This child makes me LAUGH!

Oh my goodness, Isaac has so much personality.... he makes me smile and laugh (and cry sometimes, too....) Love ya, little buddy!

I'm back (AKA: "Random Updates"!)

Whew, a few things have been going on here! Hence, no blogging!!! :) First and most importantly, I have been running and chasing this crew!

I am SO thankful that I captured this moment.... Ellie planting a big, slobbery kiss on her big bro! Have I mentioned that the boys are crazy about their baby sis?!

Seriously, I'm in love! It's been crazy with three but fun! We are a "gaggle" now, and we are certainly hopping! (fyi, wikipedia definition: "In terms of geese, a gaggle is equal to at least five geese").

Shortly after the above pictures were taken, I took the boys to get a hair cut. Ahem.... when the nice ladies at Fantastic Sams ask you if your children can have colored hair gel "special" since it IS Saturday and "it will wash right out", SAY NO! It's been 1 1/2 weeks and Isaac is still a little green!We've been playing outside A LOT these days and are sure lovin' the sunshine!
In other big news, our sweet Ellie Lyn is now 6 1/2 months old! Here's the latest:

Still isn't a great sleeper.
Has loved trying out new foods since she started them out at 5 1/2 months. Has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, peaches, pears, applesauce, green beans, bananas, sweet potatoes, and squash. Her favorite = grandma's applesauce. Her least favorite = peaches. Loves the high chair.


Still rolling around. Has the "look in her eye" like she wants to crawl (and has actually moved forward an inch or two at points).
Babbling like crazy.
Has tackled her first ear infection. Thankfully, does a great job taking medicine.
Still crazy about her big brothers.
Giggles ALL the time, and yes, is now ticklish!
Loves going on walks (as long as the sun isn't in her eyes).
Has started to LOVE books!

Doing much better in the church nursery and when other people hold her.
14 pounds, 12 ounces (25%ile) and 25 1/2 inches (45%ile).

Drooling like crazy but still no teeth to report.

Preparing for her first trip to Florida! Isn't she sweet?!?!
And our other BIG news: buying and selling houses!!! Things are continuing to move forward with selling our home in NY. We also agreed upon the terms with the sellers for a house here in Indiana! We are SO excited about it and can't wait to share pictures soon! We probably won't be moving until June, but nevertheless, we are very excited about the home and the neighborhood! I feel like I am buried in paperwork these days, but I continue to remind myself that it is temporary, and we will be all settled in our new home SOON!

Another house update....

NY: Inspection went fine earlier in the week.... we're hoping that we're moving towards closing during the first part of May.

Indiana: We made an offer on a house last night! And now.... we wait....

From the mouths of babes....

Yesterday, Scott stopped at Aaron's school to say hi and tell him that he loves him. While he was there, he shared that Aaron's teacher pulled him aside and told him another Aaron quote!

Before lunch the other day, a little boy started whining and said, "I'm STARVING!" To which, Mrs. L. said that Aaron, without missing a beat, turned around and responded with:

"You are NOT starving! Kids in Haiti and Chile ARE starving" :)

Huh, do you think that he has heard that a time or two around our house?!?! (In other GREAT news, Mrs. L. told Scott that she loves having Aaron in her class and that he brings her a lot of joy! This is such a HUGE praise after a rocky start!)

And, for a not so glorious quote out of my son's mouth from today....

"Do you know why I like the Wii so much? Because it gets your thumb so strong....."

Sigh..... :)

Flashback Friday....

I was looking at some of my old videos of the kiddos on Youtube and ran across this sweet little classic from Aaron. He was about 3 1/2 at the time....



Wow, they change so fast. And no, he doesn't say "Sugar" like that anymore either....

Thankful Thursday...

Today, I am thankful....

1) That we accepted the offer on the house! It feels like a huge weight has been lifted. We know that it is not a "done deal" yet, but we're certainly a giant leap closer to selling!
2) For our sweet 6 month old. But golly, how in the world is she 1/2 a year old already?!?!
3) For the awesome opportunities that Scott has at his job! It's so exciting for me to watch him thrive in his new position.... and, of course, to hear him preach fairly regularly, too!
4) That my mom and dad make the drive over to watch the kiddos on most Wednesday nights so that we can go to our "Financial Peace University" class. It's been terrific, and we're learning a lot!
5) That we are on the mend and will all be better soon. The cold/cough crud has been hanging out at our house for a couple of weeks.... Ellie and I both are fighting it off now, but we're the last to have it! Welcome Spring.... and no more sickies! :)

Have a great day! :)

OH.MY.GOODNESS.

