So I thought it was time to update again. We have been so busy, the last two weeks have just flown by. We went home to Roanoke over Thanksgiving. It was a nice trip home and we had a lot of fun spending time with family. Dustin and I went shopping on Black Friday together. It wasn't as horrible as I was expecting and I managed to get some pretty good deals. Target and Kohl's were the worst, so we just didn't even try and look. I think that I enjoyed just spending some quality time with my hubby alone more than the shopping. After shopping, I met my old roomies at Panera to have lunch and catch up. It was wonderful to see them again, even though they all weren't there. It just brought back alot memories. Good times!
The day we got home we went on duty at Hickory for a four day stretch and then had a maint. day which consisted mostly of meetings. Now we are on at Pine for a four day stretch. This is a new adventure for us, as we have never worked in a co-ed house but we are really enjoying it. Man o man the difference.....girls are just so full of drama and when you put seven of them together you just have WAY TOO MUCH drama! It has been fun to just experience another house. I will have to say I was quite nervous about coming into a house with kids I didn't know very well, but they are doing a great job.
We are looking forward to a couple days off though. Hopefully I will be able to get some Christmas shopping done and our Christmas pictures taken and sent out. Oh, and my house decorated! Our tree is up, no ornaments though, and our stockings are hung. That's about it. The kids are excited to finish decorating!
My pregnancy is going good. I had a sono yesterday and baby girl is measuring just on schedule. She weighs 4lbs. 5oz. Seems so tiny. I am getting anxious to meet her! I think Caden will have a harder time adjusting to life with a little one than Libby will. We will get though it though. I have stopped trying to potty train. He did so well without a diaper but we can't have a naked little boy running around all the time. I just don't think he's ready and I don't want to push him. I have come to accept the fact that I may have two children in diapers again. Life could be worse.
I hope all of you are enjoying this holiday season and remembering the true reason for the holiday. It seems like we can get so wrapped up in the commercial scene that we forget the real reason. One of the things that I want to stress to these kids is just that. That the real reason we have Christmas is for Christ. Before I can do that, I need to check myself and make sure I am living what I am teaching. Have a great weekend everyone!

It seems like it is so hard for me to get into a routine of posting. Then when I do have the time to post, there is so much to post about that I just feel overwhelmed and don't know where to begin. Things have been going well. We are busy, as it seems we always are anymore. But I don't really mind the business. It helps me to stay focused on what God's purpose is for me here and I don't have time to feel lonely or sorry for myself.
Gateway Woods has hired new Alternate Houseparents and they moved to Leo on Saturday. We are especially excited about this because the wonderful couple is from Roanoke!! Chad and Kristy Kaeb have joined the Gateway team and we are excited to get to know them even more. Libby is really excited to have them here because their daughter Abbi is Libby's age and since they live 2 doors down from us she thinks that they will be playing all the time!!! It will be nice to have her so close. Libby really hasn't had a playmate on our street since August and she has really missed that.
We have started to paint our kitchen finally. I have wanted to do this since we moved, but have just not gotten around to it. Hopefully it will be done in the next day or so and I will post pictures as soon as is complete.
I don't remember if I have posted about potty training with Caden, but will update anyway. We have been attempting to potty train our little boy. He gets it I think, but doesn't always do it. He does do it consistently when he doesn't have a diaper or underwear on. This poses a problem because I can't have my child running around naked all the time. He is so good about telling me he has to go or just going by himself, but the minute I put a diaper on, he is back to his old self. I just don't know how to handle this. I have tried gum, which is something he really likes, but that doesn't seem to work. If you have any suggestions I would be delighted to hear them. On another note, he has been sick this week. On Saturday night before I went to bed I noticed that he felt a little warm. Dustin said that it was probably just cause he was under the covers so I didn't think much of it. Well, he woke up in the middle of the night burning up, poor kid. So he has had fever off and on, mainly on, since then. I think that it is down this morning, but he still isn't himself. So now I have to make the decision of calling the doctor or not. If it's not one thing it's the other.
Libby is doing well and now has homework sent home with her from preschool. She just loves to do it and bugs me about it all the time. I hope this continues throughout her years of schooling. Something thing tells me it won't be that easy. Oh well, I can hope!
Dustin and I are doing well. The baby continues to grow and is rarely ever still. I wonder if she is going to be long because it feels like she just stretches across my whole body! It is sometimes easy to forget that I am pregnant because we are so busy, but she makes sure that I don't forget for long! I can't believe I am at week 30 already! Time flies! We are getting more and more excited, but there also is some fears that come along with that excitement. I just have to remember to give it to God and He will provide. Houseparents have babies of their own all the time and they turn out just fine!!
I feel like I have just kinda rambled on for a long time, so I will stop now. Hope you all are doing well and are having a great week!

