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 :)

Ready to POP!

I'm sure some people don't like the idea of a baby shower for a third baby. 

My friends aren't any of "those" people :)

They were so sweet to throw Chanse and I the most adorable shower, filled with lots of yummy snacks, sweet gifts, and of course adorable decor!

What started out as a shower, morphed into a photo shoot at some point. Who can resist a mustache photo opp?

My Mimi insisted on using the "dirty stach"...pretty funny.

Oh my...

\

My Sweeter than sweet Hostesses! Love them all!

Haven't seen this girl in YEARS it feels like! So glad she made it!

Gump, you are so lucky that I love you, otherwise this picture of me would never have seen the light of day! haha :)

Love these two! 

Love my Mom :)

And my 2nd Mom 

My Grandma & Mimi

Sisters, always!

Now Chanse can officially come, whenever I'm "Ready to pop!"

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came and blessed out sweet Chanse, and a special thank you to my hostesses for showering us and making us feel so special. Love you all more than you know!

Summer fun

This last Saturday our HOA hosted a movie night at the pool. Popcorn, drinks, Madagascar 2, and swimming until after dark. 

I love summer.

Two week haul

The amount of money that we spend on groceries each month has really been weighing on me lately. I read blogs where families of 8 eat on $400 or less a month, while our little family of 4 (soon to be 5 :) spends a shocking amount more than that. I don't like it! In addition to paying for the birth of our next-born (up front, and in cash, insurance will reimburse us after the birth) and always trying to increase our savings while paying off our debt, this just isn't going to work for me anymore! 

I read this blog post and realized my main problem seems to be that I make  approximately 573 trips to the grocery store every week to "just grab one thing" I need for a recipe. My good intentions all fall to the floor when I end up in the check-out with a cart full of things that we didn't have to have. If I'm not in the store, then I won't be spending money, right? Insert my "bi-weekly shopping" plan here. I make one good size grocery store trip on Friday, pick up my bountiful baskets on the following Saturday (more on that later) and that is it! NO MORE TRIPS to the store for 2 weeks! And all must be under $200. The planning/OCD freak part of me is all kinds of excited about this.

Here is what 2 weeks worth of groceries looks like for our little family.

$20 for meat, $20 for snacks (maybe got more than I should have...I'll adjust as I get better) and enough fridge and pantry staples to make the 14 dinners I have planned, plus 14 breakfasts, lunches, and 28 snacks for 4 ppl. Wow.

...and here is the bulk of our fresh produce score from BB

I cannot rave enough about Bountiful Baskets. This morning was my first trip, and I am hooked! You go to the website on Monday and make your "contribution" to the coop ($15 for a basket of conventional fruit/veggies and $25 for certified organic.) Then you can do add-ons, like our 5 loaves of organic 9-grain bread for $10. The coop is all run by volunteers, and everyone at our location was so friendly and sweet, what a great experience! I picked up our big basket and attempted to waddle to the car, trying to maneuver the little basketball I'm sporting up front while keeping up with my other two babies behind me. A man runs up next to me, puts down his own basket, takes mine, and carries it to my car. It made my day, I love seeing that chivalry isn't completely dead, and it made me so happy that I (obviously) cried when I got in my car because I'm a big giant ball of pregnant emotions. Whatever.

After all that, I came home and washed/put away everything, and tried making Kale chips for the first time. They are G O O D. Love them. My midwife will be so pleased :)

I'll update towards the end of the 2-week stretch to let you know how we did! I'm feeling pretty confident!

Life of my little's

Just like I always tell you, you're my favorite girl in the world! I couldn't imagine a better fit to be our first born, and our princess. You are equally Daddy's angel and Mommy's baby girl. You are beyond smart, so much that your teacher has to give you extra projects on top of your regular class work to keep you from getting bored, since most of the work comes so easily to you. You are a kind girl, who loves her God, family, and friends! It makes my heart smile so big while I watch you grow into the amazing young lady that God has created you to be! You are the definition of a social butterfly, friends with everyone in school, and love to hang out with your friends.

