3 weeks!

Bella is 3 weeks old today already!  Wow, the time has flown by!  Even though she has only been in our outside world for 3 weeks, we feel so close to her and it's hard to imagine how life was without her.  She has been such a good baby, (as most babies are in their first weeks), but our lives have not drastically changed since her arrival.  She gets plenty of attention when needed, and is perfectly content to also sit alone in her baby chair...at least for now.  Here are some pics of her first weeks.

 Day 1

 First car ride

 Neysa's first visit with Bella (our neighbor)

 Noah loves being a big brother!

 Big sister dressing up little sister...

...and snuggling

 We had 2 Grandmas here!  What a blessing!

Watch me grow!

 Baptism day!

 Fr. George

 Godparents - Janice & Richie

"It's the same dress my sisters wore!"

Who says the youngest never has pictures?!  Not when you're THIS cute!

It's a GIRL!!!

 Beautiful baby Bella Grace was born on October 19th at 3:32pm and weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20 inches long.  Her delivery was the easiest of the 6...the hardest part was the waiting!  She is growing wonderfully and gets a ton of hugs and kisses!  We thank God for the blessing of her in our family and that she is healthy and spending time in our arms.  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Time with G'ma

Grandma Johnson came to spend time with our family & to be here when the baby arrived.  We spent that time going to the kids' games, shopping, playing games, more shopping, pumpkin patch, and not to mention the immense help around the house!  Here are some pictures that we got during her time here.

 We are so thankful for our quality time we got to spend with her & the memories we will cherish.  My entryway will probably never look this good again, so I have to share and give all the credit to her and her generosity of making our house look like a home.  It's a good thing for Grandmas...otherwise our kids would miss out on lots of experiences because Mom is "just too tired (or lazy)" to do it if it were just for her own enjoyment.  I'm still learning...  Thanks Mom, for continuing to teach me what it is that my kids need to experience, even when I struggle to find the time and energy to do so.  It's just the simple things sometimes!

New current family picture!

We took the kids to the local apple orchard where they have a giant corn maze.  

It was a beautiful day and they enjoyed venturing through the course that took them well over an hour.  

This pregnant lady stayed out of the 6 miles of trails that make this Great Horned Owl.

They had a blast going through the maze and looking for the 10 questions within it that pertained to this bird.

Next weekend, the Raptor Center will be visiting, so we might have to go back to see them in person,
that is, if baby hasn't arrived yet.

Mis-fortune

We took the kids out for Chinese for lunch yesterday and at the end of the meal, Ian spotted the container of fortune cookies.  He knew we were all pretty much done gorging ourselves at the buffet, so he grabbed enough for all of us.  I told him the waitress would bring them over, but since we were the only ones there, I didn't make much of a fuss about it.

We all enjoyed breaking open our cookies and finding the "clue" inside, (at least that was what Ian called them.)  The waitress then came over with our bill and brought more cookies, and I told her that we already got ours, but she didn't seem to mind and set them all down for us.  The kids eagerly grabbed another cookie, but I think it's the fortune they were most excited to find.

Amidst all of the talking and wrapper noises, I missed Ian mentioning that his 2nd cookie didn't have a fortune in it.  Shortly after, I saw him pull something out of his mouth and plop it on a napkin as he said, "Oh, I guess that one DID have a clue."  I broke out laughing (and snorting, as Laney pointed out, because I was laughing so hard).  I don't know what was funnier, knowing that he ate the "clue" or asking him about how it happened.  We were all so into our own fortune cookies, that we totally missed that he didn't have one and even so, continued to put the whole half of the cookie in his mouth that actually contained the fortune and then realized it shortly after when his cookie had a little extra taste and texture to it.

We all had a great laugh and I had tears in my eyes as I giggled so hard replaying it in my head.  (On another note, it kind of hurts to laugh that hard at 37 weeks pregnant, and one is also very aware of how full one's internal organs are when every muscle in one's belly is flexing and after eating at a buffet.)

