Excited

We went to the lakehouse for Thanksgiving weekend. Deb and Dane just finished adding on a master suite and there's a small ramp going up to the bedroom. Nate thought the ramp was so cool - he kept running up and down it all weekend. As you can see in the pix, he was very excited! He would scream and screech as he ran back and forth. It was pretty fun to see him get so worked up.

Harvest Blessings!

Here is the Family Picture Collage that we're sending out with our "Harvest Blessings" letter. We're trying to beat the rush of Christmas cards by doing ours now(hopefully... they aren't exactly in the mail yet, but will be soon). Enjoy!

Ultrasound Pix

Here is a few of the ultrasound pictures of the baby at 20weeks. It was so different this time than it was with Nate's. He was only 16wks when we got to see him for the first time via ultrasound so obviously he was smaller. This time it was easier to recognize parts of the body and such since we'd experienced Nate's before. We clearly saw all four chambers of the heart all pumping strong. We had a pretty good look at the baby's face and saw its' lips moving (that was really neat!). We chose not to find out the sex of the baby. Its kind of neat not knowing until the baby actually arrives.
By the way - I'm on www.myspace.com now if anyone wants to look me up.

Fall Fun

Our church had its annual Fall Fun Fest this past weekend. We had a beautiful fall day for it. Except the time had changed so it was dark at like 6oclock! Stupid daylight savings time... I still don't get it, sorry. Oh, well, it was a nice party. Aren't Nate and Ella cute together? Ella and her Grandma Cheryl were dressed as lady bugs... it was adorable. We were party poopers and didn't bother dressing up this year. Maybe next time.

Pumpkin Picking

We went to Stony Creek Farm today. I have the greatest memories of when we did pony rides there during their Harvest Festival for several years. It was alot of work but alot of fun. It was weird to see all the changes they'd made since the last time I'd been there. But its still a great place for families. Nate enjoyed helping pick out a pumpkin, as you can see. The reason he's got a funny face is he was telling us that the pumpkins were dirty (its his latest word). He's so fun.

Field Trip to Museum

We went to the Children's Museum with some friends. Nate loved the PlayScape. He romped and explored and would have been content to stay there all day. We didn't stay in the sand area too long... he kept trying to eat the sand. And if any of you saw the episode of House that dealt with an autistic boy who ate sand and got worms you'd have been a little leery of sand too. Anyway, it was a fun time.

Girls Nite

My friend Julie just celebrated her 25th birthday this past weekend. We got together with her and a few of her friends from home and had a girls' nite. Sometimes its odd being the only one in a group who's married w/ kids... but at the same time its nice to get out and not act like a mom for a few hours. We went to Cheeseburger in Paradise. There was live music and fruity drinks with fruit sculptures in them, and the food was pretty good too. What a fun group of girls that night!

TP Run

One of us accidently left the bathroom door open... and Nate had a hayday with the toilet paper! He was so proud of himself as he ran around the whole downstairs dragging that tp behind him. What a cutie!
We got to hear the baby's heartbeat at the last doctor's appointment. This one is already showing off that his/her personality is different than Nate's. Throughout the whole pregnancy with Nate we had a hard time hearing the heartbeat, we'd search and finally we'd get it then he'd always move away real quick so we only heard it for a second or two. This one we found right away and heard it good and strong for what seemed like a couple of minutes. It was so special. There have been a couple of times that I thought I felt a little flutter of movement... but its still kinda early, so it could have been gas. ha ha

Corn Corn and More Corn

We enjoyed a nice weekend at the lake again. Here is Nate enjoying whats left of mom's ear of corn. The Wrights joined us for a day and even though it was quite brisk, the girls still made it in the lake. I think Jeremy bribed them.
We are about 15wks into the pregnancy now. I'm not feeling as sick as I was, but certainly feeling pregnant. We're meeting with a midwife this weekend so please pray for that meeting, as it might be a major part of our decision making process.
Things have been a little slow with pictures this summer. Which is fine, I had a few weddings in the spring which all went well. I have a wedding scheduled in Dec. and one in June, and possibly a prom in May. I'm trying not to book anything too close to when the baby will be coming.

First Trip to the Zoo!

A great group of other mothers from our neighborhood and I had a book study over the summer. We read Creative Correction together. It was really good! We all took our kids to the zoo yesterday. It was so much fun! Nate loved watching all the animals. He kept pointing and oohing at everything. It so neat to see him get excited and interested in new things.

