Girls, Girls, Girls

So as a parent of both girls and boys, I have observed a few differences. They may not hold up for everyone, but here is one we see everyday. Girls just like to talk! Don't get me wrong, Wyatt sure talks a lot! Addie Grace started speaking sentences at sbout eighteen months. As soon as we moved to California, she just took off speaking. I think I've mentioned before that she constantly surprises us. We did at first think that she was just a little mockingbird, but in time we are certain she is just her daddy's girl and has something to say about everything! She makes comments now (much to her parents dismay) like "that's not fair" with arms folded and a pouted face and "i don't want to" when asked to obey! The other night, David was telling the kids a story about lizards. He was making the whole thing up as he went about lizards with magic potions shrinking the kids so they could join the lizards in their homes. I know ... it sounds a bit weird, but the kids loved it. Later that night, Addie David and I found Addie Grace retelling this same story to her baby Janie that she had heard only once. She is so funny! The girl is turning two in a few weeks and sometimes I think she is going on five! I can't wait to see what Lila has to say!

The Reverend Daddy

Last Saturday, David went up for ordination before the South Coast Presbytery. (Someone sent us this picture where David is preaching before the group of men.) He was received quite well and passed his written and oral examinations! The presbytery was very affirming in his preaching and found our daddy fit to be a Reverend! Wyatt inquired upon hearing this great news, "Daddy, does this mean you don't ever have to go to school again?" To which I replied, "Never again!" Of coarse in Wyatt's mind, he thinks David can now stay at home and play all day with him! We are so happy for you David! Congratulations!

Clearly I Have the Laptop

Obviously, since I just posted three new posts, it must be my turn for the laptop!! I suppose you'll have to pardon my once-monthly posting! We are still sorting out the computer in our house! I have been meaning to post on the subject of Sunday mornings for a while now, but generally speaking I am so tired from them that I don't have the emotional energy to relive them in writing. So I read this post on a friend's blog...if you want some insight into my Sunday's this pretty much captures it! Thanks for capturing my life for me Hilary!

Sleepover

A few weeks ago, Wyatt went on a sleepover to my parents house. I didn't tell him that papa would be coming to get him until the evening as to avoid the nagging questions about why papa is taking so long all day! Within five minutes, Wyatt was in his jammies with his backpack on his back and a few toys for the road! He left on a Thursday evening and my sister drove him back to our house on Saturday. He had a great time with papa and memaw all to himself! I had an interesting two days remembering what two children (just girls) was like. My house has never looked so clean or seemed so quiet! We had a great time too! Addie Grace did shed a few tears that she wasn't allowed to go to the sleepover, but she gets the next turn!

Grapes

My mom bought these organic grapes at the Farmer's Market over a month ago. They were so beautiful and so delicious! I had to take a picture to capture the memory because I am not sure anything has melted in my mouth quite like these grapes! On the subject of Farmer's Markets...we have a quaint little market that is about three blocks from our house. We've been visiting weekly and the kids love the samples! There really is nothing like fresh tasting local produce!

What we've been up to...

In order of appearance I'll give a little background on the photos...the first are just some updates of the kids. Lila made her debut with rice cereal a while back and we caught that on camera. Wyatt had his birthday right after we moved. He turned four and had a great party at my aunts and a fun celebration with family. He had birthday visitors for a whole week it seemed! He got the superman costume for his birthday! And finally, some pics of the apartment. My favorite is Addie Grace's big girl bed! I don't know what it is about it but it just makes me smile when I see it all tiny and cute! We've enjoyed our first month here in Tustin. We took a trip to dog beach recently which Sierra really enjoyed! Just last night our small group BBQ at Doheny State Park on the beach. It is so great to be back by the coast!

Unpacked

yes. we are unpacked! our last move we had one child who napped twice a day and was staying at grandma's while we unpacked. fast forward three years and we are a household of five, two who nap once a day, and one who naps and eats all day long! we pawned Addie and Wyatt off on my parents for 36 hours and hoped for the best. after two weeks, we are officially unpacked and settled. we had most of the stuff unpacked within days, but finally those few annoying boxes that needed to be dealt with are gone! our place isn't that big, so there really wasn't much space to stay in boxes long. our basement days are over, so we couldn't just dump the boxes down there until we felt like looking through them. secretly, i am glad though. we have had a great purging session and I feel so decluttered! i'll hopefully post some pics of the place soon! alas, we have internet too! my favorite things right now about our place...

