Thanks Izzy Weaver!

Israel came and hang out with me the other day. We played with Chrisy, hid from Sean, took care of baby Havah and got our van fixed. The next day he brought me a sunflower! Thanks Izzy!

Cousins!

Last weekend Havah and I went to Cincinnati where she met the rest of her cousins. Mom has the better pictures, but here are the ones I have.

I Love Saturday Mornings

Saturday mornings are the best mornings of the week! We spend the mornings in bed drinking coffee and talking. Most Saturdays the kids are right there too, but this Saturday Israel is at camp and Judah is in her room with Jennai. Havah's the only one who hung out with us today, but she was asleep for most of it. Now Sean is downstairs noodling with his new toys, Havah is in her swing and I'm about to go pour another cup. In a bit we'll be off to the city market. Hurray for Saturday.

Havalujah!

Last night Havah had her typical evening, but there must have been some magic in it somewhere. I gave her the normal evening bath, she played with dad and her big sisters, then tucked her in her bed for the night by 8. I went to bed around 9:30 deciding to skip her normal 10:00 snack. I didn't hear a sound from her till 2:45am! I fed her and tucked her back in bed. She slept till 6:45! I feel like a million bucks!

 

She's a snuggler. Havah convinced Jeannie Bean to snuggle her too. It really isn't too hard.

Two weekends ago Jeannie and Ethan came to visit Havah. I know Jeannie came to see me too, but I know why she really came. We can't wait to see her again in just a few weeks. We can't wait to meet Ethan in just a few months!

But Can Your Mom Do This?

  My Mom is so cool. When I got Havah's carseat I wasn't in love with the pattern. That's okay...my Mom can take care of that!

Pictures from our Trip

Here's the link to the pictures from our trip. I actually didn't take very many pictures because mom was our trip photographer. :) Fair warning...there are LOTS of pictures.

Breaking the Rules

So far everyday we've been in Florida we've been breaking Sean's # 1 rule. Don't have too much fun!

Day one was at The Magic Kingdom. Havah rode It's a Small World.

Day two was at Epcot. Sean and I rode Mission to Space and spent the rest of the day regretting it.

Day three was at the revival. A meeting in the morning and a meeting in the evening. It was more exciting than Disney World.

Day four was spent at the beach. We walked 50 yards into the ocean and were only up to our waists. The Gulf of Mexico is so different than the Pacific in Southern California.

Tonight Havah and I are spending the evening with my Dad's cousins Phyllis and Gene while everyone else is back at the revival. Havah's had a lot of late nights and needs a peaceful evenings with no fireworks or characters.

Pictures will follow soon.

Tomorrow's the start of an eventful summer. Early in the morning I take Sean and my Mom to the airport. Late that evening I am going back to the airport with all of my girls. We'll land in Orlando at 1am. We'll spend a week in Florida at the revival and Disney World.

Shortly after we get back our good friends from California are coming with their kids to join Israel for ATC. Then I head to Cincinnati for a family reunion. In July Israel and Judah are going to California for a few weeks. Sean and I are talking about going to Carolina while they are gone.

Once all this is over it's only a short time before the girls start school again.

This is going to be a fun summer.

What I Should Have Said

This is what I thought as I layed in bed yesterday evening. I am having this thought more often than I would like right now. It's one of those glorious times of great weakness brought on by lack of sleep and new stresses. Havah hasn't been sleeping as well as I would like and is often grumpy in the evenings. This puts her mom on edge. When I'm on edge I end up doing and saying things I wish I hadn't. Maybe I still would have done something or said something, but things sound so much better when you have a clear head. I need God's help. I need the Holy Spirit. I need the fruit of the Spirit.

5 Weeks Old

I Forgot to Tell You

Havah also loves it when Auntie Laura comes to town.

The Exciting Life of Havah Henry

Havah's life is quite exciting right now. Her day begins around 6:00 each morning. She politely lets her Momma know that it's time for breakfast. After breakfast her Momma politely lets her know that it is too early to begin the day, so Havah goes to visit Gram.

