The Jacksons

Happy 2nd birthday Louis!

2012-01-21T13:21:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas from the Jacksons

2011-12-21T18:47:00.001-06:00

Where did summer go?

2011-08-28T19:07:00.002-05:00

Thankfully it seems like summer is done. SOOO thankful that it is cooling off. But we have enjoyed our summer. We have taken several lovely trips...

1. Up to the Minneapolis area to see my dad's side of the family. This was our second time going to the Emery family reunion. The first time I had a "little bit less than crazy" moment. This time Charlie was able to come with me, so that made things MUCH easier. Especially since I was about 5 weeks along and the morning sickness was rearing it's ugly head. Thankfully is was just the beginning so it wasn't too bad. Yet. :-)

2. two trips up to the Jacksons. And can I just say I love visiting them. So do the kids and so does Charlie. But I love that my sweet sisters-in-law and mother-in- law offers to watch/play with the kiddos so I could get some rest. These offers are like angels singing to this lady typing this blog post. The only issue we had was with a little person whose name rhymes with ban. She kept picking grandpa's tomatoes that were not ripe yet, taking one bite and throwing them on the ground. We have this problem at home too. I think that might be why I have not been able to harvest a single tomato yet. The second trip out was to go to an open house for Bobby and Elizabeth. It was fun getting to hang out with them.

Other happenings have been a couple visits to the midwife. We are doing things, Lord willing, a little bit differently with this kiddo. Who we are nicknaming Hammo. A combination of hamster and monkey. Because that is what the baby looked like when we had the ultrasound at 11 weeks. Anyways, the plan is to use this birth center. We love our midwife and I am looking forward to seeing the birth center when it opens in October. Lord willing we should be getting insurance through Charlie's work in January. Otherwise we will be paying out of pocket for everything. Which as long as this one is not as crazy as Louis' birth, should be very reasonable.

Anne is finally potty trained!!!! Woo hoo! During our first visit to Wisconsin, Aunt Evie talked to Anne about using the potty chair. Whatever she said helped. And then when we got back we had Jody's wedding. Some of Jody's friends stayed with us and the 6 year old kept taking Anne to the potty chair while we were at the wedding. Viola! That's all it took. Not only is she day trained, but we have had to do nothing about the night training. She just does it. No nighttime accidents. Ah, so nice to only have 1 child who wears diapers. I am thinking we should start trying with Louis. Maybe I could get him trained before Hammo comes around. That would be cool.

Next on our life changes of the summer list would be church. We have been debating staying at the church we have been going to for the past almost 2 years. It has been ok, but not quite what we think we need at this stage of our lives. We want a church that is very focused on their small groups and getting involved in each others lives. Pushing each other to grow into what Jesus wants, sharing Jesus with others, accountability, ect... Well, today the pastors announced that we are merging with another church in Omaha who has the same doctrinal/theological convictions and are very focused on having what they call missional communities (small groups). While we are excited about the change, we have been visiting another church. One that Charlie attended before we met. And we have enjoyed visiting there. The preaching has been very sound and I walk away remembering what the pastor talked about. So what we need right now is a lot of prayer. They both have very strong points and very weak points. We will see what the merger does with the weak/strong points of the church we have been going to does. Anyways, pray for us. I know that there is no wrong choice as we are looking to find a church that helps us grow, and God is in control and He will teach us either way.

Ok, I don't know who much space is allowed per post so I better stop. :-) And the children are going crazy.

Life in pictures

2011-07-07T11:35:00.002-05:00

Daddy time...

This little guy is now walking....

Almost 3 years old....

Coming Feb 2011

cuteness

2011-06-05T23:14:00.000-05:00

Spring

2011-05-05T12:40:00.004-05:00

Life continues on, even when I don't keep this thing updated.

Louis is growing up so fast. Walking happens once in a while. The Baxa cousins are staying the weekend and since he is the only one who doesn't walk he has been trying more to try to keep up with everyone else. He has also been picking up on his vocabulary. "Please", "ball", "dog", "mama", "daddy", "anne", "more", "kitty"and "outside" are his main words. He has also said a few peoples' names, but only when he feels like it. He is an absolute sweetheart and loves to give "kisses" which is basically him smacking his lips and saying "mmmwah!" :-) He loves, loves, LOVES animals. Dogs would probably be his favorite.

Anne is also learning lots of new words. Our favorites would be "otherwise" and "nothing". She likes to throw them in randomly. She also likes to say "Why did you say _fill in blank_?". And "Don't yell at mommy. She is my mother." whenever anyone so much as disagrees with anything I say. We just got a potty seat thing to stick on top of the toilet so she doesn't fall into the toilet. We have tried a few times to sit down. But the child just does not care. Doesn't care about using the potty, or wearing underwear, or having dirty diapers. The kid is just not motivated. Sounds like someone else when she was a little girl. She is starting to know most colors, we are slowly working on numbers and counting, and my plan is to start up letters this fall.

I have been working on getting the house more organized. This past weekend Charlie was out of town, so I had lots of free time. And ended up with about 3 trash bags and several boxes of stuff to take to Goodwill and give away. We also got a hanging pot rack. And moved the microwave. So I have more counter space now. (!) I haven't made any "big" meals yet so I haven't got to experience the full lovliness of having all this new space. But I am looking forward to it. Next on the list is picking out colors for the kitchen and decoration ideas for the bathroom. We picked Stonewall Jackson gray for the bathroom and will have the decorations bring in the color. We got new curtains for the main floor too. Of course they are red. :-) It is nice to add something warm to the main floor. It feels more homey now.

Charlie is busy working on something pretty much all the time. He just put another wall up in the bathroom. So close on being done. He put a sink down in the basement, which is good for our basement troll. The plan is to put a shower down there too. And then change the layout a little bit. We also got a dishwasher from craigslist that the guy's kids broke. Charlie is hoping he will be able to fix it so we could have a dishwasher. For the first time in almost 2 years. Yay!!!

We have part of a playground set up in the backyard now. Charlie just got the swingset part of it up last night. We also have a little garden with some tomato plants and a pepper plant. The plan is to grab a raspberry bush to put by the rhubarb plants.

Ah, the youngest 3 should be waking up soon so I better run.

What we have been up to...

2011-03-12T15:23:00.004-06:00

The Rogers CG children (minus Anne, Aurora and more babies in tummies)

Early February, Louis and I went to Maryland to visit Dan and Jessi and *try* to help with little Ella. We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone. (though it seems that there is never enough time) And got to meet several little ones that were in their mommy's tummies last time we were out there. They also got to meet our sweet Louis. :-)

Louis and Miss Audrey

Now we are back to the same old routine, had a little detour last week when Louis got very sick. Poor little guy was not able to keep any food or liquids in his body for 3 days and got pretty dehydrated. We went to the hospital and ended up being there over night and almost the entire next day. God was very kind and we are all home now. :-) And Louis is almost back to normal. It is good to have our baby boy back. No pictures of our hospital stay. I thought about it, but decided I did not want a reminder of our time there.

The weather here has been a roller-coaster. We have been taking advantage of the good days and have gone to the zoo about 4 times now in the past month. Anne loves pretty much all of the animals but is very fond of the sharks. Louis likes anything to do with water. So the fish are probably his favorite.

Ah, need to figure out supper.

One

2011-01-20T18:33:00.004-06:00

Tomorrow this little guy will be turning one year old. It is so strange to think that one year ago I was pacing around the apartment, counting contractions. Ah, what a crazy 20+ hours those were. But we have an absolutely sweet and darling boy to show for it. :-) In the past year he has gone from a little lump who slept through the night almost immediately to a very active little man who is on the verge of walking/running. Wow, how time flies.
Happy Birthday Louis! We love you so, so much!

Merry (late) Christmas!

2010-12-28T22:36:00.002-06:00

Because they are just THAT cute...

2010-11-15T19:30:00.002-06:00

Birthdays, and visits and life. Oh my.

2010-11-15T15:33:00.003-06:00

More like birthday. Yup. I am now in the next age demographic. 25. I babysat the whole day (7.30-5) and then met Charlie at my parents house for dinner and some games. We had a small troop of friends, some yummy food and drinks and "the great derm-derm". (The Great Dalmuti, our favorite card game)It was fun to have to group of friends back together with some new additions. Lots of laughing. :-) From my parents, got a gift certificate to a spa. I picked the swedish massage and eyebrow waxing. And then my in-laws gave me a gift certificate to get my hair done. Then my sweet hubby put new tires on my van and cleaned all his construction mess from the main floor. Not being sarcastic here. (though I am sure a few of you think I am being sassy) I am super excited for the tires as that means that it is our new "trip" can. No more being scrunched in the Corolla on the 7 hour trip to Wisconsin. Yay!!! And now I can go visit my childhood friend who lives an hour away. (no more whining Bess) And my living room looks huge now. Now if only I could keep it clean...

On my birthday weekend, we also got to visit with Dan and Jessi. Jessi's family lives a couple of hours away and they hosted a baby shower for her. It was so nice to catch up and hang out with the Conroys. :-) And shopping for baby girl clothes...TOO much fun.

Chicken pox. Oh chicken pox. Looks like Anne is one of the rare few who has endured chicken pox twice. You all might remember this episode last summer. I don't have a picture of this dose, they were much more mild than her first time. I think Louis might have had them too. Not quite sure. I'll have to have them tested when Louis goes in for his one-year checkup.

