"And Baby makes 4"

We feel so blessed, humbled, and excited that this summer we'll get to welcome a new baby! As Shaelyn said today "and baby makes 4... 4 kids mom!!" :) I'm 15 weeks pregnant and so excited to welcome this new little one beginning of July! Overall I'm feeling good. Tired, but I'm pretty sure I felt tired before I got pregnant :). As expected 4th time around I'm already feeling so many symptoms that I think should show up "late" in pregnancy, but after experiencing them earlier each pregnancy I knew to expect it :). I'm definitely not complaining as I feel like this child is such an amazing gift, one we prayed for and our hearts longed for. Early on in the pregnancy there were some complications and the doctors believed that the pregnancy might not be progressing, but miraculously they all resolved on there own and all is going well. We're excited to see him/her again in a few weeks and we're praying for good health. We are not planning on finding out the sex. We loved being surprised with the first three and I'm already looking forward to that moment!

The girls are very excited! They've known for a while now and talk about it daily. I knew that Shaelyn would be excited. She remembers a lot about when I was pregnant and had McLleyton, but Monreau's enthusiasm has surprised me. She thinks about and will talk about the baby a lot. She'll tell random people at the store that "we're having a new baby in our family." It's very sweet. McLleyton... well, I guess he'll find out the first week of July what it's all about :).

I'm living my dream and it's a gift to have a husband who will dream with me! I have no misconceptions that our life is already busy and this summer it will go up another "notch" :). This "job" is demanding. It's never ending. Repetitive. Exhausting. Progress unmeasurable. ... but is it?? Yes, I can literally go a full day with out sitting down (eating lunch while I load the dishwasher :))... cleaning the kitchen I swear 8x a day, folding load after load of laundry, driving to school again (and again), picking up the same pack of markers McLleyton dumped for the 4th time, searching for the missing mitten, running late (again)... but in my heart I know that this is not the "job." This all may be a slightly negative side effect to my job, but my real "job" is the heart of a five, three and one year old. My real job is to simply love. To teach them how to love. To teach them about Jesus. To help them understand and work things out. To help them appreciate the differences in each other and the people around them. To answer questions. To hug. To hold. To kiss. To giggle with. To discipline. To encourage. To believe in. I love this job. I fail. I succeed. I can be so patient. I can be short. I can have moments of great insight. I can question what to do next. It can be difficult. But, it is so rewarding. I love this job :) It's my constant prayer, that I'll be able to fully focus on them and hold loosely to the "never ending, repetitive, exhausting side effects"... for the moments with these three (almost 4) will pass all too quickly, but I know the kitchen and laundry will always be there :). It's an amazing journey that I feel so blessed to be on!

Here's a few picture my friend took for us this fall. (Laura is so talented, check out her site! www.cebulskiphotography.com ) It's exciting to think that next time we'll be a family of 6!!