operation christmas child shoeboxes

Well, I am finally getting over being sick! It has been a pretty exhausting week but I am glad that I am on the upswing.

The other day we officially began the Christmas season with our tradition of the kids putting together shoeboxes for operation christmas child. The girls enjoyed picking out small toys from the store to add to their boxes. They both made a picture to put in their shoebox and packed them all by themselves. We love this tradition as it helps to open their eyes to the needs of others and that it is so much more rewarding to give to others than to receive.

Here they are with all their prizes laid out and ready to pack.And here they are with their packed boxes. They are looking forward to taking them to church on Sunday.

Tomorrow morning Grace will have her first soccer game of the season!!! We are so excited to see her play and Erik is thrilled to be the coach (though Grace keeps insisting that I should be the coach instead- sorry Erik, I thought you had a few more years before you became embarrassing).

This evening was one of the moments that I love being a parent. After an especially trying day we put the girls to bed. The house was quiet and then these are the precious whispered words I hear coming out of the girls' bedroom:

Grace: "Lena! Lena!"

Lena: "What?"

Grace: "I love you!"

Lena: "I love you too!"

This definitely put a smile on my face and brought joy to my heart!

Well, hopefully you all have a great weekend! I am looking forward to a soccer game in the morning!!!

Baby dedication

Last week proved to be a busy but enjoyable one for us. On Thursday Erik was able to take Lena to do a diaper study in Cincinnati- the best part is that they paid him $75 to kroger!!!

Friday night we enjoyed going out to dinner at Larosa's with our friends the Wells. It was nice to get out and spend time with good friends!

I thought this picture was so funny. All the kids were playing together!

Sunday was a very exciting day for us as it was baby dedication at our church. We were so blessed to have my family there to support us as we dedicated Micah to God. It is such an amazing responsibility and privilege to raise our children to Love God and to desire to follow Him in everything we do.

Here's a picture of us on stage while Pastor Rob was offering us words of encouragement. I was SO relieved that the girls were well behaved on stage!!!

After service we all went to lunch and then came back to our house for Pinapple Upside Down Cheesecake!! It was so good! I guess there are a few perks to working where I do! :)

So, I think this picture actually turned out pretty good! The funny part is that I took this picture using the timer on my camera!

Grace absolutely loves her baby brother! We tried to get a picture with all 3 kids but Lena would have nothing to do with it!

Sunday night we went with my fam to a corn maze. The girls thought it was fun for about half an hour and then I took them to play on the playground. We enjoyed a great day spending time together with my fam and celebrating Micah being dedicated.

This morning Grace is at school and Lena is enjoying some extra attention. I am battling a bad cold, so hopefully I will be over it soon!

Fall Fun

Not much has happened since the last time I posted. Erik is still looking for a job, and I am still trying to work as much as I can.

Here is a picture of the kids when we went to Young's Dairy a couple weeks ago.

My soccer season ended and now we are excited because Grace starts her indoor season this weekend! She is so excited to play soccer again, and I have to admit that it thrills me to see her play!

Micah is getting bigger everyday. He truly is a sweet natured little boy. I absolutely love that when I come to get him in the morning that he gives me the biggest smile and is so excited for me to pick him up!

Lena is becoming more and more grown up. She is talking so much now and is becoming very independent.

As always we seem to be constantly busy. Last week we had a blast at several Harvest parties and then trick-or-treating on Saturday. This year Lena was Alice in Wonderland, Grace was Jessie from toy Story2 and Micah wore a teddy bear snowsuit that my brother David wore as a baby.

Grace loved her Jessie costume, you can't tell from this pic, but she even had red hair!

Lena looked like a doll in her costume. She told everyone she was princess alice. So cute!

Here's me and the kids on Halloween. The girls had a blast walking around with daddy while Micah and I handed out candy.

