Easter

The bunny at the church egg hunt.

Our Family Easter celebration

The boys enjoying their Easter goodies from the egg hunt.

Cousins!

Making our resurrection rolls.

Easter Sunday

Hannah got her first bottle!

Church Egg Hunt

This Easter I wanted to be sure Isaac understood why we celebrate Easter. I wanted him to know it's not about the Easter bunny, but about Jesus and that He died for us. I found some great activities to do together in the days leading up to Easter as well as on Easter morning. I also bought a couple of books to read together. The first activity was Resurrection Eggs...there were twelve eggs each with a symbol in it and a bible reading to go along with that symbol. The readings and the eggs told the story of Jesus going to die on the cross and then rising from the tomb. I was so excited about these, as we sat down that first day, 12 days before Easter, and began reading Isaac announced, "We have these eggs at school, this last one is empty because Jesus isn't in the tomb any more!" Oh my, I was shocked at his knowledge and a little bummed that my activity wasn't near as great any more, but also very thankful that he was learning about Easter at school. We continued to do the eggs everyday anyway, and he really enjoyed them. Luke joined us, too, but he didn't really understand what we were doing. On Easter morning I had planned to make resurrection rolls with the boys...it was a very neat recipe, basically you take a marshmallow, which represents Jesus because it's white and He was sinless. Then you dip it in melted butter to represent the oils and in cinammon sugar. Then you put it on a flat crescent and wrap it around the marshmallow, this represents to tomb. After cooking it you cut into a roll and it's empty, showing us that the tomb was empty on Easter morning. As we made them we read through the story in the Bible. We had a great time making them and reading, as we were finishing I asked Isaac what he thought would happen, he quickly said, "The marshmallow will be gone because Jesus isn't in the tomb any more." What!?! For a second I thought he was a genius and had figured it out, so I asked how he knew that...you guessed it, they did this at school. Really? Again, my great activity turned out to not be orignial enough. But again, I am SO thankful that he is in a great school that is pointing him to Jesus and teaching the Truth.

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Saturday we had our families over to celebrate with a delicious potluck lunch, a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids, and then some swimming! Yes, it was plenty warm enough for swimming! I am so thankful we live so close and are able to celebrate the holidays with our families. Sunday morning we decided to take Hannah to church with the family, I was a little nervous, but hopeful. She did great! She fell asleep during the worship time and slept the entire time! Whew! The boys had a great time at Sunday school, they always do! Sunday afternoon our church hosted an egg hunt and potluck dinner, it was so fun! The kids had a great time hunting for eggs, playing with their friends, and even a little playtime with a real bunny! The boys loved that! I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I am so thankful the Lord has blessed us with an incredible church family!

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice and your amazing love! I hope everyone had a good Easter!

Cole's surgery

Our first, and biggest baby, Cole, had surgery to repair a torn ACL just over a week ago. He had started limping at least a month ago, and eventually got to where he didn't even use his back right leg. We were getting really nervous, we thought it must be the hip displasia that we knew was inevitable. Carl took him to the vet to get him checked, where they determined it was his hips or maybe a torn ACL. Of course, it required an x ray to determine the answer, so that's what we did. The x ray proved it to be his ACL, which meant surgery which is not fun, but thankfully also meant that he could be healed and back to normal again soon. Our vet in town offered two types of surgery that cost a pretty penny, but Carl has a friend with some connections for a vet in Navasota that could do the surgery a different way and much cheaper. Naturally, we called him, and got Cole in for surgery the next week. The surgery went great, and now after 8 days he is walking around using it better than he did before the surgery! We are so relieved to see our boy getting back to himself and able to walk around like he should. Hopefully this will be our only dog surgery to endure...it was not fun!

First official swim

Yesterday Daddy and the boys got in the pool for the first official swim of the summer. As you might recall, Luke was not a huge fan of the pool last year, so we were all anxious to see what he would think of it now. Thankfully he was a huge fan! He had a great time playing with Daddy and Isaac in the water! We put him in the puddle jumper, and he quickly learned how to float freely in it. Daddy started teaching him how to kick his legs and of course he figured out how to splash with his hands and get everyone wet. Isaac has absolutely no hesitation as he climbed in the pool. We did make him wear his swim vest, just to help him adjust and remember what to do. He proved that he does remember and is so excited to be back in the water. He has not mustered up the courage to jump in yet, but he had a great time swimming around and kicking/splashing. It brings my heart joy to see them having so much fun...I am so excited to make lots more memories in the pool this summer!

