6/1/07 Company Picnic Today was a full day for Cade and I! I took him to my new job where I had to fill out preliminary paperwork (I'll write more about that next week). We met Tim for lunch (where . . . my favorite Mexican restaurant, of course). We scoured the town for fire safety stuff, i.e. fire extinguisher, fire ladder, carbon monoxide detector, fire-proof safe (recently there were two fires in town that led to the death of 6 children!).  Then we finished the night with Tim’s company picnic.  We enjoyed a night in the park complete with music, good food, PRIZES (we didn’t win anything), mosquitoes, a small rain shower, and great conversation with Tim’s co-workers! More Photos

5/31/07 Growing So Fast! The other day Natalie said that babies seem to hit a transition period around 2 months, and boy was she right!! There is a lot of change going on at the Lehman household. Tuesday night Tim was THRILLED to give Cade his first bottle! Cade did great, and it was fun for daddy and son to have some bonding time. Yesterday during bath time Cade gave me his first "real" smiles!!!!!!!! It was so fun!! I wanted to squeeze him so hard! It was so neat to see the excitement in his eyes. The next trick will be capturing a smile on camera. Cade had his 8 week check-up yesterday, and he measured in at 10 1/2 pounds, 21 inches. That puts him at the 25th percentile in weight and 5th in height. He is definitely filling out! The time has finally come . . . . . . . Cade is sleeping through the night!!!!!!!!!!!!! I fed him at 10:30 last night, and he didn't wake up until ~6:00!! I never knew 7 hours of sleep could feel so good!J

5/30/07 Memorial Weekend Memorial Weekend was filled with “family time”!! Tim has 4 sisters (Natalie, Kristen, Lori, and Leann) and 3 of them (all except Kristen) live close enough to home to make the weekend trip to Kansas. In their hometown Memorial weekend is synonymous with class reunions, and this year Natalie celebrated her 15th and Lori her 10th. What does this mean???? We got to enjoy the class reunion parade! Now this parade differed quite a bit from our last parade: 5 minutes vs. 3 hours, ~10 floats vs. ~150, no Shriners with their motorcycles vs. tons of Shriners, 1 float with candy, vs. bags full of candy. Jason stated correctly, “A happy medium would be great!” Saturday was a lazy day for those of us without reunion picnics, but we all enjoyed the down time! Sunday Tim’s Uncle Elwin and Aunt Mary had the whole crew over for a wonderful breakfast, and then we were able to introduce Cade to all of the people at church. That evening we were able to have a picnic with Tim’s second cousins, the 6 Beyer boys. Growing up these two families spent a lot of time together, so it was fun for them to catch up! We enjoyed a great evening of baseball, fellowship, food, and volleyball. On Monday we headed home after breakfast and made a stop at my parents’ cabin. We enjoyed another lazy afternoon- Mom, Cade and I on the back porch and the guys fishing. Before the evening was over, Cade got his 1st 4-wheeler ride!!! Overall, it was a relaxing weekend and we enjoyed the extended time with family! More Photos

5/25/07 Bath Time!!! The other day I decided to let Cade lay in the bath tub by himself and see what he would do . . . he LOVED IT!!! So yesterday I tried it again, and he splashed around for about 15 minutes! I finally decided I should probably actually give him his bath (you know, get some soap on a rag). Surprisingly, this has turned into one of my favorite times of the day! Have a fantastic holiday weekend! More Photos

