Similarities?

Do you think they look anything alike??

Ainsley (few days old)

Ellie (a few days old)

Sisters

Ellie is doing extremely well with her little sister. She is always very excited to see her after she has been gone, and loves to tickle her feet! We are trying to be very cautious with the two, which is hard work and leads to some frustration. Life is definitely going to be different with two, but we are excited and still can't believe we are parents of two!

Ainsley had a doctor's appointment this morning, and is finally gaining weight back! If you don't know much about newborns, they loose weight the first few days and will hopefully start to gain it back when mother's milk comes in or they start eating really well. It's a huge relief to know that she has gained weight, especially when she's gaining it fast! She gained 3 oz in 2 days, they only expect 1 oz per day! This is very exciting and we are so thankful that things are going so well and for such a healthy girl!

Brian Regan on Cooking

So you probably want to hear or see a picture of the baby, but this is just so funny. I wondered why cooking always looked so easy on tv, and then whenever I cook it was never that easy! I hope you get a laugh out of this, Brian Regan is just hilarious:

Ainsley Ruth is Here!

We are so excited that Ainsley Ruth is finally here! She came Wednesday, December 16, at 5:03am. I would make Zach tell the labor story because he did an amazing job with Ellie's story, but he actually wasn't there! So let me start from the beginning...

Monday, Zach had an opportunity come up at work where they needed him to travel to Boston Tuesday and Wednesday. My immediate response was like WHAT?!? of course you can't go, I could have the baby at any moment! However after much thought, it would look really bad if he went and I didn't go into labor AND I most likely wasn't going to go into labor. He allowed me to make the decision, and after much thought I decided it would be best for him to go. So he left at 4am Tuesday morning and was supposed to fly back at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon. He of course would be able to drop what he was doing at any moment and catch a flight home, unless it was in the middle of the night where there are no flights from Boston to Raleigh. Well, low and behold, I started to go into labor in the middle of the night the one night he was gone...

At 2:30a, I woke up having a contraction. I had been having some contractions earlier in the evening around 5p that were 7 minutes apart, but they went away. I was thinking that this was going to be the same thing because it had been going on like this for a week. I got up, went to the bathroom, then laid back down and waited for the next contraction. It was only 5 minutes until the next one, and during this one I think Ainsley kicked and I heard a pop. I thought my water might have broken, but there was no fluid. I went to the bathroom again, and had some leakage, but still no idea if my water really had broken. I kept timing the contractions, which were more painful than the braxton hicks I had been experiencing. They were consistently 5 minutes apart, but I waited an hour to make sure they didn't go away. Around 3:15 I knew that even if my water hadn't broken, I was in labor. I woke up my mom (who came and stayed with me since Zach was gone), called Zach, and started to finish packing my bag. My mom called my sister, who was then immediately on her way to my house to watch Ellie.

While packing my bags and getting some things situated, the pain got worse. At 4a, I was ready for an epidural. I told my mom that we needed to go ASAP! Within a few minutes, we were out the door! Now Zach hadn't informed my mom of this, but when I'm in severe pain, you don't talk to me. So my mom was trying to encourage me and was really excited, but I wouldn't let her say a word. I wanted an epidural NOW, and that's all I had to say. The ride was extremely difficult and painful, I was encouraging my mom to go as fast as she could. We arrived at the hospital around 4:20. After I got put into a room, the nurses were trying to ask me questions and get everything ready. All I cared about was getting an epidural and getting it NOW! They told me I needed to answer the questions and they needed to get some blood. Well I think they knew I was not going to be getting one and that baby was coming soon. I would say around 4:45 I had started pushing (beyond my control, I couldn't help it). The doctor wasn't there yet, so the nurses were trying to keep me from pushing, but they thought they might be delivering her themselves. They ended up calling another doctor in, but my doctor finally arrived in time to help deliver Ainsley and she arrived at 5:03! She weighed 8lbs 5 oz (big girl! Ellie was 7lb 7oz) and measured 21 inches long. She was perfect, beautiful and healthy!


Zach took the first flight out in Boston and arrived at the hospital at 9:30a. We were able to spend some time alone, just us with Ainsley... and I finally was able to rest. I am doing great and feeling great, just tired. We actually came home yesterday, December 17, since we were all doing so well. It's definitely difficult having a newborn and toddler, but luckily my mom is here to help! Thanks for your prayers, continue to pray as we learn to live as a family of 4 and for little Ainsley as she grows. We can't wait for you to meet her if you haven't already!

Our new addition

Close up of Ainsley's chubby, cute cheeks AND dark hair!!

Zach already reading to Ainsley

38 weeks

No change from 2 weeks ago except that my cervix is very soft and 50% effaced! I'm still 2cm dilated, she's still head down and in the -2 position. I'm feeling much better, still have a slight cough, but the infection is gone! I also only got up once last night to potty, which is a first in FOREVER (maybe 7 months??). This also means that I slept very well, only waking that once and then when I had to turn over (which probably was at least a handful of times). This is amazing sleep compared to how I was sleeping. Maybe I'm resting up for the big day!

