Chasing

It's what sisters are for.

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, Mimi thought we had a small family.....

(That was before she met the two on her lap in this picture.)

When I was born, my oldest sister was away at college. She sent a telegram home to my parents. It read, "Happiness is warm blanket with a new little sister inside."

Ditto.

Don't Hate Me Because.....

Before our sweet littlest sister arrived, I prepared myself for baby life...You know, sleepless life. In fact, what my husband and I both really prepared ourselves for was him on the couch for a while and me in bed with the baby girl nursing all night. That's the way it was with the Little Guy, and we were prepared to go there again. Really, I was looking forward to so much snuggle time.

But this time is different than ever before. Way different. Way.

Really, I have to preface the difference with, "Don't hate me because my baby sleeps...." I mean, I might have felt that way with my three previous babies. I might have really had a hard time liking you if you told me that on your third or fourth week together your baby was sleeping through the night.

That's the first thing that most people ask me these days..."Are you getting any sleep?" And I can see that they're just trying to rib me about how much my sweetie cries, eats, won't sleep, etc. But then I have to tell them this....

"Actually, she's slept through the night since about 3 or 4 weeks. I mean 5-7 or 8 hours or so. But before 6 weeks, she was sleeping all night. Every night. I mean 10-12 hours. Sometimes, I've had to wake her. And she naps."

Yep, she's all that. (And more...)

Relaxing

Fall Visit

Rememeber that I told you about our great friends who usually visit our house every three months or so? We had a great weekend with them (okay, it's been two weeks ago now....).

The littlest little sister got to meet two of her three godparents. Parrain(godfather) cooked delicious Italian sausage spaghetti and taco salad, and we feasted on his guacamole until they left on Sunday afternoon.

Of course, everyone was sad to see them go, but we look forward to the next visit and to them coming back soon for our little girl's baptism.

Six Weeks

Love this girl....

First Four Weeks.....

I admit it. I love the smell of breast milk. And spit up on my shoulder. I'm not planning to wear either of them (yet, perhaps I will) out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary, but I love the smell.




It gets sweeter with each new life that comes into our family. Because I have more memories. That smell reminds me of each warm, little head that I held in my hands, each small body that curled into mine, each child that gradually worked his or her way into my heart...the way that a shoe string is drawn tighter little by little until it is finally so tight that it is tied together.



And that is what has been happening around our house lately.

Baby of Mine

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She's Here!

She's finally here! And she wasn't even that big! 8 pounds, 8 ounces! I'll post more about what happened soon.

Last Days Before the Little Sister Arrives....

Well, the time is upon us. If all looks good on Monday's ultrasound, the littlest sister will be born on Tuesday, August 18. My dad's birthday.

We're down to just two or three more days, and today the whole family went out as sort of a last "table for five" outing. We went to eat at a burger joint that boasts of a huge $20 burger. It's free if you can eat it all. None of us tried.

After the yummy burgers, we played at a local park. Well...mostly everybody else played, and I took pictures from my shady spot on a park bench.




I am so thrilled about the birth of the newest member of our family, but I can't help but feel nostalgic about these last days of our family as we know it now. The last days that my sweet little boy is the baby of our family (though you know that each one of them will always be my baby). The last days that Little Miss Sunshine is one of the younger two. The last days that my oldest is not a teenager, and I suspect the last days that she seems more like a child than a young lady.


The last days that I am pregnant and my little boy can put his head on my belly and "snuggle" up to his little sister and sing to her that way. Oh, and...the last days that "round" will be okay with me as a body type.
I can't wait for us all to meet the little one on Tuesday. I know that she will have us all wrapped around her little finger in the blink of an eye. But I will always treasure these last few days as well....

Tomorrow's Resolution

Last week, my oldest two girls went to music camp. They, along with about 50 other children, put together a fabulous production called, "Go, Go, Jonah!" The music was really great...nothing more beautiful than the sound of sweet, cherubic voices singing Bible songs.

One day, part of their "homework" was to talk with their parents about the parents' favorite Bible verses.

One of my favorite verses that I shared is, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It came easily to my mind, especially since I had been using this verse to remind one child in particular that she can do even the hard stuff that comes her way.

What I've discovered about myself since I so quickly offered this verse, however, is that I don't really want to do all things. I know that Christ will give me the strength to bear all...even things that seem impossible to bear. But I really don't want to bear all things.

In reality, I just want to avoid most of the painful stuff. In reality, I just want to find another verse and claim it as my own. You know the one. It says that Christ will take away all the pain that would come my way if I didn't know Him. Except, as far as I can tell, that verse is nowhere to be found in my Bible.

Now that is a real downer. Because as the clock ticks down to the birth of our fourth child, I am extremely uncomfortable and unmotivated. And for the past few weeks, I've been thinking that this was enough pain already. I mean, really.

