Brotherly Love

I am continully amazed at how different my two boys are. I keep telling peole, I must have thought I was going to have the same child twice, because I cannot stop staring at Aaron and marveling at how he is not at all like Andrew. Well, in some ways, I guess they are. Aaron is very content most of the time, as Andrew always was. But if his tummy is empty - look out! He is equally as adorable, but in different ways, having dark hair and dark blue eyes. I am anxious to see if these features will change and we will have two little blondies on our hands, or if he will keep the hair and eyes.

Andrew is quite the little helper - especially where the pacifier is concerned. As you can see above, he will make sure Aaron has what (Andrew thinks) he needs at all times. Be sure to look closely at Aaron's face in that pic! He also likes to bring me blankets and little toys if he is concerned about his brother's crying. At bedtime, he gives his brother a gentle kiss on the head with a big, "Mmmah!" Of course his jealous bone shows once in a while, too! Especially when I am nursing Aaron, and am somewhat unavailable to Andrew for a while, he tends to fuss or get into trouble doing things he knows he shouldn't. He gets ESPECIALLY jealous of Daddy! The other night, I decided to hand Aaron over to Phil and rock Andrew before bedtime (a habit I have really been missing!), but Andrew refused to let me hold him and insisted on sitting next to Phil on the couch. He kept bringing him books, Like he was trying to say "HEY! Put the baby down, this is OUR storytime!" It was so cute! My feeling were only a little hurt :)

Despite the challenges of having a newborn and toddler in the same house, I am SO happy to have the both of them. We are getting into a managable - even enjoyable - routine. I even took both kids to Target the other day AND, yesterday, I took both of them to church all by myself!

AHH...It's 7:25a.m., and the "big kid" awakes! Gotta go! Enjoy these latest pics of Aaron.

Welcome Home!

Okay, when I said details later, I didn't really mean this much later - but I know you'll forgive me! As you can imagine, life with two children has been quite an adjustment. My biggest challenge right now, besides recovering from c-section surgery (ouchy!), is nursing a newborn while I watch my toddler climb up and swing in the baby swing, go into the bedroom (I forget to close the door sometimes - imagine that) and pull all of the diapers off the pack-n-play onto the floor, or climb up and stand on the kitchen table - among other fantastic feats. I must say, though, nursing this time around hasn't been quite the challenge that it was with Andrew - I can actually walk around while Aaron eats and pull Andrew down from whatever piece of furniture he has managed to scale. Overall, however, I must say being a Mom again is the best thing I have ever done.

I must admit that I struggled those last couple of days of pregnancy with the idea of taking care of two kids on my own (at least during the day when my husband - who is WONDERFUL- is at work), but this morning as I rocked my newborn and watched my toddler play with the dog at my feet, I realized that I would be okay. I am feeling better and able to move around better everyday, and with that comes increased confidence and joy in being a mother to these two precious little boys.
SO here are a few details about the blessed day of Aaron's arrival as well as a few picturs of our lives that last 10 days or so:
On Monday October 6th, we were preparing for our trip to the hostpital. We were supposed to be there at 12:30 to prep for surgery at 2:30. I had given up hope that the Dr. Parker would call and ask me to come in early like he mentioned he might do at my last appointment. BUT at about 10:30, lo' and behold, the OBGYN office called and asked, "Can you come in right now?" In a whirlwind, we packed up the car with my bags and with Andrew, called my parents (who were on their way to our house to stay with Andrew during the birth) and told them to meet us at the hostpital. We checked in at 11:30, the same tme my parents showed up and took Andrew back home. In the meantime, another emergency c-section was called in, and they THANKFULLY decided to do mine first! I was rushed through the prep procedures (don't worry, not in a scary way), and at 1:22 p.m., precious Aaron Robert was born! Everything went well and both of us made it through the delivery just fine - although I must say I forgot how frightening it is to be numb from the chest down. I felt like someone put a blanket made of lead on me that covered my chest all the way to my toes. It feels not only completely numb, but also very heavy. I literally could not move a muscle - even my breathing felt funny. I cried the whole time. It was totally worth t, though, when I heard those first lusty cries from Aaron! He weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.

Grandma Shenk; Papaw Derr

I think everything they put in the spinal block had an "ichiness" side effect, because afterward I could not stop scratching everywhere! Did you notice my red nose in the picture on my last post? The next day, my nose was raw and dry - I had to put vaseline on it.
A surprise from Aunt Jenny!

