And Then There Were Five...

We bought tiny pumpkins for each family member, and we each painted one...

 

Here's a collage of the kids with their pumpkins....

Pictures from our adventures these last few months...



Waiting for Mommy to checkout at WM

Ready for Trick or Treating





 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Lovings for Daddy this past Sunday afternoon

 



At Audobon Aquarium in New Orleans

 







 

Our dancing queens



Fun at the Steckel's Wedding



Yummy Whataburger!



After Lunch at "The Naz"



Riding a Polar Bear at the Columbus Zoo



"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 



First Ultrasound at 10 weeks 3 days: If you look close you can see the shadow of eyes and mouth, the outline of a nose and jaw line, and a developing arm... Pretty amazing considering how small the baby was!



More About Our Adventures...

July was a busy month as we became first-time home buyers!  Woohoo!  In nervous excitement, on July 17th we signed the closing paperwork.  The next day we loaded up our belongings from our apartment with the help of neighbors and coworkers, and moved in.  A few days later we took a road trip to Kentucky to pick up the rest of our belongings from storage, where most of our furniture and things had been for two years.  Upon our return, we unloaded with the help of friends and began the process of settling in.  With the help of my mom, my friends Heather and Bonnie, and extra energy (I'm guessing early pregnancy hormones), I had the whole house unpacked before the end of August.  Yes, I have a few boxes that need unpacked into permanent homes but we need cabinets or wardrobes first.  We have had three open houses and lots of gatherings, we love having people over.  So if you are in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by!  More about the house in the next blog.

September was a blurr of activity starting with Opening Weekend at MVNU.  Labor Day weekend is when all the students descend upon the MVNU campus for the start of the new school year.  Thus Josh is needed most of the weekend to provide technical support and training, so the girls and I took off on a road trip.  Our first stop was in Louisville, where we spent several days with family.  Then we headed to Tuscaloosa, where we spent some time with my Aunt Carol Sue.  Then we headed down to New Orleans, meeting up with most of Josh's extended family for a wedding, and squeezing in a trip to the Acquarium and French Market and a short visit with "Mommy's very tall friend", aka St. Nick. 

October was filled with trying to settle into a routine and enjoying the autumn leaves.  We finally made it to a "First Friday", Mount Vernon's monthly downtown family event that runs Apr-Oct every year.  We even made it down to Circleville's Pumpkin Festival, which has been going on for over a hundred years.  Just before Halloween, Josh came down with a nasty head cold which he lovingly shared with me.  Luckily, Halloween night we felt up to going out and I manned our "trunk or treat" booth while Josh took the girls around.




More about the family...

Daddy

There's been many changes since he took over as manager, so he is still trying to find a balance at work.  Several of his student techs graduated this past spring, and this fall, there are at least half a dozen freshman techs, so the overall level of knowledge of the team has dropped leading to a greater workload for Josh and his full-time staff.  Next year should go more smoothly as the techs will have a greater knowledge base.  Until then, the team is experiencing a lot of bumpy roads.  There's also a constortium between several of the Nazarene schools, and Josh has been appointed as the leader of the technology help desk portion, so that too has added to his workload.  Recently, there was a reduction in staff in the IT department and a reorganization, so that too has added to both the workload for the team and stress.  Please be in prayer for him as he tries to settle into a balanced work life.

Outside work, he is leading a small group study on "How to Study the Bible".  We're co-facilitiating a group on the "Growing Kids God's Way" materials.

Hannah

She is growing in knowledge and is eager learn.  I've been trying to get into a routine with homeschooling, and some days go great and others are ok.  She has really been enjoying her classes at church, and is especially excited about attending her Sunday morning class.  She loves to serve, especially when it comes to do things for little ones, like her sister.  Physically, she is still skinnier than the majority of 4 year olds, but height-wise she is average.  As of today, she has reached 40 inches, and the last doctor's office weigh-in she was about 31.5. 

Kaitlyn 

This little girl's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds.  She is literally like a parrot, repeating whatever she hears, and she does great at pronouncing almost everything.  She can count to 10, and knows almost all her ABCs.  She amazes me every day with how much her knowledge is expanding right now, she really is a little sponge.  She is quite the character and enjoys showing off her dancing and hopping and jumping skills.  Physically, she is chunkier than most 2 year olds, and height-wise is above average.  At the last doctor's weigh-in she was a pound heavier than Hannah at 32.5 pounds.  She won't stand still for us to get a height but she's at least 4 inches shorter than Hannah.

Baby #3

The baby is due April 12, 2013.  Our next ultrasound is December 4th at OSU, and that is when we'll learn the gender.  Hannah originally predicted twins, but now says the baby's a boy, and the last request was to name him "Abram".  Kaitlyn is only somewhat sure there really is a baby in Mommy's belly.  Daddy's not sure he wants a boy, so is currently leaning towards wanting another girl.  Mommy doesn't care, so long as we have a healthy baby.

Mommy

Besides being exhausted by 4 most days, I'm doing pretty well.  I had more morning sickness this pregnancy than prior ones, and I feel more tired and more grumpy.  Perhaps, I'm just more perceptive to my emotions this time, or perhaps I have post-pregnancy amnesia regarding the first two, but I feel like I have been way more prone to outbursts of emotions.  So on that note, please pray for Josh that he can survive my bouts of insanity and for the girls that they will be understanding and forgiving of Mommy's temporary insanity.  Although I conquered my goal of unpacking, I have yet to conquer my goal of creating and mainting a daily routine.  I think that my tiredness has really reaked havock on my plans, as I'm having a hard time simply maintaining even the laundry, and I feel like I'm in a constant state of catchup.  This too shall pass, right?  I'm looking forward to the days when my energy returns and I can find my daily rhythm, then I'll be able to start doing projects, like family history.

Next post...  Our new house!