1 Month

Time truly flies by with a baby, and they change so much. Here is a quick summary of Ethan and what he is up to at one month old. He is much more alert compared to when he was first born. No smiles at me yet, but apparently other people have gotten small smiles from him. He is beginning to coo, not a lot though or consistently yet. We are up about two times a night and during the day he nurses every 2.5 to 3 hours. At times he struggles going to sleep at night but other then that he is pretty content. He will be awake for 1.5 to 2 hours but half of that time is spent nursing, which means he is dozing a bit during that time. He seems to like tummy time, a few times he has almost drifted off to sleep on his tummy. Babies drifting off to sleep is always the cutest thing. The saddest "first" we have had this month is Ethan has had a cold and been quite congested. It is so sad to hear him be all stuffed up. He has still been able to nurse but has had to sleep propped up a bit to help with drainage. Ethan has been growing, he weighs 9lbs 11oz. He is still in newborn clothes but they are getting small so he will probably be moving up sizes in the next week. Why do they grow so quick! Trying to store up memories of this boy being a baby despite the busyness of our house.

Ethan Michael

Welcome Ethan Michael! He was born November 16th at 10:34p, he was 8lbs 2oz and 21". I woke that morning at 6:00 to get showered and ready for church. In the shower I noticed I had already had a couple contractions so I started to count, plus the were definitely stronger. They continued through the morning making us wonder if I should play piano at church that morning or not. But by the time we got down there they seemed to have slowed and remained that way through the afternoon. We could tell that labor was beginning so we did inform my parents and they came up that evening to stay the night. Sunday evening the contractions increased in intensity but were not becoming consistent in timing. They were bouncing around from 5 to 8 minutes apart. About 9:45pm after returning from the bathroom C could see in my face things had changed and decided it was time to head to the hospital. Almost as soon as we got in the car the contractions dropped to three minutes
apart and a could feel him bearing down. C made the trip a bit quicker. We got checked in at the hospital at 10:25 and things had really progressed. The walk to the birthing center felt rather long. As the nurse was leading us to a room C asked if they were ready to deliver a baby. They didn't think much of at right then and sent me to the bathroom to collect a urine sample. Once in there I was ready and started pushing. The nurses realized at that point the baby was coming now. C had to carry me to the bed where the nurses were quickly getting everything ready. A few minutes later at 10:34 Ethan was born, before the doctor had even arrived. Nine minutes at the hospital, I don't think we could have cut it any closer and actually deliver at the hospital in the birthing center. God's timing is perfect and we are so blessed to have another baby. Welcoming a new life into this world is nothing but pure joy.
Here he is now at 3 weeks old.

Reading Reading Reading

Micah has always loved reading. He will sit and read book after book after book until you say it is time to stop. Jane hasn't always been as interested but she is more now. She still mostly prefers to read by herself versus having one of us read to her, though that is beginning to change now. The one time of day she will always sit and have a book read to her is before nap. Right now she is going through a phase where she likes to read the same book everyday for what seems like weeks at a time. So far the books have been, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, The View at the Zoo, Green Hat Blue Hat, The Tooth Book, Doggies and now back to The View at the Zoo. Which means I pretty much have those books memorized. But it is these little things I know some day I will miss. Now we just keep reading and reading and reading.

38 weeks

Tueday I was 38 weeks which means the baby could come at anytime. We have the hospital bag packed and it is funny to think back to the bag we had for Micah's birth. It was probably at least twice the size we have packed now. I guess by the third time we have learned what we actually need and use while at the hospital. Though we have also learned that there will always be something different and something we weren't expecting.

At 38 weeks of a pregnancy that has been harder then the other two (though still easy compared to some) I am wondering if this baby boy will come early unlike the other two who were late. I have tried to by ready with all the practical necessesities for awhile knowing full well there will always be some project I wanted to complete that I didn't get to. At this point most the projects are ones that are sitting down which is good because at this point I can't be on my feet long. Thankfully for the most part I am still sleeping well. I'm usually just up once for the bathroom. I have had some insomina once back in bed, just wide awake unable to get back to sleep. Most nights I just stay in bed, one night I did take advange of the time and was up sewing in the middle of the night. Haha.

I am going to the doctor once a week and everything is looking good. This week I measuredat 38cm, last week was 39cm. The baby is definitely moving around and effecting those measurements a bit. He has dropped lower but not quite all the way down. My blood pressure is still great and the baby's heart rate is where it should be. At this point I have gained about 26 pounds. The next appointment is in a couple days and I always look forward to hearing the baby's heart and hearing him move around. I certainly feel him move!

