Landri Rose Ferrell is HERE!

Landri Rose is finally here! Well, she's actually almost a month old already. She was born on Monday November 26, 2012 at 10:56am. She weighted a whopping 9lbs 8oz and was 20inches long. I got out of bed around 4:30am with terrible hip pain. No contractions just hip pain. I started to walk around and than I decided to get in the bath tub. Nothing was happening so, I just relaxed in the tub. At 6:30am I started to have contractions 3 mins apart. I woke Jake up and told him to call our midwife, we were having a home birth. She was coming from Miami (30mins) and I didn't want her to get stuck in morning rush hour traffic. She arrived at 8am. My best friend came and picked up Taylor, Kamdyn and Harper and took them to her house at 8:30am. We blew up the birthing tub and I finally got in it at 9:30am. Landri arrived at 10:56am. My first thought was wow, she's huge and my second thought was wow, that was the most painful birth I've ever had! My midwife said that the bigger the baby, the more pain and she was right. After having 3 out of 4 without medication, I can attest to that! She was absolutely gorgeous dark hair, dark skin. Her chubby cheeks and perfect little pucker lips! I love home births and everything that comes with them. I love the one on one time that is giving right after birth. No cutting the cord, not bothering the baby, not weighing. Just the mom and baby bonding time. Its incredible! So, in saying all of that, the midwife did her check on Landri after about 2 hours and noticed she was having mild breathing distress. Landri, did have merconium (dark poop) at birth. So, the midwifes concern was she might have breathed in some merconium. She pumped Landri's stomach and there was a little merconium in her stomach. She also listened to her lungs and noticed that the right lung sounded a little fuzzy. So, our midwife suggested that we call our pedi. We were able to see our pedi at 6:00pm, Monday night. She than sent us up to the NICU, as a precaution. So, we were admitted on Monday night. It was honestly the scariest moments. Jake and I cried, balled and cried some more. After 24 hours Landri was fine and healthy! I stayed in a chair right by her, slept in a chair and never saw the outside world, until we went home on Saturday! It was a great bonding time for my little girl and I. Sometimes things don't go as planned. But I am grateful for the home birth. If we birthed at the hospital and all of this happened, we would have never bonded. Landri, would have been whisked away. But I am grateful for the medical staff and the Neonatal Dr. they were awesome! Our Landri girl is now getting a good dose of being the baby to 3 older siblings!

39 weeks

Here we are 39 weeks pregnant. It's flow by. The girls are super excited I meet their baby sister. The boy, well he's a boy. Doesn't really bother him! We're excited and nervous about another transition. I can't wait to meet this little girl, Landri Rose! We will post as soon as she makes her grand entrance!

Family update!

Well, here we are in October! I can't believe it. We are adjusting well to life in Fort Lauderdale. The only thing I will not get use to is the traffic! So much traffic. Going 5 miles can take up to 20 mins! Taylor's, doing well! She's a 5 year old in 1st grade. She loves homeschool. Actually, she is thriving. Kamdyn's, doing well! She has officially started reading. Yes, 3 1/2 and she reading not memorizing but actually sounding out words. Harper's, doing well. He enjoys destroying everything in sight! He's learning his letters! Landri, is growing inside my belly. I've been measuring 2 weeks ahead since our ultra sound in July. So, I'm 33 1/2 weeks measuring 35 1/2 weeks. That's about it!

We are officially Florida residents. We switched our drivers licenses over. They were able to look me up from 7 years ago! We are completely moved into our rental. We've decided to rent for a year to get a feel for Fort Lauderdale. We are taking our time this time around. Today, Taylor starts her first official day of our homeschool coop. We meet once a week at the local library. She is taking 3 classes. Speech, science and creative movement. She very excited and hasn't stopped talking all morning. Kamdyn, is also homeschooled but preschool. She's doing really well and I know she will be completely reading by 4. Harper, is all boy. Jake, gave him a buzz cut. He still has hair but now he really looks like a little boy. He acts like one as well. Totally different from the girls! Our church North Star is doing well. We love it and the support is amazing. I can honestly say we've never had this kind of community and support ever! The people here are amazing and our neighbors are so kind. I love being in my home state of Florida!

KC residents no more.

Tonight, is officially our last night as Kansas City residents. We sold our home 2 weeks ago and have stayed in an apartment for the last two weeks so Jake could finish out his job. On a side note, I am very thankful to Jakes cousin who owns the apartment complex but I'm glad it's not a permenant place for us! 3 kids in an apartment is crazy!! We leave tomorrow for our new adventure. We've prayed for an adventure and the Lord answered! We're going to miss our friends and family here in KC. We are super excited to partner with amazing people in Fort Lauderdale.

Boy or Girl?

On Friday, we scheduled an ultrasound for our 4th child. I'm about 23-24 weeks now, so it was about time! We decided at first not to find out what we were having and wait until the baby was born. But, I guess I'm just so antsy and I really have to know. We decided that we wouldn't find out at the ultrasound. But we would have them put it in an envelope and we would have a friend bake us a cake. So, we dropped the envelope at our friends house. She got busy with the cake. Jake and I went out to dinner at our favorite place. After, dinner the cake was done. So, we brought the cake back to our temporary residence. My mom was watching the kids and we walked in and said "our friends wanted to bake us a cake, as a going away present." We had my mom and the girls cut the cake. Before, they even got the piece cut a very small piece came out and we knew the color right away. Jake, kept saying "no way!" I think he was way more surprised than I was. I had a feeling it was a what it was! But we both still couldn't believe it. My mom keep saying what does this mean. Ha! She had no idea. It was really funny! So, we announced that our 4th child will be a

Her name will be Landri Rose Ferrell. A few little facts about our family. We all have "a's" as our second letter. All 4 kids have 6 letters in their name. Taylor, carries on my middle name Renee, Kamdyn, carries on a great aunt's middle on Jake's side, Ruth and Landri will carrie on a great aunt on my side, Rose. So, they all have "R's". Harper, carries on Jake's middle name Caid.

Wanting to remember

I'm laying awake tonight, pondering everything that happened and changed today. We officially closed on our first family home. We handed our set of keys over to another awesome family! The movers came around 9:30am and were done by 3:00pm. The kids rode their bike and played in the pool for the last time. Jacob and I walked through our home, together, one last time. I balled like a baby. We thanked Jesus for the wonderful time spent and all the wonderful memories we shared in our home. I looked in each room, thinking about the kids. Looked at the kitchen, playroom and backyard. What an awesome first family home, for us. Our wonderful neighbors stopped by, cried and thanked us for being such good neighbors. After, we finished we loaded our van and headed away. The girls waved, saying goodbye. Our oldest daughter cried, hard. Our youngest daughter, said she was excited and the man child was do sleepy, he had no ideas what was gOing on. It was very sad, but we are super excited for this new adventure the Lord has for us. Pray for us. Pray for our new family at North Star Community in Fort Lauderdale. Pray for a smooth transition. Thank you KC and the house of prayer for loving us well, for me 7 years and for Jacob 11. Here's to a new season and journey with our little family!

Happy 30th to my Hubby!

Happy 30th birthday to my husband, Jacob Ferrell. I'm so happy to be on this adventure with you. I'm happy that you're my babies daddy. But most of all I'm so proud to be your wife! I love you!

Major Change

I've been waiting to write this blog post for sometime. I will try and keep it simple and as short as possible! We are moving! We are moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In March, of this year. I went to visit my best friend for her 30th birthday. It had been about 10 years since we've been together, for a weekend. We had such a blast and she informed me that the church that her and her husband pastor, was on the hunt for a worship pastor. Well, we'd been praying for the Lord to send us or settle us here in Kansas City. So, long story short. We pursued the job and landed the job back in May. We still had a house to sell here in Kansas City. We put our house on the market on June 1 and it sold June 17th. It was the fastest sale our realtor has ever had in all her years of realty! We close July 13th and slowly make our way to Florida, August 1st. Its very bitter sweet for our family. We are super excited for this change but sad to leave friends and people that we consider family. I think the hardest part is closing the door on our first family home. We had no idea, that when we bought it, we would be moving! All the memories we have. The girls became sisters, sharing a room and playing together. Harper, was born in our room. We've watched them grow together and we've become a family. Taylor, learned to ride her bike outside on the driveway. Kamdyn and Harper both took their first steps in the sun room! We've become friends with our amazing neighbors. Jacob and I first fell in love in Kansas City! The best time of year is the fall and spring. I could go on and on. So, we had a photo shoot with an amazing story telling photographer this week. She documented us, being us in our first home. I did cry! We are excited for our new adventure as a family and I've super excited to come "home" to Florida!

New things!

