New Chapter...

...Well, after years of wanting out of Pinnacle Pools, we find ourselves there...out of a job. Not exactly how we planned but we knew this day was coming. Doug's last day of work was yesterday and today he is in Maryland interviewing for a job with a church up there...I'm not really sure what will come of it and I'll be sure to post with any new information. But for now, I'm caring for our four girls and missing Doug like crazy. This picture of us cracks me up...for those of you that are wondering (and I know some of you wacko's ARE wondering) we are fully clothed in bathing suits in this luxurious picture...haha. And my mom is in the background of the picture holding Aspen and she will back me up in this story!
I really love my husband!
I really want to get some pictures of the girls all together to post. How hard can that be???? AHH!!!
Ok, well I'm not COMPLETELY exhausted anymore because I'm getting 3-4 hours of sleep at a stretch now instead of 2..WOOHOO!
Until next post....

exhaustion..

I am still completely exhausted. I hardly know what I'm doing these days. The days are just flowing together, I am lucky to get a load of laundry done once in awhile. Holly and Sage have been sick so our nights are very, VERY long. Lily hasn't done any homeschooling in about 3 weeks and she's bored to tears being cooped up with sick siblings. My mom is here which is great as far as having her to help me during the day when Doug is working but it's not much fun to be sitting around with sick, CRANKY kids. She's being a real trooper.
I have friends who are bouncing around like Tigger within days of having babies and I have no idea how they do it. Physically I feel fine, as far as I am not having any pain from the delivery, etc...but I just am so run down in every other way and it's all we can do to get through another day. I have been feeling kinda down because I love this time of year and yet I feel it's passing me by and I'm not enjoying it. We love to take walks and enjoy the lights in the neighborhood and that hasn't happened once yet this year. We love to drive and look at lights and bake cookies for friends and neighbors and make Christmas cards...none of these things have happened yet either and I'm sure they won't.
My eyes are loaded with bags under them and I can actually FEEL them!
Yet, through it all, we are so blessed to have sweet Aspen here with us and I realize that in a few weeks, this will all be behind us and we'll be healthy and sleeping and probably talking about baby number 5. Ok, did any of you have a heart attack over that statement?
Well, this is about all I have time for now. G'night and I'll be back when I can!

Blogging after Aspen....

I am a complete zombie.
I ate at least 4 servings of dessert today.
Hope you enjoyed the update.

Aspen Rain Thomas

Just a quick update...our new baby girl is here FINALLY!
Aspen was born at 5:33 on November 28 and weighed in at 8lb 5oz (my second biggest baby...Holly was 2 ounces heavier...Sage and Lily weighed the same at 7lb 14oz) and she made a very, VERY quick entrance into the world! I was still questioning whether I was in true labor at 5:06 (I made a phone call then, so I have it documented on the time!) and by 5:33 she was here!
We are so thrilled with her but at this point I'm completely exhausted but I did want to let everyone know!
More pictures to come...my girlfriend took video/pictures but she is putting them on disk for me so I won't have them for a couple days but here are a couple that we had from our camera....
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers these last couple weeks!

No, it's not a baby post....but I've been tagged!

I have been tagged by my friend Rhonda to share the following information with you about my husband:

