Well, Rachel is taking after her brothers and is waiting to come.  As of Tuesday I was already dialated to 5cm (half way there!) but not in active labor.  So, we ended up setting up an induction date for Friday (7/18) at 7:30am.  I know I'll be just shy of 41 weeks, but I am having a hard time dealing with the heat, pain in my lower back, and lack of sleep.  At least I know that the end is in sight!  Most likely I'll go into labor tonight or tomorrow morning on my own, but knowing that it'll be done tomorrow just makes me feel better.

 

So, pray for us as we get ready for Rachel to arrive.  It'll be very soon.  We'll post pictures when we have them.

 

Joyce

Yup, my due date has come and gone and I'm still pregnant.  Not that this should surprise me, but with everything that has gone on in the last couple of weeks I thought I'd have my baby by now.  Oh well.  We will wait until she's good and ready to be here even though I'm tired of being pregnant. 

 

I'd have to say the hardest part of being this pregnant is having everyone ask me "when's the baby coming."  If I knew, then I would tell you and I'd be happy too, but guess what everyone, I don't know, and I'm just going to have to be patient and wait - just like everyone else!  Sorry if I sound grumpy, but that's how it is when a gal goes past her ESTIMATED due date.

 

I'll post more when we know what's going on.  I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and my parents will be arriving in Tucson tonight (driving from WI).

 

 

Joyce was having contraction at about 6 minutes apart when we went to the hospital last night - as soon as they strapped her to a bed to monitor her in Triage, her contractions became irregular and stopped all together.  So they sent her home - after being there for about 5 hours.   Ah well - we'll just keep waiting.

We are very likely going to end up at the hospital today - on Independance Day - horray!  We will keep you posted as we can - and who knows - maybe you will see baby pictures here very soon.  :)

The other night we installed Rachel's carseat into our Jeep.  When we went out with the boys today, Elijah got all excited about Rachel's carseat being in the Jeep.  He told us all about it and then said matter of factly, "We're going to the store to get Baby Rachel now."  Chris and I chuckled and told him that Baby Rachel was still in mommy's tummy and wasn't ready to come out just yet.

 

 

If things continue the way they are, Rachel will probably be here this weekend.  Though I'm not counting on it... The doctors would be surprised if I go much longer without going into active labor.  So, soon Elijah will get to see Rachel in her carseat instead of thinking that we have to get her from the store. :)

I know I haven't posted much about this pregnancy, but there's been so much going on that I sometimes forget that not everyone knows what's going on with me and Rachel.

 

Right now, I'm 37 1/2 weeks along and already starting pre-labor.  Rachel has dropped significantly (causing all kinds of problems with walking!) and I'm already dilating.  I have very irregular contractions and have really started the "nesting" phase.  I'm going nuts with how disorgagnized I am this time around.  Though the good news is that the clothes are sorted, the carseat arrived yesterday, and my "basics" are ready to go.  Now I just need to get my room orgagnized/re-arranged, bags packed, and clean and set up the co-sleeper.  Those are the hard things!

 

Over all the boys are doing well.  Growing big learning new things.  Isaiah is talking like crazy.  He's puting setences together.  Elijah went through a rough spot, but is now back on track.

 

Chris is still enjoying his job and all that he's learning through it.  He's still volunteering at the church.  Recently he preached again while our pastor was away.  I'm always amazed how God uses chris through those situations!  Chris is also leading a study group on Sunday nights.  He's leading discussion through the book The Celebration of Discipline by Robert Foster.  It's a good book and a great group to be a part of.

 

We'll keep everyone posted about the arrival of Rachel.

 

I promise also that I'll get a bunch of pictures up soon.  They're on my desktop now, so it's just a matter of getting them posted!

 

It's hard to believe that Elijah has been in school for 3 weeks!  This week will be his last week at school, then we're off for the summer.  It's been interesting watching Elijah grow as he's going to school.  He's willing to ride the bus (though he gets scared when he's waiting for it).  He brings home some really cute projects and has been learning a lot about things that grow.  We've noticed that he is improving with some of his social skills since he's been going.

