One week old

Connor is one week old today! Wow, time has flown by so fast already! He is such a joy to our family, we are all getting along great so far, although I'm a bit worried about juggling three kids, housework and a dorm full of girls when George goes back to work! He has been such a huge help and keeps Andrew and Abby occupied and happy all day long! I am so thankful to have a month off for Christmas break, After all the fuss, I have to admitt, Connor was born at a the perfect time!

We are looking forward to Christmas! Hope all is well with all ya'll in the blogging world! Have a wonderful holiday season, I'll post some Christmas pictures as soon as possible!

Connor George Strachan

He's Here!! Our precious little angel has finally arrived! We have been home 4 days now and are all settling in great. Connor is a perfect baby, he eats about every 2 hours and goes back to sleep in the night just fine. When he's awake, he is happy and loves to just look around and listen to all the sounds of home. Andrew and Abby are doing wonderful with him, Andrew wants to hold him all the time and Abby loves to pat his head and make sure he has a pacy near by! George and I just feel so blessed, if I could sum up my life in one word it would be "complete". God has been so good to us.

It was so fun waiting to find out if Connor was a boy or girl, the anticipation during labor helped get me through. When he was born, his back was to us as the DR. was suctioning his nose and stuff and no one said if he was a boy or girl, it seemed like forever, although it was probably a second or two, then someone finally said he was a boy! It was all just so exciting!

I really wanted to try hard not to use an epidural and prayed about it for several months, in fact, I didn't really tell people how much of a spiritual issue it had become to me. I really believed that I could make it through with God's help. There were so many answered prayers along the way. My nurse was new to the hospital and come from a hospital where most moms chose not to use an epidual, so she was such a huge help to me. She talked to me a long time before the hard labor hit and kept me focused on what was to come. I went from 5-6cm to complete in about 30 minutes, so the Lord sped things up for me. It was a hard 30 minutes, but I did it! I remember at one point at the peak of a very intense contraction, I closed my eyes and saw the cross. The words running through my head were, "If he could do that, you can do this". I knew the Lord was whispering those words to my heart. I just kept telling myself that nothing is impossible with God's help. I'm not saying I'd recommend not using an epidural to everyone, modern medicine is a wonderful thing! But I'm glad I had the experience at least once!

We will keep you up to date as we can, our lives are in busy overdrive right now, but every mom loves bragging on their kids, so I'm sure I'll find time to share our blessings with you all.

IT'S TIME!!!!

The song "Be Still and Know That I Am God" has been running thru my mind since I last blogged, no wonder! God always knows what He is doing even when we start throwing temper tamtrums and getting impatient with His plan. All I can say now is, PRAISE THE LORD!!

My water broke at 4:45 this morning and we will head to the hospital in a bit. And today is my sweet Mema's birthday! It brings tears to my eyes to think of how God works. We saw her last night and she told me how she's been praying for the baby to be born on her birthday, and I know one thing for sure, God hears my Mema's prayers! She has prayed for me every single night since before I was born and I'm so excited that her prayers thru the years have been answered because I bet those prayers have saved me from alot of the junk of life! My mema is one of the most precious and influencial people in my life and I am just sooo excited to be able to cherish her memory in such a special way when she leaves this world. Now one of my most precious gifts in life will share this day with her. I love how the Lord works!

Please continue to pray for us during the labor and delivery, we will update you this evening with our little joy! Now, I need to go call my Mema!

This picture is of Mema, Andrew and Abby on this day last year- her birthday!

Stubborn Baby!!!

Ok, so I am officially 2 days over my due date and I'm getting impatient now!! This baby feels so much later to me than it really is because I've been expecting it to come early for about 3 weeks now! I have had contractions on and off for weeks, especially the last few days. We even went up to the hospital early this morning because I thought they were close enough together that they might admitt me and help move things along! No luck!! I had 2 contractions in the hour they monitored me!!

Dr. Citty said that I could come in Wednesday for him to break my water and I took the offer gladly at the time, now I'm having second thoughts and don't really know what to do! I'm just exhausted at this point, but maybe that's selfish. Part of me thinks I should just be patient and let God and this baby decide what is best, but the other part of me is going nuts! I have been praying every night that my water will break on it's own like with the other two kids so then at least I'd know I was really in labor!

