Humbled!

Yesterday, after my ultrasound, the nurse called us back, took my blood pressure, and weight, etc. When she set her folder down to take my blood pressure, I noticed the top page on my file. I glanced at the middle section where it said "Reason for visit". I had written "Infertility." WOW! I was instantly humbled! Our initial visit to that Doctor's office was to seek help with Infertility. We struggled with infertility for almost 9 years. We then began to think Adoption was the only way we were going to be able to have children. We were truly open to it and began the process of adopting. After we were approved by Bethany Christian Services, we had a period of silence. It was in that time that we found out that we were pregnant! So, after a long season of infertility, God has MIRACULOUSLY enabled us to conceive, not only once, but twice! GOD IS SO GOOD! (He was good even when I was infertile too, it's just easier to see and accept when there are blessings around us.) After seeing our little blessing again yesterday, I truly am thankful that God has chosen to allow us this opportunity of having children. Seeing that little life just wiggling around in my womb, one could not help but see God at work! Only God could knit such a beautiful life together. It truly is AWESOME! Thank you Heavenly Father for your blessings in our lives! We love you, Lord Jesus!

Ethan's a Big Brother...

Thank you for thinking about us yesterday. Yep, Ethan's a big brother alright! His little baby sibling was very active, wiggly, and yes ... cooperative. However, you're going to have to wait to hear whether it's a little sister or brother. Since we're gone on vacation this week, we wanted to be able to share our news with everyone when we return. So we'll share our news later. The baby is developing normally, and appears to be right on schedule... so far.

Ethan saying "Good-bye" to his babysitter, Chrisy W., who watched him while we had our appt.
After telling Ethan our news, we decided to take him out and celebrate with a bike ride. ;-) Still trying to figure out if we like this new bike seat or not. Bart kind of has to ride bow-legged. He said he probably would not take it for any long distance rides. But Ethan rode well and did enjoy it.
Ethan riding in his bike seat.

We head to Gull Lake tomorrow. We're looking forward to a relaxing vacation with some friends and families from our church as well. Pictures from our vacation when we return...

Happy 101st Birthday, Grandma!

Bart's Grandma Hall turned 101 today! What a milestone! She is a wonderful lady of prayer and encouragement! We are truly thankful for her example of faith and love of Christ! These pictures were taken from her big 100th b-day party last year. (You can see Ethan wasn't too happy at the moment, but she looks great, doesn't she?!) Happy Birthday, Grandma! We love you!

Great Grandma Hall & Ethan

Great Grandma Hall with her whole family!

Big Day Tomorrow...

This is Baby Glupker #2 at our first Ultrasound, 10 weeks ago. Tomorrow we go back for the BIG ultrasound. We are so excited to see/hear how this baby has grown and changed the last several weeks. We are praying that the baby is strong and healthy. Finding out if we're having a boy or a girl, would also be exciting! So, we're hoping the baby is cooperative! I also have to have some blood work done, so I would appreciate your prayers for that as well. The nurses usually have a hard time finding my veins, so taking my blood is sometimes more stressful than anything else at the office. Thanks for thinking about us and praying for us tomorrow morning as we go to our appointment!

My two sweet boys...

Daddy & Ethan resting after a good dinner.
Jumping on Daddy's full belly.
Climbing on .... everything these days...
Bounce, bounce, bounce...
Aww, snuggle time with Daddy...
How big is Ethan? "So BIG!"

The Big 30!

Well, today I turned the Big 3-0! Thank you for all of the cards, phone calls and Birthday songs! I have so much to be thankful for! God has blessed me with a wonderful, Godly, loving, caring, helpful husband; a cute, busy, bouncing little boy; and a new life on the way. Other blessings include: two Christian families, a wonderful Church family and friends, a beautiful home to live in, and good health. The list goes on and on. In 30 years, I have seen God do many amazing things in my life and others. God has just been so good to us. We are so thankful!

