Lechner Family Adventures!

Disney World!!

2011-10-10T21:18:00.007-05:00

I still have to pinch myself when I think how we just went to Disney World!

This has been a little "dream"of ours ever since we took Alathea (then 3) and Abigail (then 1) to Magic Kingdom one day back in 2008, thanks to a sweet friend who gave us free one day tickets. It was one incredible day and all four of us loved every minute of it. Joe & I talked soon after how we'd love to take the girls again while they are still little. I know they may not remember much (Ava won't remember any of it!), but at these little ages, Disney World and all the princesses are quite a magical experience for these little girls!!!

It seemed like a lofty dream, because of cost, but the Lord provided through my sweet Dad & Rachel giving us a place to stay and my Grandpa & Jane's generous Christmas gifts, which we saved for two years to pay for the tickets. We brought freezer meals for dinner and packed a picnic lunch each day... it worked great!

We stayed at a beautiful condo, with a full kitchen, two bedrooms and two screened porches that overlooked a gorgeous lake. It was merely minutes from Disney's property, which was a huge blessing with little nappers! We were able to come home every afternoon for brief naps & dinner and it sure was a lovely place to come back to at the end of a long day of walking!

Alathea & Abigail we're totally besides themselves. They really loved everything...meeting ALL the princesses, riding just about every ride, every parade & fireworks and all the other fun play area's sprinkled throughout Disney World.

Poor little bean...she really was a trooper. She loved all we did, and really loved the rides, parades & shows. But she never got more than a 1 hour nap a day, so she'd often fall asleep on rides (like above). It was pretty cute. I'm grateful she's such a fun & adventurous little kiddo...whenever we'd go to our resort for a break, she'd take my hand and walk me to the door saying "bye-bye"....she loved being there!

Meeting the princesses, especially Rapunzel & Tiana were major highlights for our little girls, obviously, but one surprising thing was Abigails incredible love for Jessie & Woody from Toy-Story. She would NOT stop hugging them. We eventually had to make her leave. It was totally adorable, and I think even Woody & Jessie thought it was cute.

Another fun surprise was Alathea & Abigail were tall enough to ride just about every ride, including most of the roller coasters. They loved them! Especially Abigail...you can see her with her hands up on Thunder Mt in the picture below. Alathea, being the not-so-brave big sister, would ask Abigail to go on the ride first and then report back to her if it was scary or not. Abigail always came back with a great report of how fun it was, so then Alathea would go too. It was so funny to watch their dynamic! Fortunately, Alathea always ended up loving the ride once she was on it, and Abigail loved that she got to go on every ride twice :)

One of the huge perks to a 7 day pass, was that we got to go to all four big parks. We knew the girls loved Magic Kingdom, and we were pleasantly surprised that they loved every single one of them, even Epcot!

This picture above, of the girls on the "Honey, I shrunk the Kids" playground, totally amazes me, because my Mom took one of me & my siblings on the same giant ant, and I remember being there when I was just five. I actually think my earliest childhood memories are from a trip to Disney World. It's amazing, moving and also kinda strange to be the parent now, taking my own kids to Disney, since I remember so clearly my parents doing the same not so long ago. I guess its another sign that I'm growing up! And a huge sign of God's kindness to allow us to make these sweet memories as a family.

Summer Love

2011-09-21T22:05:00.000-05:00

As the last few hours of summer are officially coming to a close, I thought I'd actually stop for a moment and record some of the sweet memories from the past few months. It's been an incredibly sweet summer, I suppose you could say I was enjoying it so much I never took a break to document it!

Since Ava was born last June, life took off at full speed. Three kids, two moves and one baby with acid-reflux (think no sleep)...those first 9 months of Ava's life, while totally precious, can sometimes feel like a blur. Once spring of this year rolled around, I finally felt like I could catch my breath. I felt settled in my new house and adjusted to life as a mom of three. Which brings me to this summer...what a sweet gift it was! I soaked up every moment of it. Especially the time with my girls. They are now 5, 3 and 1, and I totally adore these ages. There are (obviously) still many difficult days have three young kids, but I'm also daily aware that they are growing up...fast.

It's been a while, so here's a little update on each of my girls:

{Alathea Joy}

This girl is growing up. She can swim across the pool by herself, has her first loose tooth, is learning to read and has *gasp* started Kindergarten this month! Alathea is a total delight to me. She's perfectly created to be a first born. She loves helping me and takes delight in "coming to the rescue" to help her little sisters through out the day. She loves every bit of Kindergarten and is learning to read like a champ. I'm so grateful to have her as my oldest (or as she likes to refer to herself, as my "#1 girl, since she was born 1st"...its only logical, right?). She loves to talk, about God and really anything...I almost feel like I'm having adult conversation during the day. I love watching her amazement as we talk about God and the Bible and I'm so grateful for her heart that her little sisters would learn about God too.

While she can seem so grown up at times, I love that she's in many ways still just a little 5-year-old girl. She loves playing dress-up, playing with her doll house, her princesses, riding her bike...or her all time favorite activity- coloring. Really, this girl has been known to color for two straight hours!

I'm grateful for Alathea's seemingly effortless mix of being a social butterfly and a homebody. All neatly packaged in the same little girl. I think she's actually simply content, in whatever circumstances she's in. She loves being home and is totally content to play all day with her sisters. But she also loves every minute she gets with her friends and would be happy to spend all day playing with them. Funny thing is, she's also totally happy and content to do her school. I'm a blessed Mom to have such a happy & content 5-year-old...and I have a lot to learn from her!

{Abigail}

Oh my, Abigail. Where do I begin with you. This picture sort of speaks for itself :)

While Alathea seems so grown-up, Abigail still seems very much, well, not in a huge hurry to grow up. She's in no way behind for a 3-year-old, but she's just content to be my little girl.

She still loves her blankie & paci (which she's only allowed when sleeping, but would have in her mouth 24hours a day if we let her). She love her Momma...I guess you could say she's my Momma's girl, or as she likes to be called, my "little buddy", because when given the opportunity, she'd be by my side 24/7. She's my grocery shopping pal, my snuggle bug and my permanent helper in all that I do. And I know there's nothing wrong with that...I think she's just happy to be three.

I make Abi sound all quiet & sweet, but obviously you all know her better than that :) She is sweet, but that girl also has a wild & crazy side too. I think her mischievious nature has caught a second wind in discovering a little-sister-partner in crime in Ava.

Abigail's also all about bling. She's regularly seen with a dozen bracelets, necklaces and a big shiny ring on her finger...topped off with 10 applications of lip-gloss, daily applied nail polish and her sparkle tennis-shoes. This is complete with a mis-matched outfit, a dirty face and her oh-so adorable crazy head of hair. Gotta love that girl :)

Abigail's current claims to fame are her ability to climb up a 15-foot fire pole with virtually no effort (no doubt in my mind, she's our athlete); her intense passion for food, especially food covered in some sort of sugar; and her ability to safely carry Ava all over the house while in search of Mommy.

{Ava Jean}

Don't let this sweet little face fool you, this teeny-tiny little thing packs a whole lot of spunk. Ava is packed full of personality. Funny thing is that you'd never know unless you spend a good chunk of time with her, because she's just now starting to grow out of her "stranger anxiety- all I want is Mommy" phase. So when other people are around, Ava is glued to my side. But at home with her Daddy & sisters, she's a non-stop running, laughing, squealing 15-month old.

Ava's definately my most opinionated child...she's fiesty and spunky in the best sense of the words. This picture below is perfect- Ava facing a wave bigger than her, all by herself, with no fear, just excitement. I'm looking forward to seeing how God uses this energy & spunk as she gets older.

Our summer was full of pool days, play dates, two beach trips, a most wonderful family reunion, painting and settling into our new home and an extra amount of family time, which I'm so grateful for. Joe & I are very aware that we are blessed to have these three sweet girls to live life with.

The thing that probably brought the most smiles to me this summer was watching the girls friendships with each other grow and grow. They just love each other. Alathea & Abigail have always been the best of friends, but Ava has now happily joined the sweet sisterhood...they're like the three amiga's ;) I don't take their closeness for granted, it is a gift from God indeed!

*love them so*

.1 year-old.

2011-06-22T20:57:00.004-05:00

My little bean is ONE! I distinctly remember Alathea & Abigail's first birthday, and feeling a tiny sense of sadness that a whole year had flown by and they weren't tiny babies anymore. Amazingly, I only feel gratefulness and excitement as we celebrated Ava's 1st birthday last Tuesday. Maybe its because, despite this being probably the fullest (and most challenging) year of my life, with tons of change, I made a point to cherish every moment I had with Ava, fully knowing the "baby stage" is so fleeting. Also, having now a 3 and 5 year old, I know that every stage of raising a child has its own unique joys that I can look forward to!

Despite being my biggest baby at birth (8lbs 1 oz), she is by far my tiniest now! At her 1 year check up she was only in the 3% for weight (17lbs 10oz) ! I can't say I mind her being so tiny...in many ways its a blessing...my back doesn't hurt from carrying her, she's not out growing clothes very fast (she can still wear 9 and 12month clothes), and she still looks like my little baby. But despite her petite self, she doesn't act little. She is packed full of life and personality. Her name, Ava, means "life", and how appropriate that name is! Ava definitely makes an effort to keep up with her big sisters. She's making strides in walking...up to about 10 steps at a time now. And she's saying a few words too: Da-Da, Ma-Ma, baby, night-night, ball and duck.

We celebrated Ava's birthday on Tuesday with a trip to the birkdale fountains (she LOVES them...and literally is not afraid of them at all) and Cold Stone Ice Cream (yes, she was a happy girl). And that evening we had her favorite dinner of pizza & watermelon. It was a happy day!

We are totally smitten with this fireball of energy and cuteness! Happy 1st birthday, my sweet baby girl.

.Little Friends.

2011-06-22T20:53:00.003-05:00

We have been one blessed family to have the priviledge to host some of our dearest friends, the Seavers, four times in the past few months, since they moved from Charlotte to Summerville, SC to lead a church plant there. I still distinctly remember Mike & Kristin inviting Joe & I over for dinner, just two weeks after they moved to Charlotte with an 18-month-old Emma and 2 month-old Sarah Evelyn. I was 9 months pregnant with Alathea. Fast forward 5 1/2 years of friendship, 5 year of serving on staff at the same local church, two beach vacations together and the addition of FIVE more girls- they are some of our most cherished friends and we miss them so much!

We now have SEVEN girls between our families (ages 7, 5, 5, 3, 2, 1 and 6 months)...and they sure have fun together! We loved every minute of their visits and can't wait until they *hopefully* plan another one soon!

.Spring Adventures.

2011-06-19T20:08:00.000-05:00

We love spring and summer around here. Who doesn't, right?

We love having the windows open and spending hours outside in the sunshine.

I've been loving life too much to take a minute and add a post.

So here is our spring in a nutshell:

{We've spent many hours walking to the park & pond down the street.}

Which included watching eight baby ducklings grow up.

The girls wanted to go to the pond daily to build the ducklings a nest to sleep in each night.

(I believe we've read "Make way for the Ducklings" one too many times!)

{Pop-Pop & Ray-Ray came in town for a visit!}

Always a treat for each of us!

The girls have said that they'd chose Pop-Pop & Ray-Ray visiting over a trip to Disney World...that's saying a lot for our little girls!

We get spoiled to the max, including lots of pizza, ice cream and starbucks for me!

{Trip to Hilton Head}

Joe will be in Mexico over our anniversary in July, so we took an early trip and spent four days in Hilton Head (with Ava in tow). It was a lovely trip, with lots of sweet time together- but also four straight days of rain!! We had only 6 hours the entire trip to really enjoy the island. We soaked up every minute and spent a good bit of time riding bikes on the beach. (OK, I know I'm just a big eight year old, but I LOVED it! And now I want a bike really bad ;)

{Easter}

We had Easter at our house this year, including an Easter egg hunt.

Sweet times with the family.

{Strawberry Picking}

Nothing says spring like Strawberry picking.

This is the first year we actually picked more than we consumed on the spot!

{Real Life}

This picture makes me smile...is so every day life.

Any given moment there is a good chance on of my three is joyfully smiling, one is screaming at the top of their lungs, and one is off in outer space. They rotate rolls throughout the day. Despite the challenges "real life" can bring with three little ones, I couldn't be more grateful for them and the privilege it is to be their Mom. They are precious gifts from God that I cherish!

