Half-Term

Well, our half-term (no school) has not been as fun as we had planned since most everyone was sick and still is! We did venture out on Monday, so here are a few pictures of what's been happening this week. Warning: It's fairly boring.

We had booked a lane to go bowling (ten pin bowling as the say here) for 1 pence per person. Not bad! Here we are in our stylin' shoes. The girls were so happy to have bowling shoes, the last time we went they didn't give them any. (Remember we went bowling the week before Addison was born? I was trying to induce labor. Ha.)


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And as you can, tell Addison is not feeling well. I ended up at the doctor's office later that day.


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We had an early lunch at The Pancake House. YUM. I won't lie, I could have eaten this whole thing on my own, but I didn't. We all shared a ham and cheese pancake (crepe) and this Nutella and banana one.

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This part of city centre is new, just opened up. It's an indoor mall!!! There are a lot of empty stores but they say 30 shops will be moving in by Christmas. It was very nice. (See H&M? One of my favorite stores!)

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This store was cool, I didn't go in but I loved their old sewing machines on display.

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Christmas came early for the big girls. They got a new dollhouse! Since we will not be taking it to Texas, we let them have it early so they could get some good play time out of it. It was good timing since we've been home all week!

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I'm not sure what is going on here, but it looks like the Princesses have turned their backs on the Cars.

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And here is my sad baby, look at her skin! I could just cry. Her eczema is getting worse and I'm not sure what to do. I am going to try and get her in to the doctors' tomorrow or Monday. She is covered!

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She is in her bed, awake, right now. It's 10:30pm. I'm not sure why she is awake, but I went in and got her and sat on my bed for a few minutes and cuddled her. I just loved it because sometimes I feel like she gets lost in the chaos during the day and I love one-on-one time with her. I just snapped this sweet picture of her in my arms. Do she look one bit tired?!? I think not. Oh Lord, could be a long night!


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*We would greatly appreciate some prayers if you want to pray for us. Everyone (but me) has been ill and it's wearing us down. Plus, I'm upset about Addison's skin AND at her check-up this week she had dropped from the 98th percentile to the 75th and the health visitor was concerned. I was not initially upset because both the girls evened out around this age and were never big anyway. And, at almost 20 pounds and 8 months old I was thinking she was doing pretty good! Ha. But classic me, I get home and start worrying about it. Especially since she has not nursed or eaten well in a week because of her chest infection. We need the peace of God in our home this week. Thank you so much! (I know my mother-in-law is going to read this and be like what? I know, we haven't talked in a while and now Marc is sick, so maybe we can catch up this weekend!)

Freedom

It's been a weird week for me- lots of family illnesses and just "stuff" going on. I've also put a plan into place for losing some more weight and have stopped caffeine. I don't drink a lot, but I am cutting what I do drink. And my head is pounding as we speak, or I type. So, all of those combined has not made for a happy me.

I just saw this today and am beyond excited. This Bible study was the first one that I was really serious about and the one that has had the most profound impact on my life. (Believing God being the other!) I watched the promo video just now on the Lifeway site and was in tears. What is up? I have been thinking lately that I needed to revisit this study, so to see that it's been updated/changed a bit makes me so thrilled. I plan on getting the book when we get back to the states! (7.5 weeks) The one thing that has stuck in my mind over and over and over is when Beth Moore said to wallpaper our minds with the truth of God's word. That little piece of information changed my life and I'm forever grateful. I've used index cards since 1999 (on and off) and it truly does work! God's Word works y'all! I need to immerse myself in it right now.

That's all I really have to say.

On My Mind

Here are just a few things that are on my mind today:

*8 weeks until our Stateside

*Bummed about having to cancel our fun day out to a farm.

*Hoping everyone in my little family gets well soon!

*Instead of trying to sort out different pieces of my life right now, I fell on my
knees this morning begging for God's grace and mercy to flow over it all. I feel lighter and less anxious right now. Praise God!

*Wondering why I'm not motivated to do my Shred DVD or go to the gym. Even though it is good for me and I need to do it, I never want to. How do I break this? Am I alone in this?

*Addison's hoarse voice is really cute, but sad.

