Just a few things....

Once again, many months have passed since I've done any posting on this blog.  I'm a horrible blogger.  Anyways...I think I have a good excuse.  :)  Before Christmas, Brandon and I found out some wonderful, exciting news.  Baby Hall #4 was on its way.....something we have been hoping and praying for for quite awhile!  I was almost starting to wonder if God's plan was different from ours....maybe we weren't meant to have 4 babies.  Anyways, prayers were answered and here is our little sweet pea after a 12 week ultrasound!  Lord-willing, we will find out if it's a boy or a girl in less than three weeks!  Can't wait!

What else has been up?  Well, I spent some time in Mankato with my sis, over my 30th birthday!  That was pretty fun....I actually got stuck there because of all of the snow we were receiving up north.  But Kelly treated me like a queen, as usual, and we had a blast.  Here are the cousins, enjoying the grocery store.  

Raina, Elise, & Norah - who knew grocery shopping could be so much fun??

When I got home, Brandon surprised me.  Him and Maddie had been busy re-doing our upstairs bathroom, for my birthday surprise.  Let me tell you, I was surprised!!  It looks amazing.  What a guy  - he's the best.  

We had a very nice Christmas...the girls sure are at a fun age!   We loved celebrating in our new home.  

In January, Madeline lost her first 2 teeth!  (We never found either of them....I think she swallowed them.)  Pretty big milestone!  Maddie has also been busy with school....learning how to read!  It's so fun to listen to her read to me.  Love it.  She is also continuing on with ballet and is enjoying her special American Girl doll, Saige, that she bought with birthday money last November.  Pretty special!

Norah is my big helper around the house, while Maddie is away at school.  She loves helping me with Elise or mopping the floor or making a salad for our dinner.  It's great!  She has been taking gymnastics at the YMCA, which she loves, attending CBS and Awana.  She is learning her Bible at a young age, which is exciting to me!

Elise is going to be a great big sister.  You can tell the wheels are really turning in her mind, as to what's up with this baby in mommy's tummy business.  She's always got lots of questions and is always asking, "Can I hold the baby tomorrow?"  She is quite the talker....doesn't stop, and in the last few weeks, she has been every mother's potty training dream!  I was hoping for at least one easy potty trainer, and I got it!  :)  She has been pretty amazing.  

We've had a pretty rough winter around here....it has been bitterly cold and we've had quite a bit of snow.  Sure has made for an even more rough first trimester of pregnancy.  While I was already feeling pretty horrible, I cringed every time I had to step outside.  We hardly got to enjoy the outdoors this winter....I think we got out skating once, Brandon took the girls sledding once, and we've been out in the yard maybe a handful of times.  It's just been too cold.  Anyways, temps are beginning to go up, thank goodness and we've been spending more time outside.  (but I'm quite ready for spring at this point!)  Here is a pic of my sweeties outside in the yard, as well as a few others that I just had to share.  :)  All for now!

My cousin Andrew took this picture back in October.  I just love the smiles on the girls faces -
 and my dad's too!  Pretty great picture.  

First Room Re-Do in the New Home!

One of my favorite things is seeing room makeovers.  Anytime I am spending a night in a hotel, I have the channel tuned in to HG-TV (Home & Garden tv), and I love looking at pictures on pinterest or when people post their own pictures on their blog or Facebook.  So now it's my turn to do a room-re-do picture show.  It is so fun when it's all done, to see the finished project, but the process isn't my favorite.  I am a terrible painter.  I am so thankful for Brandon - who is a perfectionist, and who makes sure we do a good job.  (What would I do without that guy??)
 
Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, who took the girls for an overnight, Brandon and I were able to get a room painted in our new house!  Really, all of the colors in our home are nice.....can't complain about any of them!  BUT....since we moved in, I have wanted to paint Elise's room.  The color green was pretty, but I just wanted something different and something that went with the room decor we already had.  SO, we had a fun day of painting her room!  Here is the color before:

And, here is how it turned out!  Big girl bed and all!!  Since we were already taking a part the crib to make more room while we were painting, we decided to start her off in her big bed.  As you can see, she is quite excited about it....and has already had 2 successful naps and one great nighttime sleep in it!

I really like the grey color......it is so practical.  It can go with pretty much any other accent color.  So I am really liking this grey/red/white combination.  AND....we tried out that Behr paint with primer paint.  We only had to do one coat, which was amazing!  Never going back.....