5/24/07 The Park, Growing, and a Visit from the Grandparents I’m glad people are enjoying this site! I got informed, in a subtle way, from my friend Carmen that it’s time to make another post. J So, I’ll share about the weeks’ events up to this point. Usually once or twice a week we get a call from Jackson or Jason inviting us to meet them at the park. The guys usually play with Jackson, entertaining him with the slides, climbing wall, sand box, ball, etc. . . . while Natalie and I get time to hold our babies and catch up on the latest parenting news! This past Monday night a group of Mormons were meeting in the park to study more about their faith, so it was interesting to do a little eavesdropping. We were later approached by a young man from California who is doing his two year “mission” in this area. He was quite pleasant and invited us to Navoo, an important city in the Mormon heritage, where they will be holding plays about their history. It was a good reminder to continue praying for those who seem so moral, but are yet so lost! We spent Tuesday evening over at Dad and Mom’s house. Mom is doing a major house cleaning, so I have to take anything from my room that I want to keep. It was fun looking through old cheerleading outfits, graduation gown, photo albums, piano music, etc. I’m not generally a “saver”, but I found it hard to part with many of my things! I keep imagining a cool dress up box for my kids! Darin and Tim haven’t played the piano for a LONG time, but they did pretty good showing off their skills. It was fun to pull out the duet book! I should mention my latest idea . . . starting piano lessons again. When we were at the Widmer’s house this weekend Katie serenaded me with her contest pieces, and it gave me the itch to play! I’ll let you know if it gets any further than an idea. J Towards the end of the night we decided to weigh Cade on the scale with Darin and found him to be ~10 pounds!!! He is starting to get really chunky and is getting some awesome thighs! He has his 8 week appointment next week, so it will be fun to see how big he actually is. Last night Tim’s parents came to Taylor because John was asked to help with the graduation celebration at church. He had a wonderful message about choices, the future, and the short span of life. They were able to spend the night with us, so we had time to chat and play with Cade. Tim’s family plans to get together in Kansas for the holiday weekend, so we’re going to see John and Connie 6 days in a row!! That’s close to a record! More Photos

5/21/07 Back to Lafayette!! We were able to spend a wonderful weekend in Indiana!! Tim had business in Indy on Friday, so we were able to have supper with Allen, Connie, James and Sara. It was fun to catch up! We then headed to Lafayette where we spent the next two days bunking at Neal and Kris'. They were awesome hosts, and we enjoyed our time in their home! Saturday morning we were able to eat breakfast with some couples from our former Bible Study group . . . and ended up leaving Jeff and Gretchen's 4 hours later!!!! Although we've been gone from Lafayette for 6 months, it didn't feel the least bit awkward with our friends. It was as if we were just getting together for another Sunday Bible study. As we pulled away, we both agreed that these will probably be life-long friendships! Our core Bible study group in Lafayette consisted of Lon and Sarah, Grant and Cara, Rustin and Amanda, John and Andria, Luke and Andria, Mark and Angie, and Jeff and Gretchen. When the Bible study started, most of us were newly married so we got to go through the rough first few years of marriage together. We've taken a couple trips together, and have more inside jokes than I can even remember. Basically, Tim and I have been blessed with some pretty awesome friends. We then spent the afternoon visiting my former pharmacy co-workers, Purdue campus, and our former home on Archway Dr. In the evening we had the privilege of joining Neal and Kris at potluck. Bill and Brenda were great hosts, and it was nice to be able to spend a relaxing evening with different couples from church. Sunday, it felt like we were “home” at church. With the college students away for the summer, we were able to enjoy time with our Lafayette church family and introduce them to Cade. In the evening we attended the church Potluck and Praise evening, and were blessed once again. Tim and I had a 4 ½ hour trip home to reflect on the weekend decided on one word to sum it up: RELATIONSHIPS. We have been so blessed with so many friendships, and after this weekend we really feel compelled to work harder to maintain them! More Photos

5/16/07 Nick Knobloch's Funeral Dad, Mom, Darin, Cade and I went up Tuesday evening for Nick’s funeral. Darin, Cade and I spent the night at Jay and Jackie’s and were successful in distracting Jackie from studying for her final! We stayed up way too late, but it was fun to hang out as siblings! At the funeral I was also able to spend some nice time with my brother-in-law Gabe from Phoenix. He had gotten to know Nick during his stay in Phoenix for cancer treatment. The funeral Wednesday held quite a few different emotions for me. On one hand, I rejoiced with Nick that he had finally reached The Eternal Prize!!! I greatly admired Nick for his love for the Lord, burden for the lost, work in international ministry, and ability to make you feel like you were the only person in the room. I will miss his hugs and kisses! On the other hand, my heart felt an increased burden for the lost and I received a reminder of what really matters in life. One of the ministers talked about 3 things he learned from Nick, and I found them to be so true! #1- God is good, ALL THE TIME: No matter what circumstances come in life, we must realize that God is always good. Nick buried 4 sons, lost his home and barn to fire, and suffered through cancer. Yet through all his pain, he continually pointed to the cross! #2- Don’t worry about the cracks in the sidewalk: In our culture we tend to get our focus on the wrong things, i.e. a perfectly manicured lawn, well-dressed children, 4 car garage, six figure salary. Satan gets us distracted with so many “things” that we forget there is a world of lost people who will spend eternity in hell unless they are reached with the gospel. #3- Our family and neighbors are often the hardest to reach for Christ- Although they are usually closest to us, it is often very hard to shard Jesus with this group of people. Pray for an increased ability to step out of our comfort zone for an eternal cause!

