So close yet so far.

I really thought this was going to be the pregnancy we would make it all the way with no problems. I guess I was wrong. Yesterday morning I tripped over the automatic UNO game and fell. I didn't hit my stomach, but I called my dr. anyway just to let her know. She sent me to the hospital to be observed. Turns out I was having contractions. They ordered an ultrasound where they discovered my fluid level was at an 8.3. A little on the low side. Because if my history they decided to give me steroid shots for the baby's lungs. They checked my cervix and I was a fingertip dialated, 0% effaced and baby was high. Throughout the night I recieved 4 shots for the lungs. Around 8am my contractions started picking up so they decided to check me again. I was 1cm, 50% effaced and baby was at a -2 station. The nurse said she could feel the baby's head. So change was definately being made which is not a good thing. They started me on magnesium which is a muscle relaxant. I had this medicine 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Nathan. It makes you feel very hot and flushed. My contractions have slowed down though. I'm having like one an hour. From what I understand I will be taken off the mag around 10:30am tomorrow. They will check me again at this point then keep me for another couple hours to make sure the contractions don't pick up again. As long as there is no more cervical change and the contractions have stopped I should be able to go home tomorrow. We asked the nurse practicioner when she came in today how long I would have to stay on bedrest. From what she said it sounds like I will only have to be on partial bedrest until 34 weeks. I will be 33 weeks on Friday, so it shouldn't be very much bedrest. It sounds like if I go into labor after 34 weeks they will just let baby come. I am hoping we can make it to at least 36 weeks. I would love to make it to 38 weeks so mom can be here. We shall see.

Now's the time!

One of these days, you'll shout "Why don't you kids grow up and act your age?!" And they will. Or you'll say, "Kids, get out and find yourselves something to do...and don't slam the door!" And they won't.
You'll straighten the boy's bedroom neat and tidy and smooth...toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet with clothes attatched. Animals caged. And you'll say out loud, "Now, I want it to stay like this!" And it will.
You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you'll say "Now, there's a meal for company!" And you'll eat it alone.
You'll say "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around, no pantomimes, no demolition crews, Silence! Do you hear?" And you'll have it.
No more plastic placemats stained with spaghetti. No more spreads to protect sofas from damp bottoms and dusty shoes. No more gates to tumble over in the door of the baby's room. No more Hot Wheels or Barbie dolls under the couch. No more playpens to arrange a room around.
No more anxious nights under a vaporizer. No more cracker crumbs in the sheets. No more wall-to-wall water in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches. No wet, knotted shoelaces, pants with knees out, or rubberbands for ponytails.
Imagine a lipstick with a point on it. Not having to get a baby-sitter on New Year's eve. Family washing only once a week. Seeing steak that isn't ground. Marketing with only groceries in the basket. No more car pools. No more blaring radios or Sesame Street three times a day on TV. No more washing her hair at 9 o'clock at night. No more wondering where the family car is. Having your own roll of scotch tape.
Think about it. No more Christms presents out of construction paper and glue. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No more giggles in the dark. No knees to heal. No responsibility. Only a voice crying, "Why don't you grow up?!" And a silence echoing, "I did!"

More adventures with Sam.

The kids had been patient all day long. Because of the storms today they weren't able to swim when they wanted to. Finally around 6:00 mom and I decided to let them swim. We put floaties on everyone and watched them swim as we sat in the porch swing right beside the pool. Valery came out and we sat there talking while the kids swam. Eli was the first to be finished swimming so I took his floaties off and he headed inside to the bath. Sam was next. We pulled him out and took his floaties off. Sam was playing on the deck with Addy. My eyes were on the pool the whole time. All of the sudden I saw 2 white swim shirts in the pool and neither one had floaties on (Nate and Sam both have white swim shirts, but Sam always has his floaties on). Immediately I jumped up and into the pool and grabbed Sam. I'm not really sure how it happened. I guess Sam jumped in the pool without floaties and Nate saw him. Nate yelled "Sam!" and jumped in after him. Nate was trying to hold Sam up and rescue him. When I came up with Sam in my arms, Valery looked at me and said "What are you doing?! You are 6 months pregnant." It never crossed my mind to yell at Val or Mom to jump in a get him. I just did what I had to do. My kid was in danger! I was fully clothed in a nice new skirt. I always wondered how I would react in a situation like that. I guess now I know. Ruthie and I are fine. She has been moving good all night. I'm thankful because for a few seconds I forgot I was pregnant. Apparently Sam is going to test my parenting skills. First White Water and now this. I'm afraid to ask, "What's next?"

