On Tuesday night we had some dear friends over for dinner. We had an awesome dinner and great conversation and then... disaster strikes...Ansley locked herself in our guest bathroom! She is 2.5 and very smart (smart enough to know how to slide the lock above the doorknob, and also very smart to be potty trained already), but poor girl couldn't get herself out! There were many hardships for her...1. the bathroom light was not on, so she couldn't see anything. It was pitch-black in there 2. there is no heat in that bathroom. It was freezing in there! You could hear her teeth chattering. 3. She was crying so hard that she couldn't hear Brett and everyone else giving her instructions on what to do.
She was in there for at least 30 minutes. Crystal and I were getting ready to call Jeff (a firefighter at our church). It was a stressful situation to say the least. Aaron tried everything before finally knocking the door down with a very forceful kick. I was even scared for Ansley...can't imagine what she must have been feeling!
All this to say: we would love to have you over to our new house, but beware of the bathroom lock!
And after all that, here she is fully recovered and playing like there's no tomorrow. She acted like nothing tragic had even happened. I thought she would be scarred for life and never want to come back to our house to play with V. But I was wrong! The only thing she was upset about, it seemed, was that during all the drama she never got to the potty and wet her pants! We love Ansley. Here she is at about 8 months old when Vivian was born. We pray that they will grow up to be very close friends, mutually encouraging each other in the faith.

Last Friday morning Aaron left with 4 other men from our church to drive to Orlando for the marathon. Here are some pictures he took from the weekend (they are out of order, sorry): They all finished and got their medals! Congratulations, guys! From left to right: Toph, Dennis, Aaron, Bill, and Pat

Aaron is dressed for the race. It was a record low temperature in Orlando that morning- they started out at around 28 degrees.

Not sure where they are in this picture, but it's another picture of the whole group.On Friday night they stayed at Pat's sister's house in Jacksonville. The guys snooped around the house and found her teenage daughter's room with the leopard print bed, and of course had to make a photoshoot out of it. Crazy. There is a more interesting photo of Dennis than this, and I know many of you have already seen it, but I thought I'd post the less embarrassing one on the Internet to spare him.

Wow. Nice, Aaron.
Dennis and Toph

So glad they had a good time! But I definitely missed Aaron and was glad when he got home Monday afternoon.

Aaron took my camera to Orlando so I haven't been able to capture any of our fun moments this weekend. He is running the Disney World Marathon this morning. I've already gotten some text messages about his progress...he's keeping a steady pace and has passed the half-way point. We are excited for him! But nervous, too...it's a record low temperature in Florida today.
He left on Friday with Bill, Dennis, Toph, and Pat. I'm sure they've had a fun trip but we miss him!
We have hung out at Papa and Gramme's house for help with the girls and for company. Vivian and Kate have both been sick, and we're not over it yet- Kate woke up with a cough this morning :( It's been a challenging week with lots of coughing, stuffy noses, and tears! But the Lord is gracious and we have some antibiotics to help. We are anticipating a full recovery for all of us this week!
They both have enjoyed different toys here, and Papa took Vivian out to breakfast yesterday.
Pictures of the marathon weekend coming soon!

A lot of people as me how it goes at our house with two small babies. Last night is a good illustration for those of you who have time to read all of this story:
(warning: kind of gross)
Vivian had a rough dinner because she wasn't feeling well, so she didn't finish until it was already bathtime. They both needed to get a bath. Usually when I start this process Aaron is home so it's not a problem, but last night he was late and I made the mistake of putting them in the tub at the same time. After playing for a while (Vivian is so sweet with Kate), I got Kate out first and dried her off and diapered her and got her pjs on. Her bottle was ready and the humidifier was filled. I stuck my hands in the tub to get Vivian out, and realized too late that she had had a BM in the tub. You might wonder...wow she does that a lot! But I promise this is only the 3rd time it's happened ever. Anyway I didn't have time to get all the toys out, clorox the tub and wash her all over again because Kate wanted to eat and go to bed right at that second if you know what I mean. So I got V out, dried her off quickly, and told her to come play in Kate's room while I fed her. While I was trying to get the snot out of Kate's nose (which she hates so she was screaming), V finished her BM on Kate's playmat that I had just washed that morning because Kate had thrown up her Prevacid all over it. Wow. I just let it go for a few minutes and I fed Kate and put her down. V and I went to the bathroom to clean the tub and hop in the shower together so I could rewash her. I didn't realize that she still had you-know-what on her bottom, so as I looked down from wetting my hair I realized that it was running all across my feet to the drain. GROSS.

During times like these I find myself repeating "In service to Christ" over and over again :)
Kids are crazy. But I love them.

Kate is 5 months old today. Praise the Lord for His steadfast faithfulness in helping us raise this baby. She is definitely a challenge! But her smiles and laughter make up for it :)
We are still having a hard time with the eating but it is getting better. I can't tell if the prescription for acid reflux is helping or not...I have such a hard time getting it in her.
Poor kid has had a runny nose for the entire 4th month of her life.
She has no schedule, which drives me crazy because it's against my entire personality (!!) but the Lord has humbled me in that regard. The only consistent thing that she does as far as the clock goes is go to bed around 7 pm. She wakes up around 7 am, but the night wakings are always different.
She naps decently (1.5-2 hours at a time), in fact better than Vivian did at this age. She can get to sleep well on her own and the only routine we have is to sing the Doxology before I put her in the crib.
Other things I love:
-She has found her feet and loves to play with them, especially when she eats.
-She can sit by herself for a few seconds before falling over. Vivian thinks it is hilarious when she falls over. She can sit for an extended time on our laps.
-She is getting better at keeping a pacifier.
-Her hair is getting longer in the back, but she still has the bald spot so it looks pretty funny back there. In some of these pictures it looks a little red!

