Ephraim Samuel Souder was born on the 2nd of January. He is healthy and growing quickly.

Below are some pictures from our first month with him.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A quick video showing some of the honey harvesting process from Wendall’s Fall crop.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

via flickr.com

Had a fun time yesterday with my parents who are visiting. We went to Lost River Cave & Valley for a cave tour on boat and then up to Sheperdsville, KY to ride go karts at Kart Kountry.

Zedekiah was just old enough to ride the Kiddie Karts. He had a blast, to say the least.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

We've had our 3rd baby. We were mostly convinced it would be a boy, but we were pleasantly surprised by a little baby girl.

Her name is Adaliah Louise and she was born at 5:07pm CDT, weighed 7 lbs, and measured 20 1/2" long. She is just a perfect little girl and both she and Momma are doing well.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Just wanted to post a note that we have put some photos from our last trip up to PA on Flickr.

We had lots of fun and enjoyed seeing as many family and friends as we could. Highlights included Avery's birthday, the Farm Show, my Dad's birthday celebration and lots of the children hanging out at Matt and Sabea's house.

Enjoy the pictures and hope to see everyone again soon.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Sam: Busy with work for Barracuda and also working on a few side projects. Computer work keeps him quite busy and we're thankful for the work. He is still milking but not as frequently as before since Wendall, Shiphrah and Sam rotate weeks. In his "spare" time he's been busy with house preparations. We're hoping to get the house started soon, but there's been a lot of delays all around. Kentucky time is much slower than the rest of the world and business around here takes two weeks longer than you'd think. We're learning a lot even though it can be frustrating. He hopes to be working on the driveway and foundation the end of the month since he has some mandatory time off for the holidays. It is a blessing to have him working from home because the boys and I can see him anytime. The boys enjoy giving daddy hugs throughout the day and when he's done with work, we don't have to wait long to see him. He still loves being a daddy more than anything else. He's continuing to trust the Lord for his family and for the days to come.

Janali: Feeling better now that I am finally 18 weeks along with this little one. Sickness has subsided and life is becoming somewhat normal again. I still have much to catch up on and never enough time or energy yet to do it all. Had a sudden set back last week while I was carrying Abram down the stairs. I slipped unexpectedly and landed square on my bottom and went down several stairs. We thank the Lord for no broken tailbone (again). Only bruised and after a few days in bed I am doing much better. Still sore and having to use a "butt pillow", as Sam loves to tease. But I am incredibly thankful that the Lord answered our many prayers and I am already on the mend instead of being in bed for weeks! Overall I am trusting the Lord and doing my best to learn to be grateful for each day and whatever it may bring.

Zedekiah: Our three year old keeps himself quite busy everyday with hunting, trucks, being a puppy or cowboy and especially loves being with Abram, Solomon and Selia. He is pretending to read books to Abram of the ones he has memorized. He and Abram are wrestling with each other often and Zedekiah is enjoying being his big brother. He and Abram both came down with colds again which are hitting them hard. Being close in proximity to lots of children, and it being very hard to stay away from each other, our germs go round and round. We are celebrating Joey's birthday with a sleepover on Saturday and Zedekiah gets to sleep with all the boys. It is going to be a ball for them all I am sure. Overall he's a busy normal little boy that we enjoy seeing learn and grow. 

Abram: Almost a year and a half, we are learning how much of a spitfire he can be. Truly testing everything, he's been a handful and a busy busy boy. He is determined, stubborn, and has a very strong independent personality, (surprise surprise) as it seems to run strong in our families. He loves tractors and trucks and anything that goes, especially Pop-pop's skid steer. He took a ride in it with Daddy a few weeks ago, and we can already tell he has the Myers' mechanical side in him. He loves to pretend to fix the cars and trucks too. You do have to be careful though, he is known as the clock-myster around here and his hits come very unexpectedly. That is another one we're working on and hope to see him trained out of quickly. He's a busy toddler and a load of smiles.

I apologize that I have not kept up to date! We pray that you are all well and healthy and enjoying this season with your families. Blessings.

Zi6_0089 - iPhone.m4v Watch on Posterous

Zi6_0090 - iPhone.m4v Watch on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Lots going on recently. Just moved this site to Posterous so we can easily post via an e-mail.