White Water Adventure

Yesterday the boys and I went to White Water with Valery and her family. Places like that are never very much fun for me because of my 2 year old color code yellow son. He is so much fun, but he is also sooooooo crazy! He is such a daredevil and into everything. I was having to watch him very closely at the Rain Tree because he kept trying to go up the big slides instead of down. The lifeguards kept rescuing him. So we moved to the little kid area via the lazy river where I thought he would be safer. Again, he went straight to the bottom of the slides and tried to climb up. There are parts of the kiddie area that are about 12 inches deep. He kept putting his face under the water and trying to swim. Since i know him I knew he was fine, but the life guards kept trying to rescue him again thinking he was drowning. There were several times that I couldn't locate him for a few seconds and panicked. I got tired, so I decided to head back to our chairs. Val and TJ decided to take the 3 bigger kids to do some of the big rides. I had Addy and Sam and we were getting hungry, so we went to the snack bar to get some lunch. While we were in line Val showed up with Ari. Then TJ showed up with Nate and Eli. I kind of motioned Sam and Addy over to Val so I could finish ordering. My first mistake was to assume Val had the kids. It was totally my fault. I got complacent. I was ordering when Addy came up to me and said, "Auntie Em, where's Sammy?". I looked up expecting to be able to point him out to her immediately only to see that he was no where to be found. I looked at Val and said, "Where's Sam?". She looked around and couldn't find him either. Immediately I grabbed the older 4 and made them stand against the wall and Val and TJ went in opposite directions looking for him and calling his name. I started shaking and praying. We were right by the wave pool and the lazy river. I knew Sam had a life jacket on, but I also knew it hadn't done very well with it when we were in the lazy river before. I saw a lifeguard walking by and grabbed her and told her my 2 year old son was missing and I needed her to let the other lifeguards in the park know. She started trying to get that announcement made. Later Val said she had seen a little boy that looked like Sam in the lazy river but then saw an older boy with him so assumed it wasn't him. She said something told her to check the lazy river again. When she looked again the little boy was telling the lifeguard that someone lost their baby. I heard her yell "Emily!" and when I looked she was running in the water down the lazy river. I thought she was just going around seeing if she could see him because I couldn't see him or the boy talking to the lifeguard. I guess she hollered at the lifeguard that the baby was hers. I'm still standing by the snack bar with the other kids, and the lifeguard is still trying to get the announcement made when Val comes walking up with Sam in her arms. I can't even tell you the relief that came over me. I have never been so scared in my life. I felt totally helpless. Thankfully God was watching over Sam yesterday. Thankfully that little boy was in the lazy river and nice enough to help Sam. Thankfully my wonderful sister can run well in water. Thank you so much Val! It's a good lesson never to assume someone else is watching the kids. Thank the Lord yesterday turned out to be a fun, memorable day instead of a tragic one.

I was relieved later in the day when Sam started to get tired and slowed down. This is how Sam spent the last hour of our day at White Water.


That was the most relaxing hour of the day!!!

Frills!

Solid Rock Cafe

First girl purchase

I couldn't resist. I went out and bought something girly. Greg picked out the first one. I picked out the second one.

It seems like we have been waiting forever to find out who our little one is. I'm now 20 weeks pregnant. Friday was our BIG ultrasound day. I went in totally expecting a little boy. When the dr. told me it's a girl I about passed out. She went back and looked 4 times. I wanted to be sure! It's for sure. We are having a little girl. Her name will be Ruth Ayelen. Ruth after my granny and after Greg's grandma. My middle name is Ruth too. I had a dream yesterday about a Ruth Eileen. When I woke up I went to my baby name book and started going through it. I started with the A's. A logical place. I came across the name Ayelen. It is a Mapuche name. These people live in Chile and Argentina. Since Greg grew up in Chile he immediately loved it. It's very important to me that the name has a good meaning too. Ayelen means joy. Perfect. So our little girl is Ruth Ayelen! We can't wait to meet you princess!

The joy of being mommy.

Today marked another momentous day at my house. Nate lost his 2nd tooth. The first one was lost about a month ago. Today the 2nd bottom tooth came out. He was so excited! We called grandmama right away. I went to get a baggie to put the tooth in and label it so we could leave it for the tooth fairy tonight. Nate had been carrying it around with him for about 3 minutes. I told him about 1200 times in that 3 minutes "Don't drop it". I held the bag out to him so he could put the tooth inside and what does he do? DROPS IT!!!! Right into the couch. I tried to recover it, but it slipped further down beyond where I could see. I stick my arm into the couch hoping it will be there, but no luck. What do I do? Like any good mother I proceed to tear apart the couch so my crying 6 1/2 year old can leave his tooth for the tooth fairy. After a good 20 minutes trying to locate the tooth I give up. My arm is now red and scratched up, but what else could I do? I reassured Nate that he could leave a note for the tooth fairy and I'm sure she will understand. Ugh! If only he would have listened to me! Anyway, here is a picture of Nate and his new hole.

It's time to fight back.

I've been reading a wonderful book called "Bringing up Boys" by Dr. James Dobson. With a house full of boys I thought it couldn't hurt. I am so glad I decided to read this book. It has changed my life forever. In this book Dr.Dobson talks about how we as parents have an obligation to our boys (children really, but his book is dealing mainly with boys). It talks about how our society and culture have had a horribly negative effect on our boys. I was starting to question if I would be homeschooling next year, but after reading this book I have never been more convinced that homeschooling is the right choice for my family.

Here are a couple paragraphs from Chapter 14 of this book entitled "Predators". "First, let's give priority to our children. In days gone by, the culture acted to shield them from harmful images and exploitations. Now it's open season for even the youngest among us. Let's put the welfare of our boys ahead of our own convenience and teach them the difference between right and wrong. They need to hear that God is the author of their rights and liberites. Let's teach them that He loves them and holds them to a high level of moral accountability.
Second, let's do everything in our power to reverse the blight of violence and lust that has become so pervasive across this land. Let's demand that the entertainment moguls stop producing moral pollutants. Let's recapture from the courts that system of self-rule that traditionally allowed Americans' to debate their deepest differences openly and reach workable solutions together. Radical individualism is destroying us! Postmodernism is a cancer that rots the soul of humanity. The creed that proclaims, "If it feels good, do it!" has filled too many hospitals with drug-overdosed teenagers, too many prison cells with fatherless youth, too many caskets with slain young people, and caused too many tears for bewildered parents. Finally, let's vow together to set for our children the highest standards of ethics and morality and to protect them, as much as possible, from evil and death. Our families can't be perfect, but they can be better - much better."

I have to fight first for my boys, but I am also obligated as a Christian to fight for those boys who don't have anyone willing to fight for them!

Baby #4 Belly

Just wanted to post a quick picture of my ever growing belly. I look about 6 months pregnant, but I'm only 13 weeks 3 days. Guess my body just remembered what to do.

Silly Sam!

Happy 5th Birthday Elijah!

I can't believe it's been 5 years since you were born. Amazing how fast time flies. I remember sitting in the car on the way to the hospital saying, "March 11th, Elijah Montgomery's birthday!" Seems like yesterday. I love you so much buddy and I am so proud of the big boy you are becoming. You have a fire in you and God is going to use that! Follow God sweetheart and you will succeed in whatever you do. I love you so much!!

Baby #4 Update

On March 10th we went to our regular OB appt. Since our specialist appt. got moved to the 19th my dr. decided to do another ultrasound to see if she still saw anything or not. In her words "I still want you to go to the specialist to get the official ok, but unofficially your baby is perfect!" That was music to our ears. We are so thankful for all the prayers that went up for our little baby. We know God has answered them. We will be going to the specialist next thursday. We are confident that we will recieve the same news then. Here is a picture of our little one.

Pregnancy Update

I've been pretty sick this pregnancy. More sick than I was with the boys. Very tired too. I have had to take naps in the afternoon and then I still end up in bed around 9:00 at night. I have realized that going to bed earlier at night helps the morning sickness. I will be 10 weeks tomorrow. I feel like the sickness is starting to ease up. I feel pretty good today. Only have a headache. I've had a lot of those lately.





Two weeks ago we went in for our early ultrasound. We got to see our beautiful baby and see the heart beating away. My dr. was concerned with something she saw on the ultrasound. She said the umbilical cord or the area around it looked a little different than she is used to seeing. She mentioned the word Gastroschisis. It is a type of inherited congenital abdominal wall defect in which the intestines and sometimes other organs develop outside the fetal abdomen through an opening in the abdominal wall. She has referred us to a genetic specialist who will do a more detailed ultrasound and run some other tests on March 13th. From research I have done I have found that the possibility of her seeing that particular defect on ultrasound that early is next to impossible. We are believing that all is well and come March 13th the specialist will send us away saying we have a perfectly healthy baby. I will be 12 weeks on March 13th. According to more research I have done that is the earliest point possible where we might be able to see if we are having a boy or girl. I'm hoping the detailed ultrasound can reveal that for us. We have pretty much decided on names although I am having second thoughts on the girls name.





