The Kellogg Family

Halloween 2011: School Party Rocker!

2011-10-31T19:22:00.001-07:00

Fae the rocker!

Fae with her OWL craft

Fae's parade!

Class of Characters :)

Halloween 2011: Faith was an Angel for Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

With Mommy

With Daddy

Angel Faith

With Gabba

With the Jeffrey Cousins! :)

2011 Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

Fae giving orders...

Fae painting her pumpkin

Fae scooping the BIG pumpkin

Fae with her finished "Punky"

Fae with "Punky" and "Pumpy" :) our pumpkins this year!

PASSED!

2011-10-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

We had our homestudy last night & were told that we passed & were good for certification...We just need to wait on a finished report & formal document then we will begin the process :)
It has been so much work but will be worth it soon.
Please keep us in your prayers!

I love SOUP!

2011-10-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Up working late trying to get us ready for this home study and a possible sale of our property soon....Recorded this on our family field trip day Monday, viewed again just now for smiles & thought I'd share. Hope this warms your heart as only songs made up by 4 year olds about soup can :) I really think it's catchy and am considering re-recording and sending to Campbells :) Enjoy!...uggg. so it's been an hour and I can't get it to load. Will try asking Josh tomorrow! :) Ok...I tried to download and paste it through facebook but with pretty strict privacy settings. Please let me know if you can view it!

Ahhhh Life...

2011-10-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

The short short version is...
We are super busy! I did update this page but have a ton of pictures still to get to. Right now we are in the midst of preparing for our home study to complete our foster care certification (less than 2 weeks now!) & also have put a bid in on a new house, so we are also preparing to possibly put our house up for sale & move...and work is busy. I've been working almost 40 hours a week recently with all the projects going on there...& Faith...Preschool is great but we have 2 field trips and a Harvest Party this month!
So...we are busy!
Hoping to blog this week or next of our adventures the past few months including our very short Erie--PA vacation, our trip to the Children's Museum,our trip to the Renaissance Festival, our Apraxia Walk (see blog title photo above), & our field trips to the fire station & the farm. Did I ever even blog about our family gatherings & Faith's birthday party this summer? Please pray for us that we can find some time to breathe over the next few weeks!
Hope to catch up soon :)

Aaron Shust - My Hope is in You - Lyrics

2011-10-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Long time no post...

2011-10-04T19:53:00.000-07:00

but...don't get excited...I've been too busy to post & still am. Hoping to get back to it to catch up with pictures and such before the end of the year! :)
Just wanted to post a song I recently heard that I really like...
Hope you enjoy!
Faith has been taking piano lessons...This week will be her 3rd lesson. We are trialing it for the month. She's requested to learn as she wants to be "a world famous piano player" one day. She's actually starting to catch on some already. So, we'll see what the recommendation is after the next two classes. She LOVES it though & looks forward to going...so, we'll probably continue regardless :)

Just passing along...

2011-09-01T02:08:00.000-07:00

Came across this devotional this morning & thought I'd share :)

"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin." Zec 4:10 NLT
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
Have you heard about the butterfly effect? In physics, it describes how tiny changes in initial conditions (such as the flap of a butterfly's wings) can affect weather thousands of miles away. Imagine-a fragile butterfly can alter weather patterns on another continent! Had it not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the weather system might have been vastly different. What can you learn from this? You may feel insignificant at times, as fragile as the butterfly. It may seem like you're just flapping your wings when you are standing alone for truth and honesty in the workplace or the home. You say, "What can I do in the face of a problem this big?" More than you think! Your faith, your words, your deeds, your prayers, your example, your kindness and persistence, can release the power of God and activate the forces of heaven to go to work in that situation. God loves to use things that we consider to be insignificant, like Moses' rod which parted the Red Sea, or David's slingshot that brought down a giant, or a boy's lunch that fed a multitude. Your flapping wings can initiate changes that will influence lives around you for all eternity. Jesus said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" (Mt 17:20 NKJV). It's not about the size of the seed you sow, but about the God Who can make it grow. It's not about the prayer you pray, but about the greatness of One Who answers prayer.

Lucky Duck!

2011-08-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

Faith and I were out on our fun "Mommy & Fae playday" today (we haven't been able to do one in a while) & she won 4 free tickets to the Aviary!
We had a great day together...We went shopping with Gabba, then to McDonald's by Faith's request (where we had both our lunch and a good time in the outside play area), then to the "build your own" frozen yogurt place, then back to Gabba's, then off to mommy/daughter haircuts...It was here that we heard our local Sonic and one of the radio stations were giving away prizes...So, we headed off to Sonic after our haircuts to try our luck. Faithy spun the wheel & we won 4 tickets to the Aviary. What a Lucky Duck (pun intended)! So...a trip should be in the works there soon. It's soooo funny because while at McD's today, Faith complained about some of the kids being loud and scaring away the birds while she was "trying to birdwatch." ;) It was a good day...I wouldn't normally blog so quickly about a day's events like this, but while at the Sonic (after Faith won a prize)...They requested our picture be taken together...So, if you see us in a promotion - Please let me know!!! Especially since I was not wearing any make-up today! Won't make that mistake again on a "Mommy & Fae play day" ;) Have a great weekend!

Childhood Apraxia of Speech Walk

2011-08-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

Please consider helping me raise funds for better awareness, education, & treatment for children who struggle with Childhood Apraxia of Speech! Childhood Apraxia of speech can be a debilitating disorder for children, significantly impairing their ability to communicate their thoughts and feelings with their family and friends. Some children are so severely impaired they do not begin to speak until they are school-aged, others require devices to speak for them into adulthood, and many require intense speech therapy services for years to be understood clearly and without struggle. Please help & make a difference :) For my speech kids! I am participating in a 5K Walk this September 24th...Please check out my fundraising page below!
Thanks,

http://www.apraxia-kids.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=479480&supid=330973563

A Quote

2011-08-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

Just came across this early this morning & thought I would share. Looking forward to being able to say this years down the road if my Faith should ever ask me :)

"When I'm older,
And my daughter asks who my first love was;
I don't want to pull out an old photo album
-I want to be able to point,
And say 'he's sitting right over there'."

Still LOVE :)

2011-07-31T19:40:00.001-07:00

We heard this today while out at a corn roast...and well, Josh didn't want to dance with me in public ;) So...posting here just as a reminder that I still do "Love The Way He Loves Me," even if it doesn't include dancing in public ;)
This was the song we shared our first dance as a married couple to - feeling a bit nostalgic today-

Sweety sweet sweet sweet sweet...

2011-07-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

I know,I know... the pictures are coming! But not tonight, I have reports to write still for work and shouldn't even be blogging, but I just had to share the sweetness that is often [not always mind you...she is human after all:)] Faith. I came home from work tonight to Faith excitedly showing me two pictures that she had drawn on two seperate sheets of paper. She hurriedly turned them around and a frame outline was drawn on each of the backs of the paper. She then told me that she left the backs blank for her "sister" to be able to share the paper and draw inside when she comes. Just thought it was so sweet that she too is getting excited about having a new child in our home with us (even if it may end up only being a short while)...and that she is wanting to share & already giving some love away along with her material possessions. I'm proud of you Faithy & love your sweet heart very much!

Catching UP but not Catching our BREATH!

2011-07-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

So...to say we've been a little busy would be an understatement :) But...We are doing well. I'm hoping to post pictures (I know I keep promising) after we get back from Shinglehouse tomorrow. We will be heading up North a bit just for the day to visit with the Kellogg clan for the annual Kellogg-Danforth family reunion. We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone!
We were recently, just a few weeks back now, able to see Josh's parents and celebrate both Faith's as well as his Mom's birthday together. It's always so nice when good weather comes to be able to see family a bit more :)
Faith had a great birthday! 3 Birthdays to be exact if you ask her - 1 celebration with Grandma & Grandpa Kellogg before her birthday - 1 celebration on her birthday with Mommy, Daddy, and Gabba - 1 celebration after her birthday with family and friends! We had a great time at all 3!
We were super busy in the weeks leading up to Faith's birthday(s), completing projects around the house & have stayed busy since, taking classes. For those of you who don't know, which are many, Josh & I started the process to become certified foster parents in PA. We've been taking classes all month in order to complete the requirements (about 24 hours total). There has been a TON of paperwork in our down time to complete as well. We finish our final group study class on this coming Tuesday. We hope to have our paperwork done by the end of the week...then just one more full day training class and a home-study & hopefully we will be certified. As we have to wait on clearances, we are expecting to be cleared and ready for a referral by the end of August/beginning of September. We are excited to start the process that we've been praying about since last October! In class this week, the branch Director of the foster care agency we will be working with told us that they are now turning kids away for lack of families...so we are hoping to become certified as soon as possible and are excited about this opportunity to minister within our own community to those who are neediest and most vulnerable. So...the dynamics of our little family may be changing very soon! Both Josh and I definitely feel as though we were called to do this as a ministry, so we are actively praying for God to equip us and lead us as only He can. Please be praying for us too, Faith as well. And, please be praying for the children in the system. We've just started talking to Faith about this process and been praying daily for the child(ren) whom God will entrust us to care for. We've been praying for their protection, peace, comfort & the presence of God's love in their life before they even come to us. The few stories we have heard so far are just heartbreaking...but there is HOPE and POWER in HIM :)
I don't know that I've said much about "how" we started down this path...but, I feel as though I should, as it's not unlike the post below this that I just made for Faith's birthday.
Last October, I had another life changing, "experiencing God" moment in being with my grandmother in her final days and even just an hour before she passed away. Suddenly, the realization of the brevity of life and the importance of our time here really hit home and I began to spend a lot of time in prayer asking God about His plan for my life, feeling Him laying on my heart the need for me to serve Him more in the time I have here. Although, I was secretly hoping for something "easy" up at our home church, I kept praying and heard "foster care." Now, Josh and I had thought of this before Faith...but not since & life is hard and busy! But again he told me "foster care." He spoke to me that He had given us our struggles with Faith's eating in preparation of teaching us the patience we would need to be able minister to children in foster care. He told me that he would be healing her of her feeding issues to allow us to become a part of this ministry now. That this was His life ministry for us & that He would bless us richly as a family." Well...Faith gave up baby food and began eating solid food within a week or two of me hearing God's voice, so I finally broke down and told Josh...I was so worried about what he would think as raising Faith has been hard! He was wonderfully supportive as usual and we began praying for God's will and direction together. I again asked for a sign from God as I was really afraid of trying to manage both Faith's still continued needs (even though she was eating...they were many)and that of another needy child in foster care. I didn't want Faith's care to suffer because I wouldn't have the time to spend with her that she needed. Well, within days of that prayer, Faith began to be open to trying new foods & expanded her repetoire and comfort by leaps and bounds, and I got a call from a Christian foster care agency as a random follow-up from a conference in the Fall. I didn't need anything more & signed Josh and I up to explore classes through the same Christian foster care agency. As we've continued to pray and attend classes, Josh has told me that he also now feels strongly that this is the ministry God has intended for us. It has been amazing to see the skills that we have indeed learned by raising Faith are the same skills we need to be successful foster parents. So, that is what we are hoping and praying for now. We definitely will have our work cut out for us, but we feel confident that this is His plan and He is with us...We feel so blessed to be able to start on this journey soon! Thank you to those of you who are supporting us with recommendations for the agency, and those of you lifting us up in prayer. We will need it! Again, we are only at the beginning of this journey, but if you would like any information on ministering in this way as well, particularly in PA, please let us know. There are so many children in need of safe and loving homes! Hope to post more soon...Just wanted to update those of you who follow our life, because it will be changing drastically soon! Please continue to keep us in prayer :)

Happy Birthday to my Baby!

