Puppies, Among Other Things

The puppies came last night! Penny's water broke around 6 pm, and she delivered over the next 12 hours. Eight pups, four females and four males----quite a litter! They're just beautiful, and doing well. I didn't know how Penny would be, but she's what they call a 'super mom.' She keeps everything spotless and is thrilled with those little wiggly things, licking them and cuddling them, letting them nurse to their hearts' delight.






Also, today I locked myself out of the house with Arie inside, and in the process of trying to get up to a window slipped and gouged my legs. Fortunately, every other part of me seems fine, but the legs are not going to be fit for summer shorts or skirts for a long time. Ho-hum.



And I just had to include this last picture of Arie. I think he looks pretty sweet (I am his mother, but I still think you'll agree.)

Happy Easter!

Today's News

Well, today should be a homey, productive sort of day. Arie woke up sick (puking, yuck!) this morning so we won't go to music class. I feel really bad for him, but it'll give us a nice quiet day at home. I've suddenly felt up to finishing some sewing projects, so today I'll keep working on them.

Tonight Dirk and I are going to our birthing class (we never had time to get one in with Arie) and it's like our weekly 'date.' Arie stays with his Auntie Em, so we get a few hours together without the little guy---it feels really strange, but it's sort of nice too.

Penny is due almost any day now. She can't get comfy any way she lies. The pups are taking up so much room, and I can see them kicking her when she lies down. Poor girl. Everything is ready for her to whelp, so now we're just keeping an eye on her and waiting. We're really excited to see these puppies.


The Sick Boy
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The latest blanket...


Auntie Em

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Funny thing: Arie believes all beautiful ladies should be called Emma. He really loves her, and any time he sees a lady he thinks is pretty, he calls her Emma.

Therapy

For those of you I've told about the BIG walker that Arie uses for therapy, here's a picture, along with his really nice PT, Kathy.

Bonfire: Burn the thorns!


I cleaned up the yard somewhat and cut down loads of overgrown thorny branches, which we burned and had a lot of fun in the process.

What I've been doing...

We've actually been busy, busy busy with so many things, but I wanted to update you on just a few things.

First off, I've finally gotten ahead (barely) of the family baby onslaught to get a few quilts out that I can sell. This has been a project of mine for a long time (Dirk has been urging me to at least make my hobby pay for itself!), but being a mom hasn't left lots of time for serious quilt making. Here are the pictures of the two I've got finished at the moment, and you can check out my site at etsy.com (where I'm selling them) by going to http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6713292. I had to work that in because on top of spending a lot of time sewing, I've spent a combined total of 7 or 8 hours, mostly on the computer and frustrating, getting all my ducks in a row to get this thing going. If any of you take a look, please let me know what you think and how I could improve!





Most of you probably know that Penny is due to have puppies this month. She's really starting to slow down now, and her belly is swelling at an amazing rate! We have a lot of work to do to get ready for the puppies and to start marketing them, but I'm excited. They should be some fabulous pups! Tell all your friends you know where to get registered Greater Swiss Mountain puppies---they can be hard to come by!



Arie is doing well. He's started swimming therapy again (we quit when I got pregnant---too much to handle) because some wonderful people from our church have offered up their time to go swimming with him. Friday was his first time in the pool with Miss Morgan, and he loved it! He was so worn out in 20 minutes he could hardly keep his head out of the water, but he didn't want to quit! Also, Arie is talking like you can't believe! Making jokes, asking for things, singing---it's wonderful to see and it's a huge answer to our prayers! Recently we decided to pursue getting him a power chair, and we are just in the beginning stages of that process. You can be praying that the funding, paperwork, and all the little details will work out.

Dirk is steadily moving ahead with his ministerial studies, and has begun preaching. Every sermon has been better than the last, and Dirk is really loving the work. Right now he's sequestered himself in the back room to finish a 'very boring' book, and I'm hoping he'll reappear in not too long.

Have a lovely weekend you all!

Pictures!

We got an ultrasound of the baby and we praise God that everything is looking very good! It appears that we have another little boy on the way! He was kicking around, yawning and moving his eyes back and forth---an active healthy little guy.