Christmas

What a wonderful time of year this is to celebrate with family and friends! We love the traditions and all the holiday brings but more than anything we love WHAT we celebrate. We celebrate, God With Us, Emmanuel. We celebrate, God making a way for sinners like us to know him!

May you experience the love of family and friends and the fun of the season but I pray you will especially experience the peace of Christ. And may THAT peace fill you with joy not just during a few weeks this December but always.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Quote

Jotham was practicing his letters the other day and said:

"I want to send these in the mail so that people who are blind can see what they are writing."

10 Years

How Sweet It Is!

Christmas Music

Last year I posted some of our favorite Christmas music. This year we have added a few new ones to our collection.

Phil Wickman has a limited time only Christmas CD called Songs for Christmas that is really great. Has the best version of Little Drummer Boy I've heard and I love his version of the The First Noel.

Jill Philips and her husband Andrew Gullahorn have a great Christmas album called
Christmas. I was able to see them perform a few of these songs the other night and they were really sweet humble people. I bought the CD that night and have been loving it. I love their version of Baby, Its Cold Outside.

A few days ago Erik downloaded How Many Kings from Downhere. The title track and What Child Is This are both great!

And any posting on Christmas Music from me cannot be complete without once again recommending Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson. This CD is by far my favorite and the other I was able to see him perform the entire thing. This has honestly been a dream of mine. It sounds crazy to drive 3 hours to Richmond to see a 2 1/2 hour concert to drive 3 hours home but it was WELL worth it and I would do it again.

Would love to hear anyone else's favorites.

May we all worship the Savior who was born to die.

A Busy Fall

This blog seems to have been abandoned by me. Just for the sake of my own memory here is a short synopsis of our busy fall.

In Mid October my wonderful Mom & Dad took our family and my brother's family to Orlando. We had a wonderful time visiting the parks, enjoying the pool at our resort and mostly just time with family. Our kids LOVE their cousins- all of them, all the time, they cannot get enough of them!

Turns out the first ride we went on at Animal Kingdom, the Dinosaur Institute, scared the daylights out of my kids and they henceforth unable to go on any other ride! So Disney looked different than I expected but there is so much there, entertainment, parades, etc, that they still had a great time. We also went to Sea World, which we LOVED, Erik & I almost cried during the dolphin show (though I'm not sure he wants that info to get out- too bad). We also got to feed the dolphins which was highlight.

This fall we also found out that Titus is allergic to Eggs, Milk, Peanuts & Soy- not that he was actually eating any of that- but I was and he was becoming increasingly miserable by his horrible skin. I have since stopped nursing him and his skin is MUCH better. Not sure why we have such allergic babies but we trust that God has the best for them.

Mercia got hit in the face by the wood swing in our front yard, actually this was the second time this happened to her. She looks much better now but she has a pretty bad hematoma on her cheek- we are hoping that it doesn't calcify into a permanent lump.

So that is a brief synopsis of our fall. If you know us at all you know we LOVE Christmas and start celebrating early, really early, right after Halloween I start playing Christmas music. So we are in full swing Christmas mode already.

Just love her

She just has so much personality.

New Faith

As a family we love the Planet Earth Series. A series was just released called Life, last night we were watching it as a family. We happen to be watching the episode called Primates (yes there is an evolutionary tone). Mercia LOVES monkeys. She started saying, "I'm going to do that next time when I become a monkey." or "I'm going to eat that acorn when I become a ..." I always knew she was a heathen but I didn't know she was Hindu.

Fear

After our exciting day when the tree fell in our yard, Cia has developed an intense fear of a tree falling on her. This makes it difficult for her to play outside. She is okay if there is not wind and the tree aren't moving AND someone is outside with her BUT if the trees are moving at all she is not going.

So the other day when there was no wind and Erik and were working on a project outside she was walking across the backyard and an acorn fell about 40 feet right on her head- how funny is that!

School Days

We have started school again here at home. This year Karis is in first grade, Jotham is in kindergarten, Mercia is in distraction, Jedi is in the pack n play, and Lord willing Titus is sleeping.