Nice Weekend

As you can see from the pix, Nate got a haircut. It was a little shorter than expected, but its growing on us. He's still as cute as can be. We enjoyed a nice time of visiting with friends and family this weekend at the lake.

Pool

This is from a couple weeks ago. Nate really enjoyed playing in the pool on our partially finished deck. He was so funny splashing around. He's been identifying his and others' nose & ears, etc lately. Only when we try to get him to show someone who hasn't seen him do it he clams up and won't "perform". Its so much fun to see him learn things.
We met with a doctor in our area today. We really like her, she seems really open to doing things as naturally as possible and understands personally my desire for a VBAC. We're still deciding on our birth location but we have a good feeling about this doctor. Keep us in your prayers as we coninue in the decision making. Thanks!

Big Brother

Here is the look on Nate's face when we told him he was gonna be a big brother! Ok, so maybe he isn't really excited just yet... but we are! We're about 10weeks along (click to see how the baby is growing and changing) http://www.babycenter.com/mybabycenter/110.html, which makes us due around March 17th of next year (maybe we'll have a St. Patrick's Day baby!). We'd appreciate your prayers as we are choosing a new doctor (change in insurance and all that) for this pregnancy and birth. We want to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and it can be challenging to find a docor who will support that choice. So keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we have alot of decision making ahead of us. Thanks, we'll keep you updated as things progress!

Walking!

Well, its official, Nate is walking on his own! He's taken a few steps here and there for awhile now, but he's roaming all over the place now. He's still at the point where he goes back and forth between walking and crawling. But then today I put a pair of shoes on him... thats slowed him down a little. He's very talkative lately too, testing out his vocal range... he can get pretty high and pretty loud! We love seeing him grow and change.

Cake

We had a few people over to my parents to play on the moonwalks and have some cake. Nate had a blast in the Toddler Town moonwalk. He jumped and crawled around like he owned the place. When it came time for the cake he wasn't sure what to do at first but then he dug right in and flung it everywhere! It was really cute. Thanks to everyone who came, we all had a good time!

One Year Old!

Well, last year at this time Nate was just getting to know us for the first time. What a huge difference he has made in our lives in the past year. He's brought many changes, challenges and so many joys and blessings! We think we'll keep him! ha ha - Here is a collage I made of pix from over the past 6mos or so for his birthday. Enjoy!

Splash!

Nate had his first experience w/ a pool this past Sunday. He loved it! Just a big bathtub to him. We had a good time seeing him enjoy himself so much!

Scare

We are all doing well here. Though we did have a scare a couple weekends ago. Nate was feverish but I wasn't concerned because he was teething and he had run a temp for a couple of days the last time he teethed. But the fever led to Nate having a febrile seisure. At the time it was freakin scary. But we've done some research and read up about it and its fairly common and benign and there wasn't really anything we could have done to prevent it. Rough weekend to say the least. But Nate is more than back to normal now. Ultimately I think we were traumatized more than Nate was. Anyway, this is a recent pix of Nate showing off his new top teeth.

Cute Cousins

Nate and Jeremiah enjoy taking walks around the neighborhood. They're so cute together. Nate is cruising around with his walker-toy but still won't venture out on his own yet. He really enjoys reading books alot. And this has to be a record or something, he whistles! It is so cute! He's cutting a couple of top teeth. Less than a month until he's a year old! Its hard to believe its been that long already. We love seeing him grow and change. Its been such a special experience.
I did pictures at a friend's wedding a few weeks ago, and have had a few other gigs lately too. Things aren't too busy but doing pretty good.
We're looking forward to a nice weekend at the lake. My girlfriends from college are hooking up with us there. Yeah! I miss my girls!

Clapping

Nate is getting so big. He's gotten into clapping - which he seems to have confused clapping with the sign for "more"(which has been helpful at mealtime - until now). But we're working on separating the two. He is babbling alot, making all sorts of new sounds, he says "buh" when we go to read a book. Sometimes as he's looking at books on his own he'll just say the B sound over and over quietly to himself. Its so cute! Here's a pix of him taking a bath at the lake - he loved the bubbles from the jets!

Little Steps

I can't believe how big Nate is getting! At 10 months old now, he's taken a few steps with his walking toy, and he cruises around no problem with us holding his hands. He's gotten tooth number two. He eats anything and everything we put in front of him and some things that we don't. We are very much enjoying his sweet spirit, he's such a happy little guy. We'll be going to the lake soon and if the water's warm enough he'll get his first "swim". If not soon, by the end of the summer at least.
I've had a couple of wedding gigs recently and another one in a few weeks. I'm enjoying doing wedding pictures and each one is more relaxed than the last for me. There is so much pressure with wedding pictures, but I'm feeling more comfortable and confident. Here is a collage from a friend of mine's wedding.

