So very excited!!

God has played a very HUGE role in both Jeremy and I's life. But I have to admit, as far as church attendance, we have not been the greatest. In Monroe,we had a student ministry that we were very involved in. When we moved to Jennings, we tried Bethel, where the girls eventually went to school. I hate to admit it but Bethel was never really a church home for us. We always felt like we didn't quite fit in and so it was a real struggle to attend church on Sunday or Wednesdays. Jeremy became a member at Bethel because that is where he was baptized. I still remained a member at the church I grew up in.

This past Sunday, we joined a new church. We have visited it several times and it was so welcoming from the start. Everytime I would leave thier church services, I always wanted to go back for more. I wanted to join after the second visit but Jeremy was a little more cautious. Finally, Sunday, he was ready to join too. The people there are so nice and welcoming. I am ready to become involved and meet people. It hasn't been since high school (at the church where I grew up) that I had a REAL church home. I miss the friendships and the learning experiences that come with going to church regularly. I also want my kids to grow up with a church family that will teach them and support them.

Finding a church is another step towards making Mandeville our home. We are still adjusting to this new home town and hopefully this is a good step forward.

Thank goodness June is over!!

Well our June started off really nice with our vacation but then everything went down hill. The last day and a half of our vacation, Ayden began to run a pretty high fever. It got to where we were rotating Motrin and Tylenol every 2hrs just to keep his fever down. On the 3rd day of this fever(we were home by this time), his lips broke out with what looked like fever blisters. I had never seen a baby have fever blisters so young but I am prone to having them and so is Caroline so I thought maybe b/c his fever had gotten so high he broke out. At the end of the 3rd day, we realized that not only were the blisters on his lips but also all over the inside of his mouth.
So the next morning, Jeremy brought Ayden to the dr. He had hand, foot, and mouth disease. If you don't know what that is, LOOK IT UP, if you have kiddos or want them in the near future. Caroline had it when she was little but not nearly as bad as Ayden. I didn't think it could get that bad. For a week, unless he was sleeping he was crying or laying on my lap. He was HORRIBLY sick!! It actually took 2 weeks before he was getting back to normal. But let me take a step back, a week after Ayden started running fever, Thatcher started. So I had two sick kids for another week. Thatcher was not nearly as sick as Ayden but he ran the high fever and was miserable for about 2 weeks.
Now everything was getting back to normal this week when our A/C went out. It has been HOT HOT HOT at our house for about 3 days. The guys are here today fixing it. So yesterday, we used some of Jeremy's hotel points and stayed at a hotel with an indoor swimming pool so the kids could swim and sleep in a cool room. We all had a blast!!
July started yesterday and I am looking forward to this month being a little easier. Caroline has started basketball and is loving it. By the end of the month, I will have a nephew, Gabriel and next month Blake comes. We got some good news about Blake. They are looking at an induction date of Aug 15th or around there. I am really looking forward to the last part of our summer being less stressful than the first part!

Our trip to the beach and a Baby Blake update.

Today, I am 30 weeks pregnant. Everything seems to be going great. I lost 11lbs at the very begining of this pregnancy then gained it back. Today, I found out I lost 2lbs of the 11lbs that have returned. As far as weight gain, this has been my best pregnancy so far. I also found out Blake sounds healthy but is measuring at 33 weeks. Looks like we are gonna have another big baby. SURPRISE!! No, not really. Blake is measuring like Caroline did and Caroline was 9lbs 7ozs, which is big but not Thatcher big. So I am okay with it. It is very strange to thing in September, Jeremy and I will be the parents of 5 children.

