Calling All Movers!

For those of you who don't know, the Imagination Movers are Disney's newest big thing. They're a band geared toward preschoolers and young elementary age who sing songs and "solve problems" on their morning TV show. The band is made up of four men (hmmm...sounds familiar) who write and play their own music.

What we like about them is that they're actually talented (one of them even plays a mandolin), and they come up with music that's catchy for the kids and enjoyable for the adults. What our kids like about them is that they're silly, they dance and I think Scott reminds us all of their Uncle Daniel (without the long hair, of course).

Elizabeth and I started watching their show soon after the boys started school last fall. With no big brothers to hang out with all day, the Imagination Movers became her "imaginary friends". She began to talk about them and pretend to talk to them all day! On Saturday mornings we started watching it with the boys during our Saturday morning cartoons, and all of us got hooked!

Well, a couple of weeks ago we decided to Google the Movers and see if they perform any live shows...and we found out they were coming to Birmingham!!! After a brief discussion we decided to purchase tickets for the whole family as a joint birthday gift for Elijah and Elizabeth. When we told them they were ecstatic!

So today we had a great family trip to meet the Movers. And to see the huge smiles on the kids' faces and hear them sing along at the concert...it was worth every penny!

Surprise Elijah!

Elijah turned 6 this week, and for the past month he had been telling us he wanted a surprise birthday party. So that's what we gave him! We invited his classmates and church friends for an "Ultimate Bike Party" in the church parking lot. It was a hit!

The funny thing is that he's still at the age where he thinks his party and his birthday logically should fall on the same date. His party was Saturday, January 31st, while his actual birthday was on Thursday, February 5th. On the night before his birthday he informed me he still wanted a surprise birthday party. I replied, "That's what you had on Saturday!" He said, "No, that was a surprise party, and my birthday is tomorrow, so I want a surprise birthday party tomorrow!" Needless to say I had to explain to him that one party a year is quite enough!

Fun With Phoebe

You know how infants only "smile" when they're gassy, and usually only in their sleep? That's what they say, anyway. Well, I thought that I'd hold up my camera and just start snapping for a bit to see if I could catch a smile while she was resting on me. The first picture I took was:


Is that great or what!?!

Later on I thought I'd try another experiment. My mother-in-law, being an amazing bargain shopper, bought Elizabeth several really nice Disney princess costumes for just over $4 each! Ellie has gotten so much use and fun from those, and she still fits into a couple of them - one of which is her TinkerBell costume complete with wings and wand. Elizabeth also happens to have a Build-A-Bear TinkerBell costume for her stuffed animal, Jo Jo, also complete with wings and wand. So...I thought I'd have a little fun, and this is what I got:


It was a fun day!!!

Phoebe AnnaBelle Jordan Has ARRIVED

Yes she is finally here!!!!
and yes she is censored!!!!

Baby Phoebe was born today December 4th, 2008 at 2:51, weighing in at 7 lbs 9 ounces at 20 1/2 inches. For those that are wondering why we named our child after a T.V. show, rest assured we did not. We started a rule with Noah that we would use a name from the Bible and a name from our families. With Noah this kind of pigeon holed us. We wanted to name him after my father, Mike, as in Michael Jordan. So we opted to make this his middle name; Noah Michael Jordan. Elijah Douglas followed (Bible then family), then came Elizabeth Patricia (Bible then family)...And the pattern was established. Needless to say naming a girl from the Bible is not very easy. There are thousands of guys and a couple hundred dolls. Jennifer thought this made the task difficult, I thought it was simple. You have Jezebel, Delilah, Rahab, Dorcas, tons of great names. I even came up with a brilliant plan of naming the little girl after Job's first daughter born after his trials... you will have to look it up to see what you think????

Anyways, Phoebe is mentioned at the end of Romans. She was very important to the ministry of Paul and actually delivered the letter which we now call the Book of Romans from Paul to the Roman Church. This little girl has a lot to live up to. As for the middle name and its funny spelling; my dad's mom was named Ann and my mom's mom is named Bonnie Belle. Since Annabonnie doesnt roll off the tongue, AnnaBelle would have to do. We are thrilled to honor two very special women by naming our last child after them.

For those that are interested, the labor went well, baby and mom are both doing well, and everyone is healthy. The kids are thrilled with baby sister and can't wait to tote her off home. Hopefully she will be able to survive the transition. We appreciate all your prayers, God has continued to be good to us and we are eternally greatful. We now must pray and work, asking God that there will never be a day that Phoebe can remember not knowing that God loves her and that she loves her God.

But now, I must retire for the evening. It was an exhausting day. I had to fill out paperwork, hold hands, get up and get stuff, change the channel on the T.V...It is a good reminder of the unsung hero of childbearing the tireless father. Who does not leave the hospital weighing any less then when he went in, who must run and get icechips, allow his hand to be used as a human stress ball, all while sitting in an uncomfortable chair instead of that nice comfy bed, yes men, we have done well...God bless and good night!!!!

