Monday, November 2, 2009

Reformation Party III























It's hard to see in this pic, but I made a nice thick long tail for Hannah, and she was soooo proud of it! It was adorable to see her get to really "be" a horse.

The kids had fun at the party, of course! I stayed home with Rebekah because of my nasty cough... and then I missed church because Erin threw up 5 times during the night on Saturday. (I blamed it on too much candy the first time, and then realized that probably wasn't the cause around trip #3 to the bathroom with her!)

Katy dressed as Gloria (her puppy), Hannah was a horse, Erin was Cinderella, and Stephen was Superman! I made Katy and Hannah's costumes, and Erin has dressed as Cinderella for years now (her favorite character ever), and I bought Stevie's costume at the consignment sale this fall for $2... awesome! He now asks Nate to "fly" all the time, and didn't want to take the costume off on Friday night (after the party) or Saturday (after trick or treating).

Just passin' through...


Stephen playing with his car from Steak N' Shake.

After our trip to the farm, we decided to take the kids to Steak N' Shake to use their "free shake" coupons they got from the summer reading program. We all ordered a cheap dinner and almost immediately started getting asked questions from a couple at a table diagonal to ours. Now, people around here are friendly, but Nate and I both were wondering "where is this going to go?" as the couple asked us about Bekah and told us they had a grandson born a few weeks before her. They proceeded to tell us that they keep telling their daughter that it's hard (this is her second child) because she's supposed to have a husband to help out, too. Then our drinks came and as I was busy getting all of the kids settled, the woman leaned across the way and asked Erin "Do you love Jesus?" and Erin said "Oh, yes!" and the woman said "that's very important, you know" and Erin answered with serious nod. The woman then proceeded to ask me if I homeschooled, and was surprised when I told her that I had never even heard of homeschooling until I went to college. She said she grew up surrounded by homeschoolers (although she wasn't homeschooled herself) and that they always wanted to be on her Little League team that she coached when her kids were younger. That's when she said that they have 5 grown children (and my honest to goodness thought was "oh, good- then they don't think we're some crazy circus sideshow!"). She also shared that they are truck drivers- it turns out that they both drive the same truck, just taking turns to sleep- and they were on their way from the east coast to Washington state... but they're from Texas! Anyway, we talked to them the whole time, and then when they had to leave we exchanged "God bless you's" and they waved at us from their cab window - Stephen loved that! After they were gone, the waitress came up with a big smile and said that our meal had been paid for- by that couple! How generous was that? And we never even found out their names... so wherever you are, thank you! And we look forward to seeing you again! :)

Annual trip to the Fashion Farm...






Stephen didn't take his eyes off of the tractor the whole ride!

I love these gems scattered throughout the pumpkin maze...


They've all grown so much!





They paint every president on a pumpkin every year... the girls love finding their favorites.






The infamous pumpkin doughnuts.







Bekah had a lovely time!










Stevie sleeps at dinner again!

I finally caught it on camera- he hadn't done this for months, but the week before Bekah was born he fell asleep in his spaghetti (one of his favorite meals). Sorry I sound a little irritated about the cookies... it was wearing on my nerves to have the girls discussing the size and merit of each and every cookie in the background (they're just regular chocolate chip cookies, people!) . Oh, and my hero Natie just pulled up the nasty old carpet in this room (it's our dining room) and he's prepping to get the washer and dryer downstairs! Woo hoo! We've wanted to do this for years, so I'm thrilled!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

She's so neglected!

















































Bekah is such a sweet girl... we are all enjoying her so much. She's still nursing well and is having more and more alert periods, which is the children's favorite time- as soon as they know her eyes are open, all four gather around her to coo at her and touch her (Hannah says "Mommy, I hope she stays this soft forever!"). It has been fun to get out all of the girl clothes again- the older girls and I sorted through them yesterday and they had so much fun hearing about which outfits were whose and memories that I had about their favorite outfits. Stephen is adjusting really well- we haven't seen any signs of jealousy yet, which is a relief. The girls of course are so in love with Bekah and love helping take care of her and hold her. I'm glad I am nursing her, otherwise I might not get to hold her at all! :)

I'm still needing to take it easy... I am trying not to tackle the list of "Things I Want to Do But Can't" just yet (I tried to do a simple one- organizing the shoe closet- which I couldn't do for the past month because I couldn't bend and fit in there without being immensely uncomfortable- and I wound up hurting my abs (or lack thereof) so badly that every move I made hurt like I'd just done 50,000 crunches). Now that I've learned my lesson, I'm not going to attempt too much this week- just some basic chores and hopefully my stomach will go back together the way it's supposed to! :) It's just really hard not to do the things on the list when you are feeling so much better and can bend again...
































Monday, October 12, 2009

Presenting...










































































































Rebekah Ann! She was born at 6:35 am today, weighing in at 7lb. 14 oz. She's 22 inches long and has a lot of brains in her 14 inch head! :) Bekah is already a great nurser- she ate 4 full times in the first 6 hours, and is very content now. Here are some pics... the kids are all thrilled, of course! I'll add more info after we've gotten a little more sleep.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Owww....

I think I'm in labor. No phone calls please! :) Nate's prediction is midnight, boy, 9 pounds even.
Mine is 11pm tonight, girl (I really have no idea!), and 8 lb. 10 oz. Anyone else have a guess???