Last Day as a 4 year old.

I am sad and in denial that my little girl is becoming such a big girl. Kati will be 5 years old tomorrow. I am happy and sad. Five seems like such a huge deal, especially to her. It's hard to believe that years ago tonight I sat in the hospital laboring for 25 hours. She has grown up so much. Luckily, she is my cuddler so even though she doesn't fit in my arms anymore, she still likes to be held by them.

We made cupcakes tonight for her preschool class tomorrow morning. She used three different kinds of sprinkles and had to do a pattern. She is so excited to be turning 5, I am in denial but it will be here no matter how long I want to keep her little.

YAHOO!

Do you YAHOO!? I do now! I will have to try to stop using Google so much now. As of Friday, my husband is once again gainfully employed! You might wonder what he'll be doing - I wish I really knew (and so does he). He will be titled "Small Business Associate." We don't know what that entails really but we are excited for his first day of work March 9th! (Well, I am excited as I can be.) It will be great to have more income but I will be sad that he isn't home with the girls. He has done an amazing job! Both girls love having their daddy around, but I am sure he will be glad to have a structure to his day that doesn't involve PBS, dirty diapers, or screaming children! He has been a HUGE help to me these past few months. He has completely redesigned our garage (!) and he has done all the laundry, and any other tasks that I have asked of him. When this totally could have shattered a man's ego, he has totally stepped up to the plate and made me proud. It has been a long 5 months of low wage or no wage. We have made it though. We still have another month of scraping to get by, and this one will be the hardest yet.

The amazing thing about the past five months is that I am really incredibly grateful for it. Why you ask:
1. Michael has been able to spend amazing time with his girls.
2. It has really enabled me to focus on my new job and get accustomed to it, without having to worry about what time I had to be at work or leave to pick the girls up.
3. I am grateful to our friends, Bob and Robyn, who gave Michael a job to help us get by for a few months. If you need any garage door business in the Omaha metro area - Bob is your man!
3. This is probably the biggest, it has taught us so much about financial responsibility. It's not that we didn't know much before but I think our eyes were closed to a lot of the extra expenses we wasted.
4. Maybe this is the biggest! God has been SO present. I can look back and see how he had his hand on all of this. The biggest indication of it all is that Aunt Lisa, our beloved aunt and babysitter, has been having some major health problems for almost the past year. Michael lost his job right when she needed the break the most. Now, thankfully, she is getting better after identifying the right diagnosis and is all ready for the girls again! Kati has spent at least 4-5 days a week at her house since she was 6 weeks old. We love Aunt Lisa, affectionately named Sasa by Kati when she was younger, and the name stuck so much that we all call her that.

So we are thankful for MANY things that have happened through this journey. We look forward to what lies ahead, knowing full well that God is in control of it all. Thanks to all who have prayed for us and supported us. Your love, support, and friendship is humbling.

Picture Update: Cute & Silly

Kati loves to dress herself. Most of the time she does a great job, others - she ends up like this :-)

She is a cute girl and she has a thing for the hat to the side.

This is Ava's new face when I try to take pictures of her. Silly girl.

A rare picture of her not being silly! She is a VERY ornery girl who keeps me very busy.

Blogger Neglect

It's official folks, I am guilty of blog neglect. I cannot believe it has been 3 months since I last blogged. Life has been busy to say the least. My new job keeps me way busier than I ever thought possible, there is no time to be bored, let along blog! I used to blog during lunch breaks but I don't know what those are anymore. That's not to say I am not enjoying my job because I do. My mom pointed out that in my previous post I say I have a new job but haven't said what it is or what I do. So, in short, I am the lead Medical Staff Specialist for a local hospital in Omaha. I work exclusively for the physicians and whatever they need, but more specifically forthe physician executive board and act a psuedo liason between Administration and Medical Staff. It is a good job. As hard as I work, I do have more flexible hours and see the kids more most evenings than I have in the past. It is a very big job and feels bigger than I can handle at times, but I AM doing it well - one day at a time!