My body is definitely getting ready for labor, but no telling when it will be. The doctor said most likely I'll be just a few days early like Ellie, but she wouldn't be surprised if I went tonight or a week late. I feel finally ready and somewhat anxious, so I'm trying to be patient and enjoy these last days with just us three. (However, I started walking again now that I feel better to encourage Ainsley to come... we'll see if it works). Keep praying for us!

Traditions and Christmas

Here we are again. Its December and the Christmas season is in full swing. The tree is up, the lights are on, the house smells like gingerbread and my weight is slowly climbing.

Laura and I (mostly me) love the seasonal activities more than I should. To prove how much I love the season I took a picture of my first "Christmas cup" from Starbucks back in November. You can see it here.

We love the season and we love the seasonal activities but we are a little sad that we don't have any traditions so my wife and I are investing in either an advent wreath or an advent calendar so that we can make all our celebrations truly about Christ.

We believe that a tradition is more than a ritual. Not passing judgment but in most cases celebrating Christmas eve/day with your family is a habit not a tradition. Opening gifts is a custom not a tradition. Visiting grandma and grandpa and eating the exact same meal every year is a ritual not a tradition.

A tradition is a regular activity that purposefully helps adults and children know, love, desire and treasure God in the most real sense.

Now, just having an advent wreath or calendar doesn't accomplish this but, by as a family reading scripture and lighting a candle each Sunday of advent we are continually reminded of what this season of celebration and hope is all about. Having this as the regular and repeating focal point of the celebration helps everything else to fall in order.

Laura and I are also careful not just about what we do at Christmas but what we do not do at Christmas. We believe that Santa is too much of a distraction and competing force to the true meaning of Christmas so we don't "do Santa." You're not a bad parent if you do but we can't justify it to ourselves. Our fears and objections are not abstract. I have listed the reasons why as a family we chose not to "do Santa" as well as the two big objections we get and our response to them.

Why we don't do Santa

1) Santa adds the the already overwhelming attitude of consumerism and materialism our culture throws at our children. Santa's purpose is to bring kids the gifts they want. He is the focus and highlight of the season and we aren't okay with that. If opening gifts is the highlight of Christmas we have failed our children. Our God is a cultivator of new things not a consumer of created things. We don't celebrate him buying stuff.

2) Santa isn't real. Everybody likes fairytales and fiction but no one asks you to actually believe they are true. First of all, if I ask my kids to believe this fairytale and then they find out it isn't true there will be anger and distrust or at best, disappointment that I caused. Second, we don't really ask our children to believe in the boogieman, the Easter bunny, or leprechauns so why is Santa so important?

3) If we celebrate Christmas with Santa and elves as well as the nativity and maggai we are postponing our kids ability to understand the truth of what God has done. I heard a great quote to this effect: "Its very difficult for children to sort through the marble cake of part reality and part imagination to find the crumbs of truth." We want our children to understand God as much as possible at whatever age, we should try and avoid what could distort this understanding.

4) For an uncritical and easily convinced child Santa must be confusing. He is so much like what our kids are being taught at home and church that God is like all year long. Look at his attributes:

• Omniscient - See all that you do
• Omnipresent - or can be everywhere in one night
• Answers sincere petitions
• Gives you good gifts
• Rewards good behavior
• Famous "guy in the sky"

The point is to a child the characteristics of Santa seem very similar to the characteristics of God and they may not be able to make the distinction between God-attributes and Santa-attributes. Suddenly the child thinks God judges us and blesses us based on our performance rather than out of the grace we have through the glorification of Christ at his death and resurrection.

Common Objections

1) But Zach, Santa is good for kid's imaginative development. I agree that Santa-like figures may have the ability to make a child's imagination run wild with fantastic ideas and adventures. This is great. My question to you would be: what's wrong with my kids imagination the rest of the year? We don't talk about Santa any time during the year except December. (If you are the exception to that statement then you are probably using Santa as a bargaining tool to get your kids to behave and that is just wrong.) All year long children play with imaginary friends and dream up awesome adventures. They don't loose this ability because its Christmas.

2) But Zach, Santa represents love you say again with growing disdain. Perhaps this is true if that's what you have taught your children but couldn't we simply explain that God is love and he became flesh to prove it? And couldn't we say that we give gifts to show others how much we love them and to reflect that same love? Don't tell me explaining how a fat guy with reindeer can go to every house in the world in a single day is easier than telling your kids simply God loves us and this is one way we celebrate.

3) But Zach, don't you know the real story of "Santa" or "St. Nick"? I know the story of St. Nicholas and that's great but he is no longer the Santa that "visits" your children, he hasn't been for a very long time. Your children's Santa is a rewarder of works with high priced gadgets and gizmos that make them either boast to their friends about what they got or be disappointed it wasn't enough. The latter was my reaction until I out grew Santa. If Santa could give me what ever I wanted, why didn't he? Was I not good enough? Did he not like me? Knowing that my parents are the ones that buy gifts makes my expectations much more reasonable. I know my parents love me, they show me all year long, but I also know that money doesn't grow on trees because they tell me all year long.

