JON IS COMING HOME TODAY!!!!

Jon's coming home!
Jon's coming home!
Jon's coming home, ya ya ya ya!

That's the song I was singing to Lyric all morning, actually, not really, I was singing

Daddy's coming home!
Daddy's coming home!
Daddy's coming home, ya ya ya ya!

I'm so excited guys!!!

I got my hair done last night (Thanks to Jannette who did my hair at 8pm last night), shaved my legs, put on a cute outfit, dressed Lyric in a cute outfit that says "50% Daddy 50% Mommy = 100% cute!" Hopefully she keeps herself clean!

She did a little better last night as far as the separation anxiety. Except Court said that while I was gone getting my hair done, she had one melt down. But at least she didn't wake up any last night!

I am so hyper. The only bad thing is since I got my hair done last night, I wasn't able to finish cleaning the house. It's picked up, but the laundry isn't folded and it's not clean-clean. I didn't do the floors or the bathrooms or anything. But I think Jenae is coming over on Tuesday to do all of that anyways, I just wanted it nice and shiny for Jon. I also wanted to organize is office while he was gone. Ya, that SO didn't happen! :)

Only 6 hours and 42 minutes till I see his LOVELY face! I can't wait!
I think last night when I was getting my hair done, all I did was talk about Jonathan. I freakin' miss that boy! And since Lyric has officially started walking on her own, I can't wait for him to see it. Last night, she took 10 steps, stopped, turned around and walked back to the table. Then Court said she took about 10 steps last night at her house too. She just takes off on her own now and walks till she loses her balance and falls. She can also say bye-bye now, except is sounds like dye-dye. But still! SUPER cute!

Anyways, I can't wait to see him!!!! ahhhh!!!!!

Vandeput Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Geneology

Guilty Working Mom

Something strange is happening with my daughter.

She is acting sick and even looks kind of sick. You know, in the eyes. Where she looks kind of heavy-eyed. She has a runny nose, but nothing really nasty or severe. I’ve looked all in her mouth to make sure she’s not teething. No redness or swelling.
I really don’t know what is going on with her.

It started Monday. Christina said that afternoon, she couldn’t leave the room without Lyric freaking out. She is so not like that, so it was strange. Monday night she was in such a bad mood. If one of her cousins started getting in her face, she would scream at them and try to push them away. She’s not normally like that. She normally laughs when they do that.

Then Tuesday, once again, clingy and fussy all day. We went out to a movie that night, so she stayed with a babysitter. The babysitter said she didn’t have any problems with her. But I didn’t think to ask if she had to hold her the entire time. That night she woke up like 3 or 4 times crying even though she had her passy in her mouth (VERY unusual). Eventually I just got her up and brought her in bed with me and she wanted to lay directly on me. If I would try to shift her to the side and put her in the crook of my arm, she would start crying and crawl back onto my chest.

Then yesterday Christina said she didn’t nap well and was sooooo clingy. She just wanted to be held or on her lap. Last night was by far the worst. She wouldn’t play, wouldn’t eat. She just wanted to be in my arms. The only way I could get her to eat the baby food, was by putting her in my lap and feeding her. This is EXTREMELY unusual. I was trying to do laundry and wash dishes (by hand, because remember the dishwasher isn’t working) and she wouldn’t let me put her down. If she thought I was about to put her down, she would cling to my arm like I was about to throw her into a fire pit. She napped on me for like an hour and a half after I got home, which is again, highly unusual. Sometimes she might doze around 6pm, but never for longer than 20-30 minutes or so. This was a good hour and a half, maybe 2 hour nap. I finally put her to bed around 10 and she only woke up once. But this morning, it started again. I was trying to get ready and she just wouldn’t let me put her down.

I really don’t know what is going on with her. I am thinking it’s some sort of separation anxiety. Her daddy has been out of town for almost 2 weeks. He is the one that gets her ready in the morning. They have a little routine and I’m thinking that maybe she just misses him and that routine and feels disjointed.

It may have just started on Monday because I dropped her off Wednesday and Thursday, but I didn’t go to work on Friday, so we spent a long weekend together. Maybe she just got used to me being around so much and doesn’t like that I’m leaving. Which of course BREAKS my heart because I really want to be home with her more.

Yesterday, when I talked to Christina and she told me how clingy she was being, I broke down (I was on my lunch break) and cried after I got off the phone because I want to be able to be there for my daughter when she is feeling insecure. But this stupid health insurance situation is keeping me from doing that. Which is dumb. But we’ve just been so screwed by the healthcare system with Lyric’s birth that I don’t want to be in that situation again. I want to have another baby soon and I don't want to be in debt another $12,000. We can't qualify for CHIP because we make too much $$ (even if I was part time). Plus, if I went part time, we would still need about $400 to stay with our current budget, which I know we could probably come up with. Heck, I could possibly make that much on my blog if I did it right…

Anyways, I’m feeling really guilty today and I'm just feeling like I’m not doing my job as a mom. I feel like I’m not giving her the stability that she needs and I’m feeling like I am neglecting my daughter.
I’m trying to balance my life and the Career Destiny is outweighing the Mommy Destiny and I just don’t like it. I’m more fulfilled as the Mommy Destiny… God knows my heart and I am just believing that He will work it all out.
But until then, I’m a guilty working mom.