On to our beach trip... WE HAD A BLAST!! We spent a ton of time in the pool and on the beach. Thatcher and Kylie loved the pool b/c the waves were extremely high on the days we were there. The red flag was out everyday except the last day when it was a yellow flag. The vacation started out with Kylie clinging to us in the pool scared to let go. By the end of it, she was doggie paddling across the whole pool without holding on to anyone. This was Thatch's first time in a big pool and he loved swimming with his daddy. He was very relaxed in the water. Caroline is our little water bug. She could swim constantly. She went out on the beach with me and I taught her how to body surf and the next day, Jeremy taught her how to dive under the waves to see what fish were swimming around through her goggles. Ayden was not bad but did not enjoy the water all that much. He had a hard time with the sun being so bright. He ended up running a high fever the last day but that is a whole other post in itself.

Since we have returned from vacation, life has been hectic to say the least. But that story is for another day.

Summer has begun

Well, it is official school is out. I am loving it. I like not having to be up at a certain time in the morning or having to be home at a certain time to see the girls off the bus. My big girls also help alot at home. Now I can go to the bathroom and Caroline can watch Ayden. They also help me pick up. I have horrible back pain with this pregnancy so bending and picking up toys or anything else kills me. The girls do most of the picking up for me.

We have been on our own pretty much for the last two weeks. Jeremy has a job that is last minute, so basically, all he has been doing it working either from home or at the office. It has been a bit overwhelming for me. Jeremy is a HUGE help. He takes a lot of stress off of me when he gets home from work. Lately, he gets home, eats, and gets back on his laptop to work some more. The kids are having a hard time b/c they miss playing with Daddy. Thank goodness it will all be over in a couple of days.

We are all very excited about going to the beach. My wonderful inlaws have rented a condo for a week on the beach and we are going to stay with them for 4 days. The kids are so excited!! Jeremy will be finished with this project so we will all be able to relax for a little while and enjoy each others company.

Right now, my mom and younger sister are visiting. It has been nice b/c they are helping out when Jeremy is working. My kids love when Granny and thier aunts come to visit. Another exciting news is Jeremy's sister will be coming home for awhile. She may even get a job here and stay. YIPEE!!

So as you can see our summer is moving forward pretty nicely. For our Baby Blake update, she is doing well and such a wiggle worm. I think she may be a soccer player. She kicks hard for only 28 weeks. Thatcher seems to have taken to this pregnancy much better than with Ayden's. He kisses my belly and asks what Blake is doing all the time. I am feeling okay. I have started walking more and it helps alot. I still have days where I feel very overwhelmed and totally exhausted but they seem to come less.

Our First visit Home..

As most of you know, we moved across the state over last Christmas. Since then we have been extremely busy unpacking, adjusting, and trying to make new friends. A couple of weeks ago, I took the boys with me for a couple of days during the week and went back home to visit my mom and her family. Well this past weekend, we were suppose to go back. It started with a canoe trip, that I desperately wanted to go on. The problem is that I can not, at 6 1/2 months preggo, sit in a canoe for 8 hours. My hips and back would not like me for awhile after that. So it was decided that Caroline (she didn't want to go canoeing), Ayden (he is too small),and I would travel home while Jeremy, Kylie, and Thatch went camping and canoeing over the weekend. That was the plan anyway, until Tuesday of last week when Kylie woke up with a horrible stomach virus that lasted 2 almost 3 days. We then decided that the canoe trip would be cancelled and Kylie and Caroline would come home with me. Being in a canoe all day, would have been too hot for Kylie after a week of being so sick. Jeremy would stay in Mandeville with the boys. Somehow, when our car left on Friday at 4pm, my whole family was in the car.

Our weekend was such a good one. Caroline was able to meet with her old school friends for lunch. We hung out with my mom and sisters and other close family friends. On the trip over there, when we got into Jennings (the town where the girls attended school), it was like they were at Disney World pointing out all of the sites that interested them. They squeeled when they saw thier old school. I overheard Kylie telling Caroline "Sissy, Mandeville is our fake home but Roanoke is our real home!".

