Armour Family

down and out :)

2012-01-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

All sorts of things I'd like to post about, but this little baby in my tummy is making it nearly impossible to have energy "after hours" to do it. Will be back shortly I'm sure of it :)

Oh my he's 5....

2012-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Every year it's the same. I sit and stare at pics of my newly grown baby and just don't know how it happened. How in the wide world is my sweet boy 5. It seems so old. Such a little boy now. No more baby boys in this house. I just adore him. He is seriously such a sweet guy. He has a huge heart and just loves his sisters and us so much. He is still cuddly with me which makes this mama pretty happy :) He loves to learn, to write, to color, to work with his hands. He is really good at figure things out, a great problem solver. He eats pretty much everything these days and believe me at one time I though I would NEVER get anything in this boy.

Him growing so fast makes me wish I had more video of him little. More video that I could hear his little baby voice and see his chubby little body running around the place. It's enough to make a mama cry thinking that she will never see that baby again. It just happens so fast. Totally cliche' but I totally want a pause button for each and every one of these kids. But he is such a blessing to this family. And since I don't have a pause button then I will do my best to soak up each day I'm given with these amazing people. He is going to have his very first friend bday party next weekend and he is so excited. More to come!!

Christmas and beyond...

2012-01-01T18:54:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. Super busy with lots of gifts and lots of blessings. We are so so so blessed to have all of our family here close so we can make special memories with them all.

;-)

2011-12-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

Clarity

2011-12-20T12:27:00.000-08:00

I love how sometimes God makes things just extra clear. Things that you think you know, understand, and then bam! he gives you such a clear focus on that same thing. Lately, I have know lots of people whom I love that are in the process of loosing someone dear or have just lost someone dear. It has made me think of how very hard and sad it would be to watch a loved relative or friend die. Well then one day driving down the road, I"m not sure what made me really think about it, a song perhaps. But I started thinking about the reality of the pain surrounding the death of Jesus and the amazing miracle of witnessing Him raise from the dead. It came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks and all I could do was cry. Jesus, so very loved by so many people. Mary's son, her little boy. Such an amazing person and so young. To witness him to be treated so wrong, to watch him in pain, and to die is more than I think my mind can wrap itself around. I just couldn't even imagine to watch my brother, friend, father, anyone go through that. Then the deep sadness to be without Him, for him to be gone. And then to actually SEE Him three days later! Are you kidding me?! To look into His eyes again, something that you didn't think you would ever get the chance to again. Oh my how much amazing joy those scenes must have actually had. I can't wait to experience those amazing moments in heaven. Oh the joy.

2011-12-19T12:55:00.001-08:00

The Nutcracker

2011-12-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

First I have to start this post and talk about the sweet blessings in our backyard :) When we bought this house a little over a year ago it felt crazy. It was a much bigger house than I was use to living in, it needed a TON of updating and just didn't feel like our home. It also is in a nice well established neighborhood, which is good, only I was pretty sure only older people lived here. No young families or small children. You can imagine my joy when I walked out our back door one day and walking into their house was our neighbors that live behind us. (we are on a corner lot) This was a sweet blessing from God it was :) These neighbors happen to be a sweet sweet couple that have four, yes four cute small children. Today, a year later, I am so thankful for them. My children love their children and I am so glad to have a friend that my lot backs up too. It was much more than I had hoped for. So the I got use to the house, we have made some headway with the updates, this is our home, AND we have the most awesome family living behind us.

So a few weeks ago Erin emailed me and ask if I would be interested in taking her Eden who is 4 and my Lily, 3 1/2 to the Nutcracker. What a great idea! So we planned it and I have been talking to Lily about it a lot. Well last night was the night. We had such a fun time. I just love spending one on one time with each of my kids. We had planned to go to the Spaghetti Factory before hand but when we finally got there, found a parking garage, etc. there was a 1.5 hour wait and we left the house early just to keep that from happening. But oh well :) The thing really was that Erin and I both have no clue a bout downtown:) I don't love it and it makes me nervous being down there at night w/o Kyle. We didn't really know where we were to find a new place to eat and really didn't want to go get the car out of the garage that we had just found and paid to park. So we started walking. After a while we realized that Hard Rock Cafe was not far so we walked there. After eating we realized we were cutting it short on time but didn't know how we were going to get to the Center For the Arts, remember we don't really know how to get anywhere down here :) Our waiter was great and told us the fastest way to get there (and warmest and safest :) was to get a taxi. :) Well that sounded great only I have never even been in a taxi before. So we made our way out and found a taxi. It as warm and fast and also scared me out of my mind. lol The entire time I was praying he was not someone who would abduct us and take us away. Thank goodness he was not and we made it just in time to get in our seats before it started. The girls did so good all night, so impressed! It was beautiful, and Li kept commenting on the things she liked, or recognizing the scenes from the book. About the last 1/2 hours she was pooped. It was 10 and she goes to bed not later than 8 . She was super sleepy and said "the fairies and angels went to bed let's get outa here lol ) We found our way back to our garage and got out of downtown pretty quick. It was quite and adventure but so fun. Lily loves Eden and kept putting her arm around her and rubbing her back during the show.

I was super thankful for this time with those sweet girls, memories I wouldn't trade anything for. As much as I worried a bit about some of the stuff you could tell it was all adventure and fun for those girls. I love childhood!!!

Eden and Erin.

Sweet friends

She's waiting to leave and so excited!

Loves these two. We told Callie maybe next year :)

Thankful

2011-12-03T05:36:00.000-08:00

Thankful...... I could not be more thankful in this season of my life. If I try to list things I am thankful for I get overwhelmed because there is just so much. I also tend to get overwhelmed because in the midst of being so so blessed I still go through my seasons of not being satisfied and times of frustration with this amazing life I have been given, then that makes me sad. But no matter what my sinful flesh wants, I know in my soul I have an amazing life, if for nothing else but that I know Jesus and He is my Savior. Here is my short list because I don't want to miss an opportunity to actually list the things I am so grateful for.

My home, shelter over our heads.

Water whenever we choose

Extra money left over, no matter how much, after bills are paid.

Four extraordinary children who I couldn't love any more than I do, even when we are in a season of change.

An amazing husband that takes such good care of me and His family and He loves the Lord.

Wonderful family that supports us and loves us. All of them.

Friends, oh my wonderful friends that we are blessed to do life with.

Two cars in our family

My husband has a job and his a hard worker

We have clothes, gobs of clothes to put on our backs

The loud chaos that mostly fills our house, no matter how sometimes it may drive us crazy, it means that we have a home filled with family and love.

We have a church home that we love, that preaches the gospel and we can fellowship and learn within it's walls.

I could go on and on and on.

Oh my goodness we have so much to be thankful for. My prayer, especially now, is that my eyes not grow dim to my amazing life. That my want for things not cloud my unveiled eyes that Jesus has granted me.

E Mealz!

2011-11-11T05:50:00.000-08:00

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Very excited about this!!!! I was kinda skeptical, but it's safe to say I love love love this! It has saved me so much time and headache plus I have loved the new meals it has brought to our dinner table. This is a busy household, I'm sure any mama out there can relate. There is ALWAYS something to be done, namely cleaning, laundry, school, or just making sure I'm spending enough time with the kids having fun not doing all those things. Which is why sitting down, making a menu, a list, scouting out the sales, deals and then trying to make those work with my meals was the biggest thorn in my side. On top of that i always ended up making the same things, I was in a totally dinner rut :) But this has fixed all that. It has been sooo nice to just print out my menu add my breakfast, lunch and other staples to it and then go. I love looking each evening to what is for dinner and not having to worry about it. For me this has been such a help during my week!!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

This year was fun. It was the first year since all the kids that we have been able to just hang out at home, give out candy and let the kids go around the neighborhood.. It was so nice and laid back. Great family time. Now we have a ton of candy and oh my goodness, this mama is not good when it comes to keeping my hands out of it!!!

The Christian family

2011-10-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing pod cast, the preacher is right on. Love hearing someone speak the truth unapologetic! Thanks Krystal for sending this to me!

http://media.sermonindex.net/15/SID15607.mp3

First annual Armour anniversary camping trip...

2011-10-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well might be the last haha just kidding. We might just have to A) plan better and reserve a tiny cabin or something or B) do it earlier before it gets so cold. We had so much fun but that night it got down to 31 degrees and we froze our tails off. But like I said had so much fun anyway. It was beautiful, peak fall colors all around us and wildlife galore. Our kind of place :) The next day we got the kids and took them back to the campsite. It was too cold to let them stay overnight, but they had a blast playing , exploring, and cooking out until dark.

Our campsite was amazing and beautiful!

I had a pic of him smiling but this is my Kyle's true face so I pick this one :)

Early the next morning in the fog

coffee on the fire

beautiful sunset

Nothing better than these pretzels, THE BEST!!

A true camping dinner

Sunrise

Little buck

Sid had a bawl

Big oak trees

A hello from Cal

HUGE spider web

I just love these pics!

Little man

Sweet lady

Goodnite!

Seven awesome years!

2011-10-31T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well it was yesterday actually. I feel like we had been celebrating all weekend :) we actually have. What can I say besides I realize how amazingly blessed Kyle and I are. We started out rocky. Not our relationship but the foundation our relationship was built on. I was a wondering believer not walking with the Lord and Kyle wasn't yet a believer at all. We lived together before marriage, did things that put us in the "high risk to get a divorce" category, you name it. But just like the soverance of our Lord, He knew what he was doing long before Kyle and I ever did. And I can tell you the summer of 2005, when we both submitted to God, together, and were baptized, everything changed. I mean like that everything changed. And the closer we have both grown to God, the closer and more secure our marriage has been. Is it always roses.... um no. But we have made a commitment to each other and to God that we will be one body for the rest of our lives. Love is a choice, happiness is a choice. I choose to submit to him as our family leader and make him feel respected. When I don't, we have issues. He chooses to love and appreciate me. When he doesn't we feel it. When we are moving forward with our eye's on Jesus, everything else falls into place. And when something ugly rears is head albeit be jealously, stubbornness, anger, selfishness, etc if we are still striving toward our Godly goal then He, in all his graciousness, convicts our hearts and leads us toward mending any hurt that those sinful things caused us. My prayer is that our eyes are eternally on him. And that in 50 years, saying we live that long, we can still be holding hands, enjoying all of our grand babies, and know the joy that was meant to be understood through the covenant of marriage.