9 months

2011-04-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

little miss ava is now 9 months old.

Considering how she cried constantly and never slept the first 2 months of her life were, she's been an incredible baby and we don't take for granted her sunny personality and happy-little-self!

she's ACTIVE, crawling around and pulling up on everything.

both of her big sisters we're active little things too, so the verdict is still out whose footsteps she'll follow in. she may just be the "partner in adventure" that Abigail's always wanted :)

ava's current loves are food (she's teeny-tiny, but LOVES any and all food!), her blankie, baby dolls, da-da (her 1st and only word, other than "baby"), giving kisses and sucking her thumb.

although her very favorite thing in the world is her two big sisters. she lights up and whips her head around at just the sound of their voices, followed by the happiest squeal of laughter!

ava's a blessed little girl to have two doting big sisters, who beg me all of ava's nap time long to go in, wake her up and play with her. i'm so grateful for the love & friendship these three sisters share!

we love you, happy girl!

.totally smitten.

2011-03-24T20:18:00.002-05:00

Ava is now totally smitten with her Daddy, just like her big sisters.

In fact, "Da-da" is her first and favorite word to say right now.

And she says it only when she is with her Daddy.

There is no doubt that "Daddy" is their most favorite person in the whole world...

and for good reason.

They are blessed little girls to have such an incredible Dad.

And Joe's a pretty lucky guy too.

.there and back again.

2011-03-20T22:38:00.000-05:00

I feel so blessed to be a part of Rekindle once again.

I've made the journey to Laguna Beach so many times now, I now know how to plan pit-stops at all the Starbucks along the way of this 12-plus hour trip.

For Joe & I, this makes our 8th consecutive year at Laguna Beach Christian Retreat; its Rekindle's 7th year; and believe it or not, at only 5 years old, this was Alathea's 6th year (she was a mere 3 weeks old on her 1st trip). We are blessed indeed to see God powerfully work year in and year out in these college students lives. What a pure joy to watch!

This was Ava's first trip to the beach.

I had high hopes for her, as she is a Lechner, but she was not at all in love with the beach!

This was disappointing :) I'm hoping she quickly changes her mind before her next trip in May.

I cannot complain though...overall she was an amazing baby, especially during the car ride there and back. We'd forget she was in the car, except for her occasional happy sigh!

This is how little bean preferred to spend her beach days.

I can't say I minded too much!

pretty Abigail...

I adore her beach weather curly hair

The big sisters were troopers as well. They were a little less than happy about the loooong car ride (especially an unnamed middle child), but the torturous journey was immediately forgotten when they caught sight of their beloved beach! The first words of Alathea's mouth when we stepped on the sand was "this smells like home". Thats my girl, a total beach bum.

This is Abi's "happy beach dance". No joke...she'll tell you!

can't beat waking up to this view from your balcony

Daddy and his girls

The only bummer this year was the much colder temps than we are typically used to.

Thankfully this didn't stop my girls (or the rest of the M28 crew) from enjoying the beach most days.

Until one afternoon the thunderstorm of all thunderstorms rolled through!

Look at the BLACK sky in this picture!

The beach cleared out quite quickly as this storm came through...

But even thunderstorms can't stop this happy crew from enjoying the week.

I'm bummed to have not taken more pictures of the incredible meetings, hilarious Rekindle cup games and the many, many people we loved on this trip. On a week like this, with so many unfamiliar faces, Ava becomes quite the Momma's girl...making one-handed pictures hard to come by. We were incredibly blessed to have our friend Emily, who is a senior in high school, come along this year to help with the girls and to watch them during the morning and evening session so I can attend. It makes a trip like this with 3 kiddos possible! We are so grateful for her.

Another sweet year.

Lord willing many more to come...and maybe I'll be blessed to see all that God does yet again.

Until then, its beautiful gulf-coast beach dreams for me!

getting ready

2011-03-03T22:05:00.005-05:00

we're counting down the days (really hours) before we depart for Rekindle '11!

can't wait to see what God does in the lives of those going, can't wait to hear my boy speak, can't wait to get some sweet beach time in with my little girls and the m28 crew...wonderful memories to be made, I'm sure!

but before we leave, i must conquer this laundry mountain!! please tell me someone out there can relate? good news is that its all clean...now just needs to be folded and packed.

i've got a 10-plus hour drive with my three little girlies ahead of me (without joe, he's helping to drive the m28 crew down a day later)...pray for safety and happy travelers.

i'm hoping for happy little baby,

who sometimes isn't so happy in her carseat...

.the girls.

2011-02-28T21:39:00.005-05:00

these three have some definite personality and some serious attitude.

and i love them so very much.

i can't imagine life without my girls.

I'm a blessed mama for sure!

.three. & .five.

2011-02-10T00:01:00.005-05:00

As of today, I am now the mother of a three and five year old.

On February 7th, she turned 3

And today, February 10th, she turns 5

I feel like I should pinch myself...how can this be? I had a friend tell me this week she feels like she missed a year or so, like the girls should still be 1 and 3. I agree. Shouldn't they be just now turning 2 and 4? All that said, time has flown by (it feels faster with each child we add!), and they have been absolutely precious years. God has been so kind to bless me with my girls.

Its weird to think that now I no longer have a baby & a toddler at the same time. I feel like I've been in that stage for a couple of years and although I loved it, sometimes on hard days it felt like it would never end. Now I have an almost Kindergardener, a preschooler and a baby. Crazy. I'm starting to sound like a grown-up with three kids of these ages!

"Birthday Week" makes me nostalgic every year, since our two big girls both turn another year older at the same time. I do love that they always do everything together, even the week of the year they were born. God has really blessed them with the sweet gift of sisterhood. I was looking at a few pictures tonight and just love how there sweet friendship is so obvious...

Happy Birthday week to my girls!

I love celebrating with you.

life since our move

2011-02-02T00:11:00.003-05:00

I went MIA again around here, mostly due to life being busy, busy since our move. I thought I'd give a little "January in a nutshell" update...

*We've spent a good bit of this month finishing unpacking, organizing and setting up our new home. I think it has surprised Joe & I how long this has taken! We moved in the second week of December, and just last night I got to unpacking Ava's room. When we're tempted to be impatient, we remind ourselves that we had the holidays, family visits, our wonderfully full ministry schedule, lots of sickness and three little kids under five that have made the process a bit slower than we'd like. We've had way too many evenings with bedtime at 2am. Even with the "work", its a very happy work. We are stunned at God's kindness towards us in blessing us with this home.

*We've completed a few house projects in the midst of the general unpacking. The biggest one being Joe's crazy paint job in the girls playroom. I think I'll have to post a picture of his original creation. Sometimes I think I married a boy version of Martha Sewart the way my boy likes to decorate. And to assure you of Joe's manliness, he also built a work bench and sweet shelving in the garage. And did I mention he can cook too :) I guess that makes him my "renaissance man".

*Joe took a 3-day trip to Rancho 3M. He's leading our churches trip to this orphanage in Guadalupe, Mexico this summer and went on somewhat of an info-gathering/exploratory trip. He fell in love with the ranch (as does everyone who visits) and even tried to bring back two adorable little girls (until he learned they had 6 other siblings :).

*Ava started crawling. She's the tiniest little moving baby I've ever seen. At her six month appointment she was only 14lbs, 14oz. But her petite frame hasn't kept her from getting around. Fortunately I've got two excellent big-sister helpers to keep an eye on her, so life hasn't changed too much with 3rd one on the move.

*We've had lots and lots of sickness. 'Tis the time of year for sickness, right? I had a stomach bug two weeks ago and we've passed around a nasty cold, with Ava getting it the worst. In the past six weeks she been through 3 rounds of anti-biotics. She's also my first baby to have an ear infection and bronciolitis (maybe being a thumb-sucker, she's exposed to more germs?). Thank the Lord, it wasn't anything more serious and she's wonderfully healthy now. There is nothing like a few solid weeks of sickness to make you so grateful for good health!

*We've had some crazy weather. Two snowstorms mixed in with some gorgeous days. Winter weather in North Carolina is always full of surprises. We've been loving the warm, sunny days sprinkled in with the cold and have made frequent trips to the park & pond down the street...one of the most wonderful surprises we discovered after moving in.

We'll that was a rather boring update. Life's been full of little excitement and lots of wonderful work these past few weeks! But the excitement picks up as this next week is "birthday week". On the 7th, Abigail turns THREE and on the 10th, Alathea turns FIVE!!! When did they ever get so big??

Update on Alathea

2011-01-17T19:57:00.002-05:00

I apologize if I left anyone hanging who caught the brief updates from our wild day with Alathea on Friday. It was a crazy day: CT Scan early in the morning, friends over (fun highlight :), Alathea falls and busts open her chin while playing with friends, neurosurgeon appointment (who refused to allow us to come later, even with the bloody chin), unexpected news at the neurologist and a incredibly rude and insensitive neurosurgeon who brought the not-so-great news, getting lost in uptown and therefore a missed appointment for stitches at the pediatrician, stuck in traffic on 77, while we are in traffic Alathea starts gagging and throws-up all over the car (poor girl), we get her cleaned up and head to the urgent care to get her chin stitched up, they refuse to stitch her and send us to Levine Children's Hospital ER, Joe takes over (thank the Lord!) and takes Alathea to Levine and around midnight they come home with a loopy, but totally happy little girl with a nicely stitched up chin and a huge pink stuffed animal pig, named "little piggy" who apparently got her chin stitched up as well (gotta love Children's hospitals).

Obviously now that her chin is stitched up, it will be totally fine. So let me fill you in on why we had a CT scan and met with a neurosurgeon:

When Alathea was a baby I noticed a tiny bump on the right side of her head. It was, and really still is, so small most people have no idea she has it. In my opinion, any bump is worth getting a doctors opinion on, so every single time we took her to the pediatrician, I had them look at it. And every single doctor told me the same thing- its just a bump on her skull bone that she was born with. No big deal.

This past month I was at the doctor with her and once again asked them to check the bump. Since I had asked this doctor numerous times to check it over the years, she finally asked if I wanted to have peace of mind and have a neurologist double check it. Now seemed like a great time, since our insurance is a HSA and we have met out deductible this year (thanks to Ava's birth), this making the appointment free. With our deductible being reset on Feb 1st, I asked my pediatrician if we could possibly get in before the end of the month.

Little did I know that she would get me an appointment and a CT scan for the next day. (I know now that somehow she got the impression from me that we would have NO insurance come Feb 1st, thus the haste in getting us in). We got a call on Thursday evening at 6pm, telling us to be at CMC the next morning at 8am for a CT scan. I had NO idea that was part of the plan, but figured I may as well go since we got an appointment. (Alathea was totally amazing at the CT scan- I'm proud of my brave girl. She was really scared (like tears rolling down her cheeks, but no crying), but went through it without any complaint).

That afternoon I showed up at the neurologist appointment a bit flustered with the bleeding chin and getting way lost on the way, but expecting the appointment to be simple and then I'd head on my way to get Alathea's chin stitched up. The nurse practitioner looked at Alathea's CT scan and assured me she looked totally fine, but that she'd have the DR come in and double check. The neurosurgeon came in and looked at her bump, and proceeded to tell me that it was NOT just part of her skull...it was a kind of cyst and that she would need to have surgery. When he said surgery, I was thinking he must be mistaken, because that had never been mentioned ever before. In a span of 2 minutes max I asked 3-4 questions and he got so frustrated that I was asking them and got up and walked out of the room saying he couldn't help me. Seriously, he walked out of the room. I think the combo of his rudeness and the shock of the news, I started to cry. Fortunately a lady physicians assistant came in and answered my questions.

So this is what we know: Alathea has a kind of (I'll look up the proper name and post it soon) Cyst between the bone of her skull and her skin. It is small and she was born with it. It isn't life threatening or something that will cause problems, except for the fact that it will begin to attach to and weaken the skull bone as it grows. They recommend her have surgery soon to remove it. Apparently the surgery is quick and its very minor. But still, no parent wants to have their kid have surgery. So we need wisdom as to how to proceed. We need to pray about possibly getting a second opinion. And we need wisdom if we should have the surgery immediately (which is recommended, because it is showing the beginning signs of attaching and weakening the skull bone) or if we should wait a year and see if it continues to grow. The doctors have told us that most likely, at some point, she will need to have surgery to remove it.

