A Real Scream

We'll be making a move to Minneapolis soon (more on that in another post).  The first thing the girls said after I returned from looking at rental homes a few weeks ago was, "I hope it has a screaming room."  A completely normal reaction in every home, I'm sure.

The screaming room came to be when the girls saw our Bismarck home for the first time.  They were so excited about the new home that when they got to a large empty room in the basement, they just spontaneously did this (you may want to turn your volume down):

After that moment, that room, which later became our schoolroom, was referred to as the screaming room.  

Evidently, they're under the impression that this comes standard with other homes, too.  I can't wait to see if our new place has a screaming room, too.  That would be a real scream.

Not Forgotten

A few random shots not to be forgotten:

I stumbled upon this photo a few months ago on Joe's, now lost, smartphone.  This is our friend Beth, when she visited us in Bismarck and when we were both sportin' our braces.  We've both moved on from the braces, but we haven't moved on from her.  The girls still ask about her or refer to her about once a week.

I received an email a few weeks ago with the subject line, "Miss you lots!"  We miss these two sweet friends, too.

I just want to squeeze those four cuties. 

We don't see them, or a whole host of other friends, anymore, but our days with them are not forgotten.

Hands On

With the waiting and counting down over, the first thing the kids wanted to do when they met Isaiah, after they held him, of course, was put on his new onesie.

 

He even modeled the back.

 

Then true to the onesie, they all asked to hold him some more.

Counting

Anticipating the birth of a baby with kids is so much fun.  

All four of the oldest kids visited the doctor with me, two at a time.  They got to listen to the baby's heartbeat, Theia and Xandra even got to hold the doppler and find the heartbeat, and they of course watched as the doctor measured my growing belly.  Unfortunately, I only remembered to take my camera when Theia and Xandra went.  You can see Xandra holding her Boxcar Children book.  She was much more interested in reading that than pretty much anything else that was going on, but I did manage to get her to look up for a picture.

 

 Once we got settled in at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we worked on a countdown chain.

Some of us took the job more seriously than others 

After the chain was complete, we hung it up.  Each day we tore a link from the chain.  Also included on the chain was everyone's prediction of what day Yoshi would arrive.  For the record, Grandma picked the day.

After our chain was made, we designed a onesie for the kids to bring the baby in the hospital.

We traced each of their hands, they colored them in

and then I wrote, "We Can't Wait to Get Our Hands on You!"

And it was true.  We were ready and waiting and counting.

Lost

Lost:

 

 Tooth number two.

Royal Treatment

Sometimes our kids can be heard shouting, "I'm the King/Queen of Alllllll."  At Grandma's house, you do get the royal treatment when you fall and hurt your toe.

 

Pillows, bears, dinner tray, and a seat on the counter. Quite the throne for our little king.

A Sign

Grandpa Tim strikes again.  This time with signs of welcome for the whole family.  Signs near the front door,

 

 and on our bedroom door.

 

Signs pointing to truth

 

and encouragement

posted in our bedroom.

Signs for all the kids

complete with names

nicknames

and pictures.

He even tried to help with naming the new baby,

 

but Joe and I were so torn between MeetZorpe and Roscoe that we decided to not play favorites and choose Isaiah, instead.  I hope he won't be disappointed someday when he realizes the alternatives.

He also posted rules for the children.  When they came down from bed, we would just point to the appropriate response and send them back upstairs.  Unfortunately since most of them can't read, the sign did not prove as helpful as we had hoped.

It's hard for me to believe that anyone would welcome the intrusion of a cranky pregnant lady, five (soon to be six) young children, a noisy cat and their son, into their quiet, serene home nestled in the country, but Gramps did, and he even made me believe that they were excited to have us.  He may just be a little crazy after all!

I'm glad he did it.  It was a grand welcome for all.