Last Day of School....

Just for fun...a glimpse back on the first day.  Boy how time flies!

Our last day was the day after graduation.  AK did NOT understand why she graduated but then went back the next day.  But they had a ball and she hugged everyone so hard and long before she left.  What a super fun year!

Abby Kate's Graduation

Performing one of the many cute songs!

Blurry but cute pic of her on the slideshow

Walking across the stage (side note, she was the only one that walked across, looked at the audience and waved...hysterical)

Throwing caps!

Her whole cutie class!

Sweecie and Poppy (they brought her the sweet corsage)

Neannie and Pop (they brought the cutest balloons and large sunglasses she has been wanting!)

Her precious teacher, Mrs. Melton who Abby Kate "loves with all her heart."  This is her last year so we were so blessed to have her!

Well, we have a big graduate at our house!  It was SUCH a fun day and she absolutely loved having everyone there!  She has had such an amazing year and her classmates have been so precious.  SO wish I could keep those kiddos together the next 12 years!  She loves every one of them!  SUCH a fun day....

Strawberry Pickin'

We also got to go pick Strawberries with her class and had a BALL!  It was super hot and keeping up with Bo 7 months pregnant was NOT SO fun, but being outside and picking my favorite fruit made up for it!

Mother's Day Tea

SO SO long since I updated.  We have had SUCH fun things going on lately.  Abby Kate's school has been such a blessing to us this year and a perfect fit for her.  God just assured me that when we listen and are obedient, He always blesses!  They had the sweetest Mother's Day Tea the Monday after and had such a wonderful time.  The details were precious and so thoughful and just being with my favorite girl was so wonderful!  I cracked up because all the kids came in after we were seated and most of them RAN to their Mommas.  Abby Kate saw me, smiled and waved and then made her way to each table to tell her friend's mothers hello.  We kid (sort of) that she will be mayor by the age of 7.  Lord have mercy, that girl can work a room!  She is truly SUCH a delight and we laugh and take such joy in her every day!

Abby Kate-isms

AK:  Mom, do I inspire you?
Me: Yes you do, every day in fact!
AK:  Then that makes me your muse!
hmmm...first, amazed that she knew the word and second, amazed that she used it correctly in a sentence!

We were driving down the road one day and she said out of the blue,
"Mom, those people just pretend its Sesame Street, but it is really just California."

One night, Mom was putting AK down for the night.  She has a habit of trying to manipulate you into staying much longer than you intend to.  Mom finally came out and AK yelled for her again.  Mom walked in and asked what she wanted.  She replied,"
Sweec, I need to potty.  Sorry I am being so zomplicated.

LOVE that kid.

