Deck The Halls with Crazy Kids and Christmas Trees!

 My honey

 Our tree is hiding behind us all

 Jax in front of our tree

 Playing on the big teeter totters

 All the kids with their cousin Joie

 Jaxxon's first candy cane!

 Kenna got to top the tree this year

 Tada! All 7 kiddos:) Next year lil Brylee should be about 7 months old in the christmas tree pics!

 Nate and I

 Ornament time

Jax helpin' mama decorate

We are going to celebrate Advent this year with the Advent Storybook, by Antonie Schneider and using a newly bought Advent Calendar:) There are 24 stories in the book to go along with the advent calendar so each night of December we will read one story at bedtime! We will also be lighting one candle on our Advent wreath each Sunday evening after dinner and reading from Celebrating the Christian Year about the reasoning for the lighting of each candle. With shopping out of the way, we can truly appreciate the season for what it is.

Thanksgiving:0)

 The kids made this edible turkey arrangement:0) I LOVE it, it turned out so cute and everyone helped, down to the 2 yo. It was ta-ta-ta-tasty tasty too :0)

 Pretty eggs

 The tables with everyone eating

 Snow princess sandy!

Thanksgiving turned out so nice. It was wonderful to have Kayla as my kitchen helper this year. She was so eager to get in there and help and it lightened the load quite a bit:) The food turned out amazing and the company was wonderful too. Today is on to deckin the halls for Christmas! Yay, off to get busy working!

Fall Table Cloth for Thanksgiving

 I made some extra table cloths for thanksgiving because we needed more.

I really love the colors, they feel so fall festive, but this should work year round as well.

Introducing Bryleann Renahe

Her nub!(hand arrow is pointing to it) Completely flat. Her potty shot, revealed a hamburger as well. I feel VERY confident in the correctness of the u/s especially since I felt deep down she was a girl right from the start. I told many people this and my mother's instinct was correct.

SHE is super healthy, the NTS showed a negligible risk of anything like Down's Syndrome or any Trisomies. She had her little leggies crossed and we had to wiggle her ladylikeness to get to see the goods! She looks beautiful. She is measuring a half week ahead! I feel so blessed. How lucky am I, 4 and 4, an even score?!!!!

Our Family Holiday Photos 2011

These were all taken 11/11/11 by my bestie. I think she did a great job. I am super happy with them all. Happy Holidays from our family to yours! Xoxoxo

3 Month Bump with Sweetpea 8

 for comparison sake.....2 months

and now, through puking and all, I have still managed to gain some real bumpage in the past month!

My Dad is Making an Effort

 My Dad, sister, brother and I met up today at the park for an afternoon of laughter, feeding ducks and catching up. The cousins got to enjoy each other and my Dad got to work on remembering ALL those names as he put it! Hehe, I am so glad he wanted to do this and that he wants to see us and spend time with us:) It means so much after all these years. Next week, its Thanksgiving with him at my brother's house and I am so happy for that. It will be our first one together in 7 years! God is good!

Working on Those Handmade Christmas Gifts

A double crochet scarf

    

All rolled up with a single row crochet bow!

 Rag quilt table runner

I think this turned out super cute. I have enough leftover to do one more similar to this, I plan to get to that tomorrow, but I'm also working on handmade table cloths for Thanksgiving which I will post as soon as I finish. So much to do! Ready to get something else on the crochet hook too:)

Yesterday's Prenatal Apt

I was expecting the most boring, routine visit yesterday along with an apt for my Nuchal Translucency scan within the next week or two. Instead, I got a mad Dr who couldn't understand why I didn't call him 2 weeks ago, the day I passed out home alone with my 3 smallest kiddos. I told him, I had no one to drive me down, no one to watch the babies and I figured I was just dehydrated severely from puking so much. I didn't want all the drama merely for an IV. He was not buying into it and was freaked out that it was possibly an arrthmia from my heart. So not 10 minutes after I arrive, I am being sent up to cardiology for another 24 hour holter monitor. Of course I have nearly 1000 PVC's everyday, but I have grown somewhat used to them and thus far I believe that is all this holter has captured.

 I also found out that the nurse dropped the ball and never submitted paperwork to insurance for my nuchal trans scan and they are now waiting for emergency approval because low and behold I WAS further along as I thought I was. I thought my due date was May 31st based on when I thought I ovulated and my Dr somehow confused someone else's due date last time and marked that I was due sometime in June, thus the mix up in the nuchal trans scan as well. So come to find out the u/s put my due date at May 30th so that is my actual due date that he is keeping(looks like I was dead right on when I ovulated!) That makes me 12 weeks tomorrow YAY! I go back Monday for a follow up with cardiology after they look at this holter. We also now wait for insurance to approve the nuchal trans scan, but thankfully by the time I get in there for it, I should be plenty far along to be able to leave there with confidence as to the sex of the baby. They usually tell me around 12 weeks and have never been wrong so 13-14 weeks I am pretty sure will be VERY accurate. Update: My insurance already approved it and my apt is Tuesday, November 22 at 9:15am so we shall know the sex of the baby in 1 week. I will be 12 w6d so being that close to 13 weeks, I feel I can be pretty confident in what they tell me.

The only good news I got from the apt was listening to baby's heartbeat, which is always precious.......and I passed my 3 hour glucose tolerance test with flying colors. My 3 hour glucose numbers were fasting 88, 1 hour 97, 2 hours 93, 3 hours 81. What gives? My 1 hour had 50 mg less of the sugar and I was 155 afterwards. In any case the numbers on my 3 hour were excellent and I couldn't be happier about that. Overall, I have to be thankful for a Dr. who truly cares about me. I really love him and that is why he will soon be delivering his 3rd baby from our family. I have stuck with him since I was lucky enough to find him and I just know I couldn't have another baby without him!

