Question???

Okay, I know this is a totally random thing to ask, but here goes......

Do you get any of the following magazines:
Baby Talk
Parents
Parenting
Parenting the Early Years


If you do, would you mind flipping through your latest issue and look for a lime green colored card that says AMAZON on it (it's one of those annoying cards that is stuck in the middle of two pages that you usually rip out and throw away). On the back it has a code for 20% off diapers when you buy them from Amazon. If you're not going to use that code, I could definitely use it. I'm trying to stock up on diapers before the baby gets here.

Thanks a bunch! Just shoot me an email if you have a code (judah322@hotmail.com)!!

Third Trimester Bliss

You know how every now and then you hear a story about a person who goes to the ER because they think they're having a heart attack, but really it just ends up being heartburn?

Well, I get that now. My nights have become rather miserable thanks to this big boy I'm carrying around.

The grocery store used to be one of my favorite places. I love organizing all my coupons, studying the sale flyer and hitting the store for an extended visit just to make sure I'm getting the best deal. But lately any extended standing just results in Braxton Hicks and the general feeling that I might just give birth in the cereal aisle.

And I constantly find myself tapping my toe to point to something on the floor that I need one of my children to pick. They just love that.

I'm sure Ryan equally loves the fact that a full basket of clean clothes can typically be found sitting at the bottom of the steps just waiting for him to carry it upstairs. I could do it but then I would just be too exhausted to put any of it away.

I have a feeling I've probably been complaining a decent amount because Ryan used to talk about wanting a fourth child and I haven't heard a word about that for at least six weeks!

And so....reality has set in. We are having a baby and he's going to be here before we know it. His room is done (I know, I know...I need to take pictures). The bouncy seats have been scrubbed, the carseat has been washed. All I need now is some batteries for the baby swing, a new changing table pad and we are ready!!!

This past Sunday was my last Sunday to teach Sunday School. Next Monday is my last day to volunteer in Christian's preschool class. And this Friday I will have my fourth ultrasound to find out just how big this "little" boy is! I'm hoping that he has calmed down a little bit and that he's not gaining weight like crazy. My non-stress tests have been completely normal thus far. I'll continue to have them at least once a week until d-day arrives. I feel peace about some decisions I've made regarding this little guys delivery. I've pretty much just decided what interventions should be a last resort and what interventions I would be willing consider even if we aren't in an emergency situation.

I'm excited. Now that most of the "work" of getting ready is behind me, I'm hoping to just enjoy the next month. We're going to do some fun stuff with our big kids and we have decided to take the entire month of February and be really purposeful about making sure they feel loved and secure. It's going to be fun!!

So that's the latest from this preggo girl!!! And while I was most definitely being sarcastic about the 3rd trimester being "bliss." I am quite serious when I tell you how thankful I am for this precious baby that the Lord has blessed us with. I would throw up and have heartburn for the rest of my life it that's what it would take to bring this precious gift into our lives. Stay tuned....great things are on the horizon of our lives!

His First Snowman

We got a little bit of snow here yesterday. Okay, about 7-8 inches. Christian LOVES snow. He and Ryan were outside for about 3 hours last night. And yesterday afternoon Christian went out all by himself and built me this adorable snow man.

I'm so impressed that he made him all by himself. Unfortunately he wanted me to be able to open the door to the garage and see him (which was a sweet thought...so I didn't even have to walk out in the snow to take a look at him), but he's right behind my car. So as soon as we have to go anywhere Mr. Lop-sided is going to get run over.

That little sister

Christian and I worked for hours the other day to fill up the dining room table with puzzles. He LOVES puzzles and I loved spending that time with him. But Christian's little sister won't leave those puzzles alone. She keeps taking pieces and carrying them around the house. So today she helped me clean up all the puzzles because I'm afraid we're going to start loosing pieces. Christian is NOT going to be hapy about this.

Busy Busy

Sorry I'm neglecting you.

I have just been so busy! This is a crazy busy weekend. Tomorrow I'm teaching Sunday School in the morning and then a coupon class at night and both are taking tons of preparation. So my mind is occupied elsewhere.

I had a stomach virus on Thursday. Not fun, especially when your pregnant. Ugh. All my stomach muscles are killing me today, but I'm better.

Had an interesting doctor's appointment yesterday. So far this pregnancy I've gained 14 lbs and 5 of those pounds are baby. Yup, that's right. I have a five pound baby in me already. So I was given some "options." Right now I'm not making any decisions they are just going to monitor this little boy closely. I'm going to have a non stress test weekly, starting this week. And I'm scheduled for another ultrasound at the beginning of February to see if he is continuing to gain weight like crazy. I think I just have big boys. Christian was big, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Has anyone out there had an amniocentesis before?? I'd love to hear how it was. If I get induced early they will require that I have an amnio first. Sounds awful to me.

