Family pic, from left to right: Ken, Me, Weslee, Meredith, Quinn, Sela, Ryan, Mom (Nancy), Dad (Wes)
Our updated picture (the last was in May, I believe) We kind of have this pose down, now, and it seems to work for us
Ken hanging out with Weslee
This year we spent Thanksgiving day with my family in Dundee (which is only 10 minutes from where we live in Newberg). I have to say, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays since it's always spent with family. We had our traditional meal, and spent the afternoon in fellowship, just having fun. We did go to Ken's parents' house on Friday for their Thanksgiving meal. It's always nice to be able to see family that we don't get to see on a regular basis. The Lucas family brought some smoked turkey that was amazing! I had never had it before, and I'm sold on it.
Weslee is now walking a little bit, though he's still got some balance issues to perfect. I know that I also walked at 10 months, and we're not sure when Ken started walking. We've noticed Weslee has a tendency to do the least amount of work possible, and you can clearly see he's not eager to take more steps than absolutely necessary to get to Mom as evidenced by his lunging forward, arms out.
Ken and I after the concert... it was about midnight, and it shows on our faces
Ken and I went to my cousin Tyrone's concert at the Aladdin Theater November 11. We don't get out very often for date nights, but this one was totally worth it. My sister and one of her friends and our Aunt, Uncle, and a cousin were at the concert, too. It was fun to get to see some family we don't see too often. If you haven't heard of Tyrone Wells or listened to his music, check out: http://www.tyronewells.com
We carved out Weslee's 30lb pumpkin and he had some fun sitting inside it, and Mom and Dad had fun taking some pictures- fun for the whole family! He's 9 months in these pictures.
We had a lot of fun going pumpkin shopping for Weslee's first fall. His pumpkin was the 30lb whopper in the pictures, and he was fascinated with it. This place is "Grandma's" for those who are from the area... there were so many pumpkins there! Ken and I went to a pumpkin patch the first year we were married, but it didn't hold a candle to the size of this one. We liked that it was pretty family friendly, and the prices weren't too bad, either.
Enjoying the view from his high chair at The Chowder Bowl
Last Monday we decided to take an impromptu visit to Winema beach, and have a little family adventure. Weslee did terrific on his first longer car ride, and was very excited to see everything when we walked to the beach. The excitement ended the second Ken put him down on the sand. He did not like the sand, and he did not like the ocean... so Weslee is not a fan of the beach just yet. Hopefully when he's a little older he'll enjoy running around and making sand castles. For now, it was a fun experience, and a learning experience for us for future trips. We headed down the coast to Newport after the beach, and had dinner at our favorite place, The Chowder Bowl. Weslee loved the restaurant, and enjoyed watching all the people. Hopefully we'll find more days where we can make little trips as a family.
Time sure flies. It doesn't seem like it's been half a year since Weslee arrived. Just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and carefully handling our fragile package, right? Our little guy is sure growing! He went to the doctor last week and weighed in at 17 1/2lbs! That's nearly triple his lowest weight- holy cow! He can now sit up on his own, and bear walk (hands and legs straight instead of knees) to move himself across the floor. He tries crawling when he really wants to be somewhere, but much prefers if mom and dad get things for him. He love his feet, and is usually playing with them in some way. Right now he's lounging next to me with his Ellie-Phant in his hands, clapping his feet together like a seal. He's deep in conversation with the toy, lol. He still doesn't have any teeth that have broken through, but we noticed another little white bump almost where molars should be on the bottom right. Now we wonder if he's going to have a bunch of teeth all come in at once... poor kid.
We're looking forward to the 6-month appointment with the doctor to hear her opinion on how Weslee is doing. He's always been a little bit ahead developmentally. If crawling goes like sitting up, he may be doing it by 6 months. We're excited to see what he's going to do with his first solid food. I found a recipe for homemade brown rice cereal that I'm going to try since it's more healthy than processed white rice cereal.
Hopefully I'll keep up on blogging fairly regularly now that Weslee can kind of amuse himself for short periods of time.
Here it is: your one day to remember how thankful you are for everything the Lord has blessed us with in this world... hmm, that doesn't sound right. Though I love Thanksgiving, I love it even more when people remember to give thanks to the Lord every other day of the year for the things He has done. I wonder sometimes why it is that everybody harps on "be thankful" only during the last half of November, and those same people don't say a word the rest of the year.
