ive been keeping a little secret...

baby #5 is due September 2011

SO excited to be able to finally share this news!

recovering...

just days after my last post, i was hit with the awful flu - not the throw up kind but the kind where i was achy, had chills, fever, cough, sore throat and congestion. it was down right awful.  i felt like i was hit by a truck.  i was down for nearly a week and one of those days i thought i might die.  it was not fun at all.  thankfully, it fell over a weekend so jamil was home and he was able to take care of the kids and the house.  i was so out of it for many days and then spend many days recovering, my house and high hopes of organizing it fell apart.  last week, i felt much better and began trying to get life back in order, i am still doing the same thing this week.  i was done for one week and it is taking close to two weeks to get things back in shape.

i have been horrible about taking pictures or even capturing sweet moments - life has been a blur.  and i can't believe it is mid february already.  so i feel like i don't have much to write about.

this past weekend we did celebrate our church's five year anniversary.  it was amazing.  our creative department made documentary and it told the story of our church and God's favor on our church over the past five years.  it was an excellent documentary, we have a truly genius team who puts videos together.  if you are interested in hearing more about Elevation Church and how God continues to bless our church you can watch it here, but only for this week.  you can also read more about it here and here.  of course i have no pictures, even though we were all dressed up - i wore a dress and jamil wore a suit. but not one picture was taken.  i really need to get better at that! 

so, i'm off to do laundry, its one of those things that i just can not catch up on.

a different kind of month & organization...

it certainly has been a strange start to the new year.  i have not been able to get into my usual motivated mind set.  and our schedule has been so strange and unpredictable. with our snow week - the kids were only in school on friday and it was a 2 hour delay, then starting the following week (last week) they had off of school on monday.   mid week, joshua woke up in the middle of the night and he was sick.  he threw up every hour for about five hours, so he missed a day of school.  good thing is it hit quick and he felt better the next day.  jamil and i were placing bets on who would get the stomach bug next.  when you have four kids, these things usually spread like weeds.  the week wrapped up, the weekend came and went and we thought we were in the clear.  until last night - jordyn woke up around midnight throwing up.  she only got sick that one time, unfortunately, she didn't make it out of her loft bed in time and we had a mess to clean up.  so, she is home today and feeling better. 

so, its been an unpredictable month and i have lots of things i want to accomplish and cross off of my list but i just haven't been able to get to them.  my one big goal for this year is to get our house in shape, it has become very disorganized and messy.  i do not operate under these conditions very well and it has gotten the best of me.  we are maxed out on space in our house because of our large family and all of our stuff but also because we have a lot of clutter and things we really don't need.  so in order to get some space back and feel more efficient i am going to be working on really organizing our home. i will be doing lots of research for organizing and space saving - if you have any great tips or suggestions, i would love to hear them!!   this is a long overdue project and i am ready to get started as soon as things get back to "normal"

not one but three snow days...

yes, i am sitting here just outside of charlotte, nc and we are on snow day number 3! how in the world can that be?  over christmas, we had snow and lots of it which made a beautiful white christmas!   and now just two weeks later we have even more!  the kids are on their third day of no school.  jamil was off for the first two days but headed back to work today.  we are getting a little bit restless and down to the bare bones of food and supplies.  and unfortunately yesterday and today the snow has not been fun to play in, it is mostly a sheet of ice on the top.  the first day was so much fun though!  with all of that being said, i think i am ready to get back to a normal schedule.  i have enjoyed the family time but all good things must come to an end!

well, i am off to try to keep the kids busy and from killing each other!


here are a few pictures from our first big snow:

blogging again & highlights of twenty ten...

hello!!!!! i know it has been a long long time! but im back and this time is for good!!!

after an unintended very long blog break, I am back to blogging and i am super excited about it!  one of my new year goals is to continue my blogging.  it is kind of awkward to return and try to figure out how to catch up on where i left off.  so much has happened over the past few more than a few months that i want to share.  but for now i will just post the highlights of this past year...

january:

we started off 2010 on a bit of a sad note for us, my sister, julie decided to move back to pennsylvania.  we loved having her in charlotte for the 2 years she was here and we knew she would be greatly missed.

the year got off to a quick start with jaelyn on the move! she was walking and we realized

we officially have four kids on the go!

february: 

 we had a fun snow day! 

and the month was full of LOVE!!! at our church we had LOVE week!  we also had a fun time celebrating elevation's FOUR year anniversary and a very special 30th birthday celebration for our Pastor.

march: 

we celebrated two more special birthdays this month!

jesiah turned 5 years old -  and he had his first sleepover.

here he is with one of his very best friends, corbin.

and jamil turned 34 years old!

april:

we celebrated easter in a huge way.  we were part of a big move of God when elevation held one huge worship experience at the bobcats stadium (time warner arena) in charlotte, nc

 may:

my sister surprised us with a visit over mother's day weekend!!!

we took a trip to the columbia zoo and had a great day as a family!! 

it was actually in april but i am leaving the photo here!

during the spring i started working on my certification process to become a birth doula. 

in may, i was officially "hired" by the first couple who would later in the year have me share in their special day.  they have become a very special family to me!

 june: 

we took a family beach trip to carolina beach.

and not only did i attend my first birth as a doula but i was at two! what special days they were for me!

                                                   july:

jordyn's 7th birthday

and i also had the honor of attending two more births this month! very blessed!!

august:

jordyn accepted Christ and decided to get baptized!!!

such a very special day!!!

and our sweet jesiah starts kindergarten, can not believe my baby boy started school!!

i attended three births this month!!! two of them were extra special! 

the first was friends of ours, the schultzes, they welcomed sweet sweet baby boone!

the second was the the carsons, who i met earlier in the year and they had become very special friends.  

above i am holding their sweet baby girl ana grace

and below bethany is holding my sweet baby girl!!

september:

with my doula ministry off to a very busy star,t i took the month off and 

was able to go on a girlfriend's beach trip

and i celebrated my 35th birthday (ouch!)

october: 

josh turns 10 years old

how in the world is it possible that i am a mom to a ten year old! wow!

and little miss jaelyn turns 2 years old!!

i attended two more births as a doula!

november: 

this month was truly a blur for me...

it was a busy month, we opened our 4th elevation campus in blakeney! 

we attended a panthers game with our friends larry and janet.

despite many blessings and the season of gratefulness, it was a difficult month, honestly,

we had a life changing event occur that i will never forget or understand.

but God has been faithful and everlasting!

december:

jamil and i celebrated our 11 year anniversary!

i attended a birth of a friend from our old church on our anniversary!

but we celebrated the night before so it was all good!!

i was blessed to be able to have a girls night out with 6 of my favorite ladies to kick off the holiday festivities!

we had an amazing Christmas season, we spent a lot of time leading up to the big day at elevation for our Christmas eve worship experiences! what a blessing to be a part of something so big!!!

we had a wonderful christmas holiday.  jamil took a lot of time off from work 

and we were able to enjoy our family and celebrate the season!!!

it is so great to be back! 

i hope that you have each had a wonderful Christmas and great start to your new year! 

i promise to return soon!

blessings ~
dawn