I have been a bit emotional lately, which might be an understatement. It probably doesn't help that a good friend of mine was blogging about a family she's been following that has had their shares of ups and down.
Their little boy (about 2 now) is battling neuroblastoma, which is there no cure for. They caught it when he was 13 months old and he was doing well, but then it came back. Right now they are fighting for his life... To top it off while they were fighting his cancer the first time they found out they were pregnant with twins. Unfortunately she delivered early and lost one of them, and the other one had serious complications. ::sigh:: :( :( I started reading their blog and was just completely overcome with sadness and grief for them. Even though they are an amazing family of faith and know that God is taking care of them each step of the way, I just couldn't help but think how would I handle this if it happened to Tristan? or, would my faith be strong enough like their's is? I have spent a good deal crying everytime I think of them, and everytime I do think of them I pray for them. The Dad blogged something very recently about how this blog isn't to get you to pity them, but to realize that our time here is so temporary and SHORT. To help people we come into contact with everyday and make this world a better place, especially when it means you have to sacrifice. Their story is a story of hope and how we should rejoice in knowing that Jesus has already paid the way for our exit out of this world. Now the question remains... What are we doing with this precious gift of time that He's given us?
I am praying that God will reveal what He wants me to learn from this and that I can get over my selfish little thoughts about how this story makes me feel sad. I hope that he takes my passionate Momma-love and is able to use it for His good and glory, and that I would be obedient enough to listen and do it.
JVG
Family photo Oct 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Each peach pear plum...
Today I was sitting on the couch and I started reciting one of the many books I have memorized of Bugga's... from reading them to him so many times. He had a different book in his hand at the moment and as soon as I said... "Each peach, pear, plum..." He dropped the book he had and walked over to his bookshelf. And of course what did he come back with? The right book. :) He is so smart and he amazes me everyday at how smart he is!
JVG
JVG
Sunday, October 24, 2010
God is faithful
So a few months ago we joined a life group. We signed up for young marrieds with young children... Well, that's not exactly what we got, but it is what we need :) Our leaders just celebrated their 22 wedding anniversary... so, even though they are young at heart, needless to say they are a bit older then we are. And the other couple in our group has been married for 11 years, with older children as well.
On their anniversary, Dan and Victoria (our leaders) renewed their wedding vows. I was lucky enough to play for their ceremony and to watch how God has shaped their marriage and has become the foundation of it. There was something that the Pastor said that I haven't really caught in all the other weddings I've been too... and he said, "Any marriage that GOD has put together, nothing can break it apart." Because some of our friends have gone through divorces already I was thinking, 'how can this be?' But unfortunately God didn't put those marriages together and they failed. There are so many marriages that seem like God put them together, but they're really what we wanted and haven't included Him at all. But it is a blessing to watch God work in their marriage and their lives :)
Another HUGE blessing is that they had to move out of the place they were renting. Their landlords have been awesome to them, but they haven't been able to pay rent for awhile, and another family was going to move in. So they were praying for a new place to live. At our church there is a prayer room that has prayer requests that people write down. They were in there praying one day and there was one specifically asking for help with their marriage. So they took that one pretty seriously and wrote down the names of the people and have been praying for them every since. Well... it turns out these people are the people that are moving into the house and they offered Dan and Victoria their old house rent free to live in! Crazy right?! huge answer to prayer. They have a place to live now, rent free, and they have been praying for these people for awhile now. Some would say coincidence... I say God's timing. Love it.
JVG
On their anniversary, Dan and Victoria (our leaders) renewed their wedding vows. I was lucky enough to play for their ceremony and to watch how God has shaped their marriage and has become the foundation of it. There was something that the Pastor said that I haven't really caught in all the other weddings I've been too... and he said, "Any marriage that GOD has put together, nothing can break it apart." Because some of our friends have gone through divorces already I was thinking, 'how can this be?' But unfortunately God didn't put those marriages together and they failed. There are so many marriages that seem like God put them together, but they're really what we wanted and haven't included Him at all. But it is a blessing to watch God work in their marriage and their lives :)
Another HUGE blessing is that they had to move out of the place they were renting. Their landlords have been awesome to them, but they haven't been able to pay rent for awhile, and another family was going to move in. So they were praying for a new place to live. At our church there is a prayer room that has prayer requests that people write down. They were in there praying one day and there was one specifically asking for help with their marriage. So they took that one pretty seriously and wrote down the names of the people and have been praying for them every since. Well... it turns out these people are the people that are moving into the house and they offered Dan and Victoria their old house rent free to live in! Crazy right?! huge answer to prayer. They have a place to live now, rent free, and they have been praying for these people for awhile now. Some would say coincidence... I say God's timing. Love it.
JVG
Lately
This past week I feel like we have been so busy! Bugga's molars finally popped through and he is getting another tooth on the bottom. He is doing really well with all his teething... there was just one bad night that he was in so much pain! :( We felt bad for him because he would fall asleep and then just wake up crying. But he's a trooper and is taking is like a champ. Unfortunately with all the teething comes some of the symptoms... not really eating a lot, and lots of poopy diapers! A praise though... we got another poop sprayer for his cloth diapers which has been a huge blessing. I know it's a little thing, but it's a big thing too. I didn't realize how awesome they are!
