Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas Eve celebrating at Mema & Pappy's and Christmas afternoon at Grandma & Papa's! The kids had a ball....but Jed missed both celebrations this year due to the nasty stomach flu that went through almost everyone here :( We missed you! I didn't end up with too many pictures, but here are some of the best:

Our home.......

......JUST in time for the holidays!

Yes, closing on this house didn't happen until Dec. 23rd....so we literally spent the 1st night in our new home on Christmas Eve!!! Certainly a night I'll never forget...mostly because I was so thankful to have our family, together, under one roof again...but also because Jed was sicker than a dog and "santa" spent most of the night putting up the tree and decorating so that the kids would be so surprised on Christmas morning!



Their faces were priceless & now they think it'd be great if Santa would put the tree up every year.......not a tradition I'm hoping to carry on, though :) Don't they look so at home already?

Getting back to blogging....atleast until baby :)

I've been receiving lots of subtle hints (& a few demands) to update my blog, since it's been over 2 months.....so here ya go, Christmas pictures posted just in time for Valentine's day, as promised!!!

Here's our last few months, in a nutshell:
For those of you who don't know, Jed found out on Sept. 26th that he got an engineering job with Pennsylvania American Water, in Clarion! To make a long story short, this isn't the job he had applied for with the company, back in the beginning of May....but turned out to be a much better opportunity for him. We quickly set to work spending weekends, with lots of help from family, doing some final home-improvement projects that Jed insisted were necessary before listing our house with a realtor. He started his new job October 27th & we listed our house the same day. For an undetermined amount of time, Jed moved in with his parents & the kids and I stayed in Julian. Turns out, Jed was right.....all the hard work everyone put in with the last few projects paid off (Thank you all!!!!).....we accepted an offer on our house less than 2 weeks after listing it & had a closing date set of Dec. 19th!!!! Now we could really get serious with our house hunt :) We looked at a few options, got outbid on a house, then finally found the house meant for our family, we fell in love!!!....our offer was accepted Nov. 30th and also set to close Dec. 19th!!! Yippee!!! We were so excited to finally have a glimpse into what our future would hold & we couldn't wait!!!!

In amongst the chaos, I still wanted to make the Christmas season as festive as I could for the kiddos....but with a partially packed house, no tree, & minimal decorations....it was feeling awfully bah-hum-bug! But Aunt Lara and Uncle Jeffey came to the rescue!!! We all went to see the lights at Lakemont Park...complete with Santa, a model train display, santa's gift shop, and the crowd favorite: kettle corn!!!! It was just what we needed :)

Anna, Ella, and Ty spent the week of Dec. 15-18th with Mema, Pappy & Daddy! This way I could do lots of last minute things in preparation for both house closings on Friday & get the last of our things packed, while Emma finished her last week of school before Christmas break. Emma & I had a great week together, just the two of us! We managed to squeeze in Christmas shopping, haircuts, manicures, dinners out, and a great night with Aunt Lara and Uncle Jeffey.....they kept things festive again with Gingerbread men to decorate, strawberry daquiris, & the cutest Christmas tree ever! Thanks again, Guys! When Jed came home Thursday night, he was less than pleased with my progress.....oooops!!!! Apparently, I hadn't been quite as productive in the "getting the last of our things packed" plan as he had envisioned. I'm sorry hon, I guess Emma and I got carried away with all of that freedom......

Isn't this picture alone worth the late night that we (you) put in to get things done?

Mommy & Me.....27 weeks!!!

We continue to grow :) My kicks are so strong now that everyone can feel and SEE my movements! Since we will be moving, Mommy is thrilled to be able to go back to her favorite ob/gyn again & deliver, under his trusted care, in the same hospital that all of my sisters were born at! Our next check-up is Thursday! We are still running, when possible, although I'm not making it any easier...especially when Mommy has to stop and pee 5 or 6 times :) I think my brother is finally ready to acknowledge and accept my presence.......today, in the bathtub, he hugged and kissed me for the 1st time and was so excited about it!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I thoroughly enjoy Thanksgiving (esp. when pregnant.....a Thanksgiving dinner w/ all the fixings has always been a craving of mine, and this pregnancy is no different!), so we had a nice time enjoying a most tasty Thanksgiving feast with Grandma, Papa, & family and the Miller families too! Afterwards, Grandma and Papa's massage chair was hit pretty hard......the kids loved it!



