A pool and a wedding

We're home again!

We had a great visit with my family, including some quality time in the pool. I asked them if they'd move closer to us and bring the pool with them, but they said no. DaRn. It was relaxing to spend a few hours in the water. And we even got some color on our pasty white skin!

Oh, and Grace loved being able to swim now that her cast is off! She's doing really well, besides favoring that leg when she walks. I don't know how long it'll take her to get completely back to normal, but I hope it's soon. And I hope it works itself out on its own.

Jana's wedding was beautiful, and not as scorching hot as I expected it to be. She was, of course, a gorgeous bride. And it all seemed to go really well. The dinner was HUGE. I've never seen that much food at a wedding buffet in my life. Wow, I was stuffed! And the wedding cake was actually moist. Yum. (Notice that even though I was already stuffed, as previously mentioned, I still made room for some cake. "Move over, Baby #3, I've got some eating to do!")

This week will hopefully be quieter for us. We all need to get some rest and get back into our routine. I'm still exhausted! I have an OB appointment Monday and I'm throwing a baby shower Thursday. Other than that, I'm hoping to spend most of the week catching up on life.

I'm thankful to have the year off from Cubbies (even though I loved it), because I would probably feel overwhelmed if I had to switch gears right back into Cubbies. But now I can spend a little more time evaluating Base Camp and finishing up on the loose ends with that. That's a nice feeling.

I'm headed to bed, so that's all for now, folks. Enjoy the pictures. Have a great week.

We're alive, sorta...

Base Camp is officially over today, and it was great. Check it out here. But now we are all officially dead tired. Exhausted. Beat. You get the idea.

Here's what's been going on in our lives (the short version)...

1. Grace got her cast off on Monday. YAY!

2. Base Camp attendance was great, ranging from 57 to 68 (or something like that) kids.

3. Tomorrow we head up north to go to Jana's wedding on Saturday evening. It's at a place called Frog Pond Village.

4. Next Thursday I'm throwing a baby shower for our neighbor at our house.

5. Now I'm going to bed. I'll try to post more next week after I catch up on some much-needed R&R. (That's "AAAARRRRRR and AAAARRRRRR" for those of you who attended Base Camp and heard all the wonderful pirate jokes.)

Bye.

Adorable

Urgent Prayer Need

Please pray for our Pastor's daughter, Maria. She is 8 months old and was just diagnosed with Bacterial Meningitis, which is causing pressure on her brain and spinal cord. The infection is also in her blood stream, which is not good.

We are praying for a complete and total recovery, though there are many other sad possibilities, such as hearing loss or worse.

Our church spent the entire morning service, Sunday School hour, and evening service praying and focusing on God's sovereignty and goodness. It is powerful to pray together, as well as to read promises like the one in Isaiah 40:11...

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Grace Update

Our little patient is doing well. We had our follow-up appointment on Friday (July 6), and it was pretty quick. The doctor told us to watch her to make sure her leg doesn't slip inside the cast, because it could cause injury to her skin if her heel got out of place. Other than that, we set another appointment for Monday, July 30 (less than three weeks from now!) to get the cast off if all looks well.

Grace is getting around well and not TOO restless. She's enjoyed the gifts that friends and family have sent along to occupy her time. THANK YOU for that!

Interesting side note - The orthopaedic guy we saw (Dr. Jabara) used to work at OSS, where I worked until becoming a stay-at-home mom. He actually started working there after I left, but I believe his move was in the works while I was still around. I wanted to see Dr. Hotchkiss sometime, even just to say hi, but he wasn't around at the ER and doesn't work for the same group as Dr. Jabara (I don't think).

Anyway, we had a great Fourth of July week. Luke had Wednesday through Friday off work, which was lovely. Both kids did really well with the fireworks, and they liked the parade. It was a good time. And Erin, Betsey, Tobin, Micah, Emily, and Dan all came over on the Fourth, too. It was lots of fun to hang out with them, and especially good to get to know the boyfriends better. Thanks for making the long trip, you four!

I had my 28-week OB appointment yesterday, and all is still well. I feel good still, except I feel more tired now that it's the third trimester. (Or maybe it's just from all of life's events going on around me! I'm not sure!) But the baby's heartbeat is still strong, and all my measurements and everything are good. 11-1/2 weeks to go!

OH! And Caleb moved into Grace's room! I'll have to say more on that later! Kinda crazy!

Bye for now!

Down with "jumpolines!"

