A little something exciting

So, I wanted to let everyone know that Braden is reading.  Yeah, not kidding...  We haven't been working on it really.  Only every now and then pulling out the hooked on phonics letters and sounds cds.  Then, this past weekend when we were home for a visit, I was telling my mom how I felt like I was letting Braden down by not working with him more on the reading stuff.  I just wasn't able to get it all together.  (Still trying to find my I-have-three-children-now groove;)  Anyway, she said that at this point, I could just be reading him very simple stories (we have lots of those thanks to fabulous Meemaw--thanks Meemaw!!) and have him sound out the words with me.  Well, yesterday, I had some extra energy and time and got some of the little books out and started sounding out the words with him and he just basically took off!  I was so stinkin' excited!!! We read through two of the books several times in a row and Braden was so proud to be able to read the books.  It was AMAZING.  He kept saying how well he was reading.  Anyway, I am so grateful that God made him the way he is.  He's really a very bright big boy and he catches on to things so quickly that he basically learns things himself with me alongside just having to show him one time or giving him a boost here and there.  Thank you, Father!!  Isn't it amazing what God blesses us with?!  I'm in awe....

I also wanted to say that ever since we took Zekes out of his play pen, he's had no trouble sleeping in his big bed.  We first put the mat from the play pen on the floor with his pillow and blanket and he slept on that for a few days before we moved back into the rv completely.  We wanted to transition him to sleeping on the bottom bunk.  Then, my mom came to stay with us and help out while we were trying to get back into the rv and she hosted a little sleepover in the rv with Braden, Zekers and their cousin Jacob.  They all slept in the queen bed in the back bedroom.  Apparently, they all managed to go to sleep and stay in the bed all night long!  Even Zekers!!  So exciting.  Anyway, since we've been in the rv, he's had no problem at all sleeping in his new big bed.  You know timing is really everything and its different with each kid.  I just have to remember that.  So, the next step will be potty training, but I'm gonna watch him for my queue for that.  When he's ready, I'll be waiting. :)

Sort of on the same subject - cloth diapers.  (Rachel, I know you've been waiting for this! hahaha!)  Yep, Ailey finally got big enough to wear the cloth diapers.  I put them on her for two days and a night to see how they'd work out. Welllllllll, as far as leakage performance, they are really great.  No leaks and I changed both pees and poos.  Alas, I can't put her in them anymore at this time.  She got a rash.  A rash!!!  From CLOTH DIAPERS!!!  I really thought it was supposed to keep babies from getting so many rashes!  No, I think what ended up happening was, it got hot and the diapers kept moisture close to her skin and just didn't let enough air in.  SO.... I've decided I'm going to wait a bit until she's olderish - a couple of months - and try them again.  If they don't work, I may sell them to someone who has better success with cloth diapering than I do.  At any rate, I really enjoyed making them. :p

And last but not least, we are going to be traveling to Minnesota next.  It wasn't what we had originally expected and many things have happened in a short amount of time, but God is totally providing for us.  He's also really stretching us and growing us in amazing ways.  So, if you happen to be thinking about us, we are going to be traveling for the next few days and I'll be able to post again when we get set up at the next rv park.  We are going to be able to stop by our friends new house in Norman, OK and meet their newly arrived little girl and they'll get to meet ours. (Holla, Kristina and Matt!)  We are really excited to be able to see them again.  Its been quite a while.

Okay, I'm going to turn in now, but I'll be back!

Braden is 5!

Our sweet Braden boy-o is five years old today!  I can't believe how fast the time has gone by...

Dear Sweet Braden,

We love you so much!  You are such a big, strong boy and so much fun to watch grow and be around.  We love the heart that God has given you and the way you bless others and love your family.  You are so amazing!  Everyday you learn something new and I am in awe that God gave you to us to guide, train and raise.  We are so blessed to be your parents and we are honored to be along with you on your journey in life.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy!!

