Months gone by...

Well, let's see we have had Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day and we just sprang forward which means that we are on our way into Spring now. Blogging is just one more thing to do everyday which I haven't quite found the time to do. I enjoy it greatly, I just need to find the few minutes I need to do it. Maybe I will use blogging as a way to journal this pregnancy.

Most of you already know that we have been blessed with another child who is due to arrive in October. We are thrilled and look forward to meeting this little one. How exciting! The children are so excited and are already talking about names and where the baby will sleep and who is going to hold the baby. I love listening to their conversations about this baby. I also am just thrilled with the way they are so accepting of another child in the family. They are proud of our large family.

I am 8.2 weeks into this pregnancy. Morning sickness has hit me hard, but not in the morning. It is really is it's worst in the afternoon or it tends to be all day long. I am functioning, but not 100%. Smells are getting to me. I am especially gaggy too. Just that general gross feeling. :( Yuck!!

I am trying to figure out what I am going to do about a care provider this pregnancy. Some seem to think that Thomas and I could just stay at home and deliver this baby all by ourselves. We porbably could and we would be just fine. I am not there yet and feel like I still need a safeguard of a midwife if we stay home. The decision to either homebirth or hospital birth is still yet to be made. Hopefully this week we can decide something.

I will blog more later. I am getting super sleepy here at the keyboard and I think a cup of Pregnancy Tea would be helpful right now.

Our New House

We are just about all moved in to the new house. The space is awesome and I am liking the wooded area around the house. There are only 2 houses on our street which makes it really nice too. I will add more photos when I have the place decorated. I need a few more weeks to get some painting done and get some furniture in place. Here are some photos of the outside and some of the inside too.

Study Living Room

God certainly has blessed us with a lovely, spacious home for our family. Thank you Lord!

Facebook?

I was thinking about Facebook this morning. Isn't funny how everyone goes to one place and updates their status and adds photos. I think thanks to facebook, myspace, twitter and blogging no one ever has to talk to anyone in true person. I was going through my stationary box last night thinking that it had been ages since I I actually hand wrote a letter to someone. Isn't that so sad? Thomas was telling me that he read an article about how cursive writing is now a lost art form. Children these days don't learn to write in cursive like I did when I was in school. No one needs to write now. We have computers! I think I will start writing notes again this year. I know how much I like to receive a letter in the mail. For now I will continue to blog and add my silly status in facebook and stay connected to all my friends and family via the virtual world. :)

Where has the time gone?

I believe that 2008 went by faster than any other year in my life so far. Is it because I am getting older and everything happens faster the older you get and the busier you are. I don't like that very much. Just one more reason to live in the moment and enjoy each and every day of the rest of your life.

Happy New Year! 2009 arrived with Thomas, the kids and I watching the ball dropping in NYC. Yes, we let the kiddos stay up until midnight. We watched Squanto and ate snacks. At midnight we all shared a toast with sparkling grape juice. It was nice and sweet. We all promptly climbed into our warm beds and left 2008 behind.

This morning I woke to 2009 with a huge to-do list. We should be getting keys to the new house either today or tomorrow. We are excited! I will certainly post pics of the new house when we are in.

I am off to start my long list. I wish all of you a blessed New Year. May you come to know Christ a little closer and know His mercy and grace like never before. I certainly have come to trust Him more in 2008 like no other year before. His grace is sufficient and available to all that ask and seek Him.

My life these days...

Let's see... The last time I blogged was early December and I promised I would be back on here and blog every day or so. Well, obviously that did not happen. Life just gets so busy and I don't get the chance to tell my circle of friends and my family what I am up to. You can be assured I am always busy and always up to something. Usually it has everything to do with my family.

Here is what I did today......... You would have to understand where I am in my life right now to understand what this meant to me. I will explain more after you take a look at the photos.

