Update

Amelia is 1 month old today, and the past month has just flown by. I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing in 10 years, and I know it's cliche but time really does fly when you're having fun. Amelia is becoming a bit more predictable and we're all sleeping enough most of the time. I can't believe Caley is close to being 3, she amazes me in so many ways.

The new thing this week is potty training, which we've been attempting for the last year or so, but now she's finally getting it. It's like something has finally clicked in her brain and she's able to control her body more. On Sunday night this week I told her that Monday would be "no diaper day" and it was, until about 1pm when I'd had enough of her deliberately peeing in her training pants. I got mad and was very unChrist-like to say the least. By the evening I had calmed down and she had a few successes. So for the rest of this week when we were home she wore training pants and a diaper when we were out. I have tried to take her potty often, sometimes practically forcing her to sit on the toilet for the count of ten. We also have been really reinforcing when she does go potty and especially when she initiates. If she pees she gets a stamp like before, but after 5 stamps she gets to choose from the prize basket. Now we are starting to especially reinforce when she is dry. It's just seemed to click for her though, and it's about time! Yay for Caley! She may have a few accidents now and then, but at least the potty training is underway.



We visited Astoria last weekend for my parents 30th wedding anniversary. They had a big party and it was a lot of fun. They even had a cake just like their wedding cake. My aunt and uncle from Wyoming even came. Caley had fun playing with Jesse and she even went to a football game. Actually Amelia went too, and we got to see a movie! I was really nervous that she would get hungry and we'd get called out of the movie (she hasn't had a bottle yet) but she slept the whole time! Thanks Mom and Dad! By the way, The Borne Ultimatum rocks!In the words of my friend Kathleen, "Jason Borne is a badass". http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bourne_ultimatum/

The Girls

I can't seem to figure out Shutterfly, it's not letting me upload any pictures, it just crashes. So here are a few recent pictures of our girls.
Caley has lately loved practicing to be a mommy...she reads to Ernie and Grover...

Gives them milk...

Then tucks them in for night-night...


Complete with Yellow Blankie!


She also likes to read to Amelia!



Amelia likes to sleep--a lot.

Farewell Mr. Lincoln...

Today we gave away Lincoln, the bunny. We decided that he wasn't getting the attention he needed or deserved since Amelia was born. Actually last weekend we let him out to play and then forgot about him! About 3 hours later we realized he was gone, but thankfully he'd just escaped to the next-door neighbor's yard. Maybe another time we'll get a bunny again, when the kids are old enough to help care for him. We gave him to a family that lives pretty close, so maybe we'll get to visit him occasionally. Until then, we will miss you Lincoln, we wish you Godspeed.

Practical Caley

Caley has been working on potty training. If she pees or poops in the toilet, she gets to put a stamp on her "Potty Train" sheet. There are about 30 spots for stamps on the sheet and when she finishes a sheet she gets a present. Eventually, we'll work up to filling in multiple sheets for a present until she is fully trained. Yesterday she finished her first sheet, so we went to Toys R Us and she chose a present! We were thinking she'd choose a toy or maybe a ball or car. After walking through the whole store, she decided on a Tinkerbell umbrella! We offered her other toys, but she was set on the umbrella. It was even raining when we left so she got to use it. And she beamed holding it at church today walking in the rain to Children's Ministry. Caley's so practical, just like her parents. Way to go girl!

A Project in Progress

Just like Jesus worked as a carpenter, Bill has been working on an octagonal picnic table. He started in early July as an anniversary present, and he's hoping this project will be the first of many. Along the way he's made numerous trips to Home Depot, bought a mitre saw, made the garage a little dusty, and learned a lot. Here are some pictures of the process.

Amelia Diann is here!

We are now a family of four.

Amelia Diann Gerlach arrived 2 weeks early on August 6, 2007. In the last week we've learned that God has a sense of humor and incredible timing. We had a false alarm on Thursday Aug. 2 in which we thought my water had broken, rushed to the hospital after dropping Caley off with some friends, only to be sent home 2 hours later.

They say that second labors are usually half as long as the first, but for me it was 3x as long. My water broke at 4am on Monday morning and she was born at 5:36pm. They started me on a pitocin drip after a few hours of non-progress, it was like my body needed to be reminded what to do. It was actually a blessing because the biggest fear I had of this labor was that it'd be so short there wouldn't be enough time to get the antibiotics in my system to guard the baby against Group B Strep. Bill and I took naps and watched some TV, and he ate the lunch from the hospital since I wasn't allowed to. And Caley got to visit us, which was really nice. Once my body was in active labor, it took about 3 hours for Amelia to be born. She was 6lbs, 14ozs and 19.5 inches long. We chose Amelia because it was a name we both liked (actually we considered it with Caley but it got bumped) and Diann as a combo of our mom's names Diana and Ann.

The first week is going really well, Amelia's sleeping a lot which is easing the transition for all of us. Caley's a little blindsided, but always asks to hug and kiss the baby, and has even been waking at night and yelling, "See baby!" Cute, but not at 3am...

So enjoy these pictures and more on our Shutterfly site (link to the left). Jesus is good to us!

4 weeks to go!

We are now 36 weeks pregnant and the clock is ticking. Tomorrow we are having another ultrasound and hopefully we won't be getting any huge surprises like, "It's a boy instead." When I was about 35 weeks pregnant with Caley we had an ultrasound and got a full on picture of her "girl parts" and it was very reassuring that I wouldn't have to return everything that was pink. No name yet, but we're working on it. Her bassinet is in position, her clothes are folded and put away, the infant carseat is in the car, and Caley is often staying, "Baby come out." You tell her Caley! I'm sure she'll get a little shock when she realizes the baby is staying and that she'll have to share all her stuff, but she'll get over it.

