Evie is Three!!!!

Evie's Ice Cream Parlor

We have a three year old!!! What!?!? So this was the BEST party yet. She was so excited about inviting her friends to celebrate with her, although, I'm not sure she realized what we were celebrating. We made the mistake of telling Evelyn about her party the week before, so all week she kept asking if today was the day she could eat her ice cream. I guess this built up the anticipation for the big day. I had to try not to get carried away with party planning, this is just WAY too fun for me. My sweet friend let me borrow her Cricut which may have been a mistake, I added at least three more projects after I learned how to use this amazing machine! We decided on an Ice cream theme this year.

This may be the last party I get a say in as far as theme goes and she may be my only girl we have so I ran with the pastel parlor.

DIY ice cream cones! LOVE

 Here is the link to DIY ice cream cones. Pretty easy and soooooo cute.

So this was the original reason I borrowed the Cricut.

This is still hanging in our dining room. :)

Mom (Lady) sent ice cream dishes made out of dish towels to use as decor, which went perfectly!

I had planned on making the chocolate ganache but I ended up doing an almond bark topping because it was faster.

So these were our party favors for the kids. Jama and I each had a bowl growing up (which we still have) and I couldn't believe they still sell them!

PAPER GARLAND!!! Why have I planned so many parties and never made paper garland.  (The actual Ice cream is missing from the center of the table... didn't want a melting situation)

 This is where I found instructions but the possibilities are endless for your garland. Paper Garland DIY

So that's party preparation, and then all that was left to do was party!!!

I love Steve's face in this one:)

Evie stayed close to Grandpa George!

Notice the carpet:) I made cones out of poster board and had the kids catch the balloons "ice cream scoops" in their cone.

Evelyn's best gift! Grandma Evelyn and Grandpa George came to the party on their way to Penn from Florida.

Evelyn also got to experience her first circus.

We finished our Weekend Birthday Celebration with pancakes for dinner. Daddy had some help.

We really enjoy celebrating our children's birthday's. We are sooooo thankful that God has allowed us the privilege of being the parents to all 3 of our kiddos. Stephen and I especially enjoyed taking Evelyn out while the boys stayed with a sweet friend so we could give her our undivided attention. Three very sweet years, so much has happened. She has acquired two little brothers in those three short years and mastered the art of big sister. Happy birthday beautiful lady! We love you.:)

This beautiful baby boy: Our Newest Arrival

Gage's Birth Story

I can't believe it has been 2 months already that Gage Alton has been out in our world.

Looking just like his siblings.

Gage decided to come into the world with a little bit of drama. It started around 25 weeks into pregnancy, his heart rate was low (110's). We were hooked up to the NST for monitoring ever appt. until 38 w. and 5 d. when we were sent to the hospital for extensive monitoring because his heart rate had dropped below the 110's, which was concerning. After a couple hours in the Hospital, my OB decided everything looked fine with peaks into the 150's. They decided to "strip my membranes" (a most uncomfortable experience) and send me home. Stephen and I had spent a lot more time in prayer for this baby, with all of the extra monitoring he seemed to be requiring and I believe that God was giving me a peace and reassuring me that everything would be fine despite the troubles.Which I was grateful for since what was to come next was the scariest thing I have experienced.

