A Visit from Mom/Mimi

My mom flew in from GA this afternoon, arriving around 12:45pm. We pretty much went straight home from the airport to let Cade recharge with a quick nap before heading to the zoo for the late afternoon/early evening. I was dying to tell her our pregnancy news but wanted to wait until we were with Richard too. So when we got home in the evening…

Richard and I were talking in the desk area and called Mom over to have a "scheduling meeting" for the next day. I told her "Tomorrow morning we need to leave for Bible study at 9am. Richard may have to leave early so do you think you could watch the kids while I run over to the clinic on base? I need to get a referral because they don't handle any kind of obstetrics, prenatal care, or labor and delivery on base." She just stared at me for a second and said "What are you telling me?" Then it kind of dawned on her and she held up 4 fingers and mouthed "Four?" with a question mark in her face. (The kids were definitely within earshot.) **Yes, four!**

Man, it was hard to keep that secret for about 6 hours of her being here!

We haven't told the kids yet as it's still really early, but I'm already thinking of how we might tell them. :)

Cheer Camp

Raina and I woke up early to go to Market on the Move. We got a big box full of produce for just $10. Grapefruit, zucchini, cucumber, roma tomatoes, tomatillos. Good stuff that will last us a while. Then the girls had a little (free) cheerleading camp on base this morning.

Second Test

Richard's company has been doing so well that they earned an extra day off work. (Today.) He was out of town Sunday through Thursday so it was especially nice to have him home today.

We spent an hour plus at the library this morning. The kids LOVE hanging out at the library; choosing books to bring home, reading books while we're there, etc. And I'm working on teaching Ava how to use the online catalogue to look things up and then find them around the library.

Next we went to the exchange for me to get some new tennis shoes. I take great care of my shoes so they all look nice but aren't feeling so nice on the inside anymore. It's hard for me to let them go when they still look like they're in good shape, but my feet had been bothering me a little so it was time.

Then we all went through the commissary. We needed a few staple groceries AND we wanted to pick up another pregnancy test. Once we got home I got the kids situated with lunch and then went to do the test. I set a timer for Richard and told him to go read the results when it was time. I stood back a ways behind him and watched his face in the mirror as he read the results. He looked at me in the mirror and shook his head with a smile and said "Welp, it's negative." I could tell he was kidding and he quickly confirmed that it was indeed positive. We laid down on the bed together for moment and talked through the "holy cow" and "we totally got this" feelings.

We're really pregnant! Baby number FOUR is on the way!

Oh my. What if it's twins… ?????

Here We Go Again !?!?

I was driving to Bible study this morning and suddenly I thought, "I think I might be pregnant!" I was not yet late but I just had this feeling. As I drove I decided I wouldn't take a test or anything until I was late. Bible study was awesome and when we got home a few hours later the first thing I did was run do a test (so much for waiting). Those 3 minutes waiting to read the results felt like an eternity but I thought I would just confirm that I was not pregnant and be about my day. Well after those 3 grueling minutes I took a quick glance at the test. It was definitely positive. Not like a faint line, maybe an evap line positive. Straight positive.

This was not planned BUT it also wasn't totally unexpected. But still, it felt like a shock. I started feeling anxious and sick like maybe it was a bad test, etc. I started reading about home pregnancy tests and quickly discovered that a false positive, especially before a missed period, is pretty rare. So I quickly moved into the acceptance phase… Richard was on an airplane somewhere between Oklahoma and Arizona so I couldn't talk to him and just sat with this frustrated feeling of "Oh. My. Goodness." -and- "Woohoo!" for a couple hours.

It was time for Cade to take a nap and I was feeling like I could use one too so we snuggled up together. As he held my hand and I watched him fall asleep I felt so peaceful and excited about the opportunity to be a mom to yet another precious soul. I know God has prepared and equipped us to handle big family life so I have nothing to fear!

Once Richard was on the ground I asked him to call me on his drive home from the airport. I could've waited a little longer to tell him in person but I wanted him to have that drive time alone to process the news. He was not totally against more children but he also didn't think we would really have more. He called me and I got right to the point. He was surprised/not surprised and was pretty quiet on the phone. (He's not a talker when he's thinking.)

I plan on testing again tomorrow or sometime in the next couple days (need to get another test).

Ava's Robot Presentation

In her homeschool group at our weekly morning Bible study, Ava has been working hard to build and write about a robot invention. Today she gave a presentation to a group of ladies and her peers. Proud of her!

Answering questions from the audience

Presentation complete

Posing in front of "John"

Ava's brainstorming map

Facebook Survey and Graph

I posted a question on Facebook for Ava to gather data and make a graph from. 

What's your favorite fruit?

Tallying the responses

Graphing the responses

Proud of her work. :)

Ava's 7th Birthday

I got my ears pierced for my seventh birthday and today the tradition was carried on.

Dinosaur cake she picked out

Excited!

Getting a little nervous now

This kinda hurts

Done! She chose these cross earrings.

Done!

Done and heading to the zoo.