News Of The Quists

inside-out backwards day

2008-05-16T19:06:00.001-07:00

Yup, it was a fun idea for the kids and teachers too, at Lana and David's school...
"We look SO silly!"

Easter :)

2008-04-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

We finally got another family picture taken! David said over and over again "I ha-some!" "mommy, I ha-some!" and Lana LOVED her pretty dress and the bonnet and gloves. She was very particular though, the bow had to be in the BACK of her hat, I think Daddy put it on with it in the front once, and she let him have it! Anyway, it was fun, and we got a picture with Jacob, one of their cousins too :)

getting settled

2008-03-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to be back home in Michigan, and I think we have all pretty much adjusted to our new schedules here. So far Jeremy has been on first shift Mon-Fri and it has been so nice to have him home every evening! I know it won't last too much longer, his schedule will change back to rotating shift work around May I think, but we sure are enjoying it while it lasts! He is in training for his job right now, and everything is going well, even though it going at a pretty slow pace. He really likes the people he is training with, and he is supposed to be on the same crew as some of the guys he has gotten to know pretty well. It is a pretty long drive for him, but he carpools, so that helps a lot! I know he is really happy the roads aren't all snowy anymore! I started working at Metro again, and it was really nice to see a lot of the same people I was able to work with before. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough hours for me, so I just got a job at St. Mary's that is full time and I am excited about that too. I met a lot of the people that I will be working with, including a couple of the doctors, and everyone seemed very nice, so I think it will all work out well. It is nice, I will be working 4-10 hour shifts one week and 3-10 hour shifts the next, so it all sounds great. I am going to stay resource at Metro and pick up extra hours occasionally. The kids really like their daycare, and they both have some good friends. Lana is definitely more social than David, and I know she really LOVES going! David sometimes doesn't want to get dropped off (which always breaks our hearts) but his teachers say he is happy all day and plays with his friends. We are trying to potty train him, so please pray for us! :) They are really enjoying seeing grandparents lots, and seeing cousins and friends. They love going to church, and we love it too :) it is nice to be back! Here are some of our pictures lately, but we really haven't taken very many, so I am sorry they aren't the best! David and Lana LOVE being able to see Jacob lots again!!!
Our friends Megan and Alan hanging out almost like the olden days...with the happy addition of Kirra!
This picture I took this morning right before I dropped them off to daycare. It's a bit blurry. :(

Lana helped Aunt Becky make lasagna a couple of weekends ago. She was so proud of herself!
Our BIG girl got to hold Kirra! David loves her, and talks about her a lot!
Ok, this might take some explaining. Jeremy's Aunt Jan is the best, and she decided to celebrate Groundhogs Day with her nieces and nephews. So this year she had us divide into guys and girls and we had to sing to Sonny and Cher's "I got you babe". (from the Groundhogs Day movie) Yeah, it was pretty hilarious! Jeremy made a very good Sonny and he sang VERY LOUDLY, it was awesome! (I have it on video) I was so proud! :)

BIG news!

2008-01-17T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hey, sorry I haven't updated this in forever...I forgot my username and password, so I didn't think I would ever be able to use it again (oops!) We moved back home! We arrived on December 17th and didn't have to start working until January 7th, so we got a pretty nice vacation out of it too! We are lucky enough to be renting our home in Florida to someone Jeremy knew from work, and now we have a townhouse here. A lot has happened since my last post besides the move! Lana turned 4 years old on December 3rd, and we had a great holiday season among family and friends. The kids made their first snowman (whose head fell off the very next morning) and they are having fun at their new daycare. They are learning all about space and planets and stuff and have brought home some really cool art projects. We still need to have a good snowfall so we can take them sledding, but I think that might happen pretty soon! We are happy to be living near most of our readers again :) We love ya!
Lana was very excited about her barbie car she asked for for Christmas, and David LOVES Lightning McQueen! (Oh, she made those necklaces herself...a gift from Aunt Trista and Uncle Mark)
Getting all bundled up for the snow...I need to take more pictures now that we are back. I'll try to post more often again :)

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I am finally updating :) Lana has just recently learned how to write her name by herself, and so she is suddenly very interested in all of the letters (hopefully that excitement lasts a while!) We had a great halloween...Lana and David were wonderful trick-or-treaters! They were so excited, and who knew that glow-sticks were the coolest invention ever? We had fun painting pumpkins with some friends, and of course I forgot to take pictures then, but the next day the kids wanted to paint some more, so I let them go to town, and I remembered the camera that time! Enjoy the pictures... and we hope your Halloween was great too! :)

Sorry they're all out of order!

Dress-Up Day

2007-09-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

We had some fun today in spite of the rain...it has been kinda dreary lately. Now I think we have still seen sunshine for quite a bit of every day, but it has rained every afternoon for a week I think. Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids from today. Enjoy!
David's new Diego outfit and Lana's Cinderella dress (she was showing off her muscles)
David likes superman :) We got a dvd set of about 90 old cartoons for about 6 bucks a while back and the kids love watching the superman ones. (notice he had to hang on to his yellow car since it is his favorite color)
Now Lana is modeling her Sleeping Beauty dress...
and now she's a cowgirl in her favorite red hat
Aren't they funny? Well, that's all for now!

Hey, I have MORE pictures!

2007-09-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

I took more pictures after their naps...Lana LOVES her Easter dress Nanny made for her a couple of years ago! She wants to wear it nearly everyday! It is kinda funny going out in public with her wearing her Easter dress all the time, but she doesn't care, so we don't really either. It sure makes her happy, and she loves to spin in it and she gets this cute smile on her face and says "I'm beautiful!"

Here they were yesterday playing under Lana's bed and giggling a whole lot!
When David woke up from his nap today he joined daddy on the couch to watch a little football. Daddy was happy that he wanted to sit with him for a while. Daddy engrossed in his game...David barely awake :)
I finished another puzzle for the kids a while ago when Lana started really wanting to do puzzles all the time. She put it together easily the first time so we went out and got bigger ones for her. David loves it though... it is a good challenge for him, and he loves Dora and Diego!

Welcome Fall (please bring cooler weather!)

2007-09-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am so bad at updating this thing! We have been busy lately...Jeremy screened in our porch in the back of our house and it is really nice! I think that when it isn't quite so hot out we will be spending a lot of time out there. Even at night it's still pretty warm. But, the kids love it out there! They have been doing really well lately! Lana got moved up to the next class at her daycare and she just LOVES her teacher! She used to be sad when she had to say goodbye to her and go to her class, but now she can stay with her teacher and her friends all day, and now that she is such a big girl she gets a locker instead of just a cubby! Wow, it is exciting! While we drove to school on Friday she yelled "I'm coming Miss Cigi." Anyway, she is thrilled, and she loves to color and do puzzles and sing! David has been a lot of fun too...he has his "2" moments, but for the most part he is doing really well too! He likes to pretend he is a kitty cat, but instead of saying "meow" he says "NEE-HOW" It's pretty funny! He still loves the color yellow and gets excited if we pass a yellow car! He loves playing with his little toy Diego, and wearing other people's shoes, and wearing either his cowboy hat (from Uncle Rob and Dawne) or his Bob the Builder hat (from Uncle Mark and Aunt Trista). Lana and David play really well together most of the time and David normally follows what Lana is doing. They giggle a lot, and won't go to sleep at night without giving hugs and kisses. Lana is always trying to get David to be the prince so she can dress up like a princess and they can dance at the ball together. Sometimes he cooperates and they twirl in the kitchen, and othertimes he says "no" which is kinda funny too!
Jeremy and I are both doing well at work and really enjoy our time together, even if it is just sitting on our couch watching Netflix...it is great to be best friends! we love you all and hope to see everyone again soon! xoxo
Best buddies!
Our new lanai! Great work daddy!
I love my family!

our lanai...from our bedroom door, David was running to give me hugs :)

Family time

2007-07-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

Lately we have found ourselves plenty of things to enjoy around here. :) I admit sometimes we live for weekends, but I am happy that we are having fun together as our little family. We get to see our neighbor friends quite a bit too, especially considering all of the guys have weird work schedules. I felt like this weekend was especially relaxing and enjoyable so I thought I would share a couple of pictures with everyone. Thanks for reading!
Every night it seems like we get to see just beautiful sunsets! It was actually sprinkling a bit when I took this picture, but the entire sky looked amazing with yellows and oranges and then deep purpley clouds. I should take more pictures of the sunsets here!

Our happy little girl! She recently learned how to do summersaults without rolling over on her side, so she is quite proud of herself!

I think this was taken last week after one of the regular afternoon showers. It doesn't seem as brilliant on a picture as it did in real life... the kids were very excited about it!
They both love to read! I got them several Dora books that they are crazy about. One of them practices ABC's and counting to 10, and David is already really good at the counting part and he even sang parts of the alphabet song this weekend!
We had a visitor in our back yard on Friday. I was surprised to see how quickly they can go! He let me take a few pictures first before he ran away...that was awfully nice.
I was a little worried when I puchased this pool at the store a few weekends ago. I had to have one of the store workers help me CRAM this thing in our van (we had to fold it in half and everything) but it is SO worth it! I was wondering if I should have gotten the smaller one without the slide, but this pool has been such a great hit! The first few times they swam in it they did nothing but take turns sliding over and over, and I think they would have played in it all day if I let them! Today we were out in it again, and when they weren't sliding, they were filling up their little bowls to dump water on daddy. (It was really hot, so he didn't mind at all!) It just made me smile to watch them play and hear their cute little laughs...it was a lot of fun!

David loves his "lello" Bob the builder hat! He doesn't like the tool belt so much yet, but he has been known to wear this hat for hours!

Our Michigan Trip Pictures :)

2007-06-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

We want to thank our family and friends so much for the time we were able to spend with you on our recent trip to GR. It went by so quickly and we were so BUSY, but it was such a special time for us! It was difficult at times because we wanted to spend more time with everyone individually for that good quality time, and disappointing that we weren't able to see everyone while we were there, but I guess that is the way it goes when the trip is so short. We really enjoyed the fun times we had hanging out with everyone again...it is definitely something we really miss! We are adjusting ourselves back to the normal life here...actually something kinda funny has been happening...the kids woke up at 6am EVERY MORNING on our vacation, and now that we are back they have been sleeping in past 7, and this morning I actually had to wake them up at 7:30 so I could get them ready for school! I don't mind it at all now, don't get me wrong, but it sure would have been nice if they did that on our vacation too!!! (I am sure our parents would all agree!) Well, we had such a great time...Thanks for making it so special for us! We love you!
I even got to see my dear friend Brandy and her hubby Dan while we were home! We went to college together and had such a great time, and then I moved to Virginia, and when I came back to MI, they moved to Washington, and then we moved to Florida and soon after they moved right back to MI again! Someday maybe we will live in the same state again! We got to go out to dinner and to a movie with them, it was a nice night out!

Lana and Nanny got to have a tea party with real teacups and little gold spoons and milk and sugar...Lana LOVED it! She was such a big girl! Nanny taught her all about it and I even got some of their special moment on video! (I just love girly stuff!)
Lana and Papa were dancing, so it is kinda blurry, but she loved that too! We had a really good relaxing time with them...I don't know if they would classify it as relaxing (6am every morning) but I am glad they had fun with us there too! Nanny and Papa had David belly laughing several times, I wish I was quick enough with the camera! We can't wait to come and do it again sometime! :)
Here they are at my mom and dad's hanging out on the porch. What a great trip! We really enjoyed all the hugs and attention and laughs we all shared while we were there! We got to play at the mall and walk on the "soft grass" and play games and we sure did smile a lot!
Here are Abby (purple princess), Ethan (Buzz Lightyear) and Lana (pink princess) playing in the VV's newly finished basement. I wish we would have had more time to see them too, because the kids had such a blast playing together. They must have changed outfits at least 5 times each in one morning! David kinda played by himself and watched some while the other 3 ran around all over the place! It was so great to see Mark and Trista again, these are moments I treasure!
We went to the museum at Michigan State and got to see dinosaur bones with Uncle Dan, Aunt Becky and Jacob, it was pretty cool! When we were done we even got to go eat ice cream (yum! add that to the thousands of oreos I ate on our vacation and I had a perfectly balanced diet!) On a different day Becky and I took the kids to the zoo and they got to ride this camel! They really seemed to like it, Lana was VERY excited. She later told her great grandpa and great grandma this: "I rode on a camemal! It was a Michigan camemal. I've never been on a Florida camemal though."
Isn't this the cutest picture!? Papa squatted down to get a good picture with David, who wanted to be just like his papa, so he did it too. I love it!!!
Papa and Grandma got a new riding lawnmower so he lifted the blade and let all the kids have a turn riding it! I think Lana really thought that was cool!
yeah...they're brothers... :)
Here's another picture of David, Jacob and Lana at the museum. We couldn't get over how much Jacob has grown...I miss my little buddy!

I just threw this one in quick to say that right before we came home David celebrated his 2nd birthday! He had to pick all the frosting off his cupcake first! It is hard to believe it has been 2 years already! He is talking so much more now, even just in the week we have been back. He says and recognizes yellow red orange and green and is working on blue! What a big boy! The first night we got to Michigan we got to have our friends over to mom and Doug's and we played a dice game called farkle. We had so much fun being together again, laughing and just enjoying each other's company. Here we are all standing on the same big rock outside of Doug and mom's condo. (Sam, Alan, Jeremy, me, Megan, and Alexis) I can't help but mention that Megan and Alan are having a little baby girl in the fall :) We can't wait to meet her!!!! (and I loved seeing Megan with a little pregnant belly!)

excitement fills the air!

2007-04-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, things have been pretty thrilling around here lately! Nanny and Great Aunt Jan came to visit us on their way down to the condo (we get to go this weekend! YIPEE!!) It was nice because Aunt Jan hasn't seen our house yet, so it was good to show her around. We got to hang out for a few hours before they headed out, but it was such a refreshing little visit for us! Nanny brought Lana a big pink bunny that she LOVES and wants to sleep with every night, and David got the adorable cowboy outfit below! He even says "yeehaw!"
I am excited because I love my new job and I just passed my test to be a registered CT technologist, so now my initials behind my name are: R.T.(R)(VI)(CT) it makes me happy, and it makes it a lot easier to find a job in the future (but thankfully I finally found one that is really great down here!)
Lana is making really big headlines lately! She went #2 on the toilet 3 days in a row, and just tonight told me she had to go (all by herself!) and even though nothing came out, she really tried! We are so proud of her, and she keeps saying "Mommy, I'm potty twained just like Abby and Etan and Jacob!"
So like I said, it has been very thrilling here lately! I will post more pictures after our weekend with Mom and Doug and Aunt Jan! (Then we only have a couple of weeks to go and we get to see my dad for a couple of days.....and then not much longer and we will be in Michigan for 2 weeks...the future is bright!) :) "Howdy partner!"
They were practising for the big Easter Egg hunt! David had a lot of fun running...he didn't get too many eggs and he would swing his arms so much that they all fell out! Lana was very competetive and wanted to get every last egg! Check out the look on her face, she is all business!
They tell each other "I love you David!" and "I eee you Nana" and they hold hands and hug... I am glad they are friends (granted it isn't ALL the time, but at least it is most of the time)

We love you all...Thanks for reading!

