Long Awaited ANNOUNCEMENT

Before I get to the "BIG NEWS" I have to start with a bit of an update (you know, 'cause it's been over a month since I posted... again... sorry about that....). But don't worry, it's all tied in to the baby's arrival. So, on my due date (Saturday February 4th) we took Andrew to a local park and did some metal detecting (Scott's new hobby) as well as spent lots of time playing on the play-scapes. Andrew loved the slides and Daddy even took him up to the bigger tunnel slides, and sent him down to me. He had a blast, as did we!!! Oh right, it was my due date... nope, nothing was going on as far as signs of baby coming. But we thoroughly enjoyed what we hoped was our last family day as a family of 3. Oh, and in case you were wondering how we could spend 3 hours at a park in February, in CT... well, we haven't had much of a "winter-wonderland" winter this year. It was about 50 degrees the weekend I was due.

Here I am at 40 weeks, 1 day in the dress that I wore with the same sweater 7 sundays in a row. I seem to recall mentioning something in my last post about being down to 2 outfits that fit nicely. I also had this one lovely dress that I am very happy to not be able to wear for a good long while now due to the fact that it isn't nursing friendly (I have plenty of other dresses that are though... :) ).

Me and my handsome little buddy. This was the first time he got to wear a real suit for church (a gift from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas). He looked so handsome and even left his tie on during church! I was very impressed since I don't know what I would think of a clip-on tie. It looks uncomfortable. Maybe it isn't, but it looks that way.

Now for the BIG announcement!!! We are very proud to announce the birth of our daughter, Natalie Rose on Saturday February 18th, at 1:54 in the afternoon. She weighed 9lbs. 14oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long! Yes, we got our little girl, and yes, she was born at 42 weeks to the day!

She had a bit of bruising on her face which contributed to the redness in the above picture (plus the fact that she wasn't even 2 hours old yet). She is beautiful and we are all so in love!!!

That Thursday I had an ultra sound to check on Baby, the fluid levels and the placenta since I was almost 2 weeks past my due date. We wanted to make sure it was safe for baby and me to continue to wait for her to come on her own. Everything was great and I knew I'd have the baby by the end of the weekend due to some other signs I was having at the time. By Friday morning though I was convinced I wasn't going to have the baby until after Saturday as Scott was scheduled to be in Albany at a book signing that day (which he did have to postpone after all). About mid afternoon I started to have some serious, real, contractions! They were few and far between (about every 45 minutes) but I knew something was going on. I decided to still go to a baby shower I had hoped to go to that night and promised Scott and my Mom to come right home if I "started" having contractions (I hadn't really mentioned the ones I was having as I didn't want to get excited if I wasn't going to actually go into serious labor yet). It was about a 40 minute ride to the shower and I had 2 contractions 30 minutes apart during that drive. I was starting to think things really were starting. The next one was 30 minutes later, and then they started to be every 20 minutes. It was during the devotion time and a game (at the shower) that I had 3 contractions 20 minutes apart and decided that maybe I should start thinking about going home since while I was having the contraction I couldn't talk and felt like I wished I had stayed home (but I did so enjoy the time that I was at the shower). So I said my "good bye's" and headed home. Especially since standing up had given me another contraction not 10 minutes after my last. I made it home and spent the next 8 hours relaxing and trying to rest in between contractions. A couple hours after I got home the contractions moved to 10 minutes apart and so I went to bed, not to sleep but to just try and rest as much as possible and let my body do what it needed to do. Natalie's labor and birth was so much better than Andrew's because I worked with my body, letting it do it's job instead of fighting every single contraction that came along. I was in labor for about 20 hours which is just over half as long as 37 hours (my labor with Andrew). I only pushed no more than 10 times total (not what I had prepared for because I pushed for 2 hours with Andrew, but oh, such a nice surprise). When she was born I just couldn't stop praising God. First that she was here and then after I took the time to check and see if baby was a girl or a boy, I was just praising Him all over again!!! She is such a joy and a blessing!

She loves her Daddy, and as you can imagine, he loves her too!!! I told Natalie that from birth she's had him wrapped around her little fingers. :)

Andrew didn't know what to think of her at first. I think he wondered when she was going to leave and he'd have my full attention all to himself, 100% of the time again. However, he has since seemed to change his mind. He is always checking to see that she has her hat, and he also likes to come take he hat off and touch her hair. He has become much more interested in her and I know that within a matter of weeks he will be loving all over her and I'll have to keep an even closer eye on the two of them. :)

Natalie at 1 week old. As you can see she is very alert and sometimes seems interactive, which just doesn't seem right for an almost 2 week old. I guess being 2 weeks late has it's perks. She is nursing well and definitely seems to be growing and changing very quickly. I love my little family of 4!!!! God is so good!!!