Jon comes home tomorrow. Thank God. We both miss him so much and I need my husband back soon!

Please pray for Lyric and for me. I’m really, really tired and beat down.

Thanks.

PS. I love you Jonathan and I can’t wait to see you tomorrow!

A Letter From Lou Engle

Dear Friends,
As the Texas 2008 Presidential primaries are upon us, we sense a rumble in the heavens. We hear from many prophetic voices about a miracle coming to Texas. The conscience of America is struggling to be heard amid the clashing cymbals of political platitudes and hollow promises of change. True change comes through the forceful prayers of God’s people and when founded on the ancient principles of the Word of God. Those principles fueled the pen of James Madison, author of the American Constitution.
Now once again a people must cry to God for a President who will challenge the status quo of American immorality and valiantly champion two Constitutional Amendments: The Human Life Amendment and the Marriage Amendment. John Newton, the slave trader turned pastor and hymn writer once told a young boy named William Wilberforce in the movie Amazing Grace that he lived in the company of 20,000 Africans whom he sold into slavery, never even knowing their names. We live in the company of 50 million American aborted babies, whose silent cries continually reach heaven. Now is the time to stand in Texas where Roe v. Wade was first conceived and brought forth. Let us not live in this hour before the eyes of CNN and NBC but let us live before the eyes of our Creator who endowed us with certain unalienable rights; among these and foremost is the right to Life.
In January of this year, my prophetic friend of 25 years Chris Berglund had the following dream:
I had a dream regarding March Madness and that there would be madness intensified in the atmosphere over the elections in March. In the dream there was an OT (Overtime) and the (O) stood for Ohio and the (T) for Texas.
I believe there is spiritual warfare going on over these elections, a certain madness if you will. Chris had no idea of the significance that the Texas and Ohio primaries would hold. But if the church will pray and fast, more time could be given even though it looks like all time is out. God does not run His universe through polls and statistics. When earth invokes heaven all bets are off. Haman can be removed in a day and a pro-life Mordecai could experience a sovereign ascendancy. Texas is the lone star state. A young woman in the Scriptures was in an overtime moment, and a death decree hung over her people. She called for three days of fasting and that which looked inevitable suddenly turned. Esther means star and as a lone star her call to fasting broke the death decree.
4 years ago we took TheCall to Dallas, Texas repenting for American Indian injustice with the view that out of that, abortion could end. Stunningly this past week the US Senate passed a bill to officially apologize to the American Indians for covenants that the government had broken with them. I believe that was just a beginning. We must strike, strike, and strike again until Roe v. Wade is overturned. That cannot happen unless a true pro-life President is elected and judges after God’s heart are appointed. Therefore once again we are calling a 3-day fast in Texas for those whose hearts burn over this issue on March 1st-3rd, just prior to the primaries. Esther was in a who knows moment and I believe all of America is in a who knows moment. But if we don’t seize our day I tremble for my country. As Thomas Jefferson, another framer of the Constitution, said “When I consider that God is just, I tremble for my country, for His justice will not sleep forever.”
Lou Engle

Creative Writing Overdrive!

I feel like I have been on creative overload the last few days. I’m just constantly thinking about things and trying to figure out all the logistics. With work I’ve been doing a lot of re-designs of pamphlets and flyers. Personally I’ve been working on the new site and adding ideas to my novel. I’m like on creative writing overdrive!

I know, I know! There are no pictures from my week, but seriously! I tried to remember to get the camera from Court’s house and totally forgot!
However, I did get to go see a movie last night! Rachel Karlovich came over and watched all 4 girls last night so Courtney (and Judah), Christina and I could go see a movie. We saw Definitely Maybe. It’s was definitely maybe not the best movie in the world, but oh well. The worst part was that Judah was so fussy and so Court didn’t really get to enjoy herself. She just had to stand up with him half the movie. Poor sis! 5 week old babies are supposed to sleep through movies, duh! Of course he fell asleep right when the movie was over. Typical!
Also, why do babies always need to eat right when you get your food? That’s so annoying.

