They Make Me Happy!

Just wanted to share these little cutie pies...they sure can make a momma smile! Especially when it is really needed after they have been stinkers. My husband gently and sweetly reminded me last night that "parenting sure is hard." Indeed it is. Pics like these remind me how precious these monkeys truly are!

They LOVE each other so much! He was holding on to her hand...awwww!!

This is how I found Timothy during a nap while Derek was on a business trip recently. Derek got him that puppy when he was in Switzerland. And I promise, I did not stage his arm around it for the pic!

Emily reading to TK. He loves it!

Just being cute and silly in his crib! I cannot get enough of his smile!

Emily's Thoughts on Timothy...

I had the camera out the other night and after snapping some shots of Emily reading Hop on Pop (one of his favorites) to Timothy, I asked Em some things about her brother. I wanted to document this sweet stage of love and annoyance for them to laugh about and cherish as they get older. I also caught TK being a bit naughty as usual. My favorite is his attempt to tune me out. They are such a treasure and make us laugh so much!

31 Weeks, Caterpillars, and Curls

Here we are at 31 weeks, anticipating Stella Grace's arrival. I had not planned on taking this picture tonight, but sweet little Emily tried out her photography skills and actually got most of my head in the pic...not too bad! I'll blame my hugeness on the angle and such:) I am feeling terrific besides my customary reflux that has visited every time I house another human. Oh well, what a very small sacrifice. I will get to sleep one day...when I am 80!

I have another midwife appt. tomorrow and am now going every 2 weeks. Everything so far is going well. I was borderline with my gestational diabetes testing a couple of weeks ago. (I was borderline with Emily too.) But with Em, I took the long test after and found out I was totally fine...just had a false positive. It was a terrible experience b/c they had A LOT of trouble getting blood after the first draw. This go around, my midwife gave me options...what a beautiful thing. I could do the long test or I could monitor my blood sugar for a couple of weeks and see if it was just a false positive. I chose the latter and am so glad. Within the first few days, my numbers were really low and although I am still checking 3 times a day, I am fairly certain that the glucose test was a false positive. I can't say the finger pricking is much fun, but I was thankful for another option. And it has been interesting to observe what types of food dramatically raise my blood sugar. It has typically ranged anywhere from 77 to 93. But after Chinese food the other day, it was 120 after lunch AND after dinner...CRAZY! I will be steering clear of that for awhile:) Clear evidence that we are SO affected by what we eat!

In other news, Emily has had a "pet" caterpillar since we got home from the farm. She found him right before we left. He survived the journey home and is now twice the size as when she found him! We are really hoping that he will form a chrysalis and become a moth or butterfly. Emily originally named him "Hungry Herbivore" but then she changed it...now he is "Timothy." Ha ha!!

Little man has curls now! I thought it was just a matter of time. Months ago, before he had much hair, his hair would curl up after a bath or if his little head got sweaty. Now you can't tame it. Sometimes the top is a bit flatter but the back never is. It looks just like Em's did when her hair started getting thicker. She just had way more hair by his age (21 months) so her curls were more apparent.

Until next time...

Stella Grace...31 weeks!

Emily in the middle of explaining how much "Timothy" the caterpillar has grown.

She just got done hugging the jar here telling me how much she loves him!

My baby's sweet curls! For the record, this picture was soooo hard to take! I finally got him to look at a book...not a great pic but you get the idea:)

Obedience...at its Finest!

This "cheesey" face cracks us up everytime

Such a stinker...he would NOT stay still for a picture...what a surprise!

...and this is one reason he wouldn't stay still. Despite my very best and worn out efforts, he and Emily still sneak in some jumping time on her bed. I love that you can see he is actually getting some air under his feet in this pic! Oh and I realize how very "safe" it is that he is jumping with that thing in his hand...NICE!

What's a mom to do? I should have just gotten on the bed and joined them...No one listens to me around here:)

Merriman Farm with Friends 2010...Part 1

It was our third year to spend absolutley precious and cherished time with some of our dearest friends at the Henderson's family farm! This year the Moores were able to join us since they live on this side of the country now...although they had a long drive from Kentucky! (thanks Ginny and Kev!) We unfortunately were missing our sweet friends, the Bakers, who were also going to join us for the first time this year. After an unexpected and very sad loss in their family, they needed to stay back. We so missed them, but can't wait until they can join us next year.

There is a lot of preparation that goes into getting all of these families together every year, but the pay-off is SO worth it! There are so many things we experience when we get away together like this. Our children experience freeedom and fun together. We all experience the blessing of no agendas and no schedules. It allows for the sweetest and deepest of conversations and relationships to take place. Derek and I (and our children) have been blessed beyond measure with very rare friendships where unconditional love and accountability are abundant and we are so very grateful! I say it every year upon our return...I CANNOT wait until next year!

Lots of pics below and more to come later, but considering we took over 300!!! this is all I could do for now:) We'll just call this Part 1!


The Guys...minus Jonathan who had to head out early.

The Girls...we are missing Mandi:( (and Rebekah)

YES!!!...I do believe Kevin ate ALL of that!

The sweetest husband and Daddy in all the world reading to our babies!!

Eating the traditional ice cream the Williams make every year...yumm!!

Catching up was so fun...Kevin and Derek think they are so cool!:) They cleaned up after dinner for all of us...yes, that would be 12 adults and LOTS of children. Our husbands have true servant hearts!

Sweet Ginny! It was awesome to spend DAYS catching up!

TK wanted to do this nonstop...poor Derek! His back took a beating!

I don't think he fully understood the point of the "sprinkler"

Precious little Annelise!

Can you just feel the love...TK looks slightly annoyed

Em and I had been talking about habitats and ecosystems so we had a perfect chance to see a great example.

Fishing at the pond with Daddy

All of the kiddos...minus the little ones

With the exception of sweet little Annelise, this is a great pic of all of our children. We have REALLY multiplied over the last 3 years:) It is hard to believe that little Stella Grace will be with us next year and will be around 9 mo. old...WOW!

I just LOVE this stinker!

Silly boy

Emily and Caleb...quite the Dynamic Duo...they LOVE Superheroes!!

Timothy reaching for his little buddy Jack

This kid scares me because of how strong and fearless he is!