2011-06-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

Faith is FOUR this July 1st...tomorrow morning! Love my girl :) 3 has been my favorite year so far. What a year! This will be our first year eating cake for her birthday EVER! She has come so far. We are so proud of her :) Hope to post more after her Birthday! The next few days are all about celebrating her. As it is with tradition now...I'm re-posting her birth story. God is AMAZING and we are thankful EVERY DAY for the gift he's given us in FAITH! :)

Our Baby is already 4 today & I can't believe it! What a joy she has been these last 4 years & what a reminder every year on her birthday of how precious it is to be able to have that time with her. I'm always more emotional around this time of year due to the circumstances and trauma surrounding her birth, and I don't know honestly that it will ever pass, but I am glad God allowed us to experience all that we did from her conception to delivery. It has really allowed us to gain perspective regularly on what is truly important. Her name could not fit her better :) I've reposted her birth story below as a testament to God's presence in our life and the peace we find in having faith in Him. He is alive and still working in miraculous ways. I pray that you will find this too if you have not already! if you are searching...I would love to talk with you.

This is really a LONG story, but we will try to keep it short.
It started with Jackie sharing how she "experienced" God after having suffered a miscarriage. Jackie shared this story with our church family in a presentation back in late October, beginning of November 2006. During that weekend, she as well as the other members of our Drama Team spent a lot of time in prayer. Our Pastor even took time out to gather everyone together on that Sunday morning to say a special prayer for us. We had found out the first time we had gotten pregnant, on our Wedding anniversary, after over a year of trying. We then had a miscarriage shortly thereafter. We had been dreading our anniversary coming up in the next few weeks in mid-November. Through all the time in prayer that weekend of the presentation, Jackie heard God tell her that we would get pregnant again that day and that He would reveal it to us on our anniversary again to restore the joy of that day to us. Well, we didn't say anything to anyone but took a pregnancy test a few weeks later on the morning of our anniversary and it was positive! What was especially amazing to us was that when Jackie went to have bloodwork done at her doctor's that same day, the results revealed that we were indeed pregnant, but the nurse said she thought we were too early to have gotten a positive on an over the counter test. We, of course, knew it was God.
Well, over the next few weeks and months, Jackie had countless complications, sickness and the threat of another miscarriage when she had hemorrhaged at 7 weeks. She was at the doctor's, at labs or in the hospital almost every 2-3 days. Then at 16weeks when we thought things might start looking up, Jackie had some bloodwork done that indicated a 1 in 9 chance of our baby having Down's Syndrome. For her age (30) our chances should have been 1 in over 600. We had to schedule an in-depth ultrasound at 19 weeks to determine further if our child showed positive for the Down's. We spent those two weeks in continued prayer, as we had throughout this pregnancy thus far. One evening, Jackie felt compelled to read I Cor. 13 and spend a few hours in prayer to ask God to help us to love this child and provide what this child needs without any condition. Again, Jackie felt God speak to her that He would heal our child and there would be no indication of Down's when we went for the ultrasound. He told her that we would be having a baby girl and needed to name her Faith because that is what He was trying to teach us through all of this, to grow our Faith in Him. Well, we went for the ultrasound and they couldn't find anything related to Down's but they did find that we were having a girl. She's been Faith to us since she was 19 weeks. Well, our complications just continued with orders for bedrest and constant trips to the hospital and doctor's. Jackie suffered from anemia which caused heart complications. She also had to deal with high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, and the list just goes on. On June 29th we went in for an ultrasound and Faith's fluid levels were dangerously low and Jackie’s blood pressure was creeping up, so we stayed at the hospital as they decided to induce (3-4 weeks early). The doctor there told us Faith wouldn't make it even a few more days in utero. After 2 days of induction (46 hours of labor), Faith was born on July 1st, healthy and strong and showing no signs of a syndrome or complication. However, the doctors could not get Jackie’s bleeding to stop. Her blood pressure dropped significantly and she began to black out. Finally, the staff at the hospital was able to get her pressure back up and Jackie began to come around. She was then taken to the operating room to try to get things under better control. After 2 operations over 2 days, a blood transfusion, and almost 5 entire days in the Labor and Delivery Unit at the hospital, we were finally together as a family. God proved himself to be faithful to His promises, although it took a lot of FAITH on our part.

Please feel free to share our story with others you know who may need some encouragement and support the same way we did while we were going through so much. God is a God who talks with us, provides for us, blesses us, sustains us and grows us. We are just amazed daily by the blessing of our little girl, Faith Kristina Kellogg. We know it was God who blessed us with this miracle and are thankful that we endured all we did for the sake of growing our faith. We wouldn't have changed any of it. We are grateful to Him and wanted to share the "short" version of how we’ve been blessed by God. Hoping that He greatly blesses you too in the years to come!

*happy birthday love bug :)

It's Friday & We are looking forward to the WEEKEND!

2011-05-27T04:07:00.000-07:00

We soooooooo EXCITED! Looking forward to seeing my nieces in NC this weekend! Love you girls :) Faith says, "Let's Party!"

Last Days of 3s

2011-05-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today was Faith's official last day of preschool for the year. We ended it with a picnic at the playground with the rest of her classmates/schoolmates. She had a great time! :)

Faith with her teacher, Mrs. Kline

Faith with her teacher, Mrs. Gordon

Well...Faith has officially graduated from her first year of preschool. I told myself that I wouldn't cry on Tuesday dropping her off, but I did :( It was with mixed reactions that we finished this year. She had such a good year, I just hated for it to end but I am very much looking forward to the extra time I get to spend with her over the summer months & surprisingly, tonight, when we talked about no school tomorrow, she was excited to just spend some time with Mommy too. She has loved her classmates and her teachers this year and has had so much growth that she's hardly a baby any more. So...it was bittersweet as is just about everything with childhood I would imagine. You long to see your little ones grow but miss the days behind you too. We are looking forward to the experiences we will gain next year in our 4s program but will sorely miss the fun of this past year. We did get a DVD picture collage memento from the school that Faith has enjoyed watching multiple times already. Those of you close to us will see it at some point I'm sure, as Fae is very excited to share it :) We had her school picnic today & had a good time playing with the other kids at the playground. I've included some pictures of two of Faith's favorite people, her teachers from this past year :) These were taken today at her school picnic.

Dancing in the Minefields

2011-05-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

I really liked this song when I heard it recently...so, sharing. Lots of love and gratitude to my dance partner these almost 8 years now. Looking forward to continuing the dance through all of life's trials in the future too. Love you, Joshy!

Easter Pics & Easter Trip!

2011-04-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

We had an absolutely wonderful Easter! We traveled up North a bit to visit with the Kelloggs and had a great time! Faith really enjoyed getting to see everyone again. It was so hard to leave! We love you and miss you all already but keeping you in constant prayer and close to our hearts.

Faith in her Easter best with her goodie basket!

Faith & Daddy...what a cute couple!

Faith's first driving lesson from Daddy in her Jeep!

Faithy driving solo!

Faith with her cousins: Christian, Taylor, & Aaron!

They had a great time together :)

Easter Pics & Easter Trip!

2011-04-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

The girls! Faith & Taylor

Faith & her Grandma!

Faith & her Grandpa!

Faith & Uncle Laurie & their hats!

Daddy with Faith, Grandpa & Grandma!

Jeremy Camp - Jesus Saves Lyrics

2011-04-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

We will be with family most of the weekend so thought we'd wish you all a very happy Easter now! :)

Easter FUN!

2011-04-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

You can see from the pictures below that we had some fun dyeing Easter Eggs this weekend! Faith also finally got her jeep! She's been doing so well eating that we let her have her reward for trying new foods and eating like a big girl! The battery needed to charge, so she hasn't gotten out to ride it yet, but enjoyed just hanging out in the driver's seat yesterday! I think driving it will continue to be a big incentive for her too, just getting a chance to sit in it was :)

Word of the Day Daily Devotional

2011-04-12T21:30:00.001-07:00

"Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Ro 12:2 NKJV Spiritual Growth Are you wrestling with a personal problem, thinking, "If I can just overcome this I'll be okay?" Well, there's good news and bad. The good news is, by God's grace you can overcome it. The bad news is, when you've overcome this particular problem, another one is waiting to take its place. You're always going to be working on something. Spiritual growth is a work in progress. And it doesn't come through human effort, self-condemnation, or the white-knuckling works of the flesh. It comes as a result of spending time in prayer and having your mind renewed daily by His Word. As you agree with God, believing what He says is true, change automatically happens. You start to think differently, talk differently, and act differently. Be patient with yourself; it's a process that develops in stages. Would you think there was something wrong with your child because they couldn't walk perfectly on the first few tries? No, you're delighted each time they take a step. When they fall you pick them up. When they mess up, you clean them up and encourage them to try again. You never stop working with them! And God does the same with us. He's not angry because you haven't "arrived," He's pleased that you're pressing on, endeavoring to stay on the path. It's God's job to "cause [you to] be governed by the Holy Spirit" (2Co 3:8 AMP). If you could do it by yourself you wouldn't need Him. So instead of driving yourself harder and harder, start leaning on God more and more and you'll "go from strength to strength" (Ps 84:7 NIV).

