Instead of posting a bunch or words- how about I say with pictures? =0) We had a great Thanksgiving, hope you did too. Here are pics of our Thanksgiving (we went on a nature walk instead of the typical Turkey Day). We ate the previous weekend.

Here are my beauties and handsomes!

To catch a cold!! All 4 of my kids and myself have a nasty chest cold. My house is wrecked, school is abandoned for another week and the laundry is piling up. Still the best job in the world! Hope everyone else is healthy! =0)

Amy

Or it was suppose to be. A trip to the ER last week with my 2 year old (she's ok. she ate a pokeberry and we panicked) resulted in her bringing home a cold virus. Totally awesome. So far the 3 oldest have it, I hope the baby doesn't get it at all. We'll see how the 6 year old is when he gets up and then decide if school is a good idea today.

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Trying to get our spending down even further. I am confident that I am not the only one doing that right now! So glad that I decided to go ahead and cloth diaper again but this time buying my own prefolds and washing them myself. So far it's been super easy and I even splurged and bought a wool soaker and a pair of wool longies. I get them tomorrow. I am stoked. I will take a picture of her in the longie- I am extra excited about that one! As this is our last baby- I can only justify buying one of each. Hope it's enough.

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Being a mom to four is kah-razy! Not hard per se...but very busy. The 6 year old is a pretty good helper though. And enforcing chores and picking up after oneself has become a very apparent MUST. I will no longer respond to the question...So what do YOU do?....with a vague..."oh I am only a stay at home mom". Pshaw! Between homeschooling, caring for four kids 6 and under, being a wife, homemaker, financial manager etc....the word 'only' in front of stay at home mom has got to GO! LOL

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Here's my precious baby girl. She is 2 1/2 weeks old. We are all doing great!

This is the picture I chose to use for announcements. We lub her lots!

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I love this one of her crying. I got a little camera happy. I'll share some of my other children soon!

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Have a blessed week!

Amy

Skye was born September 11, 2008 after an amazing 4 hour non-induced and epidural free labor (I went into labor the day of my induction- God is sooo good!). She was 21 inches long and weighed 9 pounds and 2 ounces. A real cutie! The labor in and of itself was definitely covered by the Lord. All my other labors were awful. Lots of pitocin, adrenaline drugs for my low b/p, vaccum to help baby's head pop out of the canal....oh on and on. I also painfull labor for 2 days until i reach about 4cm and then from there I range from 9 hours all the way to 36 hours plus 1 to 3 hours of pushing. An epidural was not available as the epi-guy (lol) was in a c-section and couldn't get to me. I really thought God had abandoned me- I have never had such a hard fast labor- it was back labor too. some of you mamas will get how awful that was. Shew!

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But we had no idea when I was in my deepest pain that I had transitioned- I sensation I have never felt before. No words to describe it- but let's just say I do not wish to repeat it. rofl She was out in FIVE minutes after I felt that pain moms describe of needing to uhhh go big potty. No one could believe I was ready- especially my husband and I! It was soooo amazing and God may not have allowed an epidural, but he gave me a super fast labor. He definitely showed me that He answers His own way and that it is perfect. Thank you, Lord! I felt so happy that I was able to give my daughter such a great entrance to the world!

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Ok so enough about that. Only some people are interested in labor stories. I mostly shared because I am still in awe of how much God was there. My doula was amazing, my husband was amazing and my doctor was awesome. Even the nursing staff was awesome. It was just a really awesome experience.

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So Skye...our newest little addition. Does she have Down Syndrome?

The answer is...No. She does not.

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Isn't the Lord just....Amazing?

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'Nuff said.

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Thank you for your prayers and well wishes and for keeping up with me! We start my oldest in 2nd grade September 29th and I will be more active 'round here. Not super active, but more than I was. I am excited to begin 2nd grade with him. I feel much more organized this year even though I just had a baby.

