Birthday Blessings

Tuesday was my 28th Birthday and it was a day filled with blessings.

I worked monday night and was able to begin the celebrating early with my fabulous co-workers and some delicious chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. 

Then I was greeted by my wonderful hubby and 3 adorable boys who had made birthday waffles for me. Yummy!

I was also able to see my 1st birthday present from Richard and the boys...

A sweet clock for our porch!

I snuck in a quick 2 hour nap and headed to our 20 week ultrasound 

with Richard to see our fourth child moving and shaking and beautiful. 

We did not peek at the gender, but if you would like to make a guess off to the right, the heart rate has been 140, I feel the same, look the same, and can only imagine what it will be like as the mother of 4 BOYS or even the mother of 3 BOYS and 1 GIRL?????????

We were thankful to discover he or she is growing magnificently!

What a miracle and blessing!  Every time I have witnessed this I get all teary cry thinking of how blessed we are with 4 healthy children.  Now we just have to make it to a nice term delivery with this one!

The nice ultrasound tech gave us a very in depth description of the baby's anatomy after I told him I was a NICU nurse and would love nothing more than to see those beautiful little organs all present and accounted for!

This little turkey has some mighty big feet like his or her big brothers all had. 

The ultrasound tech told us he or she is very LONG too, which wasn't a big surprise to us.

The profile is very similar too!

This one is my favorite.

The baby has his or her lips puckered with a little hand right by the mouth.  

We were able to see the baby's mouth moving constantly as well as the arms and legs.

I guess at least this little one is aware of the 3 big brothers waiting for the big day!

Richard let me grab a quick 1 hour nap between the doctor's office and supper which was much appreciated!

We continued the celebration with supper at Paradiso (a local mexican restaurant) with my family and grandparents.  It was a blast!  Despite Isaac playing musical laps.

Next the party moved to our house for some Dairy Queen cake.

Jonah and my sister Laura are below partaking in the festivities. 

(We had a Luau themed party)

A monster truck cake is every girl's dream for their birthday right?

It sure made 2 little boys happy!

Me and my sister Laura.

All 3 sisters! 

We also celebrated father's day with my Grandpa.

The boys were excellent "helpers" when it came time for presents. 

Jonah and Elijah made sure I had 28 candles on the cake and also helped me blow them out.

Isaac was quite impatient while waiting for the best part...cake.

Wish I had gotten a picture of him "enjoying" it!

He definitely appreciates Dairy Queen cake, wonder where he got that from?

I felt loved by friends near and far as I received multiple text messages, emails, phone calls, and facebook notes wishing me well!

After a FULL day of celebration, literally, as June 21st is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year, and I was awake for almost all of it...I couldn't stop smiling as I went to sleep thinking of all my birthday blessings.

A Weekend At Tulaby Lake

Last weekend we were able to spend some time at the lake and it was fabulous.

Isaac didn't remember being there from last year, so it was fun watching him explore everything. 

He LOVED it!  

The first night we had pizza.

Here are the boys enjoying it on the deck.

Isaac wasn't a big fan of his life jacket.

He LOVED the jet skis and fell asleep on the ride ;0)

I had these 2 crazies on one jet ski with me and Richard had Isaac on the other.

So adorable!

We all had so many s'mores we just might be s'mored out!

Mmmmmmm!

Jonah was taking professional s'more roasting lessons from Richard. 

Elijah preferred the get 'er done method: through it in the flame and eat it!

It was windy and chilly the second day, but we sure enjoyed snuggling!

Plus we enjoyed a fabulous fire all day!

The boys were introduced to Sherlock Holmes and loved it!

Their unborn baby brother or sister is now Watson.

Moments like this don't happen much any more.

Isaac kept the cabin tidy with his "bup bup"

Little too windy to grill so we had hot dogs and brats by fire. Yummy!

It was such a great weekend and so nice to spend some time together.

It was also so fun to watch the boys making memories there.

They know it so well already and it melts my heart to hear them reminiscing about past visits already.

From Kindergarten to 1st Grade

I might be in denial that I had a Kindergartner last fall...

and now have a 1st grader!

Jonah transitioned so well to school I could hardly believe it!

It was in fact harder on me and Elijah than him!

After watching Jonah enjoy school so much, Elijah is finally looking forward to starting preschool in the fall.  He has an August birthday and misses the cut off for kindergarten, but I think this will be to his advantage.  He will benefit from one more year before being put in school. 

He will be going 3 mornings a week for just a few hours this fall and is super excited. 

He also thinks it's pretty cool that he will be going to school where Richard went to preschool, Sunflake.

