Hair only that would impress a Papa!

Second time to post, so my humor is not going to be as funny due to frustration! I hate it when that happens! :)

We went to the doctor today. Jackson is doing great except for the jaundice, circumsion not healing correctly, ingrown toenail, and he still has that umbilical cord. Seriously, he is doing great and almost back to birth weight. He has almost as much hair as his older brother Jacob. It's funny how both boys have had so many similarities from labor to just physical appearances.

At our appointment that I had been the oh so perfect mom and was not bathing her soon too much, I kind of tuned him out when he started to talk about bathing until he talked about how often. In fact I almost laughed out loud when the pediatrican said that sponged bathing daily was not too much. When I think about the abundance of time I have right now (laughing out loud), four kids and a house to take care of, sure a sponge bath is going to be easy to do EVERYDAY. I will work on the improving the frequency of his baths. I was impressed with my every third day bathing of my newest son. :)

Now to the reason I post this cute photo. I have always enjoyed giving my dad a hard time about the amount of hair, or lack of hair, that he has. So, unfortunately his namesake's head must not be as perfect as his Papa's because it is covered by a lot of hair. In fact when it is unincumbered by any natural oils, it reminds me of a fur coat I had that was made from rabbit(real or fake I am not sure of). It is soft aand fluffy and now that I get to wash it everyday, it will bring a smile to my oh so tired face!

I must sleep, Jackson will be ready to eat in a short amount of time! My last post of the evening!

New mom has to post new baby pictures . . . Humor me!

I have loved looking at my newest son. He is a blessing so far in so many ways. He eats, sleeps, poops (a little too much for my pleasure), and cries only when he really needs something. I have gotten the pleasure of spending most of my time taking care of him since Pat finds the older ones easier to figure out. SO, I have enjoyed watching him behave in ways so familiar to me because of my older kids. I just want to capture those expressions, but they just don't translate into a cute photo. Anyway, Here are just some of my favorites from the last two days, as I haven't had a chance to get my photo software loaded and opened the photos from the first seven days since the crash. If I had my software loaded I would have made these black and white to help minimize the awful color clashing going on in both these photos.

Pat and Tammy plus 4!

Just doesn't sound as catchy as one of my favorite tv shows. Sydney calls it Jon & eight. Anyway, my titles can consume me at times so I will try to move on to the purpose of my post. I have heard since I was pregnant with Sydney that structure and routine are the key to having more than one child. Not that I am any good at it, but I love to try and set some structure up for the kids sake. Now more than ever do I know that to be true. I tried to get as much together to keep Christmastime celebrations normal for the older kids even though I would have a new baby to contend with. Here are some of pictures from the fun we have had even with me being sleep deprived and a blubbering postpartum mom of four!

Our first gingerbread house. It rode around in my car a little too long and we had to do some foundation repairs before we could assemble it. I had grand visions of the kids going crazy inventing new decor for our house. The first thing my first born said while I was building the house was, "Mom, can I do it like the picture?" Oh well, so much for creative expression. He is also the child who has never liked to scribble on his papers (He used the word before I even knew he knew what it meant). However he was a wonderful older brother helping his sister decorate the house with him. Savannah just ate any candy she could grab when they weren't looking. See the red drool ALL over her nice white shirt? The picture of the older two I chose because of those dorky smiles. How do they smile that way, cock their head AND look at the same direction on cue? I gave up. One day I will have them trained, right? :)

Life Goes On . . .

Well, we have had quite an interesting week! It has been so much fun having Jackson around. However I could use a little more down time between feeding and the numerous diaper changes! But to make life a little more interesting we got to experience the joys of having a hard drive crash. Yes, you read correctly!

My hard drive crashed this week. One of my first reactions was . . . what pictures did I lose. Then the reality of what will not be recovered and all in all those documents (and scrapbook pages I never printed off ) will not be seen again more than likely, but I believe we were able to keep all pictures. The other biggest pain that I will suffer from this crash is my Christmas card list. I know it may sound petty, but for the last three years I have had computer problems with this list requiring me to recreate this list again and again. I have sent out most of this year's list and thankfully I have a hard copy . . . but really is this a necessary thing to get to do year after year?