We have been working on clearing out the lot for our house and that is mostly finished. We will hopefully be closing on a loan within the next week, so hopefully we will be going ahead with construction soon. A few months ago we bought a portable bandsaw, an EZ Boardwalk. We call it 'The Bluemizer'. With the saw and a good many trees, we have most of the wood we will need for the framing package drying in the shop.

In other news, Bryan & Molly had a new baby Mnason James a couple weeks ago. He is a good little boy so far -- eats well.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Well, it has come more quickly than we could have ever imagined, but our second baby boy has arrived.

Abram James Souder was born yesterday, July 7th 2008 at 4:03am. He weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. The labor went well, much faster than with Zedekiah, and both baby and mommy are doing very well.

Check out more pictures and video on our Flickr Set.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A new blog! It has been a while. Our sweet son is now already ten months old! Here's a cute picture of daddy and son dancing.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

read more | digg story

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

We celebrated Molly's 30th Birthday this year with a big surprise party that Lisa and I planned. It was a challenge to keep the secret from Molly. She ended up figuring something out because my parents came up from Kenutcky. We had fun with family and friends and Sam and I both took some good photos of the kids.

The move has come so quickly and Bryan and Molly and the family are headed down to Kentucky this weekend. Settlement is on Friday and it is going to bring lots of changes along with it. I am hesitant to think about them not being next door, but I know we'll keep in touch with them often.

The new version of skype for the imac finally came out so we hope to use that to keep in touch! We haven't had the ability to get good video with my parents, I'm hoping this will solve some of the problems :)

Zedekiah is getting so big and I can't believe how quickly the time flies! He's 4 and a half months now! We tried cereal for the first time yesterday. He wanted to grab the spoon the entire time, so more than half ended up on the bib. It was fun to try, but I think I'll wait a little longer yet to try it again.

We're heading down to Kentucky this weekend and I am looking forward to the trip. We're spending a whole week there so we get some time with my parents. It also means one more week with Bryan and Molly. Hopefully the guys will get a chance to get some work done on the shop and mom and dad's house.

Zedekiah is up from his nap...time to go!

technorati tags:birthday, picnic, fortletort, letortpark

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Last Monday, the 3rd, Eric and Jana had a bunch of the family over for a nice picnic. The kids played on the slip-n-slide, so they had lots of fun. Janali got lots of pictures of the kids since Megan was down from New York with Isaiah and Sophia. I especially like this cute picture of Isaiah:

Quite cute :)

Enjoy the rest of the photos.

technorati tags:4thofjuly, picnic

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

So it has been a busy week trying to house sit for Bryan and Molly and to keep my own house going too. Molly's garden is growing so fast and it is hard to keep up with. There is still much weeding and picking to be done. I have tried doing as much as time allows but Zedekiah occupies most of it. He's been on a fussy kick lately and cries unless I'm entertaining him. He's even started to become a momma's boy and I didn't think that could happen so early. He's not yet three months old!

Sam, Zedekiah and I are going for a trip this weekend and I am extremely excited! We're headed to Kentucky to visit my parents and to see Bryan and Molly who are currently visiting them also. Well, Zedek is fussing so this ends quickly.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Saturday we slept in until the kids crawled into the bed to wake us up around 8. We made Baked Oatmeal, Eggs and Bacon, and also ate Shredded Wheat for breakfast. After getting cleaned up we headed to Colonel Denning State Park for a lunchtime Picnic. We finished eating and the kids had a chance to play in the park. Sam and the kids wanted to go hiking so we headed off for a hike, but not soon after we left it started raining. Since I had Zedekiah in the Ergo carrier I wanted to get out of the rain before it poured so I headed back to the pavilion with Emily. The other kids wanted to keep hiking so they all got soaking wet and very chilly. We finally made it home and out of the rain and enjoyed the warmth of the house until Bryan and Molly got home right before dinner. We had a good time and I was really pleased with how well Zedekiah did. He was very entertained by all the kids. Sometimes he was a little over stimulated and would get upset, but overall he did great.

