Hannah 6 months old

Here's a couple of pictures of Hannah. I can't believe she's over 6 months old now!

Baby # 3 on the Way...

I just found out at 5:00 this morning that our third baby is on the way! This is a special baby to me once again because we are now starting to see the fulfillment of the Lord's plan for us to have a large family. Each new child of mine is so special to me... I love to just celebrate the day that I find out and be close to the Lord and wonder who this little one will be. I knew I would stay up this morning if I was pregnant so I could pray and think about what the Lord is doing in our lives.

Is it always easy? No, there are always obstacles. After my last pregnancy I fell into I guess what they would call postpartum depression for about 4 months. I am generally a pretty upbeat person but I could say it was one of the hardest times of my life. I never really believed in postpartum depression but I'm a believer now. I could actually feel like something was physically wrong with my body, it is something I will not forget. The baby was easy. She slept through the night day one and onward. It was the horrible way I felt. I did not take any antidepressants as I don't believe in them but in January when I made mention of what I went through with my obstetrician later, he shared that for most of his years in practice (over 35 years) he never believed in antidepressants either but now he's okay prescribing something for women for about 3 months and then they are okay after that. Dr. Kilgore is a very honorable and religious man, and we are blessed to have him as our doctor. Anyways, I am trying to not let my worries or fears creep in and crowd out the blessings that are there with this new pregnancy. If I ever go through what I went through after Hannah was born, I will take the helps that are out there.

I am just sitting here and still can't believe I am pregnant! I love being pregnant. It is one of the most wonderful times during my life. I have such a wonderful journey I get to go through again. I am so looking forward to it. I love wearing maternity clothes and looking like a mom. The Lord's really changed my heart on my appearance. I always had to dress for the world, whether it was fashionable in my 20's or business attire (Jones New York, etc...) in my early 30's at the FAA. Now I simply dress simple and love it! It's a lot more comfortable and it reflects who I am too. It is so nice to have been out of work for over 2 years now. I've really been able to find out who I am and see where I am going. It is really too bad that some people don't want to be a part of this journey with me.

Baby Names:

If it's a boy - Matthew Jeremiah
Girl - possibly Leah

Here I'm almost 38 years old and having children yearly. Each of our children will be about 14 months apart (I think). How neat! I know it's a bit hard at times now but I always picture one day being in the kitchen (I love to cook) and looking out and seeing all the children older and playing, doing farm chores outside. No kids playing under my feet, getting into drawers or needing to be picked up or hugged. It will be sad. I will miss this time. So, I just try to think upon those thoughts when I start to feel pressed or ungrateful.

We can't forget the important date is set for: November 2, 2008. Yikes, that sounds so far away! But I'm not even close to being ready yet either.

Uh Oh, Am I in Trouble???

Elisabeth knows she is not supposed to get onto the back of the couch and she's looking at me like, "Am I in trouble"? Observe the baby bib and baby outfit around her neck. She has recently started picking up clothing items and putting them around the back of her neck like a shawl. It's cute! She's just starting to talk. She says; mama, dada, ga (cookie and cereal), Jeese (Jesus), dogump (doggie) and some more that I can't think of right now. She's also starting to crawl onto our kitchen table which is quite big, can stack cups within each other and the other day she was playing with 3 jars of my new spices. She couldn't pick up all 3 at the same time so she squeezed the middle one that was laying down with the ones on the sides that were upright. Something we would do. We're both shocked at how smart she is. It just amazes me.

Happy Hannah

I always say this little saying to Hannah, "My happy happy Hannah". She's looking happy here! I also have a song I've been singing to her since the day she was born, "There's my little Hannah, there's my little Hannah, there's my little Hannah there she is, there's my little Hannah, such a pretty Hannah, there's my little Hannah there she is."

Me and My Girls

I think I look a little happy in this picture! I just love my girls so much.

Last day in bassinet

Here's Hannah's last day in the little bassinet. She's just starting to move around now too so good timing! Elisabeth finally got her toddler bed (we'll have to post a picture now), and Hannah is now in the crib.

