Christmas 2009

I love this picture.

This Christmas Andrew and I have so much to be thankful for.

Among them, three beautiful, healthy, energetic children who make us cry and laugh, sometimes in the same hour.

We have a new kitchen, which we are loving. It's open and light and there is no more green! I love green, but in excess it's not good.

The town we live in is small, quaint and safe. We have made wonderful friends and are so glad for the support we have here as a family.

The kids have made some friends whom they mention throughout the day and love playing with.

I am able to be involved in the mom's program MOPS and that has been encouraging to everyone.

Andrew was able to bowhunt his first deer. We are now enjoying jerky and Ella still thinks that the meat from the deer is for giving back to the deer. She calls it "deer neat."

Ella is 3 now and is a bundle of words, expressions, questions, and sometimes the occasional talking back of her own opinions. This, we are working on. She is gentle and caring with a sweet spirit and gets so excited for things that sometimes all she can do is squeal with a smile on her face. She loves babies and singing. She dances to music and loves sweets. What kid doesn't? She is learning how to be a big sister to 2 brothers now and helps Peter with everything, but also stirs up trouble with him too. She likes to make sure John is wearing the kind of character diaper she wants him to wear. Elmo on the front of the diaper is her favorite and she wants to pick that out every time. Her quotes frequent my "facebook" and she is very witty and has a mind like a steel trap. She remembers everything. Ella likes to say, "tomorrow when I am taller, I will drive the car." She calls anything that ends with "ool" an "oodle." Like "stoodle or toodle" for stool and toole. It's great, I never correct her.

Peter is 19 months and keeps me on my toes at all times. I cannot turn my back on him or something is bound to happen. Whether good or bad, unsafe or innocent, he's always moving. He wants to do everything Ella does, even if she just got in trouble for doing it. He runs from one end of the house to the other with a huge smile on his face and his right arm in the air (not sure why). He's full of one-liners. He gets the point across with one word and he's also very smart. He tries to repeat everything that we say. He hears me say "careful" all the time and he says, "care-fo." His new thing is, "I do it." He wants to do things himself and he is learning well and sometimes the hard way. He recently burned his hand on the pellet stove. I was mad and felt sorry for him all at the same time. He won't do that again. He also loves music and dancing. He likes the song "Move it" from the movie "Madagascar" and he calls it "moe-in." This is a favorite of his to dance to. He is a free spirit and thinks he's funny all the time. I don't think that at any time, this middle child of mine is going to go unnoticed. He will make sure of it.

John is almost 2 months and has the most laid back personality of all the kids as babies. He's easy going and has this way of looking at you as if to say, "don't worry mom, it will be ok." Sometimes when it feels like the house is chaos and the kids are running all over, I just sit and hold him. He's been my little calming agent lately. I am so glad to have a sweet little baby, and even if he gets the energy and spunk the other two have later on, at least for now, I can count on him to keep the peace.

This year, Andrew and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. We are still learning a lot about each other and as time goes on we both grow and change. We have a lot of fun together and sometimes when it's busy and crazy, we still just like to sit and hang out or even just watch football with a bowl of ice cream. The kids bring us so much joy, but we often talk of when they are bigger, the things we want to do and places we want to see as a family. We have fun exploring new places together and are excited to see more. Residency is busy and hard work for all of us. It seems like time is going by fast some days and others not so much. Andrew loves his work and we are all glad for that.

I love staying home with the kids, though sometimes the tasks seems endless. They are a lot of fun and I am learning more from them than they know. More character building goes on for me in one day than I would like to admit. God has been so good to allow me to have this time with them while they are little. I am still doing photography, which I enjoy a lot. Knitting and other crafts have taken the back seat for now, but maybe next year I can find some time again. I like to have my friends over during the day to pass time and let the kids play together. It seems they have a hard time sharing toys, but love sharing illnesses! This is the way it is I guess. We have had lots of visitors and help this year and we have been so thankful for that. We miss family a lot, being so far away is hard almost all the time, but we have a good support system here. Well, as I write this, the kids have escaped up the stairs, so I'd better go. May God Bless this Christmas season for everyone.

In the arms of love (and sometimes right back out).

Well, little "non-newis" as Peter calls John Lewis does get held a fair amount. I will not lie and say that I am practicing making him fall asleep on his own right now because I just want to soak up time with him while he's still a little lump on my shoulder.

Soon, though, John boy, you will have to practice the art of getting yourself to sleep. Until then, your brother, sister, daddy, myself, and any one who wants is welcome to take part in enjoying your sacked out slumber.

Mommy told Peter to smile and this is what he did. He likes to "home 'em." This is what he says when he wants to hold John. One day Peter was trying to "help" mommy by getting John out of the swing since he fussed a little. Mommy was coming down the stairs when Peter did this and John ended up on the floor. It scared everyone and I don't think Peter will do that again.

Gramma Paula was here for Thanksgiving and enjoyed that John liked to be all snuggled up next to her.

Ella loves to hold baby and will climb up on the couch and get a pillow all ready so he can be next to her. But, if he starts crying, she says, "he's trying to be sad, you should take him back."

This is our first Thankgiving with John. We love holding him too!

The first thing Pop Pops did when he sat down was get John and hold him. He got a lot of time for this while watching football or NASCAR over Thanksgiving. Gramma kept telling him to "put the baby down and help." :) I love that Pop Pops likes to hold babies.

50 Toes

It was chaos trying to get this picture. Mister "funny man" Peter kept kicking his foot in the air and keeping him off the baby was a challenge too. Andrew just wanted to give up and I could not stop laughing. Ella just wanted her tootsie roll reward for laying still. I am glad Jenna was here to capture this silly moment with us.

There is nothing more special than tiny feet in black and white. I have wanted a shot like this of the kids since Ella was born. For her I just wasn't ambitious enough to get her to hold still, for Peter, his feet were so fat so quickly that it didn't look right, and for baby John I was finally able to get his daddy to hold a heart around his 10 stinkin' cute toes.

Our wedding rings around his big toes, I saw this shot once a long time ago and what it symbolizes is so neat. Good idea whoever thought of it first.

Aunt Jenna

Dear Aunt Jenna,

Thank you so much for coming to visit me and my kids here in PA last week. You are dearly missed already. Peter keeps calling you "gramma" but he's still mentioning you. Ella keeps recalling things she did while you were here and even wanted a tootsie roll tonight after I took her picture. :) You are such a special sister and friend and I am so lucky to have your help and company when you're around.

My precious boy is already 8 weeks old today and I am so thankful for him. I think the reasons why I feel like every little minute I get with him are so special are: He will probably be our baby forever, his brother and sister are giving me a run for my sanity, he has the sweetest face, he is starting to smile a little more, and he has been such a wonderful newborn. I cannot resist holding him every chance I get. I feel like I want to just bottle up this time with my tiny man!

After a photo session outside, little John was sleepy, but I just couldn't resist more pictures.

This little man is so sweet, I could not ask for a better third child. Thank you baby John for being my little gem.

6 weeks old

4 weeks old

Sweet sleeping smiles.

Our special visit from a dear friend...

On October 7th, my friend Anna came to see us in Pennsylvania. We haven't seen Anna since the summer after we were married! It was a great time seeing her and having her meet the kids. Ella kept calling her, "Your friend," instead of using her name. When she sees the pictures, she says, "Your friend Anna." So, Anna, she knows your name now that you're gone :). We toured around our tiny town, went to Hershey the day she got here, and just hung out around the house. Andrew was in San Diego while she was here, so she saved my sanity while being hugely pregnant and chasing Ella and Peter around. Anna and I have been close friends since high school, though we knew each other for longer from church. It was so great to have her here and now that she's moving to AK, it won't have to be so long before we see each other again! She was able to get some pictures of the kids and I while I was in my last weeks of being pregnant too.

New Arrival!

