A New Sitter For Jubilee...

Jubilee is getting a new baby sitter (SITTER, not SISTER...)!  Why, you ask? Because Mommy is going back to work :)  I have been offered the new Administrative Assistant position at the church where Jeremiah is the Pastor of Community Life!  I have loved the time that God gave me to stay home with Jubilee over the past couple of weeks, but our bank account is *clearly* showing that it's time to go back to work. 

Keep praying for us though... Jer is part time at the church, and I will be part time as well. Jeremiah is already working a second job as a van driver for our school district, but even with the three part time jobs, we're not meeting our already sliced and diced budget.. There is *nothing* left to cut, so we need to find additional income.

Please pray with us that God will eradicate our debt and provide us with additional income so that we can rest and spend time together as a family. 

SIDENOTE:  I am still registered as a Pampered Chef consultant so if you would like to help out by hosting a party, I would be MORE than willing to help you put a great show together!! I am also quite interested in the Scentsy scene, so if you love candles and things that smell wonderful, please let me know.  I am far from pushy, but would GREATLY appreciate the help you would be providing for my family!!!

When's a good time??

When is a good time to teach a baby to eat on her own?  Apparently, at our house we think 10 months is an awesome time :)  However, apparently we also think that starting with Blueberry Delight Applesauce is a good idea... Believe it or not, I don't think there's any on her dress :)

Here's Your Sign

When you first enter the club of motherhood, there is no end to the advice (both warranted and unwarranted) that you will receive. Some of it is helpful; others, not so much ("my mom always rubbed whiskey on my gums when I was teething" -- great advice... but what are the chances of Jer or I EVER having whiskey in the house?? and is it really an approved treatment anymore??). 

But there are two pieces of advice that have stuck out in my mind that I am really glad I heard about when Jubilee was on her way.  One: The BabyWise Scheduling Strategy!  If you have not read this book or at least know what it's about, I recommend it!  Get the eating schedule into a decent routine and the sleeping schedule will follow suit (a *very* brief description of the underlying idea).  Jubilee was eating on a set schedule at just a few weeks of age and was sleeping through the night before she was 7 weeks old!  But that's not what this post is about.

The second piece of advice that I received that I'm so glad I got was "learn to sign with your baby!"  Jubilee, Daddy, and I have been using sign language since she was a handful of weeks old.  Now she's 10 months old, and while she's not signing back yet, I *know* she understands a lot of what is being said/signed! We started out with just a couple basics at first --- milk, eat, and more.  After a few months of these, I started throwing in a few more signs here and there. 

Here's a quick list of words that I use regularly while we're playing, eating, or spending time together during the day:

MILK
EAT
MORE
ALL DONE
CRACKER
PLAY
BALL
BATH
HELP
LIGHT
PUPPY
BALL
GIRAFFE
MONKEY
MOMMY
DADDY
DIRTY
HOT

I can't wait to see which sign it is that she decides to start signing back with first :) I'm even more excited about that than the "race" to see whether we get a "Mama" or a "Dada" first (mostly since Dada already technically won that one -- it just seems to have disappeared or morphed back into "Baba")

Did/do you sign with your babies?  What was their first "words"?  How old were they when they started "talking" to you?? 

Sleeper

Jubilee is a sleeper.  She has slept through the night from the time she was just shy of 7 weeks old! She would take a bottle at 7, be up for maybe 45 minutes (MAYBE!) and go back to sleep. I woke her at 10 for another bottle (much to the questioning eyes of some people around...) and put her back to bed immediately where she would sleep until 6am!  Now, at 10 months, she is still an amazing sleeper.  She sleeps from about 8:00/8:30-6:30/7:00 every night. The only exception has been earlier last week when she woke up screaming a few nights in a row sometime between midnight and 2am but we are accrediting that to the tooth that she pushed through on Wednesday.  During the day, she still takes three full 2 hour naps most of the time.  She is like clockwork --- up for 2 hours, down for 2 hours, up for 2, down for 2.  Needless to say, she treats her mommy pretty well.  I know that eventually she will stay up for longer, but for now, I'm enjoying the breaks and the chance to relax (or clean) between kid chasings! 

I questioned the doctor about it, making sure that it didn't seem like an absurd amount of sleep for a 10 month old baby.  She just smiled and said some babies just need more sleep than others and since Jubilee is SO active and is growing and developing so well, her brain just needs lots of down time. 

So be it! Sleep, Baby, Sleep :) 

Speaking of which, time to wake her up so we can head up to the church. 
Happy Sunday!

10 months -- HUZZAH! (Subtitle -- How'd that happen???)

Later this week, Jubilee will be turning 10 months old. Besides Facebook, I have not been overly wonderful at writing down growth landmarks for her.  I said to myself what everyone does at one point or another -- "Oh, I'll never forget! I don't have to write it down!" And yet, with only 10 months down, already too much has been forgotten! 