On Saturday, we quickly set to work getting into the holiday spirit! Thank goodness Grandma & Papa were up for it....I think it's the only tree we'll be decorating this year! Actually, the kids and I did come home after Thanksgiving and put up our pathetic little temporary stick tree, which took about 10 minutes from start to finish :)

Another cutie of the girls, mid-decorating! Can't believe I don't have a one of Ty & the boys...they were there though, all of them ripping off the glass ball ornaments that the girls so carefully placed on the bottom 2 ft of the tree :)

Before & After!

These were some fun collages to make of our house, as it was the day we bought it (Feb. 28, 2007):




And as it looks, upon our pending sale (set to close on Dec 19, 2008)! So many changes, it was neat to see them side by side. I almost forgot how bad all the wallpaper was....but could NEVER forget how hideous those bathrooms were! Unfortunately, no before pics of the family room and 4th bedroom (last 2 pics in bottom collage)...but what a difference a coat of paint makes!

Now we're house hunting & hoping to find the right place soon....as Jed said over the weekend "we're all packed up with no place to go"!!!!
He's been enjoying his new job for about a month now and really feels it's where he's supposed to be....and we're very excited to be closer to our families again, although we'll certainly miss our frequent get togethers with Lara and Jeff :(

SORRY!

Jed and I were cracking up when we found Emma playing SORRY with her beloved bunny, while she patiently waited for us to join her!!!! You'd think the girl needed a few siblings or something, wouldn't you????

FINALLY....we feed the ducks!!!

Everytime we pass this park, on the way to Lara's, the kids always ask "when can we feed the ducks"...well, today was their lucky day (the kids' and the ducks')!!! These ducks were serious vultures....and kept following the kids around, impatiently waiting for more handouts. They quickly realized that they weren't even getting a crumb from Ty....when I told him "throw it to the ducks" he quickly shoved the bread in his mouth as if HE desperately needed it!!! (I was laughing at your "wack wack" post, Allison....yes, we have creative kids!) Thanks for a fun day Aunt Lara and Uncle Jeffey :)

Happy Halloween & GO BLUE!!!

This posting (along with most of mine, I know) is WAY overdue, but still wanted to get a few up of our crew on Halloween! Jed is a huge Michigan fan, so it was only fitting to have our family represent with a football player and squad of cheerleaders :) The girls loved it and Emma made up a cheer that stuck...all 3 girls shouted in unison: "S-T-O......Go Ty Boy GO"!!!!!!....no idea what that means, but it was catchy & they got the rhyming thing down :)...Ty would just beam when they yelled it!!!! Anyhow, he was adorable....all padded up with sponges! My favorite pic below is the one of him from behind in that sassy little stance......Ha! I can totally picture Jed doing EXACTLY that in his high school football days :) Anyhow, the cousins all had a blast together & trick or treating in Sigel was a big hit...Ella's face says it all!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

We love you so much!!!

Pumpkin carvers....

...atleast for a minute! This scene didn't last too long.....



Before I knew it, Boo had my camera and was taking pictures of her shadow, the worm on the sidewalk, and anything else of interest to her......while Ella grabbed my cell phone & was chatting it up!

Eventually, Emma and I got the messy job done,

& she was oh so proud of them :)

Octoberfest at Mema's!

The kids all had a great time celebrating halloween at Mema's Octoberfest! Not only were there cousins, costumes (even Aunt Weez and Mema dressed up!), & great food...but also tons of festive activities with pumpkin painting, treat-bag decorating, "spooning" for apples (yes, an original!), a scavenger hunt, cookie decorating, and the crowd favorite: charades!!!!!!!! Thanks for putting so much time and thought into creating such a memorable day, Mema :)

Naptime in the big girl bed........