Please keep us in your prayers as we seek the Lords wisdom. While it was a bit shocking to hear the news, we know that in comparison to other health issues many children face, this is very mild and we are very grateful for that. Thanks for your prayers!

Our very merry Christmas

2011-01-11T21:15:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love Christmas, and this year I was more grateful for it than ever! Moving into our house Dec 7th, the Christmas season got started later than usual. We spent the first week in our new house getting unpacked as much as possible...basically getting things "livable". With so much more still to do, Christmas became a welcome break for the scurry of unpacking and setting up the house, and an oasis of "normal" for me.

I'm so grateful we were able to continue with some of our "traditions":

1) We got our tree about a week after we moved in. It was 2 weeks later than we normally would, but hey, at least we got one!

2) We surprised the girls with a PJ & hot chocolate trip to McAddenville. They love the lights. They asked to go back every night after we took them.

3) We had our annual cookie decorating with the Swans & Seavers

4) We took the girls, along with Grammy & Mere to the Speedway Lights show. It was our first time going. The girls liked it so much, hopefully we'll do it again!

5) The girls spent many afternoons painting ornaments that adorned the tree in their room.

A kind neighbor gave us a huge bagful of outdoor lights. So one week after we moved in, the outside of our house looked like Christmas. We made an attempt to decorate the inside of the house. But this was as good as it got:

We celebrated Christmas morning at home just the five of us.

As much as I've loved Christmas over the years, I think having little kids makes it the best! They were so excited!

We started with a waffle & bacon breakfast. Then stockings. Then gifts.

Then off to Jon & Heather's to celebrate the rest of the day with Joe's family.

Including some amazing Boston Butt & Ribs for our Christmas dinner- the Lechner's know how to eat!!

We had Christmas take two, when my entire family (including Julie's boyfriend, James and Rocky's girlfriend, Jessica). It was pure bliss having 5 days with my family all in our new house. What a gift having space to host them!

We enjoyed many wild games of scrabble, a fierce cookie decorating competition, an intense game of hot potato, and a game of battle of the sexes that left the girls as champions. Can you tell we are a competitive bunch?

On New Years Eve we had spaghetti & chocolate fondue.

We also spent a day in Columbia, SC visiting my Grandma and Uncle Perry.

This was Grandma's first time meeting Ava.

And here is the ever-growing Bowers Clan:

(l-R) Rocky, Jessica, James, Julie, Dad, Rachel, Alathea, Ava, Jeanie, Joe & Abigail.

The holidays are over...officially since we just took our tree down yesterday!

Now I sadly have no more excuses...on to more unpacking!

Abigail's holiday highlights...

2011-01-10T21:01:00.003-05:00

licking the bowl after making brownies (literally)

licking the bowl after making chocolate cake

(she was happy until I started laughing at her)

aaannd searching the fridge for leftovers after thanksgiving

(in case you are wondering, no, she is not allowed to climb inside the fridge. i just thought i'd instruct her after i took the pic :)

We love this girl. And she sure is passionate about food :)

At least I have a secured kitchen-buddy for life.

Ava's 1st Christmas

2011-01-09T22:11:00.003-05:00

Our little bean enjoyed every bit of her first Christmas,

with highlights being eating Christmas paper and bows.

We've decided that 6 months old may just be our favorite stage of babyhood.

Ava spends her day sitting on the floor, with a pile of toys and her big sisters nearby, smiling and squealing in delight. We are so grateful for this little girl.

We're eating up every ounce of her cuteness.

Christmas Greetings!

2010-12-23T22:15:00.004-05:00

We just couldn't pull it together this year to get Christmas cards out on time.

The move has consumed far more time than we imagined,

especially with the extra "holiday" activities mixed in.

We even typed up a little "update" letter (see below), but never got it printed, folded, stuffed in a pretty envelope and mailed to your house in a timely fashion.

So please imagine that you are walking to your mailbox right now,

open it up and find this Christmas card,

sent with love from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Dear Family & Friends-

Christmas and New Year's greetings from the Lechner family!

The year 2010 has been a wonderfully full year for us! The biggest blessing this year was adding our 3rd precious baby girl, Ava Jean. She was born 10 days late on June 21st and we've absolutely adored having another little girl in the family. Ava has been a beautiful, happy and alert baby...and a perfect addition to our family.

Ava's birth marked the beginning of a roller coaster ride these past six months. When she was just 4 weeks old we sold and closed on our little house (quite abruptly) and moved into a lovely rental home just down the road. We happily lived there during four months of house hunting, until December 4th, when we moved into our new home! Selling our little house and hunting for a new one was a bumpy 16 month saga...and we are so grateful to be getting settled now! The Lord provided in mighty ways, and we ended up in the neighborhood we were hoping for, in a house we love and have room to grow in, with a beautiful fenced backyard. We've been wonderfully blessed. Although we've lived here for two weeks now, there is still much unpacking, painting and settling in to be done. The "settling in" process is a slow one with three kids four and under!

Speaking of the kids, our two big girls are growing up way too fast! Alathea is now 4 years old, and Abigail is 2 years old. They are THE best of friends. They share a room, and since we've been in the new house, Abigail is now in a "big girl bed", which she is quite proud of. While they each have their own bed, they are often found sound asleep, snuggled together in the same bed. Their little friendship is incredibly precious.

Alathea has matured into quite a wonderful, caring big sister. God perfectly crafted her to be the oldest. She's my huge helper and delights to serve her little sisters. She can make Ava smile like no one else. Alathea loves to learn and is starting to learn how to read (prompted on her own). She is our bright and artistic girl. She also loves to color and often spends hours a day doing that, as well as playing dress-up and dancing to loud music with Abigail. Its quite a sight to see!

Abigail is our little fire cracker and fits the mold of the classic two-year-old. She can be little-miss-trouble, but we love her all the more for the vibrant life she adds to the family. She's our funny girl who keeps us laughing, our snuggle bug and our major sweet tooth. She told me today that the three things she loves are "cupcakes, brownies and carousels". She's my momma's girl who still wants to be my baby. But also my girl who completely potty-trained herself this summer on her own initiative. We love all the laughter and life our Abi brings to our family.

Joe & I celebrated 8 wonderful years of marriage this summer! With the purchase of a mini-van in May (the Swagger Wagon), the addition of our 3rd child in June and the purchase of a family-sized home this month...for the first time ever we are starting to feel like grown-ups! Hard for us to believe. Joe still works at CrossWay community church and we consider ourselves amazingly blessed to not only attend such a wonderful church, but to also serve full-time on staff there. Joe still serves with the college ministry and preaching, and his role will be expanding this year to other area's of the church as well.

The Lord has blessed us with a house with plenty of space for visitors. We miss all of our out-of-town family and friends very much...so visit soon!

In His Grace-

Joe & Jeanie

Alathea, Abigail & Ava

Ava Jean

6 months old

Alathea Joy- 4 years old

Abigail Kathleen- 2 years old

(Photo Credit: elisabeth-rose photography, 1st and last picture)

6 months ago...

2010-12-21T00:11:00.002-05:00

(photo credit: elisabeth-rose photography)

6 months ago today this absolutely precious gift was born into our lives.

2010 has been somewhat of a whirlwind, sometimes bumpy and full of changes.

God was incredibly gracious and kind to bless us with this sweet girl...

the perfect gift for this past year.

Ava Jean:

"Ava" means "life" and

"Jean" means "God is gracious"

God has indeed been gracious to bless us with this precious life!!

It is hard to believe that half a year has gone by since Ava was born. I stop many time a day, really any chance I get, to snuggle this sweet girl and soak up her fleeting baby-ness.

Ava is our bright and cheery baby, who loves people and particularly adores her big sisters.

This week she started sitting on her own and is already attempting to scoot.

She's also our little peanut, the smallest of all three girls at this age.

I love how she will lay her head on my shoulder and suck her thumb when she's sleepy.

And I adore her big, toothless, smile.

Happy half-birthday, baby girl.

I love you.

my little running buddy

2010-12-14T22:44:00.006-05:00

Meet my little running buddy.

Whenever I'm not running at 6:30am with my friend Reba,

then my little Ava tags along for the ride to keep me company.

She sure is cute.

And quite the talker!

I love having this sweet girl with me for just about anything.

Sweet girl's typical post-run slumber.

moving day

2010-12-03T20:34:00.007-05:00

It's really amazing that this day has finally come. It's been a bumpy 16 months for us as we've been looking for a new house. I still remember the day we both felt confirmation that this was the day to put our much loved little house on the market...and after hustling one week to get it ready to list, it sold the day the sign went in the yard. "Boy, this sure was easy", we thought. Haha. I'm sure in a kind way the Lord must have chuckled at us in that moment.

We've had some crazy twists and turns along the way... the house we wanted to initially buy, went under contract the day before our offer came in. Then we went to build a house...and had to wait because an abandoned gas line used to run on the property we were to build on and it needed to be inspected. A month later it passed inspection, we went to sign the contract and that day the builder, pulte homes, left the neighborhood (the 1st time in the history of this well known company). We move onto house #3...our offer is accepted. But one week before closing we learn our buyers loan was denied in underwriting due to some serious tax fraud. Back to square one.

We list our little home again...something like 40 showings later (no joke, it was A LOT, especially being pregnant with two little kids. just mention the word "showing" to me now and I get chills) we make plans to take the house off the market on April 30th because Ava was due in just 5 weeks. But then in mid-April we got TWO offers, we countered them both, and never heard back from either agent. They would not even return our Realtor's calls. It was totally bizarre. So when April 30th rolled around I breathed a sigh of relief, we get to have this baby in peace! But that morning, one of the realtors called to say her buyer would accept our offer. We had forgotten about the offers that came in two weeks prior! This buyer wanted to make good on the April 30th deadline for 1st time homebuyers $8,000 tax credit. So just 5 weeks before Ava was due, our house went under contract again!

What was supposed to be a May 21st closing date, turned into a crazy 3 months of dealing with a very unqualified 1st time home buyer, and her very lazy realtor and lender (who moved about as fast as box turtles. it was crazy). At the time, in order for the buyer to get the tax credit, she had to settle before June 30th. When that date passed and she wasn't ready for closing, we assumed the deal was done. Fine by me, I had little 7 day-old baby Ava and I was in NO hurry to move. Nesting was in full gear. But Uncle Sam came to the rescue and extended the required closing date, and on the morning of July 21st our realtor gave us a call to say, "we're closing today at 1:30pm". So we closed with about 3 hours notice and had an army of family and friends pack and move our entire house in just 2 days.

Since then we've rented a lovely home from some dear friends so we could take a breath and take our time looking for a new home. We've looked and looked, it seemed like slim pickin' this fall. A few weeks ago Joe looked at a house with our realtor, came home and told me he thought he may have just looked at the house for us. Sure enough, he did. We wrote up an offer the next day, to learn that another offer came in the same day. We just laughed. But in God's kindness, they accepted our offer and we closed this past tuesday, November 30th...exactly one year from the day we were to close and move out of our little house.

Its been quite a journey, and now at the end of it I'm quite convinced that the purpose of the journey was far more about my heart than about finding a house. I'm so grateful for the waiting and times of disappointment. They were painful at times, but brought about so much good. They exposed more sin in my heart than I could have imagined (it was a humbling season). But I have also come to a deeper and sweeter understanding of God as my loving Father and far better grasp what God's love and goodness towards me looks like.

Well, that was a long story! Sorry for those who took the time to read it. I've been reminded of late to "recount the deeds of the Lord"...He has been so good to us these past 16 months.

We're excited about moving tomorrow. Its sweet to see how God provided so much of what we prayed for. We love the house, yard and neighborhood. Maybe I'll get around to posting some pictures soon...but I'm thinking this is going to be a busy few weeks ahead of me!

thankful

2010-11-27T00:24:00.004-05:00

I am beyond blessed by these little girls.

sure, sometimes they're fussy

or downright grumpy

and sometimes even scary

but more often than not they are silly...

really, really silly...

and all that silliness is sprinkled

with tender moments of sweetness

But, regardless of their mood...

they're my girls

and I thank God for the gift they are every single day.

Sleeping Beauty

2010-11-27T00:03:00.002-05:00

she's my first thumb-sucker...

and I find it absolutely adorable in every way.

