Some Happenings at the Stertz Household!

We've been pretty busy around here (I think I say that in every post....I'm not sure life is about to slow down anytime soon)!

The house is coming a long...the kids are growing more rambunctious by the day...and I'm just growing (bigger)!

I'm so thankful for outside play time! :) My kids fall into bed at night (although not so much lately as we've been having some late nights with Menards runs...the best thing about Menards runs is 49 cent cones at Mc. Donalds!

It's hard to believe that we are down to about 50 days until this new little girl joins our family!

Here's what's been going on around our little part of this world:

Cities: Annika's is on the left, Van's on the right (his city after tornado??)

 

New Slippers! 99 cents after rebate at Menards!

The sweet girl looking so grown up!

 

 Who needs a water park??

The boy says, "Look at me mom!" To which I replied, "Get that off your head!" (after snapping a quick picture). On a side note: I don't let my child play with plastic bags, this was after lunch!

The boy says, "Should we take a picture?" After he put on his sister's headband (at least he's wearing it "Rambo-Style"). Oh and yes the purple boots were Annika's also, but he lives in those things!

Ready for church! Annika wanted me to take a picture of her new outfit (my garage sale buy...she's loving the skirt)! Van just wanted in the picture!

Another Garage sale buy (shirt and sweater), she's been posing for the camera lately...she really likes this shot! :) She was able to wear this on Wednesday as it was only about 63 degrees here)! Not sure what happened to summer...

We're hoping for some warmer weather today (I believe it says we're suppose to be up to almost 80 today), yesterday day was a whoppin' 58 degrees!

We're also looking forward to Van's bday party tonight! He doesn't officially turn 2 until Sunday, but Sundays aren't good days to celebrate (they tend to be to busy around here)! So I'll be back Monday morning to share some bday pictures and probably again on Wednesday to update about his appointment (just a 2 year check up) and I also have one on Wednesday.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Less We Forget: The Boy!

The Big Girl and The Little Girl...

 THE {BIG} GIRL!!

Annika finished her first year of Kids 4 Truth last night! She did a great job and got all of her patches.

The one thing I absolutely love about this program is the songs that my daughter sings. She often sings these song while she is playing in her room. Some of the songs include:

All Things Bright and Beautiful; Immortal Invisible God only Wise; Holy, Holy, Holy; Amazing Grace; The King of Love My Shepherd Is; Holy Bible Book Divine; Come Ye Sinners

 THE {LITTLE} GIRL!!

We were able to have our 29 week ultra sound yesterday. 

(profile picture of the her face with her hand up under her chin)

They did in fact double check to make sure she was a girl! ;) Everything looks great. While I still have a low lying placenta (which means my placenta did move a some) a c-section will not be needed (this makes me VERY happy)! Her heart beat was at 144. She did not however like being poked and prodded during the ultra sound and while my midwife checked for a heart beat (she kept kicking). This little girl (if I remember the other two pregnancies) is A LOT more active than Annika or Van! My midwife said to expect that when she comes out! :)

A Month...... :(

Has it really been a month since the last time I posted?!?! I'm VERY sorry (it must be close b/c I have 30 pictures to show to you). I'm hoping once this house is built maybe I will be a better poster (maybe). ;)

A few things that have hindered me from posting more....
1. The house building project - while we are moving along (for a bit it was pretty slow), but now we are making progress. David was able to finish up all the fascia this week, we got the hard wood flooring in, the painting is almost complete (boy will I be glad when this is done...so will my sciatic nerve, however, I have had TONS of help from ladies at church and what a blessing it has been), David did laid tile in the hall closet (he did pretty good for his first time), and it looks like cabinets and counter tops will be installed in the kitchen the next couple of days! We still have a ways to go but it is coming along. I'll post more pictures when they finish with the kitchen.

2. The sunshine! We've been outside a TON lately. The kids LOVE to be outside!! Church softball started up on Tuesday nights (obviously I'm not playing unless I'm the ball). ;) But David is and we've enjoyed going to the first two games. The kids and I have also been going to sporting events of the teens in our church which we have enjoyed a lot. The sad thing is along with the sunshine comes the bugs. Poor Van has bug bites (little gnat bites all over his head). They don't seem to hurt or bother him at all (Annika has a few also, but not like compared to Van), but they are pretty bad looking. They leave a drop of blood behind and bug spray doesn't seem to help. Someone asked me if he had the chicken pox or measles...just bug bites.

