Dog days...

Okay, so it's hot here.  There's no question of whether or not it's summer...it.is.brutal!  Aja and I had so so much fun at Vintage Market Days this past weekend.  Thankfully the heat didn't keep many people away.  Unfortunately it was the hottest weekend of the summer so far, like 104 degrees, but we made it and it was a blast.  I am so grateful that Aja and her mom included me in this event, it really was a lot of fun.  

We have spent the last few days at the pool with my friend Sarah and her sweet little girl.  They are traveling Lifetime members, so it was fun to hang there with them while they were in town.  Her sweet little Whitney is the smiliest chic!  Rhett loves her!

We had a little aquarium date this morning and it was nice to mix things up!  You can only do the pool so many days in a row, especially when the sun is so fierce!

 Rhett loved getting splashed by the sting-rays.  Neither of them actually wanted to touch them, but pretended like they were.  There were baby sharks up for petting as well.  Pass!  Jude touched one and said is was, "slomy".

Rhett, Jude and Whitney (future beach buddies)

I love that cute, soft little cheek.  Rhett loved all of the displays.  He was entranced by the creatures!  

Poor Rhett had just been knocked in the head by the camera hanging from my neck.  :(.  

Shockingly enough, this was our first ever trip to the aquarium.  It was fun!  

Hope you all are surviving the heat and finding some fun indoor activities to keep you busy!  Now, off to check our upstairs thermostat to see if our a.c. up there is on the fritz.  Please NO!  

All things girly.

Well, I'm officially 6 months pregnant today!  It's hard to believe that she'll be here in less time than I've been pregnant so far.  Not that those first few months were super easy, time just goes so fast when you are caring for other kids and don't have a lot of down time.

I don't know that I mentioned on here that at my 22 week checkup she was 11 inches long and 1.1 pounds!  Somehow I have managed to gain more than 1.1 lbs:).  I have been trying to stay as active as possible.  It's just so hot out and my walks are getting slower and slower.  I try to either walk or swim laps most days, but some days I'm just too wiped.  I wish my boys took naps.  When I was pregnant with Rhett, Jude and I would take a 2 hour nap every day.  Those days are gone.

The nursery is pretty much done.  I'm still waiting on a few key pieces to pull it all together, but I'm relieved to have things in her room,  painted and on the walls.   Any suggestions on hardware for this dresser?

I've gone back and forth and have been to the store 98 times trying to find what I'm looking for, but it's hard when you don't know just what you are looking for:).


How about bedding?

My first instinct is to keep is simple, but I don't have any color on this side of the room, so maybe some patterned something or other?  Hmmm, such hard choices.  I'm also loving cribs sans the crib skirts lately, so I'm torn on what to do there as well.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.  This room is a mish mash of styles, so anything goes, really.  I'm hoping the curtains will bring some more girly to her room.  So far I have not gone above and beyond in my decorating to make this space very girly as I had planned.  Hopefully it will come together in the end.  Fingers crossed.

Hattie has been moving a lot lately, mostly at night when I'm off of my feet, but I also feel her when we are out and about.  I felt her moving while I was swimming this morning, and it was fun to think she was also enjoying all of the stretching and moving we were doing.

I have been hearing all sorts of cute names lately.  Sometimes I second guess our choice, you know, since Tori Spelling has a kid named Hattie I just want to eliminate all possibilities while we have that option.  But in the end it always wins out.  I really like the name Isla (eye-la), but I know I'd have to pronounce it to everyone her entire life, and that's against the rules:).  I also still like Greta. It wouldn't be out of my character to change the name we've chosen, but the more I call her Hattie, the more it suites her, and I already painted that stool, so that's just a hassle:).

Just a few more weeks and we'll be in the 3rd trimester.  I can hardly believe that.  I can't wait to meet her!

darndest things.

Kids say the darndest things.  They crack us up throughout the week and we are always reminiscing about when Jude said such and such, or when Rhett did something off the wall.  I'm going to attempt to record at least one funny saying or action each week from each of them.  This way I won't forget it.  

This week...

Jude

This week Jude got in trouble at bedtime for getting out of his bed several times.  I finally took away the privilege of letting him play with the neighbor boys the next day.  He was so upset and I did something I don't often do..I gave him the opportunity to earn it back.  If he went to sleep immediately he could take the punishment away.  I'm sleeping in my bed that night, and suddenly I get a little rata tat tat on my nose.  Jude whispers, "mom, did I earn it back?", I look at the clock and it was 3 a.m.  I just started laughing, this kid, he gets something on his mind and doesn't give up.  Love him! 

 Rhett was going #2 on the potty and having some trouble.  I told him to push really hard and Jude said, "Not too hard, Rhett.  You don't want to get a hangroid."  Yes, that's right, we teach our kids about the importance of anal heath also:).  

Rhett

I was trying to get Rhett to sleep one night and I was ignoring him while he talked up a storm and asked a million questions.  He's super chatty at bedtime.  I had my back turned to him and he asked, "Why do you have boobies and stuff, momma?" He's so little to know the difference, but he definitely does.  One day he saw me naked and he ran out of the bathroom and told Dallas that my ding ding was broken.  I now change in total seclusion.  