It is really difficult to do home-improvement projects with little children, so it was such a blessing to have a full day to tackle this room.  Our next project we hope to get to is updating our bathroom a bit.....may take awhile before we get to that, but I am excited for the finished project!!  :)  

Elise turns 2!

My baby is growing up....she turned two this weekend.  My, how those 2 years has flown.  Elise Faith is such a joy.  All of our girls bring us much joy, but there is something about that 18-24 month age that is so innocent and happy and cheerful.  And Elise has always had a very content and happy disposition....so I think that adds to the joy she brings to our household.

We celebrated her birthday with my parents and Brandon's parents.  She sure does love her grandparents!

Elise & Norah with Grandpa Mike who calls Elise "monkey" and Norah is "tiger." 

Elise and her Grandma Cindy :) 

We had a fun party....she really got into it this year.  She understood opening gifts and has mastered telling her sisters that these were hers.  For the first time, I have been hearing her say - "No!  My toy!"  Sounded kinda funny, but of course, wouldn't want her to get into that habit.....hehe.  Today she was telling me she wanted more presents.

A few things about my "Lisi" girl:

• She adores her older sisters and is beginning to copy everything that they do.....
  
• She adores animals - especially dogs.  If they look her way, as someone is walking one by us, she has to tell us, "He likes me!"  
  
• She enjoys puzzles, dancing, and most of all, her baby dolls.
• She is super laid back and a "go-with the flow" kinda gal.  (I guess you don't have a choice when you're the 3rd child, huh?)
• And she absolutely LOVES her blankie, and we don't leave home without it!!!
  
  
  
  
  
  Elise - looking forward to seeing how you grow and change in this third year of your life.  We thank God for the amazing blessing that you are to our family.  Happy birthday!  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Entering a New Season - School!

Big times in our household....Maddie started kindergarten last Thursday!  Big changes!

 Kinda crazy that she is already old enough for school.  Who would've thought this day would have ever come?  It seemed a million years away when she was 3 months old, feeling like we would be in this "baby" stage forever.    Maddie was so excited to start school, which was helpful for this momma, who has been having a hard time letting go.  I was an emotional mess, the day before and the morning of - after she got on the bus.  But, I kept offering up little prayers for her throughout the day - that she would trust God when she was feeling lonely, that God would be with her, and that she would keep in mind all of the important things she has been learning at home since she was a newborn.  It is a scary thing, letting go, but we felt God leading us in this direction, to send her to public school....as least for now!  So....I gotta keep entrusting her to the Lord, each day, as she heads off on the big yellow bus.  (which she loves!)

Thankful for some neighbor kids who get on the bus with her each morning.  Both Maddie and Juliet are in kindergarten and becoming good friends.  :)  Puts me more at ease, knowing she has someone to stick with.  

While Maddie is off at kindergarten, Norah, Elise, and I are hanging out at home - and taking part in our many activities, which will be starting up soon.  In addition to swimming lessons, gymnastics, Bible study, and MOPS, Norah and I are doing some homeschool preschool....which we both are having fun with!  I set up a little classroom in our unfinished basement.  It is fun using some of my teaching supplies from college, that I haven't gotten to use yet!  Our first week, we spent time working on the letter A - writing it and listening to its sound.  We are also memorizing the letter A Bible verse - (something I did when I was in kindergarten, and still remember many of the verses to this day!)

God is good - I am so thankful for this time I have with my girls at home.  As each day passes, I am reminded that I should not take these wonderful days/years for granted.

I love this City!

I just love Duluth.  So much to do - so much free fun around here....ESPECIALLY in the summer.  We really have had a gorgeous July around here, and we are soaking up the sun these days.  Today, we dropped Maddie off at her Bible day camp at 9 a.m. and headed to the beach with a friend.  We stayed there until we had to go and pick Maddie up from camp at 3!  We were having so much fun.  Gotta love the Park Point beach.  It was a magnificent day.

Elise wasn't too excited about the water, but the sand held her attention!

Beach babes - Norah & Isabel - aren't they cute??  After 5 hrs of fun, they still weren't ready to go home. 