He already knows one little boy who will most likely be in his class, so that is good.

The other night we were reading one of our favorite books before bed...

Anna Dewdney has 4 books about this adorable little llama that teach some quality lessons and happen to rhyme (my favorite for some reason). 

Anyway, in this book, little llama is going to his first day of preschool and realizes during the day that he really misses his mama and is pretty sad. 

He is comforted by the fact that she will return soon to pick him up and that he is in fact having a great time with his new friends and new toys. 

Elijah always gets a little clingy when we read this and talks about how he will be sad when he has to go to school, but he knows I will be there to pick him up and it will be okay.

As a mother of boys, my heart always melts a bit when I hear them talking about missing me and not wanting to grow up.  Too often they are running through the house saving the day from one bad guy or another and frankly have little time for kisses and hugs for their momma.

I do require a hug and a kiss here and there in order to pass through the kitchen if I happen to be in there, or if I am sitting in a room doing something and they fly by.

They oblige and smile as they run away. 

Last fall taking my first baby to school was tough for me. 

I didn't cry until Richard and I had dropped him off and made it out the door.

Jonah was beaming the entire time and my heart was broken for the kiddos who were crying and had a death grip on their mom or dad's leg. 

After reading this book the other night, Elijah started asking if it was okay that he was a little sad about going to school and being gone from me. 

We talked about it and how he may feel a little sad but that is okay because I would be there soon.

He visited the preschool last winter and remembered all the fun things he had seen there so that helped too of course!

Then I asked Jonah if he ever missed me when he was at school. 

He thought for a minute and said, "Well, maybe for about 5 minutes the first day."

(Ugh. Dagger to the heart.)

"I really liked school mom. There were a few kids who cried in my class. I just was more excited about school than I was sad that I missed you."

Well, I suppose 5 minutes is better than 0 minutes. 

I am very thankful he looks forward to school and doesn't struggle with anxiety of being away from me or home. Although I wouldn't have minded a few tears that first day.

I am going to cherish the summer and try not to think about the milestone that is approaching this fall.

Come to think of it, I probably need the extra year to prepare for another one of my babies in school just as much as Elijah does!

Growing up is so hard.

Bup, Bup

Isaac continues to hold up to his namesake by providing our home with smiles and laughter.

Last week Richard and I lost track of time and I had to work at 7.

Spaghetti and frozen corn became the supper of choice. 

Quick, easy and a favorite of the boys.

We were all sitting down to eat and Richard and I were trying to have an adult conversation while dishing everyone up, supervising Isaac as he is "learning" to feed himself, and feed ourselves. 

Before I knew it, the big boys had both finished most of the food on their plates!

All of the sudden Isaac started laughing hysterically.

The kind where you tip your head back and giggle so much you might pee your pants.

Or maybe that just happens to me since I am pregnant and have, ahem, issues with this.

When I asked Isaac what was so funny he pointed across the table and continued to laugh and said, "Bup, Bup"

No one knows why, but Isaac refers to the vacuum as "Bup Bup"

He loves to vacuum and so I didnt think this was too unusual.

We were eating in the porch and their was a vacuum behind Jonah against the wall.

But, when I asked him if he was laughing at the vacuum he just kept laughing and pointing at Jonah.

Then I realized Jonah was sucking his corn up, with his mouth, and did sound like a vacuum!

When I asked Isaac if he thought Jonah was a vacuum he smiled and we realized this was in fact what was so funny to him.

Then he slapped his tray, through his head back and laughed even harder. 

In between giggles he covered his mouth with his hand and said, "Bup Bup" some more.

Then the rest of us laughed with him. 

I guess at 15 months old, he is not only adorable, but has a sense of humor!

Blessings

I was driving last week and heard this song on the radio for the first time and was blurry eyed from tears by the end of it. It spoke right to the depths of my soul as I have spent many sleepless nights filled with tears of healing and have needed those trials in order to see the true mercies of my life. 

For me it has mostly revolved around motherhood, my struggle with infertility, and my struggle with my lack of control over my life.  

The song took my breath away as I was feeling overwhelmed with the task of parenting the three boys I have that are full of energy and thinking about another little one joining us before we know it!

It is far too easy to forget how precious life is. 

I found the song on YouTube and a video someone made to it.

The lyrics of the song "Blessings" by Laura Story are below the video. 

(Before you play it, scroll to the bottom of the blog and pause the music)

I pray you will be reminded of the mercies in your life that may have been a result of your own sleepless nights or tears of healing. 

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things


Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise


We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe


Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise


When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home


Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments 

Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise