He needs your prayers again…
http://www.mycharmingkids.net/
Baby Stellan is in the hospital again. Please pray.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Jack and Ruby Stats
Time again for cutie patutie baby stats!
Babies at 9 months
Ruby Adeline
17.1 pounds
27 7/8 inches (almost time for a new carseat! yikes)
Jack Owen
17.9 pounds
27 1/2 inches
It is too late to list can/can nots…but I will get to it this weekend!
About the video
So here we were, two tired, worn down parents. We were cleaning up from weeks of holiday cheer and Christmas unwrapping madness. Sorting gifts into piles of clothes, baby toys, educational toys, toys to replace those that are in rotation, etc When Brian picks up an Imaginext toy of Vincent and says “so the elephant makes a noise, the lion makes a noise, what does the giraffe say?” In my tired brainless gone silly mood I replied “der da der.” To which Brian pushed the button on the giraffes back and made him say “der da der.” At first I chuckled. Then I began to giggle. I then burst into a roar of ridiculous laughter. It was just wrong, but oh so silly. My mind racing I began to think of a commercial…”Fisher Price Imaginext presents the elephant, the lion, the giraffe…” I kept laughing at the thought. Being desperate for a break from the monotonous daily chore of child rearing and life itself, we took the 10 minutes to create the video and all while laughing posted it on you tube. Silly, perhaps. Pointless, not at all. It broke us from the mayhem and madness. It was great and so well worth it. From there we wrapped up the last of the cleaning, only so I could finish up later this week. At least I have the silly giraffe to keep me laughing…and those 4 adorable ankle biters.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Prayer Request
Remember baby Stellan from this post a while back?
Well it turns out that he needs our prayers again. Check it out here in his mommy’s post. Please pray for healing and comfort for his family, as well as wisdom for the doctors.
Thanks!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
I’m Tired
I’m tired..really tired
it’s been a long few weeks
I’m tired
Vincent’s evaluation was a huge stress, even though it went well
I’m tired
we have been potty training a stubborn two and a half year old girl
I’m tired
snow and ice came which cramped my plans to send out Christmas goodies early
I’m tired
while it was fun and great for our marraige, we went on a marraige retreat
I’m tired
we took a fun mini vacation as a family of 6 to a snowy little getaway which took weeks to plan
I’m tired
many of our gifts we gave this year were hand made, fun, but took preperation
I’m tired
the twins are up for 2 hour stretches again lately
I’m tired
we missed laundry day on Monday (church program rehearsal), then again on Thursday (Christmas Day) the pile is embarrassing
I’m tired
our kitchen has surprisingly stayed clean lately
I’m tired
the twins are putting anything and everything in their mouths lately, I vacuum every single night
I’m tired
I only stay up to blog because I love remembering the funny/loving/kind/naughty things that they do on a day to day basis and doing this relaxes me (no really, it does)
I’m tired
I would go to bed earlier, but it is very difficult knowing a baby will wake up at any moment and need to be nursed
I’m tired
Today my eyes started twitching and I had a hard time staying awake while we were out and about.
I’m tired
So, if I have seemed out of it, confussed, repeated myself, behind on emails, etc then please forgive me.
I am tired.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas in McGovernville 2008
Vincent James
This was kind of a big Christmas for you. You are really starting to “get” the whole meaning of it. You have talked endlessly about Jesus and how he was born on Christmas, but you are quick to talk about his death as well. You remind us that he is our Savior and died for our sins.
You don’t watch much (if any) mainstream TV, so thankfully you didn’t really have a bad case of the “I want it all” due to endless amounts of commercialism. When we did grace the toy aisles at stores and you mentioned any wants, unfortunately Daddy taught you to ask Santa. He became a man who would bring it all, so we began to teach you the real meaning of Christmas - to give just as Christ gave to us. Shortly after the “I want it all” incidents started, it became “we should buy this for the poor kids.” This warmed my heart. You helped pick out toys that we sent off to children who are less fortunate than us. We thanked God more regularly for the toys that we do have, and the rest of the holiday season we worked hard towards be unselfish.
On Christmas morning I realized that this might have seemed like a season of heros. Your pj’s (a Christmas Eve tradition) are Superman, complete with a cape. The slippers Kenniston so kindly picked out to give to you are Spiderman. By the way, you loved them and wore them all day. You also got 2 sets of Imaginex super heros, Superman and Batman. They were small inexpensive sets, but you loved them. Then, I have to brag a bit here, but you LOVED the cape that I sewed for you. I wish I could have gotten the look on your face when you opened it. You wore it all day long as well.
