Welcome Home

Hello again! Another blog in less than month? We are making progress! (wink).

Life around here has started to pick up and be busy again, slowly but surely. Jadyn continues to do gymnastics on Monday nights (and loves every minute of it!), and starting mid-September, she will be playing on a soccer league for 3-4 year olds! I'm so excited to be a 'soccer mom', and I hope she has fun playing! It will DEFINITELY be a learning experience for her (and her parents)! Anyone who wants to come see her play (or atleast look cute in her little soccer uniform), email me and I will send you her schedule when it comes out.

Eli...how do you describe Eli but pure cuteness? Even when he throws himself on the floor in slow-mo in an attempt at a fit, we still find ourselves having to hide the laugh building up at how comical he looks! He's an AVID Ranger fan....LOVES baseball! It is not uncommon these days to see him pretending to 'throw a ball' at you so you can pitch it back to him, while he 'batter's up!' I'm enclosing a video so you can see just how much fun he has doing this! He loves his drumset almost as much as baseball. He's your typical boy, in to everything, making messes, hopping around, and loving life to the fullest. I love when he comes to sit next to me and cuddle up, and when he sits right next to daddy to watch the Rangers play. He and Jadyn LOVE cuddles! And for that, I am grateful. I know the day will come when neither one of them want cuddles and hugs!

A dishwasher in the making. Clothes optional.

Both kids are learning responsibilities around the house. We started Responsibility charts last week. It's been GREAT with Jadyn and a work in progress with Eli. He is learning that to get the sticker reward, he has to actually clean up his toys. :)

I am now over 12 weeks along in my pregnancy. My appts have gone great with the midwives. I love to hear this little one's heartbeat. I could listen to it all day and never grow tired of it's sweet assurance. The nausea has been waning and I'm slowly starting to get my energy back (which is good, because I don't think that mound of laundry could get any higher!!!). We plan to do some things different with this pregnancy. For starters, we don't plan to find out the gender. That's right, this baby will be a surprise as to whether the kids are getting a baby brother or a baby sister! Baby A (we've already got the names picked out, and both start with 'A') is this little one! Another thing I plan to try differently is to go 'all natural' in the delivery, and do a water birth. My midwives are WONDERFUL and my hospital now offers water births with the midwives. Those of you who know me and my pain tolerance know I have a LOT of toughening up and mental preparing to do to be able to have a natural delivery. So, start praying for me now! :)

Jay has been handy man around the house these days. He's been building us a pantry (this house never had one). It will be soooooo nice to have a pantry! He's been working hard and it's almost done! He continues to stay busy at work, then to help hold the house together while I've been sludging through the 1st trimester. Now that I'm starting to feel better, I can start pulling my weight again around the house! ;) Jay is such a great husband and father. I love seeing him play baseball with Eli or reading a book to Jadyn. Love it!

Our brother, Jed, has moved in with us now. He's a college boy and a working boy, who was looking for a fresh start, and we were super eager to come have him join our household. We can't wait to see what the Lord does in his life this year. As are all of our siblings, he's very special to us. Jadyn and Eli were also super excited to have him move in. Thanks to uncle Jed, the kids now share a room, and they could not be any more EXCITED! Jadyn asked me ALLLLLLL afternoon and last night if it was time for bed. She could not WAIT for it to be bedtime for her and her brother! I've never seen her so excited for bedtime! LOL The kids were FULL of giggles and laughs last night as it was their first night together. It brought back fond memories of my twin sister and I growing up. We shared a room together from the time we were born until we were 21 years old and Sara got married. At one point, our sister, Jennifer, also shared a room with us while growing up! Imagine...3 girls in one room! Yeah, I bet that drove my parents NUTS! haha! I have such great memories of sharing a room with my sister (and some not so great ;), and it is neat to see my kids so eager and excited to be sharing a room. I think it's now an official done deal and if we were to try and separate the kids now, there would be fits and lots of tears for days to come!

Life is full these days, and several changes have happened in our life lately, but Jay and I feel so blessed. God has always been faithful to us, and we look with anticipation to see what wonderful things He will do in the future.

News around here

Ok, blogging has been calling my name lately. So is the laundry and the coupon-cutting! I have much to share, but I will make this short.

Here we go:

• Biggest news of all....Eli is going to be a BIG brother around the beginning of March! Jadyn and Eli are both excited to be BIG siblings together! Jadyn already makes such a great big sister. She is such a great helper and loves to take care of her brother, Eli. I am due around March 5th. We can't wait to meet our new little one (even though we have a looooooong way to go until he/she gets here!). I am a little over 10 weeks along. We have seen our little jelly bean on the sonogram and got to see the heartbeat. I go to my next midwife appt on Monday, Aug 15th and we are looking forward to hearing the precious little heartbeat!
• Speaking of being pregnant, I am in the throes of "morning" sickness. Lots of nausea and headaches, the worst being at night. If I could choose when to be sick, I think nighttime is best, because you can just go to bed and sleep it off! Only two more weeks until we are out of the first trimester! Praise the Lord! This life growing inside of me makes it all worth it!
  
• I am the new assistant director of Children's Ministry at church. I oversee the 1st-5th grade and the Nursery. I take care of lesson plans, scheduling, and making sure the teachers are taken care of. I am enjoying my new role, and am honored to serve in this capacity. My heart's desire is to serve the Lord where ever He needs me. I work with a great group of teachers and leaders. It really blesses me to serve the Lord with them.
  
• Jay is busy as usual at work. (always a good thing!) He's a hard worker!
• We are co-owners of a boat! We, along with 3 other friends of ours joint-own a seadoo boat. No, I don't know what kind (but, Jay does!) I do know it's a ski boat. Jay's buddy, Adam, found this used boat for a great deal and it came with skis, a tube, and life jackets! We have already made use of it several times this summer!
  
• My nephew (one and only so far) just turned 9 years old on Aug 5th. NINE?! I remember the day he was born....just like it was a couple of years ago. He's going into 4th grade this year. That's the grade I taught for 4 years. I look at him, and I am amazed at how time flies and how big he is getting. He is VERY smart! As a teacher, I am very proud of how academically advanced he has become. In 3rd grade, he already knew his multiplication and division facts forwards and backwards! I had 4th graders that struggled with that all the way through 4th grade!!! A part of me wishes I was still teaching just to see what it would be like to have him in my class. :)
• My niece is soon to be 7 years old on the 23rd of this month. That, too, amazes me! I remember when she was born too! I watched her come into this world. And she has been a diva ever since! :) I kinda wish my sister would have more, just so I can attend more births! haha
  
• I love births. I am fascinated with the whole pregnancy and birthing process! If I wasn't so turned off by having to give shots or learning the ins and outs of medicines and bones and muscles in the body, I would consider becoming a midwife! Maybe I should become a doula....haha! Being pregnant again has me watching birth stories, youtube videos, and just learning, learning, learning. We plan to go all natural with this baby's delivery, and to do a water birth. My midwives now offer water births at the hospital I deliver at, and I can't wait to try it! (I know, I know...I only have about 30 weeks to go!)

That's about it in a nutshell. Except, I just have to add how much I love my husband. He takes such good care of the kids and I. When I am hormonal and short on patience, he never loses his cool. When I am craving a certain food for dinner, he never complains about spending more money eating out. When I am nauseas as all get out and my head is pounding like a jackhammer, he's there to caress my back until I fall asleep at night. He is patient, kind, and loving. He is my husband, and I am so thankful for my helpmate. He is a gift from the Lord....I love you, Jay.

I hope you guys have a great week! Please keep my family in your prayers, especially this new life growing in me.

Love, Shannon