Summer Cuts

As a very proud mommy, I just had to show off the very cute summer cuts my two big girls got today. It just doesn't get any prettier than this!!! :)

We have a climber!

We have noticed in the past few days that Cambria seems to have discovered her insane climbing ability. Maybe, it's just been awhile since I've had a 14 month old, but I don't remember so much crazy climbing going on at this age!
The other night we were in Avery and Valie's room getting them ready for bed and I turn around to see Cambria attempting the bottom step of Avery's top bunk ladder. I stand there to observe exactly how far she'll get, and in a matter of moments she is at the top (SO proud of herself), crawling around all over Avery's bed! We now must remember to remove the ladder during the day!
And yesterday when I got home from work, Tom tells me about how she carried the little foot stool over to the kitchen table. Then used it to climb onto the chair and from there got up onto the table. Crazy girl! I have a feeling we could be in trouble with this one! :)

Meet May Baby #5!

Tom and I had the joy of seeing our newest child this past Tuesday, through the 20 week ultrasound. Yay! We are happy to report that Baby is growing perfectly and is right on track developmentally! Praise God! As with all but one of our previous pregnancies, we chose to wait on finding out gender. Thank goodness Tom is strong in our resolve to be patient. I, for one, get to the room and falter in my resolution every time. But he did not! And, after the fact, I am so glad for the surprise that awaits us when we get to hold this new family member. There is nothing like it!

Meet Baby #5! :)

May Baby clip #1

May Baby clip #2


And, here is a rare glimpse of me by picture during pregnancy. This shot was taken on Tuesday after our ultrasound. (I know, I look huge! Can I make my excuse be because it's #5!?!!!)

20 weeks

I am so grateful to have the confirmation that everything is great with this little one so far. We're 1/2 way there!!! :)

Cambria at 1 year

At the beginning of this month I took Cambria to get her 1 yr pictures taken. It wasn't the best she's done with pictures, I think mainly because she did not have her siblings there for encouragement. And although she wasn't extremely cooperative, I think we were able to get a few cute shots. So, here are the best and the worst...!

The best...

...and the worst!"don't let go, Mommy!"

"you DID let go!"


"How about I lay down and cry, then?"


"or maybe I should just look cute and tear up your props, hmm?"
(I wonder where that silent rebellion comes from....)

All in all, we captured the many moods of Cambria. And isn't that what milestone pictures are all about?! :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Valie!!!

We had a fun and exciting Saturday this past weekend celebrating Valie's 4th birthday.
She chose to have her party this year at J&R Gymnastics here in town - and she loved every minute of it!

At the age of 4, Valie is our firecracker, as those who know her best will testify!! Life with her is never dull! She is sweet and loving (most of the time!) and extremely passionate about everything she does. She is a defender of justice and will not hesitate to let you know if she feels an injustice has been done! She will defend herself and anyone around her with no timidness. She loves fiercely and gives stronger, harder hugs and kisses than anyone I know! She also wants to be able to do anything and gets frustrated if she can't do it on the first try. For that reason, she exhibits more concentration and persistance than most other 4 year olds I know. She is excitement, enthusiasm, energy and all other action words rolled up together in one cute little package.

*I can't wait to see what God's got in store for this amazing little girl!* Because whatever it is, it will be big. You watch and see!!!

Happy Birthday, my Valie! We love you so much!

Dance Recital

Avery had her dance recital on Friday and Saturday of this past weekend. Can I just say, it was cute, and exhausting, and cute...! In fact, perhaps I should titled this post as the Week of Dance! It seemed to be all consuming last week, with group pictures at the studio on Tuesday, dress rehearsal on Thursday and the recital on Friday night and Saturday. One thing I will say about The Pointe Dance Studio that she goes to, is it's very professionally run and operated. As if all these children are being reared up to be professional dancers. And maybe they will be - who knows!!? They put on a great performance. While I was there volunteering back stage on Friday night, one of the other mom's told me, "Ms. Katherine (the owner) doesn't put on a recital, she puts on a show!!" And so she did. Anyway, here are a few pictures of Avery in her costume.

