{ Get Back to Work! }

Someone had her first cupcake this week. We tried to make the most of our time together before Husband went back to work. I didn't even get to see him on his way out the door this morning, I'd already left for a church thing. A sweet great-grandma-of-4 named Eva helped take care of Eisley while we walked the neighborhoods for prayer requests. Eisley loved her.

The first person who opened the door to our team was a man who {did I see a hint of tears in his eyes?} asked us to pray that he find a job. It reminded me of how thankful we are that Justin was able to find a job so quickly - given the state of the economy. I can't wait until he gets home and I can grill him about his first day. He'll act nonchalant and I'll spend about an hour pulling questions out of him... I have to get all the details.

Justin's side of the family came over last night so we could celebrate little Noah {our first nephew's} upcoming arrival. We had pizza and cupcakes. Eisley showed off her developing crawling skills. Yes! She's starting to crawl! Can you believe it?

And part of "making the most" of our time before the Husband headed back to the rat race was getting control over my "studio" {I feel dorky calling it "my studio" but I can't think of anything more fitting...} It was pretty bad! I had no room to spread out and craft and it was so unorganized. I fixed it. You can read all about it {the pretty version} here, if you should feel so inclined.

Have a good weekend!

{ While Daddy Was Home }

Eisley's daddy is heading back to work. He got a job. A wonderful job. The first job I've ever had zero reservations about. Hooray! Prayers were answered, it would seem. {If you don't pray about struggles in your life, I have to recommend it. It's very powerful.} Turns out Justin getting laid off a couple weeks ago was one of the best things to happen to us in a while.

Three interviews and one "everyone liked you, so lets meet Wednesday to have a little talk" {about an hour and a half ago}, combined with a fantastic industry referral {networking, networking, networking people!} and the blessing that Justin just happened to be "fully qualified" - and he got a job with a company where an employee of 15 years told him to "fight hard" for this job because it's "a great company to work for." When an employee of 15 years is still that happy about his employer... well, that says something, in my opinion.

We're feeling very blessed right now. Pardon my bragging. I'm just excited. And proud of Eisley's daddy.

But also a little bummed. Justin not working means lots of quality family time was had. Allow me to enlighten you via photo montage {my signature blogging} that I like to call:

While Daddy Was Home

We napped together

We mastered the art of eating finger foods

We ate yummy family breakfasts togetherWe prank called people
We took our first "big girl bath" {which to a 7 month old means a bath that is not in a sink}
We helped out with the laundry

We took trips to the park
More fun times will be had though, even though this daddy is going back to work. And mommy will be here, blogging all the way.

{ Eisley's Daddy... }

Eisley's Daddy is 25. Happy Birthday Daddy.

{ Breakin' O' the Plates! }

On Sunday my family and I celebrated the annual Breakin' O' the Plates {it's a family thing... a St. Patrick's Day "celebration" for a past event that's funny in hindsight, but was not so funny at the time - and that's all I'll say on the matter} so we dressed in green and ate corned beef and cabbage. And beer. Wasn't green beer though...

Eisley did not have green beer, although she does like drinking water from a "big girl glass".
And she wore cabbage on her head.



In other news - I have a new blog! {Is this perhaps getting out of control? Is an intervention being planned?}

It's called Heather Cakes and it's to document my cake making lessons. Enjoy.

And happy St. Patrick's Day. Whatever that means...

{ The Park }

We took Eisley to the park for the first time. We wanted to put her in the swing, I was a little worried she was still too little. But not at all, she loved it! She had a huge smile the entire time...


PS - Do you like my stylized photos? I think they're vintage-tastic.

{ Dear Eisley - Vol. 2 }

{ Dear Eisley,

We were so overcome with joy when you started holding your own bottle last week! How nice it is for us to have two hands again during {some} feedings. However...

the feeling of joy has recently been countered by your other new attribute. I'm talking about the screaming that occurs sometimes when we put you down and/or leave the room. We're glad you miss us when you're gone, we miss you too! But try not to take it so hard, we always come back.... mmkay?

