Our Goings On

Summer has rolled in like a...lion, though we are looking forward to the days when it treats us more like a lamb.  With the end of school comes graduation, open houses, teacher clean-up days and more.  It almost seems like there is this big rush to get everything done.  Then, July sweeps in and takes us off to the land of vacations, watermelon and all things summer.  Here is a photo collage of our recent goings on. 

We are enjoying the appearance of daddy more frequently, without a computer glued to his lap. He has retired his red pen for the summer and we are expecting many Fridays spent enjoying garage sales, bike rides and more!

Annelise' two favorite spots while mommy is working from home.  (Above) Under the desk, digging through the trash can.  There must be lots of treasures in there.  (Below) Sitting next to the bookshelf, enjoying a snack, on top of the picnic basket.  She tells me lots of stories from this spot.

We've also been spending quite a bit of time outside.  Daddy loves to work in the yard, tending to all sorts of flowers and ground cover.  And Annelise loves to be mischievous while he does it.



I guess I should also note the purchase of our anniversary gift - a wonderful new digital camera. Thanks to great research and a bargain shoppers' attitude, we got the exact camera we wanted, only $100 cheaper.  It was a beautiful thing.

Who knew we had a rose bush in our front landscape?  For two years we've wondered what this ugly bush was (speaks much of our UNgreen thumbs).  Matt pruned it (read: hacked it down) and behold...a beautiful rose bush.  

And last but not least, I couldn't resist posting this picture of my big girl digging into a roast beef sandwich at Arby's.  She only ate about three bites, but from the looks of this picture, she must have been starving!

Happy beginning to summer to all of you!

Crazy Bounce

Its a rainy, yucky day.  What better day could we have chosen to have a play date at Crazy Bounce! Our friends Morgan and Acacia (with mommy Lisa) joined us for a couple hours of fun. Want to see more pictures?  Click here!

I just have to say, this video cracks me up.  Annelise totally gets pummeled by another little crazy bouncer and she doesn't flinch.  That's my girl!

To All Mothers with Daughters

Its a big deal when you reach the ponytail milestone.  I mean, graduating from pigtails with all sorts of barrettes to hold things together, to this:

What a sweet reminder that my baby is growing into a little girl.  Sigh.

A Busy Life

A short synopsis of our life the past week:

• Matt is in his final week of school, administering exams and of course, grading them.
• I had a golf event this week for the Mission.  Its our largest fundraiser of the year and proved to be a success once again.  
• Annelise is growing so fast, I can't keep up.  She asked to go to the potty last night.  Huh?
• We spent our weekend enjoying the beautiful weather (took a long bike ride) and celebrating the season of open houses.  Yeah for free, good food!
• I am feeling (and seeing) the baby move a lot these days.
• We have decided to name our new baby girl Elliora.  It is Hebrew and means "the Lord is my Light."  
• She will most likely be called Elli.
• We are still debating the middle name, though we have finally narrowed it down to three.
• Summer has quickly come and plans for vacations, weekend trips and lazy days are being made.
• And last, but certainly not least in my book, we will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this weekend by staying at a local inn, enjoying a dinner at The Piper and hopefully sleeping in.  Thanks to Papa and Granny Bartlett for watching Annelise for us!

A Rainy Day Update

I haven't updated on this pregnancy very often, mostly because I forget I'm pregnant a lot of the time.  But I had an interesting doctor's appointment yesterday and thought it was worth noting (if for no other reason than for my memory in the future).

As a second pregnancy often goes, I forgot I even had an appointment yesterday.  Much to my lack of planning, I had to take Annelise with me, which typically isn't a big deal.  But, I got caught up in work and realized my appointment was in 15 minutes, Annelise was still napping and I had not a stitch of makeup on.  So, I quickly woke her up (first mistake) and proceeded to make myself look half alive with a few globs of cover up and a dash of mascara.

Amazingly, we arrived at the doctor's office with a few minutes to spare.  The humidity was horrendous yesterday, so Annelise looked akin to Shirley Temple.  The nurses loved her hair! They called me in for my appointment and no sooner did the nurse put the blood pressure cuff on my arm and Annelise was screaming "No! No! No!"  She's never been protective of me before, but apparently she thought I was about to be tortured.  Did I mention she slapped the nurse before I could gain control of her with my free arm?  How embarrassing!  She was slightly nicer to the doctor, but only because she let Annelise play with the heart rate monitor.  

