Touch-A-Truck Day in Summerfield

The Town of Summerfield had a "Touch-A-Truck Day" today and so I brought the kids while mommy sold a bunch of stuff at a yard sale.

There were firetrucks, a semi, a dump truck, a motorcycle (sort of...2 wheels in front...), an Army Humvee, a garbage truck, a tractor, a police car and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement SUV. 

"How do we turn it on, daddy?"

The kids all wanted to know why you had to turn a handle to get the windows on this antique firetruck to go up...

The garbage truck was one of Olivia's favorites: "This is where they stand to ride!"

In the semi: "Daddy, there's a bed and a fridge and a tv in here! It's like a whole house!"

Thanks, Uncle Greg!

A few weeks ago, Uncle Greg taught Gabe to eat without hands.

Thanks, Uncle Greg. Thanks a lot.

Sleepy Baby to Awake Baby

Ezra has gone from sleeping most of the time to being more awake and alert. He seems to like evenings and nights best, of course. :)

3 days

8 days (or so)

19 days old

Baldwin Family Visit

On Memorial Day, I took the kids to my grandmother's house. My parents, aunts, and cousin met us there. It was a fun visit. Aunt B and Aunt Kelly, I am sorry I didn't catch you in any of my pictures. Hopefully Mallory has a few I can add. :)

A Surprise Trip

Jeremy's cousin got married in DC on May 29th. Due to Ezra's due date being the 28th, we didn't think we would make it. Since Ezra chose the 22nd instead, we decided to make a surprise trip to DC. We wanted to see Jeremy's siblings that live in other states and we don't often see as well as many of his other family members. It turned into a great surprise when we showed up at dinner on Thursday night. Thanks to facebook messages, we knew right where dinner would be that night. :) We got to spend all of Friday with family exploring DC and celebrating with the bride and groom at the rehersal dinner before heading back home.

At the Air and Space Museum

Carousel on The Mall

Cousins

Olivia's choice for a place to sleep at the hotel. Yes, thats a luggage cart. :) It was right near Gabe's pack n play. She told me she wanted to be near him.

Gabe at the rehersal dinner

At the zoo

What's in a Name?

A friend of mine did this post recently and it inspired me to look up the meanings to all of our names and share how our children received their names.

JEREMY: His name means "God will raise up; God will set free". Jeremy is an amazing husband and has been raised up as the leader of our household. I have been so blessed to see Jeremy seek after God for himself and our family. JR's middle name is Richard which is a family name.

REBECCA: Well, my name means "to tie or to bind". hmm, I am open to what that could really mean for me, although I don't want any smart remarks. ;) Actually, I pray that I am bound to my father God. I desire to know him more intimately each and every day. May I never unbind myself from the firm foundation that God offers me. "In Him I live and move and have my being" (Acts 17:28a) My middle name is Marie and it is a family name.

OLIVIA HOPE: Jeremy chose the name Olivia and I chose Hope. Olivia means "peace" and we desire that she be filled with a peace from God that will never go away and will sustain her through all of life. I chose Hope because I desired that she know the hope (confident expectation) that God gives and that she may keep her eyes on the things of God and not the things of this world. We also desire that she share that peace and hope with those around her. Olivia's hope flows out of her easily to those around her. She always sees God's hand in the world around her and tells others often. And she is definitely a little girl that has a peaceful heart. Olivia's bible verse is Psalm 33:22, "Let your unfailing love surround us Lord, for our hope is in you alone."

GABRIEL JOSIAH: Jeremy chose Gabriel and I chose Josiah. Gabriel means "God's able-bodied one; hero of God". It was the name of the angel in the bible who delievered God's message to Mary (about Jesus). Josiah mean "Jehovah helps" and in the bible Josiah was a boy king that turned his people back to God and pulled out the scriptures that had been forgotten and had them read to the people. We pray that he would serve God and that he would always lean on him for help. This is interesting because Gabe desires to do everything on his own and can become very upset when that doesn't work out for him. Little One, we desire that you learn to lean on God. Gabriel's bible verse is 1 Chronicles 16:11, " Look to the Lord and His strength. Seek His face always."

EZRA JOEL: Well, this time around we picked the names together. Ezra means "helper" and was a scribe in the bible. Joel means "Jehovah is Lord". Both are books in the bible. Ezra covers the time in when the Israelites returned from captivity and rebuilt the temple to worship God. Joel is a prophetic book that calls the people to repentance and speaks of the future blessing of God as he will pour out his Spirit on his people. We pray that God's word would be inscribed on your heart in a special way and that you would always worship Him and never turn away. May your ears be tuned to God's voice. We also pray that the Spirit of God would be powerful in your life and may you always remember that He is coming back. At this point, we have noticed that Ezra keeps a thoughtful expression most of the time and is quick to hear things around him. Ezra's bible verse is Ezra 7:28b, "I felt encouraged because the gracious hand of the Lord my God was on me."

