The Howie House

Same Picture, Different Year

2012-01-26T22:07:00.004-06:00

Since we've been stuck at home all week due to sickness, we've had to get a little creative to find ways to keep ourselves occupied. Today, Aubrey and I spent a long time looking at an old calender that David's sister, Sarah, made with lots of family pictures. Aubrey really loves looking at all of the old pictures from when she was little. She will point to different pictures and say, "I think I looked really pretty in that picture!" Ha! It's just so funny because she was basically a baby in these pictures. She asked me about the clothes she was wearing in the pictures and if they would still fit her. Umm, no ;) She got really excited when we came across this picture:My mom got Aubrey that dress up outfit forever ago, and she wore it a few times, but it was a little big. It's been hanging in the back of her closet for a long time now, and Aubrey and I had both forgotten about it. As soon as she saw that picture, she remembered right where the dress was and she immediately wanted to go put it on. So, we did! It fits her perfectly now, and she wore it all day. She then came up with the super cute idea to recreate that same picture. This was totally her idea -- I didn't put the idea in her head at ALL. Really, the idea never even occurred to me. Ha! She said as soon as Daddy got home, she was going to ask him to change into those same clothes and they could sit on the stairs and take the same picture. I told her that those pajamas didn't fit Jude anymore, and she said that was ok and that he could wear different pajamas. She even went and got her baby Belle doll, which she never plays with anymore (although she didn't really make it into the pictures). I thought this was pretty much the cutest thing ever. Sure enough, as soon as David got home, she told him her idea. He thought it was a great idea too, and he went and changed clothes :) So, here is our attempt at an updated picture:I hate that this one is so blurry because it's the best we got as far as facial expressions go! ;)

We didn't get a perfect picture, but it was fun. I love that Aubrey comes up with her own little ideas these days. It's so cute to watch her think of things like that by herself. She's such a precious, fun little girl!

32 Weeks

2012-01-24T19:39:00.002-06:00

I will have to post a picture later in the week. I currently have pink eye, and I'm vain and don't want to post a picture of myself looking disgusting. And I'm pretty sure no one really wants to look at a picture of me with pink eye ;) Pink eye is kind of the least of my worries right now though. Details below.

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 32 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 16.7 inches and about 3.8 pounds -- about the size of a squash!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I went to the doctor yesterday, and she said there was a "little weight jump." She did look at my ankles and said I seemed to be retaining some fluid. Yeah, we'll blame it on that.
Maternity Clothes: Yes!
Movement: She loves to kick and press REALLY hard. It feels like she is elbowing me sometimes, and it hurts! I think if it was possible, she would have jabbed right through my stomach by now!
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: Terrible. Jude was up from 1-5 last night. David took a huge chunk of that time, thankfully, but I just didn't sleep well. That's kind of been the norm the past few days. Also, I have been having some CRAZY dreams when I am sleeping.
What I miss: Um, sleep! And having us all well!
Cravings: No cravings lately.
Symptoms: Well...... like I said, I went to the doctor yesterday. My blood pressure was elevated, but I really didn't think it was enough to make my doctor too concerned (it was 142/85). She said she wanted to recheck it before I left the office. Well, I KNEW that wasn't going to end well. I always stress myself out, and my blood pressure has never been lower the second time around than it was the first. Never. So, it was crazy high when they rechecked (somewhere around 155/98 or something?). Needless to say, my doctor wasn't happy with that. I told her that I really thought it was a mental thing because I was stressed about it. So she ordered a 24 hour urine test and blood work and told me that I could go home and monitor it. She said she was being more cautious and aggressive than she normally would since I had blood pressure issues after Jude was born. So I did the lovely urine collecting for the next 24 hours and took it to be tested today. Apparently my blood work was ok, so we're just waiting on the results of the urine test. My blood pressure has been a lot better at home, but still a little higher than I was hoping. (It's been in the 120/85 range.) I really don't think I am developing preeclampsia -- I think I'm just stressed and tired and a little sick (pink eye and a cold). But I am glad my doctor is being careful, because preeclampsia is NOT something to mess around with obviously. If you think about it, I would appreciate prayers that my blood pressure returns to normal! On top of that, Jude now has fifth disease. No big deal for him (other than a miserably itchy rash -- poor guy!), but it is potentially dangerous if you're pregnant. There is a HUGE chance that I've already had it, and it's no big deal. But they're doing a blood test to check my immunity just in case. If it's not one thing, it's another! Other than that drama, I still have the same symptoms: heartburn, going to the bathroom a lot, some swelling, and shortness of breath. NBD ;)
Best Moment This Week: In spite of a not-so-great doctor's appointment for me, Alaina seemed to be doing great. I loved hearing her heartbeat!
What I Am Looking Forward To: Getting us all well and sleeping through the night! Be gone, sickness! :) PLEASE!

Week in Review: Sleep Trouble and Stress

2012-01-23T20:52:00.000-06:00

Whew! Last week was LONG and not our best week. Jude went on this random sleep strike. It seemed like he just totally lost the life skill of putting himself to sleep. He was SO hard to get down for his naps and then he wasn't even sleeping very long. He was hard to get to sleep at night and waking up really early in the mornings most days. Then he would sleep really late the next day and catch up. For example, one day he got up at 6:20 AM, and then next day I woke him up at 9:30. He was dealing with a cold/allergy junk, so I assumed it was because of that, and I just did the best I could as far as getting him to sleep. We ended up taking him to the doctor today, and he has a double ear infection :( On top of Jude's sleep issues, Aubrey randomly started getting up earlier and taking naps in the afternoon again. It's kind of weird because she hasn't consistently napped in months. I don't care if she naps, but it kind of stunk this week, because when Jude would sleep late, I couldn't because Aubrey would be up. With that said, I know in the grand scheme of things, we probably won't even remember this rough week. Sleep issues are hard, but they aren't the end of the world. I didn't deal with them with as much grace as I would have liked, because I feel like I'm to the point in this pregnancy where I'm just going to be tired every afternoon, no matter how much sleep I get. So when my child isn't sleeping and I don't get any rest in the afternoon, I'm just not in the best mood. But I'm done complaining! I'm happy to have a reason for Jude's hard week, and we're praying the antibiotic works FAST! Oh, and I took no pictures -- grabbing the camera was not at the top of my list. Keeping my sanity was. Haha!

Sunday: We got up and got ready to go to church. David was doing sound, so we had to be sure to get there on time. We had a good church service, and then we had Sunday School. After church, we came home, and Jude fell asleep in the car. We knew if we woke him up, he wouldn't take another nap, so we transferred him to his bed even though we knew that would mean a short nap since it was lunchtime. I cooked fish and sweet potatoes and green beans for lunch, and then David, Aubrey, and I sat down to eat. Jude woke up right then. He has wonderful timing ;) We ate lunch, and then I took a nap. David played with the kids since Jude was done with napping for the day. We went back to church that evening. We had a guest preacher who is a missionary in Eastern Europe. The sermon was really great and very convicting. After church, we got dinner at Jason's Deli and then came home. Jude was pretty exhausted by that point, and I put him straight to bed. David put Aubrey to bed, and then we just relaxed until bedtime.

Monday: After such a short nap the day before, I was really expecting Jude to sleep until a decent time. He was up at 6:20, though. Ughh. I decided that he wasn't going to get up until 7:30, so I went into his room several times to offer him his paci. He was fairly content during that hour -- he just fussed off and on -- but he definitely wasn't going back to sleep :( I got him up and fed him breakfast and bathed him, and then Aubrey woke up. We were meeting Ashley and Sarah Denley for brunch before Ashley left town, so we got ready and headed to Primos. SD didn't have her kids with her, and Ashley was obviously childless, so I was the only one who was distracted during our brunch. Haha! It was fun, though! Ashley got to see my wild children in action ;) We said our goodbyes after a while so that Ashley could get on the road home. We'll miss her! The kids and I came back home, and I fed them a little lunch (since we had just eaten brunch) and then attempted naps. Jude didn't go to sleep easily like I thought he would. Frustrating! He did finally fall asleep, and I got on the internet and straightened up the house. When the kids woke up, we played for a while, and then I started cooking chicken spaghetti for dinner. When I got it in the oven, the kids and I went on a walk while it cooked. Aubrey wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of a walk, and she got "really tired" halfway through, but she did fine. When we got home, our dinner was almost ready. I didn't really expect either child to eat the dinner well, but they both did. It was probably the least stressful meal that we've had in AGES, and it was so nice! They both ate a good amount, and there was no food throwing. Ha! After dinner, the kids played while I straightened up, and then I bathed Aubrey. I put Jude to bed, and David put Aubrey to bed. Then I blogged and went to bed myself.

Tuesday: Jude was up really early again. I didn't get him out of bed until 7:30, and that worked out fine. I got us ready for Bible Study, and then we headed to church. I was glad to be back at Bible Study! We hadn't met since before Christmas. We had a good discussion, and then Rebekkah and I went to lunch with our kiddos. It had been way too long! We hadn't gotten together in forever because they were out of town a lot over the holidays. It was so fun to catch up! After lunch, we came home, and I put the kids down for naps. Jude had a very hard time going to sleep. He cried for a long time, and I went up to his room multiple times. I finally had to rock him until he was sound asleep in my arms and transfer him to his bed. It was pretty frustrating, and I had no idea what was going on, because he never has THAT much trouble getting to sleep. Aubrey ended up playing until it was almost time to get up, and then she dozed off. After having all that trouble getting to sleep, Jude still didn't take a very long nap :( I got Aubrey up when he got up, and then we just waited for David to get home. When he did get home, we decided to go on a walk. Jude rode in his stroller, and Aubrey walked. We had a nice time, but Aubrey got tired and didn't want to walk the whole way, and Jude got pretty fussy when we were almost home. When we got home, I started cooking dinner, and David entertained the kids. Jude got SUPER fussy, and he seemed exhausted. I wasn't surprised that he was tired, but I was a little surprised when I picked him up and he literally fell asleep in my arms at 6:30. His nose was runny by this point, so we figured it was a combination of being really tired and not feeling well. We woke him up to eat dinner, and we ate upside down pizza. After dinner, David went upstairs to do some stuff in the attic, and I stayed downstairs with the kids. Jude just sat in my lap the rest of the evening. This is highly unusual. I did enjoy the snuggle time with him :) I took him upstairs and got him ready for bed, but it was still a little too early to put him down. I brought him back down and gave him tylenol, and then it happened. He threw up all over me. I was totally shocked and grossed out. I called David, and he came and helped me. He cleaned up the floor while I changed clothes, and we got Jude cleaned up. At that point, I wondered if he had a stomach bug, but he never threw up or had any other stomach symptoms, so it was apparently just a fluke. He had recently eaten dinner, and I had just given him the tylenol. I think it was a combination of those things and having a lot of drainage in his stomach. I put him to bed a little early then I went to Dairy Queen for a treat while David put Aubrey to bed. I have been trying to do better with sweets, but I needed something after the day and evening I had! David and I talked for a little and then went to bed.

Wednesday: Jude slept LATE. But Aubrey woke up early. Of course ;) When she takes naps, she gets up MUCH earlier than when she doesn't nap (duh), so I have mixed feelings about her napping. Haha! I ended up waking Jude up at 9:30!! How is he so inconsistent!? I let him sleep a lot longer than I normally would since he was so exhausted and puny the night before. When I got him up, he was in a good mood and didn't have fever. His nose was still runny, but it seemed like he just had a cold, so I decided that I didn't need to take him to the doctor. The kids and I just hung out at home. I took a shower and bathed Aubrey and Jude, and we ate lunch. I kept Jude up later than usual since he had slept so late. I had decided that I wasn't going to wake Jude up for tutoring. I knew he needed sleep, so if he was sleeping when we needed to leave, we were just going to miss that week. I was a little unsure about putting him in the nursery anyway. It took him a sweet forever to go to sleep again. Ughh. I finally had to rock him to sleep. I know that's a terrible habit, and normally I wouldn't rock him until he was sound asleep (I love rocking him and do it all the time, but I think it's best for him to put himself to sleep, which he usually does with no problems), but since he wasn't feeling his best, I wasn't comfortable just letting him cry. I was so tired that day and pretty stressed over the sleep issues, though, I'm not gonna lie. It was 2:30 before he went to sleep, so I knew there would be no tutoring. Aubrey had fallen asleep too, so I took a nap myself. Unfortunately, Jude only slept about an hour :( I got him up, and then I woke Aubrey up at 4. I got ready for church, and then David got home. We got the kids dressed, and we headed to church. We ate dinner there, and then we kept the kids with us -- I didn't want to put Jude in the nursery with his runny nose. We were planning on going home right after dinner, but I got to talking to a few people, so we didn't even leave early. We were home by bedtime, and we put the kids right to bed. Jude had issues getting to sleep that night. I was just at a loss about what to do about all these sleep problems all week! I was kind of at my whit's end, so David took over and got him to sleep :)

Thursday: Aubrey woke up at 5:45 saying her foot hurt. I think it must have been asleep. I rubbed her foot for a minute and told her it wasn't time to get up. It took me forever to get back to sleep, and then she woke up again around 7. Jude was still asleep, so I told Aubrey to go back to sleep for a little while. She was wide awake though, so I told her she could get in bed with me until Jude got up. She was very squirmy, but I dozed off and on for a while. We ended up waking Jude up at 8. I'm really going to try to get him on a more consistent schedule. We ate breakfast and stayed home all morning. We played upstairs in Aubrey's room for a while, which we never do. We always just play downstairs, but the kids enjoyed the change of scenery and different toys :) When we came downstairs, Aubrey and I colored while Jude played. We then went outside in the backyard and swung until lunchtime. We came back in, and I fixed lunch for all of us. We killed some more time, and then it was time to attempt naps. I didn't have high hopes for Jude's nap. My expectations were correct. It was more of the same from the rest of the week. I was SO frustrated and upset about Jude not going to sleep. He has taken good naps for a LONG time now, and I just had no clue why he had all of a sudden stopped going to sleep on his own. Especially now when I'm at the end of my pregnancy and very tired. Ha! I know I sound so whiny, but I didn't have a great attitude that afternoon. Just being honest. Aubrey slept again. Once I finally got Jude to sleep, he took a short nap. I think I dozed while Jude napped? I don't even remember! When Jude got up, I got Aubrey up too. I got us all ready, and then we went to church to meet David. He was teaching karate for my dad's ministry, and I was going to a lady's function that night. David didn't have time to get home before I needed to leave, so we just traded cars at church :) My mom met me at church, and we got some dinner at Sonic before our meeting. A lady for our church had recently been to China, and she was giving a report on her trip. We met at another lady's house and had snacks, and it was really fun! Honestly, it had been a long week, and I was just happy to be out of the house. When I got home, the kids were asleep, and David said Jude went down without a peep. He did wake up after I got home. I think he can smell me and he just doesn't sleep well when I'm at home? Haha! Just kidding. I told David about my evening and he told me about their's. Then we went to bed.

Friday: We had plans to have lunch with Sarah Denley, and I was so happy to be getting out of the house! Jude got up pretty early, but he didn't get out of bed until 7:30 again. I'm hoping consistency is key! We got ready and met SD and her kids at Broadstreet. It was pretty crowded and we had to lug the kids and all of our stuff upstairs, but we had a lot of fun! Aubrey knocked a bottle of Tabasco Sauce on the floor and broke it. Oops! I did clean it up with wet wipes -- yuck! We even made a stop in the bathroom on the way out, and we weren't in there for 30 minutes! Whoo! ;) Jude fell asleep in the car, and I was planning to transfer him to his bed, but as right as I was getting him out of his carseat, someone fired up a lawn mower, and it roused him. Then Aubrey was really loud, and that woke him up even more. I tried rocking him, but he never went all the way back to sleep, and I knew he wasn't going to. I put Aubrey in her room and left Jude in his for a while. Then I gave up and got him up. We played until time to get Aubrey up. She was asleep, but we went ahead and woke her up. She seemed so sleepy and didn't want to get up, so I left her for 30 minutes. I went back to her room and woke up her again and she STILL didn't want to get up. David was almost home by that point, so I told her I would send him up to get her when he got home. Jude and I went downstairs and waited for David. When he got home, he went up and got Aubrey. She perked up, but she was a little on the grumpy side. We had a Sunday School pizza and game night at church that night, and we got ready for that. We were literally walking out the door when David asked me of Aubrey felt warm. I had thought the same thing, but I chalked it up to her just being warm from her nap. We figured we better check her temp before we took her around a lot of other kids, and sure enough, she had fever :( That explained the tiredness/grumpiness. We were bummed to miss our Sunday School get together! We gave Aubrey Advil and decided to go to the park since we were all ready to leave the house. We went to a park close to our house that is never crowded and we were the only ones there. Aubrey was feeling great after the medicine, and she and Jude had fun playing! David and I had a good conversation about God's will and our beliefs on that, which was spurred on by a lunch convo with SD :) We stayed at the park until dark, and then we got pizza from Mellow Mushroom. I had my heart set on pizza since that's what we were supposed to have at church that night. Mellow Mushroom was so good, but it probably wasn't as good as the homemade pizza they had at church! When we got home, we realized that Jude felt warm too, so we gave him medicine and put both kids to bed. They slept pretty good actually!

Saturday: David got up with the kids and took them to Wal-Mart. I slept until 10 and it was heavenly! They got home shortly after I got up. Aubrey was supposed to go to a birthday party that afternoon, but since she had fever the night before, we had to skip :( I was sad for Aubrey because I know she would have had fun, but I hadn't mentioned it to her in advance, so thankfully there was no disappointment. We laid low and hung out at home all day. We ate lunch at home and then put the kids down for naps. Jude went down easily (whoo!), but he slept very restlessly and kept waking up. I went to Smoothie King and got a smoothie while the kids napped, and David worked on painting a table for Alaina's room that we had started a few weeks ago. When Aubrey and Jude got up, we hung out at home some more. I made a meal plan and a grocery list, and then I took a shower and went to Kroger. When I got home, we unloaded the groceries, and then I cooked breakfast for dinner. It was good! The kids ate fairly well, and then we played until bedtime. Jude had trouble going to sleep :( We had to rock him several times before he actually went to sleep. David and I discussed which one of us would go to church the next morning, and then we went to bed.

Aubrey identifies her body parts

2012-01-19T11:29:00.002-06:00

By David Howie

I was going through some old files this morning and found a folder of random videos taken when Aubrey was about 20 months old. I was pestering her to say all the words she knows and to identify body parts. Super cute (I mean pretty).

Strong Preferences

2012-01-18T15:20:00.002-06:00

by David Howie

Aubrey has some strong preferences. A couple of the more amusing.

For some time now, she has not liked the term "cute". If you say anything about her looking cute or saying something cute or doing something cute, she immediately says "No, pretty!" in a kind of exasperated tone. We've had to retrain ourselves to use the word pretty instead of cute. Finally we asked her about that, and it turns out that she thinks the word 'cute' is only for babies and she's not a baby.

Aubrey has gotten to where she only eats with a spoon. I don't even know how this started. At home we just automatically get her a spoon out of the drawer. But at restaurants you almost always get a knife and a fork (I had never noticed before, but think about it). Of course we don't usually think about it ahead of time, so after the food comes Aubrey demands a spoon and we have to ask the waitress to bring us a spoon. Aubrey won't eat until she gets the spoon.

This morning, Aubrey was up before I left for work. She came in to my room where I was getting ready to leave, and was loving on me. She was telling me how much she loved me and would miss me while I was at work. Very sweet. I said, "I'm so thankful that God gave you to me to be my daughter." She said right back, "I'm so thankful that Dee Dee gave me those princess dressup clothes." She helps me remember my place.

31 Weeks

2012-01-17T21:01:00.000-06:00

I have officially entered the stage where people feel like it's ok to comment on my size. If I hear someone say that I've really "blossomed" one more time.... hahah! I try not to let it get to me too much, because I know they aren't trying to be mean. But what I want to say is, "You don't have to tell me I'm big! Trust me when I say that I am well aware of that fact. I am the one lugging around the excess weight after all." ;)

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 31 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 16 inches and over 3 pounds -- about the size of a squash!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I think I'm right on track to gain the same amount of weight this pregnancy as I did with my other two. In other words -- a lot ;)
Maternity Clothes: Yes! I would love some new options, but I'm really going to try to make it 9 more weeks with the things I already have.
Movement: Lots of it! She's been moving around all up in my rib cage lately. I think she's running out of room!
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: I am still sleeping well, but Jude hasn't been. Which means my sleep has been interrupted. And we've been starting our days a little early for my taste.
What I miss: Not thinking about everything I eat and how it's probably going to cause me to gain 10 pounds.
Cravings: I haven't had any cravings, but I've been wanting to drink a lot of water. Yay for something good! I have been doing better about not eating so many sweets. Until tonight when I got a huge sweet tooth and definitely drove through Dairy Queen after I put Jude to bed ;)
Symptoms: Heartburn, getting winded easily, pelvic bone pain, swelling ankles if I stand/walk a lot.
Best Moment This Week: Getting to spend time with Ashley and Sarah Denley over the weekend and talking about life and parenting and growing families and everything under the sun :)
What I Am Looking Forward To: I'm kind of getting to the point where I'm just looking forward to her being here. I say "kind of" because I know what's coming and I know that newborns are a lot of work! Haha! Of course, I'm completely excited about her birth and arrival, but I'm still enjoying my sleep and the normalcy of life right now that I know will change when she gets here. I'm not to the point where I'm just completely over being pregnant, but I can see that coming on the horizon.

Week in Review: Reunited and it feels so good!

2012-01-16T21:09:00.001-06:00

We had a really fun week! It was pretty low-key, and we probably spent more time at home than we usually do, but we had enough going on to keep us from going stir-crazy :) The big highlight of the week was that Ashley was in town for the weekend! I had been looking forward to seeing her for a long time, and our time together did not disappoint. We had so much fun, and it was wonderful to get that girl time!

Sunday: Jude was still recovering from pink eye, so David stayed home from church with him. We had nursery that morning, so Aubrey and I went to church without our boys. I was in the baby room, and it was fine but a bit chaotic ;) After church, I went to Sunday School. We were supposed to have lunch with David's parents after church, and we were worried we would have to cancel after Jude got pink eye. His eye looked a ton better already, and the doctor said he could be around people as long as he didn't touch anyone. So, lunch was still on :) Aubrey and I met David and Jude at the Fairview where we were eating lunch. Unfortunately, Jude's other eye had started looking pink while we were at church. David and I put medicine in both of his eyes in the parking lot and went in to lunch. It was SO good! I love the Fairview! David's parents had invited a young couple from their church, and it was fun getting to know them a little bit. Jude threw most of his food on the floor, though. Mealtimes are so fun these days. We came home after lunch, and Jude didn't nap because he had fallen asleep in the car on the way to lunch. Ughh. I took a nap, and then David and Aubrey went to church that evening. Jude and I made a Newk's run to get some dinner. He fell asleep in the car on the way there, and I got him out, carried him in, paid for my food, put him back in his carseat, drove home, and unloaded him all without waking him up. Baby boy was TIRED! I did wake him up to eat dinner when we got inside. We ate and then he sat in my lap most of the evening and we looked at books. It was sweet having that one-on-one time with him :) David and Aubrey got home, and David helped me put medicine in Jude's eyes before I put him to bed. David put Aubrey to bed, and then we talked a little and I got on the internet and then went to bed.

Monday: I was up bright and early for a doctor's appointment. My appointment was at 8:30, so David just stayed with the kids. I was hoping it would be quick. Both kids were still asleep when I left home, and I was wishing I was still sleeping too. Haha! My appointment went well, but it wasn't quick. It was 10:00 before I got out of there. Oh well, I was just glad to get a good report! I headed home so that David could get to work. Jude's eyes were much better, so we were going to have lunch with SD and kids. I got Aubrey and Jude ready, and we went to Newk's. (I got something different than the night before -- haha.) We had a fun lunch, but Jude got fussy, so I had to get him out of the highchair. Then he knocked a cup of water on poor Ann Peyton. He also threw a butter knife towards her later. I knew it was time to head home after that. When we got home, it was naptime for both kids. I put some white chili in the crockpot for dinner, and then Jude woke up. Jude had taken a decent nap, but it was still pretty early afternoon. I gave the children their snacks, and then we played. I wanted to get out of the house, so we went walking up and down our street a couple of times. Jude had been really fussy inside, but he was perfectly happy in his stroller outside. I let Aubrey walk, and she did great with staying close to me on the sidewalk. After we had walked for a while, we came back inside, and it was getting close to dinnertime. We killed a little time, and then we ate. Dinner was stressful. Jude wouldn't even taste the chili, and Aubrey took maybe one bite and wouldn't eat anymore. I don't even know why I bother cooking sometimes. I told Aubrey that the chili was what we were having for dinner, and she could choose to eat it or eat nothing. So chose nothing. Lovely. I was just kind of stressed and frustrated the rest of the evening, and Jude was fussy. I watched Wheel of Fortune, and then I bathed the kids. They had fun for a while, but then they were just irritating each other and screaming. I was so ready for bedtime. Haha! I got them out of the tub and put Jude to bed, and then David was home. Aubrey had decided by then that she was starving, so we told her she could eat her chili that she didn't eat for dinner, and she did! She ended up eating a big bowl and loving it. I wish she would have just done that in the fist place, but I was happy that she ended up eating. David put her to bed, and I enjoyed the peace and quiet until bed.

Tuesday: Jude ended up having a really rough night. He was up a lot, and at one point when I was in his room, I thought he sounded congested. I figured he had caught a cold in the doctor's office a few days earlier and that he would be sick when he woke up on Tuesday. So when my alarm went off for Bible Study and both kids were still asleep, I just turned it off and went back to sleep. Jude woke up about 30 minutes later, and he was perfectly fine. No sign of a runny nose and in a good mood. I don't know WHAT in the WORLD caused that awful night. Maybe teething. It was too late to get ready for Bible Study, though, and I was bummed to be missing for no reason. It was a cold rainy day, so we just stayed inside all day. I have to watch Jude super closely these days because he climbs the bench at the foot of our bed and then he climbs onto the bed and gets down. Rinse and repeat.

