Happy New Year (I Concede)

Well I contemplated writing my Happy New Year greeting in multiple posts...but decided that would have been cheating to reach my goal. So, instead I will humbly concede and just wish you all a very Happy New Year and many blessings in 2010!!!

Recap of the decade that was...

I saw this idea on another blog and thought it was a neat idea. I know I am probably missing things (remind me if I am!) but I am sleep deprived and trying to remember 10 years of my life! So, here are the highlights of the last decade:

2000
- Francis graduated from Houghton
- Francis and I got engaged

2001
- Francis and I got married
- We enjoyed a wonderful 2 week honeymoon (mostly in Virginia Beach, VA)
- We celebrated a summer of love/weddings with many dear friends from college
- moved to Philly, the first big city I've ever lived in

2002
- umm... anybody help me out here? :)

2003
- Francis graduated from Seminary
- We saw Gettysburg for the 1st time on our anniversary trip
- We got pregnant!!!
- Francis accepted his first pastorate, I left my job to officially become a SAHM (to be), moved out of the Seminary

2004
- We officially moved into our new home, new town, new job
- I became a mom for the 1st time when I gave birth to our baby boy, Isaac
- My twin sister got married, Francis performed the ceremony, his 1st wedding
- Francis became an ordained minisiter

2005
- My brother got married
- We became pregnant for the 2nd time

2006
- My "baby" sister got married
- I give birth to my baby girl, Grace
- Bought a van

2007
- I became an AUNT for the 1st time
- Went to my 10 year high school class reunion
- First trip to North Carolina

2008
- We became pregnant for the 3rd time only to lose our precious baby a few weeks later
- Isaac started preschool
- We became pregnant for the 4th time!!!

2009
- I turned 30!!!
- I became an Aunt to my 1st nephew
- I gave birth to our second daughter, Ruth
- Isaac started KINDERGARTEN
- I became an Aunt to my 2nd niece

This was a decade of major life changes. I got married, moved away from my family, started new jobs, moved to another new town, became a mom 3 times over, I raised my 1st born from a helpless newborn to a 5 year old boy who I sent off to kindergarten. Wow! It's amazing to think where I will be at the end of this decade...not sure I want to think that far ahead...I'll just take it one day at a time. Happy New Year! :)

ABC's of Me!

Okay... so I know that I have one sister out there who is going to read this and not count it as a real blog post :) But I still have hope (albeit a very small glimmer) that I'll make my goal so I am counting it :)


A -Age: 30

B – Bible Verse: Romans 5: 1-5 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

C - Chore you hate: Dishes and folding laundry!

D - Dog's name: no pets right now…growing up we had a dog named Rusty

E - Essential start to your day: Nothing essential…but I LOVE when I am able to get my decaf blueberry coffee (hot in the winter, iced in the summer) from Dunkin Donuts!

F - Favorite color: pink

G - Gold or silver: Gold

H - Height: 5'5"

I - Instruments you play(ed): none

J- Job title: Stay at Home Momma

K - Kids: Isaac, Grace, and Ruth

L - Living arrangements: Church Parsonage

M - Most favorite vacation spot: Virginia Beach (our honeymoon spot), Dreamland Motel in Malone will always have a place in my heart too!

N - Nicknames: Jenna, Jennie-Jenn

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Lots as a preschooler for sicknesses, twice in college for a broken knee cap, thee times for the births of my babies

P - Place to eat: Red Lobster

Q - Quote from a movie: "I could never love anyone as I love my sisters” – Jo March, Little Women

R - Right- or left-handed: right

S - Siblings: Two sisters: Nah (Jessica) and Mari (Marcie) and one brother Jay (Jason)

T - Time you wake up: whenever Ruthie needs me 

U – Unusual fact: I broke my knee cap twice in less then a month my freshman year of college

V - Vegetable you dislike: peppers, mushrooms, onions

W - Ways you run late: I have 3 little ones…there are LOTS of ways!!!

X - X-rays you've had: wrist, knee, jaw/mouth, foot

Y - Yummy food you make: Chicken parm, bananaramas, most baked goods…I’m always trying something new

Z - Zoo favorite: Rhinos and meerkats

Christmas Day 2009

I love Christmas and Christmas morning bring such joy and excitement. I love going to bed the night before with the presents tucked under the tree everything just waiting til morning. Isaac woke up first, right around 7am. Francis got up with him and waited for Grace to wake up. She had gone to bed late the night before and I knew she wouldn't get a nap. I also hadn't gotten a lot of sleep because of getting up to nurse Ruth. So, Grace got up around 8 and we headed downstairs soon after. They were beyond excited when they saw the tree and read the notes left from Santa. We then sat together and read the Christmas story. This has become a favorite tradition of mine started back when Francis and I had our 1st Christmas together. I love the chance to pause and really remember what the day is about. I think it shows the kids where our priority should be and it gives us a moment to pause together as a family before it gets busy. Here are a couple of pictures from our reading time:

Daddy and his girls

Excitedly opening their stockings- mini boxes of cereal were a big hit!

Ruth wasn't quite ready to get up...

She loves her new buzzing teether :)

Gracie and her flyboat

Isaac giving us the gift he made at school...notice the paper going into Ruth's mouth...

and this was the result! The paper was in her mouth less then 3 seconds and yet it turned her entire mouth GREEN!! (and her hands and mine too!) It was a mess.. of course I asked Francis to take a picture while getting wet wipes to clean her up!

