sunshine today and momma's wisdom

ahh... what a difference sunshine makes!

so, a few days ago i asked my mom (who survived and THRIVED in Nome, AK for 15 winters) how in the world did she do it?

today, i have taken in some of her advice....

and WA-LA!!!!
i am in SUCH a better state of mind/mood!
Thank you momma and thank you Jesus!

here's some of what our day hash held.....baked some cracked-wheat bread for lunch, had the Eddy's over for lunch, listened to Jars this morning, took time in the WORD and just now walked for an hour in the COLD sunshine....

it has been a GOOD day. =)

here's her list (momma, i hope you are okay with letting your wisdom encourage others too! )

1. Pray a lot

2. Always have a good book to read .

3. Bake something (warm oven, great smells)

4. Pray a lot

5. Bring some of those goodies to someone else.

6. Make time for God's word. (find a devotional book with just one verse and a

few thoughts for each day.-so you are not overwhelmed feeling "have to".)

7. Get out of the house no matter what the weather...kids, too.

8. Pray a lot

9. Love your husband in creative ways.

10. find a lonely person to cheer with a call or visit. (maybe your church has an idea if

you can't think of anyone...it might be an elderly shut in who would love to see your

babies or another young or PG mother who doesn't have a friend.)

here's a couple extra:

11. Be creative with your kids.. ..pretend, make a tent, picnic on the bed or whatever.

12. Pray a lot -He says to pray about everything. :)

13. inspirational music..fill your home

14. dont forget the value of a free cardboard box (es)..cut, decorate or whatever;

little ones of all ages will get hours of fun from a house, airplane ,etc. and the nice

part is that when they are tired of it, you can just throw it away..no storage.

15. invite people over when it is hard for you to get out. I learned in AK that you don't

have to spend lots or be fancy, -hot pretzels are cheap and good for any age,

any time. -or maybe its just a cup of tea. people don't care, they just want the

friendship and my just need to get out themselves.

my fave hat

this fuzzy wuzzy hat came for Christmas from Auntie Donnie in Co-- sooo warm and even keeps her cheeks toasty!

sally is still snotty- ugh. she is not whiney but man on man - she wants to be touching me or anybody ALL DAY. by 5pm yesterday i about went nutso, so out into the cold we went!

she is figuring out how to sit up from laying on her belly, is talking tons and smacking. =) still not alot of forward action but is rolling all over the place and moving.

gow went to a 2nd pt session this morning- and is hopeful that this will help.
he has about 2 weeks left at big idea.... please keep praying for our future and employment.

that's it for now!

heart breaking

oh. i have to blog again cuz my little heart is breaking for our precious baby girl.

i put sally down to nap at like 10:15... she cried for about a minute and then i could hearing her playing in her crib until about 10:30 when she started to fuss again. usually she puts herself to sleep, however, with all the snot going on - sometimes she can't breathe while sucking on her plug and therefor can't sleep.
soo... she cried for about 10 minutes... i let her cry to see if she could work it out and fall asleep.
the crying slowed down... so i gave her 5 more minutes... and then decided to go in an hold her (so she is elevated and can breath better).

when i walked in her room- i saw THE MOST pitiful little sight.
she was sitting up in her crib, had untied part of her bumper and had moved stuffed animals from one end of the crib to the other- EXHAUSTED and tears streaming down her sweet-snotty little face.

she has never sat herself up from the laying down position in her crib before (and not many times out of her crib either).
I picked her up and within 30 seconds of laying on my shoulder- she was sound asleep.

i think she sat up and couldn't figure out how to lay back down to go to sleep!
and she just sat there- stuck- wanting desperately to sleep....

so so soo sad.
sigh.
thanks for sharing that moment with me. =)
sometimes i think i love her so much that my heart might burst.

monday

mornin' ya'll.

sweet lil sally is still an incredible mess of snot. sigh.
please pray for her and us... we can tell she is weary of it... and we are also weary of it.
sigh.

gow had a great PT this morning- is encouraged.
however, now please pray with us for the finances....

on a brighter note- we had a FANTASTIC Sunday afternoon with our pals Lindsey and Christian.
a blessed afternoon of great fun, food and just being together.