Catching UP

2011-04-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

Well, It has once again been a while since I've blogged or since I've really had time to blog. Faith has been sleeping in for a while now today...so, I thought I'd take advantage of the quiet time by catching up. I've been so busy with work this last month, I've been managing most of my free time to do special activities with Faith during the weekdays and spend undivided time with her and Josh on the weekends. Faith is doing so well! When I have time to do a special activity with her (once or twice a week) we usually include a lunch meal out at a restaurant at least one of those days. She's only attending therapy now once a week! So, I've been taking that extra time to improve her dining out habits and increase her comfort level & she's been doing great :) We've found foods almost anywhere locally that she'll eat...spaghetti, mashed potatoes, mac 'n cheese, grilled cheese...typical kid stuff! We've also been frequenting our local Giant Eagle regularly together to rent a special movie, look and talk about all of the foods, and enjoy our free cookie while we shop :) Yep, folks! My child will sit in a shopping cart now and eat a cookie!!! We've been doing this for a few weeks now & she just ate her first cookie at preschool yesterday for snack too :) We've been baking them regularly here too (which is totally killing my diet at this point). It's so nice to see her just hold a cookie like a big girl and take bites out of it though. Since she's been doing this at the store and home the last few weeks, we've started incorporating it into a cue for her to eat other foods this way too. I am proud to report that since last weekend we are now eating toast "like a cookie" and eating cheese "like a cookie" too! It is so much faster & more convenient then chopping everything up into little pieces. We can get her to try just about anything now (meats are still a bit tough) as long as it's initially presented in smaller bites. We're still having some trouble with her feeding herself newer foods independently, but she is usually more open, willing, and able once she has established a comfort level. We still aren't really there with her doing that at restaurants, which is one reason I'm working with her in that venue. She's also not had a lot of practice yet with this and she gets hung up on bite size when she self feeds. This is not quite as much of an issue when we are feeding her though...so, bite sizes as a whole are improving too! She also has some difficulty with utensils due to lack of practice. But she has gone to a drop-in child care center at a local church a few times now over lunch when I've had to work and eaten everything I've sent completely independently and in a group of unfamiliar kids! Social eating is also improving :) I was just telling someone the other day too, how thankful I am that Faith has had the feeding issues she has. Again, this is one of those things that you don't see so much while you are going through a trial, but as you are coming out of one you realize how much it has taught you and what a blessing it really was. If we had not experienced this difficulty in parenting our child, we would not have gained the patience we needed and would not nearly have appreciated what we have now. I really believe we would've taken the "normalcy" (or close to it) that we are experiencing now for granted. It's not hard to raise one child who doesn't have any serious issues! Now I see how parents can manage more than one! :) It's also assisted me tremendously in my profession. I can better relate to my clients and their families, having experienced this whole process with Faith. So...this trial has definitely been a blessing :) We still have some way to go. We'll keep participating in therapy weekly the next few months, then one last round of food group through the summer and hoping/planning for discharge from services after that! At that point we may start speech therapy...but, I'm still giving Faith a little time and maybe some direct instruction from Mommy first :) Hoping that some of the things she is doing now, she will outgrow by 4 years. All else is going well here. We are all healthy at the moment at our house. Praying it stays that way too! Faith and I (maybe Daddy too) are attending an Autism fundraiser up at my work tomorrow morning. They are throwing a Spring Party and the Easter Bunny is supposed to be there! Should be fun :) We are also planning a much overdue trip up to visit Josh's family for Easter and are excited about seeing everyone! Hope to post before then...but, if not. Have a blessed Easter!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2011-03-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post a Birthday message for Daddy!
We love you!
Faith and I stopped at a "paint your own pottery" place right up the road from us Friday to create a "personalized" birthday present from her (see picture at top of blog). Daddy is also getting a kinect :) We are looking forward to fun times ahead with that.
Presently, we all are sick...especially Faith, but we have still had a nice celebration of Daddy this weekend. Thanks to those of you who had shared Birthday wishes with him :)
Love you Josh!

PRAISE!

2011-03-02T04:52:00.000-08:00

I don't have much time, as I have a ton of things I need to do before I work this afternoon, BUT...

I just had to post a blurb about the huge PRAISE we had to give last night! Actually, over the last week or two, Faith has been doing just great with her eating. She has been consistently trying new foods for us daily with little to no difficulty. What had gone from shear defiance, to several hours of efforts, to under an hour of effort, to several "time-out breaks," to "one break," is now a few minutes of discussion at the dinner table over the last few weeks :) Let me tell you how much easier and more peaceful life has gotten to be at the Kellogg house! Over the last week in particular, Faith has been trying and requesting new foods from us, almost 1-2 daily, there have been too many to even keep track of! Last night was the best meal by far, however. Faith has recently tried chicken & mashed potatoes again with success, but we also introduced peas & dinner rolls last night. She ate every item on her plate. It was so wonderful to cook one family meal & have everyone eat the same things together! This was really her first "whole meal" together with us as a family. She's eaten "parts" of our meals lately, but never everything we've had. It was great to be able to introduce her to numerous new things in one sitting and have her partake! :) Just had to share. Her bites are still smaller and length of time spent eating is still long...but that is nothing in comparison to what she is now doing! :) So happy, just had to share our praise with you all who have lifted us up in this area! I think we are just about there with eating :) Praise God for his goodness & providing us with those so instrumental in helping her, as well as providing us with the patience to persevere!

Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes

2011-01-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

Word of the Day's Daily Devotional

2011-01-19T08:47:00.001-08:00

Hope to post about our Christmas soon! :)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011
"But if it dies." Jn 12:24 NKJV
Have You Found Your Reason for Living?
One day a depressed woman jumped off a bridge into a river. Without thinking, a man standing nearby jumped in to save her. But "our hero" suddenly remembered that he couldn't swim, so he started thrashing around and screaming for help! Hearing his cries, the depressed woman swam to his rescue, hauled him out, administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and saved his life. What happened? She found a need greater than her own, and in so doing she found a reason to live. Jesus said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies [to self-interest], it produces much grain." Christ had just gotten through saying, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing" (Lk 12:22-23 NKJV). Career success and material things cannot be your reason for living! You need a larger purpose, and God will give you one if you ask Him. Some of us are born knowing what God has called us to do in life; others discover it along the way. Some of us actually find it in our closing years. Indeed, some of us are awakened to it by tragedy and loss. What matters is that we find God's purpose and pour ourselves into it. Helen Keller wrote, "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which God has opened for us." So, have you found your reason for living?

Winterberry Cookies :)

2010-12-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd post a few pics of Faith & my adventures making this year's cut out sugar cookies! We made Grandma Kellogg's cookie recipe. They are the best around! Faith was very insistent on using her Strawberry Shortcake cookie cutter she got out of a Happy Meal a while back though...oy! no Christmas cut-outs this year :( "Winterberry" cookies instead as we've decided to call them for the season. We just love all things Strawberry Shortcake around here right now :) We had a very fun day between the cookies & a story-time treat at the Mall with Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus. Tomorrow is Faith's last day of preschool for the year with a Birthday Party for Jesus too, so she's had a super fun week and we are looking forward to a fun weekend ahead with friends! :) More to come...

Daily Devotional

2010-12-13T18:37:00.000-08:00

I read these devotionals on our church website...usually through Facebook daily. They've been down for weeks & just up again today. Liked this one as I thought it was relevant for us & so many others we know right now, so I thought I'd share!

Word of the Day

Monday, December 13, 2010

"After these things...God tested Abraham." Ge 22:1 NKJV

Preparing for Your Biggest Test

The life of Abraham teaches you that: (1) You can walk with God, yet not know the details of your destiny. "And he went out, not knowing where he was going" (Heb 11:8 NKJV). (2) When God makes you a promise, the timeline is up to Him. Abraham waited twenty years for Isaac to be born and fulfill the promise, "I will make you a great nation" (Ge 12:2 NKJV). (3) Sometimes you'll get it wrong before you get it right. Tired of waiting, Abraham fathered Ishmael. If he'd just waited, Isaac would have been born on God's schedule. Often your greatest mistakes come from impatience. (4) You can have faith in one area, yet experience fear in another. When Abraham got to Gerar, King Abimelech took a fancy to his wife Sarah. Thinking only of himself, Abraham said, "'She is my sister.' And Abimelech...took Sarah" (Ge 20:2 NKJV). We all have our "Gerar moments," times when we cave in to fear, self-interest, or other people's demands. Were it not for God's grace we'd all be disqualified! Next we read, "After these things...God tested Abraham, and said...'Take now your son...whom you love...and offer him...as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you'" (Ge 22:1-2 NKJV). Notice the words, "After these things." The tests you've been through begin to make sense when you face your biggest test. When you pass it, like Abraham, you can call God "Jehovah Jireh" which means "The-Lord-Will-Provide" (Ge 22:14 NKJV). And at that point God will say, "Now you've arrived at a place where I can use you!"

Kudos

2010-12-12T04:23:00.001-08:00

Ahh..the H & T kinda fell on top of each other...but I'm still impressed with how clear this is for the lack of carry-over practice on my part ;)

Another great dinner at Eat 'n Park last night! :)
We had a nice time out with friends and Faith did a great job eating.

I also had to give her kudos for writing her name, so I decided to scan & commemurate by post...I don't talk very often (at least I don't think & try not to) about how amazing her mind and memory are to me, but last night had me shocked a little & I thought some kudos or credit was due to her...so, here it is :)

Faith wrote her name completely from memory last night on the correct part of her placemat totally independently! What is super about this is, that to my knowledge, this has only been worked on maybe a few times a month with her OT at school, even though they really should be working on the feeding...but, we have not done any carry-over at home & they aren't doing this at school either as far as I know, as it is not a part of the curriculum, will have to check on it...but, way to go Faith! :) Guess Mommy should probably keep up the practice now!

