the {Big} Annoucement to the Girls

it felt like weeks since we'd found out we were having a baby. we'd talked in code around the girls. we'd told family and friends and made sure no one else's kids knew so they wouldn't tell ours. We'd hinted around about babies in tummies and what ifs.

and finally we were 8 weeks and ready to officially share the news.

except then we all got strep but paul, and we had to put everything on hold!

finally everyone was semi-well. we ordered a cookie cake online, and i strangely had butterflies in my stomach!

we told the girls we had a cookie cake to celebrate our surprise; and (on January 15th) they were waiting with bated breath...for the cookie cake, not so much the surprise news!  

addie wasn't quite as dramatic as this picture portrays, but she was dramatic.  we talked about that sometimes we have cakes to celebrate, and that's why we got them a cake: mommy was craving cookie cake to celebrate this wonderful news!

we announced that mommy has a baby in her tummy and that they would all be big sisters!!!

and addie looked me straight in the eye and said: no you don't! that a way to be argumentative. well, what you must know is that as we'd hinted around a few days before, i'd asked her what if mommy had a baby in her tummy? her response: you can't have a baby in your tummy mommy! it's too flat! well, thank you sweetie; but that's so far from the truth!

addie's next response: i do not love that! i want cookie cake!*

when we asked Anne Perry what she thought...she said she would change his diapers and snuggle it!

and audrey kate's response...cake, cake, cake! and then she finally said she would hold the baby!** ;0)

and just like that...they all found out they'd be big sisters!

...and we all ate cake to celebrate!

*i wasn't really sure exactly where addie stood on things. she started asking a few questions about the how and when the baby would get here. then i found out she'd announced in children's church that her mommy had a baby in her tummy! i asked her one day how we could maybe keep the playroom (our smaller 3rd bedroom) and still have a place for the baby to sleep. she said, i know mommy! the baby can sleep with me! ...and i knew she was excited to be a big sister again! 

**the little girls will crawl up next to me and ask, you feel ok mommy? you feel sick mommy? and then talk about the baby in my tummy as they rub it. as i was fixing audrey kate's bed today, i told her we had to take care of it so the new baby could sleep in it when we got her a new bunk bed. her response: brother sleep in my bed? well...

and they've all three really stepped up to the plate: from letting finn out so i don't have to get up to addie bringing me ice water one morning when i didnt think i was going to make it off the side of the tub after a shower. they've started to take their plates/bowls/cups to the sink (without being asked!) and putting pullups in the trash and hanging up pjs. they are certainly by no means perfect, but they've worked hard to love on mommy in more ways than just hugs and kisses these past few weeks!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13:13 

...and let me know how the new blog design looks on your computer. works on mine, but its the first time i've actually used blogger to format things and not html. happy tuesday!

Christmas with the Wamsteds

with a brand new baby, the flu, and families traveling from 3 different cities, we weren't sure if our christmas in atlanta was going to happen. but it did; and we all had a blast!

cousins, and grandpas,and grammas.  playing piano. playing ball. and just playing in general!

we got to meet baby simon.

and let me tell you...

how can you not fall in love with that sweet baby boy! sweet snuggles from gramma ...but this picture has to be one of my all time favorites...ever.  love

BIG News!

if you haven't heard, we'll have not one but three big sisters in August.

and yeah...it was a two days before Christmas surprise for all of us!
 
to read a little more detail about our surprise pregnancy among very planned pregnancies, click here.

Ah, Lord God!

It is you who have made the heavens and the earth 

by your great power and by your outstretched arm!

Nothing is too hard for you!  

Jeremiah 32:17

Our {Surprise} Baby

I've been writing this post in my head for weeks now. It was two days before Christmas. I'd been out of breath for days, but the dreaded flu or upper respiratory or sinus infection thankfully never set in. I finally decided to rule out being pregnant, and then see a doctor after Christmas to get to the bottom of this out of breath exhaustion.

And before i could set it down, it was positive.

Back up about a month: we'd revisited the ART clinic to track a natural cycle. That means blood work and ultrasounds and measuring follicles and watching levels. In a nutshell, my body was not doing one single thing it should be doing hormonally or pertaining to a "natural" cycle. Having a child on our own did not look promising or even possible. And the holidays were upon us, so we decided to abandon the idea for the time being. We didn't feel like God was done with our family; but we didn't feel Him leading us to another cycle of infertility drugs either.  Yet in my very limited thinking, i couldn't figure out the how He planned to do this.

