Eli has the wildest hair I've ever seen. It's like a brillo pad and goes every which way.  I've been wanting to do a faux-hawk on him for awhile, but the hairdresser we were seeing was more conservative. However, today I think we got the look I was going for. It grows so fast and gets so bushy, the only more "tame" part is on the very top. So we left that long and shaved the rest. What do you think?

I think he rocks it.

I'm excited that it's a new month. This is the month we start our school year, and we're also one month closer to meeting our little Samuel!

...you need 2 Diet Cokes just to make it through the evening after a 2 hour nap, and you're tired again 3 hours later.

...you're craving at least one package of wild berry skittles each day.

...the heat makes you overly crabby.

...you refuse to leave the house and go out into the heat unless absolutely necessary (like to go to a restaurant for a meal you are really craving).

...you have to pee every commercial break.

I'll be 23 weeks on Monday! 14 weeks to go until I can have my home birth...

The good news is that I got 3 straight hours of sleep last night, so I woke up feeling more refreshed than usual. I'm also feeling like my cold/cough thing is Finally going away, so Hallelujah!

*****Not for the faint of heart*****

The morning started off pretty peacefully, we were all able to eat our breakfast in peace. I knew giving Eli a bigger breakfast was probably a mistake, it's amazing how acquainted you get with your children's bowel habits when you're with them all day.  Sure enough, that's when things started to go downhill. He had a big blow out so I took him upstairs to change him and give him a bath.

Upon coming downstairs and getting him dressed and settled, giving the baby a rice cake to munch on, cleaning up the kitchen and then sitting down I hear "MOM, THERE'S POOP ON THE FLOOR."

Ummm, ok.

So I go into the dining room where I notice the after effects of Eli's blow out that I hadn't noticed before. Thankfully it only got on a puzzle piece (no clue how that happened, I'm just glad it didn't get on the floor). I wiped the chairs in case he had sat on one of them, and threw the entire puzzle away, checking the carpet to be sure I wasn't missing anything.

I wash my hands, then the baby starts fussing so I get him cleaned off and put down for his nap.

 The children sit down to play a car game where they push a car back and forth. On the first push Audri slams the car into Carter's knee and he starts screaming. I get him calmed down, and ever since I've been refereeing their car game as there is some kind of fight between them every 2.5 seconds (literally).

I know there are 10 other things in there that I'm not remembering. It seems some kind of crisis happens every 2 minutes all day long. I often wonder why I'm so wiped out at the end of the day especially when we don't even leave the house most days. But when I look back I see that I am up and down every 2 minutes to change a diaper, get a snack, discipline someone, break up an argument, give someone a bath, clean something, get a meal, clean up a room, clean a mess, and on and on. I'm truly not complaining, I think it's actually pretty funny.

It's easy to feel guilty as a mom because you never feel like you're doing "enough," especially when you're home all day (speaking for myself here, anyway). I think I'm finally finding my groove though, and realizing what I can and cannot accomplish. My husband wants things relaxed and peaceful, and his peaceful disposition definitely helps me balance my not so peaceful disposition out and set my priorities.  Keeping peace in the home is very important, and that means at this point, we cannot be rushed or running around everywhere. I can't imagine trying to handle all of these crises out somewhere, or passing my children off to other people to handle. So I'm feeling more and more confident in the life God has given us, and how we get through it. My children are thriving, we are (mostly) healthy, I haven't crossed over into (complete) insanity, my husband is a very happy and relaxed man, and there's not anything more I could ask for.

In the past couple of days, Eli has plopped right down next to Nathan to play with him. I think it's so sweet to see these 2 little guys playing together.

I can't get over how funny Eli is. I think they all went through this hilarious stage around age 2, but he seems particularly funny to me. He loves making people laugh, but he does funny stuff all the time even when he isn't trying to make anyone laugh.

He impersonates old people by hunching over, acting like he's walking with a walker, and grunting as he slowly walks along, all hunched over. It's so funny. I seriously have no clue where he got this from. We don't know anyone who walks with a walker, nor do we make fun of old people (well, apparently Eli does  )

He also likes to be called by random names. This is a typical conversation:

Me: "Eli, get in your highchair please."

Eli: "No, Arnold."

Me: "Oh okay Arnold, get in your highchair please."

Some days it's "Short Round" (he got that from Lego Indiana Jones), other days it's "puppy", today it's "Baby Tim." You never know what his name will be each day, and he makes them all up on his own, depending on which particular character has influenced him recently.  It's so funny to me to see these glimpses into his 2 year old brain.