I haven’t blogged about our Oscar Party, because I wanted to post pictures. But Mom won for the second year in a row. Oh mom! I have found that now having a child, I never get to see all the Oscar movies because not all of them are out on DVD. I really want to see Atonement still. I did see Michael Clayton, but not There Will Be Blood or No Country for Old Men or La Vie En Rose or Elizabeth (but that one was on DVD, I just hadn’t seen it). So I think I came in like 4th or 5th. My big problem was I had never even really heard of No Country for Old Men so I never voted for it and they racked up the wins on Sunday night, so that definitely screwed me. I think Tiff came in second, but I’ll find out and post the top 10.

Also on Sunday, I finally got to see Abby's baby Sophie!! She is beautiful and to me looks so much like Korbin did! We have had sickness all around us, so I wanted to wait a few days to make sure I didn't get sick before I went over and held that precious little girl!
Here I am with Sophie Shull


I just talked to my husband and he is coming home soon!! They leave tomorrow at 6am our time to drive to Frankfurt where they will be leaving the next morning. Good times huh! I can’t wait to see my hubby! Only 2 more days!
Here he is with the team:


I haven’t had a chance this entire time to actually sit down and write more on my novel. Just jotting down ideas here and there. Not good I know. But I have been really focused on the website and being a single mom hasn’t helped in the area of excess time. So it will have to wait I guess. I want to get yesitsnormal.com up and running before I start on it again.
It’s funny because I feel so motivated and like I have something to look forward to outside of the monotony. Add that in the mix to great things and visions being implanted in my husband while he is in Belgium has just instilled me with a lot of hope!

And another thing to be excited about, I’m going to the Alanis and Matchbox 20 concert this Friday! I’m so excited about it!!! Except it’s just like 3 hours after the guys get back in, but it should be so much fun! Court/Nate are going with us. I can’t wait!!! I wonder if Court is going to take Judah? I think Lyric was 5 weeks old the first time I left her for an evening.

Well that is basically it for me! I need to go and pick up the tickets from the guy I’m buying them from today at lunch, so I’m waiting to eat till he lets me know when he can meet me. But it’s already almost 1 and I’m getting soooo hungry! Oh well!
I hope everyone has a GREAT day today!

Thank you Uncle Sam!

They say they will start sending the checks in May. Awesome! I am going to be using my economic stimulus to purchase plane tickets to Belgium! What are you guys using it for??

Yes It's Normal

Well here I am. I’ve been slacking on blogging lately due to the fact that I am spending all my evenings with my parents or my sister. That leaves very little time for blogging…
Also, I haven’t uploaded my pictures and I wanted to post a picture blog. I’ll just have to do it later tonight. Hopefully.

Well that is it. I’m tired and still have 3 ½ hours till work is over. That seems like a really long time right now,

The rest of my excess time I have actually been spending on a new project that my sister and I are doing. It’s a website for moms. You know when you are having problems with let’s say, potty training. You can get a book about it but it’s a little hard to read as they are normally so generic. Well on our site, you would be able to look up potty training and even more specifically potty training girls- and then you would be able to read stories from moms just like you and how they were able to potty train their little girls (or boys if clicked on boys). Or maybe you are pregnant and are having questions about labor and delivery. You can click on L&D and then click on stories of women who’ve had c-sections, natural, epidural, etc.

I think it’s a great idea! I’m sure it’s been done before, I’m not saying we are inventing the wheel, but I think it could be really useful and allow a lot of moms to spread the knowledge they have.

We are just in the gathering stage right now. Like EXTREMELY beginning stages. A lot of the blogs have typos and need some re-work. However, if you want to check out what we’ve done so far, you can visit
www.yesitsnormal.wordpress.com
The categories are on the right side of the screen. I need to put in definition links and a bunch of other stuff, but the point is, I’m actively working on it!

If you click on the About tab, you can get a little more info on our thought process for developing this site. We will have three sections to the site, Pregnancy- Kids- Moms

I’m really excited about this and have been working a lot on the design concept and also the content.

So I know you mother’s have a bazillion stories out there. If you have some time, and want to contribute to our site Yes It’s Normal, then please send me an email to yesitsnormal@gmail.com

Obviously I'll keep all you updated when we launch it! I'm thinking in a few months as we need to have a pretty good archive before we take it mainstream!

PS. I love you Jonathan and COME HOME! We miss you!

My Husband...

NEEDS TO COME HOME!

I miss Jonathan so much!

This is the first night where I don't even want to go to bed because he's not in it.

I still have till Friday till he comes back and I am dreading it. I don't want to go to work tomorrow, I just want to stay home with my baby girl and write my novel and work on some of blogs and just relax some more. Though I can't complain too much because I've had a really relaxing weekend. But it doesn't make me feel any better right now. I'm just not ready to start the week alone, as a single mom.

I need Jonathan to help me and keep me grounded.

I left my camera at my mom's house, so no new pictures till I go over there any get it, which should be soon because I'm trying to post pictures every day for Jonathan to see our pretty faces.

Okay, well that is it. I really need to get in bed. It's already 12am... I'm so tired, but I just don't want to start the work week...

