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.

Elf for the Day

As all elementary school teachers know, the Christmas season brings more than just Christmas trees, shopping, caroling, and family get togethers. For teachers, Christmas means homemade Christmas ornaments, Christmas picture books, and of course the class party. In my 11 years of teaching experience, I have never quite had a Christmas class party quite like the one I had today.
It all started last week with the annual Nat Williams PTA Elf Contest. Students are encouraged to bring money and donate it towards the teacher of their choice. The teacher that has the most money donated into their "account" has to wear....yep....you guessed it.....an elf costume. A hideous, ridiculously large, green and yellow elf costume.
Up until this year, I have never had more than $2.00 donated to my name. Therefore, I was not one bit concerned when it came time for the Elf Contest this year. I didn't pay any attention to it until one of my students brought $12.80 to my desk on the first day of the contest. Wow, I thought to myself...that's kind of a lot of money to donate on the first day. For the slightest moment the dreadful picture of ME in that hideous, ridiculously large, green and yellow elf costume popped into my head. No way....Not gonna happen. The next day...in comes $15 more dollars. That's when I started to sweat and feel a bit nauseous. Fortunately, by the end of the week I was only fifty cents ahead of one of the male teachers in our school. My fear subsided because we all know students love to see men have to wear tights. I knew the students would show up on Monday, the last day of the contest, with all their pennies, nickels, and dimes ready to give it all to the other teacher.
I was half right. They definitely did show up with all their pennies, nickels, and dimes.....$26.00 worth just from my class.....and they put it ALL on my name. By the end of the day on Monday, I was ahead by $25.00 and the announcement was made. My students cheered like crazy, and I reluctantly picked up MY hideous, ridiculously large, green and yellow elf costume and took it home.
As you can imagine, Presley was beside herself excited. She was so proud that her momma was going to have to dress up like an elf at school. However, Jim may have been even more excited than her. In fact, the only one who was NOT excited was the elf herself. I don't mean to be a Scrooge, but come on.....Nothing says cute like a PREGNANT ELF!!! Luckily, I had Tuesday to "get used to the idea".....(put my big elf panties on and deal with it.) I knew how excited my students were and that there was no backing out of it, so this morning I woke up with a smile on my face (well, almost), put on my elf suit, and headed to school....BUT not before making each one of my students a matching elf hat to wear, too. :)
As the bell rang, I braced myself for the heckling of 430 or so students that was sure to come, and of course, did come. My students were good sports and put on their elf hats so I wouldn't feel "alone." Honestly, I think they loved every minute of it. Besides the fact that I was sweating like crazy under the ridiculously large, green and yellow costume...oh, yes, and it was hideous....I would say that I survived being an elf for a day. I can't even believe that I am posting these pictures, but if this isn't "blogworthy" what is?? Besides, all of you would not believe just how hideous, etc, etc, it really was unless you see it for yourself. Just remember the costume puts on at least 20 pounds....

A Post Long Overdue

This actually feels nice. Sitting down at my computer, in a quiet lamp-lit house. Both kids are asleep and the hubby is out studying God's word with his buddies. It does feel a bit foreign since I have not updated my blog in over two months...actually it will be three months next week since my last post. It's not that I haven't had anything blogworthy to post about...No, that is definitely NOT the case. So many blogworthy things have been happening that I haven't had time to post them! Everytime I had a moment, I realized that I was so behind on my blogging that I didn't even know where to start, so I just didn't.
Well, that is changing today. I am finally feeling like I can breathe again. We have been out of town almost every single weekend for the last six or seven weeks. When we have been home on the weekend, we have had some kind of all weekend commitment. While we have loved every opportunity that God has blessed us with this fall, I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to the next few weekends of being in Lubbock. I am so looking forward to everything about the holidays, too....beginning with Thanksgiving next week. I have so much to be thankful for. So, for my own sanity, please endure this semi-quick list of things that have been going on in the Archer World. Also, know that it is killing me not to post a picture with each item....but my goal is to finish this blog tonight. Besides, the last picture is worth a thousand words!

1. Jim and I rocked our faces off at the U2 concert in Dallas. It was amazing, and we had so much fun being together on a road trip. We needed it because that marked the beginning of our CRAZY fall semester!

2. Jim and I got to participate in a marriage retreat at a ranch in Boerne. It was super relaxing and was amazing to just get to breathe in God's awesome creation and to celebrate our marriage.
3. The whole family traveled to Carlsbad for a Shepherd Blind reunion. It was so much fun getting to hang out with the band. We got to spend time with Nathan and Tessa and sweet Sarah.

4. I have a brand new absolutely adorable nephew. Crew Braden Colley was born on October 19th.

5. I got to spend all weekend with 7 freshman girls for the Bacon Heights D-Now. I felt so honored to get to teach them and relieved that they didn't think I was too old or uncool.

6. Grayson let one of his buddies at daycare shove a rock in his nose. After an hour of trying to decide if he really did have a rock up his nose (which included a flashlight and lots of tissues), and after calling the pediatrician, he did indeed blow out a dime-sized rock from his right nostril. I was so proud of myself that I managed to get it out without a trip to the ER. Is it weird that I kept the rock...? Perhaps.

