Happy 2011

Praise God that 2010 is in the tank. Looking back, it was definitely filled with blessing, but it was also very hard and ended with a very rough month for this family.

How do you know when you've been to the hospital too many times? When you receive multiple get-well cards from the same staff on the same day (they send one to every discharged patient). All told in the month of December, we made 5 trips to the emergency room, were admitted 4 separate times, had 3 surgeries, and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day in the hospital. We are very thankful that Aimee is on the mend finally.

Meanwhile, just as Aimee is emerging from this involuntary weight-loss program, Liam is growing like a champ, staying somewhere in the upper 90 percentile of everything. He is a strong little boy who will wiggle and stretch in your arms until he is upright and facing outwards (to see what's going on around him). He has also figured out how to roll over.

And leave it to our toddler Andy to find a way to soak his shoes and socks in milk. At a restaurant. We'll just leave this one to your imagination.

And speaking of Andy, we celebrated his THIRD birthday a few days after Christmas. He is developing his speech skills daily, but thankfully we still get to enjoy some of those sayings that only children can produce, such as:

"that kickles" (tickles)

"that weird"

And at bedtime or nap-time, Andy tells us he wants us to sit with him awhile to keep him company ("keep me cumpadee").

But in the midst of these cute phrases, he'll throw in grown-up words like "otherwise," and he'll correct Daddy by saying "No Daddy, that a goose-neck trailer, not flatbed."

We didn't take many photos last month for obvious reasons, and those we do have include pictures of tubes coming out of Aimee's body (the editor gave the ix-nay to posting these).

May we all enjoy a tube-less, hospital-less, blessed new year!

-Marshall, Aimee, Andy and Liam

"It okay Mommy, God with you. He in your heart."

If you are looking for our Christmas message, it got moved down the list (see below). Not long after posting it, Aimee developed appendicitis and had to have surgery. It all went well [update: so it didn't go so well and Aimee ended up back in the hospital -- three times -- for another surgery and procedure because of complications], but the real point of this post is to share the following. Upon returning home from the hospital the first time, Aimee said to Andy, "Andy, I was kind of lonely while I was in the hospital--I missed everyone," to which Andy responded, "It okay Mommy, God with you. God take care of you. He in your heart."

These words were especially poignant as this family spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning apart from one another--Aimee and Marshall in the hospital, Andy with Nana and Aaa, and Liam with Aunt Jill and Uncle Darrin. Aimee came home on Christmas day and we celebrated Jesus's birthday on the 26th.

Merry Christmas 2010

2010 brought many blessings and surprises to our family. We knew going in that we were expecting our second child in September—that bit of news arrived on Christmas Eve of last year. But not content to accept just that little bit of change to our lives, we found ourselves undertaking a major house renovation in the short time before the baby’s arrival. It began so innocently of course—just a simple house-painting you see. But before long we discovered a gaping rotted hole in the exterior of our home. We had to do something about that and the many other little surprises that we found. Ever seen “The Money Pit”? And William “Liam” Minnich was not willing to postpone his arrival to give us more time. He came home from the hospital with much of our basement still residing in our living room, a nice film of dust on everything, and no washer or dryer.

Our house is coming back together and we’re starting to breathe again. It is so nice to return to this blog with our Christmas greeting to you, our friends and family. Back when Aimee and I still had a “life” and had time to update this blog monthly, it had become a sort of prayer of examen for us. It was a monthly opportunity to look back and see what God was up to in our lives. Lord willing, we’ll get back to this practice—but we’ve learned to give ourselves grace on that. Until then, we hope you enjoy several months of photos (March through November) now posted on the sidebar. We also have numerous videos to share, but they are not yet processed. Check back later for those.

Besides Liam’s arrival and the construction upheaval in our home, not much has changed. Aimee continues her work with Servant Foundation, and Marshall with Rhythm of Grace. Andy, who was treated to all sorts of heavy machinery demonstrations in his own home this summer, is still wearing his work boots as often as possible. He is almost three and is a proud big brother. We are thankful for our health and for the grace and mercy of our Father. He is so good to us.

May your Christmas be blessed and your New Year prosperous-

-Marshall, Aimee, Andy and Liam

Random Update

I feel I need to post something or risk forgetting all the special things happening around here. But I have about 5 minutes before baby wakes, so it must be fast.

Cute things Andy says:
--"Stand back mommy. Andy doing wire." He said this as he was using his tools in the basement and pretending to do electrical work.

--"Andy hold/see/touch baby?!!!" He loves his brother.

--"Andy feed baby from my tummy". Said as he held his Cabbage Patch kid up to his tummy with shirt tucked under chin.

--"This train stressing me out, mommy".