Life

Well, if you're reading this, then I'm impressed... I still have readers. Incredible considering that I have not been good about writing on here over the past year. Why? Well, put simply... Life. Just life happening and blogging not being a part of that. I still check up on all my followers, not that anyone knows it because I never comment, but I want to. Sometimes I do go to comment and my computer or internet "hick-ups" and then before I can fix it and actually leave the comment I was going to, something happens (life) and my computer is put back away for another time. I do get online to check my email at least once a day, and usually more than once a day, but getting on long enough to do more than check my email (even reply to emails or comments of facebook) is more of a rare occasion. With the baby coming soon I wonder if I might get more of an opportunity to blog (while nursing) or if I'll be too busy keeping up with Andrew while nursing. But either way, that's okay. It's life, and life for me right now means spending time with Andrew, keeping my apartment in good order, and doing whatever else comes up (crocheting, visiting with a friend, reading, making tinctures and lotions (inspiration from Shoshanna Easling's Making Babies series which I highly recommend), eating (being pregnant means frequent small meals for me every 2 hours or I start feeling sick), napping (being pregnant with a 16 month old means I nap when he does, especially in the third trimester), etc.).

Andrew is growing, growing, growing! A year ago I remember remarking on how neat it was to see his personality coming out more and more. But now? Now, we are even more amazed by his personality and we are loving learning about him and learning how to communicate with him. He says lots of "b" words (ball, book, buzz) and anything that starts with "m" (mamma, more) and even though his first words included "da" for Dad, he refuses to say it now. Once in awhile we'll catch him saying "daddy" but whenever he looks at pictures (we have lots of pictures from our wedding, and few family pictures around our house) he always points out "mamma" and laughs when we say "and Daddy..." He seems to be connecting pictures of babies and babies we see with my tummy. But he calls babies and my tummy "muh". He will see a baby and start pointing and saying "muh, muh" and then come over to me and pat my tummy saying "muh, muh". It will be neat to see what he thinks of the baby once it is here.

Speaking of Andrew.... we went outside for a short bit this afternoon as it's been snowing all day and I figured it was time he got to out instead of standing at the window watching all his aunts and uncles playing in the snow. He was more interested in watching the four wheeler plowing the driveway than he was in the snow, but once we came in he got very interested in the snow that was coming off his boots. So I got a bowl of snow for him to "check out" and captured a few pictures.

Here he is pausing in his enjoyment of the snow to "pose" for me. It was so funny.

And then he got very interested in testing the snow....

I am now 38 weeks along which means that I could have the baby anytime in the next 4 weeks I figure. I'm not counting on going close to my due date since Andrew was 12 days late, and of course if the baby isn't ready yet, I don't want to rush it along. However, I am super, super excited about meeting the baby and being a family of 4. I can't wait to see how Andrew interracts with the baby. The pregnancy has been going well. I've discovered that cutting out wheat from my diet means much less heartburn and acid reflux which I do have a hard time with. I'm also doing much better this time exercising and will probably end up gaining only half as much weight as I did with Andrew. Exercising all the way through pregnancy is SO much better than waiting until the third trimester to start thinking about it. My flexibility is so much better and of course, I'm sure it helps with keeping up with Andrew.

Update---Via Friends

Merry Christmas to all my blog readers! We've been pretty busy around here getting ready for Christmas and getting ready for the Baby coming (only 6 1/2 weeks until my due date!!!). Seeing as at the moment I don't have time for a real post, never mind posting some pictures, I thought I'd be nice and direct your attention to this post at the Seven Sisters' blog, where you can see lots of fun pictures of Andrew from our recent trip to Indiana.

May you all have a blessed Christmas!

Long time

I know I'm doing a horrible job keeping up with this blog. I've been very busy. I've finally gotten into a good routine with Andrew that includes doing Laundry, cleaning our apartment, and staying on top of it all. For the longest time everything was just once in awhile, when I'd get the chance... :)

Andrew is growing and growing. He's calls my "mom" and that's the only word he seems to say regularly. I think it's because he has so many aunts and uncles to talk for him. :)

I'm now 29 1/2 weeks along. This baby is so different from Andrew. It is more active, and definitely has a stronger personality. I'm so curious to meet this Little One and see if it's a boy or a girl. I had a dream it was a beautiful little girl we named Bethany (which is one of our top 2 girl names) and so I'm thinking that somewhere in my future is a little Bethany. :) I really don't care whether we have a boy or a girl. I'll be excited either way. I want a girl mostly for Scott because he really wants a girl, but either way, we'll be super excited!!!!

Thanksgiving is in two days and last Friday we decorated for Christmas. Before you go judging me, we are leaving in 10 days for a 2 week book tour getting home 1 week before Christmas, so we decided that we wanted to enjoy our place decorated for Christmas, especially since I won't be leaving everything up until the end of January like last year because once New Year comes, I'll be kicking into high "Baby Prep" mode. :) Less than 11 weeks until my due date, I'm so excited!!!!

