E is Growing (1 Month)

Growing, growing, growing!

(Well, I wan't going to put her name on my blog, but I guess I did... Oh well, just this once shouldn't hurt.)

Time is flying faster and faster with each baby that I have! 

E has really started smiling

E has been such a happy baby, (she is definitely happier if I don't drink milk though, so this Mama is trying to avoid it for the most part.)

E still fits in newborn clothes

E loves her brother and sister so much

E grunts more than any baby I think I have ever heard!

(She especially loves to grunt during church or any other quiet time)

E weighed 9 lb. 5 oz. at her 6 week checkup (with her clothes on).

E with the elephant that Aunt L made for us out of Papaw Jim's sweater. 

We all love it!

I'm so thankful for this little life that God has given us.

Children truly are a blessing.

We love you Baby E!

E's Newborn Pictures

E. was thirteen days old before we were able to get her pictures taken.

 My awesome Aunt, Angel Horn came all the way from Indianapolis to take these, she did such an amazing job! You can find her website here, or her Facebook page here. Thank you, Angel, we had such a fun weekend!

I am not sure I have one favorite picture, I love them all!

E's Birth Story

 The night before E. was born (Aug~1~2014) I went to bed around midnight and slept great. I woke up a little before 4 am. and thought that something felt weird. I had been having braxton hick contractions for weeks, but these felt a little different. I got up and went to the bathroom hoping that would help. It didn't, so I woke Titus up and told him I thought I was in labor. He started timing my contractions for me, and we decided that we needed to get some things done just in case it was the real deal. My contractions were three or four minutes apart.

 I proceeded to fold and put away a load of laundry, and switch over a load of laundry to the dryer. I picked up things in the living room and put them away. I combed my hair and put it up. All the while stopping every three to four minutes to get down on the floor, call Titus and have a contraction. I started to clean the shower, but decided that it wasn't worth it, so I let it go.

 Titus had sent a text to Dot to let her know that I was in labor, then called her a little while later and asked her to come on over to the house. He also called Papaw and Mamaw and told them that they could head out. 

 I wanted to get into the tub so bad and kept asking if they could get it ready, but we didn't have the tub liner yet, so we couldn't fill it till Patrice arrived. When she got here, they immediately started filling the tub for me. I wanted to get in so bad, because I was shaky and the contractions seemed so hard. As soon as it was deep enough to get into I hopped in, and immediately my contractions were easier to handle. The water wasn't much more than a foot deep, but it sure helped a LOT!

 It sure didn't seem like I had been in the water very long before I felt some pressure, but I was sure that I hadn't been in labor long enough to have to push. Dorothy told me that if I felt like pushing to try it,and if it was okay I would feel better. After another contraction or two I decided to try. It definitely felt better! I started pushing at 7:01 and Evie was born at 7:15!

I simply could not wrap my mind around the fact that she was here already! I told Titus at some point "Can you believe this?" I couldn't get over how sweet she was, and I felt so happy and on top of the world!

 I called Mom and jokingly told her that they could turn around and go back home. She replied: "We haven't even left Greenville yet, I am still in walmart!" I then told her that Evie was already here,and I think she was about as shocked as I was. She said later that it took forever to get here.

 It all worked out perfectly, T. and K. woke up around 8:00, so they didn't even have to leave the house. Aunt L. had been on call, but everything happened so fast that there wasn't time for her to get them!

 I hope E. slows down a little or she will be grown in the blink of an eye!

Mr. T meeting his new baby sister!

K. meeting baby sister!

Baby E. getting ready to be weighed by Aunt Dorothy.

I felt so happy and rested compared to my other two labors!

Proud brother and sister!

T. holding baby E. for the first time.

K's turn. Even though she didn't know what to think, she seemed very excited and happy!

E's Birthday Cake!

T. had been asking for a pink cake, and he actually got it!

Story time with Daddy! E. didn't seem to mind being in the middle of those two, but then again she was right in the middle of them before she was born too.

Big Brother!

Me and my girls!

Happy, happy birthday E!

We sure do love you.

We thank God for you!

Baby E.

Welcome little Miss E! 

Born Aug 2nd 

6 lbs. 19.5 in. long

You have captured our hearts!

Mama and baby are doing great!

I can't believe that she is almost two weeks old already.

More pictures to follow later! 