Just a few things happening around our home this week. 1st, Taylor (5) can now ride her bike without training wheels. Her daddy took her out twice and she just started doing it on her own. She said "I can do this, I can do this!" And she did! 2nd, Kamdyn starts ballet tomorrow. She's been asking to start and we've been waiting for the next 3-4 year old class to start. She is so excited! Tonight we took her to buy her outfit and ballet shoes. So..so cute! I can't wait to capture it on video. 3rd, Harper's new word is "car!" Every time he sees a car he says "car" with much force. Its really cute! 4th, baby #4. I'm 17 weeks. Can't believe it. We are not finding out what we are having, this time. Kinda fun!

30th birthday!

Yesterday, was my 30th birthday! I can't believe it. I did have a few good cries about turning 30. Now, I'm ready for this new season in life. Ready to move from my 20s to my 30s. Excited, that I have an amazing husband, 3 cute children and a final on the way. We celebrated on Monday, with my mom coming into town. We grilled steaks on the grill and I opened gifts. Jacob, insisted on having to go to work on Tuesday, which was my actual 30th birthday. I knew he was up to something when he kept saying, "I'm leaving for work now!" He left and my mom and the girls made me a delicious breakfast in bed. So, about 9am Jacob walked in the door with flowers. He said "you didn't think I would work on your 30th birthday!" I told him if he did he would have been in the dog house! So, he told me his plan for the day. We would take the kids in the morning to the splash park and than my mom would take the girls and we would go to lunch with Harp, followed by shopping for me. He spoke my love language alone by taking me shopping. We enjoyed an amazing, unhealthy, greasy lunch from a place called The Beer Kitchen. They are known in KC for their amazing burgers and fries. It was so good. I told Jake, I would not get a salad and just go with a nice, huge burger! So, after we ate, we went to The Plaza and shopped at my favorite stores, H&M and Gap. When we were done shopping, I thought we were just going home. We literally were racing home, fast. I told Jake to "Slow down" you're driving 50 in a residential area! We zipped into our driveway and I thought he would just start making dinner. I walked in the house and saw "happy birthday" banners and decorations! All of a sudden people jumped out from behind the wall and surprised me! I couldn't believe, he got me with a surprise party. I really had no idea! I had a blast and my day was amazing! It wouldn't have been possible with out the help of my Jake, Taylor, Kamdyn and Mom! Thank you, for a birthday I will never forget! I wanted to take pictures of me at 30 with the kids. They will never remember me in my 20s or at 30!

This is how we play outside, in the midwest!

Taylor and Kamdyn at Ta's 2nd ballet recital!

Big Steps!

We've been praying over and with our oldest daughter Taylor, ever night for 5 years. Along with Kamy (3yrs) and Harp (16mths). The only time that we have missed, is when they stay at there Nana's house. We pray the same prayer. But last night Jake and I were talking about heaven and hell. We've never really talked to much about hell and satan in front of our children before. But she heard us. She was so concerned with what hell was and that people who do not believe in Jesus will go to hell. Jake, talked to her in terms that she could understand. She than proceeded to tell us that she doesn't ever want to go to hell. So, Jake said well would you like to pray a prayer with me about Jesus coming and living inside your heart? She said yes! So, last night Taylor and her daddy prayed on the side of Taylor's bed, for Jesus to forgive her sins and for the holy spirit to live inside her heart. She was so sincere about it. She couldn't sleep after and kept saying I'm so glad I accepted Jesus inside my heart! Today, she continued to ask about hell, evil and the devil. We were at the grocery store and she said "mommy, some people in the grocery store do not know Jesus, so they are going to hell." I said yes, you should pray for them. She stopped and prayed right then! This is not me boasting in my child coming to know Jesus. But this is me saying that as a parent, we have such a influence on our children. We can root them and ground them in the word, early! I'm proud of our daughter, Taylor. She made a big step in her life yesterday. Even if it doesn't mean anything to some people, it ment something to her and us. We will never forget it and neither will Jesus!

Catching up!

April flew by! We announced that we were pregnant with #4, on Easter morning. On Easter, I was 8 weeks pregnant. Now, I'm 12 weeks. We are excited but this will be the last little Ferrell baby! I love babies and children but, I'm ready for our next chapter! We have decided, for the first time to not find out what we are having. We found out with the other 3. So, I'm excited to be surprised! Everyone, is doing well. The kids are doing well. Taylor, has her last ballet class this Saturday. She has a little dance recital. Very fun! We are working on our home school layout for next year. I'm pretty sure that even at age 5 she's ready for 1st grade. We've been working with her this last year and she is reading completely, spelling and writing. Kamdyn, is doing well. She finished swimming lessons with a bang! At first, she didn't even want to go into the water. By the end of the class she was jumping in all by herself. So, proud! She will being home school Pre-K next year. She's also doing well and is a very different learning than Taylor. She is a problem solver. Loves puzzles, building blocks, putting things together. She knows her letters and letter sounds. Now, we are working on matching letter sounds to the world around us. She's doing really well. Harper, he's walking, talking, climbing, running...etc. He is such a boy. Its very, very different from the girls. He can sit and play with his toys for hours. He loves just to spend time on the deck pushing a cart around. Eating, he will eat us out of our house! Love that boy! And thats about it!

