It's a boy!!!!

It's a boy!!!!!! Welcome Michael Rory van Brackel! He weighed 8lbs 15oz and was 21.5 inches long!! and is adorable (according to grandma). I will post pictures as soon as I get some. Heather and Jason are doing great. He is named after my dad (Michael) and Jason's dad (Rory). I know my dad would be so excited and proud of Heather and Jason if he were here... and I know he's watching over his new grandson. Looks like we are making up for the lack of boys he had... we're up to 6 boys and 2 girls. =)

Hurry it up Heather! =)

So as I sit her impatiently, I received a text from mom saying Heather is 10 cm dialated!!!! For those of you that don't know, that means its time to push that baby out!!! I am so excited, I just wish I was up there. I'm dying to see this new little one!!! Well hopefully there will be more news soon.... shouldn't be too long now. Updates to come....

p.s.- I think its a girl... but we will know soon for sure =)

Jake and Mommy's camera fun

Jake and I got bored yesterday and decided to take pictures with my cell phone. He was getting the biggest kick out of seeing silly pictures of himself... anyway, here are a few

Just a Sunday afternoon update...

Well it's been a pretty good week. We are all feeling better, and the house is actually clean! Well, clean enough anyway. =) The kids are getting bigger and cuter every day. As I type this, Hailey is stealing trains from Jake and crawling away giggling as fast as she can. lol... She's so funny! This morning we went to church with Grandpa at Bay Ridge in Annapolis. We actually really liked the church and it turns out my step brother, Duke, his wife Meg, and their two adorable children (Devin, and Brynn) go there. Oh and our old friend Jer! It was nice to see all of them. After church we went to the mall for lunch with Grandpa, then home for naps. Not too much else new here... I'm trying to get motivated for these online classes. Its harder than driving to PA twice a week for some reason... I guess just trying to find the time to get home work done when I have a one year old and a two year old! So anyone that wants to steal them for a couple of hours, let me know! =) I did manage to get part of my paper done.
Oh and an update on Heather... yeah she still hasn't popped the baby out. =) We are patiently... or not so patiently waiting for baby van Brackel to make his or her appearance! I'm so excited, I can't wait any longer!! Well back to homework... feel free to leave comments! I promise to update more now that we are healthy again. Hopefully the warm weather will come soon!!!

<3 Ash

...a cute pic of Hailey just for fun

Does anyone know how to rotate videos?

Here's a cute one of Hailey dancing that I took with my digital camera... sideways... oops! Does anyone know how to fix this? Anyway, enjoy my cutie pie =)

My wonderful valentine =)

So this week has been a pretty miserable one for the four of us. We all have the flu! The symptoms are finally starting to fade, but it has not been a fun week. Hailey got it first, then matt and I, then Jake. On top of the flu, Jake ended up with conjunctivitis and a double ear infection. So he was extremely upset and not sleeping... so no one was sleeping. Well instead of our big plans of dinner at La Scala (in Little Italy) and maybe a movie (Fools Gold is what I was hoping for)... we stayed in and ordered chinese food and watched Superbad. Even though it wasn't our romantic evening on the town, it was still wonderful to spend time with Matt without cranky sick kids hanging all over us. We put them to bed first then ate our dinner and watched our movie. So it was a good Valentines Day all in all. Oh and even though my poor husband was sick and had to work in the cold all day, he still managed to bring me these....



and these....


I love him! =) Isn't he wonderful? Anyway, hope everyone else is healthy and had a wonderful Valentines Day. We should be recovering soon...

Why not to leave a two year old alone...

Our little baby is growing up....

Hailey took her first two steps!!!

Jake's new haircut

So this week I went up to Pennsylvania to spend time with Heather while she is on bed rest. Hailey came along and Jake stayed behind with Daddy. Heather is doing well, but she will have to stay on bed rest until she delivers due to high blood pressure. Hopefully she delivers soon because we are all dying to meet our newest family member! Anyway, while I was gone Grandma took Jakey to get his haircut. He looks absolutely adorable. I have before and after pics below, both taken with my cell because my camera is MIA. Not sure what I did with it, hopefully I will find it soon. Hope everyone is doing good. Not too much new here... just enjoying my time home with the kids and trying not to get behind in my online classes. Matt has been on night work this week, so he's been pretty tired. Oh and the kids and I started a Disney World fund! =) We are saving up to go the end of 2009... hopefully!! Anyone interested in coming along? We're thinking November... not too hot, or crowded, or rainy... and the Christmas decorations will be up! We will probably drive down to save money on plane tickets and a rental car. So there's our update! More pics to come... when I find the silly camera! =)


Before

After

Isn't he adorable? =)