I know you will play with the game we got you, the wooden motorcyle and Geotracks train that you received…but today your favorite things were of the super hero type. I love you kiddo, you are a super hero in my eyes!
Kenniston Elaine
Tonight as we read the story of Christmas you knew exactly what was going on. I first asked you whose birthday it was and you knew it was the birthday of Jesus. I asked who had to go to Bethleham and you told me Joseph and Mary. When I asked who was going to have a baby, you knew it was Mary. Any detail about the story you could fill in!
This morning you made my heart melt.. I was cooking breakfast in hopes of having it ready before any one else woke up. I looked up from flipping pancakes and saw you standing at the Christmas tree staring in awe over the bounty of presents. Your eyes were fixed on the princess tent that Daddy (er Santa) set up for you. You wanted to dig in right away. Instead, you helped me wrap the gift you picked out for Vincent (a pair of Spiderman slippers that we couldn’t wrap the day before because of the craziness). You could not wait for him to open those slippers! As soon as he woke up you ran and grabbed the gift and gave it to him. I could not grab the camera in time! Ack!
After unwrapping presents and some meltdowns (yesterday was a long day for you, then the sugar and excitement of the day didn’t help your 2 1/2 year old self) you spent most of your day in your princess tent. You climbed in decked out in your new rainbow pj’s, tutu, pink bow, and new cupcake neckalce. Oh, did I mention you had a handful of ferries. Too girlie and oh so cute!
I pray you continue to know and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. I love you girlie girl!
Jack Owen
Dude. Jack. First of all, look at how cool you are! Those sunglasses rock on you! Second of all, this is your first Christmas and boy was it a doozy. First, you woke up yesterday (Christmas Eve) with a temperature of 104.3. Incase you didn’t realize it, for a 9 month old baby, that is scary high. I called the doctor to get an appiontment, however, they wouldn’t even see you with a fever that high. I had to take you to the ER. I have to tell you a secret…I didn’t mind spending that time in the ER with you. I loved just holding you and singing to you and helping you feel better. It was just me and you. Of course, it would have been a bit better had it not been Christmas Eve, but I was thrilled to be able to snuggle with you non the less.
This year I know you mainly noticed the lights and sounds of the holiday. You won’t understand the importance of the birth of Christ and the meaning of his sacrifice until you are much older. For now I pray that we were able to show you the love of Christ through this time.
We were able to at least let you explore the variety of fun stuff that comes this time of the year. You loved grabbing the Christmas tree pine needles. You liked the flashing lights, the ribbons and bows. You enjoyed eating wrapping paper in hopes that one of us wouldn’t find you (though we did).
This year your gift list was small, some might even call it tiny. Even though it was short, we made it meaningful. The pj’s that you received as part of our family tradition were from the Carter’s gorilla line. You make this adorable face that looks just like the gorilla on this line, so, I obviously had to get them for you.
Since you like to bang things together so much, we got you a great toy from Plan Toys. It is a wooden toy that has pegs that you hammer with a mallet. You loved banging this toy most of the day. This of course, after stealing it back from your brother and big sister. They too love this toy!
Jack jack, I hope you enjoyed this first Christmas as much as I did. I love you buddle bug and I look forward to many more Christmases with you!
Ruby Adeline
My dear sweet Adeline, this picture describes you perfectly. You have such a curiousity about everything around you. This Christmas was no different. You were constantly trying to touch and explore items with your mouth. Bows, ribbons, wrapping paper, tags, toys, the Christmas tree, ornaments, etc..if you could find a way to reach it, it went in your mouth.
The meaning of Christmas is something that you will learn more about in the next year. You won’t understand the importance of the birth of Christ and the meaning of his sacrifice until you are much older. For now I pray that we were able to show you the love of Christ through this time.
I know that for today, you enjoyed the excitement of our house. You watched your siblings run around being more silly than ever. You enjoyed them helping you unwrap gifts (even if they weren’t supposed to!). You enjoyed sneaking (gummy) bites of apple from your big sister - more than once, but you didn’t enjoy getting caught because that meant the apple was taken away. You enjoyed sweet potatoes and trying stuffing for the first time (you ate a lot more than usual today!). You loved playing with your new VERY OWN tutu, which I can’t wait to photograph you wearing! Hopefully tomorrow you can finish unwrapping your presents. It seems somehow that you (and Jack) left behind a gift or two unwrapped. One of those gifts I think I know you will love! Not to give it away, but it is a set of wooden exploring blocks by Haba. I know that you love to explore each and every detail of an item, so these will be perfect. I really enjoy watching you explore. I know that you have such a curiousity about this world and you are trying to take it all in. I think each and every year will be more and more fun with you! I love you Ruby love!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
McGovernville 2008 (12th Edition)
Well friends and family another year has come and gone, and this year, by far, has been our biggest. It would help if I started from the beginning of our year.
