Wow, it has been such a long time since I have blogged.  We have been busy, busy, busy around here, as well as tired, sick, achy, exhausted, etc. ; )  On February 8th, I gave birth to our 5th child, our 2nd boy two weeks early.  He weighed 7 lbs 6.9 oz. and is such a cutie!  The delivery went really well…my water broke at home at around 3 am which freaked me out because once my water broke with my 4th child, she came in quite a hurry!  I wasn’t contracting at all yet, but we were still worried about getting to the hospital in time because it was an hour away.  Once my mil arrived we were on our way, and once I was checked we discovered I was only 1 cm dialated!  I was happy about this…I was able to eat a chocolate muffin from Starbucks before I got my epidural (which hurt much more than I remember I might add…it must have been because I was in no pain from contractions and my mind was completely on the epidural.)  I was then given pitocin to help speed things up.  Also during this time half of my body became more numb than the other, and even one of my eyes was droopy and I couldn’t feel half of my face.  I was turned on my other side, elevated, and given some medication and eventually I began to feel better.  At around 12 pm I began to feel the urge to push, once I began pushing I pushed through one contraction and he was out!  It was so easy and painfree, which was extremely different from my last birth experience.  Our little boy is such a joy!  I am just now beginning to feel that we are getting back into a good routine, but I feel that all I seem to do all day is nurse.  I do enjoy this time with him, and I know that it will go by so quickly and I need to enjoy every moment of it!

Our little man!

So precious!

Today was day one of my craft festival.  I am SO extremely tired!  I made tons of sales, but they were all for the majority very small.  I did sell a few of my new earrings, a burpcloth, and a few other new items that I was excited about.  I am very thankful that this fair is close to home, because traveling far distances for these things a few days in a row can be exhausting.  Today my 8 year old daughter accompanied us, and tomorrow my 9 year old daughter is coming.  Our booth spaces are very small, so that’s all we can accomodate, and their is no room to run around.  Amazing soaps and candles that looked like pies, cupcakes, fudge, etc. were in the booth next to us, and the mom that made those is pregnant with her 7th child!  I might have to break down and buy some tomorrow… : )

Today is going to be a busy day for the family.  Between homeschooling, I have to finish about 25 bows for a craft festival tomorrow, as well as make tutus for the festival and to send off for orders.  My two oldest girls have really become independent learners this year, which is wonderful.  I go over new concepts and discuss their work, but so far, they seem to grasp everything without much help from me.  Then from 6-10 pm tonight the girl’s gym is hosting a Parent’s Night Out which is free to team members.  They are SO extremely excited about this, and we are going to let them go, even though we are actually just going to be home with the two littles.  They have fun games, scavenger hunts, open gym, pizza, cookies, etc.  My husband wishes that they would just stay at home b/c we have to leave the house before 6 am tomorrow morning, but the gym only hosts this event only twice a year so I’m going to let them go enjoy themselves. : )

They love gymnastics!  Here they are at their National gymnastic meet over the summer in Savannah.  My oldest daughter had just broken 2 fingers on beam so was unable to compete, ( or swim for long periods of time for that matter, she was so disappointed.)  My 7 year old did great, with a 9.450 on floor, 9.425 on vault, 9.250 on beam and a 8.0 on bars (with a fall.)  We have stopped dancing completely at this point.  It was really too much for us to try to do, and my husband and I had issues with the make up, some of the music, costuming, etc.

It has been quite some time since I have blogged on this site, and have felt lead to today.  How I have enjoyed reading through friend’s blogs!  I have become very busy (too busy actually) with my business lately, and stopped blogging in order to help keep up with orders and still homeschool.  I am also pregnant with baby #5 (a BOY!!), who is due on February 22, 2010.  We are so excited about his arrival, but I feel not at all prepared, because of all of our busyness!  I have put one of my sites on hold for a few weeks, to help out with orders coming in, and I plan to leave it that way for several weeks.  After the new baby’s arrival, I plan to stop attending craft festivals indefinitely as well.  I love creating things and bringing in extra $ for the family, but my children will always come first.  We are going to Disney in a little over a week, and I’m not at all prepared for that as well!  I’m going to be miserable, b/c I can barely make it through a few hours at Six Flags lol.  I also waited too late to book a Character breakfast, and I have been avidly looking for cancellations the last week or so!  We are always at gymnastics, my two oldest girls ages 8 and 9 just finished up their Level 5 USAG season, and are about to begin working on their Prep Op 2 AAU routines for the spring.  After that, they will be competing Level 6 USAG, and they are so excited!  They both need to get their front tucks on floor and fly aways on the bars, but they already have most of the other skills needed under their belts.  We are still homeschooling, and are just really enjoying life!

A few pictures..(ha ha, I was able to copy and paste from my Facebook!)

HALLOWEEN. : )

My 3 year old wearing an apron knot dress that I made for her.

My son at his soccer awards.  He’s the little guy in the front.

Great job girls!  Their team won first place at their gymnastics meet in Anniston, AL this October.

My two oldest girls next to their butterfly clips that they sell at craft festivals.

My business, Three Little Princesses, has a new blog!  Check it out for all our newest information and products.  I will announce giveaways and specials on this site as well as freebies from time to time. : )

It can be found at www.threelittleprincessesboutique.blogspot.com.

Blessings,

Nicole