Hello September

I figure it's been a while since I've posted a picture of the Little Man and a new one was in order. So here you go. This is Luke last weekend sitting on Mommy's lap while Daddy took the picture. He was just a couple weeks shy of three months. He's been putting on some extra "chub" in his cheeks (all the better for kissing!) and has been hamming it up for the camera.

Thinking of cameras, it's a shame he hasn't been able to ham it up for our own (the above picture was taken with my mother in law's camera). Remember the camera I had ordered and mentioned about a month ago? Well, it's been craziness trying to get it. We found a really competitive price on it online and ordered it, only to get an e-mail from the company that they had over-sold and they would not be able to send one to us for several months. We canceled that order and put in another one on Amazon. The seller we ordered from should have sent it out to us three weeks ago, as that's when he charged our account. However, we haven't gotten anything and he hasn't responded to our three e-mails. We'll be in contact with Amazon to get a refund tomorrow morning. I'm pretty bummed about the whole thing since we've missed a whole month of Luke's life that I was wanting to document. Thank goodness both the grandmas (my mom and Nick's) recently purchased fantastic digital SLR cameras and have filled in the gaps for us.

On top of ordering a camera, we also purchased Photoshop CS3. I love looking at photography sites and blogs online and all the pros say Photoshop is the program to use to edit. What I did not realize was how complicated it is. We've had it for three weeks now and I still do not know how to do anything other than import a picture into the program!!! Looks like I've got my work cut out for me.

We spent the last half our our Labor Day weeked in KC. Sunday afternoon we went to Santa Caligon Days in Independence, MO. It was so hot you could have fried an egg on the sidewalk, so we didn't stay near as long as we have in the past. We slathered Luke in sunscreen and I was happy he didn't burn (or cry much for that matter... what a trooper!). After getting our fill of "fair foods" (the terribly greasy but oh-so-good homemade potato chips accompanied with a polish sausage for Nick and rib eye sandwich for moi), we sat and watched a few shows on the community stage (a local accoustic guitarist that Nick enjoyed and I coaxed him into sitting to watch a few dance recital routines just because I thought it'd be cute to view). Then we high-tailed it out to get out of the heat. Of course, ice cream at Sonic was in order to balance our diet. Ha! I tell you what, sometimes I don't know why I cave it to junk food like I do. It's probably because we make a habit of avoiding it at all costs when we're back at home, so I go overboard when we do make an exception. It's got to stop though because I'm in a fashion crisis. My regular pre-pregnancy clothes still do not fit (with a few exceptions). However, maternity shirts just sag from being stretched out towards the end of the pregnancy. It's an awkward place to be!!!

Other than the regular same ole' same ole' last week, we filled our free time with keeping up with the presidential elections, as I'm sure many have (watching the Democratic National Convention and keeping up with the upcoming Republican National Convention). I seldom get really "into" politics... that is to say, I'm commited to voting, but I don't like to get into conversations about politics with other people. Perhaps my lack of zeal during the last presidential election was because it all took place when I was only 19 and still living under my parents roof that I didn't really care so much about it. Now being a "big girl" -independent, married, and a mommy- I am really interested in all the campaining going on, seeing how this upcoming president-to-be will impact my own family. It's made for a lot of good conversation between Nick and I (which Nick is so much more a political junkie than I am, so he's loving how into everything I am). It's crazy how wrapped up into it all I am... this past weekend, I even chose watching C-Span over HGTV (now that's SOMETHING!).

On a more serious note, we would really covet your prayers over an important issue for our family. Nick has been doing a job hunt since the beginning of the year while continuing to work for my dad. The last few months he's been aggresively looking into ministry jobs. We've had a challenge finding much in his areas of strength and interest in the KC/St. Joe area that would pay enough to put food on the table. Sometimes I wonder how churches can expect so much for so little (like requiring a master's degree for a part-time position?!). Being an ex-PK I know that's just one of the cons of working in ministry & non-profit work. We know even if Nick doesn't end up in paid ministry, we'd love to delve into lots of lay ministry opportunities. With the challenges of finding options Nick has been trying to develop other back up plans (which there aren't many since his educational background is in ministry). He's considered going back to school and we're trying to find what other options are out there. It's crazy, all this not-knowing-what's-in-store stuff and we would greatly appreciate your prayers. I had anticipated Nick finding a new job or beginning a ministry opportunity before Luke was even born, so it just goes to show you that God's timing and our's don't always sync up. So, anyways... we would so appreciate your prayers!

Well, like always... motherhood is calling so must run!