Finally a Family of 5

Owen and Aubrey came up to the hospital Thursday morning to meet their baby sister. For Owen, it was love at first sight. He simply cannot get enough of Evelyn Kate. He wants to hold her constantly and when visitors come over he has a hard time giving her up for long periods of time. He talks to her, kisses her, lays next to her, and tells her that she's a "pretty girl" and a "nice baby." The first thing he does each morning is run into her room to see her and he wants her to be a part of our family reading time, singing time, prayer time - everything. Right after he met her he asked if we could go buy her a booster seat so she could sit at the dinner table with us. Aubrey was more interested in the hospital room than she was Evie. In fact, while Owen and I were snuggling with Evelyn together Aubrey was pushing the buttons on my bed making us rock back and forth. Now that we're home she's much more aware of the baby and likes to hold her and kiss her. She laughs hysterically any time Evelyn makes a funny noise or moves unexpectedly. Owen and Aubrey have just started fighting over Evelyn. Yesterday morning Aubrey was holding her and Owen asked for a turn. Aubrey said, "Not now, Owen. You can hold her after dinner."

Owen could not stop giggling and smiling over his little sister. He proudly announced that he now has three girls he has to protect. He takes that role very seriously.

There's no wiping that smile off his face . . . unless you ask him to give her up.

Our Family of 5: One proud Daddy, one goofy girl, one tired Mama, one chatty little boy and a precious little girl. Thank you, God. My hands are full of good things.

Blueberries!

Aubrey woke up Saturday morning begging for blueberry muffins. Since I didn't have any on hand I thought it would be a good time for us to go blueberry picking. Last year I took the kids picking when Aubrey was 11 months old. It was then that we discovered her obsession with blueberries. I posted about it here. Things have not changed. It was a very hot and humid day on Saturday and she was soaked with sweat after a couple of hours of picking. But she still had a great time. Ben, Owen and I picked close to 12 pounds worth of fruit. I can only imagine how much Aubrey ate. She was off on her own picking with both hands and shoveling it all into her mouth. NONE of her berries made it into the bucket. She even kept trying to sneak handfuls out of our buckets. She was as happy as could be out there in the bushes. Owen isn't a huge fan of blueberries but he worked really hard picking them. Despite the heat he never complained. He just worked and worked.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera so Ben took a few pictures with his phone. I saw several people point and giggle at the sight of Aubrey stuffing her face.
Hmmm . . . which bush should I eat from next?

Ben even took a picture of me out there (a joke from a previous post)

My hard working boy

I'm looking forward to blueberry muffins, pies, crisps, cobblers and frozen berries all winter long!

It's What I Asked For . . . I guess

My sister and I often joke that because we are always taking the pictures of our family we are never in them. So, I handed Ben the camera this weekend and asked him to use it for a while. It's not that I want pictures of myself for my own sake. It's because if something were to happen to me while my children are young I'd like them to have pictures to remember me by. I'd like them to know that even if they don't remember the things we did together as a family, Mommy was in fact present. Perhaps I think this way because my own mother died young. But nonetheless, it's how I think. So Ben took the camera, understanding my desire, and this is what I got.
I laughed when we got home and downloaded the pictures to the computer and found these. This is all of the pictures. This isn't exaaaactly what I had in mind; but he did take pictures of me, didn't he?

Yep, kids. Mommy was there!

The fact that I'm even posting should communicate that I don't want these pictures taken for my own sake. There is nothing flattering about them. Ha! I'm posting them because I think it's so funny and I know my sister will find the humor in it too!

First Family Bike Ride . . . Ever!

Saturday night Ben decided it was time for a family bike ride . . . our first ever. The last time I was on a bike it was just me and Ben on a summer night 5 years ago. Now, it's me, Ben, our two kids and one on the way. Times have changed! We hopped on our bikes and went on a nice 10 mile ride.

I was responsible for carrying the youngest child

while Ben pulled the older two kids.

They loved it! We heard lots of giggling!

Mother's Day 2011

It wasn't too many years ago that I thought I might not ever be a mom. I went through a season of infertility and spent a couple of years having blood drawn and tests run to see what exactly was wrong with me. I remember a specific visit with yet another specialist when I was told I may only get pregnant through IVF. Ben and I had already decided that was a road we would not travel down and so this news was very disheartening. I was basically told I may not have children. Of course adoption was always an option, and something I had always been interested in but we were working at a small Christian school and I just didn't see how we could ever afford to adopt. God allowed me to get pregnant shortly after this doctor's visit and just a few short months later we joined a church in Kentucky that has a huge adoption ministry. It was there that I realized it was possible to adopt even if you weren't rich!

It was also not too many years ago that I spent the last Mother's Day I ever would with my own mother. It was May 2003. She was sick with cancer and died just a few weeks later. What do you buy a woman who you know is about to die? We had a bracelet made for her with the names of her kids on it. She loved it! Her vision was poor by then and she had to get a magnifying glass out to look at it. She cried when she saw it. She wore it to her own funeral.

So I have certainly had my share of sad and emotional Mother's Days. While I had a nice day this year, on my heart were those women who want to be mothers but aren't or who do not have a mother in their life.

Here are a few pictures from my Mother's Day:

The "kids" got me a new watch.
We were unable to capture a photo with all eyes open and facing the camera.

Owen - age 3, Aubrey - age 1 and 28 weeks pregnant

Before we ever moved to Kentucky I started a tradition of having Ben's family over for Mother's Day for dinner. It's been 5 years since we've done this so it was nice to be able to serve his mom again to honor her. She is always serving and cooking for others. It's kind of nice to force her to be waited on! Ben grilled rib-eye steak while I made homemade bread, sweet baked potatoes, salad, steamed broccoli and strawberry pie. It was such a nice day that we ate outside. Although, Owen thought it was cold and kept asking for gloves.

The Cousins

Six kids ages 7 and under:

"Okay, fine. If they won't cooperate just take pictures of me!"

A Few of Many Attempts

Why is it so hard to get a nice family picture?

We'll try again next year - with a third child to try and entertain!

A Look Back - July 2010

A friend gave me a coupon today for a free photo book through snapfish. Since I didn't have a lot of time to be extra creative I decided to put together some of the pictures from our photo shoot from last July in an album. My friend, Rebecca, took these pictures on one of the hottest days of the year. One couldn't help but sweat! I enjoyed looking through the photos and was once again reminded that these days are quickly passing by, my children are growing fast. My little girl was a baby not too long ago! As I flipped through the pictures I began to wonder if I had ever posted them on my blog. I don't think I have - so here they are.

Owen: 2 years 10 months, Aubrey: 10 months

Charleston, South Carolina

I have not been doing a good job of keeping my blog up to date. Thankfully, these are the last of my pictures from our Christmas vacation in Florida. Except these pictures were not taken in Florida. On the way home we stayed in Charleston, South Carolina so we could do some sightseeing. We love history so it was fun to see all the old houses (hundreds of years old) and look at the monuments. It's a beautiful town!

The grandparents with their grandkids.
There were several cobblestone roads. Very neat - but not very comfortable to walk on if you're wearing flip flops.

Rainbow Row

Owen and Auntie Sarah

Walking along the harbor

Aubrey can't stand still for a picture. She has to be RUNNING!

Happy to be free

Owen adores Uncle Michael

We got to peek at this old, gigantic house. I can't remember the facts but I THINK it was built by a governor in the 1800s and was over 20,000 square feet. (I should have written it down. I'm sure my mother in law remembers the details).