Jaxxon Took His First Steps Today

At 13 months and 3 days, my little preemie boy has finally taken his first steps! He took 2 steps without holding onto anything today on the patio of my Father in laws house. He was so proud of himself. I am one happy Mama today. Its the little things that make me so happy! :) Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful Sunday!

Working Ahead of Time

We decided to work ahead of schedule this year. We are almost completely done with Christmas shopping. We have 4 birthdays in January, which almost always become very neglected as we are usually swimming in holiday debt by then. This year we wanted it to be different. We realized if we shopped now, we would be actually have money saved by January to be able to celebrate those birthdays a little different than normal. We also realized that by shopping ahead, we get to enjoy no hustle or bustle during December. We will truly get to enjoy the season.

We will likely have a little extra during a time of year when we are normally pinching every penny to get the kids a few things they really want. In light of that, we will have more resources to help with food drives, toy drives, etc. We wanted to start our 1st Sunday of Advent with a nice family meal and the World Vision catalog to go through as a family. We want to prepare our kid's hearts for giving, not recieving, this season. We are looking into working a morning in a soup kitchen and a few other charitable things we usually do not have time or resources for in such a busy, expensive time of year. Its a very exciting feeling to already have gifts for Grandma's, Grandpa's, Aunts and Uncles, friends and teachers along with everything we wanted for the kids. We wanted a smallish Christmas. We had one last year and enjoyed it so much more than the hugely lavish ones. I feel my kids enjoy 1 toy they REALLY want and a few other items I wanted for them instead of an entire list of every little thing their hearts desired. The more there is, the less value each item seems to hold. Don't get me wrong, they are going to have a GREAT Christmas, very lucky kids.......just not overdone!

 We are really planning a different celebration this year for the month of December that includes more thinking about others and helping and I do NOT write this here to brag or feel good about myself. I write this here to give ideas, encourage, inspire. Mostly though, these are the things I want to pass on to my children about the holiday season. Its fun to watch the kids grow from their own selfish desire towards empathy for those who have so much less and how we can help and that is the type of people I want to raise! They are really on the look out for ways to help in the community, bringing ideas to me daily and it melts me to see my kids growing into selfless, giving people.

Really Loved This and Wanted to Share

So very very true. Its so bittersweet to look back.

This is TRULY Amazing

It simply deserves its own post because ITS. THAT. GOOD!!!!! http://gettingthere.typepad.com/getting-there/2011/11/home-cooking-beef-stew-and-dumplings.html

Your kids, hubby, and any guests you invite for dinner will be drooling, no joke:) Try it!

Sorry For the Confusion

I'm just comfortable here, this is home!

Religion or Legalism

Religion, or legalism is the problem. When I step back, rip away all the "good wife, good mother, good this and that books," I actually miss having a relationship with God. I do believe. I don't know what I believe about the Bible at this point and time as I have read so much in reference to it that is annoying or discrediting, but I do know in my heart that God exists. I cannot go a day without praying several times "on accident," lately as I was just over everything and trying to step back from it all. I need to be able to pray and realized that it is so natural to me that its like drinking water during the day. I just feel that God has to be real, up there. I don't know much else at this point as I don't really believe much more than that right now.

 Religion is definately the problem and even the Bible which I certainly don't take 100% literally anymore says "James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." This is merely one example of many I could pull up. Basically what I am getting at is that a relationship with your God, whoever he may be, is what is important and for me......essential to live. Its also being  a good person, not some crazy rules about skirts, having as many children as your body can produce, etc. I cannot believe that a loving God would be in Heaven, angry at me for being bisexual if that is how I was created by Him. I'm definately not trying to sit here and toot my own horn, but I feel I am a generally good person, practicing good deeds as an example to my children and being a charitable, kind and thoughtful type of mother and that is what I feel is important. I don't care about prescribed rules of religion. In fact, I want nothing to do with them, yet I believe in my heart of hearts God must exist because trying to shut Him out for even more than a day is impossible for me. It literally cannot happen. I have kept all this private until now because I really thought for a day there, maybe even 2, that I didn't believe in God at all. While following "Religion," I missed the entire point and made myself miserable too.

Hospitality

So Nate and I are challenging ourselves to more hospitality. It's a lost art, an important one for keeping close relationships with family and friends. This is a tough one for me right now in this season of my life(throwing up daily), but as I begin to feel better, this should come much easier. We are working on inviting someone, friends or family, each week for dinner. Its fun, helps us expand our cooking skills and friendships! Tonight we are hosting a friend I have known since jr highschool. I am excited to see her. It will be fun to catch up since she moved away for a year and is now back to the area. I have no clue who we will ask to come by next week, but it will be someone!  An added benefit is cleaning the house super good for company which means it stays nicer during the week. I am working hard on self improvement, that's mainly gratitude for the real important things in life. What matters is close relationships with family and friends. My kids, my husband, my animals, walking in the fresh air pushing along my babies even while dry heaving. The all day sickness will pass along like it did with all the other children and I will soon have a cute belly to replace it. I have to chose to live in gratitude each day, each hour, each minute. It doesn't come naturally, but someday with practice, it will.

Fresh Off the Crochet Hook!

I think Jax really loves it:)

Turkey Day is on the Way

So is our first possibility of snow :O tonight! EEeeep:) Yay