 Right now you are loving gymnastics, have been for quite sometime, and actually start competing this fall! Eeeeek! It was a lot for me to take in at first...your 5-7.5 hours a week workouts plus competitions on top of that, but if anybody can handle it, it's you! All though you are the family "Princess" (not Diva....we don't even like that word!) You aren't afraid to get dirty and play with the boys. You are likely to be found at the neighborhood lake catching fish with your hands, or on an adventure in the dirt, but doing it with your hair curled and a petti-skirt on :) 

Currently, you, Daddy, and Jaxon are all really liking watching Star Wars, and doing karate while you watch, ha! (in fact...that's what ya'll are watching while I write this!) I'm using this to my advantage, and ordering Princess Leia and Yoda costumes for you and your brother, because I think it will be hysterical adorable, and I'll do just about anything to keep you guys from being batman/batgirl again this year. Not what I would have chosen for your halloween costume, but luckily it still gets use atleast once a week...

You don't like shopping much, which is probably good for our bank account, but if somebody says "shoe shopping" you are all in! Oh, and let's not forget swimming, you are all fish, just like Mommy. Thankfully we are only a block from our water park, b/c we are there more often than not. 

We celebrated your 7 1/2 birthday a couple of weeks ago, not sure how you've gotten so big so fast! 

You've been the most wonderful introduction into parenthood, and have taught us so much! 

Oh...Jaxon. To say that you brighten our days with your crazy antics and hilarity, would be a HUGE understatement! You definitely keep us all entertained!

You love the park, pool, riding scooters, disc golf, playing in the sprinklers, dancing, and most recently (and more than anything else) doing "karate" with Daddy. You tell him every night "Okay Daddy, you be dah bad guy, and I'll be batman!" Definitely all boy.

While you love to be active, and out and about, you also love being at home with Mommy. You'll say "Mama, can you take me to my house?" when you've had enough and are ready for a snack and some Mommy time. :)

You, just like sister, are equally Mommy's baby boy and Daddy's little buddy. You love love love, playing with your Daddy, in fact you almost knock him down every night when he comes home because you're so excited to see him!

You love your buddies, especially your "best fwiend Bwody" who comes to stay with us a couple days a week. But more than anyone you love your big sister "Abeeegail," as you so fondly call her. Nine times out of ten, you want to be doing what she is doing. You ask me about her everyday, even though you know she's at school. At least 3 times I hear, "Mom? When is Abeeegail gone be home?" And you get so excited to see her as soon as we get her! You are really entering a new big boy phase, and this means getting to do more big kid things with your big sister. You've recently started having "sleepovers" in each of your rooms, where you either sleep on the bottom bunk of her room or she sleeps in your bed while you sleep in a pallet on the floor. I wasn't sure about it at first, as I was certain I would be up at least 45 times a night quieting the party, but you both did awesome! Amazes me how big you're getting...I love it but it breaks my heart all at the same time!

You are known for your shorts and cowboy boots. Wether it's 50 degrees out or 90, you are rockin the shorts and cowboy boots look. If you decide to switch it up and wear your Toms or flip-flops, people will stop and ask what happened to your boots.

Funny little things you say right now include:

1. Calling bathing suits "bathing soups"

2. You've heard about Justin Bieber from Abbie and her friends, but you think they are saying "Just a Bieber" so now one of your token phrases is "Okay guys...it's JUST a Bieber!" 

3. You call someone's mustache a "pustache"

(this is old, but still funny)

4. When you see pumpkins you say "Ohh! Howeena!" 

Such a funny boy! We will celebrate your 3.5 birthday next week, can't believe we're nearly halfway to 4! We are loving watching you grow up into a big boy. So thankful you still have two more years at home with Mommy until you start school, I'm definitely not ready to give up our days together!

As far as a "bump"date goes...things are moving right along!

I'm excited to be looking more like a pregnant lady, and less like a lady who eats donuts like it's her job. We are just about 16 weeks, and feeling FANTASTIC! Oh 2nd trimester, I couldn't love you more!

According to Thebump.com, little bit is about the size of an avocado this week. Starting to feel some fluttering, pretty exciting! We have a little trip to Stork Vision planned in the next couple of weeks to find out if there is a little miss or mister inside the bump!

I think that is all for now! So thankful for and blessed by all three of my babies. Life with these guys is pretty sweet :)