Autumn Leaves

This is what the kids have been doing just about everyday after school. I pick up Bailey and Joy from the bus stop in it's into the leaf pile they all go, they play all the way till dinner time and we practically drag them in to eat!

They have been having so much fun raking and jumping and raking and jumping! It has been so fun for me to watch out the window while I make dinner. I even got a few good pictures of them to show everyone. They love to burrow down till they can hardly be seen! Bailey and Joy posed happily for me, Grace and Ethan on the other hand were way too silly to stop and give me a good picture smile!

Mommy's Quilt

So here is my quilt for Faith all completed now. I really love how it came out. My Mom made a couple little zipper bags that coordinate with the quilt and diaper bag that already match. I love this assemble, it's so pretty and girlish. I think I should have some matching burp rags soon too!

Grace's Quilting

Grace should not be left out, she also made a beautiful quilt, this one is for Faith though! My Mom used her machine to stitch "Made by Grace Cole with love for Faith Ball. It is so precious. Now, obviously Grace is a little more methodical about planning a pattern for her quilting than Ethan. She likes everything to match and look just so. She is so proud of this quilt and I know we will use it a lot. It's very snugly, with a flannel backing. Grace now kisses and hugs my belly on a daily basis, and talks to her baby sister frequently, she can hardly wait for her baby sister to arrive now. She can feel her kicking so hard and insists that this is a sign that she is ready to come out and see her.

Faith To Come

If I haven't personally told you yet, Faith Elizabeth Ball is to be born on December 26, via c-section. We're very excited obviously! I have heard it all I think now, everything from, "you'll never make it", to "could the dates be off?", and the best, "don't you go into labor now!". First of all, I make it every time - no problem, I know I'm huge, and try and stop me if I do! Facts about me and all three previous pregnancies- I have NEVER gone into labor, I have NEVER been wrong on the dates, all of my previous three babies have weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces and were taken two weeks early! The first was induced and then two c-sections, yes, I grow them big!

Now, all of that said, I have a colposcopy biopsy (it's yucky, look it up if you don't know what one is) on Thursday that could change things. So far I'm just waddlin around, hot, barefoot, and very pregnant, and come Friday I hope to be just the same! While several friends and family have been delivering their babies at even five weeks early, I thought there must be in the water! But, having visited a tiny delivery, I am DETERMINED to keep her in there! We want her good and fat! Pray for that! As my waist line now is measuring around well over what it was at any other baby's delivery, I feel confident in saying I think she's going to go over the 8 pound, 10 ounce mark!

Grace is insistent that even though I currently have birthed three blonds, with blue eyes, THIS little girl is going to have dark brown curly hair and big brown eyes! We'll see Grace (she did say it would be a girl the day she found out though)! She has big plans for this little sister, like, she wants her to move directly into HER room, not ours, and she will take care of her from there!

As the Braxton Hicks contractions have begun to plague every move I make, I wonder, why can't I just tell my body somehow, "no worries, this one's a c-section, no 'practice' necessary!". So, my countdown is definitely on now, as of Friday I will be six weeks away!

A side note, and not bragging at all, this was done in fear-I am completely done with the kids Christmas shopping, stockings and all, this is an all time record for me! I finished in fear (like I said) of bed rest or some such nuisance after Thursday's procedure. It makes me feel a little better (seriously, was I going to leave it up to Rob?), he's fantastic at spending money, but I get the deals, and spend a lot less!

Our house with six is about to be a little more full, and I am still amazed at the wisdom and dreams of my husband, even as a bachelor, buying such a big house, for just himself and Keith, with no prospect of a wife yet. Well, he is wise, and it took a few years, but dreams do come true, I have definitely learned that from him!

Several have questioned "is this the last one?", I have jokingly said that Zachary was the "last one", but here we are, but alas, this will be our last biological one. Sad as I am and not yet 30, the Lord may use us in further parenting endeavors yet, we'll see. Those who know me, know that I would welcome a dozen, but through great debate (between Rob and I) and a great amount of prayer, we're done, God has not provided for that right now.

Left to do? Collect diapers! I was hoping to have our stubborn Zachary potty trained by now, but to no avail! Two in diapers was not the plan, but God will provide, or potty train little "Zachary" Himself! Can I get an "Amen"?

