Christmas Celebrations!

Merry Christmas! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas festivities this past weekend. We had our Christmas Eve tradition of an evening service at FVBC and then soup in bread bowls at the Huff's. We always read some Christmas stories and open one present. It is a special tradition with the family and having Charis there made it all the more (but definitely more distracting - how do you keep a 4 month old occupied during a solemn reading of a Christmas story?)
Christmas day was spent all over the place. We had our own little Christmas in the morning. Josh made his infamous omelets and monkey brains. Then we had Charis open her presents (before she fell asleep for her morning nap). When she was asleep Josh suprised me with a pink Blutooth headset for my phone plus lots of fun GIRLY movies! Yea! I got Josh the Indiana Jones trilogy, Jonathan Edwards bio and brown shows. (Who buys another person shoes? But he actually likes them.)
We went to my parents around noon and opened more gifts ("Huff university" apparal, my wedding album, cute clothes for Charis and Josh got two nice suits). In the evening we went to his parents house and had prime rib - yummy! They spoiled Charis with great toys, Josh with a new journaling ESV Bible and me with gift certificates to my favorite restaurants. Afterwards we watched Pirates 2 and again I can't wait for part 3 to come out so I can see the resolution to so many unanswered questions of part 2.
Just when we thought it was all over we saw the youth at the church when we got home so we invited them over. They stayed very late, but it was fun to hang out with them. It was a great Christmas and, like most of us, there is still more to come with friends and family.
Oh yeah, Charis update: She is on a new schedule that works great yet she is becoming more aware of her surroundings so feedings and naps are getting harder for her to submit to. And I am trying to teach her to roll over! So fun!
Merry Christmas!

I am so darn cute!

Christmas fun with Daddy

I loooove my glo-worm!

Mommy and me in our matching fleece

Drool, colds, and Christmas time

Hello everyone. Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah!!! All is well here in the beautiful Mission's House in IL. The Christmas banquet is over and Christmas day is fast approaching (only 6 more days). Moriah has been the best wife ever and done all of the Christmas shopping. I hope you all like your presents. If not, she got them, not me ;-) .

The little baby is doing alright. She is going through the back end of a cold right now. Her nose was like a faucet on Sunday, so we couldn't bring her into the nursery, but she seems to be doing fine. She doesn't complain about it and is her usual, incredibly cute self. I got to hang out with her for most of the afternoon on Sunday while we watched the marathon Bears game (I couldn't believe it lasted for 4 hours). She cheered them on the whole time and we had a blast singing together and talking football strategy.

Some vital statistics for you to know would be that Charis is now (unofficially) 25.5 inches long and a little over 12 pounds. She is getting so big and I know she'll just keep on growing. She sleeps for about 12 hour stretches now. Everyone keeps saying, "Wow, you got lucky with that one," but we know why she's doing so well. If you want to know, you'll have to talk with us offline about that little secret.

The presents are almost all wrapped, and I have to go make some dinner, so I'll leave you with some more cute pictures to last you for a few days. Bye...

Presents? Is it time for presents yet?

Now? Is it time now?

We're FINALLY Back!

Our internet is finally working, so we can update you with all our new info and the much anticipated pictures. But first the update (which will be brief as I am holding Charis and typing one-handed).
I am completely unpacked with decorations up, including Christmas decorations. I even hung Christmas lights outside. We love our new place. Praise the Lord!
Charis is huge Somewhere during the move she must have had a growth spurt. She is into 3 month clothing and some 6 month depending on the brand.
Our renter moved into our townhouse this past weekend. He is a very nice Christian man and it truly seems like the Lord has brought us together. Please continue to pray for house to be sold though.
We have our Christmas concerts this weekend and Josh still hasn't memorized one of the songs! Next weekend is the youth Christmas banquet so we are crazy busy. (The videos are going to be awesome!)
That is certainly not it, but I need to go before she eats my entire hand. You will hear from us soon...

This is from while ago, but look at those neck muscles!

Gabe and Rebecca came to visit with Gabriella.

Spending time with mommy.

All moved in

A lot has happened since the blog was last updated. That's partially because of the weekend and partially because our main computer doesn't have internet access right now and was in a box over the weekend. A box you may wonder? Why a box? Well, that's because we moved on Saturday to our new home at 4N725 Grandmas Lane in St. Charles, IL, just across the parking lot from our church. We had a large group help with the move (about 7 students from youth group, a few college guys, and 8 more adults). We packed up the truck a few times, loaded and unloaded, and even unpacked a few boxes in under 4 hours. It was great to see the love people have for us as they came and helped. Thank you all for you participation in this if you were there.

