Lane Matthew

The newest addition to the McIntosh family as finally arrived! Lane Matthew McIntosh was born on November 5th at 3:14 pm. He weighed 7lbs 5.1 oz and was 20in long. [Lyle was so excited he weighed more than Elsie who was 7lbs 4.9 oz :-) ] He has LOTS of dark hair and mostly loves to eat and sleep. The labor and delivery couldn't have gone any better! I thank God for blessing me with fast deliveries! (I think we were at the hospital for 2 1/2 hours before he was born!) haha!

Big sister Elsie was so excited when we brought Lane home. She is still trying to fit the pieces together I think, but overall the adjustment is going well. She seems like such a big girl now that theres a little one around!

We had the chance to get some professional pictures done up at the hospital of Lane. Instead of the traditional "mug shot" pictures (ha!), Allen now has a professional photographer take your babies first pictures and you have the option of buying them. Such a great idea! It is always nice to have the service come right to you! I thought I would post some of them to share with everyone.

We will keep you updated on what is going on with the McIntosh's! Right now we feel so blessed to have a beautiful healthy family. Enjoy!

Dance Dance Dance!

Within the last few weeks, Miss Elsie has picked up a new favorite hobby- dancing! She LOVES dancing. We will be in public and even if there is a little music playing off in the distance, she will randomly grab my hand and start dancing! Can't wait to get this girl in lessons someday. I finally got her on tape one night when she was really getting into it - thought I would share it with everyone. P.S. sorry about the diaper attire- we were just cleaning up from supper & getting ready for a bath! Enjoy!

It's a Boy!!

Lyle & I went to our last ultrasound last Wednesday where we found out a little more about the little one on the inside. We are so excited to announce that Elsie is going to have a baby brother! I can't wait to shop and hunt for boy clothes now. We are so excited to have another little farmer on the way to pass on the McIntosh name. I haven't felt a lot of movement quite yet from the little guy, but he appears to be doing well so far! It won't be long before he's moving around like crazy i'm sure!

Also, an update on the farm news: We just sent in the last of our paperwork yesterday to the Farm Service Agency, so hopefully we can hear something within the next month. The loan manager called Lyle the other day and said things are going well so far, so hopefully things keep heading in that direction! We just may be farm owners by the end of the summer. Then all the work really begins :-)

I have a "Power of a Praying Wife" calendar that sits by my computer, and everyday i've had the same page open to a verse that is a constant reminder that God has a plan for us and will do whats best for our family. The verse ends with, "God is not the author of confusion, strife, or unworkable situations. He is a God of perfect timing." I know whatever happens, whenever it happens, it is the ultimate plan for our family :-)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!!

From Baby to Big Girl in the Blink of an Eye!

As most of you know, Elsie just celebrated the her 1st birthday!! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was pacing the up and down lane wanting the time to arrive that she would just FINALLY get here! Then before we knew it the nurses handed us our first tiny and beautiful little bundle of joy all wrapped in pink. It has been a year full of big changes and creation of wonderful lifetime memories. From holding her for the very first time, to getting absolutely no sleep, waiting for the first smile and giggle, getting excited over every sound, then rolling & crawling, looking forward to what the next word/sound she will make next, and now her first real experiences outside on the farm!! Oh how wonderful parenthood is :-) God has blessed us with such a beautiful, sweet, healthy, and fun loving little girl. We have loved every minute we have spent with her and look forward to every next minute of watching her grow into a beautful young little lady. We enjoy being parents and having a great start to our little family that is growing so fast already :-). We look forward to many more great memories with Elsie as well as our future baby who will also be here before we know it!

Here are some pictures from her birthday and birthday party at Parker Muncey Park. Elsie had such a great time! I think she could have partied all night long if we would have let her! It was a beautiful day for our little girl to celebrate surrounded by our wonderful family and friends! Enjoy!

Our little girl on her "birth" day just one year ago!

This is from her actual birthday, we took our little cowgirl out to Texas Roadhouse

At her party- she had a mosquito-bitten swollen eye but she didnt let that get in her way of having a fun time!


The duck pond was a hit with the little ones!

