Noah is 1!

Oh big man!  What would we do without you?!  You are one now, seems like such a big milestone.  I cannot believe a year ago I gave birth to my biggest bundle of love!!  You are such a sweet joy to be around!  You LOVE your siblings.  Anytime they come into the room, your whole face lights up, and you put your arms out to them for a hug and a kiss!  What a little lover you are!  Anyone you meet you want to hug and kiss, or head butt(that seems to be your other sign of affection!)!  You are so rough, yet so gentle.  For as young as you are, you sure do love to tackle your siblings!  They all know you can take them down quick!  You like to play cars with your brother, but you are really more of a ball boy!  You get sooo excited when you see a ball! You love to throw it, and chase it around the room!  You also love your doggies!  You refer to them both as good girl, they seem to love the attention you give them!  You are such a good talker for being one!  You are constantly surprising us with new words that you have learned!  Your current favorite phrases are: "go get it" (often said when you throw the ball across the room!), "good girl" (your name for both dogs), "all done", and then you have so many single words I don't even think I can list them all!  You are working on standing up by yourself, and you crawl ALL over the place!  You are starting to walk, but you don't dare to let go, although you can cruise around the house with your walker one handed! Funny boy!

Your siblings insisted since you have a summer birthday that you needed ice cream cones!  We settled for ice cream cone cupcakes.  A twist on cake, and ice cream!  I would say you enjoyed yourself!!

 You figured out you could reach them, and helped yourself to some frosting!

 You were a bit hesitant to try them, at first!

 I'd say you decided it wasn't so bad after all!

All done, next up, a bath!

We love you sweet boy! We are looking forward to what this next year will bring us!  You are our little lover, and our big man!  I cannot wait to see how that manifests itself as you get older!  You are my biggest one year old to date, but man are you cute!  We cannot get enough of all those lovable rolls!  They just make squeezing on you such a delight!  We pray that you will get to know the Lord, and love Him!  We also pray you will continue to have such a good relationship with your siblings, and continue in your sweet loving spirit!

 Presents are WAY more fun to climb on then to actually open!

 You were pretty excited to get some blocks, so you could play with the big kids!

Happy Birthday Noah! Here's to the next year!

33 weeks!

Well little one, we have done it!  We made it over 33 weeks!  We have a little more than 2 weeks left on bed rest, unless you decide to come sooner. (but we are praying you stay there for awhile yet!)

Our time in the hospital has been pretty calm this past week! We thank God for that!  Each day that you stay inside is a blessing, and we hope that trend continues.  Although, we cannot wait to meet you, and get the family back together! I still get to see your sweet face everyday, and you cannot imagine the joy that brings me!  Even with our daily ultrasounds, we still don't know if you are a boy or a girl.  We do know you are beautiful, and a precious gift from God, and we cannot wait until the day when we can find out, and get to kiss on that sweet face!  If you don't decide to come sooner, we have a scheduled C-section for Dec. 26th the day after Christmas!  I hope you don't hate us forever for that date, but that is the day you are 36 weeks old, and the Doctors want you out by then!! Wasn't really our choice-we can blame the Doctors for the date picked!  But we are excited to welcome you into our family as a little late Christmas gift! There is no better way to spend the day after Christmas in my opinion.  Christmas day we get to celebrate Jesus, and the Man who brought us a new life, and makes us a new creation.  And the very next day, we get to celebrate our own special gift from God.  Which by the way is what your name means....we didn't know when we picked out your names it would have more than one meaning! But God always has a way of surprising us that way, doesn't He?

The kiddos are still doing really good, and are having a great time with Mimi and Papaw!  Loving every minute of the extra attention they get, with all the aunts and uncles and great grandparents around.  It makes my Momma heart happy to see them all having so much fun, and getting so much love!

Greg has been busy at home.  Slowly getting things ready for us all to be home, and taking care of Decaf and the cats!  Thankfully a good friend volunteered to keep Kona while we are all spread out all over the place.  That has been a huge relief for us, knowing we don't have to have someone there to let her out every couple hours.  We also have another amazing friend that has been going and letting Decaf out when Greg decides to spend the night up here.  Another huge help, because then he doesn't have to drive back and forth so much!

We have been blessed majorly by friends, family, and church family!  Through all the visits, cards, presents, help with our animals, and kiddos.  We couldn't do it without you all supporting, and praying for us!

"I thank my God every time I remember you."-Phillipians 1:3

Time...

