Finally, an update!!

Ok, I know I'm LONG overdue for adding a new post. My time spent on the computer is usually only for 5 minutes at a time these days, which hasn't allowed for much time to post on the line. We are still all alive and well, however and have been rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord as our family grows and changes.

Grace continues to change every day. It's hard to believe that she is already 12 weeks old and will be turning 3 months in only a few days. She is smiling and cooing a ton and even laughs every now and then. She has been sleeping 9-10 hours consistently now for a few weeks (Praise the Lord!!), which has made ALL the difference in all of our demeanors. :) It's amazing how much difference a good night of sleep makes. Liz, I know that it will happen for you (if it hasn't already :) when Bree is ready...every baby is different. My babies just tend to be more laid back than most. If you met my husband and I, you would understand exactly how they've come to be that way. :)

Adam is turning into quite the little man. He is understanding sooo many things. He's not talking a whole lot, but we're working on getting him to say/sing the alphabet and so far, he's made it to E. :) Otherwise, he says a few words and loves to do impressions of various animal noises. :) He's really good at mimicking elephants, lions and whales! :) He such a boy, in that he is fascinated with balls and trucks. He also is happiest when he's outside. Boy, does he put up a fight when it's time to come in! It's hard to believe that he is now 18 months...time sure does fly!

Anyway, here are some fairly recent pics:

When I say 'Smile!', this is what he does...silly boy!

For my b-day, Stephen surprised me with these flowers...aren't they beautiful? He's so wonderful!
Another silly smile...
I can never get any photos of Grace with a full smile. Anytime I get one, it comes out blurry, but this is sort of half a smile.



Pretty relaxed in the bumbo...we love this thing!

Zoo Video

Enjoy!

Our zoo trip...

Yesterday my parents took us to the zoo! It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day weatherwise and we had such an enjoyable time. Here are some pics from our day:









In other news, Grace had her 2 month appointment this morning and she is the picture of health! She now weighs in at 12 lbs. 8 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches long!! What a big girl! She is in the 90th % for weight and 75-90% for height right now, so it was a wonderful checkup. She is going to outgrow her brother before too long! Of course, she had to have 3 shots, which she did not enjoy at all...poor baby! She was a bit fussier than normal this afternoon, but it was the sweetest thing. Adam heard Grace crying and looked so concerned for her, so he started rubbing her belly and giving her little kisses. I wish I had had my camera! It was so cute! We rejoice in God's grace in our lives...He has blessed us in so many ways and we are so thankful...to Him be all the praise and glory!

A little of this, a little of that...

Well, we have been rather busy these last few weeks and so finally I am sitting down to post something new! :) First of all, last weekend, we were able to make a trip to Richmond to visit with Stephen's family and were also able to see some dear friends from our church down there. It was our first long trip with both babies and it was Grace's first long trip anywhere. They did soooo well, with Grace sleeping most of the way, both there and back. Adam was a little trooper and hardly did any fussing, even though he had to sit in that carseat for two 7-8 hour trips. It's hard enough for me, let alone a 17 month old, so I was quite proud of him. In other news, Grace is now almost 9 weeks old!! It's hard for me to believe, but she is growing soooo fast and is almost as big as her brother. :) We have a doctor's appointment this Tuesday and will find out how much she weighs exactly, but I weighed her at home and according to our scale, she weighs 13 lbs!!! Yikes! What a big girl! Adam only weighed 21 lbs...poor guy! He's a skinny minny! It's just like pulling teeth to get him to eat more than a few bites at each meal. I guess if he was hungry, he'd eat, right? This week, Grace slept 8 hours every night! What a blessing for us! I think we are finally getting into a real routine. Just this week, she's been napping so much better. I've been able to put her down when she's wide awake and when I go in to check on her a few minutes later, she'll be asleep. So, she's settling herself down really well most times. We certainly have much to be thankful for!

Stephen's parents, Dan and Mary Lou and Stephen's brother Dan and his wife Kirsten

My silly little boy...I think he looks so much older in this picture.

On one of our walks in the park with my parents...each of us gets to carry a baby now. :)

Paw Paw and Adam...he loves his Paw Paw

Grace in her lovely sling...she loves it!

Some random pics...

Ok, so I thought I'd just post some more recent pics of the babies. We took them to this adorable little park about 10 minutes from where we live and Adam loved the playground.

Poor little baby...he was all tuckered out.

Sweet Grace...giving me a half smile...

We had our first bottle experience with Grace at Rachel's wedding. I decided to pump and give her a bottle since it was such a crazy day. She didn't like it too much, though you wouldn't be able to tell from this photo.

Many congratulations!

First of all, a huge shout of congratulations to the Fischers on sweet baby Gabrielle Rose's (Bree) entrance into the world! Can't wait to see pictures and hear more details! We are soooo excited and happy for you!

Secondly, we are rejoicing in God's goodness in bringing a new brother-in-law into our family. My dear sister Rachel was married to Jeff Clayton this past Saturday. We are so thankful for how God has brought them together. It was a beautiful wedding and I will post more pics as soon as I can get my hands on some. For now however, here is one of the two of us before the ceremony began. Doesn't she look beautiful?

While I have a moment of peace (sort of) :)

So, right now my daughter is sleeping peacefully and my son is playing a game called pull all the books off the bookshelf and scatter them all over the floor. I figured I'd take this moment before instructing my sweet little boy to put all the books that he just pulled off the shelf back to write a quick update regarding our new life as a family of four. First, everything has truly been wonderful so far. Grace is an amazing baby. For those of you who may not have heard of the Babywise series of books, I HIGHLY recommend them! We followed the original book 'Giving your baby the gift of nighttime sleep' (maybe not to a T, but pretty close) with both Adam and now Grace and Adam was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks and for the past week Grace has been sleeping 5-6 hours at night and for the past 2 nights, she slept 7 and 7 1/2 hours straight! Wow! It certainly makes me thankful! She is a really sweet baby...she smiles now. It's especially adorable when she's lying there after I've changed her diaper and am talking or singing to her and she looks up with that precious little grin. She is a BIG girl. Over a week ago at her 3 week appointment, she weighed 10 lbs, 1 oz! She is off the charts for height and in the 75 - 90% for weight, so things are going so well. Adam is a sweet big brother and loves to give baby sister kisses. So far, he is adjusting really well. I have not been able to sit down at the computer for very long at one time because there are soooo many distractions these days...imagine that! :)

This past weekend, my parents took us to Idlewild park about 1 hour east of Pittsburgh. Adam really enjoyed the water part of the park. It really was an enjoyable day.