Yahlena Rose

Yahlena made her arrival Tuesday afternoon after about 22 hours of labor. She was 8 lbs 9 oz and 20.5 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful! I got home a few hours ago and have already had the 4 girls by myself since Wade had to work. There have been some tears but we will make it. Here are a few pictures of my beauty!

Never forget

Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. This day 11 years ago changed what it meant to be a military family. Deployments became a normal thing. I was in Italy, Wade was training in Germany. We couldn't talk, the wives that were left home had no idea when we would see our husbands again. We didn't know if they were going to deploy right away or later. We were told to stay home as much as we could and not to make ourselves known in public. It was a scary time to be overseas and alone. However, the world made it known how they felt about this-it wouldn't be taken lightly. I was leaving my house one morning and an Italian lady stopped me and hugged me. Between her broken English and my broken Italian, she told me she had visited New York when she was younger and fell in love with America. She said she was praying for me and my husband and all the American soldiers. I will forever remember this older lady and how she helped me that day. I felt so alone in a foreign country, I felt defenseless with my soldier gone and I felt as though everyone was against me as an American. But she showed me that others cared. The next few days I saw American flags being flown from so many different places. It was a beautiful site that I won't forget. We have lost so many from 9/11 and the war but I want to thank those who were heroes that day and who have been every day since. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Really bad blogger!

I have ignored my little blog for quite some time now! Not purposely but seriously busy around here. A couple of months ago we moved to Chattanooga - not a huge move but about 45 minutes from where we were. Wade had been a bail bondsman in Chattanooga several months and was on the road constantly between Cleveland and Chattanooga. It has been great for him as we are just about 10 minutes from his work. Harder on me as I don't know anyone here and so much of life is still in Cleveland. The girls and I drive back for church, doctors and I have a class once a week. It has been an adjustment. The girls are still home schooling and the great part about this house is that we have a home schooling room. My little girl is due in a matter of weeks. I am scheduled to be induced Oct. 3rd but they are fairly certain I will go in the next couple of weeks. I now feel ready for her so I'm fine with whenever she makes her arrival. This pregnancy has been difficult on me and I think the whole family is ready to have me back. We started school a little earlier this year so I could take time off after the baby comes. I'll add pictures of the first day on here. Mackenzie was so excited to be "in school" with sisters! Her picture is priceless. I hope to be able to figure out how to balance everything soon and get back to blogging a little more often. I know it is a good outlet for me, even if no one else reads it! Thank you for patience and prayers!

The verdict is in!

I had another ultrasound yesterday and the baby cooperated this time. It was quite clear that we are having a little girl!!

Update

Well, first of all, everything with the baby looks good! I had to get blood drawn first and I was so nervous about making sure the baby was ok, I asked them to check the heartbeat before I had to wait longer on the ultrasound. The dr's office is so sweet to me and understands my fear took me to hear the heartbeat. So after waiting longer for the ultrasound (but at that point I was fine) the doctor took us in to see the baby. The cord was between the legs which made it hard to give a 100% answer, but she said she was pretty sure it's a girl! I am going back in 2 weeks to get another ultrasound to double check but I think we are going to continue the pink! I am excited, Wade is still holding out hope lol! But most of all I feel relieved that this little one looks great!

The big day!

Aside from the day you give birth, the day you find out the gender (should you choose) is one of the biggest days of pregnancy in my opinion. For me is that day. Along with the excitement however, I have much anxiety. I will be honest and tell you I I am terrified that I am going to look at the screen and see no heartbeat again. I hope this is nerves an not a premonition but there is no guarantee of a pregnancy producing a live baby. I hate that my circumstances have led to these feelings but I can't change them. I hope I will be back later with good news of our little bundle. Until then...
Christina

I don't know where the time goes!

Ok, I never mean for it to go this long in between posts but life is really busy right now. In fact, I should be doing homework as I am behind about 3 weeks and have 2 15 page papers due in a couple of weeks. However, I have been wanting to come on here and announce that we are expecting baby #4! I am 15 weeks along now and while this week and the next 2 are the most scary for me I am very optimistic about this pregnancy. I will find out in just a couple of weeks what we are having. Hubby of course wants a boy, but I am rooting for more pink. I love having girls and while I would be happy either way, my preference is a girl. Well, I have to get busy on my homework before I pass out from exhaustion! I'll try to come back soon and fill in more of what has been happening with us.

Struggles

It's hard when a friend does something to you that you know as a friend you wouldn't have done to them. The last several months I have been struggling with this. Forgiveness is a daily chore at times and while the forgiveness is tough I think not letting bitterness take residence in your heart is more difficult. As a Christian I know how important forgiveness is to my walk with Him. But if forgiveness meant we could forget the wrongs done against us, that would be wonderful. As humans it is out natural desire to want to hurt someone the way they have hurt us, but Jesus tells us that vengeance belongs to Him not us. Are we afraid that He really won't defend us? I'm struggling with this at the moment, I want to let Jesus handle this situation but at the same time I want the ones who has hurt me so deeply to understand how they have hurt me. I don't want to hurt them in the same way because I wouldn't knowingly do that to someone I call friend but I wish they could feel the pain I am feeling and blow this has given to every aspect of my life. I know I will grow stronger out of this but I don't want to also grow more jaded about friends.

Bad blogger!

So this is my 200th post and I guess I was waiting for earth shattering blog material to post it! Life has been really crazy lately. I have been on break from my classes until this week but have been working with the girls. We started a new curriculum after Christmas and it is much better for us. It is a lot more self driven rather than me having to come up with lesson plans and teaching every day. Mackenzie is getting big and into everything! So my days are full to overflowing daily. I feel like I don't sit down to rest until around 10pm on most days. I'm not complaining mind you I'm just a little overwhelmed some days. I feel as though my house is never clean, the girls room especially. Oh well, I guess that comes with the territory of having my girls home with me all the time. I guess that's about all for now, I'm just going to add a few pics of my cuties. Have a great day!

Year end review

Yeah, I'm a little late but I've been busy. Ending 2011 was bittersweet. Believe me, I was happy to see it go - it was not a good year. But, I hate that too. I judge the places I have lived by how I feel when I leave. If I don't want to leave, that has been a good environment. But if I am ready to go it probably hasn't been a good experience.
I was ready for 2011 to be over! I have 2 more babies to hold in heaven after this year, I have a few less friends to call on after 2011. It was a tough year in many areas.
Granted there were some good things, I'm spending a lot more time with my girls thanks to home schooling, I feel a lot more confident in my education as well. But overall I was excited to kick 2011 to the curb! I let a lot of situations get me down and I let what some people say and do affect me too much. But I'm over it and I'm not going to let the opinion of some change me.
I am a good friend, I will give and give to those I love and sometimes that is thrown back in my face. But I choose to let it go and only have those in my life who appreciate that.
I guess that is my resolution this year. I choose to be happy and forget the past so it doesn't ruin my present. I hope your new year is beginning well and you too have kicked your past to the curb!
Until next time!