Thank You for the presents!

Thank you, Grandma Pat and Papa Norman for the AquaDoodle Mats!

Thanks, Aunt Beth for the cool Oragami set. This is great since we just studied Japan. Lily loves the tea set, too!
Thanks Aunt Deb & Uncle Carl for the hats, mittens, scarf and Nolan's shirt. Everybody loves these!

Ruby Elizabeth Rollins

I don't know if I just see it because I'm her mother, but I can see a beautiful image of her face. She looks like Emily to me and like Nolan from the side. Her nose is a little smushed, but she has it pressed against the placenta like a pillow. Somehow the ultrasound computer can tell that she is 4 pounds 6 ounces which is average weight for 32 weeks. Growing at a rate of half a pound a week will put her at about 8 pounds at birth. It will be very strange to not have an extra small baby. All of our kids have been around 6 pounds. Ironically, I have gained the least amount of weight this pregnancy and might have my biggest baby yet. I have figured that it's because of eating all-natural foods and the fact that I NEVER sit down!

We had all been arguing about the name until a couple of weeks ago. All the kids are named after a family member in some way and we were even disagreeing about which person to name her after. I had decided I was going to play the "I grew this baby, I get to name it" card, but I kind of felt like Jezebel doing that. So I prayed about it and asked for God to tell us what He wanted us to name her. Later that same week, I saw a good friend that I haven't seen in almost two years and she just said out of the blue, "What about the name Ruby?" I said, "Hey, that's my Grandma's middle name and the due date is her birthday". Luckily, Paul thought the name was great and then it was settled. Her middle name is Elizabeth after my sister.

Only 53 days until the due date! I am excited now, especially since I finally bought a package of newborn diapers and they are so tiny and smell like baby. It is pretty strange to have named her already because we have always waited until the last minute to decide on a name and we usually still aren't sure until we have to fill out the papers to leave the hospital.

Story Time

We are reading the juvinile version of The Pilgrim's Progress together as a family. It is a story about a man's journey to salvation and the people, obstacles and demons that stand in his way and try to distract him from reaching Christ. All the way he has to carry a huge burden on his back that weighs him down. He learns to go the way that is hard but best. It is a very good protrayal of the battles we must fight and the glorious life that we can receive, but there are also people who do get distracted and complacent and turn back to the easy way. It is perfect for Adam and Emily's age and also a great reminder for us adults. We really desire for our children to understand that they cannot just float through life with salvation based on a one-time prayer and see a life devoted to God as something they can deal with later on. The little ones are a little too young to understand the actual story, but they enjoy the family time together.

Christmas Parade

Nolan is getting his stance ready to run for the candy

Having fun watching the parade with Daddy and Papa

Emily was in the Christmas parade this weekend on the float for the soccer association, but I don't have a picture of her. She was on the float with about 20 other kids and we were on the opposite side of the street than the way she was facing. I barely saw the back of her head and the only reason why I knew it was her head is because I made her hat. She had a blast!
Nolan was squealing so much when the candy started falling on him. He was in sheer bliss!

Happy Birthday to Nolan!

He's Two!
Football cake
We cut down a tree and got it lit. All of our ornaments we in storage at the old shop when it burned down so we're starting over. Luckily I had put three strands of lights and the kids' stockings in a trunk at home so we had those already and I got a $5 star. I saddens me a little to think of all the sentimental ornaments that we lost so we are going to have all homemade decorations this year.
It turned out to be a really good thing that we did not go to Texas for Thanksgiving. Lily was sick all day Thursday and Friday with a 48 hr stomach virus. Saturday, everyone was well so we dropped all 4 kids off at Grandma and Papa's house so they could spend the night and we could get a date night. We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant that both of us love. We were about a mile from home when my motherly intuition kicked in and I said we need to call and check on the kids. Paul called his parents to find out that Nolan had just started throwing up. So we headed back up the mountian to pick him up. It was his first time to be really sick so he would panic and cry every time he threw up which made him throw up even more. At least that made the worst of it get over sooner. So we laid around all Sunday and by the evening we all felt ok. We had banana pancakes for dinner and gave Nolan his birthday present a day early because I didn't want to wait in case we hot hit with another round of the nastiness. We got Nolan a Hot Wheels carrying case (the same one I had when I was little) with ten new cars for it. He was absolutely glowing when we were all singing to him! Then he said "again". I think we sang Happy Birthday 4 times. He loved it even though he wasn't feeling up to par yet. I'm not feeling so hot today, but that might be mostly from sleep deprivation and expecting to be sick. So, we did have some good times together in between all the yuckiness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lily's Turkey
Nolan's soccer skills


We are staying home for Thanksgiving. I went to the hospital yesterday because I was having contractions 12 weeks early, but they pretty much stopped as soon as I got there. They ran some tests to make sure we're alright, and we're fine. Paul also had to work today so we would not be able to leave for Texas until tonight. Driving 920 miles all night to turn around and come back after two days is just more stress than either of us need right now. I'm disappointed that we could not go, but we are also looking forward to a calm and relaxing day for just the six of us together.

The kids are enjoying the 70 degree weather. Boys have a natural instinct of what to do with a pile of leaves. My girls and the neighbor girls were making the leaves into a pile when Nolan came running through it and jumping all over it. He can't wait for Daddy to get home to show him what to do with leaves.

Christmas Crafts

We are hoping to go to Texas next week for Thanksgiving so we have been busy making crafts for family. We won't be going for Christmas this year (because I'll be way too pregnant), so we have to combine holidays. Nolan loved making handprints. He also loved driving over them with his toy dump truck while they were laid out on the floor to dry.

In other news.......WATCH OUT!!! Paul now wears a kilt. Do I need to say more? He showed up at my ob/gyn appointment with it on today. I was pretty ticked at first, but I got over it quickly. Not many husbands come to the prenatal appointments by the fourth kid, so I couldn't stay mad. We did go to Wal-Mart together afterward and got a lot of stares. He says he gets a lot of complements when he goes to Atlanta. I just don't think our back-woods town is ready for it. Well, I do know the answer to the age-old question, "What does a Scottsman wear under his kilt?"

Birthday Surprise

Nolan got an early birthday package yesterday. He loves his new sheet set for his big boy bed and the bulldozer is perfect for him. It was agony to take it away from him to make him take a nap. He went right for it the second he woke up and even took it to the soccer game with him. He has a cheesy 'Thank You!' grin for grandma.

New Things

Nolan has a new haircut. He was wiggling pretty bad so it turned out a lot shorter than I was trying to cut it. He looks bald because it's so blond. He definitely does not look like he's going to be two in three weeks.

Paul built new dressers for Nolan and the baby. There is a matching one on the pink side of the room. Dark brown stain, very Pottery Barn style. They are so nice that I want some for our room, too.

We have a gorgeous new TV armiore. It was custom built for a customer to be inserted into a wall that is surrounded by brick. When they got it to the job site, the brick opening was too small so Paul brought it home to me! He will have to make the other one over again, but that's no big deal. My house is starting to look not so much like a bachelor pad.

The ladybug, Japanese princess and a frog

Work Day

This morning Daddy put the girls to work before they were even out of their pajamas or ate breakfast. It was for their room so they were excited to help. He put up an organizing system in their closet so Emily's clothes can be up high and Lily's clothes can be down low. Emily put in the hanging rods and Lily put in the clips to hold the shelves.

Then after breakfast, the six of us went to the shop just as we do most Saturdays. Instead of cleaning or working we went hiking in the woods behind the shop. Our total property equals 3.91 acres of beautiful woods that a creek borders on one side. Only a small portion is used for the business. We are planning to build a home on the property since we already own it we might as well go ahead and use it. It really is so beautiful that we are going to take our annual family portrait out there in two weeks.

In other news, Emily has just finished up a study on Japan. She was enjoying it so much that it saddens me to tell her that we are done. She was really into it. She checked out a Japaneese Folktales book at the library in addition to our regular curriculum. She also went to spend Tuesday morning with her Great-Grandma (like she usually does when I take the little ones to story time at the library) and Great-Grandma showed her all the things that Great-Grandpa brought back from Japan during WWII. I would love for Paul to take her to a Japanese restauraunt, although he would probably be the only one eating. I would probably keep going with Japan if I wasn't in such a hurry to finish up second grade before the baby is born. I'm glad she enjoys learning about different countries.