 

I need to go find the pictures from Pam's camera of Elijah's first day.  He looked so cute getting his Cars backpack on and saying goodbye to everyone.

Win a Free Ergo Baby Carrier from Along for the Ride

 

Go ahead and enter, you might just get an awesome baby carrier!

Well, Elijah's screening results are in and he will be starting school next week!  The teachers noted that he does have some delays in his social-personal skills and non-verbal communications (making eye contact, touching others to get their attention).  He will be going 3 days a week for 2 hours each day.  His IEP (individualized educational plan) is in place, he's got a spot in the class, and all we've got to do is get his paperwork in.

 

It's a relief for us to know that other's are seeing what we've seen in him.  The teachers have told us he is at or above average with his motor skills and cognative skills, but needs that extra help to interact with other children and adults.  Now we have a better understanding with what is going on with him and how we can better help him interact with others, though it's gonna take some time and work!

 

Continue to pray for us as we continue figuring out what is going on with Elijah and how we can best help him.

There are a few faithful out there in the land who come to visit our blog, not because we have anything terribly exciting to say, but because our kids are cute and we post lots of fun pictures of them.  Ok, so you read the little tidbits too :)  But I do know that there are a great many of you who would like to know what the next stage in our lives is going to entail.  No, I don't have all the answers or know what's going on just yet, but I can give you a few details, and hope that you will join us as we pray for discernment and wisdom for the road ahead. 

 

Most of you know that I am currently working for a software/web development company doing software/web development.  Ok, so they hired me to do design work, and let me tell you, I do a whole lot more than just design.  I'm doing things that I never imagined doing before, partially because I walked away from that path in 1995, failing out of College and not purusing my degree in Management Information Sytems.  Right now, I love my job.  It is challenging me and causing me to learn things in so many different ways, its absolutley fantastic.  I've also been volunteering at the church as I can, and leading a Sunday School class, which has been a lot of fun as I continue to grow and learn along side those who I am teaching.  I love it.  On top of that, I have been priviledged to information about other things that are coming up, new opportunties that I would really enjoy doing, being able to do more ministry.  I had the opportunity to preach in Janurary, and was also allowed to give a devotional for our Easter Sunrise service.  I have enjoyed being able to serve and to minister to people here - making the most of the time I have here, while continuing to look at various ministry opportunities.

 

A few weeks back I wrote to our district superintendant regarding my resume, giving him an update on our lives, and probing his mind for ministry opportunities.  I knew of some churches in our district that were looking, and I wanted to get a feel for what was going on.  It turned out that there were 2 larger churches in California who were looking at pastors, one of which was one that Dr Babby had wanted to put our name in last year.  Through prayer and discernment Joyce and I felt that God did not want us to go forward with that process, and so we thanked him politely and told him that we did not want to be considered for that position.  (here's a guy right out of college, being offered a great opportunity for a first church, and we turned it down).  Well, that church found a pastor, who wasn't there a week when it was discovered that he had an online relationship with another woman (other than his wife) - suddenly the church went from being a great healthy church, to a church dealing with a moral failure.  Let me tell you, we wondered if we had discerned God's will correctly, and whether or not this was some sort of "consequence" for our disobedience.  Well, it turns out that after all that had happend, a major internal problem was discovered at that church, and we were told that "it was probably a good thing we didn't go there because of that problem."  My heart aches for that church and for the struggles they are undergoing, but I was greatly encouraged in knowing that our "Spiritual Baramoter" was working, and God had definitely not wanted us to go to that church.  So what other opportunties were available?

