Congratulations Times Five

A big congratulations to our dear friends, Brian and Anna, and their kiddos, Samuel, Katherine, and Malakai.  They welcomed a new member into their family yesterday:  Alexa Eileen.  Congratulations and love to all of you!

20-Week Belly

The Belated Birthday Post

We celebrated Jeff's birthday on Sunday.

Here he is with the ice cream flavor that he and Jonathan invented together: "Batman Blackberry Cheesecake Bliss." It is truly amazing. And I don't even like fruity ice cream. Just another example of what a great daddy he is to our kids, though...he and Jonathan really did make the first batch as a team and named it together, too (obviously!)

Jonathan and Grace adore him, and so do I. Happy birthday to you, Sweetheart!

Reminds Me of Mowgli

Grace's new trick is walking on all fours. We think it is so funny. She reminds me of Mowgli in the old animated Jungle Book movie from when I was a kid. I had a hard time getting a little video of her doing this because Jonathan was also walking on all fours, but in a T-shirt and undies. I was trying to keep him out of the picture. It's nothing out of the ordinary, but I'm trying to give him a little more bloggy privacy these days since he'll be starting kindergarten soon. It's fun to see the new things Grace is figuring out, and it's also fun to see how much Jonathan enjoys cheering her on (and sometimes egging her on, too.)

That's Our Girl!

Gracie is a funny, quirky girl, and we are really enjoying seeing her little personality emerge!

Brushing the horse's hair

Playing in the disassembled exersaucer (that's finally on its way up to the attic, yay!)

Climbing

Silly girl. She got up and down from this position confidently probably a dozen times or more in a row.

Putting on any accessories she can find...and unloading the kid cup and bowl drawer

Getting ready for church by wearing her brother's laundry

Very pleased with herself

In the Tube

We got out the crawling tube and the little playhouse the other day, and both kids were pretty thrilled about it!  My dad sent these to Jonathan when he turned one.



If there is a book or a hat to be found, Grace will know about it.



Just for fun, here are some pictures of Jonathan that I took of him crawling in the tube at 14 mos., just before he started walking.

20-Week Ultrasound

Jeff and I went to my 20-week ultrasound today. We are so thankful that things are going well, and thankful that Jeff could come in the midst of this busy time for him. The ultrasound tech had a hard time taking the measurements she needed because the baby was so wiggly...until she tried to get a good look at the spine, and then the baby stayed still but in an inconvenient position. I was glad to know that the baby is wiggling around, because although I have felt the baby moving for awhile, I don't feel him/her half as much as the pictures showed us today.

The midwife is happy with how the baby and I are doing. She said that she hasn't done an in-depth study of the ultrasound yet, but so far it looks great. We are so grateful for this sweet addition to our family. Here is our baby at almost 20 weeks:

Lidiya

We have been excited about this for a long time, but I have waited to post about it until I could point you in the direction of some pictures to go along with our excitement.

Our dear friends, Tim and Jo (whom we have known for nearly ten years now, I can hardly believe it) have been in the process of adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia.  They just got back from their trip there to meet her and go to court to get permission to adopt her.  Tonight, they posted pictures!  Oh, she is just precious.  They have two wonderful sons and will be adding a daughter to their family.  We have been praying for her for a long time and are hopeful that Tim and Jo will be able to go get her and bring her home in a month or two.  Be sure to grab your Kleenex before you go look at her pictures.  :)  If you haven't read their blog in awhile, remember to start at the bottom (older posts) before you read the top.

After I wiped away my own tears of joy, I showed the pictures of Lidiya to Jonathan, who has been wishing for a baby brother, and he told me that he'd like another baby sister.  He said that after he saw her pictures, he decided he wanted a sister, and that he changed his mind because of Lidiya.  You should have seen the sparkly look in his eyes when he said it.  He is thrilled for big brothers Graham and Wesley, and so are we.

Memory Lane, Just for Fun

Here's what Jonathan was like at sixteen months, the same age as Grace.

We Thought These Were Funny

Jeff had an extremely stressful week last week, and even though I should have cooked for him, he graciously consented to Chinese take-out at the end of the week. Yay! And it lasted for two dinners. Yay, yay! We thought our fortunes were fitting this time. Here they are, just for fun:

Me: You will travel far and wide, both pleasure and business. I'll take it!

Jeff: People who are late are often happier than those who have to wait for them. Ahem. Jeff is not the most time-conscious person.

Jonathan: Something nice is coming to you in the mail. Loved this one, because we happened to know that Jonathan really did have a nice package coming to him in the mail, from his grandparents. It came Saturday. Thank you! :)

Grace: You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble. Well, three out of four's not bad...