Christmas Miracles

God is still performing miracles and what an incredible testimony for our friend Nancy. Read here for yourself.
Here is a little background too. THANK YOU JESUS! TO YOU BE ALL HONOR AND PRAISE!

Be Careful...

Update: I called ATT and they took the charges off with no problem. (Yes, they already hit me up with another $14.99 charge for this month.) ATT has been very accommodating to me and other issues in the past! Great company!
I just got my ATT bill in the mail and I was charged $14.99 by a service called playphone.inc. In Novermber I got a new phone and I made a decision not to buy games, ringtones, etc. to save some money, so I had no idea where this charge came from. I looked it up and then it came to me how it happened. I clicked on some link to take an IQ quiz about a month ago. (I know...like I have that time right?) Anyway, it said to put in my cell number to get the results. When I did, it texted me back that I had 30 credits. I was confused, but never responded to the text. When I looked up playphone on the internet the same IQ test popped up. I am hoping ATT will reimburse me for my stupidity! :) But anyhow..learn from my mistake and be careful when you take quizzes on the internet. I guess my IQ was not so high after all! :)

Santa Forgot His Elves

This week has been all about fitting shopping in around nap times and getting it done. It has been a good thing since the pacifier drama has been stressful this week. An update on that: Keegan went to sleep for his nap after 20 minutes today. We are getting much better even though he still asks for it occasionally. The dentist said that he would completely forget about it in 3 days. Well, 3 days have come and gone and he still wonders where it is.

This morning, I decided to forgo Jack's morning nap to head across town to a store not located in our area. Jonathan met us there for a short while to try on some new dress shoes. We headed toward the skating rink and there was Santa with no line! I was shocked but then as soon as I thought it, a whole school class ran in line. We went to Old Navy and then came back and the line had dwindled and the school class let us cut.

I had not prepared Keegan at all for this experience. I dressed them in coordinating shirts this morning, just in case, but surrendered that it was just not going to happen this year. So, we lined up and the photographers helper asked, "Okay, which one will cry?" Uggh...both? So she whisked Keegan out of Daddy's arms to give him to Santa as I put Jack on Santa's lap. Never a good scenario with a daddy's boy. The helper, which by the way was not dressed as an elf, kept clapping at Keegan to get him to smile. Her tactics were a little strange and scary. Whatever happened to the cute elves?? Santa pulled me over and said, "Next year, make him watch movies of me starting in September and next year we will have a better experience." Thanks Santa, but my rule is no Christmas until after Thanksgiving. (and that is way too much exposure of Santa!)

So we headed out and Keegan finally got Santa straight in his head. For a couple of months we have been reading this book "Santa are you for Real?" It teaches a child that Santa gives gifts like Saint Nicholas (a real person) who gave gifts because Jesus came as a gift to us. It has pictures of both Jesus and Santa in the book. So, every time he saw Santa he would yell. "Jesus". Ugggh...no son, that is Santa. So, after the pictures today, Santa is Santa and Jesus is at our church, in his bible, the baby in the little people manger, the man in the First Baptist "Prom Hair Jesus" paintings and in the Sunday School coloring pages. I pray that we will always keep more weight in Jesus at Christmas time....starting now.

Just in case you were wondering...Here is the painting at First Baptist lovingly referred to as "Prom Hair Jesus". Credits due to Nancy Monarch in her Facebook contribution.

Thank You Mack!

This past Sunday night officially started our journey in giving up pacee. He finally thought it was a better trade to give them up for a CARS Mack truck. He cried an hour that night and it has been getting shorter and shorter every night afterwards. However, our nap time has been another story. Monday it took him 2 hours to fall asleep. The first hour was crying and screaming and the next was running up and down his crib. "1-2-3 GO!!!" he would scream. He finally dozed off and when I went to get him out of his crib, one arm was sticking straight out of the neck hole of his shirt. "Hurt, Mommy". Poor baby slept like that and I am sure his arm was dead asleep. Tuesday, it took him an hour to go to sleep. Today, we are going on 30 minutes and he is still playing in his bed. My plan has backfired a little, because now he wants to sleep with the Mack truck. I guess in his little brain, he traded one for another. So, I let him twice, but realized that I am a softy...so now we put Mack truck to sleep (with a dish towel as a blanket) downstairs before sleeping.

The good thing about him giving it up is that he has slept all night long without waking up. (knock on wood!) I think when he slept with the pacifier it would fall out of his mouth and wake him up. Thus, he would spend a few minutes looking for it and then yell "DADDY" so he would come find it. Sometimes this would happen 3 times a night!! So, I hope kicking the pacifier to the curb helps him be more rested oddly enough.

On this side of things, it has kind of been emotional taking it away. More than I thought it would be. First, it hurts my heart that I am taking the one thing that soothes him to sleep since birth and now he has to invent another way and second, taking the pacifier away almost seals that deal that he is no longer a baby. I know...ridiculous.

I am excited about checking this milestone off our list and hopefully by the weekend we will be back to normal.

Rolling with the Punches

The last two weeks have been quite eventful. Some of them being fun, but most of them being terrible. Last Monday (2 weeks ago) we started out with a bang with Jack getting a stomach bug. He had an ear infection at the same time and had fever on and off for a few days. Saturday morning, we were all healthy and smiles so we went to two birthday parties. One for Travis that is almost a month older than Jack, and Jake who just turned two. That afternoon, Christine or "I-Teen" took christmas pictures of our family and had one of the worst experiences as a mother. Keegan decided to throw a tantrum almost the whole entire time and turning his face away from the camera. I went out the night before and bought them new tops, thinking meticulously about outfits and timing of the pictures to make it "picture perfect". However, you can not change a two-year olds mind. Luckily, we got some pictures we could use. I concluded by the end of the night, without crying I might add, that they call it the "terrible twos" for a reason, and that he is a very sweet boy despite his craziness. (I will post pics soon!)