For more pics go to

http://picasaweb.google.com/wearethejordans/PhoebeAnnaBelleJordanHasARRIVED#

"She's Large!"

Have you ever seen the old "Popeye" movie with Robin Williams? It is a classic. And it happens to be one we've watched several times with the kids over the past year. The reason is two-fold. Firstly, once the boys saw even a few minutes of it, they were hooked. Secondly (and most important) is because of the song "He's Large" that Olive Oyl sings about Bluto. If you don't remember, the girls are making fun of her for being engaged to Bluto. They've been engaged several times and each time Olive Oyl has broken it off, and now she's trying to tell herself the reasons why she's going through with the wedding this time. Unfortunately, the only reason she keeps coming back to is the fact that he's so darn big.

Well, I must say that during the past several months, I can relate to Bluto. Not the part about being a bully, or being able to grow an amazing beard or even having a nemesis who is unusually infatuated with quickly consuming vegetables in times of grave danger, but I can completely relate to the part about being LARGE!!!

Over the past 8 months, I have grown quite a lot. I'd like to say I'm one of those ladies who you can only tell is pregnant from the side, not the back. Not so. In fact, this has been my most difficult pregnancy. I have been more nauseous, more exhausted, more uncomfortable and more large than during any other pregnancy. And since we've watched "Popeye" I (and consequently the children) will sometimes walk around the house affectionately singing "Because She's Large!"

But the good news is, only two and a half weeks left! In a very short time, life can get back to "normal"? Or at least we can begin to get used to what normal will look like for us and 4 children! We are very excited at the arrival of Baby Girl (still unnamed), and I am quite excited about getting back to the gym!

You really should check out the movie, or at the very least, check out the song on YouTube. And then imagine my children singing it to me! It's all in good fun, although we finally told them we had to stop, because we didn't want them starting to sing it to random people in Walmart who might actually be overweight. So now, Elizabeth looks at me and sometimes sings her new song: "Because She's Medium!" Now there's a tune I can get on board with!!!

Our Summer Vacation

(vā-ˈkā-shən) A general leave of absence from a regular occupation for rest or recreation.

Well, it was definitely a leave of absence from our regular occupation, but I'm not so sure about the rest! Immediately after Vacation Bible School our family packed our gear (which takes an entire day for a family of five!) and headed out. It's a trip we make every June, and by the next June I've always forgotten what it's like!


First we make our way to Flat Rock, North Carolina, where our denomination has it's annual Synod (our general assembly of all available ARP pastors and elders). It lasts 4 days, but the schedule for Stephen as well as the kids and I is about 6 a.m. until at least 11 p.m. We have a wonderful time fellowshipping and catching up with old seminary friends and fellow pastors and their wives, but it is EXHAUSTING!!!






From there we head up to Woodbridge, VA to stay with Stephen's parents for a week. Since we don't have cable or satellite TV, and they do, we pretty much spent the first half (if not the entirety) of the week recuperating and watching television. We did make sure to fit in some family time, see some old college friends, and take in some culture. Being so close to D.C. we choose somewhere different to visit every year. This time it was the National Zoo and the Air and Space Museum.

After this we headed to Williamsburg with the ENTIRE family (the five of us, Stephen's parents, his older brother and wife and 3 kids, and his younger brother and wife and baby)!!! We spent the weekend walking around Williamsburg and Jamestown, thankful for the difficult task that our founding fathers took on with faith and commitment.

We were also able to see some old friends from Charlottesville, and then visit my dad and his wife in Covington.

Then we were able to actually take our second family vacation ever in our 11 years of marriage. We spent 3 days in Gatlinburg, TN (where we honeymooned). We showed the kids almost everything we did 11 years ago - miniature golf, go cart racing, driving in Smoky Mountain National Park, visiting the Christmas Store, and the Dixie Stampede! It was an expensive 3 days, but totally worth the "recreation" (back to the definition of vacation). One of our favorite memories of this minivacation was the day we were driving through the Smoky Mountains. The drive was free. We had picked up lunchables for all of us for a cheap lunch. Then we stopped at this beautiful river filled with rocks and boulders, camped out on a big boulder to eat our lunchables, and then took our shoes off and wandered up and down the stream looking for salamanders and cool little rocks.



Two and a half weeks later we arrived back home. And NOW I need a REST!!!

Elizabeth's Birthday

Ellie had a My Little Pony themed birthday party. Now, at this age, "themed" means that there were two ponies stuck on top of her cake, and a couple presents wrapped in My Little Pony wrapping paper. But, at this age, that's all it takes to make her day! Elizabeth is 3 years old now, and she had a wonderful day surrounded by all our friends from church and some family who were able to come into town for the occasion.

Elizabeth is growing into a very sweet little girl. We're very proud of her. She is definitely a girly girl - she loves to play dress up and take care of her myriad of stuffed animals and baby dolls (and, of course, her ever growing collection of My Little Ponies!). She also loves to play legos and cars with her brothers, and can certainly hold her own with them!

We love our Ellie - Happy Birthday!