Daddy's Girl

Teagan loves spending time with her daddy (and her daddy is just a little smitten with her as well!). :)






Tim's new favorite "toy" (a tractor for the business).


Training Teagan to be a John Deere girl and one day take over the business. :)






Teagan also loves her "big brother," Bailey. He brings her so much joy!! :) He's such a good sport to constantly let her climb all over him and give him hugs and kisses! :)

Ezra Alexander Foreman

Our adorable nephew joined the world on March 12! Praise God that everything went well and that Ezra is healthy (he weighed in at 9lb 7oz!! - way to go, Tara!) :)

We were able to take a quick road trip to Cincinnati last weekend and visit Tara and Mark and their precious boys and we miss them already!

Updates

Tim:
He finally got a break from plowing for a couple of weeks although this is bittersweet as he is antsy to be out there bringing in the money! We were blessed with an extra snowy December and January though so the break hasn't hit us too hard. While at home, he's had a chance to do some organizing, marketing and planning for the upcoming lawn care season so that's been nice. It did snow last night so he is back out right now clearing driveways and parking lots! I'm so grateful for how he maintains his business and for how hard he works!
I am also grateful for the way he continues to strive to be a Godly husband and father! He wakes up early on Friday mornings to join a bunch of other men at 6am for Bible study and fellowship geared specifically for men.
Firefighting is going well. They've been a little slow lately although last night was an exception as a local restaurant burned down. Unfortunately, Tim couldn't make the call as he was plowing. I am also grateful for the medical training that he recently completed (he is one step below an EMT) since a couple of weeks ago, Teagan choked on a piece of food while we were at a restaurant and Tim had to perform the heimlich maneuver on her. It was a really scary moment that shook both of us up for a long time but we praise God for allowing Tim to think and act quickly and correctly. For those of you who don't know how to help a baby who is choking or not breathing, please learn how HERE.
On a final note, Tim is giving me a hard time for not posting pictures of the basement that we finished off. It was a slow and long process, taking up most of the past year, but it's now completely finished and turned out really nice! Due to time commitments, we did get some help from our builder for some of woodwork and drywall and Tim used his skills to lay tile in the laundry room/bathroom as well as put the stone around the fireplace. I'll post pictures soon!

Me:
For those that don't know, I am now officially a stay-at-home Mom and I'm loving it! This was a very difficult decision to make for various reasons, and I learned a lot about myself in the process...but we've received total confirmation that this is where God wants me to be for this season of life! I'm grateful to have even had the choice. I am also grateful for Bethany Christian Services and for the work that I was a part of over the last 6 years! I appreciate the way they sent me off so well with support and encouragement! I am planning on volunteering there once a month so it will be nice to stay connected that way.
Now that I'm home full time, I'm happy that we finally have nailed down a good daily routine so life can be a little more predictable. Teagan is down to taking just one nap a day now, usually around noon. I like this better b/c now we can actually go places in the mornings without feeling like we have to rush home or that she's going to be thrown all off. I am part of a Mom's group at church that meets every other Wednesday and love connecting with great friends there. Teagan has fun playing in the nursery during this time (after she stops crying when I leave....). :) We are also a part of a book club/play group that meets on Friday mornings. This has been a fun way to meet other moms in the community that I normally wouldn't have known otherwise. I've also been taking Teagan to the "Book Nibblers" (nursery rhymes and songs and book reading for kids ages 0 - 2)at the library on Tuesday mornings but I'm not sure if we'll continue this or not. It seems to take more time to get READY to go there compared to the amount of time that we are actually there. Along with these, we've enjoyed going on other fun adventures but also just being home and spending quality time together.
Pregnancy is going well for the most part although I'm more than excited to be done with this first trimester. I've been feeling pretty nauseous and REALLY fatigued. These feelings, along with getting a bad cold this past week, made me want to spend every minute of the day on the couch. I'm so glad Tim was home b/c I realized how difficult it is to be a good Mom when you're sick! Thankfully, I've been feeling a little better the past two days so I'm hoping the worst is behind me. Also, I learned this past week at my first doctor's appt. that I am actually further along than previously thought. Our due date is now September 8! We are very excited though still anticipating the craziness that I am sure is to come with two kids 20 months apart! It's nice how much less anxiety we have with this pregnancy and the upcoming changes compared to the first! It's nice to have gotten through all those "unknowns" of having a new baby!
Speaking of our growing family, I am now a mini-van mom! Yikes! Never thought I'd say that. I've actually embraced it and am loving the '05 Honda Odyssey we bought after trading in our Ford Escape. Practicality, safety, comfort, space, and a good deal won me over. Shhh... Tim really likes it too (of course, the GPS and DVD system that came with it help with this). :)

