King size bed adventures and hide and go seek

Well, we have decided that it is time to get a king size bed. So, we had been doing some research and decided to order a bed from Costco, because they have really good prices. The only catch is you can't lie on the bed before you buy it. Well, the bed came Thursday and it is super soft, but after sleeping on it for the night Doug and I both woke up with sore backs! The bed is awful! I am sure it would be great for some people, but it just felt like you were sinking in and had no back support. So, back to Costco that is going! We have decided we like our bed on the firm side and we have narrowed it down to 2 beds and we are going to go back tomorrow and decide on one for sure (When my back isn't so sore, so I can make a fair assessment!).

Here is a cute video of Doug and Noah playing hide and go seek at Macy's. (Noah doesn't quite get it yet, but it is really cute!) I was nursing Abigail before we left so they had some extra time.

So proud of Doug - a week and a half to go!!!

I have been meaning to post about my amazing husband and how proud of him I am! Besides being a man that loves God with all his heart, an incredible husband, awesome daddy, and wonderful friend, he is also CRAZY SMART and a HARD worker!

In the midst of everything happening with Abigail, Doug got the news that he was awarded the "Graduate Research Mentorship", which to us basically means a lot of money to help with school, that we don't have to pay back! Praise God for that!

Doug also found out that he was ranked #1 in his department! When he told me this I was very excited and proud of him, but I was thinking that this was out of the ancient history department, which I think is about 4 people, but he told me it was out of the WHOLE history department which is a LOT of people! I asked him how it was that they came up with the ranking and decided and he said that he wasn't sure. I questioned him a little more asking "Well you must have some idea what they base it on, and why you were ranked 1st?" With which he humbly responded (something along the lines of) "Well, I have taken the hardest classes possible out of the requirements, I am working hard towards my degree and going ahead of schedule, I need to know 5 languages, and I already have 4 of them done, I am getting an additional Masters in classics on the way to my PhD, and well... I think my adviser really likes me, and God hooked me up!" (He always gives God the credit!)

He is doing all of that while teaching two classes at Fresno State, teaching 3 homeschool classes (which is a passion of his), and traveling about 440 miles a week!

So, now Doug only has a week and a half left, then he will be done with this quarter, and done with the traveling down there every week! He will still have to go down about every 2 or 3 weeks but just for a day. He is pushing really hard and working to get his degree done in 2 more years, which would be ahead of schedule, so now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It has actually gone by really fast, but Noah is starting to ask where his Daddy is a lot more, and I really like to have him home, so I am glad the traveling part is almost over. We felt like God was opening the doors and wanting Doug to go to school, (I wasn't too happy about that at first!) so it will be exciting to see what comes next and the way that God will continue to work through him.

Abigail talking and smiling!

Abigail is not quite 5 weeks now and she makes all kinds of faces - sometimes it will look like she is smiling, but this is the first time that we really wondered if it might be a REAL smile??? You can be the judge. :-)




And here is Abigail "talking". So cute!

Breakfast, black eyes, blocks, and bulldozers

Breakfast of Champions: Noah is eating a yummy bowl of cherries, string cheese and banana chips for breakfast and he had a special treat this morning of being able to watch BOZ at the same time! We went to the farmers market at river park yesterday and had a nice time walking around, and came home with the cherries and banana chips.

We had a nice day at the park today. Noah would be the first to tell you that those are a dump truck and a skid steer - there is no bulldozer in the picture. But be honest - if I hadn't told you it was a skid steer, would you have gone along with the one on the right being a bulldozer? I bet so! :-)


Notice the black eye? Noah decided to get a little too acrobatic on the baby swing.





Noah is teaching Abigail to play blocks in this video... you can tell she will be a quick learner!

Pictures from this week

Just hanging out.


Noah enjoying the baby swing - Abigail doesn't like it, so I am glad someone is enjoying it!



Noah and Papa ready for their bike ride.


Sleeping peacefully - she really likes to be swaddled! And she likes her new little papasan chair from Grandma.


Noah loves to play legos!!!




This picture isn't Abigail's most attractive but I had to share it because Doug and I were cracking up - it looks like she is trying to be tough and throw a sign saying "Wuz up?" :-)

Thank you!

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who have emailed or called with kind words, a listening ear, sound advice, or offers to help in different ways. And thank you to those of you that have come over and held Abigail for a while. It is all very much appreciated!! The last few days have been a little bit better as far as the screaming goes so that has been a blessing as well.

Feeling shell shocked

Not sure what to write, but wanted to give a quick update so that those of you that have been praying for our family would know how to pray. The other day as I was explaining to Doug how I was feeling the term "shell shocked" came to mind. I am sure this is nothing close to that, but on top of adjusting to being a mom of two, I am having a bit of a rough time adjusting to Abigail's screaming. She screams a lot. Even in the NICU, the Dr. said he was sure she was going to be a soprano, and that she "sang" a lot. His nice way of saying that she was a screamer. (She is showing us her lungs are nice and healthy!) So please pray for me, as sometimes all of the screaming can be a lot to handle by the end of the day. It is also hard to get things done because if I set her down she is much more likely to scream. And then there are those times that even when I am holding her and doing all the things I know to do, she will not stop screaming. Also pray that if there is something bothering her we will figure it out! We are going to go to the Chiropractor this week to see if there might be anything out of alignment. God is good and He always gives me grace to get through the day. (Doug helps out SO much when he is in town, and my parents are a big help when he is out of town).

Phew

The other day I was scrolling through all of the different languages that you could have your blog in, and somehow I switched myself to some wierd cryptic language with totally different characters. I couldn't read anything, and I didn't know where the button with the different languages was to get myself back to English! Well, tonight after clicking on random things I finally found the English button - phew! So I am back, and here is a picture of Abigail from the other day.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! I am so happy to be the mother of two, and so blessed to have a wonderful mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. This is a quick picture that we took before we headed out to Fort Washington Country Club for a yummy brunch with my family.

Abigail and Noah

Abigail has been doing great at sleeping and eating - like a champ! We have been so busy with those 2 activities that I haven't had much of a chance to take pictures - but here are 2 quick ones I took today of her and Noah. He is a great big brother and loves his little sister very much. He is very inquisitive and is always asking: "What is Abby doing?"