Jane is 2

 Jane had her two year old check up on Thursday. She did really well, though not much talking and she refused to open her mouth for the doctor. She weighs 25.6 pounds and is 35 inches tall. I don't remember the specific percentiles but both were about average. 

Jane at two is so much fun and it is great seeing more of her personality come out. Some of the play she enjoys the most certainly show she is a girl, she really enjoys coloring and playing with her babies. But with an older brother she still likes to play with cars and trucks. She enjoys playing with Micah too. It is fun to start to see them playing together in their own pretend play or just chasing each other around laughing. We get a little moment of snuggling in the morning before Jane will ask for breakfast. She likes to eat almost as soon as she wakes up, which typically around 6:30. She will also take a nap at 1:00 for two to two and half hours and then bedtime is between 7:00 and 7:30. Jane is still just attached to her blanket as she has been. When she is tired she will hold it up to her face covering her mouth and nose. She likes to be involved in most everything I'm doing, as well as what Micah is doing and she does not like to be left behind. What fun she is and I can't wait to see her as a big sister.

Certainly love this girl.

34 Weeks

Week 34 and I am definitely feeling pregnant now. Everything is much harder to do. My energy level is decreasing too,  mainly because it takes so much energy to accomplish anything. Nesting has certainly begun, I've been anxious to get all the baby things ready and making a variety of things for the baby. As well as preparing the house and completing projects before the arrival. At my doctor's appointment I was measuring at 35cm and have gained about 24 pounds. The baby was doing well, he was moving around so his heart rate was at 155. I will go back in two weeks and then will be in every week. We are nearing the end, which is so crazy.

Micah is 4

First can I be permitted to be shocked at how quickly each year goes by and that I now have a four year old! That can't really be can it!? Well it is and Micah is fun at four. The stories we get from him are hilarious but the best part about them is is how animated he gets.

 

How old are you?..... four

What is your favorite color?....blue

What is your favorite toy?....my gator

What is your favorite fruit?....grapes

What is your favorite this to eat for lunch?....mac and cheese

What is your favorite thing to wear?....work pants and carhartts

 What is your favorite game?....boat game

What is your favorite animal?....alligator

What is your favorite song?....he made up a song that went something like this "oh oh oh I like lions"

What is your favorite book?....horton

What is your favorite snack?....bar

What is your favorite thing to do outside?....ride my big gator

What is your favorite thing to drink?....orange juice

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?....honey nut cheerios

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?....go on a trip

What is your favorite thing to do with Papa?....climb a mountain

What is your favorite thing to do with Jane?....build castles

Who is your best friend?....

What do you liek to take to bed with you at night?....nothing

What do you want for dinner on your birthday?....meat and cheese and crackers and a little bit of candy

What do you want to do for work?....put away wood

What do you want to be when you grow up?....a worker and a cowboy and a horse rider 

30 Weeks

Week 30 is here (now week 31). Even though it isn't officially a milestone other then now I go to the doctor every two weeks, I always feel like I have reached some sort of benchmark. I am still feeling pretty good. Sleeping is getting more uncomfortable but I haven't had to consistently get up to use the bathroom during that night, which is so nice. I am still experiencing SI joint pain, but it is manageable and a blessing that the really painful days are few and far between. Praying that that continues. Everything was still looking good at my doctor appointment. My weight gain seems to be about the same so far as the other kids, I've gained 23 pounds. Though I was measuring a little bigger, I measured at 32cm, typically you measure in centimeters as you are in weeks. Nothing of concern at this point. I am starting to feel limits in what I can do now because of my size and energy. But I try not to use being pregnant as an excuse to not do things and remain active. And speaking of active this boy seems to be pretty active, especially in the evenings. He moves around a lot and not just kicking but the arms and head or perhaps it is his hands up by his face. Either way I will feel him moving all around. It can be uncomfortable at times but it does make me look forward to seeing those movements when he arrives. 

He Makes Everything Beautiful

I think it is time to share some not so good news. But I feel if God is to use this beyond me it needs to be shared. At the end of last year I had a miscarriage, this month we would be welcoming a new little one into this world. I wasn't very far along but it was still the loss of one of our children, a unique person with an individual soul. It has left a void in my life, and pain I will always feel.