Isaac and his new duplo fire station set

Our breakfast, Berry French Toast Bake (mmmmmmmmm)

This is Ruth's second round of present opening...she needed a nap before we were done opening (not because we had a ton of gifts...but because we take our time opening everything!) :)

Her new favorite rattle...

She didn't want to let it go to open her next one!

Ruth and her new baby

Gracie showing off her new pjs that match her baby!

My 3 babies!

Ruth's 1st Christmas...

Wearing her new Baby Legs for the 1st time... she looks too cute!

We had a wonderful relaxing day together. We didn't leave the house...no one stopped in to see us. We love this. We decided early on that we wanted to have Christmas day just to ourselves. After hearing friends stories of how they spent the day running from one place to another it just reaffirmed to us that this is the way we want to keep it. We enjoyed a relaxing morning opening presents, eating a late breakfast, staying in our jammies and playing with new toys. Too soon it will be just Francis and I...for now I want to hold onto these quiet precious moments as long as I can! :)

I'm an Aunt (again)!!!

My "baby" sister and her husband welcomed their baby girl Sophie-Jean Lee into their family! She is 8lbs 7oz and 21 inches long. I really wish I could see her in person, but am so excited that my other sister is down there now (because of Christmas) and is able to see them all. Congrats to you Shawn and Mari! :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve

I love Christmas and all the excitement and joy there is! Having kids just intensifies that excitement and joy. Everything through their eyes is just filled with an intense amount of awe and wonder...something we try and hang onto, but we don't realize how much we've lost until we see it through our kids again. We have had a rough week. Isaac brought home the stomache bug from school and it went through our entire family. Thankfully by Christmas Eve night we were all feeling okay...not 100%...but good enough to have fun :) I was able to make it to the candlelight service at church which was really nice since I had to stay home with Isaac, Grace and Ruth on Sunday because of the bug. After church we quickly got things ready before heading up to bed. The kids put out the milk, cookies, and carrots. Grace found the biggest carrot in the fridge and let us know that it was for Rudolph. :)

After we let them each open one present. This is the first time we have done this, but they were so excited!

I also didn't realize how excited they would be to open new jammies...but they LOVED them. :)

Ruth was more interested in tearing open the present with her mouth...

And the jammies went right for her mouth too...apparently she likes them too :)

We brought the kids up to bed and read This is the Stable and Twas the Night Before Christmas and quickly tucked Isaac and Grace in bed. Ruth came back downstairs and hung out for a bit since she had taken a nap during the service :)

Just before 1am the presents were wrapped and tucked under the tree... waiting for morning!

5 months old!

Ruth is 5 months already! I just can't believe how quick it goes. She is starting to scoot around backwards...nothing intentional...but she no longer stays where I put her down on the floor. She is such a smiley and happy girl. She adores Isaac and Grace and loves to have them near her. She is very vocal with lots of coos, laughs, and shouts :) Happy 5 months baby girl!

What do you feed her?!?!?

I've been asked this question over and over again recently. It's the next question everyone asks after they ask how old she is. Apparently it's heavy cream as opposed to the skim milk they alluded to when Ruth was just 2 weeks old! :) Ruth had her 4 month check up today and is 16lbs (94th percentile) and 25 1/2 inches long (90th percentile). She got 2 shots and one oral vaccine today so she is sleeping already. I will hopefully be joining her soon as I haven't been getting much sleep with all the sickies in our house! Goodnight! :)

Fall Fun

We have had a beautiful fall here this year. So far, we still haven't seen any snow yet! It's been cold...but none of the white stuff. That will probably be changing by the end of the week... just in time to be on the road traveling with three little ones! Anyway..here are some pics from fun we've had outside recently:



Playing in the leaves:

A very big pile of leaves...

...hiding Gracie-girl! :)

Oh look..another pile...

...a perfect place for baby boy to hide in:

They have been having a lot of fun lately drawing with their chalk. Isaac made his school bus...#29 (click on the picture to see it clearer)!

Then we made "hand turkeys" in honor of the upcoming feast!

We've really enjoyed the nicer weather we've had...though the shorter days really cuts into the time we can spend outside after Isaac is done school. It really is amazing how quickly the day light fades at the end of the day! Hopefully we'll get out a few more times before the snow falls!

Growing and Changing...

Ruth has changed so much just in the last few weeks! I know that is the way it is the 1st year, but it has amazed me yet again! She is so much fun now and is interacting so much more with us and things around her. She grabs toys to put in her mouth and reaches out to touch things around her. She is constantly putting her fingers in her mouth and I am holding out hope that I may have a thumbsucker yet!!! Here are a few pictures of some recent accomplishments/milestones.

She had learned to roll from front to back. She has done this a few times during tummytime...but the day I took this picture she woke up from her nap crying really hard. I walked in and found her like this:

Poor girl had flipped over on her back and even got her leg out of her pj's. She was NOT happy! We are still working on rolling from back to front. She is so close...she gets on her side...but just can't complete the turn. This is a picture from one of her attempts:

While we were at Jess' house Ruth tried out Elijah's exersaucer for the 1st time. She LOVED it and knew just what to do to have fun in it. She was spinning circles and playing with all the toys on it. I was amazed to see how she played in it!

So, we came home and introduced her to her johnny jumper. She likes hanging out it in and chewing on the linkadoos. She hasn't managed to get jumping too much...but I don't think it will be too long before she gets the hang of it!

She has also discovered her toes! She is always grabbing for them when she is nursing..it is the cutest thing watching her reach for them and then hold on to them.

So...that is pretty much all of the new things Ruth is doing. She is still our little princess:

and my baby girl!