Marshmallow Test

This video on youtube is so cute. I've heard about this test before but never seen a video of it! A researcher leads a child into a room with a single marshmallow in it. She tells the child if he/she waits for her to return, then the child can have another marshmallow. It's funny to watch what the kids do to try to distract themselves. I've also heard about research done on people who did this study as kids. Something about kids who learn self discipline young and maintaining it when they're older...Not quite sure, but this video is cute:

Birth control journey

This might seem like a strange topic, but I have talked to a few of you about birth control: whether to use it or not, what types. Well recently I've read a few different things so I thought I would share them with those of you who care about this topic!

So a couple weeks ago Ian sent me a link to this website. They basically believe that you shouldn't use any form of birth control. That's including natural birth control methods. The women on the discussion board and FAQ pages were saying that they believe that you should not try to put any barrier in the way of making a child and completely trust God with your womb. There's some other stuff on there too if you want to read more. They talk about how it's not that they all want 15 kids or anything, just that they want to trust God with that.

At first I was like, "Say what??????" Mostly because they were quoting scripture and saying this was the right thing to do. Then I thought about it for a while and read some other stuff. Personally I think it kind of sucks that they present their opinion in this manner. The bible doesn't talk at all about birth control (except in one story and it's not a blanket statement by any means), so how can we say that something is absolutely true for everyone if the bible doesn't speak about it? I tried to relate this to an experience in my own life: I believe that it was God's plan for me to have a natural child birth, and to stay at home with my child. I also believe that He lead me to scripture to show me that I was supposed to do those things. Do I believe that every woman would be blessed if she did those things? For sure! Do I believe that those scriptures mean that God wants EVERYONE to do those things? Absolutely not! It is for each individual to decide with God guiding them.

Then I applied what I thought about birth/child raising to the birth control question. Personally I believe that God is in control of every woman's womb whether they use birth control or not. And in my own life I would LOVE to be pregnant again right now. But Ian and I have talked/prayed about it and agree that it's just not the right time. Last time we really believed we were in a good place to add to our family. Now there are some truly non-biblical reasons to NOT have kids. The ones I've heard mostly revolve around another child being a burden (mostly financially, but also time wise). That's not a factor for us though, we believe that ALL children are a blessing (this is one place the quiverfull people got it right). They can be a hard blessing, but they are always a blessing. Do they cost money? Yes, but it's just money, and if you've read the bible you know what Jesus teaches about money (and clothing, food, and all other material things for that matter). Do they require most of your time? Yes, but aren't they worth it? And it's not all your time.

One thing to note, if I can say all children are a blessing when mine cried 5 hours every night for the first 3 months, then didn't sleep longer than 45 min during the day for the first 7 months, you can too! I know we haven't had the hardest time with her, she is healthy, but still she has been harder than most babies.

I found a book called Reforming Marriage that I think is mostly biblical. It has a chapter on birth control that I think also has a good point about children in general. You can find it here if you are interested. This book really made me feel even more convinced of the mindset I've adopted concerning birth control (as described above). Basically each person needs to seek God as to whether or not it is time to have a kid. If you believe that God is calling you to be quiverfull, go for it! As for us, we've committed to a group of students that we love at FF and really believe that God wants us at camp with them next summer. We are also hoping another big summer plan comes through. Neither of those things will be possible if I am 9 months pregnant/toting around a 1 month old at that time. Thus, we wait!

ps - we asked chacha how many arrows makes a quiver full and they said that many different quivers are made and hold different numbers of arrows. DANG IT! I thought they were going to tell me how many kids to have:)

Cuddling

If you know Mary, you know she's not much of a cuddler (apparently I made up this word because it's not in google's spell check). However, the other day we gave her a sippy and let her lounge against Ian while she drank it. Then, even when she was done, she continued to cuddle with daddy. He was really sleepy though. So cute!

