Mom's Day Out

Today was Elli's first day at Mom's Day Out. If you've followed our journey for very long you'll remember that this has been a long-time dream for Mommy and I think we've lived it up enough over the past months, that Elli was excited too! I'm really excited about the little place she's going; once a week, from 9:30-1:30. The Word is integrated throughout the time and she gets some fun playtime with kids her age. She eats lunch at "school" and then comes home ready for a nap! :)

When she's willing to pose, she doesn't hold back!


Ethan didn't have school today, so it was fun to have him join in the celebration,
just like we had on his first day!

Proud of her lunch bag filled with all her favorite goodies!

In the van ride home, Elli told us stories of her day; all about her 2 teachers; the boys and girls in her class; and songs she had learned. A GREAT first day!

Signs you're ready to have a baby!

1. You've developed a natural shelf for your ice cream bowl and use it without shame and quite often!

2. Your toddler sits on her "birth ball" to do mommy jobs around the house.

It seems ALL of us are ready, except for baby!

LOST

That's right, thanks to some saved up Christmas money, we bought the 6th season of LOST and quickly consumed it! I know that I'm way behind the average TV show viewing audience, but it was kind of nice to be able to watch 2 episodes in a row when we were hooked! But I'm bummed at how lost I still am. So where were they, really? Were they dead? Was it some kind of universalist kind of take on purgatory? And would it really have been so bad to clearly come out and say it?

Confessions of a 39 week pregnant woman!

This Labor day was a full one, and unfortunately not full of labor. But we definitely packed in the family time!

That's right, we went to the K-State first home game!

The kids joined us for the tailgate party and then went back to my brother's house for naps. Elli and Josie enjoying time in the back of the truck telling Babu some wild story!

Ethan sporting his new favorite sports team's colors! He loved showing people how he planned to cheer on the Cats: with lots of gusto!



I think we were all of 10 rows from the very top of this stadium. It is built on such an extreme angle, that there were points I didn't feel like I could stand up and not fall forward. I thought surely hiking up all those stairs would throw me into labor. No such luck!


Who knew that 10 years ago, when I was making eyes at Austin, flirting with every hi-5, that I would be married to the man and about to have his 3rd baby? As Austin said, "That's what happens when you marry a K-State fan, he brings you back pregnant for the games!" It was a fun memory to make and fun to remember together.


It was an all out family affair! The 2 pregnant mamas enduring the heat together, all to cheer on our Wildcats.

After the game, we drove back to Wichita, arriving at 10 p.m. All day Sunday I was at a retreat for married women living overseas. Monday we left bright and early for McCune and more great family time. We worked together sorting through some of the things at the old house and spent a lot of time just being together. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of that time. We made it back to Wichita Tuesday afternoon, to give Ethan some time to gear back up for school.

So at my OB appointment I confessed to my Dr. that I put in almost 600 miles this weekend; that I had failed to stay "close to home." His response was great: "You should have told me, 2 of my nurses were at the game. That probably would have brought you some peace of mind!"

My diverse kindergartener

Adon, Angel, Reggie, Xavier . . .

these are the names Ethan comes home talking about. These are some of his friends at school. And when we ate lunch with him on Friday, we got to meet them. The unifying factor . . . none of them are Caucasian. Infact, most of them resemble little boys from our Central Asian home.

I love it that Ethan is drawn to people that are different from him and sees no reason while they shouldn't be buddies. He's working on learning break dance moves that Reggie can do; spinning on the floor on his back! Love it!

August and up-to-date!

August began with a 3 day get-away to Kansas City. Our kiddos stayed with my folks, while we enjoyed the opportunity for leisurely connect time. With the amount of energy our kiddos pack in, it doesn't feel like much of life is at a leisurely pace. It was a great time of connecting before we add another to the mix!

And there's our 3rd . . . growing day by day. Elli's demonstrating her "rock-star" pose!

