Arpmichiganders

A long awaited update...

2011-04-20T06:00:00.001-07:00

First I would like to apologize (especially to Beth:) for failing to update this blog regularly. However a LOT has been going on in the Arp house for the last 6 months or so. We have been adding to our family yet again. The story of Dakota all started before Ainsley was even conceived. I had a friend at church (shout out to Kendra Chambers) who said she had a family we should meet that was keeing their great nephew and might need an adoptive family for him. At the time we had just started our adoption process and we were really thinking about a baby girl, not a four/five year old boy. A few months later just after we finished our homestudy, I found out I was pregnant. Surprise! And of course then we found out that we were having a girl...it was as if God said "well here's your girl so that obstacle is out of the way." And He really started working on us. During my pregnancy I talked to Kendra a few times about Dakota and then Andrew and I decided to meet him and his aunt just so we could talk and the boys could play. So the first time we met Ainsley was a little over a month old. We then met multiple times and the boys LOVED playing together. Then God began working on us again. We were slowly falling in love with Dakota. One week we were talking and decided that if Dakota's aunt asked us, we would adopt him. So as God would have it she asked and we accepted and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. He is the sweetest little boy ever. He and Jonas just LOVE each other. They even refer to each other as "twin brothers from another mother" already, HA! And he absolutely loves Ainsley. He kisses on her and tells her he loves her constantly. We are still getting used to being a family of five, but we wouldnt change it for anything in the world.

Another Arp Whirlwind!

2010-11-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

I think every time I post I say we have been busy here at the Arp house. You would think I would just get used to it and eventually all our busy-ness would seem normal, but no such luck. The last month has been yet another whirlwind. It started with Andrew heading to South Africa, and the kids and I heading to Chattanooga for some much needed help while he was away. For 3 wks we were separated. Andrew went with another pastor from our church to help resource and teach a conference to the people in South Africa. He had the time of his life. He really fell in love with all the people, and he loved being able to see the world. Meantime, Jonas, Ainsley, and I braved the friendly skies to go visit all our family down in Chattanooga. We got to see everyone and we even got meet the newest member of our family baby Ella, and Ainsley and I attended Mitchell and Angela's wedding. It was an awesome time with family, but we couldn't wait to get our little family back together. Since being back we have celebrated our first Halloween with Ainsley (who dressed as a kitty cat, while Jonas chose his costume for the first time; a transformer) and we have gotten back into the swing of things. We are getting ready to celebrate Jonas' birthday with a trip to Splash Village (an indoor waterpark/hotel about 20min. north of us). Soon it will be thanksgiving and before we know it Christmas will be here. We can't wait to see all our family again. Thanks to everyone for all the help while Andrew was away...you really made the time fly! We will post pics soon of Halloween, Jonas' Birthday, and Thanksgiving soon. We love you all!

Can I borrow some time?

2010-09-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Time really flies. This week Jonas started pre-school...PRE-SCHOOL! I really can't believe it. It seems like we were just sitting in the adoption office nervously signing papers as quickly as we could so we could meet our new little man, and now he's off to school:( He totally loves it even if it does make me a little sad. He goes four days a week Monday thru Thursday fro 9:15 to 12:45. His teachers are awesome and he loves all his new friends. As you can tell from the picture he was really excited...and still is! It is going to be an awesome thing for him, and I love getting to observe the end of his class everyday when I pick him up. Today they were finishing up with a dance where they jumped, froze, danced fast, and danced slow. Jonas LOVED it! He was hilarious he was doing each move to the fullest and when they got to the slow part he danced so ridiculously slow that I had to laugh:) While he's at school Ainsley and I hang out, do errands, and get the house clean. This new routine is really fun...even if I feel like time is just flying by and if there was a way I could borrow any or just stop it all together, believe me I would.

I forgot to post the last preggo pic so here it is

2010-09-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

The first 2 months...

2010-09-09T16:15:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe, but Ainsley is already 2 months old. We are in full swing as a family of four. Andrew is super busy at the church (as always) but still loving every minute of it, and the kids and I have settled in to daily life at home. Jonas loves his new baby sister and he is such a good big brother. He actually starts pre-school on Sept.21st which totally makes Andrew and I sad. It seems like just yesterday I was swaddling him up and now he's getting ready to head to school like a big boy. For that reason, we are trying to cherish every single moment we have with both of them. Time really does go too fast. I (Crystal) am holding off school for one more semester so we can all get a little more settled. Ainsley is growing like a weed. We just found out that she has reflux and we are trying to get that under control so she can feel better. She is awake more often and has even started to coo and smile. We all have so much fun with her. Every time she is awake Jonas says she is looking at him. It is so sweet. So all in all the Arps are great. Life is crazy and hectic, but we wouldn't change it for the world. As I type this Ainsley is crying in the background while Andrew tries to comfort her, I smell like spit up, and Jonas is yelling down from the bath tub, but I can truly say we are so blessed. I wouldn't trade this life for anything else in the world.

Oh there you are!