Anne has a entourage of animals that have to go with us everywhere. At last count, we have : 5 monkeys, 2 puppies, 3 Pooh bears, 1 kitty , and Pookie (Charlie's baby doll from when he was little) Along with her people, she has purse, keys, phone and basket. Heaven forbid we forget anyone/thing. She is quite attached to them all. It is funny to hear her when she is playing in her room with them. They all have very animated conversations. :-)

Louis is becoming a little daredevil. Constantly trying to climb the stairs and starting to "cruise" on the furniture. He says "mama", when he feels like humoring me. Loves his daddy. They are becoming buddies. Loves to eat, but we are avoiding dairy because that seems to make his eczema flare up. We took them to the zoo last week and he loved looking at all the animals. It was the first time that he seemed to pay attention to them. He loves Chewy, Jody's cat who lives downstairs. I found him today "kissing" and hugging the cat. Pretty cute.

Oh, sounds like the laundry needs to be switched. Better go do that now before I forget.

Baby Blues

2010-11-08T08:06:00.003-06:00

Baby Blues is by far becoming my favorite comic strip. I don't know if they sit in a room with a bunch of younger mom and dads and just make them tell stories or what. But they copy our life perfectly. A friend posted this on Facebook. Currently, we are experiencing the mom's pain...

Life in Pictures

2010-10-24T15:46:00.007-05:00

Coloring, playdates, finding food left out by big
sister, tea parties, and new favorite toys

2 months!?

2010-09-07T15:02:00.002-05:00

Seriously? I did not realize it has been that long since I last posted anything. Now I need a good slap when I whine about others not posting for a while.

-So, we are getting more set in the house. Charlie has been working on the bathroom and it is starting to look like a bathroom again. Complete with all new plumbing.

-Charlie's family came out late July (minus Steph). We had lots of fun playing with cousins, hanging out with everyone and even got to have a couples night. Met Bobby's girlfriend, Elizabeth. Who won my heart by helping me clean. :-)

-Speaking of Charlie's family. The guys had a man weekend. Fishing, beer, ect... He came back tan and rested. We were very happy for him to be back. Lets just say mad props to single moms and military moms. The longest 6 days I've had.

-Anne is 2 now! Craziness. We can't believe it has been 2 whole years since God gave us our little spit-fire. We had a small party with our family. (plus our tall troll in the basement, Jody) We wore Elmo hats and had Anne's favorite food. Pizza. We had a party with my family the week after. Elmo cupcakes, fruit, pizza bites, all of Anne's favorites.

-Louis is the most easy baby I have ever seen. He has such a sweet personality and LOVES to laugh. He likes to play peek-a-boo with Miss Jessi on google video chat. He just discovered the mirror yesterday. Now he has hours of fun laughing at the baby in the mirror. He is also crawling, when he wants to. Otherwise he just army crawls to whatever catches his eye.

-Owning a house is a lot of work. I wish my garden would weed itself. Our grass has overcome my poor rose garden. I have about 1/4th of it weeded. My arms still hurt from this weekend. I spent a couple hours working on the rose garden, the rhubarb and pulling out whatever the flowers are that are in our retaining wall. They attract bees like nobody's business. And bees are on my top 4 least favorite insects.

-The library is just a few blocks away. I love how close it is. We go there weekly. And now that is is beautiful out (I heart fall) we will be walking there bi-weekly. :-)

-We are on a cash budget now. Talk about self-control. Ahhh! This was the first 2 weeks of it and I barley have enough to go buy a few more packages of hamburger while it is on sale.

-I have a new desire to read my Bible. We had a night where we had watched a terrible movie and decided to read our Bibles and refocus our minds on things that are worth thinking about. It was such a refreshing time.

-Potty training is just around the corner. Any tip and tricks would be helpful. :-)

-I am switching our diet (the kids and I) to a more health friendly diet. Trying to figure out what poor little Louis is allergic to. (look at any pics of him. his poor little cheekers are covered in eczema. as well as his arms ans legs) The doc says that it could be a number of things so my plan is to slowly try cutting things out and figuring this out.

That is all for now.

The trump shall resound?

2010-07-05T10:21:00.002-05:00

So, I have a funny (and embarrassing) story. First of all, I will explain the circumstances. We spent this past weekend with my grandparents. Charlie was unable to come so I had both kids to myself. (with some help from the fam) Anne was a basket case. Louis wasn't much better. The parts between stars (*) are my thoughts.

Saturday night we go to bed with the intention of getting up early to go to Piper's church in the Twin Cities. I woke up at 5:30, squint at the clock and lay in bed waiting for 6 to roll around. All of a sudden, I hear a noise. *It sounds like a horn of some sort* *There it goes again.* *Oh.my.goodness, it is the second coming!* Jump out of bed and run to the window. The sky is an orangey-gold. *Yup, this is it* *I am so not ready* *I better call Charlie and see if he hears it too* Grabs phone. *Hm, I should check on everyone first* Throws some modest clothes on and runs to the room across the hallway where Traci and her family are staying. *Traci is not in bed, but Jim is still here. Traci was raptured and Jim wasn't?! I knew something was off with him.* *Oh wait, I'm still here too!* Jumps on bed and Jim pops up. "Jim, do you here that?" J: "What?" me: " I think Jesus has come back." *he doesn't even hear it!!* J: "You mean the train?"

THE END

More house pics

2010-06-20T21:20:00.004-05:00

So, I've taken very few pics of the house. I don't think I ever took an original picture of the bathroom. Now we have ripped up about 3 layers of linoleum down to the beautiful hardwood floors. There is some water damage around the tub and toilet, but we hope we can restore it so the entire second floor would be all wood floors. I mainly have pictures of the main floor as we have been working on projects upstairs. Charlie, with the help of my dad, put a fan in our bedroom. Yay! Next on the list is a fan in the kids room, a/c unit for the upstairs (we do the open windows at night, which I would like except our wonderful neighbors >not being sarcastic, we really do like them<, they have a dog who is great during the day, but barks quite a bit at night), and the biggest and most important project is the bathroom. When we moved in it had this awful cream linoleum with gold squigglies all over it, peach walls and ceiling, an old enclosed cast-iron tub, a almost free standing sink (it really is kinda cool) and a very sturdy toilet. (which I am very thankful for, the apartment toilet had issues) Like I said before, we are down to the wood floors, Charlie has taken down one plaster wall, the enclosement on the tub is gone (to reveal a very unique cast-iron tub, it is hard to describe, so I will post a picture at some point) and one of the steps to the attic was removed. Other than the mess, it looks much better. The plan is to drywall the walls, refinish the floors or tile, put in a new tub (in our dinning room right now) with a shower (yay!), repaint the walls, and ceiling and maybe put a new sink and medicine cabinet. Ok, enough talking. Pictures. While they are uploading, I will write more. :-) Sorry about the living room pics, if you look closely you will see baskets of laundry. Have I ever mentioned my hatred of laundry?.... And our end table is serving as a shelf. You will be seeing the reading nook, and the living room first.

These next pictures are of the kitchen, breakfast nook and the pantry. So excited to have a pantry. :-) No dishwasher, thus dishes on counter (which are red, another yay!), but it is fine for now. It is not the most spacious kitchen, but I still like it.

House pics

2010-05-24T14:08:00.002-05:00

We are almost all moved in. Just a few things left at the apartment. I am loving all the space. Here are a few pics of the house.
First is the rose garden, second the back yard and third the front of the house.

Life right now...

2010-05-21T14:07:00.003-05:00

House

2010-05-12T19:24:00.000-05:00

So we found a house. It is a nice 2 story in a nice neighborhood. We are pretty excited. More pictures and details later. We are waiting to close and will hopefully do that tomorrow. Oh the stress!

Spring '10

2010-04-23T16:52:00.001-05:00

Louis talking

2010-03-30T14:30:00.003-05:00

What we have been up to

2010-03-28T15:59:00.003-05:00

Lots of stuff. We have gone to the zoo about 3 times. Each time getting more interesting. This last time Anne decided that the tigers, gorillas and goats were scary. (I understand everything, except the goat part) She loved the peacocks and even gave one a cracker. We have gone to the childrens' museum a few times also. Anne loves to be able to get out of the house as does mommy. This week is supposed to be beautiful, so we will have to try the park.
Louis is growing up quickly. He loves to smile and "talk". Especially to me. :-) Almost has found his thumb, but is content with a paci if needed. We had his two month this past week and the little guy is up to 11lbs and 4oz. Doctor said everything is looking good. He did have a little bit of eczema but I have been putting some lotion on him and it seems to help. He is a very chill baby. Doesn't mind laying on the floor, takes Anne's love pretty well, sleeps very well (had a 7 hour stretch the other night (!) ) only thing he really fusses over is being hungry and dirty diapers.
Charlie took his GRE this past week. He scored well above average on 2 of 3 parts. And the 3rd we will find out his score in about another week, but it will probably be another good score. He went to and open house type thing yesterday for UNMC. So we have decided that he will pursue trying to get into the PA program. His job is going well. He is getting used to the Volvos and is able to turn more hours. He also has a good witness with a few of his co-workers. They ask him to work on their own cars.
Ah, the little one needs me. More later. Oh, here are some pics.

