Merry Christmas

I can not believe that it is Christmas Eve Day. I have a little bit of wrapping left and a trip to the market this morning, but I am very excited. This is the first Christmas that the girls really understand. Jessa will not let Santa bring the presents in the house. She insists that he leaves them on the front porch. The girls are also talking a lot about Jesus's birthday.

John has been tell the girls the Nativity story using the Little People Nativity set. They love it.

We have dinner out this evening and then the cousins exchange presents. Church at 7:30, then home to bed.

Christmas morning is at the house, then off to my mom's for more presents and food.

I hope all of you have a wonderful and God fulled day today and tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Some new pictures

Here are some pictures of the girls playing in the snow today. They really loved it. I think they would have stayed out all day long.

Here are some pictures of Jack and the girls.

All the time in the World

You would think that since I had "Baby Jackie" as the girls call Jack I would have all the time in the world to blog at night. I am up every 2 hours feeding him and sitting infront of the computer. I have to ask any mom who has breastfeed, how easy it is to have a child latched on and try to type on a keyboard. It is not easy, usually one of the two gets disconnected.

Well here is a review of the past few weeks. We are trying to get adjusted to the concept of a party of 5. I was just saying to John the other night as the girls were running around the house that I can not image our family with only the two girls.

Emma is handling the transition like I expected. She is quiet and observant. She is trying to figure out where she fits in with the new set-up. She likes Jack and wants to be very helpful such as getting the diapers. However she gets very bored with the fact that this thing does not do anything. We are pretty sure that in about 8 months she will be having more to do with him. Right now her main objective is obtaining as much attention as possible even if it is bad attention. She really knows how to push my buttons.

Jessa thinks Jack is one of her baby dolls. If we let her she would have been picking him up on her own by now and pushing him around in her doll stroller. She races to his side when he makes a peep. She is putting a blanket on him (sometimes over his head) or handing him this little blanket duck that she has decided is his thing like her bunny bear. She is however in the deep of being a 2 year old with all of the wonderful (hahaha) challenges of that age. She has taken to hitting when she is told not to do something or screaming when an object does not go her way.

Jack is doing well. He is growing and changing very fast. His eyes are open more and he is really trying to explore his environment. He likes his sisters and will focus on them when they get in his face. Daddy and Jack have been bonding over manly things already. Mommy and Jack are still working out all of the avenues of feedings and sleeping and routines. We head back to the doctors on Friday for his one month check-up and we will see how much weight he has gained.

Mom and Dad are making out okay. We can not seem to stay awake passed 9:00 pm and are still working out all of the new routines and rolls that have been added to our family with our new addition. We are excited about Christmas for the girls this year.

Sorry for no pictures. The new pictures that I have taken are on my computer and I am using John's during the night. I will post some within the next couple of days.

Family of 5

Three siblings


I think Jack likes his sisters.

Jessa just loves her new brother. She does not understand that he is a boy. She is always calling him, she or her.

Emma likes giving him kisses.

Jack is starting to open his eyes more often.

Well, having three children is quite a challenge. We are learning how to get our activities done. I am not looking forward to Monday when John heads back to work. The girls are getting adjusted to their new brother. Jessa keeps saying "I love my brother". Emma likes moving his arms and touching his ears.

Jack had a rough start to his week. Due to the fact that he was born 4 weeks early, he did not take to nursing as well as I would have liked. I had a Lactation Consultant come to the house on Sunday for a session. We tried a few different things. This was very helpful and he is having a better last few days.

New addition to the family.... Welcome Jack!

At 6:30 pm Jack was brought into this world weighting 6lb 7oz, 19 1/2 inches long.

Both mom and baby are doing fine.

It all started around 4:30 in the morning when Gaye's water broke. As luck would have it my morning wake up alarm was going off within a few this happening.

A phone call to the Dr., Gaye's mom, the neighbor, and we were off to the hospital.

Our neighbor watched the girls until Gaye's sister could get to the house. It is a blessing to have great neighbors.

