Photo Update

Here are some photos from the last several weeks. As always, you can click on the slideshow below to view the album that contains the pictures.

Monkey Love...

I had to snap this picture last night. Natalie has a tendency to get fussy whenever it is time to get Allyson ready for bed. Last night, Kristen laid her on Ally's bed and gave her "Big Monkey", and she calmed right down. It seems that both of our girls love stuffed monkeys!!! (F.Y.I. for grandparents...please don't send any.....we have plenty to go around)

A Great Family Photo

Natalie has been in our family for over two months now, but we still do not have a family photo. It seems that we are having a difficult time finding an opportunity when both girls are in good enough moods to get the picture taken.

I had been looking forward to Easter in anticipation that we would finally be able to get a nice looking family-of-four picture. Well my hopes were dashed to the ground. I have posted the resulting picture below! Anyone want a 5 x 7 of that????

Chiropractic Update

Last week, I wrote about our first visit to the chiropractor with Natalie. Well, she has now been to the chiropractor 3 times, and I can say that there is a marked improvement in Natalie's demeanor.

She is not nearly as tense as she was. It used to be that she would tense up and arch her back when one tried to hold her; now she is fairly relaxed most of the time.

She has taken some longer naps than she ever had in the past.

We went out together as a family on Friday and did not have a screaming child for the entire 3-hours that we were out. Natalie then woke up to eat when we got home and laid back down for another 2 1/2 hours! A day like that gave some added meaning to "Good Friday!"

Things still are not perfect. She still has rough times, but things are definitely getting better.

Tomorrow, it is my turn to get in to see the chiropractor so that I can get some relief from my neck and back pain!

Would Your Reaction Be to Share Your Faith?

I have posted a great video clip about a 92-year-old woman who shared her faith with a would be mugger who got into her car at a Wal-Mart. What a great example of the importance of being "prepared in season and out of season." Would you first reaction be to share the message of Jesus Christ with a mugger? I can honestly say that I am not sure that would be mine...

Enjoy the video:

Natalie's Trip to the Chiropractor

In an effort to help Natalie find some relief from colic, and in an attempt to maintain our sanity, we took Natalie to the Chiropractor yesterday. We had read about the benefits of Chiropractic for infants, and have talked about taking her in for several weeks now.

Well, after Kristen had several moms recommend that we try it, we called a highly recommended Chiropractor who specialized in treating kids and made an appointment. We were highly impressed with the doctor and feel like she may be able to help Natalie. Our first visit lasted over an hour with the doctor! Her pediatrician appointments usually consist of the Doctor entering the room for about 3 minutes, and us leaving with most of our questions unanswered, as he never wants to give a definitive answer about anything!

The chiropractor had an answer for most of our questions and had ideas about things we can do to try to remedy those issues. She found some problem areas in Natalie's neck and in her mid-back....like Father like daughter! Natalie did very well through the visit and fell asleep immediately following the appointment.

We did not see any really amazing behavior changes last night, but Natalie has slept several times with her head facing left (prior to this, she only turned her head to the right), so maybe the chiropractor helped her out in that area. We are going to take her for a few more visits and see if we can see any marked improvements in her colic and fussiness.

Are we hippies for taking our baby to the chiropractor???!! :) I guess the jury is still out on that until we see if it is working!

Link to Natalie's Pictures

We took Natalie to have her first professional pictures done today. She did well in the session. Here is the link to the online photo album from Sears.

Click HERE to see the pictures.

As I See It....Breastfeeding

On Tuesdays, we pick up Allyson from school and we all eat lunch together before taking her to the babysitter's house for the afternoon.

As Allyson was eating her string cheese yesterday, she looked at Natalie and said, "You can't have string cheese unless it is in mommy's boobie."

It struck us as quite funny, and as you can see, we felt it was also "blogworthy"!!!

Have a great day.

Natalie's First Day in the Office

All things must come to an end, and unfortunately, Kristen's maternity leave ended this week. Today is her first day back on the job.

Fortunately, she now has an "assistant" to help her get her job done!

Natalie will be coming to the office with us through May, then we have a babysitter lined up for the summer.

As many of you know, Natalie has proven to be a fairly fussy baby, which has been causing us great anxiety, as to whether this work situation was going to work out or not. Well, God has been with us today, and Natalie appears to be adjusting to "work" just fine. Perhaps we have found the cure for her fussiness!! She just needed to get busy and do some work!!!

Here are a few pictures of our Director of Family Ministries and her new "Assistant Director of Family Ministries."