Bi-Annual Blog

It's three days before Thanksgiving and I am in bed with strep throat.  This stuff is brutal.  Jeremy was sick all last week, but he tested negative for strep.  I however, am not so lucky.  It hit me like a freight train late yesterday afternoon, and I have been miserable.  Currently, thanks to medication, my fever has broke and I no longer have eight blankets on top of me.  Since we are supposed to leave for a Picker Family Reunion tomorrow after school, Jeremy has instructed me to stay away from the kids, in hopes my germs won't spread.  We'll see if we're that lucky.  I'm extremely bored, and although I've been reading some on and off today, I decided to get on my computer and my blog was staring me in the face.  I'll take a hint and update.

This girl is 7 going on 17.  She is enjoying second grade although the excitement of school has definitely worn off for her.  She is involved with Brownies, and just finished another soccer season coached by her dad.  She loves church, Justin Bieber, her brother and sister (most of the time), and reading.  She's still pretty quiet at school, but not nearly as shy as she used to be.  I spend the first Friday of the month at her school popping popcorn for all of the classes, and I often have kids ask me why she never talks when she's not supposed to.  My reply, "Well, I guess because she knows she's not supposed to!"  She's quite the rule follower.  She participates in Math Fact Scholars at school and is one test away from getting a silver medal for knowing her multiplication/division problems up to 12.

This little lady is 4.  She started preschool this year, and although we never thought she was as shy as Kennedy, she acts very much like Kennedy did in preschool.  She definitely talks to her teachers way more than Kennedy ever did, but I found out at Parent Teacher Conferences that she prefers to stand next to the teachers at recess and chat with them rather than play with other kids.  We are working on that.  Who knows what all they know about our family!  I think I'll prefer to remain ignorant though as to what kinds of things she is telling them!  Her current loves are Barbie Princess and the Popstar, Lalaloopsies, her brother and sister (again, most of the time) and playing Nick Jr. and PBS Kids games on my computer.  She loves to sing and dance, but not if she realizes people are watching her.  She loves to make people laugh, and is quite goofy.

And this big guy is a week and a half away from being 2.  He is fairly laid back, yet he manages to keep me on my toes.  He talks a ton, and in full sentences for the most part, much like Kennedy did when she was his age.  He loves Dora, Yo Gabba Gabba, the Cardinals, his big sisters, playing on our iphones (in which he can fully navigate his way around), playing with any type of ball, and all forms of transportation.  I'm so excited to give him a real basketball hoop (Little Tikes) for his birthday, so he can stop "playing basketball" by shooting a ball into the bottom of one of our bar stools.  Jeremy's parents are also giving him a t-ball set, which will be fantastic, as he currently uses a spatula as a bat to hit balls around our house.  We recently changed his room into a big boy room, and he now sleeps in Jeremy's old bed from when he was a kid.  It's decorated in all things Cardinals/sports.  He loves it and has done great!  He's even started using the potty on occasion.  I'm not really pushing that though, as we are traveling for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I feel like diapers may be an easier route for our trips. We'll see though.  He's also our first child that actually likes soda, which has thrown us for a loop.  Our girls despise it, so we've never had to deal with whether or not they can have it.  Ian, however, has soda radar.  He can hear a can pop open across the room, and he'll immediately bring his cute little self to whomever is drinking it, and say "Soda please?"  Hard to resist.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, a happy Valentine's Day, and a great Easter, because lets be realistic, it's unlikely I'll update again before then.

Easter 2012

We had a great Easter weekend! My mom and Dave came down for the weekend, which ended up being a HUGE help. We had a very large Easter Egg Hunt at church yesterday (over 600 people attended!) that Jeremy was partially in charge of, and I don't think the kids and I would've had a very fun time without the help from them! Ian loved finding eggs, as did Kennedy. As for Ansley, she acted like she was pretty unsure of what she was supposed to do, but finally got the hang of it. Kennedy even scored a golden coin, earning her a new Barbie doll! What fun!

We had a wonderful church service today, where again, my mom and Dave were a huge help with the kids! Afterwards, we had a yummy soup/salad lunch at Olive Garden and then came home and played outside the rest of the day. Well, actually Jeremy and the kids played outside while I cleaned up the house. We're ready to start another week with clean clothes, a clean house, and our bellies full of candy!

