Hopping Towards Spring!

Cole was showing me his dinosaur face; notice the tongue in all his pics... what a stinker!

Even sticks his tongue out while jumping!

The following pics are backwards, but this is Abbey finally feeling good after surgery;

this was "Woolina" a little friend given pre-op that always brought a smile!

Abbey enjoying all the cards her classmates made her while enjoying jello and cold soup!

What a trooper!

Abbey ran in her school benefit race; always a lot of fun and for a great cause

Valentine birthday girl... seven sounds so big girl-ish!!

Abbey and Cole with Aunt Kelly

"Happy Birthday to You, cha, cha, cha"!

New big girl bike, she chose the sea-foam green color herself!

The kiddos helped to make a New Year Banner; a great project for my budding artists!

I want to be a srong and graceful oak, don't you?!

Fun on the Wii, New Year's Eve

Hugs and loves from my babies!

Well, I better hurry up and type some words before I loose my momentum!!! Oh MY! As you can see, it's been a while since the last post! 2010 has been off to the races and I'm starting to get the feeling that this is just going to be the pace of life for a while. I remember thinking when Abbey was a baby that it was "work" taking care of that one baby and keeping a house clean, ha!! Add another busy little boy, a bigger house than we had then, growing kiddos with growing activities, homework, house maintenence, health maintenence, and hopefully somewhere in there is spiritual maintence!!! Let me catch everyone up on the blessings and challenges in the Baker household. :)

Wow, I don't even know where to begin... ok, February's a good start. February 27th we celebrated Abbey's 7th birthday; she ended up having a Valentine's themed party the weekend of Valentines with her family and friends and had SO much fun! She's growing into a little lady more and more every day; such a good sister, encourager, artist, LOVES to read and ride her new big-girl bike, and will be starting Spring soccer in about another week. The biggest change regarding Abbey and really our family life next year is that God has led us to HOMESCHOOL; yes, you heard right! It has clearly been a calling upon me from the Lord and He has indeed made it very clear; Abbey is so, so excited and has really been asking for me to do this with her for about 2 years now. We are getting our curriculum ready for next year and will start working on making a school room in the house this summer, woo hoo! More to come on this. Most recently Abbey had a tonsillectomy/ adenoidectomy after having chronic tonsillitis for the last 2 years or so. She is still healing 18 days later and Dr. said today she's got a little longer to go; it typically doesn't take this long but her adenoids were ginormous and it's just taking longer for her body to heal. We are so excited to be on the other side of this; we know she will feel like a new little girl!

I'm just loving this stage with Cole! He's almost 4 now and full of contagious fun! God has really worked on Cole and answered so many prayers for God to reign in his very free spirit into being more self-controlled and respectful... thank you Lord! Don't get me wrong, he's still Cole and ALL busy boy but he is really a delight to his family. He enjoys his 2 day preschool classes, taking a sports class at The Little Gym, playing with his school friends, LOVES to be outdoors riding his new "Lightning McQueen" bike, and actually likes going to speech. He has amazed us with the progress in this area; even after the slight regression after his mouth injury in December, he is back at producing his sounds at about 100%. We are so proud of his hard work and for being willing to let others help and correct. Cole will stay at his preschool for one more year while Abbey and I begin the journey of homeschooling; we'll see where the Lord leads us after next year... it is so in His hands!

You've heard the phrase "blessing and a curse", well, that's a bit how I've felt with the influx of a lot of business for Chad this last fiscal year. It's been a true blessing in that he's still is in a job he truly enjoys and finds passion in and hey, he's employed and we know a lot of people who are struggling in that area right now. He was recently named "Top Gun" within his company for top sales and also given a national award for excelling within the company and emulating what the company wants to portray. I will get to enjoy a part of the reward with him since they are treating award winners and wives to an all expense paid vacation to Palm Beach come Fall, very cool! I really am proud of Chad; he is a very hard worker and a man of integrity and character which makes him so great at his job. It has certainly come with its set of challenges and strains; more travel and more lap-top time at home. He does good about respecting the NO "crack-berry" rule once he's in the house and the lap-top can't open until after kiddos are down. We're rolling with it and always re-evaluating how we can make it better b/c family IS priority!

If you've made it this far, congrats, you're almost through... promise! I turned the big 3-0 in December and had a great time celebrating with fam and friends! I have to say, I'm starting to feel a bit old though!! Things stick to the thighs that didn't used to, fine lines are making their entrance, a few grays, and a few less hairs too, and I never get carded at the grocery store anymore... insulting! ;0 A lot of the changes have come with trying to regulate PCOS & pre-diabetes which we discovered less than a year ago and also still in the midst of trying to figure out if I have IBS or just a severe food allergy of some kind... a bit frustrating but I'm working to figure out what I can do to minimize the effects of all. The PCOS & pre-diabetic diet was just downright irritating but now adding the whole IBS thing in has just been cruel to a girl who is a "foodie"; I enjoy healthy, flavorful food but at this rate I'm heading towards being vegan... YUCK!!! We've had some more water damage in the house so after water mitigation, environmental checks and now remodeling, along with minor health stuff, and just trying to raise a family... well, it hasn't been the start to 2010 that you dream about, but this is all part of the master plan. The biggest resounding truth in it all is learning that I'm not even a quarter way to perfect; God's the only perfect and constant, and purely loving one... I'm trying to focus more on His goodness and not getting so perturbed when "my way" isn't best.

Ok, I wanted to post on Disney but this is already the longest post in history, so Disney will come next. YES, we went back to Disney, and NO, I'm not on drugs... it was awesome and I can't wait to tell you about our Disney World "re-do" vacation! Blessings!