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And on that note...please check out my side bar for a picture of Skye and I (me crying hehe) and of Skye sleeping. Enjoy!

Aww thanks so much for the prayers and well wishes! Because of them, I thought I should update a little bit. No baby yet. LOL I am due today and she doesn't appear ready to come out and play yet. Sooo....we have an induction scheduled for Thursday. Since that is her official eviction notice- hopefully she will decide to come out on her own. I hope so! I have been induced before and do not desire to visit that place again! Yipes!

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Hopefully next time you hear from me, Skye is home with us and all is well.

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As a reminder, we still not know if she has Down's yet or some other thing that could cause her to set off red flags with her bloodwork and ultrasound. So prayers for her, a save delivery and that the doctor, my husband and I make all the right decisions that keep her safe!

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Thank you all sooooo much!!

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On a side note....we have been on summer break since Mid-August and school will be back 'in session' September 29. My oldest will be starting 1st grade. My 4 1/2 year old will be doing some more organized activities but not school per se. He has self taught himself to write his own name and show interest in writing a few other words/numbers...so we'll be doing some early phonics stuff so that he can do those things, that he apparently enjoys. Altho he doesn't want to do 'school' so I will disguise the fact that it's 'work'. LOL

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May the Lord bless and keep you and your family!

Things are going very well here. I have been continuing on my path to saving money- as it costs $70 to fill my minivan- I have to now. =0) We are pretty much ready for the arrival of Skye. She is due September 8, but my babies always like to hang out for a while longer- so we will see!

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I had tried the route of technology to keep myself organized. I failed. PDA's are fun for games but for me....paper trails are more effective. So it is back to my Franklin Covey organizer. Ahhhh much better! So I may be able to even post a few more times over the next few weeks.

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Keeping my food budget controlled is about the only major way I can impact our spending. Sooo....onward and upwards with that!

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Thank you so much for taking a peek over here now and again as we try to prepare for a new life with 4 children! God is good!

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Happy July!!

Amy

I wish I had more drive to post here. I have good days and bad days. More bad than good. But what can you do, you know? I feel like I can start doing some school a little bit. Workbooks mostly, but I need to do something. My almost 4 year old is also asking for schoolwork. How can you so NO to that? LOL

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My house looks wretched. I haven't cooked in weeks. I can barely eat let alone- *gag* cook. I gained back the weight I managed to lose, so that's good. It's disturbing to lose weight while pregnant. My husband is doing a very nice thing by hiring a cleaning lady to come in next week and tackle my bathrooms, kitchen and livingroom. And I was going to cancel due to ahhhh...no money. But- Praise the Lord- a very sweet friend gifted us some money to help. What a huge blessing! 5 people + 1 mommy down = 1 very nasty house. It will be nice to have some clean parts here!

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Cookie Monster is turning 4 in February and I am determined to make sure he has a party! My MIL said she would help where needed and that was so sweet! I can not believe my children are ....growing up!! *sniff*

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It's so difficult to explain to people what it's like to be sick like this when pregnant. My dad has always told me to buck up and it was all in my head. And my mom although she is nice about it, doesn't understand it because no one else in our family gets sick like this. I am not sure why I am the annointed one. LOL But I have some realllllly nice friends who have been reallllly nice through these past couple weeks. You know who you are and you totally ROCK!

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I really didn't have much of anything to note. Still sick. Still on meds. Kids are still watching tv. Still rained in (meaning stuck in the house). God is good though! It could be worse and has been worse in previous pregnancies. I think I have managed to secure some insurance- I am hoping to know for sure next week. Dh although working long hours has work and that is awesome (winter is usually a 'famine' time for us).  The Lord has blessed us with just enough means to afford the Zofran I have to take to keep from the hospital. I mean I could go on and on with how awesome the Lord has been!!

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So again thank you all so much for delightful emails and prayers and notes...they are all so much appreciated. I hope to begin cruising through blogs and giving back in a few weeks.

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