Norah is already a pro at holding Aaron! She begs to do it all the time, and with the pillow has no trouble supporting him all by herself.
Sorry it's blurry, but Aaron is quite the little pretzel still. My L/D nurse commented several times about how folded up he was.
Aaron, meet Jami. She's going to be one of your godparents!
First family photo!

I'm not sure what was more interesting for Maggie, the "Baba" or Mommy's pony tail holder.
All snuggled up in the sleep sack, Aaron was oblivious to his crazy big sisters.
We have matching photos of the proud Daddy with all 3 kids just like this now! The key element is the curtain in the background. :)

Welcome Aaron Chandler!

I don't have much time right now, but wanted to share a few pictures and just a little data with all you blog-readers (especially those who aren't on Facebook - congrats Great Grandpa and Great Grandma!).

Aaron Chandler was born Thursday, June 16 at 4:43 PM. He arrived 3 1/2 weeks early - we were so surprised. He weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. These pictures are in backwards order, but I don't have time right now to switch them around! Enjoy!

Fresh and clean, post-bath

Light hair on a newborn - we're not used to that!
Our friends, BJ and Christine Castens, took the girls while we were at the hospital. We are eternally grateful! They were Aaron's first visitors and all the kids were SO interested in seeing how small his hands and feet were. :)
Norah just kept kissing him and saying, "He's so cute!"
"A Baba! A Baba!" (REPEAT!)
One happy Momma! I am surprised to see how awake I am Thursday afternoon after 23 hours of labor and virtually no sleep since Tuesday night!
Aaron swallowed quite a bit of gunk and was born so quickly it didn't all get squeezed out of his lungs, so he was pretty gurgly for a little while.

Tim's Ordination

Sunday, June 12, 2011 was a very special day for Tim and his close friends and family. Tim was ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry by his Dad. He is now officially a pastor. :) We had a wonderful service and time of fellowship afterwards surrounds by family and friends. We could not have asked for a more special time.

Tim with both sets of his sponsors. They were thrilled to share this day with Tim.

A great friend of ours, Rev. Philip Zielinski, made the trip to MN from OH preached for Tim's ordination. Terrific message!

This is our ENTIRE family, both sides. We haven't all been together in one place at the same time since our wedding. :)

The girls were so proud of their daddy. Me too! I know Maggie's too young, but I really hope Norah remembers this day.

Tim with his parents, who are clearly beaming!

All of the pastors who participated in the service. Most are from around Minnesota where Tim's dad (back center) is a pastor.

Visiting Iowa

Last Wednesday and Thursday, we had a chance to drive from Morristown, MN to Iowa where Tim's three churches are located. We met with the church presidents and their wives, saw the 3 churches, and "inspected" our parsonage. What a wonderful trip! Everyone was really nice and friendly and made us feel at home already. The area is gorgeous - tons of farmland and beauty surround our new home. And it's not flat! Who told us Iowa was flat?! Our house is great, with plenty of room both inside and outside for our growing family. We are really looking forward to getting settled there and beginning this next part of our journey as a family. Our official move date is August 2 - just 7 weeks from today. Lots to do between now and then though, all the packing and whatnot... oh yeah, and have a baby! Enjoy the pictures!

Grace Lutheran Church in Correctionville, IA

This is the view of the surrounding farmland out our front windows.

We have a walk-out basement.

This is our garden. It needs some work, but this is only about half the size of it. Think of all the delicious things we'll grow!

Main area of the basement. It's pretty long, and plenty large for a toy area and family room area (once we get more furniture - ha!). The other half of it is a bonus room, also finished, and then some cinder block wall areas for storage, etc.

This will be the girls' room. We're going to paint it though. There's a nice long closet too!

Such a nice, large kitchen. It probably has about 4 times the counter and cabinet space I have now. The area this was taken from is the dining area and plenty large for any new table we get that will hold all of us!

Master bedroom, pretty basic. It's large though, and has a great whole WALL of closet space on the right side and another small closet on the other wall you can't see! This place has tons of storage!

This is the first room I walked into. Hilarious! We'll paint it though. Strange little quirk about it is the door you see on the back wall which goes outside! Can you say padlock?!

This is the front of our house! I love it! The two trees in the yard will keep it nice and cool in the afternoon and evenings. And, one of them will be perfect for a tire swing for our little, obsessed darling! :)

This is the inside of St. Paul, Battle Creek (or, as they say, Midway). Our house is just off the parking lot.

Norah was so happy to see this picture. It will be wonderful to have a playground for them.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Anthon, IA