 

One of the other ministry positions was as a youth pastor for a church, and after talking with the pastor of that church, they felt that they really needed someone who had a passion and desire for youth, something that I am willing to do for a while, but it doesn't drive me, it isn't my primary calling.  The other opportunity is as a solo pastor of a small church in a small town in a small state.  Ok, so the state is rather large, but the town is small: Chester, CA.  After praying about it and talking with Joyce, we decided to take a leap of faith and jump in, pursuing being a candidate for this postion.  So I sent a note to Dr. Babby requesting that he forward my resume to Chester Wesleyan Church.  A week later I get an e-mail from the head of their search committee, they are excited and would love to learn more about me and my family.  The courting has begun.  They are going to send me a packet of information this week, and I'm going to send them some video samples of my preaching, and depending on how things go, we may end up visiting Chester, CA in the near future.  Chester is a lumber town in the high Sierra-Nevada Mountains, and is also a resort, vacation hotspot in the summer.  Can you say Skiing, Snowboarding, Boating, Fishing, Hiking, Biking, Golfing, etc - yeah - it's a vacation hotspot alright.  They gt a little bit of snow (on average around 125" a year according to my research - that's about 12' 5" a year - remember, skiing, snowboarding).  Oh - did I mention snowmobiling?  They do that too.  It really is an interesting town, and quite an interesting opportunity. 

 

So - there you have it - more information than you wanted (I'm good at that), and an update on where things are for us.  Please pray for us as we seek God's will in all this.  We are excited and nervous about it all.  It's a big step for us and we are jumping in right now, not sure where we will land, but trusting that God will direct our paths.

Well, we're still alive and having fun out here. Both boys have had haircuts to help them stay cool in the heat.  Last week we were in the mid to upper 80's which is actually 10 degrees warmer than normal for here at this time of year.

 

We took the boys out mini golfing for the first time and they had a blast!  They thought it was fun to chase the balls around with their clubs (though Isaiah wouldn't use the club, he just pushed the ball around with his hands).  We had a blast too playing and watching the boys.

 

Elijah went through his first screening last week to see if he will qualify for a special needs preschool through our school district.  He goes 2 more times.  One for the 2nd half of the screening and the other for our meeting with their reccomendations.  Our Pediatritian is getting us refferals to see a Pediatric Ears Nose Throat Doctor and a Developmental and Behavioral Pediatritain as well so we can see what is going on with Elijah.  We don't think it's his ears, but the school was unable to get him to leave the headphones on so they asked for us to have him tested by a specialist. 

Sorry folks that I've been so far behind on our blog.  It's been hard to get to the computer regulary due to how our house is laid out and that I'm away from the boys when I need to check something.  Those couple of minutes I do break away is usually when one of the boys decideds that he wants to be naughty!  So I'm going to try and catch you up on everyone...

 

Chris -

Chris was hired, in early January, to be a web designer by his old boss from here in Tucson.  Chris worked for Jason at another company doing the same thing many years ago.  Chris enjoys working for Jason at Vision 7 Software but absolutely hates the commute (45-60 minutes on a bad day!).  Chris has been volunteering at our church as a lay minister and has had the privalige to preach once in January and will also be preaching for our sunrise service on Easter!  Chris is also leading an adult sunday school class.  He also has redesigned and improved our church website (www.foothillscc.com).  He is serving on the "Maximum Impact Advance" (John Maxwell video conference) commitee to reach out to our local buisness men and women.  We are waiting patiently for Ministry positions to open and apply to them.  We are praying about what our next step will be.

 

Joyce -

I have been very busy with the boys and being pregnant.  It's been a rougher pregnancy than the boys, but still worth it!  Our baby girl is growing bigger each day.  I'm over half way there! Most days consist of playing with boys.  We have really enjoyed being able to go outside regularly to play. Besides taking care of the boys and the house, I am involved in a women's bible study, MOPS, worship team, and in the choir.

 

Elijah -

Elijah is growing up fast!  Since we've gotten down here he's really enjoyed reading and letters.  He can point out every letter and numbers up to 14!  He even tries to sound out words and read!  We've realized that he has a near photographic memory which is good and bad at the same time!  He can remember stories after 2-3 readings.  He can tell you what comes next in a new video after seeing it once or twice!  It's amazing what he remembers and learns!  Elijah has really enjoyed being in the AWANA program at our church.  He's in the Puggles class (2-3 year olds that didn't make the Cubbies cutoff).  He can tell you what he learned each night and repeat the concepts that he is to be learning.  He's almost got the Pledge of Alegience down and the AWANA pledge as well.  One thing that we ask you to pray about is that we are having Elijah tested for Autisum.  He's got enough quarks that are part of the Autistic spectrum that we want to know for certian if he is or isn't.  If he is, he is in the catagory of mild autisum.  His first screening will be Friday, March 28th.  Chris and I both feel that this testing is necessary so we can better help Elijah with his personality and help others to understand him.

