac & Cheese.  Usually Ziva is relegated to just watching because I don’t always trust her to not burn herself (she’s VERY good at grabbing at hot stuff) but today I thought I’d let her give stirring (with a VERY long wooden spoon) a try. She did a great job.  Well, while I was back in the bathroom she apparently got a hankering for some of her favorite food… eggs… She got in the fridge, opened the egg carton and started making herself an omelet… SANS BOWL, SANS PAN.  I’m happy to report that the eggs have been cleaned up, the stove is nice and sparkly and there’s only about 15 minutes until nap time!!!

I shall survive this day

As my friend Noelle would say… Good times, good times…
NOT!

It all started sooo well. We were packed and ready to go. Everyone was calmly excited (well, for the most part). We got to PDX in plenty of time, quickly checked into the airline and headed off to our gate to wait our 11 p.m. flight to Chicago.
The girls were excited, and wide awake. We ran up and down the halls and rode the people movers trying to get out all the energy we could. The girls had bunches of snacks and were in their jammies anticipating sleeping on the plane.. excitement was in the air! All were happy.

There was a full flight for the trip from PDX to Chicago. I was shocked to find not an empty seat on such a late night flight. We were the only family with kids save one other toddler on board, at least that I saw or heard. Vienna was sooooo excited she did NOT want to sleep. But quickly after take off Ziva nodded off to sleep. After much coaxing, Vienna finally drifted off to sleep, only to wake about 40 minutes later.

She didn’t just wake up. She woke up SCREAMING. Not JUST screaming… but screaming MOMMY MY BUTT HURTS over and over again. (oh yes, such a proud moment). So off to the tiny little confined space they call a lavatory! Vienna cried the whole walk down the long long isle… she wouldn’t walk, so I attempted to carry her without falling into anyone (are isles getting MUCH skinnier to any of you!?!?!) We got to the bathroom and I pulled down the changing table so I could have a platform to stand Vienna on to see what this “pain” she was having was all about. Yes people, I was tired… TIRED I’m saying… was I thinking? NO, I WAS TRIED!

So, off came the jammies and diaper and as I reached for the baby wipes it happened! Suddenly, a full bladder decided that it was time to let go… and let go with a force!!! Not just a gentle little trickle onto the table… but a full on geyser that drenched the whole of the tiny compartment. My shirt, pants, shoes, diaper bag and brand new, perfectly clean socks that were in the front pouch of the diaper bag all be came victims to its flow! All the while mind you my daughter is screaming and crying uncontrollably. There wasn’t much I could to about the incident… it happened so fast, but the sink was the only solution so as quickly as could be expected I just sat Vienna into the sink. Waterfall exhausted I was able to clean the changing table quickly and get Vienna stood up and the new thing of baby wipes open (no small feat while you’re trying to balance a toddler on a little table in a tiny room while the airplane is rocking all about!).

I know what you’re thinking “I will never use an airline bathroom again!!!” But me being the responsible person that I am, and despite the protests of my daughter, I started to swab down what felt like every surface of that tiny little closet! I did ok, until I got to the floor. Now, I’m not a small woman, and there was NO WAY for me to swab up the huge puddles that had appeared on the floor. Not without opening up the door. Now, in this particular airplane arrangement, the bathroom is situated just in front of the stewardess’ jump seat… so, in order to swab the floor, I must squat to the floor and stick my least flattering portion of myself out the door and basically into the face of the stewardess, all the while calling out apologies over my shoulder to her and all the other passengers patiently waiting to use the loo. Remember, Vienna’s still crying uncontrollably (and now complaining of being cold because she has been stripped down to nothing but a diaper!)

I was able to clean everything up (save myself really) and took Vienna back to our seats, got into the over head bin and dug out her jeans and t-shirt and got her dressed before I stared loosing it. In my own defense, I was tired, and tired for me means emotional… so, I left both the girls with Sam and headed back to the back spot in the airplane to have a little cry (so as not to completely flip Vienna out, she can’t stand it when I cry). So, the steward and another passenger were soooo nice about it all, they chatted with me and made me feel much better about the mess we had made in the bathroom! ?

