Happy birthday, baby girl

I just put my baby girl to bed for the last time as a 1-year-old. In a little over an hour, the clock will turn, and suddenly, she'll be two. She won't know the change, won't feel it, probably won't notice anything is different (except that we're singing Happy Birthday a lot). But I know it, and since I'm a huge sap, I'll probably cry some more.

On my way to get groceries tonight, I began crying in the car over the fact that that giant unknown of parenthood has resulted in one of the sweetest, most generous, most dramatic, funniest kids I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Granted, I'm not really a kid or baby person so therefore don't know a ton. Also granted, I know every parent says the same thing about their kids. But when it comes to Selah - it's true.

Who knew that when I pushed for the last time, and felt those legs kicking inside me on their way out, that she'd soon be kicking a huge place in our hearts? Who could have told me what an impact this little girl would have on us?  How she'd challenge us with her generosity and desire for togetherness? How she'd (inadvertently) shame me by how fully she loves her little brother, who rocked HER world most of all? How she'd make us laugh just by uttering a simple little "yeah" at the most surprising of times? How she'd teach us to slow down and enjoy a butterfly, a rainstorm, a hard-earned hug? How she'd teach us to "zoom" in excitement over the smallest of things?

Selah brings such joy to our lives. She's like her mama AND her daddy - she has extreme highs and lows, especially where food is concerned. But her highs are more frequent than her lows, and her smiles more plentiful than her cries. She loves to include everyone in every activity, and gives kisses to all the people (and things) that are meaningful to her. She loves to help, to run (it's so stinking cute), to look at herself in the mirror and on our phones. She loves cheese. Selah loves Benny, and Isaiah, and Mama and Daddy. She loves her grandparents and her auntie, and her friends at church (Char...Hann...Zo). She loves our neighbor boys (Wy? Ti?).

This little girl is SO FULL of love, and she is a joy to us. Although I'm so sad to say goodbye to her 1-year-old self, I'm really excited to see how God grows and develops her over this next year of her life. Will her little ringlets remain? Will she keep her adventurous spirit? Will she still want cheese for every breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack, or will something else become her favorite? Who is this little lady God is growing? I'm so excited to have a front-row seat.

Selah at 23 months. It's safe to say she has outgrown the basket :)

Introducing Isaiah

It's been more than three weeks since our little Isaiah entered the world, so I figured I should blog his birth story sooner rather than later, or else risk losing the memories to the chasm of sleep deprivation. Also, it's taken me 3+ attempts and the loss of most of what I had written, so here goes nothing.

When we found out we were pregnant and our general due date, I began hoping for a "fun" birth date for this little one. At least one that was easy to remember (5/10/15 or 5/15/15 sounded good!). When I hit 37 weeks, I began having prodromal labor (labor that mimics real labor and contractions, but never actually results in a baby). It kind of killed my dreams of a 5/10/15 or 5/15/15 birth date, but honestly, I was happy to think I wasn't going to be pregnant much longer. Between the weight gain, exhaustion, aches and pains and general inability to be the mom I wanted to be to Selah, I was done. SO DONE. However, pregnancy lasted nearly the full 40 weeks, with me waking up 5/14/15 - 2 days shy of my  due date - with legitimate contractions.

I got up at 7 and began putting the final touches on my hospital bag and trying to figure out if I should cancel the photo shoot Selah and I were going to do that morning. I was having contractions the whole time, but was so leery about saying "This is it," after the weeks of false labor. About 4 hours in to contractions, they were getting more painful and more regular, so I called the shoot and told Adrian we needed to plan to head to the hospital. First (priorities!) we needed food. I made the mistake last time of not eating before we checked into the hospital and so after a 19-hour labor and only liquids and one Greek yogurt - I was HANGRY. I wasn't going to make that mistake again! We (A, Selah, myself and A's mom who was in town to help) went to the Denver Biscuit Company and I stuffed myself on The Franklin. It's a biscuit, stuff with a fried chicken breast, bacon and cheese and covered in sausage gravy. Heart health was clearly one of my top concerns ;)

After lunch, I made A get me to the hospital as I sat crunched over with more painful contractions. I was so worried when we checked in I wouldn't be dilated enough for them to admit me, but about 2 pm, once I had changed into some more appropriate labor clothes, they found I was 5 cm dilated.

At that point, there was some concern over whether or not the baby had a hand or something up next to his/her head. There was a funny bulge next to the head, they said, but weren't too worried. We passed a few hours laboring in the tub, on the birthing ball and moseying around the room. By 6 pm, I was already getting tired and though I was at 8 cm, felt like I was going to need to rest for what I felt would be a much longer night. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me a much-needed epidural and for several hours, I "labored" in relative ease. I had my oils diffusing, was sniffing peppermint for nausea (that biscuit may have been a bad idea), and I was applying Clary Sage to keep my labor progressing. All the while, we were hanging out, watching The Office, eating ice chips (me) and talking to the nurses and doctors.

At some point, they began to get concerned over the fact that the baby's head wasn't really dropping and I wasn't progressing past 9cm. The "hand" they felt next to the baby's head could be the umbilical cord, putting him or her at risk if they were to descend any further. They began saying they wanted to either break my water and see if the cord was prolapsed or give me Pitocin to try and speed things up. I opposed both and requested to keep laboring, hopefully in a more upright position. The nurses and doctors kept lying me back and rolling me from side to side because the baby's heartbeat was decelerating and they wanted to get it stabilized.

All of a sudden, there was talk about an emergency c-section and the nurse anesthetist was in there and ready to wheel me out. Adrian and I talked and stalled and finally convinced them to not do a c-section but to break my water and see if we could put an internal heartbeat monitor on the baby. They broke my water, no cord prolapse, and put the heartbeat monitor on. The heartbeat stabilized for a little bit, and then they said there was meconium in the water - a sure sign of fetal distress. Amid (what felt like) a panic attack and so much crying and shivering and heart racing and freaking out, I told A we needed to go ahead and do the c-section. If there was meconium in the water, I knew (from having recently watched Jill Dillard's birth story) we needed to get baby out ASAP.

A few minutes later, I was wheeled into the OR, Adrian was beside me in scrubs and I was being prepped. I was still shivering and freaking out, but the doctor said, "Here we go," and literally seconds later - I heard the beautiful cry of my child. It was 12:01am on 5/15/15. Adrian told me it was a boy, the baby was held up over the curtain for just a second for me to see, and then he was carted away. Adrian alternately sat with me and checked on our son, who he said was really blue. I was so out of it I didn't really register his color or the fact that I didn't get to hold him right away, as I had requested.

