"Mother's Day" in Ohio

The weekend before Mother's Day, we made a trip home to Ohio to celebrate with my parents and sister. It was such a wonderful, wonderful visit. We enjoyed wonderful time with each other...got to celebrate by eating at a FANTASTIC restaurant, and we laughed a lot. :) We even squeezed in a picnic and "photo-shoot" for the 3 grandkids as a gift to my Mom. Good times had by almost all. :) (Just dont ask the kids about how they liked getting pictures taken...)

I just can't express how much fun I had that weekend...it was just great. :)

Mom - Happy Mother's Day! I love you so much!

Here are some pics from the weekend....

Danika taking care of her "baby" - Bernis the Bunny


Brock in his "superhero" costume...
The photo-shoot....looks like fun, doesn't it???



The ONE AND ONLY good picture from the 30 we took.....

It was worth it! :)

6 years and counting...

A few weekends ago was our anniversary! April 25th - 6 years of wedded bliss. :) Sometimes it doesn't seem possible that it has been 6 years already....and then other times it doesn't seem possible that there was ever a time that Doug and I weren't together. Isn't it weird how both those things can be true at one time? Doug is so much a part of who I am and how I function that it is hard to remember life without him as the main character. :) I do know that I love my husband more than I could ever put into words. He is the most amazing man....and I am grateful every single day for all the ways he has changed my life. There is not a doubt in my mind that I am a better person on a daily basis because of him. I also know I couldn't ask for a better daddy for my kiddo(s) than the man that he is. I feel so blessed.

I have never been a "soul-mate" kind of person...I have never really bought into the romanticized idea that there is only one "right" person out there for each individual.... But I will say that I never in a million years could have dreamed someone who fits me as perfectly as Doug, and that after we got engaged and married, I have often thought that even though I don't necessarily believe in the idea of a "soul-mate", it is possible that I have found one anyway. :) I remember saying to friends when we were dating and engaged that he just seemed too good to be true. :) And after 6 years, when I run into friends I haven't seen since getting married, I still often describe him as a husband so wonderful that I don't deserve him. And it is still true.

For our anniversary weekend, we managed to sneak off and spend a couple days in a cabin down in Cook Forest all by ourselves. It was wonderful. In the whirlwind of life, I always find that I treasure any time we get to really connect without distractions. It is so rejuvenating and restoring....it always makes me feel like I can handle whatever is coming WAY better because I feel so strongly that we are handling it together....that we are on the same "team." It was such a wonderful and much-needed weekend. The weather could not have been more gorgeous, and the cabin was perfectly cozy and comfy. It was just a great time. And we owe a HUGE thank-you to my dear friend Elizabeth for watching Danika all weekend for us. Elizabeth...we owe you BIG. Thank you...thank you....thank you. :)

Anyway...it was just a lovely, wonderful weekend. I completely enjoyed it. I love you, Doug.

She's tired too....

If you have wondered why we haven't blogged for a while, we have had a lot going on! :) The last time it snowed (in April) we were bringing Danika home late at night from some event she was just so cute and soundly asleep that I snapped this pic. It was a pretty good representation of how we all have been feeling. TIRED!

Don't you like the hand in the pocket and the PJ leg rolled up? :) She is such a character. :)

Two baths a day keeps the doctor away???

OBSESSED.

She is obsessed with bathing. We are currently allowing two baths a day because that is the minimum I can hold her to....if it were up to Danika, she would get to bathe 4 or 5 times a day. I can't tell you how often that little creature has stripped herself naked and is running for the bathroom before I can stop her.

One of her favorite bath activities is coloring on the walls with her bath markers. We have the worlds oldest and ugliest tub, so it doesn't faze me. She can't possible make it look worse. :) So I guess there are benefits to not having a new home when your children are small.

I may not do lots of things as a mom well, but you have to say this....my kid is clean. :)

Easter 2009

Happy Easter!
What a wonderful day to celebrate. We had a fantastic day going to church and celebrating Jesus rising from the dead! It was a great service! Doug was in a drama, and Danika was so excited to see him on stage. And then we got to sit together and sing and worship...it was fantastic.

Then we went out to Doug's Uncle Brad's house for Easter dinner with family. It was great to see everyone and we had a wonderful time. Uncle Brad hid some eggs for Danika to find...and she was excited to hunt for them. It was her first Easter Egg hunt and she did pretty good. :) However, she had JUST woke up from a nap, so her mood was a little fragile, as you will see in a minute.