I headed back to my seat and found Vienna still awake. She didn’t sleep the rest of the flight. Finally after long sleepless hours we approached Chicago. However, it was going to be anything but a typical landing! Chicago was having a wonderful thunder shower so we got to stay up in the air an extra long time, lucky us!!

The captain came on over the loud speaker and announced that he was sorry for the delay but he had found a window within the storm with which to land through, so we were going to make an attempt at landing. It was really bumpy and we were getting jostled about enough that Vienna was getting nervous, never mind the strobe light effect the airplane landing lights against the clouds… oh, and then the silly little little thing of having lighting ALL AROUND US!!! Vienna was white as a sheet… an I was getting dizzy!

Vienna was squeezing my hand and asking questions and then staring with terrified eyes at the seat in front of her… Sam was holding Ziva who thankfully remained asleep. We finally touch down and you can feel most of the tension in the plane dissipate. Except for Seat 5c… I’m getting dizzier, and more and more nauseous. Yep, it happened. Four times in fact!! I tried to be as discrete as possible (holding the emergency information folder up on front of the side of my face so those around me couldn’t see) Sam kept Vienna distracted so at least that didn’t cause her to panic more!

We finally deboarded and began to walk through the terminal to find our pending departure gate and wait out the 12 hour lay over that we had. Thankfully we asked before we left the domestic wing… there wasn’t much over in the international wind by way of food and entertainment. So back down to terminal 2 to find the kids play area. We didn’t find it right away, but we found a nice quiet little area (amazing considering how many flights were cancelled/delayed due to the storm) I laid the blanket out on the floor and forced Vienna to lay down and attempt a nap, I laid beside her in hopes of catching a few winks myself, but it didn’t happen. Then I hear it… “ak, ak, ak, slleerrrp” I look up to see Ziva coughing in Sam’s arms, and on Sam’s shirt I saw the evidence of what I knew must have happened. Ziva got sick all over him. Thankfully it had been many hours since she had eaten, so the clean up was not so bad.

Praise the Lord our wait in Chicago was not as difficult as we had anticipated it to be. For several hours Vienna slept peacefully on the floor and Sam dozed off and on with Ziva fast asleep in his arms. I even laid down on the seats for a bit and caught a few z’s before the area we were in filled up with stranded travelers.

After getting some breakfast, and then a little lunch as well, we headed off and eventually found the play area for the kids and let them run around there for a while to have fun. So thankful they had that area for them!

I was anxious to get over to the international terminal and get checked in with LOT (polish airlines) but the guys were in no hurry. Fortunately Vienna was ready to go so we went earlier than the guys had wanted. The line for LOT was REDICULOUS! I have emptied a jar of molasses faster than this line moved!!

We got to the counter and the gal behind the counter says to me “you know that we don’t have seats for you?” WHAATT!?!?! My over tired brain at first did not realize that she jut meant that we didn’t have seats assigned to us and that they didn’t think they had any thing other than single seats throughout the plane to sit in (so we couldn’t sit beside each other at all… this included Vienna who was supposed to somehow sit in a seat all by herself!) Thankfully she skiddered off into another room and came back with seat assignments for the four of us all together (with Matthew directly behind us). Not only did we get to sit together, but we also got to sit at the bulkhead so that we could have more leg room and Vienna could actually lay on the floor and sleep!!!! And thus ended the nightmare that began this travel!!!

We made it to Warsaw just fine and to the gate to our final flight quite uneventfully! Our last flight was easy and blissfully short!!

When we arrived in Kiev we got through Passport Control with just a short wait and no painfully slow clerk with oodles of questions ? nice! Off to collect our baggage, nice and quick and right through customs without any stops! As we approach the exit door to the area where family would be waiting I saw it! ? Right in the front as close to the door as she could be without actually crossing through the door and into the customs area Marie stood… on her tippy toes, waving frantically! Yep, I lost it… exhausted as I was I started crying…. We’d finally arrived!! It was soooo sweet to finally get to hug all the family! The van ride back to Rhizhishv, though bumpy, was great. Ukraine feels a bit like home, even though I’ve never lived here myself. It was nice to recognize the route we were taking back to the village. We arrived at their house around 5pm, Es was here waiting for us and quickly dinner was ready and on the table. Vienna was too tired to eat and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Ziva pretended to eat, but went down soon there after just as easily!

