TheThiers

The boys went to see Nana and Big Daddy over the weekend. This gave me a great opportunity to go wild with nesting (hence the previous post). I did want to record my costume hunting fiasco. I went to 14! different stores looking for Woody and Buzz costumes for the boys, since they had finally decided on something. It’s apparent that I can’t do as much as I could…shopping sprees are no longer physically possible with this growing baby belly. Anyhow, I collapsed in exhaustion and frustration on the couch, and decided to put the laptop to work in this costume hunt. Within an hour and with a few phone calls, I had the exact costumes I needed on hold at a Disney store downtown. The moral of the story: shop online first! So I took a break from the nesting mayhem and Chuck and I enjoyed a stroll along the Riverwalk on a beautiful Sunday afternoon…and I got the costumes, on sale mind you, without all the pain. [I have pics to post, but they're waiting for Chuck to process.]

But the nice break didn’t deter me…I did a nesting marathon around the house thru the night!

The next day I met Nana and Big Daddy to get the boys, and we all ventured through the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. I definitely recommend it for anyone with kids! And yes, I’ve got some pics to show for it

[Chance really surprised me with how he wasn't afraid of anything, especially the aggressive Ostriches!]

[The zebras were a big hit. This one loved to open his mouth and have Charlie throw food in. Charlie named him "My Zebra Friend."]

[My fave animal, Bevo!! Or at least a good look alike.]

We just finished a wonderful family vacation, and I’m so amazed at how much God has blessed us. The timing of this trip, which was planned long before we knew about Chuck’s job change, was perfect. Getting a week to bond as a family and somewhat refocus on what was important helped tremendously. And we had 6 kids (7 if you count our one on the way) under one roof and it went sooo well. Charlie had his 2 older cousins to play with, Luke (5 yrs) and Ethan (4 yrs). Chance really enjoyed parallel playing with Ruby (2 yrs). Then I got to hold sweet Beau, our three month old nephew… So everyone was happy! In all we had newborn – 5 yrs all in a row.

Anyhow, enough blabbing, I know you really just wanna see the pictures, right?!

First of all, the boys’ first plane ride…

[5 minutes after take off, Charlie decided it was all just too exciting for him to take.]

[Chance, however, spent the first 3 hours doing laps up and down the aisle. Overall, with 4 hours on the plane there and 5 hours back, the boys did really well, and it definitely beat being in the car for 2 days to get there!]

Then the cast of characters…

[This is Luke, the big kindergartner, who was our inspiration to have kids of our own. Notice how his pumpkin says "Louisville Kentucky" - that cracks me up. The kids were really into their states. Charlie's pumpkin said "Texas" too.]

[This is Ethan, who's 4, half a year older than Charlie. Ethan looks like what I thought our boys would look like. There's no denying that he has some Thier in him.]

[This is Ruby, the "reigning (only) granddaughter" in a family with 7 grandsons! She's our only niece and I could just eat her up, she's so sweet!! It was fun to watch the contrast with the boys and her...It did make me wish we'd had a girl. But then I just try to think about a girl in adolescence, dating boys, and someday Chuck having to give her away at her wedding...and I get over it real quick! ]

[And then there's Beau...isn't he a doll?!! He's SO laid back, he's a perfect 4th child for sure! This kid hardly ever cries. I can't wait for baby3 to be born and get old enough to play with him.]

[Oh, hey! Look who came to visit, all the way up in Kentucky! This is Elijah, the one you saw in our last post. His parents came up to visit while we were there. He's just so cute...]

[Here's Chuck sister, Mitsi, or as I prefer to call her, "Super Woman/Mom." She's amazing and it was so fun to hang out with her for a week. We miss her and her family so much.]

[This is Tammy, Chuck's youngest sister and my Dr Pepper Buddy. She lives about 3 hours from Mitsi in Nashville (aka "Austin perfected," but that's another story...). We were so excited to get to visit with her some while we were there.]

On to the action shots, because you know with 5 kids running around, there was lots of excitement…

There was a lot of Jeep driving going on while we were there. Chance had a mask on, but he preferred to use it as a helmet.