Update on Bo...20 months

My word I have been horrible at chronicling the lives of my children lately! I will so regret it...of this I know. There have been so many times I used this blog as a resource when questioning the when's. Such as when did Abby Kate crawl, roll over, walk, drop a nap, etc...and now, here I am, soon going into the newborn phase again and I have written little. Not to mention my desire to have everything about their childhood recorded somewhere.
So onto our sweet Bo. I truly cannot tell you have precious this child is. He is every bit a boy...always on the move, super curious-explorer, loves to wrestle, aggressive, all out, risk-taker but is also so lovey and gentle. He has the most infectious smile, incredible deep laugh and will spontaneously climb in your lap, lay his head on your shoulder for a few seconds and snuggle. The best surprises of my day by far!  He rarely sits still and I often joke that when I walk into a room with him, I immediately must access the situation and find the most dangerous scenario and put myself between him and the danger because he will find it immediately. Two little boys will either make my life 10 times harder or 10 times easier. For Bo to have a constant playmate who shares his full-throttle attitude should be super fun for us all! Abby Kate is still the most amazing big sister and loves to wrestle and play with her brother. They really are peas in a pod...but at the times she wants to just play with her Barbies or read a book, she will have Brooks to take the load off her and to play with Bo!  But back to him, both of my children are boundary pushers...I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that was for their Momma....to keep me utterly dependent on Christ daily.  But I am finding Bo is much more compliant.  AND he is literally one of the most thoughtful kiddos ever.  For example, EVERY TIME, every single time someone sneezes, he stops what he is doing to say "bless you."  We all melt every time.
Our biggest concern lately has been Bo's eyes.  Many of you were praying with us.  For those that don't know, our last eye appointment, we learned Bo's vision is considered severe.  We talked about several options, decided to invest in a super expensive pair of glasses (which have proven to be worth EVERY cent) that he would keep on (he has) and keep trucking.  The hard part was, progressively, every time he took he glasses off, one eye would turn in.  It got more and more severe until it was turning all the time.  We made another appointment a few weeks ago and the doctor agreed it had worsened.  We now have to patch the good eye 4-6 hours a day.  The scariest part about vision issues is it can cause major developmental and learning delays later in life.  They are not seeing the world clearly therefore are learning differently from day one.  So he suggested we get him evaluated for neurological issues and developmental issues.  I have to admit, I freaked out a bit, but after talking to some VERY valuable resources (read sweet friends that are experts in these areas) I really had a peace about it.  We finally made an appointment to see a pediatrician that had been highly recommended in the biggest town closest to us and she was wonderful.  We are still going to get him evaluated developmentally, but she felt there was little if not nothing to worry about.  Bobby and I both believe with all our hearts God is going to heal Bo's eyes.  I struggle with this a bit, because there is often a saying in Christian-ese that says "I am believing God for..." and I have never liked it.  Because above all, aren't we called to just believe HIM?  Not for something because our ultimate heart should always be, "not my will but Yours be done."  That said, we both have a supernatural peace that Bo's eyes will be healed.  We know God doesn't have to do it, we know He CAN but we just believe in His power and will praise Him, no matter what!  But we would love your prayers as well!

What's in a name...

One thing I had secretly dreaded about having another boy was to come up with a name that Bobby and I BOTH loved.  We already decided on a girls name YEARS ago that we both still adore, so that part seemed easy if that was what God chose to give us.  When I heard boy, my mind immediately spun to his name and hasn't quit spinning until we finally decided this past weekend as we had some time together away.  We decided on Brooks Haylor Qualls for our son.  We both adore it.  One of the things we love most about it is that it gives all THREE men in our family the same BHQ initials.  I really believe that will be so special to them some day.  Bobby has many engraved things that will be fun to pass on to BOTH sons and not just the one that bears his name.  And of course, one of the sweetest things to me is that it gives this son the namesake of my precious Grumpies (Haylor) who you all know I adored.  And Brooks will share the middle name Haylor with my precious brother and nephew.  I just LOVE family names and names that bear meaning.  So, we are SUPER excited for Brooks to make his arrival and to be able to pray for him, BY NAME.  Now if we could just get this house built in time....

Its a.....

