Dec. 2nd, 2018 - July 1st, 2019

Hello Friends and Family,

It's been a while since our last update. :) Over six months! It's been hard to for me to sit down and write this post as the last few months have been...hmmm... difficult to put into words. Trying, difficult, challenging, scary, memorable... Honestly, it's been pretty tough over here with lots of ups and downs, unknowns, and coming to grips with a new "normal" in our lives that I'll explain below.

My digestive tract (a thrilling way to start any good story) started having issues around the second week in December after a combination of stress, months of sleep deprivation with a new baby and hormone imbalances and by January my body finally had enough. I ended up being hospitalized on January 14th for seven days with acute pancololitis which was later diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. 

During that very long week in the hospital I was on strong steroids to control the inflammation in my gut as well as several other meds to get my body to rest and sleep as I had been running on adrenaline for a while had gotten to the point of being "too tired/wired" to sleep. It was really quite horrible. I don't know if it was the steroids, sleep deprivation, my hormone imbalance or a combination of everything, but I experienced of some of the most intense fear and anxiety I've felt before. I simply could not calm down. So many thoughts (rational and irrational) ran through my head as the fear took over for a time. What did this autoimmune diagnosis mean for me and my future? What if the steroid doesn't work? What if it continues to get worse? And on and on... 

It was also terrible being away from my sweet Ian (2.5 months old at the time) and the kids as they were not allowed on the hospital floor. I had to give up nursing while my body was recovering, which was and has been a source of grief for me. I did get to see them a few times when the nurse allowed me to be wheeled down to the lobby to see them. All of those factors combined meant that I was one big emotional wreck and basically in a constant puddle of tears during my stay. Thank goodness for Netflix, which I turned on frequently during my stay to watch nature episodes which helped keep my mind distracted. 

I was incredibly blessed to have the support and doting love of my amaaaaazing husband who slept on the recliner in my room each night and drive the hour back and forth from home to help with the kids and take care of me. My sister, Joy came and visited and bringing me magazines and hugs. My church family took care of my kids and cleaned my house (!) and brought us meals. 

Home at last!

I'll spare you the details of the many ups and downs over the past five months of my recovery and summarize it by saying God has me slowly brought me to a much more stable place emotionally and physically. Thank you, Lord! Physically, as I've been pensively watching and waiting to see if the current medication will be enough to keep the inflammation at bay, meticulously tracking everything I eat, and working with multiple doctors, I'm thankful to say that I'm currently holding steady, gaining some weight back and seeing small increments of improvement as each month goes by. Emotionally, I'm much more myself, but still struggling off and on with anxiety and fear. Let's just say the past few months have given me a whole new empathy for those dealing with chronic mental health issues! :) I'm learning how critical it is to surrender everything into the Lord's hands. Notice I used "learning" and not "have learned". Yes, I still have a very long ways to go in that area. I have learned just how miserable I can be when I let my mind travel to the land of what-if's. While I still struggle with bouts of fear, I am working with an excellent counselor and learning to lean into the Lord and letting go of my perfectionism, among other things! Whatever the trial, I know in my head that He is faithful even when I'm struggling to trust Him in my heart. 

Lots of this...

and this. Thankfully, I'm not taking 90% of these anymore.

It's still a bit of a day by day waiting game to see how my body will respond on this current medication while slowly adding new foods back into my diet and seeing what my new stress tolerance level is. You can pray with us that this current medication would be enough to keep the inflammation at bay so we don't have to move to more aggressive options. The plan is to do a colonoscopy in mid-July to assess how much damage was actually done in January and to help decide about medication moving forward. Pray for us as we are also seeking the Lord for wisdom about other treatment options as I'm not a fan of the idea of being on medication indefinitely. 

Okay, that's enough on that topic! 

Although my health has pretty much been either all-consuming or a huge part of our lives the past five months, life does go on and we have been glad to have reprieves from thinking about it here and there. Even in just the past month, life has been quite a bit more like normal and I tell you what, I have a whole new appreciation for enjoying and cherishing the ordinary days. 

Obviously, he's been doing just fine on formula!

Happy boy!

Ian is now 8 months old and almost walking (seriously?!). The little stinker. Ya know, God knew what we needed when He gave us Ian last year. I can not tell you how many many times during these past few months of dealing with intense fear and anxiety that being able to scoop him up in my arms or just watch him play or make him laugh as been incredibly therapeutic and soothing for me and Micah. God gave us an easy-going and happy baby who is now sleeping through the night- thank GOD! He is just what we need and we thank God for giving him to us even though he wasn't "planned". He brings us so much joy I can't imagine life without him.

