We are excited to announce...

... that we are having a baby GIRL!!!!!!!!  

Wow, we were SO thrilled to receive the much awaited news at our doctor's appointment this week!  It felt like such a long time to have to wait another whole month to find out the gender, but fortunately, the busy holiday season seemed to help time pass by quickly.  

Now we can officially look for cute pink and purple baby items instead of blue!  :)  And, Derek and I are somewhat relieved that we do not have to come up with a name for a boy right now - we already agreed on a girl name but not on a boy name yet.

The baby was positioned with her head down this time (instead of breech), which is good news!  I am praying that she will stay that way so that I won't need to have a C-Section delivery.  We really appreciate all your prayers and support to continue having a healthy pregnancy!

Christmas lights at the Zoo

Last night we decided to brave the freezing rain and spend the evening seeing all the Christmas lights at the Zoo!  Derek and I took Logan, our niece Madison, cousin Michelle, and cousin Kristen with us.  We were all dressed in tons of layers to keep warm, and of course, we sipped on hot cocoa.  

The lights were so beautiful!!!  Every year they seem to add more and more to their display, and I loved watching the lights around the pond dance to music.  They were timed perfectly to whatever song was playing at that time.

To keep from getting too cold while we walked around, we ducked into several of the buildings to see some of the animals.  First, Logan and Madison wanted to go see Santa - so we took them to sit on Santa's lap and they each got a candy cane.  

Afterward we went in to the reptile building, where the kids were able to pet a real snake.  Ewww gross!  :)  Then we went on to the other buildings to see the manatees and elephants.  

Some of the pictures we took are below!  Great times!!!

Michelle, Kristen, Madison, and Logan sitting in the sleigh!

Here we are FREEZING as we pose for a picture!!!!
Logan and Derek in the Manatee building!

A day at COSI

Last Saturday, we spent the day at COSI!  This was Derek and Logan's first time there.

My work hosted a cookies with Santa event - so we went to get Logan's picture taken on Santa's lap, ate some cookies with hot chocolate, and then we spent the rest of the day seeing all the exhibits.

Logan loved the many Science a la cart displays they had throughout the hallways, and his favorite exhibit was Gadgets.  

There were lots of fun things to do and build in the Gadgets area!  We learned about pulleys, electricity, and helped to put a bridge together here too.

We went through most of the other exhibits they have on all three of the levels too: Space, Ocean, Life, Progress, etc.  

Logan was able to climb into a submarine and space capsule!  And we explored the old streets in the Progress exhibit - it showed the changes between life in 1898 to life in 1962.

On the second level there was a high wire unicycle ride.  Since Logan wasn't tall enough to go on the unicycle, Derek decided to ride on it.  

This would not be a good ride for someone who is scared of heights.  The high wire extended out over the first level 17 feet above the ground - it was too scary for me!!

We had a really great time!  Logan can't wait to visit COSI again soon!!!

  

Gender Update

Thanks for everyone's predictions!!  Derek and I loved reading all of them, and it sounded like the majority of you thought it would be a baby girl.

Well, we went to our doctor's appointment this week to have our ultrasound - the baby is doing very well!  The baby's measurements were right where they should be for 19 weeks. Unfortunately we weren't able to find out the gender because the baby was in a breech position at that time and was also moving around quite a bit.  It was just a little too hard to tell.  

We were a little bummed that we didn't find out, but the doctor said she would do a quick check to verify the gender at our next month's appointment.  So, we'll give an update next month...hopefully!

Is it a Boy or Girl?

OK, So we want to hear from all of our family and friends!!! 

We are having our ultrasound this week at our doctor's appointment to find out whether we are having a boy or a girl, and we want to know what you all think!  

Write us a comment and tell us your prediction!  I am posting a picture below so that you can see the way I am carrying the baby - it was just taken last week and I was 18 weeks along.

So....What do you think?  Are we are having a boy or a girl??

Thanksgiving in Toronto

Derek and I spent our wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend in the city of Toronto.  Yes, it was cold!!  But we had a really great time and the weather wasn't too bad. 

We toured the downtown area of the city near our hotel a bit.  We found the CN tower (pictured left) - you can take an elevator ride up the tower to lookout over the city.  Very cool!  They also have a really nice restaurant at the top.  

