eclipse

no passion on these lips

once caught below the surface

inches from a breath

help failed

hope diminished

no hint of flicker can be found here

not even for fear

a gentle tug recieved

too late

no more

one cord distracted

one never fails

withered is the last

where is promise for these lips

buried in the past

shadow has set

sun is hidden

water has drowned

the fire is quenched

flames must be re-lit

one year too fast

Last week my parents came to visit. They brought my beloved nephew, Riley, along with them. We had such a wonderful time all week. Riley (a week from being two years old) and Acacia playing together was such a cute things to see. Next year will be even more fun and I look forward to it so much.  We celebrated Acacia's first birthday on Saturday the 3rd - thank you to all of you who came! We made about 70 vibrant colored cupcakes and then a giant one for Acacia to have all to herself. I was wondering how she would react to the cupcake - whether she would just touch a little bit but not want to get dirty or if she would dig in. Her reaction was very amusing: as soon as I got some frosting on my finger and put it in her mouth, she went at the cupcake!!! She kept trying to pick it up and she would lean down and just take a bite! Oh how I love her! She makes me laugh so much. 

She has always made this funny face - like she is straining for something; her bottom lip gets drawn down, her eyebrows shoot up, her eyes get all big, and you can see the tendons in her neck. But this week she has learned to do it on cue! Strain your face at her, and she will do it right back -- and laugh! She knows she is being funny: which makes it even more entertaining. When I'm nursing her, she'll just pop off and make her face at me or Jason and laugh and pop back on. Nursing. ah yes.... I'm starting to wean. I'm truly going to miss nursing her. But it will be good to have the freedom. So far, the most interest she has in the bottle is to chew on it as a toy. Though she does latch and drink at least part of the whole milk. She likes it. But she likes to play with the bottle more. :) 

I took her to the Dr. on Monday to have her one year check up.... she is 26 inches long and weighs 15.0 lbs. They were concerned with a few minor things, like her not walking or standing without support, but most things will be addressed at the next appointment. As for her size, we're supposed to carb-load her up so she gains weight. The Dr. said to add a bunch of butter to her food, mix Carnation instant breakfast with her milk, pour chocolate syrup on icecream to give to her. Thats all great. Fine and dandy.... but isn't one the the biggest concerns for our children now-a-days their weight issues??? and diabetes???? So.... I'm definitely going to increase her calories, but by no means feed my child junk. I'd rather her be healthy. By next appt if she hasn't put on some lbs, then they will be doing some blood work to check various things, such as her thyroid for growth hormone and her liver and kidneys. oh and..... adding to my post a while back; I want my daughter to be safe. And I will get her tested because of her size - because, yes, she is abnormally small. Although I am pretty positive that she is just very petite, I would much rather be safe than sorry and I want her to be tested, so that I know for sure. And I realized that my Dr. really isn't as bad as I was describing. (Its just that I had a couple visits before with a different Dr. that I liked much better). He is a good Dr. and knows what he is talking about. 

Anyway, Easter Sunday was her birthday. She wore a beautiful dress that she got at her party. She looked like a doll. And at the time of her birth, we stamped her hand and foot into some pink clay as a keepsake :) One year old. I can hardly believe it. Every moment with her I treasure. I want to remember every smile, every giggle, the touch of her tiny hands, her head resting on my shoulder, and her strained little face (which we are naming "show me your teeth"). I love her. 

On another note here are some other random updates

We painted the family room. Desert Cactus. I don't like it. As soon as we get our tax credit, we're buying new paint and painting it a different color. 

My dad bought us glasses! Yes, actual cups to drink out of (instead of coffee mugs and canning jars). He also got us a bread knife. And a rake!

We were blessed with a grill!!! (Thank you so much - you know who you are!) Its brand new and super nice.

We can't figure out how to get our sprinkler system to work... we may have to call the previous home-owners. 

Our cat's name is Coltrane. Her nickname is Busty (because her fur is so fluffy on her chest.) She is a sweet cat - and best of all, she lives outside. 

Whoever showers in the upstairs bathroom between 10 and 11:30 am can open the window and have the sun shine on them. Its absolutely wonderful. 

the easiest thing

As Joe drove Jason and I out of the parking garage from Stuart Title Company, I exclaimed,

"Buying a house was, like, the easiest thing I've ever done!"

The guys exploded into laughter at my remark.


Though our plans were to have the week to paint and decorate, Jason decided that he wanted to be sleeping in our new house the day we started owning it. So we stayed up late on Sunday night, got all of our things packed and organized into the apartment living room, loaded up our sofa, table benches, chest, two lamp-stands, mattress, and box-spring into a van and hit the hay. On Monday we drove to our walk through with our car and a church 15-person fan packed full of some of our belongings.

The sellers are such great people - I forgot to mention this: [We ended up having a meeting with them at the house so they could let us know about certain things and answer any questions we had. Oh - and they left their cat with us so they wanted for us to meet her to make sure we would like her. The couple was so kind and they had a beautiful baby boy just 3 months older than Acacia.] When we walked through the house checking it out, I saw a pink polka-dot bag on the counter so I went to open it. Inside was a birthday card for Acacia; along with some bath toys and an adorable set of pajamas. I was amazed at how thoughtful these people are. They also left us with extra tiles, labeled paint (for touch-ups), extra sprinkler heads, directions on how to use the sprinklers and the hot tub, they bought our cat food and kitty litter... among many other things!!! Their names are Tom, Steph, and baby Elijah.

After the walk through, Joe drove us to the title company where we met Mike Gordon, our mortage lender, the seller's realtor and the lady in charge of the paper signing. Everyone kept telling us that we would have this huge stack of papers to sign that would take forever; but Jason and I thought the experience was quiet easy. The worst part for me was that I was roasting in the warm room. I feel like we only signed about ten papers and initialed about ten.

And just like that!

*snap*

We were done. The house was ours.

a.m.aaaaazing!

Joe drove us back to OUR house and we started unloading. Pretty soon we had people dropping off shipments of our stuff that had been loaded up at our apartment by Andrew - Jason's brother. We were SO blessed by all the help. So thanks to Erik and Natalie (and Maiya and little Erik), Jon, Andrew, another Jon, Ramon, and Jessica for the help with loading and unloading. Thanks to the Villaruels for lending us their truck and moving bins, and the church for the van. And thanks to Shea Rachetts who took care of Acacia during the whole process! We are truly thankful for all the graciousness that we have been shown by those around us. We hope to be such a blessing to others as well.

The first night it took my a little while to fall asleep. I was listening to all the noises of the house and getting acquainted with them. Since then, I've unpacked the kitchen, the upper and lower bathroom, Acacia's room, and the master bedroom. All I have left is to finish putting things away in the third bedroom, taking extra or unneeding things to the crawl space, and setting up the family room. We plan on doing all of that this evening. Then tomorrow we are going to start hanging decorations!

Basically, we love the place. It is home.

Acacia likes it too... and she likes watching the kitty outside. :) oh yes --- and Acacia has learned how to clap. She does it all the time now and its adorable. Annnnnnnd she is getting her second tooth!!!

Well now that I have scared everyone away from reading this post, because it is too long, I'll stop writing. :)

xoxoxox to you all

too much

Too much to express.... so little reason.

But for starters - our loan for the house is final!!! And we will be closing on Monday!  We wont actually be moving in that day -- we're going to start decorating and hauling stuff over to settle in. Then, sometime - Friday at the latest -, we will move our beds and other essentials and be officially moved-in!  I haven't really decided what to do as far as painting the walls. Paint seems so.... final...I'm scared. haha. But I have some wonderful colors picked out. For sure we will be painting Acacia's room because it is currently a light shade of blue. That won't do. Her room is the only one I am positive that I will be painting so soon. And I have almost 20 new picture fames to fill with beautiful pictures that are in the process of being developed over the weekend.

I must be in shock.... because... well I am pretty sure I'm just in shock.

But I'm so happy. I'm pleased. :)

On a totally different note, I have a faint worry. Its Acacia. I weighed her a week or two ago and she was only 15lbs. Thats maybe a pound heavier than she was THREE months ago. And at her 6 month appointment she was 13 lbs (i think? maybe 12lbs...) .... People who know her are beginning to think there may be something wrong. Strangers are amazed at her size: they are astonished when I tell them she will be a year old in two weeks. I don't think (or maybe I just don't want to ....) that there could be something the matter - she eats solid foods really well, not just baby foods but anything I eat I let her try and she eats it, and she nurses like a pro. Developmentally she is right on: standing and traveling across furniture, crawling very speedily, understanding concepts....