Just a little "tid bit" for you....

I've been studyin Proverbs 31 and this verse just keeps popping out at me.

"She seeketh wool, and flax and worketh willingly with her hands." Proverbs 31:13
A virtuous woman works willingly with her hands. How often do we do what we need to do because we need to do it without a willing heart? I've noticed that the more I look at what I need to do with a willing, cheerful, eager attitude, the easier it is to do it. It also usually turns out to be more rewarding as well.

I know this wasn't long, but it's something. :) Now I need to get off the computer and go work on Christmas gifts. I'm trying to finish everything (as much as possible) before we leave for our trip.

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The Shortest Post Ever

I love hearing the "pitter-patter" of little feet on the kitchen floor as my little guy walks by me!

In other news, I can now officially feel the baby moving (18 weeks and counting) and we were out of power for 6 days last week thanks to (what was then) Tropical Storm Irene which was actually a lot of fun!

I know this is a short post, but hey, it's better than nothing right? :)

News

No, I have not forgotten about my blog. I have been just living life, and not taking time to document it (I know, shame on me!). There is so much to share, and as always, so little time (it's only a matter of minutes before Andrew realizes he needs a nap). So, I'll just do a list of updates...

Andrew:

• is now walking, and really walking. He's been taking multiple steps very frequently for a couple weeks now, but in the past few days he's gotten to the point of just walking (although he still has his cute little "toddle")
• has peed on the potty twice in the last 2 days. I bought him a potty chair just to have on hand, and then decided that I'd try to put him on it every time I change his diaper. The third time he went on it Saturday, he went (I didn't even check at first, just closed the lid and then thought, I should probably just get in a habit of checking, and low and behold, he had gone pee!). Then he did the same thing yesterday. So now I'm thinking that it's possible he could be potty trained at least during the day by February (I'll let you know why February in a moment).
• cut his first tooth at 9 months and at the same time decided that he was finally interested in solid foods. (Praise God!) He is now 11 months and prefers only table food, and especially whatever any of the rest of us are eating! I can't give him enough food!
• loves music and any time anyone starts singing or playing music, Andrew gets all happy, nods his head, and then just gets this big grin on his face!

Me:

• I am pregnant, again!
• I'm due February 4th, which makes me 15 weeks, 2 days.
• I know, by this point with Andrew's pregnancy, I had several baby bump pictures for you, and even though now, I have quite the baby bump compared to Andrew's pregnancy at 15 weeks, I haven't taken any pictures.
• Andrew and the baby will be 18 months apart, which I think is perfect! I'm so excited!!!! One year from now I'll have 2 adorable little kids to keep track of, and I can't wait!
• One thing is for sure, this pregnancy seems to be going much faster than the last. However, I'm sure that the fact that I have a little guy running all over the place that I must keep track of, is the "culprit". :)
• The first trimester, I seemed to be more sick compared to the last pregnancy, and thankfully it mostly died out about 11-12 weeks instead of 14 weeks like with Andrew.
• Apparently, it's going to be tradition, but just like with Andrew, at 9 1/2 weeks I woke up with a terrible migraine and was vomiting by mid morning. Of course it happened to be the day before we were leaving for the International Christian Retail Show in Georgia. I somehow managed (with lots of help from my sisters and mother) to get us all packed up and get everything ready to leave at 4am the next morning. I knew I was only sick from the pregnancy, and it wasn't a virus, so I determined that as long as I was not vomiting when we were getting ready to go, I was still going to go. By about 7 or 8 hours into our drive I was feeling much better and even ate some Mexican food for dinner. Only, pregnancy! :)
• Since that lovely day of being sick, I've been dealing (joyfully) with headaches that usually turn into mini to full blown migraines every day.

So, there's an update, and now you all know that I haven't fully disappeared from cyber-space! :)

I will leave you with a picture from the ICRS we went to a month ago. Andrew was sleeping for this picture, but we were pretty excited to meet Roma Downey (mostly known for being in Touched By An Angel). And yes, I was already showing at 10 weeks.

WIFE

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I can't believe it's been 2 months since I last posted! But then, I have not spent much time in the last 2 months on the computer. If you would like to see some new pictures of Andrew, we have been at the Seven Sisters' house twice in the past month and they've been to our house just 2 weeks before that. You may have to read the last 2 months worth of posts on their blog, but they have a LOT of pictures of Andrew on there, like in this post (at just 7 months). :)

I am currently going through Elizabeth George's book A Wife After God's Own Heart (and gleaning lots of good things that I'm working on putting into practice) and I wanted to share an acronym with you that I intend to put on my bedroom mirror!