After Havah's second breakfast Gram and I get ready to run errands. Havah LOVES to run errands. She gets a new diaper, clean cloths and put in the car seat. This is how she let's me know that she loves it.



After running errands it's time for elevensies. After this mid morning snack Havah loves to sit in her swing (this one she really does love). Thank you Auntie Angela for the wonderful swing!




After a nap the sisters usually get home from school. This is one of Havah's favorite times of the day. In her world she becomes a rock star. Her sisters sing and dance her around the kitchen, change her diapers, sit and talk to her about their day and listen to her talk about hers.




This is where the day blurrs. At this point Havah's Momma is tired and ready for Daddy to come hold her. All throughout the day Havah naps when she wants to, cries when she wants to, poops when she wants to and often cries out very clearly GRAM!! When she says this what she is telling Gram is, "No one is holding me. I have this strange sensation on my back! I think it's the bed. Please come save me."

This Face

I love this face and miss this little girl. She's not so much of a baby any longer. There's too much competition in the baby department. I wish she lived closer, but her mom doesn't like it when I pray that He would move them to Kansas City.

Thanks for capturing this beautiful smile Sara!

Gotcha Day!

Check this out!!!

Angela and Charlie came to visit this past weekend. This is just before we went to the City Market. Charlie loved it. Havah slept through it, but I'm sure she would have loved it too.



This is how Havah spends most of her day.

Here are some pictures of the first week.

I Bend in the Middle!

Monday Mom and I went to a fun little part of Kansas City to get fabric for Havah's baby blankie. While we were there we walked around the plaza. I had a few strong contractions, but didn't think too much of it because I've been having Braxton Hicks since about 20 weeks. I would have never guessed that less than 24 hours later I wouldn't be the only one who could carry Havah.

There are so many things about having this little one that I cherish. Late night gazing into each others eyes, seeing her little cheeks fill out, watching her daddy snuggle her, having Israel and Judah enjoy their little sister. I could go on and on.



The past 5 days have been so easy for me. I have Sean, my mom, Christina, and the girls. Everyone pitches in. During the first few nights mom took her for a few hours so we could sleep. In the early mornings Sean snuggles Havah in bed and teaches her about programming when they are at work. I can't imagine how people make it through the first few days of a little ones life without help. I am so thankful.

Well I have a lot that I could tell you about, but instead I'm going to go squish my little squish.

Zeb's Two Best Buds

Zeb had a great day today. He has spent the entire day outside with the neighbor dog Shep. Shep showed up in our backyard one day. We learned from our neighbors that he lives several street away and just roams the neighborhood. We learned from experience that he can jump pretty much any fence. Sometimes when I drive up Shep will patiently wait until I open the garage door, so he can go through the house to get to the backyard instead of hopping the fence.


At one point Judah went outside to play for a while. Zeb was in dog heaven. Having both Judah and Shep outside with him was almost more than he could handle.

Please??

I'm up early tonight. It's only midnight. I'm getting kind of board during these late nights. Being just about ready to pop, people often ask me if they can help with anything. There's not usually anything I need help with (yet). BUT I have a favor to ask of YOU. Yes...I'm talking to YOU. Could you update your blog please? It would make these late nights a little bit easier for me. Doesn't have to be too lengthy. Heck, I'm willing to look at a slide show of pictures of your dog. Now I know I fit into the category of people who do not update their blogs often enough, but at this time of night I really don't have many coherent thoughts. During the day I'm usually so tired that I would have much of anything worth reading to say either.

Tricia Got Lungs!

Pray for Tricia, Nate and Gwen. Maybe you have been following their story. Right now Tricia is in surgery to get her new lungs. Pray that everything goes well. I want their baby to have a mommy for many years to come.

I've been so moved by reading their story. Talk about trust in God and having incredible character. Nate does an incredible job of conveying what's going on in their lives and also being vulnerable with millions of readers. After the past few weeks of reading their blog I feel like a family member. Please pray for a miracle for all three of them.

