Keegan's Update and I'm an Infomercial Sucker

So many random things to touch on!

Let's start with an update on Keegan Michael, and then I'll go from there.

Keegan is still a very little boy. We weighed him this week on our home scale, and it's showing him at 21.5 lbs... However, ours shows 1 pound heavier than my doctor's office scale- so maybe he's just 20.5 lbs? I don't know. I just know he's little for his age- but completely healthy!

He is FUNNY, too. His vocabulary is booming. He's repeating things after us all the time. This morning when we came downstairs he got excited. I said, "Say, 'good morning house!'" and Keegan repeated, "HOUSE." His new thing, too, is to ask for a hot dog all the time. When we ask, "Keegan, do you want some breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack?" He answers, "Hot dog." I promise- we don't just feed him hot dogs! He maybe has 2 or so a week- but apparently they are his favorite.

He's also started asking what everything is. If he's being naughty and into something he knows he shouldn't- I say, "Keegan Michael, what are you doing?" and he replies, "What is it?!" It's so cool to experience him growing up. He is such an incredible little man.

However, I will say that he's started throwing tantrums. He has become much more whiny.Which I do not like. He throws his entire body on the ground and has a total melt down. Also, grocery shopping is no longer a fun time with him since he has started recognizing things on the shelves. He gets VERY upset when I put things in the cart- it's hysterical because it's almost like he thinks I'm purposefully teasing him and taunting him with food that he can't have yet. HA!

And here's a HUGE update: KEEGAN PEE'S ON THE POTTY! About once per day. Before bath time. He doesn't do it on his own. But we are starting to get him accustomed to it so (hopefully) potty training will come easy in a few months.

OH and here's Keegan's new favorite:

We bought this book as a gift for my sister's baby shower- and got a copy for Keegan too. I think I almost have it memorized because he wants me to read it ALL THE TIME. He walks to his room, right over to this book and hands it to me. He sits and excitedly listens to each word. He loves the pictures. I think this may be the funniest children's book EVER.

Pretty much it explains that dinosaurs went extinct because they started fighting over underpants... HA! SO funny.

Kris is adjusting to his new job and really starting to love it. He works a lot of early mornings- but we are SO proud of him. What a guy.

Okay- and now for me to share how I'm SUCH a sucker...

Last month I bought something off an infomercial. I actually felt that I NEEDED to buy the Jane Seymour Natural Advantage Skin Care line. I couldn't believe I did it... but now- I have to say, I'm so glad I did. I was starting to get pretty bad wrinkles on my forehead and it made me nervous. I'm only 25- I shouldn't be going grey AND wrinkling ALREADY!!!!

And let me tell you. It actually works. I took a before photo which I'm not going to share because it was that nasty- and an after photo. Kris and I both agree it really works and reduced my wrinkles a ton. I think I finally look 25 again! HA! Needless to say, I think it's a luxury that I will continue to use for a while. I figure it's less expensive to preventatively care for my skin rather than have to get a facelift when I'm sixty! :)

Oh and another new thing that we're doing: we're working really hard on saving money. God has given us a great opportunity to do that while we're in the house, so one of the way's we're doing that is by MENU PLANNING each week. We want to cut back our grocery/food bill- and eating out/take out really adds up. It's actually kind of fun! I plan a menu out for the week, and then we only grocery shop once a week instead of a couple times. It's a good feeling. But we're only on the 2nd week and I'm already have a hard time recalling meals and/or diversifying our menu. I definitely don't want to rotate the same 7 meals over and over and over.

If you have an easy/inexpensive favorite recipe to add into our options- please share! :)

You Are My Sunshine: The Cessna's Showered!

Molly's shower turned out fabulous. It was at the Steele Carriage House in Adrian- SO darling!

We all worked so hard- and boy was it so fun. My sister is one of the most radiant momma's-to-be I've ever seen. Here are some photos of the decorations (mostly stolen from my sister's sister-in-law!):

Settling In, and Feeling Good

Well, well, well...

