Feb. 25th - Pink or Blue?

I had a good check-up with the OB today. Baby's heartbeat is nice and strong. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25th. We should find out if we'll be welcoming Silas or Lanie! Coincidentally, Feb. 25th is also the day, back in 2002, that I found out I was pregnant with Jonah. It's a special day, for sure! Check back for the update in 4 weeks!

Names!

I'm excited to share that we finally have a boy name AND a girl name that we agree upon! It took a little while, but I am really pleased with what we've come up with - and I really believe Chad is, too.

With both our boys, we knew we wanted biblical names - but not the typical, common ones that get used so often. I think we did pretty well with both Jonah and Isaac. Isaac is actually a little more popular than Jonah, but I loved the whole story of Abraham and Sarah and the meaning of Isaac being "laughter." This time around we were hitting a brick wall. Chad actually tried to convince me of the name Ezra, but I'm sorry, I wouldn't budge. I just couldn't imagine looking into my sweet baby's face and calling him Ezra! The other night I decided to go online and research biblical boy names and their meanings. Lo and behold I came across a name that actually means "three" or "the third" - how appropriate! So, I present to you our name if #3 is a boy - Silas Culbertson. Silas meaning "the third" and Culbertson being Chad's mom's maiden name.

Now, if #3 happens to be a girl, our choice was quite simple. We will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Chad's mom going home to be with the Lord this June. Yes, I say "celebrating" because we know she gets to see and talk to Jesus face to face every day! In honor and in memory of my mother-in-law, Elaine, our baby girl (if it's a girl) will be named Lanie Elizabeth. Elizabeth is my middle name and it is the name my mom gave me when I was adopted. I was given the name Tonya at birth, but my mom - the only mom I've ever known as the woman who raised me - gave me the name Elizabeth.

So there you have it!! Silas Culbertson or Lanie Elizabeth...and we should be finding out in the next 5 weeks or so!

Due to arrive July 2010

So long for now...

Well, it's no secret...I have discovered that I'm much better at reading other people's blogs than keeping one of my own. So, for now, I give up. My apologies to the two of you who may actually see this. Perhaps one day I'll get the motivation to return to blogging....I'll let you know. :-) Until then...I'll have fun reading yours!

Peek-a-boo!!

I took this video in our hotel room when we were at Disney. It's moments like these that I'm reminded that, even though the toddler years can be tough, they can be a lot of fun, too!

Firsts...

I don't know why I haven't been keeping up with blogging. No excuses...just have been enjoying other things, I guess...like summer! We enjoyed a wonderful trip to Disney World last month. The boys had a great time, of course! Isaac enjoyed his first pair of Mickey ears. His favorite ride was "It's a Small World." The entire time he pointed repeatedly and said "WOW!" over and over. It was SO cute! I think we rode it about five times! Jonah enjoyed being able to ride some of the bigger "thrill" rides such as Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I wasn't sure how he would do, but his reaction to both was "AWESOME!", so I think he was a pretty big fan!

The most recent news around here is that Jonah began his first day of first grade today. We are absolutely in love with his teacher. As soon as we found out her name, we visited her page on the school's website. Besides being a Clemson grad (which Chad was thrilled about), she mentioned that one of her favorite things to do when she's not teaching is going to church. So, when we met her yesterday at the annual "Meet the teacher", I mentioned to her how much we appreciated her including that on her page. She immediately responded by saying that Jesus is number one in her life and she has no qualms about sharing that with anyone. We had a moment of praise right there in the classroom! I am so thankful and so thrilled for Mrs. Bruce. I think this is going to be an awesome year for Jonah!

One of the sweet things about Jonah being back at school is that I am getting to spend some one-on-one time with Isaac. He is now 20 months, walking, running, climbing and trying his hardest to talk. We can understand a few words, but he mostly speaks in his own language, still. Isaac will start a mother's morning out program two mornings a week in September. I think it will be a great time for him to play and socialize with other children his age and it will give me a few hours to myself for running errands or whatever I need to do. I am thrilled that we were able to get him into the same day school program that Jonah was in for four years. It will be exciting to watch Isaac experience some of the same things that Jonah enjoyed so much.

Knowing this post would not be complete without some pictures, I'll leave you with a few to enjoy!

Jonah striking a pose

Jonah with Lightning McQueen and Mater

The tea cup ride with Grandpa

My little Mickey!

1st day of 1st grade

I'm back!!

Well, I took an unplanned vacation from blogging. No particular reason - there were several times I thought about sitting down and writing a new post, but then I'd get busy doing something else. Sorry to all those who kept checking in and were disappointed when there was nothing new.

I guess a lot has has happened in the past month and a half! Let's see where to begin....

JONAH
Jonah really enjoyed playing t-ball this year. Just when the season was ending, he really started getting the hang of it. Unfortunately, at the very last game, he sprained his ankle. Chad immediately brought him home and we began the RICE treatment, but the swelling just kept getting worse. We were scheduled to leave for Hilton Head the very next day, so Chad took him to Urgent Care for x-rays. After almost 4 hours - and not getting back home until almost midnight - the diagnosis was a bad sprain. He was given a splint and told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. HA! Try telling that to a 6 yr old while you're on vacation at the beach. Fortunately, the vacation went well. He got to spend lots of time in the pool, which was really good for it, so that helped.

Jonah also finished up the school year and was promoted to 1st grade! We actually took him out of school for the last two days so we could spend half the week at Hilton Head with Chad's dad. It was worth it - and he didn't really miss anything too important.

ISAAC
Isaac is on the move - and walking like a pro. Although he still sometimes decides that crawling is faster or easier. He is talking up a storm and has some very serious things to say - though I would need a translator to really tell you what those things are. We have these "conversations" all day long and I just nod my head and say things like "Oh really?" and "I understand" and "That's amazing!" He'll nod his head and point to something and say some gibberish and I'll give a reply. Too cute.

Isaac LOVED the beach - the sand at the beach, to be precise. He enjoyed getting covered in it from head to toe. He also enjoyed his little pail and shovel and still walks around the house with them trying to scoop up the carpet.

Isaac turned 18 months last week. It is so hard to believe that we are 6 months away from having a 2 yr old in the house. Lord, give me strength. :-)



We spent last week being lazy - it was wonderful. It was a great break between our vacation and this week which is VBS at church. Our church is doing the Crocodile Dock theme this year. Tonight was the first night and, as the kids say, "Crocodile Dock rocks!!" Tonight's Bible point was "God is always with us" - to which the kids reply (as loudly as possible) "FEAR NOT!!" Chad and I taught the Bible story tonight which was about Moses and the burning bush. Yes, Chad actually created a "burning bush" out of a plastic plant, a mini fan, and a red cellophane pom-pom. It was cool! I'll be teaching the story on Tuesday night about the Passover. The whole week revolves around the events that led up to Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Chad gets to play Pharaoh tomorrow night as the kids learn about the plagues. Fun!!

Well, it is LATE and I need to get some rest. I will try to update soon with pictures. Thanks for continuing to check back!!