Meditative Monday #2

-A husband who puts the girls to bed every night so I can have a break.
-Water, I am so thirsty right now
-Clean clothes, I love doing laundry, hate puting it away, but love doing it
-Warm clothes and a soft bed
-Never being in want for the things we NEED.
-An amazing Beth Moore Bible study of the book of Daniel.
-Beautiful daughters that make me smile hourly.
-The ability to sing praises to my Father.
-Having a van to tote the kids around in to various activities.

Cast Free & the Pumpkin Patch

Bekah got her cast off yesterday and it has been glorious!! She goes to the bathroom completely by herself!! She has reverted to wanting a treat because she did it "all by myself." Pray that we don't have another cast any time soon! Here she is painting. She is left handed, so it is hard to see, but there is no cast on her right arm.

Leading her sister towards the pumpkins.

On the wagon ride to the pumpkins.

Sarah with a funny face. She kept trying to run towards the camera when he was taking the pictures.

Hilarious!!

If you go to www.googlemaps.com and type in our old house address, 208 Courchelle Drive, Nicholasville, KY 40356, and then click on street view, you will see a picture of our old house, our old van before we got rear-ended last September, and a blurry Bobby putting a trash bag in a trash car in front of the van. Hilarious!!

Meditative Mondays

I am "stealing" and tweaking a idea from a girl that we went to college with at IWU and I sang in Chorale with her 1 year. Amy does a post on Thursdays called Thankful Thursdays.

I am going to do Meditative Mondays where I think about and pray about all the things happening in our life right now. Things are crazy and I need to think about the good things that are happening despite the stressful things.

-The ability to stay home with my beautiful girls this year and also spend more time with my nephews.
-Parents that open up their home for us to live in basically free (except for food) just so I can stay home with my girls.
-A husband that puts the girls to bed every night (except when he has a meeting every once-in-a-while) I did it for 3 years and needed a break!
-A sister and brother-in-law that are willing to pay me to watch their boys and teach preschool to their youngest so that we can save for a house.
-Amazing friends that buy me and let me borrow maternity clothes
-Amazing friends that understand me and pray for me

Addition- generally healthy children, neither have ever had an ear infection or strep throat. (Bekah has now had 2 broken bones in 3 months, but other than that, reasonably healthy :) )

Birthday Cake

Bobby and I spent many hours last night working on the cake. I spent an hour mixing and creating different frosting colors while he put the girls to bed. He did the white outline, I did the black outline, and he did most of the rest, except for some of the face. I think this will be the first and last cake using a piping bag. :)

Cooking and Experiments

You put the raw egg in a cup of vinegar. 24 hours later it is jelly like. It was really cool. The kids had a lot of fun with it.



Every week, with preschool stuff, we are learning a different letter. (I got this idea from Bobby's sister, Faithe, who used to teach preschool for a couple years) Last week we were doing the letter E. We went to the zoo and saw elephants, made simple elephant ears with biscuits and cinnamon/sugar, and did an experiment with an egg and vinegar. It was a fun week.

Apple Picking

Several weeks ago, we went apple picking and got A LOT of apples. All the kids had a lot of fun!!

Zoo With Grandma

We've been trying to go to the zoo with Grandma for several weeks. The first week, Grandpa had a heart attack, the second week, Grandpa was having his second procedure. We finally got to go last week. It was a lot of fun. A long day, but a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday Bekah!!

Our beautiful girl turned 4 years old today!! The time has flown. It was actually about 4 years and 1 hour ago that she came into this world at 5 pounds 14 ounces. What a crazy day that was!!
Happy Birthday Bekah!!

Pictures to come later.

Brutally Honest

I am going to be brutally honest in this post. I want comments and responses, but before you lash out at me, I would like you to put yourself in my shoes and think about how you would respond if you were me.

I am now 7 weeks pregnant and still very angry and scared. We were taking all the right steps to not become pregnant, and yet, I am. As of right now, I still don't want to have another baby. I know that these things will change, and in a year and a half, I won't be able to imagine life without this baby, but right now, I am down-right scared.

There are several reasons for this:

1) When we moved in with my parents in July, it was so I could stay home with our girls while watching my nephews and Bobby could finish his masters while only working part-time. (After 6 years of MS, I was a bit burned out) We couldn't even afford rent on what Bobby makes, let alone eat. We were supposed to be with them a year. Now we are going to have to move out earlier because we cannot bring an infant into that house. This means Bobby going after a full-time job at UPS and putting any ministry things on hold until we are financially stable. Right now, with the economy the way it is, we don't have the money for a downpayment, and I don't even know if we would be able to GET a mortgage.

2) When we moved, we got rid of EVERY baby item, and about 2 weeks before I found out we were excepting, I got ride of all my nursing bras. We have nothing!! We don't even have a crib or car seat anymore. I am scared about where these things are going to come from.

3) When Sarah gave me such a horrible time with nursing, making me bleed, etc, I was so excited when I was done weaning and would never have to wear another nursing bra to bed or nursing pads constantly cause I always leaked. With the plan for me to stay home for a few more years and finances being extremely tight, I will have to nurse or pump for the first year. We will not be able to afford formula. Pumping for Sarah was so hard because Bobby wouldn't be home in the evenings and Sarah would be crying, etc while I tried to pump. It broke my heart. I couldn't do it. My goal had been to not even get out the pump until July (cause I would be going back to work in August) but Sarah ended up being completely on formula by the end of July.

