My Hands Are Full...But So Is My Heart

It seems like every time we go out somewhere, I always get at least one "You've got your hands full" comment. Maybe it's because of a certain little one year old, who is a handful all by himself. Or maybe it's the 3 young boys thing. Or maybe it's because I never look rested. I don't know. But whatever the reason is, it's true. My hands are full. My days are full. Life is busy, and crazy, and loud, and messy. But, I love it! Every single second of it.

Life doesn't seem to leave much time for blogging anymore, but I did want to post some pictures just so I wouldn't forget these wild and crazy days later.

A mess I found after the boys played "Car Wash" with their trucks

This is what happens when I try to get a picture of the 3 of them

A little better

Mr. Handful

Jackson showing off his Spiderman skills

My baby is 1 now!!

I just don't even know...

Homeschool Play Date

Both boys are enjoying their new bikes

After a crash

And, not to be outdone by big brother

My funny little man

I LOVE this picture! He is just so precious!

At the playground

Mr. Fearless keeps Mommy on her toes =)

Mommy's First "Bouquet"

Yesterday afternoon, my sweet boy picked his mommy a bouquet of "flowers". He spent about 5 minutes gathering as many as he could, then he took great care in making them pretty before giving them to me. He said they were my "getting married flowers" and that we (he and I) were going to get married. =)

It was a real melt your heart moment, and just when I needed it too. God has been so good to give me such sweet little boys. I'm thankful that even though I mess up and often don't deserve their love, they still love me enough to want to "marry" me.

When we came inside, he asked me if I would "put them in a bucket" and keep them. How could I refuse? They will stay there on my counter as a sweet reminder of my little boy's love for his mommy until they wither up.

Three Year Olds Cannot Be Trusted

This is what happens when Mommy talks to Daddy on Skype.

I thought he was playing quietly.

I should have known he was being a little too quiet.

Ugh! I wonder how many Mr. Clean Magic Erasers this is going to take.

One day this will be funny...right?

One of Those Days

Tonight my Facebook status was: "The three year old pushed the one year old off the bed, busting his nose and mouth. The one year old then decided to wipe blood on every surface he could reach. As for me, I see a career in crime scene cleanup in my future."

It has indeed been one of those days!

I don't know why it seems like things always go wrong and life is always more intense when your spouse is away. It probably isn't any different than when they are here. Having somebody else to bear the burden with you just makes it easier.

I miss my husband so much, and he has only been gone less than a week. We have many, many more weeks to go.

The boys are doing okay with the separation, but Tyler is definitely having a hard time. We have been able to Skype with Keith a few times, which is wonderful, but always makes Tyler cry. I guess the reality of seeing Daddy and realizing he isn't here just hits him then. But, we are all surviving. So far, no major catastrophes. =)

We have a busy weekend planned with a surprise birthday party tomorrow afternoon followed by a political rally tomorrow evening. Then on Saturday we have visitation, I do the bulletin for church, and then Saturday night we are having a Valentine's Banquet at church. Another girl whose husband is gone with Keith is going to be my "date". =) Sunday, of course, is church.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and I hope we have a relatively quiet weekend as well.

What Do You Do All Day?

If you can't read this, you can click on the picture above to read the article.

My friend, Kelly, and I had a conversation about this very subject today. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? We are both SAHM's, who actually stay at home. There are some women who really take advantage of their "position", who are never home, and give the wrong impression of what being a stay at home mom does all day. But for those of us who really do want to glorify God by staying home with our children and creating havens for our families, I think this article pretty much sums it up. Grab yourself a glass of tea and enjoy!

My Not-So-Little Boy Is 3 Today

I can't believe that it has already been 3 years since my little man was born. In some ways it seems like only a year has gone by, but in other ways it is hard to remember life without him. They really do grow so fast, don't they?

Lord willing, we will be having a joint birthday party for him and Jackson Friday night. I should have more pictures then. =)

Jackson's Mystery Rash

Jackson has developed some sort of rash all over his tiny little body. I first noticed it last night and then this morning it had spread and gotten more noticeable. After reading about different rashes in children and their causes on the internet last night, my inner hypochondriac came out and I was thoroughly convinced that it was purpura--which is linked to meningitis and leukemia. Needless to say I did not sleep well last night and was awake and on the phone with the pediatric clinic on base first thing this morning.

The clinic was less than reassuring with their medical advice---Benadryl every 6 hours for 48 hours and then they will see him. So today we are home, resting and waiting. Hoping and praying. Loving and kissing. Holding and rocking.