If you know our history, you know all of our children have been conceived with fertility treatments involving injections, iui's, extensive monitoring, and a lot of prayer. We lost our first baby very early. Immediately after that, we got pregnant with Addie. And two years and six weeks after she was born, we welcomed the twins. Except the twins were really triplets, one being in my tube, that almost took my life and the little girl's lives. At that point, i was fortunate enough to only lose a baby we had no previous knowledge of and lose my left tube.

If you see a pattern here, it's that getting pregnant and events occurring during those pregnancies haven't been a walk in the park. But after those crazy incidences, the pregnancies have been full term and uneventful. God's hand has been on each and every one of them, and this is no different.

You remember that left tube I didnt have, well the first ultrasound to see this little munchkin showed that the egg came from my left ovary (i'll spare you the details of corpus lutiums and progesterone and natural cysts that proved this). TMI? No, just proving my point here. Apparently our bodies can compensate for something we're missing, and somehow the right tube gravitated over to the left ovary and allowed the egg to move down.

Compensate or not, that's God right there.

To be pregnant without fertility intervention: miracle #1.
To be pregnant with an egg from a tubeless ovary: miracle #2.
To be pregnant on a "natural cycle": miracle #3.
To be pregnant period: miracle #4.

and all I could say to my friend was i'm in awe. i'm in awe of these tiny blessings He's given our family. i'm in awe of His goodness. and i'm in awe of His ability to do the impossible...yet again. 

The morning of our very first ultrasound when my mind was filled with much doubt that the six pregnancy tests I'd taken over the last three days could possibly be telling the truth, this was the verse of the day in my Bible app. I'd never read this verse before. There is no doubt Who gave us this specific verse in His perfect timing.

Ah, Lord God!

It is you who have made the heavens and the earth 

by your great power and by your outstretched arm!

Nothing is too hard for you!  

Jeremiah 32:17

Christmas in Montgomery

Just a few pictures from Christmas Eve...

The {Best} Christmas Pageant Ever

our family has been attending the most wonderful little church. a few weeks before christmas, the pastors wife emailed me that she had found 3 extra angel costumes, thought of our girls, and wondered if they might want to be in the children's christmas program.

i think every child ages 2 to teenagers were in this sweet program; mary, joseph, shepherds and sheep, wisemen and stars, big angels and little angels, and our three little girls got to be angels too...all to tell the story of the birth of our Savior!

there was much discussion about this. the whole standing on stage. the whole being brave. what songs they'd sing. who would be there. that nana and rierie would both be there! and up until the point that all 3 climbed on stage in costume, i had no idea who would and would not do it!

they sang away in a manger

go tell it on the mountain

and might have gotten a tad overjoyful during joy to the world

there were sweet moments watching them interact together and watching them separately

and moments i'm so thankful we have now as memories

and after it was all over, and each child was carefully climbing down the steps and quietly filing to their parents, anne perry took off running and at the top of her lungs yelled to us...

"i did it! i did it! i did it!!!!!" 

and that was the best christmas pageant we could ever ask for!

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

Luke 2:10-14

Blasts from the Pasts

i was looking through some old videos; and since i haven't been able to blog recently, i figured i'd post a few of paul's and my favorites!

Addie 8/14/09 (17 months) Anne Perry 2011 (maybe 12-14 months) Audrey Kate 7/8/11 (14 months) All Three 1/26/11 (addie: almost 3; little girls: almost 8 months)

Cousins

we always try to get a picture of the cousins when we get together, sometimes with and sometimes without a grandparent. it started with addie and kira. then we added the twins. then john. now simon.

and then there were six...

sometimes the pictures go swimmingly. sometimes not so much. 

kira wasn't buying into the "we take pictures so we can remember the wonderful time we had with cousins like addie did." and that's ok.  addie wouldn't have either at that age! and then anne perry hit her head and that made everyone have to hit pause.
we finally got everyone on the couch, kira holding simon. and audrey kate jumped down and got all silly shy on us...and refused to show her face. by that point, addie was getting silly and simon started crying.

we still couldn't see audrey kate's face (mostly), but simon and kira were through.  

everyone got sad except for addie and john...
addie just got plain crazy! i certainly can't imagine why!
but john? oh john sat on the sofa through the whole thing...from beginning to end; and was still sitting there playing with his bucket after all was said and done. but no matter who smiles, who frowns, who won't show their face, who breaks down and bursts into tears, who acts crazy silly or who sits and plays sweetly...these are our memories and they're priceless!