We also spent time down in Canal Park last night, with our dear friend, Annette, who is moving away to California.  We have enjoyed our time with her, since she first arrived in Duluth to attend UMD, as a freshman.  She is now all done and heading to CA for an AmeriCorps job.  We are saddened, but so excited for the things God has in store for her now.  She is a dear, sweet friend, full of so much love and encouragement. She will always hold a special place in ALL of our hearts!

Yep, Duluth....it is pretty great.  I'm so glad I live here.  :) 

BEAUTIFUL!

Norah is Four

Norah turned four - already a month ago, on June 28, 2013.  My Norah, she is a sweetheart.

Here are some things about my little four year old, Norah Grace:

• Norah is full of energy - she loves dancing, riding bikes, games, and playing on the playground. 
• Norah adores her big sis, Maddie.  She copies just about everything Maddie does, but more and more, she is starting to develop some of her own characteristics.  
• Books - one of Norah's favorite things to do is to go to the library to pick out a huge stack of new books to read.  I love that she loves books. 
• Norah is usually the last one to get out the door, the last one to get her pjs on, and she waits until almost the last minute to get to the bathroom.  She is our pokey one.....everything is on her time.  (This gets her in trouble a fair amount of time.....)
• CANDY!  She loves candy and anything sweet.  
• Norah's best buddy is Isabel.  Those two can play for hours together, without interruption.  They are quite the pair!  
• Norah is becoming a little mommy to Elise.  They are starting to play together more....which is a relief to me, as Maddie will be off to school in a month.  Norah likes to play that Elise is her baby.  
• Norah can write her name very well, and she loves to color.
• Norah is our singer!  
• She loves Jesus and cares very deeply for people.  
• Norah is a blessing to our family - I love her dearly.  

Here is to being 4, Norah Grace.  We love you!  Happy Birthday! 

A Season of Change!

It is always so interesting to sign back into my blog....which I rarely update, (even though I wish I did!), and see what the last thing was that I wrote about.  It was the start of the new year, and Brandon and I were looking ahead to what COULD happen in 2013.  Well, the many prayers we were praying, along with many others, were answered this past spring, when we sold our house, after quite a long 2 years of waiting.  It is so exciting to look back and see WHY we had to wait and be patient, even though in the midst of it, I felt like I was going crazy.  As I look back though, I see how God was continuing to teach me patience, something I seem to be learning an awful lot about since becoming a parent.  And I see that God was just waiting for the right house for our family, to come onto the market.  It was literally only on the market for one day when we made an offer, with 2 other offers on the table.  CRAZY!  But God graciously allowed us to be the chosen bidders, and we have a beautiful, new home in the Lakeside area of Duluth.  We are in love.  It is all we were hoping for and more.  I am thanking God over and over for His answered prayers.  He is good.

We moved in exactly four weeks ago now!  Wow, time does fly.  Here are some pictures of our new, actually very old (100 year old), home.

The outside....we love the huge front porch, 2 car garage, and driveway for bike riding!

The spacious backyard with amazing, beautiful trees!

The girl's fav.....the swing set

Love this newly updated kitchen.  I love having a dishwasher, finally, and the breakfast bar with a view!

A little girl's dream room....Maddie and Norah's room

Hopefully I can get more photos taken of the rest of the house sometime.  We still have a fair amount to do - like hanging things on the wall and organizing the basement and garage...but those things will come.  Here are some sweet deals that come with the new house:

• 4 bedrooms, which includes the third floor attic room, doubling as a playroom and guest room.  (Come stay with us!  We have a brand new futon up there....and I've heard it's comfortable.)  I'm so excited that we can have guests now!  
• An office nook, off the kitchen, where I can sit at the laptop and store paper junk.  It was one of my favorite features when we looked at this house.  
• A great entry way, with a coat closet!  
• An unfinished basement that we hope to finish off someday, for a family room/entertainment room. 
• A formal diningroom
• A fireplace!
• New appliances in the kitchen
• Raised bed gardens in the front - with strawberry plants already planted!  I hope to plant more veggies next spring.
• AND a super awesome, quaint neighborhood with friendly people and lots of families with young children.  I am loving being located on a quiet street with so many conveniences nearby....like a playground, cafe, ice cream shop, post office, and much more!  

We are blessed.  When I think about all God has given me, this verse comes to mind:

Ephesians 3:20

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

We are having quite the busy summer, but settling in a little bit at a time!  Come visit us.  We love to have visitors.  Hope to see you soon!