First, let me clarify my last blog post. My sweet husband laughed after my last extremely emotional post about moving because he said it made it sound like we were broke and forced to leave our house- so for the sake of my husband's pride- let me clarify that we are not broke, nor were we forced to leave our house. Rather- we've been really convicted to start living life in a manner worthy of the calling of Christ.

Is there anything wrong with nice things? No.

But is it wrong to surround yourself so much with nice things that it would be easy for your children to think that's all that matters? Absolutely.

So we are trying to make good choices. We're trying to be better stewards of our money and change our priorities. And it is a process and a change, but already quite an adventure.

Miraculously we have been able to fit almost all of our furniture from our 2400+ sq ft house into our new little 1300+ square foot house. And it kind of feels like a little doll house inside.

It was kind of dirty but with lots of cleaning (ha- and by lots I mean- hi, my name is Mandy and I'm a neat freak) and organizing it's becoming more and more comfortable. And we are actually kind of loving it.

Anyway- hoping we can finish settling in this weekend. Daddy has a honey do list for while Keegy Peegy and I are at my sister's baby shower tomorrow. She is due SO soon... I think about it and I get an excited nervous feeling because I just can't wait to meet my little Cohey Boo Bear Nephew Boy.

I'll do a post tomorrow just with photos of the shower... And then once our house is finally together I will do a little tour of our new house!

Enjoy your weekend! I know we will! :)

This is our temporary home

That Carrie Underwood has been the theme song playing round and round in my head the last week and a half. We have an absolutely ginormous change going on: we're moving.

We've kept it quiet because we wanted to be sure before we announced it because well,- as we all know things fall through all the time.

We decided to lease our house out. The building in our neighborhood has picked up like crazy- and we're confident that in a couple years once this is full it'll be much easier to sell... Or maybe we'll move back- who knows.

We're leasing to a family who's here for work. In fact- they are even going to be finishing our basement (remember my last post- "The God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine?").

Anyway- we're moving... And FAST. We have to be out of here in two days. And not only is it stressful (thus the reason I'm typing this at 4:00AM), but it is EMOTIONAL. This has been the type of thing that we have been praying for- and so I'm surprised at how emotional and somewhat heartbreaking it feels.

This is our home- I've put my heart and soul into making this house our home. I am going to miss everything about it. I am going to miss the location, the design, and Keegan's nursery tremendously. This is where I lost a baby, and where I brought my first born home from the hospital. This is the first home that Kris and I learned how to be married in. And now I'm a crying mess early in the morning because I already feel homesick.

Since we are moving so quickly we are leasing out a little house over on the Holt/Lansing border. It's fine. Nothing to write home about- but definitely serves its purpose. We will lease for a little less than a year and then decide where to next. Thus the theme song for the week: Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood.

I'm shocked how absolutely emotional and physically ill I feel at the thought of leaving. But it is time to buckle down and do what we're going to do and not regret any of the choices we make. But will you pray for us? Will you pray for my heart- and for a smooth transition for Kris, Keegan and the dogs, too (ha- Henry has anxiety so this is going to drive him bonkers!).

There we go.

When we make changes we like to make them all at once. The last year of changes (2009) we got married, bought a house (moved over an hour away), and I started a new job.

Kris just started his new job at Coke- and this is his first week on the job by himself... So he can't really take any time off to move. So I am going to be doing a lot of the brunt work- and hiring movers :)

Thanks in advance for your prayers. And thanks to anyone who has to ear with my emotions over the next couple of weeks of transition, too!

Immeasurably more...

I've been really working hard at trying to read my Bible more the past couple of weeks. My anxiety has gotten a lot worse over the past couple of months- so I know that I need to focus more on Who exactly it is that I have on my side.

