suddenly colorado

We have been here a week.  Here's how it came to be...


I wish I had the exact dates this all happened; perhaps Nick and I can sit down and put them together in the future.  I visited my parents in July.  An 11 hour road trip with two kiddos is not something I recommend, but it can be done and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.


Seeing the kids with my parents really caused the wheels in my head and heart to turn.  They love time with their grandparents and it's not fair that they don't have that at a moment's notice.  I felt jealous for them.  Both of my brothers' families have one set of grandparents whom they see quite often.  I guess the idea of moving to Colorado had been an idea quite some time ago.  I had already done some prior research to find the best Children's Hospitals in the nation and currently, Colorado is #5 over all and #1 (also world renowned) for Endocrinology (Jenna's main area of need).


When I returned from Colorado, Nick and I talked it through and decided that he would start looking for a job online and that we would pray the Lord would shut the door if this was not his will.  We prayed, "If this isn't Your will, Lord, don't let us find any jobs."  Nick found a job and applied for it.  We prayed, "If this isn't Your will Lord, don't let there be a request for an interview."  Nick was called a week later and a week later we were in Colorado for Nick's interview.  We prayed, "If this isn't Your will Lord, don't let Nick get the job."  A week later, Nick received the call that the job was his and about two weeks later, we moved.  We were praying the Lord would shut the door while He was opening them and pushing us through them.  Definitely a growth moment for both of us.  The Lord spoke clearly to both of us that this was His will, entirely.


Leaving was so hard.  Our church, our family, our friends... I can't help but cry every time I think of them.  I know the Lord will lead us to the right church family and I know our obedience will be blessed in other areas as well.  I continually remind myself of this passage and claim it for our family:



"..He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6


We are currently staying with a friend of mine from college. Her husband is on the road continually, so her house is pretty empty and the company is welcomed; we stay with my parents on the weekends for some family time and delicious meals!  My parents buy only organic groceries; we're hoping to make the switch too, but I will save that for another blog entry.  Our apartment will be available for move-in on November 7th; until then, we are holding off on school for Joshua and allowing the kids to adjust and enjoy the nice weather while it's still here.  My friend says our area is due for a blizzard, so we are going to soak-up all of the Vitamin D that we can and save the school for our snowed-in and cold weather days.


The kids are pulling on my arm, so I will have to get off for now.  We have errands to run and a park day planned!  Oh, and forgive my grammar.  I never was much of a writer, but I am going to try!

my theme song :)

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so much to share

Jenna says so many words now!  It brings tears to my eyes everytime I think about how far she has come.  The clarity of her words is muffled due to her cleft, but she tries her best :)  Her little voice is like hearing an angel speak.  The sweetest phrase (yes, phrase) she says is, "I love you."  It blesses me.  She will not walk up to me and say, "Mama, I love you!"  It's truly the sweetest sound.

Joshua completely threw us for a loop last week.  He reads!!  I went to Mardel to buy reading supplies (marker board, magnetic letters, a book on teaching reading, etc.).  I was all set to get started and THAT very night, Joshua proceeded to read with little to no help.  Where did this kid come from?  He's just barely four and a half years old!  He's a smartie pants like his daddy ;)  I am going to be one busy homeschool mommy!

Speaking of homeschooling... I am getting more and more excited about starting in the Fall.  I was terrified at the thought in the beginning, but now that I'm receiving so much excellent advice from my mom friends, I am really starting to feel confident :)  This blog will certainly be more active in the Fall.  I am sure I will have many, "Guess what Joshua did?" moments :)  I look forward to those.

I am having some female issues.  I finally scheduled an appointment with my OB/GYN for March 2nd.  Hopefully I can wait that long.  I had to take a nap in the van before going into the store to exchange Jenna's flip flops today.  What's the deal?  I hope it's nothing big.

Church has been amazing.  In Connection Class, we are going through a book by Gary Chapman: "The family you've always wanted: five way to make it happen."  I ordered the book on Amazon the other day and can hardly wait to pour over it.  Pastor Rick is teaching from Daniel.  I love the book of Daniel and I love Pastor Rick's teaching!  I wish we had church everyday :)  I know Joshua wishes the same...he loves his teachers!  I will be really excited when we can all go to church as a family.  C'mon April!!  Jenna will be so glad to have friends to play with again, and I know her teacher, Cindy, really misses her.

Okay, I'll try to blog more tomorrow.  More to share, but the day is drawing to an end and I still have things to get done. 

the miracle of life

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please read this!