Teagan Alise:

Our Teagie Bear is growing up so fast! She's always been a little ahead of her time but since full fledged walking/ running has started, she really has turned into a toddler and no longer our little baby! She's been so fun and interactive lately which also makes her seem so "old" all of a sudden. It's amazing to us how her receptive skills have kicked in, seems like overnight! For example, we can tell her to get her socks, pick up her monkey, wash her duckie in the tub, go find her sippy cup...and SHE DOES IT! :) Can you sense our giddiness?! :)
Teagan's favorite things as of lately include the following:
Saying "Dada" (sometimes "Daddy"), "Mama," "Baaa" (always for "ball" but sometimes for anything that starts with a "b" - book, Bailey...), "hi," and "baby" (and actually pointing to a picture of a baby....we really don't know where she learned this!), giving Bailey hugs and kisses, trying to feed Bailey his food with her plastic fork, trying to put EVERYTHING in Bailey's water bowl (including herself), being chased and tickled by Mommy or Daddy, dancing/bouncing whenever she hears music (including the cell phone), refusing to drink milk, :) playing with boxes, emptying any drawer or cabinet she can open...and sometimes sitting in them, using her baby signs (and learning that just b/c she signs "please" doesn't mean she'll get it!), :) reading books, learning her animal noises, jumping on the couch, picking up small (and sometimes invisible!) pieces of things on the carpet and giving them to Mommy, blowing kisses, and lifting her shirt up to find her belly button and then making Mommy and Daddy show them theirs as well. She seems to especially like making Tim do this. He's such a good sport. :)

Showing off belly buttons.


The "toy" she plays with the most! :)


Cheese grin with static hair (from playing on the couch). :)


Hanging out with her best bud, Bailey.

Random Things...

I was "tagged" recently to write 25 random things about me. Some of these you may already know but I guarantee that there will be at least one that most of you don't! :)

1. I am a "mirror-image" identical twin. I'm right handed, Jess is left handed. When we look in the mirror, Jess resembles more of me and I resemble more of Jess (at least that's what other people tell me). :)
2. I really want a Jamocha milkshake from Arby's right now!
3. I am not an avid reader but wanted to improve in this area so Teagan and I joined a book club/play group with a friend of mine. I'm still not very good at keeping up with the reading each week but at least I try.
4. Tim and I first met my freshman year at Hope. He asked me out and I said "yes," only a few days later, told him I had changed my mind. Poor guy. Thankfully, God knows better and we reconnected two years later. :)
5. My mom and 3 sisters are my best girl friends.
6. I am very fidgety when I am settling into bed...I need to be "just right" before I can fall asleep.
7. I wish I had smaller, cuter feet (rather than my "finger toes"). :)
8. I am part of a Mom 2 Mom group at church that meets twice a month.
9. I don't like talking on the phone and therefore, am not very good at keeping in touch with people. :( Sorry, friends. It's nothing personal!
10. I love decorating....but usually end up just daydreaming about how I would make things look in the house b/c actually doing them takes so much time and can often seem overwhelming.
11. I've been trying really hard to have some quiet time with God first thing in the morning...what a difference it makes in my day!
12. I love Dove dark chocolates.
13. I am passionate about social justice issues and am often plagued with feeling like I'm not doing enough.
14. I still hang out every few months with friends that I've grown up with since Kindergarten. I love you West Siders! :)
15. I find it really hard not to laugh when trying to stop Teagan from doing something naughty because of the way she'll look at me before she does it. I also have a hard time not laughing when she farts b/c she gives me a big cheese grin after doing it. :)
16. I worked as a social worker for almost 6 years at Bethany Christian Services and am now a stay at home Mommy!
17. I use to be a good athlete in high school and college (basketball and track/field)....competing in five state championships and qualifying for two national championships and making all-conference several times. Never thought I'd be as out of shape as I am now! I need my sister!! (she's a personal trainer).
18. I am extremely indecisive about most things...but very opinionated about a few. :)
19. Tim and I are homebodies. We love staying home with a $5 pizza and a watching a movie or TV.
20. I loved my childhood. :)
21. I don't like doing my hair, thus, I end up pulling it back in a ponytail most of the time and constantly debate keeping it long or cutting it short!
22. One of my favorite things in this world is listening to Teagan laugh!
23. Tim, Teagan and I are going to take a family vacation to Colorado the first week of April! I'm excited to show Tim the camp I worked at for a summer during college.
24. I am not a morning person.
25. I'M 7 WEEKS PREGNANT! YUP...TEAGAN IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER AROUND SEPTEMBER 19!
(They'll be almost 21 months apart).
WE'RE SO EXCITED! GOD IS GOOD! :)

Interesting Video

I have a phobia of snakes but saw this video about a really large, DEAD one and thought it was quite interesting. Check it out!

