October is here – another month flies by!!  The kids are enjoying the cooler weather and I am enjoying the growing sense of routine that starts with the summer’s end.  There is still a lot going on, of course, but I think we are beginning to get a rhythm going as a household.  Even the calendar being filled up hasn’t thrown me off too badly; I’m starting to feel like I can make a little time here and there for David and I to each have a little “Me” time.  For David, that will probably look like a once-a-month afternoon at the shooting range.  For me, it might involve a morning going to get a haircut or just kid-free coffee with a friend.  Silas has reached the age where he can be more independent in his play time, entertaining himself with crayons or blocks for a good 10-15 minutes.  Olivia is still in constant need of monitoring, naturally, but even she can keep herself happy in her bassinet and doesn’t always require company.  So every once in a while, I get a few minutes here and there to take care of chores or even check Facebook.  I am beginning to take on little projects such as writing Bible-related articles again (although they progress MUCH more slowly than they used to, lol) or sending a card to encourage a friend.

I have to post a very heart-felt thank you to everyone who sent a gift for Olivia or Silas (or both) over the last two months.  Such fun little clothes, toys, and books – they are certainly being enjoyed and cherished.  I am doing my best to get more pictures of the kids as they very quickly change in both personality and looks, and as their bond develops.

Silas has now begun using 3-4 word sentences, often stringing several together.  He has a very strongly developed sense of items belonging to this person or that person. “Dada’s bed, Mama’s hairbrush, Baby’s bink.”  But I have noticed over the last week especially that Silas has begun to feel jealous of Olivia’s frequent snuggle times with Mama.  He usually doesn’t mind, but every once in a while he lets me know that it’s his turn for Mama snuggles, and baby can just deal with it.

We are putting potty training on hold for a little while – Si seems to have lost all interest for the time being.  But he is starting to sleep through the night again, so that’s good.

Olivia smiles and coos now, even occasionally chuckling in her sleep which is adorable.  She is very responsive to sounds and usually loves getting attention from her brother (except when he surprises her with his affection… sometimes his “hugs” seem more like attempted body-slams!)

I will probably have to make another post in a little while with all of Silas’ hilarious sayings (such as, “okay-fi-no-fi” which is translated, “okay, fine – that’s fine.”  He says this when he is asking for something and Mommy says yes.)  But that will have to wait for the next nap time J

Love to all!

Meet Olivia!

 

Olivia Jane

Meeting little sister

Back home and introducing her the neighbors :0)

Beautiful Girl!

 Here is a brief posting - mostly just wanted to get some of these up to share with everyone!  Thank you for the prayers on our behalf .  God certainly stepped in during this little girl's memorable entrance into the world.  She had inhaled a moment too soon when she was delivered and tried to breathe a good deal of amniotic fluid.  Her breathing was extremely difficult and she was rushed down to be put under an oxygen dome.  It is apparently atypical for an infant to recover so quickly from this, but after just an hour or two, she was breathing normally and no longer needed the dome.  David was with her the whole time, and after 4 or 5 hours, Keeley was wheeled down to the nursery as well so they could all be together.  Olivia picked up nursing just fine, and has continued to develop normally in everything else.

Silas stayed home and the King family (friends from church who live on our street) spent time with him and brought him to the hospital the day after sister was born.  He has taken to her with an adorable affection.  He was particularly excited to have Nana and Papa there for that week, since Mom and Dad were suddenly paying attention to another little person as well.

Here are some fun photos we've taken over the last 3 weeks.  Hope you enjoy!  There will be more to come with milestones for Olivia and Silas both - we want to keep everyone in the loop during this fun time!!!

Love to all - the Rollerts

Chillin' with big brother

Silas loves to help work on the shed!

But he's not so sure about the haircut Mommy gave him this week...

Family news and fun stuff

Welcome back!  A lot has changed since April. 
We are enjoying a very humid but pleasant summer, one full of changes for our household - one being the addition of a window-mounted air conditioner. There have been a couple of road trips around the state to see New Hampshire in the summer time, and lots of little family adventures.  Silas has loved having some extra time with his Daddy since David has been primarily working from home since February. Being able to devote so much of his time to his ministry-related work and to our family was a great thing, despite the tight finances that resulted from his other job's slow streak.

However, David’s secular work schedule gets busy once more with the official word from Schumacher equipment that they couldn't keep him.  After about 4 months of us waiting to hear that they were busy enough to give him hours again, his boss finally had to bite the bullet and let David go because they simply would not be able to give him any work.  It’s a slow time for their business which is sad, and Mr. Schumacher really did not want to lay David off.  But that is how things go sometimes.  He was very kind, however, in referring David to a friend of his who is in a similar industry, but completely different circumstances.  Mr. Bailey, VP of Operations at High Speed Routing, was in need of a skilled worker to oversee the work of his temporary hired help.  David is now working as a shop foreman, doing quality checks on projects done by the other employees and stepping in when the work is more technical, requiring a trained machinist’s expertise.  He is loving the work and grateful for the income, and his new boss is very amiable and understanding of his other responsibilities - a major blessing.

Keeley is now 2 weeks away from Baby Girl’s due date.  Although we still lean toward the name “Zoe” we have not made any official decisions… this may be one of those “I picked it in the delivery room” stories.  So far she is feeling good, with lots of movement from the baby and a few rounds of Braxton-Hicks to keep her on her toes.  Pregnancy Brain is in full swing, meaning keys and cell-phone are in a constant flux of being lost and found.  As her energy levels ebb and flow, she and Silas spend lots of time on the floor reading books or snuggled on the couch watching Winnie the Pooh.  But as he becomes ever more helpful, it has been easier to stay on top of some tasks like unloading the dishwasher and vacuuming the floors despite Mommy’s waxing and waning motivation to do housework.  She still keeps an appointment or two going for her Mary Kay business each week, but always with the proviso that another consultant may step in to take over an appointment should she suddenly go into labor. 

Silas has developed so many new skills over the last week, let alone 2 or 3 months.  To name a few, he has begun “reading aloud” from the many books that Mommy has read to him a million times.

It is so cool to see him open a page that says, “Mickey’s car is red,” and hear him say with excitement, “Meghne. Cah. Wed.”  Today after hearing Mommy read his favorite book about puppies twice, he pulled it toward himself and said, “Me.”  He now indicates if he wants to hold something or do something himself by saying, “Me.”  So he said a word or two from each of the pages – it’s remarkable that at less than two years old children can associate so many words with images they remember seeing over and over.  He is also learning to count… sort of.  To help him learn to be patient when he wants Mommy or Daddy to drop everything and do something with him, we have begun asking him to be patient and count with us.  He usually just says “two” over and over, but occasionally we get “fwee” out of him as well.  Again, most of these things have started just in the last week, so Mom has decided to get smart about documenting the little guy’s advancements: there is now a white board next to the coffee pot that says, “This week Silas has…” where we can just jot down his new tricks as they happen.  Then each week, they can be put into a post to share here with our friends and family.  Keep us accountable – if there is not another post up next week, someone Facebook a reminder to us! 

We love you, and hope you enjoy these family updates.  For ministry-related news, we send out an email with our newsletter every month to family and supporters, and anyone who asks to be put onto our mailing list.  Let us know if you would like to be on it!  Thanks for stopping in, and have a great week!

Spring Time in New England

Hey there!  Back on the blog after a long hiatus - it's amazing how quickly a month passes by these days (let alone an entire quarter).  Our last post showed pictures of Silas's birthday which means I am long overdue to share some family/ministry news.

David has been really enjoying his work with the youth - his latest project has been building a curriculum in which he covers one book of the Bible each Wednesday night with his class.  That's quite an undertaking!  But he has proved himself up to the challenge - they covered the book of Genesis last Wednesday, and they are ready to cover Exodus this week.  His goal is to help them understand the purpose for each book: why God would include each of them and how the overall flow and theme of the Bible is threaded through them all.  This will also help them in their ability to recall the basic outlines and themes of the books individually, which is important as they develop their ability to talk to others about the Bible.

Since Schumacher Equipment still has projects in the development stage that are not ready for production, David has been working at home.  He has been able to put a lot of time toward both his personal ministry to others and his involvement in the ministries of others.  Silas has also been enjoying more of his attention whenever I have an opportunity to put myself to work as a Mary Kay consultant.  I've been averaging 2-3 appointments a week, which is more than I've done in the last quarter.  It's nice to be getting out more and meeting more people, and just about right for keeping me busy but letting me have the time I need for my family.  We are hoping I can bring in enough to make up a little of the income during this slow time in David's secular work.

Silas has finally mastered a few more words - he said "bathtub" clear as day on Saturday night, and now he knows that if he wants to call my parents he says "NanaPapa."  (All one word.  I told my mom that he has a very biblical view of marriage - the two are one entity, lol).  We are still working on "GramaGrampa" for David's parents but that seems to be more difficult to say, so we will keep trying.  :o)  He gets a lot more in the way of bumps and bruises these days as he gets ever braver.  Sunday alone had about 5 different stunts, two that ended in collisions and three that were near misses.  Some peoples' kids.....

Thanks for stopping in, and feel free to let us know if you have news to share or questions about the work.  We love getting comments and will do our best to keep in touch!

In His service,
the Rollerts

Silas' Birthday!!

                                                                         Thought everyone might enjoying seeing Silas's first encounter with a birthday cake...  Thank you Mrs. Blouin for making it!

He really wasn't sure what to do about that candle!!!

Hmmm.  What does one do with a birthday cake?

Aha!!! I get it now :)  I think I'm going to like this "birthday cake," as you call it...

The Big Remodel!!

David and I were able to purchase a double-wide mobile home in Plymouth.  It is the perfect size for our little but growing family!  We got it for quite a steal since it was a foreclosure.  With a little help from family we were able to make a down-payment and we moved in March 22nd.  

We knew there would be some work to do on it since it had been vacant for a while and because a couple years earlier some of the pipes had exploded due to improper weatherization.  The sellers had replaced all the damaged pipes, so the plumbing was brand new; they had not, however, taken care of all the water damage.  Turns out, we would have had to do repairs of this nature anyway... the day we moved in, we had asked the park to turn on water to the house, not knowing that all the faucets were turned all the way open.  No one was there when they turned it on, and because the hoses to the washing machine were just hanging over the edge of it (not hooked up) the tub of the washer filled and overflowed.  We came into the house to find about 2 inches of water in the kitchen/laundry area and down the hallway.  But David and Shane did a fine job getting the floor in the hallway repaired, and starting last week David has been doing a kitchen makeover.

The cabinets were not usable due to major water damage from the previous pipe explosion issue, so I have yet to unpack my kitchen supplies except for the bare essentials.  David has been tearing out old subflooring and the insulation beneath it, patching the vapor barrier, spraying mold-killer and painting joists with Kilz, and putting down new subflooring.  We purchased some toung-and-groove cherry/oak color laminate flooring that should be pretty easy to install.  For the time being, my washer, dryer, stove, and fridge are in the area where the kitchen table will go, so life is a little crazy right now to say the least.  But they should be able to relocate to their stations and be usable again starting tomorrow.

Airing out the carpet in the hallway - we were able to keep and reuse it, which is nice, since it was brand new.

Looking at the dining area and kitchen from the front room.  The laundry machines are to the left of the stove around the corner there.

Clearing out and prepping for the big remodel...

So began the demolition...

Look, Ma!  No sink!

 David said that the major water damage to the flooring was in an area that had clearly had several repair jobs go on - it was like a patchwork quilt of repaired subfloor and cribbing.  This is probably partly due to the sliding glass door not having a proper seal - aluminum frames can have that problem sometimes.  But we are getting rid of the door and building the wall up for a window there instead, so that should help.  We will post pictures of the finished product soon!!!

Well, it is definitely high time we put up some more pictures! The colors are starting to show up here, but it is hard to capture them and do them any justice with our little camera.  But hopefully we will get some really good shots in the next few weeks.  It seems like "peak week" for the colors will be in the first two weeks of October.  VisitNH.com had some great information on when to visit if anyone is interested! (Wink, wink!)

Keeley is now 32 weeks pregnant and doing her best to show it, haha! Her last doctors appointment was on September 15th, and the doctor said everything is looking good. She will be contacting the hospital in Concord this week to look at their delivery facility and have her next appointment.  Now that we know we will be living in Salisbury, she will be switching to a doctor in Concord because it is much closer than Laconia, where her last two appointments have been.  We are still trying to get her on Medicaid, but it has been challenging without having certain information to give them (such as a physical address).  That will be the other errand to run while we are in Concord.

These pictures were taken at Weeks' State Park near Lancaster, NH - there is a very nice paved road on which people can walk up them mountain to a reserve.  The nice building is a visitor's center, and on top of the hill there is a tower from where we could enjoy the view.  It is a beautiful walk (although very steep - good for the preggo lady who needs exercise!) and we have hiked around up there three times already.  I think it's our favorite spot so far.

The visitor's center - home to some killer wasps...

Miss you all - Lots of Love from NH!!!!

May God bless your efforts to share His love and His light - there is much to be thankful for, and the Gospel of His Son Jesus is certainly at the top of the list.  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” ~Matthew 28:19-20