Ah...The ever elusive time.  We are never content, it seems, with the time we have been given.  We want it to slow down, speed up, we need more of it, there just doesn't seem to be enough time to go around!  What is it about life that makes us beg for it to slow, or for more of it?  I mean we can't really make more time.  We all are given the exact same amount of time in the day, and we need to learn how to make the most of what we have been given.

Being put in the hospital on bed rest for 5 weeks, plus the recovery time at the end, has really made me realize that time is all in what we make it!  Now, I have known this before, and have always thought of myself at being a good time manager.  And to be honest, I thought the worst part about this whole bed rest thing was all the "wasted" time I was going to have.  I mean really, what on earth was I supposed to do with 5 weeks of "free time?"  Free time was barely accounted for in my day to day living.  I mean, I chase and train four small children around all day! When they are sleeping it is time to catch up...do the dishes, the laundry, the sweeping, the mopping(so no one falls trying to run on the wet floor!).  Me time-well that just wasn't really in the plans.  That was something I could maybe squeeze in from 10p-11p at night, and usually by that point I was too tired, I would do my quiet time, and then just stare at the wall! Kind of a waste of time, but a debriefing of sorts after my busy day, which I found my body to need before I could settle into a good sleep!

What I have found out about time is even on bed rest, you can still wish for more.  Funny right??? I have been given all the time in the world.  And here I sit, wishing for more? What on earth is wrong with me?  We live in such a busy, go go go world, it is so hard to just be, and I mean really be in the moment.  I have learned to be content, and to love the moment that I am in.  And I am actually loving my bed rest.  YES, you heard that correct, I am loving it. And no it isn't because I don't have to spend my day chasing kids around from sun up to sun down, because I miss that part of my day. I yearn for the day when I get to do all that again, and get to bask in the little moments with my children. And I know that day will come soon (relatively speaking!).  I have already finished 2 weeks here at the hospital.  I have no idea where those two weeks have gone.  I thought I would have made a chain counting down the days until I can break out of here.  But instead I have chosen to give myself tasks, deadlines, and the ability to do things for myself.  This has been a wonderful time of refreshment for my soul. I have been able to paint my toenails without 4 heads watching me, and trying to touch the pretty polish! (I do miss that though!)  I have been able to take a long, hot shower.  I have been able to read! Read big people books!  I read a lot during the day to my children, but reading books that are good for my soul, has brought a whole new wave of refreshment to my life.  I have been able to calm myself from the busy.  Something I think we all need from time to time!  It is good for us to slow down, take a break, and just be.

God knows I don't slow down for anything, I thrive on being a goer, and packing as much on my to-do list as possible.  I am good at judging myself for the day based on how many things I got crossed off the list, or how many additional things I have added. He also knows that I need time with Him, and with myself to find myself in Him again.  And sometimes He does that in such dramatic ways, we have no choice but to shut up and listen!  Well, Lord, you have my attention, and my time.  Please help me to use this time wisely!  Help it to not slip from my finger tips, by filling it with useless things.  Help me to minister to others, and come up with my mission for the next year.  The quiet has been nice, and oh so good for my soul.  And I choose to thank you Lord, for giving me this time of peace.  A time to reflect on all you have done in my family's life, and in my own.  A time to truly reflect on you this Christmas season.  A time of anticipation, much like Mary must have felt knowing the time was near.  I cannot imagine!

"He says, Be still and know that I am God." -Psalm 46:10a

Avery Turns 2

My sweet girl! I cannot believe you are 2!!!  You are such big stuff, for a tiny little thing.  Short and Sassy!  You know how to hold your own around here, and you are also not afraid to voice your opinion.  You are smart, funny, and oh so serious!  You always know when to make us laugh, and man can you make us laugh!  You also are the most empathetic baby!  Any time anyone is hurt, or sad, you run to them, and make sure they are ok.  If they have an owie you kiss it better, if they are just upset you give them a hug, if they are sulking well then you sit next to them with your little arm around them and rub their back! There is no one like you my sweet child. I pray you keep your sweet, empathetic spirit!  What a joy and a blessing you are to our family!

We got to spend your 2nd birthday at Mimi and Papaw's house! Just like we have been able to do with your big siblings.  Oh man did you have fun-although being my more serious child you did run off to play by yourself several times.  I think the amount of people there may have been a little overwhelming for you! Of course your party was HUGE! Lots of friends and family came to celebrate YOU!  We celebrated with a huge brunch!  Of course because Mimi was in charge of the food, we knew it was going to be good! And she didn't let us down!!