March 18 was a big day in our house. Jack Owen was welcomed into our family at 5:04 pm and Ruby Adeline came at 5:09 pm. Jack weighed a whopping 6lbs 13oz, and was 20 inches long, while Ruby was 6lbs 3oz, and was also 20 inches long. Recovering from a natural twin delivery was interesting to say the least. Aside from Nana and Papa Scott who traveled from Texas to help us, we had an amazing group of family and friends who were a complete blessing. God sure gave us some awesome people in our lives!
In April Kenniston turned 2 years old and Mommy turned, well let’s just say Mommy had a birthday ;-). Aunt Tonya was there to help out with the party and she even gave us a date night as we celebrated 7 years as a married couple. Earlier in the month Grandma and Grandad visited us from Montana. The year wasn’t even half way over and we had already had several visitors!
In May Brian celebrated a birthday as well (with 6 people in our house this happens a lot now days). Life with 4 kids was starting to seem normal, but we still felt like we were floating along. This was especially true during Brian’s summer training in Atlanta. Even though it was only 2 weeks long, it was still a challenge with two newborns and the big kids.
In June our family took our first camping trip as a family of 6. Our churches annual camping trip happens to be in Eastern Washington, just a few hours away from Missoula Montana. After working out plans with the McGovern half of our extended family, we chose to have a mini family reunion at Jellystone Park in Missoula. Between stopping for nursing breaks and potty breaks it took us longer than expected, but we made it and fun was had by all during that summer trip “back east.”
In July our little boy, Vincent, turned 4 years old. We celebrated with a backyard swim and splash party with some close friends. That was pretty much the theme for our summer. With two “big kids” (as they are now called) and two *constantly* nursing and sleeping babies we spent a great deal of time at home enjoying water play.
This fall brought on the typical beautiful colors and crisp air. It also brought about training for Brian. He left for Germany this October and trained there for about 5 weeks. We continued our regular activities in hopes of keeping our lives semi-normal schedule. This summer we started an art playgroup (that meets at our house) that we have been pretty successful in keeping up with. We have also enjoyed our weekly Bible study with PWOC and our small group study through our church. MOPS started this fall, which has been a huge blessing. Vincent also started AWANAS at this time. Life has been been busy for us!
Through all this time the kids have grown leaps and bounds. Kenniston is all girl. She loves just about any princess story, even more so, she loves to dress up and pretend to be a princess herself. It has been so interesting to see her transform from “baby/toddler” to little girl. Vincent has taken on the ultimate big brother role. He loves helping us out and at times has to be reminded to let Mommy and Daddy do their job. He continues to read and now has an interest in new math skills (he loves addition and subtraction). We are trying to take things slow in that area. I contemplated starting him in kindergarten this year (at home, we plan on homeschooling), however I want to let him be a kid for a while and just enjoy learning at his own pace for now.
Jack and Ruby are growing way too fast. They are most definitely our last babies, so I am really trying to soak in all of their babyhood. Both babies are very mobile and so different in personality. Jack is a flirtatious bundle of personality. He will smile and play coy at pretty much anyone, but can definitely let you know when he is unhappy. Ruby is so quiet and observant. She loves to stare at things and learn about them, especially through touch. She is a very tactile baby! She is extremely content and loving. Her smile can brighten any room.
And so, that brings us to the Holiday Season. We are really looking forward to some quality family time this Christmas, since Brian will be leaving so soon, and won’t be around next year this time. Speaking of which, for those who don’t know yet, Brian is deploying to Afgnhanistan sometime around the first part of the year. He will be NCOIC (Noncommissioned Officer in Charge) of a Brigade Public Affairs office somewhere in the middle of the country. Of course, we’d greatly appreciate your prayers, not only for his safety, but also for Kelly and the kids, as they’ll be making do without daddy for a year.
Thanks so much for your support and prayers over the years. We want to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas, and our hope is that everyone will take some time to remember what Christmas is all about: a Baby born in a barn who grew up to die for our sins. Our hope and faith is in Him.
Check us out at: www.mcgovernville.com Password: ladybug
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
This is not the first time this has happened!
We have been going to Discovery Community Church since January of 2007. We started going there after Becky, a then friend of a friend mentioned how much she liked her church. We were looking for a church (we had already been to 5 since moving to WA) and were anxious to find a church home . Even though the pastor didn’t ask Brian to play drums on the first day (as was the case in the last two churches we had been members of in previous states), we knew Discovery was the church God was preparing us for. Our small group was great. We jumped right in and felt no akwardness in being the new guys.
