Army of 4

......so little time! This week we are traveling to Alabama for Thanksgiving! WHOOHOO!! We get to travel with a 2 & 1/2 year old and a 1 month old, this should be interesting! LOL!! I'm sure it will go fine....says the Daddy! I have so much to do to get ready for this trip! Packing (this time for 2 kids!), laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc. etc. etc. Not to mention that some kid at church got Jeremiah sick last night! Question....why do parents bring their children to church coughing (like the croupy sound!) and their nose running uncontrollably?? WHY?? I ask! Do they think..'maybe no one else will catch this.' Or do they just not care that it might, just might infect another child?! Responsibility people!! That's all I ask!

Ok, now that my ranting is over! hahaha! It's time to get back to work!

One quick story! Jeremiah is a funny kid, and here's why. Last night he felt the need to take EVERY toy out of his toy box, and I mean EVERY toy! Here's the scenario, He finds a toy and says, "Mommy, I got a phone!! I talk to Opa! Hello Opa! Ok, bye!" and then throws it over his shoulder! "Mommy! I got Luigi!" (For those of you who may not know, Luigi is a character in the movie 'Cars') "Mommy! I got a Zebra!" "Mommy! I got Superman!" "Mommy! I got a ball!" Thus, throwing ALL the toys in the middle of the living room! It's hilarious to watch because he gets so excited over a small toy he hasn't seen in literally months! He only plays with the toy for 1/2 a second and then throws it behind him and keeps going. So, now, a project I have given myself on top of trying to get ready for the Alabama trip is to go through the toys and try to get rid of some that way it can be filled back up again at Christmas! LOL!! Off to toy sorting I go!

Well for those of you who don't know, Rachel Ann Bates joined our family on October 21st. She is beautiful and I can't stop looking at her. The Lord has blessed our family in so many ways! It's a short post, but I need to nap while both children are! And that doesn't happen often! :) Here are a couple of pics for you to enjoy!

Here we are the new Army of 4!

My Cuties! Jeremiah was a giarraffe and Rachel was a Panthers cheerleader for Halloween! (Daddy actaully got the Panthers outfit! It was hard, him being a Colts fan and all!!!)

Let me just start off by saying that I know it's been a while since I've written anything on here! Too much going on around here! So, I apologize to the few of you who actually read my blog!

Jeremiah has started WEE School and he LOVES it and so do I!! What Mom donesn't enjoy a few moments to clear her head with out hearing "Mommy, Mommy, MOMMY!!!!" and having to check every 5 seconds to see what he might be tearing up or getting into! I'm so glad that he is there, he really enjoys it! He was sick this past week with a cold and missed Tuesday and he cried and all he talked about was wanting to go to 'cool' (as he calls it)! It's comforting to know that he really enjoys going to school. He's even made a little buddy, whom he talks about just about every time I pick him up from school!

The real news is that only a couple of weeks left of this pregnancy!! It feels like FOR-EV-ER that I've been pregnant!! I'm not sure I like being pregnant what feels like all year! We are all ready for this baby girl to come into our arms! Jeremiah asked me one day and was actually looking around the house saying"Mommy, Where's baby sister?" How cute! I'm sure he'll learn soon where she is and why she's taking up so much of Mommy's time! :):) We put the infant seat in the car just in case we need it soon and now when Jeremiah gets in he says, "Baby Sister goes in there!" I think he's ready for his sister too!! We will try to post some pics once we get things settled after Baby Girl comes home, but just bear with us! Hopefully I won't be so slack and wait another 4 months before something gets posted on here!

I know it's been a while, so here's a little bit about what's been going on around here. This is for the 2 of you who actually read my pathetic little blog............IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!! That's right we are having a baby girl! The first granddaughter on both sides of our families! Think she'll be spoiled rotten? :) Now I get to go pick out cute little dresses and hairbows, etc! How fun! Oh, and I know the next question is going to be 'what is the name?'. Well.......you'll just have to wait till October to find out! We haven't quite decided on one yet, and even if we have, it's a secret!! :):)

Rich's company is AWESOME!! He loves it! And one thing that is great about it is that they get CHEAP tickets to things, and I mean CHEAP! We got Zoo tickets, SUPER CHEAP!! It was only $6 for all of us to get in!!!! (Not to mention he came home one day with tickets to the Discovery Place!! Whoohoo!) So needless to say, on Saturday we went to the Zoo in Columbia, SC! It was so stinking hot, but we all had a GREAT time! There was plenty of shade and we drank water like it was going out of style! Jeremiah had so much fun seeing all the animals in real life that we tell him about and that he sees in books! The Elephants, Giraffes, Turtles and Fishes were his favorite! We could have spent the whole day in the Aquarium! Of course he came out with a prize to remember his first Zoo trip! Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

I've added a poll to see what people think we are going to have. Boy or Girl? We have our ultrasound in a few weeks and I thought it would be fun to see what people think that we might have! Now, you only have a 50/50 chance, so pick wisely! Haha! :) We will let you know what the baby is once we have the ultrasound! And whomever guess right will get a huge pat on the back!

