Life on First Avenue - thenewcombclan

I cannot believe that I registered Lily for kindergarten yesterday! I mean, it just seems like yesterday that she was born. Did you notice I uploaded video from when I was pregnant with her and then also from the hospital and her first few days/weeks? That's because I came across the videos and took a little trip down memory lane yesterday. I don't want them to get lost so I am putting them here so they will be safe. I just cannot believe that she is going to be 5 in June and then heading to school in the fall. It really does go by so fast. Really fast. Like lightning speed. 

Greetings friends and family! 2012 is fast upon us and in the spirit of the new year I started a blog. I wanted to share the link with you all in hopes that you will check it out, subscribe via email and give me feedback on what you think about my endeavor!

The concept came about over time. Obviously since you are reading this you know that I enjoy writing about our lives and providing photos. As you also know Craig and I have had success being DIYers (Do It Yourself-ers) over the years and part of our success goes to other bloggers and websites that have kindly documented helpful steps and "how to" instructions for us. Combined with the fact that we have talked a lot about our finances and making well-thought-out decisions, I decided that perhaps some of our changes and decisions would help others out there just like we've been helped! So, Intentional Girl was born. One of our goals is to make more intentional decisions in our lives, whether it's our spending, the food we eat, how we go about our home renovations - everything. There's such a sense in which people make impulsive decisions (and if you know me you know I struggle with this impulsiveness) and are not good stewards of their resources, that we have decided to go against the current and wanted to share that with people.

You will notice that the blog does not mention where we live or our last names. That's "intentional". You laugh, but it's a theme of ours right now! I would love for you to share the blog with others as I am excited about some of the things we'll be sharing.

If you want to know, there's a blog that played a huge role in inspiring me. She's The Frugal Girl. Her blog can be found here. I think you will find her just as helpful and fun as I have.

I will still post photos and some content here, but will be spending more time on building up the blog (you know, in my spare time since I have so much of it!). Ha!

You can find my new blog at:
www.intentionalgirl.wordpress.com or by clicking here.

If you have a blog or website, please share that with me and I will post it as one of my links/websites on the new blog site. :)

Blessings,
Steph

This year Lily and I went through an advent craft that a friend from college recommended. It's called Truth In The Tinsel. It's a hands-on craft every day starting December 1 that talks about the story of Jesus' birth and the end result every day is an ornament for the Christmas tree. We had such a nice time doing these crafts daily, talking about the best gift of all, Jesus. It was a real joy to make time with her to do these simple tasks, read the Bible together (she got really excited to read from her own Jesus Storybook Bible too) and talk about what it meant.

As 2011 wraps up and 2012 begins I am hopeful that more of these conversations can happen between Craig and I are our little ones.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope to keep posting more updates as the winter months approach us!

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I love the word "Intentional". I love talking about how we should live our lives with intentions to love others. I love talking about how we need to make intentional decisions. You know...being on offense instead of defense. The kind of living where you actually make plans to do things and then actually do them. None of this "running into people" out in public and saying, "Oh man we need to get together...I haven't seen you in 2 months...I'll call you!" And we all know what happens. Life. We get busy, we lose track and before we know it it's another 6 months and you think about that time in the grocery store and why you never called Sally. And if you are like me, you beat yourself up, saying to yourself what a horrible friend you are and how busy you are....etc, etc.

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Hurricane shmurricane, right? Well, that's what I thought until last night. Boy what a ride Craig and I had.

Yesterday started with us doing our good homeowner duties of ensuring the gutters were cleaned (including taking the leaf guards off and cleaning them and the gutter out of debris), caulking a few small cracks near the foundation of the home, and generally feeling really good about things at our home. Ha, what a joke!

Last night we put the kids to bed as the rain picked up (we expected that). I decided to go upstairs to make sure everything was okay in Lily's room (third floor right under the roof). All was clear. As I moved into the spare room and started to leave, I hear, "drip....drip...." NOOOOOO! Not again...Craig came up quickly and we got trash cans and stuck them under the two leaky areas hoping to contain the issue. We were encouraged to realize that it appeared to be coming in from the outside of the home rather than the roof above (so a flashing issue/caulking issue and not a roof issue...whew!). Then as we made our way downstairs and were ready to go to bed, we heard dripping coming down the window in the living room on the first floor. Yep, water was leaking not through the window, but through the top section, as if coming through the window header outside above the window. Again, flashing issue. No biggie. A towel is the temporary fix for now until we get on a laddder and seal it up another day.

Lastly I went down to check the window in the basement just to be sure everything was okay. Squish. My bare feet stepped right in water across the front section of our basement. NOOOOOO!!!! At this point it was about 1AM and Craig and I knew we were in for an interesting night. Towels. Wet/Dry Vac. Dehumidifier. Flashlights. We quickly realized that the water was not coming into the home from the ground above. No water coming down the walls or dripping anywhere. Nope. We were lucky enough to have water oozing up from the ground. Lucky us. Without a sump pump we let the hose to the wet/dry vac slurp it up for 30 minute increments at which point we would give it a break and reassess. That lasted well into the morning hours. Around 4AM Craig was wise enough to notice drips coming down from our electrical panel. Yep, that's right. Water was traveling from our energy meter outside down into the home. After a call to our energy company (PECO) we realized there was nothing they could do. An electrician will need to come out and fix the issues on Monday.

I am happy to report that the storms are passing and we no longer have water oozing into our basement. This is the basement I used to brag was dry and didn't take in water. This is the basement that is way too cluttered and is about to be decluttered (hello Freecycle!) and prepared for some sealing and attention.

Today Ben and Lily get to hang out with their favorite golden retrievers Scout and Seamus (and Sarah and Kyle) while Craig and I rest up. They were so excited they got to go over there and hang out with them - it was like I made their day when I announced our day's plan.

And that is my official hurricane Irene update. It was a more eventful 24 hours than I wanted. I had plans to scrapbook today.

I remember in the days of long ago that my summers used to feel both very long and very short at the same time. In those dog days of summer I recall never knowing what the date was - and sometimes what the day of the week it was. Summer just happened and I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted (or maybe whenever my mom wanted me to...).

In true southern style I am excited about the heat - and well, yes, the humidity. It means summer is here which means being outside. Being outside means we aren't inside. You get the drift? I get cabin fever big time and need to be with people (I know this comes as a huge shock to some of you :) ) and in the winter I start to feel very isolated living in chilly Pennsylvania.

But now, I don't have to worry about all that. It's warm and sometimes very hot outside. The kids are sweating like crazy (especially Ben who hasn't shed his winter...er baby...blubber) and I'm trying to remember to put sunscreen on all of us.

Lily just finished up her last day at her preschool program at the YMCA near us. It was called Wooden Shoe. She won't be there next year because she and Ben will be attending another local preschool called Zion. Ben was old enough to participate in the two year program so we figured it would be best to have both kids at the same place. Plus (this is the bestest part...) they have as-needed additional care that I can utilize if I need it. Both kids can stay until 5:30 every day if I have some real estate obligations. We were trying to decide if Lily would do some camps in the summer but right now it doesn't make sense because Ben is still too young to participate. While I would love for her to be able to go "dig" for dinosaurs or do some fun activity, I think we will just do our own exploring together this summer. So this summer we will be hanging out together. I have a few people I can call if I need someone to watch the kids so I can do work so we just do that as it's needed.

We just returned from Virginia after spending about 5 days there visiting friends and family. It was a long overdue trip and I was excited that we were all able to go. We stayed at my grandparents old house (that's currently undergoing some cosmetic improvements to be sold in the not-so-distant future) in the west end of Richmond. What a nice treat! My mom was able to get the place cleared out enough for Lily to have room to sleep in her tree tent (thank you Kate Henry for seeing that special bargain at Target in the winter!!!) and then two other rooms for me and Craig and then Ben. Oh yes, and Ben got to sleep on a queen sized Aerobed all by himself. And he only fell out of bed once! What a treat to have our own space (and our own big yard) for a very long weekend! We got to see some good friends and spend some time with family. Did I mention that it was insanely hot and the mosquitoes were in full force. My poor children still have evidence of those nasty bugs on their legs. Our schedule was jam packed full of fun and lots of new experiences for the kids. Lily had her first sleep over with her cousins Stone and Cami at my dad and Fay's house. She missed us not once! Everyone got to go to the zoo which was a ton of fun. Highlights were Lily getting to feed birds and have them land on her hand as well as getting to feed, be licked by and pet real giraffes. What a fun time we all had!

Now we are gearing up for Lily's 4th birthday party at the end of the month. A zoo-themed event no doubt! We will be heading to the lake up in Wesauking, PA for a few weekends this summer. Oh yes, let's not forget that I (Steph) have insanely signed up for a 10k (first one ever) with my high school friend Sarah Alonso (now Bellezza) that's in July. It's the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run in Fairmont Park just outside Philly. So, yes, now I must train. But I'm excited for the extra push it will be for me. A 10k is a real stretch for me but I am very excited.

Perhaps a day trip here and there to the Please Touch Museum, Sesame Place and Camden Aquarium will be things filling our calendars these days. 

Our church continues to search for a pastor and that process has us trusting the Lord more and more. Sharing with good friends in Virginia recently had both Craig and I remembering why we are still there (grateful that they asked us some good questions about why we decided to stay) and being encouraged to stay despite the overwhelming feelings we have at times about the process. Since Craig is an elder and part of the search committee I'm luck and get to have inside knowledge about the process. After having moved forward with a candidate and hearing that he was no longer interested we were discouraged. But the Lord has brought several more candidates into the mix and they are working on fleshing out whether they would be good fits or not. Please pray for this timely and exhausting process and for our small body of believers. We desire to do what the Lord would have us do and right now we feel like staying and finding someone to shepherd us is what He wants.

