Crazy times

Our lives have been SO, SO, SO busy this fall (which is why I am failing miserably at blogging)!!! Richard and I are both in school right now, we are both still working full-time, I am still doing jewelry shows regularly, AND we are having fun with our 2 beautiful little girls! We have almost no down-time it seems. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed at everything going on in our lives, but then we realize that it won't be this hectic forever! On top of it all, Abby is now fully potty trained (except at nighttime)!!!!!! YAY!!! It was SO easy, she decided one evening that she wanted to go "pee-pee" and that was it! No more daytime diapers!

At times we may feel like we are going crazy, or like we are trying to do to much. But this is our life, and it will all be worth it! Everything we do is for these 2 beautiful little girls.

Our girls

Here are some close-ups of our beautiful girls! They are getting so big!!!

City of Windmills

Also, while the girls were away at my parents house, we went to Dodge City to visit some good friends of ours that we went to college with. On the way home, we did a little bit of sight seeing. We stopped at the Wind Farm in Spearville. It is so interesting to read about this wind farm and the energy it produces.

Fun Fact: Each structure weighs 120 tons, but a breeze of just 8 mph is needed to turn the blades!

Dyck Arboretum

For a week in July, the girls went to my parents house. Yes, for A WHOLE WEEK!!! Richard's birthday fell in the middle of that week, so we went on a picnic date. We went to Hesston to Dyck Arboretum. It is so beautiful there! We ate fried chicken and strawberries. It was a wonderful evening for a picnic.

And THIS is what Richard got for his birthday!

Growing up

Abby often puts on my shoes and tries to walk around the house. She is growing up so fast, someday she may be borrowing my shoes for real!

About Alivia

Alivia had her 4 month checkup yesterday. Here are her statistics:

weight: 11# 15 oz. =14 percentile
length: 24 in. =38 percentile

She also got shots yesterday, which were not fun :( But we did get the OK to go ahead and start baby cereal!! Yay! Here is her first "meal" tonight at supper. She did surprisingly well, a lot better than Abby did the first time we gave her cereal!

Mmmm....

She LOVES her feet!!!

This video was taken on my phone, so it is not the best quailty.

Muddy Mess

Look at this lovely hole on the west side of our house! On Saturday, Richard and I noticed a wet area in our yard. Richard got the shovel and dug a little bit, but we weren't really to worried about it...until we went out to go to church Sunday morning, and the small hole he dug was filled with water! We decided we must have a busted underground water pipe, so after church we got to digging to see if we could find it. We dug about a 4 foot deep hole and still never found the pipe. We have a friend that works for a plumbing company, and he came over and showed Richard how to turn off and on our water at the meter, so we could only turn it on when absolutely necessary. (We are VERY nervous about what our water bill is going to be next month because we don't really know how long this pipe had been busted.) So, yesterday I called around to plumbers and had them come look at our mess and give us an estimate on fixing it. They came today, fixed our problem, and we now have water again! (and a hole in our pockets $$$!)

This hole is 4 feet deep, and completely filled up with water in less than 1 hour!

Creation

I love flowers. Here are the flowers blooming in front of our house right now!

Our Sunshine

Both of the girls were so happy this morning, and looked so pretty in their dresses, I just had to take a picture of them! They are becoming quite fond of each other. Alivia watches Abby's every move and I know she can't wait to run around with her big sissy. And Abby is always so concerned about Alivia. If we are all getting out of the car, Abby repeatedly says "sissy, sissy, see sissy", she wants to make sure that we don't forget to get "sissy" out too!
These 2 little girls are our sunshine. We love them so very much!!! Adjusting to having 2 children was WAY harder than we ever imagined, but we are finally getting the hang of things.