A Good Week

2010-12-11T02:08:00.001-08:00

Faith has had an incredible week! :)
What a blessing this last week has been...I have enjoyed my time with her so much. Eating is getting to be so much easier. We are still having our moments, but boy are they getting to be fewer and more far between...which is so much less stressful for everyone! All this despite the fact that we haven't been in for a therapy session in a while and things were a bit off for Faith with her primary preschool teacher being out for vacation a few days. As I am thinking of it, please keep Faith's OT, Miss Jen, and her family in prayer. Miss Jen has been sick the last few weeks with strep and pneumonia and just this week her Dad was admitted to the hospital. They are still running tests and it is just a lot for her and her family right now. So, we have missed her and have been lifting her up. Hope you will join us.
Like I wrote though, despite all of these things that would normally be set backs, Faith is really holding her own and continuing to progress. The last few days, most of our meals have been completely typical from start to finish! :) We do continue to struggle with a few things. New foods...ALWAYS...but the fighting over "trying" them is decreasing. Faith has also taken to "holding" new food in her mouth and not swallowing...so things get tricky there. This has been a huge issue with meat. It is definitely taking time to get comfort levels established with our new foods before we "enjoy" them and are proficient at eating them in a quasi-timely matter. At least we know for certain now there really aren't any mechanical issues with it, but the anxiety is still there. Faith has also been struggling with "big girl" things from time to time lately. I think because she sees herself moving past that baby part of her life now with all the recent growth...she's been pretending to be a "baby" alot during play and requesting to not be a big girl but be a baby and do baby things and eat baby food. Not sure why she doesn't want to grow up other than the anxiety related to the change. But we just continue to try to make all of the big kid things fun and a big deal for her & I certainly do not put any responsibilities on her that she can't handle for her age. I still help her with all of her daily tasks and we try to fit in plenty of playtime, hugs, kisses, etc when we are together...Just wish I could get inside her mind a little more to figure that one out. Not sure what she thinks is going to happen if she grows up completely into a big girl. Does she think we'll send her off to work? ;) Does she think we won't continue to love on her as much? Oh, that child's mind works in ways I've never seen before...she just dissects and studies astutely everything around her. I can't wait to see how that transfers to her learning more as she grows and where her interests will eventually lead her. Thankfully, too...despite her insistence on wanting to pretend to be a baby, she hasn't regressed in any skill areas :) I'd hate to have us back in pull-ups! Things are just starting to get easier :) It has been very helpful that she is able to talk about things more with me though and has more thinking and reasoning abilities now. I was hoping and praying that this would be the case to help her progress in her eating as she got a little older. We've been having a lot of talks lately and I think that is helping as well, as she is more open and understanding more. I am so excited for those of you we haven't seen in a while to see what a change she has made even over the last month! :) God is so good and it is all in HIS timing! I know He has allowed these particular struggles to teach us patience...and we have/are learning that & are so much better for it. It has also taught us to really appreciate EVERYTHING! I get reminded of this alot working in my profession, but the daily reminders of being with Faith on this particular journey make me even more aware of the blessings we so often overlook as we get caught up in the day to day. I challenge you to think about this, especially as we get caught up in the race and stress of preparing for the holidays.
Although, we struggle just about daily here still with the most basic execution of life skills (mealtime):
my child does eat
my child does talk
my child does walk
my child does know love and how to love
my child does know safety & security
my child is healthy and growing
my child is with me
What an amazing gift life is...think on and hold onto all of your blessings this holiday! :)
Can't wait to share in the blessing of quality time with you all too!

A Hallmark Evening!

2010-12-05T04:01:00.000-08:00

We got together with our friend Brian (Faith's favorite guy these days) last night for dinner at Eat 'n Park followed by a drive through the Hartwood Festival of Lights. Aside from having a wonderful "holiday spirit-inducing" evening, Faith ate at a restaurant for the first time EVER! Now, yes...we've been out to restaurants in her almost 3 1/2 years before and, yes...she has eaten at a restaurant before...but, she has never actually joined us in eating anything ordered before, just like a a typical kid, until tonight!!! We ordered mac 'n cheese and cinnamon toast and a strawberry milkshake. She did just great. We did bring our utensils from home to increase her comfort level, but she did just awesome! Such a great evening, just had to share. Those of you who have dined with us before should appreciate that we won't be needing to bring our own food and/or drink out with us now...although, we did bring OREOS for motivation :)
What a great holiday treat! The last few days since I posted have continued to be good eating days for the most part since. So excited for these "grown up" changes in our little girl!
Glad "uncle" Brian could also share this momentous night with us too :)
What a wonderful evening!

Just Posting for myself

2010-12-01T19:05:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post for myself really. It was a good day today. It's been a while since it's been such a really good day :) Faith tends to act up for me when Daddy is in the mix...and today was our first full day home without him for the last almost week or so. Although we missed him dearly while he was stuck at work, it was so nice to have a "normal" day back. Faith did great too. She was such a big girl today. We stayed in all day because of the cold & snow & still being a little under the weather...and it was so nice. We finished decorating for Christmas, built an indoor snowman, started our preschool countdown to Christmas advent chain, got out some holiday toys, and just hung out mostly (Mommy only worked a smidge from home...shhhh don't tell!). And yes, I almost called it by the way...If you read the blog post below, she was up at 4am with "Mommy, I'm hungry!" We did a lot of eating today too. She finally got into these chocolate covered Ritz crackers I bought & devoured them---now to transition her to the ones that aren't coated in the good stuff ;) She took big bites of american cheese and her mac 'n cheese, finishing both in record time & ate some chicken patty without much grief. In thinking about it...I don't think we had any meltdowns or even needed time-out once today :) All smiles & giggles & good eating, etc. Definitely a good day & I didn't want to pass it by without marking it in some way...I enjoyed it so much. Just love that little girl :) And days like today...make the hard days with her so manageable.

Thanksgiving to Christmas & all the tasty days in between!

2010-11-30T17:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I have not been feeling well lately...but thought I'd post a link and a quick note about the holiday happenings here as well as our progress toward our eating goals.
We had a great Thanksgiving surprise this year! My sister and her two girls traveled all the way up from NC to visit with us over the holiday :) It was wonderful to get to see them. Really helped with easing us all missing my Grandma this year and lending to a special time with family. Thanks so much Jo & Scott for going to so much trouble to allow us all to be together! We also had plans to spend our Thanksgiving holiday with the Kellogg's but things unfortunately got put on hold with many of us coming down with colds and sickness. We are all fighting sinusitis and bronchitis now at our house. Not sure yet still if we are winning the battle, either. We are hoping to get to see the Kellogg's soon though. Faith's added a few more new foods I think, since I last posted. We are eating american cheese & pizza, scrambled eggs too :) Unfortunately, we'ved had a lot of resistance getting started at mealtime again lately. Once we get over it...things have been moving along, but the initial starts have been rough. So, it's still a battle from meal to meal depending on Faith's mood and need for control, but we are persevering. Tonight, we all lost. She just wouldn't budge on not having a lofty list of eating demands met prior to starting...she went to time out to control her temper & fell asleep without dinner. I'm sure we'll be up and eating at 3am eagerly though :) A friend shared the link I posted to the right "Message to Faith from Santa" & I tried it out. Going to have Faith take a look here in the morning for her "message from Santa" after our rough night tonight...How does Santa know these things...We'll see what happens ;) Thought this was super cool though anyway!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very blessed day! Hoping to post more, but for now...time to finish up my work week & prep for tomorrow's feast :)

Anniversary!

2010-11-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

Josh & I are celebrating our 7 year anniversary on Monday!

I can't believe how long it has been & how much we have grown and changed through these last 7 years. We have had our share of trials and blessings and we wouldn't change any of it :)

What a blessed 7 years it has been. Thank you to all of our family and friends who supported us 7 years ago when we started this journey and who continue to support us now through prayer, words of encouragement, and kind acts of love.

We celebrated tonight with a simple dinner and movie and now...Faith just fell asleep in her bed room and Josh in the living room :) My things have changed in 7 years! I should probably head off to bed too. Tomorrow is another busy day!

Update!

2010-11-12T03:20:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd post about how things have been going, since we are now a week baby food free!
Faith is holding her own...Yesterday was really our only "bad" day where more prompting & nagging was required for eating. But, all in all, she is eating more solids more quickly than she was a week ago. It's still slow compared to where she should be, but considering she only started eating solids back in June...It's not too bad I would say. We have added applesauce back into our diet this week without much difficulty & will be working on adding mashed potatoes to our diet today. You'd think with liking purees she'd have transitioned to mashed potatoes, but not quite :( Hoping the re-introduction at therapy will be enough to get her eating them this weekend. We're also hoping to add in another solid fruit this weekend followed by a steady meat/protein very soon! We are very much looking forward to seeing many of you over the holidays this year and especially can't wait to have you experience with us, our Faith taking part in meal-time! :)
It has been a long journey & a huge lesson in patience for us (still is), but so worth it to wait for her to be able and willing to do this on her own. I heard from quite a few people in this process that they would just have "forced" her to eat and push past her fear. Maybe that would have been the thing to do quite a while ago, although her motor skills for eating were not what they needed to be early on...but now she is eating because she wants to and she enjoys it (the sweet stuff anyway), so I am hoping that helps in the long run with her becoming relatively well-adjusted in this area of her life...which would definitely make it worth the wait :)

Baby Food Free Zone...

2010-11-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been recommended that we can/should now go "baby food free" at our house. Faith is eating mac 'n cheese, green beans, french fries, cinnamon toast, muffins, and an assortment of snack foods...so, we'll see how it goes! We didn't partake of any baby food yesterday. I am a little concerned that she will be getting enough as her bites are still very small & it takes her soooooo long to eat. We easily are spending almost an hour just to get a half-slice of toast in her! But, the hope is that she will be more hungry and speed up in her eating if that is all she has...so, be praying for us and her. Thank goodness we still have yogurt we'll give her daily & we have decided to keep her baby cereal as we try to transition her to "big kid oatmeal." But....bye bye baby food. We are going to see how the weekend goes & maybe get a visit from the "baby food fairy" next week to take it all for good and bring us our "car" we've been wanting & using as motivation. Faith is coming down with a cold though & needed a breathing treatment last night, so I am hoping/praying that this sickness doesn't cause any setbacks. Will keep posted :)
Thanks for continuing to lift us up!

Halloween Pics!

2010-11-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

Fae with her baby pumpkin, carved with love by Mommy :) Fae with our big pumpkin that Mommy also carved, with Faith's instruction :)
Her Royal Princess Most Beautiful (inside & out)

Princess Faith with her cousins :)

Fae with her jack-o-lanterns all lit up after a busy night of TRICK or TREAT!

Blessed Halloween!

2010-10-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Trick or Treat!

We are so excited about Halloween this year :) This year Faith will be able and wanting to eat her treats! What an amazing few weeks it has been with continued answered prayers from our Glorious God! He is so GOOD! :)

Just this weekend, Faith began eating toast & muffins...He will hear us and respond to us if we remain diligent in our prayers and trust in Him!

