Pre-appointment pictures

I have my second baby appointment at the birth center today. I still have an hour to wait, so we took some pictures in the light of the open front door. The sun is shining, so that always helps, and Adelle is sporting the elusive and rare pony which is a highlight for me because her bangs are getting pretty long again.

I La Yoooouuuu!......Too!

Adelle's speech has taken off as she's been repeating everything we say. Every morning, she says, "Tiss," (kiss) and plants one on me, "Hug," and gives me a hug, and "I la yooooouuu! .....Too!" can be heard multiple times a day. When people leave our house, she asks for hugs and kisses, and she watches them all the way out to their car. A couple of times she's even said hug and kiss after they were too far gone and given the glass door a kiss and hug in their place. Every night Jesse works, she says, "BYYYE, DA-EEE!" over and over until she sees him pull away. Today she asked, "Tiss, babee?" so she hugged and kissed her baby sister or brother right on my belly-button, the only place she's tried to kiss the baby so far.

Besides talking quite a bit, Adelle has also been honing her "skills of an artist". When I draw a simple smiley face, she adds the nose, hair, and ears. If I add a stick body with a dress on it, she'll add the hands and feet. When I told her Parents as Teachers lady about it, she said that skill isn't usually developed in most 3-year-olds. Besides that, tonight she was able to paint in spirals. I think it was easier for her to paint spirals than draw them because she didn't have to use as much pressure as she turned the brush on the paper.

Offer Accepted!

Yesterday, we made an offer on a home in a cute neighborhood with enough space for our family and a good, solid foundation. Today, our offer was accepted! We feel beyond blessed and excited for this new adventure together.

We're praying

• that the Lord would build our house, even if the deal falls through for some reson and we can't end up getting that one.
• that our home would glorify Him.
• that we would be thankful to Him for everything that we have.
• that our marriage would only be stengthened through the trials of updating and repair work.

If everything goes well, we could be home owners by March 15th! Then, the real work begins... Maybe I'll post pictures of our updating projects. For now, we will just CELEBRATE!

Lately

Lately, there's been some anxiety here. We're looking at buying our first house, and waiting for our tax return to make an offer on the one we like. Add to the wait for the money the wait for the approval from the bank, and we're not sure if this house is going to stay on the market long enough for us. In addition to the wait, there is uncertainty. Uncertainty because it also needs some repairs - $5,200 of immediate repairs listed by the home inspection. And we're not sure if we have to have that money in addition to the downpayment, prepaids & closings, and reserves upfront, or if we can wait to get the tax credit to pay for some of it. That's some of what's been up with us of late.

In other news, we're expecting our second baby around August 22nd, so that's been exciting, exhausting, and everything in between. The great news is, I'm feeling wonderful 95% of the time now, and I got to hear the heartbeat on Tuesday, so its starting to feel more real. The weird news is that my uterus is measuring large, so I don't know what that means and probably won't for a long time.

The comforting news, lately, is that Psalm 18 tells us that God rescues us because He delights in us and He stoops down to make me (us) great. These words are comforting because I know that He loves intimately. He loves me enough to rescue me from buying The Money Pit or from worrying about the size of my uterus. When I seek Him and His truth, He doesn't just rescue me because its His plan or universal goal, He rescues me because He knows every detail about me and knows whats best for me and takes delight in me. Then, He stoops down, like a parent does moment after moment and day after day, to make me great. I can rest, like Adelle right now, because I know His plans are best for me. Whatever's going on with me lately, all I have to do is trust.

How do you measure a year in the life?

Measure in love. Seasons of love.

Merry Christmas!

We enjoyed reading Adelle the Christmas story out of her toddler bible. Then, she opened her Christmas presents, which were her first Cabbage Patch store-bought hair-extensions doll, the "If you give a Mouse a Cookie" stuffed mouse and matching picture book, and a cloth play food set with a hamburger and french fries. She immediately set about running around the house squeezing both the mouse and doll, save for brief pauses to feed them the new food. It was fun to see her excitement.
Today, we were stir-crazy with this blizzard keeping us inside. We put off getting together with Jesse's sister and family, and Jesse's mom came over to give Adelle her beautiful new "Time to Read" rocking chair with an attached bookrack. She loved it, of course. Now, we've got at least one more day of craziness, and then, its back to schedule for that girl. Napping until 6pm and going to bed at 11pm is a little wacky for a 1-and-a-half-year-old. Looking forward to tomorrow with my family and then things getting back to "normal"!
Merry Christmas!

A Year in Review

Here are some of the highlights in the Julian family for 2009:

• We started meeting with our lifegroup


• Jesse went from working at Wal-Mart to working at the Sheriff's Office


• We were on WIC at the end of 2008 and were able to get off after only 2 months
  
• Jesse has been kept safe and healthy for his 14 weeks at the KLETC, FTO, and solo driving


• We found out Adelle's kidney is doing much better than expected and is not expected to cause her any problems


• Adelle was constantly sick with ear-infections and breathing treatments in the spring. Then, she became healthy and has stayed healthy since taking her out of daycare


• Jesse's mom and Alicia's sisters were all baptized
  
• We've gotten to spend time with international students again


• Adelle has gone from just sitting up to running around, reading the words, "cat," "dog," "hi," and "baby." She can say, "I.... loooove..... you you you you you!" And she went the BIG one on the potty today for the first time since she was an infant. She also gets cuddly if you're waking her up, reading to her, watching her show, or putting her to sleep


• This year, we've been blessed to remember how has God carried us through, and we've been able to give more to others
  

Psalm 126:1-3

"When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tounges with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.' The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."