January always passes by pretty quickly. The holidays are over, and it's time to start anew, clean the house, and get ready for a new year. February, the shortest month of the year, is always the longest for me. This February has felt twice as long this year, with the never ending ice and snow days and sicknesses that have kept us cooped up pretty much all month. We have played trains, built towers, read books, watched way more tv than needed, and pretty much lost our minds. But!! It's March, and Monday has a forecast of 70 and sunny, and I plan to live outside.
Here I am at about 18-ish weeks. I keep telling myself I will take bump pictures when I am actually dressed and hair and make-up are on, and frankly, all three of those rarely happen on the same day.
I am still feeling pretty poor, but not as bad as the beginning, so I'll take any improvement I can get!
Eli made his very first best friend this year...and his best friend is moving. Rylan's dad was the youth minister at our church, and they are moving back to their hometown in Indiana, so we are definitely sad around here without our buddy! Eli and Rylan had Sunday school classes AND pre-school classes together, which was so nice for my shy little buddy. I hate that he is losing his cute friend, and have been praying fervently for a new sweet friend for Eli for the next school year. We have decided to send Eli to pre-k at his MDO program, to give him, and his mama, another year before "real" school starts. We are praying about and considering homeschooling, so that gives us another year to decide what's best for our family.
Here's a poorly lit phone picture of Eli and one of his latest creations. If y'all don't have Magna-tiles, I highly suggest you purchase some. We bought the boys a shared pack for Christmas, and they have played with them EVERY DAY since they opened them. If you have little kids, you know how amazing that is to have them not be bored with a toy after about one day. Shepherd loves them too, and he wasn't even two when we got them. We went ahead and got the 100 pack, and are seriously considering buying one more pack. They both play with all of the tiles, and fight over needing more for their latest creation. I actually ordered the "Picasso Tiles" from Amazon, as they were a tad cheaper, and they have held up great so far. Seriously, such a great gift!
I was too sick this year to get our acts together for a Christmas card, and so I attempted to do a Valentine's Day card, but my big camera needs servicing, and I didn't like how any of them turned out, so I scrapped those too. You can see here how Eli cooperates, and Shepherd switches his little mood on and off pretty frequently.
We were actually told at our 15 week appt. that our doctor thought it looked like we had a little girl in there, but I couldn't tell a thing from her ultrasound machine, and we wanted to wait until our big screening to make sure before we told anyone, and did any planning. I actually ended up switching doctors at about 20 weeks, and our big ultrasound was our first appt. with her.
This is at 20 weeks on our way to find out what we were having. Honestly, once you head to that appointment, all major cares about gender go out the window, as I just lay there and pray that everything looks good with our sweet babe. We got confirmation that it is indeed a sweet little girl in there, and were so excited to confirm what our first doctor thought she saw too! This should almost be another post all on its own, but I have prayed and prayed that God would eventually gift us with a little girl. Matthew and I feel an enormous responsibility to all of our children, boys or girls, but there are some differences in how you raise each gender. I have always yearned for certain relationships with my parents that I never got, and I pray I can fulfill those special needs in each of my children. That being said, I pray every day to be able to fill those needs in my daughter's life that I don't think I got as a child, and or as an adult daughter now. I feel like the very greatest thing Matthew and I can do for our children is teach them to love the Lord, and to teach them by SHOWING them everyday how we are willing to put our own selves aside sacrifice for our spouse's and their own well being. Anyway, I am overwhelmed and so so grateful God is giving me the gift of having the chance at a sweet relationship with a daughter.
That being said, I was surprised that I found myself a little sad that we weren't having another sweet baby boy, so I think that just goes to show God isn't through with our little family yet. ;)
Two big boys in a big boy bed! We think the boys will be sharing a room once sister gets here, so we are trying to get their room ready. I'm not sure how Shepherd will do, but I have my guesses. :) I looked at multiple stores before deciding on these metal beds for them, and ended up ordering from Overstock. They are almost an exact duplicate to the Pottery Barn Coleman beds, but a lot cheaper. Maybe PB's are a little sturdier? I can't say, but we are definitely pleased with these for the price. Eli easily switched beds, and now the trick will be convincing Shepherd to stay in one. I have at least until June to teach him to do so! I think my main concern is getting them to not wake each other up. Eli usually wakes up crying his head off at least once or twice a week with a bad dream, and Shepherd has been waking up around 4 or 5 to start his days lately, so I'm not sure how they won't just keep each other up all night. Any tips for sharing a room?
