Ruth's 3rd Birthday

Ruth loves Dora and wanted nothing other than a Dora party for her birthday. We invited several friends over for a little party and even Dora came for a visit! For her birthday present, we gave her a new bike with training wheels that she is quickly learning to ride quite well.

Esther's First Birthday

A picture's worth a thousand words, right? Well then...let's proceed. :)

This past Christmas (yes, I'm playing catch up), the three older children had an opportunity to participate in our church's children's Christmas program. Benjamin was a wise man, Sarah was an angel, and Rachel sang a duet with one of her friends.

The video of Rachel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpuoWARbso0&feature=youtu.be

Planes!

While my brother, Tim, and his family were visiting, a friend offered to take "the guys" to the local Air Force base to show them the planes. In one of the shots, Benjamin is standing in the cargo hold of a jet where they have previously had the President's limos parked. He also got to sit in the pilot's seat and press all the buttons he wanted! What a great time they had!

Urgent Request!

Okay, everybody!! My brother and sister-in-law have 17 more shirts they need to sell TODAY for their adoption efforts. If you can help, I am happy to pay the postage to mail you the shirts if you live out of this area. They are $20 for short-sleeved and $25 for long-sleeved. Pictures are posted below. Here's the designs and sizes they have left: Black Simply Love Long-Sleeved: Medium (2) Black Simply Love Short-Sleeved: Medium (3), Large (4) Blue Simply Love Short-Sleeved: Small (1), Medium (1) Gray Short-Sleeved World Design: Small (1), Medium (2) White Bulgaria Short-Sleeved: Medium (1), Large (1) Blue Bulgaria Short-Sleeved: Medium (1)

Rachels' Gymnastics Showcase

Rachel also had her gymnastics showcase last week. Here is the link to the YouTube videos of her performance. And here are some pictures of her class! Great job, Rach!

Benjamin's Gymnastics Showcase

Benjamin's first year of gymnastics ended last night and he showcased all that he has learned.  He has done very well, progressing through 3 classes in the course of the year.  There are 6 short videos posted on my YouTube channel of his various skills.  Here's a few pictures, too!

Today is the last day to help out my brother and his family through their adoption giveaway.  Please visit their blog!

Tim & Cindy Abbott - Adoption Journey to Bulgaria

Hi, I'm Sarah Henson, and I would like to tell you about a special giveaway!

How would you like to win a $250 Amazon gift card... or a 2 night stay at the George Washington Inn... or 4 passes to a Creation Museum... or a $200 gift card for whatever store you want... or other great gifts? My aunt and uncle are doing a giveaway to raise money for their adoption! Click the link to their blog for the details. If everyone helps just a little, they will reach their goal and be able to rescue 2 siblings from Bulgaria!

Here is the link to their blog: Our Adoption Journey to Bulgaria

Esther's Dedication

Esther was dedicated to the Lord on Easter Sunday at Westside. As most of you know, this is really more of a dedication of us as parents and a time of commitment to the Lord to raise our children Biblically. Here are a couple of pictures of this special time.

Introducing Esther Grace!

The day that marked our 40th week of pregnancy came and went (March 26th). The doctor scheduled a non-stress test on Monday, April 2nd, to monitor the baby's heart rate and movements. The nurse at the office joked that she wouldn't see me because I'd be in the hospital, but I didn't really believe her. Sunday, April 1st, was a day of sickness in our family. Four of us had fevers and coughs (mine was over 102 degrees). Most of the other nights lately, Garth and I had asked each other "will it be tonight?". Sunday night, we were pretty much hoping it WOULDN'T be tonight since I was still getting over fevers and chills. I woke up a lot during the night just not feeling well and attributed it to being sick the day before. Around 4:00, I started noticing the "feelings" were getting stronger and were turning into contractions in my back. I began timing them and realized they were every 5 minutes! Thinking it was too good to be true, I just tried to go back to sleep (which didn't happen). I woke Garth up at 4:30 and told him I was just going to time them for another half hour before I got up. He watched me go through a couple contractions and said, "Nope, I'm going to get a shower. You do what you want!" I figured I'd get up, too, and see what happened. As soon as I stood up, the contractions got harder and more intense. I took time for a bath and tried to relax. Then we woke up Sarah (who was coming with us to the hospital) and loaded the car. We arrived at the hospital shortly before 7:00 am. The doctor checked me then and said I was at 4 cm and nearly 100% effaced. He decided to go ahead and break my water since that is what accelerated my labors in the past. As SOON as he broke it, he said, "Wow! You just jumped to a 7 like that!" He told us then, too, that there was meconium in my fluid and what the risks were with that. They gave me an IV with a bunch of fluid since I was so dehydrated from being sick the day before.

Within the next two hours, I dilated to 9 cm and between contractions was busy texting or talking to Sarah, Garth, and my nurse (who was absolutely fabulous, by the way).

Transition began around 9:00 am and the contractions were very intense. Sarah did a great job holding my hand through them and putting cold cloths on my face. She also assisted the nurse with special jobs! The doctor came back in the room about 9:50, put his gloves on, and I gave two pushes. With that, Esther Grace was born at 9:54 am on April 2nd!

She weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces, and is 20 1/2 inches long.

Garth got to give her the first bath and then we took turns holding her and loving on her.

Her siblings are in love with her and can hardly wait for us to get home so they can help take care of her.

Emilee is a wonderful helper who is staying with us for about a month to help me out. She is staying with the girls while we're at the hospital (Benjamin is at a friend's house). I'm so thankful for Emilee and all she is doing to help out our family. I'm thankful to her parents, too, who are willing to let her come!

Birthday Celebration

Last night we celebrated Sarah's birthday along with two girls from church (Emilee and Hadassah) that had birthdays in the last couple of weeks. Benjy (Emilee's brother) gave me a night off from cooking and made a delicious Italian meal of linguine with two types of sauce, a big salad, and Italian bread. Then for dessert we had chocolate cake.

Ruth loves to eat chocolate (or "allah" as she calls it). Here she is with Benjy.

And then she wanted to pose for her picture again!

Play-Doh Creations

Play-Doh has been a popular activity lately at our house. (One reason for this is the crazy weather!) Sarah made me a delicious meal the other day...

...and then this is how Ruth plays with Play-Doh.