The Epitome of Us

Josiah is 1 Year Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 02:30:00 +0000

Dear Josiah -

I predicted I would feel this way, and I do: I can't believe you are already 1 year old! Your first year of life flew by in the best way possible - it was full of precious moments and things that challenged me for sure. They always say that little girls have their daddy wrapped around their finger, well, I think that I'm wrapped around yours😍. There is something special about a little boy and his mommy and I'm so thankful I've gotten to experience this kind of love💙.

During your first few months of life, you were perfectly delightful during the day, but you cried A LOT in the evenings. Looking back, I think that that was MY fault because I was trying to keep you awake too much during the day (out of fear that you would be awake in the middle of the night). If I remember right, it took you about two months to get your days and nights straightened out and to be more content before bedtime. After that period, you settled into your role as little brother, being dragged around to various activities when you probably would have rather been home all day. You've been a pretty good sport through it all - church on Sundays, weekly Bible Studies, Wednesday night church, gym visits, soccer practice, going to the pool and park in the heat, etc. Every baby is an adjustment for the whole family. Our family adjusted by staying home for you a little bit more than we otherwise would have. I think it has been a great lesson for us all, to put the needs of our family members ahead of our own wants sometimes.

Just like our other two children, it has been an absolute JOY to watch you learn and grow. All the monotonous work of the seemingly ENDLESS feedings, cleaning, diaper changes, laundry, etc. is completely worth it to me to see this little AMAZING person develop right before my eyes. You are a unique miracle created by God. You bring so much fun and laughter to our house as we watch you discover the world for the first time. Most recently it has been watching you learn to WALK! You have been our latest walker by far, but at 13 1/2 months you finally decided to try it out! It has been so cool for me to experience being a mom to three. I can't believe that I have the same level of excitement for each child learning new things, but it just never gets old watching babies discover things like eating, walking, talking, etc.

And just like our other two, I have LOVED having a baby for this past year. Having a baby to hold, a baby to rock to sleep, a baby to snuggle, a baby to lug all around town 😂 and a baby to call my very own. I'm so underserving of this gift, but so thankful to God for giving you to our family. As much as I'm ready for you to support your own body weight (man you were getting heavy!), I am sad that this baby stage is over 😩

Josiah, here are some things I want to remember about you at this age (13 1/2 months)

You have given us major trouble at getting you to sleep through the night. The tricks we used with the girls - that worked like a charm - were not so effective with you! You would sleep through the night for like 3 nights, then wake up again, and we had to start the process all over. I think/hope that we have finally turned a corner
You are a really good eater - you try pretty much everything we give you, but you are SO SO messy! You somehow manage to get food all over your clothes, even with your full-body bib, and also have figured out how to get your bibs off
You finally are 100% weaned as of 13 1/2 months
You wake up around 7:30 and go to bed around 8:00. You are down to 1 nap most days - this nap is normally about 2.5 hours. You still nap twice a day a few days a week.
You do great at the church and gym nurseries and don't cry when I drop you off
At your 12 month visit, you were 21 lbs, 9 oz. (30%), and 29 inches (30%) You are wearing mostly 18 month clothes now.
You LOVE being outside, you are almost always happy when you're outside - even if you are stuck in a stroller or swing. You HATE it when someone is outside and you can't be - you crawl to the door and cry.
You love the water - you love baths, the pool, the water table.
Just like the rest of the family you are loud, we are currently working on the scream that you use to communicate what you want. We are trying sign language....
Your main words are "More" "Mama" and "Dada" - I think you also try to say "All Done" and "Thank You"
You really like playing with trucks and things with wheels - this is a novelty in our house and really cute to watch! Today you played with a school bus, opening the doors and putting people in and out, and rolling it around the kitchen for like an hour!!!!
You also really love toys you can ride on. Right now, your favorite toys are the Winnie-the-Pooh ride on car and the Alphabet Train.
You are not as well photographed as your sisters were when they were 1 - I blame myself as a busy, distracted mommy! I need to improve on that! You are growing up so fast!

We love you so much Josiah and thank God for you always! We pray for you every day that you will know how much we love you, and how much your heavenly Father loves you.

-Love Mommy

A Time to Pray

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 01:02:00 +0000

First of all, a warm and heartfelt thank you, thank you, thank you to all you have donated in support of this trip! A trip like this would not be possible without your generous support and thoughtfulness. And if your are reading this for the first time and curious about supporting me, you can click here for all of the information.

But today, I wanted to send a out a prayer calendar. While supporting a mission effort financially is super helpful, prayer support is just as important if not more important. It is vital that prayer be at the forefront of any mission trip that is working to spread the good news of Jesus. So below you will find a daily breakdown of a few things to pray for or at least a few things to help get you praying about the Ecuador trip. And if you would like to print this document out to keep in your Bible or put on a refrigerator, you can download the prayer calendar by clicking here.

I sincerely thank you all for the way in which you are being an active participant in reaching people with Gospel in Ecuador!!!

Sat. July 22	Sun. July 23	Mon. July 24	Tues. July 25	Wed. July 26	Thurs. July 27	Fri. July 28	Sat. July 29
Pray that we would arrive safely to Atlanta Airport without delays Pray that our check in process with all of our supplies will go smoothly Pray that God will provide safe flight travel to Ecuador Pray that there will be no issues while going through customs and that God would grant us favor to enter the country with all of our supplies Pray for safe travel from the airport to our hotel.	Pray for Pastor Christian as he preaches to his church this morning Pray for unity in diversity as we fellowship with the local church . Pray that our afternoon preparations will go smoothly and that our team will stay healthy Pray for that our team will be unified and that we will have time to rest before a busy week. Pray that the Gospel message presented this week will penetrate the hearts of the people.	Pray for the people of Pilgaran Pray for that we will have safe travel to the clinic site Pray that the clinic set up and operation will go smoothly Pray that many from Pilgaran will come to the clinic Pray that the message of Pastor Christian will stir people’s heart to believe in Jesus Pray that we will have safe travel back to the hotel and get good rest	Pray of the people of Alogincho Pray that we will have safe travel to the clinic site Pray that the clinic set up and operation will go smoothly Pray that there will not be harassment from the community Pray that the message of Pastor Christian will stir people's heart to believe in Jesus Pray for safe travel back to the hotel	Pray for the people of Carapungo Pray for safety as we travel and set up the clinic Pray for the team that we would continue to be healthy and have good energy and stamina Pray for Pastor Christian as he preaches the Gospel Pray for a continued spirit of compassion and servant heart within our team members at this midweek point Pray for good rest for the team as we arrive back at our hotel	Pray for the people of Catzuqui de Leticia Pray for the members of Pastor Christian’s Church that their faith would be strengthened through this effort and they would be energized to continue discipleship with people that they meet and interact with in the clinic over the past week. Pray that the clinic will run smoothly with no issues Pray for good rest this evening for the team	Pray for the people of Catzuqui de Placer Pray for energy and continued excellence in healthcare delivery of our team even as we tire from a long week.	Pray for safety in all of the travel as we return to the United States

Bridget is 3 Years Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 19:39:00 +0000

Dear Bridget -

I'm so thankful that you are my daughter! You bring joy, laughter, and sweetness to everyday. Here are some things I want to remember about you at this age.

You started preschool at Trinity Baptist Church in the fall. You only went once a week but you really enjoyed your teachers, your class, and the projects you did there. You jumped right in. There were a few times towards the end of the year that you were (or pretended to be) bashful and didn't want to go in, but without much convincing, you were fine.
You had your end of the year school graduation and said your class memory verse, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." - Psalm 23:1. You also sang Jesus Loves Me and the ABC Song.
You continue to be quite the talker. You have a pretty big vocabulary and I am amazed the
sentences you speak these days. You still talk in a "little-kid" way that is really adorable. And for some reason you have a twang and make a lot of single syllable words into two syllables like "Be-ear"
Speaking of bear - you still love your white polar bear and sleep with him every night. You are pretty flexible and can still go to sleep without him, but you much prefer it if he's with you. You also pretend that bear is your baby - even though I try to convince you to play with your baby dolls, that worn out bear is still the favorite.
You have always been such a sweet child, but turning three has brought about an attitude we haven't seem before. You have been questioning our authority and not obeying very well lately. You are pretty sneaky in your disobedience and won't outright disobey, but will somehow not do what we ask. You are just in the normal three-year-old testing phase and I'm glad that I at least know from experience that it is just a phase!
Still you remain very sweet and tell me all the time that you love me, that you are happy I'm your mom, that you like some part of my outfit or hair, etc. Yesterday I was wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt with the emblem on it and you pointed to it and said "Mommy, I like your cow" - 😂
You are extremely emotional. You cry at the drop of a hat and it is sometimes hard to distinguish if you truly are upset or are just wanting our attention (or trying to get your sister in trouble). It is also hard to get you to stop crying. We have been working on "taking some deep breaths" to calm down, or calming down in your room. I think these cry-fests are your version of a tantrum.

You are a great big sister to Josiah. You a eager to play with him and love to make him laugh. I trust you to watch him and play with him and "make sure he doesn't put anything in his mouth" while I'm doing something in the kitchen or have to step away for a few minutes.
You are also a great little sister to Lucy. You are a faithful playing companion. Most of the time, you are happy for her to take charge and decide what you will both play. Sometimes you put your foot down and have you own opinion - there are lots of learning opportunities when y'all play - especially recently because y'all can communicate pretty well together. You have both gotten more imaginative lately. We are at the beach this week and you, Lucy, and your cousin Wyatt were playing that you were going on an adventure and I heard you pipe in "We have to get a map!"
You have had to show some patience and understanding with Lucy doing more things than you because she is older. She played soccer in the spring and you really wanted to play too, but you cooperated and cheered her on and would sometimes kick the ball or run down the field while she was practicing. You were totally fine with Lucy going to school an extra two days and seemed to enjoy staying home with "Mommy and Josiah" - I think you enjoyed getting to be in control of playtime on those two days and more attention from mommy.

You continue to try to keep up with Lucy and succeed a lot actually. She LOVES to draw and do art a lot at the dining room table, and you are right there with her a lot of the time. You don't have quite as long of an attention span, but you do enjoy being able to do art with her. Recently you started using her scissors - apparently you aren't interested in your all-plastic ones anymore.

We had a "Frozen" birthday party for you a week before your actual birthday since your birthday fell on the day of your preschool graduation and also the day we drove to Atlanta for a homeschool conference - Teach Them Diligently. So the day of your birthday, Gigi and Pops and your aunts and uncle watched you.
You got some Polly Pocket dolls for your birthday and enjoy playing with those. You also enjoy playing outside.

You are a really loud talker! At least around the people you know well. You seem to shout a lot of your words - especially when you are excited.
You potty trained around the time when Josiah was born - so you were probably 25 or 26 months old. It took about 3 months to really get it down. You are a pro now and only have rare accidents when you get distracted with playing in a new environment.

You have always been a good eater, but in the last 6 months it has become a little more difficult to get you to eat. Rewarding you with dessert seems to help, but you can get really SLOW eating things you aren't crazy about.

At your three year old doctor appointment you were 50% weight and 80% height. You didn't get any shots, but we did talk to the doctor about your constantly runny nose and made an appointment with the allergist.

You wake up around 7:15-30 each morning, take a nap from 2:00-4:00, and go to bed around 8:15 or 8:30. You still nap pretty consistently but we have started to have about 1 day a week when you just refuse to take a nap. Those days, you are pretty tired in the evenings.
Sharing a room with Lucy has gone pretty well. The only downside has been when one of you wakes up early, then wakes the other one up 😮 It also is tough when one of y'all is sick. In that scenario, we put the sick one in the formal living room for the night.

Overall, you are such a happy, loving little girl. We love having you in our family and are so thankful that God gave you to us! I see so much potential in your emotional, sweet demeanor. You seem to have the best emotional intelligence in the family - it comes naturally to you to empathize with others. You are eager to share your toys because you love to see others happy. I love how talkative you are and can't wait to converse with you over the years to come. One of my favorite things about being a mom is seeing you build one-on-one relationships with your siblings and your parents. You and Lucy have become great play mates recently and it is such a joy to watch y'all getting along and having fun together. You and Josiah love giggling together 😊 You are an amazing daughter and sister and we can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you.

A Call for Help

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 26 May 2017 02:30:00 +0000

Several months ago, I shared with y'all that I had the opportunity to take over our church's Global Medical Outreach (GMO) ministry. I wanted to take a little bit of time and update you on what's been going on over the past few months because there has been a flurry of activity:

Planning decisions made: 237,498
Emails sent: 1,267,649
1 Scouting trip to Ecuador planned, cancelled by Delta, and then subsequently rescheduled over this past occur Memorial Day weekend
Conversations: 467
Specific answers to prayer: Countless

So, a little bit tongue and cheek with the above list except the cancellation of the scouting trip - that actually happened. And except the countless specific answers to prayer - which will be likely be another blog post because it is so cool to see the reality of specific prayers answered. But I say all of that to highlight that there has been a ton of activity and that it is time and energy consuming to be planning a mission effort across the globe. However, I am happy to report that we have a full team of clinicians, pharmacists, and volunteers committed and we are right on target for our trip in July!

And this is where I need your help. Trips like this require financing and I need to raise $2000.00. This amount will help cover trip expenses as well as provide funds to help cover the cost of some of the medication and supplies that we need. And of course, if together we raise more than the $2000.00 then the extra amount will be applied to our general GMO fund to offset costs for subsequent ministry and outreach efforts. It will not be wasted!

$2000.00 is a lot of money. It is daunting to me to try and raise that much. But I know that I serve a big God who delights to answer prayer and who delights to see his gospel work advance! So let's do this!

To donate, please make a check payable to Warren Baptist Church and put Ecuador in the "memo" line. Then download the form HERE and fill out the bottom portion. Place the check and the bottom portion of the form in an envelop and send it to the address listed on the form which should be:

Warren Baptist Church

3203 Washington Road

Augusta Ga, 30907

Thank you so much in advance for your support. This kind of effort cannot happen without your help. Also, stay tuned for ways in which you can pray for our team. Finally, if you would like more specific information, stories, updates about Ecuador you can follow our church's Ecuador mission blog.

A New Year, A New Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 02:33:00 +0000

I (Jason) have some exciting news to share at the start of this New Year. God has given me and Laura an incredible opportunity to head up a new ministry at our local church, Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga. We are launching a Global Medical Outreach and I am leading the first trip to Ecuador July 22-29 of this year!

First, a little bit of background. Several years ago, Laura and I moved to Augusta for my physical therapy school. During my time in school, I had an opportunity to go on a medical mission trip with our church to Ecuador. Later that year, one of my pastors gave me a copy of a book called "Preach and Heal" and that book had a tremendous impact on my life. After talking with Laura, we began to pray together for our lives to be a proverbial blank check for God to use and we began think more seriously about medical mission work. Fast forward to just about 2 years ago, I had been practicing therapy for about 2 years and Laura and I began to research full time medical mission since this was still on our heart. We spent about a year studying different agencies, meeting with missionaries, and learning about seminary requirements to go full time. But towards the end of that time we did not have a good sense about the full time path and just continued to pray on how to use my medical skill and Laura's expertise to God's glory. In the meantime, our church discontinued it's medical mission trip and no longer sent any type of short term medical teams.