"Four biblical elements to help us apply God's teaching:"

Warm up his life with your love

Improve his life as a helper

Follow his leadership with a willing heart

Esteem him highly with utmost respect

Still alive

I'm still here, in case anyone was wondering. :) My laptop is not working right now and so I don't have any "new" pictures, but here's an "old" picture on Andrew and my Mom within the first week he was born, and he has changed SO much! In one week he'll be 6 months old, and I just can't believe it! I can't imagine life without him, but he is growing so fast, I just pray I won't take any moment for granted.

We are finally all moved in (and organized!!!) into our new "apartment" at my parents' house. It is beautiful, and hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon! We are so thankful for both of our families, and we are just loving being so close to everyone. A year ago we were in Georgia, and while we greatly enjoyed the book tour (and are greatly looking forward to future book events), we just really have learned how valuable family is. Andrew loves seeing all of his aunts and uncles as well as his grandparents every day! He is getting close to crawling and does all he can to get to things he wants. He weighs about 16 pounds and is over 26 inches long. I think it was 26 3/4", but I can't remember for certain.

I have been trying to get back into T-tapping consistently as the last few weeks things have been rather hectic. I am very excited because in just 25 days (almost 24) some dear friends are coming for a visit, and I just can't wait.

There hasn't been too much else going on. I'm a mom, my time is filled with Andrew and my wonderful, loving husband!

Giveaway

I know, I know, I promised pictures "soon" but we are still in the process of moving and things are just crazy right now.

On another note, the seven sisters at www.homeschoolblogger.com/sevensisters are having a giveaway. Go check it out!!!!!! On second thought, don't, cause I want to win! :) Haha!!!!

Absent

I know you, my readers (if you are still reading my blog after such a long absence) have probably been wondering where I have been. Well, I took an unofficial, blogging hiatus. I have not been spending much time on the computer over the past month and have been focusing my time and energy on my adorable little boy (who is almost 5 months old), my husband, and my home. It has been very good for me, and although I do intend on writing a little more frequently than every 6 weeks, I am also going to continue spending less time on the computer (or at least not more than I have over the past month).

In the way of news, Scott's book Swords of the Six is being released in just a couple weeks (you can pre-order for $9.97 from amazon.com right now). The cover is beautiful!

With Scott's book coming out, we are moving (again.. :) ) in with my parents. There are very few people in the world who we would feel comfortable moving in with for and undefinite length of time, and we are blessed that my family happens to be such people. We are very excited and can't wait to be all moved out of our trailer and settled in there.

Andrew is rolling all over the place now. I am most certain that he'll be crawling before 7 months. We go to the doctor's next week, and I am very curious as to how much he's grown since his last visit. In contradiction to my last posts, Andrew is still in some 3-6 month clothes. He is NOT in 3-6 month sleepers (those are 6-9 month), but when it comes to onesies, shirts, and pants, they are all 3-6 month. He also actually plays with toys now, and it is SO much fun watching him. He loves to be upright and so the Bumbo seat and Saucer seats/Walkers are our best friends. :) I have lots of pictures to post, but alas, I'm not writing from my laptop and don't have access to them at the moment. But hopefully soon!

And in case anyone was wondering, where I live, we have about 2 feet of snow right now. :)

Christmas

Christmas has come and gone to some, although I still don't feel like Christmas is quite over. We had the best Christmas ever! I will start with the beginning of the week. On Monday I had a few friends over for a a couple hours just to chat. Three of them are in College and so we don't see each other very often. My "best friend" from 1st grade just loves Andrew and so I had to get a picture of her holding him.
I love Andrew's outfit in the above picture! It was sent to him from his friend Leah and has Pooh Bear on the bottom of his overalls. So cute! :)

We had a good week leading up to Christmas. We were so excited because being near family is SO much nicer than being 20 hours away. On Tuesday Andrew and I went shopping with my Dad and stopped at our favorite little restaurant that has the best milkshakes and onion rings. My Dad used to with his parents when he was little and then when he and I would go Christmas shopping, we'd stop there for lunch. We had lots of fun and had a successful trip. :)

On Wednesday Andrew and I went over my parents house while Scott was at work as my Uncle and his family had driven here from California for Christmas and was coming over to visit.

On Thursday Andrew and I went with my family to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the new Narnia movie) for the second time (went with Scott on Sunday). It is a very good movie, and we all had lots of fun! :)

As you can see, I'm REALLY enjoying being near my family for the Holidays! We made lots of cookies last week and watched some Christmas movies in between working on gifts and wrapping them.

On Friday I made my Mom's Cinnamon Rolls to bake on Christmas morning (they were DELICIOUS!), cleaned the kitchen, worked on gifts, and finished wrapping everything. We then went over to my parents' for a light dinner before going to the Christmas Eve service at our church. Since we were all dressed up, we took some pictures. I just LOVE how this picture of Mom and I turned out.

Mom's "Christmas shirt" has glitter on it and so needless to say, we all end up with glitter on us by the end of the day. :)

Rebekah is very patient in letting everyone else hold Andrew even though she herself is dying to hold him, so I make sure I try and get a picture of the two of them on the rare occasions that she is holding him (without anyone trying to "steal" him).