So, Sunday morning, Jack wakes up with a fever. I am shocked. He had been healthy for a couple days and he was sick again. I had him isolated for a whole week! Monday evening, I started getting sick with a stomach bug. Come to find out most attendants and Jake's birthday got the stomach bug as well. Jack is having fever on and off and I finally take him Wednesday night to the doctor to find out that his ear infections were back and he had pink eye. So, he is on some very strong antibiotics to kick it..so lets hope it is to the curb so we can enjoy the rest of December!

The pacee situation is coming along, but he is not quite ready for the switch. With all the interruptions of sickness, we have not been consistently talking about it with him or reading the book. Tonight he actually gave it to me to give to the fairy. So, I laid him in his bed and then he started crying for it a few minutes later. "No Mack Truck!" he said. So I went up there and he has his fingers in his mouth with a scared look on his face. He decided ultimately that the pacee was better than getting the mack truck that the fairy was going to leave him. The bright side is that I think we are making progress because he never gives me his pacee. Next week I am hoping to take it away for good....as long as we are all healthy! :)

It's All in a Name

*After getting a phone call from my dear brother, I decided to clarify a segment of this story. When they said that they only take clothes that are "in" this season, they were referring to fashion. I brought them all winter clothes. :)

I found this clothing resale show outside of Willowbrook mall called Plato's Closet. We just recently cleaned out clothes and before I took them to Goodwill, I thought I would try to see if I could make a few bucks off of them. I had very nice sweaters, a great pair of Banana Republic pants, jeans, khakis, etc. I also had a few items in there that were not so great, but thought I would try. They looked through my stack of clothes, sorting them out and looking at them thoroughly. When they were finished she gave me $20 bucks for the stack of the not so great clothes. I said, "What about all of the "nice" clothes in those bags?" She responded, "Well, we only take clothes that are in this season." I almost laughed in her face because the clothes she took were far from being "in". However, considering the merchandise that were on the racks, someone needs to give them a lesson in fashion or hire me as their manager and I could make them some money. Not that I am the most stylish...but I have some sort of clue.

There was another woman there with her child waiting. He was a a cute little guy and he was going nuts waiting along with my two boys. Evidently this little boy was 10 1/2 months weighing in at 26 pounds. WOW! His name was Hagen and I was very curious about where she got the name from. "Well, my husband chews Copenhagen." Wait a minute...rewind! HUH? I am not sure what my face exactly looked like after she told me because she went on to tell me more..and maybe fibbed a bit to make it sound not as bad. She said she really liked the name and when she realized what tobacco her husband chewed it made it that much easier to get what she wanted. The mother quickly added, "Well, I will never tell him that is where he got his name." Something tells me that it will not take that long.

Bye Bye Pacee

On Tuesday, Keegan had his very first dentist appointment. I was very anxious about this visit, but he did awesome. He even let someone else get in his mouth and brush his teeth without crying! Other than introducing him to the dentist, another concern of mine was getting his front teeth checked. Just like I had when I was younger, Keegan's teeth are bucking out. I call it genetics...the dentist called it the pacifier. The dentist said get rid of the pacifier asap because it is possibly irreversible without major orthodonic work later. His bone structure in the upper gum is actually forming around the pacifier. I looked at him with some sadness for the journey ahead and he assured me the whole process would take 3 days with crying and then he would forget about it.

So, I have a plan. I am not sure if it will work, but I am hoping that the transition will be smooth. I made him a "Bye Bye Pacee" book with his pictures in it and the story revolves around him. The story goes that a fairy is going to come in the night, take his pacifiers, and leave him a present. I went out an found a much desired toy...a minature MACK truck from the movie Cars. I also put that picture of that toy in the book. The book cracks me up and only if it is a success story I will post it on the blog. I plan on reading it to him for a few a nights until he is ready to do it.

I also am at the same time going to take Jack's away to save his teeth and Keegan not to be mad that Jack can keep his. Literally, I am throwing all of them away so I am not tempted to give in. People...Call it World War III at the Sanders house next week. (My stomach is turning as I write this!)

Thanksgiving Photo Diary

Bill and Shannon Rademacher. They own the farm where we have Thanksgiving. They are such a blessing to our family and are fabulous people to be around.

Jonathan and Keegan climbing up to the tree house and zipping down the zip line. I was so proud of my Keegs. Very brave!





Jack snuggling with Granny J (Jonathan's mom) and finding interest in Aunt Char's shirt. I am not sure Jonathan can stand for that in our house!

Britney: For the Record

If you have not had a chance to see this documentary on Britney Spears life, it is worth watching. (It is on MTV) For the past few years my heart has been so heavy for this girl. Every time I see an interview with her, I want to go through the tv screen and love on her. When I have seen her behavior in the past couple of years, I have just prayed that God would show Himself to her. I think sometimes that we forget that celebrities need Jesus just as much as lost people in foreign countries. In one segment, you can almost see the darkness sweeping over her when she says, "I am sad".

She makes an enlightening statement as she is reflecting on her two boys. It shows that even when she is blocked off from the world, that God can still show Himself to her. She says, "I think back in the past 10 years and what I have been through and it is a touchy thing cause I see my babies and I am like..Of course you have to believe in God...I completely believe in God. How could these two beings be here without there being a God."

I think that the excitement of being famous has trapped her in such a way that she may never emerge to be normal. For the better part of her life and career she will guarded and be closed off. I am just praying that she will one day feel the freedom that God can only give.