Not yet...

Well, no baby yet. After having regular contractions for about 3 hours last night, we went to the hospital for a check and monitoring. Two hours later there was no labor progress, so we stayed the night at my parents' house (2 minutes from the hospital as opposed to 1 hour and 15 minutes) just in case. We're headed home this morning.

The funny thing is that we had finished breakfast and I was helping Andrew brush his hair, when he asked me if Anna had been born last night! :)

A piece of bike!

While Rebecca was watching the boys the other day, she read to Jacob the book Four Pups and a Worm. When they got to this page, she introduced the vocabulary word "unicycle" to him, which apparently was an unnecessary word to him.
His take on the picture? "Look! It's a merm riding a piece of bike!"

Matching

I realized that the boys ended up going to church yesterday with identical outfits on, so decided to just get some pictures. They were cooperative for the most part, and Jacob decided that he wanted Abby to be included in the action! (She grudgingly obliged, but got a treat out of the deal).

Those boys!

It's so fun to watch the boys in their relationship as brothers. While the arguments and "teasing" can be fierce sometimes, most of the time they love being together! This first pic is from the other day. Andrew was just sitting in his desk chair listening to a cd, and Jacob insisted on sitting on his lap!
Then on Sunday they were found hiding together in a refrigerator that's behind the church (you know you might be a redneck when...sorry, I digress)! It's since been duct-taped shut, but they were pretty pround of themselves!

Sounding so grown up...

Andrew said two things today that I want to remember....

This morning, I was explaining something to him (I wish I could remember what), and he said
"I see your point, mom."

Then this afternoon when he came in from playing outside, I mentioned that his pants sure were filthy. His reply? "Not to mention my socks and shoes." :)

Less than an hour after posting this, I need to come back to add something that made Mark and I absolutely crack up...(and my sister Trish, who I knew would appreciate it)!
Mark had been in to settle Jacob back into bed several times already. Jacob started whining about something yet again, so Mark didn't head in there, but decided to wait it out to see if he would settle himself.
After less than a minute, Andrew hollers out, "Dad, Jacob needs you." So Mark asked what for. Andrew, in quite a disgusted, can't-you-figure-this-out-on-your-own kind of tone said, "Well I don't know, but he's cryin' about something."
Okay...thanks for the translation, sorry to bother you! :)

Baby Update..again

All is well with Baby Anna! The dr. pointed out during the ultrasound that she has lots of hair...and we could see it waving in the fluid just like we could on Jacob before he was born!

At this point, there is not an abundance of amniotic fluid, the placenta is looking "mature," and we're at 38 weeks. So the fill-in Dr. I saw yesterday (while my regular dr. is out of town till the 27th), suggested that I ask him next week to strip the cervical membranes to see if that won't get labor started. My appt. is at 4 p.m. next Wed, and then we'll be in town till almost 10 p.m. for our childbirth refresher course, so it could work out very well! Jacob's birth was similar...after having the membranes stripped at my appt., we stayed in town till Edie's flight got in that evening, and went into labor before we needed to head home.

All in all, we're pretty encouraged that by this time next week, Anna may have arrived!

Car wash

After Mark got home from work Monday, he decided that since the inside of the van was clean, he and the boys should clean the outside! Andrew was a great helper, though Jacob was more interested in spraying water on his boots than anything else! Thanks for a sparkling van, gentlemen!

Aunt Becca's home!

Rebecca is home for the summer (she's actually already taken a 3 wk. summer class at school), so we had a family gathering Sun. afternoon to welcome her home! The boys were quite surprised that she was going to be at Gramps' and Grandma's house. Jacob's initial response was "No, mommy. Aunt Becca at college." Andrew said, "We're going to see Gramps and Grandma and Aunt Becca? Woo-hoo! Let's go!"
It was a beautiful day, so the boys got lots of bike riding and ball-playing and dirt-pile digging done! (And at the end of the day, Andrew was giving out massages, but somehow everyone but Aunt Becca got the short end of it)! :)

Of all the days...

...to not have the camera with me!

Saturday a.m., we headed to Seward to try and catch (no pun intended) the end of the Kids' Fishing Day event. Every year the AK Dept. of Fish and Game hosts a few events at various lakes. They provide kids' poles, all rigged and ready to go, as well as all the bait. They also have a drawing for various prizes, and hot dogs to cook over the campfire for lunch!

We got a late start, so when I remembered the camera 5 miles from home, we decided to not go back for it...better to let the boys go fishing and not have pictures of it than to not get to go at all!

Well, they did have a grand time fishing. Andrew saw one fish nibbling his bait, but never actually caught anything. After a while I just took Jacob's hook off and he enjoyed pretending! Andrew won some tackle for his rod, and Jacob won a hat...and lots of fun was had by all (not to mention adorable ketchup faces when it was all said and done)!

But, hindsight being 20/20, we should have gone back for the camera! The fishing event didn't end at noon like I had been told, so we would have had time, and then someone told us that the Coast Guard would be doing a demonstration over the bay as part of the festivities of Harbor Opening Day. So we headed down to the beach, and it was one of the most fascinating things we had ever seen!

The Coast Guard chopper did several different exercises, maneuvering over the water, dropping a basket to the CG tug, etc...all so close that we could feel the spray the chopper blades were blowing! And then they circled around, hovered just 10 feet over the water, and a diver jumped in. The boys were fascinated! While the chopper circled around again, the diver set off his flare, and they came back and hoisted him back up.

After they landed the chopper, we were able talk with the crew, and each of the boys got to sit in the pilot's seat, and to climb in the back cargo area. We all just loved the whole experience! It's remarkable some of the things our kids get to experience just because of where we live...we're grateful!

