baby bump

im almost halfway! here is my 19 week bump

thanksgiving fun

my mom and dad made it up this year fro thanksgiving. we spent most of the day cooking and, you guessed it, eating until we could literally pop! I hope everyone had a wonderful day. We didnt take part in the usual day after thanksgiving shopping this year. I want to know, did anyone get any amazing deals I missed out on?

anzlie's a pilgrim!

the other day I got a notice that anzlie had to wear black and white to school for the pilgrim program. I dressed her in black and white and sent her to school. I went somewhere and when I came home my husband went to her school and watched the play and took pictures of it. I was bummed that I missed out! I really didn't think to go to her school to watch since there wasnt an invite or anything. I am thankful that my husband went and that he got to see her in her program. these pictures show you just how small she is for her age!

our new baby had it's picture taken today too...

So, if you can't tell, we are having a BOY. Girl, boy, girl, boy...I would say we are pretty lucky. So, we went in for the ultrasound and I was a nervous wreck. I dont know why I allow myself to get this way. I noticed the outdoor plumbing right away and my heart sank. I was a little disappointed so I thought it was because I wanted a girl, but as I thought about it I realized that I was just overcome with emotion for a few different reasons and couldn't take it all in that fast. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE boys. I had one of those moments where I was overcome with the reality that I will soon have 4 children. Before it was just a lima bean and now that my stomach is popping out it became very real all the sudden...don't make fun of me, I know you're wondering why it took so long to dawn on me that I was having a baby, but when you put a gender to it and watch him kick all around on the screen, it melts your heart. another wave of emotion was coming from my overenthusiastic husband who was already calling it by the name we definately don't agree on. That really did make me cry. I know, sad. I felt like a two year old with an owie. I am sure we can reach an agreement on a name so not something to cry over...but lastly, I had an overwhelming amount of anxiety when they said, "It's a boy." I instantly hoped that this baby boy got my good x chromosome as the chances of him having X-linked agammaglobulinemia is 50/50 and I know it's not my fault, but there is an amount of guilt every mother has that carries a disease to their child. We will test him as soon as he's born for the mutation on the x chromosome, so atleast we will know much sooner than we did with Landon. We now do the plasma infusions at home every week subcutaneously and Landon is so brave. he doesnt cry over needles so much anymore. He's my hero. There is no cure for it so this will be for life but I am so thankful that they lead normal lives otherwise and are not limited in what they can and cannot do. I just get to be the crazy lady who sanitizes everything including my sons classroom..we all take immune systems for granted. Actually we take so much for granted. And the last burst of emotion was the relief that everything was healthy and the baby looks like he is growing right on schedule. I am due april 28th and will probably schedule his arrival 1-2 weeks early since its my fourth c-section. all in all, I think I went through a box of kleenex on the way home I laughed and cried and felt so silly for having no control over my emotions! I was like that with my other boy pregnancy-an emotional wreck! I think Chris has done a wonderful job at putting up with all my emotions. Now that i am over all the tears, we are thrilled to add a little boy to our family of soon to be 6! It doesn't hit you how big your family is until you go to sign a christmas card and it takes up all the space just to write everyone's name!

new family pictures

here are anzlie and landon's school pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDY!

I wanted to send a birthday shout out to my sister mandy. I hate not living close and getting to participate first hand in the celebrating. I hope you have a great day. As your annoying little sister growing up, I can remember all of your birthday parties. I tried to tag a long each time. You had such good ideas and your parties were so fun. Your sleepovers with your friends, the flour game, musical clothing, and one year you got this beautiful comforter for your bed and I was in awe of how beautiful it was (although now, its so ugly!), but your best party was when you went to embassy suites. you always knew how to have a good time. Isn't it funny that now that we're old moms our gift requests change to wanting dishes, coffee tables, and room decor? I am glad that we have a lot in common now and when we are kidless, I love that we sometimes have those priceless moments where we laugh until we pee our pants. I'm sure we'd have more times like these if I could learn how to stay up past 9. I am always wondering how you don't seem to require much sleep. you can accomplish so much in one day and sometimes I wonder if I could do all that you do. I think it would be fun to have the talents you do. I wish I had a better sense of direction and adventure like when you take a short cut through a neighborhood and dont have a clue where you're going but somehow you find a way to where you want to go. I would love to be a hairapist and make people look great and listen all about what is going on in their lives, and get paid for it? sounds fun to me! You are definately a people pleaser and are usually finding ways to solve problems with people or your children that would avoid confrontation. I admire that. You do so much. I hope that you are treated well today and enjoy your date tonight. Do something thats out of that ordinary and enjoy it. I want pictures. Happy 29th mandy. We'll have to celebrate when you come up next month. LOVE YOU!

