Playing Catch-Up

I wish I could say that my nearly two week blogging silence was due to all the fun we were having but alas, while we did enjoy concentrated family bonding time, it was thanks to a sickness running through our family.

Luke started with bronchitis right before Thanksgiving but after a heavy duty round of antibiotics and nebulizer treatments, he bounced back quickly. Gabbie started acting sick the day after Thanksgiving and by Saturday was running a fever. Although she was down-and-out for the next five days, she didn't seem to get as bad as Luke so we waited for the thing to run its course (as opposed to taking antibiotics). By the end of the week, she was fever-free and sleeping much better at night. I was next to take a turn with the bug and while I thankfully did not run a fever, I was extremely limited when it came to any kind of medication that could possibly offer me relief and not affect my pregnancy. I stuck with just regular strength Tylenol and waited out the five day "blah" period that I had just watched my daughter endure. In the end, I'm happy to report that we all made it out on the other side with just a few sniffles remaining and so far, Danny has been safe.

Despite all of this, we managed to get the Christmas tree up and even take a trip to Smithville (just this past Sunday night after we were all feeling better) to enjoy the lights and holiday festivities.

My sickies

Hanging in their "sick fort" (Gabbie's term, not mine)

Still not feeling great but enjoying the Christmas tree

Christmas cheer!

A cold day at Smithville

Feeding the ducks

Luke just wanted to keep moving.

Train ride with Marmie

My babies

100th Post

In honor of my 100th post and Thanksgiving, I'm going to attempt to list 100 things I'm thankful for. Some of these are fun, some are more serious but I think it's important to be grateful for ALL the blessings in life...big or small. Feel free to skim or skip over this as it's more for my benefit than yours as I practice the discipline of gratitude to God. In no particular order, here we go...

1. A Heavenly Father who offered me a free gift of salvation through His son, Jesus Christ.
2. Danny
3. Gabbie
4. Luke
5. "Sacrifice" (Yes, that is what Gabbie has named this unborn brother of hers and until we come up with a more permanent name, this has stuck.)
6. Extended family who love and support us in more ways than I can list here
7. Cousins for my kids
8. Our church family
9. Food on our table
10. Our home
11. A family-friendly community
12. Loyal friends
13. Starbucks
14. Dishwashers
15. Mondays (Danny's day off)
16. Forgiveness
17. A husband who dedicates his life to serving the Lord (and would even if he wasn't in full time ministry)
18. Holidays
19. Changes of season
20. Digital cameras
21. Stable income in an unstable economy
22. Grace
23. Faithfulness
24. Small group
25. A daughter who never ceases to make me laugh
26. A tenderhearted son
27. A sovereign God who is in control
28. Snuggles & cuddles
29. Hearing my babies call me "Mommy"
30. My morning cup of coffee
31. Doctors whom I trust and One who is the Great Physician
32. Health insurance
33. Healthy husband, children, and soon-to-be baby brother
34. Good books
35. Blogs & blogging
36. Unconditional love
37. Hot showers
38. Sleeping in (and by "in," I mean I'm feeling great if the kids stay quiet until 7:30 a.m.)
39. The Bible
40. Answered prayers
41. Laughter
42. Vacations
43. Quality time
44. Feel-good movies
45. Inspiring role models
46. Facebook
47. Iced tea
48. Target
49. Barnes & Noble
50. Freedom
51. Liberty University
52. Compassion International
53. Pregnancy centers
54. Feeling my little guy flip, kick, and wiggle in utero
55. Google Reader
56. Email
57. Outback Steakhouse
58. Ice cream
59. Worship music
60. Country music
61. Christmas music
62. Haircuts
63. Reliable transportation
64. Hugs & kisses
65. Make-up
66. Perfume
67. Ultrasounds
68. Unexpected blessings
69. Flip flops
70. Christian parents
71. Staying home with my kids and a husband who works hard to allow me this privilege
72. Gabbie's inquisitive mind
73. Luke's kissable cheeks
74. Pandora radio
75. Online banking
76. Soldiers & veterans who risk their lives to protect our freedom
77. God's perfect timing
78. Cold, rainy days with nowhere to go
79. Family traditions
80. Pumpkins
81. Shopping bargains
82. Good Morning America
83. 18 Kids & Counting
84. Super Walmart grocery section
85. Special church services
86. Other adults who invest in my children
87. Good hair days
88. Patience (although, I find myself often needing more!)
89. A cozy bed
90. Contentment
91. The mailman, sanitation workers, etc. (people who do the little--and big--things in life that I take for granted)
92. Random acts of kindness
93. Memories
94. Being 30 years old
95. Central air conditioning
96. Jeans
97. Eskimo kisses
98. Holding hands
99. An unchanging God
100. That God is good, all the time

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"
Hebrews 12:28-29

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rocky Top

It's been an eventful November for our family! Just a day after finding out that our family will be adding another boy to the mix, we left on a two-day, 13-hour journey down to Danny's homeland...Tennessee. I'll spare you the details of a very long car ride but I will say that both kids did surprisingly well. The bottom line is, we made it down and back in one piece with minimal bathroom breaks and/or total meltdowns. God bless the portable DVD player.