I love living in a funny house.  We are always laughing and smiling, and there is not much better than that.  

Pondering motherhood.

Does anyone else have a mom who did it all?  A mom who did it all and didn't complain?  I was talking with my sister today about all of the tasks my mom had on her plate when we were wee ones, and now that I'm a mom I'm really shocked by all that she was able to accomplish.  

I'm sure I'm missing some things, but somehow she was able to sew most of our clothes, make a homemade meal for dinner to have on the table at 6:00 each night, had a grocery budget of, wait for it...$10 a week (when I was a baby)!  Somehow we lived on 1 pound of ground beef a week...family of five!  She maintained a large garden that we needed for the food.  She canned food in our kitchen so we could have the veggies all year round.  She mowed the yard.  We lived on a farm in Ohio at the time, so this was no small yard to maintain.  She also did all of the landscaping herself, and still does. If we needed something she made it, crafted it, sewed it.  On top of all of the other busy things you do while you have three kids, she ran a daycare out of our home, and watched several other kids each and every day from the crack of dawn until dark.  This didn't allow her to leave the house, ever!  I don't know how she did it all.  And you know what,  I never felt like I missed out on a thing.  She always spent so much time playing with us and taking us on fun adventures through the woods, to the pond, to the barn.  She also did most everything alone.  My dad was putting himself through school at Miami of Ohio and working three jobs to make it all happen.  She literally had no adult interaction through-out her days.  No girls night, bunco, Tuesday night bible study.  I should mention that her life got easier as my dad moved up in his career, but she still did so so much.  

Seriously, how spoiled are we?  What is it?  Why do my day to day tasks seem so difficult, so overwhelming at times? Am I lazy? Am I just used to a certain way of life?  Does society just tell us that we don't need to do it all?  I look at what I have to complete in my time at home and it is absolutely nothing in comparison.  This makes me feel guilty.  Like I should be able to handle more.  Is it just that it's a different day and age?  Did she just do what she had to do?  Could I do it if I had to?  I don't ever remember my mom complaining or being totally stressed out like I am at times.  

What do you think?  Was your mom also a super woman?  Did she clean the house floor to ceiling every single spring (something else I don't do)?  Did she pull the refrigerator out to clean under it, and dust every.single.leaf on the artificial plants in your house (I am a child of the 80's)?  Any opinions on why we are so different?  I know it has to do with financial situations too, but honestly I don't know if I could do it.  Could you?  Do you?  Do people like her still exist?  

My mom is the best.  So much to live up to!  

Thankful for the blessings

My mom has always told me to write things down.  To record special blessings and small details so they are never forgotten.  No matter how big or small a blessing is, it is a special gift that we want to remember and remind ourselves of down the road.  Each blessing is a small or large piece of the puzzle God is putting together in our lives.  Since I don't journal, I'll blog it.

At a lot of churches I feel like people think blessings only come in financial form.  People get unexpected checks in the mail, finances are met unknowingly, giant raises are given just in the nick of time.  I know these things definitely happen, we have been the recipient of financial blessings time and time again.  Pastors preach that if you give, God will give back to you.  I believe this, but I don't believe God always gives back financial blessings.  I know he doesn't.  This past year I think I finally understood the blessings that God gives to those who faithfully give and give from their heart.  Blessings that change your life and bring you closer to Him.  Blessings that really matter make you want to bless others more than ever.  Blessings that only He can provide.  

Dallas and I experienced different kinds of blessings this year.  Here are the things I don't want to forget...

- My failed bone graft surgery. This may not seem like a blessing, but it was in disguise.  God really used this experience to increase my faith.  In the end, the 2nd bone graft worked, AND my dr. did it free of charge.  

- Rhett's healed heart.  God definitely used this experience to bring Dallas and I closer to Him, increase our faith, and realize what's really important in this life.  Money, houses, cars and stuff is nothing to us now.  We would have given it all to have Rhett healed.  God healed him, and that is a blessing we will never forget.  My prayer is that we will remain in a place where we remember how we felt in that time.. that God would keep us close and remind us often.  It's so easy to slip back into the "stuff" and material things in this world, and I don't want to go back. 

- A baby.  Our sweet girl was healthy and whole at our complex 22 week check up.  Her heart, brain, and other major organs looked good.  She is such a gift, and she will bring so much joy to our family.  I can't really think of a greater gift than life.  

- The casino.  When the casino was being built on Indian land a few blocks from our house, all hope seemed lost.  We were told our home would lose a substantial amount of value, our taxes would increase, crime would go up and our freedom to play outside and feel safe would be compromised.  After the federal court, BIA and NIGC ruled against the illegal casino, the attorney even said that truly the only person who should be credited for this miracle is God.  Our community had prayer meetings, prayed on the land and fasted and prayed for months to stop this.  In the end it has been stopped.  God protected us from selling our house when we had a full price offer.  He is always blessing us with His protection over us.  We don't even know what we've been protected from at times.  Though I know the casino battle will rage on for months to come with appeals and schemes, I also know that God's will is going to be done, and I have a peace about the entire situation.  Peace is such a blessing!  