So as you can see Jeremiah and I had a wonderful surprise today and were able to go up in a hot air balloon. Thomas and I were out this morning with Jeremiah. The four older children were dropped off at the church for Christmas play practice. We drove around town and saw the balloon flying above the city. As were heading back home from town we saw where the balloon had landed. We went and saw the balloon and Jeremiah was just amazed how large it was. He was so excited. The man who was flying it asked us if we wanted to go for a ride. I was just thrilled that we had the opportunity to go up in the balloon. It was one of those things that come to you that is so unexpected and such a blessing. So, up we went, higher and higher. Jeremiah was all smiles and it was just a sweet blessing. Thomas and I are facing some challenges right now and I have been particularly down this past week. Thank you Lord for allowing me the opportunity to fly high today even though I was feeling so down.

I know, I know it has been too long since I posted. I know I have a few friends who follow my blog and when I don't blog they think I have disappeared off the face of the earth.



So, here I am again. I am going to really try and get on here daily at a certain time each day that I know I am close to the laptop and blog. I have been on facebook for several weeks now and I am able to kind of blog on there and that seems a bit easier for me.

What have I been up to? Well, as usual the busyness of family life takes center stage and I love that. I find myself exhausted by the end of the night because I am running all day. I still do nap at least 3-4 days a week for 15-30 minutes or so. I find that this keeps me alert and ready to face anything that my 5 kiddos throw at me. Without a nap I am not sure where I would me. Probably a very grumpy mom.

I am busy teaching childbirth classes as usual. I also have a doula client who is 41 weeks at this point, so anytime I will get the call of labor. I also have a client due Jan. 27th and another mom due in March. I love having doula clients. Doula work is truly my passion. My new job as director of our local childbirth education organization begins Jan. 1st. I am real excited about that and look forward to working in my community to make CBE classes available for all women. A majority of our clients are women who are at risk of giving birth to low birth weight babies due to their economical and environmental situations. It is very rewarding to work with these women and a challenge at times as well.

Can you believe Isaiah just turned 11. Here we are entering the pre-teen years. AHHHH! Isaiah is a good boy who really does aim to please his mom and dad. I am grateful for that.
It seems like he was just a little toddler not too long ago. Now he is my big guy who just loves video games, bike riding, hanging with his neighborhood friends and listening to music. I am so proud of him. He is a great kid!

I am fighting a chest cold today. I feel cruddy. I kept Isabella home from school so I didn't have to go out in the cold this morning. Isabella is on the family computer playing a preschool game and Jeremiah is watching Sinbad (the cartoon.) I think I will just veg today and maybe that will speed along my getting well. I only get a cold 1-2 times a year. When I do I am just miserable. I don't know why I don't handle discomfort like I used to. It is very aggravating probably because it makes me have to stop my life for a bit and I don't like that.

I will blog again tomorrow (I hope) unless I am at a birth or even sicker than today.

Bye for now.....

Oh Fall, how I've missed you...

My dear sweet Fall you are my most favorite season. Welcome back!

Well, you know what we Floridians call Fall is nothing compared to what my northerner friends call Fall. None the less, this weekend we are experiencing what we consider Fall weather. Cool breezes, windows wide open, summer clothes packed not too far away and thoughts of relief from the hot Florida sun. It still seems that this time of year always brings to me a sense to renewed visions, anticipated holidays and just plain relief. Thank goodness for cooler weather.

We will go in search of a pumpkin patch this next weekend so we can continue to the yearly tradition of pumpkin patch photos. They are just too cute with the kids and seeing how much they are grown. When Isaiah was just a month shy of 2 and Samuel was just a week old we took them into Houston to a wonderful pmpkin patch and I have this hillarious photo of Isaiah smiling at the camera and sticking his finger in baby Samuel's throat gagging him. Of course, I rushed to remove his finger to keep wee one from throwing up milkies, but the incident was still caught on camera. Too funny! Oh the memories we share with our kiddos. Oh the many photos we have to share with their significant others in the future. I will have to scan a few and get them on here for all to see. :)