Cow Apprectiation Day 2012!!!(Free Chicken)

This our 3rd time dressing like a cow for Chick Fil A's Cow appreciation day (2009, 2010, we skipped 2011 because we were out of town)!!! I know it may seem crazy, but free food, yes!!! When you have a larger family and try to live more frugal, you don't get to eat out often, so this was a great opportunity to enjoy our selves and not feel guilty about how many groceries/meals we could have spent that money on. Here are pictures from our day.

Baby Leah:)

Lydia:)

my whole "herd" including my cousin Austin:)

Lydia loved the cow!!

Fun times!!

We ended the day with free Starbucks:)

Leah Faith Nicole:)

June 6, 2011 Leah Faith Nicole was born. She was 7lbs 8ozs 19.5 inches and my biggest baby yet!! She is such a blessing!! I really wish I would blog more but with 5 children, it is really hard. I admire all you mamas who blog consistently and have even more children than me:) My goal is try to blog at least once every 2 weeks!! 1

Surprise:)

I have abandoned my blog:( So much has gone on I don't even know where to begin!! First of all we have moved:) I love our new home, it is very spacious and is closer to our family, church, and church family!! My kitchen aww, I just love it

here is a picture of the children cleaning it:) before we moved in!!

I will try to post more pictures soon:)

We had a wonderful first Christmas with our newest blessing Lydia


Christmas morning, they were soooo excited!!


Lydia is such a blessing!!



She makes us smile:D


We love her soooo much



mommy and lydia being silly



Haley Grace turned 7




and baby #5 is a GIRL!!! Leah Faith Nicole will be here sometime in June 2012!!

My pregnancy is going well and I am 23 weeks today! Thank you Lord for ALL your blessings.

ITS A...............................................

We went Wednesday January 19(Haley's 6th Birthday) and found out we are having a.............................................................................






GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!! Lydia Hope Ann will be here sometime in June:)

Our newest little blessing:)

Yesterday I went to the birthing center for an ultrasound. I measured at 6 weeks and 3 days with a due date of June 20. The only concern right now is the heartbeat is 114 and they want it to be 120. My hcg levels were 11467 and they wanted them to be well over 12000. I have to go back in Monday for more blood work to make sure that my hcg levels are doubling or they are going to be "really concerned". I have to go back Wednesday for another ultrasound to check "viability". But I know that there is a God and he listens to prayers, so please go in prayer with me that everything will be okay and that this baby is developing and will LIVE!! Here is a picture of our little one:

Jesus loves me:)

Haley wanted to sing for the camera so here it is

More sickness:(

Monday I started getting a headache:( I thought it was from being sick, but it just kept getting worse. By Tuesday it was severe. Same Wednesday, I could not even go to church. The Doctor called me in imitrex which is supposed to get rid of it, if it is a migraine. So I took 2 Thursday and it did not work:( Then I started to run a fever and my ear was hurting like I had an ear infection. So Friday I went to the doctor(which I do not do unless I am pregnant or it is severe). I had blood work ran and everything came back normal except my iron is low. I had blood in my ear from a busted blood vessel and he said the blood vessels in my eyes looked strained. So he recommended that I go for a vision visit. He adjusted my back and gave me a steroid shot. I have to go back for a physical in about a month. Today I went and had my eye exam, the eye pressure(in which the dr was worried about was normal), however I have astigmatism so I get to wear glasses:( Not all the time, just when I am on the computer, watching tv, driving, reading etc.. pretty much all the time. The good news is My headaches is pretty much gone. After being in the bed for a week, I feel so much better:)

Sickness:(

It has been a long couple of days. Strep throat has entered our home. It started Wednesday with Miss Haley, she didn't feel good so she and I didn't go to church. She told me her neck hurt and she was running a fever. Then Thursday morning I woke up and my throat was killing me and Hannah told me her throat was hurting too. So I made them appointments and sure enough Hannah's quick test came back positive for strep and Haley's was negative. But the one they do overnight came back positive. I knew I had it so I called the doctor to call me in some antibiotics. The girls felt good by Saturday but I felt awful I was achy all over like the flu, My temp got up to 103. Today I feel a little better, but I still don't have all my strength back:(

Tough week!!!

I don't know but the last few days I have felt so depressed:( I don't know if it is because a lot of my blogger friends are rather pregnant or have had a baby recently and I kinda feel left out(and I am happy for all you). It just still hurts so bad to have lost little Haven, even though I didn't get to see her or hold her, I feel like a piece of me is missing. I don't feel complete. I am so very grateful I have 3 beautiful children to love and hold, but I don't understand why I feel so empty inside. I have prayed and asked God to take this pain from me, and I know he will. I don't understand why things happen. It really frustrates me when I hear of someone mistreating a child, do they not understand what a gift they have??? Oh well sorry to ramble but I just had to get it out. I think I am going to read my Bible now, that always makes me feel better.