Christmas morning, I got up at 6am. The earliest I've gotten up and stayed up in a very long time! Well over 6 months, I'd say. But we did go to bed early (at 11:30) and we were very excited about Christmas! Here are our filled stockings. My Mom made the bear in Andrew's stocking. It has a little sheep's suit and is just adorable!!!! Scott is working on getting Christmas music playing.

And our tree, with gifts underneath it.

Before we opened our stockings, Scott read the Christmas story from Matthew. It was so nice. Andrew slept through everything, but he won't get away with missing it all next year! :)

I managed to snatch a picture of Scott starting to open his stocking, and that was all I got from all of our gift opening. Oh well, hopefully I'll do better next year! I'd better!

Here is Andrew, sleeping peacefully, with his stocking beside him. :)

We were at my parents' by 8 and had such a LOVELY time!!! We took our time opening the gazillion presents that were under the tree (okay, there weren't really that many, but there definitely was more than I've ever seen there). All seven of us "kids" had gifts for everyone, and those alone overflowed the tree, nevermind when Mom and Dad added their gifts for us! :) It was SO much fun and we just had the best time!!!!

Daddy and Andrew are "buddies". :) After seeing each other quite a bit over the past week, Andrew gets excited when he sees Grandpa!

There were several "large gifts" like the one pictured below. Colleen is helping Joe "unwrap" his gift from her and Will.

They made him a castle, and it is just the coolest thing!!!! I have no idea how they did such an incredible job with it. Joe loves it and has been having lots of fun with it!

My parents got me some new clothes (which I very much needed) and we got some really neat gifts from my siblings. Hopefully I can take some pictures of them and post them soon.

My parents and I surprised Scott with a Wacom Bamboo tablet for his laptop. I successfully sneaked his laptop into our car without him even getting suspicious. He had lots of fun "playing" with it and did his first full illustration.

About mid-afternoon we went over to Scott's parents' house and had a lovely afternoon and evening!

On Sunday we went back to my parents house (my cousins wanted to visit one last time before they left).

Here is Scott playing with his tablet and Andrew "hanging out".

Well, Andrew is ready to eat, so I must go. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Pictures

Here are several pictures (mostly of Andrew).....

Earlier this month we celebrated Scott's birthday! We got both of our families together (at my parents' house since their's is the largest) and had a party.

My sleeping boy:

And then he moved....

"Just Hanging"

Oh, and being "curious"


That's it for now.

3 Months and Other Happenings

I have many pictures to post, but I'm not writing from my laptop, and since I have time, I figured I better blog, picures or not since I am way past due!

Andrew is now 3 months old and can only fit into 6-9 month sleepers. He is still wearing 3-6 month clothes that don't have feet on them, and onesies. He had a cold for over a week, but it's finally gone now. We are very blessed because even though the cold lasted so long, it came in stages and was spread out so we didn't have any REALLY miserable times. You knew he wasn't feeling himself, but he wasn't extremely fussy. Andrew is such a mellow baby, I know we're getting spoiled. He never really "screams", just complains and "fusses". I'm sure we're in for a big surprise with the next baby (or not, who knows?). Andrew is also very close to figuring out how to roll over. He's almost got it, but not quite. It's hysterical watching him as he gets up on his side but can't figure out how to complete it and end up on his back. Sometimes he'll just give up, and it's funny to see his expressions.

I am doing good. I am trying to get back into a consistent exercise routine as ever since my cousins wedding (which I was doing good for), I lost my main motivation. So my new motivation is to get back into tip top shape so I can get all out of maternity clothes without lookin "buldgy" and so I can be in better shape when I get pregnant again than when I got pregnant with Andrew.

I've been doing much better at keeping on top of cleaning, laundry, and cooking. I'm sure that Andrew's willingness to play on the floor for more than 5 minutes is helping, but ultimately, I know it's because I'm working harder (with the Lord's help) to keep my focus on HIM! I'm re-reading Anne Ortlund's Disciplines on a Beautiful Woman from The Gentle Ways of the Beautiful Woman. SOOOOO good!!!! I read it sometime before I got married, possibly just before Scott "came along." It was so good then, and I knew it would be even better to read when I was married. Anne Ortlund's books are the kind that you should always be reading and should always be on your nightstand. Disciplines of The Beautiful Woman is my favorite at the moment. You can find her books at Amazon at a decent price. I'd post a link, but for some reason it's not working right now. As a disclaimer, these are just my own opinions of her books. I only encourage you to buy them because they have been SO encouraging to me, and especially now, with a baby added to my everyday life (and all that comes with that), reading snippets here and there, has been so helpful and encouraging. Her heart for the Lord is so eminent.

I'm out of time. Hopefully I'll be able to share more soon (and post all the pictures I keep meaning to post).

