Picture Update

This weekend my sister and her friend came for a visit. We had a great time together, and Kara and Lydia loved spending time with her. Andy however seemed to want to avoid her the whole time she was here.

We went to the city park Sunday afternoon before they left. While Kara and Lydia love the Merry-go-Round, Andy's favorite thing is to drive the tractor.

Andy has now advanced to sleeping on a toddler bed. He has been on the toddler bed for a month now, and we've not had any of the adjustment problems we had with Kara and Lydia. Andy spent two weeks not realizing he could get off of the bed of his own accord. Now he stays in bed until he wakes up from his nap or morning.

JA took Kara to the Town Easter Egg hunt. Unfortunately while she was searching for eggs, hail was falling.

The kids and I were sick on Easter, so the kids and I all stayed home. These Easter pictures were taken the Sunday following Easter when we were all able to get back to church.

Week 22 Update

Okay, I just had my doctor's appointment yesterday and am excited to say that everything is going well. Sammy's heartbeat was at 160. My blood pressure is normal, and total weight gain to date is 3.5 pounds.

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. Hopefully I will be able to get some good pictures of the kids soon and update the blog.

18 Weeek Pregnancy Update

Friday marked the start of week 18 for me and Baby. Wednesday we had a doctor appointment and the baby's heartbeat is 160. My blood pressure was normal, and I am certainly feeling lots of movement now (and the doctor finally believes me that I was feeling Sammy a few weeks ago. Everything seems to be going well.

Now, you've noticed the baby currently has a name. Let me explain that. A few weeks ago, Kara wanted to know the baby's name. I told her that since we didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl the baby didn't have a name, but if she wanted to give it a name until it was born she could. Her first choice was Baby Jesus (obviously not going to work). Her second choice was Baby Samuel (sorry Uncle Sam, I think it was her Sunday School influence :) ). So we settled on calling the baby Sammy. JA and I will be renaming the baby when Sammy is born, but until then it really seems to help Kara talk to and love the baby.

Question for you: What did you call your baby while you were pregnant? and did you let your kids share any part of naming the baby?

Last Month's Fun

This past month has been full of fun and exciting times for our family. Especially this past week. We had the joy of 50 - 60 degree weather for most of this past week, so we took our dog for a couple of walks and the kids had the opportunity to go to the park 4 times in one week. We really had a great time together as a family.

Here is Andy in the Choo Choo Train

Lydia had a blast driving the tractor.
Climbing the monkey bars for the first time -- Can you find her eyes?
Kara loves to climb
Down the slide
Andy wasn't too thrilled with any of the playground equipment,
but he enjoyed running all over the place.
Kara was pushing herself and Lydia on the merry go round
While the kids played JA had Shalom running around the park.
Mommy Help me, I'm in jail.

Last month my parents invited us to join them overnight at a hotel with a water park. So for a wonderful Valentine's gift to ourselves, we spent Feb 15-16 at the water park. We had a wonderful time -- especially the kids. Kara wasn't willing to go down the slide, but Lydia loved it.
Andy was grumpy at the kiddie pool, so instead of taking him to his room to nap, JA spent about 2-3 hours on the Lazy River with Andy sleeping on him.
Lydia loved the water and seemed to have no fear. (unless we let go of her in the big pool)
Andy and Oma having a blast in the kiddie pool
In the big pool with Opa and Uncle Timmy
I finally convinced mom to go down the water slide with me, and we tipped.

Home Schoolers Alert

For those of you who home school your children, or are planning to home school your children, please listen to this broadcast from Focus on the Family.

California's Threat to Homeschooling Families

Friday, March 07, 2008

A recent California ruling declared that parents have no constitutional rights to home school their children. What does that mean to you!? Join Dr. James Dobson and learn how these dangerous court decisions cut straight to the heart and soul of the American family.

Here is another website explaining the decision in California. I would write more about this right now, but my time is limited and I wanted to help you be aware of this.

