I see Jesus every day.

Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'


I see Jesus every day in everyone that I meet, everyone that I talk to. Today I saw him in the eyes of a 40-something veteran. He was haggard from being on the streets for who knows how long, his blue eyes accepted the kindness that I have to give him "you're the first person who wasn't scared of me." 


I see him in the man who is too mentally ill to keep himself clean and take care of his diabetes. Kindness is like medicine to them. I show them I care, that I love them and am there to listen and to help. They are somebody's baby, they are God's baby. I love them with all my heart. I cry with them when they are sad. I'm tough on them when they need it. Every day  I pray "Lord, let it be your words...not mine. Let it be your heart...not mine.


I see Jesus all around me, every day and I only hope I'm treating him the way he wants to be treated.

Live love!

Oh what a week it is every week in the life of a Mommy Social worker! So many interesting and shocking things to say but so many hippa protections to block me :) Loving life and what I do so much that I am constantly thanking God and asking him to let the blessings continue. I only hope that I am carrying out his purposes. The main idea I believe he wants me to live out is to LIVE LOVE. With love in our lives we are so much better off. A child with and with out love can turn out worlds different. I choose to love my child and every one around me with all my heart. Romeo is TALKING TO ME!!! He has TWO balloons right now and is very happy! Orange balloon which comes out more like "Boo Oran!" He is so happy and handsome he lights up my every day. Thank goodness for another long weekend with my baby to spend with family and relaxing. Now we are off to make some dinner. I'm thinking homemade Chinese!!

Hooray for advancement!

Romeo found the joys of playing with a hose today. He was trying to figure out how to turn it on, I did it for him the first time. He was standing on his own tossing the water around with the end of the house. Then he would ask for my hand and we would walk over to the valve. Romeo would turn it off then turn it the other way. He would turn when he heard the sound of the water and run back over to play with the end. He created a mud puddle, fell in it once, then I hosed him off. He's learning and it's so amazing!! In other words I am hating summer nights because I am plagued by allergies :(

Don't get used to this (me blogging regularly) =)

"He's tall!"

WHAT? My son is tall??? I could not help but smile when a stranger said this to me. We had always heard Romeo was so tiny that it was frightening. Now he's....tall :) Romeo is doing so well. He is so happy and sweet. Well he also has his boy/aggressive side too. He tries to bite both Grandma's when they come over. They must look like pushovers ;) I understand his feelings when he tries to bite people. He knows he should not bite and will probably get in trouble. He puts his teeth around your skin suddenly and very quickly, he looks at you, contemplating whether he should bite you or not. Romeo looks like biting you would relieve his baby frustrations so well. Sometimes he chooses the right thing and sometimes he chooses the wrong thing.... I bite Bear occasionally and suddenly to relieve stress. Romeo must get it from me?

I am so incredibly blessed by my job. I have a career that feels like a ministry, I know have 36 new "friends," every day is different...I love it. Yes, of course there is WAY too much to do, I have yet to take a lunch break and there are times when I would rather sit in my car, staring blankly with my mouth open than help someone through life's struggles BUT...there are bad parts about every job :) The harder I work, the more I get paid and that is just the way I like it!

I am SO excited to take Romeo on his first out of state vacation!!!! And he gets to ride a plane!! He is such a sweet boy. I'm sure he'll love travel just as much as his mommy. This will be my first vacation other than Cedar Point in almost THREE YEARS!!! Wowsa. Thank God that I am still sane. So excited to see family and have a little time off :) Hopefully I don't get too many frantic phone calls while in bama...

Why am I blogging after month's off? Bear has been gone for the night. He does USPA competition shooting every Thursday and then he went to see a friend. Between work, cooking, cleaning, Romeo and Bear I never have a second to myself. Now I do! Me likey :)

Happy Easter!

Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave HE ROSE AGAIN, and as He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost it's grip on me, for I AM HIS and HE IS MINE, bought with the precious blood of Christ :)

Thank you Jesus for giving it all so I may live my life with forgiveness and FREEDOM in You!! Oh, and thank you for the sun today :)

What a beautiful day!! Romeo is taking a mini nap in his swing right now but after that it should be plenty warm enough for us to go on a walk!

My heart is with my family in Texas, I wish so badly that I could be there, but I will enjoy myself here as much as I can. The warm weather with my baby definitely helps ease my sorrow ;)

Today Bear, Romeo and I are going to Frankenmuth to eat the yummy food with Bear's family. I am so excited to take Romeo there, I'm sure he will love walking around, and of course he loves eating good food! Every day is so new and joyful with Romeo around :) Today I am so thankful for my family spread all over the country and for my little boy, my home and my hubby. Jesus thank you for dying for me so that I can live life to its fullest!

Turns out my week next week is jam packed with trainings (which I probably should be thankful to be more prepared) so it looks like I want start of with my caseload until next Monday. I will take in as much knowledge as I can and I am rearing to go! *fingers crossed* Hopefully I can do it!

HAPPY EASTER!

A Welcome to Opportunity!

Hard to believe but FOUR more teeth are coming in for a grand total of EIGHT now. If nothing else, he has a very advanced mouth! :) I gave him his first haircut the other day. He looks so handsome :)








Bear and Romeo are doing SO good at home together! The house is immaculate and both boys are happy. I'm so proud of them. Coming home to a clean house and Romeo's smiling face, makes for the best day ever, everyday! I realized, while job shadowing yesterday, that I will definitely be praying with out ceasing NO CEASING while on the job. Little me commanding the masses in one of the most dangerous cities I know of. Props to mom this job and this place are CRAZY! I am excited but also questioning if I will have the confidence and the bravery to do well. I know I will in the long run but for this moment I still feel like a baby that should be interning instead of holding my own caseload! I welcome the challenge :) Thank you Jesus for bringing me a real job!
I am off today spending time with momo. He's sleeping now. I wish we could go for a walk but alas MI is still a frozen wasteland :) Maybe next week!

Awe inspring weekend

Bear fixed my iBook!! It was broken out of account that I dropped it one time a couple years ago, but it was an easy fix. I'm very impressed with mac that a 5 year old laptop is still fine to use.

Romeo is a beautiful boy and we have been having SO much fun in the warm weather! Too bad it's cold today :( The other day we had just started a walk down my road when I look up to see a GIANT coyote full tilt sprinting across my neighbors yard!!! It was HUGE, probably the size of a big german sheperd. It was about 15 ft from us running so fast, it didn't even look at us and kept running, across the street, into another houses woods, until I couldn't see it anymore. My jaw literally dropped to the floor and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had no idea if they're dangerous so I thought, if he looks at me are we going to fight?!??! It was one of the most awesome yet scary moments ever!

In other news, Romeo was drooling a lot last night and Bear said, "maybe he's getting more teeth." I thought...nooo I bet he'll cool it on the teeth for a while. Low and behold I looked in his mouth and you can already see two teeth on the top breaking through! 6 teeth before age 1 he is really not wasting time on making teeth! He still isn't crawling....but oh well lol. Romeo and I are eating breakfast and then off to church for the day, youth group tonight. It is always tons of fun, love the kiddos and Romeo loves the attention!

Chinese Pineapple Poke

Tonight I made sweet and sour chicken. Everyone reviewed it with 5 stars, raving about how yummy it was so I followed the recipe exactly. 1/2 cup of vinegar...??? okkkey. Suuuuper vinegarrry BUT it's OK I was able to salvage it. Anyway that aside....

