Where Have We Been??

At the beach!!! We got home yesterday from a nice long weekend trip to the beach with my family. My parents and both of my brothers and their families were there. We had a great time, despite my being sick the whole time and Hannah spiking a 103.3 degree fever one day. My morning sickness actually wasn't bad at all, but I had a pretty severe head cold. It could have been worse though...it could have been that dreaded stomach bug that we had the week before! Here are some pictures. We got a ton, so I'll post some more later.

Joshua in the kayak with Grandpa

Hannah with her shades

Joshua loved jumping waves with Papa

Me with my sweeties

I know I'm a little biased, but they sure are cute!

Olivia

I'm so excited that my friend Ivy had her baby yesterday...in Poland! I have a lot of respect and admiration for Ivy. She is one brave Mama! Check out her blog for a cute picture!

Happy Birthday, Esther!

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Birthday Girl

Today is Esther's 2nd birthday!! We're so thankful for our funny little Esther. She keeps us laughing and she's such a sweetheart! I'm working on a slide show for her, but since it's Sunday I didn't get it done to post today. It should be done tomorrow. For now, I'll leave you with something she said the other night. She and I were in the kitchen, and I told her that it was time to go to bed. She started wailing, which is uncharacteristic for her at bedtime. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I need some chaaaawwwkit (chocolate)!!" She almost never gets chocolate, so I'm not sure where that came from, but it sure made us laugh!

Hannah

Hannah has started to say several words recently...Mama, Papa, uh-oh, bye-bye, baby, ball. Of course Papa, bye-bye, and baby all sound the same, but she tries! I got a video of her saying bye-bye last night and I had to share it. It's so cute! You may have a hard time hearing her until the very end because her brother and sisters were all talking too! At the end of the video she gets a little louder. She's learning that she has to be loud to get a word in. :)

Sick

I'm sorry for my lack of posting lately. We've been sick with a stomach bug. Joshua, Esther, Hannah and I got it pretty bad. Poor Esther was getting sick every 30 minutes for a while on Monday and I lost 10 pounds the same day. Of course it was all water weight, and I'm sure I'll gain it back quickly, but that's a little scary. Definitely no fun! Grandma in Kansas, you'll be glad you decided not to come when you were thinking of coming! Adam got a touch of it and Abigail managed to avoid it altogether, which we're thankful for! Hannah is still having a little trouble, but we're getting back on our feet. I'm trying to catch up on laundry and housework. It's amazing how out of control things can get when you lay around all day! Adam kept things running smoothly on Monday, which I'm very grateful for. If he hadn't the house would be a lot worse than it is. Back to the laundry...

Clutter

I was finally able to get our attic cleaned out and organized this week! I was wanting to get it done before it gets too hot up there (and before my belly gets too big!), and with Adam home it was the perfect time. He was able to keep an eye on the children while I worked upstairs. We had a yard sale today at Mark and Amanda's house (my brother and sister-in-law). It wasn't the best sale ever, but we did make a little money and took a load to Goodwill. We brought some things home, but I think that I can sell them at a consignment store or save them for the next yard sale. It's so nice to have the attic organized and that clutter out of the house!

Here are a couple of "after" pictures of my project. I didn't think to take "before" pictures, but even if I had I think that I'd be too embarrassed to post them. You could see little bits and pieces of the floorboard here and there, and the rest of the floor was covered with a big chaotic mess. I have a bad habit of just tossing things up there and saying that I'll deal with them later. Out of sight, out of mind. :)

One Down, Three to Go!

Adam is officially a sophomore!! He finished his last exam on Friday and now we get him all to ourselves for five weeks! :) I can't believe that dental school is 1/4 of the way over already. That went by really fast! We plan to make the most out of his break, because next summer he only gets 4 days off!

Growing Up

Our little Hannah is 9 months old today. Already! She's crawling everywhere, pulling herself up into a standing position, getting her top two front teeth, and trying to eat anything and everything she can get her hands on. :) She's such a sweetie. I took her to CVS with me today and on the way home she said "Uh-oh", just kind of out of the blue. I thought I was hearing things, but she said it again....and again, and again, and again. She's also said Mama and Papa, and one other word. I was changing her diaper and told her what I found in it...and she repeated it. We'll just pretend that that wasn't her first word. :) She babbles a lot, and VERY loudly. I guess she figures she has to if she's going to be heard over the non-stop talking of her siblings!