Halloween pictures

Here are some pictures from Halloween. Claire was Jasmine from Aladdin, Luke was Winnie the Pooh, and Jordan was Spider Man. Luke only lasted about ten minutes in his costume, but as least I got a picture! Anyway, our Sunday school class had a big party in our brand new gym. It was so much fun. We are so blessed at our church to have this new facility. I pray we will use all of our building to reach out to our community. Enjoy the pictures!


Jasmine, Pooh, and Spider Man















Luke and Cooper













Our class families (and everyone wasn't there!)

Time flies...

Eleven years ago today I walked into the student center at Lipscomb University and met the man of my dreams. I didn't know it at the time, but God led me into that building saying, "Hold on, I am about to change your life." It has been a crazy eleven years, but I wouldn't change anything. There have been good times and bad times, but all those times are what made Stephen and me into the people we are today. We couldn't be more blessed and I can't wait to see what the next few decades bring us. I love you honey. Thank you for the most amazing time of my life.

Just one baby!

Well, I had my ultrasound today. I had convinced myself that I was having twins, but the ultrasound showed just one baby. I am pretty relieved. The picture is cute; the baby looks like a little peanut. Everything was healthy so far. I am officially 7 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Still pretty nauseous, but not throwing up thanks to a wonderful medicine called Zofran. I will go back to the doctor the end of November. Hope everyone has a fun Halloween!

Feeling better

While I still feel pretty crummy, I am not throwing up all the time, so I guess that is good. The smell of laundry detergent and dryer sheets is enough to put me over the edge. That is not good considering we have quite a lot of laundry to do. I guess I will have to get over it. Anyway, today I don't have to babysit, so I am going to try and not stay on the couch all day. Stephen has a soccer tournament this weekend so he will be away from home except to sleep. So since he won't be here to help, I have got to make myself get up.

Anyway, the reason for this post is to brag on my wonderful husband. He has been INCREDIBLE since I have been sick. He hasn't complained one time. He has come home from work early when I haven't felt like going to pick up the kids. He always comes in and starts on the housework that I haven't been able to do. He does things with the kids without me having to ask (baths, tucking them in, etc.). He cooks dinner. I just can't say enough about the selflessness he has displayed over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, I will get to feeling better soon so things can get back to normal around here, but until then I know I don't have to worry about anything because of my amazing husband. Thank you, honey, for all you do for our family. We couldn't make it without you!

In a while...

To my faithful readers, all two of you, I probably won't be posting anything for a while. I am feeling that bad. Hopefully in a few weeks, I will start feeling better, but right now I rarely want to read anything, much less type anything. Just wanted to let everyone know I haven't fallen off the planet. Talk to you soon!

Yuck.

For those of you who have never experienced morning sickness, or as I like to call it 24/7 sickness, let me just tell you that it is no picnic. It has completely debilitated me. My house is falling apart. The kids are bored because I can't get up and play with them. The only thing that makes this easier is that I know this is God's will for us. I am just not sure why He created this feeling. I guess it is Eve's fault.

Enough about me. My dad went for his bone/c t scan results today. His cancer is only in his prostate, so that is good news. The best course of treatment at this point is surgery. The draw back is that the first available time is right before Christmas, so he wouldn't be recovered yet. He is thinking about waiting until January. The draw back for that is that he will have to pay his deductible again since he has already met it for 2006. Anyway, he has a lot of decisions to make over the next few weeks, so please keep him in your prayers.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. And if any of you out there have any tips on dealing with 24/7 sickness, please let me know.

It's official.

Well, we had our first doctor's appointment today. I am officially pregnant, as though you couldn't tell by the way I look. You would think I am three or four months along, but I am only 5 weeks. I go for an ultrasound on the 31st to confirm the due date and check the heart beat and stuff. I have never had an ultrasound that early before, so I am anxious to see what the baby looks like at that point. Should be fun!

If the baby is a girl, we think her name will be Katherine Campbell and we will call her Campbell. We like it because it's different and sounds good with Claire. Katherine was Stephen's great grandmother's name. There are a lot of Katherine and Kate at church right now, so we came up with the other name to call her, although that may change. We are not sure what the boy's name will be but we are thinking Carson. Since we are not finding out what we are having before the birth, there is a lot of time to think about it. Stephen's favorite part : )

My dad went for his ct scan yesterday. It showed pretty much what the doctor thought it would, which was good news. He will find out the results of the bone scan on Friday. Please keep him in your prayers. I know he appreciates it.