Romeo had finished eating but then started staring at my bowl, sitting on the side of the couch, crying... Hmm... nope he didn't want any so I sat him on my lap and gave him the bowl. He was very excited and started to reach his whole hand in into the ricey gooey pinappley mixture. "No, Romeo!" I say. He stops, looks at me then proceeds to grunt (it's a girly, high-pitched grunt) and ever so cutely poke, yes POKE with pointed finger, the pineapple. He continues to squeal and grunt while poking all the gooey pinapple's in my bowl. I am hysterically laughing at him while he is poking and looking up at me, laughing. He was entertained with the remnants of our meal for the next 30 minutes or so. He grabbed the spoon and ever so smoothly and rhythmically would scoop a pineapple up, drop it and pick it up again over and over. After a while he started to get too grabby with the rice, making a mess so that game had to stop.

I smashed my finger yesterday putting wood in the wood stove and it is still quite sore and a weird pool chalk blue.

Romeo has FOUR teeth!

Ode to 2000

I thought I would reflect on the last decade.

In the year 2000 I was in SEVENTH grade. Wow.

But really, exciting things have only happened since 2005 so let's start there.

Since then I have...

Graduated High School 2005

Went to Calvin College 2005

Lived in Japan 2007

Got Married 2008

Co-owned a pet store 2008

Got 2 doggies 2008

Bought a house 2009

Graduated College 2009

Had a son 2009

In the next decade I would like to add..started a career in Social Work to my list...please!

That is all.

Tonight

I just laid Romeo down for bed, such a good boy :) The wood stove is glowing and warm, doggies are snoozing, I love winter (at least for now). Tomorrow, I am meeting with my Nursing advisor at U of M Flint! If all goes well I will be taking a few pre-requisites starting next month! 2 of them are online so that will make it much easier. I am very excited to start the program and am hoping that my investment in schooling will pay off. At least with a job in the end..one that pays a living wage :)

I have pork bones (left over from tonight's dinner) simmering on the stove to make pork stock for future gravy. Thanks to mom I now know how to make delicious gravy. I also made a meatloaf this week that was killer (ketchup and brown sugar as the topper). I am really enjoying cooking.

I am also watching The Office and Michael said Jesus can heal Leopards..classic.

Anywho I am going to go eat homemade cookies and milk with Bear.

Goodnight!

Winter is here!

Well well well. Things here are about the same. Romeo is happy, healthy and tiny. He is such a good boy. He no longer likes to be rocked to sleep. Every night around 9:30pm I lay him in his crib and without a peep he goes to sleep on his own! He is getting very social and smily with strangers, definitely a flirt. He still doesn't like to be held by others but doesn't seem to be traumatized by it like before. Oh! And he's got a tooth halfway out on the bottom it is tooo cute.

We got our basement walls (the old 1800's stone) insulated with foam so they are now all white but still in rock shape. It is so much warmer down there! Everything feels really solid. Wood stove is a burnin, Christmas tree is up and everything is so cozy :)

Romeo's winter coat that mom bought was too big (baby boy isn't quite as long as we had anticipated) so I went and exchanged it today for one that has Bear ears. SO cute... It is so warm too!

In later news, I applied to Oakland University and am going to do their accelerated Nursing program!! Details to come but it's going to take me about a year and a half and I'm going to start either next month or in the Spring. I will not seal my fate in making $10 an hour forever...so Nursing it is! I'm very excited but I hope going to school won't take too much time away from being with Romeo. I looove being with him all day :)

Bear is slow at work so we are enjoying being home as a family in our wonderful, cozy home :) Excited to be with the WHOLE family for Christmas time very, very soon!

Looking Forward to the Cold

Mom got Romeo winter boots, hat and coat. Here he is in his jammies :)
























I loooooove this picture. He looks like such a little boy!!















Here is our new wood stove!!

















I am loving the weather getting cold for the first time in my life!

