Third times a charm...or so we hope!




Cade had tube set #3 put in his ears on Tuesday. I pray this is the last time. The doc told us that some kids have to have them until they are 6 or 7....ahhh!! EXPENSIVE!! I know it is such a minor surgery, but it is always traumatic...for me. Cody is so chill it makes me sick. Or maybe he is just putting on a brave face for me. I don't know.
This was definitely the best experience yet..
The past two times we had to hand him off to the doctors before he was put to sleep and that was not fun at all. Last year, he had his adenoids out too, so he had to get a yucky IV in his arm. Cade really liked that.(NOT!) But this time Cody got to go back with him and we were back in the recovery room before he woke up, so he never knew we were gone! Thank you Lord! I think they saw that he was going to be a hard one to keep still. He was kicking and fighting while the nurse was just trying to get his temperature and heart rate.
My kids cannot stand going to the doctor. I feel like mine are the only ones that you can hear screaming from the hallway...am I alone here??
So then Wednesday I took Chloe to see the ear doctor. I wish we could've scheduled them to have tubes the same day, because we found out she will have to have them too.
She has had some chronic fluid in both ears for 5 months or so and has gotten 3 infections in the past 3 or 4 months...we see the pattern here...
So, she will have tubes put in on Oct.28th.
I am already praying against all the crazy things that start going through my crazy head.
Pray for my sweet babes and their sweet ears!

A little bit of truth.

Watch This!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxhYampIl7A

TAGGED

Em tagged me to blog 6 random things about myself.

Here are the tagging rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you are tagged, DO IT and pass it along

1. I am an obsessive-compulsive sweeper. We don't have a lot of carpet in our house so I am forced to look at the dirt ALL day. And trust me, my children track in a lot of dirt...and food...and who knows what else. I know that it would be much easier to just sweep once at the end of the day.....but I CANT!! I probably sweep downstairs in the kitchen/dining/living area 6 or 7 times a day...the dirt drives me NUTS!

2. I am currently reading 4 books. I really like them all and I can't seem to finish any of them completely. AHH...

3. I want to feed my kids super healthy food...but I just can't afford it. It seems pretty insane to me that the healthiest foods are so expensive and the JUNK is so cheap. Don't we all want our kids to eat good and not give them things that could potentially make them ill..OF COURSE. Then why do ho-ho's and ding-dong's cost 50 cents and grapes and apples cost 3.oo a pound?? I am baffled by that. So I do what I can with what I've got..

4. OK, being completely hypocritical of what I said above....

I LOVE coke...and dr. pepper. . . I have tried to give them up many times but to no avail. They are just soo yummy but do disgustingly bad for you. Posting this is making me want to try to give them up again. Thankfully, when I was on bed rest when I was pregnant with Chloe, they MADE me drink water and now I actually like to. SO, Im not completely dehydrated!

5. Hmm. I am a needy person. I need people in my life. I love people and I love to have them around. All the time. I don't do loneliness well. And Praise the Lord for my babies. Because with them, I am never lonely.

6. My great great great great great great grandfather was Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States of America. Seriously.

Here are the people I'm tagging:

1. Laura
2. Jenn
3. Glenna
4. Tiffany Wall
5. Tiffany Reeves
6. Marissa

My thoughts.

Grief. It is such a unreal thing.
I have never experienced anything like it, thats for sure.
It is completely unpredictable.
Monday was an okay day. I felt pretty good, no major meltdowns.
But the past two days have been super hard. I don't know if it is the gloomy weather and being stuck inside, but it just hit me really hard. I am learning what it really means to live in God's grace, moment by moment. To take every thought captive to Him.
Because I have some crazy thoughts and some crazy fears. Because when someone you love dies, you start thinking about other people you love, too. It is just ridiculous.
Because my hope IS IN JESUS and I know that i have NOTHING to fear...our hope is not in this world.
But I am being attacked by those thoughts and I am claiming His promises. One being:
Hebrews 4:16:
"Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Despite my heartache, even in the midst of the darkest moments, I have an inexplainable peace. A peace that ONLY comes from Jesus Christ. It is ONLY by His grace and mercy.
I do feel the Holy Spirit whispering things to me. Even some things Cade has said to me, I believe the Lord put in his mouth to comfort me. I am being broken and molded through this and I cannot make it through without Him. People keep commenting to me that I am so strong. But I'M not. HE is. I was telling Emily yesterday that I have been clinging to this song, just like she did in her hardest hours. I am so grateful that she posted it on her blog back in May. And Star, if your out there, I am so grateful that the Lord put this song in your heart. It has truly blessed me.

