Tim + Sarah
Start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start: read the story of how we met. Both are cradle Catholics who love to travel, drink good beer, be outdoors, and spend time with the kids.
Tim is the brains and the brawn in relationship. He's the fun Dad. He's the grill master. He's the out-going one - the fact that he wants to talk to people, sometimes even strangers, makes Sarah's palms sweat and heart race. There's no one who can't be his friend and he knows just about everyone in our small town. He's the youngest of three children, a Purdue graduate, and an IT guy extraordinaire. Tim takes perseverance and troubleshooting to a new level. Any problem can be overcome with some thought and a few "work-arounds". Unfinished projects make him break out in hives. Cleanliness and orderliness are next to godliness in Tim's book. He also has a love for cars, zip ties, peanut butter, and the daily newspaper.
Sarah is the stay-at-home mom side of the equation. She is the oldest of seven children - which means she basically came out of the womb a Mother Hen and over cooks for our family on a daily basis. She's a proud Xavier grad, the messiest cook, the loudest talker, and the most introverted person in the family...until Felicity came along. When she's not mixing up finger paint or filling the water table, Sarah is volunteering at church, wishing she had time to read, pinning things, and sewing, though not necessarily in that order. Sarah dislikes clutter and can frequently be found cleaning out the closets (again). She can veer toward get-it-done-quickly rather than get-it-done-perfectly and has an appreciation for efficiency that clashes too often with the easily distracted toddler phase. Her favorite things are bedtime, the 6 hour BBC Pride and Prejudice, and fabric shopping.
As parents, we want to raise children who are God-fearing, God-loving, and respectful. We also think it's very important that they be curious. We love to hear them ask why and encourage them to play outside. No one is more creative than the Creator, so let them enjoy it! (Plus, it tires them out.) We're no parenting experts and often flop on the couch after tucking them into bed wondering how we survived another day. So far, they're turning out okay, so we'll just keep forging ahead.
Miriam Joy
The typical oldest. Which also means she's a parenting experiment as we try to figure out what works and doesn't. As they say, "Kids don't come with a manual." Born in 2009...nine months after her parents' wedding. She is bright, fabulously articulate, prone to travel sickness, and somehow slightly reserved (a trait inherited from her mother). Miriam loves to do what is "right" and hates to disappoint. She adores owls, the outdoors, her teachers, her siblings, reading, and will eat anything. She was a tough baby, an easy toddler, an eager preschooler, a lovable Kindergartner, and the smartest elementary child we can imagine!
Vivian Therese
Our wild thing. Our ball of energy. Our fearless wonder. Vivian was born in 2010, just 11 months after her older sister. The Ying to Miriam's Yang. She will explore anything, try anything, and is always searching for a loophole. She asks amazing questions, rarely complains, and is not an early bird. Like her father, Vivian has never met a stranger. We choose Vivian's name because it name means "full of life". And no one has more appropriately named since the dawn of time. Vivian loves rice, broccoli, and cereal, to be heard, playing paperdolls, using her brilliant imagination, and television. With her constant activity, we're happy to say that Vivian is the best sleeper in the house.
Felicity Grace
A third little girl! The sweetest baby who ever did breathe...and she's never outgrown that! She likes any craft with paper and glue, swimming, travel, and trying to keep up with her sisters. Dislikes include being interrupted and having her hair combed. She also has an aversion to crowds, Miriam calls it her "people sickness". She was born in 2013...we were sure this one had to be a boy and didn't bother picking out a girl's name until we were laboring at the hospital. Felicity doesn't want to miss a moment of the action. She started rolling over by 3 months old, crawling at 6 months, and first steps at 9 months. Deeply entrenched in the 'attached to Mom' phase, Tim called her Sarah's arm charm. It wasn't until she was four years old that she stopped crying each time a babysitter arrived. As a Kindergartner, it was difficult to leave home, but she's made friends and is beginning to enjoy her school days!
Simon Paul
We picked out two names - one girl and one boy. But when he arrived, we didn't use either. Mommy knew he was a Simon. And now our Simon is all boy. Trucks, tractors, lawnmowers, buses, cars, trains - all the wheeled, motored things have his attention! He wants to be tickled all day long which we love because he has the best giggle. He makes life more fun with his constant zipping around; as Grandpa says, "Simon only has fast twitch muscles." But he loves to sleep, will settle down to read together, and we catch him singing with Felicity. He's a little bashful with new people, big dogs, and loud noises but this is probably how God designed him to keep him from running too far!
