Ally's Dedication

So while we were in Indiana we had Ally dedicated. Natalie was dedicated at our small church we used to belong to but now that we attend a church the size of most mid west cities we decided it would be more heart felt to have her dedicated at Ben's parents church. This church is in New Harmony. A quaint town that sits in the lower south west corner or Indiana. The town has about 800 people (I think, I don't mean to exaggerate). About 700 of them (okay now I am exaggerating) are Ben's family members. No really, most of his Dad's family live here and were raised here. They have many great stories to share and I obviously missed out growing up in San Diego, although some of his cousins beg to differ.

The ceremony was simple the message was strong. You may be wondering what a dedications is...why not a baptism?

In the bible it suggests to give thanks to God for you child, his blessing upon you and to dedicate your life to raising the child to LOVE God. Here are the vows we made...

From us...

Ben and Suzanne, love God with every ounce and fiber of your energy and teach Allison to do the same. As you love God, one another, and Natalie, you will model before Allison a wonderful love for God that he will want for himself.
Ben and Suzanne, by coming forward before God and his people, do you hereby declare your desire to dedicate yourselves and your DAUGHTER Allison to the Lord? If so, please respond by saying "we do."

Having come freely, I ask now that you enter into the following commitment in the presence of God and his people (Wife hands child to husband as a sign of his spiritual headship in the family). So that Allison may walk in the abundant life that Christ offers, do you Ben and Suzanne vow by God's help and in partnership with the church, to provide Allison a Christian home of love and peace, to raise him in the truth of our Lord's instruction and discipline, and to encourage him to one day trust Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord?

From the church...

Having come freely, I ask now that you make the following commitment to those who stand before you: So that Allison may walk in the abundant life that Christ offers, do you vow by God's help, to be faithful in your calling as members of the body of Christ, to help Ben and Suzanne be faithful to God, and to help teach and train Allison in the ways of the Lord so that he might one day trust him as Savior and Lord? If you accept this responsibility, please respond by saying "we do."

We had cake afterwards at the Strader's house and took some fall pictures. I included some of the trees, Natalie and one of Flossie, Michelle, Wendy and Allison. Natalie was in a mood and too busy collecting leaves...

By the way, the dress Ally is wearing is the same one Natalie wore, and the same one my mom wore...it beautiful! Although Ben thought she looked like an Amish baby.

Fall in Indiana and a dream of a house in the "country"

Natalie and Ally found some leaves at Grandma and Grandpa Strader's. They had a a grand ole' time jumping, rolling, tossing, and raking the leaves (okay so only Natalie really "enjoyed" the leaves, Ally just posed). Grandpa had a tiny rake that Natalie was able to use and she kept busy for hours raking the yard. Every other day the "leaf man"comes around sucking the leaves up into a HUGE vacuum that is towed by a tractor...I'll try to get a picture for all those reading this in California. She watches intently and in awe...wanting to rake some more piles so they'll come back.

It is amazing that millions of us living in the west miss out on this incredible season. It is my favorite time of year and I feel so cheated that I spend it in 100 degree weather while pretending that it is chilly with a pot of chili on the stove and a cozy sweater on...

Ben and I looked at property here on Tuesday. Just 30 minutes south east of Indy and 20 miles northwest of Bloomington. We aren't thinking of up and moving right away but we do want to settle here sooner than later. This property is on our A list of all things we've looked at. It was a romantically fall day, breezy and full of colored leaves. There was a magical fishing lake we found while walking the property. Each lot was 5 acres except one was almost 10. The lots all share a portion of lake front and runway frontage. Yes, runway, all the properties share a private runway for airplanes. The neighborhood is an "airpark" which means all the houses can have hangers to park their airplanes and the landing strip can be used by pilots. Funny idea, but with Ben I have learned that I will be offered many unusual opportunities. I have also learned to take some and leave some. Moving to Indiana and living in an airpark, may be one I'll just take! Check out these shots!

No sightseeing here!

We are here in Indiana visiting the in laws, grandma and grandpa, Ben's mom and dad (as well as extended family). It is Ally's first trip so she has lots of people to meet and it is fall which is my favorite season here, piles of leaves, pumpkins, scarecrows, red, gold, and beautiful hues painted across the fields.

Well instead of being ready to showcase all the family visits and exciting reuniting we're doing my first post is showcasing my new talents. My mother in law and I stayed up until midnight on my first sewing lesson (remember my previous post). It has long been a dream to sew on a singer and here in Indiana I have made my first dress.