Pregnancy Update #1

Baby #4 is well on its way. This week I entered my 13 week of pregnancy. Monday afternoon I had a doctor's appointment and the opportunity to hear Baby Hall's heartbeat for the 1st time. Baby's heart beat was 150. So far everything in the pregnancy is going well. I've gain only two pounds so far (I'm hoping to keep my weight gain below 15 pounds for this pregnancy).

My doctor did order an ultrasound this week, so Kara and I went to the hospital on Wednesday to go see the baby. Kara was quite bored with the experience, but she is really excited about the baby and was glad to see it. The heart beat on Wednesday was 160. Baby looks great -- it has two arms, two legs, a torso and a head :) This ultrasound was done mostly to verify baby's due date which is currently set for August 25. The ultrasound would push it back to August 30, but all of my ultrasounds moved the due dates back a week and each kid was born 10 days before the original due date. So I doubt my due date will change.

Not much else is happening with the pregnancy -- I believe I may have felt the baby move a couple of times (although my doctor highly doubts it). Morning Sickness is still raising it's ugly head (especially when around bad smells, so we are burning lots of candles until we can open windows and air out the house).

That's about all I have for an update now. I can feel my skirts beginning to get tight around my waist, so I think another week or two I'll be pulling out the maternity clothes.

Question for You? How far along were you before you had to start wearing the maternity clothes?

Photos For Tata

Tata,
I got your e-mail today. I'm sorry mommy has not put up new pictures of us recently. She hasn't been taking pictures of us. But don't worry, she took a bunch of pictures tonight so she had some to put on the blog for your friends. I met your friends right after I was born and mommy and daddy took a weekend vacation to MN. Shalom is a good puppy although I don't play with her very much yet. It is very cold outside, and mommy doesn't let her in the house. When I do go outside and play with her, she scares me. Shalom likes to jump up on me, and then she grabs at my pants with my teeth; so mommy or daddy has to be outside with me when I go to play with her. Hopefully she will calm down and we can play more. I do like taking her out for walks although mommy and daddy won't let me hold the leash.

I miss you very much, and I can't wait to see you next year when you come visit. Here are the pictures for you; I even played my violin scales for you so you can hear me play the violin. I love you Tata! Hopefully I can call you soon and talk to you.

Love,
Kara

We have a New Family Member

Since before JA and I got married, I knew we would one day get a dog. I also knew we would not be getting a small dog. So, I've always been adamant that the dog would always stay outside. I have also been very sure we would never get a Blue Heeler or a Blue Heeler mix (I was severely bitten by one when I was 9).

Well, Monday night we went and picked up the kids last Christmas Present -- A 6 week old puppy. We named her Shalom for two reasons. First of all because I like the name, and second

of all because we want her to be a peaceful dog. You see, Shalom is a mix. Her mother was a Chocolate Lab/Yellow Lab mix. But her father was a Blue Heeler. I'm still shocked that I consented to get a blue heeler mix, but she is a very sweet dog and we will be watching carefully to make sure she doesn't show any signs of aggression.Andy had been hitting her, and when he fell down Shalom went over and started licking his face.

Our adorable new puppy

Lydia also enjoys Shalom

Shalom's new home -- OUTSIDE!

Mommy, Help me I'm tired of being licked (after he finished trying to rake her)

Christmas Eve Service

I know i have been really bad about blogging. In fact, the only reason I'm blogging now is because someone else wants these pictures -- Sorry :(

I have been trying to spend as little time on the computer as I can lately so that I can spend more time with my family. Which translates to I check my e-mail everyday, but other than that I have been staying away.

We had a special Christmas Eve service at church this year. It was a tremendous blessing to help JA organize it. The service focused on the events leading up to the Messiah's birth that pointed to the Messiah. So we started in Genesis, Went to Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Isaiah, and finally to the Christmas Story. It was certainly not your typical Christmas service, but it was a blessing to see how all of these events worked together to bring the Messiah into our lives. Here are the pictures.