Big "3"

Well, I am in need of a study break. Lots has happened and I have several pictures to share. Justin and I are just trying to survive the last couple of weeks of the semester. Since my last post, we have learned that Julia is allergic to penicillin-luckily the first reaction isn't usually too serious. And Julia has learned the fun of birthdays. Our family has many in October and November. She went to her cousin's birthday at a place called Pump It Up. They had a 20-foot inflatable slide that Julia spent most of her time climbing up and sliding down.

Halloween was great fun. Julia was Cinderella, wearing a "big blue dress from Grandma Carol and my tiara". Justin and Julia spent time raking leaves together. This was a new experience as our last house never had more than three or four leaves on the ground.


There is a picture from Julia's birthday party last weekend. She was so excited! I made her a pink princess birthday cake, but unfortunately her request for purple ice cream didn't pan out. This morning, she opened her birthday presents from us and a few other people. Justin and I were very touched by how thoughtful everyone's gifts have been. And we were certainly not disappointed by her reaction to the "little violin"! It will be interesting to see how her lessons go. I can't believe that my baby girl is now a big 3-year-old. Well, it's late and, as usual, I'm exhausted. Hope everyone is doing well!

Slow day

Today has been a slower-than-usual day. Julia has pink-eye again. Luckily, I have a flexible job so I was able to take care of the Sam's Club run for the Cakery and then spend the rest of the morning with Julia. She had great fun helping to haul the ingredients and other supplies into the shop this morning. Pink-eye is really not too bad as far as childhood illnesses. She is full of energy and very pleasant, her left eye is just gross. And I guess putting the drops in her eyes isn't much fun, but other than that it has been an enjoyable morning.

Just thought I'd share a funny Julia story. But first, background info: when Julia goes potty, she gets a sticker. After 7 stickers, she gets to pick out a treat, usually in the $.50 to $2 range. Sunday, she asked if she goes potty and gets stickers, could she get a baby at her house for a treat. I told her that would take about 6,000 stickers. Maybe by then Mommy and Daddy will be ready!

Full Speed

Full speed ahead seems to be the theme of our lives right now. I will keep this brief as I have a mountain of reading to do for school. Everything is going pretty well. We are stressed but hanging in there. I had to slow down a bit this week thanks to a nasty sinus infection that spread to my lungs. So far, no one else has gotten it. Julia continues to be a sweet and entertaining force in our household. And one who is MUCH closer to being completely potty trained! Hallelujah!!! Justin and I got to spend an amazing weekend with several of our close friends in mid-September. The following weekend, Julia and I made the trip down to Republic for the baby shower for Cade. Julia has been talking a lot about Springfield ever since-kind of makes me a bit homesick. I've included a number of pictures and captions, hope you enjoy them.

Justin and Julia at the St. Louis Zoo butterfly house.

Justin and Julia jamming to Laurie Berkner's "I'm Gonna Catch You!"

Our recent major purchase: a 1/16th sized violin

for Julia's third birthday (next to mine for perspective).

Julia holding "Baby Cade"

Picking apples at Eckerts, in

Belleville, Illinois.

Where Has the Summer Gone?

So I feel like I have lost two months and can't seem to find them. Can it really be September? Anyway, life here has launched into ludicrous speed.

I have officially started the School Psychology program. I still struggle from time to time with my decision-it's hard being away from my family two nights a week. But I am really enjoying my classes. And it is exciting to think of how God might use me later. I am extremely happy to be at the Cakery. It was a decision that I really wrestled with. It meant a significant pay cut and the loss of my benefits-really good benefits. But my stress level is near zero. It is amazing what loving your job will do for your mind. And I have heard that the school I was assigned to has been like a war zone. They have had a number of fights since school started and many of the teachers are extremely negative and resisting any attempts by the principal to improve the school. I think God really protected me. If you think about it, keep the principal and that school in your prayers.

Justin has started back to school. He has 24 credit hours this fall. He is excited to have more hands on/practical classes in preparation for the first round of boards next spring. He is strongly considering dropping the masters as he has discovered how much he does not enjoy research. He is still working weekends at the doctor's office. For the most part, he enjoys the job but says it is sometimes difficult being the only male tech in the office.