1. Where did you meet? Doug says he sat next to me in a restaurant when I first moved to Florida...I was way pregnant with Lily at the time and NOT interested in talking to him or any other man...SO I don't remember this conversation but he said he thought I was the most beautiful pregnant woman ever...he is tooooo kind! I guess he didn't realize we would be spending the first 3 years of our marriage pregnant so I'm glad he likes me that way! Anyway, we were at a restaurant with a bunch of singles from church...so we were friends for a really long time before we dated...THAT is another long story for another post....
2. How long did you date? Let's see...started dating in June 2004, got engaged that December and married July of 2005
3. How long have you been married? almost 3.5 years
4. What does he say that surprises you? That he loves my cooking. I mean, I'm not a terrible cook but I'm not "AWESOME" like he says...but I guess it's in the eye of the beholder so I will accept his compliment :)
5. What is your favorite feature of his? His bald head!!!! He's SOO happy I feel that way too. I had no idea how insecure he was about it until he started dating me and realized I wasn't lying about how much I liked it!!!
6. What is your favorite quality of his? He is so honest and a hard worker. He is a very devoted father and spends just about every free moment he has with his kids and me...he's all about the family. I also love how he truly tries to please God with everything he does.
7. Does he have a nickname for you? no
8. What is his favorite color? he loves me and the girls in a very specific shade of purple..it's hard to describe and harder to find!!!!
9. What is his favorite food? a grilled hamburger with baked beans and watermellon on the side! oh and steak fries!!
10. What is his favorite sport? I never thought I would live to see the day when I said that I'm SO glad my hubby doesn't like the traditional ball sports! He's into mountaineering, cycling, kayaking, things like that (although he's given it up for now in order to raise a family but he still loves it!)
11. When and where did you first kiss? I can't remember when as far as the date I just remember it was after he came back from a trip to Colorado. He was gone for about 10 days and we had been dating several months by this time and really didn't plan to kiss at all until we got married....BUT, after having him gone for that long we both realized we never wanted to be apart like that again (we weren't engaged yet but certainly knew we would get married after this trip took place!). I picked him up from the airport with his friend and drove them to my house for dinner....he left to take his friend home but came back immediately and I burst into tears when he showed back up (I guess I was too embarrassed with his friend there to do that when I first saw him!) and we kissed....
12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? I would say traveling..although we don't do it much with our expanding family...but when we have had weekends away, it's the best! Even a trip to Ft. Myers on the weekends with the kids is fun for us...SO, definitely traveling!
13. Do you have any children? Lily, 8 1/2, Holly 2 1/2, Sage 1 1/2 and due for baby 4....Ok, so I'm officially overdue as I'm typing this....thanks for the reminder! BLAH!
14. Does he have a hidden talent? He will kill me for revealing that HE is my pedicurist.... Oh and most people don't know he's an incredible artist!
15. How old is he? 43
16. Who said, "I love you" first? I waited for HIM to say it first!
17. What is his favorite type of music? Jazz
18. What do you admire most about him? How much he loves God, me and our kids and how hard he works for a company that doesn't appreciate him...
19. Do you think he will read this? eventually...


I have no idea how to tag more friends..I'm still new to the world of blogging.....!!!!!

These last days...

I'm trying to enjoy my last several days (hopefully days, and not weeks!) of being a mommy to 3...I look at Sage and can't imagine that she won't be the "baby" anymore! It's kinda hard to enjoy the days though when they are filled with Braxton Hicks and very painful kicks and tired joints and ...well, I'm sure many of you understand or can remember your 9th month!
So, I just wanted to leave a little blurb letting you all know we are still anxiously awaiting our new blessing. We finally have names picked out...the boys name we are "for sure" on and we have 2 names picked for a girl and Doug will just make that decision when and if we pop out a girl! (which is what we are all expecting!)
What a wonderful time of year to be pregnant too! It's so nice and cool here in SW Florida! YAY!
Keep checking back...I think I'll be very quick to post a couple new pictures as soon as possible when this little one arrives!

WE LOVE FALL!!!!!

So, this post is just for fun! I have seen, over the years, gals who would have their belly painted during pregnancy but I never had been THIS pregnant when October/November would roll around so it never worked out...SO I was very excited about doing this. Lily sat and painted her pumpkins, instead of carving them...which Doug and I were THRILLED about, honestly. Blech! I didn't feel like dealing with all that mess! And Doug had a great time creating his pumpkin on ME. It was hilarious because the baby was inside just jumping all around and Doug would say "quit moving!" and it wasn't ME!!!!!
What a great memory for this pregnancy!

Who she is in Christ....

