Announcing...

Isaiah, Elijah, and Josiah would like to announce that they...

...got hair cuts.








Oh, and they are very excited for the arrival of their new BROTHER!!!!!!!!

We learned this afternoon that we are indeed having another boy, but judging from the baby poll it isn't a surprise to most of you!

Museum Art

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We Have a Cria!

Yesterday morning at 6:00 Adam did his usual check on our past due, pregnant, alpaca. She looked fine so he came back to bed and checked again at 9:00 only to come straight back to the house to announce that we had a baby out there! Not exactly how we had pictured the whole thing happening.

I got my boots on and went outside to see the little thing for myself. After a couple checks we decided that it was indeed a little girl - just what we were hoping for! She was still wet and shivering and she was trying out her lanky new legs with much stumbling.
Adam put a call in to our experienced alpaca friends and we were on our way - so we thought. Our new little cria was not finding her mommy to feed and we knew it was imperative for this to happen. At first we thought maybe the milk wasn't in yet so we tried some things and still the baby would not nurse. Another call to our friend led to a visit from their farm manager. He informed us that the cria would need to be bottle fed every hour for 24 until she decided to nurse from her mom. He thinks it may have been a difficult delivery and the cria possibly suffered from some brain swelling causing what is called "dummy cria" where the baby won't nurse. With some anti-inflammatories the swelling will go down and the cria will then begin to nurse. We also had the vet come out and check the mom and the baby - the mom had a hard time delivering the placenta and she now needs to be on anti-biotics to make sure there is no infection.

Like I said, not how we thought things would go but things look like they are going to clear up and both mom and cria will be fine. Enjoy the pictures! By the way, we named her Princess Dandelion.

Blow drying her to get her dry and to raise her temp.
She really enjoyed being pampered!


She is already practicing her Zoolander face for the show ring.
The boys watched from the side lines.


Enjoying the warm afternoon sun.

Trying out the hill with mom keeping a watchful eye in the background.

10 Days to Go

Until we leave for the beach! We are getting ready here at the Thompson house by making sharks. (The Boy's idea) They colored them yesterday and cut, stuffed, and glued them today. Then I found a place to hang them and took some pictures.


Jojo was too busy to stop and smile.


But Elijah took time out for a picture.


And so did Peanut.


The finished product.


The guys wanted to show them off by standing on chairs, but Josiah changed his mind once he got on the chair. Did you notice his shark patrol shirt? He had to have it this morning!


Don't they look fierce?

The Alpaca Whisperer

Still no cria.

The Name Game

In our rare quite time together Adam and I have started to discuss some name ideas for the newest member of the family. We have limited our choices by naming our first three sons bible names that all end in ah. This was not done intentionally with Elijah and Isaiah (1 and 2). However, much consideration was put into the ah for Josiah and it just doesn't seem right to not give the fourth child the same type of name. Anyway, we seriously have nothing so far for either gender and middle names will be even harder to decide. This is an important decision and Adam and I find it hard to agree on names we both like. So, I decided to do a little research and see what others are naming their children. Where else would I go but to the celebrity baby names of Hollywood?

Nicolas Cage, for example, named his son Kal-el. Any Superman fan out there knows that was Clark Kent's name on Krypton. The Phoenix children: River, Rainbow Joan of Arch, Leaf Joaquin, Liberty Mariposa, and Summer Joy. Summer decided to stick with the unique theme in naming her first son Indiana August. Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple and Paula Yates named her daughters Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom, Little Pixie, and Heavenly Hirani Tiger Lily. Oh, and let's not forget those Zappa's!

For other, shall we say interesting, name choices click here . I'm not sure Adam and I could agree on just any one of those names, so I also found a baby name generator that picks out the name for you. All you have to do is type in your last name and like magic, a full name pops up for you. My girl names are Seashell Ambrosia and Lavender Quince. My boy name choices came out to be Mahogany Mexico and Lex Jupiter. Hmmm...now there is something to consider...

Seriously though, we got nothin'

Half Way

Tomorrow marks the half way point for this pregnancy (20 weeks) and it's beginning to get a little cramped in there! We still don't know what we are having yet and my sonogram isn't until the 30th. At times I still can't believe I am pregnant - it is still a bit of a shock. I don't know what we are going to do about space, but I know the Lord will provide and I know this has to be his plan, because it wasn't ours ;) So, I'm going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the other half of what will most likely be my last pregnancy.

10 Under 10

I recently read a blog that talked about 10 things under $10 you can't live without. It wasn't asking a deep question - or taking the question as life and death. The author of the blog simply wanted to know what 10 everyday things people enjoyed in their life, or made their life a tad bit easier. So, I have decided to rip off that idea and do one of my own! In no particular order...

1. Toilet Paper - enough said!


2. Bathroom cleaner - With 3 young boys in the house I use this nearly everyday! Little boys just don't always have the best aim.

3. Peanut Butter - if all else fails I always have it in the house, besides who doesn't love peanut butter!?


4. Dr. Pepper - mmmmmm... the best carbonated beverage ever!


5. Goo Gone - This stuff is amazing! If you have never used it - get some. It cleans up sticky messes like nobody's business. Gum doesn't even stand a chance!


