First half of March

In the necessity of pressing on with the blog posts....


We have strawberries growing in our backyard.  Or at least we did.  Most of the plants have long since expired, and I admit the tartness of the fruit was too much for me.  But Justin has loved checking them out.

Rodeo Day at school was in March this year.  Thanks to hand-me-downs, we had all but the boots.  That is one purchase Daddy won't let Mommy buy.  I don't fight it.  So we borrowed a pair from Ty Baker's old collection to make the look complete.  We don't wear this look much in the Michaelis' household, but I love me some cowboy!




































Handsome fella

He always wants Roxy and I to take a photo as well, hat in hand.

A few of us celebrated Ashley's birthday at Buffalo Grill.  Ashley does so much for all of us that sometimes I have to twist her arm to return the favor.  Ashley has been a sweet God-sent friend who constantly points me to Christ.

We went to Waco the first weekend of our Spring Break.  The day before our trip Justin got a bought of bronchitis.  Since Daniel was still too young for his shots, Justin had to steer clear for the weekend.  But Derek got to love on the little guy (who as of late is no longer little).

I got to take some photos for Daniel's announcement.

He doesn't look anything like these photos anymore.  Ah, they change so quickly.

Birdie checking out the four loose teeth in Justin's mouth.  I have been nonchalant about the teeth and am not going to push the tooth obsession on my son.  He doesn't wiggle the teeth, so it may be awhile before we lose them.  But the hygienists in the family are anticipating the first gap in the smile before the birthday.

We celebrated Birdie's birthday in typical fashion with a cookie cake.

Elise and Aaron were able to run over for the feast.  It was a quick 24 hours in Waco, but fun nonetheless.

The first Monday of Spring Break we were supposed to take Jaylen, our Yellowstone Academy boy we are shepherding, bowling and out to lunch.  He last minute had to reschedule for Wednesday, so we grabbed the Wilsons and took them bowling instead.

Justin was on strike central.

He got two in a row. 

We really love to bowl.

Which is a good thing since we turned around and did it again two days later.   This time with our first outing with Jaylen. 

We had asked for a boy close to Justin's age so we could do similar activities.  Jaylen is a year older and has the best manners!  Never heard so many "Yes, ma'am" from a 5 year old in a three hour period.

It was such a joy watching how excited how Justin was to spend time with Jaylen.  And Jaylen seemed equally excited to be with us.

There was one awkward moment when we were driving to the bowling alley and "Actions Speak Louder", one of our favorite songs about poverty in Sudan came on.  Justin, in innocent excitement, looked at Jaylen and told him that this song was for him.  He said it was about kids that were poor and ate junk food.

Crickets chirping. 

After I was able to move my tongue I reconciled the damage.  Luckily, I don't think everyone caught on, and later we talked with Justin as to why that could hurt people's feelings.  He didn't know...now we do!

As part of the shepherding program they suggest spending time with your child once a month.  We have a list with over 10 things we want to do with Jaylen to spread them out over the next year.  So many things to introduce into his life, like a park.  He said no one has ever taken him to a park.

We grabbed some McDonald's per Jaylen's request and took it to our house.  Jaylen was running from one thing to the next.  At one point he asked if we had any games.  I pointed to all the board games, then realized he wanted video games.  I told him no, we aren't that family.  He was rightly disappointed, as his older brother plays games at his shepherd's house.

There in that moment I was questioning if we were too strict with the video games and if we should have them around for him to play.  Then I laughed at my reasoning.

We were in the car on the ride back to Jaylen's house to return him back to his family.  I asked Jaylen what his favorite things of the day were.  He thought a moment, and then told me he liked playing the piano.  And he also liked singing Jesus Loves Me in the car. 

Tears came to my eyes at the simplicity of his answers.  So I guess no video games isn't so bad after all.

Go shepherd a Yellowstone child.  It's so rewarding, on both ends. 

Baby Daniel is born~

My very first nephew came early on February 18th.  The entire week Derek had been struggling with a sinus infection.  The day before Justin had started to spike a fever.  At 3am I was giving a hot little boy more Motrin and some cold water.  I pass my cell phone by the fridge and notice all sorts of things going on from text messages.  Of course, Elise was in labor.

Derek was so sick on Friday, the 18th, that he stayed home from work.  Justin and I went to the doctor to realize he had a certain fever virus that was going on. 

I was so bummed!  My first chance at being an aunt and I'm not there!

 Thankfully on Saturday morning Derek felt good enough for me to take off for a quick 48 hours to see Daniel and leave the sickness behind.   God bless the sweet husband that stayed home recovering himself while taking care of a sickie child.

Wendi brought me a cookie cake when Justin was born, so I thought I would carry the tradition with the next Smith grandbaby.

In case you didn't know, Great American Cookie Company now has a smaller, or junior, sized cake.  The trick is they charge you the same amount as the original larger size!  They still have the larger circle, but be warned if you end up with a junior.  A bit of a disappointment for this cookie lover.  Same thing happened to Derek when he picked up a cake for my birthday a couple weeks ago.

