I know this is a bit late, we've been so busy with holiday stuff that it's been hard finding time to blog. But, I wanted to get a post on here for sweet little Faith. She just turned 4 years old! It makes me a bit sad that she has to grow up, I've had images of her as a teenager going through my head and it scares me a bit to think about that! I know, I know, she's only FOUR years old. But for so long she still seemed like a baby to me, but not anymore.

When I was pregnant with her, my due date was in November... well, as lots of people know, since I wanted to do a VBAC delivery, I refused a C-section and refused induction. (Believe me, if at any point there was a risk that I was aware of I would not have gone so far overdue. I was going in every 2-3 days for monitoring and Non-Stress Tests, and each time, the amniotic fluid levels were great and her heart rate was perfect, etc...) I walked around for over a week dilated to 5 cm without actually going into labor and then I finally went into labor almost 3 weeks overdue, but I know the time was right for her. Her lungs were so fully developed, and she was such a good eater, and she never had any problems spitting up, not once. She was so healthy and content.

So, instead of being a November baby like her 2 brothers, she was a December baby, just in time for Christmas.

Matt was a bit stressed out about me going so long overdue, with the doctors trying to pressure us into a c-section. But, I felt very strongly that I was doing the right thing to wait, despite what the doctors were recommending. I think Matt was living on a prayer at that point, because he couldn't make me change my mind. Of course, I prayed everyday about whether I should continue to wait, and I never had a different answer, and it did all turn out great. I finally delivered her naturally, but we still weren't sure what her name was! Of course we had tried to think of a name for her before she was born, but just couldn't decide.

It came time to take her home from the hospital. I was in the middle of packing up to go home while Matt was driving to pick us up from the hospital, and he called me to tell me that he really felt like we should name her Faith. We hadn't even considered that name before, but after all the faith we had used during those last few weeks, I knew the name was perfect...a reminder of all we'd been through, and of what a blessing she was!

Then, on the drive home from the hospital, we were listening to 99.9 KEZ, the Christmas music station in AZ. The First Noel began playing, and immediately the thought came to my mind to use Noel as her middle name. So that is how she got her middle name!

And here she is now, Faith Noel Lenseigne, 4 years old:

I threw a little party for her and her little princess friends. They were all so cute in their dress-up clothes! They made crowns and mixed up their own glitter lip/cheek gel, we put glitter spray in their hair to make them sparkle all over! Faith gave each girl some of her stick-on-earrings to wear (which Jacob had given her for her birthday) and they played 'Kiss the Frog' (sort of like pin the tail on the donkey).

And a prince in a far off island heard there was a gathering of princesses, so he scooped some of the sand off the beach which is just covered in jewels there, and he sent it as a gift! I could tell some girls really believed that when I told them. They had fun sifting through the sand to find treasures!

Some of the girls went a little overboard with their little miniture lipsticks, they thought the more the better! So funny, I had to get a picture!

Well, now all three of my kids birthdays are over. It sure makes the holiday months extra busy! WesLee's birthday is 3 days after Halloween, Jacob's is always around Thanksgiving and Faith's is in December before Christmas. I'm considering celebrating on their half-birthdays instead to make the holidays a little less busy. (maybe) And also to spread out the gifts and sugary stuff a little more for all of us. Thankfully this next baby is due in April, but then again, that is around Easter...

Well, happy holidays, everyone!

Snow!

Having a blast in the snow!

Making snow angels:


enjoying the natural frozen treat:


Sliding down backwards:


taking turns sledding:

(we should probably invest in a couple more sleds.)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Sunny Arizona

Our trip to AZ went by way too fast! We thought a week would be long enough, but it felt like we hardly got a chance to really sit and chat with some of the people we were visiting. We stayed in Scottsdale with Matt's parents some of the time, and in Mesa with my mom some of the time. We got to visit with lots of people who we haven't seen for over a year! The kids had fun with friends and cousins, and we got to finally meet our newest neice, Shae! She is so adorable.

We enjoyed being able to wear flip-flops a little while in Arizona, since when we left Indiana, it was only 19 degrees outside.