Visit with Big Nana!

Those eyes... how can one say no?

Liza turned 4 in May and her personality is continuing to blossom into....hmmm...intensity.? There's a little poem we learned last year and we have to laugh when she recites it... 

"There was a little girl, 

Who had a little curl, 

Right in the middle of her forehead. 

When she was good, 

She was very very good, 

But when she was bad, 

She was horrid." 

Except Liza pronounces it "horwid". :) Despite those rare "horwid" spells here and there, she is loving (maybe aggressively loving is a better term) and has the cutest little voice ever as she cannot yet pronounce her K's or G's. She loves to keep up with the boys and even begged me other day to give her a buzz cut like they were getting. Her strange catch phase at the moment is "Bewli Comellin" I have no idea where it came from, what it means, or why it's so fun to say at completely random times. Usually, makes an appearance when she's super excited about something. Or, sometimes it's just "You are a Bewli Comellin", "I want a Bewli Comellin", "Bewli Comellin, yes." or "Bewli Comellin, no." or just an exclamatory "Bewli Comellin!!!" when there's just too many emotions spilling out at once to put into actual words. We just smile and knod most of the time. 

Someone got a new bunkbed! He now has bragging rights of having the highest bed in the house. :)

Owen is six now, making headway in read skills, has the best freckles and has definitely grown a few inches since December. He loves Ian to death and maybe a little too much as we frequently have to tell him to let Ian go, put him down, or give him back to so and so. (Ian is much like the family pet at the moment, everyone wants to play with him, but no one wants to deal with the poop.) We've figured out that Owen's love language is physical touch and closeness which on the unfortunate side means that any physical pain inflicted by another sibling, accidentally or not, is immediately translated as a sign of distain for him. Anyway, we are working on that. :) 

Blake and Seth are doing well and loving summer break from school almost as much as I am!! Blake has a big birthday a few weeks and is turning 10! That's two full hands!

A few highlights from the past six months...

As I was thinking about it, truly the best highlight of this year so far is the fact that my sister has officially moved to the area! I cannot express how deeply happy I am to have her and her sweet family close by. Something we've been looking forward to for years! :)

Charlotte loves to dote on "da baby"!

Liza and Clark are pretty much best friends and are thick as thieves any time he comes over. They like to tell each other what to do and oddly take orders from each other swimmingly.

We traveled to Tennessee to the The Ark Exhibit with the Mahers. I was soo thankful to feel well enough to go on that trip in March. What fun!

I had never thought about how complex the Ark must have been!

A huge highlight last month was the wedding of Jonathan and Kimberly! So grateful to add another sister to the family!

Of course the best thing about weddings is getting to get back together with family! Picked up this guy at the airport...

Scott is doing well and has a few more months stationed in Japan and then on to California for some training.

Charlotte was not too sure about this dude.

Another favorite Grandfather :)

The cousins! Chillin' with a movie before the wedding.

Did I mention Ian is happy ALL the time??

Love this picture!

A few funnies...

"Dead as a dailnor"  Liza
"He totally denominated you!" Blake 
"Is Alexa in charge of us?" Liza
"I don't have to because I'm Liza"  Guess Who
"Well, I love you mucher than that!" Liza
"Can we watch Jack and the Bean Box?" Liza
As Ian had a delayed reaction of crying after being buckled in his carseat, Liza said "He just figurized that he was in his seat!" 


Thank you for your prayers for us. Love to you all! 

Kari & All 

Have had this on the wall next to my computer as a reminder that God's got my future in His hands.

Aug. 5th - Dec. 1st, 2018

Hello Friends and Family, 

It seems this year has been one of full of surprises for the Fox family! It's not every year that both a baby and a burglar make a grand entrance into your world. Both surprised us, but thankfully neither surprised God. God knows just what we need. And while one surprise was certainly easier to love than the other 😉, we have been changed by God for the better by them both.  

More about Ian below, but we were surprised to find out in February that we were expecting our fifth child! That's not to say we don't know how it happened 😊, but God surprised us a bit with the timing.  

