So Long 2012!

Wow, I can't believe that 2012 is already over and that it's already the fourth day of 2013. Man, time goes quickly these days when you are juggling a full family and a crazy job!

My Highlights: 
1. In March, I discovered that God decided that we needed another addition to our family. This pregnancy would prove to be tough and long, but my sweet baby was, of course, worth the trouble.
2. I finished the most challenging year of my career in May. Through this spring semester, I learned A LOT about patience, but I'm happy not to have to learn anything else for a while. :)
3. In June, I learned that I was NOT having a fourth boy. Clay and I were stunned for weeks, but my shock did not slow down my acquisition of all things pink. Yay! 
4. I gave birth to my sweet, baby girl in November. She was six days late, but I decided I will only hang that over her head for a decade. Or two.
5. I caved. And got a mini-van. And cried about it for a week. I told Clay that next time I'm getting a school bus, because it would be less lame.

McLain's Highlights: 
1. McLain finished elementary school with all As for all four quarters. It broke my heart more than a little that he finished fifth grade and wouldn't be coming back to school with me in the fall. Oh, how I miss him!

2. He completed his fourth season of soccer. His growth over the last four years was very evident, and Clay was very proud of him.
3. He acknowledged that he had prayed for another baby and owned that #4 could be partially his fault. ;)
4. He started Lovinggood in August and LOVES it. To date, he still has not complained about any aspect of it. Miracle of miracles! I am so grateful that he has made a lot of good, wholesome friends and is academically doing well.
5. McLain started playing the cello this fall and has fallen in love with it. He seems to be musically inclined, like his Daddy and uncles. His sweet self texted his music teacher from elementary school in November and told her that he credits her with his abillity to read music.

Keaton's Highlights: 
1. Keaton played his first season of soccer. He was very enthusiastic and yet very distractable while playing. I think he might prefer to coach instead of play. The boy is bossy, like his Mama! However, he was a cute addition to the front yard soccer scrimmages that the big boys play.
2. Keaton finished his fourth year at McEachern United Methodist's Preschool. His singing at the end of the year program was precious! My Mom and I were both sad to see him leave such a fabulous, Jesus loving school. 
3. Keaton learned to swim this summer all on his own in my mom's pool. So cool!
4. He started kindergarten at my school in August and adores it. He's almost a celebrity, because most of the staff has known him since he was a baby. He has the same awesome kindergarten teacher that McLain did.
5. He lost his first tooth two days after Christmas. The tooth fairy left him $5! Those first teeth are worth a lot.

Collin's Highlights: 
1. Collin celebrated his first birthday in April. It was crazy to think that my one year old baby would be a big brother in the fall. However, he did not seem overly concerned as he delicately ate his birthday cake by scraping the icing off with his thumb.
2. Collin learned to walk at the end of June. He was so incredibly proud of himself that he clapped every time he fell down.
3. Collin started talking a lot. He loves to yell "Maaaaaaamaaaaaa" and "Daaaaaaddddyyyyyyy.!" In the fall, he began putting two words together. His favorite thing to say is "Pweeeeeeaaaaassssseeee" (please) with his head on his shoulder and with his sweet, signature smile.
4. Collin became a big brother with the birth of his sister whom he ADORES. He keeps up with her all day, calls her "our baby," and will give her her binky when she cries.
5. He cut six teeth in the month after his sister was born and can now chow down on anything. He prefers to steal Keaton's Doritos.

Amelia-Grace's Highlights: 
1. In March, we discovered #4 was on her way. She made her presence known as she nauseated me for the first trimester and forced me to waddle beginning at four months!
2. She was born on November 17th at 1:51 PM. We were all STUNNED that she weighed 9 pounds 7 ounces, which is much more than any of her brothers' birth weights. What a chunky monkey!
3. Our girl stole our heart and completed our family immediately. We don't know what we did before she was here, and we certainly don't know what we'd do now without her pink clad, sweet self! 
4. Amelia-Grace started smiling all the time right after Christmas. We love her sweet grin!
5. She started sleeping for a few hours at a time at night, such as from 11:00-4:00. Hopefully, this trend will continue!

I love my every growing family and experiencing all of my babies' milestones, little and big, with them. God blessed our family and me so much in 2012. I can't wait for what He has in store for us in 2013.

First Thanksgiving as a family of six!

Sweet Amelia-Grace

Halloween 2012

Mommy and her FOUR babies!

Mommy and McLain at Thanksgiving

Daddy and his two youngest babies

Last Halloween as a party of five

Mommy's boys at the fair

McLain is about to head to his first day of middle school.

Easter 2012

Collin's first birthday!

Surprise!

Getting ready to expand our family

Hot pink time for Mommy and daughter

Keaton's first day of kindergarten

Sneaky trick

The truth.

Love CFA cow appreciation day!

Easter 2012

My herd is ready!

Sweet girl

Sleeping princess

Getting ready to take our fourth baby home from the hospital.

Z-Z Zebra is ready for the Zoo Phonics parade!

First night home with four kiddos in the house!

Sweet big brother

Ready for her first Christmas

Ready to take baby sister home

Sweet Amelia-Grace

After six very long, stressful, anxious days past her due date, my sweet girl finally arrived on Saturday, November 17th at 1:51 PM. She was shockingly chubby and much bigger than any of her brothers at birth, weighing in at impressive 9 pounds 7 ounces and being 21 1/4 inches long. I'm so grateful she is here and have rarely put her down in the last month. Our family is truly blessed. And big. :) Welcome to our chaos, Carolyn Amelia-Grace Brooks. Mommy loves you!