Mom, Dad, MIL and FIL, feel free to comment on how/why Jeremy and I received our names if you will. I'd love to know. I know that my dad prayed for my future husband and our family starting many years ago before our paths even crossed. I am thankful for the amazing family heritage that has been left to us on both sides.

Siblings

More Pics of Ezra

Gabe wanted to try Ezra's bed.

It's a boy!!!

Ezra Joel Sarine

Date: 5/22/10

Time: 4:11pm

Length: 20 3/4 inches

Weight: 7 lbs 9oz

It's Baby Time!

Well, It's baby day! I'm going to try to keep running tabs on what's going on with the birth, so check back often!

5/22 - 8:30am - Rebecca got home from work. Said she'd had a few contractions, but not too strong or long-lasting. Decided to go to bed and see if they subside.

10:15am - heard Rebecca moving around a couple of times over the last hour. Checked on her and she said she was still having contractions about 20 minutes apart, strong enough for her to need to get up and walk around. I decided to pack my stuff and get the kids dressed.

10:30am - Rebecca came down and said she was getting in the shower. Told me to call my parents to come get the kids.

11:00am - Finally got everything and the kids in the van. Meeting my parents at the hospital to exchange vehicles. Contractions have been about 5-10 minutes apart.

11:30am - Checked in at the hospital. Rebecca disappeared to the bathroom about 10 minutes ago. Starting to wonder...

11:45am - asked the lady at the desk what was going on and she said they decided to process her in while she was back there. Would have been nice to tell me...

11:50am - Nurse brought me back to her. Rebecca's on a monitor. She's 4-5cm and 80%. Contractions still 5-10 minutes apart.

12:00pm - moved us to a birthing room.

12:10pm - Tanya (our midwife) is here. She said we can break her water to speed things up, but we think we should just progress naturally.

 

12:30pm - Back on the monitor for an assessment. Everything's great.

12:55pm - Things are still good. Contractions are 4-5 minutes apart. Rebecca said she starting to feel a little nauseated. Our prior experiences tell us that she's probably starting into transitional labor.

1:00pm - Assessment is great. Baby E is moving around still, so the nurse is happy. Gonna go take a walk around.

1:30pm - Took a walk around the floor. Had a few contractions. Doing another assessment now. Things are still looking great.

1:45pm - Tanya checked her. 6-7cm, 100%. Head's moving down. Things are definitely progressing. Rebecca's trying to stay relaxed and doing a very good job of it. :) I, on the other hand, am getting anxious. :)

2:00pm - Assessment is still great. Rebecca's still prettyrelaxed. Having some back pain and the baby's definitely lower. We've been doing some stretching and positioning to keep her relaxed and relieve the pain somewhat. Trying to keep her hydrated as well. She's going to try to nap a bit.

2:30pm - Assessment again. I think we're definitely in transition. Rebecca's not sure. She says, "I can still think." :) Contractions are definitely closer together and more intense. She looks flushed and says she feels really nauseous.

3:00pm - Everything's still great. Moving along. Bigger contractions coming now. Took a short walk and came back for the 3:00 assessment. Baby's doing fine.

3:25pm - Tanya checked again. 9cm! She says the baby's facing sideways and seems to be rotating around to the right position, so she thinks it'll all be over in an hour or so. On another topic, it's been raining all day, but seems to have stopped now. This baby might be our first born during the day and when it wasn't raining. Gabe was born during a hurricane and Olivia was during a torrential downpour. :)

3:30pm - It might be time. Tanya's back in and Rebecca's feeling like there's pressure and a need to push.

3:45pm - Oh yeah. It's on like Donkey Kong.

4:00pm - Pushing

Strawberry Picking

We went strawberry picking this evening. The took us out to the fields by tractor ride. Then the kids had a great time picking strawberries and eating some. After that we fed a few goats. Olivia did well with this and Gabe thought it was funny when they licked his hand. To end the adventure we enjoyed some icecream with strawberries of course! :)

Garden

According to my friend, Donnie, who is the son of a farmer and was a farmer himself for 20 years or so, May 1st is the day to get everything planted. So I took Olivia and Gabe out last Saturday and planted a few things.

Olivia was so excited to get to use her gardening gloves and tools.

Gabe was pretty gung-ho about it, too.

Olivia helped plant peas, red and yellow onions, zucchini, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers and basil. Gabe, however, ate every seed I handed to him. Oh well...

All-in-all, it was lots of fun and Olivia's so excited that we already have sprouts of everything coming up after only 5 days! She wants to go out every chance she gets to look at the garden.

To follow up the fun of planting a garden, Olivia and Mom put together a lapbook. For this lapbook most things came from www.homeschoolshare.com and www.lapbooklessons.com. We read the story Muncha, Muncha, Muncha and as well as a couple of other garden related books from the library. We are in the process of reading Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit Giant Storybook.

We aren't quite done with this one yet. Olivia will be drawing her pea seed and its progress inside the seed growth minibook.

36 weeks!