Holding my son for the first time.

It wasn't until later in the recovery/transitional room, when they brought our son in, that I learned that there was umbilical cord wrapped around his neck four times. That's what caused his heart rate to decelerate. That's why he wouldn't drop. That's why he was so blue when they pulled him from me, and that's why there had been a very real danger of brain damage or death. Thankfully, his APGAR scores were normal, his hearing screen was great and he has been the greediest little eater.

We named him Isaiah Justice. Although I'm still in a fog and don't fully understand or remember everything that happened that night, I am so grateful that the Lord didn't exact his justice on our family, but rather, in His mercy, gave us a giant miracle baby. Isaiah was 8lbs and 13oz and 21" long. Although I hadn't wanted medical interventions and I resisted the c-section, I am so thankful for the work of the team of doctors and nurses who cared for me and Isaiah that night. Without their insistence on a c-section, this could be a very different birth story. We're so grateful it turned out the way it did.

One week old. Holding his head this way because it's how the cord had him wrapped in the womb.

Cruising Up On a Year

"It hardly seems possible, but the big day is drawing near."

As I sat down to FINALLY write Selah's 11-month update, the Baby Center Bulletin for this week came in with this as the subject.

"Hardly seems possible" is right! I am in shock that my sweet, itsy bits baby is only a few weeks away from turning 1 year old. She hit the 11-month mark last weekend, and we celebrated with lots of outings :)

My sweet friend Erin was in town so we were out and about all weekend! Selah got to see white-water rafting for the first time as we watched people in Idaho Springs. She went to the Cherry Creek farmer's market for the first time and she went to school (for an hour while I volunteered) for the first time!

She is still growing like a little weed, and it's a fairly apt comparison. She is tall and thin and reedy and bendy and resilient. She also keeps popping up where she doesn't belong...in the bathroom, behind furniture, through doors she has learned how to open :) She is so determined. 

Along with the determination has come discipline, as she decides to do things that aren't good for her or that are in direct defiance of what we tell her. With the discipline this month have come fits. She pitches them at the drop of a hat lately, and I frequently find myself thinking she would make great entries into the "My child cried because...." site.

When I won't let her stick my phone in her mouth - fit. When she watches her dad or I walk away - fit. When she wants to be independent and I won't put her on the ground - fit. When I take her bottle away or when I try to keep giving her her bottle - fit. She has found her voice and cries and bucks when she's unhappy, but she also chatters and screeches and calls out to to people (and Ben) when she's happy. She is vocal. 

Selah has learned how to dance this month and when music comes on, she starts bopping around. She also understands the word "clap" now and tries to say it. When she says "clap" (which, incidentally also sounds like her "quack") she'll start clapping her hands and bopping. Likewise, if she sees a bird or duck she will make the "clap/quack" noise. We took her to the Dragon Boat festival this weekend and she saw lots of ducks, so there was a lot of clapping, quacking and squawking going on. 

Speaking of boats and water, I think we have a beach baby on our hands! She loves to be in the pool and swim, something we discovered while she and I visited TN. After a few mouthfuls of water, she likes to stick her head in the water and try and drink :/ Ummmm.....We have a baby pool in our yard that she likes to crawl around and sprawl in. Still no independent walking, but lots of speed crawling (in and out of the pool), cruising and hand-held walking. 

In addition to pool water, she's becoming a champ at drinking out of her sippy cup and regular straws. This has been helpful as one whole meal is replaced by solids now, so she's eating solids and drinking from a cup like a big kid *tear*. Some of her favorites lately are (still) sweet potatoes and avocado with lime juice, but she also really likes bananas, strawberries and black beans (mashed with avocado). She eats her Puffs dipped in hummus sometimes, loves mashed potatoes, and desperately wants to try everything on our plates. When we don't give her cart blanche to steal our food she pitches a fit. Obviously. She is an adventurous eater, though, and hasn't shown any signs of allergies, except some painful pooping. She definitely has a poop face. It's hilarious :)

So, that's about it this month for our sweet baby girl! Hard to believe in mere weeks I'll be posting her 1 year update. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Time to kick party-planning mode into high gear!!

We adore this little lady.

Selah's Ten-Month Update

If I felt like time was flying before, Selah's ninth month of life moved at supersonic speed, bringing us to 10 months!

She's as funny as ever, with personality galore still and an attitude starting to come out. This month, she started truly pitching fits when we take something away that she wants or won't let her do something. Thankfully, she saves most of the attitude for Adrian and I, so the adoring public still thinks she's an angel ;) Truly though, she still is an incredibly sweet baby - just developing more of a determined attitude lately!

We went to Wyoming for Memorial Day, where she had a blast chasing the cats and playing with straws. Around that time, she developed a love for riding on her daddy's shoulders and a hatred for riding in the car. When she's had enough of being in the car/carseat, she starts crying. A lot. Smart girl though, as she can tell when we're slowing down and speeding up and what that means for her! Speeding up elicits wailing, while slowing down gets giggles and squeals in anticipation of coming out of her carseat.

Selah is SUCH a ham. Frankly, I'm worried that she is developing a "performer" attitude where she will need to be the center of attention. Not a cute trait to have as she grows up. We're working on her being just friendly for friendliness' sake, but also learning to be amused and happy by watching and learning rather than performing. She certainly is an attention-grabber though. Everywhere we go in public, she crinkles up her nose and smiles and waves and giggles - sometimes at nothing more than her own reflection :) That hasn't changed. She looooves to see herself!

Along with her personality, her little brain and problem-solving skills are definitely developing. You can almost see the wheels turning when we change up her toys or when she is trying to figure something out. For example, she knows she's not supposed to push the blue buttons on the DVR. After being reprimanded for that numerous times, she started crawling on top of the DVR and sitting there without touching the buttons. When I put a basket in front of the DVR to block her access, she figured out how to crawl behind it and started trying to pull wires out the back :/ Oy vey. I should have started having babies earlier in life ;)

Selah's started to transition herself to 2 naps a day, although depending on our schedule, we still try and give her 3. Speaking of three, her third tooth popped through a couple weeks ago! She's now a triceratooth (?) with two on the bottom and one on the top. This one didn't seem to cause as many sleep disruptions as the previous two, for which I'm thankful. Although, I think my use of the essential oils is also helping me sleep through :)

This week, Selah will experience Southern living and humidity for the first time!! She and I are flying to TN to spend a week with my parents and introduce her around. We're really excited, although I think we may die from the heat and humidity. My Colorado native does not do heat! Hopefully she'll do just fine with planes and travel though. I'm nervous, but also thinking that as long as there are people to wave at, she'll do just fine. Any tips for me as we fly, though?

