An Update on Our Kids

I guess I'll start with our newest addition, Benjamin Lewis. He joined our family in April this year. He is such a good baby and has such a sweet spirit. He is such a blessing to our family. He can roll over and is trying to figure out how to push up to crawl and sit. And, he just started eating solids last week.

Joshua is now 2 1/2 years old. He is such a cutie. He has a fun, energetic and loving personality. He is a very smart and busy boy and loves life. He is learning his colors and learning to count. And, he is very close to being potty trained...YAY!

Abigail is 5 years old and started kindergarten about a month ago and she loves riding the bus. She is exhausted each day when she gets home, but enjoys getting to go to school. She has good days and bad, but it will get better with time. She is growing into such a pretty little girl and has a big personality. She loves playing outside and playing on her iPad.

Rachel is now 9 years old and is in the 4th grade. She is still homeschooling and enjoys our one-on-one time when we can get it. She loves that she is usually finished with her lessons before lunch! She is growing into a beautiful young lady. She loves helping me with and playing with the boys. She likes to draw and she is playing soccer again this year.

I totally forgot about my blog...

Okay. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I totally forgot about my blog. Evidently. I've been very busy since Joshua was born. I can't believe I haven't posted anything in 2 1/2 years! Any followers that I once had have since stopped following (not including the 10 of you that are left!) Anyway, I'm not promising anything, but I'll try to post when I can.

Joshua's Two Week Checkup

I took Joshua in for his checkup on Thursday. He has already surpassed his birthweight in two short weeks. He weighed 9lbs 4oz and measured 21 1/4in long. He is eating well and sleeping well (considering that he is a newborn.)

We are adjusting well as a family of five. The girls are "little mommies" and love to help me when they can. Jeremy went back to work on Tuesday so it has definitely been a long week for me. Hopefully, everything will get easier as I begin to get more rest in the coming weeks.

Joshua is here!

We welcomed our sweet baby boy, Joshua Kirby, into our lives on February 24 at 2:25pm. He weighed 8lbs 8oz and measured 20 3/4in long. We are all crazy about him!

An update

Well, it looks like I have failed again to find the time to catch up on and keep our blog updated. And, my time will be even more limited very soon...

We will get to meet our sweet baby boy tomorrow. I am going in at 5:30am to be induced. We are all very excited and can't wait to meet the newest addition to our family!

Abigail's Surgery

On Tuesday, Abigail had her ear tubes replaced and her tonsils and adenoids removed. She was such a trooper. Her ENT told us that the surgery went great. We got to be with her in the recovery room. She wasn't quite as fussy as when she got ear tubes the first time (about 18 months ago.) After she finally woke up enough, she ate a popsicle and had some apple juice before she was discharged. We stopped at McDonald's on the way home because we were starving! Abigail enjoyed a chocolate milkshake on the ride home. She has done really well all week and her recovery hasn't been as bad as we were warned about. She has gotten a little fussy at times, but we really haven't had to worry much with her not wanting to eat and drink. And, she has rested a lot so hopefully she will be back to normal in about a week or so. We are thankful for all of your prayers during her surgery and during her recovery period.

A Surprise Trip to Arkansas

After my doctor's appointment, the girls and I got packed up and headed to my Mom's because my family was having Christmas there that night. I didn't tell anyone that we were coming and it was a great surprise! The girls enjoyed being able to open their gifts with their cousins and enjoyed playing with them, too. We ended up spending the night so they also got to spend some extra time with their Gramsy and Gramps. Before we headed home today, we were also able to stop by my Dad's so that the girls could see their Papa and Nana. Of course, they opened presents there, too. It was a quick and enjoyable trip, but I think that it will be last trip before Joshua arrives!

My 3 Hour Glucose Test

I had my three hour glucose tolerance test this morning. My first (fasting) blood draw was normal. The first blood draw after drinking the glucose drink was a few points over the limit, but the draw an hour after that was normal so my doctor said that he wasn't concerned about my levels and that I didn't have gestational diabetes. I was so glad to hear that.

Another Doctor Visit

I saw my OB again today and had to take my glucose tolerance test and got another ultrasound. Joshua looks great and weighs right at 3 lbs. We were glad to know that he is a healthy boy! Unfortunately, I failed my glucose test so I am scheduled to take the three hour test in two weeks. I am hoping that the failed test is due to a combination of my being sick and taking a lot of cough syrup for the last week and the fact that the glucose drink that they sent home with me before Thanksgiving had actually expired before my test today. I also came home with a prescription for antibiotics so hopefully this crud that I have will be gone soon!

Our 16th Anniversary

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary. It seems like the time has flewn by. We were just babies when were married. (I was 18 and he was 20.) We've pretty much grown up together. He is the love of my life. I feel very blessed to be married to such a good man. He has helped me become the woman I am today. I am so thankful for him and our life together.

Our Trip to Merry Christmas Tree Farm

We go to the Merry Christmas Tree Farm each year to pick out and cut down our live Christmas tree. We went this morning. The girls always enjoy the hayride out to the trees. It didn't take us very long to find our tree this year. I think that we agreed on one within about 10 or 15 minutes. It was our fastest trip there for sure. We got it in the house and put up before lunch, but I had to run some errands since we had been out of town for several days so we didn't start decorating it until the late afternoon. I'm sure that it will be a work in progress over the next week since I will have to rely on Jeremy's help for the high stuff since he won't let me on a ladder while almost 7 months pregnant. I'll post a pic of the finished tree as soon as we get it done!

