10 Month Update

Anne's new love is to open and close doors.  Because of this, Steve has installed safety locks on the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom.

 She loves to explore.  She first task each morning is to pull all her toys off the shelf and play with all of them.

 When ever possible, she wants to break out of her baby gate.  The park is her favorite place to go.

Chick Fila's Cow Appreciation Day

 

She loves to eat!

 
Her first 4-H fair.  The Elkhart County Fair is huge. She loved seeing all the animals.

At the Amish Acres Arts and Craft Festival, she saw her first puppet show.  She was just enthralled in the show.

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Weight: 16 lbs, 2 oz
Height: 26.5 inches

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Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  She prefers to feed herself solid foods to getting fed purees.  We have breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, then a bedtime snack.  This routine seems to working.  There haven't been many foods that we have had her try that she hasn't liked.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon, pasta with sauce, meatballs, yogurt with any fruit, BBQ anything, kidney beans

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any pureed meats (but she will eat chicken right off the bone cut into pieces)

Sleeping: Not much has changed in the sleeping department.  She still nurses around the clock, waking up every 3-4 hours during the night.  I hoping this habit breaks soon.

Milestones:

           * She is growing and changing everyday.  She just loves to explore and learn new things.

* She is crawling everywhere and getting into everything.

* She can wave now.

* Her favorite word to say is "dada."  She babbles it all day to her toys and anyone who will listen.

*Anne has 5 teeth now.  Two on the bottom and 3 on top.

Prairie Camp: Prayer

Acts 12: 1-5:

The great gift - seldom used: Prayer.
Can you really say you are satisfied with your prayer life?

Why do we struggle with prayer?
1) We are not convinced that our God is BIG enough to do what He says He will do?

2) We have an over reliance on our own answer (just find the answer in a book).
3) A misunderstanding of spiritual warfare. We are at war every day.
4) We live in a DIY society. 
5) We treat prayer as a backup power source.

It's when the experts fail us that we run to prayer.

Acts 12:1 - "It was about this time..."  Just when you things are going well, that is when the enemy likes to strike.

The most important decisions of our lives were decided outside of our control (height, birth place, gender, etc). We are not in as much control as we think we are.

We don't like helplessness but we need it in order to prayer.

- Maturity in the faith is not self-reliance.  Maturity alerts us to how weak we are. God's power is made real in weakness. (Matthew 8)

- Helpless people regularly take a inventory of their heart.  Prayer is a conversation between our hearts to the heart of God.

Don't let distractions defeat you.

Prairie Camp 2014

Day 1: "The more you depend on what it's your hand, the less your will receive from God's hand"

Day 2:

Matthew 6:5-6 - Where is your place that you go to be alone with God in prayer?

***Some gifts can only be found alone with God in prayer.***
You can hear when you are alone. There are no competing voices. There is no pretending in the closet.  You can't fake out God.

Matthew 11:28-30 - Alone with Him I find rest.  When I'm rested, I remember who's God and who's not. 

***Alone with Him I find my direction.***
His agenda may be different then mine.  Sometimes God changes your plans so He can spend time with you.  Some of the best times with God are unplanned.

One of the things that happens when you are alone with Him, you are yoked to Jesus.

***Alone with Him my character is conformed to His.***
The source of my unrest is my forcefulness and my pride.  The journey to true rest is patience and humility. (Acts 4)
You get filled with the fruits of spirit.

***Alone with Him I'm moved by His heart.***
vs. 30 - When it's His heart, it becomes light.

Chapters

Everyone goes through different chapters in their lives, through chapters of grief and through times of great favor or blessing. Each chapter, when you look back, was just a portion of your life and each one serves a purpose. For example, the languages and cultures to which I (Steve) was introduced as a child have taught me something that widened my view of the world. Also, when one grandfather passed away, I learned to appreciate my time with the other while he was still alive. Even today, our experiences in life are teaching us.

Over the last two years serving with Wycliffe, we have been learning. Bridget and I have struggled and celebrated. We continue to celebrate the life of Anne, knowing how God’s provision brought her into our lives. We struggle, and in ways may always struggle, with the two losses we experienced before the joy and blessing of Anne’s birth.  Our story is not unique, but it is very personal and we don’t share it lightly.  

 
     We recognize the need for growth, both personally and as a family. At the same time, Wycliffe allows us two years to develop our partnership team and we were unable to do that. We feel we must step away from Wycliffe for a time.  And yet, it is our desire to return to this ministry someday in the future , as God leads, after this time of  intentional development.

