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.

a picture says a 1000 words

Drumming in Rio at Marbles Museum
3 Lewis chefs served up a yummy meal

yummy cupcakes at a birthday party
here are a few pics from the last couple weeks.  then I can catch back up and start telling about the fun of having 8 kids 8 and under staying in our house for a week- no, I really do mean fun! 

One Month

Here's KG at one month with our white bear (we've taken pics of the boys each month their first year with the bear)
KG in her cute new cloth diaper- how can you not love cloth diapers when they're that cute! and we just were blessed with some more from our good friends!

our sweet little girl in her Easter basket. 

I don't really know where to start it's been so long since I've written. I did figure out how to add a picture today on this Mac so maybe I'll get back to blogging. We enjoyed the two weeks leave that James had. I wasn't feeling up to doing the things that I thought I would so we spent lots of time around the house. James took the big boys bike riding lots of morning while KG, T, and I napped. Our beautiful little girl seems to think that napping is better during the day.  

Two weeks today!

well now she's three weeks but I haven't been on the computer much so here it is. She is almost 8 pounds now- 7 lbs 13 oz at her appointment Monday. she's growing so fast!

I can't believe our baby girl is two weeks already. I'm really trying to appreciate every moment- it was harder when she was awake from midnight to 4 am last night. She's super sweet and her brothers are crazy about her- even if they don't always understand gentle or sleeping. We've mostly stayed home besides a couple dr visits for KG since she was a little jaundiced. K & C did make several trips with Nana to storytime at the library. They also went to the grocery store to get bamboo shoots for dinner like the Panda Bears. We've been eating really well these last two weeks. We've also enjoyed nice weather- lots of time of boys riding plasma cars (Christmas presents that Nana & Papa brought up last week), kicking soccer balls, playing in the playhouse that James cleaned up, ... We've also enjoyed the Sunday we made it to church and last night went out for KG's first dinner out- she napped the whole time even when they "shook the shack." I didn't get videos of all our dancing boys but here we all are at Joe's Crab Shack-

We got some great pics of our cute boys in their pink shirts and their sweet baby sister in a pink dress from when I was a baby. She was so sweet in her basket.

Grandma and Uncle Brian came down Easter Sunday and went to church with us. K & C left their Sunday School classes telling us all about the empty tomb and Jesus rising from the grave. KG enjoyed the beautiful music but decided to check out the nursing room during the sermon- I did get to hear the wonderful story of Jesus' death and resurrection before we left. Then, I napped some while boys played and James made waffles and watched the Masters.

The boys are really doing well with all the changes we've had- in the last few weeks James returned, Nana & Papa came and left, their new sister arrived- a good many changes for a little one. They've had some changes themselves- K is our great big helper. He's always looking for ways that he can help with his baby sister. C is still full of energy- he now has a full vocabulary to express all his feelings. Little brother T is catching up to big brothers and recently learned how to say lots of words himself. It's been amazing how much he's learned to say over the last few weeks- he's also become very opinionated lately. He's pretty sure he's one of the big boys now.

Well, my laptop is having a bad day today so I can't add any more pictures but there are lots on our flickr page.  www.flickr.com/photos/jaklew