For those of you that haven't heard via facebook, we found out unexpectedly Friday that we will have another SON in August!  We are truly and absolutely thrilled.  So many had asked what we wanted and we really were so blessed to be completely excited about either.  Logistically, we knew a boy would be great due to he and Bo being so close in age and being born in the same season.  We saved all our kids clothes for future children so it would have been SUCH a shame to have 200 tubs of girls clothes I couldn't use due to one being born in August and one in December!  And we would love for them to share a room, which will work out so much better in the long run with our boys.
The kids came down with a VERY nasty bug, most likely the flu though we didn't swab them, and then later in the week, I caught it too.  I think it would have missed me but I was so run down with being up with them through the night.  It was all respiratory stuff with a high temp so after so much stress on my body, we checked to make sure this little one was okay....and he was!  The finding out was SO unexpected.  Abby Kate was the only one with me because we were up at our small hospital and Bobby was still at CLEET.  AK did not hear her say it was for sure a boy so I rushed home to call Bobby and tell him (which was a few hours later due to him not getting a break until lunch).  He told me to go ahead and tell Abby Kate, and my Mom was sitting there waiting to hear as well.  Let me preface this by saying Abby Kate has been adamant this was a girl.  She has refused to even think it may be another brother.  So when I told her, I knew it was going to be hard but had NO CLUE how emotional it would be.  She started to SOB, which caused me and my Mom to sob.  She was SO SO heartbroken, which broke my heart into a million pieces.  So my joy was dampened a bit in the beginning but after much talking and encouragement, she came around a few hours later.  I told her how she was going to be our only princess, that we would have special Mom/Abby Kate trips and do fun girly things together, just us....while the boys stayed home with Daddy on the farm.  She looked at me a few hours later with such a mischievous look on her face and said....
"Mom?"  "There will now be 3 boys in our family and 2 girls.  We HAVE to play tricks on them!"
That's my girl.  A PERFECT big sister for two little brothers.  I cannot wait to see how in love with him she will be!  She said to me today, "Mom, I am going to love my new baby brother so much!"  And she so will.  And I can only dream of the kind of relationship he and Bo will have.  We have already started praying SO SO hard.
We have it narrowed down to a few names we love.  It feels weird this being the first child I knew the sex of but didn't know his name!  Anxious to have that nailed down.  CANNOT wait to meet our newest little man!  We feel SO SO blessed.

A whole mess of catching up!

Nothing like bunching a ton of random pictures together!  I tell you, I am so impatient these days and have VERY little time to sit down and upload these so instead of seperating them into different posts, I lump them together!  I am getting terrible!  I NEVER thought I would be the parent that spent less time on each child as I had more.  Have I mentioned our third yet?  (hehe)  Bless his/her heart.  I had tons of posts dedicated to pregnancy and such for AK and Bo.  This one is JUST as loved and we are JUST as thrilled.  I just have my hands full with the older two.  Especially his/her brother :)
The glasses have been a hit.  THANK GOD!  What a praise.  I was SO nervous it would not be good investment but I truly believe they have been.  He still takes them off occasionally, but NOTHING like his old ones.  They are so lightweight I think he forgets they are on.  I am counting on the 31 days to make a habit thing and maybe he will never take them off again!  Isn't he SO SO SO handsome in them?
The beautiful weather pre-snow was SO SO SO wonderful and made me SO hungry for spring and our farm.  We played outside for 4 straight hours and only went inside for supper.  BRING ON THE WARM WEATHER!  I miss it so!  I loved the pics of Abby Kate and Bo in their jeep.  They just love each other so stinking much.  Most the time he is so busy but every morning he runs to her as if he hasn't seen her in a year and screams SISSSSSYYYY!!!!  and gives her the biggest hug ever.  My heart overflows.  I cannot wait to add number three!!!

Updates...