Julia is surprising us more and more by what she knows and understands. We had an opportunity to see the Courtneys last weekend. Julia absolutely enjoyed holding baby Cade. I had trouble remembering that she had been that small and cuddly! Julia is now even more convinced that she needs to be a big sister. I will say it was amazing to see how gentle and caring she was with Cade. She also continues to provide us with much laughter. For example, the other day, she passed gas and announced to Justin that she was "burping into my pull-up".

She continues to resist potty training. She can go almost an entire day without accidents. Most of the time, she says she doesn't want to be potty trained. It is really frustrating to us and it is hard not to get angry. I really shouldn't be surprised, though. This mile stone has been no different than all the previous mile stones. Julia will become physically ready/capable long before she decides she wants to be. For example, she took 3 steps in a row when she was 13 months old and then didn't even try to pull up for the next month. Then, at 14 months old she took off walking across the living room like she was born walking. I can't imagine where such stubbornness could come from. (Those of you who are former roommates can stop laughing now!) My child certainly has a mind of her own-and we try to remember that this is a real blessing.

The pictures I've included are of Julia and her lone surviving sunflower, Julia playing a racket "guitar", and Julia pretending to make a two-tier cake. I hope everyone is doing well. We are really looking forward to seeing a bunch of you in September. It will be a much-needed break and what fun to spend it with some of our closest friends! Have a great day!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

What a great end to the month of June. We flew into St. Louis this evening around 5 PM. I must say that a 5:3 adult-to-child ratio is the best way to fly. How else can you corral that much stuff and three energetic kids while racing through a crowded airport? Anyway, the trip to Northeastern Ohio could not have gone better. Julia absolutely loved flying and her cousins did well, too. Here is Justin teaching Julia to blow bubbles in her Sprite on the plane.


The weather was fantastic-even a little cold. Not a day was over 75 or so. We had a cookout at my Uncle Dave's house (which is on a corner of my grandmother's farm) Friday evening. I got to see some of my cousins and both uncles. After "helping" Grandpa Jeff and Daddy build the campfire, Julia tasted her first S'more. Her response was "mmmm dat's good". Justin had a great time walking around the pond looking for fish with her. (Don't worry-Justin did get to do a little fishing.)

I think one thing that could have made that time even better was if Grandpa had been there to see the great-grandchildren running and laughing in his yard. He always loved children-especially his grandchildren.

Saturday we took a scenic railroad trip to Hale Farm, south of Cleveland. This was also a big hit with the three little ones. My Uncle John and some of his family were able to join us. Julia helped card wool and was able to take some home. She was hesitant about petting the sheep-until she saw her cousins doing it. We also got to see a calf that was less than 24 hours old and a number of neat historic buildings. In the evening we were able to see another cousin of mine and his family at dinner.

Sunday we had a large brunch and spent time at a playground. Justin and I took a little drive around the country-with the main purpose of getting Julia to fall asleep in her carseat in preparation for the hour or so drive back to Cleveland from Grandma Alice's farm. I absolutely love going to Middlefield-it is one of the most relaxing places I know of.

The automobile part included a couple of rental cars. The one Justin enjoyed driving this weekend was the Toyota Highlander. If only we could afford one!

When we got home, I had another treat waiting for me-a bunch of green beans ready for harvesting. A number of our peppers are getting close and the tomatoes are starting to turn yellow. We had an awesome time in God's creation. I am so thankful that he gave us such an amazing place to live!

My baby girl

There are many little reminders everyday that tell me my baby girl is becoming less and less of a baby. It is a little bittersweet. It's exciting to hit milestones like buying pretty panties (which she has yet to keep dry, but we're working on it) and having her help me make cookies. We also realized yesterday that she recognizes her name when we spell it or write it. But I still love the times she falls asleep in the car and I have to carry her into the house with her little face buried into my neck. She is so snugly when she is sleeping!

Sometimes I wonder if we are getting anywhere with potty training. Julia continues to do well at day care, but progress at home seems slow. Mom suggested buying her special panties to wear at home, in the hopes that her love of clothes would motivate her to go to the bathroom-no luck with that yet. But yesterday seemed to be a bit of a break through. After cleaning up another puddle, I was ready to start putting her in diapers again and then she went from 11AM to bedtime (8PM) with a dry pull-up. Today hasn't been quite as monumental, but yesterday gives me hope.

I think one of my favorite things to see as Julia grows up is an increased awareness of God. We've been reading through the creation story in the Bible at night. She loves reviewing what was created on each day. And Julia loves praying before meals and at bedtime. I can't wait for the day when she chooses to place her trust in God!