Along with feeling like I have a constant stomach bug, I actually GET a stomach bug every time I am pregnant. This was the worst one I've ever had, and I didn't leave my bed for days. Luckily, Matthew was iced in from work, and could take over. He found me on the bathroom floor a few times, where I was just too tired from constantly running to the bathroom to vomit I decided to just lay down there for awhile. Praise God, no one else caught it...there's not much worse than babies who are throwing up while you are too. :) This little mister above came in after he went to church to check on me. "Can I get you anything mama? Maybe a blanket, or some water...or maybe a movie?" He has watched his daddy take care of me for months now, and loves to help. So sweet.
A result from waking up at the crack of dawn is that he often falls asleep at about 8:30. I usually let him catch a catnap, and then wake him up and make him hang until a real nap a little later. I'm not sure if it's DST or not. He was doing this routine until I started making him nap earlier in the day, and then he went back to a normal 7:00 wake up time, and then Daylight Savings hit, and here we are again. Standing up in his crib around 4:30, with his blanket and water in hand, ready to greet the sun. He usually tells me "I hungee mama...juice, mama!" Demanding little thing. Breakfast and juice at 4:30. He then tells me "I wanna show" and "where e-yi go?" Ummm, Eli's sleeping, brother. Like you should be too. :)
Baby girl clothes! I love consignment stores...I have been trying to restrain myself...but baby Gap has about the cutest little pieces I've ever seen. I don't love a lot of pink, or flowery stuff, and Gap wins it all. That being said, I've also pulled out all my old smocked bubble and dresses, and I can't wait for them either. I've never had a girl, or a summer baby, and I honestly don't know what teeny tiny infants wear in the summer...diapers? onesies? tiny tank top onesies? Ha- I know we'll figure it out, but so far, I've bought a few long sleeve onesies and some short sleeve/tank top ones, and I have no clue what the little miss will be comfortable in. I'm sure we'll be out in the heat a good bit with two rowdy boys, so maybe just a diaper and a big sun hat. :)
There's more to share...we are trying to get this house mostly completed before a third baby takes away any productiveness for awhile. I've been painting and remodeling bathrooms when I feel well enough, and I sat down this morning to plan out our 2015 garden, and we have to get those in the ground pronto. I'll be back to share all that soon.
And last, but certainly not least, would you take a minute to pray for my father-in-law? Most of you probably know, he has rheumatoid arthritis in his lungs, which makes it hard for him to get around and breathe, and a few months ago, he noticed he was even more out of breath and dizzier than usual. He has now been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, which isn't a good diagnosis for anyone...but his lungs are already only working at 40% capacity, and this heart problem means more problems for his lungs and breathing capabilities. He is pretty much on oxygen all the time now, and gets dizzy and out of breath walking to the car, or anywhere. His medicine for his heart is dropping his blood pressure so much, he is occasionally blacking out, and he is pretty much shut in at home. Any major sickness or fall would be pretty dangerous for him, and so he has been staying in during this long long winter. Would you pray for his health in general, and more specifically, for his blood pressure to regulate, so that he can focus his efforts on his heart and lungs? Also, maybe for his spirits? Congestive heart failure can mean a shorter life span, and when you're lungs are already compromised, well, I think it probably makes him feel like he doesn't have all that long to be here with us. Couple that with a long winter inside, while feeling pretty sickly, and he could certainly use your prayers.
He's the best papa the boys have, and we pray he's around for a long time. I have such sweet memories of both of my grandfathers, and I pray the same for our children. We know our God is a great big God, and hears our prayers...we'd certainly love for you to join us in praying for Kyle. Thanks, friends.
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