Old Friends

Dangit... I tried to fix this post... but I think the pix that I want to post are too high res... and I'm too lazy to do anything about it. Oh, well.... the pix were of me, Jess and Jules (we looked really cute), and one of all the CCFers at Jesse and Carrie's wedding. I haven't see that many CCFers in the same room outside of Vincennes! It was great to catch up with a few people I hadn't seen in a long time. It made me miss the old days a little. Miss and love you all!

Teeth

Nate got his first tooth a few weeks ago and he's sprouting another one as I type. He's cruising around all over the place now. He moves from couch to table to mommy's leg, etc without missing a beat. And thankfully he's getting the hang of getting down on his own, for awhile he would pull himself up with no problem but then whine for help when he wanted to get down. He is very interested in all things forbidden, if he shouldn't have it, he wants it. I know its a phase and he'll outgrow it in like 25years when he's married and has a wife and his own kids. Ha! We love him so much, he's a real joy.

New Toys

Now that Nate is getting bigger his toys are too. He really likes sitting on the toy car, though he hasn't gotten the hang of getting places on it. And the jumperoo is now at the lakehouse... it took him most of the weekend to figure out that he could jump instead of just stand there and play w/ the gadgets and stuff on it. He's so much fun to watch and listen to - he's babbling alot.
** Also ~ Nate has picked up signing! We have been trying out Baby Sign language and they recommend that you only work on one word at a time so we've been working on "more" (during meal time, etc) for awhile now and he's doing it! Its so cute! We're excited to see our work paying off.

First Field Trip

We went to the Children's Museum w/ Zach, Janice, Jeremiah and Jess. We all had a good time. Nate explored the toddler area. Jeremiah checked everything out, but isn't quite ready for exploring yet.

Into Everything

Nate is exploring every nook and cranny now that he can get around on his own. He thinks he owns everything and that everything needs to be eaten. His newly found freedom has made him a little more high maintenance... he certainly is letting us know if he's not getting what he wants... though he has been a little sicky lately so that may be contributing to his moods. We're hoping to work on our deck this weekend... we're really looking forward to having a nice space for having BBQs and such once we start getting some real spring weather here soon.

Karyn & Isaac's Wedding

One of my long time friends, Karyn, got married yesterday... she is such a sweetheart and we were so happy when she found Isaac(we call him Isaac#2), who is such a great guy. The wedding came together beautifully (they used alot of the flowers that we used in my sister Shannon's wedding last year). It was such a meaningful and special ceremony joining two wonderful people. I was the official photographer and while I did have some nerves, I think everything went rather well and am pretty pleased with how the pictures turned out. I certainly hope they are happy with them too! Anyway, congrats to Karyn & Isaac!

Collage

I know most of these pix have been posted before but I love this collage of Nate (its my wallpaper on my desktop right now) and wanted to share it with you all.
I've slacked on The Lord's Table... I've let distractions come in the way of me sticking to the study, but have kept up with the eating schedule. I've lost another couple of pounds which is encouraging. And Isaac's parents gave us their treadmill so hopefully I'll continue to take advantage of that and keep active as winter lingers... I'm ready for warm weather so Nate and I can play outside on the deck that we are getting ready to build - yeah!

PhotoBooth

Aren't we all so cute?!? Isaac doesn't understand why I'd want to spend $3.00 do get my pix taken in a booth when we could use our own camera etc and do it ourselves... there's just something about it that I like. At least he humors me once in awhile.

Crawling!

Just a couple of nights ago... Nate took his first "steps" forward crawling! He was pretty wobbly at first but he's starting to get the hang of it now. Its exciting but certainly harder to keep him out of stuff now. We're going to have to buy baby gates and move some things out of reach. He's so much fun!
Isaac and I (after much deliberation) bought a new camera for my growing business. I'll have it in time for my friend's wedding next weekend. I've got weddings in March, April and May... yeah! Its exciting!

my 26th birthday

Sunday was my 26th birthday. I had a hard time getting into the "birthday spirit"... maybe I'm lame but it seems that birthdays just aren't as cool anymore. When you're a kid b-days are awesome, you look forward to it all year long! Party, cake, presents... whats not to like!?! Then you have your 18th & 21st birthdays which are kinda cool milestones, you get to vote and drink. After 21 there aren't any more cool ages, every other milestone age is one where people wear black to your party and talk about the Grim Reaper... whats fun about that? Anyway, despite my lack of enthusiasm about my birthday we enjoyed great food and fellowship with friends and family and it was a great day. Nate tried out his handy dandy portable booster seat when we had dinner at my parents' place. He looks so big sitting there by himself. And pretty cute too!