Life has presented some challenges but we are still blessed. We know that God has the bigger picture and keep trusting him for guidance and his providence in our lives! Michael is working for a friend of our who owns his own garage door business. It is hard manly work. Not that he wasn't used to hard work but it is a different level of hard work. We're talking in the cold all the time, either cold temperatures or sub zero freezers. He likes the work and likes his co-workers but it is very hard for him and for the girls and I for him to be away so much. He is still looking for other employment. We are MOST grateful to our friends, Bob and Robyn, for giving him this opportunity when we desperately needed it. We are praying for special guidance right now for Friday morning.

In September, Michael tested for the local law enforcement and was asked to submit his personal history packet to the Bellevue PD. He turned it in and got a letter saying that his application wasn't going forward at this time. He called and asked what the problem was and was told he hadn't submitted copies of his driver's license and other documentation. The Leutienant was very gracious and said he could bring it in this Friday at 10am for a short interview. So... we don't know what will happen next but we pray that God will open the door if it is his plan for our lives. We shall see.

The girls are getting so big. I will post pics later of them.

Please keep us all in your prayers! I know there are plenty of people who are far worse situations, but we would appreciate your prayers.

Changes -

Change. No this is not a plug for Barack Obama, I wouldn't be caught dead. Anyway, political feelings aside, change has been the theme of the month. My last update was about a month ago, I am sad to say. This summer has been very busy and change has touched almost every aspect of our lives lately. God is up to something, but I have yet to figure it all out yet.

One thing that has changed is our girls are getting so big! Kati started preschool on Aug 11, and even though this deserved a post all of its own, I didn't get there. (Much like the pictures that I have not gotten done of the girls.)

Kati loves preschool! That is an understatement because she LOVES preschool. She is learning to read and doing very well. Recently, we read a book and she read 9 out of 11 words that were on the page. I am proud of her. She loves to learn. I hope that is a quality she will always posess.

Ava is 9 months old now and growing very very quickly. She is wearing 18 month clothing. It's a little much for me. It seems like she was just my little baby who cuddled, but now she wants to be on the floor and crawling around into everything. We vacuum a lot more now! She is eating some jarred foods, but I am giving her more grown up foods. She loved the fruit and veggie puffs too. I think she will be walking soon.

What else has changed, you ask?

I received a job promotion at the hospital I work at. I was the executive secretary to the vice-president/chief operating officer. While this was a fulfilling job, I was starting to get bored. I had always said I didn't want to be a secretary the rest of my life. (I did enjoy the status it brough though.) Well, God must have heard me because the doors started opening. Back in June, my friend announced she was moving back home, and her position would be open. My boss asked me if I would be interested in her position. I thought about it for awhile. I went had a lunch interview with my potential new boss and talked about the position. I knew that taking the job would be that another woman in my office would not get it, and although she had her heart set on it, they weren't going to offer it to her. This was a very troubling time for me. I sought a lot of counsel from people and prayed about it a lot. At times, when it was so stressful, I prayed that God would shut the door but he never did. Even when it appeared that this wasn't meant to be, things changed and the opening just got wider. They were originally going to list the position as a lesser position, with the opportunity for me to move up within a year when I proved myself. I was okay with that at first, until I found out that meant no pay raise at all. So I thought the door was closing. We on vacation at this time and I was glad to get away from all the office drama. When I got back, I found out that they were going to repost the position as the lead position so that I would take it. I wanted a 10% raise. Not to be greedy, but I was advised by my current boss that you should always aim for at least that. So long story short, I have been there two full weeks. I got the raise and looking back I can see that God opened the doors all the way. Even when I wasn't sure it was the right way, He was guiding the whole situation. The great thing is that I am home earlier in the evening and get to spend more time with my family.

