Carter Pierce~ 7 weeks!

Katelyn~ 13!

Everyone says that the years go faster once you have children, but no one can prepare you for how it feels to watch your babies grow and turn into young adults in 'the blink of an eye'.









Today is Katelyn's 13th Birthday! Hard to believe!  My K-Kate, was born in a small East Texas town on a chilly, fall morning.  She was tiny, 5 lbs., 1.5 oz.! She was so tiny that Greg and I were afraid to take her home, but we did and together we learned how to care for a newborn.
She was my first, she made me a mom, so she will forever hold a special place in my heart.
While it hurts to think about the few years I have left with her at home, it fills me with JOY to see her blossom into a godly, young women!  She is kind, friendly, compassionate, sincere, full of life, creative, smart, funny, and so many things...but the thing I love most about her, is her love for Jesus! Happy Birthday to my beautiful (inside & out girl)!

It's FALL, Y'all!

I LOVE fall!! It's my absolute favorite season...cooler weather, beautiful colors, yummy scents, apples, pumpkins, camp fires, and for our family ~birthdays! We celebrate Katelyn, Cason, Carrie, & Chloes's birthdays in the month of October! Fun? Yes! Crazy? Most definitely! And with baby Carter born in September...that makes all of my babies born in the fall. I think that was a special gift from God, because He knows I love fall! ;)
Today is the first day of fall and we kicked the season off with a field trip to Farmland Adventures. It's a festive, fall place that has a pumpkin patch, corn maze, and petting farm. We met our homeschool friends there and had lots of fun! We got to feed the pigs, goats, miniature horses, and donkey. We had a lesson about corn and journeyed into the maze. We also ventured into the pumpkin patch. The weather was sunny, with a high of 75 degrees...just perfect! Baby Carter enjoyed his first field trip! Here are the pics:

Carter Pierce Pool is here!

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39 Weeks! I'm READY {I think}...

Today marks 39 weeks of my pregnancy. What a wonderful, JOYful pregnancy this has been...my best one! I am ready to see this baby's little face, to rub my cheek to his, to hold him, to nurse him, to stare at him for hours...oh, JOY!

Well, I *think* I'm ready. You see, this is my sixth baby to carry inside me and it may be my last. This year I turned 42 and I know that I cannot keep having babies forever. I do know God could allow another, but as my older children grow they need more of me and I do not want to neglect them because of the little ones that need so much attention. Does that make sense? My, oldest will soon be 13 and she already wants me to stay up late talking about 'life' stuff [why do teenagers want to start talking at 10pm??]. It's not easy to stay up late when you need to be up every few hours to nurse a newborn, but I know my older children need me just as much as my littles do. It truly makes me so sad to even think that this may be the last time I will feel a baby move inside me. When I hear other moms say, "I'm done!" I always think to myself, "Oh, I will never feel that way". I see children as a gift from God and I would never say "no" to a gift...especially from heaven!

However, I do know that the main reason I feel this way is because of the loss of our 2nd child. She was born perfectly healthy, but only lived three weeks. She died in her sleep and losing her completely changed me. It made me a better mom in so many ways...it made me more aware of the 'mundane moments' that we take for granted. I truly cherish every moment, because I know they can be gone in an instant. Shortly after losing her, I promised God that I would welcome every child He brought and He has faithfully brought four more! Some women lose a child and never want to have another, due to fear. I'm so thankful God allowed me to cling to Him and to TRUST Him through such a painful time. He gave me a strong desire to have more children. And I cannot imagine life without all these little 'gifts'.

So today...I wait. I patiently wait on God's timing...He will bring this new baby soon. He has the plan and it is good. If this is my last I will forever be grateful for the 39+ weeks I was allowed to be pregnant. Time is slow right now, but soon it will fly! So today...I wait and cherish the time.

New Year...I'm growing!

It's a new year and I'm growing, because our family is growing! God has blessed us with our 6th child! I'm due September 3rd. We have Katelyn [12], Cason [9], Carrie [6], Chloe [3] and 1 little girl in Heaven, Abby [our 2nd born]. Now that the new year has come, and is already flying, I've been thinking about my 'goals' for 2011. I was feeling a little stressed about the fact that I feel 'behind' in many areas of my life (morning sickness will do that) and I can't seem to get everything done. God gave me a wonderful thought a few weeks ago; actually He brought a verse to mind that allowed me to take a deep breath and REST in His mercy. The verse; Matthew 6:33:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." [NKJV]

I like the New Living Translation..."Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

I quickly felt God's peace fall all over me and I realized that ALL I need to do is SEEK God first and in doing so, everything else will fall into place! I do strive to put God first by having a quiet time every morning and it truly sets the pace for my day. I can definitely tell a difference when I do not carve out that early morning time, but sometimes I allow fear and doubt to seep in, as real life hits, and I forget to SEEK God first in ALL circumstances. For example, I've been struggling with my homeschool schedule [not as far along as I need to be this school year and feeling overwhelmed with regret], so I applied this verse to the problem. Last week we got back on track by starting every day with prayer and Bible [putting God first] and it has 'smoothed' my mornings in many ways. And when I start to feel like I'm not doing enough or not doing what I need to be doing [in all areas], I remind myself that I'm putting God first and He promises to 'add all these things to me' and 'give me all I need'. It's true FREEDOM!

So what is my new year's resolution for 2011?...To grow! To grow spiritually as I strive to seek God 1st AND to grow physically as this precious new life grows in me! Happy NEW YEAR...make it JOYful!