It's been a long, long while...

It's the end of the year and I haven't put anything up in a long time and thought there's no better time to put up pictures from this year than now!

It's been an interesting year to say the least. Rachael was born in April, Chris turned 30 in May, Chris' uncle Kevin passed away after a battle with cancer in May, I started grad school in August while continuing to work full-time, Chris began work at our church as a ministry intern in the fall, and this week Chris' cousin Michael died in a car accident.

Here are a few pictures of the kiddos.


October 2009


Chris and Rachael at Adam's school Halloween party.


Adam posing with his pumpkin.



Rachael wearing some of my mom's creations.

God knows...

Chris just got a new alarm clock/iPod dock/radio for our room from Circuit City, yippee! Unfortunately the alarm is set to go off at 1pm and we do not know how to change it because it didn't come with a box or an instruction book.

Saturday when the alarm went off Adam asked how you turn off the alarm and Chris responded with "God only knows." So yesterday when the alarm went off at 1pm I mentioned to Adam that I was going to try and figure out how to turn the alarm off and he responded with "Mama, God knows!" I giggled and told him that he should ask God how to turn it off. Adam responded with "God, how do you turn off the alarm?" he then paused for a moment and said "Mama, God didn't tell me."

Sometimes God responds in ways we don't understand.

I want some!

As I'm trying to become more environmentally aware I'm noting what I can do to change. I noted in the last blog that we're looking into "g" diapers and I've tried to use reusable bags vs. plastic ones for a while. One thing I haven't found an alternative for is ziploc bags... until today!

This is really cool and I'm saving up to get a few!

Something is wrong with this...

After getting our power back and returning home we decided to go for a
walk and survey the damage in the park today. I love to take pictures so of course took my camera. I expected to see lots of ice, snow, and broken limbs based on what we heard Tuesday night but I don't think I was quite prepared for what I saw. Chris and I noted that growing up we didn't experience storms like this. We got snow here and there and sometimes there was a lot of it, but not very often. I'm 31 and I can remember only a handful of times when there was a lot of snow. I can't really remember any ice storms at all.

Today we were thinking of all of the major snow storms or ice storms recently and were able to note 2 major ice/snow storms, a major snow storm, and hurricane Ike winds that all did considerable damage since last year. I don't know about anyone else but that just seems like a lot to me. I remember trees growing and flourishing when I grew up. Not breaking and cracking and everyone talking about how we need to plant more trees because all of the trees are broken or damaged from one of the many storms we've had this past year.

The damage is not done yet either, as we were walking we could hear large limbs and trees fall as the ice melts off of them. So as I sit here uploading these pictures I listen to all of the ice break off the trees, crash against the house, and hope that our damaged from wind and ice trees don't fall on us. I could be wrong but with this event and other things that I've noted in a previous post something just seems wrong about the way things are progressing in our world. Quite frankly I've been and am getting more concerned each day. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Chris and I are looking into diapers like these vs. disposable ones.



Close up shot of some ice in the park.


Another picture of our park.


Lots of icicles!

It's a little icy outside!

Tuesday, January 27th was Adam's birthday and we spent it doing all the things we said we would, just with a little more rain and slush surrounding us. Adam had a great time going to Taco Bell for lunch, seeing a movie in the theater and having dinner at BBC. For all activities Adam appeared unscathed by the weather and very happy to have Mama, Daddy, and Adam together for his birthday since I was home for a snow day. He even fell asleep in the car on the way to the movie and woke up happy to keep going. (He stayed up the night before until 11 pm, in bed, playing with his new Star Wars Mighty Muggs.)

It wasn't until 2 am on Wednesday morning that Adam realized how bad the weather was outside. He was awakened by pop, crack, wheeesh, bang sounds as the limbs around our house broke under the weight of the ice.Now that he resides in the attic of our house he quickly woke up when one of the limbs fell on the house and made a terrible crashing sound. As we continued to hear limbs fall we all decided that it was in his best interest to not spend the night in the attic.


The next morning we awoke to no power, a very cold house, and rain/ice still falling from the sky. We build a fort of cushions and blankets on the couch and talked about all the things that didn't work in our house because of no power. One of Adam's favorite games was to jokingly walk up to something and say "Mama, does ____ work?" After about the 5th item I looked at him funny and he said "No, it needs electricity" while smiling.

Once the temperature in the house got into the 50's we packed up and headed to Chris' Mom and Dad's house in Lexington who had power. We took a few pictures before bailing on the house for a much warmer one. Hopefully we'll get to go home soon to a warm house and continue with our preparations for Rachael!

What Princess am I?

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Update...

So far things are going very well with this pregnancy. Despite my long absence it has thankfully not been the pregnancy that has kept me from writing a blog post. Life happens a lot and I haven't gotten the chance to check my blog in some time. Tomorrow will be the beginning of week 30, only 10 weeks to go! It's really hard to believe that we're this close to having Rachael here!

We've gone through a few changes since November.
1. We have a new president!!!!!!!
2. We had a great Christmas with our family and traveled to Goshen, (ok it's only 35 min. but still) Lexington, and Swansea, IL!
3. Today I took the GRE in preparation for a Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis at Spalding here in Louisville, KY.
4. Adam moved to his new room in the attic and now officially has the coolest room in the house.

Here are a few pictures summing up the last few months.


Me at 27 weeks.