Love Always,

Mom & Dad}

PS - Do you like your new hat that came in the mail today? SIX people at Starbucks did and made sure to tell mommy. ;-)

Cake Decorating & Silly Eisley Video

Tonight was my second cake decorating class. Last week was just learning how to frost a cake, this week we actually had to bring one to decorate. It was so fun!

We all were to bring a two layer, blue frosted cake. Here was mine at the beginning of class:
And here it was at the end!

Eisley figured out how to make blubbering noises this week. She even lets mom and dad do it:

{ Spring }

It's not spring yet, but the chicks are here! We headed out to visit Grandma & Grandpa Sander today and picked out some chicks in Kiowa. They're too cute!

That little chick in the picture ^above^ is my personal favorite. She's an araucana, she'll lay beautiful green eggs.

Hey, that's a baby, not a chick. Still cute though...

The house is also coming along. I'm including a slide show for out of state family to see (yes I put it to {totally unrelated} music for your viewing pleasure):

{ Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! }

{That's a reference to a David Bowie song ;-) }

Last June, in the last week of June, Justin came home early. He had lost his job. It was devastating to us both. Justin had {grown to} love{d} his job and I had just left for {permanent} maternity leave and was a few weeks from having a baby. It was unexpected and threw us for a loop. When it happened, I freaked out. But only for an hour or two. Then I did what I do in devastating situations, I sat down {specificaly, in the bath tub} and prayed.

I turned to the Bible, ashamed that I found myself {for the millionth time in my life} turning to God now that trouble had come again, instead of being close and turned toward Him in the first place. It's sorta like it dawned on me at one point that day, "Oh yeah, God is here! He can help us..."

I specifically remember reading {over and over and over} many verses that comforted me. These are a *few* of them, a few of my very favorites. I love them because they show what kind of God my God is. He is so loving.

Psalm 37:39
The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
Psalm 46:1-2
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;he will never let the righteous fall.
Nahum 1:7
The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,
Matthew 6:19-34
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God

Those last two are particular favorites of mine. They pretty much erase any shred of worry in my heart everytime I read them.

But anyway, the point being, in our troubles, we grew closer to God. Our relationship with God deepened and became more real. {Perhaps this is sometimes why God permits things like this to happen to His children?} Guess what? About 9 months later I sit here looking back. We got through it. It's been rough, very rough at times. This economy is crashing around us, but we're still okay. There's a roof over our head still and food in our cupboards and gas in our cars. Even though back then I had no idea how we'd ever get through having a baby without jobs.

Today, Justin came home from work early.

Again.

This time it wasn't devastating. This time we were expecting it. Things had been going down hill with his job for a while now. From our point of view, there were some unrealistic expectations coming from his employer. It's a long story and there's lots of details I don't have time to indulge in. To give you a general idea, Justin wasn't willing to work 6 days a week without getting paid overtime - and several days a week were already 10-12 hour days. He worked 6 months there without seeing a dime of the commission he was supposed to get. We're semi-sure they've been trying to drive him away for a little while anyway, as their sales have dropped {not surprisingly since they refuse to spend a penny on advertising}. And they made it clear they felt like they were over paying my husband, which is almost offensive since they were paying him about half of what Justin said he needed to make when he first interviewed with this company {if they weren't willing, why'd they hire him?} Things along those lines...

Unlike the last time he lost his job, this time I'm really proud of him. I think this change is going to be good. And also unlike the last time he lost his job, this time we weren't so caught off guard. We've been seeing this one coming. So luckily, when Justin was officially "let go" earlier this morning he already had several resumes out there.

And tonite we're also thanking God. Justin's networking skills has already earned him an interview with a very reputable competitor of his previous employer. A rep for a product Justin loves selling and has been certified to sell and install at another previous job gave a wonderful recommendation to the owner of this business. About six hours after Justin got "let go", he had an interview scheduled for a job at a company he's had his eye on for a while now. Awesome.

Maybe he'll get the job, maybe he won't. But we're calm. We know things will work out. We know God is on our side and He promises to take care of us. With that knowledge that God is watching out for us {and proof, in my opinion, when I look back at how we got through this last time}, life can't get much better.