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.