Smiles

2010-03-08T17:39:00.003-06:00

Update on life

2010-02-10T16:41:00.002-06:00

Lets see, the last three weeks have been spent changing diapers, nursing Louis, sleeping, changing diapers, sleeping, ect... Oh and a few doctors appointments thrown in here and there. Heidi (aka best mother-in-law) was able to come out the first week and help. I enjoyed several mornings of sleeping in and Anne enjoyed breakfast with grandma. I went in to the doctor a week after Louis was born and my liver counts had gone down. And I found out why they were so worried about me. The normal counts were both supposed to be around 40 and mine were 580ish and over 200. They tested me the first week and both counts were down to about 150 each and I just had my two week last week and they were down to normal range again. Even though they are happy that everything is back to normal they are very perplexed about the whole thing. I guess a few other things were odd with the delivery part. Such a comfort to know that even though the doctors and widwives are confused as to what happened, that God knew and was in control the whole time.
Anne is doing pretty well with the change, so far. She loves to give Louis lots of hugs and head rubs and he is the only person that she will give kisses to. Once she gets out of bed from naps/bedtime the second he makes a peep she makes a beeline for wherever he is located. I found her trying to sit with him in the carseat today. She had her 18 month check last week and is at the 10th percentile for weight and 80th for height. She is starting to pick up on her verbal skills. Her new words are "please" "thank you" "no more monkeys jump bed"(with her finger wagging). One quick story before I forget.
Yesterday we went to the store to pick up some stuff and she was enjoying the dusting on snow that was on the front porch. She slipped and landed face first on the porch. Poor little thing scratched her nose and her hands were freezing cold from landing in the snow. I wiped the snow off of her and carried them to the car. She cried all the way to the store. Once we were at the store she was fine and was very good at the store. So I decided it was a Burger King lunch day. We get out of the car to go in and she falls again, this time on the concrete but thankfully not on her face, just her hands and knees. So I scooped her up again and we ordered some lunch. We ate and while she was enjoying her mac and cheese, french fries, chocolate milk and half of my cheeseburger she turns, gives me a hug and says in her oh-so-cute pixie voice "thank you" That was worth every penny.
Louis must be going through a growth spurt because we were up several times last night. Otherwise he is such a nice little baby and only wakes up a couple times a night. About 2am and 5:30am. (we don't normally go to bed until midnight) He loves to cuddle and squeak. My nickname for him is Mr. Squeaky or Squeakers. Boy it's like looking into a time machine when I look at him. He is almost an exact replica of Anne. Oh how quickly they grow up. :-(
Charlie has been such a huge help as we have been transitioning to two children. He has taken on getting Anne ready on the weekends and now knows where most of her clothes are put away. He even changed Louis' diaper last week when I had a fever. Louis showed him the art of peeing all over everything. Tricksy baby. He had a meeting yesterday with a student advisor about entering into their physicians assistant program. He will be taking a test sometime next month that will hopefully point us one way or the other. We are also looking into buying a house sometime this year. This is the one we would love to get..http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/101-N-39th-St-Omaha-NE-68131/75785643_zpid/
Well, Charlie will be home soon. So off I go to make some supper. Later.

Baby boy

2010-01-27T22:51:00.000-06:00

And I thought 6 hours was long...

2010-01-27T21:17:00.002-06:00

Anne's labor and delivery was nothing compared to little Louis'. I had to work for it this time. Silly me thought that I would get a labor/delivery that would be about half the time as Anne. Nope. A week ago I started having some regular contractions. I waited until about 9pm to call the midwives (had to make sure they were 5 minutes apart for an hour first). They weren't quite sure if it was the real deal, so they left it up to me to decided if it was time to go in. Impatient me decided... yes, I want to go in. Well, it was a very good thing that God was making those contractions enough for me to want to go in. We got to the hospital at about 10pm and I got hooked up to the machine so they could watch my contractions. One every 2-3 minutes. Definitely was in active labor. But I also had high blood pressure, which is really strange for me because mine is normally on the really low side. So they took some of my blood to do some testing and Charlie and I went for a walk around the building while we waited for the results. We got back and even though my blood pressure was normal again, the results were my liver count was very high. So they said it was probably pre-eclampsia and put me on some magnesium sulfate to keep me from having seizures. It wasn't a high risk, but it was better to have it than have a seizure. One thing we did not know about magnesium sulfate is that it is a muscle relaxer (found out a couple days ago that epsom salt is magnesium sulfate). So from 11pm - 7am ish my contractions disappeared. They checked dilatation and effacement and it was the same as when I came in. (4cm and 50%) So we decided to induce by popping my water. We found out then that little baby boy had pooped in the water. So we needed to get him out soon. Did that at about 8 and used the breast pump to induce contractions. By about 1pm I was only to 5cm and 80% and contractions came only when I was using the pump. So we decided to go for some pitocin. I was able to talk them into giving me some stadol first so I could get some rest before "real" labor. (a couple strange things about magnesium sulfate is that it made me groggy/high but at the same time I couldn't sleep) I got about an hour of rest and then they gave me the pitocin. Wow, that stuff is steroids for contractions. After about 2 hours of pitocin, I was ready. 10 cm, 100%, contractions on top of each other (and shooting down my legs), this kid was going to come out. 5 minutes of pushing and there he was, with his cord wrapped around his neck twice. They quickly unwrapped it, handed him to the nurse to she could clean him up before he inhaled anything bad and there he was. Dark hair, and only 1 oz bigger and 3/4 in smaller than his big sister. Now after telling you all about this I need to tell you that as much as it was not as easy as Anne's, it was very much worth it. And I can see God's hand in taking us to the hospital before something bad could have happened. My liver levels were still high as of Saturday morning, but they did an ultrasound and lots of testing and have found nothing wrong with me other than the liver levels being high. I am feeling great now that the magnesium is out of my system, so they let me come home on Saturday afternoon. I am going in on Friday so they can test my blood again and I'll talk to the doctor. Hopefully the levels will have gone down by then and they will just label it as an unusual case of pre-eclampsia. If not they are thinking that it might be an auto-immune disease. I have looked at the possibilities with the high liver count, and nothing looks like it would be a super dangerous disease. And the Great Physician already knows what is wrong with me. I did freak out on Friday night and Charlie talked to me and had brought my bible over for me. So Saturday morning I read Matthew 6:25-34 aloud.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

If that was not a kick in the butt, I don't know what is. So, that is what I learned from this last labor and delivery. That my body is frail, that worrying does my no good, that if I focus on God and His kingdom He will take care of all the physical stuff and that I am doing better than I deserve.

Louis is doing well, almost a week old already. He had jaundice just like Anne did, but it is almost gone already. He is a very easy baby and has taken Anne's "loving" in strides. Speaking of the baby, he is hungry. And this post has become a book. So goodnight all.

He is here!

2010-01-27T21:08:00.004-06:00

Louis Steven made his appearance last Thursday, the 21st at 4:01pm. Weighing in at 7 lb 10 oz and 19 3/4 in. Birth story and more pictures to follow...

Final Countdown #2

2010-01-13T10:19:00.002-06:00

Ugh, I am such a forgetful person lately. I was half way through writing this post, needed to do something (don't remember what it was anymore), and forgot that I was writing this. Thankfully while talking to my friend Tessa last night, I was reminded to finish this thing. Ok, so back to the original post...

Yep, down to the final week again. Little Louis is growing by the second and we are pretty much ready for him to come. Insurance papers got here yesterday (Tues). Just in time. Crib is ready, carseat is ready, baby swing and boppy are out, clothes put away, ect... Only thing I would like to be done is my RSV.
It is only a bad cold for me, but to a newborn it can can be very severe. >>And now a quick side note. I am feeling much better. Talked to the midwife on Monday and she gave me some meds to help. Which did at first, I was able to sleep 2 hours in a row the first night I took it. Which was an improvement from 45 minutes the night before. Yesterday I was feeling much better and didn't take anything last night and only woke up once to get a drink. SO much better than waking up because I thought I couldn't breathe. Nasty stuff that RSV. Even with me feeling better, I know we are probably still carrying the germs. :-P <<
Lets see, other than being sick we have been up to about nothing. Just the same old laundry, dishes, cooking, playing, working, spending time with friends, watching friends get married (and Charlie's first time to be best man), hanging out at my parents, midwife appointments, ect...
Well, a little someone I know needs a diaper change. So that is all for now. Hopefully I will get some pictures and maybe a video or two up this afternoon.

correction

2009-12-30T09:33:00.002-06:00

Well, more like changing of minds. Baby boy has no name yet. After much discussion and people thinking we are naming him after MLK Jr because of his due date, he does not have a name. Well, not one that we are going to tell yet. :-)
Speaking of the littlest one. Things are progressing. The little guy was breech at 32 week, was at a funny angle from 33-36 weeks and finally figured out that head down is the best choice. Which has started up some contractions. Some not so fun ones either. But I am hoping that means maybe a little bit more early than female Charlie jr who was almost a week late.
One small prayer request. Since I signed up for the insurance so late, it will be down to the wire when we get the official approval and insurance cards. We have no problem qualifying, just the typical paperwork slowness. So the prayer request would be that it would be all finished before baby comes. The lady I talked to yesterday said it could take up to 30 days. So we will see what happens. Thankfully I haven't stressed about it for a while. Matthew 6 has been a big encouragement and rebuke. Well, someone is wanting to play, so off I go to spend some of my last time with one child.