My 2 little helpers, helping me scrub down the bassinet for baby brother!

The recovered and finished project. I plan to do a whole crib set, like I have for the other 2, once we get back home. So in the meantime, I've satisfied my nesting energies with re-vamping the bassinet that all Amershek babies, except Elli, have slept in. To me that's fun! What I've previously agonized over with the other 2, we quickly decided on in a matter of a 30 minute trip to Hancock Fabrics. A remnant with just the right amount of fabric . . . jungle theme with greens and blues it is!

The first Friday of school, Ethan brought home a Twinkie school bus, complete with wheels (not pictured) and the red tail light. Not the fan of chocolate, he opted to save it to bring home to his sister. Who, as you can see, was THRILLED. They sure do miss each other.

The cousins at the bridal brunch, my mom and I hosted for Lynelle. Erika and I joked that putting us on the end only benefited the Penner sisters! A fun wedding weekend. The first time I've gotten to sing with my brother and sister-in-law since . . . I can't remember when.

Pregnant together with our 2nd born girls. I was around 33 weeks and Eeka would have been about 3 1/2 months out. (I think)

Pregnant together again. This time we're having a boy and they're having a girl. Eeka's 19 weeks and I'm . . . about ready to pop!

"Ill-laid plans" isn't that the saying. Why is it that I get these super cute ideas and dreams in my brain and fail to factor in reality; the reality of tired kids in high-stress, high expectation situations. My sister-in-law and I thought it would be so cute to make matching dresses for our girls to wear to my cousins wedding. This shot only captures one of the many melt-downs. Bless Malia's heart, Aunt Jenni tried to take her cup away for the picture and the tears ensued. Elli begged to take her dress off for much of the evening and the matching hair bow miraculously made it in this photo, since she admittedly refused to wear it the rest of the time. Maybe we'll try again in say 5 years!

Ethan's Five and other July Happenings

It is so hard to believe, but my little man turned 5 this summer. This was a birthday party he has been dreaming about since Christmas, at least. He wanted all of his cousins there (and would have had more, had our house been able to hold them all), wanted kebob on the menu, and talked often of wanting his friends from our team to be able to come too. So we experimented with kebob and they turned out pretty close and had our house full of family.

I was so excited for a year off of the pressured birthday cake. I had in my mind to order an ice cream cake while we had air conditioning to keep it from melting. Unfortunately every purchasable ice cream cake starts with a chocolate cake or cookie crumb base. For a boy that doesn't like chocolate that wasn't an option. So this year too I researched and made the cake. It was really yummy, but I have a long ways to go on decorating with cool whip frosting. So we opted for a "Lego Space Cake" topper! He was thrilled.

Ethan got a bike for his birthday and it seems to be so much sturdier than his bike from Christmas.

We used some of Elli's accumulated Christmas money for a trike from Aldi's.

The first attempt without training wheels. We're not quite ready for that yet, but like everything in our family . . . it's always a whole family affair! I captured the "release." Love Ethan's focused face and Elli's proud and camera aware scamper!

I found a box of random Legos at a garage sale and Ethan keeps building. I had to show off his continually growing/changing creativity. He made this spaceship all with his own imagination!

This year my birthday was full of surprises! Laurie and Jess came into town to kidnap me for the afternoon. 3 moms with no kids yielded a precious afternoon full of lots of laughing, heart sharing, and reminiscing. My folks surprised me by coming into town to take our family out for breakfast together. Falling on the 4th of July weekend, the birthday celebrations ended with a MASSIVE fireworks display on the lawn of a church in Arkansas. Ethan loved it, Elli covered her ears the whole time pleading for it to stop!

In July we also traveled to 2 different conference. Both provided great times for reflection and remembering all we've seen and experienced the last 3+ years. We had great times reconnecting with dear friends at both retreats!

For those that love the excessive photo's . . . Here's all the pictures from Ethan's birthday!

Ethan's 5th Birthday