30+ weeks!

Madelyn has a new obsession with these boots. She wants to wear them all the time.

Here I am at almost 31 weeks! :)

Tomorrow Gregg, me and Madi are on our way to Western PA for my grandfather's funeral. Please keep our family in your prayers.

The angels came for Grandpa today

This is a picture of me, Madelyn, and my grandpa last year. Today at 1:35 p.m., the angels came and carried him to Jesus. I know this isn't a very good picture, and I am going to try to gather up some pictures of him from years ago to post. I am glad that I have pictures of him and Madelyn so one day I can show her who he was.



Ever since I can remember, my grandfather struggled with Parkinson's disease. When I was a little girl, my brother and I would make fun of him and how his fingers shook. I didn't know then that he had a disease and that he couldn't help it.



My grandfather was always very loving, but very protective of us. Even when we were teenagers, he would not let us ride our bikes in the street. We always had to be on the sidewalk. We were not allowed to get into his junk drawer for fear we would hurt ourselves on his scissors. If we did manage to get his permission to look in the junk drawer, he would watch over our shoulders like a hawk. And the pencil sharpener mounted inside the basement steps-- we were not allowed anywhere near it!



I have a million fond memories of my grandfather that I could go on forever telling. I am so very sad that he left this world, but I know that he is in the presence of God, and I couldn't be any happier about that! He had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and I know he has eternal life in Heaven with Him.



There is a song sung by David Phelps that seems like it was written for my grandfather.



Fly Again

Words & music by David Phelps



His trembling hands held the church pew that day,

stuggling to stand when they asked him to pray.

With wisdom and strength his words were spoken.

but his body grew weary for his wings were broken.



But he will fly once again.

He will soar with his wings unfolded.

Hear the angels applaud as he rides

on the wind to the arms of God.

And he will fly. He will fly again.



And on that day when he left for the sky

I saw him smile as he told me goodbye.

No more would he weep for missed tomorrows.

No more would he suffer in this land of sorrows.



But he will fly once again.

He will soar with his wings unfolded.

Hear the angels applaud as he rides

on the wind to the arms of God.

And he will fly. He will fly again.



I know that he’s in a better place.

I still dream of the day when I’ll see his face.

Then we’ll embrace, and...We will fly once again.

We will soar with our wings unfolded.

Hear the angels applaud as we ride

on the wind to the arms of God,

and we will fly. We will fly again.



Julius Eugene Arnold

September 25, 1927- March 3, 2008

Pregnancy, Party, and Snow!

Today marks 29 weeks of pregnancy for me! Can you believe it? I can't!!! This little guy will probably be here in about 9 weeks! WOW! Do I have to even say that I cannot wait!? I think I am ready for the sleepless nights, breastfeeding woes, and the joys of bringing home a new baby. Well, actually we are nowhere near ready. We haven't made much of any progress to Ben's room yet. We still have to install the sliding glass door in the den, and get moving on moving all the junk out of his room into the den. We don't have much time! I just want to get it done! As far as how I have been feeling....Ben is kicking up a storm in there, often hurting me with his strong kicks. I can't believe how much more active he is that Madelyn was. I am enjoying it though, for the most part. I have been having quite a bit of heartburn, but nothing that a few Tums can't help. I go back to the Dr. the first week of March, and then I start going every two weeks! I know the time from here on out is going to fly.

I think Madi has a little bit more of an understanding of Ben and his soon to be arrival. Without me mentioning anything she says "Bum" and lifts up my shirt. She sees clothes for him and she says "Bum". So she definitely knows something is up with "Bum".

I mentioned a while back that Gregg had sprained his ankle while jogging. He still is not 100% with it yet. He can jog on it a little, but he still complains that it hurts at times. It's been 9 weeks since he did it, and we both thought it would be better by now, but it's not!