Eight Months

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Addison is now 8 months old and weighs around 20 pounds. (She has a check up this coming week so I am looking forward to see if she has gained or stayed the same!) She can roll all over the place and just started doing her inch-worm crawl. She can go from sitting to on her tummy. She still only has 2 bottom teeth. She can say "Dadadada", "Mamama" and "Bye-bye" and last night she said "Night-Night" clear as day! Well, it was more like "Nigh-Nigh" She is so funny and loves, loves, loves being in the same room as her big sisters! Which is where all the talking is coming from because the girls. never. stop. talking. My poor husband. She loves being outside, which is mainly walking the girls to school each day. She is so over her baby toys and would prefer anything in her sisters' rooms. (not good)

The girls have all been sick this week. It started with Cerys last weekend and one by one they caught it. The school said everyone is "dropping like flies." Lovely thought. Addison now has the worst of it, we've been to the doctor but there is not much that can be done. I'm hoping she is on the mend now, after several days of fever and a bad cough I'm ready for our sweet, happy baby girl back! The sweetest thing has been all her cuddles this week. She would prefer to be on the floor, not held or snuggled but since she's been sick she's been in my lap and her thumb in mouth. Which makes me happy and I get to squeeze her chubs.

*Funny story- a girl that I'm mentoring is a medical student here in Cardiff. She is doing her rounds now, every 6 weeks in a different field of medicine. Anyway, last night Addison sounded really bad so I asked her if she wouldn't mind listening to her chest to see if her infection had gone into her lungs. I took Addison over to her house and my friend and her housemates (all medical students as well) all took a look at Addison. Seriously, Addison was so grumpy all day and super fussy, the minute we got to this house she perked up and was showing off! I laid Addison on my friend's bed and I wish I had taken my camera because there she laid all smiles while 4 medical students were stood around the bed staring at her, all making their own observations. It was so cute. She knew she was the star of the show. The good news was that her lungs were clear! All 4 agreed on that and I think they enjoyed having a practice baby! One of the guys was trying to guess her age and he said "between 12 months and 2 years." HA! He was shocked when I said 8 months!

Happy 8 months Addison! We thought our family was complete until you came along, you are a blessing baby girl!

Need I Say More?

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Cerys is now old enough to go to a kids' club at the church that we attend. It's every Wednesday afternoon, but today was a special party...a Prince/Princess party. We did not have to look far to find an outfit, matching bag and wand, trust me. Cerys is very shy, and so I was a bit shocked when I went to collect her and she had her face painted AND her nails done. I've never let her paint fingernails before, so she was all sass.

(Yes, I had to put a white T-shirt under her dress. This is Wales remember, and it's quite chilly these days.)

Camera Dump

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Cerys' "Harvest" school assembly

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Bailey's photography skills...

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My good friend Adele came for a visit- the first person I became friends with in Pontypool!

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The pink and purple car that is always near the school. Cerys wants to have this when she is old enough to drive. Nice parking job!

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"Mother, must I smile so early in the morning?"

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This is the typical sleeping position for Addison, feet propped up.

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Picnic lunch

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The girls a few weeks ago outside of the C.I.A- Cardiff International Arena.

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A movie theatre- we took the girls to see a special showing of the new Tinkerbell DVD release

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Bailey and her outfits...

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On The Move!

Our life is about to change drastically. I was hoping this would not happen until AFTER we made that long flight in December! Marc took this video today, and he's so mean he made her do it again! Ha. It's hard work lugging this precious chubbiness around! We thought it was just the shaggy rug that helped her move along, and it does, but she is now doing this inch-worm crawl on all surfaces! Watch out big sisters, life as you know it is over!



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Date Night!

*Ok, I was not warned about this movie. I was doing the ugly cry 10 minutes into the movie and even snorted twice. And I was crying again at the end. What a precious movie, but take your tissues if you plan on seeing it! There were times when I was not sure if I was laughing or crying.

In a few minutes, three of our gap year girls are coming over to babysit our three! Did you get that? It'll be man -to- man defense tonight. (Dad, I know you are proud of my B-Ball reference!) My man and I are going out to eat and to see the movie Up. I'm very excited that I am not cooking tonight. I've been looking forward to seeing this movie and it's finally made it across the pond!

So what am I doing blogging? Get off here woman and get ready!

I'm not sure who's more excited, us or the girls! Pizza is on the way for them and brownies are hot out of the oven!

Mixed Emotions

As the girls and I walked to school this cold, Autumn day and they were chattering away, these are the thoughts that were rolling around inside my head. (Beware, it's long and random)

It's cold today. 43 degrees to be exact. At least it's sunny and not tipping down. Just means an extra layer of clothes for the school girls and hats, gloves and scarves for everyone. And the cosey- toes for Addison in the stroller. I sure wish Marc did not have early Monday meetings so he could walk with us, or better yet, drive us to school. That's okay, at least it's not raining. Yay for sun! Wow, it really is chilly. Good thing the girls have hats on. When did they grow up? I'm so proud of them for not moaning about walking to school. It's a good 15 minute walk up to the school and they have not complained once since September. I can't believe Bailey has not fussed about walking. If anyone would complain, it would be her. I can't believe she's in Nursery. This time last year it was Cerys I was sending off to school. Now they are both going. I can't believe kids go to school so young here. My babies are too young.

