He is here

In case you missed it, he is here!

Chanse Michael Rodriguez

born November 21, 2012 at 5:07 a.m.

Our hearts are filled and we could not be more thankful.

Our God is so good.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Twenty-thirteen

Here's my little to-do list for the new year...

1. Be on my phone less. Like...entire days where it stays in my "catch all"basket in the kitchen and I only look at it to see if Michael has called to let me know he is on his way home.

2. Hurry less, live more. I don't want to hurry the short time I have with my babies. I want to enjoy our comings and goings, not just rush through them.

3. Travel more. No, I don't mean to Abilene.

4. Be healthy. This time of year usually has me cleaning out my fridge of any and all processed junk. I do pretty well until Easter...then those peeps get me every time. By Halloween I'm inhaling heaping mounds of the kids candy with no shame. If I make it more of a general "good choices" goal, instead of a "none of this/that" sort of thing, hopefully I won't burn out. Also, not being pregnant this year will probably help some. :)

5. Walk more. We've got walking trails galore around here, I'm ready for the postpartum period to be behind us and for us to make use of them!

6. Start using eye cream. Hey, I'm not getting any younger here. My grey hair can attest to that.

7. Blog more.

8. Bless more. My word for the year is bless. I want my life and actions to be a blessing to others. My husband, kids, and all others around me.

9. Stop comparisons. They get us nowhere. 

10. Embrace little girl life. My days of having a "little girl" are numbered, and she is growing up faster than I can keep up with. I will dress her up every holiday in big puffy skirts, stick a bow in her hair every chance I get, and buy in doll houses and barbies for every occasion, before she doesn't want me to anymore. 

11. Get back in the kitchen. I miss it. Just need to strap my little guy in his moby,and get back to business.

12. Drink my water. I've gotten out of the habit since the little one has been born, and I need to get back in it, like, yesterday.

13. Embrace the season. I am so blessed to be in my 8th year of this season of motherhood. I know it won't last forever, and I want to make the very most of it.

Baby Jedi's

Michael started watching (some) of the StarWars movies this summer. It didn't take long before they were both hooked, and armed with light sabers at all hours. I've never been a fan myself, but it's fun to watch them enjoy something together with their Daddy. 

It was no surprise when they made their petitions for their picks for halloween costumes... Princess Leia and Yoda. 

The day before Halloween, Jaxon's preschool had a "Favorite storybook character parade."  Thankfully, we had a book to match our costume.

It was sweet and fast. He did great, not sure he even saw me. 

I wouldn't feel right not sharing this picture with you. Pretty much made my day.

THAT, my friends, is dedication.

The next day was a little bit more exciting, because they got to wear their costumes together to go around our neighborhood for some trick or treating.

We walked and walked and walked, filled those bags with candy, and hoped that all that walking would help Chanse decide it was time to come. No such luck.

Hope everyone had fun dressing up, and stayed safe :)

mid-week brain dump

1.My friend Liz came over this afternoon with this in tow 

Notice how we have only about a quarter of it left. We both should not be trusted with pumpkin/cream cheese anything. If you are in the area, please come get it out of my house before I eat the rest of it, because it is out-of-control delicious.

She also brought halloween cookies for the kids to decorate, which doubled as an activity to keep them entertained and an after school treat. Her girls made good choices and decided to save 2 of their 3 cookies for later. My kids decided it would be best to eat all of 3 as fast as possible before I got to them and they disapeared. They didn't say it out loud, but I know they were thinking it.

My friend Christi and her chunky monkey baby Colton came over today too, and suddenly he is a big boy! Sitting up, making crazy faces, I kind of expected him to get up and walk around. So thankful for visitors on Michael's days off...I might go crazy, otherwise!

2. Incase I haven't talked to you about it 27 times, my kids birthday's are/will all be within about 3 weeks of each other. J and A's birthday's are 3 weeks apart, and the little brother's due date is in between the first two's. (I hope you are still reading...because I'm sure that was as exhausting to read as it was to write.) Since we have no clue when this guy is coming, I also had no clue what to do about their birthday's this year. I usually do some sort of party, be it together or separate, but that is kind of hard to figure out date wise when I could either be hugely pregnant, have a newborn, or be in actual labor. SO, after an hour or so of thinking/googling I decided to ask the kids if they would rather go to Holiday in the Park (SixFlags) or something similar instead of having parties. They squealed and gave simultaneous fist pumps in the air. I think that means yes. We decided on ICE at the Gaylord where we can go sledding down the tubes, I can't wait! Two million pounds of ice sounds right up my alley. I hope this is a tradition we can keep, and then still celebrate their actual birthdays with dinner, cake, balloons, and the usual 1 gift. I'm pumped!

