Kanaan & Keira

He is HERE!! Most of you know that Kanaan has arrived - 2 1/2 weeks early - and we are SO excited. Can't believe it. WHAT a difference getting used to a new infant again. The nights seem just as long as the days, but seeing those big eyes starting more and more to stare back up at us make it all worth it. Kanaan is such a tiny little guy, but had a great first drs. visit and it 3 oz. shy of his birth weight already. Big sister Keira is just loving him to pieces and gives him lots of kisses and pats on the head. She even enjoys holding him from time to time. Each morning she arrives at our door saying 'where's Kanaan?' I have TWO KIDS and I LOVE them SO much!

The stats...

Our happy, growing family! Mom got me a necklace that says "your family just grew by two feet." How cute!!

She loves her little brother

Hello world!

My pictures are a little out of order here, but pre-baby, Keira and Daddy got in some quality frisbee time outside. She seems to favor her left side when throwing - who knows what that's about!

S-t-r-eee-t-c-h

Keira is quite the daddy's girl lately - I love that they 'get along' so well!

Chillin' to some i-tunes :)

Bear hug!

Thank you all for your prayers the last several months. We are all adjusting well to Kanaan. He is SUCH a snuggler so he totally fits in already. Jason has taken 2 weeks off of work and Aunt Chell is spending some time with us as well, so the extra set of hands are much appreciated! Everyone is being well taken care of. Love you all!

March Birthdays

Keira and I took some time to color/draw/work on letters the other day while making these signs! There are quite a few March birthdays in the family so we decided to do a blanket wish!

Keira also chooses to wear her Princess PJ's as OFTEN as she can :)

Look at that craaaaazy hair!

Please notice the princess stickers for Gramma & Annika and the Spider-man for Jon.

Here is Keira's creation w/ her favorite princess sticker - Arial.

Next we displayed our artwork - on the fridge. :)

This was taken at a different time, but she just curled herself up on this boppy and was reading Nemo. Also, wearing a princess shirt. She loves to pretend that she's reading. Most of the time she'll get the characters right, just not what they're doing. And she 'reads' with such enthusiasm! I'll see if I can get a video of it sometime soon.

On a different note, we have just 3 weeks to go before baby is due! I go again this Friday for a drs. appt. and will continue to go every week from here on out. I can definitely tell baby is getting into position as the dr. assured me his head is down. The movements have also changed so it will just be a matter of time! We'll keep you all posted! Please keep us in your prayers!

Beautiful Day!

The weather was absolutely B-E-A-UTIFUL today so Keira and I couldn't resist getting outside and enjoying it. We did quite a bit and of course had to get ALL the outdoor toys out. Who could resist?

Let's start with the slide!

Here we go!

Ta da! This summer I'm thinking, once we get the pool out, of putting the bottom of the slide in the pool water and we'll have a good 'ol time on a water slide!

Cheese!

Had to get out the playhouse next.

She loves going in the house on her belly and sliding back out on her belly. Too funny :)

Got to go for a walk too! Shades? Check. Gummies? Check. We were good to go!

Got the pony out too. Funny to see how big she's gotten on this. She doesn't seem to mind! Giddy-up pony!

Tomorrow we head to the library, get plates for the van and then hopefully head up to campus to take another walk. Got to take advantage of this weather while we can!

A Story of Giving

Jason and I are SO blessed! This week has been a whirlwind of a week and a lot has seemed to have happened. At the beginning of the year Jason and I were able to become debt free (except for the house/mortgage of course) because of a very selfless, loving family member. Thru that act I really began to pray about whether or not we could also use our resources to help others. I hadn't told Jason about the fact that I was praying about this, but after about a week he came home from work and told of a need that had come up in our very own church. Weird. So we talked about it some more and decided on a plan.

"Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to." Deut. 15:10

Low and behold just this week we have been blessed yet again! And I don't normally throw out words like 'being blessed' or things like that, but in these instances I can't think of any other way to say it!! Jason received an email thru the campus mail system of a van for sale. We know the family selling it, the price was very reasonable for the age and functionability of it. Unfortunately at first we found out we were 3rd in line to even look at it, let alone make an offer. By the end of the first day the email had been sent out, one person had backed out. The other family happened to be another couple from our church! So we thought for sure they would get it and we should just count our blessings on the fact that we still had two working vehicles. (We had also decided at the beginning of the year to put some $ into my car and run it until we could save up for a more functional vehicle for me; aka a minivan.) Well....we got a call from that couple the next morning saying that they really liked the van but had decided that it was more of a want than a need - we on the other hand had more of a need at this stage in your lives. (They're an older couple w/ a grandkid) So they backed out for us. Jason and I went to look at the van that afternoon, took it abt. for a spin, had several opinions/inspections done and made the purchase this morning! So instead of putting that initial $ into my car we decided to go with the minivan. If that makes sense. Take a look at my 'new' ride!

It's a '99 Silver Pontiac Montana

Each row of seating in the back is 'a seat & a half.' Both fold down and up for more room. Or can be taken out. The don't fold into the bottom of the car. That's a pretty new feature on vans. Two sliding doors - one on either side. Tinted windows.

I've now also upgraded from a tape/cassette player to a CD player w/ AM/FM radio. :) Overall it's a really smooth ride. A lot smoother than I initially anticipated. It is also an extended model so there's lots of room in the back for those evenings at the drive in, camping trips, cargo hauling, etc. We're really excited about this and wanted to share! Next time you see us we'll be arriving w/ room to cart the whole family! God is Good!

Catching up

Happy Valentine's Day! This past weekend Nana came out for a visit and brought my camera back to me!! So I wanted to post some pix that I've had for a little while. Enjoy :)

These are my beautiful flowers from hubby for V-Day!! He claims that he gets them for me every year, but I'm surprised each year! I love them.

Keira being silly

Where'd she go!?

Such a cute princess fairy

Too cute!

She's even got a wand. :)

Daddy & Keira got to ride the carousel together at the Fort Wayne mall. She loved it!!

She wanted to ride the giraffe b/c it didn't go up and down.

:D

Time to play in the snow!

Weellllllll, maybe not. This was the day it took longer to get ready than it did for us to actually be out in the snow. :] Poor thing.

Ok mom, I've had enough. Get me out of here. We attempted a quick pile-up snowman. Just wasn't our day for it. We're getting more snow tonight so who knows! We may have another chance. :)