our first christmas program

malachi had his first christmas program the week with his preschool - our first official school program for many years to come. the kids were cute and we enjoyed seeing him sing. we were actually surprised that he sang and did the motions because he generally chooses not to sing in groups or participate in motions. on his own he sings he little heart out and has dance parties in his room but in a group, nope. so we were so proud that he participated! merry christmas everyone!

5 months

time flies and now our little ezekiel is 5 months old! he feels like such a big baby - i guess he is because a month ago he was 16.5 lbs. and 27 inches. he loves to smile at anyone who pays attention to him which makes him endearing to everyone he meets. he has figured out that when he grabs something he can make it move back and forth. he is almost too big for the swing and it liking his exersaucer. he is drooling a ton lately and has found his little thumb. this is a new one for us because we didn't have babies who love to suck as much as ezekiel. his big brothers love him and greet him each morning when they make their way into our bedroom. we love this little guy so much!!
lately

the challenge of immigration reform

"Take up the challenge! Become a maker of peace! Work and pray for reconciliation wherever misunderstanding, suspicion, and enmity prevail. Engage others in your church and community in study, dialogue, and action to prevent a resort to arms. Put yourself to the hard task of making up your mind about specific issues of "immigration" (my substitute)policy. Then use your influence to change public opinion and to influence governmental decisions. Dare to set your course toward the wholeness of the human family at peace and be bold enough to chart that course with faithful witness to Christ's way of love, justice and peace. For that way is shalom."
- From Seeking God's Peace in a Nuclear Age: A Call to Disciples of Christ

My friend Tia pointed this quote out to me in our Guide to Prayer Book. It is another encouragement to me to talk about and act on the call for immigration reform in the US. Last week I shared a devotion with my MOPS group about thinking about immigration from a Biblical perspective of hospitality. So as people who follow Jesus we would enter dialogue and take action from an understanding of God's call to be kind to the stranger and love our neighbor. There are so many stories in scripture about migration, refugees, sojourners, strangers in the land... I know this is a complex subject and I don't have all the answers to solutions but I do know God asks us to do justice, to loose the chains of oppression and love. So with that in mind I hope to learn more, to dialogue, and to take action for immigration reform.

I will write more - that is just my thought for today. There is so much more to understand: myths about undocumented immigrants, the fact that there is no "line" to wait in, that immigration law hasn't been changed in over 20 years, that the system is broken ,that families are being torn apart...

So I know this subject evokes all types of feelings in people's hearts - so I will write more...

hair cuts

malachi enjoying the blue frosting from my birthday cupcake

abram looking like such a big boy

ezekiel is 3 months old

the baby is growing - he is long and getting chubby little legs. today he started giggling as abram clapped and smiled at him. it was so cute to see these brothers enjoy one another and abram loved that ezekiel was so engaged with him. ezekiel is a calm little guy and pretty flexible. now that he has traveled to michigan, iowa and ohio in his short life. he is a great traveler on the airplane and has switched timezones really well.
he has started grabbing at the toys swinging above him and he loves to have his hand or blankie in his mouth. he likes to suck on something - hence my first pacifier baby. it great to hear him find his voice and begin to squeal with delight.

quote of the day

malachi and i were talking about his friend ely's mom having two babies in her tummy...
malachi: why are there 2 babies in her tummy?
me: because God put 2 babies in there.
malachi: God is playing a joke on her.
i try not to laugh and ask him what kind of joke God is playing on her
malachi: a baby joke because God is a joker

so there you have it nespers - the answer to why you are pregnant with twins

love our cousins

the boys had a lot of fun with their cousins this summer. the older ones even had a sleepover with grandpa and grandma. we are glad to have summer vacations so these kids can hang out. we love each one of them!


stephanie - 6 years old

carter - 9 months

cortney -3 1/2 years old

Addisyn - 1 years old

abram is 2

our little man is 2! it kind of creeped up on us, although we knew it was coming right?! abram is such a sweet kid and we love so much about him and his personality. he has shown us since ezekiel's birth what a gentle spirit he has. he always wants to know where his baby brother is and he gives him a lot of kisses throughout the day. he also gets a little upset when other people hold ezekiel - he is always looking out for the baby. he is also a tease - so on one hand he is senstive about life and changing things up - for instance yesterday ryan was helping taking down a popup shade and he stared crying because the shade was being taken down...but he also totally teases his brother with a glint in his eye. malachi will be playing and abram will jump on his back over and over again. it has been fun to see malachi and abram develop a friendship this past year. this morning they woke up and went into the living room together and were just sitting on the couch under a blanket talking. abram is just starting to develop words so the other thing we love is how he uses his hands to communicate - he does a fairly good job - at least i know what he "saying" often through his gestures, which maybe explains why he gets away with just a few words. anyway we are thankful for abram and all he is and look forward to what will be ahead in his life.








Birthday Party

too long...

so i guess life with 3 little boys has finally caught up with me and i haven't blogged in a long time... a lot has happened since my last entry. sarah and ryan's wedding, our vacation in mi, abram turning 2, malachi starting preschool, computer problems, a trip to iowa and life. so i will attempt to catch up...i said attempt


this is new picture though of ezekiel smiling... he is growing big fast!

sarah the beautiful bride

us

abram communicating

malachi flying

ezekiel 6 weeks old

abram flying

the dock



the five of us

bella art festival tomorrow

LOCAL CHURCHES TO HOST COMMUNITY ART FESTIVAL

Press Telegram Article

BELLFLOWER (July 30, 2009)- In an effort to build community in the midst of the economic downturn, local churches, organizations, and residents have joined together to plan the Bella Art Festival, taking place on Saturday, August 22, 2009.