Well, this week starts the second week that Rich has been at his job! He loves it and they love him too!! They are very impressed with his speed on AutoCAD! Rich leaves early in the morning and comes home around 5:30-6. It's not too bad, other than the fact that I have no car!!!! Until the end of this month when Rich can go down to Alabama to get his Jeep. Therefore, I'm trying to find things to do with my very energetic almost 2 year old, with out pulling out my hair all day! So, if anyone has any ideas of what to do at home, I'd love to hear them! I can't wait till our neighborhood pool opens, we will be down there quite frequently this summer! It's amazing how something as little as having a car can impact your day to day life! As of now I am truly a Stay-At-Home Mom, and I mean stay at home!

Once again GOD IS SO GOOD!! RICH HAS A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And he starts Monday! We are soooooo excited! He will be working with a company that deals with the oil industry (I believe) and will be doing 3-D drawings! Rich got a call yesterday and the lady said that they wanted to skip the second interview and then asked when he could start! WOW!! We have been in prayer about a job for Rich for months, and our faithfulness has paid off! The Lord definitely has His Hand on our family! What a blessing! All we can do is give all the praise and glory to the Lord! Because of our trust in the Lord to provide all the things we needed the past few months, God has blessed us with a great job for Rich! Thank you to those who have been in prayer with us, we truly appreciate your faithfulness as well! 'Thank you Lord for this wonderful opportunity for Rich and our family!'

My sister-in-law sent this to me in an e-mail and rather than bore everyone with yet another forwarded e-mail, I thought I'd post it on my blog, so that if you want to read it you can. I thought it was just hilarious! Any of us with children (and any # of children) will understand, and since I'm going to have baby #2, we'll just see if it will come true! I hope you laugh as much as I did! Enjoy!



Birth Order of Children:
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing. 3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.

Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children

Swallowing Coins (a favorite):
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays 2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

You got it!! The Army of 3 will soon be the Army of 4!!!! We will be adding a new little Bates into our family sometime in October!! We are very excited!! One thing I'm not so excited about is the morning sickness, well for me, it's been ALL DAY sickness!! I don't remember being this sick when I was pregnant with Jeremiah, although my Mom and Rich say that I was! It's a yucky feeling!! My Mom tells me all the time, 'Just think about the end result, it will all be worth it then!' Yes, Mom, I agree, and there is no greater feeling than seeing your baby for the first time!! I must give some thanks for the WONDERFUL hubby that I have!! These past few days when I've seen more of my insides than I really ever wanted to, he's been a saint!! He takes care of Jeremiah (not to mention has changed EVERY poopy diaper since I've been pregnant!! I can't handle the smell or....yeah, you guessed it!!), does the dishes, laundry, etc. Poor guy, now he knows what it's like to be a stay-at-home mom!! haha!! He really has been great, and I really appreciate all that he's done for me!! I don't know who's more excited about the baby, me or him! :) Jeremiah is such a sweetheart! When I wake up in the mornings and am hunched over the trash can, he comes up to me and says, "Mommy, U OK??" Aaaww, isn't he just cute! I guess the next big challenge we will have with him is getting him adjusted to being a Big Brother! We tell him everyday, but I guess he won't understand until the baby gets here. Please keep us in your prayers as we venture through this journey. Please also continue to pray for my dear hubby, he still has not found a full time job (he looks and applies all day!!) . He was doing some contract work with a company in Matthews, however, they do not have enough work to keep him there full-time. So, in the mean time I am working my 2 part-time jobs to help make ends meet. Rich is also picking up a few hours working with my parents, so I know that will help. I know that God will provide for the needs of our family as He has shown me several times in the past! How Great Is Our God!

