george

our friends, may and dan, have the cutest little beagle pup, george, who is about 4 mos old. we are considering becoming his new owners and had a trial run this weekend. there were some ups and downs, but overall, we had a great time with him. the boys, jonas especially, are already very attached, but right now is such a hectic time that we will probably hold off on taking him until about 1 week after the baby is born. we had so much fun with him this weekend, that i had to post some pics- i'm sure there will be some more in the future.

it's official

well, i have finally met with the md that will be delivering this baby and my c-section is officially scheduled. we will be having porter christian keller on wednesday october 15th at 10:30 am. this is a little earlier than i would like (9 days before my due date) but it should be ok. it's not like i have small children. gryffin was 10 days early and still 8 lbs 11 oz. also, there was a request for a pregnancy picture of me, so i thought i would post one- as unflattering as it may be. i have gained 53 pounds- gotta make a 9 pound child, right??? here is me in all my glory!

jonas-ism #4

jonas- "i want to be a teacher when i grow up.

rachel- "what do you want to teach?"

jonas- "i only want to teach the walls."

ben- "what do you want to teach them?"

jonas- "i want to teach them songs."

kennywood

we enjoyed a fun saturday at kennywood about 3 weeks ago. we went with ben's parents and aunt sadie. the boys had a blast! jonas and gryffin keep asking to go back and we sadly have to say, not until next year. it amazes me how excited they get for upcoming events. for example, we are planning to head to trax farms on october 10 for the fall festival (pumpkins, hayride, etc) and in each prayer, the boys always bless that we will have a fun time at trax farms in a couple days. it is fun to see them anticipate things they are excited for.

anyway, i do digress. here are a couple pics of our fun adventures at kennywood. i am still working to get the boys to look at the camera and smile (they are so dang stubborn!!!) but i think i got a couple good pics!

washington county fair

each year we venture down south to the washington county fair, usually accompanied by various members of ben's family. this year, chris is still on his mission (coming home in mid-november-yeah!) and beth had to work, so it was just ben's parents and sadie that we met. the boys love the fair- the atmosphere, the rides, the food, the animals, the hayride to and from the car. it is a fun time for all, despite me not getting my funnel cake this year. so sad! (of course, we did stop at sarris' candies on the way home for some small time sundaes!) here are a few pics of our family fun time.

ben's nemesis

some of you may know that ben was on crutches for almost a week approximately 2 weeks ago. well, i wanted you all to see his arch nemesis. the metal pole, sticking approximately 1 foot out of the ground at the end of someone's driveway.

ben has been training to run a half-marathon and then is hoping to run the pittsburgh marathon next spring. he often waits to go running until 8:00 pm, after the boys go to sleep. ben was nearing mile 8 of his 10 mile run when he was rudely accosted by this piece of rebar. not cool. the cut was 15 cm long, 1 inch deep and 1 inch wide. thank goodness ben happended to bring his cell phone with him. he called me, i called jane, our neighbor who came over within 5 minutes, and then ben's sister, beth, came and relieved jane. by the time i got to ben, he had already walked 1 more mile. we quickly went to the emergency room and were lucky to be in and out within 2 hours, 16 stitches later (thanks to my connection as emergency room social worker) and with ben hyped up on vicodin. the stitches have since been taken out, and ben's leg is healing. (we will not include pictures of the wound due to it's graphic nature, however, they are available by request).

brotherly love

sometimes jonas does things that surprise me. he and gryffin often bicker. usually jonas instigates and gryffin ends up biting or pinching jonas in retalliation. it can be quite annoying. but then there are those moments when i can really see how much they love and care about each other. they insist on sleeping in the same room together, even though they could be in 2 separate rooms. they love to wrestle and give each other hugs. yesterday, we went to red robin for dinner. i don't know if you are familiar, but they usually have balloons at the entrance for kids to take. well, gryffin picked his blue balloon and jonas his red balloon. we drove home from the restaurant, no problem. now, when we got out of the car, gryffie accidently let his balloon go and as ben said, he "gave the balloon to jesus." (ben is embarrassed that he said something "like that" and that i am letting everyone know as he never thought he would be one of "those" people.) gryff was very upset, and jonas, without skipping a beat, offerred his balloon to gryffie. it was one of those moments that made me feel happy and lucky to have 2 such good little boys.

jonas says...

one evening at dinner, jonas started singing this. who doesn't love a little wu-tang clan? make sure you check out his moves!

with grandma and grandpa keller

our last day in denver was spent with gma and gpa keller. we were lucky and had the flight home one day later than the rest of the family. we went to a farm with gma and gpa and then headed back to the kellers for some delicous dinner- spaghetti- and dessert- chocolate cream pie! it was nice for us, the boys especially, to spend more time with gma and gpa.

denver revisited

pictures as promised

5 weeks and counting

i don't know when this all happened, but apparently we are having another baby 5 weeks from tomorrow. crazy! these past 8 months have flown by. i am tired- and have gained quite a bit of weight- 51 pounds to be exact (60 the last 2 times, so this is normal i guess for me). i am excited to spend time at home with the boys and enjoy my 12 weeks off of work.

ben painted the nursery this week. we still need to wash all the baby stuff we have saved up. and we need to purchase a dresser and changing table. then we will be physically prepared. emotionally, that's a different story. i am very excited for little porter to join our family. i know it will be a huge blessing! and the boys are so thrilled to have a little baby around the house. but it all seems a bit surreal still! guess i better accept it now, huh?

on a side note, i am so excited to be here in pgh! and my best friend in the world, carrie, is now back in the burgh as well. i also had time today to connect with 2 of my good friends from florida- jamie and mary! you girls are the best! i am glad to hear that things are going well for you both!

i still need to post some pics from denver. and we have had more adventures this summer too- the washington county fair and kennywood (a local amusement park). i think that will be my goal for tomorrow night!