The first few weeks of life - June 2009

Sarah - what a cutie!!


Rachel did some funny things during these first few weeks! Here she loaded all of her toys on a sleeping daddy!

Sarah found her thumb!

Rachel in her boots - yes it is summer time!

One of her first baths!

Rachel and Sarah with Grandma - sporting their new sunglasses from Aunt MaryAnne & cousin Sophie!

Rachel loves her new sister!

Rachel was helping mommy clean the cabinet after a can leaked! Here she is helping the fan dry out the cabinet by standing in front of it!

Rachel is also very good at helping unload the groceries - before we knew it, she had all groceries properly unloaded . . . on the floor!

The Phillips family came to visit - this is Abigal and Mia with Rachel and Sarah

How sweet!


Lydia, Allie & Molly with their cousins Rachel and Sarah - these are the 5 girls my parents so graciously watch!!

Uncle Bob & cousin Elliot came for a visit!

Peaceful - still liking the swaddling

June 6 - Sarah Elisabeth was born!!

At 6 in the morning, we realized that we were going to have a baby very soon! Labor was slow at first, but God was merciful and when it picked up, it went quickly and Sarah Elisabeth was born at 2:45pm. I dialated from 3 to 9 in less than 2 hours! Yeah - the funniest part for me in hindsight is how impatient I got for the dr to arrive. They kept saying I could push when the dr came in and I kept asking - "when is she going to get here, I need to push!!" Sorry to anyone who doesn't want to know these details!! Needless to say, even though Sarah was 2 weeks early, she was ready to come into the world! Praise God for little miracles called babies!


Big sis Rachel got to meet her that night along with her cousins and aunt and uncle who so graciously watched Rachel since grandma and grandpa weren't home from new york yet!!



Going home! 2 days later we were able to get home with our new little baby girl -

May 2009 - Just some family fun!

Rachel's super curly hair!

Don't you like our cowboy hats?

Last pic before the big day!! Didn't know it at the time of course!

Rachel's 1st Trip to the Zoo - Lincoln Park Zoo - April 2009

Title says it all - nice drizzly day too!! Actually lots of fun - she was great!

2009 - Jan through April

Our small group from church went to the Roseland Community to work on a home they have been rehabbing! Too much fun!




This is me in March - it seemed like I got big early! Due date is June 19 - long ways to go yet!!


My tough husband and strange looking daughter! She loves her boots - yes she put this outfit together on her own!


Unfortunately we didn't get to see them in person for this photo - but I like the picture so thought I would put it up!!


Me getting bigger and loving it!



Some winter pics!



You can tell it is winter by John's beard!


Sorry for the pics being sideways - too lazy to fix. This is from my brother - his kids are so cute!!

Christmas 2008

Aaron & Alysa and Pat & Sarah all came home from New York with their kids and we were able to celebrate Christmas with most of my side of the family. Peter & Liz were unable to come home with their daughter! It was quite fun as we had 9 kids (between 7 weeks and 6 years of age) - they are starting to take over!!






This is our simple Meskis Christmas at home! Rachel got a book and some indoor balls -

But more importantly, we were able to worship our Lord and celebrate his arrival on this earth that led to him sacrificing himself to save us!