I guess I'll keep you posted on whether or not we went in on Wednesday. I've got some praying to do between now and then!

Love you all,
Donna and Connor or Kaylee (stubborn baby #3!)

The Countdown Continues!

Well, we are 2 weeks away and still no baby! I guess this baby has it's own ideas! Maybe my prayers really are working and since this child isn't entering the world with gusto before it's expected like my other 2, it will be quiet, easy going and laid back! Ha, we'll see!

Dr. Citty plans to see me on Tuesday and said he would talk about inducing me this week if I was interested. George and I have talked about it and I think we are going to wait. God and this baby have their own plan, I better stick to that! I know it sounds weird, but I sort of want to spend as much quality time with the other 2 kiddos before thier world gets turned upside down. They both woke up in our bedroom this morning, Andrew camped out in his sleeping bag on the floor last night and Abby snuck in this morning and slept with me after George went to work. I guess they know some changes are about to take place in thier little lives. I pray everyday that I have what it takes to be a good mother of 3 kids. I want to give absolutely every ounce of energy and love I have to my family and I want them to know it and feel it!

Well, I guess in the next couple of days we'll be posting pictures of the new addition! Stay tuned!

Our family before baby #3

New Baby Count Down!!

Well, it's almost time for our new baby!! I am three weeks away from my due date- Dec. 9. Abby was 3 weeks early and Andrew was 2 weeks early, so really, anytime now for this one! Now watch, I'll probably go over the due date and be late! I have definitely been "nesting" because I was frantic to clean out the kid's closets and make room for baby number 3 this week! I washed all the generic baby clothes (which isn't much) and put it away and I've packed both my and the baby's bag for the hospital. I have a few more little things to get, but pretty much, we're all just waiting! I would really rather NOT go into labor while eating Thanksgiving turkey, so before or after next Thursday would be great! I don't want to miss all that good food and we all know what natzies the nurses can be about eating while in labor!
Part of me still can't believe we're having another baby! I really am starting to get excited now and less anxious. I've prayed so much that this baby will be as easy going as possible and sleep good, and that Abby Rose will adjust ok with not being the baby anymore. She is hard core in the middle of the 2 year old independance stuff and I just really pray she will not feel neglected or jealous. I know God will take good care of us. Sweet Andrew will be such a big help, I am seeing more and more that he really does have a heart of gold, he is so thoughtful of others and is almost always willing to help. I can't wait to see what personality this new baby has! We have 2 precious children now, with very different personalities and it's hard to imagine a different personality in the mix!
I'ts going to be real fun to see if this baby is a boy or girl, the excitement is really building now, so stay tuned, I promise to post our news just as soon as possible! Love to all, and keep praying for us during this time!

Pumpkin Patch

Well, I just had to share a couple more pictures of the cutest kids in the world! We went to the pumkin patch on Monday with our playgroup here in Searcy and we all had a blast. We went on a hayride, the kids picked thier own pumpkins and we had a picnic with our friends. We are so blessed to be surrounded with friends and families that are so special to our hearts. God is so good to us.

Soccer Game

I finally talked my tight (money conservative husband sounds better) into getting a non-ghetto camera! We picked it up about an hour before Andrew's soccer game on Saturday. I took some video, but I'm not sure how to share that yet on the blog, but I hope you enjoy the picture. I didn't get any close ups, I'll try to next time. But I just love this picture of George talking to the boys before the game. He is so sweet to them. I didn't get a great response from George however when I told him he was a "sweet" coach. I guess "cool", "awesome" or even "tough" would have siuted his fancy better! But it's true anyway. He is so kind and patient with the boys and they all really like him a lot. Andrew is doing much better at hustling and paying attention to the ball, he makes us both pretty proud.
I couldn't be more blessed to have the precious family God has given me. I wonder every single day why I'm so lucky and blessed. George really couldn't be a better dad if he tried. He reminds me so much of my own daddy and how loved I felt growing up as a child. I get chocked up thinking about it and feel such assurance and peace about my own precious babies feeling the same security and love from their father. George paints a perfect picture of God to his children as a loving, devoted father. I know that thier little spiritual lives are already flourishing because they will be able to understand the unconditional love God has for them someday, because of their relationship with their earthly daddy. He gives every ounce of energy he has left over after a busy day at work to our kids and they appreciate it so much- so do I!!
I can't help but recall my favorite passage in the bible in Jeremiah and how God has such special plans for our lives, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans of hope for our future. I recall a time in my life when I never believed I could have a life this good. I thought I had messed up too much, I thought I had thrown away any hope of a promising future. God picked George and I both up from the traps of Satan many years ago and led us straight to each other. I couldn't ask for a Godlier man for a husband either! Praise the Lord, I know how unconditional His love really is- I've experienced it first hand!! And now I get to watch my own husband reflect the same love toward his children.
Wow, I got deeper than I intended to about a silly soccer game!!
Love to all, donna

