Perfect Summer Day

If all of summer had weather like today, I am pretty sure it would be called heaven, not summer. The temperature is 76 degrees with little humidity and not a cloud in sight. I was just sitting in a lawn chair watching Tyler play and I am pretty sure both of us were as happy as could be. Its PERFECT out! I loved being able to just sit and watch him while he ran around and played. He picked up sticks, played in the dirt, splashed in the bird bath, and then played with his ball and tonka truck too of course. He is all boy and I LOVE it! Here's some pictures of his fun.

Will we have a soccer player like Daddy?

Or a basketball player like Mommy?
Either way, this boy LOVES playing with any shape, color, or size ball

He is just getting ready to say "ball" here. :)

And whats a boy without his Tonka trucks?I love my baby boy!!

Pregnancy Praise

As I am now full swing into being "term" for the first time in pregnancy, I am finding it more and more difficult to be thankful for this precious time that the Lord has given me. My attitude has been VERY poor and so I figured I needed to take the time to write out some "pregnancy praise" to refer back to when I am feeling sorry for myself and being completely selfish. To update, I am 37 weeks 5 days into pregnancy and anticipating at least another 2 weeks and 2 days left until my official due date. I am currently a lot less swollen, and really more comfortable than I have been in weeks which leads me to think that this baby may choose to go even longer than my due date. I am so anxious to meet her and see what she looks like, to hold her and love her and adjust back to a normal life with a family of 4 instead of 3. But right now, the Lord is teaching me a lot about patience, His perfect timing, perseverance, and just fully relying on him. I have felt like there has been no one to talk to, no one that understands exactly what I am going through, no one that really cares to just listen, even if it is to selfish, irrational thinking. Turns out, I've been going to the wrong people and forgetting about the one Person who truly does care and wants to be there to calm my fears, listen to my worries and concerns, hear my frustrations, and then tenderly turn my focus back in the right direction, toward Him. Its amazing how my outlook can change so dramatically when I turn my focus back to the Lord and what He is doing in my life right now. So, here is my "pregnancy praise." Just a list of things that I have so much to be thankful for in regards to this pregnancy.

• the ability to be pregnant
• a healthy pregnancy with no complications
  
• a growing and seemingly healthy baby girl
  
• being able to feel precious movements from within
• a loving, understanding, supportive husband
• godly parents that listen to my complaining and offer their support and love
• 3 sisters who in their own unique ways have challenged me during this pregnancy to remain positive
  
• friends and family who have helped provide for some of the financial needs of this baby
• reduced work schedule
• a cool house with A/C
• friends who have selflessly come to clean my house or just offer help when I have lacked energy to do it on my own
  
• neighbors that love and adore Tyler that will watch him on a moments notice when I just need a break
• pretty flowers and yard that I can sit out and enjoy
• Tyler, a laid back, sweet baby who has made the thought of having another little baby easier to grasp
• a loving church family
• weekly massages
  
• clothes that fit
• my body pillow
• my new dryer so I don't have to carry clothes all the way out to the line
• chocolate milk
• deep fried oreos
• the promise in Ecclesiastes 3:2 that says there is a time for everything, INCLUDING a time to be born...I won't be pregnant forever!

Maternity Pictures

Taken at 36 weeks plus 5 days, the day my water broke with Tyler. :) I am DEFINITELY bigger this time and quite puffy but I think I am glad we took the pictures because I know I will love these later. I am so thankful for a 6'5" hubby who can make even me seem small!! :) We unfortunately only got a few pictures with Tyler because he wasn't really cooperative and we ran out of time because Tim had to go to work. Thanks to Hope for doing my makeup and for Cynetta for taking the pictures! You can click on them to see them larger.

Happy Father's Day!

