Mercy is Here!

After anxiously waiting the arrival of our 4th child, Mercy Joy was finally born on July 19th. Yay! I had her at home with a midwife, and had my best labor and delivery experience of the four. She was born at 10:45 pm after laboring on and off all day long. The serious labor probably began around 5:00 pm, but overall this was my most relaxed and stress-free labor. It was so cool to just be at home all day with my family around me, then after she was born we didn't have to go anywhere - we were already home! Both my parents and my husband's parents were here as well as my sister-in-law and one of her sons. Now, only the ladies (along with my husband, of course) were actually in the room when Mercy was born, but the grandfathers were able to see her just moments after she was delivered. As hard as delivering a baby can be, it really was a wonderful experience. Mercy weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and was 21 inches long.

She is now 11 days old and is just doing great. I'm loving having a newborn again. Of course, we've had lots of help around the house as my parents were here for the first week then my husband's parents have been here since then. I can't imagine what it would have been like to without all their help with the boys and food and laundry and everything else! Because of each of them, I've been able to really rest and heal quickly. Nursing has always been difficult for me in the beginning, and this baby has not been an exception to that. However, so far this has been my easiest nursing experience in comparison. It still hurts when I nurse, but I'm hoping it will be better very soon. Related to nursing, I'm still having to watch my sugar intake pretty closely because I do not ever want to get thrush again. I had it when Micah was 8 months old and it was a horrific experience for me. So far so good in that department too.

And finally, I will leave you with some pictures, since that's what people want anyway (not my ramblings :o). Thank you to all who have been praying for me through this whole time. The Lord has truly blessed us greatly!

The boys see Mercy for the first time. They are all thoroughly taken with her and all her girly-ness. It's precious to see them being gentle and soft with her.

All the proud grandparents...

Mercy and her many poses - it's so fun having a little girl!

We have to train her up in the way she should go - Go Red Sox!

Good Night!

Micah's Day

We are all about birthdays in the summer in this family. :o) Micah turned 2 years old on July 7th. He is such a joy to have in our family! He seems to have grown up so quickly that it's hard to believe he's only 2 years old. Always trying to catch up with his big brothers, he is quite verbose and was speaking in sentences at 18 months. Everyone who meets him can hardly believe how much he can say and understand at his age now. In fact, the other day I asked him a question and he said, "Actually, Mommy, ..." in answer to my question. How many other 2-year-olds use the word "actually"? :o) Lately we've been trying to teach him his colors as now he recognizes colors according to who in our family likes that color. Anything you show him that is orange is Joshua's, yellow is Luke's, and by default he thinks green is his own. Recently I heard him count up to 10 (thanks to Sesame Street, I believe) and he can sing parts of the alphabet song (thanks to Super Why). He's pretty smart and catches on to things very quickly. And, just like Joshua, he very much likes things to be in order. I like to say that Micah is my little tank. He's built tough and puts up with a lot of stuff from his big brothers, but he handles it all in stride. And he does a pretty good job keeping up with them. He really is so much fun right now and wants to be a big help to his Mommy. I like taking him shopping with me as he does such a good job and is great company. He also seems to like the time spent with me, though in all reality, he is a daddy's boy and loves to be with his father doing pretty much anything. He enjoys putting things into boxes or bags and will often go behind his brothers and pick up their puzzle pieces when they leave them out. He has great dexterity for one still so young and is learning to like puzzles as much as his brothers do. He's got a mind of his own and knows what he wants without being easily persuaded by others, though he will quickly follow his brother's lead at times as well. And he pretty much repeats everything they say, hence his verbosity. :o) When all 3 boys are together things can get pretty rambunctious (to say the least) and some crying often ensues. But get Micah by himself and he will interact with you and have such a good time because he's just so stinkin' cute. I love my big Micah boy!

We had a Mickey Mouse theme for his birthday since Micah is really into watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney. He loves doing the Hot Dog Dance. That morning we had birthday muffins. We had put a candle in one for him to blow out, which he unfortunately kind of got his face too close when he was trying to blow it out and got some hot wax on his chin (for which he still has a scar today!). Poor little guy! That was not the best way to start off his big day. But he recovered soon and enjoyed opening up his presents and spending time with family that came to visit.