2011-10-20T13:34:00.001-07:00

I got this from a blog of a friend of mine Thank you Jana for reminding me of these sweet truthes!! I love your family

If you come to our house, chances are--
--there will be at least a few toys on the floor and in the yard
--there will be fingerprints on the windows
--it will be noisy and slightly chaotic (mostly laughter and playing=good noise to my ears)
--we will be dressed very casually (all day PJ days are just fine with me!)
--there will be crumbs under the kitchen table
--somebody will need something from me and I may seem distracted
--dishes will be in the sink
--there will a load of laundry waiting to be washed or folded

But I am OK with all that because there will be a day with no scattered toys, no fingerprints to remind me of all the little people that live here, all will be quiet, I will be able to get dressed up and go where I want to go, the floor will be spotless because adults just eat too neatly, I will be able to give you my complete and undivided attention, I'll have so few dishes that I will be able to wash them quickly, and laundry will be not an overwhelming task.....and that makes the noise, chaos, dirt, clutter and busyness a beautiful thing in my book these days. I'm choosing to be present with and for my kids....it can be harder than anticipated as I am a "all my ducks in a row" girl. But I have been convicted lately...and I need to listen.

Feeling very blessed to be mommy to my kiddos today....

Snagging this beautiful bit of wisdom :)

2011-10-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Lexus instead of a child?

2011-10-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking :) Well I think a lot of things, but there is something that just flabbergast me, and I don't and can't understand a bit of it. Let me start off by saying I do not think that God has a huge family plan for everyone on the planet. Maybe He does maybe He doesn't I'm not here to make that call. But the one thing that is painfully obvious to me as our family expands is this epidemic, if you will, of selfish or monetary decision making. When people see that we have four kids the first thing they will ask (or close second) is "what does your husband do"? And then if we get into a conversation it will almost always move into how we budget to make it work, how many vacations we can't take, how we must really have to sacrifice, etc etc. And I find when talking to people about children in general they want just enough to "complete their family" while not putting a monetary strain on their lives..... really? I see EVERYWHERE that the mindset of our culture today is that things will bring us just as much happiness as children, really? That the ability to have a big house, new cars, multiple family vacations, expensive schooling, nail appointments all the time, etc. is just as wonderful as a precious child. The list could go on and on and on. But to actually look at those thing, which don't get me wrong I like just as much as the next girl, and say that I would rather be able to take vacations or drive a new Odyssey rater than bring into our family a little handmade blessing from the Lord to shine a light into a very dark world...I don't get it and it is very sad. Look at the hundreds of celebrities that have EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING their heart desires. Can go on as many vacations as they want, can drive any car, live in any size house, and yet many of them go to their graves alone and sad. Like I said not making a judgment on what someone and God have decided about anyone's family. But I grantee that if that decision is made because of things, passing things that really mean nothing at all in the long term, that is one sad thing to me.

My brother and the sweetest wedding...................

2011-10-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

First let me tell you about my baby brother. He is wonderful. Ever since he was small he has been special. Just really the sweetest guy you have ever met. And we always have been close, my mama made sure all three of us were :) So anyway, my hope for him has always been as he grew older that he would find a wonderful girl to spend his life with. Either she was going to be wonderful or awful. Because remember he is a NICE guy, which means either he will find someone who appreciated him or treated him awful. Well praise the Lord he found an amazing girl!! g Tessa has been a part of our family for so long. I'm pretty sure they started dating his Jr year, and now I am thrilled to say this past Friday are now husband and wife. I had the privileged to be in the wedding and I can not describe how perfect and sweet the wedding was. You can tell how much they just love each other and how excited they were to be getting married! It was such an wonderful thing to get to celebrate!!!

This is their engagement photos

They ended up doing something pretty cool. They did all their photos before the wedding. So they did a "first look" photo shoot for the first time they saw each other in front of the church. It was supprisingly great! I have always been pretty old fashioned but it was sooooo sweet!! And how wonderful was it that there were no pics to take after the ceremony!

My baby is a year! goodness me.

2011-09-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

How in the world did this little love.....

Become this not so little love????

Happy happy birthday to my sweet Sidney Claire!! We just love you so much. It's so hard when you are pregnant to imagine another little life in your family and then just like that, after you are born it's impossible to imagine life without you! What a blessing you are to our family. You are quite the rascle and are everywhere. You might possibly be the worlds fastest crawler! :) Not walking yet but why would you when you can crawl the speed of light?! You want to do everything the other three do, and you notice when you are left out. You love all foods, no matter what and you eat everything. No more bottle for you but you do love your sippy. I'm pretty sure you are teething like crazy and have been quite the cranky girl lately but you are still the cutest cranky one year old ever :) :) You love to go to bed when you are tired, not tired, not so much. You LOVE daddy and want him the moment he walks in the door. You find your siblings so funny and no one can make you belly laugh quite like them. You LOVE your binkey, and would prefer for me to let you have it all day long. You are my first girl to take one and I must say it is so nice to have it when you are cranky! You LOVE bath time, which is funny b/c you had a STRONG dislike when you were tiny. Oh and music, you love music, but when we play Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin in the car you sing! It is seriously the sweetest thing ever. You give such good kisses and love to pat people that you love. This first year flew by and I just pray that I can slow myself and our lives down enough to be able to say I am taking full advantage of ever moment I get to be your mommy! I am truly blessed!

Reminded..

2011-09-29T13:09:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I forget. Well I forget a lot :) But I very often get so use to my surroundings that I take everything for granted. And then God see's this and sends something my way that really makes me truly see. That happened this week. Kyle and I have always had a huge heart for marriage. For what God call's it to be and what it can be if done IN HIM. Well this week circumstances made it painfully obvious the pain that is around us all, right in the middle of the church pews we sit in. Truley broke my heart and had me on my knees. But also made me hug my sweet husband a little tighter. Made me watch how I spoke to him a little closer. I am thankful. I am thankful we are both not perfect but in our reaching toward God together, it has made us very strong. Marriage is such a special creation from the Lord. Something he knew would bring us great joy, but also teach us a ton about obedience.

Funny that isn't something you hear much in marriage ceremonies. You hear a lot of happiness. And don't get me wrong God want's our marriages to glorify Him., and in that there is a lot of joy to be had. But the thing that doesn't get mentioned much is that the marriage bond is just as much or more about submission on both parts AND obeying God. That it is not all about you, at all really. Sometimes we are both on the same track, both keeping our eyes to the heavens therefore both loving and respecting each other as we should, and we are happy. Sometimes we are not and then we have a chance to show grace like no one else can. It's funny that when there are issues you find the other spouse saying "they don't....." fill in the blank because there is a list a mile long when talking about something wrong your spouse does. Just because we are human, living in a sinful world there is bound to be TONS of things your spouse does wrong. But we are called to love them, forgive them, respect them not because that is what we wont to do but because that is what God calls us to do. When we got married we listened to this sermon on cd that a friend let us listen too, and I remember something that I heard that stuck with me all this time. He said something to the effect of when you get married you should picture yourself getting bricked up in a room on all four sides. You can love huge in there or you can drag down fight in there but you are in there to stay. A aha! moment for sure. What a great illustration of what marriage means. It doesn't mean you are in a room with a small window just in case it gets too hot. There is no locked door with a key just in case you need to escape.

I love Kyle with all I am. I love him more than I did almost 7 years ago when I married Him. He is a wonderful father and an amazing husband. God has transformed him into such an amazing man, and that is my prayer for all out there that do not know what marriage can be like in the arms of Jesus. I love Kyle that much but I love God more. And that , thus far, is the reason we are a success. Not because we are that good, or bad things have not come our way. But because my strength comes from the Lord. My love comes from Him even when I am all tapped out. And the biggest, my forgiveness comes from Him when I have just plain messed up. I find it much easier to ask for forgiveness from Kyle after I already know I have repented and been forgivin by God. And same the other way around. Much easier to forgive Him for his shortcoming since I know I have been forgiven when I am less than worthy.

I am praying right now for healing in the many marriages that are hurting right now. I am praying that we as a Christian family, stand up for what marriage is really about not what our sinful, selfish society has turned it into. And I pray that the ones of us that God has imparted wisdom too have to drive to come up alongside others and live life with them, that is really what we are called to do. Live in community and help build each other up in Christ!

Trust

2011-09-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

So my blog has been less than kept up :) It's so easy to download pics on Facebook I have found myself doing that a ton more. But I've missed the words of this blog. I've always been a writer, for as long as I can remember. And so I'm back :) And excited to be writing more again. I've missed it!

So Kyle and I have been on a huge trust journey together recently. Not trust in each other but trust in God. That sounds so crazy because honestly why in the world would I not trust Him. If you look at my life it is filled to the brim with the handy work of God Himself. But I always find myself second guessing where He is calling me to be. And then, if I'm being honest, not listening, if in fact He is saying something I don't want to hear.

Well for a long time Kyle and I (since Sidney was born) well mostly I, thought that I could control when we would have our next baby. I felt a deep since of unrest and no peace in that decision, but I kept holding firm that that is what I wanted. Because I wanted to loose weight, because I wanted some time for me, because I wanted Callie to be 3 before I moved the girls in together, because I enjoy my sleep right now, hmmmmm that sure is a lot of I's. Thank the Lord for my sweet husband. Very kindly, very sweetly, he told me that there was no peace in our fake control over this at all. That he didn't really think it was right and thought we should reconsider our outlook on our family. There, he said it. What I had been feeling deep inside for over a year came out of my precious husbands mouth. If we indeed believe that children are a gift form God, that He is in control, knows what is best for us and gives us everything we could possibly need why in the world was I trying to tell Him what worked for me. No wonder there was no peace in that attitude. So together we obeyed what we both knew God had been telling us for quite some time. And oh the peace! I can't even decide the weight that was lifted when I put God back in the place He belonged. We truly just want what He has planned for our life, and it feels so good to be able to tell people "we just don't know" when ask about our family's future. Trust is a hard hard thing. It takes dieing to self, moment by moment, and it's something I think I will struggle with until I'm called home. But oh the joy of the times when you do just give it all up to Him!

Fast.

2011-09-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I just want to eat her up. My baby. My sweet baby girl. She is simply delightful, in all her spunkiness even, completely delightful. I can't believe she is almost one. It's probably the hardest one year old birthday for me yet. I've always had a baby, so even as one was hitting their year milestone I knew I always had another almost here that would hit a year one day. But this month, watching this sweet thing grow fast, and I mean fast! It's a new sadness I have yet to experience. I know us mom's always say we wish we had a pause button, but scanning through pics of all my kids right now, deep inside I would almost do anything to be able to keep my kids this little. And the sad part is there is no stopping it. And it just gets faster and faster. She's going to start walking soon, I'm sure of it... and then there will be six walkers and that will be it. Six walkers, no crawlers, no crawlers even on the horizon... and it makes part of me sad. She is so perfectly squshey right now, soon she will grow more and that baby fat will melt away, yes a pause button right now would be amazing. Boy do I love these kids.

summer's end

2011-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well summer's end may be upon us but we are eating up all of the last bit we can . We have had such a fun summer and trying to take advantage of everyday God has given up.