Haiti

Some of you may remember the Associated Press article I posted back in November about the food crisis in Haiti. Along with this article, I posted a picture of a little girl, Venecia, dangling in a strap while being weighed on a scale. My sister-in-law, Sara, sent me this article last month which touches on how Venecia is doing now. Praise God!

If you are interested in helping those affected by the crisis in Haiti, go to Christian World Outreach, an organization I went to Haiti through and that is headed by friends of the family. Although we weren't able to make it that day to help out, not long after I posted the first article in November, CWO came to Grand Rapids and collected truck loads of food for Haiti. They do amazing work around this world for God's glory!



4-YEAR-OLD VENECIA HELPED BY FOOD AID IN HAITI
December 15, 2008 - 5:48pm

By JONATHAN M. KATZ
Associated Press Writer

BAIE D'ORANGE, Haiti (AP) - It was late afternoon and the young mother was hiding in the kitchen of her banana-thatch shack, lighting a cooking fire she hoped her neighbors would not see _ she gets food aid while they must scrounge to eat.

Her 4-year-old daughter _ whose sunken eyes drew worldwide attention in an Associated Press photograph that showed her dangling limply from the strap of a scale _ grinned in anticipation.

It's been a month since little Venecia Louis got emergency treatment for malnutrition, and now she is walking, playing and even has a pinch of baby fat on her cheeks.

Venecia was among dozens of children suffering from severe malnutrition who were airlifted from this remote region in Haiti's southeast to hospitals in Port-au-Prince after 26 children died from starvation here.

As a result, Venecia and her family now get just enough food aid to scrape by.

Venecia smiled last week as her mother, Rosemen Saint-Juste, prepared a can and a half of rice that would be dinner for six people. She has gained some weight and her arms are plumper after treatment with antibiotics, anti-worm medications and enriched milk. But she is by no means cured from her life-threatening bout with malnutrition.

The child's 30-year-old mother hoards what she can to protect her children's health but says she must give away some to the hungry families who live nearby or risk their revenge _ by physical attack or the Voodoo spell she believes they might cast to kill her children.

"The food I have is going to last for three days" instead of four, she said after giving away some of her rice. "If I don't share it with my neighbors, the devil will eat my kids."

Four tropical storms that killed 793 people in August and September and caused $1 billion in damage made Haiti's ongoing food crisis even worse. Crops were wiped out and mountain roads destroyed, cutting farmers off from markets where they sell their crops and buy food for their children.

Little attention had been paid to the villages around Baie d'Orange, located on a muddy plateau 6,000 feet above the Caribbean, until doctors from nearby cities alerted the international aid groups Terre des Hommes about deaths and severe malnutrition there.

An AP report on the crisis and photos of Venecia, who was initially identified by the hospital as Venecia Lonis, and other severely malnourished children brought an outpouring of offers of help.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Democrat of Los Angeles, cited the AP report in urging the U.S. Agency for International Development to search for any Haitian children in danger of starvation and pledged to follow up with the Haitian ambassador and President Rene Preval. Two church congregations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that raised $18,000 were among many groups moved by their plight.

In response to the children's deaths, aid groups have stepped up their work in this isolated pocket that in some places lies just over a peak from the capital's richest suburbs _ but a six-hour trek over a circuitous mountain highway, washed-out bridges and unmarked goat paths.

The U.N. World Food Program now feeds 5,000 people here every two weeks, delivering food primarily by helicopter. USAID has increased its nutrition programs by $4.5 million nationwide.

Medical aid organizations Doctors Without Borders and Medicins du Monde have set up clinics as they scour the region for more pockets of hunger. They have not found any as severe as Baie d'Orange, according to a Doctors Without Borders spokesman, Francois Servranckx.

Still, the donations are merely a stopgap measure, residents say. Far more critical is support for rebuilding their fields so they can feed themselves.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization delivered seeds to about 400 families last month, and Oxfam is also distributing farm aid. But the farmers say they are not getting what they need most _ supplies to restore their barren fields.

