WOW!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, I've never been so surprised! I was just so sure... As soon as the ultrasound tech put the scanner on my tummy we saw it--the package. Now I have to think up cute boy names. I would really like a bible name with good meaning. Any ideas? I have more phone calls to make. I feel so blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope yours is a very blessed day with family and friends! We are meeting at my older brother's (Ed) home which is closeby. It will by my whole family (including my little brother, Jamie, who I hardly get to see), my sister-in-law's family, and Stu's parents. Ed is moving to Dallas in the spring, so we thought we'd do this special. I'm looking forward to a fun day. Now I need to get cooking and cleaning!

Eden's First Steps

Eden took her first steps to Celeste last night. Stuart and I were at a party and we missed it! I still haven't seen her walk more than 3 steps. Here is video to prove that she can really do it! The girls took the video and I got to see my baby's first steps on facebook at the party we were attending. Who can say that?!?

It's Veterans Day! On a holiday, we awoke to the DHL guy on the doorstep with the doppler I rented, yay! I got it from Baby Beat. Today I am 16 weeks, 5 days pregnant and we heard baby's heartbeat for the first time. What an amazing blessing! Stu did the honors and called all the children in to hear baby's heartbeat, too. Tommy seems to be the most interested and is always asking me if the baby is awake. He's so cute! Ultrasound in two weeks. I am feeling very blessed.

Ad nauseum

The past several days I have been suffering from some pretty significant nausea. It seemed to get worse over the past week or so. I am 16 weeks pregnant tomorrow and am just puzzled by this. You know how they say that every pregnancy is different? It's true. Although, with my other 2 girlie pregnancies I had nausea much longer than the boys. By 14 weeks with the boys it was over. So...I am thinking this is a girl again. I think that would be fun, but am not sure which I prefer. I guess at this point it doesn't matter. I didn't have a sister at all, so it would be nice for Eden to have a baby sis close to her age. I think there will be a lot of fighting between the two because they are close. We'll just see! Today I am taking vitamin B6 and going to get a sea band so that maybe that will help me. Here's to hoping!

We don't normally celebrate Halloween. I have some serious problems with this "holiday" that so many find fun. However, our family group from church handed out candy to neighborhood kids with a really nice tract attached (Jesus message). We went and cooked out. The theme was Gator fan spirit, so most of us had our Gator attire on. A couple of my kids wanted to play dress up, so they did that. Charity made up candy bags for the kids, so they would have some goodies, too! Enjoy the pics!

Monday has been a migraine disaster. I awoke with a very achy neck and quite of bit of nausea. Being pregnant, I chalked it up to that. Wrong! It will be all better soon...cornbread is in the oven courtesy of Jamie. Yay! Celeste is doing a parking lesson with Stu because we're finally going to take her to get her license soon--cost of insurance aside. I'm tired of Celeste or Jamie getting stuck places because they don't have the car keys. Enough said and now it's time to go lay down again.

Friday Felicities

~pita chips and hummus dip

~fall in the air

~the first time you hear your baby's heartbeat

~home baked treats

~a drive in the country

~fuzzy baby heads

~a good card game with friends

We're off to the doctors for our second baby visit. We should hear a great heartbeat today! I'm excited and will enjoy a "mommy" break. Have a super weekend!

Just life Wednesday

No major announcements here or anything. We all had a good time at Celebration this weekend. There were some amazing messages given by our very talented SG pastors. You can check them out here. The Saturday and Sunday morning sessions were my favorites!

I am finally feeling a bit better. I even made pancakes for breakfast today! We just ground some grain to make homemade rolls for this evening's dinner. I hope they turn out okay! Celeste is going to make them for us. It's 2 in the afternoon and I need to go get a shower. I've been lazy today doing stuff around the house. Also, Tommy is running a fever. A sure bet that he probably caught something from being around all the children this weekend at Celebration. Oh well! Enjoy the pics from the weekend!

A busy week

We are having a busy week here, although abbreviated in the homeschool area. This week is Celebration north for about 7 Sovereign Grace Churches, so we will be attending Thursday-Sunday. It is close to our home, so we won't be staying at the camp where it's held, but it should be fun with lots of worship, good teaching, go carts, blobbing, and food. 1 more day of homeschool and then the fun begins!

I added a picture of Celeste and her friend, Karyn. They went to a 16th bday 50's sock hop last Saturday. Karyn's Mom made the skirts for the girls. So fun!

A Taste of Fall

Ahh, today it is absolutely beautiful here! The low last night was 51 degrees...Woo Hoo! All my children are proudly wearing jeans today. The high is 81. I can live with that. I really love the fall weather. It puts a new spring in my step. I got out for a little while to get Jamie's hair cut (we couldn't tell who he was anymore) and to run some errands. The birds will be happy because I bought a 20 pound bag of seed from my favorite specialty bird store. I just love the feeders we have in the backyard. There's always an interesting group of birds stopping by. If you don't have a feeder, then I suggest you get one. I really enjoyed the hummingbirds this year, too. Evidently, they flew south for the winter and will be back in spring...boo hoo.

Tonight we go over to Grandma and Grandpa Palmers for dinner. It's been forever since we have done that! I look forward to a family evening. They will be moving into a new condo soon, so we will enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas in their new digs. I posted a pic of Eden who fell asleep in her high chair this morning. So cute!