Sam’s parents arrived around 7pm and we were in bed asleep by 9:30 and slept blissfully well with only two wake ups by the girls (and they quickly went back to sleep, so with jet lag and all I expected the first nigh to be much more difficult!!!)
The girls and I woke at 3 a.m. but thankfully we have a nice little device our friends lent us that had a strawberry shortcake video loaded on it, so the girls watched that until it was late enough to go downstairs and play with their cousins who were waiting for them!! Ahhhh… sooo wonderful!

More adventures to follow!!

You often hear how the Lord cares for the little things in life, yet it’s rare we give Him the credit for those little blessings that come along in life.

It’s no secret that since returning to the States finances have not been something we’ve had in abundance.  Don’t get me wrong, we’ve never gone hungry, or suffered from not seeing the doctor, been late on all our bills or called by a collection agency or anything like that… but, there have been months when every dime we’ve had pretty much just went to standard living… food, electric, water, gas and the like.  This  means that often gifts and things like clothes get put off or missed completely for a while.  It gets a little old when you have friends having babies or getting married or are having surgery and need a meal, and there you are, unable to purchase them even the smallest of gifts, or fix them a batch of soup or make up a simple casserole.

Sometimes I wonder if the Lord ever missed a bridal or baby shower, or brought a casserole to a friend.  But then I remember, He’s on the “man” side of human nature in His earthy role… so, these weren’t his concerns in the day.  That was left for the Marry’s and the Martha’s J

Last Christmas was another one of those times for us.  Thankfully I had shopped earlier in the year for the girls gifts and had them nicely tucked away for Christmas.  But Sam and I had decided that it was not going to be a year that we could find gifts for each other.  I was fine with that, Christmas for me isn’t about the gifts and it doesn’t change my understanding that Sam loves me if I don’t get a gift from him on Christmas. But I had a baby shower coming up.  It was a special friend, it was her first baby… I wanted to go, and I wanted a gift.  My heart was broken that I couldn’t get her anything.  Finally I spoke with Sam and he said that since we weren’t gifting each other, if I didn’t get stockings either I could pick up a gift for the baby shower.  I was so excited to have my $30 limit!   I got on line and looked at her registry.  Tried  to find something I’d like to purchase her.   I found a gift in my price range and headed out the door to the shower intending on stopping at the store on the way!

I got to the store and searched high and low.  I pulled the paper registry to find the isle location for the item I had chosen… it wasn’t there.  After getting the assistance of three workers, I gave up the hunt.  Having no idea what to pick up for my friend I searched the isles… then I found it!!!! The item that I had wanted for my friend was right there, tucked behind a bunch of other items!!!  I was sooooo excited.  Knowing I was on a tight budget, and not wanting to humiliate myself by getting up there and finding out the item was more than I expected I did what I always do… I found the little scanning machine so it would tell me exactly how much the store was going to charge me.  Beep… item not found.   Beep… Item not found… grrr… Running out of time I decided to risk it.  I headed up to the check out, item in hand, just praying it wasn’t over the $30 limit I swore to Sam I’d stick under!

Finally it was my turn in line.  I readied myself to grab a gift card in the event that the item was over the price I had expected it to be.  Beep… manager assistance needed.  Great… As the manager approached I realized it was one of the ladies that was helping me in the isle.  I told her excitedly that I actually found one (contrary to the computer that said there was none!)  “Wow, this really is your lucky day” she says as she reaches over and types in her managers code.  The young man that was attempting to check me out says, “That’ll be six dollars and seventy three cents please.”  WHAT!?!?!  “Yep says the manager, you found one that was on final clearance.” Hallelujah!  Not wanting to arrive there and find out she decided she didn’t need said item that I purchased I grabbed a gift card for $20 (so she could take it back and get something at the price that I had intended to gift her if she had changed her  mind.)   I left so thrilled, but ultra paranoid that the gift was one that was already purchased or no longer wanted (not that my friend would have cared at all… why do we stress like that!?!?!)  When she opened her gift, she was ultra excited!  It was the one thing she was hoping she would get still!  I was thrilled… not only had I chosen something my friend liked and would use every day, but I now had a gift card to purchase a Christmas gift for Sam with!!

