A Girl with Bold Assertions

This inspired me to put the scripture into Emma. You can tell this girl is surrounded by a story. Listening to this girl's mom in the background, you can tell that she's putting the story into her daughter.


Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

19 Days and Counting!!!

Here is the latest on the baby bump!!! I am definitely at the point of discomfort, any normal daily task has become a mountain to climb. Take eating for instance-it’s supposed to be enjoyable and you should look forward to your meals; for me right now, every time I eat it hurts so I can’t eat very much, which results in being hungry all the time! Then there’s the matter of sleep--getting comfortable is nearly impossible. If I didn’t take a sleeping pill I don’t think I could catch a wink.

Being pregnant has definitely given me a new appreciation for my mom and any mother out there who has gone through this any amount of times. I also think God has given us scriptures to comfort us at times like these. This is the one that has helped me: But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. 1 Timothy 2:15

Yesterday Jonathan took me to Babies-R-Us and we bought all the last little necessities for our baby. Picking out all the blankets and lil outfits was so much fun and made having a baby seem more real and exciting to me. We still have not come up with a name for her but Jonathan says we will know it when we see her! I can hardly wait to see her little face and hold her on the other side. I will keep everyone updated as it gets closer. Please pray for the peace of our household, if you’ve had any children you probably know why I’m asking for prayer!

The bump looks smaller with a sweat shirt on.

Dont worry, here is the real size! only 3 weeks away

A Summer Day

Ellen, who is one of Emma’s favorite cousins, was watching her for an hour this morning. One of Emma’s favorite things to do at the Waters house is pick carrots out of their vegetable garden. The Waters have an amazing vegetable garden, unlike the flop of one I attempted this year; I’ll have to get Aunt Susie’s help next year on mine. Here are some pictures of the fun filled hour she had with Ellie. Looking at these pictures makes me realize how time goes by so fast, I can’t believe she has learned to swim this summer! She is growing up way to fast. It makes me want to enjoy and treasure every special moment I have with her. I need to be continually reminded that she is what I am doing. Reading a story with her or listening to her tell me one is just as important as keeping my house in order. Besides with a girl like Emma, how could I not want to listen to her stories, she is such a lil character.

Standing in the garden with Karen.

She likes to wear her "romper"

Tastey Carrots!

Look at those baby blues!

"Look mommy, I just went under"

Notice how big the pool is?

Such a little fishy.

"I'm goin under again"

"1,2,3, plug your nose"

"WOOSH! I'm swimmn momma"

One of "Those" Days

This morning when I awoke, I was already so exhausted. The day hadn’t even begun and every bone in my body was aching. Last night I could not fall asleep because the baby was kicking me and making me so uncomfortable, Emma woke up at 3:15 and then Jonathans alarm was going off at 5:30. WOW, what a night! Well this was just the beginning, after I ate my breakfast my stomach felt terrible, It left me feeling nauseous all morning. At this point my outlook on the day was not very bright. The door bell rang, it was Marilyn! she was coming over to help me clean my house. How selfish am I, all I could think about was my aching body. When right in front of me was Marilyn, who instead of taking time out of her day to come help me, could have been making money. At this point I was starting to feel a little guilty about being so selfish, but to share with you the total depravity of my heart, I will tell you about the rest of my morning.

As Marilyn was vigorously scrubbing my bathroom floor, I was folding laundry. One thing led to the other and the next thing I knew I was looking around my house and backyard becoming mad at Jonathan for not taking care of all the piddly messes. The tension was beginning to rise and I was finding myself yelling at Emma for no reason, just because she was interrupting my scene and causing me to be uncomfortable. Next on the list was to make Jonathans lunch and drive it out to I- 5, another blessing. Here is where I really was able to see my selfishness. Once I got to I-5 and Jonathan was asking me how my morning was going, I started to complain to him and tell him all about the things he’s not doing. Here he was working in the 95 degree heat, dealing with the pressures of the real world, while I was complaining about how “hard” my morning was. How unthankful am I? Well the Lord came to me in my conversation to Jonathan.

What a blessing that we have our husbands to wash us! I’m so thankful that Jonathan was able to show me my sin, not like it was hard to find, now I could enjoy my day and Emma so much more. Also its very convicting for a wife to think about all that her husband does for her in a day and compare it to what she has to do. Let’s admit, in comparison we have the easier job. If I just thought about that I could be convicted 20 million times a day. Good thing the Lord has grace and mercy on a sinner like me! I wanted to share the events of this morning with you to show how the life of real “sinner mom” can be. Praise the Lord that we aren’t supposed to be perfect in our vocations but that they are supposed to cause us to see our sin and make us to cry out for help.