The jumpy slide we borrowed from Aunt Jess was a HUGE hit with the kids!

We couldn't get her out of there!

One of Elsies favorite things to do is play with kids!

Cousin Maddy "helping" open presents!

Elsie loved her own little first birthday cake!

At the end of the party, the duck pond seemed like the place to sit and relax for a few minutes - brrrrrr...

Down on the Farm

I thought I would post some pictures from our busy, beautiful Memorial Day Weekend on the farm. We spent a whole four days dusk 'til dawn planting, hopefully, our soon-to-be fields. Lyle got all the corn planted while he had time off from work. We wouldn't have gotten it done as fast if it weren't for Alex learning to operate the tractor and cultivator & disc, we appreciated his help! Sometimes I don't know what Lyle would do without him now a days! I think the guys appreciated all the lunches & suppers Elsie & I brought them too! Elsie even got to "help" dad plant the fields. Here are some pictures from our picnics and of her first tractor ride which she couldn't get enough of. A true farm girl in the making :-) Enjoy!

Everytime Lyle would get to the end rows, Elsie would try running out to him

saying "Da da da da!"

I loved this :-) So mesmorized by her father & the big tractor!

Eating our ham & cheese sandwhiches at our picnic in the field!

First peek at the new McIntosh baby!

I had the opportunity to get a few ultrasounds the past week in the clinic. A doctor there is doing some research and asked some women if they would participate in a free ultrasound around 13 weeks. I said of course, I would love to get a peek at the little one- especially since I can't feel anything yet- it seems to really make it seem "real" then :-). The doctor didn't get the exact reading she needed from the first ultrasound Monday, so I went back today and got another one (i'm exactly 14 weeks today). It's so amazing what has already developed! I thought i'd post some pics for you to enjoy of our new little bundle of joy on the inside :-)

Side profile of head-cute little nose and round face already :-) haha

Hand

Playing with fingers- almost sucking thumb in this picture (today he/she kept playing with their little hands and even gave us a thumbs up sign at one point! so funny!)

Elsie taking a look at her new brother or sister!

She was so excited to see the new "ba-ba" on the screen (baby) haha.

Elsie Knows a Secret!

As some of you may know, we are finally announcing that Elsie is going to be a big sister!! Lyle and I discovered in mid-March that there was another McIntosh baby coming our way! We have been going to our check ups and things are moving right along already. I am 12 weeks pregnant due on November 12th. We heard the babies heartbeat last week- a high 170! We decided since things seem to be going well and I'm about through the first term already, we are hopefully safe to let everyone know the exciting news!

I have been up and down with the sickness this time around. I am pretty nauseous in the mornings and exhausted 24/7! The semester is almost finished though, so hopefully the stress will die down some!

It's been a while since I've posted on here so heres a quick update with what else is going on in our busy lives. We are still in the process of buying Grandpa John's farm up the road- the amount of paperwork is unbelieveable! We are very close to being done though so hopefully we will know soon whether we are farm owners to be or not to be :-) Lyle is of course keeping busy with working and keeping busy with the sheep and hogs. Fair time will be here before we know it!

I actually started my own business within the last month. I am a consultant for Usborne Books where I carry a large variety of children's books. I absolutely love having the business and even better i LOVE the books. If you are interested at all in ordering, hosting a book show, or even just looking- let me know! They are great. My website is: www.ubah.com/A3713

Miss Elsie is fully walking now. Though shes been walking between furniture since 9 months- shes officially seemed to be about done with the crawling business. She's also been quite chattery lately, too! I can't believe she's going to be one in less than a month now!!

We hope all of you have been doing well, too!

Beautiful Spring Days!

Hey all! Just writing to update! I am on spring break right now and it has been fantastic! Although I have put off the pile of homework due for next week, so i'm sure the weekend will be a little stressful :-) But this beautiful weather has just been too good to pass up and spend inside! Elsie LOVES being outside! We have probably walked many miles this week so far- up and down the lane many times around 2-3 times (maybe 4!) a day and walking with dad on the farm! When we are inside Elsie stands by the screen door looking outside just waiting until our next venture out!! True farm girl :-) I also have to note that Elsie has turned into SUCH an active and social little girl! She has been nothing but a happy baby the last few weeks just chattering away and even taking her first steps!