We stayed at Grant Hostpital until Thursday, then we came home to start our life together. Thursday morning, as I was getting the baby ready to go, the door opened, and I fully expected to see my husband - who called earlier to say he was on his way. Instead, in walked my sister, Jenny - a surprise visit from Missouri! We cried together, and I was thrilled to hear she was staying until Sunday! Consequently, my youngest sister also came up with my Mom (who I was already expecting), and so did her two year old daughter and her thirteen hear old son. Whoa! Quite a house full when you are post-surgery with a newborn. But my family was incredibly helpful, and I really did not lift a finger the whole weekend for anything other than feeding Aaron. What a blessing!

Cousin Hannah; Grandma Derr

This week I am on my own during the day, except for a few helpful visits from Phil's mom, and yummy dinners from a few volunteers at church. God is so good - He always know just what I need!
Thank you for your many calls, cards, and visits. I am happy to take calls anytime, although I may have to call you back! Feel free to give us a call or drop in for a visit!

Introducing Aaron Robert Shenk!

I'm tired...more details later!

Little Pun'kins

I have been blessed during this pregnancy to be able to share the experience with two friends.

EMILY

Emily is the art teacher at my school. Her classroom is right next door to mine. One day, I went in to say "Hi," and I found Emily in her office, resting with the lights out. "What are you doing?" I demanded. She then gave me her happy news. Coincidentaly, I took a pregnancy test the very next morning...when I got to work, I walked into her office and swore her to secrecy! These last 9 months we have visited each other daily and shared our joys and trials. She gave birth to a little boy last Thursday - Lucas Allen! Congratulations, Emily! My fellow teachers are now awaiting news of the birth of another little boy - Aaron Robert Shenk - scheduled to be delivered in just five more days! Of course, he is welcome to come early if he chooses!! The teachers at work threw a surprise shower for me to celebrate. Here I am - I think this is my only "belly picture" from this pregnancy!

DANIELLE

I have also had the pleasure of sharing this pregnancy with my very good friend Danielle. Danielle and I were roommates just before we were both married in 2005 - our weddings were 3 weeks apart. One day, back in February, Danielle called me, and she said, "How is everything?" I said, "Fine..." (not wanting to spill the beans, yet). "Are you pregnant?" She asked. "Why would you ask me that?" I shot back. "Because, I had a dream, and in the dream you were pregnant," she said. "Well I just found out YESTERDAY!" I replied. She then revealed to me that she was "late," too, and promised to keep me posted. About two days later, I got an email from her, and the subject line said, "Sure enough..." How funny!

Danielle's daughter, Isabelle, turned two years old in August, and for a while, she and Andrew were in the same class at daycare. And here we are now each having our second child just two days apart from each other! (Danielle is scheduled for an induction on October 8th!) This past weekend we decided to take our kids to Circle S Farms here in Grove City. What a sight we were - two very pregnant moms chasing around two adventurous toddlers! Andrew thoroughly enjoyed himself, even though we decided AGAINST taking a hayride on the big flatbed pulled by a tractor. (It just wasn't the opportune time for early labor.) He and Isabelle were so cute together. And, uh, I just popped over to Danielle's blog a minute ago to see if she posted any of these pictures, yet. Yeah...so I guess that picture up there ISN'T my only belly shot from this pregnancy. Thanks a million, Danielle. The link to her blog is over there on the left, if you'd like to see it. Here's our little pun'kins.

Andrew Appleseed

The Lord is good to me,

And so I thank the Lord,

For giving me the things I need,

The sun and the rain and the apple seed,

The Lord is good to me!

Five more days and Aaron will be here! I am so grateful these last few days (and the next few, too, it looks like) to have nice cool weather. Fall is my favorite - and it makes it much easier for me to take Andrew outside to play! Andrew is such an outdoorsman - like his Daddy! He has LOVED having apple trees in our backyard this summer. He walks right up and picks the apples himself, and earlier in the season, when they wouldn't come off, he'd chew on it right on the branch! (I'm not sure but I think he learned that from the dog, who also loves apples.) I have been amazed at how he just bites right into them and has no trouble chewing them at all. If the skin is too thick, he just spits it out. For a few weeks I chased him around trying to stop him, but alas, I gave up the battle. Now I just try to make sure he doesn't pick up any rotten ones from the ground. A couple of weeks ago I picked some to make a cobbler - YUMMY. Here's Andrew helping Mommy pick (and eat) the apples!

