Family Pictures 2014~

We hadn't take family pictures since 2012.  It was time, and I'm excited for how well they turned out!  It took 20 minutes and T.H. Peterson Photography to make them amazing!  Our blessings are many!

Photo Catchup~

I haven't uploaded pictures since before school started.  It's really not that many, though, because I haven't taken many photos;-)

Shortly before school started, I took the kids back to my hometown to spend some time with Grammy and Poppy and Uncle Seth.  We took the kids swimming in the local pool!

Isla and Uncle Seth

Isla and Grammy

Isla enjoying snacks at the North Pool

Rowan snacking at the North Pool on our final pool visit of 2014

The first day of school for 2014-2015. Rowan as a 1st grader and Mommy in
her 11th first day as a 7th grade teacher.

Go Panthers!

Halloween!!  

 And the baby bump at 20 weeks and 2 days with Darby #3.

Baby #3 at 20 weeks

And for comparison, because I feel humongous, and it is fun to look back!

Baby #1 at 20 weeks (aka Rowan)
Don't ask me why I showed a bare tummy.  I'd never
do that today!!!!

Baby #2 at 20 weeks (aka Isla Hope)

Goals Update~

1. Pay off Jolie's undergraduate loan by October 1.

If I said we had 100% of the loan left to 

pay when we made the goal, we are 

now down to  35% 0%of the loan left.  

I paid this off sometime in September.  It was 
amazing to complete all of my school payments.
Every ounce of my college education is paid
for in full!  

2. Establish a will

I abandon for 2014.  Isn't going to happen.

3. Read the Bible in 1 year

FAIL!  I will complete this in 2015.  
I'm going to start again where I left off
in hopes that I can finish it.  I'll have
read the Bible in 2 years.

4. Read 30 books by December 31, 2014
I have read   27 32 books so far in 2014. 
I finished this before school started.  That is 
the only way I have completed it.  I am almost
done with Gone Girl, but that is the first book
I have completed since school has started.

I'm Back;-)

Wow!  The last post was sometime in July.  Has it really been 4 months since I have blogged?  Life has gotten in the way of my blog for sure.

Sometime in mid July we found out we would be welcoming a third baby to our family in March.  What an amazing blessing it was considering the fact that we had really given up hope of having any more children last March after several months of failed fertility help.  Little did we know more children were in God's plan for us, but it was on his schedule instead of my own.

School started, and we were in the whirl of life with one in public school, one in daycare, and me teaching and coaching.  And then I got sick and tired and more sick and more tired.  At some point, I really did think I just might die from nausea and exhaustion.    My routine was teach, coach, try not to puke, come home and go to bed for 12 hours. The alternative was I just might vomit all night long.  I look back and wonder how we did it.  On a good night, the kids would crawl into my bed at bedtime, and I would wake up enough to read a book or two to them before Daddy tucked them in.  On a bad night, there was no reading, and I just slept through everything until the next morning when we started again.  It was awful, and I felt like a failure at pretty much everything I was supposed to be doing.  I just couldn't do it, though.

I took the famous nausea pills, but they did little for my nausea.  Then a midwife gave me another concoction of B6, ginger pills, and Unisom.  Still, I found no relief in my constant wave of nausea.  I ate crackers, pretzels, ginger ale, and Sprite like it was going out of style.  They simply told me I was over 30, and it would get better somewhere after 14 weeks.

Eventually, somewhere around 16 weeks pregnant, the nausea subsided, and I sort of rejoined the land of the living.  It is amazing we made it, and my husband is still here.  My house was a disaster, the kids ate more frozen pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches than they probably have in their entire lifetime, and I slept.  What a miserable 3 months.

So four weeks later, I almost feel as though I have my life put back into order.  Almost.  My energy has come back some, and I have resumed my normal Mom duties!

Yesterday marked 20 weeks pregnant.  I should probably post a picture to document my growth, but I'm sitting here in sweat pants, so that isn't happening today;-)  Monday we go in for our 20 week ultrasound, and I've been praying that we have a healthy baby!  Baby Darby is due to arrive around March 27!