Rosie & The Bush: A Story of Perseverance

Spring In Our Steps

We have been soaking in every bit of this beautiful weather that we can. Yesterday we spent the day outside splashing in puddles (and mud, of course), riding bikes, cleaning out the van, cleaning up the yard (3 dogs worth of thawed out poop = yuck), climbing trees, and feeding the birds. I have to keep a close eye on Rosie when I clean up the dog poop. She follows close behind me, picks up pine cones, and runs up to me saying, "I foun' one!" Then she throws it in the scooper. Oh boy, I hope she continues to find the pine cones and not the real thing.

Today we had a picnic at the park, went on a long walk, threw rocks in the river, and now the girls are taking a nice, long nap. The windows are open in every room of the house so that we can air out and listen to the birds sing. We already found one salamander in the yard and the bugs are making a comeback. So far I haven't found any ticks on anyone, and I'm thankful for that!

I am still feeling wonderfully with the pregnancy. I'm only 7 weeks along right now, but I haven't felt sick at all, nor have I lost my appetite for anything. I do feel myself running out of energy earlier in the day, but it's not nearly as bad as the all-day-long fatigue I remember having with my other pregnancies. My weekly babycenter.com email today said that the baby is the size of a blueberry now and will grow his or her little hands and feet this week. It's all so sweet...I love it.

I am waiting on one of my dear friends to have her long overdue baby sometime soon so I can take her pictures. I bought some new props in preparation for little Emma's arrival and showed them to the girls. Rae was excited about it, then she said, "I have an idea!" and ran upstairs. She grabbed a baby doll, a toy camera, some baskets and blankets and started having her own baby photo shoot. It was so cute, I couldn't help but grab my camera and play along.

Ruby and Rosie got in on the fun, too.

And some of the finished products...

Finally here are some funny quote from the kids. Ruby has been on a roll lately.

Me: "Hurry up, slow poke!"

Ruby: "I'm not a slow poke, I'm a fast poke!"

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Me (smiling): "Ruby, quit being so cute and go eat your food."

Ruby (concerned): "But Mommy, I can't stop the cutes!"

You Do The Math

We are very excited to announce the upcoming arrival of Charlebaby #4! According to several online calculators, our new sweetie will be due 10/31/12. I usually go late, so I'm assuming he or she will make an appearance in early November. Joe and his wife are due in August, and Amber is due in September, so I guess we will have tic, tac, toe babies again!

I just have to laugh when I consider that the new baby will be born right at the start of deer hunting season...the one time of year we were (originally) "trying to avoid" for having a baby. God really does have better plans, doesn't He?

The girls are ecstatic. Ruby really hopes it's either a boy or a girl and wants to name the baby Horsey Rainbow. I told her we could call the baby Horsey Rainbow until we find out the gender. Rae wanted to name the baby Rachel if it's a girl. I told her I didn't think that would work because then we'd have a "Rae" and a "RA-chel." She told me not to worry, we could just call the baby, "Chel!" They are so funny, and I can't wait to see how they will interact with a newborn.

Please be praying for a smooth and healthy pregnancy. So far I feel great.