Christmastime

It's Christmastime already. We finished decorating the house this afternoon during Emma's nap. Our last thing to do was to put up the tree. We put up the outside lights last weekend when it was warm. Now it's 24 degrees and we are so thankful that we put them up when it was 60 degrees! We really contemplated where we would put our tree this year. It's so hard when Emma wants to touch and explore everything new, so we knew that we would be setting her up for failure if we put it where she could touch it. We ended up putting it in the front office area where we have it blocked off with a gate. We can still enjoy it's beauty, but Emma can't touch it. When Emma got up this afternoon, she discovered the tree. She thought it was really cool. Immediately she went into the other room and gathered some toys and handed them to her daddy to put on the tree. She kept going back and getting more toys to put on the tree. It was sooo cute! She wanted to contribute to the decorating of the tree. I guess she thought if Mommy and Daddy can have their pretties on the tree, so can she.

It's starting to snow tonight, it's light and fluffy. So pretty. But cold!

Emma is getting to be so much fun. Tonight she was making Ohhh faces at Grandma and laughing and kissing. When I was rocking her for bedtime she kept kissing and hugging me, it was so sweet. I love when she's that sweet. The other day I came home and Daddy was pushing her around in a diaper box piled with toys on top of her. How fun was that!

We recently changed to a different family Dr. The reason we were at this Dr.'s office was because of an awesome Dr. that ended up moving to Terre Haute. So, by default we stayed at this Dr.'s office and was adopted by another Dr. So, this Dr. told us that Emma shouldn't get a flu shot because she wasn't at "high risk". Later I learned that the CDC recommends that all children 6 months to 6 years get a flu shot. This Dr.'s office has done other things that I have not been happy with as well, so it was time for a change. I love our new Dr., she seems like she really knows what she's talking about. I love having a Dr. that I trust and am happy to go to.
So, needless to say Emma got her first dose of flu shot last week and will get the second dose right after Christmas. She didn't even cry when she got the shot, such a tough girl!

"I like Big Bibles"

The children's ministry at the Lighthouse put on a dinner theatre to raise money for Christmas Presents for Basher Home, a juvenile facility. The youth participated and did the rap "I like Big Bibles" (to the tune of "I like Big Butts") As you can see, Jerrod was the big Bible. They did an awesome job! It was very funny! And all of them were really into it!

"Church of the Dome"

The last couple of days I was thinking how odd it is that we now live in a place that we so made fun of 3 years ago before we even knew that we were moving here. On our missions trip to Goshen, IN 3 years ago we passed by the "Church of the Dome". Mary-Frances made this famous with how she said it with her southern accent. I can still hear it. Ironically, I pass by that church EVERYDAY on my way to work. It's only a couple of blocks from my work. Or, how about "Mullet's Auto Sales"? I just went to the dentist last week and passed by that and all the memories came flooding back to me. On our missions trip we stopped and we all got out of the van to take a picture in front of the sign. We couldn't believe that someone would name their business after a hick haircut. It's kindof cool to live in a place that we have memories from all our youth in California and all our youth in Goshen. It makes me really miss everyone out in Cali, Jerrod and I catch ourselves often saying "Do you remember when....."
It was so much fun looking through the old pics to find this picture, that I decided to post them all to our shutterfly account. You can get there by going through www.40rods.com and clicking on pics at the top.

April's first cavity

I've went 30 years without a cavity. I found out Tuesday I had a cavity and I got it filled today. My mouth is still throbbing from where he stabbed me with his 3 inch needle. It was in the very back of my mouth, so my jaw is very sore. The numbness finally wore off this afternoon, I went right before lunch and forgot that I wouldn't be able to eat anything afterwards. Well, I guess I could have, but it would have been pointless because I would not have been able to taste it and I would have risked biting my tongue or cheek or something.

I'm crushed! No longer can I use that I've never had a cavity in the "I never" game. Bummer.

Winter comes early this year

We had our first significant snowfall today. It has actually snowed before now, it just hasn't stuck. It is really pretty, but I'm not sure I'm really ready for the cold that goes with it. It's a little early, we still have pumpkins out! Emma still is wearing her winter coat from last year, which still just barely fits her. We have not had much luck finding her a new one that we like.

