Some Updates

-  I have been terrible at blogging lately but I do have some good excuses...I'm pregnant, our house has been on the market, we actually got an offer this past weekend, Brian has been working a lot, I'm pregnant, I never know where my cord is for my camera, I lost my phone for a while with most of my pics, I have 2 small children and I'm pregnant!

- YAY!  We accepted an offer on our house this past weekend!  So, now we wait to hear about the inspection and try to find  a house.  Exciting but very stressful at the same time.

- I'm being induced on February 22nd!  Ash Wednesday! 

- We decided on a name for our son which will probably not be a surprise to anyone because most people are on facebook.  I knew it was the right name when Brian did a dance around the living room after he discovered it.  Caius  (Caius we just like and may call him Cai.  It means rejoice) and John (after both of our brothers plus we love the meaning "God is gracious or generous")

- We own a minivan.  We got one out of necessity in December and have been loving the extra space.  It is very surreal to own a minivan...I am definitely a grown up.

- I turned 33 years old last week.

- On January 19th we hit the one year mark of when we lost Ezekiel. 

- I have lot of pictures from Christmas still to post...I will do that eventually

What?!?! A Meal Plan

Yes, folks I actually am making a meal plan this week...although I cannot say that it will be very interesting.  I am sure that most of my followers here on blogger know that we are pregnant again.  This is the official blog announcement and I hope to put up some ultra sound pic's tomorrow.  So, needless to say, this is the reason that I have not been blogging much and the reason why I have not been cooking much.  Here ya go:

Monday- Tortellini soup with crusty whole wheat bread

Tuesday- Chicken piccata with salad

Wednesday- Leftovers and/or pb and j with some fruit

Thursday- Smoked sausage, sour kraut and macaroni and cheese

Friday- Beef enchiladas with black beans and salad

Saturday- Celebrating my brothers birthday with a cookout so I don't have to cook

Sunday- Spaghetti with Brian's special sauce

Christmas Morning

We spent Christmas morning at home with my parents. We read the Christmas story from the book of Luke and discovered the goodies in our stockings before Mamaw and Papaw Faith arrived.

We ate a delicious brunch (I'll post new recipes I tried on another day) with Mamaw and Papaw before opening gifts. Ruby is at an age where she really gets into the gifts and has lots of fun not only opening her own but helping everyone else. She was very happy with every gift she received and everything her sister got too.

Waiting for Mamaw and Papaw

Look at my new ornament!

Ezekiel Brian (that is our baby boys name) even got some gifts

Telia helping Mamaw open her gifts

Of course they had tons of fun playing in this big bag

My parents brought us one of their trees on Christmas Eve Eve (the 23rd) to put up while Ruby was asleep. It was so fun seeing her excitement when she woke up to a "booo-ti-ful tree with boo-ti-ful things on it" on Christmas Eve.

Thanks Mamaw and Papaw for the new table!

Got our dresses on and ready to go visit all the Faiths and Bentons for dinner.

Updates

Here are a few highlights of our life lately:

Pregnancy: I really haven't written anything about this. I am 18 weeks pregnant and added a ticker at the bottom of the page so you could follow along. I am feeling much better (most days) than I was in the first trimester. Actually, I am feeling better than I have in my 2 previous pregnancies and am very grateful for God's grace in this area. Things are going great but since Ruby was early the doctor's are watching me closely and I get to go to a specialist. We will find out the sex on Dec. 21st so stay tuned. What do you think? Boy or Girl?

The Girls: They are really starting to play together with blocks, chasing one another, or peek a boo and hide and seek. It is fun to hear Ruby telling Telia to come play with her.

Our 3 year old: She never ceases to amaze me...how fast she grows physically and cognitively. She is quite a talker...you have no idea. I have noticed lately that her coloring is getting better. She is really focused on coloring specific things instead of just scribbling. She loves to read books and will sit to hear stories for long periods of time. We are blessed with a very happy girl in Ruby. She is a great big sister and although she is very challenging these days as far as behavior goes (she may be our strong willed child), we know that God is refining us and her through the process. I started "homeschooling" Ruby this year...well, started and then when I got pregnant I stopped. So, recently I have tried to start again and have slowly added more structure to our day. She loves it and I am really enjoying it. We are also involved in a home school co-op with friends once a week from our church.