I am excited about this dress because I was just about to fork over $30 bucks on etsy.com to order a homemade one just like it. But don't be fooled! This one was NOT 30 dollars AND it is homemade! This is the newest rage, at least it has been on my google search...our dear friend Sage has one, wore it to Natalie's birthday party in fact. Well I am proud to say I can make them at home now! At least I hope I can without my mom in law beside me coaching along the way. We're off to the store today to pick up some jean Capri's so I can add a ruffle to those to "complete" the look. Buy the way on etsy with the matching Capri's they run around $50. I am saving our family SOOOOO much money:) Well, I do have to buy a machine, and then there is all the fabric I'll be buying.

I will still let grandma make the princess dresses for now, I have all I can do to do a straight stitch on cotton. I do have a list started, place mats, diaper/wipe bags, and some more dresses for some friends....I feel on cloud nine with my new found talent...

Sorry you'll have to wait for the posts involving our actual trio in Indiana, the pictures are good, so stay tuned. Lots of leaves and smiles from the girls! Boy do we love Indiana in the fall!

Ready? Set. Go!

Check out Ally's new trick! She can get up on all fours and rock like crazy sometimes thrusting herself into a face plant. It is so cute to see but unlike Natalie (who I was rooting for crawling) I am discouraging Allison. I simply don't want her to be mobile, is that too much to ask? Natalie is everywhere! Ally still stays put, that is what I am used to and that is all I am interested in having at the moment. So hopefully she'll stay put a few weeks longer so I can teach Natalie about "baby proofing" and how Cinderella's teeny tiny tiara has to stay in her room from now on! Is it possible for a 3 year old to keep all her tiny treasures in her room? Amazing how she didn't own anything teeny tiny until she turned 3. Take notice will you, next time you are in the toy store, all things tiny say 3 and up? Did they toy manufactures know secretly that Ally would crawl right at Natalie turning 3? Is this a sick game they play? Darn toy companies...I'll get you!

Natalie's 3 year check up

We all need a check up once in a while. In fact it would do us all well to go in and see the doctor at every birthday. I know I have a list going I just can't find the time nor the severity to see the doctor. Why do my elbows and knees ache (I am ONLY 32)? Am I the right weight? What foods should I be eating what skills can I do? As parents we are always so careful to follow the rules, no candy, chips and soda. Limit juice, getting enough exercise not too much TV. Make sure to see the dentist and the eye doctor...all things us tired adults should consider.

Well Natalie turned 3 a few weeks ago and it was her 3rd year check up with Dr. Pillai. We LOVE Dr. Pillai! Natalie has been a patient of hers since she was a baby, maybe 6 or 9 months old. Dr. Pillai is the kind of doctor that smiles and calls you by name (to your face, not from your chart) she is friendly, helpful and patient. You can call her on the weekends, evenings and in between. Her nurses are also fantastic, they give shots with love while wearing Dora scrubs and they pass out stickers without end. Natalie knows them all and keeps them busy with her lengthy conversations when we visit; which with two kids we do quite a lot!

Natalie was first weighed and measured. 32 pounds! This surprised me as we barely made it to 30 and she teetered for 6 months before this BIG jump to 32 (60th percentile)! She is also 39 inches tall! To put this all in perspective 32 pounds means she is in the child size life jacket , no longer the infant one so we can pass that down to Ally. It means she is still light enough to carry and lift while sleeping, she is a TALL 32 pounds so she is a string bean, still wearing a 2T but I insist on purchasing 3's because I don't want to be fooled - there will be a growth spurt. Let's look at her 39 inches. That is tall, over three feet! 90th percentile, she can ride the Matterhorn and Space Mountain at Disneyland...she can reach the second to the top shelf in the fridge. And she is great at jumping over things(like her sister).

She was also supposed to "talk" so the doctor could check her speech, this wasn't needed because the whole staff could hear her in the waiting room ask about the mermaid picture, the books to read, what the other kids names were, wondering who could use the potty and the scale, then she continued into our patient room with the Dora's on the nurses shirt, the purple crocs she wore, the posters on the wall and that her favorite color was green that day! CHECK she has sufficient speech. She got to breathe for the doctor and then be very still so Dr. Pillai could listen to her heart. Interestingly, Natalie has a heart murmur. Over half of children her age have this and it is fairly common. We are only to check in on it at regular checkups. We are NOT to worry:) She needed a shot and so my brave little girl sat up on the bed beside her sister (who gets shots at every visit) and put her arm out to test her bravery. No tears, no sadness, only a bit surprised that this time it was her arm and not Ally's.

Natalie will be going to see the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor about her excessive ear infections. Unfortunately, a trait she inherited from me. Tubes may be in our future. This will dramatically cut down on her ear infections but could limit her swimming.

Natalie is a healthy girl. We are off to check in with the dentist too...mommy is a little scared of that visit, have you ever tried to brush a 3 year olds teeth consistently and perfectly every time? Not to mention the pacifier use....yikes!

