New baby :)

The due date passed .....

BUT

Growth stopped --

SO

A date and time is scheduled 

AND

It's fair week!!! 

Lauren and Jason

 (go to http://thewollerworld.blogspot.com/2012/08/laurens-baby-shower.html if you don't know who Lauren is)

went in very late Thursday afternoon to start the softening process AND hopefully, get labor moving.

Unfortunately, for Lauren she had a pretty 'nice' reaction to the capsule -- 

Well, NOT so nice.  She had HARD contractions every 2 minutes and throwing-up almost immediately.

She thought it would get better --- haha -- and said she would call me when it was closer.

Well, I finally got a phone call at 6:30 in the morning and headed down to the hospital.  

Her water had broke and she was able to get an epidural shortly after I arrived.

AFTER the epidural -- she was a tad slap happy!

She went through the next part of labor FAST.  

The pushing took another hour.  

Really -- it was amazing!  I don't know how to put it into words.  

EXCEPT to say that I was honored when asked to be present and take pictures of such an amazing event as the miracle of birth.

Lauren was amazing!  She was so focused and determined -- and actually very little complaints! Her husband was so supportive and helpful AND did NOT pass-out   Yes, he was concerned about this. 

My job -- moral support and pictures.  

So, without further ado -- 

PICTURES of  Ms. Sweetie!!!

 Right at birth!  

Truly, amazing!!!  

 The first family picture with the new member!

 The new daddy!

 Mommy and her sweetie!

Really, Lauren looks so good. 

Can you believe she hasn't slept in over 32 hours at this point?

 Me holding the baby!!!  

I left very late in the afternoon so that I could get home and go to the fair with the rest of the family.

My Darling and I got up early on Saturday, got ready, stopped and picked up some items for Lauren and the baby including some yummy snacks, and went to visit the baby!

My Darling could NOT wait.  

She has been so excited about the baby and waiting for the baby to grow in Lauren's tummy!

She cried for joy when she found out, LOVED going to an ultra-sound to see the baby INSIDE and jumped with excitement over meeting Ms. Sweetie!

 My Darling holding Ms. Sweetie!

They are both precious!

LOVE!

 Precious!

 1 day old!  AND yes, we ALL love her!

 The family right before leaving the hospital.

 Isn't she just beautiful?!?  

30 hours old and she is HOME!

The girls at our house -- 1 week old!

Baptisim

Today was an IMPORTANT Day for our JM!

We had our 'normal' Sunday service at our church.

BUT the 'evening' service took place in the afternoon at a local bible camp.

Camp Aowakiya allowed our church to have a large picnic and a baptism service on the lake.

There was about 300 people that attended.

There was about 23 people that were baptized.  They are all hearing about the procedure for the day with the senior pastor. 

After the wonderful lunch we had a short time of singing praise songs followed by a short message about baptism by our senior pastor.

We believe that baptism is an act of obedience to God by showing others the commitment he/she has made to Christ.

We believe that an individual must be FULLY submersed -- as the meaning of 'baptiso' -- the Greek word for baptize.

JM decided a month ago that he wanted to do this!

Here he is sitting next to one of his friends as he waits his turn.

Each individual stands in front of the full congregation and is asked 2 questions with the opportunity to give his/her testimony.

1.  Have you asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior?

2.  Do you planned to do what Jesus Christ asked you to do in the bible?

JM answered:

1.  Yes I have!

2.  Yes I do!

Next, he went out into the water to our associate pastor, who baptized JM, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

AND 

under he went!

And up he came -- spraying water out of his mouth!

Uncle Bill gave him his towel.

LOVE this smile.  He was so happy!

AFTER the baptism anyone who wanted to swim could!

Of course, both our boys wanted to be in the water.

This was such a fun day to share with so many people who were making decisions to follow Christ.

We are so thankful JM has made this decision!

Fair Days

Fair time means busy time

BUT

it also means FUN and hard work!

The boys have been working with their 4-H animals since March.

AND

The fair is where they showcase all the work and effort they have put into their animals.

