2019 Here We Come!

2019 Here We Come!

2018 has been full of life for us! I can't believe we only have a few days left of this year- it went by fast!

We are enjoying time together as a family this week; Ben got the whole week off so we have been playing board games and sledding non-stop! On Christmas we went to visit the Eldredges and it was sure a party, complete with Grandma's Bingo:)

David is growing. He hasn't been consistent with sleeping through the night, which is rough, but we have faith that he'll get there. He is 5 1/2 months old! He has the cutest smile and he adores his siblings. He lights up whenever Kate and Will come near him.

Kate is loving Kindergarten! She loves to learn period! Right now she's perusing violin and dance, and a little bit of piano. She likes to play "teacher" with William as the student. She is an awesome big sister to both Will and David. I don't know what I'd do without her. 

Both Kate and Will are starting swimming lessons next week. We're hoping they'll be proficient by the summer so that they can be more independent during pool time!

Kate and Will are very social- they love their friends:) We have had play dates galore at this house! William loves cars and legos, and he is doing awesome attending preschool 5 days a week! He is our comic relief; his expressions are super silly and we love it! William loves Kate. He won't let her out of his sight. He also loves David. He asks, "where's my chubby?"

David's Birth Story

Luckily when you're on baby #3, doctors and nurses tend to think you know what you're doing. This means I was able to be induced a week early! And boy was he ready - he came out a whopping 8 pounds 2 ounces, and 21 inches tall.

I went in at 7:30am without Ben, and planned to have him come a little bit later once I got going. By 8:30 the Anethesiologist was ready to give me my epideral, so I told Ben head over at 10am (Stephen and Amanda headed up to the house to take care of Kate and Will- they are awesome!). Shortly after, they gave me the petosin and by 2:18pm David was born! It was quick, easy, and as planned. We are pretty lucky!

Mom came down for a week and entertained Kate and Will while I got used to nursing and slept as much as I could. Sarah and Brooklyn came down for a few days as well which we loved.

Kate and Will love having a baby in the house. They are good at grabbing diapers for me and giving David a binky when he is fussy. It's nice to have helpers! They have been super good sports about not being able to leave the house as much. I think it will be good for them to have lots of down time before the busy school season starts in a few weeks:)

David is making excellent strides in his sleeping patterns. He is sleeping longer and longer at night, and he is pretty happy during the day. He is starting to follow faces with his eyes and he enjoys music. We love him so much!

New Year New...Nothing. New Nothing.

2016 is over and we're on to bigger and better things! But actually just more of the same things...I really thought we'd be well on our way to baby #3 by now but I suppose God has a different plan in mind. That said, I LOVE the two that I have. I have multiple moments every day where I just adore my children and I want to eat their squishy little faces. I relish those moments because they are pretty short compared to the "oh my gosh motherhood is kicking my butt" moments, and I'll take what I can get.

Kate is totally in love with school and friends and all things colorful. It has been so fun to see her soak up learning and blossom in personality. She is a super sweet sister (most of the time) to Will. I seriously don't think they could be cuter siblings. Some other things Kate loves include paints, princesses, dress-ups (she wears a princess dress every single day), strawberries, and treats (she comes by that right). She also loves running errands with Mom and going outside. Her signature phrase is, "seriously?"

William is so big! And I'm not the only one that thinks so - everyone comments about it! He is talking in full sentences and he wants to do everything Kate is doing. He is very silly which is so fun; we always get a good laugh or two out of him. He loves Dory and Nemo, and he loves to be outside. He gives the sweetest kisses and I can't get enough of his cheeks. Some of his signature phrases include "aww, why not?" and "I need some more." There is also our favorite, "Oh gosh." He is constantly eating. No breaks.

Ben is living the engineering life at L3. He has brought on his best friend Dan and cousin Harrison so I'd say L3 wants to keep him around, even if only for recruitment purposes;)

Life as a teacher is pretty fun these days. I don't have a new baby to keep me busy so I thought I'd pursue a few endorsements (history and reading) and they are proving to be challenging and fun! I've already made some neat changes to my courses using what I've learned and that makes my life seem like it's on the up instead of at a plateu. What else do I need?

Mom & Dad, Stephen & Amanda, and Tim spent Christmas with us! Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Scott came for Christmas Eve dinner, so we felt lots of love this holiday season! We are so blessed to have family near us. On top of that, Tim proposed to Becky and we'll have a wedding soon! It's a fun time for our family:)

Kate Goes Missing

October 12, 2015

On Saturday Ben and I decided to visit Cornbelly's, a much talked up way to celebrate the fall/Halloween season. We thought, "it's a beautiful day, lets go see some pumpkins and walk through a maze!" And so we drove our little family to Thanksgiving Point, expecting to play for a few hours and head home.

We made it about 20 minutes; After playing on a kid-sized boat, we realized Kate was no longer there and we could not find her. It was a terrifying realization. Ben and I of course imagined worse-case scenarios. I asked a mother also sitting near the boat if she had seen Kate; she hadn't, but she started helping me look. When we couldn't find her she went and notified an employee for me - at that point it had been about 5 minutes and I was crying. There is no worse feeling than losing a child and feeling completely helpless! That place was so big! An employee took me up to the information desk (Ben was circling the area) and there Kate was in the arms of another employee, screaming in true Kate fashion. I was so relieved! I do not know how she got away from us. In total we probably only lost her for about 10 minutes, but it sure felt like longer!

I was humbled that so many people were understanding and ready to help us. We went home after that and ate ice cream:-)

A similar experience happened only a few weeks earlier. I had started the car remontely, and somehow the car locked after I had put William and the keys in the car (it's not suppose to be able to do that). Luckily the car was on so he couldn't overheat, but I was nervous! I went back to knock on the door of the woman I had just visit taught, and she called the police for me. They sent the fire department, but while we were waiting, the car turned off. I totally panicked. I thought he was going to get heat stroke. Luckily, the fire department arrived shortly after the car turned off and they pryed the door open with a wedge enough to stick a wire stick in there and pop open the door with the handle. When they got William out he was sweating and crying, but he was ok.

Janessa was so nice - she had done that before and knew how scary it was. Looking back it was no big deal, but it feel like such a big deal when you're going through it. I am grateful for good people in my life!