*my closet! a walk in that has some serious hanging space! i just organized it and it really makes me happy when i walk in my room!
*i can walk to two great parks with the kids!
*we are seriously within walking distance to all of the shops listed in my earlier post!
*Papa works about half a mile away and stops by all the time to kiss the kids goodnight!
*my garage...it only holds my car but that is a huge convenience!
*Dish Network...we have never had any cable service our entire marriage and David called around and found us a great service for way cheaper than we expected! We are totally enjoying it and the DVR rocks my world! Anyone with children who likes even one or two shows should seriously consider!
*church is just a few minutes away and we have such an enjoyable car ride now!
*i ran into a gal from church at the grocery store tonight...sounds pretty lamo, but it totally made me feel like we are starting a little life here in the OC (j/k...i don't really call it that!)

A Pause in the Blog

As if there isn't one already, we are probably going to pause for a week or two in the blogging world as we move this weekend! Hooray. You read correctly. We are moving this weekend. We found a spot that we think will be good for a year. Not super excited about the prospect of another move in a year, but we'll cross that bridge later. We are pumped about the new spot...

Some highlights of the spot and other things:

One mile from Costco, Target, Barnes and Noble and a billion other great stores!
Three miles from Whole Foods, Pei Wei, Target Greatland!
Five miles to Ikea (that's for you Ami...I can scout stuff out for you!)
Ten miles from the beach! (if that)

Gas is finally under 4 bucks for the first time since we moved to Cali...topping at $4.48 and now $3. 89! Maybe now we can afford to drive to the beach...just kidding!

Wyatt James, affectionately reffered to as the Reverend Dr. W. Jimmy Juelfs (following in his daddy's footsteps), will be turning four August 20th!

Addie Grace is seriously like a teenager! We are probably going to move her to a big bed this weekend and shortly after try potty training her! I am daily amazed at this kid's vocabulary and her use of it! She talks like no other 21 month old I've ever heard, for the good and the bad! Along with words comes an understanding that requires a lot more discipline and guidance.
Hopefully, some video of the peach will be up soon!
Recent Quote: "I'm not cute, I'm Addie Grace!"

Lila Pie is almost five months and is cute as ever. She is happiest when playing with Wyatt and Addie! She is super tiny and delicate but actually moves all over the place. Primary means of transportation = the roll, but anxiously making an effort to crawl! It is pretty funny to watch such a small baby move this way!

Toodles till a later date! I may even try to sneak a nap in right now under a cloudy and maybe rainy sky. This happens like once a summer and I am referring to both me napping and rain in Cali. I better take advantage of it!

Pray

So I think I have nothing to say...somehow, I have enough time to read everyone else's blog and not much to say on mine! I've been a unmotivated and wishing I lived near all my old friends, so I can easily talk to them instead of write on my blog.

I am feeling the newness of a move across country. I feel so at home. I guess I should, I am living with my parents. Still. Yet, I do feel lonely because my friends and dear neighbors provided so much comfort and peace in my daily life. More than I knew.

Please pray for some close friends of ours...quite a long story perhaps for another day, but our dear friend Amie has been diagnosed with a serious form of stomach cancer. She and Paul have suffered tremendous loss and their burden is heavy.

For my dear Gulf Drive friends, I miss the easy opportunities we had to share our burdens and care for one another. I covet your prayers on behalf of our friends for healing, for peace, for strength.

The 4th

My happy fourth began on July 3rd when my dad brought the van home completely repainted (well, not the whole van, but the p.m. part) and detailed inside out! It was a great improvement to the piece of artwork I'd been driving for the past two weeks and best of all it only cost $350 instead of $1600! We started our fourth at some friends house having breakfast and then headed to the local fourth of July parade! Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at home barbequeing and hanging out! We topped it off with some great margaritas in the jacuzzi (post kiddo bedtime) where we had a fabulous view of the cities local fireworks show! The best part was that I was only fifty feet from my bed at the end of the big show! It doesn't get any better than that!

The Graduate, The Party, The Kids, The Baptism and more...

Hope this works...I'm using the crazy mac that formats my pictures on its own. They could have a mind of their own!

