Meditative Monday #4

Thinking about this week...
-God's providence
-A husband who puts the girls to bed
-Good health of my daughters. I read somewhere that 85% of children have had an ear infection by the time they are 3. Bekah is 4 and has NEVER had one, and Sarah is 20 months today and has yet to have one. (we've just had 2 broken bones :) )
-Ability to see growth in my daughters and Ethan as I teach them every day.

Bekah's 4-year-old pictures

Bekah did a good job with this, I just wish she was a bit more natural when she smiled. She does this, "cheese!!"

Is 3 the new 2?

With the HUGE SURPRISE of a third baby on the way, I, Paula, have been thinking about this question a lot,

Is 3 the new 2?

So00000 many of the people we know, are friends with, or are aquainted with are having, just had, or recently had their 3rd child. Not many of the others have said, "2 and we're through."

What do you think? Is American society shifting to a "3 kids in a family" mentality, or is birth control just not working as well as it has in the past? (or are people not being as careful?)

Show me the comments. :)

Meditative Monday #3

Thinking about/thankful for...this week

-A rekindled passion for studying the Scriptures
-A husband who puts the kiddos to bed every night
-A warm bed and a place to live right now while we're in transition
-The moving up of my due date and the very good chance that this baby will be early so we can go to Bobby's graduation in KY that he's been working so hard for over the last 5 years (when he's done.)
-The ability to stay home and be will my girls most of the day, every day
-The girls being over their stomach bug
-Crab legs eaten on a gift card FINALLY used from my birthday back in July.

Scroll Down!!

I finally updated what we've been up to the last few weeks. There are a couple things that I didn't post about, but for the most part, this is what we've been doing for the last several weeks. Busy, busy, busy!!
The first weekend of November, we went to Indiana to celebrate Bobby's Grandma's 90th b-day. The camera never came out. I was dealing with children, food, and spending time with people that we haven't seen in a long time. Bobby has been the picture taker lately when we're out and about. When I'm by myself, without him, I have to force myself to take pictures. (around the house is another story, I take pictures like crazy!!)
I also went to the doctor for the first time. I got to see the heart beat and see the baby. Everything looks good. The doctor moved up my due date to May 15th. This means I'll probably be having the baby around May 1st. Unless this baby is completely different than it's sisters. I go back to the doctor on December 5th for my 17 week appointment. It looks as though I will have an ultrasound right around the 1st of the new year. I am definitely leaning towards another girl, but I know Bobby would love a boy. I will try to update more often!!

COSI- Sesame Street, The Body

pedaling, kicking, and jumping. What they did transfered to what the Sesame Street characters were doing on the screen.

Posing in front of Big Bird.

Our hands. The letter of the week was H.

Elmo's World set where they could dress Elmo in different clothes for the different weather.

Standing in front of area that looked so much like the Sesame Street set.

On this past Friday, my mom and I took the kiddos to have Bekah and Ethan's pictures taken, (separately) and then we headed downtown to COSI for Sesame Street, The Body. We try to watch Sesame Street every day that we are around when it it on from 11:30-12:30, so it was really neat to go to this exhibit. It was a long day!!! But fun was had by all!! I even saw Nicole Hummel at the mall when we were having lunch. Cool!

Halloween

For Halloween, our girlies were a mermaid and a giraffe. Bekah was a giraffe when she was a little bit older than Sarah, and Sarah did a lot better job keeping her hat on. Bekah's costume was purchased last year after Halloween. She was so excited about it throughout the whole year.
This was the first year that Bekah has really been into the "whole thing." She was so cute going from house to house. Sarah was even cuter because she wanted to do everything that Bekah was doing. She walked herself right up to the house and took candy out of the bowls. Bekah would never have done what she did at 19 months. It was so nice also because this was the first time Bobby wasn't at work. He was home and could go with us. Yeah!!!

Dylan's 8th b-day

Our nephew Dylan turned 8 at the end of October. We, me and Bobby, along with my parents, took the 4 kiddos to a place around here called Coco Key Water Resort. A blast was had by all. We went back to their house afterward and had a fabulous meal, cupcakes, and watched Dylan open his presents. The next weekend he had a party with some of his friends.

Final Tumbling Class of Fall Session

A few weeks ago was the final tumbling class of the Fall Session. When the classes started, Bekah had just gotten her leg cast off. We had 2 classes, with a 1 week break because of no power, and then she broke her arm. She participated in 2 classes with a broken arm, and then she finally got her cast off for the last class.
The picture above is of her holding her paper and her ribbon up while saying "ta da." Ethan was a bit more shy because he had just come out of the bathroom. He was the first of the three kiddos to get a stomach bug. (Each child had it for about a week!)
We started the second session of tumbling last Monday.

Bike Riding

We have been slacker parents when it comes to bike riding. Right before Bekah broke her leg back in July, we had just started to really work on bike riding with her. She got her leg cast off 6 weeks later, and we started to work on it again. Then she broke her arm. A couple weeks ago, we started to work on it again. She's doing pretty well. It's getting really cold and nasty outside now, but I think when spring comes around she will be a pro. The other picture is of Sarah, who of course has to do everything her sister does. :)

Meditative Monday #3

Lots to post about, but for now, you'll have to be satisfied with my list of things I've thinking about and things I have been thankful for this week.

-The ability to swim, even though it's hard to get up at 5:20 and 5:45 am 3 days per week, I always feel great after, and I hope the continued exercise will keep me from having gestational diabetes with this pregnancy. I exercised a lot with Bekah, and never had a problem. Sarah was a different story!
-A husband that puts the girls to bed EVERY night! (Can you tell I'm thankful for this? It's the 3rd time I've mentioned it)
-God's providence and God's sovereignty
-Celebrations that bring family closer together, even for a little bit
-MANY maternity clothes from Bobby's cousin's wife (Sonya) since I gave away/sold mine. (we were not planning on having another baby)