The Arnolds Online

I found this to be such a good read! I do like C.J. Mahaney, so I'm a bit prejudice, but that shouldn't stop you from checking it out. :)

I think the article came out of one chapter in his new book (yet to be published) Worldliness: Resisting the Temptations in a Fallen World -- the chapter is called God, my heart and clothes. Those titles alone has me anxious to read it!

Take the time and enjoy...

Today is Jason's Mom's birthday!

We'd like to wish her a very happy birthday and blessed 2008!! We hope you guys enjoy your time in Hawaii!

Much love, Jason, Stef, Ethan & Rachel 

Another month has gone by! Amazing... Rachel is only 2 months away from her 2nd birthday. That's even more amazing. Jason and I can't get over how big she seems. When Ethan was 2, he did seem rather advanced in some things, but we figured it was because he was our first... and first time parents always think that of their kids. :) But with Rachel, we're shocked at how "ahead" she is, just from copying stuff Ethan does and wanting to be BIG like him.

She speaks very clearly now. Its rare that we don't know what she's asking or saying.

She loves babies and anything having to do with them.

She is addicted to brushing her teeth. Over and over and over again.

She adores Daddy. Can't get enough of him and gets jealous when Mommy has his attention.

She loves to sing.

She knows her birthday and when she says it, it comes out-- "Joowy 14!!"

She isn't very friendly with strangers, but if we show friendliness she warms up rather quickly.

She loves princess things and anything pink.

She's named the baby "baby mine" and says it IS a girl. :) Since finding out that we are having a girl, she says the baby's name is "Cinerwella"

She does not like watching TV

She doesn't like going on the potty -- she'll sit on it but won't go on it.

She doesn't like wearing tennis shoes. Only sandals and they must be pink.

She hates knowing you're upset with her.

She doesn't like dogs or cats (that's my girl!)

She does not like having her hair done... but she adores the outcome and Daddy's compliments.

She doesn't like being pushed by her brother (go figure) and lets him know by yelling "No, Efan! I said DON'T DO DAT!"

She brings much joy to our household and hears that she's cute way too much. :)

My Dr. called today after reviewing my ultra sound pictures to let me know how things look. She said the baby looks absolutely wonderful and seems to have quite long legs. I actually wondered because in the ultra sound pictures we got, the legs seemed very long to me... but I figured they all look that way. She said I'm still measuring perfectly for a due date of October 2nd, which is always nice to hear.

She did, however, pose a concern with me. I have a very common condition that's called Placenta Praevia. It basically means my placenta (what the baby is living in) is too far down low and just above the cervix. Its not supposed to be that way until you're due and the baby is preparing to be born. She did remind me that its very common at 20 weeks and usually by 30 weeks as the baby gets bigger and my uterus fills out, it will rise higher and not be a problem. She gave me a few warning signs to look for in the next 10 weeks and if I experience any of them, I was told to call her immediately. At 32 weeks they will do another ultra sound to see if its fix itself and if not, we'll go from there. Looks like what typically happens if it doesn't go away, is that I would be put on bed rest and then they would give me a C-section by 38 weeks.

I was quite worried until I did some research and realized its actually quite common and rarely causes major harm to the baby. So... please keep the baby and me in your prayers! We'd really appreciate it.

We had our 20 week ultra sound today and everything went very well! It was so fun to see our baby on the screen and to see lots of important body parts growing normally and looking "beautiful" as the technician said. :)

We did end up finding out what the baby is... We're having another girl! We're thrilled. We honestly would have been happy with either gender, but if we had to pick we both agreed we would have picked a girl this time. And we admitted that before the ultra sound. :) I loved having a sister very close in age to me and I think Rachel will as well. 

Ethan now officially thinks he has a private link to God, since he first asked God that I would get pregnant and then he asked for another baby sister and he's getting one. He's very matter-of-fact about the fact that he's getting another sister -- "Well, that's what I asked God for." I've been explaining to him a lot today that we love any babies we have and God only gives us what He feels is best and not everything we want.