So far Madelyn has taken 3 naps in her big girl bed. Most days when I put her in it for a nap, she wants to play in it, and doesn't settle down for a nap, and she ends up taking a nap in her crib. Today I am lucky that she is sleeping in it though! We have not tried any nighttime sleeping in it yet. I want to have a good monthsworth of naps in it before we try nighttime. It looks as though we will be borrowing a crib for a few months for Ben until Madi is out of her crib. I don't want to rush anything. As far as potty training is going-- she went on the potty I think about 5 times and then totally lost interest. So I put it away. I just got it out a couple days ago again, and she seems to have a little bit of interest, but has not done anything on it yet. I think we will hold off for a while, unless she really seems ready. I think trying in the fall would be best, because by that time, we will all be accustomed to having a new baby in the house, and she might be ready by then. So we'll see!

On February 11, my dad turned 60, so on the 9th, my mom and siblings threw him a surprise birthday party. The whole weekend turned out great! He was very surprised all the way up until he walked in the door! My entire family was together for the party, and it was great to see all my siblings and their spouses together. Here are the girls before the party started. It was difficult to keep them entertained while we tried to get ready. They have so much fun when they are together!

Ouch! They bonked heads!

Awwww!

SURPRISE!!!

Back row: My brother, Evan, and his wife Sarah, Gregg and I, my sister, Amy, Chloe, and Amy's husband, Darryl, and my brother, Nathan.

Bottom row: My cousin's daughter, Ashlynn, and her twin brother, Caleb is on my dad's lap. Then Madelyn, my dad, Nathan's wife, Mary, and my mom.

The rest of these pictures are just random pics. I just love Madelyn's hair, and after every bath, I blow dry it and brush it. She isn't afraid of the hairdryer, but I have to distract and entertain her with toys and books to get her to sit still.

Here she is before her bath the other day. She loves the scale!

All of these pictures are from today. We got about 5 inches of snow last night and today, and we went out and played for about 50 minutes. She LOVES the snow, and I love taking her out in it!

We made snow angels. Can you see them?

Mmmmm!

Blog addiction

I recently found a blog about a family that lives in North Carolina. Just to give you a rundown--
The blog is written by a dad and husband, Nathan. His wife, Tricia, is about a month older than me and has Cystic Fibrosis. She was in the process of planning for a double lung transplant, when they found out they were pregnant. Their baby, Gywneth, was born January 8, at a little over 24 weeks gestation. I have been checking up on them at least a half a dozen times a day, and I guess you could say I am addicted to their blog! Nate and Tricia are both born again Christians, and their story has made a huge impact on my life. There are pictures of the three of them on Nate's blog : www.cfhusband.blogspot.com. Check it out, and remember to pray for them. They are an amazing family with an amazing testimony!

Slumbering Sweetly...

...in her big girl bed! Right now Madi is asleep in her big girl bed for the very first time. I put her down in it yesterday for naptime, but she only wanted to play. I think my mistake yesterday was not giving her a few minutes to explore the bed rail before putting her in the bed to sleep. Right before I put her down for her nap today, I explained that she was going to take a nap in her big girl bed, and that if she got up I would put her in her crib for her nap. I checked on her every 2-3 minutes at first just to make sure she was behaving. And the last time I checked on her, she was sound asleep. She is just so precious. I am hoping this nap lasts as long as her naps usually do-- around 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I almost wanted to cry when I was taking these pictures. What a little miracle she is, and how much she has blessed our lives. Thank you, God, so much for this gift you gave to us. We couldn't love her more!

25 weeks!

Last week we got about 3 inches of snow, so we took Madi outside to play in it. She hadn't been to play in the snow yet this year. We didn't really mean to make a snowman, but the snow was perfect for it, and it only took about a half hour or so. It was really fun! The next day it got to be 40+ outside, and very sunny, and he fell over! :( It was fun while it lasted.

Here's my handsome hubby on Christmas

These pictures are a little out of order....but this is my dad when he found out that we are having a boy.

My mom opening the card that announces the sex of our baby. My sister, Amy, and her husband, Darryl are looking on.

Here's my mom with Madi and Chloe, Madi's cousin. They are 8 weeks apart.

I know, I know, it's been way too long since I posted. I wish I had the discipline to post every day like some bloggers.

