Another addition??

Yes there is another addition on the way. You might wonder where? I mean, we just got a nice new house that is very big! Oh maybe another rental property? Nope wrong guess- well...? Ok I will just tell you- Tyler gets to be a big brother in November! Yes we are 10 weeks pregnant and counting. We weren't going to tell Aaron until I start showing a lot more so he has something to put the information together with however, he saw the ultrasound picture we had to get done, so we told him. Now he alternates between telling us it will be a boy then a girl. But no matter what, he says Tyler will try to push the baby and sit on it so he will hold it and keep it safe! Sounds like he figured out how to be a big brother. Now too bad he won't practice on Tyler! So stay tuned for developments and remember we are the kind of people who like surprises so NO we will not be finding out the sex of the baby!

Aaron is 3!

Aaron's 3rd Bday

Aaron is 3 and I can't believe it has been that long since he was born. He loved his birthday and was happy to have a party "just like Tyler had". His friend, Brandon, came and they had a lot of fun even though it started kind of rough. Aaron took a nap while I finished decorating the cake and my mom was cleaning up. Then everyone started to come and the man of the hour was still sleeping away. So we had to wake him up which is not a good thing. Aaron likes his sleep and doesn't normally bounce awake like Tyler does. After some time though, he finally started playing and interacting with everyone so we did presents first, then cake. His first present was the truck Mack from the "CARS" movie. He wanted it out of the package but we said to open the others first. After each present he kept going back to Mack and wanted him open! He would have been happy with just that persent. But now he has so many cars and trucks we need a new toybox for them all. We got him a bicycle that looks like a dirt bike and he is trying to learn how to pedal now. Since we have a bigger house he has a little room to practice and Daddy will take him in our huge basement to ride until it gets nice outside. His cake was Lightning McQueen (which took me almost 2 hours to decorate) and he liked that. I asked him to pick which part of the cake he wanted to eat and what part do you think he chose? You'll have to see the pics to find out if you are right! After everyone left, my parents were still here, so we were just relaxing and talking them realized that no one had seen or heard from Tyler in a little bit. I found him at the dining room table, quiet as a mouse, stuffing his face with leftover cake that Aaron hadn't finished! He was very proud of himself and just kept grinning at us with frosting all over his face! It was pretty cute and you can't help but laugh at that! It was a great time. Also to top it off, Aaron didn't want to put on a pull up for bed, which he wears now only at bedtime. He wanted to keep his underwear on. So I decided to let him and I would just clean up the mess in the morning. But there was no mess and he was dry. He is doing pretty good on the potty training now and only occasionally has a mess usually at someone else's house. Thank goodness it is working so well because it saves a lot of money in diapers too!!

Grace Heidi Hale

We have another addition to our extended family. My brother, David, and his wife, Melisa, just had their third child and yup.. another girl!! Lucky him in about 12 years, right?? Her name is Grace Heidi Hale. As my sister, Heather, pointed out this is an appropriate name as her start to life was a little rough for everyone. Melisa had a fall on the ice about a week before the baby was born, which triggered some contractions on and off for a couple days. Who knows if this is actually why she was born early or what but she was due Feb 21 and Grace was born Feb 7. Thru some other trials and minor problems, it finally was time for the baby to be held up and admired for the first time. But instead she was quickly transferred to the baby table under the light and more people were called in and much activity was going on. The baby was not breathing!! I was travelling down with my dad from NY at this point and Heather texted me from the hospital room and told us to pray. It was SO scary and we were all crying and praying. Fifteen minutes after she entered this world, Grace took her first breath and was finally able to be hugged and loved by her anxious mommy and daddy! Her first day she didn't really make any noise but by the end of her second day, all worries were put to rest as she showed everyone that she really does have a good set of lungs! By God's grace, our little Gracie is now doing great and being well loved by both her big sisters! Click on the pic to see more.