I would like to apologize to all of the Quist fans for the HUGE delay...

2007-03-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

So, a lot has been going on here lately! Three weeks ago I started a new job that turned out to stink about as much as the first one...(I thought I was going to do CT and MRI but their mammography tech quit right before he hired me and so he was making me do mammograms instead. I didn't like it much.) But good news! Just 3 days ago I got a call to have an interview and I got hired right away! I am very excited! I will be working at a diagnostic imaging center doing CT scans. I really wanted to work at this office because it is only about 20-25 minutes from home and there is a daycare right next door to the office that is really nice. It is a really beautiful office, and everyone was very friendly. I start my new job on Monday and I am positive I will really like working there. Some places you can just tell right away. :) I feel bad for my poor hubby because I was getting pretty discouraged about the work I could find here, and I know I wasn't my happy self. I don't know why my job seems so important to me, but it does, and now that I finally found a really good one I feel like everything is going to be better. Can anyone else relate to that? I know that a lot of people really would rather not work at all, but even though I know that no job will be perfect, I really love to work. (When it isn't squishing boobs all day-hee hee!) Well, I guess that is enough about me! Jeremy's work is going well, and he has requested time off for the first 2 weeks in June to come to Michigan again (yipee!) (My new boss is perfectly fine with this too, thank goodness!) We have been trying to get out and do fun stuff on the weekends or whatever days we are all home together. We have gone walking and playing in the mall, and playing in the little kiddie pool we have and riding bikes and running around outside. We recently bought a family pass to the Tampa zoo that is good for a year. We have already gone twice and have had a great time both days. Next time we go it should be hot enough for the kids to wear their bathing suits and play in the fountains they have all around the zoo. They have had fun lately, and we have really enjoyed our family time! I was going to put a video on here, but I don't know how, so Trista when you read this, can you educate me please? We miss you all and think about you often! Enjoy the pictures!
I love this picture! She is my happy little sweetheart!
David was cracking up at Lana...isn't he a cutie?!
Lana and David and Daddy got to feed the giraffes. Actually it was only one giraffe, and he was a big hog! He leaned his head WAY in to get the cracker thing and kept sticking his tongue out at us even after the cracker was gone! He did it so quickly that I didn't get good pictures of it, sorry! The kids like being that close to it, but when he kept sticking his tongue out to eat he kinda scared them I think. It was exciting!

I had this picture all zoomed up, but I am no computer whiz, so I don't know how to keep it that way. Maybe Trista or Mark could help me with that too! :) Anyway, this tiger was awesome! It kept pacing and David kept growling at it!
I love the elephants! These were the steps down to their pool and up above there is a large open grassy area, it is a really nice zoo, all of the animals seemed to have a lot of space. This was one of the last stops we made and so Lana was getting into a foul mood and told us "I DON'T LIKE the elephants!" Well, maybe next time...

Lana didn't like the goats this time either, but David was curious, and after he saw daddy feeding them for a while he decided to try too. He seemed to like it until they licked his hand and then he kept saying "yuck! yuck!"

This was awesome! There is an enclosed area where you can walk on a path right next to the kangaroos and wallabies were you are separated only by a short little fence. We could tell that this kangaroo had a *joey* in her pouch, and then all of the sudden it popped its head out and I got a whole bunch of pictures! Lana and David were both really excited to see the baby kangaroo! ok, ok....Jeremy and I were pretty excited too...it was really cool to be that close and to see the joey, I certainly hadn't ever seen that before!

Well, I guess that is all for now! I will try to be better about posting again...sorry it has been so long! Love you all lots!

funny face

2007-02-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

Stories to make you Smile!

2007-02-16T17:08:00.000-08:00

Don't ya just love the cowboy hats? Rob and Dawne got those for the kids, and they LOVE them! David will play for the longest time with his on! :)
Lana likes it when I call her a "silly goose" because then she can say "no, YOU'RE a SILLY GOOSE!" and we can go back and forth for a long time and it makes her belly laugh...so today when we got in the car I scooped her up quick to set her in her carseat and it made her laugh and she said "You silly rooster!"

Lana loves the movie Cinderella. At one part of the movie she is singing the "Sing sweet nightingale" song while she washes the floor. So when she takes a bath she uses her Little Mermaid sponge (that Papa and Grandma Quist gave her) to wash the bathtub and she sings really loud "AHHHHHHHHHH, NIGHT AND DAY!"

David is talking so much more now that he got his tubes put in his ears. He is learning how to say "I love you" (David's version: "I you") He is cracking me up lately because whenever I put him in his carseat after about 5 minutes of driving he will start saying "stuck, stuck, stuck, stuck" over and over. Lana is such a comforter though and says in her gentle voice "Your supposed to be stuck David, then you're safe" She doesn't have a huge amount of patience yet though because if he keeps going with the "stuck, stuck" she yells it at him instead!

He also thinks everything is "yucky" He doesn't like dirt or playdough or fuzz on the floor. He scrunches up his face and says "yuck!" or "yucky!" and then laughs about it when he is clean again.

Don't we have cute kids?!

Finally, our update!

2007-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I know I have been slacking, and I am very sorry! We have had a busy month with our visitors...Scott came for a few days, which was really nice! Jeremy had a great time! He had a few days off and so he got to hang out and play a ridiculous amount of the 2007 NCAA football video game with Scott. I asked them when I came home from work if they went outside that day or did anything else, and they both just laughed and said "no, we just played the game" But they definitely enjoyed themselves, so that is all that matters! It made me laugh! The kids had a very fun time with him too, he played hide and seek with Lana and chased them around, they both cracked up a lot and wanted to sit on his lap and climb all over him! It was fun to watch! Then just recently Mom came back down here for a few days and we had such a great time! She helped us a lot to decorate our house (inexpensively) and it finally looks more like a home for us, we are very happy! She even got to witness Lana's first real poop on the potty! Lana got to have icecream and everything! If only that really was a break through...Lana is doing great going potty, she wears her pretty panties everyday and normally keeps them dry, but she still will poop in them sometimes, or in a diaper at night, or in the bathtub...(yuck!) Hopefully she will get over her fear and just go soon! We are excited that she is so close to being potty trained!Anyway, mom was honored to be here for that :) We had a really nice time just getting to talk with mom after the kids went to sleep. We have said many times before that we are really lucky to have the family that we do. We both really love our inlaws and feel like the times we spend with them are always really special and enjoyable, we know this is rare, and believe me, it is something we thank God for!
Lana loved being able to be with her Nanny!
Jeremy taught mom how to play the game HALO! We all played online with Dan, Becky and Jacob...it was pretty fun...I can't do it for long, but we were all laughing a lot!
Scott was so good with the kids, they LOVED having him stay with us, and Lana said in her sad voice "Scott went on an airplane to Michigan huh?" We would all love to have him come again soon!
David is learning how to brush his teeth by himself (with a LITTLE help!) I guess he thought the baby needed a cleaning too :)

David and Lana are normally very good friends. They like their new playtable that they got for Christmas, and they both laughed a lot at the train going down the big hill. There were a few "disagreements" since David likes to pull the train off the track and shake it until the cars go flying in every direction...he is such a boy!

Jeremy and I have been talking a lot lately about how we are doing, and how it is different here than the places we have lived before. It seems like we will be homesick and a little down, and then we will tell ourselves to be positive and enjoy life here, and then it cycles back again. Work for both of us has been pretty difficult lately. I work with a lot of lazy and down-right mean people (perfect for the healthcare environment) and Jeremy's job has been a lot more stressful lately because of managements rules. We talked the other night about how it seems like we have lost our thankfulness and joy just from being Christians, let alone having our little family right here. We really do have great lives, and we want to be postive on purpose. We don't want to forget all of the things we can be thankful for, and we don't want to forget that for however long we are here, that God can still do great things in and through us. I think I feel like I don't have any time to devote to making any difference anywhere, but God can still use what I do have, and that encourages me to stop being complacent. I think that a lot of the past year and a half has been a struggle, but I do believe that it can all make Jeremy and I stronger and better people. You know, I don't regret moving here. I think it was still a good decision, and I am glad that we tried it. Now I think we are just both thinking that we don't want to be here forever, and that is ok too. I think that we have grown as a couple a lot through this, and I think we can be closer to God and to become the people we want to be because of our move down here too. I think it is ok that I don't really know where we are going, or what we will be doing in the future ... because you know what?... I feel good about it, and I know that we will always be ok, and even happy. :)

2007-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, I was having trouble with blogger in posting these pictures at great grandpa and great grandma's...sorry for the delay! We had a very fun couple of days together! It was so wonderful for us to finally get to see their place down here in Florida, and they really have the nicest neighbors! Everyone made us feel so special and welcome there, we just loved it! So thank you Great Grandma and Great Grandpa for making room for six of us to stay there!
Lana was helping gramma and great grandma make some salad...David was enjoying eating it!
David was busy "reading" :) He liked the chairs there and wanted to climb up and down and up again!

We decided we would love to do this again, and Jeremy would even be willing to play a couple of rounds of golf again, if great grandpa really wanted to. :)
I tried to upload video of this, but I have no idea how Trista does it...they loved grandma's fountain and got completely soaked and belly laughed over and over...it was so cute!!!
Lana loves to swim and wasn't afraid at all to jump right in again. David was a lot more apprehensive, but he was ok as long as I was holding him close. It did feel really nice to go swimming in the beginning of January! :)

Papa and Gramma's Holiday Trip

2007-01-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

It always seems like the time goes by way too fast. Mom and dad got here on the 29th in the afternoon and Lana was so excited to have them come stay with us! David warmed up to them both again very quickly and even says "gwamma" now...maybe not quite that clearly, but we could understand it. We got to meet up with Alan and Megan and her parents and one of their friends the first night for dinner as they were passing through. They were headed for Miami, and we had such a great time with them! We only spent a few hours with them, which was sad, but I am thankful for the time we got! Then dad and mom and the rest of us went to the Wildlife Park right by us to see manatees the next day. We loved watching mom and dad with the kids and how Lana and David both would just cuddle right up with them. After a few days of being home we all went to see my grandparents in Arcadia Fl. and had a fun time taking walks and meeting all of their neighbors! Lana and David had a great time playing in great grandma's fountain and got completely soaked...the guys all went golfing twice...we got to play dominoes when the kids went to sleep...us girls and the kids went to the pool to swim...and we all got to eat great food together that grandpa and dad made! :) It really was a wonderful vacation, and we all enjoyed mom and dad's company, and as always, we wish that it would have lasted longer! Here are some of our cute pictures from their trip~enjoy~
David just woke up from his 20 or so minute nap
basking in the sunlight :)
Jeremy was very happy to drive mom and dad's rental car...a mustang :)
We went to a great mall a little south of here and I forgot the stroller...which ended up being a real treat! They each got their own little bumper car and they were so happy to be "driving"! They got to go to a nice play area, and we all went on a big carosel, and their grandma and papa even treated them to some icecream dots :)

Every night before they went to bed they got to have papa and gramma read to them, it was a nice change for them, I think David payed a lot more attention than he usually does.

An EARie Problem

2007-01-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

After several doctors appointments that found fluid behind David's eardrums, his doctor decided he should get his hearing checked. Unfortunately David failed it, which made me really upset because I thought about all of the things I say to him and when I sing to him and it made me sad that he was missing out on all of that. (When I thought more about it I figured it is probably better that he didn't hear me so well when I sing...Lana even tells me not to sing sometimes!) So on December 27th he got tubes put in both ears and his adenoids taken out. He was pretty tired and grumpy immediately following his surgery, but as soon as he got some graham crackers and a popsicle and some juice he was as happy as could be! He talked more that night than I think he ever did before then, and he has been talking so much since then! He says MANY more words and I can understand them more now, and he is trying to mimick the sounds we make. So now I feel happy...and apparently so does David!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from the mothers group Christmas party last weekend. Lana actually really suprised us and wanted to sing "jingle bells" to Santa, and she sat on his lap too! David didn't really like him much, but he liked the stuffed animal and coloring book Santa gave him.
David enjoying one of his favorite past-times :)
When Santa was leaving Lana ran after him to give him hugs and kisses. I think she learned a lot about the Santa side of Christmas from her school. She is a little cutie, and she is so excited about Christmas and seeing Gramma and Papa when they come to visit! (We ALL are so excited!!!!!)
Isn't he just about the cutest little guy ever? We are so proud of our little angels!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Nanny and Papa's visit, and Lana's third birthday!

2006-12-04T17:36:00.000-08:00

For over a week Lana talked about how it was almost her birthday, and that Nanny and Papa are gonna come see her...she has been so excited! They came on Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday afternoon. We had a great time catching up a bit and eating good food and celebrating Lana's birthday and an early Christmas. Lana and David LOVED all of the attention! David sure loved being around his funny Papa! He kept watching Doug to see what he would do next and had a little smile on his face while he watched. They both had a great time playing with their Nanny and Papa again, and we are hoping that Nanny will come back for a while for the end of January or beginning of March...we would all love that! It was nice for me to get to talk to my mom~in~law again, and Jeremy said he really enjoyed talking to Doug more too. The guys watched some football, so that is always a great time! Mom and I were laughing as we heard them in the other room cheering and yelling at the TV. Those are moments I enjoy most...just spending the good simple time with the people you love. Mom is even helping me to learn how to decorate and paint our house! It was kind of exciting for me! So hopefully she can come help us in a couple of months. :) Well, I wanted to say that Lana had a really nice weekend. She didn't feel very healthy, which did put a damper on everything, but she still was so excited to get her cake and wonderful presents and to have a day (well, more like 2 days) all about her. She told David several times "David, it's MY birthday, not YOUR birthday!" At least it is kinda cute when it's their 3rd birthday, it might not be so nice when they are 6! But she sure did enjoy the attention and joined in singing "Happy Birthday" everytime! We had some friends over from Jeremy's work and their 2 kids Sunday night and had Lana's princess cake and more presents, so she kinda got 2 parties...Oh, maybe 3 since she brought cupcakes to her friends at daycare too. Today as I was driving us all home from work and daycare she told me "Mommy, I want ANOTHER birthday!" Well, at least I don't have to worry if she had fun or not!
This is Lana's cool Barbie bike from Gramma and Papa VV! She LOVED it! I think she might be able to reach these pedals, but she didn't want me to help her, so we may never know if she is tall enough or not!
Lana was SO excited about her princess cake! She wanted a cake with the little mermaid on it, and was so happy that she got 3 more princesses too. We did good with that one!
David doesn't really ever hesitate to shove food in his mouth. hmmm....I wonder where he gets this from.....
Lana got to sit with Nanny and watch Cinderella. She was so happy and has wanted to watch it every chance she gets since she opened it. She is definitely a girly~girl like her mommy!
Lana's party with Nanny and Papa! After the kids went to bed we had 2 or 3 (or 4) more cupcakes! yummm!
I love this picture! Lana and David weren't being overly cooperative, but I love Nanny and Papa's smiles, and I think it is cute how Lana is cuddling. I guess David is the one who doesn't look so great with his "duh" face. It does make you wanna kiss his cheeks though huh?
David got an early Christmas present from Nanny and Papa and just loves these cars! He makes the little car noise and makes them run into each other and then laughs! Oh, he likes to stick his tongue out a lot lately, it is funny~cute. :)

Go Wolverines!

