Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary,
Great Grandma and Grandpa!

We love you and are so glad Great Grandma is home for the celebration! :o)

Highlights

It's been a wonderful week and a half since we welcomed Matthew into our family! :o) As can be imagined, new babies generate lots of pictures and activity. I will only attempt to share the highlights . . .

The proud Daddy's first picture with his new little one . . .

And the same for a proud, tired Mommy . . . :o)

Hannah and Peter are so excited about their new brother! :o)

We are so thankful that Grandma was able to come take care of everything around the house so that Mommy could recuperate!

We enjoyed the time at the hospital as a quiet opportunity to get to know our newest addition,
but we were also very glad to head home! :o)

Of course, everybody wants to hold the littlest one . . .

Hannah has especially cherished these opportunities. She hasn't voiced it, but I believe in her opinion, Matthew eats and sleeps entirely too much! She'd much rather be holding him and often hovers near Mommy during feeding times waiting for her opportunity to hold him afterwards.

Peter was quite excited to see that he and Matthew both had airplane jammies . . .

And we're glad Grandpa was able to come down as well!

More snuggle time . . .

Mommy and Matthew joined the family at church for the morning service for Matthew's first Sunday, and we snapped a family photo as well . . .

Considering that he was not happy with his first experience in the carseat on the way home from the hospital, we're extra thankful that his disposition towards that necessary piece of equipment has changed considerably . . . Friends at church had these strap monkeys for their little one, and Peter loved them! :o) He actually learned to count "two" on his fingers as a result of those monkeys, so we were glad to be able to purchase a set for Matthew (for Peter to enjoy.) ;o)

Since Grandma had all of the meal planning, cleaning, and laundry completely under control, and Mommy was caring for Matthew, Daddy, Grandpa, Hannah, and Peter went looking for other occupations during Matthew's first week.

Believe it or not, Daddy and Grandpa knocked out the block wall surrounding the basement bathroom. (Grandpa likes demolition . . . ) :o) There's more pictures which could accompany this one, but we're going for highlights . . .

Hannah and Grandma also had fun with crafts. :o)

And Daddy and Peter enjoyed trying out Grandpa's tractor which he brought down on the trailer for us to borrow for the summer. (Thanks Grandpa!)

And Grandma also took care of 99% of Peter's birthday preparations, including making adorable puppy dogs for Peter to share with his friends at school. (Thanks Grandma!)

Peter's helping Grandma make his cupcakes here . . .

Happy 3rd Birthday, Peter!

Aren't those cupcakes cute?!?

Peter enjoyed all of his gifts, but the grin on his face when Daddy gave him his very own real shovel was priceless!

And he knew just what to do with it! :o)

Thanks for the new oufit, G&G H!

Uncle Bryan and Aunt Janie came down to celebrate Aunt Janie's sister's birthday, but we enjoyed getting to see them a bit as well. :o)

Hannah was serving ice cream to all interested parties . . .

Our three munchkins . . .

And our littlest one . . . who, by the way, isn't so little!

At his one week checkup, he had regained all of his birthweight plus 1-1/2 ounces. :o) He's also in the 99th percentile for height at 22-3/4 inches long! Hmmm . . . I think he got those genes from Daddy!

Following Matthew's first bath . . .

Our last day with G&G . . .

Thanks so much for coming! We love you!

We praise the Lord for the addition of our sweet baby boy who already feels like a part of the family!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Peter!

We love you, Buddy!

Your sweet smile and creative engineering are a daily delight!
We pray that you will grow to love and
serve the Lord with all of your heart!

Our littlest one . . .

We praise the Lord for the safe delivery of Matthew Allan!
April 14, 2010 at 10:08 a.m.
8 lbs. 14 oz.
22 inches long

Mommy and Matthew are both recovering and doing well.
Thank you for your prayers!

Reasons to Smile

Sometimes you just have to smile . . .

When you see your children talking to each other on the telephone . . .

When you see your son putting the nail in the tire . . .

Thankfully it was his car--not the family van!

When your daughter executes a craft idea from a magazine with minimal assistance . . .

BIG feet!

When your children go for drive together.

"Where did you go?" "Oh, somewhere."

When your son thoroughly enjoys his dessert :o)

When your daughter can play word games at age four . . .

When your children take the dolls for a Saturday morning stroll . . .

When your daughter decides to randomly jump in a picture and smile for you!

When you can see out beautiful new windows and simply rejoice in the blessing and provision of the Lord!

The Lord is so good!
Sometimes I am simply overwhelmed by His goodness and grace.

My cup runneth over.

Overwhelmed.

Earlier this week I was overwhelmed.

We have been trying to make progress on framing in the guest room/office in the basement so that our parents will have a place to stay when they come to visit in the next few weeks. Not even attempting for paint or fancy flooring or anything, but at least cover up the walls, maybe hang some drywall, provide a bit of privacy . . .

But it wasn't happening. We tried. Chris took time off work to work on it. And it just. didn't. happen. Call it "Builder's Block" or what you may, but there were too many questions to answer, too many decisions to make, and it simply didn't happen. We made a bit of progress on a few other side items and did a lot of research, but the room remained concrete block.

Sometimes the Lord does that. He wants to make sure you understand that it's not YOU who accomplishes anything. It's Him. After some time in prayer, the Lord prompted us to call some friends to see if they were able and willing to lend some assistance this weekend.

:::

Today I am overwhelmed again.

By the wonderful friends with whom the Lord has blessed us and their willingness to share their Saturday with us and the incredible progress the Lord allowed us to make today! Here's a few pictures . . .

Mr. Jonathan shared dinner with us last night and then made the supply run with Chris--I'm not much for helping load lumber and sheetrock these days. :o) This morning, the kids helped him pull the plastic off the insulation so that it could go against the brick walls and still allow them to breathe.

Mr. R and Mr. Dan were our other two wonderful helpers! Within just a few hours the four men had insulation and studs up on the outside walls.

The kids did great watching the construction and occupying themselves while Mommy worked upstairs. They figured out the seesaw all by themselves!

And Mrs. Debbie brought Evangeline over for the afternoon, so Mommy had good fellowship too! :o) (And MUCH appreciated help with kiddos and in cleaning up from lunch and such!)
Replacing the wall next to the stairs was definitely the trickiest part of the operation, and we ended up needing a few more studs to finish it, but the basic framework is there. (For those who notice and will wonder about such things, the window framing will accomodate a larger egress window to be installed later.)
And here it be, folks! The door will be framed in on the far left of this picture. Studs will fill in the remainder of the wall behind the stairs.
The "closet" opening is framed in here. It won't be a closet though until a good bit down the road when we repeat this process all over again with the front room.
And here's a glimpse of the finangling they had to do with the stairs. Let's just say that the post is not straight. At all. But that's okay. :o) A few more studs and some sheets of drywall and we'll have ourselves a fine guestroom! :o)

Thank you so much, friends!

You were a huge blessing to us today!
(And our parents will be greatly appreciative too!)