I'm looking forward to next weekend! My birthday present this year was a trip to Kansas City this coming weekend with both of my sisters and a few friends to a Beth Moore Conference. We are staying in a hotel, going to Beth Moore, shopping, and hanging out! I can't wait! Jeremy will have the kids all to himself this weekend--which the girls are super excited about! I'm halfway surprised he hasn't called in his mom to come help. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Only 6 weeks of school left, and between now and then we have a trip to Atlanta planned, and Jeremy and I have a trip (without kids!) to Aspen in May! Before we know it, summer will be here!

Little Man, Big Talker

Ian had his 15 month appointment today and his stats are as follows:

Weight: 24 lbs. 5.2 oz (50th%)
Height: 33 inches (90-97th%)
Head: 20.75 inches (>97th%)

The doctor asked how many words Ian said. I didn't have a number off the top of my head, but my response was "a lot." The doctor said "Like 6 words?", and I replied, "No, definitely more than 6." So he said "Maybe 10 words?", and again, my response was "Definitely more than 10." So the doctor said "More than 20, do you think?", and I said "Yes, probably more than 20." Honestly, though, I've never counted. So tonight at dinner we made a list of all of Ian's words. Here they are in no particular order:
book, ball, baby, baba (bottle), wa-wa (water), Momma, Daddy, Ansley and Kennedy (or something similar to their names), Lace (for Lacee, our friend living with us right now), hi, hello, bye-bye, Bible, up, down, nose, eyes, mouth, belly, butterfly (kind of), dog, kitty, Dora, Boots, Swiper, "Oh man!" (thanks to Swiper the Fox), Elmo, Spongebob, bus, schoolbus, tow truck, big rig, doctor, juice, turtle, God, bath, diaper, shoe, Blues Clues, jinx, puffs, apple, cracker, grapes, pancake, thank you, please, yes, Nana, Papa, Betsy, Grandma/pa, Stacy, Ty-ty (Tyler), Josh...
and I'm sure there's more, but that's what we came up with! Looks like over 50 to me! Of course, he's always so quiet around other people until he warms up, but I'm thinking he's going to be a lot like his daddy...a big talker! :)

Tired

Ansley doesn't usually nap anymore. However, if we have anywhere to go in the evenings, she tends to fall asleep--especially on the drive to Wednesday night church. I think this night she was exceptionally tired!

Pink Boots

This little boy loves his big sisters so much. So much, in fact, that he wants to do pretty much everything they do...including wearing their pink boots!

Smart Cookie

This little girl just got her bronze medal in Math Fact Scholars, meaning she passed all the addition/subtraction timed tests. She is so excited and very proud of herself (those were her exact words:). She now moves onto multiplication, which I'm a little nervous about trying to teach her, being that she's only in first grade, but she has an awesome memory, so it may be no problem for her at all. We'll see!

My Poor, Neglected Blog

So my last post was in November. Yeah, sorry about that. I think I give excuses every time, but I've just been plain neglectful of this blog. I guess I figure anyone that reads it (the one or two of you out there) probably is on Facebook and keeps up with our life there. Maybe I'm wrong though.

So Christmas came and went, followed shortly thereafter by our 11-year anniversary and my 30-something birthday. Ansley's birthday was February 3, and she had her first "friends" birthday party. She wanted a "Dorothy" (aka Wizard of Oz) party, so being the awesome mom I am, I complied. I had to get pretty creative though, as Wizard of Oz stuff is not sold at the party stores! She had a great time though and loved having all of the attention on her.

In mid-February, Mr. Ian got tubes put in his ears, which we are hoping takes care of his pretty much constant ear infections that he had from October-February. Poor little guy has been pitiful--but only at night. During the day, he was as happy as could be, but at night when we tried to put him in his crib, he would scream in pain. Because of that, we spent many (okay maybe two months worth) nights on the couch with him. Thanks to that spoiling, this week we are having crib-bootcamp and forcing him to get used to sleeping in his crib again. So. Much. Fun. Let me tell ya! He is talking our ears off though, and pretty much repeats anything we say. For some unknown reason, I taught the girls the "jinx" game, where if you say something at the same time with another person you can "jinx" them, which makes them unable to speak until someone says their name. Note to self--don't ever teach your kids this game--so annoying! Well anyways, the other day in the car that happened, and one of the girls shouted "jinx!" About 2 seconds later, Ian repeated "Jinx!" We all died laughing. He is a little comedian who loves to sing (especially Justin Bieber songs) and dance. Don't worry, like any good parents we've gotten it on tape many times for future blackmail.