A little belated, but Happy Father's Day! Our Father's Day was spent going to church of course and then just trying to get things done around the house. Sounds fun, I know. But actually, days like that are our favorite because we get to spend time as a family too. Tim cut the grass and Tyler got to ride a long for a bit, his favorite pastime. This boy is all boy, that's for sure.We had just gotten out of his pool which is why he is soaking wet :)

One of MY favorite pastimes is being able to watch Tyler and Tim interact and play together. Sunday evening was no exception and even though these aren't the best quality pictures, I love them! My two boys!

Check out that tongue!
I love both of their faces in this one. Tyler is giving Tim high 5. :)
Little ham!I love how sweet Tyler looks in this one. He really can be quite sweet as is evidenced by the next picture bellow this one.
He is the best at cuddling and snuggling!

I am so very blessed to have this wonderful man in my life as my husband who is the best father of my children that I could have ever have asked for. I have loved watching him develop more and more into his father role this past year with Tyler and know I will love it just as much watching him with our baby girl! Happy Father's Day, Tim!

Pregnancy Update

Well, today, I am officially 35 weeks and 6 days a long in my pregnancy. If this baby decides to be like her brother, we could be holding a newborn in exactly a week! I went to the doctor this morning and for the 3rd time so far this pregnancy, I measured big. I was measuring what I should be measuring over 3 weeks from now so the doctor, and me too, was pretty concerned about the size of the baby. I am also a LOT bigger this time than I was with Tyler. He started talking about delivery and the baby getting stuck and the possible need for a c-section and well, frankly, I got a little nervous/scared. So, he ordered an ultrasound so that we could make the most informative decision possible. The ultrasound was disappointing in that we didn't get the greatest of pictures and I didn't really like the tech, but VERY encouraging that as far as the ultrasound can tell, she is only 6lb 8 oz which puts her right on track to be the same size as Tyler. If I go to term this time, which I am expecting, she will probably be around 8 1/2 pounds. MUCH bigger than I would have wanted as Tyler was only 6lb 14 oz but not the 10 or 11 pounder that the doctor was worried about. I was a little bummed that I wasn't dilated or thinned out or anything, but I know the Lord has a perfect time in mind for this precious little girl to enter into our arms and I am determined to do my best to be patient until that times comes. Here are a few of the pictures we got today of our little girl.

Two little face shots
She is so beautiful...and I can already see similarities to her and her brother. They have the same little round face. :)

precious little foot and toesGoing to attempt taking some belly pics soon...stay tuned! :)

A few thoughts...

I went to check on Tyler because 2 hours after putting him to bed, he was talking to himself and COMPLETELY not sounding like he was sleeping...I walked in to a giggling little boy with a big ol' grin who gave me a hug a kiss, then got his binky and laid down with his bear and went back to sleep. Its like he just wanted that extra hug and kiss from his Momma before officially calling it a night. Oh what love is this?? My heart can't contain it! Even though there are still moments of frustration and lack of patience on my part, I have so loved being a mom to Tyler these past 13 1/2 months. I never knew how much I could love him...someone who cries and fusses, pees and poops, and is constantly demanding my attention. He forces me to be a better person, more loving, more understanding, more patient, more compassionate...I have SOO much to learn and need to grow SOO much more in all of those areas but know that in the long run, all of the more difficult times will be so worth it. Next Tuesday is my last day of work before this baby comes and I can NOT even begin to explain how excited I am to be able to spend the last few weeks with my baby boy. Most of the time when I look at him, I just can't imagine him as a big brother. He has NO idea what is coming. His two favorite toys right now are a wooden hammer and various size balls that we have lying around the house. I can only imagine what he will do with these to his poor baby sister! I know I am going to be busy and probably many times overwhelmed with my responsibility to be both he and his sister's mom but I wouldn't trade it for the world. This pregnancy has been far more difficult for me. I am much bigger, more uncomfortable and have a lot of the less enjoyable side effects of pregnancy this time around. Tyler made it seem so easy. I LOVED being pregnant! I never had heart burn, never felt completely hideous and ugly and fat, never had this much back pain and hip pain...it was just overall a better pregnancy. I have struggled this time with complaining about my discomforts and have on more than one occasion been very sorry for my words. There are so many people out there who would love to be miserable and pregnant yet God has not chosen to give them that blessing...for whatever reason, we will probably never know. As a Christian, I am supposed to be content in WHATEVER circumstances I am in...this means pregnancy too. For those of you that I have offended in my negativity and complaining attitude, I am sorry. So very very sorry and ask for your forgiveness. There is no excuse for my actions and for my pessimistic attitude. I need to focus more on the joy of this gift from the Lord and the precious little movements I feel from within than the little discomforts and concerns I have now. This too shall pass...literally... And before I know it, I will be writing about my 2 year old boy and 13 1/2 month old baby girl. Time is precious and goes by all too fast. I need to savor and enjoy EVERY moment! Even those that may be more uncomfortable than others.

