Family Update!

Our family has been doing some super fun stuff, all of which I've tried to keep everyone up to speed on. But I wanted to also give you a little update of the family itself!

D is doing great! He's loving the team he's on at work right now and we can't believe that it's been almost a year!!! He is quite busy with work, school, bible study and family time - but somehow he manages to juggle it all! I'm so incredibly proud of him. He's really enjoying his bible study and I'm so happy that he's intentionally carving out time to connect with other men our church and grow in Christ together. We all are being blessed by his Faith.

I'm doing pretty good too. I'm very busy right now but it's all wonderful stuff and the Lord is blessing me in huge ways through it all. Overall though, I think that God has blessed me the most with bringing really wonderful friends into my life who love me for me and who, together, we can grow in Christ. That's a crazy blessing in and of itself. I'm being challenged like never before and God is revealing wonderful things to me through these new adventures and people. It's a wild ride, but with Christ in front, directing it - it's wonderful. I'm excited to see where He's taking me next!

Rylee: She's LOVING school (like normal) and learning so so so much. It's crazy to me how fast she learns things and how quick she catches on to everything. Yesterday she sang me a song they sing in class and she said "That's my favorite song!" hee hee it was so cute! I love looking through her crafts and worksheets with her and listening ot all the fun things they did. She tells me all about the other kids at school and who got in trouble that day and who did well. :) It's adorable. She is SUCH a wonderful big sister and tried to teach Jake everything -- from the ABCs to counting to "Jesus Songs". He's actually catching on quite quickly himself. I can't wait for Brooke to get here. Rylee's going to love having a little baby to love up on!

Jake: Oh my goodness - the little man is growing like a weed! He totally has lost his baby body and now looks like an actual toddler. He's talking up a storm - so much that I kind of forgot how it was when he couldn't talk. He's super polite, always saying "tank uuuu" or "peeeeeeaaaas" :) He loves chasing his big sister and wrestling with her. Like most boys, he loves playing with sports balls - football, soccer, baseball - doesn't matter. If he can throw or kick it, he's a happy little man! He also like bugs and will get down on the ground to stare at them. When they crawl away he'll say "bye bye bugs!" :) Adorable! He's also loving school and now just walks in like a champ. His teachers tell me how good he is and what a delight it is to have him. :) That makes a mama's heart happy! He's also catching on to things quite quickly -- he's learning to count and can count to 5, then says" 8, 9" :) He sings almost the first line entirely of Amazing Grace and he's learning the tune and some letters of the ABC song. We're having a blast watching him grow!

Brooklyn -- She is GROWING. Everyone tells me I look small, but to be honest, I feel a little like a small house. But I guess we see ourselves always differently than others see us. Brooke has been in my belly for 6 months now and very active! I really love this stage of pregnancy because the baby is active enough to do flips and dance around (and hard enough so you can see it from the outside) but still small enough that she's not using my ribs for a jungle gym and my bladder as her personal trampoline. She's certainly still giving me a run for my money as this pregnancy as been a bit rough. I'm still sick everyday and am having severe back and siatica issues. But I go to the Chiropractor twice a week, which makes the pain much more bearable and I stretch often which helps keep my muscles and ligaments flexible. I would like to find a good massage therapist in a chriopractors or a rehab office in my area who I can start seeing twice a month as well. I think that will also help! When it comes down to it though - she is a fantastic reason to be uncomfortable and I'm so thankful for this beautiful little blessing growing so well in my belly.

We've also has a couple other fun things happening:

Meet Cooper -- he's our newest addition to the Offringa family!

Our family friends took him in 9 months ago and Darrin has been wanting him for quite some time. I finally gave in and Darrin went to get him last week. It might still be the honeymoon period - but so far, everything is wonderful! Baby the dog and Cooper get along GREAT. They play together and run around the house and yard like they've been friends forever. It's adorable. We're really happy that baby now has a friend to play with and keep her company. Cooper also is really good with the kids and he loves to snuggle up on our lap or next to us while he sleeps. He does have a few bad habits - like chewing on toys or sippy cups. But we're trying ot work those out and we got him some dog toys of his own! :)

Here's a fun little video of the dogs playing. Please excuse the messy floor....we have children.

The other fun thing we did was FINALLY put the kids in one room! Hooray! This is something that we've been wanting to do since before we got prego with Brooklyn and have been DREADING for over 6 months now. We thought it was going to be a very hard transistion but God is good and it has been the EASIEST thing ever. About 2 weeks ago, Rylee actually started asking to sleep in Jake's room. So we put blankets down and she slept on the floor there ever since! We finally pushed Jake's crib into her room so they can be in one space and it's been wonderful! One thing we were really afraid of is naptime. But it's great so far. Jake actually naps while Rylee actually stays quiet, playing on her bed or the floor (for the most part at least). It's pretty awesome. Now I just need to get their room painted, organized and turned into "Rylee and Jake's Room" and then transform Jake's room into a nursery for Brooke!

Here's a quick photo I tried to take. It's not good and their room is MESSSSY. Sorry! But you get the idea :)