Katie turns 2!

Katie's birthday was Monday; our little girl turned 2! I can still vividly remember the morning I went into labor with her. Chris was getting ready to go to work and he didn't believe me. 3 hours later, Katie made her debut!

We had a small birthday party for her this past weekend - a princess party! She proudly adorned her princess garb throughout the day. I think she was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. With two siblings, she's not used to that much undivided attention. :) But, she was adorable and she is definitely a princess in our eyes.

We also received an incredible blessing this weekend - my sister Cathy surprised us with the purchase of a swing set for the kids! And it was no small task putting that gigantic thing together. Cathy, her boyfriend Don, and Chris spent several hours Friday night and all day Saturday putting it together. It was at least a solid 12 hours worth of work. In the end, the kids have had an absolute blast on it. The first thing they want to do when they wake up in the morning is go in the backyard to play on it. Our house is definitely the place to be right now for all the neighborhood kids. A huge thanks to Cat for that one! She has always been one of the most giving people I've ever known, and once again we were humbled by her graciousness. I can only hope God will shape my heart to be even half as giving as hers one day.

Love, boats, and piercings.

What do they have in common? Not much, but it probably got your attention.

Two weeks ago, Chris and I had the pleasure of attended a marrage conference at our church. We've been married almost 9 years now and I still find myself amazed that God has blessed me with this incredible man. It was great to spend some dedicated time together (no kids!) and reflect on the bigger purpose God put us together for - to share His love with others. And.. we even got some dance lessons!

Would you believe my mom bought a boat? Yeah, me neither! And it's not a little boat... It's pretty darn big. We spent this past Saturday taking it out for her maiden voyage. The kids had a blast, but I think Chris had even more fun getting to be the captain.

While we were out boating, Chris' parents kept Amy Jo for us. They took her to get her ears pierced! She looks adorable! I'm so glad it's done and that I didn't have to be there. I almost passed out when Katie got hers done.

This week we're making preparations for Katie's birthday party. I can't believe she's about to be 2!

Painted nails, lemoNsines, and Jon Jon.

It's been tough for me to post regularly lately. I guess having 3 kids is taking up more time than I had anticipated. :) Here is a quick update on the latest in our household.

Katie got her first nail painting this weekend. Chris painted her toenails and fingernails and now she thinks she is hot stuff. She walks around saying "Ooohh, look at my toes. They're preeettty." I've started planning for her birthday party. I can't believe she'll be 2 at the end of this month!

Micah is turning into more of a comedian every day. He definitely gets those genes from Chris' family. The other day we were eating at Bono's (surprise, surprise). He started putting all our lemons from our drinks on one of the cardboard advertisements sitting on the table. Once he had them all meticulously arranged, he looked up with a big grin and said "Look everyone, it's a lemonsine!" He also had one of the most exciting moments of his life this week at our favorite Japanese restaurant. Over the years, we've become friends one one of the cooks there named Jon Jon. Micah thinks he is a super hero or something. So much so that he pretends to cook like him on our coffee table at home and he has been saving up money for the past few months so he can buy a spatula like Jon Jon's. What 3 year old has the diligence to save money to buy something like that over toys? Micah told Jon Jon about how he was going to get one of those as soon as he had enough money. So, when the meal was over, Jon Jon graciously gave him his spatula. Micah was so excited. He has even been taking the spatula to bed with him at night.

Amy Jo has been so much fun. She is smiling and coo'ing up a storm right now. She is such an easy going baby. I can't wait to see how her personality develops over the next several months. She seems like she is going to be such a delight.

I've had so much fun being home with the kids for the past 10 weeks! It's kind of bitter sweet that I have to begin going back into the office next. I enjoy my job, but I enjoy being a mom even more!

Spring is in the air!

I love this time of year. The temperature is perfect, the days are longer, everyone is outside. We took advantage of it today by going to the zoo with our neighbor and her kids. 70 degrees, a slight breeze, blue skies, and some stinky animal poop. It doesn't get much better than that!