Our Thanksgiving Trip

We made our annual Thanksgiving trip to Arkansas. The girls and I left on Tuesday to stay at my Mom's. Jeremy had to work until Wednesday afternoon so he joined us that night. Thursday, we spent the first part of our day with Jeremy's family at his Aunt Julie's. Then we went back to Mom's to enjoy another meal with my family. After that, we went to my Dad's and visited for a while.

On Friday, we went to Jeremy's grandparents to visit with them and his great-grandmother (who is 101!) We had a nice visit and I even got to do a little Walmart shopping while Abigail napped. (This is the first time in years that I haven't gotten out very early to do Black Friday shopping.) We left that afternoon and headed back to Mississippi.

After being in the car for the four hour drive, it was sooo good to be home. I was so glad to be able to sleep in my own bed again. There's no place like home!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my God who loves me unconditionally and for His amazing grace. I am thankful for a devoted husband and father to my girls who loves us and works hard to provide for and care for us. I am thankful for my sweet girls that teach me so much each day. I feel priviledged that God has entrusted me to take care of them. I am thankul for both of our families and for our friends. I am thankful for our church family and for our pastor who unwaveringly teaches the Truth. I am thankful for so many blessings that I could go on and on. What are you thankful for?

Wall Canvas for the Girls and Fleece Throw for Rachel

I've been working on a few crafty things as time permits and these are a couple of my completed projects. The girls will be sharing a room soon so I wanted to make a wall canvas for them. Here it is:

Rachel wanted a new blanket so I made her a no-sew fleece throw to match the room that the girls will soon share. Here it is:

The Soccer Season is Over

Today was Rachel's last soccer game of the season. Jeremy coached her team again this year. They didn't win a lot of games this year, but they had fun playing. Rachel was very excited to get her trophy today. Here is her soccer team picture and her individual picture.

Trunk-or-Treat

Since Halloween fell on Sunday this year, we didn't take the girls trick-or-treating that night, but we did go to Trunk-or-Treat at church on Saturday afternoon. Rachel picked out the costumes this year. She decided that she wanted Abigail to be a dalmation and she wanted to be a firefighter. The only problem with it was that Abigail refused to put on her costume. I finally got it on her, but it didn't last long at all. Oh, well. The girls had a good time playing on the moon bounces, trunk-or-treating and playing games.

Our Carved Pumpkins

I carved four pumpkins this year. I let Abigail decide what we should put on the two small ones and Rachel picked the design for one of the large ones. I showed Abigail several pictures of kids pumpkin designs and she loved Mickey and Minnie the best (aka Mickey House and Minnie House.) Rachel wanted a scary face so I let her choose from three or four designs. I designed the other pumpkin myself. Hope you enjoy!

Our Baby Boy's Nursery

Here are the samples of the fabrics for the nursery. I got these pics from an online store so some of the colors are a bit off, but you can get the general idea.

I painted these wall letters on Friday night. (It was supposed to be a date night since our church had a parents' night out, but Jeremy was sick so this is how I spent my child-free time.)

Our baby boy's name will be Joshua Kirby.

Gramsy's Visit

My mom, aka Gramsy, came for a quick visit on Saturday. On Friday, I located the fabric that I wanted to use for our baby boy's crib bedding at a local fabric store. After I learned that I could get the fabric locally (and not from an online store), we decided to go to the store to see it in person this weekend.

Mom drove here early Saturday morning so that she could make it here for Rachel's 9am soccer game. The girls were so excited to see her! I let her visit be a surprise for them.

After the soccer game, we went to the SBEC Fall Festival. The girls enjoyed moon bounces and a pony ride together. Rachel also climbed a rock wall and jumped on a trampoline with bungee cords. They had a good time!

After that, Mom and I drove to the fabric store in Germantown. We ended up getting all of the fabric needed for my crib bedding, accent pillows and window valance. I'm so excited about us making everything together. It's going to be a beautiful nursery!

A New TV...

So a few weeks ago, we turned off our living room tv (an older HDTV) one night when we went to bed and wouldn't come on the next morning. I researched our tv model on the internet and tried a few things to get it to turn on, but had no luck. When Jeremy came home from work, he tried to turn it on and it came on. We decided that we would leave the tv on all the time, but leave it on a blank screen when we weren't watching it. That worked for about a week.

Wednesday morning, Jeremy watched the news and then turned off the tv out of habit when he left for work. We were not able to get it to come back on at all so we decided to replace it. That also meant that we would also need to replace our media cabinet since the one that we had only held up to a 32" tv. We decided on a budget for both.

I shopped around for a new media cabinet and Jeremy shopped around for a new tv. We had decided to just put our new tv above our fireplace because we couldn't find a media cabinet that was the right size and style that fit within our budget. Then, when we were at Sam's looking at tvs, we saw a cabinet that we both really liked so we purchased it and a new 55" Vizio tv. We're hoping that it lasts for several years!