Trick or Treat!

Cinderella and Snow White had lots of fun tonight trick or treating.  Audrey did not hesitate to grab handfuls of candy, I had to hold her back, and if it wasn't so cold they probably wouldn't have wanted to stop going from house to house.

 And they're off... leaving Mommy in the dust.  We got in a good workout climbing hills and lots of steps in this area where nothing is flat.

 We went to Miss Robin's house and the girls were thrilled to see her puppies who also were dressed up in costumes.

 Miss Robin's husband works with Michael and she has been such a blessing helping us out with the girls since we moved to PA.  She's our "on-call" person if the baby decides to come on his own and we need someone to stay with the girls. 

Humbled

I've found myself so humbled lately before my God who is orchestrating the events in our life so perfectly as only He can do and who is loving me through others.  I've been in tears several times lately at the number of sweet emails, facebook messages, and phone calls from many of you who are just checking in to see how we're doing.  I am so blessed to have such loving friends and family and can't thank the Lord enough for your prayers.  We're feeling them and greatly appreciate them!

Baby Update

My doctor's appointment this week went well, "everything looks good" as they say.  I've gained 25 pounds which is the maximum I wanted to gain so now I need to lay off the sweets and see if I can just maintain that for the next week.  :)  I see a different doctor at each doctor appointment but the consensus is that I'm 2-3 centimeters dilated and 50-80% effaced/thinned.  I've been that way now for 2 weeks so I think I'm just stuck there.  =)  Michael and I have been praying about this baby’s delivery and we have both felt very uneasy about waiting until November 11th to do a c-section if he hadn’t come by then on his own. At every doctor visit they remind me of the risks of having a vaginal birth after already having a c-section and I remind them that I’ve already had a successful one, however, the fact that the doctors are uncomfortable with it has really bothered Michael. Both the group of doctors I see here and the doctors I saw in West Virginia told me that they would not even allow me to try for a vaginal birth this time had I not already had a successful VBAC elsewhere.  Michael and I have talked a lot in the past few days about this and I called the doctor this morning and was able to schedule my c-section for next Thursday, November 4th at 7:45 a.m. if baby boy hasn’t come on his own yet. When I first talked to the office they said they were booked and had nothing available but then after they did some more checking, they were able to get me in on Thursday morning with the doctor I like the best. Praise the Lord!  This just confirms for me that we’re doing what we’re supposed to. I do not want to have another c-section but if it comes to that, I’ll know that’s how God’s planned it all along. I feel so much more at peace about all of this now which is another sign that we’ve done the right thing.  I don't ever want to take things into my own hands, I definitely want to follow the Lord's guidance, and I feel like we've done that with how this is all working out.  Little boy may come before next Thursday and be delivered vaginally which would be great but if not, he'll come into this world via c-section next Thursday morning.  I'm thankful the end is in sight and so grateful for all of you who are praying for us!

Welcome to our home!

Many of you have asked for pictures of our home and I've been putting it off but while I'm trying to busy myself as I wait for baby boy to arrive, I thought I'd go ahead and post some.  I didn't include pictures of the basement as I just recently posted those.  If you saw the pictures of the house when the previous owners lived in it (posted back in June), you'll quickly see that our decor is much more low key than theirs.  They didn't have children, we do, and we like to live a bit more simpler.  I love our house and praise the Lord for blessing us with a wonderful place to raise our family.  As we follow Him to the places He leads all over this country, I'm so thankful for the nice homes He's provided for us to live in.  Moving so many times has not been easy but He's never failed to lead us to the place that's perfect for us at each stage.  Enjoy! =)

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Hopscotch

The girls have been having a great time playing hopscotch in the driveway.  Michael drew them a hopscotch board with chalk and they've been hopping away.  What a great way to burn energy!

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Carving Pumpkins

This past weekend we were blessed with beautiful weather and we took advantage of it by carving our pumpkins outside on the picnic table.  Thankfully Daddy doesn't mind doing most of the work because Mommy can barely stand the smell of pumpkins.  Anna enjoyed scooping the guts out with a spoon but wouldn't use her hands.  Audrey wanted nothing to do with any of it but was very loving towards her Daddy who did the work for her.  :)

 Yes Anna, pumpkins stink!  And yes, Audrey's being Audrey when it comes to looking at the camera...  urrrr!

 Great job Daddy!!

