Ostrander Five

Surprise!

2011-04-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Jamie and I were surprised to find that baby #4 is on the way! My first reaction was,"no, not now!" This is our first "surprise":) I take great comfort in the fact that God chose this time as perfect...better than anything I could have planned. We should have addition number four arrive early December!

Mission Accomplished!

2011-04-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

This project was truly intimidating to me! The last piece of actual clothing I made was a pair of pajama pants for Jamie in college...and I'm pretty sure they fell apart after a couple of months:) So, I had the pieces of this dress cut out over a week ago and they sat there, challenging me. I tackled them yesterday and the dress came together so quickly and easily! I followed the step by step tutorial from Dana Made It...I love that it's from Jamie's (Daddy's) old shirt!

Now I just need to convince my Amelia to wear it...there is no pink or purple to be found on the dress, so this may take a while, but so far, she's agreed to wear it with her cowboy boots to church tomorrow!

Rainy Day...

2011-03-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

It rained all day here today...I loved it. The kids were making forts inside and running in the rain in their bathing suits outside...and I shockingly completed two sewing projects! One more in the works:)

The First - A lego bag for Noah (a sort of playmat that closes with a drawstring - an attempt to keep legos in one place!)

The Second - Baby Kimono shoes for our friends who just brought home Baby #5!

The Third - Project yet to be completed...making this sweet dress for Amelia from one of daddy's "workshirts" really excited about this one!

Uncle Kevin

2010-12-13T19:48:00.000-08:00

Kev came to visit last week and took some great pics of our family. This is one of my favorites!

Here's Kevin's photography blog so you can view the rest of them!

The Big Catch

2010-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Flounder...delicious!

Noah will hold ANY fish, ANY time, ANY where:)

Father and Son Fishin' Time.

2010-09-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

Day at Sebastian

2010-09-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

My Girl

Dan, Jen and Jamie on the rocks.

Doing what he loves best.

My Favorite....

2010-09-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

When Amelia looks at a picture and states "I wanna go in there!" Especially when it's far away family...she recently saw a picture of Grandma and Grandpa in California and said this....

God is the Gospel

2010-09-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

The critical question for our generation - and for every generation - is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? - John Piper, God is the Gospel

Thrilled to be reading this book and to be challenged...The ultimate gift of the Gospel is God, Himself...that is the Good News!

God's Loving Reminders....

2010-08-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

My back is out...I've never had this happen before...It started with a small twinge in my lower back, which can be normal, so I continued with my plan to get things done around the house while I had Marsha and Jamie home...vacuum, laundry, change diapers, make beds, swim, unload dishwasher, load dishwasher...then as I finished feeding Paul, bent to pick up a plate off the floor and stand up, the pain took my breath away and my legs felt limp. Next think I know, I am completely dependent on everyone else in the room.

I am painfully aware now that I have taken for granted all the little gifts (although now I consider them major gifts) God gives me daily in my healthy body. In our home, with 3 kids 4 and under, I am constantly bending , twisting, pulling, picking up a 22 lb and often a 32 lb weight, stretching my body to it's limits, and I don't think anything of it...it's like I expect my body to contort! So, thank you God, for this reminder to praise you for how you created our bodies with an incredible plan. Thank you for a loving husband and mother-in-law who are ready and willing to serve me and the kids!

Like Santa, Mom?

2010-08-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

I just gave Noah some Nilla Wafers to eat in his room for "rest" time, (I hate to admit that I do this!) and I offered him milk with it...he says "like Santa, Mom?" It never ceases to amaze me how much their little minds soak up and remember months later!

Takin' the Dance Floor

2010-08-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

Don't know where she gets it (ahem...maybe daddy?) But our little girl was dancin' the night away at Andrew and Missy's wedding reception!

Dinner

2010-08-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

My sweet dinner-making companion

Amelia Island Vacation

2010-07-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a wonderfully relaxing weekend on Amelia Island...Amelia doesn't recognize her name yet on all the signs, but in years to come, we look forward to visiting her island again and again!

Fishing was the highlight of the week...Noah and Jamie spent hours doing so. Although not a lot was biting, the boys did catch a whiting and Jamie grilled it up for dinner - Noah LOVED it. He's been wanting to catch a fish and eat it for a while now!

Noah's Name Calling...

2010-06-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

This kid cracks us up...I mentioned a couple weeks ago that he has taken to calling old things "rusty" - including people! As in, "that rusty old guy" and "our rusty house" (meaning the house we lived in previously).

Also, Noah has started calling family members by a shorter version of their name...I just heard another one last night. Robin is "Rob", Amelia is "Mil" and the one the makes me giggle the most is Maymee is now "Mame"!

Little Mama Millie

2010-02-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

So Precious - she was actually very gentle and good at this!

Paul Kenneth

2010-02-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

Our Paul was born on January 23, to my surprise, a couple days early! But he was fully cooked at 9 lbs. 6 oz and 22.5 inches. Cannot believe his first week has flown by so quickly. And time to change the name of our blog from Ostrander Four to Five.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2010-01-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

We'll just keep the age the way it is:)

Baby News

2010-01-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

No baby yet...but we are ready. I have a boy and girl bag of clothes sitting in the bassinet, an unopened pack of size 1's and now we wait. Due date is Tuesday. My dad's birthday is today, sister, Kristyn's, tomorrow I was really hoping to give them a bundle of joy on their day, but I don't think it's gonna happen:) We are pretty tied down to home, not really having the energy to get up and go anywhere, but the kids seem very content with that! God has certainly blessed us with this home so close to the beach, plenty of sidewalks to take a quick walk, and plenty of room to play inside. Millie is going to be an excellent big sister - she seems so grown up compared to Noah when she was born, although, she does have 5 months on him! Noah cannot wait to meet a new little baby...he is so much more aware now of the fact that he will have another sibling. He thinks it's a girl and that her name should be "Dudey". We are confident in God's timing in bringing this little one into the world and look forward to that moment!

Christmas

2009-12-29T18:44:00.001-08:00

Recent Pics from our Christmas season...Noah, wearing a hat Jamie wore at that age, and the two siblings enjoying Christmas Eve together.

The Mosquito Incident

2009-11-01T17:25:00.000-08:00

While trying to capture Noah and Amelia singing The Polar Express song in the car, a mosquito found Millie...she wasn't too happy about it!

Magic Kingdom

2009-10-28T19:05:00.001-07:00

A quick glimpse of fall in Florida - high's of 69! We're now back to 90, but we enjoyed using our sweatshirts and jackets. Noah loved wearing his "sweatshirt" - such a novelty.

Our little ladybug

2009-09-25T06:12:00.001-07:00

My dad has sung a song to me since a was a baby...Don't Disturb the Ladybug. I forever receive Ladybug gifts from friends and family - I love it! Now our sweet Millie has become the next-generation Ladybug. Aunt JuJu sent a super cute costume for Amelia to play dress-up in!

Dressing Up

2009-09-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

One thing about little girls...they love dress up! This is new for us...Noah would rather not bother with any details of getting dressed...Millie is constantly putting on anything she can find! We love it!

Daytona Vacation

2009-08-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Jamie took some time off for our family vacation to Daytona...We soaked in the sun, collected too many sandfleas (not many of which survived:), Noah learned to swim...He and I took a sky bucket over the Daytona pier...and always made our way back to "the beachhouse" as Noah called it!

Summer Pasttimes

2009-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a year...

2009-06-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

Not sure how people keep up with Facebook, Blogs, Picasa, etc...can't believe it's been a year since we've posted any pics on here. Noah, Amelia and I traveled to CA this past week and spent lots of time with cousins, aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa. Had a wonderful time! Noah is now 3 and Amelia 17 months...life is full!

Happy Birthday Noah!

2008-06-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

Noah Turns Two...We celebrated at Pelican Beach Park on May 24th with lots of friends and family

Attempting to Crawl

2008-06-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Growing Up

2008-03-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

Water Activities

2008-01-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

Millie's First Bath

Noah feeds the fish at our local Zoo

Welcome Amelia Suzanne!

2008-01-18T08:02:00.000-08:00

Born January 5, 2008
Weight: 8 lb 14 oz
Height: 21 1/2 inches

It has taken us too long to post these pictures...Amelia (Millie) has already changed so much. She will be two weeks old tomorrow, and has been such a delightful baby. She sleeps most of the time and when not sleeping, she is eating! She was up to 10 pounds on Monday at her first Doctor's appt...and his comment about her was"Perfect!"

Noah loves his baby sister - he cannot kiss her, hold her, hug her, see her enough!!!! There is no jealousy to speak of, just excitement that she is here.

After a natural delivery, I (Candace) have recovered very quickly and am now adjusting to life with 2 children. It is not AS stressful as I thought, although I am spoiled by the fact that Jamie's mom lives so close and has come to give me some "time off" several times already.

Much love to all!

41 weeks and counting...

2008-01-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

We expected our little girl to arrive on or before her due date...but the doctor informed us Wednesday that she is very comfortable in the womb! I am feeling contractions today and possibly will head to the hospital tonight If we are sent away, I will most likely be induced on Monday. We are really pulling for her to come naturally, so please feel free to join us in prayer.

Capturing Santa

2007-12-17T09:52:00.001-08:00

Noah has a hard time sitting still...but was pretty cute playing around in this Santa outfit!

St. Augustine Florida

2007-11-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

"So Mom...where are the Spaniards then?" --Noah

Enjoying Christmas in The Oldest City.

A Day at the Park

2007-11-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

This was one of our last visits to our favorite park in North Carolina.

Noah's First Haircut

2007-11-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Our first attempt at adding video to this site:)

New at this...

2007-09-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

Just trying to figure this thing out!