need to run as sally is having a hard time sleeping.... sigh.
pray for us.... we are worn out of the flowing snot......

lip smacking

ha! if you get this video in an email- go to www.losgowanitos.blogspot.com to see this video.
sally just started doing this- it is so stinking hysterical.
(the first clicking noises are me- and then her at the end...)

she first did it when eating cheese or something she really liked... sometimes she does it just cuz she is happy that she can do it and recently she has done it when we are giving her lots of kisses. Maybe she thinks it is a kissing -smacking sound too!

the funniest thing is that as i am getting ready to post this, i have shown her the video clip about 15 times and she busts out laughing everytime. =)



well- we have been a pretty slow moving bunch this weekend. yesterday i felt sick and zonked all day... gow was wonderful and basically took care of all of us. funny how at this point in my last pregnancy i could and would just lay on the couch ALL day.. not this time. poopy diapers, bottles and Sj call! we are adjusting. =)

Gow will start physical therapy on Monday for his back, neck and sciatic nerve .
He has two weeks left of his contract at Big Idea - but it will probably be extended a few weeks longer. Please keep praying for us and for opportunity as we are very eager to know what God has next.

I am tired FOR sally on how snotty she is. the poor little one is tired out from just trying to breath. we are running the humidifier, her mattress is propped up, we are giving her saline "shots" up her nose and using the "suck-er" all the time. She has been like this since Wed. ho-hum.

k- we are headed over to Christian and Lindsey's for lunch- woot woot!
and gow plans to work a bit more on job hunting today.

have a blessed Sunday!

a purdy day!

what a beautiful morning!
the sun is/was out and it is like 50 or 60 degrees!
Sally Jane and I have already been out and about with the stroller... booger bubbles and all! =)

it's just too great of a spring day to miss out on.... we are gonna meet gow for a picnic lunch at the park and hopefully meet Cali and Jess there for some more play this afternoon.

man, what a difference warm weather and sunshine make!
and to top it off.. today is Sally's 9 month birthday!
AND my 11 week prego mark! =)
soo much to celebrate.

here's a fam pix that we took at Christmas! crazy to think that there will be another lil one in there next year... and hopefully Sally Jane will have two lil pigtails! =)

sooo i debated about titling this blog "why the man should be prego with el numero dos". i could think of about a zillion reasons why that would just make sense! =)

enjoy the weekend ya'll- much love from los gowanitos!

the snot monster is back

okay- here are some fun pix from our Inaug- party as this was a historical moment!

Sally Jane with THE first African - American President ever.

Aunt Linda was helping Sally to put her hand over her heart as the National Anthem was played.

Aunt Linda made BLUE pancakes, WHITE biscuits and RED koolaid. =) Which- Sally ate almost an entire huge pancake.
and we ate on beautiful "Washington Historic" China!
it was alot of fun and super cool to celebrate this big step in history.

so, last night at 10pm, lil sally jane wakes up.
sweetness.
she is snotty (yes, she was over her cold and snotfree for over a week- we had JUST put the humidifier away). so, we propped up her mattress AGAIN, plugged the humidifier in AGAIN and after about an hour... she was back to sleep.
this morning... she was a snot-faucet.
i have no clue what the deal is... if it is another bug or teething or what?
but it stinks. her two teeny lil nostrils are soo small and she is so pathetic when she tries to drink from a bottle... she can't drink and breath at the same time... even our "suctioner" isn't helping much.

this morning- she actually blew a little snot bubble out of each nostril at the same time.
ewww. sigh.
she is her normal happy self, unless we try to wipe, suction or clean her lil face- of if she is trying to eat or sleep. =(

i guess it is just a day in the life.....

hump day

happy hump day to ya'll.

this is just a quick lil note (cuz i am trying to be on top of my bloggins) to say howdy dudey to ya'll today!