As silly as this may sound, I have had a moment to reflect that there are some things that happen that stink in our lives. Nothing truly life shattering, but just plain stinky. I am not sure how losing a hard drive brings glory and honor to God, but may that be the result of this small and irritating issue that I got to deal with this week. The sweet (yes they are still sweet) cries of my son reminds me of how truly blessed I am. I guess I can look at this way, I am free of those documents that you don't know what to do with that just sit around and take up precious hard drive space, right? I guess my computer got to go through an early "spring cleaning".

Jackson is here!

We are so happy to have our newest member of the family arrive over 2 weeks early. His name is Jackson Barrett Fogle and he came into our world at 12:54 p.m. sunny-side up weighing in at 7 lb.s 6 oz ( my smallest baby yet) 19 inches long.

The rest of the clan is so happy to have him here. He has been kissed squished and loved on more than he probably knows what to do with. I am doing great and ready to begin these next few sleepless weeks. Make good notes for me and when I ask how it went you can fill me in on the details!

I will enjoy my mom's help until Wednesday and then the fun with just the six Fogles can begin. Hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoy the people in them! God has been gracious to us to allow us to have four beautiful healthy children. I think that even though I am technically one shy of a quiver, mine is filled to the brim!

Oh and the other cool part of this great day is one of my friends from college got to be a my labor and delivery nurse for us a second time. She also helped me deliver Savannah. Caroline was such a great coach, especially during the whole pushing part. I really enjoyed having her a part of this day for our second time. Too bad my doctor decided to have a personal day off! :) I will thoroughly give him a hard time not to be a my available for my needs even on his day off.

Just when you think you have something figured out!

Just to let those who might actually check my blog on Saturday morning . . .

We had a great night eating out with the kids at my latest craving, IHOP, then seeing the Christmas lights at the State School. I wasn't feeling weird, but I did go to bed early. Thank goodness because I have only slept 30 minutes or so since I was awaken around 12:45 AM by MY WATER BREAKING! Who could have imagined I would be sitting in the hospital not quite 38 weeks pregnant delievering our fourth child!

How cool is it that I can blog before I really begin too much pain? I guess the potocin will be started soon . . .oh, well! I will post more later, but our Saturday got just a little more exciting!

Tammy

10 days and counting . . .

I think it is funny how women and men view age appropriate things for kids so differently. My mom got the kids cute matching pjs and they were a Christmas motiff (sp?). As soon as my husband saw them he had a definite opinion as to which of our three kids would not being wearing them. He thought they did not exemplify the appropriate level of testerone that our son's pjs required.

The funny thing is Jacob had no problem putting them on except that he had to stop playing vidoe games long enough to do it. I thougth the picture turned out cute! Wait until you see the ones I got for the kids to all wear, all four of them!

P.S. We are getting closer!!!! Only nine more days until we meet our little bundle of joy!

The joys of carrying 20 extra pounds of . . .

I just can't label my post with the obivious. So maybe all this self imposed bed rest has gotten me thinking. I really have gained more than twenty pounds, the gift that each child has left behind to help me remember them by.

Anyway, the reason I guess I got off on that tangent is that being in bed more than I am not due to back pain, pelvic pressure, the kickboxing my newest son is learning, or the sheer exhaustion I find myself muddling through I am able to blog more than usual. No I am not as bad off as I make myself sound, but let's just say that if I were to find myself going to the hospital to have this baby I would not feel deprived that we didn't have our full forty weeks of bonding.

Blogging has been a great thing to do while my wonderful husband is cleaning, cooking, entertaining children, washing dishes, anything I am not up to doing these days which make me feel horribly guilty as a stay at home mom. So here is my newest addition. We have been taking family pictures before Christmas since 1986 in my family. A traditon I absolutely love. While I have not been as consistent with the professional portraits as a family, I know once a year we have at least one of the Fogles together. However, I must say that this year takes the cake.