2010-08-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

So if you have been keeping up with us you probably know that the last few weeks have been quite eventful in the Arp house. Ainsley was finally born on July 9th, 2010. She was really comfy in there so on Thursday July 8th we went in to be induced. Everything was pretty uneventful for the first 12 hours of labor. We got there at 7pm and they gave me a little medicine to start induction. At about 2am things really seemed to be picking up. I was having contractions about every 1 to 2 minutes and they were lasting almost a minute. However, when the doctor came in to check and see how much progress we were making at 7am he took one look at me and knew something just wasn't right because Ainsley was still really high. When he checked I was still only 2cm dilated and her head wasn't even engaged. So in the midst of hard contractions he sent me for an ultrasound and they found out that her head was way too big! 39.5cm to be exact which apparently is very large by baby standards. So after that they started talking about a c-section. I was pretty bummed because I had "planned" (as much as anyone can actually plan anything) to go completely natural (i.e. no drugs). But once the doctor explained how not only I could be compromised, but because of how large her head was Ainsley could be compromised too (b/c of possible brain swelling) the c-section was the obvious choice. So at 10:30 we headed into the O.R, and at 11:07am Ainsley opened her eyes to the world for the first time. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. The first time she cried Andrew turned to me and said "she's here! we did it!" Years, literally years have lead up to this moment. The most amazing thing however, was that when I first saw Ainsley and heard her cry I felt like "who is this stranger?" it was the same feeling, the same exact feeling I had when I walked into the room to get Jonas. The feeling that this new little stranger was just the person I had been looking for. It was beyond words. Since then our lives have changed dramatically. Having 2 kids is double the blessing, and double the work. We are still learning how this family of four is going to work. Jonas LOVES Ainsley. I mean loves her, almost too much:) He always wants to give her her paci and throw her diapers away. He has been such a helper and such a protector. Andrew and I have been really busy with visits from family and friends. Andrew even had to leave us all last week to speak at camp. So if you were thinking that now we would have to slow down...wrong, its just not the Arp way. My recovery has gone great. I am 3wks out now and feeling pretty good, just a little tired still. Ainsley is a great baby. We have figured out that if we wake her up at 9pm and keep her up until 11 or 12 she will sleep 5-6hrs in one stretch! She is really happy too...she only cries if she needs something and she LOVES to be cuddled. So while our world has changed a lot in the last 3wks we wouldn't have it any other way! We have loved all the meals that all our church family has brought us and we have really loved all the visitors from Noni, Pop, Auntie Alecia, Luke, Gran-Gran, Pop-Pop, MeMe, Pa, Auntie Alyssa, Heather, Lilly, and Cindy! This has been an amazing time of miracles in our life and we love being able to share it with everyone. Oh and if you are wondering what is going on with the adoption? yes we are still planning to adopt...we have to update our homestudy since we have another little person living in our house, and then we will be "waiting" again. We ask that as you pray for our growing family you continue to pray for our child that's out there somewhere! We love you all and cant wait until each and everyone of you can hold our second little miracle in your hands....wow 2 miracles...we are so blessed!

39 Weeks...Ainsley, where are you?

2010-07-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

So I figure since Crystal is consumed with the squatter inside her, it falls to me to update the blog. We are at 39 weeks and holding (I guess that is what it is like when people turn 39 and hold). We are not exactly sure when Ainsley will arrive, but we are so excited.Her nursery is completed and we have enough clothes to last her to her fifth birthday. Jonas appears to be excited, but we are not sure that he really knows what is in store. Nursery pics as well as belly bump night pics are below. My mom has been up here helping with Jonas and some of the house work and has been quite the life saver. So now, we are simply waiting. We have walked, ate spicy food, and even contemplated jumping on a trampoline. But I am sure that when she does arrive, she will be perfect. Thanks for your prayers and your love across the miles.

Grace and Peace

22 wks!

2010-03-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

Well I am 22 wks this week and you would think that I would be getting used to the idea that I am actually pregnant, but it still surprises me at times. I just said this morning "isn't it so weird that this is actually happening." It just feels like an awesome dream. I love every second of being pregnant...yes even the sick ones because I would rather be sick and get to experience this awesome miracle than to never be able to. So the last month has held many things in the life of baby Arp. We had our big 20 wk appointment and we found out we are having a GIRL!!! We are beyond excited! Its weird though because for some reason we always felt she was a girl. I guess there is something to intuition after all. From all signs she is mostly healthy. They did find a small spot on her left kidney that they think is external renal pelvis. Two things we have learned from this: one- this condition is something that will probably not affect her at all. In fact, many people live with it and don't know they have it. However, it does make her unique...which with parents like us it was bound to happen sometime:) and two-apparently everyone's kidney has a pelvis...who knew? So all in all if something had to be not quite right its a good one to pick. This also means we get to have more ultrasounds which is exciting. So we will probably have more pictures of her before she gets here then we have of Jonas this whole last year:) (we are really bad about taking pictures) Let's see also in the last four weeks she has gone from the size of bell pepper to a butter nut squash and she now weighs as much as a bag of chips...I'm getting hungry. I can also feel her every MOVE! I have waited my whole life to fell this and it is so worth it. I am actually sad that I won't be able to feel it once she is born. But its almost like I can already see her personality through her movements. For instance, if there is a loud noise or if I eat something she likes/hates she moves like crazy and lets me know! We have also picked a name for her Ainsley Drew Arp...we love it and it is so cute to hear Jonas say it.

In other news, I started school and will be done in another week or so. (they were only 5 wk classes thank goodness)

We are also going on vacation in about another week. We are going to stay with our friends Nanner and Vern in Lakeland, FL. While we are there we are going to take Jonas to Disney. I think we are just as excited as Jonas to see him take it all in. We did the whole give a day get a day volunteer program with Disney to get free tickets for Andrew and I, so all we have to pay for is Jonas...isn't that awesome? We even scheduled ourselves to start off the day by having breakfast with Goofy...Jonas is going to freak!

He also gets to ride an airplane, which he hasn't stopped talking about since we told him. While we are there my mom will be in Tampa so we get to hang out with her and we get to see our friends Paul and Jennifer too! I really cannot wait!

Jonas is growing like a weed. His new favorite thing to do is say that things are "cool." Its really cute. He has also started to love playing dress up...I even caught him in my heels one day:) In the car, he loves listening to Billy Holiday and doing "jazz hands"...its a little disturbing, but still cute. He just says the funniest things all the time..like today I wore a skirt and he said are you going dancing mom? Where does he come up with these things...and yes he does call us mom and dad like he's 17 or something.

Andrew is great...a little under the weather right now, but good. He is constantly trying to feel Ainsley move, but everytime he tries she stops moving. We think he is a calming influence on her. She already has him wrapped around her finger...he is really in for it!

so overall the Arps are great...we are in the midst of a miracle and a really sunny period in our lives. We intend on cherishing all these moments we are being blessed with....God is just incredible and we are daily humbled by his love!

18 wks and counting...

2010-02-11T15:58:00.001-08:00

17wks 5days...

