My Little Goblins

We have Darth Maul, (who doesn't have his mask on because I couldn't get Emmi to stand next to him with it on), Snow White, and Indiana Jones. I got to take them out this year and we had a blast trick or treating. I hope you all had a happy Halloween too! Trick or treat!

Just Wait.

As you all are now aware, I am expecting my 4th child. That in itself is not terribly amazing, but how it all happened is a testimony to me of my Heavenly Father's love and concern. As some of you already know, having children or better yet, conceiving, hasn't come easy to me. On my own it took a year to get pregnant with Keaton. I wasn't willing to put that many years between my kids and took Clomid (a fertility drug) with both Sam and Emmi and it worked the very first month with each. I thought I had it all figured out. I could get pregnant when I wanted to and wouldn't when I didn't. I guess I had forgotten who is really in charge when it comes to babies.

We started trying for another child a few months after Emmi turned 1 and to no avail. This past year I have been on and off Clomid, with even a double dose one month. Still nothing. Frustrated and very tired of getting my hopes up each month Chad and I started to think that maybe this was our answer. We should be done. There are no more. We started talking about birth control, and how nice it would be to be out of the baby stage, but it still didn't seem right. In my prayers I kept hearing "Just wait," but I wondered for how long, and what that exactly meant. Was a baby really coming? Or was I waiting for a confirmation that our family was complete? I really didn't know. Chad didn't know, and of course thought that I should know.

So I stepped back and waited like the prompting said. No Clomid, or preventative measures, just waited to get an answer either way. I think both Chad and I had put babies out of our heads for awhile. And the more time went on the more I started to really like the idea of being done. I liked the idea of being done with diapers, nursing and of course pregnancy. The next thing I knew I was sold on the birth control and called up my OB-GYN to send me in some birth control. He said I had to wait until my period started, which I hadn't seen since that last failed dose of Clomid. So there was my birth control, waiting at the pharmacy and me, waiting for my period.

Well, the 2 month mark came and went, (which is normal for me) and I told myself to give it 1 more week and then take a test. By this point I was starting to feel the twinges of nausea and my suspicions were high, although I really tried to not get my hopes up. That week and even another went by before I got the courage to take the test, which was immediately positive.

This is what humbles me. With my last 2 babies Clomid helped me get pregnant on the very first try. This last year after 3 single doses and 1 double dose, nothing, and the month that I don't use anything I get pregnant. This tells me that the magic isn't in the Clomid, it is in my loving Heavenly Father. Without his help, I would not have babies. For some reason that I cannot see, I was supposed to get pregnant that month and Heavenly Father knew it. I am so grateful he watches out for me and my family, and that he told me that I should just wait. I am also very excited to meet this little one and see just why it was important for (her/him) to join our family.

What's new at our house

I'll just let Sam tell you...

Goodbye Snowies...

...hello Fall. I think it is official sitting here listen to my sick husband cough away, that summer is over and fall is here. Until our house got hit with the bug, I was really starting to enjoy the cold weather and everything that goes with it. Now that I think about it there are some definite plus and minuses to this season.

The Minuses (-) :
1. The closing of the snow shack. Already me and kids are looking longingly at the spot where the local snow shack stands in the summer.
2. No more sleeping in. School has started and that means I have drag myself up earlier than I would like to in order to make sure Keaton gets on the bus. Booo!
3. My beautiful flowers and vegetable garden die. Once again I have a bare yard with no color or variety and my lovely garden that was just really starting to produce vegetables didn't survive that first frost.
4. The sicknesses. I am not a mom who likes to get up in the middle of the night and it seems I have to much more during this wonderful season. I worry about the kids and feel helpless when they are hurting.
5. The cold temperatures. When it gets cold outside it also gets cold in my unfinished basement which means the kids are confined and running wild in my family room all day long. We all seem to go a little stir crazy.


The Pluses (+) :
1. School is in. I do not enjoy waking up early, but I am very much enjoying the time when the boys are in school and I have some one-on-one time with my baby girl.
2. The fall smells and sights. Who doesn't love the warm fall aromas and the beauty of the changing leaves? We have been enjoying the apple and spice scents for a few weeks now.
3. Football. I have to admit that I was really looking forward to this one this year. I couldn't wait to be there at the games with Chad and his family and cheer on the Cougars. There is nothing like going to a football game.
4. No yard maintenance. Although I am sad that my flowers have been all cut down and my garden cleared, I am even more glad that the day is fast approaching when the water will be turned off and weeding will not be a weekly chore of mine.
5. The holidays. Every year I get a kick out of dressing up the kids for trick-or-treating and seeing the excitement in their faces. I am also a sucker for the big turkey dinner and seeing my extended family.

