Week of 8/22

Well okay so I just wanted to start my weekly updates finally.

Amy - Well Amy is back to work now. After nearly two months "off", the new owner of Curves decided that it would be a good idea to hire her back. We both are very happy that Amy is back at Curves. The members have been telling her that they missed her a lot and our glad she is back.
This however means that I am now Mr. Mom for 5 hours a day. Amy works 10 - 2 everyday, but with travel time it works out to me watching Kelli from 9:30 to 2:30 daily. The three of us are adjusting to this new situation.

Kelli - Kelli is growing leaps and bounds as she turned 5 months old on Sunday. We took 5 month old pictures which you can see at our pictures site.
Kelli is about to venture into a whole new world of food choices. In about a week or so we will begin to add rice cereal to her diet. I am excited for this new stage, and look forward to feeding her new foods every other week or so. We will keep you informed on what she likes and doesn't like.

Me(Don) - The summer is quickly coming to an end and I have been feverishly planning the school year out for the youth group. Trying to make sure I have all my ducks in a row for the events as well as the extra things we will be doing this year. Keep the youth ministry in your prayers as we go forward.
I am also in the process of enrolling into NEGST, The Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology. But don't worry we are not moving to Kenya. I am going to be taking an online course taught by Amy's Dad. I am looking forward to getting my feet wet again in the world of Academia.

This week in Joel History
It is hard to believe that it has been a year since Amy and I went to our first baby doctor appointment, but it has. We went on August 19, 2004. Boy time flies.

Well It sure has been a long time.

Okay I know that's the first thing you thought when you noticed a new post, and I agree with you. In fact I think it has been way too long. There is so much going on right now which is the main reason why I haven't written in so long. So let's see where do I begin.?!?

Well Amy had a wonderful time in Arizona at Sharon's wedding. The pictures of the wedding are going up on Smugmug as I type this. I take no credit for any of the pictures quality, since they left me behind at camp.

Speaking of Camp. This summer marked my third year at Sierra Pines. It was once again the most stressful and delightful 2 weeks of my whole year. Well with the exception of the week Kelli was born. I met a bunch of new kids and got to have the honor of assisting in one of my youth group kids baptisms. All the pictures of camp are available online. If you don't know the password, just email me to ask for it.

Well I finally did it I took the Plunge into Audio blogging, or as it is better known Podcasting. One of my friends and former youth group members Scott Holtog and I are hosting a weekly show called "Through The Looking Glass."

Join us each week for a discussion about pop culture, and God. If you have any questions email us at ttlgzone@gmail.com .

Kelli went to the doctors and got her second round of shots. She also got measured and all that great stuff. So for those out there keeping score, she is 26 inches long, and weighs 16 lbs 12 oz.
She is tin the top 95% of babies her age. She is doing wonderful in other words.

I better be heading off, I will be back next week. This time I promise.

Important News

Okay so I was thinking that there are a few crazy people out there in the world that may not always have your best interest at heart. So in order to view the pictures at Smugmug, you will now need a password. The password is pretty simple. It is the place I would go to everyday if I could. The word will have a Capital "D".

If you have any problems with the password email me @ neodiem@comcast.net

Okay talk to you soon.

Hey All

Well I hope everyone is doing great. Some of you may have had a chance to listen to my first test of the audio blog. This is a new feature of our family blog, which will allow me to let people know whats going even when I can't get to a computer. It should come in handy when we are up at camp. If you are looking for the beta audio, its gone now. Keep your ears open for the next installment.

Speaking of camp, Amy, Kelli and I just returned from a few days at Lake Nacimento, okay by just returned I mean on tuesday. You can see the pictures on our smugmug website. The picture here is just a sampling of the great pictures you will find there.

Our next camping adventure will be Junior and Senior high camps at Sierra Pines. We will be gone for two weeks. Amy and Kelli will be flying down to Arizona to be in Amy's friends wedding. I wish I could go to, but I will have to stay at camp and hang out with all the great teens.