Our little girl has a "brokeen leg" and a "big band-aid," in her own words.

On Friday night, all four of us were playing on the neighbors' trampoline. Luke bounced, and Grace must have fallen wrong. She cried and cried, and wouldn't walk on her left leg. So, we took her to visit the doctor. Honestly, Luke and I didn't think it was broken. We both thought it would probably be nothing (or a pulled muscle, or something simple), but we took her in anyway.

The long and short of it is that she broke her tibia, not far below her knee, all the way through. The good news was that it wasn't her growth plate that was broken, and it was still aligned, so they didn't have to set the bone before casting it. The sad part is just seeing my baby girl in a cast!

The first picture is on the way home from the hospital sometime around 11pm on Friday. She had a really rough first night, then a fairly hard first day of adjusting. It got better yesterday, though, when she was able to play on the floor with Luke and Caleb. And she is now crawling around, so it helps that she can be a little more independent. I think it helps her not feel too claustrophobic.

She was a trooper in church yesterday. She was in her stroller the whole time, and did really well. I was glad she didn't have to miss her class, since I know that's a highlight of her weekends.

Just to clarify, this third picture shows where Grace's broken bone is located under the cast. Luke drew that pretty little (jagged) line there to show Grace where it's "brokeen."

So, please pray for our baby girl to heal quickly! The doctor said to count on four weeks in the cast, but it'll be three if we're lucky and six if we're not. So, three to six weeks! I'd much rather have it be three! It's pretty overwhelming thinking about keeping a 2-1/2-year-old happy in a cast for that long. Not to mention carrying her around while being pregnant. (She was almost 37 pounds before they put the cast on!)

Anyway, on a happier note, Emily and I had a wonderful time with our strawberries on Saturday! I think this will become an annual tradition, just like apple picking! It was the last weekend of strawberry season, so some of the berries were tiny and yucky. But once we got further into the strawberry patch, we got some better berries and the picking was faster. In the end, she bought 10 pounds of strawberries, and I bought 15 pounds! Wowsers!

And the freezer jam was so easy! I tried two different kinds of pectin this year - powder and liquid. I definitely liked the powder better, as far as ease of use and ingredients. Get this - the powdered one takes four cups of mashed strawberries and 1-1/2 cups of sugar. The liquid is almost the opposite - 1-3/4 cups strawberries and 4 cups of sugar! I'm thinking the powder is just a tad healthier for us!

So, we made our jam and then bagged sliced strawberries to freeze for future use in breads and smoothies and whatever else we feel like! And I even had some fresh strawberries left over just for eating! It was a fun time!

Oh, and the last picture is just a random one of Caleb and me. He's a sweetheart! (And we didn't want him to be left out of this blog. After all, Grace has been getting more attention than him recently!)

I'll go - but if you have any ideas for keeping my little one occupied, let me know! Or if you want to come visit and entertain us for a while, call me! Otherwise, just have a great week and a happy Independence Day!

Excuses, strawberries, weddings, and a big belly

Wow, okay, I admit it. I've been majorly slacking in the blogging arena. However, I feel like I have good excuses. And they are as follows:

1. I've been working my hiney off trying to get Base Camp stuff ready. I FINALLY got the curriculum done (completely - written, printed, bound, and tabbed), and now I have to focus on the smaller details. We had counselor/teacher/game leader training last Sunday evening, and will have it again this Sunday evening. Camp is in 4-1/2 weeks! Augh!

2. It's summertime. People get married a lot in the summer. We like to visit family in the summer. Church is still busy in the summer.

3. I'm tired. I'm almost six months pregnant, and I happen to chase around two little people all day long. Not to whine. I love my life. But I am still tired.

So, there you have it. It's all I can think of right now.

This weekend promises more busyness in the lives of the Rumleys, but I'm excited. I think it'll be a fun weekend. I guess we really only have plans for Saturday (besides church on Sunday), but it's a full day. I'm SO excited to go strawberry picking with Emily in the morning (bright and early - 8am!), and then we'll come back here and make our first attempts at strawberry freezer jam! YUM! Luke says he could eat 200 jars of that stuff, so we might spend the better part of the day in the kitchen. Still, I'm psyched. I don't know what the normal price is for u-pick strawberries, but we'll be getting them for $.80 per pound. And that is tons better than any sale I've ever seen at the store.

Then, after we make our jam, Luke and the kids and I are going to a cookout at the Sturmans' house, in honor of some church friends that moved away about two years ago. There are supposed to be a lot of people there, and it should be tons of fun.

