I don't want to forget....

AC has always loved drawing. She will usually ask for a piece of paper or one of my notepads so she can draw something. Up until a couple weeks ago, her drawings mostly consisted of scribbling. Sometimes she would draw a little and then tell me it looked like a particular letter or animal. :) She never intentially tried to draw something specific. Last week, we were taking turns on her easel. She would draw me a picture and I would guess what it was (which is really hard when it doesn't look like much!). Then I would draw a picture for her. Whenever she worked her on drawing, she'd ask me to leave the room. Then she'd call me when it was done. I was pleasantly surprised to see this on the easel when I came in. She announced proudly, "It's an octopus!" :) She's also started drawing people a little. We're working on the happy faces. Usually it's just a straight line for a mouth, but it's still cute! This was something she made at church a couple ...

Aubrey has a new favorite movie. She watches "Annie" at least 10 times a week and quickly learned the songs. :) She sings them all the time. It's pretty cute! I asked if I could make a video of her and she willingly obliged. Hope you enjoy!

Keith heard this sermon earlier today and shared it with me. I am thankful he did. Pastor John Piper does a great job teaching the verses in John 9. It's the passage where there's a blind man and the disciples ask Jesus who sinned: the man or his parents? I hope this sermon will encourage my friends who have children with special needs, as it encouraged me. Even if you don't have a child with special needs, I would say this sermon would be worthwhile to hear. Our natural reflex is to see people with disabilities and avoid. As believers, we're called to see and move toward them and show love. (It is about 45 minutes long so be sure you have some time to sit and listen.) Why Was This Child Born Blind?

I am honored to be a mother to these 2 beautiful girls. I am humbled that the Lord entrusted these 2 children to me. It is a huge task and not one to be taken lightly. I always wanted children. Kids make me laugh. I have always enjoyed being around them. I babysat a lot as a teenager and had a passion to be an elementary teacher for as long as I can remember. In all my experience though, I didn't think being a mother would be this difficult. Don't get me wrong, it's worth it! However, being a mom to a special needs child isn't easy. I thought our days would be filled with playing, learning, and enjoying life. In reality, our days are filled with taking EK to therapy, school, doctor appointments, running errands, etc. After a couple years of working with her, EK still doesn't play appropriately with toys and learning is not enjoyable to her, it's work. We do enjoy life together, but it looks much different than typical families. EK and AC have taught me so much. ...

I am a little behind in posting. We have been doing a few things around the house, like painting and installing new carpet. We didn't do the work, but it kept me busy. Now we have our house back to ourselves (and it looks a lot nicer!). This girl cracks me up. I'm not sure why she posed this way, but this is what I got! ;) She loved watching the eggs turn colors! She loved making the resurrection rolls. When I got them out of the oven and let them cool a little, I let her have one. She said "It's empty (b/c the marshmallow was gone) because Jesus is alive!" Amen sister! :) Easter morning

Oh. My. Goodness! I love trying out new recipes. I rarely bake much anymore though since EK can't have gluten (flour), dairy or egg. Plus, we rarely have company over b/c that's hard on EK. Easter at my parents' house was a perfect reason to make this cake. I don't know what everyone else thought, but my tummy LOVED it! (and it wasn't that hard to make!) Recipe is from Taste of Home's Simple and Delicious Magazine 1 package (18-1/4 oz.) yellow cake mix 1 cup water 1/2 cup sour cream 1/3 cup vegetable oil 3 eggs 1 teas. vanilla extract Filling: 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened 1/3 cup sugar 1 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed 3 cups fresh strawberries In a large mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into two greased and floured 9 inch round baking pans. Bake at 350' for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 min...

Here I am at 21 weeks. Quite the baby bump this early in the game. I always get VERY big, partly because I have bigger babies. EK was 7 lbs. 15 oz. (5 days early) and AC was 8 lbs. 14 oz. (2 2 weeks early). I am not hoping to keep my record going, which would mean earlier and a whopping 9 lbs. 13 oz!! I had an appointment with my doctor this morning. We had a sonogram at 16 weeks to try and find out what we're having. Baby Sanders wasn't very cooperative. It was hard to get a good view and the umbilical cord was down there as well. My doctor said he'd check again at this appointment. Today it was pretty clear that we are having a..... BOY ! We are really excited! Our sincere desire is for a healthy baby, whether boy or girl. However, now that we're fairly certain it's a boy, I'm excited for a new adventure! Our doctor was "pretty sure" at my 16 week appointment, so we've been calling it "he", "baby brother", etc. I just wanted ...