T and K's Bedroom and Closet Redo

Hooray! We finally have T. and K's room done enough to share pictures.

We have four pieces of trim to put down and it will be completely done, or mostly done. I still would like to put another shelf in top of the closet for more storage, but we have enough room for everything right now, so it probably won't get done till we need it.

Looking in from the doorway.

 They absolutely love their little beds, and spend some time on them everyday climbing all over them!

T. has his car bedspread om his bed on that his aunt L. made for him. 

K's crocheted blanket came from her Great Grandma ( I think)

K has the pink coffee filter banner thing above her window from her first birthday party.

The train lamp was Titus's when he was a little boy.

The rug was given to us by an aunt who was getting ready to move and didn't need it anymore.

The bookshelf/toy cupboard.

The rabbit on top of the bookshelf was my Grandpa's piggy bank.

Grandpa also made me the wooden hop along rabbit for me when I was small. I love that thing!

 The globe was Titus's when he was a boy.

I did each of their hand prints and foot prints in clay when they were tiny.

That little duck is solar powered and dances in the light. The only reason that he is up there is because if the children hold him his head comes off and he falls to pieces in a matter of seconds. (Don't ask me how I know) I feel sorry for him, and the children love watching him, so he stays up there. 

(Notice T's birthday card siting in front there. He absolutely loved getting it in the mail. To bad it is only from the chiropractor. ;))

The wall decor (I found a printable and added bible verses on it).

Their closet! 

I am so happy with the way this turned out! I was so tired of the sliding doors coming off of the tracks, and only being able to use one side of the closet because I didn't want to open the other door. T. and K. could never go in and get anything out for me either if I forgot which side was closed. When I took the doors off (before we took out the carpet) I saw how open it was without the doors and decided then and there that they were NOT going back on there. I still wanted something close-able though, because I am not always the best organized. I got on pinterest and  searched for .curtains for closet doors. or something like that, and found a whole bunch of ideas, and pictures. I like the way they looked, so I started trying to figure out what I could use as curtains. I found a full sized flat sheet on etsy for 10.00 but decided to wait a little bit to order it. I then found a curtain rod on amazon for 15.00, (It matches the others in the room) so I ordered it. We went to a garage sale the next day and found two sets of twin sheets for 5 dollars! I was so excited about that, now I have the fitted sheets and pillow cases to do something with too. We also found the white shelving at the same garage sale. I think we ended up spending 20 dollars there on that stuff and got a few other things too. Talk about hitting the jackpot! :)

The pom poms that I made for a tea party and could not part with. 

The totes that I found at the dollar store. I think they were 4 dollars apiece, and then buy one get one half off, so you do the math. ;)

The top row of them are T's and the Bottom row is K's

I got two extra and have the cloth diapers and covers in them for now.

The white basket holds Their hairbrush and comb. It also holds some of K's hair bands/headbands and clips. her bows are on the wall to the right. 

The black basket hold their socks.

The pink drawer holds their dirty clothes for now, until I find a good deal on a small hamper.

I wanted something to put their shoes in so I scrounged around and found a paper box top that is perfect for now. (maybe it will catch some of the sand) :)

In the hanging organizer I have T's underwear and some of K's disposable diapers. Now she can get me one whenever she needs changed. I am trying to make everything reachable for them that I can.

The extra disposable diapers and wipes are on the far left along with some more cloth diapers.

 Along with my birth supply kit! 

I also have the bumbo and K's high chair tray back there for now.

I have books and toys that I don't want out all the time on the top shelf. 

I also have a baby outfit ready for the baby if it is a girl! :)

 My Mom is supposed to be making something for a boy, so we are covered for newborn/family pictures!

K's dresses, shirts, and sweaters are on the right and T's shirts/vests are on the left.

The wall decor above T's bed.

The wall decor above K's bed.

The mess I still have to clean up in the dining room! :)

A little thing I'm going to miss.

So, If any of you have been around my children you will know that they make this really odd sound when they want a drink. It is very odd, and they both do it.

It sounds kinda like a horse whinny, only it sounds like a dying horse whinny. 

We tried everything to get T. to say water, but he never would. Finally about a month ago he decided that he was big enough to say "drink" and "water" 

Whew! 

I was so glad!

As of this weekend K decided that she was big enough to say "drink" too.

Now I almost miss them making that noise because they sound too grown up.

