ONE month!!!

No pics for today....just had to pop onto the blog real quick and say loud and clear: ONE MONTH!!! One month from today baby boy is due! Christmas is one of my very favorite times of year....and what a special blessing that this year we get to think about and thank God for giving us another child to love. Realistically, I don't expect him to come right on Jan. 3 :) But, he will come in his own time and until then we are excited and waiting (somewhat) patiently....sleeping is becoming more difficult, but besides that no "real" complaints....just what's to be expected with pregnancy. AND...we have been telling friends and family for quite awhile now, but haven't "announced" it on cyber-world yet...we will name him Noah Allen. So, Noah Allen...you have a family very excited to meet you in ONE month!

Pumpkins and Pretty Princesses!

This year for Halloween the girls were both princesses (shocking, I know! :) ). Faith was "Barbie Rupenzel" and Lainie was Cinderella. They were beautiful little princesses (not that I'm biased!). Our Halloween festivities started off with a "costume parade" at Faith's preschool. All the kids changed in to their costumes and "paraded" outside for parent/siblings who took pics and cheered them on. The kids were all so excited about it, and it was a nice way to have fun with the costumes and help each child feel special. Little sister came dressed for the occasion too...I couldn't see leaving her out of the fun!

Halloween night we went trick-or-treating. First we went to our church's "trunk or treat" which was put on by the youth. There were different decorated/themed cars that had treats in their "trunks." The girls had a blast...and of course loved the candy. We then went to a Halloween carnival in town put on by one of the Christian schools. There were lots of games, bouncy houses, etc. It was chaotic, but a blast! By the end of the night everyone was worn out from a day of fun.

Don't forget pumpkin carving! Lainie was not a big fan of the slimy pumpkin insides!

 Big sister, on the other hand, loved all the sliminess!

 Daddy and his girls with the finished product!

 My baby "pumpkin" was a similar size to our carved one :) (pretty sure my baby bump is now much larger than that pumpkin!)

 Parading at preschool!

 Sweet sister princesses :)

 Cinderella :)

 We have a tradition of going trick-or-treating with the Williams family. This year Stella was a peacock and Hamilton was Geo from UmiZumi. We love this family!

We try not to make a huge deal about Halloween around our house, but it sure is fun for our girls to get dressed up, play games and get some treats!

Photo Rewind...

There are so many events that happened this last summer which I didn't capture on this blog. Thought I would just post some pics and quick snippets for fun :) Better late than never, right?!

Faith's FOURTH birthday! Had an "Ariel" party at a local gymnastics gym here. She had a blast with all her friends!

Trying out the balance beam at her party

Mommy and Daddy got Faith a princess BIKE for her birthday!  Quite a hit :) Complete with bell and carriage :)

Kids hanging out on the trampoline at the party

 Biggest kid at the party having fun in the foam pit :)

 This summer our little family also went on our first overnight camping adventure. Aside from having smores too late at night (which resulted in a very energetic almost 2 year old) it was a great success. We look forward to doing it more next year!

 smores...yum!

 Faith had her first dance recital where she performed with her ballet class to "You are My Flower" All the girls did awesome. It was so fun to watch. Faith even blew a kiss to the (packed) audience at the end :) 

 Gigi and Aunt Ally came for the performance!

 Back to IA for cabin week! LOTS of fun at cabin week....swimming, eating, games...it was a blast.

 Also back home to IA for Kristy's graduation! Woo hoo! Graduated with her RN. So proud of her.

 Grandma, Grandpa and Tucker came for a weekend visit towards the end of summer too. Great to have them here.

 Our last trip of the summer was to OK before school started. Gigi and Papaw had new kittens that the girls (well, all of us really) loved to pet. The kittens were so sweet and their mamma even sweeter.

 Lainie giving the kitten kisses

 Gigi opening her birthday card and finding out about her big surprise TRIP to Prince Edward Island!!! 

While in OK we also celebrated Lainie's SECOND birthday! Where is the time going?! It was a Dora theme. She loved the cake and especially the frosting :) 

Our sweet 2 year old.

Smash cake all to herself!

 Opening gifts from the family :)

 Faith pushing Lainie and Uncle Raymond at the party

 "Miss Kitty" is the kitten's mommy. The girls loved getting to pet her too

 Trip to the aquarium! So fun...and a great lift for Lainie :)

 Faith loving all Gigi's art supplies

 Kisses before we headed out!

