He's Ready!

Bring on the soccer season!
Those shoes will never look that clean again.

Puddle Jumper

We had a very dry summer. No rain for about 2 months. Everything was dying. So when we finally did get some rain we all stood on the porch and watched it come down. Then the rain boots made an appearance and two puddles jumpers headed out into the back yard. They came back super muddy, but that's what childhood is all about.

August 6th - Christian's 1st Born Again Birthday

In our family we have started a very special tradition (one that was a huge part of my childhood too). We celebrate "Born-Again Birthday's." Christian's was on August 6th and that was day that he asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior one year ago. And to mark that day and as a way to teach Christian the importance of that day, we celebrate as if it were another birthday. We know that the decision Christian made to let Jesus into his heart gave Christian eternal life and in our minds that's just as important as the day he was born.
What a wonderful day we had! Christian picked out this M&M ice cream cake. He got a few presents and we spent the entire day talking about what it meant to have eternal life. He kept asking me questions all throughout the day. He was really thinking and really asking hard questions. It was good.

We had a special prayer time at bedtime and he had his own prayer time too. I can't even tell you how much it blessed my heart to hear him thanking Jesus for dying on the cross to take his sins away.

Next year I'm going to put a little more planning into Christian's born-again birthday. This year I realized what a treasure it is to know the date when Christian became a Christian. It opened his heart and mind to so many fabulous conversations. It got him thinking and I think it helped both of us to grow a little in our love for our savior. I even heard him talking to McKenna about how she needs to have Jesus in her heart.

The conversation went like this:
C: McKenna, you need to ask Jesus into your heart so you can go to Heaven.
M: Okay Christian.
C: Okay. We're going to pray and you say what I say. "Dear Jesus."
M: "Dear Jesus."
C: You have to close your eyes McKenna! "Please come into my heart."
M:"Please come into my heart."
C: "In Jesus name, amen."
M: "In Jesus name, amen."
C: Good job McKenna. Now you can go to Heaven with me one day. You should go tell mommy.

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Very cute. I loved overhearing that. It doesn't really count because McKenna had no idea what she was saying. But it was so sweet and such a special day.

Goodbyes Stink

Christian has a really, really hard time saying to Emma, Abby and Nate. He truly feels like they're his siblings since they were a part of our daily lives for two years. His earliest memories are of spending everyday with them. So he can hardly handle it when they leave. He cries and cries and cries. And that pretty much makes everyone else feel like crying too. Abby always has a particularly hard time too. So it's sort of amazing that I got this sweet picture of all of them right before the cousins had to go home.
Nathan is just as sweet as ever. He's so easy to have around. I am just praying and praying that my next child will have his personality!! He's going to be going to preschool full-time this fall. That's going to be a big change for him after being at home with mom for the past year. So pray for him this fall, that he'll easily adjust. That he'll make friends and that he'll feel happy and secure during this transition.

I was afraid McKenna was going to drive Abby crazy during the week she was with us. McKenna DID NOT LEAVE ABBY ALONE!! Every now and then Abby would tell Emma that she needed a break and Emma would do her best to distract McKenna. It was rather hilarious. What a blessing to have to girls who love McKenna so much.

Abby's going to be in first grade this year. This will be her first year of full time school. She's excited and I know she'll do great!

And then there's Emma. She's so mature, I can hardly stand it. I mean seriously...you should see how tall she is. She is still talkative and helpful. I think I could have moved out for the week and she would have had everything under control.

Emma will be in....I can hardly believe I'm about to type this...fourth grade this year. She found out who her teacher is and she's happy about who she got. She's still a huge reader and she really, really wants to learn to play tennis.

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So that's the scoop on our precious cousins. I know some of you miss hearing about them. Maybe we should start an online petition to make Amy start blogging again! Ha! In her defense, she just started working full time for an insurance company. There are five kids in and out of her house all the time, plus a few neighbors. And she now has a huge dog. Enough said!

Energy

Are you wondering what they're scheming??
I wish I had their energy at 8am!

At least their laughter was contagious!

Oh boy, oh boy!

I love it that Emma still acts like a kid :)

And later in the day...We usually don't have three chairs on one side of our table, but McKenna directed Emma to rearrange the chairs so they could all sit together. And I got the honor of sitting across from them and looking at their beautiful faces.

((sigh)) I miss them too!