I am Strong in the Lord

I am strong in the Lord
and in the power of His might
I confess that my strength, it comes from Him.
On my own, I am weak
and I cannot see to fight.
But my strength, it comes from the Lord.

I lift my eyes up.
Where does my help come from?
It comes from the Lord,
Creator of Heaven and Maker of Earth.
He is the fortress of salvation
for His children as they cry.
You are the Lord,
you are the strength, the strength of my life.

You held out Your hand,
and Your healing power,
causing my eyes to see.
You poured down Your Word,
in my darkest hour,
teaching my heart to see...

That I am strong in the Lord
and in the power of His might.
I confess that my strength, it comes from Him, alone.
On my own, I am weak
and I cannot see to fight.
But my strength, it comes from the Lord..

Dad

Words fail me as I try to write this post. 
I want it to be eloquent and honoring, but my thoughts are so scattered right now.

My dad went to be with his sweet Jesus Saturday morning, August 9th. 

My dad was an avid reader of this blog since he lived in Fort Worth, and I want to do him right by this post.
My dad was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis over 15 years ago. He has struggled for a long time with pain and other sickness that went along with the disease. We lost my grandma(his mom) in 1996 and he really struggled with that. 
He would be the first to admit to you his faults and I feel like to bring him honor I need to give a little back story. 
He struggled for many years with addiction to his painkillers. 
In the last year, God had transformed his life completely. 
He went to live in Fort Worth with a good friend from high school and his wife and daughter. They ministered their socks off to him and God brought forth the fruit. I had not seen him this happy in years. 
He even got his drivers license on Friday and he had wanted that for years. 
In the last year, he got to spend a lot of time with us and Cade and Chloe and with my brother. He was getting to ride a bike, and go camping, and play golf....things he had not been able to do for years. 
But most of all, he was growing closer everyday to his Lord and Savior. 
I am so thankful for that and for the fact that he died in his sleep, in peace. 
I have no doubt in my mind that he is dancing with angels in Heaven and he is with his sweet mom, my Grams. I have no doubt that my God is Jehovah-Rapha and that my dad is completely healed and perfect.
People keep asking me the "cause of death" and we still don't know what is physically is. But I know that the cause of death is that God numbered his days before the foundations of the earth and that it was his time. I find such comfort knowing that this is no surprise to my God. He knew he would be called home at that exact moment. 
I know that I will grieve and cry and mourn, and I am hurting more than I ever have, but I know that my dad would not want me or anyone to go around being sad for him. He wants Jesus to be glorified through his life and death and I plan to help that happen.
Last time he was in town, just a couple of weeks ago, he kept telling my brother and me how proud he was of us and how much he loved us. 
He wrote me and Cody a letter. 
He hugged Cade and Chloe so many times. 
I just wonder if he knew. I believe that he might have. I believe that he might have been talking to God, a lot.
So, whoever out there is reading this, please pray for our family and for peace. I pray that other family members are finding peace in the Lord like I am and that I can share that peace with them.
I love you dad with all my heart and I am so thankful for you. I will miss you more than words can say. But I find such hope in knowing that I will see you again one day. Please know that your memory and life will live on and that with Jesus I will live to glorify your Creator through this.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we do not look to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

* My dad was a youth pastor back in the day and still had a great passion for young people to be reached for Christ. If you feel so led, in lieu of flowers, we are asking for donations to the Greater Houston Region of Young Life. 
You can send donations to: 
Young Life Greater Houston Region
900 Town and Country  
Suite 302
Houston, Texas 77024-2226

*His obituary can be read on www.chron.com. His name is Jeff Taylor.


Happy Birthday Chloe!



OK, get ready for the mommy cliche'....

I can't believe my baby girl is ONE! Chloe had a great birthday today. 
We are so blessed with family and friends who love her and her brother so much.
I will post some pics later this week of her party. 
Chloe girl, mommy and daddy's biggest prayer for you is that in the Lord's timing, you come to know what Jesus did for you on the cross and you give your life to Him. We love you more than words can say and thank God for your sweet sweet life EVERYDAY!!
Happy Birthday baby girl!!

