1 Amazing Year!

I vowed to take a picture of my forth child EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH. during his first year of life, and I'm so proud to tell you that I didn't go back on my word! So, without further ado I give you: Judah's first year of life :-).

What we have been up to

Just thought I needed to do a quick run down of what the White gang is up to:

-Jonathan has finally found a BAND! He is having a great time practicing with his new band members & I couldn't be happier seeing him find an outlet for his musical talent.

-I am training for a 1/2 Marathon. It's a small goal, but it's a goal nonetheless! As much as I'd love to have a full on my calendar, I have to take it one step at a time.

-Chandler lost his first tooth & is so excited to be a "big" kid now (apparently you are not a "big" kid until you go through this rite of passage). Chandler is also in first grade this year and....he doesn't love it so much :-( School+ Chandler= misery (most of the time)! What Chandler does love is playing outside, dressing up like a super hero (still!), and helping mom cook. I think I see a budding chef in my little man.

-McKenna is now an author! She has made several handmade books that are also self illustrated & she has been selling them to family member for just $1. She is taking orders now, so just give her a call if you're interested :-). She is in second grade this year & she of course LOVES it. She is a great student & she never gets tired of learning. I just love that about her!!! She makes me want to love learning a little more just by being around her. She also has an impressive rock collection (consisting of decorative rocks that she steals from all the neighbors rock gardens....sigh...) just ask her about it sometime.

Maya is in preschool and is also loving it! She still has no attention span whatsoever, and she very much loves the mirror! We are buying her a giant mirror for Christmas because that seems to be the only thing she is really interested in. Well, that and stuffed animals! She still eats exactly 4 foods....not food GROUPS....4 single food choices! They are peanut butter and jelly, mac-n-cheese, apples, and yogurt. She has been on this trend for a solid year and has somehow still managed to grow, so we just leave her alone and hope & pray that one day she will try something new! She is having a GREAT time hanging out with mommy and Judah during the day when the older two are at school & I have to admit I'm kinda loving having her all to myself sometimes too.

Judah is going to be the BIG ONE on Tuesday! I still can't believe it's been a year! Makes me a little teary-eyed to think about it. He has been crawling all over the place, as well as pulling up on the furniture and cruising around things to get from point A to point B. He currently has a love affair going on with toilet paper & unfortunately his siblings greatly encourage this unhealthy fascination he has with TP (because they think it's hilarious to watch him tear up an entire roll of TP). He also loves to go fishing...toilet fishing that is-Ewwwwwwww! This boy is keeping me on my toes for sure! He is so curious right now & he went from quiet and sweet one day, to showing quite the strong will the next! He protests a lot these days when we have to take something away from him & while it's kinda funny to see him throw himself on the ground in protest and kick his little chubby legs, it also alarms me a little to think he is already getting into the fit-throwing phase. He still has the sweetest disposition though, so it's hard to ever be too mad at him. He is showing a STRONG love for music and guitars too, which makes his daddy very, very happy ;-). Oh, and he has 7 teeth now, with an 8th one on the way. He also got his first haircut while we were on vacation in MN. He STILL does not sleep through the night, but we are being patient with that since he is most likely our last little one.

For Such A Time As This.

Ever wonder why life happens the way it does sometimes? Ever ask God... why me? Do you ever scratch your head and wonder if God really meant to do that?

It's probably pretty evident from the snippets of my life that I choose to blog about that I've had my fair share of moments where I asked God "why?". I'd be a liar if I said I always choose to trust God first. I know that's what I SHOULD do...but honestly I struggle with always doing what I know is right. Who doesn't?

Lately, I've been tempted to come back to God and ask "why" questions again. However, something occurred to me as I was going through the motions of my every day mommy tasks the other day. A question literally just popped into my head & I even said out loud..."What if the very thing I've been resisting is really just preparation for something bigger...something better". When I was able to look at things through a different perspective I began to see to see some of the heartache in my life as something totally different...a blessing! Yes, a blessing!

After I let my heart begin to focus on something other than all the questioning, I found a great Bible Study lesson on Queen Esther. You may recognize the quote above: "For such a time as this" from the book of Esther (4:13, 14). Mordecai said to Esther: "And who knows whether you have attained royalty for such a time as this". As you may know, at this time Haman (the prime minister) had an evil plot to have all the Jews killed. The only problem with this plot was that the kings beautiful wife (Queen Esther) was a Jew!

