Traveling home from the pet store after purchasing one small white and orange goldfish (to replace a recently deceased - may he rest in peace - betta fish), our family was trying to decide upon a name for the new little guy.  This was the ensuing conversation.

Lucas:

I know, Bluey Blue. (The name of our recently deceased - may he rest in peace - betta fish)

Dad:

But he doesn’t have any blue on him.

Ethan:

Then let’s call him Bluey Orange.

Dad:

But he doesn’t have any blue on him.

Ethan:

I don’t know what to name him.

Dad:

What other animal has white and orange on it?

Ethan:

I know, a cow!!

Dad:

Do cows have orange on them?

Ethan:

No.

Dad:

Then, what kind of animal has white and orange on it?

Ethan:

I know, a cow!!

Dad:

I don’t think a cow has orange on it do you?

Ethan:

No.  But it has white.

Lucas:

A cow has black and white.

Dad:

You are right Lucas.  Does a tiger have white and orange on it?

Ethan & Lucas:

Yeah!!

We decided to name the fish Tiggy, after Mom suggested Tigger which was modified slightly to differentiate it from the popular Disney character Tigger.  Car ride conversations can be very entertaining.

Categories: Ethan, Family, Lucas
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Lucas is really getting into playing his guitar.  The other day I was playing guitar with him and decided to try and teach him a little about music.  He likes to play everything loud, so being the typical father desiring peace and quiet, I tried to teach him the idea of playing quietly, as well as loud.  We spent time playing softly and then gradually getting louder building to the loudest we could play, and then quieter and quieter again.  Naturally I want him to know the proper vocabulary for what we were doing, I told him that this was the dynamics of music.  He had a lot of fun playing guitar with me like this.

This morning, after breakfast, he trucked on up to me, guitar in hand, and asked to play diarrhea.  Struggling to remain calm and straight-faced, I came to the conclusion that he meant “dynamic,” but had confused it with the word “diarrhea.”  I really don’t know where he got that term, it’s not like that’s something we say around here very often (but as in any young family it has most certainly been fully experienced).   I responded that the word was actually “dynamic,” but he repeated that he wanted to play music and specifically he wanted to play diarrhea.  Apparently Lucas thinks that music has diarrhea… and for some types of music I’ve heard, he’s not that far off.  Somehow in his mind when he says the word “diarrhea” it is really “dynamic” and it was fairly clear that it was going to take some work to correct this misunderstanding.  Leaving this job for another day, we walked off to get my guitar and spend some time playing musical diarrhea.

Categories: Family, Lucas
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Just some sweet pics of the Vile kids over the holidays…. enjoy!

Alayna’s First Snow… we love those cheeks and can’t stop kissing them!!!

No such thing as a perfect picture these days so this will have to do… Alayna was sliding on the wood floor and Lucas was not cooperating (go figure). I love it though!

So big… at 4 months

Christmas Day

Ethan’s always smiling… Lucas could care less and Alayna doesn’t know what’s going on.

This kid’s smile is wide open… too cute!

And she always loves to stand!

Ethan and his new glasses… he is doing great with them and Doc says all is going well!

Categories: Alayna Grace, Ethan, Family, General, Lucas
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The other day this conversation was overheard in the Vile household. Let me set the context first. Ethan is the bathroom doing his business (that was the best way to put it), Lucas is in the family room, and Alayna is in her highchair crying. (Where Mom and Dad are remains to be seen).

Alayna: WAAAHHH, WAAHHHH!!!!!!

Ethan (from the toilet): Alayna, I’ll be right there. Just a minute.

Alayna: WAAHHH, WAAHHH, WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Ethan (still on toilet): Lucas, do something silly, she likes that!

Alayna: WAAHHH, WAAHHHHH, WAHHHH!!!!

Lucas (bouncing up and down while making silly faces): Bleh, Mmmhh, Brg, Pooty, Rrgy…

Alayna: WAAHHH, WAHHH!!!!!!

Lucas: It’s not working!! She’s still crying.

Ethan (you know where): Okay, just a minute, I’ll be right there!

Needless to say it’s both loud and hilarious here sometimes!

Categories: Alayna Grace, Ethan, Family, Lucas
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If you follow this blog at all you’ll know we haven’t been very good at keeping it updated. Life with three has proven to be a bit more time consuming than we realized. Since we don’t keep you updated on a more regular basis we at least thought we could give you our “Family Christmas Update” here….

