{ We're expecting Baby # 3!!! }

Call me crazy... most already have! *GRIN*

Baby # 3 is on its way! We are THRILLED to be pregnant with baby number three. I am SOOO excited!!!! Once again our kids will be spaced 15 months apart. So if we're being REALLY specific then we'll have 3 under 2.6ish years.

If you weren't in church on Sunday morning, you missed the official announcement.

"Josiah is going to be a BIG BROTHER!!!!!"

It was Josiah's dedication at church this past Sunday. Many of our family members were there. We had talked to our Brother in Law, Mike Lewis, who was dedicating Josiah and asked him if he would sneak in that announcement for us. So Sunday morning came. We actually made it to church on time for the 9 AM service. (Thank the LORD!) Josiah was SO good for his dedication. He didn't cry when he went to Uncle Mike. He played with the microphone pretty much the entire time. It was awesome. THEN after praying the announcement came. I couldn't hear a THING but thankfully I caught the words as Mike spoke them, so I had a chance to glance and all of our family and give a little mischievous GRIN. I am sure a lot of them suspected it. I am sure a lot of them KNEW it was coming SOONER then later. Now they all know!

I am thrilled to say that this time around I'll be going through the pregnancy stages with two of my sister in laws. Many of you know Jodi West. She is due October 24. There is also Vernisa Janzen (Jesse's Wife) who is due about December 8. I am excited especially to walk the journey with these two other special ladies. I LOVE that we'll have cousins all within a month and a bit of one another.

So I suppose you're wondering when I'm due. I just got the "official" word today. I am due November 12!!!!!!!! I will celebrate my 25th Birthday on November 3.... If I go overdue I COULD even have the baby on my Mom's birthday of November 20th. This being said, I believe that Uncle Tim has the best shot at sharing his birthday which is November 11... I think.... cripes... Sorry Tim... 11? or 18?... HHmm.

I had a dating ultrasound on April 20th. During the ultrasound the technician asked me twice "You haven't had ANY sort of bleeding or spotting?" I was rather shaken in a way that she would ask twice. She reassured me that Baby looked great. We even heard baby's heartbeat and saw her (haha!) move on the screen. Its AMAZING to think that at 10.5 weeks the LIFE that is growing inside of me is SO little yet SO alive!!!! God is amazing.

Today, I had my first Doctor's appointment since the ultrasound. They had wanted to see me earlier. Now I know why. As it turns out, I have two tears in my placenta. The Doctor basically said that I am fortunate that this baby is still alive and well. She said that I "need to make it through the next two weeks and hope that baby does as well." After the two weeks I should be out of the danger zone though I will need to be sure that over the next month I am taking it easy on myself. What does that look like? Fortunately, its not bed rest. I'll need to be careful how much I lift Josiah. I need to not be lifting Jacob. I need to keep being on my feet to a minimum- just do what I need to do... at least for the next two weeks. I need to pray and I need people to pray for me & baby as well. There IS HOPE. This CAN heal.

I won't lie. I had a bit of a teary moment today. I was trying to be strong to not be afraid or let fear get the best of me. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Tim 1:7. A friend recently posted on her blog how "Fear is the opposite of Faith."

I've been singing the first verse of the song that says "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom then shall I fear should I be afraid."..... I Googled the lyrics, and instead of the lyrics I got a few Bibles verses together. I liked it. It seems quite fitting.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is my life, my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
1. Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call;
be gracious and answer me.
For you, O Lord, my heart is longing.
With all my heart your face I seek.
2. Your presence, O Lord, I seek;
do not hide your face from me.
Do not in anger turn away your servant.
You are my help; do not forsake me.
3. I believe I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Be strong; let your heart take courage.
Wait for the Lord, wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14.

I've been reading up on tears of the placenta. I am thankful to read that in a lot of cases it DID indeed heal itself. Things got better for MOST people. There were still those who lost their babies though. Many woman who's babies survived WERE born prematurely however. A friend of mine just wrote to me telling me her story. She had the same thing with her second. Her baby was born at 32 weeks. From the sounds of it her case was a lot more sever. I am thankful that there is someone who has been there. I know it wasn't a great place to be, but she spoke of how God taught her to really trust Him. ( Friend, I hope its OK that I just wrote this of you. I am thankful for you. Thank you for your words.)

