Welcome Baby!

She is here!  Jocelyn a.k.a Piglet came Tuesday afternoon.  She was 8lb 7 0z and has been a little sweetheart!  I was having labor in the night and it stopped, but it picked back up again around 11 in the morning.  She was born at 2:31, so I would say 3 and a half hours of labor.  It was fast, but I still got my epidural- yay.  I love epidurals!  We are headed home this afternoon and have been very grateful to have my mom here helping with Lydia and Colton.  Colton has loved baby.  He told me he would take care of everything!  Lydia hasn't been so sure about the hospital.  I think she will warm up more once we get home.  I am feeling very well and feel very blessed. 

Memorial Day

 I may be a little crazy- and my dad certainly thinks so, but for memorial day Mike was working on a roofing project so I split town and took the kids to Ohio for the long weekend.  They had new kittens on the Hansen 'farm' which Lydia was actually kind of afraid of.  But oh, they were cute!!

 We went to the "ocean" -a man made lake close by and played at the beach all afternoon and BBQ'd.  It was a great day.  I sat in the shade or in the water and just relaxed.  We all loved it!

 Colton and the kitten.  He LOVES animals.

 It makes me feel good that I'm not as big as my sis-in-law with a watermelon under her shirt.  I think I was watermelon size with Colton, now I think I am more basketball size.  (At least that is what everyone tells me.)

 Lydia and Ruthie.

 The posse of cousins in Ohio.  Thanks for the popsicles Uncle Chris.  It's always fun going to your house!

Uncle Chris had his first baby.  This is my nephew William.  Born a whopping 9 lbs 11 ozs.  (Colton was one ounce less which Mike will be reminded of for the rest of his life by both of his brothers.)

Right of Passage

 Colton fell asleep while we were reading our library books for the summer reading program.

Summer has officially started and we have been enjoying it outside.  The kiddo's started swim lessons.  They moved Lydia down a class and they moved Colton up a class, so now they are in the same class together, which makes it nice for me to watch them both at once.
Mike took Lydia's training wheels off yesterday and took her to a bike path where she quickly learned to ride a two-wheeler.  She was so excited.  First thing this morning we were out practicing again.  I am so glad she got it down because she has been wanting to learn for a long time and I knew that I would be no good to help her with it this summer because of the baby.  It makes me proud to see her accomplish this milestone in her life.  Between that and her cute little teeth starting to fall out, it seems like she has really gone through a right of passage.  She is a big kid now.  She turns 6 in two weeks.  Crazy! 
I am also due with our baby girl in two weeks and it just hit me today that, 'Holy Cow!  We are having a baby in just a few weeks.  Life is going to change.'  Though I've had 9 months to prepare for this, I had a real reality check today.  I'm ready for her to come, though I don't know what we will name her.  We can't call her Piglet forever.  I'm excited for my mom to get here (She loves new babies so much it's contagious!)  It would be nice though if baby waited to come until Mom get's here because I'd like to finish up swim lessons and Lydia will be starting a summer speech program next week.  I wish you could just know when so you don't have to wonder, and wait. . .

Spring Time Fun

 It's been a whirlwind of fun activities with school ending and the nice weather.  Several friends have asked me to take their family photos- this cute family included!  It's been fun and a learning experience.  Hopefully I can get better with all the practice my friends are giving me.

 Lydia finished her soccer season and once again loved it.  She really likes playing goalie.  She also loves the snacks after games. 

 We went camping and had the best camping weather I've ever had!  It was cool, but not cold.  Several of our friends also went and we all camped together.  It was so much fun!  The kids slept well and the adults slept okay.  Once again, Colton ate the chocolate off of his smore and left the marshmallow and cracker.  It seems to be his tradition.  

 Our little family on Mother's Day.  This was the day after camping, so everyone was still a little tired (Colton in particular) 

 Lydia had her end of year school party at the park.  I thought these girls looked so cute swinging together all wearing pink.

 Why is a parachute so much fun to play with?  Seeing these kids play games with the parachute brought back so many memories from elementary school. 

 More photos of camping.  Our neighbors setting up their tent.  What I love about this photo is our kids peeking through the screen of our tent watching everything. 

 Everyone after having survived the night.  Donuts always make ME happy in the morning.

 At Lydia's school they have a one mile run in honor of a previous gym teacher.  They close off the roads and all the kids run.  Parent's and grandparents come to cheer the kiddo's on and they get a ribbon at the end.  Here is Lydia waiting for her turn to run. 

Last, but certainly not least- Mike turned 30!!!!  He had a relaxing day.  All of his surprises were given away by a certain 5 year old girl who was very excited about his birthday.  We ended the day with hot brownies, fudge sauce, caramel and ice cream.  Then we went and saw "The Avengers"  (Thanks for watching the kids Emily!) 

Oh what fun it is to play in the mud!  Good thing that nasty mud puddle was around on a day when my back wasn't hurting, or he couldn't have had near so much fun! 

