Halloween with the Hamstras!

Halloween this year was a blast. Both kid thoroughly enjoyed it so of course we did too! After a long debate my stubborn little girl agreed to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween. She originally wanted to be a pig but I couldn't track down a pig costume locally that was in her size.... Now, to be honest I didn't put a ton of effort into it but in the end she was thrilled to be Minnie.

My parents rarely miss an occasion to be with the kids and my dad even rescheduled his business trip to be with us for trick-or-treating!

Waiting for GG & Bampa to arrive:

Isn't it remarkable how much John Michael looks like my dad in this picture? Its accentuated by his all black wardrobe. :)

Mini Bampa



Man in black



So, when they arrived we put the finishing touches on the kids costumes, handed out some cool Halloween flashlights the kids loved....



...and headed over to our first house, Bampa and Mom-Mom. I don't know how I missed getting a picture of either kid with Mom Mom but here is one of Addy with Bampa and an attempt at getting a picture of both kids on her festive front porch:





After our visit we headed back to our neighborhood to round the block. This, of course, took way longer than it should've because we just had to stop at every participating house and talk excessively about how incredibly cute our kids are..... and isn't that so much of the fun? Watching other people gloat about how cute your kids are? I just love it when people agree with me!

So, enjoy the remaining pictures and I hope to blog again soon!


walking with bampa!




happy grandma




proud gg




happy bzzzzing




Attempt #2 of the kiddos




Two Minnies (one is our neighbor)



Our busy bumblebee!



Our Minnie Mouse


our family :)

A Relateable Loss

By now most of you know that I have been having symptoms of a miscarriage for a few days now. This morning, after visiting the doctor and the hospital, we confirmed what we had suspected was true, out little baby had no heartbeat. And so, I am scheduled to have a D&C at St. Margaret Mercy North first thing in the morning.

Johnny & I are, understandably, quite sad. I was about 11 1/2 weeks along so I think we both thought we were just about out of that "danger zone" and it was a bit of a surprise. We've both had time to pray and grieve together but I wanted to let everyone know that we are both completely at peace and experiencing God's grace in remarkable ways.

A good friend gave us the following verse and I have been meditating on it all day:

Psalm 33:20-23

"Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you."

Ahh, what sweet peace these words give my heart! Ultimately, my heart's gladness is found in him. Though my husband, my children, my family and my friends give me joy on this earth.... its my Lord who gladdens my heart. Its the gladness I find in him that enables me to take joy in his good gifts. Its his love and goodness that we hope in. Its in his presence that we find rest... not in health, not in life, not in blessings. And nothing can separate me from the love he has for me.

And so, we echo the psalmist's cry, " Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Ps 73:25-26)

Thank you all for your prayers, e-mails and love. We both feel so well cared for.

Love,
Michelle

Dead Blog

Sorry for those of you who actually check this blog. I absolutely love the idea of keeping this as some type of digital scrapbook for the children's life... and I suppose that its gaps speak loudly of just how busy they keep me!

But that's not all keeping me busy. We've been enjoying having Johnny's cousins and their boyfriends in town this past weekend. Julie's boyfriend came in from Knoxville to run the Chicago Marathon and Bethany's boyfriend came to "meet the family." I'm sure both of them loved us completely... how could they not, right!? :)

I also recently took some pictures of Candi's newest little guy, Camden. You can view most of them on her blog but here are a couple of my favorites:



keep in mind that the blog format cuts off the last 1/2" or so on the right so you miss the end of his name on both of them :( Check out my portfolio or Candi's blog for the full effect.






And here are some pictures of the kids when Johnny's parents took us to the carnival that came to Highland a few weeks ago. They loved it (especially the popcorn!)

waving to the elephants (by far, her favorite)




the second best part



John Michael loves to point at things right now. He grunts and points and of course we jump up and do all his bidding. :) At least he's polite about it - he's officially full blown with his please, thank you and all done signs!