The 1 year old: Telia is a happy happy baby, just like her sister was. She is walking everywhere and gets very excited to see her sister after nap time and her Daddy after work. She is mimicking a lot of things that Ruby does such as coloring, dancing, and playing peek a boo. She gabs a lot but not too many understandable words yet (Dada, Mama, and Cracker (Caa-Caa). She is currently teething and in the last week about 4 or 5 have popped through.

Brian works hard all day and then comes home and works hard (helping clean and cook since I really haven't been cooking much b/c of food aversions) and plays hard with the girls. I am very thankful for a husband who serves our family so well. He just finished up teaching a class to men at our church on doctrine called "Foundations" and we just finished up another year of leading a community group.

Other random things: We have lots of friends who are pregnant right now and due April/May/June. We are slowly working on our house to get it ready to sell. We gave our dog to a wonderful family from our church...this was bittersweet. Our recent netflix indulgences have been what I like to call "The Duggers" (18 kids and counting, I think) and "Cake Boss"! Brian works right by the "Cake Boss" bakery when he is in NJ! Maybe one day he will bring me home a surprise!
We are actually taking a break from being community group leaders. We are looking forward to joining a new group in January and being active and supportive members of that group.

That is all for now...

Happy Birthday Telia Abigail

One year ago today (at 3:31 pm) we got to meet our beautiful second daughter Telia Abigail. We have had a great year with her and although we didn't get much sleep until she was 10 months old, we wouldn't change it for the world. We expected Telia and Ruby to be similar babies and they weren't at all which has taught us a lot of humility. We are looking forward to getting to know Telia's personality even more this year as she strives to keep up with her big sister and gets to know her new little baby brother or sister (oh yeah, we are pregnant again).

A Look at 2009

Hello, this is Brian. I don’t normally post here, but this year I wanted to re-cap some important events that happened in our life. It has been a year full of stressful challenges that has grown our faith. I wanted to cover some of the ways that God has provided for our family.

January – OT Challenge. Our church issued a challenge to read the Old Testament in one year. We didn’t know it yet but God was preparing us for a difficult year. We found comfort in God’s steadfast love for the Israelites. Especially in light of the times the Israelites were facing certain death and God made a way to save them.

March – Pregnancy. We found out that Tera was pregnant with our second daughter. We were very excited!

May – Layoff Announcement. After several rounds of nerve-racking layoffs, the company I worked for announced that they were closing due to the bad economy. By God’s grace they were able to announce a clear plan for how they would be closing the company. I was scheduled to be laid off in September and given a fair severance/bonus package.

August – Classes. Our church offered a Dave Ramsey class on Wednesday nights and we knew that a rock solid budget was very important - considering that unemployment for a few months was a very real possibility. This class was a blessing sent by God to give us Financial Peace (pun intended). In addition, I began to take a theology class that provided a lot of encouragement during this difficult time.

September – Job Interview. With my layoff date approaching quickly, I was able to get a job interview with a company in town. The job wasn’t a great fit for our family, but I was definitely qualified for it. We needed it to work out or we would be in trouble financially. In a strange twist of fate, they hired my boss instead of me and my current employer decided to keep me on in my bosses place. They paid my severance/bonus package as if I had been laid off, but communicated that they would employ me on a week-by-week basis until the end of the year (with all my benefits). God was certainly at work in this. In addition, I received a call from a former employer that they would like to hire me back at a future date - to be determined. It was not a sure thing, but due to God’s other work in our life, we were confident that he was providing for us yet again.

October – Toledo. As a condition of my continued employment, I agreed to go to Toledo every other week to supervise equipment installation. This was hectic for our family since Tera was 37+ weeks pregnant and considered full-term. We prayed that Telia would be born during one of the weeks that I was still in Louisville.

October – Home Repairs (Carpet/Insulation). Due to high energy bills the previous year, we knew that we needed to have these home repairs done. But since there was a lot of uncertainty in my job situation, it was risky to pay out a bunch of cash that we might need. Still, we were confident that God was at work so we proceeded to have the home repairs done.

October – Swine Flu (H1N1). The week we scheduled to have the home repairs done, the whole family came down with the swine flu. The first day I had it, I had to stand out in the rain all evening and feed insulation into the blowing machine for the attic repairs. Tera spent a whole day with Ruby and the flu cooped up with all of our belongings in the living room while our bedroom and Ruby’s was being carpeted. Talk about a difficult week.

