Jolly Days... and other Christmas pix

We've had a busy couple of weeks with family gatherings and outings. The boys and I have really enjoyed having Isaac on vacation. We were given some great gifts and are thankful for all the blessings that God has given us this year.

Our Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this letter finds you all healthy and happy this Christmas season. It has been an eventful year for our family.

If you have not heard already, we are expecting our third child this coming May. So far the pregnancy is going well. We are all eager to welcome another Penrod baby into this world.

Nate is four and a half years old now. He is already counting down until he turns five in July. He has been doing some preschool at home with Mommy and is starting to read and do some simple addition and subtraction. He loves playing games of all kinds. Nate is very inquisitive and asks questions constantly.

Joe is going to be turning three in March. We are seeing some good progress in his development but we expect him to need therapy for quite some time. He is such a happy little guy who loves his family, especially his big brother. It will be very interesting to see what he does when the baby comes!

We are thankful for the many ways that God has blessed us in our life. But we are especially thankful that we have such supportive family and friends close by. Sometimes we don't know what we'd do with out them!

May you feel the blessings of God in your own life this Christmas season.

Much love,

Isaac, Wani, Nate, Joe and Baby!

For regular updates on our family and Joe's progress feel free to check out Wani's blog: www.wanibug.blogspot.com OR connect w/ us on facebook.

Great Wolf

Last week we got to take a small family getaway together to Great Wolf Lodge near Cincinnati. My brother and sister joined us for the trip. Of course the road trip there and back was half the fun!
We all enjoyed the waterpark, even Isaac who isn't big on water. There were big and little slides, wave pool, lazy river and other great stuff for the kids to do.
The lodge had all their winter/holiday decorations up while we were there which added to the whole experience. They even made it "snow" in the lobby with special bubble machines in the rafters. Nate and Joe both really loved that part!
Another fun thing was the MagiQuest scavenger hunt that Nate got to do - with a little help from the rest of us. It was full of magical creatures and hidden clues, etc. It took a little longer than expected so we'll be sure to give ourselves more time if we do it again.
Anyway, we had a great time and I look forward to more family trips together!

Halfway!

I'm now 21 weeks along. More than halfway to D-day! As you can tell by the pix there is no hiding the fact that I'm pregnant now. This baby is clearly growing! So much so that the cashier at Kroger (who was not a small woman by any means) said I looked like I could go into labor at any time. Gee, thanks lady.

All my checkups have been good, everything seems to be movign along well. Most of the sickness that I felt during the first trimester has gone away. Though brushing my teeth is always a little gaggy (is that a word?). I have a little more energy than I did during the beginning also. I am feeling regular movement now which is fun but still haven't been able to share that with Isaac yet. He's getting impatient. Hopefully he'll be able to feel him soon. I'm excited to have Nate feel the baby kick. He'll be so excited!

How our baby is growing:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like he/she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to his/her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Ultrasound!

We had our ultrasound of the baby today! Isaac, the boys and I went in together for the appointment. Nate was really excited to watch the tech do the ultrasound. He was especially interested in watching and listening to the heartbeat. It was fun to have him there for this special moment.
We're just past 19weeks along and everything is looking good so far. The pix on the top shows the baby's side/back. You should be able to see the spine, an ear and the little dark spot is the heart (I think). The pix below shows the baby's face on the right and the belly on the left. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and birth for our baby. We're all getting very excited - we're almost halfway there!

Friends Near and Far

These are my girls. We met and became dear friends while in college together almost ten years ago. While not all of our college friendships have survived the post-college years. But even though we no longer live together and our lives have taken different paths, we have remained very close.
On the left is Jules. She was the best roommate. We wrote each other encouraging notes, shared our clothes and perfumes (still love Sweet Pea!!)... we were great together! She lives a few hours away which allows occasional visits throughout the year. We love our weekends at the lakehouse with Jules!
In the middle is CindyLou. She was the only one of the four of us that did not live in our house. Her apartment was our second home during college. She lived in Chicago for a few years but has been in Peru the past two years which has only allowed one real visit every year when she comes home for the holidays. I'm thankful that she is returning to the states in January and I hope to see more of her in the coming months. She may actually be around for the birth of our baby this spring!
Jess is on the right. She and I met on the first day of our photography class that we had first semester and we haven't been able to get rid of each other yet. She lived near here for awhile after school then moved back home for awhile to go back to school and has been back in the area for a year now and basically lives down the street from us. She is the most involved of the three. She is over a couple nights a week, helps me with my boys and hangs out so I get some adult conversation once in awhile. Now she is getting ready to leave for five months to be a nanny for a military family in Germany. Its hard for me to imagine our day to day life without her near. I don't know what the boys will think of it, not having her around for so long. But I'm sure those five months will fly by. Right?
But regardless of the distance over the years we have been blessed to remain dear friends. Even though we cannot always support one another in the same ways that we would if we were all living close together, there is no doubt in my mind that we will continue to remain close for years to come. May God continue to bless our friendships!

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you..." Philippians 1:3

18wks and counting!