Well, about 10 months ago, I had a not so chance conversation (because I don't really believe in random chance. God ordains meetings, conversations, etc) with the physician who no longer led the trip due to getting close to retirement. In that meeting, which was at his grandson's birthday party, I asked him if he was still going to Ecuador. He told me that unfortunately the medical mission had ended and they had not taken a trip in 5 years. I asked why and he told me that he had not found anyone who was interested in leading trips and carrying on this ministry of the church. I paused, grinned at him and said, "I will." So I began to explain some of my testimony, which I related above, and I began to sense that this is where God was leading us to serve Him in a mission capacity. We went to the Pastor, had a couple of meetings and the next thing I knew, we were launching this ministry again! I am really excited because after 6 years, our church is going to be sending medical professionals and other volunteers on short term medical mission trips again! This is so important for our church because our church is dedicated to the advancement of the Gospel both locally and globally and because, as many of you know, Augusta has a large community of healthcare professionals and many of them are in our church. It truly is amazing how God, in his timing, brings you to certain locations, gives you passions and skills, and then gives you an incredible opportunity to serve Him where you are with those skills.

I had the opportunity to host a vision meeting for our ministry and highlight our mission statement. I wanted to include it in this blog so that you can see and know the heart and desire of this ministry. Our Vision statement is simple: Warren Baptist Church Global Medical Outreach exists to make Christ followers of all people by empowering local churches across the globe to proclaim the Gospel using the medical knowledge and skill which God has graciously entrusted to us as health care providers.

And really this statement can be applied across every believer with a wide range of skill sets and not just health care. Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God and with the purpose to advance His Kingdom and make His name known.

Finally, I say all of this to say that, while this is a very exciting time, this is something that Laura and I have never done before and it is stretching our faith and my energy levels daily because there are many needs sitting in front of this ministry. It's funny, so often I've been on the receiving end of ministries and organization soliciting for help but now I am on the front lines with them as we work toward a common goal of spreading the Gospel. But I report these needs knowing full well that God will provide.

PRAY: This sounds so cliche, but honestly, being on the leadership side of ministry now, I have a greater and deeper understanding of the necessity for brothers and sisters in Christ to intercede. God has already answered many of our prayers in cool ways and he continues to do so. But join me in praying over this ministry. Pray that God would bring the right team members for this trip and the trips in the future. Pray that God would prepare the hearts of the people we will come in contact with that they would receive the Gospel message and be saved. Pray that God would watch over all of our travel and logistics. And finally pray for me and my family that we would continue to be obedient followers of Christ, that we would trust Him always, and that we would have unity as a married couple and family. Be a warrior and in all things, pray.
GIVE: To pull these types of short term trips off requires a lot of supplies, a lot of transportation on the ground, and a lot of logistics. And all of that takes dollars. Again, this sounds so cliche, but as I continue to walk with Lord and grow in his grace it is becoming clearer and clearer that perhaps the reason we have been given so much wealth on a global stage is to use it to advance God's kingdom. George Mueller says in his autobiography that you will never regret investing in the Kingdom of God. So I ask you to consider supporting this effort. Your donation will be used to grow this ministry, fund scholarships for participants, provide supplies, help with transportation costs on the ground etc. You can make your donation by writing a check to Warren Baptist Church, notating Global Medical Mission in the "for" section and mailing it to 3203 Washington Rd, Augusta, Ga 30907. Or, you can go online and make a donation designating your gift to Global Medical Outreach.
GO: We need folks. We need man power. So if you are looking for a ministry to get involved with not just financially but tangibly, we would love to have you. Maybe you are a medical professional looking to use your skills abroad to share the Gospel. We need you. Maybe you are a student studying to make a career in health care but want to know if there is something more you can do. We need you. Maybe you have the gift of language and can interpret. We need you. Maybe you just have a heart for missions and God's command to make disciples of all nations and can volunteer and assist the effort. We need you too. So if you would like more information you can email me at jason.baareman@gmail.com

This is a cool opportunity and I am looking forward to see where God takes this effort. Lastly, I hope in your own life you reflect and ask yourself if you are leveraging your time, finances, and gifts for God's Kingdom which will never fail. As C.T. Studd once wrote:

Only one life 'twill soon be past;

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Lucy is 4 1/2 Years Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 17:37:00 +0000

Dear Lucy -

I missed your 4th birthday letter, so I'm going to try to make up for it now!

You have changed so much since since my last "Lucy Update". Here are some things I want to remember:

You LOVE arts and crafts - it is your favorite thing to do. We now have a craft bin in the dining room so that you can color any time you want to. I'm surprised at how often you prefer to color than to play with toys

Your imagination has really grown recently. I hear you doing a lot more imaginative play by yourself and with Bridget than you used to.
You love helping me cook or really anything we let you "help" with. You are an eager and fast learner.

You still love being read to. You have a very long attention span and can pay attention to long books. I wish I had more opportunities to read with you - life is pretty crazy with Bridget and Josiah thrown in! I can't wait for you to learn to read. During your rest times, I let you look at books - you look at them for a lot of the 1 hour you are required to be quiet for. You also do a lot of soft humming, talking, singing, to yourself during this time. I have to remind you a lot to "be quiet" during "quiet time".
You have a really good memory. You like to recollect experiences from your past in detail. You also like to look at family photos and videos on the ipad.

You love to dance and sing. Your favorite CD is Frozen. You and Bridget love to run in circles around the room singing along. You know a lot of the words by heart. You did ballet at the YMCA this winter.

You started preschool (4K) this year. You go on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:30-1:30. You have done awesome academically, even though you are probably the youngest one in your class. You do a great job tracing and drawing your letters and numbers. You did great at first and didn't seem to have any adjustment issues - but a few months after you started school, I found out you had been asking your teachers to take you to the bathroom around 10 times per day! After being confused for a few days (since you didn't go to the bathroom that may times at home), we came to the conclusion that you just liked the attention you got from your teachers taking you (since at home you have to go by yourself). After talking to you and your teachers about it, and praying together about it on the way to school (almost every day) - you are doing a lot better in this area and are only asking the teachers to go about 1x per day. This was also a clue to me that you may appreciate more one on one time with me! :)

You are extremely brave, assertive, and like to set the rules and play by the rules. You see things in black and white and like to "tell it like it is" - which is often really funny..... We have been working with you on being kind, saying kind things, saying things in a kind way, "kindness" is our parenting key word for you. We pray that you will come to know Jesus as your personal Savior and that his love and kindness will flow through you.
You haven't napped consistently since you were three years old. You have set your mind to the fact that four year olds don't nap or need to nap - so you never do. As a result, from about 5:00pm you start to get really tired. Most mornings you do so well. You listen, obey, set a good example, play nice with your sister, etc. But when you start to get tired, you find it much harder to listen, obey, be kind, etc. I bought the book - The Power of a Praying Parent and have found so much comfort praying specific prayers over you. I desire so much that you come to love, obey, and follow Jesus - that you would choose to surrender your entire life to him.

Because you don't nap, our latest strategy has been to put you to bed at 7:00pm! This is so early and often it is tough for us to get dinner done and our night time routine accomplished in time to get you to bed at this time. You normally wake up on your own at 7:30am, and when you have gone to bed early, you are in great spirits the whole day.
You LOVE TV - we kinda laugh about the fact that you are a TV addict even though (or maybe because) we don't let you watch very much (no more than 1 hour a day). We are trying to cut back your amount of TV because it seems to have put a damper on all other activities (nothings seems quite as appealing to you as watching TV).

A lot of my thoughts these days are taken up with Kindergarten for you. There are so many options - it is daunting! We feel like God has called us to eventually homeschool our family - we just aren't sure if we should start while Bridget and Josiah are still so young and need my time and attention so much. Right now the options we are considering are: 4 day a week preschool at Abilene Baptist, Homeschool, Public School, or a new Public Charter School. We are praying through all the options.
You are so brave it is a little scary! You haven't cried at all the last few times you got shots and you have lots of guts to disobey us even when you know punishment will follow..... We pray that God will give us the guidance we need to not crush you strong will but direct it to positive areas- so that you can shine in your natural given strengths!

You remind me (and Jason) of ME so much! We share so many little weird idiosyncrasies. One in particular is our keen temperature perception. We each easily get too hot or cold, want to change the temperature in the house or car, like to change our outfits multiple times a day so we are the perfect temperature, etc.! Lucy (like me), also likes to know the overall plan of the day - what is going to happen throughout the day, what day of the week it is, what time it is, she wants to know it all!

We have been trying to be more diligent about family bible time and singing each evening. It has been amazing to see and hear how much you understand about the Bible.
In the fall, I started helping with the new preschool choir program called "Musical Melodies" which you were in! You got to sing at a Baby Dedication Service (the one Josiah was dedicated at), All Family Night (where Operation Christmas Child and other gifts are given), the Ladies Christmas Tea, and at a Nursing Home. It was so much fun to help in this area and watch you sing so well and bring joy to so many!

Lucy - You are truly my mini me! You look like me and act like me a lot too! Many of our strengths and weaknesses are the same! Many times when I'm parenting you, I feel like I could and should be giving myself the very same lecture! God has used YOU to change ME so much! He is molding both you and me into the people that he wants us to be through sometimes painful trial and error! It is not easy growing up, or raising a child, but I truly am so proud of you. You are a beautiful little girl, on the inside and out. I know you love your family so much and I want so much for our family to be a safe haven for you - a place where you know you are LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY. I love hearing your thoughts and questions about life. You are experiencing and learning so much about this world every day and it is a pleasure to teach you so many things. I'm so blessed that God (and my dear husband), have given me the opportunity to stay at home with you, and Bridget, and Josiah.

I love you sweet girl - Love, Mom

Josiah is 6 Months Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 17:03:00 +0000

Josiah turned 6 months old a few weeks ago. He is 18 lbs. (75%), and also 75% for height and 90% for head size. You wear size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes. Here are some things I want to remember about this stage.

I LOVE this age! You are so sweet and cute. You are the perfect size to be held. You can hold yourself up pretty well while I hold you so it's easy to take you with me places - like to drop off the girls at school.

You got your first tooth (on the bottom) a little after 6 months, and your 2nd bottom tooth around Christmas time.
You wake up around 7:30 in the morning, take a morning nap around 9:30 or 10:00, another nap around 2:00pm (when Lucy and Bridget nap/rest), then sometimes need another short nap around dinner time. Unfortunately, being the youngest brother - your naps often have to get interrupted to go take or pick up siblings from their preschool, or to run errands. I feel bad having to interrupt your naps, and always hope that you will somehow stay asleep as I transition you from the bed to the carseat and vice versa. But you are an EXTREMELY light sleep and wake up VERY easily. So a lot of times, you naps are composed of lots of mini naps.

You go to bed around 8:00 or 8:30pm. Most of the time you wake up around 11:00 to eat (which is right before I go to bed), then wake up AGAIN around 4:00am to eat. At this point I'm okay with this because you just wimper a little, I feed you, and you fall right back to sleep. But lately, you have been peeing out of your diaper and into your sleep sack almost every night - so the 4:00 am feeding can also be an ordeal with changing your clothes, your sheets sometimes, etc.
You are a really good, happy baby. Sometimes your schedule will get pretty messed up and you amaze me by somehow being in an okay mood. If you get enough sleep and food - you are in a GREAT mood usually. You love to laugh and smile. You also love people and getting attention.

In the mornings you really don't get a whole lot of attention since we are all busy getting ready. I used to feed you first thing, then put you in your little rocking chair seat while I took a shower to give your food a chance to settle (you spit up A LOT!). Then after my shower I'd let you play on a blanket or sit in your chair again while I fed the girls breakfast and got them ready for school. Around 5 months, you looked bored sitting in the chair and I started letting you play in the pack n' play while I take a shower - then put you in the exerciser/jumperoo while the girls eat.
You are starting to really love tummy time and can rotate yourself in a circle. You can also push yourself backwards but don't do that very much anymore. Since you have been teething you are content on your tummy chewing on toys.

You started sitting by yourself around 6 months but still sometimes fall over. If I'm not in the same room as you I put the boppy around you.
I have an Ergo and use it ALL the time! You like being able to look around and being close to Mommy.
You LOVE to suck on your thumb. I haven't probably exerted enough energy trying to get you like pacifiers instead. You love to fall asleep on your tummy, head tilted to one side, sucking your thumb.

We are so THANKFUL that you haven't gotten very sick yet. By this age Bridget had already had tubes put in her ears and you haven't even had an ear infection! This is such a blessing!!!!! You have had a few colds with running noses, and since you like to sleep on your tummy - it is hard for you to breathe when you are congested. We let you sleep in your rock n' play and that seemed to do the trick. You have outgrown the rock n' play now though so if a bad cold happens again we will probably have you sleep in your reclined car seat.

We tried out baby led weaning when you turned 6 months and you seemed to like it okay. Your first food was avocados. You also tried bananas, sweet potatoes, and diced peaches. It ended up being extremely messy. You ended wearing most of the food. I think you got some in your mouth but I had to bathe you after every meal! So we decided to switch to puffs and baby food until you mastered grabbing small bits of food. So far you are doing awesome with baby food - you love it! Most of the time, you even like the food the first time you try it. You are getting better at grabbing puffs and getting those in your mouth too.

Your favorite toy is the signing snail. You love to watch Lucy and Bridget play and put up with them getting into your "personal space" pretty well
You do pretty well at church nursery, BSF, and the gym nursery. We have left you with a few babysitters too and you have done well. :)
You are a pretty good traveler too! We have gone to Atlanta a few times and even drove out to Mississippi this week!

I just love you so much Josiah! I still can't believe that I have a little boy! It is the best thing ever. Your smile, laugh, and cuddles melt my heart. LOVE YOU ALWAYS - MOM

His Love is BIG

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 16:42:00 +0000

I was a guest blogger over the summer on my friends Liz and Angie's blog Hometown Honey. Here's the post!

As I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics a few weeks ago, I was mesmerized by how many countries there are in the world. Sure, there were the big names that have an athlete to represent them in almost every sport: the USA, Great Britain, China, Germany. but there were also tiny countries there that I had never heard of before: Cyprus, Comoros, &Lesotho? It was amazing to see the variety that God has created. I thought about how he LOVES each of those athletes just as personally and MUCH as he loves me.

Then, my mind flipped back to some of my small inconsequential prayers of the day. "Lord, please help my screaming baby fall asleep." "Lord, please help my daughters get along - just for 10 minutes!" "Lord, help me find my phone - I lost it again!" "Lord, please help me be patient today - and speak in kindness to my family." And guess what - I am 100% confident that the God of the universe heard those little prayers, and even more amazing - he answered many of them!

But what about all those 100s of athletes parading around the Olympic stadium? Did they have little prayers like mine? I'm sure many of them did. And probably some more important ones - like "Lord, help me win this medal that I've worked my whole life for!" And I know that my God heard those prayers and answered many of them as well.

I feel like my mind is spinning most days because I have 3 small children whose many needs need to be met (by me most of the time). Sometimes I can't even think straight, or listen to the many questions that they ask me simultaneously. However, God is SO MUCH BIGGER than me or even than I can imagine him to be. He not only created me, all the Olympic athletes, and the additional 7 billion people living on the globe, but he LOVES every one of them and is intimately aware of what is going on in their lives - their small needs and their large ones. This is true whether they are his followers or not. If they are his followers, he loves getting to hear their prayers and revealing himself to them. If they have turned their back on Him, he longs for them to return and seeks out ways to reveal himself to them. (The story of the Prodigal Son reveals this side of God to us). However, if they know nothing of Him, he desires for them to know the truth of his gospel. Not only does he KNOW what is going on, he LISTENS to their prayers, and INTERVENES in their daily life! The God of the universe! I can't wrap my head around this power.

