Nikki's 29th Birthday

March 26, 2013

So, it was a nice weekend! Saturday, I went out with Puja, Connie and Pretty for my birthday at the Westwood Tavern.  It was really fun! We each had a drink before dinner and caught up on the various on-goings of our lives.  We ordered some delicious food and, at times, I laughed so hard that I cried.  It was a nice time with the girls. 

Nikki, Connie, Puja and Pretty.  My best friends!  XOXOXO

We are so silly! 

Phil enjoyed Daddy-Daughter time while chowing down on fried bologna sandwiches.
Don't judge until you've had them.  They are delicious. 

Sunday was low-key.  We didn’t do much, but it was nice having a family day.  Maddie had a tough time at church, so I really didn’t hear any of the message.  Literally.  I was so disappointed, but I think I will listen to it online while I am running on the treadmill at some point this week.  First, though, I have to finish my last verse of Titus. 

Mommy and Maddie on Nikki's Birthday Eve

I have 1 more verse to go.  You heard right: 1 more verse! I could have worked on it today, but I felt like I would be cheating myself out of the benefits of meditating on only one verse a day if I jumped ahead.  So, by this time tomorrow, by God’s grace, I will be able to recite all 46 verses.  Praise God!

Maddie is really struggling with her teeth this week and not sleeping well.  She has had us up 5 or six times a night for the past few nights in a row.  I am really hoping that she gets some relief soon and is back to her smiley self.  She didn’t want to play yesterday and couldn’t nap for very long.  Poor baby.  I am going to call the doctor today to get the ok to give her ibuprofen instead of Tylenol and ask him what he thinks of the Hylands Teething tablets.  

I put her down for a nap and she grabbed her foot and slept like this.  Too cute! 

Monday was nice, too: my actually birthday.  AH! I am getting old.  ;-) Maddie and I took a trip to the mall to pick up my Godiva birthday rewards (mmmm! Chocolate!) and Phil and I made lasagna for dinner.  After dinner, Phil brought out an icecream cake and sang to me. I L.O.V.E. ice cream cake, by the way.  If you ever want a smile from me, just give me some ice cream cake.  Maddie liked it, too!  

My loving husband emerging with my delicious birthday treat.  Thanks, Phil! 

Maddie's First Teeth and Other News

Friday, March 22, 2013

Maddie and I are having a really nice day today! I should actually revise that statement to say that we are having a nice week.  Madelynn has just been a pure joy: just  a sweet, wonderful, happy baby despite the fact that she (drum roll, please!) got her first two teeth! The two bottom front teeth have emerged, the first one coming through on March 20, the first day of spring and my grandma Manley’s 83^rd birthday, and the second coming through last night.  They are small, so difficult to see, but they are definitely through the gums.

Maddie is ready for spring!

Teething….sigh….making nights very difficult.  We are having a tough time keeping Maddie asleep at night. She wakes up, we rock her back to sleep and she either reawakens upon hitting her mattress or else sleeps for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and then reawakens.  It has been difficult on Phil and me, but knowing it is because she is hurting makes it easier for me to get up to comfort her. 

Today, has been great! Maddie went down for her nap at 10:45 and slept her usual 45 minutes.  She woke and was babbling in her bed and then drifted back off to sleep on her own.  She slept for a total of 2 ½ hours, giving me time to clean, eat lunch, run my 5 miles, shower, straighten my hair, make some coffee and eat some chocolate pudding.  Then, Maddie woke up and she was beaming with happiness.  We played sitting up, standing up, laying down and did some tummy time before she got sleepy again.

When she wakes up, we’ll probably take a trip out of the house since we got our car back on Wednesday.  YAY! Can you believe that those demon squirrels cost $3,500 worth of damage?!?! But, the car is good as new and back in our possession, so Maddie and I don’t feel quite like caged animals anymore.  Plus, we got to spend a half a day with Phil on Wednesday since he took off work to drive us to pick up the car. 

Grandpa came to visit us this week and we had dinner together.  It was really nice to have the company.  We love you, Grandpa! 