As we mentioned above, we were shocked to come home late one Sunday afternoon in March to find that someone had broken into our home. It was one of those surreal moments in life that is hard to explain after the fact. It took quite a few weeks to clean up the mess that left a busted back door, insurance claim, and threat of identity theft. We can genuinely say though that God gave us a sense of peace through the whole situation that can only be attributed to His goodness and grace. It was an experience we hope we never have to face again, but one that drew us closer to the Lord and each other. 

While we're on surprises, we were shocked to find that our children continued to grow in 2018...at what seemed to be an increasingly rapid pace! Of course, anytime you add a new baby to the mix it makes you realize just how much older your other kids seem, but it really was "just yesterday" that each of the older four were born, and now look at them! 

Lastly, we needed to be reminded often this year that our "surprises" are never a surprise to the Lord. The new baby, the break-in, it’s all part of the plan God had for us this year. We may not have seen them coming but God did, and for that we're extremely grateful. In fact, we wouldn’t go back and change a thing. 

Here's a little year-end update on the fam:

Our biggest little blessing this year...

Ian Titus is super sweet and so far putting on weight faster than any of the other children. This is a big answer to prayer as Liza did not eat well and stressed her poor mother out for several months (all of you moms will understand). So far, his personality seems to be fairly laid-back, but we are only six weeks in, so we shall see! It has been a reminder of just how much fun it is to have a newborn in the house and the kids have all LOVED to hold and love on their little brother. 

Liza turns 4 in May, is as cute as can be, and currently holds the status of being our loudest and most dramatic child. We were worried that she would need a sister to help balance out the testosterone in the house, but she is quite capable of holding her own around these boys. She won't be pushed around for a moment and if feeling threatened, does not hesitate to pull out her secret weapon of "The Sonic Scream" to disable her opponents long enough to make her escape. She is taking up all the responsibilities of caring for "her baby" in stride and has no trouble making sure he knows when he's supposed to be sleeping or awake. Liza decided to save all the "terrible" from her twos and transfer it to the "terrible" threes for a double dose of excitement this year. Whew! It has been quite a challenge to establish who exactly is the reigning matriarch of the home on a day-to-day basis. We are still sorting this out on occasion, but thank the Lord, we are slowing seeing some improvements :)  

Owen is our smiley toothless child these days. He turns 6 in February and has been learning how to read this year (which also couples as a great way to put mommy to sleep on some days). He’s learning what real schoolwork looks like and honestly, he’s making good headway. But 1st grade just isn’t as fun some days as kindergarten used to be 😀. Owen has a tough job as the youngest of the three boys and has to work daily to make sure his older brothers know he’s a big boy too! Most of our struggles revolve around wanting to be big enough to tease back and forth with the older boys, but then not knowing when to take it as teasing or when to take it personally. It's a fine line for sure when one is making his way in the world with older brothers! He does have at least one claim to fame around here...he has got the most deadly forehanded frisbee throw of any of the boys and frequently puts them to shame anytime they play frisbee golf. 

Seth turned 8 in July and is becoming our resident pianist. He and Blake started taking lessons a few months ago and we can see his skills improving. He enjoys playing for fun (which we think is super cool) and it's fantastic to see him even composing his own songs from time to time. Seth also shows an aptitude for thinking deeply and being aware of what God is doing in his and others' lives. If Seth is not tinkering on the piano, you can often find him kicking the soccer ball outside and practicing new moves. He and Blake got to try soccer for the first time this fall and had a blast.  

Blake, who turned 9 in July, continues to impress us with his academic prowess. He is blazing through his sixth-grade math book and currently learning how to multiply and divide decimals. He still has a passion for reading and surprises us with random facts that we never knew we needed to know, like “The Statue of Liberty has Morton’s Toe which means her second toe is longer than her big toe.” And now you know too! Blake showed a new side of himself this past spring when he played a leading role in the play Charlotte’s Web at Alamance Fine Arts Academy. He memorized around 60 lines and enjoyed every minute of it! Blake is super helpful around the house and does a great job of taking initiative. Having said this, it's always hard as a firstborn to understand that taking initiative around the house does not include taking initiative to parent for us 😉. His desire to help the other two parents in the home enforce the rules runs deep, but he's learning more and more each day what it looks like to give his siblings some grace.