She walks and she talks....



Our sweet Chloe started walking about 2 weeks ago when we moved into our house. She is getting pretty fast now and is really trying to keep up with Cade. My camera broke.....but hopefully I can get a walking video on here soon! 
She is also trying to talk and babble like crazy. Her absolute favorite word is HAT and she repeats it over and over and over again. Its really quite funny. She is also saying Dada, Mama,
 Tad (Cade) and Im pretty sure shoe is szoooo....haha. And she also loves to make puppy noises and thinks any dog is hilarious. She just went to the allergy and asthma doctor and we found out she is a pretty allergic kid. She has had a barking cough and other symptoms of asthma since she was born. I will spare you all the details of the appointment, but we are going to have to watch her pretty closely with food and things she comes into contact with. Now we have to give her breathing treatments everyday which is torture to watch her scream and scream and then just give up and lay there. It breaks my heart. I have prayed that she would have understanding and know that we aren't hurting her, and that Jesus would just give her peace. I am probably over dramatizing it, but she is my baby girl and she never cries, so it kills me to watch her scream like that.
I feel like I have talked so much about Chloe on here lately, so here are some Cade-isms of today.....
-First things first, he has an imaginary friend named Bobby that he talks to constantly. It is hilarious! He frequently tells Bobby not to run in the street, he always prays for Bobby's food, and he tells me all the time that Bobby is at work. There are many things that Bobby does, but those are the main ones.
-When we play shopping he always says, "thank you for shopping Home Depot!"
(he has been there with daddy quite a bit lately...)
-"Chloe bout get it!!" (when he thinks chloe is going for his toys..)
-"Hank bout get it!!"
-"mommy, i wanna hug and love you.." (my favorite)
-his laziness has come out so much lately and he tells me "I cant mommy, i cant get it, i cant reach it, i cant do it.  most of the time, he is perfectly capable.
-peez have ooo-reee-ooo!!
- he loves to watch "So you think you can Dance" with us and tries to imitate all their moves...funny....

We are leaving tomorrow for Galveston for the week with my whole family so I am really praying for a miracle in that my camera will start working again. I really want some pictures! I know Galveston is not the most beautiful beach, but it is our vacation and Im thankful for a week away..especially for Cody.

Chloe is 10 months and MORE.

Chloe lookin' cute...
 Cade using his swimmin' skills...
Wow, what an incredible month it has been here at the Kaufmann house. 
So much has happened in our family, I don't even know where to begin.
I guess with Chloe's 10 month birthday....
She is such an independent little lady. I am very thankful for that, most of the time. Sometimes I just want to hold her and she won't let me. Or she wants to get down and crawl around a nasty auto parts store and screams when I won't let her! She is a pretty good sleeper. She goes to bed at 7, wakes up for a feeding about 2AM and then sleeps until 7 or 7:30. She takes two 1 1/2 hour naps in the morning and afternoon. So I am NOT complaining. I really enjoy the few minutes of quiet time I get to have with her at 2 in the morning. 
She loves to play with her brother and already thinks he is the funniest person on earth. It is too cute. She has started babbling A LOT in the past couple of weeks. I am pretty sure her first word is na-na (banana). Considering Cade's first word was cheese, it wouldn't surprise me if hers was a food, too.
Speaking of food, I would have to say that her favorite thing to do is EAT. I am so thankful for a good eater. She gave up baby food awhile back, but was able to chew everything pretty easily. Her favorite foods right now are strawberries,grapes,blueberries,bananas,broccoli,zucchini, cheese,chicken,turkey,sweet potato cubes, goldfish, and chicken enchiladas. I could name more. The girl would eat anything your put in front of her. And the occasional popsicle or Oreo when Cade is having one. 

One of my best friends from high school, Kady, got married last weekend. It was a ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS wedding. I can't wait until I have some pictures to post. She was a stunning bride and I was so happy to get to stand next to her as she married the man she loves, who is a great, great guy. 