Other than baby stuff, we've been staying busy with keeping up the house and the yard. We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on July 6 by camping out in the backyard. We bought a gazebo tent and put Caley's full size mattress in it, complete with sheets and blankets. That's the extent of "roughing it" for now. Our friends the Hursts were kind enough to watch Caley for the night. Bill has also started working on an octagon picnic table that he's building. It is an anniversary present, which is convenient because the 5 year gift is wood. Whoever came up with what's supposed to be the yearly gift, I don't know. Next year I can look forward to something that's candy or iron (http://www.findgift.com/Anniversary-Table/). Maybe Bill will weld something for the yard? We also had a garage sale with some friends from college and it was fun! The pictures above are from that day.

Life is good, it's not too hot, and we're about to have one more in our family. Thank you Jesus.

Heat Wave

One way to cool off this summer...

Shoreline blogs

I'm writing about once a month on the Mars Hill: Shoreline blog, check it out!

The link is to the left.

It's so...quiet

My parents have Caley for a few days. They were originally going to take her to Astoria next week but it works out better to do it now. It's "Caley Camp" which is like "Cousin Camp" minus the cousins. When I was little my brother and cousins and I would go to Grandma Runyan's for a few days and give our parents a break, so the tradition continues.

When we got home from church we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. It was so quiet in the house, I felt almost useless. It was like Caley was just napping but I'd check her room and it'd be empty. Very surreal. It's nice to have the freedom, but I'm glad it's not like this all the time. We'd be so lonely without her! It makes me wonder how we spent our time before she was born.

Tomorrow I have no plans. It's so weird to think that. I don't even have to be home in the afternoon to let Caley have a nap. I get to see what the world looks like from 1-4pm!

"I need Butt Paste"

This is Caley's new sentence. This week she has had some mild digestive issues and has a nasty rash that is only being helped with Butt Paste. Butt Paste is a diaper cream similar to Desitin. It has a "pleasant scent" and can be used on any number of skin irritations including diaper rash. She likes to hold the tube while I'm changing her and put it on her "owies" (thankfully it comes out really slowly). Meanwhile, we're still battling the stream of poopy diapers. Seriously it's like 4 or 5 times a day in small batches. Otherwise, she seems fine so I think it's just from something she ate, not a bug going around.

Today she went in the swimming pool and had a blast! The swimsuit is from Grandma and Papa Bales. She's a little small on top to fill it out, but I think the diaper compensates. Enjoy these pictures. Happy Summer!

Cakes!

I like to bake and decorate cakes. Here's a sample of a few I've done, if I find more I'll post them too.

Caley's 2nd birthday. Bees!

For Angela's baby shower. It looks a little like Charlie Brown in a diaper...

For Jennie's baby shower. I used the wrong white frosting so it doesn't look like I wanted it to, but it was delicious! (And that's the whole point right?)

Workin It

... "Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
Gen 3:17b-19

Addie's folks came down for the weekend and were very gracious by giving of their time and energy and working around the house. When I type "working around the house", I mean that literally. We spent most of the time aerating and mowing the lawn, and dethatching, raking and bagging moss. Lots of nasty moss. We filled 32 large contractor bags full of heavily compressed moss. Joy of all joys!

And who knew that a dethatcher could make a lawn look like someone just threw a grenade? Holy crack smoker. We also had a leaf blower to corall moss into piles, which suprisingly worked. Phil brought along his riding mower, and we took turns filling up the dual bags it carried (along with me clogging or stalling the thing) while Addie, Ann and Caley raked up piles and bagged. Actually, I think Caley spent more time un-piling the piles, but she was having a blast so we just let her do her thing. We worked it all Saturday afternoon and finally called it quits because of the dehydration and faintings. Sunday morning after getting back from Mars Hill we finished up the backyard, and then Phil & Ann packed up their truck to head off on their next adventure. A few things like re-seeding bare spots and weeding are on the agenda, but we got so much done it's amazing. Thanks again Phil and Ann. It's so thoughtful that of all the fun things you guys could have done on your weekend you chose hard labor at the Gerlachs. We really appreciate it.

This weekend of working the soil reminded me of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Basically what happened was they sinned and rebelled against God, and so God cursed the ground and made it hard for them, and us, to "work it". (along with other curses but I won't go into those) I think most Christians believe that the earth, including the soil, became cursed (ie. weeds, thorny bushes, etc) after Adam and Eve sinned. So the garden that God created, full of the choicest trees and plants for food and beauty, would have been free of moss, weeds, and brown recluse spiders. After the fall, only then did the garden become just like any other garden, full of weeds.

This brings up an interesting question in regards to God's command for Adam to "cultivate and keep it". (Gen 2:15). If that garden was "perfect", then what would Adam need to do in order to cultivate it? We know that God already planted the garden and it was watered by a stream, so what did God's commandment mean to Adam and what was his job? One theory that I really like is that God created weeds and thorns, etc., BEFORE Adam and eve sinned, but just kept the garden pretty much separate from the outside areas. This is different than the popular belief that after sin entered the world, only then did God "curse the ground" with weeds. I like it because it makes sense, for example, that weed seeds from outside the garden, via the air, may have made it into Eden to give Adam a little bit of "cultivating" to do, instead of him just bored out of his mind, walking around naked all day, plucking fruit off the trees like fast food. This would make it less about cursing the "ground", because the weeds were already around, but instead directed at Adam for his sin against God. This curse is obviously shown by them getting booted out of the garden and having to figure out how to plant, water, and deal with weeds on a much larger scale, like we get to today.

And lets not forget about the moss. Adam didn't have a dethatcher or aerator like we have today, so, all things considered, we had it pretty easy.