Real estate has been very slow and very strange. I had two "buyers remorse" situations with winter and spring where my folks just up and changed their mind the day after submitting an offer. It's a much slower market and I am trying not to be discouraged about things. Craig is my cheerleader in that arena. The other day when I told him that I was thinking of taking a break he insisted that I stick it out and just "go with the flow" of how things go. Bottom line is that I very much feel like the Lord has given me this opportunity to make a difference in peoples' lives (for his kingdom) and help in a very practical way when people want to buy or sell homes. And I really like the work (most of the time). :) So again, it's a matter of remaining when it's not fun. I think that's a good lesson to learn and often it has to be learned the hard way. It's not easy to continuously make no money all the while spending time and money doing work for which I am not sure I will ever be compensated financially. Makes me think of the entire chapter of John 15 where Jesus talks about remaining in Him. If I am going to remain in the things on this earth I should probably remind myself how I need to first remain in Christ.

Home Improvements....Oh yes, how could I forget. Well the Lord provided here too. We had a need to get our back soffit, fascia board fixed (animals living inside the rotted wood isn't a good idea). We were able to get the homeowner's insurance to pay for the fix and my home inspector for real estate was nice enough to recommend a WONDERFUL contractor who was a) prompt in returning my calls b) answered his phone 90% of the time c) came when he said he would and d) did a great job and gave me details about what he did...oh and e) he gave me a written and detailed proposal. Amazing. So now we have no worries when the rains come that our gutter will fall off our house. Hooray for the  simple things in life! Projects we are working on are 1) sanding and restaining our fence out back, 2) painting the stuck out back, 3) painting the hallway and trim on our second and third floors and 4) finishing all those loose ends we've never finished of past projects. Being a homeowner is a lot of work!

So this was a book and I am going to end it now. At least you can't say you don't know what's going on in our lives. I know, I know, too much information. Isn't that always the situation with me???

p.s. New photos being uploaded. Can you tell I love my new camera???

I've always liked this quote. Not sure if it's even a real quote but it's true. It's way up there along with the advice of Pat Cummings, my Young Life leader from high school, who gave me some great advice prior to moving to West Chester, PA to go on Young Life staff: "Life's a marathon, not a sprint. You gotta run it like that." There was such wisdom in that advice...never did I think I'd remember those parting words more than 10 years after they were given to me. Tonight I'm feeling the pains of running on empty. Being sick has made me more tired than normal and then of course I worked on a bunch of outdoor projects today at our home since it was like 82 degrees outside. And now I feel the pains of having done too much. I have always and will probably always struggle with pacing myself in this crazy race of life. 

This is a quick email to let you all know that someone has posted an unauthorized comment on this blog with what I believe is a scam link to help with money costs. From what I can tell someone has hacked into this person's account and posted this without their knowledge. If you received an email with the content of this email, PLEASE DELETE IT and DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK. I sent it to Shutterfly and reported it as a scam - feel free to do the same. 

Craig and I realized over the weekend that we are very lucky. Lily (and Ben too) has been sick so few times. This weekend she had a stomach bug and is still getting over it. It's hard seeing my little ones sick - with fever, with throwing up, with fatigue. We felt so helpless. It made me think of other familes I know who have had very ill children, and some that have even died. It breaks my heart. In fact, we had to call our pediatrician today to inquire about how high Lily's fever was because I was starting to have crazy mom thoughts about her fever getting so high it would cause liver issues and brain damage.

But then we turned a corner when we decided to take a late afternoon walk. Thought perhaps the cool spring air would do her some good and it worked. We walked to our local ice cream shop (they just opened - 1 of the great signs that spring is here!) and got soft pretzels and ice cream cones. Lily got to put quarters in those machines to get a few toys and both kids got to ride the ghetto merry go round.

Fun was had by all. Cheers...Craig and I are hoping to get some sleep tonight (not sure if our goals are set too high or not - could be another sleepless night with Lily...please pray for us!).

Every night we are hopeful about the bedtime routine and lately Craig and I have been very disappointed by the sleep we are getting. Yes, we have a 3 year old and an almost 2 year old but for some reason they like to keep us on our toes even in the wee hours of the night. 

In honor of Lily I'm writing this in purple...one of her favorite colors! 

Just a quick note about the above photo...Ben is a little crazy about The Cat In The Hat so we got him his own dress up outfit. This was his face when he saw his very own hat he could wear. Pretty funny. :)

Merry Christmas everyone! I can't believe it's the eve of Christmas Eve. How did this Christmas season sneak up on me like this? 

Today I write out of emotion. I write because it's my outlet for the turmoil bumping around inside my head and heart. Oddly, this has nothing to do with my family - of which I am most grateful. Today I had to relay terrible news about the financing for one of my clients. The end result is they don't get to buy their house. The other bad news is that the seller doesn't get to buy their house because they can't sell to my clients. It's a mess. And I feel awful. Awful that two people have cried on the phone with me. Awful that I can't fix the situation. Awful that peoples' hearts are broken. Forget about lost commission. People don't have houses to live in today. This is the part of being a real estate agent that stinks...when things don't work out the way we all want them to. 

How did it get to be the end of October already? You probably thought I had forgotten about this website/blog. Ha! Guess again...just crazy busy. I started this blog to keep my out-of-town family and friends updated. If you are local, I feel like I might need to pre-apologize for the boring information you are about to read. Feel free to skip to the Photos page :). 

We have had a busy week! Filling you in is going to be hard because I can only think back to Tuesday. Oh yes, that's right...I think it's all coming back now. Sunday afternoon I (Steph) spent the entire afternoon driving around a new client looking at homes in the Downingtown School District. He and his family are relocating here from North Carolina. We already have that southern connection. Our time ran late and I found myself rushing to my friends Sarah and Kyle's house to pick up the kids who were tagging along with Craig at a meeting for church. Monday I had a home inspection in the afternoon (a colleague's daughter babysat for me...she is AWESOME too) and then rushed to another appointment in Collegeville. Again, finally arriving late to relieve Craig for another meeting. Tuesday was crazy...Went to the Y in the morning to work out (which is a big step for me), had them fed and to my friend Margie's house by 12:15, back home to change for a showing, rushed to King of Prussia to meet a new real estate agent (my Gymboree friend Cindy) and together we drove to southern Chester County to show the coolest 200+ year old paper mill/house. That client invited us back to take a look at his home to discuss possibly listing it in order to buy the paper mill. Then Cindy and I transitioned into the "quick grab a bit to eat" mode before we picked my kids up, took her back to her car and came home. That night (Yes, this is still Tuesday) a friend came over for dinner which was  really fun. Finally Craig and I are hitting the pillow at midnight...whew. Wednesday was a little lighter. The kids were at Margie's house most of the day. I had another home inspection and then meetings at my office. Wednesday evening my great friends Sandy and Phil came through town for the night. The four of us went to dinner (Kate was back to watch the kids) at the Black Lab Bistro and then ice cream at Brown's Cow. That was really a nice break...adult conversation, adult beverages, no kids...just great! Then today the kids were here all day with me. We managed to make it to the gym again, I cleaned up and did some emailing/work from home and then we ran a few errands in the afternoon.

Sometimes I just want to kick myself. I'm one of those people who thinks that if something can't be exactly the way it needs to be it's not worth doing. This is one of my biggest obstacles to giving you updates here. What is my problem? (don't answer that question please). I find myself often in a conversation with Lily or laughing over something Benjamin did and think, "I wonder how I might find a funny way to talk about that on my blog!" And then I never do it because I never think of anything. Yes, I'm one of those brain dead moms. Today as I was talking to Roseanne (sister in law) on the phone when my neighborly teenager knocks on my door to inform me that the door to my car has been open for hours and that he shut it for me. Awesome. 

Well folks, the Newcombs have had a rough week. Here's a photo of the new Mazda 5 we got on Friday. The day before that we got a new fridge as that had broken down the week before. Thankfully Sarah and Kyle lent us a mini fridge for the interim and we were able to make do with the bare essentials, but it was tough. 

I did it. I really did it. I have managed to find someone to a) come to my home and watch my children; b) not charge me too much money and c) be available when I need her.

All goals are now officially thrown out the window with regard to this site. My dream of daily jotting down our comings and goings have been shut out by...well, our comings and goings. Some weeks I feel so stretched thin that all I want to do when I have a break is park myself at the house and do nothing but hang out with Craig, Lily and Ben.

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We are here. We have not left. We are alive. We are extremely busy. Oh, with what? Oh, I'm glad you asked. Well, let's see. Just some of this and that and a little more of this...

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Yes, I know. I'm sorry. An update is way overdue but I have several good excuses, none of which I will share on here...that way I can get right to the updates. Naturally Ben would like to give his perspective on life here in our home and I am happy to oblige.

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Mom and Dad are pretty cool so far. Boy can they make me laugh...or I guess squeal is a more accurate description of the sound that escapes my mouth. Sometimes it even scares me it's so loud. Now that I can roll over life is much more exciting. Trouble comes when I can't roll myself back over. Sunday morning was the best - I rolled over after mommy fed me and got my hand caught in the spindles but then just decided to close my eyes for some shut eye. I was sooo tired from our long journey back from the Outer Banks. Traveling in the car is exhausting..and I'm not even the one doing the driving. My poor dad must have really been tired.

Lily is still entertaining as ever. I think we'll be good friends...that is, if she doesn't fatally wound me one of these days. Sometimes she runs so fast I'm almost positive she's going to land on top of me and end my existence. Thankfully God protects me from too much damage...

I'm starting to eat solid foods now - just started yesterday. It's okay. Rice cereal is pretty gross. I mean just ask Lily. She was begging mommy for some of my food tonight and when mom gave it to her she made this contorted face and said, "Oooooh. Yuk!" Well said big sis! I think mommy might have gotten me some bananas and avocados to try and I'm really looking forward to that sooner rather than later.

