New Beginning

Well, this is a new beginning. My yahoo 360 account was about to expire due to changes that yahoo initiated. So, I'm starting afresh with another server. Since almost all of my blogging friends use blogspot, I thought I would give it a shot. I've left a few old posts on this blog as a "reader review". Will I actually blog more often now.... time will tell. =)

Hannah's Mid term Report

Hannah 2008-2009


Mathematics
Counts from 1-12
Began subtraction and addition
Language
Developing broad vocabulary (1st grade level)?
Very analytical, asks “why?” a lot
Writing
Writes her name and a few other letters (O, P, T, I)
Concepts
Understands that some activities are for children and some for adults
Ready to make new year resolutions (give up blanket, no help wiping)
Understands how she is related to people
Understands that the baby will soon "pop" out
Science
Likes birds and others creatures
Very keen observer
Theology
Asks how she can know and love God
Claims conversion to Jesus Christ as savior
Recalls numerous Bible stories
History
Knows about the grand old Duke of York
Knows that George Washington was the first president
Politics
Can recognize Ron Paul
Mid-term grade = Z+
(Z+ is the highest available grade at the Gilbert private academy, while A+ is the lowest)

Celebrating 5 years...
Yesterday, January 31, 2009, Nathaniel and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. Time is a strange concept. Usually, if we are looking ahead 5 years (or however long), it feels a long way off. Yet on the flip side, if we are looking back 5 years, it seems to have gone by quickly.
When I think back over the last five years, so much has happened, but it feels like it's gone by fast. We've lived on two continents, moved three times, experienced 6 jobs (between the two of us), and been blessed with 4 beautiful gifts from God (called children). No wonder there have been moments of insanity and stress!
Seriously though, God has been so faithful, and I believe that I've grown more in my walk with Christ in the past five years than in all my Christian life. Marriage has been A LOT MORE than I expected! It seems like I am just beginning to grasp what it means to be a godly wife and mother, and I feel even farther from my goal of being like Christ in every circumstance. That reality has made me sense my need to cling more tightly to my Saviour for HIS enabling and sufficiency.
On my own, I cannot be the help meet that God intends for me to be for Nate. I am thankful for a patient husband who models a patient Heavenly Father as he gives me space and time to grow. Our prayer as a couple is that our marriage would more accurately display Christ's covenant relationship with His bride, the church in the coming year than ever before. May Jesus Christ be praised!

Introducing...

We are now welcoming Justus Gary, the sixth member of our family! He was born on February 27th at 8:30 AM. (8lbs 14oz., 20 1/2 inches) More pictures are coming....

Blowing out the candles....

February is a busy birthday month for our family! The fun starts out right away with cards arriving for Jael, whose birthday is the 7th. This year she turned 3! Everything keeps right on rolling as Hannah's special day is on the 16th. They are able to be the same age each year for the nine days in between. It's hard to believe that we have a big 4 year old in the house now. Of course, some days I really cannot remember life with Nate before children.
Some birthday funnies ~ When Jael is asked how old she is, she holds up three fingers (smart girl), but not the traditional ones. I guess holding her pinky down was too tiresome, so she ingeniously switched to holding down her ring finger with her thumb... quite cute!
On Hannah's birthday, she was very excited about opening presents. I explained to her that we would do that after supper (since it was a work day for daddy and we wanted him to see too). Later, she enthusiastically exclaimed, "When I open my presents, I get to wear my birthday suit! Nobody else can... only me!" It turned out that she wanted to wear one of her "ballerina" dress up outfits (much to our relief!).
And it looks like we will have one more birthday to celebrate in February... so stay tuned...

Adjusting to Justus

Justus is now one week old! We are adjusting well to our new addition. He has been a sweet, content little boy so far. Of course, we said that about Enoch when he was born, and now he is turning into a little wild man. Not really... it's just that he has a lot of energy and can run all over the place now. A little autonomy goes right to the head!
All of the kids love having a baby brother. Enoch charges over to see Justus anytime I'm holding him repeating, "baby, baby, baby". When Justus is sleeping, Enoch asks, "baby?". His vocabulary is definitely expanding rapidly. He has added quite a few words to his everyday usage and tries to repeat a lot of what he hears. Some of his latest words are: hungry, nap, spoon, plate, shoe...
More on the oldest two next time... mommy is going to try and catch some zzz's while everyone is taking an afternoon siesta. I am thankful for a husband who takes the children outside all morning to burn some energy so that we can rest in the afternoon!