Our sweet blessing

We are completely in love.

We thank God for this precious gift.

Oren is fitting into our family perfectly.

ohhhhh, his tiny toes

This girl is a great big sister! I couldn't be more proud of her.

My hormones are raging.

I weep easily, I am tired, I am OVERJOYED!

I pray I can just focus on the now and enjoy the now.

Oren Paul is an incredible blessing from God.

We Welcome Oren Paul

I don't think I could begin to express our joy and thanksgiving.

Oren is most truly a dream come true.

Thank you God for this sweet, chunky baby boy!!

Oren Paul joined our family at 10 a.m. Monday morning weighing 9 pounds and is 21 inches long!

Oren came via scheduled c-section. The surgery went well and meeting our guy felt and feels so incredibly wonderful.

Oren, three days

These days are precious.

Baby Boy

ohhhhh! I can hardly wait! I am so excited to hold this baby boy in my arms!
We have had a great day today! Merit tried out for All Stars and made the team! His try outs were this morning. Will and Hazel have been pals running around all day. Those two have quite the relationship and friendship. It makes me smile. Vance has worked outside, he cooked a steak dinner, I folded and smiled over all the onesies and sleepers and put them in the baby boy's dresser.

I am washing sheets, rugs, baby boys things... but with a family of five, soon to be six, the laundry is never really DONE. ;)

My camera card is not being recognized by my computer.What a bad time for that to happen when I KNOW I will want to blog pictures over the next week!

Willem and Merit would really like it if our baby boy came this weekend! He might... but otherwise it looks like Monday.

God is good and this journey has been WONDERFUL! I feel very blessed!

Prayers for a smooth C-section and healthy little guy would be so appreciated.

Raising Boys... and one super sweet girl

Raising Boys

I love the ages of our boys. To be honest, when our boys were 7 and 4 I couldn't imagine they would be just as fun at 10 and 7 - but they are. :)

And now adding a baby boy to the family seems really wonderful.

I have been washing the sweet little onesies and sleepers in Dreft. My doctor appts are weekly. I am thinking a lot about about bringing a newborn home. Preparing for the arrival of this little guy.

Thanking God that he will have two awesome big brothers and a super sweet sister!

Boy, boy, girl, boy - what a great combo!

Looking back...

 ohhhhh and he will be so blessed to have THIS GIRL for a sister!

Weekend Fun

This past weekend was busy but a lot of fun. Papa Stan and Gramma Adie came to town.

My brother Matt and his buddy Garrett were also here for the weekend.

Saturday we watched two great games of baseball. Between games we had a

BBQ here. It was fun to hang out, visit, enjoy the weather and watch baseball!

Sunday, three more games and three more wins.

Merit pitching

Five games, five wins -- it was so fun!

Willem and Fischer

Friendships, Tea Party Fun, Being Encouraged

I have been so encouraged by friendships over the past few weeks.
God is good and certainly provides encouragement through friendships!
Also, Hazel enjoyed her cousin Kendal's fourth birthday party/tea party last weekend. Hazel thought it was incredibly fun! Very pink, very pretty, the perfect party for little girls.

Kendal and Hazel chatting it up!

Time for tea

Kendal Grace

Last week I spent an evening at a dear friends celebrating another friend's 40th birthday!

It was a really great night of conversation, tears and laughter. I left smiling and so incredibly thankful for these women.

My friend Katie hosted a wonderful lunch in Royal City a couple of weeks ago, when three of us April birthdays got to chat and laugh. Hazel played with Maddie and Maddie's new kittens and had a fantastic afternoon. Yesterday, Aubrey hosted brunch at her home and again I had a great afternoon with wonderful women.

While loving this time I think too on those whose lives are sort of on hold right now or are at a difficult place. My friend Heather's daughter Lilly is battling leukemia. She is only five. My heart breaks daily for this sweet girl and her mama, for her whole family. I pray and pray and take comfort in knowing God hears my prayers. Saturday, Heather and my paths crossed and I had a good visit with her. She is amazing. Please pray for them.

I think of my sister Natasha whose life is sort of on hold right now. She is just having to get by day by day with some pain and discomfort and not being able to use her left side much at all. A family really depends on the mom/wife to be there, be strong, have energy... Right now she is limited. I think everyone feels a bit misplaced. I hope her recovery just goes smoothly and that her family is patient while she recovers. I rest a bit easier knowing she has this ICD. I am sorry that this defective heart gene is a concern to our family. But no one ever said life would be easy.

This baby boy will be born in 18 days or less. We are SO EXCITED to meet him!! I am ready in some ways, but yet, I have a lot of things to do before he arrives!! It hardly seems real that he will be here so soon! I get winded easily, I pee a lot, I LOVE to feel him move and I thank God often for this pregnancy! :)

My mom's birthday was on Tuesday. I miss her always. She was so fun and EASY TO BE AROUND. She was prayerful, encouraging, funny. I really want an afternoon with her. I think of how much she enjoyed her kids and just really invested in us. She was a great example and I think one of the reasons I love being a mom so much is because of her example and attitude. I want to have five children too! (Okay Vance, that was for you) I really should give a shout out to my husband. I am so random, kind of messy, we were "done" after three kids and now here baby #4 is almost here... because he loves me so much. I am not only encouraged by friendships. I am encouraged by my husband and my children too.

Prayers for a smooth delivery and a strong baby boy would be appreciated.

I am feeling so, so blessed.