Or feel like we should be anyway. Our basement has a habit of leaking when it rains too much, see, so we spent not last night but the two before that up all night bailing water out of our utility room to keep it from flowing into the finished part of the basement. *sigh* But a lot of things make it better than it could be, so we are still thankful. And now we're especially thankful that it has stopped. :)

So we were dealing with that and on Monday I was carrying Ella and we fell all the way down our 5 step flight of stairs. Luckily all I got from it was a twisted ankle and all she got from it was a good laugh! She thought that was quite the ride! I told her that this is why we pray every day for God to protect us! :) And indeed, He is quite faithful, that could have very easily been a very different outcome.

I took both the girls for check-ups on Monday and they are growing beautifully. Ella is walking her little bum all over the place now, but has yet to want to say much. She expresses herself quite well, just not with words! It's probably her Italian genes, she'd rather just gesture! :) Cadence is such a happy little baby, with more emphasis on "baby" than on "little". She is in the 97th percentile for weight, or in normal terms, bigger than 97% of babies her age. But she is very healthy and happy most all the time.

David is doing well with his job at Wal-Mart and still looking for employment after his time there is done in two weeks. The timing was perfect though as he will not have to take time off to go to Cuba but will be done in time. He leaves on the 16th and comes home now on the 29th instead of the 28th since the Cuban government canceled their return trip on the 28th. He will be home just in time to celebrate our 3rd anniversary on the 29th.

The most exciting thing in the recent past for me was getting an MP3 player off of Ebay for $17. It's not terribly fancy, but it holds a ton of stuff and sounds good- what more do I need? :)

Gotta run, we love you all!

I remember when I was young and aged people would tell me that as you get older time goes faster. I thought that it wouldn't happen to me, but I guess I must now be "older" because time is getting away from me. I find myself already telling my girls not to grow up so fast, and I know they'll be sixteen when I wake up tomorrow.

Everything is just kind of moving along without any big bumps or excitement. David is still working at the warehouse for Wal-Mart during their remodel. He doesn't mind it too much, aside from the cold since there's no heat in the warehouse. He doesn't have that Illinois-bread imperviousness to the cold. :) He will be going to Cuba next month for a missions trip, which I think I mentioned previously, and is also helping to put together a missions trip to San Francisco in July for some of the youth at our church. I will be joining them as well, and we'll head back to the Tenderloin District to hang out with the homeless folks.

Ella will be 18 months old this month, and is steadily getting closer to walking. She cruises very quickly, but is just in the last couple of weeks independently taking steps of her own volition. She says "yes" and "hot" but so far that's it for official words. But I counted up the other day all the things she recognizes either in real life or books, and there's over 100. It's amazing to me that she'll pick out a photograph of a lion in a magazine, and also pick out a drawing of a cartoon lion. How does she know they're the same thing?

She helps get her clothes on and off and understands when I say, "Go on downstairs and go to the chair so we can put your coat on." She helps hold the bottle when Cadence is eating, she'll pat her when it's time for her to burp. The other day she even stuck the paci in Cadence's mouth for me. She also feeds herself rather well with a spoon or fork too, just another thing that makes me scream, "Stop that, you're only a baby!"

Cadence will be 4 months old this month. She is quite a little jabberbox, and we call her a bubble factory since she forever has spit bubbles gathered at her mouth from all the talking. She sleeps through the night and wakes up happy, will lie in her bed for quite a while after waking and play and babble to herself. She loves to sit up (with help) and look around, will bat at and grab at toys and has the most lovely ever-ready smile. We are pretty sure she will keep her red hair and blue eyes, making us quite an un-matched family. David has brown hair and blue eyes, I have red hair and brown eyes, Ella has brown hair and hazel eyes, and Cadence has red hair and blue eyes.