Then my mind shifted to his LOVE. Not only does he KNOW what's going on in their lives, and CARE enough to listen to and even answer prayers, he LOVES each and every human on this planet! I don't know about you, but there are only a set number of people that I'm able to "love" at a time. But God's love is limitless!

When I had my second child, I had the common worry of "How can I possibly love another child as much as my first child? My poor second child will never be able to compete with the HUGE love that I have for my first." However, as soon as my second child Bridget was born, my heart grew in size. I immediately loved her just as much - just in a different sort of way. So when I was pregnant with my third child, I didn't worry at all about the "love" factor. I knew my heart would just grow in size to accommodate another precious child. Sure enough, my heart has grown again with the addition of Josiah. So just how big is God's love in comparison, since he has approximately 7 BILLION children! Not only that, he loves each one of them with a more perfect love than the HUGE love I have for MY children. Not only that, but he has loved every person who has ever been created since the dawn of time!

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:17-19

With every birth, God's heart doesn't have to grow like a new mother's does, it is already infinitely large. I love how personal my God is. He knows me better than any human ever has or ever will. And even so, even though he knows the dirty, sinful places in my heart - he loves me so much. All I can do in return is be THANKFUL that my God is so amazing, seek to love others in the unconditional way he does, and most importantly LOVE him back. Isn't that what we desire the most from the ones we love? For their love in return? The most precious thing in my life right now is feeling my own child's love for me in response to my love for them.

Lyrics from "How Deep the Father's Love for Us"

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Love,
Laura

Year End Book Review 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 01:12:00 +0000

Years are going by so fast these days. But with each passing year is another opportunity to tell you about the books that I read and whether or not you should read them. I read some good ones this year that spanned different topics. As always there is a link to the previous reviews at the bottom of this post if you are just getting into my book reviews. Here we go!

Lead like Jesus by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges. I had never read any kind of leadership book so this was a nice change of pace. One of my pastors recommended it to me since I am involved in small leadership positions in my local church. I really enjoyed this book. One of the authors is a business guy and brings a unique perspective to leadership. The book is biblically based and thorough in describing different aspects of leadership using Jesus' mentorship of the disciples as the framework. While often focusing more on business leaders, the authors do a fantastic job of applying the principles to your church life, family life, and personal life. I learned some basic things about vision and core values which has already helped the LifeGroup I lead and the Global Medical Outreach I am involved with at our church. If you are a leader in any capacity, this is definitely a must read because it is thoughtful, practical, applicable, and humorous at times.

Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes. This was a book that the men in our LifeGroup decided to read together and I am glad we did. If you are a dude and you love Jesus, this is a good book to open up. Kent Hughes tackles all kinds of issues relating to leadership, holiness, work, evangelism, prayer, etc. It's easy to read and incorporates many good analogies and funny anecdotes. But that doesn't detract from the many challenging points of introspection and application that conveys. This book also has good discussion questions at the end of each chapter if you decide to read it as a group to help sharpen each other. Definitely a good book to read with lots of points to help examine your soul.

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce by John Piper. I read this because of a crazy Amazon kindle deal. And, boy, was this a cool surprise. I really really like this book. If you don't know about William Wilberforce you should. Eric Metaxas has written an extensive biography of him and there has even been a movie made about his life if you want to know more. The book starts with a brief biography to familiarize yourself with him and his life. William Wilberforce was a smart young politician in England and after becoming a follower of Christ dedicated his life to end the slave trade in England. So after you get some biographical information, John Piper begins to answer the question of what made him tick. The book explores from a gospel perspective and William's own writings from letters and his work Real Christianity how this good news impacted his life and how it enabled him to overcome so many challenges while pursuing biblical social justice in an age that was blinded by political interest. This is a great read: informative, challenging, and motivating. (I already downloaded his book Real Christianity on the Kindle and will read it next year.)

Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. This was a beast. Not going to lie. I've always wanted to read Jonathan Edwards because he is one of colonial America's greatest theologians. So while, this book was good and thought provoking, it was also tough. Edwards is a very meticulous writer and goes to great lengths to correctly outline his propositions and arguments so that they will not be misconstrued, which is good, but it also makes it challenging to read because you can easily get lost from the main idea that he is defending. But I'm glad that I read it. He explores the question, due to a rising heresy in colonial America and one that is very much applicable today, of how does one know that they are a believer? What is it about a christian that marks him or her as a christian? How do you know if your affections toward Christ are stemming from Christ and his glorious mercy on your life or from something else. Bottom line of the book is a welling up of joy and awe at the grandeur and mercy and grace of God enables a believer to live for Christ. All else is fake. Tough read, great answers, and applicable despite it being written over 200 years ago.

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew. This book is great. Quite a contrast from the book mentioned. I flew through this autobiography. This book is about the life and ministry of Brother Andrew, a Dutch missionary after WWII. It is his reflection on the early part of his life and ministry after coming to Christ and being one of the early pioneer missionaries that brought God's word behind the communist countries of the Soviet Union and China. This book has stories of intrigue, suspense, faith, and God's incredible provision. Brother Andrew has also written a sequel regarding more recent adventures into the middle east but I would start with this book to get to know him and his story. Out of one man's conviction that people need the Bible, a ministry was started which is still in operation today. It is called Open Doors and the they are still bringing Bibles and ministering to believers in some of the most difficult parts of the world today. Fantastic book. You will want to more fervently build God's Kingdom after reading this book.

Family Driven Faith by Voddie Bauchum. Of all the great books and fascinating stories in this years reading list, this was the highlight of the year for me personally. Voddie delivers a gut punch to your soul: a soul punch? But man, is it ever needed in today's Christian homes. Voddie centers the book around Deuteronomy 6 and each chapter in the book is pretty much an exposition of different parts of that passage. The main point is that secular thinking is creeping into christian families and kids which is causing young people to leave the faith. He argues that the remedy is holistic parental worldview training to impart to their young children the deep meaning and truths to our kids. That way, they truly know the faith and can stand against the philosophical storms our children will face as they grow up. He encourages men to lead in this process. He challenges many of our natural, conventional attitudes towards kids, education, and family and demonstrates how they often are unbiblical. Voddie is honest when he writes that he has received much flack from believers for this book and his arguments that are contained it in, but I think he is right. We may just not want to hear it. This book is powerful, convicting, extremely challenging, but encouraging and hopeful all at the same time. It's a soul punch, but you and I need it. #makeourfamiliesbiblicalagain.

Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung. I like Kevin DeYoung. I like his books, his writing style, and his blog. He is funny and concise and that is what you get in this short 10 chapter book. This book is also a treasure in the midst of so many attacks on the validity and veracity of the Bible. This book is about the Bible. He argues that the Bible is sufficient. That it is clear. That is is authoritative. And that it is necessary. This is not an apologetic defense of the scriptures, although he provides several fantastic references at the back of the book if that is what you are looking for. Rather, it is a book to encourage the believer. Kevin reminds us of the beauty of God's word and that though the world would try to undermine it, God's word will last forever. This book will definitely help you understand why we need the Bible and also help you treasure it a little bit more than you might currently. A great, encouraging read!

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. This book rounds out the year. This book has been sitting on my shelf for years and I finally got around to reading it and, although small, it packs a punch. Centered on treasures and Jesus' teaching in Matthew, Randy Alcorn succinctly and vividly describes the reality that you can and should store treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed. Everything in this world is passing away and we can't take it with us but what we can do is use and leverage everything for his Kingdom. It echoes George Mueller's statement that we will never regret investing int he kingdom of God. This book does not read with guilt ridden language but rather with the encouragement and hope that giving is truly an eternal investment that, for the Christ follower, you will one day see. This book is also set up for group study with prayers and discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Our LifeGroup is going start 2017 with this as our emphasis to continue to be focused on spreading the good news near and far.

That wraps up this years review! Hope you found it helpful and inspires you to read. What good books challenged you and helped you grow this year? And as always, I've got some good reads lined up for 2017 from William Wilberforce, J.C. Ryle, and Al Mohler. Have a happy New Year and open up a book!

Get caught up by browsing other reviews from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Jason Baareman

Bridget Birthday Letter - 2 Years Old

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:51:00 +0000

Dear Bridget -

You are TWO years old! What a joy you are! You are super cute on the outside and inside. I just LOVE this age! You love to play - either by yourself, with Lucy, or with friends. You are starting to become a kid in the fact that you like to do as many things as possible by yourself, but you still retain some "babyish" things, like the fact that you can't run very well (not nearly as fast as Lucy), and you fall a lot (you aren't quite as stable on your feet). You are SUCH a talker! You have been talking to us in complete sentences for awhile now, I think you started a few months before turning 2. You always have lots of thoughts and love to communicate with any and everyone. You are very sweet and get along easily with pretty much everyone. You are very enthusiastic about life and are our little cheerleader. I've told multiple people recently that you are the most encouraging member of our family, you are constantly saying "Thanks Mom" "Thanks Dad" or "Good Job!" to us - lol. By the way, I can't figure out why you call us Mom and Dad even though we refer to ourselves as Mommy and Daddy.

Although you are very sweet and kind - you are NOT a pushover. Whenever things aren't going your way, you like to let out a scream to let us know you aren't happy - this normally occurs when you and Lucy are playing together and Mom and Dad aren't in the room. We are trying to teach you to not be a drama queen - and to use words instead of screams to get your point across.

The last two months have been very eventful around here. We have had almost constant visitors - mainly family who have visited us after Josiah was born about 6 weeks ago. You have really enjoyed playing with all of our guests. Since we were pretty much "homebound" with newborn Josiah, I decided that it was a great time to potty train you. You had seemed ready for awhile, but I did NOT feel up to it in the last trimester of pregnancy. Well, turns out you WERE ready, and you have been doing AWESOME! I love how excited you get when you go in the potty. You love to cheer yourself on. You also love the rewards you get - you never forget to remind us to give you your jellybean.

Some more facts about you at 2:

You didn't have much hair on your first birthday at all, but now you have a full head of dirty blonde curls! I never thought I would ever have a "blondie" for a child - but it sure is adorable!
I feel like overall you are growing up "faster" than Lucy because you want to keep up with her so badly. You truly believe that you are capable of anything she does and it really upsets you when you try to do something you see that she does but can't do - today it was climbing up a giant toy frog at the mall playground. You saw Lucy do it a certain way, and could not accept the fact that you couldn't mimic her!
You moved out of your crib and into your big girl bed (the bottom bunk) a few weeks before turning 2 I think. You did awesome with it from the first night. The first week or so, you and Lucy would talk and sing together while going to sleep. Now, Lucy goes to bed earlier (around 7:30) than you since she doesn't nap/sleep doing the day. So by the time you go to bed (around 8:30), we just whisper a prayer, you get a sip of water, and as long as you have some of your bears with you, you are good to go. By the way - you are still obsessesed with your white polar bear stuffed animal. You sleep/cuddle with it, and also play with it all day.

You are a good sleeper at friends houses and when we travel now too. I don't take this for granted!
You wake up around 7:30, we take you potty, and you and Lucy normally watch a show on the couch together before breakfast. Your favorite show now is Daniel Tiger. But you are pretty happy to watch the shows Lucy picks too, although they sometimes don't keep your interest as long.

You like trying to dress yourself - but still need help with that. You can wash your hands by yourself, as long as I turn on the water for you.
You love riding bikes outside. Your bike is the pink plasma car. You can really book it on that thing and can almost go as fast as Lucy on her regular bike.
You also love the pink Barbie car that Gigi and Pops got you for your birthday. You are content to be the passenger and you press the music buttons while Lucy drives. You can't reach the pedals yet....otherwise, I'm not sure you'd be okay with this set up.

You have started to like art projects a little more. Coloring doesn't hold your attention more than 5 minutes and you normally start coloring on yourself or something else that you shouldn't. However, you do really like gluing and cutting construction paper.
You love playing outside on the back deck. This is a frequent activity recently with a newborn in the house.
You also love the swimming pool - another quite frequent activity. After about 1-2 pool visits, you got comfortable keeping balanced "swimming" with your puddle jumper. You also like to jump in, although you don't let your head go under water yet.
You love Gigi and Pops' boat and talk about it all the time :)
You love your baby brother. I haven't seen any jealousy at all! You even literally tell me a few times a week "I love my baby brother Josiah mom."
You and Lucy spend a LOT of time playing together. You have a love/hate relationship. Sometimes you play GREAT. Then other times it seems like it is impossible to have a peaceable 5 minutes with the two of you in the same room! The games you like to play together include Mommy (Lucy) and Baby (Bridget) and sometimes/rarely it's Mommy (Bridget) and Baby (Lucy). You are pretty believable as the baby, and make crying noises and crawl around the house. The two of you also like to pretend you are driving somewhere.

You are a pretty good eater. You aren't picky at all, and eat a pretty good quantity of food most of the time. We went through a few months, where dinner time was a battle and you were in tears almost every evening. The battle was mainly over you not wanting to eat the bites we required for you to get a dessert - especially when Lucy had already "earned" her dessert. Things seem to have gotten better.
You are EXTREMELY messy! Ever since we started you on baby food, you have always managed to get your food everywhere! To this day, you get food all over your body, under your bib, on and UNDER your booster seat, and all over the floor!
My favorite thing you say is "I love you too" - you always add the "too" at the end <3 li="">

I'm so thankful for you Bridget! You will always be my baby girl! I love you so much!

Love, Mom

Josiah's Birth Story

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 20:29:00 +0000

Last Tuesday, we welcomed Josiah Daniel Baareman to our family! He surprised us all, coming at 37 weeks and 5 days. Since Lucy and Bridget were both born at 39 weeks exactly, I thought he would come around the same time, so I hadn't even packed our hospital bags yet! I feel incredibly blessed to be a mother to not just two sweet girls, but now a sweet boy as well. I absolutely don't deserve any of it, and give God all the glory for this miracle of life.

Towards the end of this pregnancy, I was going 100 mph trying to do as many fun things with Lucy and Bridget as possible, since I knew our freedom was about to come to a screeching halt. In the week before Josiah was born we went to the zoo, to the pool many times, to swim lessons almost every day, etc. We had also hosted a few out of town guests. The day he was born, my sister Summer was in town. That morning we had all gone to Lucy's back-to-back swim lessons (one was a make-up), and also swam at the Y with friends afterward. Looking back I didn't "feel" like staying and swimming but decided to do it anyways so Lucy, Bridget, and Summer could have fun. I had been feeling pretty uncomfortable during the last few weeks or so but had figured that was all just part of the end of pregnancy. We got home, I made lunch for the kids, and helped Summer find all the ingredients she needed to make turkey meatballs (she was planning on cooking for us that evening).

