Last Day of work!

We had a great long weekend with my parents and neice (Mary Grace) and nephew (Carson) from Indiana and Katie (sis). My older sister and her husband were in Birmingham staying with my parents and going to the "RACE". My parents and katie and MG and C came to T-town to play on Saturday. They stayed all day and we all had a blast - the children just love playing with each other! Emma Claire even went back to B'ham on Saturday night to spend the night b/c she just hadn't had enough! We picked her up Sunday night before church and boy was she worn out. Monday was a holiday for me and I kept the children home and we played and EC had swimming lessons and played with her other cousins Patton and Chandler, Mills also came over to play with Wilson. So it was a busy, fun filled weekend.

Today is my last day of work - for the next 3 months anyways. Tonight will be my last night to teach 3 year old choir this year. On Thursday, I will get last minute things done (like a manicure and pedicure with Emma Claire -- the important things:). EC and I will then go to a May Day Tea Party at EC's friend, Mary Alice's house (while Wilson is napping at his Nana's) and then enjoy my 2 "big kids" for the rest of the day. My mom is coming Thursday night and we have to be at the hospital bright and early on Friday. I can't believe Wilson is about to be a big brother. He is still such a baby himself - I even rocked him to sleep last night, just enjoyed holding him (although I could barely breathe the whole time - I can't imagine what I would feel like if he was a "normal" 19 month old size??? :) I have recently made a comment that I make this new baby sound like such a "final" event, in that my life will end with baby #3. I know it won't, but I am just fearful that I won't be able to enjoy the "little" things with my other 2 children for awhile. Which I know is silly, because SOMEONE has to do those everyday things, like put them to bed and bathe them and tell them stories and sing to them and pray with them and feed them. And I do forget, that newborns sleep ALOT!!!! So in writing all this, I realize that we are just adding another jewel to our family and that life will go back to normal within a few days - just a little busier is all.

But summertime will be filled with lots of happy times and great memories. I really do have big plans to make it to the pool with all 3 children OFTEN. Henderson should be easy- hopefully sleeping in his carseat alot, it's Wilson and his little wild self that I worry about. Just an example of a "crazy" thing I caught him doing on Monday - I fetched him out of our lower oven yes, OVEN (and gave him a big pop!)!!!! No, it wasn't on, but the upper one was cooking his waffle and I guess he was looking for it. Now this oven has no lock on it, but I think I need to find one - do they make them that you can add to it??? Well, back to the pool, good thing the University pool has an awesome baby pool area with fountains and bubbles!!! Maybe I can hide the big pool from him all summer (yea right - with it's big red slide and blue inner tubes and basketball goal, and fountains shooting out everywhere - it's every toddlers' dream!!) Emma Claire is swimming on her own now, so I will depend on her daddy taking time out to be with her one-on-one in the big pool when he can.

So, all and all I am ready - ready to hold my last newborn and smell that wonderful smell and just slow down for awhile and really enjoy babyhood and childhood. I am definitely ready to not be pregnant, though I can't complain too much, it has been a very good one, again. But I am ready for "real" clothes and laying on my stomach and going for walks in my hilly neighborhood without feeling like a baby is about to fall out of me!!!

I will try to post a blog as soon as i can, but without internet at home, I will be bound to my in-laws and sister-in-law for use of theirs. So, be patient (Katie sis).

Update!

Here are some pictures from the Earth Day picnic that someone emailed me. You can see how funny it was watching Will and Emma Claire do the 3-legged race! Also, there happens to be a picture of me - so rare since I'm the only one who ever carries the camera around!!!

the 2 of us sure do like to eat!!!!

I had my final doctor's appointment on Tuesday and my doctor did an ultrasound because I was measuring too small - she was afraid the baby had stopped growing or something. So they did an ultrasound and he's a whopping 7 1/2 pounds already - we were both suprised!!! I got to see him on 4-D and he's got Emma Claire's cheeks and chin and Wilson's eyes (as far as I can tell), his head is on the big side which is exactly how Emma Claire has ALWAYS been and also a big belly (EC too) - hopefully no scrawny little boy this time! The hair color is definitely up for grabs - Red or blond???? But I'm really excited and a little relieved to have seen him! Only 1 week to go!!!

A Wonderful Weekend!!!

We have this "slight" obsession with balloons!!!

Emma Claire and Wilson before church

Emma Claire and Daisy before church

(we lost Wilson to the balloon!)

Well, we had a wonderful weekend. The weather was fabulous despite torrential rains Friday night. The Sunday School family baby shower was like a good ole southern family reunion - it was pot luck and man we have some good cooks in our Sunday School class. It did start raining during the meal and we all rushed inside to keep dry - Melissa and Thad were sports though and didn't mind 20 adults and about 20 children running through their house -- Thanks!!!