Cousins

On Thanksgiving I took this pictureof my newest cousin Jason (who is 6 1/2 weeks younger than Andrew) and Andrew. It is so cute, and I just know they'll have lots of fun together as they get older.

Thankfulness Part 8 (and other happenings)

Here, we are, the last day of November (although I'm doubting that anyone will read this before December comes seeing as that is 50 minutes away) and I'm sorry to say that I didn't do very good with my original intention of writing at least every day, adding to my "Thankfulness List." But 8 posts in four weeks isn't too bad, I think, considering that a 2 month old boy is keeping my hands quite busy.

Speaking of that 2 month old boy (11 weeks and 3 days to be exact), he is certainly growing. I just pulled out all the 6-9 month clothes (which is what he has on right now) as we are completely out of anything that resembles 0-3 month, and the 3-6 month are just barely fitting him. I'm really glad I haven't bought the onesies and outfit I plan on buying for his stocking yet! I would have bought the wrong size. Andrew was first born, I didn't know what to think of all the winter clothes we were getting that were size 6-9 month because I thought "he's not going to be 6 months old until March," and now I'm laughing at myself!

The last part of my Thankfulness list... I'm thankful:

• That I don't have to work a "9-5 job" and leave my cute little bundle of joy
• That God has given me an opportunity to earn enough money each week to pay for our groceries and a little left over (perfect timing with Christmas in a few weeks)
• For the lovely ladies I got to visit with this evening at my parents house while their girls were in Bright Lights
• That we had such a lovely, relaxing Thanksgiving!
• That even though Andrew has a bit of a cold, it hasn't been bad enough that he's been overly fussy (he's certainly not himself, but he still smiles on occasion). I know we will have very bad times in the future (all-nighters and everything), but for now, I'm thankful that the first cold isn't as bad as it could be.
• That I am already using cloth diapers because I didn't get stressed out today when I realized that I only have 7 disposable diapers left and no chance to get any before Friday :) It's great how God provides!
• For my time with the Lord this morning
• For two hands (it is so much easier typing with two rather than one) :)
• For eyes, to see and read
• For ears, to listen
• For all that God continues to bless me with

This past weekend we went to a Christmas party at Scott's aunt and uncle's house. They do this party every year, and every year Scott's uncle dresses up and Santa and hands out gifts to everyone. Now, just so you don't get me wrong, we don't believe in Santa and we are not going to make our kids believe in Santa. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy Scott's family's traditions. We had a great time at the party (we missed last year's because of our trip), seeing and visiting with all the family and here is a picture of Andrew with Santa (a.k.a. Uncle R.).

Aside from Andrew's cold (which he caught from his Daddy and I caught a touch of as well), we are doing very well! We had a great Thanksgiving and got to see both families, and compare Andrew to my two new cousins (who are 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 weeks younger than him), as well as letting him "play" with his two cousins (Scott's nephews). We also learned that my Mom's brother and his family is coming for a visit over Christmas, and we are all SOOOO excited!!!!!

Speaking of Christmas, now that we are passed Thanksgiving, has anyone else started decorating for Christmas? I love the Christmas season (as I'm sure all my readers have figured out by now), the decorations, lights, music, movies (especially the old ones like Christmas in Connecticut and Holiday Inn), cookies, my Mom's cinnamon rolls, and most importantly, what Christmas is about -- the celebration of Christ's birth. I know Andrew can't fully understand yet, but many times already, I have taken him over to where our manger scene is set up and told him the story of Christ's birth and why Christ came.

Here are a couple pictures from my cousin's wedding a couple weeks ago. As you can see in the above picture, I did dress Andrew up and he looked so darling, but we did change him after a short while as it was a little uncomfortable for him with his shirt and vest rolling up under his arms.

Here is my cute little boy with my very handsome Man!

And one of my family and I. I'm so thankful for each person in my family and love them all so much!

Last but not least, a verse the Lord brought to my mind this morning, and I just had to look it up!

"Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

Thankfulness Part 7 - Thanksgiving

So, it would appear that I have not been doing very good keeping up with my thankfulness list. But I'm not done yet. I still have 6 days left before December hits. We've been rather busy lately. Last weekend my dear friend and cousin married the Love of her life, and it was such a lovely wedding. I did dress Andrew up, and he looked so cute in his sweater vest and dress clothes (I did get a couple pictures, but they're on my camera still so perhaps in the next post...), but I'm glad I don't do that often because even though he looked so adorable, his shirt and vest kept riding up under his arms, and I doubt it was comfortable. Of course he had to wear the little booties that my Mom made him (see previous post).

In 19 minutes it will officially be Thanksgiving. I love the holidays, but as I think back to past Thanksgivings (and "Christmases"), my eyes begin to water as I recall all the great memories I have of family dinners/get togethers with loved ones who no longer walk on this earth. Growing up we always had both sets of grandparents and my Dad's grandmother over on the holidays and in the past few years that has extended into my Aunt's family too. That's what I remember most about the holidays, not what we ate that year or what we got as gifts, but the togetherness of family.

