dressing up

its a rarity these days. but i love it. i love pulling my jewelry out and my high heels. i was also glad to take pictures of my 7 month belly. i havent been good about documenting the progress of this little one.
these pictures are Matt and i at the annual seminary christmas banquet. It was fun to finally put some faces to some professor names I've heard over the past three years.

gulf giving

not sure who came up with the name but Gulf is the street where we live and thanksgiving somehow turned into gulfgiving! (was it josh that came up with it?)
anyway, we shared a meal together before we all left for our homes. these are dear friends who are in seminary with us. (just a few of the wonderful friendships we made). i see these guys and gals as champions for one another as we depart these safe waters of gulf drive and head into pastoral ministry. its not going to be an easy road and i want to champion them as they tend to the brokenhearted, minister to the sick, and share the Good News to those to who long to hear it.
this evening, we sent all our kids to another apartment, got a babysitter, ordered pizza for them, and got to spend hours of fun talking and eating with out little ones biting our ankles. what a night!

josh cutting his first turkey that was betsy's first turkey! delish!!!

the ladies after we stuffed our faces. rachael, on my right is due a few weeks before me!

to. die. for. 

kinda i wish i had some right now.

the kids raided the leftover blackberry pie when they got home

a glimpse

here is a glimpse of the fun family time we had in nashville. too much good food. glad i am pregnant. lots of naps (for me!) and late nights for the kids and their cousins. christmas decorating. laughing. family skits. more laughing. i heart the holidays!!!!

we ate outside on the screen in porched. right when we said the blessing it started to pour down rain. it was chilly but actually we all loved listening to the rain.

decorating the tree with mimi

 our crazy family on my dad's firetruck. random, i know.

halloween, finally

a little late but here is the cuteness you've been waiting for!

maggie saw this make up in a kids craft book and wanted it immediately! she LOVED getting her face painted and the whole dress up part. i hope she stays so sweet!

neighbor kiddos ready to hit the street!

this was Abe's attitude all night. he did NOT want to wear a costume and let us know it. so i gave him his paci and his blanket and said he was Linus from Peanuts.

soaking in st. louis

is it weird that i am missing st. louis before we have even left? i keep thinking, oh this is the last fall here. or, not many more warm days before it gets too cold for the zoo {although the zoo in the winter is my favorite time to go...}
i just LOVE this city. i love the water falls everywhere (even in the target entrance!), i love that there is a park on every  corner, i love getting to expose the kids to the 4 seasons at the Gardens. i love the big buildings and the old houses. i love the coffee shop with the play area.
i love dreaming of where we might end up  next year but i wish i could take st.louis with us.

we headed to the art museum one cloudy blustery day to enjoy the quiet and beauty.
my two favorites of the museum. maggie now knows who painted the water lilies. her budding art career is already starting!

and of course, my favorite sculpture in the whole world!

we then headed to the botanicals to take in the fall colors and enjoy the beautiful weather. 

 i love this pic because it looks like the sheep are moving!

stop it. they are the cutest arent they????

kick, kick, kick

sweet baby you kick, kick, kick all day long. you are only 14 ounces but you are strong. i can already see your movements. your kicks remind me. they remind me i am already a mama of 3. they remind me you're there and to eat well and sleep well. your kicks remind me to stay present. to not worry about the days ahead. the sleepless nights. 3 kids at my ankles. your kicks bring me back from my worry. my worry about graduation and finding a job and where we will move.
your kick, kick, kicks are much stronger than i remember your brother and sisters kicks. they dont hurt right now. just nudges to remind me to pray for you in there, while you grow strong. waiting just waiting to kick out in the world.
i cant wait to kiss your little toes.

fall is here to stay

enjoy these photos of our trip to pumkinland. i cant believe God gave us such cute kids!

 

fight club

since january my hottie husband has been biking, swimming, and running. he's lost weight but that hasnt been the goal. its a good stress reliever and it helps him stay focused on his studies during the day if he runs in the mornings.
we have a membership to the y, but lately he's been running or biking from our house to a nearby park. its been glorious outside and he says he ends up writing alot of his sermons while he runs. which, to me, is pretty amazing, because when i run, all i think of is when i can stop. but this man, he writes sermons in his head. so since he hasnt been going to the y, he pick up a "mini gym" which consists of a pull up bar which turns into a thingy that helps with push ups and tri-cep thingys. anyway, the kids LOVE it and like to "work out" with daddy. {but i'd like to say they also love doing yoga with me!} i love passing down the importance of keeping healthy and why we need to exercise and eat right. we want to grow kids that love physical activity! here are some shots of Abraham building some strong muscles. isnt that the cutest thing ever?

something in the water

it feels like around this neighborhood everytime you turn around a new baby is being born. showers galore! here are some pics from one of my dearest friends, jodi, who is due any day now.

i {heart} our seminary

one of the reasons i love covenant seminary is the way they are committed to the whole family. they understand that ministry as a family is hard. and that having a pastor as a husband and daddy can take its toll. they help you learn about how to do it well and while you are here, they serve you well. i take abraham to a parents morning out each week...for free!
also, they provide childcare for certain chapel weeks when different professors are preaching. and once a month they provide a parents NIGHT out. last year a couple of our neighbors and us started going together. we usually babysit for one another so its fun to put all our kids together (who love each other dearly) into the same childcare and go out to dinner. its become a very fun tradition!

our husbands were out of town so we were each others date!

suzanne and jimmy! our kiddos are the same age, except for their newest addition who came on our date night too!

mike and trish! their son noah is one week older than maggie and goes to the same school!

true love

i loved those pom poms so much that i had to keep them around. now they hang about maggie's bed as a mobile of sorts. it may even make a bunch of tiny ones to hang above the new babes bed.....too bad we dont know where we will be living...i got a ton of nursery ideas swirling! maggie got a ton of new dress up stuff from mimi and papa joe so now she has a new dress up corner on the right. every little girls dream.

health tip: kefir

so about 6 months ago i started to see a integrative physician. that basically means he practices both conventional and natural medicine. i love him and never want to go back to a regular doctor! i was wanting help weaning off of zoloft and so he took a myriad of blood tests:

hormone levels, vitamin levels, neurotransmitters, and adrenal glands.

its pretty impressive what they can test! come to find out, i make zero serotonin which helps with depression and anxiety. so good to know and remember its just like diabetes. 

anyway, another little tidbit i learned is that 90% of serotonin is made in your intestines! and the best way to help your body work on making serotonin is making sure your intestines are working right. so what to do? well take probiotics of course! also, drinking kefir as much as possible. kefir is a yogurt type drink packed with probiotics. its pretty expensive so i started making it myself! go now and get some!

here is a website that has a good tutorial about how to make it yourself!

Passionate Homemaking

4!

water guns, watermelon, limbo, and lemonade. all ways we celebrated my sweet daughter turning 4!!! i cant believe it. seems like yesterday she was a tiny baby in my arms. it felt so right to hold her and so normal to be her mama. we are so thankful for her tender heart and gentle spirit.
happy birthday dear one!

pretty sure watching little kids doing limbo is the cutest thing ever!

waiting patiently for cupcakes!

got this crafty idea from my california friend julie

and the pom pom idea came from martha

and the homemade icing came from my nashville friend tracy