While I was doing the dishes, I started to not feel very good and took some Tylenol - which was rare for me. Then, after all three kids started taking their nap, I started to work a little bit on a side website project I was doing. Pretty soon after I started working, around 2:30 - I felt my first contraction. I have never had contractions during pregnancy with any of my kids. From the first contraction - it has always led to a baby being born in the next 24 hours. Still, I thought that I was only 37 weeks - this couldn't be the real deal yet. Then, I realized that if it WAS the real deal, I had to get my work project finished! I started working as quickly as possible while timing my contractions. Looking back, I had about 1:00 - 1:30 hours of manageable contractions where I was timing, but still able to work on my computer. But by the time the kids were getting up from rest - 4:00 - they were definitely coming more quickly and were feeling more intense. It was at this point that I texted Jason, and my mom and sister to tell them that I thought I was in labor. Jason wasn't by his cell phone, but my mom and sister called me almost right away to figure out if they needed to start driving to Augusta. Throughout these phone conversations, and figuring out logistics, I also talked to my neighbor Liz who watched the girls for me that night. Even while on the phone I was having to pause and deal with the contractions without talking. Finally, Jason called me and told me he would be leaving work soon and asked if he could finish up his notes - which would take about 10 minutes. I said "Sure" since I realized I STILL had to pack both my bags, plus stuff for the girls and Jason! Meanwhile, Summer watched the girls for me after I turned on the movie "Tangled" that we had started a few nights before. By the time Jason got home, the contractions were really bad. I could barely pack even between contractions, so in the end, my packing job was pretty poor - haha. I did manage to get a pile of the girls clothing on the dining room table for Liz to pick up, and Jason quickly got the car seats out of the car for Liz in case she needed them. We left around 5:00 pm for the hospital. Summer watched Lucy and Bridget from about 5:00 - 6:15 when Liz picked all three of them up for dinner and hanging out at her house.

I had a fair amount of contractions in the car - and the drive was longer than our previous drives to Doctor's Hospital for Lucy and Bridget. Then, once we got to the hospital, we couldn't find the right place to park so Jason dropped me off in the lobby, and parked while I tried to figure out where to go. The website had said that Labor and Delivery was on the 7th floor, but when I hobbled over in between contractions to look at the elevator - it only went to the 5th floor! I was pretty annoyed that I was lost and couldn't figure out where to go WHILE in labor! Quite an inconvenience! I asked a nurse for directions around the time Jason got there and we found out we had to go to the 2nd floor, walk across the hospital a ways, then go up a different elevator to get to the maternity area. That walk was long and painful for me and I had to stop multiple times to deal with contractions. The first elevator that we came to was only for medical personnel!!!!! More walking, then FINALLY we found the proper elevator and made it to labor and delivery. Of course, the front desk told us that all the rooms were full, then another lady in a wheelchair who was 38 weeks along came up right behind me. I was REALLY hoping in that moment that they would find a room QUICKLY for me, and that I would get placed before the other lady, even though she was further along than me - since I was experiencing contractions and it didn't seem like she was. To my relief, they got me placed within about 5 minutes in a room that they normally used for OB surgeries. It was a really large room with two beds and a large window. It was weird for me (and Jason) that I was in labor during the day - since with Lucy and Bridget this phase all happened in the middle of the night.

The staff did a great job at getting me taken care of quickly. From the moment I was placed in the room until he was born, there was probably at least one person helping us out with something. First, it was getting my IV in and getting blood work done to qualify me for an epidural. They botched my first IV (and I still have a bruise from it), and had to try again on the other arm. The OB resident came in and checked me - which was pretty painful - although not as painful as the contractions were at that point. She shocked us all when she told us I was 7 cm dilated! When I told them that I DEFINITELY wanted an epidural, the resident told me that he was going to try and expedite things and give me one without the labs coming back since I had no health problems and a problem-free pregnancy. However, after he checked with his boss, that was a no-go and I had to endure another hour or so of EXTREMELY painful contractions. I was sitting up in the bed to endure them and would just count to 10 or 15 in my head while breathing in and out really strongly. I was doing so much huffing and puffing that my mouth was extremely dry but I couldn't drink anything. :(

It was during this point of contractions coming pretty close together and lasting a long time that I realized I might have to have the baby without an epidural! My greatest fear! I just couldn't imagine having a long enough break between contractions for my body to relax enough to be still enough to get the epidural in safely. I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would allow me to get some pain medicine in me before the baby was born. I was so scared but started quoting "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," in my head over and over. Jason also tried to prep me for having the baby naturally but I didn't really want to hear that news from him - lol. I just told him to pray that I would get the meds in time!

FINALLY, the anesthesiologist arrived with the news that I was cleared to get an epidural. Then, it seemed to take forever for him to get "prepped." I went through many more contractions while he was getting ready. I kept wondering how many more I'd have to go through before getting relief. When it was finally time, my nurse helped me hunch my back over (like a cat), and my prayers were answered. I had a really long break between two contractions that allowed him to get the epidural in just fine! I was so relieved! It took about 4-5 more sets of contractions before I couldn't feel them much anymore. Then, in no time, my OB was there, checked me, told me I was complete and asked if I was ready to have the baby! This was my first time that I was given the little button that I could push to get more pain medicine, so I pressed the button a lot right before he was born - haha.

We did a practice push and she said he almost was out! I pushed one or two times with virtually no pain and he was born! I couldn't believe that it was possible to have a baby with that little pain during the moment of birth! I guess I had paid my dues with all of those contractions! As soon as he was born they wiped him off a bit and handed him to me. It was an AMAZING moment as they handed me a beautiful, healthy, completely perfect baby BOY! The miracle of life gets me every time. Psalm 139:14 has been repeating in my head ever since he was born as I inspect his tiny body, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." God is a master artist - I have had the privilege of playing a role in bringing three of his beautiful creations into the world. I feel unworthy of that privilege, but oh so thankful.

Josiah Daniel Baareman

June 7, 2016 - 7:49 pm

8 lbs. 6 oz., 20 3/4 inches

My parents got to the hospital about 30 minutes before he was born. They had been about to spend the day/night at Reynold's Plantation when they found out I was in labor. They left when they didn't hear from us and assumed he was coming quickly. My sister got there about 10-15 minutes after he was born - she had to drive further - from Atlanta. I'm so glad they were all there to meet him.

My recovery has been pretty good overall. The only weird thing that happened is they forgot to turn off the epidural, so I had numb legs for about 2 hours after he was born, until I realized something was wrong and they turned it off! Then, the numbness took a really long time to wear off. Especially in my right leg. I didn't regain feeling in that one until about 4:00 am the next morning! So I had to have help doing almost everything.

Since his birth, Josiah has proved to be very very sweet. He whimpers when he is hungry, then if he has to wait more than a minute or so, he starts crying. He is a really good eater and I've never had too much trouble getting him to stay awake for feedings. He lost a fair amount of weight in the hospital (went down to 7 lbs. 7 oz.), so we almost weren't able to go home on Thursday. But the pediatrician decided to let us go since I had a history of breastfeeding. We just had to have a weight check on Friday (then he was 8 lbs. 3 oz). He had another weight check the following Friday and he was up to 8 lbs. 13 oz.

The girls were SUPER excited to meet him when they came to the hospital with Jason on Wednesday. It was my first introduction to how life was going to be with two hyper/energetic toddlers and a sleepy/peaceful newborn. They have been really sweet with him and I haven't seen any jealousy. We have just had to set a lot of ground rules for Josiah's safety.

I'm so thankful I get to be this sweet boy's mom. I am LOVING all the baby snuggles. Thank you Lord for this precious gift!

2015 Reflections Video

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 20:09:00 +0000

Each year Jason makes goes through all of our family videos and photos, and picks out the best ones to make a Reflections Video. Hope you enjoy!

Christmas Letter 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 19:59:00 +0000

It’s that time of year when we celebrate the birth of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus and to reflect on the events of the past year. He has truly been our Prince of Peace in a year filled with changes.

2015 was a very eventual year for us. In March we decided to list our house For Sale by Owner! This was quite the undertaking. First we rented a storage unit and filled it with all of our non-necessities to free up space. Most of April was spent keeping the house as clean as possible for (sometimes last minute) home showings. De-cluttering the house with two kids at home was quite the task! It normally included Lucy playing by herself in her room and Bridget playing with toys in a pack n play while I frantically ran around the house picking up toys and spraying windex and air freshener! We would then vacate and go play at a park until I got the call from the Realtor that the coast was clear! We were SO thankful when we got an offer about 2 weeks in. Our tasks then changed to paperwork and finding a new house! This was the fun part for me. We found the perfect home only about 2 miles away. It was unoccupied so we bought it early so we could do some quick renovations during the two weeks before we moved in. Of course, this time of renovations and owning two homes at once overlapped our highly anticipated yearly beach trip to Hilton Head with my family. There was no way we were going to back out of that, so I just went prepared to answer renovation questions from the beach!

This year was the year of going to the beach! We visited Destin, FL with Jason's family in late September and had a wonderful time. The weather was absolutely perfect! The girls spent most of their time making sand castles and playing in the pool. Me and the girls returned to Hilton Head in October with some of my family and it was amazing to see how much Bridget in particular had grown just in the 4 months that had passed since she first experienced the beach in May. Whereas her first trip she mainly just stuck her toes in and was wobbly on her feet, she was practically running through the waves in October!

I continue to stay at home full time with Lucy (3 1/2) and Bridget (1 1/2). I am learning to embrace this role and my days are full of tasks such as: feeding, dressing, and bathing the girls, doing art projects with the girls, doing homeschool activities with Lucy, breaking up sibling fights, etc. You can see who my life seems to revolve around... :) I have really enjoyed time getting to know my mom friends better during play dates and other get togethers. This season of my life has also given me time to cook more and learn about Christ-centered parenting, home-life, and activities to keep young children occupied. I have always hoped and prayed that I would get to be a wife and mom and the Lord has granted that desire! I count it as a true privilege to be the one who wakes my kids up every morning, plays with them at home, and gets to be there during the sweet sleep "post-nap" time.

Jason still enjoys his choice of profession as a Physical Therapist. He enjoys connecting with and building relationships with many of his patients. He has even had the opportunity to share the hope of Christ with some of them! This summer he changed jobs and now works with GRU (Georgia Regents University) Health. He has enjoyed getting to know his new co-workers and is thankful for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a therapist. One of Jason's passions is helping to lead and teach our Young Marrieds Life Group at Warren Baptist Church. With this group of people we have been able to work together on various ministry opportunities. One was building a well in India through the Never Thirst organization, and another opportunity was assembling care packages for a homeless ministry. Jason is a great dad and enjoys playing with the kids as soon as he comes home from work. In his (pretty limited) spare time, he loves reading and planning firework shows - the most recent "show" was for New Years Eve!

Lucy is full of personality and more talkative than ever! She amazes us with the things she talks about and remembers. She has entered the "Why" stage and her questions definitely keep us on our toes. Her favorite movie is Frozen, and it seems about half of her toys are related to the main characters Anna and Elsa. She loves arts and crafts, coloring, and helping Mommy cook. She enjoys being a big sister but still can't quite grasp the fact that Bridget is younger than her and may not play with toys in the same way as she may want her to. Although they find many things to fight about, they also play together well a lot of the time. Their favorite games include hide and go seek, playing with their babies and strollers, and making forts. She is a true joy to have in our family.

Bridget has been such a fun addition to our family. She has really mastered walking and is now really into climbing, exploring all areas of the house, and even running. She is always attempting to do everything she sees her big sister Lucy doing. She sees no reason why she can't successfully do everything Lucy does. Her favorite activities include playing outside, swinging, taking baths, brushing her teeth, puzzles, and coloring with Lucy. Recently she has started to rapidly add words to her vocabulary. It seems I hear her say 1-2 new words every day! Even though she is almost as big as Lucy, Bridget is still my baby and I enjoy cuddling with her every time she lets me. However, she won't be the baby for long, as we are expecting a third bundle of joy in June 2016!!!!!

Every Christmas I am reminded of the enormous gift of the tiny baby Jesus, born in the stable so many years ago. Because he humbled himself to birth, life, and death as a human, I have been given the incomprehensible gift of a relationship with Him in this life, and the promise of eternal life after death. I depend on this relationship every day as I'm dealing with my worries, struggles, and temptations. I'm so thankful that the God of the universe is just a prayer away and is sovereign over my life. I hope that you also know the hope that is found in Jesus Christ and that you understand the amazing love he has for you.

Check out our 2015 Family Video here.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. - 1 John 4:9-11

Year End Book Review 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 19:35:00 +0000

For those of you who read this blog post every year...you know the drill. For those of you who are reading it for the first time, well it's pretty simple. I read some books over the course of the year. And then I provide a brief review so you can decide if you would like to read them. Let's get down to business.

Benjamin Rush by David Barton - No, this is not a book about a dude who ages backwards. This book is actually a very well written biography of one of the foremost founding fathers of this country and it is written by a fantastic American historian in David Barton. I have recently really desired to read about our nation's founders from their own writings, letters, and other publications because I don't think textbooks give you a real picture of who these men were. I had only heard about Benjamin Rush because of some prior David Barton information that I had read. But truthfully, after reading this book, he is probably one of the most influential and important founders. This man was the catalyst behind Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense." He served both as signer of the Declaration of Independence and later as as signer of the Constitution. David Barton writes this book in categories ranging from Benjamin Rush's thoughts on education, religion, politics, medicine, etc. So each chapter is dedicated to that topic and includes many letters, essays, and other publications of Benjamin Rush himself. He is a prolific founder with a deep love of God and timeless wisdom. In addition, I appreciated this book because Benjamin Rush was also a physician and is considered the father of American medicine. It's a fantastic book and this man has become somewhat of a role model in my life in how he conducted his faith, life, family, and medical practice.

Kingdom Man by Tony Evans - This book was actually not on my preliminary reading list but the men in my life group wanted to get together and read it so I joined in. It was a good book. Tony Evans (who shamefully I didn't really know about) has an easy readability and he uses many analogies and metaphors to drive home his points. Basically, his focus of the book is for Christian men to step up and be who God created us to be - leaders, providers, societal changers through the power of the Gospel in our lives, marriages, families, and work places. He provides many fascinating statistics on men in society and the importance of fathers in the home all with the challenge to lean in to Christ and, by His power, fulfill what God has called us to be and to do. As I said before, it is a good book with a great point and challenge but my one critique would be it becomes a little repetitious in thought and principle. Nonetheless, one would walk away with renewed energy to man up!

Knowing God by J.I. Packer - This is a gem. This book was for me this year as George Muller's Autobiography was last year. I read a short book by J.I. Packer last year and loved it. This is probably his most well known and most prolific writing and it doesn't disappoint. On the outset this book is for believers and the author's aim is to again capture who God is as he is revealed in the Bible. It is a great comfort and provides incredible clarity to any believer. Basically each chapter explores an attribute or doctrine of God from God's grace to His love, to His wrath, to His judgement. No aspect is left untouched and Mr. Packer does an exceptional job of linking everything to give you a grand and complete picture of our God. I listened to this as an audio book and several times driving down the road I was almost in tears worshiping God. Clearly, worship is not about creating an experience or a certain music style. It is simply marveling at who God is and what he has done for me and you. But that is a discussion for another time. The entire book is most excellent but my favorite chapters were those on God's love which was immediately followed by God's wrath. The juxtaposition of what His loved saved us out of is verbally painted in a magnificent fashion. I also really really liked the chapter on our adoption. You need to read this book. It should almost be mandatory for every believer and I hope to read it every few years to be continually reminded by one of the greatest theologians of our day, just how awesome is our God.

Counter Culture by David Platt - I love me some David Platt. His passion and zeal for God's glory and God's kingdom is contagious and it flows out of this book as well. Essentially, the author makes the claim that in a culture focused on justice and social justice Christians sometimes focus on one, say global poverty, and turn a blind eye to another, say sex slavery. Mr. Platt argues that that mentality, to care about what is en vogue, cannot be true of believers because the Gospel impacts all areas sin and injustice. With that foundation laid, you will read through ten chapters each dealing with a major crisis issue within the world and within our cultural context. David Platt expertly, poignantly, and yet lovingly threads how the good news of Christ not only can free someone from an injustice but also explains how the Gospel impacts our personal hearts and lives to make a difference. This is a fantastic book and quite honestly a challenging book because it forces you to be practical and begin to ask how can I begin to make a difference by advancing the Gospel message. I mentioned it was practical. It's very practical. He includes at the end of each chapter agencies and ministries that you can partner with that are carrying out work in each of the areas described which ranges from abortion, to race relations, to poverty, to sex slavery etc...yeah, all in one book. This book packs a wake up punch that we all need and I highly recommend it.

Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of the Pioneer American Missionary by Jason Duesing - That was a mouthful. It's a long title but basically it's a biography of Adoniram Judson. It's interesting how I came across this book because I probably never would have read this book. But originally in the early part of this year I was scheduled to go with a medical mission team to the country of Myanmar through an organization called the Christian Medical/Dental Association (CMDA). It's a great organization and yes, the have a physical therapy wing. But as I was going through the process the team leader wanted us to read a biography of this guy named Adoniram Judson. Low and behold the next day (I don't think it was chance at all) there is a Kindle deal for this book for .99 cents so I buy it and read it. And I am really glad I did. I learned so much about not only Mr. Judson but also William Carey, who is considered the father of modern mission. I learned about the early mission agencies in America and the ties to English mission agencies, which was all happening around the time of the American revolution. I learned about the theology of America's most prolific early missionary in Adoniram Judson and how great Puritans like Jonathan Edwards impacted him. I learned about the sacrifices, hardships, setbacks, and near failures that this man went through to bring the gospel to the people of Burma, or modern day Myanmar. Mr. Judson is an inspiring figure, but also very real as he suffered through some dark depression on the field and went through hell on earth losing multiple spouses and many children all to advance the Kingdom of God. I ended up not being able to go on the trip due to changes in my family life but I was truly informed and inspired by Adoniram's life. Hopefully, I will be able to go with the team in the future.

Prayer by Tim Keller - I loved this book. I really like Timmy-K in general but I really appreciated this book. I think if we are honest we all would admit that our prayer lives are lacking. Maybe in consistency, maybe in depth, maybe in focus. It just seems that something so vitally important seems to be so elusive in our daily lives. And Tim addresses that in this book. He explores the theology of prayer, the necessity of prayer, and ultimately the supreme importance of prayer. He does this by drawing from some great teaches of the past including Jesus with the model prayer, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. But what I really appreciated are his honest struggles with prayer and his exploration and study of prayer to improve his own prayer life. Mr. Keller includes prayer examples and even prayer plans in the indexes of the book. This book challenged my prayer life but it also renewed and re-energized my prayer life. I would highly recommend this book to read in the coming year.

Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom by Carl Trueman - This was a fascinating book. It was not necessarily what I expected but it did not disappoint. This book was really an application of Luther's theological mind to different areas of the christian life. The author focused mainly on church life and teaching. In the beginning of the book you learn briefly about Martin Luther from one of the leading Luther scholars in Carl Trueman, but he is quick to point out that this book is not a biography but an exploration of Luther's theology applied to the life of a believer within the medieval worldview lens of Luther. The meat of the book boils down to Luther's view of people either as theologians of glory (man centered theology/law/works based belief) or theologians of the cross (follower's of the gospel message). The author highlights that being a theologian of the cross is counter logical in that there is strength in weakness, and life in death. Mr. Trueman uses citations from Luther's major works in the book that really highlight Luther's beliefs. Topics range from pastoral teaching, to church life, to family life. I learned some good lessons for teaching and leading my life group. My one critique is that this book was much more academic then I expected it to be. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the author uses many words that could be found on a GRE and I could see being assigned this book in seminary. Overall, though, it was a good book.

The Mortification of Sin by John Owen - Finally...the last of the books that I read this year. This book is a fast forward about 150 years from Luther's time to the time of the Puritan's. I do love the Puritan's and the more I read them the more I love them. John Owen is among some of the most famous Puritan teachers and his writings on dealing with sin in a believers life in this book are very applicable to believers today. Essentially he reiterates what the Bible says that we are to be holy and to throw off sin. But then he provides some practical means in which believers do that starting with the obvious, surrender to Christ and reliance on the Holy Spirit. It is a very encouraging read as you explore his insights and thoughts on killing sin in your life. It is also a great challenge to be holy and to hate sin. However, John Owen's writing can be a little difficult because he uses really long sentences and it's written in an outline form. But, it is a fantastic book and one that I would highly recommend because it is not very lengthy. Best line from the book: "Do you mortify [sin]? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you."

So Laura said this book doesn't count because it was a daily devotional and I didn't read the entirety of it. But, Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotional is fantastic. There are two devotionals per day, and I read about half of them. They are challenging, worshipful, thought provoking, encouraging and just fantastic. Spurgeon continues to be one of my favorites and these collections of writings are just awesome. I highly recommend this devotional for the year ahead if you want a daily reading.

Get caught up by browsing reviews from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Our Budgeting & Debt Payoff Story

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 20:09:00 +0000

I recently wrote our budgeting/financial story for a friend's blog and thought I should share it here too. Budgeting has been VITALLY important to my husband and I throughout our entire marriage. I want to share our testimony about not only how budgeting has helped us, but also how God has provided for us financially.

Financial Backgrounds

Jason and I grew up with different spending habits. I had a fair amount of spending money because my parents paid for all of my needs and then some, then whatever I earned at my job was mine to spend as well. They taught me the importance of saving and giving, but I chose what to do with the rest. What I chose consisted mainly of clothes and entertainment. Jason grew up and entered college with more of a mindset that he didn't need a whole lot of spending money, and that most of his earned money would go to more important long term things, like college.

Newlyweds

When we got married (right out of college), the main area of adjustment was money decisions. I had a few credit cards, and had no issue with signing up for new credit cards if it meant saving some money or getting some perks when I signed up. Well a few months into our marriage I carelessly forgot to make a payment and got a late fee. Jason was pretty unhappy about this and told me that we didn't have the money to be paying late fees. He thought that we needed to buckle down on our finances, write down every purchase that we made, budget, and rip up some credit cards. I was pretty shocked at first and put up a little bit of a fight. But I knew he was right. We were making very little money since I was finishing up school and working part time and he was only able to intern before entering Physical Therapy school. We didn't have a choice. We had to be SUPER careful about how we spent our money or we would burn through our savings in no time flat. I will give a shout out to Crown Financial - we did that Bible Study in a group together before we got married and it gave us a lot of groundwork information that we built on.

Luckily, I am a huge Excel nerd and once we set up a very basic budget in Excel and did it a few months, I actually enjoyed seeing for the first time a bigger picture of where our money was going. I suddenly felt in control! We could decide that we were only going to spend "X" dollars in groceries that month and actually accomplish that goal! Yes, it meant not buying fancy foods, and eating out of the pantry for the last week of the month, but we weren't dipping into our savings! It was time consuming to look at all of our statements and reconcile the amounts and enter them into our budget, but it also empowered us because we would catch funny charges or things that we didn't recognize. There wasn't ever a charge to any of our accounts that we didn't see. Every charge got entered on our budget as the month went along.

Budgeting during Physical Therapy School

I believe that the Lord guided us through our experience with Crown Financial, our budget, and also the good "live debt free" example set by our parents to help get us through the next period of our marriage. As soon as Jason started PT school, our budget became extremely tight. I got a job and the money I earned had to be enough for both of us. We made it our goal not to take out ANY additional debt beyond school expenses. You see, in Medical School, you can take out tons of debt, not just for school expenses, but for living expenses as well! Trust me, it was very tempting to take out debt so we could go on a vacation or two, go out to eat more, buy more clothes, fix up our house, etc. But living on a tight budget taught us (mainly me) one very important lesson - PATIENCE! I learned that if I wanted to paint the kitchen or wanted a new outfit, maybe I couldn't do it that day - maybe I'd have to wait for birthday money, or Christmas money. It was a tough lesson, but I learned that God eventually provided for those desires - even when I didn't really "need" them. Our budget allowed us to cut every unnecessary expense so that we wouldn't have to take out more debt. One expense we didn't cut was tithing. It was a blessing to witness how God provided for us in this time. At the end of the year we were both SHOCKED that our savings account hadn't changed.

Paying back the Debt

When Jason finished PT school, passed his board exam, and got a job (Hallelujah!) - we purposely chose NOT to live on the glorious two paychecks that we suddenly had! We chose to live on his pay, and for my pay to go 100% to paying off his school debt - our total debt was approx. $43,000. Now at this point (3 1/2 years into our marriage), we had just had our first child - Lucy. I had always had a strong desire to be a stay at home mom, but I realized that if I did that, we would not be able to afford our living expenses plus the new monthly payment on Jason's school loans that we would soon have. It was a HUGE sacrifice for me to take Lucy to a nanny or daycare almost every day for her first two years of life to pay off that debt - and boy did it make me thankful that we hadn't let it balloon any larger during our first 3 years of marriage!

Quick Side Note: We are Dave Ramsey fans and believe in the "pay it off with a vengeance" mentality. Jason's medical school loan didn't require us to make any payments for 6 months and also didn't collect any interest for 6 months! We took this as a challenge and aimed to pay off the debt as quickly as possible so that we would pay very minimal interest. When all was said and done, we paid less than $500 in interest - PRAISE BE TO GOD!

Another Side Note: When Lucy was born, the Lord enabled me to get a huge pay raise at the exact moment when we started paying off the debt. Coincidence? I think not! I believe that God was rooting for us to pay off the debt to reach our goal of debt freedom and our ultimate goal of being able to afford for me to be a stay at home mom.

We paid off all of our debt in about a year and half. I kept working for another 6 months for the sole purpose of building up some savings.

Budgeting throughout Life Changes

We have continued with the same Excel spreadsheet budget for the last 6 years! We have (Praise God!) more money coming in each month, but the number of transactions and amount of money spent each month has also skyrocketed! (think babies, diapers, kids clothes, etc.!) I'm not going to lie, it is a time commitment to enter each transaction that we make. However, it makes us literally think about every purchase twice. It helps us see what each purchase does to our bottom line, and it gives us a goal to shoot for. Are we perfect at budgeting? Definitely not! I'll be the first to admit that we rarely make budget 100%. But the goal is that some months we have a little extra, and some months we spend a little extra, and thats okay! Life is unpredictable sometimes! We are currently investigating budgeting software like Quicken that will make the process more automated, so hopefully that will mean less time with the budget with the same ability to see where our money is going.

We are now "Living the Dream" - with no debt except our house and our rental house. I'm a stay at home mom and we have savings as a cushion. Sometimes I still worry about future finances, but I love looking back at the ways that God has provided for us. He is the same God now as He was then, He still has the ability to provide for all of our needs, and He will do just that! If that means one day I need to return to work, that's fine. I'm just thankful for the testimony he has given us, and thankful for this opportunity to share our story!

-Laura

30 Feels Good

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 01:09:00 +0000

I feel like the momentous occasion of turning the big 3-0 deserved a least a small blog post. For whatever reason, I remember as a child, a photo of my dad when he turned 30. I thought that was SO SO SO OLD! He had both my sister and I with him. I must have been 3 or 4 and she was around 1. I thought, that must be what normal 30 year olds are like. They have 2 kids :). As I grew up, I didn't think too much about it. But once the baby bug hit, I decided that would be my dream come true. For two babies for Jason and I when we turned 30. What a better way to celebrate than with two adorable additions to our family?

After working a few years I had started to realize that this whole "baby" thing might be a tad harder than I imagined. First off, Jason was in Physical Therapy school, not able to work yet. So instead of a double income, we just had my income for living expenses as we steadily went into debt. My vision of a baby wasn't exactly having so much debt that Jason and I both had to work full time forever and ever just to make our monthly payments. I wanted the idyllic life of me staying at home with my baby, cooking, exercising, decorating, shopping, reading, watching tv, and whatever other fun things a stay at home mom did.

Well long story short, God provided in huge ways in various areas of our lives to let me have my "idyllic" life of being a stay at home mom of two kids - by age 30 no less! Now there were a few bumps in the road. For example, I didn't get to be with Lucy all day every day when she was a baby. I worked 30-35 hours a week from home for almost 2 years until we had Bridget. But we did pay off our debt (wahoo!) and now, I've been living the dream for about a year and half. I'll admit that my life isn't exactly the idyllic existence I thought it would be. Although I do cook some, I clean a whole lot more, and there's not much reading or watching TV going on. Exercise is heaven whenever I get to do it, but happens much rarer than I'd like. Decorating doesn't really exist because honestly, whatever I set out is at risk for breakage. Plus the space could be better used for things the kids enjoy doing. Instead of beautiful artwork, we have the ABCs taped to the wall with painters tape. Instead of a closet full of clothes, it's full of kids art supplies. Instead of flowers on the coffee table, we have a bin of library books. Instead of getting really excited about my own birthday, honestly I was way more excited about my kids birthdays this year. Instead of reading and thinking about how to better my career path and become a more knowledgeable and innovative marketer, my brain is now occupied with things like, "How do I teach my kids how to read?" "Do I really have what it takes to home school my kids?" "How do I convert recipes to be freezer recipes so I don't have to cook every night?" "How can I better organize my garage so the kids have more space to ride their bikes and play", the list goes on and on. Sometimes I miss the "old me" who was a driven career woman who brought in income for our family. The old me who worked out on a consistent basis. The old me whose hair always looked good. The old me who had time to put on makeup everyday. The old me who spent a fair amount of money on a wardrobe. Sometimes I actually pine for more "me time". Time to read, time to train for a half marathon, time to lose myself in a movie. Time to blog! But even more, I'm starting to appreciate the "new me". The new me who actually thinks about others before herself (mainly my kids). The new me who gets to spend an entire morning with my sick daughter, taking her to the doctor and getting her Rx filled - and not worry about work waiting for me the next day. The new me who can sacrifice a good nights rest for my kids. The new me who finds more joy in my kids experiencing new things, than in myself experiencing new things. This new life is transforming me. The Lord is using this home-with-my-two-small-kids time in my life to mold me, refine me, CHANGE ME. And boy do I need changing. Left to my own devices, I am completely selfish. He has shown me that there is something better. A life of giving, of praying for others, of caring, of serving. I still have a LONG way to go, but I'm so thankful that my God is the one in charge of my sanctification and not me.

I guess all of these things I've described is part of becoming a mom - is part of my life as I turn 30. I wouldn't have it any other way. I never want to forget this time in my life. I'm pretty sure it won't last forever, so I sure should write about it more often.

Here's a song that I want to be true in my life during this season:

"The Potter's Hand" - Hillsong Live

Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Savior

I know for sure, all of my days are held in your hands, crafted

into your perfect plan

You gently call me into your presence guiding me by Your Holy Spirit

Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life through Your eyes

I'm captured by Your holy calling

Set me apart, I know you're drawing me to yourself

Lead me Lord I pray

Take me, Mold me, use me, fill me

I give my life to the Potter's hand

Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me

I give my life to the Potter's hand

Bridget is 1 Year Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Wed, 20 May 2015 19:13:00 +0000

My baby girl is already 1 year old! This year has flown by and been filled with so many wonderful memories. I've been really sentimental lately because not only has it been one year since you have been part of our family, but it has also been one year since I have had the blessing of being a stay at home mom! Life also changed a lot for Lucy, who went from being in daycare almost every day, to being home all day with me and you!

You started off as a wee little thing (6 lbs. 13 oz), but quickly caught up to average and then some! At your one year check-up you were 22 lbs, 14 oz (79%), 30 inches (79%), and head circumference of 18.5 (93%). I'm always reminding people that you're "big" since you look and act older than you are. Ever since you had your ear tubes in, you have only had one ear infection that was treated quickly with ear drops. It has been so wonderful to see you actually get better (on your own) from a cold! This didn't happen in the fall/winter when you had one ear infection after another after another and never seemed to heal on your own without antibiotics. Of course with a big sister, lots of outings and time with other kids there has been no shortage of sickness/colds around here - however none of them have been serious. Praise God!