2010-02-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

Well as most of you know by now I was released from bedrest at 16wks...yay! So that explains why I havent updated the blog in a little over a week and a half. Freedom has been great and I feel amazing. I think I am finally starting to hit what they call the "honeymoon" stage of pregnancy. This is truly an amazing experience and I am so thankful for every single day. Its so strange because I am really showing now but I still tell Andrew I dont feel like I look that pregnant. He just looks at me like I'm crazy, but I guess when its your body the growth is so slow that it sneaks up on you. I promise to take another picture at 18 wks so everyone can see what I'm talking about:) Ok now some updates on the baby...we went to the Dr. last week and the heartrate was 160 which apparently is normal even though it sounds really high. We recently read on babycenter.com that the baby will double in size from week 16 to 20. This week it is the size and weight of a turnip but by 20 weeks it will be as long as a banana! That is so insane! We go for our big ultrasound on March 1st. Thats when they check all the sizes and shapes of everything from its head, to its heart, to its toes. That is also when they will tell us what we are having!!! We have an educated guess, but we will have to wait to see if we are right or not. We are still just so amazed at this miracle it is so crazy. And for me being pregnant has really made me feel closer not just to Andrew but to Jonas as well. Its like I can imagine what it must have been like to carry him. I think if anything pregnancy has made me more appreciative of adoption. Since we are in the middle of our second adoption its crazy how often I think about both babies. I think about what the biological one is doing in there and I wonder what our future adopted one is doing also. It sounds cheesy but I really do feel as if I am carrying twins of sorts. It really is hard to explain how the experiences feel so similar. I often wonder if our waiting child is conceived yet or is already born, and I often think when I am at the doctor I wonder if our new birthmother is going through the same things. I wonder if while she is at the doctor she thinks about us as much as I think about her when we are there. For anyone who has adopted I am sure that you can relate, and for those of you who havent adopted I hope I have explained it as well as possible. This is truly the most amazing experience of my life. I know that some people think that adopting and being pregnant at the same time sounds crazy but I would never have it another way...its just so magical in so many ways. God is so good and I am really humbled at the blessings he has given our family.

15 wks and growing!

2010-01-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

Well today marks the 15wk mark! We are still so amazed at how God works. According to babycenter.com the baby is the size of an apple this week. An apple, isn't that crazy! I know he/she will be getting a lot bigger in the coming months, but right now an apple seems really big to me. Plus, I feel really big. I feel like in the last two weeks I have gone from a slight bump to a full out prego belly. I know I know its only just begun, but it is really hard to imagine my body morphing so much. There are numerous times a day/week depending when I say to andrew " I dont really look pregnant today do I?" He then usually tells me to turn sideways and ask him again. Its just so weird because I have moments where I feel huge but most of the time I feel normal until I catch a glimpse of myself and I'm like "That is so crazy I really am pregnant." Its so weird. Also this week, they say if I shine a flashlight at my belly the baby will see it and move away from it. This seems pointless though since shining a flashlight in someones face is both rude and intrusive, and because I can't feel it move anyways. I am so happy that we are going strong though. In fact, in five weeks or so we should be able to find out what it is...again how exciting. Jonas is still telling us he wants a sister and even has a name he's fond of, but we aren't spilling the beans until we know what it is and have agreed on a name for sure. I am still on bedrest for another weeks and a half or so and will hopefull be off it by 16.5 wks. So please keep praying and keep hoping! We have still not heard anything from the adoption front. It is beginning to look more and more like these babies want to come at the same time. We are just so excited and so blessed...we are just more and more amazed by God with every passing day!

This baby is grounded...

2010-01-20T09:59:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I have already discussed it and we have decided that when this baby gets here it is going to be grounded for at least the first year of its life. Just when we think everything is about to return back to normal...normal seems to elude us. This week it all started last thursday. My bleeding had finally stopped and the doctors gave me the green light to go on our Mid-Winter Retreat with our 7th and 8th graders. I got really excited and other than needing frequent naps, the weekend was wonderful. We had a great time with the kids, Jonas had a great time with his friend Hope and her family, and we spent the entire day Monday resting up. Jonas was acting a little under the weather but nothing major. Monday night we had a friend bring us dinner (thanks again Christine) and everything seemed headed toward normal. That was until about nine o'clock. I went to the bathroom and passed a pretty big clot, which mildly alarmed me. Soon though I started feeling a little sick at my stomach but after a couple of hours it passed. When Tuesday morning came I called the doctors and told them about the clot so they could put it in my chart. However, they seemed more than mildly alarmed and told me to come in immediately for an ultrasound. An hour (and another 5 yrs off my life; again this baby is grounded) later we found out everything is perfectly normal and apparently the clot was the last hoorah because they think the tear has even healed...yay! So we went home elated and sporting pictures of our "lemon-sized baby." I was told to go back on bed rest until 16wks but everything was great! A few hours after we got home Andrew started feeling sick and as it turns out got the worst case of the stomach flu in our house. He was up all night and is still recovering. He's actually not even going to church tonight so he must feel pretty horrible. Hopefully soon we will be able to find whatever normal we can. As for Jonas he is at a friends because neither of his parents can care for him, but he doesn't seem to mind:) He's getting all kinds of attention and special outings. He should be home soon and it will be family nap time. I will leave you with some absolutely priceless pics of our new baby:)

14wks...let the second trimester begin...

2010-01-14T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well we have officially made it to the second trimester. You may be like me and naively think that the second trimester begins at 12 weeks but no in fact they don't consider you second trimester until 14 wks. Who knew? This is just one of the detailed facts I have learned since becoming pregnant, but who cares we finally made it!!! I feel so much more confident and am starting to really accept the fact that there really is a baby in there. In fact I experienced my first belly touch today. I still think I just look like one of those high school girls that wears their pants to tight and ends up with a slightly prego belly on top, but Andrew assures me that no it is too round to be considered a muffin top. (He's so sweet) Anyways back to the belly touch...it happened at the dentist's office today I followed the tech to the room and she got me just before I sat down. She put her hand firmly on my stomach and said "What's this?"(I'm pretty confident she had inside info from my chart) I never really understood how unnerving it is to have a stranger touch your stomach (especially when its poking out a bit). I know this is only going to get worse, and for those of you who know I'm not too fond of touching this should be a challenge. It's kind of funny though how people who normally would never just reach out and touch a strangers stomach will feel compelled to once they know you are pregnant:) I think it will maybe be better once I can feel the baby move, but right now it just feels like they are touching my pooching belly...not cool.