Kennedy's still loving first grade. She loves math and reading. I love that she can read to herself now! I could only handle so much Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones. I especially love watching her read to Ian and Ansley! Melts my heart! I still can't believe that I have an almost 7 year old. And second grade next year? Crazy! One of her highlights after Christmas was getting 3 fish. Of course 2 of them died within a week, but Claire the fish is still going strong!

Since a blog post would not be complete without cute pictures, here are a few to help catch you up since November (in no particular order).

Kennedy at her First Grade Musical (The Share Bears) with her favorite music teacher.

Kennedy made Jeremy and I breakfast for our anniversary :)

Ian before his surgery

Ansley's birthday party

Ian's favorite seat

Ian often has trouble staying awake at lunch.

Excited!

The girls at gymnastics

Cute matching shirts/headbands/bracelets made by Aunt Kendal

Christmas

One!

Yesterday, I was holding my baby boy in my arms for the first time. Then, I blinked, and today he is running all over my house! I can't believe my little man is one! What a joy he is for our family! Here are some things about Ian:

Weight: 22 lb.s 4 oz. (25-50%)
Length: 31 inches (75-90%)
Head: Huge

Ian loves to play with anything that has wheels, and balls. "Ball" is probably his favorite word, followed closely by "Dada," or sometimes even "Daddy." He also says mama, bus, bath, duck, turtle, Bible, eat, all done, hi, bye-bye, up, this, that, and he often walks around saying "apple," but I don't think he knows what that means.

He still loves Praise Baby dvds, but also is showing a liking for Backyardigans, which Ansley likes to watch. He loves music and dancing, so that show is right up his alley! He still takes at least one good nap a day, sometimes two, and sleeps through the night. He loves to eat, and would snack all day if I let him. Peas are one of his favorite things! (Yuck!!!)

Ian loves to watch Kennedy get off the school bus each day, and loves to play with toys. I can set him in the living room (where a lot of his toys are) and he will play and entertain himself for a long time. He loves to try and dart up the stairs if we forget to put the gate up, and also had a little incident a few weeks ago where he fell down the stairs. Luckily, he was okay!

He is very mild-mannered and laid back, although just recently we are starting to see a side of him that we hadn't previously seen. He is walking, and very mobile, and has decided that when he wants down, he wants down! Trying to keep him still at the doctor's office today for his well-baby check-up was a lot of fun...4 shots was a lot of fun too. :( We've also learned recently that he does not like for things to be taken away from him, this makes him a very upset little boy. He'll learn.

He's mostly happy, doesn't know a stranger, (although he sometimes pretends to be bashful), and still has his father's disposition. He LOVES his sisters and can make them laugh quite easily--which he just eats right up! I think he may be a little comedian!

We love our baby boy and are so thankful that God blessed us with him!

Time is flying by!

Is it November? Really? That cannot be possible, right? Where does the time go? It seems like once October hits, things are busy, busy, busy, and it stays that way until Christmas is over. We've had a good, but busy fall so far, and are looking forward to Thanksgiving in Peoria, followed by Ian's first birthday. Again, how is this possible? I'll quit asking questions and leave you with a few Halloween pictures of Hannah Montana, Minnie Mouse, and Ian the Zebra.

First Haircut

Although Ian doesn't have tons of hair, it was starting to grow over his ears and down his neck. Since Wednesdays happen to be "Kids Day" at the nearby salon, I took him in today for his first cut. He did a great job and sat there like a champ! It's not super noticeable that he got a cut, but it does look much cleaner.

Guest Post--Adami Tulu

No updates today on my kiddos, or what's going on around here, I'll do that soon, I promise. Instead, I have a guest post from a friend, that also happens to be a cousin-in-law!

Mary Beth and I met at Harding and were both in Zeta Rho together. We got to know each other even better when she started dating Jeremy's cousin Casey. In fact, her and Casey were engaged shortly after our wedding, and married the following December.

Casey and Mary Beth have three children too, two of which were adopted from Ethiopia. They are very passionate about adoption and Ethiopia. They are such a great example for us all of listening to God's calling. We haven't got to meet their two cuties from Ethiopia, but we love seeing pictures and look forward to meeting them sometime soon! Please take the time to read what Mary Beth has written (she's a great writer!) and consider making a donation and possibly winning a getaway to Aspen!


Thank you so much Jeremy and Laura for allowing me to post on your blog about a subject that is so important to me.

