The Past Year

 

For those who only keep up with us via this blog - so sorry it has been SO long (14 months!) since I posted anything on here. Life was crazy, crazy, crazy for the past 14 months. I think the best way to describe 2013 is that it was a transitional year for us in pretty much every way. We had many ups & downs and lots of changes. I wanted to take one post to just let everyone know what all happened & hopefully I will have time to post on some of these things individually in the coming days. I hope to do better at posting this year.

 

 

I won't go in to lots of details on everything that happened since my last post (November 2012) but I do want to say up front that even though it was a difficult year in many ways, God was so faithful to us through all of it, and there were many blessings. I hope to be able to share some of that later.

 

 

December 21, 2012 - my mom passed away 3 years & 3 months after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer; her funeral was on Christmas Eve

 

 

Early January 2013 - we found out we were having another baby

 

 

Early March 2013 - John was laid off - something we had known was likely coming but happened sooner than we had thought it might

 

 

April 2013 - my dad remarried

 

 

June 2013 - someone contacted us wanting to buy our house, which was not on the market

 

 

July 2013 - signed a contract on a new house & one to sell our house

 

 

August 23, 2013 - closed on our old & new houses and moved the next day

 

 

August 29, 2013 - welcomed this beautiful girl to our family:

 

Abigail Leigh Asbeck - 8lbs 11oz

 

September 30, 2013 - John started a new job (he had been doing contract work during the previous months)

 

On top of those major events, Joshua finished kindergarten & started first grade. Timothy continued in Mother's Day Out, and I continued my applique/monogramming business. My sales actually tripled from the previous year - no idea how I managed that while pregnant & moving! We are so thankful for the prayers of so many who knew at least part of what all we were going through.

 

Needless to say, we are hoping for a less eventful 2014!!



Halloween

Our Halloween didn't go as we had planned, so we didn't actually end up trick or treating. The boys didn't know any different, so it didn't bother them at all. But, since I had made Halloween costumes for them, we put them on & let them play in them anyway.

Joshua seriously does not like having his picture taken. I think it runs in the family though! I appliqued these shirts for them & bought the hats from a shop on Etsy.

Timothy, on the other hand, loves being the center of attention. If he sees a camera, he says "Smile. Take pictures."

Finally - an almost smile!

Joshua's 6th Birthday

That is so weird to say! 6?? It has gone by so fast! Joshua has adjusted to school & therapy so well, even though it takes up so much of his week. He loves both school & therapy, and he is learning so much. He comes home singing songs from school & we are constantly amazed at how many words he can read & spell. We still haven't improved in the picture department though, but here are a few:

Always entertaining, regardless of who's day it is!

Enjoying the birthday song.

Not as big a fan of the cookie cake as we thought he would be.

Third year for a cookie cake. He likes trains this year. However, he didn't like the cake. He sat there for the song & then asked for animal crackers. So the adults enjoyed the birthday cookie cake while he enjoyed animal crackers. Go figure :)

Sight Words books & flash cards...quite the hit with our little reader.

And a rare picture of Belle, as she doesn't seem to make the blog often! She enjoyed having all of the grandparents around to snuggle next to.

Pumpkin Patch

If anyone even still checks my poor blog, we are still here! I can't believe its been 2 months since I posted anything...so sorry! I think we have finally adjusted to our new school schedule but we stay super busy. With both boys having activities/school during the week plus therapy most afternoons & Bible study during the week, we are busy. Add to that starting a business & having it really pick up as the holidays approaching....well, we've just been busy! So thankful for all of it though as it has been good.

Anyway, I thought I better get our fall posts done before Christmas decorations go up :)

I did go on a field trip with Joshua's class to the pumpkin patch but didn't take a single picture. We went to a different pumpkin patch with both boys & attempted some pictures. As you can see below we weren't very successful, but at least this can document that we did in fact visit a pumpkin patch this fall (I think it is a requirement if you have young kids!).

Not a great picture but I think it is the only one I got that actually shows Joshua's face!

Sweet brothers

Timothy is thrilled with pumpkins.

Joshua trying to climb in the window. I was attempting to get them close together to get a picture. No such luck!

Seriously loves pumpkins. He wanted all of them.