"If they give us seeds and they don't give us fertilizer, we can't grow anything," said Enock Augustin, whose severely malnourished 5-year-old daughter, Bertha, was also hospitalized last month.

A single sack, enough to cover half an acre for a three-month growing cycle, costs $62.50, he said _ more than twice what most Haitians make in a month. And the price has tripled over the past three years.

Both of Saint-Juste's young daughters show signs of extreme protein deficiency _ distended stomachs, protruding ribs and frail limbs. But it was Venecia who turned dangerously ill.

For a month, the mother watched as her daughter's frail body swelled and the circles under her eyes darkened. With no money and no hospital nearby, she could only pray as word spread of children dying.

Finally Saint-Juste heard that Doctors Without Borders had come to the region. Carrying Venecia, she walked for hours from their village of Mabrignol to the makeshift clinic, and the child was airlifted by helicopter Nov. 9 to the aid group's hospital in Port-au-Prince.

"I didn't think she was going to make it to the hospital," Saint-Juste said. The child stayed there for 15 days.

Now home, the girl nicknamed "Manushka" scrambles to keep up with her older siblings, wearing a smudged gray Eeyore sweat shirt. The circles have faded under her eyes, and a healthier color has returned to her cheeks.

But like her 6-year-old sister Minush, her stomach remains swollen. Their 14-month-old brother, Roselin, is pale and listless. Only the eldest, 9-year-old Silner, appears in reasonably good health.

Saint-Juste and her children huddle each night on a single cot in their shack of dried banana stalks; their former home was burned down by thieves while Saint-Juste was with Venecia at the hospital. Her two eldest children narrowly escaped.

The children's father, a shoeshine named Edner Louis, lives in Port-au-Prince and sometimes sends money. Saint-Juste also earns a ration of food and about 62 cents a day working in her neighbors' fields during the spring.

On Thursday, volunteers from the Greater Works Outreach church in Monroeville, Pa., and St. John's United Methodist Church in Turnersville, N.J., distributed food and other aid to some 600 people in nearby Baie d'Orange.

Emaciated children and desperate parents rushed a balcony to grab peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, rice, beans and canned fish.

As they handed out the food, Venecia _ the little girl whose image had inspired their generosity _ was just a few miles away. Her mother did not know a distribution was going on.

(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

ONE YEARS OLD!

from a baby.....


to a big girl!


**CLICK HERE to see more BEAUTIFUL pictures that my sister, Tara, took to celebrate our one year old!** (once there, click "slideshow" for the best view)

It's hard to believe that our "baby" turned ONE last Sunday, January 4! It's amazing and humbling to look back at the past year and see the way we all have changed and grown. Thinking back to those 10 days in the hospital, so exhausted, running on adrenaline and praying for healing for our tiny babe who was hooked up to all those monitors and IV's and feeling anxious about what life was going to be like as new parents ....to now...having 'survived' the newborn phase and watching our "big girl" laugh and run to us, draping her arms around our necks, and giving us a big, open mouthed kiss. :) God is good!

It's difficult to put into words the kind of JOY and LIFE that Teagan Alise has brought us this past year. We are humbled and grateful that God has chosen us as her parents! We love her more than she will ever know!

We excitedly planned a 1st birthday party for Teagan last Sunday, inviting our parents and siblings to join in the festivities. Sadly, three days before the big party, she was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, double ear infection and pink eye! Per the recommendation of the doctor, we ended up canceling the party and letting our lil' one have more time to heal and not expose her sickness to other people. Nonetheless, being the sentimental mother that I am, Tim and I enjoyed throwing our birthday girl our own lil' party...complete with the birthday sign on the fireplace mantle (an Oosting tradition), :) balloons, singing, and cupcakes! She was not so much a fan of eating her birthday cupcake. A little bit of frosting on her finger tip and on her mouth was enough for her! We gave Teagan a riding toy (the "Dora The Explorer's Fairytale Adventure Ride-On" to be exact!) which she loves. It plays a lot of different songs which she loves to dance to. It also has a storage area underneath the seat. This is ideal as one of her daily rituals is to take things in and out of drawers, baskets...anything that you can store stuff in. :) Despite the original party plans not working out, we ended up having a really fun and memorable day with just the three of us!


Our sick lil' one a few days before her birthday.












Daddy being goofy


Bailey, the party animal!






A birthday bath to end the day!