After that, Luke will have our kids, and I'm going to Jana's "personal" shower downtown! I think it'll be fun. I got her present yesterday, but already have to go back to the store, because they didn't take the ink tag off of it. Isn't that brilliant? Her wedding is in just 5 weeks from Saturday! Crazy!

And the pictures on this post are from Tom and Ashley's wedding. Isn't the scenery amazing? You can see their actual wedding photos here. It was a perfect day, and they eventually had a perfect sunset over Lake Michigan. (Yes, the sunset in the pictures is real! It almost looks like a backdrop, but it's not!)

(I put the second picture on here so that Chaeli can see my baby belly, as of June 9. Kisha's on the left and I'm on the right. I'll have to take another one soon, since I'm sure it has grown.)

I will stop now, since it's getting loooooooong. I'll have to leave out the rest of life that you missed while I was on hiatus. Sorry! Hope all is well in everyone else's busy summer lives! Bye for now!

Tampa Trip!

Well, we're back! Luke and I had a lovely vacation / business trip to Tampa last week! We left early Saturday morning (June 2) and got back late Wednesday night (June 6). So, it was a pretty full five days of sun, good food, and relaxation. Thankfully, the kids did really well with Grandma and Grandpa Rumley, Zach, Elyse, and Betsey. You can see all the fun they had here and here.

It was really hard to leave them, and I missed them a lot at times, but it was also a wonderful break for me before Baby #3 arrives. It was our first time away since we had kids.

We were also blessed to attend Tom and Ashley's wedding this past Saturday. It was absolutely beautiful! More pictures to come!

Watch out!

There are predators at Meijer. Not the "typical" predators. These are far worse. These are Amway/Quixtar/TEAM predators. They look for you in the aisles, strike up a great conversation, and then BAM! Try to manipulate you into joining their "business."

Seriously, we were at Meijer last night after church (i.e. 9:30pm) when a nice-looking young couple stopped to talk to me and Grace. Thankfully, Luke showed up not long after. He's getting pretty good at telling Amway-esque reps to go away.

So, here are your tips for the day:
1. Never wear a t-shirt with a logo on it to Meijer. These people jump all over it. Once Luke had a Cornerstone Football t-shirt on, and an Amway guy used that as a conversation-starter. Last night it was my AWANA shirt that started it. ("What does your t-shirt mean? Oh, well what does it stand for? Oh, yeah, my husband here went to AWANA as a kid. He even knows that the key verse is II Timothy 2:15. Good thing I stopped to ask you about your shirt as if I've never even heard of it before.") Shameless.

2. As soon as someone mentions an "Internet business," turn around and run. Don't even say goodbye. If they can't say, "I'm a web designer" Or "I work for Google," then their "Internet business" is a pyramid scheme. Run away.

3. If you run into a cute blond couple at the Cascade Meijer named Nate and Amanda, do as previously stated - turn around and run. They look nice and all, but looks are deceiving.

Really, it makes me sad. Don't these people feel bad at all for pretending to be interested in a conversation, just to take advantage of unsuspecting people? We talked about AWANA, our respective churches, alma maters (CU and Calvin), etc. etc. Walking away, I thought, that could have been good fellowship between believers, but instead it was all a sham. Somehow, I always feel violated by these people. Oh, and lest I forget to mention it, this was at least the third time we've been approached at Meijer like this, and one time Luke was approached at a gas station. Shameless, I tell you.

On second thought, I might ignore my first tip and print myself a nice pretty t-shirt that says, "No, I'm not interested in your 'Internet business.'" Think that would work?

Fun at the park

We had a great time with Kisha, Tayler, Stephanie, and Macie at the park in Lowell yesterday. It was a REALLY hot walk, and Caleb dropped his hat somewhere (couldn't find it), but other than that it was nice to get out and have some time with other moms and their kids. Here are some pictures:

Caleb had a good time swinging! I spent most of that time hoping his little bald head had enough sunblock on it!

Grace was such a good girl and kept her yellow sunglasses on the entire time we were out. And she kept her flip-flops on most of the time, too, which is quite an accomplishment for this two-year-old!

Stephanie and Macie...That woman doesn't look like she's ever given birth, does she? Tall and slender...so not fair. : - )

Kisha and Tayler...It was Tayler's first birthday yesterday, so we were able to spend time with the birthday girl. She really is a sweetheart, and Kisha is a great friend. We're so fortunate to have been blessed with our church family! (Hey, did you all know that Kisha is pregnant, too, and due just 9 days after us?! I'm excited for our kids to be close in age again!)