I came across this devotional this morning & just wanted to share. It was so fitting for us right now :)

Word Of The Day's Daily Devotional

Sunday, October 31, 2010

"Be persistent in your prayers." Eph 6:18 NLT

Stay in Constant Contact with God

Andrew Murray wrote: "Many Christians look upon it as a burden and a duty and a difficulty to get alone with God! That is the great hindrance to our Christian life everywhere." God says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great...things, which you do not know" (Jer 33:3 NKJV). The answers you seek can be found on your knees. Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (Jn 15:7 NKJV). Prayer is like a platinum card; it gives you access to God's wisdom and resources. Paul writes: "Continue steadfastly in prayer" (Ro 12:12 NKJV). The story's told of a soldier in World War II who was caught creeping back into his quarters from some nearby woods. Brought before his commanding officer and charged with communicating with the enemy, he said he had just gone out to pray. His commanding officer asked, "Do you make a habit of spending hours alone in prayer?" "Yes, sir," he replied. "Then get down on your knees and pray now," roared the officer, "for you've never needed it more!" The soldier kneeled down and prayed so powerfully that his CO shouted, "Enough, you may go, I believe you! If you hadn't been so often at drill, you wouldn't have done so well at review." Prayer isn't like a spare tire; you can't just leave it in your trunk and expect it to be effective when you need it. You must "be persistent in your prayers." In other words, stay in constant contact with God.

Harvest Party '10 - BPCC

2010-10-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Below are some pictures from Faith's first class party at preschool. She dressed as a butterfly :)

We had a great time!

Class Photo

Costume Parade

With her teacher, Mrs. Gordon

With craft activity that Mommy led

Just came across this...liked it, so sharing :)

2010-10-29T06:23:00.001-07:00

GREEN BEAN QUEEN!

2010-10-26T22:28:00.001-07:00

Well,
I haven't updated on Faith's feeding for a while, so I thought I'd catch some of you up on that :) Things have been going very well the last 2 weeks or so now that we are back and working on things daily. We had been managing a few times a week of intensive "mealtime" work prior to my grandmother becoming ill and passing. Over those few weeks, we really just didn't have the time or energy to spend over 2 hours a pop of fighting just to get Faith to take one bite of something. We also weren't as regular with our attendance to outpatient treatment sessions. However, the last 2 weeks have been AWESOME!!! Our battles to try new foods and then continue with them has decreased (for now) to approx. 45 minutes - 1 hour, which is so much more manageable on a daily basis, especially when I am working. Faith has developed quite the sweet tooth & is transitioning to a variety of sweets pretty well. She is now eating several "snack size" cookies, brownies, and dry cereals...requesting them too now regularly. And...over the last week + she's been eating real green beans! Just yesterday at therapy she jumped up to real, big girl bites using utensils and last night she did the same for me...well, at least the big bites :) We are hoping to continue green beans daily + and maybe start with macaroni and cheese next week. We are praying that we can ditch the stage 3 baby foods altogether by Christmas. We hope that you will join us in that prayer too! Faith is also now drinking apple juice, and we plan to start working on water in the next weeks too. So, things are definitely going well. I am continuing to present new sweets/snacks regularly as well in the hope that as she has more and more positive experiences associated with food that she will try new foods more readily. I think alot of those "yummy" snack experiences have been helpful in decreasing our "wait time" in trying new foods. Still no snacking at preschool per teacher report, but I think the exposure is really helping her. She is really thriving there! That is another post for another day though! We do have a Harvest Party at school on Thursday...so, maybe more after that :) Please continue to pray for my little one.

Quote from Faith today :)

2010-10-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

"Mommy, you happy now? I'm happy too. I have a smile on my face because I have you in my heart."
--Faith

Pictures from Today's trip to the Pumpkin Patch too!

My Grandma

2010-10-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

My Grandma B. passed away yesterday & although I'm not up for blogging right now, I did really wanted to post this

- one of my favorite pictures of her & Faith -

Family Shots!

2010-08-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

3 year Photo Shoot!

2010-08-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

These are our pics from Faith's 3 year photo shoot today :)

Things are going great...Hope to update this week now that I will finally be back to a "normal" work schedule!

:)Jackie

Happy Birthday FAITH!

2010-07-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

Well,
I fell asleep early last night & have overslept this morning already. I had wanted to post about the last 3 years with our Faith...but, it will have to wait. Our Baby is 3 though today & I can't believe it! What a joy she has been these last 3 years & what a reminder every year on her birthday of how precious it is to be able to have that time with her. I'm always more emotional around this time of year due to the circumstances and trauma surrounding her birth, and I don't know honestly that it will ever pass, but I am glad God allowed us to experience all that we did from her conception to delivery. It has really allowed us to gain perspective regularly on what is truly important. Her name could not fit her better :) I've reposted her birth story below as a testament to God's presence in our life and the peace we find in having faith in Him. He is alive and still working in miraculous ways. I pray that you will find this too if you have not already!

FAITH's STORY- This is really a LONG story, but we will try to keep it short.
It started with Jackie sharing how she "experienced" God after having suffered a miscarriage. Jackie shared this story with our church family in a presentation back in late October, beginning of November 2006. During that weekend, she as well as the other members of our Drama Team spent a lot of time in prayer. Our Pastor at Northway Christian Community in Wexford, even took time out to gather everyone together on that Sunday morning to say a special prayer for us. We had found out the first time we had gotten pregnant, on our Wedding anniversary, after over a year of trying. We then had a miscarriage shortly thereafter. We had been dreading our anniversary coming up in the next few weeks in mid-November. Through all the time in prayer that weekend of the presentation, Jackie heard God tell her that we would get pregnant again that day and that He would reveal it to us on our anniversary again to restore the joy of that day to us. Well, we didn't say anything to anyone but took a pregnancy test a few weeks later on the morning of our anniversary and it was positive! What was especially amazing to us was that when Jackie went to have bloodwork done at her doctor's that same day, the results revealed that we were indeed pregnant, but the nurse said she thought we were too early to have gotten a positive on an over the counter test. We, of course, knew it was God.
Well, over the next few weeks and months, Jackie had countless complications, sickness and the threat of another miscarriage when she had hemorrhaged at 7 weeks. She was at the doctor's, at labs or in the hospital almost every 2-3 days. Then at 16 weeks when we thought things might start looking up, Jackie had some bloodwork done that indicated a 1 in 9 chance of our baby having Down's Syndrome. For her age (30) our chances should have been 1 in over 600. We had to schedule an in-depth ultrasound at 19 weeks to determine further if our child showed positive for the Down's. We spent those two weeks in continued prayer, as we had throughout this pregnancy thus far. One evening, Jackie felt compelled to read I Cor. 13 and spend a few hours in prayer to ask God to help us to love this child and provide what this child needs without any condition. Again, Jackie felt God speak to her that He would heal our child and there would be no indication of Down's when we went for the ultrasound. He told her that we would be having a baby girl and needed to name her Faith because that is what He was trying to teach us through all of this, to grow our Faith in Him. Well, we went for the ultrasound and they couldn't find anything related to Down's but they did find that we were having a girl. She's been Faith to us since she was 19 weeks. Well, our complications just continued with orders for bedrest and constant trips to the hospital and doctor's. Jackie suffered from anemia which caused heart complications. She also had to deal with high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, and the list just goes on. On June 29th we went in for an ultrasound and Faith's fluid levels were dangerously low and Jackie’s blood pressure was creeping up, so we stayed at the hospital as they decided to induce (3-4 weeks early). The doctor there told us Faith wouldn't make it even a few more days in utero. After 2 days of induction (46 hours of labor), Faith was born on July 1st, healthy and strong and showing no signs of a syndrome or complication. However, the doctors could not get Jackie’s bleeding to stop. Her blood pressure dropped significantly and she began to black out. Finally, the staff at the hospital was able to get her pressure back up and Jackie began to come around. She was then taken to the operating room to try to get things under better control. After 2 operations over 2 days, a blood transfusion, and almost 5 entire days in the Labor and Delivery Unit at the hospital, we were finally together as a family. God proved himself to be faithful to His promises, although it took a lot of FAITH on our part. Please feel free to share our story with others you know who may need some encouragement and support the same way we did while we were going through so much. God is a God who talks with us, provides for us, blesses us, sustains us and grows us. We are just amazed daily by the blessing of our little girl, Faith Kristina Kellogg. We know it was God who blessed us with this miracle and are thankful that we endured all we did for the sake of growing our faith. We wouldn't have changed any of it. We are grateful to Him and wanted to share the "short" version of how we’ve been blessed by God. Hoping that He greatly blesses you too in the years to come!

Yippee!

2010-06-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Faith is starting to show signs of healing from our Thurs. ER trip now & she is also now biting & eating a half fruit loop at a time! She started biting them in half & chewing up then swallowing the whole half at a time without any anxiety, gagging, or funny faces this afternoon/evening!
:) Sooooo happy right now just had to share with you all!
Thanks for indulging me in this immense joy & thank you for your continued prayers. They are coveted and being felt more than you could know :)

Still Going...

2010-06-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

What a weekend!
After our bout at the ER, Faith came down with a bad case of gastroenteritis. She spent half of the day vomiting on Saturday and the other half sleeping. She wasn't able to take anything by mouth and keep it down for quite a while. I was so worried last night that this would be another setback for her, right after her big breakthrough & that it would cause more damage to her body than we experienced with the trip to the ER with her being on the dehydrated side. I stayed up praying almost all night about it, and we are holding steady right now. Not as enthused about "crunching" as we were before we got sick, but still doing it with some prompting & without much anxiety to manipulate the texture in her mouth. Drinking on the other hand, has seen major regression. We fought with Faith for almost 3 hours tonight before we could get any fluids in her. She's developed a negative relationship between the drinking & vomiting that occured on Saturday, so now we are fighting that battle. This is how her mind works with her food anxiety & sensory issues. Every time she has a bad experience, she holds onto it & develops more fears & hangups from the associations she develops. I can't tell you how spent I am with this pattern. We have yet to ever (in 2 years) get just good progress on our eating without some sickness like this getting in the way or causing regression somewhere else. Not once I believe. So, please keep us in prayer. We are still so excited about her biting, chewing, swallowing, tolerating dry textures right now...but worried about her fluid aversion and intake. She had blood again today going potty, and I'm afraid the issue will just get worse if we cannot get her meds in her and she doesn't stay hydrated enough, both of which require drinking fluids. And she is telling me that drinking "makes her sick." I have no idea what to do right now...but, we are plugging away. Please keep us in prayer.

24 hour update!