Three more 'till Four!

We are just three weeks away from being a family of four! As the date draws closer, I am more and more excited, yet more and more anxious about being the mother of two. I am definitely nesting - which is probably why I spent yesterday morning shampooing the couch. Hey, it smells like dog and spilled milk - ew! I am constantly making lists of things that need to be done, but I am either too pregnant to do it (like painting Andrew's bedroom to match his new ADORABLE Tonka construction decor - well...maybe I WILL do that this week.), or it just not time, yet (Like sterilizing all the bottles and the breast pump...Yeah, it's too early for that right?) Working part time has been an incredible blessing. I'm not sure I'd make it three more weeks with a full time job and a toddler - if you are a mom who works full time, I salute you! Andrew's independence is increasing every day - at least HE thinks so! Some of his favorite pastimes these days are:


*Climbing on a chair to reach anything on the kitchen table. He is especially fond of ink pens. If there is nothing on the table, he will crawl up and just sit there (or stand there and play with the light fixture that hangs from the ceiling)

*Climbing on a chair to reach the light switch and play the on-off-on-off-on-off-on-off game. Mommy gets particularly frustrated when he flips the switch that controls the outlet that the fish tank is plugged into. Of course, the obvious solution is to pull the chair away. The problem here is that this chair was previously used to block the little gap through which he can reach the outlet strip and unplug all of the aquarium equipment. At least he's resourceful, right?

*Climbing on a chair to pull various items off the kitchen counters. Are we seeing a patterns here with chairs? Hm. This would be why anyone who visits the Shenk house these
days will find chairs against walls in various areas of the
house instead of pushed under the tables they belong to.

*Picking apples. We have three apple trees in our backyard which are the source of much amusement for Andrew. He will eat up to three or four apples a day of allowed. It is particularly amusing to watch him pick an apple, take one or two bites, then give it to the dog so he can go back and pick another one. Yes, the dog eats the apples, too!

*Putting anything that fits in his hand on his shoulder and pretending it is a telephone. I love watching this! He actually has conversations that start with hello, end with bye-bye, and include short periods where he "listens" to the person on the other end! So adorable!

*Pointing his finger at the dog (and sometimes strangers in Walmart) and shouting "NO, NO, NO!" I always thought I was patient and kind until my son started imitating me! Time for some self-reflection? Yikes!

Hope you enjoy these pics. From top to bottom they are: Being spoiled at Grandma's house; First trip to the zoo; cruising with cousin Hannah at Great Aunt Debbie's house on Grandma Day; Andrew's first haircut!

BE BLESSED!

At the Park

We are getting ready for the fourth member of the Shenk family! (oops, sorry Shelby - I mean fifth!) Aaron Robert Shenk is scheduled to be delivered on Monday, October 6th! In less than two months you will see pictures of our brand new bundle of joy right here on this blog!

Andrew countinues to enjoy summer very much! Mommy, on the other hand would much rather be inside with the air on as cool as possible! LOL! Actually, it hasn't been so bad. As
my pregnancy progresses, though, I do feel kinda bad for him, because we are spending more time indoors. Andrew is really fast, and chasing him around outside is not one of my favorite activities right now. Even in the fenced in backyard I have to follow behind him to be sure he doesn't choke on the apples that he LOVES to pick off of our three apple trees. Heck, sometimes he eats 'em right off the branch! He is also very friendly with all of our neighbor dogs (which surround our backyard fence), so I really have to watch him when he tries to stick his hand through and pet them. All perfectly normal little boy stuff, I know - and actually delightful to watch most of the time - but much harder to deal with when you are almost 8 months pregnant and it is 90 degrees out! Whew! I have been VERY thankful for the cooler weather the last few days, so today we decided to go play at a local park. As you can see, Andrew found lots of fun things to do - no apple trees, though. Aw.

Hope you enjoy these pics!

In Praise of Summer!