That's all for now. Tomorrow is Tayler's birthday party, so maybe we'll get some pictures of that.

Our weekends

Luke had a great time at the men's retreat he attended last Thursday through Saturday. It was at Lake Ann Baptist Camp near Traverse City. The speaker was Ken Rudolph, and Luke really enjoyed the messages. He was also able to play basketball, golf, and a funny prank on Pastor Craig. Fun was had! (Karl also went for part of it and had a great time. Hopefully they'll both go back next year!)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the kids and I stayed plenty busy as well. On Friday evening, we had a great time with some of the wives and kids whose husbands/daddies were at the men's retreat. We got to play at the Burrs' house, which was lots of fun.

Grace and Caleb also got to play with "Miss Wendy" from church on Saturday while I went to a big garage sale for about an hour, and then volunteered at a carnival for a sick little girl. Her name is Lillian Evans, and she's only five years old. She needs a heart and double-lung transplant. The carnival was to raise money for her transplant, which could cost around $500,000. (Wowsers, that's a lot of money.) I don't know how much was raised that day, but there was a great turnout, and people seemed to be very generous. I hope they raised LOTS!

We were very glad to have Luke come home. It's always hard when he's away. The kids and I missed him!

This weekend will hopefully be pretty quiet, except for Tayler's 1st birthday party on Saturday. Happy birthday, Tayler! Oh, yes, and Mother's Day is Sunday. Since I'm a mother, we're going to go out to eat. I'm thinking Johnny Carino's or Olive Garden. Any suggestions?

Oh, and by the way, I found out they didn't have to put another stent in a different artery for my grandpa. They did just have to replace the one that was already in there. All went well, and he's home now. Thanks for your prayers!

Hope everyone's doing well.

Grandpa Update

Thanks for your prayers! My grandpa had a heart catherization this morning, and they found that the stent that's currently in there is fine, but a different artery is blocked. So, they will go in and add a stent in that artery. I believe that procedure is tomorrow, but don't quote me on that. No one has mentioned any damage from the heart attack, and it sounds like the procedure is pretty common. It sounds like it's not as serious as it could have been. Praise the Lord!

Prayer request

We found out today that my Grandpa Liabenow (my dad's dad) had a heart attack. He had a pretty major one back when I was a junior in high school. So, that was eight years ago. I don't know much, but last I heard, he was in the ER and they're going to have to run tests. They don't know how serious his condition is. I might end up going up there if it's serious; otherwise I'll probably stay home. Just please pray for wisdom for the doctors, and for safety and healing for my grandpa. He's a gentle, kindhearted man. I hate for him to be in pain.

Thanks.

Ultrasound results...It's a...

BABY! :-)

Sorry! We didn't find out the gender. True, I came incredibly close to finding out, but my indecisiveness worked in my favor. So, again, we will have our dramatic "It's a _____!" moment in the delivery room. Luke thought he saw boy parts, and I thought I saw none (i.e. girl!), but I wouldn't trust our judgment anyway. I thought a leg was an arm, and we both thought the "strands" in the umbilical cord were toes. We are just not qualified in the ultrasound department.

But the good news is that the baby is healthy! And very active - and that is the reason that the pictures aren't that great. He/she wouldn't sit still! No matter how many pregnancies you have, it's always exciting to watch the little life inside you. We are both thanking God for a healthy baby! He/she is currently 8 ounces (or half a pound). Not too big, but trust me, he/she will get much bigger before coming out. Since Grace was 9lb 12oz, and Caleb was 9lb 13oz, I'm counting on a 9lb 14oz baby this time around. We'll see if that theory holds true. (Oh, Lord, please don't give me a baby over 10lbs!)

Last thought on baby for today...Would anyone like to contribute some baby name ideas? I need some inspiration. We (obviously) need a boy name and a girl name, just in case. But preferably no neutral names! :-)

We had a great time at my parents' house this past weekend. It was lots of fun to visit Grandma, Papa, Aunt Alonna, Big Karl, Aunt Melissa, Little Karl, and Baby Emma. We also got to see the Lung side of the family at a retirement party for my grandma. She worked at her job for 39 years, and some of those were while raising the five kids she had in a span of seven years! What a woman! I'm pretty thankful to be a stay-at-home mom. I have no idea how working moms survive. I think I'd be stressed all the time!

That's all for now!

