four years

our davis turned four last week. now, finally, he is a grown up. (according to him, anyway). for the longest time he has talked about all of the things that would be different when he turned 4. a sampling: he would like green beans and other healthy things when he turned four (this is my child that stated that cool ranch doritos were the vegetable kind of chips), he would be a grown up like daddy when he turned four. the morning of his birthday he let joel know that he had rethought the green bean thing.

our sweet friends threw him a party on sunday night. he had the best time. they bought him lots o' guns, water guns, primarily. he told julia that he wanted a gun party, and he got it! he really needed the guns, because he only had 3 and clearly that is not enough. WE HEART THE GRUVERS!

then on monday davis and joel spent the morning together in the great outdoors. they had a ball fishing and throwing rocks in the water and various other adventures. i love that both joel and davis are adventurous!

that night, we went to chuck e cheese. not my first choice, but i just couldn't do a party less than two weeks after the csection. davis is not a huge fan of chuck e., but he and lane, eef and gab had a great time. we love our sweet friends, the greenes. we wish that they would live here forever and ever, but for some reason, God wants them in ohio. we have had some disscusions about this, God and i.

i enjoy davis so much. i really never thought that i would love being with my kids as much as i do. he constantly makes me laugh, he is so thoughtful of others, he is a leader, and a real loon, just like his mom and dad. i am confident that the Lord has big plans for him. these past four years have not been easy, but they sure have been wonderful. thanks, Lord, for my sweet boy.

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