Recent Pics

April is CRAZY!

April, by far is one of the busiest months for our family.
We have Taylor's birthday on April 1st. Kamdyn's birthday on April 12. I remember my dad every year on April 11. Our anniversary is April 22. We found out we were pregnant with Harper 2 years ago in April and we announced that we are now pregnant with our 4th (and final from my womb) baby last Sunday.

1st lets start with Taylor's 5 birthday. We celebrated on Saturday March 31, by going to the mall! She got her ears pierced and than we went and bought her the Rapunzel dress up from the Disney Store. She's wanted to get her ear's pierced for her birthday and I've always want my girls to be able to make that choice, instead of me making it for them at a younger age. She didn't even cry not a single tear and I didn't numb them before either. We were so proud! Now, she looks older... On Sunday, we woke her up early, made french toast, red roses and balloons waiting for her down stairs.
Some of her milestones this year, she can read, almost any word you put in front of her she can sound it out. She loves reading Bob Books, we're on the second set. She gave up her blanket and thumb this year! We were so proud of her. She just decided on her own that she didn't need them anymore.
She is such a joy! She loves to sing and wants to start piano lessons. Which now that she reads, is a perfect time to start! I can't wait to see how much she changes and grows this year!

2nd, today April 11th, I remember my dad. Its been 3 years! I still can't believe its been that long. Its still hard. I can still hear his voice say "Hi Lace." I wonder what he would think of his grandchildren! I know the answer...But, I am so grateful to have such wonderful memories and to have had a good earthly dad! I miss you!

3rd, Tomorrow April 12, is Kamdyn's 3rd birthday. I can't believe she will be 3 tomorrow. Its going by so fast! She's such a sweet, loving, tender hearted, little girl! She wanted oatmeal for her birthday breakfast. So, tonight I'm soaking some oatmeal for her in the am. She really is the sweetest thing! She will have balloons and flowers in the morning. She also wants to go to the park! She has stopped sucking her thumb, as well. She still asks for her blanket at night time but doesn't need it at all during the day. She's completely potty trained, even at night, never any accidents and has been completely potty trained since her 2nd bday! She's taking swimming lessons. At first, she was scared but now she absolutely loves the water, like a little fish. We got Kamy a big girl bike and tinkerbell dress up! She is in love with tinkerbell, maybe because she looks like her. We nicknamed Kamy "Tink!"

On Friday, we will celebrate both the girls birthday with a "garden party" at our house. This year, is the first year they wanted a girls only party! I was a little shocked since Taylor's best friend is a boy! We are going to have a pink, strawberry cake. For our activity we are going to paint terra cotta pots!

Last, but not last in my book...Our 6th year anniversary on April 22. I love my man...more and more! I'm so thankful that we are made for each other. Love ya babe!

First time away!

2 weeks ago, Jake surprised me with a trip (without children) to Florida. My all time best bestie, friend for life (seriously) turned 30! This was my very first time away from all 3 children, for an extended period of time! I cried at the thought of leaving my husband and children...I mean balled! But knew they would all be ok with out me for a few days. A big thanks to my MIL for coming and helping.
I arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. Jamie, my BFF and I went to dinner, shopped and watched "The Vow!" Saturday, we went to the beach, all day. I lathered myself with lots of sunscreen. Sunday, we went to church. Jamie and her husband (Phillip) pastor a church called North Star Community, we had bible study later that evening. Monday, I packed to head home and we ate at this amazing burger place before she took me to the airport! It was so sad to say goodbye but I was excited to get home to my family!
I arrived home late Monday evening. The whole house was clean, floors clean, vacuumed, laundry done, flowers on the table and a banner that said "Welcome Home Mommy!"

Now, we're moving into the month of April...One of the businesses months for our family. 2 birthdays, our anniversary, easter, im photographing 2 weddings, a 40th birthday party and a 3 month old!

Very Important Update!

Hello Friends & Family!

