It's a...

GIRL!!!

 A sweet, tiny foot...

Praise God for a healthy baby girl!  We are so very excited that God has blessed our family with another princess!

Her name is going to be Josey Hope.  Jonathan chose her first name and I am excited that she will have the same initials as Jonathan, JHB.  Josey means "God increases" and Hope means "expectation or belief."

Please be in prayer for our baby girl and the rest of my pregnancy.  I was told today that I have a two-vessel cord pregnancy.  During the ultrasound, the sonographer looked for the presence of three vessels within the umbilical cord: one vein (which carries oxygen and nutrients from you to the baby) and two arteries (which shuttle that waste back to you, to be processed and disposed of by your kidneys). Instead of those three vessels, our baby girls's umbilical cord has only two: one vein and one artery. 

I have the most wonderful Doctor and he reassured me that our precious Josey appears to be developing well and that the only women this would cause serious issue with are those that go through Labor and Delivery.  Since I will have a C-Section, we don't have reason to worry about the stress that would be put on our baby during labor.  He is just going to monitor her growth very carefully to make sure she continues to gain weight and that her organs (especially kidneys) continue to develop. Today her weight measured right on schedule and all of her organs are functioning perfectly.  Praise the LORD!  Our next appointment is in 4 weeks and we will have another ultrasound to see our sweet blessing from above.  Pray that God will be glorified through the journey of our baby girl!

Thank you for all of your love and prayers for our family! 

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psalm 127:3

4 Months Pregnant!

Some friends have done this cute idea on their blog during their pregnancies and I thought it would be fun to give it a try it too!

How far along?: 18 weeks

Total weight gain?: 8 lbs

Symptoms?: Nausea by late afternoon/evening and "charlie-horse" muscle cramps in my calves and toes at bedtime.

How big is baby?: ~5.5 inches (crown-to-rump) and ~5.25 ounces

Gender?: We will hopefully find out at our next appointment on June 29th!

Name?:  We have some ideas, but are waiting until we find out the gender.

Maternity clothes?: For about 2 weeks now.  They are much more comfortable!

Stretch marks?: No-very blessed to not have any at all!

Belly Button?:  In right now.  It popped out with Katy and Parker!

Sleep?:  I sleep very sound but get up 3-4 times to use the bathroom.

Energy?:  Finally have my energy back, especially in the morning.

Exercise?:  Does taking care of 4 kids count?  :)

Movement?: This is one of my favorite things about pregnancy.  I started feeling little "butterflies" around 13-14 weeks and around 16 weeks started feeling little kicks!

Food cravings?: Slushies and red meat.

What I'm looking forward to?: Having a little baby in the house again and seeing how our other children react.  Lily is the most excited and I know she is going to be a big help to me! 

Preparations?: Absolutely nothing! 

Labor Signs?:  None.

Best Moment this week?:  Watching Lily's Baptism!

We can't wait until our big ultrasound this coming Wednesday!  Please be in prayer for a healthy baby and pregnancy!

...stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
Job 37:14b

A True Princess of the King

Our first daughter, Lily Marie, was born on August 7, 2003.  It was an exciting, yet scary day as she was delivered by Emergency C-Section.  As soon as I laid eyes on her, I immediately fell in love and longed for all of the "firsts" that everyone talked about...smiling, laughing, babbling, crawling, walking, and most of all hearing her say, "I love you."  As Lily grew older I realized that although those things are special, there was one thing that I prayed for that would be the most important event of her life; an event that would impact her eternity.  And on April 16, 2011, I heard the most beautiful words out of my daughter's mouth:  "Mommy, I want to trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior."  What a glorious day that was!  Her Daddy and I prayed with her and asked her lots of questions, all of which she was able to answer with certainty.  Lily met with Mr. Pete, our Children's Pastor, on April 27th.  They talked for over 90 minutes!  He gave her a workbook to complete called "Now That I'm a Christian" that included activities for 4 weeks.  After she completed her book we were able to schedule her Baptism.  Lily wanted to be baptized on June 19th which was Father's Day.  What a wonderful present for her Daddy! 

Here is our precious Lily at church right before she was baptized:

Jonathan and I both started crying tears of joy when the Baptismal curtains opened!

Mr. Pete introduced Lily to the church.  Then he told the congregation who was instrumental in Lily's salvation.  Lily wanted to make sure that her Mommy and Daddy were mentioned, along with her Life Group teachers (Jacquie Bell, Jen Sharits, Debbie Jones, and Melanie McCarty)

She also wanted to write her own testimony: 
I learned about Jesus at home and at church.  I realized that I needed Jesus in my heart and in my life as my Lord and Savior.  I wanted to be a true princess; a daughter of the King.  On April 16th I told my Mommy that I was ready to trust Jesus.

Mr. Pete then asked,  "Lily, have you trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?" And she very confidently said, "Yes!"