Friday we had a Dr's appointment to see how #2 is doing. Heartbeat is 151 :) and everything is looking good! I'm feeling a lot better physically... emotionally I'm still a bag full of crazy, but I am relying on God's strength to help out and not drive my husband crazy! He was very excited to hear the heartbeat for the first time. :)
Friday night we had a couple over from church for dinner. We do dinner with them once every other month. I went to high school with both of them, and they are a nice couple, our age, to just talk with. :) I know that they like coming over and playing with Tristan and asking us questions about being parents.
Saturday Gaetan's Mom came over and hung out. We had a lot of fun just chilling! We got sushi (yum! And don't worry I got the kind I can eat) and Bugga even tried it. It was DELICIOUS and hit the spot for sure. Then later that night we were in the church nursery. We only had 4 kids, including Bugga, but it worked out really well. Sometimes I worry about how Tristan will react with having another baby around, but he LOVES other children. In the nursery if one of the other kids was upset he would bring them a toy or try to rock them in their chair. Super cute right? And then there was a time I was watching somebody's 11 month old while Gaetan tutored the Mom and the kid really wanted some cheerios but couldn't stand up to get them and eat them, so Bugga fed them to him. :) What a lover. I am just under the impression that if we are excited for Bugga to have another sibling and that we get him excited about it then all should go well!
Life is happening quickly, but life is good.
JVG
Friday we had a Dr's appointment to see how #2 is doing. Heartbeat is 151 :) and everything is looking good! I'm feeling a lot better physically... emotionally I'm still a bag full of crazy, but I am relying on God's strength to help out and not drive my husband crazy! He was very excited to hear the heartbeat for the first time. :)
Friday night we had a couple over from church for dinner. We do dinner with them once every other month. I went to high school with both of them, and they are a nice couple, our age, to just talk with. :) I know that they like coming over and playing with Tristan and asking us questions about being parents.
Saturday Gaetan's Mom came over and hung out. We had a lot of fun just chilling! We got sushi (yum! And don't worry I got the kind I can eat) and Bugga even tried it. It was DELICIOUS and hit the spot for sure. Then later that night we were in the church nursery. We only had 4 kids, including Bugga, but it worked out really well. Sometimes I worry about how Tristan will react with having another baby around, but he LOVES other children. In the nursery if one of the other kids was upset he would bring them a toy or try to rock them in their chair. Super cute right? And then there was a time I was watching somebody's 11 month old while Gaetan tutored the Mom and the kid really wanted some cheerios but couldn't stand up to get them and eat them, so Bugga fed them to him. :) What a lover. I am just under the impression that if we are excited for Bugga to have another sibling and that we get him excited about it then all should go well!
Life is happening quickly, but life is good.
JVG
Friday, October 15, 2010
Amazing baby!
So as you know we've been doing sign language with Tristan. He is catching on so fast! Here are the signs that he already knows:
1.) Please
2.) Thank you
3.) more
4.) Milk
5.) eat
6.) Drink
7.) water
And the 'uh-oh' sign that Gaetan taught him... but I'm not sure how legit that is. :)
But in the last two days he's learned 3 more signs! The cutest one of all...
8.) I love you <3
9.) Play
10.) Avocado
He's been doing sentences with all the words that he knows. Like:
More milk please!
Please.... thank you!
He's SO smart. It is amazing to watch how his brain works and how quickly he picks things up! I usually have to show him something once or twice and hes got it down. Smart Boy!
JVG
1.) Please
2.) Thank you
3.) more
4.) Milk
5.) eat
6.) Drink
7.) water
And the 'uh-oh' sign that Gaetan taught him... but I'm not sure how legit that is. :)
But in the last two days he's learned 3 more signs! The cutest one of all...
8.) I love you <3
9.) Play
10.) Avocado
He's been doing sentences with all the words that he knows. Like:
More milk please!
Please.... thank you!
He's SO smart. It is amazing to watch how his brain works and how quickly he picks things up! I usually have to show him something once or twice and hes got it down. Smart Boy!
JVG
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Fall fun
This past Saturday we got to go to an apple orchard with Gaetan's Mom! It was a lot of fun and the weather was gorgeous. We thought that it would be a lot of fun for Bugga to pick out his apples, but unfortunately they had stopped that the day before... but there was still lots of fun things to do there! They had a petting zoo type thing, a two story slide, and other fun toys for kids to play on. Of course there was apple cider and donuts :) YUM!
The next day we took some family pictures! I have felt like a delinquent for not taking them sooner, but I really like the fall colors. I have seen some of the proofs already and they turned out super cute! Tristan wasn't about smiling a lot of the time, but we got a few good ones in.
This past week was quite a challenge it seems to a lot of people. I am thankful it is over and I'm thankful that it showed me how I can be joyful even when I'm not feeling happy. God is good in teaching us small lessons :)
JVG
The next day we took some family pictures! I have felt like a delinquent for not taking them sooner, but I really like the fall colors. I have seen some of the proofs already and they turned out super cute! Tristan wasn't about smiling a lot of the time, but we got a few good ones in.