So where does this leave me? This leaves me with a smile on my face because I am going to chose to put my trust in our Heavenly Father. I am going to chose to have FAITH. To allow God to be MY EVERYTHING. I am going to be THANKFUL that I have so many AMAZING people around me whom I know that I can count on to help in the process of "[getting] through the next two weeks." I know that I will be surrounded both physically and through prayer. I will KNOW that “… suffering leads to perseverance, perseverance leads to character, character leads to hope.”.... I will rest in the PEACE of our gracious Lord... and have hope for PEACE this year. *big grin*

Can I just tell you one last thing? I was just thinking that I've had a girl's name picked out ever since I was pregnant with Jacob. It hasn't changed. I STILL LOVE IT! I think I came up with it. It seems very typical as if you've heard it before. Yet, I cannot find it in ANY name books or online. So I was just sitting here thinking of IF this baby survives and if it is a girl how she will have THIS name. I decided when I came up with it that it was to mean "A life of GRACE" because of its root name. Wouldn't it be really neat if by the GRACE of God this baby survived, and it was a girl and it would hold the name with a meaning "A life of Grace". I think it would. That makes me smile... ok and if we're being honest it makes me want a girl JUST so I can tell her this. Of COURSE I would LOVE another boy however. As the saying goes, "I really don't care as long as the baby is HEALTHY."

Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Thank you for stopping by!.... I leave you with a picture of one of the pictures from our dating ultrasound. As well as its special place in our home.

Love, love.

SIDE PROFILE of Baby #3 @ 10.4 weeks. Measures about 1.5 inches.



"The Art Wall" as I call it, is now home to one of my favorite quotes as well as the dating ultrasound pictures of Baby #3.

{ The Easter Egg Hunt 2009 }

The Janzen Family- Easter 2009


Today we had the pleasure of being invited over by one of our friends for their annual Easter Egg Hunt! I felt blessed to be part of such a crazy and fun morning activity.

It was Jacob's first Easter Egg Hunt. He played shy. That's JJ for you though. He didn't really get the idea of it, but liked the idea of treats! Towards the end he figured out that there was one special package in each area that was for him to put in his basket... which was actually a paint can that I painted blue for him a couple hours before we left because I realized he doesn't have an Easter Basket yet. However, the paint can looked kinda cute. I think if I decorate it and put his name on it, it will be very cute. Perhaps then I could just use that for him! Brilliant. *grin*

Then of course there was Josiah. He cries if any male picks him up or holds him- other then his Dada. If he's in our arms though he'll give away many little smiles. He of course wants ANYTHING that JJ has. At one point, JJ was eating his jelly beans and Jojo was pulling JJ's sweatshirt hood to TRY to reach JJ's treats. The funny thing was that he was actually having success pulling JJ over. That memory is now nicely captured on camera- even the mad scream JJ let out. It was comical though!!!!

We had a very nice group effort spread after the hunt had concluded. Thanks to SL Cory and I actually got to have Paska this year!!! I can't believe I lived so many years without Paska! *grin* It was pretty darn good... I wanted seconds. Suppose I could attempt making my own tomorrow though!

So overall it was a fun, crazy, gong-show of a morning with our boys! However, we feel very blessed to be able to take part in these types of things and cannot wait until next year to do it all over again. Thank you K&CW for opening your home and hosting this special event and inviting us over to take part. It was a lot of fun and created a great little family memory for us for this year!

HAPPY EASTER to all that come by to read this. We hope that you have a wonderful Easter and you take time to really reflect upon what Jesus did for us on the cross. What a wonderful Saviour.

Thanks for coming by!

Love, love.



Jacob and Cory checking out all JJ's treats in his can.



Josiah wants everything JJ has. He was trying very hard here.




Josiah, 8 months and gettting cuter!

{ Make it tonight. }

About an hour ago I finished making dinner. I can't wait for 6 pm to roll around! Got to LOVE slow cooker meals. I for one, love them. They're quick, easy and always taste SO YUMMY!!! I know that apparently we're expecting Spring or Summer to show up, but until then these kinds of meals still come in handy. SO I thought I'd share my two specialties- Pot Roast and Fall off the bone Ribs.