P.S. When I have a spare hour I will write and post A-G's birth story. However, I have to find some free time first while running after my four kids. Wish me luck!

Due Date Torture

Today, is allegedly the day my #4 should arrive. Ha, ha to that. I'm not holding my breath. Like I told my students, a due date is a reasonable estimate of when the doctors think a baby will come. Too bad I'm not feeling very reasonable right now. :(

I think I got a little too excited on Friday when my midwife said that I was 3-4 centimeters and that the baby could arrive any time. Apparently, my daughter is really comfy. If nothing else, my midwife told me that I could be induced on the 18th if Miss A-G doesn't come on her own before then. At least that end is in sight.

The End Seems So Much Longer than the Beginning

How do five days (and I am simply hoping it's no more than five) seem so short when you are on a great vacation, but when it comes to your due date, it seems like FOR-E-VER?  Pregnancy is really a phenomenon. The first 36 weeks go by at a good rate, and then BAM! The last four weeks drag by, like you're a little kid waiting for Christmas. At this point, it's pure torture.

The nursery is now complete and completely adorable. :) We had to be careful in our color and theme choices as we're putting Collin and Amelia-Grace together, and I didn't want the room to be too girly or too boyish either. I think we did a good job with a combination of lavendar and sage green with lots of pastel polka dots. I'll post pictures later.

The hospital bags have now been packed and repacked. In Amelia-Grace's bag, I have her coming home dress (which my mom and I both wore), booties, and bonnet pressed and ready to be worn.  In my enormous bag, there is vending machine change, popcorn, and candy for late night consumption. Plus, my mom has all the Twilight movies for a vampire marathon packed in her's. Clearly, we are ready.

Dear little girl, Mommy can't breathe, roll over comfortably, or sleep without five to six potty breaks during the night. Please show your sweet self SOON! I might could be bribed to give you a pony if you do. :)

18 Days...and Counting

November 11th is just around the corner, and yet....it seems SO far away. I'm praying that my little girl is like McLain and Collin and decides to make her debut a few days early. Am I  ready? No. The nursery is only about 60% finished. I've only washed half of her (EXTENSIVE) wardrobe. My hospital bag is still on my "to do" list. However, I am so physically exhausted and emotionally/hormonally drained that I can't bear the thought of doing this much longer. Like my mother pointed out, all you really need is diapers, wipes, and some onesies. Check, check, and check to them! Hurry up, Amelia-Grace. Mama is ready to meet you!

It's a WHAT?

Wednesday proved to be a very hectic day. In the morning, the boys and I spent a lot of time at Walgreen's while I had my biometric screening completed. Then, we had to head back home for Collin's nap and lunch before we could go to my doctor's appointment. By this point, I was overwhelmed and feeling a lot of pressure about this baby's gender. I was certainly relieved that the great mystery was about to be over!

When we got to my OB/GYN's office, a small crew of my supporters sat with me in the waiting room, including Clay, my three boys, and my parents. When the ultrasound tech called my name, we all walked to the room together, laughing about how this baby would be boy #4 for sure. As everyone claimed a seat or a spot against the wall in the dark room, I crawled up on the table, had my belly smeared with warm gel, and the tech began surveying my very active fourth child. Almost immediately, Keaton asked, "Where is the penis?" I love that he was so ready to get down to business!

Only a minute or so had passed before the ultrasound tech scrolled between the baby's legs and paused for us to take a look. Much to my SHOCK, as well as the rest of the family's, there was NO penis. Baby #4 is a GIRL! I made the tech check several times, because I just knew that a certain anatomy part was simply hiding from our view. However, she assured me that was not the case. Oh. My. Stars. A future with pink???

After spending the rest of the afternoon in a cloud of disbelief, the boys, Clay, and I prepared to tell the rest of our families the big news. However, because their initial responses about boys #2 and #3 were less than completely enthusiastic, I decided it was time for a little, fun pay back. On each boys' chest I wrote a word in black marker. KP's said, "It's." Collin's said, "a." McLain's said, "boy!" The big boys were so excited to flash this sentence at dinner. On Clay's belly, I carefully wrote "Just kidding!" On my belly, I taped a pink and purple sign that read, "It's a girl!" Even though we were still in shock that the baby was actually a girl, we were very ready to trick the family. :)

When we got to Los Bravos,Clay and I carefully arranged the boys' seating, so that we were all in order. After a couple of minutes, I gave the boys the green light, and they stood up and yelled "It's-a-boy!" as they flashed the words on their chests. Everyone started laughing and cheering. After a brief pause, Clay pulled up his shirt, and then I flashed my belly. There was a big pause in our group as everyone processed what my belly said. To add to the family confusion and my delight, Keaton then yelled several times "No, it's a BOY!" Everyone was looking at me, and then the yelling of "Well, which one is it???"began. It was hilarious. I'm so glad we shared our news that way.

Needless to say, everyone is thrilled that this baby is a girl. Keaton is determined that her name shall be Pudding. While I appreciate the originality of his idea, I told him that that could be the baby's nickname, not her real name. Mommy and Daddy have other ideas.

Welcome to the crazy family Miss Amelia Grace Brooks. We can't wait to meet you!

Today is the BIG Day

At 2:00 this afternoon, we find out what baby #4 is. Although I'm pretty darn confident that this baby is another boy, I know there is a 50% chance that it's not. We shall see...today! :)