A Run in My Pantyhose

It all started last week with the wonderful news that baby girl had dropped down a few inches and gave me some breathing room. That morning I noticed a small patch of stretch marks. Just a small one inch by 3 inch patch. Nothing major right? Nothing major till the next morning. My sister made the perfect analogy - stretch marks are like a run in your pantyhose. Only these runs can't be fixed with a dot of clear nail polish.

Oh well. I live in Missoura...the only beach around here is at Longview Lake.

Also...the timestamp is going to be wrong again, but it's 3:30am. I wonder if this early VERY early morning ritual is going to continue after our little girl reaches her eviction date.

See the timestamp on the post below

See it? It says posted by Danielle at 1:33 am. It's actually 3:33 am, but I can't figure out how to change the time zone. This week I can breath. Hopefully next week I'll be able to sleep. Once her eviction date comes I'm sure I won't be getting as much sleep as I would like.

One other fun thing I forgot to mention earlier - Yesterday was the best. Sean and I spent the whole day doing a whole bunch of nothing together. It was great. (nothing did include the grocery store, Sweet Tomatoes and grilling lamb, but other than that it was pretty much the real nothing)

Taking a Deep Breath

We had a great weekend at the Henry household. It started Thursday night with 8 extra Jr High girls. Israel had a slumber party with several of the girls from The Daniel Academy, something we've never had the space of ability to do until now.

The next morning I woke up to Sean and Judah giggling in the kitchen. Apparently they had been looking online at minivans. We'll be running out of space in the car soon. Once we add our baby girl's pumpkin seat the girls will barely fit in my backseat. We definitely need the extra seat belts. How else would we get all of us and Dana and Emily to The View (our local gym with an awesome indoor pool)? So back to the giggling - not only had they been looking...they had also been bidding and were currently winning on FOUR vehicles! By noon we had "won" a Blue Chrysler Town and Country. At 1:00 we were on our way to St Louis to pick it up. Thankfully, by the time we got home we were only still "winning" on one last vehicle - a 15 passenger van. Sadly, yesterday we lost the auction.

Saturday was Purim. There was a great party at our friend Cristina's barn. We all got dressed up for the occasion. Israel was Barbie, Judah was a Girl Scout, Sean was an Amish Tom Petty, I was Esther after she'd been in the palace for a few years (meggo preggo), and Christina was a stunning Esther. I REALLY wish that I could show you a picture cuz we looked great!

That evening Huckleberry was moving quite a bit and making me quite uncomfortable. I felt kind of bad that I couldn't really focus during the reading and reenacting (thank you Judah) of the story of Esther. Every once in a while I have this feeling of...I can't do this for another month. There's no way. The only way I could do this is if I stayed in bed till she decides to make her appearance.

By the time we got home the most amazing thing had happened. She had moved down several inches and for the first time in 2 months I can take a deep breath! This feels like some incredible gift from God. For weeks now every time I eat a meal or have anything with sugar she immediately responds by sticking her feet in my right lung. She was up so high and kept putting those little feet in my chest that I was actually getting quite good at grabbing her foot (really...I could grab it) and pushing it back down where it belonged. This would only last for a few seconds before she put it right back. Now, even when she stretches out I can still breath. :)

International Hope Blankies

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Looks like some genous paid to have Hope Blankies sent to the orphanage that Li Hao (Hope) is at right now. I wish I could have been there when those little ones opened their gift.

Other good news - Zhe Wei has been adopted! Zhe Wei pictured on the 2nd row in the third block holidng the red blankie and cat.

It's Christmas All Year

My amazing sister-in-law gave us the coolest Christmas gift this year. Soap of the Month Club. At first I was amazed by such a cleaver gift! I told my friends and sisters. Naturally, they were jealous of my soap and my good gift giving sister. Later, I found out how naive I was in the estimation of the value of this gift. I read her blog one morning while enjoying the wonderful smell of lavender and lemon grass scented hands and discovered that she had been making the soap all along! I immediately informed the friends and sisters who then had no words to respond to the incredibly amazing discovery of my incredibly amazing new sister. Phew! Try and contain yourself.

The Best News Ever!

It has been a long time waiting, but today our good friends got the okay from China to go bring their little Hope home! They will be able to leave in about one month. Please continue to pray that all of their needs are provided for in the next month and that the travel plans come together easily. Woo Hoo!

