Thankful...

I've been doing 30 Days of Thanksgiving on Facebook where each morning for 30 days in November, I post something I'm thankful for. Today I thought I'd change it up a bit by sending my Facebook friends here to read a short post about being thankful. I once saw a quote that said,

"If you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for today, what would you have?"

Wow. Sobering. That quote certainly made me take a look at what I was thanking God for throughout my days. To be honest, it also overwhelmed me. I started thinking of everything I would want to wake up to the next morning and how I would need to thank God for ALL of those things and how could I possibly even fit everything in?? But that's not really what it's about. God knows our hearts and He knows I am thankful for everything He has given me. That also doesn't mean I don't need to be constantly thanking Him. And the thing is, I've realized, even in the midst of not so ideal situations there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. So in light of that, I give you these things I AM thankful for:

• I am thankful for dirty diapers & temper tantrums because that means I have been blessed with a healthy toddler.

• I am thankful for slammed doors & rolled eyes because that means I get to be the mother to 2 expressive girls.

• I am thankful for back aches, swollen feet & weight gain because that means I get to "assist" God in creating another miracle to join our family.

• I am thankful for not-so-fun evenings at our dinner table with children who "don't WAAAANNNA eat" the food I've prepared because that means we have food on our table.

• I am thankful for the inconvenience of having a huge roach crawling across our floor because that means we have a home & walls to protect us from most of those nasty things.

• I am thankful for car troubles because that means our family is blessed with not one, but two vehicles to drive.

• I am thankful for late evenings doing dinner, bath & bed with the kids alone because that means my husband has a job.

• I am thankful for the piles & piles of laundry we have constantly building up in our house because that means we have more than enough clothes.

Don't misunderstand me. I do not always have a thankful attitude for these things. I am working on remembering that the small inconveniences I have on a regular basis all stem from other things that I have been GIVEN. And

"to whom much is given, much is expected." {Luke 12:48}

So I am trying to keep that in mind during this Season of Thanksgiving.

I Heart Halloween - 2011

I heart Halloween. Like I really, really heart it. At the very last minute yesterday I decided to have some finger foods for the kids to enjoy before heading out to trick-or-treat. And because of my slight obsession with the whimsy of Halloween & also a teensy bit of insanity I suffer from, I could not just make any old snacks. They needed to be "appropriate" for the occasion.

"Mouths Full of Teeth" & "Bandaids"

"Q-Tips with Wax"

"Mummies"

"Veggie Skeleton"

"Sick Pumpkin"

After our snacks we headed out to take a few pictures.

Then it was off to trick-or-treat.

My Dad's birthday is Halloween so he spends it doing this every year. He's a trooper!

Practicing the art of the trick-or-treat...

And I think he got it...or at least he got that he was supposed to be getting candy. That's all that really matters, right?

It's a...

Keepin' It Real

Tomorrow I'm 19 weeks pregnant. 19 weeks! How is that even possible? I feel like I still have a ways to go, but I am shocked at how fast HALF of this entire pregnancy has gone by. I fear that everything this time around is going to feel like it's moving at mach speed. Since we know (at least in OUR plan) this will be the last bambino for us, it's like I want to hold on to every single moment. And I realize that is going to make everything seem like it's zooming by once the baby is here and having his/her first milestones. So I will try my best to cherish it all, even the sleep-deprived nights and the frustrating "baby won't stop crying and I can't figure out what's wrong" moments. Next week is our "big" 20 week ultrasound. Marty & I had considered, from the beginning of this pregnancy, not finding out the gender. It was a really fun thought....for about 4 months. Now that the time has come and we know that next week we could find out if we're having another son or another daughter, we're pretty much crumbling. Honestly just the thought of having to get out our baby clothes from the attic, washing them, putting them away, setting up a nursery, etc. all AFTER the baby is here and WHILE also taking care of 3 other little ones is enough to put me over the edge with stress. So I think we're going to take a peek and find out what's going on in there so we can plan and I can feel more relaxed about bringing a FOURTH child into our already hectic house. I know all you "Gender Waiters" are going to be disappointed in me. What can I say? I just don't have it in me. Plus I have this irrational fear that I feel so strongly this baby is a girl and if, at the time of delivery, a boy was born I would not know how to handle that. So there you have it. Love it or hate it. We're just "Gender Finder Outers." Let's see...names. We have growing lists of names for both genders, but if you know us and our history, you can bank on the fact that we will name this baby something that is not on "the list." And we definitely won't name the baby until after he/she (totally a she, by the way) is here. What else? Umm, the nausea I had for weeks is now pretty much gone. It rears its ugly head every once in a while, but for the most part it stays away. It's getting harder to pick up Ty and put him in his bed or car seat. The kid weighs over 32 pounds. Pretty soon, he's going to have to start climbing into those things on his own. Luckily he got an early start on practicing his climbing skills, since he has climbed on everything since he could move, so he should be good to go. I've got some really horrible veins on the back of one of my legs and if I'm on my feet a lot they flare up, get really red & start throbbing & burning. Super fun. So babe, if you're reading this and you come home to a not so clean house, dinner's not ready, laundry's not done, your son is running around with poop in his diaper, and I'm lying on the couch with my feet up, it's not in the name of bon-bon eating mmmk?? Here I am at 19 weeks (well technically 1 day shy of, but same thing). I feel like you can already see a difference from the picture of me at 16 weeks. Scary. And since we're "keepin' it real" you like my chaos of a bedroom? Thought you might.