Deliverance Is Nigh

Its official, I have my induction date set! Baby Krawczyk Two will be arriving on September 17, 2010. This means that she will be arriving 3 weeks earlier than her due date. For those of you who dont know, I have to be induced early because of my thyroid cancer. The doctors want to do the next surgery on my neck about 3 weeks after the baby is born. Unless they do an ultrasound and can't find any new lumps on the right side of my thyroid, we will re-shcedule the surgery for a later date. Since I have been pregnant the doctors have tested my blood for the cancer and have done a couple ultrasounds looking for any new growth. As of now they still can't find a trace of the cancer in my blood or any new lumps anywhere on my neck, PRAISE THE LORD! We are praying every day asking the Lord that the baby is born healthy and that the doctors dont find anymore cancer once she is born. So I ask all of you to please keep me and the baby in your thoughts and prayers.

With men this is impossible; but with God all things are posible

Matthew 19:26

A Special Fort From Uncle Dave

Yesterday while Jonathan and I were working on our bathroom project, Emma spent most of the day playing at the waters. Uncle Dave built her a fort, he was scoring big points with Emma! She is a girl that loves building forts, even when we are at the store, if I let her out of the cart she will try to find ways to make forts there. This was a perfect fort for her. He found a cardboard box and cut windows and a door in it to make it look like a little house. She played in it all day and never wanted to come home. Emma loves her Uncle Dave, this was a special was a special day at the Waters.

This is the amazing fort!

Peek-a-boo

She likes to play with Crystal

Suntanning?

Upgrade Time

I have heard many people talk about women who are pregnant start "nesting" towards the end of their pregnancy. Well, its happened to me and we are in full swing! Last month the project was Emma’s bathroom, we painted it pink and yellow and put up coordinating bathroom accessories and décor. It ended up looking so nice that it inspired Jonathan to want to give our bathroom a complete makeover. Seeing as I'm the one who is home all day and am the one who cleans it, I rejoiced when I heard that HE wanted to upgrade it! I also think its part of making your house a home and shows that a woman is enjoying her vocation when she wants to upgrade her home. At least I know for me I want to take care of something better when it looks nice, I know it sounds carnal but its just the truth! I just have to make sure I do it all within reason of our family budget.

Friday night we started with going to home depot and getting the paint we needed for our bathroom. Of course, going to home depot is always a dangerous thing. We always end up getting one too many good ideas for ways to upgrade the house. This time we had the brainwave that wainscoting and a crown molding would look really nice in our bathroom too! That’s what ends up happening when your husband works for a company who remodels casinos, casinos don’t spare one cent on a remodel. O well, at least he has good ideas on how to make it look classy! Anyway, we went home and began the painting process in our bathroom. Saturday afternoon we went and got everything else we needed to complete the project. I always like spending Saturdays doing projects, it gives me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the week, plus it’s a great way to spend a weekend with your husband.

Saturday night came to fast and we had to stop, we were both exhausted, Jonathan really was because he woke up at 3:00 a.m. to go fishing. Sunday after church we finished the project and now our bathroom looks like something you would see in a magazine! What a wonderful husband, he cares for me so much that he spent his weekend creating comfortable place for me to be when I have our new baby in only 26 days! Here are the before and after pictures.

So it begins.

Emma was helpin too!

Maybe a little too much help?

Work, Work, Work!

The start of the wainscoting.

Close-up of the crown molding

A view of the almost finished project!!!

So Sweet In Vintage

The dress that Emma is wearing in these pictures used to be mine when I was a little girl. The brand of it is "Shirley Temple”, such a coincidence that Emma has the curly hair to match! I just think that all the pictures you see of girls from the mid 1900’s are so sweet, all the dresses they wear are too adorable for words. Believe it or not, it actually even makes me consider the idea of learning to sew, (notice I said “CONSIDER”). Anyway I wanted to get her picture taken it so that she looked like she stepped right out of the 1940’s. Our friend Naomi is so kind, she took us to this beautiful garden where we took the picture, then she spent the time color correcting the pictures to make them look even more old fashion. Here a few of the pictures we took that day, I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did.

Oh so vintage!

I love her face in this pic.

She likes her cousin Andrew

Doesn't this look those cards you see now a days?

Dont be tricked by the pose!

My sweet little girl.

I couldnt believe she knew how to stand like this.

She is always asks to wear a dress so she can dance and twirl!

