Just wanted to pass on a blog that Jason and Angela have made to give everyone updates on their daughter, Ella Jay, and her heart surgery. Please remember to keep the family in your prayers.
Ella's Emergency Blog

Our First Skinned Knees...

It's a milestone... our first skinned knees. Isaac was so excited to show me his "boo-boos" when I got home from my meeting, that we had to take a dozen pictures of it so he could see it on the camera. Then during our nighttime prayers, daddy prayed for his knees... so cute! My little man is growing up into a reckless little boy. I'm sure this is just the start of many boo-boos to come!

Friends are Friends...

I was thinking this morning about Isaac's friends (this would include his favorite people in the world... his cousins). It's just interesting to me to think about how they will all play into his life when he gets older. Right now it seems we are constantly telling him to play gently and not steal their toys... but what will happen later in his life? Will they be the ones he goes to when his heart aches? Will they be the ones to challenge him in the things of God when he starts to get off track? Will they be the ones who will defend him when he finds himself being picked on? Will they be the ones pleading his case to Chris and I for a later curfew? I sure hope so. That's what I've been praying for.

Ahhhhhh.... 2:00pm

My favorite part of today.... 2:00pm
(It also gave me a chance to pray for baby Ella)

Wednesday Night

Only 10 more weeks..... or less!

So, I'm officially hitting the 30-week pregnancy mark and with it came a lot more excitement. Insulin, glucometers, and test strips... oh my! Since my sweets have been cut down to a minimum, let me share with you a couple of things I wish I could have right now:

double-stuffed oreos with a toffee-nut latte, pretzel-carmel crunch, large strawberry shake, warm apple pie topped with french vanilla ice-cream with a cherry coke, a blondie with a cup of coffee, nina's snickerdoodle cookies with a big glass of milk...

Ok, so I'm not sure giving up sweets can be truly considered a "sacrifice," but you should never have to tell a pregnant lady she can't have what she's craving... she may eat you!

Justin and Kyle's Wedding

The Bridal Party... yes that me, the pregnant one next to the groom

Isaac confused on why everyone keeps asking him to kiss
Uncle Justin and Aunt Kyle

One of my best friends in the whole world... I hate skinny people!

Isaac taking a break from tearing up the dance floor

The Bunk Family... last one's to leave everything.

here are more pics from Matt and Nina-
all in all, it was a great night!

TGIF

Today has been an eventful day, to say the least. At least the sun was shining and Memorial Park was open for business.... especially since we went there twice in one day! Happy Friday!

Forgot I had this video.... Enjoy!

Just another example of how things may have to change
when we have our baby girl!

Our day at the Dr's

Today was Isaac's follow-up appointment with the ear doctor to determine whether or not he needs the tube surgery. Unfortunately, although his ear drums look good, the fluid in both ears will not drain. We will be scheduling with Children's Hospital this week or next.

Last night Aaron Crider challenged us stop focusing on what the enemy was doing in our life, and start thanking God for things he continues to do. So here it goes: Isaac may have to have tubes put in his ears, but I am so thankful that we caught this problem before it caused him more hardships in the future. I am thankful that I finally found a doctor that I trust and is concerned about helping me understand. I am thankful that I even have the means to help Isaac with his ears, even though it will be difficult for me. Finally, I am thankful that I have a God who cares about the little things in life that seem so big to us and He sees us all the way thru them.

Happy Father's Day

It has been a jam packed week, ending with a jam packed weekend. Alina Grace was dedicated Sunday morning and was celebrated along with the father's in the afternoon. It was hard to stay cool, but everyone had a wonderful time. Isaac learned he could swim on his own in the pool with a tube, and was speeding around the water. Chris and I were shocked at how secure he got in the water in such a short period of time! It was a great day, and I hope all the father's in my life felt honored and appreciated.

Good Friends and Good Food

So... it's a horrible picture, but it was a wonderful night. There isn't much I love more than good food and good friends (and time away from my toddler to enjoy what they say). Kate Adamson, you are such a blessing in my life! Who else can understand my frustration, my confusion and my heart more than the people who saw me during my transition time at school? You are so wise and insightful, yet you haven't changed a bit! I enjoy your company and am so grateful that you took time to come to Detroit... we should have went to Church's Chicken on 7 Mile and Gratiot instead of Andiamos- now that would have brought back memories! I love you girl!

Like A Chinese-Cabbage...

