Halloween Pics

Giggly boy.


Someone actually told me that it was a cute idea that I dressed as a pumpkin????


Another shot of the kiss attempt.


Markus going in for a kiss.


Could they be any cuter?


Markus' girlfriend, Grace.


Playing a game with Daddy.


Would love to know what he is thinking here.



Our little Chef.

Happy Halloween

We will be celebrating at our church's Harvest Carnival this evening with my whole family and our good friends, the Molites. I'm sure I will have some great pics to share!

Life just keeps on going

It never seems to slow down, does it? My word. It is the start of a new week- thank God. We are hoping to get through this week without any trips to the Dr's (like last week when Markus had to have a head laceration glued back together)or to L&D (yes, I went again a week ago today. That's trip #3. This time it was due to rapid dehydration thanks to the stomach bug Markus passed onto me and contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart). But how about a cute Markus story? The other night when Mark was snuggling with Markus in the rocking chair before bed, he asked Markus to pray with him. Markus lifted his head off his shoulder, looked at Mark and folded his hands to pray. That is not unusual- we do that every night and every night without fail that is his response. Mark finished praying, but then decided he wanted to pray with Markus for me. Rather than ask Markus to pray again (his little head had already returned back to daddy's shoulder) he simply started saying "Lord Jesus..." and wouldn't you know it, but Markus sat up, looked at Mark and folded his hands to pray. He knew! Isn't that the cutest thing? What a tender moment for Daddy and Markus to enjoy together. Speaking of the two of them, here's a couple cute shots from one of our many trips to the pumpkin patch this last month.

He's Growing Up

Just a cute story from today that shows that my little dude is in fact growing up. He finished a snack of dried blueberries this morning. He carried his bowl, completely unprompted, from the living room into the kitchen where he proceeded to stand on his tippy toes to attempt to put the empty dish in the sink. I have never asked him to do that, nor have I even purposefully showed him that. It was so cute. He was pretty frustrated that he couldn't reach the sink, but I was so proud of him! Here's one pic from our day at the pumpkin patch from last weekend- more to share later.

My goal...

apparently with this pregnancy is to visit labor and delivery as many times as I did with Markus before I actually delivered (which was three). Today was trip #2... and I am only 23 weeks. I took a nasty fall on the wood floor last night. Was immediately in pain on the left side of my abdomen (and my knee :) ). Waited an hour and a half to feel baby move again. Scary. But baby kept moving throughout the evening so I thought we were in the clear. Until this morning when I started cramping and getting stabbing pains. I called my OB and her nurse told me to come in. Mark, Markus and I headed out to the office, only for her to tell me that I should have in fact gone to the hospital (last night!) and not her office. So off to labor and delivery we went where I spent the day strapped to monitors and had an ultrasound. Baby girl is fine, I am fine, and the cramping is subsiding. We were sent home with instructions to return if the pain increases, there is bleeding, etc. The best part of the day- when I got to see my baby girl (and I had the tech double check to make sure she is in fact a girl) sucking her thumb on the ultrasound. So cute. Soon I will upload pics of our fun times at the pumpkin patch this past weekend with Boo, Dawn, Katie and my mom. Meanwhile, I am going to eat some cereal and head to bed and get the rest the OB nurse told me I need to get.

Mom of the Year...

Just in case anyone was curious, I am still in the running for mom of the year. Here's the story. We use a booster seat with a tray for Markus instead of a high chair. We love it. The best part is, it's portable. So we took it to Abu and Papa's yesterday so MJ would have somewhere to enjoy his meals while we were there for the day. This morning, I heated up some leftover pancakes for the kiddos (we are currently watching Ellie, our friends' 4 year old for five days) and sat MJ in his wonderful booster seat, being sure to buckle him in and secure his tray. I turned around to set down Ellie's plate and I heard the crash and the scream. And the tears. I turned to look and there was Markus, faceplanted on the floor with the seat on top. You see, those seats are great as long as you remember to strap them back on the chair after you take them someplace else. Which, obviously, I forgot to do. I picked up Markus and the seat to find the front of his place totally bloody. He had a bloody nose, a fat lip (which was also bleeding) and the beginnings already of a bruise on his forehead. Definitely one of my more stellar moments, don't ya think? Please don't call CPS.

Do you have a guess?

Any guesses out there? If you thought PINK, you were right! We got to see her today in our 2nd ultrasound. She is healthy and growing well- about 1.2 lbs today. We are rejoicing that Markus will be getting a little sister.

Our favorite time of the night...

Tired jollies. They are the best. This man and this boy warm my heart to no end. Make sure you have your volume on.

Update time

So it's been awhile since I blogged. Sorry! We returned home from a fantastic trip in Iowa to the start of a couples' small group in our home, the start of MOPS (where I am a table leader this year), the start of my ladies' Bible study (we're doing a study called "Mothering Without Guilt"), a visit in Seattle with friends from Montana, a memorial for the son of our dear friends, a doctor's appt for me and a huge church banquet where Mark and I both sang special music and he led worship. Can we say crazy? We are settling into this nutso life called fall well, however, and are excited about all the new opportunities God has brought our way this year. Tomorrow we go in for another ultrasound so stay tuned. In the meantime, here's some pics of the dude in the bath the other night. I like all of them because they highlight many different things- Markus' amazing suntan on his face and arms, his first black eye (thanks to falling off a chair into a coffee table the night before we flew home from Iowa), his love for clapping, his love for water and those amazing brown eyes and long eyelashes. Enjoy!