How OUR baby's growing:
Head to rump, our baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If we're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If we're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound. Sorry folks, we are not planning on finding out the sex of the baby. We enjoy the surprise when the baby is born. That and I don't entirely trust ultrasound results! ;-)

Info from BabyCenter.com

Giving Thanks

While our life has had some curve balls that we did not see coming we are also aware of many blessings in our life as well.
Both of our families are close by and actively involved in our lives. Their love and support is irreplaceable.
Isaac has been blessed with a job that fits his talents and personality and quirks in ways that no other job could.
It is because of that job that I am able to stay home and do the most important job I could ever have taking care of our sons.
I am thankful for Nate and all the curiosity and energy that he displays daily. And Joe's gentle and happy spirit that overwhelms me sometimes. And the new life growing inside of me, I love him/her already and I cannot wait to meet this new child of mine.
Our church family is unique in the way that they function and we are very thankful for the role that they play in our lives as well.
We have a home and plenty of food to eat. We don't want for anything.
I am thankful that through the hard times that we do go through that God draws us to Him and makes us stronger. It is because of the trials that we have faced that I love my husband more today than I did when we first were married. I cannot express how huge a blessing he is to me.

God Bless You ALL this Thanksgiving!!

Colossians 2:6-7

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Optomistic Ophthalmologist

Last Monday Joe had his first appointment with the ophthalmologist at Riley. He has had his vision tested before by an optometrist but this is the first time he's seen someone specifically looking for retino blastoma (eye tumors) which his chromosomal abnormality puts him at risk for. It was actually a reassuring visit. The doctor said that kids who have retino blastoma are born with it and by Joe's age it should be visable. His eyes look fine and she says that she is confident that he probably will not develop any tumors. We will continue to get regular eye checkups to make sure if anything would develop that we would catch it early. But as he gets older the risk for tumors goes down significantly.
Also Joe has been increasingly active lately. His mobility has grown so much in just the last few weeks. He still is not quite crawling, but he is rolling alot, rotating himself around and transitioning from belly to sitting and back again often. He has even been doing some scooting around on his bottom. His reach and interest in things around him has increased as well.
It was only a short time ago that I could set him on the floor to play and half an hour later he'd still be in the same spot. Now he roams all around the room in a short time, getting into this and that. We've had to pay far more attention to what is on the floor now that he is getting around so well. His therapists are very excited about the things they have been seeing as they work with him lately. We are all very thankful to see this kind of progress from our special little man.

Autumn

Our weather this fall has been pretty sketchy. It'll be rainy and in the 40s one day and sunny and 68 the next... sigh... hard to make plans with weather like this! But we did manage to do a few fun fall things.
We went to the pumpkin patch where my parents were working. Of course the day we went it was bitter cold and we didn't stay long because it was so miserable. But at least we were able to get a good pumpkin a few cute pix.
Our church has an annual Fall Fun Fest every year. This year's was postponed a few times due to the rain. But we were finally able to have it this past weekend. Yay! It was the perfect fall day for the event. Nate was dressed as Spiderman when we arrived but undressed within 15-20minutes. Glad it was borrowed! I'd have been annoyed if I'd paid for it! We have so much fun with our church family. I'm so thankful for them. What a blessing they are!
Now we're on to holiday plans and I'm sure the time will fly as usual! I'm almost 16wks along now and by the time the holidays are over I'll be well into the 20s. I am both anxious and excited about this baby on the way. Part of me can't wait, and the other part is wondering if I'll ever feel ready. So much to do and think about. I'm sure glad He is in control and not me! I couldn't do it without Him.

My "Make A Wish" Moment!

So, after reading my last post about my 30by30 list a friend called me up and asked if she could help me w/ one of my "goals" by taking me to my first Pacers game. Well, sure! Her husband said I was her "make-a-wish-kid". Works for me!
She has the hookup through her grandparents who have these awesome front row season tickets. So not only did I get to go to a Pacers game but I got to go in style! We had special parking and seriously... our seats were a mere few feet away from the players! I could not have asked for a better way to see the game or better company. We both have two little ones and it is difficult to find the time to get together sometimes so it was great to spend the evening with a good friend.
Third Eye Blind had performed before the game (though it was an outdoor thing and it was raining so we did not see the concert). The lead singer talked to the press during the game. He was right in front of us, I could have reached out and touched him - if there hadn't been security sitting right there. If you watch the game you can see me behind him scrambling to get my camera out to take this pix! I'm such a dork. ;-)
Isaac turned the game on to see if they could see me. The PaceMates came out to perform before the game and Nate says "Look its Mommy!". Aw... isn't that sweet. Way off, but sweet. Since I was wearing that bright orange shirt it was actually pretty easy to spot us in alot of the shots. So thanks to my good friend I can now say I've been to a Pacers game!

Rescue Me

We've all been sick around here the past couple weeks. I feel like a commercial: the coughing, sneezing, congested, fever, wish I could get out of bed kind. And you know what that means. The house has lost all sense of order. Toys, junkmail and piles of Kleenex have taken over my living room. And during those short periods of time when I am both feeling able and motivated I am at a loss as to what the best way to regain control of our home is. Any suggestions? ;-)

Family Pix

After having to reschedule a couple of times because of weather we were finally able to have a photo shoot for our family pictures! I'm so thankful that my friend Emily was willing to do our pictures for us. We went to a local park on this beautiful fall day and got some great shots of our family. I've already ordered our prints to be hung because I've had these new frames on the wall with no photos in them awaiting this photo shoot to happen! Finally we will be able to fill those frames! ;-)