Fair time starts Monday evening!

The kids clean, decorate and get the barn ready for the animals to arrive in the morning.

Tuesday the boys got up early to ready the pigs.  They loaded them in the trailer and brought them up to the fair.  

The weight is taken -- which can be nervous time as they have to weigh MORE than 225 and less than 310.  

We knew they were more than 225 BUT JM's pig had an eating machine!
So, we were hoping it was under the max -- 

AND...... it was!

The notebooks, with all the details of what they did with their pigs, was handed in!

Tuesday evening they go BACK to the fair for the assigned

PIG BATH TIME!

Wednesday is SHOW DAY!

This day starts very early.

The boys go up to get their animals ready.

Showmanship is the first part of the morning. 

The kids, in age groups, show off their pigs in front of a judge.

The judge is looking for how well the kids do this -- NOT so much at the pig BUT at HOW the kids present the pig.

BOTH boys were in large groups.  

MD had 26 kids in his group and placed 4th this year.

 MD showing his pig!

 MD talking with the judge.  The judge asks each participate something about pigs.

MD answered the question correctly!

It was about a specific cut of meat.

BaJabs, Elizabeth and cousin M. watching the boys.

We LOVED the pig fabric we found!  2 girls wanted shorts and a shirt AND Elizabeth insisted on a t-shirt/peasant style!

OH, so cute!

JM had 23 in his group and placed 4th as well.

JM talking to the judge during his showmanship.  Yes, he answered his question correctly, too!

Next is market.

This time the judge is looking AT THE PIG!

He is looking at how well the pig is ready for market.

MD, JM and dad in the ring at the same time.

Matt helps with the boards while the kids are showing.

The boys were in the same division for market -- heavy weight.

They placed 5th and 6th.

The girls LOVE watching the boys and are very encouraging!

They love watching the hundreds of kids showing different animals as well!

 The girls watching cousin M. while she showed her calf.

MD all finished for the day!

What a good looking kid!!!

Thursday was an insanely busy day!!!

• Elizabeth had her big clinic appointment for her arms in GR at 9:00 am-- I'll talk about that in a later blog post.

• My Darling had violin rehearsal at 9:00 am for a recital that was schedule for 7:00 pm.  Thank goodness nanny could help out!

• Boys and BaJabs went up to the fair to feed animals at 8:30 am

• Lauren went into start her labor at 5:30 pm

• Violin recital at 7:00 pm 

Thankfully, this was an INFORMAL recital.  They said to come as you are!

Here is our farmer girl violinist!

• 4-H livestock auction begins at 7:00 pm -- thankfully, pigs are AFTER the steers/cows.  So, they won't start until 8:00 pm

MD was 35th to sell.

Fillmore Equipment bought his pig for $4.75 a pound!

 MD walking out in front of the crowd!

 LOVE his face here :)

JM asking MD how well he did!

MD did NOT hear the selling price.

He was excited when he found out -- 

It was the 4th highest!

 MD shaking the buyers hand and thanking him!

MD, his pig and the buyer!

JM sold his pig 37th.

Oh, I was praying he would get at least $4.

Well, he got $5.00 per pound (which was 3rd highest) and JM had the BIGGEST pig.

Michigan Freeze Pack bought JM's pig.

THANK-YOU!!!

 JM and his pig on stage for the auction!

 JM with the buyers.

Part of 4-H is promoting your animal.  The boys go and talk to potential buyers about their project.  MD is especially good at this BUT JM is learning.

This is such a good thing for the boys to do!

It teaches responsibility as well as good communication skills!

Other nanny and My Darling watching the auction!

After the auction all of us go back to the barns and chat.

The kids make thank-you's to hang above their pigs for the buyers.

The girlies with 2 of their cousins!

It's been a long week -- and it's only Thursday!

Friday is Tractor-Pulls!  Which is fun for us!  NO WORK!

MD attended a Leadership Retreat Friday evening through Sat. lunch.

Saturday the boys had barn duty from 3 to 6.

The girls and I visited with Lauren and the baby.

