We're Moving!!!

God will never cease to amaze me!!! Just when we were really starting to get going on our house plans for building and getting stuff in the works we get a contract on our house!! We are so excited!

What a testimony of how good God is. I love how His timing is always perfect. There have been many times in frustration I have wondered why our house has not sold yet and had to remind myself who was in control. The last time we bought and sold houses it also worked out perfectly. We just barely got into this house before Karsten was born, four days to be exact. I then also wondered about God's timing. I was TWO WEEKS overdo, but if he had come on my time then we would have moved with a newborn!! Not fun for sure.

We bought our lot last summer and planned on building then but neither one of our hearts were in it. We put our house up for sale in August and building settled in the back of our minds.

We knew it would happen if it were the Lord's will and in His time.

Recently we got the fire and started the planning stages. Jut as things really got going we got a contract. We are supposed to close on our building loan to start our new house any day now and we will be out of our house soon. We do not close until the first of April but we are moving out two weeks early because of some things that need to be done here and also we will be out of town the weekend before the closing.

Temporarily we will be living in an apartment. I was really excited about this, but the last couple of days I have begin to have second thoughts. I really felt like that was were the Lord was leading us to move though, so I will rely on His grace to get me through. Did I mention that we have two dogs who will be inside more than I will like them to??

Anyways, I am off to start packing because I only have a week!!! We will be moving into a place that is half the size of our house now so not everything is going with us. More than half our stuff is going in storage. We are only going to take the stuff we need for the six months we will be there.

Oh, did I mention that another part of God's timing is that it will take about six months to build a house (Lord permitting the weather and subcontractors) and that is just about the shortest lease that you can find. Another awesome praise!!!

I will end with a phrase I heard somewhere. I have repeated it to myself again and again when I have to be reminded of God's grace and timing.

"God is very rarely early but He is Never late."


p.s. Will let you know more when we get started on our house and I have pictures to post.

Sometimes you feel like a nut....

I have to say that Karsten is a little nut. He cracks us up pretty much all day long except when his little teethys are hurting him, then he is grumpy. Anyway this was taken at lunch earlier. I told him to show me so I could take a picture. He obviously likes to show off a little bit.

This was Karsten with his finger-fork. I thought it was kinda funny. Then again I don't get out much.

Our Family

This is the first family picture of us since we went to the Grand Canyon this past summer. It may not be the best but it is way better than the last one. This was at my birthday dinner in January. I have since had my hair chopped off, much to the dismay of my husband ( and me, I really want to grow out my hair again. I obviously have awful communication skills when it comes to getting my haircut.)

Cereal

Karsten was eating his first official bowl of cereal by himself. Mommy helped out a bit. He did a great job though!! He loves to do things himself.

Been Awhile

Ok so its been quite awhile since I have posted. I think its pretty sad that my sister-in-law that is packing to move to a different state with two little ones blogs more than I do. Kudos to you my soon to be Texas living sister-in-law!!! So I will play a little catch up.

Not much has been going on. I started running with a friend about three times a week. Well I say running but we run and walk about the same distance. I am pretty proud to say that I ran a whole half mile straight last week. That's a lot for me by the way

Karsten is doing much better with the whole bedtime thing. Some nights he cries and some nights he doesn't. We have finally gotten another bedtime routine pretty much worked out. At nap time he probably cries more than he doesn't cry. It's for very short periods of time though. Usually only 5-10 minutes.

He got his first scraped knee a few weeks ago while playing outside with Daddy. Yes, only in West Texas do we wear shorts in January. His favorite thing to do is to take a ride in the Jeep with his Daddy or just sit in it and pretend to take a ride.

Daisy is about to have her puppies. We keep thinking any day now because she possibly can't get any bigger.

Now you see why I haven't blogged in awhile. There is just not that many news things going on here. Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day weekend!!

Update

OK, so the first night of bottle weaning may have gone a little too well. The last two days at nap time Karsten hasn't taken milk at all. He cries himself to sleep each time. He only cries for about 10 minutes off and on. Last night for bed time Karsen would not take his milk but after laying him down and tucking him in he quietly went to sleep. Tonight he fought me hard to not take his milk and is currently still crying himself to sleep.

I know this is a battle with a very strong willed little guy and the outcome is really best for him but it is still super hard for this mommy. I am already missing and looking forward to again having quiet rock time before laying him down for bed.

I have been a little anxious about the amount of milk he has been drinking (or a lack there of) so I looked up today to see how much milk he requires at this age. I am pretty sure that he is meeting that requirement or very very close so that makes me feel better. We also have been doing lots of yogurt and cheese. I think I may take the little juice he gets completely away for a few days to encourage him to drink his milk.

I am really hoping this battle doesn't last for too many more days. I feel so bad for my little man. :(

So excited!!!

OK, so Karsten is about three days away from being 16 months old and he up to this point has still been using the bottle. Well his New Year's Resolution and mine is Bye Bye Bottle!! Whenever we did the sleep training thing Karsten did great and he was falling asleep by himself just fine. He would drink his milk in my lap and I would lay him down, he would turn over and that was it. It was great for about 4 months. Well one morning I wasn't feeling well and I gave him his bottle to drink in his bed. I know, I know. BIG NO NO!! That has been the habit ever since.

Monday night I cracked down. I didn't have any more excuses. For the past month or so we have been super busy or out of town so it was not a good time to take the bottle away. I finally ran out of excuses and Monday night I started getting him in the habit of drinking his milk in my lap again. The first night he fussed when I took his bottle away for about ten minutes and then fell asleep. The second night I laid him down, covered him up, turned on his fan and then went to grab his bottle and he had already dropped it next to him. The third night He handed it to ME!! I was cracking up as I left the room. He is such a quick learner so we went without the bottle tonight. Granted it was a Nuby cup with a silicon nipple like thing, but it is still a cup nonetheless. He did great. Other than flowing a little to fast for him you couldn't tell a difference. I did the same routine and his little arm was in the air waiting for me to take the cup from him before I walked out of the room.

I am just so excited because I have made this to be such a big deal in my head. Maybe it was more me that was hanging onto the bottle?? I am so proud of him and the little man that he is becoming. Peter doesn't understand why this makes me so giddy. It is something that has been on the dreaded part of the to-do list for many months. So far so good but we will see if he seems to pitch any fit later on for the bottle.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!