Soccer, Spring Fest, Easter and Book Fairs

I don't love to be pregnant. Though it be a miracle, I choose to fill up my time and stay quite busy during pregnancy so that I don't dwell on the fact that I feel like a beached whale trying to get out of bed in the morning. That being said, we have been busy the last few weeks. We went to Purdue's Spring Fest which is a big outdoor event that the colleges within the university put on. The entomology department has food with bugs in it that you can try and a buy petting zoo, even cockroach races and a tractor pull. Different tents have treats or games you can play. The kids watched a sheep getting sheered and pet a baby pig. (you know, piglets are pretty cute, but I bet OUR little piglet will be even cuter.) Colton came home with this stylin' hat balloon hat.
Colton also really wanted his photo taken with the Bee. He liked all the bug stuff and touched everything he could. Brownies with meal worms he did turn his nose up.
Lydia just wanted PINK cotton candy. While we were eating cotton candy, it started to pour, but it was still fun. Colton even stood out in the rain so he could participate in Cricket Spitting. He spit the cricket two whole feet. For a little boy who won't put most dinner's in his mouth, I was shocked to see him stick a bug in.
As many of you know, I like event planning, and so, I volunteered to run the Spring Book Fair at Lydia's school. I greatly enjoyed it and the kids both thought it was pretty cool that they got to help with things. I loved working with great people. (Like the Amazing Dacia pictured above.)We also did a program called 'One for Books' where we collected spare change as a school and if the kids could collect $1500 they could earn a pajama day. The money we collected was sent to an elementary school in Southern Indiana that was hit with one of the tornadoes awhile back. It was amazing to see how compassionate the children were. Some envelopes contained more than $50 cash. Some had pictures drawn on them and little notes of sympathy. One little girl received change in her Easter Eggs and sent it all to the program. The kids ended up collecting a whopping $1700. Who says that children aren't capable of changing the world? Children really are powerful examples.
Colton trying to snap.
Soccer season has begun! Lydia loves it! And we have been blessed with excellent coaches. Lydia always wants to play goalie. She keeps her hands up, ready to go, but often she is watching everywhere else. I love this league. The defense gets bored and starts picking dandelions. If someone throws in the ball, their team mate will go and catch it. They run to coach if their cleats come untied because they can't tie their own shoes. Goalies go cry to their mom if they get scored on. It is fun to watch them learn.
Colton easter egg hunting. He got off to slow start, angry because he couldn't find a BIG egg. Once he got the hang of it, he was mad again because most of the eggs were gone.
Lydia and her chocolate easter bunny. She was so pleased. What a happy girl she is.
And, as promised a pregnancy photo, taken today after church. 9 more weeks to go.

Today I substituted a class in church and I was so glad for the experience because it really made me look at my blessings. Not only have I been blessed physically with an able body, a home, food, good kids, a husband getting his education, but I have been blessed spiritually. Teaching this lesson really made me look at that. I have been given a precious gift- my life. I have a Savior who loves me and died for me. I have the Holy Ghost to inspire me and prayer as a means of communication with my Heavenly Father.

And, to keep myself busy, in the future there will be posts about the family photos I have agreed to take, the baby shower I am hosting, the camping trip we are going on, Mike's half marathon coming up, etc.

This is Fun

I know I haven't had much of a blogging life lately. I haven't had much computer time. I've been planning the elementary book fair. It's been tons of fun and there are only two days left. This evening I found myself with the children in bed and Mike playing b.ball with his buddies, so I started editing my sister's Sr. photos. Oh so much fun! I found a new website called picmonkey.com and I loved it! Very easy. I am also taking a photo class with some girlfriends next week. Should be fun as well.
So, my last post was a photo journal of sorts. I am in a writing mood so I will share some real life details of life.
Yesterday I took a 3 hour blood glucose test. Not my favorite. Fasting for 14 hours is not the most fun for the preggo lady. Getting poked repeatedly in the same vein is not so fun, but the good news is, I do not have diabetes! Hooray. And, the 3 hour test allowed me plenty of time to finish my baby blanket.
That brings me to the baby. I haven't said too much about her. She is affectionately being called Piglet around our house. She has no real name yet, and if you ask Colton, Piglet IS her name. I was questioning the kids on what they wanted to call her and they were coming up with silly things. Piglet being one of them and it has stuck. So our little Piglet is quite wiggly and I am carrying her like I carried Colton- low and straight out. Eventually I may post a pregnancy photo. I really need to actually. I know I will regret it if I don't.
Some thoughts on Lydia. Recently, we had a parent teacher conference with Lydia's teacher and she recommended we have Lydia repeat Kindergarten. We had wondered if this would come up and you could tell Lydia's teacher was relieved when we were accepting of the idea. I feel very good about it and feel keeping her back will be the best option for her, especially now before peers will judge her and while she is building such foundational skills. There is still that worry though that people will think my child is slow. Granted, it takes her longer to grasp concepts. She needs more repetition, but I would hate for her to have that stigma placed on her, because then she might believe it. It has made me more aware of judging or labeling people. We are so quick to say, "Oh, it's because they are the youngest child." Or, "That's just the ADD." Children are so trusting. They believe what you tell them. We mold who they are by what we tell them and it's not just what we say. It's how we act. Another example, Lydia LOVES soccer, but she is not the most coordinated. Mike and I both being sport enthusiasts sometimes find this difficult. Soccer season is being a time of growth for both Mike and I as we learn to accept Lydia for who she is and what she is capable of. I am constantly evaluating what I say to her, and what I don't say when she play soccer. Do I accept her 100%? Because I had better learn now. It's only going to get harder as she gets older.
On a lighter, less philosophical note- have you ever had your clock stop only to realize how much you look at it? It is so disorienting when you look at your clock and all day long it says 9:30.
Well, I'm tired, and the dishes aren't done. Will they get done? Probably not. Good night.