A Few Moments of Quiet

Neal took Anna Grace and Dean on a "daddy date" to get ice cream and Caleb is currently napping. It is not very often that the house is this quiet during the afternoon.

I don't exactly know where to begin it has been so long since I have blogged. Within the past month our family spent a week at the beach. Yes we had our video camera and our still camera but it is hard to find time to take pictures in that very uncontrolled environment called "the beach." We did take a couple of pictures but they are still on the camera and I always choose for Neal to get pictures off of the camera - lazy I know. It was a wonderful trip though; we were all sad (maybe not Caleb) to pack the car and return home. Anna Grace declared that we should just move there. When I asked about coming back to Birmingham to get Sam she said, "Mama, I think he would just run away down here so we don't have to go get him." I guess we now know were Sam the dog fits in Anna Grace's life!

Within this past month (or maybe a little longer but not much) we have also discovered that I am pregnant. It was a surprise to Neal and me to say the least. We are excited and are thankful that God continues to bless and grow our family. Anna Grace has probably been the most excited the whole time. She tells everyone she meets - or doesn't meet for that matter but allows her a few seconds of airtime to blurt it out - "Mama has a baby growing in her tummy. I can't wait to meet HER." She also went so far as to name this baby, Anna; she has given Dean the privilege of deciding her middle name. Now lets be very clear here - I am 14 weeks pregnant (have known since I was 10 weeks); we have no idea what the baby's sex is. That being said, I am praying like a crazy person that it is a girl for Anna Grace's sake. She has wanted a sister for some time now. Last fall she said on her "What I am thankful for" craft at Bible study "my little sister." At the time I laughed it off since there were no discussions of more children around here. Dean has not said much about it all which comes as no real surprise. He does say when he is particularly enjoying a meal - "My baby likes this food." Even though Anna Grace has made it very clear to him that boys cannot have babies but it is okay for him to pretend - she is such a little mama. As for me, I am making it. I have actually been a little less sick this go around but I think lots of it has been learning things in the past that work for me and God has been extremely gracious to our family. If this pregnancy stays the course of the others I should have about 4 or 5 more weeks of sickness before I start to feel well.

As for other news around here, Anna Grace has begun ballet. I am pretty sure she really likes it because she gets mad that her class doesn't last longer. She twirls around the house now perfecting her moves. I have asked her if she learned that at ballet and she assures me she did not it is just something she made up in her head.

Dean is starting "school" (MDO) on Tuesday and very excited. While at the beach he picked out a cool space/alien lunch bag. We shall see how the first day goes. I am pretty sure he is excited and feels like a big boy. He is growing up so fast it seems literally and figuratively; he is almost as tall as Anna Grace these days - not saying too much because she is still petite.

Not much has changed with Caleb. He is still a fireball and a handle. Neal and I laugh saying his hobbies are eating, carrying around the wii remote (one desperate afternoon he even napped with it) and terrorizing his brother and sister. He loves them so much and wants to have their attention. He will persistently pat them (sometimes it is more of a hit) until they stop doing what they are doing and acknowledge. Unfortunately for him their response at first is usually, "CALEB!!!" Needless to say, we spend a great deal of our time talking about loving behavior - loving responses and modeling loving behavior.

As for me, I have just reread Words that Hurt, Words that Heal. Just seeing the book on the bookshelf brings conviction so mustering up the courage to read it and examine my life (my speech in particular) is always hard. I am always thankful that I read it and finish it thinking I really should read it more. I find myself praying throughout the day, "'Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door to my lips' (Psalm 141:3) that I may not sin against thee." This time however the conviction from reading that book hit a little closer to home. I want desperately to teach my children's speech to bring glory to God; however as I read and watched our family life I saw things in our children that I did not like (for example the major sass in Anna Grace; not mean or ugly but the way she get's Dean to do just about whatever she wants by the way she speaks to him) and knew that it was me they were learning from. I was teaching them the very things I myself am trying to eliminate from my life. It is hard for a child to learn when to speak and when to listen when it is not modeled before them. Having said all that, you are probably thinking "I don't want to read that" but I know at least for me it is a must read and read and read.

My quiet moment is over; they just came in the door and brought me some ice cream. Yeah!

So to sum it all up -
our three out of the womb are having a blast these days
#4 is on the way and trying to do me in
our blog name will have to change once again