Anyways in other news the tear seems to be healing (my symptoms have gone away) maybe they will do an ultrasound to confirm that for sure, until then I have another 2 wks of the modified bed rest. However they did clear me to go on our Junior high retreat this weekend as long as I promise to rest and take care of myself which of course is my number one priority. It will be nice to get out of the house though...I can hardly wait. Everyone else is doing great. I could not ask for a more understanding and patient husband. Andrew has just been incredible! Jonas is doing good also. He had his first dentist appointment today and he did really great. I had to sit in the chair with him but he let them clean and even floss his teeth. I was so proud. He is so excited about a sibling. He always says he wants a sister so we will see.

There is no news on the adoption front, but we did tell our social worker about the pregnancy and she was really excited. Hopefully the adoption will go through soon. I am feeling myself growing impatient as the weeks go on, but all in Gods time which is always perfect. This is just such an exciting journey I am trying to remind myself to enjoy the steps along the way and not to look too far ahead. I think thats easier said than done but its another lesson I am happy to learn.

13 wks! (first belly pic)

2010-01-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

13wks down only 27 to go...

2010-01-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would write a little about how this pregnancy has been so far. Like I said in my last blog we found out we were pregnant in November and as soon as we got the news to the doctor they put me on a strict regimen of baby aspirin, 3x's the amount of folic acid, a prenatal vitamin, and supplemental progesterone daily. The first 11.5 wks flew by and were really uneventful. At 11 wks 4days however things took a little bit of a turn. I had some bleeding and had to go to the E.R. We feared the worse but were semi-reassured when we found out that the baby was fine (in fact it was moving around like crazy) and its heartbeat was 176 ("good and strong"). It turns out I have a small tear in my placenta. This sounds scary but is one of the few conditions that doesn't affect the baby. So YAY! I am just on modified bedrest which means no heavy lifting (no more than a gallon of milk-sorry Jonas), not a lot of walking (which seems pretty vague if you ask me), and as much rest as possible (laying or sitting in the bed). This was supposed to only last 3wks but today it got extended another 3wks. So I will be pretty much in the bed until 16wks. It will all be so worth it though so I just have to keep my eyes on the goal. Most people's reaction when I tell them about this "modified bed rest" is a sarcastic "Oh poor you, you have to get Andrew to do everything that must be so bad." Well trust me the first three days were pretty good I was given full permission to be lazy, but after that I have quickly learned that resting is a full-time job. It is hard to rely on people for everything, but it is definitely a lesson in humility and sacrifice. So while I rely on everyone else I have to remember that I have one little tiny being that is relying on me for everything and that is my number one job right now. So other than that things are moving right along. The baby is the size of a small peach and next week will be the size of a lemon (that is just CRAZY). It is fully formed now and just needs to fine tune all its organs for the next 27wks. I am so blessed to have this experience and haven't once taken it for granted. It is crazy that God gives us women the amazing gift of actually carrying a human being inside us while He fully forms all its parts. That is a concept that I don't think I will ever get over.

In other news...

We told our adoption agency that we are pregnant and they were so excited. They said it will not affect our adoption at all and in fact they have had several birth families come in recently. Maybe one of those families will be ours...We cannot wait to meet both of our new children. God is just incredible!

oh p.s. I promise I will have belly pics soon...right now there's not too much to show...

Proof that God has a sense of humor:)

2010-01-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Well as you all know we have been in the adoption process since May. It is going much slower than Jonas' but we know that our child is out there so we are keeping the faith. What most of you don't know is that in November we found out that God has quite the sense of humor. I (crystal) have always loved the saying that "if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans." Never did I ever think that that would be so true for us. See when we first got married we had a plan...get married and have kids, but God has something else in mind. So after three years of infertility we felt God calling us to something bigger...adoption. Soon Jonas came into our lives and there has never been a happier moment. So we thought "ok God new plan...we will adopt all of our children," but 2 yrs ago our plans changed again when we unexpectedly got pregnant. Immediately we thought "oh we get it so we will adopt and have biological children, thats cool," but those plans soon changed too when we suffered 2 miscarriages in the last 2 years. So we were back to our original plan of adopting all our children. Then in November God showed us that he was in control again when we found out that WE ARE PREGNANT!! We have entered this new journey with much trepidation. We never know what is next and for a constant worrier like me that is a hard pill to swallow, so we have kept very quiet until now. I am currently 13 wks pregnant and by all accounts in the clear. The new peanut is healthy and it looks like this whole pregnancy thing is really going to happen. It is so surreal to think that I will actually carry a child. I am still trying to wrap my mind around it. So about now most of you are probably asking yourselves "so what about the adoption?" Well that is a go as well. Adoption is something that we really feel called to and we feel like God is leading us to our child now. I know it sounds crazy, but God always seems to call people to crazy things. We are so blessed beyond belief to be given the gift of life and adoption all at the same time! We can't wait to meet both of our children and Jonas is so ready for a brother or sister or both! He can't decide which he wants more, but he is constantly talking about it. We aren't sure he really understands everything, but we do know he will be excited. We are truly humbled by how God has formed our family...we cant wait to see his completed work! We ask that you pray for us and all of our children, please pray for our adopted child's biological family as well. We also ask that you journey with us, get excited, and keep checking out our blog for upcoming belly pics, adoption info, and everything else God has in store for us....2010 looks like a GREAT year for the Arp family!!!

Busy Busy Busy

2009-10-02T14:48:00.001-07:00

We never seem to slow down! Since our last post Crystal and Jonas travelled to Chattanooga for two and a half weeks (me for 1 of those), we hosted a Jr High Lock-In, a 5th and 6th grade Back to School Bash, and went on Pastors and Spouses retreat to Petoskey, MI. Talk about a busy month. But every part of it was fun.

While in Chattanooga, Crystal and Jonas were able to do all sorts of stuff. They went to the aquarium, the Chattanooga zoo, The Creative Discovery Museum, The Tennessee Valley Railroad, and Pop and Nonni took Jonas and Luke to Lake Winnepesaukah. While all of this was happening, I got to go Salmon fishing on Lake Michigan (I caught a 20lb King) and I hosted a Jr. high Lock-in.

Then there was the wedding of Sarah Elizabeth Brown ad John

Robertson Childs (I officiated, can you tell?). Jonas and Crystal were in the wedding and the fun part is that Crystal walked down the aisle right before our little ring bearer and so she had to trust that he was doing ok. He made it half-way down the aisle before he chucked his pillow and then came straight to daddy, who was standing front and center,

trying to look as much like a professional clergy as possible. With Jonas clinging to the robes, we looked towards our back-up plan and Jonas was able to exit during the opening prayer. But we are attaching some pictures below so you can envision the action.

