The progression of the pregnant belly

15 weeks

Wow.....it's difficult to believe that we have arrived at almost the end of this pregnancy. It has not been an easy 38 weeks and 5 days but there have certainly been many joys along the way. I feel so incredibly blessed to be on this journey one last time. 

Our c-section is less than 48 hours away. The kids are so excited.....there is a general buzz around our house. I can't concentrate on anything, I can't sleep, I don't quite know what to do with myself. Soon enough, Lord willing, I'll be snuggling with that little newborn boy. I'm so ready to have him here, safe and sound.

Ella's 7th Birthday!!!

Ella helping make her birthday cake

Ready to blow out candles

"Happy Birthday to you!!!!"

Ella has been wanting a pet for such a long time. We haven't felt ready to take on a new dog or anything too involved but we really wanted to honor her request for a pet....so we got her a fish tank and 3 fish....she couldn't be happier!!  Scale, Spot and Shadow are now living in our kitchen.

I can't believe that this beautiful, busy, nature-loving, artistic daughter of mine is 7 years old. It was not long ago that she was born to us nearly 2 lb smaller than her brother, spent 6 looooong days in the NICU, cried day and night for 6 months....and now, here she is. I am so proud of her and I love experiencing the person she is becoming. I truly believe God broke the mold when He crafted this one.....there is no one else like her. 

Cora's 2nd Birthday!!

Cora's birthday cake....she just needed a little taste test

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Cora

Blowing out candles....with big sister's help!

Pictures got a little out of order....I love this one of Cora!

The morning of November 2...we went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to watch Uncle Tim run in the Monumental Marathon. We had such a fun time watching and cheering on the runners.

Uncle Tim spent the evening with us as we celebrated Cora's birthday. You would have thought he was a celebrity or superhero the way our children treated him. They couldn't get enough of their Uncle Tim!!

This picture is a little blurry but it was our attempt at a self-made photo on Uncle Tim's phone.

October and November 2013

October 11-- Renaissance lapbooks.....today was Fall Break from our homeschool co-op so we decided to do a lapbook about what we've been studying this semester

October 26--all dressed up for the Fall Festival at our church

October 28--Cora's first haircut!!

November 1--Trick-or-treating was postponed from Halloween night due to lots of stormy weather. I had much fun with face paint on Mae and Cora.

September 2013

September 5--First day of dance class

September 8--All dressed up for church....I was especially excited about all of the fancy shoes!

September 21--MAE IS 4 YEARS OLD!!!!! Mae is sporting her birthday donut frosting face....thanks for the donuts, Papa Carl!

Mae's Oatmeal Creme Pies from Mimi and Papa Don

A table full of buddies for Mae's birthday.....Mae, Titus Waggoner, Cora, Ben Waggoner, Ella

Mae helped me make her birthday cake....white cake with white frosting....we all thought it was a huge success!

Blowing out her candles

September 22--Mae Mae napping with Princess Paula....her princess puppet from Meemaw and Papa Carl

September 24--Applesauce!!! We got a bushel of apples from Uncle Keith and Aunt Rhonda Detwiler and bought a Saucemaster so we are up to our eyeballs in applesauce!! Fortunately, the big kids really helped with the entire process.

Summer Vacation 2013

Breakfast at the bar in our Kentucky cabin

Ready for our tour of Mammoth Cave

Mae and Mommy riding the bus to the cave tour

Cora loved riding the bus.....in fact, during our cave tour, she kept repeatedly yelling "Ride bus! Ride bus!" She could have cared less about the cave....she wanted to get back on the bus!

Cora and Mommy inside the cave

Our tour guide was super

Cora getting ready for our campfire

A really fun night in Ky.....we made pudgy pies and smores and sang songs around the campfire

Hiking in Brown County State Park

Beautiful scenery in Brown County

Ella rode Buster the pony

Niko rode Macaroni 

Our little cowpoke

Our vacation this year was quite memorable. We started our trip in a beautiful secluded cabin in Kentucky, close to the Mammoth Cave National Park. The cabin was spacious and well-appointed but we quickly discovered there was a pest problem.....a biting, indoor pest problem. A few of us received enough bites to determine that we needed to spend the rest of our vacation somewhere else.....so we made lemonade out of lemons and spent the second half of our time in Brown County State Park. We had a great time hiking, riding ponies, playing in the indoor water park.....Niko went down the water slide a record 75 times!!!

Summer memories 2013

June 28--Mae's got her piggers in and she's ready for the zoo!!

Mommy's favorite stop.....the giraffes

Cora also sported piggers at the zoo

July 8--Niko working on his "Our Environment" 4-H project

It was lots of fun for me to get to work with Niko on 4-H this year

The finished product.....he traced and cut out all 50 states using cardboard cereal and cracker boxes. Great job, Buddy!!

July 26--Niko's belated birthday present....attending a Cincinnati Reds game!!! Papa Don, Papa Carl, Niko and Lenn had a super time at the game.