A Hodge Podge of Things.....

I haven't written in a while so I thought I would update our blog. God continues to work in our lives daily and gives us opportunities to glorify Him in everything that we do. Mya is growing like a weed. She is 19 pounds 7 ounces and appears to be taking after her daddy with her height and long toes and fingers. Right now people say that she is looking like me the most but that changes as she grows. Mya has taken up to 6 walking steps on her own so far. She stands all by herself for minutes at a time. She just needs to develop her confidence to be able to walk across the room. Here's the most recent picture of her in her cheerleading outfit. We like to go to Friday night football games so she can wear her cute outfit.

Dan and I are in the process of deciding whether or not to get a puppy. We have decided that we want a Maltese puppy. They are cute and tiny dogs and they don't shed or smell. I think it would be the perfect puppy for Mya; however, we can't decide on when to get the dog. We can get it now while she is little or wait until she is older and we are in a bigger house. Neither of us can decide on the right timing so we have decided to commit it to prayer for now. We know that God will give us a peace when it is the right timing. Here's a picture of what a Maltese looks like. Isn't he/she adorable!

The only other new thing coming up in our lives is Dan's marathon. He will be running his second marathon on October 21st in Columbus. One of his highschool friends will be coming to Ashland from London where he lives with his wife. He will be running the marathon with Dan and they are both so excited for this experience. The tricky part is that Dan has to come home all in one piece from the marathon because we are throwing Mya's 1 year birthday party that evening for a lot of people and I need him to be functioning okay to help me with the party. Please pray for him and me too!!! Dan originally wasn't going to do the marathon because of Mya's birthday but I signed him up as a surprise. I have faith in him that he'll come home with a lot of energy for a party=)

When Will Mya Walk?

We have a bet going on with Dan's family on when Mya will walk. She has to take 10 steps on her own for someone to win the bet. I wonder who will win? She is at the point now where she stands all by herself for at least 30 seconds before she realizes that she's standing alone and then she plops down on her bottom. She has come so close to taking a step on her own. I don't think it will be too long before she walks. Dan guessed the earliest date of September 15 so he just might be the winner. I made him promise to take me to dinner if he wins the money=) That's fair, isn't it? Mya has become quite a chatty Cathy. She talks up a storm while she is playing with her toys. It's adorable! We can't believe that her first birthday is next month. Time flies when you're having fun!

On a different topic, we had a convicting Sunday school class this morning. We are studying Romans 14 right now, which focuses on the weak and strong in faith as well as the fact that we will be facing judgement when we are on earth and in heaven. Romans 14:8 says "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." It's so important to focus on how we are conducting our lives on earth. Our teacher talked about how faith is like a muscle and it needs to be worked in order to grow and develop. It is so important to be in the Word and memorize and study scripture to develop faith. I was challenged to increase my "quiet times" with the Lord.

The "Boys"

I wanted to add a picture of my sister's children because they are so darn cute. Luke and Reid are such a delight to be with!

Dan and I had a wonderful evening in Strongsville with Dad and Kim. We went to the Japanese Steakhouse for my birthday dinner and the food was incredible! We had seafood and filet mignon and rice, soup and salad. It was a feast! Then we went shopping, my favorite hobby (and Kim's too!), and got some new clothes for the Fall weather. Finally, we went to Stricklands, our favorite ice cream place ever. They have frozen custard with different flavors every day. It is SOOOOO good! Tomorrow we look forward to resting after church. We've been needing a little down time due to lack of sleep in our household. We decided to take Mya's binky away so that took some time to adjust to. It's not easy being binky free, but she's doing much better now.