Here are some pictures of the rash. I had a hard time getting pictures of it. He was squirmy and for some reason the rash doesn't look nearly as dramatic in the pictures as it does in person.

And here are two others of him just being cute. I love how cute that pacifier looks in his mouth. He saw it in a drawer and wanted it. It lasted about as long as it took for me to snap the pictures. We are a No Paci house. =)

P.S.- How do y'all like the new floors?

Blessing or Burden?

As I sit here tonight nursing my sweet little one while he sweetly snuggles in closely, I cannot help but look at him and think of how blessed I am. While I am here, my sweet husband is in the next room getting our first blessing to sleep. My husband is tired from a long day at work and we have had no time together today, but he helps me without complaint. Tyler has been tired and whiny from the moment he woke up, and yet I would never dream of thinking life would be better or easier without him.

Too often I am guilty of taking my family for granted. I do not praise God for them nearly enough, and am often not as free with my love for my family as I should be. Life is busy, kids make messes, and husbands forget. But through it all, they are still wonderful gifts from our LORD and meant to be treasured.

I was recently at a home catalog party (i.e. Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Tupperware) at a friend's house. The demonstrator was a lady none of us had ever met before. She seemed to be a very nice lady, but the one and only thing that stuck with me about her was a short conversation she had with us about recently discovering she was pregnant with baby #3. Without going into details, she basically made it very clear that this baby was not planned and the she was quite surprised. Immediately a few others joined in with stories of how their own children had been unplanned. Some of these children were playing in the next room. Could you imagine how this would make a child feel, to hear Mommy telling her friends that you were an "accident"? My heart broke. Somewhat for the children and some for the women who so desperately want children and cannot have them or those who may be trying and waiting for their next blessing that they would so willingly rejoice over. I've been there!

I will probably never see that lady again. But I will probably always have a bad image of the company she represented just because of that. I'm sure she did not think anything of the conversation, nor did the other ladies who joined in. It was just "small talk". But you know what, complaining about our husbands or our children should never be a source of small talk. We should love them and praise God for them, even in the tough times. We, as Christians, are representatives of our Saviour. Will our murmurings be all the world sees of Him in us??

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward Psalm 127:3

Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:33

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. I Peter 3:1-2

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. I Peter 1:15

(Steps off soapbox)

Crawling

My little man is crawling now. I can hardly believe he is old enough, but he is. He will be 8 months in a few weeks. Here is a picture of him and his best friend Timothy. They are 10 days apart (Jackson is older).

Thanks for the picture, Manuela!

It's Twins!

Teeth, that is.

Raise your hand if you thought I was pregnant again. =)

Anyway, Jackson finally got his two bottom front teeth. And it's not even Christmas. I tried to get a picture of them to post, but he was not very cooperative. Hopefully I can get a good picture soon. I can't believe my little baby is growing so fast. He will be 7 months old tomorrow. He is almost crawling. He can pull, push, and scoot wherever he wants to go. He will soon have crawling mastered; he is so close now. Why does the baby stage seem to go fast??

A Quick Funny

Where in the world have I been??

We went out of town for a week, and are now trying to recover from sickness and get adjusted to being home again. Hopefully in a few days when I have regained control over the laundry pile and the children, I will have some pictures to share with you from our trip. Until then, I'll leave you with this little tantrum-filled moment we just experienced...

Tyler will be 3 in October. And he still nurses. A lot. He doesn't need the nutrition any more. He eats and drinks when he is hungry or thirsty. Nursing for him is a habit, and it has become a bad one. I am working on weaning him. I have been trying to wean him since he turned one, but obviously not too successfully. So anyway, today he was asking (demanding) for it and I told him no. He immediately began crying. I told him to stop crying and go play or he had to go to his room. His response..."You gimme boo-boo (nurse him) or I call police man on you!" LOL!! I don't know where the kids gets it from. =)

I spent most of my day...

HERE!

Along with about 70,000 other children who must have been on spring break. (I will be sure to not make that mistake again.)

Our van needed some maintenance that took several hours, and the dealership was nice enough to shuttle me and the kids over so we didn't have to wait in the lobby. That was very nice of them, I thought.

Tyler loved it! I. am. exhausted.

Please Excuse Me...

While I tend to my sick children. I hope to be back posting regularly soon. I have lots to share...

Praying that you all have a blessed week. =)

Jackson @ 4 months

17 pounds
Happy
Good Sleeper
Loves His Bubba
Eating Cereal
Wears 9 mo clothes
Beautiful Smile
Teething
Loves to Nurse
Cuddle Bug
Hates His Carseat
Hates His Nails to be Trimmed
Loves to Coo
Looks Like Mommy (so "they" say)
Blessing from the Lord!