We just changed clocks this past week, like everyone else in the country now (except Arizona). It doesn't seem as hard to gain an our than to lose it. It hasn't been near as hard this time to get Emma on the same time schedule as it was in the spring.

Emma is now 15 months and busy, busy, busy. Jerrod thinks she has ADD, I just keep telling him this is normal for this age. She understands now more than she can actually say. She follows directions very well, usually. She can say lots of words. She's starting to pretend. She feeds her baby doll her milk and cookies that she's eating at the time. She also is figuring out how to smile, when I take her picture and tell her to smile, she gives this goofy grin with her eyes half shut. I don't know where she got that!













A couple of weeks ago, right after we miscarried, we decided to go to shopping and pretend like everything was great in our world. It actually did help and worked pretty well. We bought Emma the tow truck from the "Cars" movie to ride on. It is so cool! I think it's her favorite toy right now.

Emma is just so smart and so cute. She surprises us every day how smart she is, she learns so much, she's like a sponge and soaks up everything she sees. Maybe we're just biased because we're her parents, but we think she's over the top smart for a 15 month old!

We went to the library yesterday for the second time and got new books to read. Emma LOVES reading books. We love how independent she is becoming. We were downstairs in the children's section and we had to go upstairs to check out. Emma followed us the whole way even into the elevator. Her first elevator ride standing all by herself, she didn't even hold our hands. When it stopped, she kindof lost her balance, but caught herself very quickly. The out of the elevator she RAN! She was so excited about the elevator ride. It was soooo cute!

One of Emma's favorite things is looking at pictures on the computer. Yesterday, we were looking at Jacob and Sharon's blog. She just kept saying "baby" everytime she saw a new picture of Issaac. Then we went to Matt and Carrie's blog and she loved the pictures of Lorelai too.


It's so fun having a little girl!!

We had a miscarriage. We’re sad.

We had a miscarriage. We’re sad.

A life, a beating heartbeat, and a spirit was created, and then taken 2 months later. One could dampen the thought by pacifying the situation, but the truth that life existed is inescapable.

Having shared the news of life coming, we must also deliver the news of life going. It’s the worst-case scenario. I looked it up in my book “worst case scenario.” However, they failed to include this event. I suppose when writing the book they didn’t consider difficult family issues.

So, here are some thoughts.

We are grieving. Our trust in God, our faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It is not too much for us to believe that God provides for and lives within us, therefore it is not a stretch for us to believe in his timing, care, and control in such a time as this. If anything, this very situation is easier, clearer and more peaceful with the very faith in Christ we brought into it.

We’re not upset that we shared with you this new life, nor do we wish that we had held off with sharing the news. We believe in community, the sharing of good and bad times, and living those moments out with each and every one of you.

A situation like this, shared, is met with awkwardness, pauses, silence and often an inability to communicate. Knowing that, we don’t expect answers, or “lift-us-ups” with common flippant antidotes. It’s hard enough to describe the event, let alone be provided some misguided solutions, reasons or thoughts. However, there are some things we would ask at the risk of seeming selfish.

Pray for us grieving parents. Ask us over the next few months what you can pray for, and remember to pray for it. We’d love this support from you over the next couple months.

Shoot us a personal note, but avoid the temptation to preach or provide a reason. Just love on us (the selfishness brews over), we could use it.

We love you, and care for you deeply, and are grateful that you share in our lives.

Jerrod & April Furlong

Time flies when you're having fun!

Oh how time flies! I can't believe that we haven't updated this in over a month! Emma is now 14 months old. She went for her one year appointment a couple of weeks ago. She is in the 50th percentile. Everyone always tells us how petite she is, especially for having such a tall mommy and daddy. She got three shots. Since she was late getting her one year shots, they just went ahead and gave her the 15 month shot too. Hurrah for grumpiness all at once instead of twice!

Last weekend we went to Ft. Wayne and took the youth to the mall and laser tagging. Emma got to ride the carousel in the mall. It actually frightened her a bit. She held on for dear life and was on the verge of tears. But afterwards, kept pointing to it, like she wanted to ride it again. Maybe next time!

