Recent Happenings

Before Julianna was born, I told myself that I would not neglect the website once I had three children to care for instead of two. I think my resolve has gone by the wayside, though, because it has been almost a month since I updated! A lot has happened since I last wrote. I am too busy to go into detail, but here are some of the highlights:
*Tom's brother Ed and his family came out for a visit! It was so good to see them, and to meet our new little nephew Peter, who is just two months older than Julie.
*We purchased a used minivan--a Toyota Sienna--and we are really enjoying it! It has been a tremendous blessing to have the extra space!
*I have discovered the joys of ebay and have been purchasing some badly needed clothes for the kids.
*Julie's charming personality has been coming out more and more. She is a sweet, cheerful baby, and has blessed me tremendously by sleeping through the nights most of the time! That really helps this tired mama. :)
*We have been seeing so many tangible reminders of our Lord's faithfulness and His love to us.

I put up some new pictures in the fall photo gallery.

Posted by Katie on 10/12/2007 | 6 comments

This morning when I was feeding the kids their breakfast, Michael decided that he didn't want his shredded wheat (which he normally loves). Instead, he indicated that he wanted vitamin C for breakfast! There was a bottle of capsules on the table, and I guess he thought they looked interesting. I tried to persuade him otherwise. "Do you want this?" I asked, placing my hand on the yogurt (a favorite of his). No. I placed my hand on the applesauce. "Do you want this?" No. He insisted--he wanted vitamin C for breakfast! I would have given it to him, just so he would stop being so stubborn about it, but I was afraid he would choke on the capsules. Throughout breakfast, he kept on crying about how he wanted the vitamin C. It’s funny how much he reminds me of myself. During my life there have been many different things that I thought I wanted, because they looked best to me at the time. However, my Heavenly Father knew if they would be really good for me or not. He doesn’t always give me what I ask for, and I’m so glad He doesn’t. If He had given me everything I ever wanted, my life would be a real mess, that’s for sure! However, I don’t always see it that way at the time. I see what I want, and when the Lord doesn’t give it to me, I wonder why. It isn’t pleasant, and it stretches my faith. Do I really trust Him to do what’s best for me? Though it isn’t easy to see this when I am going through something, I know without a doubt that the Lord’s way is perfect--He is completely trustworthy. Those "vitamin C capsules" really DON’T taste good! :)

"As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him." ~Psalm 18:30

Posted by Katie on 9/18/2007 | 3 comments

You know you’re a busy mommy when...

-You feel on top of the world for just having the living room floor cleared, the dishes washed, and the bed made. Who cares about things like dusting. That is part of spring cleaning, isn’t it? :)
-You look in the kitchen cupboard and realize that your huge supply of Tupperware has dwindled because a lot of them are in the fridge holding leftovers. Some of those leftovers are pretty old...hopefully nothing is growing in there...
-There are days when you don’t serve any vegetables, which is something that you would have never dreamed of several years ago (does catsup count as a vegetable?)
-You have done your hair for church in about one or two minutes while your family is waiting in the car
-You are responsible to trim a total of 80 fingernails/toenails
-Your "signature scent" is baby spit-up
-Your workout program for the day consists of bouncing the baby in her bouncer with one of your legs while you wash the dishes, feed the toddler, or gulp down your own dinner.
-You quickly learn how to multi-task when your son is standing on top of the piano keys, your newborn is screaming to be fed, the phone is ringing, the washing machine is beeping, it’s past dinner-time and you have no idea what to make, and you can tell that someone around here needs a diaper change! :)

Yes, we are keeping busy, but loving every second of it! Every day brings a new adventure, it seems. Just recently, Michael learned how to climb out of his crib. That was bad news for this household! It was nice back when he would just play in his bed in the mornings, and we knew he was safe. Now that he can get out, who knows what mischief he’ll get into if we are not careful! We are going to have to convert his crib to a toddler bed so he doesn’t hurt himself when climbing out. I guess that is another thing on my busy husband’s “to do list”!

We have been looking around recently to try to find a used minivan to buy. We thought we found one, but the Lord closed that door, so we are looking elsewhere. I’m learning that it is not easy to buy used cars. There is so much to look into before you get one so that you won’t end up with a piece of junk! Thankfully, we still all fit in our little car, though it is a tight squeeze with three car seats in the back. Car rides are kind of stressful, because I have to constantly keep an eye on the back seat! Julie is a source of great interest, and Michael and Bethany love to give her attention—a little more attention than Mommy would like! She is just so much fun to squeeze and poke! Last car ride I looked back there to see Michael squirting his bottle of milk at Julie! After stopping him, I looked over at Bethany (who was sound asleep), and noticed that she was covered with milk, also! Michael had been squirting her while she slept! Life is never dull around here! We are hoping that spreading the children out in a minivan will make for more peaceful road trips!

A few days ago, Tom and I had a great discussion about 1 Corinthians 13—the love chapter of the Bible. Tom pointed out to me that because God is love, this chapter shows what He is like. That opened it up in a new way to me. "Love suffers long." Isn’t it amazing how longsuffering the Lord is to us, even though we are constantly making mistakes? He is so patient and forgiving! "Love endures all things." No love is as great as our Lord Jesus’ love for us—He endured so much for our sake on the cross. I never thought of this passage in exactly that way.

We finally added some new pictures to the "Our Family of Five" picture gallery.

Posted by Katie on 9/5/2007 | 4 comments

I've been wanting to update this for a long time, but I never seem to have the opportunity. Life gets busier and busier! :)

We sure have been enjoying our little Julie (as we usually call her). She is a cuddly little baby, and seems so tiny! In contrast, Bethy seems to have grown about a foot since Julie was born! She just doesn't look like a baby anymore in comparison to our new little one!

Michael and Bethany are very fond of their little sister. Though Michael's first reaction was shock (despite our attempts to tell him about the baby "in mommy's tummy"), he quickly became extremely attached to her. Just days after she was born, he showed her the ultimate act of affection by covering her with his beloved blankie! That completely melted our hearts. :) Last week he surprised us all by spontaneously kissing her--something he has never done before to anyone (he had previously just given "air kisses")! He gets concerned for her when she cries, and lets us know so that we will pick her up. His ears are better than mine, so that is actually very helpful! :) Bethany seems to like her little sister, too--especially her toes. :) She loves to squeeze Julie's feet and say, "toes?". We have to be careful that she doesn't squeeze too hard!

We have been greatly blessed to have help for two solid weeks now. My mom came and stayed with us right after Julie was born, which is a tradition that I love and look forward to! There is no one like a mom! :) After she went home, my sisters Rachel and Rebecca have taken turns staying with us. They are such tremendous helps! Life is going to be much more chaotic when I don't have live-in maids anymore. ;) I've enjoyed the company, too--they are such great friends!

Thanks so much to all of you who have written comments or sent notes congratulating us on Julianna's birth. It really blessed us!

Posted by Katie on 8/19/2007 | 3 comments