Elliott Moses Poole

Elliott Moses was born at 10:46 pm on Saturday, May 9th. We went into labor at 8pm while at the Metrodome watching the Twins game. We rushed to the hospital despite road construction, and Hans telling his daddy to "drive like Lightning McQueen" (his beloved race car hero). Elliott was born without any medication and with one push about 2.75 hours later. 7 pounds, 7 oz. 21 inches. Woo-hoo!!
He has been so fun to watch and hold.... he laughs as he falls asleep and smiles quite frequently.... and NO, it is not gas. It's the real deal, a really real sweetheart of a baby. As Esther says, "we're gonna keep him."

some pictures

Hans and Esther enjoyed helping me get some things sorted for the upcoming baby! Boxes are fun!
This was Easter Sunday....
Esther wore a beautifully smocked dress that Annette made... along with a little purse stuffed with a "church doll" as Esther calls it. -A little tiny doll made with the same fabric as her dress. :)
Hans was very proud to be in a matching blue polo. A very nice day, with no snow!!!! (like last year!)

It is finished!!!! (Sarah's quilt)

I did it!! With the help of several people, I finished Sarah's wedding quilt yesterday. We gave her her bridal shower today and I was able to watch her unwrap it!! I felt like I had just given birth to this thing, since I started it 9 months ago. :) Thank you Lance for voluntarily taking the kids to Iowa for a weekend so I could work on it. Thank you Annette for your quilting knowledge and help with the embroidery and binding! Thank you church ladies for your encouragement and the tiny bit of green fabric I thought I had but didn't. It's done! She really liked it, too. :)

quilts

The red and jean quilt is Hans' baby quilt.
The swirly girly one is Esther's... can you tell? :)

It's a BOY!!!!

The top one is a shot of the legs, and the bottom is a profile. It's a boy!! Due around Mother's Day in mid-May '09. Yes, we have a name. No, we won't tell you. :) It's really, really good though!! :)

Cutting down the huge tree with Grampy Poole, Opened up snazzy new shirt from Carlene(and pants, which he's not wearing due to the jammies), Abominable snow-Hans, Skiing with mommy's shoes.

Esther dresses up

Esther opens her pretty new Christmas dress, Esther dresses herself in royal garb (or rags), Daddy's t-shirt, getting some air outside, mommy's skis err- shoes.

good trip

For all of those wondering if Lance ever made it home from the Czech Republic..... he did!!
Safe and sound. He had a wonderful trip, and said it only felt like he had been gone for a day. (wish I could've said the same... :) He worked with the small children and youth, and was greatly appreciated. He enjoyed going back to the country he has visited two previous times. Czech is a beautiful place, with a great need for Christ.

Huzzyband

I really miss my husband, or as I call him, my huzzyband. He is currently in the Czech Republic, which is far, far away. Esther asked for daddy today, and I said, "he still isn't home, Esther. Do you know where he is?" she smartly answered, "across the ocean, in Iowa." Close, but no cigar. These past few days have been really good for my prayer life, but hard on the heart. It's so silly, I know.... so many people do this all the time. Single parents, busy business parents, and so on. I just don't know HOW they do it. I guess you learn to really lean on God. A whole week without Lance is like a whole week of lukewarm showers. You still get the job done, but it's not very fun. I'm not saying I'm not glad he can do this trip to help the missionaries over there, I just miss him on this end. :) Praying for you, Sweetie.

fall time

It was a lovely fall day a couple weeks ago, and we spent much of the day playing in the leaves.

Really really sweet

The kids were quiet for two minutes. I knew something was up. Upon further investigation, I found them both huddled over an object in the porch. They were reluctant to let me see.... the SYRUP container they had successfully opened, seal and all. They were enjoying themselves. A lot. Esther had even managed to create her own "melting pot" experience. She found an old, crusty piece of bread and dunked it in the bottle. Only problem was that she couldn't get it back out. I managed not to let them see me laughing hysterically, and Lance and I eventually got them all cleaned up. Pretty creative.

