Israel's Dedication

We dedicated Israel at church this past Saturday!
Sorry it took me so long to post, but we forgot our camera there and I didn't have any pictures to go along with it. Thanks to Auntie Amber for sending these ones.
The dedication was sweet and very special. JP talked about why we chose the name Israel for our daughter. The name itself is generally a man's name and means "contends with God." Most people would consider that a bad thing, but when you look at the story in context, you realize that Israel didnt' just wrestle with God out of pride or stubbornness. He had tasted the blessing of God and knew that he could never let go of it. There was no point to life if God's blessing wasn't there. We pray that Rae's relationship with God will be equally as passionate. And as for it being a boy's name...while the man Israel was indeed a man, the NATION of Israel is generally referred to in the feminine form throughout the Bible. She is God's bride.


Here is a picture of the cute dress she wore. Her uncle Nathan gave it to her.

After prayer and some prophetic words which I have yet to transcribe, Great Grampy came up and shared a super cute poem he had written for Israel.

Grampy's Poem:

Rae, Rae, this is your day!
May you always listen to what God has to say.

Rae, Rae, this is your day!
May you always listen to what Mom has to say.

Rae, Rae, this is your day!
May you always listen to what Dad has to say.

Rae, Rae, this is your day!
May you always have love each and every day.

Rae, Rae, God will be with you
Each and every day.

Rae, Rae, dedicated to God on the fifth of May.

Rae, Rae, you had your day!
May you always be as precious as you are today.

Three Months

Today my baby girl is three months old. I cannot imagine my life without her. She brings me more joy than just about anything else in the world. When I look at her next to all the tiny little newborn babies, I can't believe how much she has grown. Every day she does something new, makes a new discovery, and amazes me again.
Everybody told me she would change my life, but I never knew just how true it was. I love you, Israel!

Like father, like daughter?

When I have the TV on during the day, I generally try to position Rae away from it so she doesn't zone off into TV land. I guess maybe I am going to need to turn it off while she's awake. Check out these pictures: I had her turned away from the TV, but she twisted her head all the way around to catch the screen. Pretty funny if not a bit disturbing. :)

My New Trick

Sleeping beauty and other randomness

Israel is so cute when she sleeps. Here are a couple of pictures...one from when she fell asleep with her thumb in her mouth the other night and one from last night in her car seat.


In other news...JP sliced his hand open with a sawzall on Monday. He had to go to the ER and get five stitches in his finger. It's really gross and puffy looking, but he is able to work on it which is good. God has blessed us with a lot of work right now, and it's no time to be out of commission. He has been working very long hours and comes home at night completely exhausted. Last night we were trying to stay up to watch Lost (we had to Tivo it because of church) and he could not keep his eyes open. It was actually very funny because he fell asleep while typing an email and ended up with a half a page full of jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk...etc. :) I tried to get a picture of him dozing off in front of the computer but wasn't quick enough. Then he was trying to eat a yogurt/fruit/granola thingy to stay awake, and he ended up dropping his bowl FOUR TIMES! Finally we just turned Lost off and went to bed.
Finally, Great Granny and Great Grampy (Margie's parents) are coming home from Arizona today! They haven't met Israel yet, so we are very excited to greet them at the airport tonight.
That's it - you're up to date!

Come and Listen

Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
But God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!

Psalm 66:16-20

Pictures of Zach

Here are the first pictures of Zachary Aaron. Notice how chubby his legs already are! He's a big boy!

Zachary is here!!!!

After pushing for just under 13 minutes (ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!??), my sister-in-law Missy delivered a beautiful, healthy baby boy today! Zachary Aaron Harpel is 8 lbs, 7 oz (ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!??) and apparently very cute and chubby...though I have yet to meet him. Israel and I are heading to the hospital as soon as she's done with her nap. I'll have pictures later!
Welcome Zach!!!

I'm not a boy

Victory for the unborn millions!