Ready and Waiting

His room is done and waiting to greet him. As you can see, we're planning to name him Noah, Noah Michael, however, we've not signed any papers yet so that could still possibly change. We both love the name, the Biblical testimony behind it, and it's meaning (restful and peaceful - we can only hope!) but we don't want our little guy to have the same name as 500 million other boys especially with the last name of Smith. We were pretty set on it and then in the past 2 weeks we've heard of 2 other Noah's and so now I'm kinda doubtful. The girls love it, they actually were 100% set on it before we were. Choosing your child's name is so hard! It's definitely not as fun as it was when I was younger naming my baby dolls and changing their names every other week. =) We're continuing to pray that God gives us a clear answer on what this little one's name is supposed to be. We didn't name the girls until we saw them so this is early for us. Maybe we just won't be sure until we see this little guy.

 Michael picked out his bedding and the decorations.  He knew he wanted to do his room in airplanes but was very picky about which ones.  He was set on WW2 planes so we looked at several different bedding sets until we found the right one.  He then found a "fleet" of model planes at Hobby Lobby that he wanted to put in his room too.  The wall decals went with the bedding set and he and my brother put those up.  It was nice having him pick things out and make the decisions. 

Fall Festival

This past weekend Grandpa and Grandma Smith came for a visit and we went to a fall festival that was tons of fun.  The weather was beautiful, a bit chilly when the wind picked up, but we had plenty of sunshine.  The farm we went to is actually the place where they filmed the Green Giant commercial, you know, "ho ho ho green giant".  It's in a beautiful valley just 15 minutes from our house.  They had TONS of pumpkins, more than I've ever seen in my life all grown there on the farm along with lots of other produce including some delicious apples grown on their 2,000 apple trees.  The girls loved climbing on the big piles of pumpkins.

They had a petting zoo that was great fun for the girls although Anna was terrified at first. The animals of course were very friendly and I think they got a little too close to her in the beginning. Audrey on the other hand was in heaven playing with all the animals and feeding them a bottle. Right now she's not afraid of anything - scary! Thankfully Anna adjusted and enjoyed the animals too.

 

 The llama was so sweet just standing still letting the girls pet it.  It was even making a singing sound, kind of like a kitten purring, enjoying their attention which thrilled Anna that it was "talking" to her.

 Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for a fun time.  It is an awesome place that we plan to visit again especially to get some locally grown produce and homemade goods.  I can't imagine how many acres they have and how many workers they employ to keep up with it all. 

37 weeks

I feel huge and am hoping baby boy decides to come soon!  Carrying him has been so much harder on my body than carrying the girls was but I'm thankful we've made it this far after such a rough start and I can't wait to meet my little man.  I went to the doctor today and I'm dilated 2-3 centimenters and my body is starting to prepare for delivery.  He's laying head down and has definitely dropped.  The doctor said it could happen within the next week so we'll see.  I just pray for a healthy baby and easy delivery. =)

The Springhouse Pumpkin Patch

On Monday evening, Anna's school hosted a fun time at the pumpkin patch.  The girls each got a pumpkin, ice cream, and hayride all for $7.50 total.  What a great deal!  We had a good time browsing through the pumpkin patch, playing in the straw maze, riding on the hayride (what a bumpy ride for Mommy while 36 weeks pregnant!), and eating some yummy homemade ice cream.  Anna loved seeing her classmates there, especially her best bud Molly.  I wish we'd have had more time to do the other things they had available but it's getting dark so early now that we ran out of time.  Maybe we'll go back before the end of the month to enjoy the fun some more. 

Audrey playing

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I've been trying to capture Audrey on video a lot lately because I love going back and watching videos of Anna at this age.  It's so fun to watch them learn and listen to them talk.  It's amazing the things they pick up that you're not even aware of.  The volume isn't the greatest on this so it's probably hard to understand what she's saying.  She's taking her babies to church and giving each of them a turn in the stroller.  I guess Sarah wasn't staying in her seat so she took her out and gave her a spanking telling her that she needed to listen and obey.  Audrey's never heard those words before!  :) 

Yellow Hat Girls

Here's the Yellow Hat Girls (Anna, Audrey, and Addison - maybe they should be called the "A" Team) performing for us.  The girls made their hats at the Curious George exhibit at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum.  I meant to include this in my post below with the Schoolcrafts but forgot so here it is.  Enjoy the show!  :)  Anna and Audrey do "shows" like this all the time... it's a daily thing around here... I think they're bound for the music industry.  :)

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Unca Nate and Grandma Kathy

My brother, Nate, and my Mom came to visit recently and it was such a fun time although a short visit.  Mom surprised us by coming along and it was a wonderful surprise!  I love surprises!!

 Nate helped Michael decorate the baby's room and also made us some yummy chocolate chip cookies.

 Mom surprised Anna by meeting her at the bus.  I wish I could've gotten a picture of her face when she saw mom as she was getting off the bus - she was thrilled!

 Anna and Nate have always been the best of buds.  I didn't get many pictures of Audrey... she's just not into getting her picture taken like Anna always has been.  That can be frustrating for her picture loving mommy!  :)