It's a GIRL!!

Just a quick update as our computer is down. According to the ultrasound, we are having another baby girl! No, we have no clue what her name will be, maybe I should do another poll :) More later with an ultrasound pic.
Jeanne

Florida trip

What a fabulous week in FLorida! It was great weather with a bit of rain most days. We spent a morning at the beach and many hours in the pool at our friends' house. The twins loved all the dogs and were very well behaved. Ruthie cut all four molars during the trip and is also working on her eye teeth on the bottom. Eli cut one more tooth on the bottom - way to go slow teether! That makes 5 for Eli and a mouthful for Ruthie. Here are some pics with narration of our trip. Enjoy!

Our hosts for this fun excursion were Mark and Alana. They housed and fed us for the week. Thanks for the great hospitality guys! Food was of course awesome and we even got famous Alana cake (Bakin' for God!) Did I mention the dogs? 3 Chihuahuas - Tito, Paco and Lupe. Face lickers extraordinaire. Then, amazingly, a dog just followed Adam and Mark home from Petco over the weekend and now they have Bella - the sweetest most hospitable dog I have met. Eli liked to lead with his lips when approaching the dogs.

This is Paco and Lupe. Tito was in his kennel slepping.

Bella

All the kids had a great time playing at their house both inside and out. Here are some candids of the fam.

DId I mention that Eli is a camera hog these days? This is his typical ham smile whenever he sees the camera :)


The pool water was a bit colder than usual because of all the rain they had gotten the week before we came down and the first couple days that we were there. Very brave daddy, very brave.


Noelle and Sarah had a craft time quite a few days. They made visors with foamy stickers this day. They had a fabulous time playing with each other and swimming in the pool!

We went to the beach since the twins hadn't been there before (no time on our last trip). ELi is a water boy for sure! He loved wave jumping with daddy. Ruthie wanted no part of the big blue ocean and was very content to destroy all sandcastles that Adam and Noelle built! Did I mention that sand got every where? We are still getting it out of Ru's ears!

The guys decided to do a rockband for us after dinner at Mo and Jeff's one night. It was very entertaining! (Jeff O, Mark, Jeff D, and Adam). They just moved into the house after getting married in early April. It's a very cute place with a nice back yard. I am thinking a pool would be great back there!

If we get the pics from child dedication I will post those too. If not, then I will not be posting until after our ultrasound next week on Tuesday. After the ultrasound, we are hoping to announce teh sex of the baby so that we can start working on names. Might do a poll for that one. Names are really hard for us! Have a great week everybody!

Jeanne

Random Quotes

Two quotes I never thought I would have to say:

To Noelle - "Don't comb the plant!" there are little hairs on the stem of the new tomato plants that we are putting in our garden. We will see if they live long enough to get planted!

To Eli - "Don't lick the stove!" Technically he is trying to kiss his reflection but that is just nasty!

I swear between raising kids and teaching middle school , I should have started a book a long time ago.

Jeanne

Random Pics

Some pics for your enjoyment.

Ru

Eli and Ru

Typical smiley Ru

When all else fails, chew on plastic. They love the lids to the gerber fruits.

Quick update

Doctor's visit today went well. The baby's heart beat is 146 bpm. Noelle was usually around 144 bpm :) We will do a level 2 ultrasound on June 9th and my next visit will be on June 12th. Updates after the 12th for the new little one unless something happens.

Eli is in the throes of a growth spurt! He is eating us out of house and home and is crabby as all get out. Sleeping a lot too! Oh boy. He is already in 2T tops. Reminder, he is only 13 months old right now.

RU continues to amaze us with her developing skills. She is doing fabulously at therapy and is actually accepting the therapists more as time goes on.

Noelle is ready for school to be over! She is excited not to have to wear uniforms for the rest of the year. Problem - we don't have many clothes that fit her since we figured she would be in uniforms for another 2 weeks. Her summer stuff is ok, but it is cold here again! only in the 50/60s today. enough of the cold already!

Sorry no pics this time. Next time for sure!
Jeanne

Catching up a bit

Here is our April report. Yes, I know it is May. That 's why this is entitled, catching up a bit.

Noelle turned 6! She was super excited and we celebrated with the family at gramma and Grampas house. She got some fabulous presents and a delicious cake. Her birthday was on Easter this year so we had a fiesta Easter complete with Tacos and other such yummy items. We did have the traditional bunny cake for Easter as well as birthday cake. (Thank you Auntie Kris! The bunny was delicious!). We did an Easter egg hunt sponsored by a local church so we took everyone for a stroller ride and found lots of eggs - with chocolate and Bible verses inside!

Noelle was also a junior bridesmaid in a wedding in FLorida. It was beautiful weather, Noelle did great and the kids loved the pool! We are heading back there at the end of May so watch for more pics. The babies loved the warm weather as well.

Dad took the kids on a walk around NIU - Noelle got to wear her new hat (birthday present) They had lots of fun with the art students creations!

Noelle and Dad also had a formal dance at Cornerstone (her school). They had a great time eating and dancing!

I think that sums up April. New baby is still alive and kicking. Hopefully we will have more news in the near future to share!

Thanks for sticking with us!

Jeanne

6 Months Update!

We had our 6 month check in wiht our social worker and everything is great. The kids are developing so quickly! Eli will soon be walking and Ruthie is really trying to get her crawl on! Here are the way overdue pictures. Enjoy!

Eli standing

Sisters

Ru is getting so big!


Out for a stroll

Kitchen Helpers

Aren't they the cutest?

Applebee's for birthday dinner (chosen by the big sister of course)

The kids :)

Eli

Ruthie's Easter Hat

Baby Picture

If anyone still reads this, you are in for a surprise! The unbelievable has happened. For 17 years or so, we were told that getting pregnant on our own was just not possible for a variety of reasons. Well, we have proved them wrong without even trying - no, I mean really without even trying. It appears that I am 8 weeks pregnant! Yep, that's right, pregnant. As in PG. Heartbeat looks good, but we covet your prayers for this new little one as I was taking medication for my high blood pressure that can have negative effects on Renal development (Kidneys for all my non-medical friends out there) We will have a level 2 ultrasound at week 20 (June I believe) to look at kidney development and other such things. We are speechless, excited, bewildered, astounded, happy, scared, overwhelmed and a whole bunch of other things. I will put up a post about the kids birthday soon so you can see how huge my children have gotten and how much of a cake hound Ruthie is!!! We will keep you all posted :)

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The Bad Blogger

Finally I am posting but it isn't with pictures - I will get them up soon. Life is moving forward and is full everyday. Eli is cutting his first two teeth, Ruthie is cutting her 5th and maybe 6th, Noelle is finally getting her top tooth coming in (she has lost 7 and is not yet 6 years old!). Our health has improved for the most part although the kids have never lost the congestion that they had while in Ethiopia. It is still a constant part of our lives and wiping noses is a continual project.

I have an interview on Thursday at Lewis University and have applied to 3 others. Some would mean that we don't have to move but 2 of them would require us to try and sell our house and relocate. They all sound really interesting and would be a good fit, so we are of course leaving it in God's hands and will wait to see if any one gives us an offer. If not, I will return as an adjunct for NIU in the fall.

The kids will be having a birthday soon and we are having a nice family gathering at the Gparents house. They come back from vacation next week. Noelle can't wait :)

Pictures soon! I promise!