PS: We did take pictures on Mark's phone, and if we ever figure out how to get the pics off the phone, we'll post them!

Spring yardwork

We spent Sat. afternoon getting some outdoor yard work done. Mark and the boys did tons of raking, and got the leaves mulched into the flower beds around the church. A two year old is a handy way to keep the wind from blowing all your leaves out of the wheelbarrow!

One last visit...

On Monday, Eric and April returned to Anch. from their rv trip, so we headed up to hang out the night before they flew home. We hung out at the pool, and then had dinner right there in the hotel. After they got their kids to bed, we sat in the lobby and visited for a while, and we gave one last shot at convincing them that they really should move up here, at least for the summers! (They tried equally as hard to convince us that the corn fields would be an incredible bonus to visiting them)! :) God is so good to provide us with such true friends...though we wish we could have some friends like them who actually live close to us! We are incredibly grateful for their bravery in bringing the whole family along to visit and for the time we've had together! (Eric has a really cute pic of all the kids wrapped up in their towels after swimming...check back with their blog when he gets to that day). :)

Baby Bathtub...

The baby bathtub has been a great source of entertainment. The first day it was down, Andrew spent forever playing that it was a ball ramp! The pics didn't turn out, but Jacob used it continually as a boat. The day after I put the tub away, Jacob informed me that he was "building 'nother ark, like Noya's." To have such a vivid imagination! The baby bathtub is the ark, and if we take that away then we just need to build another one! :)

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, Mark and the boys gave me a beautiful hanging basket strawberry plant, from which we've already enjoyed a few berries! They also gave me this chair, as I had requested an outdoor chair w/ arms for nursing Anna while we're outside or camping! But the boys seemed equally thrilled with it!

Catch-up time...

It was just a whirlwind time of fun and laughs while Eric and April and the gang were here in Moose Pass! On Thurs. a.m. they headed to Anch. to rent an rv for a few days to head up to Denali. We'll touch base with them in Anch. tomorrow...probably hang out at the hotel pool and have dinner together, then they fly out early Tues. a.m.

So, no pictures of their family for those of you who are really following their blog and not ours...but as of last Wednesday, Eric had taken almost 1300 pictures, so I'm sure there'll be tons of fun posts coming soon!

In the last few days, our family has just been catching up on sleep, laundry, and housecleaning! Today being Mother's Day, I had full cooperation with all my nesting frenzy, and the bassinet and changing table are all arranged in our room, all of the receiving blankets are washed and put away (the clothes were done a few weeks ago!), and the things we need to pack for the hospital are all set aside. Poor Mark!

But at least now, if I get my wish and go into labor early, everything is ready. I'll post pictures later of the boys playing with the baby bathtub...so glad we're getting some things out now to have the newness wear off for them! (The bassinet was quite the source of entertainment the first few days it was down from the attic, too).

Two babies for company!

Yesterday Eric and April and the boys went on a 6-hr. boat tour of the bay...something not terribly fun with toddlers along. So, we got to have the girls for the day! It really was great fun-Andrew especially loved helping to take of the "babies," checking on them, putting on their bibs, buckling them into booster seats for meals, putting on their jackets, etc! We loaded all the little ones into the wagon for a walk to the Post Office and around the block before lunch, and Andrew was sure to help me push the wagon from behind! One of the favorite activities at home was riding the little train that we have, and Jacob and the girls were very good about taking turns with the riding/pushing. Andrew's comment while we were at the dinner table was this it sure is fun having two babies for company!

River Rafting!

On Sunday afternoon, our good friends Floyd and Li (and their daughter Caitlyn) took us rafting! It was quite a production, getting that many people bundled up, life-jacketed, and vehicles shuttled to where we would take out, but it was worth it! Despite the rain, we had lots of fun, saw lots of eagles and various ducks, and without the rain we wouldn't have seen the rainbow! Thanks, Floyd and Li, for all your work to treat us to a grand time on the river!

Baptism!

Last Sunday, we rejoiced in a baptism service! Jacob S. accepted Christ as His Savior about a year ago, and decided he was ready to make a public confession of his faith! The baptism was also planned for Russ, a brand-new believer that Mark led to the Lord just over a week ago! Russ was so excited to make his decision public, but has been down with a serious flu and couldn't come on Sunday. Pray for a speedy recovery for him!

For baptisms in the past, we have rented one of the hot tubs from the B & B where Eric & April were staying. Since they already had the hot tub for the week, we planned on having it while they were here! (And since the busy summer season is upon us, and the B & B will probably be booked, it may very well mean that Russ needs to be baptized in the lake instead...a first for Mark, who has been spoiled by always having the hot tub available)!

Jacob's older brother and his grandma (a very active member of our church) were both there for the baptism, so it was a very special time for their family. Another really neat blessing of the day was that we had 6 bikers from the Christian Motorcycle Association join us for church on Sunday, and they even came up to the B & B for the baptism. Afterward, one of them commended Jacob for making his profession public in front of many people he didn't even know, and encouraged him that every time he hears any motorcycles going through town (which is often in the summer!), he should remind himself of his commitment to follow Christ. All in all, the service was a blessing and encouragement to everyone!

PS: A funny note about the baptism...as Mark was asking Jacob S. questions to lead him in his confession of faith, he would ask "Jacob...?" etc, to which our Jacob kept asking "What, Daddy?"

Prospecting Success!

All in all, we had a fantastic day! Everyone found at least a few gold flakes...though I think Jordan and Melanie were the big strikers! Thanks, Dad, for such a fun time and all the work you put into getting it prepped for us!

Prospecing in Action

Everyone enjoyed the process...even the girls and Jacob enjoyed shoveling rocks and trying to get water in the gold pans!