Saturday night after trick-or-treat we went with my Dad and Josiah to Chipotle to score free burritos for dressing like a burrito. It was hilarious! My mom found emergency blankets that we wrapped ourselves up in. Though we did look ridiculous we had fun and it definitely made the free burritos taste that much better. :)

Mot much else is going on here. I have been blessed to find some great grocery deals lately. The other day at kroger my bill went from $90 down to $15!! The bagger kept watching the price drop as the lady scanned my coupons and he was so impressed that he said, "this is like watching the ball drop on New Years Eve!" It cracked me up!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of my precious kids

Update

If you haven't noticed, I have been a little absent in the blogging department over the last month. That said, it has been a very trying and exhausting month for us. Four weeks ago Erik lost his job. As a result, the past month has been an extremely difficult one as we seek God's guidance and provision for our family. Though it has been a time of complete helplessness we are not without hope. God has put so many fellow believers in our path. We have been blessed beyond any measure and are so thankful that though there is so much uncertainty at this time, we are constantly reassured that God is still God and that He ultimately is in control. Please pray that Erik finds a job soon. We have seen God do amazing things, and we know He will continue to provide for us. Please also pray that we will keep our eyes of Him at this time. It is so hard to see the master plan when we are in the middle of it.

Please also be in continued prayer for my dad. He is still undergoing treatment every week. So far it has been pretty hard on him. Pray that the chemo and antibody drug are effective and pray for my dad's continued healing and strength.

On a more upbeat note, the kids are doing great. Grace started preschool last month and is having a blast. We did take her for her 1st eye appointment this week and are thankful that she has perfect vision. This had been a concern of ours as I needed glasses at her age.

Here is a picture of Grace on her first day of school and a picture of all 3 kids that day.

Lena is growing up so much lately. Her speech has taken off in the last month, and she can now say just about anything. Here is a picture of her at Dsiney on Ice! We were thrilled to be able to get free tickets!

And last but not least is our little man, Micah! He is such an amazing little boy. I am definitely enjoying him. So far he is our happiest baby. He is content most of the time and brings such joy to us. At his 2 month appointment he was 14lb 6 oz and 24 1/2 in long! He has started smiling and cooing at us- which is so rewarding!

I am to the point of exhaustion. I have been trying to work as much as possible since Erik lost his job, at the same time I am coaching soccer at DC. I have really enjoyed coaching, but will be relieved when the season is over at the end of next week. That way I will be able to focus on working more and keeping up with things at home.

I had been avoiding posting until now because if I don't put it in words, then it really isn't happening- right? Well, that being said, I had better get ready for work. Hope you are all well and that you enjoyed the pics of the kiddos.

I have come to the somber realization that I am the mother of a preschooler. Tomorrow I will take Grace to preschool open house. It is hard to believe that she is four years old and ready to leave her mommy. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised as she has already informed me she can go by herself to check in to sunday school. I am amazed at the amazing young lady Grace is becoming. She is an absolute joy and though I will miss her for the short hours of preschool, I am excited that she will be learning and experiencing new things.
Lena had her cast removed on Friday. She didn't even cry when they were sawing her cast off. The doctor was pleased with how well her break healed. By saturday afternoon she was starting to walk around. She still has a slight limp, but is doing so well getting around. Hopefully this will be the only broken bone in the Buskard household!
Micah is keeping us busy, but I am truly enjoying his personality. For the most part he is a laid back little boy, but he has made it clear that he wants his mommy's undivided attention.
Also, if you could please keep my dad in your prayers. Tomorrow he will start another round of chemo. He will undergo chemo for an unknown period of time during which time he will also be taking a promising drug. Please pray for strength for my dad and also for effectiveness of the treatment.
I am incredibly blessed to be the daughter of an amazing man of God. I know I take for granted the privilege it is to have an earthly father who exemplifies my heavenly Father. Please continue to pray for continued healing and encouragement at this time.

Cute kids and Grocery Blessings!

I have to start this post off with some pictures of my adorable kids I took this morning in the back yard.Grace is looking so grown up! Its hard to believe that in 2 weeks she will start preschool.
Our sweet Lena. She has just one more week in her cast!! She is just now figuring out how to walk with the cast on, so by the time she perfects it, she will have it off! Here's Micah in his awesome soccer outfit that the Orme's gave him! I absolutely love having a little boy around! Though I am severely sleep deprived at the moment- I am loving being a family of 5.All 3 of my kiddos in soccer gear! Oh how kids in soccer gear can melt my heart! I feel that we are adjusting well to being a family of 5. So far there has only been one day where the house was a mess. I feel like that is a major accomplishment!!!

In other news, if I wasn't busy enough, high school soccer is in full swing. I am coaching the JV girls team at DC again this year. It is going to be a little crazy but I love coaching.