Wilson is always hanging off of something!

The Earth Day picnic with Will's work was fun - Will and Emma Claire participated in a relay race together - they did the 3 legged race, which was actually more of Will carrying Emma Claire because of the height difference -- he is 6'4" and she is a 3-year old, enough said. Sorry I didn't get pictures of that, but I was busy trying to keep Wilson out of the muddy red clay on the softball field!!! Emma Claire enjoyed 'her races", but later said she didn't like being tied to her daddy! Later we enjoyed face tatoos and a great fish fry by Bottomfeeders - nothing like fresh fried catfish and banana pudding!

Emma Claire with her "face painting"

Saturday afternoon yard work was done while Wilson napped and Emma Claire and I were able to talk her daddy into going to Wal-Mart and buying a little plastic pool for the backyard. Since it was about dark when they got home it was not used until Sunday, but Patton came home from church with us and they immediately filled it up and had a good 2 hours of fun in a 4 foot diameter pool with a little tykes slide. Good old fashioned fun is what i like to call it - who needs country clubs???

Emma Claire, Patton and Wilson in the littlest pool ever!!!

Gotta have popsicles on a warm spring day!

We then ate dinner at Will's parents' house with Ree-bo and Nini, his mom's cousins, and enjoyed more great food and conversation! We did lots of great eating this weekend, which might mean a couple pounds extra gained at my doctor's appointment tomorrow, but the good news is that it's the LAST ONE until the c-section!!!!! Yay for me!!!!!

14 more days!!!!!!

2 weeks to go until little Edwin "Henderson" is born via C-section! I can't wait! I really hope I can make it the next 2 weeks - I've got my summer planned out perfectly according to the May 2nd date - but these things aren't always as we expect, so we'll just keep waiting. Henderson's big sister Emma Claire is waiting very patiently and asks just about every day,"when is he going to come out, mommy?" in her most exasperated voice! She is really going to be a big help. Wilson on the other hand doesn't have a clue, except to laugh and call my tummy a "ball" every time he sees it and lift my shirt and blow raspberries on it -- it's really cute! Hopefully he is so young that after a few days he will no longer remember life without a little brother and keep treckin on with his wild little self. I am really feeling good, minus the few aches that come with toting around a 6-8 pound "load" in my tummy. I cannot complain, God has really blessed me with 3 wonderful pregnancies and hopefully one more healthy little guy. Here is the only belly shot i could get -- Emma Claire took this one, hence the cutting off of my head - this is for you sister!

On a different note, we heard back from the Ped. GI doctor about Wilson's EGD that it all came back normal, we are weaning off of the Prednisone for the next month and hopefully will not have to get back on it -- though I can't say it did much good in the eating arena (only made him even more hyper than he already was). He still eats VERY little each day, but we are slowly gaining at about 1/2 pound some months - still at 19 pounds though and 19 months old!!!

these are pictures of Emma Claire and her friend Mary Alice playing dress up at CHOM (Childrens Hands On Museum)

I installed the infant car seat in my van yesterday and just in time Emma Claire has learned to buckle herself in to her booster seat all by herself and let herself out too -- what a help that is to soon still only have 2 children to buckle in every time we go somewhere, and with these push-button sliding doors on vans it makes life much easier!!!! I recommend the Honda Odyssey to anyone with multiple children who doesn't mind going over to the "other" side of mommy-hood with a van - you can't beat the convenience, and the gas mileage is much better too!

We have a busy weekend with a one-hour makeup swim lesson on Friday evening for Emma Claire (from when we had a cast) - she is doing so good, she can swim the whole length of the pool all by herself - just one more thing that will make my summer easier and more fun - Emma Claire is growing up so fast -- I don't want to hold her back, but where has my baby gone??!!!! We then go straight to a Sunday school baby shower and pot luck dinner for a couple who is having their first child (kids included) on Friday night and a family picnic Saturday morning with Will's work. The rest of the time will be spent napping (the children), playing outside in this gorgeous spring weather - but we have got to do something about the bugs in our backyard -- they are swarming!!!! cleaning house, doing laundry and any other thing that I come across that just HAS to be done before Henderson arrives.

Last Minute Randoms!!!!