From this...


To this...






in just a year's time...

I can't wait to see what next year will hold!!!

5th Anniversary/Memorial Day Weekend

Tim and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this year. We had wanted to do something extra special to celebrate. We debated going to the Bahama's or Bermuda, Jamaica, or something like that. Then we decided it would be better to stay state side and thought about Las Vegas. Tim had found tickets for Phantom of the Opera on broadway and I was SOO excited to be able to do that. He found a great deal on a hotel too. Then we flew to Florida for my sister's graduation and realized that we didn't want to attempt to fly anywhere because of the increasing difficulty flying standby with Tim's flights benefits. So, we settled with Columbus, Ohio...I know, pathetic right? From the Bahama's to Columbus...oh well. The time spent together was still wonderful and quite honestly, being 8 months pregnant it was probably all I could handle. We met my parents in Columbus and they took Tyler and then we did some shopping and just hanging out in the hot tub in our room at the hotel. Then we got all dressed up and went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for dinner.

Dinner was AMAZING! We drove up to free valet parking which neither of us had ever experienced before. We told them we had a reservation and from then on out, we were called by name. As we sat down, the guy asked me if I would rather have a darker colored napkin so I wouldn't get white lint on my pants...they came and cleared the crumbs off the table between courses...it was like being royalty. So, there are no pictures of that, Tim would have killed me if I would have whipped the camera out in a place like that. :) Anyway, it was a nice overnight trip together. We did a lot of reminiscing about years past and the blessings and joys the Lord has brought our way in the 5 years we've had together.
The next day, we headed back to my parents house to spend the rest of the weekend with them, our last trip there before baby. We had so much fun swimming in their heated pool. Tyler was a little unsure at first, but then realized that it was basically just like a big puddle that he could splash in...and of course, all was well after we gave him a ball.

chillin with Daddy


Daniel, who is 20 months in this picture, is practically swimming already. He is such a little fish! Zach has worked hard with him making him more confident in the water, learning to hold his breath, and hang on to the side. I wish we had access to a pool more often so I could do the same with Tyler.


My mom got all the boys this picnic table. It is really cute.

Like Father, like Son

That is Zach's before picture...he is now training for a 20k that he is going to run next year about this time. If doesn't beat a time of 2 hours or less he has to do the dishes for a year! But if he wins, he gets to by himself some guns or something. I hope he does it...and I hope the rest of our family takes his motivation and applies it because we could ALL use the exercise and weight loss.

My mom thought the pool was too cold (at 84 degrees)...I think she basically just wanted a hot tub. :)

Andrew was just checking things out...I guess maybe he was confused by the little mermaid swim diaper on his cousin Daniel...

Sunscreen hair!!


I love this boy!!!


I think that finally brings us up to date! From now on, I will try to do better at posting at least within the week of the event or picture. :) I am hoping to be done with work next week until after my maternity leave is over and so with any luck, Tyler and I will have 3 weeks of fun together being able to play outside and also give me a chance to capture the boy that he is.