Fast forward to later that year. We were small group leaders, Brian occasionally played drums, I helped out here and there when I could. That summer we even got to go on our first church camping trip. It was so much fun. By that time we were pretty much immersed in this amazing church. Then we got pregnant with the twins. It was a difficult pregnancy, but once again, we had an amazing church family to help out.
Church members I barely knew were handing us buckets of produce after hearing that was a need for our family (I was having a hard time leaving the house to do simple things like grocery shopping on a weekly basis). We had Safeway gift cards given to us by annonymous givers so that we could have groceries delivered to our house. A good friend offered to fold our laundry, watch our kids, etc. I was given a BABY SHOWER. These are my third and forth babies, I never once thought anyone would want to give us a baby shower for this pregnancy! People were amazing.
After the twins were born the blessings didn’t stop. Whole small groups were offering to help in many ways. My laundry was washed and folded, house was cleaned, children cared for, etc. They never stopped thinking about us.
I have heard time and time again that a pastor alone doesn’t make a church great, that it is also the members that can make or break a church. Pastors, however, can obviously be a huge factor in a church. They are busy people. They have many people to lead and a huge responsibility, especially around Christmas. Teaching of Christ’s birth is a big deal. So imagine my surprise when one of our pastors wanted to come on base to give the military families of our church a Christmas surprise. They wanted to take out time from their busy day at this time of the year for our families, wow. I mean, even my husband got off of work early today!
Pastor Rob, poor guy, called us around noon and unfortunately could not figure out a way to get to our house. Most roads to our house were blocked. So he trudged forward and found a way to get here, all to bless our family this Christmas. He left us with a kind card and generous Christmas gift. It doesn’t matter if that gift was a $5 Starbucks gift card or a new washer and dryer set. He took time from his busy day to come to our house and bless our family this year. Wow. Do you realize that our church isn’t exactly just a couple dozen people? There are more than a couple hundred people. He chose to visit with military families to thank them for their service and wish our family a Merry Christmas. That alone meant a lot to us. Thank you Pastor Rob (and Jon too!). You guys mean a lot to our family and we are so thankful that God brought us to Discovery. I pray that I am able to express just how much this church has been a blessing to our family. Thank you.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Our Day so Far
Brian had to return to work today, but only for a few hours. I am trying to get back into the so called “normal” swing of things, even though this is still going to be an odd week. Here is our day so far in pictures (and some words)
We made cranberry and popcorn garland in our attempt to think of others (especially during the holidays). I have been talking about how God created nautre and we should help nature out. Today we helped nature out by making the birds a snack. We are waiting for Daddy to get home to put the snack out, I don’t want to take out all 4 kids by myself. I can do it, but don’t really want to today…after all, the twins won’t quite get the message of unselfishness and being kind to nature. We will save that message for next year….
Speaking of messags…Vincent was pretending to be the angel Gabrielle to bring me (Mary) the news that I was pregnant with Jesus. As I pretended to be surprised by said news he told me “don’t be afraid Mary, God is with you and he will take care of you!” It melts my heart to see my kiddos get the meaning of Christmas!!! I love it!
My Dear Beautiful, Sweet and Spunky little Kenniston Bean,
Dear dear dear Kenniston, I am writing you today, partially because your Nana insisted that I write this stuff down to remind you of it when you are older. She said that I should tell you about a bribe that I made, even though it was technically Santa who made said bribe. He sent you a package today. In that package was two pair of big girl training panties and a letter. In the letter Santa mentioned how proud he was of you for growing into such a big girl. He also said that he knew you were ready for going potty in the toilet all by yourself. You see my dear sweet smart daughter, you have been going poop and potty in the “big girl toilet” for almost a year and a half now, you just don’t always go. In fact, over the past several months you have chosen to rarely go. Some call it regressing (possibly because of the birth of your brother and sister, possibly because you are WAY too busy playing) while others call it a control thing (that might be pushing it too far though). Either way, I know Santa knows that you can do it and knew a bigger insintive was in order. I guess the marshmellows we were currently bribing you with just wasn’t working, though we have had full confidence in you as well. Santa told you he would give you a new surprise present every time you went potty in the toilet for an entire day.
Today I am proud to say that you peed in the potty all day today! All DAY today! I just have to say I am super proud of you! Each and every time I asked you if you had to go, you did. You, however, did throw me for a loop when you told me you wanted Santa to bring you a nutcracker doll for your surprise. I hadn’t planned Santa did not know you wanted one, so hopefully he will have his elves make one for you later this week (like when the snow clears and Mommy and Daddy can leave the house again).
Way to go Big Girl! We are so proud of you! We love you!!!
