Busy Summer, Busy Autum, Busy Winter

Life is great and God is GOOD!  We have had so many blessings in our life in the last few months.  I have started work again on a very part-time basis & I love it!!  I work with a couple of great ladies and have fantastic clients.  Benji is waiting on the final word regarding a new position that is something we have been praying long and hard about for over a year.  We have also been meeting every week with two couples who enrich our lives so much!  Our babies are growing fast and are so much fun!  They keep us busy!  Here are a few photos!

Olivia and her bestie, Evie

Olivia washing dishes.

Wild Man Benji Karl trying to get out of his swing.

Sibling love.

Olivia feeding Benji Karl his lunch.

Growing too fast!

Life Lost & Lessons Learned

Grandpa Joe at Benji's OSU graduation 

On Monday, our family suffered another loss.  Grandpa Joe was taken to his eternal home.  After the devastating loss of my Grandpa Carl, I thought that no one would ever come close to filling the void that was left by his passing.  Then Granny invited Big Joe to meet our family.  


If there was anyone else in this universe that complemented Granny and made her happy after the loss of her dear husband, it was Joe.  She beamed with excitement and was giddy every time they got together.  I knew it wouldn't be long before they were married. They were married 5 years ago on a beautiful July afternoon at his home.  From that moment on, we were all a family.  Joe took us in and treated my family as if we were his own.  For nearly 6 years, he was a very important part of our lives.  I don't think he ever realized the extent of our appreciation and respect for all he did for us.  

Olivia loved him and knew him as Grandpa Joe.  She loved to visit and spend time at Grandpa Joe & Granny's house.  She was most excited about the play-set that Joe had recently built for the grand & great grand kids.  She told me that she was glad she got her hug before they left her birthday party on Saturday.  She asked on our way home from our camping trip Tuesday if she could go see him "because he was still there in his chair" and that we just had to "go check".  She's still a bit young to fully understand what exactly happened.  I'm sure it will sink in as these next few days come and go.  It's never easy to help a young child understand that they will never again get to sit on his lap or hear him bellow her name when he sees her. 

The Shelby County Fair will never be the same either.  Benji and I had come to enjoy spending time there with Grandpa Joe and listening to his stories about the 'good old days' of the Fair.  We learned so much from him.  Grandpa Joe was so easy to talk to.  No matter what you talked about, it was met with a fantastic sense of humor to keep the mood light and casual.  He had the best laugh and jokes.  I honestly believe that is what made him such a special person and made him "one of us".  


I know his death has to be especially hard on his children & grandchildren.  He loved them so much and only wanted to best for them.  It seemed to make his day when they visited or when he went to see them preform in sports and 4-H.  Although busy lives kept us all from getting together very often, when we did, it was like we had always been family.  The kids all got along and played well together.  Olivia would talk for days about her cousins at Grandpa Joe & Granny's house after a get-together.  I hope we always stay family.

Olivia & Grandpa Joe at the fair

After any death comes a season of change.  We will all adjust and find a new normal.  Holidays will be hard as they come and go.  We will always come together and something will trigger a memory and then we will talk for hours about "remember when".  The first year is the hardest as everyone adjusts and pulls a new life together.  I pray for the comfort of Granny and Joe's family as they do this.

Life with 2

Boy is life different than it was 3 months ago!  We officially forgot what it was like to have a newborn.  Add an active 3 year old to that and you get 2 very tired parents.
We are not entirely certain what God has in store for us when it comes to more children. After losing Max and becoming pregnant with Benji Karl 5 short months later, I am questioning if more children are in our future.  Benji Karl's pregnancy was very hard on me emotionally.  I always anticipated the worst and really leaned on God to get me through it.  It was down-right exhausting!  I ended up on bed rest for nearly a month and had a difficult recovery.  (I did have him via cesarean section because he was such a large baby.)  For those of you who are not aware, that means that I must have any future children by c-section and i can safely have 1-2 more children.  So medically, we are limited to only 2 more children. I had my spinal nerves nicked while receiving my anesthesia.  I don't think I can even describe the fear that overcame me when that happened.  But, regardless of all that, we have a beautiful, happy baby boy who I am forever thankful for.
So is our dilemma.  I, personally, am terrified to go under the knife again.  And I question if I should even consider it since I was unable to safely deliver my two children on my own.  Was I meant to have several children, or should we just gratefully raise the two that God has entrusted us?  These questions have peppered my prayers over the last couple of months.  Only God can answer them for us.  So we patiently wait for His guidance.    

Well, Benji is here!

He was born February 16th at 9 lbs. 5 oz & 23 in. long!  One BIG boy.  Here are a few photos to get you up to date:

23 weeks!!

Here are just a couple of photos of my progression so far! 

October

Olivia and I went to a few harvest activities, including a modified beggars night ;-)
Last Saturday was the Kids around the Square event where there was a costume contest and local businesses passed out candy.  The library passed out pumpkins, books, pumpkin pie, and cider (we really like to go for the library events.  The free book helps build her library). 

Last Monday the library had a halloween party.  There were games and activities for the kids to do.


Then Thursday was beggars night.  We went to the homes of the grandparents and gathered candy around one city block.

Lastly, on Sunday will be the Childrens Harvest Party at church.  No dress-up there, but lots of harvest fun and a great harvest story from the best book ;-)

We hung pumpkins across our entry way, put a little face on a pumpkin, made treat bags for her cousins and prepared for the church harvest party coming this Sunday.  We buy/make costumes that can go in her "dress up closet" so she can use them while she does creative play.  We struggled with whether or not to even participate in this time of the year, but we figured we could use this time to minister our daughter about what it means and why we don't do certain things associated with this "holiday".  Right now, she just has fun showing everyone her new dress-up outfit and visiting her grandparents/aunts in her outfit.  Here is a photo of Olivia in her new Dorothy dress-up outfit:

Into the Fall!

Well, quite a few things have occurred since the last post.  We had a fantastic visit from my friend, Liza and her beautiful children.  We had a great time catching up and talking about the things in life we are experiencing.  Olivia loves her new friends and can't wait for another visit from Libby, Gracie, and Baby John. 

Benji has been hard at work around the house and at work.  He has been picking up extra hours here and there and enjoying his work.  We have been long considering me staying home with Olivia as long as financially possible while I finish my degree and to save some money on daycare costs.  Recently, I have become a Mary Kay consultant.  I love it!  I get to play with make-up and skincare (two of my favorite cosmetology subjects) and not charge my client for the consultation.  All they need is the product to maintain at home.  I do miss doing hair on a regular basis, but I think this will give me my beauty fix while helping others and making some extra income for home!  ;-)

We watched the traveling Vietnam wall roll into town and be placed just a few blocks from our house.  There were over 4,000 motorcyclists who lead the wall to town (including my parents).  There was a healing field of flags that local residents purchased in memory or honor of their loved ones who serve(d) in the military, law enforcement, and fire departments.  It was a fantastic moment for our community and a great way to show our little ones how we support those who keep us safe.   

Olivia has been doing very well with preschool!  I am surprised at times with what she already knows.  She loves it and doesn't seem to care that she isn't going to a school like her cousins, she's just happy to be doing school work.   I enjoy working with her!  We have also been spending a lot of time in the parks and outside now that the weather has cooled a bit. 

As of today, I am 17 weeks pregnant.  I still worry that something may go wrong.  I hope that my ultrasound in a few weeks will ease some of that worry.  Right now is especially tough as it is the time when we lost Max. 

And here is a few photos of recent!