The Nursery

As I look back at pictures of the room in our house which has been known as "the nursery" for the last 4 years, I'm amazed at what all this little room has gone through. Thankfully, I found it pretty easy to find some bedding this time around. It's probably because this is my 3rd boy so I pretty much knew what all was out there. As I enter the third trimester I'm excited to say we are officially done with the nursery for the 3rd (and probably last) time! While it still seems early, I've been very determined to get everything done in a timely manner. When I was pregnant with Reid, I unexpectedly went straight from a doctor appt. to the hospital for a few days of bed rest and never returned home until Reid was born. While we had mostly completed Reid's nursery, there were still a few things that didn't get done. This left my mom and Aaron scrambling on the day of delivery to get some baby clothes washed, bags packed, etc. While I'm not quite ready to wash the newborn clothes, I have unpacked them and they are just waiting for that next step! Here is a look at all 3 of the nurseries!

Landon's Nursery 

 

 

 

Reid's Nursery

Micah's Nursery

 

This is an olive wood carving we bought in Jerusalem...

 I don't consider myself crafty, at all, and while this "M" looks simple, I found it quite hard! But I did it and that's all that matters. Just don't look at it too closely! :)

A quick update on the pregnancy....I am 27 weeks now (third trimester!!). The previa situation (first mentioned in THIS post) was last checked this past week. My placenta has moved a tiny bit but I'm still considered to have a partial previa. We are still hopeful that this will move more, however, my doctor believes that this situation coupled with my 2 prior c-sections (scar tissue, etc.) will make the end of this pregnancy (and the delivery) a little more risky. Because of this, she will most likely take the baby 2-4 weeks early. My actual due date is January 6th, but we will most likely be meeting our Micah mid December. Hopefully my blood pressure will cooperate this time and won't add any extra concerns!

A Trip to the South

Last week we were able to make a special trip to Seguin to visit with PaPa, Eg, Aunt Abby and Uncle Austin. This was our last little get-a-way as a family of 4. Here are some of the highlights...

 Riding in PaPa's boat...

 Decorating our very own placemats...

 

Playing on the slip-n-slide...

 

Swimming in the river...

SEA WORLD!

 The boys wanted NOTHING to do with the dolphins...so Aaron was the one who got to feed them!

 Counting alligators...

 Looking at the mangos (as Landon called them).

 Our little tour guide...

 

Landon's first roller coaster ride...He loved it!

We were also able to go see Abby (who is in 7th grade now) in one of her volleyball games and we celebrated Landon and PaPa's birthdays! Thanks for a wonderful time PaPa and Eg!!

4 Years

Yesterday our oldest boy turned 4! We can hardly believe that it's been 4 years since we became parents! Landon has the sweetest little spirit. He is very caring and always makes sure that everyone is taken care of. We are so thankful for our sweet little boy and pray that he holds on to the gentle spirit God has given him. Tonight we had a small family party to celebrate. I really didn't get many pictures as I was too busy gabbing and eating and then my camera battery died, but I will share what I managed to get! A couple of weeks ago I took Landon to the party store and attempted to have him choose a party theme. However, he couldn't seem to make a decision so I chose Mickey knowing how much he loves the show. What's funny is the only thing he did insist on was a Minnie Mouse balloon...considering I won't be having much pink in this house, I'll take it! :)

A is for Apple

For over a year now our family has been thinking, praying and researching the idea of homeschooling. We have many different reasons for considering this as an option for our family. While we aren't 100% certain this is the direction we will take for our children's entire education, we feel led right now to at least give it a trial run. We have even considered a co-op program once the kids are actually in grade school. This is a type of program where they would go to a school for 1-2 days a week and then complete the rest of their school week at home. Because of his birthday (which is TODAY!!) Landon won't actually start kindergarten until the fall of 2013. So, I have been working on some preschool curriculum to start doing at home. Landon and I started on Monday and have completed our first week. He is really enjoying it and always asks to "play" more school once it's over for the day. Just in the short time I've been working on curriculum and actually starting with Landon, I've realized that this could possibly be one of the hardest things I ever do as a parent. I know everyone has their own ideas about homeschooling or home schooled children. And to be quite honest if you had asked me before I had children if I would ever home school my answer would have been a definite no. However, the Lord has been placing some new things on our hearts about our role as parents. Please understand that this is a very personal decision and not one we feel is best for everyone. If you would like to read more about some of our thoughts and ideas behind this decision, I will direct you to THIS page. I hate to steal someone elses post, but these seem to be many of our exact thoughts, just said much more eloquently than I could say it. Each week will be based around a letter, a bible story and a memory verse.  This week we worked on the letter "A", our bible verse was, "As for God, his way is perfect." Psalms 18:30 and our story was Adam and Eve. Here is a glimpse at our first week.

 Daddy joined us on this particular day...

 We made airplane cookies...

 Landon chose yellow icing for the cookies...

 Taking a break to eat some of the supplies... 

 This particular day we each got our cameras and went outside to look for things that look like the letter A.

Below are Landon's pictures. He actually had 2 more that somehow got erased. One was from a street sign with an A on it. The other was actually a picture of a satellite dish on top of a house. He pointed out that it looked like a little "a". I thought that was a pretty good one!

Computer time...

 Landon's very first family drawing...

 Our playroom has turned into part school room...