Almost ready for baby!

Can you believe that it's almost time for baby Farnum to join our family. Alexa is very excited about being a big sister. We took her to sibling class last night and she learned how to hold the baby and she learned about the germs. She's going to be on the germ patrol when baby Farnum comes along. We have the nursery ready. We're expecting it to be a boy! Jim is excited about adding a Farnum.




Alexa is getting so big. She's going to preschool and getting very smart. She seems to like it. She's learning how to identify her name and how to spell it. She's doing pretty well. I can't believe that she's getting so smart and so big. Well we'll update when we have our baby but here are a few recent pictures.

Alexa as Belle on Halloween!

Our family at the pumpkin farm.

35 Weeks pregnant with Baby Farnum!

Lots of Changes

Well 2008 has brought along lots of changes to the Farnum household. Jim lost his job the 21st of March and is on unemployment while searching for a new way to provide for our family. It's been quite a trying time for us but we're making it. God is showing us all the things that we do have and is amazingly providing for our every need. Everytime I turn around things are getting taken care of.

With Jim losing his job I have realized just how much God knows. He truly does things for our own good. We're still trying to conceive a second child, it's been 19 months now. Although I look back and wonder what God was thinking I now know that there's no way we would have made it if I would have gone back to work only part-time and Jim not working. There are miracles all around us. I just didn't understand at the time. I've learned to truly trust God and he won't lead you astray. Now that doesn't mean I don't ask him at times whether or not he's still there or why it's taking him so long to answer our prayers. I just know that there's no use in worrying about it. "Don't worry about tomorrow, God is already there working on it."

Alexa is doing very well. She's going to be 3 soon. I can't believe it. Right now she has pink eye, the medication is drops in her eyes 4 times a day. Now can you imagine holding down a 3 year old to give her drops. She's very smart so we've decided to bribe her with candy!!! This seems to work. It also seems to work to calmly explain what we're going to do but this isn't quite so easy for Jim, it's been a great test of his patience but he's learning. This is why I'm the nurse and he's not!:)

Other than the pink eye things with Alexa are good. She helped me paint a computer table for her that Jim made. We did a green top with pink and purple legs. She had a blast and paint in her hair and on her lips. We are going to set up my old computer for her to use to play her games on and type. She likes to pretend that she's old!!

I've been working some extra to make the bills and Alexa has gotten the mommy thing down. She tucks me in in the morning, she tells me that if I go right to sleep that I can have a gummy bear when I wake up. She's so sweet and takes such good care of her Mom and Dad.

Well I hope that you all are doing well. God Bless. Happy Spring!

Happy 2008! Here's to Great Beginnings!

Well what a year! It has truly been an adventure for us.We've been realizing how much God loves us and has planned for us.
Well as most of you know we have had a year of loss and a year of spiritual gain. We lost my great grandma, Reva this year and we also lost Jim's grandma, Verna. We know that this was God's plan and they both loved the Lord and are in a better place. We have also had a year of joy and grief. One of my good friends finally got pregnant but then found out that she had lost a twin. While she's still pregnant and due in March this was hard news to bear. Another of our friends was 12 weeks along and lost her baby boy. She too is pregnant again and is expecting a girl in May. Oh the plans He has for us!!
We've had more signs that God knows what he's doing, Jim and I decided last November that we were ready to have a baby so we started trying. By July I was concerned and we did some testing but everything came back fine. The next step would cost us a lot of money and we decided that we weren't that desperate and we'd been told that the test would probably come back fine so we decided to just wait for God. Well we're still waiting but I have started to see God's reasoning. It would be very beneficial for me to not have to go back to work after having another child, this isn't possible until I've worked for 5 years so that my Perkins loan is forgiven. I still have 1year and 4 months left before that can happen. It seems to me at this time that God is just making sure that I can do that.
In the mean time we're thoroughly enjoying spending time with Alexa. She never ceases to amaze me. Her vocabulary is expanding more every day. I'm doing my best to start that good english from the beginning. I'll correct her and she must be paying attention because the next time she makes the same grammar mistake she will correct herself. She keeps us very busy. Just when you think that sleeping in is going to become the normal she wakes up at 6:30am. While we have the dual paychecks we're also trying to enjoy what we have and fix up our house so that we don't have to do it then. Although if we did everything that we truly wanted to I'd be working full-time until retirement!! You never have everything, there's always something more. Contentment is a lesson that God and I are still working on.
Well I hope that this year brings all of you contentment and happiness. I pray that God is with you every day and you see his love show in everything that you do. We love you all. Happy New Year!

Well I'm not sure if anyone still reads this but I thought that I'd update. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I'm at work tonight of course. It's kind of slow but steady at least. Whatever it takes to at least get some paycheck. That's the bummer of working in a small hospital, but I do like it.
Alexa is getting so big and it was a lot of fun to watch her open her presents this morning. She was so excited and the typical child. When she opened the clothes she threw them on the floor and asked for the next present. When we were done she was sad and frowned and said that she wanted to open more presents. Now some may say that's greedy but I've been told that's simply how they are at this age. At least this year she was ripping into the presents and she spent all day playing with new things. She is loving Cinderella this year so we got her a Cinderella doll and grandma got her some new sheets and the movie and she's just surrounded by it now, I'm sure she'll move on to something different soon.
Well over deer season we went out and braved the ice storm and Jim got 2 doe's and I got a doe and a 6 point buck. It was sick so we got rid of it, it broke it's rack off when it fell to the ground with my shot. It was sad but my hope is that there's plenty more and bigger where that one came from. We still have 4 tags to fill before the middle of January so we're going to keep hunting. It's a lot of fun to spend time together. I just can't wait until Alexa actually gets to go with us, I hate leaving her with Grandparents or friends.
That's all the news for now. Nothing exciting this month to tell you. I hope that the new year finds you all happy and healthy. God Bless.

