A sweet picture from today

This beautiful little girl discovered a strand of lights today. It was fun watching her investigate them. :)

Um.......

It's been MONTHS since I updated this blog! Wow. I'm not even sure what to say. I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. Everybody but me is fighting a cold right now. Ah! I hope everyone is feeling (and acting) much better before we start traveling on Friday. :)

I'll be updating the photographs...

Isaac's first two weeks

Isaac has been with us for two weeks now! It doesn't seem like it at all. He is doing really well. He's a pretty quite baby and has for the most part been sleeping his days away. He's eating like a champ and gaining weight well. Eli and Sophia are doing pretty well with him, considering the change.


Chris was home with me for the first week, and my mom came the second week. But that's it! Next week I'm on my own! :( Then we'll see what it's really like to have 3 under 3! Adult visitors are always welcome!!!

7 years

Today we celebrate our 7 year anniversary. :) What a great blessing!

It's been a LONG time!

I just realized that I haven't updated here in several months! Many things have happened. I find that I don't really do well toward the end of a pregnancy.

So in chronological order:

Our second niece, Reese Dillon, daughter of Todd and Jillian, arrived August 9, 2009. Here she is with her beautiful mother:


I finished my nursing class, which was my last prerequisite to apply for the program. FINALLY! :)

Sophia, our sweet girl, turned ONE YEAR OLD on 9/9/09!!!


AND, our third little blessing, Isaac Douglas, arrived at 4:18 am on Saturday, September 12, 2009 weighing 6 pounds 9 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. He is perfect and we are completely in love with him. :) Elijah and Sophia are doing wonderfully with him. We have enjoyed visits from all of his grandparents and aunts and uncles. Isaac is such a blessing!!!

Sophia is TEN months old

Sophia is now 10 months old! This is her 9 month picture though. :) She is now crawling, pulling up onto furniture, climbing steps, and cruising. WOW!

DONE!!!

I've been working through my prerequisite courses for the nursing program over the last year.  I'm not done officially....I still have 1 more course to take this summer.  But it's a skills course, which will be great.

I just finished my Organic & Biochemistry class.  What a horrid, evil class.  I'm so thankful it's over.  I'm amazed my pregnancy brain even got me through it.  I met with my advisor who thought that my 'B' would be just fine.  Whew.  :)

Our nephew has arrived!

Our first nephew, son of Kurt & Janet, arrived on June 4th.  He weighed 8 lbs 0 oz and was 20 inches long.  

Please welcome James Kurt!

Elijah, James, and Sophia:

Janet and James:

Our Third Blessing is a........

BOY!!!  

The ultrasound was great.  He is healthy and everything looks perfect.  

The Ultrasound Drama

Today I went in for my 20 week doctor's appointment.  The baby is doing very well!  She found the heartbeat easily and it was good and strong.  

The nurse asked me when my ultrasound was.  I said "FRIDAY!!!  I can't wait!"  She then tells me that the tech cancelled all of the Friday appointments, and they rescheduled me for NEXT TUESDAY.  I didn't think I was going to make it.  So I'm at home scheming about going to an ultrasound place and paying because I can't possibly wait that long, and a manager at the OB's office calls and says she can take me on this Thursday morning!  YAY!  So one less day to wait than I had originally thought.  :)

I'll post our little "tie breaker" baby's gender then....

Sophia Turns 8 Months Old

Sophia celebrated turning 8 months old on the 9th.  I'm a bit late updating this.  She is doing very well.  Just in the last few weeks she has begun to show rapid progress towards crawling.  She can get up on all fours and rock.  Cute!  She also has mastered moving backwards quite well, and can manage to get herself lodged under just about anything.  hehe  On the 9th, Chris found her lying on her belly in her crib, fast asleep.  This is the first time she's turned from her back to her stomach, an important milestone.  

Here's her 8 month photo:

The Test

Chris took his 2nd actuarial test today and he PASSED!!!!!  :)  He worked so hard studying for this test.  It's great news for him.  He will now enter the education program and take a bunch more.  

We are so proud of him!  

Eli's new favorite thing

TOTORO!!!!!

