Weeding the garden with Daddy, well just watching mostly

Just like her Daddy, Morganne LOVES being outside. It's so much fun watching Morganne and Justin together. He is such a good daddy.

And just like her daddy....after a hard days' work, she takes a nap! Doesn't she look SO big!!!

Justin and Morganne work on their balancing act daily. He enjoys it and luckily so does she. Oh the fun they'll have when she gets older.

Morganne is eating cereal now!

Our first attempt at feeding rice cereal. Justin and I both agreed that the stuff looks awful and so far Morganne isn't that thrilled with it either. She did better once I mixed in a bit of formula. I think she will like it better once I can mix in apple sauce or another fruit. That is planned for next week....

She thinks fingers are much better tasting!!

So proud of herself!!! and we are too!! Oh the fun is just beginning.....

We really need some plastic bibs! This could be a lot of laundry!!

Hot weather makes swimming the thing to do

Our wonderful friends the Stahlhut's have welcomed us over to use their pool any time we want. We accepted the offer on one of the hot, humid days last weekend and had lots of fun. The Hicks family joined us and Curtis and Morganne enjoyed lounging in their floaties.

Morganne and Curtis becoming buddies already...

Morganne enjoyed the gentle rocking of the water and the comfort of her floatie so much that she actually took about a 20 minute nap while in the pool! What a life!

Here are a few new pictures of Morganne. Everything is going into the mouth now, and she is still drooling non-stop!


Tummy time! :c)

Morganne goes swimming!!!

Yesterday we all went swimming with our friends Brittany, Bryant, and Curtis at the Lebanon pool. It was meant to be a workout session for Justin and Brittany- as they are preparing for a triathalon in August- but it turned out more of a play session with the kids. It was Morganne's first time in a swimming pool! At first she wasn't too sure of it, but once she got the idea I think she really enjoyed it. We mustered up our braveness and put her under water 3 times. The first two she cried after but the third time she really didn't seem to mind it. Now I'm just praying we don't get any ear infections! She liked to kick in the water and didn't mind when I took her away from my body and pulled her through the water. She really did a great job and we can't wait to go again soon. I think I had the hardest time having to be in public in a bathing suit. Luckily it was the end of the day and very little crowd still present! Here are some pictures of her first swimming debut! After swimming, Morganne went to her first 4-H fair. What a big day!

Getting out of debt

So, Justin and I have been involved in a small group on Thursday nights that is going through the Dave Ramsey Financial Fitness plan. We HIGHLY recommend it. It is amazing how on fire it can make us, but also at the same time very depressed. I'm not going to lie, we have had a few slip ups where "great deals" got he best of us, but we are beginning to be comitted to improving our financial status so that as we get older we can live a better life. I have to keep reminding myself that 25 is still young. If it were up to me, and I had available resources years ago, I would have loved to start investing when I was 16. Thanks to my wonderful parents, I do have a start, but it's still so far from where we could be. Right now we are chipping away at medical bills, and then it will be on to the credit cards, car loans, and eventually the mortgage loan! Go debt snowball!!! :c) We took a slight hit with me going down to part time, but I have discovered that the reduced stress from NOT being at work one more day a week and being able to spend time with my beautiful daughter is much more rewarding than the slightly slower pay off of bills. We are staying afloat, it's just going to take us a bit longer than we would like. We are not very patient people really.

I do want to say that we have seen first hand how God takes care of us. With all of the medical and car bills that we have accrued recently, simple things have proven a bit difficult. By God's grace we have wonderful family and friends that have really helped us out, and we have no way of thanking them enough. This time is truly a testimony to a close church family and family members that love us so much. I can't imagine our lives without these people in them. They cooked for us, brought us groceries, planted flowers in our garden while I was in the hospital!!!, and helped us out with diapers, and even fence materials!! We love them so much and are forever greatful.

Justin teaches on Willingness

Justin recently got the opportunity to give the lesson at Sunday worship two weekends ago while most of the group went to Haiti on a Mission Trip. He did a fabulous job and I am very proud of him. I think he was very nervous but you couldn't tell while he was teaching. After much thought and prayer he decided to teach on Willingness and gave many examples throughout the Bible and how being willing can indeed change lives and the world. I wish there was a way I could link his sermon to this site for you to read. I will definitely do so if I can figure it out. If you're interested in reading it, please email me and I will send it to you.

Morganne's not a newborn anymore!

Morganne is growing and changing so fast. She loves to blow rasberries and is constantly covering her mom and dad in baby saliva! She is making all new sounds and loves to shriek when she gets excited. We still don't have a true "belly" laugh yet, but we are getting close. She is now able to sit in her saucer and entertain herself with toys. She hasn't quite figured out the jumping part yet. We are still very blessed as she sleeps solid through the night and goes to sleep very well once put in her crib. She is just the best baby. It makes us worried for her teenage years and if we have a second child! We thank God every day for her. Here is a video of her first time in the saucer. She thinks she's quite big stuff!

