Easter Egg Hunt

The girls participated in a local church's Easter Egg hunt last weekend. Abigail enjoyed spending time with her friend, whose dad is on staff at the church. And more importantly, we got to listen to a message about Jesus and His ressurrection.

 

I didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple I quickly snapped while I supervized and helped the girls hunt for some Easter eggs.

 

There were a TON of kids at the event, so my children were super distracted :)

 

Enjoying the last of the snow

 

 Last weekend, we had a very heavy wet snowfall, but by the end of the week, it was almost all gone and we were back to having warmer temperatures.

The girls weren't ready for lunch and naptime after CBS on Thursday and were quite content to play outside and postpone their lunch.

 

Hannah enjoyed pushing the swing, even though it kept coming back and hitting her in the head.

 

My super serious girl was far more interested in exploring her surroundings than posing for the camera!

 

I finally coaxed a smile out of her!

 

This one is not camera shy:)

 

"Alright mom, I'm ready for lunch now!"

 

 

Rodney's garden

Here we begin a series of many soon to come blog posts! Rodney has already enjoyed planning and planting for our second garden. He's planted tomatoes (roma, cherry and long keeper) as well as peppers, broccoli and cauliflower. He has quite an extensive garden plan this year, even though he's been reminded on countless occasions that I won't be able to help much this spring. A May baby is going to be keeping me busy!

And to date - he's done all of the planning and work. Abigail enjoys watching the seedlings grow and change every day. I think she'll be his special assistant this year, and Hannah, well let's just pray and hope that Hannah doesn't get herself into too much trouble :)

We've enjoyed our tomatoes, pureed pumpkin, spaghetti sauce and raspberry jam this year. I'm fairly certain most everyone who has gotten to enjoy the fruits of our labors from last year is praying for another good harvest!

Is it March already?

Is it March already? Oh wait, we're already more than half way through March. My baby is 21 months old and is about to become  a middle child! I can hardly believe that I am 31 weeks pregnant. Nesting is in full gear. I actually just put two freezer to slow cooker meals in my freezer (steak fajitas and savory vegetable beef soup). I'm feeling rather motivated to be as ready as I can be to have #3.

Speaking of baby #3. Baby is currently breech and measuring a week and a half ahead of schedule. I've been trying to walk more, carry Hannah less, stretch more and try and let gravity naturally flip baby. Please pray that baby will flip on his/her own sometime in the next 6 weeks! I am currently sitting on an exercise/balancing ball.

This winter, we've moved to the rhythms of our routines -- Grocery shopping, library story time, ballet, Awana, CBS, Bible study at our house, quiet weekends, church and repeat. We are busy but good. Surprisingly, even with all of the runny noses, we've only missed one week of CBS. That in and of itself is something to be thankful for.

Here the girls settled down late one afternoon to play with play dough. They do play well together (mostly). :)

 

And another common activity, playing in the basement in the evenings with daddy. Rodney almost always starts a fire on the weekends and keeps the basement warm during the day and into the night. The girls are often happy to play in a different space with different toys, leaving Rodney to exercise, me to nap or catch up on Bible Study or reading. It's lovely.

Hannah might be ready for a smaller bike for her quickly approaching second birthday!

" Look, mom! No hands!"

 I am so thankful for this girl and trying to make a concentrated effort to actually tell her that I love her and appreciate her helpful spirit. She really is growing up into a little girl.

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'll be honest, gratitude isn't coming naturally to me. It's most definitely intentional work! But I suppose on days when I'm feeling grumpy, tired, and spread too thin it's even more important to put I Thessalonians 5:16-18 into practice.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Things I'm thankful for today:

• a decaf Starbucks latte on my way home from CBS.
• afternoon sunshine (after a morning of dismal gray)
• a sleeping almost two year old...(who is fighting off a cold, teeething and discovering her independent stubborn will)
• some "new to me" maternity shirts that help make me feel pretty and atrractive. In desperation last week I went shopping on e-bay after not finding any good deals at Target. Success!
• leftover apple pumpkin bread - moist, flavorfull and packed with pumpkin and whole wheat
• a healthy report at my 30 week appointment on Monday. My BP is normal, all of my blood work came back normal and baby is healthy and growing (measuring 31 weeks and ~3lb12oz). I am thankful to stay off bed rest as long as possible:)
• a relatively "tidy" house before Bible Study tonight.
• not having any responsibility to cook for Bible Study tonight! I am SO thankful in particular this week that the dinner plans are covered :)
• late night talks with my hubby, who is my best friend and the reassurance of His love and commitment to me as my husband and the father of our growing family.
• God's faithfulness even when we aren't faithful to Him.

28 weeks

One of my dearest friends has been pestering me for a recent baby bump picture. So here you go-messy hair, goofy gals and all:)

I continue to be thankful for a healthy pregnancy, even with a couple minor discomforts. It's hard to believe that my third trimester begins this week!

My pregnancy is very similar to Abigail's. I'm hoping this is a sign of a laid back baby!

Any guesses on baby's gender? Any ideas for names? We are still working on long lists of boy/girl names and are welcoming suggestions!

Abigail is excited about her new sibling and has even gotten to feel baby move. She likes to tell everyone that we are going to have 10kids! Hannah just points at my tummy and says baby. She has a lot of change in store for her. So for the next 9+ weeks we will snuggle and enjoy being a family of four before we become a family of five!