My Morning Date.

It's not every day that Jericho and I get some time alone without the other two kiddos. They usually are the ones to get me up in the morning, since he's still in a crib and can't get out. (Otherwise I'm sure it'd be the other way around. He usually will just sit in his crib and play/talk until I come get him.) This morning the older two slept in a little bit, and so me and Jericho had some one on one time. He is much easier to handle when he has all my attention, which is a no-brainer, but it just doesn't happen very often. I kinda feel like I've missed out spending time with just him. It was fun to watch him piddle around the living room...so busy with his play world. Working so hard at random little "projects" like plugging in the laptop cord, and stuffing toys in his "backpack" thats really his sister's bag slung over his shoulders.

He was very busy working while mommy was working on some projects, too. He kept coming to check on what I was doing, and showing me what he was doing. It was one of those moments where you feel peaceful and right just being a mom. (Those don't usually last very long...usually someone starts a fight. But it's hard for J to start a fight when the objects of most of his arguments are still sleeping.) I am thinking we need to make more time for just the two of us, and the same for the other kiddos. I am always envious of those families who have the time and/or extra finances to take their kids on "dates". (I know you don't really need money for one on one time, but Billy's schedule makes it hard for anything but hanging on till bedtime most days since it's typical for it to be just me and the kids until they go to sleep at night. I digress...maybe one day he will work a 9-5 job?)

I'm grateful for a little glimpse of this guy's personality this morning. I know I see him all day, every day, but it was fun to watch him be himself and just enjoy playing with him and giving him all my attention. I mean, it's hard NOT to give all your attention to those big brown eyes. They kinda suck you right in.

Lunch with a Maniac on Monday

Nothing crazy here, just your usual Monday. But I did have lunch. Lunch with a weirdo baby. Since Monday's generally stink for a lot of the general population, I figured maybe it would brighten your day. It helped mine a little. At least until that sandwich he's eating ended up smashed on the floor. 

All weirdness aside...I really do love being this guy's mommy.

Cuz I Wanna Know You...

Naming babies is one of the things we always enjoy about our growing family. We've gotten a lot of flack for some of the names we've picked...too different, hard to spell, people might mispronounce it, they might get picked on, etc. But each name was a mutual decision (thankfully we rarely disagree on names...although I did nix "Boaz" with Jericho.) and we wanted our kids to grow up with names that were their own and that meant something to us. Who cares if people mispronounce your name...you still know who you are. I've had my name misspelled and mispronounced for about 31 years, had professors and doctors assume I was a man, had it shortened (nope...it's Austin-Lee, not just Austin) and about everything else you can imagine. I wouldn't change it for anything. I like that I don't know anyone else with my name.



Sidenote: This is not a "popular name" bashing post. I don't care what other people name their kids. I do, however, always think it's funny that people would expect a "Tom" or "Sally" out of our family. Come on, now. ;) 



So, when we found out we were expecting again, we already knew what we would name the baby if it were a girl. We had randomly talked about what an awesome name _________ would make in a casual conversation one day, but just didn't think we'd ever end up actually using it because we were "done" having babies. So when we found out that Baby Four was, in fact, a girl...the name picking process was already done. (I kind of was relieved, because I wasn't coming up with anything in the boy name department when I managed to find a second to think about it.)

The name that we've picked out for baby Four is Amaryllis Eve. Amaryllis is pronounced am-ah-RILL-iss) Yeah, it's maybe a bit of a mouthful for a little tiny person...but I have no doubts this beautiful little soul growing in my belly will grow into it. Amaryllis is a flower, and it can mean "sparkling" or "fresh". It's also the name of a song we both love, and is where we heard it first. *You can listen to it HERE.* Eve means "life", as you probably know.

The lyrics to the song weren't really of any consequence at first...we just like the sound of Amaryllis. After we found out we were expecting twins, and then lost one, baby Charis, the lyrics kind of came into focus. I haven't really been able to listen to the song without crying since...but in a bittersweet kind of way. Part of the song that always gets me says this: "So do I remind you of someone you never met, a lonely silhouette. And do I remind you of somewhere you want to be, so far out of reach. I wish you'd open up to me, cuz I wanna know you, Amaryllis. Bloom." It always reminds me, as does this baby I'm carrying, of the one we've never met. It reminds me of how I can't wait until that day when we are all together as a family. And it also speaks about how much I want to be able to get to know this baby, our Amaryllis. And how much I want her to be able to bloom and grow.

So, that's the long winded version of why we picked out this particular name. I'm sure I'll get asked that a lot, so I wanted to write it all down while I was thinking about it. (Not sure when I'll end up publishing this blog post, I'm writing it the day after we found out Four is a girl. We've talked about keeping the name secret until she's born, like we did with JHawk. But part of me just is not motivated enough to keep a secret for another pile of weeks. It was hard enough keeping this pregnancy secret for 10 weeks. So...we shall see.)

Little Amaryllis, we are so excited to know you...and can't wait to see how you add sparkling life to this name. Bloom...

It's...a...

So we found out yesterday that Four is a baby girl. Tirzah is thrilled with the idea of having a sister, and we are all thrilled right along with her.

We got to take all the hooligans to the ultrasound with us, like we did with Jericho. They were surprisingly well behaved...asking lots of questions and getting lots of laughs out of the *very patient* ultrasound technician. She said it was the first time she'd heard kids say a baby sibling looked like a bird...she typically hears "dinosaur". The hooligans like to be different.

They were well-prepped for the ultrasound, and knew they wouldn't be seeing much but baby sister's skeleton. We made it into a science lesson of sorts, and the hooligans were excited to see baby sister's heart (with all the different chambers and the blood flowing in and out) and her brain, stomach, bladder, kidneys, etc. They were a little confused as to why she was in water...and assumed she surely must be uncomfortable because they wouldn't want to be in water like that. (I reminded them that they were in water too...and how much they like baths and swimming. Then it was all "oooooh...yeah.")

About 3/4 of the way through the ultrasound the kids suddenly were ALL parched and dying of thirst...and the main concern was not Four's comfort, but when we could get slushies. (They've obviously been conditioned to know that Sonic and their happy hour special is on the way home from mommy's doctors appointments.) Thankfully little sister was "the best behaved baby of the day" according to the tech (wonder if she will keep that up???) and our appointment didn't take long at all.

We got them their slushies and then went to pick up a little outfit for the baby...kind of an accidental tradition we ended up with, picking out a "going home" outfit for baby when we find out what they are. Tirzah had a great time helping pick it out. She also wanted to get the baby sunglasses and a swimsuit and about 379 other articles of clothing. She obviously needs to be given a tight budget once she starts shopping. She wanted me to take a picture of the outfit we picked, and then decided her pj's were also in need of a photo opp. I agree. ;) I think she's gonna make a great big sister to a little sister.

We are feeling so thrilled with how healthy Four looked today. I have kind of been holding my breath, waiting for something to go wrong ever since we lost our sweet kiddo's twin. Not a great example of trust in God, I know. But hey, just keeping it real around here. I am so grateful, though, that God continues to show me His grace even when I have nothing to offer him but my fear and doubts. I know that you're not guaranteed anything in this life, but we are so grateful for how God is knitting this baby together even now. We are so looking forward to meeting her this Summer, and getting to finally see more than just that cute little skeleton of hers. ;)

Every Once in Awhile...

...I catch them getting along. Apparently climbing the walls (literally as you can see) on our most recent snow day wore them out enough that they could exist on the same couch cushion without anyone losing an eye. If this is what happens when it snows, maybe I'll give snow another chance.

Nah...;)