Morganne's 4 month check up

So, Mo had her 4 month check up on Friday. Boy she is growing like a weed! She is now up to 15lbs. 6oz. - in the 90th percentile. Dr. Jacob said that she was very healthy and had no concerns. She was a brave little girl and got 4 shots but stopped crying very quickly. It just breaks my heart to see her upset.
We also had a check up with Dr. Berrios, our orthopedic specialist that we see for Morganne's hip issues. The news wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. The good news is that her hip is still in-socket, the bad news is that her hip socket is still very shallow and he wants to see her back in 1 month for a stress test x-ray. If her hip socket is still shallow she will be placed in a hard plastic brace at night for an undetermined amount of time. This is still better than a hard cast however! He also mentioned that he will most likely follow Morganne until around the age of two rather than just one like he had said before. Or at least until she is up and walking well. Oh well. Things could definitely be worse. She is still such a good baby and we are totally in love. For the time being she is brace free and we are enjoying it.

Goodbye Wes and Melanie

I have come to realize, through experiences of my own as well as watching my parents and other friends' relationships; that true friends, with whom you can bare your soul, to are hard to find. Last night Justin and I said goodbye to two such friends and we will miss them dearly. Now as much as this first statement sounds like they have died, fortunately they have not- they have just moved two states away for at least the next 2 years. It seems now however, that we have lost a huge part of our lives and will have to learn to adjust to the absence of our close friends. Wes and Justin became close a few years ago while Justin was working nights and living with Aaron and Tricia. He claims that at that point Wes was his only link to the outside world. I was away at school for the weekdays, and all of Justin's other friends were either in school or at work during the days. Justin, though very outgoing and willing to share his thoughts, really has a guarded heart, and Wes was able to open that up and became a trusted friend that Justin counted on for support and accountability. As a couple we became much closer with Wes and Melanie after they got married and then began helping us lead the Jr.-Sr. high school youth group every Wednesday evening. They were a HUGE blessing for these kids and us. They came at a time when we needed them most- I was 7 months pregnant with Morganne, and knew we would need some time off for a while. Little did we know that with kidney stone complications- we would need them even more with the kids. And the kids absolutely LOVED Wes and Melanie. As a couple and as individuals they are easy to open up to and trust and this is exactly what these kids needed. They were also willing to give of themselves completely, devoting their time and energy to help these kids and other church members during times of need.

They are moving back down to Tennessee so that Wes can finish his college degree at Johnson Bible College. He was within a few semesters of finishing when he was moved to come home and care for his ailing mother, who has since passed from a long bout with ALS. This just shows a bit of Wes' caracter. Melanie came to Indiana on a whim, not knowing anyone really at the time, even though she and Wes actually went to Johnson together originally. She is from Tennessee. Wes proposed while on a 9 month mission trip to China, via the internet. Quirky for sure- but it suited them, and they are a perfect match. Melanie and I have become very close over the past few months. It is very rare that you have such close friends that you would let them see your house at its absolute dirtiest- and with 2 dogs, busy schedules, and a baby- ours gets dirty fast! But, they never hesitated to come over and we have shared many meals, nights watching Amazing Race and Wipeout, and eating ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. Wes and Melanie loved Morganne and all of our animals- a feat that is sometimes hard to ask of in friends.

They are committed to being in Knoxville for at least 1.5-2 years, but something tells me they may not be back here for a long time. They have a passion for Christ that is hard to match, and they have the desire to go where called without hesitation. We are excited for them to say the least but are dealing with selfish heartache for ourselves. Hopefully we can meet up with them for vacations occasionally and keep the friendships close with the help of the internet and phone. They are very much loved and will be missed by many of us here. We wish them the best!

Morganne's first 4th of July!

Once again the Hickson/Hicks family was generous enough to invite us over for food, fellowship, and a place to sit and watch the parade! Never did we expect to be in jeans and jackets on the fourth of July, but it made it quite pleasent. The rain held off and the babies did very well with all the loud sirens and gun fire. In fact, Morganne slept through the majority of the parade. It was a long parade this year, apparently they have gotten rid the 4-H parade this year so they combined the two. Consequently the parade went for nearly 3 hours. It was entertaining however. We ended up not going to the fireworks due to being so late. Justin has had two very long days and he had to work yesterday morning and then again today. Getting up at 3:30am for work dampens any late night festivities. But we love him for it, and he was able to leave work early and be there for lunch and the parade. It's interesting living in town with fireworks. Our dogs were quite ramped up for most of the week, however they've handled it very well. With a fan going in our room, it drowned out most of the noise and we were able to sleep pretty well considering. Morganne is still to young to notice them, so that was nice. Here are some pictures of Morganne's first 4th of July!

Nana and Morganne had to show off their overalls! They did not coordinate this! :c) Morganne's overalls are courtesy of our friend Caty Weigman- aren't they adorable!!