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank you so much for giving us the stewardship of this precious boy!  Thank you for the sweetness that you have placed in him and the desire in his heart to know You.  We pray that you continue to draw his little heart closer to you and that he will desire to walk in the path that you have prepared for him.  May he desire to know you more and more each day and to run after you, Lord, alway keeping his eyes on you.  May he desire to be used for Your purposes to further Your kingdom.  Father, please give him an eternal view and keep the world in perspective for him so that nothing this world offers has any appeal.  Father, please fill him with Your Holy Spirit so that he will have revelation, comfort, peace that passes understanding and guidance.  Show Him how to bless Your heart.  May the things that break Your heart, break his and the things that make Your heart glad, gladden his also.  We ask that You would bless him and encourage him, protect him and give him courage.  Please, keep him in Your loving arms.  We know that he is Yours and that You love him so much more than we can fathom.  Please, show us how to raise him in Your ways and to be good stewards of the blessing You have entrusted to us.  Praise You, precious Father!  In Jesus' wonderful, holy name, Amen!

Happy Birthday, Braden!!!!!!!

Developmental Status

Ailey Grace just rolled from her tummy to her back!  Granted she did have her knees up under her.:)

Tidbits

Well, I finally got the phone I wanted off of ebay.  The first one, a blackberry, didn't pan out, so it got sent back.  Then, I was outbid several times before I finally got the one I wanted.
So, now I'm waiting on it to get to me.  Yay!  I'll have to let you know how it turns out.

Right now Braden is staying with his godparents, Nina and Padrino, and he's having a great time.  Man, I miss him when he is not here.  It feels like our home is empty.  Its definitely more quiet. ;p  Its nice to have Zekey here without Braden because we get to see him really be himself.  He talks a lot more and he's just a very chilled out kiddo.  Such a different personality from Braden.  Anyway, Braden is having a good ole time having his Nina and Padrino all to himself and we are enjoying this time with Zekey.

Zekey has also had to be on a nebulizer of late.  Here's a picture.
 Braden started out reading to him to occupy him for the time he had to have the mask on.  Now, Zekey starts the machine, wears the mask the whole time just fine although he still has his passy in his mouth and shuts it off when its done.

Ailey Grace is getting big!  The boys dote on her.  Its so sweet to see them interacting with her.  She has the most beautiful smile, too.  She's also gotten to the point of preferring to be in the moby wrap when she gets tired/sleepy. I'm attempting to get her used to sleeping on her tummy on the pallet agaain. It might take a few days.  She also loathes being in her car seat anywhere under 55 mph!  Hahaha...  That kiddo!  She's such a sweetie and such a good baby!  I did finally break down and give her a pacifier at around 8 weeks.  She was wanting to suck after she had gotten full and in the process was eating so much that her tummy was hurting and she was spitting up more.  I was so upset because I had determined that I was not going to give her a passy that when I did, I cried off and on for two days.  As soon as I put it in her mouth, she calmed right down and went to sleep.  I called my mom about it and she made me feel so much better about it.  She said she is glad Ailey is getting the oral stimulation.  So far all of my kids have needed that, so I really shouldn't have had such an issue.  I think the part that made me so sad was that I was no longer providing that comfort for her.  It was very similar to the feeling of grief I had when I stopped nursing both Braden and Zekey.  Oh, to be a mommy! :)

We also got a cheap, little hand vacuum for the incredible amount of crumbs and general mess that is made during the day and boy, is it nice!!!  Instead of trying to get out the little hand broom or the huge vacuum, I just zip around with the little hand vac.  Fabulous!  Plus, both the boys want to use it and I am more than willing to let them.  Oh, yeah!

This weekend we are all supposed to go to East Texas for a get together, but it looks as though Sam is gonna have to work Saturday.  Yep, threw a wrench in those plans, but I think I'm still gonna go.  I'm not looking forward to that drive, but the boys' birthdays are at the end of this month and beginning of next month and I wanted them to have a birthday party before we possibly get shipped out to Minnesota.  Yep.  That's the rumor so far as we have heard.  We just haven't gotten formal notification, yet.  We'll see what comes of it all.  We've never been to Minnesota, so it would be interesting.  We still don't know where God wants to plant us, but we are praying a lot and trying to be patient and wait and listen for Him to tell us. He will.  He is ALWAYS faithful!