Amber's wedding

OK, this will be the last of the wedding posts for this year! Unless there's a last minute wedding. It happens to be the wedding of two of my close friends! I've known Amber since the 5th grade and I met Jacob about 3 years ago. These are two genuinely nice people who love to serve and care for others. It has been a privilege of mine to know them and to stand next to them on their wedding day! It was the most beautiful day that anyone could have asked for and the setting matched the weather! Here are some pictures:

Here they are before the ceremony "not" seeing each other:

Amber and her posse:


Check the peepers in the background!

Happy Couple:


Cribbie shot. We're missing one cribbie who didn't show! Where o where are you Dannie? I still think we have the best looking house Oxford ever saw!

Holla!

Look who's moving on her own:

Tina's wedding!

Are all of my posts starting to look the same??? Friday morning we left for Atlanta to attend the wedding of (now) Matt and Tina Klejka! I've known Tina for 10 years probably. She became good friends with my cousin Jen and then came up to Cincinnati with her every summer since. We've adopted Tina into our family:) We arrived just in time to shower and head over to the rehearsal dinner. It was in a beautiful restaurant with really good food and really good company!
Then Saturaday we went to the nicest wedding I've ever been to. It was at a beautiful country club, like most country clubs I'm sure, but this place was awesome. And they also had good food (I know what's important!). I've gotten to see so much of the Georgia Clan this summer! It's spoiling me. Congratulations Tina! You are such a kind and thoughtful person, and I'm glad that you've been able to meet someone who makes you happy!
Matt and Tina:

My mom and Tom sharing some bacon and being lovey:

Tina, Jenny, and Val getting ready for the big event:

No smashing:

You can tell I like to take pictures of the kiddos. I basically chased them around all night:

The Schneids

Some great friends of ours just moved back into town. And when I say back into town I mean right into OUR town, only 5 min away! We are always trying to talk people into moving by us and this time it worked! Cari and I just keep saying, "Man it's so great that we live this close to each other!" It's like we can't believe it or something:) We each keep thinking of little things that are so wonderful about living close. Like today she called just to say, "It's great that we can be so flexible and get together when the girls are both awake!" Amen sister, and there's so many other cool things too.

Another thing I love about Cari is that we share similar beliefs on some things where our children are concerned (actually quite a few things!). So it's fun to have someone around who understands where you're coming from and agrees with you:) We all want someone to understand us right?

Anyway, Ian always wants me to send him pictures of what we do during the day while he is at school. Today I got to send him these of Mary and the littlest Schneid:


While the camera on my phone sucks, you get the picture: babies having fun!

The Noodle Wedding

Our friends Stech (Mike) and Carrie got married today! It was so great because Ian has known Stech for a really long time, and I've known Stech for the past 5 years, since I've known Ian. And we just love this guy. He's such a good guy. Ian has always talked about how a girl would be lucky to marry Stech, and that lucky girl is Carrie! I have to say that Stech is a lucky guy too though because Carrie is wonderful. I remember having dinner with them sometime last year. I remember thinking that I really liked Carrie and she seemed to work so well with Stech and our group of friends for that matter:) Afterward Ian said, "Yeah, They're going to get married" And I told him not to say that because you never know and I didn't want him saying that to Stech in case it didn't work out. Even though I also thought they were great together! Well today they tied the knot and we are so excited for them. It's a happy day.

Here is a picture of Mary at the rehearsal. She couldn't crawl effectively in her dress so she crawled on her hands and feet like the elephant walk.

Here is Mary and Daddy and the groom

me and Ian outside:)

The noodles:

Oh, and we call them the noodles because Ian likes to give nicknames and a long time ago he called Stech Stecher Doodle (like snicker doodle), then shortened it to doodle, then to noodle. Noodle stuck for some reason so Ian calls him that and I have a hard time NOT calling him that. So now that Carrie married him, she is a noodle too. Together they are the noodles.

Birthday Girl

Here are some pictures of Mary eating her birthday cup cake. She's a pretty clean eater apparently.






Here are some pictures from the rest of the day. She wasn't the happiest camper on the block, but she made it!



I think Tyler is trying to comfort her:)