Uncle Dylan also graduated from high school in May, but it was a quick weekend trip, and I didn't get any pics! Thankful we got to be there for his graduation party too!!

It was a busy summer full of traveling and family fun! 

This 'n That...

We are getting into the hang of preschool around here...Since our preschool is a co-op I also volunteer throughout the year. I had my first volunteer day last Friday. It was so good to see how a normal day "works." I am kind of foreign to the world of early childhood ed, so I soaked up all the details. Miss Kay and Miss Tina are both very very patient and so creative. At circle time they passed around "Hermie" the worm and each child told Hermie his/her name and one of their favorite things to do at home. Faith's was "coloring with Mommy" (I am choosing to ignore that the girl right before her "happened" to give the same answer ;) ).

Little sister even had her very own play date today with a friend while Faith was at school. I think it's the first time ever that we have only had one of Lainie's friends over. It was fun to see these sweet 2 year old girls interact. They walked in the door and went straight to the dress up clothes....then to the deck and played with the water table and ducks (in their dresses, of course!). They made food in the kitchen and rode the pony. It was a fun morning.

Lainie is chatty, chatty, chatty these days. I remember being worried that she wouldn't talk much since Faith has always been a talker. I worried that Lainie wouldn't see the "need" to talk as much since Faith can (and sometimes does) do it for her. But, oh was that so wrong. This girl can give you a run for your money! She keeps right up with big sis, and her vocabulary is surprising even to me! She also LOVES to sing. Her favorites are "Jesus Loves Me," "Call Me Maybe," and "Jolene." Ha! Quite the variety. Last week I was resting on the couch while she and Faith played. She lay beside me with a book she was going to read to me. I closed my eyes while she was reading. Before I knew it she had her hand on the side of my face and was singing Jesus loves me as she hugged me. It was one of those moments to catalog in my memory :) She also loves to tell "secrets." Her whispered secrets consist of "pspspspspspsss...I love you." I'll hear that secret any time :)

Daddy is chugging away with teaching and taking classes. He is also working on his Master's practicum. He will graduate in May! Woo hoo! We are so proud of him.

Here are a few pics from lately......

Daddy and girls hanging out on the bottom bunk before bed

My little bakers helping make banana muffins....Faith was very excited to get her apron :)

Helping Daddy fly our kite

More kite flying...

Little sister "shhing" her baby in one of our crates :)

Dance party! Ha!

Lainie and her favorite dress-up dress

More dance party...

Lainie cozy in the clothes basket :)

Well, Hello There :)

It has been awhile, hasn't it? I took a little unintended hiatus...where does the time go?! We have been chugging along here...taking in each day....learning, growing, being a family. If you read this blog, I am sure you know that we are expecting baby number 3 the beginning of January. We are SO very excited to welcome a baby boy to our family. Hard to believe, but I am 23 weeks today! Thankfully, baby and mommy are healthy so far and praying we continue to be.

What really spurred me to write today of all days is that I feel like moments and time are slipping quickly by. Now...not every day feels that way :) But, lately time is moving quick. I try to keep journals, baby books, etc....but there is no freezing time. In the end, I wouldn't want to, of course. I know in my heart that my purpose as a mommy is to raise our babies to grow and flourish....inevitably that means independence and new seasons in our life.

That being said, I feel like we are entering a new season of family life in our home. We have been blessed that I can be home most of the time. Because of this, the girls only go to daycare once/week. It is a great balance for our family. However, time does not stand still and now we have a FOUR year old who has started off to preschool. She is SO ready for this transition. Faith is a social butterfly. She thoroughly enjoys being around other kids (especially when there is dress-up involved :) ). And while we learn at home, she is ready to learn in a classroom setting. With Daddy being a teacher, she is no stranger to the school setting and has been looking forward to it for some time.

Yesterday was the big day! Mornings can be tough around here, but yesterday was beautifully easy (whew!). Faith was so excited to go.....then we pulled in to the parking lot. "Mommy, I am kind of nervous." We said a prayer and talked about how God is with us no matter where we go. I held back the tears (barely), and sisters held hands to the front door. She went in like a champ, though somewhat shyly, and little sister and I headed out.