This weekend we went to Alysa's (a roomate from college) wedding reception in MO. We had so much fun! Alysa and Jake look so happy together! It was a Hoedown that had to be experienced to be appreciated. All of the family welcomed us in and treated us as one of their own. All of April's college roomates were there. It was so awesome to reconnect with old friends. Emma got to play with Jaden who is about 7 months older than her. Jaden is Diane's, April's college roomate's, little boy. They had so much fun!

The Park

We went to the park today and had so much fun! Goshen has a REALLY nice playground. Emma swang, walked under the tee-pee, played with the bells, and slid down the slide.

Funny Girl!

Check out all of Emma's different expressions! Such personality!

More expressions

More Expressions

Our little monkey

Emma is now 13 months and going places! The other day Emma was sitting in her high chair and Jerrod was in the kitchen doing dishes. When Jerrod turned around, Emma was on top of the dining room table. She had gotten out of her seat and crawled up onto the table. Time to tighten and use the high chair belt!

She won't let me carry her upstairs anymore, she insists on crawling up herself. She is actually quite good at it. Now, all we have to do is teach her how to get downstairs, which I think is going to be harder.

She has a drawer in the kitchen and a drawer in the bathroom that is hers and she can put anything in it that she wants to. It's really cool because she knows which drawer is hers and she doesn't open any of the other drawers. She mostly takes everything out and then leaves the stuff on the floor for mom or dad to come by and put back into the drawer :)

I think she comprehends more than we give her credit for. The other day we asked her if she could dance and she started dancing. We had no idea that she knew that word! We have started to teach her sign language, "more" and "all done" are the two main ones that she can do. So cute!

Her favorite food right now is toast. I can't seem to get her to eat any other "real" food except for mac & cheese, spaghetti, toast, and pizza. So we're still on baby food for all the veggies. And she HATES any kind of potatoe, even french fries!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Emma is a year old! We were at BYIC national conference on her birthday. We had cupcakes and EVERYBODY sang to her. How cool was that! We had her birthday swim party at the Ramada the Sunday after her birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Crum, Grandma Furlong, Grandpa Furlong, Aunt Louisa, Uncle John, Emma’s cousins: Rachel, Rebekah, and Sarah, her friends Brittany and Jennifer, and of course Mom and Dad were all there. She got several really cool presents. Mom made her a birthday cake, it was a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. She really wasn’t feeling well, she was actually sick to her stomach, never the less, she loved the cake. She grabbed it with both fists and was just shoveling it in. It was actually the only thing she liked eating that day.

Baptism

On Sunday, the Lighthouse had a baptism service. It was so nice, it was at a park, there was a waterfall and a really peaceful creek that everyone was baptized in. 11 baptized! Praise God! It was extra special to us because one of our youth, Brittany Campbell was baptized. She's been a special part of our lives this past year. I (April) have been able to meet with her every week and mentor her. I didn't realize how much of an impact this had until her testimony was read while she was being baptized. It really touched me how much God had used me for her to grow in Christ. I cried. Congratulations Brittany!

Swimming again!

April's family came up this weekend. Rachel went to camp last week and Sarah and Rebekah went to camp this week so they were up for the weekend to pick up and drop off them. They got a hotel room and we got to go swimming again. Emma loved it this time and I think she remembered it, not near as scared this time. It was still cold, but she didn't seem to mind too much. I think it also helped to have her cousins in the water playing with her.

Emma's 11 months old!

This month went fast!! I don't even think we took many pictures at all this month. Emma is up and moving around really well now. She can walk pretty well back and forth in the living room without holding onto anything. She's really enjoying summer and the great outdoors. We try to take her outside as much as possible, she loves picking the grass. Now that she has shoes that she can walk in, going outside is even easier. This week Emma swam in a big swimming pool for the first time. It was a bit on the cold side, so it took her a while to get used to it. She was on the brink of tears for quite awhile until she decided that it might actually be fun. Then she splashed and played and had lots of fun! Maybe next time, she'll remember how much fun it was and won't be as scared. Emma is almost completely weened off of the pacifier. She only uses it for her morning naps, she doesn't need it any other time. She's also completely drinking from a sippy cup now, no more bottles! She's getting to be such a "big girl"!

New Shoes

Emma got new walking shoes this past weekend. We went to Stride Rite to get them. The lady that worked there was really nice. Emma really liked her. She sized Emma's foot, she was right on the 4 line with a wide foot. So, we ended up getting her a 4 1/2 wide so they will last a little longer. Emma loves to walk outside in her new shoes and she walks great in them.