Goin' to the Dentist

Today was Nolan's first trip to the dentist. There were some tears, but he did pretty well considering he's not even two-years-old yet. He was excited to get out of the chair. All three kids had their check-ups today. Emily had a perfect report, but I was with the little two while she was getting checked. Lily and Nolan both have a fold in the inside part of their lip where it meets the gum. The dentist said that it will correct itself as they grow, but for now we are going to have to pull their top lip up when they brush because the skin covers the top part of their front teeth. It caused Nolan to have some plaque build-up, but Lily actually has a cavity on one of her front teeth that I didn't even notice. He said he can fix it without even having to use novicane so it's very minor. We just have to help her pull her lip away from her teeth from now on. Other than that, everthing went well.

Finger Paints!

Yesterday I made homemade finger paints for the little ones because Emily went to work with Daddy I wanted to do something special for the ones left behind. They really had a good time. Nolan also painted his feet and legs with all the colors so that they were a nice shade of brown. We went straight to the bathtub while the paintings were drying. I know that the fingerpaints you buy at the store are supposed to be non-toxic, but I don't trust them. Plus, these are cheaper since finger paints always get mixed together and turn brown after the first try. I didn't care for this recipe as much as the one I used to make when Adam was little, but I couldn't find that recipe. This one was basically flour, water and food coloring and as soon as it dried on the skin, it was pretty hard and itchy. If I find a good one, I'll share it.

Scottish Festival

This weekend was the Highland Games Scottish Festival. It's one of our favorite family things to go to. We got there late this time so we missed a lot of the events, but we still enjoyed a horse-drawn wagon ride, face painting, sheep and duck herding dogs, meat pies and fresh scones with strawberries. It was a beautiful day to relax and listen to the bagpipe bands.

Best Friends

Emily had her first sleepover last weekend. It just took me a few days to get the picture up because I forgot that my camera was in the diaper bag. There was only one guest to sleep over and it was her best friend. Emily and Madison have been best friends since right around their second birthdays. They don't ever remember not having each other. They had a great night of laughing and talking and just doing girly things. They both slept great after a few reminders to stop whispering and go to sleep.

Nolan colored a new continent onto our globe for us today. Luckily it was only with crayon and Magic Eraser will take it off, unless I was to leave it there for sentimental reasons.

Family Football Friday

Going to high school football games is one of our favorite things to do as a family. We will even travel to the away games if they're less than 2 hours drive away. We go until the very last game when it's too cold to stand it. Lily has a few cheers memorized already and Nolan can already shout "Go Big Red!" He also flirts with the cheerleaders. At one point, I actually took all four kids (five actually) to the bathrooms and concession stand with me all at the same time and I didn't loose any of them. I'm at that point in my pregnancy when I can forget that I have food cooking and go do laundry until I smell the food burning. I get so forgetful sometimes that think I might loose a kid somewhere. Especially if I run into someone and start talking.
Next weekend is another family favorite, the Highland Games. It's a Scottish Festival with caber tosses, bagpipe bands, sheepherding dogs and all kinds of neat stuff. You can research your family plaid if you have any scottish in you. Our kids love it, but it's in their blood.

Weirdest Pregnancy Craving Ever!

Paul had these beautiful roses delivered to me a few days ago. Last night I was taking in their aroma when I said, "These smell so good I could eat them." I knew it was weird that I said it, but I was obsessed with them all night after that. I didn't give in, but I did try to figure out how I could get away with it without looking like a total nut-job. Knowing that there is most likely pesticides all over them is what finally held me back. If anyone has had a weirdier craving than that, I'd like to hear it.

Birthday Pictures

Emily's favorite gift is her first scrapbook set from Aunt Beth. She also liked all the money she got for various family members. Lily is showing off the present she got. It is a puzzle that's 25 pieces. She's getting big, too!

Birthday Pictures

Nolan wanted to help blow out the candles. He'll get his chance in a couple of months. We all got together at Great Grandma's house and had dinner and a family party together. I was too tired to cook the dinner Emily wanted after she and I baked her cake together, so Paul picked up pizza for everyone. What a sweet guy!

We got the big news for Emily's Birthday! She was really wanting another sister so this is a double birthday surprise. It's amazing how much the ultrasounds have changed in the last eight years. I have a name picked out already, but I'm not sure if I want to give it out because we have 136 days to change our minds. My first choice name was Audrey, but Paul doesn't care for it as much as I do. My second choice is Magnolia Elizabeth and she would be called Maggie. It could change, though. We are so excited. I think I'm going to save up for a pink car seat and stroller. They didn't have those when the girls were little and I always wished they would have. It's not like we have to buy much else. Well, I have a whole bunch of Nolan's old clothes to yard sale or ebay.