Much love.

PS. I love you Jonathan

Sophie Aviel Shull is here!!!

Abby had her baby this morning!
She was scheduled to be induced this morning at 7am, but when Abby woke up to get ready, she realized she was in labor!
She got to the hospital and they checked her and sure enough, she was in labor. She was at a 4 and 70% efaced.
Well within a few hours she was complete and little Sophie made her arrival at 12:10pm.... and the craziest part... ABBY DID IT ALL WITHOUT AN EPIDURAL!!!! GO ABBY! Mom and Sophie are doing fabulous!

For the time being, they are requesting no visitors because the flu season is so bad right now.

I am going to be doing meals, so if you would like to cover one day that would be great.

Sunday-Destiny
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Congrats Shulls!!!

Home today!

Well Lyric's sitter, Christina Smith, is sick today. She has a 101 fever and also has the sniffles. Well since my mom is at the hospital with Abby and Court still has sick kids and Jon is out of town... there was no one left to keep Lyric, so ya. Mom duty calls and I took the day off. As you can tell, I'm really crying about having to spend the whole day with my daughter and getting a long weekend out of it! :) However, if I had the choice, I would have gone in, because I want to save my vacation time, but what do you do? We've already had a delightful day. We've played together, and taken a bath and now she is down for a nap. Here are a few pictures from the last few days. I went and took Jedi to the groomers because he was stinky and beyond dirty. I was trying to grow his hair out, but then realized that I don't have the time and energy to keep him looking and smelling pretty. Here he is before: and the after: Here is my niece Ashlyn with straight hair And Maddy, but she always has straight hair Kady and Lily We tried to take a "girls" picture, but Lyric wouldn't cooperate. Silly Face Leap Frog Lyric would not cooperate for picture taking that evening Then last night we had a girls night at Terreli's in Dallas off of Greenville. It was so much fun just to hang out and talk and drink martinis. It was definitely needed! Thanks to Liz, Marian, Tiff, Christina and Court for making the night oh so fun! (I swear I'm not this fat, it's just a bad pic) So I have the day off, and I don't know what to do with myself! Maybe I'll go to the mall or something. I wish I could go to the hospital, but Lyric now has a runny nose and since she's been around so many sick kids, I don't want to risk anyone else getting sick. I would feel horrible if we passed on the flu. But hopefully, I can at least go up there and see Sophie from afar! :) Okay, well I should probably take this opportunity of Lyric sleeping to fold some laundry. I'm out!

PS. I love you Jonathan

Good Stuff!

Stephenie Meyer. She literally has to be one of my favorite authors. When I read her books I get absorbed. Like completely and totally. I forget where I am and what I'm doing and I emerse myself in the world she creates. She is actually the reason I want to write my own novel. She was just a mom who decided to finally write a story that had been in her head for awhile and she produced one of my favorite series of all times! If you haven't read the Twilight Series, you are totally missing out. At first glance, the fact that it's in the youth section and the fact that it's about vampires turns most people off, but if you can make it through half of the first book, you will seriously be hooked! The love story is so amazing! I felt like it was Carrie/Big/Aiden all over again! :) Well it looks like she's done it again in a whole new genre. I just read the excerpt from her new book The Host and boy is it freakin' good! If you have a minute, here read this. It's going to be good!

http://stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/thehost_chapter4.pdf

So American Idol girls went last night. My faves are still my faves. Asia'h and Carly are my girls!
My vote for who gets kicked off tonight are:

Amy Davis and Joanna Borgella
Garrett Haley and Luke Menard

Tonight is going to be good!!

I miss my husband! I've only talked to him once and for just a minute. He is busy, busy, busy. They ministered at a youth group last night. Landon and the team led worship, Nathan gave some words and Jon spoke. The leader's meeting starts tomorrow.... okay, never mind! He just called me while I was writing this! He must have picked up the I miss you vibe I was putting out. He is doing great, but they are eating my favorite meal tonight! I'm so jealous! They are going to be eating rocklette. You make it yourself with cheese that you put on a little shovel thing till it melts, and then you use the top to cook veggies and meat, etc. It's a fun meal to eat and socialize! :)
Here are some pics from my birthday in Belgium when we did this with Jon's family.







So they should have a great time tonight. I really wish I was there because I miss my Belgian family, however, someone has to hold the fort down here! I mean, what would Jedi do??! :)
I have pictures to upload from yesterday, but I left the camera in the car, so I'll do it later this afternoon. I will be up at the front all day because our receptionist had an emergency so my productivity will be low and my blogging will be high. :) It's the name of the game, I can't concentrate up here, don't have access to half the programs I need and am constantly interrupted. Oh well. That just means this day is going to looooonnnnnngggggg. :(

Okay, well I'm out! Only to be back a little later!

PS. I love you Jonathan

News???