Today, I am taking dinner to a good friend of mine, Chris, who had her 7th baby about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I am very excited to go see her newest addition--a little boy named Toby. Chris has 2 daughters and 5 sons now. Actually, Jamie, my 13 year old, is making the dinner. He's making Cheesy Mostaciolli for our family as well as theirs. Ahh, having teens is such a wonderful thing. Jamie has been making dinner most nights as I still don't feel well a lot. I will be 12 weeks tomorrow, so I think relief may be in sight....hopefully!

The other day I was thinking how I don't blog as much anymore. I just don't have a lot to say. I don't want to seem like I'm complaining, but my life is rather uneventful. I'm wondering if the hormones of pregnancy have me a bit depressed. Home schooling is rather challenging and I feel overwhelmed on occasion. Stu and I are really needing more time alone, but with 6+ children that rarely happens. I'm kind of feeling like I've lost myself. (I tend to feel that way during pregnancy.) So if any of you has a clear thought, please send it my way!

Sickies and hair cuts

We are just sick, sick, sick around here. I am sick to my stomach...due to sweet peanut growing inside. Eden has/had a croup virus that made her very ill over the weekend and she also has an ear infection now. Tommy now has what Eden had. It's ugly! I think I'm over all the snot, coughing, fevers, late nights, etc. But as a Mom I persevere for it will all be over eventually. I did get out of the house for a little bit this afternoon. I treated myself to a pedicure. I REALLY needed that!

On Sunday Stuart cut Tommy's hair for the first time. It wasn't just a trim. He really cut it ALL off! Tommy wanted it that way, but Tommy doesn't even look like himself anymore. It will take some getting used to--that's for sure!

Eden's First Birthday (Yesterday)

Eden Joy turned 1 yesterday! I can't believe it has already been a full year. She is such a joy to be around. Eden has a very even temperament and is such a good baby. She isn't walking quite yet, but is pulling up and cruising the furniture. It was a fun night! We had Stu's parents over and we made lasagna and cupcakes. Check out more pictures here. Go to this page for a full story of her birth and pictures from a year ago.

Just call me a blog slacker. As you now know, I am pregnant. Consequently, I am feeling cruddy most of every day. I didn't even get on the computer yesterday! Weird, I know. I have my first official OB appointment on Friday. The unique thing about that is that it's Eden's first birthday, too! Since I had the emergency c section last time, I have to see the doctor--no more midwife. Boo hoo! I really like Dr. Marichal, so it won't be too trying. He had oversight during my last pregnancy. Today I am 8 weeks, 5 days along. My due date is April 23rd. It's just a few weeks before my 40th birthday in June and a month after Stu's 40th. The u/s pic below is at 8 weeks. That's a little more info for you, but I've got to go get littles ready for bed now. Have a great week!

The Ultimate Suprise Gift

Who needs toys?

How much fun can a diaper box be? I don't know, go ask 5 of my children. They all took turns pushing Eden around in the box. Who needs toys anyway?!? Actually, Jamie (13) got in one of the boxes today and broke it, but they sure had a good time! Here's Eden in a pirate hat (with our Jack Russell, Chipper) and with kleenex, too!

Okay, you can call me a slacker! I am just so caught up in life that I haven't been blogging. What's going on? Well, we decided to sit Celeste out of dual enrollment at the community college for this semester. She had a horrible first day. We'll do better choosing teachers with advice for the spring semester. Jamie just started guitar lessons with a young lady from church and is really enjoying it. He just bought a new amp for his electric guitar and has been jamming out in his room constantly. Dan is now such an avid reader that he is reading several chapter books per week. He even lays in bed at night and reads with his little $2 book light I bought at Books-A-Million. (Celeste is that way, too!) Max's reading is improving. If we do nothing else in a day for home school, we have to read together. Of course, he's ahead in math and he's doing very well with his handwriting, too. Tommy is more verbal every day. He loves to watch/play with Thomas the Tank Engine. He celebrated his 3rd birthday about 10 days ago. I'll try to get some pics up of that. Eden is now pulling up on the furniture and walking along it a bit. She has discovered the remote for the TV and loves to steal it. She is learning to eat some table food and is liking that, also. I'm 2 weeks away from 1 year old and still nursing her. I don't see her giving it up any time soon.

Please pray for the real estate business for my hubby. We have a home that has considerable interest and we're hoping it goes to contract soon. It's a bumpy ride living on commission when you have 6 children. I am trusting God to provide for us.

In addition, we went to Orlando on Saturday and took LOTS of pictures at Samantha's 1st birthday party. Samantha is Val's (my BFF) daughter. Here's the link.

Eden turns 11 months

Eden turned 11 months old on Tuesday, the 21st. She is crawling all over the place and pulling up on furniture (finally!). I still don't know if she will be walking by 1, but that's okay! Here are a few cute pictures of her. Also, Tommy turns 3 tomorrow!! I can't believe it! I'll put up some bday pics for him after that. Today we are taking Celeste over to the community college to find her classes because she starts tomorrow. Wow! I can't believe it! I'm very proud of my high school student earning college credit. She's so smart!