We have been blessed with a couple very successful shopping trips this week!!! I was so thrilled I even took pictures. The first picture is of my $15 meijer trip.I was even more thrilled with my trip to kroger's. See if you can guess what everything in the picture cost me...........


.................... and the grand total of my trip to kroger was $7!!!!! Thank you God for your blessings!!

Well, I had better get some things done before heading to soccer practice. We are looking forward to a quiet weekend of family time!! Yay for Erik being home for the weekend!!!

Quick Update

Just a quick update on life around here.
Today my dad went in for the results of his latest PETscan. The three spots that showed up on his last PETscan 3 months ago have continued to get larger. This is definitely not what we were hoping and praying for, but are tying to trust God's direction. From here, my dad will have a biopsy performed on one of the spots and his oncologist hopes to put him on a promising drug along with chemo. Please continue to pray! Pray for God's peace for my dad and my family, pray for continued healing, and please pray for wisdom for the Dr. as they decide what course of treatment would be best.
This week Erik returned to work. It has been a hard week for him at work and a stressful one for me at home. Lena is not handling her cast very well. She has been a wreck almost everyday- and when she gets frustrated the whole world comes to an end. She has yet to put weight on or try to walk with her cast on. We are hoping she will try to start to walk soon.
I am very thankful for our neighbors! Yesterday they took Grace to the park. She definitely needed some time away from the chaos. It was great that she was able to spend time playing with her friend Alli.
Today Grammie and Papa took the girls to a movie. I definitely enjoyed the time with Micah and the girls had a great time enjoying some special attention! Its amazing how quiet the house is with only 1 child home!
This afternoon I took Micah for his 2 week checkup. Our little man has grown quite a bit! He is now 10lb 14 oz and 23 1/4 in long! WOW! It has been such a joy to get to know him! We are all absoutely in love with this newest member of our family!
That's all for now- hopefully I will start updating more regularly now that we are settling into live as 5!

Adjusting, Crazy Trips, and Broken Bones!

We have made it through almost 2 weeks as a family of 5! It has been an exciting, busy, and crazy 2 weeks- but it feels great to be able to start adjusting to our new life with Micah.

He is definitely a sweet baby. He is a pleasant baby and doesn't cry much unless he is hungry. We are emjoying watching the girls interract with him, and shower him with "love" (or slobbery kisses)!

Last week friday we packed in the car and headed to MI to visit family. I do have to say there are not many mothers out there that would pack three kids in the car- one 4 days old- and take a long trip. It wasn't that long ago that mother and baby would still be relaxing in the hospital, being waited on! We had a great time visiting with family while we were there. I will have to post more pictures when I have time but some of the highlights of our trip were spending time with the Genthers, enjoyed 2 trips to Lake Michigan in one day, driving around Grand Rapids reminiscing about old times, seeing Grandparents, spending an afternoon with Uncle Brett and Cole, and my husband was especially thrilled with Michigan Warmups for the girls from Grandpa and Grandma Buskard ( I think the girls will be wearing these out!!). We did what we could to make it everywhere- but I think we did a pretty good job! Next time we visit we hope to make it more places when Micah is older and I haven't just had a baby! :)

Our trip did end on a low note. While playing, Lena slid on a toy and fell. Right away I could tell that she truly did hurt something. We waited a couple hours and then decided that we needed to take her to an urgent care to get checked out. We saw a very nice older doctor who did x-rays and even sent them home with us. We drove into the early hours of the morning to get home and then took Lena to our pediatrician on Tuesday. They sent us to do more x-rays, but didn't see anything. After 4 days of not being able to put weight on her leg we were able to see a pediatric orthopedic who confirmed that she has a fracture in her lower leg. So, our poor girl has a very fashionable hot pink cast for three weeks. She hasn't quite figured out how to walk with it on, and is getting very frustrated with us that we can't take it off for her. I am so thankful Erik was still off from work this week! Please pray for complete recovery and also for Lena to not be so frustrated! It is definitely going to make for an interesting 3 weeks- a newborn, a preschooler, and a toddler who isn't able to walk!

Here's a couple pictures I took the other day. I know I am partial, but I think I have the cutest kids!

Welcome Micah!

Well, Micah definitely made his debut yesterday, but he decided to do it in his own fashion!