Outside fun

Last week sometime, Grace drew this picture. (It's drawn with a water pen on special foam, so it eventually evaporated.) Can you tell what the two figures are? They're people! See the circles with eyes, and then the lines for bodies? I can't remember which one, but I think the one on the right is Luke! I was surprised she could do that already!

We also got to spend some wonderful time outside when the weather was nicer than it is now. Glorious! The kids played for a while on the cement (bubbles, sidewalk chalk, truck, ball, etc.). And then we went for a walk around our pond. Grace tried desperately to see the many turtles that were sitting on the fallen logs in the pond, but she just couldn't seem to see what I was pointing to. She kept saying, "Turtles, where are you?!" I wish we had a little rowboat so we could go out on the pond and maybe catch one or two. I'm certainly not going to step in the nasty muck (I got that out of my system at CU), so I'd need a boat.

And here's Caleb, driving around his truck like a little man. I love seeing the gender differences in Grace and Caleb that God has instilled in them from birth! I didn't teach Caleb to bang on things and drive trucks around on the ground and be loud. He's just a boy! And I love it!

I had another OB appointment Tuesday. All is well. Baby's heartbeat was 155. Our ultrasound is scheduled for Monday, April 30. Yay!

And this weekend, we'll be spending some time up north with my family. It'll be good to see them again. Grace has been asking for about nine days when we'll get to see Grandma and Papa again. We've been counting down the days, multiple times each day. So, I'm ready to get to "0!" :-)

Hope all is well with everyone. "HI!" to my sisters-in-law who are currently totally engrossed in college work. Not long until Erin's a senior and Betsey's a junior! Yay, you two!

That's all for now!

How much did you say that was going to cost?

We have Kenmore appliances. I have generally liked them the whole year-and-some that we've lived in this house. Especially our fridge; I love our fridge.

Oh, but our oven. It has a problem. Its handle likes to fall off. It was down to every couple of weeks it would fall off, and then eventually, every couple of uses. So, eventually, we screwed the screws in so tight, that one side was stripped. And, of course, we procrastinated and didn't call about our problem within the one-year limit of the warranty. (DaRn.) So, we ordered a new handle, and were assured that our screws would work with this new handle, or it would come with screws if it needed to. (The guy didn't really know.) Uh, yeah, the screws are just slightly too large. So, after paying an exorbitant amount for this stupid oven handle (don't even ask), we can't even use it.

So, of course I called Sears today about the screws. We went through the whole ordering process, and the lady never mentioned a cost, so (silly me) I thought maybe they'd be free. (I mean, the screws were supposedly supposed to be in our original order.) Then we got all the way to the end, and she said she was ready for my credit card information. Okay, way to try to slip that one by me, lady. So, I ask how much it comes to. Do you want to know how much Sears wants me to pay for two screws and two tiny teeny little washers? $18.82. Almost twenty dollars! Are you kidding me?! So, I told her "No, thanks" and canceled the whole order.

Sheesh.

Happy belated Easter!

Here are our sweet children on Easter. I wanted to get a perfect picture of them, but it's pretty much impossible to get them both sitting still and both looking at the camera at the same time, not to mention looking happy. Ah, well, it's a good thing they're cute anyway!

Caleb had his 1-year check-up this Tuesday. He's 20lb 5oz, and 30-1/4in long. Not huge, but better than he had been. I think it's the 20th percentile for weight (up from the 8th) and 70th percentile for height (up from the 50th or 55th). So, not bad!

Speaking of Easter, Grace's favorite teacher at church, Miss Wendy, bought her a set of Resurrection Eggs. Each egg has one item in it (except the last one - which is empty). By going through these eggs in the right order, Grace can tell me the story of Easter! Isn't that cool? We start with the donkey in the first egg, and I ask her who rode the donkey. She says "Jesus...Jerusalem...Hosanna, Hosanna!" Then, there are coins in the next egg, and she says, "Money...betray Jesus." Although, she has a REALLY hard time remembering the name Judas. (It sounds an awful lot like Jesus.) And we go on, until we open the last egg, and she says, "Jesus is alive!" Isn't that cool? And she's only two. What a kid. I hope she really internalizes the meaning of the story as she gets older.

Welp, that's all for now!

Concert, birthday party, baby, surgery...

*Note: I actually wrote this post last Friday, April 6, and Luke uploaded the pictures for me from work. But then, a busy weekend took over, and dial-up is just excruciatingly slow. Sorry it's a little out-of-date!

