Baby, its cold outside...but come on out!

So...the weather has been freezing cold outside. And I am not even close to "ready" for the baby. But, I am so READY!!!! (that should make total sense if you've ever been pregnant before) On Monday I had a check-up and we ended up making it a family affair. It was fun getting to have Jeremy and the girls with me to hear our baby's heartbeat.

I am 34 1/2 weeks pregnant and getting very impatient. I just feel like I have been pregnant forever! At my appointment on Monday the baby was doing great and I am measuring about a week ahead (not unusual for me). I was discouraged to find out I've gained more weight with this pregnancy than any of my others, but it got me wondering if it would be a boy... Dr. Maple says the baby is head down and has dropped slightly. That really shocked me as both of the girls didn't drop a bit until labor. So, I guess we will just have to wait and see if these differences equal a boy or not?.

I was VERY relieved to hear that our hospital is still allowing sibling visits since many area hospitals have restricted any visitors under 18. The girls are getting very excited about the baby, and I'm so glad they will be able to meet their baby at the hospital. We are still working on finalizing our choices for the baby's name. I think we are pretty settled on first names but not middle names. However we did choose a "song" for the baby. The girls each have a song we sing them before they go to bed. Grace has been very concerned about what the baby's song would be. She has even made a few up, just in case we needed help. She recently drew this family picture. It was fun to see us as a family of 5-and I can't wait for everyone to meet!

Our Virtual Christmas Letter

Artwork Colored by Grace, age 3

Well, I am a little late. Usually Jeremy and I have a lot of fun thinking of a creative theme for our Christmas letter. Many of you we no longer live near and we both enjoy sharing with you about our life over the past year. However this past year has been extremely challenging. And no matter how hard I tried we just couldn’t get a traditional picture or letter put together. So my mom put together this artsy picture, and I compromised and decided to send our letter by the Internet instead. We loved hearing from many of you and the girls enjoyed opening yours cards, letters, and pictures!

Grace just keeps growing and continues to be VERY tall for her age. She will tell you she gets her beautiful curls from her daddy. But he would insist when it comes to personality she is most like me. She has strong leadership and negotiation skills that her dad and I are hoping to shape into assets for God’s kingdom. (not always an easy process for either involved parties) Recently she has been asking a million questions about Heaven. And she will proudly tell you that the wise men brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Faith is our little princess. She is much more petite and all girl. You will rarely find her without some sort of jewelry and a purse. She loves babies and cannot wait to become a big sister. She has also become quite a mommy’s girl recently, even though her personality is just like daddy! She loves scissors and is very interested in doing things Grace does. She recently started sleeping in a big girl bed.

Writing a paragraph to sum up Jeremy and I’s year is very difficult. It has probably been the biggest obstacle to completing this annual letter. In 2009 we have faced the loss of our baby, our home flooding resulting in our finished basement being gutted, our first and hopefully last experience with head lice, and most recently Jeremy’s resignation from his youth ministry position. We have seen God’s faithfulness not in abundant blessing but in his constant presence through many tears. It hasn’t been easy but we are thankful for all we have learned.

2010 promises to be a year of change. Jeremy has recently accepted a position at Reliable, a family-owned pest control company, here in Hannibal. We are still seeking God’s continued guidance for direction for our family & ministry. And of course we are all anticipating the birth of our baby in February! We can’t wait to see if it will be a boy or girl joining our family. I can honestly say I have no idea what I will be reflecting on when I sit down to write this same letter next Christmas! This year has shown us like none other the blessing of the friendship and prayers of God’s people. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus to our family during a difficult year.

(for Jeremy, Grace, Faith & Baby Humiston too)

Christmas Top Ten

10. Two Adorable Girls in Christmas Dresses: The girls wore their holiday dresses on Christmas Eve. They looked so cute! We enjoyed spending time with my mom's side of our family. We went to church, had communion as a family (one of my favorite parts), and then played Bingo. This year we played Disney Bingo on the TV, the girls thought it was fun. Below Faith shows off some of her special Bingo prizes.

9. A Surprised Nana: This year we got Nana a Cricut. This wasn't on her list, but was something I thought she would really enjoy using for all those wonderful scrapbooks she makes us. The girls thought is was very fun she had such a big box to open. (for some reason even though its not that big it came in a HUGE box)

8. Snow & New PJ's: The girls were thrilled with the snow. Grace especially was concerned about having a white Christmas this year as she thought it was necessary for Santa's sleigh. Below they are checking out the snow the morning after Christmas in their cute new pj's from Cody & Erin. Grace took hers to put on in the bathroom Christmas night. She came back out to ask her daddy, "What do I do? It didn't come with a pull-up." They had fun playing in the snow with their uncles & Roxie.

6. Christmas Treats & Too Much Yummy Food: This year I did all of my Christmas baking in one day. It was quite the marathon. The girls loved getting to deliver the plates of goodies to our neighbors. We enjoyed all sorts of delicious food this holiday season. We had yummy appetizers on Christmas Eve, a huge meal at Grandpa Don & Grandma Kay's house, & Buffalo Wild Wings with Grandpa Rick & Grandma Leeanne. (a little late due to the flu)

5. Christmas Books: This year the girls had so much fun getting out and reading our Christmas books. Grace got a new Fancy Nancy one that I already have memorized from the short time between Christmas and when we put away the Christmas books! Jeremy and I got each of the girls and the baby a new Christmas book this year. One of Grace's new favorite things this year were the sticker books she received.

4. Special Gifts: The girls got so many fun gifts. Grace LOVED her dollhouse from Santa. Faith was very excited about her baby doll with stroller from Gramy & Papa. Both of the girls love their princess tent, easel, toy box, tea set & new movies. Jeremy's favorite gift was probably the nail gun he got from my dad & brothers. My favorite gift was from Jeremy and the girls, a mini-camera for recording video clips for my blog. (although it is still backordered)

3. Family: Due to the weather & sickness our Christmas celebrations ended up being a lot more spread out than originally planned. It was great to spend time with all of our family. We are VERY blessed with such an amazing family!

2. Sisterly Love: This year both the girls got to take a shopping trip to pick out a present for each other. Grace went with daddy and selected a baby doll & bottle for Faith. Faith went with Mommy and selected a Care Bear coloring book with some assistance. Then I let her pick out anything she wanted in the Dollar Store. She choose purple napkins & Grace actually loved them. She proudly told everyone that Faith got her purple napkins, her favorite color. We are planning to use them for her Birthday party.

1. The Simple Joy of Children at Christmas: This year I was reminded how simple and fun Christmas is when viewed through the eyes of a child. Christmas time can become stressful. Gifts are expensive, financial stress. Parties are a lot of work. Shopping can be tiresome, and the "to do" list is on over drive. But, my kids weren't worried about any of these things. They LOVED Christmas. They enjoyed going to see Christmas lights, opening our advent calendar, eating lots of yummy extra treats, spending time with family, and the pure delight of anticipating opening their gifts. Celebrating Jesus' birthday brought them joy and I loved seeing it in the way their faces lit up when they opened their gifts. Here were some of the great "faces" we captured.

Here the girls are playing with the packing material from Nana's gift. They have probably played with this stuff as much as their gifts. Simple joy-definitely!

Christmas 2009 was full of memorable moments, this "top ten" is only a sample of all the great memories we made.