Gospel Truths

I am learning rapidly how impressionable young children are and just how important it is to instill a love for God and the church family at a very early age. In the last few weeks Jacob has demonstrated an amazing ability to take in gospel truths, remember them, and recall them. Nothing brings me greater joy to hear him share these words of truth!

A couple weeks ago after praying at lunch, Jacob asked me why I said "Thank you God, that Jesus was on the cross." "Why was Jesus on the cross, Mommy?" It was such a treat to share the whole gospel with Jacob, from start to finish, and watch him hang on every word as though it was the most amazing story in the world (and well, let's face it, he's right! It IS the most amazing story in the world!). He can now tell us in his two year old terms that "Jesus was on the cross to take all our sins back. And now we can live in Heaven!" We're still working on defining the word sin. That's a tough one to explain on his level, but I have no doubt he will get it soon!

Last week we read the story of Jonah. It was just a one page short story. It took us less than a minute to read it. That's all we did. Then last night, after his bath, I heard him repeating the story to Chris, saying the big fish got Jonah in his teeth! Chris asked him where he learned that story and he said, Mommy taught me!

Today, I kept Jacob home from church to avoid spreading his hacking cough around his class (he really isn't sick, but it sounds terrible, and who wants to be THAT mom?). I wanted to be sure we used our time wisely, so we studied the story of Noah. Today at lunch he told Chris, "Noah heard God and talked to God. God told Noah to build an ark and put all the animals inside! Then it started to rain! Then the sun came out and they said hooray and came out of the boat. God put a rainbow in the sky!" Wow! All that from reading the story once, reviewing it, and doing a Noah's ark coloring page I printed for free off the internet!

Needless to say, I am really starting to see how impressionable his sweet little mind is right now. I think we'll be incorporating more focused Bible time into our days together, as well as a few other skills he needs to learn (number and letter identification, sorting, etc.). He is so hungry and eager now. I hope we can tuck these truths away and keep them alive and growing in the years to come!

21 Weeks

For those of you who desire to follow the growth of the "twin" belly, here you go. I am 21 weeks. I still feel good. Morning sickness has been completely gone now for a couple weeks (praise God!). I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it is to wake up in the morning feeling "normal." Now I'm starting to deal with the general aches and discomforts of just being pregnant...finding a comfy sleeping position, reaching my feet to tie my shoes, carrying Jacob (or even cuddling for that matter) is more difficult, swollen feet, and a new one this time around...lower back pain. A trip to the grocery is about all I can handle as far as time on my feet before the lower back starts to kick in with a lot of discomfort. But it is all worth it and I thank God for each night spent tossing and turning and each moment of my aching back. Thank you, God, for these precious babies! Please continue to pray for no pre-term labor and healthy, full grown babies!

21 weeks, 1 day, October 31, 2010


For comparison's sake...20 weeks and change with Jacob, November 5, 2007. I think I am filling the shirt out a bit more this time around!

Trick Or Treat!

Today is Halloween. This is the first year we've allowed Jacob to go "traditional" trick or treating. Neither Chris nor I are all that into Halloween and aren't really sure how we want to approach it, so we've just tried to mix it up and keep it innocent and fun for him. His first Halloween he was a cow and also in the process of coming down with a nasty ear infection. We just went to Auntie Fred's house and helped pass out candy. Last year he was a monkey and we celebrated at Hallow Him at our church. This year we decided we'd try the traditional route. He got to dress up like a "baseball man" and cousin Andrew came over to show him the ropes. We've been practicing all week saying trick or treat and thank you! He was soooooooo excited. He had a great time and loved the time with Auntie Fred and Andrew! They were quite the pair of baseball men. After each house Jacob would ask if we could go to another door! Andrew was an excellent grown up cousin and sweetly took Jacob to each door and helped with crossing the street (and by the way, when did Andrew get tall enough to almost surpass me??).

Mommy's favorite part of Halloween this year: Jacob does not call his treats candy...they are trick or treats. So cute! He keeps asking if he can have another one of his trick or treats. It's going to be interesting pacing him on the ingestion of the trick or treats...

Joey Votto and our little "baseball man!"


Such a helpful cousin and sooooo grown up!


Getting some "trick or treats."


He wore out at the last corner and asked for someone to "take him." Auntie Fred was sweet enough to "take him."


Showing Daddy his trick or treats!

Signs of Autumn

Jacob and I took our annual trek out to Boyd Orchards today. It was a perfect fall day with crisp air, blue skies, and a wonderful array of colorful trees on the drive out to the farm. Jacob had so much fun and was so busy looking around at all the pumpkins that it was hard for me to capture pictures of him actually looking at the camera! I got a couple... He was super excited to pick out a "toddler size" pumpkin and get a jug of apple cider! As we were leaving he waved to the various mounds of pumpkins, saying, "bye-bye punkins!" He asked if we could come back to the farm again tomorrow.

