My little reader

I thought this was funny.

Boy's name

Okay. I am taking a poll. We can't decide on a name for a boy baby. I like Carson. I think it sounds good with the rest of our family's names. Stephen likes Andrew (just about all male Shirley's are named Andrew, including Stephen and Jordan) and Caleb. He may like others, but these are the ones he has mentioned. Thoughts? Suggestions? New ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Do they even hear me?

This is going to be one of those days where I feel like everything I do as a parent is pointless. Some days I feel like I discipline, teach, explain all day and none of it sinks in. I am not sure why this is. I try to live out what I teach them so they see it as being real and not just something they have to do because I said so. But sometimes it seems like they don't hear or see anything and it is all about them. Anyway, just needed to vent a little. I know that I am so blessed and that my kids are really good when I can stay calm and discipline with the Holy Spirit guiding me; come to think of it, yesterday was pretty good since I started the day off in prayer and Bible study. Maybe God is trying to show me that I can't do it without Him. Duh.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas if I don't talk to you before then!

Claire's Christmas program

Must be Santa Clause!













This was at the beginning of the show. She could see us very well and was so excited we were there to see her. She loves to pose for the camera!











Claire and Luke after the show.













I had forgotten to post these from last week. I am so proud of my babies.

Last few days

Can't you almost hear this one?



















This is a new face he likes to make.














I just can't get enough of this face!














He loves this plane.














My little artist. She loves to write and draw more than anything else.













Jordan loves to climb and run more than anything.













Is this not the sweetest picture you have ever seen? They love each other so much!













My big 7 year old! I can't believe how fast it has gone.












Luke loves to get dirty! So fun.









As you can see, I am a truly blessed woman. I can't get my mind around the fact that God loves me this much. It truly blows me away that I actually have the family of my dreams. It is really better than I ever imagined it would be. Take time today to enjoy the family God has blessed you with. There is nothing quite like it!

Wow!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted. I know this is a crazy time of year for everyone, and it is for us as well. But really fun. Putting up the tree was so fun this year. We had Christmas music playing, the kids were helping, even Luke put a couple of ornaments on the tree. It made me remember how much fun it was growing up when it was time to decorate for Christmas. We never had anything fancy, but there was always Christmas music playing and the whole family helped. I love Christmas. It is such a special time of year, and having kids makes it that much more fun.

The parties are starting. I have a party tonight with our Girls' Night Out group from church. Then our class party is Saturday night. We had our small group party on Tuesday. The kids parties at school are next week. Crazy times. If we can ever keep batteries in our camera, I will try and post some pictures. Luke is growing like crazy, as is my tummy! I am almost 13 weeks along and can't wait for all the fun stuff to start. The main part of the sickness is over, but the constant hunger has started. In a few weeks I should start feeling some movement from the baby. Since we aren't finding out if we are having a boy or a girl, I am trying to focus on all the regular stuff that you tend to overlook when you know everything. It is getting really fun. Anyway, I am rambling, a common problem these days. I hope everyone is enjoying this season. Pictures soon!

The last few days

We have had a lot going on. Last Thursday at school, Claire had her Thanksgiving program. It was so cute. She was one of the Indian girls. Of course, the camera battery was dead and Luke keeps taking the other batteries out of the charger. Quite frustrating! So we didn't get any pictures. Then we stayed and ate lunch with her and Jordan for the Thanksgiving dinner. It was surprisingly good for school food. Of course, pretty much any food is good to me at this point. I get hungry about every hour and a half these days. And I mean really hungry where my stomach growls. So crazy the things your body does when you are pregnant.

I am 10 weeks now. The baby is about an inch long from head to bottom. All the organs have formed and begun working. Hopefully when I go to the doctor on the 28th I will hear the heartbeat. I am always a little anxious till then, although I have been so sick that I know everything is okay. They say the sicker you are the healthier your baby is.

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. The older I get, the more I enjoy being around my family. It is so comforting to me. My family is crazy, but they are mine and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Christmas, on the other hand, is turning my kids into greedy little monsters. I am all for not exchanging presents with anyone this year and just being together like T'giving. I just want them to understand that the world is not all about them and I want to teach them how to be givers. Right now they love to be getters. I know that will come with time, but it still bothers me.

I hope everyone has a great holiday!

I know, I know...

It has been forever since I posted anything. I have actually been feeling A LOT better, that is until today. Today has not been good. It all started with breakfast, but I will spare you the details. I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still here, even if it is just on the couch.

Also, please pray for my family right now. I think this is taking its toll on them. I haven't been able to do any of the things I usually do, and it is really been hard. I know the kids are getting frustrated. Hopefully, I will only have about three more weeks of this, but you never know.

I hope everyone has a good week. Hopefully I will be able to post more later.

Sleepy boy...

This is what happens when you get up at 4:48 a.m.

I tried to put him down for a nap, but he just cried and cried. So, I decided to let him watch a show for a few minutes while I finished up some things, and he got really quiet. I guess he really was tired.

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!