All mommy wants for Christmas is a happy picture for her Christmas Cards. Is that really too hard to ask? My husband was not blessed with all the training my mother gave myself and my brothers on how to make this annual process go as quickly as possible and you will soon see my girls would rather prolong it than get it over. Jacob was my only trooper who smiled the whole time.

Never fear, we actually had a professional get a great one that will soon arrive at your doorstep pre-birth of Jackson I might add! Momma may not be happy from our failed attempt at my brother's house, but I thought it would make a funny post. Sorry I rambled on and on!

Making Mamma Proud

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Darth Vader

I have been waiting so patiently for Jacob to start this whole reading process. It has been fun this year watching him get excited about being able to read words on his own. Over the break he has been even adding more details in his drawings and enjoying that too. I love it when he draws pictures. He drew Darth Vader and actually tried to write the words with it. How cool is that? I know he is no prodigy, but this has been a fun milestone for me to watch him reach. I guess this is one of my mommy moments!

Thanksgiving with the Barretts

Can you belive I got caught up in one afternoon. I know it is not as fun as having a new post every few days, but now I might have the time to actually do it . . . to my few faithful readers dont't hold your breath! :)

So Turkey day was a lot of fun for us this year. My youngest brother and his wife Abbey graciously hosted all of us at their new house. I was so nervous having my three kids being the first to really get to break it in, but their house passed every test with flying colors. Dad and Ryan hanging out.

My older brother, his wife, two boys, and newsest baby daughter joined my family at Jason's house. My parents and grandma traveled each day to join us. We had so much food thanks to Abbey and my mom. The day was really nice and I enjoyed being around all my family. The kids really took to their newest cousin and couldn't wait to help kiss and feed Delilah any chance they got.Pat got to watch his beloved aggies get creamed by the longhorns, but we had fun watching none the less.One of my favorite things was that Abbey arrananged at the last minute to have someone take our family photos. Normally we use the timer, but it was neat to have everyone in the photo and it go somewhat smoothly. We also got to have individually family photos and I can't wait to see how they turned out. Cindy, Mike, Dot and Christi also joined us on Friday and we hung out watching old home movies. Lots of fun. The girls had great time getting attention from their aunts and uncles and Jacob enjoyed playing video games.

Jake also got to break the wishbone with his dad and got the biggest piece. John and Zeke played video games and would take a break to play with the younger kids. They loved every minute of it. All in all we had a great time hanging out not doing a whole lot together but spending time.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I was determined to make sure that even though I was having a baby, we would have a home that the kids decorated for Christmas. They love to help do this task, so how could I deprive them? I even decided I would make cranberry popcorn garland for Jacob and our tree would have the Fogle Flair. After patiently waiting over a week for me to get my job done so they could do their part, the fun began. We had so much fun going over each ornament and who it belonged to. I found myself repeating the story many times because someone would ask again and again, Jacob is sure full of questions! Savannah even became very helpful, sort of. She would drop the ornament on the tree in the same spot and her brother and sister would go behind her and actually hang it. She didn't understand why her newest ornament had to stay on the tree and she couldn't play with it. It is really cute to see the kids so excited about their individual ornament. Sydney got a Celelbration Barbie for herself this year and managed to break off her hand in the first twenty-four hours of possessing it. Patrick did a great job glueing it back on until he realized he glued her hand facing up and not down like it had been. Our ornament is now truly a one of a kind! I will try and post pics of the kids ornaments. What a great way to help us rememeber which one they got this year. I really didn't take many action shots, but were they proud of the decorating job they did. I did not rearrange one ornament even though at first I had to resist!

Nutcracker Take Two!

Sydney and I got to go see the Abilene Ballet's annual Performance of the Nutcracker. It was just the girls this year. Jacob was sad not to go, but I wasn't sure if I could handle them both that long in a confined environment. Syndey was so precious to watch. She even began to dance with her newest friend, a nutcracker, by the end of the ballet.