We hope all is well. Lacy and I wanted you all to be the first to know that after 10 years of serving as missionaries with the International House of Prayer, we will be transitioning off full-time staff in the next few weeks.

We will be taking a full-time Worship Pastor position at a local church here in Kansas City. We are so excited!!!

Over the last 9 months I (Jake) have been serving on a part-time basis with the church. Just a few weeks ago they approached me about coming on full-time. After much prayer and counsel we have joyfully decided to take the position!

What does this mean?

This means that beginning March 15th we will no longer be raising support and on IHOP staff. We will still be involved and fully supportive of IHOP as we serve the local church here in Kansas City.

We want to take this time to personally thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your faithful support to our ministry over the years. We want you to know that your prayers and finances have helped us fulfill our calling as a family thus far and you have truly help launch us into this next season.

What's next?

We are very excited about this next season of our lives and look forward to helping reach Kansas City for Jesus. Please feel free to email us back or call us to hear about this amazing journey.

Lacy will keep updating our blog so you can still keep in touch. www.theferrellfamily3.blogspot.com

You also can follow me (Jake) on twitter @jakeferrell

Thank you all so much and bless you in the name of Jesus!

Jake, Lacy, Taylor, Kamdyn & Harper

Round #2

We are finally on round #2 of Chicken Pox! Kamy, finally started to show signs on Tuesday. I would have to say that both cases so far, with Tay and Kamy have been light. So, another week of staying home!
A random fact about chicken pox. Once someone has been exposed, It can take up to 3 weeks to even begin to show signs. So, it's hard to pin point where the chicken pox came from. And it takes a week to recover from them once they appear!

Valentines day dance and Chicken Pox

On Friday, Jake took both the girls to the daddy/daughter valentines day dance. This was Taylor's, 3rd year and Kamdyn's very 1st time. They had such a good time. They danced, ate candy and just had fun with their daddy. I remember the daddy/daughter dances that I attended with my dad. Such a great memory!
So, after Friday I decided to have the girls lay low the rest of the weekend. This included no church for us yesterday. Jake went without us! Plus, Ta complained of a tummy ache.
This morning we woke up to about 1 to 2 inches of snow and Taylor woke up with spots! Yep, the chicken pox! I actually, could not be more excited for our children to be getting the chicken pox. We decided not to vaccinate for this reason. The only hard part of course is the itching, but also the staying home until they scab over! So, I'm happy that we didn't go to church on Sunday. So all of the other little 5 year olds are not full of spots today!

new pictures

These were taking on our vacation last month in Branson, MO. We stayed at an awesome cabin...and had such a good time!

Vacation

This past week, we went to Branson MO and stayed in an awesome, peaceful cabin.
Branson, is 3 1/2 hours south east of us. Its a tourist place, but it was so much fun!
The weather was beautiful all but one day.
We took the kids to an arcade one of the days and we had a blast. I think Jake and I had more fun playing the games and winning the tickets and the girls loved picking out prizes.
The girls have really become best friends in the last few weeks. They even tell each other they are best friends! Isn't that cute!
Harp, has his 3rd tooth coming in at the top.
He actually took 2 steps at the cabin but hasn't taken anymore since then.
Back to real life tomorrow. Jake goes back to work and we go back to our daily routine.

I booked my very first wedding, for photography. The bride emailed me and we met on Saturday. She's getting married in June. I have two other brides that have contacted me as well. One for another June and one for November. I can't even explain how excited I am!

Happy 1st Birthday Harper

Wednesday January 5th, was Harper's first birthday!
I'm not sure where the last year has gone.
We celebrated the day with a ton of errands, to get ready for his party on Friday. We also had lunch at Chick fila.
He didn't eat lunch but everyone else did!
The girls have had Chick Fila, maybe 3 times in their lives, so Kamy didn't even know what to think about a chicken nugget. I think she didn't really like it.
Anyways, we had Harps birthday yesterday. We celebrated it at 1:00pm and we actually had the party outside on the deck! The kids got to play on the swing set.
It was gorgeous out, 60s and sunny. We did a zoo themed party. Complete with games, snacks and chocolate covered frozen banana's for the "cake." They were yummy, a hit with the kids and parents. Harp, had a banana layered, yogurt cake. When your parents eat healthy, you do not get sugar on your first birthday! He loved it and did a classic "let me just dig my face in this." Our girls never did that. They were very picky at getting dirty. I guess that's the difference between boys and girls.
It was fun and he had fun!
Happy 1st Birthday Harper Caid!