The Intentional Life

She is our sweet little 2 year old. She cracks us up with the way she runs around with her piggy tails bouncing. She loves the colors purple and yellow. Loves to dress up in her shoes, hat, and sunglasses and just walk around the house. She's cuddly and loves to sit on our laps and look at books. Hannah came into our lives and taught us patience with her acid reflux in the first 6 months that kept her crying day and night (and us awake). She now lives life with abandon, running from one activity to the next. Her best bud is Owen and often will follow behind him, doing whatever he is doing. She's picking up more and more words each day and will often respond to you with a "K" or "uh, huh." We love you, sweet Heena, and we're so glad God put you in our lives! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Owen spent about 20 minutes running around the backyard picking these (I think I saw Hannah helping, too). He came running up to the house, "Mom, I picked all these for you! Put them in water, please!" I figured this was a perfect picture of what a mother's flower bouquet would be. Never have dandelions looked so pretty.

Well, life is more full with another little one added to the bunch. Thankfully Maddie is starting to sleep through the night which means a happier and more rested Momma! It's amazing how much better i can function on a full night's sleep. We are loving the spring weather as the kids are getting outside more and enjoying the sandbox and swing set . I am getting back into running and it feels so good! I signed up for a race in October to keep me motivated to continue to run. We are continuing to enjoy our work at Gateway and are enjoying our position as alternates for Jarod and Molly Steffen. A great pick-me-up was that a resident gave their life to Christ this past week while we were on duty. It's moments like those that remind us why we are here and Who we are working for. Picture explanations: The first 2 I had to take of Maddie with this new headband given to me as a gift. Poor Hannah followed a brother so i didn't do a good job of gussying her up to look ...

Maddie had her 2 month check up today and weighed in at 11 lb 6 oz and 22 inches long. She's in the 75% for weight and 50th for height. Just about where the other two were in their growth at that age. Maddie is going about every 4 hours during the day between feedings and will go from 8 PM to 3:30AM, which gives me a bit of a break. She sometimes has trouble falling asleep at night and still wants to snooze all day but we're working on it. The other two continue to do well. Hannah is quite the little stinker, always pushing limits. She is picking up more and more words each day and it's fun to see her little personality bloom. Owen loves being the big brother (and sometimes the little parent...) We are thrilled that the weather is getting nice and Owen and Hannah can go outside and burn off some energy. Our work at Gateway is going great as well. We really enjoy the work we are doing with the teenagers and I thank God daily for leading us to this work. Above are...

In the past 8 months, there have been six girls born to Gateway Woods houseparents. Each of the 5 houses has a baby in it; one house with two. One of the moms had the idea to get them together and take a picture. Here are a couple from the shoot. Maddie was last in line to be born of the group. It's been fun seeing each new life and seeing as they grow. The other newest addition is Josie Hodel, born 2 weeks before Maddie. In the group picture the girls are: (back) Kylie Drayer, Olivia Beer, Layla Mueller, Tallie Eisenmann (front) Josie Hodel, and Maddie. Sorry the pictures are coming in so small. Hopefully you can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

It's been a month and i figured i better put something up on here! Maddie's first month went as expected for a newborn. Eating, sleeping, pooping, repeat. She goes about 3 hours between feedings, day and night. So still not much sleep going on here for mommy and daddy. But she continues to grow and be healthy so we praise God for that! The other two squirts do real well with her: Hannah gives kisses and Owen makes sure she is covered up and not cold. We did our first time on duty this past weekend and found it to be a bit more chaotic with a third child added to the mix. But the residents enjoy having a newborn in the house and a few take turns holding Maddie. Our scale is broken so i can't give a weight for her 1 month. At two weeks she was 7 lb 7 oz so i am guessing she is somewhere around 9 lbs or so. Hopefully i can blog more than once a month, but i'm not making any promises!

The newest addition to our family came into this world on February 1st. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 19 inches long. She surprised us all with having black hair - Owen and Hannah were born with next to nothing for hair and even then it was real light. She impressed the doctors at the hospital by gaining back her birth weight and passing it by an ounce (a rarity, I guess). Our first day at home (today) went well. She was awake for most of the morning and through lunch and then took a nap in the afternoon. She nurses well and doesn't get upset by all the noise Owen and Hannah make. Hannah loves to come over and pat her on the head and Owen will talk to her and hold her hand. I am working on wrapping my mind around the fact that I am a mother of 3 - it makes me feel old! :) I'm healing well from my C-Section, the hardest part is forcing myself to stay put and letting Paul do things for me. He's a great nurse, cook, father, husband.... : )