Spring has sprung!

I've been collecting pictures of the girls enjoying spring, meaning to post them.... today was so nice and warm (I think it must have been pushing 80 today) that I just had to post them!

The trees are budding, allergies are flaring and children are enjoying shorts. This is a tree located by the bus stop.

The sandbox has turned into the place to be during playtime! Abby now can swing! She loves it!
Hannah needed to swing too -- just a bit bigger!
Slide time!Abby enjoys sitting outside and watching the big kids playI'm sure that there will be more fun, outside play pictures to come....

Abigail, 6 months

Here are some cute pictures from Abby's 6 month photo shoot. She was so adorable during it! As we were sitting down to look at the options, the lady helping us told us that we were in trouble because there were just so many cute pictures to choose from. After much debate (as I pushed for buying more and Kevin held to our stated goal of only two poses), we left, with just one extra sheet. (Again, the Zazzle emblem is just to keep us from using the picture illegally -- sorry that it isn't as clear.)

This one is my favorite...Kevin's favorite....Leaning tower of AbbyPeek-a-boo! (Didn't get this one, but really wanted to...)Look at her sit! Kinda like a monkey... The lady said that this one really showed Abby in all her glory -- chubby thighs, pot belly hanging over the diaper. Let's just say, our girl eats enough.

Speaking of size, Abby currently weighs in at 17 lbs. 14 oz. and is 26 inches long. That puts her weight at about 83% and her height at the 61%. Her head is +99% (on the graph, it was way up above all the curves....)

I've been waiting to do an update on her sleeping through the night because we actually haven't moved back into our room -- tonight is the first time we are trying it. I'll say more in a few days on how she progressing in that area.

She now eating rice and oatmeal cereal, pureed butternut squash, sweet potatoes and peas. I'm having fun making the baby food again -- I made all of Hannah's and really enjoyed it, I guess just because I like knowing that my girls are eating food really in its purest form, nothing added except water, plus, it is so much cheaper than buying Gerber. We will next start her on fruit, which will be bananas (Kevin gets that duty -- as many of you know, I cannot handle being around bananas).

Her rolling has progressed to the point that every time we went and got her after a sleep time she was on her belly -- I think she still sleeps on her back but rolls over waiting for her pokey parents. Maybe she read the same article that I read that said that she needs to be on her belly 3 times a day for 5 minutes or more (let's just say that we need to work on that goal).

On the teeth front, she now has a friend for that first one. The neighbor popped through yesterday, which means that we should now have a break before the next set.

We just continue to fall more in love with our little girl. As she smiles at us and kisses us (yes, she really does do that!), we marvel at what a sweetheart we have. She really delights in her family. This past Sunday at church she was sitting on the pew between Kevin and I (Hannah was already down in Children's Church) and she would just keep glancing up at us and smiling, then looking around, only to repeat the process multiple times. She still needs to work on her social skills outside of our family, but with us she is almost always just a smiley, happy girl. I guess it is only fitting, her name does literally mean "her father's joy", but I would like to tag onto that "and her mother's and her sister's."

The times when we love New Jersey

I must admit it, despite our excitement to get the heck out of Jersey, there are times when we really enjoy and appreciate it. Today highlighted what we have found to be the best of NJ -- the rolling hills of the farmland, fun family outings and farm animals.

Three years ago, when we moved here, we were told by a former NJ resident that we needed to go to the Howell Living History Farm. With Hannah being so young, we just tucked that bit of knowledge away and said we would wait for her to get a bit older. While we waited, we discovered Terhune Orchards, a farm where you pick your own apples, raspberries, blueberries, flowers, etc. That has been our farm destination for the last three years (it reminds me of the Apple Hill that I visited as a child and Greenbluff, north of Spokane, that we went to while in college). However, Terhune does not have pigs -- they have chickens, cows, horses, sheep, donkeys, geese, bunnies and probably some other animals that I have forgotten, but no pigs. Hannah has been asking to see pigs since about December and we have not been able to produce a single piglet. As luck would have it, I remembered Howell Living History Farm and decided to check out their website in search of pigs, which they do have. So, today, after slathering on the sunscreen (yep-it's that time again!) we headed to the Farm, which is located very close to the Delaware River (and the actual spot where Washington crossed). The Farm was wonderful (as was the picturesque drive out to it)! It is set to be like a farm from the 1890-1910. After a wagon ride, we watched as oxen helped prep a field for corn planting. We got to see baby lambs (which are really very cute) and baby chicks, along with their respective older counterparts. There was a lone horse grazing in the field. And yes, to Hannah's delight, there were several baby pigs. Kevin and I enjoyed the beauty of the area. New Jersey is nicknamed the Garden State for a reason -- although, sometimes you have to go looking for it. It is so populated, but then, sprinkled in among all those houses, highways and shopping centers, there are slices of true beauty and peace. Now, places like the Farm do not make us to want to stay, but I do wish we had found it a year earlier.

