Crying and changing

So my blog template was all out of whack. I had tried to work on it a while ago and just left frustrated.  Tonight at 3:08am, Rylan woke me up with his little gruntings which quickly turn to irritated cries.  Yesterday Matthew said we should again try to let Rylan cry it out as he was old enough not to need to eat during the night.  So at 3:10am, I went to my baby and put his lovey Raffi back within his reach and left his room.  Next I used the bathroom and came downstairs.  Reading others' blogs and working on mine would help fight my urge to go to him and end the attempt of crying it out.  It's now 4:35am, Rylan is sleeping, and I am still awake. Tomorrow (which is actually today) will come quickly.  This is all for tonight. I would like to blog again soon as there has been much on my mind to share.  Just a tidbit is John 16:24, "Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." Oh if I can only get to asking for joy at the beginning of the day and not waiting until things are impossible and I don't know where to turn.  Tomorrow (today really) is another day.  

Summer Recap in Fall

Now that it's officially fall, here's a quick recap of summer. As I type, I currently am nursing Rylan. For whatever reason whenever there's a baby clinging to my body whether nursing or just being carried. I feel that half my brain is off. I do long to write more thought-provoking posts as to what the Lord is teaching me or how He is growing me, but alas for now here are photos from our summer. 

(There's also the fact that I'm "typing" with only one hand.)

 Our bonus room with the summer mess.

 All spiffed up and ready for the first day of school.

 Yes, I win!  Rock beats scissors!!

 So exciting to watch Braewyn get baptized.

 Ugly elephant.  This is the extent of my creativity two months after having a baby.

She likes rockin' her shades upside down. 

Trying on her outfit for a friend's 25th Anniversary party. 

Awesome guy flying in the sky!  (Philip spent MANY good hours playing Minecraft during the summer.) 

 First day of school (3rd grade, 1st grade and pretend K-2)

 Stuck in traffic when I-40 shut down while we were traveling to KY for Labor Day.

 Looking quite the studious pupils.

Rylan with Braewyn's math fun sheet.  

 Juliet and Nana at my friend's 25th Anniversary vow renewal service.  She was the flower girl.

Field trip to Discovery Place. 

More fun at Discovery Place. 

Big brother / Little brother 

Brother Mike and I are our crazy families! 

First flight on Brooks Academy Air. We're "traveling" to different countries through the school year.

Summer went fast and now fall is half over.  I pray you and your family had an eventful summer as well.

Field Trip On A Mountain Top

After much thought as to why I blog, I'm back at it.  I love writing as it's my favorite way to express myself.  Thinking that my blog was a glorified journal which could be lost at anytime due to an internet crash made me avoid blogging for a while.  My brains-of-the-family hubby suggested I save each month's posts as a PDF and print them out to keep for the kids to read in years to come.  Great idea!  The flipside is not personal at all but in fact I enjoy having a platform on which I can share with whomever is reading the amazing and humbling things the Lord is doing in my family.  We should be sharing these things more readily face-to-face but a blog just spreads the word a little quicker.  Ok, all that said here's what we did today...

First field trip for Brooks Academy this year was to a nearby apple orchard.  The fall air was perfect and just escaping all things technologically-based was worth the 45 minute drive.  As I'm still not keen on the idea of taking four kids on the road myself (especially involving nursing and having a preschooler on the loose), Principal Daddy took the day off and made it a family field trip!  Matthew, thank you for being the best husband, father and principal a girl could have!!  Love you!

Juliet is learning to drive with her feet!

Attack of the super huge Juliet!

The newest student hangs out with the principal.

Braewyn and Philip enjoyed the bamboo forest.

Finally, the baby sleeps!  Love my Rylan but he's not the easiest of babies and he is all about letting everyone know when he's not having a good time!  Not having a good time = hungry, tired or combo of both.

All these apples were handpicked by us!  Looking forward to baking some pies and finding other yummy apple recipes.  First field trip was a big success.  We love getting out of the house classroom and into the world classroom. God's world has educational value everywhere you look!

Teaching Your Children to BLESS and not CURSE Each Other (HS Conf.)

With the upcoming delivery of our fourth child, I was very excited to attend this seminar about easing sibling rivalry and ways to draw them closer to each other.  Rachael Carman is a homeschool mom of 7 so I think she's a reliable source for this info.

[According to Rachael...]
Public School Priorities:  1. Knowing facts  2. Finding facts  3. Relationships
Homeschool Priorities: (should be the reverse) 1. Relationships  2. Finding facts  3. Knowing facts

Proverbs 6:16-19 "There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."
-- Whatever kids are saying (rudeness to mom, dad, siblings) reflects the matter of the heart.
-- if not getting along with siblings, no playing with friends.  If not the sibling God wants you to be, you can't be the friend you should be.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him."
-- Choose life!
-- Kids treat each other like how mom and dad treat each other.
-- When kids are getting along, that is their testimony.