 

I do not think we have the words to express to you what it means to us to know you believe in us and this work for which we still feel a calling. Your partnership with us has been an encouraging blessing. I am certain we would not have come as far as we have without your prayers. We do not have a way to thank you that seems adequate. We appreciate each and every one of your influences in our lives.

As we move into the next chapter of our lives, we choose to continue to support those who do not yet have the Bible in their language and those working along side them. We have decided to partner with colleagues and friends in Wycliffe, Paul and Christy Dubois. We invite you to consider joining us in partnering with them. 

With heavy hearts, we humbly thank you,

Steve, Bridget and Anne

Days of preparation are not lost days.

                                                  - Pastor Lance Nothstine

9 Months Update

Anne never ceases to amaze us. I absolutely love that I have the ability to stay home with her. She had her 9 month check up on Friday and she is perfectly healthy. We are so blessed to have a healthy, growing girl. She loves to eat but she wants to do it herself now. She fights me for the spoon if I try and feed her. She loves to use her fingers and feed herself. She will try just about everything we put in front of her. The doc OK'd tomatoes yesterday, so she go to try some pasta noodles with tomato sauce. She loves it.

She has learned this week how to clap, so now she claps and dances to her music.

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 Anne is crawling everywhere now.  She loves to pull her toys off the shelves and play with everything at once.  

Weight: 15 lbs, 15 ounces
Height: 26.5 inches

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Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  We have started introducing solid different foods.  She is starting to prefer to eat whatever we are eating, instead of enjoying her purees.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon, pasta with sauce, meatballs, yogurt with any fruit

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any pureed meats (but she will eat chicken right off the bone cut into pieces)

Sleeping: Not much has changed in the sleeping department.  She still nurses around the clock, waking up every 3-4 hours during the night.  I hoping this habit breaks soon.

Milestones:

*"Mama" and "Dada" are her favorite things to say.

* She can pull herself up to a standing position.  Because of this, we had to full lower her crib mattress and we have to watch her carefully so she doesn't fall.  She hasn't learned fear yet.  Sometimes, she struggles to get back down when she gets up.


* She is still a daddy's girl. She loves when Steve comes home from work and when we visit Sears during the day.

*She loves to go to the park, anywhere outside really.

          * She loves to pull her toys from the shelf and play with everything all at once.

*Anne has four teeth now.  Two on top and two on the bottom.  I think a few more are on the way soon.

 Aside from reading and playing with blocks, she spends her days crawling around, dancing and clapping, playing with friends including her cousin, Austin, and just enjoying life.  She is generally pretty happy kid.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Steve.  You are an amazing father to Anne.  I love you! 

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

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Happy Father's Day to the great husbands out there who have children in their arms, to those who have lost children, to expectant fathers too and all the fathers in heaven! If you have a friend or family member who has lost a child or lost their father, please don't forget them today.
Father's Day is tough for some.

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Here are a few pictures of Steve with his daddy's girl. 

 

8 Month Update

Anne is getting bigger before our eyes.  I just can't believe that she is 8 months old already.  It's gone by so fast.  Before long, she will be crawling, then walking, then everything will be an adventure for her.  This month, we celebrated Anne's first Mother's Day and Memorial Day.  It was a beautiful day.

She loves to explore everything.

 

 

 She enjoyed "helping" me and Grandma work in the garden.

 Anne has started to recognize when we are in Sears now.  As soon as we walk in, she starts to look around because she knows her papa is there somewhere.  Steve let Anne "drive" one of the new tractors.

 Anne's first Memorial Day parade.  She slept through most of it.

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Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  We have started introducing solid foods.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any meats

She is not yet a fan of meats.  I have tried mixing the chicken with sweet potatoes, which she loves, but she still doesn't want it.  I think it's the change in texture.


Sleeping: Not much has changed in the sleeping department.  She still nurses around the clock, waking up every 3-4 hours during the night.  I hoping this habit breaks soon.

Milestones:

* She is really getting the hang of rolling and turning to get the toys that she wants.

* She can ride in the front of the stroller now, like a big girl. 


* Her voice is a new "toy" to play with.  She isn't saying any words yet but she loves to make vocal sounds.

* Crawling may be right around the corner.  She has begun scooting with her knees but hasn't quite gotten the whole crawl in yet.