 Your cute watermelon bowl that Mimi made!

Momma got to make you a cupcake cake!  You LOVE cupcakes, so we figured this was the perfect way to make sure you got cupcakes!  We of course had to shape it like a princess dress, being that you are such the little princess!  And it HAD to be purple.  Your new favorite color.  Not sure if that was put on you by big sister or not, but you seem content in knowing it is YOUR color.  You definitely make sure we all know anything purple MUST belong to you, because who else could have something in your color!

Princess Dress Cupcake Cake!

 Blowing out your candles

 Mmmmm...yummy!

Time for presents! You are a spoiled and loved little girl!  There were so many presents for you to open!  You loved them all!  You got lots of stuff for your baby doll (your new favorite toy), and were so excited! You also got coloring stuff, little people, clothes, jammies, underwear, dress up stuff, a rolling backpack (another favorite!).  When all was said and done, you were tired and definitely ready for a nap-of course after you tried out and opened all of your new toys!  What a pleasure it was to have all of our friends and family there to help us celebrate you being you!  We love you sweet girl and cannot wait to watch you continue to grow!  We pray you will grow to love the Lord, and continue to throw us all into giggle fits, and keep caring about others!  

Happy Birthday Avery!

 Present time

Noah and Athaiah decided they wanted to help you open presents!

Week 1 DONE!

Baby and I have officially made it past 1 week in the hospital! YEAH!  Feels good to check that off the list!  We are now 32 weeks, which means we are pretty much in the clear for a lot of the major medical issues that could arise with baby coming early!  Feels good to know that pretty much anything with encounter from here on out, and easily be "fixed."  As in, most babies this early cannot suck, swallow, breathe together making eating hard, but they will put in a feeding tube so baby can eat, and they will swab baby's mouth with breast milk so it still gets all the wonderfully good antibodies my body has made for it! Then as baby masters this wonderful technique the feeding tube can come out!  Baby may need oxygen at this point, but again that is another pretty easy, and non-permanent fix!  It just feels so much more reassuring knowing that most things at this point can be treated and solved with little to no issue for baby or I!

(This sweet face! I am so in LOVE!)

Our hospital stay for the most part has been fairly uneventful-with the exception of Tuesday afternoon!  Tuesday I got out of bed to go to the bathroom, and found I couldn't walk!  That is how this pain thing seems to work-ZERO pain all day, and then suddenly BAM knocks me on my feet (almost literally that day!).  The nurses up here where amazing, they had me down to L&D in less than 5 minutes!  I was down in L&D for 10 hours that afternoon.  I have never been so happy to come back to my cozy room up here!!  They had me hooked up to all the monitors, did an ultrasound, and tried to keep me as comfortable as possible.  They came to the conclusion that my pain is probably just coming from my old scar tissue (along my old incision line), trying to stretch, and grow with the rest of my uterus and body. BUT since it is scar tissue it can't really stretch like the rest of me, meaning it is going to feel painful!  The best thing they likened it to is the following (Just to give you an illustrations as to what is might feel like!)  You fall when your little and scrape your knee-bad enough that you get a nice scab on the top of your knee.  Now that  you have this wonderful scab on your knee walking isn't so easy- it hurts when you bend  your leg, or feels tight when you stretch it out because you have that scab sitting on a place that used to be flexible and just move where ever you did.  Essentially what that means is I have a nice "scab" on my uterus, and as it is stretching it is pulling on it! Make a bit more sense?! I hope!

We have officially spent our first "couple" holidays in the hospital, and they weren't all that bad!   I say couple...We were here for Thanksgiving, which also happened to be my hubby's birthday this year! Poor guy!  He came up here for the day, and we spent it just chilling and hanging out. SOOO very different from every other year, where I am up early and in the kitchen all day-or at work all day to come home and get to work in the kitchen!  Very, very relaxing.  They served Turkey for lunch and it really was pretty good, especially considering it was hospital food! They gave me pumpkin pie (which is Greg's favorite!), he got to have that and call it his birthday dessert! THEN a wonderful friend of mine (who is ready to pop any day herself!) Brought us up a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving feast for dinner! Oh my goodness, it was AMAZING!  It was beyond sweet to have a home cooked meal, and homemade pie for dessert, Apple and Pumpkin.  Needless to say, I think we both were in heaven with this meal!  Greg got to spend the night Thursday and Friday since the weather was bad!  He is home now-that way he could keep an eye on the dog and not get stuck here if the weather got worse!  It was so nice to have 2 days to spend with just my hubby.  We may have been stuck in a hospital, but we got to talk without much interruption-he got to see the baby on the ultrasound, and we got to just hang out! It was amazing! We finished our first puzzle in like 5 years! Which really brought me back to our early marriage when it was just the two of us...we would spend almost every night working on puzzles together in the dining room after dinner! Always had a blast! I enjoyed getting to do that with him again. I will say I think I am totally out of puzzle practice though-puzzles these day consist of match the shape, or object, or alphabet, or letter, etc.  doing a "real" puzzle really stretched my brain power! LOL!