** The Culture's Norm
C. Cruel Words
U. Ugly Words (not Phil. 4:8)
R. Rude Words - disrespect, rough, tone of voice, grace-less
S. Selfish - greedy for attention, ego-centric
E. Embarrassing Words - kids tell stories about each other, putting down
-- do not allow "hate" to be spoken; lone and hate are not passive. Hating things leads to hating people.  We should be praying for them. Don't hate; just don't like it.

James 3:10-11 "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?"
Matthew 12:34 "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

** The Lord's Standard
B. Beneficial to all who hear - Eph. 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Prov. 13:3 "Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin."
L. Loving - 1 Corinthians 13; include smiling; moms need to practice smiling at kids and kissing daddy with a smiling face too!
E. Encouraging - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." Comforting words; includes providing hope of Heaven.
S. Sacrificial - Phil. 2:1-4; What can I do for you? Think about what they want; model it and serve them.
S. Smile!!!  Prov. 15:13 "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit."

Miscellaneous...
-- These paths are contagious, either curses or blessing.s
-- Sometimes let children trade chores to bless each other.
-- Make them get along with little to glorify God.
-- When fighting during school, close books and address heart conditions.
-- Tone matters in saying good and bad things.
--Don't settle for good outside actions and words, but deal with the heart.
-- I.e. "God made you oldest; God made you the first born girl; etc." Older ones help encourage younger ones but older ones need to earn it by loving and spending time with them.  Can't always correct. 
-- If want rules to work in the house, must establish relationship first.
*** For homeschool days, invest in youngest to oldest; for family life, discipline oldest to youngest.
-- Each child is providentially and sovereignly placed in birth order by God.
*** We have an opportunity to show the world what God intended when He created family.
-- Focus more on hearts this year than books.
-- Enemy wants siblings to not like each other.   

Six-year-old sweetie and newborn cutie!

Birthdays are a special time in our family and during May we celebrated two special birthdays.

 

 

On May 2nd, Braewyn turned 6 years old!  Six means you are no longer a little kid but officially elementary age and turning more into an independent individual every day.  It's been a joy to watch Braewyn grow and I think it will be even more exciting over the next several years.  She is quite head-strong, but I think that's a great asset as I believe Braewyn will be a leader instead of a follower.  She's our little princess who does not want to be called cute or even pretty, but awesome and cool instead.  She does like her Barbies but says her favorite color is blue and not pink.  She's a wonderful girl and a loving "Sissy" to her sister and brothers...

If you haven't heard, the baby in my belly was born on May 19th and we'd like to introduce Rylan Judah!  I was actually due on June 3rd, but after having contractions all day on Saturday, May 18th, Matthew and I decided to drive to the hospital at 10pm, leaving at home Philip, Braewyn and Juliet with Grandma Ruth Ann.  I wasn't sure if I would be admitted as the contractions weren't that bad and coming every 10-15 minutes apart. Once in triage, the monitor said my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart so I was admitted.  Moving into the labor and delivery room, my nurse said my obstetrician would like to break my water but she was telling him no.  I thanked her and said my main request was to get a nap sometime before the baby was born!  I tried to get comfortable in the bed while Matthew slept over on the sofa/bed built into the wall.  Around 2:00am, I decided it was probably a good time for the epidural as I was dilated to around 5cm.  That procedure went very well despite the nerves that creep up when getting a big needle stuck into your back.  After that I tried to relax but was fighting off more nerves wondering if my OB would break my water or not.  Closer to 5:00am, the nurse said the OB decided to go to sleep for a while and just let me rest too.  That was what I needed to hear and I did sleep soundly until around 6:30am.  At that time, Pitocin was started to keep things moving and the contractions got pretty bad.  I asked for more pain medication and the anesthesiologist said he didn't want to dull all my pain.  I told him I understood but needed more to take the edge off.  Once the epidural was increased, I almost immediately felt the need to push.  They thought I was still around 8cm, but then the nurse began to call for back-up.  Matthew knew the baby was coming quickly the way everyone began to get things in high gear.  My OB made it in and I pushed through two contractions.  After the first set of pushes, I did have a quick moment of fear and asked, "Is it stuck?!"  Matthew reassured me that the baby's head was almost out.  Next set of pushes and Rylan was born!  I don't remember seeing him as I heard Matthew say we had a boy, but I do remember seeing the tear roll down Matthew's cheek.  It was a wonderful moment.

Our life will be forever changed as of that moment, now being the parents of two boys and two girls!  Rylan, you are only 14 days old and already we love you SO MUCH!!

 

You might be able to tell who gets the MOST excited holding her new baby brother!!!