Baby Blessings

Kendal is such a blessing. she smiles all the time. she squeals and makes happy baby sounds. she sleeps well. she loves bath time. she loves to cuddle and be held. she does spit-up a lot and often on us, but we all still long to just hold her tight. she is perfect. we are blessed.

Snow Blessings

life has been good for our family, yet so painful for others around us. we are so blessed. Bailee and Paityn are enjoying their introduction to basketball through the Upwards program. they are both doing well in school and enjoying time in girl scouts, church and with family and friends. Landon is still in daddy's hip pocket doing all the things that little boys love to do. Kendal is doing so much better on her new formula and has already started sleeping through the night. she is a happy baby and we are so thankful. school is hectic for me, but Marks seems to pass through the day with little distress. we have been engaged with church and small group fellowship and life is just so good for us. praise God.

and yet, the world around us is crumbling for so many people. sadly, a fellow teacher who was only 30 years old, passed away last week leaving behind a wife and two small children. the news from the earthquake in Haiti has been unimaginable. baby Calla has been fighting for her life after being born so early. Drew's cancer came back in November. the Greathouse family lost their brother to a sudden heart attack. Gigi suffered a massive stroke. God, please be with these families. may they know Your love, peace, strength and presence during this difficult time in their lives.

we are blessed and so grateful. let the snow continue to shower all the world with God's love.

Kendal Nicole...

is perfect. she was born on monday, october 26th at 3:46 p.m. we started with induction at 5:00 a.m. and it took several hours for my cervix to start to dialate. the doctor came and broke my water at about 11:30 a.m. and i was still only 2 centimeters dialated! i continued to rest through contractions for 2 more hours and at 1:30 p.m. they placed an epidural. after this, the contractions started to intensify...at 3:00 p.m. i was 5 centimeters and then at 3:25 p.m. i was complete! the doctor came within 5 minutes and i pushed for about 15 minutes until she arrived. she had a "true knot" in her cord, so there was a moment of fear as the doctor worked quickly to get the cord cut and her breathing on her own. she came out a little blue, yet still scored 9 and 9 on her apgar tests. the shocker was seeing all of her dark hair! what a glorious sight, to see a baby that looked like she belonged to me. needless to say, i was exhausted. we spent one night in the hospital and headed home the next day to all the excitement at home as the children met their new baby sister.

Oops...we are so grateful!

so, after all these months i return to blogger to say that we did do it again and got pregnant with our fourth child...a baby girl that is due tomorrow! however, there is not much happening at this time, so it looks like i will make it to my scheduled induction on monday. the last 9 months have been exciting, tiring, relaxing at times (summer break), stressful most recently (at school) and finally as the day draws near...just a huge reminder of how blessed we are. we are so grateful for all that God has blessed us. may this blog be a way for us to praise Him and worship Him for all the amazing things he has done in our lives and others.

Oops I did it again...

can't seem to get that song out of my head lately after the big birthday bash at our house this past sunday. we had twelve of Bailee's friends over for her hannah montanna birthday party...complete with hannah montana guitar hero, twister, truth or dare and karoake! of course the only song they remotely were familiar with was "oops i did it again"! so that was the song of choice, although Bailee and i have been having fun with the karaoke mic ever since the party ended!

but, oops we did do it again. more on this in future postings...

Birthday Bliss

happy birthday Bailee! oh to be 8 years old again. how exciting birthdays are when all you dream of is webkinz, high school musical 3, hannah montana and money (to save for the wii!). it is amazing to see how much she has grown up, not just physically, but wordly. she is such a compassionate and kind soul and seems to be wise beyond her eight years. her little sister really thinks the world of her and has been combing our house these past few weeks looking for treasures to wrap up to give Bailee for her birthday. she even gave her one of her own unopened Christmas gifts! sweet.

Lord, i am so thankful for the children that you have blessed me with. and i am so thankful that Bailee is celebrating another birthday. please help to remind me that everyday for them should feel like their birthday, for i know that they need to feel this special every day of their lives.

we love you Bailee!

Peace

well, it has been a sad week. my heart truly breaks for Cora's family and i have found myself crying at random times throughout the day as i think about what her mom and dad are feeling. i seem to be preoccupied with this and find myself checking their blog site often, just hoping for a small sign that they are surviving the most devastating event of their lives and that they are doing a "little" alright...if that is even possible. just looking for hope, as they seem so strong in their faith. they have truly been an inspiration to me.

while i go through the motions of my day, i am reminded of my many blessings. there are many challenges...teaching adolescents, my children, daily demands of life and household tasks, but i believe that something is changing inside me. not sure what exactly, but there is a small glimpse of peace that once was not there.

i pray that Cora's family will soon feel peace in their broken hearts.