The Past four years

I have to admit, I can hardly believe that Kara is already four years old. It seems like these years have flown by. Today I decided to take a trip down memory lane with various pictures of Kara. I hope you enjoy seeing how she has grown over the past four years.

The Birthday Girl
A few months ago playing pirate
This past year Kara has learned a lot about the violin
Here Kara is two years old. We are at Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick.
Kara at the age of two -- very curious and investigating everything.
My two year old!
Kara and me playing with foam swords
Daddy's first Father's Day
Tata's first grandchild
Mommy's first baby :) I can still remember how wonderful it felt for the first time to be able to hold my baby in my arms.
Kara's first Christmas with Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie
Kara's first birthday with Uncle Phil


Kara's visit with GrandyWe look forward to one day meeting Grandy in Heaven.
Kara and Daddy at the beach
Kara's first trip to Alaska

Kara's 4-year old birthday party

Today has been a busy but fun-filled day. Kara turns four tomorrow, so today we celebrated her birthday with her friends.

Kara playing Go Fish right before bed

Playing put the spot on the ladybug
Andy was playing peek-a-boo
Blowing out the candles
Digging into the cake
Opening presents
Her first make-up kit :)
Lydia playing go fish before bed (doesn't she look like a serious card player here)
Kara's Birthday cake
The Birthday girl
The rest of the birthday cake
The table spread -- complete with bug houses (had it not rained today, the kids would have been outside hunting for bugs to fill their houses)
Singing Happy Birthday and preparing to blow out the candles

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.