I honestly thought I would be more bored up here than I am!  Which is a huge answer to prayer! Anyone who knows me knows, I CANNOT sit still!  I, however, have been able to be still.  And in fact have come to like some of the quiet!  I have had more adult interaction in the past week, than I probably had in the past 5 years (since I don't have to stop and chase kids in the middle of conversations and such!).  I have gotten 4 knitting projects done, finished 2 books, made all my kids a mommy loves you bracelet (and the girls a necklace-per the princesses request!), finished a puzzle with my hubby, and had a couple naps! I even have gotten to have my quiet time in *gasp* the quiet! All in all a good week!  I miss my kids like crazy, but I'm sure that goes without saying!  I am able to skype them and have done that several times since being here.  They seem to be doing quite well, and are having a good time with all the family they are getting to see! Their Mimi even lets them color with markers *gasp*! (<---Mommy usually saves those for special occasions, making this a very big deal for them!)

Thank you to everyone who has made my stay here great!  I have had many wonderful friends visit, bearing wonderful gifts, and food, and goodies!  I cannot say thank you enough.  It has meant more than you will ever know, and makes me feel so very loved!  Also, to the people who have helped watch our pet babies so Greg could come up here, you are also amazing, and we wouldn't know what to do without you!  I know a lot of you have also donated to our gofundme account that my friend set up for us, and I cannot thank you enough for that as well, since I will be out of work for at least 12 weeks, and we were really only planning on 6, every little bit helps!  All of the love you have shown us, in so many different ways has truly touched our lives! To our family, who stepped up and took in our kids for such a long period of time, so we wouldn't have to worry about who was going to watch them when!  I know they are happy and feeling loved as well, and as their momma this makes me feel at ease, and able to rest!  Thank you for everyone who has prayed for us!  We need that the most! Just keep praying the kiddos will behave, this little one will stay put, and I will continue to stay "busy!" And Greg will continue to maintain the home front!(which is sounds like he is doing quite marvelously!)  We love you all, and I thank God for you all daily!

Our little Surprise!

This is about the best title I can come up with for this blog post! This one has been a surprise from the get go!

A recent pic of our sweet angle's face! (and big belly!) Look at those chubby cheeks! 

