On Top of the World

We have some exciting news. --Matt got a job working at a law firm here in Houston, Clearman Prebeg, and it's doing exactly the kind of work he wanted to do: IP litigation. He worked with two of the partners last summer as an intern, then they split off to form a new firm.  They hired Matt on contract basis a few weeks ago and liked his work so well, they made him an offer for a permanent position within a week and a half.  He loves the work and comes home super-excited about everything he's done that day. But it's so frustrating for me, because he's so excited about his work, and he can't tell anything about the cases he's working on. Oh, well. At least he's happy.

Also, we will be moving at the end of the month. Finally a house with a backyard and a washer and dryer of my very own! I'm not sure how long the link will be good for, but you can check out our house at http://search.har.com/engine/4421-De-Milo-Dr-Houston-TX-77092_HAR64364041.htm (We're renting, not buying it.)

The last few weeks, with Matt getting a job, and then a permanent position so quickly, and then finding the perfect house, have seemed miraculous to us. I feel like we've been mountain climbing for the last four years and we've finally reached the summit and are looking down on the beautiful valley below. Yes, we still have a long way to go, but right now, we can take a breather, enjoy the view, and marvel at God's goodness, power, and mercy in our lives.

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I've been so busy, I haven't had time to update the blog in a while. So here are some pics from the last month or so.

Family picture from the day of Adelaide's Blessing. We had a nice luncheon after church with Matt's family, my family, and several neighbors.

Aunt Lisa and Sadie.

Ahhhhh. Time to relax --for the kids and for me. This was one of the few times all three kids have fallen asleep at the same time, so I had a good 30 mins of peace and time to myself. I was so excited, I had to take a picture. . . . Of course I had to spend the whole time in the car with them, but it was still very pleasant.

"Mom, why do you keep looking into that little silver box?"

"No, I don't want to smile for the camera."

"All right, all right. How about a half-smile."

Grandma came to visit for a few days and we loved having her.

Finally a real smile!

We went to the beach several weeks ago, as a "last-hurrah" before Matt started working.

A few days before, someone sent me a YouTube video of the Tsunami in Japan. The kids were at my elbows watching it too, so I explained in simple terms what a tsunami was. When we went to the beach and Michael saw the waves, even though he has loved!!! the beach before, he went berserk. He threw a huge fit thinking that the waves were going to come up and wash us all away. It took a looooong time for him to calm down, but he eventually did. (The moral of this story is --Never let your kids watch YouTube!)

Feeding the gulls.

Michael and Sarah both hated the ocean as babies, but it didn't seem to phase Adelaide one bit.

Fun with Dad

Since Matt finished the Bar, he's been at home job searching part time and being a full-time Dad, nanny, au pair, mother's helper, or whatever you want to call it. I would have gone crazy by this time without his help. He is the best! And since this is his first real vacation in four years, we're taking full advantage of it and doing lots of fun things.

We've been to the Children's Museum and the Natural Science Museum. (The kids can't get enough of the dinosaurs.)

We had an indoor campout. No we didn't sleep in the tent, but the kids had fun getting ready for our "campout" by turning the lamps into trees and hiding stuffed "forest animals" around the living room. The big thrill was turning off all the lights, climbing into the tent with a flashlight and Dad telling camp fire stories. (Nothing scary.)

Playing with water is always a hit. Sadie especially enjoys her mini-pool.

Matt took Michael to NASA Space Station. What a perfect father-son outing!

They looked at all kinds of cool space things. Michael got to touch a real moon rock. And they rode two different flight simulators. That was the coolest!

With so much to see and do, our little space cadet was pretty spacey by the end of the day.

With Matt here to help take care of Adelaide, I try to use my "free" time to play with Michael and Sarah. Sadie is really into dress-up right now, and of course, I play along.

More fun with rockets . . . Matt bought an even bigger rocket and used the same size engine in the hopes it wouldn't fly as far this time. We fired it off in the middle of a huge, empty field

and, of course, it landed in a tree at the edge of the field.

It took quite a bit of time and help to get it out. It took a group of homeschool boys and some tools borrowed from the park maintenance crew to finally get it out.

Adelaide News:

Adelaide continues to grow at an astonishing rate. She's a lot more fussy than either Michael or Sarah were, but we're slowly learning how to make her more happy, or at least cope with the fussiness. Tonight we tried giving her camomile tea (Pediatrician and Grandma recommended) and it was the first time we'd even tried to give her a bottle. And it worked! She took the bottle with no problem and drank the whole thing! (Neither of my first two babies would take a bottle at all, so this was pretty amazing to me.) She settled down a little, eventually fell asleep, and woke up happy. Wow!

