Love is in the Air...

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and a great weekend (hopefully you got a long one!)

We pretty much had a perfect Valentine's Day. Andrew and I actually got to go out on TWO dates, plus hang out with our good friends over the weekend, so I'm feeling spoiled. We didn't plan to go out on Valentine's Day at all, because I hate going out when everything is overcrowded, but Andrew's sweet sister offered to watch the kids and so we decided to go out a day early. We had a really nice dinner and spent some time walking around Borders, which we both love to do!

So, after starting out the holiday early with our date, we had a yummy breakfast together as a family on Thursday morning. Then the kids and I stopped by a church Valentine activity where they enjoyed decorating & eating cookies. I had to pick Andrew up from work, which meant that we all got to have lunch together, another unusual and exciting event!

Then, my awesome brother called and said he wanted to watch our kids for Valentine's Day, and my parents invited us to go out with them, and you just can't refuse an offer like that! So we went to a small, inexpensive restaurant that makes delicious crepes (which wasn't crowded at all!) and then to a MOVIE, which, as I mentioned before, rarely happens. The movie isn't really worth recommending, but we still had a great time. It was really fun to go out and to spend time with my parents who I don't get to see as often as I'd like. Thank you to all our kind family members for helping us to have such a fun time!

We spent our weeked with some good friends in Virginia, who we also don't get to see as often as we'd like. Thanks guys for putting us up, and putting up with us. We love you and had a great time!

In search of a blockbuster...

Our friends gave us a really fun gift for Christmas, a 3 month subscription to Blockbuster.com. I love the convenience of a movie showing up at your doorstep and only needing to drop it in the mailbox when you're done. The only problem is, we don't know what movies to rent. We haven't really seen much of anything since going out to a movie when you have 3 kids seems to us an almost impossible feat, and we don't really know what there is to see since we don't have tv (which equals not seeing any previews). I happen to have a really bad streak with the movies I pick, as my family will not hesitate to tell you, so I'm turning to all of you for help. Any suggestions of great movies that are out on DVD? (I happen to be looking for a great romantic comedy, but since Andrew isn't, we'll take recommendations from pretty much any genre!)

Birth & Babies

I've been on call for the last few weeks for two doula clients, one due the middle of February and one due the end of January. So I wasn't too surprised when the phone rang at 3:30 am on Friday, January 25th. It was my client (due in Feb.) and her water had broken. Contractions hadn't started yet, so she decided to try and get some more rest. I always get a little adrenaline rush when I know someone's in labor, so I finished gathering my things until I could fall back asleep. Luckily, Andrew had already planned to work from home that day, so my biggest worry when I go to a birth (the kids!) was taken care of. (I know, Andrew, your big worry was just beginning...)

I actually didn't end up needing to join my client until 3:30 pm Friday afternoon, but I didn't return home until 9:30 pm Saturday night. Now when I am asked "What is the longest amount of time you've been at a birth?", my answer will be 30 hours (instead of 24). This one was a tough one, and my heart goes out to this amazing couple for how well they handled some difficult circumstances. They now have a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

It took me a few days to get on top of things again, but I was ready to go when exactly one week later, on Friday afternoon, my other client called to tell me she was in labor. This time I left the house at 8:30 pm on Friday night, and returned home at 3:30 am on Saturday (another healthy baby girl!), which was very fortunate because, after a nap from 4-8 am, I got ready to teach my childbirth class which was beginning Saturday morning. I'm afraid I was a little slow with some of the answers I gave in class, but other than that, things went well.

A big, huge thank you to my amazing husband who puts up with this kind of craziness, and to my patient kids for the disapearing acts I sometimes pull. Now, whenever I come back in the house from doing anything, Annie asks, "Mama help baby?"

In loving memory

We want to express our deep love and gratitude for the amazing life of our dear prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. We feel fortunate for the countless times we have heard his voice, expressing love and counsel, for the times we have seen his kind smile, and even for those precious opportunities when we were right there in the same room with him and could feel the power of his faith. His life has touched millions of people, within and outside of our church, and we will always be grateful for his selfless service. How joyful he must be to be reunited with his sweet wife again, but we will miss him dearly.

Tyler's Teeth

Tyler has been loosing teeth like crazy lately. He lost his two front teeth before Christmas, and I was pretty excited when we finally heard the song I'd been telling him about for weeks: "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" on the radio. He's been raking it in from the tooth fairy, although he decided that he was getting bored with receiving the same amount for every single tooth, and proceeded to write her a letter to request a change (i.e. more money!). I guess I should add that Tyler knows very well who the tooth fairy in this house is, but he still wrote a very detailed letter addressed to Ms. Tooth Fairy that he insisted on putting under his pillow that night. Maybe he thought it would help his chances if he went along with the game? I was asking him why he thought he should receive more money just for loosing teeth and tried to teach a valuable lesson about how we should work to earn our money. Well, he then began to explain how hard he had to work to get these teeth out, and I must admit, he did have to work kind of hard for one or two teeth that were just dangling there for a while (sorry if that's too much info!). Lucky for him, he lost two teeth in one day right after writing his letter (because this tooth fairy isn't coughing up any more money per tooth!). I guess it was lucky for me too, because it was pretty hard to turn down such a well-thought out request. So he now has lost a grand total of 7 teeth, with 5 holes in his mouth at present. I know it happens to everyone, but it feels different when it's your own kid! I have found the whole experience rather fascinating!