Once at the hospital it was just a matter of waiting for baby and mom to deliver.

The girls see very excited that Jack has arrived. They also had a great time staying over night at their cousins house.

Playing in the Leaves

Family picture in the leaves


The girls sitting nicely



The girls waiting for the leaf shower.

Here comes the leaves

They seem to like this.

So excited!!!

Jessa running through the leaves.

Emma and Jessa like being covered up.

Emma rolling in the leaves

Okay - doesn't she look like she is planning something.

Sunday afternoon, daddy decided it was time for the girls to play in the leaves. They ran and jumped into the leaves. I think their favorite part was the leaf shower. Daddy must have showered them about 10 times. The leaves were going everywhere.

A weekend away

Emma and Grandma at the Annual Dinner.


Emma showing off what a big girl she is.

Emma standing outside the Jumpy House she went to with Aunt Kim and Ethan.

Emma climbing in the Jumpy House.

Emma, Aunt Kim, and Ethan at the Jumpy House.

John and Emma headed to Rochester for Heritage Christian Services Annual Dinner. Heritage is celebrating 25 years this years, so we decided to make the Annual Dinner this. However a new addition to our family(8 months pregnant) and modified bed rest caused me to not be able to go. We talked about it and decided that John should still go which led us to think about him taking one of the girls. Emma was the definite choice.

They headed out at 5 am on Thursday morning to get to Rochester around 11am to have some time to relax before the dinner. At 5:45 am, I get a call that John got a flat tire on the Blue Route. He was calling AAA to get it changed. They made it an emergency due to his location and having a young child with him. They were there within 20 minutes and had it fixed.

John decided to go to Allentown to get a new tire before going much farther. At 7:30am, he and Emma had breakfast and waited for PepBoys to open. 8:00am he was finding out that both front tires needed to be changed, then all four tires. By 11:00 am, they had 3 out of the 4 tires replaced and the repair guy was heading to the next town for the 4th tire. Finally at 1:00, they were on the road again.

A trip that normally takes 5 1/2 to 6 hours, turned out to be a 12 hour ride. Emma was wonderful the whole day. She was patient and understanding.

They hit John's parent's home and left within 15 minutes for the dinner. The dinner went well and Emma again was great. She was a party animal and stayed up until 10pm.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful, thank heavens. They returned on Saturday with a wonderful welcoming from Jessa and I. I think each girl enjoyed their time with a parent by themselves.

A Walk in the Woods

Emma and Jessa at the Trail Head.

Jessa loves picking flowers



The girls walking in the fields.

John has started exploring the local trails with the girls. Emma had a project for school to collect fall things from a nature walk, so John decided to head for a nature walk. The girls love it and have been back several times.

New baby pictures

Hey everyone, It is me laying in bed, still on modified bedrest. I guess it is working because Jack is in the 78% for his gestational weight. He measure at about 3 1/2 lbs now. I am happy about that. It means that he is not being affected by the contractions. We are continuing to pray that he stays in there for another 8 weeks. That would put me at 37 weeks which was when Jessa was born. Please keep praying for him and my strength.

Happy Gotcha Day

I can not believe that it has been 2 years since we were handed our beautiful little girl. She has developed into a wonderful 2 year old girl. I can not image what our life would be like without her.

Memory Box Monday

I have been reading a blog from a family that lives out in Colorado. She does a posting on Monday about things that are memorable. This Monday does have several things that are memorable. Two years ago on Sunday, we received our call from the agency about Emma. I remember the mix of emotions that I was going through. I had a 3 week old baby that I was talking about leaving for 2 1/2 week and the anxiety and sadness of that experience of that. Also the excitement of finally getting Emma and going to China.

These are her referral pictures at we received that night.

This is her now with her new tattoo!!!