We enjoyed going places together that we missed from when we used to live there. We drove through our old neighborhood, and past our old home. That was a strange feeling. I still miss that place.

Matt had to make sure we went to Jamba Juice and Taco Time, 2 of his all time favorite restaurants. I was sad to discover that my favorite thrift store had closed down. The kids requested that we go to the train park in Scottsdale, where they enjoyed riding the train and the carousel just like old times.

Here is Jacob riding in the jail car,

and begging for mercy at the jailhouse.

Meme and Pepe treated us to a night at Amazing Jakes, full of lots of good food and fun games.


We got to see Matt's dad's new office/warehouse building:

Jacob got to attend Meme's first grade class. Since he is a first grader anyway, the principal was alright with it. In the meantime, Faith went to a movie with Pepe while WesLee was at Grandma's house helping to bake bread and make pies and also he used the hand-grinder to make orange-apple-cranberry relish, all on his own, tough kid.


The evening before Thanksgiving, Matt's parents babysat all the kids overnight and Matt took me to a very fancy hotel after we ate at PeiWei's. It was so nice! I loved just relaxing in the tub. It had all these jets on the sides. Matt put in a tiny squirt of soap and it kept making more and more and more bubbles! It was pretty funny how high the bubbles got. At first I tried to pop them, but I eventually had to turn off the water jets. Later on, it was so nice to just fall asleep listening to the rain. The next day we slept in awhile, had breakfast in our hotel room and then went over to Matt's parents and enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving feast. That evening, we went over to my mom's house to get together with my side of the family for desserts and leftovers. Everything was so yummy... I ate so much that day that my sides ached!

It was sure great to visit Arizona, I just hope next time to be able to spend more time with people!

Jacob is SEVEN!

Jacob, my first little baby... you are growing up way too fast for me, I miss when you were so little and I could just hold you! When you were born I literally could not sleep for days, because I just couldn't stop holding you and looking at you (and that was after being up for almost 24 hours already, since I couldn't sleep during labor and delivery, of course). You have always amazed me.


I miss those days when you were my baby, but I know there will be many more wonderful days to come.

You have given me the awesome joy of watching you, my firstborn, learn to do so many things... from seeing your first smile, seeing you learn to walk alone (at only 7 1/2 months old!) ...to seeing you now, how fast you can run, seeing how happy and proud you were to win the race at school and get that t-shirt for being the fastest boy in first grade!

You have always made us laugh and smile...




...I remember you giving me that little rose you picked on our porch, and when you saw how much I loved it you went back to get all of them!
I treasured and kept some of them for years until they eventually completely crumbled. I knew from then that you possessed a very sharing heart.

You even used to share with your stuffed animals!

I am so glad you came into my life, and I have learned so much from being your mom. You were a blessing straight from heaven. Your birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, and I am indeed very thankful for you, Jacob.

***

Many people probably know that Jacob and Wes are the same age for about a month out of each year, since they were born only 11 months apart. WesLee's birthday is at the beginning of November and Jacob's is at the end of November. They both have alot of fun being the same age for that month; they like to call themselves twins! Well, this year, we were all ready to have a combined birthday party for them, and they were so excited to have friends over. We had everything set, but the day before the party, Jacob came down with a very sudden case of Scarlet Fever. Yes, you read that right- Scarlet Fever! We didn't know it before, but he had strep throat (he doesn't complain much). Then it caused a sudden high fever with a red rash on his face, chest and back. He recovered quickly, but he lost alot of weight those first couple of days, because he had no appetite. So now I'm trying to fatten him up! Everyone was bummed that we had to cancel the party, but some people still brought presents anyway, which cheered the boys up. It didn't work out to reschedule the party with Thanksgiving coming up, because we'd be gone to AZ for a week anyway. But we did celebrate their birthdays here at home, before we went to AZ, and while we were there, they unexpectedly received even more gifts! Lucky kiddos!