I think that's about it for now! Without further ado - here's her 10 month photo!

Growing out of this basket...

Nine Months Has Come and Gone

Mobility.

That word, more than almost any other, describes Selah more aptly than I would have thought possible of a 9-month old! Mobility and personality. If I thought she had personality before, she has upped the ante these last several weeks.

Seh is a charmer, that's for sure. Give her a room full of people and she will work the crowd for all she's worth. She smiles a ton (an adorable, little scrunchynosed smile that says, "See how fun I am?"), waves at everyone and everything  with both arms until her whole body wiggles, bounces and squeals if you sing to her and claps her hands to show how pleased she is with life. She's crawling and cruising and tonight - even standing unsupported.

After moooooonths of her only knowing how to shake her head "no," although she didn't grasp the meaning, she has finally mastered the "yes" nod. And she will bobble her adorable little head around from no to yes and back again until you join in the head shaking.

Speaking of shaking, I think she'll be a mover and a shaker and a real go-getter. The little lady can move incredibly fast. Her favorite things lately to speed-crawl for are Ben (getting closer to catching him), clumps of Ben's hair when he's not around, pens and markers and various specks of things she finds on the floor. Whether she's crawling to something really quickly or grabbing something and crawling away with it, she has definitely figured out how to get from point A to point B really fast.

I don't think we have much longer until her speed crawl turns into a speed walk. She has been cruising from the coffee table to the couch, or legs to a toy, for a few weeks now. She pulls herself up on anything that will stay still long enough. One of her favorite bedtime games (when she's supposed to be winding down in her crib) is to stand up, fall down, stand up, fall down. If you see her doing it, she gives a big crinkly-nose grin.

Selah is eating a lot more solids now, including Mum-Mums and some kind of little Gerber snacks. She is holding strong at 2 teeth, but fussiness this last week makes me think #3 isn't far behind. She gets super excited when she sees me grab her spoon for some solids or a bowl for finger foods or snacks. I'm still trying to figure out how to begin easing her into more solids and more normal mealtimes. She does so well with 5 meals a day (nursing) and solid snacks that I'm not motivated or super sure how to get her nursing less and eating more like a kid. Is it too early? With an anniversary vacation later in the year, I want to be sure she'll be OK eating normally and taking fewer bottles. Any tips?

She is seriously the most exhausting and most fun little person to be around, all at the same time. She is such a joy, and so sweet and obedient. God has graciously blessed us. We pray every night that He will pursue her and that she will come to genuinely know and love Him at an early age! Until that day when she meets the heavenly Father, it's (a challenge but) a complete joy to parent her!

Eight Months of Selah Grace

My MIL recently reminded me that since I showed her where the blog is, I haven't done an 8-month update on sweet lil Selah. So, once again, better late than never! At least we're still in the same month....barely, but it counts.

Let's see. Not nearly as much to report this month as last. Seh is crawling like a boss. She doesn't usually move up on all fours, preferring instead to army crawl, but the little one is pretty fast. And determined. She mostly likes to go from the safe place where I put her to someplace far away, preferably full of objects she can put in her mouth and wires to yank on.

Baby-proofing soon is clearly a must.

Photoshoot at City Park

We dropped her crib down last night to the lowest setting because just recently, she has begun pulling herself up to standing when she's supposed to be laying down. Obviously, that made me super nervous, and I had visions of her pitching headfirst out of the crib onto the hardwoods. Thankfully, A brought out the tools last night and took care of that so we can stop lining the floor with body pillows.

 Speaking of standing up, Selah is not only sitting up on her own now (moving from back to belly to bottom), but she is also pulling herself to a standing position frequently. She finds an edge of a table, or a basket or a leg to push off of and away she goes. Pretty soon she'll be figuring out how to do that without any assistance some day soon :(

Selah had her first major fever last week - right before Easter! She was cranky and warm Thursday evening while I had some girls over and I attributed it to her 2nd tooth coming in. Friday, although the tooth was already in, her fever was 101+. We called the pediatrician, who had us come in for a check-up (thank you Lord for health insurance). Although she didn't find anything wrong, the fever last all day Friday and all day Saturday and finally broke Sunday morning. She slept great while fevery, only waking to eat a couple time Saturday, but by the time she started feeling better she was SOOO sleep-full that she didn't want to sleep much Saturday night. Super.....We're finally back on her normal schedule mostly, and I'm so thankful! 12 hours a night with occasional night cries - we're golden. At least until tooth #3 comes in.

Smiley Selah

So, in the last month or so, Selah has gone to the library for the first time, gone on lots of walks, had her 2nd tooth come in, begun wearing bows, mostly mastered crawling, gotten a fever, celebrated her first Easter, begun sitting up on her own, started pulling herself to standing and eaten rice cereal, squash, mashed potatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes. Next on the docket is zucchini! We are all so excited :) She makes noises that sound like "mama," but not with any regularity or any intentionality. I have a feeling though once she really gets to talking there won't be any stopping her!

Anyways, without further ado, here is her 8-month photo!  

Selah's 7-Month Update

7-month shot

Ok, so March is over and I only posted my personal photo challenge once. I also never posted the exciting update I had planned on and mentioned in my last post. Obviously, by the truckloads of angry fan mail I received, all my adoring readers are upset about my lack of posting too....Anyways ;) Fail.

Win? Selah turned 7 months and celebrated a ton of milestones! Here goes the past month (and a half...) of her life quickly!

She turned 7 months on the 13th, and between her last update and now, she has had a tooth break through, started to crawl, transitioned out of her swaddle, seen a herd of elk, gone to Summit Kids for the first time, gone to her first movie, started solids, had her baby dedication and slept 12 solid hours straight through the night. Whew. What a month!

It has been a crazy whirlwind here. Spoiler alert: A got the job he has been working toward since October! So, with the news of his impending start date and secure employment, we tried to do some things we've been putting off as a family. This culminated in lots of chaos around the VanderHouse as we tried to fit various memories in before a new chapter began for our family.

Contemplating elk...or her tooth...or food.

We took the little nubber up to Estes Park one day and we had fun! She loved seeing the herd of elk and watching the river. This came on the heels of her first tooth making its appearance, so I think her excitement was tempered by the woes of babyhood.