He Did It!

The littlest one has slept through the night (11-8) in his own bed for the past two nights! That is something we have only accomplished with the two year old twice in his entire life!!!! (Now you know why I walk around in a fog all the time.) You can guess what I'm hoping for tonight. Ahhh, that's right. More glorious sleep!

Have a blessed week.

Finding Our New "Normal"

Our precious baby Jackson is now two weeks old. I can hardly believe it. He is such a sweet and easy-going little guy. He is such a joy to be around! I love his sweet cuddles, his little milky breath, and the fact that his intoxicating baby smell has not washed away in the bath water. Oh how I wish I could just press the pause button and enjoy this time with him a little longer.

Today is our first day at home by ourselves--a day I have been dreading for about a week now. Every time I see a pile of clutter, or crumbs on the floor, or when Tyler decides that he only needs to sleep 5 hours a night; I think to myself "There is no way I can do this!" But you know what, God promises I can do all things through Him. My house won't be spotless, my laundry will not always be caught up, nor will I serve gourmet meals every night. But God has given me bigger priorities-caring for and loving my family-and He will make a way for me to accomplish what is necessary.

Please pray for us as we find our new normal, and adjust to being a family of four. We are truly blessed!

Proud Mommy Post

My precious blessings!

Tyler is really enjoying being a big brother. Not that we aren't having a few jealousy issues, because we are. But all in all, he is doing very well and enjoying learning all about "Jak".

The Boys Went to The Doctor

It sounds funny to say boys---plural. But, I guess it's to that point. Yay! I'm so excited to have 2 boys.

Anyway, both of my little fellows had doctors appointments this week. I had a prenatal appointment on Wednesday and Tyler went to the dentist on Thursday.

My appointment went well. I have gained 18 pounds so far, my blood pressure was good, and baby was measuring just right. He is also head down and ready to go. The only concern was that his heartrate was a little lower than normal, but still within a "normal" range. So, all in all it was a good appointment. I am really looking forward to meeting my new little man, and also losing the bowling-ball-in-my-ribs feeling.

Now, on to the not as good part...Tyler finally went to the dentist yesterday. If you remember, he was supposed to go on Aug. 19th, but we got a call that morning saying that the doctor was out sick and they would call to reschedule. The next morning was when we left for TN and the next two weeks were sort of a blur. When we got home I realized they never called to reschedule, so I called them. Turns out the dentist had to have surgery (I hope he's okay) and won't be back till some time in October. They referred me to another doctor who was able to get us in yesterday.

Anybody who has seen Tyler's teeth knows that he has decay. It's pretty obvious. (Yes, I know. I will not be getting nominated for Mom of the Year. How did I let my baby get tooth decay? Anyway.) The solution? Surgery. $10,000 worth of surgery that our insurance company more than likely will not pay for. So now we are making phone calls to the insurance company, as is the dentist, praying that they will approve his surgery. If not, I'm not sure what we will do. So if you think of it and feel so inclined, say a little prayer. Would ya?

Let's end on a happy note, shall we? I am going on a real, bona fide date with my hubby tonight. Monday was his birthday. This will be our first real date since Tyler was born. Wow! I'm excited.

Y'all have a great weekend.

About the Poll

You may or may not have noticed that I added a "Do you like the name Piper for a girl" poll to my blog. The reason behind it is, whether due to crazy hormones or something else, I keep having a feeling that this baby is going to come out a girl rather than a boy. I felt the same way with Tyler too. So, I decided to try to think of a girl name just in case.

Why Piper? Well, Tyler and I were at McDonald's the other day and there was a little girl named Piper there. She was cute, and I thought the name was kinda cute too. Plus it works with our name criteria, which is: 1st name from the Bible, middle name that ends in "er". Weird, I know. There aren't a lot of girl names out there that end in "er". I think I like Abigail or Hannah for a first name. Keith doesn't like Hannah though, because he said people will think we named her after Hannah M*ntana. I would hope not!

By the way, there's two hints for you about what the name will be if it's a boy. Anybody care to guess? I'll send you a prize if you're right. (It doesn't count if I've already told you the name)

Larry, Mo, and No Longer Curly

Yesterday my little boy turned 21 months old. Yesterday was also his 1st haircut. I don't know who was more traumatized by that, me or him. I'm pretty sure it was me, though. I'm just not ready for my baby to be a big boy. It was time though. I believe that boys should look like boys, and girls should look like girls. It was getting pretty long and falling in his eyes, so I shed a few tears and cut off his beautiful little baby curls.

Before:

After:

I dare say he looks even cuter now!