Fall Harvest

I love the seasons here in Indiana, it is just so beautiful. This summer we had maybe 2 or 3 days that it got over 90 degrees. Now it is autumn, and the fall colors are SO pretty! Our little maple tree in the front of our house has turned bright orange-red. Last fall when it was planted, it had no leaves, so we didn't know what color it would turn out to be. I love it:


Everywhere we go, there are so many huge, colorful trees. I wonder how long it will take for our little tree to grow that big or if we will still be here that far down the road? Here are some pictures I took on the way to the store the other day, a little glimpse of how colorful it is around here lately:




The kids got a kick out of watching this tractor harvesting the soybeans from the field behind our house:


Also, I know it's not winter yet, but we did already have a little snow one morning! It was just enough that the rooftops looked like they'd been sprinkled with powdered sugar, but it melted later that morning, and I didn't get a picture of it. Oh well, I know there should be plenty more to come soon enough!

Smart little girl!

Faith is SUCH a smart little gal! I have felt a little guilty for a long time that I have not spent much time working with her to teach her educational stuff like I did with the boys at that age. But so many times, she just figures things out on her own. I also think her brothers help to teach her alot of things when I don't even see it happening. A few days ago, she surprised me because she wrote her name correctly all by herself! I saw it on the table as she was doing her little projects. Usually she would write all the letters from her name, but they would be in the wrong order and usually be very askew. I am so proud of her that she is figuring things out like this all on her own!


Faith has also been my little helper while the boys are at school each day. A few days ago, I let her try to fold socks and she caught on so fast! She was very excited that she figured it out, because she had tried it before and couldn't do it. Now that she knows how, she is adamant that I let her fold all the pairs of socks by herself. Pretty good for a three year old!

Happy Birthday WesLee!

Six years ago…you were born, my little tiny preemie baby…you were so small compared to your big brother who had been born overdue! It was love at first sight as soon as I saw you.

You weren’t all squished looking like most newborns and you had that perfectly shaped c-section head. They brought you over by my head and I remember kissing you before they took you away to the NICU. Everyone seemed so scared for you, but I knew the whole time you would be fine and taken care of.

Each year when your birthday comes around, the memories flood my heart. You have had such an influence on this family. The circumstances surrounding your birth and the lessons learned from that time have changed our hearts so much.

I distinctly remember how it felt when I was carrying you, feeling you move inside of me. I remember the doctors being so worried about us, but the whole time, for some reason, I knew everything would be all right, I can truly say I never worried at all. You sure showed them, you were able to go home less than a week after you were born, rather than stay for at least a month like they thought you would. At one point while you were in the hospital, you had 3 IVs: one in your belly button, one in your right arm and one on the top of your head…as well as that tube down your throat and also the heart rate and breathing monitors hooked up to you. They had you on pain meds so that you wouldn’t have to feel the pain of it all. You had so many things hooked up to you that it was impossible to hold you for the first few days. They finally removed the tube, and I got to hold you for the first time. What a very special moment that was. They kept you on oxygen for a couple more days, and you spent a good deal of time under the biliruben lights. I know this sounds silly, but I remember that you were so small when you were born that you had no butt cheeks! You grew so fast, you quickly got very chubby! Whenever I trim your perfectly formed nails I remember that when you were born those nails were not completely developed yet. But then you surprised us by walking at 8 ½ months! You have always been a very strong kid!

To me, you are still the same, just bigger. Your face looks exactly the same to me, how your eyes sparkle when you smile...


We are so glad you are a part of our family. I feel so blessed to have you in my life. We love you!

I feel better now!

I'm about 18 weeks along and I have been feeling so much better! After being sick for so long, I hope I never again take for granted what it is like to not feel like throwing up everyday! I thought it would never end. Then one day I woke up and didn't feel sick... Throughout the day, to my pleasant surprise, I did not get sick at all! It has been like night and day. I have gained such a respect for women who go through being even more sick than I was, for even longer periods of time.

I love feeling the baby move, it is very reassuring. I have heard over and over that having alot of morning sickness means a very healthy pregnancy, but I have been so paranoid this pregnancy, always worried that something might go wrong. So, feeling the baby move is the best thing in the world.