When we picked Faith up a few hours later (half day preschool), it was to glowing excitement about her class, her teacher, the games they played, and of course....getting to play dress-up :)

Last night was also our first night of AWANA at church. If you are not familiar with AWANA, it is a children's program that teaches Bible memorization, Bible lesson and has lots of songs and games for kids. Faith is a "Cubbie" again this year. That makes her one of the older ones in her class. There were lots of new faces, especially 3 year olds who can now attend.

One little girl in particular was very nervous to leave her mommy. She came and sat next to Faith while they worked on a craft. Faith looked at her and said, "Are you nervous?" The little girl nodded her head. Faith continued, "I went to preschool today and I was nervous too. But it was okay. I played and then I wasn't nervous any more. You won't be nervous after awhile" It was a sweet moment I was glad to see.

It is hard to imagine Faith being in kindergarten next year, and for this time my prayer is that we can really savor the days we have at home. Our rhythm will adapt with each new phase....and each new step has it's own set of joys.

Sisters before school

Big preschooler!!

Faith and I before AWANA

Adventures in Sisterhood...

These girls are having lots of fun lately. As Lainie gets older, she is more able to play with Faith...and it usually makes Mommy's job a little easier :) When Lainie wakes up from her nap, the first person she asks for is "Sissy? Sissy?" Every morning is a reunion (okay...well, most mornings....)

A few minutes ago I was doing laundry in our room (is it EVER caught up??? If anyone figures out that secret...please let me know!), and in walks Lainie escorted and scooted along by Faith. Here's the convo...

Faith: "We are at the festival! My little honey (aka Lainie) wants to ride the carnival!"
Me: "Well, there are lots of rides at the festival. Which one does your little sweetie..or is it honey..want to ride?"
Faith: "She's my little sweetie and my little honey."
Me: "Oh, you crack me up Faith"
Faith: "I am not Faith! I am Mommy!"

The sisters then proceed out to the living room after taking a "ride" in our room.

I go out as Faith is tying a sequined belt around Lainie's waist. She says, "It's a 'tembadoe' it's kind of like a miracle. Yeah, it's a miracle. It's so we can ride on the ferris wheel."

Meanwhile Lainie is chanting "Tembadoe!! Tembadoe!! Tembadoe!!"

They had a great ride on the ferris wheel...in the middle of our living room...thanks to their wonderful tembadoes....It's always an adventure!!!

Happy Easter (a little late :))

Our motto around here is usually...better late than never :) So, in that fashion...here are some Easter pics! We had a great Easter here in MO. It was BEAUTIFUL. We didn't travel to see family or have family here, which we think is the first time ever. But, we had a sweet time just our little family. The Sunday before Easter (Palm Sunday) Faith's Sunday school class performed during worship service. They came in waving their palm branches. Faith thought it was her personal dancing prop...I can only imagine it brought a smile to God's face :)

Easter weekend was full of good stuff. We had a church Easter egg hunt on Saturday, colored eggs Saturday night, woke up Sunday morning and "found" Easter baskets and lots and lots of eggs. We went out to eat with some good friends. Kind of funny...we had planned on eating at a local family style restaurant...but the only restaurants open Easter Sunday were very "high end" (aka out of our budget :)) and our local pizza place-Shakespeares. We opted for pizza! It was low key and fun. We are thankful for good friends and a great church family which helped us celebrate Jesus's resurrection.

Here are some pics from the weekend (not necessarily in chronological order :))

Church Easter egg hunt. Such a big girl with her Elmo basket!

 Faith is an old pro at the Easter egg hunt these days :)

 Playing with her "resurrection" set. I found this at Hobby Lobby for a few dollars and LOVE it! She could color all the characters and it gave us something tangible to talk about and look at as we learned about Jesus's resurrection.

Faith opening her Easter basket

 Butterfly mask!

 Lainie enjoying yet ANOTHER chocolate Easter egg...

All kinds of goodies...

Sweet face :)

 Sister hug!

Big sister was a good sport! Little sister wasn't really feeling it!

 Family pic at church Easter morning

 Some of Faith's Sunday School class waiting their turn on Palm Sunday

Dancing with her Palm branch!!

Singing together :)

Thankful for a great Easter!!!