This year, I am especially thankful for: ~ My salvation and promise of eternal life with God in Heaven ~ My marriage ~ How good God is to those who have passed this life to be with Him ~ Weslee, and how God has protected him ~ Family and friends ~ Financial woes, because it teaches us to rely on the Lord ~ A real house to live in and welcome Weslee home in ~ A fragile emotional/hormonal state that forces me to rely on God and not myself ~ Difficult people that help challenge me to deal with them appropriately ~ Those who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus and have so much to teach us ~ Creation ~ Every day I survive, and every day I begin
This is the story of a little baby named Eliot, and how his parents were thankful for every day God blessed them with. It hits a little close to home for me after losing a baby and watching my nephew in the hospital for the first month of his life. You might want to grab a few tissues before you watch it.
I hope today that we take the time to think of the reasons we should be thankful EVERY day, and not just when we hang out with family and friends to eat an exorbitant amount of food... but I hope we also enjoy the fellowship and food!
I can't believe it's already been a month since I last blogged! Things have been so hectic the past few weeks that I just haven't been together enough to sit down and write anything coherent. I am writing from my bedroom in our new house, which is turning out to be much better than the apartment we were in! I must say I love that I don't hear the next door neighbor playing their music/tv/video games at all hours of the night. It's quiet here, with the occasional sound of passing cars.
I have to admit my favorite place here is the kitchen. I have two ovens and a glass stove top, and cooking is so much easier and more fun! Ken and I have been doing a lot of cooking together because there's enough room for both of us in the kitchen now. Yesterday I tried my mom's recipe for Dutch Babies, which I have been told are the same thing as German pancakes. They were delicious, and I'm planning on having them more often because they're so easy to make! This week I've got a recipe for oatmeal apple muffins that my Grandma Ruth gave me years ago, and I want Ken to try them. I'll hopefully find where I put my camera by then so I can take pictures and post the recipe here.
Only 10 more weeks until I'm considered full term and Weslee is free to be here. I'm coming up on the 28th week in pregnancy, which means that fun glucose tolerance test. I'll let you know how it goes, but I am NOT looking forward to it. We had a little excitement a few weeks ago, and I ended up at the hospital and the doctor's office and ended up finding out I've pulled a uterine ligament. I've had to be pretty careful about not stretching the ligament any more, and have worked at physical therapy for a couple weeks to help reduce the pain and strengthen my core so the uterus has better support and the ligament isn't as strained. This morning I found out that I get to do maintenance on my own, which will be nice. Ken has been very helpful with all the restrictions I've got now.
With the final trimester comes these lovely practice contractions called Braxton Hicks, and I've felt a few now. I am not so much looking forward to labor after feeling them, but they aren't anything unbearable... just uncomfortable.
I am looking forward to the holidays- my favorite time of the year! Ken said I can decorate before Thanksgiving if I can get all of our things put away here at the house, so I'm working hard to reach that goal! With Thanksgiving so late this year, there isn't much time before Christmas, and I want to have a month to appreciate all the twinkle lights and pretty ornaments. I will hopefully make it another week before I start singing carols all day long... I think.
So it's been about a month since my last blog, and I figured it was about time for another one. I'm 23 weeks along now, and starting to feel the discomfort of the growing belly. There have been several occasions where Ken has had to give me a little push out of bed because I just couldn't get the momentum to do it myself. I've also been sick just about every week, and finally figured out that I was catching a virus every week at a church event. I feel much better now that I'm not going to that event, and hopefully won't have to worry about the weird illnesses anymore.
Weslee just keeps growing, and it's pretty hard to sleep when he's rearranging my innards at night. The cool thing is that Ken can feel all of the movements I feel now, and I love to hear the excitement in his voice and watch his face light up when he gets to feel his son move.
Ken and I have been making the most of this fall, with all the activities at church and with family. I'm ecstatic to get to watch my nephew Quinn again, after taking several months off. It's amazing how much you miss when you're not there every week. He likes to take my crocheting squares and tell me he's making a blanket for baby Weslee (which comes out "weswee"). I've also been told that when he's playing pretend sometimes he will pretend to be baby Weslee. Have I mentioned what a cool kid he is?
It seems like there's always another adventure around the corner for us. We were having a relaxing Saturday this past weekend, when our toilet decided to freak out and bubble up. Ken was yelling that he didn't know how to stop it from overflowing, and I was doing my best to run (which looks like a funny waddle) through the aparment to the bathroom, yelling, "Righty tighty, righty tighty! Turn it to the right!" We ended up having to have the plumber come and fix it for us and we left because I needed access to a bathroom during the 2+ hour wait. By the time we came home the guy had already been and gone, and our toilet was all pretty again. I never did find out what happened, but I really don't care because everything works well! It made me realize just how thankful I am for basic amenities like the bathroom facilities.
I'm hoping to get some fall stuff for the apartment once the leaves start to fall from the trees. We don't do Halloween, but Ken happily lets me do a fall theme to my hearts content. I love all the colors outside right now, and wish I had an orange sweater to match it all! I'm going to settle for leaves pressed and put in a frame, and a few mini pumpkins :)
I had a great visit with my midwife yesterday. We are 17 weeks 5 days, and baby is doing great! He or she is happily floating around inside, making a challenge when searching for their little heartbeat. When the midwife found it, we were able to listen to the little beats- 150bpm! I also now have reassurance that I am not getting fatter- my uterus is twice the size I thought it was, and as it gets bigger, my organs are shifting higher to make room. So my stomach is visibly popping out now, and it's almost impossible to hide it.
We will be going to the hospital in two weeks for the 20-week high resolution ultrasound. It will be the first time we've been able to see our little one in 6 weeks, and I am looking so forward to it! We will also have the opportunity to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. We haven't decided how much we will share with family/friends, but hopefully there will at least be an announcement about the sex, if not about the name of the baby.
While we're not having anything similar to fall weather, the autumn activities have started up again. I went to the first choir practice of the season last night and really enjoyed it. It's great to have the opportunity to worship with others who love singing for the Lord. Ken is busy planning things as the youth intern, and the pace of life is picking up. I will begin teaching a women's Bible study next week, and am looking forward to the new experience.
Keep reading for more updates, and tune in September 25 for the results of that ultrasound!
This time of year is my favorite! It's nice and chilly outside, perfect weather for sweaters and scarves. This year Ken and I get two Thanksgivings- one at his parents' house, and one at my parents' house. It's a week of festivities!
I'm thinking about decorating the apartment, and trying to decide how I will do that. I know I want white twinkle lights- everywhere! I think the tiny Christmas tree will go in front of the fireplace for now, and it's easy to move if we decide to have a fire. I will also be rearranging our guest bedroom in hopes that I can somehow find more room in there! I don't know what we'll do when we have to make room for the baby.
We've had maroon and silver, and blue and white so far since we've been married, and I think this year I want white and silver- like snow. Maybe if we're lucky we'll actually get snow this winter! Yay for winter! Yay for holidays! Yay for Christ who was born and died for our sins!
Every week I get to watch my nephew, Quinn, while my sister works her job. It's definitely one of the highlights of each week. He sleeps most of the time, but when he's up we have some fun. This past week we went to the park a couple of times, and had a big cookie incident! I'll let the pictures explain themselves :)
I love my church. If I didn't, I wouldn't go there. That said, it never ceases to amaze me what some people do in a church environment. Tonight I stayed home and studied for a midterm (and passed out tracts to trick-or-treaters) while Ken helped out at our church's Fall Family Festival- a Halloween alternative. Ken didn't dress up, and he went for the sole purpose to help evangelize people who came. The purpose of the festival is to draw people to Christ, as should all of our activities as Christians.
So the evangelism team was there, ready to chat with parents who brought their kids. The wild thing was that somebody told them that they were not allowed to evangelize! Sorry guys, doesn't matter if you're at church- your Gospel message might offend somebody. Heaven forbid the Gospel offends somebody! Goodness sake!!! The Gospel is offensive. It convicts people, and as Christians it is our duty to spread God's word. To tell members of His body that they are not allowed to do as the Bible instructs is ludicrous. Anyway, Ken and several others plan to protest this, because the idea of it is insane, and we shouldn't regulate when people are allowed to share Christ. It is always acceptable to share news of our Savior!!! He came to seek and save the lost, and we are to plead out of love for people to come to Him.
So right on to all you Christians who boldly declare our Risen Lord!!! God is Good!
I just love this time of year. Everything outside is made up of such great colors. The air is nice and crisp, and I get to wear sweaters and scarves. Today I was able to see my nephew Quinn jump in a pile of leaves for the first time. Do you ever have those days where you wish you had the time just to hang out and play in the leaves? If I didn't care about creepy crawlies I would've been in there with him. There's something about fall that I find so special, and I try to enjoy it while it lasts.
I'm a 26-year-old child of God saved by His amazing grace. I'm the wife of my wonderful husband Ken, and stay-at-home mom to my spunky boys Weslee (2), and Phinehas (9mos). Life in our home is never boring, usually chaotic, and always a blessing. Join me as I write about my adventures in this whirlwind called motherhood!
Family pic, from left to right:
Our updated picture (the last was in May, I believe)
Ken hanging out with Weslee