This free event will be held at the Town Center Plaza and will bring out citizens from in and around Bellflower to enjoy the work of local artists & musicians and to participate in a community chalk-drawing contest.


City officials are pleased that events like these are still taking place despite difficult economic times. Assistant director of Parks and Recreation for Bellflower, Ms. Vicki Casañas, noted that family events like these help bring a great feeling of community to the city. She shared that community gatherings provide the intangible feelings that are so necessary for a city to thrive.


Bellflower residents are also excited that cultural events are finding their way to Bellflower. “Events help build a feeling of camaraderie, and they allow everyone to get out and meet each other” said Phyllis Larsen, a Bellflower resident for 60 years. The Art Festival will be a time for families to interact with their neighbors, enjoy various mediums of art created by local artists and musicians, and celebrate their community.


The Bella Art Festival will take place from 4 to 9pm on the 22nd, and will be open to all neighbors both in and around Bellflower. The Town Center Plaza is located off Bellflower Blvd, between the sheriff substation and City Hall. Many volunteers will be needed and artist submissions are still being accepted for the Bella Art Festival. For more information, or to get involved, please visit www.blessbellflower.org


About Bless Bellflower: Bless Bellflower is an organization connected to Kingdom Causes Bellflower (KCB), a 501c3 community non-profit with a Federal Tax ID # of 95-4849998 that has been working since 1999 to organize people in Bellflower to bring about the good of the whole community.

changing so fast

love the rolls he is already getting - he was 10lbs. 1 oz at 2 weeks. he loves sleeping in the pouch - which means i went to do errands with all 3 boys: 1 in the sling and 2 in the double cart. what an accomplishment. :)



the boys showing off their wedding shoes - so excited for sarah and ryan's wedding at the end of the month

abram holding ezekiel

abram loves his little brother - the quality of this video isn't great but you get the idea...malachi is in the background & you hear him a little more

loving our baby

ezekiel john

our new little man, ezekiel john, entered the real world on sunday july 19 at 6:04 am. words are hard to wrap around the experience of having a baby because i think it is a miracle on so many levels and this makes it beyond my imagination how everything is orchestrated to come together. having a baby is such a holy experience of seeing God's hand at work through the creation of this infant, to preparing me to give birth and bringing him into the world. like a friend shared the "40" weeks are God's special number of weeks where he shows himself and we learn about trust and his strength and timing. ezekiel is here (chrissy, joel and pamela win the prize for guessing his name). he is already bringing joy to our lives and making an impression in his own way as a tiny infant.

so his arrival story in short...i spent a lot of time on saturday with the boys while ryan finished some remodel projects. in the morning my friend taffy did a belly cast for me - about as close as you can get to the end. in the afternoon the boys and i went swimming with taffy and her boys. ryan was hard at work painting, putting in doors and finishing the molding & base boards. he did all the nesting work! we all took a break for pizza and then the boys and i went to a drive in movie night at our friends church. at the end of the movie i started feeling my "contractions" move lower. got home at 10 and let ryan know that labor might be starting. he had just finished all the projects and cleaning up - and kind of thought i was kidding. nope. we both tried to get a little sleep -although mine was a bit restless. you know at the end of pregnancy the day will come but it still feels unexpected in many ways and just surreal that you are about to meet your baby. At 2 am I woke up feeling like a couple contractions were actually starting to hurt a bit and we called our doula again to let her know she could come over. last time i went into labor i was in denial at how fast it was going, so having processed that experience, i knew i needed to leave for the hospital a little earlier this time...so we left at 2:45 and you probably would have thought it was too soon (ryan did) but when we got to the hospital we checked in and i was already 6/7 cm dilated. so i of course threw the nurse off her routine when i told her i didn't want an iv or a hep lock - she hesitated but in the end we all got on the same page with the no meds and just having a baby through relaxation. not that contractions don't hurt, they do but we have decided that no meds works well for us and the pain is actually fruitful in the end. :) so we labored for almost 3 hours in the hospital, standing and then finally at the end laying down. ryan was able to deliver ezekiel with the dr. standing by after i pushed for 7 minutes. he arrived with a little cry and is doing amazing. he was 8 lbs. 13 oz and 20.5 inches.

malachi and abram are adoring big brothers. abram in particular loves babies and the minute he held ezekiel was "talking" with him. we are thankful for their transition so far and anticipate the honeymoon stage wearing off after a week... ryan has been home all week with and he and the older boys have had some fun bonding time while ezekiel and i hang out. our friends are bringing delicious meals each night and we feel so loved and taken care of!!

incredible to be parents of 3 boys - we feel overwhelmed with blessing. i was reading Psalm 8 in the Message and this is what it says, very fitting for our life:

God, brilliant Lord,
yours is a household name.
Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.
I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous
your handmade sky jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?
Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden's dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us you Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.

God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.

click on the photo below to see the photo album

ezekiel john's arrival

one more week till d day

so i am 39 weeks and "waiting" until my dr. gets back into town tomorrow before anything happens. then anytime after that i am good to go, and my dr. is on call the whole week i am due so that could work well. i feel good considering i am carrying a baby boy straight out in front of me and its hard to move around that quickly anymore. although i discovered i can still kind of run when i ran over to see if malachi was ok after he fell - he was. although for the rest of the day i had a little more pain than normal - don't know what i was thinking. oh, i wasn't.
we are very excited to meet our little man soon and somedays i am still blown away at the thought of having 3 boys. i love having 2 and then to add another one to the group will be an adventure in the days to come.
we'll keep you posted and you pray that he turns around a little so his head is not sunnyside up. i might put one more picture of myself up - we'll see....