Tales From the P.M.

and I don't mean the night time! So the other day, my mom and sister took a walk with Wyatt and Addie down to this shopping center near our house to buy some strawberries from a local stand that sells in that center. Anyway, the stand had sold out so my sister ended up going to the grocery store to buy the berries. The plan was for me to drive down and pick every one up because it was quite a warm day out and the kids wanted to walk but probably wouldn't have made it both directions. So, I proceeded to drive down and saw my sister enter the grocery store. The produce is right up front and the self check out is also right at the entrance. So I thought it wouldn''t take much time at all so I just parked by the curb next to the parking spots right by the entrance of the store. So you may say, where is this story going? I thought nothing of my decision and put the car in park and just sort of people watched as shoppers went in and out of the store. Finally, a few minutes later my sister came out with a gasp on her face like I was a complete idiot for parking there. I was picturing her making the same decision and said she was crazy for thinking I shouldn't have parked there. To which she replied, "You're right, but not with a penis on the side of my car!" And right there I had my own moment of speechlessness that David had had earlier. I had completely forgotten about the P.M. and about fifteen people must have seen our artistic contribution as they walked out of the grocery store! Oops!

More on the P.M.

It certainly pays to have someone in the car business. My dad is having the auto body guy at the dealership where he works fix the van and he is only charging us $350 as opposed to the original $1600 quote. Thank you Lord!

New Digits

Our new contact info is listed below. I will leave the phone numbers up for a while but the address only for a few days. Our address will change in August/September as will my phone number!

Heather Cell: 314-749-1244, juelfsfam@hotmail.com
David Cell: 949-610-3977, davidj@redeemerpres.com

41573 Yankee Run Ct
Temecula,CA 92951

My Very Bad, Not so Good Few Days

Sunday Lila was baptized. This should have been a joyous occasion, which I should clarify it really was, however it was marked with quite a few whoppers. We have an hour commute to church for these few months which is taking its toll. So, at 7:45am when David went to load the older kids in the car and he proceeded to the driver's side door, he said his mouth just dropped. It was one of the few times in his life he's been left speechless. If you know David, he always has something to say, so this was an unusual situation. But just what does one say upon noticing someone has scratched a picture of male genetalia on your car. I on the other hand had quite a few things to say about the situation! I have made the executive decesion to not post the picture for those who might be humored by it. Anyway, we only had about a minute to give it any thought before hopping in and driving the penis mobile to church for all to see. This particular commute, Addie was so fussy. I finally had had it, so I went in the way back where the older kids were seated to find that she had pooped and it was squirting out her bloomers. I yelled to David to pull over but we were right at a freeway interchange, so it took a few maneuvers to get to a roadside Denny's to clean ber. Thankfully my mom was about an hour behind us and she brought us some clothes for the poor little peach. We proceeded to church and had a beautiful baptism service for Lila followed by a lunch with all of my family celebrating Father's Day and the baptism.

So, today I proceeded to load everyone in the penis mobile to go get some estimates so we could rule out whether to involve insurance or not. I thought since it was only on one door we'd probably not reach our 500 dollar deductable. So, imagine my surprise or shock for that matter when i received word that the total cost for removal of a penis off one's side door is $1600! Yes, I thought to myself, just remember that when your young adolescent boy does something hanously stupid...other young adolescent boys have come before him! And no, unfortunately, we haven't found the lamo who did it. And yes, if and when we do, he will be quite sorry for what he did and also quite forgiven. Not to mention about $1600 poorer!

What We've Been Up To...

Sorry for the lack of pictures! Since my computer is in storage and David has the Mac most days, I've been struggling to download my pictures on our computer and post them. So for now, I guess you just get the verbal rundown.

David-new job, ordination prep, oh, and more ordination prep!
Wyatt-growing a new hairdo (pics later), making new friends, swimming and more swimming!
Addie Grace- wearing pigtails (or pigtail for that matter), talking and MORE talking!
Lila- smiling, cooing, sleeping and MORE sleeping!
Heather- running (yipee), sleeping and MORE sleeping!