Here he was yesterday laying in the little bed Audri made for him in our hall closet. His eyes look red because he's still getting over the pink eye we had this weekend.

My mom made that sock monkey for him, thanks again mom!

We're usually all in the same room together, but if someone is missing he immediately notices and asks where they are. Right now Carter is in his room until Daddy gets home because he's been naughty, so Eli is asking "Where's Carter?" When daddy goes to the bathroom or takes the trash out Eli immediately says "Where's Daddy?" He always likes knowing the status of where everyone is at each particular time, I guess because it's odd to him when we're not all together.

Here's baby practicing standing up with Audri the other day. No, he still does not stand up on his own. All of my boys have been very late in this regard, because I spoil them way too much (according to my mom  ). They're always caught up by 18 months though, so I'm not worried. I know they're smart, but they just prefer lazing around and I let them.

Here's a poem that pretty much sums up my feelings on this subject...

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,
Lullabye, rockaby, lullabye loo.
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo,
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo,
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs;
Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Give each of your restless children a big bowl full of soapy, warm water and some (safe) kitchen utensils! Yes, I had a plan. By giving them each their own space on the kitchen floor, when they (inevitably) spill their soapy, warm water on the kitchen floor, I give them a rag and voila! Clean floor and happy chillens.  They've been happily "baking" for 30 minutes and counting. Audri is making a pineapple swirl cake for her 6 children, Eli is very serious about his eggs (and flinging bubbles at his sister), and Carter is making a strawberry cake.

Notice how neat and tidy Audri is... (and yes, that is her current outfit of choice if you haven't noticed)

Eli is completely soaked.

I was thinking today that the summer is already winding down. I have our 2009-2010 school year planned and the date set for our first day. I can see an end in sight to the summer (!). I was thinking earlier about what we've done this summer, and it didn't feel like much. So I decided to look back at the pictures of what we've done, and I realized it's been more than I thought.  It's been a full summer already. We haven't been doing much the past few weeks because it has been so. hot. outside. But I'm thankful for the memories we have made. I would still like to go to the beach though, we have not been to the beach since we've lived here. Maybe late summer when the weather cools off some.

Here is a collage I made this evening of our summer so far. It's not over yet, but we've made some great memories together already.

At the beginning of the summer, we found out Eli has several food allergies and had to completely change our whole eating plan.

My mom came to help when Eli was so sick, and Chad and I were able to get away with the older 2 and go on a one night vacation to Great Wolf Lodge waterpark. We've talked about it daily since.

We went to the lake a couple of times and had a blast playing there together.

We played in the backyard, had water balloon fights, and splashed in our little pool.

We celebrated Nathan's first birthday!

We found out our next baby is a boy.

Those have been some of the highlights. Not bad! 

OK not really, but he likes pretending!

I love my babies. They are so much fun!!

I've always tried hard to feed the children healthy foods. They eat better than I do...because they don't have the choice. I might as well give them really good stuff since they have to eat what I give them!

I started giving only organic baby food when Carter was a baby, and that is important to me. We drink only organic milk and try to buy organic produce and meat as much as possible. Thankfully Costco offers a good selection! I've breastfed each one as long as possible, and we do things like young Thai coconut milk (yum!), lots of fresh fruits, herbal and vitamin remedies as much as possible, and smoothies as treats on movie nights. The one thing I can't figure out is how to get them to eat more vegetables...although I don't tolerate vegetables very well either, so I don't really blame them. I make up for it by giving them fresh fruits as a part of every meal and snack.

Despite my efforts, Carter and Eli still have food allergies.  Because of the allergies they have, figuring out what to serve for meals is becoming increasingly difficult. Gone are the days when I can give them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or cheese, or peanuts, or bananas (or even cookies or crackers or milk) for a snack. We did find gluten free bread at Whole Foods, which allows me to occassionally make them a sandwich, although Eli isn't a big fan. He will eat some meats, but he doesn't like chicken.  I'm serving lots of meat, fruits and potatoes or rice as a base to most meals now.

Thankfully Carter CAN have dairy, which makes things easier with him, but he still cannot have peanuts or eggs or any wheat. Since making and serving meals is such a huge part of my day, I thought I'd share a typical lunch. We tend to be very casual for meals at this stage of life. Dinners are usually a meat that is either in the crock pot or grilled, and a side of rice or potatoes with a vegetable. Everyone can eat that. We cannot use any cream or dairy bases, or anything with tomatoes (or gluten, obviously) so being creative is difficult. But I have never been very good at being creative and diverse with meals, so that's not a huge change for me.