2010-06-25T19:17:00.001-07:00

Well, since our last post...we have spent time at the ER with Faith. She had some blood in a pull-up late last night & it was recommended from the amount described to the doctor on call with our practice, that we go in for her to be checked out right away. Right away meant about 4 -5 hours later & we finally left the hospital before 4am this morning. All is okay though, thank goodness! Despite being "regular," Faith was just very backed-up & constipated. She is on medication now & the bleeding has been consistently decreasing. Hoping the next time I change her, it is non-existent. We have her on stool softener twice a day now for the next week until we follow back up with our pediatrician.
Also, since our last post...Faith has had about 5 different "Fruit loop" snack sessions & has been consistently biting, chewing, & swallowing without difficulty but with an eager attitude! This last round she even bit off an entire half a loop, chewed, & swallowed! This has got to be the absolute BEST 3rd BIRTHDAY present EVER for our FAMILY! :)
Also, since our last post...We just found out that our box of Kellogg's Fruit Loops cereal has been recalled. Seriously, my kid finally starts "eating" the things & they are bad?
ONLY US...Really, ONLY US ;)

See Pictures & Post Below...

2010-06-24T19:10:00.001-07:00

What a way to enter the 3s!!!

2010-06-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Faith with the "evidence"

biting...

chewing...

mmmm....did it!

Big Girl!

3 next week but eating NOW!

2010-06-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

B-R-E-A-K-T-H-R-O-U-G-H!

And, I really think it is this time for good :)

Although she is a L-O-N-G way off from being your normal 3 year old eater, my baby is finally "ready" to be a "big kid" and eat "big kid food!"

We had a teaser episode earlier this morning when Faith voluntarily took a cracker from me, nibbled the smallest crumb off, chewed, & swallowed (narrating the event post cud)...but never would I have thought so soon this evening, things would progress so B-I-G!

When we got home tonight she asked for her fruit loops again with her dinner, so I obliged, hopeful for maybe a crunch or two like this morning....Anyway, needless to say, she ended up gagging on her Stage 3 meal and having a panick attack, demanding no more food. I sent her to her room to calm down & told her to come back when she was ready to be a big girl & eat, that meant to chew & swallow. She came back almost immediately, ate a bite of her baby food, and started talking about how she chewed a carrot in there. Then she asked me for a fruit loop because she wanted to eat it. I instructed her to take a small bite then chew & swallow...well, to my utter amazement & shock- SHE DID!!! and she did & did & did & did....

She took bites & chewed & swallowed from over 10 fruit loops! She was asking for more right before bed but then said that she was just so tired she wanted to sleep. She was really excited & had a good, positive experience with them, so we are hopeful this will keep on moving her in the right direction! She still has a long way to go. The bites she was comfortable with were really very small, but they were bites & she did chew, & she did swallow & she did it herself!

What an answer to prayer! Please keep praying for good, quick, progress & growth in this area for Faith, this is such an anxious point for her. She's been coming around so well the last month or so, and now this.... What a blessing!

Thanks so much to all of you supporting us by prayer and by therapy...What a difference He is making!

Pictures posted below! :) at Faith's request actually....

Summer has arrived!

2010-05-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Although, we continue to remain as busy as ever...We did take some time out for a family day trip up to Moraine State Park to hang out at the "beach." Faith had a great time! It was so much fun to see her so excited to play in the sand and the water. I've posted some pictures below...and hope to write a follow-up blog on the last few months here soon. I've been working between 40-50 hours a week over the last month & barely have time to get the basics done, but wanted to at least share these fun pictures with family & friends!
Enjoy! :)

2010-05-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

2010-05-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hope you all have had a BLESSED EASTER!

What a gift that Christ has given us in the eternal life we find in HIM alone!

Enjoy the pictures of one of the many blessings beyond eternal life that our Lord has given us!

dyeing eggs this morning

so...awesome!

Bee-autiful collection of colors!

What a gift of family :)

cutie pie with her goodie basket :)

This Easter turned out to be such a gift! Faith has been sick for almost a week now, not eating, not drinking, & on many medications and breathing treatments due to allergies, asthma, & a nasty ear infection...but today, she's been so much better finally :)

As I told Josh this morning, it makes my heart so happy to see her getting better & feeling better all around.

I am now sick & on steroids, antibiotic, & breathing treatments too for bronchitis and my asthma, but am slowly feeling better :)

Praying for a restful week!

Can you say...BUSY?!

2010-03-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow!
The last few weeks have been so hectic, it seems as though I, personally (Josh not included), have almost dropped off the planet with my communications with our friends and family. So, I do apologize. I have been extremely busy with transitioning to my new job position at work, and we have stepped up Faith's therapy schedule tremendously, too. She's getting treatment now 4 times a week! The little bit of down time I do get, I've been trying to spend just with her and Daddy...as we could definitely use some time together when we aren't running somewhere!
But, I did want to update. Even though it's Saturday and I have a million and one things I'd like to accomplish today...For those that have been praying for Faith, we so much covet those prayers and appreciate them. They are making a difference, and I wanted to let you know.
We've decided to step up the frequency of her therapy sessions, now that she is tolerating them, participating in them, and actually looking forward to them. She is getting 2 sessions on Tuesday, 1 Wednesday, & 1 Thursday. I work on Mondays & Wednesdays now & Faith is with my mom those days. So, I am giving all that I can to keep our Fridays a "free day" for Faith and Mommy to stay home and just hang out together without running anywhere. Anyway, she's getting about 3 hours in total during those treatment sessions. She's making some really good progress too. She is now using one of those mesh baby feeders to snack on cheese curls. Last night was the first night she actually chewed them completely into mush & without incident chewed up and swallowed all of the crumbs from them that crept out of the mesh. It was a good night! She's also been into eating these Pillsbury Bunny Sugar Cookies we made earlier in the week. So, we made some again last night & she was scraping off crumbs with her teeth and chewing them up! She's getting closer and closer, I think, to eating real food. She had a substitute therapist on Wednesday evening, and she actually chewed up and swallowed a decent-sized chunk of cookie mixed in some baby food for her. Her regular therapist on Thursday said that Faith was no longer gagging or choking (she noticed) on the chunky solids if she got the placement right in her mouth. She's still gagging/coughing, if she gets it stuck on her tongue...but if she is able to move her food over to her teeth, she is fine. So...we just have to get her consistent with it. She's also transitioned to a "typical" sippy cup now. She is drinking just like a normal kid, finally. She drinks sitting up, standing up, and with a hard spout sippy...no more bottle look-a-likes here anymore! :) So...things are going well. We put our return to therapeutic listening on indefinite hold right now...so that is one less thing to deal with. Faith had a bad reaction to it, so we took a short break. Since she's been doing so well lately, we've decided not to re-introduce it. Josh & I, as well as her treating therapists, felt that it would be better to wait and see how the next few months go with straight feeding treatment only, since she is responding so well right now. All of us really think she is on the cusp and personally feel as though once she "gets" it, she'll expand her diet independently. It was that way for the puree table foods. Once she was comfortable with something that didn't say "Gerber," she began eating like foods with different labels and appearances, although it did take some time. I was just telling Josh last night. Even if she just eats cheese curls & cookies, I'll be happy :) It would be nice for her to be able to bring her own snack places & eat while we are out without needing a spoon & mommy to carry pudding in her purse!
So...that's my update for the prayer warriors remembering Faith on Fridays. This Friday was a good one...Thank You!
Hope to update again soon.
Love,
Jackie

Guatemala

2010-02-13T05:39:00.000-08:00

My sister and her husband are off to Guatemala today for a missions trip. They won a contest through their local Christian radio station for a free missions trip through Compassion International. Please be praying for them. Their family also has a blog where you can check out what they are up to there!

http://teamcrawfordcarolina.blogspot.com/

Just Now

2010-02-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

FAITH: "Mommy, you a good jobber!" "You go potty by yourself, You a big girl!" "Here, you get a sticker!" :)
That's all...just thought she was cute :)
We've definitely been spending too much time in the potty!
The student has become the teacher!

Potty PARTY Time!

2010-02-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally took the plunge and started Potty Training Boot Camp last Friday!
We've seen quite a bit of success the last 2 days. Faith is finally "catching on" and has requested to go to the "Potty" 3 times already today with success! I guess getting "SNOWED IN" has it's advantages ;) We are forecasted to get another 6-10 inches today through tomorrow!
Hoping to continue to get caught up on things here & get Faith "Potty trained!"
S-T-A-Y W-A-R-M!!!

Snow Snow & More Snow!

2010-02-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

We got almost 2 feet of snow in 24 hours!

Faith had fun playing outside in it for a bit today :)

See our "action shots" and some Daddy's "nature shots" too below!

Enjoy :)

Hehe...We couldn't zip up her snow suit over her belly! :) building a snowman!

more playing in snow...

Faith thinks the snow is SOooo BIG!

Umm...yeah! We enjoyed our indoor Potty Dance Party in our Dora Pull-ups today too! :) hehe

More Snow!

2010-02-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

One of our cars...We really should've pulled it into the garage :(

The path Josh shoveled out of the garage!

YARD STICK Marker!

The Road...

Neighbor's tree that fell onto the power lines, hoping it doesn't pull down our Pole!

Couple of Crazy Weeks!

2010-02-03T04:15:00.000-08:00

So, the last few weeks have been crazy here! Most of you should know that my sister had surgery on her wrist a few weeks back now & my Mom went down to NC to help out with her recovery. So we had no childcare! Faith had her moments but overall coped pretty well with all the new caregivers coming into our place to help out. It has been a L-O-N-G 3 weeks for us all though & we are glad "Gabba" is back :)

Want to be sure, as well, to send out a H-U-G-E "THANK YOU" to all of our friends who helped us out during this time. An especially big "THANK YOU" to the Bush family who traveled from OHIO this week to spend a few days with us to baby sit Faith so that I could fulfill my work obligations. Heather packed up 2 kids & her baby to come out & spent 2 days watching 4 little ones. "THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH, HEATHER!" All of this and the Bush family will be moving into a new home in just a few weeks. It was a big sacrifice for them and we really appreciate it!

My sister is recovering well so far in terms of healing, but is still struggling with a lot of pain and sickness, so continued prayers are appreciated. Her family could also use prayer as they are deliberating over the adoption of a waiting child from the Philipines. Please be praying for the Crawfords and little Samuel.