But I'm so glad they love it. I'm so glad they are learning about the world around them and about different cultures. I'm so proud of them. I think it's funny that of all the friends in her class, Bailey talks about a little boy named Mohammed the most. They chase each other on the playground, how cute. They sit together at snack. I wonder what they talk about? I wonder if the other kids make fun of Cerys' American-isms? I sure hope not. I wonder if you would even know she's American if you walked into her class, her accent is pretty good these days. Maybe her hairbows give her away? Oh Lord, please be near to them and protect them and help them to know that they belong to you!

I really don't want to play "I spy with my wittle eye" Bailey, but okay. It will make the time go faster. When did Cerys get so smart? She really is clever. I sure wish our parents could see the girls walking to school. They would be so proud too. Some days I love living here, other days I'm so sad that our families miss out on our lives so much. They've just about missed Addison's first year. She will be 10 months old when we go on our stateside. I'm so excited about that, just 10 weeks! I have a nephew that I've never even met and we will all be together for Christmas! Thank you Lord. I know you have called us here. I know this is where we are suppose to be. I do love our simple life here. Will our girls grow up to love this experience or hate us? Please Lord, let them love it. Will we want to come back after a 6 month stateside? Will we miss this? Will the girls be jealous of their cousins in America or happy with their life here? Oh Lord, so many things on my heart today.

Oh, there's my jolly German friend. She cracks me up. I love her broken English accent and how she squeezes Addison's cheeks every time we see her. It's neat to walk to school and see our school-mates families and have a little chat. I don't feel so lonely now walking with her to the school gate. Oh, there's our other friends that moved from Swansea, all 3 girls in tow like me. Glad I'm not the only one! I'm sure glad we walked today or we would have missed out on our little chat. I hear whispering and wonder if it's me that the group of covered ladies are talking about. Oh, this is so uncomfortable at times. Just keep walking and smile. It's obvious we are Americans isn't it? Why does that make me so uncomfortable at times?

There she goes, into her class. I love her. I can't believe she will 5 in a few weeks. I wonder what she will come home talking about today. She better drink her thermos of water today at lunch. That girl hardly drinks anything. Ok, time to take Bailey into her class. Look at her, so grown up, taking her hat and coat off and hanging it on her hook. I love her. I hope her teachers like her and that she has friends. Oh, there's Mohammed, good. She will play with him today I'm sure.

Ok, just me and you Addie. Let's walk home. I'm glad I put my scarf on. Whew, chilly. Why is my phone beeping? Oh ya, I didn't charge it last night. Oh man, I don't have my house keys! OH NO, my phone is about dead too. Please, please, please be enough charge to ring Marc. Marc is laughing at me. At least he's not mad that he has to leave his meeting to come home and let me in. What a dork. I can't believe I didn't grab my purse. Thank you Lord that my phone worked enough to call him. I get to enjoy the cold air a bit longer while I sit and wait.

At least it's not raining.

BIBs- Because I'm Bonkers!

Thanks y'all for your comments about the pumpkin. I have heard from several people that there was indeed a pumpkin shortage this year...and that cracks me up for some strange reason. I've cooked pumpkin and butternut squash before when I made baby food for Cerys, but I was just hoping to pop into House of Frasier and get me some tins. Oh well.

Ok, so I made some bibs for Addison. What I thought would just be an easy project that I could whip up in one afternoon turned into a few days. So, here is what I have produced, I'm not crazy about all of them, but some of them I love!

Raspberry Fizz fabric, made for Vera Bradley (so cute!)
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Cute monkey fabric
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Fun polka-dots, or dot-to-dots as Bailey says!
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This is the ugly one, I was just trying to experiment and it didn't turn out like I thought it would. Oh well. Bibs are for spit up and drool, right?
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Snug as a bug in her sleep sack!
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I sure hope y'all are having a good week. The rain has settled back over Wales now and it's truly feeling like Autumn. The girls are settled into school and are proper British girls now with their accents. Our gap year students are awesome and we are loving having them around! Every single one of them has such a servant's heart. We have less than 3 months until our stateside and there is much to do between now and then! There is so, so much I would love to write about on here regarding ministry, but it's just not a smart idea. Please know that your prayers keep us going (especially on days like today!) and we look forward to seeing a lot of you while we are back in Dallas!

Not long mom!!!

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