Fun Thanksgiving

We had an eventful day yesterday, with a great lunch in Edgemoor followed by a shower/double birthday party in Fort Mill. We had fun seeing everyone, playing games, and of course eating!! Here are some of the pictures and I'll add a link for the rest...

http://community.webshots.com/album/575692698CpJtpO?vhost=community

Don't Count Your Chickens

Why is it that every time I announce a victory at our house, the person being mentioned decides to backtrack? Most recent examples--I told y'all about Gray always pooping on the potty and that very day he pooped in his diaper at nap and in his pants during roomtime, which he hadn't done in at least a month! Then I told y'all the other day how well Joshua was doing without a diaper at night and the last 2 nights he's been wet!

And one final question...why is it that the things that give parents the most headaches in the early years revolve around the most basic functions of eating, sleeping, and peeing/pooping?

Guess the good news is that for most normally developing kids, these things aren't a concern when they get a little older. You get to deal with lots more complicated issues instead:)

Don't want to end on a sour note, especially the day before Thanksgiving, so I will say I am sooo thankful for my family and being a mom. Even in the trying times, I know that there are mothers out there who are dealing with much tougher things and also women out there who just want a chance to be a mother. No matter how much these boys drive me crazy at times, I wouldn't trade staying at home and raising them for ANYTHING!!! They are such a precious gift. Happy Thanksgiving!

Not much to report, but...

just thought I'd write something:) Today it poured all day, as it probably did for most of you. Thought we might have a rough day and Gray did start out crying about everything, but it turned out fine. Gray just has a cold, by the way...so thankful it's not croup or flu!! Today was a play-doh day for us. I'm so lazy about getting it out because it can be a mess and I have to watch Gray closely since he eats it, but being inside all day motivated me to give it a shot and the boys and I had a great time for an hour or so, which can be a long time for boys to stay interested in something!

I also made a cake today, as we are having a one year gym anniversary party/Thanksgiving and Christmas party here tomorrow. I went with what was on sale in the baking aisle at Food Lion and ended up making a boxed yellow cake with chocolate chips, topped with cream cheese icing and on top of that a boxed chocolate cake with chocolate chips, all frosted with chocolate icing that I made. Kind of random, but think it will be good. We're having 2 kinds of chili for the main dishes and I'm glad I decided to cook the chicken and beef last week and freeze it so all I have to do tomorrow is dump all the ingredients in the crock pots!

This afternoon I enjoyed doing a puzzle with Joshua and having a reading lesson, which we haven't done much lately since we finished a particular series of first word books. Thought he might be a little rusty, but he did great! Still don't have a curriculum or plan for teaching words that don't use the short vowel sound, so we haven't gotten very far beyond that, but don't think there's a rush.

Right now the boys are watching a "Miss Spider" movie. Matt made a rule awhile back that they couldn't watch a movie unless one of them had a dry diaper, which was supposed to mainly encourage Joshua to get out of diapers at night. It didn't work. I let them watch one on Sundays anyway, but other than that, they didn't get any tv time. But in the last month, Gray is often dry at naptime and ever since we started the new no diaper at night plan with Joshua, he has been dry every night. Funny that at some point (probably when Gray was a baby and Matt was gone), we were doing a movie twice a day and that seemed fine to me, but now it seems excessive to watch one a day. Parents are funny people I guess. Anyway, I'm trying to think of other rewards so we aren't having a movie each day. When it's Dec 1st, we start our calendar of Christmas activities, so I think that will divert them enough to transition away from the movie reward.

Well that's enough rambling. Hope everyone is having a good Monday!

The good and the bad

The good- We had a fun shepherding group Thanksgiving dinner last night. There was sooo much good food and beforehand, everyone had a good time playing kickball. Joshua had fun playing with the other kids on the playground and I enjoyed talking to everyone.

The bad- Gray started feeling bad and didn't really want to play and then while we ate, he was so sad and asking to go home and go night night. We had to leave early. He ended up having a fever and we got up with him a couple of times last night.