When I read this story I'm always struck by a couple of things: First-Esther didn't really try to be become the queen. She was just doing what she was told to do. She also did not ask for anything special to be done to her to impress the king... yet he still chose her. Second- Esther was not even in a position where she had much "pull" with the king. True, she was his wife, but back in those days the king had to request her presence...which he had NOT done. Third-I see through this story that sometimes the only thing that can give us true confidence in difficult circumstances is believing that we are not alone! In order to rise above something so difficult sometimes we have to move forward not in our own strength, but in the knowledge that we are God's children. If God is for us...then who can be against us?

I LOVED this little paragraph from the Bible study I read & I wanted to share it with you. You know...just in case you are struggling with some of the same things I've been struggling with.

"You see, believers are a part of God’s great program on earth; they should be living with confidence as people of destiny. God does not want us moaning over our plight and looking for a way out. He will be honored when we claim His grace to be what He wants us to be and do what He wants us to do in our present circumstances. We must take advantage of the opportunities He has made available to us in the here and now. He may later open wider spheres of opportunity if that suits His purposes, but that is in His hands. Our responsibility is to let Him use us where we are."

The only thing I am sure of is this: I don't know why things happen the way they do, nor the reason God allows them. The only thing I do know is that perhaps God has called me to be right here, right now...for such a time as this. As a Christian, I can't see how letting my circumstances get the best of me is honoring to God. Sure, I can hurt, and I can even wonder...but sometimes I think it's just better to trust that God has all the answers, and we don't need to know all the reasons in order for Him to still be good. He is good because He's God!

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Side Note:

I want to take a moment here to be a little more transparent...which can be really tough when you are writing things of a personal nature on a blog where you may/may not know who your audience is. I want to be clear that when I talk about going through "difficult times" that it is not interpreted incorrectly. The truth is...it's tough to just come out and say exactly what's on my mind. So many times I'd like to do just that....but then I remind myself that I don't always know who may be reading this & what their relationship (if any) is with me. As much as I'd like to be more direct in regards to what's on my mind, wisdom sometimes tells me to "tone it down a bit".

I will tell you this: Jonathan and I have been through a lot over the last couple of years & the one thing these trying times have produced in our marriage is a level of intimacy and commitment that has changed us for the better! We've never been happier or more content in our marriage than we are right now. Often, we've had only one another to cling to when the storm clouds gathered all around us & let me tell you...THAT is character (and marriage) building at it's best my friends!

Whether it was facing tough decisions about finances, friends, or sticking together to survive raising a child with special needs, we've navigated our way through all of it together! I truly don't know where I would be without my husband...he is my rock, the real glue that keeps me together when I feel like my life is falling apart. I hate to sound all cliche' like that, but it's true!

I said all that to say "NO", the difficult times I've alluded to in the past have nothing to do with my marriage! To be honest, they have a lot to do with a conviction and a promise we made to ourselves a few years back to seek God out in new, and often unconventional ways. Choosing to make those kinds of changes in our life was huge for us because so much of our faith and our friendships were wrapped up in one package ("Church") & when we set that package down at the alter many of our cherished friendships stayed there too. It was never what we wanted to happen (or even what we thought was going to happen), but we have to trust that when God impresses something like this on your heart He will not return it void!

Personally, I feel like I'm starting to come out on the other side of this "struggle" now. I've been out of the institutional Church long enough now that I'm starting to see all the positives, and less of the negatives that come with making this kind of change. It's been the most life-giving experience for me & my family that I don't think I could ever regret it! The changes that we had to make, while painful, were part of the "birthing pains" that gave us a brand new life. How could I ever feel anything but grateful for that?

MN Trip Part 2.

We went to "The Mall of America" on day 2 of the trip, but after we left we realized that we didn't take a single picture at the mall! That's what happens when you've been to The Mall of America several times...it just kinda seems like, well, a mall-ha! It is HUGE, and it does have an amusement park inside of it, but really... it's just a mall. I do love to go there though, if for no other reason than to people watch! So, I'm sorry, but I don't have any mall pictures to share.

However, I do have a handful of state fair pictures! Oh, the great MN State Fair! The real reason my husband eagerly packs up the car with 4 squirmy children, and endures the long car ride up north! Yes...all for a fair! Some years I think he's just plain crazy to love the fair that much, but I have to admit we do always have fun! At the end of the day that's all that really matters anyway.

This year our friend Michelle spent most of the day at the fair with us (and ALL day at the mall with us!), and she lived to tell about it! She was such a trooper, and SO very patient with us and our troop of small children. However, I'm not surprised that Michelle was such a good sport considering the "good stock" she comes from ;-). Her parents (Hi, Bob and Irene!) always host our family when we make the trek up north & they are the most gracious and giving hosts anyone could ask for. We've come to love them like our second family & always look forward to getting to spend time with them. It also helps that they have known my husband since the day he was born & have a great sense of humor when it comes to surviving a visit from a family with 4 very small children. Not many people could host a family of 6 and keep their sanity in tact, but Bob and Irene make it look easy (which I know it's anything but easy!). So, here is a HUGE....H-U-G-E thank you to our friends "The Stahl's", for once again welcoming our family into your home and being such wonderful friends to us. I know these trips to your house are the kind of family memories that my children are going to take with them and cherish forever. We love you guys!

