So this post isnt about anything to do with my family. Blogging is theraputic for me, so getting things off my chest and writing about them helps me sort things out in my head sometimes...

A good friend of mine is going through a really tough time right now. Her best friends husband (who is also a close friend to her) has been in the hospital now for over a week, I think actually going on two weeks. He has had problems for a while with his liver. So many things have been going wrong with his body. Last week though, it seemed as though he was starting to make a recovery. He was out of his coma, talking and it seemed as though he would be getting ready to come home, or at least go to a rehabilitation center until he was well enough to come home. Just in an instant something went wrong and he is now back on a ventilatior. His kidneys started to fail, and pretty much the doctors said they are doing what they can to keep him alive. She asked me something last week that I didnt know how to answer. I ask this question all the time of God. "why?" Why did God let him come so close to getting better, getting everyones hopes up that he would make it and be ok...then all of a sudden take that away? I had no answer for her. I wish I had some amazing Christian answer but I didnt. I tried finding scripture, but all I could find were verses about God being with us through the storms. There have been so many times in my life I have asked God WHY? Why did my parents go through what they did? Why did Ryan get layed off? Why did our neighbor loose their little girl? Why did our friend's 2 month old baby have to have a liver transplant? Why is Michael in the hospital fighting for his life? Why why why? The list goes on and on. I cant understand, and I never will until I meet Jesus face to face and can ask Him then.

I have been thinking about this for the last couple days, dwelling on this question like all Christians have in their lifetime. The only conclusion I have to come to is to look at the past, then look at the present. Seeing the path God has led us down, from tradgedy to where we are today. I look at my parents. Being on the edge of divorce so many years ago, to where they are today. God is so faithful. I look at the time when Ryan was layed off. The stress in our life, the worry. But God was there, He was faithful, and we have made it to where we are now. Not saying things are great, but they always work out! God is so faithful! I look at our friends who had to go through their son having a liver transplant at 2 months old...to where he is today, now a 2 1/2 year old little boy! God is so faithful! I cant understand Grace's death, or Michael fighting for his life, but I know God is STILL faithful. I may never be able to answer that question of why, but I am confident of His faithfulness through all of the heartache.

Sorry for going on and on, but I guess I needed to even remind myself today of this. Thanks for listening!

slackin

So apparently having another child and working full time again proves I cant post as much as I used to. :-) I havent even posted pictures of our family vacation from 2 weeks ago yet! I'm slackin! (Although...not quite like some people we know...umm Tracy...:) ) Anyways...

So, whats new with us? I am happy to announce my less than 7 week old daughter is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! This is a Godsend. I think after what He dealt us with Evan, He maybe thought He should give us a break with this one. :-) We have kinda worked it so her last feeding is between 10 and 10:30, and she has been sleeping between 5:45-6. We will take it! I dont know either if I blogged about it either, but we did switch her to formula a few weeks ago due to her crazy tummy issues. She did great her first 4 weeks, but it was like a switch flipped and after every feeding she would cry and fuss. She just couldnt get comfortable. We also had some more issues with the original formula she started on so we took her in to the doctor. Her doctor thought maybe she has an intolerance to milk, so we had to do some tests. Out of three tests, she had one positive, so we have to test again in 2 weeks. She is on the gentle formula now and seems to be doing much better, however if she has more positives, she may have to go on a special kind of forumla that doesnt include milk or soy. Hopefully she wont have another positive, and we can continue on the formula she is on. Poor baby. I hate watching her in pain!

I'm also back to work now which is going just fine. I dont love it, and its not ideal but it works for right now and we are all adjusting ok. I said this when I had Evan too after I went back to work, but it is crazy the actual ache you have when you miss your kids. I feel the same way now when I am at work. The actual physical ache. Crazy I know, just because I still get to see them when I get home, but yeah...still sucks being away from them.

Well anyway..I will post pics of Drummond Island later but we went up there the begining of October. We havent been there since Ryan and I were first married. It was good to be up there again and just relax before coming back to work.my grandparents have a cabin in the woods, so Ryan was able to hunt. He saw a few deer but nothing great(By the way, I forgot to post anything, but the night before we left he sat out and got a nice size doe.) Evan loved riding the four wheeler and playing outside. It was cold but so much fun. What a great way to spend my last week of maternity leave.

Not much is new with Evan. Just talking like crazy. The things he says lately are hilarious. He always suprises me with words I didnt know he even knew! We have been working more and more with him on the potty and he is doing great! Pretty much everytime we put him on he goes, so he is getting the hang of it. We will just keep working with him.

