Quote of the Day

I actually have two favorite quotes from today!

"Our kids are like gases-- they're really good at spreading out and filling up a space." --Brad, the chemist, while cleaning up kids-toys-galore that were spread out everywhere.

"Mom, this food is good, but there's something really wrong with the taste of it." -- Evelyn, after being told that if she can't say something nice, she shouldn't say anything at all.

36 Weeks... Updated Photo

Thirty-six weeks? Is that all?

Before any of my pregnancies, I used to think that pregnant women were being just a bit dramatic. I mean, really, does a little extra weight in the tummy region really cause you to limp around like that? To move so slowly? To get out of breath just from standing up? Really??

But I've learned a good lesson in the past 5 years. I was way too quick to pass judgement based on something I had no personal experience in.

When I'm walking, I've developed quite a limpy waddle.

When I'm standing, my sense of balance is way off.

When I lay down, it's almost impossible to roll over or get back up. In fact, a few days ago, I had to enlist Brad's help in rolling over and getting back up. But when you look at this recent picture of me, how could you expect anything different?

Merry Christmas Picture

A few pictures we attempted tonight...

A Cut Above (The Shoulders)

Evelyn has always loved her long hair. In fact, the last time I trimmed it (3/4 inch off at the most!), she burst into tears because I cut it too short.

But the last 2 months or so, she's had a change of heart. She's been talking about donating her hair for people with cancer. And the past week, her desire has been quite intense. So on Saturday, we went together to get our hair majorly trimmed!

Here we are, just before walking out the door:


And here we are, after arriving back home:

She has commented several times about how cute she is, and how much she loves her new haircut. And I agree... she is adorable! I didn't know what I would think about the shorter 'do, but I love it!

We're ready to mail our ponytails off to Locks of Love, but had to get one last picture with our long locks. Evie's idea: "Let's pretend like they're beards, and we're old men." She did a much better job of acting-- even stroking the beard!-- than I did. What fun!

Celebrating Five Years of Evelyn!

Our sweet Evelyn turned 5 last week! Just like any kid her age, she's been looking forward to this day for months!

For her gift, we took her to a Build-A-Bear Workshop to select and create her very own stuffed animal! She chose an adorable and very soft bear, whom she named "Violet". (That's the name she's been hoping we'll name the baby if it's a girl. But since we haven't actually considered it, it's good that she has something with that name now!)

Evelyn's choice for a birthday dinner was grits, scrambled eggs and bacon! So we rolled with that, and put a birthday candle in her grits (since we wouldn't have cake until her party).

Every night now, Evelyn sleeps with Violet. (And all the other stuffed animals she already slept with before Violet! There's barely room for Evie on her own bed!!) She says Violet helps her to fall asleep sooo fast!

Over Thanksgiving, Truman took a tumble and got his first black eye. What a shiner! It's almost all disappeared now, but here's what left of it:

Now it's Party-Time for Evelyn! She was particular about a few things: What she wanted her cake to look like, and that she wanted a "Parade Party". Thankfully, I realized that our city Christmas parade was just a few days after her birthday. So we took the birthday celebration to our church office, downtown on the square, and all the little girls giggled and squealed and played there until the parade began. Then we went out to the street together, with glow-in-the-dark necklaces, to watch small-town Texas Christmas parade. It seemed like all the kiddos had fun!

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Here's a picture of her birthday cake. The one she had a particular plan for. These were her specific requests for a cake: heart-shaped, white inside, violet fondant, flowers on top. So my first attempt of icing an entire cake in fondant was for Evelyn. It worked out well for my first try. She helped me to mix the violet food gel into it, and we had fun trying to make it "marbled".

And lastly, to close out this long post.... here's a (late-night, post-birthday party) picture of me with my big baby belly. You'd think I was due next week instead of 6 weeks from now. Alas... I feel like I'm due next week, too! Four pregnancies in 5 years is taking an achy-breaky toll on my body. But Little Cuatro is healthy and active, and will be here to join our family soon. We're so thankful to the Lord for all of our precious children!

Happy 3rd Birthday, John!

John's 3rd birthday party was a blast! We went to the local fire station, and the kids got to climb in the trucks, spray the water hose, and go for a short ride in the fire truck. John was beside himself with excitement!!! He kept running around with a huge smile on his face. After all, he had been looking forward to this day for 3 long weeks!

It's awfully hard to resist the temptation of just biting into a big cake that looks like a fire truck. Yes, his friends were playing on the playground behind him. But the sugary red goodness had a strong pull on John.

Maybe too strong of a pull... he couldn't resist! Actually, my mom told him to act like he was going to take a bite out of the cake, and she would take a picture. I guess that was just too much like an open invitation. Or maybe he's no good at "acting", and he's just better at "doing". Either way, he got the first bite!

John loves the movie Cars, so this larger-than-life Lightning McQueen blanket from Faith and Felix was right up his alley!

Enjoying another Cars gift...

I don't know why these pictures uploaded in the wrong order (it's so frustrating!)... but here John is, licking the batter from his birthday cake. He's always eager to "help cook", and since he was the birthday boy, he got to lick the batter!

John was so excited to open this gift from Evelyn! She got him a BIG "Mr. The King" (yes, another car from the Cars movie). That face tells it all!

Brad's parents sent Michigan State shirts for all the kiddos. Evelyn and Truman put theirs on right away! At first, Truman was trying to dress himself and put the shirt on like pants. Needless to say, that wasn't working very well. And he was screaming his frustration! So he's a much happier camper now that it's where it belongs!

John and Evelyn have their first duel with the new swords Brad made for John's birthday. They're made out of foam (insulation for pipes) and duct tape, and the kids love them!

John's birthday was wonderful... even better than I expected. It's great to see him growing and maturing, and watching his personality develop. I love his creativity, his enthusiasm for life, his funny sense of humor, and the way he observes everything around him.

Happy Birthday, John-Boy. We're so glad you're part of our family! We wouldn't be complete without you!

First Halloween

Although all of our kids have been alive for previous Halloweens, this is the first time we've actually let them know anything about what is going on. Evelyn has always been so sensitive, that we've had to go to extra measures to protect her.

But this year we built up the costumes and trick-or-treating for weeks beforehand. By the time Halloween day got here, they were so excited they could hardly contain themselves! Costumes and candy and face-painting, OH MY!!!

We took them around the neighborhood when it was still light out (before the spooky things started to make their rounds!), and they were beyond adorable as they ran from house to house. At the first 3 houses, no one was home... but the kids were still having so much fun running around in costumes that Evelyn was prompted to say, "This is a hundred-thousand-FUN!"

Sweet Birthday Prayer

Today is the last day that our John will be two. Tomorrow he wakes up a 3-year-old! So tonight when I was tucking the kids in bed (Brad is gone teaching the youth group at church), Evelyn and I each prayed a special prayer for John. Here is her prayer:

"Dear Lord, thank you for John that he is going to be three tomorrow. It is a special day and thank you for John. And please help John to grow up to be a good man and love you and find a beautiful lady and marry her. And her and John will both have hearts that love you. Amen."

I think that is just precious! Brad and I don't pray for their future spouses in front of them, so she wasn't praying any kind of prayer she's ever heard from us before. It's so beautiful to hear and see the things that come from the hearts and mouths of our kids.

"Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." --Matthew 12:34

Fuqua-Landry Wedding!

The wedding was beautiful!

All the people were beautiful. All the tables were beautiful. All the food was beautiful. All the decorations were beautiful. Even the hay bales were beautiful! The day was a bit chilly and overcast, which isn't normal for this time of year in Navasota. But thankfully, the rain, which had been coming down for 7 days beforehand, stopped for the wedding day. So the wedding got to be outside as planned.

So let's start at the beginning of the day. I made the bride's cake that morning, which was a real privilege for me. I feel so honored that Faith asked me to do it! She chose carrot cake with cream-cheese icing (a family favorite!). This was by far the biggest and most challenging cake I've done yet. And it took me many, many hours to do it. Here it is, just after completion. You'll see another picture later, when it's set out on the table for guests.



All the serving and seating tables are set up and ready to go before noon (the wedding started at 6. Or maybe 6:30. I've already forgotten!). I love that this first picture shows you how windy it is. Look at those table cloths just a-blowin'!

Here you can see the hay bales being set up. These were the seats for guests at the wedding ceremony. When the ceremony was over, everyone just stood up, went to get food, and then find a place to sit and eat at one of the tables.

John found a tractor to play with before the wedding. He's all spiffed up and ready to go as the ring-bearer! (Or, as he has been referring to himself, the "pillow boy".)

This was the dessert table. A huge 11-foot wooden table that my parents just had custom-made to accomodate their growing familiy. It was set up in the middle of the grassy area, as the center of attention. Can you imagine an 11-foot table filled with all sorts of desserts (not just the bride's and groom's cakes!) for you to choose from? People kept coming back all night for "one more cookie" or slice of cake. My sister-in-law, Amy, made the beautiful flower arrangement in the center of the table. It think it was perfect for that location! She did a great job! And of course, there's the cake I made, right there in the foreground.

Here is the one and only picture from my camera of Faith and Felix (and it's not very good quality!). I'm hoping that other folks who took pictures with their cameras will send me some pictures, so I can increase my storehouse of pictures from the wedding! Even though the quality is lacking in this picture, the couple is still stunning! Look at those two... don't they look so happy and perfect together?

This is my favorite picture of all the pictures from my camera. Faith and Dad, just before he walks her down the aisle. They both look so great. And Faith is the MOST BEAUTIFUL bride I have ever seen. She was radiant and perfect! And so calm... not at all jittery like brides sometimes tend to be.

Here come the flower girl and "pillow boy"! (Notice how he's carrying the pillow. It was varying forms of a shield and weapon and swinging toy. Good thing I had the ring on my finger... no worries about it flying off and hitting guests in the head!) Evelyn relished her role as flower girl. She was smiling so beautifully the whole time, and was so honored to play this "most important" role in the wedding. Just the week before, she told me, "I'll never forget when Aunt Faith called me and asked me to be her flower girl!"

As we were waiting for Faith and Felix to leave, Brad and I got a picture of the two of us together. It's not often that we get a picture together, so I try to post them when we do!

And here they are... Mr. and Mrs. Felix Landry are headed away! Congratulations, y'all! We love you!!!

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And now for some non-wedding updates:

-I am a little more than 6 months pregnant! We're all ready to meet Baby Cuatro in January!

-In the past 5 weeks, I have had strep throat, a bad cold, and now swine flu. Yep-- I tested positive for the H1N1 Type A influenza 3 days ago. It was awful, especially that first 1 1/2 days. Thankfully, my dear mom came up and she's helping (translate: completely taking care of) the kids and all of the household responsibilities. I'm so thankful for her! So now that the meds are taking effect I'm starting to feel alot better. But I'm still in isolation in my room. Which is why I'm updating the blog now!

-John is turning 3 in about 2 weeks! And I keep forgetting to write this, but he has been potty trained for a couple months now! Good job, John! (He still has a wet accident every few days or so, but I believe it's still considered potty trained even though that happens!)