Charis is still doing very well. Sorry for the lack of pictures on this post, but until our computer is back up and running, you'll have to check previous posts to remember what she looks like (she still looks about the same).

Family is home for thanksgiving, and I need to go hang out with them. Talk to you later...

FINE! No More online Poops!

I have read your comments and we won't any more bowel movements online. If you want to see any of that you'll just have to come for a visit. Thankfully, she doesn't do that very often and most of the time she is very pleasant to be around. I'll just keep posting the tame pictures that are family friendly so as not to offend anyone.

Today I found out that Charis loves jazz music. She was dancing up a storm to it this morning while she was being changed. I'm glad she likes the good stuff, not the annoying country or hip hop that is out today. She'll be our little musical protege hopefully, but if she becomes a soccer nut or into computers like her mom, that'll be okay with me.

Our move out/in date is scheduled for this coming Saturday. We are so pumped to take yet another step in our lives towards wherever God will land us permanently. He has been so faithful and we can't wait to see what He has in store for us over the next few years.

We finally got her to pose with a stuffed animal, after too many tries.

Progress, Poopiness, and Perusing

Progress: There has been so much interest in our house over the past few days. We have a family that is 99% sure they are renting from us as soon as we can move out, another woman who is pretty interested in renting, and another realtor who has investors pretty interested in purchasing. All in all, God is doing great and unexpected things in our lives. He is so good.


Poopiness: Wow! I can't believe how much poop can come out of a little baby. And it's smell takes over the whole house, even when we eat garlic. Oh well. That comes with the territory I guess. At least we know that she is healthy and doing well.

Perusing: We got a chance to look in detail at our new home today. It looks great. It is perfect for our little family. The layout is very spacious and we can't wait to move in next week. We'll be sharing the larger part of the house with the Trott's who are home for few months from Brazil. They are a great couple and it will be tons of fun to live close to them for a while. Later...

PEEK - A - BOO

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Well, I am officially the new Pastoral Assistant for the associate pastor of children, youth, and adults. The vote to establish the position was on Sunday and it passed, praise God. Today was my first official day and I am very much looking forward to working for at least the next two years at Fox Valley Bible Church. God has been so good above and beyond all we could ask or imagine. My responsibilities are largely similar to what I was doing before, but with more of an emphasis on discipleship and more full-time.

We are also moving. The church was gracious enough to offer us the large apartment in the Mission's House. We were blown away when we first heard the offer, but it meets our needs perfectly and we are so thankful God provided it. Now we just wait and see when God sells our house. Even in this terrible houseing market we have 3 very possible prospects for buyers for our house. We are praying that one of them works out in the near future. Whatever God decides, that's the best move for us. So the next two weeks are full of packing and moving and youth events for us. We are loving life right now and so pleased to be moving on to this next chapter of our lives.

Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement. Don't worry, more pictures of Charis are coming soon (I know you read this only to see how she's doing). Anyhoo, that's all for now.

Such a Fun Little Girl

Charis has been so much fun lately. She is making cute little noises all the time now, but especially when she sees Moriah or I. She's got a cute little chuckle that she does as well. It's almost a laugh, and it's very entertaining.

We had a sad day on Tuesday for her. She got her vaccination shots and was crying a little. Moriah said it was so hard seeing her cry like that out of pain. But now she is safe from a number of things going around. She got a bit of a fever from it, but she is doing fine now.

On another note, we had someone walk through our house on Tuesday. We haven't heard if anything will come of that, but it just is another step in God moving this property. We can't wait to see how He will work all this out, but He is strengthening our faith daily through His provision of extra work for both me and Moriah. Keep praying though.

That's it for now...

Check out the pudgy little cheeks

I'm barely holding her up. Her legs are getting so strong

So cute....

Sleeping Through the Night

Well, our little Charis is finally sleeping through the night. She has been sleeping pretty well for around a week now, going up to 7 hours at a time. But two nights ago she slept for over 9 hours without a feeding. She has been doing well ever since. Once she goes down at night she talks herself to sleep and then is out until morning. We've decided to keep her in her basonet for now, but she has almost grown out of it. She's around 23 inches long now and she'll be moving into her crib very soon.