Halloween X 3!

As a kid I would have been thrilled to be able to go trick-or-treating 3 times in a week. My kids were lucky enough to do that this year. (Too much candy, I know!)

Here's the kids in their costumes:

Faith would hop in between houses so people would know a little bunny was coming! Thomas and James started to run out of steam after so much trick-or-treating though.

First we had the trunk-or-treat early in the week at the church, and didn't want to miss that.

Second, since Halloween was on a Friday this year, it fell on the same day as the high school football game. Well, I should tell you that in our little town, almost everyone goes to the games, because the team is always really good (they've only lost one game so far this year!) So, the town just rescheduled Halloween for Thursday night. So the kids went that night here in our town. There was more kids than I have ever seen trick-or-treating in my life!

Then, the third time was on Friday, Halloween night. There was a birthday party for a little girl in a nearby town, and for the party, they were all supposed to wear their costumes and go trick-or treating together in her neighborhood.

They all had fun, but I don't think we are going to plan on trick-or-treating so much in the future!

Yikes, Ike!

On Sunday, after hurricane Ike had already given it's worst to folks down South, we heard that the forecast for us was lots of rain and strong winds. It didn't sound like anything out of the ordinary from what we're used to, but when we saw the storm system on the radar and saw how huge it still was, even though it hadn't quite reached us yet, we felt like we should stay home from church instead of being out driving in any sudden strong winds. (It takes 20-30 minutes to drive to church) Well, I'm glad we did, because sure enough, our area got hit by some pretty strong wind gusts. Our house is fine, no damage, but look what happened in our backyard- our trampoline was lifted up and flipped over onto the other side of our yard, right on top of our tomato patch!




I'm just glad that it did not get flipped into our house! Good thing we had it far away from the house. The trampoline is now bent into a slight curve, because it landed hard on the edge of the ditch that runs through our property. Our kids and the neighborhood kids were sad when they saw what happened, because everyone loves to jump on it, but hopefully Matt can figure out how to get it usable again!

I'm sad about losing several tomato plants, because fresh, salted tomatoes actually have been the #1 food I have craved this pregnancy, but luckily, at least half of the tomato plants survived, along with the jalapeno plant, so Matt can keep making his delicious homemade salsa!

Update-

Well, I have not done much blogging as of late and... I haven't done much of anything to be honest. I have had THE worst morning sickness for quite awhile. I will spare the details. I am feeling better than I was before, but still not great. This is totally different than any other pregnancy was. I did not know I could feel so sick for so long! Matt has taken over doing dishes and sorting the laundry because those smells are unbearable for me. Poor guy, this is the most of those chores he has ever done since I've known him. And we have been using lots of paper plates, plastic cups and spoons, etc... and he is doing most of the cooking lately...

He did have a small grease fire that got out of hand when I was resting upstairs. He now knows (and I'm sure he will never forget this) that a little baking soda will put that right out, rather than running to get the fire extinguisher and coming back to a much larger fire that chars the cabinets above the stove. I had a rude awakening by the smoke alarms. All I can say is, what an adventure! I'm just thankful that it wasn't any worse. Our next door neighbors were so kind, they just came right over and helped clean up that same night. I felt so bad because I was so sick I really couldn't help with it.

I am now 11-12 weeks pregnant. The kids are very exited and are always asking about their baby brother or sister... How big is the baby today? Is it a boy or a girl? Can I name the baby? Is there really a baby in there?... I'm glad they haven't asked any questions about how the baby got in there or about how the baby will get out!