The last week and a half or so has had its share of changes. She started rice cereal, did it like a champ after the first try (at first she wasn't impressed), but now she's eating some squash and seems to love it. Next up are carrots and sweet potatoes, in that order. It will be a miracle if this child likes and craves vegetables, so I'm trying to hold off on the sweet stuff I'm sure she'll enjoy!

Not impressed with her first go-round with solids (rice cereal). She's a fan now.

Selah began crawling about a week ago. She has only done a legit crawl a few times, but she can definitely do it. Mostly she goes in circles. The first time her motivation was Ben's stuffed meerkat toy, which she happily put in her mouth as she scooted around :/ I'm sure it's only the beginning of the toy sharing!

Showing off her snaggle tooth!

Just within the last few days we FINALLY transitioned her out of her swaddle with the use of a Zipadee-Zip. I had read about them on Baby Center and figured we needed to do SOMETHING or she'd be swaddled till she was 12. So, we started with naps, not swaddling her, and then transitioned to bedtime this past weekend. With the lack of a swaddle, I figured it was time she learn to self-soothe and so began letting her learn. The first night was rough, listening to her cry for 10 minutes, but by the second night, she was putting herself back to bed within about 10 minutes. We made a few more tweaks to it and the other night she slept a solid 12 hours!!


So, that's about it from the VanderHouse for now! Here are a few more 7 month pictures!

Parent Commissioning at church with our friends Angie and Cedar and Melissa and Zoie.

Getting commissioned to send our littles as arrows into the world for God's glory.

At her first movie! I think she enjoyed it.

The Lego Movie at the Alamo for Baby Day :)

When we put her in this bouncer, she transforms into the happiest little nutcase. We sure are fond of her.

6 Months of Selah

Selah celebrated her 1/2 birthday the other day. I'm pretty sure she didn't even know she was celebrating, but alas, it happened! She is now a 6-month old and is closer to a 1-year old than a brand-new baby. C-R-A-Z-Y.

Selah at 6-months

 It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I posted her 5-month update, so there's not a ton new to tell. At her check-up, she weighed in at 17 lbs, 5 oz., (73%) and 27.25 in long (95%). Still a long, tall Sally! She is fitting more comfortably in 9-month clothes than in 6-month clothes, due to her long torso and long legs. She's using those long legs more and more. She LOVES to stand holding onto our legs or hands for support and she will happily bounce for as long as we let her (or as long as her stomach holds out). She does this cute little bounce when I'm carrying her over my shoulder where she uses her arms to pull up and kicks against me to go up and down and up and down and up and down. She also does the bounce when she's laying across us on her stomach. Girl likes to move, and I would not be surprised by crawling at any point.

Speaking of cute things, there are a couple of cute new developments in her repertoire. She has begun sounding out more things, usually "buh" and "mah" sounds. We're trying to teach her to say "Benny" and "Mama" when she's making those noises, but she usually just laughs at us :) Often times it results in her just blowing bubbles and spitting a lot.

Even within the last few days, she has developed a new facial expression that I LOVE. She crinkles up her nose and smiles really big with her mouth wide open. It's maybe a pantomime of our open-mouthed, eyebrows-up face we both do all the time, but Seh has picked up on it and it's so adorable. Still no teeth visible, so for now it's a lovely toothless grin.

This month has brought lots of visits to the zoo, where Selah loves to watch the tigers play, the monkeys hop around and the komodo dragon stick its tongue out. It's actually been as interesting to watch the animals' reactions to her as her reactions to the animals.

She still nurses like a champ and eats 5 times a day, with her nightly bottle up to 9 ounces and occasionally a little extra nursing on top of that. It seems to have helped her settled back into a 11-12 hour sleep pattern!! She goes to sleep by 10:30 pm and sometimes wakes up to play by herself in her crib between 8:30-9 am, but then goes back to sleep until 10:30 when she eats. She is still sleeping swaddled at night, but we're transitioning her out of it by leaving one arm out during naptimes. We've found she frequently rolls over and grabs the bars of the crib when one arm is out though, so his mom bought a breathable liner that I just installed. She got so tuckered out waiting for me to finish that she just put her own pacifier in and went to sleep, no swaddle at all. That's a win!
We need to start her on solids, so we have some rice cereal to try out, but I'm not going to lie - I really am not gung-ho on having her do solids anytime soon. It's so much easier to just nurse her or take a bottle, rather than have to prepare other foods for her. The doctor said she can eat a little of what we eat, mashed up of course, but something about putting bagels and pizza near her doesn't sound wise or healthy :/ I know she gets my diet anyways, but it sure seems different when it's straight up crap without my body filtering it!

Selah is such a delight and joy to us. Adrian's mom is in town and gave us a date night the other night and even though we thoroughly enjoyed and needed the time away as a couple, we both admitted we missed her after a couple hours. Not sure how WE'LL handle a long anniversary trip away this fall! Kidding. Kind of. Beaches and no schedule could make it worth the separation ;) We're so looking forward to all the little milestones yet to come, but we're truly loving this stage she's in right now. She is so fun and such a blessing to us all (except Ben. He's still scared of her).

Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to post about some other stuff going on in our life soon, other than just the joy of Selah!

Selah's 5-month update

Here is a horrifying scientific fact: 5 months is almost 6 months, which is half a year. This is especially horrifying to me today because as I write this, Selah is not only 5 months old, she is 5 months and 10 days old (thanks procrastination), meaning she is closer to half a year old than ever before. GULP. I am not ready for her to grow up!!

Christmas Eve

This last month with her has been truly interesting. In it, she experienced Christmas, New Year's Eve, a visit from my parents, a visit with Adrian's parents in Wyoming and much more. She rolls over like a champ most of the time now, can almost sit up on her own, and has developed SO much personality.

 We spent a couple of weeks in Wyoming, and while we were there, I really felt like she turned into a child with oodles of personality! It was more than a little scary and I confess - I kind of feel like I don't know her as well anymore. Maybe it was just that she suddenly developed these funny habits that I didn't expect, but she's kind of a different child these days.

For example, she LOVES to be upside down. I mean seriously loves it. It started with her pushing herself backwards off the Boppy with her strong little legs, until her head is hanging over the edge of the pillow and she can see from a new perspective. She also thoroughly loves it when Adrian grabs her by the ankles and holds her up in the air. She arches her back so she can see him and the ground and smiles and coos.

I also have a feeling Seh is going to be mobile much quicker than I'll be ready for. She already scoots herself around in circles with her legs when she wants to. One night during her last bottle, she pushed herself off the Boppy (headfirst) and ended up about 4 feet away on the bed, just scooting on her back. She stands up for several minutes at a time, as long as we hold onto her hands.