You started walking/taking steps right around 10 months and quickly progressed to full blown walking around 11 months. Now at 12 months you're getting really good at walking! The other day we were in the yard and you were walking on the paver stones all by yourself and barely falling at all :)

We celebrated your birthday this past Saturday on May 16 and you had the privilege of all 4 of your grandparents being there for it! Plus lots of friends! I don't think you realized that all the commotion, decorations, and food was in honor of you and I think you were a little overwhelmed and were more quiet and calm than you normally are. It's pretty funny to witness but I think Lucy was more excited about your party than you were, since she is older and more aware. She also has probably had more fun playing with all your new toys! You are happy just to toddle around the house and open all the cabinets where the child locks have broken off.... ;0)

Here are some things I want to remember about you at this age:

You were completely weaned as of May 17 - the day after your party. I've been trying to wean you for about a month and we finally made it! You weren't the biggest fan of regular cows milk but you eventually realized it was all you were going to get! lol The last feeding we dropped was your middle of the night feeding! I can't believe that I fed you once in the middle of the night almost every night since you were born! This is mainly because you would wake up, cry, and I could either nurse you and you'd go right back to sleep OR I could let you cry and scream for a long time until you really woke yourself up and were then super hard to calm down and get back to sleep. Plus I was always worried that you would wake up Lucy - although honestly she sleeps like a rock.
I used to think you were super laid back, and although you are more laid back than Lucy, you definitely have your opinions! Now that you are walking and can basically get anywhere you want you have shown your little attitude! Sometimes it is just defending yourself when Lucy takes away your toy or something, but other times you have so much energy and curiosity that you get yourself into trouble (touching power cords, taking Lucy's nightlight out of the socket, messing with the painting that hangs above your changing table, etc.) You do respond to a harsh "no" more than Lucy ever did, it seems to really upset you when we scold you. However I did have to give you a few hand slaps over the last few weeks because you kept doing the same thing that I told you not to do over and over and over and had a little mischievous smile to go along with it!

I love you so much my baby boo!

Bridget is 8 Months Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 03:24:00 +0000

It's been two and half months since I last posted about you Bridget and so much has changed! (You are actually closer to 8 1/2 months right now). I think you are about 20-21 lbs.

Yesterday (1/29/15) I saw you standing on your own without holding onto anything! Can't believe you are able to do this already!

You want to be right in the middle of the action. Around this house the action normally involves Lucy. So whatever Lucy is doing or playing with, is what you want to do too. Although it is so cute to watch you be enamored with your big sister, she isn't always crazy about you messing up her toys. One of the most frequent phrases heard is "No baby sissy eat" - which is what Lucy says when she's either afraid you will chew on/mess up her toys or you actually are chewing on/messing up her toys. Lucy has a little car that rolls on its own after you pull it back. So recently we were rolling it back and forth to each other down the hall and you went crawling right after the car, back and forth. We joked that it was like playing fetch. You didn't even care that you never quite got the car, but were content to chase it around.

You are SO sweet! You have the sweetest personality and smile. You just love being around people. That is the main reason you will cry, if we walk away from you and suddenly you are alone. I'm so thankful that I get to spend so much time with you and build the mommy-baby bond. You are also really tough. Most of the time if Lucy is playing a little too rough (for my liking) you are actually fine with it.
Around 7 months you started pulling up on things and haven't stopped! Now you are walking (tentatively) behind your little push walker thing that Lucy had and you also like to push your blue ride-in walker too. You also figured out how to move your feet when you're in your blue walker and it is hilarious to watch. Unfortunately there aren't many wide open spaces for you to walk around in in our house so you are happy until you hit a wall and then cry for us to come move you. That thing is a life saver when I'm getting ready to leave the house. I just plop you in that thing and you watch me and Lucy put our shoes and coats on. Then I put my bags over my shoulder, grab you, and off we go!

You continue to crawl and have gotten better and faster at it. You sound like a peg leg pirate when you crawl because you normally carry one toy in one hand while you crawl, like a little people person or a block.
You recently discovered that you can explore the house on your own and you get really happy/giddy while you crawl around in the morning. While we are getting ready we put you on the big carpet in the family room and in just a few minutes we hear you laughing as you crawl right back up the hall to our bedroom.

It is hard to get a shower/do things by myself now that you are completely mobile! Lucy is totally satisfied to sit and watch some TV in the morning but not you! You want to explore! I've tried to put you in the pack n' play so I could take a shower and you didn't like that. You played for a bit but were crying by the time I was done and pulled up and hung onto the sides of it with your face smooshed against the wall. I also tried the exersaucer, but you also only were happy there for a few minutes and were crying by the time my shower was done. The most successful thing I have tried is putting you in your crib with the lights on and your musical mobile on. I also put a lot of toys in there for you to play with. For some reason you haven't cried with that set up.

You started waking up pretty early in the morning (around 6:30) when we are not ready to wake up yet. So I've been going in, changing your diaper, taking you out of your sleep sack and letting you play with toys in your crib until about 6:45 or 7:00 when I take you into our bed to play for a little while. You play pretty well on your own but are SO excited to come play in our bed. You love rolling around in our soft blankets and pillows and just giggle and laugh - it's the cutest thing to wake up to.
You got tubes put in your ears on Dec. 31st. This was a huge answer to prayer as we were specifically praying that we could get them in before the end of the year to help us with the cost. You have not had an ear infection since! You did get a cold in mid-January that I was afraid would turn into an ear infection, but you seemed to fight it off! Praise the Lord! This is truly an answer to our prayers after you were sick so much of Oct-Dec.

When you are sick/congested, we bring in the car seat for you to sleep in so that you are upright enough for your congestion not to prevent you from sleeping well. You really don't mind it to much. I should mention our "sick baby" routine is pretty elaborate and exhausting! We take your temp. every now and then to make sure the cold hasn't turned into an infection, sometimes we give you baby Tylenol, then I put Vicks on your feet, chest and back, sometimes suck out your nose, turn on the humidifier, nurse you to sleep, then place you in the carseat and hope you don't wake up during the transition! I'm so glad that you are completely healthy right now and can sleep in your bed!

You still take 2 naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They are starting to get a little less predictable and shorter and you can go longer without one. There have been a few days that you went around 5 hours before you morning nap because you wouldn't fall asleep from excitement (at BSF nursery, at the gym nursery etc.) So really, home is the only place where you are guaranteed to take a nap these days. You also have started falling asleep in the car, then wake up when we get home, and don't resume your nap. So you have like a 10-15 min nap and you wake up thinking it is time to play again! So I'm starting to master the "transport sleeping baby from car to crib" skills for those lucky moments when we pull into the driveway and you are still asleep!

You like to crawl around the house and find little pieces of fuzz or dirt and point to them/pick at them with your finger and eventually stick them in your mouth. This is a nerve-wracking stage for me. Try as I might to keep the floors clean, with mainly wood and tile floors in our house this is hard to do! My main goal now is to just keep things off the floor that are big enough that you could choke on them. This could be the reason the top thing on my wish list now is a really good vacuum cleaner and steam mop.
You were so congested while you were sick that you couldn't keep baby food down very well and as a result lost interest in baby food for about 2 weeks. You are slowly warming back up to it (you were eating it great around Christmastime). I've started experimenting with finger foods. First I gave you little cut up pieces of canned peaches. But they were so small and slippery you couldn't really eat them. So I tried larger chunks and you choked on those. So now we are back to small pieces. It is hard with 2 kids because I can't pay 100% full attention to you while you are eating, because normally I'm getting lunch stuff ready for Lucy simultaneously, so I just have to set you up with some finger food that I trust you won't choke on. Other things I have tried is rice, cut up baked sweet potato, and life cereal broken into small bits. You were pretty excited about all of it and seem to like to feed yourself (although you don't get much in your mouth - most of it ends up in your high chair and on the floor!)

You are pretty jealous of Lucy's water sippy cups that I let her take with her around the house so I decided to let you try it and you love it! Again, I don't think you are getting much water out of it, but it makes you happy!
You still have no teeth! I've been thinking that they are just about to pop through for the last 3 months, so who knows!
Your hair is getting longer. It looks like it is light brown. It is so soft and cute.
I've totally spoiled you and you continue to nurse to sleep at bedtime and nap times. Sometimes you will nap when I'm not there (at church or BSF nursery) by falling asleep in someones lap or in a swing. I really need to break you of this habit, but it works so well that I'm finding it hard to convince myself....

Bridget - we can't imagine our lives without you in it! You bring a HUGE ray of sunshine into our house every day. I love your sweet disposition and smile. You are my little adorable companion and I love sharing my days with you! You are really growing up so fast. I'm constantly surprised by what you are able to do. I love you so much! Thank you for making each day so sweet and special!

Love your Mommy

2014 Reflections Video

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 02:48:00 +0000

Year End Book Review 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 01:30:00 +0000

So it has been a really long time since I have blogged. Being a father and a husband takes a lot of time away from sharing tales of adventure from the life of the Baareman's and believe there have been plenty. It's just hard to keep up. But the one post I usually have time for, and this year is no different is my year end book review. This post started out of challenge from my bride to make a new years resolution. I never used to make them, but several years ago I decided that I would read at least 5 books every year. I am happy to say that I have met that goal every year since I started. And in fact, this year I exceeded the goal and made it to 7 books thanks to not having cable. No, Laura, I will not bump the number of books per year. But anyway, this year was a fantastic year of reading. I read some great books ever and many have them have greatly impacted my life and my walk with God. So I hope you enjoy my synopsis and I hope that you pick one of these books up to read.

Coffee with Calvin - While this book is actually more of a daily devotional I am counting it. I read this for the first few months of the start of this year, nearly daily as part of my time with God. I really enjoyed the devotionals. The author takes different excerpts from John Calvin's theological institutes (which he wrote at the ripe old age of 27), unpacks them briefly and then provides biblical back up and life application. So it's kind of an easy way to see how depth of theology can have a tremendous impact on not only what we believe but how we live our lives for Christ and how we interact with others around us. I thought this book was great and it was especially cool to read the thoughts of one of the great reformer's of the faith. Pick it up and add it to your daily devotions. You won't be disappointed.

The Autobiography of George Muller - The story and journaling of this man's life was simply incredible. This book has had the greatest impact on my life as a follower of Christ than any other I have ever read sans the Bible. George Muller grew up in Prussia and eventually became a missionary/Pastor to England in the mid to late 1800's. From the outset he believed that he had a special call on his life to demonstrate the goodness and reliability of our God through constant prayer. After pastoring for awhile, he was moved to build an orphanage in England. Not only moved to start on but also to not ask for a single penny. He would fund everything solely through prayer. It was incredible to read sections of his daily journal at the timely answers of our God to there needs for His glory. George writes this almost as a letter to future believers and throughout the book offers many points of challenge and advice as we strive for Christ. He also provides sharp commentary to stewardship which will be sure to make you think. The tow big take aways of many from this man's life is that he was an ordinary man living in Christ and does not want to be elevated as some special saint. He just implores you to look at the evidence and realize it is the same God and He is faithful. And two, that you will never ever regret investing in the kingdom of God. This book is long and at times a bit arduous, but you will never regret reading it. It should be required reading in Godly homes. I give this book 5 gajillion stars.

Son of Hamas - So, confession...I didn't actually read this book. But I did listen to it as a book on tape through Audible. This was my first book on tape so I got to "read it" on long trips to Atlanta and back. This book is a little different then some I've read but I enjoyed it none the less. In fact, this was a fantastic book. It is the story of man named Mosab Hassan Yousef. He grew up as a young boy in Palestine as the son of one of the most influential muslim Sheiks and founder of Hamas, Sheik Hassan Yousef. He describes life growing up in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. He recounts times when his father would be detained for months in Israeli prisons and questioned for information regarding terrorism activities. As Mosab grows older he becomes personally involved in the conflict fighting against Israeli's as apart of Hamas. He is also captured, tortured, but ironically ends up becoming a double agent for the Shinbet, the Israeli CIA. This book is filled with emotion and action as the author describes from a most unique perspective the history, the daily effect of war, and the hatred between people in this ongoing conflict that only Christ can heal. All is not lost though, in the midst of all of the turmoil, Mosab meets some Christians and begins to read the Bible. He finally recants Islam and Mohammed for Jesus and eternal life. This book is a full display of God's redemptive power through unimaginable circumstances but also provides helpful information in approaching the two people groups in this conflict. This book is a fascinating, gripping thriller of a book with a powerful message.

The Gospel at Work - This was a much lighter and thinner book then some of the previous reads but a great book none the less. Co-authored by a pastor and a veteran business man, this book delves into practical ways to approach our work in light of the Gospel. The authors balance throughout the entirety of the book that one cannot be lazy in work nor can one make work an idol. The book starts with redefining work in light of Biblical worldview describing that we were made to work and work is a good thing that has been tainted by the fall. After a proper theological framework the book gets real practical and highlights chapters on being a Godly boss, being a Godly employee, looking at new jobs in light of the Gospel, and ultimately incorporating our faith in the workplace so people see and hear a difference in our attitudes and our conversations.

Weakness is the Way - This is a short but rather deep book written by J.I. Packer. This was the first book i've read by J.I. (Knowing God is his most famous book but I will get to that back maybe in 2015.) I really enjoyed it but he is deep thinker and writer, however he does not leave the reader in the dust but provides excellent application. The book centers around 2 Cor which states "for my grace is sufficient for my power is made perfect in your weakness." After providing very interesting background into the history and context of Paul's letter to the church at Corinth, he goes on to describe how self preservation and thinking we can do everything in our power has a negative impact not only in our lives as we walk with God but diminishes the power of the Gospel. He ties this concept to many applicable areas of life including giving and stewardship which I thought was interesting. A great read and lots of good take aways. I would highly recommend this book.

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain - This was book is written by Matt Chandler. It was the first book I've ever read by him and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have listened to him preach and I know he has ties to The Gospel Coalition so I was familiar with him but had never read any of his books. This book is centered on Paul's letter - Phillipians. After providing some interesting history and background from the book of Acts on the church in Phillipi, Mr. Chandler jumps right into his central theme of the book which is holy discontent. He breaks down many of Paul's statements in the book of Phillipians that apply to several aspects of our life to ultimately help you ask the question is Christ supreme in your life. Do you have a holy discontent in which you are never satisfied with your walk with God. Do you want to go deeper with God, serve Him more, even to have the attitude that to die is gain. I really enjoyed this book. Matt Chandler is an entertaining writer so it reads easily. This is a great book to read if you are or are not studying the book of Phillipians.

The Soul Winner - Last but not least. It wouldn't be a good reading year if I didn't include my boy Mr. C.H Spurgeon. I love reading Spurgeon whether it be his sermons, his life story or his books. This was a great book and it is classic Spurgeon. It is essentially several lectures that he gave to seminary students and young pastors on soul winning and then all compiled together in one book. So while it is geared toward pastors, there was still much to learn. I especially appreciated his insights as a Sunday School teacher and a church Deacon. He takes time to outline essentially how to win souls. Now before you freak out and say "people don't save people, only God does" relax. This is Spurgeon we are talking about. The whole first chapter is essentially a theological defense that regeneration and salvation are only a work of God and the Holy Spirit. So in light of that he encourages young pastors and educates seminary students on practical things to assist in soul winning. Spurgeon talks about our attitudes, do we expect God to save people through our messages to the people or do we have an attitude of indifference? Are we actively praying for God to save souls? Is there sin in our life? Are we two prideful? So he discusses pitfalls and success in doing the work of soul winning. There are a lot of insights from the prince of preachers and a man of faith who had a passion for people to come to Jesus. I enjoyed the book but it may not be for everyone.