The good- When we got up with Gray, he calmed down, pigged out and was just chatting away with us at 1:30 am about the monsters that would come out of the office and Mommy would get with the scissors:) He woke one other time, but calmed quickly and slept til morning. His fever is definitely better this morning and he just has a slight cold and cough.

The bad- The boys and I will miss church again this morning and most of us are pretty tired. I'm expecting Gray to be cranky.

So you know the good and the bad of our weekend...I'm hoping there's no "ugly" to share and REALLY hoping we are all healthy for our Thanksgiving trip to Fort Mill in a few days. We can't wait!

34 weeks

Belly's getting bigger!

The organizing bug

Two days ago the boys and I were headed to Walmart and for some reason I just got it in my head that I needed to better organize the office space RIGHT AWAY. Matt and I had been talking about it some, but it seemed so urgent that I felt like I had to get some shelves and get right to it. It ended up being quite a job and I'm still tired today from all the moving around I did yesterday. I can't count the number of arrangements I tried between about 5 pieces of furniture and 3 rooms. And then there were those moments when I just sat and looked and couldn't figure out what I wanted. But finally it's finished and the funny thing is that the 2 pieces of shelving I bought didn't even end up in the office! Side note to guests, we actually have a nightstand and clock in your room now, thanks to a little rearranging.

baby's room with the walmart shelves:)

office closet- no more stacks of boxes on the floor!

office- now more functional and less tacky

shelf from office, now in common room upstairs

Joshua's first trip to the dentist

I took Joshua to the dentist this morning and it went pretty well. We were out of there in about 20 minutes! I wanted to take some pictures, but forgot the camera and then Joshua ended up on my lap the whole time so I wouldn't have been able to take any anyway. He was very casual about the whole thing til we got into the office and then he went totally stone-faced and did not even crack a smile til we were ready to go. He wouldn't really sit back in the seat, so the hygienist suggested he sit on my lap. So there we were, me laid all the way back in the chair with Joshua laying on top of my big belly. Quite a sight I'm sure! Of course his teeth were just fine since he loves brushing them and doesn't have a lot of sugar. Glad to get that first appointment out of the way!

Jesse Tree, Pecans

Jeannie introduced me to an idea for a Christmas tradition called the Jesse tree. If you're interested, you can find out more info online, but for now, I'll just summarize that the main idea is to have a deeper understanding of Jesus' birth by remembering all the stuff that happened leading up to this time. Each night you read a story from the Bible that points to God one day sending Jesus and you hang an ornament that represents that story. You can read the scriptures right from the Bible of course, but the Jesus Storybook Bible is so fun for the boys and already ends each story talking about Jesus, so we're using the first 24 stories of it. I suppose I should get a special little tree for the ornaments, but we may have to use a wreath this year til I can find a tree on clearance. Some of the ornaments Jeannie and I made, some we found in storage, and some were made by my grandmother. Anyway, looking forward to starting this up in a couple of weeks. Think it will be fun for the boys and will help them always be able to connect the events of the Old Testament to the New, making for a more significant understanding of God's plan for us!

On another note, after a couple of days of rain and no picking up pecans, I had quite a few to gather. After about an hour, you can see in the picture how many I got...and that wasn't even all there was out there. More are in the trees as well, so we'll probably be picking them up for a few more weeks yet. This year, we did get a more advanced cracker that cuts down on the time, but it's still a lot of work. Hoping to be motivated enough to not let them go bad this year like last year when I just got sick of cracking them!

Finally, a side note...no croup for Gray! He sounded so convincing Sunday morning, but then after a few hours, I didn't hear any coughs and haven't since. Hooray for that! I've really been praying about our health, especially since we aren't getting any flu vaccines and with the pregnancy and all. Thankful for God taking care of us this far!