We spent today at the salato wildlife center in Frankfort, not far from out house. It fun and is full of lots of species that inhabit our state. I love this baby girl, I am still in shock she is almost one :(

And they just take my breath away...

We got to welcome miss Melody Balzer into our lives, so happy she is here!

Spend some time with amazing friends, even one far away :(

She cracks me up, all the time. What a little angel she is and full of it!

Love this face :) Thank goodness it's so cute :) She has decided that she like people but the only one she loves is mama, which is good until I have anything else in life to do :)

Wen to the fair, all six of us and had a blast!! Of course the bubble gum machine was a hit :)

I took Lily on a date to her first theater show. It was Cinderella and she did amazingly well :)

So we will try to play outside as much as possible, maybe visit a few more splash parks and then boy are we ready for fall!!! Just enjoying the present season of my life one day at a time :)

Revelation.

2011-08-15T19:37:00.001-07:00

I had a little revelation tonight. Kyle is remodeling our bathroom. He is working on it every minute he can so that we can actually have our second toilet back :) Anyway, he was working right after dinner until just now, it's 10:30.That leaves me to get all the kids ready and in the bed. Usually I'm just in charge of the two babies and Kyle does the big kids. I did them all tonight. Well I was laying in bed reading to Henry. We read, then we sang and then he cuddled right up to me and we prayed then we sang one more song. As we were singing I had a weird thought cross my mind. I thought, "If I knew I was going to die sometime soon, then I would insist on putting the kids to bed and savoring that sweet time" and then I stopped. Really? Would it really take some kind of fatal diagnosis to get me excited about spending quality time with my kids instead of rushing through so I can sit on the couch? How sad. Hopefully in the future I can remember that those times are to be treasured regardless of how much of our future we know or not. Because no matter how long it last, these precious moments with our small children are already numbered and too short.

oh Summer

2011-07-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been HOT! :) Not that it has slowed this family down at all.We have been busy busy taking advantage of the the time we have to spend with our precious friends doing fun things, indoors and out. Even in the heat we have enjoyed going to the playground that has a spray ground attached. The kids really love that. And lots of indoor fun. The kids had their first VBS this summer, and LOVED it :) It was really weird taking them and dropping them off somewhere. Very strange :)

I have really been enjoying them lately. Not that I don't always love my kids but somewhere in between trying to keep a clean house, planning meals, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, driving, thinking about what comes next, etc. I loose site of the most important things. The time when the kids just want me to sit WITH them and watch a show instead of doing dishes while they are quiet. When they want me to roll on the floor with them instead of stepping over them as I sweep. Sometimes, instead of savoring the sweetness of my life, I'm checking things off my list. So I still have a list, yes, a mile long, and I still know as an adult there are things i have to do. I have reprioritized things a little. An example, Lily and Henry love to sing to Callie while I rock her for just bit before her nap. Most days I would shoo them out saying I needed to get her down so I could get the rest of them in bed. But not anymore. How sweet is that time when they are making up their sweet songs to her and she is BEAMING because they are singing to her. It makes me sad that I almost missed out on that blessing because I was too busy. And I rush putting the big kids to nap almost always. Why? Because I have cleaning to do, time alone to do, Facebook to check..... hmmmm. But now I really have taken my time. I lay in bed with them for a bit and talk, sing, read, etc. They share with me and I know they go to sleep knowing how important time with them is. But anyway, I am loving this time with my babies. Loving having them here with me because in all honesty I would not want them anywhere else in the entire world.

How much can you love??

2011-07-16T06:55:00.001-07:00

I really can never put into words how much I adore these kids. How much I love their individual personalities. How much I love taking care of them and teaching them. I can honestly say I am totally content in the place where I am with my life and where God is calling me right now. In the midst of our crazy life I have never felt more at piece!

Happy 34th to my man!

2011-07-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

Kyle's birthday was last week. Oh what a joy I rejoice, the day that he was born! I am so in love with this man. After 7 years I can honestly say I respect, love, cherish and enjoy him more than the day we got married. He is an amazing man and I am so blessed to have him as my husband.

Room Two: The Dining room.

2011-07-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

(Excerpt from My Heart-Christ's Home by Robert Boyd Munger)

"From the study we went into the dining room, the room of appetites and desires. Now this was a large room, a most important place to me. I spend a lot of time and hard work trying to satisfy all my wants.

I told him "This is a favorite room. I'm sure you will be pleased with what we serve here."

He seated himself at the table and inquired, "what is on the menu for dinner tonight?"

Well, " I said, "my favorite dishes: money, academic degrees, stocks, with newspaper articles or fame and fortune as side dishes." There were the things I liked, thoroughly secular far.e. There was nothing so very bad in any of them, but it was not really the kind of food which would feed the soul and satisfy true spiritual hunger.

When the plates were placed before my new friend, he said nothing. However, I observed that he did not eat. I asked, somewhat disturbed, "Savior, don't you like this food? What is the trouble?"

He answered, "I have food to eat you do not know of. My food is to do the will of him that sent me. " He looked at me again and said. " If you want food that really satisfies you, do the will of your heavenly Father. Put his pleasure before your own. Stop striving for your own desire, your won ambitions, your won satisfactions. Seek to please him. That food will really satisfy you. Try a bit of it!"

And there about the table he gave me a taste of doing God's will. What flavor! There is no food like it in all the world. It alone satisfies. At the end everything else leaves you hungry. What's the menu in the dining room of our desires? What kind of food are we serving our divine companion and serving ourselves? All that the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. (1 Jn 2:16) our self-centered wants? Or are we finding God's will to be our soul-satisfying meat and drink?"

Letting Jesus in..........

2011-07-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. In our Bible study last week we received a little book/pamphlet, I mean tiny to read during the week. I had not really looked at it until today when Callie picked it up and bought it to me. I took this as a sign and began to read. I cried with ever single topic. What a wonderful little book. So wonderful in fact that I think I may need to copy each "room" for you. See this book is entitled "My Christ's Home." and is all about what it looks like to put Christ in the drivers seat of your life.

Here is the first "room".

This is from "My Christ's Home" by Robert Boyd Munger

"After Christ entered my heart, in the joy of that new-found relationship, I said to him. "Lord, I want this heart of mine to be yours. I want you to settle down here and be fully at home. I want you to use it as your own. Let me show you around and point out some of the features of the home so that you may be more comfortable. I want you to enjoy our time together. " He was glad to come and seemed delighted to be given a place in my ordinary little heart."

The Study

The first room we looked at together was the study-the library. Let us call it the study of the mind. Now in my home this room of the mind is a small room with thick walls. But it is an important room. In a sense, it is the control room of the house. He entered with me and looked around at the books in the bookcase, the magazines on the table , the pictures on the walls. As i followed his gaze, I became uncomfortable. Strangely enough, I had not felt bad about this room before, but now that he was there with me looking at these things, I was embarrassed. There were some books on the shelves his eyes were too pure to look at. On the table were a few magazines a Christian has no business reading. As for the pictures on the walls-the imaginations and thoughts of my mind-some of these were shameful.

Red faced I turned to him and said, "Master, I know this room really needs to be cleaned up and made over. Will you help me shape it up and change it to the wall it ought to be?"

"Certainly," he replied. "I'm glad to help you! I've come to handle thinks like this! Fist of all, take all the materials you are reading and viewing which are not true, good pure and helpful , and throw them out! Now put on the empty shelves the books of the Bible. Fill the library with the Scriptures and meditate on them day and night. As for the pictures on the walls, you will have difficulty controlling these images, but I have something that will help." He gave me a full-sized portrait of himself. " Hang this centrally," he aid, "on the wall of the ming." I did and I have discovered through out the years that when my thoughts are centered on Christ, the awareness of his presence, purity and power causes wrong and impure thoughts to back away. So he has helped me to bring my thoughts under his control, but the struggle remains.

If you have difficulty with this little room of the mind, let me encourage you to bring Christ there. pack it full with the Word of God, study it, meditate on it and keep clearly before you the presence of the Lord Jesus."

That was just the Study! Each room gets better and better :) more to come.....

Early July Garden...

2011-07-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

So although I've learned a ton this season about what to do/and not to do! with growing veggies..... I am pretty pleased with how it is going even with all I did wrong. My Better Boy is doing great. These are my two biggest tomatoes on that plant and I've spotted more tiny babies beginning to form.

And these are my cherry toms .... there are more on this plant as well. Sorry about focus, couldn't figure it out.

Getting big

My squash plant is getting big, no squash yet but I have faith

My bush cucumbers aren't so bushy:) I'm thinking more vining but hey maybe the non bush variety is even more viney

Baby cucumbers

And baby strawberry's :)

Were did the last month go??

2011-07-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Goodness, we have been sooooo busy! And I suppose it a good thing but my, I feel like we have been on overdrive. We have had some wonderful fellowship with some wonderful ladies and kiddos, and Henry has had swim lessons everyday at 1 for the past two weeks. He is finished and is swimming like a champ. Lily is next :) Thus the reason we have been super busy.

God has been super present here recently. There are always times in our walk with him when he seems silent, but there are times as well when he is super present teaching you things and leading you in obvious way. This is one of those times. He has been really pushing me to dig deeper with Him. To leave the safety of my norm and open my life up to him completely. I was ask to be a discussion leader for the fall Bible study. This is an exciting thing bt also completely scary for me. It is some major commitment and responsibility. Also I am not one to love change so much. God is teaching me everyday to take life as He gives it and enjoy where I am when i am there. But leaving the comfort of my small group, the ease of just coming in every week with no worries, was defiantly on my mind. So as I prayed about it I knew that God wanted me to say yes. So with concerns and all I said yes. I continued to pray about my uncertainty and worries. So then just like Him to give you what you need, I started summer Bible study this week. Wow. I love it when God comes through just plain as can be. I am in a new group this summer, a blend of a few old wonderful girls from the previous group and a new group. Well my dear friend is our discussion leader and let me tell you she is such an answer to prayer. She is a wonderful leader who really takes her responsibility seriously. And I walked out of there more pushed and encouraged than ever!!

