Absent

I know you, my readers (if you are still reading my blog after such a long absence) have probably been wondering where I have been. Well, I took an unofficial, blogging hiatus. I have not been spending much time on the computer over the past month and have been focusing my time and energy on my adorable little boy (who is almost 5 months old), my husband, and my home. It has been very good for me, and although I do intend on writing a little more frequently than every 6 weeks, I am also going to continue spending less time on the computer (or at least not more than I have over the past month).

In the way of news, Scott's book Swords of the Six is being released in just a couple weeks (you can pre-order for $9.97 from amazon.com right now). The cover is beautiful!

With Scott's book coming out, we are moving (again.. :) ) in with my parents. There are very few people in the world who we would feel comfortable moving in with for and undefinite length of time, and we are blessed that my family happens to be such people. We are very excited and can't wait to be all moved out of our trailer and settled in there.

Andrew is rolling all over the place now. I am most certain that he'll be crawling before 7 months. We go to the doctor's next week, and I am very curious as to how much he's grown since his last visit. In contradiction to my last posts, Andrew is still in some 3-6 month clothes. He is NOT in 3-6 month sleepers (those are 6-9 month), but when it comes to onesies, shirts, and pants, they are all 3-6 month. He also actually plays with toys now, and it is SO much fun watching him. He loves to be upright and so the Bumbo seat and Saucer seats/Walkers are our best friends. :) I have lots of pictures to post, but alas, I'm not writing from my laptop and don't have access to them at the moment. But hopefully soon!

And in case anyone was wondering, where I live, we have about 2 feet of snow right now. :)

Seven Sisters' Visit

This week we were so very happy to host our favorite family!!!!!!! You may remember the dear, new friends we gained back in December last year who quickly became like family! Well, they are on a trip along the east coast and of course, they had to come visit us!!!! :)

(Susannah and I)

We had so much fun! They arrived at my house just before 5pm on Monday. Andrew started getting passed around right away and he didn't mind it at all. At 7 we headed over to my parents house (where most of them would be staying) and had fun eating pizza, and my family got to get to know the family that I had been talking and talking about for the past 10 months! Trisch and my Mom knew each other, but the kids all got to get to know each other! :)

(Trisch and I)

Jessica and Leah came back to my house Monday night, although we didn't stay up extra late as it is very different having a baby. I didn't realize just how different it is, having a Little One that needs me constantly! But it is worth it! Of course, I had lots of eager arms willing to hold Andrew whenever they could, and it was so much fun watching everyone holding him.

I tried to capture the sweetness of Trisch holding Andrew. It's not easy capturing such things on camera, but I tried. :)

Me and dear Jessica! The first thing I thought when they had left was "we didn't get enough time!" But then, I don't know if we could ever get enough time!

My family came back from vacation the same day our company came and so they hadn't seen Andrew in a week which meant that Andrew had to spend time with everyone. :)

Here is Cassia and Andrew

Bekah greatly enjoyed holding Andrew as well, and Susannah was ALWAYS on the lookout for when she could hold him next! :)

Now we are back to no company (although only for 3 weeks as we will soon be hosting J.R. Parker) and I am trying to catch up on laundry (I have 3 loads of laundry to fold from this past week and just put another load in the washer) and cleaning (have only washed dishes once since Monday, and even though we weren't home much this week, dishes still piled up, not to mention the kitchen floor desperately needs to be washed) without pushing myself too much. I also had to go through a bunch of baby boy clothes as a sweet friend gave me a TON of clothes for Andrew which was awesome seeing as we had 2 outfits and 5 onesies that fit him and only a few outfits and onesies in larger sizes. Now we are set for the next year! :)

Tomorrow I am hoping to go for a short walk with Andrew, weather permitting (it has rained the past week except for Wednesday) and then we have a baby shower to go to for my Aunt. I have 2 new little cousins who will be 2 months younger than my son, which seems funny, but I'm sure that the 3 of them will have lots of fun together as they get older.

I am ready to start exercising in earnest now, but I still have to take things slow and easy for a few more weeks, so whenever I can, I am going to try and take short walks until my Midwife gives me the green light to really start exercising. It's not that I want to be obsessed with my weight, I just want my body to be in good condition. I know that if I stay consistent with taking care of myself now, then it will be much more beneficial in the long run.