Sunday we celebrated Sam and Rebekah's birthday. Our niece will be turning 3 and Sam will be 23. His birthday isn't until the 22 and her's the 23, but we celebrated early so Bryan and Molly could be around. They will be going go Kentucky for two weeks. This weekend I'm having Sam's family over for some dessert to celebrate Sam's birthday with them. It'll be fun, but the first time I'm having a get together at our house. I'm praying for sunny weather because if it is raining, we'll be fitting a lot of people inside our tiny house :)

Next week Sam and I are hoping to take a Memorial Day weekend trip down to Kentucky. It has been six months since we went and that was to move my parents in. So we'd like to go to visit them for a few days. Molly and Bryan's family will be down there too, so it'll be a full house. It'll be a long trip for Zedekiah since it is almost eleven hours. It'll be fun none the less.

Zedekiah is sleeping so I need to take advantage of the time and get some more stuff done!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

After spending the afternoon at Marjah's, Zedekiah and I headed to Grandma Myers (Sam's Grandma) to meet Sam. Grandma keeps Sam busy with her yard work and though it can be a task, he gets it done :). It gave me a chance to spend some time with her as she held the baby. He slept most of the afternoon so she got to hold him for a good long while. We didn't get home until around almost 8 so Sam stopped to get some Victor's subs...yum yum!

Today has been a normal day of getting my house cleaned up and the dishes and laundry done. Zedekiah and I spent the morning at Aunt Molly's house. She and I have been meaning to make some yummy home made bread. We finally got some more flour so she made it while I watched the kids:) I can't wait to try it! I always enjoy talking with Molly and with her kids...I never get bored. Silas (Mollly's youngest boy, he's 19 months) was playing with some silly puddy gelly stuff and of course got it all through his hair. We took some fun pics and then Abi and Emily (two of her other children) gave him a bath. They brought him down introducing him as Prince Mosemann. They had him all dressed in a pair of khakis and dress shirt with a bow tie and his dress shoes. There is never a dull moment in their house :)

Since this weekend is supposed to be nice, I am going to try and work on my flower bed. I hope to pick up some flowers and mulch on Friday so I can get things done on Saturday. Sam will be mowing the lawn here so we'll have an outside day of fun. I am looking forward to getting some pretty flowers to brighten up our yard for the summer time.

Zedekiah is getting bored of me not paying attention to him, so I'm off to play with my son! Mom asked me to put some more pictures up of Zedekiah. She's missing him greatly being down in Kentucky so I am going to try and update some more photos on Flickr just for you mom :)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

My life as a mother started incredibly well and continues to get better day by day. It amazes me that almost two months have gone by since Zedekiah was born! He has already changed drastically, and since the first year is full of changes he is only going to keep growing. He is already out of the newborn phase, it seemed to only last a week. His ever increasing eyesight keeps him attentive to anything in his line of sight. He is having a hard time falling asleep because he's so sure he's going to miss something when he closes his eyes. It is amazing that we watched him go from barely seeing us to following us across the room not only with his eyes, but now with his head too. It is a joy seeing them grow, but I believe it goes way to fast. His big accomplishment last night which his daddy is so proud of, was being able to hold up his head and body with his arms, while laying on his belly. Of course Sam took some pictures so we'll have to get them updated:)

Being at home has given me time to do lots of things I have always dreamed of doing. I dreamed of being a stay at home mom with lots of kids, but never did I really know what it would be like. Living next door to Bryan and Molly and their five children for the past year has given me a realistic picture of what it is like. Needless to say, I still want a big family, even though I know without a doubt that it is not always rosey. Sam is sure to agree:) His idea is "Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." And indeed we do believe that children are an inheritance from the Lord. We've got our first son and it is in the Lord's hands when the next one will be.

Well the joys of writing this blog have quickly come to a close, as it has taken me far longer to compose this thing than I planned. Now Zedekiah is awake and ready for his mommy. So goodnight for now until next time :)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Everything is going well. Zedekiah was born on the 12th of March. He was 8 pounds and 6 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. I am happy to report he is doing well (besides having a bit of a stuffy nose that he and I both got a couple weeks ago). He is around 12 or 13 pounds now and much longer, somewhere around 23 inches. He is a wonderful blessing, I just can't wait till he can run around with me :)

Janali did very well and is continuing to do so. She handled the birth like a trooper (as I knew she would).

Hopefully we can do this a bit more often than in the past (blogging that is). But, I give no promises!

Till we meet again!

P.S.
I am working on retagging my entire library of almost 9000 pictures before I start to mass upload them to Flickr, so please be patient, it takes forever to tag that many pictures well. They are coming soon!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »