New Year...New Traditions (I hope)

With this new year, I certainly hope to blog more often. But, I also hope to do a lot of things....
Catch up in Olivia's scrapbook
Start the new baby's baby book
Start the new baby's scrapbook
Catch up in Chris' professional scrapbook
Laminate several newspaper articles for Chris
Hang up picture frames in Olivia's room
Hang up family pictures in the living room
Make meals to freeze in the deep-freeze
Wash hand-me-down baby clothes and put them away
Switch Olivia's dresser to the baby's room
Get new dresser into Olivia's room
Catch up in Olivia's journal
Start a journal for Chris
Continue with my Bible Studies.......


The list seems to keep on going! With the Lord's help, I'll be able to get some of those things accomplished! Oh, and on top of all of that, I want to get Olivia potty trained before new baby Kannel arrives! It doesn't seem like that much to do, but when you add in every day routine items like cooking, playing with Olivia, keeping the house tidy-ish, etc....it adds up pretty quick!


I guess all I can do is take one thing at a time, and be completely content with only crossing off one thing on the list at a time!


It's been a while since I've posted and a lot has happened throughout the past several months. It was definitely a blessing to be in Ohio for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and not have to travel back and forth from New York. We were less stressed, were able to spend more time with family, and spent less money on gas! We were able to celebrate both holidays with both sides of our family, so we racked up lots of grandparent/cousin/sibling time for all of us. I'll post some pictures in the next few days to document our past few months.


Olivia and I traveled to the west side of Chicago to visit one of my dear friends last weekend. She (along with her husband and three kids) moved out of New York about two months after we did and settled in Chicago. So, it was such a blessing to see her again, and it's great to have her semi-close by. Olivia did great traveling and had a blast playing with her three kids.

This past weekend, my parents came up to visit. They stayed with us instead of at a hotel, so it was nice to see them a lot. They were extremely helpful and donated their time to help paint the baby's room. My dad also helped Chris get lots of furniture and bins from our storage unit so we can start to set up the baby's room now that it's painted.

So, the room is painted, the furniture is here, the clothes/baby items are here in bins.....now comes the sorting, washing, arranging and putting into place! I'm eight weeks out from my due date....so we'll see when the little guy decides to make his appearance!

I should get going now and tackle something from my ginormous to-do list!

Christmas Card Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peak at our Christmas card this year (created on Shutterfly.com).

Peppermint Dots Christmas Card

Personalize the christmas season with Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Snail Mail Picture Cards

At our house, we truly enjoy receiving Christmas cards from all of our friends and family members. We hang up the cards around the door frame in the dining room and use them as decorations throughout the holiday season.

When Christmas time passes and it's time to take them down, I pull out all of the picture cards and place them in a scrapbook. I have a scrapbook compiled starting in 2005 (the year we got married), and have many extra pages to continue to expand our collection.

We enjoy sending photo cards of our family out as well so that our friends and loved ones can see our family grow and expand, but also so that our smiling faces might possibly bring a smile to someone else. Usually Chris likes to create, print and cut our own cards...but that takes a lot of time! To save time this year (pluse it's way more convenient), we plan to use Shutterfly to create our cards. We plan to use a card with two pictures on it, similar to one of these found at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/christmas-photo-cards.

We plan to include a picture of the three of us, along with a picture of the little tyke who is on the way! Chris loves to manipulate photos, so stay tuned to see what our card will actually look like!

Olivia is very photogenic, so I'm excited to see what her face will look like on our Christmas card. I also look forward to seeing smiling faces come in the mail so we can hang them up, then add them to our scrapbook at the end of December.

This year we also plan to give other photo gifts for our parents. I don't want to post exactly what I've picked out so far (because my mother and mother-in-law might read this), but I'll tell you what we've done in the past! We have created personalized calendars for our parents to see the grandkids throughout the entire year. We made them at http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars. It was relatively easy to upload and insert pictures and I highly recommend this - especially if you and your kids live far away from grandparents. There's nothing better then your mom or dad being able to see their smiling faces every day!

I am currently pregnant and expect to deliver sometime in March. When this happens, Chris will use his talents to create a birth announcement that we will most likely create at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/birth-announcements. March seems so far away, but I'm sure the time will pass before we know it!

Look for our card in the mail...and I'll look for yours!

Changes, Helping, and the Williams County Fair!

Life in the Midwest has definitely brought change for the Kannel family throughout the past four months! The house we have been renting is a huge blessing to us and it's amazing to think that we moved from a one bedroom apartment to a three bedroom house! Even more amazing...we had so much furniture crammed into that tiny apartment and in our storage units that our new, big house is already overflowing with furniture! Olivia loves to play in the back yard and likes to look for frogs and toads with her daddy.

She also likes to spend time helping us pull weeds and enjoys riding on the lawn mower with Chris. It seems like these are simple, mundane tasks...but when you haven't had to do it in about ten years, it's kind of nice to get back outside and take care of a yard. Things like that are often taken for granted, but we lived in a place for six years that had no yard and no garden...so seeing the fresh green grass out back is quite refreshing every day.

