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