Just Plain Silliness

There is so much going on in this picture and it all started with Kris getting down on the floor to play with Henry. Everybody else had to join in on the fun, even the cat!

Isaac and Emma thought it would be funny to make faces in the pot that was on the stove.

The Floatilla

Last week, the kids and I had the privilege of hearing the band play at one of their many Christmas gigs this season. The gig was for the annual floatilla that the city of New Bern puts on. The band played for the first portion and then the 20 some boats came around with their Christmas displays.

So handsome in that uniform!

These were just some of our favorite Christmas boats. It was fun to watch them.

Our Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we travelled to Maryland to be with my sister and her family. We had a great time, fixed lots of food, and ate like kings. We will definitely do it again!

My mom wanted a picture of all her grandkids together, but it's not easy trying to get six kids under 6 years old to sit still and smile at the same time. Hopefully Todd got a better shot.

The boys


The girls

Gracie wanted to help fix dinner. How cute!

Thanks Todd and Micah for letting us come and stay!

TP is Fascinating!

Why is it that with all of my kids they find toilet paper so much fun? Forget about buying expensive gifts for Christmas, just get them a roll of tp and a cardboard box. :)

He was telling me what a smart boy he was to have found such a treasure.

It doesn't taste so well though.

You kind of get used to the gritty flavor after a while.

Growing Up Too Fast

I was just telling Kris last night that this year has been such a strange one. We have done so much and have had lots of momentous ocassions. My most favorite was bringing this little guy into the world. He is always such a ray of sunshine! Now he can sit up on his own and he's crawling around here like he owns the place. I wish I could keep him my baby forever, but there are so many things that I want to share with him as he grows. I just wish time would slow down a bit.

I did find my camera. It was in one of the last boxes we unpacked.

Where Is My Camera?

So many things have happened over the past week and I haven't been able to get pictures of anything because I can't find my camera!
We are all moved into our new house. It's such a great feeling. I love having carpet again. Henry loves to get down on the floor and crawl around. Yes, he's crawling, well, more like combat crawling on one leg but he's getting around!
We celebrated Emma's 5th birthday. I felt bad because the kids don't have any friends here yet, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Kris and I went and adopted a kitten at the animal shelter just for her. She named him Marvin (actually Kris named him after his favorite football player, Marvin Harrison - what a goob!). They are like two peas in a pod. Marvin is somewhat of a 'needy' cat, but Emma gives him so much attention that he has to hide from her under the couch just so he can catch a cat nap here and there. He is a good cat though and uses the litter box like he should. Thank Goodness!
Kris has almost finished painting the girls' room. As soon as I can find my camera I'll put up some pictures. It's got to be in a box somewhere!

OUR NEW HOUSE!

We just found out yesterday that our loan was approved and we are set to close next week! We are so excited to be in our own home and a brand new one to boot!
We can't wait to get started painting and getting settled in.
This is the road our house sits on at the end of a cul-de-sac. There will be more new homes going up in the future, but for now we only have 6 neighbors. The homes are so new that they don't even come up on GPS.
The back of the house. Nothing fancy - yet!

Potty Training

Alivia figured out a new way to use the potty. Why didn't I think of that?

Kings and Queens

The kids like to play dress up. I'm just glad they're happy to use the simplest of things.

My little prince

Conversations on Marriage

At dinner this evening, the kids and I (Megan) brought up the subject of marriage and it went something like this:

Emma: I want to get married.
Mom: Why do you want to get married? So you can have babies someday?
Emma: No, I just want to be married.

Lily: I want to be married by a boy.
Mom: You mean you want to get married with a boy?
Lily: Yes, I love those boys.
Mom: (Oh Great!)
Emma: There are boys next door.
Mom: Yes, there are. (Hmm...)

Lily: I want to marry you mommy!
Emma: You can't marry mommy.
Lily: What about daddy?
Emma: You can't marry daddy, you're too big for daddy.

This is definately a fun age. So funny!

New Chompers!

Okay, how weird is it that three of my kids are getting teeth at the same time? You can imagine that not everybody has been happy lately, but they're tolerating the intrusive eruptions.

Henry's still just got those four teeth, but is working on more.

Isaac lost his first tooth with one coming up in its place and he's getting molars in the back.

Alivia is getting her two year molars.

Fun Times!

Orneriness

Alivia has been super ornery lately. She's discovered how to be sneaky. After having five kids, we don't really get upset anymore, but have learned to laugh a little more. We know that we can use these pictures later on as blackmail so we will get even in the end.