36 weeks

So in a nutshell, what's going on in our house is NESTING!  For the most part, we are ready for baby's arrival.  I'm about as organized as I need to be, and things are ready, well, that is, except for our health. 

These past couple weeks, Jason has been plagued with a nasty cough.  Despite my encouragement to see the doctor that first week, (especially after he had a fever one day), he worked long hours and even got into the dunk tank again on a cold night during Homecoming week.  After a second fever a few days later, and what sounded like wheezing, he finally went in & was diagnosed with walking pneumonia.  My weekly doctor visit was normal, other than my coughing, but my doctor put me on the same antibiotics as Jason just to prevent mine from turning to pneumonia as well.

This was all diagnosed last week, and during that time, both AJ & Laney came down with mild head colds and Faith was hit hard with a virus that has her home from school for another day with a fever, a nasty sore throat, headache and even a bit of nausea.  Fearing she caught the strep throat that's going around, we brought her to the doctor as well, but that came out negative, so we're just trying to make her comfortable until it passes.  She's going on day 4 of feeling yucky.

Yesterday, someone asked me when baby is due & I said any time is OK now, but we would prefer to have everyone a bit healthier before bringing a newborn home.  I would also like to kick my cough that keeps me up before I am deprived of sleep even more, otherwise I will be sick even longer! 

But otherwise, we are excitedly awaiting baby's arrival and wondering how things will go with a new little one.  Noah is still not fully accepting of being at school without Mom there, so if we can't get it to work this week, we might end up trying preschool at home.  Not really what I had planned for with a baby, but I also hadn't planned on spending weeks sitting in a preschool classroom so he could adjust the way that Noah adjusts...slowly and on his own time.  I have a last resort of "tricks" up my sleeve, so hopefully we feel a little better to give it a try this week.  I guess if it doesn't work, we will save lots of money on tuition this year and we don't have to worry about getting him to and from school everyday.

"Can't stop the feeling"

Here's a video TCU put together to welcome the students and staff back to school.  

Jason's in a couple of spots.  

Titans!

 The school year officially began for us last week & I am happy to say the kids have adjusted well.  I wasn't worried about them making friends, but after going to the open house at the middle school, I realized how much bigger the school was than what we were all used to.  When searching for AJ's locker, after going up and down 2 sets of stairs, I finally told them, you just go up there & if you find it, let me know and I will come to you.  Let's just say I was in the middle of a contraction & tired of walking during it.

The three older have adjusted to having lockers with combination locks, something I didn't even think of that they've never used before.  AJ's managed to get stuck on day 2 and they had to order him another lock because even the teacher couldn't get it open.  Him and Laney also have a gym locker with a lock, so they have 2 combinations to remember and they haven't mentioned it being a problem...other than locker room lockers smell bad, so they asked for air fresheners, LOL.

Ian and Noah are at the Catholic School and Ian has been much more calm when he is home.  His social cup is now filled when he gets home because he has a class with 5 other boys whom he seems to get along well with and who also have his amount of energy.

Mr. Noah's first day of preschool did not go as well.  Jason dropped all the kids off that morning while I enjoyed a nice cup of coffee in a comfy chair while praying.  "I could get used to this!" I thought.  I slowly moved about our quiet house and planned out my time for grocery shopping before I would pick up Noah just before lunch.  I even called the school for some details, but there was strangely no answer. 

While I was at the store, I left my phone in the car, which turned out to be a mistake.  I returned to my vehicle to discover that the school and Jason had left messages for me to come for Noah...he was not doing well and they had given up trying to settle him down.  (I'm guessing that's why the secretary didn't answer the phone...she had a screaming 4 year-old in her lap.)  Jason had already gone to the rescue & had him at home, so I got there to find a teary-eyed little boy snuggled deep into his Daddy's lap.  I didn't get much else done that day but holding him & assuring him about the next day.

I spent the next 3 mornings camped out in the classroom to gain his trust while he adapted to his new surroundings.  On the 3rd morning, I had to leave for about an hour for an appointment I had scheduled for over a month.  He was screaming when I left and they had to call Daddy again within an hour to come for him when they couldn't settle him down & couldn't reach me. 