The kids played that morning and I got some housework done. We ate lunch at home, and then I took a shower and put the kids down for naps. I was so tired and took a nap myself. Aubrey called me up to her room a lot, though, so my nap was interrupted several times. When they got up, I put on makeup and got ready. David came home that afternoon, and I cooked some pasta pesto for them to eat for dinner, and I left to go to Bunco. My mom and I met and rode together. We had a lot of fun! I was tied for most Buncos and Most Games. We had a roll-off, and I lost both! So, no prizes for me :( But it was really nice to be out of the house having adult conversations :) I talked to David when I got home. He had a good night with the kids. We went to bed fairly early.

Wednesday: Jude was up early that morning, so we got up and ate breakfast and played until Aubrey got up. Then she ate breakfast, and we played some more. We had a very low-key morning. I gave both kids baths and took a shower myself. Then I got ready and we ate lunch. The kids went down for their naps after that. Jude took a while to go to sleep, but he finally did. Aubrey called me up to her room a lot again. I finally had a talk with her and told her that she could only call me up to her room if she was hurt or needed to potty (she doesn't have access to her bathroom in her room because I don't feel comfortable with that). I told her that if she called me up there for other reasons, she was going to have to start taking naps again. I explained that this was Mommy's rest time too, and going up and down the stairs 12 times wasn't exactly restful. Ha! She said she understood, and she's done a lot better since then. Between all the trips upstairs, I watched some TV and finished getting ready. I got Aubrey up and got her dressed, and then I had to wake Jude up and get him dressed. We loaded up and headed to church. Tutoring went well. After it was over, the kids played, and I talked to David about our days. We ate dinner at church. David had a mission's meeting, but since I'm not teaching right now, I didn't really have anything to do. I was going to get the kids out of the nursery and go home early, but Aubrey had been excited about going to play in the nursery, so I took David's car home and left the kids at church, and David brought them home after his meeting. It was nice to have a little while at home by myself! I vacuumed and then rested :) I did realize I had left my phone at church. Bummer! I couldn't even call David to ask him to get it for me without my phone though. When David and the kids got home, we put them to bed, and then David and I talked some more, and he went to bed early. I stayed up for a while longer and did some things on the internet, and then I went to bed too.

Thursday: David went to church that morning and found my phone for me. He emailed me to let me know he had it, so the kids and I got ready after we got up and went to David's office to get it. I didn't want to be without my phone all day. We stayed and visited with David and Mary Jane (his co-worker) for a while, and then we left so that they could work ;) The kids weren't happy about leaving. They love visiting Daddy at work! It was lunchtime, so I told Aubrey we could drive through Chick-Fil-A, but she asked if we could eat inside. I told her we could eat inside, but we weren't going to play because it was close to Jude's naptime. She was fine with that, so we ate inside! I made the mistake of ordering the new grilled nuggets for Jude, and he wouldn't eat them. I should have known that boy wouldn't eat a grilled nugget! After our lunch, we came home for naps. Jude had a terrible time going to sleep. He cried for a long time, and I finally had to go in and rock him to sleep. He took a pretty good nap once he was finally asleep. After it had been a while, I went in to get Aubrey, and she was asleep on her floor. Ha! I woke her up when Jude woke up, and we went to Target. We browsed around and killed some time and got a few things. When we got home, I started working on dinner. Little Princess :)

We had beef and vegetable stir-fry, and we ate pretty much as soon as David got home. We gave the kids baths after dinner, and then we put them to bed. David went to bed pretty early again, and I stayed up for a while and then went to bed.

Friday: Jude woke up at 6:30. Ugh! I gave him his paci and he was quiet until 7, but I was up for the day at 6:30. When I tried to feed Jude his yogurt for breakfast, he had a random HUGE meltdown. He literally cried for 30 minutes, and I had NO idea what the problem was. He eventually calmed down, but he wouldn't eat his yogurt when I offered it to him. I finally figured out that he was mad because he wanted to feed the yogurt to himself. Oh my. He was just in a funk, and I was worn out by 8 AM. Ha! He really perked up when Aubrey woke up, so that was a relief. We played at home all morning. I did some laundry and straightening up. I also cooked a dessert for a family who just had a baby. We were taking them food that night, so I put some food in the crockpot for them. The kids and I ate a frozen pizza for lunch. Yum yum. Jude had a hard time going down for his nap again. I was so tired and really wanted to take a nap myself, so I ended up rocking him to sleep again. Whatever it takes to get a nap! ;) Aubrey played really quietly, so I was able to get a good nap. She called me up to her room after it had been about 2 hours, and I was going to get her up, but I wanted to pick a few things up downstairs, so I told her I would be back in just a minute. She was totally fine with that, so I went back up to her room about 10 minutes later, and she was asleep! Haha. I let her sleep, and I got a few things done. I was so excited because Ashley was in town, and she and SD and I were having a girls' night! I got ready for that, and then David got home. Since I had plans, he was going to deliver the meal to the family for me. I got everything packed up, and he woke Aubrey up. They left fist to go deliver the food, and then they were having dinner with David's parents. I finished getting my stuff together, and then I picked up SD and we went to the hotel where Ashley was staying. We walked in the door and started talking immediately. Haha! We sat around talking for a while, and then we left to go eat dinner. We went to Bon Ami, and it was delish! We stayed at the restaurant for a long time talking about everything under the sun :) On the way back to the hotel, we made a Sonic stop, and then we we ready for a night of catching up on life. Sarah Denley and I were spending the night at the hotel with Ashley. SD had to run home to feed Graves, but when she got back, we stay up LATE talking. It was SO GOOD to have that time to catch up! We don't get a lot of time with Ashley these days, but the time we do have together is always so wonderful that I feel like our friendship is still really strong. So fun! We finally called it a night and went to sleep at around 3:30 AM (I think).

Saturday: Sarah Denley had to leave the hotel really early that morning to get home to her kids, but Ashley and I slept in. When we got up, we got ready, and then we left the hotel and went our separate ways. I went to a few stores on the way home and got a birthday gift for a party we were going to that afternoon, and then I headed home to see my family. They were eating lunch when I got home, and I was happy to see them :) David and I talked while the kids finished eating, and then he bathed them. I put Jude down for his nap, and he went down without a peep. Aubrey played really well in her room, too. David worked on getting some of the Christmas decorations put away. (They've been down for a while, but they've just been kind of piled in the dining room.) I made a meal plan and a grocery list for the coming week. I was feeling pretty sleepy after my late night, but I didn't really have time for a nap. I ironed the kids' clothes for the birthday party, and then we got Aubrey up and dressed. We ended up having to wake Jude up. Once we were all ready, we headed to Carver's 2nd birthday party! It was at the Arant's house, and it was SO cute! Jude wasn't so sure about the hat, but he did keep it on for a little while. His face cracks me up. Ha! Aubrey and Jude immediately wanted to go play outside, and they had a blast :) David and I had fun too, and we stayed until around 5. We came back home to get my grocery list, and then we went to dinner. We ate at a BBQ place, and it was really good! We went to Kroger on our way home. We put the groceries away and the kids to bed when we got home. I got on the internet for a little while, and David watched football. I didn't last long though -- I ended up going to be at around 9:45. Staying up until 3:30 is rough when you're 8 months pregnant! Haha!

New Look!

2012-01-12T09:04:00.002-06:00

Once again, I have to thank my sweet blog friend, Katie, for giving my blog a makeover! I love the new look!! :) As much as I loved my Christmas design, it was past time for that to come down.

And speaking of Christmas coming down, I took my Christmas decorations down a few weeks ago and completely forgot to take pictures of everything before it came down. Pregnancy brain? Haha! So, I won't be posting pictures after all. It's ok though, because my house really didn't look much different than it did last year. Really the only thing I did differently was to incorporate some antlers into my decorations. I DO wish I had taken pictures of that because I know it sounds really country, but I really liked it! I wanted to go a little bit more "rustic Christmas" this year, and I love that look (in general and for Christmas). I want to play that look up even more next year, and I'll definitely [try to] take pictures! :)

30 Weeks

2012-01-09T22:59:00.000-06:00

Yay, 30 weeks! I can't believe I'm 3/4 of the way through this pregnancy! It's flown by so far -- let's hope the next 10 weeks don't drag :)

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 30 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 16 inches and around 3 pounds -- about the size of a squash!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well...... I went to the doctor today, and the weight gain is on up there ;) My doctor said she was "cutting everyone some slack" since we just got through the holidays. Haha! She did say to just eat healthy and try to be active. Honestly, I'm not too worried about the weight gain. I think this is just clearly how my body does pregnancy, and I have lost the weight twice before, and Lord willing, I'll do it again :) If gaining a lot of weight is my worst pregnancy "side effect" I think I'm pretty blessed!
Maternity Clothes: Yep! I'm outgrowing all of my pajama t-shirts, too. I'm about to have to raid David's! Ha!
Movement: I think this sweet girl is trying to bust right out of the womb with all the hard kicking she's doing! ;) She must hear her brother and sister, and she wants to join in on the fun!
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: I have slept great the past few nights. I'm talking deep, hard sleep. One night, Aubrey woke up and had had an accident in her bed. David left our room and went to take care of that, and he was apparently in and out of our room a few times getting some sheets, and I never knew about any of that. Crazy! It's nice though, because I haven't been taking as many naps since I've been sleeping better.
What I miss: Being able to walk up and down the stairs without getting crazy winded.
Cravings: Anything sweet! Hence the weight issue :) I'm determined to do better, though. I just need a dessert detox, and then I don't think I'll crave them as much. Once I start eating sweets, I want them ALL the time. If I can just stay away entirely, though, it's no big deal. I need some self-control! And I need to stay off Pinterest at night.... that always makes me want to go whip something up!
Symptoms: Heartburn, getting winded easily, pelvic bone pain.... I think that about covers it!
Best Moment This Week: Getting a good report at the doctor today. My blood pressure was great, which is always such a relief and an answer to prayer. My belly was measuring right at 30 weeks. Alaina had a strong heartbeat. And I'm now going to the doctor every 2 weeks! We're officially in the home stretch!
What I Am Looking Forward To: We've made a lot of progress in the nursery now that Jude is in his new room. All we have left to do is some organizing and adding some girlie accessories :) I'm excited about getting that done!

Week in Review: Back in the Groove

2012-01-08T22:03:00.001-06:00

We had a good week! David went back to work and getting back into our regular routine wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. Actually, it was kind of nice to have life return to normal. For some reason, I took NO pictures this week, though! Well, we did take a few pictures of Jude's room, but I'm not quite ready to post those yet :)

Sunday: When we got up, we started getting ready for church. I put some vegetable soup in the crockpot for lunch. We got the kids ready and then headed to church. Aubrey asked to go into the sanctuary with us, so we let her go and took her to the nursery when the kids were dismissed to children's church. She did great! We had Sunday School after church, and then we came home and ate lunch. I had been SO sleepy all morning and really enjoyed my Sunday nap! ;) We went back to church that night, and we had a prayer service. I thought it was great. No better way to welcome a new year than with your church family in prayer! After church, David and the kids and I went to Jason's Deli for dinner. Except it was closed for New Year's. So then we tried Penn's, and it was closed too. We finally ended up at OEC. We had a pretty good dinner except for Jude being picky and hard to feed as usual. We put the kids to bed when we got home, and then had a low-key night until we went to bed too.

Monday: David didn't have to work since this was the day New Year's was being observed. I was so happy to have one more day to get Jude's room finished up before David had to go back to work! He took the kids to Lowe's that morning, and I prepped some chicken for dinner that night and later in the week, and then I started painting in Jude's room. There wasn't a ton left to do, but it was all cutting in which takes a while. When David and Aubrey and Jude got home, I took a break and we ate lunch. When it was time for the kids' naps, David and I were both able to work. We got a lot accomplished and finally said it was done! There are a few places that might need to be touched up, but it looks good! I came downstairs and took a shower and cooked dinner. We ate and then David got the Christmas stuff out of the attic so that I could take our decorations down at some point. We also hung some stuff in Aubrey's room. We put the kids to bed, and David and I went to bed fairly early too.

Tuesday: David went back to work that morning after 11 days at home :( The kids gave me a wonderful surprise by sleeping late though! We didn't get up until 8:30 -- so nice!! We started getting ready to meet SD and her kids for lunch after breakfast. I put the kids in the bathtub, and I ended up letting them stay in too long, and we were running late. Oops! We went to Beagle Bagel and had a really fun lunch. Once again, we made a bathroom stop on the way out. Big ordeal. We were in there forever. Everyone had to go to the bathroom (some more than once -- haha), Aubrey had a meltdown when AP didn't want to constantly hold her hand (Aubrey insisted that AP was "being mean" by not holding her hand -- we're now working on hand holding etiquette), and Ann Peyton ended up all up close and personal with the commode. Ha! SD and I were both sweating and hoping that no one outside the bathroom could hear everything that was going on. It was crazy, crazy and stressful at the time but hilarious after the fact :) Jude fell asleep on the way home, and I was able to transfer him to his bed. During naptime, I put some chili in the crockpot and watched some TV. David got home a little early (gotta love a canceled appointment) and we got Aubrey up after he got home. When Jude woke up, David played with the kids while I started taking down our Christmas stuff. That's one of my least favorite things to do! I got all the decorations off of one tree, and then we ate dinner. After we ate, I took more stuff down and David took some stuff up to the attic. We put the kids to bed, and I got on the internet while David took our big tree down. Everything seemed so bare, but it was kind of a relief to get the tree down. Jude was really into taking ornaments off of it this year, and I was glad to not have to constantly be monitoring that situation anymore :) We got things semi put back together and went to bed.

Wednesday: Jude was up at 7 that morning. I don't understand why he's so inconsistent. He goes to bed at the same time every night, and some mornings he's up and at 'em at 7 and others, he sleeps till 8:30 (although that's rare). Whatevs. We got up and ate breakfast, and then Aubrey got up at 7:30. David left to go to work, and the kids and I hung out at home all morning. I put a movie on for Aubrey so that I could get some stuff done. I swept and vacuumed up all the Christmas glitter. I also worked on putting our regular decorative items back in their places and rearranged a few little things. I took a shower, and then we ate lunch. Right after lunch, I put Jude down for his nap. I put Aubrey in her room, too, and she called me up there a lot that day. I got dressed and ready for tutoring and did some reading before I got the kids up. I also ironed their clothes. I got them dressed, and then we left to go to church for tutoring. It had been a while since we had had tutoring, and it went well that day (it all depends on which child you get -- haha). I got the kids from the nursery after it was over, and then David got there. He took the kids to play in a room at church, and I went to Target. We desperately needed paper towels and napkins, and there were no diapers in Jude's diaper bag, so I got some of those too. When I got back to church, it was time for dinner. We had pizza that night, and then a girl from our church gave a report on a mission trip that she had gone on to Africa. It was so interesting! Aubrey went to the nursery after that. My dad was playing with Jude, and I went to find him to take him to the nursery, too, but I got to talking and never took Jude to the nursery. It worked out fine because we were able to pick Aubrey up and leave a little early. I'm not teaching the 4 & 5 year olds this semester, so it's nice to have a little break. When we got home, we put the kids to bed, and I got on the internet until bed.

Thursday: The kids and I ended up having a really nice day. We didn't have any big plans, but I decided we would run a few errands that morning. We got ready and went to Hobby Lobby and Ross. By the time we finished there, it was pushing lunchtime, so we came back home. We all ate, and then I put them down for their naps. Aubrey called me up to her room so many times (I finally had to tell her that I was NOT coming back up there until it was time for her to get up), so naptime wasn't very restful for me, but it was ok. When Jude woke up, it was still early afternoon, so I decided to take the kids to the park. We have a really small park near our house that's never crowded, so we went there. Aubrey was SO excited, and we had gotten out of the car and were walking in the parking lot when she tripped and fell. She scraped both of her hands, and she was hysterical. Poor girl! She was just wailing and so upset. I tried to comfort her and asked her if she wanted to go home. She said she didn't, but her hands hurt so bad, and she said she was NEVER going to be able to quit crying. I finally asked her if she wanted to go home and get bandaids, and she said she did as long as we could come back. So, that's what we did! Of course, as soon as I put Jude in the car, he started wailing because he had seen the park and didn't want to leave. They both cried the whole way home :( I got Aubrey's hands cleaned and put some medicine and bandaids on them, and she was fine and ready to go back. We were a little more successful round 2 ;) The kids had so much fun swinging and sliding, and I enjoyed watching them and getting some fresh air. The weather was warm and just so nice! We played until Aubrey saw some ants and decided that she was ready to go. Haha! We went to Target on the way home -- yes, I went twice in two days! When we got home, it was time for me to start dinner, so I gave the kids a snack and cooked some oven baked fajitas (which was a super easy and pretty good recipe if you're looking for a quick weeknight dinner). When David got home, we ate dinner and told him about our day. We gave the kids a bath after we ate, and they played in there for a long time and David and I talked. I put Jude to bed and David put Aubrey to bed, and then I watched some TV and straightened up a little bit before bed.

Friday: I decided we needed a day at home to try to get some stuff done. We ate breakfast and the kids played while I worked around the house. I dusted and tried to organize stuff on the shelves on our TV cabinet. We didn't have any food at home, so we loaded up and drove through Chick-Fil-A for lunch. We ate and took naps when we got home. I did more cleaning around the house, and then I laid on the couch and took a short nap before getting Aubrey and Jude up. We watched some Food Network and the kids ate a snack. Then David was home! When he got here, we went upstairs and took Jude's bed apart and moved it to his new room and put it back together. So exciting to get him moved! We then went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. When we got home, we got the kids ready for bed. I was kind of nervous about how Jude would do in a new room, but I thought he would probably sleep fine. Well, I was wrong. He woke up multiple times before David and I even went to bed. When we would go to his room, he would lay right down and go to sleep, but it's like he just couldn't stay asleep. We weren't sure if it was because of the new environment or if it was something else and just a coincidence. David and I went to bed fairly early because we knew we were probably in for a long night. I told David that we should just take turns going up to his room when he cried all night, so that we could hopefully both get a little sleep.

Saturday: David had gone up to check on Jude at some point, and I woke up at 4am and he was still gone. I went in search of him and he was sleeping on the couch! David said he didn't see any point in both of us waking up all night, so he just decided to sleep on the couch and let me sleep. That's a SWEET husband right there!! I felt awful that he slept on the couch, though! (Although our couch is pretty comfy.) David said Jude woke up a good bit in the early night and slept better later in the night. The next morning when we were all up, Jude seemed ok, but you could tell he was tired. We did some work around the house that morning. David cut some foam for Aubrey's window seat cushions. We fed the kids lunch, and then we put Jude down for a nap. I was nervous about how he would do after that awful night, but he slept GREAT and for a long time. Aubrey had her rest time, and David and I worked more around the house. I rubbed some tea stain on the baby's crib to make it a little more cream instead of white. Then I started painting a table for her room. David got Aubrey up because she had been in her room for quite a while. David took over painting the table, and I was just about to get in the shower when Jude woke up. I went to get him, and his eye was swollen almost shut and it was all yucky. I thought it was probably pink eye, so I called the After Hours Clinic. David took over with Jude and I jumped in the shower. My mom and grandmother came over, and I gave my grandmother a bunch of fabric and "projects." (Window seat cushions for Aubrey's room, changing up the window treatments for Alaina's room, pillows for Aubrey's room.) The nurse called back and asked if we could bring Jude in in 30 minutes. I had just gotten out of the shower and had wet hair and no makeup, so David threw on some clothes and I got Jude dressed, and David took him. My mom and grandmother stayed and visited with Aubrey and me for a while, and then they left and I waited for David to call with the verdict on Jude. It was pink eye! So David got Jude's medicine on the way home, and we ate dinner at home. We put the medicine in Jude's eye twice that night, and it seemed to help pretty quickly. I went to the grocery store, and David and the kids stayed home. When I got back, we unloaded the groceries, and I put Jude to bed. I don't know if he had such a rough night the night before because he was getting sick (does pink eye even make you feel bad, though?), but he slept MUCH better that night. Praise the Lord! David put Aubrey to bed, and he watched football while I was on the internet. We went to bed fairly early (for us).

Ages and Stages

2012-01-05T21:03:00.001-06:00

As Jude approaches 18 months, we've come to what I consider to be a very challenging stage. Jude has always been my "easy" baby. Now, he definitely had his challenges. He was NOT a good sleeper, and he didn't really sleep through the night consistently until he was close to a year old. It's still not totally uncommon for him to wake up in the night, but it's not the norm anymore. Thank God! As far as personality goes, though, Jude was/is my laid back, fairly easy to please child, whereas Aubrey has always been a bit more high-strung and strong-willed. I'm not saying one personality is better or preferable over the the other at all! I honestly love seeing the differences between Aubrey and Jude's personalities. Analyzing personalities kind of fascinates me, and it is SO interesting to me to see two children with the same parents and the same environment turn out completely differently. Anyway, all that to say, when I refer to Jude as an "easier" child, I don't at all mean "better" child or more delightful or anything negative toward Aubrey. I think every personality type has potential for great strengths and great weaknesses. I'm pretty sure that disclaimer wasn't necessary, but I felt the need to put it out there. Haha!

So, yes, Jude has always been the easier child. Until recently. We are in a difficult stage right now. He's at the age where he has strong preferences, but he has trouble communicating. He's saying more and more words everyday, but sometimes I just don't pick up on what he's trying to tell me. I know he's saying more words than I'm catching, and this frustrates him greatly. The other day, he was looking at a Spot book. He kept saying what I thought was "Daddy." I would respond by saying, "Yeah, Daddy will be home later!" Jude just kept repeating and pointing, though, and I finally realized he was pointing to Spot and saying "doggie." When I finally got it, he was super happy and moved on. I know those kinds of things happen often, and I hate that for him, because I know that would be annoying. But it leads to meltdowns and great drama.

Another funny thing is how differently Aubrey and Jude respond to being told no. It didn't/doesn't really phase Aubrey. Meaning she doesn't cry or get her feelings hurt. She's not what I would consider a sensitive child and rarely cries even when she gets in trouble for something. Jude, on the other hand, hates to be told no. I think it does hurt his feeling, and I think it also ticks him off. It's kind of sad, because when I tell him no, he usually sticks his bottom lip out, his chin quivers, and sometimes he even cries. The most common reaction when I tell him no, though, is that he wants to throw something. Usually his pacifier if it's accessible. It's not really funny, but sometimes it's hard not to laugh, because I think Jude believes he's really sticking it to me by chunking his paci across the room. Another thing he'll do is pull hair or bite. We're really trying to nip that in the bud, because we definitely don't want a biter. I think a lot of it is that it hurts his feelings when we say no, and he gets sort of aggressive about it? I don't know, but it's just a new experience for us, and we're trying to love him and be patient through it all but also handle it in a manner that lets him know that's not acceptable behavior.

I would consider this phase the "test the boundaries/meltdown/learn the rules" stage, and it's just trying. Aubrey went through a similar stage, but her's just looked a little different since their personalities are different. I think the best thing we can do is to just be really consistent with Jude. On one hand, I LOVE this stage because there's so much rapid development going on. He's saying new words everyday and copying things that he sees us doing and understanding so much of what we're saying. It's fun and exciting to watch that light bulb go off in his little head. On the other hand, it's such a hard stage because he can't understand why I won't let play with fingernail polish, and it breaks his heart that I just took it away and he's going to let me know that it broke his heart. Loudly. Like I said, we're trying to handle these situations in the best way possible and in a way that helps Jude see his need for Christ even as young as he is. We're still young parents, though, and we're learning right along with Jude!

There's really no point to this post other than to document a stage that we're in right now. I hope it doesn't come across like I'm complaining. I love and enjoy Jude so much, and, even when he's throwing a huge fit, I'm so glad that I'm his mother. However, I do kind of look forward to bedtime these days. Haha! :)

29 Weeks

2012-01-04T09:18:00.000-06:00

If I get much later with these posts, I'm going to be a week behind my actual pregnancy. My official rollover day is Saturday (or Sunday... I can't remember), so I need to stay more on top of this! ;)

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 29 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 15.2 inches and around 2.5 pounds -- about the size of an eggplant!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Oh, I haven't weighed since my last doctor's appointment, but it's not going to be pretty when I do. I'm kind of dreading my next appointment for that reason. I need to get back on the treadmill!
Maternity Clothes: Yes, I wear maternity clothes. Yes, I'm tired of them. Yes, I'm starting to outgrow some of them. I'm kind of running out of new things to say here every week. Haha.
Movement: A few times lately, she's kicked me so hard it's been painful. I still love feeling so much movement though! I think she's by far my most active baby in utero, so maybe she'll be super mellow when she's born? One can hope! ;)
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: I'm still having some trouble getting comfortable, but I slept better this past week than the week before. It was SO nice having David home because I got to sleep a little later, and I was able to make it through the day without feeling like I needed a nap. I could get used to that!
What I miss: My regular clothes :)
Cravings: I haven't had any cravings, but I've wanted to snack at night. And preferably on something sweet. Not good. Also, I've wanted things other than water to drink. I'm usually a big water drinker, especially at home, but I've been wanting coke and sweet tea and hot chocolate lately.
Symptoms: A lot of heartburn recently. And a few nights last week after standing most of the day working on Jude's room, my ankles were swollen before I went to bed. Ughh, I was hoping to avoid that this time. I also get really winded easily. Good times! :)
Best Moment This Week: Starting and finishing Jude's room! Well, we finished the walls. We still have other things to do in there. We're going to move him in the next week or so, and that means we'll be able to get the nursery ready for Alaina! Thankfully, there are no huge projects to do in there.
What I Am Looking Forward To: I think I'm nesting, even though it seems kind of early for that. I'm looking forward to getting everything ready in the kids' rooms, and getting the kids' closets organized, and washing Alaina's little clothes :)

Year in Review: 2011

2012-01-02T18:13:00.002-06:00

This was a good year for our family. We didn't have anything too "big" happen (other than finding out we're adding another precious baby to our family!) but we had many, many good times and made wonderful memories!