18 months: The age at which your baby is finally developing abilities that a chimp never will.
(Saw this in Parenting Magazine and thought it was interesting! Difficult to believe, though...) This morning we went for Vivian's 18 month well-check with Dr. B. Aaron went with me and I am so thankful because she got 4 shots and had to have blood drawn from a vein in her arm. He said I wouldn't have been strong enough to hold her down!
We had lots of questions and I was happy with all of the answers:
-She doesn't drink milk and that's no problem.
-The difference in the size of her pupils is not the result of an injury (she had a couple of bad falls back in the summer) but it is a condition called Anisocoria that is more than likely no big deal. We might have to go to an opthamologist later on but probably not.
-We expressed concern about her language development but he asked us several questions and based on our answers, he says there is nothing to worry about. She will start progressing really fast and have no lasting delay.
-There is nothing we can do about her holding her breath when she cries. It is not damaging to her...just scary for us! It's been getting worse lately it seems...she doesn't breathe for a long time and her face and lips turn blue and she acts like she's going to pass out. He said even if she does pass out it is no problem...lots of kids do it and God will not let her die because of this :)

I didn't write down her stats but I remember she weighed a little more than 23 pounds and had gained an inch or two in length and a half an inch on her head circumference.
Healthy kid! And so fun these days!

On Friday, New Years Day, Mike, Peggy, and Brooke drove up from NC to visit! We didn't get to see them for Christmas since we got snowed in the week before, so they were gracious to make the trip to see us. It was a very relaxing two days! On Friday after a huge turkey lunch we sat around the fire in the living room all day! They were able to spend lots of time with the babies.This picture is out of order, but it shows that on Saturday we went to the movies. It was so nice of Peggy to stay with the babies so I could go.Someone just woke up!When Vivian woke up from her nap on Friday, we opened presents.Thank you for my new toys!Kate hung out by the fire. She loves staring at it.Aaron showed off the chain saw he got for Christmas. He and Mike even went outside to cut some firewood for us.Ben sent a new coat for Aaron. He came to NC for Christmas but had to go back to Colorado so he couldn't come with them.That night after ordering pizza, we made s'mores! It was Mike's first time ever making and eating them.

On New Years Eve my parents came over to watch the girls and Aaron and I went to church for the dinner and service. It was an awesome time of remembering God's faithfulness in the life of our church this year. We talked about all the changes that have come to pass and how He has given grace to glorify Himself in the events that have happened. They showed a slideshow from the year, which included baptisms, new births, VBS, the annual picnic, the Christmas program, overseas missions, etc. It was so fun to watch and reflect on God's faithfulness. We also prayed with each other in expectation of God revealing Himself for 2010.

Afterwards, we headed over to Debbie and Carissa's house to hang out with them and ring in the new year. She had some great snacks and a huge TV for us to watch the countdown! Dennis and Shannon came, too.Carissa and KeaganGetting out the juice for the toast.They guys were having fun in the VIP room at the Szuch club. Great friends again in 2010! Love you Carissa :)

Papa built Vivian and Kate a swing in his new barn, and yesterday we went over to surprise them with it and try it out. Maybe a little hesitant at first?I don't know about this, Papa, but I trust you!Ok, this is fun!

Kate's turn! Vivian wanted to help push, but she was mostly in the way. Kate's eyes say it all: Hey, everybody, I'm getting dizzy!

She loves Papa!

Thank you Papa for such a fun gift!

Stephen and Michael came over on Saturday to hang out. We had a good afternoon together, and they were so sweet to Vivian and Kate.

Two sugar cookies came to play with me in the bed this morning! What a way to start the day :)
Thanks for the new matching pjs, Mama Dot!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

These first two pictures are Vivian actually smiling for the camera. She's only recently started getting the concept of it...I'm excited! She's only done it a couple of times...when I said smile, she did!

-say "Elmo". It's a dominant word for her, but she is adding more! She says duck, hop, hat, hot, dada, shoes, eyes, choo-choo and makes signs for Help please, all done, more, thank you.

-eat yogurt. It's one of her favorite foods. Others are string cheese, broccoli, PB&J, and most anything in front of her at the table :) She's feeding herself most of the time, which means we either take her shirt off or use a bib.

-buckle buckles. She is obsessed. If she walks past Kate's carseat and it's not buckled, she cannot continue with life unless she stops and buckles it. It's the same with the buckles on Kate's swing, her high chair, etc. It's hilarious!

-try to put on her socks and shoes.

-go up the stairs with just leg power...no more knees!

-spend time with Papa and Gramme.

-brush her teeth. She has gotten so many teeth in the last 2 or 3 months, I can't count them all.

-practice making a few animal sounds. She can make a quack sound for duck, "mmm" for a cow, and make her mouth do a fish. It's adorable.

-Another word that she has learned to say is "no," unfortunately. She is beginning to understand that she has a choice when I tell her to do something. For example, when I tell her to "come here please" I can see in her eyes that she is thinking about whether she wants to come to me or not. Uh oh.

-I'll come back and add more about her as I think of it...Kate needs me right now!