First Days of School

Can you believe Joshua has started kindergarten? It might be more unbelievable that I am finally posting about it (or anything for that matter)! I was so nervous about him starting school & being at a new place with new people & not knowing anyone. However, he has done fantastic. He seems to love his teacher & everyone who works with him, as well as his new friends in his class. He tells me most days that he did good at kindergarten & that he wants to go back. John & I really like his teacher. She seems to be exactly what he needs. She & the aide that works with her are super organized. I have no idea how they do it! They really must love their jobs. I can't imagine how much time it takes to prepare for all of the different needs in their class & how much patience it takes to do what they do each & every day...without any kind of a break! Seriously, I think they are amazing! So, the first day was rough. We found out the Wednesday before school started that Joshua would have to go to a different school than we are zoned for to get all of the services he needed. Yes, you read that right. We had 5 days notice that he would be starting school at a different school than we had registered him at & taken him to visit. It worked out for the best, but still...it was short notice. We didn't get the registration paperwork in advance, so on the first day, I had to do all of that. I also didn't anticipate the chaos of "first day of school" traffic & parking! So, we were technically a couple of minutes late. I had to park at the bottom of a hill (blocking the lower parking lot, no less, as that was the only place left to park) & walk Joshua up the hill, carrying Timothy. After getting Joshua to his teacher, I had to wait with the tons of other parents to get the registration paperwork. Timothy was unhappy that I wouldn't let him run wild in the cafeteria while I filled out all of the papers (which I had filled out at a different school in April - but that is beside the point :)). Then it was back to line to wait more. Luckily, I had gone down & moved my car into the parking lot when it cleared out a bit so that other people could get in. I also carried 2 bags of school supplies & Timothy up that hill again! By the time we finished everything, I had missed breakfast with some girls I had done a study with this summer on the book, "Going Public". Needless to say, we didn't get the cute first day of school picture in front of the school. But, I did finally remember to take a picture of him with his backpack as we were heading out on the 14th day of school (or something like that).

 This really was the best picture I could get. The one where he was smiling, he was just a blur because he was walking towards me. Oh well! I promise he loves school!

Last week, Timothy started 2 year old Mother's Day Out. He wasn't so sure about it, but he didn't cry. He seemed to have a good time. I think it will be fun for him again this year. There is no chaotic story about his first day. And, I managed to get a picture of him at home as we were leaving...wearing his backpack. How is he big enough for a backpack??

How precious is that smile! If you have seen my FB page, you know he got a big boy haircut since this picture was taken. He looks so much older now! Also on FB, you will find a video of him "reading" part of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" - I know I'm completely biased, but it is precious!

I make no promises about when I will find time to post again! My little Etsy business is keeping me busy most days. If you haven't already, check out my shop @ www.peachfuzzgifts.etsy.com & like it on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/peachfuzzgifts.

Timothy's 2nd Birthday!!

Didn't we just bring him home from the hospital?? These two years have gone by so fast! Timothy has been such a blessing to our family! He is such a happy, funny, smart little boy. He is a great little brother to Joshua - who he happens to adore, most of the time :) We had a fun time celebrating his birthday. My brother & sister-in-law were in town for my parents' 35th anniversary, so we were excited they could celebrate with us this year! It was a super busy weekend but here are a few pictures from his little party:

Wearing an outfit made by mommy! I love this face!

He loved his birthday cake! Joshua loved running around & seeing everyone!

Aunt Haley designed these nesting owls at her job. Such a fun gift!

He went back & forth on whether or not he liked the hat.

It was time for a Tonka truck! He loves filling it up & dumping it out.

I asked him what kind of cake he wanted & he said Mickey Mouse. Since we had such a busy weekend I didn't think I could make one. Due to licensing issues, I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. It was either surfer Mickey, motorcycle Mickey or cowboy Mickey. I tried to get him to choose Thomas instead but he chose motorcycle Mickey. Our little guy knows what he wants!

Super Why Live!

Where did the summer go?? I can't believe Joshua will start kindergarten tomorrow! And, we are celebrating Timothy's second birthday this weekend. So, I figured I better get started with my posts! We really had a fairly boring summer - boring isn't always bad :) Our summer just ended up being fairly full with Joshua's therapy schedule, Timothy & I doing a music class, and me doing a study at church. 

One of the most fun things we did this summer was go to Super Why Live back in July. Our boys both LOVE Super Why. I don't think a day goes by that we don't watch it. Some days we watch a LOT of it! We have many, many, many episodes on DVR & Joshua knows them all by title! Anyway, the boys were pretty excited about seeing Super Why. Seeing him & the other characters as "real" people & not just animated characters was a bit of a shock for them, but after Joshua got used to that, he absolutely loved the show. Timothy was a bit more hesitant but would get into it during some parts. They both said they wanted to go back. We weren't supposed to take pictures during the show, but here are two of them at home as we were leaving. Timothy's face in this first one is hilarious! Its probably the look I see from him the most often :) Joshua didn't want to sit still because we had already said we were going to see Super Why.