Here was lunch 2 days ago for Carter (green tray) and Audri (purple tray)...

Audri got 1/2 peanut butter and honey sandwich (we're running low on bread), organic yogurt with honey, ground flax and cod liver oil added, an apple, and organic corn chips.

Carter got organic yogurt with honey, ground flax and cod liver oil added, string cheese, an apple and corn chips.

The orange vitamins are 500mg of vitamin C.

I'm pretty sure Eli had a rice cake with almond butter, frozen organic corn (he actually likes it!), frozen blueberries and the organic corn chips.

Some other lunches I regularly serve are grilled salmon patties, leftover meat and rice from dinner, gluten free sandwiches for the boys if we have the supplies, fruit with yogurt, nuts and chips for the older 2, and things like that.

That day I was good and had spinach salad for lunch- my midwife would be proud. Usually I just have a PB&J or cottage cheese and fruit.

It was yummy! I make my own dressing from a recipe I adapted from my mother in law, Dana!  This is our favorite salad around here (well, Chad and I are the only ones who will eat it)

So that is a glimpse into our eating. Fascinating, huh?

Yesterday Audri spent just about all day working out of our Usborne "Fairy things to make and do" craft book. She just got it right off the bookshelf, and dove in. She has made so many wonderful things, all on her own (well, with Carter's "help" of course). She did a snowflake craft to construct a fairy skirt, just like the book said, glued it to construction paper, cut out the other fairy parts and ended up with this little fairy who she named Rosie.

Then she made a fairy wand...

and several other little things like fairy cards for mommy.  Today they're back in the schoolroom constructing other fun fairy things.

We just had to take a break because Audri punched Carter in the nose ("accidentally") but hey, these things happen.

Yesterday I gave Audri a math placement test through a company that is known for being very ahead and thorough in their math curriculum. She placed well into second grade, which is good to know. Whew!! For some reason I've been freaking out lately about what math we're going to go with. I knew we weren't going to go with Rod and Staff again, so I bought Singapore to try over the summer. She placed into the latter half of 1st grade when I gave her the Singapore placement test a couple months ago, so that is the workbook we're doing, to test it out. It is HARD!! I really appreciate how Singapore emphasizes mental math but wow. Then I started reconsidering our choice since Singapore seems unnecessarily rigorous for this stage, but yesterday as Audri and I were doing our lesson I saw so many things "clicking" in her mind, even when I was stammering to try to explain the concepts, LOL! Then I asked her how she felt about sticking with this particular curriculum through second grade and she was all for it! So I guess we're going with Singapore math. Pray for me!! Haha.

It really is so neat to see her growing and learning so many things! She's becoming so much more independant, like with these fairy crafts, and I am continually impressed with what she is able to do. I need to stop underestimating them!

God has given me such a wonderful husband. I love him so much. I have been convicted lately more on the Biblical role of submission, and what that looks like in our house. I know I still have a long ways to go, but hopefully my sweet husband is seeing an improvement. :-) I think it's so important that we as women give in to our men, and allow them to take the role in leading the family. This is sooooo hard for most of us but I think this will ruin families and tear down homes faster than just about anything else. The very first sin and what got all of us into this mess was Eve taking the reins and leading her husband, remember? ;-) I am thankful that God has been allowing me to see my own weakness in this area, and how short I fall from where I need to be. I am your typical woman, thinking I can do it all, wanting to control every little detail of everything including my husband. In fact, so many times it seems situations present themselves where I very much need to control the situation if anything is going to turn out right at all!! I can easily panic when things start getting out of *my* control, since I feel that I'm the one holding everything together (how foolish!). This is a recipe for a very stressed out, anxious and angry woman. And who wants to be around someone like that? It's very hard for me to let go and trust, but that is exactly what God wants me to do...and as I do that with Chad, I realize so many times that it's God who is revealing His love to me through my husband. (you realize this is so very hard for me to type, I'm struggling just to write it out, lol)

Last night this was made very clear to me. I was completely at the end of myself after a hard day, I had been feeling very sick with a sore throat and struggled just to make it through the day. It seems like all day long it's one chaotic event after another. I was counting the minutes until Chad got home, and of course the 30 minutes before he came home, everything fell apart even more. The children were fighting, Eli was screaming about something, they were all talking to me at once, the living room was a mess again, I was tired from cleaning the upstairs and the bathrooms, and my throat was hurting so badly. When he walked in the door, I was so angry and fed up, and we still had a lot of errands to run.