Funny story to end this blog. It is about 7:30 right now and we have just put the kids to bed. They go through this thing every night which I am sure all kids do. They need water, then they need to go to the bathroom, then they are scared. Well tonight I told them before they even got in their beds that once they were in them, they couldn't get up for anything. They had their water, went to the bathroom, I said their "good dreams prayer". Lo and behold, Jordan comes walking out of his room and I said, "What part of 'Stay in your bed' do you not understand?" And Jordan replied, "But I am not used to staying in my bed!" We thought it was pretty funny.

My little dare devil

Just thought you would want to see what I found in the kitchen this morning. He thinks he is so big! I guess he really is.

Nothing new...

Not much here to report. I am in the lazy, no energy stage of my pregnancy. You can imagine what my house looks like, or maybe you can't. It is pretty bad. I try to keep a straight house so it is really bothering me. I am going to try and regain control of it tonight. I haven't been too sick yet. Just a little. I am getting more and more excited now that the realization has settled in. Now if we can figure out what to name this baby, we will be in good shape. Any suggestions would be great. We aren't going to find out whether it is a boy or girl, so that means we have to pick two names. Good thing we have plenty of time!

That is about all the news I have. I know. Can you stand the excitement (ha ha)? Hope everyone is having a great day.

Here are a few more pictures I didn't share the last time. Enjoy!

Here we go again!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we are expecting our 4th (and last) child this June. We are so excited! I still feel pretty good, but it is still early in my pregnancy, so I am sure the sickness will hit me any time now. But we can always hope. We were going to wait until I went to the doctor to share the news, but after you have already been pregnant three times, your stomach muscles say, "Hey! We know this routine. Let's stretch out now and get a head start!" So, we had to go ahead and tell everyone. But we are thrilled.

I have been meaning to post some pictures on here for a few days, so here they are in random order. I will be posting more over the next couple of days. Enjoy!

Claire at the pumpkin patch. She really liked the little ones.














Jordan petting the goats















Luke has to do everything Jordan does. Luke loves animals!













Could I be more blessed? I don't think so.

Long time, no blog

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. We have had a lot going on and some days, I just can't get my thoughts together. Anyway, we found out this week that my dad has prostate cancer. He is in the very early stages but it has still been scary. Please pray for him over the next week or so as he has some other tests done to determine what the future holds.

The kids have been on Fall Break this week. It has been fun having them home. I haven't been able to do all the things with them I had planned because I babysit a little girl and forgot that I had her, too, this week. But we have gotten to do a few things. It has been fun, but I think they will be glad to go back to school. They are going to my mom's tonight, so that should be fun. Stephen is going to a hockey game, so Luke and I are going to have some quality time.

I hope everyone has a great day. We are going to the pumpkin patch this afternoon, so that should be fun. See ya!

Fun day

Jordan running in the Fox Trot. He had the most laps of the first grade-29. Way to go, Jordan!!

Claire walking in the Fox Trot

Today was the fund raiser for Black Fox Elementary School. The kids get pledges and run for the school. It was really fun. Jordan came in first for the first grade with 29 laps. Claire did well with 14 considering I found out this afternoon that she has strep throat. Nice. Anyway, the last picture I wasn't going to post, but this was the second time since yesterday that I found Luke putting on my lipstick. I thought I had put it out of his reach, but obviously I didn't. At least he knows where the lipstick goes! Lovely. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Oh, Lukey.

WooooooHooooooo!!!!!

We had the first normal night of sleep since Luke has been born!!!!! Well, not really since he has been born, but some days that is what it feels like. He went to sleep at 7:20 and didn't get up till 6:15 or so. Praise the Lord! Sometimes we have to do something hard (letting him cry "Mommy") to produce something really good (sleeping all night on his own). Thanks to any of you who have been praying about this for us. It sure makes things easier.

On a sad note, my dad's friend Anne Tonelson, who he has been in lots of plays with, died yesterday from pancreatic cancer. Please pray for her family (husband Joel, daughter and son Julia and Daniel) as they deal with losing her. I know my dad would really appreciate it.

Hope everyone has a good day.

TGIF!

Well, it's Friday. I would say that I am excited about sleeping in tomorrow, but I haven't done that in about 6 1/2 years. Luke is now going to bed on his own, but he is still waking up in the middle of the night. Actually, last night it wasn't even midnight when he woke up. I could have cried. I was so tired. So, tonight starts the process of letting him learn to get himself back to sleep on his own. How? Well, I am going to have to let him cry.