Today, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that bans partial-birth abortions in the United States. All I can say is HALLELUJAH, and THANK YOU JESUS for the lives that will be saved by this ruling.
For those of you who are not familiar with the procedure, basically the baby is born breech (feet first) until all but the head comes out. Then the doctor jams scissors into the baby's head at the nape of the neck and inserts a suction catheter. Then the abortionist sucks out the kicking, living baby's brains, causing the skull to collapse, killing the baby. The body goes limp. The doctor delivers the head. The baby is discarded. This is sickening. And it was being performed through all nine months of pregnancy.
You can read more about the decision here.
I was pretty appalled at CNN's twist on the story in their article. C'mon people, can the bias be any more deliberate?
You can look at the full ban yourself here.
And learn more about the procedure here.

Sweetie

On Monday, my family's cat "Sweetie" went home to Jesus. She was with us for 19 "sweet" years. I remember the day my mom showed me a picture of the kitten we were getting...then bringing her home. I was 5 years old. When you have a pet that long, they really do become family members.
We will miss you, Sweetie. You were the best, sweetest, most gentle cat ever.

It makes me laugh...

...and as a journalist, it makes me wince.
Watch this from your good ol' friends at jib jab.
*note: there is one "off-colored" moment involving brittney spears - for that, I do apologize

Congratulations Dale & Brenda!!!!

Samuel Dale Larson was born today - 7 lbs 9 oz and 20.5 inches long. Woo hoo!!!! :)

Poor Caleb, Part Deux

The vet confirmed that Caleb does indeed have lyme disease. We started him on antibiotics yesterday and he should be back to his old self soon. :)
Thanks for caring.

Poor Caleb

On Monday morning, I noticed our 1 year-old wheaten terrier, Caleb, was limping around pretty badly. His front left foot seemed to really be bothering him and he was applying very little pressure to it. By Tuesday it seemed really bad and he wasn't putting any pressure on it at all, so I took him to the vet. $215 and a few x-rays later, they couldn't find anything wrong with him. They said the pain seemed to be in his elbow, and perhaps he pulled a muscle. The vet told us to keep him inactive for a couple weeks and hopefully he would improve. But just in case, they were going to send his x-rays to a specialist at the U of M to see if he could find anything.
This morning when we woke up, Caleb seemed to be doing a little bit better. He was walking on his foot but still limping. Then I noticed: he was limping on the OTHER leg! My first thought was that he had been faking his injury the whole time. JP used to have a wheaten when he was young who would fake injuries when his sister, Lisa, was away. Could this be a big act to get attention?
I called the vet to ask him if this is something a dog would do, and he told me he wasn't surprised that Caleb had shifted legs. That's because the doctor from the U of M had gotten back to him - he found swelling in the carpi in BOTH of Caleb's front feet and a "dropped" carpus in his right foot. The likely culprit: Lyme Disease.
I looked up Lyme Disease in Dogs online:
"The most common symptom of Lyme disease in dogs is a reoccurring lameness that may shift from leg to leg. Most commonly, it is a front leg that is affected and the lymph node on the shoulder of that leg may be enlarged. Many of the sick dogs are depressed and run fevers. Occasionally...the superficial lymph nodes all over the dog’s body are enlarged. It is common for infected dogs to have hot, painful joints when lameness is present [This would explain Caleb's elbow hurting]. They may yelp when these joints are pressed and be quite reluctant to walk. When they do walk, they walk with a stiff shuffling gait and an arched back because of the pain. Unfortunately exercise-induced sprains, arthritis, hip dysplasia and lumbar or cervical spinal problems present very similar signs."
Without treatment, Lyme Disease can lead to problems with the heart, kidneys, and nervous system. Caleb likely got it over the summer, either out at Jim & Margie's house or on one of our camping trips, even though we had tick collars on both him and Sadie. The vet said it can be months or even years before dogs will show symptoms of Lyme Disease, if they show any at all.
So...tomorrow Caleb goes in for blood work. If it is indeed Lyme Disease he will be treated. If the test comes back negative, they will do a joint tap to check for early onset arthritis (he's only a year and a half old). Please be praying for poor Caleb! He just lies around the living room all day, only getting up to hobble to the bathroom or drink some water. He hasn't finished his dinner in three days and keeps his tail tucked under his legs at all times. Sadie can't understand why he won't play with her, and it's driving her crazy.
We'll let you know what we find out at the vet tomorrow!

I hope you all had a blessed Easter...