Maddie is still working on her crawling skills, but is far from it.  She is sitting for really long periods of time and I think she is starting to figure out how to go from sitting to leaning forward to get into the crawling/tummy time position.  She’s babbling a lot more and I heard a distinct “mom” over the monitor one day last week. 

I'm sad it came out blurry, but this is a picture of Maddie hugging her toy, Violet.  She loves clapping along to the music she plays. 

We have started giving Maddie more foods, too.  We have discovered that she loves pureed meatballs and chicken pot pie.  We also gave her a big piece of banana yesterday for her to hold onto and eat herself.  A friend mentioned that she is doing this with her 7 month old, so I decided to give it a shot and suck up my “oh-no!-my-baby-is-going-to-choke” fears.  Maddie did great, although it was hard for her hands to keep a grip on the slippery banana.  She took bite-sized chunks right out of it and mashed it with her gums before swallowing.  She also successfully picked up some puffs and put them in her mouth! She is really advancing with those fine motor skills.  My little peanut is growing up!

Baking updates: I made pretzels and they were amazing!

Topped with cinnamon sugar, salt, cheddar and parmesan, and sesame seeds.  

Running updates: I have upped my mileage to 5 miles now at a 2% incline and 6.3 speed.  I am feeling strong and excited to get outside with the running stroller.  Hopefully next month!

Gardening updates: I planted my seeds last Thursday, March 14 and we have sprouts already! The zucchini are really big, the cucumbers are right behind them and the peppers and tomatoes are popping through the soil, too.  Still waiting on the impatiens to show themselves, but I am sure we we’ll see some green in those pods soon enough. 

My zucchini growing up strong! 

Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Peppers! 

Bible Memorization Updates: I am so thrilled to say that I am almost done with memorizing Titus 3.  I have 4 more verses left and then I will have completely memorized the whole book of Titus: all 46 verses! I am so grateful to God for carrying me through this process.  I hit a rough patch at one point and was having a difficult time getting through some of the verses. It really de-motivated me. But, with some prayer and by God’s grace, I have reemerged and am now almost done.  Next time you see me, feel free to challenge me to recite the book. 

Plumbing updates: My husband is amazing and fixed our two wobbly toilets last weekend.  He took them up from the floor and reset/installed both of them. This man has some mad skills.  Boy, do I adore him. 

I’m looking forward to this weekend.  I’ll be going out with my friends tomorrow night to celebrate my birthday and Phil and Maddie are going to have some Daddy-daughter time together.  Sunday will be an all-day family day. I’m so happy we don’t have anything planned.  Then….AH! I will be 29 on Monday.  I guess mommy is growing up, too.  ;)

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

Our Testimonies in 300 Characters or less

Phil and I did an exercise today to try to write our testimonies in 300 characters or less.  It was challenging, but an interesting experience.  Here they are:

Phil

I grew up knowing about Jesus, but not knowing Him personally. I was judgmental, arrogant and struggled with anxiety and depression. After accepting Jesus into my life in a church youth group, God blessed me with comfort, hope and victories over sin. Today, Jesus is no longer an abstract idea to consider. He is now the king that I love, worship and adore

Nikki

Growing up, I struggled with self-image issues and feelings of worthlessness, which culminated in high school when I was invited to youth group. After one of the messages, I decided to commit my life to Christ. The Lord healed me from my depression and taught me that I am His loved and cherished daughter, how to forgive and has given me joy in all circumstances

Squirreling Around Town with a 7 Month Old Baby

Monday, March 11, 13

Ah! Monday morning!  Here comes another week full of playing and learning.  Maddie and I are looking forward to it, even though we will be stuck in the house due to our broken car, but I’ll get to that.

First, I want to just give a short overview of the past couple of weeks.  Two weekends ago, we had a very nice Saturday together as a family.  Mr. handyman, Phil, woke up early on Saturday morning and took the oven apart.  An hour later, Ta Da! He had fixed our igniter and the oven now lights on the first try.  I was very excited about this since I have had an especially frustrating couple of baking sessions in which my bread didn’t seem to be baking properly.  It turns out that it was because the oven was trying to light, but the igniter was not properly aligned, meaning: no fire and no heat.  Ah.  That would explain why my bread was nothing but dough.  The rest of the day, we spent shopping and running errands.  As boring and mundane as it sounds, it was nice to just spend the day together.  