I hope you establish some awesome traditions with your family and friends.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

You got to see a picture of our Christmas tree in my Thanksgiving post, and I mentioned that this was our first Christmas tree. See, when we lived in the apartment we didn't want to purchase decorations or a tree since we wouldn't be home much over Christmas and we didn't know what we would want for our house. And last year we decorated a tad bit for Christmas, but still no tree since we were planning on visiting our parents for 2 weeks. So this was our first tree, AND the first time Ellie really knew what was going on.... so I really wanted to catch her reaction on video. We decorated after she went to bed, and then took this video when she woke up the next morning. (Take note of how I sound like I'm not awake, but Ellie is in a great mood. She definitely is a morning girl.):



p.s. Don't I have an awesome hubby?

What a Woman

Over the past three years I have noticed significant change in my wife. When I married her I knew she was beautiful, loving, generous, and family oriented but at that time I had neither fully experienced those characteristics nor grasped their depth. Today I would add patient, theologically minded, frugal (a good thing) and more knowledgeable of my self than I am.

I want to address each of those new characteristics one by one.

First - Patient. If you were to ask Laura’s siblings or parents to pick one word [or even ten words] to describer her, patient would never have been one of them. If you ask me, it’s in the top three now. This is not a general patience in the sense that she can handle a minor annoyance for a short period of time. This is an enduring strength that wanes very slowly and isn’t angered easily. I’m not going to digress into self deprecation but she does put up with a lot of my faults. I don’t know how many times we have talked about love languages and how I can make her feel special on a day to day basis but my actions inevitably show that I have completely forgotten or temporarily misplaced my memory of those conversations so after an extended period of time she reminds me and we start over again. She really embodies what a grace based marriage looks like so I added that to the list of reasons why I love her.

Second – Theologically Minded. Laura was saved as a child and to my knowledge she has never questioned those beliefs. This wasn’t the case for me. Because of this difference, theology didn’t really interest her a great deal…until about a year ago. I think the major change happened while we were regularly having some Mormon missionaries into our house to discuss what it means to have a relationship with Christ. During these six or eight weeks Laura started to notice that a few nuances in theological wording make a big difference. Those theological issues that we addressed like the trinity, baptism, the person of Christ, and the extent and nature of the atonement are what differentiate Christianity from other heresies. I have noticed since then a new and sustained interest in theology. Since then we have talked off and on about the trinity, she reads Al Mohler’s blog (very sexy, her reading the blog not Al Mohler), and she is reading specifically about theology and women. I didn’t marry and average woman, she goes above and beyond in everything she does. One day I caught her reading Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology in bed, nothing turns me on more than my wife in bed with a thick book on reformed theology.

Third – Frugal. The woman can shop. I mean that in a good way. Laura and I are convinced that it is both biblical and best for her to stay at home with our children but this occasionally creates some financial strains. To make sure that we can still put food on the table, give generously, and not go crazy Laura started using coupons when she goes to the grocery store. That task is much more difficult that it sounds if you want to really save some money. She generally spends a few hours a week planning, cutting, and organizing coupons to save the most money possible. I don’t know the exact numbers but she typically saves us 25%-50% of what we would have been spending had she not taken on that responsibility. I can’t help but think of Proverbs 31 when I see how she plans and stewards our finances like this so we can buy some new clothes for the kids or so I can buy a cup of coffee every now and then. She is far more precious than jewels and my heart trusts in her because she does me good all the days of my life.

Fourth – She Knows Me Better Than I Do. This is scary. Really, it’s freaky. I will be trying to make a decision about something and Laura will know not only what I am going to do but what my thought process is. If Laura is buying me something it doesn’t take her long to know exactly what to get me and to be fully confident that I will love it. She knows me perfectly and is always thinking about what I would and would not like. She does this when it comes to buying clothes, decorating the house but appreciate this the most when it comes to cooking. I can be a little picky sometimes but I can’t think of a time where Laura has tried a new recipe that I really didn’t like. That because, like I said, she is always thinking about me.

As we get ready to have our second child I’m so thankful for a wife who is dedicated to our children and to me. I’m so thankful for a wife who is patient. I’m so thankful for a wife who loves God and I am so thankful for a wife who loves me.

37 weeks

No picture of the belly this week, I know you're sad, but I did want to give you an update! Last week I went to the doctor and got my Strep B test, was checked for dilation and position, was measured, and of course got to hear Ainsley's precious little heart beat! So what did the doctor say?? Well I am 2cm dilated, and Ainsley's head is down and is in the -2 position (-3 is where they start and +2 is when her head will be crowning during delivery)! Very exciting, although we still have no idea when she is coming this at least means we're getting ready for the big day.

Today I had another appointment and I found out today at the doctor that the test came back negative, which is nice b/c I don't have to worry about receiving the antibiotic for it. We didn't check for dilation or position (except to still make sure her head is down), we'll do that next week. Yea nothing exciting to report, but of course I'm always excited to get to hear her heartbeat (which sounded great).