Bart took me out for dinner tonight to McGuire's (a Resort in Cadillac). I had Prime Rib, salad, rolls, rice, broccoli, and he had Top Sirloin, salad, red potatoes, and broccoli. We ended our meal with a delicious Snickers Cake.
Ethan stayed home with a babysitter, Chrisy W.
Ethan heard the airplane and pointed up to the sky, but his eyes never made it quite high enough to see it this time.
My two precious boys!
Thank you heavenly Father for... every good gift comes from you!

Viewer Discretion Advised!

Warning! If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to view this picture. Okay, it's not THAT bad, but it does look gross. This is Bart's pinky toe after he slammed it into the doorframe while running after Ethan. He does not think it is broken, as he can touch it and move it without too much pain, just the tip is sore. So it is probably sprained, or something. Who knows... we're not doctors. Neither one of us have broken a bone as of yet, and we plan to keep it that way. It sure doesn't look pretty though, does it?!

15 months old and ... climbing

Ethan turned 15 months old yesterday. This morning he decided to climb up on the register so he could peek out the window that was open. He is figuring out how to do new things all the time, whether we want him to or not. :-) I guess that's all part of growing up.

Seriousness of the Game...

This is a picture of our nephew, Taylor, that Bart's Dad sent to us. Taylor has his game face on and is getting ready to play. He is 8 years old, and quite the sports fan. Great picture, huh? Who knows maybe some day we'll see this picture again, only with him in the Big Leagues. :-)

4th of July Holiday Weekend....

Believe it or not, I did not take any pictures of our trip to G.R./Holland this weekend. We were just too busy enjoying ourselves to get the cameras out I guess. Even so, we truly enjoyed the time spent with our families. (This is the only one I took of one of two cherry pies I made for the weekend.

Thursday afternoon we headed down to G.R. and dropped Spencer off at Bart's parents' home, since my parent's dog, Bandit, doesn't like Spencer. (He's too hyper for him I guess. That and he's not used to other dogs. Maybe some day they'll get used to each other?!) Then we wove our way through traffic - A MESS! to try to get to the mall. Between traffic lights out (due to massive power outages in G.R. after the BIG storm) and 5:00 traffic in G.R. with construction, it was CRAZY! I wanted to go to Motherhood Maternity to get a couple of things, with a gift card that I had. Well, in a round-about way, we finally made it there. I ran in, found a pair of jean capris, a swim suit, and a couple of t-shirts (on clearance!). Then we were off to my parents house for dinner. We had chicken on the grill, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, fruit salad, and homemade cherry pie! My parents packed up and headed out the next morning for their vacation on the East side of the state at my grandparents' cabin. Ethan was up at 6 AM, that morning, so at 9:00 AM, I laid him down for a 2 hr. nap before we headed to Holland to visit Bart's family.

We had lunch in Holland with most of the Glupker Clan - there were 24 of us in attendance that day. We were able to see Bart's Grandma, Parents, Uncles, Aunts, and several cousins, as well as his sister, brother-in-law and nieces and nephews. As always, we had TONS of food! We had hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, salads, corn-on-the-cob, fruit, chips, baked beans, homemade cherry pie, cookies, goodie-bars, etc., etc. It was a BEAUTIFUL, sunny, warm day! Some of the fam headed to a park for their annual 4th of July Baseball game, others headed to Tunnel Park on Lake Michigan. I, on the other hand, stayed back, along with a few others, while Ethan napped. He has done SO well with all of our comings and goings! He is getting used to sleeping in his pak & play where ever we go. Such a good boy!

After a nice long afternoon in Holland, we decided to pack up and head home. We were planning to go back to Bart's parents' house to spend the night, but they were still without power. (Of course, their power came back on when we were about half-way home. Bart's Mom called and said, "Our power's back on, do you want to turn around and come back?" She knew we wouldn't, but it was too bad it hadn't come on an hour earlier. :-( ) The ride home was a little bit hard for Ethan, because it was almost bedtime, and he didn't want to be sitting in his car seat, again! I was worried that he would sleep on the way home. Well, he sure didn't sleep, but he did cry almost half of the way home - not quite, but almost. Poor baby! He was sure glad to get home though! It was about 10:00 PM before he got to bed Friday night.