Hannah's Advancements

Here's some pictures of Hannah. She's getting teeth, sitting up a little bit already and is just a doll. She is so different from Elisabeth but it could very well be the age. Elisabeth is very independent and strong. Hannah is very soft still - she has a very soft femininity about her even as a baby.

A Variety of Pictures

Elisabeth almost 18 months old in this picture.


I'm a comin around the corner on all fours chasing Elisabeth. She loves it when I do this as she squeals!

Elisabeth securing Hannah before we leave!

Here Comes the Hail!

This picture was taken a few days ago. It ended up being hail. We have had more hail storms in 2 weeks than I've witnessed in my whole life. This morning even looked worst and ended up being snow.

Elisabeth 10 Months Ago

I was going through pictures the other evening and saw this one! I just died - I can't believe how cute she was and so little when she was learning to crawl. I miss her being a baby still. It went so quick! : (

Pictures From Last Month

Here are some precious pictures I took of Elisabeth last month. I think I forgot to put these up as our storm hit the next day. I love the picture of Elisabeth standing holding her blankie, she gives me a glimpse here of how she may look when she's older one day.

Looking at me inquisitively.... hmmm.

Taking a rest

Trying on mommy's headband

Well, what can I say about this picture other than too cute!!!

Christmas

Christmas was a nice, simple day but I think it actually started many days earlier as our friend Lynn came over with her 9 children to sing Christmas carols (picture). They sounded so beautiful when they opened their mouths to sing that I had to hold back the tears. I would have pictured them all wearing white robes or something it sounded so holy. Anyways, this lady is amazing as she homeschooled all her children and they go to nursing homes every other Sunday to visit and sing hymns. God really put this lady in my life and I hope to get to know her more.

Several days before Christmas the packages started arriving from friends and relatives. We received some good coffee and food items and the girls received tons of gifts. I should have taken more pictures and plan on taking some more as the girls received a table from their grandmother (it is beautiful) and Elisabeth received a talking bear that she just loves. I will include these on this post soon so you'll have to check back on this one for more pictures.

A couple of days before Christmas we had a friend over with her granddaughter to spend the night. We sang some Christmas hymns that evening together. We didn't sound like my friend with her 9 children but I'm sure the Lord was pleased and it meant much more to me than just listening to a cd.

On Christmas we started off by having homemade coffeecake, thick cut bacon and a couple of fried eggs for breakfast. We had a relaxing day and watched Elisabeth play with her toys she received and just spent time together. For dinner I made our best meal yet - Beef Wellington. I made it with the tenderloin cut of beef and had Matthew sear it for 5 minutes then cool to room temperature. I then sauteed chopped mushrooms and shallots and a smidge of bacon from breakfast. I topped the tenderloin with a huge heaping of this then put the pastry over and placed in the oven for 15 minutes. We could almost cut it with a fork and the flavor..... We can't wait to have it again next year.

Christmas Extras

Here are a couple of homemade gifts we received from some people: Some delicious cookies from Matthew's mother, remember, she's the gourmet cook! And a lovely Christmas decoration made by our friend's seven year old granddaughter - it's made with cinnamon sticks and smells oh so good every time I walk into the living room!

Hannah Not So Happy

We had to get a picture of Hannah in one of her "natural states".

Child Proofing

I originally set this tote behind our desk so Elisabeth wouldn't crawl back there to play with the wires. She has found yet another way to get past our barricades as you can see (I also can't keep a barrette in her pretty hair for nothing at this age - little stinker).

Truly a Storm We Won't Forget

Thank God it's over! Many have heard of our great storm. Matthew's mother whom receives the New York Times read about it even from there. We lost our lights sometime on Sunday I believe and were out for nearly a week. I remember laying in bed the first night of the storm and actually feeling our house move pretty good with some of the gusts. I could tell the gusts were nearly 100 mph as they were just as powerful as some of the gusts we had here a couple of years ago in which they were 100 mph.

