remy is here!

So, my sister had her baby girl two nights ago!  Traever, Andrea, and Adalai welcomed Remy Tulip on May 26 at 12:25am, weighing 7 lb. 10 oz. and 19.5 inches long.  She is just so sweet with the softest, little round cheeks :)...so cuddly.  I cannot wait to spend more time with her!  

Love Adalai's face in the above pic :).  Truth is, she wasn't feeling well.  We had her overnight the night Remy was born, and when she got here (around 9:45pm), she wasn't acting like herself.  She immediately went to Chad and after one hug, started coughing/gagging.  She ended up puking on him 3 times...poor girl :(...and poor Chad.  After the trauma of throwing up was over, she settled down and did great overnight.  But, she was woken up around 6am to Livie yelling from her room, "Mom...up!  Up Mom!".  So, yeah, she's a little sleep deprived in this pic too. 

Besides having Adalai over, we've had several other babies and toddlers over lately too.  It's been good for Livie not to get all the attention...and she LOVES babies (any kid who is younger than her/and any doll).  Here's Livie and Obie in the double stroller (used, but new to us!).  This was the first time I tried out the double seat in the back...worked great.

Livie playing with baby Jill...something I find her doing A LOT lately.

We had the posse kids over for date night last saturday.  Jonah, Harper, and Livie loved playing with bubbles.  And Finley enjoyed watching from the stroller :).  

Other things going on.  I had my last day as a volunteer/advocate at Women's Pregnancy Center this past wednesday.  I was only going there every other wednesday from 9-1pm, but believe me those wednesdays came around FAST.  Mom would watch Livie for me in Morton, so it was a full day for us.  Anyway, it was sad for me to say goodbye to such a great ministry here in Peoria, but with the baby on the way/building the house/summer plans/and keeping family first, I really felt the need to move on.  I will miss all the ladies there so much.  They are such great servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May the ministry be blessed!

House news?  Backfilling happened this week...and plumbing starts tomorrow :).  

"baby jill"...and walls!

About a month ago, Chad decided that Livie's baby dolls needed names...hehe.  So, he and Livie named them  baby Jody, baby Kate, and baby Jill.  For awhile, it was only Chad who was calling them by name :).  BUT...on monday night, we were sitting around and Livie had one of the babies with her.  When Chad asked her the name of the baby, she matter-of-factly said, "baby Jill"...it was hilarious.  She's been surprising us a lot lately by saying all sorts of things like "so sorry", "my baba please" (baba is her paci), "cook-cook please" (cook-cook is cookie), and her newest is "mine" (I have no idea where she picked that up...).  Here's Livie with baby Jody, baby Kate, and baby Jill...left to right:

 

And we have basement walls!  In these pics, the forms are still up, but they are supposed to come off today. 

Walls from the side/front:

Basement walls from the back:

Here's what Livie thinks of the house so far :):

Even with the few things that have been done, we've had a several things not go perfectly already...and it's been so easy to get frustrated.  But, at the same time, I sense God challenging us to submit this house over to Him again and again.  After all, it is His...and He is in control of it all.  He has been and continues to be so faithful to us...and ultimately, He knows the bigger picture.  May we trust Him with it today and as we continue...

As far as pregnancy goes, I had my 29 week appointment this week.  Everything looked fine...our baby girl is measuring right on schedule!

digging and visiting alex

Last week, I took these two pictures of Livie at home.  The first, she is pant-less, wearing ski goggles, and trying on my running shoes - all to her own doing :).  The second, I found her in bed with her legs propped up on the crib bumper and her face covered in her little blankie :).  I know I talk/write about Livie a lot...but I love this little girl sooo much.

News on the lot...last Friday we started DIGGING!!  They finished the job on Saturday, and things have been progressing since then.  Today, they poured the footings...so the foundation walls are next.  Here's some pics of the big dig:

Septic:

The ravine (the grass we planted is growing!)

Basement:

Also, on Friday, we took a road trip with Traever, Andrea, and Adalai to visit Alex.  It was wonderful to see him and we all got some good bonding time together (maybe a little too much???).  Never :).  The girls did great.  I think Livie only bit Adalai 5 times the whole weekend (biting is her defense mechanism when someone is taking something she wants...not good...we're working on it).  Other than that, they had a blast playing, laughing, and just being together 24/7.

Adalai has been potty training, so they brought her little potty chair on the trip.  And I have say, I was so impressed with this little girl.  No accidents!  This was a typical scene in the car:

We visited the creation museum on saturday.  It was awesome to see the Biblical perspective they presented on creation.

By sunday, we were all pretty tired.  Chad grabbed the camera for most of these...

he likes close-ups :).

Traever's amazing photography skills on this one.  Chad said, "Vicki Taufer couldn't have caught it better."  I don't know about that, but it is pretty cute :).

All in all, the trip was so worth it.  We love you Alex!  

Just a note on the above pic.  Andrea is due in just 3 weeks...doesn't she look amazing??  I'm due in 12 and look bigger than her.  I'm going to blame it on the fact she is wearing black and I'm wearing white :).  

Love this last pic of the guys getting the girls ready for the trip home.  Happy mother's day to us!

heart full

My mind is blank, my body is tired, but my heart is full :).  Not because things are going well, or because all situations are perfect, but because God is so good and so faithful.

"...in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, no angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, no anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!"  Romans 8:31-36

Here's some of my fav pics from last week:   

Chad reading Livie her children's Bible

Stopping for a phone call

Livie's new favorite cabinet to empty and climb into.  Yes, those knives are completely sealed!

LOVE this face.  So serious...

Looking forward to a weekend away with Chad, Andrea, Traever, and our girls.  We all are going to visit Alex!