June and July....

Well, I can't say my excuse for the last lapse is very good..I've had some free time this summer. I've been hanging out with Jude while Troy has been at conferences, retreats, and at work. It's a little lonely at times, but I caught up on our photo albums, I've been learning how to can things, and trying to keep walking in the mornings. The walking can be a little tough if I don't go early enough, since it's Texas and it's summer and I'm pregnant...very pregnant.

But, I'd say my excuse is just that I've been lazy about blogging. Today however, I am in a hotel room (we came along on this trip with Troy...we're in Dallas), while Jude and his friend Olivia (daughter of a close friend and co-worker, Allison) are sleeping. So, here it goes:

Baby news: I am 31 and 1/2 weeks pregnant. I really hope this baby comes a little early like Jude, but even still, I have some time left. This pregnancy has been fairly easy, but I am not a person who loves being pregnant...so I am trying to be patient. Every little bit of it will be worth it in the end...

Exciting development: Jude is potty trained. He still has a rare accident, but he's doing really well. Here's my tip: Leave on an 8-day trip to Colorado with 15 ninth graders, leave your toddler with your mother- and sister-in-law, and come home to a potty trained kid! For some reason, they thought to buy him a froggy potty, which was all it took. That idea never occurred to me. Eight days away from him was really hard, but in hind-sight it was totally worth it! YEAH! So, at least for the moment, we'll be only having one kid in diapers (once the baby is born, of course).

Church/adoption: We're enjoying our church very much. We have recently started working with the crawlers in the nursery. It's amazing how quickly I've forgotten what little ones are like. It's making me excited for my own little baby, though. We're planning to attend Together for Adoption in October (a national adoption conference that our church is co-hosting this year). Adoption is something we've been thinking and praying about for a while. We'll see how God directs our family in the future.

School: Troy's school is doing really well..especially considering that many private schools are struggling because of the economy. They will grow in enrollment again this year, and have been able to hire some amazing new staff. Troy is now officially "Head of Upper School," which means he runs the upper campus (grades 5-11 this coming year, adding 12th in fall 2011). He still loves his job, though it can be very consuming. We're thankful that he is confident it's where God wants him, and that he loves the staff and students there. It makes the long hours clearly worth it. He plans to stay...well....forever.

I will only be teaching one hour per week next fall, since I'll have a new baby. I dropped a couple of my classes this year. I am glad to not have the restrictions on my schedule, though I will miss teaching dance and girls' fitness. I suppose I'll have to work out on my own!

Pics:

Here are a couple of pictures....



Jude and Kate (cousin) playing in our yard...





Jude's big boy room. This is mostly for my Auntie Kris, who just sent him a pillowcase that matched his room exactly with out ever seeing pictures. She just pegged him for a construction truck kid, I guess...pretty good.

Jude Singing and Playing the drums

IT'S A......

Hey Everyone! If you haven't already heard on Facebook, or through an email, we wanted to share our exciting news that it's a GIRL! Our little one looks healthy and wonderful. We are very thankful, and Jude is excited to have a little sister. So far, I am enjoying pregnancy with a girl...she's much gentler inside than Jude was! We are so thankful for God's kindness in making her. Getting to see her on the ultrasound was a great reminder that God has done the work of knitting her together, and it's really a miracle. All four chambers of her heart, every little rib and even her little nose (which is a lot like Stevi's and doesn't turn up like the noses in the Schuknecht family....as far as we can tell), are all His beautiful creativity. It's nothing I've done, and certainly a display of His amazing grace. We are excited and hope you'll pray for us. We have no idea what to do with a girl, and she's coming in September whether we're ready or not!

Stevi

Jude's new toy...

Spring Break and Easter....

Hi everyone! Here are some recent pictures. We went to Houston with some friends over spring break (in March)....

Jude and his (best) friend Olivia at the Children's Museum.

This is a t-rex behind us at the Museum of Natural Sciences...

At the Houston Zoo...

Jude and Olivia at the zoo...

This was at the Space Center....there were some Star Wars characters. Jude still talks about how we went in a rocket. This is Jude, me, Olivia and my friend Allison.


Jude at the Aquarium (I know...they had a tiger, weird). But, it was his favorite thing!



Olivia and Jude near the tiger exhibit.


Houston....


Dyeing Easter eggs with Josiah and Kate (Jude's cousins).



Jude and Josiah on Easter with Jude's new swords!


In other news, we just got a flip video camera...so hopefully we'll be adding videos to our blog soon!

Bedtime Prayer

Tonight I was praying with Jude before bed, and he was telling me the things he was thankful for. He insists on praying for himself these days, which can be quite humorous, but also sweet. Tonight it went like this:

Jude: Dear God and Dear Jude, (we aren't sure why he starts it that way...) Thank you for toys....Mommy, God don't say "You're Welcome."

Me: Oh Honey, God does say it, but we can't hear Him because He lives in heaven, but He can hear us and see us.

Jude: Oh. Heaven in the sky.

Me: Yes, Heaven's way up in the sky. (I know it's not really accurate, but he's two...how else do you explain it?) God and Jesus live there, but they can see us and hear us.

Jude: And the birdies up in heaven too...

Me: Well, the birdies live in the sky, but heaven is far far away where we can't see.

Jude: I wanna go to heaven too.

Me: (Seriously, how do I begin to explain this???) You can go to heaven when you die, but right now God put you here to live with mommy and daddy.

Jude: I wanna go to heaven with God and Jesus and Daddy and Mommy.....there's a fan up there (referring to his ceiling fan, purely a mid-conversation observation).

Me: Someday we'll all go to heaven together, but right now we live here on earth (as if any of this makes sense to him....)

Jude: Where Daddy? Daddy in heaven right now?

Me: No, Daddy's in his car on the way home from Veritas.

Jude: Oh.

Well....I did my best to explain it. But, it's a tough concept.

Baby time!

Hey everyone! We are thrilled to announce that we're expecting our second baby in September! I'm 12 weeks along tomorrow, and we completely thankful for this baby. We've been waiting for him/her for a while now! Jude is very excited to be a big brother, and today he asked me if he could "hold the baby now?" It's so hard to explain to a 2-year-old why the baby can't come out! My official due date is Sept 18th, so it's gonna be a warm Texas summer for me =).

Praise the Lord!