Itty Bitty Update: Second Trimester!

I just wanted to give a quick update on Little Itty Bitty. We got to see this sweet little bundle at 11 weeks on ultrasound because she was hiding at first when they tried to check for her heartrate. She wiggled and kicked the entire time. The girls were so excited to see her on the ultrasound and it really was the clearest ultrasound we have had with any of the girls. Bethany will see the pictures still and say "See Bitty" or "Bitty jumps"

          We were able to find out a little earlier with Bitty if he or she is coming this time. Right at 14 weeks, we found out that Little Itty Bitty will be a beautiful ballerina too! All the girls are excited for a little Little Sister. We are already hearing discussions between them about who gets to be "Bitty's Buddy." Bethany says "Bitty Best Friend" and Rachel says since she is the firstborn she will be Bitty's Buddy. Then Bekah chimes in too. Soon we had to remind them that everyone gets to be Bitty's Buddy!!
          With the second trimester, we have finally gotten the Bitty Baby bump too! The nausea is still bad unfortunately and the motion sickness too, but we continue to hope those will get better each week. I have still been doing IV fluids up through 14 weeks. This picture was last week at 14 weeks. I will reach 16 weeks next week and will be halfway there at 20 weeks in just 4 more weeks after that!
We are so thankful to reach the second trimester and continue to pray this little Itty Bitty lady will grow healthy and strong!

Second Trimester: 14 weeks!

For You formed my inward parts;You wove me in my mother’s womb.
 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them

Psalm 139:13-16

Happy 5th Birthday, Rebekah Faith

We have had a fun day celebrating Rebekah Faith and her 5th birthday today!

She had favorite food requests for both breakfast and lunch. We started with cinnamon rolls for breakfast and managed to fit 5 candles on that cinnamon roll.

Here she is celebrating with her sisters

She requested tacos for lunch. Her daddy handled getting those ready for her.

After lunch she wanted to go ahead and open her presents. She was a sweet girl and let her mom and dad get a few pictures of her to remember her turning 5 today.

 This is my very favorite!

 She looks so grown up in this one too!

Her other special request for the day was for us to go bowling as a family. I had signed them up for the Kids Bowl Free program and it finishes up this week but we were glad to be able to enjoy it for today.

She loved bowling. She scored more than her sisters but not quite as much as her daddy. Mommy took pictures. I loved how these big sisters helped little sister bowl.

They turned the lights on at 6 pm when we were not quite finished with our game. That about sent my motion sickness and nausea into overdrive but the girls thought it was fabulous!

They even had light patterns on the walls and floors. Bekah loved showing me she was 5 in the cool lights!

Family bowling picture

Bekah finished celebrating her special day with cupcakes and candles.

Bekah, we thank God for you. You are the sweet, sensitive caretaker of our family. You give the best hugs, snuggles and I love you's. We are so proud of how you have grown this past year. Here's to a fun new year of growing and just being you: starting kindergarten, learning to read, becoming a big sister again, and lots of new upcoming adventures together with our family this year. We love you, Rebekah Faith! Happy 5th Birthday!

Welcome, Itty Bitty

 Back in August, we were blessed and excited to find out that God is blessing our family with Baby 4. We were beginning to think God had plans for us to be a family of 5 but in His perfect plan and timing, He is making us a family of 6.

This was our first view of this little person almost a month ago now. I am just over 10 weeks now and we were able to hear his or her heartbeat earlier this week, which was the sweetest sound. He or she is due to arrive around April 19, 2017. This little person is know in our family for now as "Itty Bitty." Each sibling has gotten to nickname their younger sibling since we don't share his or her name until his or her arrival. So Rachel (Little One) picked Rebekah's nickname (Sponjas-no, we still don't know how she she came up with that one but it stuck till Bekah arrived) and Bekah picked up Bethany's nickname (Bouncy) and Bethany is calling this little one "Bitty".