I saw him taking his game stuff out to the car as the children were loading up to go on our errands, and I realized that it was another game night. That just about pushed me over the edge. There was no way I could handle the kids all by myself all night too, my throat was killing me. Didn't he just have a game night 3 nights ago?! I asked him what time his game started and he said 5:30...so we had an hour to run our errands and rush back home, only to have me doing all of the evening chores and putting the children to bed all alone. I had such a horrid attitude. He tried to rub my neck in the car but I was so mad I didn't even want him to touch me. He asked if he could pray for me. I gritted my teeth through his fervent prayer over me and the children, still angry because I knew he wasn't going to give up his game night. I started crying and he rubbed my back and told me to let it all out. He started softly telling me that it was okay the children were sick again, and that I wasn't feeling well, that God is in control. He just kept saying, God is in control, God is in control. It was then I started to calm down and realize he was right. God reminded me through my husband's words that it was not my place to convince or control what Chad was doing, and that He (God) was, in fact, in control. He was in control over what seems like constant sickness with the children. He is in control of my sore throat. He is in control of every situation that has led to my exhaustion and discouragement and anger. And He would help me make it through the night. By the time we got to Costco, I was comforted by my husband's words, and the fact that God so clearly spoke through him. 

We did make it through the night, and it was fine. Sorry to go on and on, there are many more stories I could share where things did not turn out this way. I just wanted to write this one down because it was so clear to me to see God working through Chad, even when things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. I probably could have thrown a fit and gotten Chad to stay at home, but I'm glad I didn't. He deserved a break, and God kept me from becoming the foolish woman. It's only by God's grace that I don't become more and more like her each day, for that is surely my tendency.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. -1 Corinthians 10:13

A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. -Proverbs 14:1

I love being a mom. It is the most physically (and at times, emotionally) difficult thing I have ever done, but that is good for me. Life is not supposed to be easy, and it hasn't been for the most part.  Being a mom to these children is the joy of my life. I have always loved children and babies, and becoming a mother to my own has been better than I could have ever dreamed. Pregnancy is exhausting and painful at times, but I love it. It's amazing to receive God's intimate involvement as He creates a new person in me! To feel the baby move and dream of what he/she will be like. Then finally to give birth and get to meet this brand new human! I love everything about the newborn and baby stage, it's all wonderful to me. Toddlers are so much fun. Just look at this little face...

I put his tray down for lunch and he said "MMM, MMM, MMMM!!"  (that is a gluten free sandwich with almond butter and jelly, apple and pineapple, by the way.)

I even love his mad face, although everyone in the family does not share my sentiment. This face drives Daddy and Audri crazy...

I think he was mad that I was taking another picture of him. Or something, who knows.

Preschoolers are difficult for me, that potty training stage can be so frustrating. But that is when God stretches me and teaches me how to love my children. It's easy when they're so innocent and cute. It gets harder when they become defiant and gross.

However, I have really loved watching them get older. Audri is at such a lovely age. She has such a sweet spirit, and she is so bright and funny. It's so neat to watch God work in their hearts and make them into such wonderful people. The other day I was laying on the floor and wimpering with a particularly bad round ligament pain (hahaha, yes I'm a big wimp but I do think these pains get worse with more children!). Audri seemed very concerned, but I assured her that I was fine and it was just a normal part of pregnancy. She went into the other room and came out a few minutes later with this card for me...

That is me laying down in labor (notice my belly, lol) and Audri is giving me a foot massage (masasshe).  Is that not the sweetest thing you've ever seen?! Audri has been writing letters to people lately, all on her own, and insisting that we immediately envelope and stamp them, and send them off in the mail. We mailed one to Granddaddy awhile ago, and tomorrow we will be sending one to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.

Eli LOVES motorcycles. Today we were watching motorcycle racing on TV (for him of course) and he was riveted. He sat there completely still, just staring at the motorcycles. Everytime we go anywhere and a motorcycle goes by, he shouts out "motorcycle!!" It's so fun to see their little personalities emerge with their unique likes and dislikes (I prefer the likes).

They are so much fun.

Nathan is in a phase where he spits out most of the finger food we give him. I don't know why he does this, he likes to chew it and then spit it all out. He's been getting a lot of baths. He loves his baths.  (I wonder if that's why he's always spitting his food out?) Look at Eli's face in this one, lol...

