Welcome Eliza Rose Purcell

We were blessed with Eliza Rose's safe arrival into the world on August 29, 2018. She was born at 3:01pm, weighing 7lbs, 1oz, and 20 inches long. 

We are in love and so thankful for our healthy baby girl.

Later that evening Mark, Betty, and the boys came to meet Eliza.

The boys were so sweet with their little sister and each took turns holding her and singing to her.

Grandpa and Grandma loving on their eighth grandchild, and we are excited for my parents to meet Eliza in a couple of weeks.

We are in love with our sweet baby girl.

Day before and day of Baby Girl's arrival

The day before Baby Girl's arrival, we had a nice day as a family after the boys got home from school. Caleb and Benjamin were excited for their sister to finally arrive the following day!

 That evening we took our last walk as a family of 4!

Very early morning at the hospital!

Time to have a baby :)

Thankful

As I reflect on this summer and we await baby girl's arrival, I am incredibly thankful for many things. 

I am thankful for the opportunity to spend the summer with our boys, which has been such a blessing. As a full-time working mom, I do not get summers off, and it was so wonderful to have this time with them.  The circumstances of leaving Jordan earlier than anticipated because of gestational diabetes was not my initial plan, but I am thankful for God's bigger plan for this time. I was challenged in new ways some days, but we learned, grew, and had a really fun summer together!

I am thankful for my in-laws who have loved and served our family, and opened their home to us. I am thankful for the unique opportunity we have had to spend so much time with them, for them pouring into our boys' lives, and for the fun summer we have had together. It's been noisy and wild in their home many days, and I appreciate all they do for us!

I am thankful for our family, and that Nathan got here almost a couple of weeks ago! He is a loving, supportive, and engaged husband and father, and we are thankful for who he is and the role he plays in each of our lives. The boys have enjoyed lots of daddy time since his arrival, and this weekend we got to have fun going to the pool one last time so they boys can show him all their new swimming and diving board skills, we took them to the movies, and just enjoyed being together. (Pic at almost 38 weeks).

I am thankful for being able to take care of our growing baby girl through the diabetes in a relaxing environment where I could make good food choices, exercise daily with morning swims and evening walks, sleep comfortably, and be almost stress free.

And last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for the sweet blessing that awaits our family in the coming days. This is a picture from the last sonogram taken this past Friday. We are all so excited to meet her in the coming days, and the boys are beyond thrilled to be big brothers. Our parents are excited to welcome a granddaughter into the family, and we are looking forward to my parents' and brother's visit in a few weeks to meet her!

Until then, we wait in anticipation of her arrival! Baby girl news coming soon :).

Weekend away in St. Louis and Centralia Balloon Festival

This past weekend, Nathan and I went to St. Louis for a couple of nights. We had a great time going to a Cardinals game, walking around different parts of the city, meeting up with family, and eating some good food! This was our first time at the new stadium. It was a great evening for a baseball game!

We had seats in the right outfield which were great to watch the game, but the view with the Arch in the background is awesome!

We stayed for about half the game, got some delicious hot dogs, then headed back to our hotel.

The next morning, we walked around Forest Park, visited the St. Louis Art Museum, walked around the Loop, and met Nathan's cousin Holly and her family for lunch at famous Fitz's for burgers and root beer.

Last time we saw Mike and Holly was a few months before baby Caelum was born, and now he is a little over 1. He is a sweet natured baby, and we had a good time catching up with them!

For dinner, we went to the famous Ted Drewes custard place...and had frozen custard for dinner. It was delicious....we definitely ate our way through this weekend :).

While we were away, Mark and Betty watched the boys for the weekend, and they had a fun time. One evening they went to the Centralia Balloon Festival, and saw lots of neat hot air balloons!

Another day they went to the skate park (a couple of times), threw duds at the nature trail, and they helped grandpa and grandma do yard work. 

We are thankful for Mark and Betty watching the boys so we can get away for the weekend. It was fun for everyone all around!

First day of the Bobcat school

Since we will be in Illinois until mid-October, the boys will go to school for about 8 weeks, before we head back to Jordan. They love school, and are extra excited because this is the school that Nathan went to, Grandma Betty works at, and they get to ride a big yellow school bus! Before school started, the boys went to school a few time to play, get a tour from grandma, and for registration. They were excited and ready!

And of course the first day photos! Benjamin is in Kindergarten this year and his teacher is Mrs. Marcum. Mrs. Marcum is also pregnant with a little girl and she is due right around the time we will be heading back. 

Caleb is in First Grade this year and his teacher is Mrs. Richardson.

Caleb in his classroom...he was shy when we dropped him off, but seems to make new friends each day.

Benjamin was all smiles and he too is making new friends each day.

The boys had a great first day, and are so happy when they get home in the afternoons! Here's to a great semester as Bobcats at Hawthorn School :)

Skate Park Fun

The boys have been asking to bring their bikes to the skate park all summer! We let them run the ramps, but the bikes had to wait for daddy...

I think they got him to the skate park within a day or two or arriving!  Benjamin on the ramps.

Caleb on the ramps.

More fun to be had!

Daddy's Home!

After 2 months of being apart, Nathan arrived in IL! We all missed him very much and are so happy that he is here. He was able to come a day early and surprised the boys....this picture was taken within a minute of us pulling up in the driveway and seeing him :).

 Happy reunion :)

 We spent the evening catching up and cooking out hot dogs and s'mores.

We are so happy to be together again, it's great to have Nathan home with us! Now, time to wait for baby girl's arrival!

Eckert's Farm and cousin time!

Another day in August, the boys and I met up with Nancy, Jennifer, Michael, and Catherine at Eckert's Farm.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch, getting caught up, then got on a bus and picked peaches in the orchard. 

The boys enjoyed seeing their cousins, they are all growing up so fast! Last time we saw them was a couple of years ago in Washington.

The fruit ninja strikes back...

Almost 37 weeks preggo!

Afterwards, we indulged in some frozen custard. It was such a fun time to get together and share some laughs!  We are so glad we got to meet for the day while Jennifer and the kids were in town from Washington for the week!

And Mark made a delicious peach pie with the fresh peaches...this is just one of several that he has made this summer.