Adoption T-shirts

Our good friends, who are also the youth pastor and wife at our church, are in the process of adopting siblings from Ethiopia. Anyone who has adopted or knows of someone going through the process knows how expensive it can be! Andy and Katie are trying to raise funds in a variety of different ways and one such way they found is the site Wild Olive Trees
The site has really cute shirts with a word/design in front and a corresponding verse on the back. The shirts are very cute and would make great gifts! When a person buys a shirt they need to insert the Powner's code so they can receive part of the funds to go towards their adoption! Their code is POWNER1019.
So if you are Christmas or birthday shopping or just want a cool new shirt check the site out and buy a shirt to help bring two precious children to a loving home! Thanks for checking it out!

You can also click on the picture on the side of my blog to get to the website!

What's Happenin'

I would love to post some pics of the kiddos but are camera will not upload the photos on our computer...so that is a little frustrating. So I will just give a brief update on what has been going on w/ us lately.
We were blessed w/ being able to spend time w/ both of our families two weekends in a row. First, John and Sharon came down on Justin's bday and stayed until Sunday morning. It was a great time- I was able to get my hair cut & colored ( it had been about 6 months since the last time!); Justin, John, Jonathan and Finley all got to go the 'Cats fball game and had a great male bonding experience :o), Madelynn and Sharon were able to spend an afternoon shopping together (they both loved the time together!) and I had a quiet afternoon to myself! I wish they lived closer to us but I also am happy they are still in Lustre so we have family connections there!
The week after the Skillmans left we headed over to Billings to see my family and get some family pictures done. Addison and Nessa were able to come down so my parents had a very full and loud house for the weekend! It was a great time and that time went way to quickly also!
The kids all seem to change and grow each month. Madelynn is loving our kitties (she calls them kittlins) and coloring. She aspires to be as good as colorer as I am...yesterday she said I was "the best colorer in the world"- made me feel pretty special. :o)
Finley keeps stretching out and will be turning 3 in two weeks! He is just a fun little guy.
Jay is almost 4 months old and is just the happiest and chubbiest little man...he is starting to grab everything (especially my hair-ouch!) and is almost rolling over.
Justin is out hunting today...if he is successful I will definitely posting a picture of his big kill!
Anyway, hopefully I will be able to post a few pictures soon!
Happy Fall!! I am loving the colors and feel of fall but have to admit don't want winter to come!

Brothers and Sister

The Three-Finley looks so skinny but he really does eat A LOT! :o)

Finley & Jay (11 weeks)

MJ took this one

I am trying to be more creative in the photos so I am using our Photoscape to enhance colors and use borders etc...I am still learning and some look funny but it is fun to change up the pictures a little!


I have been trying to think of some new ideas for the blog-trying to be a little creative. I have all these ideas floating in my head (mostly come at night) so I thought on Fridays I would do Floating Fridays which would be the random things that I find floating in my head and I would write them out here (hopefully clearly) and then I thought I would try Tidbit Tuesdays where I would share different things I have learned the past week -it could be about anything- cooking, household, spiritual, garden etc...anything that I have found to be a helpful tidbit or bit of knowledge! I will have to hone these ideas a little and as I read this it doesn't really make much sense. I guess we will see what becomes of my trying to add something to this blog!

Having 3

When you have another child, there are certain questions that are asked by most people you come in contact with. I thought I would take the time to answer those questions here...so here are the top questions I seem to be answering these days about the children.

1. How is Jay sleeping and is he a "good" baby? Jay is a pretty good sleeper, probably the best of all 3. He probably wakes up about 3x a nite to eat and falls back to sleep right away. He does seem to always wake up about 4 a.m. to try to get rid of gas so that is tiring. I hate to say it in these terms but he probably is the "best" baby I have had. And when I say that, I just mean he is the most content. Also, he may seem to be the easiest since Madelynn was my first so I had no idea what I was doing and Finley was a much "needier" baby. But of course I loved them all and each baby faze went by too fast!

2. Is three harder than 2? Well, 3 doesn't seem that bad since Jay is such a contented little guy and the other 2 are pretty independent and potty-trained. The second baby I think was a harder transition since Madelynn was younger than Finley is now and as I said Finley was a very "needy" baby. And honestly, the baby part has been easier this time and disciplining takes more time and energy now!

3. Who does Jay look like? I would say Jay is a good blend of the older 2 but has some attributes that are really different than the other 2. His head is smaller, his eye shape appears to be different and his eyes may be blue and the other 2 have green/hazel eyes. He sometimes reminds me more of my niece Kylie more than anyone which is sort of weird to say! :o)

4. How was this labor/delivery compared to the others? This by far was the easiest-so easy that if every delivery was this "easy" I could probably have about 6 more kids! I am not saying it was pain-free and just bliss but it went very well.

5. How are Madelynn and Finley doing w/ a new baby? They both did really well w/ Jay's arrival. I think there might have been some moments and needing some more attention but neither one "regressed" or was more naughty than usual! They both want to hold him a lot although Madelynn really loves to be a big sister and tries to dress him and give him a pacifier!

6. Am I going back to work? As of now, I am just going to be working a few Saturdays...so only about 8 hours a month. We will see if it is worth it.

*We didn't realize this until after we named him but all 3 of our kids and all of our nephews and niece have y's in their names! Two other names we had been considering had y's in them too!

*On a side note, Jay had his 2 month check-up yesterday and he weights 14 lbs 6 oz and is 23 3/4 inches long-that makes him 75th percentile in everything. His shots went well and I think they made him sleep pretty much all day today
Pictures by Laura Veele Photography

Fall Activities

This past week the kiddos and I went to Rocky Creek Farm w/ my friend Ashley and her daughter Brenna (5) and son Beau (2). A person can pick different veggies and fruit here and just pay for what you got! We only got a few raspberries and cukes as it was the end of the season but it was still a lot of fun. And I guess Ashley did get a bag of apples too.

The kids picking raspberries

Trying to get everyone to look at the camera and smile was pretty much impossible!

They got some icee pops from Rocky Creek Farm to enjoy after our picking and the farm had a huge beautiful tree w/ about 6 swings the kids could play on. I think we will try to go back in a few weeks and pick out a pumpkin and go on a hayride!

Madelynn and Finley really wanted to watch the combine harvest the wheat behind our house...Madelynn got a front seat view!

Gettin' Dirty

We moved our strawberry patch earlier this summer and were using the spot as a fire pit but Justin decided to clean it up. Well, it turned into a mud pit and of course the kiddos were instantly drawn to it!

Needless to say, after we rinsed them off a little outside the tub still had a good layer of dirt on the bottom after their shower!
Oh, my sis Jacki said in Billings they have a "Mud Run" at the Metra in the spring...I am kind of tempted to get in shape and do it-and let my inner child out a little! :o)

Pics

Jay is starting to smile a lot now...he has chubby little cheeks that make is smile even sweeter

Madelynn in her Sunday bestFinley and Justin have been practicing "catch" at night lately

Uncle Tim and Aunt Melody gave this to Jay-very fitting! :o)

I have been slacking on this blog thing lately...I just don't feel very creative but I am going to try to be better - I know some grandparents and aunt and uncles expect some current pictures and updates once in awhile! :o)