Snow Days

What is up with this winter?? We have had three major snow storms this winter and now a little more snow tomorrow. Ed and I have lived here for four years now and this is more snow than all those other winters combined! I'm starting to realize that I could never live in the midwest - sorry steph! I'm just not made for it! Where's the 60 degree day in the middle of winter that gets you through to the next randomly hot day until you are FINALLY in spring? Between having a new baby, many sicknesses, and tons of snow I feel like I've been trapped in my house for months! I mean really, I haven't done anything outside of our house. Oh to take a walk again and not have your insides shivering!

And by the way...I do have other children - Here they are two snow storms ago...notice ghetto snow outfits!

The Thumbsucker

Happy 3 months Haleigh! Little Miss has now been with us for 3 months and we have enjoyed every minute!
Here's the latest on Haleigh:
-she smiles all the time
-she's testing out her voice with coos and other girlie noises
-she going to be a talkative one! she loves to make noises and now loves to "talk" to me when she is supposed to be eating!
-we are getting close to having to feed in quiet because she is getting distracted by others
-she LOVES to watch her brothers
-she has rolled over a couple of times from her tummy to back
-she slept 8 hours last night for the first time!!! Yay!
-she has overcome RSV, nothing can keep her down!
-she weighs 12 lbs
-she is still fighting me on the bottles, but I am persisting, we will see who has a stronger will
-she has found her thumb, but we are still using paci, not sure if I should let her or not?? thoughts?

Putting the kids to work

I've learned a lot these last couple of months with having three children. And one thing is that I can't do all the housework myself. I've slowly handed more things over to Micah to help me accomplish the housework. Its been such a neat thing to watch him take on more responsibility and really cool to know that it is not all on my shoulders. He now makes his bed, brings the dishes over from the table to the kitchen, unloads the dishwasher (with a little help), picks up his toys, cleans up the downstairs just by putting things in their place, and we are now learning the art of wiping things down. Today he cleaned the front of all the cabinets, the oven, the dishwasher, and some other random pieces of furniture that needed cleaning. I don't think those things have been cleaned in a long time! Even Caleb today helped wipe the cabinets clean! Now I can spend my time doing other things!
What about you? What chores have you taught your kids to do?

Purple People Eaters

In our household NFL is important and so needless to say yesterday was a big day, even though our church didn't get the memo that there were two very important games on tv yesterday and so they decided to have our annual church dinner last night...whew! run on sentence, I know. (ha, why even bother with punctuation!) Anyway, we saw maybe the first quarter of the Jets/Colts game, and then missed the whole first half of the second. Thankfully, we could watch the rest.
So as we were watching last night, I realized my husband all of a sudden became a Vikings fan...ew! Ok, I'm sorry, but the Vikings remind me of one thing - the purple people eater. In 4th grade, in my dance class, we did this dance to that song. Yes there is a song, look it up! Anyway, there was this boy at school, bless his heart, that LOVED the vikings. He wore these purple vikings sweatpants, yeah the ones with the elastic at the ankle, ALL the time! So I always called him the purple people eater, no not to his face! That would be mean. Anyway, this boy was so nice, i think we even went to his bday party in elementary school. Anyway, as we got into high school, he didn't wear the sweatpants anymore, but the image just stuck in my head, so I still called him the purple people eater in my head...this is so stupid! Anyway, I've always associated the vikings with this boy and purple sweatpants...and their stupid mascot! (Sorry Steph and Krista, you may be offended) Ok Becky, you get a little shout out here too because this boy asked you to prom...remember in Hallmark! ha! I love it! He didn't realize you were totally out of his league! Anyway...
Back to last night, as the game is going on, my husband starts routing for the vikings, I guess partly because of Brett Favre, or maybe their purple uniforms, who knows. And so he starts whining about the NFL's overtime rules and how it is not fair. However, did they not have a chance to win the game at the end, my dear?! And did Brett Favre not have a chance to not(double negative) throw what 6 interceptions?! You, of all people, should not whine about the overtime rules! unless of course it is about the redskins! So I am sorry that the vi-"queens"(george) lost, but the leech and his team are heading to Miami, while the purple people eaters will lose their starting quarterback to retirement...or maybe not!

2 Month Haleigh = CHU - BBY!

Ok, so I know this is a week late, but if you knew my life right now, you would understand! Little Miss is two months old now! And as you can see from the pictures, we are not worries about her weight gain...or maybe we are! There is something about our children where they just balloon out around two months and well stay like that for a while. Poor Caleb can't seem to shake that baby weight!Here is the latest on Haleigh:
-she weighs 12 pounds
-i'm not sure how long she is, but she seems really long
-currently she's stuck at the 4:30 am feeding, but I can't complain
-she loves to spit up on EVERYTHING!
-she recognizes her brothers' voices
-she's got the best closet in the family
-she is getting more noisy - exploring with squealing (which every girl needs to master) and cooing
-the double chin (see below) and thunder thighs have arrived-and as of last weekend, prefers her milk from the tap (AKA mommy) rather than bottle - we'll be working on this one
-and her fussy time is at night around 9:00 when the boys are in bed and mommy and daddy are trying to relax - working on this one as well!

4 years ago...

Four years ago my first baby was born. My life was forever changed when that little boy arrived. And it is unbelievable that he is now four years old! I'm starting to realize that birthdays are as much for the mother as they are for the child. He is excited to have a party, receive presents, and just have his special day, but for me, it's about remembering that special day he was born. No mother ever forgets that day. It's as if it was yesterday. Every year we celebrate Micah's birthday, I love to tell him the story of the day he was born. I'm sure as he gets older he won't care...I'll just have to keep it to myself. Happy Birthday Micah!

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A Look at 2009

As 2009 comes to an end, here are some of our favorite moments of the year.

Last January we met some of our friends from seminary and had an awesome weekend catching up and letting our kids play together. What a joy that was to reconnect and pray for each other's ministries.Last Spring Micah played his first team sport - soccer. He was very shy and didn't like people watching him, but by the end of the season we at least got him to run out and play on the field. Baby steps!In May, we celebrated Baby C's 1st birthday! He pounded that cake...and yes, we still call him baby c!
When Ed went to Peru with the youth in June, the boys and I went to Kentucky to visit with some friends and then to the beach with other friends. It was a lot of traveling, but we had a lot of fun! It was also the first big trip in our minivan...we broke that baby in!
One of our best memories of the year, is our vacation we took in August. It was probably the best vacation we've had since our honeymoon. We picked the perfect place at Ocean Isle, NC to have the ideal mix between rest and play. One of my sweetest memories was taking Micah to play putt-putt and he got his first hole-in-one!
Micah started preschool in the fall, which was a huge step in our lives. He has done really well and made new friends. We are so grateful for God leading us this way and thankful He has a plan for Micah, as well as all of our kids. It was hard for this mommy to see her little one take one step closer to growing up.
October was a crazy month, but really special because my little sister got married! We were all very busy doing last minute preparations the week of, but it all turned out beautiful. The only picture I got was of our family, none of my sis, but go here if you want to see the real pics.
And last but not least, my favorite little thing of 2009 is our sweet little miss. She has completely changed our lives in more ways than one. She herself is just about the cutest thing you will ever see! Ed keeps asking if she has enough pink, um, I don't think any girl can have enough pink! Hello! Now the transition from 2 to 3 kids has been quite a change for us. Those of you who have experienced this elite club of crazy parents who choose to venture beyond the world of 2 on 2 (or as Ed says "going from man-to-man to zone!"), you know what I mean!
Happy almost New Year's Eve! In our house though that takes a back seat because someone here is turning 4 tomorrow!!