3. Pregnancy brain...can I claim that? I honestly just forget. :) I haven't had any appointments since the previous post, but I do have one a week from today to check the status of my placenta previa. We get to see baby again also. Along with this appointment comes the glucose test. I'm not sure if you know what that is, but it's a test I have to go in for 2 hours. I have to drink this orange stuff (which tastes like really flat orange soda, it's rather gross), than they check your blood sugar after one hour and again after 2 hours. I just entered my third and final trimester which is rather shocking to me since it has seem to fly by.

On to the pictures from over the last month (a few back from as far as Easter).

Baby Update

I had an appointment yesterday and everything looks great! Baby is right on track with growth! Heart beat was at 152.

A couple Sundays ago I had a bit of a scare as I had some pretty strong contractions (which isn't good when you're only 23 weeks along). I ended up calling my midwife and she told me to drink some water and rest. Which helped b/c they went away. A little later I ended up getting the flu. But all is good now.

My next appointment is June 1st, I go in for another ultrasound to see if my placenta previa has corrected itself. If it hasn't I'm not sure what they will do (I know if it doesn't by the time baby is ready to come that a c-section is enevitable), but I'll only be 28 weeks so I'm not sure if they will have another ultrasound after that or not. I do know that most of the time it corrects itself (so I'm still not to worried about it).

Baby is moving all the time these days. If I remember correctly this little one moves more often than the other two. I was able to have Annika catch the baby move, she loved it and has asked me since to feel "the newborn" move (yes she calls the baby newborn). ;) I also was able to let Van feel baby kick (or punch). I didn't know if he would feel it or quite get what was going on. Well he did feel it b/c the look he gave me was really cute. I still don't think he quite understands it though. :)

Our Easter...

"...Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen..."

(Matthew 28:5-6)

We had a great Easter here. Started out with David preaching a 9:00 am service than a fellowship time of sweet breads and muffins in between and David preaching a 10:30  am service.

A wonderful couple from our church invited us over after the service for Easter dinner. We had a great time of fun and fellowship. The kids played outside most of the day (Van didn't get a nap until 4:00 pm - way later than normal). Both kids are in bed and asleep. We enjoyed great weather today. 

We came home and watched "Bambi" (a gift from grandma and Papa Dan). Thank you!! 

Here's a picture of Annika and Van in their Easter outfits!

Another blessing is hearing Annika talk about Jesus and how He died on the cross for our sins. We have been really stressing that Easter isn't about candy and gifts, but that it is about Christ dieing, being buried, and rising from the dead and that He now lives in heaven with God the Father.

Time for an Update about what's been happening round here...

Life has continued to move right along:

A note about Annika's drawing (last picture). Daddy and Van both have mo-hawks (can you see David w/ a mo-hawk??) ;) Annika and I are both wearing crowns (appropriately)! :)

We took the kids to the Como Zoo last week, it was nice to spend some time together as a family and the kids really enjoyed it!

Fun Story: If you look in the pictures you can see a picture of Van w/ a sea lion in front of him (Van is leaning off to the side). The sea lion kept swimming up to him and planting his flippers (is that what you call them??) on the ledge of the pool (which is right next to the glass where Van was standing). Well Van didn't care for that very much, he kept scooting further and further away (it was rather comical).


House update:
Things are going good...the priming is done! David and the neighbor man are going to work on getting the ceilings sprayed tomorrow night and we're hoping to get them painted by Friday so that we can get started on painting on Friday. I'm so blessed to have at least 7 ladies offer to help w/ the painting!

We're still a bit away from finishing it but getting closer!

Annika is doing well, she's been into wearing shorts and tank tops a lot around home (which she doesn't wear them outside b/c it's still not warm enough). Did you hear we're suppose to get more snow tomorrow....I think Annika thinks if she wears shorts and tank tops that summer will come (Oh the faith of a child)! She's been such a great helper lately! She got to feel the baby kick the other day for the first time, she thought it was pretty cool and has come up and asked me if she can feel the baby.

Van still surprises us everyday with what he is learning. He's learning in leaps and bounds! He's in love w/ his purple rain boots (hand-me-downs from Annika). He will wear these things ALL over the place (from sun up to sun down). I do not allow him to wear them to the store or library (pretty much the only two places we go). ;) I'm sure you'll see them in the above pictures! :)

David is doing well. Keeping busy. He just finished up a block class at Central last week. He's got a few more weeks left in the semester. He's not taking a summer coarse b/c there is none that he needs. He is keeping busy with church responsibilities (Pastor Cable retired at the end of March). We finally just got our new church blog up www.sunrisebiblechurch.org.

I'm doing pretty well, had a scare on Sunday early morning (think like 1am) as I started having contractions (real ones), they went away after a couple of hours (thankfully, 23 weeks is a lot to early to have this baby) and later that day I got the flu. I'm still recovering, I'm feeling better, but don't have much energy.

I think that about sums everything up! ;)