Andrew loves being outside! He is becoming quite a little waterbug! I took him to the wading pool at the Y one day last week, and he loved it so much I didn't even get a chance to take his picture. He walked around and around in the pool the whole time. He wouldn't stay out of the water (it is so shallow he can get in and out by himself). It does get up to 1'9", and he fell backward a couple of times and was completely submerged. I grabbed him immediately, of course, and he popped right up, caught his breath, and just kept on playing! Today I finally got a chance at home to get some good pics to share. This is the little pool Grandma Derr gave him for his first birthday. Our little routine has become: Swim and play, have a popsicle, swim and play some more!

Enjoy!

Quick Update!

Okay, so my blogging skills aren't that great. I guess having a full time job, a toddler, a baby on the way, I get a little bit preoccupied. SO, here's the last 6 weeks in a nutshell!

April 30th: Andrew's 1st birthday!
I can hardly believe it, but our baby is ONE! Just in time for the big day, he started walking! By now, of course, he is into anything and everything he can reach, climb on, or squeeze through. NOTHING is safe - including my sanity, somedays! But, of course, seeing him learn and grow everyday is worth a few lost marbles now and then! We celebrated the special ocassion with a John Deere birthday party!

May 7th: Kim and Phil's Anniversary
Yes, it has already been three years since we began our journey together! We celebrated with a family dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Three years doesn't sound like a long time, but boy can your life sure change a lot in such a small amount of time. I wouldn't change a thing! I love my husband and my baby boy, and I love the life we share. Happy Anniversary, baby!

June 6th: It's a boy!
We are so thrilled to announce that our next bundle of joy is another bouncing baby boy! Though a girl would have been delightful, I have to say I am not even a litte bit disappointed to have another son. Two boys 17 1/2 months apart - whew! I am ready for the challenge! (Can someone get me a jar? I don't want to lose all of my marbles!) The baby was very cooperative during the ultrasound, and we got to see lots of fingers and tose and ribs. It was really cool that I could feel him kicking my tummy (and the doppler thingy) At the same time I could see his little feet moving on the screen! We were pleasantly surprised to learn that part of the ultrsound was 3D/4D and they are now making the pictures available on disc! I am attempting to post the video clip. Hopefully you can see his hands and one foot clearly - look closely and you will see his face pretty clearly, to! We really like the name Aaron Robert. (But that's not set in stone, so don't go engraving anything, yet!)

We are so blessed!

Big Brother!

Andrew just can't wait anymore! He is just begging Mommy to get on the blog and tell everyone his BIG NEWS! Yes, it's true. Andrew is going to be a big brother! Mommy and Daddy are SO excited to add another smilng face to the family! Mommy has been feeling very tired lately and a little sick once in a while. Right now, she is on vacation from work for few weeks, so that really helps! We expect our little bundle of joy sometime around October 15th. Probably a little earlier, because doc wants another C-section, which is just fine with Mommy! Click on the link at the bottom of this entry to leave a comment - we can't wait to hear from you!

Enjoy these pics of Andrew's first Easter!

Time with Mommy

We have been so blessed to have such a healthy baby boy. All through the winter, Andrew has caught a cold or two, but overall hasn't been sick. Friday, however, I got a call that he needed to be picked up from daycare early. He had a fever of 102.4. By Sunday his temp was still hovering around 102-103, so I took him to the doctor on Monday and discoverd that Andrew has his first ear infection. I was a little surprised, because he really hasn't indicated any discomfort. He smiles and plays like always - he just get tired a little more often than normal. We started an antibiotic yesterday, and I kept him home again today, just to be sure. He is doing much better - fever is gone! Tomorrow we will be back to work and daycare - at least for a couple of days. Beginning Good Friday, I am on vacation for three weeks! Have I ever mentioned how much I love my job?

Staying home with Andrew is something I could really get used to, and soon I will be able to! As much as I do love my job, Phil and I have decided that, starting next school year (for me that's the end of July), I will be staying home with Andrew part time! I will be in a job-share at Woodcrest, sharing my position with another teacher. I am so excited to spend more time with my baby, but we are a little nervous about the financial changes this will bring about. Your prayers for our family are greatly appreciated!

Andrew Updates

BOX BOY

Andrew's favorite toys lately are boxes. What a surprise! Here is a video of his favorite ride.

Andrew's first sled!

MORE FUN PICTURES!

Mommy's helper!

Daddy's hat

Snow Baby :)