Mommy thought the "warty" pumpkins were kind of cool.


This one is a bit reminiscent of last year...



Boyd Orchard trip 2009. Mr. Inspector. He is taller, but other than that, not much has changed! Ha, ha!



FINALLY! He looked at the camera!!!

Father Son Outing

A few weeks back, my big sister invited me on a girls only outing. We had dinner out, gabbed, and bought everything on my "need to buy list" at Meijer (you just never know what Meijer might have). What a great time it was to get out and do girl stuff with my big sis.

My evening out prompted a father-son outing. Chris had been itching to take Jacob miniature golfing again (we went once on our family vacation this past spring). I wasn't all that enthralled with the idea of being hot and on my feet for that kind of time, so I was more than happy when Chris suggested perhaps it just be a guys outing. Jacob had a blast! They played 3 rounds of 18 holes (no kidding). Jacob LOVED it.

Excellent swing...


Amazing form...


Reading the green like a pro...


Celebratory stance perfected.

Yup, I smell a future scholarship. Ha, ha!

Growth

I am a delinquent, but today seemed like a good day to battle the desktop computer and get caught up with some photos. I'll start with the most demanded pictures: growth of the belly.

I have to admit, I don't think the photos really do it justice. I think black must truly be a slimming color. Trust me, in real life, you see me coming. I am definitely not presently struggling to pack on the pounds and I've already had moments of feeling very "full." How on earth will these two babies continue to grow? I already struggle to tie my shoes, my toenails don't get new polish as often as they should, nor do I attempt to shave my legs daily anymore. And I'm only halfway....

On a good note, I have been feeling better! Where my life depended on Zofran to help with the nausea early in the pregnancy, I am now much more likely to have a Zofran free day than one with it (which other parts of my body are thankful for so that they can return to a more normal state of functioning). I still get sick some mornings; mostly the days that I decide to try to go straight to the shower rather than getting something to eat. But even the sickness first thing in the morning is starting to subside and for that, I am thankful.

I'd like to say my energy level has perked up during the 2nd trimester, as it should, but the bigger I get, the harder it is to discern. I can't really say. If I weighed as much as I did early in the pregnancy, I am sure I would be back to more of a state of normal as far as energy goes. However, I have about 15 extra pounds strapped on my body (ALREADY) and I do believe it slows me down. Can you believe 15 lbs? Yikes! I'm only 5 lbs away from what I gained total in my pregnancy with Jacob and there's no telling what the scales will say when I go back to the doctor on the 21st. While "cute" might have been a word I used to describe myself while pregnant with Jacob, it is definitely not a word in my vocabulary now. I just feel....fat and a bit like a beached whale at times. I am rapidly outgrowing my maternity wardrobe and am so thankful for the wonderful ladies at church who have come to my rescue with mountains of maternity clothes in most sizes imaginable.

As far as baby preparation, we continue to see God's hand at work as He provides for us. I'm not sure if I posted this earlier, but we bought a minivan. It is GREAT. A 2002 Honda Odyssey that is going to serve us well. Right now it is "living" at the in-law's farm (thank you!!) while we wait to post and sell Chris' car. Anyone want a well loved 1999 Camry? Ha! I managed to hit some of the fall consignment sales and did well collecting several items: a second high chair and bouncy seat (that match exactly what we have right now with Jacob's old stuff), a second boppy pillow (to prop babies during feeds), and some clothes. I did allow myself to shop the "pink" aisle at the most recent sale. I know the ultrasound was not 100%, but I just couldn't pass up $2 on items that I know will cost me over $10 in stores. So I bought about 5-7 sleeper outfits and a few onesies in the "girlie" shades. I will admit, I enjoyed the pink aisle. It was way more fun than the boy stuff. A wonderfully generous family at church is cleaning out their house to make space for two kiddos they are adopting from Africa this fall, which included getting rid of one of their two cribs. The gave it to us. Yes, you read that correctly. They gave it to us! It is in excellent condition, mattress and all, and will make the best "girl" bed ever!

Throughout this whole experience we have seen God's hand always working and we have been so wonderfully blessed to be a part of a body of believers who truly seek to shower love and kindness upon other church members. What a blessing indeed.

And now........the long awaited pictures. Remember, they do not do me justice and black really is a slimming color....

September 11, 2010-14 weeks

October 10, 2010-18 weeks, 1 day