Our monkey named Joy

Joy has been working on getting the 'hang' of the monkey bars since she started school in September.  She has been begging to show us and we finally were able to make it out to the school to see her do it today.  (Side note, ironically, we ran into her teacher who was out walking her dogs)  She has had blisters that have popped and has callouses to prove how hard she has been working.  Now, if she could just muster the same amount of determination in other areas of her life, she would be unstoppable.  Let's pray for that!

Annabelle chatting with Joy

Annabelle has been having more and more to say around here lately.  There are times she goes on and on and on, which we adore.  In the video below, she is responding to Joy trying to get her to 'coo'.  It's so fun to watch Annie touch Joy's heart.  As you will see, Joy loves her baby sister! 

Family Pictures

 We had our first professional family pictures taken.  Not without a little drama of course.  We had them scheduled for 5:00 on Wednesday evening, not the easiest time of day to have all 3 kids ready with full tummies and happy moods.  It took me all afternoon to get everything in place for this picture.  Danny had some things come up at work and didn't arrive until 5:45.  We were very close to rescheduling, which would have been a major disappointment for me after all the time spent prepping for these pictures.  Thankfully, we were quick and got all these done in 20 minutes, with lots of bribing the older kids and bouncing the baby in between shots.  Overall, I am pleased.
 

 

Bench (above)

 

                                                                        Standing

                                                                   casual 1

                                                                   casual 2

 

casual 3

                                                                    floor 1

                                                                    floor 2

                                                                        floor 3

                                                                        sitting 1

                                                                        sitting 2

Pictures to print

Hi family (and friends).  Here are some pictures we've taken and are going to print.  If you would like me to order prints for you too, please email me and let me know which pic and what size.  The pics are Noah at 3 yrs old, Annabelle newborn, and all 3 kids.  Thanks.
                                                       Noah 1

                                                       Noah 2

                                                       Noah 3

                                          All 3 Black and white

                                          All 3 color

                                          Annabelle 1

                                          Annabelle 2

Annabelle's Baptism

Annabelle was baptized last Sunday, 9/13, the day after Joy's birthday since our whole family was here.  Since we don't have a church home in Stevens Point (we are feeling stuck between two choices), we asked our friend and pastor, Matt Wipperman, from Madison to do a private baptism in our backyard.  It was a very short, intimate, and perfect celebration of Annabelle joining God's family.  The Wipperman's have been part of all 3 of our kids' baptisms, so it meant a lot to have them here.  The baptism was followed by food, cake, and very nice gifts.  We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such loving family on both sides and for God's abundant blessings in our lives.

Annabelle update:  She grew a lot in her first month of life from 9lbs 5 ozs to 12 lbs 7 ozs.  She is in 3-6 month clothes already.  She also started out life as a very crabby baby.  The doctor recommended trying a dairy free diet, which made this farm girl rather upset.  But, Annie's symptoms progressively worsened, forcing me to try it.  And, behold, it has helped her tremendously.  So, selfishly, I'm very sad to not have dairy products in my life, but for Annie's sake, we are so happy to have a happy baby in the house.  The hope is that I can reintroduce dairy sometime after Annie is 3 months old, which is a time when a lot of babies outgrow their dairy sensitivity.
 She sleeps well, getting me up two times most nights.  I am starting to long for a full nights rest though.  Joy slept through the night at 2 months and Noah started at 3 months, so I'm really hoping Annabelle follows her siblings' sleep patterns.  She has also started taking at least 1 long nap each day, sometimes 2, which is allowing me to get more things done around the house and spend more 1:1 time with Noah.  Noah often says in a sad/disappointed tone of voice, "Annabelle eats a lot."  Poor guy.  I hope to make it up to him once Annabelle gets a little older.

Here are some pictures of the baptism.

Joy is 6

Joy turned 6 years old last weekend.  We had a small family party on Saturday at our house in honor of her birthday.  She had a great time and asked if we can do 'this' every year.  I imagine we will, but will include some of her friends in future parties as well.  She has made a few friends at school and on the bus in just two weeks of school already.  We've met some more neighbor kids and parents now that school has started too.  Stevens Point is feeling more and more like home with each season.  Joy was really excited for school to start, so the first week was smooth sailing.  The second week brought more tears and separation anxiety.  This week she seems to be bouncing back a little evident by her boarding the bus with a smile instead of tears.  The bus driver has been really supportive of Joy by saving a front seat just for her to sit, which makes Joy feel a lot more safe.  Joy continues to love her baby sister, Annabelle.  She is also interested in trying out ice skating, gymnastics, and basketball this fall.  That list is a little long for me, so we'll see which ONE we end up choosing.

Here is my big girl!  Oh, yeah, and one of her two front teeth came out.  The other will be out soon too.  Doesn't she look like she is 8 years old now?!

Annabelle Madison Rainbow

Annabelle Madison Rainbow joined our family on Monday, 8/3 at 10:43 AM.  She weighed 9 lbs 5 oz and was 21 inches long.  Her head was 36 cm, which is 3 and 4 cm smaller than her big headed brother and sister.  :)  The c section went smoothly and my recovery has gone well too.  We are very blessed to have parents on both sides of our family that are so willing to help.  Joy and Noah stayed with Rainbows in Madison Sunday-Thursday last week.  My mom came Thursday to Friday to help out as all of us returned home.  Peggy came Friday night and is staying through Sunday because Danny had to be back to work on Friday.  He works all weekend because there is a big and important
tournament at SentryWorld.  Then my mom returns to help out for all of next week.  And, we are looking forward to a visit from all of the Krafve cousins the weekend of the 15th and 16th! 
Annabelle is a perfect little angel.  She had her nights and days really mixed up the first 4 days, but just last night she finally slept longer stretches.  She had a slight heart murmur when she was born (Joy did too as an infant), but that cleared up and repaired itself within two days.  The human body is truly an amazing creation.  Feeding Annabelle has gotten better in the last 2 days as well too.  I look forward to being more mobile and independent, which should happen over the course of next week.  And my brain is trying to come to terms with the fact that Joy will start school just two weeks or so after our help leaves.
Speaking of Joy and Noah, they really love their baby sister, especially Joy.  Joy has been wonderful about helping when asked and she has even spontaneously/independently helped with things she has never done in the past.  For example, I got really warm while holding Annabelle yesterday, and Joy hopped up and turned on the ceiling fan in the room without being asked, prompted, or even expecting praise in return.  Noah was more excited to see me at the hospital than his baby sister, which makes my heart melt.  He likes her a lot is showing more and more interest in her each day.  Joy loves to hold her, pick our her clothes, and is super excited to help out with her bath this afternoon too.
Here are a couple pics of our little angel baby.  We are SO in love with her.