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Hello?! Hello?! Anyone there…

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We started the new year with pneumonia.  Well, Malachi did.  Bryant followed.  A week plus of antibiotics and then our illnesses exploded. Our goal was to get everyone well since several had a cough/fever virus at the start of the year and then get the flu vaccine.  So far, no go.  

I started with a cough a week or so ago that developed into a fever and congestion for two days.  Ceili Rain was next.  Then Mark.  Zoe and Ace followed.  Then Malachi, Josiah, and Liam and lastly Bryant. Yeah, we’re still trying to figure out how Bryant, the 3 year old who eats gummies off the floor of the chiropractor’s office was last and least with this bug.
Best we can figure, it was adenovirus.  A yucky respiratory virus that can manifest through gastrointestinal (stomach bug), pink eye and then the plain ol’ fever/cough/congestion.  We had the latter (thankfully), but all nine of us had it.  When Ceili Rain popped up with another fever after two days without it was time to hit the pediatrician to see what was going on.  Pneumonia.  We think Zoe had pneumonia as well so they are both enjoying a round of antibiotics.
Two pediatrician trips, four antibiotics and several weeks of illness were not how I pictured out new year to start.  Hopefully, we are getting it all out of the way now and can enjoy the rest of the year relatively well.
But, I think I’m ready to get back to blogging and update our November and December adventures for 2013. 
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The Christmas Letter 2013

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I thought we would try something new this year and post our Christmas letter.  So, if you are here because you received our snail mail Christmas card, welcome!  Hope you enjoy our quick year in review.  For more details about what we’ve been up to, you can browse the blog!

We’ve spent the year traveling and schooling and having a blast.  From a camping trip to FDR State Park, a homeschool conference, Atlanta fun trip, water parks, Pigeon Forge and family, oh and a cruise for Mark and Abbie – it was quite the busy year.  You can check out all our adventures by clicking on “Adventures” to the right of the page.

We can not wait to see what all God has in store for us for next year.  Mark is navigating a new role at church as he is in charge of special events and activities.  Abbie is due with our eighth blessing, Emmie Mae, in May.  And we are praying for another National Bible Bee trip at the end of October into November (it’s in Orlando next year…oh yeah).  We are trying to update frequently so check in often to see what the Lord is doing and what our crazy life is like!

Here’s a quick glimpse in to what the kids were up to this year.

Zoe

Zoe turns eleven this year.  She is growing every bit into an amazing young woman.  Recently, Mark and I went on a date.  When we returned home the babysitter told us Zoe was a big help.  We later found out that Malachi would only go to Zoe and that sh  played with him so patiently and rocked him to sleep.  She is a great big sister!  Don’t get me wrong, she has her big sister pick on moments but all in all she has a lot of patience for her little brothers and sister.  She is in the middle of fifth grade right now and doing amazing.  Abbie is enjoying seeing Zoe show so much joy in learning and being able to conquer academic challenges.   This year our church hosted a National Bible Bee local competition.  Zoe and Ace competed.  Zoe won the local primary division.  Based on her scores, she qualified to compete in the national bee.  The local competition consisted of memorizing twenty passages and studying 1 John (which we did as a family).  At nationals, she had over 74 passages to memorize and studied Ephesians.  Zoe and Abbie spent many nights and days studying Ephesians using the inductive study method.  Zoe was able to memorize about half of the passages.  We were very proud of her!  She finished 46th out of 85 contestants at nationals.  The whole family enjoyed nationals and meeting families from all over the United States.  Next year, Zoe will be moving up to the Juniors division and we can’t wait to see how she does.

Ace

Ace turned nine this year and started fourth grade.  He, like his sister, enjoys reading.  Zoe and Ace remain close as siblings with a bit of competition thrown in for good measure.  Ace loves playing outside and building with Legos.  Yes, we have now entered the Lego part of boyhood.  Prayer for toes and sore feet is most greatly appreciated.  Ace continues to excel in his Bible memorization too.   He is in his second book of Truth and Training and is doing an excellent job of hiding God’s word in his heart.  Malachi loves to get piggy back rides from big brother and whenever, “Back!” is called from Malachi, Ace lovingly obliges.