...and that you got to spend some time with loved ones as we did. We celebrated Jesus' resurrection with the big Charlebois family on Saturday, then went to church with JP's dad & step-mom on Sunday (Quarry folks - it was great to see you!). Afterwards we had brunch with JP's mom, step-dad and grandmothers. Then we had dinner with my family.
We had the cutest Easter bunny in town:

Israel also held her head up from on her tummy today. It's the first time she's really done that. It was short-lived, but I'm still proud of her. :)

All Smiles

Thumb Sucker

Some people have told me to give Israel a pacifier so that she won't suck her thumb. I don't really have a problem with her sucking her thumb, especially because it has been helping her soothe herself back to sleep during nap times. She cries if the pacifier falls out of her mouth, but she can find and utilize her thumb all by herself.
Plus it's so stinkin' cute.
Any thoughts from experienced moms out there?

Seven Staples

Yesterday I was sitting at home when my brother Nathan came in with blood running down his face. He had a blood-covered rag up to his head and claimed he didn't really remember what happened. He was at the dump unloading JP's dump trailer when something must have flown out and hit him in the head. He didn't know what hit him but he thought maybe a 2x4.
He didn't want to go to the emergency room, but after observing the nearly 4-inch gash in his head, I made the call that we were definitely going. The doctor ended up putting a few stitches and seven staples in Nathan's head. It was actually pretty cool to watch.
Thankfully, Nathan is going to be okay. He is already back to work today and feels just fine.
Here's a blurry picture of the staples.

Two Month Checkup

Today Israel had her two month checkup. She is 12 lbs on the nose and nearly 24 inches long. That's 90th percentile for height and 75th for weight. Big girl!!! Watching her get her shots was so, so sad. Everything was fine, then her face went white with horror, then bright red as she screamed her little head off. I started crying but tried my best to hide it from the nurse.
JP had work at a cabin in Shell Lake, WI this week, so on Tuesday we went up there to spend a couple nights. Israel did very well napping and sleeping in a strange place in her pack-n-play. Our friends, the Knoblauchs, were there too. They have two kids, ages 1 and 2. They had fun playing in the pool and we also took them to a little shop where you can paint your own pottery.
I was thinking today...ever since Rae was born all I blog about is her. I don't even remember what I used to blog about before the baby. She is all I think about these days! But I don't hear any of you complaining about "too much Rae" so here are some more pictures of her with daddy.

All Night Long

Today I am one happy mama. Last night, my 6 week old slept through the night for the first time! She slept from about 11:00pm to 7:45am this morning! What a champion! I am just thrilled! We've been working very hard at this goal since the day we brought her home from the hospital, and all that work is beginning to pay off.
She did, however, apparently participate in some freestyle sleeping last night, because when I went in to get her up this morning she was sleeping SIDEWAYS in her crib (versus horizontal). That's especially strange since she sleeps with a positioner wedge - she and the wedge had both moved!
Rae has always slept well, but I am nonetheless very excited to see her making these big developmental steps so soon in her little life. She is also doing other "big girl" things like holding her head up and locking out her knees to "stand" on your lap. I'm so proud of you, Rae!

P.S. This picture is from yesterday. I put her in her car seat before leaving the house, went into the kitchen to get my coat, and when I came back out she was asleep like this. :)

Beckett

Last night at 8:00pm, my dear, dear friend Nicole gave birth to her beautiful baby boy! Beckett Harrison Russell was 6 lbs, 14 oz and has RED HAIR!! So funny, so cute.
Israel and I got to meet him today. Next to him, she looked like a giant! She was never that small to start out with, though. :)
Congratulations Scott and Nicole - Beckett is beautiful and we can't wait to watch him grow up!

Stories and Pictures

Today Israel was fighting her nap. She cried most of the way through it. Finally JP went into her room, picked up his guitar and started playing for her. She calmed down and fell asleep. It was so sweet.


On Sunday, Rae had the pleasure of meeting her Great Papa and Great Nana for the first time. They were so cute holding and cuddling her. She slept most of the time but did open her big blue eyes for them a little bit.


Sunday night was family time with the Harpels and we got this great picture of the three cousins, plus a nice one of the Charlebois clan.

Little Squirt

Misc.

Sweet Rae went snowboarding with us yesterday. She and Grandma Harpel hung out in the chalet till it was time to eat, then I came in to feed her. It worked out pretty well. Thanks, grandma!