The nice thing was we had all day Saturday back at home to relax and enjoy the day there. So we all slept in a little bit. Saturday afternoon we headed out to Subway for lunch and then to Lake Missaukee, in Lake City, to hit the beach. Ethan is still not too sure about the lake. I don't know if it's because it's chilly or what. He just fusses when Bart has him in the water, and he wants to come back in to Mommy, who's nice and warm and dry on the sand. Then when I get him, he points back to the water and wants me to take him out. Silly boy! I don't think he knows what he wants.

We walked down to the boat docks to look at the boats and then headed home so Ethan could get his nap. Then we went to our friends' home, Jim & Mel's for dinner. Their daughter and son-in-law, Tommy & Megan, were home from Georgia with their kids, Teddy & Dannen, and cousin, Allie. Our kids enjoyed playing together. We had grilled chicken, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, muffins and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Ethan must have been hungry, he ate a ton! Of course it's all stuff he likes, chicken, sweet potatoes, corn, and strawberries. Then, back at home we had to pack up for camp again.

Sunday we had a nice service at church, including Communion. Then we packed up and headed off with our Sr. Highers to The Springs Camp again. We brought 7 teens down with us for the week. Pray that God will continue to work in their hearts and lives this week at camp. We're here until tomorrow, then we'll head home for our mid-week activities. Bart will return for the wrap-up Friday night and bring the teens home Saturday.

Sorry I was so long-winded. I guess without pictures, that's what our 4th of July weekend was packed with, family, friends, fun, food & fellowship with the Lord! It doesn't get much better than that - does it?

New things every day...

Ethan seems to be learning new things every day. On Saturday we taught him how to say, "More" in Sign Language. It took one attempt. Then he did it on his own! I turned, looked at him, and "Wow, you're so smart, Ethan!" He immediately put up one finger and tapped his temple. It was perfectly timed! If only we had that on video! Here he is asking for more. (Okay, so he uses his knuckles instead of his fingers. But he's sure got the idea. We just hope he doesn't punch himself in the face sometime. ;-)) ... Then we learned that this means "food," not "more," oops I got them mixed up. I guess it kind of works, he's asking for more food. He still does it every time we eat. He even does this at odd times, so I think maybe he thinks it means "please." It is cute though and a much nicer way of asking for something, than screeching.

Then of course, there's standing on our head. He likes the "upside" down world view, I guess.
Finally, it's the "where did it go?" look. Too cute!
We treasure every moment with Ethan! (Yes, even the ones like last night, when he was up at 2 AM crying because he didn't feel well.) He truly is a gift from God! We love him so much!

First "Illness"...

Well, here it is Ethan's first "illness" for the most part, minus one cold he had several months ago. Ethan has "Roseola" or "Viral Exanthum." He developed a fever Sunday afternoon that peaked Sun. around 6 PM. He was very uncomfortable and did NOT feel well. Ethan and I stayed home from church, so he could rest and get better. His low-grade fever continued Monday, and through yesterday. Although yesterday it was apparant that he was feeling better. He acted pretty normally through the whole thing, minus Sunday evening. This morning he woke up with a rash on his face. So I took him to the doctor. He said his lungs, ears, and throat are clear and sound/look great! He said that since he has been overall healthy, and active, he presumes it is this Viral Exanthum aka Roseola. (Grandma was right, that's what she suspected it was.) The doctor expects his rash to spread, but hopefully it does not get worse (ie. blisters, etc.) He is not contagious though, thankfully! So we can still go visit Gma, Gpa, Nana, Papa & the rest of the fam! Poor baby! I sure don't like being sick, I'm sure he doesn't either. He was still his usual friendly self at the Doctor's office though, waving and smiling at everyone. He's such a good boy! If you could, please remember him in your prayers that he would be feeling better and that this would go away soon, without getting much worse. Thanks so much!