We potty trained Cade this month. He has been so awesome. I have to confess, I only read about 2 articles on it and just prayed that he would get a hang of it quickly. Praise the Lord he did. I stayed home for about a week. The first 2 days I just let him run around naked and he realized pretty quickly that he needed to sit on the potty. Then, we went and bought some spiderman and thomas the train underwear. He had a couple of accidents for a few days and then he was good. Of course he still has them occasionally, but I think that will happen for awhile. He caught on very quickly and I couldn't be more thankful. I didn't make a huge deal about it, so I don't think he stressed about it either. It was a small miracle.

We also got a dog a couple of months ago and I just haven't posted about him. His name is Hank Aaron. He is a chocolate lab and he is really sweet and he is going to be really huge. HIs paws are MASSIVE.

We also bought a house! HOORAY! We decided to move to Friendswood. A lot of factors went into the decision. We prayed that the Lord would open and close doors for us and He was faithful to do so. We close on the house next Thursday, the 12th and will move in the same day. 

We are leaving tomorrow for a family reunion(Cody's family) in Austin at this beautiful resort. Check it out. www.hollowsvacations.com
It is going to be like an actual vacation. I am totally excited. We won't be back until Sunday, so it will be a nice calm before the storm of moving. Then, hopefully, we will get to stop in Columbus and have a little birthday time with Grace since we are going to miss her party on the 14th because....

My step brother Brandon is getting married Saturday, the 14th. 
So, needless to say, life is crazy right now. But crazy GOOD. 
God is so faithful. We are so excited to move into our first home. 


"Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever, AMEN!! 
Ephesians 3:20-21

Chloe is 9 months old!



Miss Chloe turned 9 months old on the 3rd. She went for her check-up today and is weighing in at a healthy 22 pounds, 28 inches, and a HUGE head. I am not kidding at all. It is off the charts. Big headed babies really do run in our family(Anna, Austin, Ethan....) so it is not too much of a surprise. The doc said if she wasn't on track developmentally he might be worried, but since she is, we will just see how much it has grown at her 1 year visit.
I didn't really notice her head that much. It would cross my mind when I take pictures of her and Cade together and their heads are almost the same size. Haha. She is such a beautiful baby girl and I'm sure she will grow into it!
Chloe started crawling last week and now she is EVERYWHERE! She races herself around the house and Cade chases her on all fours. They just laugh and laugh at each other. It is priceless.
She is very attached to mommy right now, but seems to forget about me after I'm gone for a couple of seconds so that's good.
She refuses to eat baby food, so thank goodness she knows how to chew with only 6 teeth. 
The girl will eat anything you put in front of her that she can pick up and I am thankful. Cade was a mighty picky eater. 
She has the most contagious laugh and loves to laugh at herself. 
Happy 9 months Chloe!! Love you lots and lots!!

Idol Gives Back.

I am sure most of you saw American Idol last night. 
If you didn't, it was awesome.
They sang "Shout to the Lord!!!!!" That is not just a song that says Jesus. It is a full out worship song!! (you can download it on ITunes)
I was so shocked and surprised by this and totally amazed that they would even put it on TV. 
God is THE MOST awesome!!
If you didn't see it, it was the Idol Gives Back show. They raised 75 million dollars last year for children all around the world. The goal this year is 100 million. It is an amazing cause that involves several different charities. 
I was so moved by all of the footage of children suffering from poverty,AIDS, and malaria in Africa. They showed little babies in the hospital dying. Babies the same age as mine. Just like mine. Every thirty seconds a child dies in Africa. WHAT? I knew that things like this happen in our fallen world, but God moved and shifted my heart in a big way last night. 
They also showed horrible poverty in our own country. Children who have NOTHING. And I really mean NOTHING.
It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the things that I complain about everyday. It makes me sick to think that I am worried about a new lamp, or a new shirt or whatever....when these children don't even have running water or electricity. I think most of us are so blind and naive to what goes on around us. I am not saying in any way that we should sell everything we have to feel their pain...unless God calls you to do that. I am just saying that I am thankful for shows like this and incredibly thankful for the life God has chosen for me! God used it to open my eyes and hopefully others. 
If you didn't watch the show, you can go to 
www.AmericanIdol.com
and watch some videos or donate if you feel compelled.
I am sprung to action. I am not sure how, but I am.

"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.'  Matthew 25:40

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