I have also been very convicted about deepening my relationships. I have some wonderful friends but in all honesty it is really easy to become very superficial in our relationships. To not deepen and be real. But I have been feeling very pushed to move those in that way and to find community, live life like the church in Acts, how it is meant to be lived out. Anyway to make a long story short, He has shown up again in a big way. Not long after my convictions about that were there many opportunities to get together with wonderful women, get real, and glorify God. It has been refreshing!

So although life has been busy, and spiritually it has been busy, I have never felt so full and connected. I am thankful for this time. I know there will always be silent valleys but I will enjoy the climb and the peak while I am there :)

Here is my sweet little 9 month old gal. She is quite a sweety!

We are enjoying summer to the max. We are brown from being in the sun so much and enjoying the bounty of fruit available right now ;)

Kyle and I have been enjoying the nice evenings on our back deck, we've had some beautiful sunsets.

Just had to throw this in because I love them and this pic!

Sometimes it's hard to keep them all together and still after I get them out of the shower, until you put on Veggie Tales that is :)

Callie Joy is 2!

2011-06-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

Goodness, with most of my little's birthday come fast. But with Callie it feels like it took her FOREVER to be two! lol I'm thinking it's because she was such a early crawler/walker that she has been on the move now for a long time. She just seems really old for her little age so in one since wow it's been two years! but in another it seems like she should be three or something like that.

But let me tell you how I love this girl. She is special. Such as each of them. But with all her rascleness, she has my heart. She is stubborn, to this day the most of all three of them. She doesn't talk a whole lot, but not because she can't. But I'm pretty sure she has just decided she doesn't have to :) She is a lover and loves to sing. Right now her favorite song is Children of God but will sing along to many on the radio. She adores her bubba, wants to be just like Lily and likes to boss Sidney around. She is very cautious, which kinda of surprises me because she is such a active little miss. She loves people, but can also be a little wary of people sometimes. She is an observer, and watches people all the time. She picks up on little things that other personality types (ahem Lily and I) would not even notice. That is why I think she acts older than she is. She is quite the thinker. And she is pushy when she wants something. If I am holding her and she wants me and I am not paying attention to her, she will grab my face and make me look at her. She doesn't take no for an answer!

She is adorable to boot. Besides her coloring which is just like mine, she has many traits that she only has. She is built very small. The only small boned one of us :) and her almond eyes are just beautiful. She is a happy little girl full of energy. You will find her many a time skipping around the house :) I thank the Lord for this precious gift we have in Callie. I sure love her a whole lot! Happy birthday my sweet girl!

Garden update

2011-06-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

So my plants are doing OK!! Which is great because after the cold, rainy start they got and then being gone for a week I wasn't sure what I'd be left with. But they are going strong :) My tomatoes have pulled through I think ...... with the wet cold they looked pretty awful but now with all the warmth they are going fast and best of all, all four of them have these pretty little flowers on them, hopefully they will turn into baby tomatoes soon!

My basil exploded. When we left for vacation (will blog about that next!) it was little a little puny, but I cam e back and it had taken off!

My Old Fashioned Goliath

My better boy

Oh my squash, they aren't growing so fast. They are still pretty small but they have a ton of unopened buds on them so maybe I will get squash from a little plant??we will see

My strawberry plants are doing great. Here is a sweet little flower before I had to pluck it :( Because of the kind of berries they are I have to pluck the buds/flowers until July 1st so they won't set fruit the first harvest. But then I can let them go and hope that they produce a few for the late harvest.

And my bush cucumber plant actually looks good :) and as you can see here has blooms starting to open... they are small as well though.

Planters I put together when I got home this past weekend, my front porch needs some color

My caladora Lily's look great!

And my wave petunias exploded as well. Can't believe not too long ago these were tiny plants.

oh my girls...

2011-05-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

So daddy and Henry are out fishing for the first time on the boat and the girls and I are hanging at home. You know I would have never known how much I enjoy having girls. I never would have thought I would say that. I thought I would was going to have a ton of boys back in the day and I was totally fine with that. But God surprised me :) and dropped three sweet girls right snack in the middle of our family. They are so fun! Boy oh boy I am blessed!

Sitting pretty!

2011-05-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

Sweet girl can sit all my herself now and play :)

gardening con't...

2011-05-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to finish documenting the rest of the planting thus far. I love looking at where they all started out at when they are all in bloom and growing.

This is my knockout rosebush that I got for mothers day. It is a beautiful very healthy one :)

Our corner bed, with blue/purple new wave petunias around the rose. They will get really big a bright :) Oh and my braided daffodil greens. They were looks very straggly.

This is my Mandivilla :) It's my fav flower. I love the flower the leaves, everything about it!

And the state of my raised be as of today... but just wait....

And it begins :)

2011-05-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

So I have finally begun to get my veggies and flowers in the ground. This is a huge feat since A) I have done it during the week with the kids awake :) and B) I scaled back my original plan because let's be honest I had grand plans but no experience. I decided it was not the wisest thing to do a HUGE garden. So this is now what I have.

I am most excited about my tomatoes :) I LOVE tomatoes and there is NOTHING like garden fresh heirloom tomatoes in my opinion. So I opted to try four different varieties to see what I like best and what will grow best for me. I also had to change my growing plan. Our back yard is so weird. There is hardly any full sun anywhere. We have lots of huge trees and then cast some major shade with this spring/summer sun. So the most sunny place or the babies was on our deck. I have read A LOT about planting. Any many many gardeners have had lots of luck just using 5 gallon buckets rather than expensive planters. So that is what I did. I bought four $2 buckets and drilled about a dozen small holes in the bottom. I put small pebbles in the bottom to make sure it drained well as well as setting them up on bricks. Filled it with a mixture of good potting soil and composted manure. Got them planted and watered really well. So now all I have to do is get some fertilizer and I will be set :) Hopefully they will do well... we will see!

This is my Better Boy... bought it at Lowes hence it looking a bit better than the rest.

This is my Rutgers. It's a good canning tomato and I have high hopes of getting a few can's of them done this season.

This is my Old Fashioned Goliath. Should produce big yummy sandwich slicer tomatoes.

I am missing a photo of my Cherry Tomatoes... but they are there too :) I purchased the latter three and the agricultural department of the high school out here. Every spring their classes start lots of flowers and veggies from seed and then sell them.

And this is my Sweet Basil.

I can not wait to get these babies in the ground. The bigger plants are my three Everbearing Strawberry bushes. The other smaller plants are my Bush Cucumbers and my Crookneck squash. Hopefully this evening Kyle can complete my floating raised bed and I can get them in the ground.

I just had to share these. This was one of my mothers day gifts along with my rosebush that I still need to photograph. I forget what they are called but they are beautiful!!! The photos really don't do them justice but I love them!

More to come!......

Mothers Day.....

2011-05-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful mothers day! How blessed are Kyle and I that we have both our mom's to celebrate this day with!? I just hated that we Kyle didn't get a pic of Sue and him, all of our mama's are so special.

love this day because there is nothing more that I'd rather be right now than a mom. It is the HARDEST most demanding job that one could have and it is SUCH a blessing. I am well aware everyone can not have what I have. I feeling extreamly blessed to have my family, my children. So on this day I remember that behind Kyle and I are two very amazing mama's that helped us to be what we are today. And I pray we can be that to our children, that I can be the mama that God wants me to be.

yep she's got my heart.... well 1/5 of it anyway :)

2011-05-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Lily's first fishing trip

2011-05-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

Our church put on a family fishing day at their retreat center in Indiana. We took the two big kids and they had to much fun. It was Lily's first fishing experience and I'm happy to say it went well. She was SUPER excited about her pink fishing pole! And she really wanted to catch a fish, only she didn't want to leave the worm in the water :) lol she would reel it in saying "I want to catch a big fish" over and over. :) they had a great time. Thankful for a church who sees the importance of family time and experience's and invests in them!

Sidney Claire 7 months!

2011-04-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

Oh my sweet sweet baby girl! Sidney was 7 months on the 21st. It's hard to believe she's only been part of this family for 7 months, seems like it's been forever. She has been changing so much lately. It's like around this time they just wake up and start to notice everything around them and interact with their world. It's so fun. She isn't sitting up by herself totally yet and we will both be glad when she can :) But she will roll all over the place when given a chance. (which isn't very often with three other littles running around)

She is eating aprox. every four hours. Meals with us and then a bedtime bottle before her bath.

She LOVES food. She really likes squash,and sweet potatoes. There is actually this organic baby food I found that she LOVES. And it stuff like spinach, rutabegas and apples. Or sweet peas, spinach and pears. Let me tell you she will tear this stuff up! lol She likes fruit, but will make faces like she thinks it's sour a lot of the time.

so Sidney has always been a spitter. But then recently she had been just prodjetile vomiting. And not right after she was eating we are talking four hours later before her next bottle. :( I could not figure it out. So just on chance, I got her some lactose free formula. I figured that breast milk is not a dairy, has no lactose. Makes since that babies probably are not really ready to digest that so perhaps Sidney was just having a hard time with it. BINGO!! Let me tell you, from the moment she took her first lactose free bottle there was no more! Even her normal spit up was reduced drastically!! Sometimes I wonder how much "reflux" out there are babies that are just getting stuff that doesn't agree with their system.

She loves her sisters and brother and they love her. She is wild, and can not wait to be right up in the middle of them. :)

She is taking two naps, both about 2-2.5 hours morning and evening. (except for at church, she is now on strike when it comes to napping in the nursery at church :)and is sleeping between 10-12 hours a night. A week ago I would have told you she would never sleep 12 hours, but she has done it for three nights in a row... who knows!

She loves her paci!! :) She doesn't have to have it, nor does she get it really during the day. But when you lay that sweet girl down she HAS to have it in her mouth. I just realized this the other day when I tried to put her to nap without one..... ummm no it didn't' work :) She officially is dependant on it. And guess what, I'm thrilled :) I would have paid Lily and Callie to have one (heck these days I would pay Callie to have one now!) I loved that Henry had his. So needless to say, I'm happy that she enjoys her paci!

She really is such a happy baby. Loves to smile and be held/talked to. Only don't get her when she is hungry, lol the baby monster inside that rarley shows her head comes out lol She will SCREAM until you put that bottle/spoon full of food into her mouth. I try really hard to get her fed before it comes to thins but hey... three other kids, household to run... ummmm doesn't always happen ;)

I'm really looking forward summer, and getting her outside more. I think she is going to love it!!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

I can't even fathom being there that day. At the foot of a cross with my beloved Jesus nailed to it dieing. Not knowing the end. What an incredible sacrifice that we could never fully understand. What an amazing love.

