Ready, Set, Catch Up!

We have no excuse for the poor job we've done posting in the last 7 weeks other than we've been up to our neck (actually over our head) in wallpaper scraping, painting, tiling and growing babies around here. :) Our house is coming along slowly but surely! Joel is amazing....he works long hours at work everyday and then comes home and works on our house every night! Our goal has always been that by the holidays we'd be finished and ready to focus on our expanding family (which we've barely thought about...yikes). We're just pushing that back from the Thanksgiving holiday to the Christmas holiday. Ha! You'll have to check out what we've done so far in the background of some of these pictures. Thank you thank you thank you to all our family who has been over here helping! Mom informed me a couple weeks ago that...."this is the last house". Ha! We're so blessed to have willing helpers!

Camden is growing and learning so much. He says something new everyday, it seems like! Right now he is on a big "no" kick. Everything is "no"! Did you sleep good? No. Are you hungry? No. Are you Camden? No. His favorite thing to do is play with something he knows he's not allowed to touch, all the while pointing his finger and saying "no-no"! So funny! He's also really into having LONG conversations on the phone....we're SOO OVER play phones, it has to be the real thing. Auntie April gave us an old cell phone that still works, so he loves pretending!

Kendall is growing too! Aunt Brytni gave us about 100 boxes of Lily's clothes, so we're in the process of sorting. It's so fun sitting on the floor surrounded by girlie, lacy, pink! :) We only have about 8 more weeks until we meet her! Let me try and catch you up over the last 7 weeks with our latest pictures....

Happy Halloween! Our little monkey clutching the Snickers....just like his Mommy!

Cousin Gage the Dragon helped Cam rake in the candy

Camden swiping candy from sweet bumble bee Lily...we're so proud of him.

Playing outside on a beautiful fall day....

Cam wants to be just like his daddy...we caught him "painting" in his bathroom right before a bath. Adorable!

Camden pointing out pictures to Daddy in our new Hearth room...which is a shared room with the kitchen. How about that funky Avacado wall?

30 weeks and growing in our new Living Room! Dining room is on the far end, too!

We hope this finds everyone happy and healthy! Enjoy your Thanksgiving week with food and family....I promise the next time you hear from us won't be when Kendall's born!

Hello, Kendall!

This past Saturday, we went to the wedding of a good friend of the Novak family. We had a great time and were so thankful that the wedding/reception was at a golf club. Camden definitely made a huge game of finding and throwing golf balls. What age do they slow down, again???? We're waiting!! :) Anyway, since we were all dressed up, we thought it would be the perfect time to start capturing belly shots of sweet, growing Kendall. Joel has been able to feel her tiny kicks for a couple weeks now, but they're getting stronger each day! Even still, she seems to be a little softer and gentler than big brother Camden was. We're anxious to meet and snuggle her 15 short weeks from Thursday (ha ha....can you believe I'm counting down already???)

23 weeks and growing...

We tried to get a good family picture all night and this one was the best! It's hard with the two babies....see the golf ball in Cam's mouth?? :)

Say prayers for our house situation. We got a call the day before we were to close saying that the person buying our house lost his job, therefore no one was able to move forward with the pending plan. We have every single thing packed ready to go and are just waiting for the situation to be resolved. The poor people that owned our new house have already left and are paying for the house to sit empty + their new place. It's hard for Joel and I to think about unpacking and starting the house showing process over....so we're just praying and waiting for things to fall into place. We've been encouraged that it will still happen, but aren't sure when. We keep reminding ourselves that God's plan is bigger than ours (except I liked my plan just fine. :)). We'll keep everyone posted! Have a great week!

OCTOBER!!!!

Holy cow...I can't believe our last post was September 2nd!! So sorry about that! I have no idea where September went! We've had the craziest month at our house. Hang in there....there's a lot to catch up on!! September 10th, we took Dad to the emergency room with a really swollen and red leg. Turns out he had a weird leg infection that caused him to be in the hospital for over a week and another week of home recovery. This week was his first week back to work and he's feeling much better. All the ladies in his life are making sure he's taking it easy! :) Thanks for your prayers for my Dad!

September 12th, we welcomed a perfect, beautiful and precious little nephew Isaac Paul Farmer in to the world! It was very hard not having Dad there with us to celebrate Ike's little life, but we definitely had the computers hooked up for a much needed ichat where Dad could see Ike and Nat and talk for a minute. Big brother Gage is adjusting great and is very loving to the baby! Holding Isaac makes Joel and I SOOOOO excited to meet Kendall!

Nat and Adam weren't even home a week before they had to take sweet Ike back to the hospital with a high fever. They ran lots and lots of invasive tests including a spinal tap to rule out anything dangerous and kept Isaac for 48 hours to observe him. He's home now and is doing much better! Thanks for your prayers over him, too!

We're hoping everyone in our family stays well so they can help us move in a week!! We actually close on our house Friday and we have lots of home improvement plans over the next week before we move all our things. Lets just say every spare moment and each nap Camden takes has been filled with packing packing packing. I'm definitely never moving again! :) We're so excited and feel so blessed to have our health and a new place to call home!