7 months old already!?!? (and still wearing her size 0-3 month outfit)

Sunday was really nice, too.  We went to church in the morning and in the evening spent some time over at our friends’ (Laura and Paul) new house.  They had just bought a house in Elgin in October and have spent the past few months fixing it up.  You wouldn’t believe the work they have done so far.  Their house is just beautiful and we were so impressed with all of the improvements that they described to us. 

Better than seeing the tour of their house, though, was dinner and chatting together.  Laura made a delicious lasagna and salad and we gathered around the table to the sounds of their 18 month old repeating the word “hobo” (something I apparently taught him…whoops!) and just getting to know each other.  We then retired (haha.  I had to use that word.  I am such a nerd) around their fireplace while Laura played some beautiful music on the piano to try to calm our screaming little Maddie down.  The only time when Maddie seemed completely at ease, though was when Laura was holding her.  I think Maddie could sense her motherly, loving touch. 

Daddy and Maddie playing and looking in the mirror

After a while, we gave up tying to get Maddie to sleep and just switched off holding her.  The rest of the night was so nice.  We made s’mores (I may have eaten more than one) and shared embarrassing stories with one another.  We laughed so much! Paul took the crown with his “adventures in singing lessons” story.  So hilarious!!! We left their house feeling filled not only with yummy food but taking a little of their kindness, hospitality and wisdom with us that they are so eager to share.  What a fun night!

The rest of the week was normal.  Maddie and I took our usual daily outings, I had small group on Wednesday night and I got to catch up with my friend, Pretty, on Friday.  Pretty and I went to this new frozen yogurt place in Streamwood.  Um….YUM! This place was incredible.  The yogurt itself was amazing, but they had every topping under the sun, too.

When I got home Friday night, Phil and I thawed the leftover puff pastry that I had made the previous week and we made homemade hot pockets with ham and cheese.  They turned out delicious and the pastry actually puffed this time around.  Maybe because the oven works now?

Hot Pockets! 

That brings us to Sunday, since Saturday was pretty uneventful.  Well, we went to church again and then spent most of the day indoors and out of the rain.  I made bread (and failed.  The loaf just didn’t rise properly this time) and at around 5, Phil, Maddie and I loaded ourselves into the car to take a drive to Walmart.  Well, we couldn’t get it to start! Phil opened the hood to see what was wrong and exclaimed, “What the heck?!?!” Well, knowing that Phil is not exactly a mechanic, although he is a darn good plumber and oven repairman, I was surprised that he would be able to tell that something was wrong with the car from first glance.  I got out to see for myself and sure enough, there was something very wrong.  Apparently, a squirrel has taken residence in our engine. She bit through our wires and ate some of the insulation under the hood.  Oh my goodness.  L Well, the car is completely undriveable and now we are just praying that Progressive will cover the repairs under our comprehensive insurance.  We have a $250 deductible, so that’s a bummer, but we will be so happy if that is all we have to pay. 

A nice, warm place to snuggle up.  This fabric on the hood should make a comfy nest, too. 

"Mmmmm. I love to eat engine wires. Delicious!" Said the squirrel

The Lord is using this situation to build me.  I can definitely see the changes in myself in the ways that I reacted to this situation.  Yes, I was very angry at first. I even started to blame the Kia dealership for the problem before realizing that it was damage caused by an animal (we had just gotten an oil change the day before).  But, after 10 or 15 minutes, I remembered that I have joy! While this circumstance is disappointing, I have greater joy in God and am so grateful for his patience with me as I navigated through my feelings. I am thankful for his mercy and forgiveness for the hatred that boiled up within me during this circumstance.  God’s word tells us to rejoice in all things and to be thankful in all circumstances and I am trying to live this way.  It felt so good when I decided to put those awful feelings aside and to trust that God would help us through.  He is in control!

Snoozing away in the church lobby

UPDATE: I spoke with the insurance company again and they are going to tow the car tomorrow.  It looks like the damage will be covered and we just have to pay our $250 deductible.  YAY! J