One Month of Gratitude

My November goal:
To share one thing I am grateful for each day until this sweet baby arrives.

Today I am Oh so grateful for my Mom.
She arrived on Thursday with Julia. I had a wonderful break and got lots done.
Since then she has taken the kids to the park, cooked wonderful meals, read books, tickled backs, helped put my closet back together after it fell out of the wall, and the list goes on....
I am extrememly grateful for an absolutely amazing mom.
If someone could clone her they would definitely become a millionaire.
Everyone needs a Christie!

Halloween

David insisted that all 4 children be in the Halloween picture.
So I honored his request reluntantly.
Pregnancy fat face is oh so unattractive.
And my hair could definitely use a visit to Jen's.
I sucked up my pride and let the not so little fetus join the photo.

Reduce Reuse Recyle
Our Halloween theme
We spent no money on costumes this year as you can probably tell.
Noah told me he was fine with using his Darth Vader costume from last year.
He used masking tape to fix the cape that was torn.
Ella Joy was easy since she doesn't like clothes we just found a tutu and some wings and decided she would be a butterfly fairy.
JuJu is a black-eyed pea--thanks for the great idea KiKi

Flying fairy

The hungry pea

October

When it rains it floods and the kids have the best time playing in the puddles and rain pools


Sword fighting with bats


I must admit when I walked outside my first thought was: they're wearing helmets, what smart kids I have.

EJ with Noah's scout uniform
Noah playing flag football

Giving JuJu love before her vacation with my mom and KiKi

After watching an episode of Sid the Science Kid
where they taught about how food decomposes,
EJ wanted to draw rotten food.
It was very important to her that the colors were right.
So we have a black banana, a brown apple, and a grey and green pumpkin.
She said, "they are so beautiful, we have to hang them above your bed."

It has been a month...

It has been a month since my last post.
Can you tell I am in complete survival mode.
I am huge and uncomfortable and hope that baby will come early.
Julia took a vacation to my mom's.
I miss her and can't wait to see her.
But I sure have gotten a lot done--like getting Baby #4's 2 drawers and corner ready for her.
Each child's space is getting smaller and smaller--JuJu at least had her own closet.
Hopefully daddy will get a job soon and we can expand from our 800 square feet.
I dream of extra rooms.
We are all excited and looking forward to baby's arrival.
Promise to post some pictures soon!

All the screaming, fighting, tantrums, and chaos are worth it when...

I find them like this in the morning
or like this at night.

Happy 34th Birthday David!

Someday we will have a family photo with EJ smiling.
But doesn't David sure look cute.

Thomas and Tara came over to celebrate with us. They have been living on Key Biscayne for the last 2 months and it has been so much fun to have them near. They recently bought a house in Plantation which is about 30 minutes away. So we are excited to have some family close.

I cooked fish with a picata sauce on top, mashed potatoes, brocoli, and for dessert--my first homemade blueberry pie. Thank you Amanda for all the new cooking ideas and lessons.

Noah fell through our teeny tiny IKEA chair that goes with our teeny tiny table.
As most of you know I am always happy to throw out things that take up space but the next day EJ cried for an hour about her "pony castle" that she could to longer make. The 2 chairs stacked perfectly to make a 2 story home for her ponies. So sorry.

Cousin Thomas getting to know Noah's present to David.

First day of school 2010

To say that I have been looking forward to this day would be a slight understatement.
So let just say we were all VERY excited for the first day of school.

Noah started third grade. And he was happy to see several of his classmates from last year were in his class again this year.
Ella Joy started the Pre-K program at the school.
It is really nice because I drop them both off at 8:20.
Then I pick EJ up at 11:20.
Noah rides his bike home at 3:00.
If gives structure to my day.
And I get to have time alone with each of the kids sometime during the day.

Have I mentioned how much I love uniforms.
It makes getting ready for school so easy.
And the kids just look so cute and ready to learn!