As Alonna mentioned on her blog, we attended a concert last Thursday evening. Alonna, Luke, and I went down to K-zoo and were privileged to see Need to Breathe, who put on an amazing show, and Jars of Clay, who did a good job but weren't quite as exciting. But who doesn't like Jars of Clay, right? There was also another "band" called Disappointed with Candy. It was two extremely talented guys playing some extremely weird music. I was not a fan. Sorry, guys. It added insult to injury, since we were supposed to see Burlap to Cashmere, but they dropped out. So, Disappointed with Candy was their replacement. Boo.

My wonderful parents were very gracious and generous to come down on Thursday morning and watch the kids while Alonna, Luke, and I took off for the day/night. We got back around midnight on Thursday, I think. (Can't really remember.) Then they stuck around until Saturday evening. It was really nice to be able to have some quality time with them, and my mom was a HUGE help in getting ready for the party. Thanks, Mom! (And thanks for blowing up the balloons, Alonna!)

The party was a success! Caleb turned ONE on Sunday! Wow, huh? How time flies...Both of our families (minus Erin, Betsey, and boyfriends - we missed you!), plus the Brewsters and Sheridans came. It was fun. Lots of food, lots of wonderful gifts. A pretty sweet little boy. He didn't like his cake at first, but he did end up getting pretty messy. Wouldn't you know, I didn't take one picture of the cake part? Isn't that lovely? I've copied some pictures from my mom's camera, but I don't know if anyone got a good picture of the end result - Caleb covered in chocolate cake/frosting - before we threw him in the tub. Oh, well, I guess. That's what happens when the new baby is zapping my brain 24/7.

Speaking of baby, I had my "real" doctor appointment last Tuesday. It went well. The doctor said everything looks great. And she didn't even tell me to watch my weight! Good job, Dr. Anderson! The baby's heartbeat was up to 167 this time, so maybe Grace is wrong and it's a girl. We shall wait 25 more weeks (or 27, depending on how late the stinker is) to find out.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for my dad's surgery! It went extremely well! He had the surgery around 9:30am on Tuesday, and he was doing great when we saw him on Tuesday evening. He said he felt better after the surgery than he had before! Which is huge, since we expected a rough recovery. I hope everything continues to heal quickly and painlessly. Anyway, thanks for your prayers! They're effective!


I think that's all for now. I'm exhausted, and dial-up is stinking slow. I might actually blog more if we can ever get high-speed again. Then again, maybe I won't, since I'll soon be a mother of three. (YAWN.) Just thinking about that makes me want to take a nap...







-{lkr}

Pictures, pictures, pictures...

The two Graces! The Buskards came to visit a while back, which was lovely, and this is a picture of their Grace with ours. I hope they'll remain friends as they grow up, even if it has to be long-distance buddies!



Here's the happy Buskard family!



Caleb now loves to put things on his head. In this picture he's using his green bowl as a yarmulke. (Had to look up the spelling for that word!) He is also now saying his first real word besides "mama" and "dada": "uh-oh!" It's cute.



Beautiful Grace! She can spell "G-r-a-c-e" now. Isn't that smart for 2 years and 4 months old?


Grace is so sweet in her princessy dress-up clothes. Aunt Elyse played dress-up with her on Saturday when they were visiting. Thanks, Aunt Elyse!


Aunt Alonna got to visit on Monday, which was lots of fun for both Grace and Caleb. She played puzzles and dress-up with Grace.



And here's Grandma and Grandpa Liabenow! It's always SO good to see them. And my dad (Grandpa) is doing really well. He's actually having surgery on April 3, so keep that in your prayers!

And not related to pictures...We had our first OB appointment today. The baby's heartbeat was 151. Grace keeps telling us it's a boy - maybe she's right!

There's a hamburger in three of-chicken?

And the answer is....."There's a bun in our oven!" Good job for all of you who figured it out. If you didn't, don't feel bad. Picture puzzles aren't for everybody! :-)

Here's the scoop: We're 11 weeks, 2 days along, which means we're due September 30. Or at least, that's what I think, since I haven't technically been to the doctor yet. (Details, details.) I've been feeling pretty crummy for a while, and hoping it'll ease up soon. The end of the first trimester is near! This week, I've actually been throwing up, but I think I caught a bug from Kisha. (Thanks, Kish!)