 
So far, I have had some pretty severe nausea etc. as I did with all our other 3. I have been going to my doctor's office twice a week for IV fluids for now to help with the dehydration. We are praying much that the nausea will ease after the first trimester. Meanwhile, we take it day by day with the Lord's help. Please continue to pray for a healthy little Itty Bitty.
The girls are very excited about their sibling and we are thankful for the Lord's blessing us with another little blessing to love and raise for His honor and glory.

 ^"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. "- James 1:17

"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.  I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
 Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well"
 -Psalm 139:13-14

Princess Camp and Where the Page Meets the Stage

The Studio, where Rachel and Bekah dance has some great summer programs that our girls have enjoyed a lot this summer. First on their list this year, in June, was Princess Camp.
 Rachel did Princess Camp last year but Bekah wasn't old enough. She was really excited this year to be old enough to do Princess Camp also!

Here they are headed in on the first day of Princess Camp. You can see the excitement!

They were in different groups because of their ages but still had a blast with all their dance friends.

They made heart necklaces for their craft on Day 1.

They decided for the next day that they wanted to wear their Cinderella princess costumes since it was Princess camp.

Here they are with one of their teachers, Mrs. Kitty

Here they were with the big group before they divided into their smaller groups.

Little Sister wanted to be a part of things too. Here she is showing off her "besque" while we waited for her big sisters. Yes, that is her version of arabesque. She can't wait to dance too!

If you look very closely by Rachel for the little blue polka dotted dress, Bethany is in there too. She was invited by the big girls to come listen to the story of the days. She loves being with the big girls and thinks she is just as old as them already.

Here are Rachel and Bekah working on their princess crowns also.

These little princesses had a blast at Princess Camp and will probably start asking me any day now when it is time to sign up for next year's Princess Camp too.

Next on the summer schedule for Rachel was the creative writing workshop held at the Studio. It is called "Where the Page Meets the Stage" and is for 1st grade and up. It was held the same week as our VBS at church so she had some very fun and full days. Here she is with Mrs. Jessica, who is the director of The Studio.

During this workshop, the students are divided into groups and write short stories that will be performed as short ballets that will be performed by the Rockbridge Ballet in their upcoming company performances this fall. They also got to pick the music and costumes for their short ballet/story.

Here is Rachel during the icebreaker time with one of the older ballerinas.

Here she is with Ms. Audrey who taught her ballet class last year and will be her teacher again for one of her upcoming classes this year.

She received a booklet with all the stories compiled together at the end of the workshop.

 Here is a portion of her group's story and you can see her listed as an author of the story.

Rachel loves to write and illustrate on her own already so this was a great fit for her to learn more about writing and have the opportunity to write with a group as well. We are all very excited about seeing her group's story performed by the Rockbridge Ballet this fall.
Our girls have had a wonderful time at their summer workshops with The Studio this year and I can't believe we will be back to the start of a new dance year in less than a month! This summer is flying by!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Bethany Joy

 Bethany's actual birthday was on Wednesday. We celebrated with her birthday party on Sunday afternoon but though we had a full day of work and ministry, we wanted to do a few things to make her birthday day special too. Here she is on her last night as a 1 year old!

 She woke up on her birthday morning with birthday pancakes!

 This girl loves chips and salsa and Mexican food already so we took her to Don T's for her birthday lunch.

 Rockin her sister's sunglasses for lunch

 She does not like the Happy Birthday song-she cries when it is sung...every time! Maybe she will like it more next year!

 She wasn't so sure about the giant sombero at first either but then she decided she was a fan!

We had a lot of fun getting some 2 year old picture of this sweet girl!
 
 After supper, we decorated "hoo-hoo" (owl) cupcakes for this TWO year old!

 
 She is definitely into tearing off the gift wrap on her presents this year.

 

 She loves all kinds of all animals so she liked her new Noah's Ark and her puzzle.

 Her sisters liked her Noah's Ark too. Thankfully she didn't mind sharing.

 Happy 2nd Birthday, Bethany Joy! You are so full of smiles and love. You give the best hugs and make us laugh and smile too! You are such a Joy in our hearts and home! We love you! Happy Birthday, JoyBug!