Big News

Next spring, our family will grow by one small, loud member. I'm expecting our third child and although feeling very blessed, the reality is still sinking in. I took a home pregnancy test on June 22. It was positive which didn't completely surprise me but still did at the same time. Matthew and I were thrilled but waited to tell the kids for a few days. I had an appointment on the following Monday (June 28; Matthew's birthday). The ultrasound tech somewhat crushed my spirit when she told me I was not even four weeks and therefore couldn't measure the baby nor give us a due date. We left having been told not to tell anyone because there was no guarantee the pregnancy was viable but to come back in a month. If I was still pregnant, then I would be told a due date. So was I pregnant or not? This made my anxiety level skyrocket and I no longer felt the queazy pregnant feeling but a knot in my stomach feeling. Anyway, we told our immediate family and a few close friends.

The following weeks involved our trip to Kentucky and teaching VBS. I told more friends as I was queazy more often and snacking that much more often. The weeks dragged by and I confided in a friend about my fears over the pregnancy (was it real? should I be telling others?). She reassured me that God creates new life from conception so even if something happened, God had blessed us with a new baby and to just focus on that. Until the doctors definitively told us differently, I was pregnant.

Finally Monday, July 26 came and my follow-up appointment. I was no longer fearing if I was pregnant as my body was reacting with all of the normal early pregnancy symptoms: heartburn, intense hunger, headaches, and not being able to button my pants. The ultrasound this time around was much more comforting (a good thing too as I was so nervous going in). There was our baby, tiny but with a strong 166 heartbeats per minute. We were given a due date of March 1. And plus I was thankful to know we would be having only ONE baby. I was wondering as my waistband at 8 weeks pregnant was matching about 5 months along from my pregnancy with Philip. The rumors are right about third baby just pops out when you find out.

My same dear friend knocked on our door the next day with her two kids. They gave us the most precious gift. A frame reading, "mom + dad = me". She said they printed Philip and Braewyn's photos from my Facebook album and had found an ultrasound pic of a 10-week baby on the internet. I've updated the frame with my real ultrasound pictures. Thank you so much, sweet Steinert family. I praise Jesus that you can love on all three of our kids from just up the street.

Hot Summer Day

Tomorrow we're going to the library, the weekend follows, and on Monday we begin Philip's Kindergarten year and Braewyn's (very loose) 3-year-old Preschool year. With that in mind, I woke up this morning and asked the kids if they wanted to go to the park this morning before it got hot. The answer was yes but unfortunately it still felt like 90 degrees went we got there at 8:45am. We stayed for an hour, played Star Wars (cast: Philip - Luke, Braewyn - Leia, me - Yoda), drank water, swang on the swings, tossed some bread to the geese, drank water, tried to avoid the geese gang fight (white geese and Canadian geese hissing at each other trying to get to our bread), walked on the rocks and in the water, and drank water.

Water, Water Everywhere

Spring ended hot and summer hasn't let up yet. Therefore in an attempt to get us outside as much as possible I wanted to get the kids a little pool. The summers when Philip was 2 and 3, we had this great 8-foot wide, 18-inch deep pool that worked wonderfully for me and a toddler (and the second summer, me, a preschooler and a toddler!). Our old yard was small, but FLAT!

Well, we move to this new house with a yard FOUR TIMES AS BIG and it has not one flat spot in it. There are not massive hills but just enough slope (and it's just inches!) that these little pools are giving me the worst time. I never got a picture of the first pool (identical to that one we had at the last house) but I will say when "fully" filled there was a 5 inch difference (one side of the pool overflowing and the other 5 inches from the top of the pool). Anyhow, the water was sparkling and I had worked so hard at getting the bottom as close to perfectly flat as possible. That day I decided we needed some time to cool off inside after filling the pool so in we went. The neighbor boys (ages 9, 7, and 6) had been watching us fill it and asked if they could swim. I said yes as I was unaware of what these age boys could do to a baby pool. Within 30 minutes, they had cannonballed all the water out and there were a few inches of standing water left in our pool. Philip saw the scene out our window and cried, "Those boys trashed our pool!" He was devastated and with reason.

After a few days, I decided to try to relocate the pool. The sides had warped badly from leaving it drained in the sun. However, my plan was to prop it on a large trunked tree. Now we just had a baby pool with one side against a tree and a waterfall overflowing as gravity pulled the water to the side of the tree! I declared us officially redneck! So wish I had taken a picture of that setup.

Round two of a backyard pool came in the form of an inflatible pool which I thought would hold up better as it was only 5 feet in diameter. That gravity will get you everytime and there we are redneck again!





Thankfully Philip and Braewyn have truly become little fish this summer but obviously not in our yard. Philip attended his third summer of swimming lessons and has gained such confidence and skill. He attends at an indoor pool which hosts high school swim teams during the school year. The last day of lessons, his instructor took the kids to the deep end (not their first time down there) and had them jump off the starting blocks of the second lane from the side. Philip jumped off, swam about 10 feet to his instructor and then another 10 feet to the ladder -- without any floation devices in 12 foot water! I was so proud. That was just a perfect prologue to our trip to Kentucky.



Over July 4th weekend, we traveled to Ruth Ann's homestate to visit our extended family. We always have the best time visiting everyone and I think this was the best trip yet as all the grandkids are getting old enough to really enjoy each other. Even though Philip was the only boy (other than sweet 2-month-old Dennis) out of 7 kids, he had a ball with Bailey and Windy (both just a few months older than him). Ruth Ann's sister Linda and brother-in-law Dennis are such generous hosts. Their home is beautifully furnished but so kid friendly at the same time. I love visiting because we are with loving family members but it feels like a real vacation at the same time due to the peaceful surroundings and pool fun. (Linda and Dennis, I always intend to send a note saying how much we enjoy coming but life hits and I forget. Hope you read this and know how blessed we feel by coming to visit!) (Lindsay, I apologize for not getting a picture of Amber. I hope we'll still be buddies!)










Braewyn made great progression too as she left the steps after a day to begin swimming on her back!

On a sad note, I do want to ask for prayers for Jackie, Matthew's cousin Patrick's wife. Just last week, we received word that her younger brother died from a tragic accident. Please lift up her family during this hard time. (Jackie, our thoughts and prayers are with you and wish we could be there in person. We love you lots!)

Our Day at Dupont State Forest

Back in June, I was wanting to head to the mountains and out of the heat (and I thought June was hot; now we're really feeling it everyday!). The weekend before Father's Day, the four of us drove to the North Carolina mountains to explore the beautiful landscape of Dupont State Forest. It was wonderful "hiking" up to three different waterfalls and spending the day together.

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Something New

Here's a video of one of our favorite Disney moments.