The next day: Our electricity was out so we did not have running water either as we are on well water. Since we couldn't flush our toilets we would place a container under the gutter and let it fill with the semi-clean, semi-dirty gutter water. I'd then bring it in once a day and pour it in our toilets as this would make it flush. On my way out to get some gutter water I stood in the doorway of the garage while one of major gusts was building up it's momentum. I knew it wasn't safe to retrieve the water then so I just stood and watched. I saw debris flying by faster than any car I've seen speeding on the State Route road down below. I was actually scared while watching the power of the wind, yet I was awestruck at the ferosity of the storm so I just had to sit and watch. I knew that if I stepped out of the doorway that I could be struck by a flying branch or other item and be killed. I've never seen wind of such magnitude before.

After coming inside we checked the phone number for PUD. The message was that we would be out for a long time as there was major, major damage. I was guessing a minimum of 10 days. We knew then that we would need to get a generator, but this was on everybody elses mind too.

Day three: We found that our major highway was closed to get to Olympia and having only 1/4 tank of gas in the car made it even riskier but we had to get out to get water as well. So, off we went. We followed the alternative route and listened to the devastation on the news. I got scared as I just couldn't comprehend the damage everywhere else - even I-5. We got to Montesano and the lineup at the gas station was atrocious. We decided to try to get to Elma. We waited for 1 1/2 hours for gas as this was one of the few gas stations opened in Grays Harbor. We got a generator in Lakewood near Tacoma and it just happened to be the last one. A hot shower felt good at our friend's home as well as cleaning some laundry. We didn't know that this would be our last shower for a while!

The next several days were a work! I washed baby bibs and cloths on the stove every day as you can see by the picture. I'd cook some yummy dinners on the wood stove though - steak, brocolli and more. We weren't lacking here. Only our yams that we wrapped in foil and placed in the fireplace burned down to about the weight of a feather. We threw them out to our dog. Dinner dishes - we used paper plates and paper bowls. I'd then warm a huge pot of water on the woodstove each evening and clean up the whole kitchen cleaner than when I think we have electricity.

Water - I bought over 12 gallons of water on our day out to get the generator. We went through this quick so I contacted the fire department and they referred me over to the City of Aberdeen Water Department. I could fill up our containers for free. Our neighbor behind us has a natural spring or artesian well water he gave us (5 gallons), he shared that it would be the best water we ever did have. He was absolutely right!

Our generator was so wonderful to have. To have the freezers and refridgerators going full speed as to not lose our beef was so worth it. To have a lamp on or a heater to warm up Elisabeth's room was secondary but so appreciated. Having a bowl of water and disinfectant in the bathroom and the kitchen sink, those things you just don't think of having to do when you have running water. I never so much appreciated running water as I have. Electricity is one thing but for me it was the running water that was the greatest need for running the home. I hope to have a hand pump for our water one day.

So, we're all up and running now. The storm is already quickly being forgotten, but I know I won't forget it yet either.

Good Ole White Bread

Here's a loaf of white bread I made just a day or two before our storm. It was delicious with fresh butter. I love making bread now. I started last year and it was a bit of a struggle - not to mention the flatest bread I ever did see. I put it down for a time but recently decided to give it a try again and now it seems so much easier and enjoyable! I don't even follow measurements but do it by the feel of the dough.

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah!

My beautiful Hannah! Here are some precious pictures of my little darling. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the one where she is smiling so big with her mouth open. She is my other delight and brings joy to my heart. My next post will have to be all of Elisabeth.

Thanksgiving - One we could've done without!