5/15/07 A Visit from John Growing up, John and I rode the same bus and we later graduated together. He recently graduated from college, and stopped by to say hi!

5/14/07 Lunch Break at the Park Tim is blessed with FANTASTIC hours at his job, and we are usually able to spend lunch together a couple times a week. When it’s really hot, we eat at a deli close to Tim’s work . . . but when the weather is beautiful we choose a picnic lunch at a park! There is a beautiful park down the road from his office and we are able to enjoy a nice walk with Cade after lunch. When we get to meet Tim for lunch it really breaks up the day nicely! Then we’re only apart for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening.

5/13/07 Mother's Day It was a very special first Mother’s Day for me!! I was able to hold Cade and sit by my mom during the Mother’s Day service at church. I am blessed!!! Dad had the morning service and chose to speak on the first two chapters of Exodus where Moses’ mother had to protect him from the soldiers, hide him along the river, nurse him for the princess, and finally give up her son. There was no way to keep the tears from flowing as I considered having to give Cade up to a mother who was not a Christian. Then there were more tears as Dad talked about the soldiers ripping the babies out of the Hebrew mother’s hands and taking them to the river to drown them. Not exactly a cheerful Mother’s Day service, but I came to realize that I had truly crossed over to a mother. For the first time I understood what it meant to have a “mother’s love” and the desire to love your child, protect your child, and ultimately train them up to love the Lord. After the service the chores at home seemed to minor compared to the awesome task of instilling in Cade, and any children to follow, the absolute necessity of salvation. I also was finally able to grasp, even in the smallest way, the love my mother has for me. On a lighter note, I received a wonderful Mother's day card from Tim . . . and even one from Cade. I had to laugh when I walked in the room and saw Cade “writing” my Card with Tim’s help. With Tim’s bum hand the writing actually looked like a child wrote the card!! We got to have a wonderful Mother’s Day meal with my mom at my favorite Mexican restaurant (the one where we ate for Easter and Cade’s baby shower!) and got to enjoy frozen custard for the second night in a row! More Photos

5/12/07 Our 1st Family Dinner Out Tim took Cade and I to a local Italian restaurant for a wonderful Mother’s Day supper!!! We then got frozen custard and enjoyed the beautiful evening outside.

5/11/07 Tim's Second Hand Surgery This past Christmas, our family gathered for its annual Heimer Wood Chopping Day. Once the guys got the log splitter working, we fell into our normal routine- Jacob and Darin cut the logs with a chainsaw, Dani and Jay brought the log “chunks” over to the splitter, Dad and Tim split the wood, and Jackie, Mom, and I stacked the wood I the barn. Not too far into our day we heard a scream from Tim, and turned to see him dancing around the log splitter. Long story short, he had gotten his hand in between a log and the foot of the hydraulic splitter!!! Mom rushed Tim and I to the hospital where we learned that Tim would have to have surgery on his hand. One of his thumb bones had broken into four pieces, and he had torn numerous tendons, ligaments, and muscle in his hand. He spent a couple of hours in surgery and got to enjoy Christmas Eve in the hospital!! In the end he got four pins placed in his thumb, one of which was removed a week or so later in the doctors office (see photos). Now, a few months later, he had to have a follow-up surgery to remove the remaining three pins. More Photos