6. Aveeno Shaving Gel - All other shaving gels are dead to me!


7. Oreo's - Has to be Double Stuff and sadly I'm an addict.


8. Orbit gum - but not the weird flavors. I have to keep a pack of blue or green in my purse at all times.


9. Band-Aids - the cure for all of life's hurts from ages 2 - 10.


10. Coffee - again totally addicted. It is my morning ritual and I am not the same without it. One of the hardest parts about being pregnant is I have to be cut back to one cup a day.


So those are my 10 under 10. What about you? What are some things under $10 that make your day to day life easier or more enjoyable?

Baby Update

I had another doctor visit yesterday and everything seems to be progressing smoothly. I am actually measuring at 20 weeks instead of 18 but my next sonogram should clear up any discrepancies. They will also take measurements of the baby to see how big it is. So, not too much to report in the way of Baby 4 this month. I am feeling a lot of movement, but nothing anyone else can yet. I assure you though that this child is a mover and a shaker! Here is a picture of 18 weeks fetal development it is not my baby.

Elijah and The Adventures of Captian Underpants

Have you heard of the Captain Underpants seres of books for young readers? Let me tell you I am super excited about them. It is finally a book that has Elijah excited to read! This was no easy feat as he would much rather play Super Smash Brothers Brawl on the wii than do anything else. However, I sat down with him 2 nights ago and had him read me the first chapter. He actually wanted to keep reading the second chapter. I was in shock because his reading homework was always a struggle to get him to do and here he was actually wanting to read more and more.

Captain Underpants is about 2 elementary age boys who write and draw a superhero comic called Captain Underpants. The boys then make copies and sell the comic in the playground after school.

Elijah is so into the first book that when he woke up this morning instead of turning on the wii he sat quietly and read 2 more chapters on his own. No prompting from me. I was thrilled! What a blessing to see my son reading, by choice, on his own and really excited about it.

Walmart

Let me first start off by saying that I love Walmart; especially the super centers. Where else can you go and buy underwear, a gas grill, and produce all while having your oil changed? However, I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have walked in and out in less than 20 minutes, or spent less than $40.

This came to mind as I was in Walmart today. (Sorry Margie, this is what I was thinking about when you said hello to me and scared me back into reality!) I went in with an actual list. All I needed was water, milk and double window envelopes. Like usual, I came out with much more. I think I have finally figured out why.
Every time I am in there I always see something I forgot that I need. Like today, I went past the bath section and realized that we need towels for the fast approaching delivery of our cria (alpaca baby). I am certainly not going to use my good ones and Walmart had some for $1.75 so I bought four of them. But that got me thinking about anything else we might need for the alpacas. Then I remembered Adam said he needed a toilet brush to clean out their water buckets. So, after a brief search I found one that came without the base. Do you know that they sell toilet brushes in three different sections of the store? Anyway, I was on my way to the check out counter when I went past the make-up isle. Oh yeah, my blush fell on the bathroom floor last week and I need a new one. After getting turned around I went to what I thought was the make-up isle only to realize it was the lotion isle. No problem, I need more lotion anyway. I can't just buy any lotion, I have to look for the right lotion - and make sure it smells good too.
After about 5+ more minutes I headed to the next isle and found my blush. Except, I couldn't remember the exact color so I picked up two and stared at them until I decided on one. I walked to the end of the isle, turned around and traded my blush for the other and then finally made my way to the check out counters. Of course there were only about 5 lanes open and all of the self check outs. Another decision. Just as I was about to head to the self checkouts I noticed a lane that only had one person in it. I quickly headed down that lane before anyone else noticed.
Bad choice. The card reader wasn't working and someone had followed me in. So, I was stuck standing there and waiting for about 10 minutes while they got it fixed. Finally it was my turn and instead of the three things I had gone in for, I was leaving with three bags of things and a block of water. Also, instead of only taking 20 minutes it took me about 45. But hey, I got the towels we needed and the double window envelopes without having to go to two different stores. I love Walmart.

Swimming fun!

What?

I came across this article today about a 70 year old woman who gave birth to twins. Why was she pregnant at 70? Because she needed a male heir of course. At first I was speechless, but then I started reading the article. The woman's husband, who is 77, spent everything they had to get the IVF procedure done. "He mortgaged his land, sold his buffalos, spent his life savings and took out a credit card loan to finance the treatment." This part irritated me even more. Why wait until you are 70? This woman risked her life and the life of her twins just to get a male heir who will not only have absolutely nothing to his name(except the debt from the procedure), and whats more, he will have no parents to raise him and his unwanted twin sister. What kind of a legacy is that for your child?

T Minus 30 Days and Counting

Tybee Island here we come!!!!!

In exactly one month we will be on our way to surf, sand and sun in Tybee Island, Ga. I can't wait - I LOVE the beach and I haven't been to Tybee in years.

We are going down with Adam's family and we have a beautiful house 25 yards from the beach. The boys are really excited too, except I'm pretty sure they think we are staying at Aunt Kathy's again. Maybe a stop on the way home??? Anyway, I thought I would post a couple pictures of the house and area where we will be vacationing.

Our house...


The view from our deck...


This is the Tybee Light House on the North Beach section of the island. We are staying in the Mid-Beach area.



So yeah, I'm pretty excited even if I will look like a beached whale out there! At least I don't need to worry about dieting all month long!