The little guy

Little Justin James really is a joy to have around. He is a happy and laid back baby (except for recently thanks to teething). He loves the other 3, and they love him. Lately he has enjoyed playing in his jumperoo and he loves to sit up now, a recent accomplishment that he hasn't completely figured out. He still flops over after a couple minutes and then gets a surprised look.
While it's cute to see him grow and learn new things, it's also sad that he is changing so fast. I realize now that kids grow up way too soon so I have really been trying to enjoy every little moment. Before I know it he'll be be-bopping off to school with Sydney, Kenny, and Steven.

Fall

We have had an excellent fall so far this year. The boys finished up soccer and had a wonderful season. Kenny was an awesome goalie and Steven did a great job in his first year. Sydney had decided not to play, but says that she'll probably play next year. She just recently signed up for Little Eagles girls basketball so that should be fun. The boys started wrestling 2 weeks ago. They are both doing a great job and Otis is coaching this year which is nice.
Halloween was fun, we trick-or-treated up in Stow with the Schneider's, the kids thought they'd hit the candy jackpot!! They also really enjoyed handing out treats, an experience they'd never had before.

Little JJ is growing like a weed. He will be 5 months old on Nov. 2oth! He is a very happy guy. He loves his brothers and sister and is always very interested in what they are doing. He is also a little cuddle bug, which I really enjoy!! He is rolling all over the place and started to scoot around on his belly. He can sit up for short periods, but hasn't quite mastered the whole "balance" thing quite yet.

The kids are doing great at school so far this year. Sydney has been balancing EXCEL and 4th grade select choir, and most recently was selected to be tested for gifted Art. She also was just awarded the United Elementary Art student of the month for December. And was the September student of the month for her class. We are very proud of her!!
Kenny got check marks in all of the skills he needs for the 1st 9 weeks in 1st grade. He was the student of the month in October. Mrs Gardner says that he is especially skilled in Math and in puzzle-type challenges. He is a good little reader and it's so fun to see him reading Junie B Jones before bed now!
Steven has adjusted very well to Kindergarten, he also received all his check marks for the 1st 9 weeks. He is a very conscientious worker and a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to school. Mrs. Schonauer says that he has a great personality and is very kind to others. Steven is also starting to read...he sees Kenny and is fascinated.

I am very thankful and feel very blessed to have 4 healthy children that bring such joy to Otis and I's lives. They grow so fast and I try to soak every moment up!!

Finally an Update

It's only been about 6 months since my last post. At least my pre-blog prediction of my lack of posting power has come true! Ha! Anyhow, obviously a lot has happened since March, I won't try to write about everything, but perhaps I can give a short synopsis.

• I graduated in May!! I am now the proud owner of a shiny new bachelor's degree-it only took 10 years! Despite the fact that I was nearly 9 months pregnant and it pretty much hurt to take every step, nothing was going to keep me from walking at the ceremony to get my degree. It was slightly miserable, but oh, so worth it!
• The kids successfully completed another school year; finishing up 3rd grade, Kindergarten, and preschool
• The spring sports season was a fun one. The boys played on the same T-ball team and did a great job. Sydney played fast-pitch and I was one of the coaches of her U10 team which ended up being a great experience! Looking forward to coaching again next year, without a huge belly!
• Justin James was born!!! He was born on June 20th and weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces (a lightweight compared to the other 3) Thankfully he was a healthy and beautiful baby and the labor went very smooth.
• We celebrated Sydney's 10th birthday! So hard to fathom that she was actually turning 10. She is really becoming a beautiful young lady (inside and out). We celebrated by letting her have a sleepover party with 5 friends.
• Had another wonderful vacation in Hilton Head with Mom and Dad, Shawna, Matt, Kylie, Gavin, and Sara. The 12 hour road trip with 3 kids and a 6 week old ended up going very smoothly, much to our surprise and thankfulness.
  