Taking everything into consideration, Fall is fast becoming one of my favorite seasons. What (+) or (-) would you add to the list?

RaNdOm UpDaTeS....

For those of you who are not also on Facebook and haven't read my posts about Po, my dog, yes I sold him. All it took was him to poop on my bed one more time for Chad finally to say that he wouldn't mind if I got rid of him. The kids were mostly all on board too. Keaton said, "Yeah, take him back to his Mom and Dad" without any sadness in his voice whatsoever. Emmi didn't even notice he was gone. Sam was the only one who put up a fight. He told me that I couldn't play the Wii If I got rid of him, (the same threat I give him when he is naughty).

One week after a frustrating woman gave him back to me after only a 1-hour trial (not long enough for a proper trial in my opinion), I found another woman who took him home. Now it has been over 3 weeks, and I am still very much happy with my decision. The kids have all but completely forgotten about him and I am so glad that I don't have to worry about him anymore. Hooray!Last week I took Sam to get his first cavity filled. I have to admit that I was sooo nervous that he was going to be a nightmare and wouldn't let the dentist do his job. Well, I was totally wrong. The cute dental assistant told him he was going to wear a funny elephant nose (laughing gas) which he wore proudly, and it was smooth sailing from there on out. He didn't get a shot to numb the tooth, just the laughing gas. The cavity was done in no time and with no sign of tears. I was very proud of Sam that day, but I am still hoping that we don't have many of these visits in the future.

Soccer pics

Only one more game, and Sam is done with soccer. He is just finally starting to really get the hang of it too. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.

School is finally here...

I know that I am a little late with this post. Most of you have already put up pictures with your little ones in their new school duds. I guess I am just slacking off and enjoying this new schedule of mine. I love a schedule. And if that schedule happens to mean that 2 of my kids are gone at some point of the day it is even better. :) Some of you may say that it is terrible of me, but you must not have 3 or more children 6 yrs. old and younger in your home. I tell you that it can make a person crazy to care for that many children all day long. Every mom can use a break and I'm no exception. Keaton started 1st grade a couple of weeks ago. This is our traditional pre- father's blessing picture taken the night before. ( I think Emmi thought she was getting one too.)
I don't know why pre-school starts weeks after everyone else, but it does. So Sam had to wait for what I'm sure felt like years for him to finally have his turn at a father's blessing. It was a special occasion because we were at my parent's house the night before, and got to have them there for the blessing.
During the blessing I kept hearing these thunking noises. I opened my eyes and saw his feet like this on the table, but with his eyes closed of course- kid you not. We all got a good kick out of it. The boy cannot sit still.
This is Keaton as we were walking down to the bus stop on the first day of school. You can tell by his eyes that he has actually just spotted the bus going by. Lucky for us, it wasn't his bus.. whew!
Here he is in line. I have to admit that I was almost about to tear up at this point, knowing that I wasn't going to see him at my counter for lunch, to think that he is a big boy now and can handle the full time school. Me, Sam and Emmi do miss Keaton. I especially do when I keep getting pestered by Sam to play Wii with him all day. I didn't realize how nice it was to have 2 boys that play so good together. However, 2 days a week when Sam is in preschool I am left with only Emmi for a few hours and it is wonderful. Lately, I have been using it as my day to do my grocery shopping, and it has been such a better experience.

You probably noticed that I didn't post pictures of Sam's first day of school. Up until I uploaded these pictures, I honestly thought I had taken some. But yeah, I didn't take any and I feel crappy about it. Next year, when Sam starts Kindergarten I will make up for it... so stay tuned.

So, you may ask, what exactly (besides pestering me) does Sam do all day while Keaton is at school? Well, he has a new hero and his name is Indiana Jones. My father let us borrow his trilogy and we will more than likely have to buy him a new set. We thought that they might be too scary for the kids, but no, the Temple of Doom is actually Sam's favorite one. In the past few weeks Sam has turned every toy that could possibly look and act like a whip into one, tried to climb my fireplace more than a dozen times, and is constantly asking me to buy him a real "Indy" costume for Halloween. We watch at least one of the movies during the morning, with the record at 3 right now. I can't complain. If it keeps him occupied there aren't a whole lot of other movies that I would rather have to watch.