Little Cousins

2010-11-04T11:48:00.000-05:00

{little cousins}

It's hard to believe that Joe & his brother Jon are both married and now have 6 kids between the two of them. These are the same two brothers who grew up starting fires in sewer pipes, swimming in ponds with resident alligators, and building blockades in the road just for fun. One thing their Mom always said about them, is that when they were little, they always did things together.

While they don't see each other nearly as often now, they still have done things simultaneously. They got married the same year, just 2 weeks apart.

And now they've had 3 kids each, all born close in age.

That makes for some sweet little cousins for my girls. And it is SO fun to have some boys around! Three adorable little nephews.

Here are the little Lechner cousins...

{Alathea}

...the oldest at 4 years

{Andrew}

just 3 months younger than Alathea

{Abigail}

{Caleb}

2 years old.

just 4 weeks younger than Abi

{Grant}

the big baby, at 11 months old

{Ava}

...the little baby, just 8 months younger than Grant

My girls are incredibly blessed to have these little cousins that they just love!!

3 sweet months of my baby

2010-10-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

How can my baby be 3 months old already?

What precious days they have been.

How I love my scrumptious baby girl.

Her latest "trick" is rolling over...on occasion.

And praise God her little tummy seems all better...she's a MUCH happier baby since she's been on her medicine.

This is a classic Ava face...she is SO intense. She'll stare you down...and let you know how unhappy she is that you aren't talking to her. My favorite thing about her is how happy she is when she is being looked at and talked to...she's all cuddles and smiles.

You are a precious gift from God, sweet baby girl.

Don't grow up too fast.

10 years ago...

2010-10-11T22:09:00.000-05:00

...I met the man of my dreams at a well-loved ice cream stand in Damascus, MD called Jimmie Cone. It was my very first college care group meeting, and my very first week of college. It was Joe's first week in Maryland and his first week at Pastor's college. I was 17. He was 22. And never in a million years did I show up to that CG meeting thinking I would meet my future husband. Joe...well, its a long story, but he actually showed up for the very reason that he hoped I would be there. He'll have to be the one to explain that one himself :)

For almost two hours Joe carried on with a group of guys, standing next to this table below. I sat on the table talking to various friends throughout the evening. Little did I know all evening he was working up the courage to talk to me. Then at the end of the evening I pulled out my chemistry HW to ask a friend for help working through a problem I got stuck on earlier that day... Joe saw this as his "golden opportunity" (he didn't take 4 years of college chemistry for nothing, he says :)...and the rest is sweet, beautiful history.

We happened to be in Maryland last month, on the very week we met 10 years ago.

And during our trip, Joe and I took off for three days just the two of us (leaving Alathea and Abigail with Dad & Rachel...Ava tagged along with us). Amazing the Lords ways...about 35 minutes into our trip we stumbled upon Jimmie Cone! We hadn't been back in YEARS (and wouldn't have remembered how to get there).

It was a precious gift from God to happen upon this place.

Hard to believe that I sat here, just 17 years old and in my first week of college, across from the man I was to marry...who all I knew of at the time was he was in Pastor's College and seemed way out of my league!

As you can imagine, stopping by Jimmie Cone sparked some fun and incredibly precious conversation on our drive!

We spent 3 beautiful days together at a cabin at Deep Creek Lake, in the mountains of Western Maryland.

I lived in Maryland for 19 years and never made it to deep creek. It was beautiful.

We stayed at an adorable little cabin owned by family friends.

The first two days we had fun exploring the area...

And took Ava on her first hike!

Precious girl slept the whole time.

She was almost like an invisible baby (not the norm for her :)

Day 3 we decided to expand our exploration and picked three fun places to visit: Berkeley Springs, WV; Antietam Battlefield in Maryland and Harper's Ferry, WV.

Joe planned the entire itinerary from our beloved "1,000 places to see in the US before you die" book. We LOVE exploring new places together.

Joe drinking genuine spring water in Berkley Springs.

Antietam was WAY more interesting than I ever anticipated.

We wished we could have stayed longer.

We loved our first two stops, but Harper's Ferry, WV was the all time favorite.

I cannot believe I lived so close all those years and never came here!

It was beautiful, quaint and had so much history.

And the icing on the cake was driving home on Skyline Drive:

But THE highlight of the trip was 3 whole days with my boy...who I'm still amazed wanted to marry me, that 17 year-old girl he met at a little ice cream stand 10 years ago.

My girls

2010-10-07T20:12:00.008-05:00

We're loving this warm fall weather (I'm not a fan of cold!).

The other evening I took some pics of the girls out back in their matching outfits from Pop-Pop and Ray-Ray. It doesn't seem to matter how hard I try, its virtually impossible to get three young kids to smile!

It usually goes like this...

first pic, not too bad

"can you all smile for me?"

Alathea does her model pose, Abi does her cheesy-smile and Ava cries

Ava stops crying, but Alathea starts to sing?

By now Abi's completely lost interest and Ava's had it

Daddy come's over and gets Ava's attention...

Although I'm not sure anything can help Abi's cheese-ball smile!

...aaand, Abi's totally done.

Funny how 30 seconds later, once told she can get up, Abi completely recovers...

my blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked, drool baby

A day in the life of Abigail

2010-09-30T21:00:00.010-05:00

Life with Abigail is FUN.

No question about it. She is our funny girl and the one always making us laugh.

With all that fun comes TROUBLE. Not always intentional trouble...

she's just a little whirlwind that leaves a wake behind her.

For example:

Dumping out an entire 5lb bag of sugar onto the kitchen floor seemed like a brilliant idea.

Not only could she "swim" in it...

...she could also lick it. Yum. One of Abigail's first loves is sugar, so I suppose she just wanted to enjoy it in its raw form. She was having a grand 'ole time...

...until mean old mom told her we don't lick food off the floor.

(Not to mention we don't take food out of the pantry and pour it all over the floor :)

In her defense, I think she was just trying to have fun and couldn't see what she could have possibly been doing wrong. In fact, when I asked her what she was doing, she informed me she was a "kitty who was hungry". OK, at least that explains it :)

She is our fun-loving adventurous girl who keeps life interesting and keeps us on our toes.

She produces more laughter and tears (in both her and me!) than the rest of our family put together.

Like I've mentioned before, our little whirlwind will pause for only two things: food and babies. She loves to eat. And she loves to be a tender little mommy.

Her latest feat has been potty-training herself. Yep, you heard that right. She doing this on her own. I'm not quite ready yet, but she's decided she's had enough of wet, yucky diapers.

Honestly, all I've done is provide the little pink potty she's been asking for. She's the one who every 10 minutes sprints to her beloved chair. She's been amazingly consistent all week. I guess I should be grateful! The only down side is this kid really does have to go every 10 minutes...which had made for some really, really long outings (as a result of 5 trips to the bathroom)

Out of all of her wonderful qualities, my favorite thing of all, is her affection. She is a total and complete snuggle bug. If she ruled the world, she'd sit on my lap all day long. She'd eat dinner on my lap, have me carry her from place to place and she'd sleep snuggled by my side all night long. She's my precious little mama's-girl.

I thought it would be fun for my middle child to get a post all to herself :) Joe keeps telling me to stop referring to Abigail as a "middle child", since that can have so many negative connotations. The reality is, she is sandwiched between a big and little sister. I think God perfectly created her for this role...and I hope she grows to love how special it is.

I mean that seriously.

11 weeks

2010-09-18T17:13:00.003-05:00

Sweet Ava Jean is just a few days shy of 3 months old.

Wow. That seems like such a big birthday in the first year of life.

No longer a newborn, fully into babyhood.

I have loved these past 12 weeks with my 3rd little girl.

Despite the craziness of the move and the constant care needed for my two big girls,

somehow I feel like I've still been able to sneak away and enjoy my precious baby.

Ava's been a much happier baby this past month. After two months of tummy pains and constant spit up, we decided to start her on Zantac, for her acid reflux. I hate putting her on meds at such an early age! But it had made her a much happier baby! Her crying spells and tummy pains have lessened so much, its only a rare occasion. That means more Ava smiles and coo's and also now day time naps not interrupted by spit-up. As you can imagine, this has made everything so much happier! With Ava being my first "fussy" baby, it has sure grown my compassion and respect for Mom's with true colicky baby's!!

I have looooved Ava's smiles!! She has such a happy, yet intense disposition. It reminds me sooo much of Alathea! Sometimes I have to remind myself which one of my baby girls I'm holding, it can feel like I've rewound the clock 4 1/2 years! Ava will stare you down, focusing intensely on your eyes and facial expressions. She loves to "talk" and will let you know she's not happy about you walking away if she's not finished. She's got that awesome "full body smile" I love so much about infants...they smile with their faces and then the whole body wiggles. So cute, especially because she always startles herself when she does it. As an added bonus, she started laughing this week.

I'm so grateful for this precious girl. I'm really loving being a Mom of three. Life is busy, busy, busy. I never seem to be able to get "everything done". Even the basics, like laundry and dinner can be hard to come by. And there is not a drop of down time. (I'm hoping one day just a bit of down time will return :) But I've really felt a lot of grace to enjoy this short, sweet season of my girls being little. The Lord's really helped me to keep proper perspective on what really matters. I know these years will fly by faster than I can imagine.

Melt my heart love

2010-09-16T21:11:00.004-05:00

I know I've said it before (like two posts ago :), but the love that Abigail has for her little sister totally melts me. Every morning Abi is soooo excited to see her "Ava-Bean". She crawls in my bed and rubs Ava's peach fuzz head. They smile back and forth for a few minutes. Its super sweet. And that baby doll Abigail is holding in her hand...thats "Ava Jean" too, in case you were wondering. And don't even think about trying to convince Abigail that she's not real :)

Ava is one blessed little girl with two adoring big sisters.

Two Months

2010-09-03T00:10:00.006-05:00

I should have posted this weeks ago, since Ava's almost 3 months now.

But for my own sake, I'm posting these anyways, since I know I'll love looking back at her sweet face as she's growing all too quickly! Updates to come soon!

the littles

2010-09-03T00:02:00.003-05:00

I thought it would be fun to see how the girls size up next to each other...

Its funny how there isn't much of a stair step with Abigail in the middle :)

She's almost the size of her big sister!

.4 Years.

2010-08-21T10:39:00.001-05:00

4 years have passed by since I've seen my Mom's sweet face!

Its hard to believe its been so long.

She's picture above holding Alathea at 7 weeks old.

This is just 4 months before she died.

How I wish she could be here holding Ava right now.

God's ways are mysterious.

But His ways are perfect and loving and good.

And my faith is stronger, joy's richer and my heart ever more grateful after having to walk through losing my Mom. Its true that God is so near as you walk through the dark valley's of life. And some of the deepest sorrows in life, result in the richest blessings of the soul.

One of these day's I hope to share some of those sweet blessings,

rich things I've learned as a result of walking through the season of Mom's sickness and death.

With today being Ava's 2 month birthday, and the 4 year anniversary of Mom's death,

I'm all the more reminded of the song:

"He gives and takes away,

He gives and takes away,

but I will choose to say

Blessed be the Name of the Lord"

::So Sweet::

2010-08-17T23:43:00.002-05:00

The way this girl adores her baby sister just melts. my. heart.

Any time I hear Ava crying and head to help her, I'm quickly passed by a little 2-year-old rushing to help her baby sister. Abigail is so good at caring for Ava and you can tell already that Ava knows her. Its so sweet. I'm excited to watch them grow up together :)

Six weeks of Ava Jean

2010-08-12T22:39:00.009-05:00

Our little bean has been around for over six weeks now. So much had happened in the past 6 weeks, and there has been so much change, it feels like she's been part of our lives for soooo much longer than that!

Ava has quite the little personality. She will definitely let you know if she's happy or not. She reminds me so much of Alathea at this age. Both in looks and personality. Sometimes I'll look at Ava and have to remember which baby girl I'm holding. Its a funny feeling...like a flash back in time since our girls look so similar as babies.

Poor girl has had some real struggles with her tummy. Its hard to know for sure whats going on. Even though she's quite "opinionated" in personality, its pretty obvious that at various times throughout the day, she's not just unhappy, she's in pain. It may be as simple as an immature digestive system that she'll soon grow out of. But we're trying to rule out other things in case its more than that. This week I'm trying to go dairy free at the recommendation of my doctor and others. I'm only on day two and haven't noticed any drastic improvement yet, but plan to stick out at least a week. The doctor also mentioned a possible mild acid reflux. She's typically unhappy right after I feed her and spits up tons, so that may be a good guess too. It sure is a guessing game with a newborn! Any suggestions you may have, send my way!

