Thanksgiving....oh no, it's CHRISTMAS now!

Yes, I know it's been 2 months now since I made my announcement about baby #4 coming...yes I know I haven't blogged since then, Yes I know I missed Thanksgiving altogether, and YES I know it's almost Christmas!....now that we have that behind us....I can move on w/ life! :)

I only blog today b/c we aren't doing school! YEP, that's right, we are done til after the holidays! Emma is in the nutcracker, and has to be at Wingate university 4 days this week, along w/ a Christmas party on Wednesday...here at our house with some homeschool friends AND meetings to attend and presents to be wrapped....well, the headmaster decided that it was time for Christmas break to begin!...have I mentioned I LOVE homeschooling! :)

Speaking of school, an update on how it's been for us! Let's see, awesome, yet terrifying, fun, yet a ball of stress, joy, and some tears!....what have I left out...we have been through just about every emotion possible in the last 3 months! Almost as soon as I found out I was pregnant I went through a really rough time....I have been the SICKEST w/ this baby as I have ever been...not a good combination w/ school. Eli stopped napping altogether, another bad combination w/ school...so I was wishing to throw up, Eli was clinging to my leg and poor Emma was trying her best to work w/ all the noise and distraction!...a recipe for disaster! With lots of tears and TONS of encouragement from the wonderful friends (and mom) that the Lord has given me, I survived! I/we prayed about our decision to homeschool...questioning if we needed to change. But, I knew in my heart that God called me to do this, and HE would give me the strength to do it...that HE always knew about baby #4, and He wouldn't change His mind about me homeschooling b/c of baby 4, He knew, even when I didn't! So, I am thankful to say, I am back to normal, no more sickness...PRAISE GOD, and school is back on track! WHEW! I LOVE teaching Emma, she loves to learn, and is quickly picking things up! I am thankful for the chance to be the one teaching her, and now see that even the tough times are to show me that we CAN DO THIS! Ian also amazes me, he learns very differently from the way Emma learns...of course...and is so quick to figure things out, I am so excited to get him started in more of a formatted program...although at this rate, I won't need to, he is learning everything Emma is learning...just from listening to us talk about it!

Eli, is BACK TO NAPPING! He had a rough bout w/ a few ear infections and became really used to mommy holding him to nap!...STINKER! After a few purposeful days of naps, we are back to either 2 short naps or 1 LONG nap...just depends! He is walking..not all the time, but more and more daily...he will go across the room, until he falls....then will crawl the rest to the way! He is BUSY! and STUBBORN, well over somethings....he has done AWESOME w/ the tree and not touching it, but I can't get him to leave light socket alone to save my life! HA, go figure, and when we are at mom's it's nightlights we fight over! Alex thinks he's going to be an electrician too! He is SO full of joy and brings so many smiles to our family! He gets so excited when anyone come in the door, it will make you day....if you are ever having a down day, just come and see Eli, he will take care of it for you! PROMISE! We are still cloth diapering at home, but not so much when we are out (solid poop and disposal aren't a fun thing when shopping...sorry) BUT at home they are still great! and what a money saver :) Eli will have you know, he isn't a teddy boy like his brother and sister...nope, he's a blanket baby!...and a cute one at that...sleeps on this tummy and holds the edge in one hand...a baby after his mommies heart!

baby #4, well, I think reality started to sink in when we heard the heartbeat...ha, nope, I'm still not sure I really believe it! About 3 weeks ago, the kids and I heard the heartbeat, and had a great day of school right there in the dr's office. Emma was SO excited and ask all kinds of awesome questions. My favorite was..."Mommy, if our baby has a heartbeat, that means she's ALIVE...right?" How awesome it was to be able to say YES, Emma, that is right! If there is a heartbeat....that's means there is LIFE....ALWAYS! We talked of life, when it starts, and even death (or as Ian asked..."if it's not beating, is it broken?") and when and why death happens...did I mention I LOVE homeschool! If Emma were in school I wouldn't of had that chance w/ her! OK...sorry, back to baby #4, well, he/she is a stinker already if you ask me...making me SO sick...even the OB nurse started asking if there was a chance there were 2! HA, ummm, no, I'm not even looking for that as a option! We have our u/s next Tuesday the 22nd (what a fun Christmas present!) so the bets are out on what this one is...if you caught Emma's referral earlier...then you know what she is hoping for! Ian informed us the other day that if this one isn't a girl he wouldn't like it!....ha, umm, we had a talk about how God would give us what HE knows is best for our family...I could tell Ian wasn't convinced that God knew better than he does! :) Alex says girl, and I am telling everyone that I believe what Alex' says...he's never been wrong. I'm not convinced, I remember telling everyone w/ Emma, that I could have 10 more babies and they would all be boys....she would be my only girl...guess we'll find out, I good either way, just want to know it's healthy!

So how was our Thanksgiving....? It was great, Alex did all the cooking (I did help!) and I did all the baking, and we ate at mom and Gary's as they came back home from Durham the day before Thanksgiving....so us 5, Nick's 4, and mom and Gary enjoys a quiet meal (quiet w/ 5 kids...lol) and afternoon. I for the first time since Dad died, ventured out on black Friday...early...like 4:30 am early! YEP, I did...and WE had A BLAST....first of all mom came w/ me (and I crave every moment I can get w/ her now a days...funny how 8 months away will make a girl have renewed appreciation for her mom!) and we met Melanie at Target at 5!....I saved like $300 and was SO pleased! YEP, it will be back on my yearly tradition!...funny how long lines are no big deal when you don't have kids w/ you! :) Then Saturday after thanksgiving we did our annual Christmas decorating day...so fun w/ kids...so much more fun w/ kids than ever before!...we have started everyday since w/ Christmas music :)

It's beinging to look alot like Christmas! What we have done, well I wanted to start lots of new things this year and start having some "traditions" to build on now that Emma and Ian are a little older! We went to see the gingerbread lane done by people as a way to support CMC children's hospital, they really enjoyed going and seeing all the things you can do w/ gingerbread and candy...then the following Monday we made our own house and train...a FUN time we will be doing again in the following years! We have had a craft day w/ Savannah, which was fun and a definite "tradition" for the following years to come! This week we are hosting a Christmas party, which I think I am most excited about for now, but I know the kids will have a blast and hopefully us homeschool mommies will have a chance to talk too!...another thing I am hoping to make a "tradition" for us! Emma came to me the other day wanting to know when she was going to shop for her brothers presents, so that is another thing we added to our "traditions" I am so glad she wanted to do that, and am even more excited that she and Ian both knew exactly what to buy for each other and Eli too...they both put thought and care into their gifts for each other...and are more excited about their sibling getting their present, than receiving their own!....yea! We spent an evening w/ Elevation filling shoe boxes for Samaritan's Purse, in which they helped carry 100's of boxes to be stacked...they were so proud of themselves for all their hard work, and it was a good chance to talk about kids who won't get anything other than that box for Christmas...another conversation which was awesome!

Well, I think that about catches everyone up on life...oh wait, Gary and Mom, well, what is there is say other than it's still hard for them, there are up day and DOWN days, they do their best to take it all in stride...they are amazing people for sure! Please continue to keep them in your prayers! Pray for his strength and rehabilitation!

Now, I think that catches everyone up! I can't even promise that it won't be 2 months before you hear from me again....just know I am doing great, and LOVING life to it's fullest, which doesn't always allow me to blog too! My life is such a blessing and I am SO grateful for all the Lord has given to me! I will try to post some pictures soon....and a quick note on our findings next Tuesday...what do you think it is? Girl or Boy?

MERRY CHRISTMAS