3, 2, 1....

BABY! Only three days left until Bremberg Baby #4 makes an arrival! My doctor just set an induction for the morning of December 15th. Feel free to make a final guess as to if we'll be welcoming a boy or girl!

Let it snow!

We just had our first snow of the season! Since we are officially in "The South" the excitement level is very high with every snow. My kids were all in snow boots at 6:30 am the day before the snow was forecast.

Lucy models her new snow boots - and glasses. Very chic and very sweet.

Later in the day, Jane gives us another look...

Another "You know you have a lot of kids" Moment

It's been a few months since I had a "You know you have a lot of kids" moment, the last being the incident in which a pregnant neighbor seriously thought I was running a home daycare center. Yesterday I had two very nice young men in dark suits knock at my door. As the kids flocked to the excitement, the one young man asked, with no a small amount of suprise in his voice, "Are they all yours?"

You know you have a lot of kids when you are shocking Mormons.

The Future is Now

Lately, it seems that the closer we come to the birth of the new baby, the quicker the kids think they need to grow up. Instead of 13 Going on 30, I'm watching 3 Going on 13!

Case in point. Yesterday, a friend of mine shared with me that when Paul overheard her saying, "Oh, shoot!" after spilling something, he calmly corrected her, "Actually, it's sh*t. But that is not a good word to say." Apparently, my four year-old is an expert on crude language.

Then this morning Jane and Lucy (ages 1 and 3) had a knockdown, drag-out brawl over clothes! Both of them wanted to wear the same shirt with their dresses and neither was going to let the other have the fashion advantage today. With all the high-pitched screaming, crying, and clawing, you would have thought it was junior high girls - expect that they were fighting over a polka-dot turtleneck. I hope my girls are a little more fashion forward than that by junior high.

And just wait until I post a picture of Lucy in her new glasses (technical difficulties are preventing me from posting one today). She looks so sophisticated it's breaking my heart.

To heap insult upon injury, the children decide to suddenly act like teens just as I'm turning 30. Up to this point, turning 30 hasn't been a big deal to me. No one with as much gray hair as I have and who is pregnant with their 4th child and who has been driving a minivan for a couple of years and who has a big ol' mortgage really feels like they are in their twenties. But the kids are certainly doing their best to make the years feel like they are flying by!

Actually, it is a bit of a relief to be turning 30. Throughout my life, many of my friends have been older than me and it's no different now. Turning 30 makes me feel like I'm finally catching up. It'll be nice to finally not feel like the new kid on the block all the time. And around the D.C. metro area, having four kids is unthinkable, but having four kids in your twenties is just plain crazy. I'm actually embarrassed sometimes to give my age because it's so young! So I'm content with saying farewell to my twenties and embracing my thirties...

except when it comes to the DMV. My driver's license expires today, and I desperately hope I don't have to "renew" the picture, too. Going to the DMV alone with three kids and then getting your driver's license photo taken 9 months pregnant on your 30th birthday is just asking a little too much.

A Few Quick Takes

If you're wondering how I'm doing these days, I can only say...

1 week until home ownership.
3 1/2 weeks until I leave my 20s behind.
8 weeks until baby's due date.
9 weeks until Christmas.

Need I say more?

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Yesterday Lucy graciously began sharing her fruit snacks with Paul after he had wolfed his down in 2.3 seconds. "Sharing makes mommy so happy," I told her. "It makes Jesus happy, too."

"Oh, I know, " Lucy said so sweetly. "Jesus is my favorite friend."

It's times like this that you feel like you're doing something right.

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Last weekend I experienced a true blessing thanks to my loving husband and the very sweet, generous Sisters of the Visitation at Monte Maria monastery. I actually went on retreat - completely alone - for 48 hours. It was the first time I was away from both husband and children since I was married. I felt it was time.

Blessed silence. Such peace and order. True rest and refreshment. Truly, the Lord provides.

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I haven't been in a Visitation monastery for several years. The last time I visited the Visitation, I was much younger, single, and discerning a vocation to the order. It was quite a different experience coming as a married, pregnant woman with a houseful of kids back at home. One difference I noticed really made me laugh: I eat amazingly fast now.