Let me give you a little background for those of you who keep asking...Are you ready? There may be some TMI, but people are asking so I'm just gonna answer all the questions I have gotten here, and maybe that will make it a bit easier for everyone!
1. Why on Earth did you have them so close together? Didn't you know that would cause so many complications?  Well there are several answers to this question.  Although I HATE this question and really don't think it is very kind of people to ask, here are the many answers to it! Number 1: we believe in this family that all children are a gift, and are put into our lives for a reason.  NOW with that said, this was the first pregnancy we were trying really hard NOT to have. Not that anyone should need  to know, but because everyone wants to know we were on two different forms of birth control (if you count all the old wives tales-well that brings that number to about 4-5! But those are old wives tales!) Yes, we still got pregnant. And that brings us to baby #5! God's obviously chosen baby just for us.  Our little surprise! Our special miracle! And that is something this baby will always be to us, a miracle and a gift no matter the outcome!
2. Did you know you would be put on bed rest?  Call it mommy intuition, but I kept telling people I didn't for see them letting me go (as hard as I do) for my entire pregnancy.  I had a feeling I would probably be told I couldn't work any more as we got closer to the due date, but I never dreamed I would be stuck in a hospital at 30.5 weeks, and stuck there until delivery date!
3. Why are you there? What happened? This is a good question...I am here for the moment strictly on precautionary measures.  I got here under somewhat false pretenses (meaning I didn't think I would be staying!) Story Time:  Thursday I was having some pain along my old incision line in the morning.  It went away and I thought I was in the clear. HAHA, NOPE came back with a vengeance that night, and it hurt to walk.  I just had this feeling something wasn't right.  Knowing I was high risk, but not wanting to freak out, I called the hospital.  They put me in touch with my Dr. since it was after hours.  My Dr. decided it was best that I come in for an ultrasound, that way they could check out my uterus and the baby and make sure all was good!  Well, as you know we have 4 small children, so I hollered down the stairs to my hubby that I was going to the hospital for an ultrasound and would be back soon.  They just wanted to take a look on the inside and make sure all was well.  YES I drove myself to the hospital, what else do you do when it is bedtime, and someone has to be with the kiddos? Plus at this point in time, I really just thought it would be an ultrasound, everything would check out, and I would be on my way home, and told to take it easy! I get the hospital, they check me in, and start me on fluids, and the baby monitor until the ultrasound tech can get there.  Dr arrives and notices I am having some contractions.  She ordered a shot to stop those in their tracks...Here I sit by myself thinking, well baby is fine so far from what the monitors say, they have given me fluid so there is no way I'm dehydrated, they have now stopped any hint of contractions I was having, so let's get the ultrasound done, so I can go home and go to bed (I had planned to go to bed early tonight, and I really didn't want to miss my early bed time HA!) Ultrasound comes in, says baby looks healthy and fat (estimated size at 30.5 weeks was 4lbs 5oz, which is a good sized baby for as many weeks as I have left!)  Now I'm really feeling good, ultrasound looks good, baby is more than healthy! I can go home now,...NOPE.  Dr comes in and says she is going to consult her friends and fellow Drs in Wichita just to make sure we aren't missing anything.  She then orders me a steroid shot, and Mag. (BOTH nasty drugs!) She returns about 10 minutes later, and says "Well we are sending you to Wichita via Ambulance.  Would you like to call your husband and let him know? We want you with a neonatal specialist there, and we are thinking we need to monitor you for 24 hrs, and we will know more." OK?! Small freak out moment, I thought this was just an ultrasound now like 4 medications in, an ultrasound, and like 7 sticks later, I am headed to Wichita via Ambulance, not really how I had my evening planned.  Time to call Greg..He of course stays calm, he gets to work on finding someone to come stay with the kiddos. (HUGE shout out to Aly for coming and staying overnight with them, so Greg could be with me in the hospital on such short notice!) Fast forward and we are in Wichita.  This means more Mag in the IV, more IV fluids, people come in and check on you every 30 minutes, I have strings and things attached to every place on my body.  Drs come and go, another ultrasound, and finally it is 330AM!, unable to sleep because of the constant interruptions and all the cords going every which way.  The kind nurse offered to bring me some benadryl to help me sleep! I have never been so excited to hear that I got to take a medicine in my life! LOL! They still continue to check on me, but luckily the benadryl has take a hold and I hear them talking, can answer about 1 word answers, and am back asleep! Thank goodness for some good rest.  530 am, Greg's alarm goes off, and he gets ready to head back home to take care of the kids for the day.  Again, we are still just thinking I'm here for 24hr observation and should be home by tomorrow am(Saturday!) at the latest! I tell Greg I will keep him posted, and to love on the kiddos for me, and tell them mommy will be home soon! (HA!) Can you see this just keeps getting better? 630am Drs begin their rounds, I start by meeting the residents.  Then about 730 the Neonatal Dr comes in.... Very nice Dr, but he gets to drop the bombshell, he says I will not be going home! Wait, what?! Did I just hear that correct, I am NOT going home until I have this baby?  You know I'm like almost 31 weeks, but that is a LOOOONG hospital stay, and I don't sit still well! He tells me why, and I have to agree that his reasons are correct, and it really probably is the best thing for baby and I, I just hate to admit it! Well, now it's time to call Greg and update him to the "new" plan! He takes it well, and says as long as you are ok, and baby are ok, we will figure it out.  I love my cool calm and collected man.  Well I can be a spazz, and he is just always so calm and put together.  God knew I needed that in a man, and what a special man he gave to me!! Now we get to work calling family, now that we have the story, and know the long term goals!  LONG story thanks for hanging in there, but now you know ;)
4. What are they watching you for?  They are watching me for any signs of any more pain (No I am not taking pain medication, as they want me to feel even the slightest change in my body!).  They are doing daily ultrasounds to monitor both my uterus, and the baby.  This is so if they see any change what so ever in my uterine thickness or in baby's movements, or detect a leak they can get to work immediately.  They are mostly worried since I started having pain that it is a symptom that my uterus is weakening.  They don't want me and baby an hour away and need emergency surgery.  So I am here, and being monitored and watched through out the day.  I am instructed to call with any change in anything, and if the pain strikes immediately to just pull the call light out from the wall, and that signals emergency, and everyone will come running!
5. What are the plans?  I am currently 31 weeks pregnant, they would obviously like to see baby in there as long as possible. NOW if something is to happen today or tomorrow they would get baby out ASAP! BUT the goal is to make it until at least 34 weeks with no baby (hence the strict bed rest, so I can't upset anything!) The Dr  is thinking that he would like to see baby here no later than around 36 weeks though, because they just don't think my uterus will be able to hold onto baby much longer than that, and they don't want me to go into any kind of labor on my own for fear of uterine rupture!  What this means is that I am stuck here for at least the next 3-4 weeks, and at the most about 6-7 weeks.  That is a lot of sitting for this momma, who is used to staying so busy!
5. How am I doing with all this? Glad you asked....I am doing really well.  The hard part: Being away from my family! I hate not being able to see them all day long, and give them hugs n kisses n snuggles whenever I want.  My kids and my husband are my world, and being far away from them is the HARDEST part of all! Other than that, this hospital gets boring, but when Greg gets back I am going to hopefully talk him into bringing me up something to do!  I know I am in good hands, both here with the hospital team and with GOD.  He has held me since day 1, and I know he will continue to hold me.  He gave me this miracle child, and I expect that he will show us all the way to the end, whatever and whenever that will be!  I have complete faith in him, and from the time I pulled into the hospital for my ultrasound to this very day, the song "Be Still and Know that I am God" has been stuck in my head.  And I can only guess it is there for a reason!
6. How are the kiddos? They are sooo excited.  They came up here yesterday to say good bye to me, and all they could talk about was going to see all their grandparents and great grandparents! They also talked about how excited they were that mommy was going to have a baby, and they can't wait to see it.  They are all rooting for a boy (it is a surprise!) so we shall see.  They are really being troopers, but they have been able to have daddy with them during the day,and now they get to be spoiled and loved on my family and friends, so they see nothing wrong with their end of the bargain!

