Ezekiel Matthew Halcomb

 On his Daddy's birthday, 9/27/13 at 820pm, our son ushered into our world.  Weighing in at 8lbs 13oz  and 20 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful.  He nurses very well and was almost back to his birth weight on his one week weight check.  He has been a little jaundice, but even that is almost gone.  He LOVES having a bath and his hair washed and he LOVES sitting in the sun.  He is an excellent baby, sleeping pretty good at this point.  None of my girls liked baths and especially hated having their heads washed.

There is a special feeling about being an older more experienced Mom.  I can't really even describe what it feels like and how incredibly blessed i feel to be given this opportunity to be a new Mom again.

My labor was long, but so worth every minute.  I did get very sick after coming home and spent additional time in the hospital with preeclampsia post partum.  Never can I remember having pain in my head so bad.  Recovery is slow but sure and now we just need to find our new routine at home.

I'm in love all over again.

And we welcome....

a boy.  A boy will join our family.  It's so hard to believe at times.  We are ecstatic! The best news...they don't see any reason for further testing.  Everything looks perfect.  I continue to pray for a healthy healthy baby and a pregnancy with as little complication as possible.  God is good.

It's amazing

how your thoughts and mainly prayers change after you walk through a traumatic experience.  As I look back over my last 17 years, I think of each one of my pregnancies and how each of them were alike and how each of them were different.  Fast forward to having a child born that is seriously ill...walking through that and then embarking on yet another pregnancy.
 Having five girls, you can imagine with each pregnancy people are always asking if we are trying for a boy.  The answer is no.  I always had in the back of my mind that my third baby would be a boy and I simply couldn't believe it when the ultrasound tech told us she was a girl.  Funny right?  So here we are again, number 6 and the question is rolling in almost daily...are you trying/hoping for a boy? I'm a pretty black and white kinda girl.  It would be nuts for me to think that attempting to have another child would result in my "hope" for the opposite sex.  It's a 50/50 shot folks.
 I also believe I so took for granted having a healthy baby until I had an unhealthy one.  I would like to think that I prayed each time that the baby would be well and healthy, but in reality I'm not sure I did.  I know I always gave the standard, "no we're not trying for a boy, we just want a healthy baby" response to those inquiring minds.  I now find myself in prayer over every system in my baby's tiny, growing body.  I pray for a whole heart, healthy lungs...and so on and so on.  I have refused to allow myself to toil and fret over something being "wrong".  It would serve no purpose whatsoever.  I would be lying, however, if I did not confess that sometimes it crosses my mind.  I've been praying for an awesome problem free delivery, a less complicated pregnancy.  That's what I can do, that I KNOW will serve a purpose.
Just the thoughts of a crazy pregnant lady in this 13th week of new life inside.

Dear Blog

I'm sorry for the long time neglect...but life does get crazy in this house.  How bout a little update:

Hubs: Growing in the Lord by leaps and bounds.  Leading a marriage study group with a couple men.  Amazing. 

Daughter B: 16, driving, soon to be licensed.  Heading off to college in a year.  Where has the time gone?  I'm not sure who it will be harder on, me or Lillian.

Daughter R: 15, working hard and doing stellar school work.  Pushing my buttons hard and heavy at least once a month.

Daughter I: 13, rough year.  rough last two years actually.  Suffering from severe stomach pain and being blown off by multiple docs.  Course, me being me, I just keep pushing.  FINALLY, we have found out that the old gall bladder is totally nonfunctioning.  Surgery in the upcoming week or so.  Having a hard time adjusting to the changes she is going through. 

Daughter M: 11, happy go lucky.  not much rocking her world.  Really.

Daughter L: 6.  6 Glorious wonderful, blessed, busy, heart rendering years.  Check on her updates here

Me: My world just got a little sweeter as we will add another child to our family come October.  I was flying high when I found out I was pregnant and that lasted about a week or two, and then the ocean of nausea hit me and hasn't stopped yet.  I am so grateful, but at the moment, most miserable.  But- hey, that's just how it goes right?  It is all worth it...although, don't think I'm not praying for it to pass, because I totally am. 

Oh, and Magga May, spoiled rotten rat terrier, still my ever loyal companion.