Talk to you sometime after tomorrow :)

Just Had to Share this Deal!!!

Here's a deal you don't want to miss!!!
Today only (so hurry up) you can buy a $20 Amazon Gift Card for just $10!!!
That's a 50% savings!! Yahoo!
I can always find something on Amazon to buy and Christian sure can too :)
Go here to check it out:
The Best Daily Deals: $20 Amazon.com Gift Card

An Interview with Christian

How old are you?

5

What's your favorite color?

Red and Green

What's your favorite sport?

Baseball and soccer

What do you like to play with?

Wii and DSi

What is your favorite Bible Character?

Jesus.

Why?

Because he can do anything!

What is your favorite place to go?

Beach & Swimming place

What is your favorite thing to eat?

Pizza, Mac & cheese, Water with ice

Who is your best friend?

Carter, Abby, Nathan & Emma

What's your favorite game?

Mouse Trap & Don't spill the beans

What do you like to do with McKenna?

Play kitchen

What do you think about having a new brother?
I'm excited for him to be born. Then I'll get used to him and I won't be excited.

What is your favorite TV show or movie?

The Berenstain Bears

What's your favorite toy?

Lightning McQueen cars

What is your favorite place in our house?

My room, playing with my cars and building towers

What do you like about Daddy?

That he likes to play the Wii with me. And when he says TaTa. And I like to tackle him.

What do you like about McKenna?

That she always does a funny frown.

What do you like about Mommy?

That she loves to snuggle me and that she gives me kisses! And when she tucks in my covers.

What are you good at?

Playing games with Grandmom

What is one thing you want to learn to do?

Learn how to swim without floaties

Is there anything else you want to tell me?

That I decided to have a party for my dad.

Time to Celebrate

The Background Story:

On Friday Christian and I were driving home from school and he made a comment about how Daddy works all the time even when he has a day off he works (meaning he does stuff around the house). We talked about how important it is to learn to be a hard worker and how Daddy works hard because he loves our family and he wants to take care of us.

Christian's five year old little mind started working and he decided that we should have a surprise party for daddy to thank him for working so hard.

So that's just what we did!

We all wore party hats and Christian presented Ryan with a trophy for all his hard work!

(The trophy is actually one of Ryan's baseball trophies that he got back in the 80's).

Look how proud Christian is of his daddy!

McKenna loved wearing her party hat! She's gathered up everyone's hat after the party and she's been playing with them for 2 days now.

Grandmom & PopPop came to the party (because they were actually already planning on being at our house, which was just perfect)! They were such good sports about keeping their hats on the entire time we ate dinner.

And these two friends were also invited to the party!

We certainly do have a very special daddy around here. And I'm so thankful for the example of integrity and hard work that he sets for our kids.

Ryan's dad instilled a strong work ethic in each of his kids and Ryan and I have recently been discussing how it's time for Christian to learn to step up and take more responsibility around our house. We'll see how that goes! He's a little resistant to the idea :)

I'd love to hear how you handle chores at your house! Do your kids get an allowance? Just wondering :)

Weekend :)

What a productive weekend!!! I'm feeling so much better about life in general!

I worked all day yesterday on the baby's room (thanks to my mom watching the big kids) and at 2am I was finally rinsing out my paint brushes and heading to bed! I got it done. The room that was once yellow is now gray. I know gray sounds like a weird color for a baby room. Just trust me....it's going to be cute. I'll give you a little hint about what the final product is going to look like: the guy at Lowes asked me if I was a Cowboys fan when I was picking out the paint.

No pictures yet because I still have all the decorating to do. But the curtains are ironed and hung. The bed is made (with all of Christian's old bedding). We scrubbed down the crib and changing table. And I assembled the baby swing...the one I couldn't live without when McKenna was a baby! I have a closet full of clothes washed and hanging in his closet. I have several packs of diapers and plenty of wipes. I really need to spray paint a few things, but you can't really do that in the winter because I'm not going to do it in the house. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that.

Oh my word, this is really going to happen! We might have to start a countdown chain around here because we are all getting so excited. McKenna is beyond excited. She talks about her brother every day and sits in the big rocking chair and practices rocking her baby dolls, so she'll be ready to rock her brother. In fact, she's assured me that she'll even take care of the diaper changes. I told her I would just like it if she would get rid of her own diapers :)

I THINK we've decided on a name. The kids have anyway. I guess they got tired of our indecision and they just picked a name and that's what they're going with. We have no middle name. I think I might just get to pick whatever I want for that (I think Ryan is done with discussions about names), so I've got to spend some time thinking about it. So until we've got the whole name figured out.....you're just going to have to wait!!!