I woke up Sunday morning at 12:30 am. I went to the bathroom, tried to lay back down, but wasn't feeling good. I was having some pretty intense contractions, but wasn't confident that they were the real thing. At 1:00 I woke Erik up and told him it was "time to go!" We called the Dr., my dad came to stay with the girls and we were at the hospital by 1:30.

I have to admit I was not that "thrilled" with the staff at the hospital when I first arrived. They were definitely "taking their time" until I had to stress to them that my contractions were now 2 minutes apart and I was having some extreme pressure. The nurses started to take me a little more seriously at this point and I was in a birthing room within minutes. While the nurse was "trying" to put an IV in my arm in order for my to get an epidural things were progressing quickly. Once she called for a more experienced WONDERFUL nurse to take care of my IV they checked me only to discover that I was already 9 cm dilated. In other words there would be no form of pain meds for me. I was about to cry!

I had always wanted to have a completely natural childbirth, but never thought that I would be able to do it. I guess I had to be forced into the situation! Let me tell you- God was definitely in complete control! He not only gave me the physical and mental strength to get through it, but my husband was right there with me, I had an amazing nurse encouraging me, and my dr. was there in time! God is good!

At 2:54am Micah was born. Of course of my 3 children he was the biggest, coming in at 9lb 6oz, 22 inches long! It is a good thing that it didn't take any longer, because I don't think my husband could have taken seeing me in that much pain for much longer!

Our precious baby boy is amazing! We are so blessed that he is so healthy, and are thankful to already be home. The girls are absolutely thrilled with their baby brother. Grace has let us know that Micah is her baby, and is so sweet with him. Lena is already bringing him his blankies and kisses on him.

We are looking forward to spending time together adjusting to being a family of 5!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

That's right, tomorrow morning at 7:45 we will be heading to the hospital to have Micah! We are SO excited that we will finally be able to meet our little boy! The last 2 weeks have been extremely hard on me both physically and emotionally, which led to the decision to be induced.

This weekend we enjoyed being a family of 4 for the last time. Yesterday we made a trip to Young's Dairy where we enjoyed amazing ice cream! I have to admit it was different tucking the girls into bed tonight knowing that the next time I get to tuck them in there will be 3 kids to get to bed.

Please pray for a quick and safe delivery! Also please be praying for my girls. I am confident Grace will adjust well, as she understands that tomorrow Micah is finally coming. However I am more concerned with how Lena will adjust. She has such a tender spirit and it is my prayer that Erik and I will be even more conscious of her at this crazy time!

Well, I had better finish getting things settled here and hopefully get a good nights sleep. I will leave you with a cute picture of Lena taken at the park the other day, and a picture of Grace wearing her Minnie Mouse Ears. Be looking for pictures and updates tomorrow!!

We DO still EXIST!

Well as you can probably tell from the absence of all blogging over the last month, things have been crazy around here.
June was a fun but busy month for us. Grace was able to experience VBS for the first time. It was so much fun listening to her sing the songs she learned and tell me everything they did. This was the first time that I had ever dropped Grace of for anything before!
Grace also was able to participate in a preschool day camp for two weeks. She has a blast!
Lena is getting bigger everyday. She has been adding new words constantly, and of course is a very independent little lady!
Erik is still plugging away at his job. He has been so faithful in his work, even though this is a less than desirable time to work for his company.
Two weeks ago we moved to a cute rental home. We have so enjoyed our new place! We are only 5 blocks from my parents, which has already been such a blessing. The girls love the yard to play in. Grace has already made a good friend, who turns out is only one day younger than her!
Yesterday my sweet Grace turned 4! For whatever reason this was a harder birthday to come to terms with! She is growing up so fast and is becoming such a neat little lady. We celebrated the day with yummy Krispy Kreme's in the morning! Then we met my mom, dad, and grandma for a picnic lunch at a local park. Then, last night my fam came over for dinner and Grace opened her presents. My Grandma gave Grace a Disney Princess Bike, which she is absolutely thrilled with!
This weekend we are having a cookout with family and friends to further celebrate. It should be fun! Hopefully we will get our computer figured out so I can post some pictures!
In baby news, I have just over 2 weeks to go! Between the stress of moving, Grace's birthday, and still working, I am utterly exhausted and thoroughly reading to meet my little boy! At my checkup this week my Dr. said any day now. So, we wait, and wait, and wait! Hopefully I will have Micah in my arms soon.
I know there is so much more that has happened over the last month, but alas it is all turning into a burr! Just wanted to update while I had access to a computer, and so you all don't think we have fallen off the face of the earth! :) Hopefully I will have some pictures soon- and I will make sure Micah news will be a top priority to update you on!

