It's a Sharp Life . . .

This is my favorite time for church. Not too early, not too late. Ironically, I have had 9 o'clock church the last two times I've suffered with morning sickness! Mornings never bode well for me--combine that with getting 3 children up, making sure they're properly dressed, all while trying to hold down my breakfast--yes, 9 o'clock definitely had it's problems. Today is our first Sunday back to 11 o'clock. So maybe this week we will make it on time?

This New Years was a bit of a quiet one. We usually have friends over or go out with friends, but this year, it was just Chris, me and the kids. We took them to Denny's for dinner (their favorite) then came home for the rest of the evening. Chris played checkers against Jewel and Nathan for a while, then Jewel taught him how to play chess. Now that was interesting! As the hugely pregnant lady, I just stayed on the couch and watched. But at midnight, Chris insisted that they all needed to bang pots and pans to welcome in the new year. Here they're just getting ready to storm out into the cold and wake the neighborhood. Here, they're clammoring the pans with all their might-- Jewel obviously has a do or die attitude about this very important job! Then, finally, a job well done for all of them!

But that's not really saying anything, lol! Chris has had a 4 day weekend twice now, and I've found the holiday vacation is making us way too lazy! I was actually glad to get up early this morning. We went to the baptism for the son of one of our very good friends. There were quite a lot of people there and we ended up sitting in the very back. We left Jordan with my mom and just took Jewel and Nathan, so it actually was more reverent than usual for me--except that Chris kept poking Jewel and Nathan when I wasn't looking. I finally pointed out a 2 year old that was being more reverent than him, and he had to agree. After the baptism we had lunch at their house (lasagna and the best garlic bread ever, YUM!) and it was fun to see a lot of friends we usually don't--just because everyone gets so busy! Chris took all three kids sledding after that (I had a lovely nap) and Jordan told me they went on two mountains. Chris and I both signed up for Skype (let me know if you...

. . . and I'm up way too late! But with this pregnancy, nothing I does gets me to sleep peacefully at night. My belly is very big now, and moving from side to side is a big deal, I have to hold my belly and move it along! For those of you who don't know, we're expecting baby #4 at the end of February! It's a GIRL!! Jewel has been beside herself with excitement over finally having a sister (although she loves her brothers dearly!) Nathan merely said, "I knew it was a girl!" And he did. The morning I found out I was pregnant--and still reeling fro, the shock--I had only told Chris. I was walking down the hall and Nathan came up behind me. He said, "Mom, when are we going to have our baby girl?" My mouth just dropped open and I didn't know what to say! I gathered my wits enough to say "I . . . don't know, I guess we'll just have to see." It satisfied his 5 year old self, but I was blown away. Later in the pregnangy, he told me a co...