5/6/07 Mom's Belated 50th Birthday Party To put it plainly, my mom HATES surprise parties!!!! Being the center of attention is about the worst thing she can imagine! So . . . as her 50th birthday came near, she threatened to end our lives if we planned a party. As the trip planner in our family, she “just happened” to plan a trip to Colorado over this momentous occasion!!! Real slick mom! Jay and Jackie weren’t going to be here for Mother’s Day, so Jackie got the great idea to celebrate that along with Mom’s birthday this weekend. It was a small party, complete with the infamous Heimer birthday cake. For those of you who don’t know about the cake, I will explain. One time, years ago, Mom bought a small cake for one of our birthdays. We didn’t feel like eating cake, so it went in the freezer. When the next birthday rolled around, Mom jokingly pulled out the frozen cake, stuck new candles in, and brought it out for the party!!! Ever since it has been pulled out for every family birthday we celebrate. It is now hard, cracked, and covered with lots of wax!! Weird family . . . I know!!!! More Photos

5/5/07 Cade's 1st Parade After a sleepless night, Tim and I decided to forgo a nap and head to the local parade. We met Jason and Natalie at their home, loaded the strollers, and headed to Maine Street. Amazingly enough, Cade slept right through all the parade noise! At first Jackson was eager to gather up candy thrown from the floats, but soon became bored and sat down on the curb (see the picture). The parade usually lasts ~3 hours, but thankfully Jason & Natalie were ready to head home about half way through!!!! After you’ve seen one set of Shriner’s on their motorcycles, you’re good for another year until the next parade! More Photos

5/4/07 Friday Pizza Night Since being back home, we have been joining Jason and Natalie's family for pizza on Friday nights. It's turned out to be something we really look forward to!! On this particular pizza night Jackson decided he wasn't really hungry and left the table. Soon Cade decided it was time to eat, so I too left the table. When I came back downstairs, I had to laugh! Jason and Tim were sitting alone at the table eating their pizza, as Natalie had to get up to tend to her kids (Jackson decided it would be fun to jump on the activity mat where Sage was laying!). We had officially entered parenthood! We spent the rest of the evening trying to wear Jackson out by running around the "circle" in our basement. What a blessing it's been to have family close! More Photos

4/30/07 Visiting Dad at Work Tim’s co-workers invited Cade and I to join them at my favorite Mexican restaurant in town so they could meet our new addition. We had a wonderful meal, and got to open presents for Cade! For a moment, Tim's bosses thought they could use a cute little baby around their homes . . . but then remembered the reality of diaper changes and sleepless nights! We then headed back to the office so Tim could “show off” his new son. Thanks to Amy and Katie for a fantastic party! More Photos

4/28/07 Our First Date Night After Cade's Birth Tim’s sister Leann was down for the weekend, so she and Natalie offered to watch Cade so we could have a night to ourselves. We were able to use a gift certificate to eat at a really nice restaurant in town, one we probably wouldn’t have hit if we were spending our own cash. Tim had received this $50 card from work, and we thought we could probably use it for 2 meals out. We had to laugh when we looked at the menu and realized this $50 would cover this meal . . . and this meal ALONE! You must understand that our previous date nights have usually consisted of splitting a meal at a nicer restaurant, or “splurging” and each getting our own sandwich at Panera!! We had a wonderful evening talking about the joy that Cade had brought and spent working through some marriage “issues” that were inevitable during the transition to parenthood. The dinner also included tears from me as I explained to Tim the frustration of trying to find clothes for our date night that actually fit!! In the end, I had finally pulled out the maternity pants and worked to convince myself that Cade was worth it It’s too bad baby fat can’t be worn like an honor badge in our society- a badge that shows the world I loved my child enough to choose life! We decided to head down to the riverfront before we went to pick Cade up, and found the park filled with kids heading to prom! We enjoyed sitting on the fountain, watching “young love”, and being thankful we were “so far” past that superficial stage of life!!! We had stepped into parenthood and had no desire to be back in high school. Overall we had a wonderful time and definitely saw the benefit of an evening alone! More Photos

4/07 Misc Photos With a new baby around our home, our camera is getting a lot of use. My sister Jackie keeps reminding me that I have to commit to giving equal camera/baby book attention to any children who come after Cade! Note: Jackie is the second child in our family, and likes to remind us that her baby book is not near as full as mine! More Photos

4/22/07 Our First Sunday at Church Our doctor told us we COULD NOT take Cade into public until this Sunday! The Wednesday prior we brought Cade home from the hospital, and I had such a desire to be with our church family that evening as we had missed Good Friday and Easter services. Our pregnancy had many emotional ups and downs as the doctors conducted many ultrasounds and flip-flopped between thinking Cade was too big and too small. Our church family was such a support and lifted us up with prayers, hugs, cards, and reminders that God was in control! After Cade’s extended stay, I longed to be with my “family” to give testimony of God’s faithfulness and bless them with the presence of our new baby boy! It is such a reminder to pray for our brothers and sisters in other countries who do not have the benefit of a large church family to offer support and encouragement.