- A Godly spouse.  I feel so blessed to have this gift.  I really probably didn't care so much about it when Dallas and I dated and got married, but now that I know the value, it is truly humbling to know that God gave that to me even though I didn't make it a priority.  He blessed me with Dallas, who is ever growing and changing in Him.  This last year, with all of the trial, I couldn't have made it without Dallas and his unwavering faith and support.  This is worth more than any financial blessing to me, and I'm so very thankful for this gift.

I don't at all mean to sound like I'm bragging about these blessings, but rather I'm rejoicing and recording God's victory in our lives this year.  Many of these blessings have come with trials before them.  I am oh so thankful for the trials.  

  God's provision and answers may not always be what we ask for, but in the end it's always the best.  I learned a few weeks ago that sometimes our blessings may come through answered prayers.  What if my giving meant that someone I'm praying for comes to Jesus.  What if my giving meant that someone else's child whom I've been praying for is healed.  That a family member's marriage would be restored.  You never know how God will bless others because of your faithfulness, but I truly and whole-heartedly believe that he does.  I am so very thankful for it.  

Sneakaroo

A girl who works in the Children's area at our church was running a red hot special on kid's photo shoots for the month of May.  She is building her experience with kids in her photography.  I must say, she was great with them!  It helped that they already know her, they were comfortable right off the bat.

Here are the sneaks she sent last night...

I love them!  It was so windy and sand was blowing in everyone's eyes, but you would never know.  I would have been happy with one good pic.  It's really just a miracle to get one pic where both boys are cooperating.

On a related note, someone told me the other day that my boys look like twins.  She said if the small one was bigger, they would be twins.  I really couldn't disagree more.  Besides the blonde hair and blue eyes, they are so different to me.  I guess because I know every detail of every feature, I don't see the similarities, but it's so strange to me how people see things differently.  I guess they could be more different...black hair and dark eyes.  People used to tell my sisters they looked like twins, and they look nothing alike to me.  It's just weird. This makes having a third child so interesting.. will she look like Jude, like Rhett, a mix of both?  Can't wait to find out!

Anyway, can't wait to see how the rest of our pics turned out.  I always love the suspense of photo shoots.  I generally leave feeling like we didn't get much, but end up being happily surprised.

Little Miss and a graduate!

My little gal is growing!  In the morning my tummy seems almost normal sized, and by the end of the day it is so big.  I don't think I mentioned on here that my OB went ahead and did an unexpected ultrasound last week. Still a girl!  We went ahead with painting the nursery and a few accessories this last weekend since it seemed more official.  It was nice to do a project.  I'm really not buying a lot for her little space.  I'm trying to repurpose and recreate using what I have.  It's fun!  Pretty much anything I've purchased has been from a yard sale, flea market or craigslist.  I love making these pieces my own.

Rhett has strep-throat and had a miserable last few days.  I wasn't feeling so hot myself, so we went to the OB this morning and got a little strep test and urinalysis done on moi.   I was having some really strange back and stomach pains all night on Sunday.  It was nothing I've really experienced before.  I couldn't even explain it because it was such a strange feeling.  The nurse was thinking kidneys or gal bladder.  No results yet.  I tell you what, I have really struggled with fear this pregnancy, and I'm done with it.  I refuse to live in fear and anxiety.  The devil is a liar, and I am tired of it.  I am praying peace over myself and renewed faith.  Life over Hattie, and God's protection as she grows.  It's amazing how God's peace overwhelms you.  I love it.  His peace is a mantle over me and my household.  It was just over a year ago when my sister lost her third baby, Naomi Faith.  I'm certain that being so close to such a great loss has shaken me, but I will not allow my faith to waiver.  God is in control, and for that I am so very thankful.

I will be 20 weeks tomorrow and I have gained about 6-7 lbs.  This changes based on the day.  I keep waiting for a big weight gain between dr. visits.  I know it's coming, it's just a matter of when. I started feeling her move around 17.5 weeks.  It was very faint little flutters or quickening, but it was definitely her!   She moves more frequently and forceful now, but Dallas has yet to feel her.  I have such a long torso, I think she just has so much room to move around in there.  She is still under my belly button though.

I really can't believe we are already at 20 weeks.  The heat of the summer should slow these weeks down a bit.  Honestly, I hope they do.  My boys will be so big in the fall, and I'm just not ready for that. Jude is through with school tomorrow and I'm so excited!  He has his Pre-K graduation this evening.  I can't believe I have a kindergartner on my hands!  He has grown up so much this year and I'm so very proud of him.  I can't wait to see him toss that little hat.  He's already asked if he can wear a tie tonight.  Yes buddy, this is tie worthy!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Here's some weekend pics of our little fam...

Started the weekend out with a quick visit from grandpa! 

Graduation party for our buddy Grant!  I can't believe he's headed to college this fall! So proud of him and the man he has become.  His momma is looking down from Heaven one proud woman.  

I just thought the boys were funny in this one...

TU boy!  

The three most handsome boys I've ever met!