What we've been up to in 2008 (so far)...

Well, since our birthdays, life has been crazy......busy, stressful, full of illnesses, difficult, but also full of small joys and some fun times together. I didn't really take many pictures these past couple of months...it all kind of seems like a blur, but I'll try to give a summary.

One fun thing Bryan and I did (that I have no photos of) is go out on a date to dinner and an opera! We really enjoyed our dinner (Thai food--yummy) and the opera, especially since one of our friends (Rebekah) was a significant performer and did an excellent job.

In the end of January, I went for a 5-day trip to Grand Rapids with some members of our church for a worship symposium. It was a very good time (although I didn't feel very well the whole trip!), and Bryan had a fun, if exhausting, time with the boys. One day they went on an "adventure," and visited the discovery science museum where they had a great time. They've been asking to go on several adventures since then!

The past couple of months also involved Bryan being much busier at work, doing several things, but mostly preparing and getting evaluated for his 3rd-year review (which went very well, but caused him a lot of stress). Bryan also had a four-day conference in Chicago, so mom and the boys have had lots of time together, mostly hanging out at home.




In February, Eli's preschool had a Mom's Tea, and Eli and his classmates performed for us. It was a very nice morning for the moms. Eli was a little grumpy and wouldn't sing during the performance, but afterward was glad to spend some time with mom.


One Saturday, I took the boys to a musical petting-zoo, where they got to play all different kinds of instruments, color tons of pictures of instruments, and dance a little to performances going on. The boys had a great time, but there were a lot of kids, so I didn't really get the chance to take any pictures. Silas impressed a lot of people when he made a loud blast come out of a baritone!

I also gave the boys their much-needed haircuts! They like to admire themselves and make faces in the mirror!

Silas has been drawing a lot lately--he likes to draw animals and people (mostly their heads and faces). In this photo he drew a picture of "Silas." Eli has been drawing a lot lately, too. He loves to watch the "How to Draw" features on his cartoon DVDs (mostly VeggieTales characters and Curious George), and then draw and color them. He has several masterpieces hanging up around his bed.

Just some photos of Eli's taste in food---raw veggies in large quantities (he ate both a whole red pepper and an entire stalk of celery).

Silas prefers suckers.

Our biggest news (that most people know about already) is that we're pregnant with child #3! We are pretty excited about it, and the baby seems to be growing and developing well. We are due mid-September so I get to be nice and large all summer long! It's been kind of a difficult pregnancy for me so far (tiredness, nausea, vomiting, bleeding, add in infections and colds...ugh) and very different from what I experienced with my first two. For a good part of this year, I've just been doing what I can to get by. We hope to find out in the next couple of months what gender the baby is! Eli says he wants another baby brother, and Silas wants a baby sister, but sometimes changes his mind. We'll have to see what God blesses us with--we hope and pray that the baby is healthy and continues to grow and have normal development.

We just had visitors here for the past five days, so I'll post more soon on our time together!