We had dinner at the top of the tower one night, which was

 great since the elevator ride up the tower was then included with dinner!  Our table sat on a rotating platform that provided us a view of the entire city in 72 minutes.  After dinner, we walked down to the observation deck and also looked down through the glass floor.  What a great experience!! 

Two things I discovered during my trip to Canada:  There are Tim Hortons restaurants everywhere and Canadians are BIG hockey fans.  Of course the main reason for our trip was to go to the hockey game at Air Canada Centre to watch the Flyers play the Maple Leafs.  And, we found out that the guy Tim Horton had been a hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs team and played in the NHL for 24 years.

Saturday was our day of hockey... So we started the day off by visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Derek LOVED it there - it was like watching a kid in a giant candy store.  :)  There was a replica of the Stanley Cup and tons of memorabilia from all the different hockey teams!

Later that night we went to the game - proudly wearing our Flyers jerseys!  We found that there were several other Flyers' fans at the game as well, so we weren't the only ones thankfully.  And of course we were boo'd by some of the Leafs fans when they saw the color orange instead of their precious blue.

We squeezed in some shopping at their downtown mall on Black Friday since we weren't able to participate as we normally would if we were in the States.  And, we also had lunch one day at Wayne Gretzky's restaurant.  We had a really great trip!!!

Baby Shower Weekend in Philly

We spent a weekend in Philadelphia for Wendy's baby shower and to visit with our family.  Logan had a stomach virus the night before we were supposed to leave and we weren't sure if he would feel well enough to make the trip.  Poor guy!  :(  Derek stayed up with him all night and he couldn't go to school that Friday, but he quickly bounced back after resting that day.  He really did not want to miss our trip to Philly.

Saturday was the baby shower!  Wendy is having a girl and is due in late January 2009!!  We played games, had lots of yummy food, and Wendy and Chris received tons of nice gifts!  It turned out great and was so much fun!!!

After the baby shower, we all went to the Flyers game!  It was Logan's first live Flyers game and it was awesome to be able to take him to his first one in Philly surrounded by all the crazy Flyers fans.  The Flyers ended up losing 2 - 1 but it was still great fun.

Baby Santan is Growing!

For those who have not already heard the news, we are expecting a new addition to our family very soon! Our baby is due April 29, 2009!

I am now a little more than 15 weeks along in my pregnancy. We've had three doctor's appointments so far -- we were blessed to have had an early ultrasound at 7 weeks along, and we have heard the baby's heart beat twice. It was the most amazing thing in the world!!!

Now that I am past the first trimester, I have most of my energy back and my belly is growing! We are hoping to find out whether the baby is a boy or girl at our next ultrasound - scheduled December 5th!!

This is such an exciting time in our lives! We have started wonderful new beginnings this year and have experienced so many great changes, and now we can't wait for the arrival of this little one!! :)

One week pictures of Cole!

Cole is laying in his new crib...SO tiny!

Cole is just so precious while he sleeps on my shoulder...

It's time to eat....

Close up while he's sleeping...

Madison holding her new cousin...

Baby Cole has Arrived!

My nephew Cole Alexander was born this morning at OSU hospital at 6:06am.  He weighs 7 lbs 2 oz and is 20 inches long.  He is the son of my brother Micah and Ericka, and Paisleigh's new baby brother.

Yesterday, Saturday October 25th, was the official due date.  We received a call last night in the middle of the Ohio State vs. Penn State game that Ericka was in labor and they were heading over to the hospital.  They arrived at the hospital around 9:00 or 9:30pm, and she had the baby early the next morning.
Baby Cole has a thick head of silky dark hair and a good set of lungs!  :)  We are so very excited to have him part of our family.

Welcome to the family baby Cole!  We love you!!!

Circle S Farm

Derek and I heard about all the fun things that Circle S Farm has for kids to do during their Fall Fun Days in October so we decided to take Logan, Madison, and Paisleigh there for the day.  

It turned out to be such a perfect beautiful day!

They all had so much fun!!!

We had really warm weather for October - it was around 83 degrees today!  So it was pretty hot and there were LOTS of bees around!  

The kids weren't too excited about the bees - especially when they were trying to eat their lunch.  And poor Paisleigh is allergic to bees, so she especially was trying to stay away from them.