In other news, I had a wonderful first fathers day. Amy got me a second Tivo for my first Fathers day. It will come in handy when trying to watch all the shows the networks decided to put on the same nights. Also Amy and I got new cell phones, the whole new every two program from Verizon is great. I got a $150 dollar phone for free, and Amy got a $100 phone for free as well. The best part is now that we have Text and Pic In, Amy can send me pictures of the baby whenever something cute happens.

Okay tune in next time.
Same Bat Channel
Same Bat Time

Oh yeah go see Batman Begins: I give it two thumbs way up!

The new photo Gallery

Okay,

Here is what you have been waiting for, our new photo gallery. This gallery is easy to use so new pictures will appear quickly. The website will still get updated occasionally, and I promise to get this blog going better. To access this new gallery go to thejoels.smugmug.com.

Well on the news front, please be in prayer as Amy begins the process of searching for a new job. Her boss sold the company while Amy was on maternity leave, and when she was about to return to work the new boss decided that she wasn't needed. Oh well, I am sure God has bigger and better things planned for Amy.

kelli is doing great, she has started to sleep through the night. Well for a good solid 7 - 8 hours. It is pretty nice, but at first it was kinda wierd not having to get up or atleast hear the baby in the middle of the night. She has also made the migration to the crib. She still gets to come into our bed for the early morning feeding, and occasional naps.

Well talk to yo all soon.

Don

Pictures, and some news

Hey all,

Well below if you haven't already seen them are a bunch of pictures. I am currently working on the website trying to get more pictures up there.

Okay big news, and its kinda short notice, but if anyone is available on Mother's day, we will be dedicating Kelli at our church. The service begins at 9:30 am. Its a special Mother's day Service, so you will also get to see a video I made. The dedication is not a baptism since we believe a baptism is a personal decision, but a time when we as Kelli's parents commit ourselves to raising her in the way according to God.

Well if you can not make it I will be posting pictures on here and on the website.

Talk to you soon.

Don

Daddy gives Kelli a massage at Gymboree.

Kelli helping mommy get something ready for Grandpa Rich

She got a bit tired.

Kelli loves to play!

looking at herself in the mirror

Just kickin back

4 Weeks Old!

Well This time four weeks ago we were sitting in the Labor and Delivery room waiting for Kelli to arrive on the scene. It wasn't unitl 5:08 the next morning that she made her debut.

Life has changed tremendously for us. First off we get sleep, its just that sleep comes in smaller increments then it used too. Secondly, we have to think of Kelli when we make any plans, however few plans we have currently.

The thing is I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my daughter and my wife, and I thank God daily for both of them.

Let's see what News I have to report. Kelli is doing great, she is picking her head up more and more, and love to look at the lights(which I hear is a common thing).

I am starting to go back to the office a bit more and more as of late, it is hard but there are things I need to get done in the office. I get to spend a hour every friday with Kelli at Gymboree, so it gives me something to look forward too.

My sister, Kelli's namesake, is going to be here the first weekend in May. That is so exciting. It will be the first time I have seen her in over four years, and the first for Amy and Kelli. I will be sure to post pictures.

Speaking of pictures Iwill post some a little later.

Hope all is well.

Don

HAPPY EASTER!

One Week Old!!!!

It is officially Kelli's one week birthday today!

Okay so you think it would be easier to stay up on my blogging now that Kelli is home and I am up at all hours of the night. Well its not. Most of the time I am too interested n just looking at this new creation. I finally watched a little TV with her last night while Amy slept, and now I am here.

Okay so Kelli is sleeping pretty good, but has decided that between 12-3 she needs to be wide awake, even if she eats at that time.

We went to Kelli's two day check-up and everything is fine. She lost very minimal weight and everything seems to be on track for a healthy baby.

Yesterday was Easter, and Kelli made it to church. I will post a picture of her in her Easter dress in a little bit.

