The word is out

Now, of course I'm wishing I could take it back because I'm not out of the 1T yet. What was I thinking? Just because I had a good u/s doesn't mean it will continue. I just hope I didn't jinx it.

I called my mom and told her tonight. It wasn't the most positive call. When I told her, her first sentence out was, "this better be the last one". Wow, thanks mom. She then quickly changed the subject. I never got a congratulations or any kind of positive reaction from her. Then again, should I really be all that surprised seeing what she pulled when Elijah was born. Still, it stings.

The rest of my family was excited. I know 4 is pretty unconventional these days, but it just feels right for us. We had always hoped for a bigger family, never thinking we would have it. And then 1 by 1, we were blessed with a precious child.

Just a little bit of news

There has been something that I have wanted to share for some time now, I just wasn't quite comfortable yet. Today, however, things have been confirmed and so I definitely feel better with people knowing. What is this news you ask? Well, contrary to what Chris and I's "plan" was, God had different ones. We will be welcoming baby #4 around September 3rd! Surprised? I sure know we were. I actually found out on Christmas Eve and I told Chris on Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we had gotten back from a couple of days of visiting family. I knew from the way I felt that I would be starting soon so made sure I had plenty of supplies. I didn't think about it again until after we were home and I was unpacking. I pulled out the pads and all of a sudden I just had a feeling. All I had in the house were OPK's from when we were trying with Elijah. I knew that they turn positive (test line as dark as the control line) when you are pregnant. Well, that was positive. So I quickly ran to the store to buy a real pregnancy test, which also quickly came up positive. Since we weren't trying I wasn't keeping track of my cycles and wasn't even sure how far along I was. I tried using Thanksgiving as a guide and took a guess. Turns out, from my ultrasound today, I was spot on. I am 8 weeks today.

When I say it wasn't our plan, I just mean we weren't going to start trying again until after Chris was done with school and had a job. We were hoping for 4, just wasn't expecting it this soon. Definitely raises the stress about finding a job. I mean, I can't (or don't) want to imagine us still having to be here, in this small apartment, with another baby. We are already crammed to the gills. 5 people in a 2 bedroom apartment is crowded. 6 people, I don't even know what we would do. I know if Chris doesn't find a preaching job, he will be able to get work doing something until he does. We could definitely use some prayers though that he will find a preaching job and we will get settled before this baby comes along.

And how I am feeling? Sick, sick, sick. All day long. It started right at 6 weeks, so I guess I should be thankful that I didn't get it at 4 weeks like I normally do. But I feel bad, and I have really felt like I have been doing a terrible job with Faith, Samantha, and Elijah in the last few weeks. I just hope it doesn't last too long and we can get back into our routine.

He's taking steps!

On Sunday morning, before we were about to head out the door for church, Elijah took his first step all by himself. He let go of the ottoman, took a step, and then took hold of the couch. Today, he let go of the couch, just stood there for a minute, took one step, took another step, and then let himself down to crawl.

Sigh, my baby is getting so big!

I know, I know, it's about time

The bad part about waiting so long to write is because there is so much to talk about that I can never get it all out. Chris was home for a couple of weeks, and we unfortunately now are having to share a computer. Since his homework is a wee bit more important than me blogging, he trump me at time at the computer.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We certainly did and had a wonderful time spending time together as a family once more. While Chris still had things to work on for school, we still had him here. During the school week he is gone all day at school, then comes home and spends the rest of the night on school work and we only see him during dinner. It was hard having him go back to school after the New Year but we know he just 5 months away from being done. We still have no word on the job we are both really hoping he gets. Well, that's not entirely true. We hear back from one of the elders every few weeks, but the word is always the same. The are still working on getting the preachers expectations set. It has been 2 months since the elder first told us their preacher was leaving and it doesn't feel like we are any closer to being set to interview. Although, I'm still not sure WHY they need to interview him. They have known us for a couple of years and they heard Chris preach this summer. All schematics I suppose. I just wish we would know something. Otherwise, there has not been much at all posted for a job up north. Everything I have seen has been for the south.

Elijah, as of Wednesday, is 10 months old. It's hard to imagine just where the time has gone. It is so hard to believe I am having to think about his 1st birthday already. He had an appointment in the middle of December and he was 29 1/4 inches long (75th percentile) and weighed 19 lbs 8 oz (25th percentile). I was shocked at the weight and thought he was much heavier. I weighed him a few days before that and he was almost 21 pounds. He is growing amazingly though. He will walk if you are holding onto his hands, and has started letting go of items and standing but just won't take that first unassisted step.

Faith and Samantha are both doing good as well. They finished up their skating in Dec and we have been on a much needed break for a month. They will both be starting up next week. I put them both on the same day this time though. It will be a lot of work for me to get them both ready to be on the ice at the same time, but it will be so much better on me not having another day to run around. They are both so very good with their brother and have really started including him whenever the can. I'm so proud to see how they take care of him. We have been really working on being consistent, particularly when it came to cleaning. I would always start having them help, but then just get too impatient and do it myself. Well, I finally slowed down and had them do things from start to finish. While it took more time in the beginning, it has been a huge help to me as I am no longer picking up their things all day long.

I am still working with Faith on reading and she is really coming along. She is so happy when she sounds out the words and gets them right. Some days she will ask to get her phonics book out and work on it herself. I say absolutely and am always listening to hear how she does. Samantha sees Faith working on her phonics book and has also wanted to start. I'm just working with her right now on her vowels as she gets tired of it all pretty quickly and wants to go play.

I am in the middle of reading the Charolette Mason Companion and have found it to be a wonderful resource. A lot of what is taught is who I envisioned teaching the kids. It won't be exactly the same, but I have gleaned some great ideas and will definitely be using it as a resource. Right now we are still just working on Faith's phonics, a little bit of writing, and daily devotional. Otherwise all we do right now is just in play. I am always on the lookout though for books at the used book store that we will eventually be able to use. With Samantha I am just still working with her on her alphabet sounds and what the numbers look like. She can count to 20 on her own, I'm just helping her to recognize the numbers by sight.

So, I guess that get's us caught up a bit. Really though, I need to get so much better at this!