The wedding!

I started this post last weekend and almost had it done and then ran out of time and haven't had Internet. But now here we are again before Kevin takes the computer back with him to CT tomorrow. Some pictures from the wedding yesterday Saturday of my two friends Katie and Jesse. I've been friends with Katie since junior high and they dated all through high school. So I was so excited to see them finally get married!

the beautiful bride after getting her hair and makeup done

mommy and Eli at the church ready to go

what a cute little man

the happy couple

at the reception, the group of my old classmates and friends

Katie and me

Kevin and me

Okay, and NOW for the update on how Eli did as ring bearer! We got Eli dressed in his wedding gear to get him in his ring bearer mode and went about 20 minutes early to the rehearsal to practice before people started arriving. The church was empty and gave us perfect time to try to get Eli warmed up to the place because upon arriving he was VERY clingy, did NOT want to get put down on the floor, and didn't even want to go in the sanctuary. But we took it slow and showed him where we were and told him what was going to be happening. I had brought fruit snacks as his treat reward for getting down to the aisle. Since we was being sooo clingy we took it reeeaaaly slow and started with Kevin just holding him and carrying him down the aisle and then he got one fruit snack. He did that a couple times then we put Eli down and he held Kevin's hand down the aisle and got a treat for a couple times. Then he walked on his own and got a treat. THEN he walked his own WITH the pillow and got a treat! Then when it came time for the actual rehearsal with everyone else, he did amazing and strutted his stuff down the aisle, with the two flower girls and was just sooo adorable! Kevin got him started down the aisle and then walked along the side of the church so he could take Eli back out once he got to the front. Eli didn't even take the treat (hidden in my hand) from me before going back out with Kevin. The treats had worked in getting him warmed up to his surroundings and by the end of the rehearsal he was giving everyone high-5s! He did soooo well!

The next day, the wedding day, I had Kevin play him hard at the park so he'd be tired and ready to nap early since the wedding started at 3pm. I decided to forgo pictures for him and just get him napped up. Rest was ESSENTIAL or the day would NOT happen! Well, you know what I mean. haha So he got napped up and arrived at the church dressed and ready to go at 2:15pm. We tried to practice with him again and get him warmed up to the place but with pictures still going on and everyone busy going here and there it was pretty hard getting his focus (really?! cuz he's only TWO) and getting him to relax. But we finally found a more quiet hallway and tried practicing there. And after several tries going through our baby steps, he was warming up to his surroundings. And by wedding time he was actually hanging out with the two flower girls on his own instead of just clinging to Kevin and not wanting to be put down.

BUT come the time of the ceremony... he didn't want to walk down the aisle. You only have a second to decide whether you're going to go or not go; there's no time to try to convince him. And he was back to clinging to Kevin's leg, so we just left it at that and didn't walk up the aisle. No big deal. As we were practicing that day and it just wasn't going well, we let the couple know that it didn't seem likely that he was going to cooperate and they didn't care one bit. He sure did look handsome though!

And as for little Miss Hannah and her feedings. It was a bit complicated, but it worked OK. She was a real trooper and soooo patient! There were a couple times when I only had time enough to feed her just a little. I had told my mom to try her best with cereal and baby food (only bananas and sweet potatoes though since that's all she's had) to try to buy some time, and surprisingly Hannah did okay enough that it helped a little. It was a little crazy of a day trying to juggle the two kids as well as enjoy being matron of honor for my friend Katie, but in the end it all went okay and close to how I had it planned out.

I loved getting to catch up with my friends back home and celebrating the wedding of Katie and Jesse!

Chicago stop.

Alrighty seems forever ago that we made the long 22-hr drive back to Iowa. I've been working on this post for several days now and now that I finally have good Internet connection at my parent's house, I can get all these pictures loaded. About 3/4 of the way on our drive back to Iowa we stopped overnight to visit my best friend that just moved to the Chicago area. They just had a baby 3 weeks ago, so it was a blessing to meet the new bundle as well as get much needed rest!

Angie playing with the kids

Angie and new baby Elliott

He was seriously THE easiest baby ever! Soooo content and just fell right asleep when he was tired, which was all the time.

They have a fenced-in back yard that was GREAT for the boys to run around in! Their son Caleb is almost 2 also.

What a nice pose, Caleb!

Ben and Angie even have a play set!

...for boys of all ages!

oh, sweet baby!

proud dad!

Caleb's giving kisses for Hannah. I really hope they get married someday so we can officially be family with Ben and Angie. =)

my bestest friend!

Goodbye, Connecticut!

Just thought I'd share some pics from our goodbye party. We had our closest friends over for ice cream sundaes for the final farewell before our departure the next day. We sure do miss you guys already!

Eli (2 yrs) and Emily (3 1/2 yrs)

Sarah (10 months) and Hannah (7 months)

Emily hugging Eli goodbye

my bestest CT friends n kids
Amy with Sarah and Emily, me with Eli and Hannah, and Amber with John

Move Update and Prayer Requests

Alright, thought I'd update you all on the job search and moving plans, since a lot of people have been asking...