• The kids started a new school year. Syd is now in 4th grade, Kenny in 1st, and Steven in Kindergarten (gasp!). It was hard to see all 3 of them get on that bus, but at least I still had baby JJ home with me. So far they all have adjusted great to the new school year. They all love their teachers and we have had zero issues. We are blessed that they LOVE to go to school!
• The boys are currently in the middle of their soccer season, they play on the same team and have a good time. Kenny is usually goalie and Steven plays forward or defender.
  

Well, those are some of the highlights of the past several months. I will try to keep this updated more often now that things have settled in to a schedule again.
Here are some pictures of baby Justin James (JJ):


Just a few hours after birth

Introducing.....

Baby #4!!! Another boy!!! Otis and I (and Sydney) traveled to Pittsburgh to get a 3D/4D ultrasound last week. We had a great experience and loved seeing the little guy. We got some good footage and photos even though he was trying not to cooperate by turning his back and pushing his face up against me. That's why his face isn't all that clear, but I still think the pictures turned out pretty cool.

New Kids on the Farm

Well our dairy goat had her babies on Tuesday. She had a buckling and a doeling and the kids named them Shadow (he's all black) and Clover (they were born the night before St Patrick's Day). They are very healthy and are quite funny. The little doeling loves to climb on the kids, she is more outgoing than her brother. The kids have had a blast with them and love to head down to the barn to check them out. We are looking forward to starting to milk again next week so we'll have fresh yummy milk (and yes, it tastes identical to cow's milk) to go along with our farm fresh eggs. I can't wait to get our garden in this spring also, it seems every year we plant more veggies and the kids love to help plant, harvest, and especially eat! I'm planning on trying my hand at canning, but we'll see if I have time with the new baby! Here are a few pictures of the kids playing with the new goat kids.

More wrestlng fun

Well I had my first experience as a wrestling "coach" two weekends ago. Otis had to work so Heidi and I decided to take Kenny and Noah to a tournament in Loudonville. Needless to say we were the only Moms there that were also coaching on the mats! Thankfully Heidi did most of the yelling, I don't feel confident enough in my knowledge of the sport yet, and my voice was pretty much gone from having a cold. Well, we did a pretty good job because both boys won 2nd place!! We were pretty proud to say the least haha! Here are a few pics of the day.

Wrastlin'

It seems that our evenings are now consumed with a new pastime and that is...wrestling. No, not the fake WWE (or whatever it's called) style, but the real, honest to goodness wrestling. Kenny has become the first in our family to try this sport and boy does he love it. United has a youth club team that competes in the Canfield tournaments every Sunday. Not only are our Sundays now filled but so are the practice evenings on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays (not to mention the extra tournaments that they can choose to enter on Saturdays). It is very intense to say the least! I was hesitant about it at first after seeing the insane schedule, but Kenny has tons of energy, and he really enjoys it. Not only is Kenny a newbie, but Otis and I were absolutely clueless about wrestling at the beginning of the season, we've been learning right along with him. At first, he struggled in the matches and didn't understand that aggressiveness was the main component in wrestling. He lost 8 of his first 9 matches. Since then though, Ken looks like a completely different kid, something clicked and he has now won his last 6 matches in a row!! Three of them ending in pins! We are very proud of our little guy, the first year of wrestling has a HUGE learning curve and he tends to wrestle kids that already have experience because of his size. Lately he has gained tons of confidence and says his goal is to wrestle at Ohio State-not a bad goal haha! Friday night the team gets to go watch a Mount Union wrestling meet, and he cracked me up when he told me that he's not sure but he thinks they get to wrestle the Mount Union college guys. Haha, I had to tell him that I think they are just watching. Too funny! Above is a picture taken 2 weeks ago of him after he won both matches and got his first two pins, as you can see they are awarded actual pins by their coaches which they can display on their hats. I'm also including links to the videos of his last four matches if anyone would like to check them out. (Below)

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4