Wanna See My Big Belly?

Check out Katchen's Blog. 33 weeks down. Who knows how many to go. :)

Judah the Dairy Farmer

  Yesterday we went to Shatto Dairy Farm. It was supposed to be a TDA field trip, but turned into more of a family event.

We drove an hour and a half out into the middle of nowhere! I'm telling you it was almost to the other edge of nowhere. We walked into their little gift shop and waited for the tour to begin. While waiting a gentleman with mud boots on. He made small talk with me for a few minutes until he decided to walk to the front of the store and introduce himeslf as Leroy Shatto! Welcome to his farm. From there the tour was just about as fun as a barrel of monkeys. We learned all about the dairy farming lifestyle which begins with a first milking at 3:30am. Next we tasted every wonderful kind of flavored milk they make - Strawberry, Bananna, Orange, Rootbeer and their world famous Chocolate milk. We also got to meet and milk some of their cows. There were 2 day old calves that jumped and leaped arround. They were definately the highlight of the tour.

I knew going to the farm that I would leave a raving fan. If you live in the Kansas City area you should be drinking Shatto. Support the local, hormone free root beer cows. Okay?

I'm writing this post just to let you know how dumb white tile floors are.

We have a wonderful kitchen. It is big and will one day be beautiful. There are lots of cabinets (but I think we could still use more), lots of space in the middle for an island one day, and sparkly white tile floors. Oh wait, did I say sparkly? Ummm, well maybe they sparkle once a week...for like 5 minutes. Then the dog will walk through the kitchen and all of a sudden I feel like I need to get the swiffer out. EVERY time the dog walks through the kitchen I feel like I need to get the swiffer out. He doesn't really shed all that much, but the white tile shows EVERY SINGLE HAIR!

The only time that the stupid white floor doesn't show how many times we walk through the kitchen each day is when I wear socks and intentially drag my feet so I can catch whatever extra fluff is floating arround the floor. When someone walks through with shoes there is usually a little gift left from the shoe to the floor as one exits. When Sean cooks there's usually a little funk under the stove. When I wash dishes there's usually a little funk near the mat infront of the sink. I guess the good thing about the white floor is now I realize how much of a mess we've always been making. I just really don't appreciate it the way I maybe should. I like a little mystery.

There are days when I could sweep the floor 10x. I usually give up at 2x, but today...I'm not going to do it at all. There!

The Future is Looking Bright

Well maybe partly cloudy, but at least it looks warm(er)! Hooray!

Kansas City, MO
30°F
Mostly Cloudy
Wind: NW at 17 mph
Humidity: 51%Today

33° | 19°Wed

43° | 27°Thu

53° | 35°Fri

On another note... I'm still batteling a little bit of sickness. There are moments when feeling sick and tired seem like a crisis. Right now I'm only cooking a baby. I don't even have 3 and one on the way like some of the women I know. Yikes! How do people do that?

Haven't I already paid my dues??

Since we've been in Kansas City I've had two colds and I'm working on my 3rd. Isn't two enough?

The first was just after we arrived. It lasted a long time, but wasn't too bad. The next one was over New Years. It was probably the worst I've ever had in my life.

I'm hoping this one is mostly done by tomorrow. I'm hoping in the car with Izzy and driving to Cincinnati for our baby girl's first shower. We gotta get this girl squeaky clean!

How to get your very own Hope Blankie

A few of you have asked how to get the Hope Blankie. If you go to the post below and click on the italicized words it will take you to the link. The new blog design I have doesn't allow me to underline the hyperlinks.

Those blankies make great shower gifts. Hint hint. :)

You Probably Need One of These

My dear friends are selling these beautiful blankies to raise funds to bring their little Hope home. You probably need one.

What are YOU doing this weekend?

I'll be in Cincinnati for my baby shower, but if you don't have plans you need to plan to be HERE.

Late Night Activites

I stopped by a friends tonight. She had remodeled, furnished and painted over the weekend and all on a dime. She is truly a "get it done" inspiration.