Anne's Christmas picturs and some belly shots

2009-12-18T16:50:00.002-06:00

Belly shot(s)

2009-12-12T16:45:00.003-06:00

Hm, I think this is the first time I have put up belly shots of this pregnancy. Oh well. I'll put up the earlier pictures too. We had our photo shoot today, so I will have some pro photos to put up in a few days. Mel got some adorable ones of Anne in her Christmas dress. I got a video of Anne playing during the shoot too. I'll have to put that up as well. She was pretty funny. Anyways, pictures....

Green shirt- 12 weeks
Brown shirt- 17 weeks
Black shirt- 23 weeks
Black and white photo- 34 weeks (today)

Yet another long absence without an excuse

2009-12-07T20:01:00.007-06:00

Does it make it better that I have a toddler and am in the last 6 weeks of pregnancy? No? Bummer.
~Well, Charlie has been at his job for about a month now. He is starting to get used to it. We went to his work Christmas party on Saturday and I met most of the people he works with. We even won a couple of things. Go figure. We were actually talking about how we don't normally win things and we walked home with one thing each. Charlie won some fancy whisky with some cups and I won a glowy snowman. So I did get a pretty lame prize, but Anne loves it. We also ended up sitting by an older Christian couple. I was very thankful as it gave us people to talk to that would remember who we were the next day. So over all, we had a pretty good time.
~I continue to keep busy with Anne and getting ready for little Martin. Got the crib set up last week and am going to make some sheets that match Anne's crib. I found this cute sheet at Goodwill that almost perfectly matches her crib, minus the pink. So I have the kiddos, and I have household stuff. I am learning to appreciate all the useful appliances. Like dishwashers. Our apartment does not have a dishwasher. I am getting used to it now but the first week or two, did not enjoy it so much. And washer and dryers. We have one in the "complex", but it is 2 levels down and at the back of the building. Not very pregnant/have toddler friendly. But Mom and Dad have a nice washer and dryer that they share with me. Thank you. :-)
~Anne has yet another cold. Tis the season. :-P She also got her molars. So she is enjoying taking bigger bites of her food. She LOVES apples. And it is one of the only things she can say clearly, so all fruit are "apples" to her. She just discovered coloring and thinks it is pretty much the best thing ever. She confiscated one of my notebooks today as her own. She colored in it and was just "reading" it out loud.
~If some of you where wondering "Who is Martin?" That would be baby #2. Yup, had an ultrasound and little Marty looks good and is definitely a boy. Due date is set for January 18th and he is measuring right on track. Actually, I think he is going to be bigger than Anne was. I found 2 stretch marks on my belly. :-( Oh well, at least I didn't get them with Anne. He was breech at the 31 week appointment, but I felt him spin around on Thanksgiving night and the ultrasound confirmed that he had flipped into the right position.

I should be putting up some pictures probably this weekend/next week. I am going over to my friend Mel's house to take some belly shots and get some Christmas pictures of Anne. In the meantime, here are some pics of everyday life.

Anne "helping" G-pa John with the computer...

Anne wearing Daddy's cool hat...

Wearing Mommy's sweater...

Anne and Marty's room...

Enjoying an apple in her favorite chair...

And we are back!

2009-11-17T21:16:00.002-06:00

Yay, internet again. Let see. Update time.

Charlie now has a job. Woot! He has crossed over to the dark side and is now working for Volvo. (which is owned by Ford) Today was his forth day and he is starting to get into the swing of things. His boss seems like a really cool guy. The shop is over by my parents' house, so sometime we will do lunch with him while I am on that side of town doing laundry.

I am doing pretty well. Feeling very pregnant. Just 9(ish) weeks left. I just had my first midwife appointment yesterday. They seem like the perfect fit. And we have another option for insurance if we don't qualify for state assistance. Ultrasound was supposed to be tomorrow, but with this silly swine flu stuff it got switched to the 30th. Oh well. Baby seems to be doing pretty well. He/She is breech right now, so I have been enjoying some strange karate moves. I don't think Anne was breech when she was this big. Pretty much everything is unpacked. Just have to find the other box of maternity clothes.

Anne has been doing ok. She has some sort of bug going on, so today was a pj day. She seems to be doing better now. Her new favorite thing to do is sing "5 little monkeys". A lot. She has also learned a few new words. Apple, up, monkey, Max ("Maa", my parents' dog) >this one she yells a lot, he kisses her too much :-) < She also likes to meow like a kitty. But her kitty sounds like a dying cat.

Hm, I think that is about it. I am ready to knock out now. Too many early mornings lately. Goodnight.

Fun pictures

2009-11-09T15:08:00.002-06:00

So I love the old buildings that we live around. They are perfect for getting some cool pictures. I had too much fun taking some of Anne.

Internet issues

2009-11-07T22:00:00.002-06:00

We'll, another opportunity for me to grow. We are unable to get any internet at our apartment right now, so blogging will be limited. Too bad. I have a bit that I wanted to share. I guess I will work on writing and post them when I go come over to Mom's house. :-)
So, until another laundry day...

New apartment

2009-10-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

Yay! It is almost all set up. We moved to Omaha on Thursday and have been slowly getting the boxes unpacked. Up until about 5 minutes ago we were sleeping on the futon because we don't remember where we put the hardware for the bed. It hasn't been too bad. It is in the living room and the mattress is the best you can buy.

Still haven't found the hardware, but thanks to Charlie's habit of keeping any extra hardware, we found some that fits the bed.

Anne's room was the first to be finished. Yes, Anne has her own room. :-) She is loving playing in there with all her toys. And we are enjoying confining her mess to one room. (sort of, she somehow seems to make messes everywhere) Hmm, I guess the picture of Anne's room didn't turn out. Oh well. I'll try tomorrow.

The kitchen is smallish, but very sunny. That was the second room finished. Still haven't found my plates... Oh pregnancy brain.

Ah, the bed is now finished. Well, time to enjoy the plush bed. Goodnight.

Off to Omaha

2009-10-20T09:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, finally things are moving! Like us! God has provided a nice apartment, mid-town (exactly where Charlie wanted), good price, 2 bedrooms (what Melissa wanted), all wood floors, claw foot bath tub, ect... The perfect apartment for us.
Job wise, Charlie has 2 places that have offered, and he just emailed another shop yesterday. So, we will see. Shop 1 he worked at several years ago, and it is very busy since the other shops in the area closed down. Shop 2 is close to where we work, but he would be a lead tech. Which would mean a lot of hard work and it is for a variety of brands of cars. Shop 3 sounds like a place Charlie wants to work.
So we are packing up tomorrow and leaving WI on Thursday.

The past 2 months in one post

2009-09-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

Ah, again it has been a while.

We will update on the family one member at a time.

Charlie- has been working on a car for Bobby, on a desk for himself, refinishing my rocking chair, looking for a job in Omaha, and all the other general husband and dad stuff. :-) We visited Omaha last week to find a job and look at apartments. With no answers for either yet. But we are hopeful that God will bring whatever we need. Until then, he continues to work with his dad and finish all his projects.

Melissa- continues to grow larger by the minute, chases Anne around, getting ready to be a full-time cook/cleaner again, preparing for the adventure of soon having 2 children (!!!), and general wife and mommy stuff. I am starting to be very excited about having our own place again and jumping into life in Omaha.

Anne- growing up fast. :-( The little girl is not so little anymore. She is now walking ALL the time, went from 1 tooth in July to 6 by mid-August, talking more (grandpa, kitty, puppy, thank you), quite the angry little thing when she doesn't get her way, and gives the sweetest hugs.

Baby #2- getting big and wiggly. Likes to kick Mommy's bladder and almost strong enough for Daddy to feel.

We had a good time celebrating Anne's birthday. The week after her birthday, my family came up to celebrate with us again. A week and a half after that, Ben, Kari and kids plus Stephie and Bobby were all here. The first time the Jackson family has been together since our wedding. After that, we have been spending the last few weeks getting ready to move to Omaha. So life has been busy and exciting. And God has been faithful every step of the way.

The big ONE

2009-09-17T21:18:00.001-05:00

So the little missy has turned the big one. Here are a few pictures of our celebration of our first year, with our first gift "arrow".

Pictures

2009-08-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the many (331!) pictures that Jen took while we were in MD. (click on the title of this post and it will take you to the online album)

Our trip to Maryland

2009-07-22T20:59:00.000-05:00

We got back this past weekend from a work/fun trip back to Maryland. Charlie worked for our friend, Martin, at NIH. And Anne and I tagged along. :-) We had fun hanging out with Jessi, getting pictures taken, having playdates, seeing Janet, and lots of other fun things. Charlie enjoyed working a few days with Martin and then had a day to go visit his old workplaces and say hi. We also enjoyed going back to Cov Life for some joyful worship. :-) Over all, a very refreshing trip. Here is a link to some pictures from our trip.

MD trip- July 09

New glam shot

2009-07-21T10:34:00.000-05:00

This is mainly for the great-grandparents, because I think everyone else has seen this pic. :-)

2 years, that would be 730 days!

2009-07-15T06:43:00.000-05:00

And we are both still alive! Craziness. Two years ago we said yes to a lifetime of love and war. As we were driving this morning it was hard for both of us to believe that we have made it this long but we both know that if it wasn't for the grace of God, 2 years would have not happened. We know He will be faithful to give grace for the next 48(+) years.

