Thankful

Thankful to be 11 weeks pregnant and still nauseous. Thankful to hear our baby's heartbeat beating away inside my belly. Thankful for healthy, vibrant, funny children. Thankful for a husband who loves and takes care of us. Thankful for life today. Thank you, Jesus!

The baby business...

We are back in the baby making business! It took 42 days from the miscarriage to get my fertility back! It just bothered me knowing I couldn't get pregnant, but now my cycle is back to normal. Of course now of I get pregnant this month we'd be expecting another November baby, but that's fine by me! :) Our kids are destined to share birthdays with each other I think.

We painted part of the kitchen a light teal color this weekend, inspiration courtesy of Pinterest! Just trying to decide now whether or not to paint the cabinets white! I want to but there are just so many!

Up in the wee hours with Micah barfing. He's sleeping now! Pray the other boys don't get sick too! :/

Caleb is learning so much lately! He now puckers his little lips, leans in for a kiss and makes a smacking noise with his mouth! It is heart-melting! He does it if he hears the word kiss! :) He has also sprouted four, almost five teeth since his birthday! All four molars at once poor baby! The teething necklace is a miracle worker though. He is usually fuss free through it all! He is a rough and tumble baby while at the same time so squishy and sweet still!

He is still nursing at nearly fourteen months and I have no plans to wean him. He tugs on my shirt when he wants milk, and he knows the word milk when it is spoken. He still sometimes wakes at night and nurses for a minute, but other nights he sleeps all night long! I am happy to say he has never been left to cry it out in order to get him to sleep thru the night. This is a big deal to me after what we did with the other kids. I was determined not to do CIO thus time around and I am happy to see that a baby will sleep for long stretches on their own eventually without CIO, and it won't be at five years old! :)

Micah and Levi are talking up a storm, and can express most everything they want to say or are feeling. I love how they say things right now...pronouncing "L" as "W" for one thing. "Mommy, I wight here. I not Wevi, I Micah." They both also say "I be hungry, sick, tired" etc. So cute! I don't always correct them either because it is too cute and I know they will grow out of it on their own anyway! :) I am having a hard time believing they will be three in less than three months! They are my toddlers!!!! Yet, they are almost preschoolers!

Noah is at the most darling age! It really is the best! I just eat up all the random, "I love you so much mommy, you're the best mommy in the whole world." He is just so sweet and thoughtful, and usually very obedient and understanding of feelings. His depth of understanding was fully revealed to me after I told him about the miscarriage. I was careful to not say the baby died, I just said it stopped growing, and that it was still very small. The next day out of the blue he said, "Mommy, I love you. I'm just sorry that baby died." I was blown away how perfectly he understood even when I tried to sugar coat it. My little boy is growing up, and I am holding on to these moments and cherishing them while they last!

On another note, the kids have seriously been sick for 2 months now! Can't wait for the sick season to end! Every time we go to church they are sick again! :(

Miscarry

Finding out I am pregnant leaves me bursting with joy and excitement. Uncontainable joy that I don't try to contain. So, I tell early because I want to share my joy with the world! While I understand why people choose to wait to share such blessed news, I just can't do it! I've had people question the wisdom of this decision, asking what would I then do if something "happened". I've gotten the shocked question...Have you even heard the heartbeat yet?!!! Alas, I have always thrown "caution" to wind.   My view has always been that if I miscarried my baby I would want the love and support of my friends and family to see me through that tough time. A miscarriage is a baby lost whether anybody else knows about it or not, and I just didn't feel like it would be something I would want to go alone.

We lost our baby on Christmas Day at eight weeks, and as hard as it has been, I am not sorry that I shared.  The joy that we felt before was just as real as the loss that we feel now, and I am grateful for the acknowledgement of that fact.

I am left humbled by the miracle that each precious life is.  I am reminded that few things in life are guaranteed.  A baby in my arms next August was no more guaranteed than are long lives for the rest of our children, or even my next breath, and I don't ever want to take that for granted.  God tells us that our lives are like vapor, here one second and gone the next.  The only way to make that vapor count is to be living for Him everyday, throwing caution to the wind on a daily basis.  In moments such as these the reality of this hits home.  It is good to be reminded, and to be motivated to make life count in the way God meant it to. 

God is good.  God is faithful.  His love endures.  He binds up the brokenhearted.  He makes our yoke easy and light.  Thank you Jesus for all of our blessings.  I am so very glad to know you.

         

I'm pregnant!

Brrr

Ice froze the door handles of Nick's truck thid morn before work.  He ended up accidentally breaking a window trying to get in.  Spent an hour in the 30 degree weather and then had to call off work.  Garage parking from now on!  We are so new at this whole freezing weather thing!  Anyhow, we used the day to go to Costco and get some things for thanksgiving, and boy was Costco packed!  It was insane!  They must have had like 1,000 pumokin pies there too!

We are doing Thanksgiving at out house this year!  That's a first.  I am supposed to make an edible turkey, so we will see how that goes.  At this point it is still frozen solid attempting to be defrosted while in the fridge.  Oh, boy.

The twins are started to remember and "read" certain books with me.  Well, really just the one.  Go Away Dog.  Every night they tell me "read the dog".  I LOVE hearing them learn and remember stories.  It is adorable, and I really can't believe just one year ago they really only said, mamma, dadda, and baby.  MY how they are grown from babies to toddlers, and now on the brink of full out little boys.  Be still for a while clock.

Caleb is pretty much amazing!  He is definitely advanced both physically and verbally!  He can now say hot, ball, mama, dada, no, and uh oh!  He actually said four words in a row once..."no no don't touch" after we told him that a bunch of times regarding the wood burning stove.  Amazingly, he just knows it's hot and pretty much doesn't touch it.  There have been no burns.

Noah is still our little softy, and pretty sensitive.  He LOVES playing with Chey Chey, and he is just growing so fast.  He is very perceptive, and really understands peoples feelings.  He is also a very big rule follower.  He will remind you to put on your seat belt, and not go to fast so you don't get a ticket.  If he thinks a rule is being broken, he reminds me to keep it!  Funny boy.  He still lvoe being told stories.  He will listen to a book being read, but prefers for me to tell him a story.