Releaf Essentials

Hey readers! Check out my new website for Young Living Essential Oils, Releaf Essentials! I've really fallen in love with this product and would love to share my journey with you! Follow me on Instagram @releafessentials or subscribe to the oily blog for info, recipes, tips, and current craves. And if you want to know why I'm such a fan of Young Living, click here.

I promise I will get back to posting here soon! 2016 has been absolutely crazy with me being sick and pregnant... packing up and moving across the country... unpacking and organizing a new house... having a baby and adjusting to the newborn routine... and starting to homeschool! But posts are coming, including (hopefully) the long-awaited final posts in Our Love Story!

Gender Reveal

Today is my 28th birthday, so to celebrate, we're announcing the gender of our greatly-anticipated Baby #4!  (If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you've already been let in on the secret!)

The anticipation was killing me!  Unlike the 20-week ultrasounds with our other three kids, this time we had to wait for the anatomy scan before finding out the gender.  Eek!

Finally, the technician announced that our sweet #4 would be a little girl.  I almost started crying with happiness.  I've been praying for a sister for my little spice-pot for years!

And recently, she's been joining in those prayers with me.

"Mama, I just want lots of baby sisters!"

Needless to say, she is over-the-moon excited.  The boys are less than thrilled, but I think they'll come around when they finally meet their new sister. ;)

We decided to do a fun little gender reveal for the kids, since we hadn't done one for any of our others.  SO much fun!!  Hallie "predicted" pink while the boys both "predicted" blue.  (Asher was sick, so didn't make the video.)

We have chosen the name Elisha Laine for our little princess, though we mostly plan to call her Laine and Lainey.

Elisha means "my God is salvation," and while the biblical Elisha was a man, the name is actually gender neutral.  Laine, depending on where you look, can mean "path," "wave," or "light."  All of these are beautiful, but we really love the way "path" goes with the meaning of Elisha.  Our prayer for our little girl is that she would be a guide for many on the path to salvation.

 

"The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation." Exodus 15:2

"You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11

Not Done Yet!

Well, that was a good long absence from my dear little site.

I do have good reasons why I fell off the face of the earth, though.  First off-- homeschooling.  Even doing it only part-time has proved to be pretty time consuming.  Probably because of the two little preschoolers that are constantly interrupting.  I actually have this pretty funny little video of Gabriel reading with Hallie and Asher literally running in circles around the table yelling about something.  Good times, people.

But probably more why I haven't blogged these last couple months...

I started feeling pretty sick around the first week of November.

Yep.  Preggers.

Louis Baby #4 is on his/her way!

We are so, so, SO excited.  The kids have been asking for another baby since around January 2014!  We've been "trying" for #4 since Asher was around a year old, though I put trying in quotation marks because we weren't really actively mapping my cycle or anything.  

We suffered a miscarriage in mid-February 2014, which was heartbreaking for both me and Drew.  It was my third miscarriage and by far the latest one I had.  The first two, I barely knew I was pregnant.  This time, I was 8 weeks along and it was just horrible.

HOWEVER--

"Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning!" Psalm 30:5

I will be 16 weeks tomorrow (yay!), and hopefully past the worst of the morning all-day sickness and extreme fatigue.  You guys.  I was going to sleep at 9pm for a week or two.  ME.  9PM!  What?!  

In some ways, the time has flown by.  In other ways, I'm just like "ARGH, why do I have to wait until the end of February to find out this kid's gender?!"  Hahaha.

Anyway, I'll leave you with some sonogram pictures.  Here's our beloved #4 at 10 weeks.

Already with the cutest little profile!

Waving to Mama and Dada!

(Also coming soon -- fingers crossed -- is Hallie's birthday letter and the next part of Our Love Story!)