New Year's Eve was quite eventful last year, and we spent a good chunk of it in the bathroom praying that a tornado didn't blow us away! Thankfully, we were all fine, but it was definitely a scare.

Thankfully, January wasn't quite as "exciting" as we thought it might be after such an entrance! ;) It did start off a little rocky with a stomach bug for Aubrey, but that was short-lived. We continued to adjust to life with two children, and I blogged about the joys and challenges six months in. I could definitely say then and I still say that the joys outweigh the challenges by a long shot! :)Jude continued to have trouble sleeping and napping, and that was wearing me down. We finally had to do some sleep training with him to help him sleep better, and I blogged about my thoughts on that. We did begin to see some improvement on the sleep front, which was a huge blessing. Jude also started solids that month!Aubrey was as cute as always, and we had some sweet conversations with her.

In late January, Sarah Denley and I (and Jude!) made a trip to Missouri to visit Ashley. We had a WONDERFUL visit and it was so great to catch up!Sadly, I returned home to a sick little girl, so February started off with breathing treatments. Being under the weather didn't stop Aubrey from talking and saying hilarious things, as usual! Jude was developing like crazy, but still having some sleep issues. I contemplated becoming an early riser, but I ended up deciding against it. Haha! My kids are still my alarm clock, but Jude is a bit of an early riser, so I'm not sleeping too late.

I celebrated Valentine's Day with my loves :)And I talked about Aubrey and Jude's sweet little relationship and how happy it made (and continues to make!) me.We got sick again, and this time it was David and me as well as Aubrey. We had the flu, and Aubrey had RSV on top of the flu! Oh my! Thankfully, the Lord protected Jude from that awful stuff.

In March, we finally moved Jude upstairs to his own room, and I blogged about our sleep situation. Aubrey turned two and a half, and David and I both recorded some things about our sweet girl :)We had some family fun outside jumping in puddles. That was such a fun afternoon/evening, and it's little times like that that often create the best memories, in my opinion.We did some home improvements, Aubrey made us laugh and smile, and she started to get the hang of potty training!We also had some unwelcome visitors in the form of snakes in our backyard! Eeek!!We had done some little projects, and I showed them off in early April. I also asked for some opinions and decided to paint the sideboard in my dining room. (That's STILL on my to-do list if you're wondering!) We got new curtains in our living room/kitchen, and I asked for advice from y'all once again :)Aubrey started to develop strong opinions on what she wanted to wear. Boy, that sure hasn't changed!

I did a little comparison with pictures of Aubrey and Jude, and the general consensus seemed to be that they do, in fact, look alike. I need to do that again!We had a wonderful Easter weekend, and we enjoyed celebrating Christ's resurrection.We took a wonderful trip to Rosemary Beach in late April/early May with our sweet friends, the Arants, and I blogged about our adventures day by day :)We celebrated Mother's Day, I reflected on our first family vacation, and Jude reached a big milestone: mobility!! Aubrey fully entered the "why?" stage, and answering all of her questions was/is a full time job! ;)I did another little update on our potty training adventures, and I'm still so amazed and thankful that Aubrey potty trained so easily! I know that probably won't be the case with all of my children!

Not every aspect of parenting her is easy, though, and I blogged about her strong-will the beginning of June. We are just praying that the Lord uses her strong personality mightily for His kingdom!

We did more projects around the house, and I finally posted pictures of Aubrey's dresser. I'm not kidding when I say there's always a project brewing in this house!Jude's birthday was coming up, so I took some pictures for his invitation. I got some cute outtakes, so of course I had to share some of them!I got a pretty drastic haircut, we had a VERY busy VBS week at church, and the kids and I took another trip to the beach. We had a wonderful week, but we missed David!That month, I also gave cloth diapers a try and decided that, as cool as they are, they just aren't for us. I'm totally at peace with that decision. Ha!

In early July, Sarah Denley (and Graves!) and I met Ashley in Memphis for some girl time! We had an excellent time talking half the night ;) While we were in Memphis, I also found and bought a big girl bed for Aubrey, and we prepared to make that transition with her.As we geared up for Jude's first birthday, we also got a big surprise in the form of two lines on a pregnancy test. It was a wonderful, welcome surprise! We kept it our little secret for a while, so there's no link for that one :)

I looked back at Jude's growth over the months, and we had a fun, sweet little party for him in celebration of his first birthday!After a fantastic year of nursing, I weaned Jude (my pregnancy had a lot to do with the timing -- I wasn't up for breastfeeding while pregnant). I also shared about our experiences transitioning Aubrey to her big girl bed, and showed some pictures of her room.I kicked the August blogging off with a post about how much Aubrey and Jude love and enjoy each other. Makes me so happy! Over a year after we started it, I finally shared pictures of Jude's nursery.David and I took Aubrey on a little date to the circus, and she loved it. In honor of Jude's 13 month "birthday" I did a post with 13 little things about him. We also started thinking about school options for Aubrey and ultimately decided to keep her home another year. I definitely think that was the right decision! David's sisters came for a visit, and Aubrey enjoyed her time with her cousins :) Jude suddenly became very picky, and I was at a loss as to what to feed him.We finished the month off with a crazy, not-so-great week. First, Jude attempted to eat a millipede which resulted in a call to poison control. Next, Aubrey fell off a chair and broke her collar bone. Finally, she came down with a terrible case of croup in the middle of the night, and we ended up in the ER. In the midst of all that craziness, we told our families that we were expecting baby #3!! Whew, what a week!

September was a little more calm, thankfully :) I shared the details of my pregnancy, and it was so nice to finally spill the beans.Our precious Aubrey turned three years old, and I wrote a letter to her for her birthday. We celebrated with a pink lemonade themed party and had so much fun! Aubrey reached a big milestone that month too, when she dropped her nap. We still love "rest time" though! That month, Aubrey talked and talked.... and talked! ;)

In October, Aubrey developed some strong preferences on whether she wanted the baby in my tummy to be a boy or a girl. David and I just prayed for a healthy baby! I did some fall decorating around our house, took Aubrey to another circus, and we celebrated David's birthday. We took the kids to the fair and enjoyed a fun family day.The big exciting event that month was finding out that baby #3 is healthy and that she's a girl!! Praise the Lord!!

Late in the month, we took a trip to St. Louis with the Herringtons to welcome the Lancasters home from Korea and meet Liam! :) We were able to fit in lots of fun while we were there, too!Halloween came at the end of the month, and we spent a fun night at church for our Fall Festival. In November, we announced our baby's name: Alaina Ruth!

We had a big vote in our state that month, and I blogged a little bit about that and about Spiritual Warfare. Jude turned 16 months on the 16th, and I blogged about his milestones. We also celebrated my birthday and Thanksgiving all in one week! On Thanksgiving Day, we attempted to get some family pictures for our Christmas card, and it was kind of a fail.December started off fairly low-key but quickly picked up when David and I had our five year anniversary and took a wonderful trip to Chattanooga to celebrate.We had a sweet, fun Christmas with our families, and we finished off the year feeling incredibly blessed and thankful!As we enter this new year, we can't wait to see what God has planned for us. We know that through it all, He will be with us, and we pray that He uses us to bring glory to Himself!

Week in Review: Work, Work, Work!

2012-01-01T23:18:00.001-06:00

David had this whole week off, and that was wonderful! We started working on Jude's room, which has been a huge project! I'm SO happy we've had time to just get that knocked out. I can't wait to post pictures soon when we get it a little more complete. We've gotten so spoiled having David home all week, though, and we're going to be so sad when he goes back to work on Tuesday! We also ate out just about every night this week, so when I return to cooking, it might be rough. Haha! By the way, I'm working on my Year in Review post, but those things take time, so it will be late. Surprise, surprise! ;)

Sunday: This was Christmas Day, and it was a wonderful day :) I blogged about it here.

Monday: Since we had to cancel our dinner party with David's family last week due to sickness, we had rescheduled it for Monday night. It actually worked out so well to host something the day after Christmas. Our house was a hot mess with Christmas gifts everywhere, so it forced us to find a home for everything more quickly than we otherwise would have :) We stayed home all day and worked on getting our house organized and cleaned. It was a really low-stress day, which was SO nice. Usually we (I) get crazy stressed and frantic when we're having company. Ha! Hopefully I'm getting better at it! It helped to have David's help all day! We got the house nice and clean, and the kids took good naps. (I mean Jude took a good nap, and Aubrey stayed in her room for a good amount of time.) I did run out to pick up some lunch and get something from the grocery store, but I was only gone a short time. I cooked ham, roasted broccoli, and scalloped potatoes for dinner. The Howie family arrived that evening, and we had a really fun time! Aubrey was so excited to take Caroline up to her room to play -- it was so cute! There were only a few spats, which I think is pretty good for 2 and 3 year olds playing somewhat unsupervised for a little while. Haha! We ate dinner and sat around talking for a long time. They left when it was time to get all the kids to bed. David and I got Aubrey and Jude to bed and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Tuesday: David got up with the kids, and I slept in a little. We all got ready and went to eat breakfast together. I love going to breakfast! After we ate, we went to Lowe's. We got paint for Jude's room, and we looked at the wood and decided what kind to get, but it was close to naptime and we didn't have time for them to cut it, so David said he would just go back and get the wood later. When we got home, we fed the kids a light lunch (since we had eaten a big, late breakfast) and put them in their rooms for nap. Aubrey called us up to her room MANY times to go to the bathroom. I was actually starting to wonder if she might have a bladder infection or something, but she's been fine ever since, so I don't know what was going on. David cleared out the guest room and got it ready to paint and racked the backyard, and I got on the internet for a while. I went to Target that afternoon to get a few things, and David stayed home with the kids. When I got home, we ate ham sandwiches with our leftover ham from the night before. Then the kids played until bedtime. We had an uneventful night, and David and I went to bed late.

Wednesday: We started our big project that day. I got up early when Jude woke up and let David sleep in. My mom was so sweet and offered to come over to play with the kids so that David and I could both work on Jude's room. She got here that morning, and David and I got to work! We were painting Jude's room two colors, so it took a little time. We did make good progress, but painting is just time consuming. My mom took the kids to go pick some lunch up for us, and Jude fell asleep in the car. That meant he didn't want to nap after lunch. That boy! He stayed in bed for a while, and then my mom got him up and took him down to play with Aubrey. Poor Jude is already being tormented by his sister!

David and I continued to paint. We painted until it was getting close to dinnertime, we were running low on paint, and I'm sure my mom was ready to get 0ut of here ;) I was T-I-R-E-D. I did want to get out of the house, though, so we got cleaned up and went to dinner at Corner Bakery. We stopped at a Red Box and got a movie on the way home. The thought of sitting and watching a movie that night was very appealing after painting all day! David and I put the kids to bed, and then we watched Hanna. That movie was just bizarre-O. We weren't fans. It was fun to sit together and watch a movie, even if the movie we picked kind of sucked. Haha! It was after midnight when the movie went off, so we went to bed.

Thursday: That morning, the kids and I got ready and went to look at fabric at Hancock's while David went to Lowe's for the boards for Jude's board and batten and more paint. We met my mom at the fabric store and looked around. I got a sample for Jude's window seat cushion. It was getting close to lunchtime, so we left to come home to eat. I was craving a BBQ sandwich, so I drove through Sonny's to get one. When we got home, I fed the kids lunch and ate my own food. David got home about that time, and he helped me get the kids down for their naps. David worked on some more painting, and I ran a few errands. I went to Hobby Lobby, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Ross. When I got home, I got on the internet for a little while, and then the kids woke up. That night, we went to get Mexican for dinner, and then we came back home. The kids played until bedtime, and then I blogged and killed some more time on the internet before going to bed late.

Friday: When I got up, I watched the kids downstairs while David went up to start nailing the boards to Jude's walls. I was so excited to get that ball rolling! The kids got a little antsy.... they didn't like knowing Daddy was upstairs and they couldn't go see him! We read books and colored with some new crayons Aubrey got for Christmas. I fed them lunch, and then my mom came over again! And she brought lunch for David and me! We ate, and then she played with the kids and I went upstairs to help David. I did some painting in Jude's bathroom while David nailed up boards. When it was naptime, he calked and I filled in nail holes. Jude woke up later that afternoon, and David started nailing again, and I started painting the boards. We worked long and hard once again. When my mom needed to get home, we got to a stopping point. I took a shower and then went to pick up some pizza for dinner. I felt like we should try the movie night again since the last movie wasn't a success ;) so I picked up another movie. We ate dinner when I got home, and then I bathed the kids while David did more work upstairs. I got them out of the tub when it was bedtime, and I put Jude to bed and David put Aubrey to bed. David's parents gave Aubrey this doll with matching pajamas for Christmas, and she looked so cute!
Aubrey was helping the baby walk :)

I baked some cookies, and we watched Crazy, Stupid, Love. We did like it better than Hanna. We went to bed way too late again.

Saturday: I slept in until David and the kids came in to wake me up, and then we all got ready and went to Lowe's and then the park. The weather was perfect, and the kids had a blast! It was so fun seeing them play. We drove through Chick Fil A on the way home, and then we ate lunch and I put Jude down for a nap. While he slept, I went to Hobby Lobby and got some stuff for a craft I was wanting to do that night. When I got home, David was working on Jude's room, and Aubrey was playing in her room. Jude woke up shortly after I got home, so I got both kids up and watched them while David worked. Jude earning his keep.

They got a little restless/bored, so David got to a stopping point and got cleaned up for dinner. We went to McAlister's for dinner and then to Kroger. I was so surprised that the grocery store was packed. I expected everyone but us to be at New Year's Eve parties! Haha. We stopped at Wal-Mart for me to get some pictures on the way home, and then we unloaded the groceries and put the kids to bed. We had the most low-key New Year's Eve in history, but it was actually nice. I worked on a craft and David watched Auburn's bowl game and worked in Jude's room some more. We weren't even planning on staying up until midnight, but we ended up being up past 12:30. We have got to start going to bed earlier!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T22:21:00.000-06:00

I've put this post off because, for some reason, going through tons of pictures and uploading my favorites, as well as trying to record all of the memories from Christmas just always seems daunting. But I'd like to get it done before everyone else is doing Valentine's Day posts, so here goes! ;)

Our Christmas celebrations always start on Christmas Eve at my grandparents' house. We've done Christmas with them on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, and I love the consistency and tradition of that day. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to make it this year since we had been sick the day before, but thankfully we were all feeling completely fine by Christmas Eve, so we went! Two of my loves in red :)

We had a delicious and huge homemade lunch cooked by my grandmother, and then it was present time! The kids got to open their presents from my grandparents and my parents. They wracked up!While we're on the subject of presents, I really wanted to keep it simple this year. I've just been convicted about how much stuff we have, and there is really nothing that we truly need. I think gifts can be a sweet and meaningful way for people to show love, so I'm not saying that giving presents is all bad. However, I just didn't want anyone buying anything for us just because they needed to mark us off a list. I'm SO guilty of doing that, and it just seemed so wasteful to me this year. I told my mom that if there was nothing that I needed and I couldn't even think of anything I REALLY wanted, that's a good sign that I have MORE than enough. So, anyway, we did gifts, but we scaled back. David and I literally got the kids three small gifts, and they were perfectly content with them. (Of course, it probably helped that they got a lot from other family members, too!) We didn't even get anything for each other (other than our anniversary trip we just took). We definitely don't "do" Christmas perfectly, but as our children get older, we want to try to prevent a lot of the materialism that we are all bombarded with this time of year (and all the time, really).

Ok, back to pictures now! :) It was definitely the year of the Disney Princess gift for Aubrey! Uncle Joel was super pumped about his new shirt! Ha!An action shot :)After we finished at my grandparents' house, we went to church for our Christmas Eve service. I love going to church on Christmas Eve! There is no nursery, and David had to sit in the balcony to do sound, so I wasn't sure how long the kids and I would last. My parents sat with us and handled Aubrey, and she did great. Jude did really well too! We made it through the sermon, but I had to take him out before communion. We came back in for the candle lighting and singing of Silent Night :) After church, we went to my other grandmother's house for more delicious food and family and gifts! It was so fun too, but Jude had about had it after such a long day, so we didn't get to stay long. We brought the kids home and put them in their Christmas jammies and attempted a picture. Ha! Here's how it went:This was the best one we got ;) Oh well, they looked super cute even if they weren't in the mood to pose! David and I don't "do" Santa with our kids, so we had decided not to even attempt gifts on Christmas morning. We knew that would just make things rushed and stressed, and we didn't want to get to church late and frazzled. It really changes routines up when Christmas falls on a Sunday, but it was nice to be at church on Christmas morning. I was thinking about how we are able to approach God in worship only because of what we celebrate on Christmas. Jesus came to earth and became our mediator. Because of Him, we are able to worship God without sacrifices or priests. It was a neat thought. I want to be so in awe of that fact that there is nothing that would keep me from going to church to worship God corporately on Christmas (or any Lord's Day). Not traditions, not routine, not even family. Anyway, we had no nursery at church again, so I had to take Jude out, but it was still so good to be there.

After church, we went to David's parents' house to celebrate with his family! The kids were excited to see their aunts and uncles and cousins who they don't get to see often.

Jude and Uncle Freddy.Aubrey and Caroline. (They are both BUSY girls, so I didn't get one of them looking at the camera.)Jude and Caroline sharing a toy :)Both looking at the camera! A Christmas miracle!
Next up were presents! The kids wracked up again. David's sisters, Sarah and Joy, got Aubrey a princess dress up set, and she loves it. She immediately had to put on the Belle (her favorite) outfit :) She's pretty much worn it constantly ever since. The princess is on her throne!

And she can't stand to wear "normal" clothes underneath. Everything (including hairbows and rubber bands) must come off!We attempted some pictures of David's parent with the grandkids. It started with just the boys :) Doesn't Jude look thrilled? Haha! Then we added Aubrey:And finally, one with all four! It's basically impossible to get four young children to look at the camera at the same time.After opening and checking out all of our loot, it was time for yet another wonderful meal :) We ate a great lunch, and then we visited while the kids played. We had to head home mid afternoon, because Jude was WAY past his naptime and exhausted. We had such a wonderful time with David's family!

When we got home, Jude and I napped, and then we had a very low-key relaxing evening at home. It was actually really nice to have some time with just our little family.Aubrey got her very own scarf for Christmas. She's always stealing mine! ;)

We gave the kids their gifts from us (after Aubrey had slipped back into her Belle costume). We got Aubrey some wooden pots and some food. She's very into "cooking" these days. She and Jude had tons of fun cooking together!You might notice Jude is wearing his Christmas pj's again. That's because we attempted to get a good picture of the kids in their pajamas again, but it was less successful than the first attempt. Oh well! We spent the rest of the evening just having family time and setting up some of the kids' new toys. I was a little sad that Christmas was coming to a close (I am every year), but I was mostly overwhelmed with how blessed I am. Sometimes I'm just overcome with how amazing it is that I've been given such precious, beautiful children, the best husband in the world, families who do so much for us, and most importantly, a Savior who humbled Himself so much by becoming a baby and being born in a stable so long ago. My cup runneth over!

28 Weeks

2011-12-27T22:28:00.000-06:00

Ughh, awful awful picture. I let my hair air dry today, I'm wearing minimal makeup, I have on glasses, and we took this picture at 1o PM. I really didn't stand a chance for looking presentable. I'm just ready to get this posted though, so I'm putting my vanity aside ;)

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 28 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 14.8 inches and around 2.2 pounds -- about the size of an eggplant!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Don't know, don't care at this point. Ha! That's not totally true, but I know I'm at the chubby stage, and that's just a fact I've accepted.
Maternity Clothes: Oh yes, same ole, same ole ;)
Movement: About the same. Lots of belly rolls, especially at night!
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: Well, I think I've reached the point where getting comfortable is going to be a challenge from here on out. I still sleep ok once I actually get to sleep, but it takes a while to fall asleep these days. And I usually wake up with my arm asleep or my shoulder aching, etc. It's not a big deal, but it is hard to get comfortable.
What I miss: Getting comfortable easily ;) But that's really it.
Cravings: I haven't had any cravings this week. I haven't had a change to crave anything with all the Christmas food I've gotten!
Symptoms: Sleepiness! I also get pretty uncomfortable if I stand or walk for long periods of time. I feel like I start waddling. Haha! I have Braxton Hicks contractions every once in a while, too.
Best Moment This Week: Celebrating Christmas with our families and thinking about how different our family will be this time next year with 3 babies :)
What I Am Looking Forward To: David is off work this week, and we got paint for Jude's room today. We're planning to start that project tomorrow, and I'm excited to finally get that ball rolling! Hopefully progress will be speedy and we'll have Jude moved out of the nursery and into his new room in the near future :)

Week in Review: Christmas Prep

2011-12-26T21:35:00.001-06:00

This week was a bit of a blur. I did most of my Christmas shopping this week, and we also all got sick with what was either a stomach bug or food poisoning. So, I didn't keep up with this post like I usually do. I can't remember what we did half the time, so I'm just going to do my best and not stress over trying to remember. Also, I feel like there are so many posts that I "need" to do that I never got around to before Christmas, such as our Christmas card and decorations, plus our Christmas recaps. I also need to do my weekly pregnancy post. So, yeah, I'm a little behind. I refuse to let blogging become something stressful, though, so I'll do them when I get around to them. If you're looking at pictures of my house decorated for Christmas after New Year's, I apologize :)

Sunday: We got up early and got ready for church. We had a nice service, and then David and I taught Jude's Sunday School class. That was fun :) We came home after church, and I cooked spaghetti for lunch. We ate, and then we put the kids down for their naps. I took a nap myself, and then we went back to church that evening. The kids' choir sang, and it was SO cute. David and I were laughing at a few of the little kids who were doing cute things, and we said we know our day is coming. I can't imagine Aubrey singing in front of the whole church. After church, David had to lock up the building because he was deacon of the week, so we were basically the last ones to leave. It was pretty late, but we stopped at Mazzios and ate some pizza on our way home. We put the kids to bed, and then I blogged and did some stuff on the internet before bed.

Monday: When we got up that morning, I took a shower and got ready, and then I got the kids ready. David's sweet co-worker had a Christmas gift for Aubrey, so I was taking the kids to David's office to get it. Aubrey was so excited about "going to work" to see Daddy :) When we got there, Aubrey was a little shy at first, but she LOVED her present. Mary Jane gave her a doll house and lots of furniture and dolls to go with it. Aubrey was so excited! :)The two babies were her favorite :)
Jude loved running around Daddy's office!
Aubrey and her loot!

We stayed and hung out for a little while, and then we left so that they could get some work done. We met my mom and grandmother and cousin at the mall to attempt some Christmas shopping. It was getting close to Jude's naptime, so I knew we wouldn't last long. We ate lunch at the food court, and Aubrey fell off a picnic bench and had a meltdown. It was kind of downhill from that point for the kids, but we did manage to get some new shoes for them. Jude had outgrown his shoes just about overnight. We left when Jude was just DONE, and he fell asleep in the car on the way home. I was able to transfer him to his bed, and he took a good nap. Aubrey was so excited to play with her new doll house during rest time, and she was pretty quiet. While they slept, I took a short nap and did some laundry. I also put some chicken in the crockpot for dinner. The kids had a snack when they got up, and then we waited for David to get home. He was running a little late, which was disappointing since he was actually able to come home after work (no karate). When he got home, he played with the kids and I fixed dinner. We had chicken tacos and rice. After we finished eating, I left to go do some Christmas shopping. My mom was going to be out shopping, so we planned to meet up. We decided which store we wanted to meet at, but apparently we went to different MALLS. Ughhh. We were both frustrated when we realized the miscommunication, but it didn't make much sense for either of us to drive to the other mall (traffic was bad), so we decided to just shop separately. I shopped till I dropped. By the time I got home, I felt like I had gotten run over by a truck. I'm usually a power shopper, but pregnancy makes it a little more tiring. The sad part was that I didn't even get THAT much done. I sat down and got on the internet for a little while, and then I went to bed.

Tuesday: Jude slept a little later than usual that morning, so that was nice. I fed the kids breakfast, and then I showered and put them in the tub. They played for a while, and I put my makeup on and dried my hair while they were playing in the bathtub. I got Aubrey out first, and I was getting the towel ready to get Jude out when he pooped. Ughhh. He's never pooped in the tub before, but it didn't seem to phase him. Aubrey, on the other hand, was totally disgusted. Ha! Of course, I had to rinse Jude and re-bathe him. I got both of them dressed after that, and we left to go meet Sarah Denley and her kids for lunch. We went to Mellow Mushroom, and it was fun! The girls got a little wild (mostly Aubrey), but it was just because they were having fun playing, and I don't think they were being TOO crazy. We all went to the bathroom before we left, and we ended up being in there forever. We were talking and of course everyone had to potty... I'm sure people were wondering what the heck we were doing for so long. Ha! Aubrey developed a bad attitude and was disrespectful while we were in the bathroom, so she ended up getting in trouble when we got to the car. We talked some more outside, and then we finally loaded up to come home for naps. I have no idea what I did that afternoon, but I'm sure it was something highly productive ;) That evening, David came home, and he was running late again :( The kids were being crazy, and I was just SO ready for him to be home. When he did get home, we ate dinner together. After dinner, I made a Target run to get wrapping paper and angle tree gifts. When I got home, it was bedtime for the kids, so we put them down. I probably just sat around the rest of the evening.

Wednesday: When we got up that morning, we got dressed and ready and left the house to try to get some Christmas shopping done. I couldn't find what I was looking for, and I just felt stressed out and short on patience. We went to several stores and only got maybe one Christmas gift? It wasn't really a successful trip, but I had had enough, so we headed home. I fixed lunch for us, and then I put the kids to bed. I took a nap that afternoon while the kids were in their rooms. When David got home, we left to do more shopping. I was determined to FINISH, and I thought it would be less stressful for me if I had David there to give me an opinion. He was super excited. Ha! There were some stressful moments, but the evening went well for the most part, and we finished our shopping. We ate dinner at Sweet Peppers, and Jude wouldn't touch his food and Aubrey barely touched hers. Then Jude had a random full-blown meltdown, and David had to take him outside so that I could finish my food, and then we traded off. I don't know what was wrong with him. We finally got home just in time for bed! We put the kids to bed, and I wrapped a few presents before bed.

Thursday: It was a wet rainy day, and the kids and I had plans to meet my mom and a friend at Chick Fil A for playtime and lunch. Aubrey had a blast playing, but Jude kept wanting to climb up into the play equipment, and it was making me so nervous. Finally after spending 30 minutes trying to keep him from going up there, I just climbed up myself (yes, I did) and looked around to see if there was any way he could get hurt or stuck if he went up. It looked pretty safe to me, so I finally just let him go. He LOVED it. This random little girl decided that she would be in charge of him and she was lugging him around and taking him down the slide. It was kind of funny, but it was actually helpful for me. I was keeping a very close eye on the whole interaction, so I felt fine about it. After playing for a long time, we went and ordered food. Jude was super picky again, and by the time we finished eating, he was exhausted and ready for his bed. We went home, and I put him to bed. Aubrey played in her room, and I did some stuff on the computer and enjoyed the quiet house :) When David got home, I went to the grocery store and got a bunch of food. As soon as I got home and we got the groceries put away, we left to meet David's family for dinner. His sisters and families were in town for Christmas, and Aubrey was excited about seeing her cousin, Caroline! :) We went to Logan's and ended up having to wait FOREVER. We finally got seated and ate our food. Aubrey and Jude both did better than we expected considering it was almost bedtime before we got our food. We left after dinner to get the kids to bed. I started feeling REALLY full and yuck on the way home, but I just assumed it was pregnancy related heartburn and took some Tums. I started fixing a dessert for the next night because we were planning on having David's family over for dinner, but I started feeling so bad that I had to go lay down in the middle of making this dessert. I was able to get to a stopping point on the dessert, and I told David I was going to bed to hopefully sleep off the nastiness.

Friday: I didn't sleep it off, unfortunately. I felt HORRIBLE all night. I would doze off and then wake up to a wave of nausea. I never threw up, but I just do NOT throw up for some reason. I really think I would have felt better if I had, but I just couldn't. Anyway, I had a very restless, miserable night. Aubrey woke up sometime in the middle of the night and threw up. Thankfully, David went and slept upstairs and took care of her and left me in my misery. I started feeling a tad better sometime in the early morning and was able to get some sleep. I woke up around 11 and went upstairs where David and the kids were. Turns out Aubrey had been sick twice and then seemed totally fine. I couldn't even tell she had been sick. Poor David had been sick too, though! I felt so bad that he didn't wake me up. Thankfully, both kids were asleep when he was sick, and he was a little better when they got up. We felt better but just kind of blah and weak all day. We obviously had to cancel our dinner plans with his family :( Jude had a couple of bad diapers, and since we had all gotten sick at the same time and since it was so short lived, we assumed it was food poisoning. David's sister ended up getting sick a few days later, though, so that made it seem more like a bug. Who knows? I still felt a little nauseous, so I took a long nap that afternoon. I felt much better when I woke up. We laid around for a while, and then loaded up and went and looked at Christmas lights for a while just for a change of scenery. Then David ran in Kroger and got us some chicken noodle soup for dinner. We ate and felt better. We put the kids to bed and went to bed early ourselves.

I'm going to stop there, because I have a lot of pictures to post from Christmas Eve and Christmas day, so I'll do those days in a separate post! :)

You bit what?

2011-12-22T14:11:00.001-06:00

Last night, we ventured out with the kids for some last minute Christmas shopping. I am notorious for waiting until the last minute, and I don't know why I do that to myself. But that's really beside the point right now. On our way home, we were having a nice conversation with Aubrey from her carseat in the back. She suddenly started screaming crying and we had no idea what could have happened to her. She finally gasped something out, and we thought she said she bit her tongue. We were all, "Awww, we're so sorry, baby! Is your tongue ok?" She finally calmed down enough to communicate to us that she did not, in fact, bite her tongue.

She bit her toe.

What in the world?! I'm not exaggerating when I say that she sobbed and cried over her toe for 5 solid minutes. I mean, how does one even bite one's own toe hard enough to merit that kind of reaction? The terrible part is that David and I could NOT stop laughing. I was trying to be all sweet and sympathetic, but that gets a little challenging when you're gasping for breath from laughing so hard. I asked her how in the world she managed to bite her toe, and she replied that she bit it when she was taking her sock off. With her teeth, apparently. Ummm, ok.

I'm thankful to report that Aubrey eventually calmed down, and she still currently has all of her toes attached to her foot. But be careful, because removing socks can be dangerous these days.

Anniversary Trip: Day 4

2011-12-21T13:54:00.000-06:00

So I guess it's about time to wrap up our vacation posts, yes?? ;) Friday was our last day in Chattanooga, and it was pouring down rain and cold. Since we needed an indoor activity, we decided to go to the Tennessee Aquarium. We had heard a lot about it, and it was supposed to be really nice. We saw lots of fish (duh) and had a nice time.David touched some kind of fish, but I passed!
Look! It's Nemo :) We thought of Aubrey when we saw these fish.

There are two different buildings, so we took a little lunch stop between buildings. After getting some nourishment, we were ready to tackle the second part of the aquarium!Just hanging with the penguins ;)
My favorite part was probably the butterfly room. It was a great place to practice with some of our camera settings.After we had seen it all, it was still early afternoon. So, we went to a big mall to try to do some Christmas shopping. It turns out the mall was crazy crowded (should have known it would be since it was so close to Christmas), and we didn't really find anything we were looking for. I did get to go into a few stores that we don't have at home (Home Goods and World Market), so that was fun. After we had had enough of the insane crowds, we headed back to our Bed and Breakfast. We relaxed for a little while and got ready for dinner. We were going on a dinner cruise that night, and I was so excited! We went on a dinner cruise on our honeymoon in Vancouver, so it was fun to do the same thing on our anniversary tripWhile we were waiting to board, we had some fun in the gift shop. Ha! Dinner on the ship was SO much fun! We had a nice candlelit dinner: And a sweet lady took our picture together. We were able to wander around the ship, but it was SO COLD, so I mostly left that up to David. City Lights.
I did venture out for a quick picture :)
Santa even made an appearance during our cruise, and we sang Christmas carols. It was such a great night!! We headed back to the B&B after the cruise and pack up to head home the next day. We had an amazing time together, but we were very excited to get home to Aubrey and Jude!

I can't end these posts without saying what a great experience we had at the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed. We stayed at the Chanticleer Inn, and it was just SO nice! The breakfasts were amazing, the atmosphere was charming, and the people who worked there were so nice and helpful. If you're looking for somewhere to stay in Chattanooga, I would definitely recommend it!

Also, a BIG thank you to my mom for keeping the kids for us so that we could get away! It was so nice knowing that they were in good hands and that we didn't have to worry about them. I think they wore her out (Jude decided it would be a good idea to get up at 6AM while we were gone), but she never complained (to us - haha). I know Aubrey and Jude had so much fun with her, and I'm pretty sure they didn't even miss us much :) Thanks, Mom!!

27 Weeks

2011-12-19T22:06:00.000-06:00

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 27 weeks
Size of baby: She is over 14 inches and around 2 pounds -- about the size of an eggplant!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm worried that I'm going to gain 20 pounds this month between our vacation and Christmas! I'll need LOTS of treadmill time to hopefully balance everything out! I Christmas shopped for 2 hours tonight, so all that walking around the mall has got to count for something, right?!
Maternity Clothes: I'm getting tired of my maternity clothes already. Not good!
Movement: Yep, lots of movement. David felt her moving for the first time while we were on our trip. I'm surprised it took this long for him to feel her since she moves really frequently, but I guess she just doesn't move when he's sitting right beside me.
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: I didn't sleep as great while we were gone, but hopefully that was just from being in a strange bed. I've been really sleepy in the afternoons lately. I try not to take a nap everyday, but sometimes a nap is just necessary!
What I miss: I'm really not missing anything. Sure, I would love to wear some of my "regular" clothes, and it would be nice to have lots of energy in the afternoons to get things done. But I'm really just trying to be thankful for this pregnancy and remember what an amazing, miraculous thing is taking place in my body. I read this post on a blog I follow recently, and it just reminded me to be THANKFUL and keep in mind that every second of pregnancy is a gift and a blessing.
Cravings: I have been craving veggie sandwiches (from anywhere) lately. Yum!
Symptoms: Same symptoms as last week, and I've had a good bit of heartburn lately. Yuck! Tums are my friend :)
Best Moment This Week: There were a lot of good moments! :) It was nice to be able to get away and rest and relax and spend time with David. And it was fun for him to feel Alaina Ruth moving. Also, I felt little hiccups for the first time the other day. It made me smile because it reminded me of the first time I ever felt hiccups while pregnant with Aubrey when I thought it was her heart beating REALLY slowly. Totally freaked me out! Ha! Now, since I know what they are, I think they're cute and fun to feel :)
What I Am Looking Forward To: This week is BUSY (only because I'm a total procrastinator and still have Christmas shopping to do), but I'm looking forward to it. I love Christmas and can't wait to celebrate with our loved ones! :)

Anniversary Trip: Day 3

2011-12-18T22:57:00.000-06:00

David and I are home from our vacation! We got home yesterday afternoon, and we had such a fun getaway, but we were happy to get back home to our babies. I think they were happy to see us, too :) I wanted to go ahead and finish recapping our trip while it is still fresh!

Thursday was our anniversary, and we woke up to an overcast, drizzly day. We decided to have a low-key day and just enjoy spending time together. We ate breakfast and the B&B, and then we went downtown. We were planning on going to Coolidge Park, but it was starting to rain, and we were having trouble finding a parking place, so we decided to just skip that. We went to a huge antique mall instead and walked around looking for a long time. I LOVE antique malls! :) We ate lunch in town after we finished, and then we headed back up Lookout Mountain. We stopped at Point Park and walked around and took some pictures. It was really pretty even though the weather wasn't great.
We thought this looked like one of those little Bonsai trees!
Taking a little rest :)
We ran into a nice couple on the trail who offered to take our picture. Always appreciated!

We stayed at Point Park as long as my pregnancy bladder would allow -- haha! We then headed back to the Bed and Breakfast, and I took a nap while David did some stuff on the computer. Then we got ready for our anniversary dinner. Terrible picture (of me) but this is the only one we got that night.

We ate at this place called Canyon Grill, and it was REALLY good but out in the middle of nowhere (or so it seemed). Ha! We had a nice leisurely dinner, and it was great :) We went back to the Bed and Breakfast after dinner and ate some dessert there. When we got back to our room, we finished off the day by watching our wedding DVD. We always watch it on our anniversary, and it's such a fun tradition!

There is still one more day of our vacation that I want to write about, but it's getting late, so I'll save it for later. Obviously, since this is what we did this week, I won't do a Week in Review post too. :)

Five Year Anniversary

2011-12-15T16:01:00.000-06:00

Today, David and I are celebrating 5 wonderful, happy, blessed, FULL years of marriage. Our marriage is not perfect, but I can honestly say that we just genuinely love each other and enjoy one another's company. I feel so blessed to be able to be married to my best friend, and there is no one I would rather walk through life with. I'm just so thankful for the past 5 years, and to God be the glory!

Anniversary Trip: Days 1 & 2

2011-12-14T21:06:00.000-06:00

David and I are in Chattanooga on our anniversary trip, and we're having so much fun! We got here yesterday afternoon, and we just explored downtown Chattanooga a little bit and ate dinner. We are staying in a darling little Bed and Breakfast, and we came back after dinner and had hot chocolate and watched a movie :)

Today, we were able to sleep in and then have breakfast before setting out for the day. We went to Rock City and walked around for a long time. It was really fun and so nice because it wasn't crowded AT ALL. We finally got to the top and were so excited about the amazing views we were supposed to see. This is what we saw:Ha! Of course we would pick a super foggy day to do something like this! Oh well, we still enjoyed ourselves and saw some other fun things :)Kissing Shadows ;)
After seeing Rock City, we went to lunch at a little cafe that was so good, and we stuffed ourselves! Then, because we hadn't gotten enough walking in that morning, we headed to Ruby Falls and walked some more. Only this time, we we hundreds of feet underground. This was neat too, but Rock City was my favorite. I guess being underground in small spaces surrounded by rocks on all sides isn't really my thing ;)(We have more pictures of the Falls and other things that I tried to post, but when I uploaded them, the pictures look FUNKY. You can see that some of the pictures I did post are kind of messed up, too. They look fine on our computer, so I have no clue what's going on, but I'm not going to take the time to try to sort it out now.)

By the time we finished at Ruby Falls, I was ready for some down time! I usually like to go go go when we're on vacation, but with all the walking and being pregnant, I was wanting to rest for a little while. We came back to the B&B for a snack, and I took a short nap while David read. We then went to dinner at a great Italian place and walked around the art district for a while.Now we're just back at the B&B and I think we're going to watch another movie tonight. We're such exciting people! :) I'm thankful that we have this time to get away and spend time together one-on-one. We miss Aubrey and Jude, but they are having so much fun with my family. Aubrey says she misses us, but she won't talk to us on the phone so far. Silly girl! :)

26 Weeks

2011-12-12T18:55:00.006-06:00

So here we have a not-so-great blurry picture, but I don't feel like taking it again, so it will have to do! :) I do wish I had put some lipstick on or something. Haha!

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 26 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 14 inches and over 1.5 pounds -- about the size of an eggplant!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well, I didn't walk on the treadmill 5 times last week like I had planned. I think I did it 3 or 4 times though, so that's definitely better than nothing! At my doctor's appointment today, my doctor said she was happy with my weight. I had gained very little weight the past month, so that was good since I had a big jump the month before. Haha!
Maternity Clothes: Definitely.
Movement: Still lots of movement! At my checkup, it took the doctor a minute to find Alaina's heartbeat, but I wasn't worried because she was moving all around. My doctor said she could see her move all the way across my stomach :)
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: No trouble sleeping, thank goodness!
What I miss: The only thin I'm missing is having as much energy as I do when I'm not pregnant. I haven't been crazy tired, but it'll be nice when I I feel like I can make it through the day without a nap again.
Cravings: Tonight I was really in the mood for a salad from Beagle Bagel. Random. There isn't one very close to us, but since David wasn't home, the kids and I loaded up and went to get one anyway.
Symptoms: Still going to the bathroom more than usual. And sorry if this is TMI, but I've been having awful pelvic bone pain when I stand up after sitting for a long period of time. I had the same thing when I was pregnant with Jude. It's fine after I walk around for a few minutes, but it just takes a while to get used to standing I guess? Ha!
Best Moment This Week: Passing my glucose test today! My doctor said I passed with "flying colors" and she said my hemoglobin was "perfect." Those are always nice words to hear! My blood pressure was also really good today. Alaina's heartbeat was going strong at 140-150 BPM. All in all, a great appointment!
What I Am Looking Forward To: We leave tomorrow for our little anniversary trip, and I am excited about that. We are going to miss Aubrey and Jude, but we know they'll be in good hands :)

Week in Review: Birthday Celebrations

2011-12-11T21:53:00.000-06:00

Our week was fine, but it was pretty boring. We did have a few fun things that we did to keep it from getting too long :) David and I have gotten into the bad habit of staying up way too late. That doesn't really work well for someone who is pregnant and requires a good amount of sleep anyway. Haha! Jude is a pretty early riser, so I took several naps this week, which is fine, except that I'm not overly productive when I nap when the kids nap. Oh well! Maybe we'll learn our lesson and start going to bed earlier ;) Also, for some reason, I took hardly any pictures this week. I always kick myself for that after the fact.

Sunday: We got up early and got ready to go to church. I put some pork in the crockpot for a new recipe I was trying. We had a good morning at church. We have a combined adult Sunday School class for the month of December, and it is on bioethics. It was interesting. After church, we came home to eat lunch. The new recipe was a big fat FAIL. It was so greasy and literally inedible. We threw it out, and I made sloppy joes as Plan B. That afternoon, we took naps, and then we went back to church that evening. After the service, we went to Jason's Deli to meet David's family for dinner. It was his dad's birthday! We had a fun dinner, and then we came home and put the kids to bed. I got on the internet for a little while before going to bed.Twinkies!! :)

Monday: Jude was up early :( We had a pretty good day, though. It was rainy, and it got COLD. When Aubrey woke up, we all got ready to go meet Sarah Denley and her kids for lunch at Primos. We had a lot of fun! Jude didn't eat two bites for lunch, though. Aubrey LOVES playing with Ann Peyton. It's cute to watch them interact. Going to lunch helped break up our day and make it not so long. When we got home, I put the kids down for naps. Aubrey didn't sleep, of course. Jude took a shorter nap than I was expecting after getting up so early. I took a short nap myself. When we got up, I put some soup in the crockpot for dinner. That afternoon, we just hung out at home and had a nice time. We ate dinner, and both kids ate the soup really well, so that made mealtime SO much more pleasant! After dinner was bath time. Jude started having a meltdown while in the bathtub, and Aubrey decided that she wanted to get out right that SECOND, so it got a little stressful. I got Jude out and calmed him down, and then I got Aubrey out. I put Jude to bed, and then David got home and put Aubrey to bed. I walked on the treadmill and then enjoyed the peace and quiet. We stayed up too late.

Tuesday: Jude slept a lot later that day (until almost 8), and that was so nice! We were still up in plenty of time to get ready for Bible Study, and we had a good discussion that day. It was our last time to meet until after the New Year. After Bible Study, the kids and I stopped at Subway for lunch on the way home. They didn't eat much -- surprise, surprise! When we got home, they both went to their rooms for naps. Once again, Jude didn't nap as long as I was hoping. I got some stuff done during naptime, though. When David got home, we all got ready because we were going to dinner with my family and some of their friends to celebrate my mom's birthday that was the day before! We ate dinner at Amerigo, which is one of my favorites! We had a lot of fun, and some of Aubrey's little friends were there too, so she had a blast! After dinner, we came home and put the kids to bed. I addressed our Christmas cards while David watched some TV. We didn't go to bed until well after midnight.

Wednesday: We had a low-key morning at home. The kids played and I did some housework. I bathed the kids before lunch, and they played in the tub for a while. I fed them lunch, and then I put them down for their naps. Thankfully, Jude took a great nap that day. While they slept, I baked some chess squares to take to church that night, and I walked on the treadmill. I then took a shower and got ready, and I straightened up the house a little bit. I got Aubrey ready, and then I had to wake Jude up to leave for tutoring. I had a good time at tutoring that day, and it was the last time for a while because of the holidays. After it was over, the kids played in the gym and David and I talked until dinnertime. We had our holiday (combined Thanksgiving and Christmas) banquet that night, and it was really nice. We had a program -- the kids sang and we had a speaker -- so I didn't have to teach. I'm actually done teaching for a while. I rotate with another teacher, so I only do it half the time. After our banquet was over, we headed home. It was bedtime for the kids. I straightened up the house a little more, and then I relaxed until bedtime.

Thursday: When we woke up that morning, I was just itching to get out of the house. I decided we would go to Target and Chick Fil A. I got us all ready, and we were literally walking out the door when I remembered that David had taken my car to get the oil changed that day. I had told him that we didn't have plans on Thursday, so he just left the carseats in my car. It was totally my own fault for forgetting, but I could have cried. I just WANTED to get OUT. Plus, I had my heart set on CFA at that point. Haha. But we didn't have much choice, so we stayed home. The kids wrecked the house, but they had fun. After I snapped out of my bad mood about having to stay home, we had a fine day at home. We ate leftovers for lunch, and then the kids took naps. Aubrey played and Jude slept well. I took a shower and got ready, and then we just hung out waiting for David to get home. I fixed some pasta pesto for dinner, and then he got home. I had a girls' night with Sarah Denley planned that night, and it came at a great time since I had been home bound all day! :) I left David with the kids and went to pick SD up. We ate dinner at Julep, and we had so much fun! We have not had an uninterrupted conversation in AGES. I love going to lunch and hanging out with our kids all the time, but it's so nice to get to just talk every once in a while :) After dinner we went to Starbucks and talked some more. SD had a babysitter, so we had to be back at a decent hour, but it was so refreshing to get out for a while with such a sweet friend. When I got home, both kids were in bed, and David told me they had a GREAT night :) Jude had some trouble staying asleep, though. We went up to his room a few times, and I finally gave him Tylenol and rocked him, and he went to sleep. After talking to David for a while, we went to bed late again.

Friday: Jude was up bright and early again, and I took a shower and got ready. I decided we would attempt going to Target again. Haha! When we were all ready, we left and stopped at the post office. I had to mail some shoes I had sold on eBay, and the line was long. Thankfully, the kids were REALLY good while we waited in line. We went to Target next, and we strolled around and just enjoyed being out of the house. After we got everything we needed, we drove through Chick Fil A and got lunch. Jude fell asleep for literally TWO minutes in the car on the way home, and I was worried that was going to mess up his nap. We ate our chicken when we got home.I then put Aubrey and Jude down for their naps. I was right about Jude and the nap. He thought he had had enough sleep for the day, but I was determined I was going to win that battle! Between going into Jude's room many times and Aubrey calling me upstairs for various reasons, I decided to just lay on the upstairs guest bed so I wouldn't have to go up and down the stairs anymore! After over an hour of talking/fussing/crying/playing, I was finally able to rock Jude to sleep and transfer him to his bed. Whoo, I was more stubborn than him that day! Haha! I ended up dozing off on the guest bed and getting a short little nap. When I woke up, I got Aubrey out of her room, and we went downstairs until Jude woke up. We watched some "cooking" (Food Network) until David got home, and then we worked a little around the house. David took some boxes of Christmas stuff up to the attic, and I fixed up the dining room table. Then we started de-cluttering our office, but that got a little difficult with both kids awake and in there, so we put that on hold. My mom texted me and asked if we wanted to go to dinner, so we left to go meet my family at a Mexican restaurant. That was fun, and the kids enjoyed it too :) By the time we got home, it was bedtime. We got the kids to bed, and then I walked on the treadmill and watched the finale of Sweet Home Alabama. We actually made it to bed before midnight that night (but just barely)!

Saturday: I got up a little earlier than usual for a Saturday (around 8) and both kids and David were up. We hung out at home all morning, and I did some stuff on the computer. David was meeting a friend for brunch, so the kids and I stayed home while he went. We just played, and then I took a shower and got dressed. I fed the kids lunch and then bathed them. David got home right after I got them out of the tub, and he brought me some lunch from Subway. He put the kids down for naps while I ate my lunch. Then David and I worked on cleaning out our office. We threw a lot of stuff away, and we made things look a little nicer on the bookshelves. We didn't completely finish, but we made a lot of progress, so we were happy. We quit when it was time for Aubrey to come downstairs. Jude ended up taking a really good nap. When he woke up, we all left home to go run errands. We went to Hobby Lobby to look for some picture frames for our office. We thought they were on sale, but after standing in line, we found out they weren't. We put them back and went to Ross. We found picture frames there, so that was good! :) We went to 5 Guys for dinner, and we were having lots of fun until the very end when we discovered that Jude had a blowout diaper. Of course, we didn't have another outfit for him (he never has blowouts anymore), and we had to change his diaper in the car (it was freezing). When we got him cleaned up, we drove to Target, and I ran in and got him another outfit (pajamas, really). Once he was dressed again, we did our shopping at Target. We then went to Kroger and got a bunch of groceries. By that point, it was bedtime and we called it a night. We put the kids to bed when we got home, and then David watched some TV while I finished going through some of our old pictures. We went to bed pretty late as usual.

Random Thoughts

2011-12-08T22:11:00.002-06:00

-I feel like I haven't been blogging much lately. I want to blog, but I'm just having a hard time coming up with anything to talk about. I do want to post pictures of my storm shelter and my Christmas decorations soon!

-Aubrey has been so cute about the baby lately. It has been SO fun having a child old enough to get the concept of pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Jude, she had no clue what was going on, and Jude has no clue what's going on this time. But Aubrey really understands a lot, and she asks a bunch of questions. The other day we were eating lunch, and Aubrey randomly said, "Mommy, let's talk about Alaina." I said, "Ok! What do you want to say about her?" She said, "When Alaina 'Roof' is a big girl like me, what do you think she is gonna like to do?" I said she would probably like the same things that Aubrey likes right now, and I named some of Aubrey's favorite things. I told Aubrey that Alaina's FAVORITE thing to do would probably be playing with her big sister Aubrey and her big brother Jude :) That made Aubrey happy! It was such a sweet little conversation!