Ok, I need some good ideas people.

I'm thinking about starting an additional blog.

Remember when I had more time, I would do the "News through Destiny's Filter". I got so many positive responses from it all the time, that I am thinking about starting it back up, though I don't know exactly how I'll find the time.

The problem is, I can't think of a catchy domain name.

I was thinking about newsthroughthefilter.com or newsinperspective.com but I don't really like those. I want something snazzy. Maybe iseemsmart.com

However, I really want a .com domain and a lot of the snazzy titles are taken. So if you have some time, comment and give some website name ideas. (you can check to see if they are taken by going to godaddy.com

If you don't know what "The News" is all about, basically I just talk about the main news stories of the day, put with my own personal twist and view on things.

Any help would be wonderful!!

As for any other news??? I'm definately not pregnant and I am having horrible cramps as I type. WHY GOD, WHY?!

PS. I love you Jonathan

Contact made!

I just got off the phone with Jonathan and they made it to Belgium safe and sound! Everyone was laughing in the background, so it sounds like they are having a great time!! It made me want to be there so bad! I miss my in-laws!!
Well just wanted to let you know!!

PS.
I love you Jonathan

He's Gone...

Well, my Belgian waffle jumped on an airplane, headed to his homeland.
This trip is going to be really awesome. I'm so excited for them and the opportunities that I really believe it will bring. However, Lily and I will be missing the French flair around the house...

Here are a few pictures

The Vandeputs at the airport



The world travelers


Saying bye-bye to daddy




Poppy, Lily and Jon


Peek-a-boo


The Lowries


Saying goodbye at the gate entrance!


Bye again!


Bye!!!!


So ya! Jon's gone and I'm here and Lyric and I are awesome and we'll have mother/daugher bonding like crazy!!

PS. I love you Jonathan

American Idol!!!

American Idol is on tonight!!!
This is the first night where we can vote for people!
I seriously love this show. I have a few fave contestants, which I won't announce till I see everyone perform, but they are more on the female side than the male.

I must send another shout out to Grand Prairie's own Jason Yeager! No matter who you like most, make sure you vote for Jason tonight!!!



I am going to leave in about an hour to go and wish Jonathan farewell at the airport. I probably won't cry, so don't expect any tear streaked pictures. It's a ritual for me, I have to say goodbye at the airport. I can't do it at home. Part of my ritual consists of standing at the gate entrance where they run everything through the detectors. I like to stand there, and make Jon feel awkward. Every time he looks back, I keep waving, like the dork I am. It's really funny because he gets embarrassed at my "American-ness" as he puts it :) Whatever! I love my American-ness (and so does he, or he wouldn't tease me about it!)

So I'm about to be husband-less for 2 weeks. I think that calls for a girls night ASAP! :)

Ok, back to work. I'm trying to redesign our newsletter... oh the joys.

A plumber at 10p??

Okay, the dishwasher won't drain, so Jon calls a plumber. He doesn't call back till like 9:30pm and is like, do you want me to come now?
Jon was like, well sure. Will it cost me extra and he said no. So the plumber is here now. I didn't put Lyric to bed because I knew this guy was a talker and he would probably wake her up (we've used him one other time).
So I'm sitting here, bored with Lyric.







okay, she is fussing at me. I need to deal with the baby. Hopefully this plumber will leave soon.. What kind of plumber comes at 10pm??? Not that I'm complaining, we need it fixed, but my daughter needs to sleep!
The best part is my husband thinks that he knows everything and that the drain is clogged. Well the plumber disagrees, but Jon keeps arguing with him. And every few minutes will say, "so you think it's clogged." The plumber just got a little irritated and was like, "I really don't think its clogged son". lol. You have to know my husband to know the real beauty of what is going on between them. :)

I'm out.

Wait, he just left. He thinks the pump is busted. Of course my husband disagrees with the professional... obviously nothing is going to get done before he leaves tomorrow so I'll have to wash dishes by hand for the next few weeks. Yuck.

Judah has the flu

Poor baby... it's not good, but it's much better thaqn him having RSV.
Please pray for continued healing.
Thanks!

Judah Update

Well they've ruled out RSV. So that is a good thing.
They are waiting on the rest of the test results.
I'll update later.

Keep Praying

The doctor just sent Judah up to Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth.

He either has a bad case of the flu
RSV
or some type of infection that he would have had since birth.

Judah is only 3 weeks old, and they are going to have to take blood and run different tests on them. Please keep everyone in your prayers.

Thanks.

He's leaving tomorrow...

And man am I going to miss him. Seriously.
I HATE it when he leaves without me.
Part of it is the fact that I wish I was going with him and detest feeling left behind and part of it just has to do with the fact that my life functions so well with him, that when he is gone, there is a gaping hole.

So Jon leaves tomorrow for Brussels and I'm sad.

