The Boys Have An Announcement...

For those of you who don't know yet, we are adding a new little boy to our family. Jacob Robert will join us around the end of July/beginning of Aug. While this is a very busy, crazy time in our lives, we are overjoyed to be having another baby. The boys are pretty excited to be having another sibling to play with. Curtis is adorable, he likes to hug and kiss my belly and will often tell baby good night. Judah knows and understands about as much as an almost 2 year old can. I think he can sense how much his little world is gonna be rocked in a few months. He still nurses, although we have been actively working on weaning him for a while. I've been telling him for weeks that he will not get first dibs once baby comes. He usually shakes his head and says no at this.

These past months, since we found out, have been a whirlwind. I have hyperemesis gravidarum with my pregnancies, so it was not a surprise when I began throwing up, not being able to eat, and dropped 9lbs. Thankfully, I have a mild case and have not been hospitalized. This pregnancy has been more a struggle than the others, probably because of having 2 to take care of already. God knew exactly what I needed though, and gave us a pregnancy right as Isaac's schedule switched to dayshift. He's been able to help so much more with the boys than what he was able to prior to December and I've been able to get the rest that I've needed. He steps in to cook dinner, does dishes, gets coffee ready since I can't take the smell of the grounds, does laundry when needed and all sorts of other things to ease my jobs around the house when I just haven't been able to do anything. God gave me such a wonderful servant hearted husband, and I'm so incredibly thankful for him.

Thankfully, I began feeling better a few weeks ago and only throw up a few times a week. This is earlier than with the other pregnancies, so I'm hoping to get to enjoy more of pregnancy that what I really could with the older two.

While the last few months have been somewhat miserable, God has definitely been using the sickness to help me at my job. It seems I get several patients a week considering abortion because they are so incredibly sick. About 15% of patients who suffer from HG end up aborting because they can't take the nausea. I've been able to educate them that it's more than just morning sickness and if that's the only thing causing them to think abortion, I've been able to recommend things that help. So while it's been a difficult few months, God is working and it's so cool to see that.

Another huge change coming up in our lives is that Isaac is getting out of the military. Isaac accepted a position in Lincolnton, NC, so we will be moving there the last week in May. Our house is currently on the market and we're looking for houses in NC. We are super excited to start this next chapter of civilian life and to be closer to family and friends. Again, we can't do anything easy. I will be about 8 months pregnant when we move, so it should be an interesting few months packing up the house and then unpacking the new one. 

I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in NC!

Christmas Time at the Norman's

Both the boys absolutely love Christmas. They get so excited every morning to see the Christmas lights. They love reading our Christmas stories. And one of their favorite things to do is take off all the ornaments and put them back on. 

I love pictures of little ones in front of the Christmas tree. I've been taking these pictures every year since Curtis was born. The boys have so much fun every time they get free reign in the room with the Christmas tree. It's fun to capture a little of that joy.

Curtis' Birthday Party

Last week we celebrated Curtis' birthday party. I love that his birthday falls around Halloween so the kids get to wear their Halloween costumes, such a great built in theme :) We had a lot of fun celebrating our sweet boy!

Curtis enjoying his cupcake batter after helping me make his cupcakes

 Curtis loved being The Flash

 Judah loves being T-rex

 Jeremiah is one of Curtis' favorite people. It's a lot of fun watching them play together.

 This is one of Judah's favorite places

 Alice is one of Curtis' other favorite people :)

 Curtis got some Curious George books and immediately started reading them. 

 Curtis got a little sad, this is what made him happy.

 We realized Curtis is definitely ready for a toy gun, he had so much fun playing with Jeremiah's

 A sweet group picture, The closest to them looking, it's kind of hard with 5 kids.

 The one good picture where we were all looking

 The real life picture

Judah is 18 Months

Judah turned 18 months last week. And since last week was so crazy, I'm just now getting a chance to write about him.

Judah is my crazy, wild, fun-loving, loud, always moving child. He climbs on everything, although I finally don't have to constantly monitor him at the table, unless he's trying to get to the flowers or whatever is on the table. He speaks at 2 volumes, loud and screaming. He runs everywhere he goes, which usually ends in a face plant, but he bounces back pretty quickly from it. He seems to eat most of the day, pretty content when he's walking around with some type of food in his hand. He loves trucks and balls and dirt. He loves his big brother and rarely laughs as loud as when his brother is making him laugh. Baxter is his best friend, and puts up with a lot from him. He gets incredibly excited every time Isaac walks in the room. He is such a joy and I love that he is part of our family! It's been a lot of fun to see him come into his personality.

Curtis Turns 3!!