Happy June!

Yay! It is finally June and that means I can say we are going to have a baby next month (as long as Micah is not crazy overdue!)!!! It is going to be a very busy month for us so it should make time go by fast!
On the baby front we were able to have a 4D ultrasound done for FREE!!! It was so much fun! Grace especially enjoyed it! She is going to be such a great big sister to this little guy. Lena was also fascinated. Erik and I were thrilled that I won such a neat prize as it would have cost us $170 to do. We were given a DVD of the ultrasound and when we later viewed it, we could definitely tell that micah is going to have the same chin and nose as the girls! SO neat! Here's a picture of our precious little man!

Over Memorial Day weekend we enjoyed a cookout with my family on Saturday and then my parents took us all to see The Night at the Museum 2. Everyone thought it was hilarious- Lena and I saw the first 15 min and then walked around the mall the rest of the time! Oh well- someday I will be able to sit through a movie at the theatre! :)

Erik's mom and dad also came for a visit. We made sure we took a dip in the freezing pool on Memorial Day morning! Though the girls' teeth were chattering they loved being able to get in the pool again!

Since we are not going to be able to take any type of vacation this year (well, we haven't had one since our honeymoom, but who's counting) we decided to have a campout at my parents house on Friday night. We did everything you would do if you went camping! Erik pitched the tent. Set up the kiddie pool and played in the water. We Grilled out dinner. Made smores and hobo pies. And thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family!

It was so much fun! It truly doesn't matter where you go or how much money spend as long as you are having fun together as a family!!

God continues to send little blessings our way! I am able to participate in another diaper survey starting this Friday! Though it is a bit of work I think it is well worth it. I will get three weeks worth of diapers and $55 to Meijer's for participating. The giftcard will definitely come in handy as I am saving all giftcards until after Micah arrives since I will not be working for awhile. YAY for free diapers and groceries!!!

Speaking of free groceries.... Saturday Erik, the kids and I ran into Meijer and Kroger. We bought..... 4 boxes of waffles, 5 boxes of frozen pretzels, 2 jars salsa, 4 cannisters Contry Time lemonade, 10 packs Kool-aid, and 3 gallons of milk....... and we only spent $7!!! All right! I'm so blessed to have a hubby to humor me with this quick money saving trip!

Also, another little blessing- since we are moving in less than 4 weeks (AAAHHH!!! we haven't found a place yet but are getting close!) we are going to be needing boxes to pack things in. Well someone in our complex just moved and put their Professional Moving Boxes out for anyone to take!! So, we have 10 boxes that we didn't have to buy or go look for!!

God truly cares about even the little things! Hope you have a good week, and I will try to keep you better updated on all that is happening here!