Modesty

Lately I have really been praying about if we girls should wear long dresses and long skirts(not above the knee)all the time. It is something I have really been talking about with my husband. We do wear long dresses and long skirts 50% of the time, but I really feel we should wear them 100% of the time(except gauchos when we are riding bikes or hiking, etc). Hannah is not too excited about this. Haley loves wearing dresses. Now modesty necessary does not mean you have to wear dresses or skirts, but I feel that is the right choice for our family. Here are a few bible verses to reflect on:

I SAMUEL 16:7: “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

PROVERBS 11:22: “As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.”

I JOHN 2:16-17: “For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

ROMANS 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Here are several links for modest clothing:

http://www.hannahlise.com/

http://www.modestclothingsite.com/

http://www.modestapparelusa.com/

Of course this is just a few, we get most of ours from thrift stores and eBay. Now keep in mind too it does not do any good to wear long skirts or dresses if it has a a slit way up, is too tight, or your top is too low cut.

Here are some resources:

Christian Modesty and Public Undressing Of America

The Beauty of Modesty(This book is new and I have not read it yet, but I assume it is a great resource because it is from the vision forum)

Raising Maidens of Virtue(this touches on the subject some, but it is a wonderful book)

http://www.solvefamilyproblems.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&category_id=55&product_id=1010&Itemid=14

Easter 2010!!!

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday with Family and friends:) Here are the pictures including the ones from the Easter Egg Hunt Saturday April 2nd with our church.








Two Pictures up is of Bryson and my baby brother Dylan. They both are 7, Dylan is 5 months older than Bryson, but he looks like he is about 3 years older. It is so neat having a brother and son the same age. What is more interesting is that Hannah has an uncle 3 1/2 years younger than her. Dylan lives in GA(where we are from), and is on spring break this week, so he is staying with us. I will miss him so much when he is gone. I miss all my family in GA, especially him:( The first picture of Hannah shows her prize for the most eggs. She was especially excited because next year she will be too old to hunt:(

Saint Patrick's Day!!

Today we celebrated Saint Patrick's Day.
We celebrated this morning with Irish Oatmeal(Please excuse the pictures, I have misplaced my camera and these are from my phone).


For lunch we had baked chicken with "green spices"(basil, parsley, etc.), broccoli, and green beans.




For dessert we had "green" cupcakes!!!




We also learned some interesting facts about Saint Patrick's Day and the Shamrock. Patrick was not born in Ireland but went there after God called him to go. He used the Shamrock to explain the Trinity. We colored some shamrocks and wrote short stories on what we learned:)

It has been a hard year:(

Today marks the one year mark of finding out our little baby Haven Joy was not longer alive at almost 5 months pregnant. It has been so hard, but God is helping me through this. I know when God is ready I will have another baby and everything I have gone through will be worth it(not that losing a baby is something I would ever want to happen again). I am very blessed though, I have 3 healthy children that I am very thankful that God has blessed me with:)

On another note my sweet little boy broke his nose on Superbowl Sunday. He was trying to get his hat from Haley and she hit him in the nose with the back of her head. Poor little boy, but we went to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and they said every thing would be okay. I hope everyone has a blessed week, and I hope to blog more!!!!!!!

Trying to get through!!!

The past week and a half has been so hard. Friday my surgery went okay, but they did put me to sleep. I did not get to see the baby because they basically just sucked it out of me like it was not a human being. That really bothered me, but the doctor insisted it was the safest way for me. I cry myself to sleep almost every night and a lot through out the day. This is so hard. I go back to the doctor March 20 and they will tell me the results of the chromosomal test and I thing they are doing genetic test too so we will know the sex and can give our baby a name. My husband has been so sweet and has helped me so much. Yesterday my milk came down. They told me this wouldn't happen, but considering I was almost 5 months, it did anyways. I have always breastfed, so I am not used to this. I know God has a plan even though I am having a hard time understanding why this happened. Please pray for me, I really need all the prayers I can get.

Sad News!!!!

I know it has been a while since I last updated, but I do not have good news. I was at Wal-mart Saturday with Hannah. As I was in the checkout lane I started to feel really dizzy. I told Hannah she needed to call her daddy because I did not believe I could drive home. As I told her that I passed out. I do not know how long I was unconscious but it wasn't long. My husband came and the ambulance came everything seemed to be okay but they still sent me to the hospital. They went ahead and sent me to maternity since I was almost 17 weeks pregnant. They could not get a heartbeat so they sent me for an ultrasound and still no heartbeat and the baby was only measuring 15 weeks. They gave me no hope, but sent me home since my midwives were not associated with that hospital and told be to go Monday to my midwives. I called this morning and they told me to come on in and 30 minutes called me back and sent me to a specialist for another ultrasound. I was hoping for a miracle and my entire church family and family were praying for one too. Unfortunately the baby is dead and has been for several weeks. My heart is broke. I thought for sure this time everything would be okay especially since I made it past the first trimester. I would rather not have a miscarriage, but I sure do not want one now. I will be awake for the procedure and I hope that they will let me see my baby and tell me what it is. I am more heartbroken for my children for they prayed for me to get pregnant and 2 weeks later I found out I was pregnant. They have cried as much as I have. Please keep us in your prayers through this hard time!!!!!!!