I came home and put the couch cover on the pink couch upstairs. It had been sitting next to the couch still in the package since Friday. I felt quite accomplished. NOT!

Living Room Before and After

I forgot to show you the living room changes. Last weekend we had a Saturday night painting party.

Before:

After:

Well I didn't run into the Lawrenson's, but once we got to the hospital I found out that their room was just down the hall from my Grandmother's. I went by Trica's room and left a note. I later found out that she was in surgery. I realized while I was there that if her little girl is 5 weeks old and was born 15 weeks early that we would have been due around the same time.

My Grama's tests came back with great results. She has the arteries of an 18 year old. We talked about stopping at the drug store on the way home to get a new appropriate hair color.

This morning I left mom's and came back home. Here are some photos from the week:

Charlotte and me. :)


My new gloves! Thanks Mom!



Here's the old pair. Zeb got a hold of him. I was devestated! My grandmother gave these to me when I was 16. They've been in my jacket pocket ever since.


My first flight was delayed, so I worked on this project. I finished it before my layover in Cincinnati! (please don't zoom - I haven't washed away the markings yet)


I had a great time with my Mommy! I'm so glad I'll get to see her again next weekend in Cincinnati.

Walking Down Memory Lane

I should really call this post "digging through memory boxes."

Mom and I went to her basememt tonight to go through old boxes. There were boxes from my childhood and teenage years. Most boxes were filled with thousands of notes and letters from old girlfriends, boys and my dear Jeannie Bean. I had forgotten that Jeannie and I exchanged SO MANY letters!

There were also lots of picture that I had forgotten about also. I found WONDERFUL pictures of Patrick. There were several years where I really felt like he was almost mine. He was such a fun little boy. Most of the pictures were of the two of us just hanging out in my room.

I found a few things from TheCall DC that happened in 2000. There were a few 40 day devoltionals, the book by Michael Brown and the CD that has Jason Uptons "freedom" on it. It was a quick reminder of what so many anticipate and are working so hard for this fall. That day was historical for me. I can look back to that day and see how it shifted the course of the next several years.

There were a few fun things for my new baby. Mom has kept some of my baby dresses, dolls and blankets that people made for me. I really look forward to getting my baby's room ready when I get back home.

Tomorrow we head to Duke Hospital to be with my grandmother and aunt as my grama undergoes some tests. I'm praying I run into these folks. If you haven't read their story and started praying for them please join me in prayer for them.

I love this girl!

 
I've been at my mom's today with Angela's little girls. They are just wonderful! The only downside is they make me miss my girls! The past several times I've seen these little Solomon's has been with Israel present. Ava loves to play with her and Charlie loves to be squeezed by her.

Israel is planning to come with me to Cincinnati next weekend. I'm so glad that I won't have to miss her when I'm gone then.

We were at the MAC store in Vegas in this picture. We weren't quite sure if the person who did her make-up was a boy or girl. Hmmm...

Last Minute Travel Plans

Sunday I realized that my travel time is ticking away. The next several weeks are already planned and by the end of those I don't imagine that I'll want to be hopping on another plane. SO, I called my mom and asked if I could come on Tuesday. She asked, why don't you come tomorrow instead? Coming Monday meant that I would get to see my sister, her kidlets and my Grama. So...here I am in beautiful North Carolina. :)

Bad Pictures Big Belly

Wanna see a bad picture of my big belly?

The little old man at Sun Fresh who bagged my groceries just asked if I needed help out to the car. I only had one bag - it only had lettuce in it. I said no.

Jesus Loves Me - So Does La Mar's

This morning after dropping the girls I realized that I could not go another moment without a donut. It was an undeniable craving that if denied may involve tears. I head north on Wornall convinced that there would be a Crispy Cream in just a few blocks. I was wrong. I knew that there would be a donut place on Holmes, so I head down one block and start working my way there. Salvation! I saw La Mar's just up ahead. I pulled in the parking lot. Grabbed my wallet and headed in. As I was almost to the door I realized that I didn't have any cash. I headed back to the car to my change stash to find that there was only about a dollar there. Surely a dollar would be enough. I went in and saw the sign that said, .75 for donuts. I chose my donut and then the cashier gave me the bad news. Specialty donuts are $1.75. She saw the disappointment on my face and quickly offered to help me otu and feed my baby. :) She took the change I had and called it even.

