Life with my sister

Abby isn't home yet, so that means one more day of my kids. And then I will let Abby have you guys for a while! I know, I know! ...I don't know if David and Daniel are identical or fraternal. The doctor didn't do the test, so I don't know. But I wish I did. It always makes me sound so strange when people ask me and I tell them that I don't know. ...All of our children's middle names are family names. Samuel's is from Stephens dad, my dad, and my grandfather. David's is from my dad, Daniel's is from Stephen, and Anna's is mine, my mothers and my great grandmothers. ...I went in to have 2 babies on a Tuesday about 3:00pm and was discharged Thursday before noon. I went in to have Anna at 6:00AM on a Tuesday and was discharged after noon on Friday. Why I had to stay an additional day and a half when I just had one baby I'll never know. ...I never got the steak dinner the hospital bragged about when I had any of the boys. Abby, your hospital owes ...

Anna. Our only daughter and our last child. Anna was a complete surprise. As with Samuel I suffered from a kidney stone at the very beginning of my pregnancy. That should have been a tip off, but I was clueless. When I finally decided to take a pregnancy test I was at the pregnancy crisis center where I volunteered . I took the test, saw the results and cried. I told Kim, the centers' director and my dear friend, that I needed counseling! Right at that moment, the phone rang. It was for me. This is how the conversation went. me: This is Julie Stephen: Is this a pregnancy crisis center? me: yes Stephen: I have a crisis. My wife isn't pregnant. me: yes, she is. Stephen: (yelling with excitement) really? Is it a boy or a girl? me: the line was pink if that means anything. To say this was an unplanned pregnancy is an understatement. We had no maternity insurance and no plans of anymore children. One of my friends was married to an obgyn and he took me as a non-paying patient. I wi...

Are you bored yet? Don't worry we have 2 down and 2 to go! Daniel is the last boy. I thought he would be the last child but we'll talk about that tomorrow! While David was being Mr. Wild Child in utero, Daniel was just laid back and chillin'. I remember a lady at church telling me that when the boys were born she didn't want to know which one had given me such a hard time and which one hadn't. She was afraid she would like one more than the other. Isn't that funny? Like that could even happen. You can't help but love both of my D boys. Daniel is a hoot! I remember when he was little and still in the car seat. He would make a funny face and laugh out loud. He knew he was funny! And he was. And he is. His laughter brings a smile to my face and most often makes me laugh also. Daniel loves to cuddle with me. The other boys do too, but not to the extent that Daniel does. This boy will practically sit on my lap everytime I sit down. There is no doubt that he loves...

David is the oldest twin by about 2 minutes, And he claims all 120 seconds! While I was pregnant with the twins one of them gave me quite a hard time. He kicked, punched, layed on every nerve and in general made pregnancy a pain! The night before I had the twins he actually flipped from head down to bottom down. He weighed 5 lb 6 oz (Daniel was 5 lb 8 oz) and he still managed to find room enough to practice gymnastics. Stephen and I tend to put off giving names to our children until the night before they are born. The fact that this delivery was 4 weeks earlier than expected put us in a time crunch. So as the anethesologist (I know that is spelled wrong but spellcheck will not help me with this word!) was getting everything ready, Stephen and I began talking about which baby was going to get what name. I decided that the baby that had caused me so much pain and anguish should be David. After all King David caused the Lord much anguish but still was a man after God's heart. But G...

Instead of telling secrets about Abby I have decided to write about each of my children for the next 4 days. This isn't so much so that you can get to know them, but so that I can have something written about them at this age. But I do hope you enjoy these little snapshots into their lives. Samuel Charles was born October 11, 1997. My pregnancy with him was very unplanned but once we found out that what the doctors thought was a kidney stone actually turned out to be a baby we could not contain our excitement! Samuel was born 2 weeks early due to a once-in-my-lifetime bout with pre - eclampsya . As the doctor looked at him for the first time he called him a miracle baby. His cord was in a knot. The dr said most babys don't live when this happens. He didn't think it had anything to do with the car accident I was in 4 weeks prior, he said it probably happened early in the pregnancy. Samuel is the first born grandchild on all sides, so to say he got everything he wanted or ...

We are preparing for spring. These warm sunny days are making us antsy. In the last 2 days we have made 1 trip to Lowes and 2 trips to our local feed store. We (and when I say we, I mean everyone but me) are making 4x4 raised flower beds. Our hope is to plant lettuce, broccoli (that takes 16 weeks to grow!), cucumbers, tomatoes, a few herbs, squash, peppers, and watermelon. It should be a good-eatin kind of summer! When I went to The Pioneer Womans website today she had pictures of her own raised beds with step by step instructions. So, I wanted all of you to know that we had ours up and filled with dirt, which also contains poop(which Anna says so cutely) before she had hers posted on her website. I'm just sayin. We will be without any posts from Abby this weekend as she is otherwise occupied. So, I might just hijack this blog and tell Abby secrets all weekend long. So, if you have any let me know! Julie

This time last year we began our journey back to God's country . It has been a fun filled , fast paced year. Randall started his job in March . I quit mine in May and became a desperate housewife until July . We sold our house in June and bought our new home in August. We remodeled the new house all fall and put in many hours at work . We celebrated in our home for Thanksgiving and at Christmastime with new friends and family . Here we are in this place , thanking God for his provision and many blessings . Last year if you would have told me I would be this happy , I would have cried bitter tears . Now, I catch myself crying tears of joy . Wow, how this ole world turns ! I look back at our "We have Moved" card and we look scared . I look at our Christmas card and we look tired and overwhelmed . I look at us now and we look comfortable and in our element . I will cherish this journey , always. *the red words link to previous posts from the past year. Abby