Merry Christmas!!

We're finally, mostly done decorating! I love our stockings, Melodie's came out AMAZING! I was so excited to put it up. It's now very proudly displayed over out built-in. :)

We picked up a tree, put it up, watched it slowly tip over, re-righted it, and decorated. Melodie even helped! It's nice that our angel has a "proper" home this year. I LOVE Christmas!

Some people have turkey...

...others prefer string from their cousins!

Happy Thanksgiving!

same door, different angle

Outside Independance Hall

Independance Hall

Give me Jesus

It didn't take us long to figure out that Melodie Joy was appropriately named. On the first night of her life, I had her with me in the hospital room and she began to cry. I didn't know what to do, so I tried to sing, sway, and feed her. Nothing seemed to work, until I turned on the light, and she instantly calmed down, staring into the bright light overhead. It was a "poetic" moment of sorts, that I'll never forget, and I think it was a God moment, where he was speaking to me much more about her life than I understood then, or even know now.

Since that time, there are a few things that we've found that calm her down. The first is feeding her (which I suppose is quite obvious). Other than that, singing, holding her, and turning on the light generally seem to calm her down the best, especially when it's her Daddy that does it. She loves it when we sing to her, and she often tries to sing back. At church she lights up during the worship, and often follows up the songs with her own melody. I love watching her grow and learn, and sing and talk. It's really neat to watch her, pray for her, and see what talents and gifts the Lord has put in her, even at this young age.

One of my favorite things to do though, when she's particularly upset is to go upstairs with her, wrap her in her blanket and rock with her singing her whatever song comes to mind. I've found that my favorite to sing to her, and one that she seems to like the best is "Give me Jesus". It's been one of my favorite songs since high school when I heard Fernando Ortega's rendition of it. It reminded me of where my foundation rests during great times and very difficult times in my life, and I love watching Melodie listen and become restful when she hears "Give me Jesus".

Yesterday, as I was listening to Revelation Song and others on the computer, Fernando Ortega's "Give me Jesus" popped up on the Youtube list of songs. It happened to be the Ruth Graham tribute version, and it instantly has become one of my favorites. I love hearing her kids talk about their love for their mother, and knowing that they'll see her again with the Father. I also love listening to her husband say that he wished everyone was able to look at her in the casket because she was so beautiful, and he knew that she had a great reception in Heaven. What a neat testimony? I can only look forward to the day, that once my days have been spent on the earth, and my purpose if fulfilled, I am called home to be with Jesus and see him face to face. And what's more, that my entire family would be able to say the same.

"You can have all this world, but give me Jesus".

Perfect Day

Since starting my new job I have feel like a new person. For the first time since Melodie was born, I feel like I get a chance to be a mom to her, which is amazing. I also have found that I'm a lot less tense, and that I enjoy life more. It's simply amazing what a "perfect job" can do for you! I love labor and delivery. It's been filled with both amazing and incredibly scary and sad moments, sometimes all at once. But most days, I get to go home knowing that I've been a small part of a day that most families will remember the rest of their lives. It's pretty cool.

Today Melodie and I went out to vote. Our voting station was down the road a couple of blocks, so I strapped on the Bjorn and we walked. It was simply the perfect day. I let her pick out a toy to bring along, and pick out her clothes. She doesn't talk quite yet, but people seemed to think she was hinting at something when we were voting! :) Afterwards we went for a long stroll around the neighborhood, looked at a couple of houses that were for sale, and tried to get ideas for our house. It was fun, but I quickly grew tired from hefting 20 some pounds around with me, so we headed home, where my peanut fell asleep on my chest for the first hour of her three hour nap!

I also was able to catch up with an old friend who's in her final year of med school. She's one of those rare friends that you can call up after six months and start up where you left off. She's simply an incredible person, and I can't wait to see what unfolds over the next few years for her. She just returned from an elective in Honduras, and is planning on doing an internal medicine rotation in Malawi this February. It was really fun to catch up and chat with her.

Tonight Ryan and I may be able to catch a walk before it gets too dark, and then we'll be settling in to watch some election coverage and spend some time together. I can't wait. It really has been the perfect day!

(Oh, and maybe off to Starbucks for some free coffee!)

