av is FIVE months (and one week)

I JUST realized I forgot to post about our sweet girls fifth month of life! WOW month five has been busy in little Averi's world...she is laughing and chatting it up more then ever...she is rolling over both from back to tummy and tummy to back, and she has got the "tripod" sit down- we are sure she will have the real sitting up down pretty soon! She sleeps from about 830ish til 630ish...sometimes she gets up a little earlier and sometimes a little later... she is still mostly breast fed although I am much more relaxed about the occasional formula when necessary and she is doing well eating rice... we plan to start real baby food next month!
What a joy it is to have your child smile at you and laugh at you. motherhood has been such a blessing to me, i would not trade it for anything! Kevin was laying Av down a little bit ago and I could hear him saying "I love you sweetie, daddy loves you" on the monitor how sweet and gentle he is with his daughter...she already has him wrapped around her tiny fingers! We are trying to break Av or sleeping in her "swaddler"... it has been an impossible battle so far, anyone have any advice?
Mommy and daddy LOVE you our sweet baby girl!

annoyed...

Life is always a fun busy in our home and today was NO exception! Most days I usually am caring for Averi and a little two yr old girl named Emma (who is a blessing to care for)...but three mornings a week I care for two sisters, Addison and Taylor (who are also a blessing)... Today is my longest day with the extra two kiddos watching them from seven thirty til twelve thirty. So I decided to head to the park with all four girls. We went nice and early so the park was almost empty... except for a lady with a WILD dog, the dog was not leashed and was running all over, jumping on me and the kids, and believe me, he was NOT a small dog. I held my tongue and watched my attitude as this lady virtually ignored her unruly dog as I played with the girls. Well, Emma tripped over her feet and fell, not a bad fall just a two year old stumble... she kindve whimpered but after a little encouragement jumped right back up and was ready to go! I thought nothing of it until this lady who can not even control her own dog says "well that's what happens when you have more children then you can handle, they get hurt." This lady assumed all of these children were mine and had they been I would have been VERY hurt by her comment... Man oh Man did God have to grant me a little grace because the comment had me rather upset! We left the park and headed home... I had almost forgot the whole situation UNTIL...
After my two extra kiddos headed home I gained two more in their place, my mom and dad are babysitting my nephew and asked if I could watch him for a few hours, which I was up for! I also have to work this weekend so I chose today to spend some time with my God daughter Alayna. So back up to four kiddos I headed off to Target. As I was unloading the kids (Averi was in her snugly carrier, Emma and Corbin in the cart and Alayna walking with me) a lady was waiting to park... she was watching the whole time, I didn't pay much attention to her...UNTIl I get inside and walk past her (all four children were behaving, and being quiet) she says to me " wow you have your hands full" which I smiled to and said "Sure do!" then she says "I do not understand why anyone would do that to themselves, or their children... so many so close together"! I almost died! Once again someone assumed that these were all my kids and made a hurtful and judgemental comment!
I know PLENTY of people have large families, and PLENTY of families who have those children close together and I can only pray to be half the wife and mother they are! If you ask me NO ONE has ANY business telling ANYONE how many children to have, children are a blessing straight from God and their lives should be REJOICED. I was proud of myself for keeping my mouth shut but I will admit it was HARD, I had no idea people could be so rude!

How can you look at these faces and think anything except for "what beautiful blessings?"

New niece or nephew

We have just got the new baby murphy number two is on the way... and I get to become an aunt, again... my sister thinks she is due in the begining of May... Please keep both her and baby murphy in your prayers...they are thrilled and so are we.


my sisters belly just before corbin was born...it will be a while before her belly gets that big again

Averi Noe'l

Kev and I have TOTALLY different tastes on names so when we picked Averi Noe'l (Noel is the feminine of my dads middle name) for our daughters name it was a final choice, no changing! After picking it we looked up the meaning and discovered according to one web site that Averi meant "elf" and Noel meant born on christmas... so our daughters name would mean and elf born on christams, funny as she was a spring baby NOT a christmas baby!
Well as much as I LOVE Averi's name I was not crazy for the meaning... So today I was looking up name meanings and found out that Averi does not only mean "elf" it means wise counselor... which makes sense since traditionally an elf was a wise counselor... so yea, Averi Noel's name not only relfects the day of Jesus' birth but it reflects our hopes that she will seek out wisdom from the Lord and be wise in the advice she gives!

Update

We are home from my aunts funeral, it was small but very pretty! As sad of an occasion as it was it was nice to see all of my family...including my sis who came from florida with her son corbin! Here are some recent pictures I have taken...they include some random family pics, pictures from rascal flatts concert I went to with my friend Sarah and this morning I got some cute pics of Corbin and Emma (the little girl i babysit) at the zoo!

Aunt Sandy

My Aunt Sandy or also known as Grandma sleeping (my moms sister) has been in a vegetative state since I was about three years old. She passed away this afternoon. She was a christian so we are rejoicing in her homecoming and are glad she no longer has to suffer through feeding tubes and other ailments but we are also sad she is gone from us!
As I said she has been in a vegetative state practically my whole life so I do not feel like I really knew her and yet I feel immense pain at her loss- I am sad because I never had the chance to fully know her and I am sad for my family that did and therefore feels the loss that much more. Please keep me and my family in your prayers as we travel to Jackson Ky for the burial tomorrow and especially keep my mom, her other sister and my aunts three children Dawn, David and Chuck in your prayers... they already lost their mother once eighteen years ago and they have now lost her again... I can not imagine their pain!
Thank you!

ENGAGEMENT!

Last night some great friends of ours, Shawn and Lindsay got engaged! Lindsay and I have been friends since we were fourteen and have seen each other through some great times as well as some rough times! She was one of my bridesmaids in my wedding and I am honored to be one of hers!
Shawns proposal was beautiful! He took Lindsay to dinner followed by a walk at Wildwood Country Club (a place they have often enjoyed walking together!)... when they got to a fountain he told her he wanted to talk about their relationship, but first he wanted to pray over it... so they bowed their heads to pray and when he said amen she opened her eyes to the love of her life on one knee holding out a gorgeous ring... he said all the mushy stuff... she said YES and in may they will become Mr and Mrs Shawn Vietz!
After the proposal shawn had all of their closest friends waiting in a limo to suprise her for a night of celebrating! We drove around in the limo for a while being silly and then headed to our condo for dessert! It was a night of great fun!
Join us in celebrating Shawn and Lindsay and the gift of marriage! But also join us in praying for them as they not only prepare for their sweet wedding day but also for them as they join their lives as one and strive to glorify God together!

A great picture

A friend of ours, Jennifer Miersma, took this photo of our family at our Sunday school cook out...it is one of the best family pictures we have taken since averi arrived! Thank you Jennifer!

WIND STORM

Yesterday a massive wind storm hit Kentucky... PRAISE GOD we are all okay! We are One of the only families we know who had no damage to our home and has had our power restored! Please pray for all the families who do not have power and have minor to severe damage to their homes, including my parents...they have A LOT of damage to their home including roofing being torn off and water damage both inside and outside their house plus they are still without power and because they live in the outskirts it could be up to two weeks before their power is restored!
Here are the two most recent news broadcasts as well as pictures from WHAS:
It could take up to two weeks to restore power to all homes and businesses in the Louisville area...that's the latest word from LG&E. The damage was even more severe than first reported. Power was knocked out to more than 300,000 homes and businesses during the height of the storm. That number is now down to around 200,000.
The damage is severe. LG&E says about 75% of its customers were left without power. There are 3,000 wires down and nearly 150 broken utility poles. With so many crews from other states helping out along the Gulf Coast, outside help won't be available right away. Kentucky crews have been called back from the area and will be in place by Wednesday.Statewide, power was knocked out to 550,000 homes and businesses (that includes the Louisville outages). Duke Energy had 90% of its 155,000 customers in northern Kentucky without power. Governor Beshear calls it the worst outage in the state's history. The total number of outages has been cut in half and now stands at around 275,000.
The Louisville Office of the National Weather Service says the winds that pounded Kentuckiana on Sunday were a direct result of the remnants of Hurricane Ike.
Scientifically, this phenomenon resulted from very strong winds around 3000-6000 feet above the ground. A low-level jet associated with and ahead of the remnants of Ike, being directed downward to the surface as surface heating (due to some sunshine) resulted in temperatures decreasing rapidly. That allowed winds aloft to mix down to the surface causing the strong, damaging wind gusts. This phenomenon typically is common with severe thunderstorms, although in this case, there were no thunderstorms at all associated with the strong winds.

Blessed be the name of the lord

I know I have blogged a lot today...Av had shots yesterday so she has slept tons today and the house was already clean so I got a restful day where I slept,visited a friend for about an hour and played on the computer entirely to much!
I also had some time to reflect! God has really been reminding me of how unappreciative I am of him and his loving kindness and steadfast grace! One of my favorite songs is "blessed be the name of the Lord"... Here are the lyrics

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name

I have had this song in my head lately and didn't know why until I started listening to the words I was singing God was using it to remind me to convict me a little! Like the first verse I find it easy to praise the Lord in times that are good, in seasons of life when everything is going well, when life is easy! Those are the times I reflect on how great our God is... but then when things are not so good...when we are worried about finances, when Kevin has to work more then I like him to, when someone is sick, when life is giving us a real beating I find myself forgetting how great God is... in those times I should be seeking him whole heartedly I don't instead I try to rely on myself, and at times have found myself angry and confused at our God for not allowing things to be easier! I am striving to be a person who praises God in good and bad! Blessed be his name... blessed be his glorious name!Let me leave you with another song! A song that I am praying God forms my heart to sing daily

The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

New camera

I have been wanting a new camera for a long time now and Kevin finally let me get one! It is a kodak easy share zd710

I have spent the last week taking picture after picture as I am learning the ins and outs of it! Here are a few of my favorites!