Compassion International

You may notice a new little widget to the right of this post for Compassion International.

Growing up in my church, I had heard about Compassion International off-and-on, but never gave it much consideration. I knew someone who supported a child, but didn't know about it closely and wasn't sure if it was another "hoax" like the commercials you see on TV where really only a small amount of your money actually went to helping the child.

As I journeyed through college at Baylor (Sic 'em Bears!), there were booths for Compassion at various events, but I typically just passed them by. In November 2009, as Kelly, from Kelly's Korner, was doing her first visit to a Compassional International center, I really felt a tug on my heart to invite a sweet little girl into our family (Brian and I didn't get married until July 2010, but I just couldn't wait to love on a sweet kiddo with the love of Christ and all my love possible). Although I was in college, with a very meager part-time job, and Brian and I had no idea what our futures looked like, I committed to supporting our sweet little girl, no matter what, through her years in the Compassion program.

Meet Claudia :-)

Claudia is now seven years old! I can hardly believe it. I look at her pictures each year and she just seems like the sweetest, most timid child! I pray daily that she has a sweet, loving heart that shares the love of Jesus with her family and her friends. You can read all about when we first started supporting Claudia here!

Would you consider supporting a child, or several, and help them rise above poverty with, most importantly, the love of Christ, as well as schooling, food, clothing, and more? Visit www.compassioninternational.com to find out more, for follow the link on the "widget" to the right.

Help a Child

Alternative to Weekly Updates: 30 Weeks Vlog!

I think I have found a quick and easy alternative to weekly updates and I think that Granny Nanny & Grandma Kaki will be pleased :-)

Pardon the TERRIBLE lighting...I'm not quite sure what went wrong. We'll work on that :-) Regarding the terrible quality, it made me post a low quality one, I'll try to fix it later if I can!

Hiatus

I think the good old days of being able to blog on some sort of schedule are coming to an end. I plan to still do some sort of weekly update for Brynlee Ann's sake, but I'm pretty sure it may never see the bloggy world.

Brynlee Ann is 6 Months Old!

Not one thing in particular has helped me make this decision-I've really just begun to dig into what makes me truly happy and that's being with my family, taking care of my husband, my home, and our sweet Brynlee Ann.

Snowing on Sunday, 70 degrees on Wednesday...thank you, Texas!

I've also taken on a part-time job at a wonderful preschool, as well as fully pursuing my career with Scentsy (shameless plug to my little business -- it's SUPER fun and am looking to expand my team--if you've ever thought about being a consultant for a direct sell company, I can tell you this is one of the best!)

You do not have to live nearby to be on the best Scentsy team out there!

We hope you had a delightful Valentine's Day! I've been sick, Brian wasn't feeling well, and Brynlee Ann is fighting a cold, so we just had a lazy day around the house - with the help of Grandma (my mom). I'll leave you with my sweetest little Valentine! 

 

Thanks for following my journey through pregnancy and the early days of Brynlee Ann's life! I have had a blast! I'm sure I'll be back to blogging sometime in the future, but until then, God's blessings to each of you!

25 & 27 Weeks!

This week Brynlee Ann:

• HAS A TOOTH BREAKING THROUGH!! My sweet baby is growing up too fast! She has a sharp little pearly white breaking through on the bottom and is taking it like a champ! Praying she got her Daddy's pain tolerance...
• Is rollin', rollin', rollin' and ain't stopping!
• Was the best baby ever (I mean, when is she not??) and accompanied me to an interview! She definitely stole some hearts = BROWNIE POINTS! :-)

This Week Brynlee Ann:

• Has TWO teeth on the bottom!
• Is learning to sit up by herself - not quite there, but almost!
• Is eating 3-4 good servings of baby food at each feeding! I'm making homemade, organic foods. So easy, so healthy, and WAY cheaper than buying baby food at the store! 

Sneak Peak!

Brian & his brother, Matthew, are both WONDERFUL photographers! Brian enjoys taking pictures of scenery, while Matthew's gift (or so it seems) is portraiture. We were given the opportunity to have a free family session with a local "professional" photographer...well...those didn't turn out so well and I would say she was less of a professional...needless to say I was pretty bummed! Matthew kindly agreed to take some family pictures of us and we even had a sweet friend come take some pictures of ALL of the Langhoff family while we were in Midland! These are unedited pictures that I just couldn't help but to share...I know I'll share more as soon as Matthew finishes editing them and making them perfect! THANK YOU, UNCLE MATT!

Our little model.

We were taking a picture of us kissing her cheeks and she turned and started eating me!

GORGEOUS!

24 Weeks!

Shame, shame shame....I skipped a week. I really do feel terrible about it, but I can't go back now and do anything about it. I'm just so frustrated that I can't find my camera charger and I'm having to use the video camera as a still camera and it takes cruddy picture! We're about to just pull out Brian's fancy camera to take pictures now...

The past two weeks, Brynlee Ann:

• Spent a WHOLE DAY with Daddy while Mommy went to Waco! 
• Took her first trip to Cabela's with Daddy on said day!! (many more of those days will be in her future with her Daddy & Granddaddy)
• Took her first trip to Midland!! WOHOO!!
• Was babysat for the first time by her Aunt Hildy (Great Aunt Susan/Brian's Aunt) and Aunt Allie!
• Spent the day with Aunt April before she & Uncle Kelbs move far away :-(

This are a couple outtakes from our 24 week photoshoot...too cute not to post!

"I'm done with this lamb!"

"Falling over is way more fun than sitting up straight & pretty!"

When April came over she had black, pink, and zebra print on...Brynlee Ann loves those three together so of course she had to match Aunt April!

Granny Nanny, Brynlle Ann wore the cute zebra shoes you bought her, too!

22 Weeks!

This Week Brynlee Ann:

• Enjoyed taking walks with Mommy in our neighborhood park
• Enjoyed swinging at the neighborhood park at the beginning of walks with Mommy
• Mostly just recovered from Christmas while Daddy took his first mini-mester course of seminary

5 Months!

This month, Brynlee Ann:

• Is sleeping like a champ! Taking 3-4 naps a day and sleeping roughly 10 hours at night!
• Is starting to eat rice cereal for breakfast & dinner -- need to get some chunk on my sweet baby girl's bones!
• Started wearing 6 month cloths! Brynlee Ann is too long for most 3 month one-pieces & onesies, but dresses & pants work well in 3 month, still. She is SO long!
• Is quickly outgrowing size 1 diapers - Pampers are the only size 1 that still fit! Target size 1's slide off her little tush - too cute, but not fun for cleaning up messes! 
• Celebrated her first Christmas!
• Moved to a new house and got her own room!
• Rolled from her tummy to her back AND her back to her tummy!

Still Alive

We are still here...I promise! In the process of moving my camera charger was lost so I was taking picture using the video camera (which are not the best quality), and now I have misplaced my card reader! I have some posts typed up for Brynlee Ann's 5 month post and weekly posts and will publish them as soon as I can find that tiny card reader that is hiding!