Those first few days have been some of the hardest days I have had to walk through. At times the sorrow was so overwhelming it left me with almost the complete inability to move. Some of my strongest feelings at first were a longing to hold my baby and sweetly whisper in their ear how much I love them. I was full of pain but my faith and trust in God was not and is not shaken. Satan might have wanted and tried to use this to break me down but God used it for my growth and to draw me to Himself. I do not understand His ways but I know He is sovereign and all things work together for His glory. He is a very present help in times of trouble. And he sees so much more than we can. I have great peace knowing our souls are eternal and in Heaven I will meet our little one. What a great day that will be, to be in the presence of the King and get to hold my baby! Now I know God is holding my baby in His arms and His arms are full of perfect love. And my baby will never experience the troubles of this world. Through those first days I found this poem online that so perfectly fit my emotions.

  My eyes long to see you;
        Now you behold Him.
    My arms ache for you;
        Now you know perfect love.
    My ears yearn for your voice;
        Now you sing His praises.
    I desire to feed you;
        Now you will never know hunger.
    I anticipated the pitter-patter of your feet;
        Now you play at His pierced ones.
    I dreamed of years of love and laughter;
        Now you will never know pain.
    I longed to watch you grow and develop;
        Now you are perfect.
    This isn't how I planned;
       But I know He loves you.
            -Monique Stam

During those days I clung to the promises found in God's Word. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10). When I experienced those times when my strength was gone I knew by reading, and now I know from experience that God provides the strength exactly when it is needed in His wisdom. It is because of these difficult moments that my trust is built in Him. He knows where the days lead and knows what I need for each moment of every day better than I do. I also know that "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wound." (Psalm 147:3). My faith tells me that God understands, more than anyone, the pain I am feeling, He counts my tears and He will heal my broken heart.

A couple weeks after losing our baby I began to struggle with why this happened. I did not question the Lord's sovereignty and goodness, I just didn't understand why we had to loss a baby, a life before it was lived. I know this is something this side of heaven I will never fully understand and I prayed that my heart would know that. Life is full of joy but at the time I wondered and prayed that I could see that and be that again. I now know joy makes the suffering possible and suffering makes the joy more beautiful. There came a point in reading a book, (Beautiful Battlefields by Bo Stern) that I realized that it is easy in this life and in this country to confuse a lack of suffering with God’s unconditional love. As the author stated, “We can’t question His love for us because we’re in a battle. Rather, we rejoice in His love that walks us through the battle. His love shows up when we think we can’t keep going. He comes to our hurting and He pours out His compassion. Sometimes it’s through His Word, sometimes it’s through the voice of a friend, and sometimes it’s just a supernatural infusion of joy when there’s no earthly reason we should feel it.” God is so good in His healing and bringing of comfort, peace and joy.

Shortly after this struggle, of why the Lord showed me Ecclesiastes 3:11 which says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." It is hard to see or even imagine beauty coming from this, but through my faith and what I have experienced and know of God I know that He will bring beauty in my life from this. I pray that this will also be used to bring Him glory. The scripture in Ecclesiastes has grown my heart and longing for eternity, for this world is not my true home.

There are times I still experience sadness, as I think I always will, the sorrow is no longer overpowering. I will always miss our baby, nothing will replace the loss of that person. I will always wonder about our baby, their gender, their personality, their future. But I rejoice knowing our little one is in heaven with the God of love and the King and Kings. Who is so perfect in the comfort and healing He provides that despite the loss and the void left in my life I see and experience joy, and that is only because of and through His work in my life. 

Amen

During VBS Micah's class would end prayer with all the kids saying amen loudly. That has now transitioned to our house and Jane enjoys doing it just as much if not more then Micah.
7-26 Micah amen from Meagan Rice on Vimeo.

7-26 Jane amen from Meagan Rice on Vimeo.

23 Weeks

Over half way, time never does seem to slow down. Everything is looking really good with the baby. At my appointment this last week his heart rate was 150. I was measuring at 23cm and I've gained about 17 pounds. I do feel the baby move around, mostly when I am laying down in bed. Perhaps that is because I am not sitting still long enough during the day to notice his movements. I am feeling good being in the second trimester where your energy is mostly back and you're not too huge to make all moving around difficult. I have been having some pain in my hip/pelvis, my PT (aka my sister) says it is in the area of the SI joint. I pretty much feel it all the time and at times more acutely. This is a first for pregnancy pain for me, I'm just praying it doesn't get worse as the baby gets bigger.