We've also really been enjoying the kisses that don't leave us completely slimed (although I do kind of miss those), the "I love you, too's", and the big hugs. Last weekend Justin got to hear, numerous times, "Happy Birthday my Father's Day!" It's amazing to see how Julia-and everyone else's kids-have been growing so fast! I'm working hard to remember and treasure these special times. I'm sure you all with kids are doing the same. Have a great week!

More Busyness

Justin wanted me to to add another "Julia-ism":
"Hey, Dad, you going be optomitrist?"

Anyway, lots has been going on at our house. Since my last post, Julia had another case of hand-foot-mouth disease. It looks like she has now had 3 of the 9 known viruses that cause those nasty little blisters-so six more rounds to go? I hope not! We had to cancel our trip to Grants Farm. During her illness, I borrowed "We Are the Laurie Berkner Band" DVD from the library. It will probably be added to our collection at some point-she was so sad about taking it back to the library, we went back and got it a second time on Monday!

The day Julia went back to day care, I started training for my summer job. The Cupcakery is now scheduled to open on Wednesday. We had a booth at a local arts/food fest the weekend of June 8-10. It gave us a good feel for how the grand opening will be! We could not keep the cupcakes on the table! I ended up working a 14 hour shift on Saturday. Much of my day was spent frosting cupcakes (I learned I can box and frost 48 cupcakes in under 10 minutes) and driving them from the Cakery to the Cupcakery booth. Everytime I arrived there was a line, and about an hour after I left they had sold out of the 2-4 boxes I had taken them (with 48 cupcakes in a box). They had to quit 2 hours early each day because they just couldn't make more! A baker quit at the Cakery so I have been working the past two weeks mixing up batter (usually in 40-pound batches), baking, leveling, and making massive amounts of buttercream. I am having the most fun I have ever had at any job in my life! I am also excited to say that I have learned to make a heart using frothed milk in the top of a latte.




We have also been enjoying some of the free activites in St. Louis. In particular, the amazing zoo, some neat parks (Julia's new favorite is the Turtle Park), and the Shakespeare festival. We got to see a western version of "Much Ado About Nothing", which is my favorite Shakespeare play. The pictures in this post are from our last trip to the zoo and Julia's adventure at the Turtle Park. Hope you all are doing well!

Out of the mouth of babes.

It never ceases to amaze me what our daughter comes up with. Because she is so verbal, we get a fun glimpse into how her mind works. I am most amazed by how much she remembers and understands. I would have to say the most precious thing she does is kneel next to her toddler bed and pray with Justin and I every night. Her prayers usually include events and friends from day care along with thank yous for grandparents, uncles, aunt, and, occasionally, mommy and daddy. Along with some updated pictures, I've included some of my favorite "Julia-isms". I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
1. "I Julia Danielle Crowe."
2. "I wear graduate hat like Uncle Andy."
3. "I like billy billy/chocabilly!" (That's vanilla pudding/chocolate pudding.)
4. "I drive now!"
5. "I talk God on my knees."
6. "Hey Justin/Sarah/Buddy!" (This is followed by "What do you get to call me?")
7. "I fly big airplane, see Grandma Alice!"
8. "No worries."
9. "What's going on, Buddy?"
10. "You-you-you-you O.K., Mommy/Daddy?"
11. "I need chocolate!"
And my personal favorite, which really caught me off guard:
"Hey, Mom-mom, I need tiny baby at my house!" I told her we'd see-in about 3 years!



At Justin's cousin's wedding. Laughing with mommy. Planting sunflowers.

3 More Days!!

I'm sorry it has been so long since the last post. Julia recovered from hand-foot-mouth, which we fully expected. The bumps were a lot worse this time and she has a few scars from some that became blisters. By Tuesday morning, she asked me if she was going back to "my care". We were happy to let her go-with a doctor's note.

Justin survived the semester, keeping his grades to A's and B's. Not bad for a 21-credit hour course load, with a family and a part time job! He has been enjoying the time off but is ready to begin his summer research. He has also enrolled in a summer class. This will be the first of 6 or so classes that will also give him a masters in optics.

I am taking the summer off from classes in the hopes that maybe I'll be able to get my masters done. On Tuesday, I have a job interview with a new bakery/coffee house that will be opening in mid-June. It seems like it will be a fun job if I get it. I've also had more success with my cakes. Several people are insisting that I need to go into business for myself. We'll see.