4) There was a time before I got pregnant with Sarah that I would see babies and want another one. Sometimes it would even happen after she was born. Over the last 6 months, that desire has vanished. I see newborn babies and don't want them. I don't want the sleepless nights, the nursing, etc. Still now, when I see babies, I don't want them.

All-in-all, a lot is going to have to change over the next few months for me to be ready for this baby. A lot is going to have to change in my heart. I would greatly appreciate prayer in this situation. I am not worried about the extra work load, I know that I can handle the three children, it's that my heart is not going to be in this baby. I need to stop being angry about it.

Thank you for listening. Please pray for me.

Everything!

I have a lot to write about, but no time! We had our 3rd tumbling class today despite the broken arm, so I always have less ME time on these days.

-Today is my sister's 26th b-day! Happy Birthday Melissa!! We love you!

-You've probably guessed from the pregnancy ticker on the right that, yes, we are pregnant. Very unexpected, and I am still struggling with it. We were never planning on having a #3. We don't have any baby items left, let alone maternity clothes. (My friend Amy did send me a couple shirts that I am very, very thankful for!) I will write more about this later.

-Bobby is back on his normal hours at work this week, so he will be at home for dinner. Very excited!!

-We are preparing to head to IWU for a quick trip for homecoming and a Wind Ensemble reunion this coming weekend. We don't know exactly who will be there, but we are excited!

More later when I have more time, I promise!!

Could it get any worse?

After swim lessons tonight, Bekah was playing on the indoor playground and fell 8 feet onto her right arm. She is now if a full cast up to her shoulder. We had just finished our 2nd week of swim lessons after having to cancel the others because of the broken leg, and we are 2 weeks into her tumbling class. I am hoping the lady will let her continue despite her not being able to swing on the bar and a few other things.
Please say a prayer for me. I was just starting to not have to help her use the bathroom, and now I probably will have to again because she won't be able to pull her pants down. My emotions are very raw.
Paula

My dad again

Everything went great. They were done in under an hour. Keep praying that he recovers well and can come home tomorrow.

My dad, continued

My dad is having 2 more stents put in RIGHT NOW. We would appreciate your prayers.

My Dad

My dad had a mild heart attack early this morning and is in a hospital in Indianapolis. (they were there for my mom to attend a laboratory conference for a couple days) This morning, after the diagnosis, he had a procedure done to check for blockage and ended up having an angioplasty in one artery. My sister and I were able to talk to him by 10:30 am this morning. We are not sure whether they will be coming home tomorrow or Saturday. We would appreciate your prayers. My sister, Melissa, takes things like this hard, so I would appreciate prayers for her too, and my mom too.

Blessed

Our friend Amy, mine first because she was a new teacher at my "old" school two years ago, came to visit for 24 hours. She, her hubby, and their almost 9-month-old daughter live in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN. A very long drive!! We drove it last October from Kentucky. 18 hours!!

Amy is originally from Pittsburgh, and she and baby Grace flew in last week for a wedding and to spend time with her family that she only sees a few times a year. Amy drove in yesterday to spend some time with Bobby and I and the girls. It was so great to see them!! The last time we saw Amy, she was almost 7 months pregnant with Grace, and now Grace is crawling, and pulling up on things, etc.

To me, Amy is what my friend Deven would call a "kindred spirit." (from Anne of Green Gables, in case you didn't know.) We were only in the same state for a year, and have now seen her twice since she and her family moved to Minnesota a year ago this past July, but she is such an amazing friend. She and her husband are such amazing, Godly people, and we are blessed to call them friends. Only 6 months after meeting them, while I was 5 months pregnant with Sarah, Bobby and I drove up to Pittsburgh for their wedding. I am so glad that we did! It was an amazing experience!

I selfishly hope that they move closer so that we can spend more time with them!! Love you Amy! Thanks for coming and spending time with us, even though it was sooo short!!

Tumbling Class, week 1

Today I took Bekah and Ethan to their first Tumbling Tykes class. It is a 6 week class. At first, Bekah was a bit upset because they were running and skipping and she couldn't keep up, but I walked with her a bit, and then they started to do different things and she stepped right up to the challenge. I was very proud of her!! Ethan did a great job too!

Camp out, in the backyard, last weekend

Last weekend, my sister and her hubby were attending a Jewish wedding. (Only said to show that it was on Sunday afternoon/evening not a Saturday) Because of this (Rich was actually in the wedding), we offered to watch the boys. They came over right after lunch. We grilled out, roasted marshmallows, and set up a tent in the backyard. (Dylan and Ethan's other grandpa's)

Bobby, along with the boys and Bekah, spent the whole night in the tent. They told stories and basically just had fun. It did solidify in Bobby's mind that he would not be having 4 children though. :) (or three)

Scroll down to read my post about Bekah.

Bekah.....need some advice

For about a year now, I have been buying the gummy bear vitamins for Bekah. One day last week, Bekah really wanted to have more than the 2 vitamins she can have per day. To convince her that she shouldn't have more than 2, my mom and I told her that her belly would get sick if she ate too many vitamins. Since then, she won't eat any!! She says her belly's going to hurt, if she eats any. Help??!!!?? Any suggestions? We've tried to hide them in a pack of fruit snacks or pretend they're gummy bears, but she's not believing us.

Bekah's leg

Here are a couple pictures of Bekah's leg without the cast. She is walking more, but still holding her leg out to the side and putting a lot of weight on her right leg. I keep reminding her to pull her leg and knee in, but she isn't doing it much. She is still not bending her left leg much. I hope she starts to put more weight on it soon. It is still harder to get around with the 2 of them by myself than before.