Slacker

2009-06-25T20:39:00.000-05:00

Gosh, I seem to be the definition of "slacker". We have been back from NC after a fun visit. Anne wooed everyone yet again. So her daddy's baby. Praise God the chicken pox were pretty mild. And she was SO happy, just a little bit clingy though.
Lets see updates...
Charlie: continues to work with his dad on small construction jobs. likes it most days. while not working, cleans garage, reads, plays with baby, takes me on dates, plays softball and soccer.
Melissa: chases Anne, feeds Anne, takes naps, wishes I was not sick, learning that I am not a compassionate person, go to pool with Anne, reading more and waiting for our DC trip in 2 weeks. :-)
Anne: making continuous noise, crawling, standing, chasing Kitty, playing with Evie, trying a bunch of new foods, taking naps (woo hoo!), ripping paper and making new friends. She is starting to enjoy being around other kids. She already thinks she is the boss.

That is a quick sum up of life. Now the best part... pictures!

Chicky picture

2009-06-15T19:51:00.001-05:00

Pox

2009-06-05T19:29:00.000-05:00

Yep, I knew she would get them but I didn't think she would be so young. Anne has the chicken pox. It seems like every day more pop up. So far she has been pretty laid back about it. I am thankful for a good natured baby. No good pictures of it yet. Please pray that it will continue to be a mild case as we are in North Carolina right now for my Grandpa's birthday.

Announcement

2009-06-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

So after much debate (in my head at least), we are happy to announce that Anne will be (Lord-willing) a big sister sometime around January 20th. Yep, another baby Jackson. We are very excited to be blessed with another baby. My only negative about baby 2 is I didn't get to lose all the weight from Anne, but now it does give me an excuse to have a little pudge. :-) So we are at 7 weeks right now. Overall no morning sickness. Just heartburn and expanding cramps and sleepy. Feeding 3 people is starting to get to me. But I am thankful for naps and a now sleeping through the night baby. Woo hoo. Speaking of the large one, she is done with her lunch. Turkey, cheese and apple juice. yum.

Wisconsin life

2009-05-30T17:40:00.000-05:00

So, our life in Wisconsin is going pretty well. We are enjoying our time with Charlie's family. Charlie's brother Bobby is back from Iraq for a couple of weeks. I am also enjoying all the babysitting. Woo hoo! The first week I went to Target and it took me less than an hour to get there, shop and get back. Crazy. Anne is loving all the attention from her grandpa and grandma and all the aunties. She is now crawling, standing by herself, talking a little bit (mom, dad, ball and book) and LOVES chasing the cat. Poor Kitty.
We went to Omaha last weekend and spent time with my family and our friends at Martin's cabins. So fun. We got to meet Charlotte, Jody's girlfriend. She fits right in to the family. :-)
Well, that is it for now.

Playing the kazoo.

Fish-face against the front door.

Playing with Aunt Evie.

Anne enjoying mashed potatoes. What a smart baby!

2009-05-22T14:26:00.000-05:00

Home again, home again...(well, sorta)

2009-04-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are back in the midwest. We had a wonderful lunch/pot-luck thing on Sunday at Dan and Jessi's and then off to Wisconsin we went. The trip was uneventful for about 10 minutes. Then we hit a bump in the road, literally. The truck started rocking from side to side. Yikes, not fun. So, it took us about half the trip before we figured out how to stop it from swaying and stop it if it started swaying. But God kept us safe and we made it to our friend Julie's parents' house. We loved getting to visit and get some rest. Then we finished off the rest of the drive on Monday. It was a lot smoother too. We got here late on Monday night and everything was out of the truck yesterday morning. So we are getting settled now. Anne is enjoying all the new attention and all the furniture to cruise on. Speaking of the peanut, I better get going. But I wanted to thank all of you who prayed for us. The truck situation was very scary and I know that God answered your prayers.

Glam pics

2009-04-12T15:04:00.000-05:00

Anne-7 months

Life and such

2009-03-29T22:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I am sorry to say that we are moving in about 4 weeks. Yup, back to the old midwest. We are excited to be near our families soon, but we are also not looking forward to leaving our dear friends here in Maryland. It seems like we just got here. And so much has changed in the almost 2 years we have been here. Coming out here as a very newlywed couple (with lots of new and sometimes painful lessons to learn), pregnancy, parenting, being a couple, lots of fights and making up... The list could go on for a while. But we are so thankful for the time out here. There is nothing like being away from your comfort zone that makes ya grow as a couple. And I am so thankful for the friends who have been so exhorting and encouraging as I was in the beginning stages of learning to be a wife and now mom. So to my dear friends here in Maryland, thank you so much for investing in my life these past 2 years. I have been so blessed by your friendships and can never thank God enough for all of you. I will miss being near you guys.

Well, tears are appearing, so how 'bout an Anne update. Anne slept 9 hours last night!! Woo hoo! So happy to be refreshed this morning. She had a few days last week that she slept 10-14 hours. That didn't last too long. I think she is either teething or some new food didn't set well with her or both. She is seeming to have a sensitivity to some food, but I gave her two new things and am not sure what is causing the dry skin/rash thing. So I stopped feeding her both and am sticking to fruits and veggies till it goes away. Which she doesn't mind. She LOVES pears. Most of the time she has food all over her bib, but not the pears. She is almost crawling. Hasn't quite figured out how to move the hands. But she scoots once in a while. (especially when she is trying to get the computer) And little miss Anne is in a mommy and daddy mode. I have only seen her go to two other people without crying.

Well, I guess Charlie is ready for bedtime. He was working on packing the books and is finished now. So goodnight!

NYC trip

2009-03-16T14:45:00.000-05:00

NYC

Married Life Questionaire

2009-03-03T14:29:00.000-06:00

How long have you been together? on and off for 4 years

How long did you know each other before you started dating? about a year

Who asked whom out? Charlie asked my parents for permission to date and then asked me later that night

How old are each of you? I was 19, Charlie was 25

Whose siblings do/did you see the most? Pretty even right now.

When was your "engagement" anniversary: April 21st(?) 2007. I know the month and year. :-)

When is your "marriage" anniversary: July 15th 2007

How long have you known your spouse: 5 years

How long did you date before you were engaged: ha, um maybe 5 months in 2005-2006. That's it for offical dating.

Where did you meet your spouse for the first time: church. I remember the exact moment.

What is your spouse’s full name: Charles Steven Jackson

Do you have any children yet: yes

How many: a baby girl

Did you go to the same school? no. I was homeschooled

Are you from the same hometown? no. He was a air force brat and I lived in Cedar Rapids, IA and then moved to Omaha when I was 12.

Who is the smartest? Charlie

Do you have any house pets: no. :-( Charlie is not a pet person. We have talked about getting a snake one day. It is the only animal we could agree on...

Do you own a house or rent: Rent, but planning on a house this fall. :-)

Do you live in the country or town/city: deffinetly the city

What is one of your favorite activities together: sudoku, reading, fighting (no, really.)

Who is more sensitive? Depends. emotionally me, spiritually him.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Nebraska (from DC)

Who has the craziest exes? I was friends with one of his exes. She was really nice. I don't know about the other one really. I have no exes, well, he was my ex for a while

Who has the worst temper? Again, depends. We just express it very diefferently.

Who does the cooking? most of the time me

Who is more social? I have a smaller circle of friends, but we both spend equal amounts of time with them

Who is the neat-freak? Charlie. All the way.

Who is more stubborn? Whoo. We are even. and Anne is the both of us together.

Who hogs the bed? Me. When we were on the twin bed, I bumped him off a few times. The bigger bed has not made a huge difference

Who wakes up earlier? Gets out of bed: Charlie. I get up with Anne though.

Where was your first date? Chipotle

Who has the bigger family? immediate, we are even. Strange. I think we are about even on our extended family too. His family might be slightly bigger.

Do you have a favorite vacation spot: Someday we would like to go to the Grand Canyon

How many siblings (including in-laws): 5 each plus 2 in-laws. so 12.

What church do you attend: Cov Life

Is this the church you were married in: no

What town is your current address: just outside of DC

Do you work outside the home, or stay at home: Stay at home

Where did you honeymoon: We traveled around the mid-west and stayed with family.

How do you spend the holidays? we see both of our families

Who is more jealous? Me.

How long did it take to get serious? I have no idea. I was serious pretty much right away. Not sure about Charlie

Who eats more? We are about even on that one.

Who does/did the laundry? Me.

Who’s better with the computer? Me.

Who drives when you are together? Charlie most of the time. Unless we are late and he needs to eat.

An update on life

2009-03-01T18:46:00.000-06:00

Well, lets get the sad stuff over with first. As most of you already know, we are moving back to the midwest in April. Yep, after talking about it we have finally nailed down a date. April 26th we will be pulling out of the driveway. We will be moving to Madison, WI first and living with Charlie's parents' for the summer. Charlie will be working with his dad and we will be saving up to buy a house this fall. And in August or September we will be moving back to Omaha.

Charlie's job continues to go well. He made 160 hours on his last pay period! Crazy. We are so thankful that God provided this new job. And we are thankful for all that he taught us while Charlie was working at Toyota.