So how am I feeling? Right now, extremely yucky. I still am fighting this cold/virus, however since it's been 2 weeks of me coughing, the doctor did put be on an antibiotic. Hopefully I'll get better soon! I definitely would prefer Ainsley to not come now because I want to be healthy before I start labor. I'm really exhausted, yet my body doesn't want to let me sleep... so I just try to rest when I'm not chasing a toddler around, or cooking, or cleaning, or whatever else might come up. BUT I do have my bag somewhat packed, Ainsley's clothes washed, newborn diapers, the house decorated for Christmas, most of the Christmas shopping done, even most of the presents wrapped and under the tree! It definitely is a crazy time of the year to have a baby, but also a very fun time to welcome one into this world. Zach and I love Christmas time and hope that we will cherish every moment this December. Now the waiting game... the countdown begins! Be praying for us...

Our first Christmas tree:

Thanksgiving

Delicious turkey by my mom:
It was great visiting family one last time before baby Ainsley arrives. We are so thankful to have such a loving family, people who will always be there. This year I am thankful for many things, the Lord continually blesses us. Not only am I thankful for the wonderful things such as God's grace, a wonderful husband, a sweet and healthy little girl, family, friends, church, and a house.... I'm also thankful for the "not-so-good" things. Such as the sleepless nights (bc it only means that I get to experience this wonderful thing called pregnancy and hopefully bring another precious little girl into this world), the forceful and continuous movement of my baby (bc this means she is healthy and alive), the arguments with my husband (bc it means I have a husband, one who desires intimacy and a better relationship like I do), an eternal mess (I spend all day picking up after my family, but this means I have a family and teaches me to just let things be a mess sometimes), and then lastly (although I could go on) I am thankful for the empty checking account (bc I have learned what is valuable and one of those things is kids... which is why my bank account is empty in the first place).

I'm truly thankful for everything, even though sometimes I might not act like it. I don't deserve anything, but for some reason the Lord continues to give. So although this post is a little late after Thanksgiving, I hope that you too will be thankful for every moment.

We had a very busy Thanksgiving Day. We first had lunch at Aunt Kay's house with all of Zach's mom's family, then went to Uncle Kevin's late afternoon to hang out with Zach's dad's family. We ended the weekend celebrating Thanksgiving with my family with an amazing dinner, cooked all by my mom, on Saturday. We didn't capture many pictures of the family, but we did get a few of Ellie and some cousins:

Ellie with her 3 cousins

Ellie playing the Rock Band drums at Uncle Kevin's house, she definitely is a big fan of drums!

Ellie fell in love with these tigger shoes, these are the only shoes she'll actually keep on!

Cleaning

Whenever I get books from the library, I take them home and wipe them with a clorox wipe. So after I got a ton of books from the library this week, I was cleaning them and Ellie wanted to help! Of course I must let her help, so I gave her a paper towel and she helped me clean. Even after I finished cleaning, she still wanted to clean... IMPRESSIVE! We decided we must catch this moment on video:

Growing Up

It's amazing how fast little ones grow. Ellie has changed so much from just 4 months ago. She is saying so many new words, phrases, and even some sentences! The other day we were in Lowes and a lady was talking to her. Instead of saying bye, the lady said "see you later alligator". I was completely shocked when Ellie repeated her very clearly for an 18-month old! I tried to get her to repeat it, but it didn't happen.

Ellie also has been learning to be quite the listener! Of course this comes with a lot of consistent discipline on the parents' end. Being consistent is definitely a very hard thing, especially when you expect and demand they listen the first time! We still have a ways to go... but we've come a long way. One thing I've been very impressed with is her ability to understand "if you do this, then this happens or you get this". One of the areas this comes in handy is when eating. She tends to demand the food she wants to eat and refuses to eat what we give her. Usually she has at least one item she likes (bread, fruit, cracker, or goldfish), most of the time the other items (chicken, beef, broccoli, rice) she likes but not very much. What happens is she demands more of what she wants and refuses to eat the other items. This was not acceptable for us, so we started the "if you eat this, then you can have more of that". We had some tantrums at first (some really bad ones when we were out, especially if anybody had fries), but after two weeks she listens extremely well! She will finish eating what we tell her to, and then she gets what she wants (sometimes she doesn't even want it anymore and is satisfied with what she has). AMAZING! It's so nice to see hard work paid off!

So last thing I'll share since this post is getting long, is how she LOVES to help mommy! She always wants to help clean and carry things. One thing she usually is very good at is putting up toys, however she doesn't like it when I make her do it by herself. I was very impressed the other day to find her cleaning up her toys without me even asking, it made me so proud! I had to take a picture:

What a Wonderful Daddy...

The night after I wrote the last post, I didn't get any sleep! Of course after I write about how great I've been feeling even when I'm a little sick, I start feeling awful. I have gotten a lot of congestion that seems to be settling in my lungs, which prevented me from sleeping Thursday night because I had a hard time breathing. Luckily I have a wonderful husband, who also is a great father, who took Friday off and spent time with Ellie.

Here is what their day looked like:
Spent over 2 hours at Marbles museum. (They painted their own faces). Then they went to Starbucks, of course... a date with daddy is not complete without some starbucks. And yes, Daddy lets Ellie have some of his coffee/frap.

