The A-Team

Praise Jesus! We are going home! No NICU visit! It is so wonderful to work with doctors and nurses who truly care and LISTEN to what you have to say. We made sure everyone was aware of our potential situation and they acted on it! It made a HUGE difference and that is how we are being released from the hospital today without a stay in the NICU! Thank you Jesus for putting the right words in our mouths and giving our caregivers the right ears to hear and act on our behalf.

I can’t wait to be reunited with my family!

Poor Aaron. I owe him a HUGE do-over for his actual birthday. I woke up around 4:30 am that morning and I was pretty sure we were having our baby! Abilene and I did NOT have a good day. I was unable to sit still the WHOLE day. I was in so much pain (definite labor pain) that I just couldn’t be still. But through the whole thing, I just knew it was wrong. It just didn’t quite feel right. I don’t know how else to describe it. Anyway, Aaron’s parents came for lunch that afternoon. I felt so bad because I was so miserable. Well, as the day wore on it never got worse or better until I finally took a long bath. The pain subsided. I was so exhausted at the end of the night. I was so thankful that Aaron had the day off even though it was spent taking care of me and the boys. Sorry honey. I owe you a big do-over!!!

Family photo - never guess I had been contracting ALL day!

Love this SUPER CHEESE picture of papa and the boys

This is what we bought daddy for his birthday and father's day - a new suit! So handsome!

Happy Birthday Honey.

We held our first annual A-Team Bash on 6/2. We celebrated Abel’s 2nd birthday, Aaron’s 33rd birthday, Abilene’s upcoming birth, Abraham’s upcoming 4th birthday, and Aaron’s acceptance and departure to ATC training in OKC! It was great to hold one party for everything! Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate because we have so much to be thankful for!

Our food spread

The dessert table! Thanks to Cristi for the cupcakes and Angel for the cake pops!

My birthday boys!

Opening presents

These 2 couldn't stop playing with every toy they opened!

Bean bean (Abilene) even got some presents:)

And Daddy got to open presents too:)

Again we thank all of you who came to our celebration and we had such a great time! Love to you all!

It is truly hard to wrap my mind around the fact that Abel is now 2. His personality has just blossomed and he is one fun kid to be around. His fits of frustration have calmed down substantially and he is SO stinkin’ smart just like his older bro!

Abel definitely has his own preference to things. Here are some examples:

– Orange juice versus ANYTHING else

– Music – this kid LOVES music. He is borderline obsessed. He will not only call out an Artist to be played but then request a particular song by said artist. His current favorite is “I’ll Fly Away” by Alan Jackson or Randy Travis. He has never much cared “kiddy” music. Sure he will listen to it but he LOVES the other stuff! He will also request Dubstep for his musical preference. It is actually pretty cool and we all have a good time listening to it!

– TV shows – not for him. He has just recently gotten into Word World but otherwise he will NOT sit still to watch anything which is rather frustrating for an uber pregnant momma who just wants 20 minutes of peace!

– He can count to 12! Who knew? He surprised Aaron and I one night by doing so and since then have really worked with him on solidifying his skill.

– Letters – Abel had NO clue about his letters at his 2-year appointment. I was embarrassed to say the least since Ham knew his by 20 months. The doc said we shouldn’t worry or push the issue until age 3. I was appalled. Seriously? 3? Isn’t that like too old? Needless to say, I was still working with Abel at his own pace and interest and let me tell ya, he knows his letters now and it only took 2 weeks! This kid picked it up so fast. I am guessing he has known them for awhile but didn’t want to let on to the fact. Turkey!

– Shapes and Colors – we are still working on these but he knows “circle, heart and star” very well. He loves the color green, purple and of course ORANGE. He loves to go to my closet and name the colors of my shirts. He gets them about 25% right:)

– Lovable – He is such a lovable little guy. He genuinely cares about people and their well being. If you are hurt or hurting, he wants to make it better any way he can. It is really precious.

