New Veggie tactic

Well tonight was a first - Emma was actually picking the red bell peppers out of her corn chowder to eat them first. The ticket - earlier she was holding the pepper before I cut it and giving it "hugs". When I placed that bowl in front of her to eat she said "Oh, the pepper is so nice for letting me eat it, thank you thank you pepper" and ate each and every piece.

So - in our house - we will be hugging our veggies before eating them from now on!

Such a silly girl but so cute.

Happy Valentines Day!

Baby Waller

Our parents have been anxiously awaiting two boxes coming their way and today they got them. Want to see what was inside?Well, if you guessed that its a baby boy then you are right!! We are so excited to have a little brother coming soon, we could not love him more. More importantly, he is healthy as can be and measuring right on schedule. It always blows me away to see God's little creation all perfectly formed inside. To see the spine, heart, to see him move around and those little fingers and toes wiggling, it is incredible. Emma got to come and this picture was the one that she really caught "I see his foot!" So cute!

So here is 21 weeks, getting bigger and feeling great! God is so good!

Finally did it.

I have been wanting to make our own laundry soap for ages and this week I finally did it! It was so quick and so easy. All you need are these ingredients and some water:

And after a little simmering and mixing you get about 550 loads worth of detergent! It made both of these plus one more jar, which has already gone over to wash its first load. I think once we are in our house I may have to buy some cute glass jugs to store it in.
So far the clothes came out smelling nice and fresh. I can't wait for Emma to get nice and dirty playing outside to see how it works on that. I love that it is all-natural, and I will add so much cheaper than buying! Finally - why did I wait so long to do this. Pretty sure we will not go back!

Birthday Party

Emma had such a fun birthday party - I could have put up so many pictures, but here are just a few.

Thank you to everyone who came out to make it a special day! Emma loved having all of her family there and some new special friends - thanks for making it feel like home!

3 years old.

Emma girl turned 3 yesterday. Sometimes its hard to believe, and sometimes I think she has been more 3 than 2 for a while. She is such a girl, just growing and learning more everyday! I was trying to think of some new things she is doing - talks all the time! She loves making up stories and having stories told to her. She can tell a really interesting story too, she's got her letters down and we are working on the numbers. The other day she successfully counted her crayons to 18 before going to "wamteem, emmateem, hallieteem" and continued on making up numbers with all her friends and laughing at herself. She is loving her dance class, she sings the songs all the time and is so focused during class. She has such a tender heart and has a hard time understanding when people tell her "no" or do not share, etc. We have had great teaching times working on her actions and not worrying about what other people do, but its what Emma does that matters. She has an amazing memory and I can't wait to really hone in on that with teaching Bible verses, its incredible the books that she will "read" perfectly from memory. She would wear a dress and play in the dirt everyday if we let her, and I love that! She still takes about a 2 hr+ nap everyday, she is like her mom- we need our beauty rest and apparently she wants a bison for a pet (you can tell we live in the country). She definitely knows what she wants and can understand so much around her, even adult conversations, that it can make parenting a constant fun challenge but we would not change her for anyone else! So good for me to write these things down before we forget what are little 3 year old is like, what a blessing she is!

And two pictures to show what a different a year can make:

2 years old

3 years old

Remembering His blessings

It is so hard to believe that it has been 6 months since we came to Deer Creek.

6 months ago we moved into here

and 6 months ago we learned about saying "Yes" to God, and "No" to many of our desires and longings. What a ride it has been! Sometimes it is unreal to me that we can be only 2 hours away from where we were yet life has changed dramatically. I will admit - more days than I would care to admit it have been hard and frustrating for me. I have spent many days not appreciating the place we have been given, but ready to have a house. But then when we take the time to step back and look at what God has done it is so so good.

What a provider! We have been given a safe place, rent free while we build our home. The ability to be here at camp has been so beneficial for Emma and I because we have gotten to know camp. This is our home, I can tell you where they keep the eggs, extra toilet paper, and Emma knows exactly where to get food to feed all the animals! It is such a blessing and so often I do not see it. As I was going back through a journal I found times when Matt and I prayed so specifically for this opportunity to be here - and here we are. God knew what He was doing - He still does!

Ps. 145.7 says "I will celebrate your abundance goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness."

I want to remember His goodness so that when I have a day that I am not thankful I can look back and remember. So that when I am complaining about a small place I can see His hand on it. So that I can look at other things that are more important. God is good - and we will live here longer - and are so grateful for it!