Facebook

I just joined Facebook and apparently just stepped into the 21st century.  I know I will be so bad at keeping up with my blog AND Facebook, but it looked like a neat way to reconnect with lots of people from the past.  Moving around as often as we do, I hate to admit that I've let most of my correspondence fall by the wayside.  However, in an effort to reconnect, I've posted by blog address on my Facebook account.  So... if your visiting here via Facebook, leave a comment or send me an email so I can know who's reading.  

Facebook? Blog?  What a geek am I, but it's fun, isn't it?

It's been a while...

Okay, so  I am so very far behind in posting.  I have pictures to post and funny stories to share, but it seems things have been a bit busy lately.   I'll be back to posting in the very near future (hopefully this weekend) but wanted to give a quick update.  

We're still patiently awaiting the arrival of our next little boy and I'm currently about 2 1/2 weeks from my official due date.  Most of you know that our other kids were a bit on the large side at birth, but this little guy seems to have slowed down significantly and seems to be on track to be a normal sized baby, somewhere in the 7 lb range right now.   That's going to seem so tiny!  We're still praying for his safety and a good delivery and eagerly awaiting the day we can see his little face.  It still seems so strange to me that we wouldn't have had this baby had we not lost our last baby.  I know that isn't theologically sound to phrase it that way, but you know what I mean.  I know that God ordained everyday of Jordan's life...and that He also has ordained every minute for this little guy as well.  Truly, God is God and I am not.  I am, however, immensely thankful for His blessings.  He is the God who gives and takes away.  Only He, in His goodness, could do that and it still be GOOD!    

Christmas sing

The older girls were a part of the children's choir at church this year and this was their big Christmas performance.  They did great and Hannah even had her first speaking part.  They performed 2 nights and on the 2nd night I noticed during the singing that Gracey wasn't closing her mouth all the way.  The whole time, she had a bit of an Elvis snarl on her face.  Afterwards, I realized that "backstage" they had put blush and lip gloss on all the girls (see photo)...Gracey was afraid that she'd mess up her make up if she touched her lips together!  Singing to Jesus is great while keeping her make up straight!  :)

Jingle Bells

Here's our sweet Gracey May singing Jingle Bells.  Once I pulled out the video camera, everyone was a star.  I just love their sweet voices. :)

Starfish

Claire was sprawled out on the floor like this the other night...perfectly still.  When Ken asked her what she was doing, the answer was simple.  "I'm being a starfish."  Well, of course.  This little girl has the most amazing imagination.  Notice the leotard on inside out...she dresses herself too.  :)

ABCs

Here's little Jake, singing as usual.  His favorite song at the moment is  "Adelvise?" (from the Sound of Music...I have NO idea how to spell that).  But since I haven't caught that one on tape, here's a rendition of the ABCs....for the grandparents, of course.  :)

Warning: Belly pictures

My apologies to all that are offended by belly photos, but at the request of a few this is what big mama looks like at 30 weeks.  By the 6th pregnancy my body seems to know what to do and is getting bigger by the minute.

Only 9 weeks to go before we welcome the next and newest McNeill into our clan.  We are thankful that he seems to be doing well.  Actually, according to my MD he seems to be doing a little too well.  At our last ultrasound he was measuring in the 97th percentile.  He looks to be another big boy and if he continues at this pace, we may have another early induction.  We're continuing to pray for a healthy baby and can't wait to meet him.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  We finally have our camera fixed, so I feel like I can dive back into family updates.  It's just not the same to post without pictures.  We had a  wonderfully relaxing Christmas.  We stayed home and just spent the day as a family.  After a record breaking bad holiday for us last year, it was so nice to redeem to the season!  For those of you who weren't with us last year, Christmas involved a house full of the stomach flu and losing our 5th baby.  This year was much more joyful and made us so thankful for all of God's provisions for us over the past year.  

On Christmas Eve, we spent the day baking fudge and Christmas cookies.  Everyone decorated a cookie especially for Santa.  We sang Christmas carols and read Christmas stories.  One good book that we read this year is , "Santa, Are You For Real?" by Harold Myra.  It does a great job of explaining who Saint Nicholas was and why we still do "Santa".  The kids especially enjoyed the Advent season this year with the candles and candy. :)

Here's Jake enjoying one of his favorite toys while wearing his cool new firefighter outfit.

A word about Moonsand: just don't do it.  It was something our kids have wanted for quite a while and loved.  However...this is the messiest stuff EVER.  It is a very cool toy, however it would be a great toy for the spring when it can be played with outside.  For every 5 minutes of fun at the kitchen table, plan for 10 minutes of cleanup.  If your up for that, then, by all means, go for it.  But don't say I didn't warn you.

           

Jake loved all his new hot wheels and race track and the girls favorites were ponies, pet shops and a great doll house from Bumpa and Grandma.  Thanks, too, to Nana and Pa for all the goodies...the Tinkerbell make-up was the favorite for Claire by far.     

Fall fun

Here are the kids as they were heading out for a fun filled night of trick or treating.  Hannah was an angel, Grace was a cat, Claire was a butterfly princess and Jake was superman.  They all had so much fun running around the neighborhood and then finishing out the night with a party with our neighbors.  Jacob, being 2 now, especially enjoyed getting into the festivities this year for the first time.  All the girls would quietly walk up to the door and say, very politely, "trick or treat".  Then Jake would run up, stick out his chubby little hand and yell, "CANDY!!!"  A man who says what he means and means what he says.

Here's the little man driving the tractor at the pumpkin patch.  He loves anything with wheels, so the tractors and the hayride were highlights of the trip for sure.
Before we bagged up all the leaves in our front yard we let the kids have a few days to play in them.  They had a blast running and jumping...ahh, the joys of childhood.  :)
Hannah and Claire on the sidelines cheering on Gracey at her soccer game.

It's a.....

It's been a while since we've posted.  Our computer died about a month ago and it's taken us this long to get another computer and get things up and running again.  On the recommendation of many family and friends, we've gone with a Mac this time.   It is so different than a PC and it is taking me quite a while to learn how to use it.  All things considered, I've really enjoyed it so far. I haven't quite got the hang of all of how to post photos and such but in the mean time I wanted to let everyone know our latest news. 

We had our 20 week ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and....drum roll please....we are having another boy!  Needless to say, we were all very excited.  At the moment, Jake is out numbered 3 to 1 by his sisters, so I'm sure he'll be happy to have another little man on his side.  The baby, as is usual with our babies, is measuring very big...enough so that I'm having extra testing and may have extra doctor visits in the coming weeks.  You can pray with us that this baby tops out at 10lbs or under by delivery and is healthy and happy in the process.  :)  

In other news, my parents were here for a visit last weekend.  We had a great time and the kids all enjoyed some much anticipated Nana and Pa time.  We did some fishing, cheered Gracey on at her soccer game and spent some time down by a creek near our house.  Above is a family photo they snapped for us while they were here.