I am keeping busy with the norm. Laundry, cooking, kid, shopping, ect... Last week we did have an opportunity to serve. Ana, one of the dear new ladies in cg, had to have an unexpected stay at the hospital last week so we watched her little 3 month old daughter Ariana. Lets just say that Anne is human. We had fun and Ariana was very well behaved, but Anne had a hard time sharing anything. Including mom. So that has been a new challenge for me. Starting to train this little soul. It has been an eye opener to realize how early sin starts to show itself in our hearts. And how patient God is with us even though we act the same way as our children do to us. I've been reading "Shepherding a Child's Heart". Excellent book. It has been good to check my heart and make sure that I am training her out of love for her by teaching her to love and obey God.

Anne is doing pretty well. She is now 6 months. :-( It has gone by so fast. She is a tall thing, 95% for height and only 65% for weight. She is also starting to use a sippy cup. Most of the time she just chews on it, but sometimes she gets some liquid out. And crawling is just around the corner. As I stated in the earlier paragraph, we are also working on behavior. She has recently began screaming when she is angry. Whoo is that fun. So we have been working on saving screaming for emergencies and making sure we ourselves are being good examples. She has been doing much better. Anne also loves her walker. I found it in someones trash after a trip to the store. So I researched it (to make sure it wasn't recalled), cleaned it up and the kid could stay in there all day. She has finally figured out how to make it go forward.

Well, enough for now. Later!

Here is a picture of Anne in her walker with her new sippy cup...

Fun with Photo Booth

2009-02-08T20:01:00.000-06:00

I understand...

2009-01-27T17:59:00.001-06:00

::Book worm in training::

2009-01-20T21:52:00.000-06:00

Holidays...

2009-01-20T20:33:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas. We had a good time visiting all of our family.
Anne and I jumped on a plane after spending most of Christmas day with Charlie. Off to our layover in St. Louis. One of the longest plane rides ever. Anne did not enjoy flying during naptime. But God was SO kind and put a lot of helpful people in our way. Then an hour flight from St. Louis to Omaha. So much better. She totally showed off. :-) We enjoyed a little over a week with my family. Two sets of my grandparents came and stayed at my parents house. We got to see Josiah and got to meet little Eva. I was also able to visit with the family I used to nanny for (they are growing up so fast :-( ), my friend Kala stopped by while she was in town (she has been overseas on a missions trip for about a year and a half) and I stopped by the nursing home I used to work at.That was one of the hardest parts of the trip. It was hard to walk through the halls and realize that about 90% of the people that I used to help take care of were dead. One perk of the whole thing was seeing Subby. He was one of my favorites and we got to chat for about 15 minutes and catch up a bit. He was sharp as a tack and even remembered that Charlie worked for Toyota. It was so good to talk to him about what God is doing in our live, he was very skeptical about us moving out here and thought that this church we were moving for was only out to get our money. From his church experience, that is what churches do. It was so good to show him something different.
I also got to spend some time with my good friend Skater. We had supper, had some good talks, and then met up with my mom, sis and a couple friends for a self-defense course. I can totally kick butt now. Hiye-ya! Not! But it was fun and good exercise. My mom was very kind and took all 3 grandkids on Sunday afternoon so my sister and I could have lunch kid-free. Thank you Mom! After our time in Nebraska, Anne and I hopped in the car with my grandpa and grandma Burckhardt and drove to Virogua, WI. We enjoyed a day with them and got to see a few of my cousins, aunts and uncles. Anne was a trooper all 7 + hours in the car. And then.... Charlie came!! He had just arrived in Madison and was excited to some see his girls so he showed up for some supper and we drove back to his parents' house. We went to Heidi's parents' house for the weekly Sunday lunch with the family. Grandpa and grandma Jackson came over for supper one evening. Poor little Anne caught her first cold sometime during the week. Not her favorite part of the trip. We stayed for about a week and then drove back to Maryland.
Ahh, nice to be back in our old routine. So that was our trip. I will post a link to the pictures. There will be more added once I find the usb cable...

Holidays '08

Too much time on my hands...

2008-12-28T16:00:00.001-06:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

"Melissa or Charlie?" continued...

2008-12-24T20:20:00.000-06:00

Ok, after looking at baby Charlie pictures my vote is she looks like Charlie. Mostly because of the thumb sucking...

Four months

2008-12-13T14:18:00.002-06:00

Yep, four whole months have gone by since the peanut arrived. Today we have cleaned the house, went on a walk, read a few books, she is now taking her second nap of the day and we are going to have breakfast for supper. (we will see how that goes...) Nothing terribly exciting. She did get a fun new toy. A Bumbo. Some dear friends of ours gave us their old one. Now she can sit up by herself, kinda. She enjoys the new view.
Here are some pictures of her hanging out in the Bumbo.

Trying to escape...

Looking at the camera...

Having fun...

She doesn't realize that she can bring her thumb UP to her mouth

An attepmt at Christmas pictures

2008-12-12T12:28:00.000-06:00

I dressed up Anne last night in a cute little Christmassy outfit and tried to get some pictures. The results are as follows...

Late night musings

2008-12-08T23:29:00.000-06:00

Ahh, it is 12:30am and my daughter is screaming. One of "those" nights. I think she is starting to teethe.

So today Charlie took the day off. We had a good old fight last night and resolved after a good long discussion. I am so thankful for times like that, even if it is not so much fun. It makes me tell him exactly what I am thinking and makes our relationship stronger. Even though I do not like being so far away from our families, it makes us have to learn to deal with our issues. Especially me. I tend to depend too much on other people and not on God when things are not going smoothly.

I have also been recalling this past year and am amazed by how God has blessed us. This has been a year of many trials as we found out Anne was on her way, no health insurance for the first 7 months of the pregnancy, losing my temp job, things at Charlie's job slowing down, new baby, new jobs, financial stress, ect... But through everything that happened, God provided more than I imagined He would. Not that I was expecting nothing, but I had little faith that it would be this...abundant. Insurance was provided for in His time, bills were paid (we were given about 3 paychecks worth of money in "random" gifts and cash this year which most of the time came at the most needed time), new jobs were provided, a healthy baby arrived (a thing we are learning is very precious, health), the list could go on for a very long time. God has been very kind to us.

Well, I am starting to get sleepy and so is the cranky one. So goodnight dear people.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T17:51:00.000-06:00

Hello. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We had Charlie's parents and two sisters out to visit us for the holiday. Anne enjoyed all the attention. Here are some pitures of their visit out here.

Growing up

2008-11-23T16:57:00.000-06:00

Wow, I was just looking at some of the pictures of Anne and I am so surprised to see how much she has grown. There is a part of her growing up that is very sad. We kinda like her and I want her to stay with us forever. But as my friend Kala would tell me, you have to hold her with an open hand because she was a gift from God and He chooses what to do with her life. So hard, but very true.
This week she surprised us by spinning one of her toys when Seth and Janet were over. Janet was showing her how the three pieces on the toy spin and she tried to spin them herself. She also has been sitting in her highchair when we have meals. She likes to be part of the group.
Here are some pictures of the growing baby...

Sisters

2008-11-20T16:46:00.000-06:00

I was just missing my sister and decided to put up some pictures of her and I.
FYI, as much as we like each other now, it was not always that way. Just ask Traci... And she is younger, but taller. :-P

Charlie or Melissa?

2008-11-16T20:27:00.000-06:00

A few people have asked who Anne looks like. I have not a clue. I think she looks more like Charlie, but that is because I want her to look more like him. So, here is a picture of me as a baby. And when Charlie's family come to visit, I'll scan a picture of him and post it too.

Surgery done

2008-11-12T23:55:00.000-06:00

Eva is out of surgery and doing well. She will be in the NICU for a couple of weeks, but it looks like everything is fixed. Since there is swelling, they will be keeping her chest open for a few days so please pray that she would be protected from any infections. And Traci is doing better also. Mary, Jim's mom, should be getting there soon to help out with Josiah and be there to help with anything she can. I will let you know if anything new develops.

Eva Update

2008-11-12T21:23:00.000-06:00

I talked to my mom about an hour ago and she said Eva is in surgery now. It looks like something is wrong with her heart valve(s). She will be in surgery until 2:30am midwest time. My mom is staying with my sister at one hospital since Traci is having a harder time healing, and Jim is with Eva at the children's hospital. And little Josiah is with my dad and siblings. I'll give another update when Eva is out of surgery. And thank you to those who are praying.

Prayer for Eva

2008-11-12T15:46:00.000-06:00

So she is here. I don't know any details right now as there seems to be something wrong with her heart. She was a shocking 5lb 14oz, almost half the size that Josiah was at birth. I ask for prayers for little Eva, that the doctors would find out what is wrong and Eva would be safe. And for my family and brother-in-law's family. That we would trust in the Sovereign God and know that what He decides to do with this precious little one, will be best.

Waiting for Eva

2008-11-12T12:48:00.000-06:00

Today we are waiting for my sister, Traci, to have their first daughter Evangeline Grace. Traci and Jim live in Nebraska with my little nephew Josiah. Who was my buddy when he was a baby. Now aunt "B" is his favorite. :-P Kids are so fickle.
Anyways, as of 12:30pm midwest time, Traci was about 4cm and 70% effaced. She was induced this morning as little Eva is past her due date. It must run in the family because Josiah was a week overdue before she got induced. All these late babies!
I'll be putting up a picture when Eva makes her debut.

Picture time

2008-11-06T15:55:00.001-06:00

Visitor, daddy's girl, play date, ect...