I've been reading through Ephesians, and I've realized that I often disregard the fact that I have THE God of the entire universe on my side. That the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is on my side. The same power that created EVERYTHING in Heaven and on earth is the same God that I proclaim my "faith" in... But He's the same God that I frequently slap in the face through my distrust and doubts. Through my lack of confidence in His ultimate plan and my attempts to control EVERYTHING!

It finally just hit me: regardless of my efforts, ultimately, if it's not GOD'S time- it's not going to happen.

I've been trying so hard bending over backwards to try and get my house sold for an entire year and a half now. That has been so draining for me. But- why don't I have confidence that God will continue to provide- that He is working all the little puzzle pieces of our lives together to guide our family exactly where He wants us.

I started praying over Ephesians 3:20, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,"

I started asking God to do immeasurably more than all I ask or even imagine... In regards to the house situation, in regards to my family, finances and even within my own anxiety ridden heart.

And do you know what?

He has.

When we ask God- He listens and He answers. Especially when I don't put Him in a box and tell Him how to do His job. My mother in law put it nicely: "You want to hear God laugh? Tell Him your long term plan."

Anyway, I am so human and so trying hard to live life contentedly and peacefully and trusting in God's plan. I hope the same for you, because wouldn't the world be a better place if we did?!

Beginning our cloth diapering journey

Okay- so as I posted yesterday, money has gotten tighter than usual.

I've considered cloth diapering since I was pregnant with Keegan, but was too intimidated to truly consider it. I would try to find cloth diapers on sale, but I could never find them for less than $15-$20 per diaper and I just couldn't stomach spending that much on diapers if I didn't think I could commit to it.

I have a little side account that I save up for gifts for Kris- I put $50/pay in it. I had a little bit of extra money and I found a knock off brand, with pretty good reviews on eBay- 10 diapers (the ones with pocket inserts and snaps) and 10 microfiber inserts shipped from China for $40 total. Now THAT I could stomach.

They finally arrived a week ago. We have religiously used them (except for at daycare for about 13 hrs/week) they require disposables there!) and I've amazingly fallen in LOVE with them.

How could I fall in love with poop and pee filled laundry, you ask?!

Well- I will preface that I do have a nice front load high efficiency washer/dryer. So that helps. It IS hard only having 10 diaps- but I've already ordered another 10.

I don't buy any fancy detergent. Personally, I just use regular detergent. I put just about 2 teaspoons in. NO fabric softener... But maybe once a week I will put a tad of white vinegar in the rinse to keep them from getting stinky.

I do one cold quick wash with detergent. Then I run it through one hot cycle- without adding any more detergent or vinegar.

Personally I dry it in the dryer to help kill more germs.

Anyway- I thought women that cloth diapered were nuts. I thought they were tree hugger hippies or very judgmental of people that don't cloth diaper...

Well now I'm that mom- but I'm definitely NOT hippie, and I definitelyyyy understand why a lot of people don't want to take the time on it.

But for me and my son, and the situation that we're in currently, it works for us- and it works well. And it doesn't hurt that he looks so cute in those bright colors! If you want the link to the diapers that we use for CHEAP, let me know- I'm happy to direct you to them!

Off the face of the earth

I AM SO LAME!!!!!

I guess it's just the summer time and I'm very busy, and have a lot more going on then blogging- so maybe I'm not lame. But I FEEL lame when I see the last post was on MAY 24th!!!!! Ah. SO sorry. So now Keegan's napping, the dogs are sleeping, it's raining outside and I'm settling down with a glass of sweet tea ready to blog again. Good morning :)

SO where to begin?

First of all- we officially have a super walker on our hands. He's been full time walking for just over a month or so. No more crawling for this boy! He cracks me up. His feet get tired after all that walking... good thing he has a daddy who rubs his little baby feet (that's the photo above). He's suddenly such a big kid. He's an absolute toddler. I love that I can ask him to do something, and he'll do it, or ask him to repeat a word after me and he tries.

He's still sleeping like a champ. He sleeps about 10-12 hours straight a night, and still take a couple of good long naps a day- morning and afternoon!