October – EIT Exam. Since my work load had been light all summer, I knew it was the right time to consider pursuing my PE license (Professional Engineer). The first part of this process is to take an 8 hour grueling test called the EIT exam. I studied for it all summer (~120hrs) and took it on the 31st of October in between trips to Toledo, with Tera only 12 days away from her due date. Everything went well and I received a letter in December stating that I passed. It brought to mind the verse in Psalm 1 that states – he is like a tree that is planted by cool waters, which bears its fruit in season, his leaf does not wither.

November - Telia Abigail Laffin. Per our prayers, Telia was born during a week that I was not in Toledo. A few months prior, I noticed that Telia’s due date (11/12/09) was very close to being a sequential number (11/10/09) and Ruby’s birth date was also a sequential number (09/08/07). I prayed that God would send Telia on 11/10/09 as a good gift for our family. Tera went into labor at 6:30am on the 10th. After a quick and relatively easy delivery, Telia was born on 11/10/09. There were no complications for mother or baby and we're very thankful for God’s great blessing.

December – New Job. A former employer received the Notice to Proceed on a big transit project in NY and recommended that I apply to come work for them. My current employer laid me off two weeks earlier than I expected, but I was able to transition to the new job without missing a day of work. God provided for a seamless transition.

Psalm 1

BOOK I : Psalms 1-41

¹ Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶ For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Baby Telia is here

2 days old

Telia Abigail was born on the day that we were wanting since we found out we were pregnant. Although it wasn't essential that we had that date it was neat that God blessed us with a fun birth date for both our girls. Ruby's is 9/8/07 and Telia's is 11/10/09. Makes it pretty easy to remember their birthdays.

Telia came into the world weighing a whopping 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She was born at 3:38 pm with zero complications and a relatively easy labor and delivery. I might post more details on that one later.

Here are some pictures of the last couple of days. Telia looks a lot like Ruby but with less and lighter colored hair.

A few minutes old with her parents

Feeling pretty good most of the day...I really can't complain

Big Sister Ruby was very excited to finally meet Telia

Meal Plan Monday

This week is extremely tentative due to the fact that I could have a baby at any given moment. I didn't really do the recipes that I listed last time so I am going to try most of them again.

Monday: Chicken in a pot recipe that I didn't use last time

Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash with Spinach and Raisons

Wednesday: Pasta with broccoli

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Pizza

Home Stretch

6 Days until my due date...lets see if we make it

Happy Birthday!

To my sistah Kim! Here's hoping I don't have a baby on your birthday! I would prefer that my husband were in town first :)

Scriptures for Labor

Getting ready to have this baby (not today just soon) and remembering these promises:

“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Is. 40:31

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Josh. 1:9

“But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.” 2 Chron. 15:7

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Ps. 121:1-2

“From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” Ps. 71:6

“In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.” Ps. 56:11a

Busy Week

I have the flu so will not be posting a meal plan. I actually think I am over the worst of it thankfully.

We are very very busy this week on top of me being sick! We got carpet in our 2 bedrooms yesterday and today we are getting insulation put in the attic. Hopefully both will help out bills this winter.

We are also continuing to prepare for the coming of baby Telia. Evidently, you are full term when you are 37 weeks...so, any day now. My friends, Hollie and Angela, threw a small shower for Telia this weekend. We mostly just invited family and a few friends. It was real nice and Telia got some great stuff. Here are a few pics:

37 weeks and 3 days

Ruby's 2 Year Pictures

My friend Jessica took some great pictures of Ruby last month when she turned 2 years old. Here are just a few that I picked out. Thanks Jessica...you did a great job!

Shower for Telia

A few of my friends threw me a small shower last weekend. It was so nice to spend time with them and to get a few items just for Telia. I got some pretty adorable hand made things and the girls did a pretty awesome craft for Ruby and Telia's room. Here is the link to the idea and i will post more when we get it hung up. We had some great fall treats, good conversations, lots of laughs talking about labor and delivery, and 4 of us were expecting our 2nd little ones. Here are some pics from the day:

Mom and Daughter

My dear dear friend Kristyn

Cori, Laura and Rachel working on the craft

Emily working on the mobile

Lindsy and myself! Lindsy was the master mind behind the shower and did a fantastic job!

I love this pic because I feel like the topic was labor and
delivery which turned pretty humorous pretty quickly.