In baby news, it looks like everything is normal, except for the length of my baby's legs.  Her femur registers in the 90th percentile.  Hm...tall?  I've also only gained 4 pounds this pregnancy.  How that's possible with the amount of mint chocolate chip ice cream I've consumed, I don't know.  But, I'll take it.

And who knew that after an 80 degree day full of heat and humidity in a house without air conditioning, we'd have a 54 degree rainy day.  I even made my husband put the window unit in our bedroom last night.  

Oh well, here's the drinking a mug of hot chocolate and wearing fuzzy slipper socks.  I have a feeling we'll be breaking out the pool and sunscreen tomorrow.

Family Reunion

What a fantastic Memorial weekend!  On Saturday, we spent a quiet morning sleeping in, going out for breakfast at McDonald's and happening upon a neighborhood sale where we hit a jackpot of deals.

Originally we had planned to drive down to Indiana on Sunday morning for the Neal Family Reunion.  But thought, "What the heck, let's drive down Saturday afternoon and stay at a hotel."  We met up with Matt's sister and parents and enjoyed an afternoon of swimming in the pool and hot tub and a wonderful dinner out with family.

Sunday morning, we headed out to Crown Point, Indiana for the first ever Neal Family Reunion.  What a day we had!

Neal Family (We are on the bottom left kneeling in between Matt's parents.)

Annelise, Matt, Sarah (Matt's sister) and Mia (our niece)

The weekend must have pooped Annelise out.  She fell asleep in the swing!

Me and my wonderful mother-in-law, Lora.  I love her!

The party-planning committee: Matt's cousins Dawn (left) and Beth (right) with me in the middle!

It's a...

GIRL!  

Looks like we won't have success in breaking the streak this time.  We're very excited that Annelise is going to have a sister!

A Beautiful Summer Evening

There's more where these came from here.  You need to be a Facebook user - and my "friend" - in order to view the album.  Sorry, they're my sister's pictures.

Tomorrow is the Big Day

Yup, in 24 hours we'll be in the doctor's office, watching a screen that hopefully tells us what kind of child we're going to have.

I'm not anxious at all.  Actually, I'm more nervous about how Annelise will behave in the doctor's office than I am what kind of genitalia will appear on the screen.  Does that sound crude?  I hope not.  

It would be nice if we had a boy...that seems to be the only name we agree on.  The Lord knows Annelise could use a sibling tough enough to put her in her place.

But, we'd be happily content with another girl.  Sure would mean a lot less stress and shopping for me this summer.  

Check back soon for the real info.

What I Love About Today

• I've been feeling the baby move for a few weeks now, I just forget to blog about it.  As I type this, tiny feet are bumping the inside of my belly.  A kick has never felt so good.
• Sitting on the couch, watching the news, enjoying my second cup of coffee (which I got a great deal on at Meijer this week - $6.99 for Starbucks Whole Bean Sumatra with a $1 off coupon), reading blogs and email...still in my jammies of course.
• Its a bit cloudy outside, which makes my day easier.  No stress of playing in the yard, weeding or mowing the lawn - just laundry - which I typically hate, but am in a surprisingly good mood about today.
• We're only 5 days away from finding out what this next baby will be.  I have no idea.
• Annelise has decided that staying in bed during naptime is boring.  I finally caught her getting out of it today.  She's so sneaky!  Inevitably, I had to spank her to get my point across.  I think she's asleep now, but who really knows.  I don't dare open the door to possibly find her reading books on the floor.
• We have absolutely no plans for this weekend - no meetings, youth activities, work events, big house projects - we're hoping to spend some quality time at home tomorrow, as a family.  
• Kelly posted about her great finds this week at Meijer.  I was tempted to do the same, but didn't want to haul all the groceries out of the cabinet.  Basically, I planned two weeks worth of meals and bought $100 worth of groceries - all for $74.  Here's to couponing online (which I'm new to) and shopping the sale ad.  A novel idea, I know.

I hope you all enjoy your Friday.  Take some time to read to your kids today, kiss your husband and tell him what a joy he is in your life and most importantly of all, praise your God for the amazing provider He is in your life.  Really, we're all living better than 99% of the people on our planet.