This past week was quite a challenge it seems to a lot of people. I am thankful it is over and I'm thankful that it showed me how I can be joyful even when I'm not feeling happy. God is good in teaching us small lessons :)
JVG
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Crazy Love
So we are starting a new book at our church and in our small group. It's called Crazy Love. It's mostly about how crazy the love that God has for us and how we should love each other. Here's a video that is apart of the first chapter that i'm really enjoying. I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the book holds!
http://www.crazylovebook.com/videos_stop.html
JVG
http://www.crazylovebook.com/videos_stop.html
JVG
Happy life
It's been a little while since I've written! This week has been a little long for us. Gaetan was helping somebody with tutoring before he went into work so he's been up around 4:45 AM all this week. We're looking forward to the end of this week!
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find the dishwasher emptied! Normally I do the dishes and such around the house, but it was such a nice surprise to not have to. We are hosting our small group tonight so I was trying to get a jump on cleaning things up before tonight. Little things like this just remind me of how thoughtful and wonderful Gaetan is. He's been working so hard all week and to think of me early in the morning is just heart-warming.
More good news on the horizon.... Bugga has cut two new teeth. So he's almost in the double digits! I am looking forward to a little less drool and snot!
This morning while I was cleaning up a little I looked over and saw Bugga with a book open, and just babbling fiercly as if he was reading. SUPER cute.
I have also caught, as Gaetan calls it, the Equinox cleaning bug. Not spring cleaning... haha. We have lots of space that if I was efficient with everything would fit! So I have been organizing and LOVING it. :) I am loving the 2nd trimester already :)
JVG
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find the dishwasher emptied! Normally I do the dishes and such around the house, but it was such a nice surprise to not have to. We are hosting our small group tonight so I was trying to get a jump on cleaning things up before tonight. Little things like this just remind me of how thoughtful and wonderful Gaetan is. He's been working so hard all week and to think of me early in the morning is just heart-warming.
More good news on the horizon.... Bugga has cut two new teeth. So he's almost in the double digits! I am looking forward to a little less drool and snot!
This morning while I was cleaning up a little I looked over and saw Bugga with a book open, and just babbling fiercly as if he was reading. SUPER cute.
I have also caught, as Gaetan calls it, the Equinox cleaning bug. Not spring cleaning... haha. We have lots of space that if I was efficient with everything would fit! So I have been organizing and LOVING it. :) I am loving the 2nd trimester already :)
JVG
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Hard working Daddy
So I am currently sitting in an completely silent apartment by myself. Tristan has retired for the night and I'm waiting for Gaetan to get home from helping some friends move. I am so lucky to have such a considerate husband who is so willing to help out in any way he can! For instance...
We have been lucky that he's able to get 40 hours at work now. However, because he's the only guy that can really do organic chemistry the one-on-one tutoring office is trying to load him up with as many kids as possible. I'm sure that he can only do 40 hours a week, but I think they would work him WAY more if they could. But there is a guy who comes into the calc/physics lab all the time that wanted some additional help that was willing to pay out of pocket... so Gaetan discussed with me so see what I thought. His (Gaetan's) big stipulation was that he didn't want to stay later because he didn't want to take time away from being home... so what did they come up with!? 6 AM because Gaetan works at 8... ::shaking head:: that's crazy! I told him I hope it was only for this next week because he was gonna be tired real quick.
He does so much to make sure that we're taken care of. Last night I was SO hungry all the sudden but didn't really know what to eat or make... and since it was getting towards the end of the week groceries were running low. So he offered to make me something that was delicious :) Although I ate all of it (and the recipe said it was supposed to feed 6 people) I felt like a horker so my crazy self cried about it for awhile. Good thing I have a husband who is there to agree with me that I'm crazy but there is a good reason to eat until I'm full...
Love this guy way too much. God definitely knows my heart and my desires and He proved me with the best mate ever :)
JVG
We have been lucky that he's able to get 40 hours at work now. However, because he's the only guy that can really do organic chemistry the one-on-one tutoring office is trying to load him up with as many kids as possible. I'm sure that he can only do 40 hours a week, but I think they would work him WAY more if they could. But there is a guy who comes into the calc/physics lab all the time that wanted some additional help that was willing to pay out of pocket... so Gaetan discussed with me so see what I thought. His (Gaetan's) big stipulation was that he didn't want to stay later because he didn't want to take time away from being home... so what did they come up with!? 6 AM because Gaetan works at 8... ::shaking head:: that's crazy! I told him I hope it was only for this next week because he was gonna be tired real quick.
He does so much to make sure that we're taken care of. Last night I was SO hungry all the sudden but didn't really know what to eat or make... and since it was getting towards the end of the week groceries were running low. So he offered to make me something that was delicious :) Although I ate all of it (and the recipe said it was supposed to feed 6 people) I felt like a horker so my crazy self cried about it for awhile. Good thing I have a husband who is there to agree with me that I'm crazy but there is a good reason to eat until I'm full...
Love this guy way too much. God definitely knows my heart and my desires and He proved me with the best mate ever :)
JVG
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