We have loved spending our days outdoors. Now I'm getting anxious about planting our vegetable garden, planting flowers, filling up the pool, going golfing, and all the fun things spring brings! It's even more exciting to bring Elsie out to her second summer and introduce her to new fun things!

Her and that tongue!

I had to put this one up because every dog on the farm goes on walks with us- our "big Lily" is in front of me and Betoven and Grumpy are behind me, along with "little Lily" on the leash- they love the walks, too!

A few cows posing for us along our walk :-)

Our Growing Baby Girl!

Elsie is almost 9 MONTHS! Wow! Where did the time go? Next Saturday Elsie turns nine months- it's so crazy to think that her first birthday is just around the corner!



Here are some new pictures of our little growin' girl. These are pictures that a girl currently in the Hawkeye photography program took. She is from Jesup and she asked me if Elsie could be a model for her for some of her school assignments. I, of course, said heck ya! Here are a few of the pictures she took! (Elsie just LOVED the feather boa! She did such a good job for the camera!)

If you are interested in some of her work, her website is:
http://www.kcjphotography.webs.com/



Enjoy :-)

[Her tongue is ALWAYS out :-) ]

Yes she still has the mullet :-)

(my favorite!)

Jesus Loves Me!

Elsie has a new favorite toy! This is a little bear that a good friend of ours mother gave to us from her bear collection when Elsie was really little. It sings "Jesus Loves Me." I just randomly played it the other day and Elsie instantly had a huge smile on her face! We love to clap and sing along with the bear (now that she has just learned how to clap). I just love her reaction when I play this bear so I thought I'd share a few little video clips with you!

[ This is the one where she is sort of "singing" along, too :-) ]

A quick note!

I realized it's been a while since I've updated this thing! Here's just a few things to catch ya up:

Miss Elsie is still growin at the speed of light! Her crawling pace has really picked up a lot lately! That could be due to our new favorite game of mom "chasing" her down the hall way now (crawling of course). Shes starting to really say more and more sounds. She has even started clapping! Ok so I admit I get excited about every little thing she does :-) It's just amazing how babies develop such a little personality of their own! I should mention that she took three steps on her own the other day as well! Lyle kept standing her up (because she can stand on her own) and she took three full steps- then fell of course. She may be walkin before we know it!

Lyle and I are doing well. Lyle is still working a lot outside of course. We have many sets of baby pigs and more lambs! I got to help him a few nights during the past few weeks and just love seeing the baby farm animals!

I have been getting through school as best as I can...and let me tell you it's not easy! I haven't had the best of luck enjoying my classes this semester. I'm taking classes that I really, REALLY am not motivated to take, and some of them requiring a lot of the knit-picky kind of work. I am already looking forward to summer! Then again, this summer I have to take a remedial reading course which according to my advisor today is one of the most labor intensive 8 week courses! I just wish there was something I could do to NOT take that class :-) haha. What a summer it will be.

Anyways, theres a little bit of how we've been doing lately! Elsie just had some pictures taken last night by a girl from Jesup who is studying to be a photographer. I will put some up as soon as i get them! Elsie did such a wonderful job- i can't wait to see them!

Logan the Sky Angel Cowboy

This video had me in tears! What a wonderful and sweet boy! I just thought I would share this moving clip- at least it was very moving for me! It is such a simple message, but SO powerful! Especially coming from a young soul.

Incase you haven't seen this before, Logan is a 13 year-old boy who lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. Logan listens to Christian Radio station 89.3FM KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX. Sky Angel is the family-safe satellite broadcasting service. Logan called the radio station distraught because he had to take down a calf . His words have wisdom beyond his years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCdZwitrNoY

Pigs, Pigs, Pigs!

