Five years

Hans and I celebrated our fifth anniversary on Thursday. Five years... I'm not quite sure how that happened. Like they say - time flies when you are having fun! I also can't believe that we have been living in Chambersburg for more of our married life than we spent in Lancaster. I guess having two babies has a funny way of changing time. That and being involved in a ton more things. Anyway, I'm so glad we had those two years together in Lancaster to establish ourselves and I'm grateful for the last three years as we've plunged together into parenthood, self-employment, and church leadership.

As a tribute to my wonderful husband of five years here is a list of some of my favorite things.

1. This man is passionate. You can't know Hans and not know this. When he is sold on something, he's in 100%. Sometimes I fight against this, but in my heart I know I wouldn't want it any other way.

2. He is so handy. This guy can fix/build/make/create just about anything. There are so many things that surround me every day that would not be except for him. Poor guy - I don't even hang up a picture without asking for his help. I love having this guy around.

3. He is an incredible daddy. I wouldn't say Hans leaped into parenthood nor that he stumbled into. It's more like he walked in and said, "ok, let's do this." And he has risen to the challenge. I would not want to be in this without him. And there are two little girls in this house that know the love of their father - what a gift!

4. The list could go on and on, but since I'm typing with one hand (the joys of being a momma) I'll just write one more thing. He is a great husband. We don't always see eye to eye, sometimes we drive each other crazy, we are both stubborn and determined, but we make a great team! I know there is very little this man wouldn't do for me and I feel secure with him leading us.

What a guy:)

My girls

Brielle will be three weeks old tomorrow.... funny to think that we are still two weeks away from her due date! She is such a little sweetie. I think she is getting close to six pounds now. She still sleeps a lot, but we are starting to see her eyes more often. Right now she is sleeping on her daddy's chest - love, love, love that!

Natalie is a great big sister! I'm so proud of her. She is a big help to me. She loves checking on Brielle and wants me to pick her up or feed her as soon as she makes a peep. She's been a trooper as we all make this transition.

I love these girls! How blessed we are.... and how much we need sleep :)

Brielle Faith

There were a few other things I thought I would blog about before this, but this baby girl was ready for her turn! Brielle Faith arrived in style on Saturday, August 27th at 8:39 PM, exactly five weeks before her due date.

I had no idea when I woke up on Saturday morning that she would come so soon. I had packed my bag for the hospital the day before though, so maybe I had an inclination. By Saturday afternoon I had some symptoms that led me to suspect that I wouldn't make it to my scheduled c-section on September 22nd. I could tell this baby girl was getting ready. Hans, Natalie, and I headed to a picnic at our church at about 4:30. By the time we got there I realized I was starting to have contractions. They came fast and strong. At 7:00 we made it to the hospital and I was between 7 and 8 cm. dilated already.

After a lot of deliberation I had decided I wanted another c-section and now I found myself totally outside of this plan. The nurse encouraged me to try a vaginal delivery since I was progressing so quickly and the baby was small. I'm glad I did! I'm not sure why Brielle came five weeks early, but I like to think that part of it was God enabling me to have a natural delivery. And natural it was. After pushing for 40 minutes, Brielle came forth. All 5 lbs and 5.5 oz. of her. She's a little doll.

Brielle means of God. There have been so many opportunities for us to see God at work through this baby girl's life already. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for her.

Afternoon Project

I've been wanting to make some headbands for the baby. I decided today was the day, so during Natalie's nap I got busy. I made the headband part out of Natalie's old tights - it was so easy. The big pink flower is thanks to my sister-in-law Lori and the little flowers are thanks to my mom. The best part of these headbands is that all the flowers and bows can be interchanged or used as barrettes. My next goal is to make some more barrettes to interchange. Maybe tomorrow afternoon :)

Firsts

My sister got married a couple of weeks ago. Natalie had her debut as a flower girl. She was a princess! Unfortunately, as I've stated before, she WILL NOT pose for the camera, so it seems pictures are few and far between. She loved it though. She was so enraptured with her beautiful Aunt and was awfully proud of her dress and shoes too!

Another first was a stay in a hotel. Hans and I decided we should get away for a couple of days as a family. We decided to stay in Lancaster and do some of the fun downtown things we miss since moving away. Then I ended up on bedrest! We decided to go anyway and just take it easy. Natalie got to spend Saturday with her cousins in Ephrata and I spent the day watching movies in the hotel. All in all, it was a good weekend. Natalie loved being in the hotel, swimming with Daddy and spending extra time with Mommy and Daddy!

Natalie went out on an errand run with her Daddy Monday afternoon. They made it back after about 3 hours and Natalie had a huge grin on her face as she carried in her new pet - a goldfish. She was so proud! She and her Daddy make quite a pair especially when it comes to running errands!

Natalie also had her first hair cut. I don't consider myself a super sentimental person, but there is something about motherhood that makes it impossible not to be from time to time. As I trimmed the tiniest bit off the ends of those curls and had to work hard not to shed a tear or two. Hans thought I was being silly, but that was a big milestone in this no longer baby girl's life!

Mandatory Break

Breaks never seem quite as good when you are forced to take them. Why is that? I guess it's human nature. Things always look better when they are out of reach. I guess that's a childish behavior that is somewhat hard to grow out of.

My day did not turn out the way I expected yesterday. Fighting expectations is hard too. Hans and I went in for an ultrasound appointment yesterday at 8:00 AM to check on baby girl's growth and ended up making our way home from the hospital at 7:00 PM. The ultrasound showed that my cervix was shorter than it should be at this stage. That led to a doctors visit where I was hooked up to a fetal monitor which revealed I was having small contractions. That led to a trip to the hospital where I was again hooked to the fetal monitor, given an IV and medication to stop the contractions. Not what I had planned.

The thing about fighting expectations is you have to learn to see the good in things. The good is that baby girl is happy and healthy. She is not small at all. In fact it looks like I may be a week ahead of where I thought I was. And let me tell you she is an active little thing.

Now, all this brings me back to breaks. Because I'm on one. A mandatory one called modified bed rest. With a two year old. Thank God for my wonderful husband and family. I'm in great hands if I can lay down my expectations. The expectation that my kitchen floor needs cleaned, and that I still have towels in the dryer to fold, and I wanted to get toilet bowl cleaner yesterday so I could scrub the downstairs toilet, and what kind of parent am I as I sit on a chair and watch my mother take care of my daughter, and what kind of wife am I when my husband comes home from working for us all day and I haven't made him dinner. Oh expectations!

Hopefully when I go to the doctor on Tuesday, things will be looking better and I will be able to return to normal for the next two months until it's time for this sweet girl to come. And hopefully I will have conquered some of my expectations and learned to enjoy a mandatory break and all the good that's surrounding me.

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

I love birthdays. There's nothing like having a day all about you. I think everyone deserves that once a year. So, I plan to make them kind of a big deal for my kids. Not lavish, just special.

This birthday was a fun one with Natalie. Her first birthday was exciting for me, but she didn't know it was exciting for her. This year she knew what it was to have a party, and presents, and balloons, and cake, and friends and she was ready! So fun.

I wanted to do something special on the day of her birthday too. We decided to head to Windy Knoll for ice cream cones. Well, we got there too late. After I got over my disappointment and regained some perspective (I'm once again going to blame my lack of composure on being pregnant; that excuse is going to run out before too long!) we headed to Arby's for some milkshakes and had a grand time.

Happy birthday, sweet girl. I love you!