2008-11-06T11:37:00.000-06:00

Anne got to meet her Grandpa John this past weekend. He was in TX on a special project for work and they offered for him to fly home on the weekend but he asked them to switch it to fly here. And they did. So thank you to g-pa's work and a HUGE thank you to Grandma Gloria who stayed home with aunt Britt and the uncles for two weeks without g-pa/dad. Anne loved to snuggle and talk and smile at him. She was quite the charmer. Until Saturday night. With her schedule being thrown off, someone got very cranky and screamed at the Thai restaurant.
We didn't get any pictures with Anne and g-pa, but we did get some of daddy and g-pa. They are silly...

Anne is also becoming quite the daddy's girl. After about 2 hours of being fussy and me trying to calm her, Charlie came home, picked her up, and silence. :-P
Oh, well. At least she stopped. And she loved it when her daddy carried her around DC on Saturday...

We had a play date with Miss Jessi and Maddi. Anne was fine with it until Maddi touched her stroller. Then she stared Maddi down. Maddi was thrilled to have another baby around, but Anne was like "whatever". We are going to start spending more time with other people. Get her used to not just mommy and daddy.

It was also my 23rd birthday. And my mom was right. Once you become a mom, birthdays take a back seat. We still had fun though. We made some home-made pizza and watched a movie. And Charlie bought me a video camera and is getting my copy of Beauty and the Beast transferred to a DVD. So excited!

Well, enough updating. Goodbye for now!

Thumbs and walking

2008-10-21T19:56:00.001-05:00

Anne loves to look around when we go on walks, go to the store, ect... So I bought a baby carrier and she loves it. Here is a picture if us getting ready to walk around the neighborhood.

She also just found her thumb last week. She loves to suck on it. Especially when she is starting to get hungry.

growing and computers

2008-10-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

We had Anne's two month checkup yesterday. In one month she grew 2 inches and over 2 pounds. So today I am going to go through her clothes and then probably to the thrift store for some more pjs. She has already outgrown most of the 3 month pjs and pants. She must have gotten her height from the grandpas.

And other good news... the Mac is working again! Yay! And not only is it working, but they were able to save all our pictures and documents! And it even gets better. They put in a new hard drive and did this all for free. Thank you Father! Charlie announced to me last Saturday that he was going to get it fixed as an early birthday present. And when we took it in yesterday he talked to the guy about all the problems we have had with it (the dvd player shut down randomly less than a week after we bought it) and they guy took a look at it and the hard drive had problems when we bought it so they did it all for free. And they upgraded the whole thing. Ah, so nice to have you back, my dear Mac. And all you too, pictures. And thank you dear Apple people for your compassion, generosity, skill and listening ears. And most of all thanks to God who not only gives us new life through His Son, but gives us little things too!

the first smile captured!

2008-10-12T13:20:00.001-05:00

Happy news

2008-10-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

Yay, she slept through the night. Last night the kiddo slept from 11:45pm to 7:15am this morning. Of course I was up several times to check on her (silly mom), but she was breathing and sleeping soundly. It is amazing how quiet it gets when she sleeps...

smiles :-)

2008-10-01T15:48:00.000-05:00

Little Anne is not so little anymore. She has started smiling more (still only for me though) and just started "talking". Even if no one is there. She also thinks that everything is to be sucked on... her blanket, my shirt, her shirt, stuffed animals, everyone's arms and hands, but she hasn't figured out which one is her thumb.

Oh, good news! She started sleeping at night again. We are very excited. She has even been sleeping for longer periods of time (up to 7 hours). I do have a new prayer request. Please pray that Charlie and I would be faithful to share the gospel with those who stop us to talk about Anne. We get a lot of "how cute","how old", "look at that hair", ect... And that we would be patient with those who "correct" our parenting. I had a lady scolded me today for talking on the phone while I was changing Anne's diaper. Wasn't sure what to do with that one.
Anyways, here are some more pictures.

Kinda smiling

Looking pretty

Link to pictures

2008-09-27T20:01:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to our pictures. I just posted some older pictures. (engagement, ect)

Aug.2008

Some new pictures

2008-09-27T17:56:00.001-05:00

Yes, I figured out how to put pictures on Charlie's computer. :-) And good news. Anne is starting to sleep more through the night. It seems like she was just reacting to something I ate. Ah, like being pregnant again. But we are very excited about her sleeping more at night. I have been working on having a more solid schedule for us. She seems to like having a set schedule. (didn't get that from Charlie or me) It will be good for all of us. I will update more later. Off to feed the little one.

After the early morning feeding, Anne and I take a little nap.

We put her to bed and I walked by and saw this...

Playing with mommy yesterday after a walk.

In need of prayer and advice

2008-09-25T09:55:00.000-05:00

Hello. I would like to ask our friends in Christ to be praying for us. Not a "big" thing, but just a difficult thing.
Little Anne is now in the habit of waking up multiple times a night. We are talking she was awake/crying/eating every hour from 1am-7am Tuesday night. Mostly crying. Last night it only lasted from 1-4, but it was still hard if not harder from the lack of sleep the night before. The doctor thinks it is just a phase since she is still eating and having diapers. I cut out dairy out of my diet to see if it might be a lactose issue. But it didn't seem to help. If anyone has any advice, please let me know. And thanks in advance for the prayers!

Update...

2008-09-22T21:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it looks like I will be using Charlie's computer for a while. The hard drive on the Mac is dying and since it is on the "B list" on important things, it looks like we are going to wait on having it fixed. So, I will figure out how to get the pictures on this computer so I can post some more of Anne.
My OB/GYN appointment is tomorrow. It is hard to believe little Anne has been here for six weeks! She is getting so big. She slept five hours last night. It was nice for all of us to get some well needed rest.
Speaking of...we are going to read and head off to bed. The little one is starting to yawn. Goodnight!

We now interrupt your program...

2008-09-20T10:30:00.000-05:00

Yep, there is a glitch in our blogging....
There will be no pictures for a while until I can get my computer in to be fixed. I think when Charlie was turning it off the other day he clicked the wrong button, and I think it locked the computer up. Hopefully the smart people at Apple can help me get it back running. I can't figure it out.
One good thing that has come out of this is God has helped me see my idolatry when it comes to my computer. I sure love that compilation of plastic, metal, and wire. The same day that the computer stopped working we decided to unplug the cable on our tv. So no Mac and tv. Now I have to do things like... read and clean. Ah, what is a girl to do. So God is working on my laziness AND idolatry at the same time. Things have been a little rough, but there has been plenty of grace.
In other news, Anne is doing well. She had her 1 month appointment on Tuesday and is up to 10lb already! I *think* she smiled the other day. Charlie doesn't believe me though. But for sure she lifted her upper body with her arms last week. Just for a split second, but she still did it. She also turned her head from one side to the other when she was laying on her tummy. She laughed (while sleeping) when we were watching the first Redskins game. She is just growing up so fast.
Charlie is doing well. Keeping busy at his new job. Yep, he started working at Lexus a couple weeks after Anne was born. It has been a little difficult getting used to new rules and the way they do things there, but it is way more consistent in pay. This next pay period will be the first time he has made 80 hours in two weeks since last year. We are praising God for this new job. He is also helping out with an outreach ministry at church called Alpha. It is when our church invites the community and those in the church who want to find out about what Christianity is. There is a short message and then a group discussion. It has been going well so far.
Well, that is about it. Anne and I need to get ready. We are going to be hanging out with my first babysitter. (as in the first babysitter I had) She lives out in DC and works for one of the senators. Small world!

Sweet baby dreams...

2008-09-17T20:56:00.000-05:00

1 Month!

2008-09-13T14:35:00.000-05:00

Yup, little Anne is a whole month already. She seems to be doing well. We have her month appointment on Tuesday. She is starting to follow us with her eyes. Not just her eyes, but she will turn her head to watch us as we walk by her crib. She is also starting to be more verbal. Lots of noise from such a little girl.
Here is a picture of Anne in a onesie from aunt Evie. Fits so perfectly...

Our little girl...

2008-09-09T14:54:00.001-05:00

Some pictures

2008-09-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

It is finally back down to three of us. After Bobby and Heidi were here, a friend from Omaha came out to visit us. And then my mom got here. So now we are learning to be just the three of us. We so enjoyed having everyone here. Here are some pictures of our guests with Anne.
Here is a picture of Anne with uncle Bobby.

And here is a picture of Anne with Grandma Heidi.

Anne Update

2008-08-30T18:03:00.000-05:00

Well, we are finally home with our little girl. We got home late on the 15th after staying an extra day due to Anne having jaundice. She had a appointment on the 19th and she had gained 8oz since we got home. And we went to the doctor again this past Thursday and she had gained 9 more ounces! She is now a whoppin' 8lbs 4oz. And the jaundice is no longer an issue.
She only wakes up twice a night and my mom has been helping me with getting a better bedtime schedule. She slept 5 hours the other night. :-) We would love prayers as we are adjusting to a new sleep schedule. Especially for Charlie as he has a new job and it is not easy to head to work when you didn't get much sleep.

Oh, here is a link to some pictures that our friend Tessa took of Anne last week.

Anne

And here is one of my favorite pictures from the photo shoot.