Ethan's Quilt

I had previously posted of Ethan's talents in sewing, this time when he went to visit with my Mom for ten days, she taught him to quilt! I would call this a kind of cowboy pattern, mismatch and rugged! He learned how to piece a quilt on the sewing machine "almost all by himself"! He picked his fabrics and laid out his pattern and the result is incredible, and I'm not saying that just cause he my son! It's excellent work! My Mom put on the backing and machine quilted it, then she put his name in the corner and when he made it! I love it! It is just fantastic! I might mention that it originally started out for his baby sister, but because too precious to him to gift, and it proudly now is displayed on his bed instead, accept when someone comes over and Mommy has to show it to everyone!

Shopping for the Wedding Dresses!

This was FUN! My soon to be sister in law, Stacey, her mom, my mom, and myself got to take the little girls shopping for their dresses for the big day! They were buzzing with excitement and full of little girl giggles! Stacey was so gracious and let them pick out whatever they wanted to try on, and they had such a good time! There were dresses that came with miniature versions of their dresses just the right size for their American Girl dolls even, so which ones do you think they chose? They made us laugh so hard when Grace and Joy informed us that they thought they looked "fat" in the solid red dresses! Bailey, who is notoriously always going against the grain chose to stand out and chose a beautiful gown, but of course it too had a miniature dress to match! She immediately put the beautiful little dress on Meow, who had never looked better! While we were there, we had to find a little tiny dress for the coming attraction, Faith, who will also be attending the wedding! But you will have to wait to see that little dress! I will tell you that it has the sweetest little matching black, velvet, Mary Janes! I just realized that I didn't take a picture of the dress that Bailey actually chose, it's similar to the other cream colored one that she tried, but a little different, you'll have to wait to see that one too I guess! I was very happy with the success of our shopping experience, especially since we got them for about $35 a piece and only had to visit ONE store! The shoes on the other hand! Well, they have yet to be found, and Grace and Joy insisted that the cream colored heels we found that matched perfectly, were "old lady shoes" and they "would not" be wearing them! So the search goes on!

I should mention the girls excitement to gain an aunt! On the way to the store, they were discussing amongst themselves whether or not it was yet appropriate to call their soon to be aunt, "Aunt Stacey". They concluded that they should probably wait, and carried on with their conversations of how their hair should look and what the dresses might look like!

Pumpkin Patch

Well, I'm pretty sure we picked the yuckiest day of fall to visit the Pumpkin Patch this year! It was cloudy, spitting a bit and sooooo cold, I thought it may snow! Of course the kids didn't mind much and I was pleasant for quite awhile in my large, pregnant state, but the cold did get the best of us and run us off after a couple of hours, but not before the kids had, bounced on the moon walk, went down all the slides and climbed and jumped off of hay bales to their hearts content! The picture of the kids in the How Tall This Fall picture really depicts well what my time at the Pumpkin Patch was spent doing - CHASING ZACH!




He could not contain his excitement over all that was going on around him, not to mention the 100 of more other kids that were there that morning! Grace and Ethan were a bit more brave this year and went through the tunnel of hay, and the spooky tunnel! Zach went through the spooky tunnel but decided he'd wait to tackle the tunnel of hay another year. The hay pile was all of their favorite thing to do, they loved climbing as high as they could and jumping into the soft pile of hay below!

I thought Ethan's toothless grin made the perfect smile for a little scarecrow! Don't you agree? I had already found the best deal in town on big orange pumpkins, so we didn't pick any out at the patch this year. The kids agreed that our pumpkins were bigger and "oranger" than any of the ones in the field this year! We finished off our trip to the pumpkin patch with a warm bag of popcorn and Zach got a scare from the animated witch in the gift shop, I think he'd rather not meet her again!

Oz

While my Mom was in town this last visit we went to the Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego. I had forgotten how cute the main street in Wamego is. The kids enjoyed themselves, we took Ethan's friend Drew with us, to even it up a bit! They really seemed to like the Wicked Witch and he evil monkey, but I'm not so sure that the gift shop wasn't the girl's favorite part though! I gained a bit of an education myself at the museum, like I did not know that the ruby red slippers were orignally silver! Anyway, a quick trip down the yellow brick road, and we had a great time! Did I mention that if Tacos are your thing, you could visit Toto's Tacos, next door!