She's Here!

Abigail Hope born February 19th at 7lbs 13 oz, 21" long. She has a head full of dark hair, kissably sweet dimples at the corners of her mouth, and loves to snuggle! My kinda girl! ;)

Thank You!!!

Thank you so much for your votes! I am blessed and so excited - my Starry Night crown won!!! Couldn't have done it without yall!

*Muah!*

Vote for ME!!!!

I am super excited! Just found out my idea submission for a felt birthday crown is one of three finalists on the fabulous cakies blog! YAY! If I win, she will make the crown and send it to me and my little ones for their birthday celebrations!

Please go and vote for my Starry Night crown by leaving a comment at the bottom of the post (you don't have to have a blog to vote). (Wouldn't all the swirls in the sky look awesome in embroidery?! :)

http://mycakies.blogspot.com/2009/01/it-is-time-to-pick.html

Voting goes until next Wednesday, the 28th of January!

Thank you!!! :)

It's Time.

After 492 posts starting back when I was a very green newlywed, this blog has come to its end in order to create a new beginning :) I have a new blog! http://ablessedlife2.blogspot.com/ But it's locked, so basically I have to know your email in order for you to access it. {Sorry to de-lurk you, my lurkers!} You can email me at ablessedlifeX5@gmail.com in order for me to put you on the "approved to read list". (You can then sign into it with your email addy.)Hope to see you over there! :)

Cleaning House

Lots of purging going on. I finally decided to put that famous quote into practice and only keep the useful and the beautiful. (Unfortunately, I think going to a liberal arts college fostered seeing beauty in too many things ;)

I think we are going to stick to the anti-plastic/anti-battery plan for the kids and ask that people do that same if possible in the future. After 3 kids, it just gets to be too much :) Books, wooden toys, handmade things, puppets, dolls, art supplies, dress up clothes, and everything else that promotes their imaginations :) I will say the power wheel bus Jax got for Christmas def has lent itself to quite a bit of imaginative play and lessons in sharing for the bunchkins! :)

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Another reason for the purging: we are getting a new couch today! It just kinda fell into our laps and was exactly what we were looking for. God always, always comes through and provides, even the little niceties you want but aren't really necessary. Our current sofa is from the "reign of the college apartment" era in James' life. It's held up really well and we love it being 6ft long, but it's time to move onto something I don't sink into and need help getting up from while pregnant ;) I think some pillow sewing is in my future!

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New sofa = taking down the tree (sorry Rach!). Going through our ornaments and decorations, only keeping the ones with meaning. After 7 years, I'm willing to part with the battery operated candle sticks for the windows Nancy Lee got me for a KK gift my freshman year of college. YES! ;) We are getting rid of most of our impersonal glass ball orns too. I loved our tree this year - full or memories and the homemade decorations we've made over the years.

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Abby will be here sooner than later too. I've been managing symptoms of an early arrival (nesting as one of them!). We bought an antique dresser for Gracie for $10 on craigslist (Yay for cheap antiques!). I spent that day cleaning out the wardrobe that will be demolished soon, sorting through clothes, cleaning up the antique dresser, lining the drawers and rejoicing in all Grace's clothes fitting neatly inside :) Now I need to unpack all those sweet tiny newborn clothes for Abigail, prolly when Rach is here ::wink, wink:: ;) Jax is getting so excited about her impending arrival as he marvels over the itty bitty diapies, and asks me often "Baby Abby kicking?" Grace is content to pat my tummy and giggle as I tell her "Baby!" After my appt tomorrow, my checkups will be weekly! Not much more time for my purging! ;)

~One Wish~

As the holidays reved up, I found myself closing off the world in order to find some peace amidst the chaos. My unfinished Christmas card list got put on hold, shopping and wrapping for James and the kids were put off until the last minute, and after a couple batches of cookies, I called it good for this year.

It didn't help the kiddos were sick. Hand foot and mouth. Not sure if Gracie actually got it, but Jax definitely did, complete with mouth sores :( Poor little guy would be lucky if he'd eat two bites of something before screaming. We gave him a multi-vitamin and "special drink" (V-8 splas) so he'd get some hidden veggies along with juice. It's really hard to find liquids he could get down that weren't all sugary. But I think we managed between that and yogurt. He's finally back to eating normally :) The kids also had a flu virus in their systems that lasted about a week. Yes, *lots* of fun that left us loving every second of the quietness that comes with sleep.
Then Grace's birthday came and all the joyous hubbub that it entailed.

Christmas came with a fury and left us all feeling worn out. And me especially craving my quiet routine. Maybe it's the impending delivery of Abby (have a feeling she'll be early), or dealing with two toddlers, or knowing that what I dont finish now certainly won't be done when I have a newborn, but whatever it is, I feel the need to simplify my life a little. I'll be cutting back on posting (probably once a week) on this blog and will keep up with others.

Now it is time for me to finish knitting Grace's baby blanket, enjoy some extra time with our two toddlers, savor alone time and build up my prayer life, and take confidence in what I am able to accomplish :)

Happy Birthday Gracie!!!

Pizza Party!

Mamma, Abby and a Cake Monster

Did you say, "cake"?

My Gracie Girlie, Daddy's Little Girl, Awesome Playmate and Big Sis. We can't believe you are already 1 year old! You bring so much joy and spice to our lives :) We love your sassy personality, the way you fearlessly climb anything and everything (caught her standing in a kids chair today!), your bedtime snuggles with me, each solo step and each one spent pushing your "new ride" around, your giggles every time you see Jax and the way you tease him, your whole being lighting up when you see Daddy and when he flies you around the room, how much food you manage to get in your hair when playing "Up! Down!" during mealtime, your post-bath curls, deep-voiced belly laughs, and baby kisses. We love you Sweetie Girl! Happy Birthday!