We've transitioned into the rv pretty well.  We got the mobile home all cleaned up and checked out and then we decided to try out another rv park out in the country.  Its not too bad, but it is more strict and not nearly so kid-friendly.  Its also a bit of a drive for Sam to get to work.  BUT, it is cheaper and internet service is provided via wi-fi, so we were able to cut our living expenses down a bit.

We also find ourselves in a bit of a pickle.  Sam's company got outbid for the contract he's been working on, so another company took it over and just hired all the employees already working on it.  Well, this of course meant that Sam's vacation and benefits started all over again.  We decided not to take the insurance for me and the kids for several reasons and decided to get our own policy instead.  Well, that's turned out more difficult than expected.  Anyway, we are praying about what to do about it. I know God Has this covered, so we wait on Him. :)

There's more, but I'm having to type this one-handed and am ready to stop for now...

Kids, kids, kids

BRADEN

Braden has gotten so big!  When he went to the doctor a few weeks ago he weighed 39 pounds and was __inches tall.  Amazing.  He'll be five in a couple of weeks on the 27th.  FIVE!  We are going to have a five-year old.  Where did the time go?  He's such an amazing big boy.  He wants to help with everything.  I have to remind  myself to let him....to take the time to train him now and have patience and grace for him to learn.  I certainly don't want to dissuade him from wanting to help, that's for sure!  He especially likes to help me cook.  I thinks he's going to be a way better cook than me eventually.  Maybe even a chef of sorts.  Maybe he'll be cooking all the meals someday? ;D  Wouldn't that be nice?!  OH, YEAH!  (Nah, I like to experiment and I'm envisioning a family cooking together as the kiddos get older.)

ZEKERS

Wow!  He's such an interesting little person.  He is now sleeping in a big bed.  He will willingly get into it both for naps and at night and stay there til he wakes up.  Nice.  He's also talking in complete sentences now, although sometimes I still don't know exactly what he's saying.  After a couple of times repeating it, I usually end up understanding.  He's also such a sweety and wants to give hugs, get hugs and pet his sister.  Love it.  He' s also gonna be two soon.  Seriously, time is just ticking right on by, isn't it?!

AILEY GRACE

She is getting bigger by the minute.  She smiles sooo much and is really a very sweet tempered and layed back little joy of a girl.  She loves it when the boys sit and talk to her.  She even enjoys all the ruckus of them running around screaming and yelling and making large messes.  I'm pretty sure she is thinking, "Just wait until I'm big enough and I'll help with those messes!  Oh, yeah!"

We are truly, truly blessed by our kids.

Bradenism strikes again!

I opened up the trash can and threw something away as Braden was on the floor a few feet from it picking up some toys.  All of a sudden he shouts, "EEEeeeeeew!  I don't like the smell of the trash.  I'm not gonna breathe!"

It'll be funny someday...