1 month

While pregnant with Hannah it seemed like some months would just drag on, there were times when I thought March would never come. Now that she's here the time is flying by. Our sweet girl is going to be one month tomorrow! This month has been fun, challenging, exciting, and exhausting...and I have loved every minute of it. The boys are still absolutely crazy about their sister, they talk to her and love on her as much as possible. Luke's little face lights up when he sees her, and if she's down at her level she is smothered by his kisses. Isaac will climb to get to her, he cannot get enough of her, and wants to be a part of everything that happens with her. I am so thankful that even after a month they are still in love with her. Hannah is a great baby! She has a sweet cry that's not too loud and usually when she's crying it's for a reason...she's sleepy, dirty, or hungry. She loves to be held, but is also quite content laying in her bouncy seat or her bed. Her "bed" is actually a nap nanny, which has been awesome! A friend of mine let me borrow this for her, it is an inclined bed thing, that she loves. Before getting it she would only sleep an hour and a half or so at night, but her first night in it she slept 4 hours! I think she would wake herself up with a little reflux or gas, but now sleeping at the incline she is much more comfy. I am so thankful for this great contraption. ;-) Speaking of sleeping, this past week she only woke up 1 time per night, usually around 3 and then again around 6:30 or 7. There have been a couple nights that she slept in until 8 or 8:30! She is eating like a champ and growing like one, too! If she keeps this up she will catch Luke before she's one. She eats every 2-3 hours, unless she is sleeping, she will go 4 or so hours. During the day I wake her and make sure she eats at 3 hours if not before. I have gotten her to smile at me 3 times now, and it melts my heart each time! I can't wait until we get to see that pretty smile more often. She LOVES to be outside, no surprise her brothers were the same way. When she's fussy I can take her out and immediately she calms down and I can feel her whole body relax. She's actually napping outside as I right this from the back porch. This brings back memories of Luke, he spent many hours napping outside. So far she enjoys the car, she will cry a little at first, but then quickly passes out. Although if she is awake she tends to get mad when we stop, she wants to keep moving. This reminds me of Isaac, he was just that way. I will never forget driving home one day and getting stuck in a huge traffic jam, he cried and cried, but as soon as we started moving he was fine. The boy has always been a fan of speed. This week the kids and I have all been sick, including Hannah with her first bit of congestion. The poor thing, she sounds pathetic with her stuffy nose and sneezes. Thankfully she's handled it well. Due to the illness, we all went to the doctor together, so we got to weigh her on Tuesday, she was already up to 8 lbs!!! I can tell she's growing as her newborn clothes finally fit her well and she has outgrown a couple of things.

I am so in love with this sweet baby girl, this first month has been fun as we've watched her grow and begin to see the world around her. She fits right into the family, I have almost forgotten what life was like before she was with us.

Happy 1 month sweet Hannah Grace! (I'll post her one month picture in the next couple of days.)

Bluebonnets

Last Saturday we decided to venture out and find some of the beautiful Texas bluebonnets and take some sweet pictures. We headed out there with our friends, the Hendersons, and actually the majority of these pictures were taken by Celisa. She is very talented. The kids had a great time playing in the field, especially Isaac and Kacy! I love the genuine joy that is captured in the pictures of the two of them. Hannah slept soundly while we were out there, she enjoyed the heat. Luke had a good time, too, but did not want to be bothered with the camera.

Hannah's birth

Daddy and Hannah shortly after coming into the world.

The boys first time to see Hannah...the smile never left Isaac's face.

Mama and her girl.

She's home!

Isaac is always by her side.

Such big boys!!!

6 days old

Hee hee, this one makes me laugh!

Our precious Hannah is now a week old! I cannot believe that it was already a week ago that we were in the hospital with her! I need to savor every minute with her because I think her infant days are going to fly by! I didn't get a chance to write an update about her birth, so I want to take a minute to share that now.

Tuesday, March 6, I was feeling pretty run down, okay maybe I said that I was miserable on that day.

8:00 pm - I was laying on the couch watching TV and texting with a friend. I told her that I was feeling pretty miserable and there were no signs of labor. Carl and I talked about when we thought she might be born, my guess was Thursday and Carl's was Friday night. I did not like his guess, it was too far away.

9:00 pm - I had gotten up from the couch, moved around a bit, and then realized that I didn't feel quite normal. I told Carl that maybe something was starting, but probably not.

10:00 pm - I still wasn't feeling right, so we decided to go to bed just in case it turned out to be a long day on Wednesday.

11:00 pm - I started waking up due to contractions, so I began timing them and around 12:15 I decided to wake up Carl.

12:15 am - I got out of bed to go to the bathroom and felt a little something that made me think my water was broken, but it wasn't a gush, so I wasn't really sure.

12:30 am - I called my parents and told them their grand daughter was getting ready to make her arrival, so they needed to head over to be with the boys.

1:30 am - Carl and I left our house to head to the hospital! My contractions were 10 minutes apart, some coming sooner, but not too painful yet.

2:15 am - We arrived in Triage, but my contractions had spaced apart a bit and I was nervous about whether or not it was really time to be there. They took us to a room, went through all the information, and finally checked my status...4 cm and my water was indeed broken, which meant they would check us in...whew! I immediately started requesting my epidural, I didn't need it yet, but I wanted to make sure I got it in time. :-)

4:00 am - We were settled in our labor room, and my favorite person came through the door...it was epidural time! I was freezing and nervous, so I was shaking like crazy, I am amazed he was able to get that needle in my back. Shortly after that I was feeling good, just relaxing, waiting for baby girl.

5:00 - 6:00 am - This was pretty much a quiet time, Carl and I were able to rest some with only a few checks by the nurse.

6:00 am - Hannah's heart rate started dropping, so for the next 30 minutes or so the nurse was in and out of the room often and had me switch positions many times.

6:19 am - The nurse checked me again, I was at 8 cm, but she wanted me to lay on my right side to see if it would help her move down a bit more. After a few minutes her heart rate continued to drop. She adjusted me often and kept a close watch on the baby's heart rate during each contraction.

6:34 am - The nurse had me flip to the other side due to her heart rate, and decided to check me again...10 cm and ready to go!!! I could tell by the nurse's reaction that she was ready to be delivered, she gave me oxygen and told me whatever I did do not push. She got on the phone to get a doctor immediately. Well, of course, the on call doctor was there until 7:00 and then my doctor would come in at 7:00. The on call doctor called my doctor and asked what she wanted to do. They decided we would wait for my doctor. This made me happy, except that my doctor is ALWAYS late...and I was about to the point where I didn't care who was there, I just wanted to meet my baby girl. The nurses started coming in and setting everything up for the delivery. Everytime the door opened I was hoping to see my doctor, but no, a nurse every time.

7:15 am - My doctor finally came in, and things started to move quickly. Here we go...one contraction, three sets of pushing, and at

7:20 am we got to meet our sweet Hannah Grace! She came out with the cutest pouty face, she looked just like Luke when he makes that face. They put her on my stomach and immediately she captured my heart. What a blessing to have our sweet girl in our arms!

Hannah cried some, of course, but calmed down pretty quickly and began looking around the room. She reminded us so much of Isaac after he was born, the same observant look. It was amazing to see that when she did get upset, if one of us talked to her she immediately calmed down and listened to our words. It was an incredible night/morning, one I will not soon forget. I am thankful for the Lord's hand being on us, everything went so smoothly and perfectly.

We've had a great week with Hannah! We've had lots of visitors over to see her and love on our family. The boys are doing great with her! Isaac is all about her, he cannot stay away. He wants to know where she is and what she is doing at all times. Luke's love grows for her daily, it's so sweet to watch. His face lights up when he looks at her, and he wants to be by her when he can. Today he gave her a toy, multiple times, and at one point he sat down on the floor next to her and read some books...maybe reading to her? Carl and I are tired, but so in love! She is spunky, but also very calm at times, she's sweet, and loves to cuddle.

We took her in for her one week appointment today...she checked out well! There are no signs of jaundice and her weight is good...she's back up to her discharge weight of 6 lbs 7 oz.

Hannah Grace

I don't have much time to write, as life is pretty hectic at the moment, but I couldn't let another day go by without posting about our sweet Hannah Grace. She joined us on March 7 at 7:20 am. She weighed in at 6 lbs 10 ounces and 19.5 inches. She is just perfect! The boys are in love with her...we can hardly keep Isaac away from her, he constantly wants to hold her, hug and kiss her. Luke's face lights up when he looks at her, he gives her a big smile, points and says his version of Hannah...then he runs off to play again. As I said, life is a bit hectic, but I wouldn't have it any other way, we are so thankful she is now a part of our family!