Is There Something In The Water?

This is a reunion picture of our last Community Group which ended last August. When we started two years ago, we were 6 married couples and none of us had kids. Now, all of the couples have their first child (number 6 belongs to the couple on the far right and is due to arrive at the beginning of August). There must be something in the water here in Atlanta!

Kids clockwise from top left - Cash, Carlson, Isaac (in the oven), Karis, Harris, and Eliana.

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream For...

For those of you who don't know, Sabina and I are a CARES Team through Apartment Life where we put on events at our apartment community each month in exchange for discounted rent. This month we tried a new event called Ice Cream Truck. We loaded up some coolers with ice cream, put on some cheesy music and drove around handing out free ice cream.

We had a TON of people surround us. I felt like we were pulling up at the Oscars.

But, c'mon, who wouldn't want a Snickers ice cream bar or a m&m's cookie sandwich?!?!?!?

Meanwhile......

Family Birthday Celebration

Just after the Baby Dedication was Family Birthday Celebration at Watermarke Church. This is where any child or student from kindergarten through high school who has accepted Jesus as their savior in the last year gets baptized.

Sabina has been leading a small group in UpStreet (the environment for K-5) for three years now and has had most of the same kids the whole time (kindergarten, then 1st grade, now 2nd grade). One boy, who's been in her group a little over a year, is Cael. Well, one evening last September Cael called Sabina at home to tell her that he had just accepted Jesus as his savior. Sabina was so touched that he thought to call her at home to share this HUGE decision in his life.

So, here is Cael at Family Birthday Celebration in his VIP seat just before he got baptized. His whole family was there and, of course, his amazingly wonderful small group leader.

Baby Dedication

Eli was officially presented in public at the Watermarke Church Baby Dedication. We basically showed her off, stated that we intend to raise her in a Godly manner and then prayed for her. All three grandparents were there of course, as well as Dusty and Angela Schaffner.

Eli was so excited about her new Bible with her name inscribed that she wanted to put her foot on it.

Zzzzzzzzzz......

The Second Thing

Ok, the second thing isn't actually a thing. It's a person. I mean she's a person. Jennifer Walker. Jennifer has been the true completion of the miracle. She delivered exactly what is stated on her website - The Perfect Baby Gift..... a good night's sleep.


We met Jennifer at the church where I work and she gave us her book, DVD, and swaddle blanket for a baby gift. She has been so patient and encouraging as we've asked her a TON of questions. She got us to get Eli on a schedule (from her book) and Eli was sleeping through the night at 9 weeks!

Now, previously we had asked Jennifer what qualified as "sleeping through the night". She said from 9:30 pm until 6 am. And, that's exactly what Eli has been doing since the beginning of May!

Jennifer, if you saw the last post about the Miracle Blanket, we're sorry. We tried swaddling her the way you showed us, but she still wiggled out of it because we couldn't ever get it as tight as you did. The motivation of a full night of sleep was so strong that we weren't patient enough in practicing the swaddle. We wanted sleep - and the perfect swaddle was the only thing getting in the way! So, we may be cheating by using a ready made swaddle blanket, but it's working!

Jennifer also showed us a TON of other things regarding taking care of Eli. We finally know how to bathe Eli with less than four hands! We feel sooo much more confident as parents.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jennifer!!!

The First Thing

Two things have entered our home in the last few weeks that have dramatically altered the course of our family. Here's the intro to the first one:

mir·a·cle [mir-uh-kuhl]
–noun
1. an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
2. a wonder; marvel.
3. a wonderful or surpassing example of some quality.

The glory of the Miracle Blanket entered our home. Some of our friends recommended it after they had used it because the poor little baby has no chance whatsoever of freeing themselves. Sounds like torture, but a baby under 3 or 4 months actually loves it.

Eli gets a big smile on her face as we're wrapping her up like a little taquito. But, the real bonus is that she sleeps all night because she doesn't work her arms free and startle herself.

Ever since the arrival of the Miracle Blanket we have not had to get up in the middle of the night to re-swaddle her. If you don't think that's a miracle, please re-read the definition above.