What's new with Gray

Well Gray has turned into our resident teenager! Last night, I was fussing at him about taking his diaper off to go to the potty when he had just been and didn't actually have to go and he said, "Be quiet!" Also last night, I was talking to him about something and he started saying, "No" and I asked him why he was saying that and he said, "Because I'm trying to get you to stop talking." The other day, Joshua was talking his ear off and Gray groaned and said, "I'm tired of you talking to me." He still seems to so babyish, so it's almost funny....almost.

He's still doing sophisticated things like sticking his face in the seat of the tractor and drinking the rainwater. And he's still soooo stubborn about swallowing his food. A week or 2 ago I gave him some M&Ms, thinking he had finished all his food. I noticed an hour later that though he ate all the candy, he had held a bite of broccoli/oranges in his mouth the entire time and it took him even another hour to swallow that! He still regularly eats sand from the playground and after he and Joshua pretended to fix themselves meals from sand a few days(only he really ate it), he told me, "I'm hungry for sand, Mommy."

Also we got some "Thum" stuff (that tastes nasty to make you stop sucking your thumb) and he tastes it and whines about it and then ends up sucking his thumb anyway. Think that like Joshua, and like both boys with potty training, we'll just have to keep encouraging him to obey in that area and one day, he'll decide he's going to stop.

He seems to have finally mastered pooping on the potty, so that's a blessing! He's also telling us when he has to go potty now, which has taken quite awhile to happen.

Still waiting and hoping he'll soon outgrow the croup stuff, but he sounded a little like he might have it again when he woke up this morning, so the boys and I stayed home from church today. Hopefully it's nothing, but we'll see later.....

Game Day!

Today we all got to have a fun fall day at a football game. Matt and Gray went with his sister and mom to the Duke game while Joshua and I rode to Raleigh with Daddy for the State game. It was a bad day to pull for Duke or State, but the boys seemed to have a good time anyway. I think the mascots and food are much cooler to them than a winning football team! Joshua kept his eye on the wolves and tigers most of the time and did so well that I could actually relax and watch the game. Matt says Gray did well too. We came back home to a beautiful fall afternoon spent playing outside a little while, then headed to Costco for pizza and a few groceries. Now it's 7:30 and the house is a mess and I feel like I could sleep for a day! Going to try to straighten up first so tomorrow isn't so hectic. Looking forward to some great weather. Have a good rest of the weekend!

What's new with Joshua

Well some things aren't new at all, but wanted to share. Yesterday he and Gray were playing with a leappad book that had a refrigerator and food. I overheard him telling Gray that some things didn't belong in the "fer-rater-er". Yes, that is still what he calls the fridge! He's always been great verbally and says some things that amaze us, but that one he hasn't figured out for some reason. I don't ever correct him because it's just funny. The other word he still says wrong is remote. We even catch ourselves calling it the "fermote" like he does sometimes.

What IS new is the diaper situation. He's been potty trained except having night accidents for forever, but was still waking up soaking wet through his pullups to his pjs and sometimes the bed. I noticed the other day that those cloth pullups were getting way too tight and decided we had to do something. I didn't want to buy new, bigger pullups and I really didn't want to buy a box of disposable ones every month, so I opted for a technique that's apparently a lot more common in England than here. Before I go to bed at night, I pick up Joshua and take him to the potty and then when I'm already up another time in the night (at this point in the pregnancy, that's pretty often), I take him again. He does a great job going potty for me and he wakes up dry. Now, I don't know if this is the best way, (Who ever does know?) but he says he's happy with the arrangement, and since I'll be getting up in the night for quite awhile til the baby starts sleeping through, it's working for me now. It's sure nice to lighten the laundry load for the last week. We'll see if he eventually can go longer and/or start getting himself up to potty.