I knew I wasn’t supposed to get Sam a gift, but I also knew that he had a need.  A need for a pair of jeans that didn’t allow for others to know the color of his under garments!! When I returned to the store a week later, I found not only jeans for the gift card price, but also a nice new top that would allow him to wear some of his summer wear in the winter time as well!! PRACTICAL!!!!  The Lord sure was looking out for me that Christmas.  As His timing would have it, a check came in just in time, and I found a pretty little package for me wrapped up under the tree.

It’s silly really.  We would have lived without gifts for Christmas, and there was nothing so urgent about being able to purchase my friend a gift. But these were things that were dear to my heart… and the Lord worked it all out.  We are truly blessed!  Thanks !

Shortly after Sam and I were married and I moved into his flat, that became our flat, we realized that we were in dire need of more storage. Apartments on the other side of the ocean are very different than apartments in this country. They often come furnished (though, not always the nicest of furniture) but often you get an empty room with no cupboards, or cabinets (even in the kitchen) sometimes even light fixtures are no more than a bare bulb in the ceiling. We were fortunate that the flat we lived in had had a very nice “remont” or remodel. It was an old building, pre-Soviet for sure. It was lovely flat and I was so thankful for it. It’s peacefully painted green walls (no heavily patterned wall paper that is most often found). It was spacious enough and had nice high ceilings (to make it feel bigger than it really was) and it had a nice big safe feeling door. It had a nice clothes washer, and was blessed with a dryer that Sam bought me with wedding gift money we had received. We were also able to buy a beautiful red couch… the Lord took such great care of us and provided everything we needed. But there just wasn’t enough room in the one tiny skapis/???? or “wardrobe/storage cabinet” that we had. So, off to search for a skapis we went. Furniture over there is expensive and funds were pretty tight, so we decided we’d look at a few used furniture places. First we went to a few new furniture places, just so we knew what kinds of prices new furniture was. We went out to M?be?u nams (Furniture House, a place that had not as expensive furniture) and Jysk (the local “Ikea” type store for Latvia). Buying even bottom line new was going to hit the top of our budget. So, we went way out of town, across the river and to a part of town I had never been in to a used furniture store. Now, mind you, furniture for Sam and I is difficult enough to begin with. We come from very different sides of the style isle when it comes to what we like in a “look” for furniture! Anything I thought was antiquish or charming he thought was horrible “soviet”, anything sleek and modern that he liked I felt was cheap and chintzy! It was quite a challenge. Then there was cost. We had very little we could even spend on a skapis… so the challenge was considerable. After spending most of the day looking at furniture we finally found a piece in this second hand store that we BOTH could live with… the moment of truth… could we “afford it.” It was only 120Lvl!!!! WITHIN the budget, and considerably less than anything else we’d found out there to purchase! I was excited! It was a compromise, but one we could both live with! Finally a solution to having to cram things in every crevasse of our flat! It was a very functional piece, it was actually more like a series of pieces. It was more like several units that fit together to form one big piece, sort of more like we would consider a modular entertainment center actually. Some glass doors to display things in, some solid doors to hide things behind. We could actually split some of the pieces up and use it in the two rooms that was our apartment. I was excited, I was SOLD! Sam on the other hand, being who he is, felt the need to hit one last store before we “committed” to this piece. I was dead set against it. But, the piece had been there for quite a while. You could see that it had sat in the store for several weeks, as each week the price of the skapis was lowered a little bit. No one had wanted this skapis in the last two months… it should be fine… so off we went. The last store we visited was horrible. Pressboard items that were falling