Five Years Ago Today I Married My Best Friend

There is so many thoughts rushing through my head and I just can't put them together. The last 5 years have been incredible. They have gone by so fast! I can hardly remember my life pre-marriage! Looking back to my wedding day, I never thought that in 5 years I would have 2 children and one on the way and be living in Leo, IN serving at Gateway. It's probably a good thing that I didn't know, or else I would have been terrified! God has truly blessed our marriage and I wouldn't have changed one thing. Well, I guess there is one thing that I would change, Slow down and enjoy every moment.
Dustin, I love you so much! Thank you for choosing me! Thank you for always being there no matter what life brings. I'm sure that I haven't been the easiest or most fun person to live with at all times! :) I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else but you and our children. You made my life complete they day we became one. I'm excited to see how God leads over the next 5 years!
I LOVE YOU!!

Sweet Children

I just love this little boy! :) Tonight he was just a little stinker though. Dustin had gone to play softball with Gateway people and I was home with the kiddos. They did some crafts and had fun doing them together. It was getting about bedtime, so I thought that I would read them a couple stories before bed. Well, when we were done reading, Caden was not! He threw a small fit, but then we convinced him that he could continue reading by taking a book to bed. (we being Libby and I) So we got our PJ's on and I sent them back to their rooms. I even let them have another 10 mins. or so reading together. Well, when I went back to pray with them, he lost it. He did calm down a bit for the prayer, but then when Libby went to her room (ever so nicely) he lost it again. Screaming and crying that he didn't want to go to bed. I tucked him in and gave him kisses and told him I loved him, although I'm not sure he heard it over all his screaming. I went to Libby's room and tucked her in. He kept screaming and crying and I kept telling him it was time to go to sleep. Then, I heard him say, "But mom, there's a shadow!!" Well, his nightlight makes a SMALL shadow on his wall and he just is so scared of it. So I went in and turned it off and that calmed him down alot. Then Daddy got home and he decided that he "needed" something else. Daddy went into his room and very sternly put him back in bed and told him not to get out. This happened two more times. After the second spanking, I think he finally got it and fell asleep. (or at least got too tired and fell asleep) It was a long hour and a half. But through it all I couldn't help but smile and think of how much I love that little guy. He has so much personality and makes me smile and laugh everyday. I don't know what I would do without him. I love you Caden Joseph so much!

Now on to the drama queen. This picture was taken at her birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa "Tick-Tock's" in Illinois. I will say that Erin has an even better picture of her in this pose. But mine will have to do for now. My little girl is growing up so fast. She just turned 4 about 2 1/2 weeks ago and I can hardly believe it. She is not only growing up physically, but she is just getting older mentally. Like tonight for instance. She was such a great help with Caden. She did a great job trying to convince Caden that it was okay to go to bed. She even told him that she was in the next room and would be with him through the wall. She's such a great big sister! She also just LOVES to do crafts. She sat at the table for probably an hour or more just working away. It's fun to see the stuff she makes and how she uses her imagination. Although she can be a major drama queen and throw her share of fits, I still wouldn't trade her for the world. I love you Liberty Joy and am so glad God gave you to me!!

So I was looking at my blog and noticed that the date on my most recent post was the end of September. I just posted that yesterday which was the 6th of October. So, just putting a post to see if it does this again.

Have a good one!