I would have to say she was wiped out, and I was able to rest the WHOLE day! This was such a nice thing and something much needed for me. Not only did I have a sleepless night, but I've been feeling some much needed "me" time. I was able to rest, read, watch a tv show, and have some much needed non-distracted or rushed time with the Lord.

Not only did Ellie have a great time with Daddy on Friday... Saturday I woke up feeling just terrible because of the sleepless night on Thursday, and Daddy was so kind again to take Ellie out and let me rest AGAIN! It wasn't a whole day, but still extremely thoughtful and needed! I hate missing out on family time, but I know I should rest, so I make him take videos of moments. Saturday they just went to Target, I thought this was worth posting:

35.5 Weeks

I'm 35.5 weeks... getting closer! I'm definitely very excited and can't believe it's almost here. I'm feeling great considering I'm 8 months pregnant. I'm actually sleeping better, but have been somewhat sick. I had a little bug 2 weeks ago, and now I think I have a cold. Not too much fun, but I definitely am not feeling bad. My energy has been low, but since I'm sleeping better, I think I feel better overall. Here's my growing belly:
Ellie is starting to understand somewhat of what we are saying about a baby inside my stomach. She kisses Ainsley, will put her hand on my stomach to feel her move, and calls her baby or Ainsley. I'm not sure how much she gets, but I think she understands a lot more than what we think! Here is some shots we got of her with Ainsley :)



And here's a family photo, you don't see much of these!

Happy Birthday Anna!

Today is my dear friend's birthday, Anna Pepper. Since she now lives in Georgia and we never get to see each other or hardly chat... I thought this day was well deserving of a post!




She didn't quite say happy birthday, although she can say it somewhat. She gets shy sometimes on video :)

Anna- Hope you have a fabulous day! Love you boo!

Ring Around the Rosie

Ellie loves playing 'Ring Around the Rosie'. This is just after she took her bath, hence only the diaper.

Bring the Rain

I stumbled across this blog Bring The Rain, created by Angie Smith, from one of my friend's blog list. I was amazed by her faith in the Lord. I don't know her story, but she started this blog because she lost a child. What a terrible tragedy. My heart breaks just even thinking about losing Ellie or Ainsley, however I hope if the Lord chooses to take one of them, I will have the same heart she has. I hope I never have to experience the pain of losing a child, but I do know that there will be pain in my life.
This quote is the theme for her blog, "And I know there'll be days when this life brings me pain. But if that's what it takes to praise you Jesus, bring the rain." All of us will go through pain, so we definitely can learn from her and strive for that same trust in our Lord.

So you can go to her blog and read the post, but just in case you don't, here is some of what she says and my thoughts:

Her most recent post was on John 5, when Jesus heals the lay man. Jesus asks the man if he would like to get well. Our small group studied this chapter the other week, and we concluded the same thing... what kind of question is that? Of course this man wants to get well! However if you look at his response, he doesn't say yes. Instead he gives reasons why he can't get well, having no hope of ever getting well.... having little faith. This is the reason why Jesus asks the question, to reveal this man's attitude. Angie relates it to her circumstance saying, "And when Jesus hears my the man's rambling, doubtful answer, He tells him to be obedient and to disregard the pool. He doesn't need water, just a willing servant." Stop making excuses, have FAITH. Stop relying on other things to heal you, God is the one has given those other things the power to heal, so rely on God instead.

However, he doesn't always heal the way we want him to. I'm just going to quote the rest of her post because I love the ways she writes this:

"Do you want to get well?"

In my mind, I hear Him asking it a little differently..."Do you believe I can make you well?"

Well, yes. Of course I do.

I'm not relying on feeble statistics and human ability. My God is asking me a question and I will do the only thing I know how to do.

Kneel deep and nod yes, believing that He can handle the rest.

After all, it's His house of mercy. His unending grace and love.

Whether it's been 38 minutes or 38 years you've been waiting, one thing is for sure. He is the same God now as He was in Jerusalem years ago.

So get up, friend.

It's time to walk.

No matter how the Lord heals us, we should trust Him. In my own experiences and from what I've seen in others' experiences, it never fails... God ALWAYS proves to be faithful. He is the only constant, the one who has continued to be faithful since the beginning. Life will bring pain, sometimes pain we might not think we can handle. The Lord will continue to prove to be faithful, he teaches us in our pain. He brings us closer to him and we end up praising him. So Lord, bring the rain, if that's what it takes. My life is to bring him glory!

Potter Puppet Pals

Ellie loves this video! This is the only video she actually will watch every time, and over and over. I'm not sure why, but Zach can pull it up on his phone and it's a great entertainer/distraction. Thought I would share, maybe your toddlers would love it too??

Fun on Halloween!

We had a blast on Halloween this year, definitely more fun when you have kids. The day started off a little rough since it was raining, but Ellie sure did like her Halloween card from Aunt Patsy and Uncle Larry.


