Happy 6th Birthday Gabe!

Today our little Gabe turned six.

It truly amazes me that it was six years ago that we welcomed our first little {no, make that BIG} baby into the world. At just over ten pounds, he seemed more like a three-month-old than a newborn, but today is becoming more and more of a big boy.

What can I say about Gabe. I am so proud of the boy he has become. Hardly a day goes by where Gabe doesn't ask me, "Mom, is there anything I can do to help you?' Gabe is kind and thoughtful for such a young man.

He's also independent, as he has been from day one. The strong willed spirit that was a handful as a toddler has now been molded into a drive and determination to accomplish. He always knows what he wants and works hard to achieve it. I'm sure this is a trait that will serve him well throughout his life.

Curious and observant are two other words I would use to describe our newly turned six-year-old. Gabe likes to know everything, to understand everything, and is always asking questions. Lately, he's really beginning to understand what it means to place your faith in Christ and live for Him. I know he's on the brink of truly grasping God's gift of Jesus's life to us, and nothing could bring me more joy than seeing my children grow to the point where they can really make a decision to live their lives for the Lord. After all, that's our call as parents, to raise our children up in the ways of the Lord so that they will not part from Him. My cup overfloweth just thinking about it! I can see the potential for Gabe to be a great leader someday, just like his dad. We already know he looks just like dad, might as well be just like him too!

I can't imagine my life without Gabe in it, nor would I ever want to. He's a blessing to our family, a wonderful big brother and son.

Happy Birthday Gabe!
Love, Mom.

{Gabe's silly face makes me laugh!
Really, what kind of smile is that!?!}

I knew that was it!

We were in the Durango driving the other day and out of the blue, Cooper asks me an interesting question.
"Mom, why are all the girls always telling me that I'm their girlfriend {he means boyfriend}?"
I reply, "I bet it's because you're so kind and sweet Cooper, and they want to be your friend."
Cooper thinks for a minute, and then responds, "Yeah. And because I'm so cute."
"Yes, I do have to say that you are pretty cute Cooper," I said.
Cooper then replies, "Yup. I knew that was it!"
I looked back in the rear view mirror, and Coop had a similar smile to the one in the below photo I took last night at Gabe's vocal concert...

With that smile, he's quite the charmer.
Boy, am I in trouble with this little ladies man!

More than we wanted to know!

I am 20 weeks pregnant and went in for my ultrasound yesterday.
You may remember this post, in which I explained that we were not going to find out the sex of the baby.
Well, the baby definitely had different plans.

All was going well.
As the ultrasound proceeded, we saw that the baby had two legs, two feet, ten fingers and ten toes.

And then, the ultrasound technician switched to 3-D imaging, and we saw more than we bargained for.

As soon as the 3-D image came onto the big screen, we see the baby laying there with legs spread wide open, very blatantly revealing that...




we're having...





a BOY!


There was no mistaking it! The technician tried to quickly turn off the image, but it was too late. Jason and I looked at each other with shock, thinking, "Is that really what I think it was?"
And the technician said, laughing, "I hope you were wanting to know the sex, because I'm thinking that was pretty obvious!"

Yes, it was obvious indeed!

Needless to say, our little baby boy is not so shy. The technician said he'd been flashing her throughout the ultrasound and she'd tried to quickly skim over the images and relocate to something else. We hadn't noticed the flashes of truth until the 3-D image, because unless you know what you're looking for, it kind of all looks the same.

I guess we can predict that our new little Sanders boy will be an outgoing soul!

But seriously, this would only happen to us.
Even the ultrasound technician said that in her many years of doing ultrasounds, she has never had the sex of the baby be so blatant to everyone in the room!

Yes, only to us.

Here's the 3-D images. We don't actually have any images with the obvious anatomically correct features, but got some pretty cute poses. By the way, the 3-D images still amaze me!



Here's our little boxer. Can you see his little hands up protecting his face from the punches. Good job little guy!



This morning we told the kids and showed them the photos. I think Gabe's still in shock, because as I've mentioned before, he'd predicted a girl and he's never been wrong before.

Cooper was happy, but later told me that he does want Chloe to have a sister.
I told him, "that just isn't in God's plans for our family right now."
Coop's reply was, "But I want God to plan for us to have another girl!"
Ahhhh.
I thought I just had to worry about taming Jason's need for endless children, but I guess I have Cooper to worry about too!

Above all, we are so thankful to have another healthy baby blessing our family, and looking forward to finding out what his personality will be like and how he will add to our family.

As far as names go, we're completely stumped.
Had it been a girl, we had a few possibilities in mind. But boy names escape us.
Any suggestions?

Happy 30th Julie!

I wanted to dedicate a quick post to my best friend Julie.
Today she turns 30, and if it weren't for the many miles between us {Julie lives in Colorado}, we'd be celebrating this milestone event together.
What a wonderful friend you are, and what an awesome child of God.
I am blessed to know you.
Miss ya and love ya Julie!

I'm Back...

I guess now is the time I should write the public apology that many a blogger has written on their blog for neglecting their blogging duties.
Yes, it's been almost two weeks since I last blogged!
I've never gone that long without blogging since starting this site last year.
Please accept my sincere apologies!

So what have I been up to?
Well when last I blogged, Cooper and Chloe were both sick. They both ended up having ear infections, which have hopefully now cleared up. I have to take them both back for re-checks this week, so time will tell if they've fully recovered.

Shortly after Cooper and Chloe got sick, I came down with some sort of terrible congestion. It started in my chest and then worked its way up to my head. I completely lost my voice for about 24 hours! I don't think I've ever completely lost my voice before. Needless to say, it makes it pretty hard to communicate to your little kiddos.