– Teething – we are still in the process of getting the 2nd molars in. Yuck. He is handling it rather well. 2 have broken through but we still have 2 to go. It makes for a tough menu plan for him but we are getting through it with a liquid diet as needed!

– Potty Training – I feel like SUCH a slacker in this area. Abel has been ready to potty train for at least a month now but I just don’t have it in me to do it. Plus he exceeds my weight limit for lifting and I just can’t bring myself to do it before Abilene is born and I am off my 2 weeks of “do nothing” orders. So we have set the date for July 1st to go head first into potty training!

– Sleeping – Abel has never been a great sleeper until recently. I have had to come to the realization that his clock is different from the rest of us. He has a more “normal” wake up regardless of bed time. He likes to wake at 7 am – if it gets to 7:30 am, I need to check and see if he is still breathing! When we combined the boys to one room, life took a turn for the worst. Abraham went into a very bad downward spiral because he would stay up to his normal bedtime but wake up super early (for him) and be a NIGHTMARE throughout the day. It was really bad, I mean really bad. We finally figured out that allowing Ham NO T to nap and getting him to bed with his brother around 7pm worked at the best. Of course, that means momma has to wake up around 6:30 am to get my shower and be ready for the day. This does not make for a super happy family as daddy doesn’t get to go to bed until 1 am -ish but we try to be quiet so he can sleep. At least the kiddos are sleeping a bit better and attitudes are improving each day. Abel takes AWESOME naps throughout the day in his bed ALL BY HIMSELF! He is now sleeping his trundle bed and doing great! Woohoo!  Because I really needed the crib for Abilene:)

– Pacifier – Gone! We had the “ceremony” to throw it away since it was “broken” and he did great! Only a day or 2 was kinda tough – naps were the worst but he was ready to part with the “binky.” He just needed a little push from us.

Ok, well I have written enough allow me to show you some pictures!!!

His is SO big - he is ready for the booster (sorta)!

Opening his presents at home from mommy and daddy

My little man who is now 2! Sniff, Sniff

This was his FAVORITE! He loves music:)

This was a combo gift for the boys. Abraham LOVES it and Abel is warming up to it. He doesn't much care for the texture but he is getting into it:)

We took Abel for pictures at our local Olan Mills. He did AWESOME!

Here is our May!

Our annual trip to the zoo - The kids loved it!

Abel was really into all of the animals this year. It was so neat to watch him!

This was one DETERMINED duck to get at some snacks under our table!

Abraham very proud of his first 150 piece puzzle completed "all by himself."

It was a nice morning and I decided to let the boys paint! Thank goodness I took them outside for this!

These two had so much fun:)

Mini Marathon time! We saw Daddy off at the beginning of the race.

Here's a photo of Aaron crossing the finish line in 1:39:08 that was snapped by a photog on the course

We were waiting for Daddy to cross the finish hoping to get a picture...no luck. He was too fast!

Celebrating Daddy's good finish!

Ham also fist-bumped Papa at the finish but I could NOT capture it on camera.

Abel was so cute at the race. He carried around his "Doggie/Buddy" and "woobie" all morning.

Abel thought his booster seat looked great as a hat!

This was taken just down the street from our house. They have started construction on some new homes and the kids got to "ride" in the equipment!

Ham's first foot race! Getting ready to go!

Ham in line at his 1st race.

This picture is awesome. Notice the cup and what it says...

We took Abel and Abraham to Bounce Spot since I still had a freebie admission and Abel was still free too! Abel actually enjoyed this until he came down the slide and couldn't find a way out fast enough. After that, there was NO going back in ANY bounce house.

Abel and I played games instead - Skeeball...a fave for both of us!

Daddy and Taters

35 weeks 3 days (Abel's birthday too) - As you can tell, I am VERY pregnant!

This kiddo is so big, he actually fits his brother's booster. We already bought him one but he likes to unbuckle himself. We will stick to the 5-point harness car seat just a tad longer.

Abraham and Daddy quite proud of the new 300 piece puzzle that the 3 of us put together in just about an hour.

Buddy pile - they had WAY too much fun with this:)

Abel's first run at the "shooting" game at IPC!