Micah and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year! Every once in a while we look at all the kids around us and ask ourselves, "Are we supposed to feel like grown-ups now?!" We still often feel like kids ourselves! Is that normal? Micah is still at North Star Marketing and thankful for the incredible team he gets to work with. Even after nine years, he still really enjoys sales and the relationship building that comes along with it. He also continues to serve as one of the eight elders within our church and is grateful for the way this experience has not only opened up new doors for ministry, but has also grown and stretched his own faith in many ways. 

I am keeping busy in my roles as wife, mom, school teacher, and homemaker (all full-time jobs :), and also serving part-time on a women's ministry team member at church and as graphic designer/marketing assistant at Alamance Fine Arts Academy. The "mom" aspect of that job description makes up the majority of my time, especially the past six weeks as I have taken care of my newest sweet little bundle 😀. Now that Ian is here, I find myself totally addicted to holding him and staring into his eyes and wouldn't want to be doing anything else! Such a sweet time and so fleeting. I think the longer you are a mom, the more you realize just how quickly they change, and it helps you enjoy each moment even more. I feel like I'm finally learning how to relax more as a mom as well. I'm finding I'm stressing less about the spilled soup and instead spending more time focusing on the kid's hearts. Still, I have a long way to go, but God is faithful to bring me a little farther along each year that goes by!

One of the highlights of our year came in September when we got to host my family for two weeks for a Shoemaker Family reunion. Scott was home from Japan on leave so we thought it'd be a good excuse to get everyone together and it was a blast! We had a cozy time with nine adults and nine little kids (ages nine and under) running around the house. It certainly made the house seem just a little bigger when we had to say goodbye! There's something special about being with your family and being reminded that although we all continue to grow and change, our love for each other hasn’t!

Our big project this year was opening up the walls between our kitchen, living room, and what now couples as a dining and school room. With homeschooling and taking care of five little ones, the extra open space has been a huge help! We also added a window from which I can more easily see the kids in the backyard. So nice!

Hope you all are doing well out there! We don't know what surprises 2019 will hold, but we know that HE is never surprised and has us in the palm of His hand no matter how much we’re caught off-guard!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Foxes!

Love,

Micah, Kari, Blake, Seth, Owen, Liza, and Ian. 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." 

Proverbs 3:5-6

April 25th - Aug. 4th, 2018

Hi Everyone!

Seems like it's been a long time since our last update (as usual). :) It's been super nice to have a breather from school and enjoy the outdoors more this summer. 

Here are some of the highlights of what we've been up to since our last update in April...

Blake and Seth finished up their theatre class at Alamance Fine Arts Academy in May with a charming performance of E.B. White's story of Charlotte's Web. In the play, Blake and Seth played brothers and had several scenes where their extensive experience in sibling banter came in handy. 

Some of the biggest news since our last update is that Blake and Seth have both come to us to inform us that they want to surrender their lives to God and become a follower of Christ. Micah and I have been very careful not to pressure them in this direction, but have been praying and waiting for God to speak to them directly about their personal commitment to Him. It seems that He has and we have seen a difference in their lives lately as they show more of a desire to please the Lord and do the right thing. We are so proud of them and thankful to the Lord for speaking to their hearts. 

Micah and I decided to splurge a little to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary so we left the kids with Nana and hopped aboard a cruise to the Bahamas! We had a blast and mostly slept, ate (a lot) and laid out on the beach or balcony on board. So fun!!

May came with one of our favorite things of the year...strawberry season!

We graduated from trays to buckets this year. The kids have turned into pretty efficient pickers lately. I may have gone slightly overboard this year in my fruit hoarding in the freezer...we picked around 54 pounds altogether! 

Micah and the boys got to go on a father-son camping trip in May to Grandfather Mountain in NC.

Climbed a mountain...

Slid down some waterfalls, and did other manly things of which I still have not been privy to. 

We celebrated Liza's 3rd birthday in May as well! She was so funny to watch when it came time to open presents. Just a liiiiittle on the hyper/dramatic side to say the least! Shouting "Oh I YUV dis!" about everything!

A visit from Pappy in early June! How many kids get to say that their grandfather takes cross-country trips on his motorcycle? The kids think that's pretty cool. :)

Fireworks are soooo cool!

4th of July!

Blake turned 9 this July! Can you believe it? He's really growing up!

Seth turned 8 just a few weeks later!