And then...whammy. I won't go into specifics, but let me just tell you that the pain that I've been experiencing multiplied within the course of a day. And nothing that I've done has reduced the pain. I've been trying desperately to stay off of my feet to avoid putting any more pressure on this part of my body. But in the end, nada.

And I have to tell you, I don't really want to bear this pain. I haven't been thinking about how I can get through this with Christ's strength. I've been trying to get around it with His strength. And when I think about how the birth of this sweet baby girl is very probably going to complicate the pain that I'm already having....ugh!!!!

Now I'm not saying that I should be out looking for pain. But, it's here, and now is my chance to be a life lesson, right?

Am I going to try to teach my child that she can do all things through Christ and remind her when she complains, "But, Mom, I don't waaaaant to do that........" that she can get through even the most difficult of circumstances...yet act in the same childish way when my turn comes?

What a blunder that would be. A missed opportunity. Something that I am sure I would look back on later with serious regret.

So my resolution for tomorrow: I will re-adopt an attitude of servanthood. I will respond patiently to my children even when correcting them. I will do at least one thing for each of them that will serve them...even if I don't want to do it (like maybe play Noah's ark on the floor...have you seen my belly recently?). I will find at least two or three ways to build my husband up and encourage him. In short, I will actively and purposefully love them. In the end, that's what I want us all to look back on and remember. That we truly loved each other. No matter what.

So Maybe I've Lost the Battle, But....

My little guy is on the brink of 4 years old. (Really? Let me recount...) And I've never raised a boy before, only girls. My girls loved baby dolls and ponies with long, brushable purple hair, doll houses and the like. But this boy. He likes useful things. Like tools. And, well....weapons.

I've really tried to stave this thing off. When he was born, I made a committment to no guns, knives, swords, etc. And I've done pretty well with that until lately. But during swimming with a friend, he became very familiar with (and possessive of) some water...guns.

When we came home, I hid the ones that he brought home with him. But when we went camping, he discovered some more....

And then I saw this.....



Guess his conversation with the donkey went something like this...."Eat up--or else!"

So maybe I've lost the battle. But I can still win the war, right?

Only One Name for This...

I know that you've seen lots of different faces with this title, but when I see this picture of my boy, I know that it has to be titled...."Honey.....I'm hoooooooome!"

Rite of Passage

As we wait for our new little girl to be born, we celebrate the birth of our first little girl a couple of weeks early. In our family, there is no ear piercing before the thirteenth birthday. Let's just say that it's a rite of passage. And even though most of her friends have had their ears pierced for years, she's been very patient about it...usually.



She is so proud. And so grown up now.



Some things are worth waiting for.

Wordless

Sleeping boy and one of the joys of my life......

She's All Grown Up....

My niece, that is....

We attended her beautiful wedding this past weekend. It was a lot of fun! There was a small town church, a reception at a sweet little bed and breakfast, great food, children running around...all in all, it must have been a dream come true.







My niece married this man....a kind, down-to-earth Mississippi man who is a welcome addition to our family. I think she chose wisely.




And our kiddos? Beautiful, if I do say so myself!






A good time was had by all!







Our best wishes and prayers for you as you begin your married life!

That Face

(This post was written three weeks ago, but due to scanner difficulties, it the pictures could not accompany the post until today.)
Baby girl's face in 4-D...if you look closely you can see her little nose, closed eyes, and sweet mouth...

Today we had a date with the newest member of our family. The whole family piled into the little ultrasound room at my OB's office. And then the fun started. Baby Girl was pushing against my side, and we could actually see that it was her foot doing the pushing.



There was lots of commentary from the peanut gallery....Little Miss Sunshine commented that the baby sister looked like a monster in there sometimes. And, "ew, gross" what was that clear stuff the tech squeezed on my belly before the show even started?

The little man chewed his orange lolli to bits as he watched, and after it was all over, he asked me if the baby was now in the box that I was carrying (a cord blood box). Such a mystery, how that baby is gonna' get out of his mama's belly...

The tech commented that Baby Girl was very active, and the biggest big sister, her daddy and I had to laugh because that's what Big Sis said when she saw the ultrasound of Little Man. And she was sure right. He is constant motion.

And baby's weight at 31 weeks? <drumroll please> Baby Girl is now a healthy (and hefty) 4 lb., 14 oz. Supposed to double her weight by the time she is 40 weeks. The sweet ultrasound tech tried to make me feel better by saying, "That's only about 8 lbs..." To which I had to say "Yeah, but she's 4 lbs. AND 14 oz. That's almost 5 lbs. Which is 10 pounds when you double it..."

Well, that's why I found a new doctor, right? So that he will induce me early (provided that Baby Girl's lungs are ready). I'll just be praying, trusting and reminding my doctor of what he said he would do. I'd appreciate your prayers, too, as we round the corner to Baby Girl's birthday.