A week of ups and downs

Well there have been some fun things going on this week and some not so fun things.
I guess I'll start on an upbeat note! Monday the kids and I went to the kids concert at the mall. Lena is really starting to get into it!
Monday I was also treat to lunch by my friend Tara. I have so enjoyed our friendship! She also blessed me with a very generous gift card to Wal-Mart! I'm definitely going to save this one for when I am taking some time off of work once Micah arrives!
Thursday we took our friends, Amy and Carson to the zoo with us. It was pretty hot but we had a really good time. Let me tell you, pushing a stroller with a toddler and two 3 year olds up hills is a little harder when you are 7 months pregnant! :) We were all exhausted by the time we left. I don't know what I was thinking, but I even worked Thursday night- as you can guess I was worn out by the time I got home from work!
It has been another great deal week for me! I purchased over $100 worth of groceries for only $30! Yay for great deals!
Today should be a fun day! About a month ago I received in the mail a letter congratulating me on winning a 4d ultrasound!! So we are going today, and I am so excited as this is the first 4d ultrasound I have done and we would never have paid the $100 to get one done! Its amazing how God blesses us with extravagances!
Then this afternoon we are having a BBQ at my parents. And tonight my mom and dad are taking us all to see Night at the Museum 2!!! Grace is thrilled! Every time she sees a preview on TV she goes nuts!
OK, so there's my upbeat portion of my post. On Wednesday my Dad went to the oncologist to find the results of his latest PETscan. His PETscan in January was completely clean, but when he went in this time, they found three new spots. They are not completely convinced that they are cancer, but the odds are not in his favor. Also, the spots are outside of his lungs, so they are not able to do a biopsy to determine if they are cancer. SO, we has to wait 3 months and have another PETscan before they decide what kind of treatment to do. All that to say, it is like another blow to the stomach! I know God is in control, but sometime it is so hard to see His direction.
Please Pray! 1. That these spots would somehow not be cancer or "disappear" (aka God's miraculous healing touch) 2. That my Dad would be able to once again take this in stride and stay encouraged 3. For my mom- she is under an incredible amount of stress as the sole provider of income. Not only does she have to worry about the everyday stress of bills, but somehow also worry about my dad 4. My dad is still looking for a job. Pray that God will open doors and provide direction.
In other words, we have been incredibly blessed this week, but at the same time are humbly sitting at the feet of Jesus asking for peace and guidance!

Funny Kids and Great Deals!

I just want to say that my kids absolutely crack me up! So, Erik has to work all day today ( he has to work at the branch til noon and then go to a meeting in Columbus til 5pm, SO frustrating because that means it is yet another day where we won't see each other at all!) and I really don't feel like going anywhere until I have to leave for work. Anyway, I let Grace watch some cartoons this morning, which is a rarity in this house, I rarely ever turn the tv on for the girls and it is definitely never on in the morning. So, Grace is in the living room happily watching cartoons and all of a sudden she starts yelling, "Mom! MOM!!" I go out there to find out what she wants and she says, "Mom, I need Sketchers. They're shoes that are on tv!" What a funny kid!
Yesterday turned out to be a profitable deal finding day. I really should have taken a picture of everything I was able to get, but you will just have to imagine $131.92 worth of groceries only costing me $35.66!!! I was very pleased with that total! It did take a bit of planning, but I think it was well worth it!
Last night Erik and I watched Ben Stein's movie "Expelled." It was a great documentary on intelligent design and how "society" will not accept intelligent design as an explanation, but holds tight to the flawed theory of Darwinism. Definitely a good movie to watch!
Well, I work the next two nights, hopefully they go quickly and I have enough energy to make it through them! :) Let me tell you, this pregnant lady is getting more exhausted every day!
Hope you all have a great weekend!

We're Still Here!

Well so far we have survived the craziness of May. I ended up working a ton of hours up until last weekend. That is one thing that is nice about my job, if we need extra cash I am able to pick up a shift and leave with money in my pocket.

I did take the girls to the zoo last week Tuesday. We actually went because I was able to participate in a diaper study for Pampers and since the facility where I pick up the diapers is just a few minutes from the zoo we made the most of the trip. I am definitely going to miss our zoo pass when it expires at the end of next month. We have more than gotten our money's worth out of it. Oh, and the diaper study is such a blessing! Not only do we get three weeks worth of diapers for free but when I take them back I get $60 to Kroger! God is good!!! It is amazing that He even cares about diapers!

Last Friday we all headed to Kentucky for David's college graduation. We enjoyed the trip down there and made stops at the Gap outlet and to Cumberland Falls. At the falls Grace was thrilled to see a snake on the hiking trail (no worries, it was a tiny snake!)! Friday night David took us to a pizza place that has games for the kids. The kids had a blast! We also enjoyed some swimming at the hotel- Grace may actually learn to swim this year!!

Saturday morning was David's graduation. Afterwards my parents took us all out to the bbq restaurant that David works at. It was SO good- can you tell this pregnant lady was excited about bbq ribs!!!! YuM!

Our trip home turned a little interesting as we were about half way home, and making great time, when the highway was shutdown for over an hour for an accident! It made things interesting, but Grace thought it was neat to get out of the car on the highway :)

Sunday I enjoyed a relaxing and peaceful Mother's Day. After church my hubby took us to Don Pablos for lunch. When we got home from lunch we put the girls down for naps and I even got a nap in!! Later on we went to my parents house to hang out and watch a movie. I absolutely love being a mommy! It amazes me how God has worked in my life and has given me such a passion for my children! All the sacrifices I make are nothing compared to the time that I get to spend with them, molding them into Christ followers!