My sweet kiddos have all been battling coughs and colds for the past week or so.... yep, we've had a whole lotta nose blowing and snot sucking going on around here. But THIS IS JUST TOO MUCH! I saw it on another blog and it gets rave reviews.... I just cannot imagine.... I think I'll just stick with the little blue snot sucker from the hospital.... I must admit though, I do miss the electric snot sucker tubing thingy that was attached to the wall that the nurses and doctors used with Ellie when she was in the hospital with h1n1!

If you have used the "NosaFrida" personally, I'd love to read your full report in the comment section!!!

House update part 2

WE JUST ACCEPTED AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! We're totally rejoicing here!!!!!!

It's so, so cool how the details worked out.... from the moment I saw the paperwork from this family, I KNEW in my spirit that THIS was the family for our home. Then, we guessed at how the conference call would go with the agents.... guessed where the price would finally land.... and wouldn't ya know, it stopped at THAT price with THIS family!!!!!! So cool.... such peace! :)

Thanks for praying for us! We love NY and the people there, but we are ready to NOT have a house there any more!

House update

Thanks to those of you who sent up a prayer for us about the house stuff.... just a little update.... we now have TWO non-contingent offers on our house right now!!!!!!!! We countered and are waiting to hear back!!!!!!!!!! Feeling hopeful.... AND I'm excited to go house shopping again one of these days, too! :)

All dogs go to heaven....

Tonight, my phone rang and Aaron's teacher's name popped up on my caller ID. I sighed.... wondering what was about to take place in our conversation (it's not typically a good thing to get a call from the teacher or the school at our house). But this is what happened instead....

What you need to know to understand this story.... Aaron's teacher's dog died this week. The kids were trying to be very empathetic, but she couldn't make it through the day because she was so sad. And now, for our conversation....

Mrs. L.: I just had to call to tell you what Aaron did. I was so sad that day, thinking that I was ready to come back right after it had happened, but I obviously wasn't. The kids were asking all kinds of questions and were becoming sad, too, so I then tried to reassure them and change the tone by saying, 'I am sure that I will see Rascal in heaven someday.'"

She said that Aaron immediately replied, without missing a beat:

"Oh, was he a Christian?!!"

Ahh, a glimpse! :) She said that it was PERFECT for her.... made her giggle in the middle of a hard day.... and that she has shared that story over and over since. She told me that she even told the principal, and he immediately said, "You've got to call his mom and dad to tell them!" So cute! :)

(please note, this is not a post intended to open up a can of worms and a theological debate about whether or not you think pets will be in heaven.... trust me on this one, I don't want to delete mean comments! HA!) :)

Compassion changes the world....

..... one life at a time. I love following the "Compassion bloggers" as they travel and see all that Compassion does around the world. And through this, I ran across THIS STORY. But be forewarned.... it's heavy.... but so, so convincing that every dollar and every child sponsorship DOES count! WOW!

Thankful Thursday (a little late....)

Forgive me. I missed Thursday..... again. But this time, with good reason.... Scott and I were on the phone a lot last night....

First and most importantly, PLEASE pray for Scott's sister and brother in law. Her father-in-law passed away unexpectedly and met Jesus face to face last night. A time of celebration for him, but a time of hearts breaking for them....

Second and hardly important at all after the previous, we got our first offer on our house last night! We counter-offered this morning and now wait to see what happens. We are excited, but are not getting TOO excited yet. It would be a "contingent offer" if accepted, based on the sale of their other house. Thankfully, both realtors assured us that their home is in an area where homes are flying quickly because of the first-time home buyer's tax credit.

And now....

I am thankful....

1) That things have started to look up with the sale of our home in NY. We have had 12 showings in the past 2 1/2 weeks. That is encouraging after a slow holiday season and winter.
2) That Ellie slept through the night one night this week. We started cereal that day, and yes, it helped! :) Unfortunately, we were up with a coughing kid anyway, but it still gives us hope that we will all get a full night of sleep again someday!
3) That Scott had an awesome visit with his grandparents in Florida and a fun time with his Dad last week.
4) That God is molding my heart for my neighbors here in the apartment complex. My kiddos were out playing in the sunshine with 8 other kids last night after school.... sigh.... without another parent in sight. I told Scott that it is my own little daycare that I never signed up for! :) If we're still here this summer, I'm excited to share cold popsicles with all of them!!!!
5) For Sonrise Church. It is so fun to be a part of a such a warm, loving, and growing place. We have been so blessed to always have been a part of growing churches since we got married.... the energy is contagious, and yep, I love it! :)

I'm thankful for YOU, dear blog reader! Have an awesome day! :)