-Speaking of Alaina, I love her name, but it still seems kind of strange to me. Not strange like it's a strange name, but it's strange that it's MY little girl's name. I've said all along that it was David's choice, but I was definitely in agreement. I do love the name, and I think when she's here, it will seem like the "right" name, but for now, I feel sort of detached from the name. Does that make ANY sense? Honestly, I love the name Adleigh. David liked it too for a while, but we were worried that it was too close to Aubrey. Plus, it is kind of a weird name. But I think I just got attached to it for some reason. I think it would be SO weird to change our minds about the name now, so I'm not saying we're going to change her name! I just wanted to blog about that, because I'm sure in 10 years I'll laugh that I ever thought about naming Alaina anything other than Alaina :)

-I have SO many projects that I want to do around the house. We need to redo the guest bedroom and turn it into Jude's bedroom. We really just need to paint the walls and move him in there. He will be in his crib for a while longer (hopefully a GOOD while), so we won't really be able to finish his room until we get his permanent furniture. We know we want to get bunk beds for his room. I love bunk beds in little boy's rooms :) On top of doing Jude's new room, I want to make a few MINOR changes to the nursery. I want to change the window treatments slightly and hang different things on the wall. In Aubrey's room, we still need to put the molding boxes below her chair rail, and I want to have window seat cushions made for her window seats as well as some pillows. I also want to figure out a way to add bookshelves to her window seats, but I don't know if that's going to be possible. I'd also love to add a canopy over her bed, but I have no idea how to do that with her sloped ceiling, so it probably won't happen. As if that's not enough, I want to spruce up our office (mostly just getting rid of clutter and arranging things neatly on the bookshelves) and paint our coffee table and sideboard. Oh, and we REALLY need to redo our half bath. Whew! I don't think that's going to all happen before the baby is born. And I'm ok with that :)

-I'm SO excited about our anniversary trip next week! It's not going to be anything elaborate, but it will be so nice to have a little vacation with David. The kids are staying here, and I'll miss them a ton, but I think it's so important for a marriage to get just couple time every so often. Can't wait!

-I think that's enough rambling for now, so I think I'll call it a night :)

25 Weeks

2011-12-05T15:36:00.001-06:00

Pregnancy Highlights How Far Along: 25 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 13.6 inches and 1.5 pounds -- about the size of an eggplant!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've been staying away from the scale. I am really excited that my grandmother let me borrow a treadmill, so hopefully that means I'll be exercising a lot more regularly! I decided to cancel my gym membership for now, because I was only going about once a week on a good week, and NONE on a normal week :( It just didn't seem worth all the hassle to took to get there simply to walk on the treadmill for a little while. So now that I have a treadmill at home, my goal is to walk on it five days a week. We'll see if that happens!
Maternity Clothes: Yep, all maternity now (with the exception of a few flowy tops and cardigans).
Movement: She is moving more and more! Her most active time right now seems to be at night as I'm going to sleep. She moves like CRAZY then. And every time I wake up in the night, she's usually moving around. I'm hoping that trend doesn't continue after she's born. Haha!
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: No trouble sleeping, thank goodness!
What I miss: I guess I kind of miss not worrying about how everything I do or eat or drink will effect the baby. Like if I'm stressed out about something, it makes it worse when I think, "Stress is so bad for the baby. Calm down!" Or, if I really want to drink tea, but I've already had some caffeine that day, I wonder, "Have I had too much for the day? Will it hurt her if I drink another glass of sweet tea?" I know it's just all part of motherhood, though, and worrying about your baby doesn't end when he or she is born!
Cravings: No cravings! It's funny that I haven't really had any big cravings this pregnancy. I had my persistent cravings with my other two pregnancies, but that hasn't been the case this time. My pregnancy with Aubrey was the "gyro pregnancy" and Jude's was the "BBQ pregnancy." Ha! Alaina's has just been anything goes :) Maybe she'll be SUPER laid-back and easy to please ;)
Symptoms: Having to go to the bathroom more often. I really think she's been sitting on TOP of my bladder this week! I feel like it's too early in the pregnancy to be going to the bathroom every 5 minutes! Haha!
Best Moment This Week: Feeling her kick more and more. It sometimes feels like there's a party going on in my stomach!
What I Am Looking Forward To: I have a doctor's appointment next week, and I'll do my glucose test. I'm looking forward to hearing that I do NOT have gestational diabetes, Lord willing! Then, David and I are going on a little trip for our 5 year anniversary, and I'm SO excited about that!

Week in Review: Decking the Halls and Other Normal Activities

2011-12-04T22:50:00.001-06:00

We've had a good week! Thankfully, we've all been well, and we stayed fairly busy, which is always fun, but it was much more restful than the holiday week before :)

Sunday: We got up bright and early and got ready for church. Oh, just lounging in the window sill eating an apple for breakfast. Normal morning around here!

I put a roast in the crockpot for lunch, and then we attempted to take some pictures. Our kids just don't like Sunday morning pictures apparently:Yeah, getting up at the crack of dawn will do that to you, Buddy.
She wouldn't look at the camera.

We had a good morning at church and Sunday School. Jude had gotten up at 6:30 that morning for some odd reason, so he was just exhausted in the nursery. When I got there to pick him up, they told me that he just could not stay awake any longer, so they put him down for a nap. I know they thought this would be best for him, but I inwardly cringed because I knew that meant no nap that afternoon, and he had only gotten to sleep 30 minutes at church. There was nothing to be done at that point, so we got him up and headed home. We ate the roast for lunch, and then I baked some cookies to take to church that night before I took a nap. Aubrey has cookie on her face, but it's a sweet picture :)

David played with Jude for a little while hoping to get him tired enough to take a real nap. He, of course, never did. David said he gave up after an hour, and they just went into Aubrey's room and played. We got ready and went back to church that evening. Jude was past the point of tiredness by this point. See? He was exhausted and melting down about everything.

We did have a good night at church, though. After the service, we had fellowship time. We didn't stay very long because we knew we needed to get Jude to bed. He went right to sleep when we got home, and so did Aubrey. When they were both asleep, I watched some TV and blogged while David read before bed.

Monday: This was a COLD and rainy day, so my goal for the day was to not leave the house. The kids and I just hung out at home all day. I did laundry, changed the sheets on our bed, put some clothes away, and straightened up. I had book club the next night, and I hadn't read much of my book, so I read that off and on all day. Aubrey watched some PBS Kids while I worked around the house, and Jude played. We ate lunch and just played and hung around the house some more. I straightened up the kitchen, and then I put the kids down for their naps. I took a short nap myself, but Jude didn't sleep real long, so it was cut short. When both kids were up, I decided that it would be nice to get out of the house for just a little while. It was still raining, so we loaded up and just went to Sonic for a drink. When we got home, we played until dinner time. I had put some chicken and wild rice soup in the crockpot earlier, so we ate that for dinner. Surprisingly, Aubrey ate it really well! We had a nice evening, but it got long after dinner as Mondays always do. I gave the kids a bath -- Aubrey specifically requested a bath together. I let them stay in there as long as they wanted to, so that killed a lot of time. When I got them out, it was Jude's bedtime, so I took him upstairs and put him to bed. David got home right after that, and he played with Aubrey for a little while and then put her to bed. I just sat the rest of the night and was thankful that another Monday was coming to a close :) I stayed up until I finished my book club book.

Tuesday: The kids slept later that morning, so that was nice! When we were up, I got ready for Bible Study and then got the kids dressed. Well, Jude clearly wasn't quite dressed at this point, but they were so cute sitting in their chairs next to each other.

We got to church, and the kids went to the nursery and I went to Bible Study. After it was over, Rebekkah and I went to lunch at Newk's. Jude was so tired during lunch, and he got fussy. We had fun, though! When we got home, I put the kids down for naps, and they both slept that day. Aubrey took a while to fall asleep, so she was just getting quiet when Jude woke up. I had pretty much just enjoyed naptime. I didn't do anything productive. The house was pretty clean, so I just rested and got on the internet. When Jude was up, I played with him until David got home."Oh!" Jude was having a snack and telling me very important things!

Aubrey was still sleeping, so we he went upstairs to wake her up. They played for a while, and I got ready for book club. We got the kids started on dinner before I left, and then Rebekkah picked me up. We had book club at Corner Bakery, and it was really fun! We had read The Good Daughters, and it was an interesting discussion. We stayed SO late talking (not just about the book the whole time!). Corner Bakery ended up closing, so we stood in the parking lot in the freezing cold to finish our conversation ;) When I got home, David had put up our outdoor Christmas decorations! :) He had also put a bunch of laundry up. He always puts me to shame with what he's able to accomplish while also watching the kids! We talked for a while before going to bed. By the time we went to bed, it was well after midnight.

Wednesday: We were up early, and I was sleepy after my late night. I woke up after moving around for a little while :) We had an uneventful morning at home. I went ahead and took a shower and got dressed that morning, because we're always so rushed trying to get out the door for tutoring. I bathed the kids after my shower, and they played in the tub for a good while. Kiss kiss! Love these pictures!

We ate lunch, and I picked out their clothes, and then I put them down for naps. Jude slept for 3 hours! While they napped, I did some housework and got on the computer for a while. I finished getting ready, got the kids ready, and then it was time to leave. We drove through Sonic on the way to church :) Tutoring went well that day. After it was over, I got the kids from the nursery, and we played and hung out in the gym until dinner. We had red beans and rice for dinner at church that night. When we finished with our meal, the kids went to the nursery, and I taught my class. After church, David was going over to help some friends who are moving out of state load up some of their stuff. So, I took the kids home. When we got here, Aubrey was just heartbroken that David wasn't home. Poor thing cried the whole time I was getting Jude ready for bed and putting him down. I finally got her calmed down and put her to bed. I think she was just exhausted -- she hasn't been napping, but she's still getting up early. I think it finally caught up with her. I got on the internet until David got home. We talked and went to bed fairly early.

Thursday: Jude got up around 7, but Aubrey slept until 8:45! I knew she was tired :) Jude and I got ready, and then I got Aubrey ready when she was up. Aubrey is telling Jude to look at the camera. Hilarious since she rarely will look at the camera herself. Haha!

We went to church to help some ladies decorate the church for Christmas. However, when we got there, there were no nursery rooms available. We have a preschool at our church, and they use most of the rooms, and then another group meets at our church on Thursdays and they use the other rooms. So, all of our kids were just playing in the fellowship hall, and there was only one girl to watch them. There were only 5 kids there, but they were going in opposite directions. Jude went right for the stairs going up onto the stage. After following him around and getting him off the stairs for about 1o minutes, I decided that the most helpful thing I could do was to take my kids and leave. Ha! I felt bad that I wasn't able to help, but I tried! Since we were out already, the kids and I went to a sample sale and got several outfits of all three of them :) We were going to run more errands, but it was pushing lunchtime by this point and Jude was fussy. So we drove through Arby's and headed home. We ate lunch, and then I put the kids down for naps. They both went to sleep and took GREAT naps. Jude slept for 3 hours, and Aubrey slept for almost 4! I took a nice nap myself. When we were up, everyone was rested and happy :) I put the Rudolph movie on for Aubrey, and I started cooking dinner. Jude got a little clingy while I was trying to cook. He found some cupcake liners, and I let him play with them just so that he would be occupied.When David got home, dinner was about ready, so I finished up, and we ate. Jude wouldn't touch any of his dinner. Ughhh. After we ate, Aubrey wanted to watch Rudolph with David, so we let her watch it again. Haha! By the time the movie was over, it was Jude's bedtime, so I put him down. We let Aubrey stay up a little later since she had slept so much that day. It took her FOREVER to go to sleep. I went to her room around 10:30 and told her she needed to quit talking and go to sleep. She said she would, but not 5 minutes later, she was talking again. She was repeating "ouch" over and over, but she didn't sound upset, so we figured it was just another stall tactic. David went up to check on her after a minute or two, and I heard her start screaming, and David asked me to come upstairs. It freaked me out so bad, because I didn't know WHAT in the WORLD was going on. When I got to her room, I saw blood on her sheets. Apparently, there was a tiny piece of glass on her floor (from months ago, according to Aubrey) from when she broke a vase top that was on her dresser. She had gotten up after I left her room (don't remember what reason she gave for that?) and stepped on the glass and cut the bottom of her foot. David said she wasn't very upset until he turned the light on and she saw the blood. Then she freaked out. We got her foot taken care of -- a princess bandaid made it ALL better -- and we changed her sheets. She insisted that she couldn't sleep on the "sheeps" with blood on them. We tucked her into bed, and thankfully she went right to sleep after that. It was after 11 by that point, so David and I went to bed too.

Friday: Aubrey slept pretty late after all the excitement the night before, but Jude was up at his normal time. I fed him breakfast, and then we just played until Aubrey got up. Baby bird!

She said her foot felt fine, and she walked normally, so I was relieved about that. I took a shower and got dressed, and Aubrey watched Rudolph again. My dad and brothers came over to deliver a treadmill that my grandmother is letting me borrow (yay!), and then I got the kids ready and we went to run errands. We went to Target, Hobby Lobby, and then Chick Fil A. It was crazy crowded at lunch, so I was glad when Aubrey chose ice cream over playing in the play area. We headed home after lunch, and I put Jude down for a nap. Aubrey played while Jude slept, and I did more Christmas decorating. I pretty much finished up everything I wanted to do, so that was a good feeling! When the kids got up, we played until David got home. Aubrey had some ice cream leftover from lunch in the freezer, so she got that out immediately upon waking ;)Aubrey shared her leftover ice cream with Jude without me even telling her to. She would give him little licks, and it was SO SWEET.

David vacuumed Aubrey's room to make sure there was no more glass, and I got ready for a dinner we were going to that night. We fed the kids dinner and then took the kids over to David and Rebekkah's house so that we could share a babysitter. We rode to our dinner with the Arants, and it was so much fun! There were about 6 or 7 couples from church there, and we laughed SO hard. At one point, I was laughing so hard that I thought I might put myself into labor. We definitely don't want that! After we ate, we played Catch Phrase, and that's always fun. We had some VERY competitive people there ;) We left after several rounds of the game, and we picked our kids up. It was WAY past their bedtime, but they seemed to be holding up ok. The babysitter said they were all good, and I know Aubrey had fun! (I'm sure Jude did too, but he didn't tell us all about it like she did. Ha!) We put them right to bed when we got home, and David and I went to bed pretty soon after the kids.

Saturday: Even after going to bed almost THREE hours after his bedtime, Jude was up at 7:15 :( David got up with him, and I slept in. David woke Aubrey up at 9, and they just played. When I got up, David got ready, and I got Aubrey dressed because they were going to ring the bell for the Salvation Army. I was going to stay home with Jude. As soon as they left, I tried to put Jude down for a nap. It was way earlier than he usually naps, but I knew he was tired after his abbreviated night of sleep, and we had lunch plans so I wanted him to sleep before then. It took a while and several trips to his room, but he finally passed out and slept. I took a shower and got ready while he slept, and then I woke Jude up and dressed him right before David and Aubrey got home. We went across the street to our neighbor's house for lunch. They are actually missionaries from our church who are living in a mission house right now, so it's fun that they've been across the street. We had a fun lunch with them even though Jude was pretty fussy. Aubrey had so much fun that she had a major meltdown when it was time to go. Embarrassing! We put her down for a nap when we got home, but she never slept. I tried to put Jude down for another nap, but he never slept either. David took a nap that afternoon, and I went up and down the stairs many times to remind Aubrey to keep the volume down. I finally just got both the kids up, and we played in Aubrey's room until David got up. We got ready and left the house. I ran in several stores and returned some clothes, and David stayed in the car with the kids. We ate dinner at Newk's and then went to Target and Kroger. We came home and unloaded the groceries and I put Jude right to to bed. We got some kiddie scissors for Aubrey and she practiced cutting out some shapes. It's hard to get the hang of using scissors, but she was catching on! :)

David put Aubrey to bed after she worked on using her scissors for a while. I got on the internet until bed.

Outtakes

2011-11-30T12:59:00.000-06:00

So, I mentioned that we had a little trouble getting a picture for our Christmas card. First it was our outfits. I had gotten matching outfits for the kids to wear ages ago. They were blue with red and green smocking, and I didn't think finding something for me and David to wear would be too hard. But it was. I just couldn't find a thing. I went to Motherhood Maternity looking for something for myself multiple times. I ended up wandering around like a deer in the headlights. I brought many things home to try, but I ended up just wearing something I already had. Of course the shirt I picked made me look like I had a spare tire around my middle though :( I was beyond caring at that point, though.

Then there were the actual pictures. I've said it a million times, but I am NO photographer. However, I usually don't have a ton of trouble getting the camera settings good enough to get a decent picture outside in natural light. Sadly, it just wasn't happening on this day, though. I tried so many different things, and all our pictures came out like this:Blurry with awful lighting! I just can't handle blurry pictures. Ughh!

And then the kids wouldn't cooperate. Please look at their facial expressions. You would think they were being tortured.We did finally get a smile out of Aubrey. You want to know how? My brother started saying "poo poo" in a loud voice, and she thought that was hilarious. Seriously, my delicate little girl has the sense of humor of an adolescent boy.But again, the pictures were blurry :(

David finally pulled out a storage box that we had in our garage just to contain the kids who were going in opposite directions by this point. They really seemed to enjoy that, strangely.I really didn't want a picture of my children trapped in a box for our Christmas card picture, so we called it a day. (We did actually end up using one of these pictures on our card, ironically. It's on the back, though. Ha!)

We gave it another go a few days later. In the rain. During naptime. It went about as well as the first attempt.These pictures crack me up, because we were sitting on our front porch in the rain, and my mom was taking the pictures from her car. Oh yeah.We finally admitted defeat, pulled out our external flash, and tried one more time. It wasn't looking good until my grandmother saved the day by bouncing a ball and getting a smile out of both kids!

And I have to admit that we did get a few cute pictures of the kids between the two photo shoots. Nothing really Christmas card worthy, but cute pictures.We told Aubrey to hold Jude's hand, and she took that VERY seriously.

(Oh, and by the way, if you happened to notice a bruise on Jude's forehead, that is from him throwing himself on the rug in our living room over our brick floors to be dramatic and have a little fit over something.)

So, no, our Christmas card picture isn't perfect. But it's our family right now. The fact of the matter is that we have two very young children who probably aren't going to be looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. I'm pregnant; I'm going to look fat. We were standing in our driveway having my mom snap these pictures for us; they're not going to be professional quality. I took some deep breaths and reminded myself that that's OK! This is my family, and I'm thankful for all of them :)

But I'm already thinking we might just not send out a Christmas card next year when we're trying to get three kids to look at the camera. Oh my!

24 Weeks

2011-11-29T17:28:00.000-06:00

This is round two of the 24 week belly shot. We took pictures Sunday night at 11 PM, and they were all so awful that I couldn't even post one. Ha! So, we redid them this evening :) Anyway, yay for reaching 24 weeks and viability! It's so hard to believe that this precious little person inside of me could now potentially survive outside the womb. Amazing.

Pregnancy Highlights How Far Along: 24 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 11.8 inches and over a pound -- about the size of a papaya!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well, I definitely enjoyed my Thanksgiving meal :) I don't think this whole being pregnant over the holidays thing is going to be good for my weight gain. Ha!
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and I used some of my birthday money to get a few new things. I didn't get a ton, but I feel like I at least have enough clothes to get me through a week without repeating now ;)
Movement: I'd say she is pretty active! It's really hard to remember, but I'm thinking she might be the most active out of my three babies so far. I just love feeling the baby move when I'm pregnant, so I've always hoped for a super active baby. I still don't feel her a lot throughout the day if I'm moving around, but as soon as I sit down, I can usually count on some kicks :)
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: I've been sleeping like a rock, except for getting up to go to the bathroom. Ha!
What I miss: I'm really starting to feel like my face is getting fat, so I miss not feeling that way. BUT, I know it is NOT a big deal, so I don't let it bother me too much. I have too much to be thankful for to dwell on stuff I miss. I don't always have that attitude, unfortunately, but I do right now :)
Cravings: No cravings. I wanted to eat pretty healthy after our Thanksgiving feast, but I wasn't really craving anything in particular.
Symptoms: Some heartburn. I've taken a few Tums this week! Also, I feel so broken out. Ugh. And I have felt so hormonal and emotional. Just like I could cry at the drop of a hat (I haven't actually cried that much, but I just feel like I could at any time if I let myself) and getting more stressed out over little things than usual.
Best Moment This Week: The whole week was just really good. My birthday, Thanksgiving, spending extra time with family, decorating for Christmas... I loved it all! And it's always so exciting to reach viability. I want and expect this pregnancy to go on for a LOT longer, but it's comforting to know that she would have a chance if something were to go wrong.
What I Am Looking Forward To: I totally caved and joined Pinterest, even though I said I wouldn't because I didn't want another time suck. So, I've gotten all kinds of ideas for the kids' rooms, and I can't wait to get started! I'm hoping now that Thanksgiving is over, we will be able to get a few projects done before Christmas. Who knows if that will actually happen, though, since this is such a busy time. But I can't wait to do Jude's new room and make a few minor changes to the nursery!

Week in Review: Giving Thanks

2011-11-27T22:00:00.000-06:00

This was a wonderful FULL week. We were busy, busy (as I'm sure most people were this week), but we were doing fun things and spending lots of time together as a family.

Sunday: We debated on whether or not we should go to church since Aubrey had the stomach bug on Friday. Since it had been 48 hours since she had had any symptoms, we decided it would be ok. We all got ready and went. We attempted to take some pictures before church, and the kids weren't really feeling it.

We had communion that day, and it was a good service. We went to Sunday School after church, and then we came home to eat chicken spaghetti for lunch. We took naps after we ate and went back to church that night. We had a prayer service, and we prayed for the Operation Christmas Child boxes we were sending. After church, we had cake, but we didn't stay long because the kids hadn't had dinner yet. We stopped at Newks and ate on the way home. We put the kids to bed when we got home, and I then blogged while I watched TV.

Monday: I was so happy because David didn't have karate that night, which meant he would be home at 4:30. That made the day MUCH nicer :) The kids and I had a low-key day. I decided that we weren't going to the grocery store like we usually do. That is just a recipe for a not so great start to the week. We hung out at home, and I got some things done around the house. We ate lunch at home, and then the kids napped. Well, Jude napped. Aubrey played in her room. That afternoon, we hung out at home some more until David got home. I wanted to get out of the house for a little while, so we all made a Target run. David took the kids in Pet's Mart to see the animals while I went in Target :) On the way home, I ran in Subway and got a veggie sub. When we got home, David and I fixed the kids some food, and then we all ate various leftovers, etc. After dinner, we watched Dancing with the Stars and the kids played until bedtime.
My sweet babies. It's rare that they will both sit in my lap, so I was loving this!

Once we got them to bed, I finished watching Dancing, and then I played around on the internet until bed.

Tuesday: We got up and started getting ready, because we were meeting SD and her kids for lunch at Beagle Bagel. We had some trouble getting out of the door on time because Jude got into some Crystal Lite powder right as we were about to leave and made a huge mess. I cleaned him up and left the mess on the floor for later. We made it on time, and we had a really fun lunch! Aubrey was WILD, and she kind of made Ann Peyton more hyper than she usually is too ;) They had fun playing with AP's granola. AKA throwing it on the floor. Ha! We cleaned up our mess and went outside to finish our conversation. I don't think anyone was sad to see us go ;) It worked out so well that we were at lunch at that time, because apparently there had been tornado warnings and we didn't even know it. In this case, ignorance was bliss :) When we got home, I put the kids to bed and got on the internet and looked up some recipes. David got home a little early that afternoon, and I was able to go to the grocery store without the kids. I got everything we would need for Thanksgiving, so I was there a while. When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries and started dinner. We had chicken enchiladas for dinner, and they were good. Jude got really fussy, and we had our usual mealtime stress, though. After we ate, I watched the Dancing with the Stars finale, and David put both kids to bed that night so that I could watch. So sweet! After it went off, I honestly can't even remember what we did until bedtime. Ha!

Wednesday: This was my birthday, and David had the day off! So it was a good day :) That morning, David gave me my present: an external flash for our camera. I was so surprised! :)
Playing around with it. At this point, I didn't know how to adjust the brightness, so these pictures are BRIGHT ;) The subject is still cute though!

The kids and I were planning to meet my mom and the little girl she keeps for lunch at Chick Fil A. I got ready really quickly (I had slept in), and we left. David stayed home to do some yard work since we were having company the next day. We had a fun lunch at CFA. Aubrey LOVES playing in the "big kids' room" as she calls the play area. We stayed until naptime, and then we came back home. When the kids went down for their naps, I ran to a few stores to try to find something to wear in our Christmas card pictures. Shopping for maternity clothes is just frustrating! When I got home, I made a pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving diner the next day.
Not nearly as pretty as the one on the cover of Southern Living, but it tasted good ;)

I then changed clothes and got ready, because David and I had a date that night! My mom was coming over to play with the kids, and they were excited about that :) When she got here, we got them situated with dinner, and then we left. We couldn't decide where we wanted to go, but we finally ended up at Sombra. We wanted to try somewhere new, and it was really good! It was so fun being out just the two of us. We both left stuffed. We went to Barnes and Noble for hot chocolate after dinner, and we looked at an Awkward Family Photos with Pets book. Haha! We stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home. Both kids were asleep when we got home. We talked to my mom for a little while, and then she went home. David and I did some cleaning that night before we went to bed.

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving! We were having my family, my grandparents, and David's parents over for Thanksgiving, so we got up and did a few things around the house like last minute straightening and vacuuming. We were actually doing GREAT on time and had a very relaxed, pleasant morning. Then all heck broke loose ;) No, it wasn't that bad, but a lot of things needed to happen at once right before everyone got here, and it did get a little stressful. I was trying to make a green bean casserole, and Jude needed lunch and a nap, and David was trying to take a shower and get dressed, and Aubrey had just gotten out of the tub and needed clothes... not to mention I had no makeup on at this point. Whew! I had to take some deep breaths and remind myself that it was just family coming over. It did all get done somehow, and our families arrives and we had a wonderful day. My dad did the turkey and the dressing, and everyone else brought stuff too, so it wasn't too much work for any one person. Perfect way to do Thanksgiving in my opinion! :) We ate a little after 1:00, and everything was SO GOOD! After we had all stuffed ourselves, we just sat around visiting and watching football/looking at sale papers/talking. It was nice and relaxing :) After a good LONG nap, Jude woke up, and David and the kids and I changed clothes and went outside to attempt some pictures for our Christmas cards. We had really waited too late in the day, though, and the lighting wasn't great. Being the clueless photographers that we are, we didn't know exactly what setting to put the camera on, and our pictures ended up being blurry when we put them on the computer :( That meant we had to try again another day. David's family and my grandparents left after the picture attempt, and my family stayed a little longer. I decided to start putting up some of our Christmas decorations, so David got everything out of the attic. Aubrey got SO excited -- it was super cute! She told my mom that she was helping me "make Christmas." Haha! My parents left when we got all the mess out ;) I got the tree in the dining room up, and then it was getting close to the kids' bedtime, so I quit decorating so we could get them to bed. After the were asleep, I got on the internet and took it easy the rest of the night. It was a wonderful day with family!

