first of all, if this looks too long too read, skip to the end for my important thoughts.

so, I (Jana) have a few minutes! I kind of feel guilty for doing this, because there are a hundred other things i should be using this time for. oh well. I'm in the middle of making cookies, as well. My husband told me to not waste time on ironing but to do something productive, like make cookies. You've got to love him :-). so these are old, but patrick worked so very hard at making the nursery perfect for me, i wanted to acknowledge him. (i made him change the paint colour 3 times. after he had already painted it.) it is absolutely wonderful, and i am so thankful.

he also worked very hard at installing our dishwasher (thank you dad), which works perfectly even though he'd never done that before. also, we discovered a leak (more of a niagara falls) behind the wall in our shower, which he also fixed (with just a tiny little help from the plumber). We were without water overnight, and this was already 4 days past my due date. fun times. good thing i was used to it, being african and all :-).
my mother and my sister also worked super hard at restoring a dresser we bought on the side of the road. you think you get a good deal on something, then you end up paying more on supplies than it actually cost! i wasn't supposed to be around the paint fumes, so they spent days outside in the heat, and it looks wonderful. thanks, mom and lar.

patrick took us to the lake for my birthday. this is our last pre-baby picture. ever. kind of wierd.

the past few weeks have been incredibly stressful and frustrating, and my sweet husband wanted us to have a family day off, so he borrowed a boat, we packed a lunch, and off we went. (he also got me a spa gift certificate. that's why i want to make him cookies :-).
this is us trying to get our baby carrier worked out. that is one special guy.

i'm not sure if patrick put this one up already. even if he did, it's worth seeing twice.

although it is clear my daughter is not sure what she thinks about me, i have to say, it is literally impossible to describe how much I (and Patrick too) love her. pretty much everyone knows how much i disliked being pregnant. my sister told me she didn't like it either, but it was worth it because of what you knew you got out of the deal. i was skeptical. however, nothing on earth is more precious to me than this squirming, squalling bundle of baby and blankets. i never knew i'd be able to love anything as much as i love patrick. especially something that doesn't (yet) love me back. i know we're still in the honeymoon stage of our relationship, but i am convinced that everybody was right: there is nothing in life like having a baby. speaking of, i know patrick didn't talk about that much, but just like nobody could describe how wonderful it is to have a child, they also can never describe how difficult it is to actually HAVE the child. not to scare anybody, but i honestly didn't think i was going to make it!)

no to say that it's been easy. it's actually been significantly harder than i expected. they mean it when they tell you you won't have any free time. you honestly can't even take a shower some times. and there are nights where they wake up every hour. and you look out the window wondering if the world is still there because life for you has stopped, every day and night running into each other. but it's worth it. i would do anything for this child. i would give anything to this child. she has already changed my life.

last thing: i must add that our birth was absolutely wonderful. don't get me wrong; it was still 5 hours of excruciating pain, but other than that, it was wonderful. we had a natural birth at home with a midwife, and i cannot say enough about how that was the best thing. there were no complications, but even if there had been, the midwife is very experienced and trained to deal with alot. if she can't, the hospital's never far away, and there's enough time. so if you are pregnant, or will be, or the husband of someone who will be, don't overlook this option or write it off as wierd and scary. do your research, and you'll be glad you did. also, don't believe everything the doctor tells you :-). it's your body, and your baby, you make the decisions.

Splish, Splash, Its' Time For A Bath!!

Hannah has just woken up from a little nap. She has no idea whats in store for her...

Let the festivities begin.

I don't think she knows if she wants to laugh or cry?
Crying won out in the end.
There's noting like holding a baby after a bath.
That's what I'm talking about. The best part of the day.

This is a good one. My two girls.

Someone elses belly to blow one. Jana calls it abuse.
Feet. Monkey feet?
Thanks Mrs. Geddis for coming to take this picture.After dinner snack!! Mmmm...mmm...good.

I know, I know, I know....

