Our first few days as a family of four...

Here are some pictures of our family of four.  There is no narrative.  For some reason, I am exhausted!  I'm not sure why I feel so tired :)  Enjoy! 

Baby Reese has arrived!

Hi, friends and family! 

We are thrilled to announce that Reese Martin Foster was born on Wednesday, June 23rd, at 3:43 PM.  He weighed in at a hefty 5 pounds 15 ounces!  Big Brother Emmanuel is CRAZY about "his baby," and he keeps saying, "my baby, my baby."  He wants to sit close to us whenever we hold him, and he cries big crocodile tears when he has to leave "his baby."  

Thank you so much for your prayers throughout this pregnancy.  We would appreciate your prayers in the next coming weeks as we become adjusted to being a family of 4. 

We will post some pictures later. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  

Mama, I will potty-train myself, ok?

With Reese due right before Emmanuel's 2nd birthday, I thought it would be best to hold off on potty training.  You know--that's what the research says.  "Most children will regress. Wait until you have an established routine with the new baby." 

I've also heard that boys are harder to potty train, so waiting until they are ready is best.  Well, needless to say about 6 weeks ago, Emmanuel walked into the bathroom and said to me, "Mama, potty" (he did the sign for potty, also).  I said, "No, mama doesn't have to potty right now."  He persisted, "Mama, potty!"  I said, "Oh...YOU have to potty."  I flipped up the potty training seat, he sat down, did his business, stood up, put the seat down, "flushed," and clapped for himself.  LOL.  Seriously.  He did this. 

Now, granted, I'm not pushing this.  I am taking cues from him, and he usually goes first thing in the morning, right before bed, and one time in between.  Last week he even did #1 while standing up...(I know right, what an overachiever).  And, now, he will go by himself, run into our room clapping and say, "pee pee, pee pee" or "boo boo, boo boo."  His incentive--candy from the potty jar!  

He also has these cool new undies that he likes to show off. 

And he wears them ALL the time! 

(Please note, there is a drill in the above picture, not a gun.)

Now, will he regress when Reese is born?  Maybe.  Will he refuse to potty and want me to continue to change his boo boo?  Perhaps.  But, one thing is for sure...as long as we keep giving candy as an incentive...and cool new undies as a treat...this almost 2 year old really just might potty train himself!  

It ain't bedrest, but....

I was told to "take it easy."  No exercise.  Drink more fluids than I could ever imagine.  No stress. After what was a very stressful week last week, I went to my prenatal appointment and my fluid was low (which is not a good thing, especially when you already have babies on the smaller side). I was hooked up to the fetal monitor to make sure Reese's Pieces was doing well...and praise God he is...but I was told to "take it easy"--no uneccesary stuff, no uneccesary stress.  At my next appointment, they will measure my fluid again and see if I should be induced.  

I am hoping that I stay pregnant for a few more weeks (gasp!)  I know this comes as a surprise, but I am loving the time with just Emmanuel and me.  I realize that this will be the last few days or weeks that we will have together before we add our Reese's Pieces to the mix of things. I am trying to make every moment with him count...and I am enjoying every minute! 

Thanks for your prayers.  Please continue to pray that Baby Reese is healthy.  

Our special visitor!

We were blessed to have had a special guest come and hang out with us for a few days! 

Michelle Zei, one of our former youth group students (who is now a college sophomore at Temple and who BTW has a super cute new haircut), came to show the Foster's some lovin' before Baby Reese makes his debut!  

The bad thing about her visit:  my digital camera was acting a little funky, so we only got one picture :(  We did, however, try to treat her real good by taking her to a local Southern place to eat (Southern Bred and Pied Piper), a local Southern yum, yum dessert place (The Cupcake Collection), a local Nashville foodie event (The Taste of Music City), and she was a tremendous help with E's 2nd birthday party as I was going in and out of having Braxton Hicks contractions! 

I must say that Emmanuel has liked Michelle since he was a baby in Baltimore, but he was a bit disturbed that she was staying in his room.  He kept looking at her like, "Why are you in my room?"  I guess he's got space and territory issues like his mama :) 

My granny Myrt even joined my mom, Michelle, Emmanuel and me for lunch on her last day! Michelle said, "Wow--I'll be with 4 generations of your family when we go to lunch."  It really was special.  