{ Slow Cooked Pot Roast }

- Roast seasoned with Salt and Pepper
- 1 onion sliced to maintain its "O" shape
- Baby Carrots- sliced in half
- New potatoes- sliced in half
- 1 cup of either beef broth, water, or red wine

... Season roast with salt and pepper. Brown in a skillet to lock in the juices.
... Place roast in slow cooker. Surround it with carrots and potatoes.
... Place onion "O"s on top
... Pour 1 cup of liquid over top
... season with salt and pepper
... Set slow cooker on low and cook for ABOUT 35* minutes per pound for medium rare.
... Once roast has finished cooking allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting it and serving it.

(* All slow cookers are different, adjust time according to your slow cooker)

~~~ Make gravy from the liquids or from a package.
~~~ Serve with Yorkshire pudding which can be made from crepe batter. MSG me if you want the details.
~ ENJOY! ~



{EASY Slow Cooked Ribs} - Falling off the bone goodness -

- Ribs of your choice.
- "Maui" Gold Label Sauce
- 1 Can of beer (non- alcoholic from the grocery store is great!)

... Brown ribs on a skillet.
... Put in Slow cooker
... Add in Maui sauce and can of beer.
... Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
... I will shift the ribs around making sure that everyone of them has spent some time in the liquids at the bottom. They say NOT to open a slow cooker, but seriously, ALL the ribs are just better if you rotate them.
... Fall off the bones ribs... every time.
... Serve with BBQ sauce or glaze.


So there you have it, two of my favs!!! Quick, easy and ALWAYS YUMMY!!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping in!

Love, Love!

{ A Piece of Cake }

You've got to love the things in life that make life THAT much easier right? The things that, if they weren't there it obviously wouldn't be the end of the world BUT having it would make it a little nicer! :)

Well, I have found my thing that I LOVE.

First, let me tell you. The first two and a bit years of marriage Cory and I lived in a apartment. It was nice and new when we first moved in. THEN we had a baby.... and then we had another baby. All of a sudden there was baby stuff everywhere. My stroller had to stay in the entry way because there was no other place for it. So in the entry way also consisted of my kitchen and laundry closet. The stroller sat right in front of the dishwasher. So, in order to load it I had to move the stroller... and in order to open my fridge door all the way, the stroller had to be pushed to in front of the oven, which was also in front of my main counter. My main counter faced the cabinets. Needless to say I often felt claustrophobic in my kitchen and therefore I chose not to really spend much time in there. The thing is that I LOVE cooking and I LOVE baking... and I actually am really good at it when I apply myself or have the time.

ANYWAYS, so the other day was my sister in law's birthday party. I was so excited because I was making the cake and THIS was going to be my first real baking experience in my new kitchen WITH my new Kitchen Aid Mixer!!!!! (PTL for a great deal on the shopping network, and a husband who ACTUALLY wanted a mixer just cause they look cool! Ha ha!)

The Kitchen Aid Mixer is AMAZING, I love it.... but you know what I love even more... the special pull out stand my cabinet guys recommended. Oh my word. LOVE IT. The mixer weighs a lot eh! SO THIS pull out makes it SOOOO easy and even give me that little extra space! Anyways, its the little things is life that make me GIDDY. I'm so giddy about it I can hardly type correctly right now.

So now I am in love with baking again. My cake turned out wonderfully. My decorating skills could still use some majour work however. *grin* I made a white cake with lemon curd filling and coconut icing! (Thank you to Aunty Ruthie for the wonderful inspiration.)

Oh happy day for me. (*smile* I sing that song to JJ and he always echos "Happy Day"... which just made me smile thinking about it.)

Thanks for stopping in!

Love, Love!

A view from the front:



The Side View:




A peak at my other favorite item in the kitchen:

{ WELCOME }

Into the blogging world I enter.....

I said, "I'll never start blogging."

Never say never. OOPS! Shouldn't I know that by now?

Well friends, WELCOME. Welcome to MY blog- the blog I said would never happen.

I have NO idea what I want this blog to be about or focus on. I do know however that I like randomness. I'm a bit quirky sometimes. So, I imagine this blog will be random and sometimes quirky. I hope it will give you a little window into who I am and the life I live with the people I love the most.

Thank you for coming by!!!!

Love, love.