Monday I was blessed by a Baby Shower given by my friend Karis while she was in town. It was so good to catch up with old friends! Micah is definitely going to be a well dressed little boy! My mom and dad gave us a Michigan Mobile for Micah's crib. Needless to say Erik is thrilled, as he has wanted to buy this mobile with each baby we have!

Today we are laying low until I have to go to work. Hope that catches you up on some of the happenings since I last posted. I'll leave you with a couple pictures from the falls and graduation.

Long Time No Post

Well, since it has been almost two whole weeks since I have posted anything, I had better give you a quick update on the happenings here.
The weekend after Easter I enjoyed another birthday. I spent the morning of my birthday at a kids consignment sale, I found some good things, but it was crazy. I enjoyed the rest of the day with my girls and then later we went to Mongolian BBQ. All in all I had a good birthday without too much fuss, just enjoying my cute family!
Last week Erik took Friday off in order to spend a day with the girls and I. We made a trip to the zoo and had a blast. It is so much fun to spend time as a family. We rarely have whole days together, so this was a special treat.
The girls are doing good. We have already enjoyed the nicer weather with several trips to the park. The girls have also loved being able to play outside at Grammie and Papa's house. Grace even spent the night last week and was already outside at 9 in the morning! Papa put up a tire swing for Grace and she absolutely loves it!
On the baby front- I am glad my due date is now less than 3 months away. I am keeping up with everything pretty well, though I am finding I am getting more and more exhausted. On a brighter note I have done some good shopping at local thrift stores for clothes for all 3 kids! I am loving looking for boy clothes!
Well, I had better get the kids up from their naps and off to Papa's. I have to work tonight and for that matter every night for the next week. So, in other words we won't be doing too much other that resting during the day and then I will be working at night. Here comes a week of pure insanity! :)

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We had a beautiful weekend and an extremely blessed Easter!

Saturday was definitely packed full of fun for the girls. In the morning we went to an egg hunt that my parent's church does every year. It was crazy because there were so many people there, but the girls had fun finding the eggs. We also met up with our friends the Well's while we were there and then took Grace's friend, Carson, with us for the afternoon.

After the first egg hunt we made it over to a second egg hunt at a church near my parent's house. The kids had an absolute blast at this one! They had blow up toys, pony rides, cotton candy, crafts, hot dogs, a petting zoo, and an egg hunt all for free! It was really nice because they had different age groups hunt for eggs at different times. Definitely less chaotic

Here's Grace and Carson at the egg hunt! It was so sweet because Carson would find pink eggs and give them to grace! They are such good friends!Grace and papa at the pony ride! Can you tell Grace adores her papa!?!Lena's 1st pony ride. She was fascinated with the horses and also with the petting zoo they had!

The rest of our Saturday we spent as a family. We enjoyed free lunch at Chick-fil-a (nothing better than a free dinner at a place we love!!!) and then we dyed Easter eggs. Grace really got into it this year!

Here's Grace getting ready to dye her eggs! Here's Lena dying an egg. She did good once she realized that the dye wasn't for eating :)Grace with her finished eggs!Lena and her eggs!

Sunday we had the priviledge of my friend Tara joining us for Easter service. I am so amazed at God's goodness to us! He has blessed me beyond anything I could have ever imagined! I love Easter and it is such a joyous occassion to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord!

After service we went to my parent's for Easter dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful relaxing afternoon with them!

My beautiful girls on Easter!The girls with Uncle David. It was nice he was able to come home for Easter as we haven't seen him since Christmas.

Our family of 4 on easter! I can't wait til there are 5 of us to take a picture of!!We had an egg hunt at my Parent's house. Lena had so much fun looking for the eggs. She is such a sweet little girl!Grace found a "sneaky" egg on my mom's car. She is growing up so fast and it such a joy!And I finally gave in and had a "pregnancy" picture taken. Here I am at 25 weeks. AAHHHH!!!! I can't guarantee that another picture will be taken- this is actually the first time I had a belly shot taken in 3 pregnancies! I hope you all had a joyous Easter as well!