The night of January 23rd, Lyle worked another usual late night on the farm. I finally called and wished him a good night and decided to go to bed around 11:00, leaving his supper in the microwave anticipating that he would be in shortly. I woke up at 2:30 am and found that he still wasn't sleeping next to me yet. He actually wasn't to be found anywhere in the house! I was half asleep and I called him somewhat in a panic asking, "Hey are you ok? Where are you?" Lyle happily replied, "Yup! I'm just looking at a bunch of baby pigs right now!" August and Katie arrived here late that night to help out with wiring the electiricty for more lights and outlets in the farrowing house- which we greatly appreciated! August and Lyle stayed out to make sure the delivery went well. So here are some pictures of the cute little creatures! :

It has been too cold to take Elsie out to see all of them yet, but Uncle Augie brought one in the house yesterday morning to warm up a little more in the bathroom. Here are her first pictures with one of the baby pigs. Not the usual farm scenery but we're use to having livestock in the bathroom :-)

A Busy 2009 Already!

Just keeping you up to speed with what we've been up to since the new year began!
Elsie's new favorite bathtub toy!

Little Elsie has just been the happiest baby lately! She has just been talking and walking (along and between furniture) more and more! Her new favorite thing is to smack her tongue against the roof of her mouth sort of "mocking" the sound of a kiss. It is too funny! She has been adding "mama" "baba" and "duhduh" to her vocabulary :-). Isn't it funny how you get excited about those little sounds? haha. We are having so much fun watching her grow- it seems like everyday she does something new! She has also been able to stand on her own for about 10-15 seconds before falling which is an improvement from 2 seconds :-) She has been doing wonderful though and we thank God everyday for our active, healthy, beautiful little girl! Here are some recent photos I took for her "7 month" pictures.













I started back to school last week. I have a feeling it won't be my favorite semester- at least compared to an awesome semester this last fall! In a way it is my own fault since I put off a few gen. ed. requirements until the last semester. I am taking "Africa" and "Environment and Technology." I am sure I will learn a lot, but I just feel sort of like an outsider since I've been so used to having teaching classes full of familiar faces and friends. I am also taking two literacy classes, one being a language development class which is actually kind of interesting because I am able to apply it at home with Elsie and her own oral language development. The other class is an Assessment and Evaluation of Literacy class where I will be doing a field experience with struggling readers and write a lot of lesson plans to assess their reading and writing abilities. It seems like it will be tough and a lot of work, but again I think it will be a good learning experience. All of my college friends are student teaching right now, so I do feel a little alone in all of my classes! I am just hoping that all will go well and I will get through it!


Lyle is of course keeping busy on the farm and at work. It is nice because we've been able to see him more this week. Deere's hasn't been making him work as much overtime now, so he is able to come home shortly after I come home from school. He is waiting patiently for a nice litter of pigs. Over break Alex and him built a farrowing building that looks really great- they put a lot of late nights in! Pat and Lyle worked on putting insulation in the farrowing building the other night until about 3:30 in the morning just getting ready to keep those piglets warm. I just keep hoping that all his hard work will pay off and one of these days we will have a nice litter for him! The sheep are doing well and we've got a lot of cute little lambs up there jumpin around!


Also, Lyle and I are sort of in the midst of trying to find a family church for us to belong to. For the past few months we've been kind of "on hold" so-to-speak in the church department. We just feel like we don't really belong anywhere right now. We haven't found that place to call home yet where we can raise our children to trust and know God, and continue our own journeys in faith. Recently though, we have been visiting Orchard Hill Church in Cedar Falls again. We have gone the past few Sundays and have enjoyed it. Elsie even enjoyed being in nursery- she didn't even crawl over to me when I went to go pick her up today which is VERY odd ;-). It is not a for sure thing that we will become members there yet since we have just begun visiting, but we are starting to really get our focus back to where it needs to be. Lyle's sister Jess and her family go there as well and she gave me some information on many bible study and fellowship opportunities as well. We just have to keep praying and relying on God to lead us in the right direction, which he will.


As Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."


We hope that everyone has been having a wonderful 2009 so far! We will keep you all posted on what is going on in our lives :-)


Here is another verse I came across. I'm not trying to be a preacher or anything, but just incase your facing a hard time in your life right now (which I know of a few of you are right now :-) ) , here are some encouraging words from the One above :-) :

"So do not fear, for I am with you;do not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you;I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10