Things have been great here in the Rader household! We've been really busy lately working on our den. The panelling is almost all done. We have the door to do, and all the trim yet. We can't wait until it's all done and we can get our house back in order! The panelling looks great, and it is so nice to have nice fresh walls. We wanted to do drywall, but there was no drywall under the existing panelling, and we have had enough experience with hanging drywall from our house in Nazareth that we decided we would take the panelling route. It looks really good though. Gregg did it mostly on his own with just a little help from my dad and his dad. Good job, Gregg, and thanks for getting the job done!

It seems that Madi has taken on a little bit of the "Terrible Twos"! She is a really good little girl for the most part, but lately she has been having some temper tantrums, which is a surprise, because she never really showed this kind of behavior before. She also has a real interest in all of our DVD's on our shelf, and has taken to chewing the boxes, and taking the DVD's out of them. She never lets up, it seems! She still chews on everything, and I cannot wait until that is over! You name it, she chews it. She has play food that goes with her kitchen set, and she has chewed visible holes in about 1/3 of it. She also chews the rough part of velcro and her coat when she's wearing it. It makes me nuts! I guess if that's the worst she does, I can live with it. She still is the sweetest thing!

Ben is doing great too! He is growing and thriving wonderfully. I can't believe I am 25 weeks already! In reality, I only have 3 months till he is here. He will probably come early, like Madi did. We have to get working on his room! I am starting to feel like I am running out of time.

We've been talking to Madi about her baby brother. We like to watch The Baby Story, and Bringing Home Baby on TLC together. She always gets excited and says, "Baby!" I tell her that Mommy is going to bring a baby to our house. And that she is going to be a great big sister, and help Mommy with the baby. She points to my belly, and lifts up my shirt. She knows something is up. She calls Ben "Bum". Sometimes I think she thinks I named my belly button Ben. I'm not real sure how much she understands. I guess she'll figure it out real quick when he comes!

In case anyone is wondering, I registered for a few things at Babies R Us. Even if you just want to see the crib set we picked out-- it's cute. It has zoo animals on it, and its brown and blue. For the few family members that might want to get something, they will have an idea what we want.

Also, if anyone reading this has any questions, ask them in a comment. I have a hard time coming up with things to post.

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Madelyn is 2 years old! She was born Thursday, January 5, 2006 at 11:01am. She has grown and changed so much since she was born. But she is still the cutest, most lovable little girl I know. It is so wonderful being her mommy. Here are some pictures from the last week or two.

Santa got her this kitchen set for Christmas and she has been having a blast playing with it! She cracked me up when she stuck her whole upper body into the fridge, that I just had to take a picture. :) She has been baking batch after batch of cookies, and has had at least a dozen tea parties already. Her favorite is when Daddy sits next to her at her little table and has a cup of tea! Then when he is at work, she points to the chair he sits in, and says, "Dada". It's too cute!


Here are the pictures from her birthday. When she got up from her nap, there were a bunch of balloons waiting for her. She excitedly exclaimed "doolah!" when she saw them. That's how she says balloon! I always wondered how parents or anyone could understand what a little kid was saying. Now that I have my own 2 year old, I can understand just about everything she says. It's funny.

In the afternoon on her birthday, my mom and I took her to Jungle Fun. It's kinda like Chuck E Cheese, but it's mostly climbing and sliding stuff. She had so much fun!

Num num! Time for cake! She loved all the attention when it was cake eating time, and she loved being sung to!

I have been feeling great lately! The only thing is that most days I could go to bed at 8:30 at night and get up at 10:30 in the morning. If only my family allowed me that much sleep!

In prep for Ben's arrival, we have been working on our den. Taking down paneling, and putting up new paneling, etc. We are also planning on putting in a new sliding glass door on Saturday. Then we have to clear out Ben's room and move most of it into the den. I can't wait to get started on doing his room!

Madi had her 2 year check up today. She pretty much screamed from the time the nurse walked into the room until when the doctor walked out. The doctor said she looks very healthy. She is in the 75% percentile for height, and weight! She doesn't have to go back to the doctor until she turns 3! I am sure Ben's visits will make up for that though!

That's it for now! xoxo