Habeneros are NOT my friend

Romeo and I are at the grocery store..I'm about to reach for some jalapeno peppers when I see some pretty, enticing yellow orangy peppers..I think to myself, these look like habenero peppers...cool! So I buy them. I was making a spin on the taco bell bacon burrito (potatoes, bacon and ground turkey very yummy) that I always make and I always want an extra kick in there for myself. As I'm making the burrito I begin to fry up my new pepper friends. *I am very glad that I gave Romeo to Bear to hold while I was cooking because usually he sits in his high chair while I charm him with my cooking skills* All of sudden my senses were assaulted by something that felt like an INCREDIBLE allergy attack plus pain. Almost immediately I had to leave the kitchen. I was crying, coughing, sneezing uncontrollably; my voice was hoarse, my nose was running, i couldn't breathe, the pain and sneezing fits forced me to my knees. The whole house tasted like fire. Bear and Romeo began to cough in the living room. And we were all coughing hours later after fans and open doors and windows...it was VERY dramatic...i was too scared after that to even eat one! I just licked one of them and my tongue wants to fall off.

I have decided I have experienced a taste of hell that is habenero peppers. Yes, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Bear Claw now has 3 more loop jobs coming up!!! Wowsa. 2 of them are 3 loops each when they usually are only 1... We are in the right field and Bear will be busy to say the least.

Do not disapoint the blondes

So last year during the holiday season I worked as a Japanese interpreter at Coach. They called me again this year, asking me to work the season. I thought it might be nice, making extra cash, getting to spend time with adults, etc, and I was going to go. Then my car went on the fritz again, we thought we fixed it but now it's stalling out every five minutes (undriveable..). Driving a gas-guzzling-work truck to Novi doesn't sound like fun. Also Bear is getting really busy with work and wouldn't be around to watch Romeo like we had thought. So I was going to turn the job down.

I was supposed to go in on Sunday to fill out an application just to appease corporate but had decided to tell them in person I wasn't returning this season. Coach purses are really expensive. The majority of the people who buy them..well lets just say...the girls are not like me. They are the prissy girls, the cheerleaders, the "popular" ones and they are usually only your friend if you do what they want. I walked in to the impeccably clean store, Bear and I dressed very casual, greeted by the perfectly dressed, prim and proper associates that I used to work with. "Oh Hannah! I didn't recognize you...didn't your hair used to be...blonder?.." Out came the manager with a stern smile, pushing the application packet across the counter, while focusing all her attention on the one customer in the store. I froze..a group of ten ex-cheerleaders in suits are circling us with smiles while the manager is busy. What do I do?? How do I disappoint them? They're so smiley.... So I say, "Okay..thank you..I have to go!" Grab Bear, the packet and walk out... oops..
Well I ended up calling the assistant manager the next day, who I can relate to much better, and told her the story but man did I panic before..

Romeo is great still having tons of fun. We just got a wood stove and are currently enjoying a wonderful fire while Romeo is in dream land the grown ups relax. Goodnight moon.

I can has vote pullleeeze???

http://gapc-vote.com/?p=1808598

Go to this link and vote for Romeo in a cute baby contest!!

Dirty Job

I wish I had a better picture but here's what I've looked like the past couple days absolutely covered in mud...in my hair, on my face, mud-filled shoes...I've been unrolling 3, 600 foot pipes in 5 foot deep trenches filled with water...I'll take more pictures tonight. We're almost done with the loops. It's hard work but a lot of fun getting dirty! I also saved 6 baby turtles stuck in the trench! I have pictures of them on Bears phone. When we left at dark last night holes busted through the trench and they were quickly filling with water from the pond so the trench will be 5 feet of water...yikes! But the excavator is working great!!

Lonely Start to Our Business

Bear Claw Geothermal Loops & Service LLC is having it's first official job as I type! I am supposed to be there with Bear right now helping him but due to poor planning..no fault of our own of course =)...he has to start the job today and of course no one is available to babysit!! So he is doing a 3 person job essentially, alone. I wish I could be a part of it and be with him helping but I can't :( I can't even bring Romeo and go cheer him on b/c my car is still stalling out frequently (I don't want to drive it in fear of burning out the fuel pump again), Ginetta took our truck and left her car, which will not start when there is any moisture around... so here I am stuck sending my prayers to the job site. Go Bear!

