Welcome Abi!

Here are a few pictures of Abigail Charis Maschke (and Anna)! She came out to join us at 7:53 last night, Nov. 6th. She weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces, and measured 19 inches long. Mother and daughter are doing well!

Check out those nails!

Anna looks ridiculously good for having just given birth!

A quiet moment...

All is well!

Two!

Yes, we still only have two, at least for the next few weeks.  We also now have a two year old!  Josiah loves being two because that means that he gets to go to school with Ali.  He was so ready, and loves carrying his dog lunch bag out the door and into the car.  I have to admit, the time alone is pretty nice.

That time alone won't be for much longer.  Abi is due November 7.  She's measuring small (for me, that is) and might even be under 9 pounds at birth!  Because I have been following my diet, the doctor is okay with letting me go into labor on my own, but she has already said I can't go more than a week late, so I will have a baby in the next three weeks! 

So, a few October pictures...pumpkin patch, birthday cakes, and a trip to the zoo.

Ali and Josiah both loved picking out their pumpkins this year.  Ali and Daddy carved one.  Picture of that are coming!

Josiah loves music.  He really loves to drum, with either drumsticks or plastic spoons!

Josiah's Birthday cake.  Each little ball is cake and frosting covered in candy. 

We took a family trip to the San Francisco Zoo.  We loved watching the sleeping lion.  He was HUGE!

Will the next post be Halloween or baby?  Only time will tell.

Yes, look at how big my head is....

When I asked Ali on her birthday if she was bigger now, that was her response. So, I guess that means she is bigger! Our four year old managed to celebrate the big day for several days. We had our first "real" birthday party on Saturday, then we went to Chuck E Cheese on Wednesday (the real birthday). She brought cupcakes to school on Thursday. I think we are done with celebrations for a while!

Before the birthday celebrations galore, we had spent time in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. We saw lots of Jed's family, including Great Grandma Ruth (Ali thought it was so cool that they shared a name) and baby Emelia. Ali would have held Emelia all day, everyday if we would have let her. She can't wait for Abi to be born so she can hold her.


Oh, and because I've yet to post a picture of my belly, here it is. I'll be 32 weeks on Sunday.

My new friend

Meet my new friend....

My glucometer. Such a fun word. My friend and I hang out together four times a day.

Yup, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It looks, at least currently, that diet and exercise should control my blood sugar levels.

Yes, the diet is probably a healthy diet for all to be on. I'm doing what's best for both Abi and me. That doesn't mean that I don't find the process slightly annoying. I now not only have to think about what to eat, but measure our how much of it I am eating. I'm not a big measuring girl, so that's frustrating.

I'm still learning what foods cause my blood sugar to spike. Today I got my first high reading...oatmeal. Since cold cereal, milk and fruit are out for breakfast, I guess I'm back to eggs and toast (although 1 Ego Multi Grain waffle with some peanut butter also seems to work!)

I'm trying to stay positive. It's only been a week. I've got quite a few more to go. We can do this!

The Camp Bug Bites!

We did get a few bug bites at camp, but really our kids both got a bite from the camp bug. They both LOVE camp. Ali can't wait until next year when she can be "a real camper" (at Kinder camp with mom or dad). She is already asking when we will be going back to camp. We all loved meeting the staff and enjoying a wonderful week in the redwoods. A pictorial account of our week:

Eating out at the campfire.

Ali wanted to eat marshmallows on a stick. She didn't want to roast them, she just wanted them on a stick. She was quite happy that it happened.

The beautiful redwoods.

Riding Balance Bikes. Ali loved the fact that you steer with your bum.

Hiking up to Big Tree. We did get to look around inside. It was pretty cool.

Searching for banana slugs was quite fun. One day, we found 10!

Daddy preparing to underdog.

Checking out the treehouse. Ali is trying to decide if she would like sleeping outside all week.

Josiah collected rocks. He was amazed at the abundance of rocks to be found.

Josiah's post camp injury. He fell as we were packing, which caused us to leave quickly. A ER trip and a little glue later and he is good to go. If you ask him to show you his "owie" he will show you the small cut on his hand. Not the head, the hand. The head wound doesn't phase him at all.

Surviving Summer

We have survived:

VBS: We set sail and went on a "Vast Voyage". Ali loved VBS again this year, and Josiah spent the week perfecting his dance moves and loving on (and napping on) Ida.