Sometimes when God moves he opens one door and closes another. Well that is exactly what happened last Monday. Michael went to work and came home unemployed. In some ways this is a huge relief as he was miserable and in a job that he had really disconnected with long ago. The company was doing things that he felt were unethical and he didn't feel comfortable making the transactions. His boss had never liked him and overall it just wasn't a good fit. So for now, he is being Mr. Mom until he finds something else. He is doing pretty good, although I know it is hard on him to go from employee to full time dad. He loves his girls and is a good daddy but doing it for hours on end it definitely hard on him.

So anyway, that is all about the change going on right now. We are trusting God for the next thing. We have seen his faithfulness many times not to trust that he will provide.

On another note, it always seems that God knows exactly what we need. There have been instances of this lately.
Instance #1. Last Friday night as I drove home from work, I was thinking and telling God that I am really lonely for friends. No one really knows me anymore. Later that night I was on facebook and an IM popped up from one of my oldest, dearest friends, Jenni. Jenni and I grew up together and nearly every childhood memory includes her in one way or another. Jenni is a very busy mom with 3 girls under 2 years old! Being busy moms, we don;'t really have the time to talk but we did that night by IM for almost an hour. It was so good and so cathartic for me to talk to someone who knows me and I could be myself. At the end, I closed Facebook and just cried. I feel like God directed her to me for that exact night when I really needed friendship most.
Instance #2. When I orignally applied for my new job, I said I was X amount of dollars. It was above the 10% increase but I figured why not go higher. So I got a 44 cents less than I orignally asked for and I was still happy with it. THen yesterday, by former boss, who is still in the same office, came into my office and said that I would be getting my performance raise based upon last years review. With that raise, I now make 20 cents more than I originally asked for when I applied for this position. Follow all that? Anyway, it is just cool to me. It came when we needed it most.

So that is the update on all the changes going on with the Ingraldi Family. I will update more often and let readers know how it all turns out.

Finally got a minivan!

I have wanted a minivan for so long. Both of our cars are both older, 91 and 96. We were attached to Michael's car simply because it was his grandfathers. We bought it after he passed away in 2005. We were finally forced to do something last weekend about our car situation. Everything starts breaking, which is understandable given that our car was old enough to graduate high school. So last Saturday, we found a new to us 2002 Chrysler Town and Country. It has a lot of amenities that we did not expect to find in our price range. It was a blessing. A mechanic checked it out and all is perfectly fine! It was an emotional goodbye to the old Buick. It felt like our last connection to Papa Cox. We both had tears in our eyes as we drove away. We felt like we left our heart on the lot in some ways. We realize that he would want us to have something better but it was hard to part. We are excited to drive our new mini, it feels good to have air conditioning!

So many changes!

(Written back in July, forgot to post until now)

Our girls are growing so fast. I wish I could slow time just a little but since I can't, I am enjoying all the new things that they do.

Kati continues to amaze with the things she thinks of and her abilities. She is learning sign language at Aunt Lisa's house during the week and has caught on amazingly well. She is starting preschool in less than a month, a day that I am certain I will cry. She is quite excited. She loves to be in the pool with her daddy. That is her special time with him. She seems to have grown up so much lately. The other day she announced that she was going to be a big girl and I did not need to tuck her in anymore.

Ava is now 7 months old and doing new things everyday. This past Sunday, she said mama for the first time, started crawling backwards, and learned to stand holding onto an object - all in ONE day. I was not ready for so many firsts from my baby in one day! In my mind, I still think she is 3 months old. I took her for her 6 month check up a few weeks ago and she is so big. Weighing in at 17.1 pounds, and measuring 27.5 inches in length, she is already ahead of Kati by 2 months compared to where Kati was at this age. Suffice it to say, our seasons are off in the clothing area right now. Hopefully we'll get back on track someday because Kati has a A LOT of clothes.

Michael and I feel so blessed to be the parents of these amazing kids. Each day is an adventure and even on the hairiest of days, it still amazes me that they are ours - precious little miracles.