For the last 11 weeks, Richard and I have worked separate shifts which has also made things hard on our family. We were working separate shifts to avoid the cost of daycare, (man is it expensive)!! But, starting June 1, we are going to start working the same hours and our girls will be going to daycare while we are at work. The way things are right now, with us working separate shifts, we only see each other 4 days a month and that is just not enough! We decided that having a good marriage, and having good family time on a daily basis was worth the cost of daycare. Please pray for us and our girls as this adjustment starts happening. I am so worried about sending them daycare, even though we feel good about the person we are entrusting them with. So, in the future, I am on a mission to work my Premier jewelry business to help with the cost of daycare. So if you decide you would like FREE JEWELRY, I can definitely help you out with that!
I hope you have a great Memorial Day!

Nana

My mom came last weekend to see all of us. Well, she says it's to see all of us-but I think it's just to see the girls ;) She was very unaware that I was taking this picture, note that she is on the phone! We tried to get a good picture of her with the girls, but Abby was very uncooperative, so this is as good as it got!

Mommy & Alivia

Here is a picture of me and Alivia taken at work this afternoon. She is getting so big!

Happy Mother's Day

This is my 2nd Mother's Day, but it is my 1st Mother's Day to Alivia. I feel so blessed that God has given us these two beautiful little girls.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!!

Pretty

This shelf and picture is what occupies one wall of our dining room.

I absolutely love this picture of me and my mom. It was taken on our wedding day!
And, I love getting flowers!! (who doesn't)??? When Richard got home from work last night, he had this pretty, pink, long stem rose in hand!

Baths, Soap, & Throw up!

Abby is at the age now where she tries to eat a wide spectrum of items. These items include, but are not limited to: crayons, dirt (also potting soil), grass, paper, and baby wipes (clean ones)!

Well, tonight we have a new item to add to the list! SOAP!!!! I gave the girls a bath at the same time tonight. It went VERY well, I think I will do it from now on! Abby was still playing in the water, I was dressing Alivia in the bathroom, not really paying alot of attention to Abby. When I looked over at her, she had taken a bite out of a bar of soap (and swallowed it). YUCK!!!! She had her tongue stuck out trying to scrap the taste off. I rinsed out her mouth and was getting ready to take her out of the water and then she threw up everywhere! Then, she threw up again!! ~Just taking a wild guess here, but I bet she won't EVER eat soap again! After we got out of the bath, she kept running through the house scraping her tongue, yelling YUCK, YUCK!!! Oh my, the things kids do!

Richard's truck

We are selling Richard's truck! He got a new(er) one, so now we need to get rid of his 1985 Chevrolet Silverado. It runs good. Up until this past Saturday (when he got his new truck) he had been driving it everyday.
PLEASE help us find it a new home!!! Contact us, or leave us a comment for more info.

Easter

Richard and I have to work every other weekend, and we had to work last weekend- which was Easter. I didn't really think it would be a big deal to work on Easter because we had already planned to have our Easter the following weekend (this weekend). But, Easter Sunday came and I was kind of sad because I wasn't home getting the girls ready for church in their Easter dresses and giving them their baskets from the 'Easter Bunny'. It all turned out ok though, and today we celebrated Easter!
Here are the girls' baskets! Well, instead of putting Abby's stuff in a normal basket, we got her a Dora purse and filled it with stuff!

Here are the girls right after church in their matching dresses that their grammi and pops bought for them! They were so adorable this morning!
Abby was laying beside Alivia giving her kisses.

Alivia waiting patiently in her swing before church. She's holding her bunny blanket she got in her Easter basket! Doesn't she look pretty?

Pops

This weekend, my dad and step-mom came down for a couple days. It was so nice to get to see them. Abby clung on to her pops from the minute she seen him until they left the next day! She loves him so much!!!

After bathtime!

Alivia is 7 weeks old now! Wow how time has flown by. Here are the girls after bathtime.

Abby sure loves her sissy!

"I suppose that's the way God made it..."

