FREEZING!

So are you guys freezing too? I've gotta tell ya, if you want a great present for Valentine's Day ask your hubby for a heated mattress pad. And I guess it could be considered romantic in an unconventional sort of way. I napped McKenna in my bed today so she would be all warm and snuggly. We've had some fun snuggle times reading books and being silly in my bed these last few super cold days! Both Christian and McKenna join me in bed in the morning and I think Christian and I both love that time with McKenna. She whacks us in the face and climbs all over both of us and we giggle and kiss her! So fun! I love being a mommy!

Emma turns THREE!

Romans 10:9 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Well, that's what Emma did on January 14th three years ago. We call it "asking Jesus into your heart." And in our family that's a big deal. So yesterday we celebrated her born-again birthday. She didn't remember the date, so it was all a big surprise for her. Grandmom and PopPop gave her one of those singing cards and I think that was her favorite thing. She kept going downstairs (b/c I found it to be rather annoying at about the 14th time) to listen to it play "Celebrate good times - Come on!"

Please don't judge the cake too harshly. Children were involved in the decorating and I don't do cakes. I buy them, so this was a very lame attempt. Not to worry - she'll have a decent cake for her eighth birthday coming up. Amy's in charge of that one, so it will be much better!

328 Treasured Pages

I love it! I love it! I love it! My blog book arrived yesterday and it totally exceeds my expectations! I downloaded my blog last August, so the blog book is from when I started in September 2007 to August 2008.
Look at this page. I wrote it on the day we found out McKenna was a girl! What sweet memories. As I read it, memories of that day came flooding back.

And then there was the day Nate drew all over the walls and was very sad about it. We were all very sad about it!

McKenna's entire birth, her entire first six months of life are in this book. There is a picture of her on almost every day of her life for six months. And to think that I was feeling guilty about not having a scrapbook for her! Did I mention that I LOVE IT!
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The rest of this post will probably only be interesting to fellow bloggers.
So here is the deal! I used blurb.com to download the book. I downloaded it last August and have been working on editing it on and off all this time. Sometime this fall blogger changed their format and Blurb.com is no longer compatible with blogger. That means you can no longer download your blog into blurb and get a great book. So my blog book abruptly stops at some random point in August. My intention was to finish out 2008 in this book and then start my new blog and have a new book of this blog. Well, that's not going to work now.
I have searched and searched for another company that does blog books. I read on a few different websites that you can go to lulu.com and make a blog book, but I have yet to figure it out. PLEASE let me know if you figure it out or if you find another company that will make blog books. Blurb.com has said that they're working on it, but they don't make any promises. I would suggest heading on over to their website. Send them an email to let them know how much you want them to get this fixed!! The book was 328 pages and a hardcover copy was only $86. That is an incredible deal considering what it would have cost to do something like this on Shutterfly or Snapfish. So I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I'm so thankful I downloaded when I did! So keep blogging and hopefully they'll get this figured out!
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If you checked my blog earlier you would have seen a picture of the cover of the book, but then I noticed that our last name was quite visible since that's the title of the book and that would defeat the purpose of having a new blog. So I removed the picture and you'll just have to come visit me to see what the cover looks like :)

My Challenge to YOU!

So what do you think of when you hear the word AFRICA? I think of poverty, AIDS, starvation, weak government, rebels, orphans...I think of lots of ugly things. Quite frankly, Africa is NOT a place I like to think about. It makes me uncomfortable. It makes me feel unsettled. It makes me feel selfish. So I try NOT to think about it. BUT for several months now, I can't stop thinking about it. GOD keeps bringing it to my mind. GOD keeps showing me my selfishness. I thought about it when I was buying wrapping paper at Christmas time. I picked up the expensive foil kind in Target. I had it in my cart and then I thought about all the people in AFRICA with no clean water to drink. So I bought the cheap wrapping paper and came home and donated 10 bucks to an organization that drills wells in AFRICA. That happened another time while I was Christmas shopping too. I started feeling selfish and to make myself feel better came home and donated a little more money to AFRICAN charities. BUT seriously, let's be honest....I've done nothing of much value.

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My life is extravagant! I'm extremely wealthy compared to AFRICA. I'm selfish and worry about things like what colors to paint my walls and how I want to reorganize my garage. You know I spent $23 on a Thomas Train for Christian for Christmas. Oh dear.

And then I watched THIS. I almost couldn't watch the whole thing. I was sobbing. I wanted to look away! But I made myself watch it and I probably won't ever be the same. That video is just one example of what is happening to literally millions of children in AFRICA.

So what do I do? What can I do? I'm not going to go to AFRICA. I know that's NOT what God has called me to do. But OH my heart is soooo very heavy. It has been for weeks. I've been thinking about what I can do for quite awhile now and I've decided that for right NOW, I NEED to help send the people GOD has called to Africa.

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I know this is getting long, but stay with me here!!