And look at Nathan's face when Eli started splashing...

I won't say every day is a joy, because it's not. But gosh, what a heavy and wonderful privilege, to get to love and raise these little ones. I'm afraid I fail more than I succeed, that is one of my worst fears. In fact just recently I was sure I could not go on one more day. My mom came in to help because I was completely at the end of myself and was certain I could not handle one more second. The children had been very ill and I had been existing on no more than 2 hours of sleep at a time for almost a year, and I thought I was going to die if I stayed. But I didn't die, and I'm still here, by the grace of God. It's only by God's grace that our marriage has survived what it has, or that we are able to love and raise our children each day. Somehow it's happening and I am thankful. I can't imagine anything I'd rather be doing with my life, everything else seems so empty and meaningless.

I'm 20.3 weeks today and I took some belly pics this evening. Mom, you were asking to see my haircut and you can kindof see it in these. I chopped it all off! I like it better now though, nobody can pull on it anymore.  I'll try to get Chad to take some in the next couple days, but I just took these myself since he's gone tonight.

Nathan's had a bad diaper rash all evening and he wouldn't let me put him down, poor little guy.  I think the flash cheered him up though, and he enjoyed watching me take the other ones (he giggled everytime he heard the "click" of the camera as he was laying beside me on the floor)

Here I am 20 weeks pregnant with Nathan! (I used to dress up back then...I'm past that now  )

Umm, I think I'm bigger this time.

hahahaha

I am so tired this afternoon!! Usually by 3pm I start getting really worn down, but today it's hitting me hard. I've let the older 2 play their computer games and I'm trying desperately to keep Eli happy. I'm also super hungry even though I've been eating every hour or so- more healthy than I normally do, I might add.

Thanks for lending me your camera mom, the children and I played Candyland earlier and I was able to take some pics!

Carter won-

Here's my cutie pie earlier today. He was content to just play with this toy for almost an hour on the floor right beside me.

I love being able to take pictures.

Chad'll be home in 40 minutes, yay!!!! We're just having leftovers tonight but I'm counting the minutes until dinner. I've already had a nectarine and a glass of milk to hold me over.......

Thank you all so much for the amazing support and kindness you showed us in the last post!! Chad and I really enjoyed reading all of your comments. Your kindness and encouragement means a lot to us!

This is what my morning has looked like so far:

Feel awake and alive at 6:30am, so take advantage of that and get on up. The children are all still sleeping, wow!

Do my own devotions for awhile, until Eli wakes up and I read to him and change him, and we go downstairs.

Carter and Audri wake up, we do our devotions all together.

I work on getting the schedule together, while the children watch TV and eat breakfast.

Nathan wakes up, so I nurse him and bring him down to change.

Get him his bottle, and put my oatmeal in the microwave.

As soon as my oatmeal is ready, Eli announces he pooped in his diaper so I change him.

When I am done changing and ready to eat, Carter comes up and asks me to blow his nose.

When I'm done wiping up Carter's nose, the baby is done with his bottle and starts fussing.

I get baby situated with a rice cake and some toys, then sit down to eat my cold oatmeal.

Right away Carter yells at me from the bathroom that he pooped and needs to be wiped. So I go in to wipe him.

Finally I can eat my oatmeal in peace!!!

The children did great for the next 2 hours, playing downstairs and then upstairs together, so I can't complain too much.  Eli and the baby sat on Nathan's little blanket and ate their rice cakes together for awhile.

(sorry it's so dark, my camera is broken so I can only take pics with my cell phone)

I need to go to the library and get a new library card so I can order a few books we need when we start the new school year. Hopefully I can get around to that this week. I also need to go to the store after we get paid to get some of the supplements and foods my midwife wants me eating, but that won't be until Friday. My midwife wants me to come back in on Friday morning, but I'm going to call her and see if I can push it off another week. So that's all we have planned so far for the week. That I can think of now, anyway.

The children are really restless and it's almost time for lunch, so I better get going.

Now that we have shared the news of our baby, I will share some pictures from the ultrasound of our littlest guy. Chad and I feel very humbled and blessed that God has given us another person to love and to raise for Him. It's always such a miracle, each time. (I've labeled the pictures for those who may not be familiar with ultrasounds  )

The tech commented on his long legs, and how he likes to keep stretching them out.

