Introducing Isabelle

 Born August 22, 2011 at 10:35am in Marbella, Spain. She was 6 lbs, 14 oz and 19 inches long. The name "Isabelle" is the Spanish form of Elizabeth and means "God's Promise". Already she has blessed our lives and found a place in her brothers hearts.

The delivery went well. After having 4 c-secions in 4 different countries I have fun comparing the similarities and differences between each experience. This experience was great and although a bit harder than past, I can't complain regarding the care and "service" at the hospital. Our room was beautiful and the view something people would want for their living rooms. I think my anesthesiologist this time around was my favorite so far. He was always there to pat my cheeks and say something in Spanish, followed by a word or two of English, all meant to keep me calm and happy. He made sure that Joey got to see Isabelle right away and that they didn't take her to the nursery too quickly.

We are now back at the home of a friend where we will stay until we get the passport for little "Izzy". It is crazy to think that we are now a family of 6! And even crazier that God has blessed us with a little girl!! Now its time to recover and figure out what to do with all that pink :-)

The Past Few Weeks

Here are a few pictures from our past few weeks of vacation:

 This picture of my guys is one of my favorites. One of the fun parts of Ramadan is we get to watch satellite TV and catch up on some fun English shows.

 We got some swords that are also squirt guns that are great for the beach. Joey likes the way they make me look like a ninja sticking out of my backpack. Actually I am a ninja, but that's top secret.

 Lunch on the beach.

 One of our trips to the beach we ran into these special guys. A few kids got stung, but survived. Joey started going jellyfish hunting with the kids. They had a blast throwing rocks at them later so they wouldn't attack any more innocent children. boys.

 Breakfast of Champions: Petit Pans with Chocolate.

 Aren't they the cutest?! If this was a video you could hear Josiah making stuff up about bugs and animals. He's so good at making stuff up you want to believe whatever he tells you. Reminds me of someone else I know :-)

This is a shirt I made with the Silhouette SD Joey got me for my birthday. I love this machine, I'll have to write a real post about it someday, right now I'm still trying to figure out what all it does and having lots of fun doing it. My husband seriously is the best.

So that's a bit of what we've been up to on vacation. That and getting ready for #4. Its hard to believe that in a week we'll be sitting in a Spanish hospital holding our newest blessing - Lord willing. I'm feeling good, getting anxious from time to time, but mostly looking forward to meeting this little one. Thankfully this week should fly by :-)

Rama-cation

The beginning of the Muslim holy month, Ramadan, begins a month long vacation for us from construction and volunteer teams. There are still little things we do, lots of friends to visit with and opportunities to break the fast each night with neighbors and others. Mostly though we stay home and enjoy family time. It is one of my favorite times of year. 

To kick off the month we started with, breakfast in our man dresses.

Practicing letters on the internet. www.starfall.com is where its at.

I started cleaning and organizing various rooms that have been neglected over the past months. In the process I found this. A whole loaf of bread, hard and crusty. Notice the top has been eaten off of. Only one little person could be the culprit. William, the bread thief. He is always going into the kitchen (there are three to choose from around here) and grabbing any bread type item he can then proceeding to walk through the house eating what he wants and finally depositing said bread item wherever he is when he finishes. Like say the craft/toy room :-S

After making a big dent on the craft/toy room yesterday, I decided that today I should probably get ready for #4 who is set to arrive in less than 20 days!

A couple months ago I had turned one of our suitcases into a bassinet. I was able to use old foam we had lying around, some old sheets and then one of the many suitcases you collect when you travel. It turned out great and will be perfect for heading to Spain to actually have this kid. Everything folds inside with room for clothes and baby stuff. Who says you have to spend money on things for babies? Our garages and storage spaces are FULL of stuff for kids!

So now #4 has a spot all set out. Once we know what this kiddo is we can add the appropriate color scheme. 20 days, wow! Hard to believe. I am so thankful to have this Rama-cation to get ready for all the changes coming in about a month!

A Gift for #4

The boys are getting pretty excited about meeting Baby #4. I'm not sure if its the actual meeting of the baby or the fact that we get to take a "ferry boat" across to Spain in order to meet #4. Either way teaching them to be patient requires some creativity. So I decided they could help me make a gift that we could put together and give to #4.

I saw online ways to use egg cartons to make fancy little mobiles for babies. I thought the boys would like all the painting and putting together, but I didn't want it too complicated so I adjusted as I could. It was definitely a lesson in just going with it since they're so little and couldn't make things as perfectly as I might have. They did great and loved getting to help.

I started with left over egg cartons and cut them into individual squares. Then we set up the paints and the boys got to painting. 

 

I loved watching the boys paint. They were so serious and wanted it to look nice. They didn't really know what I was up to, but they were having fun. Check out the awesome tablecloth. It makes the pictures a bit hard to see, but I think it rocks. Sorry, couldn't resist.

The next day after the egg cartons had dried we used thumb tacks to poke holes in the top of each carton.

After the holes were poked I put a piece of yarn through each and attached a little bead so it wouldn't pull back through. 

Then I hung each carton from a hanger I had cut and painted. Sorry I forgot to take pictures, I'm not an official craft blogger you know :-) Once each one was hung from the hanger we had a mobile ready to hang above #4's bed. The boys tested it out and liked it so much I might make three more for each of them! 

Poor William wanted to participate so badly, but the proximity of craft table and couch was too great a risk. Maybe in a few years he can jump into our craft times.

Gardening & Other News

Lately I've been thinking in bullet points, as you can see by this post.

**We have a little garden on our roof. Little meaning, two tomato plants, a few herbs and various flower type things that grow well without water. I wanted to do more, but well I haven't always had the greenest thumb. I am feeling pretty inspired now though since I grew this:

**Auntie arrived from America. She's been with us now a week and we love having her. Not only is she a huge help with the kiddos, but they love her and love to spend time with her. She's already taught William the important skill of closed mouth kisses, instead of the previously super wet kisses we were receiving. I for one am grateful, wet kisses get old after a while.


**William has been taking up some light reading.

**Auntie also brought us the wii. We had left it back in the states and then decided it might be nice to have it. Now we're set for the month of Ramadan. Woo-Hoo!

**Only a month and a few days until we meet Baby #4. Everything is getting set in place. Just need to do a bit of blood work and finish all the random projects I've started. Hopefully I'll be able to show you some of them soon.

**Not much else happening in these parts. Just enjoying the summer and having volunteer teams. Any ideas for names for Baby #4? We've thrown a few around, but haven't landed anywhere specific, plus we love suggestions :-)

Life

Sometimes it is easy to get beat down by the poop explosions, the constant bickering, the never ending discipline and general "uhgs" of life. I've been having my moments recently, moments where I am completely exhausted and annoyed with how things are. So, I took some time this morning and went back over the past few months to remind myself of the joys, blessings and wonderful moments of my life. I looked through pictures and chose a few that remind me to be thankful. Not all encompassing by any means, and some totally random, but good ones that help me to change my attitude and praise the Lord.

  

Sometimes I just need to practice the discipline of being thankful and renew my joy. 

My life is truly blessed.

Summer

Its offical Summer is here. The boys all went and got hair cuts the other day to prove it.

If the haircuts didn't give it away then the sun, Popsicles and playing on the roof in the water would have been pretty good indicators.

Summer is fun. We are enjoying no school, lots and lots of sun and other fun things like ice cream. We haven't been to the beach too much yet, we've gotten spoiled in the past by going during Ramadan and having the entire place to ourselves. We need to head over there though before things get too crazy. The boys are especially enjoying getting to go to work with Daddy and watching more cartoons. 

Ah those were the days.

 So thats life for now. Here are a few pictures from breakfast this morning. I loved them and just had to share. 

Aren't they cute?!