I really feel like this month has been a blur.  I have no idea how it is almost February.  I literally have taken no pictures.  Not. A. One.  I really should get a bad Mom award.  I spent the majority of the month throwing up, seeing as we are expecting child #3.  Most of you know that I think.  So this will be a modpodge of updates, mostly to help me remember what went on with my precious kiddos this month.
First off, telling Abby Kate that she was going to have another brother or sister was one of the funnest nights of my life.  She is so giddy and absolutely convinced it is a girl.  She refuses to call the baby anything but "she."  Because I am considered high risk, she went with me when they did an early ultrasound (7 weeks) and was so cute and excited.  She showed the pictures to everyone as we exited the doctors office.  And my sweet brother scanned me last weekend and she got to see it too and exclaimed, "look how big she has gotten!"  And the sweet one sucked his/her thumb and moved all around for us and every time he/she did something new, she cried "OHHHH!  How SWEEEEET!"  I really could not ask for a more perfect or precious firstborn.
We went for our eye check-up which I asked to be moved up.  Bo has refused to wear his glasses since he began walking.  As I understood it last time, I needed to try to keep them on him but if he wouldn't wear them, he would eventually see that he desperately needed them and would keep them on.   I think this is easy when they are older.  We have had NO problem with Abby Kate.  And she has corrected so quickly.  Both of them have astigmatism.  Bo's is more severe than Abby Kate's.   His vision is worse too but both of them have a dominant eye.  In this case, you have to strengthen the weak eye which we did with Abby Kate by patching after she had worn her glasses for 6 months with little improvement.  After the patching, which we did for 4 months, her eyes seemed to correct quickly.  This appointment, she had 20/20 for the first time with her glasses.  We were thrilled!  She is very responsible and has been SO good at wearing them all the time.  She never fights me.
Bo, on the other hand jerks them off the second I put them on him.  I could hold his hands down and try to get him distracted but the second my hands moved, it was seconds and he had them pulled off.  Most of you have seen the pictures of his glasses.  They are adorable and VERY durable.  Perfect for a baby.  But they have not fit him well since the beginning.  They have a strap and his ears have always folded down when he wears them.  I am sure this is annoying to him.  He also has his Daddy's super-duper long eyelashes so they also are being smashed seeing as these particular frames have no nose piece.  They rest right against the face.  So I am not sure if it is his head size and shape or what but they don't seem to fit well.
But Bo's eye started turning in when he was tired.  It wasn't super noticeable but I noticed he couldn't bring it to mid-line when he was sleepy.  It then began watering all the time.   Their sweet opthamologist got us in and we got very hard news with him.  His vision had moved into the severe range.  He literally is seeing very little.  He is compensating, but my sweet Daddy and OT SIL both reminded me of how important vision was in preventing learning disabilities.  Just another added urgency.  SOOOO, we decided to invest in a very expensive pair of glasses for him.  We are praying this was a wise decision.  They are a frame that is so lightweight you barely know they are on.  They have a cable arm that loops around his ear and they are custom fitting the lens and frame to fit him perfectly.  Because his prescription is so strong, they are also specially making the lens to be as thin as possible.  The frames are rimless so he looks like SUCH a little man.  Please pray with us that he will wear them with little or no resistance and that his vision will begin improving immediately.  I know God can heal ALL things and I just pray my children's vision will be restored fully.
And sweet Bo has finally dropped down to one nap and has stopped waking at the crack of dawn, which is a GIANT blessing for this tired Momma!  Abby Kate is still loving school and thriving and learning a ton.  She has been fascinated lately with learning (at home) about the Devil and more about Jesus.  She has asked us literally thousands of questions and is SO curious about good and evil.  It has made for such interesting and GOOD discussion!
I will leave you with a prayer Abby Kate said last week that made her sweet Daddy and I roll and tear up at the same time,
"Sweet Jesus, we want to bless your name.  We want to baptize you.  We love you Jesus.  And we love all the people in the world.  Even the bad guys.  Amen"

Christmas....

Abby Kate is crazy about her cousins.  Literally, each one.  Kourtney is her idol.  Liv is the "Cutest thing she has ever seen" and then Luke has become SO special to her too.  She just "loves him SO SO much!"  She wants to hold him ALL the time when we are together!

Christmas jammies!

Um, strong much?  This pic scared me to death.  I was just waiting for Bo to wallop Luke on the head.

With Aunt Krista

We had a WONDEFUL time with our family this Christmas.  These last few pics are of our time with B's family and we went to look at a nearby town square the looked straight out of the movies!  It was so magical and the kids LOVED it (me too!).  It was FREEZING but such fun memories singing Christmas carols on the way down and just being together!

We really had so much fun this year.  I definitely want to be more intentional next year with things that will keep the focus more on Jesus.  But overall, it was so special and being together was SUCH a precious gift.  Having Daddy gone all week has been tough so getting uninterrupted time was so wonderful!