2 months today

our baby girl in pretty purple pots & our 4 kids in cute PJ dots


T made a pine cone bird seed feeder




I can't believe it's already been over 2 months since James got home & 2 months today that our baby girl was born. We're starting to get back into routines- but I'm definitely still adjusting. We've had lots of changes in the last couple months. I'm still a little overwhelmed by the amount of laundry we're doing- I'm not sure if it's adding James back in, add KG's, or how many cloth diapers a newborn goes through, or probably d. all of the above. And still takes a while longer to get everyone loaded up into the car- although C can buckle himself in now so I stayed at 2 kids to buckle. And I'm still trying to avoid taking all 4 to the grocery store as much as possible. But we have started back to our preschool at home- despite another big adjustment- T no longer has his "Pa" (his beloved pacifier) or his morning nap (which I loved).  

our worn out baby boy on the way home from our trip

KG Baptism

What a beautiful weekend. We drove to Florida for KG's baptism. We arrived in the middle of lots of thunderstorms but thankfully we were blessed by rain mostly during napping times. Sunday afternoon we had quite the storm but it cleared up and the sun came in time for a special afternoon. KG was baptized (like her brothers) in a small ceremony of close friends and family. The First United Methodist Church pastor did a wonderful job- so did KG. She was awake, looking around for most of the ceremony, fussed a little and fell asleep right before the pastor baptized her. I was sure the water on her head would bring tears but she just woke up and looked around a little more. KG was the 6th person to wear my Dad's baptism gown (60+ years old)- my Dad, me, our 3 boys, then KG.  She was the first one to wear pretty pearls!  Then we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner- low country boil.  

KG's new room

well, some might call it our closet but it's amazing how much better we're all sleeping with just a closet wall between us. I think it's each of us not hearing every single move then other makes. of course, she's only 7 weeks so we're still doing our share of getting up at night. Now, if I could just get her to nap while the boys are napping- I could get a nap! although I do get some sweet time with my baby girl while her big brothers are in their beds (and I get to update this blog!) 

She's super cute and has made me realize baby girl clothes are very cute- and cloth diapers are super cute on girls- check out her brown & pink diaper cover!

So I had a great playdate with a friend yesterday- I hardly get to see her- the kids got to play too!  :) It was great to be able to catch up while our 8 kids played- well, KG mostly napped and her son is still in her belly- she's due with her first boy in August- but the 6 "big kids" had a great time. She shared this verse from Proverbs which I'm working on memorizing bc it really spoke to me-

Pr 29:17 "Discipline your son and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul."

So K, KG and I went on a special shopping trip yesterday and got this great toy organizer- 

I think the package said shoe organizer but my friend Jewel had a great idea of using one for organizing toys- right up K's alley as you can see by his carefully aligning his shoes in their closet. 

I've been thinking lately about nature vs nurture- like when K picked up a piece of scrap cardboard yesterday and said he'd like to save that for a project. Did he inherit or learn my packrat nature?  

Here's pics of some of the kids here for our cookout- James smoked a pork shoulder. It did take 22 hours to smoke but it was very very yummy. And our friends brought lots of yummy food- very good idea for everyone to bring dessert!

T's first science experiment- we made a goopy glob- very messy with a 21 month old!

Beach Pics

Fear Not ...

It's quiet time (I'm praying) at our house now. I sat down to blog ready to share about this morning's PWOC devotion. When I opened blogger, I saw that Kayleigh had gone home to Jesus. Not our Kayleigh but a precious baby born last June 3 months early who went on today. http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/ The story would have brought me tears anyway but seeing our baby girl's name really made me think differently about my fears and worries. I worry that my boys aren't going to nap when they need to, that they'll argue with each other, and complain about their food. I worry that our baby girl will eat too often and sleep too little and get a tummy ache. I worry that I won't be able to keep the house clean and that I spend too much (or too little) time with the kids. I worry that I should have signed K up for Kindergarten instead of planning to homeschool. I worry that C will never be potty trained and T will never come when he's called or stop pushing. Then I read about this couple who have loved this baby girl who has had literally hundreds of medical procedures. Why am I worrying? But I also think they now know their daughter is wrapped in Jesus' arms and is made perfect. Make my worries seem even smaller since this life is like a moment in light of eternity. 

