mr. charming(everyone needs a three year old)

Because yes, we do have other children besides our newest sweetie :o)

Remember this guy? Mr. Charming? Seriously. Do you see why we call him that? This is 100% Noah, all. the. time.

Okay, okay. Most of the time.

This past week he has just been full of himself. I wish had written down more of what he's been up to, but you know how that goes. These are just a couple that I remember...

**Noah: "Mom, I think you're super-delicious!"

**Noah to Glen and I while we were watching 24 and had told him it was a grown up show that he couldn't watch: "Well, can I just come lay down on the bed and look at Mommy's pretty face?"

**I had asked Noah to go check on Grace and make sure she was okay. A few minutes later, Anna came in holding Grace and told me she had found her with a pillow laid on top of her head and a blanket covering her and the pillow. Upon investigation, I was informed Noah was "just hiding her." Thus, another Parenting Tip... (feel free to check out all my previous Parenting Tips :o)

Parenting Tip # 13

Reserve the job of checking on the baby for a child over the age of three. If you feel the need to send your three year old to check on the baby, send an older child to check on the three year old who is "checking on the baby."

Parenting Tip #14 / Baby Proofing 101:

Make sure your three year old understands the importance of clear, unobstructed airways.

And last, but not least, remember her; Miss Precocious? The one who has recently been de-throned as the baby girl of the family?

Me: "So, Moriah, you think I'm skinny now?"

Moriah: "Uh, (much longer pause than needed), ask me again when your stomach is not so fat."

And this conversation was not at all reminiscent of one we had two summers ago. (Mind you, she was three when this took place.)

Me: (Trying on a maternity bathing suit and looking in the mirror.)

Moriah: "Mom, you look soooo not cool."

Thanks, Moriah, that was really helpful. :o)

the princess turns five~

Isn't she beautiful?
How time flies.

Moriah,
It is one of my greatest thrills and privileges in life to be your mother.
To wake up to your mischievous smile and to
be enamored daily by your fun personality and infectious, giggly laughter
brings all of us joy every day.
You are so much fun and a blessing and delight to each of us.
We love you and are so glad God decided to make you and put your in our family!

Happy Birthday, Princess!
We love you.

And Happy Birthday to your Daddy, too :o)

boy am i glad i don't have to drive a covered wagon~

After a looong day out running around to three different doctors, we are finally home. All is well, and other than some prescribed ice and "just be careful," that's all she needed.

This photo is from tonight. She looks much better. This morning, it was huge, completely purple, sensitive to light, and she couldn't open it at all.

After arranging for my aunt to come out (yet again), three doctors managed to fit us in today. First we had to go to the regular doctor, who took one look at her, went on and on about all the different disastrous things that could be wrong, and said we needed to get to the eye doctor..., well, "thirty minutes ago would have been nice," he said. He thought it was potentially that serious. The eye doctor managed to fit us in, and after poking around and looking through various important looking instruments, pronounced everything A-OK. He did advise staying completely away from any potentially hazardous activities, such as tae kwon do, gymnastics, brothers, green bean bowling, etc.

Parenting Tip # 9

Consider investing in football helmets, mouth guards, safety goggles, knee pads, elbow pads, and even possibly full body armor for little girls with four brothers.

Since we were out, I went ahead and took Anna back to the Orthopedic Doctor (she's been receiving treatment for tendonitis for about a month and wearing one of those fabulous black boots.) It's not healing the way it should, so we went back and now have the privilege of going for an MRI on Saturday afternoon. (It was either that or Friday night at 7pm?!)

For someone that rarely goes to the doctor, I think we've gone more in the past month than in the last ten years combined. Seriously. Anna and I are going to the chiropractor weekly (from the little car accident that packed a surprising punch), and she's been having weekly orthopedic appointments. Yesterday I had a visit with my backup OB and the chiropractor. And then three today. MRI on Saturday, and back to the ortho and chiro next week, the same the following, plus Moriah's follow up eye appointment. Whew. Thank God for Samaritan Ministries.