I'm starting to get lots of people asking me when I'm due and when I tell them March they just about fall over. I don't feel huge, but apparently I look it to everyone else. It's flattering, really...I mean who doesn't love being called huge in a very polite way :)

Gotta go...I'm hoping Ryan will agree that I should most definitely go to Hobby Lobby right now to look for some cute stuff for the baby room. I struck out on etsy with what I thought I was going to order, so I've got to come up with a new game plan.



P.S. I am not, nor will I ever be a Dallas, Cowboys fan.

Dear Abby,

I'm so glad you came to my house to visit me! I had lots of fun decorating a gingerbread house with you. It was my very first time decorating a gingerbread house and I loved all the candy. I love you too. I tell my mommy all the time that you are my best friend.

Mommy thought I should show you what I did with that gingerbread house we made. She caught me in the act of eating it. I wish you could have eaten it with me because it was so yummy. Mommy had to put it on top of the refrigerator and then it disappeared.
I miss you and just wanted to say "hi."

Love,
McKenna

I'm THRILLED about this opportunity!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone else out there have a hard time letting go of baby clothes??? I've never done it (until now). I have pretty much kept every piece of clothing that Christian & McKenna ever wore. I knew we would probably have a third child and so I was keeping the clothes for that child. But now that we know for sure that we're having a boy, I had a dilemma. What was I going to do with McKenna's clothes? I don't need them anymore. But they're so cute. There are so many memories attached to them. I can hardly stand to just give them away.

It was a year ago today that an earthquake shook Haiti. My heart was shaken at the same time and a year later I've realized that I am not the same person I was a year ago. Haiti is never far from my mind. I find myself praying for the children of Haiti all the time. I read several blogs written by missionaries in Haiti every single day. I feel guilty about the excess in my own life and in the lives of my children. And I feel the Lord constantly stirring my heart about the orphaned and starving children in Haiti.

There is one ministry that has become close to my heart. Whenever I have a few bucks in my paypal account, from getting paid to do a survey or from selling something on ebay, it never stays in there for long. It's usually sent off to the Rescue Center in Haiti, because I know that even just $3.00 is used to feed a starving child. The Rescue Center in Haiti is sort of like an orphanage, although most of these children have parents. They take in children that are close to death because of starvation. They save the lives of over 200 children a year.

Twice a year they fill a shipping container here in the United States and they ship that container filled with supplies to Haiti!! And I'm almost giddy with excitement over the fact that this year McKenna's baby clothes are going to be on that container!!! I'm shipping them to a missionary in Indiana. He'll pack them onto the container and these precious children are going to have McKenna's clothes. It's so much easier to let something go when you know it's going to someone truly in need!!!!

Here's a list of some of the other things they need:

•large safety pins
•crib sheets
•shorts of any size
•socks of any size
•boys and girls underwear of any size
•barretts
•plastic pants to put over cloth diapers
•baby shampoo, lotion, and powder
•hand sanitizer
•bumbo seats
•sippy cups
•spoons
•bowls
•q-tips
•toys-large and durable
•newborn clothes
•shoes/ sandals of anysize
•infant formula
•baby food
•baby cereal
•kids DVD’s or cassette tapes
•baby bottles
•pillow case dresses and aprons (sewing projects)
•toys for babies to hang in cribs
•brown baby dolls
•baby hats


So do you happen to have any of those things laying around???? Are you ready to pack a box for Haiti? Shoot me an email (judah322@hotmail.com) if you want the address of where to send your box. I can't post the address on this blog, but I can email it to you. You need to label the box "Haiti Rescue Center."

Christmas Morning - Part 2

I love Christmas morning. I know that Christmas is NOT about the presents, but it sure is fun to see the sheer delight on the faces of my children. To hear the laughter and surprise in their voices. It fills my heart with joy and I'm sure that's just how Jesus feels when He blesses us. I know that our Heavenly Father longs to give us ABUNDANT life filled with the JOY that only He can bring.

Matthew 7:11

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

I love that verse and how it sneaks in that little reminder that we are sinful, evil people. Which is so true, but I love picturing the idea of how much God delights in giving us good things. Ryan and I both agreed that this was probably the best Christmas we've ever had. It was fun and peaceful. We didn't go into any debt :) And we all felt very, very blessed. It was a wonderful way to wrap up a beautiful year of blessings in our new home.

Christmas Morning - Part 1

The night before Christmas....the scene was set!
And the next morning Christian was up first and was very patient waiting for his sister.

He got her pillow pet for her and brought it down because it was just taking her too long :)

Notice Christian peeking around the corner. He was so excited!

McKenna headed over to check out baby Jesus in the manger, until Christian got her attention.

Their first glimpse.

The giant froggy tent was a huge hit.

Then it was time to open their stockings. The first thing McKenna found in hers was a picture Christian made for her.

Christian was thrilled to have a Lightning McQueen watch.

Such excitement.

