prayers needed...

so, please pray for my family. seriously. Jason has pink eye and both kids have DOUBLE ear infections. We're flying THIS Friday. I'm a little nervous for the whole flying with ear infections. Not going to be super fun. Thankfully they'll both be on meds before the flight, but I'm still nervous. Please pray that their ears heal quickly and the flying will go smoothly...if not...I'm thankful that I will only see those people on the plane for the 2.5 hours of the flight! ;)

Slapped in the face...

have you ever had the feeling that you've been slapped in the face by God? This past week, God slapped me in the face. Those of you who know me know that I'm not usually an overly emotional person, but I've been rather "poor me" lately. I've been complaining that things never go "my way" and why things "keep happening to me". We've had issues with our insurance company after Neals birth, I had to go back to work earlier than I wanted, and Neal stopped sleeping through the night. Honestly, that's what I have been complaining about...

Sidebar: I'm an avid blog reader. I love reading blogs. I read random blogs about people that I don't know. People that I think are funny. I just enjoy reading blogs. When I was pregnant with Neal, I stumbled across this blog, My Charming Kids. She was pregnant at the time too and her baby had a heart condition while in the womb. She was told her baby would not survive. I feel as though I've walked this journey with her as I read her blog. I read about her fears and her peace with God. This woman has been a testimony to me about letting God take control and trusting in him. Then, a miracle happened. Her baby was born, perfect. It was amazing. He has been perfect for the last 5 months. Now, suddenly, his heart condition is back. He's not doing well. They don't know if he will survive. They can't get his heart to slow down, and it's starting to wear out. They are running out of options. Yet, this mother...trusts in God. Me? I haven't been able to trust in God for a simple insurance claim.

God slapped me in the face. It was as if He was saying "you're worried about this? Your little boy is perfect. He's healthy...he's the same age as this little boy in the hospital with a heart that beats too fast. His mother is worried if he'll live or not and yet, she trusts me." It was a brutal slap. One that brought me to my knees the other night, holding Neal crying. I deserved that slap. I needed it.

The story of this little boy, so close to Neal in age has really pulled at my heartstrings. If you are so inclined (and I have no idea who reads my blog) please pass the message along. Please pray with me.

I've been slapped and I'm good now. Thank you God for the slap. I deserved it. I've been reminded to be thankful for all the gifts I have been given.

Please pray for this family...

I don't normally do this, but this is a blog that I love to read. The story is a true miracle. This woman was told that her baby would not survive birth and he did. She was told her baby would surely die and he didn't. Now, he's very sick. They need some prayers right now. This is the link to her blog. Please read it and please pray that God will heal this sweet baby boy... thank you.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Babies don't keep...

today I had a realization as a mother. As I was trying to get all my stuff done around the house, I was running around thinking of all the things I had to do and I was so thankful that Arianna was sitting peacefully coloring. I was just about to go and clean the bathrooms when Arianna proudly called out "look momma, my picture is booful!" without even looking I said, "yup babe, it's pretty" and I went on my way. Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks and thought to myself, my daughter was just snubbed by her own mother! I turned to look at her concentrating on her sweet picture and I dropped everything in my hands, went and sat by her. She looked at me with her big blue eyes and said, "momma, I lub you, kiss!" (in Arianna language, I love you and I want a kiss). If I had kept doing what I was doing, I would have missed this sweet moment with my baby girl. Clean bathrooms aren't worth it to me...I would have missed out on this...

so, today I leave you with this poem that I read off another blog. There is nothing more rewarding than being a mom...especially when we take the time to enjoy it.

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth

empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

hang out the washing and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Oh what a weekend...

Jason had Friday off from school so we decided to head out and feed the ducks (and I got to do some shopping). Arianna loves feeding the ducks and loves spending time with her daddy even more, so it was the perfect day for her. It was beautiful out and we had so much fun. And yes, she's on a leash. :) She refuses to ride in a stroller anymore and when we're near water, she needs to be tied to us (mommy's rules)...so we bought her a leash. She LOVES it. She thinks she's big stuff being able to walk all by herself and we have the peace of mind that she really can't go anywhere. We just call it her backpack and she thinks she Dora. It's great.






On Sunday, Neal was baptized. It was such a wonderful day. Jason's family all came from out of town and for some of them it was their first time meeting Neal. Arianna put on quite a show in front of church. There were "rocks" out for our Easter scene and she kept trying to pick them up, shouting "daddy, look, rocks!" At least the people in the congregation thought it was funny! Neal did great. He was just perfect. It was such a blessing to welcome him into the family of God.


Neal with his biggest cousin on my side, Jackson. This "little" boy is such an amazing kid. He is so patient with all his baby cousins and he just LOVES Arianna and Neal. I can't wait until he gets to teach Neal all sorts of things. He's such a great kid.

My parents with Neal.

The ENTIRE Nikkel clan. By this time of the day Arianna had pulled her hair out of her pony and taken her tights off, but nevertheless, it's a great family photo. At least you can see all of us!

Neal with Uncle Joel -- first time meeting!

All the Nikkel grandchildren. Poor Jocelyn got the raw end of the deal on this one, trying to keep Arianna sitting still for a photo. Jordan had the easy job! :)

Neal with Uncle Joel, Jocelyn and Grandpa Nikkel

Here are Jason, myself and Neal with my grandma. It's so amazing to have her be a part of everything. She's 93 years young and it's so fun having her around.

Some of you don't know this, but Neal was named after my grandpa (the man married to the woman in the photo above). He was a great man and he passed away 5 years ago. My grandma gave me some of his possessions to give to Neal when he's older. The note in the box says, "Neal, these were my husbands, your great-grandfathers, and I thought you should have them. God bless, great-grandma." The item on the left is my grandpa's initial ring. There is a N in the center of the ring. The item on the right is his tie clip with a N. Such great gifts. We will cherish these forever!!!!

This last photo is just us getting ready for spring. Arianna is wearing her beach hat....we are all wishing for some warm weather soon!

We hope you are all doing well!

Neal's 2 month check up...

Neal had his 2 month check-up today and all was perfect! He weighs 12 pounds and is 22 inches long. The really odd thing is...so was Arianna. Their weights and heights were/are EXACTLY the same! Isn't that crazy? Neal had to get 5 shots today which was sad, but all in all a good appointment. I'll post more pictures soon. We've been busy!

Baby laughs...

Here is Neal with his sweet baby laugh... (make sure you turn off the music at the bottom of the screen to hear him!)