 

Isaiah -

Isaiah is getting big, litteraly!  Isaiah is already wearing 24mo/2T clothes!  He's been learning so much since we've moved here.  We figure he has a 75-100 word vocabulary already and understands WAY more!  Isaiah loves following Elijah around and doing anything that Elijah does.  This can cause some fights between the boys.  Isaiah is mimicing what Elijah does, so when Elijah is learning letter sounds Isaiah repeats what Elijah says!  Isaiah loves sitting and "reading" books.  He has more patience than Elijah did at this age for looking through books and letting us read them.  Isaiah can also recognize colors and shapes.  He loves to climb and run through the house!  Lately, Isaiah has decided that he wants to feed himself at meal times.  While it can be a great big mess, he is a lot more satisfied with himself at the end of a meal.  Another big boy thing is that he has weaned in the last week or so.  While I'm sad that this stage of his life is over, I'm so glad that he is done because now I'm getting more sleep and have a "bit" more energy!

 

Baby Girl -

As I said before she's growing well.  She keeps moving and kicking and reminding me that she's there.  We're trying hard to think of a name for her and hope to have one picked out by Mother's Day.  We're slowly building up a wardrobe for her and getting items together that we didn't have when we moved.  We're looking forward to the day we get to meet her!

 

Well, I hope that catches everyone up for now.  I hope to blog more regularly from here out.

 

Joyce

It's been quite interesting trying to figure out names for our baby girl.  We're still working on what we'd like to call her.  We've had this delima since we were pregnant with Elijah, what girl names do we like.  It's been so much easier for us to name the boys than our girl.  We're going with a Biblical name, that's as far as we've got really.  Any suggestions?

Well, in true Elijah fasion this yucky stomach virus got worse!  Elijah got so dehydrated on Tuesday, we ended up taking him to the Emergency Room and getting him re-hydrated.  The wait at the emergency room wasn't too bad (about 1 1/2 hours), but the entire process of getting his blood drawn and IV started was AWEFUL!  Then after being in the ER for a couple of hours we were transported to another hospital because Elijah had to stay overnight and the hospital we were at does not have a pedatrics ward!  Joyce stayed with Elijah until Thursday Morning (Happy Valentine's Day)!  Both came home tired.  Unfortunately for Joyce she couldn't take a nap because she had her Doctor's appointment and Ultrasound scheduled for that afternoon! 

 

Oh, yeah, the baby wasn't shy, but you'll have to wait for the ultrasound pictures to be posted to find out what we're having!  And if you know what Elijah's prediction about what the baby is, he's correct! 

It's been a couple of rough days around here.  Isaiah started throwing up on Friday and went to the doctor's office to see what was going on.  He has been up and down with this nasty stomach virus.  He didn't get sick at all on Sunday but Elijah started to show the same signs Sunday night that Isaiah had had.  We set everything up just in case he started to throw up. At 1:30 am he came into our room saying "I'm not sick anymore".  It took me a moment to figure out that he had thrown up.  We were up several times with Elijah as he was throwing up.  Then around 5:30 am Isaiah threw up again!  Needless to say, Chris stayed home this morning to help me out with the boys.  Thankfully, they've just wanted to snuggle for the most part.  Chris had to go in this afternoon for a meeting at work, so pray for us that the boys will get better QUICKLY!

 

Wow, it's hard to believe that Elijah is THREE YEARS OLD!  He's been doing so well and he's getting so big!  He's brilliant and loves learning new things!  Right now Elijah is really into Trains.  He'll line up his toys and push them around the house going "choo-choo".  He also loves to read and be read to.  He's already recognizing words and is starting to figure out how to spell!  We're working on writing his name, though that's going to take some time because he gets impatient and frustrated when he can't get it.