Jane's Words

Jane is speaking so much now and becoming more clear in what she is saying. I recorded a few of the words she says because I was noticing already some of the cute pronunciation are already changing. So enjoy some Jane cuteness.
7-26 Jane's words from Meagan Rice on Vimeo.

18 weeks

Here I am at 18 weeks, now that I'm actually 19 weeks along (but I'm probably one of the few counting). My energy has finally returned! I still do get tired and have my days where there is not much in me. But at least I don't feel like I am about to fall asleep at any point. It is quite nice to be able to feel like I can accomplish more in the day, or at least try to accomplish more.The baby is growing and so is my belly, I can only wear maternity pants now and can only wear a few of my regular shirts. We found out at my last doctor's appointment that we are having a BOY!! Micah is excited but also not surprised he has been saying it is a boy all long and that his name is Denny. I'm not sure where that came from, we know no one named Denny. Jane points to my belly when we talk about baby but who knows how much she actually understands. We are excited to know what we are having and that he is growing well. Now we have the challenge of deciding on a name.

Imagination

Parenting always brings new experiences. With Micah right now it is imaginary friends. He has three, Hosty, Cement-mixy, and Sawy. They don't occupy much of his time and play. Typically it is during prayer he wants to pray for them because lately they have been sick. Occasionally he will mention them in conversation. Imaginary friends is definitely something I haven't had experience with during my years of working with kids. What I've been doing is neither encouraging nor discouraging them. I figure it is one of those cute little things I will look back at with a smile. Micah is such a sweet boy and it is so fun watching him grow and seeing his personality come out more.

Orcharding

Yes we still do orchard. Actually quite a bit has been happening and this could be shaping up to be a good and exciting year for us. The Farmer cleared about a half acre of trees, mostly cotton woods that were taking up usable and valuable land for cherry trees. The Farmer has a new found dislike of cotton woods.

There was a lot of trees lost to gophers and voles from 2012 planting, yes voles not moles. So The Farmer pulled all of those trees both dead and alive. Then he condensed down and replanted the ones that were alive. That also gave him the opportunity to easily inoculate them with this fungus called mycorrhizal, which causes the trees root structure to grow more. We also got more trees planted, this time it is a different variety. This helps us because it has a later ripening date which enables us to harvest and process the cherries ourselves.

go bees go 

Speaking of processing ourselves, probably the most exciting thing for this year is we will be building an automatic sorter. The design is with an engineer right now getting all the details drawn out. That will then be sent to a fabricator to get the pieces made then we (The Farmer) will assemble it. There will still need to be people on the line to pull damaged fruit and separate any fruit that is connected still. But all of the sizing will be done by the machine and loaded into boxes. I just have to say woot woot! That was soooo time consuming last year. I'm sure it won't go as fast as it could this year since we will be learning the machine but it will be significantly faster then last. Which is good because there were an astonishing amount of blossoms this year and as long as our bees did there job all those blossoms will be cherries. I do love it when the trees are in blossom, it is so pretty.

The Farmer as also been busy keeping up with gopher blasting, mowing, weed burning and spraying has just started up. 

It is very exciting seeing the trees grow.

13 Weeks

Wow we have already made it through the first trimester. The biggest thing I noticed about the first trimester for this pregnancy is how tired I have been. I have felt like I could just fall asleep any time of the day and by the evening there is nothing left. I am still waiting for my energy to turn that supposedly does in the second trimester. I have also had to be much more diligent about eating every couple hours otherwise I will feel nauseous. Plus I have been more sensitive to what I eat, many things don't sound or smell very good. Overall though I am blessed with relatively easy pregnancy and even though I've had a few more challenges so far it has still been great.  

18 Months

Well Jane is over 18 months and quickly coming up to 19 months. We have had her check up and she weighs 22lbs 12oz and is 32.75 inches tall. She sure is growing quick! Her language development seems to changing quick too. She is speaking much more, always saying new words and will repeat most words you ask her to. Some of her more used words right now are:


Mama or Mommy
Papa
Micah (which is dah-dah)
Jane
Nana
Opa
Joe
Grandma
Grandpa
Beth
Please
Thank you
Read
Amen
Up
Down
More
All done
Baby
Necklace
Hi
Bye
Teeth
Get you
Blankie
Play
Milk
Snack
Breakfast
Bike
Socks
Shoes
Hat
Light
Sit here

Bible
Book
Spoon
Bite

Wow I guess she is talking a lot because there are many more words she says and she will attempt to repeat most words we ask her to. Jane is so fun she makes us laugh everyday. It is a joy to start to see her personality emerging more. She still continues to enjoy being close to me and I right now I will take all those moments with my little girl.