I am doing well, keeping busy between the girls and work and music stuff for church. I am thrilled to be back at my pre-Cadence weight and have about 8 pounds to go before I get back to my pre-Ella weight. Not sure my clothes will ever fit the same, but it looks good on the scale. :) I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking about South America lately, and hope that David and I may be able to travel there this fall to do some mission work somewhere. We had an opportunity to go to Zimbabwe to serve at an orphanage this summer but I told him quite honestly that I couldn't do it. There is no way I could go there and not come back with my arms full of kids. It would wreck me emotionally and I'd rather skip that for now. :)

David and I have plans to go overnight to Indianapolis next weekend for an early anniversary getaway. It'll be the first time we've really had time together since Cadence was born. I got so used to having him around home most of the time, it is a very foreign feeling having him at work all day! Plus with things we both have at church we're gone four or more nights a week...I miss him! :) But that's better than NOT missing him, I suppose and what, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" or some such nonsense.

At any rate- a child beckons, so off I go. Love to you all!

I didn't realize how far behind I was! Chalk it up to the social cave they call motherhood! Just kidding!

We are all doing very well. Cadence started smiling on Christmas Eve- what a present! She is doing so well and is just a joy. She is sleeping 7-9 hours a night and is one of the happiest babies you'll ever see.

Ella is doing very well too. She is still not walking but we know she could if she wanted to. I think she's gotten a laugh one too many times when she "tries" and falls down so that's just what she does all the time. I made a list the other day of all the words and commands she recognizes and came up with over 70 words and 30 commands. She is a very smart girl. She loves to have me sing If You're Happy and You Know It and will do verses: clap your hands, stomp your feet, touch your hair, touch your knees, touch your eye, touch your toes, pat your head, and touch your nose. A friend got her a percussion set for Christmas with shakers and maracas and drumsticks and stuff, she loves it! She does great playing by herself when I'm taking care of Cadence. She is quite a little blessing.

David is working full time for a remodeling team at Wal-Mart. He juggles that with all the other stuff he finds himself involved in and is now the head of missions and evangelism at our church. He plans to start attending Liberty University either this year or next (I can't remember) to get another degree. He is doing well and is turning out to be a wonderful father- no surprise! :)

I am back to working part time at Mom's store, I take Cadence with me and Mom keeps Ella at her house while I'm here. Ella loves her Nana and Papa and the feeling seems quite mutual. :) I don't mind being up here, gives me something else to look at and usually the chance to catch up on email and journaling and stuff. I keep journals for both the girls and it is hard to keep up sometimes!

That's about it for now, I'll try to keep up here a little better as well!

Cadence Parks Headley arrived yesterday at 1:06PM, weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 19 inches long. She is doing wonderfully, and I am doing well despite some pain and being pretty tired. We are so thankful, everything went very smoothly and I seem to be doing better this time than last time.

Thanks to all who were praying, we'll be sending pictures soon. If you don't get one let me know!

Ella is doing wonderfully, took a first tentative step this morning so I know it won't be long until she's walking all over the place. She continues to become more like a little girl and less like a baby every day and has such a great personality. She already has a sense of humor and has started pretending to do some things, like she'll "feed" you something invisible- so cute!

How is it that you can wait for something for so long and when it's almost here it feels like it's all happening too fast? *grin*

My c-section is scheduled for Monday the 17th at 12pm. We are excited to get to this new phase, or maybe more accurately, we are excited to be leaving THIS phase! Though the end result is well worth it, being pregnant is not something I enjoy so this has been a very long nine months.

David returned safely and only a little late from his trip to Liberia. It wasn't exactly what he expected, but he said it was a good trip and he enjoyed himself. He's currently in the abnormal state of having no international travel on the docket- I'm not sure he knows what to do with himself!

We were able to finish the family room in our basement just in time for the cold weather to set in. Our house lacks proper insulation in some places so it can be rather cold especially in the room where there is hardwood floor. Our newly finished room stays nice and toasty so we turn the heat down and hang out in there most of the time. It's great!

Guess that's about it for now, hope you all are doing well! We love you!

I'm so glad fall is here, it's my favorite season- especially this year since it will bring the birth of our newest daughter!

I am 33 weeks pregnant now, due next month. We don't have a date set yet for the c-section, but I think the doctor will set that up either this visit or next. Though everyone else says I'm small, I feel like my belly is huge! The baby is definitely running out of room in there and makes herself known quite often.

