FINALLY Introducing.....

Our Precious Baby Girl! We went in for an ultrasound a few weeks ago, and finally got to find out that Archer Baby #3 is a girl! I know, I know....a few WEEKS ago, and I am just now getting this beauty's picture on my blog. I tell you what...I am going to have my work cut out for me trying to keep this blog thing going with three kids. I am already having trouble and she isn't even here yet!

The ultrasound was incredible. This was my first ultrasound with Dr. Atkinson, and the ultrasound was much more in depth than the ones I had with Presley and Grayson. For those of you who don't know, Grayson was born with a bicuspid aortic heart valve. It hasn't caused any trouble, and probably won't, but my doctor's wanted to get a closer look at Baby #3's heart. The 4D ultrasound was amazing. Yes, she does look a bit like an alien right now, but we still think she is gorgeous! :) We could see the blood pumping through her heart and her mouth opening and closing. Everything looked perfect! At the last minute, we decided to take Presley and Grayson with us to the appointment. They were so sweet. Right before they told us it was a girl, Grayson said he hoped he would have a baby sister so he could "pertect her from sharks!" I love his imagination!

So, I know....the next question is what will her name be? We have stayed up late many a night and had lots of road trip conversations about this. We keep coming back to the same name that we considered many years ago even before Presley was born, and I think we have finally agreed on a name, a first name, anyways...I think. Her name will be Ayven. The next question is why Ayven?

First of all, way back in the Shepherd Blind Days (Jim's band that played youth events for several years), we met the neatest girl named Aven. She was just one of those girls that Christ just shined through. We would see her every summer and a couple of other times during the year. From the moment we met her and learned more about her character, the name Aven drew us in. Jim has always said that we needed to have another girl so that we could name her "Aven."

Second of all, my grandfather, who passed away when my dad was in high school, was named Aylor. A few months ago, my dad showed me some old newspaper articles about his father. Many people were quoted in the article and each spoke about what an incredible man he was, and I know he had a huge impact on the amazing man that my dad is. Therefore, we have chosen to spell her name with an "Ay" in honor of him.
So there you have it. Ayven. As for a middle name...Jim and I are not exactly on the same page. So, we thought we would have a little fun with this. Cast your vote in the poll to the right and help us choose a middle name for our new addition! And now some pics of our littlest princess.

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we headed to Ruidoso for a weekend get-away. It is rare that Jim has a Sunday off that he doesn't have to ask for, and we were both off on Monday. Since Jim will be in India the entire week of Spring Break, we decided it might be the last chance we have to take advantage of a long weekend before Baby Girl gets here! We left Friday afternoon with Coby, Jennifer, and my two precious nephews following behind us. The four hour trip actually took about 7 hours due to the unexpected adventures that come with traveling with children! We were thankful to arrive safely about midnight! We had such a wonderful, relaxing weekend. We slept in, took the kids sledding, cooked a little, ate out a little, shopped a little, and had a lotta fun! On Saturday afternoon, some friends from our Life Group joined us. They have children the exact same ages as Presley and Grayson. The kids entertained one another, while the adults played board games and relaxed! The highlight of our trip was Presley got the chance to give snow skiing a try! The weather was so beautiful, that Jim decided to take her for a half day of skiing on Sunday afternoon. She did so great! In a few hours she was already a better skiier than I am after a few years! I wish I could have skiied with them, but being preggo and all, Grayson and I just watched, played in the snow, and hung out in the lodge. On the way home, Jim couldn't resist stopping at the Roswell Alien Research Museum. While it was a good chance to stretch our legs, we won't be stopping again. But, hey, we can say we have officially visited the alien museum, right? What a great weekend to soak up some incredible family time.

We stayed at Innsbrook. The kids enjoyed exploring and watching the ducks slide around on the frozen lake.

Grayson really interacted with his cousin Crew. He had so much fun playing patty cake with him. He was practicing for when he gets to be a big brother in a few months!

My little ski bunny!

Jim and Presley had a blast on the slopes while Grayson and I.......

took a nap in the lodge! So sweet!

I promise pictures of Baby Girl soon. I haven't managed to get the ultrasound pics scanned yet. No worries, we will introduce her on the blog shortly!

Christmas Catch Up

Whew....Christmas came and went so quickly! Here it is the ninth day of January and I am just now posting about out incredible two week break. I am so thankful that Jim and I have jobs that allow us both to take off two weeks in December to just be with our family. We had the absolute best vacation ever. We laughed together, prayed together, baked together, played together, slept in....and just did what we do best...have fun together being a family. We did so much that I can't begin to write about it all, but some highlights from our break include playing in the snow, Presley getting her first "real" Bible and reading the Christmas story for the entire family, the look of pure joy and excitement everytime Grayson pulled the wrapping paper off of a gift, and our baking day in which we made candy and cookies for our neighborhood. (Unfortunately, most of our neighbors were out of town, which forced us to eat WAY MORE sweets than initially intended.) I am so far behind on my postings, but it is not all due to a lack of effort. I am having some MAJOR blog frustration. For some reason, I am not able to drag pictures where I want them or put them in a certain order. Also, a lot of the pictures I download into my post seem to disappear once I add them. Any tips? Can anyone help??? Here are some of the pics I was able to download that didn't disappear.....

Even though I was sad to have to go back to work, I was really looking forward to this week's doctor's appointment and ultrasound. I will post more later, but we did find out that Archer Baby #3 is a GIRL!!! We are so excited. Presley and Grayson are so thrilled that they are going to have a little sister. I plan on posting more details and ultrasound pics tonight.

I hope everyone had a blessed holiday and was able to focus on the love of Christ. As we begin 2010, my desire is that the fun that my family had together wouldn't be overshadowed by work, routine, and to-do lists, but that we would laugh together, pray together, and play together every day of the new year, and that we would celebrate Christ each and every moment of 2010.