Absolutely NO laundry was done this weekend, so that means I get to scatter like a mad woman and do a ton of laundry so packing can get done tonight. Oh and my dishwasher is clogged or something. It won't drain. I told Jon that if he did nothing else, to please get that fixed before he left... guess what?? He leaves tomorrow and it is STILL not fixed! So on top of my incredibly dirty house, dirty laundry piled up in the bedroom and bathrooms that haven't been cleaned in weeks... I now have dishes beginning to stack up. Translated into NO ONE IS ALLOWED IN MY HOUSE!
It's best not to see how we are living right now :)

So one more night with my sweetie and then he's gone for almost 2 weeks. I really enjoyed our weekend together though. I don't even regret the extreme nothingness we did all weekend.

I mean seriously. We ate and watched a bunch of movies.
Friday- Olive Garden to go. Watched Invasion and Rescue Dawn. Invasion was great. I really liked it. Rescue Dawn, I didn't even make it through the opening credits before I was asleep. Jon said it was stupid.

Saturday- On the Border for lunch- roasted chicken and french fries for dinner-
Caught up on all Oprah's and Ellen's. Watched Reign of Fire and Sunshine. Both were great (I've seen Reign of Fire a few times) and Sunshine was good, though for some reason I kept getting lost- though it wasn't difficult to follow).

Sunday- ordered pizza mid-afternoon and ate it again for dinner. Watched Coyote Ugly and Good Luck Chuck. Good Luck Chuck is so stupid and crass. Don't recommend it at all.

So here I am, back at Higher Power after a long relaxing weekend...

I feel pretty refreshed! Except I'm covering the phones till Natalie gets here and I HATE covering the phones.

I think that is about it for me!

Please pray

My nephew Judah has not been feeling well and now he has a fever. The doctor said to take him in immediately since he is only 3 weeks old.

The entire Watkins family has had the flu, so please pray for healing for this tiny little boy.

Court is freaking out, so it would be good to pray for her as well.

Outline-Shoutline

So I've been chapter outlining my book and it's been a lot of fun... well what isn't fun is having to deal with my screaming daughter while trying to concentrate.

I swear, she has been having the worst problem if I try to put her to bed before 10pm. But seriously child! She needs to be in bed before 10! But she'll scream and scream and throw a hissy fit. Well she can just scream her head off, because she is NOT getting up. She is not teething, isn't sick, isn't hungry, isn't dirty, she just doesn't want to be in bed... it's been so frustrating. This last 2 nights, I just would get her back out of bed and let her stay up a little longer.. yes I know, bad parenting. But tonight I put my foot down! She can just get over it.

Anyways, back to the point. I've been outlining like a mad woman and brainstorming, trying to fill in story holes... it's starting to come together people. I really like the story. I'll post bits and pieces of it as it starts evolving...

It's fun to have something that I'm excited about! :)

Writing...

So I've started writing my first novel. I'm determined to finish it.
I'm in the outline stage and the part where I am constantly bouncing ideas off Jonathan. He's pretty good at helping me clarify the craziness in my head. I've come up with the basic story line (obviously, that's the first step). It's more in the genre of books Iike to read, fantasy that is. Not to the extreme that I read, but more like on the level of "this could possible happen, maybe..." It's really interesting, or at least to me.
Anyways, just thought I should put that out there. At least I'll be held accountable now because I said it outloud. I am going to start and finish a novel. not for anyone else, but just for me. Just so I can say I finally did it!! (que the Rocky Theme).

Well, that is about it. I sang on worship team, but sounded awful because my voice kept going out. Which isn't good when you are trying to sing something. I left early because I have too much to do around the house... and guess what??? I still have not done CRAP! I have no drive to get up and get done what needs to get done. But Jon said he'll help... I would rather him just do it all himself :)

Oh and Jedi STINKS!

On to my fave subject, Lyric. We are trying to start introducing the sippy cup on a prevelant basis. She is 10 1/2 months old. That's tminus 1 1/2 months till she is OFF the bottle! I'm nervous about it for some reason. Not that she won't do good, she'll be fine. She prefers the sippy cup, I think she feels bigger, but that i won't feed her enough! I know. Silly huh. But when I'm home, I eat so iratically. Sometimes dinner is at 6 sometimes it is at 8. It doesn't really matter for her, because she has a bottle or baby food, but once we move her on up... she'll need to eat! What if she gets extra hungry during the day?? I guess that is when snack time comes in handy... but she only has 2 teeth, so it's hard to say we are just going to move her on to food when it's hard for her to chew things.

I guess it's good that we have 1 1/2 months to come up with a system.

I swear. She is seriously the most adorable baby on earth!

