T3

Well, the word's pretty much out but in case you haven't heard what else has been keeping me busy the last few months....

We're having a baby!!!

My due date is September 15. We've been affectionately calling him/her "T3". We have been a little anxious this time around after having a miscarriage last summer, and I had a few rough spots during my first trimester that were a little scary. It's so sweet to hear Lauren praying to God to let us keep this baby since he has our other one :(. Anyway, everything seems to be going well! Baby has a nice strong heartbeat and is measuring right on schedule. I'm almost 13 weeks along now - my second trimester starts tomorrow! We are all so excited! Lauren thinks the baby is a girl, and Will thinks it's a boy - most of all they're both just really excited about having a new baby!

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Please note all my catch-up posts below!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Will!

Will turned 3 this past Friday (March 4)! He is such a big boy now, and I can hardly believe how grown up he is. He loves to talk (and talk, and talk...) and is very articulate. I am constantly surprised at words he knows or ways that he phrases things. He loves to play and has quite an imagination. His favorite thing to play is "cars", which always involves lining up the cars all in a row, whatever other variation is going on in Lauren and Will's world of pretend. He still loves peanut butter sandwiches and bananas most of all, although he's not too picky about his food (particular at times, but not picky). This past year he has started sleeping in his toddler bed full-time, and has been potty trained (woo-hoo!). He still carries his ragged and tattered little "bear cloth" around, and has yet to give up his paci (we'll be working on that hard-core soon). Will is very good at puzzles and is a good helper around the house. He has a great sense of humor and loves knock-knock jokes. My favorite thing is when he's playing or running around or just whatever, and he stops and out of the blue says, "I love you". He gives really great hugs and kisses and nuzzles, too. He's just so much fun to have around! I've tried to jot down here little things I don't want to forget, but really words can't describe what a sweet boy he is.

Happy Birthday to my William James!

(more pictures on Shutterfly)

February?

So, February is sort of a blur for us...mostly because we spend most of our time being sick! I seriously don't think there was a week that went by that someone in our family (or several someone's) wasn't sick in some way or another. Ugh! That is the primary reason for my lack of blogging (although I have one other little distraction that I'll tell you about soon!). So here's a (very) brief update of a few things we did in between spells of illness:


We had a fun time being snowed in during the blizzard. Lauren was thrilled to be able to make a MUCH larger snowman than she had made during the last snow. It was Will's turn to be sick so he didn't participate :(.

We had a fun time celebrating Valentine's day. Lauren and I got lots of flowers, both from John and from my Dad (and Will got his annual box of valentine cakes), and we made heart shaped cookies and exchanged valentine's. The kids got valentine's from both sets of grandparents. They loved reading their new Valentine books from Grandma & Grandpa, and they can't wait until it warms up to plant their flower seeds from Mimi & Papa! I have lots of pictures from the Valentine festivities that eventually I'll put on our Shutterfly site, but for now here's one of the kids in their cute Valentine's shirts (thanks, Grandma!).

The sickness seems not to have left us yet, but it is slowing down. I'm hoping it goes away all together soon!

John's Deacon Ordination

On January 16, John was ordained as a deacon at our church. Our parents all came for the service, which was nice.


Here are a few pictures from the service (thanks to my friend Jen for taking pictures for us!):

First coming up on stage. Another deacon was being ordained that day as well.

The laying on of hands by the other ordained deacons.

Pastor Jim praying.

Pinning on John's deacon pin.

Giving John his certificate.

All the other deacons offering their congratulations.


It was a very special moment for our family to see John commit to serving the Lord and our church in this way. I am so proud of him!

Snowy Fun, Part 2

One of my favorite childhood traditions was always baking chocolate "snow" cookies on snow days. I remember being in the kitchen with my mom and sisters, so excited to be off school, happily rolling the little chocolate balls in powdered sugar as my mom dished them out into our bowls. I decided to carry on the tradition with Lauren and Will! First we suited up in our aprons. The kids just got theirs for Christmas so this was their first time wearing them!

Here they are rolling the dough in the powdered sugar:




First batch out of the oven

(and dorky picture of me that John insisted on taking)

When we were done rolling I let them lick the bowl. Note the powdered sugar EVERYWHERE! I think it's safe to say that the aprons have been broken in!

Brings back memories, and making new memories with the kids -

what could be better than than that?

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

2 c. sugar

3/4 c. vegetable oil

3/4 c. cocoa

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/3 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

powdered sugar

• Mix sugar, veg. oil, and cocoa in mixing bowl. Blend well.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to cocoa mixture, blending well. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight (or put in freezer for 30 minutes or so).
• Shape dough into balls (I use a cookie scoop).
• Roll balls in powdered sugar. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes.

Snowy Fun, Part 1

I'm one of those people that loves cold weather and snow. All winter I'd been disappointed that we hadn't had any snow. I mean, come on - Knoxville, TN (where we used to live and had basically no snow the whole 2 years we were there) had snow several times already, and isn't southeast KS supposed to be colder than Knoxville, TN? I was spoiled by snow when we lived in Iowa, I think :). Anyway, last week we got our much awaited first snow of the winter! The kids were so excited to get out in it and play.



Lauren got right to work making snow angels.


This is Will's version of making snow angels.

There was much running around and making tracks.

John and the kids made a snowman. They got to use their new "snowman kit" from Katie (thanks, Katie!).

Will made it for about 45 minutes before wanting to come in (not bad, I thought!). Lauren lingered for a total of an hour and a half, the second half mostly due to her new found discovery of writing in the snow with icicles!

We finally persuaded Lauren to come inside, and she and Will enjoyed an icicle snack...

followed by hot chocolate!

What a great snow day!

School Days

We are very much enjoying doing preschool at home. Lauren's favorite subject is math, although I think she likes it all.

Tongue out in concentration...pleased with her work.


Will, not to be left out, usually plays with cars quietly (or semi-quietly) at the table. On this day he got in on the math action, lining up the appropriate number of cars on each numbered notecard.


Later when John got home and we were telling him about our day, Will said that he had lined up cars, but "didn't do math or anything". I didn't let him in on the secret, but I think he likes math too :).