I'll post some pics later. Looking forward to having our small group come over tonight. It has been too long!

After a just over a year, we have decided the house is coming OFF the market. This is something that Ryan and I have prayed about, stressed about...me, cried about. (I did just have a baby, and am still completly emotional!) Over the last three weeks, we have been so up and down with this disicion, and I have been so confussed on what the right disicion would be. I kept praying God would just make it so clear on what He wanted us to do. Praise God, the answer became very clear, and it looks like we will be staying for a while. This is just such a relief to me. I have been so stressed wondering if we were making the right or wrong disicion. I just wanted to know one way or the other where we were going to be. Thankfully, this burden is gone, and I know now we will be here. Our friends live literally right down the road from us, so we are happy to be able to stay close to them as well. Anyway, no more showings! Although, that was one way my house was forced to be clean...we will have to see how well I can keep this up with out having to be forced to clean!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! We are off to my grandpa and grandma's cabin for a nice long weekend. I will not have a phone or a computer til Wednesday night! Yikes! Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Harvest Party!

This past Sunday night we (my siblings and I) hosted a Harvest Party at my parents house. I believe it turned out to be a huge success! We had tons of fun watching the kiddos do pumpkin painting, horse/pony rides, hay maze, hay ride, digging for candy in sawdust...and eating yummy food and drinking cider. My parents have a perfect house to do this kind of thing. Hopefully we can continue to do these parties. I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids! Here are just a few pics of Sunday night.

Life Lately

Hello all. Can you believe it is October already? Seriously, I feel like we just left July and now its October?! Oh well, its my favorite time of year. Leaves changing, apple cider...mmm. Makes me want to sit down with a good book in my pj's and read. Fall means a lot of differnt things to the DeVries family. For me, I cant wait for the first day I trade my flip flops for socks and tennis shoes, apple cider and leaves changing...For Ryan, it means the begining of hunting season. Its a very anticipated time of the year. Ryan has been going crazy with hunting fever. So much so, he is sitting in the rain tonight hoping to get one. I think this is CRAZY, however Ryan doesnt seem to see the problem with it. CRAZY!! Anyways...

Evan has been adjusting really well to his new baby sister. If anyone knows Evan, they will know he has issues sharing his toys. Evan is the typical little kid. When someone has something, he wants it, if they go to something else, he then goes for that...anyway...with his baby sister, he actually wants to give her all of his favorite things! His beloved "kitty" and all his favorite tractors and cars...it is so cute. (and amazing!) Anyway...he loves his baby sister. They are so cute together.

Unfortunatly, Fall means the start of cold and flu season. This is never good for Evan. Whenever Evan gets a cold, it is never a good situation. Trying to prevent some of his breathing issues, Evan has been on a steroid inhalent since August. He is going to be on this for a year doing one treatment a day. When Alivia came home, we slacked a little a missed a few treatments...which guess what? Yup, Evan is sick again! Thankfully though, the steroid is helping a lot and he is not nearly as bad as what he has been in the past, thank goodness. He also does abuterol every four hours right now trying to kick this cold. He does ok with his nebulizer, but most times Ryan will give it to him while he is sleeping so he cant run away. Here is a pic of him and his "fishy" mask.

And little Miss Alivia. She is growing SO FAST! How is it that she will be a month old on Tuesday? My baby is growing up! Her cheeks are getting chubbier by the second thanks to her insanely good appetite. She is so precious and we are so in love with her! How could I doubt loving two children equally? Its so natural! Here is a pic of her in her mossy oak onsie we are borrowing from Aunt Heather. (Thanks Heather!) Now all we need is Ryan to get a deer to have her picture taken with Daddy and the deer, and her mossy oak onsie. So cute! (For those of you who havent lost your husbands due to hunting season, and wouldnt know what Mossy Oak is, it is a hunting brand) Anyways..

Ryan is still doing great in school. Two classes right now. One online, and one he has to go up to Muskegon on Tuesday nights. It is hard to believe he is almost done with his first year! He is also working some. This last week he was called back for two days. There is talk about 12 more boats from now until January, but you never know if that is rumor or actual truth. We will see!

I am loving my time off and not quite ready to go back to work the end of this month. I love staying home with the kids. However, right now I know I have to sacrifice and work while Ryan is layed off in school. It is just a stepping stone for the next chapter in life. Anyways... Hope everyone has a wonderful rainy weekend!~