*Anne has two teeth on the bottom now.

Get in Shape Girl

When I got back on my Wii Fit after having Anne, I learned a few things.  The first thing I learned is that I hadn't been on the Wii Fit since March 2012.  Then I learned that in March 2012, I weighed more (about 20 pounds more) than I weighed after having Anne.  So that told me a few things about myself.  It told me that when I'm stressed and anxious, I eat and don't exercise and it taught me that I can't let that be a pattern.

This summer one my goals is to get back to my "pre-pregnancy" weight.

In order for a goal to work, you need a plan so I plan do that by going on walks with after dinner on nice evenings.  Anne loves to be outside so this is a plus for both of us and I want to work more in my garden.  Eating well on a tight is sometimes a challenge but with some planning, I think I can do that too.

So, today is the start of a new healthier Pitney family.

Today, I look like a Mother

But today is not my "first" Mother's Day.

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 Today is Mother’s Day, but today is not my first Mother's Day. Mother’s Day is a celebration of ALL mothers, whether you hold your children in your arms, you hold your children in your hearts because God holds them in Heaven, or you hold them inside expecting them this year.

Our story: In December 2011, Steve and were approved as Wycliffe Missionaries and invited to go to Cameroon, Africa. We knew this is what God’s will was for us so we started working on creating our partnership team. It seems interesting to us that just as we began making plans to start training and build our team that our world got flipped upside down. God never promised that our lives would be easy. He just promised that he would be there and that He was in control.

Our journey to parenthood also started in December 2011. Our story starts just after Christmas. We had been trying for our first child for about 6 months at that point. On December 26th, our lives changed for what we thought we be for the better. After much denial, we took the test and it was positive. I was pregnant. To make a long story short at our doctor’s appointment, the doctor confirmed what we suspected. The first week of the New Year, we naturally miscarried our first child between 5-6 weeks. That started a month long drive back and forth to the doctor getting blood tests to watch my HCG levels drop. It was painful and I hated it.


As only God can plan our Genesis class was doing a study of “Monster Inc. – Fighting the Monsters within You.” We were discussing greed, envy, anger, and fear. This was interesting since I was dealing with three of those.

I wrote this in my blog about the study on January 24, 2012:

“I have learned that when bad things happen to you, you have two choices. You can become bitter and angry at God and the world or you can become better and stronger. I choose to become better. ..I have found that if you are not careful that impatience can turn into anger, angry can turn into bitterness, and bitterness turns into envy. Envy is a horrible emotion. Envy not only steals your joy, but it robs you of feeling joy for someone else. Guilt speaks loudly in your ear when you are alone. What did I do wrong? You go through every moment in your mind and wonder what you could have done differently.

Our doctor told us that since it was early in the pregnancy that we didn’t have to wait to start trying again so we didn’t. The beginning of March came around and I still hadn’t gotten my period and so we took an HPT to rule that out and made an appointment with my doctor to make sure everything was ok. The doctor confirmed what we already knew. I was pregnant again. There was no way this was just my body messing with me or HCG from the previous pregnancy. Our doctor set me up with an OB specialist to see the next week. The OB did an ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy and the ultrasound measured 6 week 1 day, but no heartbeat. On Monday morning, March 26th, I knew something wasn’t right. She did an ultrasound to check things and confirmed what she already instinctively knew. I had naturally miscarried that morning. So in summary, in the first 3 months on 2012, we had been pregnant and miscarried twice.

My heart was breaking. I wanted to start 2012 over again and forget this whole year existed. After the first loss, I was devastated and depressed. After the second, I was all those things and beyond angry. I was just angry. It’s not fair. We were even planning to be missionaries and serve Him full time. How could God let this happen?

This whole time, we have been still serving with Wycliffe. We were building our team, sharing our Wycliffe ministry, and our passion for seeing the Bible available to all language groups. We were still on track to go to a two week training and orientation in Orlando, Florida.

I was more determined than ever to get our ministry started. I refused to let the Devil destroy God’s plan for the people of Cameroon. Even when I feel alone and just want to scream, God is there. While I try and find an explanation, God is there telling me He has it under control. Have I hit the acceptance stage? Hardly.