Her sleep is so-so. She doesn't wake up to eat, but she's not sleeping solidly through the night either, like she used to. She'll wake up and have her arms stuck halfway out of her swaddle or wake when she wants her pacifier back in. So, we're currently trying to get her transitioned out of the SwaddleMes that she sleeps in. It's been rough going, but she is slowly getting the hang of it. I'm going to try a Snooze Sack when it gets out of the landry. A few nights ago we also moved her bedtime up an hour. This means last bottle at 9:15, and bed around 10. Glory be - she still sleeps till 10 or 10:30! Maybe that means if want her day to start at 9:30, she should go to bed even earlier?

It's been a rough month with her sleeping less well and being more fussy. I know I keep saying it, but I seriously think she's teething. She loooooves her Sophie Giraffe that Grammy and Papa Don got her for Christmas, and freaks out if she drops it. She has also had a couple of "Mama only" meltdowns - once when Adrian wanted to play with her and then Monday night when we had a bunch of people over for his birthday. That was fun :/

Speaking of fun, her vocal range is hilarious. She has ramped up with even more screeches and squawks in (nicknaming her Pterodactyl and Screech), has continued gurgling and cooing, and has added in blowing bubbles and making tooting noises with her mouth. It started really cutely with her cooing and smacking her lips together, then she began spitting every time she did it, and now she just spits a lot and tries desperately to blow bubbles. This, naturally, leads to lots and lots of soaked clothing. She is still in some 3-month stuff if it's long enough, but mostly in 3-6 month and regular old 6-month stuff. Length is the key!

Though she's more mobile, more fussy, more tiresome and more stubborn - she is still a fantastic baby. She rocks at her daytime schedule, is SO smiley the majority of the time and is truly a joy to have around. We love, love, love, love her, so much.

5 months old!!

The Passing of Time

Over the last month, I have had several times where I thought I should blog, usually about the passing of time and the new experiences and goals it brings with it.

For example, Selah turned 4-months old last month. Right around the time she hit that milestone, she began rolling over (not always, but she definitely can) and stopped sleeping solidly through the night. I freaked about a 4-month sleep regression and Adrian told me to calm the heck down. Long story short, we dropped a nap and added a feeding and she's back to generally sleeping through the night, with wake-ups to be reswaddled and have her pacifier put back in. I've had every intention since my surgery of getting her on a slightly modified schedule from where she's at, but with each night that she doesn't go back to 11 hours solidly, I get wary of messing with anything. We do not do well without sleep.Anyways, her 4-month appointment brought good news of her health! She's doing great, gaining weight well, has super head control and looks really good. She was 14 lbs, 11 ounces and 25.75 inches long, aka, still long and skinny, but fully within the healthy range.

Four months old!

Also, I turned 29 recently (ah, yes, I blogged that morning :) ). Following in the footsteps of my friends Erin and Lindsay, I thought about doing a "30 by 30" kind of post, with 30 goals I have before I hit the big 3-0 next December. However, as Adrian and I drove around and I bounced my goals off of him, I couldn't figure out 30 to write about.

There's my desire to get my nose pierced. I wanted to do it just for quitting my job and no longer being in the corporate world, but A said I should have a better reason. So my motivation became to lose 15 pounds and then get my nose pierced. So there's 2 goals. I figure I can work on losing 15 pounds (which, as of last weekend, I was down 4, probably from puking a lot Saturday) by trying to run a 5k. So, 3 goals. I want to go on a banging anniversary trip with Adrian in October, but that is complicated by the fact that I would also like to be pregnant again by my next birthday. Sooo, another baby or an all-inclusive vacation? Goals #4 and #5, which may or may not be mutually exclusive.

In no particular order, here are the goals I have thus far:
1. Get my nose pierced.
2. Lose 15 pounds.
3. Run a 5k.
4. Have a fantastic 5-year anniversary trip.
5. Get pregnant.
6. Go skiing at least 2x this season.
7. Get our family healthier.
8. Go to a concert at Red Rocks.
9. Get paid to take some pictures.
10. Decorate our bedroom and make it cozy.
11. Be a confident and frequent baby-wearer.
12. Family beach trip.
13. Buy a new computer.
14. Read my Bible more diligently.
15. Go to a Rockies game as a family.
16. Cook 5 nights a week most weeks.
17. Get a kitten or puppy :)
18. Develop a weekly housecleaning schedule.
19. Do some crafts I've been delaying (i.e., wall art for our bedroom).
20. Find a couple of local beers I actually like.
21. Go paddle boarding this summer.
22. Eat at some of the local, legit Hispanic restaurants in our neighborhood.
23. Work up to walking to the zoo regularly to use my zoo pass.
24. Get a library card and use it.
25. Get my hair cut more than once this year.
26. Try a new restaurant during Restaurant Week.
27. Have a veggie garden again this summer, and actually harvest and eat the produce.
28. Go for a hike.
29. Eat at Civic Center Eats this summer.
30. Go to Jazz in the Park once.

So, there ya have it. Selah's 4-month update and my 30 by 30 goals. Since almost a month has passed, I feel like I should post my progress, but sadly, I'm not exactly notably progressing. 4 pounds down and once to the zoo so far...So, here's to a year of getting stuff done in 2014!

Three Months and Counting

Our baby girl is three month old today. I feel like it was literally two days go that I was marveling at the fact that she was already one month, two months, and now another month bites the dust? It's crazy. Can't say I like it.

She started sleeping through the night (by my standards, which means 9 hours) the week I went back to work, so when she was 7 weeks old. Adrian had gotten really sick, so I had to take a day off on my 4th day back, which meant that I was in charge of Selah from Friday to Sunday the whole time. Miracle of miracles, it seems I somehow stumbled on a formula that seems to work. She takes her last bottle between 10:30-10:40, and then she was asleep by 11:56 and didn't wake up until 8:52 the next morning. I was ecstatic.

Her sleep pattern has continued and the last few nights has been lengthening! She has nursed a little at 9:30, taken a smaller bottle at 10:30, asleep by 11:30 and doesn't wake up till 10 or 10:30. To say we are grateful for how awesome she is doing with sleeping is an understatement. She's amazing, especially for sleeping 11 hours at 3 months old! Now, if I could just be in bed right after her, we'd be on to something.

In addition to the new sleep pattern, she has also developed a new vocal range. Girlfriend can squeal. The last month she began cooing and making all kinds of sweet gurgling sounds when she's happy, which is pretty darn frequently. The last few days though, she has begun to sound like a pterodactyl every time she is awake. Seriously, squawking the likes of which I've never heard! She lays on her back and squawks and squeals and just learns all about the sounds she can make. It's obvious she's pretty proud of herself because she'll do it when she's all alone and then I catch her smiling really big about it.

Selah is also developing a lot more body control, and its hard to remember how floppy and smooshy she was as a newborn. She's reaching for toys on her mobile, she grasps fingers for a long time and she can sit up with just some light support to keep her from falling over. Pretty soon she'll be rolling over (doesn't hate her tummy time, but doesn't prefer it) and sitting herself up. Although I look forward to when she can sit up on her own, I know it will be more one milestone of growth and I won't be ready for her to be growing up so quickly! Additionally, she has discovered that her hands are great fun. She waves her fists in the air, but more often, tries to shove them whole into her mouth. It's amazing and a little scary how close she is to accomplishing that! She's drooling a lot and combined with the preoccupation of her hands in her mouth, I'm wondering if she'll be teething early.

Later this month she'll get to experience Harry Potter for the first time when we do our annual Thanksgiving marathon, though hopefully she'll be in bed for most of it. She already loves watching sports, especially football and basketball, on TV with us, so we think she's gearing up to beat us both in Fantasy Football at some point.

I am so, so, so, so excited for the holidays with her. I can't wait to see her reaction to a Christmas tree, all the lights and the fun of ripping wrapping paper (Ben will show her how it's done)! So, without further ado, here is her 3-month photo!

VanderBean's Debut

Tomorrow, my sweet baby turns 6 weeks old. Time has alternately crawled and flown by, and I am beginning to fully understand the phrase, "The days are long but the years are short." I don't know about years, but the last 6 weeks have flown by.

Next week, I'll start back to work - a fact that I am alternately terrified by and (somewhat) looking forward to. I'm looking forward to having more than an hour and a half block to not focus on all things baby. I am terrified for obvious reasons - what mother is ever ready to leave her newborn all day long, even if she knows the baby is in the FULLY capable hands of Jesus and Adrian?

Before I look ahead too much - let me look back and share the store of VanderBean's birth, for those who want to know. If you don't want to know - skip down. There are pictures at the end :)

Six weeks ago today, I woke up at 5:45 in the morning with contractions. Due to slightly elevated blood pressure and some protein in my urine at my regular Friday appointment, we were scheduled to go back to the doctor's office that morning for a follow-up. She believed I had preeclampsia and had wanted to induce on Friday. I said, "No thanks - we'll take it easy and wait and see." I wasn't even due for another week. So, when I woke up with regular contractions on Monday morning, I was confident we had made the right decision to wait and not get induced. After telling the nurse I was having regular contractions (about 6 minutes apart by the time we got to the doctor), they still hooked me up to monitors for an hour and a half to keep track of the baby's heartbeat, my blood pressure and fetal movements.

When the doctor finally (FINALLY) examined me, she found I was 5 centimeters dilated and to the hospital I was ordered to go! Do not go home, do not pass go...that kind of thing. Seriously? I could have told you it was time for the hospital. Anyways. We went home to gather our things (against doc's orders), but I was a little panicked and refused to go get food - for myself or Adrian. I was starving. He was starving...it was a bit of a hangry labor.

After checking into the hospital, our dear friend Melissa brought A a sub and then later, our friends Andy and Angela brought us some Chick-Fil-A. Mine went into the fridge for after the labor and Adrian happily ate his :/ Advice #1 to future mothers - EAT BEFORE YOU GO. I know they say not to, but I fully believe I would have felt MUCH better if I just had some food in my belly. As it was, we had to keep my mind off my hunger by watching episodes of the Office and starting Bananagrams.

Advice #2 to future mothers - If you're getting an epidural, make sure to get it as soon as you think you want it. After being in labor in the hospital for about 7-8 hours, I was ready. However, they wanted to check my cervix one more time before (I was at 8 cm dilated), and while doing that, they broke my water. After that, the contractions got AWFUL. It was seriously painful and kudos to women who go all natural. No way I could do that. For about an hour and a half, I labored really painfully between when my water was broken and when the epidural took effect. And then it was time to push. Our nurse asked in the middle of the pushing if I was ready to do it all again (pregnancy, labor) and honestly, apart from that hour and a half, I did not mind labor and delivery at all. Seriously. Some women have horror stories and I am so thankful mine wasn't one of those. What a blessing.

From 9:45 to midnight that Monday night, I pushed, and Adrian was there coaching me the whole time. Seriously, the best birth coach I could have asked for!! As we neared midnight, I was hoping the baby would make his/her appearance. Not sure why I wanted that, but I did. Anyways, a few minutes after 12:00, a contraction hit, I pushed, and most of the baby came on out. The doctor was in the hall at that point, so the nurse went running out to grab her, leaving just Adrian and I there to try and keep that baby from hitting the floor! Not really, but close. I could actually still feel the legs inside me kicking (what a weird sensation), so he wasn't about to actually deliver the baby, but it was a little close! After the doctor delivered the baby, she let Adrian announce the gender.

When he said, "We have a little girl," I asked, "Seriously?!" I thought he was joking; I had been so sure it was a boy!! I was wrong :)

We had two girl names picked out, but when we saw the size of her hands and feet, and learned she was in the 98th percentile for height, we got a little worried about our name options. Did we want to go with Elliot (Elle or Ellie) - a name that, though it holds great meaning, is a boy's name? Or did we want to go with Remy, which rhymes with Remy the Hemi? No thanks. We needed something feminine, in case she follows in her dad's footsteps and is not small and dainty? (PS - there are apparently baby size predictors, based off mom and dad's height. According to that - she'll be 5'11''.)

After a day to think about it and rest up, we eventually settled on the name Selah Grace for our new daughter. It's a word in the Psalms that is believed to mean "Pause and reflect," so her name literally means to pause and reflect on grace, as God has gifted us with SO MUCH. So, with that said, here are a few photos to pause and reflect on! Hate to cut this short, but she's a wee bit fussy and hungry sitting beside me at Starbucks as I type this :) So enjoy and welcome to the world, Selah!! We are SO GLAD you're here and that you're ours.

It's the Final Countdown

More time has elapsed since my last post than will likely elapse until our baby is born.

What?! That's crazy. Seriously. Still having trouble wrapping my mind around all the changes that are coming in a few short weeks. Although we are now within a month of the due date, I'm starting to think we could meet this little VanderBean sooner than expected. At my appointment on Tuesday, I was told I'm measuring about a week and a half ahead of schedule, so we could either have a giant baby (wouldn't surprise me) or our weekends of sleeping till 11 could be seriously numbered.

