What's Been Going on Here...

Carter's first cereal...

I think he liked it!

Just a cute pic of the girls matching one Sunday...

We had VBS at our church last week. Brian did the music each night and this is what happened by the end of the week! It was a fun and encouraging week - but I think it wiped us all out!

Calvin loved the parachute! (And he had the BEST teacher!)

Emmie and her cousins at snack time!

Crafts

The boy cousins...

Some Time Alone

Tonight I am babysitting for a friend and her sweet baby is already asleep and I have some time all - by - myself! I have been looking through different resources in preparation for the upcoming school year. One of the resources that Kim pointed me to was this post by Kendra. Kendra then linked to her friend Cheryl as a resource for homeschooling curriculum and encouragement. Her post about the preschool season has continued to be on my mind.

Here is some of her wisdom: "The best thing, the very best thing, you can do with your young children is simply to delight in them ... I know these years can be hard, especially if all of your children are quite young. Might I remind you that God makes no mistakes in sending children our way. He knows, far better than you, what you are able to handle. If it all seems way too overwhelming, stand back and evaluate what you might be trying to do that He has not called you to do. Volunteer work, weekly ladies Bible studies, leading Awanas or Missionettes, - these are all good and worthy pursuits, but are they the BEST things you can be doing in this season of having little ones in your home? I cannot know your circumstances, but I do know this. God does not give us more than we are able to handle. If we are overwhelmed, we are doing more than God has given us to do. Learn to let go of the things that are not yours to do right now."

'Learn to let go of the things that are not yours to do right now.' This is speaking volumes to me because I have a tendency to overcommit and do too much. So as I am preparing for the fall, I am praying that God will direct me to what He desires for me to do. My first calling is to be a wife to my husband and then a mother to my children. I need to be intentional in my time with them this coming year so I am just continuing to pray...

Excuses, Excuses

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging lately. I hope to gear it back up after the summer ends, but for now, I am loving on this sweet baby (and his 4 siblings)!

For My Joy...

"If God were not just, there would be no demand for his Son to suffer and die. And if God were not loving, there would be no willingness for his Son to suffer and die. But God is just and loving. Therefor his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice."

-John Piper, "For Your Joy"

Two Months

(edited to add his picture - I found the camera...)

Carter turned 2 months this week. I would post a picture but I am too lazy to go find the camera. The past 2 months have been special as we have adjusted to this new blessing. He brings joy to every member of our family and is never in need of arms willing to hold him. But although it's been a blessing it's still been very tiring.

And now we are getting ready to go on vacation for a week where we will spend time with family at the beach. My family loves this time, especially the kids. I will admit that it's tiring just getting ready for vacation - especially with a newborn that needs to eat every few hours. But as I was preparing for this time, I remembered CJ Mahaney's series from last year about vacations. This time is an opportunity for me to serve my family - and to serve them with joy.

CJ says, "No one should be happier on vacation than we are. During our vacation our children should repeatedly observe us smiling and laughing, and throughout the vacation they should be the objects of our affection and appreciation."

My prayer is that I will rely on the Lord for the extra strength and grace I will need this coming week to help my family have a special vacation full of fun memories with one another. I'll let you know how it goes!!

Another Birth Story...

This sweet baby will be 4 weeks old tomorrow so I had better get this birth story written before I forget what happened! On the night of March 11, I began to have regular Braxton Hicks contractions. In fact, I couldn't sleep and they were starting to hurt so about 3 in the morning I called the on-call Dr. and he told me to come in. I figured I would probably just go in and get fluids to stop the contractions and then come home. So, I just left Brian with the kids and headed to the hospital.

When I got there, I still hadn't dilated or anything but the contractions were about 8-10 minutes apart and pretty uncomfortable. I was still hoping to head home soon since my Dr. (that I love and that had delivered the first 4 babies) was in Mexico for the week. Plus I wasn't quite 35 weeks along yet.

By the time the Dr. checked me a few hours later, I was at 3 cm. She told me they don't stop labor at this point because that could be more dangerous than letting labor progress. But I needed to go home and pack the bag and I didn't leave out clothes for the kids - and Brian is color blind! I begged her to let me run home and do some stuff but she wouldn't let me because my cervix had 'been labored upon' (nice phrase huh?) and she didn't want to take any chances.

So I called Brian and he packed up everything (like a pro - and they were all matched up) and took care of getting the kids to Granny and PawPaw. I felt relieved once he got to the hospital to be with me. I was a little nervous about having this baby early - what if the lungs weren't ready? What if he had to go to the NICU? But we rested in the fact that the Lord had already determined this baby's birthdate - and His sovereignty brought me much comfort.

We didn't do much to help the labor along because if I delivered after midnight then the baby would be exactly 35 weeks along. Kim came by around supper time and brought us some snacks (shhh!) which were a life saver! My contraband pop-tart had been long gone! And popsicles only satisfy for so long! I got my epidural around 8:00 pm and was much more comfortable after that. About 54 minutes after the dawn of March 13, I pushed 3 times and little Carter Shane came out - it was a boy!!

The wierd thing was that the NICU was there to watch the delivery and that was very bizarre - 2 men that I didn't know - with several other women, watching me!? The awesome Dr. tried to block their 'view' but that was still wierd for me. Anyway, after delivery the NICU checked him out and he looked great! So they all left him with me for him to go to the regular nursery! He stayed there for a bit while they suctioned some fluid but after a few hours, he came to stay with us.

It was an exausting few days since I was up most of Wednesday night with contractions and all of Thursday night with labor - but it was so worth it!! He was 6 pounds 1 once of pure sweetness! All 19 1/2 inches of him!

We are thankful for this additional blessing in our lives! Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and encouragement during this time!

Blessings...

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Ps. 127:3

There have been so many blessings in our lives this past week as we have brought home this new baby boy. (Kim took the above pic, isn't she great?) My husband wrote a sweet post this week about the blessings he has seen this week. He hardly ever writes such a personal post so I encourage you to read it!

One of the blessings in our lives has been having grandparents that live in the same town. They blessed us by keeping our other 4 children while we were in the hospital and they have provided small blessings every day since Carter's birth.

Just the other day I called Brian's dad to let him know that we enjoyed the carrot cake he had sent our way but that it was gone!! Later that afternoon, Brian's mom and aunt came by with an apple pie, a chocolate cake, brownie bites and chocolate chip cookies! The next day she brought by a homemade pound cake! Needless to say, we shouldn't be hurting for dessert at our house this week! Thanks Granny and PawPaw!

March Madness

This is what happens when you have a baby in the middle of March and Daddy is home during the day for 2 weeks! Homeschooling centers around March Madness! Spelling happens as they learn to spell "Louisville" and "Gonzaga". Math happens as they pick their winning teams to go to the "Sweet 16" and the "Elite 8".

Brian got us all involved today. He had brackets for all of us to fill out. The kids have been so excited to watch and see if 'their' teams win. The funnest part was listening to the reasoning behind their picks. Emmie picked Kansas because Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz lives there. She also picked West Virginia (to go all the way in fact) because that is where PawPaw is from. Coleman picked VCU because they are yellow, his favorite color!

So, needless to say, we've been busy around here with a new baby AND March Madness! I'll let you know who wins!!