Just to let you know I haven't forgotten about our daughter - here is a picture of the curtains I made for her!

This is a close up of the pattern of the curtains. It is still blue but much more girly!

That was our May (except Abel’s 2nd birthday stuff…see later post) and we enjoyed it greatly!

WOW! 2 posts in one week…this may be a record! Enjoy our fun times in April!

Who knew sheet changing day could be so much fun???

Finger puppets were a HUGE hit!

Abraham had to wear them ALL on one hand.

The ONLY cold day in April - really - and it was Daddy's 15K race. We didn't stay in the car this time.

We were able to catch a picture of Daddy crossing the finish line!!!

Abraham gave his testimony at the Eggstravagansa at Church. He did such a great job!

Ham was SO proud of his eggs at the Easter Egg Hunt we had at church.

Abel REALLY got into this year's egg hunt. He was so good about getting eggs!

The kiddos emptying out their loot!

Love this picture Aaron got of the boys on Grace Hill by the cross.

Family nap time. This is our favorite time of the day!

Have no idea what makes hills so cool, but these guys love running up and down the hill at the back of our property!

Abraham started dressing himself and has down a rather good job at picking out his clothes. This one was funny because he said everything matched because the shirt and shorts were both green!!!

This was Abel's 23-month picture op. In case you can't tell, he was NOT happy about this.

There is my cutie pie!

A semi-smile for his momma.

Cousin Nikolas' birthday party...these kiddos LOVED the legos and the table.

Grandma Jean, Daddy, Abel and Great-Grandma Brown at Niko's birthday party.

Abel wanted to "look" through the balloon to see everyone. He is so silly!

The cake had wonderful blue icing that took a couple days to wear off!

Ham showing off his blue tongue!

On the way home from the birthday party, we found this life-like Bertie the Bus!

There was also this awesome train car sitting there!

Ham's first shower and let me tell you...this kid LOVES showers!!!!

31 weeks 5 days with Abilene and both my adorable boys!

31 weeks and 5 days. This was a good day! I felt great!

We transitioned Abel into Abraham's room. He slept fine on this twin bed for about 2 days...then things went downhill but more on that later.

This is a shot of both boys ASLEEP in the same room! This was day 1. If you were to ask me today, I have been pulling my hair out ever since. This was the ONLY good night we have had since they started rooming together.

Anyway, we enjoyed our April. I am slowing down more and more as this pregnancy progresses. I tire rather easily (mostly because I am chasing 2 very active little boys) and trying to keep the nasty contractions at bay. So far so good as the contractions come but with rest they go away.

We did get some crazy news during the month of April…first Aaron found out in early March he would be leaving for his training for FAA ATC on 6/22 – just 3 days after Abilene is due to be born and then on 4/30, we got another call that said his class was cancelled until further notice! We were willing to step out on faith and do what God had laid out for us but I was SO relieved to know he would be home for at least a couple weeks after I have our 3rd baby!

Anyway, I will try and get some May photos up soon so I can keep this blog more up-to-date:)

Ok, so that is a pretty lame use of a “sports” theme especially since we aren’t a sports oriented family…oh well! I still will share our March via a photo show!

Playing in the laundry basket AKA "the boat"

Hail storm that we had to seek shelter from!

Watching Daddy's 10 K race from the car...it was WAY too cold outside!

Ham "freezing" in the backseat while waiting for Daddy to finish his 10K

School time!

They LOVE the new whiteboard we purchased for the school room

Abraham did these all by himself! I was so proud of him! He really doesn't like writing.

We had some fun with water outside in the month of March! Crazy!!

Abel enjoying the outside toys.

Ham is now a total pro at riding his trike!

I caught him doing a PUZZLE! This was huge as Abel has shown NO interest in puzzles!

Aww...taters is snuggling some buddies at bed time

I even caught Abel "reading" books! Again, he hasn't shown much interest in books! So this was huge!!!

27 weeks!

Cheese!

Aww...brotherly love

Super double CHEESE!