Friday: I got up (not too early) and got ready to go Black Friday shopping with my mom and grandmother. It's something we've done for as long as I can remember, and it's just a fun tradition. We don't get really into it, and there's never anything that we HAVE to have, but we just go for fun. Obviously I'm not too hardcore, because it was close to 10 before I left my house to go meet them. David stayed home with the kids, and I was able to shop by myself. We had fun looking around, and I got a few things on sale, but nothing big. I got a couple of small things for Aubrey for Christmas. We are NOT going overboard for Christmas. Our kids have more than they need already. My mom, grandmother, and I met some friends for lunch at 5 Guys, and that was fun. It was nice to take a break from the shopping and sit for a while :) After lunch, we shopped some more! By the time we finished and I headed home, it was about 4:30. David said they had a good day, but I think it was long. Haha! That evening, we went to Cheddar's for dinner. Jude had a random meltdown at the end, and I had to walk outside with him. It was weird. When we got home, the kids played for a little while before bed. Once they were in bed, I watched Sweet Home Alabama (the TV show) and surfed the internet a little bit. It had been a long day, so we went to bed pretty early.

Saturday: This was a fun day, but for some reason I got SO stressed out. It really had nothing to do with the circumstances and everything to do with me. I'm going to blame it on hormones ;) We had a birthday party for one of Aubrey's little friends to go to that morning at 9, and we were all planning to go. I ended up not getting up early enough apparently. I got up at 7:30, and we ended up being SO rushed, and I got crazy stressed. I do hate feeling rushed, but it wasn't worth getting that stressed over. Telling yourself that doesn't really help in the situation, though ;) It was time for us to be in the car on the way, and I still had wet hair and no makeup on. I told David to just go on with Aubrey and that I would stay home with Jude. I didn't want to make us ridiculously late. But then Aubrey said, "Mommy, don't you want to go to the party with me and Daddy?" Of course I could NOT say no to that, so I took some deep breaths and put my makeup on in the car. Ha! I ended up being really glad I went, because it was fun and both kids LOVED it. It was at The Children's Museum, and that was our first time to go. We'll definitely be going back, though, because Aubrey and Jude had a blast. I would love to take them during the week, but they went opposite directions, so I don't think I could take both of them by myself. After the party, we went to Primos for brunch. That was so fun, and I loved just spending a Saturday doing fun stuff together as a family. However, things got stressful again after that ;) My mom was going to try to take our picture again, and it was really overcast and threatening to rain. We were going to do the pictures after naptime, but we decided we better do them before to beat the rain. Well, that put us doing them right when Jude usually goes down for his nap, and he wasn't happy about pictures. We took a bunch (this time I just decided to let the camera flash because I was desperate at that point) and when I got them on the computer, they were blurry again! What the heck?! I think it's because we were using our zoom lense, and the flash wasn't reaching far enough? It was so dark and overcast. I knew we had to get a picture THAT DAY or we would have to wait at least another week to try again. We we pulled out our big new external flash and went back out. I went from not waning a flash at all to using a huge flash. Haha! Desperate times call for desperate measures ;) Oh, and it had started to drizzle at this point. Jude was melting down, and it was looking hopeless until my grandmother started bouncing and rolling a ball, and we got a smile! I didn't even care at that point about a perfect picture -- I just wanted something useable. I think it turned out pretty good. That big flash really does make a BIG difference in my opinion. It look so much more natural than the flash in the camera. I'll post some of our outtakes later in the week for fun. Ha! We came inside and put Jude to bed, and then I picked out our card. I just felt so much pressure to get it done RIGHT THAT MINUTE. I don't even know why I was so stressed about it. I finally picked one and got our picture all on there, and I was happy with it. I went to save it before I placed my order, and the whole thing got lost. I literally about cried. I just had to walk away. David came to the rescue and redid it for me. He saved my sanity. Haha! After that whole fiasco, we set up the Christmas tree in the living room, and I decorated it while David watched the Iron Bowl and both kids napped. That put me in a better state :) When the kids woke up, we hung out at home (and tried to keep Jude away from the tree).She LOVES to color :)
We then went to dinner at Mellow Mushroom. That was fun and a nice end to a stressful day. We went to Kroger after dinner, and I got enough stuff to last us a week (I'm bad about going to the grocery store two or three times a week), so I won't have to go back with the kids by myself -- yay! It was pouring down rain, so getting everything and everybody into the car was tricky, but we finally made it home :) We put the kids to bed and I put a few more Christmas things out, and then we went to bed fairly early.

Now, it's back to the usual grind, and I'm kind of sad about it. I loved having David home a lot this week, and we had such a fun holiday week. Thankfully I happen to love my "usual grind" so I'll get over sadness that Thanksgiving week is over quickly :)

Thankfulness

2011-11-24T20:03:00.003-06:00

Today, and everyday, I'm thankful for a husband who loves me so selflessly and who I am honored to spend the rest of my life with, two children who have taught me what it means to love someone enough to be willing to die for them, new life growing inside of me, a wonderful and supportive family, friends who "get me" and who offer such encouragement daily, freedom to worship without fear, and being able to go to bed knowing we have a roof over our heads, plenty of food to eat, and more than enough clothes to wear.

I'm thankful for all of that, but mostly, I'm thankful for Christ and the promise of eternity with Him. Without the hope of heaven, all of the above would be meaningless.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Howie family! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

23 Weeks

2011-11-21T22:57:00.000-06:00

Pregnancy Highlights How Far Along: 23 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 11 inches and 15 ounces -- about the size of a papaya!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Umm.... I think I'll be keeping this number to myself! Ha! Just as I feared, I had a pretty big jump over the past 4 weeks. My OB was really nice about it though. She said if I'm staying active (haven't been going to the gym like I should) and watching what I eat, that's all I can do. There will be plenty of time to diet AFTER the baby is born. And after I'm no longer nursing her. Whatever.
Maternity Clothes: Yes. I need to expand my wardrobe, but I'm having the hardest time finding any maternity clothes that I like and feel are reasonably priced. I'm probably just being too cheap, but these are temporary clothes! Maybe there will be some good Black Friday sales ;)
Movement: The kicks are getting stronger and a lot more frequent. I can now feel her kicking from the outside. I usually feel her moving around anytime I sit down and get still for a minute. LOVE that!
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: I've been sleeping like a rock!
What I miss: I'm not missing anything right now :)
Cravings: The other night, I really wanted BBQ. I used to really not like BBQ until I was pregnant with Jude. I craved it like crazy then. I've liked it ever since, and I still crave it occasionally. Tonight, I had to have a veggie sub from Subway.
Symptoms: Bigger appetite than usual (thus, the weight gain) and sleepiness. I've been wanting to take more naps lately.
Best Moment This Week: Going to the doctor and hearing Alaina's heartbeat :) It was strong and in the 140's. My blood pressure was also good which was a relief!
What I Am Looking Forward To: I'm looking forward to a lot: Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, decorating for Christmas, and then starting to work on Jude's new room so that the nursery can become Alaina Ruth's room! Love this time of year!!

Week in Review: Hello, Lysol and Clorox Wipes!

2011-11-20T22:56:00.000-06:00

Well.... this week was good, but it ended with a stomach bug for Aubrey :( That's the worst! I think we've had quite enough sickness over here now! Aubrey's sickness came at a bad time, because we had a BUSY weekend. Thankfully, she was feeling better and we managed :)

Sunday: We got ready and all went to church. I was so happy that Aubrey and Jude were feeling better from their colds and that we could all go to church together again. We had a nice morning at church, and we went over to David's parents' house for lunch afterward. We had fun, and the kids played outside for a while. Sadly, we forgot our camera, though. When Jude started to get super fussy, we knew it was time to head home for his nap. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, and I was able to successfully transfer him to his bed :) We all took naps that afternoon! When it was time for me to get up for church, Jude had just gotten up and David was rocking him. I picked out clothes for the kids, and we all got ready and went to church. When church was over, we ate dinner at Jason's Deli. We had a fun dinner until the end when we lost Jude's pacifier and Aubrey threw my drink and spilled tea everywhere. We made a speedy exit ;) When we got home, we put the kids right to bed, and I watched TV and blogged and David read. We went to bed pretty late, and I could not go to sleep for the longest time. Boo!

Monday: Our day started off nice but it ended up being a long, frustrating day. When we got up, we ate breakfast, I made a grocery list and took a shower and got ready. We then went to Kroger. I'm going to have to come up with a better time to go grocery shopping (like Saturday) because Aubrey just gets crazy hyper when we get in Kroger, and she irritates Jude, and he screams, and I get flustered... by the time we get home, they are ready for lunch and whining and I'm trying to get the groceries put away. It just seems to always set the tone for the rest of the day. Anyway, I got lunch ready for the kids and was just about to put Jude down for his nap when I realized the pacifier had vanished. I turned the house upside down, and I could NOT find one. I got so frustrated and really could have cried. I knew Jude wouldn't nap without a paci, so I loaded the kids BACK up in the car, and we went to the store to get more pacifiers. By the time we got home, it was past naptime, so I put the kids right to bed and hoped for long naps. Jude went to sleep easily, but he slept for less than two hours. Aubrey was being so loud during his nap, but I'm really not sure what she was doing. When I would go to her room to tell her to play quietly, she didn't really seem to be doing anything overly noisy. Finally, after going to her room four times, I told her to just rest in her bed for the rest of naptime. Right as she got quiet, Jude woke up :( I was going to leave Aubrey in bed 15 more minutes until it had been two hours, but when I went to get her, she had fallen asleep. Jude and I came back downstairs, and I put up a bunch of clean clothes in my room while he played. Then I read and talked/played with Jude until I needed to wake Aubrey up. When she got up, we came downstairs, and the kids played. I started cooking some pasta for dinner, but Jude got really fussy and it was hard to get anything done. I finally got dinner ready, and we ate. Jude was difficult to please with food as he has been lately. I'm really hoping it's because he's teething. When we finished eating, we played in the living room and watched Dancing. I bathed Jude and vacuumed. Jude fell and hit his mouth and it bled. Poor baby :( After I got him taken care of, I put him to bed. David got home as soon as I got downstairs, and I was so happy to see him! He bathed Aubrey and put her to bed, and I sat down and didn't do anything productive the rest of the night. Ha!

Tuesday: We had Bible Study, and I was happy to be getting out of the house. We got ready and made it to Bible Study on time, and we had a really good discussion that day. After it was over, Rebekkah and I went to lunch with the kiddos. We went to Broadstreet, and it was good and not too crowded. When we finished with lunch, we came home for naps. Jude took a pretty good nap, and Aubrey played quietly. When they got up, David came home for a little while before he had to go to church for a meeting. I was glad to get to see him for a short time before he had to leave again. Aubrey kind of went into meltdown mode, unfortunately. I knew we were going to have to get out of the house to pass the evening more quickly, so the kids and I loaded up and went to Chick Fil A for dinner when David left. I let them play in the play area after we ate, and they really enjoyed that. When they had played for a while, we left and went to Hobby Lobby. I didn't really find anything, but we had fun just browsing. By that point, it was close enough to bedtime that I thought I could handle just going on home ;) I turned on Dancing with the Stars and put Jude to bed when we got home, and I was just about to get Aubrey ready for bed when David let me know he was on his way home. That was a lot earlier than I was expecting him, so I let Aubrey stay up until he got home. Once he got home and Aubrey went to bed, David and I talked about our days and his meeting for a long time. We went to bed fairly late.

Wednesday: We got up and ate breakfast, and then I looked online for a recipe. We were having a potluck dinner at church that night, so I had to go to the grocery store to get something to take. I got us all dressed, and we ran to Kroger. It was a quick trip, and we ate lunch when we got home. I then bathed Jude and put him down for a nap. He went right to sleep and slept for over three hours. I gave Aubrey a bath next, and she ended up sleeping too. Whoo! While they napped, I took a shower and got ready, and then I made my dish to take to church that night. Aubrey woke up, and I got her ready for church. I ended up having to wake Jude up to leave for tutoring. Hate waking him up! When we got to tutoring, it was a little crazy. My mom and I were the only tutors there that day (we usually have a lot on Wednesdays), but we managed. I had realized when we got to church that I had forgotten my box of materials to teach my 4 and 5 year olds AGAIN (I had forgotten it the week before too). I knew I couldn't just wing it again, so I left the kids with David and went home to get my materials. We don't live very close to our church, so it took a while. While I was home by myself, I decided to vacuum really quickly. Haha! By the time I got back to church, it was time to eat dinner. We ate, and then the kids went to the nursery and I taught my class. When it was over, we waited for David to finish what he was doing (changing light bulbs in the sanctuary) and then we came home. We put the kids to bed when we got home, and then I got on the internet for a little while and David watched some TV before bed.

Thursday: I was up BRIGHT and EARLY because I had an 8:00 OB appointment. David was going to stay with the kids and just go to work a little late. My appointment went well. The baby's heartbeat was strong and in the 140's :) Since my appointment was so early, it didn't take long. When I got home, Aubrey was still asleep! Crazy! She woke up just as David was leaving for work. The kids and I had a nice, laid back day. We ate lunch and played, and then it was naptime. Jude woke up after only an hour, but I rocked him and he went back to sleep for two more hours! I was shocked, but Aubrey napped too. I did not expect that AT ALL since she had slept so late. It was perfect because I was able to take a nap myself. I was going to a late movie that night, and I wanted to get some rest. When we all got up, we hung around the house and played.It's the bathing suit again! If it's clean, Aubrey's wearing it. Period.

I got ready, and then we ate chicken chili that I had put in the crockpot earlier when David got home. Then it was time for me to leave! I was going to a surprise birthday party for our pastor's wife. I picked Rebekkah up, and then we met my parents and my mom rode with us too. The party was really fun! We had desserts, and then we all painted a bird picture. Mine didn't turn our great, but I had fun doing it, which was the whole point :) After the party, my mom, Rebekkah, and I left, and we went to the movie theater. My dad met us there to pick up my mom. Rebekkah and I then stayed for the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn! We were there really early, but the theater was still PACKED! We were happy to find two decent seats together. I enjoyed seeing the movie -- it made me realize that I need to reread the books because I was having a hard time remembering what was coming next. It was so fun to have a late night girls night :) Although, Rebekkah and I are both pregnant and were pretty sleepy by the time we got out of there at 2:30 AM ;) We made it home safely, and I went right to bed.

Friday: At 5 AM, Aubrey woke up really upset. I was so out of it because I had only been asleep about 2 hours. David went to check on her and then I saw the light on in the laundry room. I went to see what was going on, and David said that Aubrey had "spit up." He thought it was just because she had been coughing, but I knew it was the stomach bug right away. The night before, I had found out that one of Aubrey's little friends who she played with at church on Wednesday night had come down with a stomach bug, so I was really afraid that it would strike us too. Sure enough, she threw up again at 6. David was SO sweet to handle it. I've said it a million times before, but I have a total throw up phobia. Thankfully, Aubrey didn't seem bothered by it at all. She was fine in between throwing up. David stayed in Aubrey's room after that, and I got up with Jude at 7. I was SO tired after only 4 interrupted hours of sleep. I fed Jude breakfast and we played until David and Aubrey came downstairs at 8. David said that she had thrown up one more time, but it had been a while. I was hopeful that she wouldn't get sick again. David went to go get ready for work, and Aubrey threw up all over the place while he was taking a shower. I was trying to help her and keep Jude out of it, and I about lost it. That would stress me out anytime, but on very little sleep, I didn't think I could make it through the day. My SWEET husband saw that I was having a really hard time, and he stayed home from work to help me. He's the BEST! I was really glad he could stay home, because I REALLY wanted to try to keep Aubrey and Jude separated. David and I kind of tag teamed taking care of them. Poor Aubrey got sick many more times after that. She was crying for water, but every time we would give her even half a teaspoon, she would get sick :( It was SO sad. I ran to Kroger to get supplies (Clorox wipes, Lysol, Saltines, Sprite, etc.). When I got back, Aubrey had been able to keep a little water down finally. We continued to give her very small amounts every 15 minutes, and she didn't get sick again. Meanwhile, Jude just played and was fine the whole time. We gave him lunch, and Aubrey was actually asking for food too, but we wanted to give it more time. We told her that she could eat after her nap if she still felt like it. She was fine with that. I put Jude down for a nap, and then I NEEDED a nap too! I told David that I would keep Jude's monitor on and deal with him when he woke up, but David told me to turn it off. I felt bad, but I was so tired that I did it. I figured I wouldn't sleep that long anyway. Well, I woke up THREE HOURS and FORTY MINUTES later. Whoa. I rushed out to see what was going on, and Jude was awake but Aubrey was sleeping. I felt bad for sleeping so long, but David said one or both of the kids had been asleep the whole time. Whew! When Aubrey woke up, she seemed to be feeling better, so she had some crackers and some rice. She didn't get sick, praise the Lord! I was supposed to go to a rehearsal that night at our church since I'm the assistant wedding coordinator, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it. When Aubrey was feeling so much better and not getting sick anymore, David told me to go on. The rehearsal was fine, but it did take a while. It was about 7:15 when I left church, and I stopped and picked up pizza for David and me for dinner. It was Jude's bedtime when I got home, so I put him to bed. David and I ate dinner, and then he put Aubrey (who was feeling even better) to bed. I thought I would be wired after my long nap, but I got so sleepy at 9:30. Crazy! Usually I'm not so lazy. Haha! I made myself stay up later than that, but we did go to bed early for a Friday night.

Saturday: Everyone slept until 8 that morning! It was amazing! I really expected Jude to get sick sometime in the night, but he never did. Since we were all feeling fine, I went ahead and got ready for a shower I was co-hosting that morning. I was supposed to be there to help set up at 9:15, but it was a little later than that when I got there. The shower was a brunch baby shower, and it went so well! I love baby showers :) By the time it was over and I helped clean-up, it was time for me to go straight to the church for the wedding. Rebekkah was already there, and I helped get the sound turned on, and then it was time for everything to start! I helped Rebekkah open and close the doors for the processional, and then I ran up to the balcony and did the sound. I was so worried that I was going to screw something up, but it was fine. After the wedding, we had to stick around until they were done with pictures, and then we got all the lights turned off and the building locked up. By the time I left, it was close to 4. It had been a LONG day on my feet in heels. It was a good day, though. I ran into Motherhood Maternity on my way home to look for some winter clothes, but I only got one sale shirt. It's just so hard for me to spend money on maternity clothes. I think it's a bit crazy to have to spend $30 on a 3/4 length sleeve stripped tee. I think I'll keep looking for some sales ;) When I got home, I was glad to see David and the kids since I had been gone all day! They were outside racking leaves, so I joined them. We were supposed to go to my grandparents house that night for a Thanksgiving meal with my aunt since she won't be in town next week, but we didn't want to risk exposing anyone to potential germs. Bummer! We decided to just stick close to home. We did load up and go pick up some BBQ to eat for dinner. We brought it back home and ate dinner here. We put both kids to bed, and then I baked some cookies and David and I watched Jane Eyre on demand. The movie was kind of weird, but it was fun to just sit and watch a movie with David :) We went to bed after it was over.

I'm looking forward to this week because we have none of our regular activities since it's Thanksgiving week. No karate, no book club, no tutoring, no church Wednesday night.... just a lot of family time! :) So excited about that!

16 months on the 16th!

2011-11-16T22:10:00.001-06:00

My sweet little Jude is 16 months old today! It's been several months since I've done an update on him and his milestones, so I figured it was past time! :) At 16 months old, Jude is a busy, busy little guy! He's into everything and he keeps us alert, that's for sure!

-A few days before he turned 14 months old, he started walking! I can't believe I never blogged about that, but you probably figured out that he's walking by now ;) The secret to getting him to walk was squeaky shoes! I had ordered a pair for him, and the first time I put them on his feet, he fell in LOVE with making them squeak! He literally went from taking a few steps at a time to walking exclusively in a few days. It was SO cute to watch him -- he would get so excited and proud when his little shoes were squeaking :)

And just because it's hilarious, I wanted to post this video. This was the fist day Jude wore the squeaky shoes, and he had been walking more than he ever had. I grabbed the video camera to record him, and this is what happened:
Oh the joys of a new walker! Thankfully, he was FINE! Just a little bruise on the head for a few days. I would never post that video if he had really hurt himself.

-Jude is a picky eater. It's about to drive me crazy. I feel like he never eats anything, but I guess he's getting more than I realize since he's growing and thriving. We're in the stage where he throws everything on the floor and makes a HUGE mess every single meal. Ughh.

-Thankfully, Jude is now a good sleeper! That was a long time coming! Lately, we've had one cold after another on top of teething, so sleep hasn't been great, but usually Jude goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until 7-7:30. He takes one nap a day after lunch (he dropped his morning nap right after his birthday), and it's usually about 2 -3 hours long. He goes to sleep easily on his on which is so nice.

-Our pediatrician had told us to continue giving Jude a couple bottles of cow's milk a day until he was 15 months since he wouldn't touch milk from a cup. We dropped his bottle cold turkey, and he really did great. He had one or two days where he had more trouble going to sleep, but he adapted quickly. And wouldn't you know it, within a DAY of us dropping his bottle, he decided to start drinking milk from a cup! I was glad that he gave it a try :) He still drinks mostly water, but I'm glad that he is getting some milk too.

-Jude really isn't saying a lot of words, but he babbles a ton, so I'm not worried. Recognizable words are: Uh-Oh, Ball (sounds like ba), Mama. That's pretty much it. I'm sure he is saying other things that I just haven't picked up on yet. Aubrey really started talking a lot at around 18 months, so I think Jude will do the same. I know he understands a lot of what we say. He can follow simple commands, like "go find your ball." It's so cute when he goes and gets it and brings it to me!

-He claps when we say "yay!" He blows kisses and gives the SWEETEST hugs. He squeezes so tight and makes an adorable little hug noise (I don't know how else to describe it?). He plays peek a boo, and he waves sometimes (although not a ton).

-He loves Knightly and he will get so excited when he sees him out the window. Precious! Just like Aubrey, Jude loves to be outside!

-Jude has a pretty sweet, laid back personality, but he's definitely not afraid to stand up for himself. If Aubrey takes a toy away from him (which does happen quite a bit), he screams and holds on tight. It's kind of funny, but I know I shouldn't laugh at fighting. He has gotten to the age where he wants specific toys, and usually Aubrey wants the same toys. Of course. We have definitely had some cat fights around here lately! Aubrey and Jude still love each other so much, though, and they play sweetly together most of the time.

-Jude is a little climber! He loves to climb onto the couch or chairs or anything that he can. It makes me a nervous wreck because he will then stand up. Jude is very rough and tumble, and he seems to be ALL BOY so far! :)

-We haven't weighed Jude in a while, but I think he weighs about 24 pounds. He seems pretty average as far as his size goes. He wears a size 18 month in most clothes. He just moved up to a size 4 in shoes (and sometimes 4 1/2).

-Jude has never needed a haircut, and I don't think he will be needing one in the near future. His hair is definitely getting thicker and longer, though, and I love his little curls!

-He has at least 8 teeth with possibly more coming in. He's been working on his molars, and they've been mean to him! He doesn't handle teething well. I think he must be more bothered by pain than Aubrey was, because teething was never this hard for her. Poor little guy!

I love watching Jude grow and develop his own personality. It's so fun to see how all of our different personalities work together to form our family. I can't imagine our family without either one of our children, and we are so blessed to be their parents. Sweet little Jude has brought so much love and laughter (and some sleepless nights!) to our family for the past 16 months, and we just all love him dearly!

New Look and Nice Men

2011-11-15T13:22:00.002-06:00

First I just want to say a big THANK YOU to my sweet blog friend, Alexis. She offered to redesign my blog for me, and I think it turned out so cute! I am feeling the itch to pull out the Christmas decorations for our house, but I haven't done it yet. So, it was fun to at least be able to "decorate" the blog for Christmas :) Thank you so much, Alexis!!

Next I just wanted to record a couple things Aubrey has said. Several weeks ago, Aubrey saw the garbage truck coming down our street, and she was very interested in everything that was going on with that. I told her that those men were picking up our trash. She then said something about the "yucky men" who were picking up our yucky trash. That led me to launch into a speech about how the men weren't yucky. I told her that they were people just like us, and that it was nice of them to pick up our trash. I explained that picking up the trash was their job and we should be thankful that they were doing their job. Well, I think she got the message. She now refers to them as "those nice boys who pick up our trash." We were driving down a busy street today and we saw a garbage truck. There were no men on the back of the truck, of course, since they weren't picking up trash at the time. Aubrey said, "Mommy, look! There is a garbage truck! But where are the nice men who pick up trash?" Haha! I think she's just the cutest! :)

Also, we've had some issues with Aubrey staying quiet during "naptime." I don't expect her to sleep and I'm fine with her playing, but it needs to be quiet play since Jude is sleeping across the hall. I have to go up to her room occasionally to remind her to play quietly. Today before naptime, she told me, "I'm going to try really hard to be quiet. But if I'm not quiet, I'm going to be very sorry." I guess I can't ask for much more than that! ;)

22 Weeks

2011-11-14T21:26:00.001-06:00

Is it just me or does this look more like a 30 week belly? Ha! Whatever... I embrace the bump! :)

Pregnancy Highlights How Far Along: 22 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 10.5 inches and 12.7 ounces -- about the size of a papaya!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'll find out at my doctor's appointment on Thursday. And I'm kind of scared that my OB is going to be mad. She's kind of a weight nazi ;-/
Maternity Clothes: Oh yes. I'm getting so tired of my 4 shirts. Although, we've had a warm spell, so I've been able to wear some of my short sleeved shirts which drastically expands my wardrobe. I think I have maybe 6 short sleeved shirts! Haha!
Movement: I'm finally feeling frequent, regular movement, and that makes me so happy! She usually has an active time somewhere mid to late morning, and she's active again in the evenings. I feel random little kicks and punches between those two active times :)
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: Sleep has been SO MUCH better at our house the past several nights. Thank God the kids are feeling better! I have had a more difficult time getting comfortable, though, so I'm hoping I'm not coming to the uncomfortable stage already. It's going to be a long 18 weeks (approximately) if so... haha!
What I miss: Really, I'm not missing anything. I love this stage of pregnancy, so anything I miss pales to what I'm gaining :) (No put intended on the gaining part. Ha!)
Cravings: No big cravings. The other night, I was really in the mood for hibachi food, but it wasn't strong enough for me to consider it a craving. I have been wanting a lot of salads and fresh food. Maybe that will stick around!
Symptoms: Round ligament pain when I make sudden movements. I've also been really hungry.... maybe Alaina Ruth is having a growth spurt ;)
Best Moment This Week: We had the cutest conversation with Aubrey about Alaina last night. She was telling us everything she is going to share with her baby sister. It was just so sweet! She said, "When Alaina 'Roof' gets bigger, I'm going to share my panties and my potty with her!" Haha! And then she added, "Maybe Jude can share his diapers!" I guess she was concerned about Alaina being properly equipped to go to the bathroom? Ha! Aubrey also asked me if Alaina had on a diaper in my belly. Which led her to ask when Alaina got in my belly anyway? I told her God put Alaina in my belly several months ago :) Another fun moment was finding the dresser for the nursery and seeing how cute it looks in the room. I just can't wait to get everything ready for Alaina Ruth :)
What I Am Looking Forward To: I'm excited about my doctor's appointment this week. It's always nice to hear all is well.

Week in Review: Colds, Teeth, and a Day Trip

2011-11-13T22:44:00.001-06:00

This week, we spent a lot of time at home because the kids (mostly Jude) were under the weather. David and I ended up catching colds too, so that was no fun. Having a cold and taking care of kids who also have colds is tiring! We made it, though, and we are all doing much better! Jude has been super fussy the past few days again, and we're praying it's just teeth (he seems to be getting some on the bottom) and not ears!

Sunday: Jude was still under the weather, sadly, so I stayed home from church with him. I helped David get Aubrey ready for church, and the two of them left. Jude and I had a nice morning at home, although it was pretty different just having him here! It was so quiet! I played with him for a while, and then I took a shower. I cooked some mashed potatoes, but Jude wouldn't touch them. He's SO picky these days and mealtime just stresses me out! I got him to eat a few things, and then I put him down for his nap. I cooked the rest of our lunch (green beans and fish), and we ate when David and Aubrey got home. They told me about church, and then David put Aubrey down for a nap, and I took a nap too. I got up that afternoon and got ready for church. David had to do the sound that night at church, so my mom had offered to come over and keep Jude so that David and I could both go to church :) Of course, Aubrey wanted to stay with Gramzie too, so we let her. It was nice to be able to go to church, and we stopped and picked up some dinner at Newks on the way home. We put the kids to bed that evening, and then I watched some TV.

Monday: Jude was up bright and early! I'm really not a fan of daylight savings these days! We hung out at home until Aubrey woke up, and then I made a grocery list and we went to Kroger. We got lots of groceries (we had NO FOOD at our house), and then we came home and unloaded the groceries. I baked some chicken for lunch and attempted to feed Jude. Most of the food ended up on the floor, as usual. Aubrey and I ate lunch, and then I put them down for naps. They took pretty good naps, and I took a short nap myself. When the kids woke up, we went to Target to get some medicine for the nebulizer. We were doing breathing treatments for Aubrey and Jude at that point because they were both coughing. When we got home, I cooked dinner. I fixed baked mac and cheese, and I thought the kids would both eat it. WRONG! Neither child would eat it. It was especially frustrating with Aubrey because she wouldn't even taste it. I'm all about letting kids have preferences on food just like adults. However, we've been having problems lately with Aubrey being SUPER picky and not even tasting food, and we end up wasting a lot of food. I told her she couldn't get up until she ate two bites of food, and she refused, so she ended up sitting at the table until David got home two hours later. It was incredibly frustrating, and I really had no idea how to handle the situation. Thankfully, Aubrey was totally fine sitting at the table. She didn't seem bothered in the least. Jude and I watched some Dancing with the Stars, and then I put him to bed. David came home and had a talk with Aubrey. Obviously, we couldn't force her to eat, so she chose to go to bed without any more dinner. Whatever. She just has to realize that we're not running a buffet over here. So after the kids were in bed, I was VERY happy to just sit and do nothing for a little while. I had a cold and wasn't feeling great anyway, so I ended up going to bed pretty early.

Tuesday: We were still snotty and under the weather, so Bible Study was a no go, sadly :( We had another low-key day at home. I didn't even get a ton done around the house since I wasn't feeling my best either.

These pictures CRACK ME UP. I mean, can you get any more redneck than having a photo shoot with your kids sitting on a pack of paper towels while one of them wears a bathing suit in November and the other one wears his pajamas? I think no! Awkward family photos anyone?! Aubrey found this bathing suit in her drawer, and she has been wearing it non-stop. I turn my head for two seconds and she's got it on again. Haha! That girl cracks me me!The kids and I did go outside to play late morning, and it was really nice to just be outside getting fresh air. Aubrey and Jude had fun playing, and we were all content to be out of the house. We came back inside around lunch time. I fed the kids, and then I put them down for their naps. I took a shower and then I rested myself. Jude didn't take a great nap. Surprise, surprise. I put some soup in the crockpot for David and the kids to have for dinner, because I had Bunco. That afternoon, David came home and he took Aubrey and Jude outside to play. I got ready for Bunco, and then I went to go vote. I ran to Kroger to get some Fritos for David to go with his soup. I took those back home and stayed outside for a few minutes before I needed to go. When I left, Aubrey was digging in the dirt in her bathing suit, and Jude was having a jolly good time playing in the dirt, too. Haha! I figured their night would be ok :) I picked Rebekkah up, and we rode to Bunco together. We had a really fun time, and I was glad for some adult conversation after being at home all week :) I even won a prize for most games! Wow, that almost never happens for me ;) When I got home, David told me about their night, and we talked for a little while before going to bed.

Wednesday: I had arranged to take the kids over to my parents' house that morning so that I could go to the gym. But Jude woke up early, I wasn't feeling my best, and Aubrey woke up GRUMPY, so I was really thinking we would just stay home. I texted my mom to tell her we weren't going to come, and she encouraged us to come anyway, so we did! Aubrey perked up on the way to their house, and I was glad I went to the gym after the fact even though I didn't feel like it. After my workout, I went and picked the kids up, and we stayed at my parents' house for a few minutes before heading home for lunch. Lunchtime was a bit of a disaster. Aubrey had requested some cheese, but then she decided she didn't like cheese after all (she does). It was so frustrating because I hate wasting food, so she didn't end up eating much for lunch since she wouldn't touch the cheese. David and I need to come up with a game plan for how to handle those situations. Jude rubbed banana in his freshly washed hair while I was talking to Aubrey. Ughh. I got him cleaned up (sponge bath) and then put him down for his nap. I put Aubrey down next, and wouldn't you know it, they both slept GREAT! I had to get ready for tutoring, so I didn't really get to enjoy it, and I had to wake both of them up. But I know the good naps did them a lot of good. They were in better spirits that afternoon :) We went to tutoring, and that went well. After it was over, I talked to David while the kids played in the gym until dinner time. We ate at church, and then I realized that the box with all of my teaching materials was not in my car. Ughhh. Teacher of the year right here! :/ I had to improvise with my kids, but I don't think they minded coloring and talking too much. After class, we got the kids from the nursery, and then we went home. My mom came over to spend the night with us, because David and I were going to Birmingham the next day, and we had to leave really early. We got the kids to bed and told my mom what to do for them the next day, and then we went to bed.

Thursday: We got up EARLY. David wanted to leave the house before 7, so I had to get up before I'm used to. Haha! David had a work meeting in Birmingham that day, and he had asked if I wanted to ride with him and shop during his meeting. It was nice to have the time in the car to just talk, and it was really nice to just get a little break for the day. It came during a good week. We made good time on the way there, and David dropped me off at a mall and went to his meeting. I walked around a TON and went in a lot of stores. I'm not usually the kind of person who likes to do a LOT of stuff totally alone, but I really did enjoy the quiet that day. I even ate lunch by myself! That was a first for me -- I've never eaten at a restaurant completely alone. It wasn't even that bad ;) After I had been to most of the stores I wanted to go to, I went to Barnes and Noble and just sat and read until David finished. He met me at Barnes an Noble, and he was starving since he hadn't had lunch. So we went to The Cheesecake Factory :) I just had soup and salad since it was still really early for dinner. Then we split a piece of cheesecake, and it was SO GOOD! After we ate, we went to Pottery Barn Kids and got a quilt for Jude's big boy bed :) I had already gotten one online, but we decided we want to do bunk beds in his room when the time comes, so we needed another one. The quilt was no longer available online because it had been discontinued, but they had one in the store! Plus, it was MAJORLY marked down! I was so excited about that deal! We then left the mall and stopped at a Jo Ann's fabric store on our way out of town, and I got some fabric for an applique for a dress for Aubrey. After that we hit the road to get home. The trip home seemed to take longer than the trip there, but we made it home around 8:30. Jude was already in bed, but Aubrey was still up, and she was HYPER. Haha! She stayed up for a while longer until my family left, and then David put her to bed. We went to bed fairly early, and I slept like a rock that night! :)

Friday: I was really hoping that Jude would sleep a little late for me, but he was up at 6:15 :( I didn't get him out of bed until 7, though. When we got up, he was SO fussy and grumpy. He was just screaming about every little thing. It was pretty frustrating, and I was worried we were in for a long day. Aubrey got up, and he perked up a little. I took a shower and got dressed, and then I bathed the kids. We got ready and went to Mellow Mushroom to meet Sarah Denley and her kids for lunch. It had been forever since we had seen them due to sickness. Jude fell asleep in the car on the way to lunch, so that rejuvenated him enough to make it through lunch :) We had fun catching up, and the kids did fine. Aubrey got a little wild toward the end, and Jude wanted out of his highchair, but it was fine. When we got home from lunch, I put Jude down for a nap, and I put Aubrey in her room. David called to let me know that he was leaving work early (he wasn't busy since it was Veteran's Day), and I just got on the internet for a while until he got home. He had stopped and bought some ground cover to plant around our storm shelter, so he wanted to go outside and work. I took the baby monitor out there, and I went to a consignment store to look for some shoes for Jude, but I didn't find any. When I got home, the kids were up, and they were all outside. David was still working in the yard, so I stayed outside and played with the kids. I took them to swing for a little while, and then we just played on the deck. When David got to a stopping point, we all went inside and got cleaned up for dinner. We went to a hibachi place to eat, and Aubrey LOVED it. It was so cute! Jude, on the other hand, was so fussy and wanted to sit in David's lap the whole meal. When I finished eating, I took Jude outside to walk around until David and Aubrey could finish eating. When we were all done, we went to two shoes stores to get some church shoes for Jude. When we finally found some, I went to pay for them, and their credit card machine was down. Of course I had no cash or check, so they had to hold the shoes for me so that I could go back the next day to get them. We came home after that, and I put Jude to bed. David put Aubrey to bed, and then I watched Sweet Home Alabama (the TV show) before I went to bed.

Saturday: Jude had gotten up in the night, and he was awake from 1:30-2:15. David and I each rocked him, and then David found the teething medicine and gave him some, and he went to sleep after that (thank God!). After all that, Jude ended up sleeping until after 8. SO NICE. David got up then, and I got up at 9. I took a shower and got ready, and then Rebekkah picked me up so that we could go get our hair cut. We both go to my cousin, Devin, so we make our appointments at the same time so we can ride together :) I was glad to get a haircut -- it had been a while! After we finished there, we stopped at a consignment store that has furniture. I was looking for a dresser for Alaina's room, but I didn't see anything. When Rebekkah dropped me off at home, Jude was napping and David was going to put Aubrey down soon. So I ran to Subway to get a veggie sub. Yum! I ate it when I got home, and then David went outside to finish up the yard work he had started the day before. I got on the internet for a little while, and then I went to meet my mom and grandmother at a Flea Market. I had never been to this Flea Market, and it was so fun! They had a lot of junk mixed in with a lot of good stuff. I love places like that! The best part was that I fond a dresser to use in the nursery! AND it's already painted white, so I won't have to do a ton to it. Yay! Since I had the carseats in my car, we loaded the dresser into my mom and grandmother's car, and they said they would deliver it to my house :) I stopped and picked up the shoes for Jude from the night before and a coke icee on my way home. The kids had just gotten up when I got home.
Just playing in the toy cabinet :)

We all played outside until my mom and grandmother got to our house. My mom helped David carry the dresser upstairs, and then we played in the front yard for a while. Our neighbor came over to talk, and my mom and grandmother stayed for a while. When it was getting dark, they left, and we went inside. Jude was pretty fussy again, even though he had taken a good nap :( We got dressed and went to grab dinner. We made it quick since Jude wasn't happy. When we got home, there was something on TV that David wanted to watch, so he watched that and the kids played. I read until the kids' bedtime, and then we got them to bed. David finished watching his program, and I looked at Christmas cards online :) We went to bed pretty late that night.

21 Weeks

2011-11-09T12:34:00.002-06:00

We took this picture late last night when I got home from Bunco. For some reason, we can't remember to take these pictures until I'm ready to get ready for bed! Haha! Therefore, my makeup is mostly gone, and I just look sleepy. But, it is what it is. Maybe we'll remember to take it earlier next week :)

Pregnancy Highlights How Far Along: 21 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 10.5 inches and 12.7 ounces -- about the size of a banana!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: After all the Halloween candy that I've consumed, I don't even want to talk about my weight :-/
Maternity Clothes: Yes. See above my weight. Haha!
Movement: I've really started to feel her move more in the past week! It's been frequent enough to keep me from worrying, so that's nice :) Of course, some days I feel her more than others, but I know it just depends on my activity level.
Gender: It's a GIRL!!! Her name is Alaina Ruth :)
Sleep: Between sicks kids who aren't sleeping well, and having a cold myself, sleep hasn't been wonderful this past week. I can't really blame any of it on Alaina Ruth, though :)
What I miss: I miss not thinking about how everything I eat is going to make me so fat. Haha! When I'm not pregnant, I can kind of eat what I want (to a certain extent), but that just is not the case when I'm pregnant. And by the way, I know I end up talking about my weight a lot in these posts, but I really am not usually a person who obsesses about my weight. I try to be in shape, and I want to look thin of course, but it's not something I'm constantly thinking about (contrary to how it may seem from reading these posts....) :)
Cravings: Halloween candy? Haha! No, seriously, I really haven't had any major cravings.
Symptoms: Sleepiness in the afternoons. I have to fight the urge to take a nap everyday after lunch!
Best Moment This Week: I've loved calling Alaina by name this week! I'm loving her name more and more :) I also really enjoy the more frequent movement.
What I Am Looking Forward To: I'm excited about finding a dresser to paint/distress for Alaina's room. We've decided not to redo the nursery (it's pretty gender neutral, in my opinion), but we will change a few small things to make it Alaina's room instead of Jude's. He will be getting a new room! I'm ready to tackle all of our little projects!

Week in Review: Sickness Strikes AGAIN!

2011-11-07T21:22:00.001-06:00

Our week was pretty boring, and unfortunately, it ended in MORE sickness! We have been sick so much this fall, and it's really getting old! I'm trying so hard to keep it in perspective, because we're dealing with very minor issues. But I'm just tired after several nights of disrupted sleep, and staying home with fussy kids who don't feel well can be challenging. BUT, I think we're on the mend, and maybe we will have a well spell after this? We can only hope and pray that we do!

Sunday: We went to church and Sunday School that morning. We came home to eat white chili soup for lunch after church, and then I made a cream cheese spread for some finger sandwiches I was taking to church that night. The kids and I took a nap that afternoon. We went back to church that evening, and we had a joint Reformation service with our sister church. After the service, we had a reception in the Fellowship Hall. It was really fun, and it was nice to see old friends who I hadn't seen in a long time. When we got home, we put the kids to bed, and I watched some TV and blogged. Jude had a bit of a rough night. He kept waking up off and on, and I gave him Tylenol, but it didn't really seem to help. Finally at 3:30, David went to his room and swabbed his gums with some teething medicine we got from the pediatrician. He slept soundly the rest of the night, we figured he was definitely teething.

Monday: Even after a rough night, Jude was still up at 7. I was pretty tired since I didn't get a solid night of sleep. Sweet little man in his PJ's! Even when he has a rough night and gets me up earlier than I would like, I can't help but forgive him! :)

We were supposed to have our storm shelter installed that morning, so David had stayed home from work to oversee that. He was planning on working that afternoon, but then they called and said they wouldn't be at our house until 11. It was too late to be worth it for him to go to work and then come back at that point, so that was frustrating for him. Aubrey ended up sleeping pretty late, and I was able to be very productive since David was home that morning. He did go outside for a while and do some work in the yard, but when he got back in, we did a lot of de-cluttering. I also switched out my summer shoes for my winter ones. My winter shoes had been sitting in our bedroom floor for weeks, so it was NICE to get them picked up. I then did lots of laundry and cleaned the bathrooms. We gave the kids lunch, and I put Jude down for a nap. The storm shelter people FINALLY arrived around 1. Ugh. More pictures of our little shelter coming soon! ;)

I put Aubrey down for her nap right about that time, and then I went to the grocery store and just put the monitor outside with David. It was nice to be able to grocery shop without the kids! When I got home, I unloaded and put away the groceries. David had gotten Aubrey up, because apparently she heard all the noise in the backyard and started knocking on her window. Haha!I put dinner in the crockpot, and I folded more laundry. Jude took a nice long nap, thankfully. He wasn't in the best mood when he woke up, though :( That afternoon as soon as the storm shelter was installed, David had to rush off to teach karate for my dad's ministry (he volunteers twice a week teaching karate). I thought my evening alone with the kids would be better than usual since David had been home all day, but I've decided that evenings are just hard by yourself, regardless of how the day has been. At least that's the case for me. The kids and I played for a while, and then we ate beef and broccoli and brown rice for dinner. Jude ate pretty well before everything started hitting the floor. After dinner, we watched Dancing with the Stars. The evening went downhill from there. Aubrey pushed Jude over at one point, and it really did hurt him. I was so upset and ended up sending her to sit in another room while I cooled off. I talked to her and she got in trouble, but that was just so frustrating. It took Jude a while to calm down from that. I gave him a bath that evening, and he was just so fussy. I was ready to put him to bed! Unfortunately, he had a ROUGH time going to sleep. He usually goes to sleep so easily, so I didn't know what was going on. He was fine as long as I was in the room, but the minute I would walk out, he would get so upset. Aubrey needed a bath, but I couldn't put her in the tub as long as I kept having to go up to Jude's room. Finally, David got home and bathed Aubrey. I ended up giving Jude Tylenol again and rocking him, and he went to sleep after that. David put Aubrey to bed, and the house was finally quiet! David and I talked while he ate dinner, and then I enjoyed the quiet until I went to bed.

Tuesday: Jude and I got up early and got ready for Bible Study. Aubrey slept until 9, so I was kind of rushed getting her ready, but we made it. We had a good Bible Study, although there was less discussion than some of the past weeks. Sadly, Rebekkah couldn't make it that day, so we didn't get to go to lunch afterwards. The kids and I came home to eat lunch, and then I put them down for their naps. I put some meat in the crockpot for dinner, and then I rested while the kids were in their rooms. Jude took FOREVER to fall asleep. Like, two hours. He was talking and fussing, and I'd go to his room and he would be quiet for a minute and then start back. And everytime he got quiet, I would hear a big bang from Aubrey's room, and he'd start making noise again. I went to her room several times to tell her to be quiet, and I finally just told her she had to stay in bed since she couldn't be quiet. She ended up going to sleep, and Jude finally did too, but I just felt like a terrible mom after that whole experience. I didn't feel bad for telling Aubrey she had to get in bed since she wasn't obeying, but I just felt like I was too snappy and impatient with her. And really, Jude taking forever to fall asleep isn't the end of the world, and it's not worth getting frustrated about. Then I read a blog post that Sarah Denley had linked to (I was going to link to it, but for some reason it wouldn't go to the post), and I cried I felt so bad for not just being thankful for my kids and their health. Anyway, Jude woke up, and David got home, and then I went to get Aubrey up. I had a talk with her and told her I was sorry for snapping at her, and of course she still loved me :) Everything is better when Daddy gets home!

David took the kids outside to play while I finished dinner. We had beef sandwiches and sweet potato fries. We had a nice dinner together, and then I put Jude to bed and watched some TV. I flipped back and forth between the Dancing with the Stars results show and 19 Kids and Counting. Then I watched some of The Little Couple. Haha! It ended up being a nice relaxing evening after a stressful afternoon.

Wednesday: That morning after we ate breakfast and got dressed, I took Aubrey and Jude to my parents' house and went to the gym. I walked on the treadmill and did a few weights and then I went to some consignment stores around my parents' house looking for some shoes for Jude, but I didn't find any. I went to pick the kids up, and my grandmother had gone to my parents' house to see the kids, so I stayed for a little while. We came home when it was getting time for lunch. Aubrey and I tried SO hard to keep Jude awake on the ride home, but we just couldn't. When I got him out of the car, he was OUT, so I decided to just transfer him to his bed. I never do that because I'm always worried about not changing his diaper or not feeding him lunch, but I decided at that point, he clearly needed sleep more. I fixed lunch for Aubrey and myself, and then I gave her a bath and put her in her room for naptime. I was about to get in the shower when Jude woke up. He had been sleeping for about an hour and a half, so I got him up and fed him lunch. That made it pretty late by the time I took a shower, and we were really rushed getting ready for tutoring. Jude was really fussy, which didn't help. We got to church and were actually the first ones there for tutoring! Haha. Tutoring went fine that day, and I got the kids from the nursery when it was over. David was at church, so we talked while the kids played in the gym. Jude was SUPER fussy. We thought it was just from teething, but I started to worry it was something more. We ate dinner at church, and Jude was just UNhappy. We decided not to put him in the nursery just in case he was coming down with something. We were going to just leave church early, but David had to help with the sound for a little while, so I just hung out in the gym with the kids and my parents. When David finished, we went home, and it was a little earlier than we usually leave. (I didn't have to teach that night because we were having a special program.) We each put a child to bed, and then David watched TV and I got on the internet. Jude woke up several times, and we were in for a LONG night. He started running fever, and his nose got really snotty. He was up many, many times :(

Thursday: When Jude woke up, his temperature was 101.8, so I decided to take him to the doctor to have his ears checked. We got ready really quickly and made it to our appointment. Our regular pediatrician doesn't work on Thursdays, so we had to see someone else. Jude's ears were fine, but the doctor said he was coming down with the same "bronchial infection" that he just had a few weeks ago, and he would probably need breathing treatments again :( Bummer! After we left the doctor, we ran in Kroger to get some Advil for Jude's fever. I got a few other things too, and then we came home. I fixed us some soup for lunch, and then I looked in our Kroger bag for the medicine, and it wasn't in there! I looked all in the car and it was nowhere to be found, even though I did pay for it. I was SO MAD. I got the kids out in the cold for medicine, and then we didn't even make it home with it! Ughh. I gave Jude Tylenol instead and put him to bed. I then put Aubrey down for a nap, and she just played. Jude didn't take a good nap, unfortunately. He just couldn't breathe, and I ended up rocking him back to sleep several times before I just gave up and naptime was over. David and I had already committed to babysit overnight that night and Friday night before Jude was sick, and I knew we couldn't back out at the last minute. We decided he would stay home with Jude, and Aubrey and I would still go. So, I got our stuff together, and we stopped at Target on the way to meet David to get MORE Advil :/ We met David at church, and he took Jude home. The family I was staying with came to the church, because their house was being shown. They have two teenage daughters who literally did everything for the other kids; the parents just wanted an adult at their house overnight. We hung out at church until we could go back to their house, and then we ate dinner. The girls put the little kids to bed, and then we stayed up for a while. When it was time for Aubrey to go to bed, I decided to just go to bed too since she was sleeping with me. It was really early, but I was tired after a long night the night before.

Friday: I got up that morning and called to check on David and Jude. He said Jude was up a lot in the night, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. When Aubrey woke up, we left to go back home to take care of Jude for the day. We met David at Walgreens and then the kids and I went home, and David went to work. We just hung out at home all day and had a very uneventful day. After lunch, I put Jude down for his nap, and, once again, he didn't sleep well. I ended up just laying on the guest bedroom bed for a while and going into his room every few minutes when he cried out. I got tired of walking up and down the stairs. Of course, Aubrey didn't sleep either. When naptime was clearly going nowhere, I got the kids up, and we hung out at home some more. I packed up my stuff for that night and got ready. I also did several breathing treatments for Jude. This little guy LOVES his cell phone! :) Also, how grown up does he look in these pictures?! He was drooling LIKE CRAZY, which is the reason for the bib, by the way.

When David got home, we talked for a few minutes, and then I needed to leave again. We decided that Aubrey would stay home with him and Jude that night since she hadn't seen him much over the past few days. She had been saying she missed him all day. I headed back over to babysit (I feel weird calling it that since really all I did was sleep at their house!), and the girls had made homemade pizza for dinner. It was so good! We ate, and then one of the girls and I went on a walk while the other sister put the kids to bed. When we got back, we talked some and then we watched How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days. Really, I felt like I was on vacation. Poor David! Haha. We talked for a while after the movie was over, and then I went to bed and got a nice solid night of sleep. Meanwhile, David wasn't faring so well. Apparently Jude was up from 2-4:30 AM solid. Crazy!

