15 weeks | pregnancy update

Without jinxing it by saying so, I think I'm finally over the throwing up! I have been nearly nausea free for a week, except for at the very end of the day, just before bedtime. I still get queasy around 8:30, but I think that's just my body's way of telling me to call it a day. I can't say that I feel all the way normal, but my energy is picking back up, and it sure helps not to puke every time I brush my teeth!! Maybe this all corresponds to the sunshine and warmer weather we've had this past 2 weeks too. I'm not sure, but I know I'm thankful as can be that the worst is behind me!

I'm feeling this little one move and wiggle a lot more frequently. It's still a faint, butterfly feeling, but it's an unmistakable sensation. Elijah is disappointed that he can't feel the baby move in my tummy yet, but that will come soon enough. He still tells me several times a day how happy he is and how he CAN'T WAIT for our baby to come! I love his enthusiasm! He looks at our pregnancy book and magazine (with real life photos taken in the womb - amazing, really) several times a week to check on the progress, sometimes daily.

Today we went to the zoo with my friend Courtney and her 2 little ones. Briley is almost 6 and Lexi just turned 2. Both my boys were all over Lexi! Saying, "Oh, she's SOOOO cute!" a hundred times. Elijah kept asking me if he could hold her. Haha! He's just so, so anxious to help take care of a baby. :)

Also, now that I'm feeling better, my nesting instinct is kicking in big time! I'm ready to get our house listed for sale! I just have to tackle this 1,000 projects that need to be done first. Wish me luck!

12 weeks! Am I on the home stretch to feeling human again???

Hello, 12 weeks!

Our baby is 3 and 1/2 inches now, weighs over an ounce, and has fingerprints (among many other exciting things). The boys and I enjoy reading our weekly updates and talking about our baby. 

I think we're just a week away from the end of the first trimester! I'm so hopeful that by this time next week I'll be feeling human again! I've had some pretty bad nights lately. But the mornings are decent and tolerable.

Yesterday we spent a few hours at the zoo with our friends Ivy and Sage (the boys' best, best, best friends) and their Mom and GG. It was gloriously warm (mid 70's) and sunny!! I even got a little sunburn on my chest! After 2 and 1/2 hours we were all ready for lunch and home. So I picked up some porkchops and we grilled out! Manny was off work (what!?) so we enjoyed the afternoon as a family. I'm just so happy that Spring is around the corner, and with it, maybe some relief.

My Boys on a Campout

There is this fabulous tradition for the men at our church. Each spring they have a father-son campout on the church property. Yesterday afternoon, lots of the dads (mostly with young sons) set up tents in the empty (large) lot, build a big ol' fire, haul in heavy machinery for fun, and prepare for a night of excitement! This year was Zeke's first year getting to go!!! I think I was just as happy for the guys as they were that they got to spend a whole night with their Daddy doing guy stuff. They cooked out on the fire, ate lots of junk food, played music, drank soda and lots of sugar-filled juice drinks, shot automatic weapons (thanks to Jacob Talor and his SWAT awesomeness!), dug with a REAL life excavator (thanks to Josh Beer and the company he works for), played ball with the other boys, rode in tractors, messed around with their flashlights, slept in sleeping bags on the ground, woke up filthy and smelling like smoke. Basically, it was little boy paradise! They were so completely exausted and over-stimulated that when I brought them home in the morning (Manny had to leave early for work so my Dad stepped in for the breakfast part of the shindig) they went straight into a hot bath which left the tub a dingy brown and into BED again! They both slept for nearly 3 hours! This campout really is one of the highlights of their year and I'm so very happy that Manny was able to take them. We weren't sure due to his work schedule, but the Lord provided the way. I love that he's making these kind of memories with them. They will treasure them. Before they left, after the car was all packed with camping provisions, I took a few photos of the guys ready to head out. Elijah asked me so sweetly if he can have a copy of the photos with their Daddy so he can always remember this awesome campout! Of course! Those pics are going in the "special things box" for sure!

Here are some pictures I took of them before they left. Manny did take some w/his phone too, but I don't have those.

Blooms & Stuff

As often as I can, I like to sneak out by myself and take pictures of pretty things just for fun. Here are some recent captures. All this rain has been good for something. Our flowers are lovely this time of year.

Sometimes in the Spring

It has been so discouragingly cold this Spring. We've been desperate for a good warm day to play outside. But FINALLY, this past week we've reached the high 60's and low 70's. We are sooo thankful! Plus, I've been itching to get outside and take some Springtime pictures of my boys. So this morning we were able enjoy some time outdoors, picking "andy-ions" and digging in the rocks.

Ms. Katrina came today too for Zeke's speech therapy. We all really appreciate her so much. I cannot believe the progress my little Zeke has made with her help. It's amazing that just 9 months ago he was only using 4 "real" words and now he jabbers constantly. He still has lots of work to do, but I can understand him now and he's able to communicate his needs. He's doing wonderfully and I am so proud. I'm kind of dreading the time when he no longer gets to have a weekly playdate with Ms."Trina". He loves her so much.

He is risen, just as He said!