It is so hard as a parent to hear things like that. My kids did a wonderful job adjusting to thier new school and home, but I know if they had a choice, they would jump at moving back. In my heart, I know that God's plan is for us to live here. I know that having thier Daddy home every afternoon means the world to my children. I just wish there was a way I could save them from the heartbreak. I wish I could save them from the tears and cries as we pull out the driveway to head back to Mandeville. I guess as a mother, I just want to shelter them from any hurt or ache. The reality of it is that all I can do is show them that sometimes we don't understand why God puts us in places until much later in life, sometimes we never know. But no matter what, He is there holding our hands and helping us through every step.

Mothers' Day

My Mothers'Day weekend was wonderful!! I recieved everything I wanted. Jeremy came home early the Friday before to hang out with me. Being a stay at home mom, I get very bored for adult company sometimes. Well while he was home, I got a delivery from FEDEX. It was a beautiful bouquet of tulips.(they are my favorite!!). Saturday we did softball games in the morning. After we came home and napped from the very HOT morning at the park, we went shopping. Our favorite place to shop is Target, so of course, we had a blast. I had been thinking of getting a Shark steam mop for our kitchen and bathroom floors. Well Jeremy, got the mop while we were at Target. That mop is AWESOME!! It uses just water, no chemicals and cleans like a fool!! I have had it for about a week and I have mopped my floors 3xs.(this is coming from someone who hates to mop) On Sunday, we spent the day at my inlaws. My kids played in thier sandbox and the little plastic pool they have. Jeremy and I fished for a little while. The weekend was so wonderful.

Being a mother, has taught me so many things. But most importantly, it has taught me to value every single moment, all of the hugs, kisses, and "i love yous". I love the "AH HA" moments when they figure out something on thier own. I have also learned that no matter how old you are or how many kids you have, you can never be an "expert mother" and know everything. Every day and every child is a new learning experience.

Softball Season

Let me start off by saying that for those that don't know, Rich baby #5 is a GIRL!! We are so excited and can't wait to hold our little girl. Her name will be Blake Mychal. Secondly, I know in my last post I mentioned writing a blog on just Caroline my oldest. I can't seem to have the time to do it and I wonder about security for my child. So I am postponing any blogs about individual kids until I think about it much further.

Now on to the topic of the day. Softball season in our house has begun. Neither of my girls were too excited that Mommy forced them to play this year. I felt they needed something besides school to keep them busy and help them make friends. Well needless to say we are very busy.

Kylie is playing t-ball. She is (if you don't already know) our girlie girl. But she seems to be handling it pretty well. She enjoys her practices and games. She daydreams ALOT and we have to remind her to run or watch the ball continuously. Most of the other little girls are about the same in skill level, so Kylie doesn't stand out as a good or bad player. Even though she whined when I told her she was going to play, now she asks when her games are and gets excited.

Caroline is our athlete, so I thought when I mentioned softball she would be so excited. I was completely wrong, all she cared about at the time was soccer. Caroline is playing 7/8 yr old girl coach pitch. She took to catching and throwing naturally. Her batting needed a little work but Caroline has the knack of being taught something only once and remembering it always. It took us one afternoon to get her to understand when she batted to swing not just with her arms but with her hips too. She has played about 4 or 5 games and has fallen in love with the sport. She is begining to get all of the rules. She is an above average player for a first year. (if I do say so myself) She usually plays 1st base, 3rd base, and occasionally left field. She was so excited the other night, she tagged a runner that had stepped off of first and got an out.

Now I know you have to go be thinking what about the other two Rich kids. Well the boys are being toted to the field frequently. They do pretty well. Where Caroline plays there is a little playground with slide and monkey bars and that keeps Thatcher pretty entertained. Ayden usually naps or snacks and watches the game.

As far as Jeremy and I, we are usually exhausted at the end of softball days. If the girls games overlap then we each grab a girl and a boy go to a game. One afternoon, Jeremy was late getting home from work so I had all 4 at the park by myself. That was a very unique afternoon. I had two on the playground, one playing softball on the field, and a fourth demanding my attention.(all of this being 6 month preggo.)

But to be honest, with as exhausting as it is, we love every minute of it. We love forward to practices and game days. The smiles on our girls faces when they get an out or hit the ball, is priceless.