WOW.... its been a while

Hello Readers!
Sorry its been months since my last post. Life around here with two kids is crazy. Here is an update: we just moved to a new apartment, I will be sending around New Address cards to everyone soon. Noah will be 6 months old this week, Jacob started Bethlehem Christian School in September, Russ got a new job~ not a graphic design job but a job that he likes. Hopefully God will open a door soon for him to get the "perfect" design job. Okay I have to go pick up Jacob from school but I will post pictures and more information when I return today....

check back soon :)

its been 2 weeks....

Well its been 2 weeks since we had Noah.. Things are crazy just like you would expect them to be with two. He is eating and sleeping well for me though. It does take me at least 45 minutes to leave the house, as soon as I put Noah in his car seat he needs a diaper change!

Jacob is doing well, he is loving the warm weather. Saturday he started soccer and he had a blast. He can't wait until next saturday to do it again. When we got home on Saturday it was about 85 degrees out and Jacob wanted to swim so we filled up his pool and he played for about 3 hours! We have been trying to get outside almost everyday! He just loves being outside.

Russ had his portfolio review on Thursday, He didn't get any full time job offers but he did get some offers for freelance work as well as some good contacts! His graduation is quickly approaching, I just know that God has something great in store for him :)

Well here are some pictures of my kiddies.....

Catch up.....

Okay everyone sorry I haven't posted in a while. But my baby boy is finally here. After being over a week late the doctor finally decided to induce me. Noah Joseph Maura came into the world on Thursday April 3, 2008 weighing 9 lbs. and measuring 20 inches! It was a quick labor for me. Once they broke my water, Noah came very quickly. Thank the Lord cause it was painful. But in the end I am glad that I decided to have a natural birth (without an epidural). I recovered so much quicker.

Anyway Jacob is loving his new baby brother and is always giving him kisses. He can't wait until Noah can play cars and trucks with him. Oh ya did I mention that Jacob picked out his baby brothers name. We really didn't mind cause Russ and I weren't sure what to name him anyway. Jacob was calling him Noah since I was about 7 months pregnant. We couldn't change the name after all that time. He just felt like a Noah.

Jacob is adjusting well, he is very helpful when he wants to be but he is also very independent. Which is a good thing right now. I feel like all I do is change and feed Noah! But it still feels great to have two!!

Russ loves having a new baby in the house too. He is doing so well juggling work and school and a growing family. Speaking of school, Russ is almost finished. As of today he has officially 4 weeks left! Wow I can't believe it will all be over in a few short weeks. Hopefully he will be getting a job within the next few weeks and then we can begin to make plans on where we will be living...I am very excited for that! Well I guess thats all for now. Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.....

and more.......

Jill and Steve

This is for Jill and Steve...Jacob made this video for you. I couldn't email this but here it is.

Everyone else we just got a new camera so I will post new pictures and more info tomorrow.
Love Ya

Pictures from Sat.

Our Weekend

Well we had a good weekend..We got to have some family time together friday night and sat morning. Saturday night we had that Martin Luther King Celebration at NCC. It was cool to go and see all the stuff that Russ designed. Plus they had free refreshments and treats at the intermission. That was my favorite part. Its pretty hard for Russ to compete with Free brownies and cookies. Sorry Honey :) Anyhow Sunday we just had church and then hung out for the day. We actually got outside today for a walk. I ended up having contractions again a couple hours after that. I am not sure if those walks are good or bad for me.

So today I am 32 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I am getting so excited for this baby to arrive. We went out on friday and bought some things that we needed for him. Its so weird that I have a house full of baby stuff and this kid is kicking me every 5 minutes but I still don't feel pregnant. I look down at my belly and all I think is wow thats huge. I can't believe that there is a baby in there that will be coming out in a few weeks. So strange.

So about my post a couple weeks ago about these "friends" that I lost. The Lord has really helped me heal and realize that its okay. He has put a bunch of new people in our lives that love us and accept us and our decisions. Which is awesome. I just had to realize that no matter how much I wanted to "control" the situation that I can't. People make their own choices and I can do nothing about it. I am not going to forget these people that once were in my life but I cannot change who I am or what I believe for them. That chapter is officially over. I am oddly excited about what the future holds. I should say what the Lord has in store for us. I can't keep trying to pull these people with me when they have so obviously made their choice. People change and I was holding on to what our friendship used to be not what it is now (which by the way is ridiculous)!! I have this problem with letting go and living in the past. SO anyhow I guess that its not my hormones after all :)

"Vote Ron PAul"

January 14th

Well today I am about 30 weeks and 4 days pregnant. This little guy is sure kicking the crap out of me :) Being pregnant has been fine so far except now my hips hurt so bad I could cry. Its so hard to even walk up and down the stairs.

We have a couple of names so far that we like
Noah Joseph
OR
Joshua Adam
I would love to know what you think! Here are some pics from a couple of days ago. My belly pic isn't great but I'll get another one soon. I took it myself :)

Russ starts up his last semester this week. Yay! Only a few weeks to go until freedom :)

Some Pictures of my baby boy

jakes dr. appt.

Well we just took jacob to a new doctor this week. I was a little worried to go somewhere else because of the problems we seem to have everywhere we go. (most of you know why)Anyway the nurse came in to look at him and she was very nice. I thought okay lets wait until the doctor comes in. So the nurse weighed him and measured him and stuff. She also asked jake a bunch of questions which I wasn't expecting. He answered all of them. Then she told us that he was in the 93% for height and weight. I was very happy, I thought that he might be underweight. THen she told us that he was a smart little boy and that he was going to smart when he was older. Of course I smiled. Every parent wants to hear that :) Then we met the doctor, he was very nice and also about 80! Which worked to our advantage. He has been around along time, long enough to see when some things are wrong in this world. (of course I mean medically)He didn't say that we were wrong in the choices we were making.I guess the point of this is that sometimes I feel like people judge me for the choices we make as a family. Only because we don't just go along with things like others. We ask questions, do research, PRAY about things concerning our son. Some people are worried about jacob, well I have to laugh cause he is the healthiest kid I know. We don't keep him locked up either. He is around other kids, in the nursery, etc. He doesn't catch anything cause besides colds there is not much else to catch. HE doesn't GIVE anything cause he HAS NOTHING to give. I am glad that I got REAL answers from a doctor. Not the ones that they are trained to give. I am very thankful that the Lord gave me one of his children to look after and raise. I would never take that lightly. Everyday I see jake I tell him "Hey, do you know how lucky I am to be your mom?" He just always says "Yes!". THank you Lord for blessing me abundantly!