She just started taking classes at the studio that puts the prodcuction on and two of her teachers were in several numbers. She had fun seeing them in costume afterwards. We also got to take a picture with the butterfly. It was lots of fun sitting with our friends, Sherry, Cameron,Cindy, and Keeli.

Sydney is already talking about who will get to go with her next year. She definetely wants some boys to go with us. In fact all she talks about is how Clara's brother fought over the nutcracker and broke it. And to no surprise hers only lasted about a week before some arms have come up MIA. She has handled it well and seems to walk on air as she dances around the house to some little song in her head. If you ask her in the right moment she might actually perform for you, but so far she prefers to dance alone.

I know by the look on her face she seems fairly unhappy, but she feels the need to do all she can to hide the smile and the excitement as she is standing next to these beautifully dressed ballerinas.

Go Fsh! Finally!

We were able to go to Fort Worth for the day to catch a Go Fish concert. I think if there music could be played non-stop 24 hours a day, my kids (including Savannah) would be content. I handle it most of the time, but even I have my limits.
They are a great group that I was more than thrilled to take them to see. We had great seats and the kids got to dance in front of the the stage with all the other kids. Jamie even sang to Savannah for part of a song. She was the funniest to watch. Her dancing cracks me up and she loves to dance. We had to keep an eye on her or she would have joined them on the stage. After running all over the place to keep up with the kids, I was one tired puppy.
I asked Syndey the other day if she was glad she got to go, and she said she loved it. In fact I played Jacob and Savannah a You tube video while I got Sydney ready for ballet and all I heard was Savannah saysing "ooh, ooh, ooh!" while Jacob sang away.

It was funny because my parents joined us and I am not sure who had more fun, my mom, dad, or me? The kids did hands down. But dad was disappointed when they didn't sing the ladybug song. I guess they can please us all. I hope one day they can come to Abilene. They are really a lot of fun. Worth all the effort it took to get there! You can hear their music on Itunes or I have a link to their website on my blog. Check it out! There motto is kids music that won't drive the parents bonkers.

Barn Dance . . . or Portico Dance

We have an annual event at our church that is lots of fun. There are air castles, games, food, and my favorite a live man singing country music for our enjoyment. The girls and I hung out at the music area for most of the night, while Patrick and Jacob had fun on the inflatables. The girls danced until there hearts content and entertained all who watched. Savannah found some women who were just taken to her and her to them because they all wore sparkley jewelry. There was face painting and lots of candy consumption and the best part was that

I think most of my family had a lot of fun. Of course I had to throw a pic of me and my girl friends. Such good friends, I hope they will hang on until I can make it through these last days of my oh so trying pregnancy. I am glad we became friends before this pregnancy has kept me down and out most of the last few months.

Some reflection and cute photos

This was the season of the blur. I really am not sure where it went or how it happened, but thankfully for the pictures I have some recollection. I think part of it has been that on some fronts I feel like I have been fighting for my life . . . and on others I wonder how in the world will I make it another day physically. . . pregnant, emotionally drained and with threee precious kids and a husband to take care of.


I look at friends I have that are way on the other side of four and press on knowing that God will not give me more than I can share. One gal who I don't know that well, but feel a kindred spirit to, has four kids with her youngest in my Syd's class. She just moved to Abilene, but I love to read her blog because she seems to have been on a similar path like myself . . . . children that make you lose your mind at times and just the sheer numbers that having three or more can produce. Lots of fires! Another mom who is way younger helps me to keep things in perspective. Then there is the friend with teenagers and I get to see what all this blood sweat and tears will lead to, if I stay true to what God calls me to, not one tear or pressing on when I don't really feel like it will be in vain for the prize that awaits my babies!