New job

I woke up this morning surprised that Ryan was the one who was saying goodbye. I got to sleep well past 4am, and actually feel like a real live human being this morning! It's incredible. Yesterday was my first day at my new job. It was orientation, as today will be as well. I am so thankful that I'm working at the hospital that I am. They spent a long time introducing the mission and the vision of the hospital, and all of it was about being Jesus to people. It's the first time in my professional career where I work for an organization who openly and unashamedly exists to serve people in a way that would honor Jesus. I'm excited.
There are a few things that I need to work out though, that I'll be thankful when they are over. I had lost my CPR card (which as a nurse, I guess is important! ;) ), so I need to get recertified, and I'm scheduled to work on the same day that Melodie is getting dedicated at church. After those two things get worked out, I should be in good shape. I hope it all goes smoothly.

Come on Crew!

I can't wait for the game tonight! Come on Sabathia, give those Phillies a game!

October First

I love the fall, and today is no different. Today is the first day of October and fall is in full swing. I love the weather and the temperatures, and the leaves changing colors. It's amazing and puts me in a good mood every year. Happy October to you!

Gearing up

Ryan and I are leaving for our baseball trip tonight! I'm so excited and exhausted all at the same time. We're dropping Melodie off at Grandma and Grandpa LaBarge's house tonight, and then we're headed to Philadelphia tomorrow, staying a couple of days and heading to NJ to stay with Jeff and Laura for the Mets and Yankees games. It should be a lot of fun, and a nice time for us to reconnect with eachother.

It's here....

To make a long paint story short...a few months ago Home Depot had a Behr paint sale. Since our whole house was painted white before we moved in, Ryan and I jumped on the sale, decided that we needed 13 gallons of paint, picked the colors we liked and went for it....Problem was, due to some mis-information, we sort of, kind of, really...messed up. We got semi-gloss, instead of flat paint, and the swatched that I painted of it on the wall were horrible! It made me sick to think about it, but I felt bad about our huge purchase being a flop. Ryan realized the pit I had in my stomach and made it seem like he hated the paint and that we really did need to go get the flat. We loaded up the jeep with the bad paint, tried to return it, were told we couldn't and ended up still getting 8 gallons of flat paint that I love. I got home and quickly painted swatches of the new stuff on our walls, and couldn't wait to get started....that was on the 4th of July. Last night, Joanna and I finished our first room...the dining room, and I love it! Hopefully, the living room is due up in the near future.

Update

So, life has been crazy lately, and by crazy, I mean crazy.

Ryan and I went to Michigan this past weekend with Melodie. The three of us had chiropractor appointments with a family friend who is fantastic, and always get's us in. Ryan was quickly converted into being a believer in chiropractic care, and I don't think that I've seen him stand taller than after his appointment on Monday....which is a good thing because I don't think either of us realized how crazy the week would be.

My job consists of lots of deadlines, and this week seems to be that a "perfect storm" has been brewed. There are a lot of cases that are due for certain "reviews". The deadline is the end of August, and so that's a bit nuts as is. Also, we only have a certain number of days to get a case out, so Fridays are always busy, since we have to finish cases that would be due on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. However, this week we also have to get Monday's cases out. So now, we have a ton of cases due for end of this month, and it's a three day weekend, etc. Nutso week. As usually, I've been leaving at 4:45 in the morning and getting home after 6 every day. I'm really looking forward to my new job.

Even though my job sounds nuts, Ryan's has been even more crazy. Yesterday I went to see him at work, because I hadn't seen him since I left for work Tuesday morning. He had already worked 40 hours this week, and it was only 7PM on Thursday!! Today he's working 4-12:30 and tomorrow he's working 8am-12:30am!!! (Yeah, that's a 16 1/2 hour day!) In addition to that, he's been watching Melodie and trying to get his homework done in time. I don't know how he does it. He's totally my hero.

I'm looking forward to our New York trip. No work, going to get to see Laura and Jeff and their kiddos, and relax. Did I mention "no work"? I don't know what will be better....seeing the stadiums and games, or not working. Regardless, spending time with Ryan definately will be a welcomed blessing.

L & D

So, I've been out of the bloggin loop for some time. Not intentionally, but rather, I've had zero time. Since my last post though, I've gotten a new job, and though I don't start for another month or so, I'm really excited. I'll be a labor and delivery nurse, and I can't wait.

Melodie is getting huge, and more fun everyday. This morning she almost rolled from her back to her tummy while stretching. It was like 4:45 in the morning and she started squaking and I went to put her plug back in her mouht. She took it, and then yawned and nearly flipped over. It was really cute, and I just wanted to stay and rock with her, but alas, I had to drive to work. Soon I'll be working fewer days, and closer to home. I can't wait!

