Lindsey’s Baptism

Today we had Lindsey baptized. I was trying to explain to the girls that it was a really important day. I explained that when we baptize babies, we are applying the promises that God has made to his covenant people. The parents are telling God and the church that they will teach their child to love Jesus. And the church is promising to come alongside and help the parents do this.

Mommy: We baptize babies to promise God and the church that we will teach them to love Jesus.

Amy: We love Jesus! You are doing a good job. :)

Then tonight I was praying with the girls and here is Natalie’s prayer…by my memory:

Jesus, thank you for Lindsey’s baptism today. Thank you that she didn’t cry. I am so glad that I got to see her get baptized. I promise, Lord, that I will teach her all about you. That I will tell her how you died on the cross for our sins. I will teach her to love you. I also pray that our church will teach her to love you too. Thank you Jesus for this wonderful day. Amen.

I

If you read my last post, you know that Nate was able to baptize our dear friends little girl, Ainsley.

It’s been five months…

Lindsey turned 5 months old last Sunday. She is a very happy content baby. People often say, “such pretty eyes!” or “is she always this content?” or “she looks a lot like Amy!”. She loves to smile, coo and talk to us. She has become a longer napper and goes to bed very easy. She still sucks her thumb and likes to chew on her tongue.

Tomorrow our sweet girl will be baptized…we do not believe that she is “saved” through this process but it is a covenant between us, our community, and God to raise her to love the Lord. Her best friend, Ainsley (3 months old) will also be baptized and Nate will be baptizing her. This is very meaningful to us as her parents are dear friends of ours. This will be the first baptism Nate “performs”.

In other news, it is hard to believe that five months ago I could barely walk from pregnancy and this morning I ran eight miles! Yes. EIGHT. miles. I started running in March to get into shape since I can’t go back to my gym until Lindsey is 6 months old (for her to go into the childcare there). I asked my sister to create a running plan for me. It was really tough the first few weeks, but I am actually starting to enjoy the running more. I have also officially decided to train (I kind of have been) for the Chicago half marathon in June. Dana and I plan to run it together. A month ago I really thought it would never be possible, but now I think I might be able to pull it off! I have also lost 25 pounds since January. The running has actually stalled my weight loss a bit, but I see a definite change in the muscle tone of my body. So, I have been working hard to take care of myself these past few months.

4 1/2 months

Lindsey is 4 1/2 months old now. She is a very happy baby unless she is hungry or tired. She is much more predictable in her schedule so it is easy to keep her happy! She loves to face out when you hold her, hold and suck on her toys, play in her excersaucer, smile and babble, and her new favorite thing is eating rice cereal! She loves to smile at her sisters and suck her thumb! We are so thankful for our baby girl.

Slow and steady…

I have been doing Weight Watchers since Jan. 8…and have lost 14.8 pounds so far! Plus…went down a size. I still have a long way to go to reach my goal, but I know that the best weight loss is slow weight loss. Nate has been very encouraging to me and my mom has helped by watching the girls twice a week so I can workout on their treadmill. So, slow and steady!

3 months old

Our little Lindsey is three months old. She loves to smile and look at her toys, has started sucking her thumb (our only baby to do this so far!), has her first cold, and regularly sleeps all night. She is such a sweet girl.

10 weeks old

Forgot to post pictures of Lindsey at 2 months…so here they are!

Lindsey continues to be a good baby. She is starting to take longer naps during the day, has an earlier bedtime (7!) and sometimes sleeps all night. She loves to smile at us and coo and talk. She loves looking at her sisters! She is now 10 weeks old and seems a regular part of our family. We feel very blessed for such a sweet girl.

Natalie turns 6!

Natalie turned six years on old on Friday, January 16. It is hard to believe that six years has gone by. It seems like just yesterday! She ended up not having school on her birthday because it was so cold. I thought she might be disappointed to not celebrate at school, but instead she loved being home with her sisters! We had a family party that night and then on Saturday she had her friend party. She really really wanted a roller skating party..so that is what we did. It was absolute chaos at the rink, but she had a great time and so did all her friends. Enjoy a few shots of our birthday girl.

sisters

Don’t these 2 look a lot alike??!!

Three girls definitely seems a little overwhelming sometimes…all the coming weddings, drama, and emotions. But we are so thankful God has blessed us with them. They are so much fun…and love to do so  many different things. Play Barbies, dress-up, play legoes, wrestle with Daddy.

Also…what a gift to have sisters. Amy and Natalie are best buddies and love to play and spend time together. We look forward to how Lindsey relates to them as she gets older. Right now she is pretty good about tolerating the smothering from Amy!

our answer to prayer

Nate and I have prayed many things for our three daughters. At the top of the list is that they would love the Lord and trust Him as their Savior. It has been neat to hear them retell Bible stories from church or ask us questions about Jesus, Heaven, etc.

Yesterday Natalie and I were working on her memory verse for Awana. It was “Jesus answered, ‘I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.’” Natalie was interested in what this verse meant so we talked about how the only way we can get to heaven and be with God is if we truly believe that he died on the cross for our sins and we are forgiven.

Amy overheard us and said, “I want to go to heaven, I don’t want to go to that fire place.” Nate explained that Mommy and Daddy were going to go to heaven one day. Natalie wanted to know how we were sure. So we explained that we believe that Jesus is our Savior and that he died for our sins. She says, “I believe that!” Nate asked her if she had ever told God that she believed that about him. She said she didn’t and wanted to know how to tell him so Nate explained that when we pray we are talking with God.

Natalie bowed her sweet head and prayed (from my memory!), “God, thank you for sending Jesus as a baby. I believe that he died on the cross for my sins and I am forgiven. I love you. In Jesus name, Amen.”

What a blessing to hear our firstborn daughter profess her love for Jesus. We will continue to pray for her heart and that she would desire to know and love him more.

my plans for 2009

Okay, I confess that I don’t like to make New Year’s Resolutions…because I tend to fail them before the end of January. BUT…I do like the idea of a fresh start and a chance to make goals for myself. This year I have a very big goal…one that is a long time coming…and just happens to fall at the beginning of January. I want to reclaim my body in 2009.

In the past 6 years I have had three children and survived cancer. And I am tired of the toll it has taken on my body…I am tired of considering myself to be “heavy”. This is a very difficult thing for me to openly write about in a blog…but I have a long way to go in my plan to reclaim my body…and thought blogging about it might help me stay motivated.

What do I mean when I say I want to “reclaim my body”? I would like to lose 60 pounds. I know some of you are gasping and saying “you don’t need to lose that much”…but I do. I am still carrying a lot of pregnancy weight so that needs to go, but I also had a lot of weight to lose before getting pregnant. Most importantly, I would like to lose the weight in a healthy way and keep it off. I am good at “dieting” for a few months and then finding an excuse to stop and putting the weight back on.

Don’t worry…this won’t be a dieting journal or anything. I just thought it would be motivating to blog about this goal. I’ll let you know how I am doing…but I won’t bore you with the details!

So…here’s to a healthy, happy, thinner 2009.