And then there were . . . FIVE!

Can you believe it?!

As you might imagine, we are super excited. While not as shocking as our first, or even out second, pregnancy, it still feels like a miracle- a how-in-the-world-is-this-possible-God-is-unbelievable moment for sure. Again, our experience is teaching us that each pregnancy is so unique. While there are lots of similarities, just as in the children these pregnancies bring into the world, there are many differences. This particular child has already done a lot of teaching. Or perhaps I should more accurately say the Lord has done a lot of teaching to our hearts over the last several months.

So how did we find out?

Sunday, December 15, was the magic day. To be extra sure, we said we would wait until Monday to take a test. Dave's parents were in town and we were celebrating "Pappy and GiGi Christmas"- it would be the perfect day. I was hopeful, took the test. Negative.

Dave reassured me that not all hope was lost yet, so we decided to take one more before his parents left town Tuesday morning. So I took another test. Still nothing. But then kind of something. I called Dave in to take a look. He encouraged me to take the last "expensive" test. That test also showed a very faint line after the prescribed waiting period. We didn't feel like we could say anything. We needed to wait and see what happened.

With one test remaining, we decided to wait until Monday, December 23, to try again. So before we went to get the kids out of bed we took the very last test, a "cheap" one. Honestly, it wasn't cut and dry. At the three minute mark there was a mediumish line. But after four or five minutes, we were pretty confident. We were expecting our third child!

We got the kids up and headed out to a nice breakfast at the Daniel Webster Inn. Being the day before Christmas Eve, we had almost the dining room to ourselves. The kids did great. On the way there Dave and I talked about how to roll out the operation to tell family and friends. We decided to tell Sarah and ask her to keep it a surprise, but not to fret if she told people. We also decided to not make a big deal about it with her until we did want to her talk about it.

Josiah was nonplused :)

Josiah wore his new shirt on Christmas day to share the news with family.

Happy 3.5 years, Sarah!

To be fair, Sarah hit 3.5 years back on January 16. The real problem is that mid-February came so fast! We have enjoyed watching her grow up through the fall and winter months and are thankful for the joy we have in her.

Weight: ? lbs
Height: ? ins
Clothes: 3T, 4T; shoe, size 8

Likes: projects, coloring pictures for people, pretending, being silly, visiting people, playing with Josiah

Dislikes: not getting what she wants, change, anticipation

Schedule: We start our day around 7am and Sarah is good at staying in bed until we come upstairs to get her or until she asks. She still goes down for a nap at 1pm and sleeps only a couple of days a week. When she doesn't sleep, she lays down for a bit, then reads in bed, and then reads or plays out of bed. The day ends around 7pm- she loves to watch her glow-in-the-dark stars!

Eating: At least for the present, she is eating everything and lots of it. I suppose she might be having a growth spurt. She has stopped liking to ride in the "car" buggy at the grocery store and instead likes to "pick out Mommy's favorite groceries" as she walks beside the cart. I think this interaction has made her much more excited about the fruits and veggies we bring home. (Though she has never really needed much encouragement!) Favorites are orange peppers, apples, peanut butter, milk, and yogurt.

Talking: She speaks delightfully fluently and continues to increase in understanding. We can ask her "why" she did something now and she knows what we mean and how we want her to respond. I love listening to her talk to Josiah and sing in the car to a Veggie Tales Worship CD.

Random, but fun:
* She remembers so much. Today she was telling me about the time that we watched our friend Kate, that Daddy wasn't home at first, but then he came home. She was in the baby swing and there were leaves, not snow, on the ground. Such amazing detail to remember about a random day last fall!
* Her heart is sensitive to needs and she has started praying occasionally. Most often she starts and I finish.
* Sarah likes to orchestrate play. With big kids and little kids she can be a little controlling. With kids her own age she follows the crowd.
* She loves to dance.
* Crafts are a big deal these days. And I'm not into coming up with things or shopping for random supplies, so we do a lot of play dough and coloring.

Next appointment: Monday, July 21, 2014 at 9:30am

Watching cousin Will catch a fish in Papa's pond.

She loves to doctor our little guy.

Silly girl :)

Daddy's shoes!

Apple picking with friends was big fun.

Head stand- aka the move of the season.

Sarah and I had a Panera date.

Were we supposed to touch that?

Halloween

Sarah was very excited about the new set of clothes Charlotte was given for Christmas.

Girl loves snow!

Sarah is excited to be Ms. Laura Kathryn's flower girl!

Sarah sang with the children's choir at a local nursing home.