We will miss these years one day I am told and keep telling myself. Of course, I love how God can also use the most random times to remind me that I am not alone. His encouragement is not lost on this gal who seems to still fight to remind myself of who I am, not who I feel like at times. Sometimes that truth is what can set me free for what ever situation I am in or if I choose to ignore His turth it can discourage me in ways that are just plain silly to be discouraged about. Hope that makes sense to someone, at least most importantly it makes sense to me and this blog is my ebenezer stone.

So, now to these two simple photos. I love the one of Jacob. It has been a hard soccer season for him in that he is learing how to actually play and sometimes that active mind and body can do him a disservice on the field. This shot is during the same quarter where the coach yelled at me to see if I caught my son meditating on the field in the goal while the boys kicked away at the other end. This was the moment of sheer excitement as he just scored a hard fought goal for his team. He was on cloud nine. Of course mom couldn't have been prouder. I almost thought this might want to make him sweat again to play next season, but his memory proved me wrong. He wants to give soccer a rest and try gymnastics. Another moment where I as his mom must let him have some say in his life, not matter how much I LOVE taking pictures of him and his team mates while they play outdoors.

I laugh about the one of photo of the girls. I feel like every picture I have of the girls is in these green and pink dresses. I promise they have other clothes. Sydney is actually in one of her many new dresses she got for her birthday, including several wigs. I think these dresses appear so often is Sydney is definetely in the twirling ability of the clothes she chooses each day. That is the first question she asks when I get her a new dress. "Mamma, will it twirl?" She has to try it out and then you guessed it, all clothers are chosen for the twirlability (is that a word?) and then ease of which shoes she can wear. She likes the ones that help her dance better. Who knew patten was a good candidate for point ballet? I love being a mom to two girls. They are both so girly and so different and I love seeing their personalities develop each day. Who knows what tomorrow holds! I guess that is the beauty of my life, it will defintely be different than today!

Okay . . . The Pictures have been uploaded

It seems everytime I want to sit down to blog I don't have my pictures off of my camera onto the computer to add them. I am only 2 1/2 weeks away from bringing number four into this world, Lord willing, so I better get my act together. I am thinking that our newest addition will sit by and let me ignore his needs while I blog. So welcome to my whirlwind and here is a brief update from the last two months? Enjoy, at least I will when I look back! 16 days and counting! I have included the most true to live representation of how I feel these days . . . big going and coming if you know what I mean! :) What joyous experiences I get to have to bring my bouncing bundles of joy into this world. May I never forget the feeling of a hiccup inutero or the competion of which gets the space . . . the rib or major organ or the baby's sweet little leg or foot.

I realized I hadn't even done some from Sept! Well, here are those in a nut shell . .

The girls are so sweet together when they sit on the couch. Notice all Savannah's necessary cuddley things!Savannah loves to sit with the toys in the toybox (at least our version of our living room toybox!)

The kids had a great time at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo. After living in Abilene over 15 years, this was my first time to really go and enjoy it! Jacob could have ridden everything and stayed ALL night long.We got to hang out with some of our friends while we were there. Of course the girls loved riding together. Sydney sure does enjoy her friend Keeli!

Happy 4th Birthday to Sydney! Our traditional birthday breakfast of pancakes with a candle.Sydney had just a party with family, but her cake didn't lack any decoration thanks to her grandma. She had princesss decorations galore from her cake to cupcakes. All the kids were in heaven with all the sugar!The only shot of all three kiddos that we could get. Savannah will need more traning on how to be still or a picture for me! :)Savannah loved holding on to Little Grandma's hand as they walked out the door together. Too cute!Every September we get to enjoy a smaller scale balloon fest in Abilene. The kids really had fun watching the balloons fill up with air and take off. Can you see Jacob at the bottom showing how big that balloon is?We ran into some friends that made watching more fun. I think between the three families there were 8 kids. Perfect for sharing in excitement and lots of loud noise!

Have I mentioned that Savannah is beginning to show signs of wanting to dresss up like her sister? She prefers the shorter dresses so she won't trip as often. Oh the dancing that girl can muster up. I am not sure where she gets this . . . must be a Fogle thing!