Chloe Brianne!!!

Well our sweet girl made her grand arrival with style and grace last Tuesday. I fretted and fretted over all the details that preceeded delivery day, only to find out that God absolutely answered every prayer and made it just as perfect as only He could do!! I started contracting over our morning coffee, went into the office for a check around lunch and found out we were on our way to her coming. My best buddy Vicki of 8 1/2 yrs, who started the same week as me in L&D asked her manager and left her 2nd job early to come and be my personal labor nurse! My doctor, who wasn't on call said she'd go home and get her kids settled and head over to be my personal doctor for the delivery that evening! Who'd have thought I got my own personal picks of delivery team! By 10 o'clock that night I was moving along nicely, by 10:15 I started pushing and at 10:49 we welcomed our girl into the world. It was a beautiful moment, I got to cut the cord, and Brian and I both enjoyed (once she was out!) the wonderful gift that God was giving us. We were much more with it this time around. Not having been up all night as with Abigail's delivery we weren't zombies and got some really good pictures and videos. Vicki was a doll to stick it out with us, it meant the world to me for her to be there. She was also my nurse for Abigail's delivery so it was very special. Our stay in the hospital went by fast as I remember with Abigail. We had limited visitors due the joys of delivering a baby amidst a swine flu pandemic! But it was ok, we made a mad dash for the door as soon as our 48 hours was up at 11pm Thursay night. We raced home to introduce our sweet Chloe to her very excited big sister. We stayed up till almost 1 in the morning just being together as a new family of 4, taking turns holding the little peanut and taking lots more pictures. :) It was a beautiful week and we praise God for just making it more special then we could have imagined. Welcome home and into our world Chloe Brianne!!!

we got "Flocked" by NCCC

Well, we are out to make a good impression on our neighborhood. We awoke this rainy morning to a lovely array of cheap pink flamingos in our lawn. Just feeling the love from our funny church and it's youth group's efforts to go on a mission trip. They came up with a way to raise money and it's working very well. Pay 20 $ and you can have the youth "flock" another family of the church. They show up on your lawn, you leave a note of the next family you want to get and they come and remove them and take them the next night to another family. Take a picture to leave in the foyer of church and we all get a good laugh. It's funny, and it's working. Needless to say the Bit got a kick out of finding them today...sorry we couldn't keep them but Mommy said they had to go.

not much longer now!

Well I need to seriously be journaling some of the crazy emotions and planning surrounding around our family home these days. Thing are so drastically about to change (as if this year hasn't changed us enough) we've saved the best change for last. As mommy's 'dary' large belly is displaying so proudly these days Miss Chloe bird is coming...and soon! Er go I'm up post taking of sleeping aid with excitement and thoughts that I want to put down soon before she spits out and I'm too busy to blog again for a while. The fam is ready for the arrival of our latest addition. Most of all , I think I can safely say that Abigail Grace is beyond ready for her baby sister to arrive. She speaks of her non stop, she shuffles past me and pats my belly as she holds her orange juice/coffee in the other and utters "sweet baby Cwhowee" and keeps on walking. She's been an enormous support to her hormonal and slow mommy. Daddy has been our tower of strength as we ride the ups and downs of my moods and needs through it all. He's ready to meet this wild thing #2 and see what she brings to the family table. For the record we are 37 and 2 days pregnant, just over 2 months into our new home, pooped from hours of mutual overtime spent on both mine and Brian's jobs to prepare for sed baby on the way and one 3 yr old keeping us all grounded w/ priorities of the simple joys of just getting here and getting into what's coming. A changing family life, a new addition is a wonderful joyous thing and we are all ready to focus on her now. We've not been able to focus like we would have liked this year full of so many trials. From hey baby we're having another baby to, oh we'll need to treat that whole brain tumor thing first, to we really need to get the house sold before the baby comes to moving around 7 mo pregnant and oh by the way Aunti Dee is taking the wedding vows in the middle of it all too. Now....as Abigail loves to declare with her arms outstretched in her princess fashion...."it's Octooooober now mommy". As if to say we got here mommy, you said we would. Now can we focus on the coolest thing of all, another life, another family member, you promised it would be in Octoooober!! We couldn't be anymore excited for it to finally be October. And what a beautiful one it's been. Our leaves look beautiful outside our new windows. We had corn chowder on the stove and hot spiced up apple cider simmering all afternoon. The temperatures tell us each day, this trying long hot summer is finally ending for this pooped out family and a new season is opening up for us all. Some much needed family time, some rest. Some long dinners and bring out the blankets to snuggle together on the couch together w/ popcorn and watch them make cakes on food network. We are anticipating that this little bird will show herself soon. Not too soon, but when she's ready. Her nursery may not have all her red polka dots finished yet. But all we really need is a mommy's arms and a good milk supply, a daddy to keep the rest going while we remember how to schedule and listen to the demands of the newest opinion to the group. Some family to stop in and remind a tired Bit that she too is still special amidst a lot of changes. And a realization that God has done it once again. He's grown His kingdom and what an awesome priviledge and joy to be a part of. Brian and I accept the challange with a team spirit and deep love for what we have started and will finish. Just on the heels of our 7 yr wedding anniversary we know from experience, hard times test us on so many levels, children bless us on so many other levels, and amidst it all I still adore the man I chose to do this with and he's pretty ok w/ being my partner through it all too. :) We pray together that as these events unfold over the next weeks that God's will be done. I want Abigail to visit me in the hospital, we WILL get her past security guards with the help of our beloved 007 Aunti Dee and her knowledge of the inner structures of the hospital. I will put the safety of Chloe, the Bit and me first before I get worked up at what it means to have a baby during a pandemic. In the grand scheme of things I just want my family safe happy and home as soon as possible. God is so good cause He's worked out the details already for us. I can sleep on that truth. He "knows the plans he has for us".. doesn't He!? Such an amazing time in the life of our family. I'm glad we're on this end not back in January when it all seemed so terrifying and uncertain. God got us through, he got us over so many obsticals. Pretty much Brian's and my life have been some pretty good obsticals. Like my favorite quote from a wise and Godly woman Beth Moore once said, "after all, He's not interested in our comfort, only our calling". To some it's comfort, for us it's been a calling. But there's so much joy in the rest after the storm and the roads he leads us down. Praise God for his faithfullness, pray to God for his conitnued faithfullness. We have a long way to go yet. We're excited to start the next chapter with this new life right now though. Wonder what she'll be like, who she'll take after, and if she has a clue how ready her sister, mother and father are ready to love her as she is. We can't wait to meet her. We love her already!!! Bring it on Chloe Brianne, we're ready when you are!

