Thursday, March 31, 2016

An Introduction


Hello, Blog! It's been quite a long time. You turned 10 years old this month. I can hardly believe I wrote my first post about Baby Jackson that long ago. He has grown into such a wonderful kid. He is thriving in fourth grade and I've never enjoyed him more than I do right now. He's into TaeKwonDo, is well mannered, loves to read, and is really fun to laugh with. He gets a kick out of telling me random science facts. 




Annabeth is seven now and in first grade. She is outgoing, cheerful, and feels very comfortable being the center of attention. She loves to dance, ride bikes and play with her friends in the cul-de-sac. 



Well, dear Blog, there's something I've been meaning to tell you. We took the plunge. 



And we're so glad we did. 


Willa Rose Jones joined our family on October 19, 2015. She arrived five days after my 36th birthday and was about three weeks early. She was 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 19.5 inches long. 



I'm not sure I can put into words how happy our family has been for the last five months. There is so much joy and love under this roof. What a gift from God. 

The kids just got home from school and they were bummed that the baby was taking a nap. They miss her when they're gone. The way she smiles and laughs at them tells me she thinks they hung the moon. 


She definitely looks like Annabeth's sister, but I think she really takes after her brother. She has big blue eyes and rosy red cheeks. 


Curtis is smitten with this baby girl. We both feel so graced. 


Willa loves to be held and talked to. She's very vocal when she's happy. She sleeps through the night and wakes up when the big kids are getting ready for school. Right now she's teething but no teeth have poked through. She takes a few naps a day - the longest one being in the afternoon. Sometimes I have to wake her up after three hours. She likes to sleep on her tummy and sucks her hand to fall asleep. She used to require a tight swaddle, a paci, and for me to hold her just so. I was kind of sad when she passed out of that phase. I think she will start sitting up soon, which will be a lot of fun. 


Oh, and Blog? My baby bangs are starting to come in. 


37 comments:

Melissa said...

This made my whole day. Welcome back - and CONGRATULATIONS!

Shelley B. said...

so very happy for you all! A sweet baby with older children is such a blessing and the best Gift God gave our family so happy for your own blessing! We just hit age 3 and those days just become more fun and special. She is so beautiful!

such love to your sweet family

Monica said...

I love everything about this...so thankful for God's extravagant grace.

Marjie said...

So sweet. Glad to hear about your bundle of joy. Blessings to you all.

Lisa-Jo Baker said...

Grinning from ear to ear. Love you and your girl and your baby bangs!

Karmen said...

What a blessing it all is! Beautiful kids. Enjoy them in this awesome stage--the teenage years get rough...!

angie said...

Hooray!!!! I hope this means you might come back to the blog sometimes..... :)

Lisa said...

Yay! So happy you're blogging! I also have 3; my youngest was also the result of taking the plunge when I was 36 and my older two were 8 and 6. That little guy is now 6 himself and a complete joy. So much joy, so much boundless grace. So many blessings to you, Amanda!

Jeannie said...

So glad you caught us all up! She is so gorgeous! What a gift from God to all of you!

Ashton said...

Lovely to read.

Sandy said...

Congratulations! I am so very happy for you and your family!

Jen Heindl said...

Love this recap! I have a 4th grade boy, 3rd grade girl and a 16 month old and we experienced every single thing that you mentioned since our baby, Eleanor's birth. The big kids are sad when she's napping after school, they miss her terribly when she's at Nana's house, they LOVE playing with her and getting her to laugh and chase them. And yes, she thinks they hung the moon, too. I didn't expect the way I would feel with her arrival. I'm a different mom now and yes, I was also a little sad when I started putting her down to nap regularly. I loved just holding her while she slept. I sooooo relate. ❤️❤️❤️

Unknown said...

Gracious.
Baby Bangs are a gift. The written kind & the baby kind.
Glad you found your writing voice. :-)

Meggie said...

Love this update so much!! So happy for y'all!!! Hope you keep blogging some! =)

Lauren and Eddie said...

OH MY WORD! I am so excited to read this update! What a blessing! Your family is so beautiful! I'm so glad you're doing well!

The Andlers said...

blasted baby bangs! i love this update and am so thankful that you guys are experiencing grace and peace with that third baby! i think that third one does something special in the hearts of the other four. I can't explain it, but it happened in our house. I hope you will continue to update.

Unknown said...

YOU'RE BAAAAAACK! Finally. I mean, it has been WAY too long.

I love seeing more of little Willa Rose. And I love that we both have kids about the same age (Bre is 11 and Bri is 7 and in 1st like your AB). Who would have seen that coming?

More writing! More posts! Please!

Karen said...

