Soon, there will be four. After the loss in August, we have been trying again to have the fourth child our hearts desire. Finally in March, it seemed we had finally gotten there. We held our breath until 7.5 weeks when we could get a scan and see a little heartbeat. And we did. Due on Mira's due date of November 25th, we hope to welcome a new one. At 13 weeks I chose to have a scan done that would tell us the likely hood of genetic or other abnormalities. Everything checked out just fine so we declined blood genetic testing. The baby looked like a bouncy little baby and the perinatologist was very very nice. I still respond with, "Fine for now," when asked how things are going, and I still most of the time feel unsure if this pregancy will end up with a baby coming to our house. Slowly but surely I am becoming excited that perhaps this time, it's for real.

Sully is our silly guy. He is a parrot to everything we say. He will immediately repeat it back. He is so so sweet. He loves for us to read him books and will do that for hours and hours. He is obsessed completely with loaders of all kinds, and he also likes Thomas. He's becoming quite the boss of the house and we love to call him our "bossy boiler." He's VERY opinionated about what's happening around him. He's a picky eater, although better than Griffin, and even smaller weight wise than Griffin was. He loves his pediasure (special milk), and he LOVES candy!! He's a great sleeper- he goes to bed way earlier than either of the others ever did. He goes to daycare twice a week at Spectrum station and thrives there. He's so smart! He has a huge vocabulary and speaks pretty clearly, most of the time. He's definitely Mr. Independent. "MY do it," is one of his favorite sentences. He's had a very sickly spring and has recently been diagnosed with allergies and asthma. Not fun, but he's becoming a champ at his inhalers.

My Griffy is still quite a cuddlebug as well. He loves to be at home just hanging out. He started Kindergarten summer school and seems to be enjoying it. I know he'd rather be at home. He is making friends by the dozen. He is thriving at Tae Kwon Do, even though he argues about going quite frequently, but has a great time. He has such pride when he gets praised by Master Ju. He needs lots of positive reinforcement. He is still a really terrible eater, although I do feel like we have come a long way. I frequently just make one of the 5 things he will eat in order to avoid a fight. We have fought him about food for so long, I'd rather just enjoy who he is than be constantly arguing with him. He's very into ninjas and superheros right now, although he'll watch Thomas with Sully any day. He doesn't love going places or even being outside for long periods. He gets easily overheated and just likes to hang indoors, although has learned to ride his bike this year and really enjoys it.

Mira is miss independent. I find it hard to relate to her quite a bit because our personalities are so similar. She is incredibly smart, scoring higher than 99% of other kindergartners on the national tests last year. She is a very good reader and writer. I love to read her stories she brings home. She loves to draw, write and do arts and crafts. She started 1st grade summer school and is loving that she gets to teach G about his new school. She says it will be ok to have another brother if that's what God gives us. She is a great big sister. She takes Sully and reads to him and takes him to dance to her ipod. She's going to be a huge help this winter. I love that she loves to go to plays and movies and do girly things with me. I struggle a bit with her need for more more more. Sometimes I feel like nothing is ever good enough, she always expects more, but I know she is still learning. I definitely don't feel like we get enough one on one time together. We need to work on that this summer for sure. Sometimes I am amazed at her beauty. Such delicate and perfect features. She loves to play all sports. Soccer, basketball, and now T-ball this year alone. She's so active, loves to ride her bike and be outside. She loves to sing and listen to music.


Our family is so very blessed. I know I don't deserve all of the gifts our God has given to me, and I can only hope to show my gratitude with the way that I raise these awesome little ones for him.