We hoped for a rainbow. Fast forward to February 2013, we got another positive pregnancy test. To say that I was anxious doesn’t even begin to describe the emotions. We called my OB and she started blood tests and wanted to do an ultrasound right away. She did a battery of tests and had me start taking progesterone and other meds because “it couldn’t hurt.” I had a picture perfect pregnancy and delivery and on October 9th, 2013, our little miracle was born.

I remember my first Mother’s Day and it was one of the hardest days of my life. Not many people knew then about our precious babies, but NOT ONE person that did know remembered. NOT ONE person wished me a happy Mother’s Day, except Steve. I felt the pain of loss and I felt like we were doing it alone.

We don’t know what God has in store for our lives as we enter the next phase in our Wycliffe ministry. We have never lost sight of the goal to get the Bible in every language that still needs one. How our ministry looks is changing. We still very much believe in the mission of Bible Translation and plan to continue with it in the future. For now, we are on a journey of faith and are striving to be the best parents to our little blessing. We believe that God will continue to provide everything that we need, just as He has been.

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So today is Mother’s Day. Whether you hold your babies in your arms or Jesus holds them in Heaven, happy Mother’s Day.

7 Month Update

Our sweet baby is 7 months old today.  It's finally been really nice outside, so we have been spending as much time as possible outside.  She just loves to be in the outdoors.  There is a park right down the street with a baby swing and the grocery store is within walking distance.  We take walks now whenever we can.  This week, we went to the zoo.  Her favorite animal, I think, was the bobcat.  She followed it around with eyes as it walked around its cage.  I can't wait until she gets a bit older and she is really more interested.

She loves to stand and play outside the exersaucer.

Anne is sitting up without support now.

 She is a 100% daddy's girl.  She loves to eat papa's hat first thing when he gets home from work.

This month, we celebrated Anne's first Easter.

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Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  We have started introducing solid foods.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas

Thumbs Down: Oatmeal, spinach, peaches

We have to try some new foods and introduce these again.  She likes her vegetables best when slightly warmed with butter.  She will occasionally eat oatmeal if we disguise it well with other foods she likes.

Sleeping: She still doesn't like to take a daytime nap.  Her sleep pattern has been all over the place this month.  She still is getting up every 3 hours during the night to nurse.

Milestones:

* She loves to stand.

* She can sit all by herself unsupported now, so we have been practicing that new skill


* She has really started to show her personality.  She laughs and smiles a lot now.

*She is not crawling yet, but she is starting to draw her knees under herself and lift.  We might have a crawler before long.

* She is showing the signs of an impending tooth on the bottom and the top.

* She loves to explore her world and has to "taste" everything.

Anne at the Zoo

Anne and her friends went to zoo today.  The moms came too. It was such an absolutely beautiful day for the zoo.  Apparently, the rest of Mishawaka agreed with us because they were really busy when we first got there.

 

Anne will be 7 months old this week and she already has a great group of buddies.

Happy 7th Anniversary

Yesterday, Steve and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with dinner at Carabba's Italian Restaurant.  We, of course, then had to watch the new season of '24'.  '24' was our Date Night tv show on Monday nights.

Love You, Steve

6 Month Update

Anne turn 6 months old last Wednesday.  It's been a busy week for her.  Her Grand-papa's birthday was on Tuesday and her papa's birthday was today.  I can't believe that a half a year has passed already.  It's gone so fast.  The 6th month was a big month for our baby girl.  My sister is an excellent photographer and she captured some great pictures of Anne.  It was such a nice day that we took the photo shoot outside.  She just loves to be outside.

Anne got a new cousin this past month.  Little Austin James was born on March 20th.  I think they are going to get along great.

Weight: 13 lbs, 3 ounces (25%).  She has doubled her birth weight.

Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  We have started introducing solid foods.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce
Thumbs Down: Oatmeal, spinach, avocado

We have to try some new foods and introduce these again.  They say that a baby can try a food up to 8 times before they like them.

Sleeping: She still doesn't like to take a daytime nap.  Her sleep pattern has been all over the place this month.  Some nights she will sleep really well and then other nights she will be up every 1-2 hours.

 Milestones:

* Still no crawling, but she loves to stand.  We try to practice tummy time more often but she still doesn't really like to on her belly.  If I put her down on her belly, most of the time she will immediately roll over.

* She can now sit all by herself for a short time. 

* Anne got her first taste of the great outdoors this month.  Our little October baby has never seen the world without snow and without being bundled in several layers. 

I swear we love her more everyday.  I am so glad that I am blessed to be her mommy.