We also had a fun time at Steph Granquist's costume party over the weekend. Charis went as a little pumpkin and got the most votes for the cutest costume (was there any doubt?). We love that she is being adopted by the youth group and that she is comfortable being passed around. She's getting a lot better at being content with other people holding her rather than just Moriah or I. Even in the nursery at church she smiles and sleeps, but doesn't cry. We're kind of waiting for her to jump to the next level and cry for everything, but until then we are very much enjoying her little noises.

We also had our youth bonfire over the weekend. Charis stayed with Jordan and Crystal and only cried at the end 'cause she was hungry. It is so nice to have family around for things like that. The Bonfire went very well and was a good time of bonding for the students. Hopefully that can continue throughout the rest of the year.

I'm off to work, so adios amigos...

All dressed up for the party

The cutest lil' pumpkin ever

Fresh and clean after a bath

New Diapers and Prayer Requests

Life has been very interesting for us lately. Moriah and I have been feeling a strong burden to pray for our house to sell. Even though it isn't a "seller's market" and this is typically the worst time of year to sell a home, we know God can do anything. We have also enlisted the prayer support of our church. We prayed as a youth ministry last night about it in our prayer meeting and we are anticipating what God will do. Even now we have a few offers to rent our house until it is sold which is the next best thing to selling it. It takes care of most of our mortgage payment while still allowing us to keep the house on the market.

As for everything else, most of you know by now that the church is voting on establishing a few new positions in our constitution. One of those is a pastoral assistant. If it passes (and we are praying that it will), the elders have decided to ask me to fill that role for the next 2 years. This is a dream come true for Moriah and I. We have desired to serve in ministry at FVBC every since I finished high school and to do so in this capacity is perfect at this time. We are both grateful to stick around here for a while, not just because of the church home we love, but also because we'll be close to both sides of the family.

Charis is doing great too. She moved into her next size of diapers today. I can't believe how big she is getting. Her old diapers (the Newborn size) were starting to fill up rather quickly. After leaking through two of them, we decided to bump her up to the next level. She is so cute and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

She's a lot more excited about her full diaper than we are

"Hi everyone... I'm the cutest ever!"

"Haha, I peed on your bed. Whatcha gonna do now?"

7 weeks and counting

Our little girl is getting so big. I can't believe she is over 7 weeks old already. She's starting to make very cute little noises and following things very well with her eyes. She can turn her head very well when she has her tummy time. Everything seems to be going well and normal. I guess that's pretty typical for the 1st one and why most couples move on to the 2nd. That's when the problems start. Well, whatever happens, we're looking forward to a nice family, whatever God provides.

Both sets of our parents are vacationing in the Caribbean this week. We are so jealous, but they deserve the break. 10 days on a cruise for each should bring them back rested and refreshed, and with tans to make us all jealous. We love them all and can't wait for them to be back.

Moriah continued her job this week and is enjoying it much more. There isn't a ton for her to do sometimes, but at least she can focus on Charis and gets paid for it. I start my extra shifts at Bennigan's next week, after the parents all return. Moriah and I hope that the extra work from both of us will be able to tide us over until the house sells. Again, we wait on God's timing and trust that He'll do what's best for us.

Well, that's it for now. Later...

She's getting so long

Fresh and clean

"To poop or not to poop... that is the question."

Nothing like a lazy Saturday morning

Out the Poop-shoot

Well, our precious little angel made quite a mess of herself today. As you can see from her expression, she was a little mischevious this afternoon with Moriah. There she was, minding her own business, when nature made a call.

Moriah was working her first day as a nanny and things were going just fine. The day was moving slowly, but surely, when a few noises from Charis's direction caught her attention.
"Wonderful, a bowel movement at last" was her thought. Little did she know, this was the beginning of a long hour of battle with the bowel.

She very happily took Charis and changed her diaper, which was a little poopy, as she had expected. Blissfully thinking that things were over for now, she continued reading and going about her business. However, Charis continued about her business as well. A few minutes later, more noises and more poop. This time, the real deal was upon her. The formerly clean diaper was filled with poopiness. Thankfully, she got there in time. The diaper was replaced with a fresh one, and again, she thought things were over.