 

7. How is Greg? He is good, he is such a calm quiet man. He can be hard to read.  But he is a rock that is holding this family together, and keeping us all in order.  He has arranged transportation to get the kiddos to MI to be with family.  He has brought me things that I need, and I'm sure come next week when he can chill a bit he will be thankful, and able to soak more of it in!  For now, he just tells me he is all good, because he knows the kids will be taken care of, he can still work, and baby and I are in good hands here in Wichita! What would we do around here without this wonderful, strong, quiet man, by our sides! I'm sure we would all be lost!

Well there is the really, really long version of our story.  I will keep you posted as we know more!  I have noticed I haven't updated this blog in forever so while I sit, with little to do, I will probably go on blog overload with updates on all my kiddos, and putting things up that I missed! Here is your warning! If you have any questions, I never have any problems answering.  Just know that I work in the medical field and nothing scares me, so your answer may be blunt or contain TMI but I will answer it to the best of my ability!

Athaiah turns 3!

My sweet little peanut!  How are you already 3? I wish that time would slow, you are getting so big, soo fast, I wish I could keep up!  You are still a mommy's girl, and I hope you stay this way forever.  You are my sweet and sassy little girl!  Always keeping mommy and daddy on their toes.  You are smart beyond your years, and can speak like an adult! I am constantly amazed at how quickly you can pick up on new ideas, and your concept of words and sentences!  Watch out world, Athaiah is coming for you!!  You are such the little momma to your siblings, always making sure they have what they need and if they don't getting it for them (usually all by yourself!).  From the second your feet hit the floor you are a running bundle of energy, and enthusiasm.  You have such a happy spirit, and I pray you will always keep it! You are a girly girl to the MAX, but aren't afraid to get dirty(although you will promptly clean yourself up!) You are my snuggle bug-always have been, some things never change, and I hope they never do.  I can always count on you to climb into our bed in the middle of the night, and to want me to snuggle or rock you to sleep for nap time. And randomly throughout the day to climb into my lap or beg to be picked up because you just need a quick snuggle.  I love your affection, and you give it to everyone so freely.  It always brightens our days when you offer up your snuggles so freely!

 Momma's girl forever!

 Birth to Now~ I cannot believe how you have grown my sweet girl!  Time flies!

