Oh the Journey!

I still don't have pictures, because we still don't own a computer! :)

We are counting down the days until baby Evie arrives. 23 at most! What an eventful 9 months this has been. You know back on July 13th when this journey began, I sure wouldn't have expected this to be such a, well, journey.

When we found out we were pregnant again, while I was still adjusting to life as a working mother of 2, I was so in shock. WOW! What was happening? Was this a joke? NOPE! Here we are 9 full months later, big and pregnant with a precious baby girl, Evelyn Grace.

So, in early August, my best friend from college Margaret, let me know she was pregnant too. You see, Margaret and her husband had been trying to get pregnant since before Avry was born. What a special plan God had for us to have babies together-in his time, not ours. If all works out, we will have 2 baby girls 14 days apart. Evie and Grace.

In late August my Pa-Pa passed away, which was a huge deal. Pretty unexpected and it definitly brought back alot of memories of my Mamaw, who passed away 14 yrs previous. I am a firm believer that the Lord gives as he takes away. Here we were just finding out we were having another baby, as we had just had this horrible loss.

Around Christmas, my Granny got very ill. After a 3 week stay in Hospice (by the way, Hospice is a wonderful place), she went to be with the Lord and back with my Pa a week before Christmas. Christmas Eve, my sister, announced that she was pregnant as well. Again, the Lord gave to us as he took away another precious person from our lives.

So, here we are 23 days away from having our precious baby girl. It has been an overwhelming journey, but we are all 4 ready to jump in with both feet and welcome this baby girl into our family! We feel richly blessed to have been able to have 3 children in our short 5 year marriage.

Come on EVIE we are ready to meet you!!!!!

update on kids and life!

I haven't blogged in a while, we have been so very busy!

Avry is doing ballet, school and then of course still going to Crystal's. Coen is just going to Crystal's of course. He is flourishing into such a beautiful little man. I am thankful each and everyday that God gave him to me. I am of course thankful for Avry too. They keep us very busy and we love every minute of it.

Coen's newest thing is immitating sister. He wants to be with her everywhere she goes and be copying every move she makes. He tries to copy her words now and says "belly button, ball, burp (i know gross), momma, daddy, grana, dog". He is also signing alot now-more, please, thank-you and drink are his favorites. We catch him doing other signs here and there too. As always, he has the sweetest personality and is still very attached to momma!

Avry is just really excited about the new baby sister coming. She talks to her in my belly (and can get her to move), gives her kisses and is working on figuring out where she will sleep in her room. Of course, Avry says she will share a bed with her-but since Avry doesn't even sleep in her own bed herself, poor sister will be all alone. We are also very into Ballet and Taylor Swift-thanks to Jadan! She is developing quiet a little imagination and is always coming up with new stories.

Mom and Dad are just going and going and going. I can't imagine life with 3 kids, but feel so blessed to have them. Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast approaching and we definitly have alot to be thankful for this year. Good jobs, good friends and family, health and 3 fabulous kids!

I will post more with pics later, I don't have a computer at home at the moment.

birthdays

Coen turned 1!

We had a birthday party at Jump N Jungle

The kids little friends came along

We built a swingset...ok Jerrid, Dad and Greg did.

Avry got her first pedicure!

Going back a couple of months.....

When you get pregnant unexpectedly with a third baby, I guess you get really behind in blog land! We had the kid's birthday parties together in mid July this year. Money is tight and well they don't really know the difference. Jump N Jungle was the best party place ever! They did everything, even cleaned up and served cake. We got to play and enjoy the party. Then the kids got to paint their hands on the wall of hands. They thought it was pretty special.

Avry and Coen got a swingset for their birthday's from Granna and Foy-Pa. We had a little problem getting it to Lubbock, so us and the Sanders drove to Dallas on one Saturday and picked it up. My dad came down and they all put it together. That was a busy weekend, but well worth it. The kids love their swingset. Coen got a music table thing, a tractor, lots of cars and cloths. Avry got a barbie car (a real big one), cloths and stuff for baby Joy.

Our kids sure are the joy of our lives. They keep us plenty busy and provide much entertainment! We are so blessed.

God's plan

As I have been pondering how God's plan messed up mine.....which is really a stupid idea, b/c my plan should always be God's plan!, I have been thinking of all the things that I am looking forward too this year. So, for the school year, here is my list of things that are coming.

1. Meeting baby Mac #3.
2. Avry's first day of Pre-school and all her preschool activities.
3. growing a huge belly and feeling baby Mac #3 move inside me
4. A new house!
5. The look in my children's eyes when they see their new brother/sister for the first time.
6. Decorating a nursery again, pulling out all the teeny tiny baby cloths we have saved.
7. Moving.....I am really excited about this
8. Christmas time, Thanksgiving, turning 28.
9. My nieces' ballet recital at the end of the year.
10. Going to my 10 yr high school reunion


And my next list, reason's why God's plan is working out alright afterall.....
1. I didn't get a teaching job for the fall
2. We will only have to pay for daycare for 3 for 1 yr.
3. Now is the perfect time to sell our house, the market is good
4. This might sound stupid, but we have 5 chairs sitting around our kitchen table....
5. My blog is called the McClelland 5....ironic????
6. I have a good job, Greg has a good job.
7. We finally found a church home, that we are super happy about.
8. Greg and I both got raises....
9. We own a mini-van....lol
10. God's plan's always work out......that is the most important!!!