Another interesting story I have to tell you happened yesterday. Before I even start, don't anyone say "like mother, like son"!! I was taking a nap and Joshua came in and asked if I was trying to wake up. I told him no and he said okay and ran out of the room. For a second, I thought it was odd that he seemed fine with that, but didn't read into it too much. Then after I did get up, I went to the bathroom to find him in there with the door closed. I went in and he was just standing there with his hands over his mouth giving me a smile. I asked what he was doing and he said nothing and I just forgot about it. Then I was in the kitchen cooking and he said, "I'm eating candy from the candy store." I assumed he was playing a pretend game and asked him what kind he was eating and where the store was. He described the candy and said he was going to get some more and went back in the bathroom. It was then that I looked on the counter and saw that of the 2 boxes of nerds (sidenote: Joshua told me the other day he wanted to eat a box of "herbs", which is what he thought they were called) from the Halloween candy were gone. I finally put 2 and 2 together and went to look in the bathroom. The step stool opens up at the top for storage and inside were the 2 boxes of nerds, just the kind of candy he had told me he was eating, opened and sitting neatly inside. He had been sneaking in there and getting a little at a time, but thankfully they were both mostly full so that I could give him his punishment--no more candy and those boxes go to Gray, even though one was really Joshua's. He was quite sad and hopefully learned his lesson, though I'm going to have to be a lot more careful when I take naps from now on!

Uneventful Update

Had another OB appointment today, but not much to report. The doctor I was supposed to see was doing a delivery so we had to wait an hour to see a different one and then of course it only took 5 minutes! I'm measuring at 32 weeks, though I'm really 33, which isn't a big deal, but makes me wonder if this baby will either be smaller than the boys or come a week or two late. The baby is head down, which I guess is good, though it seems like that could change in the next 7 weeks. My blood pressure and weight are still good. That's about it. I guess the Thanksgiving holiday is getting the office behind with patients because we're supposed to go in 2 weeks, but will have to wait 3 weeks. I'm glad, though, as all of my appointments are so fast and routine that it seems like a big hassle for nothing.

7 more weeks!

I was laying awake last night (after getting up to take Joshua to the potty, but that's another post...) and thinking how we're going to have a new baby in 7ish weeks! By now, I kind of know what it's like to welcome a new baby and it feels sort of like being at the top of the first hill of a roller coaster. It's been a slow climb and now you're looking over the edge knowing what's about to come and there's not much you can do to fully prepare! One day you're living your normal life that your family is accustomed to. Things may get hectic sometimes and you're probably uncomfortable at 9 months pregnant, but still- it feels right and you're used to it. Then you go into labor and before you know it, you're home with one extra person in the family. You've got this new little life depending on you, which is so exciting, but overwhelming and time-consuming. You're trying to get your house and family back to normal, but you can barely function, let alone reorder your life with a newborn around. Your body feels like a train ran you over and sleep is elusive. When your husband asks about dinner, you're most likely going to burst into tears. You wonder, "What just happened here?!"

Now some moms probably handle this time effortlessly, but I'm not usually one of those. I know that no matter what I do to prepare, this chaos is going to happen to me once that baby gets here! Of course I also know that after those first weeks, we'll settle down and life will seem normal again, but right now I definitely have that roller coaster feeling...on the one hand, I'm thinking, "I'm SO excited to get on with this!" and on the other hand I'm thinking, "Am I ready for what's about to happen?" One thing about roller coasters--the more you ride them, the more comfortable you get. Maybe the third time around will be a little calmer:)

Interesting Naptimes

Now that Gray is in a toddler bed AND just learned to open doors AND is pumped about taking himself to the potty during sleep times, naptime has gotten really interesting. I kind of figured our days of peaceful 3 1/2 hour naptimes would be over once we switched to the bed, but I knew I couldn't keep him in a crib forever and thought I should make that transition before the baby comes. The other day I found Gray asleep hanging off the edge of his bed, with books and a helmet. I'm quite sure he was just hanging out in his room, reading books and wearing the helmet before he got sleepy and caved.

Small step!

