6 1/2 months old

 taken saturday night

this pic is about a month old

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. 

Over a year ago

I made a choice to try to change my diet and lose some weight.  I was shocked to see I posted this almost  a year ago.  WOW!!  That little adventure went NOWHERE fast.  However...in January, I went to the dr for my blood pressure check and it was bad news.  Higher blood pressure and borderline  prediabetic.  I cried as I drove away.  I didn't want to have these issues, let alone them getting worse.  I like food and my mt dew and my chocolate.  I basically decided I just didn't care.  I knew it was something I should address, but I just have too much other on my plate to have to worry about it.  I, flat out, just didn't want to deal with it.  A few days passed and I slowly started making very minute changes to our overrall diet.  Cutting back on my pop, switching off of beef to turkey.  Little things that still didn't show much change.  I was facing more medication and I just did NOT want that. 

 I hadn't been able to wear these jean in over 4 years and the shirt was given to me several months ago and I couldn't button it.  I wore the shirt to church sunday with a denim  skirt that I LOVE and now is almost too big, hadn't worn it in years either. :)

I haven't been able to wear this dress in 7-8 years

I began to work out in a gym, not really having any idea what to do, but I started in March.  Working out really changed my thought process in regards to what I put in my mouth, so I got serious about a diet.  I hate to say diet, because really it's a life change.  Something I can change and live with forever.  To date, I've lost 17 pounds.  I can't say I feel a lot better.  I'm still trying to balance eating enough with the work out I'm doing.  I also can't report a dramatic drop in blood pressure, but I'm betting my sugar number is better.  I've had a really bad illness in the month of march, a really sick girl, and a back injury to top it off.   I am committed to changing and I know it will be good!  I hope to have 60lbs off by December 1st.  That is my only weight loss goal for the moment.  Here is a recent photo.  I took them while trying on clothes in my closet, which was a lot of fun, but also rough, since my wardrobe is seriously depleted. with only 17lbs gone I'm amazed at all that is just too big now.  WOOT!!

A new blog? New cards

  Can I just say I am feeling DESPERATE to complete Christmas cards, but realistically, I just don't think it's going to happen....My niece came over Sunday evening and we took a short time in the craft room and I completed the card above and two scrapbook pages.  I made the mermaid with my cricut using the Paperlayerz cardstock by Megan Elizabeth that I purchased on black friday online.  The mermaid  is on the Once Upon A Princess cartridge...one of the two full content shape cart. I own.

Amanda just got a new sizzix embossing machine, the little purse one, and I got to play with it just long enough to emboss this blue cardstock with the butterflies.  I LOVE it.  I am desperately wanting an embossing machine.  I hand embossed the water on the mermaid card, but you can see the quality just isn't as good as the machine.  I LOVE butterflies and leaf/flower motifs.  The other butterfly paper is from K and company, I think my very FAVORITE company for cardstocks.    The sentiment strip is punched with a fiskars corner punch and since it's such a small piece, it bacically creates a secondary pattern.  My card is made for colorbox cardstock that I cut to standard A2 size. 

I was thinking about starting another blog just for my crafting projects.  I'm just not sure I could keep up with it.  Or want to keep up with it.  It would just be an easier way for people to see my work without combing through my blog, since I am pretty techy challenged, I'm sure I could link those to their own section, but I just don't know how to do that.  Even with help, I've not been able to fix my header on this blog.  LOL.

Love some feedback on the new blog idea...holla back!