And this means...

NO!

Melodie has been a lot of fun lately. Her little (or should we say quite BIG) personality is coming out more and more every day. She's rolling over, jabbering, scooting and TEETHING! It's fun, and crazy all at the same time. Ryan and I are trying to figure out what to do when she's fussy, whether it means she's 1) tired 2) hungry 3) wet 4) drooling or 5) just being a 3 month old.

Penicillin is great...

...when it's not growing on your basement baseboards! I went downstairs yesterday to do some laundry and found some green fuzzy mold. I started to freak out inside, but calmed down and decided to "bleach" the heck out of it. I read the bottle which indicated that I could leave the bleach to dry in place to kill the mold and then repeat as neccessary. I did that, in all three of our "leaky" spots, and then came down to check on it this morning. Thankfully the fuzzy green baseboard is now a sparkling white color, but I did miscalculate how wide the spray of the bottle was in the other spot and ended up bleaching the bottom stair carpet! :) I don't know how to cover that one up, but it's much better than mold growing in there. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how things go with the basement. Ryan is supposed to call the insurance company again today about our claim, so we'll wait and see how that goes.

New due

I got my hair cut and colored today, and I'm lovin' it! It's been a year since my last cut, and I've never had it colored...so today was the day.

It's the little things

Last week I started working again. For the first time since being at this job, I'm not pregnant! It's actually really nice, and I feel more settled and motivated than before. However, getting back to work wasn't easy. I really struggled the first couple of days. It's the longest I've been without Melodie, and the furthest away from her I'd ever been. But as the week went along things got easier and easier. I don't think I got to bed before midnight at all last week, but this week has already been better. (before midnight is my goal - I've hit it by a few minutes last night ;). Ryan has been working on a schedule so we'll both know where and who has Lodie, and what days we're working etc. Also, he worked night shifts all last week and today he gets to work days because my brother-in-law is watching her for us today! :) I don't think I've ever been this excited about a night with Ryan. It's funny because we'll actually see eachother during the week this week! It's the little things that bring me more joy than I anticipated. I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing night with Ryan. Will it happen? Who knows with the flooding, etc, but at least it's something to look forward to tonight. :)

Flooded

Normally I love storms. Perhaps not as much as the weathermen do when there is a big system coming through and they are nearly crawling out of their skin with excitement at their weather map exploding with colors, but I like a good strong storm once in awhile. This weekend, however, nailed us. On Saturday our basement began flooding, as most houses did in the area, and it hasn't stopped. About 10 minutes after it started Ryan and I decided that he needed to brave the storm and go to Home Depot for a shop vac, dehumidifier and fan. He made it there and back successfully, and all three of our new purchases have not stopped being used since. Our washing machine has been solely running on the spin cycle. We've finally gotten to the point where we can actually throw the freshly spun towels into the dryer, and rotate the wet ones out, but even that took us some time. With continued storms and more flash flood warnings coming today, it looks like "dry" won't be in our future anytime soon. That being said, we're thankful we found the leaks before they got worse, and we're more than thankful to still have a house. There are some others in the area that have lost everything.

Dave's message

I was thinking of a blog on my commute into work today, and was excited that I had gotten to work a bit early to write it. When I booted up the computer and began to read my regular blogs, I found my brother-in-law's blog and it particularly hit me today. He ALWAYS posts good, genuine stuff, but today was a particularly pointed message that reminded me of something God has been showing me lately. It completely blew out the intended blog regarding the Brewers and Randy Johnson pitching tonight, and made me reflect on the power of encouragement. More to come about that later, but read Dave's blog. It is an awesome example of how the things that we say to others aren't without impact, they can literally transform people's thinking and attitutudes.

Lodie's first Brewer game

The Young family went to their first Brewers game together last night. (We actually went together a few times already, but this is Lodie's first ex-utero exposure to live baseball) We had a great time. Lodie LOVED the light bar that changed every 30 seconds. She was mesmorized by the lights, and the noises. She was a fantastic little fan, and didn't get hungry until the top of the eighth. The 80 year old guy that sits behind us thought that she was cute enough to take a picture of her on his camera phone and set it as his new background. Yeah, I was one proud momma. :) I can't wait to bring her back on again, I think that she enjoyed herself, and we certainly enjoyed taking her.

Things I've learned in the last month...