Over three years ago, my husband and I began our journey to adopt our son from Ethiopia. And since that time, God has been filling our hearts with an overwhelming love and passion for the people of Ethiopia. We returned a year after our first adoption to bring our daughter home. After arriving home with her, we knew we had to do more.

We have been so blessed to team up with other adoptive families around the U.S. and with Lifesong for Orphans. Lifesong is doing some amazing work through a small nursery school that they support in Adami Tulu, Ethioipa. You can read more about Adami Tulu here.

Last year, we, with five other families, raised over $40,000 to build a new building, restroom facility, and gate at the Adami Tulu school. In August, we got to return to Ethiopia to see the new building. We had an amazing trip, and have absolutely fallen in love with Adami Tulu. You can read more about our trip here and here. The school is changing the lives of so many vulnerable children in the area by offering them a wonderful education and two nutritious meals a day.

We've returned home with the knowledge that we have so much more to do in Adami Tulu. So we've agreed to continue our work with Lifesong by raising funds for another school building on the Adami Tulu campus. This will enable the school to expand to include 1st and 2nd grade. More details will be coming soon, but we're anxious to get a jump start on fundraising. We know that this project will cost at least $50,000. But, for these sweet faces, we'll do anything!



We are very excited to announce our first fundraiser for our next phase of the Adami Tulu project: another Aspen Giveaway!



Our Aunt and Uncle have, once again, generously donated toward our fundraising efforts. Only this time they've offered us not one but FIVE stays at the Hyatt Grand Aspen.

Exploring, Drawing, and Learning, Oh my!

Ian is on the go...all the time! I don't know if it's just a difference between girls and boys, or if my girls were just calm and laid back, but this little guy gets into everything! With the girls, I could set them in the middle of a room with some toys and for the most part they would sit and play. If I put Ian in the middle of the room with toys, he looks at the toys and then begins looking around the room and making his move to wherever he desires to explore for a while. We have to make sure our basement door is closed at all times, the toilet lids are shut, and all decorations within reach have been placed in areas that he cannot get to. It's exhausting! Poor Ansley doesn't understand (no matter how many times I tell her!) that he can't open doors, and she will often stand guard in front of the basement door, fridge, gate on the stairs, etc., saying "No, no, no Ian...Mom, Ian is trying to open the basement door!" or whatever he might be close to. At least she's looking out for the little guy! We also think he may be a lefty just like his oldest sister. He uses his left hand to eat, wave, sucks his left thumb, and even his Sunday school teacher has noticed that he favors his left hand. Apparently last Sunday he was holding something and she tried to give him something else, and he switched what he had over to his right hand so that he could reach and grab the item with his left. Jeremy's determined to make him a pitcher if he truly is a lefty! Here's a picture of our future Cardinals pitcher making his "silly face" as we like to call it! :)

Speaking of Ansley, I have tried to start doing some workbook activities with her. She amazes me with what she knows! She seems really smart to me (of course!) but I think it's probably more that I just think of her as being so young, and I forget sometimes she not that far away from being 4! Here is a picture of her doing some workbook activities. In the background you can see a painting she made, and some rocks that she painted.

Kennedy decided to give up dancing and try her hand at soccer instead. Jeremy is her coach and she plays the next six weeks on Saturday mornings. I think she likes the idea of playing soccer better than actually playing. She only touched the ball with her foot one time I think, and is completely willing to let everyone else have their turn trying to kick the ball. At halftime she asked me if it was time for lunch yet. Oh, well, at least she's cute!

At home, she has been busy drawing pictures and trying to decorate any place I will let her in our house. Our upstairs is filled with pictures of things she made. For example, here is Ian's bedroom door:

My closet door:

Jeremy's closet door:

Her and Ansley's bedroom door:

The wall by her bed:

I've given up trying to stop her from taping things everywhere, but I have limited it to her bedroom, or doors on our top floor only. She's a pretty good artist and I hate to hurt her feelings by telling her I don't want her artwork all over my house!

I have recently taken up a new hobby (thanks to my sis-in-law Heidi for teaching me!) and have been making shirts for the kids. Well, technically, I don't make the shirts, but I cut out patterns and iron on/stitch them onto shirts. Here are some I made for the girls. I made one for their cousin Sidney too. I've got a bunch of fabric ready to do some more, but I am making myself wait on buying shirts until I finish 2 library books that are due back soon! It's super fun and addicting.

Until next time...