**picture coming soon

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Daddy's day to all you Dad's and Dad's to be! April's family came up and we all celebrated it together. It rained, so we didn't get to enjoy outside much, but it was still a good time.

The park

We went to the park this last Sunday. Emma got to swing on the swing set. She had sooo much fun! She didn't stop laughing. Mommy and Emma also got to go down the bumpy slide. Emma would squeal with delight when we went over the bump. It was so much fun!

**picture coming soon

A couple of steps

The last couple of days Emma has been trying to walk by herself. She can take about 3 or 4 steps before she falls, lunges, or just gets down because it's taking too long to get there. Each step is so calculated and thought out. It is so cool to see her trying to walk!

This picture has nothing to do with her walking, but it sure is cute!

Happy Memorial Day!

We've been waiting on the warm weather to arrive and it went way overboard! This weekend was sweltering hot! I think it got up to around 95 degrees. Despite the heat, Emma got to go outside and play for the first time. She loves the grass! She just kept picking it and playing with it. Farmer Jerrod and Grandma got the garden mostly planted. It looks great! We're hopefully going to have yummy veggies in a couple of months. We finished up the weekend by having a picnic out by the garden on our new picnic table.

Kisses and Hugs

Emma is very good at giving kisses and hugs now. She makes a Hmmmm sound and kisses you on the cheek. It is very sweet. She even kisses her stuffed animals. Here's a picture of her kissing her big stuffed dog.

Emma's 10 months old!

Wow, this month went quick! Emma can stand up now for about 30 seconds (she's standing all by herself in this picture). She gets so excited and then falls on her bottom, if she didn't get so excited she could probably stand for longer. This month Emma aquired two more top teeth, so a total of 6 teeth and more coming in soon. She started eating lumpy food (stage 3). At first she thought the texture was weird and would make funny faces, but now she likes it. She got her first "black eye" (more red than black) She added another word to her vocabulary: book. More like buh, but we know what she means. She loves her books! Emma is at such a fun age!

Hello, who's there??

Grandma taught Emma how to talk on the telephone, now everything is a telephone. She picks up pretty much anything and says "Hello" (Really its Aeaaah) But she is especially partial to remote controls.

Emma and Grandma

Emma and Grandma Furlong, she absolutely loves her Grandma!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mother's and Mother's-to-be! Emma and Jerrod gave me a lovely card and beautiful flowers. We were also surprised with a phone call from Nichole Merrill telling us that she is FINALLY be a mother-to-be. Congratulations Andy and Nichole, we are SO EXCITED for you guys!

Emma, already our “little helper”

Emma was so cute this morning! I (April) was pulling her laundry out of the dryer and placing it in her basket. She was playing in the laundry room while I was doing this. She crawled over to the dryer and pulled herself up and started to pull out her clothes and hand them to me one at a time. She was an awesome helper! I loved it because I didn’t have to bend over and get the clothes out! I said “Thank You” every time she handed me a piece of clothing. When she would stop, I would say “I need more please” and she would continue to hand me items of clothing until they were all out of the dryer. So cute!

Welcome Home Grandma!

Grandma Furlong moved to Indiana this last weekend. It was such a long trip for her from Sarasota. We’ve (Jerrod, April, and April’s family) been working very hard the last couple of months on finishing the basement so she can her own space. We’ve done EVERYTHING ourselves. We’ll be experts on any home improvement project when we are finished. Unfortunately, we did not get it done in time for her arrival, but it is very close to being finished. We are really excited to have Jerrod’s mom living with us. It will be so awesome for Emma to grow up with Grandma close! A big thank you to April’s parents and family. We could not have done it without you guys! Also a big thank you to Brittany, our babysitter, she watched Emma several nights a week so we could work on the basement.

Happy Birthday Tiffiny!

Happy Birthday to our good friend Tiffiny. She's down in Mississippi cooking for the hurricane relief volunteers. We hope you had a terrific birthday! We miss you!

Emma’s 9 months old!