Richard and I first started attending a small group at our church when we were pregnant with Abby. I remember a discussion one evening soon after we started attending where our friend Adam Utecht was giving his insight on the feelings you have about your child going through different stages as they grow up. He said, "When Hannah was a little baby, I thought that it was the best stage-I loved it! I didn't want her to grow up. But as she got bigger and learned new things, I thought, No-this is the best, this is my favorite stage." He was making a point that with each new stage their daughter entered, it soon became his favorite.
Well, Richard and I were not parents yet and didn't really understand exactly what he meant. Since we now have 2 children, I have often reflected on that discussion and thought how completely true his words are. I remember when Abby was a small baby, I thought that I never wanted her to get bigger or grow up. But, with each new thing she learned, and each new stage she entered, I found myself feeling proud of her and soon realized that I loved it when she was a baby, but I also loved watching her grow. I have felt exactly what Adam was describing, each stage Abby enters, soon becomes my favorite! Alivia is still very small, but I find myself already having these same feelings towards her.
Richard and I work different shifts, but there is about 1 hour in the afternoon where our shifts overlap. Joy Will (Jennalee Ekeland's mom) is kind enough to watch the girls for that 1 hour each day. Joy is an amazing woman and we are very grateful for her willingness to watch them. Abby just loves seeing her and Joy is great with Alivia! Today when I picked up the girls, Joy said, "Don't you just love it when their this small" (referring to Alivia). I told her I did love it, but then told her about my feelings towards the different stages and how in the moment, each stage is my favorite. Her response was, "I suppose that's the way God made it." This response justifies everything you feel as a parent. With each stage or season of life, God makes you proud and thankful for what you have. I am so very thankful each day that God has given us 2 beautiful little girls to raise and love. They are such a blessing, and we will continue to enjoy each of the stages they go through in life!

Crazy Life!

Here is our beautiful baby! She is getting so big, I can't believe she is 5 weeks old already!

Our life has been very busy lately. It is so much different having 2 children. We are adjusting pretty good, though. Alivia is sleeping pretty good most nights. She sleeps 3-4 hours at a time during the night, which is a big accomplishment from her 1-2 hours at a time when we first came home from the hospital!

Also, I went back to work full-time 3 weeks ago. I started working back at Schowalter Villa in Hesston (where I worked before I had Abby). Richard went back to work there also. We are working different shifts so that we don't have to take the girls to daycare. I work days and Richard works evenings. Richard is such a good husband. Since I work day shift and have to be to work at 6am, he ALWAYS gets up at night with Alivia! I have been so lucky to get to sleep through the night, and he doesn't even complain about it-he just does it! I love him so much and am so thankful for him!!

Our 2 girls!

Here are our 2 girls! Aren't they beautiful?!?!? Abby is such a proud big sister. We are truly blessed.

Alivia Jane Wallace!

Our 1st picture with the 3 of us. -Abby was in the room when we took this picture, but she wanted NOTHING to do with her baby sister.


Alivia's 1st bath. She was so content, she didn't even cry.


-Getting ready to go home!

She's Here!!!

Alivia Jane Wallace arrived today at 3:15 p.m. She weighed 6lb. 10oz. and was 18 1/2in. long. She is perfect! We will post pictures later.

Twas the night before...

the baby came, and THIS is what I look like!!! Man, am I huge or what?!?!?
So, tomorrow is the BIG day...we are soon going to be a family of 4!

4 days and counting...

4 days!!! That's how long we have left until we get to meet our new little girl! We can't wait! Friday, Feb. 27 (this is also Richard's mom's birthday).

I can't believe we are going to be the parents to 2 little girls! Girls are SO much fun!!

Cheesy snacks!

We have had some really nice days lately. Abby and I have played outside alot. One day we took a break from playing and sat on the porch and ate some cheese popcorn! Yum... She was so cheesy afterwards. Her fingers, mouth, and white shirt were all orange! Oh well, that's what's great about being a kid!!! You can get food all over your face, and people think it's cute!

Pop goes the...