Grace is excited about the baby, I think. She says it's a boy, but she also says it's her sister. So, she's a little confused. We'll get that straightened out! Caleb is just oblivious, although he did smile and whack my belly when I was telling him about the baby yesterday. Who knows? He'll probably catch on before "Rumley 3.0" is born, since he'll be 18 months old then.

Sorry we haven't been blogging much. It's hard to find the energy to do it these days. Maybe I'll have some sort of energy soon, but then again, my mom-in-law always says she's been tired for 25 years and counting! So, maybe not...

We went to a Church Ministries Conference this weekend, which was really good overall. I got to attend three workshops (including one really great one geared toward preschool teaching, i.e. Cubbies!), and we got to hear Dr. Lutzer from Moody Memorial in Chicago speak! He's a great speaker, and had two great messages! So, the conference was fun. Really tiring, but fun.

There were about 1,000 people at the conference, probably 98% white, with many from the older set. (A guy at church calls the older people "wrinklies!" Ha!) Anyway, it was hilarious when the perpetually-slow music team tried to get everyone to clap to some songs. Let's just say it wasn't the prettiest thing I ever heard!

I also got to see Elaine and Kym O'Neill (Chaeli's mom and sister-in-law) at the conference. It was good to see them again, and to catch up. Kaitlyn (Kym's little girl, who is four days younger than Caleb) was also there, and she is such a doll! She fell asleep in Kym's arms while we were chatting.

Anyway, I'm babbling. This is what happens to me when I don't blog for a while. I'm sorry about the absence of pictures lately, too. I know wordy blogs without pictures are boring, but I'm not sure where our camera batteries went. Sorry! Maybe soon!

Now go enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather. I haven't yet, but now that I'm done puking for the day (I hope), I might slip out to get some fresh air!

-{lkr}

Surprise!

Thirteen and counting...

Well, our baby count is up to thirteen. Congratulations, Ken and Erin!

Here's the list:
Steve and Michele - June 15
Ben and Larissa - June 28 (BOY!)
Andy and Marcy - July 4 (BOY!)
Tim and Antje - July ?
Dave and Jen - August 4
Megan and Michael - August 8
Brandon and Marcy - August 20
Craig and Kathy - September ?
Ken and Erin - September 16
Tim and Jennifer - September 24
(*still a surprise*) - September 30
(*still a surprise*) - October 4
(*not sure if it's still a surprise or not, so I'd better not tell*) - Mid-October

Do you have anyone else to add?

-{lkr}

Long time, no blog

Welp, I'm just not feeling it lately. Sometimes I just don't have a lot to say.

One thing that's on my mind, though - I know 11 couples that are expecting between June and October. Something is in the water, I think. Watch out, all you Double-Income-No-Kids couples we know! (Ackermans, Lechlitners, Perrons, Bishops, Braams, etc, etc. That's you!) Only bottled water for you, or life might change! Seriously - ELEVEN couples?! Due in a span of FOUR months? Don't you think that's insane? It's not like we've all been snowed in with nothing else to do this winter...Well, maybe that comment was a little indecent. Sorry.

We are alive. The kids are still cute, albeit a little naughty at times. Grace is talking much better lately. Caleb's walking all over the place. Luke's a deacon at church, which is fun and busy. I'm exhausted - what's new? My dad's doing well at home; still a slow recovery. Nothing else to report, at least for the moment.

I need a new maid - mine is doing a terrible job lately. Any volunteers?

-{lkr}

Wacky Hair Night

It was our theme night at AWANA last night. We participated. I'd say Luke won the award for uniqueness.

I put my hair in a bunch of ponytails all over my head. Grace was sad that I used her hair bands to do it, but she got over it eventually. I meant to take a picture of it, but of course, I forgot. As my mother-in-law says, "What a ditz!"

But my brave husband took it the extra mile. During opening time, he gave the kids a challenge: for every kid that could say their verse, he'd let me shave a part of his hair - short. He ended up with stripes - alternating regular length (2"?) and really short (1/8"). The kids thought it was absolutely wonderful. They were chanting at the end, "Shave him bald! Shave him bald!" But we didn't, because bald just isn't wacky enough.


Grace was very disturbed by the hair. She kept saying, "Daddy hair messy." And she cried. Eventually, we fixed it so it's all the same length, but she still didn't like it. She'll either get used to it, or she'll spend a couple of weeks avoiding him while it grows out!

*Edit, here are the pictures of Luke:


That is how he looked for the whole night, then this is the "fixed" version (trying to look like the guy from Prison Break, hehe):

-{lkr}

Caleb's a walker!