Baby John Lewis Cornelius
October 21, 2009
6lb 9oz 20 inches

As with both the other kids, I walked this baby out after about 3 days of contractions. He came 2 weeks and 3 days early, but he is healthy and doing well. Jonathan and Katie were here and able to meet him before flying back west. Katie walked with me for 2 afternoons and I guess the second walk and another one that evening with Andrew finally convinced him that it was time. By 9pm on the 20th, I was in the hospital ready to have an epidural and my water broke. The labor went slower than with Peter, but nothing too much to complain about. The delivery was more pain than I wish I had felt because they came to put more meds in right before I pushed and they didn't kick in right away. He was born at 2:59am and a healthy little screamer they put right on my belly and all the pain seemed to fade. For then at least :). Ella and Peter are thrilled about him, Ella tries to help with everything. Peter says, "Baby" all the time and enjoys pointing out his facial features. Andrew and I have had the past few days adjusting to a family of 5, as he took his paternity leave and then had the weekend off. I'm glad it worked out this way for us. It's been a good way to see how things will be. God has been so good to provide us with 3 healthy, beautiful children. I could not imagine our lives without baby John already and the next few years of raising 3 small children will be adventurous to say the least.

Fall is here among other things...

October has been an eventful month in our house, a good one though! I turned 27 on the 15th, Ella turned 3 on the 18th, Jonathan and Katie came to visit, Andrew bowhunted his first deer, and last but not least, John Lewis was born! It's a strange thought to have 3 kids before I'm 30! It was fun to see Ella turn 3, although she still does not enjoy having "Happy Birthday" sung to her. She's turned into quite the little woman, while she is playing, she plays hard and has lots of fun and while she is frustrated, she has the personality of a tiger! Her quotes get funnier all the time and her questions make us have to think twice for just about everything. Peter is loving life, full of energy, and keeps us quite busy. He's been a little better recently about accidents and injuries, which has been nice! He and Ella play well together half the time, and the other half, they fight over toys, blankets, Mommy, and food. This all comes with their age I suppose, but they also look out for each other. They go in the same nursery most of the time, and I have been told a few stories of Ella protecting Peter, or consoling him if he's sad. It makes me smile to know they help each other out.
Jonathan and Katie came to see us from the 14th-21st. They were here for our birthdays and a surprise early birth of their nephew! It was so nice to see them and share the events of life together with family. The kids had a lot of fun playing and getting to know their Aunt & Uncle. We were able to go on a little hike in the woods to see the beautiful fall on Ella's birthday and that was nice. We appreciated their help with everything, because in the midst of the events, our kitchen is out of commission and we lived entirely in the living room.
The kids have spent a fair amount of time in their silly "bones jams." I got these mostly for halloween when they are handing out candy at the door, but they like them so much, they just keep them on when they can. I think it partly has to do with the fact that they match each other and they think that's funny. Ella asks me to turn the light off so she can see them "grow." (Glow)
Andrew killed his first deer on the 21st. It was with a bow and he is pretty thrilled about it. We are all happy for him, and his brother got to help him bring it out of the woods since he was here too. They brought it to the house wrapped in a tarp in the car trunk to get a picture with it. I didn't want Ella to see it, but she managed to peek in the trunk on the way to the swing set. With a confused look on her face she walked away and we didn't think much of it. Later, after Andrew took it to the butcher, he met us in the Wendy's parking lot with the car. We were all in the van and when Andrew went to open the car trunk, Ella shouted out, "Watch out Daddy! I'm pretty sure there's a deer in there!" We all laughed pretty hard because none of us really thought she understood when she saw it in the trunk.
As you can see, this has not been a dull month for us! The kitchen should be done by the start of November, in time for Andrew's mom to get here. We look forward to what life has in store for us as we adjust to all the changes, but God is good and we are thankful for that!

Bloom Fair

These are the pictures from the Bloomsburg Fair this year. It's the biggest fair on the East Coast and I'm pretty sure there is more food there than anything else. We had fun with the kids, especially watching them make all the animal sounds really loud, right at the animal. Ella and Peter both are really good with their noises. Peter can "oink" like no other, he does the loudest snort and the picture of him in front of that huge pig is about the loudest snorting I've ever heard him make. People walking by thought it was pretty funny. Ella loved the huge draft horses, but especially the little pony and miniature horse. Andrew asked her, "Did you like all those big animals?" She said, "Yea, but there were little pony tails in there too!  I like those." He thought it was pretty great that she called them "pony tails." They enjoyed their ice cream the first night and had their first cotton candy experience the second. Peter didn't know what to think until he actually ate it, but he called it "hair" and didn't want to put it in his mouth. We ate our share of junk and enjoyed it to. 

Ella Buzz

She sure keeps me moving and chatting...

Ella is almost 3 years old (Oct 18th) and I can't believe how fast time is going by watching her grow into a little girl. She loves all things outdoors and even tells me when a bee comes near, "I promise it will go away Mommy, don't swat it." (That's what she heard Andrew say). About 3 times a week her quotes grace my Facebook account and I am always getting told how funny and witty she is. Just today I was talking to Andrew about getting food on his way home from hunting, but he told me he didn't have any cash. I relayed this message to Ella and she said, "Mommy, you need to buy Daddy some cash." She told me the other day that she likes to make me laugh and kept repeating what it was that made me laugh in the first place. She is very excited about my growing belly. She keeps saying, "I think I hear the baby, he's kicking like this (she kicks her legs out), I really like your baby boy in your belly." She's excited to have a new baby brother which makes me excited for her.  She and Peter get a long most of the time, but when they fight, they could really make me crazy. It's almost always over some toy that the other one has and is playing contentedly with. I guess this is to be a part of my life for sometime, but the phrase, "Share and be kind" is sure getting repeated these days. Ella takes advantage of the fact that Peter says no to everything and when she asks him if he's done with his milk or snack and he says no, she takes the liberty to finish it for him. I ask her what happened and she said, "He didn't want it!" (With a smile). Sneaky little one I tell you. She has learned how to sing almost all of "Jesus loves me" and many short phrases of other songs that she jumbles into her own special song. I have had to keep telling her to sing quietly when we are driving because she gets louder and louder as her chorus goes on. I love to hear her sing and see her dance to music. She still says, "Hokey hokey" instead of hokey Pokey and I will never correct her because it's just too cute. I am learning what it is like to choose my battles and let her make her own decisions sometimes, even though this is hard for me because I think I should still be able to just do it for her. These days she talks a lot in third person and her favorite thing to say is, "Ella will do it ALL BY HERSELF." Wow. Ok. So I guess every day is a learning experience for us as parents and we have had more discipline discussions already than I expected by this age. Well, as my funny little girl is rattling off numbers and ABC's, I am soaking up the moments when she asks me to sit with her or hold her hand or tells me she loves me SO much. I can't get enough of her laugh and I pray that she will continue to sing "Jesus loves me" and someday understand how much He really does. 

Bubba news...

This little man has had me on my toes and my knees in prayer lately. He may look like your average 17 month old, but the past few weeks, his favorite word is "no" and his accidents are getting more extreme. Falling backwards off a chair straight onto the coffee table with his mouth was the last straw for me last week. The pictures of him with a fat purple lip is only what can be seen from outside his mouth. The inside looked worse. Luckily God made it so that babies heal quickly and within 3 days there was no trace of it. I happened to be wearing my bright red shirt the day it happened, so no trace of the blood either! These first pictures are from this morning when Ella decided Peter needed a few more raisins. I was gone getting their clothes for 2 minutes and I came back to his little grin and a tray full of goodies. Ella said, "Mama, it's not too much, he's hungry." No way. It's too many raisins when you find them whole in the diaper anyway. Peter is always hungry and he walks around saying, "I's hungy," while rubbing his chest for 'please.' It's cute, yes, but I am beginning to wonder if there is a worm in his little tummy sharing his food he eats so much. He has been having fun with my belly lately, using it as a truck ramp. A fun part of his age right now is that he is still small enough to cuddle and as Andrew calls him my "Mama's boy" I soak it all up. He sits with me in the morning and after his naps for a while and just lets me hold him. Anyway, as is an everyday occurrence, this kids are fighting over toys and making a mess around me as I write this, so I will be done. God has been good to protect Peter from any worse injuries thus far and I am thankful for that. I only hope that as time goes on, it will continue, or my boy will walk around in bubble wrap.