A HUGE answer to prayer is that the little girlie is now finally sleeping at night! The first 4 weeks of her life she would not (really could not) sleep more than 20 minutes at a time. We quickly learned that each time she woke up she was covered in spit-up...poor girl. She'd sleep fine when we would hold her. We could comfort her quickly back to sleep when she'd spit up. Needless to say, we were exhausted staying up all night. I may get reprimanded admitting this, but once we switched and had her sleep on her tummy, she started sleeping at night! She still wakes up to eat, but sleeps in between feedings! Hallelujah!

I'm now slowly making progress on getting her to sleep soundly for naps during the day. My other girls were amazing sleepers from birth, so having one that struggles with sleep is a new experience. She struggles to stay asleep for her naps for the same reason as she did at night. But we're making progress and she's so much happier when she's napping on a regular schedule. Even though its a bit challenging not having a regular daily napper yet, I'm not complaining since I'm getting some sleep at night now!! Those four weeks of no night time sleep put a new perspective on everything!

The sweetest thing of all is the HUGE full body smiles and happy coo's I get from my baby girl!

When her tummy's not hurting, she's a total delight and happy little thing. I'm so grateful for my sweet girl.

M.I.A.

2010-08-06T23:44:00.003-05:00

I've been MIA for the past couple weeks.

Just thought I'd give a little update on our post-move life.

Besides loving these three cutie's, here's what we've been up to these past two weeks...

.We're nicely settled into our rental home.

We got unpacked right away and have loved a big backyard with a play set!

And Joe's loved having a basketball hoop. And I love a pool just up the road.

.Joe & I celebrated 8 sweet years of marriage.

We enjoyed a lovely all day date with Ava in tow.

It included IKEA, BRAVO's and the movie Inception.

I LOVED having a whole day to enjoy my boy.

.Ava started sleeping at night.

(notice I didn't say through the night, just at night :)

This has been HUGE! We're still wondering if she may have mild acid reflux.

Poor girl spits up so much, making it difficult for her to stay asleep more than 20 mins at a time during the day still.

.Joe hurt his right hand pretty bad during a softball game.

He most likely tore some ligaments in his fingers...we're waiting on MRI results to confirm.

Poor guys hand is swollen and its been difficult for him to type or write (pretty essential at his job, especially since he's preaching the next two Sunday's).

.Alathea's been going to a Vacation Bible Camp all week and loving it.

Its at a small Presbyterian church up the road. One of her little buddies didn't want to go without a friend, so Alathea went with her. We're so glad she went. She's loved every minute of it! We'll definitely look for more next year. And Abigail has loved getting lots of alone time with me while Alathea's been gone. Just what Abi needed in this season.

.We're loving our three girls.

One thing for sure is that what little "down time" that once existed is gone. I'm doing really, really good if I can squeeze in lunch and a 20 minute work out video (the big girls do it with me :). Today I showered at 5pm...which I hope counts for tomorrow's shower too :) Although I may not have "me time" (free time) anymore...I am loving days full of my three girls. The past two weeks have been full of...reading stories, swinging on the swing set, running through the sprinkler, going to the pool, playdates, story time at the library, teaching the girls how to do chores and lots and lots of time holding my tiniest baby girl. Our life has simplified...we're not out and about quite as much. Yet we feel quite busy at home at the same time. Never a dull moment around here anymore! These are incredibly busy, yet incredibly sweet days.

goodbye little home

2010-08-06T23:04:00.002-05:00

After months of waiting and wondering if our little house would actually sell and go to settlement, it actually did. On Ava's 1 month birthday we officially sold our home to another. While I've had months knowing that this day was eventually coming, I was still caught by surprise how sad I was to leave that sweet place. The Lord blessed us beyond measure in that little home of 8 years...the one we've came home to after our honeymoon and the one we've brought each of our three baby girls home too.

Even though we closed on July 21st, we were given such sort notice of the closing (try 1 1/2 hours...this whole deal has been crazy) that we had the rest of the week to pack and move out. Praise God for the army of helpers that literally packed us, moved us and unpacked us. God clearly took care of our every need...even ones we didn't know about. Everything happened so fast and I was still in my up all night with a newborn fog that I hardly knew what needed to be done. Some days people just showed up unannounced to pack up our kitchen or take our laundry or to clean. We closed on our house and began packing on a Tuesday and by Friday we were moved and unpacked in our new house! All thanks to my husband who worked 24/7 and that army of servants that came to our rescue. I was floored by the sacrificial love shown to our family. This situation...moving with a newborn...was the very thing I dreaded, yet God has proven me wrong yet again. His ways are far greater than I can imagine.

On Thursday we went back to our little house one last time. It was a trip down memory lane seeing it with no furniture...it reminded me of when we first moved in as newlyweds!

I'll certainly miss our little backyard.

Our last meal in our house.

We moved into a rental house owned by some sweet friends who recently relocated and are trying to sell their house. It was sitting vacant while on the market so it was the perfect solution for us to move into for a little while. It gives us time to look for a new house without the time pressure. Its a lovely house with a huge backyard that the girls are loving. I'm so grateful that the girls and Joe love this temporary home so much and haven't thought twice about the one we left! As for me, I'm so grateful to be in a house that serves our family so well. But I still have moments that I miss the familiar and what felt like home. I've gone back to our old house to pick up mail twice and even went inside our old house this last time. The new owner just loves it and although it may sound silly, that makes me really happy.

One Month

2010-07-21T23:09:00.000-05:00

In the midst of the packing and moving craziness our sweet Ava Jean turns One Month Old today! Seems like she's been part of our lives for so much longer than that! We just adore our little girlie. And even though sleep is still lacking in a big way, this has been one of the sweetest months of my life!

Here are some pics of our 3rd little blue-eyed girlie with her eyes open...

Our One Month old sweetheart

the big girls

2010-07-21T00:09:00.000-05:00

With this being most likely our last night in our house, (and Ava keeping me up a good bit of it) I've been thinking so much about how this is the only home Alathea and Abigail have ever known. So many memories in every corner of this house and yard. God has been so kind to bless us with this home for almost 8 sweet years!

I still remember vividly bringing this little baby girl home from the hospital.

I remember where she learned to crawl and walk and all the dance parties she's had with her Daddy in the kitchen while eating breakfast.

I remember Abi learning to "crawl" backward across our living room and Alathea feeding her first baby food on our front porch and the totally goofy face she made tasting greenbeans for the first time. And the watching the sweetness of sisterhood blossom right before my eyes as I'd hear giggles coming out of their bedroom at night or walk in on Abi sitting on Alathea's lap reading a story.

This is a house full of sweet memories.

We made a few more the past few days...

I'm not a big fan of change and if I could choose we'd live in this little home forever (with an addition :), but I am sooo grateful for the memories and that these little people are coming with us on the next adventure.

Meeting the Grandparents

2010-07-20T13:05:00.000-05:00

One week after Ava came home from the hospital my Dad & Rachel came to visit for 5 days.

They came to meet little Ava, but also to serve. Joe & I were blown away at how they blessed and served us from the moment they arrived. For our big girls it meant getting a coupon book in the mail a few days before Pop-Pop and Ray-Ray arrived. The book was full of coupons full of fun adventures that Pop-Pop & Ray-Ray would take them on once here. It also meant Christmas in July for all three girls as Dad & Rachel blessed them with so many fun and thoughtful gifts...perfect timing for Alathea & Abigail to get so much individual attention!

And I was blessed by getting sweet time with Ava Jean and lots of extra much needed rest while my big girls were out having one of the best weeks of their lives! And when Dad & Rachel brought the big girls home for naps, Rachel would clean and do laundry and then they'd take us out to dinner. We were so blessed by their visit!! I sooo wish they lived closer to us.

Pop-Pop and Ray-Ray with their crazy little grand-babies

We ventured up to Birkdale one evening for some pizza, live music and the fountains

Some pictures of sweet Ava at 2 weeks:

so tiny

i adore baby feet

we also got to spend time at Grammy & Grandpa's

Ava is a blessed girl with so many family members who love her.

Moving

2010-07-19T12:03:00.003-05:00

I hesitate to say this, because with our house selling history anything is possible, but it appears that we are moving...today. I knew this was a possibility, but so many closing dates have been possible these past few months that I stopped taking them too seriously. But it actually looks like most likely we will be closing on our house tomorrow. We won't know for certain until sometime (hopefully) this afternoon. I know that sounds crazy, but thats how this deal has been rolling. So starting this morning its been a day that has felt like total chaos and unclarity and tears. I hate change, and these crazy post-birth hormones aren't helping! I keep walking room to room and crying because of some memory there, then look outside and see the Connolly's and Ross' house and can't imagine not having our friends across the street. All that said, please keep us in your prayers! For me and the kiddos emotionally (I should be grateful for the Lord's provision in a buyer) and for Joe practically. Fortunately since this isn't your typical deal, the buyers (we think) are fine with us being in our house a day or so past closing...but this still feels like a bit of a rush (especially with three little ones in tow). And if you enjoy packing or unpacking or watching 2 & 4 year olds, let us know...we could use a good bit of help!

three weeks old

2010-07-18T12:06:00.005-05:00

some pictures of our 3 week old sleeping beauty.

she's still not sleeping that soundly at night.

i need to do a better job of getting sweet baby girl on a better sleep routine.

i think that would serve her and the family quite a bit.

it just requires me to pay attention all through out the day, not as easy as i would have thought with the big girls running around all day!

i'll post some "awake" pictures of her soon!

.three.

2010-07-17T21:17:00.005-05:00

It's been three weeks now since Ava's birth and I can still hardly wrap my brain around the fact that we are parents to three beautiful little girls. Three kids sounds like a serious family. I thought having a mini-van made me feel grown up, now I feel like I'm a serious grown up! (Although I tried to by fireworks at the grocery store on the 4th with no ID and they didn't believe me that I was really over 18...haha!).

As much as I'd like to stay a kid forever myself, I wouldn't trade being a Mom to these three little ones for the world. But I must say that going from 2-3 kiddos hasn't been without some seriously "stretching" moments. I like to call it "growing pains"...when you enter a new season of life that requires the Lord to grow your capacity...its not without some bumps or pains along the way.

Going from 1-2 kids was a very challenging transition for me, far more than 2-3 has been. But I've still been surprised by how many changes and unique challenges adding a 3rd little one to our family has brought about.

For example...

*I didn't realize how out numbered Joe & I would feel as parents. We went from a comfortable "man to man" defense to "zone" and I think we're still having to work out the kinks in the game plan.

*I'm sad that I no longer can hold all my children at once. I've tried many different ways, but its really, really difficult to have three little ones on your lap at the same time. (I can't even count how the times they all three want me at the same time).

*I'm pleasantly surprised at how Alathea & Abigail's relationship has only grown deeper adding another sister. They really are best buddies (which is totally sweet to watch). But I had NO idea that they'd also turn into "double trouble" as we like to call it. Abigail has been little miss trouble since she could walk, but Alathea never used to attempt the things they are doing together now. We still aren't sure who the brain is behind their stunts, but somehow they give each other the courage when attempting things together. I'm learning that nursing the baby and the house being silent at the same time is a very, very bad combination (meaning...find the big girls now).

* I never expected to hear the question, "Mom, are we going to keep Ava?" Alathea seriously wanted to know the other day. I told her, yes, we were definitely planning on keeping her. Then asked what else might we do with her little sister? She replied without skipping a beat, "Give her to Miss Liz". She informed me that Miss Liz (her most favorite Liz Connolly who lives across the street) needed a baby, and that we should ask her if she wanted Ava. But that we needed to wait until "Mike" (her husband) wasn't around. Fortunately I think I've straightened things out with Alathea and she is totally fine with us keeping Ava :)

* I had no idea how having a newborn would make Abigail seem so, so grown up. Like overnight. I headed to the hospital with Abi as my baby girl, and now she seems like 2 years older.

* I never expected that adding a 3rd little one would require Alathea to instantly have to grow up. She really misses riding in the stroller (and I think would be happy if I bought a triple stroller). And she is lonely all the way in the back of the van by herself. But she's an amazing help...getting diapers for me and snacks for Abi. I'm so grateful she's my first born.