Joshua and Matt are out eating "special breakfast" this morning! This may not seem big to you, but Matt's been asking Joshua to do this for months now and Joshua never wanted to go without me. He almost did on his birthday, but then backed out at the last minute. Now maybe he was partly inspired this morning by remembering that if he stayed here, he'd have to eat his leftover salad from last night, but whatever the motivation, it's progress and I'm happy about it.

That was easy!

Anyone else love online shopping? Amazon.com is my favorite and this year, I was able to get all our Christmas gifts from there. I ordered last week, they came this week and I'm finished! Too easy, especially with the free shipping.

Granted, things have gotten really simple gift-wise for us and I didn't have much to buy at all, but still-- nice to have that taken care of. Will probably buy a few stocking stuffers later on and Matt and I haven't really decided if we'll get each other anything, but for the most part, my Christmas duties are finished.

I know a lot of people almost dread the holidays and talk about how stressful it is. It's never been that way for us and I think if it's in your power to make some changes that will make the season less hectic, you should go for it! I'm thankful that in both Matt's family and mine, we enjoy getting together but don't spend tons of money getting gifts for every member. And since I regularly update so many people through email/blog, mailing out a big Christmas letter doesn't seem needed. Some people to do a professional picture every year, but if you know me, I always find that to be more trouble than it's worth! (The boys each had their pictures made at 6 months and that is it! I just don't like to spend the money and get all flustered about it when I can take pictures at my convenience at home.) And then there's the decorating. I can see how that could make people a little stressed. In fact we don't have that many decorations, but I did buy wreaths for each window of our house during the after-Christmas clearance last year, and now that I think about it, I'm not exactly excited about putting them up. But hey, I bet one year I'll want to and if I don't feel up to it this year, so what? I suppose some people's lives get hectic from so many holiday parties, but we must not be that popular because that's never been an issue either! Anyway, I'm just glad, especially now that we are settled here, that I can look forward to the Christmas season and all of our new family traditions that make it fun and not stressful! I'm hoping we all have a joy-filled, Jesus-celebrating, un-hectic holiday season!!

First Year

About a year ago we were getting ready to move in this house. Hard to believe it's been that long! It's been a relatively uneventful year for us, considering how eventful the previous 5 years were, but what amazes me as I look back is how much work we have put into this place. I could kick myself for not taking pictures of some of the land "before". We moved in to a totally unlandscaped piece of property, rampant with poison ivy, brambles, underbrush, and weeds. It's not perfect now of course, but it has come a long way. I can't say I've loved every minute of this country living, but on days like today and yesterday when I walk around the yard, enjoying the view and picking up pocketfuls of pecans, I'm thankful to be here. We want to be open to what God wants for us, so we're not sure whether we will always stay here or not, but for now, it's a great time of year to be where we are. Matt's finishing up his last time cutting the grass til Spring, there's not much to do in the way of taking care of the things we have planted, we don't have any major projects for outside on the horizon, and the trees, blue skies, and open fields are really beautiful. Speaking of which, time to get the boys outside to take in some sunshine! Have a good day!

Happy Halloween

We had a fun time yesterday in Fort Mill with lots of family. We had a birthday lunch for Clarke Jr and then all met for the "Trunk or Treat" with Larry and Lou's church. Inspired by Jeannie's enthusiasm, we ended up all going in costume! It took several tries for some of us to find something we were willing to wear, especially considering the warm weather, but we finally got out the door and enjoyed a fun time at the festival. The boys liked playing the games and painting pumpkins and of course getting prizes and candy. Amazingly, they seem to have forgotten all about their bag of treats and have yet to mention it today.

(Pictured: Joshua the lion, Gray (finally decided) the policeman, Matt the ladybug, I'm a princess (though I got many comments on the rarity of a pregnant princess), Mama the 50's girl, Daddy as Peter Pan (how we got him to dress up, I don't know!), Jeannie the construction worker, Hunter the wizard (or witch), Constance as Lois Lane, Clarke the farmer, and Cheryl as Liesl from the Sound of Music)