It’s been a great idea, and we’ve raised a LOT of money by selling puzzle pieces to frame for our future IVF baby. We’re hoping and praying that we’ll be able to have the procedure done within the next year, and today we only have $4,210 to go!

We’ve been getting a lot of practice lately by keeping our niece and nephew, 2 years old and nearly 9 months old, respectively. There have been challenges with them, mostly in getting to know them. It’s a lot of fun though, having little giggles heard through the house, little feet pattering across the floor, the two of them playing together and loving each other’s company. We are beyond thankful for the opportunity to have them in our house and be a part of their lives, and are praying for guidance in our lives and theirs.

So while we do that, we’re still moving ahead, following God’s will for our lives in pursuing IVF. It seems like we have such a short distance to go before we reach our goal. Won’t you help us? We would certainly appreciate having $5 given for a puzzle piece to show our baby how many people God used to help bring him or her into this world. Most of all, we covet your prayers as we move ahead.

Our Internet is not working here at the house today, so I’m posting this from my phone and it will be pretty short.

I did want to take some time though and tell you all how thankful I am for you all. God has shown Himself faithful to us in so many things. We are so unworthy of His love and care for us, and especially His faithfulness to us. We fail Him daily, yet He continues to be faithful.

We started out on this journey at $0. Through all of you, God has give us over $9,800 so far! We so appreciate all you’ve done to help, and thank you! It’s another $5 Friday, so we’re asking that if you have just $5 to give, head over to the ‘Buy a Puzzle Piece’ link at the top of the page. Thank you, and God bless you!

**UPDATE**

We’ve got internet back now, so I’ve added the usual photo/link here at the bottom.

I recently did a post titled “All About Zidane.” Jonathan and I have been taking care of him for a little over 6 weeks now. He also has a big sister named Kyeli. She will be 2 at the end of this month. Jonathan’s older sister, Kristan and her husband have been taking care of Kyeli. She has stayed with them so much since she was born and they love her and are as attached to her as she is to them. She is a beautiful curly haired little girl and she and Zidane look just alike. 🙂

Kyeli Girl 🙂

Please pray for these babies and the situation they are in. This situation is awful and it has broke our family’s heart. Please pray for wisdom from the Lord that His will would be done and that we would all know the direction He wants us to take. Please pray for their Mother and Father! They need the Lord in their lives!

I’ve prayed to the point that I don’t even know what to pray anymore, but I know God can hear the unspoken cry of His child too. I’ve held Dane (as we call him) and cried wondering how you could have children that you don’t want. I’ve been so angry at times with their parents for what they’ve done, but have also been reminded that for the grace of God this could be me in this situation. I’ll admit that at times this anger has been hard to swallow and instead pray for them. I’ve never really been faced with this situation to pray for someone that has done so much wrong and has caused so much pain. A situation that is so close to my heart and while I’m trying to pray for what is best for these babies and His will, I’m struggling with the own desires of my heart. I’ve prayed that God might show us if His will in this matter is the desires of our heart, but I’ve also prayed that if we have to send them home that God will give us all peace in our hearts.

Super Boy Dane!

I don’t understand why He has put us in this place. To love this sweet baby boy and still raise money for In-vitro at the same time? I don’t have all the answers but I know that He has not told us to stop either. I know that when you don’t know what to do you don’t do anything at all. We know God has His hand in this and that He has a great plan in mind so we continue on and we continue trusting Him, we continue to wait for His timing and for now we continue to love, and take care of this precious little boy. Dane is so easy to love but its also so hard to love so much knowing that we may have to let him go while we still have none of our own to hold. But for now…. we are having the time of our lives with him.

Please keep praying for us and this desperate situation these babies are in. Pray for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law that God will give them peace. Pray that God will help them as they are in the same situation with Kyeli that we are in with Dane. Pray that God will give us wisdom to know His will. Pray for grace. Pray for His strength. Pray that we learn to trust Him more through this pain that we all are feeling in this matter.

Please pray for me and Jonathan as we continue in His plan for us to raise the money for our in-vitro procedure and that at the same time we can be what this little boy needs us to be for him. Thank you to everyone that is praying for us and the blessing you have all been in our lives. Thank you for the financial support that you’ve given and if you are able please help us again today. We are $235.00 away from having $10,000! To God be the glory!