Emma turned 9 months old on the 18th. I think this 9 months went a lot quicker than the 9 months of pregnancy! Emma is at such a fun age, we have so much fun with her.
She’s now crawling on her hands and knees exclusively. She’s a pro at pulling herself up on the furniture and cruising around. She even has tried to stand by herself a couple of times and is successful for a couple of seconds until she lands on her bottom. Emma’s now saying Da, Da, Da, Da and Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma and Nuh, Nuh, Nuh, Nuh (only when she’s unhappy). And she has 4 teeth (2 bottom and 2 top)! They came in one right after another. Her favorite toys now are the remote control, her shoes, and the window blinds. Why do we even buy this girl real toys??!! Discipline has started, as she gets into things she’s not suppose to. She knows what the word No means, and is pretty good about obeying us.

A new car!

We were so blessed by Jerrod’s Dad! He and Jerrod had been chanting SUV for a long time every time we had to get Emma in and out of the car. It was very back breaking. So Jerrod’s Dad offered to pay the car payments if we got a new car, preferably an SUV . We went to look at the Chrysler vehicles (because through April’s Dad we can get the Employee Price on any Chrysler vehicle). We ended up in the Jeep Commander. The SUV that we really wanted but thought we couldn’t have. Thanks Dad! What an awesome blessing! It is so much easier to get Emma in and out of. And it’s roomier overall!

Emma is pulling herself up

There has been so many milestones this month. Emma started a week ago pulling herself up and now she's a pro. She'll try to pull herself up on anything! We had to lower her crib mattress because she would pull herself up and lean over the edge. She is also starting to try to go upstairs. Time for a gate!

Emma's First Tooth

We discovered last night that Emma is starting to get her first tooth! It's starting to peak through on the bottom front. She's getting so big! This morning Jerrod watched her climb up on the landing of the staircase, she crawled around there for a little while, looked up the stairs and decided that it was too scary to climb, and then climbed back down (more like a faceplant than climbing) She's such a little monkey!

Mary and Patrick's wedding

Our "sister" got married today in San Diego. We were so bummed that we did not get to go to the wedding. Sorry Mary-Frances! It just didn't work out financially nor could we find any plane tickets that had a guaranteed 3 seats together. We love you Mary and Patrick and wish you all the best!

April lost 15.5 lbs

The past 10 weeks, April has been a weight loss support group at work. She lost 15.5 lbs! She's finally now back to the weight she was before she was pregnant. Each person in the group pays $2 each week to participate, and if they gain weight they have to pay an extra $2. At the end of the 10 weeks, the "biggest loser" wins all the money. Guess who won? That's correct! So we went shopping!

Trip to Ft. Wayne

We went this weekend to the Ft. Wayne mall. It's kindof sad to think that this was really exciting for us! We went shopping and bought lots of cool clothes. April bought new jeans and some dress shirts, the same size that she wore before she was pregnant :) Jerrod bought new spring clothes. And of course Emma got the most clothes out of all of us. Lots of cute spring outfits.

April's family visited us this weekend. We celebrated Sarah and Rebekah's birthday. They are already 10 years old!

Emma is crawling

Emma is crawling really well now. There is no where she can't go, unless we block it with pillows. She is a professional army crawler, she can get up on her knees, but decides that she can get there faster with an army crawl. She's so fast when she sees something she really wants! And of course everything she really wants, she can't have.

Happy New Year!

Our good friends Andy & Nichole Merrill and Jamie, Betsy, Micah, & Kate Zile came to visit over New Year's. We had our "5 year" reunion. Lots of fun! This was the first time that Emma has played with another baby. Kate kept being a bully and pulling Emma's pacifier out of her mouth :)

Emma's first trip to the beach

Even though it was cold, we still had to go just to say that we went! It was very sunshiny and beautiful.

Uncle Chris, a proud Uncle

Before we left Sarasota, we had breakfast with Uncle Chris at our favorite breakfast place: First Watch.

Christmas at Grandma's in Sarasota

We went to Sarasota for Christmas. Emma's first plane ride. She did great both ways. She slept the whole time. She had a great time with Grandma, Uncle Chris, and Aunt Lori.

Natural model

We took Emma to get her picture taken at JCPenney. This is just pose was probably the cutest.

I love the Fall

Fall is so beautiful. This is the entrance to our subdivision. I just love the fall colors!