Ella is still growing beautifully, she isn't walking yet, but crawls everywhere and pulls up on anything that is still for more than 10 seconds. She likes to pound on the piano and will even "sing" along.

David and I had a fantastic trip to Boise last month. It was so nice to get away and be able to walk around, just the two of us sans diaper bag, stroller, sippy cup and toys. The weather was beautiful the whole time and we came home feeling as though we'd been gone a long time.

Tomorrow, David takes off for 13 days in Liberia with a missions team from First United Methodist in Peoria. He was asked to go to check out an agricultural project they are thinking of taking on there. He is excited to be going, but says he will miss his girls!

Next week, my mom, sisters Lisa & Julie, Ella and I will be going for a few days to Galena, Illinois for a girls' getaway. We used to try to go every year, but it's been a couple of years since we've been able to get away together. We hate it that the rest of the girls can't go...

My sister Laura has been in the hospital for almost two weeks now, but has just gone home today. She is pregnant and due in December, but has a fibroid attached to her uterus that was causing quite a bit of pain. Unable to control it at home, she had to be hospitalized and kept on an IV drip. They have switched her to an oral medication and sent her home, but the doctor said he will not be surprised to see her back in the hospital. Until then, Laura and Daryl are hoping for the best and are going to try to do all they can to prepare for the birth of their second daughter, Annika, as fibroids of this kind can cause pre-term labor.

We are almost finished with what will be our family room in the basement and will be so glad to have extra space. My sister Julie is going to stay with me off and on while David is away and help me start getting things organized for the baby. I know the next several weeks will go quickly. I told a friend the other day I know it's taken eight months to get here, but all of a sudden it feels like everything is happening really fast! It's still incredible to me that David and I have not yet known each other three years. In just three short years- just over a thousand days- we've gone from being single to being married and parents of two! Time has a way of changing circumstances, doesn't it? Amazing.

Hope you all are well and enjoying the beautiful autumn weather. Store up all the sunshine and warmth you can- winter is coming!

David called while I was at work at the store yesterday to tell me Ella was crawling all over the floor. She's been trying for quite a while, but just hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. We all thought she was going to go straight to walking since she is pulling up and loves to "walk" with you holding on to her arms. She is quite proud of herself and is now having a blast getting in to everything. She will turn one on the 19th of this month- how time flies!

Things are going well with the pregnancy. I am tired most of the time and there are days I'm ready for it to be over, but I'm in my seventh month now- the "home stretch" (no pun intended!) and we are just glad things are going smoothly. I ended up at the hospital a few weeks ago with twice as many Braxton-Hicks contractions as I should have had in an hour. They monitored me and the baby for a while and then sent us home. My doctor said I was at the lowest possible risk for premature labor, so barring something really unusual I didn't have to worry. Sometimes I feel like November can't come fast enough and sometimes I think, "Wait, I'm not ready for this!" I'm glad I know the Word is true when it says that His grace is sufficient...

Things have gone well with the church switch and I am having a great time leading worship. I love my team, they can do anything I ask of them and do it well. David is getting involved, he is in a men's Bible study there, leading one at another church, and heading a missions and outreach committee at our church. He is traveling to Liberia next month with the Methodists to do work there for a week and a half.

While he's gone, the girls in my family plan to take a few-day trip to Galena- one last "hurrah" before my baby and my sister's baby come.

Last week we arrived home from our trip to Nevada and the Hoover Dam. We stayed in Las Vegas, toured the strip, and also saw Death Valley, (it was 120 degrees when we were there!) Lake Mead and Red Rock Canyon. Ella proved again she's a born traveler, wasn't even cranky when we had to get up at 3AM to catch our flight home.

Next weekend, David and I are cashing in on some frequent flier miles to take a weekend to ourselves. Mom and Dad are keeping Ella at home and we are headed to Boise, Idaho for their Hyde Park Street Fair. What, doesn't everyone go to Boise for vacation? :)

We are also busy trying to get our lower-level family room done before the baby comes. No major renovations, just paint and flooring, but it still takes time.