Well, our morning started off lovely as I made a wonderful breakfast of "Lemon Blueberry Bread" from the New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins that I received from Matthew's mother sometime last year. It was scrumptious, especially the crumb topping on it and what I loved about it the most is that it was in the oven in about 15 minutes! It was delicious with fresh butter.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon gtated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Bread
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries (we used our canned, whole blackberries)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9x5-inch loaf pan
2. Stir the topping ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
3. In a medium-size bowl, stir the sugar, milk, butter, and egg together until smooth.
4. In another bowl, toss the flour with th baking powder and salt. Stir this into the wet ingredients, and then fold in the blueberries and the lemon zest.
5. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan, and sprinkle with the topping. Bake until the topping is deep golden and has formed a thick crust, 50 minutes. Cook in the panfor 5 minuts, then transfer the bread to a wire rack to continue cooling.
1 loaf

Dinner was a different story. Things are a little tight this month. We could have afforded a turkey but when you add all the "other" stuff that goes with a Thanksgiving dinner, we thought it be best to do with what we have. We decided to have prime rib from our cow Brisket we had slaughtered recently. When you have a freezer full of beef, you really do have a lot to be thankful for even if you can't afford a turkey dinner. Anyways, the day came to thaw out the prime rib. Unfortunately we found "beef rib steaks" but not a prime rib roast. Okay, we can make due with that. Let's be grateful!

Thanksgiving day - An hour or so before we intended to eat, Matthew seared the steaks on Med-Hi heat for 1 1/2 minutes per side. He placed the steaks in the oven then on 250 degrees as recommended in Cooks Illustrated. After 30 minutes he checked the steaks with the meat thermometer. Barely any change in the temperature. So, we waited some more. After more than an hour there was a "little" change. We waited some more. After 1 1/2 hours he checked and the temperature had gone down a little (he shared with me later). After 2 + hours we decided the thermometer just wasn't working - and it wasn't. We sat down to a meal of mashed potatoes, salad, and one of the "toughest" cuts of meat you ever could find. Add a couple of screaming kids on top of it and there you have your Thanksgiving Dinner!

One Big Storm

Last week we had a pretty good storm. We were out of power for 2 days and because we are on well water we were without running water as well - that's the worst part for me! I had a few gallons of water in the back room for emergency though and we used our wood stove for cooking, heating water and coffee, etc... We did a lot of studying during those 2 days though as we are learning Biblical Greek. We're still working on the alphabet and doing it by learning just 2 words a day.

Anyways, we tried going without the internet last month (as to find it was much more convenient to have for our banking so we're online again), so we still have no idea as to how high the winds were out here. Matthew thinks wind gusts were 70+, I'm thinking some were closer to 100 as they seemed similar to a storm we had here 1 1/2 years ago with gusts around 100 mph.

These pictures are of some of the remnants of the storm. I wanted to get Elisabeth out of the house after being inside for 2 days so I wrapped her up in a sleeping bag so she could watch daddy saw some of the bigger branches for starter wood next year. We have our home up for sale and our power had come on here at 12:30 and we had 3 1/2 hours to get the home ready for 2 parties at 4:00 and 6:30 to look at our home. I ran around cleaning up the past mess of the last 2 days... candles, dirty dishes (no water prior to the electric coming on), and all the other extra messes you have when you don't have power. Plus I had to get the house clean/ready just on the basics. Matthew picked up all the many, many large branches, mowed the lawns and used the blower on the leaves. We finished just in time. Now we're just awaiting word from our agent on if the financing went through or not with one of the interested parties.

Trying Out the Kitchen Table

One day I wanted to try putting Elisabeth up to the table to see how she fared. She didn't do too bad! I'm still using the tray for now but thought I'd post these cute pictures anyhow.

Elisabeth Helping Mommy with Laundry

Peanut Head

Every child should have a little nickname. Matthew came up with Peanut Head for little Hannah - you really can't tell from pictures but she has a peculiar shaped head, kind of like a peanut! It's kind of cute though, she has her own look (you know how it is, every mom thinks her children are the prettiest - Peanut Head and all) and she has her own different personality to go with it. She has a very soft way about her, a very soft, quiet voice, she doesn't get all excited about loud or busy toys but she just loves to be held and talked to quietly. She sleeps from 10:00 at night til about 7:30 or 8:00 most mornings. She's such a pleasant baby. I just love having another baby to hold again. I can't wait to post more pictures of her as she's changed since these were taken a few weeks ago.

More Pictures of Daddy and His Girls

Wide awake and fast asleep!