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!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you had a great Christmas. We had a wonderful time together. My house is a mess but we had fun! Mackenzie really enjoyed opening presents this year she would open one and say "oh my goodness!" it was so stinking cute! After all the presents were opened she got up and hugged me and said "thank you my kitchen and my babies!" The older two have really enjoyed their new to them DS and bikes. Hopefully I can get the house in order tomorrow! Enjoy the rest of your holiday!

Renah's 7!!

On Thanksgiving, Renah turned 7. With the busyness of the season I haven't been able to post but I wanted to write her own post. Renah has always been tall and at 16 months younger than Ainsley she is less than an inch shorter. The doctor said she is taller than the average 8 1/2 year old! She and Ainsley both are just about in my size shoe. When they get new boots, they are so excited that I can borrow them! Renah has always been into babies and I am pretty sure she will be an obstetrician when she grows up. She loves watching birth shows and can give lots of information! She is doing well with home school but gets frustrated when she doesn't get it right away. She has and continues to teach me patience! She is a little ham and even when I've reached my limit with her, I can't imagine our family without her!

These girls

These girls can make me smile, make me cry, give me the most joy and make me want to tear my hair out all within a few minute span. But I love them so much and am so grateful they have been given to me to raise.

Halloween 2011

There is a new app that lets me blog from my phone. It also let's me add my pictures from my phone which means lots more pictures! My girls had a good Halloween, Ainsley was an 80's girl, Renah was a bride, and Mackenzie was Minnie mouse. We had a trunk or treat at church Sunday night and Monday night we went to another churches fall festival. It was so cold Monday night we didn't stay long but the girls racked up on candy those nights. So I'm enjoying this app so maybe I'll blog more!

Tough days

I had been hoping to come on here and announce the impending arrival of our 4th child but earlier this week I went in to see the heartbeat and there was none. I am sad and frustrated, this is the second miscarriage this year. We didn't announce the other one because there seemed to be problems from the start, but this one I thought would be better, we even told the girls. They were so excited and little mother hens fussing over everything, it was precious. We had to tell them last night and after we lost our son (3 years ago this week ironically) I never wanted to have to give them news like that again, but I had to and it was devastating to them. However, Ainsley with her beautiful child like faith said, " can we still pray for a miracle that when you go to the doctor again everything will be ok?" I love these girls.
I hate miscarriage. It takes away the beauty of pregnancy, it makes you scared for every pregnant woman you see no matter how far along she is. It takes away so much and I am tired of them for anyone! This Saturday is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, and just like I have for the past 3 years since my first loss, I will remember my babies and all the other ones lost.

When did this little sweetie get so big? Mackenzie grace is 2 today. She has brought so much joy into our lives. She has the sweetest smile and personality. Everyone who meets her loves her. Her sisters are still smitten with her even when she gets into their stuff as she does more and more now! I cannot imagine life without this precious little bundle! Enjoy these shots of my cutie!

(These pictures are not in order as I can't get them to load right. )

Kids- you gotts love em!

I was reading Stie's blog about her daughter and her "wrinkles". It reminded me that a couple of months ago, my girls and I were walking around Bed, Bath and Beyond when Ainsley proceeds to tell me about a commercial she saw for Roc wrinkle cream. I'm half listening because I'm in B,B,and B and "oh look at these pots!" and "how have I ever cracked an egg on my own without this new egg cracker thing?" Anyway, she keeps talking and tells me that this cream is supposed to make women look 10 years younger and takes away the deep wrinkles..."like the one on your forehead." So I put off buying the egg cracker thing until my feeble hands can no longer crack eggs, but I will probably forget what eggs even are in a few days considering my well advanced age and horribly wrinkled face!
My only highlight is that I'm buying her some Roc when she turns 33!

Embracing my OCD

When my first daughter was born, I was not on a schedule at all. She ate when she was hungry, slept when she was tired, if we weren't home she did it where ever we were. It worked so well I continued it with my second daughter who was born 16 months later. My 3rd daughter was a little different. She was still laid back but put herself on a schedule pretty quickly. She knew what time was breast feeding time and she knew when it was bottle time and would let me know she knew! Her scheduling was pretty good for me, I am a list maker, very task oriented, and I love to label everything! I had also just started my Master's right before she was born so it was good for me to feel like I kind of of knew what the next hour would hold.
Fast forward almost 2 years, Mackenzie is still scheduled but we can fudge it a little if need be, I am still working on my Master's and will be starting to home school Ainsley and Renah in the next couple of weeks. Scheduling is keeping me sane. I sat down with the girls yesterday and make a chores list for them and me as well as a laundry schedule. Today I labeled my laundry baskets accordingly. I cannot tell you how good that makes me feel!
I do not want to be so rigid with my scheduling that I miss opportunities, but just feeling as though I have some kind of knowledge as to what needs to be done and when helps me from feeling overwhelmed with keeping a family fed and in (mostly) clean clothes! I just know that this stage in my life is super busy and there are always things that need to be done, I can either get them all done or nothing done! So this helps my OCD tendencies to feel that there is a plan and it has been well labeled! What helps you?

Taking the plunge!

I haven't blogged in awhile just because we have been in the middle of a decision and I knew I would talk about it before we decided. We have decided to home school our girls this year. To some at first, it sounds crazy since Wade and I are both full time students ourselves, but I'm home with online classes and the flexibility this will give us will help so much! Not to mention the moving we will soon be starting and this can give our girls stability they wouldn't have in other situations. We have many reasons, and the biggest being we feel this is best for our family at this time. I don't hate public schools, though we didn't have the best experience last year, that isn't the reason we are doing this. Home schooling is something we have considered since we signed Ainsley up for kindergarten I think we both knew at some point it was going to happen.
Otherwise in this area, school starts tomorrow. Yes, you read that correctly, August 4th! I am not alone in thinking that is crazy!!! I feel as though summer has just started and school is back in session! Yesterday, I went to inform the girls schools that they will not be there and I had such a peace, it was wonderful! So we begin the day after Labor Day for our first day, which has already been designated "PJ day!" I am excited about this new challenging chapter and pray for strength to do well. So here's to a great school year where ever you go!

Amazing gel!

I am not one to put products on my blog usually but I have come across an amazing gel that I had to share. Living here in the south, the humidity is crazy! I am letting my hair grow out and it's pretty heavy. So the heaviness of my hair along with the humidity makes for a hairstyle that usually ends up in a ponytail! I have a little curl but when I want blowdry my hair I usually have to roll it or at least curl the ends but like I said within a few minutes, the style is completely gone. Enter Garnier Survivor Gel . I put some in my hair as I was drying it Saturday night, and Sunday morning I hot rolled my hair and it stayed. Not only did it stay through church, this morning before I washed my hair, it still had some of the body from the hot rollers! It was a little hard to brush through but I'm ok with that if I can keep a hairstyle for more than a few minutes! I was a little skeptical but I am very happy with this gel! Give it a try- it is not a waste of money!

* I was not paid for this endorsment, I just really liked the product, but if Garnier would like to send me some product, I will not be offended!