My biggest little turned 3 years old today. This kid is such a joy in our house. He laughs all the time, most of the time at himself. He likes to eat his food pretending to be a tiger or an elephant or a dog. He is fascinated with animals, and loves dogs. He loves preschool and going to see Mrs. Rhonda. He loves his friends and asks to go see them every day. He loves cars and balls and dirt. But he's cautious and tells Baby (Judah) to be careful. He's compassionate and kind, loves to cuddle or comfort when someone's sad. He has a servant's heart, always wanting to help, whether it's with cooking, feeding Baxter, cleaning the dishwasher, or even picking up his toys. He loves his Daddy  and looks so forward to when he can see him every day. One of his most favorite things to do is make his little brother laugh and no one can bring laughter out of Judah like Curtis can. He has a big personality, with big opinions and is not easily swayed form those opinions. While that can be frustrating as he's learning how to deal with that, it's my prayer that God redeems that into a man who is not easily swayed, a man who stands up for what he believes, a man who refuses to back down when he's fighting for what is right. I am so thankful that God made me his Mama and I'm looking forward to what this next year brings.

Fall Update

So, it's been a long time. This fall has been a crazy time in the Norman household. We've had lots of changing and lots of growing up in the past 3 months.

 The biggest thing that's caused tons of little changes is me going back to work. Almost 3 months now, I went from being a nurse volunteer 3hours a week at The Keim Center to a nurse manager 3 days a week. It has been a wonderful, crazy, sometimes heartbreaking and busy journey for me and our family, but these past few months have been wonderful. I love my job, and am so incredibly thankful for it. It's been my hardest 3 months there, with patients who have sad stories, hard lives and my heart just breaks for them. I take them home with me every night, praying for them and their unborn babies as I drive home, as I do my charting (often at night after the boys go to bed), as I look at their baby's pictures one more time, and as I go to bed. Most of these women are incredible, showing me what strength is, caring for children, going to school, working, most of them doing it single. Many of their stories are heartbreaking and I feel honored to get the hear them, that they would trust me enough. The hardest part has been the amount of women seeking an abortion in the last 3 months. Almost every day I'm there, I explain the procedure to someone, and pray that God uses the ultrasound and the information to change their minds. Sometimes they do, and that's why I keep going back, because seeing God work in these women's live to save their babies and spare their hearts is worth all the stress, all the sadness and all the craziness.

With me going back to work, the boys are in daycare. It's been so fun for me to see them grow and flourish in an environment other than our home, where they are loved and cared for. They have friends that they look forward to seeing, they get to play, their learning letters and numbers, and The Pledge of Allegiance. Judah is learning he can be without me for a while and Curtis, my little extroverted introvert, loves seeing all his friends and asks to go to Mrs. Rhonda's every single day. I am so thankful we found such a wonderful place for them to be. 

With me at work, and the boys at daycare, Isaac has been awesome and really stepped in when I need help. On the days I work, he picks the boys up, cooks dinner and begins feeding them. He gets up early some days so he can spend time with the boys and me before I go to work. He helps out around the house with dishes and cleaning. I've been in awe these past few months with how easy he's making the transition for us.

The boys are growing so much! Judah is almost 18 months, and we call him Mr. Piggy, among other things because he seems to eat all the time. He runs everywhere he goes. He loves "wrestling" with Curtis. He loves throwing balls. And just learned how to go down the big slide by himself. He's speaking several words, but when he doesn't speak, he definitely gets his point across with screeching and yelling. He's my climber and so I'm constantly chasing him around making sure that he doesn't climb on things where he can die, but also standing behind him so he thinks he's being independent, but again, also not gonna die. He still nurses, although we're trying to ween. He still doesn't sleep through the night most of the time. I'm pretty sure the 2 correlate. Maybe once he weens, he'll sleep through the night. 

Curtis just seems like such a little boy now, not a toddler. This week, we made strides in potty training and he's had several dry days, which I'm so thankful for. I'm ready to stop buying pull ups. We can understand most of what he says now, and he repeats everything, which has been pretty cute. He says things that we assume he hears at daycare like "Silly rabbit" that just come out of no where cause he's never heard us say it. He loves watching Ninjago and talks about those characters all the time. He is a fun boy to be around, most days, very sweet, loving and affectionate, so we're having to teach him not everyone wants affection all the time. Teaching boundaries is hard, but we're working on the fist bump and high five to be before hugging. He loves his brother, loves "wrestling" with him, loves cuddling with him, and talks to him all the time, usually bossing him around, but sometimes not :). 

All in all, while it's been a challenging 3 months, it's been a wonderful growing season. Here's pictures from Colorado, and our pumpkin patch visit:

Curtis had so much fun with all the outdoor stuff. He loved learning how to hit the ball

 Every time Curtis tried something, Judah had to try it too

 Curtis' day was made when Nonno let him play with the tractor

 Judah loved our hike

 This was one of the only times Curtis wasn't fussing or having to rode Isaac's shoulders. He wasn't a fan. Hopefully that'll change.

 This happened a lot

 Playing football after my birthday dinner

 The closest I could get of them both at the pumpkin patch

 Curtis loves goats

 This is what happens when we paint