Liam

Liam will be eight by the end of the year.  He is working through second grade.  He loves to read as much as big brother and sister and is often engrossed in one or two books at a time.  Legos are also a big favorite of his.  Liam has recently decided he would like to play football for the University of Alabama.  Abbie thinks we are training them up right with that desire!  He is super fast and we are encouraging him more and more to get in to running.  However, he has a few more years before he can compete in cross country or other sports.  He is patient, most of the time, with Ceili Rain and Bryant and loves to keep them entertained with games or toys while Abbie teaches Zoe and Ace.

Josiah

Josiah is six and in first grade.  He was the first of all the of the school-age children to figure out if he finishes his independent work for the week at the beginning of the week, then he’ll have free time throughout the week.  And he does that.  He completed his first grade spelling the first of November and his first grade reading the first of December.  Looks like we’ll be doing a bit of second grade for the second semester.  He is thrilled that he is finally getting a new buddy in May next year.  All of the older boys are looking forward to taking karate for a couple of months next year.

Ceili Rain

Ever the princess, with an attitude.  Sweet, gentle and kind until you cross her…then watch out.  Ceili Rain turned four this year and is excited to be doing “real work.”  She continues to keep us on her toes with the silly and grown up things that come out of her mouth.  She loves to dance and says she can do ballet “perfectly.”  She also loves being a big sister and babying Malachi.  She is looking forward to taking care of her new sister.

Bryant

Bryant turned three this year.  He sometimes acts like he’s going on thirty and can be very serious but hold on to your seats when he hits goofy mode.  He loves to follow along with big brothers and he’s working hard on conquering the hill behind our house all by his self.

Malachi

He turned one this year.  He loves to play with big brother Ace and big sister Zoe.  He is the cuddliest child and will freely give hugs and kisses when asked.  Football is his favorite sport and he’s recently started yelling, “Touchdown Bama!” at random times.  I’ve never seen a one year old that could sit and watch a football game almost completely through.

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Baby E

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 Baby looked great.  That’s a hand, back and head.
 I absolutely love ultrasound profiles!
This was the leg position.  That would be the head up near the foot.  Arms were also outstretched over the head.
I suppose you might be wondering if we saw anything else.
We did.  But I won’t post that picture on here
Want to know what we saw though?!
 Please welcome, Baby…
Emmie Mae!
“Emmie” means universal and helps us to remember that the Lord’s love spans the world.  Not just us.  “Mae” is my mother’s middle name.  When I talked to her tonight she said it was also her grandmothers’ middle names (both sides, she thinks).  I’ve read in one place that Mae means woman or lady.  A perfect name for our little lady.  UPDATE: Talking with Papa & Grandmere, we realized that Emmie was Papa’s grandmother’s name and his other grandmother also had Mae as her middle name.
We are thrilled the Lord has chosen to give us another little girl.  Mark guessed girl.  I did too but didn’t want to get set on one gender so I called the baby him until we found out.  It didn’t help that I dreamed about finding out the baby was a boy all night the night before.
Mark informed me that I should not doubt him about the genders of our babies…he just knows.  The moodiness probably helps in his prediction as well.
Prayers please.  The placenta is over the cervix.  It’s classified as a low-lying placenta (not a full placenta previa which can be scary for mom and baby and cause bed rest…um, yeah, not our desire).  We are going for a VBAC but if the placenta is covering the cervix, well, that attempt will be null and void for the safety of mom and baby.  We’re fine with that and are trusting the Lord.  Ever the optimist, Dr. J feels that the placenta will shift as my belly grows and move out of the way.  If it does, then yay!  VBAC here we come.  If not, we’ll have a c-section.  It’ll be around another twelve weeks before we can confirm either way.  Recovery time with a VBAC will be much faster and easier than a c-section.  So, move placenta, move!

