The Intentional Life

Well, Paul and I took the road trip to Columbus last night (left at 3:30, home at midnight) to see Ben, Jaime, and Baby Alayna. All are doing well and baby is healthy. Alayna was alert the whole time we were there, just cuddled in our arms with her eyes wide open. So, far she has been a mellow baby for them (for the first 13 hours at least). She also has tons of black hair. Very cute, very sweet.

Paul's brother Ben and his wife Jaime had a baby this morning in Columbus, Ohio. They had a litle girl: her name is Alayna Grace. She is 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long. Sounds like eveything was textbook and mom and baby are healthy. Paul and I are driving down tonight to see them so hopefully I will be posting pictures tomorrow. Now I have a nephew and a niece : )

Just had to put in the stats on Hannah, now that she has hit the 5 month mark. According to the baby scale at Amanda's, Hannah weighs in at 16 lb 1 oz - around the 80 percentile for weight : ) She is eating rice cereal and has recently started on yellow squash (which she seems to really like! : ) The spitting up has slowed some, but she will still have those times that you yell 'whoa! where's the spit rag!' : ) I just say she pukes on the ones she loves : )

I went with the 2 kids the other day to visit Amanda and Reid at their house. This was the first time that the kids were together (first cousins for the first time... : ) Anyways, we tried to get a picture of the 3 of them together (so grandma can put them all in the same frame : ) However, in order to do that we had to place them rather far apart since Hannah flails her arms around constantly when on her back (like a turtle on it's back) and Owen can hardly lay still for an instant. We didn't want to lay them too close to Reid and either have Hannah smack him in the face or Owen roll over on top of him. So, the picture is a bit awkward, but, hey, they are all in the same picture! : ) Reid in over 5 lbs now and is eating around 2 to 2.5 oz of milk every 3 hours or so. I think he goes a little longer at night, maybe 4 hours. But since he is mostly bottle feeds, Chet gets to help with the night feedings - lucky Chet, lucky Amanda ! Reid had an eye doctor appointment today and he ...

I don't know about tomorrow I just live from day to day I don't borrow from its sunshine For its skies may turn to gray I don't worry o'er the future For I know what Jesus said And today I'll walk beside Him For He knows what is ahead Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand But I know who holds tomorrow And I know who holds my hand I don't know about tomorrow It may bring me poverty But the one who feeds the sparrow Is the one who stands by me And the path that be my portion May be through the flame or flood But His presence goes before me And I'm covered with His blood I have been singing this song over and over, whether out loud or in my head for the last few days. Whenever I here something about the economy or the election or anything else that's troubling these days, I just start singing this song. It's just gets me back to what really matters in life and the fact that God really does have it all under control. I find the days m...

This past weekend we got to keep my cousin Tonia and her 2 girls overnight with us. Amanda had a baby shower on Saturday that they came down for. Saturday morning as we were getting ready Tonia's youngest, Abigail, was reading a Dr. Suess book to Hannah - I thought the moment was so cute I had to get a picture of it. Hannah just watched her the whole time. The other picture is of Tonia's other daughter, Rachel, with Owen. Just as Owen was getting warmed up to them and having a good time, we had to leave for the shower : ) Then in the evening, Paul's parents and his brother and his wife came over for supper around our fire pit. Owen played a little football with Uncle Sam and supervised the game of 'cornhole.' It was a perfect evening for a campfire. And of course Owen had a great time -he got to be outside and run around and play in the dirt : )

Reid Arthur got to go home today! He went home with Chet and Amanda some time this afternoon/evening. The last weigh-in that I know of he is 4 lb 15 oz : ) Reid was discharged with a heart monitor which he will need to wear 24/7. I'm not sure of much else but I wanted to at least let everyone know that the Chet Wenninger family is together - at home : ) Now they will need our prayers as they adjust to having Reid in their constant care without the help of the medical staff that they have gotten used to over the last 6 weeks. But to have him in his own home : )praise God for his faithfulness!