Sixteen Weeks

Ty's First Day of Preschool

My "baby" boy started preschool this morning! That is why I actually have the time to sit & post on my blog. Normally this time would be filled with diaper changes, car & train playing, wiping sticky hands & a messy mouth, picking up a trail of Cheerios all around the house, and doing the Yo Gabba Gabba dances with my boy. But not today. Today he is in his classroom at his new school and, I have a feeling, loving every minute of it. He loves to be around other kids and really loves learning, so I think he's going to do great in school. Here are a few pictures from this morning.

Breakfast before the big day.

All ready to go with my back pack & lunch box!

This boy literally is always happy. He makes me smile.

"Look at this Mom!"

Joining right in for the prayer before class starts.

The Neglect of The Blog

Wow, so this poor blog of mine has gone so neglected the last few weeks. We have had quite a bit going on since I last checked in. Truth be told, the chore of going back to try and update everything that has been happening with cute pictures and all became so daunting as more time went by that I have just avoided it altogether. So, in an effort to break the silence here and maybe salvage what readers I have left, I am going to attempt an update. I will probably forget to include some things and there's no way it will all be in order of occurrence. Also, I'm not going to include pictures. How you like them apples!? Just can't do it. Not now at least. I may come back and show pictures of our different adventures at some point to add some visual interest to this here blog, but for now, if I'm going to update, this is the only way I'm going to be able to do it. Don't stop reading. There are many interesting things I have to tell you. And I promise to start using pictures again if you just stick with me. Since I have no pictures and I don't have a particular order I'm going to follow, let's go with bullet points. Here we go!

• Ty turned 2 on June 23rd. So far 2 has treated us kindly. He has the occasional tantrum and 2-year-old moment, but for the most part he really is such a happy, flexible, funny little boy. We had a very small gathering for him on his birthday that was in the theme of All Things That Go. The boy loves him some cars, trucks, trains, planes, etc. I will definitely have to come back and share some photos from his celebration.
• Reagan turned 6 on July 18th. Instead of a party for her, we went to Florida. We tagged along on a part of my sister's vacation with her family and we had a great time. The beach was gorgeous and the kids loved, loved it. We had a mini party the night of her birthday. We made her favorite food: STEAK. The girl is a straight up carnivore. We had presents & cake and then went to a go-cart track with all kinds of games & rides.
• MacKenzie made the decision to be baptized! She started asking us questions about it a few months ago, so we have been talking about it with her. She said, "I want to do it!" And she was so excited to share it with her friends & family. It was a great morning watching my girl make such an awesome decision and then sharing fun time with family & friends over a delicious brunch at Dosey Doe. Woodlands Peeps, have you been there for breakfast?? If not, I suggest you run. Great atmosphere. Great food.
• I had a birthday and turned 31, but who really cares about that?
• Last but certainly not least on our list of most important occurrences over the past few weeks: We are expecting baby number 4! Yes, we may have certainly lost our minds. No, this was not necessarily a "planned" thing. Yes, we are excited and a little bit freaked about the idea of having 4 children. No, I have not been feeling well AT ALL the past 2 months or so. Yes, I am starting to get SOME relief, so hoping the yuckiness might be coming to an end.

So, that about wraps up our little update. Like I said, some major things going on. All very blog worthy. It's just that sitting upright in a chair in front of a computer screen when you feel like your head might explode or your stomach might just jump out of your throat is not the most pleasant of things. So, that's my lame excuse for leaving my blog so unattended. I will try to do a better job at giving you something interesting to read and hopefully some photos along the way too.