(See point # 10, for things to say about the baby and the parent for this picture :) )
1. Babies are an absolute miracle, and there is nothing like holding a new life in your arms and knowing that you are responsible for them, and they are completely dependant on you.

2. You can function on MUCH LESS sleep than you ever thought was possible

3. Birds wake up at 4am, Melodie wakes up at 3:30am

4. Dad's have an inherent ability to sleep through anything...alarms, storms, coldness, pain and screaming babies.

5. When changing a diaper, NEVER-EVER take the diaper off, toss it in the diaper genie and then put a new diaper on. ALWAYS prepare the second diaper before taking off the first, and be ready to wipe quickly and throw on the new one. If this direction isn't followed, there WILL BE wetness or worse!

6. I am very thankful to be surrounded by young families, especially at our new church. They have been very encouraging and it is wonderful to hear that we're not alone. Also, it's wonderful to hear from multiple other moms that dads do sleep through anything, and go about parenting in a different way than moms do. That's why there's a mom and a dad. It has been very encouraging to hear that the things that I've been struggling in dealing with are VERY normal.

7. It's okay to cry sometimes, and laugh sometimes and go buggy-eyed sometimes for no apparent reason.

8. Eloquent speech is a thing of the past. I can be mid-sentence with someone and completely forget what I was talking about.

9. Things never to say to a new mom:

"Oh she's SO tiny", "I've never seen a baby so small", "Oh, she doesn't need to burp", After telling someone how your baby likes to be held to calm her down hearing them say to your baby "Oh, you don't like being held like that, do you?"

10. Things to say to a new mom:

Anything relating to how cute their baby is, what a wonderful job they're doing parenting, how great they (the parent) looks (even if it's not true).

11. Becoming a parent is the ultimate dying to self. It teaches you how to be selfless in the most difficult situations. Things you hold most dear are immediately challenged and you have to be ready to surrender. One of those things is sleep, another is time with friends and extended family, sleep, another is a CLEAN HOUSE, sleep, cooking, sleep, sounding like you are somewhat intelligent, sleep, even your health (thank you two cases of mastitis in a month---and by the way the current antibiotic that I'm on has an aftertaste of artificial banana flavoring...NASTY!). But it is such a good thing. I was talking with my sister Missy, who pointed out this particular point, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how true it is. Having children is a wonderful blessing, and a great gift. But it is also a wonderful challenge from the Lord to grow closer to Him, by becoming more self-less. Every part of a babies life can correlate to our spiritual lives, and it is neat to see it play out. I am one for real-life examples, and Lodie is a great one for me. It's funny that a 5 week old can deepen your spiritual life more than spending time with great scholars, but I think that's part of the way God designed it to be. I'm looking forward to more challenges, but I'm also looking forward to watching this child become what God has made her to be, and through that watching Ryan and I deepen in our relationship with the Lord.

Tulip Time 2008

Ryan and I were in Holland this past weekend and happened to be there while Tulip Time was going on. I was a bit excited to show off the town to Ryan, who had (gasp) NEVER experienced the third largest flower festival in the US before. Anxious to show off my hometown roots, we made our way to downtown Holland in hopes of seeing the tulips, some Klompen dancers, and street vendors. We saw the tulips, and we saw a few dutch costumes, and I even got an overpriced elephant ear, but sadly no Klompen dancing or parades. I was disappointed that it wasn't as "grand" as I had remembered it being. Most likely it was because we went during the day on Monday, and there wasn't much going on. I couldn't help but thinking that must've thought that the whole thing was pretty lame. But he didn't say so, in fact he took a lot of great pictures of the tulips, and the dutch costumes, and enjoyed his strombolli from New Holland Brewery. Perhaps next year we'll take Melodie with us, and dress her up in traditional dutch garb and catch a parade and some dancing. But for now, it was nice to have a couple of hours to walk around and go site seeing.

Favorite pic so far

Thought I'd post my favorite picture of Melodie so far. Ryan and I busted out our new camera and have been trying to figure things out with it. This was a first attempt to get a "Henderson-

esc" shot. We still have a LONG way to go in taking photos, but I liked this one.

More pics of Melodie

Just a few more pictures of Melodie. Man she's a fun kiddo!

Bundle of joy

Melodie Joy arrived Wednesday night at 6:58, and was 7lbs, 8oz. It was a long 19 hours of labor, but worth every second of it. We're finally home from the hospital, and everyone is doing well. I'll post more pictures soon.