Some of My Favorite Things

Is It Thursday Yet?

The only good thing about today is that I'm still in my jammies.  Can that be good?

Woke up late to Annelise screaming from her bed.

Turns out she just wanted to get down.

Made a wonderful pot of coffee.  No creamer or milk in the house.  

Had to use evaporated milk...its wrong how good that is.

Gave Annelise a bowl of cantalope for breakfast.  She dumped the entire thing on the floor.

I didn't realize it until I stepped in cold, mushy fruit.  Nice.

Decided it was time for a diaper change, then nap.  

Did the unthinkable...stuck my finger in poop.  Oh the joys of motherhood.

Started work off right - finding out there's a major error on the website

that is causing my coworker to get 100's of spam emails a minute.

Can't get a hold of tech support.  Sorry Teri.

The house is trashed, laundry undone - even worse, partially done.

No shower, didn't brush my teeth yet and its 11:15 am.

When does Thursday get here?

What A Weekend

I feel like there is so much to blog, I've been putting it off.  Blogging shouldn't be a burden, I guess.

We spent a wonderful week enjoying Tulip Time!  The weather was gorgeous and the festival was full of everything we hoped for - elephant ears, Dutch dancers, friends and parades.  It doesn't get better than that!  

Three beautiful Kentucky friends came to visit over the weekend.  We were so refreshed to spent time with Erin, Betsy and Sarah.  Thanks for coming friends!

And now we're back to the grind, preparing for school to end and a big golf event at the Mission. Summer is just around the corner and continues to tease us with sporadic days of sunshine and 75 degree weather - like today.

I'll leave you with my feeble attempt to photograph Annelise and her cousin Alayna.  By the looks of it, we have a lot of preparing to do before another baby comes.  She was not impressed with the idea of touching Alayna.

Seriously mom?  Don't put that kid on me!

Annelise at 16 months old and Alayna at 3 months old - almost the same size!

Eating Spaghetti

PS - Do you hear the funny statement Matt says in the background?

E.L.F. Make Up

Ok, ladies...sorry for all of the hassle.  First, I posted about this great deal on E.L.F. makeup that a coworker referred me to.  Then, I heard from another blog friend that it could be a scam (after she placed a large order).  I felt terrible for possibly referring something that could harm friends. I did some research online and it doesn't appear to be a scam, per se. Unfortunately, there isn't any REAL deal here.  E.L.F. products are always sold for $1 a the retailers that carry them. Nordstrom and Bloomingdales did not buy them out.  So, its still a great price for makeup, but not necessarily a time sensitive steal.  

Also, I'm not sure about the coupon code CAROLINE.  A friend placed an order and received 50% off by using that code, but we're still not sure if the code is a scam or not.  I'll keep you posted.

FREE MEAL - What?

If you haven't already checked out Kelly's blog, then you must!  KFC is offering a FREE (no strings attached) two piece grilled chicken meal, with 2 individual sides and a biscuit.  The best part...you can print the coupon more than once!  I printed 4 separate coupons, all with different barcode numbers.  

I'm smelling a picnic in the park tonight...a FREE one. 

Little Miss Chatterbox

I recently posted a list of all of the words that Annelise can say.  But, I thought it would be so much more interesting if you could hear some of them for yourself.  Here are a few of the words. As you can see, you're also getting a glimpse of her independent personality.  

PS - That snack cup was the best purchase I made at the grocery store today.  2 for $5.19!  It holds all kinds of precious goodies (Trix ceral today) that Annelise may help herself to.  It's a mommy's right hand...with nothing to sweep up!

The Great Room Switch

After LOTS of hard work, we finally made the great room switch this weekend.  Annelise officially has her own big girl room, complete with crib, twin bed (which she will graduate to when her sibling arrives), along with all of her toys!  Mommy is very pleased that all of her toys fit into the room and are not scattered throughout the house.  Just a part of my anal-ness.

As a result of Anne's big girl room, I now officially have an office - that is JUST an office!  No guest bed, ironing board, baskets of laundry or toys.  I'm a work-from-home mommy, so having my own space is very nice.  Its near the kitchen, half bath and living area.  So, I can see all, hear all and still accomplish all.  Its a complete feeling.