Our big suprise!

I have missed a few important posts, like Abbey's wedding and the kid's b-day parties, but we need to share our most important news:

Meet Baby McClelland number 3, due in March 2009. Completly a shock to us, we had not a clue that this would even be possible.
The story:
I went in for my yearly appointment with Dr. Owen on July 13th. During that appointment, she said that we needed to think about long term birth control for me since I REALLY did not want another baby. We decided very quickly that the Implanon implant in my arm was the best for me since I can't take estrogen (it makes me sick). So, she put one in. Went to Abbey's wedding, came home. Monday after I got back from the wedding, I started getting really nausious. I thought it might have been something I ate of course. Well, it kept getting worse and was not going away. By Friday, I was telling Greg that something was wrong with me and I really needed to go to the dr. So, thinking it might be a side effect of the Implanon, I started researching it on the internet. Sure enough it was. I thought it would go away with some R&R over the weekend. NOPE! Monday rolled around and I decided I better call Dr. Owen, who told me that it was a side effect and that I should take a test if I was worried about being pregnat. Well, Greg agreed that I should-b/c I was acting weird....LOL
Took a test and it was very quickly positive. I called Dr. Owen Tuesday morning and they got me in right away. Dr Owen and Rhonda had to pick themselves up off the floor. I got pregnant on birth control and while breastfeeding AND well there is another AND-but I will keep that one to myself.
Anway, I had a blood test yesterday and my HCG levels were through the roof. We also had an ultrasound yesterday morning and got to see little peanut. It has a heartbeat of 143 right now and is perfectly happy growing in its little cave in my belly!
Needless to say, we are shocked, very shocked, but extremly excited. Avry has requested a sister and Greg wants another boy. I don't think I care, but we aren't going to find out what it is until its born! I absolutely can't wait to meet my 3rd blonde haired, blue eyed beauty!

Avry turns 3!

The Day we brought Avry home

5lbs 7oz of pure sweetness!

Avry's 1st Birthday!

18lbs of love!
Avry's 2nd Birthday.....
25lbs of stinker!

Tomorrow my sweet angel turns 3. How time can fly! Every year, I try to write something special in my kids baby book. Since I am blogging now, I thought I would share!

My precious Avry,

Today you are turning 3. A whole 3 years old. What a beautiful blessing you are to us. We had no idea how much you would change our lives when you came into the world. You and I had a rocky start together, but we made it through and you have become one of my best friends, along with your daddy and Coen.

My favorite thing about you this last year has been how much you have embraced your new brother, Coen. You love to hold him and feed him and play with him endlessly. You even let him take a bath with you. My next favorite thing is how jealous you are when I kiss YOUR daddy!! Avry, you are a precious little girl!

This year, you have learned how to potty on the big girl potty and don't even have accident's at night anymore. You can count to 10 and say your "ABCDEFG's." Your best friends are Ariah and Breanna from Ms. Crystal's house and Jadan. You love to sing songs, watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and pray. You are always praying for someone special. You take extra special care of your baby dolls and love to cook in your kitchen and ride your "motorcycle" or tricycle.

Other big events this year have included riding a "choo-choo train" to go see Santa claus, ridign on an airplane to see your cousin's in Ohio and being a flower girl in Aunt Abbey's wedding. This year, you also spent the night with Mimi and Granna for almost a week each. You love them both very much.

The next year will hold big things for you Little. You are going to start preschool at SuperKids and do swimming lessons and music class all by yourself. We are so excited to see how you grow over the next year. We love to see the light in your eyes when you have discovered something new. You truly bring joy to our lives and we love you every minute of every day!

Happy 3rd Birthday Little!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

the Love Dare

hi there! I still don't think anyone reads our blog, but that's ok. Its good therapy for me!
Greg and I started the Love Dare a couple of days ago. I am so excited to do it! The first day's dare was to not say anything negative to your spouse. We passed with flying color's! I think we try to be nice to each other most days, so it all worked out!
Today's dare was to do something your spouse would not expect you to do. Greg is so wonderful. First, he got up with Coen at 2:30 to feed him, then he got the kid's cloth's ready for the day and then this afternoon he sent me a very romantic poem, he is so sweet! I took an extra long lunch today and went out to his office and took him lunch. He was pretty excited. I never go out there b/c it is a good 20 min drive from my office.
I am so excited to see what all this Love Dare has to offer. We are trying so hard to be good examples to our kids and it is definitly hard sometimes. I do hope and pray they know how much mommy and daddy love each other and love God above all else!
We have been doing VBS this week, what a blessing! Avry is going to a 3 year old class, because that is the group she will be with in school. She has done an amazing job with the group and absolutely loves it! Coen on the other hand just cries and cries and cries in class, so he is hanging out with Mom and Dad and doing puppet's.
Avry turns 3 in 10 days! I can't beleive my baby is going to be 3!
Have a blessed 4th!