Mom's been pretty busy with her job as a real estate agent. Sometimes I get to go with her to her showings which is pretty exciting. I like it when mommy's clients ask to hold me - trust me, it can get boring being hold by the same person ALL the time. No offense, mommy. I'm just sayin'.

Lastly, here are a few things about me that are important to know now that I'm a whopping 6 months old:

• Crying usually gets me fed; I overheard mom tell one of her friends that it's just easier now that she has me and Lily to deal with to feed me instead of try to figure out how to calm me down. I think she's on to me though as I've recently been crying myself to sleep. All good things must come to an end I guess.
• My hands...anyone's hands actually...are the best. Chewing, slobbering, chomping. All of these are what I would consider my fortes.
• My thighs and my cheeks are huge and I like that a lot. I often overhear people saying that mom needs to feed me more but then other people say that I need to skip a meal. Now see, those are very opposite ideas. Skipping a meal sounds like the worst idea ever!
• If I'm really upset I can usually only be calmed by someone humming the theme song for "Jeopardy" or if someone sings "Come Thou Fount" to me. There's just something about those two melodies...

Well I think that's all I have for now.

Ben, signing out 

Ben has begun his journey of sleeping through the night and it is beautiful! We're working on day 4 of this journey and can't wait for that number to keep going up and up.

A little synopsis on life for the Newcombs -

June was a great month but very busy. We were in the Outer Banks of North Carolina from June 7-14, celebrated Father's Day not too long after that (Craig's first Father's Day as a dad of 2), celebrated Lily's birthday on the 24th - the same day we also drove to Wysox, PA for a long weekend at the cottage/lake. Lily had a BLAST playing with her cousin Jack...and truth be told Jack does really like Lily, but even his patience ran thin as she followed him around like a little lost puppy dog. It's good practice for him though - pretty soon all the girls will be chasing him around the playground at school and he'll have Lily to thank for giving him lots of "dodge the chick" practice as a 3½ year old.

 

The OBX (that's the hip way to refer to the Outer Banks!) was really great. My (Steph) mom and sister were down there - we rented a big house and just hung out, ate, played on the beach and slept. Lily liked the sand a lot but those pesky waves were a little too much for her. The last day I think she warmed up to the idea of letting us pretend to throw her in. She also had a habit of just walking up to any of the surrounding families who had kids her age and just sitting down and playing. It was pretty funny to watch - of course, not so fun to constantly have to apologize and rescue her from annoying them too much. One high point was when Craig and I got to borrow another families tandem kayak and go swim with a school of dolphins. We could see them from the shore and after a few of the couples from their group had a chance to go out they offered us the opportunity and WOW, it was really cool. We were so close we could see and hear the water spurting out and Craig said he could even hear them talking to each other. At one point we were almost close enough to reach out and touch their fin. We're really looking forward to our end of the summer OBX trip. This time we're going with Craig's family and staying further south in Hatteras. That trip is celebrating Bill & Barb's 40th wedding anniversary...maybe we'll get to kayak with the dolphins again and just MAYBE Lily will like the ocean water!

Oh wait, I don't have to merely go there in my mind, I can go there for real. This Saturday we leave for Corolla, NC and I can't wait! We haven't been on a vacation for a while so this is a special treat (thanks mom!).

The fun (and  by fun, I really mean not so fun) part will be packing up two kids and a bunch of stuff in our tiny Mazda 3. It's time for some of Craig's creative packing genius - *chanting in background* "Let's go Craig! Let's go Craig!".

Other than that life is pretty normal for us. Ben slept through the night for the first time last night - Yeah, it finally happened! I feel much more rested than I've felt since March 18. And here are some updates my kids want to give on what's new with them...enjoy!

Lily
Well I really like my baby Ben! It was so nice of mommy and daddy to get me my own baby. I mean, I'm not even out of diapers yet (I'm working on it, okay?) and they got me my own baby to play with. He's super cool, but I wish mom would let me hold him more. A lot of times she tells me what do around him like I'm some kind of moron or something. I think I know how to take care of a baby - I have about 10 others laying around so I've had plenty of practice...sheesh! Mom also won't let me share my food with him. What a pity cuz my food is really good - blueberries, strawberries, brocololi (it's that stuff made from avocados), peas...he's really missing out. Oh, I love to count too - especially when mommy says, "I'm going to give you to the count of 3..." I love that game! Games, oh yes, I also love these games daddy plays with me. He tells me to go touch the fridge and when I get back he's gone. Then I have to look around to find him usually hiding underneath a blanket somewhere. He's sneaky cuz sometimes he hides Ben's bouncy seat under the blanket and hides on the stairs. The other cool game we play is when he asks me what things are. He'll hold a shoe and ask me if it's a shirt, a hat, a sock and all these other things that it's CLEARLY not. I'll say, "Nooooo." every time until he says the right one. I like that game but daddy's not very good at it - he needs me to tell him what everything is. I think daddy needs to go back to school. Bye everyone - gotta go take a nap in my big girl bed!

Benjamin
Hi everyone. Glad to be back on here again. Life has been good. I'm enjoying watching my crazy big sister run around. She often gets in trouble - especially when she gets close to me or falls on me. She's a nut, that's for sure. More than Lily I like watching the ceiling fan. I can't wait until I get tall enough to play with it--it looks like a fun toy for certain! I'm getting so big everyone tells me...and I'm glad too. I can't let Lily be known as the big baby around these parts. I have some steep competition on my hands as she was a good 2 pounds heavier than me when she was born, but man, I am closing the gap fast. I weighed almost 13 pounds at my 2 month visit to the docs...go me!
Mom got a new stroller and it's pretty cool. I get to sit underneath Lily - let's all just hope and pray her seat doesn't break cuz she's one heavy little girl. Don't want to be stuck under that girl, no sirrrey.
Other than that, I can't really say there's much going on here. I have it made cuz all I do is eat, wet my diaper, sleep and most recently I've added smiling to my list of accomplishments. Man, that ceiling fan is HILARIOUS. It just cracks me up all day long. Well it's time for me to sign off and go sleep more. Tootles!

Miss Lily went #2 in the potty today, quite unexpectedly. It was one of those random moments where she asked to sit on the potty, I conceded, and next thing I know I hear things landing in the water below her bottom. Amazing! Now, I do need to add that later on (no more than 30 minutes) she had a diaper full of poop. While I think we're making progress, we're nowhere near saying goodbye to her diapers.

Recently I wondered to myself, "Why in the world do I have so many baby slings?" I mean, aside from the fact that some are borrowed and some were given to me, it's amazing that I could have so many and actually use them all!

1. Peanut Shell: this is a brown spandex material shoulder sling. The baby fits inside the pocket much like a pea in a pod. Use: At Gymboree or whenever I will need to have one hand free to actively chase Lily around (like at the playground). It's fairly easy to get on but takes a little time to get the baby inside since they fit rather snugly.
2. Homemade paisley fabric sling with a d-ring connection: this is a brown and white paisley sling that my friend's friend made for her. I am borrowing it while I can use it. Use: at home mostly while attempting to cook dinner and appease Benjamin.
3. Moby Wrap: the mother of all slings. This sucker is amazing though takes some time to get set up. Mine is sage green and is basically one big long piece of soft stretchy fabric. There is a booklet that comes with it that helps the owner use it for all stages of a little one's life. Use: I use this to take walks or whenever I know I'll need to have both hands free (like pushing a stroller or working on a craft project). www.moby.com
   
4. Snugli: I haven't used this one yet but it appears similar to the Baby Bjorn front carrier. This one is more of a manly carrier, so basically that means it's Craig's. :)

All in all, there is a sling in our home for every season. And since Ben has proven to be quite the gasey little guys, frequently needing to be held in an upright position for long periods of time, slings are the perfect solution.

Dear Mylicon Inventor,
Thank you so much for inventing this amazing product. The last 2 weeks have been a little "touch and go" for me and my family. Yesterday, however, my mom's friend came over and gave me some of her Mylicon. Apparently this amazing product helps little tiny babies like me with gas pains. Neither my parents nor me realized that is why I was so fussy at night.

Well, let me just say I will be telling all my friends about this amazing little bottle of joy. Mom gave me some last night after every meal and it actually helped me calm down and go back to sleep. Mom and Dad are still getting caught up on sleep but last night was a much better night for everyone, including me. I mean, just because I'm a baby doesn't mean the sleepless nights don't bother me too!

Thank you Mylicon inventor. I hope you are quite rich and living on some exotic island somewhere. I hope all babies everywhere with gas issues are able to make use of your amazing concoction. I hope moms and dads across the globe learn about this liquid gold and make you an even richer man or woman.

From the bottom of my heart (and stomach), thank you!

Benjamin Edward Newcomb

Well, on Tuesday I attempted to post this really long journal about our fun-filled day...to no avail I'm afraid.

The cliff notes version is that we had a very full day. Lily's last Gymboree class was in the morning, followed by a pit stop to Nordstrom to feed both kids (there's a Mother's Room on the 2nd floor), and lastly Costco for some shopping. It was a crazy yet fun rainy day. In the process of all that running around I found myself chatting with several different women and concluded on my drive home that lots of families have kids close in age like us...WE'RE NOT THE ONLY CRAZY ONES!

So now it's Friday and another week has gone by. Ben is now 4 weeks old, Lily is full of sparking personality, and Craig and I are still tired.

Today I went to the Everyhome office for a lunch meeting. Lily stayed home with daddy (he works from home every Friday) and Ben and I treked off together. It was nice to be among business professionals again, though sporting jeans and a T-shirt certainly made me feel a little less "official". There's something about getting spit-up on my nice suit that just doesn't seem very appealing to me. Call me crazy.

It's late and I'm tired. This is all I can muster up at this point. Good night.

Ben here again.
Well folks, 3 weeks and 1 day ago I was in a completely different environment. I was all tucked away in a dark, warm place and then in a flash that was stripped away from me. It's just so strange to think how quickly life has changed for me...and I guess for mommy, daddy and Lily too. I'm sure having me in their lives now is certainly an adjustment.

