Introducing.....

Our much anticipated, wished & prayed for, very loved fourth child.

I guess since all of our family knows and our boys know, it's time to post about it! After quite a long journey in trying to get pregnant and 1 miscarriage, we are very excited but cautiously optimistic about this little child. Joel is certain it is all going to be fine, but I am still not 100% sure that this will all end in a positive outcome. Coming from someone who had 3 pregnancies that ended with perfect babies, miscarriage absolutely taints the innocence of pregnancy.

I am trying to be positive and have had nothing but good bloodwork, doctor visits and sonograms so far. We saw the little heartbeat last week, had a good appointment today and I've gained 5 pounds, so I'm starting to feel like we just might have a baby in October!

It's All Over....

I can hardly believe it! Months of work and it's over in a blink of an eye! Jacob performed as Charlie Brown this weekend in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." We were SOOOOOO incredibly proud of him! He truly was the perfect Charlie Brown, and really, I'm not just saying that because I am his mommy!

As we watched all four of his 2 hour performances, all the dialogue, singing and dancing, we couldn't help but marvel at his natural talent and ability. And, I'd have to say it was one of the highlights of my mommy life when I heard people around us commenting on how "wonderful that kid who played Charlie Brown was" and how the kid that was chosen as Charlie Brown was "perfect for the part!" We just stood around listening to the audience comments, basking in the glory of our son's performance without letting on that WE were his lucky parents.

I am SO grateful that Jacob had this opportunity. He's a kid who in real life, is actually much like Charlie Brown. He lacks self-confidence, no matter what we do or say. He's great at so many things, but really, he doubts pretty much everything about himself. When he stepped on the stage, all of his insecurity melted away and he was a child that I have NEVER seen before. He was confident, he was excellent and he was proud of himself. He never waivered, he was never scared, didn't miss a beat. A new child was born this weekend, a child who is confident, proud of who he is, stands tall and is sure that he is worth something. Our star was born and ironically, it was thanks to Charlie Brown.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!

Jacob will be starring as Charlie Brown in a little less than 3 weeks and I can't stop thinking about it! Sure, we rehearse a lot at home, the songs are constantly playing in our house and Jacob talks about it regularly, but should I really be dreaming about it? The funny thing is that not only am I dreaming about it and singing it in my sleep, my dreams are things like a guy I went to high school with is selling me tickets to the play. I ask for 22 and he can't seem to get my credit card transaction right. Strange.

I can't wait to see Jacob as Charlie Brown... I'm definitely going to cry.

Johnny Bob

My little brother, Kristopher, is currently serving in the Army's 82nd Airborne Infantry Unit and has been sent to Haiti. He left about 4 days after the initial earthquake and has been there ever since. We don't know when he'll get to come home, but it's looking like it's going to be a long deployment. When he left it was quite a surprise, just a text message in the middle of the night letting me know he was heading to Haiti and that he loved us. By the time I got it, his phone was going straight to voicemail. After the next earthquake in Haiti, we worried since we had no contact. A couple of days later he was able to text my dad from an unknown phone, but we knew he was safe. About a week ago he started texting me from his phone. In texting with him, after asking all the basic stuff, I asked what he was doing and if he felt like he was helping people. His response was "nothing" and "no". My heart hurt for him knowing he was there and felt like he wasn't making a difference. Yesterday, that all changed.

I texted to see how he was and if things were getting better. He told me they were and then he texts me, "I delivered a baby today." I was totally dumbfounded. "Seriously?" is all I could write back! He was completely serious. My brother, a guy who jumps out of planes for a living, delivered a baby in Haiti. I guess he's had some medical training in preparation for his time spent in Afghanistan, but definitely not in delivering a baby! The next natural question was, "Did they name it after you?" and he said "No, but I got to pick the name." He named him Johnny Bob. Johnny Bob? Why in the world would he pick a name like Johnny Bob? Apparently all the kids running around were asking him his name yesterday, so in fun, he told them it was Johnny Bob. When he was asked to name the baby, the first thing that came to his mind was... Johnny Bob!

A Glimpse into the Future

This is the conversation that I had with Gavin the other day.

Gavin: Mom, I'm going to marry Sofia.

Me: Ok, well, did you tell that to Sofia?

Gavin: Yep. (Long pause) Mom, what do you have to do to get married anyway?

Me: Well, you have to buy Sofia a ring, Sofia has to buy a white dress and then you guys have to go to a church and you have to promise that you will love her and take care of her forever.

Gavin: (LONG pause and then very matter of factly) But Mom, I'm only 4.

This was such a cute moment with Gavin! It was so funny because it was truly like he realized that he's only 4 and he can't possibly get married now!

I'm not sure that 20 years from now when we have this conversation it will be near as cute...I'll certainly be bawling my eyes out because my baby is getting married!

As Promised....

Here's a picture of Jacob's new adventure/animal themed room! Don't mind Gavin's hand in the corner of the picture...



I still need to get some pictures and accessories, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. We're looking for a large old looking world map for the wall and maybe some kind of animal picture on canvas. He's also got a black bookshelf that we're going to put a bean bag chair next to for reading, but it wouldn't fit in the picture.

Jacob is loving his new room and feels so grown up having a queen size bed. He even told me, "I can't believe I have a queen size bed. It's only 2 sizes away from the biggest bed size, a California King. Man, I'm getting big!" Too funny! Now if he could just keep it this clean...

By Request....

Here's the table in my dining room!




I think I am going to paint the walls a different color and get some new window treatments too! That will have to be a project for another day though... I just finished moving Jacob into a different bedroom, painting, buying new furniture and bedding and now all I need is accessories. His room looks very grown up now, so mission accomplished, but I'm done with home improvement projects for the next month or two! I'll post pictures soon.