Three Little Kittens

2 days ago, we were very surprised to find 3 kittens in our garage! Their mama had moved them in there because the garage was left open about 5 inches and the weather has been getting colder with more rain lately, so she must have thought it seemed like a safe place. We found out later that day that our next door neighbors had seen her take them under their deck a few days before. We got the mama cat and we are keeping them in a bathroom for now. We had seen her around our cats food dish in the back sneaking food before, and now we know why she was so hungry!
I took her to the vet today because she had a wound on her back, and I had her tested for feline HIV and Leukemia. She is negative, so we know she won't be spreading diseases to our 2 other cats. We think we already found homes for the kittens to go to when they're big enough, because the vet knows a farmer who's been looking for some mouser cats since his very old cat died, and another lady there said she'd take one also. We are going to get the mama spayed and maybe keep her, unless she'd rather stay outside. She sure is a pretty cat with 3 very cute kittens! But, with me being pregnant, Matt has litter box duty, so it is really up to him to decide if he's up to keeping her. The vet said the kittens look around a month old! Poor cat, she has been taking care of them outside all this time. She is now very relaxed and content.

And of course, the kids adore them and are so happy that we have kittens!

A [very, very, very] Unexpected Blessing...

We recently got
quite a surprise,
I truly could not
believe my eyes...

I stared and stared
til I thought I'd go blind.
Was I really seeing
TWO little lines?

Yes, it is true-
a baby so new,
a child so precious,
Is coming to bless us!

We hadn't felt prepared
for another child yet,
but we know God is aware
of what will be best.

So, Baby, we say:
Come our way,
our family
Welcomes You!








Wow! We have not had a baby in almost 4 years, that's a long time compared to how close together all our other babies were. From my best calculations, I'm due in the end of March. We were planning on waiting a little longer to make it public, but I can't hide it anymore, because I'm already showing! I'm defineatly no more than 7 weeks along but already people are not shy noticing I'm pregnant, even though I try to suck it in! (I guess I just have wimpy ab muscles!)

We are very excited to have another person in our family!

Making room...

Now that he has a reason, Matt has been eager to turn some unused space upstairs into more bedrooms, which we'd been planning since we moved in, but hadn't gotten around to it. Now he has already framed the walls and done the electrical wiring. He is so good at that stuff!



The kids had fun helping out... Jacob and WesLee felt so tough carrying the lumber upstairs and they are both actually really good at driving nails now. They can say they helped build these walls!



I am so proud of my guys!

Kindergartener!

WesLee on his first day of Kindergarten:

It is CRAZY how time flies by so fast! Watching WesLee run down the street to the bus stop, I can't help but still see my little tiny preemie baby. Strangely, It wasn't this hard to let go when Jacob went to kindergarten last year. I guess I will just always remember WesLee as that tiny, tiny baby.

On the 2nd day of school, WesLee seriously thought a gingerbread man hid on the bus and ran into our house after school. He searched our house high and low for this real live gingerbread man. Jacob helped him because he said the same thing happened when he was in Kindergarten..no luck though... until WesLee's class found it the next day hiding in the principal's office. The teacher quickly cut it up so it couldn't run away again! That made me laugh!

The 2 wheeler CLUB

WesLee just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! Jacob taught him by pushing the back of the bike. They are having a blast and it's great because now when they get restless I know I can just let them go wear themselves out by riding their bikes! I'm glad we live on a street that has culdesacs on both ends, so not many cars come through here. Here's the newest member of the 2 wheeler club:




Also within the same few days, Wes taught himself how to do the monkey bars, what a srong kid you're getting to be Wes!

Self Portrait...

I thought this was so cute, Faith came and showed me this picture she drew. I could tell she really tried so hard to make it look just like her! Do you see the resemblance?

Ignorance is BLISS (sometimes!)

OK, so I've decided to learn more about what functions blogger has...the other day I learned how to do slideshows, for example. Well, today I was surprised to learn people can subscribe and get automatic feeds of my blog each time I post on my blog. I've only been blogging for less than 2 months, and even if only a few people ever check my blog, I really love that it serves as a sort of scrapbook/journal for me. And I love reading lots of other people's blogs, even if I don't know them that well.

I don't know how to find out who subscribes to my blog, but to tell the truth, I don't think I want to, because if I found out that hardly anybody subscribes, I know I'd feel a bit sad. At least I can comfort myself knowing there are people who view my blog who don't comment on it, perhaps they aren't computer savvy?... there are some people who email or call and mention something from my blog, and it feels nice to know they thought of me. Maybe I'm a bit insecure... but please don't pity me! (I know this post is probably sounding ridiculous.)