I'm trying to behave myself but sometimes I just don't know what I want and since crying is my only form of communication, it's all I have. I'm sorry if that's frustrating for everyone but I got nothing else to offer right now so bare with me, okay?

I've started being more awake during the day lately and am enjoying sitting in my bouncy seat. I hear noises all around me, especially Lily. Man does that girl talk...woo-wee she is one chatty Kathy. I'm not sure what it all means, but I think I hear her talk about me a lot. She still steals my nub whenever it's around. Sometimes she tries to force it into my mouth when I don't want it. I don't like that very much. She gives me lot of kisses and I don't mind that at all. She gets right up in my face and kisses me (sometimes she licks me and mommy is trying to teach her that it's not nice to do that) and says, "Hi Ben" over and over. It's good that she gets so close since I can't see more than about 8 inches in front of my face anyway. She seems like a cute little girl and I think we might look alike. Other noises I hear is mommy yelling at Lily. She gets in trouble a lot. When I can finally talk I think I might suggest that Lily work on her listening skills. If she listened and obeyed the first time she wouldn't get punished so much. When mommy sends Lily to her room (or even spanks her!) Lily does not like it and cries and yells. It's usually at that point that I hear the broken record chant by Lily of, "Nice. Nice. Nice." Mommy usually tells her that it's fine that she wants to be nice now but she still needs to sit in her room a little longer.

I think my frequent eating schedule is starting to wear on mommy. She seems so tired lately. I feel really bad for her but I get hungry and since she's my only source of food right now, I have to rely on her. She's a good sport about it most of the time. Sometimes during some of her really sleepy moments she'll fall asleep in the chair with me on her chest all wrapped up in a blanket. I really like that. Sometimes when she eventually puts me back in my bed I cry so she'll put me back on her chest - it's so much more comfortable than that flat crib mattress. I'm no dumby...I know a good thing in front of me.

Other than that, life is pretty normal around here. If I can get Lily to stop licking my face life will be a lot better, but if that's my only complaint at this point, I'd say I'm doing pretty well.
--For the Newcombs, Ben

Well it's been one week since I've made my entrance into this world. I'm sorry it's taken so long to get everyone up to speed on things in our home. There's really no excuse and I've been meaning to sit down and give an update but have just run out of time. As the newest member to the Newcomb household I have to say that life here in Phoenixville, PA is pretty enjoyable. When I'm hungry mom feeds me. When I need a new diaper there's always someone around to get me a dry one (which is really quite a miserable experience as the air is quite cold - I'm a bit of a baby about it but I'm trying). There's always someone around to give me hugs or kisses whether I want them or not - Gran, Papa, mom, dad, my big sister Lily, friends of mom and dad's - they all like putting their mouths all over me. I like it and all, but it can be a little overwhelming and a little invading of my personal space. One thing that confuses me is how everyone keeps commenting on my size. How is it possible that I look anything like a peanut? First of all, I'm much larger...not to mention the fact that I have arms and legs, and a cute little face. I realize I'm small in size, but isn't that how all babies are? I ponder this all day long in my dreams. Speaking of dreams - I do a lot of that. I love to sleep longer at night and I think that makes mommy happy. I'm not sure what's so special about night. It seems logical to me that one would sleep when it's dark out. I think I'll try to keep doing it since I hear mommy telling all her friends on the phone how "awesome" it is. Why not keep a good thing going, right?

Now for Lily. She's quite an active little creature. She really likes me, which is puzzling to me since we just met. She seems pleasant enough...though when mommy tells her "no" I notice she gets quite upset and makes crying noises like I do. I can't imagine she has that much to cry about - at least she can communicate verbally with people and tell them what she wants. I have to cry for everything. She's so lucky. I like it when she gives me kisses and says my name. Things I could do without would be how she's constantly stealing my "nub" out of my mouth and sticking it in hers. Didn't mommy and daddy teach her it's not nice to take other peoples' things? She's also kind of loud sometimes and it waks me up. Other than that I really can't complain. Rumor has it that as far as older siblings are concerned, she's about as good as it gets.

After a week I have to say I really like it here. Mommy, daddy, Lily and Gran have been here taking care of me and doing a really nice job. So nice in fact that I really don't complain much. I mean, it's hard to complain when you're asleep 90% of the time. But when I am awake I like to look around the room and check out the décor, see who's in the room, that sort of thing. Mommy and daddy play nice music and Lily's Veggie Tales videos are pretty entertaining.

Mommy tells me she had to have surgery in order for me to come out of her. I bet that hurt a lot, although she seems to be moving around quite well. I see her holding Lily a lot and she's HUGE. I really don't know how she does it. In fact, today the three of us (Lily, me and mommy) went to Lily's Gymboree gym to play. Mommy put me in this cool "sling" contraption that fit me nice and snug to her chest. There was some really cool music in the background and mommy bounced me up and down as she followed Lily around the room for an hour. A good time was had by all. It was really nice to get out of the house - cabin fever stinks! Mommy was a little nervous taking Lily and I out by herself but I think she did a really nice job managing the load.

Well folks, that's about all of an update I can muster up at this point. Feel free to stop by for a vist - I'd love to meet you.

Over and out,
Ben, for the Newcomb Clan

Tomorrow marks the last day with just one child. Very strange concept indeed. We have some "finishing touches" to make to both Lily and Ben's rooms, but at least Lily has now moved into her new room (this is her second night sleeping in there). We're still working on taking naps in that room - it hasn't exactly happened yet - but at least the nursery is on its way to being Ben's room.
Thursday is the big day - around 8:00 AM Ben will arrive and begin his journey in this world. Will we have a screamer? A calm baby? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure - his mother will be very glad to no longer have to lug him around inside her body. My back has been bothering me once again and I'm at that point in the pregnancy where I feel like, "Enough is enough...let's get this over with!"
We'll most likely send out an email but will also update this website with all important details. We'll probably be in the hospital Thursday through Sunday so feel free to pop over and say hi (as long as you don't mind seeing tired worn out people - namely me!).

More later...please pray for Ben to arrive safely and for good health.

This past Saturday I passed my Real Estate Exam for the state of Pennsylvania. When I returned home I sent the paperwork off so they can send Everyhome Realty (the company for whom I'll be working) my license. This is such a huge milestone as I was starting to wonder whether or not I'd be able to sit for and pass the exam before we have baby #2. Now that we're 2½ weeks away from our next little bundle of joy making his way into this world I was starting to get nervous. Now I'm well on my way to helping people sell and buy homes! Craig and I ordered Thai food on Saturday night to celebrate!!!

If it weren't for being so tired all the time I (Steph) would be in full blown "nesting" mode. For now, some sporadic organization sessions will have to suffice. Craig is thankfully still plugging away at the third floor room (future bedroom to Lily) and for now the walls are painted green and the floor has been painted white. Next up: painting trim, sealing floors and moving the rug into the room. It's hard to believe 2 weeks from this coming Thursday is most likely going to be Ben's birthday - what a short amount of time we have left to get a lot done!

Lily and I are having fun being home (in case you were wondering). We play with blocks, read, watch shows, take walks (when it's not frigid outside), go to the library, go to our Gymboree class, attend library activities, play with her babies (whom she adores!). and eat lots of yummy food. In fact, if there's one thing I would say Lily does especially well, it's eating. She's always been that way. Her favorite thing to do is mooch off mommy and daddy - especially our morning cereal!

Additionally it seems Miss Lily is QUITE the talker - her vocabulary expands by the second it seems. In the mornings she sits upstairs in her crib (but not her crib for munch longer!) and plays with her baby dolls in her crib. She talks to them and hums to herself - even sings sometimes. She keeps us laughing and amazed at how quickly her brain develops and grows. She's such a sponge too so Craig and I trying to be careful about what we say.

Speaking of waking up, Lily is upstairs talking to her baby so that's all there is for this broadcast. Over and out.

Well hello everyone!
This is my 3rd attempt to write on here. I attempted a few days ago but experienced some technical difficulties...you're probably sitting at home wondering how in the world the Newcombs are doing. I know, I know and I'm sorry. But Steph's finally here to end your worries and set your hearts at ease.
This is my second week home with Lily and I'm really enjoying the freedom and time I have to spend with her - plus it's nice to not have to rush at night to get all the house stuff done. I feel a lot less stressed and more in control of the home God has blessed us with. I also feel very fortunate to have a husband who has a stable job who works hard for Lily and I to stay home during the day.
As for the priceless questions of "So, Steph, what do you do all day?", I wish I had a simple answer for you. No, I do not watch soaps. No, I do not sit on the couch watching TV - in fact, the TV is rarely on at all. No, I do not spend all day on the phone chatting with all my other girlfriends who are stay at home moms. Finally - NO I do not hang out in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant. Ok, well the pregnant part is true, but seriously, who can stand to be barefoot in a kitchen that has tile floors. Even Lily tip toes around and complains of the cold floors.
Here's some of the things Lily and I have done since my last day at work on February 6:

• Checked out some books at the library
• Went to a storytime, music hour at the library with some of our friends
• Took several walks to the park to play on the playground
• Laundry - Lily even helped me put things away
• Watching a TV show for a short bit in the mornings: our favorite is "Franklin", a story about a young turtle and all the fun things that happen to him
• Playing dress and undress the doll baby
• Reading books - both my mommy and Lily on her own
  
• A few trips to the stores nearby
• A 4-day trip to Richmond, VA to visit family
• Dancing to music
• Coloring and drawing pictures
• Running errands for Steph's upcoming real estate career
  

As you can see, we have been very busy doing a variety of things. It's been really fun to see how much Lily knows, too. I feel like I get to see her grow every day and get to be there to help her along. Obviously at this point a lot of her knowledge is a mixture between things she's learned at school and home. But so far (allow me to brag, please) she knows most of her colors, a few shapes, counts to 2 (hey, it's a start), and even seems to distinguish between her left and right. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to get our videos posted here to the website so you can see our fun Lily and all her personality.