Our daughter looks quite healthy. As a matter of fact, she's been named our future soccer player and gymnast. The Tech was quite annoyed with how bouncy and active she was. I remember Rachel being the same way in the womb, so I'm not too worried. :)

Anyway, thank you all so much for your continued prayers! I know I don't post about the pregnancy that often, but probably because its going so well. I'm feeling quite normal and relaxed and enjoying it as much as I can. We only have 4 1/2 months until we meet our new girl and we know that's going to fly by.

Her name will be announced at her birth. :)

I've added some new photos in the May 2008 gallery - these are from the ladies' tea at church last week.  I'm sure Stef will have more to add about the event :)

 Hello - Stef here. The tea was given by several ladies at our church. It was SO much fun! We had two guest speakers come from Golden Hills and give a fun skit on the Proverbs 31 woman (mindset) and then Pat Pederson (from our church) did a devotional, basically on our "I'm too busy for life" attitude. Because typically when we're saying that about life in general , we're also telling God that and limiting our time with Him... or not giving Him any of our time at all. 

Anyway, the tea was beautiful! My Mom and about 5 other ladies organized it and I think they did an amazing job. I can't wait for next year's. 

The other pictures are just random pictures of Rachel. She's 22 months old now and I wanted to take a recent picture of her. She was being goofy in her Christmas pj's (in May, I know) and so I snapped a few. 

 Oh, there's also picutres of our Marine World trip last Saturday. 

Happy Mother's Day to you beautiful Moms out there! I hope you all enjoy the blessings in this day. Not the things you might receive, but the blessings God has given you in your kids and spouses and in your awesome role as Mothers. I got this poem from a friend of mine, through email and wanted to post it on here for you all. It was sad to me, as I read it, realizing that not everyone will read this and think of their mom. But just remember, you can be this mom to your little ones and give them this blessing through you. Have a great day!

A MOTHER'S LOVE

A Mother's love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

I haven't updated anything on Ethan in a while, so I thought I would now. Its harder when they get older because you get less and less of the new stuff every month. It comes gradually and over time you can look back and see changes, but they're not as obvious. Thankfully I've got Ethan's journal I keep for him, so I just grabbed some stuff out of there and put it here.

Ethan is very talkative and very opinionated. Two things he definitely got from us. :)

He loves meeting new people and has a million questions for everyone he talks to. He likes to know what their favorite toys are, what movies they like, do they love Jesus? is their mommy having a baby? etc... the questions are endless.

He loves to learn. It can be hard sometimes, because he has a hard time laying low and doing nothing. But for the most part, its a blast. We can turn anything into a learning lesson and he soaks it all in. He's got an incredible memory and he enjoys memorizing things.

He has started helping me around the house a bit and really, really enjoys that. He takes all the small garbages and brings them to the kitchen garbage and dumps them in for me to then take out the one big garbage. He clears the dishes from the table after meals. He makes his bed by himself. He can mostly dress himself, but still prefers to have help. :) He's learned how to take himself to the potty and not need so much help.

He loves music and really enjoys singing. I'm always impressed with how well he can memorize tunes to classical pieces.

He can't wait to meet his new brother or sister - though he insists its a sister and NOT a brother. He got to feel the baby kick last week and said "There IS a baby in there!!"

He loves sharing a room with Rachel. He tells me every night that he protects her in there.

He is very active. If running is involved, he's there. Soccer is the sport he wants to play.

Marine World (Thomas Land) is his all time favorite place to be.

He tells me he wants to be like Daddy, Grandpa Ernie and Mr. Rippee when he grows up. All fine with us!

He knows his birth date, most of our address and is working on a few simple Bible verses. Yesterday he said when he's 6, he will memorize all of the Bible.

He's an over achiever. :)

"Mommy, when I'm 30 I want to be like Mr. Rippee. I wanna play the guitar and the violin and the drums. And I will like to talk about Jesus a lot too and tell people to love Him."

 - I find this quote funny because, aside from the fact that Ryan (one of our Pastors) isn't 30 anymore (although he's close enough) he also does not play the drums or violin. :)  

Today is our Niece Madison's 9th birthday!! Madison is the oldest out of all my parent's (almost 9) Grandkids and I can't believe they're all getting so big! I know before long, they'll be teenagers and my kids will be the ones turning 9. SO scary.

Madison, we hope you have a beautiful day! Love you, J,S,E,R&Baby