It's all about the horses!

Horse back riding is a recurring theme in our time here in the US. Quin and Ezzie are taking part in a horse show in a few weeks time and even Tate has been riding - all Western, not English so it is a new approach for them to learn!! They even have cowboy boots, spurs, hats - the works!!!

One of the horses here in the barn had a foal a month or so ago - we were running bets on whether the mare or I would go into labour first. She went into labour at midnight one night so we got Quin and Ezzie out of bed to get a ringside seat. Labour is very quick with horses so Ezzie and I arrived just as the foal had been born. Quin bolted out of bed in a daze and got there just in time!!!!



Here he is right after birth.

What is a half birthday??!!

We were slightly confused to read that it was Ezzie's half birthday at pre-school last week and that they would sing Happy Birthday to her etc. She was to be bring a snack - ideally some kind of birthday item such as cupcakes or a birthday cake.

We then discovered that only children who have not been in the pre-school for their actual birthday because of where it falls in the year are given this star treatment!!

She decided she wanted a princess castle which didn't seem too daunting when we stumbled across a cake pan in the shape of a castle!!

Brad, Grandma and Ezzie did a great job of decorating it to perfection!! Very impressive.

Our 2 wounded soldiers!!!

OK, so we can't really use the birth of our 4th child as an excuse for lack of blogging any longer!!

It has been quite the eventful week........

Yesterday morning began with Brad having an accident on his bike. At least now he is convinced of the need for a helmet. He is sporting a very scary looking black eye and is wearing his sunglasses as much as possible. The attendant at the gas station made him come inside to have his credit card authorised as he clearly didn't look trustworthy!!!!

Yesterday evening Tate and Quin were playing on a saddle stand (you put a western horse saddle on this to practise exercises!) The saddle slipped off and Tate fell awkwardly breaking his elbow!! A few hours at the ER later he was wearing a temporary cast. Not exactly what we had in mind. The cast is so big and cumbersome he needs help getting up and down!! We go back to the hospital in the next 2 days to see what needs to happen next.

Thought we needed to record the moment for posterity!!

The down side is that the Californian side of the family flew in today and Brad's Mom has scheduled a family photo for everyone this weekend!!!! Ezzie is on the verge of losing her first baby tooth too and it looks likely it will not be in her mouth by 11am on Saturday morning!!!! We are wondering how else we can sabotage the photo opportunity!!

The little dove has landed!!

Welcome to Jemimah Grace!

Here she is with our Dr - don't know which face is more frightening?! He is great fun with a hilarious sense of humour.

Jemimah Grace Byrd (Jems) meaning little Dove arrived at 6:54am on March 1st. It was a longer labour for us but still fairly short by normal standards. Abi was so thankful that our OB was willing to induce her with no questions asked.

The hospital was like a 5 star hotel in comparison to the one where we delivered Ezzie and Tate in England. It was a great experience and a wonderful place to have a baby.

Quin, Ezzie and Tate are thrilled with her and as soon as they wake up they are lining up to hold her and feed her. Some days we feel like we haven't had our hands on her at all!!

Very proud big sister who could hardly wait to get her hands on the baby she has been praying for every night for 9 months!!

Proud older brother who runs in from the schoolbus to see where his sister is and whether he can hold her as soon as possible.

Long may this love last!! So far so good, although close proximity is needed as Tate will just toss her aside without warning when he has held her long enough!! He is thrilled to see her eyes open.

We are safely in Illinois!!

We are now safely in Illinois, having flown in a day earlier than planned to beat a major blizzard which ended up snowing us in completely which the children of course thought was great fun!!

There is much to thank God for:

• For our safe arrival in the US
• For our relaxing vacation in Williamsburg
• For the wonderful time we had visiting with friends in DC, VA and NJ
• For the ability to change our flights and fly to Illinois a day early at no extra cost to arrive ahead of the blizzard
• For Quin's quick and excited transition to school. He is now taking the school bus and is loving every aspect of school life. The school is amazingly resourced and he is making good friends already - even if he can't remember any of their names!!
• For Ezzie's start to pre-school. She has settled quickly and is enjoying her afternoon program 3 times a week, and homeschool in the mornings with Abi. It takes alot less time when it is just her so Abi, Ezzie and Tate are enjoying getting to do some fun things like visiting the library, meeting friends, going to the mall etc.
• For the 2 visits so far to the hospital. Our OB is a fun Dr and we are thrilled to be able to have signed on with him. He is very understanding of our situation which has been a relief.
• For the provision of our "Scooby Van"!!! The van we are driving. We will post some photos for you to get the full picture!! It has begun to smell a little of burning so pray that we will be able to get to the bottom of the problem if there is one.
• We now have an oven so we can cook!!! Yeah. Praise God for that!!

Upcoming events and prayer requests:

• We have another appointment with our OB tomorrow. Abi's blood pressure has been up and down since we arrived. Pray for a good visit and that he would have wisdom to know what the best course of action is.
• Pray for the impending birth!! (Whenever that ends up being)
• For Quin, Ezzie and Tate - that they would adapt quickly and well to their new sibling. They have had alot of change in the last month so pray that they would have the ability to adapt to this too.
• We have had some teething problems getting our apartment ready so pray that everything would be finished before the baby arrives. We had a set back tonight where someone was working in the apartment and hit a water pipe so we now have no water. Pray that we would be able to get this fixed quickly and that it would all be ready before Abi delivers.

We are very much enjoying our time back here in the US. We would love to hear from you - do keep in touch. We will let you know as soon as the baby arrives and will try to keep posting now we are here and more settled.