If we have another boy his name will be Benjamin Gabriel.


Right now if we have a girl her name will be Zoe Ruth. Zoe is the name I'm having second thoughts about. Personally I would love to use the name Mabel Ruth, but Greg hates Mabel. Says it sounds too old. I love the meaning though. Mabel means "loveable". So cute! In my opinion anyway. We'll see.





Nate, Eli and Sam are doing good. When going to bed Nate always says, "Good night to the baby!". Nate has decided he would like to try the "big school". I have a call into the school here to see if he can visit sometime next week to see how things really are. We'll see! I think Eli is really dealing with the thoughts of having to compete with another child. So far I think he is having the hardest time trying to figure out what adding another baby means. I can feel his mind going all the time. We are going on a date tonight! I'm excited! Sam is a non-stop chatter box. The kid never quits. His new favorite phrase is, "What you doing?" It's so cute and so annoying at the same time.

Until later! Love and Blessings!

FFFB

FFFB= Fourth and Final Fish Baby



That's right, I'm having another baby! I've always wanted 5 kids and Greg has always wanted 3, so when we got married we decided we would compromise at 4.



For the last week I had been noticing some pregnancy symptoms. A little bit of nausea (thankfully not too extreme), tiredness (I was falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon), more headaches, and just a general feeling that there was a baby growing inside of me. Well, yesterday at 4am I woke up and took a pregnancy test. This is what I saw. Can't get any more obvious than that. I was thrilled. I ran in and woke Greg up. This Christmas we got a card from a lady at the church. Inside it said "To Greg, Emily, Nathan, Elijah, Samuel and Baby Fish." At first I was offended and figured I better lose some weight. Then Greg said maybe the lady was a prophet. Turns out he was right and so was she. So that is how I broke the news to Greg. "Honey, turns out _______ is a prophet." Greg:"What?, Whatever." Emily: "I have the test to prove it. Wanna see?" Greg: "Whatever." Emily : "I'm serious, this is not a joke." It was pretty funny though. We are thrilled. He wasn't thrilled however that I woke him up at 4:30 am and he never got back to sleep. Oh well! We told the boys yesterday too. Both Nate and Eli looked at us and asked, "Really mom?" When we asked them if that would be ok, Nate said "yes", Eli said, "I dont' know yet." Guess you have to give white some time to process it. Sam just laid his head on my shoulder. Later I was helping the kids get ready for church. I was wearing drawstring shorts and had my shirt pulled down over the strings, so you could see the bulk from the strings though the shirt. Nate looked at it and pointed and said, "Mom, what is that?" I told him it was the strings and he said, "Oh, I thought it was a baby's foot." Too cute!

The baby is due to join our family on Sept. 25th. We are praying for a normal pregnancy. NO BEDREST! NO EARLY CONTRACTIONS! Health and happiness for everyone. We are so excited to meet the newest member of our family. I have my first dr.'s appt. next Wednesday at 1:40, so I'll update when I get back.

It's a conspiracy!!!

Please watch this short video. I could change your life!

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/


Greg and I have decided to join the advent conspiracy this year. So many things have changed in our lives over the last year and it's only getting better. We are really becoming aware of what is going on around the world. Things that so many people would rather ignore. I'm so excited about this. I guess some people will think of us as freaks. I don't care! I'm not buying Christmas lights this year. I will use the ones I already have, but I won't be buying any more.
I recently saw an interview with a chinese Christian who was abused at a factory in China while making Christmas lights. It is wrong the way these people are being treated and some are very young children.
"No company has come under as harsh a spotlight as Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, which sourced about $9 billion in goods from China in 2006, everything from hammers and toys to high-definition televisions. And so while American and European consumers worry about exposing their children to Chinese-made toys coated in lead, Chinese workers, often as young as 16, face far more serious hazards. Here in the Pearl River Delta region near Hong Kong, for example, factory workers lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year, according to a study published a few years ago by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "At Wal-Mart, Christmas ornaments are cheap, and so are the lives of the young workers in China who make them," the National Labor Committee report said. "

I'm not saying stop buying gifts, I'm just saying instead of buying 6 gifts per person, buy 3. We have started with our kids. Each child gets 3 gifts. That is how many Jesus got, so that is how many they get. We also go through their toys a couple times a year and give away some to kids in Matamoros, Mexico. It is a way for the kids to sacrifice. It isn't easy for them, but it's good for them. Giving is not always easy for adults either, but it is good for us.