Well, I hope you pick up some of these this year and read away. If you want to see past years just click the year: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Thanks for stopping by and finding out about some great reads. What were some of your favorite books that you read this year?

Mom Thoughts - Nov. 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 19:54:00 +0000

Mom Thoughts

I love the time that I have for more social interaction during the day time, and also in the evenings and on the weekend (since we aren't as behind running errands during the weekends like we used to be when I worked)
I love that I can actually go to my BSF Bible Study each Wed. morning. I used to have to miss about half of the time due to work, it is so nice to be able to go more consistently.
I love that I don't have to worry/panic when I have a sick child. It used to be stressful to figure out how to take care of Lucy and also get my work done. Now it is still hard having sick kids but we can just have a low key day at home if someone is sick.
It is also so nice to not worry about having a rough night sleep wise. Although I do need my energy, there is more flexibility if I'm more tired than usual, like I can relax during nap time or just watch some TV with the kids.
It is super frustrating that I don't have time for projects like I thought I would. I would LOVE to paint the family room and hallway a nice grey paint color. I even have the paint in my closet right now! (leftover from our rental house paint job). I can't believe that I don't work and yet I can't find the time to paint! That is so ridiculous, but so true! My kids seem to always need my attention. In addition, there are so many books I'd like to read, runs/workouts I'd like to do, projects I'd like to accomplish and to do items that remain undone. The main thing that gets done in my house is taking care of my kids each day. I'm learning to be okay with that.
It is hard to be on a tight budget while staying at home. I feel like all of a sudden I have so many ideas on how to spend money (on toys, our house, DIY projects, etc.) but ironically we have less money to spend so it is just frustrating. I'm learning to channel my love of shopping and spending money on the things we HAVE to spend money on - like food. So I've been having fun spending more time and energy on meal planning and cooking new dishes.
I've been sick twice in the last few weeks, both when we've had family visiting. Because of this + the cold weather I haven't worked out barely at all. I really miss it and am thinking about joining a gym once I get better. I've learned it is really hard finding an ideal time to take the kids on a run/walk. Most of the time when I want to work out, they want to play (not sit still in a stroller!)
I don't think there is anything better than seeing your kids laugh together, have a good time together, or make each other laugh. It is just a magical moment that is still very new to me (the last few months). I really hope to have more children so that I can see more of these sibling interactions as they grow up.
As hard as it is taking care of two kids every day, I love that I'm pretty much always with them. I get to witness all of Bridget's new moves and Lucy's new words. It is super special. I'm very lucky. Thank you Lord for the priceless gift of being with my sweet girls every day!

Bridget is 6 Months Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 19:54:00 +0000

Things about Bridget I want to remember:

You have the best fuzzy head. I love it, but everyone thinks you are boy if you don't have a headband on!
You have made me such a softy. I thought I would never nurse a baby to sleep (that would just be too much work!) but now I love to do it for you to relax you to bed. My favorite moments are you falling asleep in my arms and feeling you relax.
You are really tough, so many times I think that Lucy has just hurt you and instead you laugh and giggle and smile at her so big. You adore your big sister.
You are growing so fast. You aren't as big percentage wise anymore, I think you are 70% height, 80% weight (18 lbs), and 70% head size. You are wearing size 3 diapers and 9 month or 6-12 month clothing.
This month you started crawling and sitting up by yourself (right after you turned 6 months old). Then a few weeks later you learned how to transition from sitting to crawling. You love to re-position yourself up and down, up and down over and over.
When you don't want to go down for nap, you will sit in your crib and cry - it is so sad to watch on the video monitor. Sometimes you will stare right at the camera.
You started eating baby food at 6 months and I am attempting to make it myself. I started with oatmeal cereal mixed with breast milk and you liked it a lot. When I switched to making it with formula (because I was running out of my frozen milk stash) you didn't like it at first, but now you do. Then we tried bananas and sweet potatoes, you liked both after the initial shock of a new taste. You didn't like apple sauce, but while we have been in Atlanta have tried some store bought baby food and you did like blueberry-applesauce, so I'll have to make that when we get home. Random story: I tried to make you steamed carrots and I steamed them so long (to make them extra soft for you) that I destroyed my pot. The water ran out in the bottom and melted the nonstick coating! I will admit I was trying to give Lucy a bath at the same time and Kristen was visiting so I was a tad distracted. Lesson learned, don't try to multi-task while making baby food!
You are 6 1/2 months now and already pulling up on toys! It took you longer than Lucy to roll over, but you seem right on track with her with everything else.
You have had an ear infection(s) since the beginning of October. You have been on 4 rounds on antibiotics and it didn't improve until the 4th round, and even then didn't clear up completely. We think that on the 3rd round the infection disappeared because your fever cleared up and you weren't as crabby anymore. However when the doctor checked your ears at your 6 month appt. she said there is still trapped fluid in there. We are taking you to an ENT on Dec. to see if you are a candidate for tubes.
While you had the infection, you were crabby and didn't do well for the nursery at church or BSF. It turns out it was because the antibiotics weren't working for you and I thought they were! :( Well now you are back to your super happy self and doing well in the nursery again. The only remaining symptom is that you grab your ear especially while your feeding before bed.
You love looking at books and grabbing the pages. Although it is hard to read to you and Lucy because you cover all the pictures and she can't see.
Your favorite toy is the blue owl. All we have to do is give it to you or hold it up in front of your face and you immediately giggle and laugh.
You wake up once in the middle of the night to eat and wake up between 6-7 am. We prefer 7 am! We did sleep train you by letting you cry it out. It took about 1 week, but then you got sick and I sometimes had to give you medicine in the middle of the night or feed you to make you feel better and fall back to sleep, so we have regressed in that department.
You recently moved to a two nap a day schedule. You wake up between 6:30-7:00, take a first nap at 10:00 and a 2nd nap around 2:30 or 3:00. She sleeps a total of 3 hours a day and goes to bed around 8:00 pm.
You play really well by yourself now that you can move around and you love practicing your new moves so much. You now can stay awake for about 3 hours at a time. You only get crabby towards the end of that period and want to be held and/or played with.
You love to make a grabbing motion with your hand to feel new kinds of surfaces. You extend your whole hand and then make a fist over and over and over. It is pretty funny.
Nursing you plus taking care of Lucy apparently has taken a toll on my body. I have been sick twice in the last few weeks. First with a horrible stomach bug, now with laryngitis. Boo! You are worth it though.
I love holding you. You are so cuddly. This is such a cute fun age where you just sit there and play with toys - mostly sticking them in your mouth. You are such a joy Bridget! We love you so much!

Lucy Update - Nov. 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 19:53:00 +0000

Things about Lucy I want to remember:

You love your little sister. You ask for her every night so you can kiss her goodnight. You kiss her twice, once on the top of the head and once on the cheek. You are still a little rough with her, most of the time innocently, but I have to keep my eye on you when you are with her. The only exception to this is when you are watching TV and are totally focused in on it.
You now give hugs and kisses to people and hugs and kisses to Mommy and Daddy every night.
You love to pray before our meals. If we forget, you remind us to "pray" (things in parentheses are things you say). We all hold hands to pray.
You like going places and going shopping. You prefer to walk around or at the very least sit in the back of the cart, but so far you haven't proved you are ready for this freedom. You went a little crazy in the "back" of the cart (sitting on the edges, taking everything out of its packages) when we tried it, so you have to sit in the front for now.
You love crafts. You really light up any time we do a craft with you or let you "paint".
You aren't really big on toys right now which has been a challenge for us. If I'm doing chores, you would rather tag along and be my little shadow while looking very bored ;/
You do great at nursery for Sunday Mornings, Wed Night, BSF on Wed mornings, and MOPS every other Tuesday morning. I have been your Sunday School teacher during the 2nd hour this year. Of all the kids I have noticed that you LOVE crafts and activities more than most, you are lighter/smaller than most, are more assertive than most and you still have a little trouble pushing and shoving to get a toy you want or getting to the sink to play with the water.
You are the world's best sleeper! You sleep from 8:00 pm to 7:00-30am every night. You normally nap from 1:30-3:30. Lately you have been skipping naps a few days a week, but I have you stay in your bed for 1 hour if you don't fall asleep and let you look at books. Then after 1 hour you can play in your room by yourself for about 15 min before you can come out. So far that has worked pretty well in getting you at least a little down time during the day.

Things Lucy says!

"Ruh-Ruh" = the barking sound a dog makes. You says this for dog. Your favorite "Ruh-Ruh" is Roxy. You call Roxy "My Ruh-Ruh"
"Where go me?" - for playing peek-a-boo. In general you like to talk like Yoda.
"Gigi and Pops house". This sentence was said a lot in anticipation for our visit over Thanksgiving.
"Gamma Gamma" - Grandma and Grandpa (The Baaremans). You said "Gamma Gamma my how" a lot to talk about them coming to visit your house.
"Nigh-Nigh" = going to bed. If you are tired you say "My Nigh-Nigh", if you don't want to go to sleep - normally at nap time it is "No Nigh-Nigh". You are starting to say more sentences like "No My Nigh Nigh". "Baby sissy Nigh Nigh", ect. You also call beds "Nigh-Nigh", like "Mommy Daddy Nigh Nigh" for our bed.
You can say names, you said my name "Laura" yesterday, and can also say Gigi, Pops, Roxy, Bridget, Lucy, etc.
You call cars "Go" "My go", "mommy's go", "daddy's go", etc.
You love talking about shoes. You have "blue shoes", "ligh (light) up shoes", "white shoes", "boots", etc.
"No go daddy" - When you don't want Jason to leave
You know that daddy eats an "apple" every day for lunch so you say "eat apple daddy" a lot even when daddy isn't even home.
"I Cold" for when you are cold, "I hot" most of the time when sunlight is shining on you.
You love tv so we hear these requests "Baby Animal Tee-Tee" for Charlotte's Web (your favorite), "Dora" "Baby Tee-Tee" for Creative Galaxy and "Blue Fox" for Tumble Leaf.
You still love going "Outside" and you know to put on your shoes and coat to go outside.
You still love baths "Baa"
You know most animal sounds. Lately you've been doing a lot of monkey sounds "ohh ohh ahh ahh"
You call your squeeze packs of applesauce "my baby food" and when Bridget eats you say "Baby Sissy Babyfood" and you like to pull up a chair to watch her.
You love to read your "Bible" before bed each night
"Where go (insert person's name here)?"
Polite phrased we have been working on: "Help Please" "Help Me" "Excuse Me" "Please"

Lucy, I'm so blessed to be your Mommy. You are learning so much and growing up so fast. I'm blessed to be able to witness it every day.

Bridget is 4 Months Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 17:15:00 +0000

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Bridget is 4 1/2 months old now! Time is really flying - evidenced by the fact that I didn't even write a 3 month post for Bridget!

The past two months have consisted of our family getting more into the normal groove of life with two kids. The first two months we had help from family and I spent a lot of time just hunkered down at home or out and about by myself. Recently we've enjoyed lots of play dates and social times since Bridget has been fine with longer stretches of awake time and I have been more confident in my abilities of keeping two children semi-under-control while hanging out with people. I've found that with two kids there is normally one of the two that gets short-changed. Being at the house in the AC playing with toys on the carpet is what Bridget would prefer most of the time. Lucy is okay with this but gets bored quickly and would prefer to play outside, go to the pool, paint or do some other messy project. In order to make Bridget happy, a lot of times that means Lucy will get bored, and to make Lucy happy that means Bridget will miss out on a good nap and instead have to nap on the go as long as she can in the car seat either while driving or at someone else's house. Then of course there is the added complication of doing what I want to do - normally that means neither of the two kids are in their ideal environment. I would like to go on a run or walk every day, or run tons of errands all at once- and I have to stop myself most of the time and realize that would not be fair to Bridget and/or Lucy. This is really teaching me a lot about selflessness. One of the hardest moments I had this past month was when I wanted to go visit my family and go to a huge consignment sale in Atlanta. I had planned on it for months, but when the time came both kids were sick and I realized I just couldn't do that to them. So I got to stay home with sick kids for 3 days instead of have fun shopping in Atlanta. But in the end, it was definitely the right decision to stay home.

Bridget continues to be SUCH a good baby! I don't know what I did to deserve this baby but I'm sure glad she's mine! Here are some things I want to remember about this age and the past two months:

She normally wakes up around 7:30, if she doesn't wake by then on her own, I wake her up and feed her. I like feeding her in peace and quiet while Jason is showering and getting ready for work. Sometimes Lucy wakes up on her own before 7:30, so then we have to figure out how to keep her occupied while I feed Bridget. Normally this means Lucy in our bed (a special treat) with a book to look at or watching TV - "Boo Coo" (Blue's Clues) or "No Boo Coo" (Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood) on our Roku - thank you Amazon Prime!

After holding Bridget for about 5 minutes upright to burp (this time has gotten less and less over time), I can then put her down on a mat in the family room to play while Lucy plays too, we read to Lucy, or we are getting Lucy breakfast. Bridget will play contentedly by herself for quite awhile, but she is obviously happier in the kitchen with us if we are eating. She loves to look around at everyone. Her favorite thing is for me to hold her while I sit at the table so she can stand and look around at the food and everyone. Last night, I had Bridget in the high chair and Lucy wanted to have her booster seat moved next to Bridget (so cute!). Then this morning, she wanted me to face her chair so she could see Bridget in her swing. Another option that I utilize a lot is the swing in the kitchen. She likes it, although she is almost too big for it now. Speaking of which...

Bridget is a BIG baby! She was 16 lbs, 6 oz at her 4 month checkup. This is 90% weight, She was also 65% height (24.75 inches) and I think 90% head circumference (17 inches). I feel like I'm always explaining to people that she is a big baby. When I tell them she is 4 months, I feel like I need to explain why she looks more like a 6 month old! I thought I had everything planned out and that Bridget could wear Lucy's hand me down clothes. Well turns out she hasn't been able to wear a lot of it because she is so much bigger than Lucy was at this age. Right now she's wearing 6-12 month size clothes, which puts her in Lucy's winter clothes. Up until today it has been way too hot to use any of those. So long story short, Bridget has gotten lots of her own new clothes! Maybe this was her plan all along! :)

Bridget is a very flexible baby. I think partly because I never nailed down a perfect Babywise schedule for her, and partly because she is just a pretty content, go-with-the-flow baby. We try to keep to this schedule for the most part:

7:30 Wake and Eat
7:30-9:30 Play
9:30-10:30 Nap
10:30 Wake and Eat
10:30-1:00 Play
1:00-3:00 Eat then put down for long nap during Lucy's nap
3:00-5:00 Play - Eat somewhere in there.
5:00-6:00 Nap
6:00-8:00 Play
8:00 Eat then put down for bedtime
3:00ish - 90% of the time she wakes up one time in the middle of the night to eat. Although the last two nights she has slept through the night until 6:30 am!

However, with our current schedule, this gets flexed a lot. On Sundays, we have church at 9:20, so we leave the house at 9:00 and she's in her class until 12:30 because I help with Lucy's class in the 2nd hour. So her morning nap is botched normally. Every other Tuesday I have MOPS which is from 10:00-12:00 - again, morning nap happens but may be in segments in her car seat. Wednesdays we have BSF from 9:30-11:45, she normally sleeps at some point but the new environment ensures she won't fall asleep immediately after I drop her off. Wednesday nights we also have church from 6:15-7:30. All of these times except MOPS require that she take a bottle, so I'll normally pump some before we go and sometimes utilize some frozen stored milk. She takes a bottle pretty well and is normally pretty good for nursery workers but I have found that my very "good" baby is especially "good" for me. One time I picked her up from church nursery and she was absolutely hysterical because she hadn't drunk all of her bottle and hadn't napped...uh oh. Sorry nursery workers! Add to these disruptions other things like when she wakes up too early, other necessities like grocery shopping, and activities for Lucy and me (play dates, shopping, the library), and poor thing has no hope of having an 100% consistent sleeping schedule. I have felt guilty about it at times, but all in all, as long as she is fed approx. every 3 hours during the day and sleeps approx. 3 1/2 - 4 hours total during the day she is super happy.

I normally run errands or have play dates in the morning, because the time period between the end of naps and Jason getting home (3:00-5:00) isn't quite long enough to get much done. Depending on when Bridget woke up for the day, she will either have her morning nap before the errands, or during. When she was 0-3 months old, she would stay asleep quite well during outings, but around 3 months, it got harder and harder to keep her asleep. From then on I know her morning nap (at its proper length) is at risk if we're out and about. One time she fell asleep in the car on the way to Publix. I tried to keep her asleep in transit from the car to the grocery cart, but at some point she woke up and cried almost the entire shopping trip because she was tired and couldn't fall back to sleep! :( I then made a mental note that it was better for her to have her nap at home, then I could run errands with her awake. This was quite the shift. Between 0-3 months, I pretty much had to be home during her "awake time" or she wouldn't stay awake for long enough. It took playing on a blanket or looking at toys and moving to keep her awake. Luckily during this phase she slept a lot and would stay asleep pretty well in transit - so as long as I made sure we ran errands during her sleeping time, things were good. Around 3 months, it was harder to keep her asleep, but she also got way easier to keep awake. Now, if it is her awake time, she will stay awake even if we are driving in the car. Plus, I've been using my Baby Bjorn A LOT because this is the best way to keep her happy and awake while we are out and about. She loves looking around at everything and loves getting to stretch out her legs. It is hard to get Lucy in and out of the front section of the grocery cart while Bridget is in the Bjorn, but somehow I do it without injuring Bridget! It also takes a little bit more time to get Bridget in and out of the car if I'm using the Bjorn because I have to unstrap her from her carseat, but I'm getting faster and faster with practice.

Around 4 months old Bridget started to roll over, however she wasn't too fond of it. She would either accidentally roll over, or roll over with some assistance. It wasn't until about a week ago that she didn't get upset when we nudged her to roll over. In the past week, she has started to realize how fun it can be to be on her tummy. She has scooted as much as 180 degrees on her tummy and also rolled both ways on her own, However, she still isn't crazy about rolling and only does it rarely.
Bridget has gotten more and more verbal recently and loves to make all sorts of cooing and squealing sounds. Sometimes it is hard to decipher whether she is crying/upset or just exploring new sounds. I love hearing her voice!

Bridget loves to smile and laugh and it is soooo easy to get her to laugh. As long as she isn't tired she'll pretty much laugh every time I smile and say "Boo!" to her. She normally laughs so hard that she'll suck in air and get the hiccups! After visiting my sis in CA with my mom, they both agreed that while Bridget may be a little behind Lucy and Wyatt in motor development, she seems to be more verbal and easier to make laugh/smile.
I copied Kristen and bought a new exersaucer for Bridget after seeing how much she loved the one Wyatt had and that her legs were long enough for it. I normally put her in there for about 15 minutes each awake time.

She loves her sister Lucy and lights up every time she sees her. They love being close together but it still makes me nervous because Lucy is so unpredictable and half the time will try to pick up or roll Bridget over a little too roughly...
Bridget is a pretty fast eater but lately has been getting more crazy while she eats - with flailing arms, kicking legs, moving head, etc. I used to be able to read on my iphone while nursing, but that's a lost cause now :( It takes one of my arms to hold her and them other one to keep her limbs under control most of the time.
I got a high chair, a walker, and a new swing for Bridget on Craigslist. I'm pretty sure Lucy burnt out our old swings motor by putting her dolls in it and playing with the buttons lol. Bridget is still a tad small for the high chair but she likes to sit up there and play (ie: throw toys off of the tray) while we eat or do arts and crafts.

Up until this week, I took Bridget and Lucy for about 1 run/walk a week (I wish I could do more!) in the double stroller and Bridget rode in her carseat carrier. This week though I put her in the stroller without it since we were just going for a family walk on Saturday morning. She loved it and was looking all around for the first half, then fell asleep. And Lucy loved getting to sit next to "baby sissy".
During her first month of so of life Bridget really hated baths, after that she started to like them and now she is really interested in the water. She likes to sit up straight so she can see the water. I have to force her into a lounging position so I can rinse her hair without the soap getting into her eyes! Yesterday she was enamored with me pouring water over her hands - it was so cute!
Up until about 4 months, Bridget slept swaddled in an Aden and Anais muslin blanket. But she started to kick her feet out of it almost every night She was still swaddled around her torso, but her feet were out. I put her in a sleep sack one time and she hated it - I think it was too loose. So Kristen let me borrow the Sleep Sack swaddles that Wyatt used, and she seems to be good with those. However the weight limit is 18 lbs - only 1.5 lbs. away! At her rate of growth she will be too big for them soon, so I'll give the sleep sacks another try.

Being a younger sister is rough, Bridget has had her life endangered more times than I care to admit (okay I'm exaggerating a bit)...Lucy has inadvertently or carelessly hit her with a few hard toys and one time I caught her about to stick a pen in her mouth (it was at her lips when I arrived on the scene...) Add to that the time I found a huge roach in her crib when I went to wake her up! That night, we sprayed roach spray around the room and that night put her crib in the middle of the room with the fan on a door open to get rid of the fumes.
Bridget went on her first airplane ride right about the time she turned 4 months. On the way over she was awake the whole time except for about 30 minutes during take off. She didn't cry really at all, but just would not fall asleep! Me and my mom were utterly exhausted from holding and playing with her by the time we landed! On the way back, she didn't do as well and cried off and on. After getting her to sleep a few times via nursing, she just wouldn't stay asleep very long but was still super tired. Finally my mom got her to fall asleep with her head resting on her shoulder (she's never fallen asleep in this position - proof of how tired she was) while walking around the plane.

I am SO SO SO SO SO SO thankful that I don't have to work anymore and get to spend almost all of my waking hours with my sweet girls. I'm just so blessed and thankful. I know I don't deserve these two precious girls or the treasure of spending all this time with them, but I'll take it gladly! I'm pretty much obsessed with Bridget. She is so cute and cuddly and I love hugging her and kissing her chubby cheeks. She is just so precious and innocent. I know this stage will pass so I'm trying to soak it in! Lucy meanwhile is hilarious. The things she says and does crack me up. I'm also starting to see glimpses of just how smart she is. She notices and remembers every little thing. This can be annoying at times, but her personality is one-of-a-kind and very endearing to me as I get to know her more and more.

I'm also thankful for my awesome husband who comes home from working all day and immediately gets on the floor and plays with the girls while I make dinner or have some time to myself. Then to top it off, he helps me with chores after they go to bed. As utterly exhausting as life with two kids is (and it is WAY more exhausting than I anticipated...), I'm LOVING life right now. It is hard work, but it is good work. Thank you Lord for these precious blessings in my life!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Lucy is Two Years Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Baareman) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 18:43:00 +0000

Dear Lucy -

You have changed so much since I wrote about you at 20 months old! Mainly because you took on your most important role yet of big sister. But I'll back track a bit. From mid-March to mid-May our lives consisted of these things: being sick, getting ready for Bridget to be born, and working a ton. It wasn't necessarily the most fun moments of my life, but there was much anticipation for the month of May!

Around March, (after much hesitation, prayer, and thought) I told my boss that I would not be returning to work after Bridget was born. I had been working approx. 25-30 hours a week up to that point. After announcing my departure, things at work got busier since I was heavily involved in hiring and training my replacement. This meant that my hours increased to full time for the two months before Bridget was born. For you Lucy this meant full time daycare attendance. I didn't care for this at all because I felt like I didn't see you nearly enough! I only got to see you about 30 min. in the morning and 2-3 hours after work. To make matters worse you were such a grouch when you got home! You would scream and whine almost the entire 2-3 hours you were home in the evening. Finally one day, the daycare workers casually mentioned that you hadn't been napping (even though it had said on your take home sheets that you had been...) This explained not only the crabbiness at home, but also the occasional reports of you hitting friends and/or being "aloof" at daycare. One time before I had made the final decision to quit my job, you were sick and I took the afternoon off to take you to the doctor. However, the next day I couldn't take off since I had too much work to do and I had to take you with a dose of ibuprofen in your system. That day was horrible since I just hoped and prayed that you would be okay. It was this day that God used to show me that it was time to quit working and stay at home with you. It would take a lot of trusting in God for provision, but I felt at peace and ready to be home with you all the time - especially when you were sick and needed me the most.

Playing with cousin Wyatt

The preparation for Bridget's birth included a couple of crazy weekends. For example, on Easter weekend we got a Budget rental van, loaded up our guest bedroom furniture and drove it to Atlanta where we exchanged it for my old twin bed set that had been at Kristen's house and the outdoor playhouse that Gigi and Pops let us borrow. Another weekend, I had a baby shower for Bridget and your dad and Pops assembled a brand new swing set for you to play on (this was your early birthday gift from us). Yet another weekend included me and your dad painting your new big girl room lavender so that the nursery could be used by Bridget. Another weekend we spent running around town exchanging diapers and other baby items received from friends to make sure we had exactly what we needed for Bridget. You were a trooper through all of this and remained pretty much clueless about the big change coming your way.

First family photo!

On May 12th, you became a big sister. Your transition started early when we dropped you off at Christian and Tiane's house at around 4:00 am and expected you to be just fine. Ever since then we have worried a little less about you as you have suddenly become (or appeared to be) so big, brave, and able (in comparison to Bridget). You really love being a big sister. Ever since Bridget was born, your favorite toy to play with has been your baby dolls. The Ware's got you your first baby doll when you turned 1, and you only recently really started loving that doll and toting her around with you everywhere. You also had a few rag dolls that have become more popular. Also, you got two new dolls from Gigi and Pops - one the day Bridget was born (Anna from Frozen), and one on your 2nd birthday (with blonde hair and a pink dress).

Eating the hospital food

Your actual 2nd birthday was pretty low key. When Grandma and Grandpa Baareman were here, we had a little celebration for you. They got you a cake from Publix and gave you a bike! On your actual birthday - which was the Wednesday that Kristen and I drove all the kids to Atlanta, we had some chocolate cake and balloons. Then on the Saturday after your birthday, your daddy was there and we all went to the zoo then came home and had cookie cake and presents with Nana and Papa there too.

2nd Birthday Celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Baareman

New bike!

Feeding the birds with dad at Atlanta Zoo for 2nd Birthday

Cookie Cake!

You really started to talk more around the time Bridget was born. We joke that that is because you realized you had to do something "big" or you would completely lose the spotlight! Well, I don't think you will ever lose the spotlight Lucy because you are always doing something new. Some of your favorite words and phrases are:

Water (you are OBSESSED with it) - sounds like "Wadi"
Baby Sissy (also OBSESSED).
Mommy
Daddy
No and Uh-huh (for yes)
Blue's Clues (your new favorite TV show) - "Boo Coo"
TV - (I let you watch TV when I'm feeding Bridget....hopefully you won't get addicted!)
I pooped - "I poo"
Boo-Boo
Bath - "Baa"
Night Night - "Ni-Ni" - most frequently used in the phase "No Ni-Ni" when you aren't ready for bed
Bible
Book - "Boo"
Outside - (also OBSESSED)
Shoes - "Shoo" (associate shoes with going somewhere)
Go
1-2-3 (getting there with counting)
Ready - Set - Go (Not easy to understand yet, but we know what you are saying!)
I see, I see (when you want to see something)
See Baby? (when you want to show baby something - either Bridget or baby doll)
Eat/Eating (use this when you are hungry or when Bridget is eating)
Mole - funny enough you find moles really interesting
My boat - My bow (she says this when talking about the lake house)
Tube - for tube at the lake house
Bow = buckle or hair bow
Please - Mo Pee (you say "More Please" for "Please" since that is how you first learned it)

You have also started string these small words together into really funny sentences like "No daddy no nigh nigh" when you don't want to go to bed. We normally ask you lots of question and you respond with "no" or an excited "uh-huh" (while nodding head) for us to understand what you want. It is really fun that you can talk more now so it's not so quiet around here anymore. Sometimes I'll play some music on my iPhone to liven things up when we are playing together.

On the boat with Wyatt and Gigi

Helping dad with 4th of July Fireworks

The whole family on 4th of July

Birthday cake for Aunt Kristen

Playing Angry Birds with Pops

Her specialty: making Bridget smile!

You LOVE:

WATER (drinking it, playing with it, swimming in it, you are a little obsessed. We had to limit your water intake recently because you were drinking so much we think it took away your appetite for regular food!)
Helping with baby sister (waking her up, putting her to bed, getting her bath, etc.)
Going places (church, play dates, errands, shopping, you love to get out of the house!)
Being outside (playing with your water table and baby pool especially)
Bath time, brushing teeth, reading stories in bed with mommy and daddy before bedtime.
Helping (with laundry, wiping the floor, dusting, you name it!)

Biggest Challenges this month

Hurting baby sister - most of the time by accident, but sometimes you think it is funny :(
Eating full meals - you aren't really picky but sometimes you don't have much of an appetite at all except for milk, fruit, and cheese....
You want to do everything on your own, so when we have to do something for you, you can get frustrated.
You are very needy in the car and are constantly wanting us to hand you this or that, and when we don't you get upset.

First time in big girl bed

Helping take in the groceries

At Steed's Dairy Farm before Bridget was born

Right now we are mainly either spanking you and/or putting you in your room when you are blatantly disobedient or doing something that you KNOW is not allowed (hitting, throwing things, pushing, biting, hurting your sister, not laying correctly when we try to change your diaper on the floor, etc.) You are VERY tough and most spankings you don't even cry. Recently you also seem to care less about being in your room, so we may need to do something else like time out in the corner or something like that. It is still hard to tell exactly how much you understand and correlate a punishment to what you did wrong. We make sure to explain to you why you are being punished before, and to talk calmly about it afterwards. We are also trying to relate all punishments back to a reason "why" - either scripture or a practical reason why you should have obeyed us (cleanliness, safety, respect, etc.) We are currently going through "Growing Kids God's Way" with our Sunday School class and hope to learn some methods that way. I've also read a few books about toddlers that I'm hoping will give me some guidance on what type of behavior is acceptable or not.

Lucy - we love you so much! We are so proud of the big sister that you have become to Bridget. You are such a fun little girl. You love life and are just in general so happy. We love your smile and giggle. It has been so much fun to see your personality, and likes and dislikes emerge more and more. You are starting to become pretty "Type-A" like me. You really like routine and everything in just the right place. We know that God has a special plan for you and that he made you just the way you are for his purpose. You brighten our day every day. Ever since I quit my job you have become my little buddy and I LOVE spending all day every day with you.

Love, Mom