Three and 1/2 weeks and counting! I can tell it's getting close to delivery time b/c for the past week instead of being tired all the time at home, I'm now searching for things to do - like cleaning out closets and getting newborn baby supplies ready --I say "Newborn Baby supplies" b/c really besides a baby bath tub, I still use baby supplies for Wilson, my 18 month old - diapers, wipes, baby shampoo, bottles ( yes I said bottles - he's 18 months and barely 19 pounds dripping wet, so whatever this little one wants as far as food and drink goes, he gets, and at this point, whatever works to keep the peace!) I have 2 baby beds, 2 infant car seats (technically Wilson should still be backward facing, but sometimes, he just needs to watch a DVD with his sister!!), 5 toddler car seats and 1 booster seat - remember we have cousins living less than a mile from us who are all the exact same age!!!! I now drive a van and own 2 double strollers (one regular, one jogger) which stays in my car (van) at all times b/c you never know when you'll need it with this wild gang! Back to searching for things to do at home - scrubbing pollen off the screened porch, blowing all the wormy looking things off the driveway (how did my back hold up to that one?), planting flowers, having a garage sale, scrubbing floors, wiping bottoms, watching the children run around in panties and diapers (or less) with the water hose enjoying this marvelous spring weather! Emma Claire helped me scrub all 3 bathrooms top to bottom - she has really become a great helper lately - just in time!

So, all in all we're having a great time around our house! We stay in play clothes and pajamas alot, whenever possible, and Emma Claire has really gotten into painting pictures on her easel she got for Christmas! If only we could just get finished with all these doctors appointments - Wilson came through his surgery great on Friday (his 2nd EGD at Children's Hospital - we're still trying to find out why he won't eat and weighs only 18# 9 oz). Emma Claire is doing great with her cast off - still a slight limp - we only have one more follow-up visit for her. And I have only 2 more visits with my doctor before May 2nd ( i think), then we'll begin all the newborn pediatrician visits - I pray Henderson will be healthy and that summer-time will be good for keeping away all those cold and flu bugs!!! God has blessed us so much and I look forward to a chaotic, but fun-filled summer with my 3 little ones. We're off to play in the awesome sand box at Will's parents house after lunch this afternoon, hopefully the sun will be shining bright! Well, since this is a whole bunch of random facts about our life right now, I hope I haven't bored anyone!

Patient Parenting

I just wanted to share with everyone this that was forwarded to me.
Patient Parenting Sharon Betters
Dear Daughter of the King,
Can it be? You, a young mother of several children? How well I remember that special season of life. We often say that if we could go back to one age and live it again, the season in which you find yourself is exactly the place. I know it's easy to remember the "good ole days" in a way that seems fantasy to others! But I urge you to capture the moments before they fly away. Yes, there are many frustrating moments but even they are magical when you consider the hard work of raising children, the repetitiveness that seems, oh so boring and wearisome. Will they ever come the first time you call? Will they ever stop crying? Will they really learn how to use the potty? (Do you know of any teenagers who are not potty trained?!) Will you and your husband ever have quality time that is ju st for you? And then the big, big bottom line question:
When is it MY turn?
I'm here to give you hope - but recognize as a daughter of the King:
It will never really be just YOUR turn! It is always Jesus' turn!
All of our lives are about surrendering to God's purposes knowing that it's always HIS turn. Before you know it, your husband and you will be celebrating your first child's graduation and in the midst of the fun and family you will take a deep breath, look at each other, and wonder, "How did we get here so fast!" Again, I urge you:
Capture the joy of each new day.
Enjoy the sweet scent of your little boys when you lift them out of the tub and wrap them in a towel; the feel of their skin, their struggles, their need to have you kiss their boo boos before they can feel better.
Take time with girlfriends. Enjoy the times where someone else waits on you! (That has to be why women's retreats are so popular!) Accept that sometimes children just don't cooperate and you may have to put your special interests on a back burner for a while. Soak up every opportunity to learn about godly marriage and parenting. Children present opportunities to see every day life as God's exercise room -- a place to work spiritual muscles and become that wonderful, virtuous woman!
You are already a virtuous woman in my eyes. As you live each day, make time with our God a priority. Don't feel guilty when it's only a few minutes of prayer before your feet touch the floor in the morning because other times you will have an hour to meditate and journal. Don't skimp on time with godly women, surround yourself with women who emulate the love of Christ and are not afraid to admit to their failures or share parenting and marriage mistakes. Refuse to enter into conversations that demean your husband -- surround yourself with women who encourage you to honor him. Never compare him to another man or look to another man to meet your needs. Run from such temptations. Don't stop flirting with him or preparing for special surprise alone times. Give him your best smiles. D on't take him for granted. Make sure he knows that you are his safe place and that he never needs to worry that you will betray him in any way. Ok, let's get real. This is usually very hard work. Because our hearts are wired to be totally selfish. Here is the hope.
What God commands, He equips us to do.
Remember, dear friend, a life of faith is not a sprint -- it's a marathon. I guarantee that your investment will reap eternal rewards.
Love,
Sharon Betters