Here she is searching and finding some eggs:

Here's our little family....I'm hiding my enormous belly under my coat and Danika. :)


And here is an example of Danika's mood. Danika LOVES her Papa...she adores him and being with him. But she was DONE with pictures...so when we kept trying to get a "good one", she had about enough and started to scream. :) Sorry Papa!




Anyway...that was our day. Hope your family had a wonderful celebration as well!

Love - The Bierer's (Doug, Andrea, Danika & Baby #2)

Poor Martin...

Here in the Bierer household, we have one family pet...a wonderful cat named Martin, whom we affectionately call Marty. I have written about Martin before...acknowledging openly that this cat only loves Doug...he hates me...and hates Danika even more. But, I don't think I've ever written about what a wonderful, patient, enduring cat he is. :) This cat puts up with so much....and he is so good to our little girl, even when he doesn't like her.

I thought I should illustrate with pictures.

This is Danika and "her" Marty. Anytime she manages to get close enough to touch him, she screams with delight. And on the rare occasions he lets her pet him, she inevitably is overcome with love for "MY KITTY" as she calls him, that this is what happens:



The funny part is this cat puts up with all of it. Sure...he looks for his first opportunity to run and hide under a piece of furniture, but he never hisses, scratches, or even begins to hurt her at anytime...he just lays there and puts up with it until she lets go long enough for him to escape. I really do love having an animal that is so wonderful with our kiddo. And I can't even begin to tell you what joy he brings to her little life. :)




As you can tell by these pictures, he was in an exceptionally patient mood that day. :)

So after I snapped the above pictures, I turned around at the mirror and was curling my hair and applying makeup. Behind me, Danika is on the bed "loving" Martin and chattering non-stop about her little adventure. She was saying things like,
"My kitty."
"I love you, Marty."
"Nice Marty."
"I LIKE the Kitty!"

I was happy to keep getting ready since she was obviously occupied. But after a while, all I heard was the last phrase....over and over and over....getting higher and higher pitched and more excited. I started to wonder why she "LIKED the kitty" so much....so I put down my curling iron and turned around....and this is what I saw:


Danika was saying "I RIDE the kitty!" and she was sitting squarely on that poor cat's back and jumping up and down for all she was worth. All that was missing was the saddle. Poor Martin! Danika was just thrilled...and I confess that it was hilarious. :) She kept "riding" the kitty for a little while longer....and eventually after I stopped laughing I rescued him. He was none the worse for wear, but happy to be out of the clutches of our two year old. ;)

What a great cat.

Marty- I love you, too!

I'm tired.

All the time. I feel as if I could drift off and snooze any minute. I'm blaming this on pregnancy. It seems like a good excuse. :)

We have had lots going on here...so for now I'll just type what comes to mind and catch up as we go.

Danika has been healthy for a couple weeks, so that is a major accomplishment. If we can manage to ALL wake up without fevers tomorrow, it will be the one of the few recent Easter Sunday's that we haven't been sick in bed. Last year, Doug and I were both sick with the stomach flu and Danika went to church with Dana and Susan while we stayed in bed. We are hoping tomorrow does not repeat that performance.

Speaking of performance, Doug has been quite the drama guy at church lately. :) Currently he is "Peter" in a series of dramas that coincides with our sermon series on Peter. He has been practicing a ton, and I know that he has worked really hard on all of this. Yesterday at the Good Friday service it was clear that all his hard work has paid off....he was awesome. The whole service was awesome actually. It brought tears to my eyes at many different points. It was just very cool to be there and just really made you focus on the price Christ paid for us.

For those of you who keep up on Susan (Doug's Mom) and her health stuff, she has been getting some test results that have the doctors confused and frustrated right now, so we are waiting for more tests this week to see if they can make any sense of all of it. As always, we appreciate your prayers...she is the best "Mimi" in the world, and we much prefer life when it is moving in a direction that cancer is less of a concern, not more of one. But, as she often reminds us, we trust a God who loves us more than we can imagine and always has a plan for us. So...we rest in that and wait.

April always brings with it's beauty and green the terrible spring allergy season that affects me so much. It was even worse when I was pregnant with Danika, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I'm going through it again. But I am still so thrilled to be seeing sunshine and grass! Come on summer!

That's all for now.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. God and His amazing gift of salvation...I never get over how incredible it all is. Happy Easter!