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