 

I'll try to post some pictures later, but seeing as we aren't doing the full celebration until Saturday it may be a couple of days.

 

We've made it here to Arizona.  It has been a long trip since we left on November 30th.  We arrived in Tucson on December 5th and have a story to tell.

 

On Thursday(11/29) we made our big push to load the trailer.  Several friends came over and helped us pack and load the trailer.  It was a long, cold night!  We we're working on packing the trailer until 2:30am and it was 28 degrees outside!  But we got the trailer mostly packed.  Friday morning we took the boys over to the Fisher's house so they could play with Emily one last time.  I watched the kids while Beth helped Chris with the last of the trailer packing.  Later Beth watched the boys and I helped Chris with packing the Jeep.  Then came our first set back of the trip.  We went to put the trailer on and found out that we needed a weight-distribution hitch!  There was NO way we were going to be able to pull the trailer without it!  Thankfully our dear friends the Mowat's had one they were trying to sell, but they were in Michigan.  We called them and they told us to call a memeber of the church to help us get it and get it hooked up.  Ron was awesome.  Not only did he know alot about trailers and hitches, but he knew how to adjust it so it would work and he had all the tools needed to get it to work!  He was such a blessing to us!  We eneded up leaving a lot later than we planned but we still left on our target day!  Our first day we traveled from Marion, IN, to Effingham, IL.  Oh yeah, we also wished Isaiah a happy birthday.

 

Day Two - Saturday, December 1

 

This day we were hoping to get to the other side of Oklahoma City.  We were doing pretty well with traveling, but really couldn't go faster than 55mph.  Missouri is an awefully hilly state!  Around 2pm we had just gotten to the other side of Pacific, MO, when we blew a tire on the trailer!  Talk about scary!  Thankfully no one was around us, we had the weight distribution hitch which stablized the trailer, and we were able to pull off at the bottom of an enterance ramp to the higway.  We called the state police and they helped us move the trailer to a safer place and told us where we could go to contact someone to help with the trailer.  We ended up waiting at a little gas station in Pacific and the gals there were really nice to us.  We found a service station that was willing to come out on a Saturday afternoon to replace the tire and the rim  so we could get on our way.  About 7pm we were back on the road.  We made it to Lebanon, MO that night.

 

Day Three - Sunday, December 2

 

We really tried to make up for the lost time on Saturday.  As we were traveling we noticed that the trailer was being really unpredictable and everytime we hit a bump, we'd hear something rubbing on the trailer.  When we got to the other side of Oklahoma City we stopped for dinner and checked what was going on with the trailer.  We had less than a finger's width between the new tire and the fender (which had screws protruding out of it for the lights), needless to say we had to get that taken care of before we went too much further.  Chris talked to a police officer that was at the place we stopped at and found out that next city had a service station that we could call in the morning.  We made it to Hinton, OK, that night.

 

Day Four - Monday, December 3

 

Chris did some phone calling in the morning and found a place in Weatherford, OK - just 20 miles up the road that could work on the trailer.  We carefully travled the 20 miles and made it to the shop.  We pulled in and they took a quick look and found out that our leaf springs on the one side were bent backwards.  We had also lost the U-bolts that hold the springs in place, which meant that the springs had nothing to support it either.  So they put new (heavier) spring on both sides (We told them to balance them out so they would be the same) - and when they took off the tire on the other side they found out that the chords in it were busted, and we could have blown it at any time!  So while they worked on the trailer we took the day off from traveling and became tourists.  There was an Air and Space Museum in Weatherford that we went to, Elijah loved looking at the airplanes and rocket ships, which was kind of a neat stop.  Then we went to see the wind turbines they have out in the country.  After lunch we checked into our hotel and let the kids run around for a while - it was a much needed break in the action.  For dinner we went to a restaurant next to our hotel called "Lucille's Roadhouse" - man what a treat that was.  Some great food, and a wonderful collection of car and route 66 paraphenelia made for a fantastic dinner - I highly recommend it.  :)  They called to tell me the trailer was fixed, and we slept knowing we were going to be on our way again soon.