Andy has had a word explosion--talking in sentences, paragraphs, and telling stories (sort of). He loves listening to stories, especially ones mommy and daddy make up about Diego, the animal rescuer.

Liam is getting big in a hurry. He has outgrown many of his 3 month clothes already. He's become wide-eyed and interested in the world lately and enjoys "talking" while eating. It's almost like a cat purring.

Otherwise it's construction as usual around here. I'm told I might have a washer and dryer today. I have my fingers crossed. Marshall is working feverishly to get the house put back together, but there's only so many hours in a day. Plus, we often have to wait for contractors--electrician and tile guy--to do their part. I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, though.

Still not getting a lot of sleep, but Liam has settled into a nice 3 hour rhythm (at least during the day). Predictability helps.

We are looking forward to a visit from mommom and pawpaw tomorrow! Maybe we'll even post pictures of their visit.

Newest Minnich

We are thrilled to announce that William Marshall Minnich was born September 2 weighing 9 pounds 11 ounces. We plan to call him Liam. Everyone is doing well.

Because we are proud parents, we'll share how we came to the name. Just as scripture uses a variety of names to describe the nature of God, so too can our name describe something of our character. That's why William, meaning "strong-willed protector" was appealing to us. Also, we were inspired by William Wilberforce's steadfast devotion to hear and follow the will of God. A worthwhile example for a boy. Likewise, we chose the middle name to celebrate my husband's faith heritage from his maternal grandfather.

If you're looking for a diversion on this nice Friday morning, check out the Christianity Today article on William Wilberforce.

We still don't have new photos or videos posted from this most busy of summers, other than the ones you see right here. But we are working on it!

Language Explosion

Wow, we've heard a language explosion from Andy in the past few weeks! He's trying way more words now, and putting together new word combinations every day. Many of them are cute and funny (at least to Momma).

One of his recent favorites is, "Hey momma, look Andy," followed by some special new trick, funny face, or general silliness. He also loves watching the construction workers at our house and likes to pretend to be one of them: "Andy dig; hard work; boots help." This usually means he's been digging with his shovel in one of our many dirt piles. We found actual waterproof work boots at Target. They look just like daddy's and the workers; Andy will not go anywhere without them. They're so authentic, we can't get them on his feet without the aid of a shoe horn.

We enrolled Andy in swim lessons that ended last week. They seem to have paid off, as he is a much more comfortable swimmer and can get around the pool totally on his own if he wears his life vest. It's slow, but he can make it from one end of the pool to the other and back again without any help.

And that's the way he wants it. "Andy do it! Go away, Momma." I hear that a few times a day, with Mr. Independence trying to do everything for himself, including put on his own work boots. Picture a toddler working with a shoe horn and you'll understand why it sometimes takes us 15 minutes to get dressed.

He still loves to play golf and hear me tell stories of going to play golf. Our "hit ball" stories have evolved from Momma as the primary story-teller to Andy giving his input. I used to tell elaborate, imaginative stories about how the ball would get gobbled up by a fish or taken by a bird to incubate in her nest. That just irritated Andy, who wanted me to get back to "hit ball." Now that Andy is helping tell the stories, they always end with Andy driving the ball farthest off the tee and being the first to get his ball in the hole. Whoever else he's playing with--Momma, Daddy, Nana, Aaa (aka, Don), etc.--often end up in the sand, water, trees, or with balls that can't find their way across the green. For a while, Andy would tell me that Aaa was too sick to play golf, but Andy thinks he's feeling better and includes Aaa in the stories again.

One final Andy story to record for posterity: whenever we have to go out in the rain, he tries to protect me by putting his hands over my head. Very sweet, but not so effective. Still, a true gentleman, just like his daddy.

Marshall wants me to reassure our devoted followers that he will eventually have time to post several months worth of photos and updates.

Happy Independence Day

It's been way too long since we last posted. Rather than try to remember everything from the last three months, I'll just give a short report on how we spent our 4th of July.

We went in the morning to the Prairie Village city fair. Skies were threatening rain, so Daddy made a beeline to see the chinook helicopter. We all got to walk through the cargo area and look inside the cockpit. Later, we saw the giant bird take off. That sight was the highlight for most boys--big and small.

Andy loved climbing inside the real fire trucks and spraying the fire hose with the help of a firefighter. Thanks to Momma's lack of technical know-how, we missed that video op. Marshall is almost speaking to me today.

We met our friends, the Harrisons, and their two boys at the fair. Andy loved chasing the boys and running around in the grass. To cap off a fabulous day, Andy won a drawing for a remote-control ferrari. What a day!

In the evening, we decided to forego the fireworks and keep it low-key at home.

We are thankful to God for the freedoms He's given us, and all those who have fought for this country to help preserve them.