Trick or Treat

Our family had so much fun trick-or-treating last night. At first, we weren't sure if we wanted to let our kids trick-or-treat. Every year, I submit my will to the Lord and ask Him to guide our decision making. We had come up with a lot of alternate ideas, but Jackson really wanted to wear his costume, trick-or-treat in our neighborhood, and hopefully run into some of the new friends he's made. And honestly, we really wanted to take them because it is a lot of fun to dress up in costumes and get tons of candy. So we decided to let them trick-or-treat as long as the neighborhood wasn't full of scary and spooky decorations. (We weren't sure what it would be like since we've never experienced a Halloween here before.) I am so pleased to say that our first experience trick-or-treating in Utah was wonderful! There were a couple of houses that had skeletons, but most all of the homes were decorated with carved pumpkins. The people here are so loving and nice. Our kids had a great time and got tons of candy (that hopefully I will not eat!)

We headed out in the cold around 6:45. Jackson was a motorcycle racer and Allison was Optimus Prime...a Transformer and the leader of the Autobots. Can you tell she has an older brother?! We tried to put other costumes in front of her - Strawberry Shortcake, Wonder Woman, Super Girl, a bumble bee, this precious ballerina outfit that our friend Michelle brought her, etc. Nope! She wanted to be Optimus Prime, so we let her. Here are our excited trick-or-treaters:

Jackson is using the pumpkin that I used as a child every year at Halloween.

I had a hard time getting her to leave her mask on. This was the best I could do while trying to manage Elizabeth and the camera.

They had so much fun going to our neighbors homes. Here they are at Doris' - an elderly lady who lives across the street and who my kids adore. I had a hard time getting Allison to leave. She had a Tootsie Pop and was satisfied to stay there. I kept telling her that she was going to get a lot more candy, but she didn't understand. It took several more houses before she finally understood, "If I ring the doorbell and say 'Trick or treat!', then I am going to keep getting more and more candy."

Trick or treat!!

She had a sucker for each hand!

Jackson was thrilled when he ran into his new best friend, Luke!

Thanks to the Moby Wrap that a good friend gave to me, Elizabeth was snug as a bug and we were able to join in on the fun!

Jason was awesome! He pushed/carried everything so that I could focus on keeping Lizzie warm and happy (she slept most of the time) and not overdo it walking up and down the hills of our neighborhood. Jackson insisted on riding his scooter (after a long time of convincing him that his bicycle would not be practical) and Alli just wanted to sit and eat candy between each house, so Jason carried both pumpkins, pushed Allison in the stroller, and carried the light saber (for safety...and fun...of course!)

I'm so thankful for our neighborhood and a great time of family fun!

Pumpkin Prayer

I have wonderful childhood memories of pumpkin carving. And probably my favorite part of carving a pumpkin was eating the roasted pumpkin seeds that my mom made. They were delicious! Because of all of the transition that our family has been through the past several years, we haven't carved a pumpkin since 2007! We always intended to do it, but time always got away from us. While my mom was here visiting after Elizabeth was born, she went to a pumpkin patch with the kids and came back with a beautiful pumpkin. We were all so excited to carve it. I stumbled across a pumpkin prayer bookmark and thought that it would be a great opportunity to talk about Christ as we carved our pumpkin. So after church (and great naps for the three girls), Jason headed up our 2011 pumpkin carving.

The kids were excited about the carving tools:

And here is the information we got off of the pumpkin prayer bookmark:

Dear Jesus, as I carve my pumpkin, help me pray this prayer:

Open my mind so I can learn about You;
(Cut the top of the pumpkin)

"Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His..." Psalm 100:3

Take away all my sin and forgive me for the wrong things I do.
(Clean out the inside)

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Once Jackson embraced it (he doesn't like getting his hands dirty) this part was one of the most fun!

Open my eyes so Your love I will see
(Cut the eyes out in heart shapes)

"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." Psalm 119:18

Drawing the face was the only part I helped with...besides keeping the baby happy, taking pictures, making hot chocolate, and cleaning up a little :-))

Jackson did a fantastic job making the cut-out for the heart-shaped eyes.