Olivia's "helping" doesn't always end up being so helpful, and in fact, this time it actually gave Chris a little bit more work to do since he could only use one hand!

Yes, she's asleep!

Olivia turned two on August 26 and we had an Olivia the pig birthday party with friends and family. She was very excited about her piggy cake! (I accidentally scraped off one of the nostrils on the top of the fridge...I promise it started with two!)

Chris and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on August 27...my how time flies! We celebrated by going to the drive-in movie....it's been so long since we'd been to a drive in, and it was a lot of fun!

5 year anniversay picture

More changes? After we have the house unpacked and everything seems to have a nice little home....we're planning to move again! We're making a few changes and moving across town in mid-October. So, everything will get packed away again and we'll make a new home some place else!

More, you ask? Baby Kannel #2 is due in March! I'm 16 weeks pregnant, have an expanding waistline, and am feeling great! Olivia likes to poke her finger in my belly button to tickle the baby who is "hiding inside from Olivia!" :)

12 Week Sonogram

Chris is working full time for his dad at the insurance office and is also working on some architectural projects on the side. He is still involved with the church building project in New York where we attended, and was also involved in a major project with the firm he worked for in New York. He traveled back to New York twice in September to attend some very important meetings and make presentations to councils for his projects. And, he's headed back again several times within the next few months!

A side note...check out the new website Chris designed for the family business: http://www.kannelinsurance.com/.

Three generations at Kannel Superior Agency, Inc.

He is also doing some architecture work for a few organizations here in town and is trying his best to get his name out as a local architect. If you know of someone who needs an architect, send him/her our way!

We haven't found a church home yet and we are constantly still searching. We've visited several and have ruled some out. But we just haven't been able to put our finger on the right one yet. We're praying that God lead us to the right decision so that we may grow in Christ and also teach our kids about God and His sacrifice for us. We'll find the right one eventually.

Montpelier hosted the Williams County Fair in September! Because it was right here in town, I decided to buy a weekly pass and we went to the fair almost every day. Olivia really enjoyed walking around, riding in the stroller, seeing the animals, watching the rides, and looking at all the people. It's been a great outing for us all week, either going in the morning before lunch or after nap time....and sometimes both!

This is the goat that wouldn't stop eating her pants! The next time we went to see it, it ate her stroller!

She cried/screamed through the first two laps of the pony ride...but then sat happily and (mostly) enjoyed herself after that.

Olivia is slurping down the last few drops of her daddy's Dairy Producers Chocolate Milkshake...don't miss a drop!

Stay tuned as we prepare to move again, remodel a house, decorate, and make more changes to our lives! It seems never-ending!

A Whirlwind!

The last several months seemed to be a whirlwind for Chris, Olivia, and me. I went back to work three days a week in October, and although I loved my job, it was very hectic! I was working part time but had a full time caseload. Needless to say, when I got home from work in the evenings, I had just enough energy to fix dinner, play with Olivia, and spend a little time with Chris before heading to bed. I then spend one day a week with a mother’s group (Westchester MOPS) and one day a week playing catch up!

Work was supposed to be a three month commitment while another lady was out on maternity leave. However, things changed and I ended up being there for seven months! Olivia attended day care while I was at work – and this was a great experience for her. She was able to learn to interact with peers, and had the opportunity to learn so much more in this amazing environment. There were 10 kids ranging in age from 15 months to 4 years old. So, while the older kids were learning from a preschool curriculum, Olivia picked up the information like a sponge! She can say her ABC’s, count to 20, and knows her shapes and colors. She also has a variety of songs and signs memorized. She never ceases to amaze us!

Meanwhile, Chris was still working on the new building design for our church family, the Westchester Church of Christ, and I was heavily involved with the moms and kids at our local MOPS group, Westchester MOPS. These two groups/organizations were huge blessings to us and made an everlasting impression on our hearts.

The Lord blessed us with selling our apartment in New York in May, and we moved back to Ohio in June. We’d been working on a selling arrangement since last October, so we when winter ended and spring rolled around, we began to wonder what the Lord truly had in store for our future. But, alas the sale went through and both of our families helped us relocate to Ohio.

We’ve been in Ohio for about 7 weeks, and it’s been quite an adjustment period! The way of life is definitely different, the cost of living is less, the income is different, the pace is slower…but it’s home! It is such a blessing to be making new friends, to have a roof over our heads, to have family nearby, and to be content with our new situation.

An Overwhelming Month!

Wow, where has time gone? I’ve said to myself several times that I would sit down and update my blog, yet it never got done. Here it is, halfway through October and I completely missed September. September was a busy month in the Kannel household. We flew to Ohio to celebrate Chris’ 30th birthday with his family. While we were in the celebrating mood, we also had a late celebration for Olivia’s 1st birthday. It was very nice to get to celebrate those two special occasions with our family. Of course, we couldn’t be in Chris’ hometown during fair week and not visit the famous Williams County Fair….so we took Olivia and strolled around the fair for an afternoon while we were there. (My sister-in-law took this picture - thanks Amy!)