Ahhhhh, sweet baby smell

Papa with his newest grandson

He has changed so much from these pictures, but alas, I stay on track of my way behind-ness.

I know the Lord is Sovereign in His timing. Maybe I would have been an emotional mess just right off the heels of my fertility shots not being successful if I had been there for the day of his birth.  And with arriving solo I was able to be in work mode and help out in whatever would bless my brother and Elise the most.  The Lord is good.

Finally...I can officially become Aunt Shani.

Daniel is not lacking in the aunt department.

He has changed so much since these photos were taken.  Not sure if he would even want to be swaddled at this point.

The proud but tired parents getting released from the hospital.

So tiny in his first carseat ride

Elise's sisters made a welcome home sign with scriptures for him.  I love that he has a book of the Bible to be prayed over him.

Elise used some of the decor from the shower in her nursery.

Nurseries - they seem so far away to me at this stage where we are at.

Birdie with her buddy.  My mom is on week two of keeping Daniel until the end of the school year in order for Elise to finish the school semester.  The Lord has been faithful in that everything has gone smoothly.  These guys are becoming best friends.

Taking a photo of mom's new golf shoes she was sporting.
































Thank you, Lord, for expanding our family with another son to raise in Your Name.  I cannot wait to get my hands on this sweet boy again in a few weeks!

Happy Valentine's Day from Justin

A bit belated, but I have wanted to do this for years.  So we went from this....

 

to this!

I kept printing off more copies and handing them out to our neighbors, mailman, etc.  Just another way to love on everyone around us and show them that we are different.  Maybe someday soon we can talk about why...

Mary Beth's Surprise Birthday party

Just hours after Elise's shower, Justin and I zoomed off to Rosatti's for a surprise dinner in honor of Mary Beth's birthday.  I got to meet some of their neighbors that they do a quarterly progressive dinner with on occasion.   As well as caught up with the Dethlefsens and Hermansens.

Lots of pizza was consumed.  We try to eat this pizza every time we come into town and are around Derek's folks.  It's very close to Chicago pizza, which is a Michaelis fave.

Tom, who arranged this last minute get together, brought Mary Beth's favorite flower.   Love it when these men think of the small details, when this normally is not a strong point in their personalities.  Shows his love for his bride!

The crew.  I made Ryan get in the corner with me.  Getting these boys to get in pictures will never change.  It was great to be in town to be a part of this special occasion!

Elise's baby shower

Myself and a slew of friends threw Elise a baby shower in honor of sweet baby Daniel.  I shamelessly copied Caryn and her whirlwind of ideas (not to mention borrowed tons of decor) with the "You Knit Me Together" theme.  I threw in a variation of a milk and cookies menu and we had us a shower.  We last minute changed the location to my mom's house when we realized how many people would want to bless Elise with their presence at the shower.

I stumbled on these shot glasses from Pier One and knew I needed them for the shower.  Famous Amos cookies were too small, so good ole Chip's Ahoy ended up being the toppers.

The theme was based off of Psalm 139:
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.

We had to bring in a variable with the menu when Elise had to change up her diet thanks to the unfortunate gestational diabetes.

I have enough yard leftover to knit a quilt.

Stephanie, one of the hostesses, decorated both of the picture frames herself.  So glad I handed off that task elsewhere.  Everyone is blessed with their own gifts from the Lord!

No one actually touched the strawberry milk, but it added color to the mix.

Katy managed to snag some Mason jars for us to use along with LeeAnne's extra stash she borrowed as well.  Where would we be without friends to help loan the goods?

Elizabeth brought her homemade hot chocolate maker.  Lots of people went for this treat thanks to the cooler weather outside.

Like I said, without Caryn and her endless amounts of ideas, none of this would have happened.  Though no one forewarned me just how long wrapping yarn around letters would take.  Elise was blessed by all the details, and that was why we did it.

Under the "You Knit Me Together" theme, we put letters of encouragement for Elise to read as she weaves her way into motherhood.  Her love language is words of encouragement and quality time, so this satisfies both.

Ann constructed the favor tags to go with the travel sewing kits.  All to tie in being perfectly knit together.

The hostesses minus two.

Elise's family clan that drove in for the fun day.

The Smith ladies.

Me and my momma, the hardworking-behind-the-scenes-ghost hostess. 

Several of us hostesses prayed over Elise and baby Daniel as the shower started.

And then the gifts.

This sweet Willow Tree figurine came headless.

I love this!  Pam Eskew had one of her old Starburst shirts made into a burp cloth.  Only for a Starburst junior golf tournament family.

My sweet mother-in-law came to the party...and it was her actual birthday.  And she worked hard like a hostess as well passing out favors as everyone left.  Such a blessing to have all the family in one place when we go home.

Amanda & Clayton stopped by post shower to snag one of the many cookies leftover. 

It was wonderful to have a reason to shower my sister-in-law - the arrival of my first nephew!  It was wonderful to have so many hostesses to help bless Elise with such a sweet shower.  It was wonderful to have creative minds like Caryn to help with the creative blocks I sometimes get.  It is currently wonderful to be a aunt!  Photos coming soon of the new nephew....