Last night at around 2:15 am, Brandon's sister delivered her third little girl. Well, if you call 8.2 lbs and 20 1/2 inches little. Face up. Naturally. I would call that 12 pounds personally, but she is my hero for following through with her plan to deliver naturally. I know other women deliver naturally, but if you have ever had a baby come into the world looking up (I have) then you get 10 gold stars from me if you do it without any meds at all. Her doctor told her she had never delivered a baby that size naturally before. The last I heard the name is Campbell, but they can't ever decide on the final name until after the baby is born. I'll keep you posted. Congratulations Ame, Drexel, Cameron and Camille!!! We can't wait to meet you baby girl #3!!


(Big sister Cameron holding little Campbell.)

Ok, my last post today, I promise! Everyone is napping and I wanted to catch up on everything b/c it's about to get busy around here when they wake up. I'm trying to get used to the kids' new MDO schedule and it's hard! Anyway, these are the last photos we have from Brandon's Canon SLR camera we purchased 3 years. They are of Christopher and Brick digging out in his "digging pile" in the backyard. You'll have to excuse the outfit he is wearing, I think he slept in it the night before and I'm sorry if you have a problem with it.

Late Sunday afternoon we decided to walk down to the water and take Brick swimming. He loves to play fetch in the bay and the kids love to watch him. They played in the sand and splashed around in the water some. It was a fun day spent with Daddy before work started on Monday.

I mean this. Be careful. Here's why. An hour after we got home on Saturday, Brandon, who had been sailing with a Ret. Col. and some residents, called me to tell me that he needed me to come pick him up b/c he'd been knocked overboard and wanted to get his head checked out. It was purely an accident and so we don't blame anyone. He was facing the back of the boat taking photos and the sail was on the other side when some wind suddenly came up and whipped the sail in Brandon's direction. It knocked him in the head throwing him overboard (he lost his camera too). The Ret. Col. immediately dove in after him throwing him a flotation device. Brandon doesn't remember getting hit or falling, just being in the water. The side of his head had a big red mark on it the rest of the day, but we went to the ER, had a CAT scan and everything came back clear. Thankfully he moved alot in his sleep that night b/c I was so worried something would happen. He's just had a really, really bad headache since then. He didn't realize there was a bruise on his inner thigh until the next morning. Every day it's looked worse, but bruises are one of those things that has to get worse before getting better. He was supposed to start working OB nights this week, but they sent him home yesterday afternoon and told him to get some rest and come back on Tuesday. He's doing much, much better now and I thank God that everything's alright!! So, I say all of that to tell you to be careful. Not so cautious you never have fun, but just be careful.

Here are the rest of the photos from our week out of town. They are in the wrong order so I suggest starting at the bottom and scrolling up. We stopped to see Mimi and Papa John on our way to the lake and the kids had a great time playing with them. Unfortunately we had to bolt as soon as we finished supper b/c of a storm that was on it's way and we wanted to beat it. We did.

Christopher had been helping Grammie with hemming my skirt until he realized that Pop was watching something on tv about tanks. He quickly jumped up on the couch and dove right into the show. It was so funny!

Christopher playing with his new firetruck. He loves this thing so much and I have to admit, it's pretty cool!

Christopher getting to help with the clamping of the boards to make the ladder. He had so much fun! It was the first time he's followed through with a project so I was really proud of him.

Grammie helping Christopher glue the wheels on. Or maybe it's the other way around.

Sophie didn't really care for the sound of the saw, but it didn't bother her enough to cover up both ears. She was so cute!

The kids playing on the work bench that Pop made for the grandkids to use. Christopher's favorite part of the shop are all the clamps to spin around and pinch. It's a good thing he stays so focused b/c I usually know what he's up to in there.

Christopher doesn't like the sound of the saw, so I grabbed the headphones for him. Every time Pop went to cut something he'd grab these and tell me to put them on.

This is the best photo we've gotten of the four kids together. Melissa and I decided this is the best way to get their picture together so you'll probably only see them eating together from now on out.

Christopher and Nicholas going for a swim together. They had so much fun! I didn't think we'd ever get them out of there. Thankfully it sprinkled about 4 drops and we told them it was going to rain, they practically ran out of the water.

This is what your feet will look like after 4 days of riding on a plasma car... outside... barefoot. Oh, and a couple bug bites too.

The kids playing in the rain that gathered in Mimi and Papa John's backyard. They were wet on their bottoms and heads. We bathed them before supper and put on their pj's.

Christopher would run up and down the edge of the grass in the "stream" of water. Driving the tractor toy or filling up a cup to water the flowers.

Sophie and Mimi playing dress up with all her jewelry. Sophie had a ball going through all of it! She would pass them out to everyone after trying them on herself.

Meet Little Miss Sophie. All fixed up and glammed up. She was so cute!!!! Every time she just sees the camera she immediately says, "Cheese!!!" It's adorable!!! My little girl is becoming more girly.