2008 is beginning to look like a year of a lot of "firsts" for me. I had my first ever ER and hospital stay last month. And this week I got stitches for the first time. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration - I should say I got my first stitch (not plural). I had to get a mole removed and they put a little stitch in it afterwards. For a girl who hates needles, I sure am getting poked an awful lot this year. Next week I have to go to the dentist. With the year I've had so far, I'm sure you can understand my apprehension. :)

Remember. Never Forget.

This weekend I had the great pleasure of attending the annual women's retreat with my church. It was a great time to fellowship with some great friends, make new ones, and gave me some much needed time away from the busyness of life to spend with the Lord.

One of the themes of the retreat was remembering what God has done. I spent a good deal of time reflecting on all the amazing ways He has worked troughout my life. The people, events, and timing of things seems so intricately placed. From the events that transpired that resulted in me hearing the Gospel and accepting it into my heart, to the way I met Chris, to the death of my Dad, to the friends I made while working in highschool who challenged me which consequently resulted in Chris accepting Christ, to my attendance at UF and my "random" placement with roommates which led to my involvement in Campus Crusade, to our first professional jobs which ultimately led to the jobs we have today. Our marriage, the ministries we're involved in and support, the friends we have, the people we've seen grow or accept Christ, the people who have discipled us and the people we've discipled, the births we've had, the jobs we're in, the church we attend. Good times, bad times, the list goes on and on. All are a direct consequence of the way God began a series of events from the time I was a small child and arguably long before my life even began. It's as if He wanted me to be able to look back on them and be left utterly speechless at the undenyablity of His hand in all of it.

I think the words of this song sum it up better than I ever could...

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would send His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Grooming a gentleman begins early.

One of the things that I've always loved about Chris is what a gentleman he is. Even when we were young teenagers, he was always quick to do things like open the door for me and let me walk in first. He was always super polite to his elders. He told me that these were things his mom required of him from a young age. You don't see that a lot anymore, but it is something we definitely wanted to instill in any boys we had. So, it was great to see Micah put those lessons to use the other morning at Chick fil A with a little girl his age on the playground. It was so sweet to watch him be so polite. He always let her go down the slide first. He helped her get up the steps. He opened the door to and from the playground for her. I hope him learning these things now makes his future wife feel honored!

In other news - I had my 6 week checkup today. I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight! Yippie! That's the quickest I've bounced back after a having a baby - it normally takes me 6 months or so. I think my illness after having Amy is the biggest reason for that. I guess something good came out of that whole experience. Even though I'm happy about that, my pre-pregnancy weight isn't much to brag about (145). I would love to loose about 15 more pounds. So, that's my goal. I've started bike riding again and plan to hit the exercise pretty hard (kids permitting). You all can hold me accountable. I guess trips to Melting Pot like we did this past Monday night probably aren't going to help me too much in that quest. :)

It's a little dusty around here.

Never a dull moment at the Andrews household. Today's agenda - insulate the attic.

We've been wanting to add additional insulation in our attic for several years, but each year winter comes and goes before we find time to do it. With our electric bills continuing to increase, we were bound and determined to do it this year. But, yet again, winter has almost slipped past us. I guess we were a little preoccupied with the arrival of little Amy this winter. So, we knew this was probably the last weekend of reasonably cool weather and if we didn't do it now, it would be another year before it was done.

Little did I know how much work it would be. Chris spent about 5 hours in the attic blowing recycled paper product while his dad and I were down on the ground loading the hopper. I thought we were getting incredibly dusty loading the hopper, but Chris was 10 times worse. When Chris emerged from the attic, he looked like Pigpen from the Peanuts. Like he had rubbed a year's worth of lint from the dryer all over his body and then run a marathon. He was covered in head to toe with dust and all sweaty. Bleh!

All that and we're only half way done! Tomorrow after church we'll be attempting to finish the rest. Needless to say, the neti pot came in handy today. And I think Chris wants to do a sprinkler system next weekend. No rest for the weary! If anyone is bored and wants to help, come on by.

In the meantime, at least half the house is nice and cool!