For the past week and some days, we've been moving back into our newly repaired rv.  A couple of days ago, I brought in the last of the stuff from the bathroom which included a super-sized bottle of kid shampoo.  Sam was taking a nap with Ailey Grace in the motor home, Braden was outside playing and Zekey was watching a movie and messing about in general in the motor home.  I went back for another load and was getting it all together when Braden came running into the mobile home saying that zekey got shampoo all over the place.  Well, I went running and upon entering the motor home saw that Zekey had managed to create a huge soapy spot in the middle of the carpet, to get it all over his hands, arms and face and apparently he decided that my phone needed a shampoo.  Yeah....  My first reaction was one of overwhelming emotional swelling, followed closely by an outburst of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo........!"  Then, I managed a "Zekey, what are you doing?!"  And then, I broke into tears.  Yep, it was either that or go outside and throw a temper tantrum.  I had continuously been cleaning up messes, not to mention trying to move stuff back and forth and organizing it all in the process.  Sooooooo, when I came upon that particular scene....I got a bit frustrated!!!  We were trying to decide if we wanted to shampoo the carpets in the mobile home ourselves and Sam said that if we went ahead and rented a shampooer, we could go ahead and clean the rv's carpets, too.  Yep, it worked out just fine.  I thought that it would be an ordeal to clean the carpets ourselves and it totally wasn't.  As a matter of fact, we'll be renting the shampooer more often to clean our rv's carpets.  They can get soooooo stinkin' dirty with two boys running in and out! :)  Anyway, the result of my phone getting a shampoo is that it like to wig out now.  It will turn itself off and on and dial numbers by itself.  I have to use the speaker phone and not touch it if I want to talk to anyone and though the keys work well enough for texting, I have to be careful not to push too many at once or push them too hard or I'll lose the whole message.  Yay! (sorry, can't keep the sarcasm out ;)  I have been needing a new battery for quite some time, but just didn't get around to it and our contract is almost up so we decided we should go ahead and get new phones.  I got on the internet to see what was available.  (Both Sam and I want a phone with a keyboard since we text each other so much.  I want one with a camera as well.  Sam.... not so much. )  What I really, REALLY want is an iPhone, but , NOOOOOO, Apple is in an exclusive contract with AT&T!  Okay, I won't rant about that...:p  Anyway, I ended up thinking a Blackberry Curve would suit just fine.  Well, when I called, the guy told us that if we wait a month and a few days, we'll get the best deal possible. By renewing our contract, we'll get those really good deals on new phones.  I thought, "Okay, so I need to look for a loaner/cheapy phone until then.  I turned to my trusty friend, ebay, for just such a thing. Guess what I won.  Yep, a Blackberry.  
Granted, its not a Curve and its one that got returned in a lot to the retailer, but it'll do.  I haven't gotten it yet, so we'll see if its all I hoped it would be.  I also found that there is an interesting little phone that is apparently an iPhone clone (one of several clones).  If I'm not mistaken, it is actually made for/by the Apple people.  I really want one.  Here's what it looks like.
 I'm trying to win one for a price I'm willing to pay on ebay.  We'll see if that actually happens.  Isn't it cute?

I'll give an update on the kids soon.  We are in a different rv park out in the country to see if it will suit us better.  Plus, its cheaper.  

We also got a call and lots of emails from several friends in Mississippi urging us to apply for a couple of jobs that became available.  (Let me tell you all....man, do we feel loved and wanted!!!! :)  Since Sam was at work, I emailed his resume to the appropriate peeps.  Now, we are waiting and praying.  We want to go where God wants us.  We want to live where He wants us to live.  We want Sam to have the job God has prepared for him.  If Mississippi is the place where all that comes together, then bring it on!!!  If its not, then we want to be submissive and be okay with that, too.:)                      

Great stuff

I seldom come across someone who can tell the truth so exactly about evolution, but when I do, my heart just sings!  Its like a stream of light piercing the darkness.  Evolution is such a lie and it has been so universally accepted around the world that it has invaded nearly all aspects of our lives.  Its ridiculous!  Anyway, one of my favorite authors, Karen Hancock, has been blogging about this and I have enjoyed reading all of her posts on this subject so much, I'm gonna share the links to them.  Let me know what you think.

fossil-hunter

evolution and me

take God at His word

Old Earth Creationist

days or ages?

Days 2-6: The renovation continues

The secret things

the record isn't there

evolution isn't science

The result of the theory of evolution

Once again I am going to put the youtube preview of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Right now we are moving back into our newly fixed motor home and I don't have much time to even look at my bloggy friends' posts much less write my own!  Hopefully, some things will get figured out and we will be able to get settled back down and still have internet and then I will get some time to post some updates.  So far, everyone is feeling better and as always, God is still in control and so Good!