While Lily and I were living it up in Richmond, VA the last few days, Craig was home working hard on Lily's future bedroom. He was able to get the floors painted and they look great. I'll post pictures as soon as I can get up there to take them...hopefully tomorrow but no promises. As for new photos of our trip, check them out on the Newcomb Photos page in the album titled Richmond Feb 2009.

Enjoy...more later!

Definition of a sponge:

an elastic porous mass of interlacing horny fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals (phylum Porifera) and is able when wetted to absorb water

 

Craig and I have concluded that Lily is a sponge. She repeats EVERYTHING we say and in the same tone. Over the weekend Craig was playing around with Lily being his normal silly self and I think I said "Daddy!" in a very raspy joking voice as if to say, "No daddy, stop being silly". Didn't Lily repeat that word in the same tone as me! Craig and I were laughing our heads off.

 

We've also determined that our little Lily has the gift of gab. We'll let you decide who she takes after - Craig and I disagree on that one (well, not really, but I like to pretend like we disagree). We also anticipate that she will boss her little brother around like it's her job...and to some degree, it IS her job. Afterall, isn't that what big sisters are good for?

I am overwhelmed by the amount of information I feel compelled to throw at you right now. Yes, that's right, I'm talking to you - you're doing the same thing as me...procrastinating. Like me, you have a long list of things you should be doing but instead you are reading this post. Good for you! And good for me - if I do the laundry instead of write you an update, how would you ever know what was going on with us? Exactly, I rest my case.

Steph's work update
Most of you knew this was coming, but I officially have one foot in and one foot out the door of Vanguard. February 6 will be my last day of work as a Project Administrator in the corporate environment. I am both relieved and nervous about the next stage of my life, especially my new job of full-time mom. I think it will be good, but just like any job, full of its own adjustments. That's why I am so glad to have some time (about 5 weeks or so) with just Lily and I before our little Benjamin arrives and shakes everything up. Hopefully Lily won't get bored with me. If you know anything about our sweet little girl, you know she loves people so I will have to work extra hard to create social atmospheres for her. Suggestions are welcome!

Steph's Real Estate update
Since August I have been working on taking real estate classes so I can get my real estate license. This will give me an opportunity to make some money while giving me the ability to stay home full-time. My classwork officially came to an end tonight when I finished the online course I have been plugging away at. Now I just wait for my transcripts to arrive so I can schedule the state exam. Once I pass that exam I will be an official real estate salesperson in the state of Pennsylvania. The real estate broker we used to buy our home was Everyhome Realty, and that is the broker firm with whom I will be aligned. Their website is www.everyhome.com (for username enter "s" and password can be anything). I'm very excited to get started with this new role and welcome the opportunity be have a "job" that's more about being with people than grunt work.

Little Benjamin
After many, many conversations with several of the doctors of the practice I see for maternity care, Craig and I have settled on the likelihood of another cesarean section for little Benjamin. While I am moderately disappointed, I am also relieved that this time I do not have to have general anesthesia. A faxed hospital report and consultation later the anesthesiologist at Paoli Hospital tells me we have a good shot at a spinal block, which would allow me to be awake for the birth of Benjamin - something that made me so sad with Lily. Two hours after she was born I was just getting to meet her. The decision to have a C-section really boiled down to the least risky option. I am still praying that my 37-week ultrasound will reveal a baby that appears to be less than 8 lbs (that's my number, not the doc's). I am also praying that if that is the case, I will go into labor on my own prior to March 19th and that the Lord would clearly show Craig and I whether or not a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) will result in harm to our little baby. If a VBAC is attempted instead of a C-section, I am told I have a 1% chance that my uterus will rupture during labor and that if that does happen the baby has a very high chance of dying. I can't imagine making a decision that benefits me mostly (avoiding surgery is naturally better for me) but in turn having that decision harm our little guy. So, if you would please pray for wisdom, Craig and will certainly need it in the coming weeks, especially if we are told the baby seems to be small enough to attempt natural birth.
Assuming the C-section occurs as planned, I am scheduled for a C-section on Thursday, March 19 at 7:45 AM. It's strange to think that might actually be Benjamin's birthday. Everything seems so "planned".

Miscellaneous
Here are a few other miscellaneous updates in no particular order:

• Craig and Lily were sick with the stomach bug this past week; somehow (thank you Jesus!) I managed to avoid the bug. I am glad, too, as Lily threw up twice and Craig about 9 times. It was not a pretty scene in the Newcomb home last week.
• Craig and I continue to be indecisive with our home projects and have yet again begun another endeavor where it's safe to say we've "bitten off more than we can chew". We have ripped up the wall-to-wall carpet in the 3rd floor bedroom that will eventually be Lily's room. It has revealed painted hardwood floors. We have decided that instead of sanding and refinishing them, we will proceed with painting them the same color as the trim in our entire house will eventually be: Drifting Dune (Olympic paint), which is an off-white color. We also purchased a beautiful area rug at Home Goods that will go down in the room. The room will have an owl, forest, tree theme and we are still in the midst of brainstorming our ideas for that.
• Lily is keeping us on our toes. Her latest tactics are crazy funny dance moves to any type of music she hears, pointing our colors she sees (sometimes accurately and other time not so accurately), eating any fruit we give her, requesting that Craig or I sit "right there" so she can sit on our laps to read a book, or requesting "hippo" which refers to her desire to watch either a video of an animated hippo and dog sing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" or series of still frames of hippos set to the song "I want a hippopataumus for Christmas" on YouTube.

And that's it from the Newcombs - Hope you enjoyed our very lengthy update! Also, we've rearranged the site a bit. Hope you like that as well!

Okay we know we're way overdue for an update. Steph here to finally write some things down for all you family and friends far away who are wondering if we're still alive in cold Pennsylvania. Rest assured all is well - we're just stinkin busy!

• We're all currently sick and trying to get over this croopy cough - Lily and Steph can't seem to shake it. Craig seems to come and go with this symptoms. Ah, it's winter and let the colds begin. Lily's teacher at Chesterbrook Academy calls it the "kennel cough" which I think is hilarious.
• Steph is 26 weeks pregnant and for those of you who don't know what that means off the top of your head it's roughly 6 months pregnant. It's certainly annoying how the doctors make us count in weeks instead of months...So far so good with the pregnancy. No major complaints other than the normal annoying pregnancy symptoms. I'm at the point where sleeping is getting more challenging. Poor Craig can barely make it over the mound of pillows I have piled up to give me my good night kiss every evening. The ultrasound and other tests have all shown good progress for our little "Ben". I even think my belly is measuring smaller than with Lily which is a great thing. If I can avoid another C section I will be very happy - recovering from major surgery is no fun, especially when I think about having a toddler to run after as well as caring for a newborn.
• Craig has turned into Mr. Mom around the house helping in so many ways - still working on some home improvements, but on top of that he's the laundry courier (and even helps with the laundry duties), cooks, cleans the dishes and so much more. Last Thursday he went out by himself and got our Christmas tree and even brough it all the way into the house. Did I mention it was pouring rain out? And over the last 5 weeks while I've been in real estate class he's been the sole care giver for Lily on Monday and Wednesday evenings.
• Real Estate - Ah yes. So Steph's in the process of getting her real estate license. Class #1 was taken online and took way too long to complete (b/c I'm a slacker). I passed the final but still have some class work to finish up onlne before I can be officially done. One of my friends was taking the "in-classroom" version of Class #2 so I signed up to take that at a nearby corporate center. That's over and the final was taken this past Wednesday. I think I passed but will find out in the mail this coming week. Once I complete the online classwork for Class #1 (which shouldn't take long) I can apply to take the National and State Exam. Once that's done I will be officially licensed. Being out of the house from 6:30-9:30 every Monday and Wednesday was really tough - but it's over and I'm thrilled!
• Now for the long awaited Lily update. What a joy she is! We are having so much fun with her. She's learning and growig up so fast. Learning to count and identify colors. Saying all sorts of crazy things. Her vocabulary blows our minds sometimes. Her new thing to say is to remind us how "silly" she is. She'll just repeate "silly" over and over and laugh each time. She points out body parts (only the PG version though) and rattles off the names of all her friends at school. She loves going down the slide and asking to go for walks. Her favorite food is currently the tried and true cereal bar. She knows where we keep them and can access the drawer where they are. It's not uncommon for her to bring one to us several times a day (other than breakfast time) asking us to 'open', 'peeease'. One of the new additions to our routine is that we pray before we eat our meals and ask God to bless it. We all hold hands in the kitchen and when Craig is almost done with "...in Jesus name. Amen." you can hear Lily chiming in with a huge smile on her face, "Mamen." She'll then eat a few bites of food and request that we pray "again". So cute!
• Lily will be moving to the 3rd floor in February sometime. We have a twin bed waiting for her up there. Craig and I have a lot of work to do up there before it's ready for her to move in, but we're going to start that project very soon. We've decided to go with an "owl" them (I LOVE the Brooke collection on Pottery Barn Kids website - we're going to try to re-create that without spending as much money!). The nursery will stay as is with the exception of clothes and photos moving up with Lily to her new room.

 

And that just about wraps up this update. Check out some of the new photos - you're sure to enjoy those! Good night everyone!

