A glimmer of hope!

We went to the doctor yesterday and he said if I stay down for 3-4 weeks, I should be better and back to a "normal pregnancy"! So the trick is---staying down! My mom is making this possible I know- she is a huge help. And the doctor also said we didn't have to cancel our cruise! Horray! I think Adam would have made us find another doctor if he would have told us to cancel. The cruise is still 7 weeks away, and the doctor expects me to be better by then! So for now, I get to read, and blog, and more reading, more blogging- it's actually not to bad to slow down sometimes.

Kansas

Last Friday my grandpa passed away. My Grandpa was the most genuine and honest person I've ever met. He loved his family and he made sure we knew that. What I loved about him was that he always made time to make us feel special and appreciated. He'd take us aside and talk with us and make sure we knew how much he loved us and because of that, we would want to do and be better. The world was a better place because he was here. He will be missed greatly, but I know I will see him again someday. This was the beautiful church that the funeral was held at. It was also the church that my grandma and grandpa were married in.

All ten cousins! This was in the evening, on an old merry go round that we've all spent hours on that my grandpa had restored.

The cousins again in the day time. I love these guys so much!

At Edmond Lake. This is one of my favorite places in the world to come to. It's so peaceful and it was such a beautiful day. I love this land of my grandparents. And take note of the 3 month prego belly. :)

Adam and I went on a peaceful drive. It was so nice to get out and drive on the beautiful old roads.

We stopped at the one room school house that my grandpa went to school for grade school at. It was such an amazing building still. It had my grandpa's initials and dates all over it! B.L were his initials. We thought that was so neat to see. One of the earliest dates we saw on the building was 1911.

Here's one side of the building.

The original slate chalkboard is still on the wall.

This is a picture of how the school looks from the road. It's just a single building in the middle of a wheat field- it means so much, and it's so neat that it's still standing.

I love this shadow picture. It's hard to see, but Adam photo shopped our names carved into the side of the school house. This was a fast but memorable trip to Kansas for just Adam and I. It was so peaceful and nice to be surrounded by family and loved ones.

Word is getting out......

Since more and more people are finding out about this than we had originally wanted- I might as well tell everybody! We are expecting our 5th baby! We are excited, but we' ve been having a little bit of trouble- so it's mixed emotions I guess. I've been bleeding ( a lot)--sorry if that's too much information--but it's kind of scary. Everything is good with the baby but the placenta is tearing away a little from the uterus--and that's not a good thing. So I am now on STRICT bed rest. I've never been on bed rest, so I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this. Thank heavens I have an angel mother who is coming to our rescue on Monday. However, if anyone has any advice, or any suggestions I would love anything---and if anyone has any good book ideas- I think I'll be doing a lot of reading- and praying.

Forever 25

Adam's birthday was on Sunday- an older lady at church asked how old Adam was and I told her 25. :) Then she says, "Ahhh...a quarter of a century....I remember that birthday...." I think she thought I was serious.(Which should be a compliment to Adam by the way) So I said, "Yep, he'll be forever 25 to me." :) I love you Adam! What a handsome guy......(This was the next picture after an extreme close-up one he gave me first)

How did those numbers get on that cake?---forever 25 remember?

With the help of a wonderful friend (who did most of the work) I made rolls to go with homemade chicken noodle soup! YUM! And since I've never done rolls, especially that turned out this good, I had to document this.

This was a hard picture to get since everyone was moving around......the evening turned into WRESTLE MANIA!

And I have to laugh at this picture- if you look closely at poor Ella's face- she is trying to be brave, but now realizing that changing ear rings 17 times a day hurts after a while. (She was so excited to be able to change ear rings.)

More WRESTLE MANIA!

More food!

Ok, this is seriously turning into a food blog! That is why I did just barely put some pictures of the kids in the last post. :) This is a pie that Adam made all by himself! It is a lemon pie and it was really good. It even has the WHOLE lemon in it. Really...you take out the seeds and then put it in the blender. Then of course you serve it with whipped cream. YUM! I was so proud of Adam- the crust and everything turned out perfect. Thanks hun!

Some updates and other randomness.....

I noticed that I haven't put many pictures of the kids on the blog lately---only pictures of food, and more food....:) So I thought that I'd put some pictures of my lovely children and randomly- our new chore chart- but it is blog worthy. Actually I have a picture of a pie that Adam made that I'll post later (more food) it was awesome! So here are some recent photos of the kiddos.... Livia had pig tails in her hair yesterday!! It was soooo cute. (And that's Aaron's arm mid swing at something on the side)

More pig tails--- I had to document this!

She really did look adorable- she just wouldn't hold still for a decent picture. Oh well.

Here is our new chore chart!! My friend Kim gave me this idea. They are on our kitchen door with magnets, and when they finish they flip the card over. Color coordinated and everything. And they rotate chores every week. It's been a great chart.

Livi's been giving the greatest hugs!

More hugs! It is close to the sweetest thing I've ever seen. She is soooo willing to give a hug, and it just makes everyone's day.

I had the boys hold still for a picture since I haven't taken one of them in a while. There is only about a half inch difference in height between those two. Ashton has been waking up in the middle of the night saying his legs hurt. I'm thinking it's growing pains. Poor thing. He is a big boy!

Cool dudes!