Kickball!

I was asked to play with the Dirty Mama's at a tournament in Corpus this past weekend. It's been about 15 years since I've played in a tournament...at least the corpus kind! We had a great time and I'm so glad I went. We won our first 3 games on Saturday. Lost our next 2 on Sunday. We ended up in 3rd place out of 14 team. Not bad! I wish the lady ninjas had the comradery of the dirty mamas. It would make for some great times!

It got pretty chilly and very windy Sunday. The kids are sick today! I'm not sure if there is any correlation...

Mom was in town today and we didn't want to let that go to waste. We took a quick trip to the pumpkin patch and the kids painted small pumpkins. Chicken noodle soup for dinner! Here's to a fever free Tuesday.

Start of a new school year...

My goal is to update this blog at least every month, but hopefully every week.  There are just a few family members who refuse the most common source of social media, facebook.  That is where I do most of my "blogging".  But, dad, I hope this is a way you can keep up with my kiddo's in between visits! 

A quick update...

Abby started 2nd grade at Naumann this year!  Her teacher is Mrs. Zaharias and she really likes her.  She is different than her previous teachers and I think it's going to be a good year. She is about to turn 8 years old.  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?  I sure can't.  It seems like just yesterday we were begging her to start walking. (Boy were we dumb)

Luke is 10 months old.  This year has been such a whirlwind.  He is a wonderful little boy.  He makes us laugh and smile almost every second.  He sure loves his big sister too.  He is working on standing by himself.  He seems pretty content just crawling around so I don't see walking happening anytime soon...and we're ok with that.  (We aren't dumb this time around!)  Luke's a mama's boy, I have to admit.  I also should admit that I love it!  Abby was very social and loved being around everyone, it didn't always have to be me.  Maybe it's the difference between boys and girls?  Who knows.  

Like I said, I'm going to attempt once a month!  This is for you, dad. =)

First day of 2nd grade

Welcome Luke Edward Boyle...

On November 18, 2011 at 10:30 in the morning we welcomed Luke Edward Boyle into the world weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches long.

Our hearts and souls are filled with overwhelming joy.  We have truly witnessed a miracle and are blessed to be a family of 4!

We're anxiously awaiting....

Just 12 more days (or less) until our sweet little boy joins this anxious family! Words cannot describe the feelings that I have right now. We have waited so long for this day and it is finally within reach. Still, part of me still has a hard time knowing that this is actually real and not just this long very detailed dream.

As most of you know, Mark and I have been dealing with fertility issues for almost 5 years. It was December 2006 that we decided it was time to add to our family. Well, God had other plans for us. I don't understand...not sure I ever will, the reasoning behind all the pain that we've endured over the past few years. I am not at a point of being able to fully forgive either. I hope that holding Luke and seeing what a miracle he is will help the healing process.

Christmas time has always been my favorite time of year. As most people will tell you, the tree goes up Thanksgiving day in our house...usually, at least by the end of that weekend. The longer we get to celebrate this magical time of year, the better! However, the past two years, Christmas and December have been some of the hardest times in my life. We lost our second child in December 2009. The weeks and months following our miscarriage were a blur. The world kept moving and yet, here I was standing alone wondering what had just happened. We'd been given this amazing gift of life only to have it taken away from us so soon. As the months went on it got easier...easier to get out of bed, easier to look at a baby, easier to breathe. As our July due date approached I felt taken back again. Newborns were everywhere...except for mine.

I can only imagine that every December 7th and every July 22nd will be a hard day for me. But knowing that this December 7th I will be holding our sweet baby boy makes the thought of that day bearable.

We are so blessed to have the friends and family that we do - that is the only thing that's helped me to move forward.

On November 18th (or sooner) our family of 4 will be together, finally. My heart can't wait.

Checking in on baby Luke!

We had a wonderful sonogram and appointment today with Luke! Abby, Mark and I were very excited to be able to see him again, even though we've all been feeling him for quite some time.

The sonogram started out greats. He was very cooperative this time! Although, probably not

very pleased that we were interrupting his nap time! He began by looking right at us (at least it seemed that way) even giving a "wave"...this made Abby very happy since she believes the wave was specially for her. Who knows, I believe they already have a special bond so it very well could have been directed towards her! She is so excited about being a big sister. She will be an amazing one!

We got a good look at his feet! They seem huge, but she

reassured me that they were of normal size. He was head down and his feet were aimed towards my ribs, so this really explains a lot since I'm constantly (already!) feeling him jab me there.

Some of his measurements were a few days ahead and some a few days behind. In the end, with all of the measurements put together he was exactly 24 weeks - so, perfect.

They did head a measurement and looked at all

the parts of the brain. They also checked the

heart chambers and the diaphragm. He's been perfect from the beginning so we didn't expect anything less!

Just in case we still had any question on whether or not

he was a "Luke" or "Lucy" we were confirmed (for the 5th time) that he is for sure a boy! We can keep the wardrobe and begin the blue paint in the nursery! We have plans and that's a start!

One of the most amazing things I've ever experienced was the 3d/4d ultrasound.

They were just coming out with it when I was pregnant with Abby and it wasn't standard in my doctors office. You had to go to a private company and get your doctors approval, which she wouldn't give.

However, we were able to see him 3d and 4d at 12 weeks and again today. The 12 week pictures were kind of weird looking since he hadn't developed as much as he had by today. The images of his face are incredible.

You can tell that he has big cheeks, I think I see

some dimples and probably has mine and Abby's nose. His legs and fingers were long like Marks.

We didn't see any hair, which doesn't surprise me one bit! Abby's first haircut wasn't until she was 3 1/2! I'm sure there will be some sort of fuzz with a reddish tint, but until he celebrates his second birthday that might be all we get!

Today was amazing and so worth the lack of sleep from last night. With all of our struggles to get pregnant and our miscarriage over the last 4 1/2 years, to see this miracle growing inside of my is more than my heart

could ever imagine.

We love him so much already and our hearts are overflowing with joy. November can't come soon enough!

My next appointment is September 6th and I'll have to do the Glucose tolerance test to see if I have gestational diabetes. It wasn't an issue with Abby so I'm not expecting it to be with him! After that we'll go down to every 3 week visits and then 2 weeks and then hopefully he'll arrive soon after that!

Class of 2023

Can you believe that my baby has graduated from Kindergarten? This year has flown by and I for one am very sad.

We couldn't have been paired up with a better teacher and class this year. Abby had a blast. The only time I ever heard "I don't want to go to school today" was this morning, and she has an ear infection.

She toughed it out for her student lead conference and then we left. She walked Mark and I through her entire year. From colors to numbers to animals. It's really amazing what they teach you in kinder!

She is so ready for first grade - reading on a 2nd grade level and looking forward to doing all the fun things that her friend Ava has told her about this year. We're anxious to hear who her teacher is next year, but from what I've heard they are all wonderful.

It's going to be a pretty lazy summer. So far we've signed up for swim lessons! We've got a lot to do around the house to get ready for our new arrival. I know that Abby will be a huge help with that!

Bathroom Floors!

I finally was able to convince Mark to rip up the linoleum in the guest bathroom. It was something that we thought we would do right after we moved in - but we all know how that goes. It was bad - nothing would get it cleaned. I tried every cleaner...even bleach. It had to go! Luckily the tiles fit perfectly and the only cutting that had to be done was around the corners and the toilet! He did such a good job, I'm ready for him to re-tile the laundry room, entry way and kitchen! He has about 5 months to get it done. I want to be done with all the floors by the time the baby comes!