Getting into the baby lotion with her diaper off.

Sneaking a chocolate chip cookie behind the couch and right before bedtime!
Ornery, but still so cute!

FANGS!

Henry started getting teeth a few weeks ago and we can't help but laugh at his new set of fangs. If he doesn't get his front teeth before halloween, he'd make the perfect little bat. Ha!

Our puke green house

front/side of the house

carport/side

Well, I have to say that we feel very fortunate to have gotten a house on base, but it's just too small for all seven of us. We've rented a storage unit which is now full and have taken the fourth bedroom and filled it with boxes. Evidently we're not the only ones who have this problem because there isn't a day that goes by that I don't see a rental truck go by. People are either putting thier things in storage or moving off base all together.
So, with that said, we are looking off base to buy a home. Please pray that God will direct us in this and that he will open and close doors where necessary.

For now, we are doing fine and everyone seems to be adapting well. I think we're all ready to be somewhere permanent for a while.

For My Sister

You're just jealous of my fishnet stockings!

Gatlinburg Fun

This is just a sampling of the things we got to do while on our mini vacation. I hope you all enjoy the pictures!

On The Move Again

We are all packed up and ready to move again. Tomorrow we will be traveling to our next duty station in Cherry Point, North Carolina. We are sad to leave the grandparents, many of our extended family, and our church family. We had a great nine months here in Indiana and made lots of wonderful memories. I'm so glad we had this time to spend and thank the Lord for it.
As soon as we get internet set up in the house I will be back on blogger on a pretty regular basis. I didn't have high speed internet where we were living and for the past 2 months didn't have internet at all.
Please pray for us and the three day journey we will be making. We're taking a one day stop in Tennessee to break up the trip and have some fun as a family.
Thank you to everyone here in Indiana for making this temporary stay a good one. We love you all and will miss you terribly!

Getting Over the Sickies

You can't tell it from the pictures but Henry's been getting over a cold. I'm hoping it's almost gone. The other four are just starting to get a cold, so I'm hoping it's the same one Henry just had. The Lord was gracious to me this past winter as none of us got really sick with anything bad. I certainly heard some stories though. We've gone quite a while without being sick, so I suppose we're due.

I took these pictures today. Doesn't Henry have the cutest smile? I need to get some pictures of the kids on here too. They've changed so much since Christmas. I'll be sure to do that next time I post.

Blue Eyes

These pictures were taken today of our little man. He's so good and very alert. He certainly doesn't act like a 5 week old. He started smiling about a week ago and I caught one today with the camera. He's got the prettiest blue eyes, I just hope he keeps them. Once again, God has given us a child who is different from all the rest. We definately think Henry is a good combination of all of them, but he doesn't favor any one of them over the rest. I just love his name, it suits him well.
The past few weeks have gone by so fast. The kids have adjusted really well to having a new baby around. I think the older ones are used to this. :) They all try to help out and will make sure to tell me if he's crying. They are very protective of him. Emma has become my little mommy. She's such a great helper, there are times that I don't know what I would do without her and she's only 4!
I have yet to venture out with all five of them by myself. Those of you who have lots of little ones know that you have to be very strategic when going anywhere. We have been to church the last few Sundays but if it weren't for our family being there to help, I wouldn't be able to do it. Thank you Lord for such wonderful grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles! We are actually doing much better than I expected. I usually can keep up with the dishes and the laundry, but I will not tell a lie, I do have a housekeeper that comes every other week to clean what I don't have time to do. It's great!
Well, motherhood is calling!!

Henry is here!

He's finally here! Henry Christian Hutsell was born March 14th at 12:40 pm. He weighed 8lbs. 2oz. and was 20 3/4 inches long. The birth and everything was perfect and he's such a perfect little boy.

I was scheduled to be induced on the 14th for several reasons, but mainly so that Kris could be here. Kris flew in late Wednesday night and we were able to spend a day together as a family on Thursday. Friday morning we headed to the hospital. The doctor got everything hooked up and going at 7:00 am and Henry was out not even 6 hours later. There were no complications and everyone's doing well.

He's such a relaxed baby. He barely cried when he came out. Even when he got his first bath he didn't cry. He's been sleeping really well at night and during the day he's awake often, but just looks around. He's so sweet, it's like having another Isaac around. He likes to be held alot but I think he just likes to be near a warm body.

Kris was able to stay till the 18th and then had to go back to school. It was hard to se him go, but our family has been helping us and we're getting good meals from the church. It's