 Progress is our middle name - okay maybe not officially, but lately we've been getting stuff done. The other day we finally hung up the quilt in Lily's room using the quilt clips. It now hangs to the left of her crib...just in time for her to move out and her little brother to move in. Oh yes, that's right - we're having a boy. We also snagged a cheap Pottery Barn area rug off of Craig's List and now the nursery looks "official".
Last week Steph finished the hardwood floor steps between the 1st and 2nd floors. Today it's on to the 2nd floor landing. And by finish we're just talking "sealing it" with a water-based protectant by Varathane. Finally we'll be all done with the raw wood we've been dealing with for the last...uh, well it's too embarrassing to tell you how long it's been like that...it's been a while.
Steph is also almost done with her first round of real estate classes online. That's right, Steph will eventually be a real estate agent - pretty exciting stuff. Too bad the timing couldn't be more poor for the market but we're trusting the Lord with those details - just worrying about today.
Lily is getting more and more awnry. Daycare called yesterday to tell me she's hitting herself when they tell her "no". Oh boy, here we go. Overall she's a very pleasant little girl and loves giving kisses to everything...but for some reason people aren't one of those "things". The guitar, the TV, the book, the block, the wall, her own hand, her cup...very affectionate but towards inanimate objects. Very strange. I've uploaded a few recent photos of her - lately her little stroller seems to be one of her favorite toys - it's right up there with her blocks and balls. Think she'll be a tomboy or a princess?
Steph's the Freecycle warrier lately. We got rid of 1) a futon and 2) a ton of stuff to a local college student; We received 1) a bag of 2T winter and spring clothing for Lily, 2) a twin mattress and boxspring (with rails) for Lily's room on the 3rd floor (eventually), and 3) a play kitchen set for Lily. It's an awesome network - check it out. I have a link above to the right.
The rest of the week is quite busy but we're pushing along...my dad and Fay are coming to visit for the weekend - we're really looking forward to that time with them.

Well, the fall is here and today the Newcombs went to Valley Forge Park for a little stroll. Lily had fun climbing on the replica canons, picking up rocks and handing them to us, pointing out the deer in the fields, and running around like a mad woman.

She's really at such a fun age right now and we're really enjoying this time with her. We've started giving her piggy-back rides. Today when she was on my (Steph) back she kept giving me voluntary kisses on my cheek - it was the cutest thing.

Her new words this week are 1) hummus 2) applesauce 3) straw 4) deer 5) belly. She's pointing out her nose, mouth, teeth, hair, ear, belly, eye, shoe, and sock. She also learned her own name. When you ask her "What's your name?" she says "Lillll-ee". When we point out her baby photos hung up in her room, she also says her name. She's starting to learn peoples' names in the photos in our downstairs as well. Sorry grandmas and grandpas, we're still working on you 5, but for now she knows Jack, Ro-ro (that's you Roseanne), and Monica, though I can't understand what she says when she says your name.

Today she pointed at my belly and when she did I told her there's a baby in there. She smiled and patted it again and said "baby". I feel like this could be problematic and confusing for her. I will apologize ahead of time if she walks up to any of you, points at your stomach and says "baby!". She's a work in progress!!!

Enjoy the newest albums below of our trip today to Valley Forge Park and our outing last weekend to Landis Valley Farm with Sarah, Kyle and their nieces Madeline and Maizy.

 After a long week of traveling and time spent in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the Newcombs are finally home. You might wonder why I'm writing at this obnoxious hour but it's really just to let my hair dry before going to bed. Craig is happy watching Sunday night football and Lily is asleep in her crib. The poor girl probably never wants to ride in her carseat again!

I'm glad we took tomorrow off to rest and relax. I'm also glad that Craig pushed us to leave Saturday and start driving back home. This way we sleep in our own beds tonight and start out tomorrow with the whole day to do whatever we need to do to unwind, unpack and get ready for the week ahead.

While Lily did really well for her age, I will go out on a limb and say that I do not desire to make a 1000+ mile trek in the car with my family anytime soon.

Farewell friends and family...the Newcombs are over and out....Zzzzzz.

What a week! Well, on Monday Craig and I both worked and later got on the road to head south to Richmond for the evening. We stayed with my dad, which was good. He and Fay and their two dogs kept us entertained until Lily was so tired she practically passed out in the kitchen. The next morning (Tuesday), we met up with my mom and sister and continued our journey south. We ate lunch somewhere near Spartenberg, SC and later checked into a hotel room south of Atlanta in Douglassville, GA. What an ordeal driving through NC, SC, and GA was. We were nervous we'd run out of gas and not be able to find a gas station that actually HAD gas. Finally on our 4th try we found a station with gas and were able to fill up our tanks. The news wasn't lying when it said there was a shortage! Then on Wednesday morning we, once again, woke up and continued south-west and arrived in Hattiesburg, MS right about 2pm. It was so nice to finally arrive with enough time to unwind before we went out to the country to visit family. Lily, Craig and I were able to jump in the outdoor pool that afternoon. It was a little chilly but for October the weather couldn't be better. I think the temp during the day has been 85 and the low around 60. The last few days my mom and I have been buzzing around running errands, making phone calls, creating the program, choosing the casket. My sister Monica has been helping to watch Lily while Craig works remotely from the hotel room. At least he doesn't have to take vacation days for the whole week!

 

It's been nice to see family, though not under these cirucmstances. It's always tough for me to remember names of family that I have either never met or haven't seen in a long while. Both my mom and dad's families are very large. I really need to start a scrapbook page just so I can keep a record of peoples' names and how I am related to them. I'm hoping that today I can take some photos of everyone, both for my mom and for me.

 

Today we have a packed day of last minute preparations and then Craig, Lily and I are hopping in the car as soon as the burial is over and we're driving back home. It will be a very long trip back home. Tonight we think we'll make it to Chatanooga, TN or there abouts. Our ETA back to Phoenixville is tomorrow evening. Please pray for safe travel on the road...we will need it. Both Craig and took Monday off from work so we'll be relaxing and catching up on sleep.

Please know that we appreciate your thoughts, prayers and even the flowers that a few of you sent down here to the funeral home. We'll be in touch as soon as we recover from the fog of travel.

 

And on a fun note, Lily has begun saying, "Ouch, stop it mommy." Just what we needed--full sentences! She has lots of fun words too like apple and duck and she even learned the noise of a sheep too.

 

Over and out - The Newcombs

I'm writing from the basement of my mom's house in Richmond, VA. You might be wondering why I am in Richmond, VA and why might I be writing a journal entry. I drove down with Miss Lily last night (in record time I might add...shhh!) after hearing that my grandfather, also known to the Gilder family as "Honey", had a car accident that was caused by an aortic rupture. This was Thursday, September 24. The accident was more of a fender-bender but they admitted him to see if any tests showed a stroke or some medical condition that would have caused him to run through the intersection. So Friday night after work I chatted with Craig about whether or not I should go down or not. I went back and forth for a little while and finally decided to pack up the car and Lily and drive to Richmond. I arrived a little after midnight on Friday, September 25 (last night). Today my sister, Lily and I went to visit a friend and her family before heading over to the hospital to see my grandfather. The ICU, where he was for testing and observation, only allowed visitors between 10-10:30, 2-2:30, and 5-5:30. We arrived about 2:25 just in time to see him. Lily hung out in the hall with my mom while Monica and I went in to see him. He had just had a coughing spell, looked fatigued and was very clammy/warm. Things starting going downhill quite rapidly. The nurses told me that my daughter could come in, which made me suspicious since no children were generally allowed in the ICU. Through some sidebar conversations with the nurses, my sister, mom and I learned that the staff was suspicious that my grandfather had had an aneurism and was going to regress slowly.

So, for about 45 minutes my mom, my sister and I watched my grandfather slowly fade away and eventually pass away. It was very sad and very unexpected. What I thought was a "Hi, how are you. Good to see you" visit turned out to be a farwell visit.

The nurses were amazing in the way they cared for Lily so that I was freed up to sit there by my grandfather's bed and hold his hand. They took her for walks, gave her food, held her and eventualy let her fall asleep in one of their arms. From Lily's perspective all was well if she was allowed to eat and go for endless walks.

My dad and stepmom showed up at the hospital just in time for his last moments. The hospital chaplain came in and prayer with us all, which was so wonderful. The Lord must have nudged my heart to make the trek down last night and I'm SO glad I did. It really meant a lot to my mom and me that I could be there with my family to say goodbye to my grandfather.

The next week to week and a half look quite hectic. For now the plan is that Lily and I will drive back home to PA tomorrow. Craig and I will go to work on Monday, pack up and head back down to Richmond Monday evening. Tuesday morning the caravan (my mom and sis in one car and the Newcombs in another) will depart Richmond and head south to Mississippi. My extended family are from there and both my grandfather and grandmother wanted to be buried there.

 

As best I can tell the funeral will be on Saturday, October 3 at Hullett Funneral Home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I am uncertain when we will be leaving to come home at this point but my guess is that we will depart Miss. either Sunday or Monday of next week.

 

And in the midst of all this chaos and uncertainty I do have a sense of God's steady hand in all circumstances in our lives - not excluding this one. The Psalms state "Be at rest, O my soul. For the Lord has been good to you. For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. That I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living." (Psalm 116:8-9). And again the New Test states that "if God is for us, who can be against us?". My prayer is that I can live that outloud and that I can encourage others to do the same.

 

I thank you all in advance for your prayers as we travel and grieve. Thanks for your friendship!

It's been entirely too long since I last wrote. Wow how time flies when you're having fu...well, you know what I mean.

Lily's vocabulary now includes the word no. Fun times for the Newcombs. Craig keeps telling me that she's just like me and unfortunately for him he keeps having to sleep on the sofa. Poor guy - he'll learn someday . She keeps us on our toes and I can't imagine life without her. She's such a sponge absorbing everything around her - everything we do and say.

Craig and I think we need to look into getting her a little training potty b/c last night and tonight she told us before she went "poo-poo". I know, gross. You thought this was a G rated blog and are now finding out it's more like PG. Sorry. When you have either dogs or kids you quickly get used to talking about poop. Did they poop? How many times? What color was it? It's a new world.