We are blessed to stay with my parents. I can't believe they haven't kicked us out yet! What a picture of grace towards another person or in our case family to allow five people into your home to invade your lives! Thanks, Mom and Dad! David is studying several days a week and in Orange County at the office the other days. The kids love our church so far. Wyatt has found a few friends that are his age and it is so great to watch them play. The two boys taught him how to play "sandwich" (two slices of bread one piece of cheese)! I'll let it remain a mystery what part of the sandwich Wyatt insisted on being! Addie truly is talking like I've never heard before. She is saying all sorts of complete sentences. She understands every word one says. Nothing gets by her. It is really fun to watch her. She is also very interested in doing things her "delf" or herself! Her independence is quite amuzing like when she refuses your offer to boost her up the stairs only to put her hand on her rear and give herself a boost. Lila is proving to be a trooper. She is the easiest baby and a gift to me! She is sleeping great too. Since about seven weeks she started sleeping between six and eight hours straight. She has even slept for nine hours too! She is flipping over which poses a few sleeping challenges, but she certainly has allowed for some longer stretches for me to sleep too! I arrived a few days before my sister's house warming party which actually turned out to be a surprise party for my 30th birthday with family! It was such a great gift to me! After celebrating my birthday in competition with finals for three years now and graduation and moving this year, it was a welcomed change! David has always made this day special in spite of the chaos of school, but it still makes for a less than desirable time to celebrate one's birthday! I even told him I was kind of depressed on my birthday because I wanted to celebrate it with family, so this truly was a surprise that was perfectly timed! My mom ordered this fabulous cake from a bakery where our wedding cake was made. It was decorated to match the invitation...too cute! The flavor...banana with tiramisu filling...I know it sounds crazy but it was delecious for dessert and breakfast the next day!

I guess that wraps up this update! Maybe next time I'll give you the pictures for all these events! I miss everyone at Gulf Drive! I've enjoyed reading about all of the babies born and babies to come!

When Your Husband Shouldn't Start a New Job as a Pastor...

another note to self...The best time for your husband to start a new job as a pastor is not when you have a nursing infant! More on this issue later but all in all our first Sunday at Redeemer was wonderful and quite welcoming. We had a great luncheon with everyone following the worship service. It is certainly exciting to embark on the post Seminary life!

Apparently not reason enough...

Here i found a new reason to blog(see below) and since then I haven't found anything to blog about. Well, I guess that isn't really true...I have too much to blog about and not enough time. I have so many pictures to post and things to write about with graduation, a new baby, my birthday, the move and David's new job! I promise i will update soon!

A New Reason to Blog

It is not as if I have given up on blogging, but I have spent three blogging years in a quandry. Finally, I have found a solution. As a former scapbooker turned blogger, the guilt over logging our family history on the internet with no hard copy to look through on our own (and certainly nothing to share with the non technoligically savvy grandparents) was driving me crazy! I wanted each of the kids to have a scrapbook, but where do I draw the line? I was pleasantly blogging our family memories and troubled by my efforts wondering where our family memories would be in thirty years. David, the computer backup Nazi, would often remind me of this question. So, here is the perfect solution! (Thanks Jen and Dan! I can't wait to make our book of the Seminary Years!)

Turn your blog into a book! At http://www.blurb.com/, you can take all of those long hours of memory making on the web into a book! I've yet to make ours seeing as though we have three days until graduation and seven until the move. Then, our Seminary Years will be complete and I will be ready to turn this chapter of our lives into a book!

Gone are the days of scrapbooking and guilt over incomplete projects! Well, I will still make a scrapbook for each kid, but that's where I draw the line! I know some of you scrapbooking fans think the creativity and personal touch will be lost, but I think this is the perfect merging of two hobbies giving me a new reason to keep the blog going!

My Other Favorite Gift

David also got me this great coffe mug which is actually a french press. I am ready to throw away the coffee pot because we each have our own mug. It brews about three cups of coffee and it stays warm for hours without the burnt taste! After two unwanted trips out bed in the middle of the night...finally there is something to get me excited about getting out of bed!

a little pink to brighten my day...

So yesterday pretty much sucked. Lila has thrush and pleasantly has passed it along to me. We have both been treating it for almost ten days and there seems to be no change. I have been reading that most people have to try several different medications to find the right one for them...not so encouraging considering two weeks until the move, insurance changes and finding new doctors! David came home just a few minutes before I had to leave for the Senior Wive's Dessert (worthy of its own post, but probably won't get one) and I was pretty much completely overwhelmed and depressed. So he gave me my birthday present two days early! He bought me a pink ipod nano engraved on the back "far above jewels Proverbs 31:10 HJJ the treasure of my heart." He chose pink so it would be completely mine and he'd have no temptation to borrow it! Quite thoughtful considering very few things are just mine at this stage in life. So here's to the beginning of the birthday celebration...30, finals,graduation, and moving. Let the party begin.