Kelli and the Grandma's

Amy prior to Labor

Amy and Kelli

Hey Everyone!

Kelli was born at 5:08 am on 3/21/05. She weighed in at 9lbs 2.1oz, at a height of 22.5 inches.

We thank God that she and Amy are both happy and healthy.

Kelli has Arrived!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

Well Amy and I just got home from Skipolini's Pizza, home of the Prego Pizza. Which is said to induce labor. After that we went geocaching and walked a little bit.

There is nothing new yet on the labor front, well she is having a few contractions, but they are still infrequent.

Oh in case you wanted to know, Amy's mucus plug is out, which is a good sign that the baby is on the way in the next week or so. :-)

Today is suppose to be the day!

But all signs are pointing to later.

Amy's mom arrived last night, and is now in waiting mode with Amy and I.

We went to the our hopefully last pre-natal visit yesterday. Everythign is going perfectly, but slowly. Amy is 70+% effaced, and Kelli has dropped a little bit more. Obviously we are going to be a few days late, hoepfully not more. However, we have our next doctors appointment next monday for some tests, and if Amy still hasnt gone into labor at that point we will schedule a day to be induced.

Well I will let you know more when I find out.

Greetings from Soon-To-Be-Parentland.

Okay so we are now officially a week away from the expected due date. We are beginning to get a bit more nervous every day. Not scared nervous, but more excited nervous, the kind of nervous that you experience the night before you go to Disneyland.

We picked up our mini van today, in drives like a dream, and will be perfect for the family, and for youth group.

I will try to switch to daily updates on here to keep everyone informed of what is happening. Amy has begun to get some false labor pains, They provide us with a great opportunity to practice some of our lamaze materials.

Here are a few pictures that we took.

See you tomorrow.

Donnie

The Joel Family: Aren't we just so cute!!! :-)

The Joel Family: Amy likes this one because it's called the Princess pose.

Bought a new(used) car for Kelli

Well okay truthfully we bought a car so that we will be able to fit the whole family in a vehicle, including a car seat. We were able to work with our current loan company to basically work it out that we own the 1998 Ford Ranger and have the New 2003 Ford Windstar the only car loan we have.

We will be receiving our new car on March 7th. So expect to see a picture shortly after that.

In other news we have 20 days until Kelli is expected to arrive. I can't wait till she gets here. Things are going pretty much as expected, as far as Amy's pregnancy is concerned. There is a shower this weekend at Amy's work, there are about 20 members signed up to attend. It made Amy feel good to know she is supported like that.

I have started working out on a regular basis. I bought this game called Yourself! Fitness. It is so amazing. It's like having a personal trainer, that customizes everything for me. I will keep you informed on the progress.

Kelli already has a name, but...

I just ran across this java app. I really dig it. Give it a try.

Name Voyager

I will post some new news later this week.

Donnie

Speaking of names, many people have asked me why i switched over to using Donnie instead of Don. Well simply I was tired of fighting it, and it rhymes with Amy, and Kelli. :-)

She also likes to sleep, I hope that continues.

She likes to pray

Kelli at Minus 8 weeks old.

The Joel News

Today in Joel History: January 18th, 2003
Amy after telling Donnie they would just be friends, changed her mind and the rest is "Joel History."

Last Saturday was our first "Childbirth preparation Class" at the Hayward Kaiser, where we will be delivering the baby. So far we learned a massage technique to help Amy through tougher contractions.

Tomorrow We make the trek back up to the 4d fetal imaging place and get our second set of pictures of Kelli. Speaking of Kelli, if you haven't heard Her name is officially Kelli Sierra Joel. She is named after my sister.

Lastly my church is throwing a baby shower for Amy on February 12th, at 2 pm. If you want to come and haven't received an invitation please let me know by emailing here. I will forward the info to the coordinators. And we are register at BabiesRus and Walmart.