Our digital camera pooped out, so I had to take pictures on our video camera.  Not so great. But, you get the gist.  Also, please don't assume that because we no longer have a guest room, that means we don't want guests.  We do!  In fact, three of my lovely Kentucky girls are coming to visit this very weekend.  They'll be staying in the studio apartment at my parents' house (which was built with the intended purpose of housing guests).  So, come one, come all!  Did I mention there's a park and a pool right there too?  Hm...I'm hear the pages of calendars turn as I type.  I'm sure the Kamper's would be willing to give us a good reference.  They stay there often when they visit Holland.  And, without being biased at all, my parents are pretty darn good hosts.

The beautiful book shelf in my office, complete with blue lamp shade and brown satin curtain. Though you can't see it, just outside the window is an array of flowers and all-things green that my hubby works hard to maintain.  Its a pretty site!

My desk, with covered file cabinet.  Did I mention I spent 5 hours on Friday, filing receipts and papers all the way back to 2005?  Who keeps this much stuff?

Annelise'  big girl bed.  I wish the colors were more vibrant on screen.  Her bedding is from IKEA and most of her toys are as well.  I've heard bright colors help babies develop faster?


The other side of her room, with crib (which she was sleeping in at the time of the picture). There's lots of rug space to play in the middle of the room.  

3 More Weeks?

I saw my doctor yesterday.

Does anyone else find every other pregnancy after the first to be so much less dramatic?

I never forgot anything in my first pregnancy: blood tests, urine samples, etc.

I forgot my urine sample again.

And the blood test.  Oh well.

Amazingly, I didn't gain any weight.  Well...that's not true.  I gained 4 ounces.

I attribute no weight gain to our Costa Rica trip.

We're dying to know the gender of the baby.  We have to wait 3 more weeks.

This weekend we're switching Anne's room and the office.

This will give her a bigger space, especially since she'll be sharing it come October.  

I'm excited to post before/after pictures.

15 Months Old : The Words I Speak

Daddy

Hi

Bye

Love You

Ba (Bottle)

Juice

Shoes

Mmmm

Thank You

Socks

Ball

Doggie

Woof

Birdie

Tweet

Please (in sign language)

Mama (questionable)

Leah

Gigi (Granny)

Gucky (Yucky)

Up

Uh Oh

Eye

Kids

Food Poisoning

Yesterday, we went to the Wild Chef, a wonderful Japanese Hibachi restaurant.  

On Sundays, they have a lunch special that we really enjoy.  

I had a craving all through church that wouldn't subside.

So, my husband gratiously gave in...at the mention of sushi.

I knew I had him at sushi.

We went, in the pouring rain.  But it was worth it.

Cooked right in front of our eyes.  Beautiful.

I had the delicate shrimp, Matt had the chicken with a sushi appetizer.  

Annelise ate the rice from my plate.

We came home, took a long nap, falling asleep to the rain pelting our bedroom window. 

I woke up to Matt in the bathroom.  Doesn't sound good.

He's sick.  I guess we won't be doing our mission trip presentation in church tonight.

Sitting on the couch, pondering my husband sickness and it origin, I start to feel queasy.

"Surely, after 4 months of pregnancy and never throwing up, today wouldn't be the day."

I've had food poisoning before.  It comes on like a flash.

And in a flash, I was in the bathroom.  

I haven't felt that sick in years.

Annelise came to my rescue.  Well, kind of.  She giggled at the site of mommy sitting on the potty with a trash can in her hand.

Daddy came to the rescue...sort of.  He doesn't do well with vomit.

Good thing we have two couches.  We utilized them the remainder of the evening.

At 9 I was able to eat a bowl of cereal.

Woke up this morning as good as new.  

Except, haunted by the thought of Wild Chef.  My favorite restaurant.  Now on the bad list.

Steal of the Century!

Our first garage sale venture of the season and we hit the jackpot!

We purchased a Burley Bike Trailer in almost mint condition for...

Wait for it...

$40!

We went to a neighborhood garage sale, but didn't really find anything we liked.  As we were leaving, we thought we should check the final cul de sac, even though it looked desolate.  There happened to be a few sales, but nothing impressive.  The last house we hit had an old, faded Burley Bike Trailer off to the side.  We asked if it was for sale and were told it had already been sold.  Disappointed, but not surprised, Matt asked how much they had sold it for.  $40.  Wow! Someone got a steal.  We perused the tables a little longer and as we were about to leave, one of the ladies running the table asked me if I wanted to leave my name and phone number.  They had an old Burley in the attic they could dig out later and give me a price on.  I thought, "What can it hurt."  I've been reasearching Burley's for a while, but never found a decent one in our price range...which is pretty close to zero.  Just as I was giving her my name, her teenage daughter came down from the attic with the trailer.  It was practically brand new...not faded in color...clean.  It looked like it had never been used.  They quickly showed us how to set it up while Matt asked for a price.  Expecting to hear somthing like $200, I was shocked when the price of $40 came out.  We accepted the offer, without hesitation.  As the men were packing up our steal, the woman told me that he husband was angry with her for offering it.  I was secretly happy.

As we left, I told Matt I felt like we needed to speed out of there fast before they realized that we were thieves.  We just got the steal of the century!

The moral of the story:  it never hurts to ask!

Pregnancy: 15 wks 5 days

I'm almost 4 months pregnant and hardly know it.

Other than the fact that I'm already in the clothes I wore at 6 months the first time around.

And the fact that I have sciatic nerve pain, which didn't happen the first time.

Oh and other than I'm craving everything from pickles to twinkies.

Lest I sound like I'm complaining...

It's wonderful to be preoccupied with a 15 month old.

Knowing this pregnancy is going to spring itself on me a lot faster than the first.

Did I mention we don't have air conditioning and I'm due October 9?

I've neglected my blood test for the past two appointments.

I think my doctor might be upset.

I made her do an ultrasound last time to be sure there was only one baby in there.

There was only one.  

Somedays I put Annelise in her car seat and wonder what it will be like to have two carseats

a diaper bag

my purse

a double stroller

and then I stop wondering because I'm getting a stomach ache.

Or is that another craving?

My family is thrilled about another baby on the way.

3 grandchildren in 2 years.

Yes, you could liken us to a baby making factory.

My theory

I hate being pregnant.

I love the babies.

So, lets bring them on fast and furious.

Then we're done.

Matt doesn't agree.

That could be a hindrance to getting this child bearing stage done quickly.

Although, I might have the upper hand.

I think this is enough for today.  

I feel better already.

Another Week

As I type this post, the scenery behind me is refreshing.  Rain falling from the sky, coloring my lawn the same shade of green as the curtains in my dining room.  I love it when my indoor decor matches God's creation!

I must admit, I'm a bit lazy today.  We've been home from our trip to Costa Rica less than a week and I'm still not recovered yet.  There's something about being 15 weeks pregnant and overwhelmed that equals a bad combination.  The rain has encouraged me to take heart, relax and enjoy this cozy time inside with my little one.  A hot cup of coffee always helps with that...

In other news, my sister Leah got a job waitressing at a local restaurant.  Every once in a while, I get to watch Alayna.  I think this picture could be a foretelling of our future.  Annelise, clearly jealous of the baby on mommy's knee.  Me, nervously smiling, while trying to juggle two children.  And Alayna, obviously uncomfortable as her little head jerks back in my unstable arms.  Oh, Lord help prepare us for life with two children.  What a joy (although scary as well)!

A Morning at Home

Bottle or scrap paper?  Scrap paper of course!

My living room became a playroom while I was gone.  I will be changing that.  I have this thing about rooms being what they are designed to be.  Bedrooms are for sleeping.  Bathrooms are for bathing.  Living rooms are for living.  Playrooms are for playing.  So, the toys will be moving back to Annelise' bedroom today.  No tv in there, no distractions.  Just playing.

I also came home to a professional fit thrower.

A little girl's dream.  Nanny Neal brought a dollhouse with her.

Annelise loves the little rooms.  She even "sits" the people on the couch.

I found the legs of this girl poking out of Annelise' mouth.  I think we need to talk about eating the children versus playing with them.  Apparently to her, they are interchangeable.

Annelise has enjoyed this morning more than most.   Mommy is home after 8 days away.  No rushing to get ready and go somewhere.  No work.  No cleaning.  Just babytime.  I think she's loving the attention.  And I know mommy is enjoying it too!

We're Back!

Blogging after a 10 day hiatus is difficult.  Would anyone else agree?

We arrived safely home at 3:30 am on Wednesday morning.  Our trip to Costa Rica was beyond words.  I've been on many short-term mission trips, overseas and within the States.  I never expect to have much impact on those we serve.  How much affect can really occur over 8 days? But this trip was different, very different.  It was evident that God met us in Costa Rica.  And His plan was for us to have a lasting impact on the ministry of the Rought family.  It was incredible to see each of our students get involved, grow in their love for God and people, and leave with an increased passion about the body of Christ.

I will share more in the coming days.  It's too hard to process everything and write it in one blog post. 

Oh and I'm sure you're dying to see pictures.  As it turns out, we left our camera at home. Fortunately, there were 11 other cameras with us!  Here is a link to one of the missionary's web albums.  She only captured the part of our trip that occurred at Sojourn Academy - where we did lots of painting and cleaning.  She takes fantastic pictures!

Thanks for your prayers and support.  Its wonderful to be home with our baby girl.

And We're Off

We technically don't leave until tomorrow evening - but since tomorrow is bound to be a crazy day full of last minute planning and cleaning, I doubt I'll have time to say "goodbye" to my blogger friends.  

Thanks for all of your prayers!  We are thrilled to serve God in this unique way.

We'll be sure to update when we get back.

Costa Rica Here We Come!

The excitement is building.  Matt and I have been preparing with a team of 10 students to go to Costa Rica over Spring Break.  If you're like me, you don't get excited about something until you're able to accomplish last minute things.  That's how I know the trip is close!  You know, things like printing tickets and traveler's insurance, packing supplies and cleaning the house.  All of those things are getting done today - just 6 days until we leave.

We'll be working with Ryan & Gretchen Rought - ABWE missionaries in San Jose, Costa Rica. They are a beautiful family!  Ryan works with TACTICA Ministries - ministering to the Costa Rican police force.

We are so blessed to be a part of their ministry for 8 days.  Please pray for our group...

• We need safety traveling.  12 people, 14 checked bags, 12 carry ons...it can get crazy!
• Strength for ministry.  Work projects, VBS, evangelism...a little bit of everything.
• Open hearts that are BOLD for the gospel of Christ.
• Servant attitudes - willing to put the needs of others before our own.
• Christ's love for the Ticos.
• Matt's parents - who will be staying in Michigan will Annelise.

Thanks for praying.  We look forward to sharing an update when we get back.

UNCLE!

Ok, Lord, whatever you're trying to teach me...I give in.  

The month of March has certainly been madness for us.  Annelise began the month with the flu (of the diarrhea nature).  We left for California, not knowing if we would make it there alive, or clean for that matter.  When we arrived home, Annelise promptly began teething.  A double ear infection and 3 molars later...Annelise woke up with green snot flowing out of her nose this morning.  Will it ever end?

God give me the grace I need for right now, today.  And could you maybe begin planning early for tomorrow's mercies?  I'm going to need lots of new ones.

One Sick Little Girl

When does it end?

The past two weeks have been miserable for Annelise.  Today has been no exception.  

She has been running a low grade fever since Thursday.  Not wanting to overreact, I assumed it was just teething.

After a 45 minute screaming fit tonight, I decided it had to be something more.  So, we took a trip to Prime Care.  Yes, I said it, Prime Care.  I was fully prepared to spend hours waiting with sick and broken people.  But, I didn't care.  My baby is seriously unhappy, which is making mommy seriously unhappy.  Therefore, hours or not, we're getting to the bottom of this.

Turns out she has a double ear infection, three molars breaking their way to the surface, one of which has broken a blood vessel in her gums, causing swelling and extreme pain.  I feel terrible for my little girl, but relieved to know I wasn't overreacting.

Well, its nothing a little amoxicillin, motrin, tylenol concoction can't fix.

PS - When we got to Prime Care, we were the only people there.  Is this possible?  That place is always swarming with sickies.  Thank you God!

Already 14 Months Old

A Collage of Thoughts

Pregnancy.  I wasn't in love with being pregnant the first time.  I must say my feelings have only worsened the second time around.  Lots of women love being pregnant.  Some of my friends even dread the arrival of their baby, knowing they will no longer be in gestation.  Me - I say lets skip these nine months and get right to the baby.  Oh dear...its going to be a long pregnancy.

Life for us hasn't slowed down.  We leave for our mission trip to Costa Rica in two and a half weeks.  Matt and I are leading the trip with ten high schoolers.  Lots of last minute planning needs to be accomplished.  Please pray for us.  We're leaving Annelise at home with Matt's parents for the 8 days.