See what I mean?!

There was also a lot of playing in the sandbox…

and slide racing…

and dancing…

and pumpkin painting…

and sidewalk chalking…

and eating food, while discussing which foods were healthy…LOL!

which usually led to bed time.

One funny story: Mitsi was having an Arbonne party, so the dads took the kids to the mall to play on an indoor playground. As they left, it was a beautiful, cloudless fall day. In the 20 minutes it took them to get there, it became rainy, and they heard a siren (being from Texas, Chuck was thinking, “air raid?!”). They got into the mall and were then ushered into a hallway and told to sit against the wall because there may be a tornado nearby!! It’s not easy to get 5 kids to sit still, but thankfully they had M&Ms on hand to calm their nerves. So we (the moms) felt so guilty for sending our families out in the bad weather. And just so you know, the storm blew over that area and no tornado touched down…

And one pic that I just think is so fun (although not very portrait-like)…

I actually took this one because Ethan looked so cute with the shorts and Tammy’s cowboy boots on, but Charlie really wanted in the picture, too.

Another boy…I’m in awe of your reactions, thanks so much for all the sweet comments!

As I’ve probably stated before, I was really 50/50 on the whole thing. I had my hopes up for a girl just because this pregnancy has been different. But, like I said before, girls scare me! They don’t love their mommas when they hit adolescence (I know because I didn’t). And I was always a bit of a tomboy, so how would I rear a “girly girl”? And of course, as you all have reminded me, that’s one less wedding to pay for. And clothes, and accessories. Our family will be much happier because Chuck won’t have to get a second job, or a second mortgage, to pay for all the girl stuff we’d need! (Just kidding).

Of course, we had a girl name picked out, but not a boy name…And we’re still not sure what to name this little one. Chiquita is my favorite! (JK!) It does bug me that he’s nameless, even in utero, but I’m sure that’s just my nesting hormones kicking in. I don’t think he’ll be traumatized too much if we don’t think of a name for awhile. And thank you for all your suggestions, too!! We’ve got some good ones, now if I can just talk Chuck into one of them. Speaking of Chuck, while I know that man had his heart set on on a daughter, he hasn’t shed a tear over it being a boy. Maybe that’s because he had to console Charlie in the doctor’s office. And I know I mentioned that in the last post, but really that couldn’t have gone any worse! haha! I debated about bringing Charlie to the sonogram, but I thought he’d like to see “his baby,” although he’s not calling it that anymore. I really don’t know why he wanted a sister so bad. Just last week he saw a Barbie commercial, and he said “Mommy, when my baby comes out of your tummy, she can play with that, and I’ll play with the boy one (Ken) with her!” He really had big plans for a sister. But once this one gets to walking, I think Charlie will have just as much fun with him as he’s had with Chance.

And one of the main responses I’ve heard from folks is, “You’ll just have to try again.” I just want to say, you people are cruel! haha! I have one friend who’s raised 5 boys, and she told me soon after Chance was born that she dreamt I had another boy. I told her to cut that out! Well, this weekend when I told her the news, I glared at her and said, “You know, this is your fault!” LOL Her husband said, “You’ll just have to try again.” And then she said wisely, “Yep, and then she’ll have 4 boys!” So for all you people who told me I couldn’t possibly stop at 2 — please let me stop at 3. No more jinxing me, or you might just get a baby on your doorstep! (Just kidding of course!! But really, I don’t want to be the Old Woman in the Shoe someday…).

All that to say, I think it’s really my fault – hehe. Long ago (like 5 or more years ago) I wrote Chuck a little note and on it I quoted Psalm 127:3-5:

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

The only problem is I used the NIV version, which says “Sons.” No other version says “sons,” the others all say “Children…are a heritage.” What was I thinking?! I should’ve been more specific!

But as much as I joke about another boy, I’m really excited about it. I know God will give me (and us) the strength we need to raise three boys, although the task is a bit daunting at the moment. And will we stop at 3? Only God knows (I’ve learned that much from all this! haha!). But if you’re praying for another one…”Cut that out!!” hehehe.