My daughter Lily is quite an amazing girl. I think she is beyond her years in many ways, possibly due to her mama expecting WAY too much of her back when it was just her and I living the crazy life of working full time and running all over the place trying to get things done and so forth. One of the teachers in our Bible study today (CBS) told me that Lily is the smartest one in the class and she also is one of the sweetest with her manners and behavior. It's always nice to hear this type of feedback from others that are working closely with your kids. As a home school family, I often wonder if she's getting enough and learning enough and so forth but the more we go, the more God opens my eyes to what truly is important in life and although we do believe in a strong education, I don't believe that a strong education is exclusive to math, science, history, english, spelling, etc...I want my kids to be good homemakers, good stewards, well respected among adults (and children), lovers of purity, but mostly lovers of God. I want them to know who they are in Christ. This is something we purpose to instill in them on a daily basis...my husband is probably better at this than I am...
I often get questions from friends or strangers that wonder if we are sheltering our kids by homeschooling. I have yet to understand the meaning of this so I never have a very good answer however based on some things that have been happening lately in LIly's personal life, I have been absolutely convinced that the road we are currently on is the best for this time. Will we always homeschool? I can't say. I don't pretend to know the future and I wouldn't say that I'm a die hard homeschooler (there are some that literally scare me with their passion for it and perhaps I'm one of those people to some of you reading or some others in my life!! haha)
Lily has had one particular friend in her life comment on her weight, color of her teeth and most recently her "terrible handwriting". I literally just sit in shock when Lily tells me what her friend is saying. Why? First, i can't imagine what 7 and 8 year olds should even be aware of "yellowing" teeth...don't we spend enough of our adult years worrying about how we look and compare to those around us? (not that we should but we do) Don't we spend the majority of our adolescent and adult years worrying we are too fat or too short or whatever....why should this be starting as early as 7 or 8? My jaw really hit the floor when she said this friend is telling her she has terrible handwriting....I think she has amazing handwriting, better than my own at times...perhaps because she spends more time actually writing when i spend more time typing. Anyway, I look at my daughter's face as she's telling me these things and she is amazing in her strength. I won't say that these things haven't hurt her deeply and affected her greatly. My 8 year old now is concerned every day with how she looks and if she looks fat...etc. This only began after comments from this friend. Am I blaming the little girl? No. I think perhaps my own feelings about myself might factor into this picture although I try to never comment on my weight or looks when I'm around my kids (oh but my poor husband has to hear about it!) or perhaps the enemy just thinks he can have his way with my child but look out...Lily's parents are on a mission to save her soul from this terrible lie. (1 John 5:18)
So, although these comments have affected her, she is so loving in her response. She tells me that her inner self wants to lash out and say something ugly back to her friend, yet she calmly says "well that's fine that you think so but it's the way I am" or she says she just shrugs her shoulders and changes the subject. I am proud of her. I don't think it's sheltering her to want to teach my child how to respond to such things. Most of the things I hear coming out of kids mouths at the pool or malls or even in the churches are not exactly becoming. Where is the standard? Who are we looking to for what is and isn't appropriate? I hope the standard we have in our home is satisfying and pleasing to God and will eventually rub off on my children and stick. Ok, so does this mean Lily is always perfect in her responses? Absolutely not. But this post isn't about her shortcomings. I'm sure there will be many opportunities for that but you know, when I read God's Word, I don't see him harping on all my shortcomings. He lifts me up. He speaks words of adoration to my soul and my spirit. He speaks words of truth and LIFE over me and it encourages me to press on. And it also gives me the humility to admit when I've totally blown it. I have a daughter who admits to me when she has lied or when she has been tempted to do something I've told her not to do even though I'm not there to see. She will tell a friends mom that she's not supposed to watch a certain program or walk away from a group of people that are speaking about things that she shouldn't be hearing. I thank God for my Lily and I know that she is beautiful. God called her that before she was even formed in my womb...(Psalm 139)

Lil' Miss Can't Be Wrong....

....Ok, so Sage....she's always been quite the chubby baby but as a newborn and thru her first year she wasn't much of an eater....although I had friends (I WON'T mention any names....) that thought I might be nursing her too much.... :) Ok, well once she hit 13 months she started chowing on just about everything in sight. She likes everything except bananas... (go figure..don't all kids love bananas?)
Well, she was not so happy today when she found a chocolate chip cookie on the floor...and took a nice big bite...only to find out it was a plastic toy one!!! Hmmm....sorry Sage. That would have ticked me off too!!!

STRETCH!!!!!

Well, tonight I was asking Doug "I can't even see under my belly anymore do I have stretch marks...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH". And he said "nah" and I said "well, yes I do but they just aren't red and very noticeable" and he said "FOURTH baby...FOURTH time this belly has stretched, I think you are looking quite amazing for that!!!" and it really hit me smack in the face....I can't believe I am carrying my 4th child. What a miracle. It's no less of a miracle the woman who is carrying her 1st child either. It's all just so amazing. I'm more amazed at it with this one...you would think it would become routine or normal or even boring...but no. The miracle of life just makes me weep. Sincerely.