2006-11-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow is the big Ohio State vs. University of Michigan game that Jeremy has been pumped about all season. He is so funny, he gets so excited about football it makes me excited! So I am going to watch it with him tomorrow as much as the kids will let me, and I will probably be humming the U of M song in my head as I go to sleep! :)

Well, I am a very poor blogger lately. I have been busy studying stuff to learn MRI and I have really been enjoying it (weird, I know). I guess I have always liked learning, and it just amazes me what technology can do now! Maybe this wouldn't excite many of you, but I think it is all so interesting! I really like the woman who is training me, and I am looking forward to working with her more. Jeremy has been studying some too for his training. He is doing really well, and should be done with his class sometime mid December. It will kinda make me sad, because I have really been enjoying having him home normal hours! We feel really close to each other, I think especially since he has been in his class, and it has just been nice to spend lots of time to talk and laugh and stuff. :) The kids are doing pretty well. Lana was sick last weekend and earlier this week, but she seems to be much better now too. It seems like she gets sick easily. I don't know if it is because she is in daycare, or if it is because of the SEVERE weather change down here (it gets down into the 60's sometimes 50's at night!), or maybe she is just kinda sickly. It seems like everytime she gets a cold it goes right to her lungs and I need to give her breathing treatments for a few days until it gets better. At least she holds still for it. She is feeling a lot better now. Today she sang in the car all the way home, it was so cute! David tries to sing too now. He pretty much just says "ahhh" or "daaa" but it is really cute too! He said "shoe" perfectly today! It surprised me quite a bit! He has been trying to say lots of things, but isn't really close with other words yet. They have both been having a lot of fun at their school with their friends and then coming home and playing outside with us. David might be a sport kinda guy...he loves footballs and basketballs and *gulp* soccer balls (Sam and Alan might make fun of Jeremy a bit for this!). He also laughs if Jeremy pushes him a little bit and he rarely cries if he falls, even if it seems like a big wipeout. He's a tough little guy! Lana is a lot more like me and seems afraid of the ball, but she is getting better too. It helps that we use the soft balls to throw around. I don't really know if anything very exciting is going on in our lives lately, but hopefully this post was somewhat enjoyable anyway. :) We love you all and miss you!

Happy Halloween!!!

2006-10-31T17:07:00.000-08:00

We went trick or treating around our neighborhood tonight and had a great time! Lana has been excited for several days now. This morning when she woke up I told her happy halloween quietly because David and daddy were still sleeping, and she yelled really loud "Hap-py Hallo-Ween!" It was cute!
David had a cape that you can't really see, and Lana loved her Princess Aurora dress! We had a great time!
Getting ready to go out. "Trick or Treat!" David really had no idea what was going on, but he seemed happy to go for a walk anyway!

Tonight when Lana said her prayers it was so cute, we think we are going to try to video tape her tomorrow. She said "Sank you God for my daddy here (she patted his arm) and my mommy here (she patted me) and for Lana and for my David there (she pointed to his room were he was sleeping) and for my fwends at school, and my fwends at chuch, and for my halloween, and for my dress (here it sounds like she is singing) and candy, and batman, and doctor daddy ... AMEN!" She is such a little cutie!!!

Our Kids Are Growing Up!

2006-10-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I have been too busy lately...I'm sorry for not keeping pictures coming your way! The kids are doing great lately. I was starting to worry about David not talking really yet, when just this past week and a half he has started saying a lot more. He now says "mama, dada, nana (for Lana), meow (milk), dow (down), hi, bye, and bah (ball)" I was just being impatient I guess. He has the greatest happiest personality, he makes Jeremy and I laugh every day! Lana has been doing really well at school and loves to read. She gets the books out and shows me "fwont cover, back cover, spine, title and aut-or" She had a little boy that she loved at school, but I guess they aren't being as friendly this week :( They were giving hugs and kisses and holding hands everywhere!
Jeremy's class is going well so far. He just took his first test and aced it :) I'm proud of him! I am excited because I am learning MRI at work, so things there are getting much better. Jeremy and I are doing great, it is nice to be on the same schedule again. Last night we were reminiscing about when we were in high school, and dating off and on after that, and when we were finally together for good. I always love hearing stories about how people meet, and we were thinking we need to dig out all of our MANY old letters and emails from way back then. Does anyone else do this? I love watching our wedding video that my wonderful brother Mark made for us, I know I am cheezy, but I love all of that mushy stuff. Do any of you have old letters and stuff that you like to go back and read?
Well, I guess that is all that is really going on lately. We miss everyone so much and we have daydreamed about being back there...but we need to look on the bright side, we love the weather...it has been perfect lately! Come and visit! :)
I love when they can sit on their couch next to each other NICELY! Here they are reading their favorite books!
Daddy and David...they people at daycare gave David a new do! They got it all wet and made it into a faux hawk! It cracked me up!
David has to have his blankie that his great grandma Vander Voord made for him, he LOVES it! And he has a weird habit that cracks everyone up. He has to have the thing on his pacifier flipped up under his nose. If you push it down, he will move it right back up again. He will do this over and over and over, it's hilarious!
Another view of his hairdo!
Lana doesn't want her picture taken lately, so I had to sneak this one in! :)

School is back in session.

2006-10-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! This is Jeremy writing for a change of pace. Tracy got her last two wisdom teeth pulled today, and she is doing just fine. She will have to eat soft foods for the next couple days (ice cream, yogurt, pudding, she is really hating it!), but should be back to normal soon. The kids are doing well, their teachers at daycare always tell us how good they are. I will be starting Primary Plant Operator school next week. It will last for two months, all eight hour dayshifts. We are excited about that since we will be on the same schedule for a change, and it will give us more of an opportunity to get involved in church and meet people. We are starting to feel a little more at home here. All of our neighbors are back from up north, so it is nice to be able to see them on occasion. It is also getting cooler down here, which makes everyone happier! We miss you all and love you!

Football Season

2006-09-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been pretty busy lately! The last two weekends we have had friends over all day Sunday to watch football. Jeremy loves it so much he had to get both TV's in the family room so he could watch 2 (or more) games at once. We recently caved in and got directv with the football package, and he is loving it! Lana and David have had a great time having friends over to play with them! (The trick is getting them to take a nap right after church before people come over!) They are my pride a joy, that is for sure...at daycare their teachers just love them! They are always telling me how Lana is so sweet and she gives hugs, and David's teachers keep telling me that they want to clone him. :) They both are so good and pleasant most of the time, it makes me so happy! Lately, if David is sad, Lana will sing a song for him to try to make him happier, how cute is that?
Well, for me, work has been a little disappointing lately. I am not really doing what I thought I was going to do there, and I don't really have the greatest boss, so I may look around at other nearby hospitals...we will see. I don't think they are actually going to train me in the Cardiac Cath Lab because they normally stay really late everyday, and would expect me to do the same. It is ok though, I have my wonderful family ~that is much more important than work! I have found (through the help of my mom-in-law) the fantastic show on tv that I can record when I am working.......diy scrapbooking! Oh, I love it! One of these days I may make the time to put some of the new things I have learned into practice and actually scrapbook a page! I am embarrassed to say that I am just finishing up last November...oops. My excuse is that we moved...a few times. Well, we miss you all!
I love him! He is so proud of his football setup...and so good at making me laugh!

Lana and her friend Connor playing a very innocent game of "doctor"
Upside-down! David can be very helpful sometimes. Thanks buddy!
Lana and Connor again...they play so well together, we just love him!

Home Sweet Home

2006-09-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I updated this! We had a great time at home seeing everyone! Two weeks really go by quickly though. :( We are getting all settled back down here. It felt like home in Michigan, and now being in our own space again feels like home too. It is nice, our friendly neighbors are all coming back from up north where they spend their summer months, so it won't seem so quiet anymore. Lana was excited to sleep in her own bed again, and David is happy to see his favorite toy cars he can ride. Well, here are some pictures from our trip...I am not the wonderful photographer my sister-in-law Trista is, but if you want to see great pictures of the 4 kids playing, check out her website at team-meat.blogspot.com ... hopefully mine are good enough for your viewing pleasure :)
Our wonderful friends Megan and Alan who have been very, very missed!!!
Jeremy's mom (Nanny) with Jacob. He is such a little sweetie, I loved getting lots of hugs from him, and chasing him around and laughing lots. Lana was so happy to play with him again, and David really thought he was funny. Jeremy and Jacob always have a good time together... play wrestling and chasing and stuff like that, Jacob LOVES it! We are so lucky to have him as our nephew!
Here are our other wonderful friends Alexis and Sam with Eli and David :) They liked to take things from each other and talk to each other...Eli was a BIT louder than David! We had a great time seeing them and Alan and Megan again. We missed our weird conversations and our deep ones too. We missed all of the eating we always do together...(somehow I think I am always hungry!) We are looking forward to Christmas when baby #2 arrives, and Alexis even let me talk to her belly! :)
We had so much fun with our families! Here we are with Mark and Trista and Gramma! We went to Fredrick Meijer Gardens and had a fun day with all of the kids: Ethan, Abby, David and Lana. Abby and Ethan could run pretty fast, and Lana was trying, and she thought she was quick ("look at me! I'm so fast!") but she was WAY behind, so Trista would have to yell "red light" and Abby and Ethan would both freeze so Lana could catch up. They are all so cute! I loved getting snuggled by Ethan and getting Abby's fast hugs before she had to go play with something else! They loved having Uncle Jeremy make them "fly" and chase after them, and all four kids seemed so happy to spend time with each other again. I love seeing them play together and laughing together again! It was fun!
Lana loves her papa! He played with Lana and Jacob and David a lot and showed Lana all of the pretty flowers he and Nanny planted all around their yard. She told me "Papa's SO funny, huh?" We miss you already!
Here we are with Jeremy's brother, Dan and his wifey, Becky. We always have so much fun with them and have lots of opportunities to laugh at Jeremy and Dan's competetiveness. (is that even a word?) Oh, this is before Nanny convinced me to cut my hair off...but I am glad, I like my new hairdo...I'll have to post a picture of that next time I update this.
Grandpa and Grandma Quist got our grumpy kids for this picture! (it was bedtime) I am so glad we got to see them a couple of times while we were home, we had a really great time! I can't believe we never got around to having a huge bonfire this time, but we won't make that same mistake again. :) It was fun to hang out, even though Dad took Jeremy's money from golf and darts, we still really enjoyed it! And we even got to catch cool bugs there in Lana and David's bug boxes...like a huge praying mantis for example. We loved our trip, and can't believe how quickly the time seemed to fly by! For all of you readers we got to see in Michigan...we love you so much and loved our time with you, and we miss you all already! Come see us when you get a chance!

WE LOVE YOU GAMMA!

2006-08-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well, mom is now back home, but we had such a great time with her here! Lana talked her ears off and David warmed up to her in no time! He liked to climb all over her and he laughed a lot too. We got to go shopping one day, and we went to the movies...but that didn't turn out so well. It wasn't the greatest little kid movie and David was pretty squirmy. Lana got to take gramma to see her church on Sunday, which made her very happy, and she even got to make a beautiful crown so she could look like Queen Esther! And she loved the pretty princess purse gramma and papa got for her, she wants to take it with her everywhere!
I accidentally locked us all out of the house one of the days mom was here and our neighbor tried to break in for us (without success) but since they are so nice they drove all of us all the way to the power plant to get the keys from Jeremy. That was a long process, but we didn't get shot by the guard or anything, so that is good. We are all looking forward to a vacation in a couple of weeks and hope to see everyone while we are there. We love you and miss you...and THANK YOU MOM FOR VISITING...WE LOVED IT!!!!!

mom is here!

2006-08-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well, we are having a great time so far with mom here! Here are some pictures so far from her trip...we will post more soon, and I will write details later. :)

We're comin home!!!

2006-07-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

I'M SO HAPPY!!!

Hey, I am so excited, I just wanted to let everyone know we are going to Michigan for almost 2 weeks! Jeremy bought the tickets last night (yea!!!) We'll be there from Aug 25 to Sept 7. I can't wait to see everyone! I love you!

weekend pics

2006-07-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, I promised some pictures from the weekend, so here you go, enjoy!
This is Connor, he is only about 6 months older than Lana, but MUCH taller! They play pretty well together. Lana told him that when she gets bigger they are gonna get married! David had fun walking all over the place and climbing on things, he didn't like the sand much though.
Lana hasn't figured out the bubbles yet. She always puts it right on her lips and gets a mouthful of soap.
me and my wiggly little girl
David LOVED Connors police car! It even makes a siren noise and the walkie talkie lights up, so that is why he is so excited.