As the title of this post indicates, we only have three more days of school!!!!!!! And two of those are half-days. I am really looking forward to being out of that school. We have been having a lot of fights. (There is even talk of a food fight and a gang fight planned for next week.) And it seems the kids are getting more rude and disrespectful by the day. I hope things change there soon. People are already talking about how different the atmosphere is at the new school where I will be next year. I am looking forward to it!

On a brighter note, I am very excited about our yard. We had some beautiful roses bloom in the back of our house, thanks to previous owners. We've had a lot of different plants coming up, most of which we are not sure what they are. Justin got my garden dug up and ready for planting a few weeks ago. My green bean plants are growing well. I'm starting to see carrot plants. And we have a tomato plant and six different kinds of peppers that seem to be going well. I hope to be planting cucumbers, corn, and pumpkins this weekend. Oh, and there are a bunch of little sunflower plants near the swing set. If they actually grow, Julia will have 12-foot tall flowers to look at from her bedroom window.

Well, it has been the end of a long work week and, thanks to allergies for Julia and I, I haven't been getting a lot of quality sleep. Hope you all have a great holiday weekend. I will try to post some pictures later this weekend. Good night!

Isn't that a cow disease?

It kind of feels like our child is never going to be healthy again. Justin says he feels like he should be wearing a rubber suit or something around Julia. She just got over a nasty cold. Today, she was feeling awfully warm-that happens with a temperature of 100.1. And suddenly, her feet are literally covered with tiny red bumps. It's starting to show up on her hands, too. Our guess is hand, foot, mouth disease-per day care we have to take her to a doctor this weekend. It is highly contagious among children. We saw it last fall, but this round seems much worse than last time. I'm not sure about Justin, but all of this illness for Julia and I is really making me feel "beat down". I guess my whole reason in posting right now is just to ask for prayer. I know God is the great physician, but sometimes it is hard to see it. I hope you all are doing a lot better! (And feel free to let us know about any prayer requests you might have.)

More Cake

I am so relieved. I just sold another cake! It was just picked up and they loved it. Justin was such a trooper last night helping me with the cake, even into the almost-wee hours. He really got into making the map for the background. In fact, I just want to say that I have an amazing husband. He is so busy and yet he still takes time to do things like clean the kitchen, help me cook, and he even reads clothing labels when he helps with laundry! I love watching him play with Julia. And he tries hard to make sure that I feel appreciated. I feel so incredibly blessed to have him. And to think, I used to say that I didn't want to get married. I'm so glad God knew better! Anyway, enough with the gushing. (I won't start on how blessed we feel to have all of you in our lives-that's another post.) I hope you all are feeling as lucky and blessed as I am. Have a great weekend!

27 More Days!!!

Wow, this semester is flying! As the title indicates, I have only 27 more days of work until summer break-and three of those are half days with students!!!! The down side, I need to figure out where I will be working this summer. Justin has survived another round of tests and has started preparing for finals.

I think our family is finally on the road to health, again. Julia and I both have residual coughs but no more fevers. Justin's arm (seen in this picture) is also healing. The four puncture wounds are from our darling Satchmo. I accept the blame for that one. I spilled orange juice on him last Sunday (we were home sick from church). We decided to give Satchmo a bath-something we've done many times before. This time, he completely freaked out (his shrieking and crying were matched by Julia's). And he chomped on Justin's arm. I had to literally pry Satchmo's mouth open. Justin's arm was infected by Monday morning. $350 later, I'm not entirely sure why we (including Justin) still love Satchmo.

Easter was wonderful for my family. We had an Easter egg hunt before going to church with my parents. I'm not sure which Julia was more excited about-wearing her "eetiful" dress (flower girl dress) or seeing her new Aunt Abbey. Justin's dad was able to join us for Easter dinner at my parents' house (he happened to be driving through the area). Julia had another Easter egg hunt at my parents' house and gifts from Grandpa Mike. With the hunt at day care, that's three! She dyed the eggs at day care as well.

This last picture is Julia checking on her plants-three sunflower and three pumpkin. I have since killed them because they grew too big for their containers and I didn't get them repotted soon enough. But don't worry, I have already started replacements!

Anyway, hope you all are doing well! Life is starting to slow down, so I will post again soon.