apart were over 200Lvl (think near $400) it was crazy… so back to the “sectional skapis” we went. We had been gone a grand total of two hours (it takes a long time to travel about over there). We headed to the very back of this wear house that was the “show room” and as we rounded the last isle of furniture I see the piece. I give a little smile and tell Sam to go ahead and look for someone on the floor to help us. That’s about the time that I saw it… the sign… p?rdod My heart sank! And I was a little bit more than disappointed in my husbands decision to continue “shopping around”. Poor Sam… I’m pretty certain I was not very kind to him on the way home, or the week that followed, when anything regarding a skapis or ???? was mentioned. Yep, I pretty much held it over his head. (SOLD). Shortly there after however we received an email through the “missionary network.” There was a couple down in Daugavpils (3 hour drive south) that was leaving Latvian and had furniture to sell, would anyone be interested! YES!! They had a wardrobe that was in the right price range, not knowing what it looked like at all, we said that yes, we believed we wanted it and would be down that weekend to purchase it. IT WAS PERFECT! It was exactly the style that Sam and I both liked enough to invest in, and the price was less than HALF what the “sectional skapis” would have cost us!!! Not only that, we saved so much on the wardrobe itself that we were also able to purchase the LOVELY BRAND NEW looking stove they had to replace the old busted “have to stick a wooden spoon in the door and hope the temperature is low enough to bake” crummy old soviet era model stove that our landlord had provided. I truly believe the Lord sent someone to buy that skapis out from under us that day. Specifically sent someone, to specifically buy it what felt like “out from under us” THAT day, in that two hours we had stepped away from it! He provided something so much better than I was hoping for or expecting (humm… sound familiar), not in MY timing, but in His. Yes, I apologized to Sam for being so mean to him, and for blaming him… and too this day when something doesn’t work out all he has to say is “Skapis” and I realize that I’m not the one who’s in control. Right now we’re waiting on another “skapis” story. Is it any easier to wait? No, not really… it should be, but it doesn’t always feel that easy. I don’t think anyone likes walking blindly, but that’s what we’re asked to do. We are blind in this world, but the Lord has our hands, and is gently saying “do you trust me?” I want to say yes, and through all my will I force myself to say yes… but it’s a lot of work to hold every thought captive. So, today I will chant “Skapis” humm I might even just go find how to say it in every language Google Translate has J He’s taken care of me/us thus far… what makes me think He’s gonna stop now.. hum… wonder who that could be International translations for Skapis: Skapis, ????????, kas, veshjet, ?????, armari, ??, ??, garderoba, šatník, garderobe, riidekapp, lalagyan ng damit, vaatekaappi, garde-robe, Kleiderschrank, ????????????, ?????, ?????, fataskápur, lemari pakaian, armadio, ??????, drabuži? spinta, ??, gwardarobba, dulap, ?????, šatník, ???????????, t? qu?n áo, cwpwrdd, ??????????…

As I start to write an update of 2009, I think of all the trauma’s and challenges we’ve faced this year and think…”wow, what a difficult year we’ve had”… yet, what a blessed and glorious year as well.  It’s hard to be down on ‘09 when we have been so blessed. 

When times are good,
be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as
well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his
future… Ecclesiastes 7:14

Considering we had both of our girls visit Dornbecker Hospital at OHSU, Vienna for surgery and Ziva for a very scary virus incident, lost a baby, had bad news about family health, friends deaths, changes and challenges with income and ministry it would be easy to say that 2009 has been the most burdensome year for Sam and I since we married.  Certainly, if we focused on all those things, we would look back at 2009 and say “what a horrible year.”  But I can’t bring myself to do that.  Sure, I wish we never would have gone through the struggles we did, oh that life were easy all the time, but even amidst those challenges we consider ourselves blessed!

Sam remains the best husband in the whole world, and the love of my life! 