Family pic. Oh, and I got a haricut.

I guess I need to keep my car clean now that I have these fancy new decals!!!

This is How I Want to Go

The couple featured in this article from the Star Tribune are the grandparents of a friend of ours. This is the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my whole life. The best part is way at the end, so be sure to read the whole thing, or at least skip to the end.

--------------------------------------------

Violet and Orville Peacock, together to the end
Darlene Prois, Star Tribune

Orville Peacock called the shots during his 65-year marriage to Violet. Over the years, relatives had grown accustomed to hearing Orville's gruff pronouncements when he tired of the family gatherings that Violet so loved.

"Vi," he'd shout on his way out the door. "The bus is leaving. Are you coming or not?"

Vi would grumble, but she would follow.

On Thursday, Orville died at 93. Violet died the next day.

"It's a love story, if not really a fairy tale," said their son John of Maple Grove. "But the ending was absolutely super. They cared deeply about each other."

The couple lived together in their! Brooklyn Center apartment until December, when 89-year old Violet was hospitalized with circulatory problems.

"That was the downfall of my father," John said. "He felt lost without her."

Theirs had been a marriage typical of the era. Orville earned the living, working as a machinist and grinder at Ford Motor Co. When the babies came, Violet gave up her job as a seamstress to make a home for Orville and their sons John, Tom and Terry.

"She was the one who took care of us," said Tom. "She was the buffer between us and dad."

They were private people, especially Orville. Violet loved to be with her family, savoring weekly shopping excursions with her nieces. She would have liked to play cards with her neighbors, too, but Orville discouraged that. He feared she would get tired if she stayed up too late.

"He protected her almost to a fault," said John.

But as Violet's health became more fragile, Orville became her caretaker, ! cooking meals and keeping track of her medicines.

A few weeks after Violet's hospitalization, Orville also fell ill. His pneumonia failed to improve, and his family put him in hospice care at North Memorial Medical Center. Within hours, Violet's condition worsened, too, and she was put in a room near her husband's.

Even with medication, Orville was agitated and angry, insisting he could not die before his beloved Vi. The couple's grandniece, Melissa Melichar, a nursing assistant who worked on another floor at North Memorial, decided to help.

Melichar knew how devoted Orville and Violet were to each other. For years, she'd done home care for the couple. After finishing her shift, she went to their rooms, determined to bring them together one last time.

At 12:10 a.m. Thursday, Melichar rolled the couple's beds together, arranging the two on their sides, face to face. She put their hands together.

"As soon as they touched, they both settled down," said Melichar. "I told him to open his eyes and look at! her."

Orville did. Seeing Vi, he smiled and squeezed her arm. He died 35 minutes later.

"It was the most peaceful, happy death I've seen," Melichar said.

That evening, Melichar whispered in Violet's ear. Orville has gone, she told her. Are you going?

She died an hour later.

Let's Dish!

Yesterday, my friend Nicole and I went to Let's Dish! in Maple Grove and it was a blast! If you've never heard of it, basically it's a store where you can go in, prepare yummy meals from their menu, package them up, and take them home to freeze for a later date. They provide all of the ingredients and have everything set up for you, so all you have to do is follow the recipe. Nicole and I both went home with eight dinners for only about $4 a plate. It sure beats going to the grocery, getting all of the ingredients, and spending all the time doing it at home.
Nicole is having a baby in two weeks, so this will be really great for them. They'll have delicious dinners frozen and ready to go after the little one arrives.
It was fun! Try it out sometime!

Pictures

Cousins

Just because I have my own baby now doesn't mean I'm not the proudest Auntie in the world still. :)
Here are some pics of the cousins.

Malachi, 15 months

Ava, 9 months

Elijah, 5 months

Israel, 1 month tomorrow!

Pray for Your Kids

I borrowed a book from my sister and found a bookmark with the following excerpt on it that I thought was just great. I now have the bookmark taped to my mirror and each day I'm taking one virtue and praying it for my daughter.