Update again:  Uncle B&B have been blessed with a baby due two weeks after us.  We found out that their baby is a girl as well!  Aunt B said, “Isn’t it funny how God does things!”  

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Back in the Day

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We almost missed our annual trip to a Colonial days festival this year.  Morning sickness and cruising had it’s way with us, I’m afraid.  But, alas, we did remember and headed over on the last day just in time to enjoy a bit of the good ol’ days.

I forgot my camera so the only pictures I got were of these silly kids…anyone know who they belong to?  Oh wait.

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Ceili Rainisms

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It’s been awhile since we’ve posted some silly sayings, especially from CeiRai.  So, here goes:

We spent Thanksgiving break visiting family.  One night while visiting Papa and Grandmere, I was tucking Ceili Rain in to bed.  In the room she slept in were two large senior portraits.  One of Mark and one of Uncle B.  Ceili Rain looked up at the pictures and pointed to Mark’s.  She sweetly said, “He’s a handsome man.”  She grinned from ear to ear when I told her that was her daddy.
***
Sunday, Mark was sitting in the Crimson Cruiser, with the crew while I ran in to a store before church.  He said that while I was gone, Ceili Rain (who was dressed in a beautiful red plaid dress and white sweater) started screaming and freaking out, “I forgot my jacket!  Oh no! I forgot my jacket.”  Mark then quietly pointed out that she was wearing it.  She got quiet, looked down at her arms and said, “Oh!  Okay!”
***
On the way home from church, Ceili Rain and Bryant (who was a seat behind her) got in to a bit of an argument.  Ceili Rain finally ended it with she said rather loudly, “YOU ARE SAYING THAT UNKINDLY, BRYANT!”  Hmmm, wonder where she heard that one before.

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While Mom & Dad are away…

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Papa & Grandmere graciously volunteered to watch the kids for us while we were on the cruise.  This is what they did…
 Removed the playground from the old house, 
Lunch time.
Gathered supplies to…

 Build…

 a…

 doghouse!

 Strong boys…please forgive Ginger showing her less than beauteous side.

It holds kids too!

And played indoor hopscotch!

Special thanks to Papa for keeping us posted with photos throughout the trip.

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Cruisin…The Finale

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We had an awesome time and Mark is trying to plan another cruise stat.  I loved it but would definitely prefer going when I am not in my first trimester of pregnancy.  But, it was still a very nice relaxing time with the most amazing husband.
 Our monkey on our next to last night.

 Formal night.  Not the very nice formal I was working toward wearing but it was still pretty and fun.

 Mark climbed the rock wall.  At the top of the ship.  With the wind blowing hard.

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Cruisin…Part 3

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The next day, we headed in to Nassau, Bahamas.  Our plan was to sightsee and shop.  We had already booked a tour excursion online so we were set on the sight seeing part.  What we didn’t bank on was that my pregnancy nausea (not really morning sickness since I never got sick) and fatigue would continue and actually get worse (the ten week mark…fun).  I did not feel good that day but were able to enjoy the tour thanks to a good tour guide.  We even got to see the famed Atlantis resort.
 
This is the main government building.  All government buildings are painted pink.  Jails and police buildings are a mint green.  Our tour guide said that the colors are supposed to make it feel cooler but it didn’t work.  He also said that there were four seasons in the Bahamas…this summer, last summer, next summer, and the summer after that.

 A view from Fort Fincastle.  The ocean used to be a lot closer to the water but as tourism took over, they dredged the ocean to make room for the cruise ships and a bit more land.  It was never actually used to prevent an attack but it looks really cool.  The front was built to look like a ship.

A water tower built in 1929.  I don’t know why I remember dates like that.  I’m weird.  Anyway, not everyone in Nassau has running water.  They do, however, have places set up all over the island to get public water.  And satellite dishes are prevalent on several houses.
We also got to see some of the Atlantis.  We weren’t really that impressed.
 Interesting statues and sculptures.
 And big private yachts.