The boys stayed at the fair until LATE!

LOVE this picture!

We were all a bit crazy after the LONG days!

Sunday morning the boys had to be up at the fair EARLY for the pigs to be loaded up for market AND to clean out the barns.

11:00 am -- 2012 Fair

COMPLETE -- A SUCCESS!

Hula-Hooping!

This is just a fun post!!!

I have a GREAT friend and her daughter who have LOVED to spoil my girls this summer!

We LOVE for them to watch the girls.

Sometimes my friend, Patty will take one or ALL of the girls when we have appointments.

AND let me tell you she spoils them :)

Like shopping for JUNK food -- all the stuff mom won't buy!

AND

A few times this summer her daughter, Kayla has come to babysit.

We LOVE her!

Well, Matt and I took the boys to a big Christian Music festival and Kayla came to babysit the girls.

Her mom made EACH of the girls hula hoops.

WHAT FUN!!!

My Darling mastered it quickly :)

It took Elizabeth a bit longer

BUT 

she still did it!!

I'm still amazed by her :)

AND Dear BaJabs worked at it and worked at it.

She can do it a little SOMETIMES!!!

I know she will get it soon!

Thanks Patty and Kayla!

You have given the girls fun, love and laughs this summer!!!

We are so grateful!

Farm Days

FARM Time

     During the summer the boys do much on the farm!  MD helps with the daily doings of the farm -- he drives tractor doing a multitude of things; bales hay, works with the animals, helps haul things with his muscles :)  as well as helps when they are delivering asparagus, hay or corn.  Both boys spent many hours working with their 4-H animals.

MD driving tractor while cultivating the asparagus.

MD washing his 4-H pigs.

AND for those of you who wonder what the pigs do when they are cleaned -- well, they go right back to the mud :)

     JM does help as well BUT in a much limited way as he is not old enough to do all of what MD does -- JM helps with the animals, asparagus and corn.  JM LOVES to find and play with the multitude of cats and climb around in the hay bales in the hoop building.

JM boxing up corn and loading it up for delivery.

JM working with his 4-H pig.

     Well, the girls have started going over in the morning to help with box corn.  BUT they end up spending hours searching for kitties and climbing the hay bales.  YES, they have climbed to the TOP of the bales and touched the ceiling of the hoop building --- EVEN Elizabeth.  Thankfully, mommy did not know about this while it was happening as I would of been a nervous wreck.  I do hear the stories!!!  NOW, for those out there worried about my little ones -- THERE WERE OLDER COUSINS THERE!!!!  The girls also LOVED helping the boys with the 4-H animals.  My Darling walked JM's pig and helped with the baths.  

 My Darling helping give pig baths.

 Boxing corn.

 CHEERFUL and helpful girls!!

 Farmer Elizabeth!

 When everyone is done working they get to pick some of Uncle Larry's homemade HAND pulled Taffy!

My Darling LOVING the watermelon Taffy ---YUM!!!

     All in all the kids are able to spend special time at the farm with their dad AND cousins.  The farm is so busy during the summer and dad spends so much time there -- thankfully, the kids enjoy spending time there with him!!  AND it does give mommy a little time alone at home to get a few things done :)

 BaJabs carrying all the camera's around while everyone was working their 4-H animals for the fair.

 9 of the 13 'Woller' farm kids.  Yes, they all spend many hours together.

 I love this picture -- Ms. Farmer Elizabeth -- LOVE the boots :)

 Funny story -- one of the pigs was getting sprayed down with water because it was hot and well, it shook like a dog and the manure went flying -- AND landed with some spats on Elizabeth's face!  She actually thought it was funny!!!

Elizabeth up front on the golf cart with Aunt Kim.

     I think it is obvious from the pictures the work ALONG with the fun that takes place on the farm.  There is little to no complaining about going to farm.  Actually, the girls BEG to go with daddy in the morning.  AND I'm usually wondering when they will come back.  MD and JM are always willing to help when it is busy.  The farm enables us to teach some really good life lessons about HARD WORK and WORKING TOGETHER.