We Get to Teach a Whole New Baby How to Clap....and other things happening here.

"We get to teach a whole new baby how to clap," Pete said one night. That made me giggle and look forward, in delight once again, to the fact that in April our family will welcome number 7! We are all thrilled and humbled by the Lord's goodness in blessing us with another little one. In spite of feeling quite tired and sickish for the past 3 months, I am loving being pregnant again after our longest break ever. It's definitely a bit different at 35 than it was in my 20's or even 31. The lower back yells at me to get on the treadmill. I have more to keep up with around here too so maybe that's part of it. Oh- and we moved. We got an offer on our house in July and it FINALLY closed last Friday. We moved into a rental a little over a month ago- a larger than our old house ranch on 2 acres surrounded by woods. It's a beautiful place to spend fall, watching deer, enjoying the colors. We are going to be building a house and are very eager to get into a space that will be well suited for our growing family.

A Little Surprise

Good thing we took some pregnant belly pictures last weekend!

She's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Charlotte Jean Vander Wall


September 11, 2008
7 lbs, 10 oz, 19 1/2 inches

We're doing great and thanking the Lord for a beautiful, healthy baby girl!
I'm tired, so I'll have to tell you the story later :)

The Verwolf Family

My new nephew

Praise the Lord, my sister has delivered a healthy baby boy. Aiden John was born yesterday morning. We are so excited to go to Michigan this weekend to see this boy!!

Here's my dad proudly holding his 5th grandchild (2nd grandson).

Baby steps

Sorry about the sideways picture! I do not have the patience to sit at the computer and figure out how to turn it! Last night Isabella took her first solo step. Thankfully Pete and I both got to witness it! He was sitting on the floor, bribing her with what else? Money!! The fake kind, but still it was hilarious that the promise of "two (purple) dollars" enticed her enough to finally take a step without help!

Ultrasound Today

Well, today was the big day.




We got the answer we've been waiting for.




No more wondering.




No more guessing.




No more pondering how life would be either way.




Now we can get ready




for the little one that




will soon be here.



Drumroll please.........................................................................


It's



A



Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who does that? I mean, WHO has 4 girls???

Well, apparently we do.

There were tears from Peter- poor thing, it's so hard to take care of 4 sisters! We talked about how God has planned our family and knows exactly what we should have! He understands that and he's okay for now I think. I'm not sure about my husband though. He's a tad overwhelmed by the near future- like finding the right house with space for all these little people. And of course he's already thinking about the future- like how to
ward off all the boys that are going to be coming around. And dealing with the emotions of 5 women. And paying for 4 weddings. I just keep reminding him of the blessings of having all these girls- like all the chocolate chip cookies they'll bake for their daddy and their big brother. I'm pretty much just thinking about how on earth I'm going to do all that hair- especially on Sunday mornings! Okay, that's not all I'm thinking about.

God is good. We have another precious baby to love and nurture and I know He will grant us the grace to handle all the things that are concerning us- from the hair to the weddings!

one baby

That's what we're having. Yesterday I went to the doctor and she gave me the satisfaction of having a quick little ultrasound to just check. I don't know why I had this preoccupation in my mind that we could be having twins, but I'm glad to just know. It would have been crazy and busy, but of course exciting and wonderful to have 2 babies, but Pete is honestly relieved. Now the idea of the very likely possibility of another girl is setting in. I am convinced it's a girl. I thought Ella was a boy and was shocked when I found out during my ultrasound that we were having another daughter. Now I'm pretty sure that we could have 10 more and they'd all be girls. It's so nice that we had a boy first to protect all these little women :) Peter will probably be upset when we tell him, yet again, that he's going to have another sister. He cried when we told him about Ella, but he did get over it pretty quickly. Time will tell- in two months we'll be having the big ultrasound and hopefully this baby will cooperate and show us it's stuff!

bullets

* This time change thing is no fun. I really thought we were getting an extra hour (I never can keep it straight).

* I am huge already! Either I'm having twins or I have absolutely no stomach muscles left!

* My body has it's own special clock. At 4 pm I get queasy. By 8 pm I have a killer headache. Everyday. Without fail. Trying to fix supper while dealing with "evening sickness" is not fun. BUT I am soooooo thankful that I don't have morning sickness! That would make it difficult to maintain a normal routine of school with the kids.