FInally an Update

Hello All! I know it has been FAR too long since I have updated my blog. My sincere apologies!! :) So on to the update.......

Things are going well here at Gateway. We are adjusting and this is becoming more normal everyday. I do have to say that I am still terribly homesick, but God keeps reminding me that this is where He wants our family and that we are doing His work.

Most of you probably know this, but we are expecting baby #3 the end of January. We are very excited and can't wait to meet our baby girl! Liberty and Caden as very excited as well and love to feel mommy's belly and talk to the baby. They have enjoyed their baby cousin Abel so much and that makes me excited to see them interact with our baby. The pregnancy is going pretty good. I get tired very easily and am alot more sore than I have ever been. But overall I can't complain.

Libby is adjusting to life here so well. It makes me very thankful. She started preschool the middle of September and is loving it. It makes me tear up from time to time when I drop her off. She is just this "big" little girl going into school with her backpack. She waves at me all the way in. Time just goes so fast. I remember when she was a little baby. She is has learned to write her name. Although it isn't perfect is is pretty good for a just 4 yr. old who just started preschool. She knew how to write it before then, but I think they are practicing tracing their names, so that helps her get better. For the longest time she would only write Libb, she would never put the Y. Now she puts the Y and is SO proud of herself. She's getting so big and I just love her more and more everyday.

Caden is doing wonderful adjusting, too. He loves Gateway and loves the fact that he can play outside so much more. He enjoyes the barn so much. He will go outside to play and I will go to look for him and he will just be in the barn feeding the horses or playing with the ropes. He just plays outside doing "work", just like daddy. It is so cute. Yesterday he came inside with a stick just about as tall as him. He just loved it and had a fit when I wanted him to play with it outside. He loves the girls in our house and talks about them all the time. I feel like him and Libby almost think they are apart of our family. It is so neat to watch them interact.

We are in the process (actually Dustin is in the process) of repainting the kids' rooms. We painted Libby and the baby's room Electric Lime and Bright Pink and Caden's room Navy and Orange. They look so good and I will post pictures as soon as they are done. I hope to be able to figure out how to post pictures soon. We should have internet at our house by the beginning of next week, so after that I will def. update my pictures here and on FB.

Well....that is about all I have time for tonight. We are on duty and it is almost snack time. Sorry for being so bad in posting lately. Hopefully I will do better. I just need to update a couple times a week. I haven't posted in SO long and it just seemed like there was so much to update on. I have probably missed something, but I guess that's okay. Have a good evening everyone!

Night!

Randoms

Hello All!  Just thought I would update everyone on a few random things that have been happening here in Leo.  Things have been going good.  Adjusting a little more every day.  We are on duty for the first time by ourselves starting tonight and will be here for 3 days!  Kinda scary, but I know that things will go okay and we will learn everyday as things happen.  If you would want to say a little prayer for us that would be marvelous.  Thanks! :)

Dad and Mom Hodel were here for the weekend and it was amazing to have them here!  I think I needed a little something from home to get me till Thursday. (that's the day we go home for 5 days!)  We had so much fun with them and the kids were just in their glory.  Friday we went to a park in the morning and let Libby and Cade play for a while.  Then we had lunch and they took naps.  While they were taking naps Dad and Dustin started to investigate this leak we have had in our house since we moved.  It's been kinda frustrating.  So, the plumbers have been out several times along with the leak detection guys and they thought they fixed it, but then realized that there was another leak.  They were gonna have to put another hole in Libby's room.  But then my amazing father-in-law came and Dustin and him fixed it within an hour.  It was amazing!!!  I love those two men so much!!  After they fixed the leak we went shopping and the to Chili's.  It was a lovely day.  Saturday we took the kids to the zoo and then D and I got a much needed date night.  We haven't had that in a LONG time.  Today we went to church and just lazed around and ate at Culver's before they left.  It was sad to see them leave, but I know that I will be going home on Thursday, so that makes it easier.  

Well.  I better sign off.  I'm starting to get blurry eyed and need to head to bed so I can function properly tomorrow.  Have a wonderful evening and a wonderful week!

G'nite!