Chris had seen this before, so he rented if from the library for Eli to watch.  And of course, he LOVES it.  I'm not really sure about anime.  It's a little creepy sometimes, but as Chris points out, not even close to Disney.  I'm a little thankful this is a rental, to be honest.  Eli is allowed 1 show per day, and this is what he wants all of the time.  

New Transportation

So using a subcompact Hyundai with 3 kids in car seats, though I tried my hardest to figure out a way, was not going to work.  Chris arranged to buy it, and brought it home.  I had never seen it before he arrived.  Can you believe that?!  That's some pretty good trust!  

Today Chris went and bought this:

It's really strange to be driving such a big vehicle after driving small cars for so long.  I'm pretty uncomfortable with it, but it looks like I better get used to it, at least for the next almost two decades.  

Chris called from the BMV to tell us about his progress, and Eli asked to speak with him on speaker phone.  Here was the conversation:

Chris:   I'm buying a van Eli.

Elijah:  Does it have doors Daddy?

Chris:   Yes Eli, it has doors.

Elijah:  Does it have windows Daddy?

Chris:   Yes Eli, it has windows.

Elijah:  (thinking, says nothing else)

If only we were all so easy to please when it came to cars!!!

Our Third

The baby is doing well.  18 1/2 weeks right now.  (See the ticker at the bottom of the page.)

I have been feeling little bumps and kicks for a few weeks, and they are gradually increasing, which is wonderful to feel.  

We find out the gender on May 22nd.  I can honestly say that I don't care what the gender is this time.  Chris would be happy with a boy!  ;)  He will be happy with either, I'm sure!

Sophie

Sophie has developed into such a little person recently.  :)  She is generally a pretty happy kid, laughing at Eli and playing.  She really enjoys being held, but is now sitting on her own and playing with toys more.  She has started to show signs of crawling, but no success yet!  

We are working hard on her nap schedule, as she tends to think she is in charge of things around the house and not me!!!  ;)  So far we have 2 naps some days, and at least one every day.  It's a good start...

It is amazing to watch Sophia watch Eli.  She just LOVES him!  He is by far her favorite person.  I hope they will continue to be good friends.  

Eli

Eli is doing very well!  He is such a quick learner, picking up everything.  (Not always good for me....)  He does well with his colors, shapes, some letters, and his numbers up to 10, though not always in the right order.  He is such a friendly little guy, saying "Hi!" to everybody in the store.  I'm amazed how many things he sees and absorbs.  When told that Eli needed to have a 2 1/2 year doctor's visit to check on his language, I seriously requested that it be by phone!  He talks and talks, all day long.  

He has been great with Sophie.  :)  He is helpful to her, bringing her toys and putting her binkie back in if she starts crying.  Cute!  

Right now we are struggling with stuttering, which seems to come and go.  It's apparently a developmental glitch, but it's frustrating to see him struggle to say sentences that only a few weeks ago were fluent for him.  I am told it's common for boys and most outgrow it.  

Me

I'm staying at home right now with Elijah and Sophia.  Keeping track of these two kiddos pretty much consumes all of my time.  I try to keep the house in order and keep everything running smoothly, but I feel overwhelmed most of the time by the task!

I'm working on my pre-requisite courses for entering the RN program next fall at a local community college.  This quarter I have Organic & Biochemistry, which I can say with all assurance I have no desire to ever take again!  

Chris

Chris has been at his new job for 7 months now.  He's working as an actuary, which is a person who determines risk for a company.  His specific department deals with homeowner's insurance. He is doing well!  He is enjoying the work and has taken on a lot of new responsibilities.  

He is also studying for the second of ten actuarial exams.  He takes this exam on May 11th.  He will then enter the actuarial education program through his work, and will continue to take two tests per year until he has passed them all.  

He is also still teaching at the Christian home school academy, which will finish in mid-June.  He will then start to take teaching assignments at the college level again.  

A fun little blog...

Hopefully this will give friends & family a more accessible way to keep track of us. 

Chris stated earlier that he bores himself, so a blog about him would be boring even to him.  So for all of our sakes, I'll write the blog.  :)