 

Day Five - Tuesday, December 4

 

After picking up the trailer in the morning, we set out on our journey again, leaving Weatherford around 9:30.  The trailer was pulling much better with the new tires and springs on it, and we were able to make it to Truth or Consequences, NM that night.  Ok, so we weren't planning on that big of a day - we were going to stop off in a town called Soccoro, NM - but when we got there we found out that they did not have any room in the inn, so we had to push on ahead.  We called my parents and had them reserve a room for us in Truth or Consequences, and fortunately for us we did, they called the only hotel that had a room and it was the last room they had.  We didn't get in till 1:30 in the morning, and we were beat. 

 

Day Six - Wednesday, December 5

 

We got a good start in the morning, and actually did fairly well for this last stretch of our journey.  This was probably the longest stretch, because the kids had decided that they had finally had enough travelling in the car and became very whiny.  But we pushed forward and got to Tucson in one piece.  My brother met us on the way up and we unloaded some of the more crucial living things from the trailer (such as the kid's beds), before crashing for the night.  We spent some time with family and breathed a sigh of relief that we had finally made it to our destination.

 

Saturday - December 8

 

My parents didn't have a lot of room for us to unload our trailer, so we kept a bunch of stuff on it until we could make room for it in the house.  Saturday morning I looked out the window and asked my dad "where's the trailer?"  Someone had stolen our trailer with most of our stuff in it.  We filed a police report, and then tried to remember what was still on the trailer, through tears and emotions we realized what was missing and made a list.  That night the police called and told us they had found the trailer, and that the tongue was buried in the mud out in the middle of the desert.  So my dad and I went to the spot and had to dig out the tongue and work it up with jacks so that we could get it on the hitch.  What a crazy day.  We finally got it to a car wash and were able to clean it up some, but the theives had busted the door in order to get inside, and the took a lot of our stuff.  Needless to say, we are still in some degree of shock as we try to figure out how to pull our lives together.  We are thankful that it wasn't worse than it is, and that we are all still safe and sound. 

 

It's been a crazy week here.  Packing, sorting, throwing things away, donating things, selling things, just giving stuff away.... It's been rough.  Elijah's excited about everything and Isaiah doesn't know what is going on and why everything keeps dissapearing!  We're making our big push to load the trailer tomorrow, but I feel like we still have 50% of our stuff still to pack!  Pray for us to be able to get everything done and still love each other...   Also pray that we can get it all loaded tomorrow and be ready to go.  If we get done early enough we're gonna go 2 hours into our trip and stay at a hotel, if not we'll be pulling out Friday morning.

 

We'll keep you posted as best as we can!

 

 

Well, now I can let you all know what's been going on around here.  At the end of October, Chris was laid off from work.  We've spent several weeks working on deciding where we were going to move to seeing as we didn't have anything holding us to Marion (other than friends).  We really felt that we needed to move closer to family.  We kept going back and forth between where do we go, Wisconsin or Arizona.  On November 30th or December 1st we'll be pulling out from Marion and heading our way back to Tucson Arizona where we will continue to persue God's will for us and wait patiently for a church to open.

 

Our biggest issue is that we are now trying to sell a lot of our stuff because we are hoping to pull our stuff in a trailer behind the Jeep!  It's been a very fast moving decision and we are hoping that everything will go smoothly.

 

Pray for us as we visit with my family this week (Thanksgiving week) and then return home to pack up all our stuff and move in with Chris' family!

 

We'll let you know more as it happens.

Well, our family is healthy again.  YEAH!

 

Today I my fabric order came so I can make All-in-one cloth diapers!  I'm quiet excited about that!  Chris said he'd be willing to switch to cloth if he didn't really have to touch the wet diaper.  So, I researched and thought about it and found a pattern or 2 to make my own AIO's, which turns out to be WAY cheaper than buying premade ones, and will be starting to make the diapers!

 

Also, I'm not gonna post details, but our family is in need of your guys prayers.  We've got a big decision ahead of us and we're really in need of direction.  I don't know if we'll post all the details or what, but just knowing you guys are praying for us will really help!  Thanks!