My little guys is officially walking! He has been taking a step here or a few there for the past couple of weeks but he's been taking 8 or 9 in a row these past few days and starting last night we saw him stop his crawling mid-route and stand up to walk so he's definitely taking more of an interest! I rarely push these things (obviously, JM is 14 1/2 months old!) but I must say I'm kind of looking forward to it... the kid weighs a ton! He's quite the mommy's boy still too and I must admit that though I roll my eyes about it sometimes and though its not convenient when I'm trying to do laundry or cook dinner I really do love it. Addy was never nearly as snuggly (though she makes up for it with her inherent girliness!)

Addy is the embodiment of cuteness these days.... she says and does things that evoke endless smiles and laughs from those who love her. I'll leave you with this one for now:

Someone farts.
Addy: Mommy, I hear them coming!
Me: What?
Addy: I hear them coming Mommy!
Me: Who?
Addy: The poopies Mommy! I hear them coming!

Our sweet girl.

My little man

John Michael is growing like a weed. Besides being quite the lug he's doing a number of new things. He's beginning to stand on his own but he hasn't quite figured out the stepping part of the process. He likes to stand up and throw himself toward what he wants to go. Its really pretty amusing.

He's also using some of his signs more. He regularly uses all done and has added thank you and on occasion he'll even say please. Its really sweet.... and he loves giving kisses! When people leave he automatically leans in and opens up for a slobbery open mouthed kiss.

And his crawling is OUT OF CONTROL! You can't help but giggle when you see him travel from one spot to the next because he's so speedy! He rarely goes slowly from one spot to the next. Instead he practically runs, but on his hands and knees.

And finally he's started mooing! I loved it when Addy began making animal noises and now John Michael is too. Its so sweet to me! He doesn't get the "oooo" part but he'll say, "Mmmmm" and smile. I'm actually surprised he didn't start with a doggy bark, they are by far his favorite. Every time we see a dog he jumps up and down and beelines it toward the doggy.

But sadly, we've also discovered one more thing about John Michael. He's also allergic to mosquito bites! He got a bite near his eye last week and this is how he woke up.

"Mommy, I can't see!"


Poor little man



My little swollen boy.



The saddest part is that it got worse! I don't have pictures on my computer of it though - just on my phone. But, you can imagine!

One a prettier note, here are the rest of the pictures of those adorable girls I took a few weeks ago:

































and a couple of the little girl their mommy babysits for:

Getting ready for a play date!

Addy is getting ready for a play date. Faith is coming over tomorrow to play while Sam and I hang out. The girls are just getting old enough to really enjoy playing together. Seeing Addy with other children has been enlightening. I'm learning more about what she's like and what her strengths and weaknesses are going to be.

Here they are a couple of months ago at Faith's house with Ellen. Their "play dates" aren't exactly consistent. I thin they've had a total of five in their whole life... and a few of those doubled as babysitting on Ellen's part!

From bad to worse

Well, I hear that's the way allergic reactions go... They start off bad and then every time you react after that its worse. Well, if that's true we just experienced it. On Labor Day Adeline got bit FOUR TIMES by a mosquito in the forehead.

Here's how she looked on Tuesday morning.






So of course I started administering the Benadryl.... but in the afternoon she looked worse:




So, off to the urgent care we went. I had thrown away the steroid script the doc had given me thinking we wouldn't need it... and we had to wait 2 hours to see the doc. By the time we saw him my poor little girl looked like this:




But, armed with a steroid cream we felt assured she would be recovering by the morning..... so you can imagine my shock when I woke up to a little girl who couldn't see out of EITHER EYE!!



Off to the pediatrician we went. Luckily I had an appointment for John Michael anyway. He prescribed an oral steroid and by the time I even gave it to her it was getting better. By tonight she looks immeasurably better.... Thank you Lord for medicine. Its not the first thing we turn to, nor is it what we ultimately put our trust in but we're so grateful for it when we need it! I didn't get a post trauma picture tonight due to pregnancy symptoms :) But I'll take one in the morning.

And by the way, my little girl is a trooper. Not a complaint! (Well, except for nap time... apparently benadryl makes her hyper.)

This time next year

I'll have

A three year old
A two year old
and...

a FOUR MONTH OLD BABY!

Three babies in three years!