As soon as it cleared up we went to HollyFest, a carnival Holly Springs has each year. We ate, watched some pigs race, walked around and looked at the vendors, sang with the bands playing, petted animals, and went down a huge blow up slide! It was so much fun and all FREE, except the food.It definitely turned out to be a hot day, so Ellie's costume didn't last long at HollyFest. This is why she is in black leggings and her white big sis shirt (they were underneath the costume). After we were tuckered out from all the fun at HollyFest, we came back and took a nap. We wanted to participate in the parade in our neighborhood, but we slept right through it!

Ellie's best friend, Addison, of course had to come and trick or treat with us! Before we went trick or treating, we had to eat! I was planning on cooking, but since we slept so long, I knew there wasn't enough time. As a group we decided to dress up in tin foil (as burritos) and head to Chipolte for a free burrito! Here is our friends, Katie and Uriah dressed up. Great burritos, huh? Didn't need much to get the free burrito, but we tried.

And here's what you've been waiting for, the girls dressed up:


So now on to the trick or treating. First we did a trial run:



After they somewhat understood what was going to happen, we headed out. We thought the girls would last about 4 houses or so, but they LOVED it! We went down our whole street! Ellie loved going up to everyone's house. She didn't quite get how she was only supposed to take the candy and not give it away. Here she is giving her m&m's to our neighbor, who was trying to let her take some pretzels! We kept reminding her that tonight is all about her taking whatever candy they gave her.


So Ellie would run up to the house and knock on the door (since she couldn't ring the doorbell). Addison was a little shy about walking up to the house, but whenever the person would pop out with candy, she couldn't wait to grab some. Addison would say hey, grab some candy, and then say bye. She was very friendly and always smiling when the person came. However Ellie was much more hesitant when the person opened the door, she just gave a blank stare until we prompted her with what to do. They were quite the pair!


There were a ton of kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, but we didn't get to hand out a single piece of candy! Since we slept so long, ate out, and all went with the girls... we just weren't home. We sure do have a lot of kit-kats to share! So to end this long post, here is a clip of Ellie who actually could say "trick or treat", even though she maybe only did once. We had to get her on video saying it because it was just so darn cute. We took this video Sunday morning. (Yes, she is in her costume because she insisted on wearing it again.)

32 weeks

So I'm sucking it up, and posting a picture. I also thought I would do a little questionnaire to make this post a little interesting. It's almost November! We're definitely ready and can't wait to meet Ainsley!

How far along? 32 weeks... almost 33 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss: 20 pounds

Maternity clothes? Oh yea... who isn't wearing maternity clothes at this point? I feel like my maternity clothes are even getting too small! I'm definitely sticking out more than I did with Ellie.

Stretch marks? Nope. Didn't get them with Ellie, hoping not to get them this time around either.

Sleep: Ha, rarely. The good nights of sleep have been long forgotten, I've experienced trouble sleeping since the beginning. It's definitely gotten worse and tylenol pm or benadryl don't seem to help! I can't wait for to snuggle up on my stomach and sleep soundly again.

Best moment this week: Hearing Ainsley's heartbeat, it just doesn't get better than that if you can't see her. I also had a moment when Ellie was talking with another little girl, they were sitting next to each other while I was waiting after I got my H1N1 shot (FINALLY!) and she grabbed her hand to hold. They were just too cute holding hands. Ellie's gonna love having a little sister (well most of the time, I hope).

Movement: ALL THE TIME! Ellie wasn't much of a mover, so this definitely is a different experience. I think Ainsley has even bruised my uterus from kicking so hard so many times.

Food cravings: Soda, does that count as food?

Gender: Its a GIRL!

Labor Signs: No, hopefully not for another 5 weeks at least.

Belly Button in or out? In, although the upper lip of it is sticking out. So you can definitely see my belly button through my shirt.

Wedding rings on or off? On, I think I couldn't wear them at this point with Ellie. Hopefully this time I can keep them on the whole time!

What I miss: SLEEP, especially however position I want. I also miss wearing my clothes, just never a fan of maternity clothes. I also miss not having mood swings!

What I am looking forward to: Meeting Ainsley! I can't wait to hold her, kiss her, and sing to her face. I also am so excited for Ellie to meet her and watch her interact with her baby sister.

Coke

If you didn't already know, Coke is my favorite (with Dr. Pepper very close behind). I definitely LOVE soda too, so praise the Lord for caffenine free Coke! Since I drink coke quite a bit, Ellie definitely knows what it is. We took a video of her with an empty can, she's so cute! Enjoy.

(sorry it's sideways, I forget that you can't flip a video... at least that I know of).

Pumpkin Patch

We had such a fun time at the pumpkin patch! We went to Green Level Gourd Pumpkin Patch last Friday afternoon and had the place basically to ourselves! They had chickens, pigs, donkeys, goats, a horse, lots of things for Ellie to play with/on, and pumpkins of course!

First we picked out a pumpkin, and then decorated it. Ellie got to choose her pumpkin.We then looked at all the animals (not going to post the pics of the animals, just of us).



Then we played in the spider tunnel, and mom & dad played cornhole against each other (I won, of course).


Then to prepare for the donkey ride (which we saved for one of the last things to do to make sure she had warmed up to the place), we rode some practice horses.

Mom & dad goofed off with the camera a little while Ellie played (just one of many, didn't want to bore you).