Jeremiah has graduated to a 'Big Boy Bed'!! He slept in it for the first time last night!! He did GREAT!!! We had converted his crib into a 'toddler bed' a few nights ago, and he did fine. We thought we'd go ahead and put together the bed I got at Pier 1 Kids when they went out of business! Speaking of which, those crazy people, they sold me bunk beds and we didn't get the top bunk!!! AAARRRGGG!!! It's labeled right on the beds--BUNK-- I contacted them to see what they can do, hey even if they can't do anything we got and awesome, really sweet bed for $40!!!!! Jeremiah layed right down in his bed last night and didn't try to get out. We explained to him that he wasn't to get out until Mommy and/or Daddy came to get him in the morning! And when we woke up this morning, he was standing there crying (like he always does). He didn't even try to get out of the bed, even thought he knows how!! I was worried about the whole transition thing, but he seems to be doing just fine! He loves it! Even our cat, Tig, takes naps on it! :) Here are some pictures we took of the bed and of him sleeping! Enjoy!




My New Big Boy Bed!!

Do you see any drool? I like my new pillow too!!

AAAWWW!! Poor Bacon got thrown to the end of the bed, and face down! Poor little guy! haha!! Have no fear Bacon, he still loves you! He won't leave the bed with out you!

Well I must say that I'm pretty excited!! I dropped off my form to my Church to enroll Jeremiah in W.E.E. School (Weekday Early Education) this week. I know that Jeremiah will be glad to go! He just sokes up any information, so I try and work with him on colors and alphabet, etc sometimes. Plus, he's kind of a bully to other kids, so maybe this will help him not to be so mean to other kids! We'll see about that one! :) I was a little confused when I went to drop off the form because I have never done this before. I should have just asked someone before hand, but no, me and my independence said 'I'm going to do it myself, I'll figure it out!'. I did figure out where I needed to go (thanks to the help of another Mom that showed up about 8:00!), but the funny part is that I got to the Church at like 7:30am or so!!! YES!! That's right, 7:30AM!!!!! I thought there would be this line of people waiting at the door, because I've heard stories of people waiting in line and even spending the night in the parking lot to register their kids! So, since it was open to the Church members first I thought I would show up early in order to beat the crowd!! And boy did I!!! There was NOBODY there at that time! I guess some people weren't as ambitious as me! HAHA!! So, since I was the second person to drop off the form that day, I know that Jeremiah has a spot! :) I had debated a long time on whether or not to even put Jeremiah in W.E.E School, but I asked the Lord to provide the money. We just didn't have the 'extra' money laying around for the registration fee, so I told the Lord that if He wanted Jeremiah to go school that I would trust Him for the money. This was on like Wednesday or Thursday and I had to have the money by Monday!!! Nothing is impossible with God!! Rich sold an online computer game over the weekend, so it came out to be enough for the registration fee!! What an Awesome God! Just another reminder that God will take care of us. It was a clear to me that God had answered my prayer! I'm so excited the Lord has provided a way for Jeremiah to be inriched in His love!! I can't wait until the fall to see how he will grow in His will! Thank you Lord for providing a way for Jeremiah to learn more about how awesome you are!

I know this post is a little late, but Rich IS HOME!!! We are so glad to have him home! Jeremiah is SOOO glad to see his Daddy everyday now! He cries if Rich goes outside and everything, is 'Daddy! Daddy!'. It's amazing how much you really count on your husband to help with things. While Rich was gone I did everything around the house AND take care of Jeremiah! (You stay-at-home Moms know what I mean!) But I must say that the hardest part of it all was not being able to pick up the phone and talk to Rich whenever I needed him. I would have gladly followed in that life, but God has other plans for our family! God brought Rich home to fulfill his other dream of drawing houses, and let me just say not just any house, we're talking 14,000 square feet, 1/2 million dollar (or more) houses like on Lake Norman!!!! God has blessed Rich with an amazing talent of drawing houses, and Rich is very excited to get back into this again! So, Rich has been job hunting since the day he got home, what a guy! We are both trusting that the Lord will bring him the job that is right for him. We have seen God's Mighty Hand over us the past couple of months, so we have no doubt that God will provide the right job for Rich! Please pray with us that a job will be found quickly!

Ok! So here's the "Bacon" story! When Rich came home at Christmas, he brought home this reindeer stuffed animal. Rich said that his Drill Sergeant gave them to anyone who had children, so that they could give it to them. So, below is the picture of Rich giving it to Jeremiah. Jeremiah, by all means would rather have a truck, so this reindeer quickly made it into the pile of toys to be played with later.

So, the story just doesn't end there!! Ever since Rich has gone back to Basic, Jeremiah has resurfaced this reindeer! He has been carrying it around with him, to and fro (I think only because Daddy gave it to him and he misses his Daddy! Most of his stuffed animals don't get this much attention!) So, this reindeer has graduated to being in the crib with him at night, now normally any animal that is in the crib when I lay him down at night ends up on the floor by morning, probably before I finish closing the door! So, in amazement the other morning, the reindeer was still in the crib! Before I picked him up he ran to get the reindeer and was saying 'Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" LOL!!! My child has named his reindeer Bacon!! I have no idea where he got that from, but it's just too funny!! So, we have a new member of the family so kindly named, Bacon!