I started hard labor around 6:15pm on Wednesday, November 6, 39 weeks exactly. We left for the hospital at 7:30, arriving a little after 8:00. I was still in good spirits at this point. I was feeling movement, breathing through every contraction, (even though back labor started with the first contraction) anxious to start the IV fluids and start counting down to my glorious epidural. After being hooked up to the monitor, I was told to lay on my side, propped up slightly because that was the only position where the baby's heart rate stayed at a good rate (still low). Horribly uncomfortable but only an hour or so and then I will be able to have an epidural.... but that time came and went and no epidural. Turns out that the anesthesiologist was stuck in the OR. Around 10:30, the nurse decides to check me before giving me a shot of pain medication, but accidentally broke my water, which means no pain medication..... ugh. The OB came in about that time, followed shortly after by the anesthesiologist, but she felt it was too dangerous to have an epidural at this point because the baby's heart rate was too low. Now I am crying, terrified after hearing my sister-in-law's horror story of pushing without an epidural. I am trying to convince them that I am not a "natural" person, I am pro epidural. Steve looks terrified (poor guy), this was a much different experience than our last two births. I begged the OB to let me push if she wouldn't let me have drugs. She looked skeptical, but said I could try. She had no gown on, was not prepared to deliver but two pushes and there was a head. Then chaos. A nurse screaming into the radio next to my ear for someone to get in there immediately, another nurse yelling at me to not push, stop now. Then telling me to push again a second later. He was born. I heard the nurse say "he's here". Not knowing what the gender of the baby was I was soooooo excited to hear "he". I looked at Stephen for confirmation that it was a boy and he looked terrified. He did say yes but in such a sad way. I asked if everything was OK and he said they were working on it. Not even a second after he said that, I hear a cry. Praise God, a healthy boy, born with a chord wrapped TIGHTLY around his neck. This was the reason his heart rate had been so low through pregnancy. My OB, took her gloves off to save our baby, praise God for her ability to act quickly. Gage was born at 10:45, so a lot happened in a matter of minutes, making this by far, my least favorite labor and delivery. I am happy to report that the pushing part was exactly the same with and without the epidural in my experience. Whew! It didn't take more than 5 minutes after it was over for me to forget and be fully ready to do it all again!

"For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
Psalm 139:13-14

I wanted to share this beautiful thought about what becoming a mother does to our bodies from another blog. I 100% agree! Babies Ruin Bodies So thankful that I get to be a mom. That my body was created in a way that I can carry and protect this little person until he is ready to make his debut into the world. Even with the stretch marks and extra weight to work off....worth it!

This Joy of Burden

I have been really struggling with this past week with my emotions and feeling overwhelmed throughout the day with this overpowering love for my children. I am not articulate or that clever in my communication so forgive me if my thoughts are random and/or scattered, but I do want to try to put in words this feeling.
 I will start by saying I do not want my children to be an idol. I want to be aware of that when processing this burden I have felt (more strong in the past week than ever). I have been so worried this week, that something would happen to my children before I would hear them accept Christ as their personal Savior, or that they would never choose to do this. I feel this overwhelming burden to speak the Gospel (the good news) to my children every day, all throughout the day, that they will understand and know truth always. Being pregnant, I know, makes this more emotional for me (hormones), though I have felt like this since the day we found out we were expecting Evelyn (maybe even sooner).
So this week, Pastor Brian preached a sermon on being intentional, and guess who it was addressed to... parents.... huh... God has heard me all week:).
Brian literally started preaching about the responsibility we have as parents to be intentionally talking to our children about the Gospel, witnessing to and shepherding our children. I have felt conflicted about my feelings all week, feeling like I may be idolizing my children, putting them before God because I love them too much, feeling like worrying may be sinning because worrying is not trusting. God reminded me in His word though.

Philippians 4:6-7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

It is human to worry, but pray and ask God for the desires of my heart (this particular time being the eternal salvation of my children) Pastor Brian highlighted 3 points in being intentional with our children about the Gospel in his sermon: 1. Know the Gospel.. 2. Model it. 3. Share it.
I am racking my brain, know it, live it, share it, I mess this up all the time. Am I living a life that reflects an eternal perspective? What really matters, and am I showing that to my children? Does the brand my clothes are, the size of my house, the way it is decorated, how many people like me matter? Not really, or at least it shouldn't.

Jeremiah 15:16

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁶ When I discovered your words, I devoured them.
    They are my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,    O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.

Psalm 27:4

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴ The one thing I ask of the Lord—
    the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
    delighting in the Lord’s perfections
    and meditating in his Temple.

 I have struggled with insecurity as a stay at home mom, feeling sometimes like others look down on my position, belittle it, doesn't understand how much work goes into this EXTREMELY important job. I know that we may not have two incomes, so we don't have the nicest things, or the most extravagant vacations, but I go to sleep at night knowing what my children hear, what they have been taught, and who they are as little people, and to me, that is more rewarding, more profitable, more important, than any of the things more money would ever get us. I have no doubt that I mess up every single day, to live in a fallen world. But....

Proverbs 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

God is bigger and I trust Him. I know whatever my shortcomings, He can continue to do a work in me and in my children. Thank God for using Brian to encourage me that I am doing what is right and that there is joy in shepherding my children.