Grace Heidi Hale

New Job

I started a job working 5 hours a night for 4 nights a week. I take catalog orders over the phone. It is not the most interesting job but it makes a little extra money to pay off our bills and gets me out of the house for a little while. It also allows Wilmer and I to "switch places". Have you ever wanted your spouse to know what you go thru at your job or home all day? Well, Wilmer does phone tech support so he is on the phone the majority of the day. I stay home with the boys and deal with them all day. So from 6pm to 11pm, we "switch". I am on the phone the entire 5 hours and Wilmer is with the boys (well they sleep half that time but still..) so we get to experience "being in the other's shoes" a little bit. I think it has actually helped each of us to understand the other a little more. Now, we are thinking of the possibility of getting another car also. We have been with only one vehicle for two years but it is getting difficult esp with gas prices so expensive, to be driving the truck exclusively.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas pics 2007

We went to PA for Christmas. It was not a white one which is good and bad. Good for travelling but bad because if it's gonna be cold- it might as well snow and be beautiful! The kids had so much fun all playing together. We had no babies this year but David and Melisa are going to have another in Feb so next Christmas there will be another baby. I can't believe Christmas is over and it is already 2008! Time really does get faster the older you get. I think it should be faster when you are younger and slower when you get older! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year!

Prayer Requests & Praises

You might have noticed I changed the side of the blog a little bit. I added the prayer and praise list. If anyone has anything they would like added to that for people to pray or thank God for- please let me know and I will add it. Also I have added some links to online albums and/or other websites you can go to. If you have a website (personal or whatever) you want people to be able to get to from here or online albums, let me know and I can add that also. I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Oh can I say that? Or should I say Happy Holidays cuz we can't say Christmas anymore? Ha just kidding- I will say Merry Christmas to anyone and everyone!!

Kid Update

Aaron is almost 3~I can't believe it! He talks up a storm and I can't believe the conversations he comes up with. They are actually understandable and make sense. He can remember certain conversations he hears and repeat them pretty well. (Which isn't always good, I guess.) He can say his whole name, spell his first name, and recognize it written out. He can say his ABCs and identify all the letters individually. He can count to ten and sometimes to 20. He knows his colors- even some of the different ones like gray and pink. I am teaching him the meaning of some road signs and of traffic lights. He loves to learn. He has a little desk now and likes to draw and color in his books on it. He plays with his brother sometimes but usually if I am watching or near- he is mean to him. If they are upstairs in their room or something, he is a lot nicer. I have no idea what makes the difference but whatever, as long as they are not fighting! I don't know how my mom did it with 4 kids fighting all the time-it's frustrating! Aaron still loves to help Daddy do anything and everything. He is getting better at bedtime now that the boys share a room. At the old house, he always said he was scared but here he hasn't said that at all. They are a lot better than I thought they would be with sharing a room. Sometimes there is a problem of waking each other up but not often. (Usually when Mommy REALLY wants just a little more sleep!) Aaron still loves his cars, trucks, and balls. He loves to line them up all over. He has a lot so it makes a REALLY long line!

Tyler is a year now. In the slideshow you will see some pics of his birthday. We just had a few people over to help celebrate. He wasn't sure what to do with the candle so he just grabbed the flame. The look on his face was so funny! He didn't dig in and get messy like I thought he would. (Now if I had made the cake out of dirt and mud-I'm sure it would be a different story!) He did have a small piece of cake which he enjoyed though. You will see pics of carving pumpkins. Tyler liked his first pumpkin- he thought it tasted great and those seeds? He wanted to eat all of them. Yuck! He still doesn't talk- I think he could if he wanted to but he's content with learning every form of motion in the world other than moving his mouth and tongue! He climbs everywhere and wants to do everything Aaron and Daddy do. He has all but 4 of his teeth and is almost off the bottle completely. He has a sippy cup most of the time. He stopped baby food a while ago because he only wants what we eat not mushy stuff! He loves music and dancing. I took him outside yesterday for the first time in the snow. I will add those pics later. That was fun- he enjoyed trying to sweep the driveway most of the time. That is his favorite toy- if you get out the broom expect him to be there. He prefers the big broom to the little dust broom though!