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
{ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/casting-crowns-lyrics/glorious-day-(living-he-loved-me)-lyrics.html }
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He’s ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine

Can't do it on my own....

2011-04-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Wow... all my days seem to be melting together right now. Kyle has been working late late late. I think that is going to be our new normal so I've been trying to reconfigure our evenings to make our nights easier and more peaceful. It's starting to work, the kids even eat better now that we are eating later :) I am bound and determined (we both are) to have dinner as a family. So now we are eating around 7 (sooo late for us) but it's working out.

I am really trying to work on falling into God when I am out of joy, peace, patience, etc. You name it I am out of it multiple times as day:) I have just been in a funk recently and I had to stop and ask myself, how many times, when I am to the end point am I on my knees asking God to equip me with his joy, peace, patience, etc? The God of the universe loves me and wants to give me these things, yet He is the last place I find myself. So crazy. I know I can do all things through Him who gives me strength, yet I want to do it on my own. Hello sin. Thankfully He never stops nudging me with the truth. I am so thankful for that. So thankful for my own shortcoming that remind me daily (minute by minute actually) that I NEED Him.

Oh miss Lily Grace...

2011-04-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

I sure do just adore this little lady. I can't believe how big she is getting. She says the funniest things and is such a feeling girl. She will say "mama... mama" and I'll say "hmmm" and then "mama mama" "hmmmm" " MAMA TALK TO ME DON'T SAY HMMMM" hahaha she wants words, all the time!!

She is SUCH a great big sister. And is so affectionate. I hope she never stopes hugging and kissing like she does right now. She has my heart for sure!

Our own Veggie Tales ...........

2011-03-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

So this year is the start year of the Armour Family Garden :) I'm so excited. We have the space this year and the time to do it finally. I am sooo excited to get it off the ground and going. We are all about being as self sufficient as we can. I would love to be able to feed my family whole, organic foods all the time but hey, there is a budget in this house ;) So this is one way we can have some without paying $10 for an apple. We have a freezer filled with venison, and that is our red meat most the time. We will have to work on finding a farm to buy part of a pig or something like that. But hopefully, if all goes well we will have a plethora of fresh veggies coming out of our yard in the future! And the kids are so excited. I'm looking forward to showing them how food really is made :) and how if you work at something you can get good rewards. We will be planting, tomatoes, sweet peppers, basil, chives, parsley, rosemary, cucumbers (small and large) dill, okra, lettuce, squash (excited about trying the blossoms!) beans, strawberry's, and black/raspberry's. Kyle is getting ready to build our floating raised beds. These are raised beds that are actually on legs. This way we don't have to tear up the yard and I have complete control of the soil that we are using. We will have five of these. I'm going to outline the different boxes only for my own memory :)

Box 1: Tomatoes, sweet peppers, parsley, chives and basil. All of these are good companion growers. Tomatoes protect the pepper which are susceptible to sun scorch. All the herbs increase the health of both tomatoes and peppers.

Box 2: Cucumbers, beans, dill, radishes, rosemary, okra and lettuce. The cucumbers and beans make good neighbors because they both like the same soil and can climb on the same support.. Dill helps the health of your beans. Same with rosemary. Radishes protect cucumbers and beans from pests. Then on the opposite side of the box I will have a few okra plants with lettuce surrounding the plants. They both life the same kind of soil and once the okra plants gets really tall they protect the lettuce leaves from sun scorch as well!

Box 3: Squash and radishes. Squash I'm so excited about because you can eat the male blossoms and they are suppose to be super good. and radishes of course because they protect cucumbers and squash from bugs and such.

Box 4: Strawberry's! This entire box will be a strawberry patch :) This family can eat their weight in berry's! and garlic will be planted with them. Garlic protects the soil from pests and makes the fruit it is grown with super juicy!! (don't worry, none of the plants will taste like garlic :)

box 5: Blackberries and Raspberries. Garlic for the same reason!

So that is it :) Will keep this blogs posted about our project and how everything turns out. If it ends up good I think I"m going to be proficient in freezing and canning and making jams :)

Lily Grace.... how in the wor:ld are you 3!?

2011-03-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Ha ha 3 going on 15 :) Oh my Lily Grace is the funniest girl. She has a huge vocabulary, and uses it on a regular basis. I can't believe that she is 3 but sometimes forget she is only 3.

Lily Grace boy do I love you!! Three years ago I gave birth to my smallest little baby, you were only 8lbs 8oz ;) and became a mama of a sweet little girl. Now mind you I just thought that I would not have little girls. For some reason I really thought that my future held lots of boys. But boy was I wrong!! Having you opened me up to so many new experiences. Especially the joy of all thing girlie and sweet. And a lot of shopping that still is not controlled to this day! And it would make since that you are soooooo girlie. You love all things feminine. If it's pink you love it. So many things in life are "beautiful" to you :) It's one of your favorite words. You love life and find things in it all the time that amaze you. You will find these phrases in your vocabulary in any given day multiple time..... "This is delicious!" "It is beautiful" "I love you soooo much" "..... is my best friend" and on and on. You feel very deeply :) and love hugs and kisses. I love all this about you!!! You are my sweet Lily Grace, the Lord sure blessed me a ton when you joined our family. I love you and am so blessed to be called your mommy!!

Just a taste of our princess birthday party. She was in heaven :)

She loves flowers and thinks they are so "beautiful". ..... so she had to have some :)

The pink popcorn was just one of the many pink foods we had that day!

She sure loves her daddy... and the feeling is very mutual!

Sweet thing!

Dreaming about her first bite :)

Sweet Sid is SIX months today.....

2011-03-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

OH my, Sidney Claire. You are six months today and I an not even wrap my mind around it. What more can I say than you are such a joy to have!! Really, you are the sweetest baby. Very very laid back and totally go with the flow. You love to smile and laugh, especially at your brother and sisters. You roll onto your tummy almost the moment you get put in your crib. You like it now, not so much when you started to do it a few weeks ago. You still haven't been able to roll the other way though, which ticks you off most times :)

I'm pretty sure you are ready to start eating, since you love to watch us eat. But you still are not crazy about baby food. Your schedule is probably the most erratic of any other baby's of mine but you are very flexible! You go to bed around 7-7:30 and wake around 7am. You take four bottles a day. And you take two good naps a day. You still love to nap in your car seat when we are on the go, which is a good things since lots of days we are :)

I can not say enough how much I love you. How sweet your smiles are. How big and beautiful your eyes are. How soft your cheeks are ( I LOVE to kiss them!!!) And how happy you are! You truly are a gift from God, my personalized gift I could not adore more!!!

Today you went to the zoo and go to look at everything since I wore you in the baby carrier. You loved seeing everything for the first time!

Boo boo Callie....

2011-03-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

Oh my Callie Joy! This sweet little thing just has my heart! And can't catch a break for anything... poor girl has had stitches in her head, in her finger, chickenpox, and now a boil on her upper leg all in about a two month stretch. I think it's time little Callie has a break and is boo/sickness free for a bit.

She is sooo precious right now. What a funny girl she is. She might not have much to say.... but her wheels are always spinning. She is so affectionate. Tonight when we were waiting for the Dr. she was giving me hugs as she patted my back and then was kissing my face over and over again. Oh what a little love she is!! I just love being this beauty's mommy!

Five Months!

2011-02-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

Well almost! We are five days shy but hey gota get it in when I can ;) I am in awe that she is five months. I couldn't ask for a better baby, such a sweet girl! Here are some things about you sweet girl...
You LOVE your car seat. You take some of your best naps in it, which is nice since we tend to stay pretty busy.
You sleep wonderful all night. Go to bed between 7-7:30pm and usually not a sound until morning.
You are continuing to nurse like a pro. And you have been my only baby to take a bottle and nurse at the same time. You finally started to take a bottle while mommy was stuck out for a long time and you take one every night now just to make sure you don't forget :) So daddy gets to give you your bedtime feeding now :)
You have found your voice and squeal screech with the best of them!
You LOVE your siblings . They can make you belly laugh and smile in a second.
Not sure if you like tummy time or not because you never get it :) Which is fine by me because I'd like you to stay stationary as long as possible. Although Callie didn't get any either and she walked at 10 months.... and I must say you are super strong regardless.
(and Lily slept on her belly her entire life and still didn't even crawl until a year....hmmm maybe tummy time doesn't matter anyway :)
Have not started solids yet but thing I may in the next week or so.
I love you sweet girl! How blessed I am to be your mommy!!!

Longggg overdue!

2011-02-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

I am sooo behind. Yes, between all that has been going on, hence life :) I haven't really had much blogging time. Plus Callie broke out computer, so with that went all of our photos :( Soooo much has happened in the pat two months. we had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas, Henry's birth day, New Years, etc. And yep, not one photo to show for it. But now it's time to just pick up an move on :)
We had a fabulous Valentines Day yesterday. We have never been much into that holiday. But this year... why not? I have oh so many people to love on and celebrate! And three babies who get so excited, it's so fun to do special things that make them so happy. We got up and had pink pancakes with their valentines, did some crafts, had heart shaped grilled cheese, welcomed daddy home, got my goodies :) had dinner. It was great! And we got to go out just the two of us on Saturday night, it was great!

Here are some updated photos of my little loves..... and I'm back to stay so stay tuned for more :) So excited about being able to put pigtails (albeit bitty) in one of my girls hair... really come on hair!

Sweet sweet girl

This wee one is almost 5 months old!!!! I can not believe it!

Henry showing her his cars pez dispenser... lol she is like "whats this"

She loves all things pink and pretty so Valentines was right up her alley

Very excited about his toy story balloon

3 months old!

2010-12-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

Oh my sweet girl how did you become three months already!?

This little bug is just precious! So sweet and mild tempered :) Sleeps great, hardly cried, and loves to be loved on. Such a cuddle bug! Love you my baby girl!

My precious babies...

2010-12-13T19:59:00.000-08:00

So it's time for baby updates! It's been a while.... and I have energy. Want to know why????? Hmmm maybe I made a very very bad decision to drink a coke and a Mountain Dew at hmmm 9pm!! Yes, not a very responsible decision but boy have a gotten a lot done :) here it goes...
My adorable Lily Grace is doing wonderful :) She has welcomed her new sister with loving arms. She is SUCH a loving big sister. Such a little mama. She is the most affectionate little thing. Always wanting to be kissed, hugged, anything. Touch is def. her love language I think. She is everything girl. Loves princesses, dresses, pretty things, animals, and loving. She will twirl around in dresses and say "beautiful" and "I'm a princess" :) ah she just melts my heart. She is Henry's side kick. He is her best friend and worse enemy ! She will fight Lek crazy with him but if he isn't here she frets until he comes back. I love their relationship!!
She is quite the "non sharing" one so we are working on that :) Lily also is a major tender heart. Oh my one cross look will send her into tears. Which is good because sometimes she needs a cross look, or 20 :)
I love my girl to pieces!