Annie's Bows

A friend made several hair bows for Annie. She was thrilled to receive some mail.



When she saw what was inside the package, she proceeded to ask to put all of them in her hair at once.




The boys enjoyed dressing her up.

They even ran to get a princess dress to add to the effect.



Thank you for all the cute bows Jenn!

High School Reunion

I went to my 10 year high school reunion last month. It is hard to believe it's been that long, although I guess a lot has happened since that time too! (getting married, graduating from college, having three kids!) It was fun to go out on a date with Andrew and see some old friends and interesting to see what others have been up to. One thing that made me laugh was how many people recognized Andrew. Since we dated in high school, most of my friends knew him. I think some people couldn't remember if he had gone to school with us or not. My high school was pretty competitive and very career oriented, so I was surprised at how many people were married and a few even had babies. People were pretty shocked to hear we had three kids though. What I really enjoyed most of all was just being with Andrew and visiting with my dear friend Laura, who I have stayed very close to throughout the years. I enjoyed hearing about the exciting jobs people had and the fun cities they lived in, but I just felt very grateful and content with my life. I definitely wouldn't trade it!

Eagle Scout

 

We went to the Pentagon last week where my brother Daniel received his Eagle Scout award, along with 4 other young men from his ward. We went through quite a bit of security getting inside the Pentagon, but everyone made it and it was a wonderful ceremony. Congratulations Daniel!!

 

Here are all of the Eagle Scouts from our family who were there.

Christmas 2007

Amy & Nathan's wedding...

Thanksgiving in St. Thomas

St. George Marathon

Rebecca ran the St. George marathon in October 2007 with her dad. We are very proud of her!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Dear Family & Friends,

This year has given us much to be grateful for. We spent most of the year living in Ashburn, Virginia where we made some wonderful friends, and ended the year moving to Silver Spring, Maryland, a few miles from where we grew up.

Andrew has had a great year at work, enjoying his time at AOL and moving on to work with his dad on the family chemical manufacturing business. He also spends much of his free time launching new business ventures with a good friend. Andrew is especially grateful for family this year—for the opportunity to welcome a new baby girl and for working with his dad. Favorite pastimes include reading business books and classics, playing with the kids, and trying to get back into shape before he hits 30 next December.

Rebecca loves being home with the kids. Since we are homeschooling, she gets quite a bit of time with all of them! Rebecca is very grateful to have the opportunity to watch them learn and grow each day and to learn along with them. Of course, she doesn't mind having a break once in a while either, and has enjoyed some girls' nights out and even a weekend away with close friends. She looks forward to resuming her work as a childbirth educator and a doula next year.

Tyler (5 ½ yrs.) is a big help to his mom, but he sometimes feels overwhelmed with the responsibility of being the oldest child. One day he sighed, "Mom, you were right! It IS hard work taking care of a baby. I have so much hard work taking care of BOTH of these kids!" This year Tyler has been especially interested in learning to read and write and often creates his own illustrated stories. We have been impressed with his artistic ability, which shows up almost everywhere, even on his brother's face—turning him into one of the soldiers from The Nutcracker last week. Tyler is very grateful for his family, the whole wide world, Jesus, snow, fall, and all the weather, and he wants to say (to all our family & friends) "I love you and I miss you…so long!"

Robby (3 ½ yrs.) is full of energy and determination. He has also become quite a conversationalist, asking questions and telling stories all day long. He enjoys playing house with his mom, although she hasn't quite figured out the difference between his pretending and reality since she is always Mom, he is always her little boy, and he usually wants her to do things like make him breakfast…as she is already doing so. Robby loves animals and sometimes we feel bad for not having one since he pretends his baby sister is whatever pet he wants most that day. Robby is very grateful for "the whole wide world, even my friend Teddy and his dog, and I'm grateful for having Annie, our cute little cat…and nothing else for me!"

Annie Rebecca was born at home on April 17th with all of us there to greet her. She is cheerful, patient, has the best giggle, and is adored by the whole family. She is grateful for her brothers who smother her with hugs and kisses. She has been working in her first four teeth and is already helping us with the housework, mopping up our floors by crawling all over in her fuzzy pajamas. We all love having a little girl.

We are grateful for you and how you have blessed our lives. Most of all, we give thanks for our Savior, Jesus Christ, for the life that He lived and the sacrifice He made. May His spirit fill your homes and hearts all throughout the coming year.

With love,
Andrew, Rebecca, Tyler, Robby & Annie Pincock

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The Pincocks
Silver Spring, MD
pincock@gmail.com

Rebecca's: www.gentlebirthchoices.com

Andrew's: www.arcalchem.com; www.sundancetrainingsolutions.com