Michelle, you are beloved by the Foster family, and you are welcome anytime :)  I love hearing about your life and seeing the amazing, godly woman you are becoming.  I hope that the Lord continues to draw you nearer to His heart and that He uses you to make an impact on Temple's campus!  You are so special to us...it was super sad to see you go.  

Happy (early) 2nd Birthday, Emmanuel :)

QUESTION:  What does a mama do when her 2nd child is due 5 days before her firstborn turns 2?  

a.  Have the party on the child's birthday no matter what! 

b.  Have the party right after the baby is born to celebrate them both! 

c.  Don't have a party at all because you are big, tired, and hot! 

ANSWER:  None of the above.  This mama had her firstborn's birthday party about a month early to make sure that he was celebrated before all of the labor, delivery, newborn chaos!  

People who know E say, "You can't miss Emmanuel" because he pretty much likes everything there is to like (balls, balloons, bubbles, Barney, tools, etc)...but he gets especially excited about BIG trucks (like dump trucks, bulldozers, etc), and if it is a BIG truck that makes noise--you have captured his heart.  So, our theme for his special 2nd birthday: FIRETRUCKS!  

In an attempt to make sure everybody knew the theme was firetrucks, I went a little overboard with the firetruck paraphernalia.  The cake pictured above is an example...now when Emmanuel sees a cake he makes the sound "whooa whooa" (like a siren) because he had cake in the shape of a firetruck! 

He had a firetruck shirt from one of his cousins (this child has more clothes than you could ever imagine--thank God for hand-me-downs!)  And I bought a fireman's hat from Michael's.  

But besides the cake, hat, shirt, invitations, balloons, a specil firetruck sippy cup, and everything else that may have indicated that it was a firetruck theme...we had the Brentwood Fire Department come out and visit with E for his birthday!  

Now, at first E was real timid and wouldn't let me put him down.  I mean, this was a BIG truck that made lots of noise and had lots of gadgets!  

But, after his cousins arrived at the party...he got up in the driver's seat and was running around like a crazy man! 

(Somehow my nephew Michael snuck this Tennessee Vols hat on top of E's fireman hat!) 

 

Emmanuel even climbed inside of the truck with the support of James IV and Mimi. 

He had a great time with his firetruck birthday party!  
And he and the other kids enjoyed their cake...or their "whooa, whooa!" 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Emmanuel!  We love our little fireman!  

Here I am to worship...

My niece, Mia, or "Mimi" as Emmanuel calls her, graduated from pre-K at the end of May.  She had a solo to the song, "Here I am to Worship."  I was moved to tears when I saw how proud her daddy was of her as she sang her solo...it made me think of my daddy and me.  

And, Emmanuel said it best all the way from the balcony as he yelled, "Mimi" over and over again.  Mimi, we are proud of you! 

Here I am to worship 

Here I am to bow down 

Here I am to say that You're my God

 

You're altogether lovely 

Altogether worthy 

Altogether wonderful to me. 

Happy Mother's Day (this is sooo late)!

My sister-in-law organized a Mother's Day Cookout at her house, and we decided to take a few goodies.  

First up:  Homemade whipped cream!  

We were still living in our apartment at this point and my blender was in storage, so dear Eli whipped this cream with a fork...BLESS HIS HEART!  It took forever and a day, but the result was fabulous! 

I cut up a ton of fruit and layered the whipped cream in between....

It wasn't as pretty as I thought it would be, but one little fellow didn't mind...

Emmanuel found the fruit...and the whipped cream...and took out many samples before the cookout! 

I also made my macaroni and cheese which is a tribute to my late grandma, Mae Ella Reese. Growing up we spent Thanksgiving Day with my dad's family and Christmas afternoon with my mom's family.  Well, Mrs. Mae Ella would always have macaroni and cheese at our thanksgiving table, and she would always make it with Hoop Cheese.  It was my absolute favorite.  Eli found Hoop Cheese for me one day at the store...so I add some Gruyere (which is crazy expensive, but it is a special, special dish) and some of that Mae Ella lovin' and we have the perfect mac and cheese :)  

Emmanuel both ate and played very well that day!  It was a great Mother's Day.