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And as a side note (if you haven't had enough cute for the day), our neighbor invited us over this weekend to pick our fill of homegrown tomatoes. The kids LOVED it, especially because our tomato plants have yet to flower for some reason!! We've known for a while that Cambria is a lover of tomatoes and will eat them until we take them away! She got a hold of one and munched on it for the entire wagon ride back to our house until it was totally gone! Gotta love summer gardens!

Graduation - Kinder Style!

Last month, in the midst of clearing over 500 bachelors degree candidates at work for my College at Texas State University, our family was celebrating graduation on the other end of the spectrum. Carson graduated from Kindergarten to 1st grade and Avery graduated from Pre-K to Kinder! :) I'm sure my pride at each (very cute) ceremony could easily rival those parents I saw watching their college grads walk the stage! Here are a few pictures.

Carson waiting with his class to "walk the stage"

With his class on stage
Checking out his diploma
:)

Avery's graduating class

So smart.... ;)
Her 2 very sweet best friends from pre-k

I can't believe I now have 2 school aged kiddos! :)

In addition to that excitement, the month of May held so many busy activities, I don't even know where to start. We had Spring performances at church and school, award ceremonies (Carson received a "Terrific Kid" award in his class), Field Days and Splash Days at school, Field trips, etc..... Not to mention, work was extremely busy for me in May.

And June is gearing up to be just as busy. The three oldest kids will be attending a Summer Fun Day Camp at a christian school here in town, 3 days a week during the summer. Summer Fun will involve swimming, gymnastics, bowling, and other activities every week. And we've hired a very sweet high school student from church to come to our home to watch Cambria on 2 of those 3 days when Tom and I will both be at work. They are very excited about all of that! I'll try to post as I can, but be patient if electronic contact slows down for me as other things occupy my time! :)

Baby #5 update: Things are moving along, quite literally! I'll be 17 weeks tomorrow and have been feeling lots of tiny movements this past week. How fun! I had a regular OB appt last Thursday and got to hear a strong heartbeat! We have scheduled our 20 week ultrasound for June 23rd, which I'm so excited about. It's always so nice to get that confirmation of another healthy baby!

Happy Summer! Check back later for more updates!

Poem

I was directed to a very sweet poem by my sister this afternoon that I wanted to share with you guys. It is posted on the blog of a mutual friend of ours. If you have an extra moment, pop over there and check it out! I hope you enjoy! :)

Name Change!

That's right! This blog has changed it's name from The May Six to.... The May Seven! How's that for an intro into "We're Pregnant"!!!! Yes, again. :)
It took a little while for it to sink in, but I believe we are ready to make it known to the world that we will be welcoming this 5th little blessing into our lives in early November. We are thrilled, and humbled, that God has given us another one of His children, along with the promise that He will never give us more than we can handle!!

So, may I perhaps answer some questions for you that you may be inclined to ask, in hopes that you will join with us in the Joy that is a Child.
*Was it planned? Always - in God's plan!
*Was this an accident? There are no accidents - certainly not when we're talking children.
*Don't you know what causes this? Most definitely, thank you very much.
*How are you feeling? Um, tired, thanks. :)
*Are you happy? Of course, how could we be otherwise?
*Are you crazy? Only crazy in love, with each other and our kiddos!

Hopefully, I covered most of them for you. If not check here where you'll probably find your question and you can pick your own answer!! :) Or feel free to ask me, I will happily hear any questions or comments on one condition - that they are not negative!! We only want positive thoughts around here, thanks!! :)

I would love to leave you with some reading material on children and God's Plan. I found my way over to Jennifer at Conversion Diary for a beautiful post that explains so well her thoughts on family - to which I say "Amen!". If you don't have time to read it, let me tell you in summary Jennifer writes, "Children are only burdens when they're theoretical. Once they're here, you don't need any further analysis to know that they are priceless gifts from God, that whatever you had to sacrifice for them to exist was a small price to pay."

