The Hills: It's about time!

Well, I am at home from work today because Jacob (who is currently telling me he would like Oreos for breakfast) is sick, so I thought it would be a good time to update the blog that I haven't updated in oh..... about FOREVER! The last time I updated was Halloween (shame shame) and SO MUCH has happened since then. Golly, where do I start. Well, Josh finished up his season at Southern in November. We stayed here in town for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful dinner with one of the pastor's at our church. It was nice to have the time off and not be traveling all over the country. About two weeks before Christmas Josh lost his job as assistant coach at Florida Southern. Not the best time to lose your job, benefits, etc. but God is in control. While we weren't sure what the Lord had in store for us, we were excited about new possibilities and new chapters. He began staying home with Jacob while Noah and I went to school. It has been super cute to watch Jacob and Josh's relationship. Jacob now calls himself Daddy's Jacob which makes me super jealous, but oh well..... The week before Christmas my ENTIRE family flew down from Michigan, Chicago and Virginia for about 4 days. We had so much fun just hanging out. Everybody stayed here.....yes, there were bodies everywhere (ha!)... which made things even better. We were even able to sneak a trip to Disney World (free because of my mother's amazing skills) and had a blast! I unfortunately was about 8 weeks pregnant at this time (how's that for the big blog announcement...oh well...) and was sick as a dog while they were here, but my mother stepped in as super woman and helped me with everything. *Sigh, i miss them*. Anyway, they left on Monday and we took off for snowy NC on Tuesday. We didn't tell Noah there was snow at Nana and Grandaddy's so when we got out of the car about 8:30 at night he just wanted to play in it. I love this. Both Jacob and Noah were soooo excited about the snow and that is all both of them could talk about. We had a wonderful Christmas with Josh's family, well, again I was sick the whole time, but it was still nice to be with everybody. We headed home on our anniversary. (who's great idea was it to get married so close to Christmas?!?....8 wonderful years, love you babe) January is a bit of a blur as we have just gotten back into the routine of things. God has been so amazing to our family and there is so much to PRAISE HIM for! Josh has found a job here in Lakeland, and while it may not be a permanent situation, it is definitely going to be an amazing opportunity to work with troubled teens. Talk about being a light, pray for him if you remember. So, that's been our schedule since we last chatted

Noah is doing well in his K4 class at school. He's a smart little goober but is still one of the youngest in his class. He has started to read and can write pretty well. We have a lefty on our hands here. great.... We have made the decision to have him repeat K4 next year to help with some social and communication skills. Noah was a late talker, like started speaking sentences a little over a year ago, not kidding. He has come miles from where he was at the beginning of school last year, but I still think he needs that extra time to develop. Josh is looking at it purely from an athletic point of view, "He will hit his athletic peak at 16 and have 2 whole years to play high school sports and be the STAR"....... ha ha... of course I am kidding, sort of, he did say that, but that isn't our ultimate reasoning :-) He loves to play the Wii and jump on our trampoline (santa really went big this year!). He loves school and being with people. He wants a dog, but I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon!

Jacob is STILL potty training......ugh! I think we have been at this about 9 months. He LOVES to wear "unnerware" specifically his "Dinosaur Unnerware" but still goes potty in them. The beginning of the year we had him in a Church day program for two's which he enjoyed, but then I had my wonderful friend Laura move back into the area and she watched him at her house with her little girl Abbey (that is until Josh lost his job). Jacob and Abbey were so cute and he loved going to her house and playing! He is still a social butterfly and will say "hi" (in a high pitched LOUD voice) to EVERYBODY he sees....even the people you don't really care to socialize with...ha ha...His favorite thing to do is GET DIRTY. This is the story of his life though. He is just my "dirty kid'. This past weekend we were playing out in the backyard and Jacob had just his underwear on, no shoes, and was dumping dirt on his head. Over and over and over again. Josh and I just watched and laughed. With his social skills and his dirtiness, I can totally see him ending up being a missionary in some foreign land ministering to people who don't care about being clean.

As for me, yes WE are expecting. This pregnancy has been COMPLETELY different than the other two. I am sick and tired ALL the time. Thankfully some of the sickness part has passed, but I do occasionally wake up and have a bout of morning sickness. I am about 16 weeks right now and we find out what it is in a few weeks. The boys are excited and constantly kiss the baby, which is sweet. Noah thinks he has a baby too, but it's not in his tummy, it's in his elbow. What a goof. We are due July 25th, but since both of my boys were born on the 23rd of the month, I am going to request this one (thank you for schedule C-Sections) for the 23rd. We are excited and thankful for another blessing!

Sheesh, this ended up being forever. Sometimes, once you get going, it's hard to stop.

Here is the short version in pictures...