Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Graduate

Congratulations to my husband for completing his bachelor's degree and graduating with honors from Excelsior College! We received the diploma in the mail yesterday.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Pigtails

As Madison's hair gets longer, I'm able to put pigtails higher in her hair, rather than just at her neckline.



Deer #1

My dad got the first deer of the season over the weekend. Now Matt is really itching to get one! (P.S. Hopefully I kept the picture small enough so as not to gross out anyone with a sensitive stomach!)

Job Update

Just a quick update on the job news... First of all, Congressman Kuhl conceded the election last week, so he has officially lost. The job hunt continues to be pretty dry. We've put in zillions of applications in every field from Batavia to Syracuse to Horseheads - an area of about 6000 sq. miles - and so far heard almost nothing back. Matt has had a couple of interviews. One resulted in no offer. The 2nd he just had this morning, so we don't know if he'll get an offer or not. The downside to the job he interviewed for this morning is the shifts they're hiring for run from late morning to late evening, so not conducive at all to family life or to his College Plus job. So it's a bit discouraging. Despite that, both Matt & I have felt less anxious and more peaceful about the whole situation, even as we start the celebration of the holiday season. The Lord has promised to provide for our needs, and though we don't see how at this point, we choose to cling to His sure Word.

"But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8:24-25)

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

Friday, November 21, 2008

Close-to-Christmas Confessions

Ok Ok! I confess! I did it! I couldn't help it! We've been waking up every day this week to steady, fluffy, beautiful snow... and I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I couldn't help it! I listened to Christmas music!! There I said it. (Now my family will probably disown me ;-) The mood is set for the season in this area. There's a lovely blanket of white everywhere. Makes me want to get the tree up, pull out the Christmas music, and burn some festive candles.

Although, I have been hearing people talk about how Thanksgiving is so "late" this year. I hadn't really been paying attention, but I suppose if I want to feel less guilty, I could justify it by saying in another year, it might already be past Thanksgiving by now!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Snow Day

The past few days we have been getting lake effect snow like crazy in Fairport. My friend Caryn and I decided to do a snow day with our kids this morning. Wow, is it a challenge getting 4 kids ready for the snow! (And all the mothers out there say, "AMEN!") And both Caryn & I are pregnant as well, so chasing after them and carrying them around with all our snow gear and their snow gear on proved to be quite the workout. We had a fun time though. This was Madison's first experience in the snow. Hard to tell what she thought of it. If she was upright, she seemed to like walking in it OK. If she tipped over and got snow on her hands & face, she'd cry. (She takes after her momma.)






Shopping Day Therapy

Yesterday my sister came over to visit and go shopping with me. My husband graciously offered to stay home with Madison for the afternoon to allow me to be baby-free. Wow, was I ready for that much-needed break! It was so nice to go from store to store, in and out without have to put baby in & out of the carseat. It was great to do fun shopping for once (vs. grocery shopping which is what I'm normally doing!). Plus we got a lot of Christmas shopping done in a short time, so it was a productive day. When we got back home, Matt had dinner made and on the table. What a guy!

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Hunters

Pretty In Pink

This was a cute little Children's Place fleece outfit I picked up at a garage sale. It's gotten cold again, so it was appropritate to bundle up in something cozy today!


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Job, Pacifier & Other Updates

The past week has been such a whirlwind - and an emotional drain. The job hunt continues -- so far not fruitful at all, but it continues. The situation looks a little more bleak every day as both Matt & I sit in front of the computer almost all day long and still come up with very little in the way of job opportunities for this entire region. So frustrating.

To add to the frustration, while we assume Matt's boss has lost the election, we were not able to get the finality we hoped once the absentee ballots came in, as both sides agreed to a full recount. Now they won't even start counting the absentee ballots until at least next week (instead of this past Monday, which is when they would've been counted if a recount hadn't been ageed upon). If there are ballots they object to & do end up going to court, who knows when we'll find out for sure -- could be weeks. We were looking forward to Election Day if for no other reason than to get it over with & know how to proceed going forward -- having a job or having to look for a job. And we still don't know!

In recent Madison news, we made the decison to pull the plug last week -- as in, the pacifier. Because Madison's rash around her mouth kept coming back, we knew it would continue as long as she used a pacifier. And since it was a habit that we'd have to break someday anyway, we decided to give it a try. Last Wednesday was Day 1 -- and was it a nightmare. Madison literally screamed through her whole 1 1/2 hour nap time in the morning, then cried through almost her entire afternoon nap. She did manage to sleep for a quick 30 minutes out of exhaustion in the afternoon and another quick 20-30 minutes in the early evening. I had told Matt I was willing to give this a try for a day, maybe two, but if she didn't start sleeping, we'd have to give up. I'd rather deal with a mild rash than compromise her health by being sleep-deprived all the time! That night she went right to sleep -- without the paci -- and by the next day, she slept fine without it for all of her naps. We haven't given it back to her since taking it away on Day 1, and so far we seem to be doing OK! After the first day, she seems to have adjusted just fine. PHEW!!

Yesterday we spent Matt's day off visiting friends, running errands, and then spending the rest of the day with my brother & his family. Madison was very interested in her new cousin, Katrina. She would walk to her and say, "What's that? Baby." Then she'd pet the baby's head. Makes me think she's going to like having 'her own' baby when her little sister comes. Below is a picture from yesterday with 'Uncle Matt' playing the part of human jungle gym for all the little girls.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Political Party Princess

We attended Kuhl's 'victory' party last night. Unfortunately, aside from not winning victory, it was a 2 hour drive to get there, plus we took Madison, which made for a loooong night. I suppose the only highlight is that we had an excuse to dress Madison up. ;-) She claimed a balloon almost as soon as we got there and spent the evening happily (if tiredly) wandering about. Check out the expression in the first picture. She's been doing this lately - giving this frown/scowl thing.





Jobless

In an election night filled with pretty much only bad news, Matt's boss, Congressman Randy Kuhl, lost the election to his democratic competition. With 99% of the votes counted, Kuhl lost 49% to 51%, by about 4500 votes. We knew it would be super close, we just hoped in the end it would swing the other way. The results are not something we're surprised about - especially after his decisions on the bailout vote - but it does leave the sinking feeling of "now what." So if you hear of any good job openings, send them our way! ;-)

Monday, November 3, 2008

Little Girl

And here's my 'baby' who has turned into a little girl! This was before church on Sunday. It's still hard to get her to hold still long enough to get a good shot of her -- and the video below kept losing its focus, I don't know why.









Welcome Katrina Rose

Madison welcomed a new cousin into the world last week --




Katrina Rose was born October 26 weighing 7 lbs. She is girl #3 for my brother and his wife. She's a tiny little thing! It's so hard to believe Madison was little like that once - and of course seeing Madison next to Katrina, Madison looks huge!