party of five

just a quick update. we are doing well- ellen is so sweet. she is such a good baby, eating well, sleeping pretty well and she stays busy sleeping and making me give her millions of kisses. joel is so good to me, such a help and support. i love watching him with his sweet girl. she really has him smitten, even from day one.

the boys are so good with her. they have been great- definitely an answer to prayer. i am over my emotional new baby craziness and back to my normal craziness. i am blessed to have had joel's mom here to help in the early days, and now my mom and dad here to help with getting adjusted to normal, whatever that is. i am so thankful for them!!

thanks for your prayers and sweet comments. i so appreciate them!

tiny e

ellen elizabeth parker
born april 30 2008
7:49 am
7 pounds 9.5 ounces
21 inches long

ellen was born wednesday morning and things could not have gone better. at 7:49 we met our beautiful little girl face to face for the first time. she came full of life and loud crying. angie had to remain in the operating room to complete the c-section which went better than expected. once we were in our room and things settled down, i went home to get the boys and bring them to meet their little sister.

today is saturday and we are all at home now. reality is upon us. angie is sore but recovering well, the boys are adjusting well and love picking on their little sister but they are also starving for some attention from mom and dad. we are tired but joyful, busy but blessed. our house is full and our cup runneth over, praise be to God.

nine days and counting

so, i am over being pregnant. nine days. our milk expires on the 3rd of may. ellen comes on april 30. i can't believe it is so close, yet i feel like i have been pregnant for years.

i thought that i would show you pictures of ellen's room. we are very excited to meet her. i am getting nervous, too. i'm just not sure of what to expect having three children. three kids! yikes. we will have to wait longer to get a table at a restaurant (that is if we ever go out to eat again.)

God has been so good to our little family, we are so thankful.

another week

last saturday, my sweet friends renee and debbie threw me a shower for church friends. it was a really fun time. they had my mom write a letter to me since she couldn't be there and it was very special and i was a blubbering mess. then my friend vicki led a short devotional to encourage me (and the other women there). i was so glad to have vicki there. we were given some really nice things! lots o pink. i am very greatful to God for such a thoughtful and loving group of friends at my church. here is the first and probably last picture of my knocked up self.

this past week was pretty dull. lane was sick, then joel, and now i think davis is. no fun, but at least i have gotten rest by spending more time at home tending to them. my friend kim loaned me a maternity contraption that really helps with the pressure and pain i had been in. it has been such a blessing. because of said contraption, i have been able to get a lot done at home this week. thanks, kim!

last night i was able to go to a ladies' retreat for church. it was a nice time. i enjoyed spending time with friends, and eating with no kids, and eating from the free basket of full-sized candy bars, and enjoying the quiet of a hotel room with no tv, and being encouraged in the Lord by a neat lady, susan. i am a fan of hers mostly because she thought that i had longer to go before the baby came. everyone else on the planet acts like i will kick out a baby at any given moment. i woke up refreshed and rested. then, i came home and reality hit. :)

today, we went to a family fun fair for christian family academy, which is the school d will go to one of these days. it was a fun time and we won lots of fun goodies in the silent and live auction. and let me just say that a live auction is a dangerous thing. it is so fun to hold up your number that you forget that you will actually have to pay for the stuff. it is addictive. we were a little worried once davis actually got the concept of holding up the number. "i want stuff, mommy!"

if you stuck with this post this long, congratulations to you. maybe things next week won't be so dull. i have moved on from donettes being my favorite thing (don't get me wrong, they are still a staple in the parker household) to hagan daz chocolate dark chocolate ice cream bars. too bad there are only 3 to a box is all i am saying. i am glad the office is back on, i did not give a penny to idol gives back and was very perplexed that "shout to the Lord" was on there. why? i don't really know. my life, it is what it is.

donettes and life

so these little donettes are my favorite thing to eat during this pregnancy. joel thinks that they taste too much like plastic. when i was describing what kind of chocolate donuts i eat constantly to a friend, she said "oh, the kind that leave the waxy film on the roof of your mouth? those are good." yes, they are- waxy film, plastic-y chocolate and all. yum.

joel's mom came for a visit during her easter break. we had a good time and she was a lot of help. one day, i locked myself in my room and embarked on a sewing career, because i want to be like michelle. well, maybe not a sewing career, but i sewed 3 blankets that day and felt very proud and crafty. usually when i get these ideas in my head (hey- i know- i will buy a sewing machine and teach myself to sew, that will be fun! kind of ideas) they usually turn out to be disasterous, leaving me very frustrated and the sewing machine in the closet for years. with many calls to michelle and her gracious affirmation, it ended up being a success. i forgot to take pictures of the blankets, so you will just have to believe they were pretty and there were no crooked stitches. oh, easter was fun.

we have moved lane into a big boy bed in the same room with davis. it has been a good thing. we are in the process of completing ellen's room, pictures to come.

physically, i am really struggling. emotionally, i am losing it. the last two days have been really difficult all around, really. you know those days where you wonder what you have done RIGHT as a parent, because all of the wrong things are very obvious and that is all you see? well, parenting is really kicking my butt these days. i really do parent in my own strength, just to be honest. not consiously, i guess, it just happens that way. well, that is going out the window. i know the answer is to allow the Lord to parent thru me, but some days figuring out how to do that baffles me. i have really been convicted to know Him more, know His word and His character more. this is a start to be sure, not just with parenting , but with living my life to bring him glory. as angie, not just mommy. say a prayer, if you think about it. joel is going to be in boston until tomorrow night (he feels bad for leaving). i fell like this is the worse possible time to be here w/o help at my physical and emotional breaking points, but my God knew. i don't want to miss out on what He is trying to teach me in all of this. joel says he will bring me back a boston baked bean. that will make all things well. well, probably not. a box of donettes, maybe.

fun

last night i had some sweet friends throw me an unconventional mommy-to-be shower. i had the best time! my friend vicki (who has 8, yup, 8 really great kids) decided that by baby #3 the mom could use a little spoiling, so she and my friend joelle planned a fun time for me and some friends. we drove to charlotte (about and hour away) to a huge mall. each person had picked a store for me to shop in and a designated amount of money that i could spend on myself in each store. i got to shop in motherhood maternity, a chocolate shop, bath & body, victoria's secret and the gap. it was really fun to get treated to so many nice things from such sweet friends. we all went to on the border for dinner. these are my Bible study ladies and friends, and i am blessed to know them. thanks so much vicki, joelle, hannah, julia, cindy, becky, linda, and rachel.

just a short shout-out to my wunnerful husband, joel. when i came home to show him all of my goodies, he had cleaned the house for me and put together the bookshelf that i just had to have. right. now. this was no small feat (the cleaning part). having 2 kiddos and not being able to bend over make for a pretty big mess- so thanks, babe. i wish that i could give you the week off, but you know, the no bending over thing won't be going away for a little while. :)

here are my guys, since i don't have a prego picture of me-

my dad is number 1

another ten miles

so, last night joel and i got to go to a caedmon's call concert right here in our lovely little town. (thanks, julia and hannah!!!) it made me feel old. i thought about the first time i saw them when tripp walmsly opened for them in a small room in the tac. i remembered riding with some guys to see them and watching said guys hit on the chick singer after the concert. it made me miss shane and aub and dan and dave. i remembered that time 2nd mile tried to sing that "hope to carry on" song. it was the worst thing i think we ever did. i remembered having SO much fun singing "not enough" with those guys.

we had a very fun time and it was funny for me to think of the ways things were different this time compared to the last time we saw them (at tech) here are some of the contrasts.

then- i stood the whole time, probably danced around
now- i sat the entire time, but so did the whole audience for every song for 3 hours minus the encore. (there was one song that two or three people stood for and it was just so awkward that it was distracting for me, you know these people stood and thought "if we stand, everyone else will!" well, we didn't, and not just those of us that are a million months pregnant. )

then- walked to the tonk
now - we arrived in our mini-van after contemplating getting a hot chocolate at starbucks

then- probably planned "cool" clothes to wear (am i the only one who used to do this kind of thing?)
now- wore comfortable shoes

then- laughed when they sang "april showers" because michelle thought they were saying "sexy mint"
now- laughed when they sang "april showers" because michelle thought they were saying "sexy mint"

then- thought that i was a little (very little) like them, you know, because i was in a band that covered their songs
now- realized that i lived in a fantasy world while i was in college

then- would not have been phased by what band members said
now- cringed a little when derek webb said things like whore and talked about a bong because i had middle school aged kids and their parents sitting next to me

then- thought joel was super cute, wanted to marry him one day
now- still think he is super cute. am now his crazed, knocked up, hormonal wife.

then- thought that the concert was really cool and loud
now- couldn't really hear joel or my friends talk for about 30 minutes after the concert was over. wondered if i had done permanent damage to mine or ellen's ears.

then- would've gone to the coffee shop after the concert to hear caedmon's unplugged
now- hurried home to relieve my wonderful baby sitters

then- thought it would be nice to have enough money to sponsor a compassion international kid
now- we have the priviledge to sponsor little doudlyn from haiti


caedmon's call then...



caedmon's call now...