So I am in my 28th week of pregnancy and am starting to really feel it. On babycenter.com, I was told that my daughter is the size of a chinese-cabbage. Seems about right, although she moves around like a rabbit! Unfortunately, it does look like I will be starting insulin next week. My dr. has been having me check my sugar 3 times a day, and it's getting pretty high. It's mostly a bummer because needles aren't really conducive to my lifestyle with a toddler... but I guess I can do anything for 12 more weeks. My prayer is that the Lord would give me healing where I need it, discipline where I need it and would continue to protect my baby girl.

a major breakthru!

Today we had a breakthru. Isaac was doing his watercolors and accidentally got some paint on his hand. He started to get really passionate about me cleaning it off before he would continue his artwork. I was so fed up with this "diva" mentality, that I took the paint and put it on his belly. He started to cry. So I just went for it... after awhile, he loved it and kept asking me to put stars and hearts on him. He is in the bathtub now making sure all of the paint is off, but I am just grateful for a major breakthru today.

Ella Jay Pannecouk

8lb, 10oz
20 and 1/2 inches
She is tiny and beautiful... and holding her made me more excited for September! Jason and Angela are doing great and are hoping to bring Ella home this afternoon.

Don't let the BED BUGS BITE!

I have a box in Isaac's closet that holds toys, books and games that are new, and every once in awhile I bring one out to surprise him. I was rummaging thru the box last night and found a game I had ordered from Discovery Toys called "Busy Bugs." It's a matching color game with little rubber bugs and it is so cute. Isaac was thrilled! He even picked his favorite bug to sleep with last night. This morning at 7:30am he was wimpering "buggy, buggy!" and wouldn't lay back down until we found it. Boys are so different than girls... instead of calling you into their room to get rid of the bugs, they call you in to help find them. So now we are playing our new bug game and watching it pour rain outside.

I married a crazy man!

Well, it's officially June. My thermostat said 86 degrees, but it had to be in the 90's in the direct sun. Isaac and I started off our day dredging thru Chris' garage to find the compressor... then to find out how to turn it on... then how to use it. My house is definitely not ditsy girl friendly! Don't even get me started on the hose- we can have hot and cold water outside, which sounds nice, but if you don't know how it works it's a pain! Which one is COLD???? We finally got our pool up and filled and jumped in, er, climbed in carefully. Now we have had too much sun, took a bath and are enjoying our lunch in the air conditioning- we'll save the picnic for another day. I am so grateful that we have this day to spend together at home. I decided the errands for today can wait- we need a family break! We are going to take nap together, make a special dinner/dessert for daddy and breathe. Now if only I didn't overheat so easily. Happy Summer!

Peace Out

I've decided that it is much easier to encourage someone else to have peace then to attain it for yourself. This week was full of busy and chaos with Legacy.... Wed: Sr. Night, Fri: Jon's Graduation, Sat: Prince Caspian outing, Sun: CFL meeting, Mon: PLUNGE Bible Study, Tues: Summer RAGE set-up, Wed: Summer RAGE kick-off, Thurs: IMPACT practice, Sun: Spread the Fire in Main... and that's just the 1st week of our summer activities. Plus, Chris has been working 15 hour days for the last 2 weeks, so Isaac has been by my side every step of the way. While I was out doing some errands for tonight, I decided to stop and get a coffee. This is something I don't do very often b/c it's cheaper to make it at home and I really shouldn't be drinking too much caffiene... but it was the only thing I could think of that would calm my brain down and give me energy to get everything done before 6pm. The funny thing is that I had just given a hard speech to a friend the night before about trusting in God's peace and allowing Him to guide the journey... shameful! So, since Starbucks didn't do the trick, I am relying on God's grace to get me thru the summer.

Isaiah 26:3
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

GO RED WINGS!!!

"Don't want to use my fingers" Paint

So.... it's official- my son is a 40-year old toddler. Not thinking, I bought FINGER PAINT, and we ended up using a paint brush so his hands wouldn't get slimy. We also tried out CHALK PAINT outside that was a little disappointing. I think regular chalk from the dollar store is way more fun. The nice thing is that it is super easy to clean up! I am loving the summer though, that's a surprise. He is at the perfect age to have scavenger hunts, picnics on the grass and playing hopscotch. What a difference from last summer! I don't think these next 3 months will be as long as I thought they would be, in fact, the time is flying by!