Be our guest

2006-07-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

I feel so proud of Lana and David! Every day that I pick them up at their daycare their teachers say how good they both are and how happy they have been all day. Lana waves goodbye to everyone and gives kisses and hugs to her teachers. She tried to give kisses to a little boy on Friday, but he ran away...but he kept smiling at her so it wasn't total rejection! David is all smiles when I go to get him now (he used to cry as soon as he would see me and crawl really fast to wherever I was standing) He always waves his hand too and says "die die" in a very happy non-violent way. I have been really enjoying work, and all of the wonderful people I have met there. I can say I am very glad I made the decision to work again :) My bosses really want me to be there everyday, which is flattering, I am glad they think I do a good job. Jeremy has had kind of a difficult few weeks, it is very hot down here now, and so in the plant it is well above the temperature outside, so he has been sweating like crazy. He has to wear his hard hat and combat boots and heavy pants and a thick shirt, so it's been torture. He said that he is happy when he can finally go outside where it is cooler...and I go outside for 5 minutes and am roasting! Tonight we are going to Jeremy's coworkers house again and we will hopefully swim a little bit. Lana loves their little boy Connor, and his new baby brother Cody. David doesn't really seem to notice a whole lot (at least he didn't last time we were there) but he likes all of the new toys.
Well, we are hopefully going to have our friends Andy and Janice come stay with us for a couple of days this week during their Disney vacation. We haven't been able to see them since their marraige last summer, so it will be really great to hang out for a little while again! (They live far away in New York) And then in a couple of weeks my mom is coming to see us again! We can't wait!!! Lana keeps saying "gamma's comin to see me, right?" and "She's gonna sleep in the office." (where our pull out couch is). I am afraid the week is going to go by too fast...but I want to enjoy every minute of it! We wish my dad could come too, but he can't take the time off of work. Really we wish everyone could come stay with us, but I think it would be better if everyone came at different times, although, it would make quite a party! I guess that is all the updates I have for now...I haven't taken pictures in the last few days, but I promise I will try to take lots over the weekend so you have more to look at! I love you all!!

baby steps

2006-07-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that we have made it a whole week where we were all pretty healthy! I worked every day because 2 ct techs were at a conference, and the kids did well going to daycare all week, and I didn't even have to call in once! We have had some fun once we all got home every day too. :) Lana has enjoyed her coloring more lately, and David seems happy to be feeling better again. When we walk in the door he lunges toward the floor so he can get down and play with his favorite toys: the little cars he can push and walk behind, and his cowboy and horses from his lincoln logs set. (he carries those everywhere and concentrates very hard to put the cowboy on his horse. When he succeeds he claps and says "aaaaaaiiii" like he is saying "yea" and cheering for himself...it is cute!)
Here is Lana using her colored pencils. She refuses to sit in the booster, she just wants to sit in mommy's chair. :)
I wish I took a better picture of this! When David is really happy, he will tilt his head way back and smile with his teeth clenched...it is my favorite face!
I can't remember if David was talking here or if I just missed his smile or what. But he sure is proud of himself for figuring out how to climb on his firetruck and sit down all by himself! (he is a bit clummsy climbing back off!) Lana and David made themselves a little table out of the lincoln logs bucket and their little chairs, and had fun making the cowboy and cowgirl walk on the bucket. They kept laughing at each other. :)
I love Lana's smile!

I'm bored...lets go to the doctor

2006-07-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just took David to the Dr because I was getting worried about his rash problem. It turns out it isn't chicken pox, which is good. He isn't contagious, and so he can go back to daycare and I don't have to worry about Lana getting it. He has "erythema multiforme minor" ... yeah, I had no idea what that meant either. He gave me a print out of his medical book that described it, which was pretty in depth and "medical" so I will try to share what it said in normal words. He has had a reaction that is kind of like hives, but more severe I guess. The individual lesions will resolve probably in about a week, but more may appear in crops for as long as 2-3 weeks. The doctor really didn't know what caused them because he has had so much stuff going on lately. It could be viral, or it could be a reaction to amoxycillin that he had been given for his ear infection. It could also be a reaction to his MMR vaccination that he had a week ago. The treatment is all the same though. I can give him benadryl which will hopefully make him sleep well too. We are going to avoid amoxycillin, which we have to do for Lana anyway. I am not sure what we are doing about the vaccination though, because he needs another one of those in 4 years. The doctor is going to think about that one for a while I think. Anyway, hopefully my poor little boy will be feeling better soon and won't be trying to itch his skin off anymore. :( Some prayers are certainly appreciated!

David's New Look

2006-07-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I am sure to get employee of the month! I have already had to take many days off because of Lana and David being sick, and now yesterday I got a call from the daycare saying that I should probably come pick David up because he had a rash. Well, a week ago he got 3 shots and one of them was for the chicken pox. The nurse who gave the shots said that it would be extremely rare for him to get a rash from it, but it is possible. Needless to say, our bad luck has continued and David has the chicken pox now. He is contagious until they scab over so I had to tell my boss again that I have to stay home with the kids. Luckily she is really understanding! So far Lana hasn't gotten it, and hopefully with her being immunized she won't...we will see! Here are pictures of my poor little boy from this morning. :( He is happiest if he is eating, but pretty much any other time he cries because he is so itchy. Hopefully this won't last long!
He keeps itching his chest and tummy so much that it just looks like one big welt now instead of individual spots!
He even has them in his hair, and all around where his diaper fits. I feel so bad! Once again...Illness STINKS!!!

Happy Day!

2006-07-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

Good news! Everyone seems to be feeling better in our house finally! David and Lana are both back to their normal selves and have had a great day of playing today. We built a fort with kitchen chairs and blankets, and they both had a great time with that! Lana had to bring her dollies in, and blankets and a pillow for them and her to lay on. She also had to have food for her babies and her play phone. David kept cracking up, so aparently something was really funny about the whole thing. They still have a lingering cough and slimy noses, but their moods are much improved. (thank you God!) I have been feeling great, and I am really enjoying work. I have been able to meet some very nice people there, and I even got a hug from an elderly patient after I did his CT scan. It makes me feel good to be in that kind of environment again. And then when I come home I can eat dinner with the kids and play with them for a while and have a good time on the days I don't work. I am thankful, I think it was a good choice for me and hopefully I will continue to feel that way! Jeremy has been working a lot lately because they were a bit short staffed. Luckily there are new guys there who are almost qualified to stand watch so he won't have to take so much overtime. He did just have his 7 days off, but the kids were so sick, it really didn't feel like much of a break! :( He still has a pretty sore throat, so hopefully that will get better soon and he won't catch the full blown illness! What a relief to be getting over all of this! Well, here are todays happy pictures...enjoy!
Here they are in their fort...david is playing with the pretend pizza slices and cracking up while Lana gives her baby doll "Megan" some juice. :)
David was enjoying his "Happy Birthday Present" from Uncle Mark, Aunt Trista, Abby and Ethan! They sent him a cute little train that can hold this rock and little box. He carried those around all over the house and then would put them in and out of the little train. He talked the whole time too, it was funny!
Lana said "Wow, thank you!" when they opened David's present. She had a lot of fun playing with it too...and after some convincing, she shared with David pretty well too!
Yea! I feel so much better!!!!!
HUGS!!!

Good health is on the way!

2006-06-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the pediatrician's office and got some answers! My poor little kids!!! David has a double ear infection which explains the fever and nasty diapers, and they both have pink eye. Lana has a mild ear infection in her right ear and she has some kind of problem in her lungs. The paper work says "bronchospasm", and the Dr. told me that it is like asthma, but this doesn't necessarily mean she will have asthma. They happened to get weighed while they were there, and David is 21 lbs 8 oz, and Lana is 22 lbs. It is funny though, because David feels so much bigger than Lana, but I guess it is just his build. Anyway, they are both on lots of medication that will hopefully make them much happier and healthier soon! I asked him if he thought I should go to a doctor too for my lack of a voice, and he thinks it is laryngitis and you can't treat it anyway, so I didn't go. Poor Jeremy woke up with a headache and sore throat and stuffy nose today...all I can say is "good luck honey!"
Here are my poor kids tonight...they had a rough day at the doctors, and then waiting for their prescriptions to be filled. They are just plain worn out! So I let them watch "Naughty Malificent" (Sleeping Beauty) and neither one moved a whole lot. Hopefully they will get a very good nights sleep!
Can you see how red and yucky Lana's left eye looks? I feel so bad for them!
Well, I wanted to add happier pictures too! Lana and David made daddy a present for Father's Day, and Lana did almost all of the work herself! We mixed up some salt dough (Lana stirred) and then here she is rolling it out. They both made hand prints (David's took several attempts because he always wanted to grab it instead). After it baked and hardened, Lana painted it really pretty! She was so proud of herself!
We went to Ocala to visit some friends on Father's Day, Lana had fun running around chasing Noah and Emma (4 and 2), and David and his buddy Aidan (6 months I think) would look at each other and laugh. Aidan liked to take David's pacifier out of his mouth for him, which wasn't the best for their friendship!!! Unfortunately all of the kids (with the exception of Lana at that time) were sick. But thankfully they are all on their way to recovery. :)
Here is Lana painting Daddy's present. It isn't quite done yet, but she had so much fun making him something for his special day! When she got to give him his presents, she said "Here daddy, you like it right?" and she was all smiles. We're so proud!

No more for me thanks!

2006-06-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Life isn't so great here lately. Jeremy is the only one who isn't sick (hopefully he stays healthy... his chances aren't so good!) David has had a fever off and on and has the runs that won't quit. Lana vomits and then you think she is getting better, and then she pukes again. Now her right eye is all puffy and oozing and we thought maybe it was pink eye, but now we are thinking maybe it isn't... I felt horrible for one day and then got better, but then last night I started losing my voice and so today I can hardly talk. What is going on here?! Is it possible to blame this all on day care....or me working at the hospital? Who knows, I just hope we all get healthy again really soon! I was going to post pictures, but that would just make everyone feel extra bad for them, so just know they are getting lots of love and hugs and (with luck) sleep! We love you all, and I will post pictures when they are looking a little more lively again!

Exciting Changes!

2006-06-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we have lots of news here! I took a job at a local hospital working 2-3 days a week. :) I started Wednesday, and I really like it! I get to learn a lot about Cardiac catheterization too, so I am excited about that. (I have a lot of experience in angiography- taking pictures of blood vessels in the head, arms, abdomen and legs, but not of the heart...until now) So I am happy to be back in the medical world a bit and to be learning something new too! Lana and David seem to really like going to daycare...I was worried about David because he can be really clingy to me, but he has done really well and hasn't even cried! Lana likes playing with the other kids having different toys and stuff to play with. It makes me feel good that they aren't suffering there, but are having fun. Neither one takes naps too well there, and I was beginning to worry that Lana had grown out of the need for a nap, until she slept nearly 3 hours today! We will see! Ok, so there is one more piece of news that might come as a shock to many of you...but we bought ourselves a minivan! I know we always say we don't want one and we laugh about all of the soccer moms who cart their kids around in their minivans, but alas...we have been reformed! We actually both really like it and it makes it much easier for the kids and then if anyone comes to visit we can all fit in the same car. :) (We hope you can all come and check it out soon!)

David is walking all around the house now! He holds onto walls and furniture and walks in between them...he is really doing well! Our new (used) Kia Sodona :) You can't really tell here, but it is dark green and very nice.
Lana was supposed to be taking a nap here...instead she was playing and talking, so when I went to get her up, this is what she looked like! I cracked up and had to go grab the camera!! She said, "I'm bein' silly, huh?!"

My Little Sweetheart!

2006-06-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have to tell you about the cutest, sweetest thing Lana said to me a couple of days ago! When I was getting her down from her chair after breakfast she kissed me. So I said "Oh, thank you!" Then she cupped my face with her little hands and said "I kissed you 'cause I love you!" She was nodding her head as she said it (which made her seem way too grown up!) and it was just the kind of moment every mommy dreams about!!! I sure do love my little girl!

working mom?

2006-05-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

So I dropped off a resume at a nearby hospital just to see if anything was out there and I ended up having an interview right then and there. They offered me a job 3 days a week, and I think I am going to take it. :) I feel really excited about it and I think it will be good for the kids to get out and be around other kids more too. I am happy because then I will be able to see them lots still, but get out around other adults too. I think it will be nice! We are going to look at a daycare tonight when Jeremy gets home from work, so hopefully that will go well. I still have to get a special license to practice radiology in Florida, so I think that should take 2 more weeks or so. I will keep you all posted on how it goes! :)

Tag!

2006-05-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

My friend Liz "tagged" me!

ACCENT: Well, for some reason many people have told me I sound like a Canadian...I'm not sure if that is a compliment or not...
BIBLE BOOK I LIKE: I guess this changes a lot...I think I really like Revelation, it challenges me.
CHORE I DON'T CARE FOR: All of them! I really hate laundry...it just NEVER ENDS!!!
DOG OR CAT: I like cats, but Jeremy is allergic to them. I really like reptiles more though.
ESSENTIAL ELECTRONICS: I am thankful for our computer so I can keep in touch with far away friends and family. :)
FAVORITE COLOGNE: I don't know! I never bring myself to buy any because it's expensive and I don't really need it.
GOLD OR SILVER: I like them both. :)
HANDBAG I CARRY MOST OFTEN: My purse made from persecuted christians in Bangladesh (www.christianfreedom.org)
INSOMNIA: not at all :)
JOB TITLE: "Mommy", and when working outside the home: Vascular Interventional Technologist, and Computed Tomography Technologist. Cool huh?
KIDS: My sweet daughter Lana (2 1/2) and my handsome little boy David (1)
LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Our new beautiful house in Florida :)
MOST ADMIRABLE TRAIT: a positive attitude
NAUGHTIEST CHILDHOOD BEHAVIOR: I don't know...being stubborn? I'll have to ask my parents about this one!
OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAYS: 2, one for each kid, oh-and I think maybe when I was younger and had pneumonia.
PHOBIAS: Being a widow
QUOTE: "poop when you have to"
RELIGION: Christian
SIBLINGS: 2 wonderful big brothers! :)
TIME I WAKE UP: 7:00 every morning
UNUSUAL TALENT OR SKILL: Doing different crafts :)
VEGETABLE I REFUSE TO EAT: Most of them! :) Actually I am improving, but I still refuse to eat squash or beets.
WORST HABIT: Saying "I'm sorry" all the time...I try to stop, but it still slips out! :)
X-RAYS: Chest x-rays, and I had my friend x-ray my foot when I was in school...pretty much because we were bored.
YUMMY STUFF I COOK: I have actually gotten some really good recipes and enjoyed cooking more lately! I made enchilladas that tasted great and different chicken and pork chop dishes. And of course, my mom's recipe for homemade apple pie!
ZOO ANIMAL I LIKE MOST: Either the penguins or monkeys.

Megan, you're it!