So, here I am, week 2, on Wednesday, still sitting through about 4 hours of preschool.  He is doing great, participating, socializing, all the things he should be doing, as long as he can glance over and see me somewhere in the room.  If he doesn't, he gets a look of panic on his face until he sees me.  We have a few things planned to try for tomorrow and Friday to work on getting this 8-1/2 month pregnant mommy out of the classroom so I can: 1) be comfortable, 2) work on getting baby stuff ready & do more unpacking, and 3) get into a morning routine that involves a warm cup of joe and some prayer time, or something like that before I have another little one crying and needing my attention.

On the plus side, it has been fun watching him participate and learning his classmate's names.  And even though I am lacking in my quiet morning prayer time, the short moments I get in prayer, I hear God speak to my heart, "I will ALWAYS be here...he needs you now and so be at peace, because I will be here, ALWAYS."  And that puts a patience in my heart for this little boy, who needs me now, to be by his side when he is afraid and unsure, and to know that it will have to move forward on his time...just as he has done from his very birth.  He is a reminder that I prayed for patience and he gives me opportunities for just that.  So for now, I will enjoy those moments with him, because I know all too well how quickly these years are moving by.

It's done!!

I am super excited to say that our basement finishing is all done!  We have now been in Phase 3 of moving our stuff and downsizing the stuff that doesn't fit or we've realized we can live without.  I'm sure we will continue to unpack some things throughout the rest of the year, as I have started focusing a little more on getting things ready for the baby now that mostly everyone is settled in their spaces.  The decorations might have to wait, but that's not something that's quite uncommon for me when we move.  The reason might be also that I seem to be dealing with pregnancy or a new baby whenever we move.  Here are some pictures of the spaces that we have all grown to love & appreciate in just a few short days.

 

 The living room/office space (we have yet to get the office desk down here, but that is next on my list.)  We are so grateful to Jason's uncle & aunt, Pat & Lori, for generously donating their "old" furniture to us.  The enormous L-couch and entertainment center have been reunited after a time apart.  We acquired the entertainment center a while back, and they just happened to decide to downsize to new furniture and this beautiful couch needed a home & we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  (I believe we will also be purchasing a trampoline this weekend from them now that their youngest is off to college.)

 

 You can see Noah on the left side crawling out of the storage space under the stairs.  I decided to put the toys in there & the kids claimed the space further back as a play area.  We happened to have leftover carpet from our other house & this one, so we lined the floors with it and let the kids have their "secret hiding space" to play in.  It was nice when it was rainy.  They brought in the kitchen set to put in front of the door, so that's why it looks so small in there.  Otherwise, it's a great space where they have played, colored and imagined up stories and scenarios.

 The bedrooms were a little smaller than our other house, and even though we had bunk beds, the 2 older kids had been used to a full-sized bed & were a little reluctant to go back to a twin, so we looked for "twin over full" lofted beds and we found these.  They have steps to the top bunk & dresser drawers on each side, which is really nice since the boys' room is not really big enough for a separate dresser.  The closets are bigger though, so that helps also with clothes storage.  (As you can see, I didn't care to have their beds made before I took the pictures...at least their rooms are kept clean...at least for now!)

 

 The girls' room is a little bigger & they have room for a small desk, which I am in the process of painting.

 We are so excited to have another bathroom!  The kids love having their "own" shower.

We are so humbled and grateful to God for all that we have & how things have worked out in our new home.  We definitely see His hand in everything and although everything was not always easy, it has definitely been worth the wait.  Finding the blessings in each step of moving, from the past year up until now, has put my heart and soul in a state of peace.  Trusting in God's will is a big step, especially for someone like me who tends to like to control and know what's always going on, but the inner peace and joy that has come from it is amazing!  I admit that most days my inner emotions get the best of me, but when I seek the quiet and solace of God's loving embrace, I find Him nudging my heart to love better because I feel Him loving me, even in my weaknesses and inequities.

We have found His calling to us here and know that by following His voice to our new home that He will continue to do things in our lives and in those around us.