A few minutes later, there were more noises. This time a little deeper, almost as if an old man had come back to return cold coffee for a third time and was really upset, yelling at the waitress, impatient to be out and about. Moriah picked up little Charis and felt a puff of air.
"I remember thinking, 'was that just a puff of air?'" Moriah said later. After further investigation, we believe the puff of air opened up the seal at the top of the diaper, allowing some poop to escape out the back and travel up Charis's back, unbeknownced to Moriah. Moriah proceeded to lay her down and open the yawning chasm of the unknown. There she was, face to face with an explosion.

As she changed the diaper, she realized her error. Too late for her to do anything, she noticed the poop coming out the back, already spreading on the onesie and making its way to the soft hair of little Charis. Quickly, she assessed the situation. She rushed her to the sink, which was full. With the speed only a mother can have, she cleaned out the sink, loading the dishwasher in the process, preparing the way for her child to be cleaned. It took a while, but she rubbed all of the poop away, saving the baby-soft hair, and losing only one outfit in the process. What a Mom... what a Mom.

Well, that was Moriah's first day on the job. Hopefully the rest will be just as fun ;-)

Random, pre-feeding pics

She knows what's coming

She always sleeps with Great-Grandma Shumaker

No Poops (and GO BEARS!!!)

Well, we think our baby is a little constipated. She hasn't pooped since the huge explosion of a few days ago. Perhaps she is embarrased. We'll give her tonight before we get worried about it. Otherwise, she is doing great. She is starting to make fun little noises when we change her and she is getting really good at tracking things with her eyes. She recognizes us both now, and it is a really neat feeling to see her staring at me.

As far as Moriah and I go, we are still doing well. We are anxiously awaiting the sale of our house. We have been praying about it a lot and know that God will always faithfully provide for us. Now is not the typical time for buying and selling homes, but we know God can do whatever He wants and that now, more than any time of the year, He would recieve the glory for doing this. There are job possibilities out there for me and Moriah is starting her nannying job tomorrow. We are hoping to get something else for her so she can stay at home with Charis, but for now God has provided this, and we are thankful.


On another note, who saw the amazing comeback by the undefeated Chicago Bears? Now, I know what you are saying... the Bears had no right to win the game, but you know what? They still won. Their defense decided to turn it on and won the game for them. That's what championship calaber teams do. They win no matter what it takes or how messy it looks. I enjoyed the anxiety of seeing the comeback. Let's hope it ends in another Super Bowl victory for Chicago.

I still can't believe how small and cozy she is!

She's finally getting the thigh roll pudge

Mmmm, somebody likes to eat

Grunting and groaning

Charis makes so much noise these days. She doesn't peacefully sleep anymore. She is always sighing, cooing, gurgling, coughing, grunting, or trying to pass some enormous bubble of gas out the wrong end (it really smells sometimes). But we still love her anyway. She has been getting more and more used to the outside world these past few days. She made her first of many trips to the mall (which she slept through of course) and got to see grandma, nanna, and great grandma all in the same day. We hope she is worn out and sleeps a ton tonight (we can only hope).

She seems like she is approaching another growth spurt. It seems that she is hungry all the time and working through some things internally. Nothing too gross today, well, except for this morning.

There we were, enjoying our pillow time in the early hours of the morning when we noticed some discoloration on Charis's stomach. Upon closer examination, we found it to be fecal matter, spread all the way up to her naval!! Her diaper was completely full and we quickly did what all good parents do in that situation... try not to throw up and run her to the changing table ASAP. It only took 4 wipes, but we got it all off of her and no permanent damage was done. Thank goodness for the diaper genie. Anyhoo, that was enough excitement for today. We'll be in touch later this weekend. Night...

"Maybe if I burp she'll give me some candy..."

She's always safe with Daddy

I still can't believe how little she is

Apple Picking and other errands

Charis has been so busy lately. She made it almost safely through apple-picking and has been on a role ever since. She got a little too much sun at the orchard, but didn't complain much. She was definetely red and warm though. I was surprised because she was outside so little and it wasn't that warm out. The family sure enjoyed passing her around and trying to keep her awake. It was strange how we missed her even though we were with her the whole day. Oh well, it must be a new parent thing.

She has been sleeping much better lately. She is finally staying up during the day and sleeping at night when she is supposed to. Last night she slept for almost 8 hours (a new record for her). We are hoping the trend continues.

Tonight we had our first date in a long time. We shipped her off to my parents house for a few hours and Moriah and I went to our favorite local restaurant, Tuscana. We loaded up on great Italian food and had a truly enjoyable evening. Now it is off to bed to start the whole thing tomorrow (except for the date). Adios for now...