Goodbye Old Friend

Ruby officially said goodbye to her pacifier about 3 or 4 weeks ago. After her 2 year check up we decided it was time to get rid of it since the doctor encouraged us and her teeth were starting to get crooked. After a little bit of research we decided to clip the tops of the paci's and just let her notice that they were broken. She did notice but still held on to them. She kept repeating "paci broken" but wasn't ready to throw them away. I would love to tell you that it has been an easy process and she has had no problems but that would be a lie. It has been awful. There have been days that I would've given her a new pacifier if I had one. There has been lots of crying and little to no naps. She also got a cold in the middle of the process which didn't help but we stuck to our guns. We have now cut the paci all the way down and she has thrown one away completely (and got a new toy for this). She still has one paci that she just holds at bedtime and has added 2 baby dolls to her bedtime routine. Some days are better than others. Yesterday, for instance, she took a one hour nap with little to no crying. Today, however, she has cried for a long long time and only slept for 1/2 an hour. It is like we are sleep training her all over again. I hope she gets used to this before baby Telia comes along. Please pray for us as we try to be consistent.

Updates

I am now 31 weeks pregnant! I passed a big milestone during week 28...that was when I went on bedrest with Ruby. Thankfully, I am not on bedrest now although my doctor does have me on some restrictions just to be safe. This pregnancy is much different than my first...I am feeling pretty good now (minus the lack of sleep)and we can't wait to meet little Telia in 2 months.


This is a picture that my good friend Jessica took of Ruby and I. She took more pics of Ruby the week of her birthday that I will post when I get them. She is a great photographer.

Ruby has changed so much in the past month. She, of course, is still talking up a storm but her ability to start having some form of conversations with us has been especially surprising. She said her first out loud prayer this week and it went like this: "Thank you for Papaw, thank you for Daddy, thank you for soup." She had her 2 year check up last week and I was very surprised to find out that she is in the 90Th percentile for height and the 89Th percentile for weight!! Maybe she will be tall like the Laffin's and not short like the Faith's.

Brian and I have been nesting, nesting, nesting. We have cleaned out rooms, gotten rid of furniture, and rearranged things. Our house has become much more clutter free and more inviting. I love it and am so glad that Brian has gotten on board with my desire to nest.

Nesting

My name is Tera and I am unorganized (that is supposed to be an AA/NA/etc. type joke). There, I admitted it. We have been working very hard over the past 3.5 years of our marriage to clean, simplify, organize, and create systems in our lives that work for us. Some have come and gone and a few have stayed. Brian successfully organized several things in our house and we have both worked hard to keep an online calender and to do list.

I am writing all this to say...I AM NESTING or at least I am desiring to nest but due to my lack of organizational skills I am struggling to even know where to start. For those of you who are not pregnant or don't really talk about this stuff...nesting is usually a time in pregnancy when a woman starts getting her home (aka Nest) ready for the new baby. She cleans, organizes, finishes projects, throws things away etc. to get the place ready for her growing family. I don't know if there is any sort of research behind all this but, I can testify that it is a real drive in us pregos. This picture is the epitome of how I want my house/life to look. I love it. I love the cleanliness, organization, and cuteness of this space. I got this pic from Organize Magazine website. Check out the article...good solutions for keeping your home clutter free.

I not only want to clean and organize but I also want to make things. I want to sew and do crafty projects (neither of which is my forte). I seem to constantly have ideas in my head about how I want to change my house, what I want to throw away, and things I want to make. I have a few projects that I am working towards (with the help of my husband) that hopefully will come out awesome and not ugly.

These are a couple of pics of different fabrics that I am coveting for my living room project:

This is fabric called Chestnut Branches in Lichen - Chestnut Hill Collection by Joel Dewberry that I found on Etsy.



This one I also found on Etsy and it is a fabric by Alexander Henry. I have a couple other fabrics I am looking at for this project too...not sure which I will choose.

I also want to make these little bean bags for Ruby to play with.

Now that I posted all this maybe I will finish or begin some of them!

P.S. This post is for Smith who said I need to blog more often.

Getting the Whole Family Together

This past weekend my brother John and his family made a last minute trip to Indiana. This meant that we had the whole family together for the first time in a long long time. We spent the day at my brothers house for my nephew Logan's birthday. We took some pictures and found out that even adults can't seem to all smile and sit still at the same time. I think these were the best ones I found.

Siblings: Me (looking quite prego), Christopher, Kimberly, Joseph, and John

With our spouses or significant others

With all the kids and Grandma and Grandpa...22 in all and one on the way!