It's strange b/c I haven't been on here in 2 whole days to check anyone's blog or post anything on mine. I got to spend the night away with some other moms on Saturday night while Brandon watched the kids. Let's just say that awesome doesn't begin to describe it! This year I have joined the MOPS steering team and I'm in charge of crafts. I'm super thrilled about it and we had our planning meeting all day on Saturday at one of the resorts on the water. We had a big room and anyone could spend the night that wanted to. Only 9 of us did, but seriously, I have not laughed so hard and had that much fun in I don't know how long!! Let's just say I'm REALLY looking forward to MOPS this year! On a completely different note, a bunch of the resident wives took their kids to a local gym that offers toddler time on Monday and Friday mornings. I had Brandon meet us there so he could see them in action (we'd never been before) and spend some time with them since we hadn't seen him in two days. It was so much fun! It was crazy packed, but we were told it was more crowded than usual. I think we have a little gymnast on our hands with Sophie. If she continues to take after her Aunt Jenny then I will not be surprised if she does! She doesn't really have any of my traits so I've been very curious what this child will show interests in the next few years. Here are a couple photos.

I didn't even realize it until this morning, but we are halfway through the "terrible" rotation that I talked about a few weeks ago. It's 4 weeks of Brandon working in Pensacola followed by 2 weeks of OB nights. The best part of these rotations being back to back is we will get it over with. And the second best part is we will be able to get new tires for Brandon's car with the money he gets paid for doing the rotation in Pensacola. I was not happy about this schedule, but only b/c I found out about it the day before it happened. It meant 6 weeks of not having him home for dinner and bedtime activities. The first week was hard and about halfway through the second week we started getting in our groove. Not thinking about how long we have left has definitely helped b/c I don't dwell on it and make myself and the kids miserable. Plus I hate the fact that he has an hour drive home from work at 11:30 at night. Who wants to do that after pulling a 12 hour shift? Not me! So really, I think Brandon has it worse than we do. Now, OB night will be harder in my opinion b/c he has to sleep ALL day instead of just sleeping in. Which means the kids and I have to leave and that gets expensive. Thank goodness for Mother's Day Out. Lastly, it could not have been timed better b/c our neighbor that I hang out with all the time, Tiffany, doesn't have her husband around for 6 weeks either and we can hang out for supper and run errands together. It definitely helps the day go faster for both of us! I'm going to run, we are going to have pizza with our dad-less friends tonight! Oh, did I mention that I get to spend the night away from home tomorrow night? We have our MOPS retreat and they got a room for us so we can hang out all night! Tiff and I are pumped!

Yesterday after church Christopher was playing with his trucks and started to say something we'd never heard him say before, "it's good and right!" Brandon and I turned and looked to him and asked what he was talking about. He said it's what Ms. Karen told him. We asked him to say it again, we were curious b/c he said it in a funny voice. He went back to playing and then we heard the whole thing, "Do what the Lord says. It's good and right!" It was so cute! He says it so casually and firm at the same time. We were thrilled that he'd learned his first Bible verse. He walked around all day saying this with face focused and truck in hand.

Lately I've been trying to talk to Christopher about God more and typically ask him about what he learned in S.S. and Mother's Day Out while we are winding down for the night. They've been talking about Daniel and his friends, I won't even try to spell their names, and the story about food they refused to eat and the story about the lion's den. Last night I asked him what he learned about in S.S. that morning and he said, "God." I said, "What else did Ms. Karen talk about?" to which he replied, "Daniel and Jesus." I said, "What did Daniel and Jesus do?" He adorably replied, "Took Daniel's friends to see The Lion King." Sounds like fun!

Then I forgot to pray with him, so he came and got me so we could do this together. I've been trying to ask him what he wants to thank God for to get him to start thinking about it instead of me just telling him all the time. Usually it's whatever he sees from his bed, like his fan or the door or the planes hanging in his room, but last night he had a long list that he told me without stopping. Here's how it went... Me: "What would you like to thank God for?" Christopher: "Grammie, Pop, Papa John, Daddy, Sophie, Hunty, Drakey and the lawn mower at the lake." The boy knows what he likes and the list changed every day. And to those of you who didn't get mentioned, please do not feel bad b/c if you notice, I didn't make the list either.

Today was a day of "prizes" around our house. We haven't seen much of Brandon this week due to his schedule and so we planned to stay home and spend time together. We each ended up getting a new toy which excited everyone. Christopher wanted a new flatbed with his allowance, so he and Brandon went to Walmart. Here's what we all got...

Christopher very excited about his new 18-wheeler flatbed with a skidloader included.


Sophie's new (and first) Barbie doll that Christopher picked out for her. (Brandon said he had to find her a girl toy and not another truck. I think she's pleased. )

Brandon's sling shot, or squirrel getter as Christopher calls it. Christopher said that Daddy shoots it and the squirrels can go to another place. So far they've only run. Don't worry.

And my gift, it was purchased earlier this week and was just now used. In my opinion it was the best gift of all. I've been dying to cut the grass again, but haven't been able to after what happened last time. Here's the blade we took off and what the new blade looks like, just so you can compare them. And no, it's not b/c I'm a girl that this happened. It was a huge rock that was hidden under the tall grass that was not seen before it was heard.

Overall it was a great Saturday. We all got naps too. And long ones! Hope you had a great weekend as well!