Once we got down there, we hit the ground running enjoying the company of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! Danny's brother, Tim, and his wife, Haley, were gracious enough to open their home to us for the week. We moved what seemed like all of our earthly possessions into their house and the kids wasted no time exploring their new territory. Tim & Haley have two beautiful daughters--Emmy & Addy--who are both within months of age of our kids. Needless to say, a good time was had by all!

We did so many fun things during our brief visit but here are some of our favorite memories:

• Meeting cousin Zachary (Danny's brother, Jeremy's, and wife Faith's two-year-old son). As you can imagine, Luke was happy to have a buddy to play with!
  
• Each of Danny's family members hosted a meal in their home each night. This gave us an opportunity to spend extended time with various members of the family in a relaxed setting (restaurants don't work so well when you've got five kids under the age of four at one table!)
• Watching Emmy & Gabbie get reacquainted with each other and quickly become the best of friends. They are finally at an age where they really play (and fight!) together and they were inseparable! By the end of the week there were more than a few tears shed on each of their parts when it was time to say goodbye.
• Going to Uncle Jeremy's pep band's basketball game (Jeremy is a high school band director) complete with a halftime marching band show! This was the best of both worlds for my Lukey...basketball and bands...doesn't get much better than that!
• Chattanooga: Danny's from a little town outside of Chattanooga called Soddy-Daisy (yeah, for real) so since we were in close proximity to such a fun city, we spent one day doing as much as possible in a short period of time with four kids with short attention spans. We went up Signal Mountain and played at the Pumpkin Patch playground (for my daughter who only wanted to "drive up a mountain" during her trip to TN); we visited the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and took a real, live trolley ride (for my train-obsessed son); we played at Coolidge Park around the water fountains and took a ride on the enormously gorgeous indoor carousel. Fun times!
• Laughing at Luke & Addy's lovefest. These two cuddlebugs couldn't get enough of each other. It seemed like every time we turned around Addy was puckering up to get some sugar from Lukey. Luke didn't seem to mind too much and even initiated some lovin' a few times. This is all fodder for blackmail, someday!
• Enjoying adult conversation with Tim & Haley each night after putting the kids to bed. I think we covered every topic under the sun, and then some.
• And most of all, the concentrated, focused family time with minimal distractions and obligations pulling us in all different directions. Refreshing!

I could seriously go on and on because we truly had an excellent week. I'll let the pictures fill in the gaps and tell the rest of the story, though. Enjoy!

Cousin Zachary!

Tired, but happy, Luke. (Pretty much every single night we were out WAY past bedtime hence, the paci.)

Boys being boys.

Buddies.

The only place my kids ever get to jump on beds is at grandparents' houses!

Emmy and her sweet, southern, sassy self.

Driving a train, of course!

Addy & Luke on the swings.

Uncle Tim & Addy on a BIG slide!

Not to be outdone by a girl, Daddy & Luke on the big slide.

Gabbie & Emmy on the "big kid" swings.

Sandbox fun.

Addy learned that eating sand is overrated.

Cousins (minus Zachary).

Love these girls!

The Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Exploring the inner-workings of the train engine.

A Lukey-sized train.

Daddies and kids with our friendly train conductor before our ride.

Like little teenagers. *sigh*

Tim & Haley.

Luke taking his train ticket from the conductor.

Enjoying the scenery.

Lovin' his Addy.

Two blue-eyed beauties (and yes, they're holding hands!).

During the second half of the ride, the conductor invited Emmy & Gabbie up front to ring the bell for him at appropriate times. The girls loved it!

Too cute for words.

Luke riding a fish. This carousel had the most unique animals!

Danny in front of the fountains at Coolidge Park.

Gabbie on top of one of the statues surrounding the fountains.

Emmy was the only one brave enough to later run through part of the fountain on this chilly, fall afternoon.

Inseparable.

Luke was content to just run circles around the fountains.

Danny's parents with all five of the grandkids.

Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails...

...that's what little boys are made of!

Baby Boy is happy, healthy, and growing right on schedule, due to arrive sometime in March.

We couldn't be happier!