My grandmother also suffered a major heart attack about a week and half ago now & could use prayer. She is doing well considering. The doctors at the hospital were amazed that she survived it. She is back at her nursing home. Her heart is functioning at around 35-40% and she is weaker than she was, but all in all "okay."

Faith also has suffered some major setbacks over the last 2 weeks. It seems that her therapeutic listening program was not executed properly and we have seen major regression in a variety of skills. She has been exhibiting some behaviors that we have not seen at all in almost a year. It has been very disheartening and upsetting, as our goal with implementing this program was to aid in improvements in her overall anxiety levels and texture aversions.

The last few days she has been coming back around, but is still not where she was previously. We are taking a few weeks off from her program and will most likely be starting back up at my work, rather than through early intervention. I've gotten a lot of good & useful information from our occupational therapists at PST and from some of my parents whose children have gone through this program. I am hopeful that since she did have a response to the therapeutic listening, when we work out the kinks, she'll have some nice gains. Prayer would be appreciated though.

I know some of you had joined me last year in "30 days of prayer" for Faith and we saw some good gains. I am planning on taking every Friday now & fasting and praying over this issue. If you would join me in prayer on Fridays...taking just a few minutes to remember Faith, it would be so much appreciated! I certainly don't expect anyone to fast! ;)

On the positive side of things, I've finished my last week working at our satelite office in Butler! For those of you who don't know, I've been working to help start up a new branch of our clinic in the Butler area. It has been a 45 minute commute for me the last 2 years and the winters have been rough. I recently was offered a promotion which will place me back in our Gibsonia clinic just 5 minutes up the road! Yesterday was my last day in Butler and next week I start my new schedule and placement. I will be working in a job share position with my current supervisor as the Co-Director of our Speech Department. I am really excited about this opportunity as it is closer to home, no change in hours, substantial pay raise, and will provide me more opportunity to support our staff and improve our programming...which the "creative, mentoring-type geek in me" loves! It will also provide more flexibility for our family with regard to taking sick time, vacation, and dealing with bad travel weather. I shouldn't really be having to travel much at all except for some continued supervision at our Butler office, but I will have a lot of flexibility with that too.

I don't know what else I got here. I think this is enough of a post for now. I've had some really cute Faithy stories this last week, but have been too busy to post & most of them are now gone, sadly :( Too much going on in this brain! I WILL get to the pictures I've been promising yet. I posted a new one of Faith from her therapy session last week. Back to spinning in baskets!!!

Please keep my little one in your prayers!
Blessings to you all :)

Faith

2010-01-20T04:37:00.000-08:00

Faith Jammin'

Soooooo BUSY!

2010-01-20T04:25:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to take a minute to actually update! I keep having intention of getting to this, but we've just had so much popping up lately. It's been keeping us extremely busy!

If you saw in the post below...Faith tried a cupcake this week! She actually took a few pieces by mouth, chewed & swallowed! This is very encouraging to us, as the last few weeks we'd been seeing another increase in the amount of anxiety she was displaying just eating her standard diet. We've just really started getting into her therapeutic listening program & will be headed back to my office to get her additional OT services again. I'll post a picture of her with her "listening gear" on. Will post more about that later too.

We are off this morning to visit Faith's Great Grandma & run a few errands, then I have a work meeting and CPR class tonight until 10pm. Hope to post more again later this week!

If you give a girl a CUPCAKE!

2010-01-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

So, Faith had some bites of a cupcake for the first time tonight!

YAY for CHOCOLATE!

Please keep in prayer that she will continue to try to bite & chew this tasty treat :)

Will update more later in the week...

Faith eating a cupcake! All smiles even after it fell apart!

Jo Anna

2010-01-16T04:23:00.000-08:00

Jo Anna is home. Waiting for an update this morning on how she did last night.
Thanks for your prayers!

Update on my Sister

2010-01-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

Jo Anna is not doing well. Although the actual procedure that was done yesterday was successful, there were complications involving her lungs that could make her more vulnerable to infection & she is not responding to pain meds. She finally has gotten some relief this morning but is very sick and unable to keep anything down, so they are putting her back on an IV.

Please keep her in prayer.
Thanks so much.

T-E-A-S-E-R!

2010-01-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

I will be posting this week...We've been sick here and so super busy! Just wanted to quickly ask for prayer for my sister. She is going to require surgery on her wrist that she had broken. She's set for the procedure tomorrow morning (Thursday). My parents are traveling down to NC today for my Mom to help out for a few weeks. Please be praying for safe travels, safe surgery, & quick recovery. My sister's family could also use prayer for the financial needs incurred by all of this.
Thanks so much!

Oh...and the "T-E-A-S-E-R!"

Well...not really a teaser, just a cute story about my little one from yesterday that I thought I'd share to get you hooked on our upcoming updates!

Yesterday morning Faith was playfully "kicking" as I changed her diaper.
Mommy: "OW, NO KICKING!"
Faith: "Oh Mommy, I wanna kick you so much...I'm sorry Mommy."

I just thought it was comical and cute. This was her first attempt at independently combining a wrongful action with a sincere, unsolicited apology. Still needs some work!

That's my girl ;) hehe...

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T01:26:00.000-08:00

Well...I am glad to see the end of 2009!

It has been another year filled with trials for us and so many of our loved ones.
We have learned so much this year though and have continually been blessed by God through it all.

Wishing you the happiest last day of 2009 and most blessed start to 2010!

Answered Prayer!

2009-12-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

My Mom's biopsy came back as benign!
We still don't know what is going on with her but it's not cancer & that is great news!
Thanks for your prayers!
Hope you and yours had a blessed Christmas :)
Will update more later this week with pictures!

Christmas Eve!

2009-12-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post a picture of Faith setting out her cookies & milk for Santa :)
We had a great day at church and then with my mom. Lots to do to make sure we are ready for tomorrow though!
Merry Christmas:)

Christmas Prayers...

2009-12-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

Please be praying for Faith's occupational therapist, Mary Ann, and her family. Her mom just lost her battle with cancer this morning. The funeral is scheduled for Christmas Eve, Mary Ann's Birthday. Her parents also would've celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary this January. It is a very difficult time for them right now.
Thanks,
Jackie

Continued Prayers

2009-12-19T02:48:00.000-08:00

My mom's surgery went well on Wednesday & recovery has been good so far. She is supposed to call this Monday to check on "preliminary" results. She had a lymph node removed from her neck as the doctors were suspicious her lymphoma may be back. Continued prayers for negative results would be greatly appreciated. My sister also just broke her wrist in 2 places on Thursday evening and could use prayer for quick healing & strength.
Will update again next week hopefully :)

Happy Birthday DAD!

2009-12-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish Faith's Grandpa Kellogg a very

Happy Birthday!

We love You!

Mini-update!

2009-12-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

How funny that I was craving Olive Garden all day today...I even put an "Olive Garden Gift Card" on my Christmas Wish List for the Kellogg Holiday Grab Bag Event.
Well, this afternoon, I got a nice-sized Olive Garden Gift Card as a Christmas Gift from one of my "favorite" clients!
Just had to share :)
Please be praying for my mom. Her surgery is scheduled to begin around 7 am tomorrow.
~Jackie

It's official...

2009-12-15T01:57:00.000-08:00

Faith has been sucked in by Christmas advertising on TV :(

Today she told me that she WANTED Aqua Sand when the commercial came on, in PURPLE...

Shouldn't she be like 5 before she starts that? :)

That's okay...It was quickly followed by an Olive Garden commercial...
and I WANT THAT! :)

Although, I guess 5 am is a little early for Italian though, even for me...

But, we've been up since 4 am today!

It's going to be a LONG day. Can't wait to get off work at 5:30pm.

My mom is scheduled to have some surgery done on her neck tomorrow, so please keep her in prayer.

Will update again soon! Thanks for indulging me this early :)

4 weeks + 4 Generations

2009-12-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Hope the Holiday Season is finding you happy & healthy & enjoying the spirit of the season with time well spent with your loved ones! We have had a busy & hectic 4 weeks, but had the most wonderful times spent with our family and friends. I'm planning on posting pics & blurbs from all of our holiday visits and travels right at the start of the New Year.

If we haven't visited you or yours lately or caught up by phone call or card...we hope to soon. The last few weeks have just been a blur of travels, shopping, baking, appts., etc. I'm sure you can all relate. We have had plans just about every weekend since before Thanksgiving!

Our activities over this last weekend were filled with family and friends :) I've posted some pictures below of Faith & my visit with my Mom over to my Grandmother's Nursing Home for a special Holiday Party they had yesterday. Faith had a great time! We followed it up with a trip to evening church and dinner with friends we haven't seen since this summer. Today we trimmed our tree, finished decorating, continued baking & addressed some cards, oh...& holiday shopping too! Hoping to post more in the weeks ahead.

4 Generations of Polish Women :)

More Pictures from the Tree-Trimming PARTY!

2009-12-13T12:42:00.000-08:00

Fae Rockin' OUT at the Nursing Home! Gram & Great Gram singing Carols
Fae singing carols :)
Fae's first meeting with SANTA!!! Yes, Daddy he DOES exist!!!
YUMMY CANDY CANE!

Actually, this was just Faith being a STINKER! :)

HOME!

2009-11-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well, we just got back from a trip out to see Josh's family! We had a great time! Plan to blog more about our travels later this week, as well as catch up with pictures from our latest adventures these last few months...but I did want to leave you with a little teaser about the fun Faith had with her "Grandma & Grandpa" as well as her cousins this weekend. Enjoy!

Faith with Grandma & Grandpa Kellogg

Faith with her cousin Aaron

Thanks to everyone who helped make our visit so memorable and fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

We have much to be thankful for this year, but that is a blogpost for another day...I have to be up early in the A.M. to put together a turkey! I just thought I'd leave you all with wishes for a day filled with blessings & rememberances of all you have to be thankful for! Well, I'd also thought I'd leave you with pictures of our biggest blessing here on earth too...Faith! She was such a help to me today in the kitchen. We baked up pumpkin pie & made our very own handprint turkey cookies together...What FUN! :)

Fae measuring Fae stirring

Fae decorating her cookies

Fae with finished cookies

Gobble gobble! These cookies were cut from her actual handprint...too CUTE!

We saw this idea on TV and Fae requested we make them at home :)

New Blog

2009-11-12T02:15:00.000-08:00

We've moved our blog...you can now find us here :)
Will update soon!
Thanks,
Josh, Jackie & Faith

First Haircut!

2009-11-08T03:40:00.000-08:00

Faith got her first haircut today!

We finally got those curly locks trimmed & she did a great job :)

Happy HALLOWEEN! :)

2009-11-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a SWEET Halloween!

We did! It was cold & windy here, but we still hit a few houses in our neighborhood as well as at Gabba & Pap Pap's with the cousins (my brother's children).

Faith made a beautiful princess!

Since she doesn't eat candy, we also made a special family trip to McDonald's after trick or treat time to get her a strawberry milkshake (her favorite)!

So, we had a wonderful night all & all :)

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Princess Fae

Another cute shot!

More Halloween :)

2009-11-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

Princess Fae with her Fairy godMAMA & DADA!

(My nieces thought that "Aunt Jackie" looked like SuperNanny)

Family picture :)

Pap Pap, Fae, & Dada

Mama, Fae, & Gabba

Fae with some of her cousins

Halloween Tricks & Treats!

2009-10-30T04:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe not so much with the tricks but definitely some funny, cute Halloween mishaps!

If you check the post below...You'll see Faith's beloved Mr. Acorn Squash whom we decorated with Salt Water Taffy. Unfortunately, Mr. Acorn Squash only now resides with us in "spirit," which is actually quite appropriate for Halloween, I guess. Anyway, please take heed in attempting to create a face out of saltwater taffy, that it will only melt and cause a horrible disfigurment, eventually leading to the squash's untimely demise :(

Faith has been coping okay though, as she still has "pumpkin patch," which is another funny story. We talked so much about going to the "pumpkin patch" that now anytime she sees a pumpkin she calls it a "pumpkin patch." She's also still asking to go ALL the time...In her defense, however, we did have a LOT of fun there :)

We were also, this week, met with the untimely demise of her "planned" Halloween costume :(

Unfortunately, I bought her a costume on clearance last Halloween assuming it would fit her, and in my defense, it is a 2T-3T size costume. But, alas, her belly is too big & we can't even get it on her. We had planned on her being a "pirate" this Halloween, but now she will just have to be a "princess" instead :) Either way, she's super cute! Thank goodness my sister had given us an old princess costume that will just fit Faith this year...so, we weren't crunched in coming up with something! And, in God's planning it was all good that I had bought Faith the pirate costume last year, as Kelsey (the little girl staying with us), justs fits into it! So, we were able to provide her with a costume to go trick or treating in this year too :)

I've posted a picture below of Faith in her "princess bling" (minus the costume)---so you can all see that she's not so broken up about the change in plans. I think she'll be just fine all decked out as a BEA-UTIFUL princess :)

As for Halloween Treats, we are excited as Faith's cousins will be joining us for Trick or Treat time at Gabba & Pap Pap's tomorrow evening!

I've also experienced a few priceless treats from the princess herself this week.

Yesterday, I was putting on my make-up before going out & Faith came up to me, stopped me and said "No, mama. You already pretty." :)

Then as we were talking about her sunday school lesson this last week, she said to me "Mama, I'm special."

They did talk about God's creation in church, so I am assuming she heard then that God made her "special" too.

She is special & she sees beauty on the inside. Oh, how I hope these views stay with her when she grows!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween Teaser!

2009-10-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics to get you in the Halloween Mood!

More fun posts to follow later this week.

Try not to be TOO SCARED!!!

Faith's scared face :)

Fae with the "pumpkins" she picked out!

Mama & Faith

Dada & Faith

Fae with her acorn squash (saltwater taffy face)

Congratulations BUSH FAMILY!

2009-10-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to send out a congratulations to our friends, Gary and Heather Bush, on the latest addition to their beautiful family!

They welcomed child #3, yesterday afternoon. Esther Joy was born weighing 7 lbs. 1/4 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

What a cutie!

Congratulations!

My Li'l Fruit Loop!

2009-10-15T03:18:00.000-07:00

So...

I have finally given up on my attempt to catch everyone up on our lives & have just decided to start blogging in the present right now. Hope to post pictures and stories of the last few months as the next few months slow down :) yeah...right!

Anyway...

Quick update for those of you who don't know why we've been so busy...
We had a lot of traveling this summer and then ended up taking in some friends. So we presently have another family of 3 living with us in our tiny little ranch in PA. It took a lot of time and effort to get our place cleaned out enough to make room for everyone, and then we had a lot of settling in to do, and then some more traveling!

I was away last weekend with some college girlfriends & have a good friend from NC coming up to visit us this weekend, then we'll be headed to our friend's the Bush's to help welcome their newest baby, then we'll hopefully be back to visit Josh's family before we settle in for the Winter for a while.

I do hope to get back to this blog at least weekly now, as well as continue to update my recipe blog. I've realized more recently again why I've started it...as a good resource for women who don't cook to begin to enjoy cooking :) And, I mostly just want a resource place to store a good base of recipes for all my girls (Faith + cousins) in the future.

I think Faith already has a love for cooking. She helps me make something at least once a week. Her favorite kitchen/cooking task is "sprinkling." It's really helped her become more comfortable with food & it's a lot of fun to bond with her that way :) I loved my kitchen time with my family growing up!

So... on to the "Fruit Loop" title...

Faith LOVES Fruit Loops!!! I've tried them with her recently & she can't get enough. She's not biting through them just yet, but she requests them & goes to town licking them up one side and down the other...so we are working on it! I really think that if we can get her to chew up just one food---she'll be moving on to so many other things so quickly. She's been doing just great lately with trying new foods of the same texture. So, she is getting there slowly...but getting there, I believe.

Just wanted to share...Will post more soon!

We're still here...

2009-08-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

Just been so super busy. Do hope to catch up on blogging soon. Will try to post a picasa album soon. Having some technical difficulties these days :)
Hope you all are well!

C-O-U-S-I-N-S!

2009-07-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just a cute picture of Faith with her "Kellogg" cousins this past weekend. I hope to post a slideshow of our visit soon!

Aaron, Taylor, Faith, Christian

Amazing Day!

2009-07-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

Faithy intiated feeding herself her pureed green beans today with a spoon! She has been "helping" us feed her hand over hand but actually fed herself the entire container today! She also got her finger loaded up and ate that way!

It was so amazing to see!

I thought she was done at one point and tried to take over to finish up & she told me "No, my turn!" then finished up by herself! We were so proud of our "Big Girl!" just had to post again today!

with spoon!

licking finger

starting to smile for the camera...(Mommy's timing was off)

all finished "bean beans!"

2 year check-up!

2009-07-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to report that all went well at Faithy's 2 year check-up! I've been a little concerned off and on about her weight as others have told me that they think she is very skinny, she loses weight easily when she gets sick, and she's mostly eating just baby food yet,

BUT... What great numbers we had today!

Faith weighed in at 27.5 lbs and 35 1/2 inches. She fell at th 59th and 86th percentiles respectively. Her head circumference was low...but has been. I think it's just a "Stewart" trait from Josh's mom's side. The doctor we saw wasn't concerned as Faith does not appear to have any other issues & is on target developmentally & cognitively, minus the feeding issues. I think we've done pretty good with her growth considering her dietary restrictions...so we were very pleased! :)

Speaking of the "Stewart"s: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! We wish we could be up to celebrate with the family today, but are looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend! :)

Well...I have a million things I should post about, but a million more things that I really should do!

Have a happy week! Hope to post at least some pictures next week after our visit up to see Josh's family at the Kellogg reunion!

Just a Few Camping Pics...Mostly Faith

2009-07-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

Faithy & Tyler waiting for breakfast in their PJs Faithy so badly wanting to climb that tree...It was SO tall!

Borrowing Baden's "Car Vroom Vroom"

Daddy's Picture...ugh! I think the 3 I took above are much cuter!

Waiting for the rest of the World...

2009-07-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

okay...maybe just some sleepy campers :)

We are away camping with Josh's college friends this weekend & actually have free wifi at our cabin, so I thought since I was up and couldn't sleep, that I would get online, read a devotional, and blog a little.

I came across this devotional this morning and thought I would share. I told Josh last night when he came to bed that I was so proud of Faith. She was so well-behaved yesterday afternoon and went to bed so well last night all on her own. New situations can really be hard on her, but she did so well yesterday. It was so nice for her to have playmates. I told josh recently that I enjoy playing with her, watching her smile, and hearing her giggle, but there is just something about watching her as an observer...seeing her laugh, smile, and giggle with others. I got to see a lot of that today & I realized that she really is just such a joy! So many laughs and giggles and smiles :) Too many to count. It was just so nice to see her and the other little ones having such a good time. I hope they never lose that...and I hope they have just as much fun with each other today and tomorrow. Even if the rest of the weekend turns out to be a wash...yesterday was certainly worth being here for :)

Anyway, back to this devotional. I was so proud of Faith...but would she be proud of me? Just wanted to share as I thought this was fitting when I came across it this morning :)

Word of the Day
Saturday, July 18, 2009
"Parents are the pride of their children." Proverbs 17:6 NIV
Make your children proud of you (1)
The famous biographer Boswell tells of a day when his busy father took him fishing. Later when he read what his dad wrote in his journal, he was devastated: "Went fishing with my son; a day wasted!" If you want your children to be proud of you: (1) Protect them. Guard them physically when they're young, and emotionally as they mature. Teach your son to respect girls, and interview the guys who date your daughter. Be sure to check out what they (and you) watch on TV, and especially the increasingly dangerous influences of the internet. (2) Listen to them. Don't be like the kid who told his mom, "I'm gonna be just like dad when I grow up. My eyebrows are already growing together, and when people talk to me I don't listen." Listening builds a lifetime bridge to your child's heart. (3) Be affectionate with them. Nothing builds security and self-worth in your kids like holding them. If you grew up without expressions of affection, make sure they don't. (4) Discipline them. But go one step further, model self-discipline in your own life. Don't just preach, live it! (5) Be fun to be around. Show your children your lighter side. Don't be so preoccupied with work or church that you're a bore. "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance" (Pr 15:13). (6) "Walk the walk." Former atheist Lee Strobel says: "When I became a Christian my five-year-old daughter said, 'Mommy, I want God to do for me what He's done for daddy,'" and she gave her life to Jesus. Make Christ attractive to your children, and they will be drawn to Him.

Rachey-Cakes :)

2009-07-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

Rachael & Faith July 2007

Happy Birthday!

I just wanted to send out some special birthday love & wishes to my niece, Rachael. She turns 9 today! I can't believe I forgot to put her up on our monthly birthday wishes spot on the blog.
Love you little girl!
Hope you have a great day & a great vacation week! :)