New Baby!

YEA! We are going to have another baby! #3 will be coming along sometime mid to late April. We are really excited! I think that Eli and Lena will be just perfect ages for a new baby.

Facebook.com

Hi few people that read my blog. I just signed up on Facebook.com. It's pretty neat. I've been able to get a hold of several people that I haven't talked to in a long time. So, if you're up for it, sign up (but be careful, it's just as addictive as instant messaging).

Youth Group Meeting

Gee, how time flies. It's already 5:00pm and I don't feel like I've done that much. In reality I have gotten a lot of stuff done today. I still need to vacuum the living room. We're having the youth group from church over this evening for tacos and movies. We're also going to talk about things that we want to do this year. It seems that some of them are interested in a mission trip of some sorts. That would be a lot of fun, but probably really expensive too. They're such a great group. I'm really looking forward to it considering they're the closest church people to my age.

Eeeeerrrrrrrggggghhhh!

Eli pooped on the floor TWICE today. It's really my fault because I didn't put underwear on him after he had gotten up from the potty. (I've been reading Deathly Hallows, almost done)

International Breastfeeding Symbol

Isn't this great! I knew that one was to be made, but only recently found out about it from the Mothering.com emails. I would highly suggest that anyone who has children or wants children to subscribe to the emails or the magazine. Also check out http://www.breastfeedingsymbol.org/

Learning what it is to be "The Pastor's Wife"

I went to my first ever voters' meeting as The Pastor's Wife. Sad to say, I really had to bite my tongue on things. It just felt like people would be thinking "Oh, she just agrees with Pastor because she's married to him." Like I didn't have my own opinion. Now don't get me wrong. Nothing went badly at all, in fact it went really really well. Not that we did much. Matthew brought up starting weekly communion. Most people were for it, but we didn't vote since several families were not there. They used to have it, but it changed somewhere in the last year or couple of years because of the pastor at the time. (I don't know which one.) The people that weren't for it (not necessarily against it) said they liked to have it less frequently so that they desired it more when it came, because they wanted more variety in the services, or because "1st and 3rd" is what they grew up with. Just because you grew up with it that way doesn't mean it's right and as for variety, I don't think it's called variety when you omit something from the service. If anything, having weekly communion adds variety with communion hymns. They are different every Sunday, and even a lot of times different every year! (Unlike the hymn of the day which many churches will use the same on corresponding Sundays each year.) About desiring the Eucharist: first off, we all need it whether we feel like it or not. We need to examine ourselves! Read through the commandments! It doesn't take very long to realize how much we have sinned and how much we need the Lord's forgiveness, which His body and blood provide in/with/under the bread and wine! Now, I'm not saying that these people don't think or feel like they're sinners. I just think that they may be a little misguided. I think it really takes an outsider to see just how much a church is influenced by the social, religious, and economic sphere around them. Though they believe it is the true body and blood of Christ, there are still tendencies toward the "touchy feely" and the over emotional. There are two other Lutheran churches here, both ELCA. Most all others are Baptist or Pentecostal.

Now, I don't want any of you out there to think that I'm really complaining. This church is wonderful! I didn't know a church like this could survive this long in the south. They really for the most part have been taught extremely well. They do the liturgy every Sunday. In fact we will be re-introducing TLH pg 15/5 next Sunday (in the form of LSB Divine Service 3) because they used to do it every other Sunday until more recently and everyone says they've really missed it. Next Sunday will be no communion so we'll have to do "page 5". It's just kind of sad, on my part, when the shut-ins get communion more often than then rest of the congregation.

Find out your Harry Potter personality at LiquidGeneration!

Ride the Potty Train

We are attempting potty training. Eli is 2 1/2 and likes to use the potty, but just doesn't get the point yet that he's not suppose to pee in his diaper. I need to get him some big boy underwear, but I'm just afraid that they'll be too big for him like all of his 2T pants and shorts. Anybody have any tips? I should just buy him underwear (if they fit) and let him run around the house in them, but we are renting and we have LOTS of carpet (ick). But them again, he usually doesn't pee very much before I sit him on the potty so maybe that would be alright and give him more of a realization when he's wet. We use cloth diapers and have a few cloth training pants (which he seems to go though all 5 the morning after I wash them). I've always been told that using cloth makes it easier. I can't imagine using Pull-ups brand. I was actually totally appalled when I saw "cool alert" Pull-ups at the store. They have some kind of CHEMICAL in them that when the child pees it causes a chemical reaction and feels cold. WHO WOULD WANT THAT! I don't want any kind of unnatural chemical reaction near my child's bottom! Is there any parent that does? Please, I would love any advice or suggestions on this whole "riding of the potty train".