Church.  Our senior pastor left our church about a year ago to take a position at College Park in Indianapolis.  Time has flown by and it appears the search team for our new pastor is making headway.  We've been asked to submit a photo and brief bio of our family for the new pastor when he comes.  I'm guessing this might be soon?

Annelise is growing and changing so quickly.  It seems like all in one week she learned to walk, talk and sing.  Here are some of the new tricks she's picked up:

• She says: doggie, DADDY, keys, cracker, thank you - and i swear i heard her say "welcome" yesterday
• She comprehends soooo much.  I tested her by asking her to put on her socks.  Wouldn't you know she did it!
• She's walking all over the place.
• She knows that when we ask where the baby is, she's supposed to look under my shirt. But, I'm certain she doesn't comprehend what's going on. 

California, California

We're back!  And what fun we had.  I spent much of the week working (since it was a work trip for me), but we did find a little time to fool around.  Who wants to go to California and spend the whole time doing business anyways? 

Waiting for our flight out of Chicago.  Annelise was such a trooper!  She loved all the planes.

Here we are on the Santa Monica Pier.  My dad is behind the camera - and the weird guy in the back is one of our board members.  It was such a fun day!

Here we all are on the pier - Santa Monica in the background.  A little chilly, but so fun!

Our family at Ventura Beach - where our conference was hosted this year.

Matt and Annelise by the elephants at the Santa Barbara Zoo.  

All of these pictures were taken on our camera phones, because I forgot the camera.  Yes, I'm a loser.  That would be another one of my pregnancy symptoms.  I do have an awesome video of Annelise feeding the giraffes.  But, its on my dad's blackberry, so as soon as we get it, I'll upload.

Nonetheless, we're thrilled to be home and are now gearing up for our next trip - Costa Rica!

A Secret No More

Matt, Annelise and I are happy to announce that...

Baby Neal #2 is on its way!  

With an estimated arrival on October 9, 2009.  We are thrilled to be adding a new addition to our growing family - and are excited for Annelise to have a sibling.

And yes, I'll answer your questions before they even get asked:

• I can't honestly say this was planned.  But as Dr. Laura says "anything not prevented is planned."  Let's just say, God has a plan and His is perfect!
• I am very sick - even more so than the first time around.  Always in the evenings between 4 and 8.  Which means lots of eating out - and definitely no cooking for me.
• Annelise is very excited, even though she has no idea.  Matt is equally thrilled, in spite of knowing all too well what is about to happen to us.
• I had my first Dr. Appointment yesterday, which confirmed there actually is a baby growing inside of me - both by the doctor's reaction ("You're definitely pregnant!") and the ultrasound she conducted afterwards.

Christmas 2008 was celebrated with one grandchild.  Christmas 2009 will be peppered with a two year old, a tenth month old and a newborn.  My parents are feeling older as the days go by.

We are excited to share this beautiful experience with you all.  Here's to another round of babies!

Talking

Here's a huge shout out to Eric - who showed me an awesome program to encode my videos!  I was able to encode this video in a FLASH and re-upload it.  Enjoy (without the "trial stamp")!

Sickly

The flu is bad.  But its worse when your 13 month old has it.  Yesterday, walking down the hall to get Annelise up from her morning nap, I could smell the sourness.  She threw up all over her bead.  The bed that I just happened to wash top to bottom the day before.  Figures.  The throwing up stopped, but the diarrhea ensued.  A little sip of water - dirty mess!  So, I'm home from work today, with a sick kiddo.   Things are looking up.  We haven't had a mess yet this morning and she just gladly ate a bowl of oatmeal.  I might regret feeding her that, but hopefully not.  The poor child can't afford to lose anymore weight.

Project Complete

 

Here lies my dining room chairs, plain as Jane.  I've thought for sometime that recovering them would be a grand idea.  And since our television left the residence this weekend (to pay a visit to the repairman) I've had the itch to be crafty.  I mean, what else is there to do?

And here is my chair - project complete.  You know, there's nothing a little clearance fabric from Hobby Lobby and a pack of hot glue sticks can't fix.  It took me a whole 45 minutes.  I'm pretty pleased.

This is Annelise' reaction to our new chairs.  I think she likes them.