Hope all is well with all of you, we still love to hear from you and know how you are!

We've found out that our new little one will be a baby sister for Ella. We are excited to see them grow up together and hope they get along! :)

All is well in Headleyland. We went to Florida with my parents for the Christian Bookseller's Association convention the 9th-19th. Ella did beautifully on the flights and everything, she seems to be a born traveler. She's so laid back it makes most everything pretty easy- what a blessing! Our first stop was in Jacksonville to visit my aunt and uncle who live there. We went to an alligator farm and to see where Ponce de Leon landed in St. Augustine. Got to drink from the Fountain of Youth and everything! (it tasted disgusting, so it must be good for you) From there we went to the Kennedy Space Center and then on down to Orlando to get ready for the convention. Most days Ella and I would go for a while in the mornings and then head back to the hotel in the afternoon so she could nap and relax for a bit. David's parents came down from North Carolina for a day and a half to visit- it was the first time they'd seen Ella in about six months, so she had changed quite a lot. She took to them easily and everyone had a good time together.

Next month we travel to Nevada and the Hoover Dam since Dad and David heard it was going to be the last year you can drive across it, they didn't want to miss that experience- so off we go!

Everything is going well with the pregnancy- for which we are thankful. This will be a planned c-section since Ella's birth was somewhat complicated. Because there is a plan instead of waiting around to see what will happen, it is a lot more relaxing for me. I know what to expect and when to expect it. I feel that was the Lord's grace on me, to let there be so many "knowns" in this case. He knew I wasn't quite ready to go through all this again, so He's making it as easy on me as possible! Thank You, Lord! :)

David and I have decided to stop traveling all the way in to Peoria for church on Sundays and have started to attend a church here in town. Especially with the gas prices it was difficult to really feel like we could get involved and build relationships when you were always taking into account how much it was going to cost to get there. I will start leading worship here in town this week, and feel really good about that. Where we will attend now is actually the church I grew up in and the church I led worship for for many years before switching a year or so before I met David. It was good to have taken time away, but it feels good to be "home".

David is keeping busy, he is on the planning board for the Peoria team as they host Promise Keepers the beginning of next month. He is also planning a trip and raising funds for a missions trip to Liberia in November. He is involved in community projects as well as attending several different Bible studies, so he's always busy doing something!

I can't remember if I mentioned or not, but my sister Laura is also pregnant, due about five weeks after I am, so we have fun swapping stories and commiserating.

Hope all is well with you!
The Headleys

You know how sometimes you have a plan all laid out in your mind how you think things will go and then one day you wake up and realize that that plan just isn't going to work out? But sometimes that so called "mess up" in your plan can be a wonderful surprise...

Such is the case with us.

We found out a while ago that our nearly nine-month old Ella is going to be a big sister in November. It was quite a surprise to us, but we know that God has a plan, and apparently a sense of humor as well! :) We are excited though and have a sonogram scheduled for next month which will tell us if it's a boy or girl- and we're telling people this time! I'm past the morning sickness (thank the Lord) and doing well.

Ella is growing and growing. She waves to people when they wave at her, will raise her arms high when asked, "How big is Ella?" She smiles easily, loves to laugh and is already developing a sense of humor. She continues to love music and be the life of the party, she's very social and gets quite a bit of attention any time we're out and about.

David is at this moment on a plane on his way to the Philippines for a missions-related trip. He's begun working with a new organization called Small World Connections which tailors missions trips to the needs of long term missionaries both in the States and overseas. He's the first one into a situation when someone calls for a missions team to come, he evaluates the needs and checks out lodging and such, gathers information to bring back to the board of Small World, as well as prepare the missions team. Needless to say, he is perfect for the job. As the kids get older I will travel with him as well, which we are both looking forward to. He is also keeping busy helping Mom at the store, will be subbing at again at Peoria Christian High School during the school year, he is involved with men's groups at the church, helps with the homeless service on Sunday mornings, and is serving on the planning committee for Promise Keepers appearance in Peoria.