So, I'm going to do my best to start blogging again.  Surely, between life in Sandy Lake, new jobs (hopefully!), baby laughs, and new relationships, I'll have something to write to keep at least myself interested in my blog :)

We took Jubi to the park today.  The last time, she was practically busting a gut laughing as Daddy was pushing her on the swing (a little higher than Mommy would have done, of course-- isn't that what Daddy's do???). Today she wasn't quite as into it.  She has been a little out of sorts lately. We believe it is due to the teething that she's been working so hard towards over the last few weeks.

All her hard work *is* finally coming to fruition though -- She popped her bottom right tooth through the other day (I believe the first day I actually caught glimpse of the shiny white pearl was Wednesday, August 17 -- also my and Jer's 6th anniversary since we started dating).  Hopefully she'll get some relief soon.

And to close, I love that kid.  And I love my husband. 
The end.

Who Am I?

For the last few years, my job has been as an administrative assistant in one aspect or another.  In the past, I was a working wife but this changed when Jubilee came to be and now I am also a working mom.  I pretend to sell Pampered Chef in my spare time. I am contemplating selling Scentsy.  I am currently in transition from moving from Pittsburgh where I was a church planter's wife to Grove City/Sandy Lake/Stoneboro, where I am the Community Life Pastor's wife. I love working with kids and can't wait to get my hands dirty again with the kids on Wednesday nights at U-Choose.  Lately, becoming the mom to an adopted infant or a child in waiting has been growing on my heart.

But what I do is not who I am.

Some people say I am pretty quiet and reserved. others who know me a little deeper know that, eventually, I do come out of my shell.  My husband says I am messy. But he also says I am loving and kind.  My coworkers say I am hardworking.  Some would probably say I am forgetful. Depending on the situation some would say I am confident and in-charge, but given another situation, others would say I am insecure.

But what you think about me does not define who I am.

I have a beautiful daughter and an amazing husband. I have two dogs, and two cars. Two fantastic parents and the worlds best mother-in-law who are always there when we need them. I have 3 sisters, two sisters-in-law, three brothers-in-law, 6 nephews, and 5 neices. I have 4 living grandparents and 3 living grandparents-in-law. I have a Blackberry, but I do not have a television.  I would like to have a Kindle or an iPad, but currently I settle for my iPod Touch and an aged Sony laptop.  I have bills to pay. I need to find a job.  I have a lot to be thankful for.

But what I have has no significance to who I am.

So who am I?

I am a beloved daughter to the Almighty King.

Everything else flows out of that. 

Thanks for the reminder, Henri Nouwen  

Help Us... By Eating Great!

Good morning all! Jeremiah and I did a quick calculation this morning and discovered that 9 x 7 – 1 = 62!! This means that, provided Baby Jubilee decides to make her appearance on or close to her due date, she’s only 62 days away, give or take!!! INCREDIBLE!!

We consider ourselves blessed that God would trust us with her life. Our prayer is to do our best to provide for her and bring her up in the way of the Lord!

A couple of weeks ago, Jeremiah wrote a three-part email sharing some ways that you, whether you are near or far, can support us as we follow God’s leading with The Bridge in East Pittsburgh. Now there is yet another way that you can help us find additional income so that Jeremiah can continue putting his time and effort into the church plant!

In the past, I have been active as a Pampered Chef consultant, hosting parties and selling high quality kitchen tools and sharing delicious recipes. Since moving to Pittsburgh, my membership has become inactive because I did not immediately have the circle of hosts to keep my sales up. I would really like to be able to pick this up again, but I need your help!!

Live close by (or within a couple of hours)?? You can host a show! All that means is you can get a handful of friends together for a relaxing evening of great food, pick up a few groceries, and let me handle the rest! What do you get out of it? FREE STUFF OF YOUR CHOICE!!! DISCOUNTS!!! FUTURE DISCOUNTS!!! AND MORE!! Hopefully one or more of your friends will see the great host benefits YOU get and will want to host a party for themselves, thus growing my circle of contacts!

Don’t live close by but want to help?? You can do a catalog party! (I send you catalogs and order forms and you simply collect orders from wherever.) The only difference is I probably can’t come over for the evening to bake… but you still get great bonuses and your friends still get a great no-pressure shopping experience! The products get mailed directly to you and you’ve done a great thing in helping us (and therefore helping The Bridge)!

Live in Canada?? I’m working on a way to make it possible for you to join in the party fun as well! If you are interested at all, let me know and we’ll work it out for you to get great products and benefits and free stuff!

Here’s the catch though... I don’t want to buy another start up kit if I don’t have the support of people I know to help me get the kick-start I need. If you are AT ALL INTERESTED, please respond to this email with a simple “I’d like to help!” and I’ll be in touch!! There is no pressure – I just want to see if I have a handful of people who would be willing to help me get started!

It couldn’t be easier than this to take part in some of the Great Things God is doing in Pittsburgh!