Do You Still Yahoo, Google or Wiki.... or Do You ChaCha?

If you haven't heard of ChaCha, prepare to be blown away! You simply text a question, any question, from your phone to 242242 (chacha) and you get the answer within a few minutes. Oh yeah, I'm not even kidding. Here are some of the ones I've sent (this is from my log on chacha.com):

Where is wolf camera in perimeter mall, atlanta?
Wolf Camera in Perimeter Mall is in Section C. on the lower level between Dillards and Bloomingdales. Have a great night!

How much does a gallon of water weigh?
A US gallon of fresh water at 4 degrees C weighs 8.34 pounds. Have a good day!

Which exit off 75 in valdosta has a zaxbys or chick fil a?
Exit 22 on I 75 has a Zaxbys in Valdosta. Have a great night and keep on chachaing! 1 800 2CHACHA!

What is invert sugar?
Invert Sugar (also called Nulomoline) is created by combining a sugar syrup with a small amount of acid such as lemon juice.

At What times tonight is the movie iron man playing at the amc theaters in orange park, florida?
7:30pm, 8:30pm, 9:00pm, 9:30pm, 10:30pm, 11:30pm

Are you kidding me?!?!?!? That's amazing! Ok, really it's just my way to limp through life without an iPhone.

Happy? Mother's Day

Great, Sabina's first Mother's Day and I made her cry. Actually, it was a good thing. Sabina is sentimental, so this was a great gift. Since all of our photos are digital, these are the first ones we have actually printed.

Here's a picture of her gift. Can you tell which photo is Sabina as a baby? Here's a hint, it's not the bottom left.

Say Cheese

While we were down there, we went to Babies R Us to get some photos. Here are a few:

Top: Four generations of great-grandma (Oma), grandma (Teresa - aka "Tita"), mom (Sabina), & baby (Eliana). I know there's someone out there who thought that the woman in the middle was Sabina's sister. This mistake happens quite frequently actually. I think it's the special Nicaraguan anti-aging secret of rice and beans and Starbucks that Teresa likes so much.

Middle:
Eli and Sabina (for her first Mother's Day)

Bottom:
Me and Eli. Aren't we precious? (Okay, Sabina's doing a little editing here...)

Hartelijk gefeliciteerd!

No, I didn't sneeze. That's how you say Happy Birthday in Dutch. We went to a birthday party for 6 year old Lara (in the yellow). Somehow she's related to me through Sabina's cousin... but once you get past three or four relations, I'm lost.

Anyway, Oma went with us, and here she is holding Eli.

Road Trip!

This past weekend, we went down to Florida to stay with Sabina's grandmother (Oma). We decided to go down there because we would have four generations together for Mother's Day.

Eli and I had fun singing Cake and Stone Temple Pilot songs on the way down. She liked it much better than sitting in that stuffy little car seat. Ok, before you call DFACS, she didn't actually ride in my lap, she rode in the car seat.

Let The Needles Begin

Ok, so we settled on a vaccine schedule in The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. It slows down the number of shots Eli receives at once to minimize the stress to her system. So, on this visit she just received two vaccines and only one involved a needle. The rotavirus vaccine is the liquid in the picture on the top and the DTaP is the needle in the picture on the bottom. Well, you can't see the needle because the nurse was lightning fast.

Actually, a little too fast. She put the band aid on Eli's leg but missed the shot spot. Eli only cried for about 6.78 seconds and then she calmed down in Mom's arms. Then we were able to move the band aid to cover the correct spot.

Mellow Mushroom? Fellini's? Nah...

For those of you who don't know how granola we are (well, try to be), we grind our own wheat to make homemade bread, muffins, pancakes, etc.

Well, we tried making pizza for the first time with the freshly-made wheat. It was absolutely amazing! The next time we have Mellow Mushroom, Fellini's, or any of those "lesser" pizzas, they just won't compare.

Total Destruction

Remember the post where Eli got her hand out of the swaddle? She's moved on to bigger and better. Check out the complete and utter destruction of the swaddle in this picture!

If Sabina Had A Toy Store.....

...this would be the name.