Meet the Siblings

Grace and Caleb missed the start of school yesterday, so we could travel to the hospital and meet Rebecca. We had a great visit and the children held her and started to get to know the newest family member. Each child brought a gift for Rebecca (pacifier, blanket, or stuffed animal). Joshua brought the pacifier and is trying to give it to her here. Grace is elated that there is another girl in the family. All she wanted to do was hold Rebecca. (Rebecca's stuffed animal, Barkers, is above.) Joshua was excited to hold Rebecca and did not want to miss his turn, though I bet he won't feel the same way in another week or two. Caleb is still a little nervous holding his sister by himself. You have to wrestle Grace if you want to hold Rebecca. This is my favorite picture from yesterday.

A New Arrival

We met the newest member of our family last night. The baby we had been calling Herbert Nenninger was born. The baby ended up being a little girl! Rebecca Helen was born at 8:05 pm after a labor that was short and incredibly intense. She weighed in at 8 pounds 0 ounces and is 21 inches long.

We can post the story of how fast Rebecca came at another time. Here are some pictures that tell the story after the labor and birth: A happy poppa holding Rebecca. A picture of Rebecca. A tired Rebecca yawning after a crazy labor. Rebecca decided to test out her lungs during her first bath. The happy Mom and her new little one. The three of us a couple hours after the birth.

Mary and Rebecca are trying to get a little rest at the hospital and are doing well. We are all excited for the newest addition to our family.

Nameless....

Today is March 24th...Robert's birthday. I think it will always be a difficult day for me. There are so many feelings to be felt and much to think about and say. I think a TV show I was watching a month or so ago summed it up best. A family had lost a child and the parents were trying to sort out their grief. The wife said something that really stuck me. In summary it went something like this: when a child loses a parent she or he is called an orphan; when a spouse loses their partner they are called a widow or widower; but, there is just not a word in the human language to describe the word for a parent who loses a child. So...today I will remain nameless. I still miss Robert--he has forever changed my life. Happy 3rd Birthday little one!

Running Commentary

Joshua is chatty. He was slower to start talking than our other children, but he has certainly made up a lot of the volume. When he hears something, he often parrots what has been said or makes something up. Here is an example of this from tonight's scripture study:

"Adam, Eve naked!"

"Yes Joshua, Adam and Eve were naked in the garden of Eden."

After a moment's silence he pointed to his feet and said, "Elmo slippers!"

"Hi Elmo," he says while waving and then he bends over and kisses the Elmo on his slippers.

Then he points to the picture in the story, "Eve naked!"

"Eve wore clothing after she left the garden of Eden, Joshua."

He usually has a lot to say.

A Favorite Quote

Let me say something about that word: miracle. For too long it's been used to characterize things or events that, though pleasant, are entirely normal. Peeping chicks at Easter time, spring generally, a clear sunrise after an overcast week—a miracle, people say, as if they've been educated from greeting cards. I'm sorry, but nope. Such things are worth our notice every day of the week, but to call them miracles evaporates the strength of the word.

Real miracles bother people, like strange sudden pains unknown in medical literature. It's true: They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in. Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave—now there's a miracle, and you can bet it upset a lot of folks who were standing around at the time. When a person dies, the earth is generally unwilling to cough him back up. A miracle contradicts the will of earth.

—Leif Enger, Peace Like a River

Savor the miracles you find.

End of an Era

Joshua had to say goodbye to a favorite companion this week. Saying goodbye can be hard.

Random Observations

Did you know that Joshua loves the color pink? I think he might get that from me. Growing up in my family, each family member had a different color plate. Mom's plate was yellow, Dad's was orange, Matt's was blue, Oliver's was purple, Sara's was green, Eric's was white, and mine was pink.

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Joshua has become interested in the going to the bathroom. We are excited because I would love to minimize the two children in diapers stage. We have learned that he will take off and run around the house naked if you are not careful.

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Grace has the blogging gene. She does not have a blog, but she has a bulletin board in her room. She changes what is on the board almost every day. Instead of a weblog, I call it her wall-log.

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Caleb recently purchased a new Webkinz. It is an adorable little monkey and just screams Caleb. He has named the monkey, BoyKing. Isn't that a great name for a monkey?

File this Under the Title of Somewhat Disturbing

I find this commercial quite funny. I am not sure why. The first time I saw it I thought it was lame, but it becomes funnier with repeated viewing.

Why We Need Rebecca

It was really cold here in the beginning of January and all of our winter clothes were lying around the house. Caleb picked up his winter hat and put it on for no particular reason. (Of course, we could not get him to wear it when we actually went outside. Oh well.) I thought he looked really great so I tried to take a few pictures. He really did not want to pose for me, though I did get a couple of pictures of his back. I don't know how Rebecca does it.

Eventually, I got a couple of pictures that I liked:

Breakfast of Champions

Cooking 101

Joshua still loves to cook. He loves to play in the basement with the toy kitchen. He is always at the counter when you cook. If you plan on cooking while he is napping, you better be done before he wakes up or you will have some explaining to do.

We wanted to have homemade rolls the other night. We had to start baking while Joshua slept. He woke up as we had just started making the dough. He came downstairs and took one look at the counter and started to push a chair over. As he looked at the Kitchen Aid mixer and flour container, he decided that we had to be making a bread product.

How do I know that? Before he got up on the chair to properly see all the ingredients, he started asking for yeast. He was disappointed to find out Mary had already added the yeast.

And me? I was astounded that my two-year old knew what yeast was. I think I knew what yeast was by the time I was ten or twelve and my dad made bread in our house growing up.

And Speaking of Cooking

Mary made a cake for a friend's birthday. Doesn't it look good? We also made sugar cookies around Valentine's Day. First, you start by putting down some flour. Next, you roll out the dough. After they have finished baking, you can frost and decorate your cookies. Lastly, you can eat them. Have a heart!

It Is Like Magic

Grace and Caleb had play dates this afternoon. Mary took their friends home and then picked me up from work. The children started to tell me the day's news on the way home. The big news was that Mary got a toy for Joshua at Target. (The grandparents sent some money for a gift to Joshua. Joshua loves the gift, Bonnie and Jerry.) Mary told me that she had already rescued a toy car from it and was instructing the older kids not to put toys in it.

Grace asked, "Mom, how did you get it out?"

I answered, "Magic!"

Grace repeated her question, "No really, how did you get it out Mom?"

From the back of the car a voice says, "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Guest Post

caleb knows alphabet abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

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This post was completely typed by Caleb, though he did ask for some spelling help. But I wasn't sure what he was writing until I saw the finished product. He did it all without any typing help.

Sad Story

Joshua got a set of Elmo dishes for his birthday. It has a plate, bowl, spoon and fork. Joshua loves to eat with his bowl and spoon every morning. As a matter of fact, we wash his Elmo dishes by hand more often than in the dishwasher lately. I took this picture of him having Cheerios on the morning of Grandma's birthday. About five minutes after I took this picture, Joshua accidentally knocked the bowl off the table. The edge of the bowl broke.

He still asks for it every morning.

For Granny Sal

Grace and Caleb made cards for Grandma's birthday. We were going to send them to her for her birthday, but we did not make that happen. Then I was going to post them to the blog, but I did not get that done on Friday. So, here they are two days late. We hope you like them Mom and hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Here is Grace's card: Here is Caleb's card:

Suprise

I don't usually buy flowers on Valentine's Day. I love flowers but hate to pay the mark up on flowers around Valentine's Day. It is know that I would rather pay for two bunches of Martin Luther King Day and St. Patrick's Day flowers than to buy Valentine's Day flowers. The Valentine's Day flowers won't last as long and will cost too much.

This year, Valentine's Day was on a Saturday. Joshua and I ran errands to Costco and there wasn't any mark up on their flowers. So I got some for Mary. They were good flowers (smelled great, looked great, didn't last as long as I hoped). The pay-off was in bringing them home. Mary was really surprised to get flowers on Valentine's Day.

Just goes to show that it is all about the expectations.

Happy (Belated) New Year

When I was in elementary school I did not think about Chinese New Year. I probably did not know what it was. I knew what it was in high school. (Actually, Matt knew more about Chinese New Year than I did. He can tell you how to celebrate it with the Fine Young Cannibals on the radio.)

Grace and Caleb heard about Chinese New Year in school this year. Both of them told Mary about it. They wanted to do something to celebrate it. So we got Chinese take out for dinner. It amazes me what they are learning.

(In my department at work, the Chinese New Year celebration has been the same for the last ten years or more. We got out for dim sum in Chinatown. I got to go out for dim sum at lunch and then have take out for dinner. Now that is a good day.)

Happy Birthday! (Part Two)

I am finally getting around to posting more pictures from Joshua's birthday. We had a party on the evening of his birthday with some of the families on our street. With the winter we have been having, it felt like we had not spent time with our neighbors in a long time. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. Joshua got to pick out the decorations for his cake. Anyone surprised at his choice? Joshua knows how to open up presents. He has not forgotten that skill since Christmas. Joshua got a lot of great presents for his birthday. (I cannot think of a single one that he does not love.) Here are pictures of two gifts. This is his panda that he calls "Bob." I am not sure how it got the name, but that is what he is now called. (He is now calling his polar bear and other panda "Sausage" and "Eggs." You know what he likes.) He also got some new footwear that he loves. He cannot wait for summer and even has been wearing them out of the home in the middle of winter.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Today is Joshua's second birthday. We are excited to celebrate with him. In typical family tradition, we went and got doughnuts for breakfast. Joshua wanted to eat the pink frosted doughnut with sprinkles. Ahh, a man after my own heart.

Here are the pictures of him in the Birthday hat. He was the one that put that hat on and adjusted it. (I kept trying to push it up so I could see his eyes.) Have a happy birthday Joshua!