Pictures from Howell Living History Farm

Fancy Dinner and Sleeping on the Couch

Last night, Kevin and I enjoyed a night out for the Senior Class Dinner. Twice in your seminary experience you get treated to a nice dinner courtesy of Princeton. The first time was when Kevin first started here, during orientation. At the time, Hannah was 5 1/2 months old and I remember having to race back for her next feeding, in between events. Last night I again had to race back in between dinner and the Senior Worship Service, this time to feed Abby, 6 months. As I was driving, I reflected on how strange it is that in leaving I have a baby the same age as the one I came in with -- of course, in leaving, I also have a three year old! Hopefully, in leaving, we leave with more wisdom and insight then we came in with, which I think is true. Kevin, at least, can say with certainty that he has learned -- I mean, he sure didn't know how to read Greek and Hebrew when he came! Me, I might need to chalk up my acquired knowledge to how to best negotiate with a two year old, how to best coax a reluctant eater to try something new, how to juggle two kids who both want/need to be carried. I think my knowledge is fuzzier then Kevin's, but I also think I didn't have the benefit of going to classes to learn, I got "on the job" training only.

Here are two pictures, one of each girl, at about 6 months (Hannah is slightly younger). Can you guess which one is which? (I know, it is pretty obvious....) Leave a comment on how similar/dissimilar you think the girls look!
Today Abby got to wear one of my favorite Hannah outfits (I just love babies in overalls, I don't know why!) so I had to take a picture in a somewhat similar position. Abby is moving into Hannah's summer/fall clothes, so, for the first time, I am going to get to reuse a lot of the outfits. This is a change because we didn't feel like we could put our winter Abby into our summer Hannah's clothes. Of course, once she is in the next size, Hannah's old stuff will be winter when Abby is in the middle of summer. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while I can (and expect more comparison pictures in the future!)


Now for the second part of the title. Don't worry, our marriage is fine. In fact, I should add to it "and sleeping on a blow up bed." Kevin and I are sleeping in our living room as we attempt to teach Abby some new sleeping skills, like sleeping through the night. Sharing a room with your baby makes you much more reluctant to let them cry--it is easier to just help them go back to sleep. Our doctor, who we really respect and is very child friendly in her approach to things, told us at 4 months that at 6 months we could start the letting her cry it out at night, in an attempt to have Abby sleep through the night. Now, I know there are many theories on when it is the best time to do so (many do it much earlier), but what our doctor said went along with our parenting theory (which we really developed on Hannah and are just reusing on Abby), so, we have been eagerly waiting till Abby was 6 months to put this to work. If Abby slept like Hannah did at the age (waking up only once for a brief feeding), we probably wouldn't have gone to this step. However, Abby is not like Hannah -- she is much more parent dependent and wants to cuddle and chow down at night, which means at 6 months we are about as tired as we were at 3 months. So, we are in the living room and hoping, before our neighbors come home next Wednesday (and can hear the crying), that Abby will be sleeping better (and maybe not even waking up to nurse!). I'll keep you updated on this.

Competing Post Titles

Well, we are back! During our trip I kept coming up with appropriate post titles that would accurately describe our trip, only to have that title displaced by the next event. So, I thought I would tell you all about our trip through the different titles.

