One Month Old!

Daniel celebrated his on month birthday on Sept. 2. I'm going to try to take his picture on his monthly birthdays sitting next to this bear, so we can see how he changes over his first year. He's still pretty flopsy, as this picture shows, but he is definitely growing. He probably weighs 11 or 12 pounds now and has outgrown his 0-3 month clothing...without even wearing most of it! I think his eyes might just stay blue. His coloring reminds me a lot of Erin's and her eyes were blue until until they turned green at 18 months old. Daniel's personality continues to be easy-going. We're just thoroughly enjoying him!

Little Mommy

Some people say "little mommy" jokingly, but Ellie has taken it to heart. When she gets home from school, the first thing she tells Daniel is, "Your little mommy is home now." I think all the attention is making a difference. Daniel does seem to follow her with his eyes and will turn his head toward the sound of her voice.

New Blogs!

I'm thrilled to announce that there are two new blogs out there, whose creators I can claim as friends and family.

My cousin, Meredith, has a blog called A Little Bit of Boggs. It's so funny...Meredith was a toddler at a time when I was fascinated by toddlers, so I really thought she was something special. Now she has a toddler of her own!

A good friend of mine has also started a blog about herfamily, The Wagner Family. Amy was at Taylor with me, then we taught on the same team for four years in VA. She lives in GA now, and we actually spent some time with her family there this summer. I love knowing people through different stages of life!

If you get a chance stop by these blogs, just to say hi!

Ellie's First Day!

Ellie is officially a schoolgirl now! She had her first day of kindergarten yesterday, and all went well. As she left in the morning, she was very excited and "just a little bit nervous". You would never know it, though. Doesn't she just exude confidence in these pictures?! Fortunately that HUGE Hello Kitty backpack is almost empty, so she managed to walk to her class and proceeded to have a great day. She loved art class and meeting the other girls in her class (it was girls only for their first day). I knew she'd do fine, but still, I was praying all day and was so thankful that we have a God who is in control of each little detail of life.

The Last Girly Day

Because the kindergarten had a "staggered start", we had a few more days where the girls were home together without Joe. Monday was the last day, and we tried to make it fun. I think this is the hardest part about sending Ellie to school. The "girly days" chapter just seems way too short.

Kindergarten Orientation

Ellie's kindergarten orientation was last week and was a complete success! Kindergarten launches are EVER SO much easier the second time around. She will be in Mrs. C's room just like her brother was last year. I'm so thankful for that!

First Day of First Grade!

Joe had his first day of first grade last week. He was much more comfortable with the whole school thing this year, and wasn't event hat nervous about having a different teacher. We know he's in good hands with Mrs. S., and it hasn't been hard for him to hook up with his friends from last year during lunch and recess. It has been terribly hot, and our school isn't air-conditioned. We actually had an early release one day last week, which I thought was very kind of the powers-that-be.

Matt also went back to school last week. He "looped" up to fourth grade with his class this year, so it made for a nice transition. He said it was his easiest start of the school year yet. That's probably why he and Daniel look so relaxed in this picture!

Cute-T's!

Check out these fun T-shirts! I got the idea from Family Fun magazine. At the top they say "Summer Fun 2007", then each kid has six pictures featuring their favorite summer activities. I used the iron-on transfer paper that works for an inkjet printer. They came out really cute, and the kids just love them!

One For My Brother

I don't know how often my brother stops by the blog, but I just got a great picture that I wanted to post in honor of him. As we were getting ready for bed last night, Erin and Ellie asked if it would be OK for Daniel to sleep in their room in one of their doll cradles. He's obviously too big but was a good sport about it anyway. I thought of Luke who grew up with two sisters about this much older than him...now we know why he is the way he is! Way to go on making it to adulthood, Luke!

Cuteness

Our little "king of cuteness" went five hours between feedings last night! This means that I got four hours of uninterrupted sleep (which is so much better than two)! I felt like a new woman! I hope he can repeat the performance tonight...

We also want to wish our niece, Megan, a happy birthday today! As you can see from this picture, our kids love to be with Megan, and she always takes an interest in their little worlds. We love her for being such a kind, fun-loving, "adventurey" kind of gal. She's very cute, too, so I guess she fits into this post just fine. We hope her day is a special one!

Four Peas in a Pod

Daniel - Aug., 2007

Erin - Feb., 2004

Ellie - Feb., 2002

Joseph - June, 2000

Walk in the Park

Matt went back to school today, unofficially, to work in his classroom, which left me home alone with all four kids for the first time. I'm happy to say that we had a great day, which all began with an outing to the park in the morning. I just love walking behind my kids as they run, jump, and skip down the sidewalk to the park. As I follow them, marveling at their energy and overwhelmed with how much I love them, I always become sentimental and am just so thankful for another day to seize. I wish I had a picture to share here, but I forgot my camera...better that than the baby, I figure. The weather was beautiful, the first day we've had that is starting to hint that summer could come to an end. We had the whole playground to ourselves, and we played hide and seek. Then the kids got into a pretty elaborate game about good guy and bad guy castles, and the mulched area was water, so they couldn't walk there, etc. It just felt good to be the mom and to be truly enjoying the same stuff my kids were. What a beautiful morning!