pumpkin patch

my girl who found the one green pumpkin and would have nothing else







took her a minute to realize the hay ride was a good idea, she was a little scared for a while. :)




waving like little apple trees during the lesson, poor baby... I didn't realize that shirt didn't fit till after we got out there.







We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful expression of God's glory in His creation on this perfect fall day we had last week. The sky and colors were just amazing as we headed out for Abigail's first field trip in her new school. A rough start when mommy didn't read the directions right and we met at the wrong orchard, even showing up 5 minutes early (which I NEVER do!!) only to find no other kids or parents. A sweet (and calm) little Amish lady mentioned that other parents making the same mistake were about to follow a bus in the parking lot to the correct location. So in my sweaty very gestationally advanced state I pulled the Bit across the parking lot to our car, got her.....mostly buckled in and squealed out of the gravel to catch up to the bus. God really does have special angels for me when I get like that. No sleep from a long 13 hour day in labor and delivery and getting in the night before after midnight and I got a little frazzled!! But luckily my good engine and a lot of prayer got us caught up. While Abigail sang w/ innocent delight to her own tune in the back seat "gotta catch the bus, me and mommy need to catch the bus....". I love that she doesn't feel my tizziness sometimes!!! Well, on an empty tank we pulled into the middle of nowhere in the gorgeous country to a rolling farm of apple trees and mountains for the morning. There was a presentation of life in the old days in an incredibly old house dating pre 1800's that taught the kids about chores and play time. We had a hillside lesson on apple growing and picking followed lastly by a hay ride. A little challenging I must say climbing into and bouncing behind a John Deer tractor on hay bails at 9 mo pregnant but we managed and had a great time. I do think the man in the nice business attire beside me was a little afraid that he got stuck sitting by me as I tried to support belly and Bit w/ my two hands. :) The end of the day they led us to a real pumpkin patch and let all the kids pick their own pumpkin. Abigail went straight for the only green one and insisted on taking it home. I love her desire to want the unique in this world. The other little girl had to go back to the field with her grandfather once she saw that 'Abigail got a green one'. We parted ways and headed out w/ some good pictures and smiles to a coffee shop to recharge a very pooped mommy with a nice and festive pumpkin spice latte and a big ole glass of milk for Abigail. We munched on a couple big tasty muffins sitting for more then 30 minutes just enjoying each other's company on a beautiful breezy day. I soaked up every bit of our mommy daughter morning. Another good one for the memory bank for sure!!