The merits of bribery

This one came about in our attempt to get Hannah to poop on the potty while traveling. Our girl is... reluctant... to try out new toilets. Pretty sure I mentioned that on our last traveling post. Because of some bottom issues we've been having we thought it was important that her bottom stayed nice and dry in panties, which put the pressure her going poop on the potty. So, all this meant that we needed to make sure that Hannah was properly "encouraged" to use foreign toilets. How do you convince a reluctant girl? Milkshakes (and their close cousins, Starbucks' Strawberries and Cream Frappacinos). Worked like a charm (twice).

4/4 on flying

Our girls are flying champs! To fly from Philly to Spokane, you have to change planes, so it ends up being 4 flights total. All four flights we were told by people sitting around us that our girls were WONDERFUL flyers (one even went as far as to say that they had never seen kids do so well). I swear, we did not drug them, although we did use our portable DVD player A LOT. Side note: landings make Hannah sleepy. Once again, she fell asleep while landing on our trip over. Coming home, I deliberately had Kevin keep her awake so that she would possibly sleep the second half of the flight (which she did until she woke up in a wet puddle--guess potty training isn't ready for sleep time).

I hate Denver (landing and taking off)!

I'm sure this post title deeply offends some of you (Miranda). Sorry. But, it is so bumpy! We flew through Denver both directions so we got to experience the Denver landing/taking off bumps 4 times! Our coming home flight was so bad that I was searching for a barf bag (luckily didn't use) while reciting the Lord's Prayer hurriedly and repeatedly (if I was Catholic I would have been crossing myself). One time we had such a bad bump that I swear we lost gravity for 3 seconds (Kevin's version on it: we hit a big air pocket and dropped a bit, but definitely not for 3 seconds--however, he is WRONG). Try clutching your baby girl through something like that. I hate Denver and plan on never flying through it again (lucky me! no more trips across the country!)

You know your in a small town when....

This title creates a very long post. I will share just a bit.

When you walk into a small cafe, full of people who were not at church the previous day and someone comes up to you and asks if you are "the new Presbyterian preacher".

When that first comment sparks the neighboring table to ask if you are house hunting and, did you by chance go by their neighbors house that morning because they saw the town's one realtor showing the house earlier (we did).

When walking down a main road in town (the same road as the church's manse) one car stops to talk and another person pops out of their house to meet the new pastor.

When you tell people you are from a small town (Placerville) but when they hear the population (+8,000) they tell you that isn't a small town, only to have you agree after 2 days in town.

We really liked the Coulee Dam area and the small town feel, it is just so different then what we are used to. It will present a great living and ministering environment, while also presenting some challenges. I think we are up to it all.

Finally, a home church

I must admit, I started having a few doubts (mostly because I hate change and am worried about moving to such an unknown), but going there put them all to rest. It was a wonderful time of confirmation that this is where God is calling not only Kevin, but our family. Getting to know the congregation felt almost like a homecoming for us. We have been somewhat home(church)less since leaving Harvest 3 years ago, although I do love the church we found here in NJ. As my little momma's girl Abby was passed around, never once crying, even snuggling in on a grandpa's chest and falling asleep during the service (which left me to just sit and enjoy the service), it seemed like she too finally felt at home. I'm excited to once again be fully part of a church family.

A JOB!

Kevin did a wonderful job leading the worship service, and really made the point that it was, first and foremost, a worship service, not a job interview. The congregation voted unanimously to approve him. So, we've got a job! (For those unfamiliar with Presbyterian polity, this was an important step--the Pastor Nominating Committee offers him a position, he accepts, then they have to offer him as a nominee for the position, which the congregation then votes on... there are a couple more steps involved with different committees, but I don't want to turn anyone off to Presbyterianism, so I'll leave it at that...)

Off to Washington!

Well, we are off to Washington this morning. We fly all day, will land in Spokane tonight, stay at a hotel, then, tomorrow morning, we will drive to Coulee Dam for an "open house" where everyone gets to meet us. I must admit, something like that might be what I am dreading most about being a "pastor's wife."

Pray for safe flights, happy kids, a good church service on Sunday (Kevin is leading it) and, hopefully, a house.

Will have pictures when we get back (Tuesday).

More pictures from Hannah's party

Pictures of Abby (trying something new...)

A week's worth

Well, I think I need to do a week's worth of posts, I know it's been a little while.