Seriously, I can't imagine what the sisters thought. I mean, I finished my meal before most of the sisters had finished buttering their rolls. Now I've never been a slow eater. You don't come from a large family of big talkers without learning to eat fast so you can jump into the conversation whenever there is an opening. However, the addition of several small children has clearly taken me to a whole new level of speed eating. I'm often so busy serving food, cutting up bites, pouring drinks, cleaning up messes, and making food helicopters that I simply inhale my food in the few seconds I have to spare in between requests. I never really noticed how bad it had become until my retreat, though. I guess I should work on slowing down during meals. Or start a second career winning those speeding eating contests.

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I have to get back to packing. I'll probably not be posting until after the move, but I promise to have pics of the kids in their Halloween outfits!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

We had to take an alternative route home from soccer practice today thanks to a train that parked itself in our normal path for an seemingly indeterminate period of time. As I was navigating the turns back to the main road, Paul suddenly spoke up from the backseat, "Hey, I know this way!"

"Really, hon?" I said rather absentmindedly.

"Yes. A long time ago when I was a little boy, remember when Grandma took me to soccer. Grandma took this road. She kept running around and around and around. Silly Grandma!" Paul gleefully related.

Then I remembered that a year ago my mom took the kids to soccer for me during one of her visit. And that her GPS malfunctioned on their way to soccer practice. I think that pretty much explains Paul's little trip down memory lane.

A Family of "P-E-O-P-L-E"

During a recent car ride, Lucy and Paul became embroiled in a heated, ontological debate. Lately, the kids are constantly asking me if we can "be a family of (insert animal of choice here)" and this particular morning as we drove to Home Depot, Lucy and Paul were arguing whether we were going to be a family of meerkats or a family of tuna. In an attempt to squash the growing meerkat vs. tuna fight, I declared that we were simply going to be a family of human beings.

After extensive explanations about human beings is another word for people and how one human being is a person and lots of human beings are people, etc., etc., the kids were adequately diverted from wanting to be meerkats or tuna. However, the fight had just begun.

Lucy: "I am people."

Paul: "No, you are a person."

Lucy: "No, I am Lucy. And Lucy is people."

Paul, a little louder: "NO! You are a person. One person, not people."

Lucy, getting a little red and much louder: "NO!! I am people!"

Paul: "Person!"

Lucy: "People!"

Repeat several times, each child becoming louder and more emphatic each time. Finally, Lucy decides she needs to spell it out for Paul, using the one word she can spell that to a recent introduction to Toy Story.

"People! T-O-Y! People!"

Paul begins giggling, I'm laughing hysterically, and Lucy believes she should be asked to join the local college debate team.

In Which Lucy Turns Three

The scene...


The cake...

The singing...

The showing off...
Despite a pretty bad cold and ear infection that led us to cancel her more elaborate party plans, Lucy still seemed to thoroughly enjoy her little family celebration. There were lots and lots of pink balloons, pink flowers, and party hats - as requested. There was a kitty-cat cake in white - as requested. And plenty of presents- as requested - including several new dress-up outfits from Grandma. While Lucy seems to like a billowing, green number that reminds me of Scarlett O'Hara's green velvet dress from Gone with the Wind, Paul uses his power of persuasion to push for the Indian princess outfit whenever possible. Obviously, it's more fun to play Indian games with a squaw around.

For My Texas Readers

This week's chapter in Paul's religion course is entitled, "Heaven is Our Home." As I was reading to Paul about how Heaven is the most wonderful place you can imagine, he immediately questions the truth of the text.

"Huh, I thought that was Texas."

After putting Paul's theology to rights by explaining to him that Texas is not Heaven, we continued with the lesson. After each lesson I have Paul do a brief narration and tell me as much as he can remember from the reading. I was prompting with some beginning questions and asked him the name of the most wonderful place ever.

My good little student responded correctly, "Heaven." After a pause, he added, "I really thought it was Texas."

45 Days Until...

this little beauty becomes Home Sweet Home for our family! We just went under contract this afternoon and are feeling excited and nervous and crazy all at the same time! The dream of owning a single family home is becoming a reality. Of course, it's not a "perfect" house - as the bathroom with the pink tub, blue toilet, and faux marble vanity clearly illustrates - but God willing, it'll be ours! Well, really it'll be the bank's for 30 more years, but heck, close enough. Click here for a few more pics of the soon-to-be Bremberg residence.