Abraham in his adorable "robey robe"

We transitioned Abel to his big boy bed and he loved it!!!

He even pretended to go "night night" for a picture:)

Massive Island of Sodor!

His first time in his new big boy bed and he went right to sleep!!!!

Abraham accepted Christ!

Aaron's goodbye to our bassets

My goodbye to our beloved bassets...thankfully you can't tell I am sobbing in this picture.

We found Hammy like this one afternoon. He crawled up in his bed and crashed!

Insane play time...ham did this ALL on his own!

Sweet little taters

March was crazy and lots of fun but it was also very emotional for us as we had to make the difficult decision to give up our bassets. With the news of Aaron going off for training and everything changing, we just couldn’t keep them any longer. But they found a great new home and are loving it (we have seen photos!).  I hope to get April up here by the end of this week!

Yes, I am aware that it is April but hey, gotta start somewhere!

Some of his last days with his "binky" - but he sure wants my camera!

Color Wonder play time with markers!

Sticker fun! Abel LOVES stickers!!!

Mommy with her sweet little boy

Early morning race for Daddy. We watched from the car - It was freezing out!

Best $4 ever spent - pom poms and valentine's baskets. These kids had SO much fun!

Abel VERY proud of his tower of blocks

Abraham had to out-do his brother - His version of a TOWER!

Abraham's new bed! It will sleep 3 - the bunk with a trundle!!! He LOVES it:)

First 100 pc puzzle completed solo!

Buttons, buttons and more buttons - messy but SO much fun!

Moon Sand - very messy but again, oh so much fun!

Park play time! Cabin fever was taking over:)

They are just too cute! They couldn't WAIT to get outside to yell and scream!

This was our February in a nutshell! We had a good time even though mommy is always tired and moving rather slowly. That’s okay. They boys didn’t seem to mind too much:)

We got the call back this morning with a new date for Aaron’s class, June 22!!!! Yeah! That means Aaron will be able to be there for the birth of our daughter!!! This is a HUGE burden lifted from me. Of course there are many other trials upcoming but this is giant answered prayer!!!!

We got the call, tonight. It was 8 something pm and we were wrapping up our evening with the kiddos by letting them watch a quick show to calm them down for sleep. Aaron’s phone rings and he mouths to me, “It is the FAA.” Those words changed me forever.

After about 15 minutes or less, Aaron comes back into the room and declares that he received a date for class. They want to send him on April 20! He did explain our current situation (me pregnant with child #3 and due on 6/18/12). The next date she had available for class was June 4 (Aaron’s birthday). Of course that doesn’t help much with the whole birth issue. The lady was cool and said she would be attending a meeting in the morning and see what she could do for us to push the date beyond Abilene’s birth but there is NO guarantee.

I knew this day would come…I really did. Somehow I just didn’t prepare myself enough. I am full of mixed emotions. I am excited for him to move on with his career choice but I am so afraid of what lies ahead.

1. Will he miss the birth of our daughter? If so, what will I do with my other kiddos while I am having her?

2. Will I be able to handle 3 small children all by myself?

3. Will I make it to my scheduled delivery date without him around to help? He is integral in our daily lives and I rely on him SO much…especially when the contractions kick in around 6 pm.

4. We won’t even broach the money subject. That is ridiculously scary and not even worth worrying about because it just doesn’t matter to me.

Many of you reading this probably have no idea how “easy” I really have it right now. I have a wonderful husband who is home with us 90% of the time. He is able to work from home and that has been a tremendous blessing. He works 2nd shift which means he is “all mine” during the morning and early afternoon hours and I really only have to handle the evenings “by myself” – kinda. He still bathes the kids most nights and is there to help at a moments notice. To go from having that amazing support to having him shipped off 750 miles away for 4 FULL MONTHS is unbelievably frightening for me.

Anyway, I guess the point to my post is this…

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray for me, the boys, and Aaron. We are in desperate need right now and want to follow the Lord’s leading (even if it is uncomfortable). We love our Lord and trust in Him and know He will see us through this. Just help (me) let go of my fears!