On a completely different note, Swords of the Six is now available for pre-order on Amazon for only $10.19 This is being re-released through AMG Publishers and has some new material in it. If you go on over to Scott's Blog http://www.flamingpen.blogspot.com/ you can check out the different rewards/prizes for pre-ordering Swords of the Six!

Have a great weekend!

I Know Why The Angels Dance - A Review

The below was written on Saturday February 6, 2010

How do I write a review about a book I so thoroughly enjoyed without giving away anything in the story? That is the question I've been asking myself all day as I have pondered what to write in my review of 'I Know Why The Angels Dance' by Bryan Davis. This book is not what I expected when I first started reading it. From the first time I saw the cover several months ago, I knew that I wanted to read this book! I love all of Bryan Davis's books and I highly recommend any and all of them!

As I was saying, the reason that I don't know what I expected from this story is because I never read or heard a single line about it before I started reading it. All I knew was that it was the first book Bryan Davis wrote 13 years ago. Last night I stayed up until after 12:30am (keep in mind that my bedtime of late has been 10:30/11:00) as I was so caught up in my reading. I closed the book with just 13 pages left. I know, "why didn't I just finish it?" :) But as I'm sure you know, staying up so late is not good for a pregnant woman.
Bryan Davis has a great gift. I have never read a book with such well-written scenes that didn't just "sum things up." No, Bryan Davis put lots of detail in his book and did not handle anything "lightly" or with a "just imagine it" feel. It was a blessing to me to read this book, and I encourage each and every one of you to read it as well!

This is a good read for young and old. Be prepared to cry, because I guarantee you will! :)

I know that that does not tell you anything about the story itself, but I honestly believe that to tell the smallest bit of it would be a disservice to you. You'll just have to read it for yourself!

Happenings

It is now only 53 days to The Wedding. Much is happening. Scott has cleaned the carpets in the apartment (the pic's are still on my camera) and I have painted the living rm, kitchen and bathroom (with help from my lovely Aunt).

A week and a half ago my church surprised me with a shower, and as a result I have started moving little stuff over to the apartment. We were very blessed. We received lots of helpful, useful things. I can't wait to get everything set up.

My Grandparents were parked in our driveway the last 3 weeks and so my Mom and my Grandmother were able to get the bulk of the sewing done for the Bridesmaids dresses and the Flower Girl dress as well as alter my Dress. Now we're waiting on the rest of the trim to come in and for 2 of my girls to return home from College so we can finish all the dresses. They look beautiful.

I had a terrible cold/sinus infection over the past week, but the Lord helped me carry on and Scott and I were able to get lots of promotion done for the book as well as book several more events.

We have less than 8 weeks left to go, and we have much to do, but as we've seen up to this point, God has everything in His hands, and He will work everything out to the last detail, including work, the book, the Wedding, and after the Wedding as well. We know He is in control, and it is a blessing to be able to trust everything to His trusting, faithful hands.

The Book

Here is my very happy Man. Why is he so happy, you may ask? Because he received the long awaited, much anticipated, package today. What was in this package? The fruit of 5 years of time, work, and labor. I was nearly as excited as he was when we recieved the call on our way home from visiting a Library. And wouldn't you know, we got stuck behind a very slow mini van right after receiving the call, all the way home (of course, since I was driving, I decided to have a little fun and after pulling into his driveway, went very slowly for a minute, only a minute though, as I was dying to see the package too. :)). So, drum roll, please......

. . .

Here it is:

The proof is here! There is a great picture of it over on My Man's Blog. It looks great! As you can imagine, we are VERY excited!

And here he is, examining all his hard work and how well everything came together. :)

On another note: We got the keys to our apartment this week. I start cleaning with two of my closest friends on Wednesday (I'll try to remember to take out my camera). I can't wait! Right after we got the keys, we went to make copies so I could have a set. Naturally Scott had to put them on his key ring right away, and since it's *our* place, I needed to get my own set right away too. :) That night, after dinner we took our parents to see it. They thought it was "cute," "perfect for us." We're already trying to figure out where we're going to put everything. It is a lot of fun though, and thankfully we have a few months to figure everything out (although they are going to be very busy months, at that).