I’ve recently had several people tell me that they have been praying for us, and asking questions about how close we are to having what we need! What a blessing to know that people care. That people are praying, supporting, giving, and loving our story! I pray it will never go unsaid how grateful we are! The Lord has used so many people to help meet a very big need in our lives and to say thank you alone just doesn’t seem like enough!

Jonathan told me the other day that we have sold 36 puzzle piece charm bracelets and 1,840 puzzle pieces! We have $9,745 saved for our In-vitro procedure, and we are anxiously awaiting everything that the Lord has planned for us through that!

Please keep praying for us and give today if you can! May God bless you today!

We are on our way to Dollywood today to spend time with all the family, but wanted to take the time again to tell you all how thankful we are for your prayers and generosity. Please continue to pray for us, and please give a little if you can!

Then…

As many of you know, Jonathan and I have been taking care of this little guy. His name is Dane and he will be 8 months old on May 2nd. He is a sweetheart and we are having the time of our lives taking care of him! He is such a little blessing in our home and he is such a very good baby.

He has been with us for almost a month total. Only going home for about 3 days during that time so we’ve had him more than we haven’t. When we first got him he had been quite sick with a nasty cold so we spent a lot of time dosing out antibiotics, baby tylenol, and sitting by the nebulizer for breathing treatments, and tons of snuggle time. 😉

Along with all that he has been teething and working pretty hard on his first two bottom teeth. Poor little guy… He got hit hard with a double whammy! He has one tooth that has popped through and I fully expect to see the second one just anytime. He is doing so good and it seems like everyday we see him do something new and different.

In the morning when he first wakes up and you go in to get him, as soon as he sees you he always gives a big smile. When he wakes up we usually put him in the bed with us for a little morning snuggle time and we have fun laughing at his giggles, and jabbering!

He loves sitting in his bouncy seat, loves his swing, loves playing in the floor with toys, he loves his booster seat and eating baby food! Sometimes I think we both wear more than he actually eats, but that’s ok too. 😉 He loves bath time now which is awesome cause when we first got him he was terrified of getting a bath and screamed the whole way through it. He loves his paci and is quite attached to it. When he is sleepy he loves to have a blanket on his face to sleep and usually pulls it all the way over his head. (Be advised… if you try to pull it off before he is fully asleep he doesn’t appreciate it to much.) 😉 He loves the cartoons Special Agent OSO and Handy Manny. In fact.. loves them so much that I have woke up through the night to feed him and realize I’m singing the theme song from those cartoons. 😛 I love sitting in the floor with him, playing with his toys and trying to read him books while he tries to eat it. Of course… everything he gets his hands on tends to go straight to his mouth. It won’t be long until he starts crawling and keeping us on our toes more and more everyday!

He even seems to like our dog, Max! However, Max doesn’t always share the love. Instead I think he gets a little jealous. When this picture was taken, Dane wasn’t feeling too good so Max crawled up close to him and I decided since it was such a rare moment and so cute I just had to have a picture. Max is VERY good with kids and has never once tried to bite or even growl at anyone. Even when Dane grabbed a handful of fur and yanked real hard Max still did nothing but let out a little whimper. LOL I quickly released him and before I could do anything to stop him, Max respond with a good slurp to the side of Dane’s face! YUCK 😛 (Thank goodness for baby wipes)

Peaceful sleeper!

When we first got Dane I borrowed a pack-n-play from Jonathan’s Mom for him to sleep in. I was in a thrift store one day looking for some other things and came across a baby cradle. I have always loved the wooden cradles and thought that someday if the Lord blessed us with our own children that I would love to have one for our baby! While I was in the store I was on the phone with my Mom and when I saw the cradle I mentioned that I would love to have it but couldn’t afford it. She told me to see if he would drop the price to which he gladly did! I told my Mom and she drove to where I was, loaded it up, and delivered it to my house! I was so excited and I was just beside myself that I finally got to have one and Dane loves his new little bed!

The best part about this story though is that my Mom had recieved some inheritance money from my Grandma so this cradle was purchased by my Mom in honor of my Grandma! If she were still here she would have loved doing this so I’m so thankful for how she is a part of our lives and still giving just as she always did!

Now…

Dane is almost 2 1/2 years old now. He’s definitely not the baby we’re waiting to see crawl or take his first steps any more. Instead, he’s a very active toddler! While he has always had a pretty laid back attitude to anything that is going on around him, he is also into everything! More and more lately he seems to have found one speed.. RUN!