Then he baptized Lily in water!  (I did not get pictures of this as I did not want to watch that special moment through my camera lens!) 
Here is our Lily Marie who has been saved by grace and washed white as snow!

We had a Rebirthday party at our home following her Baptism.  Lily's Kindergarten teacher and one of my very dear friends, Patti Bounds, was able to see Lily get baptized and came to help her celebrate!

We had Lily's favorite snack (nachos) and a special cake made for Lily's big day!

Lily's sweet friend, Emma Grace, was there to help celebrate Lily too! 

I put out 2 pictures of Lily for our guests to look at.  The first one is of Lily when she was just 3 months old, and the second one is of her in April of this year.  She has grown so much physically, but also spiritually as well!

We are so excited for Lily and her decision.  Please join us in praying for her and that she will continue to share the love of God that shines in her.  Pray for others to see the change in her heart and that they will want to be more like Him.  To God be the glory for great things He has done and continues to do in our family!

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10

Having a Ball with Daddy!

June 4th was Girl Scout night at the Tennessee Smokies Baseball field.  The Girl Scouts and their families were able to come and watch the baseball game and spend the night in tents on the field after the game.  Jonathan and Lily were so excited to be going back for this special night for the 2nd year in a row. 

The Tennessee Smokies played the Jackson Generals and lost 5-3.  But Lily said she had the best time watching her first home run and being with her Daddy!

As soon as the game was over, they had to go back out to the truck and get all of their things.

Jonathan helped set up their tents.  It was a little tricky since they weren't able to use stakes on the field. 

Here are the sweet Brownies that came and spent the night on the field. 

The ball field showed a movie before everyone settled in for the night around midnight!

All snuggled up in the tent!

Thank you, Brownie Troop, for such special outings!  We are so grateful to be part of such a wonderful group of friends making memories together.  And we are even more thankful for opportunities to spend one on one time with our blessings! 

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Colossians 3:14

Katy's 1st Manicure

A couple of months ago, I was given a gift certificate for a manicure.  This is something that I enjoy, but very rarely have done because of the expense.  When I came home with my newly polished nails, the girls begged and begged to go with me next time to get their nails polished.  I told each of the girls that if they would stop biting their nails (I know--such a bad habit!), I would treat them to a trip to the nail salon.  Our Katybug really wanted this special treat, so she immediately stopped biting her nails and they grew beautifully.  So the day after we returned from the beach, I took her to Dynasty Spa & Nails on Emory Road for her first "manicure."  They are so sweet there and only charged us $5! 

They filed Katy's nails:

And then painted them the color she picked out, Pompeii Purple!

She loved it!

I had so much fun taking Katybug to get her nails painted and am looking forward to more special treats with my daughters! 

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

1Thessalonians 3:12

Hand in Hand Through the Sand

The evening before we left to go back home, we took some pictures of our family on the beach.  I thought I'd share with you what each of the kids said about our beach trip when I asked them to tell me what their favorite part was.

Lily: "This was the best trip we've ever taken because we were together as a family all week!"

Maddy: "I loved playing in the Silly Submarine and finding lots of beautiful shells, especially the pointy ones!"

Katy: "I liked going in the waves with Sissy and Mommy and Maddy. And I liked finding shells and little critters. And the submarine. That's why I want to go back! Mommy, when can we go back to the beach again? Can we go there please, please, please?"

Parker:  "I want to bring my truck back to the beach.  And play in the submarine.  And snuggle with Sissy."

Sisters and Best Friends!

They love each other so much!

And we praise God for all of our blessings that the LORD has entrusted us with! 

My two handsome boys that spoil me with lots of love:

My daughters have brought me so much joy!

Our family!

God is doing amazing things in and through our family and we look forward to sharing that with you!  Please continue to pray for our family and that everything we say and do will glorify the LORD. 

So they said, "Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

Acts 16:31

My Family & Me Down By the Sea

Thursday, June 2nd was our last full day at the beach and we made sure to do a little bit of everything before we left.

Here's our Katybug in her ladybug bathing suit that our dear friend, Allyson, picked out for her.  She loves it!

Maddy continued her search for the best shells to bring back to TN:

Lily and Katy enjoyed writing their names and playing tic tac toe in the sand:

The ocean air made Parker hungry, and he made sure to eat lots of snacks.  Can you tell he has 3 sisters?  He's sporting some cute Princess Tiana sunglasses!

Maddy was so proud of her "turtle" castle:

Lily loved lounging in the chair that my sweet husband bought for me so I could relax a lot this beach trip!  He's truly the best!

After lots of time in the sand, we spent the afternoon cooling off in the Silly Submarine:

And then relaxing in the Lazy River!

We headed over to Broadway at the Beach for the rest of the evening for some yummy ice cream. 

We enjoyed spending the week at the beach with our four blessings! 

Thank you, Jonathan, for taking us on a wonderful vacation!  You sure do spoil us and we thank God every day for you! 

I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30