My attempt at the perfect sibling photo...

Ben had a chance to get away with the guys and go fishing up north in Bishop and Mammoth. So where did I head to ensure I had some extra hands???? Down to my mom and dad's...they were happy to have us (at least when we showed up) and my mom even planned some fun activities. On Friday we headed to Sea World. I still don't have a decent picture of Shamu and the girls for you I'll keep trying. We hit the Shamu show, lunch, the starfish, and lastly Elmo's 4d movie. Then headed back to the house to make a salad to keep papa's tummy busy while my mom and the girls went to Cay Cay's football game.


Natalie thought first off that Cay Cay was playing/cheering for the Chargers (remember my previous post) she also kept saying soccer, which was confusing. After Natalie got the hang of it...we sat in the front row of the bleachers so she could watch the cheerleaders do their thing- she enjoyed it. Caitlyn is a co-captain so she had to call out the cheers and Natalie would try to call back to her. The team lost miserably, but Natalie had no idea what everyone was doing behind Cay Cay anyway, so it didn't really matter. Darn it I wish I had taken some shots of this...


On Saturday morning, once Caitlyn got home because mom and I aren't cool enough to hang out with on a Friday night, we all drove to the pumpkin farm. It was one of the coolest farms I have been to. It had a full produce stand, plus a pumpkin patch, ponies, bounce houses, tractor/hay ride, in June they offer strawberry picking, and watermelons. It was fun! I tried to get some shots of the girls together, not so easy.

I ended up with some gourds, Indian corn, pom pumpkins for baking, 2 carvable pumpkins, zucchini, and an exotic green squash that the farmer said was the tastiest. I got a jar of Strawberry Fig preserves, and my mom took home a potted herb garden. We'll come back next year for sure...


That night dad BBQ some ribeye steaks and my mom, Natalie and I went in for a night time jaccuzi. It was dark and drizzly, Natalie had a blast.


All in all we made the most of Ben's "guy weekend".
The top two photos are my attempt of capturing the perfect sibling picture. I was fully prepared, had the matching outfits, but not too matchy. I had the perfect back drop but would still seem candid enough to be a snapshot. The whole idea of the perfect family is to appear effortless. In reality, my kids needed a nap, they had not had lunch yet. Even though they are dressed in "fall outfits" and we are at a "fall event" it was over 80 degrees, so we were all a little sweaty. The only truly good shots I ever get are by complete accident - isn't that my luck. I'll hold out for the perfect sibling photo - you just wait and see....p.s. the only good photo here is the group shot of us on the hay ride. It was taken by sister's friend...figures:( p.p.s. the solo one of Ally shows off her Ptosis "droopy eye" it really is apparent when she is tired...

Six months - time is flying by...

SO Ally is SIX months old tomorrow. I tell you, time goes by a lot quicker with the second child. I guess the pregnancy did too. Allison is growing well, very chunky:) Makes mama proud. Hard to remember she barely made weight those first weeks. She is wearing a 6-12 month size and has moved up to size 3 diapers already! I ordered a bigger seat for Natalie so Ally can move into her current car seat(my elbow isn't taking the stress of the infant carrier so well). She has mastered the sitting pose and now steamrolls, twists and flops around, towards toys, under the bed, around the carpet, etc.... She even gets up on all fours and rocks - I'm not ready for crawling yet so please don't cheer her on.

She loves her one meal a day at 3pm. Both girls nap at the same time but Allison wakes up before Natalie does so in that slim window we have a private meal together. I have experimented with making my own baby food (great excuse to buy a new appliance from the Williams Sonoma catalog). She has had broccoli and butternut squash. The squash came from my neighbors garden. She thoroughly enjoys the squash, kicks her legs and makes this loud smacking sound with her lips. She'll even fuss if the spoonfuls slow down. It is only a matter of time before she'll need to eat twice a day.

Allison has found her voice! She squeals so loud and then Natalie decides to "talk back to her" and she starts squealing, hands free cell phone conversations don't work real well, with a screaming chorus in your back seat! I was heading to the bathroom today (one new sibling accomplishment, I can trust the two of them alone for a brief bathroom visit) and I heard Allison giggle, it was an outright giggle. I was enjoying the fact that she found her sister so funny when Natalie yells to me, mommy I made Ally laugh. It was even more special that she realized she was able to make her sister laugh. The sibling love is something Ben and I were not prepared for. It is amazing to see God's work in our two children that we made - they are sisters and they have such love for one another. Oh I almost forgot, while Natalie was "brushing" Ally's hair she left 4 visible prong marks from the bristles of the brush - such love, the marks are healing nicely, although I don't think Allison will let her sister brush her hair again....Well, here are some photos my neighbor took of Ally...she is such a delightful baby, so sweet, so patient...