Beach Trip

This year the beach came together just a few weeks before. It was a bit crazy a few days before leaving. I was enjoying a weekend scrapbooking and The Farmer was getting some trees planted. This year we headed to Seaside and despite a turn in weather we still got to get out and enjoy the beach.We were there when the whale washed ashore but we didn't go over to it. It looked like it had decomposed quite a bit and was very smelly. Micah had an especially good time with his cousins this year. It was a great trip, over too quick of course.

 Jane loved to dig in the sand, fill up the bucket, dump it out and do it that over and over again.

 The two boy cousins, I am looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops over the years.

 The kids dug a BIG hole with a tunnel entrance. They did have a bit (maybe a lot) of help from the dads.

A Few Things I Want to Remember

I made a similar list for Micah around this same age and I have loved looking back at it and remembering the little things they do that are easy to forget. So here are a few things I want to remember about Jane right now.

:: You will start to dance almost as soon as you hear any tune.

:: The way you say Mama and Papa over and over and over.

:: How much you love to play peek-a-boo.

:: Your love of your blankets and how you pat it and say with your mouth closed "mmmmg".

::The way you talk without ever opening your mouth. Which is starting to change now.

::The way your eyes sparkle and are full of joy.

::Your running in place, or sometimes we call it quick feet.

::When you are tired or want comfort with your blanket you will hold it up to your nose and pull your lower lip in.

::How you like to snuggle when you wake up, though even that is starting to decrease now.

::Your fearlessness especially in how you like to fall from the couch to the ottoman and back.

::You love to put on your coat even if we are not going outside.

::If there is someone, anyone going outside you want to join.

::You like to put things away where they belong.

::How you say amen, "meh"

::When marching you will kick one leg out.

::You are so tickalish.

::"Ahh mmm" is your way of getting someone's attention, of saying you want something, in general it is your phrase for most things.

::You hack to say cold.

::You wake up with the craziest bedhead.

::I love that I am still your number one knowing that that will change one day.

::The way you like to put your feet on my cheeks after bath.

::Anything that is hot or even warm you will blow on it.

::The way you say hat, hot and socks all sound the same.

::When we say it is time to brush teeth you start sticking your tongue in and out.

::After you finish eating you crawl up on my lap whether I am done or not.

::You love the nursery rhythm book and always want to see the page with the ball on it. You will say ball nonstop until you have the book open to that page.

::If you are looking for something you say "a" then the person or object. So if you are wondering where Papa is you say "A Papa"

Too Smart

 There are times I think kids can be too smart for their own good, or at least for the sanity of the parents. Jane has figured out too early how to reach things off of the counter, the table, or anything just slightly out of reach. There are a couple kids size wooden chairs here. She will grab one and push it all around to climb up onto to reach the desired item. Now she has upgraded to a full size chair.

If she sees me at the chopping block in the kitchen she knows that means food is being prepared. She will run and get one of the chairs in the dining room and push it into the kitchen next to me. She will push a chair up to the dining room table so she can then climb up onto a dining room chair and be up at the table. Jane will mostly use the kid chairs in the dining room and kitchen where she can push them around. But even in the living room if there is something she can't reach or climb up on she will find something to give her a little step up. If she can problem solve like that now I wonder what it will be like when she get older.

Elk Hunting

The title of this post might lead you to think it is something about The Farmer. But in fact it is about me and my first elk hunting experience, my first hunting experience of any kind. We headed out in the morning to head down the road to check the neighbors property since the elk had been there recently. The Farmer peeled out around the barn to the driveway as we both looked up at the field across the street and saw the elk, now running since we spooked them pulling out.

We drove over to the neighbors and got out to weight around to see if more would come because what we saw running was no where near the whole herd. Sure enough after about ten minutes they started wondering out of the woods at the northwest corner of the field. We were in the southeast corner of the field so we got in a good position to shoot and waited for them to make there way to us. Once they came closer I took a shoot at the lead one and they all ran off back to the woods they came out of. The Farmer and I walked up to where the elk was to check for blood. There was none, after some investigation we confirmed it was a miss.