For those who may not know I am in the midst of taking online classes to get my real estate license. The goal of that obviously being to take Lily out of daycare and stay home full-time, doing the real estate at night and on the weekends. That makes for some exhausting evenings. It's hard to concentrate on reading material that's sometimes quite boring after I've already spent my whole day at work. So, I'm trying hard to plug away with the goal of spending at least 3 nights a week online for a least 1 hour. Personally I'd like to be done with the classes by November and finding time to schedue the exam sometime in December.

My mom and sister came to visit us this past weekend. We had a really nice time walking around our town of Phoenixville, takin a short walk/hike in Valley Forge Park, cleaning up the garden, watching movies, and just enjoying our time together. It's always too short when they leave. Lily really enjoyed seeing them too!

For now, that's the update...Craig is watching college football on TV as I write this, Lily is sleeping and I'm of course late in getting to bed. Par for the course. I'm signing off...over and out.

This past weekend we went to the cottage in Wysox, PA (1½ hours northwest of Scranton), nestled in the Endless Mountains. It's such a nice time of relaxing and doing whatever.

 

For this trip we got up there around 8:30 on Thursday 8/28 and left after lunch on Monday, September 1. I kid you not when I say that this was the longest vacation we had all summer. I was just telling a coworker that with our kitchen project we couldn't afford to take a lengthy vacation somewhere. It was so nice to be away from Phoenixville for 3 whole days!

 

The other bonus is that Lily's cousin Jack (who's 2½) and her other second cousin Nathan (who's 3 weeks younger than Lily) were there and the three of them had a great time playing with each other (and learning how to share!). Haley was also there, but she's 10 now and while I think she had fun playing with the kids, she had more fun playing cards and board games with the adults. The highlight of their fun was probably Monday morning when the three little ones, under Haley's supervision of course, spent a solid half hour jumping on the blow up matress that Bill and Barb slept on the night before. Luckily cousin Jenny got photos and I caputered everything on video. It was stinkin hilarious! They were laughing and falling all over each other. If I can get my act together I'll try to somehow get the video on this site. Don't cross your fingers, though!

 

Craig and I had fun doing all sorts of things - relaxing, swimming, kayaking, he fished and caught a ton of fish (no keepers, sadly), and of course our daily walk around the lake.

 

Labor Day weekend wouldn't be complete without full coverage of the US Open Tennis tournament. Since the house is full of tennis fans, as long as there was coverage on TV, you can bet that someone was plopped down in front of the tube watching the spectacle.

 

So all in all, good times had by all!

The only thing extreme about our ladies camping trip at French Creek State Park this past weekend was the fact that I was chasing around after Lily most of the time. It was a great time of fellowship with other ladies from our church, and I was glad to be away from technology for a night. Lily did surprisingly well sleeping on the ground and not in a crib for the first time. She flopped around and kept me up most of the night but I think she had a nice time. As a mom (and a mom without her wonderful husband there to tag-team watching Lily) I was a little bummed that I missed out on some heartfelt conversations with other ladies because I was attending to Lily. But all in all it was fun and worth the effort. She fell asleep in the backpack carrier when we went for a hike. The hike was great - but having to lug 25+ lbs of dead weight around on my back was certainly challenging. I couldn't believe how heavy she was and by the second hour of our hike I was ready for a nap. Since Lily loves the outdoors more than she loves sleeping, when she awoke from her nap she was just taking it all in, as was I. The beauty of God's creation always amazes me and I am constantly in awe at how little I notice the intricate details when I am home. Sure I notice the plants and flowers in the backyard, but the stars in the sky Friday night were brilliant. It reminded me of those Young Life camping days when you were sitting out in an open field staring at the sky praying to the Father. On nights like that I miss those days. Specificially I think of the month I spent in Buena Vista, Colorado in 1998 serving at Young Life's Frontier Ranch. I also think about the several summers I spent at Rockbridge Alum Springs in Goshen, VA. I can still remember all the nights I spent laying under the stars staring at all that God made.

I reminds me that Craig and I need to get outdoors more and plan some family camping trips. I'm already looking forward to our next adventure!

Maybe you know and maybe you don't, but I work a flexible schedule at work. I work 7:30-4:45 every day and then every other Tuesday I get the entire day off (without taking a vacation day). In the beginning I would take Lily to daycare since we have to pay for it regardless, but lately I've just hated the thought of having to do that so she and I have been having girl time.

The last one I had we went over to my friend Meg's house. She has a little boy, Logan, who's 3 weeks younger than Lily. They enjoy playing together--funny that even at this young age Lily is all girl and Logan is all boy. Such a difference in their energy levels. He's busy climbing on things while Lily just looks for baby dolls to kiss and hug.

Today my friend Jen came over to my house. She has a little tyke Aiden who's about 6 months old. While Lily and Aiden aren't close in age, that didn't stop Lily from wanting to give the "baby" kisses. She was very excited to see him and give him tons of kisses. She's pretty good about being gentle with him but I never leave her alone with him in the room. You never know what she would do! In fact, while Jen, Aiden and I were in the kitchen Lily decided it would be a good idea to use the little Playskool scooter to hoist herself up so she could reach a basket with lots of goodies in it. Moments later we heard a loud crash from the other room as she had pushed everything off and everything went everwhere. Telling her "no" didn't seem to suffice because as soon as she saw Aiden she says, "Baby! Mmmmmm....." and lunges forward for her predicted kiss. At the moment she's sleeping. Perhaps I will accomplish some wonderful tasks - then again perhaps not. Ah, the life of a mom.

The Newcombs are headed to the Jersey Shore for Friday night into Saturday. We're staying with Ray, one of Craig's seminary buddies. He and his family live in Egg Harbor Township which I understand is south of Atlantic City and north of Ocean City. This will be our first trip to the beach this summer and I (Steph) am thrilled about the whole idea. Craig is probably more excited to see his friend than the water/beach. Lily...well Lily has no idea what's about to hit her. They have a house of 3 kids, one of which is a newborn. I will take a guess that she will give lots of kisses to that sweet little baby, as she does to every baby she sees.

 

I can't decide if I'm going to wear sunscreen or just wing it. I mean, seriously this could be my last rendez-vous with the sun this summer and I want to make sure we have a nice time hanging out. I also don't want to be Casper the friendly ghost all winter long so perhaps I can get SOME sun to help me with a little color.

 

Definitely check out the awesome photo I've attached below of Craig and I at the Jersey Shore during the summer of 2002, during our dating months. I think that was the last time (and only time) we were there together. Tomorrow will be our little reunion so to speak. Ah, squish. How cute! Maybe he'll buy me flowers. Then again, perhaps not.

Attachments:

The Newcombs of Narberth and the Newcombs of Phoenixville went to the zoo on Saturday. Lily had more fun walking around chasing pigeons and people, but all in all I'd say it was a fun time. She really enjoyed the monkey house and kept pointing at the glass at the monkeys playing inside.

We'll definitely have to go again when she's a little older and can appreciate it more. She loved hanging out with her cousin Jack all day. After we got home he started pulling her around in his radio flyer wagon and she was loving that life! She's a princess already...not sure if I want to encourage that or squash it!

I'm so excited to be back running finally. It's taken a year (or more) but I'm finally back to running and couldn't be more excited. Today, I went running at work and ran into Susan. Susan's daughter Hazel is in Lily's class at Chesterbrook Academy so that was fun. So, since Susan was going the same way I was, we decide to run and chat. It was your "classic" mom meeting. "How many teeth does your daughter have? How many words is she saying? How is she sleeping at night?" So funny how I've turned into "that mom person" who only talks about her kid.

All that aside, I was just glad to be out enjoying the beautiful weather on my lunch break. Oh yes, you probably want to know how this works. And if you don't, well then I'll just tell you anyway. On days when I go running I pack my bag with my shoes, socks, shirt, shorts, etc. I also pack a towel and then have a trial size body wash bottle I keep in there. Around 11:45 I head to the locker room (yes, we have a locker room) and get changed. I usually run from 12-12:30 and then head back into the building and shower. That's fun (imagine "fun" being said with sarcasm) because there are two showers. One is a handycap accessible shower and the hand-held shower nottle is broken. Not to mention that the "seat" for the handycap person doesn't stay in the upright position. Then the other shower (I discovered this today) has a leak in the nozzle so water sprays every which way. And then there's no fan and poor lighting. So pretty much you have to be REALLY motivated to run and exercise to get over the fact that the clean up process is so icky! After I shower I'm back at my desk around 12:45. Then I eat my lunch at my desk while doing work. All that in 1 hour.

Another thing that's worth noting is HOW AMAZING our bodies are. It's crazy that my body can "remember" how to run after a year. Here I thought I would go through this long and arduous trial period of huffing, puffing, and being downright uncomfortable and it's not quite like that. Granted I'm not about to run a marathon or even a half marathon next month, but at least it's mildly encouraging. It's always the worse when you start back exercising outside and you feel like a complete moron because you're going SO SLOW and feel like such a loser.

Switching Subjects...

I just looked at the time and realize that Lily has been asleep for an hour and a half. We usually struggle to make dinner, let Lily play and burn off some steam, get her changed, nurse her (yes, I'm still doing that at night) and then get her in the crib. But tonight worked out marvelously. Well, in theory it did. Lily wasn't exactly the most cooperate eater tonight...throwing most of her salmon and broccoli on the floor. Craig was such a champ and cleaned it all up. We were done with dinner by 6:15 and Lily was in bed by 7:05. I'm encouraged that I'm going to get off the computer here shortly, go upstairs and get ready for bed, and read some of my book. You probably have no idea what an accomplishment that is, but it's a SERIOUS accomplishment. Especially the fact that I might even get to bed before 10:00 PM. Amazing.

Our little girl is all grown up. Not only have I ceased nursing her during the day (or pumping while at work), but now her teacher Miss Lesa tells me that she has transitioned from whole milk in the bottle warmed up to cold whole milk in her sippy cup. My girl is all grown up. Ok, not really, but that transition sure has been quick and had little to do with Craig and I doing a stellar job of getting her to drink her cup.