I loved it that they took their time and examined and exclaimed over each item. McKenna was thrilled to pieces that she got her very own "make up" which you and I would call Chap-Stick. And then there was the pink nail polish and the box of band aids that she was jumping up and down about. It was precious to see such delight over such simple things. A great start to our morning.

98%

I talked to a nurse today about my ultrasound last week!!! This little kicker is in the 98% percentile for weight! Am I worried?? Nope! I'll survive giving birth (notice I used the word "survive" and not the word "enjoy") and then I can enjoy the fact that I have a chubby little boy!



Christian was off the percentile chart for weight most of his first year of life, meaning he was over 100% for weight. He weighed 19.5 lbs at four months. That's a big baby!!! And he's perfectly normal now and even walked right on schedule.



I have a feeling they're going to pressure me to induce early and I'm not sure how I feel about that. With my first pregnancy I would have absolutely said "no way!!!" But I learned some hard lessons during Christian's birth. It was my midwife who recommended that I have a c-section with Christian and she even brought in the doctor to do it and I was having no parts of it. As a result I almost lost my precious first born. As long as I live I will never forget the silence in the room when I asked what Christian's apgar score was. No one answered because it was actually a (1) and they were busy resuscitating him. So these days I am most definitely going to weigh all my options. I'm going to pray about it and er on the side of caution. The goal is to have a healthy baby, not to be a hero! I know this is totally controversial and people have very strong opinions about childbirth. But I don't (anymore). So I'm not sure what to do. I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it!!! It's kind-of funny, but a c-section scares me way more than giving birth naturally does. ha!

Conversations

Tonight McKenna was watching Little Bear and she told Ryan, "I want Little Bear to come over to my house sometime. He's a nice friend! I want to play with him."

Christian's told me this before, but since he told me again tonight it must be accurate:
C: I remember the first time I prayed to Jesus.
Me: You do?? When was it?
C: I think I was like three or four and you made me take a real shower for the first time. I was scared and didn't want to take a shower (starting to make me feel like a bad mom at this point). So I prayed to Jesus that I wouldn't die (nice!) and then I wasn't scared anymore.

Isn't that a lovely story of how Christian learned to pray??

Little Pink Driver

McKenna wasn't so excited about this present on Christmas morning, which was a real disappointment to me!! I was thrilled about it and could hardly wait to give it to her. I bought it this summer at Target when it was on clearance 75% off and that is probably one of the reasons I love it so much, because I love a good deal! But she was afraid of it. So we let Christian ride on it with her for awhile (even though that made them over the weight limit). And now she's Miss Independent!! She can even steer without running into walls!!

Doesn't she look so big?? She's really changing and growing up. I love to ask her about her birthday. She'll tell you that she's going to be three and that her birthday is in "Febrary" and that she doesn't want candles on her cake because she doesn't like candles.

Today I'm "Nesting" - Updated

(We had fun checking on this nest all summer long! It was in a bush by our patio.)

Today I'm paying bills and organizing every.single.thing. in every.single.box in our crawl space. It's fun (jk)!

You know what??? I think "nesting" is actually when a pregnant mom begins to let reality set in that she's going to have a tiny little person to take care of. Then she begins to panic because she realizes that she's never going to have another spare moment in her day. And she goes wild with organizing every.single.box in her crawl space. Yes, indeed. Nesting is really just another word for panic!

So there you have it! Today I'm feeling a bit of panic. The same panic I've been feeling all week as I have organized and repacked every Christmas decoration we own. And then there was the random closet in the bonus room that got a make-over. I actually spent $68.00 at Target (which if you really know how frugal I am, that is a small fortune to me) this week on plastic tubs, baskets and buckets. I think I have a vague memory of using a very loud voice to explain to McKenna about how she should keep her books organized on her book shelf. No wonder the rest of my family is outside (away from me) playing in the snow :)

The Update:

We're NOT done, but that is the trash pile! The giveaway pile is even bigger!! And it feels refreshing!

Happy Birthday Jesus Party 2010!

Welcome to our 5th annual Happy Birthday Jesus party!! When we first started having parties to celebrate Jesus there were only five kids involved. We're now up to eight and next year we'll have nine! It's a fun tradition. I would honestly love to have a Happy Birthday Jesus party every week for the entire month of December just so we could invite lots of different friends because it's such a meaningful tradition. It's so good for my kids to be with other kids who love Jesus and who know that this season is really about Him. There is nothing more precious than a room full of daddies, mommies and kids singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!
McKenna, Addie and Gwen are such sweet little friends!

Oh dear, there's a princess crying!

Each family gets to decorate their own Happy Birthday Jesus cake that's in the shape of a Christmas tree.

The kids load it up with sprinkles and candy.

These ladies were taking their cake decorating seriously!

Addie, taking it all in!

Can you see why each family gets their own cake?? Look at all those hands that are involved! Oh my! But the kids love it and we love these precious friends that the Lord has blessed us with.