We always hear that if you give God will bless you. Today Greg and I had proof of that. While I was in Joplin the window on my van broke. It is rolled down a little bit and won't go back up. We have taped it up with duct tape. We know it needs to be fixed, but other things have priority since the tape is working fine right now (like giving). We decided to partner with http://www.kiva.org/ It is a micro loan organization that gives loans to entrepeneurs around the world so they can start providing for their families. We gave $150 in loans yesterday. 7 $25 loans to 7 different people. These are loans. We will get the money back when the businesses of these people become profitable. When the loans are paid back you can take your money or put it back into the progam for more people. This is what we will be doing. We also gave more cash to our church this morning beyond our tithe. It was a little bit of a stretch for us, but we felt we needed to do it even though we needed to fix the window. The spanish church threw Greg a surprise birthday party after church. They presented him with an card. Inside was $250 and a gas card!!! See how God blessed us? Now we have the money to fix the window and our giving didn't suffer.
All because we stepped out in faith. God has taken care of us everytime we have needed Him. When we worship God by trusting Him amazing things happen.


The slogan for the advent conspiracy, "Worship fully, spend less, give more, love all."

DEFINATELY!!

I think the church needs to get ready. Our nation is going through some hard times, and it's predicted that it's only going to get worse. The church needs to get ready. It's during hard times that people turn to God. The church needs to get ready. People are going to be searching for something to give their lives meaning. The church nees to get ready. We have that something . The church needs to get ready. God is going to use what was ment for bad to bring about good. The church needs to get ready. I can feel a revival coming on. The church needs to get ready. Awesome things are beginning to happen. Church, are you ready?

Soccer season

I know this is my 3rd post today. I guess I'm just playing catch up. Soccer season is finally here. After a rough start (mainly with Eli), we are finally getting the hang of it. This is Nate's 2nd year to play. I am amazed how much he had improved over last year. He has become quit the player. He plays defense. He is always back by the goal and whenever the ball gets near he kicks it out. He has saved his team many times! I'm so proud. His team is the Scorpions.

Eli has scored 2 goals already this season. The first one was kind of accidental, but the 2nd one he ment to go in. It was great! We had a little trouble motivating him at first. His new favorite phrases are "That is soooo stupid!" and "It's so boring!". I can't stand it when he says that. Anyway, he thought soccer was soooo stupid and soooo boring! I tried it all to motivate him. Finally I came up with something. It worked and he has been doing awesome since. I'm so proud of him. He is actually enjoying it too. IMAGINE! Eli's team is the Cougars!

Happy Halloween!!

Tonight we went to "Boo at the Zoo". It was a lot of fun. The boys love it. Well, maybe not Nate so much. He hates the scary costumes. Eli would go up to the tables and say "trick or treat" 3 or 4 times trying to get more candy. Here are our little men.

I think the highlight of the evening was seeing the storm trooper from Star Wars. Nate and Eli both are big Star Wars fans right now.

Turns of life.

Lots of things have been going on lately. Some are great and some not so much. First of all, my mother in law was diagnosed with breast cancer. It really was a shock for everyone. She has now had a masectomy and is recovering. We should know today what stage the cancer is at. My grandparents have had cancer. I guess maybe I was in denial when that happened. Maybe I thought if I didn't really acknowledge it it would just go away. I guess now that I am a little older I am realizing just how devestating cancer can be. I used to walk past all of the pink ribbons without thinking about it. Now I have a pink magnet ribbon on the back of my van, a pink bracelet that says "hope", 2 different pink pens, and an m&m bag full of pink m&ms. Pink now catches my eye. My mom told me this week that I would be better off to just send $20 to the organization than buy all of this stuff. But to me the pink makes a statement. It's a reminder to me too to pray. To pray not only for my mother in law but for all those who are fighting. For all those doctors working on a cure. One day it will happen!

A month ago my in laws came down for a visit. It was a great time for everyone. Here are a few pics.

Last week my parents were here. They did another color code conference. Greg was a little worried at first because it didn't seem like we had many registered. We were so pleased when about 60 showed up. I think it was a great time for everyone. Here are some pics from that week.