Finally it was time for the donkey ride. I had the camera in the wrong setting, so didn't get any good pictures (all blurred). Not like I really missed any shots though, because Ellie did not want to touch that donkey! It was pretty funny, but she definitely wouldn't get on donkey Sally. So sad...

We finished our time by going through the teensy corn maze. It was just Ellie's size!
So much fun you get to have with kids! We would've never done this without her in our life :)

Baby Sissy

Ellie showing us where her baby sister is and saying her sister's name:

Fun at the Fair

Ellie had her first trip to the Fair this past week. We went with some friends on Wednesday night, and then went again during the day as a family on Thursday. She really enjoyed just watching all the people and seeing the animals, the rides definitely were not her favorite thing. Here are just a few pictures from our adventure:

First ride, the Wiggly Worm:
(she didn't smile, but didn't cry either!)

Carosel, before it started moving:
after it started moving:
Although she was screaming to get off, we asked her if she wanted to ride it again and she said yes (which usually means yes because her answer to almost everything is no right now). We decided against riding again though.

Ellie and I "resting" from walking around:

Too funny not to post

So I know I need to update my blog, I'm working on that... we've had quite a bit of fun this week including going to the fair and to a pumpkin farm. I'll update soon :)

So now to this video that is way too funny not to post. I stole it from the girltalk blog, so if you read that blog, you've seen it. This is why it is necessary to marry a good speller:

Ainsley Ruth

That's baby girl #2's name! We finally have made our decision after many, many months of debates! So from now on we will refer to baby girl as Ainsley! We hope you like it.

So for an update on Ainsley and I:
I am now 30 weeks pregnant! Hoping for 7-10 more weeks until we welcome our sweet baby girl. She has been doing great, definitely a mover! For over a month I was experiencing pain from how hard she would press on my uterus when she was trying to "stretch". She moves a great deal more than Ellie, so I'm interested to see what she will be like when she arrives in this world. She is measuring perfectly and sounding (heartbeat) perfectly! The doctors are always so pleased with how well I'm doing. At 30 weeks, Ainsley should weigh around 3 lbs. and measure almost 16 inches! I would love to post a picture of my belly, but every time I hate the picture I take. So you'll just have to see it in person :)

How am I doing? I still have trouble sleeping at night, most nights I end up on the couch (I just can't kick around and move with Zach in the bed). Other than that minor issue, I'm doing fabulous! Some days the sleeplessness bothers me, but most of the time I still have tons of energy. I have been working out this pregnancy, unlike with Ellie, and I think that has a lot to do with how good I feel. I hope it will also help me recover quicker after the birth.

How am I feeling? I am so excited, more than words can describe! With Ellie the anticipation of the unknown and what was to come took away from the true joy of pregnancy (along with first year teaching and first year of marriage). With Ainsley, I'm loving every minute and thinking of all the wonderful things to come! I know there's a possibility she could be the opposite of Ellie and we could have a very difficult time, but the thoughts of seeing her, holding her, and watching Ellie and her grow together are so profound. Ellie does extremely well with us holding other kids/babies and interacting with other kids/babies, that I have no worries with introducing a sibling into the family. I think she is going to be so excited to have a playmate that she will hardly notice the time she is losing from mommy and daddy. (Although I do still think this could happen). Ainsley's arrival will only tell, these are just my thoughts. I also get very excited to be able to hold, cuddle and nurse Ainsley... where as with Ellie I didn't get to enjoy it fully mostly due to how boring it all seemed to me. I definitely know I won't be bored with a toddler in the house! It's hard to imagine if I can love Ainsley as much as I love Ellie, but I have heard that it is so amazing to see how your love expands instead of divides. I think we get this idea that we only have so much love to give, so our love must be divided. But this isn't the case, especially with our children.

I'm praying that I cherish every moment I have with Ellie before Ainsley arrives and experience all the joys of being pregnant and welcoming another child into the world. Oh how the Lord has blessed us beyond measure! Children... what a beautiful thing!

18 months!

(Ellie participating with me as I sing "If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it..")

Ellie is now 18 months old! I really can't believe how fast she has grown. It makes me sad to see her growing up but at the same time I absolutely love watching her develop her own personality. She is such a sweet, happy little toddler! I truly experience so much joy being her mommy and now do feel like I have the best job in the whole world! I can't wait to welcome our next baby girl into the family, Ellie is going to shower her with love and I can't even imagine how much my love will expand!

(Our big girl lifting her arms up shouting hooray!)

Here are her 18 month stats: 25% in weight at 22 lbs, 25% in height at 31 inches, and 75% in her head circumference! She is very consistent with her growth measurements, which means she is growing perfectly! Such a blessing to have such a healthy little girl.



What all Ellie can do now:
Where do I even begin? So much she can do now!