When we first arrived, we found this big barn filled with hay bales to run and jump around on - it was basically a big play area for the kids.  They even had two slides in the barn for the kids to play on too!! WOW!!!  This was definitely their favorite thing to do and we played there three different times during the day!  Besides, the barn was nice and shaded so we could cool off from the sun for a little while. 

After we played on the slides and ran around on the hay for a while, the kids went to play in the scarecrow caves made out of hay bales and covered with pieces of wood.  

We also walked through a big corn maze!  It was 6 acres of corn that we had to find our way through!  We made it back out in about 20 minutes or so - not too bad!

Next, we took a hayride around the farm and found the big pumpkin patch!!  The hayride was a big tractor that pulled 3 wagons full of people - and we all sat on bales of hay!  So fun!!!

Half way through the hayride, we were dropped off at the pumpkin patch to pick out which pumpkin we wanted to take home with us.  The kids walked through the thousands of pumpkins to each pick the one they wanted!! 

What a great great day!!!   And, of course, we had to complete our fun filled day with an afternoon ice cream treat from Graeters!   :)   YUM!!!!

End of Hockey Season

For this first hockey season, Derek played in his final game of the season last night and scored one goal! He played really well the entire season - so well, in fact, that they are bumping him up a level to a better league. They told him that he's playing too well for this league.

They had 13 games during the season, and he scored a total of 13 goals and had 6 assists. Go Derek! We are so proud of him! The final outcome of his regular season games were 8 wins and 4 losses. His team went into the playoffs in 3rd place and lost in the 1st round. Logan and I were there cheering him on the whole season!

Now that this season is over, Derek hopes to start playing again in the next season soon. He will have to switch to the new league they are bumping him up to that plays on Monday nights, and find a new team to play with. Great job Derek! We're proud of you!!!

House Hunting

With the current housing market, it is such a great time to buy right now.  Derek and I were originally planning to wait until next Spring to start looking for a house, however, we've seen so many low-priced homes due to foreclosures that we have decided it wouldn't hurt to take a look at what's available in the market right now.  

Most of the really "cheap" homes found in the suburbs are fixer-uppers, so we would have our work cut out for us if we went that route - our first priority is that we definitely want to buy a home in a good school district though.  We recently found one home that is bank owned (aka "fixer-upper") that we are going to check out.  It may be something we want or it may not work out at all - we're not in a rush, we just don't want to pass up a good buy if it comes along.

Please pray for us as we look and try to make a good decision.  We definitely don't want to end up in a money pit, so we're asking God for guidance through this process.  If we don't find a house that works for us right now, we will just wait until the perfect home comes along!  

2008 Summer Pictures

Logan's 6th birthday pool party with homemade Spongebob cake...

We went to the Clipper's baseball game....

Derek & Logan playing baseball at the park...

Logan giving a gift to cousin Cody for his 1st birthday...

Playing on the slip n slide at Chris & Wendy's house...

Logan & Paisleigh playing Wii...

At the Ohio State Fair....

Mindy & Derek at our friends' wedding...

Logan's cool 24 hour Mohawk....

At Madison's 10th birthday party...

Derek & Mindy at the air show in Cleveland...

Logan in the AWANA Sparks class at church...

Our Weekend in Cleveland

The three of us drove to Cleveland for Labor Day weekend to visit our friends Marty, Kim, Avery, Mack, and Cam Miracle.  We played travel Bingo during the 2 hour ride up, which Logan really enjoyed!  He had to find things outside, such as "a bird on a wire" or "a water tower" or "gas station", in order to mark them off on his Bingo card.  Derek called the first Bingo, Logan called the second Bingo, and Mindy called Bingo on the cover-all.

On Sunday, we spent the day at Geauga Lake's Wild Water Kingdom waterpark.  It was such a beautiful day!  The kids all had so much fun playing in the wave pool, in the splash landing kid's play area, and all the water slides!!

On Monday, we went downtown by the waterfront to watch the air show!  Wow!!  It was such a neat experience to see the different stunt planes, Air Force jets, Navy jets, the famous Blue Angels jet team, and the Army parachute team.

Logan was so excited to find a Chinook at the air show that we were able to walk through!  His Papa works on them at Boeing, and he wanted to take a picture next to it!

We had a really nice weekend and we loved the opportunity to spend time with our friends!  Logan is already saying how much he misses Mack and Avery, his buddies!!