Just a swingin' .........almost

Pretty sweet picture of the 2 happy kids on their new swing set.

It has a tunnel that is on our porch for now. Who knew this would be so much fun?


Emerald standing tall in her "clubhouse".

We bought a swingset for the kids! We are so excited to finally give them something in their backyard to play with. We purchased it from Craigslist (did I mention I LOVE Craigslist?) and are happy that it is already mostly assembled. On the directions it says that 2 moderatly skilled people will take 24 hours to assemble this puppy! Thank goodness Uncle Jeff has a trailer and once again we see such value to living close to family. How awesome was he to help Skip take this thing apart in chunks and haul it to our house. Even in pieces, the kids are already loving it. We can't wait to see their happy faces once it is all together and put up. Emerald asks Skip each day, "your going to put up my swings today?". No pressure daddy-o!! We are just a little scared to see exactly what kind of monkeys we have on our hands, especially with Calvin. Please pray for no broken bones!

Friends

Many of you have been asking if we've been making friends up here. Yes, we have! We have a lot of former friends that we have kept in touch with. On our block, we have many wonderful families. Jamie, another stay-at-home mom and I have become fast friends. Her twins, Avery and Carson, are 2 weeks younger than Calvin. This makes for some great play-time. I feel fortuante to have found such a great friend in her. We had Avery and Carson over for lunch the other day and Emerald was very excited that they all got to eat at the "big kid" table. It is interesting when you don't have 3 18 month olds strapped in a high chair! We also have another friend (I need to get a picture) on the street named Aubrey who is turning 2 this week. Her mom, Sara, Jamie and I have already gone out on a girl's night out which was a lot of fun. Hopefully we will have more of those to come soon.

Going to the fair

We missed the Miami county fair, but found a perfect August evening to take the kids to check out the Johnson county fair in Gardner. They had so much fun watching the rides, petting the animals, eating some special treats, and just being outside on a gorgeous night. We, of course, had the most fun watching them take it all in. Emerald was much braver this time around. Last time we went to something like this she was scared of everything. This time she walked right up to the cows, put her hands in the goat and sheep pens to pet the animals, and didn't once flinch at any of the animals. Calvin's eyes got pretty big with most of the animals, and especially seemed timid when a sheep came around the corner and bleated in his face. Overall, I think they had a great time.

Sweet moments

OK, so I have been a slacker mom, I am sorry! It is ridiculous that is has been about 3 weeks since I posted. So, beware, many updates coming soon. In this episode, you will see Calvin trying to be "just like daddy-o". I thought it was so cute that he was trying to wear daddy's shoes. This is a pretty tough job to fill, being Skip these days, and I'm not sure if anyone is up for that task! Those things are heavy, trust me, and I was impressed he could even show me one.

You will also see a very rare photo opp. Our daughter feel asleep on the couch. Seriously, this has only happened a handful of times in her life! We let her stay up a little later to watch some of the Olympics, and Michael Phelps swimming. She seems quite intrigued by both swimming and gymnastics. Skip and I noticed that it got quiet (a rare moment in our house, trust me). We walked around the couch to find that our sweet angel had fallen asleep from the excitement of another gold medal for Michael Phelps. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

On a personal note, we are all very exhausted these days. Yes, partly due to growing a person, but mostly due to the fact that we aren't able to go to bed until midnight. I LOVE the Olympics and am so excited to watch gymnastics!! Way to go Nastia and Shawn!!

God has a plan for us all--even if we don't always understand it!

I was once talking with a priest and asked him to explain God's plan for us. I was frustrated at the time, very frusterated. I told him, that I understood that God has a plan for us all. I explained that I just needed some post-it notes along the way to explain His plan to us all.

I get it!! I understand!! My post-it notes.......................

Meeting my husband the first day at K-State.......
Getting married to my best friend in 1998...........
Adding Laney to our family in 2001........
Adding Emerald to our family in 2005...........
Adding Calvin to our family in 2007..........
Adding ?????? to our family in February 2009!!!

Surprise world..............we are pregnant!! Yes, you read that correctly. I am reminded of a song by Garth Brooks, "Sometimes I thank God, for unanswered prayers." I will send you the words to the song if you need them. I don't know how long we prayed for this miracle (and yes, it truly is a miracle). However, if God had answered our prayers initially, we would never be able to look into those beautiful brown eyes of our son and daughter. We are so very thankful that God's plan is shown to us now. Thank you!!

Yes, I am a little sappy, I guess I can officially blame that on hormones now :) We found out July 9 that we were indeed pregnant. Oh my gosh were we shocked. The shock is starting to wear off, a little. We are starting to accept that we are going to be parents of 3 little cutie-pies. We couldn't share the news until we went to the doctor (July 24) and confirmed that all was ok. We had a sonogram at this appointment and all looks great. We are now 10 weeks pregnant, almost past the first trimester, almost. We are due February 25. Considering this was an unplanned surprise (yes, are you shocked?), we didn't do too bad. With a boy born in January, and a girl in March, clothing wise we should be set. Calvin will be 2 by then, and Emers almost 4. God knew that this wasn't supposed to happen last year, with Calvin so young, the move, new job, etc. We are also thankful that we are now living in a 4 bedroom house, just enough rooms.

This is a lot to take in, trust me, I know. We are learning an entire new world. It is exciting, and we ask for prayers that this turns out to be a healthy, happy, (sleepy) baby. We don't care about boy or girl, either is wonderful. It is awesome that Skip's sister is due in September, Skip's brother is due in December, and this little Pankewich baby will make 5 in February. We are going from 2 to 5 in 5 months!! Wow!!

One last thing, if you see or hear us mention Lobster, that is our little nickname for our little miracle. I can't say "it" for 7 more months. We don't plan to find our if it is a boy or girl, sorry to disappoint. We like surprises!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Emerald picked our Lobster's name and I love it b/c it reminds me of the Friends episode where "he's her lobster". Skip and I have joked about that for years, so when Emerald, out of the blue, chose Lobster, we said yes. It is silly, but sweet.

OK, that's enough excitement for now. Remember, prayers for 1) healthy, 2) happy, and 3) laid back, baby Lobster Pankewich!! We love you all, most especially our 3 little miracles.

Our sweet babies

This is what happens when you try to take Calvin's pics these days.





They really do love each other!

Daddy was helping keep Calvin still.

Emerald loves to play "dress up" these days. Like most 3 year olds, princess is her favorite. Calvin climbed into the laundry basket the other day and was posing like crazy. Too sweet. Possibly my favorite of the year, who knows. The rest of these pics are from a mini-photo session after church. They looked sweet and innocent anyway :)

Look for a whole new blog look coming very soon!

Calvin has a fishy room

This is Steph's old furniture. The before (below) and the after. I like it much better.

Wow, a nursery completed before he turns 2!! We finally finished Calvin's room. The pics at the bottom are of Calvin in his "stripping" mode. Lately we have to put him in a onesie for bed. He takes off his shirt and shorts, and almost (luckily not yet) his diaper. This is now his efforts on a onesie!! He figured out how to get it over his arms, and is now in a skirt! He finds a new way to challenge us every day--and we love every minute of it.