COLD!!!

It's been so cold here! There's lots of snow on the ground. Luckily, Luke was home for a few days and was able to take the kids out in the snow. My parents were here also. This is my dad and Luke out with the kids before the big snowstorm.

And here's Abby all bundled up!

Mom, Julia, and I stayed inside where it was semi warm. (We had a very high electric bill last month, so Luke made a new rule: if it feels comfortable when you go into a room, you have to turn the heat down. Needless to say, the adults are wearing lots of layers and wrapping up in blankets. The kids don't seem to be phased by the cooler temperatures -- they continue to run around half dressed!)

Noah got a "brown bear blanket" for Christmas, and this is how he decided to use it. Abby thought it was great!

Here's my mom with her newest little granddaughter. Mom came up to stay with us after Julia was born. Then she ended up extending her ticket for a week while Luke and my dad went househunting in Florida. I didn't have to do laundry or dishes for more than 3 weeks. It was wonderful!

The guys thoroughly searched for a place for us to live. We have several good options and are just waiting to see where we can get the best deal. It's hard to believe after nearly a year of planning, that we're really going to be moving in a month's time!

We spent a day decorating heart cookies and making Valentines for Daddy while he was gone!

No one who watched the kids frost those cookies would ever consider eating one. There's more saliva mixed in with that frosting than I care to know!

Adjustments

Well, we're slowly adjusting to having a newborn again. Julia's been a blessing -- knowing she's our last baby makes those middle of the night feedings a little more bearable!

We finally were able to come home on the Sunday after Julia was born. It was so nice to be back in our own house with the kids!

Here we are introducing Noah and Abby to their new sister:

They've both been wonderful with her. They're interested, but respectful of her. They haven't shown a hint of jealousy. We are so thankful for that!

Julia's been a pretty "good" baby for the most part. She's gassy, just like Noah was, but as long as we stay on top of that, she's content!

She doesn't seem to be phased by the chaos. In fact, she may get her best sleep when Noah and Abby are running around being crazy!

Here she's dressed for her first visit to church:

Julia Grace

Here's our newest family member!

Julia Grace Sumner

Born January 21 at 4:44 pm, 7 lbs. 10 oz., 19 1/2 inches long

Getting Caught Up.....Again!!

Part 4: Christmas and Winter Fun!

I'm pretty sure Luke was more excited about the kids opening their presents this year than even the kids were. So we let them each open one on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition my family has carried on for years -- we always opened the presents from brothers and sisters the night before Christmas. So Noah and Abby did the same.....don't they look excited? I'm pretty sure they didn't want to stop to let me take a picture!

In keeping with the train obsession, Noah got a Thomas the Train shaving kit and Abby got a princess wand that makes bubbles in the bathtub. Noah got a pretty big kick out of shaving like Daddy!

Christmas morning was a pretty relaxing time at our house. We stayed in Ohio this year which ended up being really nice. I'm sure all the mail trucks were tired of making deliveries to our house for the two weeks before Christmas. All of our families mailed the kids gifts, so there was a mountain of presents under our tree!

Noah liked to help open every gift -- even if it wasn't his!

It's been snowing lots here in the last couple weeks. The kids have had so much fun playing outside. Noah has been begging to build a snowman, but the snow is really dry and doesn't pack very well. So he's been praying for "wet snow to build a snowman" every night! Both the kids have had a great time sledding. Luke's been pulling them up and down the driveway on their bright orange sled behind his bike.

And here's Noah with his Doodle Pro. It's always a struggle to get him to pick up a pencil or crayon to write. So I was amazed when he started yelling from the playroom that he wrote his name. He wasn't kidding! Luke and I were incredibly impressed. Come to find out, this isn't that big of a deal for a three year old, but we're still proud!

Part 4 1/2: A Little Update on our Lives

The baby is coming two weeks from today! I feel completely unprepared, but I know we'll have lots of good help while we adjust. I'm scheduled for a C section January 21st at 8 am. We already know it's a girl, and we haven't settled on any names. I always have trouble deciding for sure, much to Luke's dismay!

Our plan after that is to move to Florida in March, probably the middle of the month. We have about 94% of our monthly support pledged. We praise God for our faithful supporters! It's been humbling and affirming to see the way He has provided for our needs -- both in the present and the future!

I'm sure our next post will be after the baby is born. I'll post pictures here as soon as my mind is clear enough to do so! Love to you all!

Getting Caught Up.....Again!!

Part 3: Decorating the Tree and Art Projects

We went and picked out our Christmas tree. Noah had more fun this year than he ever has helping to decorate. By the time we got the tree up and the lights working, it wasn't exactly the relaxing family event we had planned. But the kids had fun looking through all the ornaments. I'm sure they saw them more as toys to play with than decorations.

Even Abby hung a few of the non breakables!

We've been doing a lot of art projects to pass the time when it's too cold to play outside.

Abby LOVES to paint -- like all 18 month olds, I'm sure!

Abby was digging through her drawers and found her swimsuit coverup. For two days straight, she insisted on wearing it over her clothes. I'm glad she got some dress up clothes for Christmas!

Getting Caught Up.....Again!!

Part 2: A Gingerbread Train

For those of you who know Noah, he's had an obsession with trains over the last year. So instead of a gingerbread house, we built a gingerbread train.


Abby "helped" by eating a broken candy cane that was deemed unworthy of our train. I think she was happy about it!


Noah was pretty particular about the decorations. The train had to have lights in certain places, etc. He even let Mommy and Daddy help from time to time!

Here's the finished product!

Getting Caught Up.....Again!!

Part 1: A Leaf Tunnel

Luke's always coming up with these creative ideas for the kids. First he build the most enormous leaf pile I've ever seen. It was bigger than a car! The kids had a great time playing in it.

Then he constructed this tunnel out of sticks and covered it all up. It was probably the highlight of Noah and Abby's fall. They spent hours running around and through this treasure!