Please also visit my online friend, Courtney at Storing Up Treasures in Heaven. She eloquently writes, "I believe the world NEEDS more people who will change it. I believe the world needs more people who will preach the gospel to the lost. I believe that God desires this also. I believe that He is pleased when a new life enters the world or an orphan finds a home. I believe the angels rejoice. Satan's greatest tool is to deceive Christians into thinking that children are a burden. These days many Christians are choosing not to have children. When Christians stop having children, the world grows darker. One day we will not be here, and our children and grandchildren will need to carry the torch. They will need to be a light in an ever increasing dark world."

We are thrilled with the upcoming addition to our family. We hope you will share in our joy and excitement!! Thanks for being a part of our lives! :)

Conversations

Carson: It's a windy day today.
Me: Yes.
Carson: Bad day to be a bird!
Me: (pause) ...really? Um, yeah, I guess so!

1st Birthday Joy!

My sweet, sweet little Cambria is 1 year old today! How, on earth, did this happen? Where did the year go?

One year ago, at 6:40am, she entered our lives and changed our world forever. During this year she has learned so much, and taught us so much - like what a blessing the 4th child is!

• Cambria has mastered the "look" of shy coyness that only little girls know how to do. Who teaches this look? :) She will wrap you around her little finger with this look, so watch out!
• Cambria can hug you sweeter and tighter than any little 1 year old I've ever met!
• Cambria can make you laugh out loud at the little dances she does every time she hears music (or something that resembles music). All this while she tries so hard to maintain her balance!
• Cambria can make her Daddy pick her up into his big, strong arms at every little whimper. (Early-learned manipulation?! Nah!!)
• Cambria will give you the most innocent, sweetest, most beautiful smile you will ever see - with zero prompting.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, MY BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!
We love you so much!

Easter Weekend

I realize this post is coming a bit late, but better late than never, right? Easter weekend was joy and a blessing for the May Family. We had a great combination of the May Six family time, along with May-Judisch extended family time! We left on Friday to head up to Norman, Oklahoma to visit with my brother and his family. We decided to take the time on Friday to stop at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glenrose, Texas. It was a beautiful drive that ended in a beautiful stop on the Paluxy River. The river was low enough for us to be able to see lots of dinosaur prints while splashing around in a few inches of running water. Fun was had by all, and we know it's definitely a place we will stop again soon.Late afternoon, we continued our drive towards Norman. After running into stand-still traffic in Ft. Worth we decided to pull off the side of the road and get dinner and a hotel for the night. A very wise decision.

The next morning we finished the three hour drive to Norman and got there in time for lunch and non-stop play time with cousins. Easter Sunday we were able to visit my brother's church for Easter Mass, which was a great opportunity to see where he and his family were worshipping. Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner and more visiting with family and friends. It was so nice to have my parents up there as well, and to be able to visit with so many family at once.

Dying Easter Eggs

Easter Baskets on Sunday morning

After church

We also took the time to celebrate Cambria and, her cousin, Lillian's 1st birthdays. Cambria turns 1 April 24th and Lillian turned 1 on the 19th - 5 days earlier. Great fun for all of us!

Such good memories!! Thanks for hosting us, Neal and Janice! We love you guys!

Question...

How is it that a 23 lb, almost 1 year old baby can feel like a 250 lb, 6 ft tall man in the middle of the night when they are sleeping in bed with you? Here's a visual of our night last night - Cambria, sideways, flopping, kicking, rolling all over the middle of the bed. Tom and I - laying on the very edges of either side, trying not to fall off...... Are we just crazy?

Road Trips

A couple of weekends ago we decided to pack everyone up in the car and head to Blanco State Park for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the outdoor picnic and fishing.Family Time is ever so precious and I'm grateful for every moment!

This Friday we're heading to Oklahoma for Easter to visit with Neal and Janice and the cousins. On the way we're planning to stop at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose Texas to see what we can see! The kids are so excited about this adventure and of course getting to see their cousins. I'll be sure to post a recap when we're back!

Happy Easter!
He is Risen!