Here's a completely unrelated picture. I just wanted to show what Daniel looks like with his eyes open.

Mother of Four

So here we are one week ago...


This week has flown by, and I know it's because I'm having so much fun. Isn't it amazing how aches, pains, and exhaustion can be so insignificant when you are falling in love with a newborn? Daniel's labor and delivery were my easiest ever, (checked into the hospital at midnight and at 4:19 am, he was born) and he continues to be a delightful baby. He eats and sleeps, fusses when we change his diaper, and more and more now is staying awake for short periods of time. The jury is still out on his eye color, but he definitely looks like he fits our family mold. His brother and sisters are still enthralled with him, although Joe is ready for him to be big enough to play.

It's been such a blessing to have Matt home all week. He is definitely one of the most helpful husbands on the planet! We've also been well taken care of by neighbors, friends, and family. (You should see the list of thank you's I need to write!) It's made for a nice transition to a family of six. Then just when I'm starting to think, "This isn't so bad," I remember, "Oh yeah, I haven't cooked all week." Maybe next week will be the true test...

And those are the ramblings of the sleep-deprived for tonight. I'm off to bed (for a couple hours, anyway).

Here He Is!

Great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever!

~Psalm 117:2


With thanksgiving, we announce the birth of
Daniel Matthew
August 2, 2007
9 pounds, 11 ounces
22 inches

We're all doing well, and no one can seem to get enough of this little guy!

Happy Birthday, David Paul!

Today is the birthday of our nephew, David, the talented two-fisted-s'more-eater pictured here. We would have loved to have our baby share a birthday with this great guy, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. David is a nephew who's easy to be proud of because he truly strives to use his abilities to honor the Lord. He's headed to college this fall to study engineering and missions. What a neat combo! Another great thing about David is that he's better at playing with our kids' toys than they are. He creates some really amazing structures with building toys, like these tinkertoys. We send "D.P." our love and best wishes today!

Glory

"...whatever you do, do all to the glory of of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31b

Camping

After church today we headed down to a nearby State Park where Matt's parents are camping for a couple weeks. Matt's brother's family came down, too, and it made for a really fun afternoon and evening. The kids swam at the beach with their cousin, Nathan, who is much-loved, then took a boat ride. After cooking a supper of "pudgie pies" over the fire, we had a surprising amount of fun with some rocket balloons. Last of all, of course, we made s'mores. (Found out that Erin prefers hers without marshmallows or graham crackers.) The perfect summer outing! Thanks, Grandma and Papa!

New Addition!

Psych! No, this isn't THE new addition. I just wanted to post a picture of our newest pet. After much gentle persuasion, Matt was enticed into letting us bring a kitty home from his parents' farm a few weeks ago. When we arrived at the farm for a visit, Patches had already had a week of being "loved on" by the visiting cousins, and she would still purr when our kids picked her up and flopped her around! I decided, "Nice cat," and Ellie simply fell in love with her. (She is really cute!) So now she's at home in our garage and seems quite happy roaming the yard. So far, so good. I'm glad to say that she is getting lots of love and attention, and I think her prospects look pretty good, as a cat's life goes. Not to mention, Matt got to be the benevolent hero who made his kids' dream of a kitty come true!

As for our other addition, he seems to be quite content where he is for now, although I think I see a full moon up there tonight...Dream on, Bob.

Cruel Parents

Tomorrow we will finish our two-week swimming lessons course here at our local pool, which our kids believe is filled with water sent via pipeline from the Arctic. We like the end of July for lessons because it's usually plenty warm by then, even for the 10:00 lessons. These past two weeks have been unusually chilly and cloudy, though, leading our kids to believe that we simply enjoy torturing them by sending them to lessons each day. I do feel sort of sorry for them because I know how it feels, but they've been pretty strong troopers with it all. Here's a couple shots of them looking their most pathetic this morning as they finished class. Keep in mind that Erin's class is only half as long as Joe and Ellie's, so she has a little more to smile about.

Something Had to Give

Well, the news that was never published on the blog is that we are expecting Baby #4. He's due any day now, and we're all very excited about it. Unfortunately, this pregnancy just zapped me of energy and clarity of thought. I'd never been pregnant at 35 before, and it's definitely different than just a few years ago! Actually, it wasn't so bad as long as I was getting rest, so I cut out the majority of my Internet activity. I hope to be back now, as I really have missed blogging and reading other blogs. Sounds crazy to try to make that commitment when I've got tons of sleep deprivation coming on...We'll see how it goes.

I plan to announce the baby's birth here, so check back if you're curious. He's due August 4, so I'm hoping he'll be born tomorrow...although it doesn't seem likely.

This is what my kids look like now. (My, haven't they grown since the last time I was here!) This is one of my favorite pictures of them now. They look good together, but I think the main thing I like is how still they are standing. We don't get a lot of that these days! I'll try to fill in more of our lives lately as the energy and inspiration hit.