Birthday hugs :) The kids are so funny. When they were really little and there was a birthday coming up, we would take them to the dollar store so they could use their own money to pick out a present or two for whomever was having a birthday. They have loved this little traditions so much that we've kept it up. They get such a kick out of not only picking out presents for each other at the dollar store, but the dollar store gifts they receive on their birthdays are also some of their favorites even though they rarely last out the first day. :)

Bowling for Seth's birthday. We're all showing off our "bowling ball". :)

Some friends of ours bought a farm that had 100 established blueberry bushes on it, so they have invited friends and family to come picture however much we want! (never say this to a fruit hoarder like me because we DID!)

The aftermath of pancakes with blueberry syrup. 

Micah took the kids to the office one Saturday and they played Hide'n Seek. Here was Liza's hiding place... LOL

The boys have had a strange fetish with Monopoly lately. Totally Micah's doing. Maybe it's because it's the one board game I refuse to play (who has time for a four-hour game!?!) so that makes it a special man-time thing to do. Who knows?!

We reached a new milestone at our house last month! Blake has officially started helping with the push-mowing! 

Liza announced she was ready for work at "da office" like Daddy. :)

Ah...summer days!

Owen practicing his "scary face"...or something?

In anticipation of baby Fox Five coming in November I've been working on alphabet and reading skills with Owen over the summer. He was quite excited to read his first "Bob Book" a few weeks ago. Slowly but surely we are working on getting him to good reading level so he can read to me while I take care of baby this fall. (that's the plan anyway, we'll see what happens!) :)

Liza likes to "pretend" she's angry sometimes at the table by putting on her angry eyebrows. This is also what she looks like when she's not pretending. :) It's hard not to laugh when her eyes are barely showing from under her lowered brow. 

All good moms do painting projects with their kids, right? I put it off until summer claiming we didn't have time during the school year, so we've painted twice and... I think I'm good until next summer. :D

Have to brag on Blake for a minute...he has really excelled in his math this past year. Going at his own rate with homeschooling has been such a good fit for him. He finished his 5th grade math book and is ready to start a 6th grade math level book this fall! Go Blake!

Susanna Fox (Micah's sister) and I entered in a little cake-decorating contest with the Women's group at our church last weekend. We won! It was really fun and I learned quite a bit about cakes that I didn't know before. Thanks, Kate for all the tips!

Baby Fox Five is growing (or, I should say I am growing :-/  ) like a weed lately. Maybe a watermelon plant is a better analogy... Liza is completely in love with my belly and is always giving the baby a kiss goodnight and talking about what the baby likes and doesn't like. :) Hopefully, the excitement of having a baby to hold take care of will eclipse the realization that she is not the baby of the family anymore. We are super excited about baby although occasionally have moments when it hits us again...are we really doing this again?! We are at 27 weeks along already!

We are getting some work done this week! We've been talking for several years about opening up the walls between the kitchen and school room to make more room for our dining room table and we're finally making the plans a reality. This time we decided to hire the job out. ;)

What do you think?! I'll have the finished "after pictures" in our next update Lord willing. 

Curled Liza's hair for the first time last Sunday...as you can see she was thrilled.  :-/

Guess this is more her style...

Funnies...

"Hey Owen! I have ten fingers that are located and ten toes that are located. When they are DISlocated they are crooked." -Seth 

Owen was looking through a hunting and fishing catalog the boys received at a 4H class the other day. When he saw the pictures of the hunters sitting next to their kill holding the heads of the deer up like they do, he exclaimed, "Mom! Look at all these people who have a pet deer!"

Liza came inside from playing and I saw her go into the bathroom and get some toilet paper. I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I didn’t wipe myself when I went potty in the woods." ...oh dear...

While playing frisbee with the boys outside when Daddy had to work late, I made an apparently rare play and actually caught the frisbee. Owen declared in amazement, "Wow, Mom, you caught. I’ve never seen you like that before." LOL

Owen- "I want to be a policeman"

Liza- "I want to be a policeman" 

Owen- "Well she can’t ride in the same car as me. She talks way too much."

"I feel like my head is turned around because I’m thinking about things I haven’t done yet." -Owen   ...no idea where that one came from!  :)

Well folks, I think that's it for now. We heading to the beach soon with the entire Fox side of the family and the kids can hardly wait! Liza has literally been talking about the beach since January. In September, we get to host a mini-Shoemaker family reunion here at our house! It's going to be a blast!!

Hope you all are doing well! 

With love, 

Micah, Kari, Blake, Seth, Owen, Liza, and Fox Baby Five