Can it get any better

man, I'm having a good day.
There is really nothing better than a good cold rainy day when you don't have anywhere to be!
We've had a fire going since last night and we've just lounged. Well we did venture out to run an errand, which did result in 2 new shirts, so that is fun!
Lyric has been playing all day and I've just been having a fantastic time!!! Here are her and Jon chillin' out by the fire

I finished my book. I've been in this mood to re-read some of my fave novels. So I just re-read Eragon and Eldest. See my relaxed happiness!!

I'm about to re-read the Twilight Series starting asap! I just have to make sure I have all the books, I know I've lent them out, so I need to track them down.

Anyways, today has just been amazing!! Right now Lyric and Jon are taking a nap

and I just finished Eldest and am about to watch the most recent Project Runway.

Tonight we're eating roasted chicken, french fries and applesauce. An extremely Belgian meal. I'm hungry, but Jon offered to go to the store and I'm not about to go instead. So I'll wait patiently till he is awake! :)

So yes! Good times had by all in the Vandeput house.

Let's not even talk about the fact that I have done NOTHING all day! I mean, none of the things that really needed to get done. I need to do a bunch of laundry so Jon can get packed... oh let's not kid ourselves. I need to do a lot of laundry so I can pack for Jonathan :) Then the bathrooms need to be scrubbed and my bedroom and Lyric's room need to be cleaned. Thankfully the kitchen and the floors got done this week... but oh well. I needed a nothing day and I took one and it was glorious!!

I think I've rambled enough for now.

Valentine's

Here are pics from my little Valentine's

This was what I found on the table when I got home from work (Jon wasn't there)

Flowers (even though they are roses- Jon said they didn't have any Gerber Daisies), chocolates, a sweet note and the laptop!

Then we went to Court's and ate dinner and then the girls decorated their cupcakes

uh-oh, it fell over

Kadyn enjoying hers

Maddy was so particular with hers

Messy faces

Lyric hanging out with Judah since neither of them can eat chocolate yet!

We got Lyric a new baby and a ball. She loves them both!

So that is that. There are the pictures. Now back to work for me!

American Idol!

I LOVE American Idol!

I get a little obsessed with it.

Seriously.

Okay, let's talk about how sad it is that Josiah (the guy who sang with a British accent) didn't get on... I was SO SAD! I really wanted him on there.

And also, Jason Yeager is on there and I know him, so we all have to vote for him!!! (well I don't really KNOW him, but you know what I mean).

I like that someone I'm know is on tv. It's kind of fun!!

My other faves are the Austrailian and the Irish girl. I have a soft place for the foreigners I guess :)

Okay, well I just wanted to gush about American Idol

I hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day today!!!

Direct to you...

From my very own laptop!!!

Okay, it might not be brand new, but it is new to me! It is my little brother Preston's, but he NEVER used it. So Jon got it and wiped it and upgraded it and so now I have a laptop again. It's really nice because I've had such the hankering to write and get thoughts down, but no real outlet to do it.

I have all these ideas that I need to get down. I guess that will be what I do while Jon is gone. However, my sister is afraid I will hole up in my house and not hang out with her (I tend to get really withdrawn when my hubby is gone.)

So that was my fun Valentine's present, along with a 1 hour massage and some roses and Belgian chocolate!!

We had a nice little Valentine's party with my nieces tonight. Really we just ate dinner at the Watkins and watched the girls decorate one cupcake each, but I still call that a party. I got them presents. They wanted Pet Shop Pets... strange.. ok, anyways.

We've been using Jon's mom's projector that Jon is bringing to her when he leaves next week to watch Season 6 of the Shield on Jon's computer. We taped up wrapping paper on the wall to suffice as a screen and it's been so much fun.

So that is what is calling my name right now. Or actually, Jonathan is calling my name. Off to watch Vic and cuddle with the hubba! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hopefully Today Will Be Better

I had a bad day yesterday.

I even took the afternoon off from work.

Nothing life altering, or juicy gossip filled.

I just got really overwhelmed and was crying and such on my lunch break that I thought... screw it. I'm going home. I need an afternoon off. I didn't even go and pick Lyric up. I just went home and layed on the couch, napped a bit. I had a horrible headache all day though, I think it was from crying so much.

Anyways, I had such an awful emotional day yesterday, that today HAS to be better! :)

So here's to a better day!

My Weekend

Well it wasn't as relaxing as I would like, but I definately got some sleep, so that is the most important.

Saturday was the best. I slept in. Jon got up with Lyric at 8 and then took her in the living room and they played so I got to sleep till 10. It was sooo nice. Then I just did some laundry, cleaned a little and read. I also got to play with Lyric a lot, which is always nice.

Then Saturday Jon and I decided to stay in to eat since we had meat that needed to be cooked that night or it would go bad (cuz we would be gone on Sunday), so we ate dinner at home and then dropped Lily off at my mom's and proceeded to the concert.

It was great and I am thoroughly impressed by Over the Rhine. I never really listened to them before and live they are pretty stinkin' great!