Hey Liz...you should do the list of 100 things about you!

being here

2006-05-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched a wonderful movie that mom and dad got for my birthday. I don't know if everyone has already seen it- Last Holiday, starring Queen Latifah- I loved it! It really made me think about my life and how I spend the time that I have. It also immediately made me think of a sermon by Rob Bell where he talked about being "fully present". I think often we are all a bit sidetracked and distracted. We think about what we have or haven't done and about what we should and shouldn't do...we are often so busy looking at stuff in front or behind of us that we never pay attention to now. We never just be. I want to soak in every moment and enjoy being here. I want to appreciate all of the time that God has given me. I want to enjoy just playing with my kids and to pay attention to all of the ways that God declares his love for me (for all of us).
I love where we live because at night you can see so many stars, it is incredible! I love the nature and the weather. I love my wonderful family and all of you reading this! -If you haven't watched that movie, I highly recommend it, it made me feel so good! (And for all of you that want a little inspiration, I have a great idea for you! Log on to the Mars Hill website www.mhbcmi.org and download the sermon from May 14, 2006! We still listen every week, and that week just blew me away and makes me want to make the world a better place! So click on the listen button and then click on mp3...you'll be glad you did! It will make you want to change the world!)

So anyway, I guess this was all just a great reminder for me to live each day to the fullest. :)

Oh, also, I think David is feeling better. He ate a little breakfast and lunch without incident so that is good! He has been sleeping a lot but his fever is gone. YEA! Hopefully he will be back to his hungry self again soon.

David's rotten first birthday

2006-05-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

So today is David's first birthday and he is sick. :( He has had disgusting things coming out of him all day today and has a little fever. I feel so bad for him! He can't keep any food down, but hopefully after a good nights sleep (and most of the day too) he will feel better tomorrow. When he was awake he surprised me by being pretty happy! He played for a while and then would whine when he was tired again. But he has been doing something that I think is so cute, even though I know I need to teach him not to... he drops things (especially his food) on the floor and says "uh-oh!" He even claps his hands sometimes! Oh, I love him! Lana and I had a lot of time to play today since he was sleeping so much so here are pics from today:

Lana and I were pretending to sleep, and she thought it was so funny that she would keep opening up her eyes! What a cutie!
This might require a bit of an explanation...the people who sold us this house didn't water the grass for several weeks and so the grass all died...so they had to pay to get the whole thing redone. They are supposed to lay the sod tomorrow. Anyway, they left their bobcat in our backyard all day Thursday and Friday so Lana played in the sand *oh, excuse me, the "beach"* while David had his nap. (I am afraid he would eat the sand instead of play in it) She had fun making sandcastles and poking her finger in the side and making windows.
Happy 1st Birthday David!!! He loves his firetruck toy from papa and gamma and was making the truck noises and everything! He had a pretty crappy day I'm afraid, but at least he played a little bit. My poor little punkin! (Oh, that furniture in the background was from our neighbors. I am thinking of reupholstering it.)
Daddy giving David his birthday hugs before he heads to work. (He decided he needed a change and had me cut his hair off. It definitely had to all be one length because as we all know, I am no beautician!) David always gets so excited when he sees his daddy! I think those are the moments when he crawls the fastest!

It's about time...

2006-05-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

I have been writing this blog for nearly a year now and I admit I mostly write about the family. I want everyone at home to feel like they can still watch the kids grow up, but I rarely write about me and how I feel. Well, I guess it is about time to let you all know. :)

Honestly it has been pretty tough for me lately. Surprisingly, not because we moved again...I love our house and everyone here we have met so far. We found a church that I am optimistic about and I joined a mommy's group and just today found a scrapbooking store that hosts "crop sessions" every other Friday. I have talked to our friends that we made in Ocala and I think we will keep in touch with them too. No, it has mostly been difficult for me at home. I want so much to be a good mom. I want to give them the best possible start in life and I want them to know they are loved and that God holds everything together. But a lot of the time I feel like I need to get out.... somewhere without the kids. I sure haven't been away from David much in his life. It's funny how going to the grocery store alone is a wonderful getaway when I used to think of it as a pain. The more I think about it the more I want to work again. This makes me worry about a lot of things though. Does that make me a worse mom? Are the best moms the ones who never put their kids into daycare? I love them both so much and I know I would miss them, so is it wrong that I miss work? I loved my job. Sometimes I would grumble about having to go in, but once I was there, I felt like God used me. I know I made a difference with patients I met and I loved my coworkers and did my job well. I have struggled with this a lot this past year. Working inside the home instead of at the hospital makes it a lot more difficult to see how God is using me. I know with kids it is the accumulation of many years, and God works in the little ways...it just doesn't seem like I am doing anything sometimes. I think I notice all of the times when I could have done (fill in the blank) better. (for example potty training!) I don't think I am a bad mom, I just worry that I have made too many mistakes already. Parenting is so hard sometimes! So I guess this is my struggle lately...should I stay home or work? I think a part of me thinks I should stay home...if I really loved my kids. That it is selfish if I want to work. And then the other part of me knows I need adult time and I am good at what I do in the hospital and if I miss it, maybe that is where I should be. Honestly I think daycare would be good for Lana, but I worry about David.

It seems like lately I am sad a lot. Staying home is much harder work that anything I have done before. It is more stressful than any interventional or OR case I have scrubbed in on. I guess that is it...I feel stressed lately, very stressed. Lana is definitely 2 and testing the boundaries. She is a little sweetie, but she also makes me crazy sometimes. David isn't to that point (yet!) but he can be really clingy! It is tough to have only a few precious hours of alone time a day and then just wake up to another day with many challenges!

I also think that I am carrying around guilt for leaving everyone in Michigan. I feel horrible for taking the kids away from their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and our friends. I don't feel this way because of what anyone says, I just know that it makes them sad that we are apart. (it makes me sad too) I worry about what everyone thinks about us and the decisions we have made. So when I get overwhelmed I eat ice cream to cheer myself up :) (not much has changed has it Andy and Josh?) I go out to our back porch and look at the trees and plants and enjoy the sunshine and warm breeze and blue skies and appreciate all that God has given me. I probably cry more than I used to, but I feel like I have more of a relationship with God than I have ever had before. Hopefully I will follow where he is leading me and then have peace about it...

Let's Party!

2006-05-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! David will be one year old on the 20th already! I can't believe it! We celebrated his birthday with one of our friends down here and her kids this past weekend and had a really nice time together. (Her husband couldn't come unfortunately...Jeremy was bummed!) The kids all play pretty well together and they all liked the cake and ice cream! David certainly is not as timid as Lana was on her first birthday! He grabbed for the cake right away and grunted, it was funny to watch! We are going out to dinner tonight for my 28th (I'm old huh?) and then we will open his presents probably this weekend, in between Jeremy's working and sleeping. It was kind of sad for me to not have everyone from Michigan there for David's birthday party... we miss you so much! We are sending you our love!
David's cleaning up his plate...I am so proud!
I had to get the cake the last minute because we still weren't sure how many people were coming, but the lady in the bakery was nice and put little turtles on it to make it cuter. :) (Sorry about the flowers David!)
David would stare at all of the other kids around the table in between bites, I think he liked the company!
Here are their playmates! :) From left to right: David, Lana, Noah (4), Aidan (6 months, I think), Emma (2). We met them and their parents (Davey and Stephanie) at the apartments and feel very blessed to be their friends!
I had to throw this picture in too...That's my girl!!!

All Moved In!

2006-05-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

Dr. Lana is listening to her barbie's heart beats and telling them to take "deep bwefs"! She is so much fun!!!
This is David's favorite toy!!! Lana was helping David walk and they were both cracking up!
Our happy girl in her new house!
David took 4 steps after I took this picture! I am so proud of him!!!
Look at our happy boy!!! Check out his 6 teeth! (4 on top and 2 on the bottom)

Well, we are in our new house, and boy does it feel good! We really love having the extra space and we have very nice neighbors! It will probably take a while to get everything where we want it, but it is starting to feel more like home. It is great to have a playroom for the kids now...they can run around the kitchen and living room and their playroom in a big circle, so that is good!
They love chasing each other and laughing. David has been taking some steps, but he crawls so fast that I think he finds it is easier to stick with that instead of learn to walk! They have fun together most of the time :) We can't wait for all of you to come see our new place! We love ya!

Our Big Boy!

2006-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Wow! David took 3 steps yesterday, and he did it again today!!! He gets so excited, it is so cute! He has really great balance, after he takes one step he sometimes waits and stands for a few seconds before taking the next. Other times it is pretty quick and then he falls down. He babbles all the time now, and I love it! I will love when he finally says "mama" but he can take his time if he wants. :( Lana is a very good encourager too! Today when David took two steps she squatted down and said "Good job, David, you did really well!" She was a little love bug today and kept giving him hugs...SO cute!
David is on his way down in this picture! Kaboom!
David inherited cool batman pajamas from his cousin Jacob...I loved it when Jacob wore them, and now I get to see how cute David is in them too! I think David likes them too!
Ok, I had to throw a picture of our big girl in here too! She loves taking her dollies for walks, and all of the older people here love to see her! She is pretty social too and says "hi" to everyone. (I have no idea where she gets this from!)
HUGS!
Look at me!!! I took 2 steps after this picture! I'm such a big boy!!!

Nanny and Papa

2006-04-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple of days on Anna Maria Island to see Nanny and Papa. It made us so happy to get hugs and kisses and snuggles from them again. (ok, so it was the kids who got most of the snuggles) but we had nice conversations again and enjoyed the beach and their beautiful condos and the pool there. David is still not a car baby... the trip down was a bit irritating, but he was sleeping on the way back up so that made it much better. He is such a little cutie most of the time though! He was so smiley and he jabbered a lot and loved to pull himself up against everything. He just started standing all by himself for long periods of time, so it won't be long now and we will have 2 toddlers! That makes me happy and a little sad too...babies are so cute! (Oh, speaking of babies...we just found out our dear friends Sam and Alexis are expecting another little babe!!! Jeremy says they better slow down! ha ha!) Lana has been pretty cute too. Mom cracked up when Lana was at the dinner table and said "excuse me" and I asked why and she said "I farted"... at least she was polite about it! She had fun in her pretty easter dress that Nanny made for her and liked to spin in it. These pictures aren't as clear because they are off the video camera, but I hope you enjoy. :)
David was having a great time talking to Nanny and Papa...he liked papa's Donald Duck voice!
Here he is jabbering away to Nanny :)
Papa took Lana for a swim in the gulf...she LOVED it!
Lana and David are playing with their Easter eggs...this cute dress was handmade by Nanny!
We all went to the beach, and Lana had fun playing in the sand with papa...David just tried to eat it!

Our new house! :)

2006-04-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

We have been looking for a while at houses down here, and we are excited to say that we found a very nice home for us! It is in a smaller town again, but there wasn't much to do in the town we are in now either! (Not that we can do much anyway with the kids...) There is a mall and a nice park nearby to take the kids to, so that is good, and the house is in a really nice neighborhood! We are really looking forward to being in a house again and to meet our neighbors! It is a 4 bedroom house so we will have a guest room ready for anyone who wants to visit...(hint hint!) Lana and David had fun running/crawling around and laughing a lot! We can't wait for you all to see it!
This is a view from the kitchen facing the back of the house. The master bedroom and bathroom, and the laundry room and garage door are all to the right, and the 3 other bedrooms are to the left. There is what they call a "greenbelt" behind the house so it is all very wooded and will stay that way, which is really nice. (and there is plenty of room for a future pool!)
This is the living room and eating area, also facing the rear of the house. You can see the kitchen counter on the right and the door to the master bedroom.
Lana loves the little windows by the front door! She was watching people taking walks outside and talking and laughing. What a cutie!
This is the front door (obviously) and the formal dining room (which we will probably use as a playroom or something) and on the other side is another little open room (pretty much the same as the dining room) that we will put the computer in.
Here is the front of our house (and the back of our realtor) :) You can see Lana's room on the left and the next windows are the den (computer room) and then the formal dining. I hope that all makes sense and you will kind of get the feel of what the house is like. We love it!

Our Friends :)

2006-04-09T05:17:00.000-07:00

We have been anxiously awaiting our friends arrival to Florida for a week long vacation in a resort in Orlando...we at first thought that it would be Megan and Alan and her parents, Tom and Joyce, and Sam, Alexis and Eli too...but then Alexis said she couldn't get out of working so they couldn't come :( We were pretty disappointed about it, but still really excited to see everyone else. Then the day finally arrived and we met them at the Bob Evans right by our house and after giving hugs Alan and Megan pointed to the door of the restaurant, and who should walk out but our dear friends Sam, Alexis and little Eli!!!!! We were so surprised and happy!!! They got us good...they had all been lying to us for about a month because they wanted to surprise us! So we had a great week in Orlando. We spent a lot of time at the pools and in the sunshine and we all got nice and tan! Megan, Alexis, Joyce and I all participated in some activities like yoga in the morning, and a pampering session, and my favorite...a dancing one where they taught the merenge (sp?) and the rhumba. I was Joyce's partner and we all laughed so much, it was great! Tom and Joyce stayed in the room a few nights so that we could all go out after the kids were in bed, so we went out to eat and played miniature golf and just had fun! It was pretty sad to see them leave again, but hopefully we can plan another trip to Michigan again soon. For now it is good to sleep in our own beds again. :) We love you all!
I think Tom and Joyce would *love* to be grandparents someday!
We went to the Macaroni Grill and had a yummy dinner and lots of laughs! Lana loves swimming and they had a great little toddler pool that was about a foot deep with fountains in it. She had a lot of fun in this pool, and in the big pool!
Isn't this a cute picture of Eli? He is almost 6 months old, and he is so smiley and cute, I will post more pictures of him soon too!
David tends to stare a lot...he was talking to his rattle here, but it was funny how he would be quietly staring at everyone. He would get so excited in the pool though, he likes to splash a lot and then he cracks up!

So, What's New?

2006-03-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

So it has been a while since I posted an update...so here it goes! We have been hanging out with some of the other people from the apartments lately. Most of them are building houses and will be moving out this month, but we are enjoying their company while they are here. I visit the ladies across the street a lot, I love them! Ann and Ms. Stewart live there and a nurse Benny is there during the day...I need to get a picture of Benny to post for next time! Jeremy is now qualified to stand watch at the power plant, so that is good news! It takes a long time to go through all of the training, but once you qualify it pays off. (yipee!) David has forgotten to hold on a few times when he is standing up and it takes him a few seconds before he falls down...he does really well walking behind the play car and stuff, so I don't think it will be too long before he is chasing Lana all over! Lana has really started to enjoy coloring more and she learned how to paint today! It was a bit challenging, but I think she had fun! She likes to walk everywhere by herself and she has been doing pretty well on the potty...she sits down and says "leave me alone ok?" and then when she goes, she runs out into the living room yelling "mommy, mommy, mommy..." until you go look to see if it "turned yellow" I am very proud of them both and my hubby! We have a very exciting week coming up...Alan and Megan and her parents are coming down and we are staying in Orlando in their time share...and we are SO excited!!!! Only 7 more days!!! I am sure to have lots of fun pictures from than soon! Love you all so much!!!!!