You can tell that he really enjoyed his Micky Mouse cupcakes. By the afternoon he was definitely ready for a nap. That evening we had yummy pizza that he loves to eat and a few more little presents to open. We ended the day wearing Mickey Mouse ears and doing the hot dog dance. A fun day for our big two year old, indeed.



My dear sweet Micah, we so look forward to seeing what plans God has in store for you. You are our special boy!

4th of July Fun

We had fun celebrating the 4th of July in America for a change (as opposed to being in another country for the holiday). The day before we made some crafty things to help in preparing for the festivities.




Then on Sunday evening we had a family friend over to celebrate with us. We grilled for the first time since being here and the food was delicious! We had planned on going to the city's fireworks, but they got rained out. They're rescheduled for Labor Day, so we should hopefully be able to see them then.


I've always wanted to make this July 4th trifle, but have never had a trifle dish to do it in. Thanks, Mom, for my new dish! Here's my first attempt at using it! You couldn't really see the blueberries in it for the blue stripe, but the top was pretty and it was absolutely delicious! Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day! We sure did.

My Big 6 Year Old!

Way back on June 25th Joshua had his 6th birthday. Sorry I haven't written about it before now, but I'm going to do my best now! To begin with, I can't believe Joshua is already 6 years old. He seems to have grown up so much over the last year. He's still as smart as ever, and it often feels like you're conversing with another adult when talking to him. He finished Kindergarten with flying colors and absolutely can't wait to start 1st grade; he thinks he is such a big boy to be in 1st grade already. His reading ability has just grown by leaps and bounds lately, and he loves books. He will sometimes read to his little brothers, which is very nice for me. And he's really enjoyed weekly visits to the local library which is just 4 blocks from our house. Getting new books every week has been a great bonus while living in America! His writing has also improved greatly this summer as we've been focusing on that to prepare for the upcoming 1st grade curriculum. Besides loving to read, he really seems to show a bent toward math. I love to watch his brain at work when we're discussing some math problem. You can just see it ticking, and then he pops out some answer that a 6 year old is not supposed to know how to figure out, yet. Amazing. Joshua's also learned to do so many things even just this summer since we've been in America - things like ride a bike (with training wheels), hit a baseball off a tee, as well as some swimming skills. Though he definitely leans toward the cautious side, his Daddy has been teaching him ways to brave and courageous, and he's really responded well to that. Lately he's really into "baking" as he wants to open a bakery (which he wants to call "The Dessert Factory") when he grows up. He actually is a good helper when I need to bake something for real, but he also loves setting up his pretend bakery shop, making every dessert known to man, and then "selling" the goods to his customers. He'll even make chocolate desserts even though he absolutely abhors chocolate.


Joshua is somewhat of a perfectionist, following true to the first born patterns. He seems to have a strong sense of justice, as well, though often blind to his own faults (aren't we all). He wants others to do the right thing and will not hesitate in telling them how/when to do that. He's also a good teacher and likes explaining to his little brothers how to do things that he has already learned. Joshua makes friends very easily and pretty much never meets a stranger. He seems to really enjoy people. He is a good big brother to Luke and Micah, and he can't wait for his little sister to be born. I think he will be a good helper to Mommy in the hectic days to come.


We had a very fun day on his birthday, celebrating with a Superman theme (Joshua's current favorite superhero). We started off the morning with orange (still his fave color) frosted donuts at Joshua's request.


After opening some presents and playing a while, we had some family come visit for some more presents and playing.


Unfortunately, shortly after lunch Joshua started feeling a little under the weather and ended up with a fever. So, after the family left, he got to watch some new movies he got on DVD and just rest. We had planned to meet friends out for dinner at IHOP (also Joshua's request), but ended up not going because of the way Joshua was feeling. We got to go to IHOP the next evening for yummy pancakes, one of his favorites. Though it was a bummer that Joshua didn't feel so great, I think he still had a good day all-in-all. He's proud to be 6 now and we love him so much!


We ended the day with giving the two bigger boys their new underoos. They kept saying how they wished they could have seen Mommy and Daddy's underoos when we were little. I totally had Wonder Woman!


We are so proud of our Joshua boy. Proud that he's 6 years old now, and proud of the little man that he is becoming. May God grow him and use him for His glory!