4/07 Visitors The six weeks following Cade’s birth we were blessed with many visitors, and a ton of AWESOME meals!!!! The other day I finally cooked my first meal and found myself thinking, “Wow. I forgot how long this takes!” Thanks so much to all who took time out of their day to cook for us and ease the transition into parenthood!!! More Photos

4/4/07 Cade's Birth Cade Benjamin Lehman was born April 4th, 2007- 6 pounds 2 ounces, 19 inches long. We got to hold Cade long enough to get a picture and then he was taken away to the nursery. His breathing was rapid and he was gasping for air. Soon, he was diagnosed with pneumonia, something we didn't know a newborn could have!! Cade was placed under an oxygen hood and an IV was started in his left arm so he could get antibiotics. He was also hooked up to monitors for his oxygen, heart rate, etc. As new parents we longed to hold Cade, but we had to be content to hold his hand. Our hearts were heavy, but we had given Cade to God long before his birth and we had to trust His soverignty!! In the morning Cade was downgraded to oxygen through his nose, so we were able to hold him!!! By late afternoon, he was completely off oxygen and out of the Level 2 nursery. Praise God!! He had to stay in the regular nursery for the next day or so, but we were thankful for his continued improvement! Later that day we finally got to bring Cade to our room! It's hard to explain how exciting this was. We got to be with Cade full-time, and didn't have to go down the hall to the nursery to see him. We could now hold him whenever we wanted! We stayed in the hospital for a week so Cade could receive a full course of antibiotics and be treated for jaundice. We enjoyed lots of visitors, and we were able to develop a neat friendship with some of the nurses and doctors. I was discharged partway through Cade’s stay, so Tim & I were able to leave the hospital and spend Easter with our family. It’s becoming a tradition to spend holidays in the hospital!!!! A lot of our friends explained they were very scared to leave the hospital with their first child, but Tim and I were the exact opposite! We would hardly contain our excitement when we got to hold Cade without any machines attached, dress him in real clothes, and drive away from the hospital with him in our back seat!!!!! We received a wonderful surprise when we got home, as Jackie and Jay had decorated and left us with a freezer full of food. We spent a wonderful afternoon as a family and kept reminding Cade that he wouldn’t have any lab techs coming to draw his blood or any nurses poking him for a new IV site! It was hard to believe we could be blessed with such a special baby boy! More Photos

4/1/07 Sunday Softball at the Haerr's Sunday afternoons in Taylor people head home from church, change their clothes, and meet back at the Hoerr’s for a softball game. This tradition has been going on since my dad (Kent) was a small boy!! It was so fun to see that things hadn’t changed when we moved back to the area- the game still ends in a tie, Norman still has his bowl of popcorn, and the outfielders still back way up when a “big guy” steps to the plate!! There has been one new development. Peg, the resident mom, brings an awesome snack out partway through the game. Cade has already been to his first game, and Tim looks forward to the day when he can buy Cade his first glove! Shon and Peg have already supplied us with his first baseball outfit, complete with the striped pants! Recent Sunday morning conversation, a few days after Tim’s second hand surgery- Amber: Do you have your softball clothes packed for after church? Tim: No. A while later- Amber: Did you get your clothes packed? Tim: Ahhhhh. I keep forgetting. It’s going to be an awesome afternoon for a game! A few moments later the light bulb comes on- Tim: Wait………there’s no way I can play with this hand! (Followed by lots of laughter)

Jackson & Sage These two cute kids are our nephew and niece!!! Tim’s sister Natalie and her husband Jason live 5 minutes from us, so we get to spend a lot of time with their family. Jackson is 2 ½, and Sage was born in November a few days after we moved here. Babysitting Sage over the last few months refreshed our “baby skills” before Cade came along! Tim officially changed his first diaper and learned it wasn’t actually too hard. With two cute kids around, it’s hard to keep the camera in my purse! More Photos