Smokey Evening

Our other set of cousins; Emma, Abby and Nathan came to visit a week ago.

We kicked off the week with a campfire and marshmallows (a first for McKenna).


I officially think it's the perfect way to spend an evening, although just for the record...strawberry marshmallows are disgusting!

Abby was very careful about roasting hers to perfection.

Nathan caught lots of marshmallows on fire. I sort of think he was doing it on purpose :)

It's blurry, but I love this picture. She just sat there all by herself, enjoying the peace and quiet for a minute. The perfect start to a fabulous week.

Scroll Down to see some new posts.

I'm trying to keep my posts in order. I just posted (2) entries about our time with our cousins. Scroll down if you want to see them :)

All the fun details!!!

This is a hand-me-down shirt that I happened to have (I think it was Emma's). So when I found out I was pregnant (In the middle of the day) I put it on McKenna...

And then Ryan came home from work....

And he took a closer look...

And I think he was thrilled. What do you think?

Ryan sort of knew this was possibly coming so it wasn't a huge surprise. I can usually tell the moment I get pregnant. And things pretty much work like clock work around here, so we have yet to be surprised by a baby. I found out I was pregnant for sure at around three weeks and already this has felt like a super long pregnancy. I'll be honest, pregnancy is not my thing. I get all the bad symptoms a person could get and this time seems even worse. But I know that it's worth it. I know that we're blessed. And I rejoice everyday at the miracle that God has placed in our lives.

So here's the scoop:

I'm 10 weeks pregnant.

We'll find out sometime in late Oct. if it's a boy or girl. YES, we like to find out!

Due Date: March 19, 2011

The baby is the size of a plum.

We already had an amazing ultrasound! We saw the heartbeat and tiny wiggling arms and legs!

Is God an AWeSoME creator or what!!!!

Fridays are my flip days (you know...the day when I can say I'm another week along), so there will probably be lots of Friday posts about this baby!

Next Dr. appointment is next Thursday. Can't wait!

Christian thinks we should name the baby Thomas if it's a boy (I guess he still loves trains) or Sally if it's a girl (because of the blue car named Sally in the Disney movie Cars). I wonder how he's going to feel when the baby is named something completely different?

The kids are excited! McKenna is frustrated that she can't see the baby and Christian does not appreciate the dry heaving I've been doing on a daily basis (he always tells me to take a break :) from whatever I'm doing as I run to the bathroom (Sorry, that was probably TMI). But they are ready. McKenna is has moved into her big girl room successfully, so the crib is empty once again. Now we just need to potty train. Ugh.

And so we are thrilled that God is continuing to write the story of our family. We are so blessed. We know it! Everyday I am thankful for the blessings of this new sweet baby!

We've got something to tell you....

That's right!! McKenna is going to be a big sister and since Christian's already an awesome big brother, he's totally ready to do it again! More details coming soon...

Hot and Sunny Fun

It was a hot day, but the kids didn't seem to notice (although Grandmom and I did).

We started out at the duck pond.

And believe it or not, no one fell in. Probably because Grandmom and I reminded them over and over and over again to get back from the edge.


And no one got eaten by any ducks. Although the ducks did manage to get ahold of that piece of bread McKenna left laying to her left.

The kids were pretty amazed that the ducks followed them to the other side of the pond.

And then it was time for a hike in the woods.

The shade was a welcomed respite from the hot sun. Notice my little cutie tagging along behind.

It blessed my heart when one of the girls noticed and came back to walk with her. McKenna loves the attention of "big girls" and she sure does miss her cousins!

The Cousin Crew

The Post is a REWIND from about three weeks ago.

Can you believe I actually went to the grocery store with this crew??? It wasn't bad at all actually. I just got lots of "You've got your hands full" looks.

We grabbed a couple of pizzas and headed to the ball field to watch Uncle Ryan play softball.
It was a beautiful night. A fun atmosphere and free entertainment for all of us.

There he is!

Christian usually doesn't pay too much attention, but Adam was so into it! He loved knowing what was going on and was super at cheering on the team.

Adam also had a little shadow the entire night and he LOVED it!

Ryan lost his game that night and I think that was a good thing for the kids to experience. They were all so worried about Daddy/Uncle Ryan that he would be so sad. But when he got home (a little while after us) they realized that he wasn't upset and it was a great time to talk about how you win some, you lose some and you move on. Great life lessons!