Thanksgiving last year, we were finishing loading up the trailer, changing the oil in the car, trying to fit as many boxes of books as possible into the trailer, and saying our goodbyes to our families as we would be heading out early the next morning for Scott's book tour. In a lot of ways we feel like we missed Thanksgiving (we had a lot of other things on our minds), and while we had a decent Christmas, it was very different not being with family. Praise God for Skype! So, needless to say, we are very much looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the holiday season.

On to my thankful list. I'm thankful:

• For all that God has done in the past year (I can't believe it's been a year since we started our trip)
• That we get to spend the holidays with our families this year as well as start our own family traditions now that we are a family.
• That God allowed me to miscarry last summer as He has brought me so far since then (although it still brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it)
• For the 9 garbage bags full of boy clothes that I just went through that were given to us. It took me 2 weeks to go through them (it was so daunting), but I am so thankful for all the clothes as they mean I won't have to buy that much, and there's such an abundance, I am passing some along.
• That he Lord has impressed on me the importance of seeing what ways I can decrease our spending. I use whatever coupons I can find, but I realized that making our bread (which I've known how to do since I was 8), making our cereal, and making other breakfast foods like baked oatmeal, cuts $15-$20 off of my weekly grocery bill. That's a lot considering how little it takes for the "substitutes". I can make enough bread, cereal, and baked oatmeal for a month for $15-$20 tops!!!! That's a savings of $45-$60 a month. Pretty good, if I do say so myself.
• For Andrew's smiles every time I talk to him (he just wins my heart every time I look at him).
• That I have such a caring husband with a listening ear. He likes to listen to me talk, whether it's serious things, or just ramblings, and that means a lot to me.
• For the friendship that I share with my Mom. She considers me one of her best friends (next to my Daddy, of course) and I greatly treasure that!!! She's definitely one of mine!
• That even though my kitchen is still a mess from cooking dinner today, I am not stressed about it, because God has been teaching me to make the most of every minute I have, and I did get lots done today.

This past week I was reading some of Laine's Letters and in one of them, she talked about how she likes to keep a list of all that she does throughout the day so as she starts thinking of all her "to do's" instead of becoming overwhelmed thinking "how will I ever get them done" she can see all that she has accomplished. I know that as I've done that this week (although it's been mental lists, not written ones), it has encouraged me to add to my list of "accomplishments." Laine's Letters are very encouraging, and I encourage you to check them out!

It is time for me to head to bed. We're getting up early tomorrow so we can help in the preparations for dinner.

May you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Thankfulness - Part 6

I'm terribly sorry that this is so late. I should probably schedule posts (as in write them ahead of time), but that would take away from the discipline of taking time every couple days at least, to think about what I'm thankful for.

So, today I'm thankful:

• That I gave in to Scott and we now have our Christmas tree up "with all the trimmings" (see picture below)
• That I have continued to stay consistent in exercising daily as it is starting to pay off
• That I have also been consistent in eating healthier (less bread, more salad and veggies, and choosing healthier snacks like Almonds and Cranberries instead of chips or cake)
• For the adorable "booties" that my Mom made Andrew (see pictures). I was just thinking yesterday how sad it was that we didn't have any knitted booties (I've always thought they were so neat), and now we do! :)
• That Andrew and I can accompany Scott for some of his work as it makes for more time "together"
• That tomorrow we will celebrate 31 months of "togetherness." I just love my husband! :)
• That I have so many sisters. I love each of them and love when I get to spend time with one or all of them.
• That even though our second car died (see previous post) I don't have to stay at home every day as my family just loves (it would seem) have a visit from Andrew and I, even when it means they have to pick me up and bring me back home. I'm so blessed!
• For Water! I drink lots and lots of it, and don't what I'd do without it.
  

Yes, here's another picture of Andrew. I couldn't decide which one I liked better (the above or below), so I posted them both.

Yes, I know, it's still a week until Thanksgiving. But as you may recall we started listening to Christmas music last week (waking up one morning to snow is what started it) and we kept talking about how we couldn't wait to start decorating for Christmas and Scott kept trying to convince me to get out tree this past weekend. I didn't want to get it now and then have it be dead by Christmas, so we compromised and decided to see how much an artificial one would cost. Well, it's the same price, so we went with an artificial tree (for this year at least, as we do prefer a real tree, particularly going and picking out our real tree). We also found a little village set for a very reasonable price and set that up around the tree. Here is our first Christmas tree, and I must assure you, it looks 100 times more pretty and beautiful in person!

I must run. Someone is ready for bed!