* I never in a million years imagined I could completely forget to feed my baby. Especially with her screaming for 45 minutes straight! Seriously, the other afternoon I could not figure out how to comfort Ava...I thought I had tried everything...I even gave her a bath, which usually always soothes her. Poor thing would not stop crying. It never once crossed my mind she could be hungry. I know that sounds crazy!! I'm telling you, my brain is not working right! It finally hit me that right when she started crying was when she was due to eat. Poor little baby. I felt terrible, and now am trying to offer to feed her right away when she cries, just in case I forgot a feeding again :)

* I never thought it possible to be scared to be left alone with my own kids. I know that sounds terrible, but I was genuinely fearful the night before I had the kids all day by myself! I also cried when Joe went back to work. God did sustain me, and I'm learning to rely completely on him throughout the day. And I'm hoping with the Lord's help I'll eventually get the hang of this.

* I never thought it was possible to feel this tired yet still (somewhat) function. The past three weeks of very little sleep has added new meaning to "Gods grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in weakness".

* I always expected that my babies would progressively get easier. That had been the case so far. (Abigail was soooo easy as a baby). But we've got our most challenging baby on our hands right now (mix that with our most challenging toddler and its been quite the combo!). Ava isn't a difficult baby, but I also wouldn't call her super easy either. I think if we could get her to sleep better at night (she still is having trouble sleeping soundly between nightly feedings) she'd be a little angel :)

* I also never imagined I could possibly love Joe more. But this not-so-easy tranistion season has only caused me to fall more in love with him. He has served me and the girls so joyfully. He comes home and gives himself fully to playing with the big girls, helping me with the baby, cleaning up the house...basically loving and serving his family, despite his own fatigue. He brings so much joy to our family and knows how to make me laugh even when I'm so tired that on my own I'd want to cry. I simply love living life with him. I'm a very grateful woman.

Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg! I don't want to bore you with too many of my "discoveries" as a new mom to three. Let's just say I'm expecting there to be a huge learning curve. I'm adding things back into my life slowly am just starting to peek back into the outside world. As much work as it is, these past few weeks have been some of the sweetest of my entire life. I don't think Joe & I have ever yawned and smiled so much simultaneously as we have these past few weeks :)

Two weeks with baby Ava

2010-07-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

Sweet Ava has now been a part of our family for over two weeks!

I'm still amazed when I look at all THREE children God has blessed us with.

THREE. That's crazy. It seems like Joe & I are just kids ourselves!

But we are enjoying them so much.

The transition has been easier than I thought. Joe took off a week from work...

that was one of the sweetest weeks ever. He took the big girls on little adventures every day and I stayed home sleeping and snuggling with sweet Ava Jean. What a precious gift those days were! Having Joe around made the transition so much easier for the big girls too.

Please don't be fooled by all these sweet sleeping pictures of Ava.

She is sweet. But she doesn't always sleep...especially at night. Well, actually she does sleep, but only when Joe or myself are holding her. I know this is just a season, and eventually she'll become a better sleeper at night. But currently we've had some serious sleepless nights!

And Ava is little miss personality from day one. She came out screaming and she's continued to speak her mind as she's gotten older :) She really not a fussy baby...but I wouldn't call her laid back either. She just seems to have an opinion about things already and chooses to share it.

I'm loving these sweet newborn days very much, but am tempted to wonder how long it will take me to get back into the swing of "real life". If I had to guess, it will take a long time.

When Abigail was 2 weeks old, I was already taking both girls on outings daily.

At this point with three kids, I'm beginning to wonder if the outside world will ever see me again! I'm just grateful for all the friends that keep coming by...its keeping me from getting lonely for sure!

I have been blessed to have so much alone time with baby girl. I never imagined I would get so much with my 3rd baby. With Joe home almost a week and my Dad & Rachel visiting (post coming soon) and countless friends taking my girls for mornings here and there have added up to some incredibly sweet times with my baby that I'm treasuring.

I adore this picture. All three girls piled on the chair with their Daddy.

He is one seriously blessed man. And he knows it :)

Alathea is transitioning wonderfully. She loves Ava and is a huge, huge help!

I feel like she's my little errand girl, constantly getting things for me.

Its obvious she's done this big sister thing before.

Abigail on the other hand, seems to love her baby sister, but also seems to seriously miss her Mommy. She's been much more weepy and sometimes just needs to sit in my lap for a good long cuddle. I honestly expected all this. But I'm amazed how going from "Man to Man" defense in parenting to "Zone" makes us feel like one kid is getting left out all the time! I think we're still in the "growing pain" and stretching season of learning how to effectively love and parent three kids. But were confident the Lord will continue to help us do so!

(And any thoughts or tips are always welcome!)

We are grateful beyond words to all our family and friends who have served us these past two weeks...with meals and cleaning and by watching our big girls. I can't imagine how we'd survive without you all!! You've made this season so sweet.

I'll leave you with one last picture of our sweet Ava Jean:

Ava's "Birth Story"

2010-07-08T16:20:00.001-05:00

Sorry if the title of this post makes your cringe!

I only write this because asking how labor & delivery went is one of those questions I get asked with every (female) visitor that comes by!

Anyways, here is a little summary of the day Ava Jean was born...

It was Monday morning, June 21st, and I woke up 8 days past my due date,

with not a hint of labor in sight!

I had an OB appointment at 9am.

They did the "non stress test" to check on the baby's movements.

All was great, just like it was a few days earlier.

Then they did a sonogram which showed surprisingly low levels of amnionic fluid.

So low, that my doctor looked at me and said,

"looks like your having a baby today.

Try to be at the hospital within the hour."

Yikes. I must admit I was a little worried about baby girl. I even cried on the way home.

The next hour was a whirlwind. We rushed to pack our bags and figure out what to do with our big girls. We took them to Steve & Lizzy's and then headed uptown for our 3rd induction!

Our last picture as a family of four,

taken just before we left the Honea's.

And the last picture of little miss Ava in my belly!

Its hard to believe just hours later she was out!

So we headed to the hospital and arrived around 1:30pm (quite a bit more than an hour later!)

By 2:30pm I was all hooked up and the pitocin was flowing.

Going into the hospital I was only 1cm, so it took a good 2 hours to get into active labor.

During this time Joe & I enjoyed trying to finalize baby girls name (we didn't want to wait until she was 3 days old like with Abigail) and watched the world cup.

There are some perks to being induced :)

Around 4:30-5 pm I was feeling the contractions big time and they were only about 2 minutes apart, so they ordered an epidural. At this point I was still just 3cm.

About an hour later the epidural was good and we wondered if little miss Ava was going to be born that day or take her sweet time. Within 20 minutes I started shaking and sweating and feeling off...and the baby's heartbeat was going crazy with each contraction. This was exactly what happened with Abigail once I got the epidural. In my mind I kept thinking, "I think my body's going trough transition"...but if course the nurses didn't think to check since just minutes before I was only 3cm.

About 30 minutes later the nurse came in to turn down the pitocin since my contractions were crazy and less than a minute apart! (when she told me that I thought- Thank God for epidurals!) Ava's heart rate continued to fluctuate with each contraction so they had me laying on my side (just like with Abigail...this was all very familiar). I finally asked the nurse if she's mind just checking to see if I'd made progress (in the back of my mind knowing that with Abigail I went from 3-10cm in an hour once I got the epidural). And sure enough when she did she said, "I see her head...its crowning". So within 10 minutes my doctor walked in and 1 push later Ava Jean was born!

Ava came out screaming!

A happy sign to me that she was alive.

The moment she was born I teared up.

I think with all that we've had going on in our lives these past 9 months,

I hadn't fully wrapped my mind around the fact that we were about to have a new life added to our family. It was a sweet moment.

For the next 30 minutes Ava continued to cry.

She was showing her feisty personality from the start!

They had to suction fluid out of her lungs that she swallowed during delivery.

Other than that, she looked wonderfully healthy.

Once Ava was snuggled up to us she was all better.

Just as thrilled to hold his 3rd baby girl as the 1st time!

I look like I just ran a marathon...haha!

We're so grateful for this precious blessing!

Our Flower Baby

2010-07-04T22:58:00.007-05:00

Joe's been singing this to Ava since she was born:

"Ava Jean,

my southern belle,

beauty queen,

prettiest little girl I've ever seen"

I love walking in on him singing to her

(he gets all quiet when he discovers I'm listening :)

He also calls Ava our "little flower baby".

I thinks its due to the fact that she's our first warm weather baby.

But also because we've been having fun with the spring/summer baby girls clothes and flower headbands....something totally new for us with our 3rd baby girl.

My Aunt Jeanie sent Ava these flower headbands, along with bunches more.

Lets just say I've had fun "dressing up my doll baby" in them!

Having a newborn makes me seriously wish I were better at photography.

At least I have fun with them those sleepy first few weeks!

We're totally loving our little Ava Jean.

Meeting the big sisters

2010-06-23T16:00:00.018-05:00

Our three little girls

The morning after Ava Jean was born,

Grammy and Big Sisters were the very first to come visit.

Alathea & Abigail have been waiting for weeks and week to finally meet "Baby Sister"

They were surprisingly hesitant when they first arrived.

They were not quite ready to hold baby sister.

In fact it took them a good 20 minutes of just staring at her (notice Abi's face above), and Alathea asking over and over exactly how she got out of my tummy, before they were ready to hold her themselves!

Surprisingly, Abigail was the first to want to hold her.

Her first moment as a Big Sister...

I'd say she took to it quite naturally.

She was pretty mesmerized by little Ava.

It was a precious moment.

We got a picture of our new family of five.

And Grammy got to snuggle with her 6th Grandbaby.

All before Alathea was "ready" to hold her newest little sister...

This is the face (above) that she had all morning.

She's my emotional girl, probably flooded with all kinds of thoughts in this moment.

But almost instantly she was smitten with baby Ava herself...

All better now. And a very proud Big Sister.

Before they left, Abigail wanted one more time to hold Ava, whom she calls,

"My baby sister Ava Jean"

Overnight Abigail looks like such a big girl now. Amazing how that happens.

Our big girls are adjusting to life with a new baby sister wonderfully.

Not without an extra dose of crying and misbehaving mixed in...but overall the sweet times are dominating the challenging ones. Having Daddy home has helped a TON! He's been taking them on special dates every day.

Ava isn't fond of sleeping at night without being all snuggled up to one of us, so we're dealing with some real sleepless nights. But we're grateful for our precious newborn and know how sweet and fleeting these days are. So we're enjoying them!

Ava Jean

2010-06-23T08:51:00.013-05:00

Ava Jean Lechner

June 21st, 2010

8:55pm

8lbs 1oz, 21 inches

We are totally in love with this little girl already.

And overwhelmed with gratefulness to God for this precious blessing.

Three precious blessings.

More pictures and stories to come soon...

Heading to the Hospital

2010-06-21T10:34:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to post a little update saying that we're heading to the hospital now, around Noon on Monday. I went to the DR this morning and my fluids looked a tad low, so she felt better with me heading today, rather than waiting until the morning! Even though we're 8 days late, I still feel a bit unprepared! Had to pack my bags the past 30 minutes. Anyways, we're dropping the kiddo's off at a friends and heading to CMC Main. Keep us in your prayers and we'll try and keep you posted!

Baby Girl Update

2010-06-17T20:52:00.003-05:00

Baby girl is now 5 days past her due date! It's funny to think how Alathea & Abigail were both induced on the 5th day after D-day....it makes it seem like this one should be born today. I'd love for this sweet girl to come on her own, so we're just waiting, hoping to not have to be induced. She's not showing many signs of wanting out though! For three weeks now I've been at 1cm. Each time I go in for my OB appointment, they tell me..."we'll maybe you're now just barely more than 1cm". I think they just tell me that to make me feel better! Today I went in to do a routine stress-test and fluid check since I'm almost a week past due. Everything looked great. As if she could stay in there happily a few more weeks :) I go again on Monday for another one. And if she's not born by then, my doctor (and Joe) would like me to be induced on Tuesday, June 22nd. I'd love for her to come on Fathers Day...but my gut feeling is that she'll wait until the 22nd. While we're not sure when she's coming, one thing the sonogram was load and clear about is that this is definitely another girlie! Not that we questioned that at all, but its always nice to have clear confirmation. So now we're just waiting and praying and preparing (and still working on a name)! And we're very excited to meet her!

My Big Girls

2010-06-17T01:22:00.005-05:00

.I.

.Love.

.Them.

.So.

.Very Much.

I'm cherishing every minute I get with these little ones before another baby girl enters my life. (Well, its hard to cherish the moments of whining and crying...but I'm loving the rest :)

I love how having a baby makes you pause and evaluate what is really important in life. Its so easy to get wrapped up in "doing things" and forget about investing in and enjoying the people you love...especially little ones who require constant work!

My awesome friend Liz took the girls out back one night and took some sweet shots of them. They turned out great considering we were attacked by swarms of mosquito's!

These pretty girls are growing so fast...

Lately I've thought a lot about this...

"I hope my child looks back on today
and remembers a Mum who had time to play
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
But children grow up when we are not looking
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
Because babies grow fast, we learn to our sorrow
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I'm cuddling my baby, and babies don't keep"

(abbreviated "Song for a 5th Child" by Ruth Hamilton)

I only wish I knew a way

to keep them from growing up

so, so quickly.

Happy Birthday to my Love!

2010-06-16T08:45:00.001-05:00

Can't believe it was almost 10 years ago when I met him...

and fell for him instantly.

I feel so blessed to have literally spent my entire adult life by his side!!

When I first fell for him I, I knew he was incredibly handsome, loved God with every bit of his heart and would be a total blast to live the rest of my life with. I knew he'd be one amazing husband who loved me passionately, led me in humility and cared for me tenderly.

But one thing I never imagined he'd be...

one incredible dad to these little girls!

Joe grew up with all brothers and was quite the manly man.

But while I never imagined it then, God perfectly crafted him to be the best Dad these little girls could ever ask for.

The best part of his birthday so far has been when Joe told Alathea how old he was and she said, "Wow, Dad! You almost as tall as our house!"

Interpreting the mind of a 4 year old: thats old!

In fact, she's been practicing all week just to count as high as his new age :)

All joking aside, these girls adore him!

(photo credits: Jason Kovacs Photography)

And so do I!

Happy Birthday, Love!!

9 Months...and Happy Due Date!!

2010-06-13T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe little girls due date is actually here!

I guess that makes me 10 months, right? I get confused with all that. But today I am officially 40 weeks. And I'm beyond excited to meet this little one!

I've really had to wait to begin most of the typical preparations for this baby (which was really, really hard for me), with our closing date and move getting pushed back every few days. Its seemed like a move has been just a few days away for the past 4 weeks. At this point, everything is still headed in the direction of our house closing, but we're looking at the end of June, best case scenario. We're praying that everything can get processed before June 30th, our buyers deadline to meet the requirements for the $8,000 1st time home buyer tax credit. If not, our deal may fall apart. But God is in total control of that...and I'm leaving it completely in his hands.

The beautiful thing about this past week has been not thinking about the move and just focusing on the baby coming!! Its been so sweet. And so good for my heart to prepare for her arrival. So all just this week, I've washed and put away little clothes and put out little diapers and assembled her bassinet and searched for our baby items and borrowed and set up a changing table to house all her little pink baby stuff (after three girls, I'm still not tired of seeing pink!). Even in our little house, which is half packed up, we've carved out most of our "office" and set it up like a mini nursery. She doesn't have much...but its amazing what a few pink polka dot canvas boxes on a changing table holding itty-bitty pink baby clothes and diapers can do to a Momma's heart in helping her get excited to meet her little one!

I love how having a baby forces you to slow down and gain such a wonderful perspective on life. I've been enjoying these past few days & weeks with my "big girls". They are at such precious ages, at 2 and 4. I'm sobered at how fast they are growing up too! So I'm trying to savor every drop of this sweet season of motherhood. A grateful heart is so good for the soul! And with all that's been going on in our lives the past few weeks, its been a sweet season of depending on the Lord. I've been desperately needing and relying on his Word! That's a great place to be in!

And for the first time in 3 pregnancies I can say I actually "feel pregnant". I'm beginning to relate to all the discomfort and pain that I've heard others talk about! Fortunately, its summer, and the pool has to be the best place in the world for someone 9 months pregnant. It has brought such relief to be in the water with the feeling of weightlessness. And the huge added bonus is that there is no place my kids would rather be than the pool too! So a huge thanks to all my friends who let me bum at their pools!!

I go to my OB early Monday morning. Last week I was a whopping 1cm dilated (all my close friends know that is quite an accomplishment for me!!), so we'll see if anything else is new! I'm hoping to go into labor on my own this time. We'll see what God has planned. It could be an exciting next two weeks...

A new Mini-Van Mama

2010-06-03T13:08:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I got an unexpected special day with my boy in the midst of this crazy season.

With our third little one on the way, we were forced to bite the bullet and become a mini-van family. This still seems a little weird to me, even though we've been married almost 8 years and have almost 3 children. Maybe its doing college ministry...somehow Joe & I don't see ourselves as old enough to own a mini-van :)

Regardless of how we feel, we do own one now!

And one of the best perks was that we bought one that had to be picked up in Charleston, SC. One of our friends helped us get another incredible deal (he helped us with our last car too), finding one far nicer than we expected to be able to afford. He searched far and wide and fortunately found the best deal in a lovely city!

After we took care of the business side of things and bought the van, we drive the 5 miles into Historic Charleston for a lovely break before the long ride home.

It turned into such an unexpected sweet day together. We had 4 hours in the car just the two of us on the ride down, and then a few hours strolling through this lovely city. It almost felt like a mini-get-a-way before this baby comes.

We swung on the swings at waterfront park and even ran through the kiddie fountains (it was SO hot!!). The we ate an early dinner, followed by a walk to the battery and back to the market. We covered a lot in 2 1/2 hours!

I'm so grateful that with 8 hours of driving and all that walking I felt amazing all day! I think thats the effect that time alone with Joe has on me!

We got home late and walked the kiddos home from Mike & Liz's house...and even in their half-asleep state they were SO excited to see a van! I was surprised they even cared. They spent a good hour this morning playing in it while parked in our driveway. Funny little girls.

Here she is. Our shiny new mini-van.

And despite the fact that I don't feel old enough to have one, I have to admit they are pretty nice to have. And this one is far more than I expected or deserved, but I think it will serve our family very well over the years.

And despite all his joking, Joe really, really likes it too :) Maybe even more than I do!

I'm afraid we may be turning into this!

living with uncertainty...

2010-05-30T12:29:00.006-05:00

The past few weeks we've been taking life a day at a time. There is much work that lies ahead in the weeks to come, but much of it we can't give ourselves to yet. Looking ahead at this upcoming month I can feel a lot of uncertainty...Will we be moving or not? When will this take place? Will this baby girl be born in the middle of total chaos...with boxes and things everywhere?

I was wrestling with thoughts like these last night as I was trying to drift off to sleep. And then I was reminded of a quote I had read on my friend, Megan's blog a few weeks ago (she, by the way, always posts the best quotes...always so encouraging to my soul). I read it once again, and my soul was once again strengthened:

.gracious uncertainty.

“Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life:
gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.
To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways,
we do not know what a day may bring forth.
This is generally said with a sigh of sadness,
it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation.
We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God.
Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest,
He packs our life with surprises all the time…
We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next.
…when we are rightly related to God,
life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy…

Leave the whole thing to Him,
it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in,
but He will come.
Remain loyal to Him.”

_oswald chambers

I feel uncertain of exactly what these next few weeks will hold. I know we most likely will be facing a lot of change...moving from our first and only home, moving to a temporary home, getting a car big enough for three little ones and having a third sweet girl born into our family...and change is not something I particularly like or am good at adjusting to. And I definitely do not enjoy all this uncertainty. But that is part of what living the Christian life is all about:

"We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God."

I'm praying for the grace to continue to live just a day at a time. At peace with the uncertainty. At peace with our closing date being moved back week after week (its now June 15th, best case scenario...my due date is the 13th). I may be uncertain about all the changes and circumstances this next month may hold. BUT I AM CERTAIN OF GOD. And thank God he knows and controls and ordains every detail of my life, and he promises it will be good (Romans 8:28)... maybe not my preference, but ultimately for my good. I'm resting there.

Holden Beach

2010-05-14T13:06:00.011-05:00

May 1-8th we had an incredible week at the beach with some of our dearest friends.

The Swans, Seavers and our family shared a 5 bedroom, ocean front house (which we got for sooo cheap) in Holden Beach.

It was one incredible week at the beach!

Daddy & his girls.

The kiddo's:

Kathryn, Abi, Daniel, Emma, Alathea, Sarah Evelyn and Ali.

Six girls and one lone boy! He's one lucky boy in years to come!

We had tons of "friends time", yet still managed to get tons of "family time" too.

Alathea's favorite beach activity: chasing the sea gulls!

Being the first week of May, we literally had the beach to ourselves!

Below: our beach house.

One very awesome bonus was that the house had a hot tub.

Any day that was overcast all the kids piled in their "pool"

And the adults enjoyed it in the evenings.

It had a sweet view of the ocean:

The big boys had fun together.

They played golf two times together (and practiced on the beach:)

They also played bocce ball and fished. Joe & Nick caught fish a few afternoons.

The weather was lovely and the kids had no problem playing in the ocean.

I'm loving those curls!

Ali definitely won cute baby award!

Digging holes, making castles and looking for sand crabs were daily activities.

Little Mermaids.

Joe & I are convinced that the beach, especially with extended family or friends, is the best vacation with little kids. Our kids are so happy at the beach!

Moving Update

2010-05-13T13:07:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update on our pending move. God has blessed us with dear friends who have provided a wonderful house for us to rent...it has tons of space and a big back yard with a swing set that the kiddo's will love. We'll stay there until the baby is born and we get a chance to look for a home to buy. This is a huge answer to prayer!

On the flip side, things with our contract seem to be moving slow, to say the least. For an entire week our Realtor tried to get in contact with the buyers agent, and he got zero response to phone calls or e-mails. It was quite bizarre. We started to wonder if this was going to be another deal that will just fall apart.

Yesterday he did get in contact with the agent and her broker, and they say everything is on as planned. The good thing is it seems that things will eventually, Lord willing, progress. But the near future still seems somewhat of a mystery....as we are supposed to close on May 21st...that is 8 days from now. And we've yet to hear word of her loan, appraisal and have yet to set a date for an inspection. A funny situation we are in! But fortunately, one that God is in complete control of!

On a happy note, just 4 weeks from my due date!! And we got to see the sweet little thing on Tuesday morning during a sonogram. She's looking great. She's definitely a girl and seems to be even smaller than the other girlie's (although over 5 lbs right now!). And the 3D pictures look just like her sisters. It'll be fun to meet her soon!

5 more weeks...

2010-05-10T14:28:00.003-05:00

My due date is less than 5 weeks away (June 13th).

Hard to believe I am almost 9 months pregnant.

Life feels quite unsettled right now, as we are approaching a move that is right now scheduled for May 21st. Our buyers loan paperwork has not completely gone through yet, so even though our closing date is less than 2 weeks away, we are "sitting tight" as much as we can, until we know for certain we're moving. That is easier said than done, when every ounce of me just wants to "nest" and get things in order for this little girls arrival.

I have such a mixture of emotions about moving. I tear up every so often at the thought of leaving this little home. Then I'm temptation to be anxious if the deal falls through. Its hard to imagine having to put our house on the market yet again. Then I'm tempted to feel overwhelmed at all that needs to be done to pack and move and unpack if all goes as planned...into a home that would be just temporary. (Don't you just love when pregnancy hormones collide with my already sinful heart...yikes!) Just another reminder that I must place ALL of my trust and confidence on my Heavenly Father who loves me and knows far better than I do what is best for me. He is my portion and my all in all, not where I live. And not having everything in order before the baby comes.

We just returned from an amazing week at Holden Beach with some of our dearest friends. Funny timing, given all that we have to do in the next two weeks, but in many ways it was the perfect timing. We had so much sweet time as a family, with our friends, relaxing, resting and took lots of long walks with long and helpful talks. And it was a wonderful week for me to have extra time with the Lord (I needed it!). At some point I'll post more about our trip.

While things with our "move" are very much pending in every way, this little one will Lord willing make her arrival sometime in June. Hard to believe these are my last few weeks as a Mom of two little girls...its soon to be THREE!

The soon to be Big Sisters

(I hope Abi is as happy about her little sis as she is about that ice cream :)

This may be the Abi that shows up when she realizes she's not my only baby anymore!

This one is already a pro at the big sister thing.

And she is SOOOO excited about "her baby".

This one still thinks she's my baby.