It's the final countdown - no doubt about that. So much has happened in the last few weeks, and yet, so much more to come...

- Adrian and I celebrated a "babymoon" with a weekend in Beaver Creek, CO at the end of June. Although we had a good time, bad customer service, combined with a fire in our room and a 6 am evacuation for a different fire, made the trip slightly less than 100% relaxing.

- July 4th was spent with a cookout at City Park with friends, an adorable little po-dunk parade a few blocks from the house, The Lone Ranger at the theater, surf and turf dinner on our front porch amid 5 fireworks shows we could see and sparklers in the street with our dear friends the Turneys. Even though it looked vastly different (and more pregnant) than last year's celebrations - both have been great! No tubing or biking to watch fireworks in 2013, but we still had a wonderful time. Also - I had a prenatal massage the day before and it was glorious. SOOOOO nice and needed!

- Friends from church threw us an amazing baby shower. We were SO blessed to have around 30 people come celebrate VanderBean and gift us with some serious swag!! It was so nice to have A's mom and aunt in town that weekend to help sort through and organize all the gifts too. The following week, the girls at work threw a shower for me and another recent mama, and it was also a sweet time with those ladies! Potluck lunch and baby gifts - how fun!

- We had a friend from church living with us for a month or so, as she prepared for her wedding to another friend from church. We celebrated with them this past Saturday as they married amid the sounds of a parade and block party across the street :)

- Adrian went to his parents' house for a week to enjoy some R&R from work and help his parents with projects around the house. He returned with a TRUCKLOAD of goodies - yard equipment, tools, a cute little storage bench...I'm excited to see how it helps the house come together!

- Ben is finally settling in. After months of craziness, when he and A returned from WY, he was back to his sweet self. We seem to have a routine now that suits him (basically, bribes of lots of treats!), but thankfully, he's a pleasure to have around again! We think he may have been picking up on our feelings of being unsettled, but we're all doing good now :)

- A couple of weekends ago we were all about Craigslist! We had multiple little dates to cute surrounding towns to pick up a glider and some lawn furniture. We combined those excursions with paddle-boating, pizza, and fro-yo. And then enjoying lots of sitting in our new, comfy pieces.

After a months of fun-days, what is there left to look forward to before the baby comes?

- Birthing class this weekend. Hopefully this helps me understand when I should call the doctor and go to the hospital! Still a little fuzzy on those details...
- Going to Golden to sit in the creek and enjoy some water and pizza at Woody's!
- Getting the nursery painted soon, hopefully!! We need to put it all together still.
- Ordering the last few things for the baby. Although we've been given so much and I've been able to bargain hunt for the rest of the baby stuff, there are still a few key pieces missing. So, on the agenda for the next week or so is getting the car-seat and crib mattress! You know - minor things. Who needs a car seat? ;)
- Enjoying the last few weeks of time with just Adrian and I. We've been trying to sleep a lot, watch a lot of movies, enjoy dinners out and just have fun together. Sadly, so many people act like this baby coming will change everything for the negative. "You'll never go to a movie again." "Eat dinner out now, because you won't be able to once the baby is here." To some extent, I understand the truth in their statements. A baby changes everything. I get that. Just because something changes though doesn't mean it ends. Life won't be over, date nights won't be over, fun won't be over just because a baby comes. We'll have to be strategic and plan ahead more, but we're both determined to look at the changes this baby will bring as a joyous blessing and not an inconvenience to our life.

Am I way off or being totally naive? If I am being naive, maybe don't tell me :) Let me enjoy the last few weeks of ignorance in bliss!

Dear Baby...

Dear Baby,

You probably won't know this, but I used to be a writer. Shocking, right? Ever since you began to grow in my belly, all my creative juices seem to have seeped out into the world around me. I look at all the beautiful things in the world and I want to capture them - with words, with pictures - but there isn't enough time in the day. Then I begin to think about the beautiful miracle that YOU are and I realize this is one story in my life that needs to be captured. I'm sorry it's taken me 5+ months to begin truly writing your story, but just know that your story was already being written by the Author of Life long before we knew about you.

Your daddy and I will celebrate four years of being married soon after you enter this world. It's been an amazing period in our life, and God has taught us so much and brought us so far. Someday we'll tell you about the health issues that preceeded you and how God worked on my heart from before we were married to prepare me to become a mom. He is PERFECT in his timing, let me reiterate that. All I knew before your Dad was that kids should be put off until I was much older and until after Daddy and I had had YEARS of time to ourselves, traveling and focusing on us. Can I be honest? I was terrified you'd appear sooner than I was (selfishly) ready. After years of health issues, though, I began to wonder if you'd ever arrive, and in God's infinite wisdom, he gave you to us.

When I found out I was pregnant with you, it was around 5:30 in the morning on a Saturday - the day before my birthday. I had been up about 6 times that night, anxiously wondering if I was pregnant and promising myself I would take a test when I woke up. However, since I kept waking up, I took the test ridiculously early in the morning and lo and behold - there was proof. To be honest - I was shocked. Some days I still am! I went into our bedroom and woke your dad up and said I needed to tell him something. Groggily, he asked if everything was OK and I said, "I'm pregant." Of course, since I frequently talk in my sleep (a fact I'm sure you'll be aware of someday!), your dad asked me if I was "crazy talking." I assured him I was not and that there would be a baby. He got up and went to the bathroom and came back and asked me again what I had said. When I once again told him I was pregnant, we were going to be parents, he finally realized I wasn't talking in my sleep - I was perfectly lucid - and he was going to be a dad.

We are so excited to meet you and find out whether you're going to be a little man or a little lady. (I definitely "feel" like you're all boy, but we shall see on your birthday!) I'm excited to have a name for you after we meet you, and I'm excited to begin learning all about you! There are definitely still times I struggle with picturing what life is going to look like in less than 4 months. Without knowing a gender, or a name, or a face or a personality, I wonder so much. Who are you? I know you like to dance in my belly in anticipation of me eating! You have also begun kicking my bladder - a fact I am less than thrilled about. You hopefully have my hair genes, which would explain the heartburn. What a blessing you are though - it's been a physically easy pregnancy with very little sickness (say no to Beyonce when you're older though!), and I'm so grateful you're taking it easy on me! Let's keep that trend going after you're born, mmmk?