I know its been a long time, and I truly am sorry, although we have been slightly distracted over the past few weeks as we continue to figure out what to do with this baby that lives in our house. Overall, I think things are going better. Hannah has had some difficulty with nursing, and has politely expressed her frustration to us over this past week. To her relief, we have taken her suggestions to heart, made a few minor changes, and things seem to be going much better!

Jana is definitely more the talker, so I will try to get her to get on here later and give you all more details concerning the day to day activities. However, for those visual communicators out there....here is some instant gratification. Enjoy.

Hannah's first outing. It's 105 degrees, buts she's bundled up none the less.

Where else would we go? Starbucks of course.

P.S. Hannah's beautiful, but Jana's Hot!
Ahhhh!
Jana taking Hannah for a walk.
The new family out and about.

More Baby Hannah Pictures

Well I know I promised an update yesterday, but I just didn't get around to it, I hope you can understand. Jana is recovering well. I think she would like to be up more, but the midwife wants her to really stay sitting down for a few days, although me may venture out tomorrow for a quick starbucks?!?

Hannah is also doing very well. We had a checkup today and everything is ok. The hardest thing about the day other than being incredibly tired was watching Hannah cry while they took a little blood from her big(very little) toe. We're still getting used to having a baby. She really is amazing, we both just love looking at her, and inspecting her little fingers, wrinkles, and puggy little cheaks.

Here are a few more pictures. You'll be seeing more of Jana when the rest of us do. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

At Last!!

She's here!!!! She's perfect in every way: 6lbs. 11 0z. & 21" long. Jana's doing great. More to come tomorrow.

just some random pictures

so i spoke at a VBS last week, and just for the fun of it, tried on my Senegalese clothes. they actually did up, but i decided to pass.
patrick got his birthday present early this year, when we finally got a barbecue. he's been doing all kinds of stuff, like beer can chicken. you put the beer can inside the chicken, open, and just leave it on the grill. it was amazing.

















since i asked so many people for advice about my July 4th dessert, i thought i'd put up the finished product. it turned out ok, and it was fun. thanks for your help.
we had a wonderful visit with the crisps over memorial day. they came out, with brett and jes, who are getting married in september. so exciting! we also had a great visit with my dad and bunny, but we didn't take any pictures.
so we're kind of just waiting. my mom gets here soon, pray for her canadian blood and the texas heat! most of you know, we are having the baby at home, and we've been practicing. i think we're as ready as we can be. patrick's flying all he can. he is flight instructing through the company he started, flyn high aviation. he's working so hard, and it's going well. just one more semester of school!!!

we appreciate your prayers , not just about the baby, but God's will for us right now in general. There are alot of decisions to be made come December, and we're excited about the possibilities. We really feel God is wanting to teach us what it means to truly be disciples of Christ in this current world, and what that looks like for us. all in all, we're happy to be here, and be alive! Thanks for checking our blog.

alright guys, i am taking over the blogging responsibility for the Crisp household. I caved. it may not be every day, but it will be more often than it has been.

but give me some grace, because i've never used a blog before. we're doing great, nothing to report. we took a few days last week to go to beavers bend state park, in oklahoma, to spend some concentrated time together before the baby. Having spent quite a bit of time in cottages, i had high expectations. however, i didn't take into account the weather. it didn't just rain. it flooded and thunderstormed for about 36 hours. i've never heard so much constant thunder. should be romantic, right, just the two of us in our little cabin, we can play games and drink hot chocolate. well, that got old fast. by the end of the first day, we drove into town to get chinese food and go to a movie. i know, i know. but we made up for it later, with lots of fishing, hiking, and swimming. even in the rain!

when my friend the bloggermeister gets back hungary, i will get some help with the layouts. until then, just put your own captions under the pictures. one picture is what we woke up to our first morning: the impassable road. happened only twice in 30 yrs, apparently. that was fun. anyways, we ended up having an absolutely wonderful time. we did have a little sun the day we left. it is so beautiful, and the water was SO cold, it reminded me of kenora. except there are also alot of hiking trails, and streams. basically, my dream come true. alas, i couldn't get patrick to hide out in the hills forever with me, so we came back to longview.