This is Jeremiah and 'Bacon' watching the movie Cars (Thanks Grammy & Granddaddy!! It's his favorite movie!).

Now, as you can see 'Bacon' goes where Jeremiah goes now (even breakfast)! They are buds!! This is new for me because this is Jeremiah's first 'lovey'! Hopefully this stuffed animal will last a little while!

God is our refuge and strength.
A very pleasent help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved,
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations made and uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has wrought desolations in the earth;
He makes the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
"Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
-Psalm 46

I came acoss verse 10 ('cease striving and know that I am God') in an old journal from my college days. It was actually a verse that someone else had put in there. How encouraging! When I looked up the verse, I couldn't help but read the entire chapter! According to my study Bible the theme of this chapter is: 'God is always there to help, providing refuge, security and peace. God's power is complete and His ultimate victory is certain. He will not fail to rescue those who love Him.' WOW!! How powerful is that!! AMAZING!! As some of you may or may not know, Rich is being medically discharged from the Army for some heart reasons. This is a time of uncertainty in our lives. But how awesome to think that we (Rich, Jeremiah, and I) are right where God wants us! We don't know nor understand why God has brought this upon our family, but what we do know is that God will provide!! Isn't it just amazing how God comforts us! A random thought to open this journal, and look where God took me! Straight to His Word!!!!!!! If that's not comfort in time of need, I don't know what is! Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as I'm sure you are. A specifc prayer: for God to provide a job for Rich, and for patience and guidence with my child! Remember that we need to stop striving and trying ourselves for things to work out, but stop and know the He IS God and to let His Spirit comfort us! God is in control!

Ok, so please tell me that someone else out there remembers these huge-o cell phones! HAHAHA!!! I'm not kidding, this is no joke, that phone is REAL!!! It was one of the first flip cell phones from back in the day....yeah....at least 13 years ago!!! When my cousins were here over Christmas/New Years some how we got on the conversation of cell phones. I remembered that my Mom had an old one in the kitchen drawer! So I pulled it out! My 14 year old cousin Michele just cracked up! I don't know that she had ever really seen one in real life! So, in our funniness we decided to take pictures of the old 80's phone along side the 2000's phone! AMAZING how the times have changed in only a few short years!

Ok, so here's the funny part! Michele was laughing so hard she almost couldn't take the picture! The 80's phone almost didn't fit in the picture once it was all folded out! The picture below is my cousin Jay acting as if he was talking on the huge-o cell phone!! haha!

So, can't you just picture it. Here we are back in 1987, driving down the road (well for me, I'd be in the back seat watching my Mom) talking on the cell phone, thinking we are just 'all that' because we now have a 'flip phone' and not one of those 'bag phones'!! Yes! I said 'bag phones'! Hopefully I'm not the only one out there that remembers those! And, sadly (and hilarious) to admit my family had one of those too!!! So, I can hear you asking, 'Why does your Mom still have that phone?!' Well my answer to you would be, only for us to take it out every couple of years and reminisce about the 'good 'ol times'! And just think, one day our children will be doing the same thing, we will have kept what we thought was the coolest cell phone (and what we consider small, too), and they will have a pen for a phone!! Ok, so again I quote Larry the cable guy: "I don't care who you are, that's funny!"

I have come to realize that I am the Worlds Worst Blogger!! I had all these great intentions of updating the blog everyday! HAHAHA!!! I laugh at myself because it's been almost a month since my last post!!! Maybe I'm not cut out for this blogging thing! But, fear not my fellow blog readers, I will press on update our blog!!

This is at my parents house when all the family was there. There was a bunch of us playing games in the kitchen and Jeremiah kept getting into trouble in the living room so we locked him in the kitchen with us! He kept looking under the gate and standing on his tippy-toes to see down the hall and kept talking to those he could see! It was too cute!

Look at my handsome men! That's all I can say about this picture! :)

My Mom got her grands this little car for Christmas! It's not battery powered, it's like a 'Flinstone' car! The boys (Jeremiah and my nephew, Sammy) loved it! My Mom didn't realize that it had to be put together, so my Dad and brother had to put it together. On the box I think it said something like, "Only 67 pieces"!!!!! Yeah!!!! "I don't care who you are, that's funny!!!" (quoting Larry the cable guy).