We are the couple that sits on the couch and watches my stomach bounce all around and become all disfigured looking while we are drinking our hot tea...even on the FOURTH pregnancy! Some might say we have "no life" because of our hum drum night life....ha! I say we are filled with life and the little foot poking thru my rib cage attests to it! It's cheap entertainment, I'll say that!

I feel more beautiful today than I did 9 years ago before I ever got pregnant the first time. I hear friends talk about how different their bodies look after kids and how they are going to get tummy tucks or boob jobs when they are done, etc....and to each his own but I just relish in how God created our bodies to do exactly this amazing task. I'm sure the beauty I feel today has more to do with the love I have been given and the relationship I have with God but boiling it down to the bottom line of "physical beauty", I love my pregnant belly. So, even though there are stretch marks (and I really was being silly when I was asking Doug about the stretch marks) and even though my love handles will NEVER go away, I count myself BLESSED to be a bearer of blemishes all in the name of bearing children! I think I am in a family of good genes though too..THANKS MOM!!!

So, with that, here's my latest picture. 30 weeks pregnant and blossoming more and more every day. My sister, Rachel, once asked me in a past pregnancy "Oh my gosh, is that baby standing UP in there?????" I will never forget her asking me that. It certainly looked like she was standing up, my belly was SOOOOO huge.(that was my pregnancy with Holly I think but I looked the same with Sage too!) I think I was right around 36 weeks at that time and THIS year when I'm 36 weeks, it will be around Halloween and Doug is going to paint my belly like a pumpkin and I'm SOOOO excited to see how that turns out. Stay tuned for pictures of that...you'll inevitably get a good laugh!

I believe I can fly....

Today I had a very special thing happen...and after reading this you will see that it really was just a small thing that was designed for me....

For those of you that don't know, Doug is doing an internship at a church in town where I actually was attending when I first moved to Florida and was single and pregnant...a long story made short is that we left the church we were attending and where we met and got married to go back to this other church so Doug could learn more about technical worship and so forth in order to hopefully become more qualified for a job in this field....it was definitely a career move to do this but we also believe we are following God and His leading.  It's a great opportunity for Doug, as this church is much more advanced in these areas.  HOWEVER, I have felt like a fish out of water...I left all my friends and comforts behind and although things weren't "just right" at the other place of worship, to leave it all behind and go back to this other church that is about 20 times larger than where we were is very intimidating and overwhelming.  My kids are thriving in the children's programs and that part of it I am very thankful for! But Doug is busy doing his "thing" every week so I am sitting alone in services and doing a very good job of being a wallflower.  

This week we decided to stay for a small group and try to get more involved and I was so blessed because the one we chose happened to be the husband of a woman that used to babysit Lily when she was only a baby when I was attending this church as a single parent.  I immediately recognized her and said "HI" and she looked at me with a blank look so I continued to tell her who I was and her jaw hit the floor and she just hugged me...I don't really think she knew what to say because here I was standing with my 2 youngest (Lily was still in her class) and pregnant...I gave her a brief re-cap of the last 7 years and then went on my way but after the class she came up to say goodbye and by then Doug was with me so I introduced them and she about started to cry and just said what a blessing it was for her to meet Doug and how she had prayed for him way back when....and how she had prayed for my situation, etc.  

She didn't go into any more detail than that and we just continued on, (she was talking with a friend) knowing we would get to see her more as we continued in this small group.

It really warmed my heart because there were so many folks at this wonderful church praying me thru some very tough years and praying for a future husband that they might never meet....praying for the life of a small baby that they would never see grow up most likely and I was able to see just one of them today.  

God really does care about the thoughts we have, the concerns we have, the feelings we have.  I think that most of us just don't always want to acknowledge them ourselves much less verbalize them.  This is just one small example of a way God demonstrated His love for me today.  If I pulled myself out of myself for another moment and looked around, I'm sure I would see many, many more.  

So although I still feel like a fish out of water, it's really ok.  Aren't there some fish that actually fly?