She will only sleep during the day if you're holding on your shoulder. She sleeps in her bassinet just fine at night, but if you lay her down any other time of day, she immediately wakes up. It'd be fine if I didn't have two other kids in need of attention too . . .

She learned to smile this week, but I haven't caught a picture of it yet. Previously, this was about as close to a happy face as we could get.

Michael News:

Michael has recently learned to do buttons. This is a shirt he buttoned all the way all by himself!

He is a great big-brother. He loves coloring and doing "crafts" (anything involving scissors and glue).

Sadie News:

Sadie is in love. Not with the boy next door. Not with a favorite stuffed animal. Not even with Mom or Dad. She is totally head over heels in love with "Thomas the Tank Engine." She idolizes anything that has to do with Thomas, and carries her little Thomas trains everywhere she goes. She checks out "Thomas" videos at the library every week and watches them every chance she gets. And when she can't watch the videos, she carries around the DVD case so it can be near her. We're not sure how this infatuation began, but I suppose it's just one of those things she'll grow out of, right?

Pretty in pink --her favorite color.

Sadie recently discovered how fun it is to stick things down your shirt--if you're wearing a onesie.

And baby makes three . . .

Wow! Three kids is a lot more than two. Thankfully, I've had my mom and Matt to help out these last few weeks as we are all adjusting. We stayed with my parents for 2 1/2 weeks after Adelaide was born while Matt was preparing for and taking the bar. (He took it last week, but won't have the results until early November.)

Michael and Sarah loved being at Nana's and getting extra attention, and I loved having the extra help. Matt's mom came up a few times to help out too. Now, we're back at home trying to get into a new routine and adjusting to new rules. (e.g. "No, you can't sleep in the bassinet." "Binkis are only for babies, not big girls." and "Aaaahhh! You can't push the baby swing that high! She'll fall out!") Thankfully, Matt is at home helping out until he starts working.

Just some pictures from the last few weeks:

Visiting at the hospital

Going home

Nana and Popie got a new puppy, Freckles. He's a little rambunctious still and pulled Michael down on the gravel driveway while taking a walk. Michael got pretty skinned up and got a huge goose egg on his head. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Despite that, he and Michael became fast friends.

The kids have been really sweet with Adelaide. They have been surprisingly gentle and are always wanting to tickle her feet.

Watercoloring

Watering the plants

At the splash park

Popie's shoes are hard to fill

Fun with balloons

Bath time

Adelaide Ellen Compton

Adelaide Ellen Compton was born on Friday, July 8, 2011. She is 8 lbs 8 ounces and both mom and baby are doing well. The epidural took 4 pokes and still did not work, but the hard labor was less than 1 hour, so that was very nice. Below are the pictures that you want. Enjoy.

Rocket Boys

For the last month or so, Matt and Michael have slowly been putting together a model rocket. They finally blasted it off over the weekend. Both of my boys were so proud! The only problem is it went so high, we couldn't find it again. Michael firmly believes it blasted into outer space and aliens are now playing with it. . . and they might even shoot it back to us.

The kids also had lots of fun chasing each other up and down the hill at the park while Dad tried to get the fuse lit.

In other news, I am going to be induced this Friday, 8th, so we'll soon have more news and pictures.

D-day approaches . . .

As my due date approaches, things are getting more interesting at our house. Within the last two months, I've given two different baby showers for friends. When I explained to Michael why I was giving them baby showers, he decided we needed to have a baby shower for our baby. So, here was our baby shower, complete with left over St. Patrick's Day paper goods. (Michael picked them out.)

We even wrapped up some baby clothes I had gotten on sale and let the kids unwrap them. That was the big highlight, of course.

That was several weeks ago. Today, we had another sonogram done to see about how big #3 is. From the measurements, she's weighing in 8 lbs. 10 oz., plus or minus 1 lb. --with 3 more weeks to go. This is definitely another Michael-sized baby. We're considering inducing early. . . The picture is kind of fuzzy, but you can see her eyes, nose and big round cheeks.

Several months ago, we did an "experiment" and rooted a potato. We planted it in a pot and have been faithfully watering it. When the leaves started turning brown, we decided it was finally time to dig it up and see if we were going to have any fruits from our labors. And we did! We dug up 3 mini-potatoes. The kids were so proud! We cooked them up for dinner that night, and they were delicious!

Michael and Sadie continue to enjoy building "nests" together.