He’s done a fabulous job of working hard at siteCoffee and building PixelCliff, I’m so proud of him!  He’s been getting more involved with the men’s ministry at our church by joining David’s Men and the Men’s Ministry Team.  It’s been great for him to feel like he’s starting back in ministry again, but it’s a far cry from being in ministry full tim for him or being in leadership… but one step at a time!  Vienna’s doctor asked for EKG’s from all of our family and when Sam had his done they confirmed that he indeed still has the hole in his heart that he was born with.  We’re still in process for followign through with testing with a specialist with him, but it’s not something that we are terribly concerned with at this time. But apparently he hasn’t fully filled it with Jesus yet (LOL ha ha ha… bad joke, but I just had to!)

Our girls are growing up so fast and are getting so smart and are the greatest joy in our lives!  We’ve had some special times livign with my parents and sharing our girls with them, what a blessing to see them get close to them.





Vienna started her year with follow ups for her surgery to correct her bladder reflux issue.  I’m happy to report she’s had not ONE Urinary Tract Infection since the surgery!  On the 5th we’ll return to Dornbeckers for her next follow up exam which I believe if all is well will be her last! Wahoo!  Her cardiologist did explain about her prolonged QT interval and we will have another appointment in March to check in on that situation, but over all it seems that watching what medications she takes is all we hav to worry about there… She’s such a precousious three and a  half year o 
ld!  She’s already started to recognize words and sound out letters. She’s not completely interested in learning to read, so getting her to do it is a challenge, but she can sit down and sound out words and recognizes words like Pool and Cake! LOL  Every day she amazes me with what she knows and with her love for people. A favorite memory this year was at her first time seeing the Nutcracker.  She was sooo concerned for the Mouse King who  “got hurt and his friends dragged him off to the hospital” that throughout the rest of the performance she kept asking me “Is the Mouse King feeling better yet??”.  Then, durring the arabian dance, the dancers came out with girls in belly shirts and the man shirtless.. my little gem stood right up, pointed accusingly at the stage, stomped her foot and shouted “INAPPROPRIATE!”  THAT’S MY GIRL!!!! I was so proud (thankfully it was a performance for homeschool childern so it wasn’t so mortifying having her 
shout out in the middle of everything!) She’s currently learning to ride her scooter and sings all the day long. So fun.  She also got to ride on a float in the 4th of July parade. oohh that was sooo exciting and great fun for her…. it was sooo hot that day! Ziva and I enjoyed watching for her
 



 
 


Ziva, wow, she’s learned to run from one end of the house to the other, she’s quick. Turn your back for a moment and she’s climbed onto the counter and started cooking for you, or has gathered up all the coasters in the house and is distributing them into every room.  She’s cutting the last of her teeth (I’ll be sooo glad when that’s over) and my little mountain goat is starting to try to climb out of her crib (she’s already mastered the Pack and Play! There’s no containing her) She has a giggle to melt any heart and the best smile ever.  She had so many firsts including her first Ambulance ride and stay at Dornbecker Children’s Hospital.  Another first was that she and I were flown to Colorado to see my good friend Jen. We had a blast and Ziva flew VERY well and stole EVERY attendant’s heart!!

 




Thankfully it was nothing more than a virus that was attacking her bone marrow (the dr’s did do some testing to rule out Leukimia, which was scary).  She’s finally starting to actually talk (she doesn’t need to most of the time, with 4 adults in the house to cater to her, and her sister who…well, doesn’t leave much quiet space).  It’s so fun.  She said her first “sentance” the other day at the dinner table when I was trying to get her to take a bite “NO WAY!” ahh… just like her sister taught her! ***rolling my eyes*** But she never misses a chance to raise her hands for “Hallelujah!” after our prayer’s “Amen!”

I did start to be a part of our churches Radiant girls ministry which has been fun… we had a big dessert night for the girls in December which I had a blast helping decorate for.  The biggest change for me this year was that I started a new hobby. Cake making!  It’s been great fun and I’m thinking that Esther needs to move home from Ukraine and open a bakery with me She’s been enjoying making and decorating cakes too.  Hummm… I meant to upload a picture of one of my cakes, but it doesn’t seem I did (and I can’t add any more this month cause I added too many already) but they are all on my Facebook account if anyone wants to check them out

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