Waking Up Happy

Nate usually wakes up babbling to himself in his bed for awhile. Then he plays with Mom and Dad, laughing and talking up a storm. He's such a cutie pie! He makes it a joy to get up in the morning.

Super Bowl Party

A couple of my girl friends from college came in town this weekend. We really enjoyed visiting with them. We went to a hotel for "girls nite" and had a blast. We played this game called "Things... humor in a box". Its so cool, but better played in a larger group.
Our church had a Super Bowl party Sunday night. It was alot of fun. Nate had his first moonwalk experience. He tried to eat the green dragon's horn. It was cute.
I'm having a Mary Kay party tomorrow. I've been to parties before but never done one myself. It'll be mostly family so it'll be pretty laid back. I'm looking forward to it.

Six Month Pictures..... finally!

I found a night when Nate didn't have any scratches or rashes or runny nose! Jess and Lauren were over and they helped me get some cute smiles from the little guy and I am really pleased with how the pictures turned out. He looks like such a little man in the cute preppy outfit that Grandma Deb got him for Christmas. I know I am bias... but he's so darn cute! Don't ya just want to eat him up!?! He's getting so strong, he's sitting really well on his own and will get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth... it won't be too long before he's crawling all over and driving me crazy!

Retreat

The three of us went on a retreat with several other couples from church this weekend. I really appreciated not being the only nursing mother to bring along her baby. It was a really good time of fellowship and reflection on where our church body has been and is going. We have a great group of people.
Update on The Lord's Table. Both Isaac and I have been seeing results. Its really helped me to be doing this together, we both really enjoy and appreciate being able to talk together about the day's lesson and what we've been learning. I'm a good 25lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight (50+ under the weight I was just before Nate was born), and have gotten into a size jean that I haven't been in for years. I'm hoping by my birthday to feel ready to go shopping for new clothes. Already alot of my clothes are too big but I'm not ready for a new wardrobe yet, I've still got alot of weight yet to lose. The Lord has blessed us through The Lord's Table and we hope to have continued success losing the weight and gaining Christ in our lives.

New Cousin for Nate!

Isaac's brother Zach and his wife Janice had little Jeremiah James (J.J.) Penrod on Wednesday morning. He is so cute! He was 5lbs 10oz and I think 18inches. He's so tiny, especially when his daddy (who is a big guy) is holding him. We all are very happy J.J. is finally here and Nate is looking forward to meeting him when he comes home from the hospital. Isaac says Nate will eat him - as he tries to do with everything anymore.

Bathtime in the Big Tub!

Nate had so much fun in the big bathtub. Isn't he cute!? He and Daddy splashed around together! I love my boys!
I'm really hoping to do his 6mos pix this week sometime... I didn't really care for his haircut at first (shorter than what I had wanted). And he had a rash on his face the other night. Now he's got red runny nose... so we'll see how things go this week if I get the pix done.

Six Months Old!

Nate had his 6mos checkup yesterday. All is well... Dr. Bain (a nice guy, but a little goofy for a doctor) says that Nate is a perfect baby. He was such a little trooper for his shots... the first one he didn't even cry... then the next two were too much for him. He's been sitting on his own pretty well lately. And he's getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. Tonite is a big night... Nate is getting his first real haircut. I gave him a little trim at 4mos but it wasn't very good so we are getting professional help this time. So, once he gets his hair cut I'll hopefully being doing his 6mos pix soon.
Isaac and I have both lost 15lbs since we started The Lord's Table course. Its been a real help that we're going through it together. Satan has been trying to put up road blocks and it'd be alot harder if we weren't supporting eachother right now. I've had my eyes opened to some changes I need to make... but actually making those changes isn't easy so please pray for me.

Happy 2006

We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. We had a wonderful vacation over the holidays. We enjoyed visiting with friends and family. But I think we were all a little worn out by all the excitement of Nate's first Christmas. He did seem to get into the presents... well, eating them anyway. Everything ends up in that boy's mouth! He got a Family Guy bib w/ Stewie saying "Why you sick little moo cow!". That gift was more for Isaac than for Nate. We got to spend some time with some other babies and Nate is taking more of an interest now than he used to. He and my cousin Jett (as seen below) are 1mo apart in age and they were so cute together at a family gathering.