I'm so sorry for turning up my nose to all You've given me.
(Cut a nose in the shape of a cross)

"Create in me a clean heart, O God..." Psalm 51:10

Open my ears so your word I will hear.
(Cut the ears shaped like the Bible)

"Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life." Isaiah 55:3

Open my mouth so I can tell others You're near
(Cut the mouth in the shape of a fish)

"I shall...declare the works of the Lord." Psalm 118:17

Let Your light shine in all I say and do! Amen.
(Place a candle inside and light it)

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Ask God to fill you up so that He can shine brightly through you. Share your faith with your friends and neighbors as you tell them about your special pumpkin.

It's a GIRL!!!

Elizabeth Mae Exum

Sunday, 9 October 2011

10:46 at night

7 lbs. 5 oz.

20 inches

We are so excited to announce the arrival of our sweet baby girl, Elizabeth. Labor started around 4:15 on Sunday afternoon and she was born at home at 10:46 that night. Her labor and her birth were absolutely wonderful. I am so grateful to the Lord for blessing me with such an incredible experience of bringing her into our world. We had a sweet photographer photograph her birth for us, so I'll wait for those photos to tell her birth story. Until then, here are some photos of our first days with Lizzie Mae. We are all so in love with her!

The kids stayed up to watch me labor and to see their baby sister be born. Unfortunately, they missed her coming out by less than a minute because she came so fast, but they got on the bed with me and enjoyed those first several hours following her birth. It was the sweetest experience to share with our children. They love Elizabeth so much. Jackson couldn't wait to lie beside her. It was almost 3 in the morning when we finally went to bed, but I can't imagine not sharing those first 4 hours together as a family of 5!

My friend Michelle flew in from Colorado to hopefully be here for the birth. I prayed so hard asking the Lord to please bring the baby while she was here. I have a history of going past my due date (10 days with Jackson and 9 with Allison) and Michelle was leaving on the 8th day past my due date. I was hoping the baby would come before she left. The Lord was so gracious to bring on my labor while shopping with Michelle on Sunday afternoon and then to bring our baby girl that night while she was here. Sadly, she also missed the actual birth because she was hurrying up the stairs with the kids when Elizabeth came out. We've been friends for 10 years. We met the Madrids in Italy at the end of 2001 and our family has been so blessed by our friendship with them.

Jackson and Allison are so excited to have their baby sister here.

Jackson really wanted the baby to be a girl. And when we were grabbing a blanket this morning (the first day), he made me choose this one because it was mostly pink!

Jackson stayed home with me for our first post-partum appointment while Jason and Allison took Michelle to the airport. Everything looked great with me and Elizabeth and Jackson was such a big helper. He doesn't like it when Elizabeth cries. The night of her birth, the midwife told him that he could put a clean finger in her mouth to settle her down while she was examining her. He remembered that and whenever she cried, he kept wanting to put his finger in her mouth!

Our birth day cake for Elizabeth. Everyone wanted a cookie cake this time!

Allison loves being a big sister. She reads to Elizabeth...

...and sets up picnics for her in the room that they'll eventually share. (I'm so excited for them to have each other. I LOVED sharing a room with my sister when we were growing up.)

I wanted to make sure she didn't get too jaundiced, so we had a nice nap in the sun.

At our second post-partum appointment, Elizabeth was 4 days old and she weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. - 1 oz. more than her birth weight. Breastfeeding is obviously going well!

Poor Jason got a stomach bug on the first day of Elizabeth's life. Jackson and Allison had it the Wednesday and Thursday before she was born and I got it the day before she was born. It was so sad because he couldn't be around us that first day and didn't hold her until the end of her second day. He was so concerned about not getting her sick. We had to get some daddy-daughter pictures to make up for those first two days. Elizabeth actually looks a lot like her Papa, Jason's dad.