Then Sunday I went to Church and then had a hurried lunch to be right back up at Church to set up for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary party.

We had a family pic, but my camera died right when we all lined up. So I need to get them from Holly's camera.

Also! Milestone update!

Lyric learned how to stand up all by herself last night. Without holding on to anything. She can just be sitting in the middle of the floor. Get on her hands, pull her feet up underneath her and stand up! I was so proud! She did it like 3 times last night! :) and she took a few more steps!

Okay, that's it.

I'm hungry.

(For pictures and to read comments click HERE)

I feel like I've been going, going, going, going for the past million years with no real break... It's actually been 3 weeks since I've had a real day off, where there was nothing to do but relax. However, tomorrow is that day! And to top it all off, Jon and I have a date night tomorrow! We are going to see Over the Rhine and go out to eat to a fun dinner (though we haven't picked the place yet).

So yes! I'm so excited to just chill!!!

Jon emailed me this morning and told me that he thinks Lyric wants to start wearing a bra, because she is crawling around the house with mine


Then she was playing with her baby and found some chapstick and Jon told her to give the baby some chapstick and so here she is


I mean, sometimes the belly button gets chafed. She's a genius! A genius I tell you! Man, I really miss her. :(

Well that's it. I need to get back to work. I just wanted to blog about how happy I am to finally get a real day off!!

Much love!

Newborn pics of Judah

Click HERE for some ADORABLE pics of Judah

The Johnson Wedding

Finally got all the pictures uploaded.

Click HERE

In MD with the Smiths

Here are a few pics from the 1/2 day I spent with Jon's fam. It was awful having to leave that early, and I didn't get a pic of the kids :( But oh well! Hopefully we'll be back soon!

Click HERE to see pics!

Landon's Birthday Dinner

We had Landon's birthday dinner last night and the whole fam plus some of his friends went to Texas de Brazil!

Oh Lordy is that food good. I literally stuffed myself so much that my stomach was cramping when I got home. If you've never been, it's one of those Brazilian steakhouses that are all you can eat. Waiters just walk around with huge slabs or meat and pile your plate with all this yumminess. My fave meat is Lamb, so I was able to eat a bunch of it last night. And then they had these garlic mushrooms, and mashed potatos and not to mention the 80 item salad bar, complete with a sushi section... It was SO GREAT!

Click HERE to see pictures and comments.

Milestones

Okay, seriously, Lyric is in the absolute cutest stage ever!

She is babbling!

This morning she was sitting on my lap and would just look at me and Jon with the serious face and just babble away like she was talking. It is so stinkin' CUTE!

So I haven't listed her recent milestones, so here it is!

2 weeks ago, she has mastered standing on her own. She is really good at it and can stand there without holding on to anything for a really long time. She stands up at every chance and thinks she is so cool. She can even stand up almost without help. As long as there is something, a little raised for her to give a push off on. The other day, she stood up on her own with just a kids shoe box to help her.

This past weekend was a weekend of milestones.

Most importantly, she took her first steps this past Thursday!!!! We've only gotten her to take 2 at a time, but she's done it a few times. She takes one step, catches her balance and then brings the other foot, but the she falls. The good thing is now she'll walk around with me holding her fingers when before she didn't like it and would immediately arch her back so she could get to crawling. Now she thinks it's cool to walk around while holding onto your fingers. She can even walk with you just holding one hand.

She also started playing with her pretend phone. She'll hold it up to her ear and go "iiiii" (meaning hi). It's so precious! :)

Then when she wants more snacks, I say "Say more" and she says "ma" and then I give her more. I swear she is a genius! I don't care if it's normal at this age, I still think she is a genius! :)

She also walks between things really good. Like if she is walking along the couch and wants to transfer to like the ottoman, but it's a little far, she'll let go, take one step and grab on to the ottoman.

This age is just so much fun! She is doing something new almost every day and is interacting so much. I just love being a mom! It makes me want to have another one sooner than later so that she can have a sister. (please God let the next one be a girl!) I really want to have two girls really close in age, so hopefully God answers my prayer. Not that we are trying right now, don't get me wrong. But hopefully sometime early fall is what I'm hoping... but you never know!

Life is just so much up in the air right now, who knows what's going to be happening in the next year! It's kind of fun. I've gotten into this new phase where I'm ready to take on the next thing. It's going to be great! :)

I'm so happy!

Happy Birthday Landon

My little brother Landon turns 21 today!!!

Happy birthday little brother!

I am so proud of you and all that you are doing and will do!

Landon is getting married on April 11th and is currently working as a contractor, remodeling houses. He rocks at what he does! They also are purchasing their first home, a little fixer upper not far from my parent's house. Landon is also an extremely gifted worship leader and speaker. He truly lives what he preaches which is not an easy feat. I'm