He's still a skinny little boy. He got sick last week with a double ear infection- we were on SUCH a healthy kick. I don't think he was sick since FEBRUARY or so!!! Well, when he was at the doctor, he was weighed... Still just 20 lbs 7 oz. Ha! My friend at work's daughter is only 9 months old and is over 23lbs. What a little boy. Love it :)

He's super cheerful and silly. I love now that he truly thinks he's hysterical. He tries doing something but sometimes can't because he starts laughing before he can finish. Hahaha!

He likes to walk around the house saying, "Hiiii!" to things. He frequently picks up objects and holds them up to his ear and yells, "HEY-OH!! (his version of "HELLO"). Keegan gets VERY upset when the dogs wrestle or bark. He walks right up to them and starts yelling at them. HA! He makes fists and yells, "DOGS! AHHH!" Ha! A boy after his momma's heart :)

He went from only calling Kris "DeeDa," to "Dahd." Not just Dad- but DAHD. Haha. He walks through the house during the day while Kris is at work looking for him: "Dahd? Dahd?"

Anyway, I didn't think I believed everyone when they told me that having kids just gets better and better. But I'm starting to see that. I LOVE getting to know Keegan. I love that we can joke around now, and we find each other so funny. I love to do things with him. I love learning what makes him tick. I love watching his relationships with his dad, grandparents, aunts, etc- develop. So proud of the boy that he's becoming. There is truly nothing better.

Our house is back on the market as of the end of May with a new realtor. She's fantastic. We're praying that we get a buyer as soon as possible. It's just so nice to finally feel like we have a realtor that's actually DOING something- unlike the entire year before that it was under contract with another realtor :) We've staying VERY busy. We've probably had 10-15 showings so far, and have had all positive feedback. Just waiting on a buyer!

We're spending our summer doing SO much. We're traveling up north a bit, fun weekends away, visiting with family, LOTS of showers (my sister, Molly JUST entered her last trimester TODAY- Where have the past 6 months gones?!) etc. But it's enough to keep us very busy. Here's daddy and Keegan having a snack up north at the cottage:

Kris just started a new job with Coke. I think this job is perfect for him. What a great opportunity. He's back and forth between Kalamazoo and Lansing though- lots of early mornings for him!!!

We're trying to trust in God' guidance for our family. We're feeling a little overwhelmed with a lot of unexpected stuff right now. We found out after I had my ER stay back in April for my gallbladder, that NEITHER of the hospitals in the Lansing area are in network. Which would have been just fine- because our insurance company says that ER stays would be covered 100% whether it's in or out of network. However, I recently received a bill for almost $9,000.00 that the insurance company is saying is too much and they won't pay (The $9K is AFTER the amount that they already paid. I'd be stuck with the rest). So there's all sorts of stress going on while I'm trying to negotiate with the hospital/insurance company/file complaints with the insurance commissioner.

It's pretty frustrating because the whole in vs out of network is a result of politics between the insurance company and a local insurance company that they branched out from. UGH!!

Needless to say, I'm really am a little stressed that if anything goes wrong that would result in either Kris, Keegan or myself ending up in the hospital- that we'll be stuck with ginormous bills again. What a pain.

Through all this though, I'm realizing my lack of faith. God has ALWAYS provided. He's ALWAYS blessed us enough to make ends meet. I'm trying to remind myself of His constant promises.

OH- and on a TOTALLY unrelated note- well, maybe a little related because I started doing this to cut costs.... WE ARE NOW A CLOTH DIAPERING FAMILY!!! I thought I would do it as a sacrifice. But I surprisingly LOVE it. I may just start advocating for it because I love it so. It's fantastic. I am promising right now- I will post on it tomorrow. I've found some incredibly cheap cloth diapers that work great- at least for babies Keegan's age. I'll have to do a follow up post after we have another baby that I try them on to let you know how they work for little babies.

OKAY: I will post about cloth diapers tomorrow, and will try to do better at posting this summer!