We got back in the car to see if we could find them. For the elk to leave the part of the woods they ran into they would have to cross a road or some more open terrain where we would see tracks. Wouldn't you know they had not come out. They were still in the same, small patch of wooded area. So into the woods we went to see if we could find them. The night before we got a light dusting of new snow which made it quite easy to find and follow their tracks. As we were walking as quietly as we could we could hear them moving around. Eventually we found ourselves about 20 yards away from them but too thick of brush for me to feel comfortable taking a shot. They took off running so we made our way to a nearby road and walked out to the main road. We were nearing home looked up in the same field and there were the elk again running through the field to the east. We started running up the road to the same spot I shot from before. Two coyotes scared the elk so they went running back to the west to the same woods they have been in for most of the morning.

We made a plan to set me up and The Farmer (aka He Who Hunts Buff-alow/Shooter/Over Kill), to head to woods to push the elk out. I was to give him 15 minutes and then head home. Well about ten minutes later the elk come out of the woods. My heart was definitely racing but I worked at keeping myself calm and steady. They were all standing together, as soon as one stepped out of the herd I took a shot. The elk got excited but they didn't go running off. After a bit they all wondered off except the one shot, she just stood there. At that point my brother in-law joined me and the elk stepped into the woods standing right at the tree line. We walked over to The Farmer and waited for awhile before we walked over to where the elk was, we could not see her from where we were standing. As soon as The Farmer stepped into the woods where we knew the elk went in she took off running. And that began the long track of finding her through multiple properties. Thankfully all the owners gave us permission to continue to track her. There were a few times the three of us had to split as other tracks appeared until one of us found blood. Around three hours after my shot we got her.

At this point we ended up just above a service road for the irrigation company. We were on a very steep hill covered in ice and the elk was stuck on some trees. The plan became to pull her loose and get her down to the road then we could drive the truck up to the elk. What we were unable to tell about this steep hill was that is dropped off about ten feet before the road. My brother in-law was on the downhill side of the elk and The Farmer commented that he better watch out once they get her loose because she will really start moving. She did get moving and so did my brother in-law, together down the hill and off the ten foot cliff. They landed on the road with the elk on top of my brother in-law. We got a verbal that he was okay and then we started laughing. It is funny thinking about the fact that a dead elk landed on him. Though he is still hurting from it and I feel quite bad that it happened. At the this point The Farmer and I took off to get myself home so I could take Micah to music class and so he could get the truck. 

That was end of my involvement. I wanted nothing to do with the gutting and skinning. I wouldn’t have minded cutting up the meat but I still left that to the men.What an experience! Fun but I certainly don't plan on going hunting with all of them in the fall. We are very thankful for the harvest of meat that we get to share and enjoy.

Mr. Cook

 

Micah has been able to experience some pretty amazing this living in the country. One happened about two weeks ago. He will usually begin talking about this experience by mentioning Mr. Cook. This man made a big impression on Micah. He is the driver of a log truck that came to our house to pick up a load The Farmer had cut down. Micah got to watch Mr. Cook load all of the logs onto the truck. If you ask him about it he will give you quite a detailed description, for a three year old about how it was done. If that wasn't enough to concrete the memory in a little boys mind Mr. Cook offered to give Micah a ride from where the logs were on the back of the property up to the house. That made his day, I wasn't out there but I can imagine the look on Micah's face.

What's the Word

Apparently I have become a once a month blogger. I would prefer to be posting weekly but life doesn't seem to be giving me time for that lately. Now is usually when I would be posting my word for the year. It is a word that the Lord has placed on my heart as something to focus on for the year. Right now I don't feel lead to any word. Perhaps my problem is not being silent and still enough to hear God. So maybe my word should be something like listen or focus. I think it will be best to wait on the Lord instead of picking a word just to pick a word. So we will see, maybe it is a year without a word and that's okay.

Now as for an update...wow a lot has happened since my last post. Life as been a blur. I almost feel like I am just riding the waves, which I don't like I would much prefer to be directing life more. But I feel like I am just keeping my head above water, perhaps that is because we are coming out of the busyness of the holidays.

We had a great time seeing a lot of family.

 All the Rices got together, this is Grandpa reading to all the grand kids minus babies.

 The Sunderlands

The Wolfes

I entered a new decade. I hardly feel old enough to be 30.

Celebrating with my family, unfortunately The Farmer was sick that day.

The kids are as busy as ever. They bring constant challenges and constant joy. If you ask me what we have been doing I will be at a loss. Some how the days get filled, things get accomplished and many things beyond taking care of Jane and Micah don't get accomplished. So one day I might become better at blogging more regularly.