Her Nursery...

High Maintenance...

Dude.  Baby girl clothes might be super cute, but I can already tell they are going to be a lot of work. I mean, ironing?  Who does that any more?  Maybe the jeans, t-shirts, and the occasional polo that I have seen exclusively in my house for the last nine years weren't so bad after all.

Really, though.  I just can't get over how fun it is to have pink and frills and ruffles!  I will iron for days if I have to.  This is pretty much a dream come true!  Did I mention that I spent basically my entire childhood playing with dolls and dressing them?  Well, that and climbing trees.

Hang in there, sweet baby girl!

Once a complicated pregnancy, always a complicated pregnancy.  My doctor keeps reminding me that the diagnosis is a chronic placental abruption, and that will remain the diagnosis until this precious baby is born.  And with that diagnosis comes increased risks, even when things have been looking better.  Today, we had quite a scare.  It started with some substantial bleeding, which then led to several hours of contractions that were three minutes apart, which all translated into a day spent in the hospital praying that our baby girl hangs on just a few more weeks.  Thankfully, God continues to protect her and we were able to come home this evening.  But the prayer is that things settle down and she waits another six or seven weeks to make her debut.  I am now 31 weeks, and although I am thankful we have made it this far, I really really want her to wait until at least 37 or 38 weeks to be born.  I desperately want to have her in my arms when she is born. I want to nurse her and bring her home with me and not let her go.  My heart breaks for mamas who have to come home from the hospital without their babies, and I pray that we don't have to face that.  So for now, we wait.  And pray for a few more precious weeks for her to grow and develop safely in the womb.  

Summer Days...

This is how we spend a majority of our summer days.  I am SO thankful we have access to a pool on a regular basis.  I can't imagine what it would be like trying to keep three active boys entertained during our blistering hot summers if we didn't.  Once again, Allison took these pictures.  Thanks for sharing them, Al.  I love them.  And I also love not being on bed rest anymore!  

P.S.  For the record, I would like to point out that Ezra just turned two in March and he is jumping off the diving board all by himself.   It is amazing to me to watch what that kid will tackle in order to keep up with the big boys.

Ezra and Stella...

Ezra absolutely adores his baby cousin, Stella.  Allison took these pictures at a school field trip last week, and they are pretty stinking sweet if you ask me!  Watching him with Stella makes me really excited to see how he does with his very own baby sister.  I'm sure it will be an adjustment at first sharing the attention, but in the end I have a feeling he is going to be one awesome big brother.

The Graduate...

Yesterday, Silas officially graduated from Kindergarten!  He is a good kid and a hard worker, and we are incredibly proud of him.  Well done, buddy!  You will do great in first grade.  For the record, he wants to be an engineer and a dad (I got very teary eyed when I heard that last part... he definitely has a great example for a father).