Her hair was like this forever!! Crazy city. Now it is actually long and heavy enough that it is laying down, kinda sad.

Hilarious! Henry looks like Jim Cary!

Sidney Clair! Oh my oh my she is the sweetest baby. I know I say that all the time, but it is really the truth. She has such a laid back temperment. Is happy or sleeping the majority of the time. She is a chunky monkey too! She was almost 13lbs at 2 months! She just started really smiling a lot and has giggled out loud a lot in the last few days. It is sooo cute! Still not really taking a bottle, we are working on that! Sleeping between 8 and 12 hours at night! (good girl) Trying to take control back since although she loves her bed at night and goes to bed no problem, she will not nap in it! :( So sometime in the near future we are going to tackle that one.... but not right now :) I have a feeling this one will be Lily's Callie. See Callie adores Henry. He is her real big brother. Henry and Lily are so close they are more like equals than anything. But Callie and Henry have a true big brother little sister relationship. I think Sidney will be Lily's true little sister and Callie is more like her equal too :) It's so fun to see their relationships develop!

Callie, oh boy! We are in big trouble with this one :) haha she is a MESS! And I love her dearly. She is into everything! And busy busy busy. She's been walking since about 11 months and has been nonstop since. She adores her brother and is become best friends with Lily. Lily and Callie take baths together and Lily will say "she is my friend" and Callie will kiss her head :)

She is finally starting to talk a lot. It took some time! But she really likes it now. She is also SUPER AFFECTIONATE, and loves hugs and kisses and then to get down :) She is super sweet. And super sweet to just about anyone. Lily is sweet but she has to know you or you get a "Lily look" :) But this one will walk up to anyone to be picked up. Kinda scary actually! Oh and she is goofy goofy and will eat anything and everything. This one hasn't really said no to any food at all. The other day she was eating spinach artichoke dip with a spoon :)

And then there is my darling Henry :) Oh my he is a doll. Love him! Talk about a sweet fella. He really is growing way to fast. He will be 4 on New Years Eve and I can not believe it. He is such a big guy and it makes me sad that I can't really even carry him for a long time. He is close to 50lbs! He says the funniest things and makes me laugh all day long. He hates to see people cry and is super sensitive to those things. He is the best big brother and is constantly on the watch out for his little sisters. She loves the baby and wants to hold her all the time. When one of the girls is crying he will sing to them... so cute! He likes to be a big help and wants me to give him "chors" all the time. And he is a talker, will talk your ear off !!

These babies are so special! Thank you God for blessing me with your children!

Thankful....

2010-11-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

I could write a longgggggggggggggggggggggg entry about the things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday. There are just so many and I truly could burst into tears at the thought of each one of them. Oh how blessed I am! But there is one this this season that has really stuck out for me. Oh I've known it for a long time but for some reason, it has really meant a lot to me this year.
I am beyond thankful for Jesus.
I'm not sure if I'm just in a season in my relationship with Him where our relationship is very real. Or if I depend on Him so much right now that I am seeing Him in everything. But I am. I am so thankful that this life is not it. Life brings me so much joy right now, the fact that what is to come is a million times better boggles my mind.
As a mom I also see so much of the devil too. The evil that is in this world that that in itself is enough to drive a mother out of her mind. But the reality that Jesus is here, and is in control bring such peace to me. He has already won! There is no uncertainty there is no anxiety when it comes to the end. And that my friends is worth the world to me.
This was part of our sermon last week but it has stuck with me everyday since I heard it. My whole life I have been "picked" on for being naive. Christians are pigeon holed as being naive, in denial, not living in reality, etc etc. If you have true joy, peace with the things this life brings you, by many, you are considered these things.
Our paster was called a year ago to the hospital because a couple in the church went in to deliver their baby, and ended up delivering a stillborn baby. He came by to pray with the family and show support. He said that it was overwhelming being in that room with a sweet family holding their deceased baby. As he prayed for them there were cries and sobs as one could expect. But then, one of the aunts started singing "How great is our God" and the entire room sang the song. When he left, the nurses outside were listening to everything. And you could tell on their faces that they were very confused and had the "they are in denial" look. But you see, these people were not in denial. They were heartbroken, they were hurt but they had hope. Hope that surpasses our normal understanding of the word. They knew the end. They knew that God was in control and that it was not over.
There was a study done and one group was told that they were going to be shocked every 2 minutes for an hour. The other group was told they would be shocked but not when or what to expect. Their vitals were recorded. The first group, even though they were shocked an upward of 20 times in that hour, they were pretty relaxed. The second group however had major anxiety, worry, stress, etc. The difference was the first group knew what to expect the second group had no idea what was going to happen. Just knowing, just having that knowledge allowed the first group to spend that next hour much better off.
I am beyond thankful that Jesus, in Gods infinite mercy, gave His life for us. So that we would know the end. So that we could live this life with a peace and joy that surpasses our understanding. He has won and we are His!!!

First hospital visit.....

2010-11-24T05:24:00.000-08:00

I took Sidney to her two month well baby apt on Monday. My big girl is 12lbs! And really long :) She is growing great! But when the Dr was checking out her hips she heard a clicking in her right hip. Had never heard that with any of the other babies. So she said we needed to go to the hospital and get her hip xrayd. :( That it could be a sign of hip displaysia. Needless to say we were a little worried. It would have been totally fixable... but who wants to see their sweet baby in a hip, leg brace for six months!? So off we went the next morning to the new children's hospital. It was wonderful! The building was nice but the staff was great! Our little Sidney did fantastic!!! She laid there and let the tech take perfect pictures of her hip joins and did so much as whimper as she was pushing her legs all around. Afterwards, when the tech took the photos to the Dr. Sidney laid up in her bed and watched Nemo that they had put on for her :) All the nurses on the floor had to come in and look at her and just fussed over her. When they all came into the room she started smiling and talking to them lol Waving her arms and kicking her legs. Needless to say I think she enjoyed the attention.;)
Praise the Lord her photos look normal!

Change.....

2010-11-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

So I have really know that something needed to change with our mornings. I usually sleep as late as I can until one or two little ones wake me up. I get them up not with a spirit of excitement to see them, but with "how could you bother me a wake me up" attitude. There is nothing worse. I feel like the day was taking on me instead of me taking on the day. What do I need to do? Sadly I know what I need to do. But I'm really not looking forward to it. I need to get up at 6am, before anyone else. I need to have my time with God, pray, get ready for the day, make some coffee for Kyle and I and then be able to greet my children with a spirit of warmth instead of reacting to them interrupting my sleep. Goodness this is going to be terrible, because I am not so good at getting myself out of bed until I must. Once I'm up I'm so glad to be and my day goes so much better. But actually getting my hiney out of bed, not so much. But this is my new goal. Because I want something different for my family. I want our mornings to be sweet, not rushed, and not stressful. I want my children to feel loved and treasured. Not a nuisance. Here goes nothing!!

MIA

2010-11-13T04:30:00.000-08:00

Wow I have been totally MIA! Seven weeks have flown by and I have just had my hands full and not had much energy to blog when I finally have a moment. So much has happened! There is no way I can update all of it so here is a quick overview so that I can get back on it!
Sidney has been a wonderful baby. She is usually very content and is sleeping like a champ. She will be 8 weeks on tuesday which is crazy. She is getting sooo big :)
We are having a great fall and the weather is finally very nice!!

September 21st pt one

2010-10-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Sweet Angel......

2010-10-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my she is the sweetest baby ever! I'm pretty smitten with this wee girl :)

A week old and the story....

2010-09-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

Oh me! Here it is and Sidney is a week old and I'm just getting around to be able to actually post about her. Wow, four babies is so much different that three :) We are a busy busy family right now. But in a wonderful way. I am blessed to have the "problem" of trying to juggle four small ones. It never fails there is always something interesting about the way all of the babies decide to come into the world. Here is Sidney's story so I don't forget anything.

I was so done :) It was Tuesday morning and I was 39 weeks and three days. I was sure I would be pregnant forever. It was a crazy morning because Callie had her 15 month Dr's apt that day and silly me had made her apt three months earlier for 8:50am. I have no idea why in the world I would make it that early but I did. Needless to say it was a bit crazy trying to get everyone up and out of the house. It did cross my mind to pack a bag for the kids just in case I needed it but ran out of time. So there we were, all four of us at the Dr. At the desk I was joking around with the nurse about how I was due Friday and we could just have the baby right now and I would be just fine with that. hahaha

Anyway we got back to the room, the nurse did her thing and then our Dr came in. I was standing there with Callie in my arms. Dr was asking me about her, all that stuff. Then all of a sudden I felt a gush... ummmmm right "did I just pee my pants" was my very first though. Surely not was my next. I kinda didn't know what to do then it happened again. "um I think maybe my water just broke" is all I could say. lol Our Dr. took Callie so that I could run to the bathroom. I had to make sure. And of course by then I figured that is what happened. So I went back in. We decided to finish Callie's apt because I couldn't go anywhere anyway. Kyle was in Indiana and my mother in law's car battery was dead. Sooo, got Callie all squared away and then I had to wait for someone to come pick me up and be with the kids. They were all so sweet and put us in a room with a movie for the kids to watch while we waited.