Two weeks after we returned home from Chatty, Crystal and I let Jonas with some friends to head up north to Petoskey for the Ministers and Spouses retreat. Petoskey is absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed the time away. I was even able to play a little golf with three of the other associates from our church while Crystal got to shop with their wives. So although it has been a busy month, it has also been a rewarding month and we are blessed to have friends and family who think of us across the miles.

Did we mention it has already gotten into the 30s here...so much for a mild winter.

Grace and Peace

Andrew, Crystal and Jonas

God is so Good...

2009-08-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

We have already said and I'm sure you've gathered that we are extremely busy. It seems that we are constantly on the move and have very few moments to just sit back and smell the roses. Amid our schedule at the church, our adoption process, and just general life we can sometimes forget or just simply neglect to see how truly blessed we are. Its at times like these that God sends little messengers to remind you of how great the life you live truly is. For us this came Monday afternoon when Jonas started singing "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good He's so good to me..." It was truly one of the sweetest sounds we have ever heard. He has been singing it everyday since at various moments. At moments like these we realize how the simple and sometimes smallest voices can remind us of what is really important, and that even though life is speckled with stress, temper tantrums, and the daily grind for the most part it is bathed in blessings.

Adoption Option....

2009-08-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

We are almost through with our homestudy process now. We need a few more things that we will hopefully be able to get in the next few weeks and then we are ready for our new baby. We have been really encouraged lately because it seems like our friends and families are really helping us through this process. We are still very anxious about the money aspect, but as pastors we are used to being anxious about money. We just keep telling ourselves..."God is bigger than money, God is bigger than money" and we will keep saying it over and over again anytime the anxiety gets too much. We have already been told that our process will probably go quickly due to the fact that we are willing to adopt African-American or bi-racial. Now that the homestudy is coming to a close the fundraising will kick in full force. This adoption is probably going to cost some where between 8-11 thousand dollars. That converts to roughly 1200 or so lip-glosses if you are keeping up with our fundraiser. We have received some orders so far and even one donation from an old friend of Crystal's from high school. So we are really encouraged. We are praying for Gods helps and leadership during this time and for our future daughter, who from all indications, could be growing in her birthmothers belly as we speak. (that is so crazy to think about!) We just ask that everyone pray for her and her birthmother. We will keep you updated as we get more information. Thank you so much for everything you have been and will be to our current and growing family!

Summer Summer Summertime...

2009-07-25T14:44:00.001-07:00

It has been a crazy-busy here in the Arp household ever since June arrived. Who said youth ministry wasn't busy up here in the North? Boy were we wrong. First, I (crystal) went to Reno to visit Jamie, then Andrew went to Orlando (for Gen. Assembly). Last week we had our Annual Mission Project for our jr.highers (7th-8th grade). Its called ReThink: Flint. This year we let them design their own project and it was in a word...amazing. They decided to adopt a park here in Flint and renovate it. We loved this idea because as you can imagine with the economy and all and people in Flint just struggling to keep their jobs renovating parks isnt a priority of the city. So the students picked a park that hadn't been renovated in 15 YEARS. We will try to upload some before and after pics just so you can see how amazing this project was. It was exciting to see God start to change this city through these kids. We wanted to bring a little joy to this sad city and this week did not disappoint. What was sad when we got there looked like a ray of sunshine when we left! I can't wait until next year when we renovate another park it was hard work but WELL worth it. So that was last week. This week we have "off" even though its hardly been restful because of all the appointments we've had to squeeze in during our one week at home. Next week its off to camp. First its jr. high (7th-8th grade) camp then the next week is pre-teen (5th-6th grade camp). Yes you read that right 2 wks of camp in a row ( with Jonas and the dogs in tow...what are we thinking?). The next week is our 7th Anniversary and VBS week. Then we are off for another week in which we have already scheduled more appointments so that we can finish our adoption homestudy. The week after that we are heading to Mackinac (pronounced Mac-in-naw) Island( I AM SO EXCITED!!!) with Derek and Ketly (our youth pastors) and the Fridlines (a family/friends from our group). Then its off to Chatt-town (for 2wks for me and Jonas and 1 week for Andrew) for my 10 year (that cant be right can it?) reunion and Sarah (and John's) Wedding (I am so looking forward to going home). So all in all we are busy and if that weren't enough to keep us on our toes we are right in the middle of our adoption process. It is a crazy, busy, exciting, and blessed time for us. We are on-the-go but we do live in Michigan so we have to get our wiggles out before the dreaded winter sets in:)

2009-07-25T14:01:00.001-07:00

Rare Cinematic Capture

2009-07-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

Even more evasive than the African Cheetah is the young African-American known as Jonas. However, in a moment of sheer brilliance we were able to briefly capture him in his natural habitat reciting his own variation of the Alphabet song. Enjoy this cinematic treasure.

Big Ticket Festival and on to Orlando

2009-06-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

So as soon as Crystal got home for Reno the traveling began again. First of all, as a family we all headed "up north" to Gaylord, MI to the Big Ticket Music Festival. This is an outdoor Christian Concert Festival with 60 bands in 3 days. We really only cared about 4. But we had a blast. We also spent a day and a night at the Otsego Lake state park (yes Crystal was camping, at least some variety thereof) and that was an experience in and of itself. We stayed in a camp site with four other families from our church and we had a blast. There was an intense soccer match between Andrew and about 6 guys under the age of 12. And that same morning, after Jonas got out of the water, he was sitting with Crystal by the fire. All of a sudden he held up his foot and was kind of groaning, "ehh". Turns out he had a leech between his toes. Crystal was a bit squemish as one of our friends helped out...all I could think of was the scene in Stand By Me.

After we got home from the Big Ticket Festival, we settled in for a bit and then I (Andrew) headed down to Orlando for a day or so to present at the General Sunday School Ministry Convention for the 2009 General Assembly. I got to

present on Preteens and had about 75 people at my presentation including some internationals. It went well and there should be a lot of networking opportunities to come.

But we are finally back home and settled in for a bit...at least until camp:)

Check out the pics from Big Ticket Below! And maybe a video of our fearless son braving the big boys slide.

Bachelor Week

2009-06-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

So I am sure everyone is wanting to see how daddy and Jonas are doing while mommy is enjoying a vacation to Reno....Well let me begin with three simple words: schedule, schedule, schedule. Although I thought I was going to be able to put in office time or even perhaps go to a coffee shop for a meeting, I was sadly mistaken. A two-year-old dictates your schedule and as long as you can roll with that flow, you will be all right. For instance, injected into my daily work schedule, we now have designated swing time (side bar story: Recently Jonas was the proud recipient of a slightly used, but new to him swing set from one of the most awesome families in the world: The Owens/Hohn clan. It has become the highlight of most days), run around the yard time, cuddle time, bath time, read story time, and make meals time. The best time to get work done has become nap time (which I must admit would be a lot more fun if it was participatory). But all in all, the week hasn't been too bad. Jonas is a joy bringer. So even though he may test one's patience from time to time, He is the joy of mine and Crystal's life. I just wish she were here to help me experience the joy;)Besides a couple of pics of the first day with the swing set, there is also a pic with no caption needed.

Kids say the darndest things...

2009-05-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

Jonas is becoming such a big boy and such a BIG talker. We laugh a million times a day over some of the things that come out of his mouth. He really is the funniest kid EVER. Here are a few examples. While my dad and step-mom(pa and me-me) were in town we took Jonas to the zoo for the first time. While we were there we went into this monkey house. In the monkey house on one side they had an enclosure for the lion and lioness to be held after their feeding. So there they sat behind glass with a wall in between them. I guess they felt lonely because they started roaring at each other...it was so loud. Jonas was a little scared, but very intrigued. Finally they stopped roaring and we started to leave just then Jonas turned, waved and said "ok bye, bye dinosaur." It was hilarious. Another funny example happened just this week. Our church held a CPR class and since we forgot to get a sitter Jonas had to go with us. He mainly just played around until we got to the AED (Automated Electronic Defibrillator) training portion. For anyone that doesn't know an AED is a device that shocks a persons heart back into a normal rhythm...it works pretty much like the paddles in the movies, but anyone can operate it because it has voice prompts that tell you what to do. So anyways once these were brought out Jonas totally wanted to play with one and since they are just training AED's and don't really work the instructor gave him one to play with in the corner of the room. All of a sudden in the middle of Andrew's CPR test Jonas looks up and says "don't touch the patient" (which he had heard from the voice prompts on the AED) everyone in the room busted out laughing...we laughed so hard we were crying.

Other cute phrases he is saying now is:

"hold you" this is when he wants to be picked up

"your funny" or "that funny?"

"Uh-oh what happened?"

"Where IS it?"

He is also singing all the time. He usually starts with a song from a show or that we sing to him and then does what Andrew calls the remix and just sings it however chooses.

babies, adoption, and fundraising...Oh My!

2009-05-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well we are starting our adoption process again and we are SOOOO excited! Jonas is 2 1/2 now and he is ready to be a BIG brother. It has taken a while, but we have decided to use an agency called Adoption Options World Wide that is based in Detroit. They only work with ten families at a time so they are a small agency but we have heard GREAT things about them. We are just now starting our application process, but we are already thinking about fundraising. (if its anything like Jonas' we need to start now...7 months total that was crazy). My (Crystal) friend Amanda is helping us with a lip-gloss fundraiser through Arbonne where we sell lip glosses and all of the proceeds go to us. We also plan on setting up a website or someway where people can just send donations if they want. Please let us know if you have any ideas, would like to help sell lip-gloss, or want to help in any way. We are really excited, but the cost are quite a burden...for this agency their fees range anywhere from $8,000-11,000. We know that God has opened this door for us and we know that He will do it!...thank you all so much for your prayers for our family and we look forward to sharing our journey as we embark on a new path for our family. Again we are SOOOO excited ( I guess I do say that a lot:D)

This is the website to our new agency: http://www.adoptionoptionsworldwide.com/

I love to ride my bicycle... I love to ride my bike....

2009-05-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

So as you can see Jonas got a "new" bicycle thanks to our wonderful neighbors and their generous grandchildren. He just got it yesterday and he looks so grown up on it. He doesn't understand the concept of peddling at all and he doesn't even really like it for anyone to push him on it. So basically he climbs up on it, sits there, smiles for a while, gets off, and pushes it around the yard. It is so cute, and he looks so sweet in his little helmet which he calls a hat. He is getting so big...its so crazy to think that just 2 yrs ago he only weighed like 5lbs and was so dependant. He is really turning into such a big boy now. Its exciting, but a little sad too. We love watching him grow and seeing all the new things he learns and figures out each day!

iShine Live

2009-05-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned iShine Live in my earlier posts, but I don't think you grasp the magnitue of 800 eight to fourteen year olds gathered to rock out to students their age who are using their talents for the kingdom. It was pretty awesome and I am attaching some pics below so you can catch the vision a little more.

Jonas and Waking Up

2009-05-20T05:39:00.000-07:00

So we have discovered through trial and error that Jonas is not a morning person. He is not really an afternoon person either if he is woken from his nap abruptly. Jonas is...how you say...someone who requires a waking up period before direct interaction. On average this time can be from thirty minutes to an entire hour. Only after this time may you interact with our little angel. Otherwise you may be interacting with a little devil.

Things have been fun here the last week. We had a v

isit from Crystal's dad and stepmom (Meme and Paw per Jonas) and everyone had a great time. We all went to the zoo in Lansing on Friday (pictures below) and we even got two new shower heads out of the visit. :) I was able to enjoy the visit Sunday, but was also wrapped up with the iShine Live tour (www.ishinelive.com) that came through on Saturday. Imagine a concert with 800 8-14 year olds and an 18 hour day. But I had a blast.

Jonas sentence str

ucture has been improving but his favorite phrase has become, "Are you excited?" Evidently Crystal says this a lot. So whenever we are about to eat, go somewhere or do something it is preceded by the phrase, "Are you excited?" So yes, we are excited.

Grace and Peace

So what good is a blog...

2009-05-06T04:04:00.000-07:00

So I am asking myself this morning, what good is a blog if you don't maintain it? So from here on out it is now my goal to update the family blog at a minimal, once a week. That way you can still know what is going on with the Arp clan way up north. So here we go...

Crystal is full swing in school. This is her last quarter before the summer so we are excited about that. We just found out this quarter as well that she can take most, if not all, of her classes on the Flint campus instead of having to drive to Auburn Hills all of the time. FLint Campus 2 miles; Auburn Hills campus 45 miles. Woohoo! We have also had visits from Crystal's mother and stepfather twice in the last month or so and her Dad is coming in two weeks. Crystal also hosted our first ever ModesTea (pronounced Modest Tea) at church for our 5th - 8th grade ladies as a Self-Esteem workshop/Big sister pairing day...yes, you read right. Hosted, as in stood up front for about two hours and facilitated. She is Awesome!

Jonas is going and growing like crazy. As I tell everyone lately, Jonas has two speeds...fast and sleep. He really wouldn't stop if he didn't need sleep. Even two weeks ago when he was battling rotovirus, he really didn't want to stop. He has begun to sing quite a bit and rarely lets Crystal and I get a word in edgewise anymore. His animal noises are his greatest feat as of recently and he particularly has mastered the pig and the llama. He also decided the sound that a truck makes is the hissing sound of air brakes because that is what the garbage truck in front of our house says every week. But Jonas continues to be a blessing even on his most typical terrible twos days.

As for me, things have been busy. At the church, we just opened up our new "Stuck in the Middle Youth Ministries" room for our fifth through eighth grade students. The following week was m Ordination service and I am now an ordained elder in the church of the Nazarene. Otherwise we are just staying busy at the church. We are still looking for that lag/down time in our schedule, but it doesn't really seem to exist. But God has been good to us with a great church family and a great place to minister. We just wish it were a little further south.

Grace and Peace

PS Enjoy the pics:)

The great vaseline incident of 09!

2009-02-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

whenever a two year old gets quiet you know you
should probably suspect something...

especially when jonas gets quiet...

This was definitely true today!

Jonas was quiet and Andrew went to check on him...all I heard was you have to come see this...I walked into Jonas' room to find him sitting on

the changing table COVERED in vaseline!...my first question was how did he get on the changing table?...well it appears that he climbed up his chair onto the changing table opened the vaseline and rubbed it all over his

clothes, ha

nds and hair...what could we do but laugh? (and take pictures of cou

rse)...it was hilarious he had so much vaseline in his hair it was turning white...so

Andrew and I divvied up jobs..he took the room..i took the boy...I got him in the bath and thought...this is vaseline it repels water..how i

n the world am I going to get this out of his hair...I brainstormed and thought...dish

washing liquid...we have some dawn and if its good enough for the animals in the oil spills it should work for this right?...wrong it just soaped up like

crazy, so we tried regular shampoo..yeah right...at this point andrew was finished...

So he got online and thanks to google we learned that this fastest way to get vaseline out of hair is...cornstarch...who knew?...well being that we arent big cookers Andrew went downstairs and found Cornmeal...thats pretty much the same right?...I know what you're thinking but believe it or not it actually worked...I think its safe to say that Jonas doesnt have to worry about being ashy for a while:)...For your entertaining pleasure we posted the pictures and video...Happy Valentines Day!

Our Jr. High Retreat

2009-01-30T06:59:00.001-08:00

Well we are now two weeks out, so I guess we can officially say we survived our first Jr. High Mid-Winter Retreat in Michigan. Our retreat consisted of us driving three hours north (and yes we were still in America) to Kalkaska, MI with 40 7th and 8th graders. We had a band from Olivet lead us in worship and Mark Thompson was our speaker. It was pretty rockin'. We even went snow tubing for a couple of hours on Saturday and had an amazing time all weekend. And as I always say...it's a great event when nobody cried, nobody died. I am attaching a few pictures for your enjoyment.

Grace and Peace

Warming Trend

2008-12-27T12:46:00.000-08:00

So today we experienced a warming trend in Flint. Enough so that Jonas was able to go and play with his new toy! Here are some pics and a video from the experience.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

Well so far Christmas Day 2008 has been action packed. Jonas has already played so hard he is down for a Christmas nap so that is an opportunity for me to update the blog. Jonas received several presets at the hands of Santa Claus a.k.a. (A collaboration of Noni, Meme, Gran-Gran, Pa, Pop, Pop-Pop, Mom, and Dad). We are attaching a video of his first reaction to this bounty and I apologize to all for my Lovely Red Pajamas that I bought for fun not realizing that they would be making a cinematic debut this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Enjoy.

A couple of videos

2008-12-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

For those of you who enjoy watching Jonas in action, here are a couple of videos. The first is one of him with his cousin Luke just chilling and drinking some milk. The second is Jonas performance of Happy Birthday Jesus this past Sunday at church...for those of you having trouble spotting him, he is the african-american in the middle with the white mother (Our apologies for the cinematography, it was shot by a Jr. Higher).

Grace and Peace

Snow, Snow, Snow!

2008-12-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

So over the past 24hrs we have gotten over 8" of fresh snow. We are learning the life of a Michigander the fun way as well. Most of you down south would view this much snow as a socially crippling device, but since the snow fall, I have been snowboarding, Crystal went for a hair appointment, we both went Christmas shopping, had lunch and seem to be carrying on with life as normal. It is amazing how easily one acclimates to different climates. But I thought I would post some images of the snow fall, oh but that's right, the Geek Squad is still working on our camera. So in place of what could be some really cool pictures of a lot of snow, here are some more pictures of Jonas from our trip down south. Enjoy

I never thought I would say this...

2008-12-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

I have never been so excited about something in all my life...tonight..Jonas...POOPED in the potty!!!! I never thought I would be this excited about something so gross, but I am. He is in no way even close to potty trained, but it is one less diaper for me to change so YAY!!!

Viva Nashvegas

2008-12-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well we have been back a week and it feels like a month. We had so much fun in Nashville. We went for the National Youth Workers Covention, but also snuck in some times with our friends. We had so much fun. Jonas had a birthday party and it was just great to have everyone together again. After Nashville we went to Chatt-town for Thanksgiving. We miss our friends and family so much. We didn't realize how much until we were there. Jonas had three more birthday parties in Chattanooga so it is safe to say that he is spoiled. We had so much fun though and already miss everyone so much. Here are some pics of our trip.