All Settled

We're unpacked! I'm so glad to be settled into somewhere, even if it isn't a permanent place.

Moving went really well. We took two days to travel to Florence and then began our search for a place to live. We stayed with a family from our congregation for about a week while we were searching and we stored our stuff in another parishioner's barn. We signed a 6 month lease on a condo just before we left.

After a week here we flew up to Chicago for Matthew's ordination in Brookfield, IL. It was beautiful! So many of our friends and family came, even people that Matthew hasn't seen since he graduated high school. My only regret is that my whole entire family was there, we haven't been all together in awhile, and we didn't get anypictures of us all.

The next day we traveled with my family to visit relative in Nebraska and Iowa. We also visited our vicarage congregation, our midwife, and our chiropractor. We had such a great time. Some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles I hadn't seen in years.

Sunday, the 24th, we had Matthew's installation as Pastor. I was really pleased that so many of the pastors from the circuit came. Even some from North Carolina came. There were at least two that we already knew from seminary, and we met several others that I think will become good friends.

We moved into our 2nd floor condo on the 25th. It's really nice and actually quite big. We were really blessed to find it when we did. The lady who owns it was about to turn it over to realtors, which would have made the price go up. So, now we are all settled in. We had a house blessing this past Sunday and had several people from the church over for it. Everyone has been so nice to us. We've already had numerous dinner invitations and we go out to lunch with half the congregation after church. We are just so blessed to be here.

This is what I've been doing since October

Oh gee have I been bad. October? Wow! I did not know it had been that long! Well, to get up to date...

I continued with the homebirth group (party) at my house up until last month. I just kept forgetting to call people and let them know. We actually had quite a crowd, about 9 moms and 16 children.

For Halloween, Lena went as a pea pod. Mom had bought the costume last year on sale and Eli was a clown. I even sewed his costume all by myself! I know there were things that I messed up on, but it looked pretty great.

We spent Thanksgiving with my family and the week before Christmas with Matthew's. Then Matthew went on tour with the Kantorei to the Northeast.

Obviously, Eli turned two on December 7th. We had a little birthday party for him.

The beginning of this year was fairly uneventful. We did get to visit our friend Matt just before Easter. It had been go long since we had seen him last. After Easter Matthew went on his second tour with Kantorei to Wisconsin and Illinois.

Now we get to the really fun stuff. Most of my family came up for call night. We are going to The Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word in Florence, South Carolina! We are so excited! The church sounds wonderful and I've never lived in that area of the country so it will be a real adventure for me. We move on June 6th. (Yes, that's THIS Wednesday.)

Matthew was officially done with seminary on May 18. He rang the old Springfield bell with a huge smile on his face. I don't think that I've ever seen him so relieved! His ordination will be at our home church in Brookfield, IL on June 17. Drop me an email if you would like to come!

Lena had her first birthday just last week. We had a party for her as well. We tried to make it a pool party for the kids, but the weather got kind of nasty and rainy. Oh well, it was a lot of fun anyhow. Speaking of Lena, she is brilliant. (I write this as I listen to her scream because she doesn't want to go to sleep without me there.) She started walking at 9 months and is now running and talking. She says several words including thank you, baby, Papa, duck-duck, E-I-O, neh-neh (for nursing), and I swear she said downstairs today when I asked if she wanted to go downstairs. She even pointed! She has just started table food in the last month or so and still nurses frequently. :) She is measuring a little bigger than Eli was at her age, but because she is so active she is not near as chubby as she used to be. :( I'm so glad that she is a happy and healthy little girl.

Well, as I write Matthew is packing up this very office. (And Lena is once again crying because she wants me to come to bed too. Those of you who read this, I expect you to remind me to post if I haven't done so by July. This month will be very busy for me with moving, ordination, and installation on the 24th. Until then...