Summer Fun

I really want to get these pictures posted before time gets away from me. We have had such a fun time this summer here in OK. First here are some pics of the boys at home in their swimming pool and at the local pool when they took swimming lessons for two weeks back in June.

On the last day they let all the kids go through the big slide. The boys had such a fun time going to the big pool every day!


We also let the boys go to two different Vacation Bible Schools this summer. That was such a big part of our own childhood that we really wanted them to have the experience. Both boys had a blast each week.


And finally, last but certainly not least, you must see pictures of the boys playing t-ball this summer. I'm so glad they got to have this chance! The next time we come back to the States these two boys will be too big to play t-ball and they really won't have been able to keep up any kind of little league skills. They got to learn basic baseball skills while playing, but they also learned more perseverance and endurance than anything. The teams were non-competitive (meaning there was no score and everyone got to bat each time), so it really was all just for them to have fun. The perseverance came when they had to endure standing out in the sun while the other team would bat and just wait for the ball to come their way. I was really proud of the way they both tried hard and did their best. When asked what their favorite things were about playing t-ball, Joshua said being able to hit the ball (which he worked very hard at so he could do it). Luke replied that he just liked the snacks that they got after the game. :o) At least we all had fun!


One time Micah got away from me and ran out on the field to where Daddy was helping. :o) He just wanted to do what his big brothers were doing! And he wanted to be with his Daddy.


This is what the other two boys would do while their brother was playing. I took two towels each time for them to sit on and color or do workbooks while they waited. For the most part, this kept their attention and they did well at the games.


All-in-all there were only 6 games and about 4 practices for each boy. They learned a lot and got to spend some good time with Daddy in the process as he helped out on the field every time. So glad we did this!

Still Waiting...

Well, for those of you who are wondering if we've had this baby yet - we haven't. So far I've carried her for at least a week longer than I did any of my boys. She is certainly taking her sweet time and seems in no hurry to greet the world. I told my husband that I think I've given up hope that I'm ever going to give birth and not be pregnant anymore. He assured me that wasn't true and she was going to come, you know, sometime soon (we've been saying that for 3 weeks now). I've gone through the gamut of emotions over the last week ranging from being just downright discouraged to doing what I can to distract myself and just not think about it. I've had so many pre-labor signs that nothing my body does seems to phase me anymore. Sure it all means she's coming "soon", but that could be tonight or next week. Tuesday (July 20) is my actual 40 week due date; I seriously never thought I'd still be pregnant after having the first 3 children at 38 weeks.

So, today I woke up (after another night of not going into labor) and started thinking/being anxious about our return overseas at the end of September. See, I made this huge list of things I wanted to get done before the baby arrived. Check. We did everything on that list already (thanks to Grandmother and Grandfather's help). Naturally, we thought we'd be in baby mode right now, so I've just been thinking that I'll consider all the stuff-to-do-before-we-return-overseas AFTER the baby. Well now that time is marching on and our time with extra hands around the house is slowly diminishing, I'm starting to wonder how we're going to manage to get everything sorted and packed and prepared while just doing normal family stuff... with a new baby. So, I'm laying in bed at 6:30 this morning not able to go back to sleep (after arising for a bathroom visit) thinking of all that has to be done. I had this sudden urge to do everything I absolutely could TODAY (as if there's that much I could get done in one day by myself anyway). I went ahead and got up to take a shower and finally settled down to read my Bible...

I've been reading through the Bible this year, reading passages from 4 different sections each day. My Psalms reading today was 139. After asking the Lord to calm my anxious heart and help me focus, verses 1-5 stuck out to me immediately. (This is the HCSB version, by the way, which I'm really enjoying.)

"Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord.
You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me."

Isn't that marvelous? The Lord knows when this baby is going to come and He knows all that has to be done after that and before we leave. He knows how much we will do ourselves and how much we will have help. He knows when we travel and when we rest. He knows what my emotional and physical limitations may be. But He has encircled me and has placed His hand on me. None of this negates the fact that there are things I can do today to prepare, but the thing I don't need to be doing is worrying and being anxious about it all. He will work everything out according to His perfect timing. Verse 16 says: "Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began." He knows the first day this baby will enter this world; He's already planned all her days. What a beautiful and loving reminder for Mommy to be patient for the Lord's plan. Thank You, Father! I needed this today.