This is Ann from across the street...Lana has so much fun playing with her and her basket of toys! Here they are playing around with Ms. Stewart's walker! (Lana's shirt is all wet because she hasn't mastered the art of drinking from a cup yet.) :)
I have gotten to know some really sweet other women who have kids and have been able to hang out with them during the day sometimes. We went to Gainsville for some mommy shopping time and then took the kids to a park...what a fun day!
Don't you just love the Mickey Mouse ears? Jeremy's dad and wife Sandi picked this cute outfit out!
This is one of the sweetest people I have ever met! Ms. Stewart is sharing her cards with David and he is just fascinated! He gets so happy when he sees her!
Lana is a really good helper! She wanted to help David walk today so she moved the car slowly while he walked behind her...they were both so proud of themselves, they were cracking up! I love my sweet kids!!!!Here are the friends I went to the park with: Jennifer, Katja and Rebecca and then me, the loser without the sunglasses. (I sat on them and broke them.....again)

One Hundred Things About Me

2006-03-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

Once again my sister-in-law Trista (team-meat.blogspot.com) has inspired me! She posted a list of 100 things about herself that others may or may not know...so I thought I would try too. :)
1. I love "love stories"... books, movies, real life...
2. I can't whistle
3. I want to meet the kids that we sponsor someday: Jose from the Dominican Republic, and Jean from Rwanda.
4. I feel guilty sometimes for having so much
5. I must admit there are many times I think I want more.
6. I love hearing birds sing
7. I wish I didn't date so much in high school and college.
8. I pray that my kids will know that God loves them
9. I pray that they will love God
10. I recently read a book my mom gave me (Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World) that inspired me to pray about any thing I worry about instead of stressing over them...I think it will take practice!
11. I loved going to my parents Bible study with my parents and aunts and grandparents and a couple of cousins
12. I sometimes miss dancing
13. I really miss our friends and the times we spent reading and studying the Bible and praying together and encouraging each other.
14. I have always admired my big brothers for their creativity and artistic abilities
15. I am seeing how beautiful it is that God gives everyone different gifts and abilities that makes them special
16. I regret not being Rob's friend in middle school
17. I loved being his close friend in high school
18. I would love to go on a cruise with my hubby and best friends someday
19. I hate it when I am judgmental and selfish
20. I sometimes laugh and have to turn away when Lana is whinny
21. I love it that Lana talks to her food
22. I never drank alcohol until my 21st birthday (I was with Jeremy)
23. I have never wanted to smoke anything
24. I believe that Love Wins
25. I can't wait until Lana's (and David for that matter) potty trained.
26. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be a teacher.
27. I like snakes and lizards
28. I am afraid of sharks and I get a little nervous in the ocean
29. I still like macaroni and cheese
30. I sometimes get German and Spanish mixed up
31. I buy Lucky Charms for me and have Lana eat Cheerios
32. I talk to myself
33. I like being short.
34. I love staying home with my kids
35. I really miss working sometimes
36. I love how much Jeremy makes me laugh
37. I like looking at the stars and looking at clouds
38. I like to sing (even though no one really wants to hear it)
39. I like playing spider solitare on the computer (pathetic I know)
40. I love flowers, especially daffodil's and Lilies, although I hate gardening
41. I like watching movies with my hubby
42. I laugh a lot with my kids
43. I enjoy veggie tales
44. I have been proud of myself for cooking good meals
45. I love Florida weather
46. I think I would enjoy moving back to Michigan
47. I love dessert! Especially ice-cream!
48. I would rather be a passenger than drive
49. I am afraid to downhill ski
50. I don't like my crooked nose.
51. I love wearing my flip flops (or as Alan would say: "thongs")
52. I want to make a difference in the world...like helping rescue children forced into prostitution. (sadly, this is quite common in South Asia-check out www.ijm.org)
53. It always makes me smile when Jeremy sings to me. :)
54. Skittles always make me think of my dad. He used to buy them for me to have when I was done with dance practice.
55. I am so proud of my parents for going back to school and for always encouraging our own educations.
56. I love it when my mom laughs!
57. I loved all of our camping trips growing up
58. I LOVE garlic bread!
59. I love it when Lana sings!!! it is so cute!
60. I love it when Lana and David make each other belly laugh!
61. I can't wait until my kids can play with their cousins again.
62. Journaling helps me focus my thoughts, and often helps me pray.
63. I love old movies...black and white...musicals...I love it that there isn't anything bad in them.
64. When I drive places I get lost pretty easily...which inevitably makes me cry.
65. budgeting and managing money and investing isn't very interesting to me...I don't understand a lot of it and it either makes me bored or...makes me cry!
66. I still like hay rides :)
67. I have never been to a concert that wasn't "christian"
68. I laugh at myself a lot
69. I say "I'm sorry" too much, but for some reason I haven't been able to make myself stop
70. I loved growing up with two big brothers
71. I prefer fiction over non-fiction
72. I am directionally impared. Example: yesterday someone asked me if we used to live by the west coast of Florida and I said "no, we were on the gulf side".....once again #68!
73. I got detention twice for laughing and "disrupting the class"
74. In middle school I told on myself to my dad. He thought I was acting guilty so he said he talked to my teacher, and I confessed everything. (laughing and disrupting the class minus the detention bit)
75. I was often referred to as a "social butterfly" to my parents during conferences
76. I was always one of the worst athletes in my gym class...I didn't try too hard, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference. (I admit, I am still afraid of "the" ball)
77. I ran track one year at school. I think I may have been the worst on the team. They couldn't find an event that I wasn't terrible at.
78. I think gross hospital stories are pretty funny
79. I think Dumb and Dumber must be the funniest movie ever. It makes me laugh more every time I see it!
80. I can't do math in my head very well.
81. I am not really creative, I am pretty good at copying things. (this list for example!) I have found that I can draw copies of things pretty well, but I can't come up with original ideas.
82. I have thought about publishing childrens books, but I worry about the creative thing
83. I still think it would be fun to drive a hummer. (it would be most fun if I could drive it right over parked cars)
84. I used to hang out with my college friends at a funeral home. (one of them worked there... we actually had a lot of fun!)
85. I love how much Jeremy makes me laugh...I remember eating lunch with him in high school and setting my empty soda bottle on his tray and he scowled at me and swung his arm and launched it across the lunch room...I am laughing right now just thinking about it!
86. I love how Jeremy's grandparents read something from the Bible out loud everyday after they eat dinner.
87. I love rollercoasters...I would love to go to Cedar Point a few times a year!
88. I don't know if I will ever have the guts to bungee jump or to sky dive
89. I am stubborn. I remember going to bed without dinner because I wouldn't eat my vegetables. Now, I wonder where Lana gets it from?.....
90. I once trimmed Lana's finger along with her fingernail and I cried harder than she did!
91. I don't mind blood and I am used to watching someone put stitches in, but I almost passed out when I watched my hand getting stitched.
92. I was trying to cook Christmas dinner when that happened...the night was spent in the er instead....it took forever!
93. I loved spending time at my grandparent's cottage growing up, and swimming in the lake and going on their boat and ice skating.
94. I like going to casinos and playing at the tables ($10 minimum, or it scares me!)
95. I loved reading Rob Bell's book "Velvet Elvis" It inspires me.
96. I have the greatest family!
97. I actually have a bit of a tan! (miracle of miracles!)
98. I love it that David likes me best (for now)
99. My biggest fear is not being on the right path... I want to have confidence, but sometimes I am afraid of not going to heaven.
100. I pray that I will make people's lives better.

Lana and David

2006-03-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Here are a few fun pictures of the kids lately, enjoy!
David started walking behind Lana's Winnie the Pooh car today...he is really doing well!
For some reason watching all of the bigger kids play in the yard below our lanai is very exciting! Lana usually yells "hi kids" or something like that to the people below!
David was so excited and proud of himself today that he figured out how to walk with the car! He went all the way down the hallway! We are so proud of him!
Lana has always been a pretty slow eater...she would rather have all of her food talk to each other instead of eat it (much unlike her younger brother who shoves food into his mouth as fast as you can put it on the tray)... here she is talking to her animal crackers after she bites their heads off..."Hi, how are you? I good, how are you? I good too! Where your head go?"

Time flies when you're having fun!

2006-03-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

Gramma and Papa were able to come and spend 4 days with us... I wish it didn't go so fast! We enjoyed the weather by going outside several times each day to go to parks or for walks or to go swimming. Lana talked their ears off and loved all of the attention! In true grandparent fashion they spoiled the heck out of Lana and David, but I don't mind! David unfortunately had a cold so he wasn't feeling great. He had one day where he was pretty grumpy and just wanted mommy, but the other days he was mostly happy! (thankfully!) He seems to be feeling much better already, so we are glad for that! Gramma and Papa thought it was funny that Lana's favorite phrase is "I do it myself!" She is definitely 2! She is so polite most of the time though, I am so proud of her! They are both such good kids! We will be looking forward to sometime when we can go back to Michigan for a visit (preferably when it is much warmer than 34 degrees!) We love you lots!!!
Every night we had such a great time playing games together! Mom and I lost all but one time, but we are blaming that on the wine! We miss our little tradition a lot already!
Dr. Lana is taking Gramma's blood pressure. This is of course after she gives shots! (that is always her first thing to do!)
Isn't this the best picture?!
Papa and Lana at the park...we had a lot of fun at parks while they were here!

more pictures :)

2006-03-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

David LOVED all the attention and hugs he got from gramma and papa!
We went to a really pretty park on a very pretty day and had a great time playing together!
Here we all are! (visiting one of our nice neighbors, Ms. Stewart...she is 96 years old and has a fake marijuana tree outside her door! She has a great sense of humor, we love her!)
Our very happy family! :)
While Lana was taking her nap, David got lots of snuggles!

Papa and Nanny's Visit!

2006-02-27T16:49:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful thing to spend time with people you love and who love you back! We have sure missed friendly faces and so enjoyed an afternoon with Nanny and Papa! David was his happy self and was even cracking up in the restaurant we went to, and Lana was so excited to see them both...she was running around yelling "HI NANNY!!! HI PAPA!!!" and giggling! We loved getting to catch up a bit and had a nice lunch at Lonestar together! Time always goes by too quickly, but we are planning to go down to their condo sometime in April for a few days with them, so that will really be a blessing for us! (We love you so much, thank you for visiting us!!!)
Lana is showing Nanny her puzzle and telling her what shapes are what. (the "squa-o" and "tw-i-a-go" are kind of confusing sometimes!)
Lana had a great time with papa...she said "Papa, SO funny!"
This was so cute! Nanny was getting David to belly laugh...we loved it! (I guess he did too!)
David sure doesn't hold still for very long, papa had a lot of fun playing with them both!
Here is our big girl at the restaurant, drinking "chocwate miwk" from a "stwaw"! We all had such a great time together, Life is so good!!!

Florida's kind of snow

2006-02-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

Lana made her first snowman today! (with mommy's help) Since we don't have any of that precious white stuff down here we made one with playdough instead. :) Lana loved it and made it hop around the table. (I really wasn't aware that snowmen hop, but apparently they do) We spent the rest of today at the pool and enjoying the sunshine and 82 degree weather. Then we went to the park before the kids went to bed and David had a good time playing with daddy's basketball. We're still convinced he's on his way to the NFL, but maybe the NBA is in his future too. :)
"Cheese!"
David yelling about his new toy! He was pretty excited!
David's so cute, I couldn't help myself!
Here's a little Lana playtime for you..."I a sowman, how are you? I good! bye!"

Love you all!!!

My Seven Songs

2006-02-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

So, my sister-in-law, Trista, wants me to write about 7 songs that I really enjoy listening to lately. I guess it is like a game of tag in blogger land. She listed her 7 and then asked friends and family to do the same. So here it goes...

1. "Wherever I May Roam"-Metallica
Ok so I just LOVE this song...and most Metallica songs. I can't help but crank it up and wish I was cool enough to play the guitar or drums!
2. The Veggie Tales Theme Song
Lana has been asking daddy and me to sing this a lot lately...she is doing pretty well singing it herself! It makes me smile and laugh every time...I love her!
3. "Can't Help Falling In Love"-Elvis
Ahhhh....anytime I want to relax and go to a "happy place" I listen to Elvis and it makes me feel so much better...it almost has the same effect on my mood as ice-cream does!
4. I actually don't know the name of this song...we sing it at Mars Hill where guys sing one part and altos another and sopranos another...Alan and Megan would know what I am talking about, I love it! "All praises be...to the King of kings...and the Lord of lords...He is wonderful!"
5. "Glory Box"-Portishead
Like my very wise brother Mark...I love anything by Portishead (and by the Cranes while we are on the subject) I listened to this song the other day and had to dance around...I love it! Something must be wrong with my poor sister-in-law Trista to not like their voices! ;)
6. "Seven Nation Army"-The White Stripes
Awesome! I always have to dance to this one...so now Lana dances to it too! Unfortunately I think the rest of the album kind of sucks...maybe one of those one hit wonders I guess.
7. "Rock-a-bye a Bear"-the Wiggles
Ok, so I'm a dork...but it is actually catchy, and Lana dances and sings to it pretty well! It makes me think of my family...We were introduced to that song by Mark and Trista and their cute kids Abby and Ethan. All the kids would dance to it and make the rest of us laugh and smile! I know that my parents loved watching how cute they all were, and Dad would sing it to watch them do the motions. ohhhh *warm fuzzies*

So I guess I enjoy quite a variety...I wonder what my other friends and family like to listen to lately...Hmmm...Alan, Megan, Sam, Alexis, Andy, Janis, Josh, and Brandi...are you up to the challenge?

2006-02-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends and Family!!! We had a bit of a shock yesterday...we had to wear our coats outside! Don't worry about us though...it's supposed to be in the 80's later this week. :) I have to rub it in...we are just missing everyone there and we're so glad that we are getting visitors soon! We see Jeremy's mom and Doug next week!!! Yea!!! And then in March my mom and dad are coming and then in April Alan and Megan are coming! We have lots to look forward to! We have been having lots of fun with the kids lately, and spending lots of quality time with the whole family. We go to parks when it is nice out and both kids love to be tickled, it's so cute! Lana was tickling David's feet when he was in his highchair a couple of days ago and they were both cracking up and gave each other the hick-ups! We don't have much else happening down here, David now has 2 teeth and is no longer interested in baby food...he wants to be a big boy I guess! Daddy's tickling Lana right now and she laughs and laughs and when he stops she says "againt?" We miss you all very much! xoxo
Here are my most recent puzzles...this one is for Lana...she loves it!
This one is David's, although he only likes to eat it and doesn't care if Lana takes it to play with.
David was moving too fast for me to get a good picture...he is cracking himself up here!
Lana loves to read "sweeping beauty" and she yells at Malificent "you naughty!"
David making a mess of himself and proud of it! He likes grown-up food!
Lana had lots of fun a few days ago coloring outside!
My two favorite men!