What most concerns me is her Dr. In the first place; I don't really like him. He makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable. But we are sorta limited to her Dr selection due to her insurance. This Dr just isn't what I would choose if I could. At her 6 month appointment she was in the low (teen) percentiles for her size, he said he wasn't concerned, but that if she dropped to 5%, then he would be and would want to be doing something about it.

Acacia is below 5%. She is below 0..... she is like..... negative 10% (that was at her last appt, so who knows now).

She is in perfect health. She is developing, hitting her milestones right on time. I could be worrying for nothing, but I just don't want the Dr. to make a big deal of it. So.... I'm going to be strong. And if he starts saying he wants to put her on some kind of medicine or something, I won't have it. I will switch Dr's.

Anyway, easy solution: change doctors.

Tada!

Passed

The Inspection:
House is great, no serious issues at all! We asked the sellers to fix three things - some minor electrical issues, three little trip hazards (where the tile meets the wood floor: to put transition strips), and a crack in the driveway and sidewalk. They agreed and signed for the first two and said they would fix the third if the appraiser required it to be fixed. The electrical they have already fixed and (by now) they have probably put in the transition strips on the floor.

The Appraisal:
We are in contract for $153,000 and the house was appraised for $153,500. So that went perfectly for both parties. And the appraiser didn't make the cracks in the cement and issue.  We're basically good to go!

Perfect???

I think so.

I started leisurely packing this week and had decided that once the appraisal is through that I'd really get a move on getting things packed and cleaned. So now I have a lot of work ahead of me - organizing, packing, and cleaning. I really want the apartment to be nice for Andrew and Janae'.

The best part of it all is that, though I am very excited and happy, I am at peace. I'm not anxious. (and if you know me, I can be an extremely anxious person) I am just taking it one step at a time and really enjoying to see the Lord work out every simple detail perfectly.

Anyway, just wanted to update you all how wonderfully the Lord is putting the pieces together for us to get this house. :)

my star

lovelovelove

Well, she is crawling, standing, and getting into everything. Its hard to keep up with her sometimes! And she throws fits like you wouldn't believe. If you take away from her something she shouldn't have - watch out. And best of luck trying to change her diaper. I sometimes have to pin her to the floor with my feet on her shoulders to get the job done. Oh but she is a sweetie. She loves to rest her head against your shoulder and make little noises. When I leave the room for a second, she is crawling after me saying "mama". She goes around everywhere saying "rawr rawr rawr" so Jason and I have recently renamed her as our lion cub. And she is quite the eater! Though just weighing in somewhere about 15lbs, don't be deceived - she eats everything and anything. Today I had a tuna fish sandwich for lunch. Yup, you guessed it! she ate it with me!

She'll be a year old in about 3 1/2 weeks and that blows my mind. It seems like just 4 months ago that we were taking our little bundle home for the first time. I'm almost finished making her birthday invitations. They are so cute - and no two are alike :) 

a vapor in the wind

Time is too short.


If you steal something from someone, you take it away from them without their permission and without intending to return it.          -- Google definition.

What if your life was stolen from you.  It could be ended by an unexpected natural disaster - an earthquake, tsunami, landslide - or in a car accident because someone is speeding out of control and their breaks don't work... or while taking a jog some freak kidnaps you (but we'll spare the details). Or perhaps death will come more slowly... an addiction or a disease.

or you live a "long" and "happy" life and drift away, warm and cozy while dreaming in your bed.

hah...

but.....what if there was another way....

Life needn't be stolen from you.

That is the answer. The Answer of answers.

Give your life away, that you may have Life forever lasting.

Your Life cannot be taken away from you if you have given it away already.


All those things and more break my heart. They make me cry. And the only consolation I have is Christ. I don't know how anyone finds comfort if they don't have Him. Its no wonder that depression is so rampant. For the joy of the Lord is my strength. There is no hope without He who gives Life for those who will lose it.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

John 10:10