 We did a bit of shopping.  Because I felt so miserable, we didn’t go to the straw shops.  We did hit a couple of haggling shops but with all that pressure, I didn’t think hormonal me could take it.  Everything they sold in the shops was manufactured in the same place and most of it was just cutsie touristry things.  Everyone had the same stuff.  But, we found Bay Street.  And we found craft vendors set up down the whole street.  Most people had custom crafts that they were selling and loved talking!  We met the sweetest lady who was selling steel drums that she and her husband made.  He tuned them and she painted them.  She told us about her products and then just shared about her country and their beautiful traditions.  It was an absolute treat to talk with her.  The highlight is when this sweet short plump lady told us about meeting Sean Connery at a movie theater there (he lives there…be still my heart).  She said she asked him if she could give him a hug and got permission from his wife and her husband. He said he could but that he had to pick her up.  And he did!

After grabbing souvenirs for the kids, we headed back to the ship.

After a nap, we watched everyone standing in line to get back on the ship.

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Cruisin…Part 2

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We made it to port in plenty of time.  And, get this, if you are visibly pregnant, you skip the scanners and get a pat down.  Totally, not fun.  But, then the gate agent led us through all the crowds of people to the front of the line to get our sea pass card.  Oh yeah.  That was nothing short of awesome because I was nauseous, had to use the bathroom, and starving.  After our sea pass card, we went through 100 check points and finally made it on the ship.  We quickly found the food for our first lunch.  Ate well and then walked the ship and checked out our room and had a second lunch before heading for the muster drill.  
I think this was after the second lunch.
Miami before we set sail.
The next morning, we were in Cocoa Cay.  Cocoa Cay is Royal Caribbean’s private island.  The night before we checked out the itinerary schedule and saw something called a Cabanette.  Since we had never been on a cruise before we weren’t sure of what to expect from the private island (whether they would have floats or lounge chairs or what).  But, we did know that all we wanted to do at Cocoa Cay was lay on the beach and float in the ocean.  The cabanette sounded like a cheap way to do that (the cabanas were over $200 and the cabanette was $50).  We purchased our rental that night but had no clue what to expect.
After taking the tender the next morning, we walked around the main part of the island looking for the cabanettes.  The cabana attendant told us to go to the information desk and show her our ticket and they would come get us.  We were quite perplexed as to where we were going and what the day held…
Me, waiting on them to come “get” us.  
After a bit of time, a trolley pulled up and drove and drove and drove…all the way to the other side of the island.  We were not quite sure where we were going still.  Then we saw this…

And this…

The cabanette attendant was too sweet and told us to pick any cabanette we wanted that didn’t have things in it (there were several options…not many were used).  She then said, I’ll bring your things to you.  What?!  We get this…

And more?!  It turned out the more was a big plate of fruit and two 1 liter bottles of ice cold water.  And floats for the ocean.  This was exactly what we wanted to do that day.  It was on the other side of the island so we were away from the noise and traffic and touristy stuff.  Just peace and quiet.

Our fruit and my handsome man.  Mark loved it.  He read.  I read.  We ate.  We floated.   We got lunch then came back and ate some more.  Then I slept while he read and then we floated.

Needless to say, it was very hard to leave the island that day.

In the afternoon when we went out to float, we saw a baby barricuda.  It was snacking on all the little fish in the shallow water. 

You can see the shadow of the barricuda on the ocean floor and if you look hard you can see the actual fish.

While floating, that afternoon, I heard another lady say something about a shark.  I scooted in closer to shore but after awhile decided to go back up and lounge and read.  I walked down in to the water to rinse off and saw a small bottom feeding shark swim in to the seaweed on the ocean floor.  So cool!  Mark didn’t make it down fast enough to get a picture though.  That was a bummer.

That night, we our dinner companions went on and on about how tired they were and all they did.  they asked us what we did and when we told them they were down trodden that they had missed out on the relaxation.

Moral is…if you are ever on a Royal Caribbean cruise and want to relax, find the cabanettes.  Well worth the cost!

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