If there was to be just one main lesson learned from this week, Hannah's would be: "don't run with your hands in your pockets." Let's just say she learned this one the hard way. Another way to put it is that she jumped head first into this lesson. She was running, on pavement, with Kevin when she decided that her hands were cold and proceeded to put them in her pocket. She then did what all toddlers (when do I start calling her a preschooler?) do best, and tripped. Kevin said that it was one of those falls where you check to make sure that she didn't loose consciousness. She didn't. However, she does have a good golf ball size knot on her head, highlighted by a little road rash. Sorry, no pictures of the pain.

Picture of Hannah in her first nightgown

Some fun sayings that she's said lately:

In reference to the geese we drove by, "they are just chilling out." Can we all say Californian? She was born there.

When she brought me my shoes that I sent her searching for, "they actually weren't in the basket, they actually were right next to the basket."

We were talking about going back to Coulee Dam (something we are doing on Friday) and Washington and she eagerly replied, "we need to go there! We haven't been there in a long long time! We need to do that again!" Hopefully she'll be that excited when I tell her that we are moving there. (No, we still haven't told her. How do you break her heart and tell her that she is leaving all of her friends, everything familiar, and moving far, far away? We know that day is coming, probably this weekend, but I am not looking forward to it.)

Abby is now sitting up quite well. She seems to really like it -- it allows her to see the world better than her back. Tonight she weighed in at 17 lbs. 5 oz. Her weight gain has slowed down, which is a good thing, but is still climbing enough that I don't need to worry if she is reluctant with her butternut squash and sweet potatoes (she much prefers the cereals to the vegetables). Abby also passed her toy from one hand to the other, a developmental milestone (I know, me and her pediatrician are probably the only two people who will ever care about that milestone, but I care, so I post!).

Here is a picture of the girls. Hannah thought that she needed to demonstrate how to play with the play mat.

6 signs of spring

Here are six signs of spring at CRW (our seminary community):

1. You find that you are spending more time at the playground then you are in your apartment

2. Fall's pregnant mommas emerge with half grown babies after a winter's hibernation

3. Walking the block in the post-dinner hours is the thing to do

4. A pound of sand is once again making its way into your house, courtesy of the sandbox and your child's habit of dumping sand on their (friend's) head.

5. You spend nap time listening to the hum of the Grounds crew hard at work (praying it doesn't wake sleeping girls)

6. The daffodils start blooming

"Open wide!"

Today has been the day of teeth.

Hannah and I went this morning to her first dentist appointment. I approached this event with fear and trembling, thinking "3 year old, dentist, funny instruments that make noise, scary place [in my mind], bad idea..." However, I under estimated an impressionable, fresh young mind that has no bad associations with the dentist. I told (lied) her it would be fun, that the dentist wanted to count her teeth and see how pretty they were. I said that she might even want to brush them. My kid bought it! She did everything perfectly (some would say better then me), letting the dentist brush with the noisy, special brush, use the sucker and water blower, all without a peep of protest from Hannah. I sat there in amazement, ready to spring into action at the slightest sign of problem, only to really spend my time watching the movie Toy Story, which was playing. Ahhhh.... so glad that is over. Hope next time I go I'll do as well.

Abby, not wanting to be outdone by big sister, decided today was the day to finally have the first tooth pop all the way through. It has been coming for about a week now, first poking just a corner, then a bit more... until today it is officially (well, I'm writing it down on the baby calendar) in. So, Abby now has a tooth. Maybe now that diaper rash will clear up....

"And the little one said, roll over!"

In a blatant attempt to shift the focus back onto herself, Abby finally decided to roll over! She realized that with Hannah's birthday, she had gotten the short end of the stick when it came to being the center of attention in the blog world. Well, whatever it took, it happened! I, unfortunately, slept through this event, but, since Kevin was letting me sleep in this morning, I'm okay with that. He did, however, take pictures to immortalize the occasion.

Later on, Abby was kind enough to demonstrate her new skill for me, at which I, of course, had to take pictures.

Tiny Abby update: she can sit unsupported for short bits of time (don't worry, I'm close by in case she topples over), has made the "b", "h" and "g" sounds, and just branched out from cereal to butternut squash. She also likes to play with her pacifier (waving it around in front of her face is great fun) and is definitely showing more interest in toys.