weekend fun

Now that this week is over I look back and realize that I must be feeling a lot better because I accomplished so much this week. I was able to organize and decorate a little more and try to get my house ready for holiday company. thursday we had many kids over playing their hearts out and friday I babysat for two neighbors and again our basement was full of screaming and giggling. Friday night my husband took me out of the house since I was starting to go a little stir-crazy and we went to ikea. we decided to eat there and we have this rule that the kids have to eat what they ask for. can you guess where this is going? anzlie ordered noodles, yogurt and a cookie and we were telling her how many bites to eat and she tried to do them too fast and started gagging and then, being pregnant and naseated all the time, I started gagging, and then she just threw up all over herself and the table. that was horrible. I was so scared that I would have to clean it up but my husband took the napkins and cleaned it up before I could and I was so thankful for a husband that shares in the less pleasant joys of parenthood. what a night!
earlier this week, I got a message from a good friend saying she was in the hospital for a week or so and she was feeling down and helpless with three little ones at home. I told my husband and he drove to the hospital to visit her since I was babysitting. I was so thankful that my husband was willing to do that for me and my friend. we offered to have their kids for the weekend and take them to church so once again we had six children under age 6. LET ME TELL YOU, we felt like jon and kate plus eight. It wasn't so much that it was hard, it is just a lot of nouths to feed and someone was always hungry or thirsty and so on. chris and I were a good team but if he didnt help me I don't know if I could've survived. I really love kids. I love hearing what they have to say and watching their minds go a mile a minute. I think we are going to slow things down this week and take lots of naps. HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY EVERYONE!

baby knox

I don't have much to post right now, but I can breath a sigh of relief. the baby results came back healthy. I tested for down syndrome, spina bifida and some other disorders, but everything looked good. I find out the gender tuesday so stay tuned...
chris has never been so determined to name our baby. We do not agree on this issue so the fun begins. he wants to name him warner knox. I had others already in mind. I'm sure everyone has these issues so we'll see what happens.

I have been preoccupied...

my husband was out of town for 6 weeks and he got home a month ago. I have been busy with him and the family. A lot has been going on lately. We moved back into our house and are still working on unpacking and yardwork. There is a lot to report so the best way is to break it up and tell you what we have been up to individually.
Chris is in the process of changing gears for a while career-wise. He has been busy with that and my honey-do list of things on top of that. It has been nice to have him home the kids are so attached to him and he puts them to bed every night for me and I get morning duty.I actually have pictures of him now. it seems like he is never on the blog!
I am about 16 weeks pregnant and finally not so sick! I am so happy! we find out what we are having this month. I was recently called to be primary pianist a few sundays a month. I finished some projects I ve been working on and other than that life is routine.
anzlie is 5 and is loving kindergarten. she loves art. she colors all day and makes crafts all the time. she loves to collect things and she likes to do her own hair now. I have no say in her wardrobe either. She loves homework and does it as soon as she gets home with no help from me. I am trying to get her school picture on here so that is still to come.
landon turned 4 october 27th. He loves preschool and being outdoors. he has had so much fun with all the fun boy things he got for his birthday. lightsabers and nerf guns and monster trucks...he is a happy kid.
ciera is at my favorite age. I love watching her personality come out. she is so sweet and mellow. she definately beats to her own drum and likes to quietly explore. she thought that halloween was the best thing ever invented and constantly asks for candy.She has been talking in full sentences and copies every thing her siblings do. she loves to sing and dance. She likes me to do her hair and she can change her own diaper. I am thinking its time to potty-train but she's not even 2 yet.
we went on a family trip to arizona and got to spend time with grandmas, cousins, aunts and uncles, and some friends. that s why there is such a picture overload. I am trying to get pictures of anzlie and landon in their halloween costumes but I have to figure it out since they're pictures weren't taken with my camera. some of the pictures were of the kids and grandma and grandpa knox. I was excited for my kids to get to know them. thanks for having us! what a fun trip to arizona!