Despite being sick, I've also been busy with my design work. At least it's been the fun part of my job...designing invitations. I've done a wedding invitation, a bridal shower invite and a corporate fundraiser banquet invitation all within the last week. But honestly, I love designing invitations, so it's been fun. Much better than designing car dealership advertisements, which was my last project.

Anyway, today I got a call home from the school and Gabe was in the nurse's office with a fever. Just when I thought we were on the road to recovery, we have yet another setback. Hopefully it doesn't continue on to Jason!

Needless to say, my busy life has left little time for my hobby...photography. I searched my camera memory disk and the only photo I've taken in the last two weeks is this one...



Just a photo I snapped real quick while the kids were sitting together, but it does makes me smile. Let's face it, seeing all three kids sitting side by side peacefully just doesn't happen very often. And just think, in a few months, they'll be one more sitting in the lineup!

It truly seems unreal that I turn the big 30 this summer and also will be a mother to four children!

Time really does fly by doesn't it!?!

I promise, I will not let two more weeks fly by again before my next post!

Busy...Update

Cooper is now running a fever and coughing nonstop.
Chloe is coughing too AND I just looked in her ear and her tube is draining fluid, signaling an ear infection.
Yes, seriously!
Add two sick kids to the mix and things sure get a whole lot busier!
Any prayers you could say on our behalf would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Busy

My long absence from blogging can only be explained by one fact...I've been busy.
Oh, and sick. I am 18 weeks pregnant, and still having regular nausea and fairly regular vomiting.
Seriously, what's this baby trying to do to me?
I can tell you one thing this baby is ensuring...he or she will be the youngest member of our family.
Unless, that is, we choose to adopt someday, but that's a whole different subject.
So, between getting bids for roofing supplies for our house {a project we hope to take on in March}, catching leaks in the basement that are caused from our roof not being done yet, and being pregnant and sick, I don't have a lot of free time these days.
Oh, and not to mention the three other kids we have :)
I just wanted to express my apologies for not blogging sooner, and share a quick and quite disturbing story.
Jason walked in the door about 15 minutes ago to access our current roof leaks and proceeds to inform me that he also has some work to do on the Jeep.
What's wrong with the Jeep you ask?
Well, just the fact that the tire fell off.
Yes, that's right, the TIRE FELL OFF, while Jason was driving it!
Thankfully, he was going slow due to the extreme shaking of the vehicle, and made it into the driveway before the tire said 'adios' to the Jeep.
Anyway, all the lug nuts are of course gone.
Could this have happened without help?
Maybe.
But it's a little scary to think that someone may have loosened the lug nuts on the Jeep.
Certainly not a very funny prank.
Regardless, Jason is alive and well, but now has even more work to do.
I just keep repeating to myself, the Lord never gives us more than we can handle.
Im just thinking He must think we're pretty strong these days!

He's Back...

Jason's back.
And I bet many of you didn't even know he was gone.
That's due to my paranoia that if someone knows Jason isn't home, they'll take the opportunity to plan a break-in with only poor little me and the kiddies home.
So, I wouldn't announce that Jason was gone for 5 days until after he's back.
What can I say, I'm a scaredy cat.
{Thank goodness for my mom, who knows what a scaredy cat I am and stayed the night with me and the kids all week while Jason was away. I know, I'm such a baby, I need my mother to protect me. You'd think I'd grow out of it, but it's not looking too promising!}

Anyway, Jason left on Tuesday afternoon for four days of skiing in Colorado and didn't get home until 6:15 a.m. this morning. Then it was straight to church to prepare for teaching Sunday School. I don't know how he can survive on such little sleep. It's truly amazing!

I have to say, I hate it when Jason is gone. I truly miss him so much when he's away, and really can't relate to the wives who can't wait for their husbands to leave. But I guess it's a good thing to not want to be without my husband, right?

Besides just missing him, it's extremely tiring to be here taking care of our three kids, especially given my pregnant state. I'm tired all the time anyway, let alone when I'm acting as a single mom for 5 days.

But having the wonderful husband that I do, he knew I would be feeling a little tired mid-week, so he planned a surprise. I received a package in the mail with my absolute favorite shampoo...
And a card which conveyed how much my hubby was missing me and how much he appreciated me taking care of the kids while he was gone so that he could go skiing.
Awwww. Yup, he's pretty sweet sometimes.
What else can I say but that I'm definitely glad to have him back!

A friend sent me the following in an e-mail,
appropriate given my current state.
It made me laugh, and funny or not,
I think it holds a lot of truth.
Thought I'd share it with all of you.
Enjoy!

PREGNANCY Q & A ...

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q : I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q : What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q : My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q : Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A: Not unless the word 'alimony' means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q : Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q : Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

Casualties of Being Pregnant

For me, there are many casualties of being pregnant.
I have absolutely zero energy many days.
I suffer from nausea many days as well.
My love for chocolate is extremely diminished, which for those of you who know how much I love chocolate, this is a sad one for me!
But lately, one of the most apparent casualties is clumsiness.
Normally, I'm pretty coordinated. But that's just not the case anymore.
Hence, the photo below...



You wouldn't think washing a crockpot would be so hard, but for me it is.
The sad thing is, I dropped the thing twice while washing it.
The first time, I dropped it in the sink, so it didn't break.
The second time, it plummeted to the floor.
And we have tile floors.
Needless to say, it shattered, as you can see in the photo.
There was no hope for that crockpot with me handling it.
Cooper's reply to the accident was, "You shouldn't have done that mom."
Hmmm, you think?!?
I told Jason maybe it's a sign that he should be doing the dishes.
Unfortunately, I don't think he bought this idea.
Oh well.
Guess this means I'll be shopping for a new crockpot.
Any suggestions?
I do think I'll go with a larger size since our family seems to constantly be increasing.
And we all know how much food my husband eats!