hergenraders

Halle Reese Hergenrader

2010-09-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

As you can see, a lot has happened since I blogged last. Halle was born on August 17th 2010. She was 7 pounds even and born at 5:33pm. Everything about Halle has been fast. Labor was only 33 minutes!

We are SO glad God does not follow OUR plans. Halle has brought our family so much joy. I'm sure you'd agree, you just HAVE to smile when you look at her. We all love her so much, and each in our own ways. Daddy makes her smile by being silly. He loves to tickle her chunkiness. Hannah has become Halle's own personal chauffeur. She will just pick her up and take her anywhere. Hannah especially likes to carry her around her school friends, it makes her feel so special and mature. Halle just loves going with her big sister. Hudson loves Halle's head the most. He literally CAN'T stay away from it. It's like his own personal warm, soft, smooth, fuzzy, Blarney stone, and he is always patting, kissing, wiping, or rubbing it! That may explain her lack of hair. Halle's been a snuggler from the beginning and I love this about her. Sometimes when she wakes up at night I can just touch my hand on her face and she'll rub against it and fall back to sleep! I prefer to use my own cheek though. :) My excuse is that she's my LAST baby.

Now that I'm blogging again, you can look forward to future posts about the first 9 months of Halle's life, Hannah in kindergarten, Hudson being Boy, and Jared and I trying to keep reigns on life.

Easter Pose

2010-05-18T18:52:00.001-07:00

2010-05-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

I've been growing a little bitter about the four of us having to live with our parents. I have begun to feel entitled to a better living situation. Who would disagree? Is there anyone out there who would prefer to live with their children at their parent's home? It was all starting to fester and grow. I know the enemy was feeding me more and more rotten lies that helped feed the ick. I allowed a few in and then began to see it his way.
Then today, we had communion.
The message was from Psalm 57. David wrote the Psalm while hiding in a cave. King Saul wanted him dead and had him on the run. While fleeing for his life, David clung to God. He had confidence because God cares.
This was a DOUBLE WHAMMY for me.
1. David gets closer to God and grows in faith while a King seeks his life. This is my time to cling, not drift. And I've got a pillow, not a rock.
2. Taking communion was the closer. God cared so much for me He went to the cross. How can I begin to feel entitled to something better than what I have? I have a place to rest, my children have food, and God cares. I will practice contentment. And you know what they say about practice?

MEOW!!

2010-04-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Disney's Aristocats Kids

Hannah was in a musical! At the California Arts Academy they do musicals year round for different age groups. Hannah was just old enough to join the 5-10 year olds. She had a great time. During some of the first practices they were learning one of the songs/dances for the show. Then one day he asked them one by one to do it by themselves, they could pass if they wanted. Hannah did it! I was so proud that she had the courage. I thought for sure she would have passed.

It was so fun watching her with all the other kids cause she was so small but still did everything they did. She was part of the ensemble which means she didn't have a speaking role but she came out for several different songs and parts of the play. Sometimes she was a dog and most of the time she was a cat.

The time commitment was pretty large. She went Fridays from 4-6 and Saturdays from 11-1 for about 8 weeks. I started to question the decision to sign her up, especially when we'd be driving there and she'd say, "Mommy, why am I in so much stuff? I always have to do something." Having dress rehearsal made all the difference. She was so excited to have a costume and I think it helped her see what it was all for. She especially liked having to hide behind the curtains until her turn and even sneak to the other side.

The show was of course, the best part of it all. At the end of a song or of her part on stage she would squint her eyes and try to look for us in the audience. She would always smile at Jared and I. All of the grandpas and relatives would get the embarrassed smile, it was so cute. We are so proud of her. It was overall a great experience. We bought the DVD so we could watch it at home and maybe show clips of it at her wedding!

Wanna come to Hawaii?

2010-04-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm about to write this... Jared and I went to Hawaii for a week! We are definitely tropical vacation dreamers, and always talked about going somewhere when we had the chance. Then, we blinked and had our TENTH wedding anniversary!

Would you believe we didn't pay for the flight OR the condo and the kids stayed with grandma? This is how it happened:

My brother/sister-n-law's family booked a trip for the 6 of them to go to Kauai. For the flights they used their saved up credit card points. Tyler and Taylor used their points from their newly acquired timeshare for the condo. Not too many weeks before the trip four of them had to cancel. Of course you can't get your points back once you've booked a trip. They actually offered to let us go instead. After we made sure they positively couldn't go, we said YES! How could we have said no?

Kauai is named the garden island. Once we got there it was easy to see why. We are so thankful to the Cox family and Tyler and Taylor for inviting us to Hawaii. How can you repay someone for taking you there for a week without the kids not to mention only having to pay for food and fun? We can't. But, I am trying to put together a really nice dvd of our whole trip to get started.

This is one of our pictures and to see a small slideshow scroll to the bottom of this blog!

Aloha, Preggo, Aristocats, and Spring! Details coming soon...

2010-04-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

2010-01-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

When we decided to rent our house I began doing a clean sweep. This included 3/4ths of the stuff in our garage. Believe it or not, this was all baby stuff. Of course I had kept everything along with my longtime dream of having 4 or more kids. However, over the summer and fall I started to LOVE the idea of just us four, for good. God had put a peace and even an excitement to be done having children. So, I began boxing things, taking pictures and posting ads. I sold EVERYTHING on craigslist! It was a blast. We made a few bucks in the process and were able to bless some other families. We sold our crib to a family who was pregnant with their 10 child!

Craigslist is "da bomb."

2010-01-20T15:14:00.000-08:00

Besides making a little extra dough, what do you think happens when you clean your garage and sell all things baby? God says, "That's great you've got a little extra dough. I went ahead and put it towards that little bun in your oven. Surprise suprise!"

This is the size of our little surprise. Say hello to baby Hergie #3. He/She/They will reach 9 weeks on Saturday. So, when you decide to list your own baby stuff on Craigslist please shoot me an email so I can shop (I'll take care of it so you can use it again!).

Wow, this is a new feeling. With each previous pregnancy, we were waiting and expecting. This time it is very different and unexpected. It's a great time to remember that God "knows the plans He has for us. Plans for welfare and not for calamity to give us a future and a hope." What an awesome future this must be. We can't wait to meet our little unexpected miracle.

Hannah is extremely excited. It is more fun this time around since she's older. After it was setting in, she asked, "How did you know?" So I told her. Then when telling our in-laws she recited it perfectly, "Mommy went potty on a stick and it told her she was pregnant!" then I laughed out loud. Hudson likes to say, "Hi baby, hi baby" while he pats my tummy TWICE. Is that supposed to mean something? He also says, "The girl one is Hannah's baby and the boy one is my baby."

WHOOPIE! We are lovin' this exciting life.

BOXES!

2010-01-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

Well, so sorry we didn't leave any notes for you in November OR December. We decided to rent our house in order to, well it's a very long and complicated story. To make it short, we have renters in our house and we're living for a period with Jared's parents! We were blessed to be able to keep our house AND to be living with family.

The kids are loving it, although I'm not sure Hudson's mind has completely grasped it yet. Anytime we get in the car he says, "And then after this are we going to Grandma Deby's house again?" Or during the day when he let's out a boring sigh he'll say, "What are we going to do after Grandma Deby's house?" They still ring the doorbell but I think that happened at our old house too. So, there are adjustments to be had on all accounts. Deby and Steve are getting used to a lot more noise and a dishwasher that gets full in a day! The kids are learning how to knock and Jared and I have some things to adjust as well. We do count ourselves blessed to be here. The plan is that they'll sell this house and buy one closer to BTB. We will be moving with them until we can sell our house or move back in, whichever is more feasible at the time.

Despite the big changes we have had a great holiday season. On both sides of the family we were able to celebrate in ways that kept it simple. For the four of us, we worked hard to keep Christ as the "reason for the season." I had a couple great conversations with Hannah this season. I've noticed we can explain things on a deeper level and she is starting to understand more and more. I was able to link Christmas with Easter for her and explained the reason we're so excited about Jesus' birth is because of what He came to do, not just that He was born.

Hannah and I also had some revealing conversations about fairies, princesses (and politics), and the abominable snowman. I was surprised Santa didn't come up. She is so inquisitive and smart!

Well, I'll be blogging again soon.

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

2009-10-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

I have married into one of the most AMAZING families. I was reminded of this last Wednesday when our parents' non-profit celebrated it's 25th anniversary. My family and husband are in the business of changing lives here in Fresno and all over the world! Now, what daughter-in-law can say that?
Here are some pictures of our kids learning the ropes in the family biz. You can see BTB in action on youtube. Check us out!

Harvest Time

2009-09-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

DIRT + SLEEPINGBAGS + MARSHMALLOWS = CAMPING!!!

2009-09-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Did I mention we got dirty? A BIG thank you goes out to our friends the Watneys who invited us to go camping for the three day weekend. We went to a campsite at Courtright Resevoir. We had a blast. The kids ages were 5, 4, 3, 2, and 5 weeks! The older kids loved being outside all day long. There is so much for them to do when they're using their imaginations. I had a lot of fun "roughin' it" except for bedtime. WOW, was it cold. I would say, out of our family of 4 Hudson got the most sleep. Hannah and Jared would be a tie, and I think I got the least. By the 3rd and LAST night, we figured out how to stay warm in our tent and bags.

I just can't say it enough, being out of diaperland is amazing. We have had the best time this summer. GO HERGIES!

CAMPUS BY THE SEA, CATALINA

2009-08-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT CATALINA?

HANNAH: "I liked looking in the window at all the beautiful things. I saw orange fishies and a small sting ray." (Hannah snorkeled around on a hard plastic floater with a window that touched the water. She loved floating around and staring into the ocean.)

HUDSON: "We went on the boat and saw seals and sea lions! And and an Mr. Zach caught a shark. I was scared, I was on the rock watching."

LISA: "I loved snorkeling, I could have done that for hours. We had so much fun as a family. It was great with the age of the kids, it was the perfect time to go to camp."

JARED: "Snorkeling"

Campus By the Sea

2009-08-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Family Camp at Catalina was such a blessing for our family. It was the first time ever as a family, we went without television, computers, or cell phones. The camp gave us time to focus on God and each other. We snorkeled, fished, kayaked, drank hot chocolate, caught crabs, sang songs, read the Bible, memorized scripture, etc. The food was great and the speakers were awesome. Most of all we loved this chance to focus on God as a family without distractions. We are so thankful to the Smith family for telling us about this great camp, Campus By the Sea. Thank you George, Michele, Zach and Dorothy, Mariom, Nathan, Meghan, EJ, and Maddy.

The last evening of camp the adults had a "banquet" and the kids had their dinners together and a party afterwards. When I arrived to pick up the kids, Hannah was excited to see me. I looked around for Hudson and this is how I found him. I have to admit, when I saw him it took me a second to smile. He looks just like those chalked outlines in the movies, not to mention the remains of the stimulants nearby and on his face!

Grandma, the kids and I @ Dland!

2009-06-28T15:27:00.001-07:00

The kids and I got away to Dland while Daddy was on a missions trip in South Africa. We had a great time with my mom. We spent four days down in L.A. and two days @ the Park. We had lunch with Arial, who is Hannah's favorite, and saw most of the characters. I love, love, love Disneyland!

.....and we've got GERMINATION!

2009-04-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

PUMPKIN, LETTUCE, CORN, AND STRAWBERRIES.

(Can you guess which is which?)

FARMERS!

2009-04-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Well, the kids and I have been having fun out in the dirt. This week we've planted corn, pumpkins, carrots, strawberries, lettuce, and canteloupe! We're planning on doing pumpkins twice so we'll have some for carving in October. We hope to still plant a tangerine tree in that back corner and one or two blueberry bushes in another spot.

Zoo with Grandma!!

2009-04-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

I can't figure out how to add a slideshow, so here's the pics from our visit to the zoo! (if anyone knows how, please let me know!)

BEACH!

2009-04-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

We were very fortunate to be invited to use a house in Aptos, CA (near Santa Cruz)! We had a blast. Jared's favorite part was watching Hannah make sand angels and dragging herself across the sand! He also loved seeing how Hudson has progressed since last summer. Then he was afraid of the water and this year he loved to stand in it when the waves came! My favorite was along the same lines. It is SO MUCH easier with older kids at the beach. I couldn't believe it. I could just follow the kids around and watch if I wanted. They don't need me to entertain them 100% of the time. We are in an inbetween stage as far as safety. We've past the stage of them wandering near the water and bobbling in by accident. And, we're before the swimming in the ocean stage. So, this trip was so fun and even relaxing for me!

We did have a little scare. I had just looked at the kids, you know how moms try to know where the little ones are at all times. Then, I went back to a funny part in a book that I was reading out loud to our family that was with us. When I looked up again I could only see Hannah. We all stood up and frantically started looking for Hudson. Someone saw him running down the beach. He got pretty far in only a minute. He was running non-stop! Daddy went after him. He had been chasing a bird. He, like any other 2.5 year old boy, can get REALLY focused on ONE thing at a time. For this time, it was a bird. I imagine as he would scare it it would just fly a little ways and land again farther down the beach. Man, that was one of those moments I'll never forget! It was scary.

Praise the Lord that it was a short time and one of us could still see him running.

pics

2009-03-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hannah claims she became brave today. It started with just poking a worm, then she held it between her thumb and fore finger, next she'd hold it in her hand, then I turned the corner AND.....

Look at our little beauty!

Hudson was following after sister and becoming brave as well!

He also likes to water the, uh, um, dirt. To make mud of course!

AFTERTHOUGHT

2009-03-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Forgot I had these pictures.

Thought you'd enjoy to see Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell.

Spring has Sprung!

2009-03-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

It feels a little silly but I gotta say, having a BBQed cheeseburger really means spring is here. Jared cooked them tonight for dinner. It was the best burger I've ever had, until the first one next spring I guess. We were so proud that Hannah actually liked it that I had to post some cute pictures.

Adding to our family

2009-03-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

We would like you to meet the newest member of our family, Daisy. While we were preparing our garden I secretly had the kids working with me in a special flower bed as well. Little did they know we were preparing a turtle habitat. Why turtles you ask? I don't even know. I was staring at that very empty flower bed right outside our back door wondering what to do with it. Of course I couldn't do something like flowers right!? Hannah had put the idea in my mind about having another pet. What kind of pet doesn't stink up the house, doesn't need to be potty trained, doesn't need their cage cleaned every other week, does not gross me out if it gets lost in the house, and doesn't cost that much to feed....TURTLES! Not to mention the ones we have hibernate 5 months out of the year.

There is a woman in town who rescues turtles and just happened to have a couple of babies that needed a home. Yes, we have 2. The other one is named Moto Moto (from Madagascar 2). He was unavailable for a photo because he's been hiding a lot in the pen. Apparently almost all turtles from pet stores have been taken from the wild, and end up being too stressed out to thrive in captivity. So, after some research I found this woman in Clovis who takes in turtles that people can't care for etc. When Hannah and I arrived at her house to pick up our little babies I was SHOCKED! It was like a turtle zoo. She has around 125 turtles. She has at least 10 different species both aquatic and land dwelling. She even has one that weighs about 500lbs! He was a little scary for us to be close to.

We are having so much fun, the kids are loving it. We'll put in more photos when we can coax Moto Moto out of hiding.

SPRING CLEANING?

2009-03-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

We were very fortunate to host a good friend from Romania this past week. We met Evodia in 2002 when we lived for 2 months in a flat above her family.

Our lives were never the same after that trip. We learned a lot about serving God and others. Both Jared and I have been back to Romania a couple of times and each has brought great times of reflection when we return home. For a while, our fairly often trips were supernaturally timed. Just when my newly gained spiritual focus would begin to wear, it would be time to start planning another trip. However, since having kids I haven't been back. After Jared started working with BTB he's been doing world traveling instead as an ambassador for the integration of abled and disabled people. Needless to say, those great reminders of living simply and keeping my priorities straight had been forgotten for a while.

It all began coming back to me though when we heard Evodia would be coming to California. We just HAD to see her. It worked out great and we picked her up in Pleasanton to stay with us for a few days.

My new ambitions are no doubt the working of the Holy Spirit. I began to realize that as a mom I am focusing way too much on our kids. I am going to try to find the balance between our commands from God as mothers and as believers. If I am a believer first and foremost then my main goal should be to point/bring others toward Christ. As a mother the first goal is to point/bring our kids to Christ. However, being a mommy I sort of subconsciously used that as a reason to not be as passionate about my first command. Of course, it is immensely important to bring my children to a knowledge of Christ and the desire of a relationship. But it seems they will learn more about this with my combined efforts of teaching them AND others (not to mention they'll soon realize it's NOT all about them!).

Also, I've been doing a little cleaning! Visiting certain countries brings living simply to the forefront of my mind. I've just been feeling like we have so much STUFF, including too many kids things. So, I've already sold three items on ebay and two and almost a third on craigslist. I never wanted our family to be so flooded with toys/material things. Somehow it just happened.

So the kids and I have been spending a lot of time outside and have plowed up a large area in our yard. We plan on growing lots of food there and some flowers. Hannah and I are very excited. Hudson just gets excited about playing in the dirt!

We'll update you on our crops as they start coming up.

SUPERMAN

2009-01-12T23:17:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite pictures!

Siblings! What a blessing

2009-01-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

We have numerous pictures just like this beginning from when Hudson was a little over a year. It usually doesn't matter who's bed they're in, they love "co-sleeping."
Almost everyday I think of how blessed we are that Hannah and Hudson love each other so much. I was really close with one of my brothers growing up too. Recently I asked my mom if we were close when we were this young. She said that even when I was a baby my brother and I had a close connection. I am so glad that our two have started off the same. It's not just that they don't fight a lot, they are almost always together or knows where the other is. They play together, comfort each other, look out for each other and genuinely care for one another. Don't get me wrong, there is some sibling rivalry every now and then. But nothing like what we've been warned about.
I now share the same strange occasional experience as my mom has. I actually get frustrated and annoyed when they are getting along! ie: We've had to put them on opposite sides of our table so they'll focus on food instead of having playtime together. It was getting bad and meal times weren't enjoyable. Well, for Jared and I anyway, they would be having a grand old time! My parents have told those same stories. Although these experiences are not my favorite times of day, God has so blessed us with children who absolutely love each other. We should enjoy it while it lasts, but hopefully it will never end!

A few Christmas activities

2009-01-12T21:29:00.001-08:00

Hannah's preschool class got to decorate cookies on their last day before break. She has recently discovered bubblegum, so when she saw a bowl of them for decorating, well you can see what happened!

We brought snow home from a snowday. After a little snowball fight, we made Frosty. Can you believe it, it took around 6 DAYS for all of Frosty to finally melt!

The kids loved the snow. The only thing Hanah didn't like was when her hands would get SO cold. They would hurt even more when they began to warm up. However, if we wait long enough after she's warmed up she'll agree she wants to again go to the snow.

We have begun "chores." But we've been calling it, "earning working bugs." Here is a picture of the kids after they have fed the dogs. After they do a job (w/ a positive attitude), they recieve a working bug (those little craft pom-poms). They keep their bugs in one of those monthly pill holders. It will hold like 30 or something. Just today we got to go to Pump It Up because they had filled their bug holders!

In these other pictures they are doing laundry and emptying the dishwasher. They are such great kids. There have only been a couple times they did their job without liking it. Before we left for Pump It Up they each had only two more

spots for bugs. It was fun watching them look around the house to see how they could earn some bugs!

PS It may look "picture perfect" but it is taking lots of my help to get them working together and helping each other out. They can't help fighting over who gets to put soap in the washer!

Christmas Cards!

2008-12-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures we took for our Christmas card this year. The last 3 are ones that made the print, the others are ones that I love but couldn't fit on one card!

2008-12-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Hannah's first, other than mommy, hair cut. We didn't even realize it until this picture, but Meadow and Hannah now have the same haircut! She was so cute, I knew she liked it but she was trying not to show it!

Hudson is working on staying in his bed at bedtime. As you can see here he fell asleep in the hall where he was very quiet and just out of view from the couch mommy and daddy were on. We found him when we went to bed around 10:30!

They do Love each other, I promise!

In the "zone"

Please, can we go to Daddy's Place (BTB) and jump?! Pleeeeeese?

updates!

2008-12-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

HALLOWEEN!

Hannah was Belle, cousin Jared the ninja, cousin Franklin a farmer, and Hudson was Batman. It was so cute with the two 2 year olds. When the neighbors would offer a candy to Hudson he would happily take it and then say, "Oh, two!" They would of course laugh and give him MORE?! What am I gonna do with him? Then Franklin was so funny, when the neighbors would open the door he would walk right in! They had a great time.

I PROMISE!

2008-12-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

So sorry. The last post was in JULY?! I can't believe I haven't done this since then. I wanted to try to do one at least every month. So, I promise to TRY harder to update with pictures, entertaining stories, and info about us Hergies. Here are some pictures to try and make-up for lost time!

2008-07-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Hannah has just turned four. We'll post pictures of the party as soon as it happens. The first picture is of Hannah's first date. Daddy showed up with flowers and took his girl to the movies and then out for Jamba Juice, which is SO special to her! She was so excited and couldn't believe she got to go just her and Daddy.

It's been 48 hours of being four and Hannah has discovered many new and improved talents. Among other things she showed us that she can run faster. Then we were out in the garage and I was loading laundry. She begins helping me and I thanked her. Her response was, "I'm four now, so I can do that." HALLELUJAH! A four year old that wants to do laundry, I hope it's not a fluke.

Hannah's personality is very thoughtful and sensitive (emotional!). She is a little cuddler/lover at heart. She always asks to sleep with Hudson or us. It's all cute and snuggly until sleep hits. Then she turns into an ultimate fighter kicking and giving good blows to our back, body, or face! When she gets too sleepy to notice I sneak her back to her own bed.

I have th e most fun with Hannah when she is dancing or playing pretend. She comes up with the funniest moves, of course I didn't teach then to her. Maybe we'll learn how to put video clips here so you can enjoy the improv dancing too!

HUDSON TY

2008-07-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

We can't STOP looking at this picture! You may have a hard time too. This photo was taken by a photographer at a friend's wedding. Some have said we should send it in to Abercrombie, but I think he is a little over dressed.

Our Hudson has been that little laugh that I need every now and then. Sometimes I have a hard time disciplining because of that little look, you moms know what I'm talking about. It's the look that says, "I'm so cute. You can't possibly scold this sneaky smile!"

He has just been more and more fun. He is 98% of the time happy. He loves to be silly and especially loves to play with his big sister. I think that is why does a whole lot more physically than any other 1 year old (almost 2). He follows Hannah everywhere, behind the chair, up the couch, across the backrest, and the climax is the jump OFF the armrest! He sometimes even sticks the landing. We're working on that.

No, he's not tripping into the pool. He's jumping and belly flopping.
He is getting so big. He seems to follow the pattern of growing outward then upward. So right now he has just grown taller and looks thinned out. He may even catch his sister in heighth as well!

WELCOME!

2008-07-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

Are we blogging yet? This is my first attempt. I was so inspired by EVERYONE elses blog that I thought we should start one too. It is the perfect place to talk and brag about our kids! I love having this spot to just tell people how things are with color photos and no stamps to buy!

We hope you enjoy this new beginning for us, and we promise it will only get better!

Jared and Lisa