Camden is a talking machine saying words like pretty, Mommy, poopy, Daddy (oh I'm already working on teaching him to string those four together), bible, amen, car, bath, ball, apple. So cute to hear him and watch him learn! Kendall has definitely decided to make her grand appearance! Belly pictures on another day. :) Check out the latest of our little guy and family...

Big boy with Daddy's shoes

Playing with pretty cousin Lily!

My boys being lazy eating yummy cookie dough!

The rest of these pictures are from last weekend's trip to the pumpkin patch! It was so great to spend some quality family time together since things have been so crazy lately! :)

Camden waking up the poor chicks!

Where am I??

Looking for a pumpking with Dad...

.....and Mom.

My personal favorite...Camden milking a cow.

Whew...that was September!! Hopefully you haven't quit checking the blog. I promise to be better! New house pictures soon! :)

It's a Girl!

It's official...Camden is going to have a little baby sister. Hillary and I just got back from the Dr.'s office and had an 18 week ultrasound. Everything looks great from her heart to her brain, kidneys, bladder, and girl parts! She was so precious and we can't wait to welcome little Kendall Jo Novak into the family. Hillary already has plans for a chandelier, pink dresses, little shoes, and for me to build a stage for dress up and future performances in our new house. Oh yeah, we sold our home and have made an accepted purchase agreement on a new one on the far west side of Anderson. We have alot of changes ahead of us and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to grow with our ever-changing family. Can't wait to keep everyone updated on life's adventures for the Novaks! I LOVE MY FAMILY!!! Especially that Hillary!

Here's what Camden thinks of having a sister.....he's got that tongue out already! We're already working on "be gentle".

We love the Carignan's!

Check out some of the new pictures of Camden that Wade and Stephanie just put on their blog....so freaking cute. To see lots more, go to http://www.carignangallery.com/

Once you enter the website, click on clients and then our password is camden. There are a few adorable ones of Gagie too! We love how our photo sessions are just playtime! They truly capture our real life!!!!

Hope everyone has a great start to the week!

If you're happy and you know it...

Today is my day off and Cam and I had a great time painting the sidewalk with water! He loved holding all the brushes at once and cracked up multiple times when he dumped our bucket of "paint" out. :) Can you believe our precious 14 mo. old can spell his name?? :) Ha! Obviously that was with a little help, but we still think he's brilliant.

On August 13th, we celebrated Joel's 27th birthday! Camden and I are so thankful for him and all he does for us! Now that we have our own baby boy, I realize just how special birthdays are to your parents. I know that I will remember every detail of Cam's very first birthday, even 27 years later. Thank you Dan and Misty for raising such a loving husband and father...I'm so glad you brought him into the world! :) Check out Camden's special birthday song for his Daddy....he's been practicing so hard!

Goodbye summer!

As I start the last week of summer vacation, I am reminded once more of how thankful I am for my job. I absolutely LOVE the fact that I get to be home with Camden all summer, and I'm even more thankful that during the year, my schedule allows me to be home with him every other day. I think it's the perfect balance of adult/kid time. The middle of August doesn't feel near as daunting when I don't have to work everyday! So, I'm excited to start school, meet a new group of scared little 6th graders, and get back into our fall routine. I think Cam is ready to be back at Miss Becky's too. We're so blessed to have an awesome sitter that Camden adores!

New baby Novak is growing! We're starting to see a slight baby bump (mainly at night after dinner. Ha!) He/she hides again in the morning. We're 14 weeks along and are so thankful things are going well. 4 more weeks until we know whether Cam will have a brother or sister! I think I heard him say he wants a little sister. :)

No more news on the selling or buying of a house. We continue to pray that the perfect person comes along!

Check out a sneak peak of the pictures that Wade and Stephanie Carignan took of Camden....I can tell the rest will be ADORABLE! We'll be sure and share more when we get them!

1st Haircut!!

Camden was a super big boy today and got his first haircut! I couldn't trust anyone but Nicole at Shaggy Chic (except of course, my best Jess...but unfortunately we can't afford to fly Cam to AZ for a haircut. Ha!) to cut that crazy head full of cowlicks! Camden was very brave and didn't mind one bit that scissors were flying around his head. We had more of a problem keeping my wild child still. He is up for anything except being calm. :) Have I mentioned that I'm jealous of any parent who has lap sitter child?? Camden hasn't sat on our laps longer than 30 seconds his whole life. Needless to say, I had lots of tricks, songs, and snacks up my sleeve for his 10 min. haircut. :) Check out the pics...

After this big production, our little guy was worn out! Here's the final picture of the hair while Cam was conked out on the way home.

He looks like such a big boy with his new haircut!

BIG Changes!!

Well, we have much exciting news to share since our last posting on July 2nd. Joel and I are so excited to announce that we are pregnant again, with what appears to be a very healthy baby so far! I am 12 weeks along and have heard a precious heartbeat several times already. Doctor says the first trimester is right on track and looking great! We will have a repeat c-section on Friday January 23rd. While I dread the surgery/recovery, I am so pumped to actually know the date for sure and not have to wonder...will today be the day?? That alone causes much anxiety for Hillary the planner (and therefore Joel, the listener) :)

The next exciting change is that we put our little house on West 8th Street up for sale. I'm full of mixed emotions as I think about leaving our first little house. We've created so many memories here....from tearing out kitchens and bathrooms to bringing our first baby home. I'll definitely be sad when we pack up all our things. On the flip side, Joel and I have had so much fun planning and dreaming about our future. We can't wait to be in a neighborhood with a bigger home for our family to grow! As of right now, we're really excited about 2 homes that we'll be going through a second time on Friday. We've had several people go through ours and are interested, but nothing final has happened yet. We're showing it again this Thurs. and Friday to two new people! Pray that they LOVE IT! :)

Our heads are kind of spinning with all these new responsibilities and changes. We feel so blessed with what we already have and continue to seek God's guidance in lots of near decisions! Pray that all works out and the right doors are opened and closed.

Stay tuned for recent pics of our crazy kid who NEVER stops moving. The Carignan's took Camden's pictures last Sunday and we can't wait to see what they captured. If you can only picture this....the only thing that would make Camden smile in the 120 degree heat was saying...."don't you eat that...it's ca-ca." Joel and I felt like idiots and Wade and Steph probably thought so too, but what are you gonna do? We had to make him laugh!

Hope everyone is doing well! Have a great rest of the week!

New Videos!

We thought we'd share some video of Camden enjoying his birthday cake, as well as walking! He is absolutely everywhere and continues to bust the same spot on his chin about every other day. He does pretty well with a band-aid, but every once in a while I'll catch him chewing on it. Ha! Hopefully the accidents will subside once he gets a little more sturdy. Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

Notice the tamborine he carries around CONSTANTLY....this is part of the band in a box we described last time. Awesome.

Ready...Set...Catch up!

Hopefully no one has given up on checking the Novak blog. So much for having more time in the summer...it's been a crazy June! Hang in there...we've got lots to fill you in on! :)

We started the summer celebrating our 4th anniversary with an amazing trip to Myrtle Beach! Joel and I had such a great week relaxing and eating awesome seafood every night. Camden got some quality time with each set of grandparents while we were gone. We missed him terribly, but were so blessed by the

break of responsibility and the chance to spend some time "just us". We sure devoured him when we got home though! We were so excited to get the opportunity to see my great friend Erin and her husband Todd, who live in SC, while we were there. They were so sweet and drove a long way to share a breakfast with us a Grandma's Kitchen. It was great to see them and catch up! Here are some pictures of our trip!

We had one week after we returned to get ready for Cam's big baseball birthday celebration! In true Indiana style, our outdoor baseball party got rained out, so we were lucky enough to move it inside at Aunt Natalie's and Uncle Adam's! We had upwards of 50 people share in Camden's special day. I still can't believe my baby boy is one year old! Not possible! It's truly been the fastest and most fullfilling year of our lives. He definitely heard the entire story of the day he was born. It's amazing how you remember each detail! He is such an incredible little ball of energy and source of joy for us. It's only getting better and better and we can't wait to see what the next year brings! Check out some party pictures!

Joel and I were so excited to have Jason Warpool, Joel's great college roomate friend, here for the big celebration. Jason came bearing gifts...one of which might be Camden's ultime favorite toy ever. Band in a Box complete with maracas and a tamborine. You can only imagine how annoying. Jason, we love you, but you need to know that we are already on the hunt to pay you back and you don't even have kids yet. :)

4 days after his birthday, Camden decided to take 5 steps on his own! Since then, he's getting braver and braver and continues to walk 5-10 steps at a time. He still gets the job done faster crawling, so that's what he prefers, but we forsee our little guy running before long. Walking videos to come! Thanks for hangning in there for our June summary! :) I promise I won't go that long again!

Summer is here!

The holiday weekend has been packed with fun at the Novak house! Our beloved home away from home, the good 'ol Dolphin Club opened on Saturday! We packed up (the whole house it seemed like) and spent the day splashing around. Camden didn't know what to think at first....the water felt pretty much like a melted ice cube! Even though he wasn't too interested in getting wet, he had a great time crawling around and watching cousin Gage!

Our little pretty boy doesn't like scraping his knees! I don't blame him one bit! :)

After a good nap on Saturday, we headed to the lakes with Joel's family! It was great to relax and catch up with everyone over beautiful weather and wonderful food!

Here's Cam hanging out on the lawn...after the cold pool, I wasn't about to put him in the lake! :)

Snuggling with Mom.....
...and Dad!
It was great to spend time with precious Lily too! She is a sweet toe-headed angel! Camden is a wild child compared to that little one! :)
Reading a book in a chair that was Papaw's as a little boy
I think it's funny we're all looking in the wrong direction....but still cute of the two little families!

We came home from the lakes on Sunday night and are closing out the weekend with another Royer family dinner on Monday! I'm getting used to other people feeding my family every night! :)

We hope everyone had an awesome long weekend!