...belly button??? Well, I only have a couple weeks left of being pregnant! I am very ready to be done! I have to say, being pregnant is definitely not one of my favorite things. I think that with this pregnancy, my stomach is bigger and is more ball shaped out in front. You're probably wondering why I feel the need to tell people about this...Well, I haven't blogged in awhile and the only thing I could come up with to blog about is my current belly button situation.
To start off with, my belly button has 'popped' over the last couple weeks! I know this is not uncommon with pregnant women, but when I was pregnant with Abby, my belly button never 'popped'-it just became smooth across my stomach. So it was to my surprise that I now have an outie with this pregnancy. On another belly button note... As many of you know, I was adventurous (to say the least) in college. I was always up to try something new! My adventures led to my belly button getting pierced not once, not twice, but three different times!!!! The first 2 times were by me and my friends. We pierced it once and it got really infected so I took out the belly ring and let it heal. Then, we pierced it again 6 months later. We didn't do a good job that time either, so a few months after that, I went and had it professionally done. But because I had already messed it up two previous times, it was never quite right. From that point on, I had a messed up belly button. Let me tell you, right now my belly button is not a pretty sight! I just noticed today, that because my belly is continuing to grow, the skin where my belly button is pierced is starting to tear. I don't know if all pregnant, previously pierced, belly buttons look anything like mine, but it is pretty gross looking. So the moral of this blog is... DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PIERCE YOUR OWN BELLY BUTTON! The end results are not good!
*Pictures available upon request* Ha ha, just kidding!!!

Remembering Cora

Cora went to be with Jesus early Sunday morning. It is so hard to understand why these things happen to innocent children. Someone wrote on their blog page, "We prayed for the cancer to be gone. And now it is. She is now perfect. Being held by our GREAT AND WONDERFUL GOD." That is so true. So, even though we can't understand God's plan, we know Cora is being held in his arms.

A memorial has been established to construct The Cora Playground, an extension of the children's ministry department at Grace Community Church. All proceeds from purchasing these cute pins, go to help build The Cora Playground. If you would like one, you can go to: http://www.joyshope.com/2009/02/for-cora.html

Please Pray for Cora

Meet Cora Paige McClenahan...

This is Joel, Jess, and Cora McClenahan...

Many of you reading this already know, but I'm sure many of you don't. We have some friends, Joel & Jess McClenahan, thier 10 month little girl, Cora, was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma cancer on Friday. She had surgery Friday to remove a tumor next to her kidney, they also found spots on her liver. She will start chemo this week. I know so many people are praying for Cora and her family, this is all so hard to understand. My heart aches for them, I cannot even begin to comprehend the pain they are feeling.

PLEASE pray for Cora, pray that her body responds well to the chemo treatments, and pray for her family in this difficult time.

You can read about their journey and keep up on the latest updates by clicking http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/ or http://breezyacresfarm.blogspot.com/

Updates!!!

Well, it has been awhile since I blogged about anything. We've had alot going on in our life lately. We recently made a very large decision. In the near future, we are going to be moving. We're moving to the Liberal, KS/Turpin, Ok area, the area I grew up in. Richard is currently applying at several companies in that area and we will move as soon as he gets a job. Our house officially goes up for sale tomorrow, Monday, January 26. The decision to make this move has not been an easy one. We have discussed and prayed about this for quite some time now. One major factor we took into account was family, or maybe I should say, the lack of family around here. Most of Richard's family lives in Memphis, TN and most of my family lives in OK. Richard and I both ended up in Newton to attend Bethel College, and afterwards, we just stayed. We didn't really have any reason to stay, we just did. We got married, and eventually bought our house here. Not having family close by was something we always missed, but never really thought of it as being a problem. ~Until we had kids. It is SO hard to have kids and to never have anyone around to help. (Those of you who have family close by to help with your kids when you need something, you are so lucky!) If Richard gets a job before our house sells, we will go ahead and move and just stay with my parents for a little while. We are excited about all of this, but also nervous/scared/and a little sad. So, that is what is going on in our life right now! We need lots of prayers as we pack up our house and start this new chapter in our lives. We have LOTS of things to do over the next few weeks, including having a baby! By the way, I am now about 35 along, it has gone by SO fast!!!