Great News!

We just spent a wonderful weekend with friends who are truly like family to us. I felt homesick leaving Springfield this afternoon. I think we still long to be back in the Ozarks. Julia was a sweet child who slept the entire drive home, which gave us some great conversation time.

When we got home, Justin checked the mail and there was a letter from the University of Missouri-St. Louis Graduate Admissions Office. I asked him to open the letter. To keep it short-I have been accepted to the Ed Specialist-School Psychology degree program!!!! I am so excited!!! It seems that God is giving me confirmation that this is the right direction and timing for me.

Anyway, it's getting late but I just had to share that. I hope you all are doing well! And thank you to all of you who helped give us a wonderful weekend. We feel truly blessed to have you in our lives!

The Wedding

This post will be mostly pictures. I am completely worn out from the weekend. The wedding was absolutely wonderful. Julia could not have been a better toddler! She walked down the "owie" (aisle) during the wedding. She didn't drop any flower petals, but that might have been a good thing because she kept stopping to clean up when she was practicing. Julia sat quietly through the wedding after we convinced her that she couldn't go up with the bride. And she was a party animal at the reception! She danced almost the entire time-with anyone and everyone there.

The cake survived the trip to Indiana with only a couple of minor problems that were easily fixed. And I have the sweetest, patient, most wonderful husband! Without his help I don't think I would have been able to get it all finished in time. Anyway, the weekend was wonderful and I am so excited about my new sister-in-law, Abbey. Hope everyone is doing well!

Cakes, cakes everywhere and not a bite to eat...

Sorry this is so lengthy, I haven't been as consistent as I had hoped!

Well, my brother's wedding is a week away. The cake layers are almost all baked-just the large layers left. Today and tomorrow I will begin mixing the mass amounts of frosting that I will need. I made a bridal shower cake last weekend and I think the decorations for the wedding cake will be similar.

We're a little tired today because Julia, our wonderful sleeper, has not been quite so wonderful lately. She has been taking as much as an hour to fall asleep and then has been getting up earlier. Today she started banging on her door at 5:40am! Not cool. We tried hard to get her to at least lay quietly so we could catch a little extra sleep. On the upside, she has been very consistent with using the "potty" at daycare this week-before and after nap every day. We are VERY excited about that. And her teacher says she is the best behaved kid who always listens to her. I'm always glad to hear when she is better behaved in public than at home.

I have completed my application for the school psychology program at UMSL. Hopefully they will want me! The school where I am currently working is getting worse and worse with behavior problems. In one of the classes I help with, we had one student on Thursday and no students yesterday. Five are currently suspended and the two that aren't were both sick. I will be really glad to be finished with the school year. I don't know what next year will look like, but I hope it doesn't get much worse.

We had a party last month to celebrate Justin's final year of life. According to him, life will end next February 4th. (Personally, I hope he is very wrong.) The picture is of Justin's cake aglow with 29 candles. And the amazing thing is that he blew them all out at once! He started using the opthamalscope in lab this week. Thursday evening, he insisted on looking in my eyes, was moderately successful with Julia, and completely unsuccessful with Satchmo. Ella was nowhere to be found. I'm glad to see that he is having fun with his very expensive toy.

I need to pull a cake from the oven, hope everyone is doing well. Maybe the next post will have the wedding cake pictures and a shot or two of my favorite little flower girl.

Hello everyone!

Things are very hectic and it has been difficult for me to keep up with individual e-mails. I'm sorry! I thought this might be the best way to keep everyone updated on how things are in St. Louis.

We are gradually getting unpacked in our new house. My parents were great hosts but we are so happy to have our own space. I am especially thankful to be reunited with all of my kitchen gadgets-especially as I work on my brother's wedding cake.

I am enjoying my class on Monday nights. It is ethics and law for school psychologists. The fact that I enjoy it seems to indicate that my decision to apply to the program was a good one. Julia continues to have a lot of fun at "my care". She was n0t happy on Tuesday because I kept her home due to the increasingly bad weather. Here she is during a previous snow making a "goman" with her daddy. We are currently working on potty training. Julia has had some success on many days this week, especially at day care. Justin is plowing through a constant stream of tests and quizes-averaging 3 per week right now. He is looking at possible (paid) research opportunities for the summer.

I hope everyone is doing well! I will try to post again soon with more pictures. Have a great day!