I am not excited about it, but I know it is for the best. I know that he is not sick, hungry, hurt or anything else. He just wants me. And while any other time I would love that, it is affecting my ability to have patience during the day, and I hate that. I am not being the mom I want to be because of the lack of sleep. So now it is affecting the whole family. I know that once he is on a routine and sleeping better that everything will feel normal and peaceful and good again. Not that it has been bad. In the whole scheme of things, this really isn't that bad of a problem. I am pretty lucky in that regard.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Wish me luck...and sleep!

60 years later...

Yesterday we celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. We had a big reception for them at the Madison Arts Center. It was so much fun. T here were a lot of people there. I felt so blessed after watching my grandparents all day. Their friends were arriving with canes, walkers and other "helps", and my grandparents don't have to use any of that. They are in excellent health for being almost 80 and they still travel and do things that a lot of people their age can't do. Actually, my mom's mom is the same way. I am so blessed to have my grandparents in such good health.

They have had such a blessed marriage. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but they have always been faithful to God and each other. They have been such a great example to me in how to have a good marriage. I lived next door to them until I was a senior in high school, so I am very close to them. I love the fact that my kids now love to go to their house and love to be with them. I have a picture of their front porch that sits in my living room. Their front porch is my favorite place on earth. When we go there, we spend most of our time just sitting there on the swings watching the kids play. It is home to me.

Marriage is such a special gift from God. I feel so incredibly blessed to have the marriage I have. I have an amazing husband. I hope you are as blessed as I, not just in marriage, but in life. I lose count everyday when I think of all the blessings in my life. Love you all.

Better night, sort of

Wow, not so many suggestions at once!!! Just kidding. I guess everyone has the same sleep struggles at one time or another. I found out yesterday that Luke doesn't have another ear infection. He is just used to being rocked to sleep. And actually, I wouldn't mind doing that if he would then let me lay him down. But even when he is asleep when I lay him down, he wakes up as soon as his head hits the pillow.

Anyway, last night, I let him cry and I didn't have to do it very long. The first time, I went back to his room after five minutes and the second time, I was on the phone for about 10 minutes and when I got off and was going to check on him, he was already asleep. He woke up once during the night, but I went and stood by his bed for about five minutes and he was back asleep. Then today for his nap, I read to him and then told him it was time for nap, put him in his bed and turned his music on, patted him on the back for a couple of minutes, and he was out. I think we are on the way to better sleep for all of us. By the way, the cd I play is one that my dad made called "Luke's Lullabies". It has a lot of special songs on it that mean a lot to me. He loves his grandkids so much. Thanks Dad!

The funny things is, while Luke slept much better, Claire was up for about two hours coughing with one of her allergy attacks. Nice. So we still didn't get a good nights sleep. My friend told me today that when stuff happens to her like that, she tells herself that she must be really strong for God to give her something like that to handle, since He never gives us more than we can bear. I must be really strong! Just kidding. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great day. Here's to better sleeping!

I NEED SLEEP!!!!!

Does anyone have any tried and true methods to get your baby to sleep? He has been going to bed later and later, only by my rocking him, and then he wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. I will rock him back to sleep and as soon as I lay him down, he is screaming. We were up for about three hours last night and I am exhausted. I would love to hear what everyone's routines are. We definitely need one! Thanks.

Surprise date night

Stephen and I are taking a parenting class at church called Growing Kids God's Way. We took it two years ago and it really helped our family, so we decided to go through it again. Anyway, during the class, you have date nights where all the couples in the class have a potluck dinner. On the schedule it was supposed to be last night, but we missed the second week of class when they announced that it was actually next Friday.

So, we already had a babysitter at home so we decided to have a date anyway. It was probably the best date we had had in a long time. We didn't have anything already planned, so we just went to Jason's Deli and ate dinner. We sat outside and just talked, took our time eating, talked some more. It was so nice. Sometimes we forget that we still know how to talk to each other, even when we aren't talking about work, the kids, etc.

We found out this week that a couple who has become some of our good friends is separated. They are going to counseling and are very hopeful that things will work out, but it is still scary. It is so easy for Satan to slip in and make you think that everything is okay and that you don't really need to spend time together. You don't really need to make an effort in your marriage; everything will take care of itself. Well, it won't.