Busy Little Bees!

2006-02-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

Well our house has been pretty active lately! Lana is excited to use stamps and to color since she sees me scrapbooking. She has wanted to go play at the little playground here a lot so we go nearly everyday, and we usually get to see Katja and her daughter Amelia too. We love to take walks in the red wagon (from Nanny and Papa) to go "check the mail". David is standing up next to everything. When we are anywhere near him (standing or sitting) he will crawl quickly and start climbing up us. He is getting pretty good at it! He got his first tooth on January 31, but is still pretty grumpy lately since the one next to it is not quite in yet. Lana just came down with a cold too so she has been more whiney than normal. Sometimes I miss working... when they are both crabby it really makes me miss it! I am thankful that I have met some other really nice people here that I can talk to a bit or I think I might go nuts! Lana's new thing is saying "mommy" over and over and over again and when you say "what's up Lana?" she has no response...until you start doing something else again and then the "mommy, mommy" starts again! It is funny how I couldn't wait for her to say that word and now I don't think she ever stops talking unless she is asleep! She is a little sweetie though, if I bump my arm or something she comes and gives me a kiss so it will be "all better". I have been pretty busy lately too. I have been making more puzzles (for Lana and David since I hadn't gotten around to making them any yet). I am excited and I have decided to give all profits to charities because I believe I need to really love others and help like Jesus calls us to. I know that even $20 can go a long way to help people in poverty. This is an area of frustration for me concerning the church we have been going to. I am pretty upset with the goals of the church and I have been trying to get in to talk to one of the pastors there. It seems like most churches are pretty self-absorbed and superficial...I want to be a part of a community that really LOVES. I am not sure what I am "called" to do in my life, but I am pretty passionate about some things. I want to help provide for every need of everyone in the area I live, and I want to give as much as I can to help people who are persecuted or starving or oppressed. I know I am not rich, but I want to be a part of it. Maybe I have been so mad at the church here for a reason...maybe this is where God wants to use me...I don't really know, but I feel like I am open to anything now. I thank God for Mars Hill church and for the teaching pastor Rob Bell, and for our wonderful friends who have helped us to learn how to start living how Jesus really taught us to live. I feel excited about feeling like I am starting to "get it" and that God really can use me to make the world a little bit better. So, thanks Sam, Alexis, Alan, and Megan, We love you!!!
Ok, here is Lana having a great time with "Stamms"! She ended up with red ink all over her hands...and some on her face. (I guess she wanted a taste-test)
Thank God we have this gate! There are a whole bunch of stairs in our apartment and David LOVES to crawl over and climb up to stand by the gate...please God don't let him start really climbing for a long time!
Lana and her buddy Amelia like to go into the closets to play with toys, I guess it is their little fort.
Katja is a very talented singer (as is her husband Charles). Katja sang songs for the girls...Lana liked the wheels on the bus song and she joined in too. "wheels on the bus, beep beep beep" and she danced too! She's so cute! Both girls liked Katja's guitar, Amelia was pretty good at strumming it already...another musician?
David is so funny!!! He is talking here, he has a little raspy voice, but he can get pretty loud! I love it! My kids sure do keep me smiling and laughing!

2006-01-23T11:48:00.000-08:00

So, I was thinking...(scary, I know)...I am so thankful that we moved down here. I'm sorry I was down when I wrote the last update. Our life is really so good! I am proud of us for taking a chance instead of staying where we were comfortable and then never knowing if we should have moved. I am glad that we weren't afraid of something new, even when we knew it would be difficult at times. So we went swimming yesterday, in 80+ degree weather, in a nice heated pool...and we are about to go again today. We went to the park this morning with our friend and one of her daughters (Amelia-almost 2). Lana had so much fun playing on the slide and under the fort in the "house" with her good friend Amelia. They were giggling and following each other and hugging, it was cute! I think that Jeremy and I are really looking forward to our future here, and it is ok that we miss you lots too...I think it is a pretty good thing! Another good thing has come to moving here...in all of my extra time I have decided to start a little business! I don't have a name for it yet, so if you have any ideas, please let me know! I am going to make wooden puzzles for children and just see if that could be successful or not. So, if you know of anyone who would like a wooden puzzle I would have a great time making one! I gave all the ones I have made away already, but when I make another, I will put a picture of it on here so you can see what they look like. So anyway, we miss you, but I feel pretty darn happy here too! Here are pictures from this morning.
Lana and her sweet friend Amelia. :)
Here they are in their "house" ...they were screaming and then laughing, it was funny!
David playing at the little park...he was talking a lot (bababa, dadada)
Daddy and David before daddy had to go to work. :)

What is perfect?

2006-01-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Boy, sometimes I wish I could have everything...sometimes I can feel so homesick...you are all very very missed. I really am not complaining about life down here, really it has been pretty great lately, I just hate missing out on seeing so many people that I love. It's funny how you can have these decisions and none seems good and none seems bad either. I must admit there have been many times since we came down here that Jeremy and I have looked at each other and asked if we did the right thing or not. It sometimes doesn't feel like it since we lost money on our house and it is so hard to meet people here and we miss everyone from home. But then we talk about what our options were and what we want for our family, and then we feel like, "yes, this was the right choice." We wanted Jeremy to have a good job that he would like (which he now has) and we wanted to make enough so I could stay home to raise our kids (this has been such a blessing!). We wanted Jeremy to get really good experience in the nuclear power field, and this job has really been great for him. I must admit the climate was a factor too...I love and hate Michigan at the same time. I love it for all of the people there and our church that we miss so much...and we both hate it for the dreary cold weather...so for that Florida has been very good to us! I guess today has just been kind of a downer day. I've thought a lot about missing you and it sometimes gets to me. I hate that since there are so many happy things going on lately! Lana is starting to go on the potty consistently (yipee!) David is so strong, he is pulling himself up to stand next to everything, and he "talks" a lot lately. They have been playing a lot together and laughing together, I think that Lana likes it that he is crawling. She will crawl by him to make him laugh, and then he will tackle her! (Several people have said he looks like a future linebacker, which makes Jeremy so proud!) She cracks up at him when he pulls himself up to stand by her and her laughter makes him crack up! She has had a bit of an attitude lately, but I guess that would just be her age showing. She's fun most of the time though. One of her favorite things to do is to look at the scrapbooks I made. She likes to point out everybody in the pictures and then she gets her play phone and talks to you all. We all miss and love you! David about to tackle his big sister (a whopping 1 pound bigger as of last week) David is so proud of himself for being able to pull himself up to stand! He is quite a bit different from Lana...he is much tougher. When he falls he just gets back up like nothing ever happened!
Lana wanted to "crawl like David does!"
Our little sleeping beauty...
"Hi mommy!"

Fun playtimes!

2006-01-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

We have been having lots of fun lately playing out in the sunshine!! We love taking walks together and Lana has made some wonderful friends! I meet another mom (and sometimes her husband) almost everyday so the kids can run outside and play and we can talk to another grown up for a while! They have 2 little girls, one is around 2 1/2 and the other is around 1 1/2 and they love to run and chase each other and play with balls outside. We have met another great couple and their 3 girls too. Their youngest is almost 2 and she plays so well with Lana! They laugh so much, I love it! There is another couple here that also has 3 kids that Lana had a lot of fun playing with! Their son is 4 and their daughter is 2 and they have a 2 1/2 month old son too...we hope we can spend more time with them too. We feel really blessed...we have met all of these great people here at the apartment complex...and they are all really sweet! We really miss everyone at home still of course...Lana has been wanting to go to see papa...she says "papa's home...all done workin" and she wants to go to his house! She's a cutie! And she was talking about seeing Abby yesterday and "Etan" and she wants to play with Jacob too. I am not sure when we will be seeing everyone again...We are looking forward to seeing Nanny again when she comes back down, and our great friends: Alan, Megan, Sam, Alexis and Eli when they come in April...and we just found out my parents are coming in March! We are so excited to have visitors!!! We love everyone back at home so much...ya know...Florida is beautiful this time of year! You can't help but be happy everyday! (I also hear it's a great place to move to...) Love you all!!!

David loves eating cheerios! He has been so excited, he tries to eat my whole hand when I feed him one! (he still isn't too efficient at getting them into his mouth!)
Lana doing her shapes puzzle I made for them...she knows the names of them now...it amazes me how quickly children learn things!
David is so proud of himself for cruising all over the apartment!
Lana saying "cheese!" (She does this almost everytime I pull out the camera now!)
Lana is such a great big sister! She is helping put more cheerios onto David tray and making him laugh! I love my kids!

"Princess Lana"

2006-01-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

Well, today we took a walk to the beauty shop so Lana could get her first good haircut! She was so good! It really surprised me since the other times I tried to cut her hair she wiggled everywhere and freaked out! I read her a book while the lady did her hair, and she held still so well that she even curled her hair for her! She looked so cute and she looked at herself in the mirror and said "Lana a pincess!" They gave her a sucker for being so good and she liked the "lellow one" I love her!!! David sat in the stoller and laughed and talked the whole time so the hair stylist put some gel in his hair and spiked it all up too! It was a good trip! David is really starting to crawl faster...I bet in a couple of days he will get where he wants to go really quickly! He loves to stand up too...luckily I think it will be a while before he tackles that one! We miss you all!!!!! Enjoy the pictures! xoxo

After the beauty shop...Lana's givin David hugs! :)
Our beautiful little princess!
I think she looks a lot like I did in this picture!
David is so proud of himself for figuring out how this crawling thing works...he cracks himself up!
Lana and Daddy playing "horsey"! She laughs so hard, I love it! Poor daddy is getting his hair pulled out!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2005-12-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had wonderful holidays! Ours were a little different this year, but still pretty nice. Jeremy was working 3rd shift for Christmas, so when he came home Christmas morning we spent a little time opening presents before he had to go to sleep. I met a really sweet older couple at church the weekend before who invited us to their family dinner Christmas Eve, so we went and I think that helped us a lot. It made it feel like we were doing something for the holiday even though we couldn't be there with our family and friends. We had a lot of fun watching Lana open her presents! She definitely got the concept!!! She didn't always open the presents fast, but she knew she was looking for toys and she got so excited! She opened David's too since he couldn't care less at this point! Well, it didn't really feel much like Christmas down here...but that really isn't much of a complaint! One thing I can say is I LOVE FLORIDA WEATHER! We go out and take walks and play outside nearly everyday...I think there may have been 2 days when it wasn't blue skies and sunshine for the entire month of December...much different than Michigan I hear (a whopping 7.3 hours I think)...Yes, I think there is a lot to be said for Florida! So today it got pretty warm and Jeremy wanted the air conditioning turned back on...December 31 with the air on! I love it! We brought in the New Year tonight a couple of hours early because Jeremy is on first shift all of next week so he has to go into work tomorrow early. I think he needs to leave the house at 5:30am! And I can get more sleep than him because for the past week David has been sleeping 10-12 hours a night! Yipee!!! David has been getting on his hands and knees for about a month now and rocking back and forth, and today he started to crawl! I am excited for him because I know he was getting frustrated, but a little nervous for myself! I am going to get my exercise! Well, here are recent pics... We miss all of you so much and thank God for you! Every night before she goes to bed Lana prays with us...tonight it was her turn to pray at the dinner table and it was so cute, she thanked God for her food and thanked him for "walks" and for "owside". I love her! We love you all!!!

David is looking up at his daddy! He gets so excited when he sees Jeremy!
My cute husband relaxing a bit on his day off! (I tease him about his little headset)
Lana playin outside...she loves our screened in porch!
Lana playing with her new shopping cart she got for Christmas! She wanted "Megan" to go with her to the store!

Lana and David have been playing "together" (next to each other) pretty well most of the time. David is interested in everything and has to taste test anything he can get his hands on! (Hmmm, this corn looks yummy)
David's "duhhh" face. Sometimes he has a bit of a staring problem. :)
We got to see Nanny and Aunt Jan on their way back up north. We went out for lunch and had a wonderful time together again!
Aunt Jan loved seeing the kids again and enjoyed getting to hold David for a while!
Here are the kids playing again...Lana loves to "play people" and David likes to eat little people!

Back to the Sunshine State

2005-12-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are back in Florida...celebrating Lana's second birthday! We can hardly believe that she is already 2 years old! She wanted to go swimming...so we went! I was a bit disappointed that the pool wasn't heated though! We had a good day, but it has been a bit sad being back. We miss everyone so much already. I think Christmas might be a bit tough. I did get invited to a family Christmas party from a very sweet woman at church this past weekend! There have been a lot of people here who have gone out of their way to be nice to us! I wish that I could have seen everyone while we were home, and it's funny how the time I had really seemed to go so fast! We miss you all and love you so much!

I tried to turn this picture around, but I guess I am not so great at computers! This is the present from gramma and papa for Lana's birthday.
Lana loves her glasses and sitting on her car out on our lanai watching "peoples"
Lana and David are good pals most of the time and give each other hugs!
Lana loves David's soft sticky-upy hair!
Our very happy boy!!!
And our beautiful girl!
David talks a lot now and laughs and smiles all the time! He is so much fun!
Lana swimming in the cold water on her birthday... can you believe it?

2005-11-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

Wow! I have been one busy mommy since I came back to Michigan! I have spent so many wonderful days with friends and family! I have been able to stay with my parents a lot, which has been such a blessing for all of us! Lana has enjoyed every moment of "rock-a-bye" and books with gramma and papa!!! She is so excited to see them in the mornings, and if they are working then she is sad they aren't there to give her morning hugs and of course to "rock-a-bye". David smiles all the time! He is such a happy boy and he loves to "talk" and blow bubbles! I know my parents are having fun making him crack up and giving him hugs! I have also spent a lot of time with Mark and Trista and Abby and Ethan. It has been great to have the little cousins together again so they can run around chasing each other and screaming and giggling! You can't help but laugh when you see it! Trista and I went away for a weekend to scrapbook (I got 16 pages done!) and we had a GREAT time hanging out without kids to watch! I think it was much needed rest for me! I got to spend very special days with Jeremy's family too, (unfortunately most are out of town now) but I am looking forward to seeing Dan and Becky and Jacob soon. Here are some pictures of our most wonderful precious friends here...we wish we could take them with us!!! (hint hint!) I have so many pictures...it is hard to pick which ones to post...but here are some really cute ones! Jeremy, WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!! Everyone else, thanks so much for reading! :-)

Our Bible study friends; Alexis, Sam, Megan and Alan :-)

me and my girls!
Abby and Ethan love David! Abby calls him "buddy" and wants to hold him lots!
Lana and "Wata" (Aunt Trista) HUGS!!
"Uh Mark", Abby and "Etan" were spinning in circles and giggling, it was so cute!