3. My very very very favorite blogger that makes me lack like nobody else can, is BACK! Back after a 2 year break, and I'm excited. Get ready. 

4. I threw out our old stockings last Christmas, because 1. They were old and falling apart, all the santa's had lost their beards and the buttons next to go. And 2. b/c I just knew that the Lord would send us another sweet baby by the next Christmas (and Praise Jesus for his faithfulness, that sweet baby will be here soon!) I just couldn't see having 4 matching stockings and a random one thrown in there for the poor 3rd kid. I've been searching Etsy and I think I've found our next set.

Will go nicely with the burlap tree skirt that I pinned last year and have yet to make.

5. My friend Liz (same one from above) brought me this super thoughtful "bed rest basket" the day after I got sentenced to the couch.

I have become best friends with that blue cup and Jaxon refills it for me at least 10 times a day. I have used every item in the basket, except the cute little scope disposable toothbrushes, which I'm saving for my birth bag to take to the birth center. Love it. She also comes over and does my dishes without me asking and picks A up from school everyday. Pretty sure we would be lost without her right now! And just in case you are curious...I haven't left my house in twelve days. Twelve. Days. But who's counting?

6. The kids were watching Word Girl earlier, and I looked over to see them snuggling, big one with her arms around the little one in a hug. Seriously the cutest moment, praying my mental picture stays forever because my phone was charging and couldn't snap a pic. Love my little' s.:)

7. I am so excited for baby boy to get here! All we lack is a box of newborn diapers (going to do both cloth and disposable for the newborn, comfy Pj's for me to put on after he gets here, and for me to get off bed rest so I can hit the floor running and nesting and get every little thing in order! A came home from school with cards that she and her friends had made for him (early birthday cards I guess) and J talks to him like he's already here, and gives him kisses about 20 times a day. We are all so ready to meet this little man, can't hardly stand it!

I could go on and on with my rambling, but if I don't stop now I may not every. Sorry if you're exhausted from all that reading. Have a great night! 

The problem with busyness

"So much of a mother’s work – the laborious growing of a human, the nurturing of a soul, the quiet and gentle molding of a child – doesn’t seem to offer an obvious, fulsome harvest. But the fruit is there, nonetheless, and there’s often more of that fruit when there’s a certain dying to self and in the case of bed rest, a dying to busyness."

-Kate Wicker

What a great reminder this is! And not just for bed rest, for anytime. I'm not sure how much fruit will come of me vacuuming the stairs for the 3rd time this month, or washing the couch cushions yet again. But I do know that snuggling with my babies, taking the time to read them a story (or 6!) or dropping my "busyness" to color a picture with them will reap the only kind of harvest that I should be concerned with. Every day with my children is a gift. I am not promised this same gift tomorrow. When the day comes that I have all day to clean and mark things off my to-do list, this will also be the day when my gifts will no longer need Mommy. I am the queen of "busyness" and I can feel the Lord's hand on me asking me to be still. To rest and take time to live life, not fly through it. Thank you, Lord, for being so merciful, and showing in so many ways the past 5 days, your heart. 

Back to school - better late than never

Even if we are in the later half of September, I just wouldn't feel right about myself if I didn't do a first day of school blog for my babies! Especially my (for now) littlest baby, who started his first day of preschool two weeks ago. 

Couldn't love this boy more if I tried.

And this kid started 2nd grade. Not sure who told her it was OK for her to grow up. Sure wasn't me.

Melt's my heart :)

So there it is, for my own record keeping purposes, and so my Grandma can finally see the pictures :)

Family bingo night

Michael had the brilliant idea to have our own at home family bingo night, last night. 

He headed to the Walgreens (the only store for 10 miles, ha) and grabbed 5 prizes plus gummy bears/sour patch watermelons to use as markers, while I made the pizza and breadsticks.

It was so fun! I love that our little man is old enough to actively participate in our game nights now.

After all the prizes were one, and all the "markers" were eaten, the kids played with the prizes (primarily the super awesome laser/dart gun grand prize) while we watched The Blind Side as I cried like a giant/pregnant/hormonal baby.

Another successful Saturday night :)