Still Alive in Brazil

We arrived to our tropical paradise about two weeks ago. I saw in a travel brochure that they talk about how wonderful it is to visit Rio for the weekend because the flights are at night so you can arrive Friday or Saturday morning and run around for a bit and go home. They must have been talking about first class because it took us a few days to get put back together.

The pool and beach would be great here if it wasn't raining everyday. However, today on Sunday the weather is great so we are confident that after the forecasted raining stops next week we will really be able to enjoy the pool and beach.

We have been hiding out a bit because this rental house dosen't have the greatest security and we are hyper sensitive about safety. We will have a really secure place starting in December. Church and shopping are about the only activities we have outside our compound. The kids really pick up Portuguese quickly from the other kids. It is interesting how I can say something 20 times and they won't get it but put them with other kids for 15 minutes and they will pick up a bunch of words. Here a few shots of our place. Next month we will be across the street from the beach. We will have plenty of room for visitors. The house is far from a mansion (the dollar dosen't buy much internationally these days) but it has a big open area where we can put kids so everyone come down after Carnival when the rates are down.

Love Sheldon

Talley Gossip

Well......we are QUITE shocked but we felt the need to share the news with all of our dear loved ones. I am PREGNANT!!! I went to a conference from Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon this last weekend and sometime Friday afternoon, I started feeling queasy and nauseated. By dinner that night NOTHING sounded good. Those feelings have not stopped since then. We didn't even really think anything of it until Sunday night when I realized I was nauseated before and after eating but...while eating I felt GREAT!! Then I woke up this morning around 5 am wide awake from my queasiness. So, Chris finally went to All a Dollar and bought a pregnancy test (which by the way he has NEVER done in all our marriage) and obviously it was positive, hence writing this post. I then spent the next several hours crying and feeling overwhelmed!! I am still trying to wrap my brain around the idea of having another baby.

We were NOT planning this at all and had been using our same form of birth control that has seemed to work for years. I am 5 weeks along and will be due around July 9th. (I have a theory about woman and strongest ovulation times of the year. Mine would be October. Dean's birthday is July 31st and Pratt is July 16th.) At this point in time, we are planning an unassisted birth. We just hope we can someday be as cool as Nate and Yulia. But....that could be subject to change depending on how my hubby feels about it.

Part of the reason I am sending this post is because I am asking for lots of LOVE and PRAYERS to be sent our way. The kids are ECSTATICALLY happy, yet concerned for my health. Chris is really excited about this baby but I feel a bit scared and apprehensive. We believe that all will go BEAUTIFULLY and I will be HEALTHY and STRONG throughout my pregnancy and birth but it would be nice just to have the added strength of my AMAZING family. We love you all!!! Thanks for being there for us!!