However, I got to thinking, does this mean if someone subscribes to my blog they'd be notified everytime I ever edit anything? Several times I have gone through my posts and edited things like mispellings or changed weird sounding phrases to sound better, or added in little details. So, I do wonder if anyone subscribing to my blog would be notified each time I made a little change here or there. That would probably bug them to get that many notifications. I wonder if they can see what times I made a change? That's a little embarrassing if I was doing that in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep or something. Maybe it would be best if I never found out!

I'm done with my silly rambling :)

I don't think I want to become any more computer knowledgeable than I already am, for now. For me, in this case, ingnorance is bliss!

What we've been up to lately

It been awhile since I posted, so be forewarned this is going to be a bit long! We've been enjoying the last days of summer break, and here's some of what we've been up to lately...

We went to an organic farm not too far from here, the kids enjoyed the farm atmosphere and we got to taste lots of organic yummies.

Walking around the farm there were chickens everywhere, the kids had fun trying to get as close as they could...



WesLee discovered a hen in a dark barn who we thought must be sitting on eggs...because she didn't get up and run away even with us right next to her.



We checked back a little later, sure enough there were 3 eggs...she must have been taking a little break.



We saw a mama cow with her new baby calf...



We were allowed in the fields where the cows eat (they're truly free-range, grass fed) When it was milking time, the cows just sort of lined up and herded in, eager to be milked. They wandered around everywhere til milking began. As you can see, this made the kids a little nervous, but the cows were very gentle and the kids later ended up petting them.



While watching the yogurt being bottled, one worker thought he'd surprise the kids by spraying water at the window we were looking through, it was pretty funny and made us all jump.

One of the best parts was eating my delicious smoothie. They used honey to sweeten it, no sugar, but it was sooooooo good. Gotta do that at home!



~~~~~~~~~

We drove to Fort Wayne to hang out with Matt. He's been spending time there training for Verizon's anticipated field strike. He normally works in an office managing business accounts for Verizon, but if the strike happens, it's a good opportunity for him to make extra money, since they pay really well to those who cover for the strikers. But the down side would be that he'd be gone to New Jersey and New York, and only come home every third weekend. We’re waiting to find out if the strike will happen or not.

Someone took this picture of Matt learning how to climb poles for strike duty. He's now doing it without the ladder, I’d like to see a picture of that! It definitely builds the muscles! :)



~~~~~~~~~

In Fort Wayne, we went to a place called Science Central, the kids had a blast there with tons of cool things to see and do! They got to launch rockets, inflate and lift a hot air balloon, lift and drop parachutes, build all sorts of stuff, make huge bubbles, play the foot piano, see and play the inside of a piano, design water damns, have a dry “water fight”, funny mirrors, moon bounce simulator, create a mini-tornado, give a pretend tv weather forecast and lots more. We are definitely going back to do the rest sometime. Here is a slideshow of some of the pics:



~~~~~~~~~

We went to Fort Wayne Historical Railroad Society where we got to ride on a REAL full sized train! (A first, even for me) The awesome staff let the kids explore the engines and coaches… Jacob and WesLee have always loved to play with trains, so this was a huge hit for them, I think especially for Jacob.






This huge train engine reminded us of the Polar Express!



~~~~~~~~~

We went to the Firefighter Museum and got to learn about the history and development of different kinds of firetrucks...the sign said not to climb on the trucks, but the museum guide told the kids to go right up and test it out!




~~~~~~~~~

We went to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, our kids always love any zoo. The funniest part was when Faith happily started to wander past the rope in the aviary, because she wanted to get a closer look at a big, white, exotic bird...I got her to come back, but she kept crying about the bird. Well, the bird must have felt the bond too, because all of a sudden it flew up, swooped down and landed right next to her on the fence, she was absolutely delighted! We also thought it was interesting how there were many peacocks chasing eachother around the whole zoo. Those pictures are in here along with a few others from the zoo:



Well, I'm sure that is too much for one post, but I wanted to catch up a bit, guess that'll do it for now.