Shortly Lovie and Kyle got there and off we went to the hospital. It was the first time we had been to the hospital to have a baby during the day. It's always been in the middle of the night or later so it was weird walking up mid morning. Got there and got into our room. By now my contractions had started. They were not horrible but not wonderful either. I was actually very happy that they started since my water had already broken. The early laboring wasn't too bad. The only bad part was that I was sitting in a huge puddle the entire time lol sorry for those of you that think that is TMO but it was not pleasant. lol

Anyway I had THE BEST L&D nurse ever, really really loved her. She was wonderful! But then they decided to start pitocen since I had not progressed very fast and I was on a "time limit" since my water broke. Anyway they got really really bad after that. And being that I was stuck in bed I could not deal with them very well, at all. So ten hours in I was done. I was done being in so much pain, I was done just sitting there crying through my contractions, and I was done not having a baby yet. So... I sent for my epidural. Oh my it was wonderful!! I have never like getting it but once it was effective it was wonderful wonderful wonderful!!!!!!! And it was by far the best I have ever had. I could move my legs the entire time. I pushed great and all but no pain. That is what I'm talking about :)

So two hours after my epidural she checked my and I was complete! I love it when they say you are there! So they called my Dr. and as soon as she got there we got to work.Which wasn't really work because I pushed twice and she came out :) And I have to say again, no matter how many littles you have it NEVER gets old. It never becomes ordinary seeing your precious baby enter the world and meeting her for the first time. It is an amazing miracle. And she was just perfect. All 8lbs 10oz of her. She was so sweet, I couldn't have ask for a more wonderful night!! We still can't believe she was not born until 9:39pm. Sheesh!

oh me

2010-08-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well I just hate to complain :( But....... it is 12 and let me tell you there is no sleep for me. Every night I hope for sleep but alas I get none. I am ready. I know I still have at least a little over a week before I can have her and that sounds sooo long. I could not be more uncomfortable and I'm sad that I feel like my mommying ( I know that is not a word!) skills are less than stellar. I hope that my other three sweet babies know that it will end soon!

Pregnancy update

2010-08-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

Wow. This has been one of the most hectic times ever. So much so I realized I have not posted much about Sidney or the other sweet kids in my life. So here it goes!
Sidney is doing great, my body not so much :) It has been a rough third trimester for sure. But it is almost over. I'm so glad that Sidney is doing great and growing like a champ. I am seeing my Dr. every week now, it seems like I'm always there. I am due in a little under four weeks. I feel like Sidney is already 8 or 9lbs :) Perhaps she will follow in her sisters footsteps and come two weeks early. I am sooo OK with that!! I have never seen my due date with any of the other babies and let me tell you if I do with this one I might go crazy. lol So we wait and I won't see sleep for a good four or five more months :)
This kids are good. I feel so bad. I have sooo not been a very fun mom lately. I don't have any energy, no tolerance for the heat, and not much patience due to the previous and sleep deprivation. I will be glad when our lives can go on and I don't feel so out of it for their sakes. They are champs though! I will have to do a post on each of them soon because they are so precious, and are growing up so fast!

And we're in...

2010-08-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Yes we have been in for a week tomorrow but it sure doesn't feel like it. I feel like I like in more of a construction zone than a home right now, but I do know it's a process and we will get there eventually. :) This past weekend, Kyle,my dad, and my mom's husband got together and installed the wood floor in our living room. I really really wish I had taken a before photo, of course I didn't. But it is AMAZING what pulling up the nasty carpet did! We still have lots to do in this room but the I am LOVING the floor. They did a wonderful job. Can't wait to see this room with paint, curtains, and decor on the walls. Oh and an entertainment center lol, yes the TV is on a nightstand right now. Hey we are getting there!

Camping summer 2010

2010-07-29T10:53:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a wonderful chance to go spend a long weekend with some dear friends of ours camping. We went to Land Between the Lakes and they graciously let us stay in their wonderful, air conditioned camper. Which was great because it was a blazing 100 degree weekend! We had such a wonderful time!! We took Henry, it was his first camping trip. The girls stayed behind because they just aren't there yet.:) But oh Henry had the time of his life!! Between getting to go fishing on the boat, to going tubing with daddy like such a big boy, walking to the bathhouse to take showers, getting to sleep in the camper, eating treats and juice boxes till he was blue in the face, playing in the dirt/gravel that the camp sights were on, and running around I'm not sure what was the most exciting for him. I'm pretty sure all of it!
We so enjoyed just getting to visit with our friends we don't see half often enough, and relax. I didn't know what time it was for two days strait and it was soooo nice!! It was so much fun and much needed before this move/new baby :)
In the moving front, we are officially set to close this Tuesday..... finally. Not the best of days since we were banking on the weekend but non the less by next weekend we will be moved. I can not wait to get this over with and start living in the new house!
Many many many thanks to Krystal and Tony (and Annabell of course!) for our wonderful weekend. We are so grateful for you and your family's amazing hospitality!

The guys cleaning the many fish we caught! Little yellow bass, we caught well over 60 of these and white bass.

Henry practicing his tying up skills on Krystal's mom :)

Acting like spider man in the hammock

The Jacksons and Armours in from of our home away from home :)

Henry and daddy after tubing, lol they were exhausted

Soooo fun!

And they are off!

Me and my boy , I just love him to death

Waiting very patently for his turn

Enjoying his soda and watching the boat load up on the truck

Driving the boat back to shore

He can not wait to get on the boat and cast his line!

Planning and packing

2010-07-20T05:39:00.001-07:00

Boy things have not slowed down one bit around here. Between kids being sick and trying to get everything done and ready for closing next week, we haven't had much time to breath! I've been trying to pack but it's hard when you use most of what is in your house..... hmmm. It was much easier to move and pack without kids. At least we could just do without and eat out a lot when it was just us. Not so much these days! :) But regardless next Friday is the day so we will just continue to move forward until then. And then once we are in we get to work on house projects for the next few years lol But at least we will have more space! (and an extra bedroom which I am just thrilled about!!)
We are taking Henry camping this weekend. So excited about that! He is too. We are headed to LBL with some friends. It is a crazy time to go I know but we have been planing this for a while and plus it's really the last time we will get to take him before Sidney comes so we are takign advantage! It will be a nice break away from house related stuff anyway!!
Well hopefully I will actually get some photos taken soon..... hope everyone is wonderful!!!

Reminder.

2010-07-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Right at this moment I am reminded how very blessed I am. Regardless if the sell of this house goes through, regardless if we the sell on our new house finalizes...... I have my family close to me. Two days ago a friend's brother and sister in law lost their 16 month old little girl. I don't know details but I do know it was unexpected. I can not even imagine. I don't want to. But hearing news like that touches something deep inside. Knowing some is mourning the loss of their sweet baby girl and all three of mine are playing safely in this house..... there are just no words. My prayers are with that entire family and I am determined that I won't take mine for granted today.

Future home.

2010-07-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

Oh my what a stressful but wonderful time! I never knew how stressful the whole selling/buying process was compared to just buying our first home. Much different! But thanks to our wonderful real estate team things are getting done!
We found a house! And boy and I thankful. It was the last of about 20 houses we looked at and it is just perfect for us. Now let me tell you it needs some love :) But I am excited about the before and after photos. It needs complete updating.... but is a wonderful space for our growing family. Plus, it has a beautiful lot perfect for lots of fun outside for the kids. We are thankful and are looking forward to closing on the 30th and moving on! Now , just have to pack ;)

Alive and well.

2010-07-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hello world! No we have not dropped off the face of the earth but sometimes I feel as thou we have. :) We have been sooo busy. I don't even think busy is the word but it's the best I can figure out right now. In latest news we sold our house! Which is wonderful because I don't know how much more I could stand cleaning, showing, etc. It really is quiet an undertaking, selling a house! Good grief. Esp with three toddlers and two dogs :) So although I am more than grateful and happy someone is buying it.. that also means we need to find another house stat! We went out looking with our agent last night. Oh boy. I'm sure everyone looking for the "perfect house for them" feels this way but Yuck! Lol we didn't see one out of the 8 or 9 we looked at that were even options. It truly amazes me how some people leave their houses before they are shown. Anyway we go out again on Sat so hopefully there will be some realistic options for us. The kids are great and probably wondering when life will settle down again. Sorry guys!
Sidney and I are doing great. She is growing growing and moving moving. I am now in my third trimester, which is amazing. Feeling Ok. Nerve issues, insomnia, and reflux make sure I don't forget that I'm pregnant but other than that we are good :) Hard to believe in 12 weeks or less little Sidney Claire will be with us! Very excited to meet her and also a little hard to believe we will have four little ones. That is actually starting to sound like a lot to me :)
So yes, I will have pictures soon. We have had birthday after birthday. Graduations holidays and everything else you can think of. Lot's to celebrate but not much time to energy to blog about them. So I will be back soon, hopefully with a picture of our new home!

Happy First Bithday Sweet Callie Joy!

2010-06-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Oh my, I know I say this all the time. But I just can't ever figure out how whole years pass in a wink. It is truly amazing that my little Callie Joy is already a year old! Oh Callie, you came into this world in a way that is story worthy. I can't wait to share your crazy birth story with you! And then you showed up looking just like your big brother. You are (so far) my only baby that is actually colored like your mama (although you look just like you daddy!) You are such a sweet baby. You love to love on people and are extremely active! You just want to keep up with your big brother and sister :) You try to talk all the time and love to eat! I just love you little one and love to see how God is piecing together out family. You fit just like a puzzle piece and make our home that much more enjoyable! We love you more than you could ever know!
We had such a nice time on Saturday celebrating Callie. She was sooo good. Such a trooper. She didn't even get in bed until after 3 and she was happy the entire time! Sweet girl.

Baby girl........................

2010-06-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby girls name is Sidney Claire Armour. We can not wait to meet you baby girl, you have a clan of littles that can't wait to meet you as well!! You will never know what lonely feels like that is for sure :) We love you!

Creation and it's beauty.....

2010-06-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hilton Head 2010

2010-06-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Wow what a week! This past week we were lucky enough to spend a week on Hilton Head Island with Kyle's parents and brother. It was lots of fun but not lots of rest! :) I think I may need a week to recover from our week of vacation. I told Kyle that for now, the days of relaxing self centered vacations were over lol But that's OK with me because it is so fun to watch these babies have fun. Sorry about all the pictures. I should have spread out the pics between lots of posts but I'm tired and it's easier to just get it done :)

On the way down this is all the sleep I got out of these two. And let me say it only lasted about 20 minutes. They were basically a wreck the entire time until 10:30 that night. I thought Henry was going to go crazy with all the crying. lol But they are so sweet like this!
She did find diaper changes to be quiet fun though~

Henry was pretty obsessed with the pool showers

My littles fishes :)

She is thinking....

He loved flying his kite at the beach :)

daddy and his girls :)

sitting in a hole, eating a stick... why not?

Henry thought it was funny she was in a hole, Callie thought it was humours that he was in his undies :)

Not lots of rest but lots of love!

we rode a trolley to dinner one night and Lily thought is was so amazing lol see the wind whipping through her hair? you could just see her thinking, faster faster :) she is a wild one.

Callie at dinner

Lil at dinner
haha love this face!

Either thinking about something or sad because we had to leave
Callie LOVES to swing

Me and my girl

On the way back to our car in the trolley
One night we went out for ice cream after eating at the condo. Who doesn't love a chocolate dip cone with sprinkles, come on!