 Rockin' her new shades from Auntie Lolo and Uncle Robert! Always a fashionista

 Baby Blankets! From her Oma and Opa!

 Big Girl with her Big Bike-complete with a purse and baby carrier of course!!

You requested a birthday cookie cake this year, and you got it.  You couldn't have been happier.  Always an original thinker!  You also requested meatballs, noodles with cheese, corn, and cantaloupe!  Such a well rounded meal for a sweet 3 year old to pick up!  You also picked to have strawberry pancakes for lunch-which turned out fabulous( if I do say so myself)! Great IDEA! We love you sweet girl, and we cannot wait to see where life takes you.  We pray that you will continue to learn, and that you will one day learn all about God and His love for you, and become a part of HIS family!  Keep growing strong my sweet one, and stay positive! 

 The cookie cake that you picked for mommy to make-had to have pink m&ms in it, yes I was a good mom and picked out all the pink ones(good thing your birthday is close to Easter!) And of course baby had to have some too!

We love you sweet peanut! You are have always been my skimmy immie(as you say!) Weighing in at 32lbs, and 39.5" tall!

Easter

Christ is Risen, HE is Risen INDEED!

I am so thankful this season(well really all the time!) for a Savior who died for my sins once and for all.  For the nails that pierced his hands and feet, and all the love that He has shown for me.  He has extended me grace and mercy when I do not deserve it.  Oh LORD thank you for all that you have done for me, and I pray that you will continue to allow me to live out your love in my life.  Let me lay down my life for my family and those around me.  Allow me to be your vessel, and LORD allow me to teach what a GREAT LOVE you have for us to my children.  So that they will one day come to know you and your love as well!

Easter is such a wonderful season of remembrance of all that Christ has done for us, and although we still do little things that point us to the world and not to Christ.  I have tried in everything that we did this season to some how bring it all back to Christ, and why we really celebrate Easter!

This year I decided to have the kids make their own Easter baskets out of paper plates.  I love to do crafts, and my kiddos like to do them to.  They can sometimes turn chaotic when you have 4 people 4 and under trying to do crafts together, but they always make for a lot of fun, and a lot of conversations. While we colored our Easter baskets I told them the Easter story, and why we celebrate this time of year. (If you want to make these for yourselves next year, I just googled it! They were super easy to make, and were a lot of fun!)

Take a look, they turned out so cute, and they are small which is perfect because we don't usually give them a whole lot(we all know small children don't really need any sugar, or they won't be sleeping for the next 6 weeks, in turn meaning we won't be sleeping for the next 6 weeks!)<---OK maybe that is a slight exaggeration.

 We also dyed Easter Eggs(which they were told will be saved for Easter Morning!).  They did really good, at not making messes...I was really, really impressed with this "craft" time!  The egg kit that we got had these awesome glasses and mustaches to add to the eggs once they were dry, meaning they got double the fun, dye and stickers!

AND of course, we made cookies, what is a holiday if you can't make sugar cookies?! Here are a few of them, the kids had fun with every aspect in this process as well, make the dough <--eat the dough!, roll it out, cut it out, bake them, make frosting, frost them, and last but not least cover them in sprinkles.  I mean come on, how could this not make for an entire day of adventure and fun!  I love getting to spend quality time with my kids, and each thing we did together, I quizzed them on the Easter story, and then told it to them again.  Such wonderful memories made with my children, and such wonderful memories they now have about the Easter story.  I swear my children listen, and learn better if they are doing something with their hands in the process. (even if it doesn't have too much to do with what we are talking about!)

All ready for Easter morning!

We celebrated Easter morning, with our Easter baskets, a new Easter book, and veggie tale movie!  We then made surprise rolls(linking it to the tomb being empty), and ate those for breakfast with our eggs.  We enjoyed a wonderful time at church with friends.

Momma's girl!

"big" kids

 My beautiful babies!

And we came home to a big lunch!  Finishing off with the Easter story read just one more time from our Jesus Storybook Bible!

What did you do this Easter?  How did you show your children the love and sacrifice of Christ during this wonderful season?  I always love to hear new ideas!

Eli Turns 4!!

How can it be big man?  Time sure has flown by!  You are FOUR! It doesn't feel like you should be that big already. I can remember like yesterday the day you entered this world, making me a mommy for the first time!