* My house looks like a tornado went through it. A very dusty, laundry filled tornado. Perhaps in a couple of weeks I'll clean it?!

* Yesterday we all survived the Sam's Club, Walmart Saturday Shopping Extravaganza. Every once in a while we do that. Then we remember why it's better to have Pete stop and get groceries before he comes home from work. I'm sure in a month or so we'll forget and do it all together again.

* Ella is cutting her 8th tooth. She's had 7 for about 6 months now. I'm glad to see that 7 isn't all she came with.

* Ella started standing in her crib last week. She's so proud of herself as she stands up grinning at me as I am walking out of the room. I lay her down and before I get to the door she's standing. She just wants to be big. This is the stage where they start the falling all the time! She thinks she can stand and hold things, but then loses her balance and boom it's another head bonk. Just be a baby a little longer, Stinkerbella!

* Maddie has started doing something I've heard lots of other kids do, but not mine. She begs. She asks for something and I tell her no and then in a very sweet and pathetic voice she says, "please mommy?" Now where on earth did she learn that? We're going to have to nip that in the bud real quick like! And some of you wonder why her daddy came up with the nickname "Rotten" for her? It's said in love- don't worry.

* I think I finally came up with a good idea to reduce the amount of sock insanity. I love socks- cute, fun, wild socks. But I like them on feet or tucked away in drawers with their perfect match! Since the socks in our house do not remain in drawers or on feet, but under beds, in couch cushions, in the truck, all over the floors (you get the picture), I have decided that white tube socks are the way to go. I bought some for the girls at Walmart. The different sizes have different colored heels, but other than that, they are WHITE. PLAIN WHITE. Boring? Not when they are so easy to match up that my children can do it themselves!!! Why didn't I think of that years ago?

*It's 8:30. My body thinks it's 9:30. My pregnant bedtime if I am ever going to bet back on the treadmill at 5 am is 8. Gotta go. Have a great week

Oh Baby!

Oh Baby- I'm going to be a big sister!

I'm not quite sure what that means, but everybody's talking about this baby that's coming at the beginning of October. They all say they think it should be a boy, but then I'd be the only one without a baby sister!

Family News

This week we found out that Pete's sister, Laurie, and her husband are expecting their first baby in November. Congratulations to Larry and Laurie!!! We are so excited for them and so thankful to the Lord for this wonderful blessing!

My ears are full too

Maybe that would be a good response to the common, "You've sure got your hands full!"

It's so noisy I can hardly think. And there are so many things I'd like to think about and read about and figure out. For now I guess I'll try to enjoy all the sounds of my children because I know when they are grown I'll miss their funny noises and quirky comments.

Sweet babbling fills my ears.
Ella has recently joined in on the talking. Her babababaing is so cute

The prayers of my children fill my ears. Yesterday I had a really hard time holding in the laughter as Kate prayed before bed. She tends to have a sort of stream of consciousness way of praying- with eyes squinted open a little she'll look around to decide what to pray about. She thanked God for food and drinks and clothes and toys and books. Then she proceeded to say, "too much clothes and too much toys and too much books." I was thinking I agreed until I realized her "too much" was a good thing so "when our clothes are dirty we have more clothes and when we have to sell some of our toys we have more toys and when we lose some of our books we have more books." Oh, my Kate!

Laughter fills my ears. Thankfully, along with the bickering and whining, there is a lot of laughter at our house!

who knew apples could be so funny?

making faces in one of the fun mirrors at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago

I am reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer right now. In reading this thought provoking book, I am realizing how pathetic my pursuit of God has been; how I am so easily satisfied with brief encounters and short conversations rather than searching, groping, reaching, longing to know Him, the person of God! I want to hear Him, to deepen my receptiveness to His voice! A prayer by Tozer at the end of chapter 6-

"Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, 'Speak, for thy servant heareth.' Let me hear thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice. Amen."

I pray God will help us busy mothers, whose ears are filled with the sounds of our children, to be even more filled with the sounds of His voice!

In case you wondered why the Bumbo seat was recalled

Isabella was happily playing in her Bumbo with a bin of toys next to her when I went upstairs. Then I heard some grunting and groaning and when I checked on her she was on the floor! So she had managed to get out somehow. The other kids and I moved the toys just out of her reach and just waited to see how she was going to escape. Hilarious! This is why the manufacturer's instructions say never to use it in water or on a raised surface!