And obviously she always will be. But soon she's gonna realize there is another baby in my life.

I'm gonna need much mercy and grace from the Lord when she does :)

We're moving...

2010-04-29T23:42:00.002-05:00

We've had some crazy turn of events here lately. The past two weeks we had two offers come in on our house, two very bad offers. We countered them both and never heard back from the Realtors. I was actually grateful that they didn't go through, because this little girl is due in just 6 weeks and the thought of moving with a newborn brought me to tears!! We actually decided to take our house off the market on May 1st (Saturday), and I've been SO excited to feel more settled just weeks before little sweetie pie arrives. I've been counting down the days for May 1st to finally get here!

Then around 9:30pm tonight our Realtor calls and shocks us with the news that one of the buyers accepted our counter. Which was almost a full price counter on our part! We thought they'd never accept it. Sparing many details, just 24 hours before we were going to (happily) take our house off the market for a little while, it sells.

The biggest kick to the whole story is that we have no where to go and they want to close on May 21st!!! PLEASE PRAY for us tomorrow! We feel the Lord leading us to sign this contract, but its a bit scary not knowing where we will be in three weeks. We have decided we'll look for a place to rent for at least 3 months...to be "settled" when the baby comes and to give us time to look for a house to buy.

Right now I feel a crazy mixture of peace (definitely a gift from God, because I was full of anxiety earlier this week about the thought of moving before the baby comes), faith and a huge heap of emotion. We've lived here almost 8 years and loved every day of it. We love this house. And almost every memory as a married couple and with our girls is here. Its hard for me to imagine leaving in a few weeks (especially with these pregnancy hormones kicking in...I'm crying a lot these days!!). Everywhere I look I think of a memory and I tear up!

I'd love any encouragement on how to handle the emotions of moving...especially since I have NO idea where we are going. This is certainly not my timing...but I'm holding tightly that God's timing is far better. Thanks for your prayers! We desperately need them.

Easter Princesses

2010-04-18T21:10:00.007-05:00

Easter is a fun time to have girls...with Easter Sunday being a wonderful occasion to dress them up in their finest. This year my Dad & Rachel sent Alathea & Abigail these matching "princess Easter dresses", as the girls called them. Here are bunches of pictures of them as little easter princesses...

A sweet family picture from Easter afternoon, spent at Joe's families house.

Easter day was gorgeous and spent with family eating a yummy meal and hunting for eggs out back.

Abigail's "hunt" was cut short after finding her first egg to have candy in it. She happily stopped to eat the candy before proceeding to the next egg. Alathea on the other hand raced around the yard collecting 95% of the eggs. I love their different personalities!

Easter morning...very happy girls waking up to Easter baskets.

We bypassed lots of candy this year and ended up giving them books and play dough :)

They were happy!

We spent a good bit of time every evening the weeks prior to Easter, talking with the girls (mostly Alathea) about the Gospel and the true meaning of Easter. Each year I think (and hope and pray) a bit more sinks in...

This year Easter was a week long celebration.

Almost every night before bed we'd have a family easter egg hunt, sometimes outside and sometimes in the house. It was so fun! The girls (and Joe!) were quite competitive.

Our dear friends, the Lloyds, had the girls over for a morning to dye eggs, and make and decorate easter cookies. My girls had a blast!

And the day before Easter we went to our churches annual Easter Egg Hunt.

It was the craziest thing I've ever seen...the hunt was over about 30 seconds after it began!

Literally hundreds of kids sprinted to collect all the eggs as fast as they could leaving the littles in the dust :) Fortunately my girlies only cared about the candy in the eggs, not how many eggs they found, and were quite content with three eggs each.

Its hard to believe that next Easter we'll have THREE little girls.

Just 7 weeks until this little sweetie is due...

Come home, Daddy, we miss you!

2010-04-15T17:39:00.002-05:00

Joe's been gone in KY at Together for the Gospel since Monday. We really miss him!! He is on his way home and I cannot wait to see him (hopefully they'll get in around 11pm). I always miss him, but this time being 8 months pregnant and with two little girls by myself for four days, I really, really miss him (and didn't know I could be so tired :) The girls absolutely cannot wait!! Life is so out of sorts when he is away!

We also got an offer on our house while he was away. It wasn't a good one, so we countered and are waiting to hear what the buyers think. I'm just trusting and waiting. God knows if this is the time to move and I'm completely dependent on Him! If this does go through, we'll be moving just a week or two before this little one would come. But all that is still up in the air until we hear back about the counter. Keep us in your prayers!

7 Months

2010-04-09T10:46:00.003-05:00

While on our trip, it occurred to me I have zero pictures of my pregnancy this time around, so Joe snapped a few before we left (sorry for the poor lighting!). This poor little girl...the first pregnancy picture I took of her is at nearly 8 months!

The past month my belly has popped and I look completely pregnant. It's amazing how much I've grown so fast...just 4 weeks ago I wasn't even wearing maternity clothes.

So far this pregnancy has been nearly identical with the other two in almost every way. Its been so nice to know what to expect from month to month. I'm very blessed with feeling great most of the time. The only downer is that I have been pretty tired, and discovered I'm very anemic, so hopefully taking extra iron with help!

This little one is due in just 9 weeks! Amazing to think about! I'm getting really excited about meeting her. I've slowly started thinking through getting things ready for her. I've not wanted to jump right into it, because our house is still on the market and I've not had a clue as to where we will be living. But for now, I'm starting to assume it will be here, which is wonderful. She won't really have any "space" of her own...so preparations have more to do with organizing closets to find places for her little clothes and baby items instead of decorating a nursery, but God has given me great joy in even that.

We still have yet to decide on a name. In fact, we not anywhere close to choosing a name for her. Alathea has had a name all along: "Alina Sleeping Beauty Snow White Tinker Bell". She's pretty insistent on it :) Joe & I both love a certain name, but it has a horrible meaning, so we're not a peace with it. The meaning of a name is important to Joe.

Please feel free to send ANY name suggestions our way! We can us all the help we can get!!

a trip with my boy

2010-04-08T22:15:00.003-05:00

This past week Joe & I were blessed to take a 3 day trip just the two of us!

It was sooo nice to get a way together. We went to my friends parents lake house in South Carolina. Its an adorable little cottage right on Lake Keowee. There is not a ton to do there, but to enjoy the beauty of the lake and hike the near by trails and enjoy the college town of Clemson (and the yummy restaurants nearby). We did explore some beautiful waterfalls and a very cool tunnel/cave one day. The rest of the time we read and enjoyed walking around the lake and playing scrabble. A perfect get-a-way for an 8 month pregnant lady!

We both brought a bunch of books and sat on two comfy chairs overlooking the lake together. The view above is the view out the window! Its amazing how enjoyable reading during the day is since we normally can't until late at night! Joe finished 3 books while there (he's super fast) and I finished 1 and got a good bit of planning done. It was a spiritually and physically refreshing time away.

We sure had fun together too...wish we could get a way the two of us more often (as in every month...hehe)!!

These are the waterfalls we hiked too. It was great wading in the bottom of them and enjoying the cool mountain water. Makes me feel like a little kid :)

Life with my girls

2010-03-27T13:50:00.002-05:00

I'm soaking up these last weeks of life with out a new baby. Hard to believe I am in my 3rd Trimester already!! I believe I am 28 or 29 weeks! In some ways I guess I've been pregnant for a long time, but since we didn't tell anyone until December, it also seems like its flown by. My poor third baby... I haven't even taken one "pregnant shot" yet! With my other two I remembered each month. It seemed like I didn't look very pregnant until this past month and now, wow, my belly is certainly noticeable. I had my first stranger ask me if I was pregnant just yesterday.

So far this pregnancy has been almost exactly like my other girls, expect I've felt noticeably more tired. I was telling someone this time around I actually feel pregnant on most days. I was actually happy to find out yesterday that blood work came back saying I am severely anemic. Its nice to know feeling really fatigued wasn't just in my head. Hopefully taking some extra iron will help out a bit!

My big girls are growing like weeds. I just took them for their yearly check-up and they've both grown 5 inches and gained 5 pounds this past year! I think they both may be tall and thin like their Daddy... at least they both are tall now (I was surprised both of them were in the 90% for height!)! And shockingly they were both overall in just the 10% (Alathea) and 12% (Abigail). I never thought Abi was a lightwieght compared to other kids her age. We always thought the opposite :)

Everyday I grow more and more grateful for these little girls. I thank God not only that I am blessed with them, but that they are blessed with each other! They just love being together. And fortunately Alathea loves being the big sis and Abigail loves being the little sis, so it works out quite well. Joe & I love watching Abigail go to Alathea for help and seeing how much Alathea takes such joy in being able to help her.

Just so you are certain that our kiddos are not little angels, they certainly are not. This is a very common look for our Abigail. She is a little firecracker, "Lil miss trouble" as we like to call her. My greatest concern about adding this next little one to the mix is how Abi will respond. She's quite demanding of my time right now, its hard to imagine having anything left to give to this little baby. I guess I'll have to trust the Lord to expand my capacity greatly!! Despite her being a handful, she's also my snuggle bug and a total Mama's girl. I'm not sure I am ready to not have her be my baby anymore!!

This is Alathea mocking her little sis. Its amazing how grown up Alathea seems at four! She's such a little buddy for me. Its fun being able to have adult like conversations with her already! This girls LOVES to talk, which is fun. I'm glad she's got sisters :) She is beyond thrilled about this next baby, and every day tells me how she will take care of her new baby sister while I take care of Abigail. Looks like I'll have a big helper on my hands.

Joe is loving life being surrounded by all these girls that adore him (me being the biggest one). I am so grateful that he is genuinely happy to be having another girl. I'd LOVE for him to one day have a son, but I don't think he ever thinks about it. He's totally content (a wonderful gift from God!) with his girls. He's one incredibly Dad too.

I haven't posted much about our house lately, because there isn't much to say. It's still on the market and we've had a bunch of showings and lots of great feedback, but so far, no buyer. I've been learning great lessons about trusting the Lord and believing that he truly knows what is best for us. The Lord has brought to mind Jeremiah 29 often "For I know the plans that I have for you', declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future". Even when I don't feel like it, God does have plans for us and they are for our good. He doesn't promise to move us in our timing or provide a dream home for us in the future, but he does promise that His plans are for our good. So I'm just resting in that day to day and learning not to fret about the future. Gods plans are far better than my plans anyways.

The Heavenly Man

2010-03-23T13:16:00.002-05:00

I am by no means what you would consider a "reader". I never have been. And having kids has sadly just made made my reading intake even worse. I'm doing really well if read five books in a year. And even better if I actually finish a few of them (pathetic, I know). Maybe because I was such an active, social kid, reading was never a priority, so I never really learned to enjoy it. I say all that to emphasize that when I recommend a book, it must be a pretty amazing book, to have held my attention all the way through.

This book pictured above, The Heavenly Man, was recommended to me by the interns serving in M28. After hearing such amazing reviews and knowing that it is a biography (my favorite kind of reading), I decided to buy it while at Rekindle. That was less than two weeks ago. And now I am almost finished!

This is a story about a Chinese pastor, named brother Yun, and his story of how he heroically served Christ while being persecuted in China. This book has had a profound impact on how I view my life, forcing me to take a good hard look at how I am living. I've been asking myself questions such as..."Is my goal in life truly to live for Christ and to make his name known, or am I seeking to live a comfortable Christian life instead?"

It has certainly served to make my perspective on life more Mission minded, something God has been already stirring in my heart (and Joe's). When I say "Mission minded", I'm not just talking about serving God in overseas missions (while I do value that). But to view all of my life through mission minded eyes. To see wherever God has placed me as a mission field, right down to my very neighborhood, cul-de-sac and home (I've got two unsaved little ones right here in my very house!). I find it sobering how easy it is for my own comfort and ease to become more of a priority to me than to live whole-heartedly for the Lord, even in the little things in life, such a being faithful to train my kiddos or to take the time to have my neighbor over for lunch. This book had helped me see my temptations towards living for myself, something I need to be reminded of on a regular basis!

It has also increased my view of the greatness of God, grown my faith in God to perform miracles, increased my love for scripture and increased my desire to pray for fellow believers who God has called to live in Nations where persecuting Christians is a very real thing.

I'm not even finished with the book yet, but thought it was too good to not mention. I hope you get a chance to read and may it do your soul as much good as it has my own!