He is a sweet boy who still loves to give cuddles, hugs and kisses. He is a Mommy’s boy and Daddy’s boy depending on what he wants at the moment. 😉 He has become a  little bit of a picky eater since he stopped eating baby food and we’ve jokingly said that we might be raising a vegitarian but little by little he is growing to like more things and while I’ve not had a green bean thrown back at me in a while he still hates them! lol

He can’t stand to get his hands dirty… Yes, he is a boy and a quirky one at that! 😉 He loves playing outside and will sit and play in the dirt for a long time but as soon as he realizes he is dirty he always comes running and says “Mommy, dirt off!” This has carried over into meal time as well so he won’t hardly pick up foods that would make his hands messy. Instead he has recently gotten very proficient with utensils!

He loves bath time still and usually if he cries now it’s because we make him get out! He is still a happy little guy in the morning and has always been an early riser! He is always ready to offer a big smile and a good morning hug. He still loves his blanket and paci. (We are slowly trying to break the paci but it’s not going too well). He started cutting 2 year molars a while back and those things have been boogers to say the least!

Dane LOVES church, he enjoys Sunday school, singing those sweet little songs, learning Bible stories, learning to pray. While it’s all very simple, it is very basic truths that are being instilled in his heart at an early age. He loves family devotions every night and loves praying and listening as Daddy reads from the Bible.

Dane loves anything that rolls… trucks, cars, trains, balls… and apparently you can’t have too many! 😉 He also loves many other things. Planes, dinosaurs, animals, books, puzzles, eating crayons and play-dough (like most 2 year olds), He celebrated his 2nd birthday with a Toy Story themed party and we all had a blast.

All in all Dane is our AWESOME little guy and he is a good little boy! I’m so thankful and grateful for this wonderful and special blessing God has given us!

On Wednesday Jonathan and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary. WOW!! It is so hard for me to believe its been that long. It still feels like it was just yesterday that I walked the aisle and joined hands with him to say our vows. Vows that meant we would spend a lifetime together. What a blessing from God!

Jonathan is a wonderful husband and truly is my best friend. Some may say “mushy, mushy” but I say “I hope the honeymoon never ends” in that we will still be just as crazy about each other in another 20 years as we were when we first started dating.

Don’t get me wrong… I know we live in a real world where its not always gonna be a bed of roses, but I also believe that if we trust the Lord and keep Him the center of our home that our marriage will always be blessed! I love everything about our life and our home together and I’m looking forward to the rest of forever together as Mr. & Mrs. Snow!

If you have it to give today please share in our celebration and help us get a little closer to our goal! I know we say it all the time but we so appreciate all that y’all have given so far to help us. Thank you as well for praying for us! God bless you today!

Becky and I have been having a fun time keeping this little guy named Zidane. He’s our great-nephew, and at 7 months old, he’s a barrel of fun! He does decently through the night, but does usually wake up once or twice wanting some attention. When he wakes up in the morning and it’s light outside, he’s most always the happiest little guy in the world.

While we love keeping him or any of our other nephews, it’s a double-edged sword for us. The other side of it is that our hearts ache to have one of our own someday. Prayerfully, we’re very optimistic in that we’re following, to the best of our ability, God’s will. Financially, we’re making great progress with all of your help. It’s another $5 Friday, so we’re asking that you pass the word along for everyone who can to help us out if they can at all. And please, continue to pray for us!

Hey everybody. It’s the first week of April and we’re already seeing those April showers. Earlier in the week I started working on getting the garden ready to plant..these showers make it hard for the ground to dry up enough to do anything with it, so I took advantage of it while I could.

Friday has made its way to us again, so we’re asking you to spread the word, asking folks to give if they are able, and especially pray for us. We’re so thankful for how much you’ve given – the Lord has used you all in a great way!

That’s right… today is my birthday and I feel so blessed beyond measure. I was feeling a little down about not being 20 something anymore, but its the inevitable so there’s no point in being upset over something that is just a number. God has blessed me with another year and for that I am very grateful!

I also feel so blessed by all the love and support y’all have continued to show toward us in helping support us not only financially but through many prayers and encouraging words. As of right now we still need $4,990 to meet our goal. If you have it to give today please help us!

I can’t wait until the day I get to celebrate birthdays with the special little one God has planned for us! 😀