I am so thankful for my marriage. Stephen and I entered into our marriage knowing that it would not be easy and that it would take lots of work. Both of our parents are divorced and we knew that the odds were against us. So we look at everything differently, I think, than if our parents were still married. We know that things don't always work out like you plan. That having been said, I am blown away sometimes that God brought us together. We still love each other so much after ten years together. We love being together, talking, laughing, being with our family. We truly are best friends and I can't imaging my life with out him. I am just so thankful that after all this time we still love and like each other. It is truly a blessing.

Take some time today and tell your spouse how much they mean to you and how much you love them and are thankful for them. It won't be a waste of time and I know they will appreciate it. Never take for granted that you will always have each other. Take time to work on your marriage and make it everything God intented it to be and wants it to be. Also take a minute to pray for our friends and others you know who are going through trouble in their relationship. It will mean so much to them.

Kids really do like routine.

This week I was trying something new for our mornings. My grandmother showed me an article in this weekends paper that was about getting ready for school and making the mornings run more smoothly. It had some checklists of things to do the night before, in the morning, and right after school to make sure everything got done. I took a few of those suggestions and have been trying them out.

The main things that have helped us are (1)Laying the clothes out the night before so they are ready to be put on as soon as the kids get up. (2)The kids have to make their bed and put their pajamas away before they leave their room. (3) They aren't allowed to turn the TV on until they are completely ready. (4) They have to eat their breakfast at the table, not in the living room with the TV on. This one may seem like a no-brainer to most of you, but we eat a lot of our breakfasts in the living room, not very well I might add.

Anyway, the reason I know that kids really like routine is because Tuesday and Wednesday went great. There was no fighting, no yelling, we left on time and had a very pleasant morning. This morning, however, didn't go anything like the other two. Luke and Claire both woke up at 4:00 a.m. Luke got in the bed with me and Stephen laid down with Claire. Needless to say we didn't get a whole lot of sleep after that. I hadn't laid the clothes out the night before. I hadn't straightened up the house so it was clean when we woke up, it was just not a good morning. They got in bed late because of church, but that is a whole other issue that I won't go into today.

I guess the whole reason I am sharing all of this is to say that it is really worth the effort on the parents' end to keep everything organized, clean, on schedule, etc. Setting them up for success instead of failure for all you Growing Kids fans. Kids thrive on boundaries, routines, knowing what to expect. It just makes them feel at peace. There. That is my wisdom for today. Sorry it was so long, but I wasn't sure how to explain everything. Luke and I are going to have a better day from here on out. Lydia Class starts back today. I am excited about that. I hope everyone has a great day!

I gotta know...

Are there ever times when you just know that you are in the will of God? I had one of those moments today. It was so awesome. I had been going back and forth about teaching preschool again. I didn't really want to, because I really didn't want to put Luke in yet at only 15 months. But they desperately need teachers and I thought it could really help us out financially.

This keeps coming up and I keep telling God that I really don't want to work right now, but if He wants me to help get us in a better situation financially, then I will. Well, I have been keeping a little girl named Madelyn over the summer on Tuesday and Thursday. Now that preschool is starting, I will have her on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I thought that I may could teach preschool on some of those days and take both Luke and Madelyn or work on the days where I just have Luke, to make the extra money we need to pay off our bills. Anyway, while I was trying to figure out our budget to see if we really NEEDED me to work at Sonshine School, I called Madelyn's mom and talked to her. We hadn't decided on my pay for three days a week and I was trying to figure that part of our budget.

Well, long story longer, not only do I not have to do Sonshine School again, but she is paying me more than I was expecting. It is allowing us to pay extra on just about every debt we have, increase our giving, pay a bill that we were just letting slide (I can't believe I just admitted that to the whole world!) and still have, for us, quite a large amount left over at the end of the month. I am just blown away at God's faithfulness to me. There are things in my life that I wonder about whether or not I am in His will, but this is the one area that I never question. Everytime I consider working, He consistently provides more than we need so that I can stay home with the kids. I am not saying that I think every mom should stay home or anything like that. I have some very dear friends that have the opposite situation from us; he stays home and she works and it works great for them. I also have several friends who work part time.

My point is this: I know that they are all doing what God wants them to do, and He blesses them daily. I know that I am in God's will because He continually confirms this to me and I am so thankful. I know that if you are questioning what God's will is, if you ask Him, He will show you if you are seeking Him with all your heart. (And if what you are asking aligns with His word. He will never lead you to do something that is contrary to His word.) Anyway, I was just so humbled and amazed today that I wanted to share my experience. I hope that in some small way, I may have blessed your day.