2005-11-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

Here are more pics from time with our family...enjoy!Mark likes David's great big smiles, and Ethan loves David!!! He wants to be by him all the time, and he either calls him deedid, or "baby, baby!" It is really cute!

Nanny really enjoyed seeing David and Lana again, and she said she thinks that David has changed from just a month ago when she visited us in Florida!
Lana, Abby and Ethan are such great friends! They giggle and run around and have so much fun!
Jacob was so cuddly!!! I loved it! We had a bonfire at papa Quist's and really enjoyed our night together!
Here is grandma Quist letting David chomp on her fingers. She laughed at how chubby our little (big) boy is! He's a cutie!

2005-11-02T06:49:00.000-08:00

David and "Papa Quist"
Grandma VV and David on Halloween!
Lana loves to "rockabye" and read books with papa!
Lana and Jacob had so much fun together! They chased each other and giggled and gave hugs! Aunt Becky and Uncle Dan were so happy to see us again! :)

Aunt Trista is having so much fun with Lana and David! It is great to have us all (almost all) together again...we miss you Jeremy!

Greetings from Michigan!!!

2005-11-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

We are having a lot of fun here in Michigan! We have had many great days spent with our family and friends that we have missed so much since we moved! Lana and David had fun last night for Halloween...Lana didn't want to stop trick-or-treating...she cried when we had to go inside! We went to my mom's school and got to march in their parade along with their Aunt Trista and cousins Abby and Ethan. I have many pictures of our family that I haven't been able to download on my dads computer, so I will add more at Trista's house tomorrow. We are really enjoying all of the fun things we have done so far...but boy oh boy do we miss daddy!!! Lana has asked for daddy several times now, and of course I miss him tons! Five weeks is a long time, but we will enjoy all of these moments while we are here! I'll add more soon! David was our frog for Halloween! Cute huh?
We went to a farm and a corn maze with grandma and papa and Uh Mark, Aunt Trista (Wata), Abby and Ethan. It was fun...the kids loved chasing ducks and playing in leaves!
Lana colored her first pumpkin!
Our little carebear! She loved it, she didn't want to take her costume off!
David was great, he just took it all in and hung out with mommy!

2005-10-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

Just a few more days and Lana, David and I will be back in Michigan for a month! We are so excited to get to spend time with our wonderful family and friends! Things here have been pretty good really. We met this really sweet couple and their son (2 days older than David!) at a restaurant a few weeks ago. We have gotten together several times since then and they are so easy to talk to! We feel like we really "click", so that makes us so much happier being here! They said I could put their pictures on here, and their names are Matt , Katie and little Cody. We are enjoying spending time together...and enjoying the nice weather! (until the hurricane hits anyway!) Jeremy and I have been saying that it will be tough being apart for so long. He is sad that he can't see everyone and he'll miss the kids and me a lot. Hopefully he can still see Matt and Katie sometimes in between his work schedule. I'm afraid the next month will be a lot more enjoyable for me than for Jeremy! At least the money will be good! We will see you all soon....and WE LOVE YOU!!! Lana is feeding "Alan" and "Alan" crackers and juice. Such a little mommy!
What a great picture of the family huh?
This is Katie and Matt...our new wonderful friends!
Daddy and David have been hanging out lots lately...David is one happy (and drooly) boy!
This is Matt and Katie's son Cody. Isn't he cute? He is so happy all the time too!

Two more weeks.....

2005-10-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

We can't wait to see all of your smiling faces! Lana and I have been counting down the days until we "go on airplane"! I have all of these cute pictures from when Jeremy's mom came and stayed with us for a day before she headed down to her condo...and I have pictures from when my grandparents stopped by on their way down to their park...unfortunately we are having problems with our scanner. :( So these are pictures from our digital camera instead. Here's one of Lana "bein silly!" We had a great time with Lana and David's Nanny! Lana showed her how she can swim like a big girl, and David loved to get hugs. We had a great afternoon with great grandpa and grandma too...we went for a walk and then out to lunch and we all had a great time! And now we are so excited to get back to Michigan, cold weather and all! See you soon!!!

Here is "David...SO TIRED!"

David LOVES to eat!!!
Lana likes playing with her bath boat and shapes!

Are Lana and David related?

2005-09-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

I have asked myself this several times...today was no exception! David went to the doctor today for his 4 month checkup and he is growing at quite a different rate than Lana ever has. She has pretty much been in the less than 5th percentile range every visit...David on the other hand is 50th for height and 75th for weight (16 pounds 4 ounces!) So it will take what?...another couple of weeks and he will weigh more than Lana! Our cute little chubby boy and our petite little Lana! Here they are from this afternoon...Lana's givin David hugs :)

extra pictures

2005-09-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Here are more pics that I couldn't add onto the last one. Megan, this picture of Jeremy and David is for you so you know how big he is. Like his outfit?

Lana likes these glasses from Jacob...cool huh?

I booked a flight! YIPEE!

2005-09-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm coming home...and bringing the kids with me! I am so excited to see everyone again! I will be there for almost all of November. I wish that Jeremy could come too, but he is working a ton of overtime then. That is a lot of the reason I am coming home for so long. I am certainly looking forward to hugs! :) Lana went swimming today at the pool and had her swimmies on her arms, and she wanted to do it all by herself! I was so proud, she did really well! David was sleeping the whole time we were at the pool, so Jeremy got to watch football! :) We are starting to get to know more people from church, and really feel like it is a good place for us. Hopefully we will hear back from church soon because we signed up to be in a Bible study, so that will be good! I have made some friends here at the apartment place too...mostly at the pool. We really love it where we are living now, the apartment is really nice and it is so pretty! Here are some pics from this week...David is getting huge! This is a bit blurry because I couldn't get Lana to hold still, but she is so happy most of the time, she's a lot of fun!
My giggly little girl! (I wonder where she gets that from?)
David talking and smiling and blowing bubbles! :)
Lana loves this bunny that her Nanny made for her!

David has been reaching for toys more, and he loves this exersaucer!

We've moved again!

2005-09-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hello! We are so happy, we moved into our apartment last week and we love it! We are still unpacking, so it isn't perfect quite yet, but it feels so good to be getting settled! Our kids seem to be growing up quick...this has been a big week! Lana no longer calls David "Veedid", but calls him by his correct name...which kind of made me sad. She plays peek a boo with him a lot and makes him smile. She is now sleeping in a big girl bed, and she LOVES her new room with all of her toys in it. The windows are all low enough that she can look outside, and we have gone to the pool almost everyday for a little while. ("shvimmin") David learned how to roll over both ways just since we got here! He has been so happy, and when you kiss his belly he laughs a lot! I gave David his first haircut, and luckily it isn't as easy to mess up a boys hair! We are happy that it is beginning to feel like home...we just miss all of you terribly! We love you and will add more pictures soon! David on his tummy after he rolled himself over...doesn't he look proud?
He is laughing! I love it!!!
Lana loves her "big girl bed"!!!
I had to trim David's fauxhawk. Jeremy was sad, he thought it was funny!
Lana talks to all of her dollies and animals, but her bear-bear is her favorite!

Our Cute Kids!

2005-09-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here we are healthy again! David has been playing in his excersaucer and reaching for toys. He likes to chew on everything and drool and drool! He laughs now and smiles and "talks" all the time, it has really been fun to see! Lana likes to play peek-a-boo with everything...here she is with her dollies saying "I see you dolly!" She befriended an employee of a restaurant down here and after dinner he brought her a stuffed cookie monster. She loves him and calls him "monkey monster"! Life is pretty good...we can't wait until Tuesday when we can move into our new apartment close to friends and church and civilization! More to come...

Bye Bye House!

2005-08-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

We sold our house! Yesterday we accepted an offer...not quite as much as we had hoped...but at least it is done! So really we are very thankful! Things are beginning to look better at home too. Lana feels much better and is back to running all around and talking and talking and talking! David and I have been sick, but I think we are both getting better too. David had bronchitis and it is so hard to hear him cough and not be able to help. He let me sleep all night last night and now he sounds a lot better, so that makes us all feel better. Lana of course observes everything and says "mommy nose runny" and "veedid, don't cry" and "veedid coughing" She surprised me a couple of days ago when I sneezed and she said "Bless you, mommy" She talks so well, and all the time! She makes her toys talk to each other and play peek a boo with each other, it's funny. It is nice to see her back to normal! David has really been good despite feeling crappy! He still is smiley and makes bubbles and stuff, and he has been reaching for toys more...but he still pokes himself in the eyes sometimes! I didn't get any good pictures this week since we are all sick, but soon I am sure I can get more good ones! We are celebrating our 6 year anniversary today at home, but we got to go out on a nice date when mom was visiting! I guess six years goes by fast! We are thankful Jeremy didn't take a job in Louisiana (there was a position available at a plant there too) We would rather steer clear of Katrina! Love you all!!!

Learning Patience!

2005-08-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

This last week has been a bit challenging...Lana has been quite sick, she had a fever (that is gone this morning...yipee!) and she is coughing a lot. David just started coughing last night and he is pretty crabby already this morning. I feel so bad for them because they just aren't themselves, it will be so nice to see Lana running around playing again. We have also been renting a house down here, and in 2 weeks we are moving to an apartment in a more populated area. :) We are kinda in the middle of nowhere right now. The friends we have made all live in Ocala, and the church we found is there too, so that is where we are headed. We are really ready to make the move, because it is boring here and it will be great to live close enough to hang out with friends! We still haven't sold our house either, so that is a bit depressing. The thing is, I know that it will all work out. It will sell someday and then we can look for houses down here, but in the meantime, the apartment we are going to rent is really nice. We are looking forward to swimming in the pool all the time. (Lana will love it!) And she made friends with little Bella who lives in the apartment complex too. She is the daughter of Jeremy's friend from work. So we have a lot we are excited about and looking forward to, it is just hard to be patient sometimes! Well, I need to tend to the sick kids :( Thanks for reading up on the Quists!

Grandma's Visit

2005-08-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

We have had such a special week with my mom! Lana LOVED waking up every day to see "gamma" and to get her hugs! And David would just smile and smile at her whenever she would smile or talk to him! We had fun playing and laughing and swimming in Lana's little pool and eating lots of oreos! It is just too sad to see her go back home...our hearts are with everyone there in Michigan, that is for sure! We went to see the manatees while mom was here, which was really neat! They are huge and we could see them right up close! Here are some cute pics from our week. :) It was really hot when we went to the park, so Lana is pretty warm here, but we needed a Lana Manatee picture anyway! This is the morning when mom was going back home, so some tears were shed. :( Lana loves to look at her scrapbooks, so that was about the only way to get her to stay sitting on the couch for pictures! Look at how big David is getting! We weighed him and he is somewhere around 14 pounds already! Our happy boy smiling at his grandma!
This was right after mom got here in Florida...we were so happy! Lana was excited, but she wouldn't look at the camera and smile.
David loves to snuggle up and fall asleep...grandma loves it too!

one month already!

2005-08-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, another week has gone by down here, with many enjoyable moments! Lana has been so much fun...she loves to play with her dollies (one of them she has named Alan even though it looks like a girl). She hugs them and feeds them and wants to change their diaper too. She watches everything I do with David ("Veedid" she says!) and copies me. She wants her dollies in the swing if that is where David has been, and if I pick him up and pat his back or kiss him, she does the same thing...it is so funny! She plays with her little dollhouse a lot too and has the people eat dinner and she will babble a whole ton and then say "amen" and then she has them eat, she's really cute! David has been so smiley too and he has started to coo and razz a lot, I love it! Last night he slept 7 hours so that was a blessed relief! Hopefully that will be a new habit of his! Jeremy and I are really happy too, we got together with a guy he met at work and his wife and kids and had a really nice time! They have a daughter who is 2 1/2 and a son who is 2 weeks younger than David! And we met another really nice couple at church last weekend and we plan on seeing them sometime this week too. We are very thankful to have other people that we can talk to now, and we feel like this is the right place for us. We are very anxious to have my mom come and visit...she gets here Saturday and will stay with us for a week...we are very excited! We are looking forward to lots of hugs and fun in the sun! I am sure that I will have some good pictures from that in a couple of weeks! Here is one of our happy David and Lana playing with her dolly "Alan".

I Love NewYork

2005-07-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a very difficult trip to New York this past weekend. One of our good friends got married and had a beautiful wedding, Jeremy was a groomsman, and I was on kid detail. They did ok flying the first time, and having a messed up nap schedule and all that...they did pretty well while we were there, but the flight home.....wow, that was a different story! I don't think I have felt that embarrased in a long time. They were both screaming by the end of the flight, and then we had to drive another hour and a half to get home. Now that we are here, they are both great again, traveling can be rough sometimes! I really didn't see much of the wedding or reception, but it all seemed really nice.
Well, it is certainly hot down here, but it is so great to see blue skies and sunshine and palm trees! I think that we will be really happy here, and I am so excited that we found such a good church where we will hopefully meet people really soon. Jeremy seems to really like his job and has met quite a few people he really likes...one guy and his wife have kids really close to Lana and David's ages, so that is good. I think we are going to get together with them sometime soon. We miss everyone from home and despite the difficult trip we just had, we will figure out when we can come home again! :)
Oh, we would love your prayers for our house to sell quickly...we are anxious to find a home here! God bless you all and I will write again soon!

Florida Sweet Florida

2005-07-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Jeremy and I are finally getting a bit settled after a QUICK move to Crystal River, Fl. Jeremy is working for a nuclear power plant and loves it! I am beginning to feel like this can be home. We've found a wonderful church, been to the beach several times where Lana LOVES to swim, but is still unsure of the sand (yucky, she says!), and David is growing by the minute (11 lbs. 4 oz. this week!). Our absolutely amazing friends Alan and Megan came to visit us for a whole week. We enjoyed spending time laughing, playing in the hot sun of the south, and eating a ton of ice cream! :) Here are some pictures since our move south! We miss ya all and will keep this updated as much as I can with the two babes. Love--Jeremy, Tracy, Lana, and David