Oh yeah. The OB visit. I am only 8 weeks. Eight! I thought I was going to be ten tomorrow. I must have found out super early. I knew things were a little off and my dates were iffy due to the whole nursing thing, but two weeks off. How disappointing. Here I am, feeling exhausted and yucky, thinking I should be on the upswing here soon, and here I am with a two week setback. Yuck. Oh well, at least if I go over again, I won't be facing a looming induction as early as I would otherwise.

And speaking of pregnancy. The other night, I woke up in the middle of the night faintly smelling a skunk. We live in the country, but I've never smelled a skunk inside before. It didn't smell like a skunk had sprayed nearby, just that there was a skunk nearby. I attributed it to a heightened sense of smell, and went back to sleep. So last night, as I'm getting home, there is a skunk on the porch eating the cat food. As I walked up, it ran off. Just now, Caleb looked out the door, and it's back! Gracie, the cat, is sitting there, giving it this look of "that's my food, but I'm not sure if I want to do anything about it," all the kids are pressed against the door watching it, and it's just standing there calmly eating. Homer Price, anyone?

So we're home, I'm exhausted. Piles of laundry, dishes, schoolwork to check. Hmmm....I choose D. Sleep.

Thanks for praying :o)

moriah's birth story~

Fast forward another year :o) Again. We are in the process of building our house and Glen is gone all the time trying to get it built as quickly and inexpensively as possible. We have three little ones four and under and life is very full.

Late January, maybe three weeks after Ethan turned 1, we find out that sure enough, #4 is scheduled to arrive 11 October. My sister-in-law, Joni, had just had her fourth baby a few weeks prior and Dr. Trabue had jokingly asked if I was pregnant. My two other sister-in-laws, Lori and Elizabeth, were also expecting, causing all of us to have babies in nine months.

We had been at Abounding Grace for several years now, so I was very familiar with home birthing, and as my ob was very supportive of it and willing to be my backup doctor, we decided to go for a home birth.

We found out we were expecting another girl, and the only name for her was Moriah. The official meaning of Moriah is "taught of the Lord". It also has strong spiritual connections in other ways for us as well. We had been in a very intense season of truly "being taught of the Lord." Moriah was also the name of the mountain where God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and later where David purchased the threshing floor in order to build the temple. The temple was built there, and there the Lord put His Presence. All these things had great meaning for us in that season of our life, and so she stands as a testimony to the Lord's faithfulness to us and His desire to teach us, lead us, and fill us with His Presence.

Glen rushed to finish our house and we moved into in June, with a little over three months to spare. We settled in, Anna started Kindergarten, and I kicked into waiting-for-baby mode.

I didn't have to wait long.

Fifteen days earlier than she was due, on Glen's birthday, I woke up during the night with contractions that were increasingly becoming evident of the real thing. We weren't at all thinking she would be born that soon, and Glen had a customer who had to get some stuff finished up so that his water could be turned back on (or something important like that). He left to run across town and take care of that, and I got out of the bathtub to get Anna ready for school.

The midwife arrived, as well as Joni (who lived down the driveway). My mother-in-law arrived and took the kids down to Joni's house, and Joni stayed with me until Glen could get back. Anna never did make it to school.

This birth was by far the easiest. I labored for awhile in the bath before calling the midwife. It was wonderful. (One of these days I would love to have a water birth.) I got out to get Anna ready for school, and was just walking around getting things done in between contractions. When the midwife arrived, she checked me and said I was a good 7cm and if I didn't want to have the baby before Glen returned, I needed to sit down. So I sat. We talked and laughed between contractions and I never realized I was in transition.

Once Glen finally arrived, I decided to let Heather check me again. She declared me ready to push, and a few minutes later, out popped Moriah. Okay, it wasn't quite that easy, but Joni says you couldn't even tell I was in labor. Now, with her I had the most prounounced "ring of fire" that is so notorious, but it was very quick.

After a couple of turkey and swiss sandwiches, I settled in to be amazed that I had another sweet baby girl that was here much sooner and more easily than I ever imagined.