I really wanted to do a homebirth last time, but we were unable to because I had Nathan early as I did Carter and Eli, and no midwife will attend a homebirth before 37 weeks in our state. I am working with 2 homebirth midwives who have made me their "guinea pig" and are determined to get me to 37 weeks. They think it will say a lot about midwifery care if they are able to do something the medical community has been unable to do...take a woman who has a history of preterm births and get her to fullterm. I'm up for it as I hate birthing in the hospital and really want to have my homebirth. We'll see!

Welcome to Not Me Monday! Yes it's Tuesday so I'm a day late-- lay off! Head on over to MckMama's blog to check out what other moms are not doing.

I did not suggest, while in Seattle with the family yesterday, that we buy the children fancy new toys, just for fun. I swore that we would save all gift giving for Christmas time this year to save money, and I stuck to that.

After not buying said toys, I did not do the numbers in my head 10 times and figure out just how much money we spent and then beat myself up for it, while the children happily played with their new toys in the backseat.

I am not wearing the same outfit I wore yesterday. I change into freshly pressed, clean clothes each and every day- after my daily shower and grooming routine first thing in the morning, of course.

I do not sleep in the same clothes I wear each day. I have way more class than to crash into bed in my day clothes, even though it's easier to wake up and not even have to worry about changing...

I did not go to the grocery store today with Nathan boogers all over my shirt. I would never do such a thing, that is disgusting.

I did not bribe the 2 middle boys with a cookie earlier today so they would play outside longer.

I did not want to bang my head into the table while explaining to my 7 year old that "2+3=5" for the hundredth time.  

I did not lose my patience and yell at Eli when he screamed at me for the 735th time today.

I did not lay on the couch and play snorting hippopotamus with Eli for 15 minutes this afternoon while he laughed hysterically. I am much too cultured and refined for that.

I did not fall into Chad's arms and whimper when he came over to give me a hug after coming home from work. I sat on the floor and rubbed his feet after cooking an elaborate meal, as I do every night.

I did not accidentally say "in the name of the United States, Amen" instead of "in the name of Jesus, Amen." during my before bed prayer with the children. Because that would be embarrassing, and my brain functions much better than that.

I did not eat a pint of full-fat Ben & Jerry's ice cream tonight. My husband who outweighs me by 100+ pounds, cannot even do that. And I didn't either.

In the name of the United States, Amen.

Today is our little Nathan's first birthday. Here he was one year ago today...

weighing 7 pounds even, measuring 20? inches long. Today he weighs 20 pounds, 14 ounces and looks like this-

Here are some (ok, a lot of) pictures from the party we had for him today.

I thought he would like to play with this fun and sparkly tinsel but ummm...no.

Presents!

But his favorite present was the beloved Care Bear that his big sister gave him. She's noticed that he loves playing with this little bear that has been hers, and she lovingly "wrapped" it for him in a blanket, and gave it to her baby brother. It's things like this that make me fall in love with my children all over again.

He's wearing the traditional Anderson boy first birthday suit. When Eli turned one, I put it on him for his party, completely forgetting that Carter had worn it on his first birthday as well. So now of course Nathan had to wear it. Here's Carter setting the trend back in 2005...

Then Eli...

and now Nathan!

Grommy and the older children made this cake for Nathan today...

I thought he would dive right in like his siblings before him, but noooo. Not even after he had a taste!

He got really mad when I put his hand on the cake, to show him he can touch it and eat it that way. Woooo boy he did not like that one bit.

He wanted nothing else to do with his cake, so I put him in the bath. That was much more his element.

It's amazing how differently God makes each child.

Nathan is such a gift and a bright spot in our family. He knows what he wants, and is very particular, and I'm sure that will serve him well in life.  He is intelligent, observant, and sensitive. He will make a great man someday, and he brings so much joy to our family.

I'm so thankful to God for this first year with Nathan. I pray that God will bless him and protect him in the years to come.

My parents are here visiting, and yesterday we took them to our favorite lake spot. We had a picnic lunch there, and it was such a lovely day. The children had fun digging in the water, throwing rocks, and feeding the chipmunks.

My tan girl...she definitely gets her dark skin from me and my dad!

Nathan enjoying his strawberries. My mom said she thought he looked just like Nene in this picture...

I think it's really cute how Daddy and baby are making the same exact expressions in these 2 pictures...