• Saying so many words, all animal sounds (still working on getting oink to sound right), putting together 2 word phrases like thank you, bless you, more please, want more, etc.
• Loves doing the motions to 'If you're happy and you know it', 'Wheels on the bus', and 'Itsy bitsy spider' (still doesn't sing with me though)
• finally loves to swing at the playground! (If you remember from the past, she used to hate the swing)
• climb stairs on her own, go down slides by herself, climb in chairs (her favorite)... at the playground I can mostly just stand back and watch her and she does wonderful
• very cautious and hardly ever is brave (which is great for mommy and daddy), however she isn't scared of many things either. very interesting combo...
• eats with spoon and fork (well at least tries)
• loves the word "no". If you ask her anything, usually her response will be "no"
• love pushing the stroller and helping mommy clean (can't wait for when she actually can help mommy!)
• LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to read books! Especially Elmo and Dora books.
• loves her milk, hates veggies
• mostly a good listener (I feel that we have been extremely blessed with a happy toddler who mostly tries to please her parents... we'll see how long this lasts)
• sleeps in her twin size bed great! 11 hours at night, 2-3 hours for nap most days! She's not excited about going to bed most nights, but we never have problems with her falling asleep (we might can count maybe 2-3 times in 3 months)!
  
• loves stuffed animals and soft things (blankets, towels, washcloths, clothes, anything)! She'll just lay them on the floor and lay down, so cute!
• loves to color (except for at restaurants??)
• has 11 teeth!
• can identify body parts (head, eyes, ear, mouth, nose, tongue, shoulders, toes, arm, leg, hand, tummy)
• loves to spin around and dance, I think she definitely will be a little dancer (a little side note: her favorite song still is boom boom pow)
  

I'm sure there is more, but those are the biggies. I love, love, love this age!

Eating by Myself!

As I try to transition Ellie into eating more and more like a big girl, I find it so much fun! Ellie is very adamant about eating by herself! She no longer wants mommy or daddy to help, she wants to use the fork or spoon on her own! So as I am trying to no longer just set food on her tray, but put it in a bowl or plate, this experience is much more frequent. It's very funny to watch as she learns what to do, I find so much joy in it because it's so funny how kids act! The other night we shot a video of her eating all by herself, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:

Presence of God

It's easy to get caught up in distracting ourselves from what we really need or searching for what we need in other things. I no longer am searching for what I need, because I know and have experienced that Christ has everything I need to satisfy, however I do distract myself or try to satisfy that need with other things. It's funny how that works and how easy it seems to do. The book I am reading through a second time with the Women's Bible Study at my church, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World", had a great example of this:

Joanna Weaver, the author, tells a story of her pastor's wife, Teri Myers. Teri was preparing a four course meal for some company she was having over that night, and had been so busy that she forgot to eat lunch. A few hours before her guests were supposed to arrive, Teri decided to eat a couple Snickers bars to tide her over until dinner. Well, the Snickers did the trick and gave her energy to finish up the final preparations. At dinner however, Teri could barely eat a few bites, she no longer was hungry. She had prepared this amazing dinner and couldn't even eat it!

Ok, so the hunger here is a little different than the hunger or desire that I was talking about, but it definitely is similar. Weaver writes:

"We were designed to be close to God. Just as our bodies hunger and thirst for food and drink, our spirits hunger and thirst for his presence. But just as it's possible to bloat our bodies with empty calories, we can find ways to pacify our spiritual cravings without really getting the nourishment we need. We can fill up with spiritual Snickers bars while all the time our spirits are withering for want of real food.

If you're having a little trouble feeling close to God-- or even wanting to draw close-- you might want to consider what activities you are using to fill the empty places of your life. What's taking the edge off of your for him?"

The pastor of my church, J.D. Greear, is teaching on the presence of God over the next few months. This past Sunday he answered what exactly the presence of God is and how we can get the presence of God. He stated that "presence is the point of Christianity." We tend to make or even feel like Christianity is about doing, doing, doing, however what Christianity is really about is finding the presence of God. Feeling a sense of His great love, His power, His grace, experiencing who He really is...

I think the Lord is definitely trying to speak to me here, getting somewhat of the same message twice in one week! I distract myself with many things, some good and some bad, but my conviction is that what I need to focus most importantly on is being close to God and that being close to God doesn't mean doing the right things, it means experiencing His presence, having that intimacy with Him! Sometimes it seems impossible to do enough, be good enough, be godly enough... It's a relief to know that it has nothing to do with what I need to do, but what Christ has done. Although I've known that nothing I do changes God's faithfulness, it doesn't change the fact that I fail to experience what my relationship with him is all about. Just as I need to lessen distractions and take time to spend with my husband to have a good relationship, I need to do the same with God. Having that intimate relationship is more than just doing the right things, it's about the experience and feelings I have with the other person. So I'm going to work on and pray for that earnest desire to have that intimate relationship with Christ and experience His presence!

Animal Sounds

Cute video for your entertainment:

Strollin'

Nana (my mom) got Ellie a stroller to play with! We took a video of when she first saw it. (Didn't get the reaction I thought, however she wasn't in a very good mood... the stroller sure made her mood change though!)

Ellie's Somewhat New Room...

Ellie has been in her room for over 2 months now, but we finally have finished painting her furniture! I wanted to post some pictures of the almost finished product (we just need to put some things on the wall).

Not the best of pictures, but here are a few: