Us, Lately

She has a name now: Finley Kate Bemis.
We can't wait to meet you, little one! You are loved so much already!!!

My baby girl turns 4 years old this month--in just about two weeks! I just can't believe it. Bret and I pride ourselves in that our children's minds are relatively naive still. They have some innocence left unlike most children their age these days. Scarlet may be turning 4 but, emotionally and mentally, she is still so young! She is quite emotional! Hm. I wonder where she gets that from?! :) She is still obessed with dolls ("babies" as she calls them) and the picture above is of her and her favorite doll, the first doll I ever bought her, "Caroline" who she finally named this past year. Today, she asked me for a sling for her "baby". Of course, I got on that ASAP and will post pictures as soon as it arrives! She's as girly as can be and while she no longer wants me to put her hair up in pig tails and bows, she loves headbands now which is fine with me--I can work with that! Tough as nails, she can still hang with the boys even though she's as feminine and prissy as ever! She loves her brothers!! She is so gentle and nurturing with Liam. She loves to rough around and wrestle with Jaxon. She adores her Daddy and thanks me often for giving her her coming baby sister who she's been asking for for about 2 years now. Four-years-old, I can hardly believe it. ~sniffle~

THIRTEEN years of prayer, tears, and a rough past 8 months for our marriage (someday, I'll fill you in) and my husband is giving his life to the Lord as of recently, as in the last month! God is so good. I am learning, TRULY coming to know what it means when God said He will fight FOR you. God's love for us has become so REAL to me. I have never known it like I know it now. I have come to know what it TRULY means to put my hope, faith, and trust in HIM and HIM ALONE. He is faithful and will never fail us and after a rough last year for Bret and I, I believe that NOW more than EVER. Not that our relationship will ever be perfect and we still have some hurdles to overcome, I am believing and praying for an incredible future ahead for us, for our family. During our nightly dinner, we are also doing devotionals together as a family. Bret reads them aloud. Some nights, I just sit back and visually take it all in. Our family. Praying together. Learning about God TOGETHER. It just doesn't get any better than this!!!

"Oh! How He loves us!!!"

I surrender. It's finally happened. I have finally surrendered to the notion of having a spotless (magazine cover!!) house. After years of stressing out about wanting to have that house that's always company ready, I have finally decided that it's just not worth the stress anymore! Therefore, if you show up unannounced, you'll need to know that there will most likely be dirty dishes in the sink, remnants of breakfast and lunch as well as sippy cups lying around, junk on the steps ready to be taken upstairs, Tatum's (our dog) food and water spilled from Liam's playing in it constantly, and then there's the clean AND dirty clothes scattered here and there and everywhere! Bret and I have decided instead to just LIVE in our house and clean it at night. Actually, it works out well. The hour after dinner, we clean the house as a family. Even Liam has his "jobs". Talk about perfect child-training time and we definately count this as quality time spent together as a family! ;) I have to say, I LOVE waking up to a clean house!

Their baaaaack! Matchbox cars, that is! Those of you who've known Jaxon for a while know how OBSESSED he was as a toddler with Matchbox cars! In the last two years, he moved on to Legos and has played with little more than that except for bugs which has been an on-going love of his for years. And now, it's Liam's turn! Jaxon found a huge Tupperware container of them in the garage and had Bret bring them in to the house. Well, Liam happened to stumble upon a few weeks ago and his love for "caws", as Jaxon used to call them, was born. Liam has taken up where Jaxon left off, carrying them everywhere--to bed, while we run errands, to church, around the house, etc.! I like to sit back and watch all 3 kids get their cars together and create "parking lots" and "traffic". I am finding "caws" in the bottom of the washing machine again. I love it.

Big brother is fun! Liam has recently discovered just how much fun being a brother and a wild little boy, can be! Within the last week, he has spent less and less time hovering around me, wanting to just hang out with me on the couch or have me hold him while he slowly wakes up after his naps. Instead, he has been hanging out with Jaxon and Bret more. That "Jaxon energy" is in full force and Liam has joined the party! He enjoys playing with Scarlet but, I've noticed that his maleness is kicking in and he's figuring it out that he belongs in the world of his Daddy and brother. It is bittersweet for me. He's even developing a little attitude of his own! The 2's are on the way for sure! He has every bit of temper that Jaxon had at that age! The spontaneous kisses and hugs and snuggling have come to a screeching halt for me but all of a sudden, he's all snuggly with his Daddy. I have to say, "Bret, tell him to give me a kiss!" Bret tells me not to let it hurt my feelings because there's another little girl on the way who will be like Scarlet, always wanting to hang out with her mama...I suppose I'm happy with the notion of that although, Liam will always be my sweet baby boy, no matter how big he gets! Unlike the other two who were quite fussy as babies, Liam has been a complete JOY from day one. I have never taken a day of his contentment and smiles for granted. He is beginning to grow up and it's happening so fast and I have to admit, it's a little sad for me as he has been such a blessing!

Desserts are back @ our house! Actually, food in general. After months and months of nausea and vomiting, my poor (hungry?!) family has their personal chef back on the job! I've missed cooking--really cooking--for my family. Bret did his best to compensate for my lack of meal prep. I can't believe I'm saying this but, I think that they all got sick of eating out! But, considering pouring milk and cereal turned my stomach, I was happy to know Bret had a la Burger King just down the street to help him supply meals! But, I'm back in the kitchen and enjoying every minute of it! I'm all about trying new recipes and I usually have some type of dessert to offer them after supper each night. Tonight, warm brownies and cold vanilla ice cream. Yuuuum.
Baby girl clothes are starting to show up in the Bemis house again! Actually, it was Bret who bought the first new clothes for Finley. He bought her 3 sleepers. Today, I went and found the matching hats and bibs and gowns to go with the sleepers. Those of you who know me well know that I'm just obsessed with having the "complete" outfits--matching everything! Baby Finley is partying daily in my belly! The kids and Bret are able to feel AND see her move now which is always fun for me because I love to see the excitement in the kids' eyes when they actually feel the baby move. We are starting to dig out the baby gear from our garage which we refer to as our "storage unit". The Braxton Hick's contractions are in full force now and my belly is growing bigger everyday. I hit the 20 week mark this weekend--mission almost completed!

Bret has been recovering from having his wisdom teeth taken out last Friday. We had hoped it would be a quick recovery but, he's been having some pain in the last few days and not feeling quite 100%. He returns for a checkup tommorow and hopefully, they'll figure out what's going on with him.