On another note, Romeo loves his mommy! They say, generally, that stranger anxiety starts around 8 months...well...Romeo seems to be very VERY aware. He will be content in my arms and I will hand him over to someone else and the second he gets in their hands he will start crying and continue to cry until he is back in my arms again. He seems to be very sullen and watchful around strangers as if he's thinking who is this person and what are their motives for talking to me...are they going to take me away from the safety of mom? I am absolutely content holding him all day but it is always sad for people who want to hold him because they can't. It takes him quite a while to warm up to people as if credibility and trust must be earned, at his discretion. A friend at church even asked "Does he ever smile?" "Has he ever laughed" He laughs his head off when he's playing at home... So now he's an overly tiny, sad baby to those who don't know him well..great...
But he is a JOY to his momma!

Fit Baby

Well hello again! Blogging is much harder with a baby :) Right now he is napping and this is my time for shower, house cleaning, checking email whatever else I need to get done. Usually his naps are only 20 minutes so getting anything done is near impossible. Lately he's been taking about 3 hour naps but this means he doesn't sleep as well at night. I'm not sure which I'd rather have because I get so much done during nap time!!

I love being home with Romeo. I feel like we are getting to know each other so well and we are best friends :) He laughs and smiles so much now but he is also discovering new noises. Now instead of crying...he screams and you have to hear it to appreciate it. Very funny but also makes him sound more like a naughty toddler than a newborn.

As you know Romeo is a skinny baby. People do not take well to this. If they see an obese baby who looks like their feet are about to burst open and have trouble breathing they say, Awww! If they see my baby with meat on his bones but slender they say, "Oh my goodness is he OK???" Every single time I go out I get at least 3 people saying the list of questions I have heard way too many times. "Oh he is SO cute!! How old is he?" or "He must be a newborn."
"He's almost 4 months"
"Oh no....was he a preemie??"
"No, actually he was late"
"He's so skinny did the doctor say he's OK?" or "How much did he weigh at birth?"

Romeo is completely normal. He weighs about 11 pounds and is 23 inches long. He was 7 lbs and 19 3/4 inches at birth. That's great gain for a breast fed baby. I think he looks great but still all the comments and stares like I"m starving him.

The other day at Kroger the same list of questions they think he is so cute until I tell them his age. Same thing happened and the lady said, to the baby, "we need to put some meat on your bones don't we sweety!"

Oh geez. Oh well! So I have been trying to feed him as much as I can and I think he looks great :) Everyone else needs to be quiet!! lol Anyways better clean something :)

Yay for stay-at-home moms!!

I have been a working mom and I have been a stay-at-home mom... The good Lord has made me to be an at home mommy :) Working with a child and a hubby was the pits I was always stressed to the max. Being at home with Romeo is bliss. I enjoy being with him, playing with him, teaching him, cuddling with him SO much. Yes, it comes with challenges for sure but they are well worth it. Romeo is so alert and aware. I can read him books and he intently looks at the pictures, quietly listens and then talks back to me. He mimics what I say to him. He loves being outside and looking at the trees. My heart melts when he looks at me with his giant blue eyes and long eyelashes that he so adorably bats at me. What a cutie!

That's a Nice Picture You Got There!

No matter where we are sitting with Romeo on the couch he is always staring at a picture of Bear and I dancing on our wedding day. He is content to sit and stare at it even if he has to crane his neck and eyes to see it. Sometimes he has a confused look on his face, sometimes content, and sometimes extremely concentrated. I wanted to see if he really was staring at the picture so while Bear was holding him I took the picture down and brought it closer to him. Romeo's eyes followed the picture down and immediately he started looking the picture up and down very rapidly about 5 times and then he smiled a HUGE crooked smile. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Apparently he likes to see his parents dance...?
He is starting to interact with us. If we tickle him, touch his nose, or dance with him he smiles at us. Cute baby!!!