Saturday we're making the long 22-hr drive back to Iowa. At that point the kids and I will be staying (at a house my parents bought and are fixing up) but following the wedding we're going for, Kevin will return for his last 3 weeks of work. He'll fly back to CT, the Navy will come in and pack us all up, and then he'll drive back with his old Jeep (God willing that it makes it!!) His last day of work is Oct 21. There's nothing lined up for work yet. No interviews or even any call-backs. But there is something pretty promising in eastern Nebraska where one of our friends just got hired after he got out of the Navy in June. They're hiring in November, so we're hoping that while Kevin's back for the wedding he can go for an interview. It's about 3 hours from where our parents are. Kevin is hoping to apply his Navy experience in nuclear maintenance for work in a nuclear power plant. There are only 3 in the Iowa/Nebraska area, and they each hire at specific times of the year. This one in Nebraska seems to having perfect timing for us, if we can just wait it out til the last minute to find out what's next for us! Until then we'll just stay in my parent's house for as long as we need until we can settle into a house of our own. We are sooo thankful to have that option, it really relieves a lot of pressure to have something figured out right away! So that's the update on the move plans!

Here are some things you could be praying about it as we make this transition:
* Pray that the kids would be decently content during the long drive back. 22-hrs is a looooong drive, kids or no kids.
* Kevin's going to transition his body to nights and drive as much of the night as he can, so we get the first half of the drive done while the kids are asleep. Pray that he stays awake and stops when needed!
* Pray for good driving weather, safety on the roads, and not many of those cement road barriers. I HATE those and get sore from being so tense driving through them! haha
* Pray for Kevin's job search--that he wouldn't get discouraged as he continues to wait and that his eyes be open to all possibilities.
* Pray for me as his wife and supporter. And pray for the three weeks that I'll be single mom while Kevin's returned for work. It's going to tiring but fortunately my parents house is right across the street from the park! And I do have a few friends I'm planning on meeting up with here and there.
* Pray for Kevin and his Jeep as he makes the long 22-hr drive AGAIN to Iowa, except by himself! I don't know how he's going to do it. The thing is practically maxed out going 65 mph, but he's gonna try! Pray that it doesn't break down! It's a '92 Jeep Cherokee.
* Pray for the kids during this transition time, that they would respond well to the new environments.
* Pray that we can get into a house quickly and get settled and that God would then lead us to a good church and friends.
* In regards to the wedding we're going back for, pray that all my dress drama (that's another story) works itself out, that Eli's a good ring bearer, and that Hannah is patient about being fed throughout the day while I'm busy doing matron-of-honor duties.

At this point I'm just feeling really anxious to know what's next in life! But I think God is telling us to just wait and let HIM do the work! Once we head out, I'll be offline for awhile as I won't have much computer/Internet access. But I'll do my best to keep you updated on the big stuff! Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers!

7 Month Photo Shoot

Out of the 81 pictures I took, I think my favorites were the first two shots. But here are all my favorites! I really wanted her on the couch because the colors matched so well, but as you'll see she was definitely all over the place!

(click to view picture larger)

Okay, and I think we're done...

Hannah: 7-month update

Wow, this was a big month for Hannah. Here's the update:

* She started sleeping unswaddled AND falling asleep consistently on her own in her bed (pack n play in our room) WITHOUT sound machine.
* I started putting her to bed at 8:30 instead of 10pm. I figured if she was going to wake in the night anyway, we might as well get our evenings back. She wakes once (usually) and then sleeps until 7ish. It's soooo nice to have that down time again with my hubby!
* She started cereal. She doesn't get it every day just yet, and she's still not very good at eating. Even when we make it super thin and creamy, she still gags on it. But we're trying. She also got to try some bananas, in attempts to see if she'd do better with something that tasted a little better. But no such luck.
* She's sitting very well without Boppy or any other support.
* She's rolling everywhere and even crawls now!
* She can push herself back up into sitting position.
* Her hair is starting to grow in again!
* And the stats as of today: 17 lbs 13 oz, almost 27 inches

Still no bottle and still no teeth! Hopefully tomorrow I can do a mini photo shoot for her 7-month pic, so stay tuned! But for now, here's one to enjoy...

Picture of the day...

On the move!

It's official! Hannah learned to crawl today! Amazing how children learn new things daily! Just this morning she was still just getting up on her knees, maybe pushing with her feet to scoot a couple inches, and then plopping back down to the floor. But by bedtime she really had it and was moving across the room on her knees! And here's the proof:

Happy Smiles

I'm in the process of transferring over a couple of the latest videos of the kids that I had posted on MySpace. So if you've already seen them there, well, you get to enjoy them again!

Remember the Reading Rainbow song from when you were in elementary school? well, we sing it all the time and it's one of Eli's favorites! =) Here's us singing the first verse of it 2 times through.

Here's a video from just the other night at the dinner table Kevin was making the pop sound with his finger in his mouth. Ignore all the junk on the table, and enjoy the baby laughs! And the funny thing is Kevin did this several times before Hannah even started reacting to it at all! =)

Come read with Eli!

So we've just realized recently that Eli can say the words at the ends of lines in books. It's so fun, there are some words I had no idea he even knew! like "rescue" or "steel" or "everywhere" Take a look!

About the title.

I like to make plays on words. My other blog is called "In Light of the Truth". It's a common phrase people say, but for my blog it refers to the light we live in because of the Truth of Jesus Christ. (Eph. 5:8) And for this blog "sincerely yours" means that our children are not our own; they are GOD'S children that He has entrusted to us to raise according to His will. And so we thank our Father every day for the little blessings He has given us.

Welcome!

Hi everyone! I'm starting a new blog just for kid updates (pictures, videos, stories) and family news. I had a MySpace account I was pretty much just using for this, but I'm going to move to Blogger instead. Stay tuned!