My amazing husband brought these beautiful flowers home for me. I think they're tulips? Either way, they're gorgeous! Thanks, honey!

Things are going alright. I'm still on antibiotics for the strep throat, but I'm not feeling it anymore, so that's good. I feel much better. And the kids are doing okay. They still have constant runny noses / coughs, but they're surviving.

Caleb now has four (almost five!) teeth, and he can walk clear across the room all by himself! And he'll be ten months old tomorrow! He's so fast! It's fun to watch him toddle around, and he's so proud of himself sometimes. Cute.

Tonight is our AWANA Grand Prix, so we're going to go cheer on our Cubbies / TNT kids. (I do have some Cubbies racing cars! Yay for them!) And then this weekend, we're going to head up north to see my family. My dad's been accusing me of hoarding the grandchildren (haha), so we're going to go visit. It'll be nice to spend some time up there. I wish everyone lived closer, so we could see them more often with less effort!

Well, that's about all. Can't think of anything else to update. Have a great Wednesday!

-{lkr}

I have strep throat.

Yuck.

-{lkr}

Sunshiny winter days...

Mommies don't get sick days

Even though I feel like my head got hit by a truck (know how that feels, Chaeli? haha), my kids just won't give me the day off. They still expect me to cook, clean, and change their diapers. It's a good thing I get other "benefits" that are great...

Big, slobbery kisses all over my face, the best snuggles around, giggles that are the sweetest sound I've ever heard, smiles just for me, experiencing their "firsts", the privilege to teach them about God...

I guess being a mommy - healthy or sick - isn't so bad.

-{lkr}

Our little girl is sick

Well, the mood has changed since the first post. Grace has been running a temperature of about 103 since around 4pm. Poor kid. She's just not feeling well. She just laid on the couch during dinner, and then she laid on me while we watched the Incredibles, and then she went to bed. And she was sleeping intermittently in there, too. That's not like her. I hope she gets better soon, but if not, it's off to the doctor we go!

Hope everyone else is doing better than our little sweetheart is tonight!

-{lkr}

Does this shirt look familiar, Buzz?

More Christmas pictures / New Year's pictures / Caleb's firsts

One of the best things about Christmas this year was celebrating with my dad. We had great time. He was able to sit with us all the whole time we opened gifts, and he joked around with us a little bit. This picture is of him reading to Little Karl (the nephew formerly known as Kade) at our Lung Christmas. (That's my mom's side of the family.)

You know, since the accident, my mom's been praying that my dad will come out even better than he was before...And I think the Lord is answering her prayer in a way I didn't expect. My dad's been a Christian most of his life, but he's never been very vocal about it. He'd always pray at mealtimes, and we always went to church whenever the doors were open. We knew he had great values, but he didn't talk about the Lord much. Well, now he's talking about the Lord much more! I almost cried...at our Lung Christmas, I heard him say to a relative, "Uncle Roy, have you been praying for me?" And then, "Now I can be a testimony to (the Lord)." And then later he told my cousin, "You need to love the Lord with all your heart, and serve Him." Then when we were in church, he stood up and thanked everyone for their prayers and remarked how good God is. WOW! My dad may not be as strong physically as he used to be, but I'd say this is a change for the better! He could be bitter and angry that all this happened to him, but instead he's praising the Lord. Thank you, God!

The second picture is Grace at the Lung Christmas - after the pinata was broken. Can you tell she's excited about the candy?

Third is Grace and me testing out her new sleeping bag that we got her for Christmas. Snuggly!

Melissa, Karl, Karl, and Emma were here for New Year's. (We switch back and forth, and this year was their year to come here.) We had a great time hanging out, eating food, and chasing the kids. Although, I must admit, we pretty much went right to bed after the ball dropped. What can I say? We're old fogies. The fourth picture is Grace and Karl kissing Emma. Awww.

Now, the exciting news...Caleb took his first step last night! All by himself! YAY! What a big boy! And he was only 9months, 3 days old. Then Luke and Grace helped him walk around the house (picture #5). Pretty cute, huh?

And one more first for Caleb...Today was the first time he sat in the grocery cart seat (picture #6). I decided he's big enough to leave his silly car seat in the car when we're at Meijer. He was pretty enthralled with it at first. He didn't move. He just sat there and stared, like it was a whole new angle on grocery shopping. Ha.

Let's end with a giggle...If you want to see something really funny, go here. Luke thinks it's a little creepy, but it makes me laugh.

-{lkr}