Busy Laying Down.

Hello Everyone,
Well I'm 29 weeks along. On Thursday the 21st I will be in my 30th week. I've tried not to do a countdown yet but I know I'll be counting down the time starting at the 30th week. I think we all know I'm not a fan of pregnancy but with that said, this pregnancy will bring along baby no. 5! I wish I was one of those ladies that love pregnancy but my body doesn't adapt the way I'd like to to. I've been dealing with Sciatica for a few weeks now. Not fun! So either I'm in pain (like now) or laying on the opposite side of the pain. It's a bit difficult to do when there are 4 kiddos in the house that need various things and any moment. Luckily have wonderful kids who do help me any time I've asked. I feel very guilty about not being as active as wish to be. I feel lazy laying on the couch but I'm blessed to have a family that understands. The sad thing is my girls are seeing a side of pregnancy that makes them not want to ever have kids. Well... maybe that's not so bad lol! Since my levels were elevated during my first one hour glucose test I had to go in for a three hour test.  The three hour test came back normal, however they want me to do another three hour test this week. It's not like I have three hours to take out of our day to test again and again. Never mind being stuck in alternating arms 4 times. I do hope this one comes back normal and we'll be done with the testing already!  Ok I know it could be worse so I'll quit going on but right now September needs to arrive quickly! We have a name for her. We've decided to name her Fia Serenity. At the moment I typed this little Fia had the hiccups and was moving up a storm kicking. Her siblings were amazed with "Whoas!" when she moved from one side to another. I don't know which limb it was but it was quite visual. They could also see her little hiccup thumbs which prompted the "Awwwww's" September come quick! Speaking of little tots, I've entered Helaina in the Gerber Generation Contest! Please vote by clicking the picture or clicking this link http://apps.facebook.com/gerberphotosearch/entry/43050/helaina.aspx 

Thank you :)

So we've got a few things going on now. My dear daughter has entered a local Talent Contest! Here is the link http://www.ddhtstl.org/TalentVideos/TalentContestVoting.aspx here you can vote (daily) and view her short video entry. We are so proud of her. We received an email telling us she had made it to the Semi Finalist and she almost went to tears! Oh boy is this huge to her. Before she entered she worried so much and frustrated herself questioning if she was good enough. We had to have a talk about attitude, self doubt and motivation. She felt like we were telling her she could sing just because we were her parents. We reassured her that no, that was not the case at all.  I let her know that no matter how many positive things we say to her, she's got to believe for herself  that God gave her this talent. I know she is hesitant because of possible negative feedback from peers. She finally snapped out of it and did it! She says she was motivated because there is supposed to be an Elmo muppet there and she knew that Helaina would love that. How sweet, but I now she'd love the grand prize too! Ashley volunteered to record it for her and has been a great support. The silly thing about it is, Ashley has singing talent too but has no interest or motivation in doing any contests. We aren't pushing her but we want to encourage her too. They both have God given talent. When they sing together it's wonderful. We are praying Ashley will come around and let her voice be heard too. Now I do know that they are young, have lot of work to do in perfecting things, and have yet to be professionals. We are encouraging them in continuing on. I hope one day that they would sing gospel music but I'm not pressing my wishes upon them.  There are a few (iphone quality) Youtube videos the girls let me upload of them singing. Here they are. 

If you can't see the embeded video here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL843396A80A4AF456

Another thing we are working on is getting these books published. We are planning to publish the Colors and Shapes books in English, Spanish, and French soon. I haven't started on the Alphabet or Numbers book yet. I have Celebrationbookspublishing.com/ to sell the books through. I've got the ISBN numbers and I'm in the process of getting a Library of Congress number for them too. The hang up is getting the books printed at a low cost. I don't want the book to be over $7.95 but adding in the cost of the felt for the shapes it might be close to that.

The Pure Natural Blends business is an interesting adventure! We've been trying to update the site slowly and add options but that is taking time. I've created products I haven't put on the site yet. I've only sent them out as samples. I'm excited about using essential oils, the new product lines and getting it all up and ready to sell. If I could convince this sciatic nerve into cooperation I'd be more productive!

I've got 2 design projects going on. I said after I get these 2 design projects are done, I'm not doing any more design work until December. I really need to update my portfolio but I'm hesitant to continue as a Graphic Designer.  My poor photo blog has been neglected too :( As soon as I said that, someone called me about doing some more work. Can we give the pregnant lady a break? lol! But like I said before, it could be worse. God is always looking out for us and we are forever grateful for that.