We started unofficially a few weeks ago, just to sort of break me into the idea again. Yesterday was our first official day and the following is the text I sent Erik "I think we should send them to school because there is no way I can do it." That was at 10 am and we hadn't done a bit of school work yet- on our first day! But God gave grace and the day got better and today actually went well. I am desperately aware of how much I need the Lord to sustain me for each moment of the day and the amazing thing is he sustains me. As he says in his word, ""My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

These are sweet words to my soul!

Your Future...

Titus, your future bride awaits you...

Titus & Autumn

She may be a little older but she is darling!

Exciting Day

Last Friday we had a very exciting day, but I haven't had time to post about it. I'm only doing it now so that someday I can look back and say, "Wow, that was a crazy day."

I had been up with Titus in the middle of the night and was awakened by really loud thunder and lightening around 6 am. When I say loud, I mean really LOUD. I got up, jumped in the shower (something my grandmother told me never to do and I forgot), I could still hear the storm outside. I was finishing getting dressed, standing near a window, marveling at how loud and close the storm must be when thunder struck so loud I jumped. I thought that sounded like it hit my neighbor's house (thinking it was the house across the street). A few seconds later as I am walking downstairs I encounter Erik coming up the stairs, who was also startled by the noise. We are talking, amazed that the kids are still sleeping, when we hear, "Mommy???" Karis is awake, she dreamed that there was rain coming through the roof. A few minutes later our power goes out and then comes back on but wakes up the rest of the kids. We all listen to the storm for the next twenty minutes while our power goes on and off.

Shortly after the storm is over we notice a fire truck at my neighbor's house, she is a widow so I go over to make sure she is ok. She is, her firm alarms went off in the storm but everything is fine. We then notice the truck goes to my neighbor on the other side. Later in the morning I run into him outside and he tells me his house was stuck by lightening, it blew brick off the house traveled through the house and discharged on the fence between our houses AND 2 trees in his yard also got struck! Crazy!

BUT then...at around 5 pm, Erik calls me and asks if it is raining and tells me that there is a tornado warning for Damascus. I say, no it is fine here. Another friend texts me to say the same. Erik gets home and about 5 minutes later it starts getting really windy. We are all sitting in front of our large bow window watching it (something I'm sure you shouldn't do in a tornado). Erik is walking around and keeps looking out different windows. It is raining so hard that is basically a white-out. All of a sudden I look up and I see this HUGE, 50 foot tree, in our hard start failing across our backyard. I say, "Erik, a tree just fell." Then I realize that 50 foot tree just came down in our yard and a tornado hasn't even hit and if a tornado does hit we are serious trouble! I get a little excited at this point and say, "WE HAVE TO GO THE BASEMENT! GET TITUS (who was upstairs sleeping)." I grab Jedi out of his high chair in one hand and Cia out of her booster in the other, tell Jotham & Karis to go the basement (they do a great job obeying right away), Erik runs to get Titus and we all arrive in the basement.

A few minutes later the storm is over! But it was crazy. My poor neighbor whose house was struck by lightening had a tree fall on the power line to his house so during the storm things in his house starting smoking! What a day!

Dramatic Pause

I've been attempting to encourage the kids to be grateful and instead of just saying, "Jesus, help me to obey." to actually thank him for something... anything! So this morning I loved Jotham's prayer and the dramatic pause that was included.

"Father, thank you for my sisters. {Long Pause- probably coming from the surprise of thanking God for his sisters, which seemed unintentional.} Father, help me to be kind and love and protect my sisters. Amen."

Amen!

A Quote from a book I've been reading lately:

Mobility and a prime commitment to oneself are virtues in the job world; stablity, selflessness and a commitment to others are virtues in the family life. Qualities needed for career success also include efficiency, a controlling attitude, an orientation towards the future and an inclination towards perfectionism, while their virtual opposites - tolerance for mess and disorder, an ability to let go, an appreciation for the moment and an acceptance of difference and failure - are what is needed for successful parenting.

I love this, a "tolerance for mess and disorder." Oh, how I wish I had these qualities.

Tomato Rainbow

These are some of the tomatoes from our garden this year. We have a HUGE crop of a different variety. Including, Green Zebra (these are very yummy), White Queen (the large yellow one), Orange, Orange Cherry Tomatoes (I eat these like candy all day long), Cherry Tomatoes, and then lots of normal red ones. We are loving them! Thanks to Erik, our master gardener.

Dancing in the Minefields

I know I've mentioned him before but Andrew Peterson is BY FAR my favorite musician. He just came out with a new CD, Counting Stars, which I recommend and really more than anything I want you to watch this video AND enjoy dancing in the minefield with your love.

Lemonade Stand

When the kids were at my parents house in NJ Karis had a lemonade stand. Guess how much she made in just a few hours? $28 dollars!!! Granted this is the beach and she was on a street with a lot of foot traffic. She was only charging 25 cents a cup but most people gave her a dollar and wouldn't take change. One man gave her and Jotham each a dollar just for being cute. She did pay Jotham $2 for helping, she is a very generous employer.

Photo Shoot

Our great friend Jonalee took some photos of our family and our little man a few weeks ago. Check out her talent here.

We are Glad!

In an a surprising and amazing twist of events the doctor came into my room last night and said, "Guess what! The virual panel came back positive." This was a specific test a specialist from Georgetown wanted them to do. What this means is that he did not, after all, have bacterial menigitis, instead he had viral menigitis, which is far less serious, and did not require us to stay in the hospital for IV treatments any longer. The doctors were very surprised because they were all sure that it was bacterial.

So.... we are home! They took him off the IV last night (praise God we didn't have a central line put in) and monitored him overnight and this morning released us.

Psalm 126: 2-3

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.

I had been reading through these verses the last few days, trusting God's promises for us and now I can truly say, with shouts (and tears) of joy, "The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad!"

Thank you so much for praying for us. We were sustained only by the grace of God that we experienced through your prayers, your love and your care.
A few special thank yous:

• To Skye who literally picked up her own baby and walked out her door to come and care for our kids on Friday when we needed to go to the ER. We ALL love you and Dan and are so grateful to you.
• To my parents, who have our 4 oldest kids in NJ, thank you for taking them without question.
• To Esther, who probably texted with me 1,000 times over the past 5 days, visited me twice, made me food, brought me fruit, prayed for us and carried our burden, so grateful for you!
• There are so many others who prayed and cared for us who remain nameless here but your crowns are in heaven.

love my men

Loving my men

IVs

This is a photo of our little man's first IV in the ER. It is so sad to watch him get these put in. Yesterday afternoon, the one in the picture blew (meaning it wasn't able to be used anymore) so they had to put a new one in. The new seemed to make him really uncomfortable and by the middle of the night he was pretty inconsolable about it. It broke my heart but I was really glad that they pulled it out and put a new one it. He is now back to his quiet sweet self and is sleeping again.

At this point it seems like we will be here 7 to 14 days. They are pretty confident that it is bacterial meningitis (because of how high the white blood cell counts were) but they are waiting on one more culture to see if it a specific viral meningitis.

Thank you for your continued prayers and care for us.

100.9

This is the number that put Titus (& me) back in the hospital for a couple of days at least.

Yesterday morning when he woke up he felt warm and as the day went on it continued when I took his temp at 1 pm it was 100.7, which for a newborn is considered a fever. About 20 minutes later it had gone up to 100.9, I called our doctor and he told me to bring him to the ER. His temp here was the same and they began to do a "work-up" on him, urine sample, blood tests, spinal tap. Our poor boy was a trooper though it all. Mommy was a bit emotional and Daddy was our rock through it all.

Last night the spinal tap came back with high white blood cell indicating that there is an infection in his spinal colomn, which could mean menigitis. He seems to be responding well to the antibotics they have him on (no fever since the middle of the night).

Please pray for our little guy (& me). There is a chance that we could be here for 14 days. I'm living in the hope that it won't be that long.

Here he is...

We came home from the hospital last night. It is SO good to be home as a family. Loving our little man.

Birth Story: Titus

The story of Titus' birth starts with knowing that he was breech. For us this means attempting to do an External Version in the hopes of avoiding a c-section. This was scheduled for early Tuesday morning with the same doctor who successfully "turned" Jedi. I should also say that I was COMPLETELY dreading the version and everything else to with labor and delivery.

We arrived at the hospital and was brought back to the pre-op because if the version was not successful or was too distressing to me or the baby I would be brought immediately into the OR for a c-section. As I mentioned I was dreading every aspect of labor, even getting the IV in. So they put it in and I thought, "That wasn't so bad." Then they gave me fluids and put in the epidural, which I was also dreading, and I thought "That wasn't so bad." After the epidural my blood pressure went down and I needed some medicine to help. Then they gave me another drug to completely relax my uterus.

My version with Jedi was successful and quick BUT very painful so I was expecting a lot of pain but in God's kindness when the doctor starting working on my belly I couldn't feel it at all- truly amazing because she was really working on my belly. Unlike Jedi, it was not quick. After a few minutes with no movement they stopped to check the baby's heart rate, which was really low. The doctor looked at Erik and gave the, "This is not going to happen look." The nurses started prepping me for surgery, the OR was ready to take me and then Erik said, "Doctor can you give it one more try." She said, "Let's see how quickly the baby recovers." He did recover pretty quickly and she called in a PA to help work on my belly for try number 2. Again she started working on my belly and I couldn't feel it (praise God). After several minutes she got his head down, checked his heart rate which was OK BUT right next to head was his foot. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that position must have been!?! So now, his head is down but I still can't actually deliver him. The doctor then proceeded to stick her whole hand inside me and tried to push his foot out of the way, after a few minutes he pulled it up and the version was done! Amazing. There was a moment in there, can't exactly remember when that the doctor was asking for his heart rate and nobody seemed able to find it, after 10 seconds the doctor in a firm tone says, give me that (meaning the sonogram thing) and she found in right away, I think the other people just didn't know where to look BUT it was a pretty intense moment for Erik and I.

Next they broke my water and discovered he had passed the meconium, which can add complications later. They started pitocin and continued to monitor me in the pre-op room for another 20 minutes or so, trying to make sure we were both OK and stable and then they moved me over to labor and delivery. I think we got to L&D around 11:45 ish. I was around 3 cm and they would gradually increase the pitocin making labor harder and harder, at this point I did NOT say "Oh that wasn't too bad." I started saying, "I can't do this, I can't do this." When they checked me at around 2:50 I was 7 cm and then 10 minutes later I could feel his head ready to come out and I was 10 cm. I started pushing, and said again, "I can't do this!" But in God's kindness after 9 minutes of pushing he came out, covered in meconium (yuck). They had to have the NICU doctor there to check him and then they had to do "deep suction" out of his lungs and he was having a hard time clearing this lungs for about 45 minutes and I had to wait to feed him because of this but then he just started breathing fine and was great.

Through all of this I have come away again freshly reminded of God's faithfulness and kindness. In my lack of faith and in my complaining HE is faithful, HE never changes. As I was getting my very first bag of fluids in the pre-op room I listened to this song by Matt Redman, which encouraged my soul and brought my eyes upward:

How Great Is Your Faithfulness

Now unto the king who reigns over all,
and never changes or turns
Unfailing justice, unfading grace,
Whose promises remain,
Yes, Your promises remain.

The heavens ring, the saints all sing,
Great is your faithfulness
From age to age we will proclaim
Great is your faithfulness,
How great is your faithfulness. Yes

Everything changes, but your stay the same;
your word and kingdom endure
we lean on the promise of all that you are,
and trust forevermore
we will trust forevermore

From generation to generation
you never fail us oh God
Yesterday and today and tomorrow
until the day you return

Introducing...

Titus Ephraim
Born 6/29/2010 @ 3:09 PM

Coming in at a HUGE 9 lbs. 3 oz. and an average 20 inches.

In God's kindness the doctor was able to turn him into the right position (with some difficulty) and I was able to deliver him vaginally. I'm sure I will post his birth story at some point but right now we are resting well in the hospital.

Bathtime

Hey Buddy, bathtime for you is over, you are already wearing your pjs.

This is what happens when you try to put away the laundry while one kid is in the bath and the other is crawling around (ie. kid crawling takes a second bath and makes more laundry).

Cherry Picking

Karis' favorite fruit are cherries, she loves all fruit but she really loves cherries. Since she has a such a cheap maybe I should frugal mom she rarely gets them. But a local pick your own happen to have sweet cherries this year (which for our area is pretty rare) so a few Saturday's ago I branched out of my comfort zone and took 4 kids cherry picking.

We had a lot of fun picking A LOT of cherries and the result was many evenings of full bellies and also a sweet cherry pie. Karis was actually a GREAT picker, very helpful, unlike my other assistants who only ate cherries and complained about how hot it was.

On another note, I decided to buy a Cherry Pitter and this is now my favorite little kitchen gadget, guess I might have to start buying cherries after all.

Nesting

Quote:

"Nesting brings about some unique and seemingly irrational behaviors in pregnant women and all of them experience it differently."

Umm...yes

This week I have painted a room, pulled out all baby gear & clothes (or rather sent my husband into the attic to find them), washed them (along with the rest of the family laundry), made curtains, changed outlets and light switches, hung an screen on our awning, moved all of Jedi's things in Jotham's room, scrubbed the floor in Titus' newly painted room. I feel an uncontrollable urge to get things done. Am I being irrational?

The official date of delivery at this point is June 29th. Our little man is breech (this is the 3rd one who is) so the doctor will do an External Cephalic Version and if successful then I'll be induced right after, if not I'll have another c-section.

We all can't wait to meet our new little man.

Beach

Last week we went to the Jersey Shore (our favorite place to be) and had a very relaxing time enjoying time with each other and Erik's parents.

A few pictures from our time:

Annual photo with Grammer & PPaw, we love you thanks for having us!


Eating a "Pig" at Yum Yum's:


Getting ready to join the ranks of men in family who love to dig holes on the beach.

Climbing that dune to see the wonderful sea.

Do you know...

What is happening in this picture?

Do I?

Amazing Mom

Erik's parent's sent me a Mother's Day card from our kids, it was one of those singing cards and it sang something like, "Amazing Mom how great you are...."

Jotham opened it up, listened to it and with the greatest excitement said, "Mom it says A Lazy Mom..."

Happy Mother's Day to me.

Prodigal Daughter

This is so powerful.

Babies

There is a new documentary out called Babies. It follows 4 different babies from 4 different parts of the world from birth to age 1. I was really looking forward to seeing it. Tonight Erik planned to take me. Well..... viewer beware! Even though the movie is rated PG it contains pretty extensive non-sexual nudity. Mostly of the breastfeeding nature but this is not like the, "Oh that woman over there is feeding her child and I sort of can see something if I look down." kind of nudity. It is more the here is closeup of a breast (the entire thing) from every possible angle and here is another closeup of a breast from another angle.

Anyway, I leave you to your own convictions on this matter but just wanted to warn you in case you were as unaware of us. And though I don't really know what happens after about 15 minutes into the movie, I am going to make the assumption that the trend continues because in many cultures women breastfeed their children for a LONG time (as was shown in the sibling nursing scene).

My Favorite Place

and some of my favorite people...

Last week Erik was away at T4G and the morning he left it was so nice outside that I decided to pack up and head to the beach. The kids and I enjoyed beautiful weather and a great time with grandma and granddad.

Spring

Nearly Impossible...

...to get a good picture of four kids together all smiling and happy (not always the same thing) but wanted to share that I love my kids and all their very different personalities. We have...

...the enforcer (who rules with a stick)

...the allergy sufferer (who can barely open his eyes)

...the little mommy (who tries to make others stay in place)

...the sensitive one (who is scared of being put down outside)

Christ is Risen

A wonderful song that reminds of the AMAZING truth of the resurrection and all that it means for us. If you haven't heard this song I encourage you to listen to it on the youtube link I put below.

Christ is Risen (on the album Alive Again)
By Matt Maher

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
But fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us

Christ is rise from the dead
Tramling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grace

Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to non but heaven's will
No sheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night

O death where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
O God is not dead
He's Alive! He's Alive!

Keeping Me Humble

Yesterday Karis & I went to a baby shower for a dear friend. They had a time of people sharing either mothering advice or anything they remember about their mother. After I shared something the mom to be asked Karis if she had anything to share. Just to keep me humble, Karis shared, "She sure can get angry quick."

We all had a good laugh. She was embarrassed after but it was good for her to share this to humble me and remind me how much I need the Savior! This mothering thing is a gift from him and it is only in his strength that we can do anything.

Signs of Spring

I no longer have to do 4 loads of laundry every 3 days, this week I only had 5 loads total.

Great Wolf Lodge & Williamsburg

Earlier this weekend we took a mini family vacation (1 night) to Great Wolf Lodge & Colonial Williamsburg. We had a great time. The kids all loved Great Wolf Lodge, even Jotham who I thought would be too scared to do anything. He was riding waves and going down slides all by himself- amazing.


Karis loved walking around Colonial Williamsburg in the dress I made her (from an old sheet). She would run up to anyone in Colonial garb and ask them questions about what they did, etc. She learned to curtsy and say, "Good Day to you."


I enjoyed going to the candy shop and getting chocolate covered gummy bears, I know it sounds gross but they are so yummy! I especially loved being with the people I love the most.

Today I am loving...

... 3 kids playing outside

... 1 little boy (getting so big) watching from the window

... short sleeves on all

Oh Sweet Spring

Song for a Fifth Child

A wonderful and godly mother told me a verse of this poem in Starbucks the other day and I started crying right there.

Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake our your cloth
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullaby, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockabye lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Profound Math Truth

Me: Jotham, why are rectangles and squares different if they both have 4 sides?

Jotham: Because God made it to be that way.

Deep theological truth.

Happy Valentine's Day

Another...

You can't see much in this sonogram picture (it is a face shot) but for those of you waiting to hear. We are expecting another boy. His name will most likely Titus but we are still debating on a middle name. Some of the contenders are: Abraham, Ephraim, Awe, Blizzard, feel free to leave a comment and vote or suggest a few one.

Rule of Contentment

I remember reading years ago in the Art of Divine Contentment by Thomas Watson about the rules of contentment. One of them was something like:

Do not allow yourself to complain about anything, not even the weather.

For all those out there who are boo-hooing all our snow, I would recommend this book. In our home, we say, "Bring it on the SNOW!!!"

Enjoy your weather, it's the only weather you get.

This is Beautiful...

Birth Story take the time to read it.

snow buddies

This boy...

was made for this man...

oh, how they LOVE to be out in the snow.

Glorious & Mighty

Majesty, Your glory is shining
Brighter than the moon and the stars
Marveling, we honor and fear You
Above all gods

Glorious and mighty, You’re awesome In beauty
Joyful songs we raise
Glorious and mighty, You’re awesome in beauty
Greatly to be praised

Majesty, You fashioned the heavens
Your decrees can never be changed
Over all the plans of the nations
Your judgments reign

Majesty, we’ll sing with creation
When You come again in the clouds
Every knee will bow down and worship
The one true God

We are worshiping the beauty of his creation, his power & his might. 29 inches in our yard (at least)- what a wonderful thing!

If it keeps coming...

we are going to lose Mercia out here.

20 inches and counting

We need a yard stick to measure all the snow we are getting. We have at least 20 inches and it is still coming down HARD! Erik has been snow blowing for hours and he just told me that this is one of the happiest days of his life. What FUN!

Introducing...

I'm not telling... what do you think... boy or girl?