Note to all my pregnant friends. Keep at least $5 on you at all times. You never know when you may have an undeniable craving for something you can't justify putting on a credit card.

Bad Blogger

Sorry I'm such a bad blogger. Check out Christina's blog for some Henry household updates. We've been having some Haunakka fun.

I'll be blogging...as soon as I have something to say.

Someone Has a Birthday Today...

Happy Birthday Friend.

Yum!

Let's start at the top of the plate.
Mashed Potatoes: Kelsey
Mushroom Bruchetta: Sara
Deviled Egg: Sara
Sweet Potatoes (oh Wow): Kelsey
Salad: Mark
Green Beans (hiding beneath the salad): Mary
Green Bean Caserole (one of my favorites): Sara
Asparagas: Grayson!
Center Deep Fried Turkey: Sean


Mmmmmm. That's all I have to say about that.

After dinner I had the pumpkin cheesecake that Gray made. Again...oh Wow!

The Kids Hate the New House

This picture was taken when we took the girls to look at the house for the first time. Can't you see what a horrible time they are having. Please pray.

Prepare for Thanksgiving

Sean has been preparing for Thanksgiving for the past week. Let me just show you what an interesting week it has been...

(National Safety Director please go to the next post and disregard this one.)

Get out your ponytail holders and headbands because...well, you'll see. Don't try this at home kids.

First, you need a unitasker:


Some fire:


Some Veggies and Tofu:



And a Wok:



Should you decide to purchase a turkey fryer and make this wonderful meal you probably won't be as blessed as us to have the two coolest strangers show up at your door and stay for dinner.


Daniel Academy students look out, you are about to take the most exciting Culinary Arts/Food Science Class that has ever been. Check in again in the next few days to see the fried turkey.

*Please note all cooking was performed in a well ventelated area.

I have some photo updating to do...

Well I guess I can start with today.

It snowed! All had fun including the dog. This is our old backyard. Pictures of the house we just purchased are yet to come.

Notice Judah wearing a skirt over her pants...

Well..it's not a boy

When Angela was pregnant with Charlie, Leah was the first to find out if it was a boy or a girl. She wanted to give us all a hint. "It's not a boy." I love that hurricane.

Today we got the exciting news (of course we'd be excited no matter what). It's not a boy! Poor Patrick is still going to be the only boy, and Sean is going to continue to have a house full of girls. :)

It was so fun to see that tiny little girl. She is so scrunched in there. The technician thought that she is about 8 - 10 inches long.

Judah has been text messaging everyone in her phone from the moment we found out.

Night Watch

Pregnancy has take a toll on my energy levels. Since I got married last year I have realized the great value of going to bed early. Since I've been pregnant that value has increased tremendously. About 7:30 8 each night I find myself heading to bed. Some evenings I would climb in at 5 if I could.

The recent complication has been my night watch. I feel like I need to go to bed at 8, but never fails...around 12 maybe 1 I wake up. Could be my bladder or could be the dog. It doesn't really matter. This means I'm going to be up for a few hours. The big decision I have to make is, do I spend this time laying in bed hoping that I fall asleep or do I come downstairs and occupy my time with something else? Tonight I've decided to come say hello to you.

Luxuries

The luxury of my life right now is going to get a burrito and running into Dave W. and Katchen and Izzy! The next day I go to the Prayer Room and there they are again! Later I went to TheCall office and Randy was there. This is so fun! I love living near friends.

Winter Itch

Well it's not exactly winter, but I'm starting to itch. This was something I did not miss about the midwest. In California dry skin is almost NEVER an issue. Especially when you live near the ocean. Now I should consider that pregnancy may have something to do with this, but man...I itch all over. The kind of itch that makes you wiggle in your jeans cuz there's just no fixing it. Lotion helps a little bit, but what I really need is a portible humidifier to carry along with me wherever I go. Could someone invent that for me?