Bob with the kids.

Judah likes his first trip to the fair!

Peach scone with sweet cream & iced coffee.

Happy girls.

Michelle and I pulling stroller duty.

Kiddie Midway!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Roasted sweet corn!

Miracle of birth barn. This is so cool (if you are into farm animals giving birth!). We always end up spending a lot of time in this barn every year because the kids are fascinated with all the baby animals. In years past we have seen live births of calves, lambs, pigs, and baby chicks hatching. We didn't get to see any births this year, but we did get to pet lots of baby animals :-).

The girls waiting to see a chick hatch.

Ice cream + Maya = cute!

Caramel apples with cinnamon ice cream-so delish!

Cotton candy!

Snow cones with dad.

More kiddie Midway fun!

What an exhausting day!

We had to get Sweet Martha's before we left! That $14 worth of "I think I'm gonna be sick now" cookie goodness!

That's Jon saying: "For the love of Pete...have we had enough sugar today?".

For those of you who might need to know, here is the list of fair foods we sampled at the great MN State Fair this year (loosen up your belts, you might just gain a pound or two reading this list!
-Tiny Tim doughnuts
-Deep Fried cheese curds
-Peach Scone with sweet cream
-Fried green tomatoes
-Deep fried pickles
-Roasted sweet corn
-Pot roast sundae
-Cotton Candy
-Snow cones
-Fish taco
-Strawberry frozen custard
-Sweet Martha's Chocolate Chip Cookies
-Caramel Apples with cinnamon ice cream

*Oh, my goodness....NOTHING was on a stick! How in the world did we do that???

MN Trip...Part 1

I'm going to have to do my trip posts in phases, because it seems that every time I sit down to do anything on the computer I get interrupted and never get around to finishing what I started. Maybe if I break it down a little I'll make it through a whole post-ha!

So....here you have it, day 1 of our little adventure to the great state of MN! On Friday we visited a really cool park that the locals have named the "Chutes and Ladders" park. It's actually just called the "play area" at the Hyland Lake Park Reserve, but to refer to it as just a play area seems almost insulting! This was a HUGE park with lots of fun stuff for the kids to play on, in, under, slide down, climb up, dig in, swing on, hike through, and slash in. It was FREE (something that is a rare find around our hometown) too!

Mama is tired!

I have SO much to get caught up on around here, but I'm just too sleepy to get anything started. I've been stuck in this funk for.....about 11 months (hmmm, isn't that how old Judah is?), and I still can't seem to shake the "cobwebs" feeling that is ever present in my over-caffeinated brain. I have piles of papers to sort through now that the kids are back in school, piles of laundry that are always waiting for me, and multiple closets that need a seasonal change over...yet I pass all of the things by and find myself napping, soothing baby cries, watching cartoons with Maya, and staring at the blank walls in my house. I'm about as motivated to do housework as a sleeping sloth on a summer afternoon. Somebody tell my energy and creativity that I miss them terribly and wouldn't mind one bit if they both decided to stop by and visit for awhile.

Just to get you all caught up on what's been going on at the "White House", here is a short list of things I meant to do blog posts about, but I couldn't find the energy or creativity to do so:

-Chandler lost his first tooth! Well, actually I noticed he had a loose tooth the very day of his last dental cleaning, and I begged the dentist to pull the tooth and save me the drama of going weeks on end with an icky dangling tooth that my child won't let anyone pull. Chandler LAUGHED when the dentist pulled it! He LAUGHED! He is such an awesome kid!

-Bubs (Judah) is crawling & pulling up on everything! I don't think he will be walking by his first birthday like his siblings were, but that does not bother me one bit.

-I've lost my "running fever", but I'm still trying to train for a half-marathon anyway. I'm thinking that weight training is far more rewarding these days & the idea of sleeping in on Saturdays is always appealing!

-We took a trip to MN...and forgot to take very many pictures! I will be doing a "trip post", so watch for that one soon :-)

Well, I gotta go get ready for a "Parents as Teachers" visit...which means I should probably do some cleaning! Forgive my lack of blogging! I promise I'll go hunt down my lost energy and return to my normal picture taking/recipe making/sarcastic blogging self this fall!

Later!