They get big too fast!

They were sitting outside chatting to each other in this picture.

(T. has his "Pogo stick"  which is really just a piece of pvc pipe.

 He will stand by it and jump up and down exclaiming that  he is jumping on his Pogo stick.)

A Camping We Will Go

We had a fun weekend camping up north on the 27th-29th of June.

Titus and I have talked about just us going camping since right after we got married. This summer we decided that it was time to just do it. We took the kiddos and had a blast!

Titus is the best husband/daddy there is. He helped me plan the trip, found an awesome campsite, cooked the whole time we were there and managed to entertain the little ones all at the same time. it really was a vacation for me. We didn't forget anything important this time either ( like the tent). Let's just say that last time I packed to go camping we got to the campground and I had totally forgotten the tent. (It all worked out though...)

We had beautiful weather almost the whole time.

On day one we headed north and stopped at Torch lake to eat and relax. We found the best little township park.  (Seriously, I haven't seen a better taken care of park in all of MI.) We ate and then played with the kiddos for awhile. It was so fun not to have to rush anywhere. 

Miss K. Loved the slides, any slides as long as Daddy had her.

Mr. T. was okay with the slides as long as Daddy went with him. He would scrunch up his face every time they came down, but then laugh because we all were. I think he gets that from me. I never got that excited over slides or swings till I was older.

They both loved the snail!

I thought a few times that we would be going to the ER because K would just start bouncing on the snail and whacked her head on the handle bars more than once, but never seem to figure out that she had to keep her head away for it. It was too fun to cry about though. Crazy girl!

Looking at Torch lake. It was so beautiful!

We finally left there with promises to T and K that we would be going to another lake and beach. We got to our campsite and had fun setting up the new tent and eating supper. There is nothing like hot food right off of the campfire. Titus made some excellent food! :)

The next day we went to the beach and played/hiked for about five hours. We hiked from here on the beach clear over to the little island that you can see in this picture. I had T in a carrier and Titus had K in a carrier, along with a big back pack. The water was cold, so we really didn't go in very deep, but had fun splashing and covering each other in sand. (K was the main one covering everybody with sand, for some reason that was the funnest thing to do.) 

We finally went back to the campsite and ate supper. Then decide that we wanted to go and watch the sunset. We actually found another beach and went there because it was closer. This beach had more stones on it, so that made it even more fun for T and K. We did find some little Petosky stones, but nothing that exciting.

I am so glad that Titus captured this picture. He does so good when he ever decides to take pictures.

Titus showing T and K how to skip stones.

These last three pictures I cannot take credit for. Titus took them, and I love them. 

Sunday we had a crazy morning getting everything packed up because it started raining about 30 minutes before we were ready to leave. I am not sure exactly how we got everything back into the car, but we did with absolutely no room to spare. Titus and I both ended up soaking wet, and laughing because of our crazy packing/ organizing job. We left, and hadn't been on the road more than 30 minutes when it cleared up and was nice the rest of the way home. We ended up stopping in Grand Traverse Bay for lunch and had a fun couple of hours there. 

T. loved the dinosaur (aka sea monster)

They were both thrilled to sit on his nose. 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious.

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.

All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing the praises of your name.”

Come and see what God has done,

his awesome deeds for mankind!

He turned the sea into dry land,

they passed through the waters on foot—

come, let us rejoice in him.

He rules forever by his power,

his eyes watch the nations—

let not the rebellious rise up against him.

Praise our God, all peoples,

let the sound of his praise be heard;

he has preserved our lives

and kept our feet from slipping.

For you, God, tested us;

you refined us like silver.

You brought us into prison

and laid burdens on our backs.

You let people ride over our heads;

we went through fire and water,

but you brought us to a place of abundance.

I will come to your temple with burnt offerings

and fulfill my vows to you—

vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke

when I was in trouble.

I will sacrifice fat animals to you

and an offering of rams;

I will offer bulls and goats.

Come and hear, all you who fear God;

let me tell you what he has done for me.

I cried out to him with my mouth;

his praise was on my tongue.

If I had cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened;

but God has surely listened

and has heard my prayer.

Praise be to God,

who has not rejected my prayer

or withheld his love from me!

Psalm 66

I thank God everyday for this beautiful family he has given to me. 

I sure don't deserve them.