Today I spent several hours preparing for the coming school year. It was fun.  I've kept things pretty casual up until this point, but things are starting to heat up with Audri's school work. Preschool, kindergarten and first grade don't require much preparation or time and she's learned so far with very little effort, but she's getting to the point where she needs more to do. I've received all of the books for this coming year, and spent some time going through them and breaking up the work into weeks. We're both really excited to get started.   The workload is definitely increased, that's for sure. Carter also loves doing his "schoolwork." He's getting better and better at reading and writing, so we will continue to practice that. I *love* the Rod and Staff preschool series. I truly love homeschooling. I love teaching my children and having them around me. Eli stayed by my feet most of the day as I was preparing things, and I would give him little activities to keep him busy, or he would bring me a book and I'd take a break to read to him. He loves being read to. Carter and Audri worked there next to me at the table for many hours, just happily doing their tasks.

We're reading Island of the Blue Dolphins together right now, and tonight we got into a conversation after our chapter about how our ancestors lived. I was talking about how hard they had to work to survive, just like the girl in the book. Audri then looked at me seriously and asked "what about our unclecestors?"  It took me a second to figure out what she was talking about.

Sometimes I will look around at the four little people who are with me all day long, and I can hardly believe they're mine. They are each so different and unique. The days go by so slow, and the years haven't quite flown by (yet) like people say they do, but I still cannot believe I have been pregnant long enough to birth four seperate, distinct human beings. It's amazing to me. Really neat and awe-inspiring, actually.

I was inspired by a mom I know who recently lost her teenager, to write up some special things about each of them. Things I don't ever want to forget.

Audri

She has definitely been the most physically and verbally advanced of all of my children. I should have known when I was only 12 weeks pregnant, and she kicked me hard enough to make my belly actually move. She was talking at 8 months, and she hasn't stopped since.  She walked the earliest at 13 months (yes, that's early in this family!).

I remember when she was born, the main thing I noticed were her huge eyes, her pretty little rosebud lips and her dimple. She was such a beautiful baby, and looked so much like Chad from the very beginning.

When Chad was on deployment and she was 18 months old, I would take her to the on-base daycare. I needed a break every once in awhile, so I would leave her there for a couple hours while I grocery shopped or went to the gym. One time I came to pick her up during naptime and she looked back at me, she was laying down and looking at me, upside down from where she was. All I saw were her huge almond eyes and as soon as she saw me, she started crying. She thought she had to stay in her little bed and couldn't come to me. I just remember seeing those huge almond shaped blue eyes of hers filling with tears while she looked at me all upside down, it broke my heart. Her eyes have always been so beautiful.

When she was a baby, her eyes were so big and blue the color would actually reflect on her cheeks. People would constantly comment on her beautiful eyes.

As a baby, she was constantly looking all around and taking everything in. She notices even the smallest details of things. People would comment a lot on how "alert" she was, and she's always been very social.

She has such a sensitive heart, but a joyful disposition. This is such a blessing. Even though she feels things deeply, she bounces back quickly because of the joy in her heart. I am so thankful for this.

She has a passion for God and His word, that grows each year. She is constantly drawing pictures of Jesus or heaven, and talking about or singing little songs about God. She says that Jesus is her best friend, and loves reading her little Bible. It's the most precious thing ever, to see my child developing a relationship with God.

She loved dressing up as a princess when she was 2 & 3. She's always loved fancy dresses. Now she's in a pajama phase, I can hardly get her to wear anything but pajamas.

It's very important to her to make the right decision. I have been teaching her about the power of her choices for 2 years or so, and she truly desires to make good choices. When she makes mistakes, she feels very sorry with no prompting from me.

Her conscience is very sensitive. We've trained her to not look at magic or evil, so when something comes on TV that could be construed as magic or evil, she insists on changing it. She comes and admits to me (most of the time) when she does wrong. I'm very proud of her.

She worries a lot and reminds us of things a lot, because she's afraid we'll forget. She doesn't even give us a chance to remember, she is constantly reminding us of things she wants. When she was 2 and we were in the car, she would try to give me directions and tell me which way to go. She already struggles with being controlling (no idea where she gets that from  )

She is a very caring big sister and a best friend to Carter. They do everything together, they're usually even in the bathroom at the same time. She's bossy and he's compliant so it's perfect.

She has become interested in caring for babies since Nathan's been born and loves carrying him around and playing with him. She's never been as interested in babies as I always was though. Sometimes she'll notice and point out cute babies when we're out, but the only ones she really cares about is ours.

Carter

He was the dream baby. Absolutely wonderful. So calm and content, he just wanted to be snuggled. Just wonderful all around. None of my other babies were nearly as easy as he was.  

He's always had this big, barrel chest. I remember looking at him laying on his stomach after he was born and in the NICU, and I could tell right away he had Chad's large broad shoulders and ribcage.