This morning

This morning came early. For me, anyway. I'm pregnant, and I really would love to just sleep the day away... but I can't. Life happens, all the time! Lance left to meet a friend for biblestudy at 5:45 am. That's the middle of the night. ( in my world) Hans woke up at 6:00am. It was dark, and stormy, and man, I wished it were night. I was so mad. I played dead for a while, but he started getting noisy. I told him to come lay on Daddy's side of the bed, and he did. One thing that really changes for me during pregnancy is sense of smell. It is heightened to an insane height, and really makes me wonder some days if people can die from over-smellness. Anyway, Mr. Hans doesn't understand the unspoken rule in our house about no pooping before 7 am. That's ususally not a problem for anyone, since we're SLEEPING. Eventually, he got bored and went back to driving his noisy new toys from his birthday. Too late. The stench had already stained the lining of my nostrils, and I was really irrate. I told God how mad I was and that it was already a terrible day and I hadn't even gotten out of bed yet, and blah blah blah. I felt like I was supposed to read my bible. I told God I wasn't quite in the mood yet. He waited for me. I felt bad for telling Him that, and read it anyway. I opened up to Psalms, and read over and over about how we need to praise God all the time. Basically, "if you have breath, Praise Him." Rats. I guess I still had breath even though it was hard to breathe that cloudy air... I got kind of frustrated again. "God, why are you always RIGHT?!" I decided to give it a shot. He deserves it no matter what is going on. He's God, and that doesn't change what He requests of us. So, I praised Him in the wee hours of dawn. I still didn't have an awesome morning, but you know what? That doesn't matter. He matters. He loves us. Let's praise Him because He conquered a lot more than just stinky air. He conquered death. That's a wake-up call! Thank you, Jesus.

New blogs to check out

I admit it, I don't really know this woman , but she has really spoken to my heart recently. I found her site on a friend's blog, and have absolutely loved reading her postings. She is the wife of "Selah's" Todd (the Christian music group). Todd is one of three vocalists in the group, and has an amazing story. If you're looking for an incredible display of God's hand at work, check this out. She's hilarious (read the "chicken" story) but also shares the deepest sorrows of her heart, and how God is using that for His glory. "Bring the Rain".

Another new one.... Laura Westrum is originally from the metro area here in MN, and now is over in Romania. She is a principal in her school, and a missionary. She is a great source of inspiration, and shows what real life looks like as a missionary over-seas. She works hard for God's kingdom!!
check out "Westrum Wanderings."

Precious words

I never knew that a few simple words could make me feel as if I were standing on top of the world! As I was lying Esther down for her nap, she hugged my neck and said, "Esther wove mom." Translated, "Esther loves mom!" Man, I felt like I was flying! Some days are really frustrating, but then you have some sweet moment like this, and it's all worth it. I wonder if that's how our Lord feels when we honestly tell Him we love Him.

6 facts

A friend "tagged" me and said it's my turn to write down 6 little-known facts about myself. I'm supposed to "tag" 6 other people on their blogs and have them do the same thing. I don't know 6 other people. I mean, on their blogs. So, if you feel like you want to do this too, have at it. It sounds like fun. :)


1. I grew up the eldest of 5 kids. We all have the same 2 parents even though we don't all look related.

2. I don't ever EVER want a dog. They are excessively hairy, stinky, dirty, and besides, I have enough poop to clean up. P.s. whoever says dogs have cleaner mouths than humans hasn't ever WATCHED one for longer than 2 minutes. yuk. Now a disclaimer: Some dogs are just fine, and even very nice, but I still don't want one.

3. I used to schedule playtime with my siblings on my very empty calendar. When the day would finally come, I would tell them I was busy. :( Bad, bad, bad. Don't worry, my mom would make me keep my promise and play with them anyway.

4. My best friend has the same first and middle name as I do. We married guys with the same last initial. JLP!!!

5. My husband and I are seemingly quite fertile. We've been married 5 years. We've had 4 pregnancies in the last 44 months. :0

6. From time to time, I get strong urges to go to crystal chandelier stores. With a baseball bat. Wouldn't that be fun? I mean, if there were no consequences and no one was hurt, etc. Oh man, I can feel the itch....

you name it

Just for fun, what would you name a goat? We're not planning on getting one anytime soon, but it's something fun to think about.
We picked "Zero-turn." I guess for short you could just call him, "Zero."
why not.

same 'ol site

hey, I don't want anyone to worry... this is still Jennifer Poole's blog- just a new look. what do you think? the picture has nothing to do with it.... i just like fresh raspberries from Annette's garden!!

the Daddy dress

I have to brag a bit on my husband. He took Esther out on her 1 1/2 year birthday on a Daddy date. They went to Perkins and had a great time... he wrote her a sweet letter which he read to her at the restaurant, and she wore her very special Daddy dress. This dress was made when Lance was 7 years old. He helped make it for his cousin, and then they saved it and sent it back to us when we had Esther. Lance did all the blue and green needlework on the front bodice of the dress. Esther was quite proud of herself. I was quite proud of them.

The green dress

My sisters and I always thought my aunt Dawn's green dress was gorgeous.... (and still do, of course!) and I had the enjoyment of borrowing it to snag a free smoothie!! The Jamba Juice store in Edina had a deal where if you dressed up like 80's prom, you'd get a free smoothie. We had a lot of fun, especially because no one else in Edina really knew why we were dressed so snazzy. Thank you, Dawn!

bunnies

I was reading a book about bunnies to Hans.
Me: Aren't bunnies nice, Hans?
Hans: Yes. I like to eat them.