.......hmmmmm, not so much!

Ella's naptimes in her big girl bed have been hardly that. The first few times she just couldn't contain her newly found independence, so she quietly got into everything she could get her hands on (socks, wipes, diaper cream, toothpaste...you name it) repeatedly....and I was always amazed that Ty was able to sleep through it all. I was forced to "Ella proof" their room (or so I thought), leaving only their books. I was so sure I solved the problem, so when I heard them "wake up" after their nap, I was so surprised to find...

....this one, looking oh so guilty.....



....and this one, ultra-excited about his crib full of books (I couldn't help but laugh!)!!!!!

Better luck next time, Mom!!!!!

Our 20 week ultrasound...

Here's Baby #5 at 20 weeks & 3 days! This glimpse of our tiny baby has me in complete awe.....such an amazing view of baby's profile, but it's that strong little beating heart that really struck me...


We are in L-O-V-E with this little guy or gal.....sure to be known as the "Baby" of our family :)

Getting into the spirit!

Aunt Lara and Uncle Jeffey brought over some Halloween fun to share with (and help occupy) the kids!!!! Judging by their orange & black stained mouths and hands....they thoroughly enjoyed themselves :) We're ALL enjoying participating in its destruction...I don't think it's gonna make it to Halloween! Thanks so much for thinking of them and helping us too...we really appreciate it :)

The Monkey is ONE!

Hard to believe that cousin Nathan is already a year old! We all had a great time "monkeying around" at his party :) Nate loved his cake....I didn't capture him even approaching his messiest!!! The kids all enjoyed the monkey theme.....Lisa went all out with the details and really made it a special day :) Happy First Birthday, Nate!!!!!

Alivia's 3rd b-day at Port Farms!

The kids AND adults all had a blast celebrating here :) As you can see, my girls totally wore themselves ragged playing with the birthday girl!!!!! Happy Birthday Alivia!!!

Tooth Fairy on duty!

Emma has had a loose tooth for the past couple days, and it's finally out......WoooHooooooo!!!! We jumped around in excitement like a bunch of crazies!!!! She couldn't wait to look in the mirror and see her new grin, here it is :)

FYI.....Boo doesn't like this picture of Emma cause she thinks she "doesn't kind of recognize her being a big kid" (little Anna has a bit of a Peter Pan complex with growing up......apparently she's taking it a step further and doesn't want anyone else to grow up either)!



Look at how tiny her 1st lost baby tooth really is (esp. next to the bribe that encouraged her to let Daddy yank it out!)!!! I think all the kids want a loose tooth now just to get candy corn!!!!!

The excitement of the tooth fairy and SOOOOO many questions followed! I remember loving the magic of the tooth fairy, such good memories of her......especially those times when I'd wake in the morning to see what she'd left, only to discover my tooth still tucked safely in my little tooth pillow (Mom and I had a good laugh over this) :) :) :) Mom just had me (well, I'm sure it happened to all of us) put it back under my pillow, in hopes that the "tooth fairy" would make it there the next night.....and I'm not kidding, sometimes this happened a night or two before that darn tooth fairy would finally come!!!! Now I can really relate to "her" and understand why she used to be so "busy" that she'd sometimes forget to fulfill her tooth-taking duties!!!!! Of course, none of THESE memories of the tooth fairy were actually shared with the girls....I'm just thinking out loud here and secretly hoping that "she" can remember when she's on duty, and keep it magical :)


Anyhoot....I set to work and surprised Emma with her own little tooth pillow, inspired by mine as a kid (I'm hoping that, when I wash it, the edges frey, to match her ragtime quilt) :) She was thrilled with it (I think loved that it was "like mine") and had her little tooth inside the pocket and all of it under her pillow in a flash!!!!