Saturday: When I woke up, I ate breakfast and stayed for a little while, and then I came home to help David with our own kids! They were happy to see me :) They were playing outside when I got home, so we stayed outside, and David and I talked while the kids played. It was nice to catch up! When we came back in, we fed the kids lunch, and then David gave Jude a breathing treatment and put him down for his nap, and Aubrey and I drove through Wendy's. She is wearing my shirt as a dress and my scarf as a headband. She recently discovered my closet, and she goes in there and changes 12 times a day if I'm not watching closely! Good thing none of those clothes fit me anyway, or I would never have anything clean!

When we got home, I put Aubrey down for her nap. While the kids rested, I took a shower, and then David and I read. When they got up, David went upstairs to get them and took them outside again. I got dressed and put on makeup, and then we left the house. We needed to get out! We went to an antique mall and looked around. Then we went to an outdoor mall and just walked around. The weather was beautiful! We went to Pizza Inn for dinner, and then we came home and bathed the kids. We bathed them together, and that was the first time we've done that! Aubrey loved it! We then put them to bed. I got on the internet while David watched some TV, and then we went to bed.

Spiritual Warfare

2011-11-06T00:55:00.001-05:00

I've recently started reading a book called Adopted for Life by Russell D. Moore. I'm only on page 66 of the book, but it's already making me think, and I can tell it's going to really challenge me.

The timing of starting this book has really been neat. As everyone who lives in Mississippi knows, we have an election coming up on Tuesday. I NEVER talk about political matters on my blog, but there is something special about this particular election. We will be voting on a Personhood Amendment. It's called Proposition 26, and there are people who feel very strongly and passionately about why we should vote for or against this. The point of this blog post is not to have a political debate. I think we've all done our research and made up our minds about how we're going to vote at this point. What I do want to write down is what all the debating and the differing opinions over this Proposition has done for me.

Honestly, I'm so ready for Tuesday's voting to be over. I'm tired of all of the back and forth and arguing that is taking placed. But. I think it's been so good for me. The Lord has used this to make me even more passionately pro-life. He has also convicted me of my passivity on the issue up until now. Sure, I've always been pro-life. It's always made me sick to think of all the countless babies who have never had a chance to draw their first breath. It's made me want to cry to think of the tiny little lives growing safely inside their mother's wombs who have been snuffed out. But what have I ever done about it? I'm ashamed to say I've done nothing. It's not even something I've prayed passionately about, and that is just not acceptable.

I have also been so sad over how many people have said in the past few weeks in regards to this Personhood Amendment that they are pro-life but think exceptions need to be made for babies conceived through rape or babies who are very severely handicapped. Is not ALL life from God? Is it our place to decide who gets to live and who does not? We do not create life, and it is not up to us to decide when it ends, no matter how the child is conceived or what the child's mental capacity.

One thing that Russell Moore has said several times already in Adopted for Life is that taking care of children isn't charity; it's spiritual warfare. That has really resonated with me. Satan loves to go after the weak. These babies don't have a voice. They have been an easy target for him. Another thing Moore points out is that when God forbids the Israelites from sacrificing their babies to the demon god Molech in Leviticus, He says that He will punish not only the ones who actually sacrifice their babies, but He will also punish the ones who turn a blind eye. Wow. Standing by and doing nothing was a big deal to God back then, and I don't think that's changed. It's time for Christians to put aside passivity and speak up for these babies. It's time for us to fight for them. We need to go to war.

I do realize that not everyone has been passive like I have on this issue. There are people working tirelessly and advocating for these children. Thank God for these people's faithfulness! I want to be one of these people. I don't know what that will look like. I think it will look different for different people. But it's time to do something. Over the past few weeks, not only have I felt like shedding tears for unwanted babies, I actually have shed tears. And I'm not just crying for the unborn babies. There are unwanted children all over the world who need someone to love them and take them in. Fighting abortion should go deeper than just trying to save babies lives before they're born. As Christians, we are also commanded to care for orphans, whether they're orphans because their parents have actually died, or just because they're unwanted or abandoned. I don't think this necessarily means ALL Christians should adopt. But we should be caring for orphans in some capacity or another.

There was a question in one of the chapters I've read in Adopted for Life that REALLY made me stop and think. The author said, "Aborted babies can't say, 'Abba.' But the Father hears their cries anyway. Do we?"

I want the answer to that question for me to be "YES!" Lord, make me your hands and feet for the least of these.

What's in a name?

2011-11-04T13:56:00.003-05:00

David and I have finally decided on a name for our baby. It's the name that I've mentioned that David really likes. I think the name is beautiful too, so I decided that we could go for it :) I think I will love it more and more as we start using it to refer to her. So without further ado, our baby girl's name is....

Alaina Ruth Howie

When we told Aubrey her little sister's name, she informed us that she likes Leepooh better ;) Haha! We told her that she could call her Alaina Leepooh -- that could be her special nickname from her big sister. Ha!

The baby will most likely go by just Alaina. We aren't going to say that it's a double name, but I do think Alaina Ruth has a cute little ring to it, so I might call her Alaina Ruth some :) I do love a double name!

We decided to spell it with an "A" (as opposed to Elaina) for a couple of reasons. First, we want it pronounced "Uh-lane-uh" and not "E-lane-uh." I think most of us from the South would pronounce both spellings the same, but I wanted to make sure. Haha! Also, Aubrey has several outfits that are monogrammed with an "A" only, so we will be able to re-use those. And now I have a perfect excuse to monogram ALL of Aubrey's clothes with a "A" going forward. Ha! ;)

So, that's our baby's name, and we are so excited for Alaina Ruth to join our family!!

Fall Festival 2011

2011-11-01T17:00:00.011-05:00

We had so much fun at our church's Fall Festival on Saturday night. When I was trying to decide how I wanted to dress the kids up, I knew I wanted their costumes to coordinate. Also, I knew Aubrey wouldn't be into anything "over the top" unless it was a Disney Princess. I know those days are coming, so I wanted to get just ONE more year where I could pick her costume. Ha! But I knew a plush costume would NOT be her piece of cake, and I was pretty positive that she wouldn't go for anything that involved face paint or anything on her head. Have I mentioned that she's quite picky and has a mind of her own?? Ha! So, that's when I decided that a cheerleader would be cute and simple. And almost every little girl dresses up as a cheerleader at some point in her life, right?! I'm glad I did go with something simple, because just getting her into this dress was a bit of a battle. I though she was an adorable little Auburn cheerleader! :)For Jude, I definitely wanted to go with some sort of animal. I just love a little boy in an animal costume. Haha! So, the choice was obvious! Jude was Auburn's mascot Aubie the tiger! He also looked adorable! His little black nose was gone by the time we got to church. Haha! I didn't get a ton of pictures of Aubrey and Jude together, sadly. I got some cute ones, but Aubrey was "cheering" and was just a blur. That's when I decided to switch the camera to auto ;) I'll post the blurry ones anyway since I don't have many.It was another fun year dressing up. I kept thinking that this time next year, I'll jave to come up with coordinating costumes for THREE babies! :)

20 Weeks

2011-10-31T15:36:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe I'm halfway through this pregnancy! It's flown by. The second half is always the longest though, right? ;) I'm excited to reach the halfway mark even though we're nowhere near ready for this baby to come. We can't wait to meet her, but we have a lot to do first!

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 20 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 6.5 inches and 10.6 ounces -- about the size of a cantaloupe!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well, I haven't been going to the gym as regularly as I need to, so I'm sure the weight gain isn't pretty.

Maternity Clothes: Yes. Just yes.

Movement: This movement thing is about to drive me crazy! I really worry about it way too much. I do feel her move a few times everyday now, but I still worry that it isn't enough. I know having the anterior placenta cuts down on the amount of movement I'm able to feel, but I just wish I knew how much movement I "should" be feeling at 20 weeks with my third pregnancy with an anterior placenta. I may or may not have googled that very thing a time or two ;) I think I spent half of church and Sunday School yesterday poking my belly to get her to move. Ha!

Gender: It's a GIRL!!! We're getting SO CLOSE to announcing a name. I think I'm going to just give in and let David have his name that he really likes :) I do like it, too -- I wouldn't give in to a name that I really didn't like! I'm just getting used to the name for our little girl :)
Sleep: Still no problems on the sleep front, thankfully!!
What I miss: I miss not feeling fat. But it's all for a good cause, so I try not to let it bother me too much!
Cravings: No real cravings lately.... I think I've had less cravings with this pregnancy than I did with the other two.
Symptoms: I had some awful indigestion the other night. Miserable! I was popping the Tums! I've also been pretty sleepy every afternoon lately.
Best Moment This Week: Talking more and more about the baby's name! And using her potential name to myself to "try it out." I also looked at some little bitty girl clothes on ebay the other day, and it was so fun! Ahhh, I love girl clothes!
What I Am Looking Forward To: I'm excited about telling Aubrey the baby's name. I'm sure she'll have a thing or two to say about it. Ha!

Week in Review: Home Sweet Home and Fall Festival

2011-10-30T22:31:00.000-05:00

We had a nice low-key week. We came home from St. Louis on Sunday, and I think the kids spent the first half of the week catching up on their sleep! Other than that, we had a pretty normal week. Also, I have been doing a terrible job of taking pictures of just our normal days. I need to do a better job because I know these posts are even more boring without pictures!

Sunday: We were still in St. Louis on Sunday. Jude woke up fairly early and was clearly up for the day, but Aubrey was still sleeping. David went ahead and took Jude downstairs for breakfast so that Aubrey could get a little more sleep. She and I both snoozed for a while longer :) David eventually brought Jude back up to our room so that we could start getting ready for church and pack up. I took a shower and got ready, and then David bathed the kids and I got them dressed while he took a shower and got ready. We kind of got in a big rush because we thought we were running really short on time, but we ended up checking out with a little time to spare. We got to the church we were visiting, and we kept the kids with us instead of putting them in a strange nursery (plus, their noses were still a little runny). I didn't think we'd last long at all in the service, but Jude ended up falling asleep in David's arms, and Aubrey colored and was pretty quiet through the whole service. We left as soon as church was over and stopped at a BBQ place for lunch before we left town. It was so good! We finally got on the road about 2:00. It was a long trip home, but the kids did pretty well. They both took a decent nap at one point. We had to take several bathroom/gas stops, but we did ok. We stopped for dinner at a Zaxby's, and the trip really seemed to drag on and get long after dinner. We finally made it home around 10:00. We put the kids right to bed, and I think they were both glad to be in their own beds! Especially Jude! David unloaded the car and started unloading the suitcase, but I was so tired so I just went to bed.

Monday: Jude woke up around 8. I was hoping he'd sleep a little later since he had missed out on so much sleep over the weekend, but 8 is pretty good, so I really can't complain :) I fed him breakfast and played with him, and then we woke Aubrey up a little after 9. Poor girl was TIRED. She was really sweet and happy when she woke up, and we had a pleasant morning at home. I did tons of laundry. Jude got fussy mid-morning. I knew he should have slept later! We had literally nothing to eat, and I wasn't brave enough to go to the grocery store with Jude so tired and fussy, so we drove through Chick Fil A for lunch. We ate when we got home, and then I put both children down for naps. They both slept for a good long while. Surprisingly, Aubrey slept longer than Jude! I also took a nap while they both slept, and I did some more laundry when I got up. That afternoon, I made a grocery list and got us all ready, and we went to the grocery store. I really prefer to go to the grocery store in the mornings because it's so much less crowded. We managed fine, though, and I unloaded the groceries and cooked tacos for dinner when we got home. Mondays always gets stressful at this point. The kids just get cranky while I'm cooking and then they never seem to eat well, and they make a HUGE mess. I'm usually just ready for bedtime by the time dinner is over. I feel like that's an awful thing to say, but I've accepted the fact that that's just our Mondays. After dinner, I bathed Jude and cleaned up the kitchen. I definitely had to break out the vacuum cleaner for that job! We watched some Dancing with the Stars, and I put Jude to bed. I then gave Aubrey a bath. Jude started crying from his bed, and Aubrey was in the tub, so I was SO happy when David walked in the door :) He took over Aubrey duty, and I went to check on Jude. He went on to sleep after that, and I got on the internet and watched some TV before bed.

Tuesday: I got up and got ready for Bible Study, and the kids were still sleeping. I was able to entirely get ready before the kids woke up. I finally had to wake them up at 9 so that they could eat breakfast and I could get them dressed before we needed to go leave. We were running a little late, but we had a good Bible Study. We are continuing in our Biblical Manhood and Womanhood study, and it's been so interesting. After Bible Study, I picked up the kids, and Rebekkah and I went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We had fun! When we got home, I put the kids down for naps. Aubrey didn't sleep that day, and Jude had an awful time getting to sleep. He just took forever, and I had to go up to his room to change a dirty diaper and give him his paci/rock/soothe him several times. He did eventually go to sleep after a couple of hours of just playing. I didn't get a whole lot done that afternoon. In spite of Jude taking forever to fall asleep, it was just a nice afternoon. I went and got Aubrey after Jude went to sleep, and she sat in my lap and we watched some "cooking" (Barefoot Contessa) on TV. David got home about the time Jude woke up, and he got him up. I fixed some pasta pesto for them to eat for dinner and got ready for Book Club. Rebekkah picked me up, and we met at Beagle Bagel for Book Club. We ate dinner, and then we went and sat outside and discussed our book. We had read Olive Kittridge this month. It was actually a pretty depressing book, but I found it very interesting. It was a lot of short stories, so we had a lot to discuss. We ended up staying pretty late, and it was a fun night. When I got home, David and I talked briefly, and he took my 19 week picture, and then we went to bed.

Wednesday: The kids were back to their normal ways and got up at 7:30. We had a very low-key morning. We ate breakfast, Aubrey watched some PBS Kids, I folded several loads of laundry, and Jude played. I straightened up my bedroom a little bit and washed some more laundry. I took a shower and gave Aubrey a bath, and then it was lunchtime. We all ate, and then I bathed Jude. I put the kids down for their naps, and they both went to sleep. I watched an episode of Project Runway, and then Jude woke up crying. He had only been sleeping about an hour and a half, so I tried to get him to go back to sleep, but he never did. I put on makeup and got ready, and then I got Jude dressed. We went to wake Aubrey up, and she was NOT ready to get up. I let her sleep for 10 more minutes and then woke her up again. She still wasn't thrilled, but she got up and I got her dressed. We loaded up in the car and went to tutoring. It went pretty well that day. David was at church by the time it was over, so he watched the kids while my mom and I went and looked upstairs in our storage area at church to make sure we had all the parts we needed for the games for our Fall Festival on Saturday. We made a list of a few things we needed to get, and then we went into the gym and watched the kids play until dinner time. We had poppy seed chicken at church, and then we had a man come talk to us about the Proposition 26 and answer a lot of questions that a lot of people have. It was good to hear what he had to say. I realized about that time that I had locked my keys in my car -- ughh! All my teaching material was locked in my car. David drove home and got the spare key while I taught my class, and I just had to wing it. We went over our catechism questions and some of the verses the kids have memorized, and then they played duck, duck, goose :) David got back to church right after I got the kids from the nursery, and we headed home. We put the kids to bed when we got home, and then I got on the internet and David watched TV.

Thursday: When we got up, we ate breakfast and got ready. We needed to run some errands, so we headed to the mall. We actually got there a few minutes before it opened! I don't think that's ever happened to us before ;) We went to several stores, and I got a few things that I was looking for. When we were leaving, we walked through the food court (bad idea) and I was starving, so we got some food, and I shared it with the kids. We headed home after that. I fed the kids some more lunch when we got home, and then I put them down for their naps. While they slept (well, Jude slept... Aubrey, not so much), I watched some Project Runway and straightened up the house. I also put some spaghetti sauce in the crockpot. When the kids got up, we just hung out at home and played. David got home that evening, and we ate dinner outside :) It was a nice, cool night. The kids played some more after dinner until bedtime. When we got them down, we picked up the toys and cleaned up the kitchen and then relaxed/watched TV/ just hung out until going to bed.

Friday: Aubrey and Jude surprised me by sleeping a little later than usual -- it was almost 8 before they woke up! When we all got up, we got dressed and went over to my parents' house. My dad and brothers were taking the kids to breakfast, and I went to the gym. I had sort of fallen off the exercise wagon the past several weeks :-/ It was good to be back! When I got back to my parents' house, we stayed over there for a while just talking and hanging out. Aubrey was playing with the little girl my mom babysits, so she was having fun. We left in time to get home for lunch. Aubrey and Jude ate lunch, and then I put them down for their naps. It was a dark, cold, rainy day, and I was just SURE Jude would take a great nap, so I was planning to take a nap myself. Sadly, I was mistaken. He took a sweet forever to fall asleep, and when he finally did, he didn't even sleep long. Aubrey was banging around in her room too, so I didn't get much of a nap. When I went to get the kids up, Aubrey had gone into her bathroom and squeezed pretty much an entire tube of [fluoride] toothpaste all over the place. She had then proceeded to wipe it all over her mirror. I asked her if she ate any of the toothpaste (we have stressed that she isn't supposed to swallow that toothpaste), and she said, "I tink so." Ughh. So I made a lovely little call to Poison Control. I, of course, had no way of knowing or even guessing how much she might have swallowed, but they said she should be fine, and they told me to give her milk and just watch her. Thankfully, she was fine and never had any issues :) Needless to say, her bathroom is now locked during night/naptime. David got home shortly after that whole fiasco, and I was pretty happy to see him! He took over child responsibilities while I finished putting my makeup on. That evening, we went to O'Charley's for dinner. I don't know why we even go there. The food is mediocre, and the service is always AWFUL. By the time we get out of there, we are both stressed and swearing we won't go back. Ha! It wasn't THAT bad, and we did have fun just getting out of the house together. We had to stop at Kroger on the way home for me to get stuff to make cupcakes for our fall festival at church the next day. When we got home, we put the kids to bed, and I made my 48 cupcakes and watched some Say Yes to the Dress until bed.

Saturday: I got up relatively early that morning to get ready to go to church to help set up for the fall festival. David stayed home with the kids. There was a small group of us at church setting everything up, but we managed to get it done in a couple of hours. We got all of the games set up in the gym. On my way home, I drove through Chick Fil A, and then went to Wal-Mart to try to find some face paint for Jude. When I got home, the kids were napping. Jude was asleep, but it sounded like Aubrey was rearranging her furniture upstairs. I don't know what that girl does during "naptime." David was watching some TV, and I laid on the couch and ended up dozing off for a little while. When Jude woke up, we got both kids up, and we started getting ready for the fall festival. We got the kids all dressed in their costumes, and they looked so cute! We had a cute little cheerleader and a tiger (Auburn's mascot). How cute are they?! I'll post more pictures from that night soon.

We then headed to church where we ate hotdogs for dinner and then played and had lots of fun! We had an awesome turnout with tons of visitors :) After it was over, we stayed and helped take everything down and clean up. It was pretty late by the time we left, and I was so tired! I felt like I had been standing for HOURS. I'm a wimp ;) When we got home, we put the kids to bed, and then I made a grocery list. I was so tired that David offered to go to the grocery store for me -- he's so sweet! :) While he was gone, I got on the internet. When he got home, I helped him put away some groceries and then we went to bed.

Saturday in St. Louis

2011-10-28T22:55:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday, we got to spend the day in St. Louis with the Herringtons. We had so much fun! Our first stop was the St. Louis Zoo. Aubrey LOVED IT. She hasn't stopped talking about it yet. She will tell me from time to time that she can't wait to go back to the zoo and see some more animals. She doesn't understand that we can't just pop back over to St. Louis anytime. Ha! Guess she'll have to settle for the Jackson Zoo ;) Aubrey saw lots of animals that were very impressive:Not all of the animals she loved so much were actually real animals :)And it wasn't just the animals that impressed our girl at the zoo:She and David were waving at the elephants in this picture. Jude was there too! ;)I loved seeing Aubrey enjoy the zoo so much, and we had a great time just being together.After spending hours at the zoo, we all felt like this:.... so we went back to the hotel for some downtime. That evening, we went to see the St. Louis Arch. It was so pretty!We hung out at this beautiful park until dark, and the kids (and dads! ;) had a blast running around. These two little guys hung out in their strollers for the most part. We did let Jude out to run around after a little while, and he had a blast :) We loved being somewhere new and just having a lot of family time. Maybe we'll get brave and go on little weekend trips more often. Maybe ;)

Ditzy Mama

2011-10-27T15:03:00.000-05:00

I talked about Aubrey potty training a long time ago, and I mentioned that she still wore pull-ups to sleep. At the time, I wasn't concerned about it in the least, and that's still the case. We haven't really even tried to get rid of the pull-ups at night, and it's not something I even think about. That's kind of beside the point, but I wanted to give a little background info for this post :)

Our little nightime routine has always been for David to put Aubrey to bed, and I put Jude to bed. This works well for us; David and Aubrey enjoy their time together before bed every night, and when I was nursing Jude, it just made the most sense for me to put him to bed. Jude usually goes to bed a little earlier than Aubrey, and last week there was a show coming on that David wanted to watch. I told him that he could put Jude to bed, and I would put Aubrey to bed so that he could watch his show sooner. Aubrey and I did her little nightime routine. We brushed teeth, put on pajamas, and read a story. I then put her in bed, prayed with her, and sang a song. I came downstairs, and she went right to sleep, and we never heard a peep out of her.

Until around 3:30AM.

She woke up crying and calling for David. She sounded pretty worked up, and he went to her room to check on her. I noticed that he was gone for a while, but I dozed back off and never thought about it again.

The next morning, when I went to get Aubrey up, the first words out of her mouth when I opened her door were, "Mommy, you forgot to put my pull-up on, and my pants got all wet and I had to change them!" I looked, and sure enough, she had on a different pair of pants than she did when I put her to bed.

I called David to get the full story. Apparently, I did, in fact, forget to put Aubrey's pull-up on. Ummm.... Oops! He said when he got to her room in the middle of the night, she told him the same thing about me forgetting to put her pull-up on, and the funniest part was that she had already gotten up, taken her wet clothes off, put a pull-up on, and put dry pj's on. Ha! It was also funny that her bed barely even got wet. I felt like such an idiot, though! How do you forget to put your child's pull-up on?!

My excuse is that when I put her down for her nap, I always tell her to go put her pull-up on herself while I'm putting Jude to bed. So when I get into her room, she already has the pull-up on, and I just immediately read her a story. Weak excuse? Perhaps. ;) If that one doesn't fly, I'll resort to pregnancy brain!

I'm pretty sure after that little episode, David is going to stick to putting Aubrey to bed himself. Hahaha!

19 Weeks

2011-10-26T09:13:00.001-05:00

Yet another lovely picture taken at 11:30 PM. ;)

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 19 weeks
Size of baby: She is about 6.0 inches and 8.5 ounces -- about the size of a mango! Last week at the ultrasound, her estimated weight was 9 ounces :)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well, I found out at my appointment last week that I've gained 10 pounds so far. I'm only sharing that because that's good for me! Haha! I'm trying to eat fairly healthy and exercise regularly, and I'm not going to obsess about my weight beyond that.

Maternity Clothes: I've pretty much gone to all maternity clothes, which is a bummer since I have less than 5 shirts (I know I sound like a broken record saying that, and I'm sorry). I can wear some non-maternity shirts if they're long enough, which most of mine aren't. So, I'm just doing a lot of outfit repeating! ;) (You might notice that I'm wearing the same shirt in my picture today that I was wearing in the St. Louis pictures from Saturday. See? Outfit repeating! It is clean, though -- haha!)

Movement: Ironically, I've felt a lot more movement since my sonogram where I found out I have an anterior placenta. Now that I have a reason to not feel as much movement, I'm feeling more! I'm happy to be feeling little kicks :) I feel a little something just about everyday now, but the movement isn't as strong as I think it would be at this point without the anterior placenta. It's still so reassuring to feel movement and to know that the baby is active whether I'm feeling a ton of movement at this point or not!

Gender: It's a GIRL!!! We're still working on a name :)
Sleep: Oh, sleep is great! Especially since we got back home from our trip and the kids are in their own beds in their own rooms!
What I miss: I could go for some cheese dip from a Mexican restaurant.
Cravings: I've still been eating a lot of pickles. I've been through several jars lately. Ha! I love pickles anyway, so I don't know if I'd really call that a craving. The funny part is that David detests pickles. He can't even stand the smell. So, I'm sure he's loving all the pickle eating going on in this house lately!
Symptoms: Hmmm..... I can't really think of any symptoms, which I guess is a good thing! I really could very easily just forget that I'm pregnant. Oh, I've been more broken out lately than I think I've ever been. It makes total sense that this baby is a girl, because she's definitely stolen my beauty! Haha!
Best Moment This Week: Finding out that our sweet baby is a girl, and, most importantly, that she looks perfectly healthy! It was a HUGE relief to hear that there are no red flags and that our baby has all of her organs and little arms and legs and that everything is growing right on track!
What I Am Looking Forward To: Now that we know that we're having a girl, I cannot wait to pick a name. David and I have been talking about names a lot since the sonogram, and David has one that he really likes, but I'm still thinking about it :) Hopefully we will reach a decision SOON. David keeps reminding me that there is no rush, but I just love calling our baby by name, and I get antsy to have a name right after finding out the gender. It will make her feel more like part of our family to me (and I think to the kids) when we can start using her name in conversation. I really love this part of pregnancy -- I'm showing, but I'm not HUGE yet. I'm not uncomfortable. I'm feeling little kicks. We know we're having a girl. I'm not nervous about actually having 3 kids yet because her birth still seems like a LONG way off. So, really, I'm just enjoying where we are right now :)