I have been catching-up on some blog reading. There is a mom with two, sweet little boys who both have special needs whom I met through Facebook. Her youngest, Owen, was born with cleft lip and palate and pituitary complications. Please read this post...I want to be like her when I grow-up.
http://foxfivenews.blogspot.com/2011/01/thing-is.html

lots of things

Okay. Where to begin?  This is just going to be a lot of stuff jumbled together in no particular order...

Jenna is now asking for help!  She just started doing this yesterday.  Her speech pathologist (Janna Baker, a miracle worker) got her to say it yesterday.  Jenna also use to say, "bebe" (baby), but now she says, "baby!"  She will say other things such as "in" and "out" as well as "bye-bye."  Once, a couple of days ago, she said, "thank you" as I handed her a snack!  She's really coming along with her speech and it is so thrilling to see and hear her blooming.  Only three more months with our beloved speech pathologist and then Jenna ages out of the Sooner Start program :(  We are going to seek private speech therapy after that.  Any suggestions/recommendations are appreciated as we are just now looking into this.

We are now a family of six!  No, I didn't just have twins ;)  We adopted two kitties on Sunday.  Both are front declawed and about three years of age.  Steeler and Callie.  They're extremely sweet kitties and the kids LOVE them.  Jenna enjoys talking to them and I know they have a big part in her improved speech as well.  I will get pictures posted if I can just get blogger to upload images!

Joshua is growing-up so quickly; with age, comes the good and the bad.  He started lying last week :(  Ugh!  Can we just skip onto adulthood, please?  He's still quite the charmer and his personality is second to none.  Love that boy :)  He keeps us in stiches most of the time.  His energy is quite impressive.  Looking back, I know he gets his hyperactivity from me.  I was an extremely hyper child and apparently the hyper gene has been passed on.  No comments from the peanut gallery...you know who you are! Haha!  I will be so happy when we have the trampoline put together so he can go bounce his energy out.  I never thought I would buy one of those...worried about injury and so forth...but he LOVES them.  And, since he is my child, he's going to end up breaking a limb or something else will put him in the emergency room anyway!  My poor kids...cursed with my clumsy/accident proneness.

Jenna has a liver ultrasound coming up (February 2nd).  This just a routine thing, although she has gone too long without one.  The GI doctor wants ultrasounds periodically to make sure bad collaterals aren't forming around her liver and other organs.  With her condition, it's very likely to occur, but doesn't usually become an issue until around 4-6 years of age.  Better to ere on the side of caution though and keep a close eye on things.  She's not your "usual" child.  Also, February 10th, she will see Dr. Palmer from Genetics.  She will be having the micro-ray test done to see if there is anything that was perhaps missed by her previous testing.  A few of her doctors still think she has some sort of syndrome that is being missed.  We shall see.  Later, that same day, she will be seeing Dr. Copeland (her Endocrinologist).  Busy day for little miss.  Nick will be taking the day off to keep an eye on Joshua.

Oh!  So excited about the 7th :)  I have the opportunity to go speak to the high school students at Edmond North.  Every year, they have what is called BALTO (Bring a Light to Others) week and every year they pick a different charity.  This year, they have chosen Children's Hospital Foundation and I get to share Jenna's story and our experience with Children's Hospital!  So exciting!!  Since Jenna can't be in attendance (too many germs and flu season), they will have Jenna's picture on a projector.  It's so awesome to see Jenna's life impact others.  This is just the beginning of what God has planned for her.  It just seems so surreal that I get to be part of it :)  God is good!

Nick's latest project has been building a new storage shed/workshop in the back yard.  Our temporary shed is showing just how temprary it is...it's only a tarp covered frame.  The shed is almost done...he has been working on it for 2 weeks and has had consistent help.  I don't think he realized just how big of a project he was taking on!  250 square feet, plus attic space. 

My latest project...weight loss!  As of this morning, I am down 26.5 pounds :)  Yay!  I don't want to be a fat wife and mommy anymore.  I want to be the mommy that runs along the side lines cheering on the kids and not having my fat bounce and make the sound, "ka-blubba, ka-blubba."  Thanks mom, for that most accurate sound affect :)  Haha!!

I have fallen behind on my Bible reading.  Must make time and make-up for lost time.  I still have the goal to read my Bible in a year.  Speaking of...I could really use a new Bible!  Mine has several pages torn out (thanks to a certain little boy) and water damage (thanks to me).  A trip to Mardel is in order :)  Darn!  Haha!

Okay, time to cozy-up on the couch and watch some cartoons with the kids.  My sinuses are killing me and I need a house cleaning break!

My absence explained!

I have been on a new diet and my weight-loss blog has been getting the attention this past week! I have lost 13.6 pounds in a week! You can read more here!