Anyway, I thought this week, what if I felt this "overwhelming" burden/urgency to lead all of my unbelieving friends to Christ the way I do for my kids? Why don't I? I feel it towards certain friends, stronger at times than others. I pray for them, I speak truth to them. But I don't cry and grieve over the thought of them not accepting Christ. I have been praying for this burden. I want to feel so strongly that I do not stop thinking about those that do not know their Savior. I want my believing friends to feel this burden, to not be afraid to speak out boldly and with urgency. I don't know who all is reading the blog, several moms I know have mentioned they have read it, but whoever is, please pray with me this week. I really do not want to feel crippled by this burden but empowered. I want to feel confident I am sharing the good news and remember always my purpose here on Earth, without letting Satan send my emotions into a frantic panic attack every day. Praise God for His body of believers. It feels good to know that I have a big church family, all over who know this same truth.

This mom is near the end of her second trimester:)

We are well into the second trimester of baby ding #3. We are excited and nervous. Steve and I got to see the baby on our second trimester ultrasound a couple weeks ago. It was such a relief to see sweet little baby arms, legs, toes.... etc. We did find out that with this pregnancy we have placenta previa. I have done too much googling since finding out and have myself even more nervous about the pregnancy. We were encouraged that the location of the placenta puts us in a low risk of c-section but we do have another ultrasound at 28 weeks to see if the placenta has migrated upward or if it is blocking the cervix, forcing us into an early cesarean delivery. We trust God and know that He is sovereign. We continue to ask Him the desires of our hearts which would be a healthy delivery (hopefully not by c-section). :) Please pray with us for the safety of our baby and a normal placenta location by our next ultrasound.

On a lighter note... we have kept our our original decision to not find out the gender of our new addition. We do, however enjoy guessing about whether or not it is Gage or Elsee. Below is a nineteen week comparison.

The far left is Cy's pregnancy and the far right is Evie's pregnancy at 19 weeks, to be compared to the center photo, which is baby #3. I personally think that it is looks more like Cy's, what do y'all think? Do you think the baby looks low or high? Guesses are welcome:)

This was 20 weeks.... I have yet to take a picture this week and will already be 22 weeks on Wednesday. We have a lot to look forward to between now and November but I find myself getting antsy to meet this new member of our family! Over the half way mark... :)

This new baby bump (names)

IT HAS HAPPENED! Steve and I are having another bundle of joy. We are sooooooooo thrilled. I don't think that it is a secret that I love pregnancy and babies. I have started the countdown to labor already. We are not finding out the gender again with baby 3, which makes that delivery day that more exciting for Stephen and I. We have picked our names already.
We are staying with Elsee Ren (which would have been Cyrus' name if he had been a girl). "Elsie" is a family name but when researching it, I found the spelling Elsee and loved the look of it, so it does have our spin on it. Ren is from my middle name, Renee, but I like one syllable middle names for girls (Evie Rae).
Gage Alton for a boy. Gage is a name of a friend of Stephens brother, Caleb. He has always loved the name and I had to agree, it does fit our little family. Alton is my Great-Grandpa's name, which I have always loved.
I have had minor nausea a handful of days and been a little tired. This pregnancy had been totally different from both of my other pregnancies, which makes it hard to guess the gender. But I am sure as my belly grows I will have a stronger opinion one way or the other.
We are praying for a healthy baby and healthy birth. So thankful for such a wonderful pregnancy so far. More pictures and updates to come (hopefully some side by side comparison belly shots from previous baby bumps.) Here is 12 week belly shot.

This mom's END TABLES

So I dabble in woodworking thanks to ana-white.com. We were borrowing end tables from the Johnston's which was so kind of them to loan them to our sparsely furnished home. They had glass on the top though, and the older and more curious the kids got, the more nervous I was to have borrowed end tables. I found the following plans on Ana's website and fell in love. They are small, simple, and unique. I also found this "recipe" for a homemade stain (which I had hoped would turn out more gray, but unfortunately didn't) Weathered Stain. It was still fun to make my own stain, and I may try using it again on something else to get a grayer look from it.

Sorry the first couple are sideways

So I added the stain and it continued to get darker the longer it sat.

My little helper

They are a much warmer color than I wanted but I have thought about painting them eventually

I made the coffee table too, they go together well