2009 has been a full year yet we are blessed beyond words. When I reflect on this past year, it’s hard to recall all that has happened because it has just flown by! I do recall it being a challenging year though that has tested my patience for much of it. Being pregnant, chasing two boys day in and day out as well as Kevin being in his last year of school full time was more tiresome and challenging than expected. It is only by God’s grace that we survived the year with spirits still in tact! He is so good to us…

It was last year at this time we found out we were pregnant with our third little blessing. We were all thrilled with the news but I think Ethan was the most excited to meet the new little one to come! Ethan is 4 (5 in February) and is such a delight in the Vile household. He has such a sweet and helpful spirit. He loves people and truly has a kind heart. He is inquisitive of everything. He asks deep theological questions not even realizing it (don’t you just love the innocence of a small child)…. it’s amazing to watch his view of God develop in his little brain…. what a big responsibility on our part… (God, give us grace as we teach him about You!) He loves drawing (which he has gotten quite good at), puzzles, building and playing with his siblings. He is in his second year of preschool and is doing great with his letters and numbers. He can write his own name as well as everyone elses name in the family. Just recently we discovered he needs glasses… you can read about his condition here. It’s hard to believe how big our “baby” is getting. Everyone always told us the years would go by fast… they sure have! As challenging as it gets sometimes, I still tell him to stop getting older! I am trying to learn to cherish these days as I know they will be gone tomorrow. We are praying for God to use Ethan’s kind heart to serve Him.

Our little Lucas just turned 3 (12/17) and he is our little “spitfire”! What a ball of energy Lucas is! He certainly keeps us on our toes but is such a sweet little boy. He loves his big brother and loves to be a big brother! He has a mind of his own and is all boy! He loves sports of any kind, cars, trucks, trains etc. He loves to sing and play the guitar (a sign of things to come???) Some of the sweetest moments I love are watching him in church dance to the worship music and occasionally raise his hands to worship like his Grandma! Lucas is loads of fun! He loves playing with Ethan and really looks up to him. We love spending time with him on his own (without siblings) as he seems to not fight for so much attention. We are praying for this sweet gift from God to grow to know and serve Christ with his life.

And our third little blessing, Alayna, is 4 months old already and has been pure joy in our life. The first few months of her life were a bit challenging as she seemed to have colic. So dealing with a crying baby most days and nights were tough. But having some extra pink in the house was enough to make me smile through it all (almost all). Alayna loves to eat, loves looking and smiling at her brothers. She loves to rock, swing and bounce in our arms. She is definitely the princess of the house! It has been loads of fun watching her grow and change. She is smiling all the time and is currently working on grabbing rattles and switching them from one hand to the next. Life with three little ones keeps us on our toes, keeps us humble and keeps us looking to Christ for grace and strength! We are praying for Alayna to grow to be a strong woman of God.

Kevin finished his Master of Divinity degree from Winebrenner Theological Seminary in August (just before Alayna was born). We are all so proud of him as he worked hard for the past three years! I’ve learned alot from this awesome man of God. His humbleness and wisdom of God’s Word is inspiring to me. God has truly gifted him with a mind for the truth of His Word… (and he would roll his eyes at me for writing this about him… but it’s true :)). I’m proud of you Kevin and I know God is using you now and has a plan for our future in ministry somewhere! I love you!
Kevin’s day job is in computer database development working from home (which is a blessing most of the time :)). The boys love “checking in” on Daddy throughout the day and although we (the kids and me) can be loud sometimes, he handles the “distractions” pretty well. We love him being home!

As for me, my time is consumed with changing diapers, picking up toys, trying to keep mouths fed and working on the never ending loads of laundry. But honestly, I wouldn’t want to do anything different. I know God has given me a huge responsibility raising these kids and loving my husband. And though, I’m not very good at it at times, He is continually growing me and showing me how much I need Him even in the mundane … actually MORE in the mundane. I am thankful for our Father’s unfailing and unending love!

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this Christmas, may we know his goodness and praise Him for the love he showed us in giving us His son!

Merry Christmas!!!

Categories: Family, Holiday
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means there’s not much time for anything. And everything takes a lot longer. Although we are adjusting well. As you can see, I haven’t updated the blog much lately… that falls into the “not much time for anything” category. So I will try to recap the past few weeks.

When Alayna was 11 days old, we decided it was time for her to take her first family outing… and what better place than the Zoo! We hadn’t been there all summer and we really wanted to check out the new Natures Neighborhood. I was feeling great and Alayna was still sleeping good so off we went. Here are some pictures of our exertion. Tons of fun and a beautiful day!!

Categories: Family, Zoo
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We’ve had such a great week with baby Alayna! She’s been such a great baby. Eating well and sleeping well. The boys have adjusted fabulous to having her home and just love on her all the time (well, we all do)! They love to hold her and give her kisses. They are great big brothers! It’s hard to believe she’s already a week old and last week at this time, it was our first night home with her. Already the time is flying!

Here’s some pictures of our first week with our sweet girly:
Ethan holding her again

Such a proud big brother

Family picture

Coming home… she wore the outfit I came home in 32 years ago (from the same hospital)

So tiny

The boys made Alayna a welcome home sign… so sweet

Playing with Daddy

Such a sweet thing

Categories: Alayna Grace, Family
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