The rest of September was spent making important decisions about our future. The place where I worked before Olivia was born called and asked me to come back and fill in for someone while she is out on maternity leave. This seamed like a good idea on the surface, but there are so many things to take into consideration. I really have enjoyed being at home with Olivia throughout the past 14 months, but I also really liked my job. I wish Olivia had kids to interact with daily, but there aren’t any kids that live nearby and our Mothers of Preschoolers group only gets together about twice a month. So, we thought this might be an opportunity for her to interact with other kids in a day care setting. Plus, as much as I love staying at home with Olivia, I also have been yearning to have more adult interaction during the day. It’s also important for me to keep my professional life active if I plan to run a private practice once we move back to Ohio.

So, after taking all of this into consideration, and after lots of prayer, we decided that it would be a good opportunity for me to take the job offer. However, we decided that doing it part time would be best…not only for me, but for Olivia as well. This way, she will still get to spend time with me during the week days, but she’ll get a chance to interact with others too. Plus, I’m not sure how I would do going back to work full time after being at home with her for 14 months! I’ll start work on October 27 and will work 2 days a week at first. The hope is that I will eventually pick up a third day, allowing us to bring in a little more income, and allowing Olivia to be with kids 3 days a week instead of 2.

The hardest part in this entire decision making process was finding day care for Olivia. I said when I was pregnant with her that I was glad I didn’t have to search for day care because that task just seemed way too daunting…not to mention expensive! Between the Yellow Pages, internet searches, verbal recommendations, and tips from Westchester County’s Child Care Council, I had 40 different providers to look into – that’s right, 40! I was able to cross some of them off the list based upon their location. Some were too far south and some weren’t close to either one of our work places. I called quite a few of them before attempting to visit and the majority of the locations don’t take kids who are under 18 months. That was very frustrating for me to understand, so I’m glad I wasn’t searching for a place for her to stay when she was 3 months old – I’m not sure what I would have found! I visited a lot of places, I can’t even remember how many! It surprised me at the huge differences in places that I found. Some were super clean, some super dirty. Some places were over run with kids and some keeping the numbers small on purpose. All the places were licensed by several different agencies/departments, but it was obvious that the different licenses require different amounts of attention to detail. The rates for each place were slightly different, and unfortunately something we had to take into consideration. We don’t want all of my new paychecks to have to go toward childcare!

After much consideration and several visits, we finally picked a place that we feel extremely comfortable with. It’s close to Chris’ work, so I’ll drop her off in the mornings and he’ll pick her up in the evenings. The staff members are super nice, caring, and devoted to helping the kids grow and learn. There are only 10 kids at this place, with 5 staff members around to help. The kids range from 14 months to 4 years old, so Olivia will have the chance to interact with kids of different ages. The lady who runs this day care out of her basement is very supportive and we are very happy with our choice. The price is somewhat depressing though. We’re paying 5 times what my brother is paying for daycare in Ohio! But, there aren’t any other options for us out here! Some of the mother in my MOPS group volunteered to watch her for a discounted rate, but they all live 35 minutes away – which means driving 35 minutes in the morning to pick her up, 35 minutes back to work, and doing the same after work. That’s just too much! Plus, someone at church offered to watch her as well, but her house is not close to either one of our offices, plus we feel Olivia is just too fast and too active for the lady to keep up with her! So, daycare it is!

Meanwhile, our apartment listing expired and we haven’t decided what to do about that. We’ve been praying so much for God to lead us in the direction that he sees fit. We have done our best to put our futures in God’s hands, letting go of the control ourselves. It’s easier to say but harder to actually believe that what God wants is what we want. Please pray for continued guidance for us…that we may follow the path laid out for us, regardless of our own plans for our future.

As we wait patiently for directions, we watch time pass by. Olivia turned 1, Chris turned 30, my grandma just turned 90, and Chris’ grandma is celebrating her 81st birthday today. Time will continue to pass, Olivia will start daycare and I’ll go back to work. Hopefully God will help us understand, and if it’s in His will, we’ll be able to move back to Ohio shortly after the New Year.

I’ll do my best not to get overwhelmed with what lies ahead, that way you can stay up to date on what’s happening in our lives!

Being Creative

Lately, when we've wanted to send cards to family or friends, we've decided to get a little creative. Chris has been drawing and painting in his spare time a lot, so he decided that he wanted to try creating his own cards. He has been doing this since the beginning of May and has really enjoyed his creations. We've even been brainstorming together about possible fronts of cards that he can create to submit to greeting card companies.

He recently put together a portfolio of several of his designs to submit to a company, and now we're waiting to hear back. So, if you get a card in the mail from us, chances are that Chris made it himself - just look for his initials with the year hidden somewhere in the drawing.

This is one he made for me for our anniversary. I said to him a few months ago, "you are always creating things for everyone else, but you've never made anything for me!" So, he surprised me on our anniversary with this card!

And, as an added bonus, here is a picture of Olivia at the park yesterday!