Another picture

2008-08-19T11:50:00.000-05:00

For those who have asked....
1. Charlie's picture was after he gave birth :-) The bed that was for the dad was this little pull out couch that was as comfortable as sleeping on the floor. So I let him take a nap on my bed. I just couldn't resist getting a picture.
2. Yes, I was really that pale. I get really pale when I am not feeling well. It was the longest six hours of my life. But well worth it.

And now, here is a picture that our dear friend Tessa took of Anne.

Some pics

2008-08-14T16:18:00.001-05:00

A long day for daddy

Tired mommy

Baby Anne sleepin'

She is here!!

2008-08-14T05:36:00.000-05:00

Little Anne has finally made her debut! I went to my appointment on Tuesday only to find out I was measuring the same (2cm and 100% effaced) and the earliest they could get me in for an induction would be next Wednesday (the 18th). So, God was very kind and had my water break yesterday at 11:30am. Got to the hospital at 12:45 and was dilated at 4cm. By 4pm I was at 7cm and by 4:45pm 9 1/2cm. Then pushed for a little over an hour. She made it out at 5:53pm weighing 7lbs 9oz and 20 1/2in long. She has a FULL head of black hair and seems like a very laid back baby.
Delivery went ok. I had to have an episiotomy and still tore a bit. So I feeling a little bit sore. But other than that, it went really well. I suprisingly made it without taking any medication. Only by God's grace.
Charlie got to be at the delivery the whole time. I think he even got to cut the cord. (I wasn't paying attention at the time) He was very patient and was a good support. He has been holding her quite a bit and she is the apple of her daddy's eye. I don't think I understood how attached he would get right away.
I am very excited that Bobby was still here. He is heading out today. He was such a great help and didn't mind at all that we missed our tour of the Washington monument. :-) And am so thankful that Heidi will be here soon. And my mom is a couple of weeks. I'm already looking forward to some professional help.
Pictures will follow soon.

Due Date

2008-08-08T10:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, the due date is here and still no little Anne. I guess she still wants to hang with me for a while. (I told Charlie that it is because I'm her favorite) :-)
We had a doctors appointment on Wednesday and I am still dilated 1-2cm and now about 100% effaced. So really any moment. The doctor has me coming in on Tuesday if baby doesn't make her appearance before then, and we will have an ultrasound to check the fluid. The doctor said we will most likely induce on Friday if nothing happens before that time.
While we await this little girl, we are busy getting ready for company. Yeah! Charlie's brother Bobby will be coming tomorrow night to spend a few days with us. We hope Anne will make her debut while he is out here. Bobby will be heading to Iraq later on this year and it will be his last time seeing us before he is deployed. A couple days after Bobby heads back to Wisconsin, Heidi (Charlie's mom) will be coming to stay with us for about 4-5 days. It will be so nice to have a pro with us the first few weeks as all our (at least my) confidence in child care skills are dwindling. We are thrilled that she is able to come out. And Labor Day weekend my mom is able to come out and help. The more professional help we get, the better for Miss Anne. And we are just so darn happy that our mom's are able to come out. Something about having either mom around just makes life easier. We are so thankful for the godly moms God has given us. Ah, I get so emotional anymore...
To close this post, I am going to put up the final (hopefully) belly picture.

Baby Update

2008-07-27T17:14:00.000-05:00

So, no little Anne quite yet. We had a "false alarm" on Friday morning when I thought that my water had broken. No such luck. But I was dilated at 1cm and about 80% effaced.
We spent a few hours at the hospital and then headed home for some rest. (we were at the hospital from 3:15-6am) So we crashed at about 6:30 and Charlie got to stay home and hang with me. That was great to have him around. Been feeling ok for the most part.
We had another appointment today and are at 1-2cm and 90% effaced. Ah, this girl is like her daddy. They both do things on their own time. Well, I am planning on getting a picture tonight and for sure getting some tomorrow night since it is the Sassers last night at care group. :-(

The final countdown...

2008-07-20T19:03:00.000-05:00

Ah, I have just 2 weeks left until the due date. :-) Hopefully little Anne will come sooner than that, but we will see. Started the "beginning" phase of labor which can last for a couple of weeks. But I have a feeling that it won't be that long. We are all packed and physically ready for her to come. The reality of becoming full time parents soon has not clicked in our brains just yet. But our friends are kind to remind us that there will be grace for this coming new phase of our life.
We are keeping busy while we are waiting. Charlie is going to be working with a dear friend of ours this week. He hails from Nebraska and is coming out to NCI (National Cancer Institute) I think to go over some of the research that they have been doing in Omaha. Charlie is very much looking forward to working with Martin and using some of his biology degree. I am at home trying to make sure that everything is "kept up" just in case labor comes soon. I think I just have a few dishes and maybe one load of laundry to do tomorrow. And I am enjoying weekly lunches with Janet and Patricia. I also enjoyed a pedicure last week when the girls from our care group surprised our friend Reema to a girls night before her upcoming wedding. Here is a picture of the finished toes.

Hospital bag is pretty much packed, just a few things to throw in at the last minute. The computer will be coming with so we can send out a mass email to friends after the little girl is here. Well, I will keep you all updated. Off to get some work done.

Happy 1st Year!

2008-07-15T08:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, one year ago we walked down the isle, said our vows and said "I do". It for sure has not been the easiest thing we have ever done, but God has been so gracious to us this past year. Looking forward to the next 98 years...

3rd doctors visit

2008-06-27T07:55:00.000-05:00

I had our third doctors visit on Wednesday and again everything seems to be going well. I am measuring perfectly and Anne's heartbeat is still strong and steady. My blood pressure is slightly up, but it is still on the low side. Also, no gestational diabetes! It looks like the first test was a fluke. We have another ultrasound coming up on Monday to check out her kidneys and I have another appointment coming up on July 9th. (Charlie's birthday, what an old guy!)

Baby Anne and another baby?

2008-06-17T23:27:00.000-05:00

Update on life

2008-06-13T17:12:00.000-05:00

Well, we had an ultrasound at the end of May and we are having a little girl. Anne Elizabeth is due on August 8th. I was going to put a picture up, but I forgot it at my mom's house.
Speaking of....

After the ultrasound we packed up for a visit with our families. First to Wisconsin where we got to see the Jacksons. We spent a few days hanging out with them. Charlie got to help his dad dig a hole for a window and help build the floor for the new addition to the back of the house. (my mother-in-law is getting a 4 season porch and my father-in-law is getting a workshop in the basement) We had fun catching up with them and showing off pictures of Anne to the rest of the family as both sets of grandparents stopped by. Heidi, Evie and I had a Target run and Heidi and I were immediately drawn to this adorable red sun dress. >ah, to have a mother-in-law with such great taste :-)< So Anne got her first gift.

Next we were off to Minnesota to see my brother graduate. Yes, we understand what a miracle this is, that why we didn't miss it. Nate is actually the "first" Emery child to have a graduation since Traci and I were both homeschooled all 12 years. It was supposed to be a surprise but my dad spilled a few hours before we got there. Nate was still kind enough to "act" surprised. The next day we helped get the moving truck packed as my mom and the kids moved back to Omaha. Charlie showed his packing skills that he learned while working for UPS and I helped mom stay focused on getting everything packed and clean the house. Two sets of my grandparents stopped by as well, that was fun to see them too. We got everything packed and headed down to Omaha.

While in the land of Nebraska, we got to catch up with some old friends. We were also reminded of the crazy weather in Nebraska. The morning of our flight home, a tornado touched down a few blocks away from the house. It snapped a few trees, but everything else was ok. It was strange to see though. I woke up at about 2:30am to head to the bathroom and heard the window rattling, so I went over to see if I had shut it all the way. I had, so I looked outside to see what was going on and the rain was blowing sideways. Pretty crazy. We made it back here last Sunday.

This past week I went in for my glucose test and for my second doctors visit. I failed the glucose test by a few points, so I am off to the lab tomorrow to have a second test. Everything else seems to be going well though. The doctor said Anne looks healthy and has a strong heartbeat. We will be going in for a second ultrasound at the end of the month because the ultrasound tech had a hard time seeing Anne's kidneys during the first ultrasound. I will be going to a higher-tech facility so they should have an easier time seeing everything.

Well, that is a longer post than I intended. So off I go.

A little ditty in my head

2008-05-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

So, I was pretty nervous about my appointment this morning. After spending some time praying and reading, I thought that everything was cool. Until I had to leave the apartment. Then the fear jumped in again. Immediately this song popped into my head. And again it popped into my head as Charlie and I discussed our future. We don't know where God wants us, but we know that "whatever our God ordains is right".

Whatever My God Ordains Is Right

Original words by Samuel Rodigast, 1676
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1863
Music and alternate words by Mark Altrogge
As recorded on In a Little While

Lyrics

Whatever my God ordains is right
In His love I am abiding
I will be still in all He does
And follow where He is guiding
He is my God, though dark my road
He holds me that I shall not fall
And so to Him I leave it all

Whatever my God ordains is right
He never will deceive me
He leads me by the proper path
I know He will not leave me
I take content, what He has sent
His hand can turn my griefs away
And patiently I wait His day

Whatever my God ordains is right
Here shall my stand be taken
Though sorrow, or need, or death be mine
Yet I am not forsaken
My Father’s care circles me there
He holds me that I shall not fall
And so to Him I leave it all

Whatever my God ordains is right
Though now this cup in drinking
Bitter it seems to my faint heart
I take it all unshrinking
My God is true, each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart
And pain and sorrow shall depart

© 2007 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)