Thankulness - Part 5

Here's Andrew "hanging out with Grandpa". He looks so serious! :)

Andrew and I had an interesting day yesterday. Not long after Scott left for work he called me and said that the car (our old car that we took on our trip and just spent quite a bit of money on getting it in good working order so Jacob could use it while he was here) had died on him. Immediately I got up and started putting Andrew in his carseat because I new exactly what that meant. I had to go meet him so we could drop him off at work, hopefully before he was very late. The car did start up again and I was able to meet Scott at our local garage (which was a blessing since we didn't have to pay a towing fee or anything) and now we wait to see what they say about the car.

But the day wasn't over yet. After we left Scott at work, Andrew and I did a little grocery shopping on our way home, and then we ate and changed diapers before heading out to Walmart for the bulk of this week's grocery shopping. Now, I had made sure I burped Andrew before we left and all, but sitting in the carseat, on the shopping cart (since I needed quite a few items, there was no way he was going to fit "in" the cart and I had forgotten the sling) must not have agreed with him. He slept most of the time I was shopping, but then he woke up and started fussing, and I mean, really fussing so I picked him up (I was really wishing I had remembered to bring the sling as it's not easy pushing a full cart while consoling a fussy baby) and then he had a big burp and I said "oh, that's why you've been fussing." Then I thought to myself how glad I was that he didn't spit up. Of course, what happened, but I immediately realized he had spit up, all over my neck, my jacket and the straps of my handmade purse. YUCK! I grabbed the receiving blanket that was in the carseat and started wiping off Andrew (oh yes it got all over him too) and prayed "Lord, what do I do?" as I knew the carseat was not a good place for him at that moment and I couldn't reposition the carseat because my hands were full and let's not forget the spit up that was all over me. I glanced down the aisle in front of me and saw a lady from our church (whom I've known my whole life) and thanked the Lord right there. I walked up to her and said, "would you please be a lifesaver and hold Andrew so I can clean myself up?" She was thrilled to hold him (I don't think she had even met him yet) as she loves babies and I felt so blessed that God would time that all so perfectly! Yes, God cares about even the smallest things like having your son spit up on you in the middle of a store (on the opposite end of the bathrooms, no less) and providing some help for you.

Now after that long (perhaps boring), drawn out, story, on to my thankful list (and pretty much a rundown of my day). Today I'm thankful:

• That I was able to get laundry and dinner done for Scott before he left for work today
• That Andrew took a 2 hour nap this afternoon
• That I was able to get clothes folded and put away, my bedroom straightened, and the house vacuumed (it was in dire need of that)
• That as a result of all the above, most of the house in in very nice order now
• That Andrew was happy to play (after eating and a diaper change) so I could exercise, finish folding and putting away the last load of laundry for the day organize his clothes (he's constantly outgrowing stuff), and even get over half of the dishes from the last 3 days done. Yes, I have not had a chance to do dishes since my sisters helped me a couple days ago.
• That Christmas is coming! (I've been listening to Christmas music all this past week.)
• For Swagbucks as thanks to them I have extra "Christmas money" to spend at Amazon on Scott

I have gotten a lot done today and it's not even over yet (for me, anyway). I hope all my blog readers are having a lovely weekend!

2 Months

In 3 hours, Andrew will be 2 months old. He has grown so much and is constantly changing. He's started wearing bibs as he drools quite a bit and I'd rather change his bib 4 times a day rather than his clothes. I am very blessed because he hardly spits up (usually only once a day, if at all). He is very smiley and loves it when we sit (well, I sit, and he "reclines" or lays on his tummy) on the floor and play. He weighs 13 pounds and is over 24 inches long. Yep, I'd say he's growing! :)

I love watching him as he "talks" and just enjoying every moment with him. I know "babyhood" won't last very long (I have my two nephews to prove it) and so I am just enjoying being a mommy, Andrew's Mommy not taking a single moment for granted. Especially as we move closer and closer to Thanksgiving, I am constantly reminded of how very, very grateful, thankful, I am for my sweet, loving Husband, and my adorable, loveable, little boy! I love how when Andrew is not happy all I have to do is pick him up and he stops fussing (unless I don't figure out what it is he wants within a few minutes, cause in those cases he starts right up again). It might sound funny, I mean I know he can't talk or anything, but I know that he loves me. The way he looks into my eyes, I can see the trust and love there. I am just so amazed at how incredibly awesome God is. I mean, I've always known He's awesome, incredible, indescribable, but he is always showing me that no matter how awesome and amazing I think He is, He is always more so. Does that make sense? I look at the little boy who is laying on my lap (taking a nap before we head to bed in a few minutes) and I am in total and complete awe of God's creation.

I'm sorry this isn't a longer post/update, but it's 1:40 (am) and it will take at least 20 minutes before I'm in bed (once diaper is changed, hands are washed, contacts are out, humidifier is refilled, and whatever else pops up) and I'm ready for bed now, so I'm thinking I should get started.