She and Gigi designed a whole gingerbread village.

The children's choir on Sunday morning.
Gigi got to see Sarah sing in the dress she made her.

Just before Christmas Sarah wanted to write her friend Baby Hope's name on a picture. What surprised us was that she remembered how to spell it! We used that to our advantage with a few Christmas cards. 

We have been reading a Proverb at breakfast each morning. Sarah is catching on to the idea of wisdom.

Happy 21 months, Josiah!

Dave and I were noting recently that time seems to have stood still since Josiah learned to walk, but instead more than 6 months have passed. He is an intense little guy that loves a challenge and at the same time loves to let go and laugh. His giggles are amazing! He is just beginning to enter the repeating phase where he will say any word we ask or that he hears and thinks is interesting. It is really fun to listen to music with him. He likes to pick out one word and sing it over and over. For the next song he picks out a new word. Precious boy :)

Weight: ? lbs
Height: ? in
Head: ?
Diaper: cloth and size 5
Clothing: 18, 24 month and 2T, shoe- size 7, 8

Likes: doing whatever Sarah is doing, building towers, knocking towers down, play dough, eating, playing in the church nursery, coloring, wearing shoes, balloons, being tickled, wrestling with Daddy

Dislikes: sharing when it isn't on his terms, keeping gloves/mittens on, feeling like he is being short changed, waiting his turn

Schedule/Sleep: Just after the turn of the year we officially dropped his first nap. It was really hard when we were home in the early weeks, but we went out often and sometimes I put the kids down early for their nap. But now he is just fine waiting until 1pm when they both go down for their nap. He has, thus far, always fallen right to sleep since dropping the first nap and then sleeps 2-3 hours. Bedtime is at 7pm.

Eating: As Josiah has gotten more teeth he has become a much better vegetable eater. He usually eats pretty much the same thing as Sarah. He also enjoys peppers, yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, meat (they do a little "meat" dance), and lots of milk and water. Josiah knows to ask for treats much sooner than Sarah did and during the holidays he enjoyed his fair share.

Communication: As I noted above, he is really into repeating key words and phrases. I think most outsiders wouldn't always know what he is saying, but we usually do. He is very emphatic when he wants to be understood. Favorite word of the week is "hallelujah!" He has started calling Sarah by name! It sounds something like "Yara" and he loves to call for her.

Teething: A couple of weeks ago Josiah had to sit with me during church because he was up throughout the night before, had a runny nose, and yucky diapers. I suspected teething since he didn't seem to have other signs of a cold. And I was right! I'm pretty sure he has 6 (!) teeth coming in and other than that rough 24 hours, he has been a champ. The better to eat with, I think he would say!

Random:
- The kids love to hug when they say they're sorry.
- When I had him in church a couple of weeks ago he said "uh oh" really loudly during an opportune moment in the sermon and it was reference throughout the rest of the sermon. His first worship interaction . . .
- He learned that he can get out of bed when he wakes up to get books and hops right back in bed. So far it means that Dave and I get more sleep in the morning!
- When he sees something he thinks looks good on his plate, he always says "ooo, cupcake," even if it is something like green beans.
- Though we have tried to teach him to say pants, he always calls his bottoms "too tight." I promise that he has pants that fit. Since he doesn't want to say pants, we have been teaching him to say "just right" and have had some success.

Next appointment: Monday, May 5, 2013 at 10:20am

Christmas snuggles with Ms. Lisa!

He took the liberty of decorating a little one night before bed.

Doctoring Sarah

Our little puppy. He calls all mittens "paws" now :)

They love it. It only ends in tears about half the time.

The boy loves a tea party.

Eating fresh snow is clearly the best way to play in it.

Handsome fella in his sweater made by Gigi.

Sweet hugs!

One evening Sarah and I stayed outside and played in the snow for another 5 mins after Josiah was ready to go inside. When we got in I found him like this. He had set up his own fun :)

We love hanging out with our friends! 

Sunday Snow Day

As much as we love getting together on Sunday Morning to worship God, sometimes a foot of heavy snow comes and makes it impossible. But, as you can see, it's still possible to make the best of it!

The amount stuck on the trees tells you this is the heavy, sticky stuff

We even went for a walk around the neighborhood!

By afternoon, everyone who could get our of their driveway could get around town, so we went to a birthday party for one of our favorite little buddies. 

Finally, as evening came, we went to church for a smaller worship service. Whoever could make it, we decided, was welcome. It was a great time. The crazy day made us all thankful to be together, which is something you can easily sense and treasure.