Money Savin Mothers

Lately I have started shopping at Michaels Meats. My best friend Kaylee told me about this great spot. Her husband Daniel has been buying all of their meat there He is a meat lover and a grill master! Anyway they don’t only sell meat, they also have a great produce stand outside as well as their fresh, amazing salsas. I wanted to let everyone know about this place because of the

OUTRAGEOUSLY LOW PRICES!!!
If you like fresh fruit, great veggies and low prices on great cuts of meat, this is the place to shop. One of the great cuts of meat Jonathan and I really like is the California Carne Asada, If your family likes Mexican for dinner, you have got to try this out, and don’t forget the salsa to go with it. Michaels Meats is located on Martin Way just before you get to Costco. (I'm not quite sure of the address.) O and did I mention the “Value Packs” you get in the mail every week that we all normally just throw away? Well DON'T ! There is a coupon inside that reads, "Spend $20 at Michael’s Meats and get a free pound of ground beef". (Or sometimes a rib eye steak - the free bee changes every week.) So ladies, let’s make our husbands happy and keep the savings in the bill!!!

A Wonderful Weekend

Saturday morning we had planned a family adventure to the Frost's lake house. Well, to our surprise, Mr. Jack Frost called us to let us know that plan was canceled. So instead of staying home on a 95 degree day we decided to call some of our friends and go to a different lake. Tom and Michelle Snyder told us about the beautiful Lake Tapps. So we set out on our adventure. We had many stops to make along the way. These included Ralph's Thriftway for treats, Petsmart, so that our dog Cody could come along, and Big 5 Sporting Goods so that I could have a nice comfy raft to float on while at the lake. Yes! we were finally on the road now. After driving 40 minutes with nonstop phone calls from all of our friends and relatives asking for directions to the lake, we finally saw the sign - Lake Tapps Park! Our spirits were lifted. To our surprise there was a policeman blocking the entrance to the park, he told us we couldn’t park up there and that we would have to park somewhere along the road and hike up to the lake. This was going to be about a half a mile hike, maybe even longer. Me being 8 months pregnant, you can imagine how I reacted when I heard this news. I saw an upward hill and was dreading the hike, almost wishing we had never come and wanted to turn around and go back home. Well we didn’t give up. Jonathan, being the loving husband that he is, dropped me and Emma off at the entrance and found a parking spot for our truck. So after many interrupting phone calls by our brother-in-law Joseph, who was on the opposite side of the lake looking for us, we finally got to our spot. Here we met Daniel and Joanie Scamman and their three children, Daniel and Kaylee Hicks, and Ron and Sherri Price. Later we were joined by our relatives, Jesse and Christal Hicks with their five children, and Joe and Grace Krawczyk. Emma was such a little water bug, swimming with her friends and cousins. She was also very entertained keeping watch over her dog Cody. He was a little hesitant of the water at first until he saw the ducks swim by. That was the end of sitting on the beach for him. He jumped straight in and tried to fetch them. This was a hilarious sight to see!
It was such a joy just being there with our family, relaxing and enjoying this beautiful day together. It was a little uncomfortable for me; I had no chair and was lying on the ground the whole day. It was a little grueling for a pregnant woman who's about to pop, but the fun that we were having outweighed the discomfort.
Also, it made me very happy to see Jonathan enjoying the day riding jet skis and clearing his brain from a long week of work. We had so much fun here and would love to do it again.
It’s always amazing when undeserving sinners like us get to enjoy the blessings that God has for us.
I believe we were truly fulfilling our calling Saturday, glorifying God and enjoying Him forever !!!

This was the view from the lake.

Goin for a ride with daddy!

She wasn't to sure about this.

Emma and Mommy floating in the lake, this is very daring for Emma.

"Ouch the rocks hurt our feet"

Fishing, such a daddy's girl.

She loves her "codeman"

Swimmimg with her cousins.

Little Moments Like That

Last week Jonathan and I took Emma to the Thurston County Fair. Emma is a girl who loves animals, so this was the perfect place for her. We got to see "horsies", cows, sheep, pigs and goats. Out of all the animals Emma definitely liked the horses the best. She surprised her daddy and me by going on the roller coaster and other rides - such a brave little girl! It's always fun going on outings like these and making memories. Although, I would have to say, it probably would have been a lot more enjoyable walking around the exhibits, in the 85 degree heat, if I wasn't 8 months pregnant. Nevertheless, we had an enjoyable evening with daddy.

This was the first horse she got to see!!!

Here she is on the roller coaster with daddy, She was a little hesitant at first, but when daddy shouted out "woo hoo!" she echoed rather reluctantly. By the end she was smiling with her hands in the air!!!

She went on this one all by herself.

We went around the carousel 5 times, daddy was dizzy by the end.


I love her face here. One of her favorite treats is shave ice.

Recipes I've Encountered

Sometimes when I'm out and about I will see a recipe in a magazine or other various places, and I take pictures of them on my iphone (technology at work). So here's just a few I've tried and would like to share with you.