Buying a minivan. Yes, we are the proud owners of a minivan. We knew we needed one soon (three car seats just don't fit into a car), and we finally bit the bullet, said goodbye to Jed's car, and are falling in love with our van.

The great birthday/anniversary week: Jed and I both successfully survived another year and have now continued to enjoy each others company for six years! We went out to dinner and a 3D showing of Toy Story 3 to celebrate. And we ate cake...lots of cake.

Ali survived (and after her initial shyness really liked) her first dance class. We signed her up for a six week preschool "pre dance" dance class. They meet for 30 min on Saturday mornings and learn the basics of rhythm and stretching, as well as a few simple dance steps.

We are looking forward to our trip to Mt. Cross, where Jed is going to be the camp pastor for the week, and our trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota in August.

A few pictures to tide everyone over:

Jed eating cake on his birthday. Truth be told, this is still my cake. We decided to finish one cake before we made a second. We ate Jed's cake the next week.
My cake. Ali applied the frosting, which was about as thick as the cake itself. It was yummy!
Josiah wanted this ball so much he crawled under one of the cars....
his back looked like this when he was done. I was going to try to save the clothes, but I gave up.
Ali and Josiah both love to play games on the ipod touch. One day Ali crawled into Josiah's crib and we found them playing together. I love how Ali is cheering Josiah on.

Sorry, no good pictures of my belly yet. I think about, but it never gets done. Maybe in the next post. Have no fear, Abi and I are both doing well.

Baby Number Three

So, the big ultrasound was today and here are some pictures of baby number three:

Side View

Right Leg (Looks like a runner to me! - Jed)

Left Arm

Profile

Oh, and the gender? We are having another...girl! Her name is Abigail Charis. Ali is excited beyond belief, but isn't all to keen on Abigail yet. She thinks that the name should be "Princess Peas."

All seems to be fine with "Princess Peas"; I'll know more after my doctor appointment next week.

We've been busy

Doing what? Well, in short...

Celebrating Easter

Hunting Easter Eggs

Playing with cousins

Watching TV with Uncle Will

Feeding goats with Uncle Nate

Discovering the joy that is an Iced Chai

Watching surfers in Santa Cruz

Playing with the hose while watering the garden

Having picnics

Discovering the fun of washable markers.

What about you? What have you been up to?

A Night to Remember

I'm telling this story so we can remember how precious our daughter is when she is being less than precious...

Yesterday (Monday) Ali really wanted to go get ice cream. She wanted to have a family date. Knowing that Tuesday is dollar scoop night at Baksin Robbins, we tried to convince her to wait until Tuesday. She really didn't want to wait. She knew that she had some gift certificates to use, and I explained that if we went now, we wouldn't have enough "ice cream money" to pay for all the ice cream. Ali offered to use the money in her piggy bank (that she is saving for a Barbie movie). Jed and I finally agreed. After dinner, we were getting into the car and Ali looked at me and said "Wait Mom, I have to go get my piggy bank to pay for the ice cream". I told her we would take care of it later.

Well, ice cream was on sale on Monday as well, so we had enough "ice cream money". We all had a great time, and Jed and I can't help but smile at how generous our daughter was last night. And, Ali even has some change to put in her piggy bank.

The News

By now, our news of baby three has made the rounds in internet land. If you haven't heard yet, yes, number three (or Lentil as Jed is calling him/her) should arrive around the last week of October. I'm feeling sick, so I guess that's a good sign. Ali's excited, Josiah is oblivious, and Jed and I are a mix of nervous and excited (we can't really be oblivious).

Here's Ali's reaction when we told her. Enjoy.

Story Time with Ali

Sit back and enjoy Ali reading "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. She loves to read this to Josiah every night. And, yes, I did teach Ali to say chrysalis instead of a cocoon (moths come out of a cocoon, butterflies out of a chrysalis. There is your science lesson of the day.)

How did the happen?

I leave Josiah downstairs for maybe five minutes to take some folded laundry upstairs. I hear crying. I come downstairs. This is what Josiah now looks like. What happened? I have no idea. But, whatever he hit, he hit it hard. He's acting fine now. Just a few battle wounds.
It's a nice sized goose egg, isn't it?

Things we love

Woof-Woof and Doggie


Pudding


Stickers


Playing with our friends


Our siblings



Our rice table (that will soon become a water table)


Hiding in suitcases and playing with sleeping bags


Being with Dad.