Another Try!

Ok, I never said I would be good at this thing! Ya'll all know how I hate to sit down and focus very long on anything!! Thanks for the sweet comments though (mostly!) Well, ya'll can forget pictures for a while because our camera is once again ghetto-like everything else the kids get a hold of. Anyway, maybe I'll talk George into getting a new one so we can actually enjoy taking pictures again!

Well, I'm sure you all know by now that I definitely didn't find out about the sex of this new baby! Ha- not one person thought I could really do it! Just about 9 more weeks to go and we will be a family of 3! Wow, I'm not sure I'm totally ready for it yet, but I guess I'd better gear up pretty fast! People have 3 kids all the time, I don't know what I'm so worried about, I guess I'm just afraid I don't have enough energy to go around so many different ways. I know God must believe I have it in me! It is such a blessing to be in Searcy near so many precious friends that know me well!! I know I have several people to call on if I start to go nuts! Being on campus is so nice too, I don't have to worry about cabin fever, I can just pile everybody in the stroller and stroll around campus or go see George in the student center. I am very blessed!

Anyway, I need your help with coming up with a middle name for a girl, if that's what we're having! We have pretty much settled on Connor Douglas for a boy name (George came up with that, sounds very Scottish doesn't it?- I still think it has to be the name of some famous soccer player or something, but he promises he came up with it on his own!) We like Annalise for a girl, we may spell it differently too, but I can't think of a middle name that goes well with it. Give me some ideas, I'm thinking it needs to be only one syllable so her name doesn't sound like a paragraph.

When we can get our camera to download again, I'll send a picture of Andrew at his first soccer game, he looks super cute in his uniform, I can't say much about his first game other than that!! He basically collapsed and cried on the field when someone took the ball from him or interfered at all. But I have to say, that last week he was awesome! He even scored a goal and really hustled well to keep up. Praise the Lord, because the last couple of weeks around our house have been glum because George had decided he failed at making Andrew a good soccer player. It was about to drive me crazy, so I prayed he would make a goal last Saturday, and I promise, not 2 minutes after that prayer, he did!!! It has been peace on earth around here since then, Andrew and George have both been glowing with pride and I'm thankful for the smiles again!! Why are sports that important to guys, I mean, what's the big deal anyway?

Well, this is the first time I've ever done this, so don't get too excited about the results! I'm not sure what I'm doing yet. I thought I'd share a picture of the kid's birthday party we had last Sunday. It was a bit crazy with 27 kids present, but everyone seemed to have a fun time and it was definitely memorable.
We are so blessed to have so many friends here in Searcy, God has been so good to our family! I never thought I would ever stay in Searcy when I fininshed at Harding, but God had so many special plans and blessings in store for us here and I haven't regreted the decision we made to stay one bit!
I hope I can be a regular blogger, because I do seem to have lots to share that may be interesting to others! For some reason, drama finds me and I guess it can be quite funny at times if you look at it that way! Our lives are quite interesting and busy to say the least! My job as a dorm manager and mommy of 2 very active children (and one on the way) poses some crazy situations at times! I also help take care of my mema at Harding place and she can be quite hilarious when added to the mix of caos around here!
Maybe writing on a regular basis can be therapy for and old 30 year old that still feels like a teenager at heart! (Notice, I did't say that I still look like a teenager! -if only)
I hope I can share blessings and things I'm thankful for too as I take on this new adventure into the blogging world- that's all that matters most anyway isn't it?!