Not much is new or different with me aside from my burgeoning belly. I still work at the store sometimes, but spend most of my time at home with Ella. I am still involved with music and am planning to be part of a group performing in our city square in August.

Mom, Dad, David, Ella and I are going to Orlando, Florida next month for the Christian Bookseller's Convention. We are looking forward to a vacation and Ella's first time at the ocean. She's already been to states on the east and west coasts, but has yet to actually see or touch the ocean. We will also visit my Dad's brother and sister-in-law in Jacksonville while we're there.

Next week my aunt and uncle from Oregon will be visiting. David and I saw them in October, but for the rest of the family it's probably been since our wedding. It will be nice to have them and get to spend some time together.

Guess that's about it for now, David arrives back on June 12th so if you happen to read this before then please pray for his safety and health.

We love you all and still love to hear from you!

First of all, thank you to those who knew about the trip and were praying for us.

David and I just got back from spending six days in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. When I got to a computer this morning, I looked up the Tenderloin, just to see what the internet would have to say about it- something I hadn't done before we left. Mostly it said without compunction that it was one of the most dangerous and seedy parts of town and to stay away from it.

We were leading a team of college students who chose to spend their spring break ministering to the homeless on the streets of San Francisco. We passed out tracts, New Testaments, and hygiene packs, talked and prayed with a lot of people. Maybe their lives were touched, and maybe there was an eternal change in their hearts. But we know without question there was an eternal change in ours.

The thing that stands out most in my mind is that we are far to quick to just lump all of "those people" together, to think of them as "the homeless" and not stop to consider they are all individuals, with fears, hopes and aspirations. I was surprised at the number of people I talked with who had college degrees and had become homeless by choice, having grown tired of their situations at work or in "normal" life. It was such a blessing to get to sit down with these folks and listen to their hearts.

They have names, they have stories. They are just like you and me.

It's so easy to walk by someone asking for money with your head down and pretend you don't see them. It's so much easier than looking them in the eye and admitting you can't help them. But, praise God, we have a Savior who can. We had the opportunity to attend an AA meeting at a homeless shelter of sorts, to hear how their lives had been changed and how they are making it in the struggle to stay clean when there are alcohol and drugs all around them. And what a difficult struggle it must be. Here in the mid-west, we know that people do drugs and are dealing with addictions, but it is a totally different experience to walk down the street and see someone smoking crack or selling dope right out in the open, with no feeling of needing to hide it. They'll tell you what they think of you and not apologize when it's not nice, but the majority respect what you have to say, even if they don't agree. They'll pause from cleaning their crack pipe to say, "Praise the Lord" when you come up to hand them a tract and try to talk.

In some ways, it felt as though they were used to being "ministered to", knew what you wanted to hear and said their lines just to be left alone. But the Bible promises that the Word does not go out and return nothing, and the love of Jesus is an amazing thing. When we share ourselves with open hearts, those on the receiving end can't help but stop- maybe just for a moment- and blink at the brightness of the truth.

They have names, they have stories. They are just like you and me.

The majority of the people in the Tenderloin live in worse than third-world filth. They use the street as their very public bathroom, do not bathe or wash their clothes. The smell is specific and at times choking and acrid, but your nose becomes accustomed to it. We'd walk back from the touristy areas, breathe it in and say, "Well, we're almost home." We stayed in a store-front type church on Turk Street in the middle of it all, slept on the tile floor, huddled in our blankets since there was no heat and it was cold outside. The street in front of the church was busy all night long with people wandering by with nothing else to do but wander to keep warm. They talk, yell, sing and throw their empty bottles down so they break on the sidewalk.

The group had various cool and unsettling experiences, but all of us left there with a feeling of wanting to stay or at least go back. There is something about that place that is somehow more real than where we live, and something much more real about God when you're talking with them than in our country-club churches on Sundays. I met some folks with a very true faith in our Lord, and wondered if all my belongings and my home and my family were stripped away from me if I would cling as strongly to my hope in Him. I hope so, that's all I can say.

They have names, they have stories. They are just like you and me.