Lily Elizabeth has quite the personality - I'm not really sure where she gets it from; probably her father. Yeah, that sounds about right.

If you've never met her or if it's been a while since you've seen her, you'll want to know some of the crazy things we catch her doing. The list is long and distinguished and I only have room for some items. We're working on trying to upload some of the videos of her so you can see for yourself. In the meantime, here is our best effort to describe what we call "Lily-isms".

• Everything and everyone is "baby"; cats, dogs, little kids, babies, adults laying down on the couch covererd with a blanket, baby dolls
• "Bah" is a ball and boy are they exciting
• "Ba-ba" is a bottle, water bottle, sippy cup, gaterade bottle; and don't be fooled - she doesn't always want it but she will point it out to you
• temper tantrums are always followed by her forhead to the floor and then flailing her arms and back to the floor sobbing uncontrolably.

 

Lily's party was so much fun. Good to visit with friends and family and see Lily play with her cousin Jack. They are sure to be good friends - she really loves mimicking him and they played well in the pool out back.

 

Lily wouldn't eat any of her birthday cake so my goal this week is to recreate the messy birthday cake scene with the leftover chocolate cake. All that matters is that she takes the cake and smashes it in her face!

Lily threw her first temper tantrum last night. It was quite the hilarious scene even though I'm pretty sure it was triggered by extreme fatigue. I believe Craig took something away from her that she wasn't supposed to be playing with and the girl lost it. She flailed her body backwards and forwards, finally flopping to the floor on her knees and then her head hitting the floor. The muffled sobs began and quickly increased, as did the tears. Craig picked her up and told her to calm down, which ironically caused more tears and more arching of her back in his arms.

 

Finally the only thing to calm her down was her book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?.

 

And then as if we hadn't already made her mad enough, it was BATH TIME! Luckily for us she's gotten over her hatred of the bathtub. That was a long 2 weeks and I'm glad it's over.

 

She finally fell asleep happy and well-fed with her giraffe lovey snuggled next to her. I have a feeling this is a sign of things to come. Here we go...

Can you believe I'm sick? Of all the nerve...right as I'm trying to get ready for her party, BAM, I get the plague. So annoying.

I even left work early today because of the 3rd lung I coughed up. So tomorrow and Friday I'll be home TRYING to get ready for the party. My "to do" list is so long it technically qualifies as a novel.

Right now I have the pleasure of sneaking up into sleeping Lily's bedroom and quietly putting her clothes away. Then it's bedtime for this sick chick.

Today is Lily's birthday. She's wearing the cute yellow and white dress with strawberries on it that my (Steph) mom purchased for her in the fall. And then to complete the look, Steph made a matching strawberry hair clip that she's also wearing. Though, probably no longer wearing it since she always finds a way to pull the blasted thing out of her hair. This morning when I dropped her off at school she looked cute. That's all that matters.

We took some photos of her in the tuned-up backyard, but only had her in the bottom layer of the dress she wore. Still, it's cute because it looks like a classic white dress.

I was nervous we wouldn't get a chance to take any photos of the birthday girl since she fell asleep on the car ride home and then kept sleeping for 2 more hours. She finally woke up around 7, so we all headed outside to get the birthday girl on camera. As you can see from the newly uploaded photos, she was all sass and provided some great photo ops. Like I've said in the past, what a ham she is! Is it just me or does she look exceptionally taller today? It's so sad that she's going to eventually tower over me. Oh well, most people do anyway.

Yesterday was Father's Day...Lily gave her dad his present early, which consisted of a baseball with her handprint on it that said "Daddy's Little Allstar". Very cute...and it's amazing at how creative she is. I think she's going to be a brain surgeon--so much talent at such a young age. Amazing!

This weekend was quite busy. Friday we walked downtown to Phoenixville's Summer Street Festival (every Friday). We grabbed a sandwich from Spiedie Bistro (www.spiediebistro.com) with Sarah and Kyle. Lily had fun playing in the fountain with the dogs (Seamus and Scout - they are the Frampton's little golden retriever puppies). She also made goo-goo eyes with every male passer-by. What a flirt!

Saturday Steph and Lily headed over to the Frampton's while Kyle came to our house. Craig and Kyle worked on the kitchen, Lily slept most of the day and Sarah and Steph cleaned their cars. Pretty uneventful. I did forget to put on sunscreen and my back got burned.

Sunday we went to church. It was "one another Sunday". Lily got to be with the other kids and sing songs (which she loves!). After church we headed over to Doug and Katie's in West Chester (Sarah's brother) for a food contest/pool party. Lily loves the pool...she also likes to walk around, which she's getting quite good at.

That was our weekend in a nutshell!

 Today my friend Kelly married Dan, the "man". Very exciting stuff and a very long weekend for everyone - the bride and groom, the parents, the wedding party...whew! I think we're all glad to sit back and breathe now. I was in the wedding which was fun...love getting all dolled up. I love having my hair done by a professional--one less thing I have to worry about. I also loved getting to see my friend Kelly so happy and so blessed. Dan clearly loves her a lot and she clearly loves him a lot. It'll be fun to see their journey ahead!

It was probably the hottest day it's been this year so far. I think the temperature got up to 95 and there's no telling what the heat index was. Believe it or not but Delaware gets just as hot and muggy as the rest of the east coast. We were all sticky and sweaty...yuk! As much fun as it was dancing outside under the tent, everyone was so gross because it felt like it was about 200 degrees.

It was also fun to see Steve & Lynn, Mark & Courtney, Justin and Leslie, Jason and Jessica, Mike and Heather, Seth and Lisa and a whole other slew of people. Good times catching up and reconnecting with folks from good ole Virginia Tech. Now the challenge is to actually keep up with everyone...I always think it can work and it just never pans out that way. I'm sorry I'm such a slacker everyone!

Miss Lily spent the morning with dad and the afternoon and remaining part of the day with Sarah and Kyle. She loves the "smoochies" as we affectionately call them (and they call themselves this as well). Craig and I decided it was best to let her sleep at their house tonight and then I'll wake up and go over to Sarah's and feed Lily in the morning. I miss her and can't wait ot see her and all her pudge!

My friend Drena told me about this Freecycle group. Here's how it works: If I have a nice lamp that I want to get rid of, but I don't want to put it in the trash and I don't want to take it to Goodwill or Salvation Army, I can post my items on their website/forum and see if anyone out there is in need of the item. Since everyone lives near your area (usually in the same zip code) it's pick-up only. It seems the group's mission is to keep things from filling up our landfills but also encouraging community and togetherness by sharing. You know the saying: One man's trash is another man's treasure. This group fleshes that out.

 

I just joined last night (I actually had to get approved to be a member). After reading the rules and guidelines I see that my first "action" has to be to offer something. Apparently you can post OFFERs and WANTEDs. Now I have to figure out what I want to offer...Hmmmm. 

 

I posted the Freecyle website to the right. It's not just in Phoenixville. You can find a group near you and find ways to reuse and "freecyle" yourselves. Just thought I'd share this fun discovery!

Finally the week is over! It's been a very long week and the weekend is going to be just as long. I (Steph) am part of a local choir, Masterworks. We are part of the Pennsylvania Academy of Performing Arts (www.papa-international.org). This weekend is our spring concert and we've had practice every night this week. Talk about challenging...I'm spent.

Our concert tonight was pretty good...could have been better, certainly, but not terrible. It's strange to be performing again. I haven't stood in front of a group of people and sung like that since my "Steppin' Out" days in high school. That's a show choir I was in - what a blast we had. While being part of this group isn't exactly like show choir, it brings back some fond memories.

Tomorrow will be busy - Craig and our friend Joel are working on installing the dishwasher and the garbage disposal in the morning. I'm getting my hair cut at 10AM and basically watching Lily all day so Craig can get stuff done in the kitchen.

It's late and I'm tired...good night everyone!

In honor of Lily I will write in pink. I always gave my mom such a hard time about her love of pink. It's fitting that the color is starting to grow on me...figures. I wonder what Lily will make fun of me for. My scrapbooking? My craft projects? My red hair? One can only speculate.

 

This is my first entry here and I will make it short. We recently returned from a weekend away at the cottage and had a nice time of relaxing and resting. It was nice to get away even if it was only a long weekend.

 

Miss Lily took her first step today...very exciting. I'm not sure it technically counts since it was JUST A STEP and then she lunged forward for someone to catch her (which they did). Pardon the pun, but it's a step in the right direction.

No description does this site justice...just check them out.

Really great quality photos at a competitive price. Their shop is out of Georgia. Can't beat the south!

8/10/2011 11:06:04 AM - 004032621363
Thanks for keeping me up to date on your family, Steph. Great pictures!

7/3/2009 1:11:49 PM - 001068785831
Loved the pictures of the cabin! It looks like you guys had a great time - and the lake looks so beautiful and relaxing!! :)

5/15/2009 12:53:02 AM - 000094514015
Craig, you're an inspiration. Pray for my second floor bathroom redo. - Mike

3/23/2009 1:26:03 AM - 001074707842
Wow...Looks like life is really wonderful and you are truly  
blessed...Congratulations on the birth of Ben.  They both are  
adorable.  Best Wishes~Terry Weber

3/21/2009 11:03:40 PM - 001065599130
Welcome little Ben! Congratulations big sister Lily... and Craig and Steph!

3/20/2009 12:50:15 PM - 001068785831
WELCOME BENJAMIN!!

2/5/2009 12:24:13 PM - 002056640940
Steph,

10/23/2008 11:12:24 PM - 002028745435
Steph and Craig - Great to see the pictures of you and Lily at VF park.  It makes us miss it all the more!  We were happy to hear that your family (and your belly) is growing!  We hope to visit River Crossing toward the end of November . . . hope to see you then!  Fred, Val and the gang