Howdy Stranger!

Holy Cow! It's been a long time since I've posted on here! Nearly a year!
Well I guess a lot of things have changed since then :)
On September 23, 2009 we welcomed the newest member of our little family, Eli Bennett. He weight 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. He is now 5 weeks old and fitting in just fine with the rest of our crazy crew. Juggling the schedules and routines of 4 kids + 2 adults is a bit challenging but totally worth it.
Eli started smiling and cooing this week and it totally erases memories of sleepless nights & fussy days. He is a very sincere baby, when he is sad, he is very pathetic, and when he is happy, he is very content.
Lucy is going through a "test the boundaries" phase which makes 2 such a wonderful year. Our perfectly cheerful, compliant princess, has gained some attitude and sass. Oh the ways she tests us, God much be giving us the gift of patience. But despite the attitude, she is still our sweet little Lucy who is so funny and silly and such a sweet little girl. I love her to bits and pieces :)
Jacob started PreK this fall and is adjusting well. He gets a little anxious in social situations and is a bit of a picky eater so we were a little nervous about how he would adjust to a 9-3:30 school schedule with no previous schooling. The first couple of weeks were rough, but I was also 9 months pregnant. He was worried about me and I know the household changes were pretty stressful for a 4 year old! He is doing much better now, eating his lunch regularly, and has made lots of new friends. It's hard to get him out of the school building now because all of his class wants to hug him goodbye! He is also pretty sweet on a girl named Arianna. It's pretty cute. I am very happy that he is adjusting well to being in school!
Dylan started 1st grade like an old pro. He has been attending some sort of school since we started him in half day MWF preschool when he was 3. He has always been the type of kid to enjoy schedules and consistently and he thrives on a nicely scheduled school day. He is doing great learning how to read and write. He has been surprising us with his math skills lately. He is a very smart kid and I'm excited to see how he progresses throughout school.
Andy's job at Dell ended at the end of August. The company they had a contract with restructured and "restructured" out his position. He has been job hunting like crazy and we're pretty hopeful something will turn up soon. In the meantime he has been able to take classes and testing working towards earning his Microsoft certification. He has been able to take these crazy expensive classes and tests through grants from the unemployment dept. It is really a blessing to be receiving these grants. The classes are generally around $2,000 each if he were paying out of pocket! He passed his A+ certification test last week and I am so proud of him! A+ is a certification he has been pursuing since we were married and I'm so glad he is finally able to be doing this. This week he is taking classes working towards his NetPlus certification.
That is a pretty basic wrap up of our lives right now and I'll be working on posting more regularly, especially with new pics of the baby + the kids!