Love this girl

Callie enjoying her puffs wishing for ice cream :)

My little grown lady, she looks so old and serious sometimes.

We got to go out together one night, and went fishing off the dock we always fish off of. We caught about 20 of these little guys. There are TONS of sharkes there. Kyle had two pretty big ones on his line but they both bit right through! We had a lot of fun!The kids were always trying to find fun things while we were up in the room

Fun times with Pop

My Lady in pink :) She is too cute in hats and will not keep them on her head for anything. We were lucky to get these shots before she tore it off.

This is one of her signature "I'm not impressed" looks :)

Handsome man, a bit blurry but too cute not to include :)

Sweet baby girl. I have felt so sorry for her. She has had a two month long cold/ear infection. Bless her heart for feeling so is still such a sweet happy girl!

Thanks Pop and Lovie for a great time!

Relaxing Sundy.

2010-05-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today was such a nice day. We had a wonderful morning at church and then naps all around. After that we make a trek out to buy a sandbox. We don't have lot of fun stuff out back since we are trying to sell the house but it was just too nice not to have something fun to do. The kids just loved it! We even ate outside in the sun

Lily was super excited about the sand! She is going to love the beach.

Callie really wanted some of my lemonade

she thought it was super sour!! lol

"why mama did u give me that?"

Fish at Long Run Park...

2010-05-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

We love to be outside and LOVE to fish. The kids had a bast as you can see :)

Lily thinks the fish is pretty cool and slimy

Henry was so excited about the small mouth bass

Lovin' my girl, I love it when she wants my to cuddle her :)

Callie was perfectly fine eating her Cheerios :)

I think his favorite part is still playing with the worms

Playing Catch up.

2010-05-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

So it is finally sunny here! After what seemed like forever of rain it looks like we are going to have at least a week of warm sunny weather! So now I am going to play catch up from the past few weeks.

Mothers days was very nice and I got a bead maker and a new toaster :) I have had our toaster since I was about 19 and moved out on my own. My parents got it for me for Christmas that year and I've used it ever since. lol It was time for a new one! And oh my how I LOVE my bread maker. All I have to do is place the ingredients in and let it do it's thing. It is lovely. And yummy :) The girls enjoying the sunshine
Sweet Callie. You can tell daddy got her dressed because she is wearing one of Henry's undershirts lol but still adorable non the less :)

Waiting to leave for church

She is always upset when I try to get her still enough to take a pic.

check out that fuzzy blond hair!

My outdoor chick :)

This is his "fishing" jacket that is what he calls it.

helping me plant my flowers

Looking for bugs together

she picks every flower that she sees

My Callie girl is almost a year!! how in the world!

Henry spends a lot of time beating up on his daddy....

Just means he loves him a whole lot :)

Ladies.

2010-05-11T05:06:00.001-07:00

OH MY. A house full of little ladies is the last thing I ever saw for myself. But it doesn't take long to realize the assumptions for my life and God's plan don't always match up :) And since I've learned that His ways are soooooo much better than any that I could plan on my own I am thrilled with what He has in store for our family!
It also amazes me when riding up the elevator how even with the fourth baby, it just never gets old. I still had butterflies in my belly, I still couldn't wait to see the baby and make sure everything was OK. The moment the tech put wand on my belly I could help but be amazed at that sweet baby that popped up on the screen. My practice waits until you are 20 weeks to do the ultra sound. Waiting so long is hard. My old practice did it around 18 weeks so two more weeks feels like soooo long!! But every time we actually do it I am thankful. They are soooo much bigger two weeks later. It is amazing the difference it makes. And she was soooooo active! I mean crazy. Ever since I've been feeling her I have been telling Kyle how crazy she is. It was fun to actually see her being like I feel her. I mean really so wriggly. The tech even had a hard time getting good pictures of all four chambers of the heart at one time because she wouldn't stay still enough to get a still picture. :) She was busy opening and shutting her mouth, crossing her little feet and putting her little hands up by her face. She was also cuddled right into the placenta. Making it a little tough to get a good face shot of the lady. And yes, for yall who had to hear me worry about not feeling her for so long, my placenta theory was correct. It is anterior. Making a nice little barrier between me and her.
Kyle just smiled when we finally got a good shot that proved her to be a little girl. :) The tech made a comment about him being out numbered and he said " Girls are great, I just love my girls". :) He is happy. He even made the comment it is just how he feels it should be, that it would have been weird for it to be a boy this time lol He is such a great daddy and man!
So we have a sweet baby girl on the way and we couldn't be happier!! Praise God for His miracles!!

Will it be pink or blue?

2010-05-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

So today is our ultrasound day. I can not wait to see this little one on the screen! I am praying praying for a healthy little one. And hopefully we will be able to tell the gender. Our apt isn't until 1:30pm!! The wait is killing me.... but soon enough I suppose :) I will update as soon as I can!

Blessings....

2010-05-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

This mothers Day weekend I can't think of a more fitting day to thank the Lord that I am a mommy! I am well aware that there are many women out there that want to be a mommy with all they are and are not. I pray not one breath comes out of my body with me forgetting what a true miracle and blessing my children are. True joy I tell you!

Fun times in April before the rain came...

2010-04-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

We have had a BEAUTIFUL April. And to be honest it has spoiled me rotten. It's been raining for a few days in a row and I feel like it has been forever. But we have had fun non the less.

Callie wanting to get in on the action.... sorry baby Callie it is your bedtime! Henry entertains Callie on a regular basis. He is such a good big brother.
Sweet girls in a laundry basket. :)

We love the wildlife center in Frankfort... Lily following in her brothers footsteps :)

18 weeks

2010-04-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

Baby #4 is great! I had my 18week check yesterday and all is perfect. I had been really stressed recently about not feeling the baby yet. With Henry I felt him around 17 weeks and he was the latest. With Callie, I felt her at around 15. So being 18 1/2 weeks with nothing had me a bit worried. But when my Dr. put that Doppler to my belly that strong , fast (154 ) heartbeat popped up super fast. And she said she could hear tons of movement when listening. So that was a huge relief that all is well. And then wouldn't you know it that that night I felt "her" four hours. And then all day today, she is very active :) I just love the feeling of babies in your belly, what a blessing! We have our big ultrasound in 12 days! Monday the 10th, I can't wait to see this little one on screen which I would like to make the prediction that I think this is another sweet little girl :)

It won't be long now....

2010-04-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

My girls and their scetty :)

2010-04-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

These girls take eating seriously, esp when it is spaghetti :) This way Callie's first time eating it and as you can see loved every minute of it!

Lily and her boo boo from Monday. We had a wonderful day at the zoo but early on Lily fell face first into the pavement going downhill :( It actually is looking better in this picture and hasn't bothered her any. It just looks really sad!

I thought this one was so funny. Lily LOVES this hat, and this is about how serious she usually is about her food lol

Sweet face

2010-04-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever just watched your child's face when they are really enjoying something. I mean when something really gets their wheels turning. I love it. Last night Kyle and Henry were sitting on the couch looking up video of trains, planes, and helicopters. I was sitting on the other couch where I couldn't see the screen I could just see Henry. The look on his face was just priceless. He is one adorable boy but to see him so amazed and excited and into it was beautiful. There is nothing better than watching your little ones discover things that are so trivial to you. Everything is so new and exciting, oh what I could learn from a three year old.

Cooking up a storm...

2010-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today Henry and I delved into make a plethora of homemade goodies. :) I am trying to make more things from scratch with less "junk" in them and Henry LOVES to help me in the kitchen. He learns a ton and I hope to instill a love for cooking as well. Everyone should know how to cook! Even men.... who am I kidding esp men!! So this morning we made honey wheat bread and ranch dressing. He basically made the dressing himself he was so proud, even if he wouldn't try it:) and here he is kneading away :) he's such a hard worker !

Sweet Sharing....

2010-04-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

I think it's too sweet that these sisters get to share holiday outfits :) I just love to see them match! Although, hello, no they look nothing alike!

Wordless Weekend...

2010-04-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well almost wordless. :) This past Easter weekend was so nice. Beautiful weather , wonderful family, and most of all a WONDERFUL thing to celebrate. I think in all actuality Easter may be my most favorite holiday. So here is a plethera of pictures from the weekend. We are so blessed to have all of our wonderful family so close that we got to see everyone. The only thing I hate is that I did not get one picture of my dad or brothers with the kids :( I will have to work on that!!

Montage of Callie and14 week Dr. apt recap...

2010-04-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well now it is Callie's turn... I'm afraid with all this sunshine and fun new spring/summer outfits my camera is going to get worn out! Just warning you :)

And I want to write a quick recap for my last Dr's apt on Tuesday. I went back and found all the info about the girls at this time on here so I need to just get it written down so I don't forget. All is well!! Praise the Lord. Sweet heartbeat popped up right away. A fast 153 beats per minute. You know what they say... they say that is a girl.... Kyle just smiles. :) It is either another precious girl or a boy with a fast heartbeat, which does happen all the time. I looked back and Lily's at this time was 149 and Callie's was 150. I wish, oh I wish I had written Henry's down because I don't have a clue. We will see in oh, FIVE WEEKS! I can't believe it's only five weeks away. Can't wait to see this baby on the screen!!

I know the sun washed this out but I just love the look on her face.

She sits like this all the time. It's like she is just going to pop up and walk away :)

I just LOVE all her dark hair!

Sweetest baby ever!

Lily's photo shoot:)

2010-04-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

When Lily is in a good mood and she is hamming it up, I just can't help myself.... I know these are sooo self indulgent but I really can't help it. What a joy she is!!

She LOVES her peas. Exact opposite of one little boy I know. The entire time we are sitting here Lily and Callie are tearing up their peas, I mean really they ate double portions each! And Henry was saying the entire time " I don't like those, the girls like those but I don't like those" lol Give Lily some veggies and fruit and she is good to go!In this pictures I'm pretty sure she is saying one of her favorite phrases "heyyy" said with attitude in the voice :) lol

Sweet blessings

2010-03-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

This have been fun around here. Considering the wonderful weather, it was 80 here today!!! We have been outside A LOT :) And since my camera is up and running I've had more time to snap some cute pics of the kids.

These days there is only a few times you can actually get a picture of Henry, one when he is being hammy like here...This is one of her many "faces" the crooked mouth look . love it !

So happy in the morning. She looks sooo much like her daddy and brother as a baby here!!

Love that sweet little body and round head!

We have gone through a rough spat with ear infections lately. Here is what she thought of hers on this particular day.... pitiful I tell ya!

Here is the other time you can shoot Henry, when he is lounging... and he was lounging!