Sally pulled herself up this morning on a dining room chair! and then promptly bonked her lip on it! =)

Gow is really enjoying his men's study at church - 6am-7:30am every Wednesday. And also is enjoying a bit slower pace at the studio these days. Many of you have asked how work is since all of the layoffs, it is still going well, just a bit slower are there are not as many people producing work...

we have not giving up hope on the Dave Ramsey job possibility- but are on hold as they are getting the position officially approved before further interviewing.

we have decided though, to "bark up as many trees" as possible and then wait and see what kind of doors God swings open or closed.

happy hump day to ya'll!

peek

this is sally jane being silly- peeking and playing.

today sally and i are going to our first ever "Inaug- Party"!
that's right, complete with red koolaid, blue pancakes and white biscuits!
ha- should be a blast!

sally is working this week on her scootch. it is not really an army crawl- more of a gi-jane inch by inch. =) but it is forward motion and we are the proudest parents ever.

gow is working and thinking more and more about future work. we have "opened a can" wondering if maybe we should think about Cali..... pray for us please. and if you have ANY connections or know of anyone looking for an editor... anywhere... please let us know. =)

(sally just bonked her sweet lil face on the iron part of our bed frame while i am typing this... she didn't even cry.... she's a trooper)

howdy

here are some fun pix of sally jane playing with her daddy. you can almost hear her laughing in these pix.

here are the latest happenings on the home front ...

1- Sally is 100 % healthy again- woot woot!

2- I am not nearly as sicko feeling... just zonked tired all day long. ugh.

3- Things are relatively slow at the studio for Gow so he is able to come home for lunch and even come home by 6 each night.

4- We are really starting to wonder what God has next for us. Please be praying for wisdom, direction and TRUST in the process. (Gow is contracted thru the first week of Feb- could possibly work a bit longer at Big Idea and our lease is up April 1st)

and that's it in a nutshell.

i also learned this morning why it is that i don't make home made carmel rolls very often... cuz i tend to want to eat the entire thing when i do! DANGEROUS STUFF! =)
my friend Jess and her daughter Cali came over this morning to hang out and i think i ate 3 or 4!
oh well, what can you do... i am eating for myself, numero 2 and sally jane! =)

happy MKL to ya'll!

thursday.. and it's cold

it is a yuck 24 degrees today in Nashville. BRR! I know that compared to those of ya'll living up north... this is nothing. however, us southerners are not BUILT for the cold. (During Christmas, my brother who lives in WI, was snow blowing the drive way in shorts!)

since it's cold- this is a fun pix of Sally Jane wearing her kuspuk seems appropriate!

(click here to know more about kuspuks - the traditional eskimo overshirt type garment worn by both men and women.) after our trip to Alaska this summer, i really wanted one for Sally! So my amazing mom made her one! and the little eskimo doll in the pix was mine as a child- my Auntie Karen made it!

-well, sally seems to be much healthier as "darth vader" is no longer with us. =)

-she is mastering the army crawl these days- which is quite exciting as this is her first true forward movement.

- black beans are one of her fave finger foods

-she is currently taking a bottle of formula 2 times a day and doing GREAT with it!

last night we were back together with our community group from church. it was GREAT to be together again.

then last night we watched Rim of the World Fighting Scots varisty girls basketball VS. LaSierra for the 1992 Sunkist League Championships! It was quite exciting to see myself with a PERM! and to see all of my basketball buddies... not to mention the game went into double overtime... and yup, we WON! =) ah. good times. on the video i also so mom and dad, stace farmer and donna bethel!
i have been reconnecting lately with some of the girls from the team on Facebook- so it was super fun to see them all in action! (has anyone heard anything from Pookie- Michelle Butrymovicks?)

okie dokie- stay warm!

wednesday- hump day

well good morning to ya'll.
i have been pretty flaky on the bloggin since Christmas- sorry.
i have been feeling ick- being prego and with the cold temp., i am so not motivated to spend time outside-- which leads to more ick feeling. =)
i think i have a serious case of the "January Blahs".

so... hang in there with me! =)

sally has graduated to her BIG car seat! WOOT WOOT!
her infant car seat's straps were too short to handle her and her fluff-winter jacket, so she has graduated to her "throne".
yup, she looks pretty happy in it!
however, since returning from our 9-10 hour car trip for Christmas, she has cried (for about 2 minutes) each time we put her in her seat. poor lil lady.

we were debating whether we should hit the road again this weekend to Siloam Springs for some friends' wedding. it would have been GREAT to be there to celebrate with them! but decided that driving all day Friday, being there for the wedding on Saturday and then driving another 8 hours home on Sunday was not the best idea with me already dragging (zonked from being prego), Sally still being a bit sick and just the cost of it. SOO- sad day. we will stay put.
if you live in Siloam- send our love and congrats to Vance and Harmony!

Not much new going on here.. Gow's work is pretty light at the moment.
The highlight of our week was going to Chili's last night (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Gowan!) for a chicken sandwich and a burger.
As we were packing up Sally's food stuff- Gow said, "wow, i don't remember it being this much work to eat out" =) and I gleefully said... but we didn't have to cook and we won't have to clean up! Yahoo! Yes, Sally is becoming more and more active and more and more has the need to move! =)

k- happy week before your wedding Vance and Harm!
and if anyone is looking to buy a SWEET home near Tulsa... let me know. Our friend bought a junker, flipped it and it is AMAZING!

a video and an announcement

hi all.
here is a cute video clip of Sally Jane eating a raspberry. too cute.

as for the announcement..... I am prego again!
that's right folks.... August 14th is our due date!
that will put Sally Jane and this next one only 16 months apart.
we are SUPER excited as we have wanted our kiddos to be close in age and at the same time I am super zonked.

I am 9 weeks along and have been feeling that "I want to hurl but can't" feeling for the past 2 weeks. The highlight last week was seeing the little one's heart beat and watching "it" swing it's arms up and down. it is grape size, has all of it's major organs, is growing teeth buds this week and touch pads on the lil fingers. amazing.

k- love from Nashy to ya'll today.

last ones from Christmas with the DeVries' 2008

final pix from Christmas... Neal and Cyndie have a hot tub!
Gow kept sprinkling water on his head.....
he literally had ICICLES hanging from his hair!
my bro-in-law Dave has a green screen in his basement... so we took some fun pix...
my mom cracks me up!
ah shucks
sweet girls!
a sis hug!
Cyndie and Neal did a photo scavenger hunt - racing against my 6 and 7 year old nieces! This pix was for the hunt.... and don't tell the little ones... but Neal and Cyndie were the winners!
Sally "standing" on the counter

me. freezing. my body just doesn't like the Northern cold. but a hot cup of something, a fuzzy blanket, down vest and great family time... and i am one happy chica!

Auntie Jano with all of the nieces and nephews! what a bunch!and that my friends, concludes the great DeVries Christmas of 2008.

today was a WONDERFUL Saturday
1- Gow was home ALL DAY! (and will be home all day tomorrow too!)
2-football-- so sad for the Titans
3-coldstone for me with Linds!
4-Sally Jane did her first army crawls today!!! scootching FORWARD!
5-cleaning house
6- just being together

we are looking forward to church tomorrow, more football and another lovely day at home... TOGETHER.

love to ya'll!

round 2 of Christmas pix

my mom and dad rocking out to guitar hero! I love it!
mom and benny decorating ginger bread boys - oh I LOVE those cookies!

getting messy while decorating

dave and neal playing Veggie Tales' "Dance Dance Dance" (the = to DDR)
on Christmas, the cousins all dressed up. Gow brought Sally Jane back to check out the action and he then presented her to us like this! She kind of resembles Dolly Parton!
the boys in their race car outfits (the plates are their steering wheels of course!)

Emma is feeding Sally. =) She was all about taking care of her and Sally loved every minute of it (okay, well ALMOST every minute of it.=))
Timmy as a pirate who doesn't do anything...
the grandparents and grandkiddos

our whole family!

Neal and Caleb Holte (Holtes are like family- we grew up with Dale at Alpine and they are now living in WI)
Dave, Amy, Dale Holte and my brother at ANOTHER Christmas dinner put on by my Aunt and siso!

Gow, SJ, myself, my Auntie Karen and Cyndie

doing the traditional puzzle on Christmas day!
Kristi with her HUGE Larry Boy!
the girls peeking!
Emma and Kris dressing up and dancing
Auntie Jane and Sally Jane and Daisy
Our sweetie peeking around the tree!

Grandma D and Sally Jane thoroughly enjoying the gift opening time!

phew! alot of pix- and alot of things to share!
=)

tonight the Eddy's are coming over for dinner!
and it sounds like this weekend will hold alot of football games... go Titans!

I am thanking God it is Friday!
love to ya'll!