31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids:

1. Salvation - "Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." (Is 45:8, 2 Tim 2:10)
2. Growth in Grace - "I pray that my children may learn to live a life of love through the Spirit who dwells in them." (2 Pet 3:18)
3. Love - "Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love, through the Spirit who dwells in them." (Gal 5:25, Eph 5:2)
4. Honesty and Integrity - "May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection." (Ps 25:21)
5. Self-Control - "Father, help my children not to be like many other around them, but let them be alert and self-controlled in all they do." (1 Thes 5:6)
6.Love for God's Word - "May my children grow to find Your Word more precious than much pure gold and sweeter than honey from the comb." (Ps 19:10)
7. Justice - "God, help my children to love justice as You do and act justly in all they do." (Ps 11:7, Mic 6:8)
8. Mercy - "May my children always be merciful, just as their Father is merciful." (Lk 6:36)
9. Respect (for self, others, authority) - "Father, grant that my children may show proper respect to everyone, as your Word commands." (1 Pet 2:17)
10. Biblican Self-Esteem - "Help my children develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." (Eph 2:10)
11. Faithfulness - "Let love and faithfulness never leave my children, but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts." (Prov 3:3)
12. Courage - "May my children always be strong and courages in their character and in their actions." (Dt 31:6)
13. Purity - "Create in them a pure heart, O God, and let that purity of heart be shown in their actions." (Ps 51:10)
14. Kindness - "Lord, may my children always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else." (1 Thes 5:15)
15. Generosity - "Grant that my children may be generous and willing to share, and so lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age." (1 Tim 6:18-19)
16. Peace-loving - "Father, let my children make every effort to do what leads to peace." (Rom 14:19)
17. Joy - "May my children be filled with the joy given by the Holy Spirit." (1 Thes 1:6)
18. Perseverance - "Lord, teach my children perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to run with perseverance the race marked out for them." (Heb 12:1)
19. Humility - "God, please cultivate in my children the ability to show true humility toward all." (Titus 3:2)
20. Compassion - "Lord, please clothe my children with the virtue of compassion." (Col 3:12)
21. Responsibility - "Grant that my children may learn responsibility, for each one should carry his own load." (Gal 6:5)
22. Contentment - "Father, teach my children the secret of being content in any and every situation, through Him who gives them strength." (Phil 4:12-13)
23. Faith - "I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them." (Lk 17:5-6, Heb 11:1-40)
24. A Servant's Heart - "God, please help my children develop a servants' heart, that they may serve wholeheartedly, as if they were serving the Lord, not men." (Eph 6:7)
25. Hope - "May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Rom 15:13)
26. Willingness and Ability to Work - "Teach my children, Lord, to value work and to work at it wiht all their heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." (Col 3:23)
27. Passion for God - "Lord, please instill in my children a soul that 'followeth hard after Thee,' (Ps 63:8), one that clings passionately to You."
28. Self-Discipline - "Father, I pray that my children may acquire a disciplines and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair. (Prov 1:3)
29. Prayerfulness - "Grant, Lord that my children's lives may be marked by prayerfulness, that they may learn to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (Eph 6:18)
30. Gratitutde - "Help my children to live lives that are always overflowing with thankfulness and always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph 5:20, Col 2:7)
31. A Heart for Missions - "Lord, please help my children to develop a desire to see Your glory declared among the nations, Your marvelous deeds among all peoples." (Ps 96:3)

Excerpted from Pray! Magazine issue #4

Idol Thoughts

(Disclaimer: I know I'm a cheeseball for even posting this, but I'm interested to hear what other Idol watchers think)

JP and I have been keeping up to date with our American Idol. Here are some of my thoughts so far.
My favorite contestants this season are Melinda Doolittle and Chris Sligh.
Melinda Rocks. The girl can blow. Did anyone else see her rendition of "My Funny Valentine" last night? Yowzer! Plus, she's so sweet and unassuming. She doesn't have that arrogant aire about her that so many of the others do.

Chris is the bomb. Dude can sing AND he's hilarious AND he has crazy hair.

Other favorites include LaKisha Jones and Sundance Head...though Sundance has had some rough spots. He really redeemed himself Tuesday night, though.
Topping my "bottom of the barrell list" is Antonella Barba, and not just because of the raunchy news circulating about her. I think she has a weak voice and a cocky attitude. Not that I could do better, but I don't think she deserves to go much futher than a week or two from here.

I know there are a few of you out there following the show...so chime in with your two cents worth about the contestants! :)