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My college roomate, Jamie, and her husband Daniel are going to AFRICA in June! They're heading to Malawi. Malawi is the third poorest country in the WORLD. Malawi is the kind of place that only GOD could call you to. Malawi is a place with AIDS and orphans and people who live off of less than $2 a day. Malawi is the kind of place that makes me want to look away! But Jamie and Daniel are going! I'm so proud of them. I'm so excited to see and hear about the incredible things GOD is going to do in their lives because of their obedience to Him. Jamie and Daniel are living out the Gospel and I want to help them do it. I want you to JOIN ME in sending them!

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SO HERE IS THE PLAN!!!

Well, this is the first of several plans....get used to hearing about AFRICA my friends!

I've been doing a lot of blog make-overs lately. I'm definitely NOT the best when it comes to blog makeovers, but I've learned a few things over the past 16 months of blogging! So if you would like a custom header for your blog or a new background or a background and header that match and you don't have the time or skill to do it, then let me do it for you. All I'm asking is that you make a donation to Jamie and Daniel and help to send them to AFRICA. They need to raise $40,000 by June. Click HERE to donate online. You can donate any amount you like. I will never know how much you donate - Jamie and Daniel have no idea about my little blogging fundraiser here until they read about it with you. Just keep in mind that every $5, $10, $20...it all counts. So help send them to AFRICA and then send me an email to let me know that you donated and I will email you back with the details of how we'll do your blog makeover. Make sense? This is just something small. The only thing I could think of right now to do something about the needs of AFRICA. I'm going to keep praying and dreaming and hopefully this ache in my heart might ease a little. It's time to do something. Help me do something!

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Proverbs 14:31 NIV
"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."

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Blogger won't let me post my email address, so look on the sidebar for it.

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If you're having trouble viewing the video from the link above, try this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v7ZQUzr0yo

All Done!

McKenna had fun at the hotel last night, but didn't sleep very well. So that means I didn't sleep too well either. McKenna woke up around 4am wanting a bottle and she couldn't have one (nothing to eat or drink after midnight). That was really the hardest part about the entire process of getting tubes in her ears. She woke up for good at 5am and was very, very fussy. We distracted her the best we could until we got to the hospital at 6:45.
McKenna giving Daddy a hug and looking cute in her hospital gown!

Around 7:30am they gave her some Tylenol and a sedative to help her relax and she quickly fell asleep. We carried her to the operating room at 8:00am. Handed her over to a nurse (still sound asleep) at 8:04am and the doctor came to tell us he was done at 8:15am!

Then the hard part began. They didn't come to get us to see her for 15min and that was what was hard on me. I knew she was waking up and I wasn't there and it was driving me crazy! They called us back around 8:30am and she was still pretty subdued and that made me feel better. Notice the glazed over look in her eyes in this picture. She immediately downed a 6oz bottle and then cried for another one. She was hungry! We were heading home by 9am! All in all, it was a great morning, except for the frustration of starving McKenna this morning. The doctor was great, McKenna was a trooper, and Christian was having a grand time at home with my parents. And just for the record, I never did cry! I really thought I would, but honestly there wasn't even time to really think about it! I'm glad this morning is done and over with. Thank you for praying. Ryan and I prayed that this will completely resolve McKenna's ear infection issues and that she'll never have another one again!

Tomorrow is McKenna's Big Day

Could you guys please pray for my precious McKenna tomorrow morning? McKenna will be getting tubes first thing in the morning. We have to be at the hospital at 6:30am and the hospital is quite a drive, so we're going there tonight and Ryan and I will be staying in a hotel with our cutie! The procedure should be quick and very routine! She'll be in and out in 20 mins. and we expect to be home by lunch time. I'll post again sometime tomorrow once we're home and settled! I had to include this picture of McKenna and one of her BEST FRIENDS! Abby is definitely like a big sister to McKenna. She does such a good job of taking care of her and McKenna absolutely lights up when Abby walks in the room!

Help - I MESSED UP

Isn't this a gorgeous picture?!! My friend Lori took this picture at one of the battlefields close to our home! This picture has been entered in a contest and quite frankly it's definitely the best picture in the bunch. Well, I did something stupid and went to vote for her picture and clicked on the wrong thing and I gave her a horrible rating! Lori - I'M SO SORRY! So everyone, all of you, I mean it...have to go and vote for her photo. Please make up for what I did! And pay attention when you vote and click on the set of stars on the right hand side of the page. Really it's not confusing at all, I was just distracted and goofed up! You don't have to sign in or set up a silly account or anything. Just click this link and vote!!
http://www.tamron.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=24&pos=0
Let us know if you win Lori! And once again, just so you know I really mean it....I'M SORRY!

I LOVE Monday Mornings

I know most people don't....but Abby and Nate are so excited to see Christian and McKenna. No one is sick of each other yet. They all spend the morning playing (with no fighting) together. They get all sappy about how they've missed each other and hug and kiss like they haven't seen each other in years. And there is peace and laughter in my house for at least the first part of the day! Absolute wildness reins downstairs right now. The treadmill is a boat and they're rescuing people. Then they're apparently going to have a birthday party for Abby (no- it's not her birthday. not even close). It's fun! Hope you're having a fun day!