7. Presley is like a reading machine. It thrills my soul to see her nose buried in a book. She even asks if she can go to bed early to read. I pray that this love for reading will only grow!

8. School has been eating my lunch this semester. I have a super sweet class, but I have struggled to keep my head above water. I have been bringing so much stuff home to work on and only getting a fraction of it done. However, last week, I finally begin to feel like things are on track. Yes, its taken 12 weeks or so, but I am finally feeling caught up. Yeah!

9. Presley and Grayson had a great Halloween. Presley was Dorothy and Grayson was Batman. Due to the fact that a lot of our family was at the Tech game that day, we missed some of our favorite Trick-or-treating stops. So, my favorite Halloween moment was when we took the kids trick-or-treating on November 8th. We even went to our new next door neighbor's house (no worries...they asked us to). Presley hid her face as we walked down the sidewalk...she was totally mortified that her friends might see her dressed as Dorothy AFTER Halloween. She did decide that the treats were worth it. It was great!

10. The biggest thing that has been going on with the Archer's lately is actually only two inches long. Introducing Archer Baby #3.....Due June 2, 2010!
We are absolutely thrilled about this new addition! I am 12 weeks along and feeling great! Presley is so excited she can hardly stand it, and Grayson affectionately calls our new baby "Sweetie." We are incredibly blessed and I will continue to update you on our adventures in a more timely manner! If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

The Sweetest Things

Is there anything sweeter than........

A snaggle-toothed little girl?

A little boy who takes self-portraits of himself while Mommy isn't looking?

A little girl who is so excited about first grade she can hardly stand it? A big sister and a little brother who love each other? (Well, most of the time anyway) A little boy who loves chocolate ice cream?

A Daddy who rides the kiddie roller coasters with his kids even though they make him sick?

Life is so good. I can't believe I have a first grader. Presley is loving school and is already back into her routine of getting up with her alarm clock and getting ready by herself. I have seen a dramatic improvement in Grayson's mood and behavior since getting back into routine as well. He is very excited about starting pre-school at Calvary on Tuesday. Jim's classes start back Monday and I have survived the first half of the official first week of school. It is going great so far. I thank God for all the sweet things in life that he lets me enjoy everyday.

Home

From Lubbock to Brownwood and back.....484 miles
From Lubbock to Galveston and back........1246 miles
From Lubbock to Branson, MO and back...1416 miles
From Lubbock to Dallas and back................692 miles
An hour of jumping on the trampoline in our backyard with Jim and the kids, with the moon and the stars overheard, surrounded by the contagious giggles of Presley and Grayson......................
PRICELESS!!
No doubt about it we have had the most amazing summer of our lives. We have loaded the car and hit the road for a grand total of 3,838 miles just on the highways of America. That doesn't even count Jim's trip to Morrocco or the miles of ocean Jim and I traveled on our way to Cozumel and Progreso. I thank God for his safe keeping and protection over the last couple months. Jim and I have dreamed of the day that he would be able to be home in the summers with me and the kids. It finally came true. God has truly blessed this time we have had together. Not only have we had the opportunity to travel together, Jim has been able to use the talents God has given him to develop his counseling practice, write songs given to him by God, and focus on his position as worship leader at The Heights. God has given me those special moments of waking up almost every morning to Grayson's little face in mine whispering, "Mommy, help me up so I can snuggle with you." He has allowed me to cheer Presley on at the swimming pool as she dives off the diving board. God has reminded me of how amazing my husband is and how incredibly blessed I am to have a husband who loves me and our kids only second to his heavenly father.
We have definitely experienced adventure this summer and made so many incredible memories. I am grateful for all of the experiences we had this summer on the road. However, as we pulled into the driveway last Saturday night, returning from our last road trip for a while, I breathed a sigh of relief to just to be home. Actually, I have learned that "home" is a relative term. I have experienced "home" in many different places this summer. As long as I am with my family, I am home. As long as I am in the presence of God, I am home.
As I begin my last full week of summer, I am tempted to be filled with dread and disappointment as I begin preparing for the school year. However, God is quick to remind me that His blessings, His protection, His grace and His mercy, and HIS JOY are not seasonal. He intends for me to know this joy year-round. I am reminded of how blessed I am to have a job that I love. I am so blessed to have a healthy six year old daughter that gets to come with me to my job every day so that I can be involved and watch her grow and learn so much. I am so blessed to have a healthy three year old son whose face will light up when I pick him up after school, and I will rejoice as I hear him talk about all the fun he had with his friends. So blessed am I to be able to come home every night to a faithful, God-Chasing husband who delights in me. I pray that through every season of this upcoming school year that I would know the same joy that God has shown me over the last few months....even on those extra long, extra frustrating days!
I'm sure the summer of 2009 will go down in the Archer history books as one incredible, memorable summer! However, it is not over yet....So, I'm off to jump on the trampoline with my kiddos!