Long Time...No Blog

2008-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

So once one calls AT&T it does not necessarily mean that one will have internet the next day, nay even the next week...try next month. But here we are again and a lot has happened. We have finally moved into our new rental. We celebrated Halloween with Mr. T and we already got our first snow. So we are posting pictures of all of the above. But things have been fantastic and we are sooo excited to be visiting Nashville later this week. So this post is brief but enjoy the pictures and the video.

Grace and Peace

Home Free...WOO HOO

2008-09-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well we finally sold our home...can you believe it?...it has never felt so good to be renters again in all our lives...we sold it on Friday thanks to Andrew Bradley (our awesome real estate agent), our church, and Uncle Charlie (our stand in:). So it is officially sold and we are finally true michiganders. We found a house to rent thats about 1 mile from the church and is next door to two of the sweetest people that go to our church. Right now it resembles that '70's house..complete w/ carpet in the kitchen and bathrooms (ugh)...but we have been given full design license to rip up the carpets (which in the bedrooms have immaculate hardwoods underneath them..thank you Jesus) and in the bathroom and kitchen we are going to lay some sort of flooring...we are so excited to have a real house that Jonas (and the dogs) have room to run in and has a really nice backyard and is in a cul-de-sac...who says Flints the ghetto...so thank you to everyone who has prayed so hard all of these months...God's timing really is the best...We love you and miss you all...now when you come to see us you will have a great place to stay so no more excuses:)...we officially move mid october just in time for trick-or-treaters!!!

Who are these people?

2008-09-23T18:58:00.001-07:00

And to think...People trust us with their children...

So we found this web site called www.yearbookyourself.com and needless to say, it is awesome. So enjoy the new Arp family photos.

High and Tight

2008-09-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

Just in case any of you were curious...I (Andrew) do have a few skills when it comes to the trimming of hair. Although my attempts on my own have never been all that great. And I know that the great Crystal bangs debacle of 2003 is still a painful and humorous memory for some. But I am glad to put on display my latest triumph...The Jonas mohawk trim. While lulling my son into a stupor of popcorn and Jack Johnson I was able to grab the clippers and go to town. The attached images are the front and rear view. And as you can see, Jonas was pleased with the trim. He is now more aerodynamic and a bit lighter as well. Not to mention fully prepped for his soon to be first, of perhaps many, appearances as B.A. Baracus for All Hallows Eve. So enjoy the photos and know we miss you all greatly.

Grace and Peace

ugh...sick babies are the worst

2008-09-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well Jonas is sick and so are we...its just a really bad cold, but babies with bad colds are horrible...
It all started sunday with just a runny nose and some irritability but it quickly turned into all out yuckiness...complete with diarrhea and oh did I mention IRRITABILITY (his first and now mine) so yesterday we thought...lets take him to the doctor surely he has an ear infection, sinus infection, something requiring hard sleep inducing drugs.....no such luck just a "virus" whatever that means so here I am stuck with a runny nose, coughing, sneezing, and don't forget irritable almost two year old....I think he has already figured out the sick rule...you know the one where when your sick you can act like a total crazy and somehow you still look cute...I think God creates moms to be totally submissive to this rule even when they themselves also feel horrible...I just love viruses...oh and before you start to get visions of this weepy eyed little boy curling up with me in the bed your wrong...sickness for Jonas looks almost the same as when he is well except for now we get the luxury of antihistimines...and of course they dont knock him out like they do me (or andrew yesterday)...oh no they supercharge his energy level to gianormous proportions...so he is running around happy one minute then screaming the next...oh well I waited how many years for this....oh yeah almost four and it is still worth it...I can almost hear my parents saying "payback" under their breath for all those times I was sick and insisted I felt better only to play for two hours and throw up all over the living room floor...don't worry I remember....now more than ever...

Jonas First Movie

2008-09-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

So Jonas begged to play with the video camera yesterday...and this was the result. (Sorry about the grainy quality)

Jonas' Learning Curve

2008-09-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

So you may be surprised to learn that Jonas' learning curve is now going through the roof...and he is a devious little one. From figuring out how to unplug and plug in a box fan to flushing a bottle of face moisturizer down the toilet he surprises us every day. He is also a huge fan of music and likes to wave his hand up and down to the beat. He also likes to jump when appropriate (or not) as well as move in a frantic side to side motion. But all of this still beats my (Andrew) best move...the tucking the knee up and elbow behind the head spasm thing.

He also is really sweet at bed time, which he refers to as Night-Night. We say the Lord's Prayer after reading a story or two and he folds his little hands and says Amen "A-A" in his vernacular. Bath time is becoming more of an adventure as he now is getting quite an arm and likes to throw his toys out of the tub. Actually he throws just about anything that he can lift...I think Bosley is next.

Crystal and I are doing well but we are so busy we hardly have a moment to ourselves. We are excited about this week as our new Sr. High youth pastor is getting here. Now I will actually have someone to compete against in Wii again since Jerry has been gone. We thank all of you guys for your prayers and support and with any luck we will have a room for you to come and stay with us come next summer (we know none of you are planning on coming up from November to April).

Grace and Peace

Andrew, Crystal and Jonas

Beginning Bloggers

2008-09-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

So this is our first of hopefully many blogs. We hope to be able to keep everyone up to date on all the things that keep us so busy. So here we go...

We have been crazy busy lately....our ministries are going well and I (crystal) am involved in almost every committee our humble church (of 2k) has to offer...but things are going GREAT! we finally got an offer on our house and will hopefully close on the thitieth..yay!!...and we will hopefully be moving out of our teeny "apartment" soon...for those of you that don't know our "apartment" is three rooms in the upstairs of a house...talk about learning how little we actually need to live...it has definitely been an experience...

Jonas is doing great...he is talking like mad and he seems to learn a new word everyday...just today he learned the word pippi...referring to our friends dog named pippi longstockings...and when he is not speaking English he speaks Jonas...we cannot interpret this so much is lost in translation...he gets really angry with us though...I can just imagine inside his head he's like "I'm telling them what I want what is their problem"....but we are starting to be able to interpret his body language a little better...he is really cute and so sweet and cuddly...

well that is all for now we have to get ready for the back to school bash tomorrow....