The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Today I was feeling very overwhelmed....the dishes weren't done, the laundry is sky high, there are boxes of Christmas decorations all over the house with only half the decorations up... there was a holiday concert to attend, Christmas shopping to finish, a baby that needed to be nursed, Christmas cards to write, a three year old that needed to be picked up from preschool, an inbox for my email that read "you have 135 new emails", a child's homework that needed to be taken to school and turned in because I forgot to take it out of the diaper bag and just general picking up all over the house and little things on the "to do" list that have gone from "should do" to"critical - you'd better get them done today or else!"

It was not the "most wonderful time of the year" at that moment.

So, as I am driving, I have to stop for geese. Yes, geese. Our neighborhood has about 50 of them that live in the neighborhood ponds year round. They were going to cross the road. They started across and then stopped and looked around, then some started back from where they came from and the others watched their friends, trying to decide if they should come or go. At first, I wanted to just drive through them and see what would happen to geese plastered to an SUV...but I waited....and waited....and waited.... Eventually they all got across. It took eight full minutes for about 12 geese to cross the road.

I went on my way, a little bit calmer and I realized, I needed to sit and watch geese today and realize how blessed I am for my four wonderful children, my husband whom I love with all my heart (I got flowers from him 2 days ago!) and my life in general. It is, by far, not perfect....but it isn't too bad. I turned on the Christmas music and finished the holiday shopping, picked up Eleanor from preschool, nursed the baby, turned in Garrett's homework, listened to Xander's concert at school, nursed the baby again, put away the boxes and scrapped the holiday decorations that aren't done, fixed dinner, ordered Christmas cards online, sat down and watched Kung Fu Panda (complete with popcorn) with the kids ( there is no school tomorrow), finished the dishes, let the kids sleep together in the playroom and put up the Christmas lights where they are sleeping. The excitement of the kids and the bright colors in the darkness reminded me: It really is the "MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!"

flowers for mom

Eleanor always picks me flowers - she is so sweet (and sometimes she is not!) But we do love our little Eleanor!

This one, however, has not learned any tricks from her sister yet! We hope to keep it that way!!! She is a doll baby!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY XANDER!!!!!
This was his golden birthday - turning 10 on the 10th! He is such a great kid and I can't believe my little baby bug is double digits now!!!!

Eleanor enjoying the spoils of the evening!
Blowing out the 10 candles!!!!
Xander is really concerned about the environment and all about Virginia history and the Chesapeake Bay right now. He wanted a cardinal cake, since that is the state bird of Virginia. Not bad, not bad! I haven't totally lost my touch with cake decorating!!!! Happy Birthday Xander bug! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Raking leaves

Is this bag #4,098?
Some work and some play makes for a better leaf raking day...
That doesn't look like a rake to me...

Savannah - at 9 weeks

Do I look like I belong to this family or what!?!

Savannah and Eleanor with the "big sister" hat her teachers at school made her - she wears it almost daily! Grama Annie had to laminate it so it didn't fall apart and she still dons it on a daily basis! She loves her little sister!

Such cute kids!

Garrett jumping into the pile....

Xander doing a kamakazi into the leaves!

Here's our cutie pahtootie "Savanny"

(as Eleanor calls her).

Happy Days are here again....

The Days are back in the blogging world! I tried to get all cute and sasssy with the background and ended up losing all my blogs and accidently creating a new one. I tried several times to figure it out and ended up frustrated and took a break....then it was time to get Jason back to work, the boys off to school and Miss Eleanor off to preschool for the first time and have our fourth child, Savannah Marie. I guess the blogging Gods took pity on my poor soul and sent the blogging gremlins to my aid, because I tried again and it worked! So, time to introduce Savannah to you and stop with all these words and show off the family!

Here she is on her first day in the world....lookin' just like her daddy....just like the rest of them!

She weighed only 7 lbs. 11 oz.

That's little itty bitty teeny tiny for a Day child! Xander was 10lbs. 3 oz., Garrett was 9 lbs. 7 oz. and Eleanor was 9 lbs. I asked the pediatrician to make sure she was full term - he assured me she was! It was like holding a baby doll - of course, she is a doll! She is such a good baby and we have all fallen head over heels in love with this little angel baby!

TURNING SEVEN

This was Garrett's golden birthday - turning seven on the seventh of May! His enthusiasm about life and having a birthday was so fun to watch. It made me remember how much I looked forward to birthdays when I was his age! His class is studying space right now and so we made alien cupcakes that were a huge hit with the class and the teacher! He got some great presents and cards from so many people. I can't believe my little Garrett is seven. He is such a wonderful and loving little boy. We love our Garrett! Happy Seventh Birthday Garrett!

The Miracle of Life

You would think that having a fourth child would diminsih my ability to be amazed at the miracle of life. Yet, as my husband and I watched the screen and saw the hands and toes and head and watched the little heart beating so fast, I was once again brought to tears at the awesomeness of all of it! That little squirming figure on the screen made me fall in love again. Fall in love with my husband because of the great man he is, a provider, a listener, a helper and my very best friend in the whole universe. I fell in love with my children again because they were once that small and we couldn't wait to meet them and love them and watch them grow into the wonderful children they are. And, of course, fall in love with that little squirming figure on the screen that will make my life complete once again. It is nothing but amazing!
That little squirming figure is a girl. I made the sonographer go back and check and print the picture. I needed to know, because her highness, Eleanor, would like a pink room. Now her wish shall be granted. Plus, it makes our little family perfect. Everyone will have a brother and a sister. No one gets their own room. The voting will be a little hard on some issues, as we will not have a tie breaker. Maybe that's when we will look into a dog. Maybe the turtle will decide to vote.
We were informed we need to go back for two more sonograms. One to check the heart, as they could not see everything they needed to see and wanted to make sure the valves were ok. Her head was also measuring two weeks smaller than it should. They assured me not to stress out. Yeah, right! I have been worried ever since. Please keep our little one in your prayers.
The miracle of Life. Truly there is no greater joy in life than knowing that a new little life will be joining your family and blessing it in ways you never thought possible. We can't wait to meet our new little sister. She is already loved and talked about and fought over! Just as the leaves are turning in the fall is when she will join our family!