He's got such a quiet depth to him, and always has had that.

He's my logical little guy. He's slow to process, but his wheels are always turning.

He feels things very deeply, but doesn't show it until he's overwhelmed with emotion.

He's quiet and easily persuaded, but has been finding his voice since he turned 18 months. His will is slow to develop, but definitely present.

He adores Audri. He asks where she is anytime she's not in the room (which is rare since he's always right there with her) and copies her language and mannerisms.

He can be very naughty and sneaky. Since he's not usually outright rebellious, you really have to keep an eye on him because he's constantly sneaking around.

He's very sensitive and reassuring. Anytime he thinks I'm sad or whenever he gets upset, he comes right over to cuddle.

His love language, at this point, is physical touch. He loves to be cuddled.

He loves to look "handsome." He loves new clothes. He loves it when I brush his hair and he likes to look at himself in the mirror whenever he puts on a new shirt or has his hair brushed. He worries that his hair will be messed up after I brush it, and his curls are very important to him. He likes being told he looks handsome. He gets this from my dad.

He's always been a neat eater and a slow guy, physically. Not your typical rowdy boy. I think he'll make a great engineer, computer programmer, or doctor.

He LOVES video games. I wonder where he gets this from?  He'll cry and cry when it's time to stop playing.

He's very good at small, detailed tasks. He can put together puzzles and little hand games like no  one else. He's always been interested in trying to take things apart, like remote controls

He was a momma's boy when he was a baby, but now he's a total daddy's boy. I think that's partly because Chad understands what makes him tick, they are SO much alike.

Elijah

He's my dolly. He looks like a doll, from his long, thick eyelashes to his pouty lips.

He was born with more hair than any of my other children. He had so much fur when he was born, all over his face and shoulders. He now has the thickest, most wiry hair I have ever seen on a white person.  He also has big bushy eyebrows.

He used to grind his first 4 little teeth together when he was a baby. Drove me nuts, but it really was cute.

He walked the same exact month as his brother- 17 months.

He has the cutest mad face, at 2 years old.

I have remarked that you could "almost see the testosterone coursing through his veins" since he was about 6 months old. 

We used to call him our little trumpet boy when he was under a year old, because he would make these high pitched squeals and shrieks through his lips like he was playing a trumpet. Then he started screaming whenever he wanted anything, at around one year.

Now he just yells and cries whenever he wants something. It's a good thing he's cute because he's LOUD.

He's the most active of all of my children. He is constantly running around, getting into everything.

He's a bully with the older 2, but surprisingly tender with his baby brother.  

He senses people's emotions around him, and needs reassurance whenever anyone is stressed or upset.

He gently will come up and say the cutest things in the smallest little voice.

He called me "honey" for the longest time.

When the older children aren't around, he's actually very quiet and well behaved. His voice quiets down to almost a whisper.

He loves the show of the hand puppet Oobi and is always wanting to play hand puppets with Chad and I, acting like the different characters in the show.

He's still very attached to me.

He loves to make everybody laugh and is always making silly faces, jumping around, or making funny noises to get everyone to laugh.

He has a magnetic personality, and has the ability to take over a room and bring so much joy to others around him.

Nathan

Nathan has been my most strong willed baby of them all.

He was waking hourly every night for 10 months. He was my only baby to not enjoy co-sleeping.

He was my first to ever have bottles, starting at 8 months. He was never as attached to nursing as the others.

He loves his bottles, and is deliciously chubby. He has the fattest little dimpled legs. 

He looks a lot like Carter did.

He has done this grunty breathing thing since he was a newborn, usually when someone is really close to him. Chad was concerned when he did this as a tiny baby, but I always knew it was his way of communicating. He still does this, and likes to mess around with the sounds he can make while breathing.

He has always startled easily and is very sensitive physically to his surroundings, like movement and noise.

He's mellowing out a lot as he gets older and I'm enjoying him so much.

He's not one to need a lot of physical touch, or interaction. He knows what he wants, and he doesn't appreciate fluff. He doesn't really enjoy cuddling, which has been hard for me to adjust to as I love cuddling my babies!

He scrunches himself up and grits his teeth together to be silly. It's so cute.

He sucks on his tongue when he's tired.

His eyes get really big and he looks all around when there's a lot of chaos, which seems to happen often with 4 young children. He's always taking everything in, a lot like Audri did.

They are each so precious. I am very honored to be their mommy.