Today I went to talk with the Pediatric Cardiologist about the baby's extra heartbeat. The baby is fine. We think that is was due to caffeine. I guess no more chocolate for 18 1/2 weeks. :(

John is feeling alot better. He is back to work fulltime now and only has one more week of the meds. He is very tired, but the all of the aches and pains are pretty much gone. I am very happy for that.

Ultra sound today

It's a Boy!!!!

All looks good with the baby. The doctor wants a second ultrasound in two weeks to check his heart. The baby has a premature atrial contraction, which is an extra beat. The doctor indicated that it is common and can be caused by chocolate (ugh!!!).

We will have pictures scanned soon.

Daddy's home from the hospital

Last Monday, mommy and daddy headed off the the doctor's again to see if they could help with the headaches. Their doctor put him back on antibiotic and decongestant thinking it was a sinus infection. She also wanted to him to get a bunch of blood work done the following morning.

Tuesday morning we were about ready to head off to school and mommy and daddy were going to get the blood work done - yuck!!! when mommy noticed that daddy's face looked a little funny. He had a very crooked smile and his left eye would not shut. So they decided to head to the hospital instead.

Tuesday afternoon - after a MRI, a lot of blood work, and a spinal tap, he was diagnosed with viral menigitis due to lymes disease. The doctors decided that he had to stay for more treatments. Mommy and daddy were finally relieved at someone found out what was the matter.

Daddy had to stay in the hospital for two days. He came home on Thursday evening. He now has to have medicine in a picc line - I am not sure what that is - it looks like a booboo on his arm and he has something called Bell's Palsy on his left side of his face. The funny face will go away in 2-6 weeks and he needs the medicine for 4 weeks.

He is feeling better, but is still tired and has a few headaches. He did play outside with us on Friday. He keeps telling us that he went to see Elmo's doctor. Elmo's doctor is a good doctor to make our daddy better.

Thank you for all of the prayers for daddy.

Emma and Jessa

Jessa's 2nd Birthday

Today was Jessa's birthday. I can not believe that she is 2 already. I still look at her as a little baby. Our plans have changed with our vacation. We were suppose to be up in NY from last Saturday until next Saturday so John could play in a golf tournament and we could visit with family. Unfortunately, John has been suffering from a very bad headache for over three weeks. After a few different meds and a CAT scan, we know nothing more than when we started. We are trying another dose of antibotic and thinking maybe it is a sinus infection. If this does not work, we head to a beta-blocker and hope for the best.

The interesting way that God works is I just found out that a couple of family members in NY are sick. Maybe it is a good thing that we were not exposed to those bugs. I am taking advantage of the time off and relaxing a bit and getting some work done that I have not been able to do.

We had a very nice birthday party for Jessa at the house this evening. I think she knew that she was special today. She would say a very cute "2" when you asked how old she was.

I will post some pictures later from the party.

Can I please ask that you pray for John and for his headaches for be gone.

Summer vacations

Two weeks ago we headed to Lake Ontario for four days. The weather was fair. We played among the raindrops, but the girls did not seem to mind. They had a great time with their cousin, aunt and uncle and grandparents. It was great to see the three of them together.

We arrived home on Sunday and the girls were very tired. Sleep was not a high priority for them over the few days away. The transition back to school was not an easy move. Jessa had a tough time on Monday. We ended the week by getting ready to head to the beach on Saturday for the week.

We had a great time at the beach with my family. John had to work for the week, but returned on Thursday night for a day and half. The girls loved the water and the beach. Jessa just kept asking to go to play in the water. Emma became an expert at sand drip castles. She spent hours playing in the sand. We arrived home on the 4th of July and had a very quiet day.

We are heading to either Rochester or the Lake again on Saturday for a week. John will be golfing on Tuesday and Jessa will be turning 2 on Monday, July 13th. I can not belief that she will be 2.

The pregnancy is going very well. My blood pressure has been great. We go for our next ultrasound on Monday, July 20th. We are going to try to find out what we are having. I will keep you informed.

Here are some pictures for both of our trips.

Lake Ontario, NY

Ocean City, NJ