Love this & you & your precious kids. Praise God for the joy & peace in your family this year. Well deserved after the heartbreak from the couple of prior years. So awesome that AB & J love their baby sister so much & will always look after her. Praying for all 3 of these kids as they grow & accomplish all the awesome plans God has for their lives! Thank you for sharing your heart with others in both the joyous & difficult times. Your faith & courage through it all is a wonderful example & testimony to all.

Unknown said...

So glad you updated the blog! I check back here often and it is so good to "hear" your voice again. Blessings upon blessings to you and yours, Amanda. Hope you'll keep writing here and there.

Donna said...

I was so excited this morning when I sat down to read through my blog list and discovered you had written a new post! Even more excited to read that you and your family have been doing well during your blogging hiatus!

Taylor said...

Ahhhhhhhh!!! I was so happy to see an update!!! And what a precious baby girl!!! Congratulations!

bedaacrs@yahoo.com said...

Such sweet kids! I still see so much of AB in Willa but not knowing anything more than seeing these pix it is a tough call. Jackson appears to resemble his Daddy's side more. They appear often to be sweet well behaved kids (well, most of the time!)
Being two of our kids never married, we waited a long time to see the day our first grandchild would appear on the scene. Our youngest son who farms and ranches with us married a few years back and they now have the sweetest 10 month old daughter named Lisa. Mom is a PT at a large clinic so is gone long hours everyday for work. There is no daycare available for the hours she is gone so I help our four days a week. Scott farms and ranches so some of the year he is able to be both mom and dad. He does well with it and has been known to visit a tractor parts store and places Lisa on the counter while he waits for assistance with parts. He says if there are any gals in the store they all come running and want to play with her. The guys barely notice her!
Lisa's latest thing is to toddle up to the piano and reaches up to plink on a few keys and then she starts "singing"! Lisa has never missed a church service in her short life and it is so cute to hear her when we are singing she chimes right in but is relatively quiet during the rest of the service.
We are a musical family and on Sundays we love to break into parts as we sing familiar hymns. I have a deep alto, our son has a nice mellow tenor, hubby sings bass and if our daughter is home she sings melody so it is really fun singing together. It is fun having all four parts to sing as well. Wish we did it more.

Blessings to you on this April Day of foolishness! Our weather in the northern plains is snowy today so we are getting fooled into thinking spring is here. As I stepped off the front step a moment ago my feet sunk into a fresh falling of two inches of fluffy white stuff. All this while spring crocuses are blooming!
Blessings to you there!
Hugs,
Betty Marschner

Mariposa said...

So happy for your family and so happy you are back to blogging. I have missed your posts. Willa is beautiful and a true blessing from God after your trials in the prior years. Blessings to you all.

Mariposa

Mariposa said...

So happy for your family and so happy you are blogging again, your blogging community missed you. Willa is beautiful and such a blessing from the Lord.

This Is The Day said...

Wow!!! Congratulations!!! So very happy for your sweet family! I remember when it was announced on the LPL blog that Annabeth was a girl. Seems like just yesterday. Willa is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

What a sweetheart and what a wonderful new season of life! Congratulations to the entire family! It's great to see you blogging again.

Elisabeth Netjes said...

YOU ARE WRITING AGAIN!!!! I love your writing. Yeah! Thanks for updating, and Willa is of course perfect. Blessings on you!

Sunni said...

Welcome back! I hope this is going to be a thing! She is beautiful and I am so happy for all of you!

Anonymous said...

So fun! You just popped into my head a few days ago and I decided to see if you had blogged (I've been off feedly for a while so hadn't kept up). What a great surprise to see your post and read about your GREAT news! Congratulations on your sweet Willa! What a blessing!!

Sarah said...
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Sarah said...

When I congratulated you before the silly iPad autocorrected the baby's name and I didn't catch it. Ugh. Anyway, WELCOME BACK. I have missed you. So happy for you with the new baby. I never had a sister and am so happy AB does now. That pic of the two of them is priceless. Can't believe J is 10. Thanks for coming back. Blessings on your family and ministry!

Unknown said...

I couldn't love this more! Congrats Congrats!!! She's beautiful!!!!!

sara mattingly said...

you will always be my favorite blogger.

E said...

What?!?!? This is a awesome!!!!

Rebecca said...

I"m so glad you're back. I kept your blog in my blog roll, and checking, just by chance, every now and again, hoping you were writing again. I do hope you'll stick around, Amanda. I've always enjoyed your writing and your blog. Your new Willa Rose is absolutely precious. I know you all are head over heels in love with her. I can't get over how much Jackson and Annabeth have grown! They're big kids now! Your family is just beautiful. God is good.

Blessing of Adoption welcomes you said...

My heart is so happy for you and your family. Congratulations! God is so good.

Beth Herring said...

So glad to read this update! I have missed your blog!