Alexa and Sam in there new bibs, ready for the train ride!

Aren't I cute in my new bibs?

Sam, Alexa, Rob and Sam riding the carousel.

Jim, Alexa, Rob and Sam getting ready for a real pony ride!

Alexa riding on the train, "HELLO!"

Well this last weekend was Old Threshers, we were only able to go down for Sunday afternoon and evening but look at all the fun that we had. Not a lot going on here just trying to milk the most out of the last part of summer. Alexa is learning a lot of words and talking up a storm. She loves to play outside in her new house.

We're still not pregnant but we're hopeful. We've done some testing and so far things on my end are alright but we're awaiting Jim's test results. Please continue to pray for us and this effort. God will bless us someway, just pray for us to know clearly which route He wants us to take.

Well I'd better get ready to leave for work. Have a wonderful week. God Bless

Samantha

Moving

Jimmy in Alaska with Red salmon
Alexa with Grandma Farnum

Alexa with Aunt Jeanette
Travis and Ty.




Well you might wonder why I haven't written lately. I've been stuck in the new world of MYSPACE. My mom is pushing me to write both, she's actually made a myspace page to keep up. So I thought I would update you on what's been going on this month in our life.
Well Jimmy had a good trip to Alaska fishing with his dad. He caught Halibut, King Salmon, Silver salmon, and a bunch of other fish that I can't remember the names. While he was gone though he caught bronchitis and has brought it home and shared it with the family. We're trying not to share it with our friends.
While Jim was gone Bernice came and we made a trip to St. Louis and visited some of her old stomping grounds and had a party with her friends. We then made the trip to Indiana and stayed with Jim's sister and played with the boys. We had a lot of fun and got to see a lot of veggie tales movies while on the road. Alexa did pretty well though for all the driving. When we got back it wasn't for a very long stay because my great grandma passed away in Michigan so we went up there last week. We came home on Friday and spent the weekend taking a deep breathe and relaxing at home before we started this week at work.
Work has been pretty slow while I've been there. I haven't really worked that much because I've been gone and because we've been closed. This is my weekend so we're destined to be closed again. Which isn't a bad thing it's simply not good for the budget. I guess this just gives us the chance to practice being a one income family.
As far as fertility goes we're not much closer than we were 9 months ago. We're still trying, so far my thyroid and my progesterone levels show that things are all fine. Our next step is to make sure that Jimmy's levels are all fine and then I guess we move into the more extensive steps. We're struggling with when it's too much intervention and when do we just stop and wait for more time to pass. At least now we know that things on my end are alright at least chemically. We really want another baby and every month is truly a stuggle for me in my trusting God to take over and make things happen for us. I'm not sure what I can do to convince myself that He's in control and I need to "let go." We'll see. My friend Courtney that has been trying for two years is pregnant and my friend Valerie that suffered the loss of her daughter Erin is pregnant again so I'm trying to just be the best friend I can and not bother them with my concerns any longer. I con't want to be the friend that darkens every meeting.
Well that's enough sad talk for now. Alexa is doing well and her vocabulary is expanding greatly. She's becoming a lot more clear in her words and she's a lot of fun. I'm kind of enjoying this two year old stage for the moment.
I'm going to get going . Hope you're all doing well. God Bless
I'll try to keep updating things. If you're interested you can see pictures on my myspace page. Go to www.myspace.com/samanthaobnurse.

Samantha

Sorry this should have published a long time ago and it didn't go so I'm publishing it now.

Back into the Swing of Things

Well it seems like maybe my body has finally remembered it's purpose. I know that I'm kind of jumping the gun some might say, but I'm just excited that I've ovulated this month. God truly is in control and I know that and sometimes I think that He has to remind us/me of that fact. This doesn't of course guarantee that I'm going to be pregnant but it reassures me that my body does know what it's doing and it can ovulate when it wants to. Please pray for me this month just to be able to have the patience and if I'm not pregnant that I would be able to continue on in a good mood about the trying part and not lose hope.

Alexa is doing so good. She's finally potty trained, except for the occassional accident but we're so proud of her. Every day she does something else to amaze me. She's picking up vocabulary like crazy and of course repeating everything that you say. She loves to "mow" and play with her babies. She's definitely in the 2 year old phase of sharing with others, it doesn't happen. She thinks that everything is hers and she is into pushing and stealing the toys that she wants. She's definitely her papa's girl because she loves to be outside playing, especially with her new companion-Mocha, our dog. Jim and I have decided they're going to be best friends. Mocha is such a good dog, Alexa can push her and hug her and play with her and she just stands there. She has been such a good addition to our family.

Jimmy is getting packed and ready for his big trip with his dad to Alaska. He leaves on Friday. He's planning on doing a lot of fishing and from the sounds of it not too much sleeping. It's only dark there from 11:30pm to 4:30 am right now so my guess is that they're going to fish most of the time. He's very excited but I'm very nervous. It's a long way away and I want to make sure that he comes back to us. Please pray for him.

I am also asking everyone for prayers for a former patient of PRHC. Their little baby died on Tuesday night and they're struggling with the loss right now. Please pray for peace for them. They have had a tough time and also have a lot more to deal with. Also pray for the nurses and doctors that took care of Cody. Pray for peace.

Well that's all for right now. Hope that you're all doing well. I'll write later.
Samantha