I'm thankful you've started kicking to where Dad can feel you too, and I can't wait till you're old enough to play with your "big brother", Ben. He has no idea what's in store! If you can, get used to his barking now - you'll hear it a lot :/

I pray for you, VanderBean. I pray that you'll come to know God early in your life and avoid the heartaches of rejecting the Gospel. I pray that whether you're athletic (please choose soccer or basketball and rock at it!) or whether you're more creative, whether you're outgoing and gregarious or whether you're shy and reserved, that you would see your gifts and talents as blessings from the Lord to be used for His glory. I pray you find a Godly mate and marry early. Most of all I pray you grow up to love Jesus and take big risks for him. Your dad and I are trying to set that pattern in our life, and I hope it translates to you. Grow big (not TOO big yet) and strong, and know that your mama and daddy love you because of how Christ has loved us.

Much love,
Mama

Past, Present and Future

It's amazing when I look back and think about life a year ago. So much is different, and it all seems like a whirlwind, but a year is a long time, right?

This week last year:
-I quit at Ashford and started working for Cushman & Wakefield. It was like coming out of a fog and realizing I could enjoy work again.
-We celebrated 2.5 years of marriage and 3 years since getting engaged.
-I continued questioning our future, starting a family and setting down roots.

This week this year:
-I celebrated being at my job a year, although it wasn't official since I started with a recruiter and not directly with C&W.
-We celebrated 3.5 years of marriage yesterday and 4 years since getting engaged. Crazy how long ago that seems!
-We celebrated 3 weeks of home ownership and being 23 weeks along with our first baby. This morning we laid in bed and Adrian felt the baby clearly kicking for a while. I'm really glad to be able to share the physical effects with him,especially since this week brought lots of discussions about how my body is changing due to pregnancy.

Even though a lot of the uncertainty of last year has faded, (we've decided God has called us to Denver for the long-term, leading us to buy a house and begin our family here), as always, a whole new set of uncertainty has cropped up. What does life look like in 4 months? Will I be a good mom? I know nothing about babies. How will I cope with all the emotions? Will our house ever be settled and feel like home? Will I always struggle with discontentment about something? I KNOW the Lord is faithful and provides. Sometimes, as an emotional person, it's hard for me to feel it though, even in the face of so much evidence. I worry and I fret and wonder about the future, but try to trust God for my home, my security, my mental health and my family.

The VanderBean Chronicles

Maybe you've seen that meme (how the heck is that pronounced?!) where the girl says she doesn't feel 30. She feels 20, but then she hangs out with 20 year olds and realized she's 30. That kind of describes where I'm at right now.

I don't feel like I'm a grown-up, married, home-owning, future parent. I feel like I'm fresh out of college with a world of possibilities awaiting me. Then, I hang out with people that ARE fresh out of college with a world of possibilities and I'm reminded that I'm further from that time period than I realize - and that's OK. In fact, I kind of like it. Possibilities freak me out. When the world is your oyster and up to you to choose, there's a ton of pressure to make certain decisions or be a certain person and that stresses me out. I love the stability the Lord has built into my life, and I love our community here in Denver, our house, and the little one God is growing inside of me. Such big life things still freak me out, but I'm comforted knowing that all of these changes that are happening are doing so under God's loving guidance and not because I'm forcing them. It's kind of a miracle I got to this stage of life and now I'm trying to just enjoy the ride :)

Speaking of miracles, we saw our little VanderBean today - live and in living color! Our 20-week ultrasound (which actually fell at 21 weeks - over halfway there!) was today, and it was absolutely crazy to see AND feel our baby!

All is progressing normally and on schedule, although the tech did say the baby's arms and legs are measuring long for it's age. Shocker. Have you seen my husband?! As the tech was moving around and showing us a good strong spine and tiny little fists, I started to feel a sharp pain on my right side and asked her to see what was happening there. Sure enough, VanderBean was kicking up a storm at that moment and we caught it on the ultrasound :) It was so cool to feel something and to be able to see exactly what was happening that was causing that feeling! Once that happened, Adrian put his hand on my stomach in hopes of feeling baby moving, but the tech said it might be a couple more weeks before that happens.

With the knowledge of baby's impending arrival (still on track for mid-August) comes a sense of urgency to get everything settled in the house before little one arrives or before my body becomes completely foreign to me. Call it nesting, call it obsession with our home, but either way - we realized this weekend there is definitely a limit to how much I can and should do right now. I'm trying to find the balance of being productive, but also resting in the Lord's provision and knowing that he provided the house and he will make it a home - whether or not it's painted the way I want or if the furniture is exactly where I want it to be.

Welcome

There's a song that apparently was originally done by Nina Simone, but in my mind, I hear it done by the Pussycat Dolls. Call me crazy or a product of my culture - either way, the lyrics are the same and they still apply.

"It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life for me...And I'm feelin good."

Many of you who stumble upon this blog probably knew me pre-Denver. Maybe we were college friends, or you knew me in NC and read my blog all about newlywed life. Maybe you're a new local friend, in which case, you probably don't know a ton about me.

Since my husband and I moved to Colorado nearly two years ago (wow!), I have virtually stopped blogging. Blame it on the lack of internet at the house, a busier life, or a desire to be more intentional in relationships, thus leading me to develop real community in person vs. over the internet, but it's been at least a year and a half since I blogged with any continuity. Things changed drastically in my life and I stopped writing. Now, things are about to change drastically again, and I hope to jump back into writing once again.

So, as Nina Simone/Nicole Scherzinger sang: It's a new life for me.

To catch you all up very briefly - we moved from North Carolina to Colorado on a wing and a prayer and a trust that the Lord had called us to this place for a purpose. We quit jobs, broke our lease and headed west for a grand adventure. Since that point, God has revealed himself and his provision for us time, and time, and time again. It's been an amazing journey.

And now - we are about to embark on another journey, or rather several journeys that all dovetail. This month, we will close on our first home in downtown Denver. Approximately 4.5 months after that, we will then become parents for the first time. Big changes on the horizon for the Vanderburgs. The VanderHouse (a real actual HOUSE!) will, hopefully, be a place where people can find refuge and respite in the Lord. Our little family, we pray, will be hospitable and generous with the gifts God has given us.

This new blog, then, is a way to chronicle God's provision of this house, this child, this calling and this life. It might be filled with bitter ranting about not being able to paint the walls the color I want. It might be filled with helpless weeping as I ask questions about what it looks like to care for a child. I hope it will be filled with stories of how God is growing us in love for one another and most of all - love for him.

So, feel free to read and keep up with us here at VanderHouse Happenings.