You are my sweet little man.  The one who holds the doors open for all the ladies in your life(your daddy has been teaching you well, my son!). You are the first one to run to someone when they are hurt, and offer them a hug and smooch to make it all better!  You are such a ray of sunshine in our lives.  Always keeping a smile on your face, and on those around you. Your understanding has really taken off lately.  You are very concerned about doing what is right.  You also love to read your Bible story every night, listening soo close to everything that is said, that way you can get all the answers right in the end! Your sense of humor is also taking off which is keeping us in stitches!  I love hearing you tell us all your knock-knock jokes.

Cars!  You love cars, and constantly ask daddy which ones he is working on at work-and what he is doing to them.  Your face lights up, when you and daddy get to play parking lot together!

I love watching you interact with all of your siblings, you have such an amazing gift and relationship with each one of them.  You and Athaiah are best buds(for the most part!), Avery is your little princess, you give her anything she wants(even when mommy tells her no!), and Noah is "your" baby.  You love on him, and want to help do everything for him!  You are such a big helper around the house, always asking mommy if you can help with the dishes, begging to set the table, to dust, and to sweep!  What would I do without you around here?  You keep me sane, and on my toes.  You help me learn more everyday, and challenge me to be a better mom for you and your siblings.

You were very specific this year, in what you wanted for gifts and food.  I am happy to report you got everything you wanted(and more!).  For your cake you wanted a blue, slimy(ganache frosting!) cake, shaped like a number! For your meal you wanted Mac n Cheese(momma's homemade kind!), Green Beans, Strawberries, and Birthday Potato soup! (Don't worry we split it up into two meals for the day!)

 For presents you wanted a monster truck, a clock with red numbers, and an airplane.  You insisted that was all you wanted!

We love you to the moon and back!  Happy Birthday my sweet boy! Keep on smiling!

January Check in (breaking free)

How on Earth is it already the end of January?  I have NO idea where the time has gone.  I swear it was just December.

Oh January....January threw us a couple of curve balls, but nothing we couldn't handle.

I am thankful that we had our weekly budget meetings as planned.  We also had our end of the month check in last night. (I know it's not technically the end of the month, but it was the last Wednesday of the month!).  I think my husband and I are both in LOVE with our budget binder.  I get excited to put things into it, and check off when I pay the bills. It makes the mundane seem manageable, and even fun.  Yes, I said fun.  If you would have asked me last January if my budget was fun or if I even had one, I would have answered no.  But this year it has been a huge blessing.  Even when unexpected items came up that we needed to pay for.  We HAD the money, for the first time ever.  Thanks to our budget! Also, we are all ready to get started on our taxes, and that ALWAYS makes me happy!

I did pretty good with my computer time, although, I am convinced this is something I can always improve upon.

I also did a bit better on my quiet time, which again is another area I believe always has room for improvement!

I have also decided I really need to work on my voice level with my children.  With them all being so little and running around, and being little noise makers.  I always feel like I have to yell to even be heard.  It doesn't necessarily mean I'm yelling at them.  Just yelling to them.  I have decided this needs to stop.  I should never be too busy to go and get down on their level, speak softly and ask them politely to do what needs done.  There are times (such as when I'm nursing a baby) that I cannot always do this, but instead of yelling out the instructions I will simply call them to me, and speak to them directly.  This always yields a better result, so why do I always forget this? I couldn't tell you! Just a good personal reminder that I need to lower my voice a lot more often than I need to raise it!

As for time with my husband this has been the most exciting part.  The kids have been on a pretty decent night time routine and are all usually in bed by 8:00. (don't worry the babies are in bed WAY before that, usually by 6;30!)  This has been wonderful for my husband and I.  We have folded laundry together, cleaned up the kitchen, done the dishes.  I know, I know we are SOOO romantic.  But it has been so nice to work as a team, and not just as single parents as we did for the majority of our marriage since we were working opposite shifts all the time.  We have really come to look forward to our Mon-Fri evenings together.  I wouldn't trade these away for the world.  They have helped my attitude and I'm sure his.  We love getting to talk about our day with each other, as we fold the laundry or do the dishes.  We love getting to just BE together.

My baby and I at the zoo! Love the time we get together as a family

I am forever grateful that we had the opportunity for me to work from home, and to work only weekends.  It has done wonders for our family.  God has blessed us greatly, and we are looking forward to an awesome year of demolishing our goals, and breaking free as a family!

Want to know more about my goals? Click here
What is breaking free for us? Check that out here
Want to know where I got my budget binder templates? Check that out here

How are you doing on your goals?  Are you breaking free? Feel free to join me on my journey!

Talk soon!