This morning was really good though. Marilyn spoke on fear not... She's been in a study on "Calm My Anxious Heart" which sounded really good. She shared wonderful verses like Isaiah 41:10 "Do not fear for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." She also talked about not letting fear keep you from doing something God has called you to do- which really spoke to me since I've struggled with that. I know I (like others) have a fear or rejection (could sometimes be called pride) which I sometimes let keep me from doing things. Like sharing the verse from Phillipians today about not being anxious but in everything through prayer and supplication make your requests known to God. I didn't share bc I couldn't remember the reference and thought I might mess up the verse too. How silly! 

Then during the prayer time she asked for God to heal women who are hurting inside and others may not know. I'm sure she was thinking about emotional hurts but I felt comforted that she was lifting up physical pain too. I love when I go somewhere and hear a message that sounds like it was spoken for me. I'm really going to try following today's advice to name your fears which helps take away their power and to take my fears to Jesus instead of letting them keep power over me. 

I d

Cinco de Mayo

Here's Grandma, Uncle B, Pops Leon, the boys & our sweet baby girl after her baby dedication at church
Boys with Daddy after the jump- K & C want to be jumpmasters!


T was so excited to see the trucks and planes! 

I'm not sure why I'm calling this post Cinco de Mayo- we're not doing anything related to that today. although if I'd been thinking about it we might have had Mexican Lasagna today and yummy lasagna my Mom made from the freezer yesterday, but I didn't think that much. Maybe getting more sleep will help my thinking- I had my first stretch of 4 straight hours last night from 10-2 and this afternoon took a 30 min nap- my first in a while. It's good to appreciate small blessings. 

Today was my first day of "normal" with the 4 kids. I had my first day of just me and them last Monday but James didn't go to work until 8 am so it started out different. I did have an exciting first morning out with the kids. I called the advice nurse about some pain I'd been having and she told me to come in that morning so instead of a leisurely first trip out with four- I rushed to get to my appt on time and then waited with 4 for 1 1/2 hrs to see a doctor who didn't seem to appreciate my having four little ones with me. Then I learned that you can't have kids with you if you go to an xray.  We decided to go see James jump after naps which the boys loved. I was glad we went but bummed that someone lost a parachute (how do you do that?) so James couldn't meet us at the hospital (my second failed attempt to get an xray/ us.) That night right after feeding KG, I went on an exciting outing by myself to get my xray done. Tuesday morning I learned you can't have a newborn with you for an u/s so I wandered the hospital wondering what to do. I kept thinking of the great women who'd done my 12 u/s during my pregnancy so I went in there. They were wonderful- one held KG while the other did my u/s. Praise God for great people. 

that night the Cole's arrived- Janelle, Rob, and 4 cute kids. My boys were so excited the next morning. A week of nonstop playdates! Most of the time we just hung out at the house and enjoyed the big back yard, wonderful weather, and lots of riding things- we're a party by ourselves. Janelle and I did manage a night out- we dropped the oldest 4 kids off at Awana's (thanks Mary Kay!!) and headed to my kind of shopping. (About 15 minutes in one store where Janelle found clothes for me and I just tried them on.) We did manage to sneak in a treat from DQ before picking up the kids. Thursday we enjoyed a trip to the park and then had 2 hours of quiet house- 8 kids 8 and under napping at once! We were so excited to get a friend's phone call that afternoon that there was a jump that night so we packed everyone up and got to see another jump. Then Friday morning off to the airborne museum. Saturday we went to Fort Fisher. a boy's heaven- a huge sandbox. 8 little boys running around playing in sand and water and 3 daddies, 1 cute little girl and 2 sweet babies. It was great! It was so wonderful to have great weather, good friends, and Daddies to play with their little ones. One day I'll have some pictures to add- I didn't take many but thankfully Janelle did- usmajcole@blogspot.com.

A wonderful visit- then we were very thankful that James had yesterday off as we got back to normal. I had another blessing this morning when a friend pulled up the same time as me at PWOC so she helped me get everyone in quickly out of the rain that almost kept me home.