Mommy's Birthday

I had a wonderful birthday with my sweet family. We went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D . A little different than the book, but still a good family movie. The kids had been re-reading this book all week. Andrew and Kathlena couldn't get enough of this book. They loved it. While I was really hoping that Andrew would be able to see the 3D this time it appears that he still cannot. That was okay with him he loved the movie anyway.

After the movie we went to The Goose's Acre restaurant in the Woodlands. We had not been here before, but heard that it was good. We had the wood fired pizzas that were yummy. We happened to be there on a night when they had a group of Irish dancers performing. It was really amazing how fast they could move their feet. We captured a few pictures above. Beautiful costumes also.

The kids surprised me with some sweet gifts they made and purchased. They are all so thoughtful and enjoyed being in on the surprise for me. It will be a sweet memory of the 6 of us. I cherish these days as they are about to change so quickly. We are all excited for that, but I am not wishing one of these days away any sooner. Each day is precious.

36 weeks-1 month to go!

We have one month to go and Momma is ready! Baby is growing fast and getting big. It is so fun to see Mommy's belly move and the movements are much bigger. Baby is in a great position so we are thankful that all is looking good for our home delivery. I have had some minor blood pressure issues and swelling, but otherwise it has been a good 3rd trimester. We greatly appreciate your prayers as we look forward to the safe arrival of Baby Shiflet #5. I must admit I am more frequently asked the question about boy or girl and honestly I have no clue. It seems strange as I had a good idea and was right with Emily and J.Michael, but this one is remaining a mystery to me. Many of the indicators of boy or girl point to boy, but I am not convinced. It will be a wonderful surprise when he or she arrives. I am excited about this too. It has been hard to plan for this one as I am a pink or blue person, but having to wait has helped me to be more focused on necessities which is good. I am sure there will be a pink or blue explosion as soon as the baby is here and what fun that will be too.

As for names we have some names we are going back and forth on, but decided we would wait to announce the name when we see his or her little face...just to be sure it fits. :) David and I have enjoyed the blessing of being pregnant and talking through names.

Walking along with the kids through all these pregnancy stages and seeing them so excited to have another sibling...a baby around the house. Kathlena and Andrew have been practicing with their dolls and it has been so sweet to see them care for and learn to nurture through play what will soon be their real brother or sister that they can help with. I am sure there will be some difficult days of adjustment, but those will be teachable moments too as we learn and grow together what it is like to be an expanding family. Trusting the Lord to grow us all as we trust Him with the size of our family.

Andrew-Happy 7th Birthday

It seems impossible that Andrew is already having his 7th birthday (second birthday with us). Time just flies by too quickly. Andrew has grown and changed so much since his last birthday. He has lost more teeth than I can count and now those little front teeth have been replaced by big kid teeth that make him look so grown up. His adorable smile has stayed the same though and I am so thankful for that. He also now has his eye surgery behind him so gazing into those beautiful blue ocean eyes that are straight is an amazing blessing we are so thankful for this year.

Andrew requested green beans, cooked carrots and steak for his birthday dinner. He is my vegetable lover. He also wanted a Thomas cake this year that we ordered from Sam's in a large size so we could take it to church tomorrow (on his actual birthday) so he could share it with his church family. We decided to have his dinner and family party the night before and let him open his presents and blow out his candles. It was a sweet family night together.

Andrew loved getting to open presents from Mom and Dad; grandparents and siblings. Kathlena made us laugh as she thought that your birthday "comes in the mail". Meaning that's how you get a birthday through the mail since packages and cards arrived in the mail for Andrew's birthday. Too cute! She thought her birthday could be any day...she would just keep checking the mailbox to see.

Andrew enjoyed opening his gifts and was not quite as shy about tearing open the gifts this year. He has gotten the hang of opening presents over the past year. It really didn't even take much practice. :) He loved his star wars clone helmet and gun from Nana & DoDad & Uncle Todd, scooter from J.Michael, Candy & coloring books Emily picked out for him, His new lefty baseball glove and boxing set from Mom & Dad, some really cool robot magnets and robot game from PawPaw and Grandmommie and birthday card with $$ from his great-grandmother. Thank you all for making Andrew's 7th birthday so special for him.

We are so blessed by our extended families and I love the sweetness of the thoughtfulness of our kids to each other. Birthdays are a fun time around the Shiflet home that remind us of the whole year that has passed and we look forward to the year to come and all that the Lord is doing in our lives.

Curly Girls

The girls had me french braid both of their hair (should have gotten a picture of that but didn't). It was so cute. After wearing that for a while they decided to go curly so we took out the braids and here is what they looked like. I can hardly believe how long Kathlena's hair is now just 16 months later see picture here.

Emily just loves having a little sister and she is such a great big sister. I am so thankful to the Lord for giving Emily and us our hearts desire for more children through adoption. We are all now waiting for our newest precious gift from the womb...my cup runneth over. While I can hardly wait for the baby to come these are sweet days of our family of 6 together that will be transformed into a family 7 quickly. I am holding each day dear.
Especially ordinary moments like this that can so easily pass by without capturing this sweetness of childhood and sisterhood.

Sound effects

We were just playing around and captured one of Kathlena's many adorable moments on video. She has become quite the sound effects girl. She is so observant and it is so fun to see how she "translates" what she observes into Kathlena'ish. Well here is a little glimpse into our world that is never dull with little sunshine!
Kathlena first does her impression of my VitaMix blender which runs almost everyday so she is quite familiar with it. The second impression was from a trip to Nana's where a cat had crawled up under the hood of the Kabota (a.k.a Ka-mow-da) and Kathlena and Nana unsuspectingly started the Kabota with a surprise. The cat was not harmed, but the Kabota had to head down to DoDad's shop for some tweaking.

Showered with Blessings

My Aunt Susie, Me, Mom and Kim Rosson. Thank you for
hosting the shower.


Pink and Blue cookies were served to cast your vote...we
had more pink cookies left over so the vote was for a boy!




Kathlena was right up in the action. My very good helper.



Andrew was taking pictures and eager to see what Mrs.
Carlson had picked out for him. Thanks, Jen for making it
so fun for the kids too.

Mia and Madison

Emily and Mackenzie...long time friends who went to
Kindergarten together. Hard to believe they are so grown
up now.

My dear friends: Laura, Tracy, Jamie, me, Jennifer and
Susan. Thank you all for making the shower it was so good
to see everyone.

Emily and Rebbecca long time friends too.

For Labor Day weekend I decided to make one last trip to my parents before the baby comes. My mom put together a baby shower with friends from our old church in Hillsboro. Some friends I had not seen in over 4yrs. This was such a blessing to share this sweet time with friends I have known for so long.