Whirlwind of birthdays

We just went through our whirlwind of birthdays, starting on September 1st with Caleb's 1st birthday and ending on December 11th with Sydney's birthday. It is always a crazy time of year for us in the fall, that Christmas ends up being a breeze! First, our baby boy turned 1, and we did a zoo animal theme. We were pleasantly surprised that Caleb did not follow suit with his older brother by crying over his cake... he didn't mind getting a little messy, and enjoyed every bit of it!

We had a great time celebrating with our friends and just can't believe how fast this year has gone!

Then on October 16th, 3 days before Carter's actual birthday, we celebrated Carter's 5th birthday with a Pirate theme! Talk about not believing how fast time has gone by... I seriously can't believe I have a 5 year old already! His friends had a blast dressing up like pirates together!
Carter is growing up so much every day... he is starting to read and really enjoying going to Classical Conversations. The biggest joy I have gotten from this experience is watching how Carter loves to teach his little sister all of the stuff he is learning. I haven't had to teach her anything at all this year, Carter is taking the lead with that! Maybe I have a future teacher on my hands!





Then on December 11th, Sydney's actual birthday, we celebrated Sydney's 3rd birthday with a Princess theme. At first she had asked for a Dora party, but then she settled on a Princess party because "I'm a Princess!" she says. All of her friends came dressed up like a Princess too! Sydney loved wearing her tiara and enjoying her birthday with her friends.


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The biggest treat from her birthday, was watching the joy on her face after she opened each and every gift. It didn't matter how big or small it was, she had such joy in her reaction and kissed just about every gift! It melted my heart!



The big news with Sydney is that she is finally potty training!! We started a few days before her birthday, and hasn't had very many accidents at all. Something just seemed to click at 3 for her, because we had been trying off and on for the past 6 months with her. I am thrilled, because this mama was not looking forward to the possibility of three children in diapers come February!


And this is me, 32 weeks pregnant, putting my feet up for the first time all day at the end of the party.... and the end of a whirlwind few months of birthdays. And now, on to Christmas, and baby girl on the way.... For a more detailed update on my pregnancy, please visit my other blog: http://ajourneytovbac.blogspot.com/

I've become that Mom

You know the Mom I'm talking about... a minivan Mom! Yes that's right, we are now proud owners of our very first minivan. It's surprising we even made it this far without having to buy one. When we first found out we were pregnant with Caleb, we had talked about getting a minivan. My husband, being the frugally minded man he is, decided it would be worth it to buy more expensive but thinner car seats for our Saturn SUV that only seats 5 people and squeeze in three car seats across the back seat, rather than shell out the thousands of dollars it would cost to buy a minivan. I agreed, and we made it work... until we found out #4 was on the way. We no longer had a choice in the matter!



So here it is, our new minivan... not new, but new to us. It's a 2005 Honda Odyssey. Honda's are built to last, so we weren't too worried about buying an older vehicle. We were just glad we finally landed the deal we were praying for and were able to pay it 100% in cash and not have to go in debt over it. We were very frustrated with the search for a vehicle and often considered buying a newer Honda and taking out a small loan that we knew we could pay off in a short amount of time. Thanks to the wisdom of our dear friends who always give us great advice when it comes to finances, they encouraged us to continue praying that God would lead us to the right deal within our price range with exactly what we were looking for and could pay cash for it. I'm so glad we listened to them, and asked God to lead us, because not too long after we started praying that way, we found our van!

If you have been keeping up with my VBAC blog, you will know that we are expecting a girl this time. We are very excited to be evening out the genders in our home! But for now, I couldn't be a happier mama with my three beautiful children. I'm often tired, but loving what I do. Carter has started Pre-K this year, including a once a week homeschool co-op called "Classical Conversations." We go together each week and I get to sit in his classroom and help the teacher as she leads them through the process. It has been such a fabulous addition to our homeschool curriculum. Carter absolutely loves it! Thanks to Daddy working from home, he is able to keep Sydney and Caleb at home while Mommy and Carter get to have a morning at school together all by ourselves. Then during the week, we get to practice what he is learning at home. I am amazed at how much he has learned in 6 short weeks, and love to watch as Carter teaches Sydney what he is learning! I hope to share more about "Classical Conversations" soon. I highly recommend it to any homeschool family out there!




No, life just doesn't get any better than this! :-)

And so the journey continues...

It's been awhile since I have blogged. Obviously, my last blog post was when Caleb was born, and now here I am announcing that baby #4 is on the way! I am due the beginning of February! This was not planned, but a true blessing indeed. I wanted to let you know about my new blog where I will be blogging during my pregnancy: ajourneytovbac.blogspot.com

I also hope to get back up to date with my family blog, so stay tuned! Here are a couple of pictures of our precious children, plus the newest additions to our family:












Meet Custer (white male) and Shiloh (brown female) our new puppies! The kids are absolutely in love with them!



Carter and Sydney are taking swim lessons together this summer!