Michelle and I went up to see Amanda and Reid yesterday. Over the weekend he pulled his feeding tube out of his nose. I think they reinserted it once but then removed it since he is doing a lot of his feeding/eating himself. So here is a picture from Michelle's camera of Reid with no tubes! Yea! They are talking in a few days of Reid coming home. Not sure what day yet, but soon. I don't have the rest of the current stats as far as weight and such, but he is still gaining. They are doing an MRI of his brain to check out the cyst/dimple whatever they call it and also he has to do a sleep study to check for sleep apnea. Michelle wanted to have a picture of the 3 of us - this one was taken in Reid's room. A nurse at the hospital got us mixed up once - said we all look alike ??? I really don't see it at all : )

Last evening, we took a family excursion down to the cemetery in Antwerp and picked up buckeyes. After a quick lesson in 'buckeyes are like rocks, we don't eat them" Owen was ready to help pick. He gave us a solid 20 minutes of picking up nuts and putting them in his little bucket before he was distracted with other things (sticks, dirt, throwing buckeyes, etc). We spent about 45 minutes and picked up about 3/4 of a 5 -gallon bucket full. I'm not sure what the whole plan is for all these poisonous nuts that you can't eat but I'm sure Paul has a great idea in mind : ) If anything we can make buckeye necklaces...

OK, I was canning my umpteenth jar of peaches the other day and this meandered into my musings. I Garden, Therefore I Can - a switch on the I Think, Therefore I Am philosophy. I thought it was cute (I might be the only one) but maybe there are others out there who have been canning and preserving all summer and they can see the light at the end of the tunnel - Fall! Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for the amount of free food that is on our property and it is an awesome feeling when you are all done to look at the full cupboards, but sometimes in the middle of it all...sigh : )I have put up 38 quarts of peaches and am now done as of yesterday, but the pears are close to being ready so I'll be doing pear sauce pretty soon. The last in a long line of produce: strawberries, cherries, green beans, squash, tomatoes, peaches, apples, and then pears. But when those are done, we'll hunker down for the winter and enjoy the fruits of our labor (no pun intended)

I went and visited Amanda and Reid the other day and was able to get a few pictures. Here he is with his eyes open, but he just finished eating so he has that 'drunk baby' look : ) Reid is now over 4 lbs and is sleeping in a bassinet and no longer the isolette. The one problem that has come up is that the rescan of Reid's brain shown that the blood/bruising from a month ago had reabsorbed but in its place is now a cyst. The doctor is a little concerned and they will do an MRI before Reid goes home. At this point they can't tell what this cyst is affecting (motor planning, speech, etc) but from all checks Reid is doing well, so... As far as getting to go home, Reid has to take all food from a bottle or nursing (he started nursing for the first time on Wednesday) in a 24-48 hour period with no help from the feeding tube in his nose. He's not there yet, but he's close. Please continue to keep them in your prayers as Reid continues to grow and develop and making th...

We received a fire ring and stones to go around it for an anniversary gift. Yesterday evening we tried it out for the first time and roasted hot dogs and s'mores. Owen thought he was 'big stuff' sitting on the lawn chair and Hannah even enjoyed her meal outside - rice cereal. She is still getting the hang of it as you can see - this was only her 3rd day at trying it. Hopefully we will have more days like we did yesterday so we can enjoy the fire this fall. The only thing is, these fires get me in the mood to go camping... : )

I wanted to post a picture of Reid, since it has been awhile. I'm not sure of any recent developments. He continues to do well, putting on weight and eating : )

...this is how Owen pronounces his and Hannah's names : ) This past Labor Day weekend, we just stuck around home and did some projects around the house. Paul and I bought some bushes as an anniversary gift to each other so we planted those (see picture of Owen 'helping'). One evening we headed to the park and Owen and Paul played on the playground together for awhile. Owen is really starting to bud - saying more words and getting more and more creative. Daily I am reminded what little blessings Owen and Hannah are. Speaking of little blessings...Reid is now 3 lbs 11 oz. He is taking in about an ounce of milk at every feeding and he can even fit into some of the preemie onesies they have at the hospital! : ) He is better able to regulate his own temperature so he is off the temp monitor. One more wire unhooked from his little body. Hard to believe, but he will be 4 weeks tomorrow. He has come quite a way in this month's time. Praise be to God for His provision! : )