The kids had 3 egg hunts in 2 days. They were given, and consumed waaaay more candy that should be humanly possible. We managed to take a few family pictures. But I'm laughing so hard at the shots that ended up being the "best" from the batches. We did most of the usual Easter stuff... lunch and egg hunt with the cousins at GG & P-pa's house after church, then evening egg hunt and dinner at my parents' house with my other grandparents. It was a beautiful afternoon - finally a warmish day.

This is so funny to me because of Elijah's face. What is that??

I have lots of thoughts for this Easter post and I'm having a hard time collecting them all into sentences.

It has been a busy, fun weekend. And I have an overwhelmed feeling of gratitude for all the spiritual blessings in my life. This has been a season of growth for me (and my husband too) and of a greater awareness of God's working among us.  Sometime soon I hope to be able to articulate it. But as for today, it seems the perfect time to mention briefly that the theme of New Life in Christ is so fresh and sweet to me. God is good. He has shown me the most amazing kindness. And I am swimming in an ocean of His lavish grace. Amen? Hallelujah! What a Savior.

We ended Easter Sunday by watching the last of The Bible series on History Channel. Perfect way to cap it off, I think. With a reminder of the Savior's love and His holy sacrifice for us, which fully satisfied the wrath of God toward sinners; conquering death, and hell, and sin.  Happy Resurrection Day. He is risen, just as He said!

Almost a Campout

Elijah was bouncing off the walls on Friday afternoon with excitement. He had been counting down the days, then the hours until the Father/Son campout with Manny!  They loaded their tent, sleeping bags, extra clothes, toothbrushes (yes, I insisted), flashlights, snacks, and hotdog roasting stick into the back of the truck and headed over to the campsite (aka. field next to our church) at 4:30.  The happiness on my sweet Elijah's face was priceless.  An adventure with his Daddy is so rare, let alone a whole night just the two of them camping!  I was almost jealous that I didn't get to participate.

I spoke to Manny in the early evening and learned that Elijah got to go on the zipline THREE times!  He loved it - fearless!  One rousing game of flashlight kickball, 2 hotdogs, and a bag of chips later he was ready to hit the hay in his tent with (shhh...don't tell anybody) little duck by 9:00.  But then the drizzle started. Manny put the rain cover on the tent and it seemed they would be fine. ... Until the hail and lightning arrived.  They ran for cover into the church building, where the kids got to play on the drums in the sanctuary while the dads played audience to their concert.  After waiting it out for an hour, Manny decided there would be no sleeping outside in the storm so they left the tent and drove home at 10:30. 

When they walked in the door I knew by his puffy eyes that Elijah had been crying the whole drive home.  He looked up at me with the most heartbroken expression I think I've ever seen and said, "Mom, I have something really really sad to tell you" as he choked back tears.  I went to him and knelt down, putting my arms around him.  Then he broke down.  "Our campout was cancelled!" he sobbed, big tears spilling out. 

Manny had tried to console him with promises of another camping trip next weekend, a fun guys' breakfast out the next day, and trip to the hardware store.  But it was no use.  And I understood his sadness perfectly.  There is nothing to fix that great disappointment he was feeling.  His hopes had been high and they were deflated. Make-ups just won't do in times like that.  I was so sad for the heartbrake my little boy suffered.  It might not seem like much, but this was a monumental event in his life.  I just hope that when he looks back on the experience, he remembers more about the fun they had and they adventure of running for cover in the rain and lightning in stead.

Pool Opening!

Big day today. My parents opened their pool!  Obviously it is still much, much too cold to get in. The water temp is only 70. But it was crystal clear when they opened the cover this morning.  Evansville is supposed to reach almost 90 degrees by the middle of this week, so we're all hoping the solar cover does its job and really warms the water up so we can jump in this weekend!  This is the very thing we've been waiting for since September!  And I have about 10 new swimming suits standing by.  Stay tuned for pictures of our 2012 inaugural dip coming maybe even as soon as the end of this week.  Hooray!

15:52 | Nature

Bleeding heart plant blooming at my mom's house.

13:52 | Stack

This one is a bit of a stretch... stacks of dandelions picked by Elijah and transported in the cement truck.

12:52 | Spring

Spring: the first time the boys played in the sprinkler this year. (It got up to near 90 degrees today!)

11:52 | Color

Color on the pink blooming cherry trees.

that silly groundhog

For the first time I can ever remember, the groundhog was wrong. Spring is HERE, and has been since the beginning of February! This is fantastic and we sure are loving all the warmth and sunshine! Today my boys took advantage of the 80 degree mark on the thermometer by making their inaugural splash in my parents' pond. It's a right of passage every spring, which normally doesn't come until late April or early May. I'm astonished that this is early March and we're already seeing leaves on trees and playing in water outside! We've been going barefoot for a week now. :) My laundry also loves the fresh air when I hang it out to dry!

Oh yeah, and these boys... I love them more every second.

Daylight savings time started this weekend. One of the perks is that I get to enjoy sunrises again. This was my view as I went up my driveway in the fog this morning.

Straight-Line Winds

A BIG fat storm hit my town last night. We're fine. We lost power for a while, but its back on now. The damage to our property is minimal. Praise God for that! Our chainsaw is going to get a work-out this weekend though.

10 month photos

my firstborn

Is 3 years, 9 months, 1 week & 4 days old. His favorite TV shows are Wipeout and How It's Made. And today he ate 2 crescent rolls, 2 oreos, a peanut butter sandwich, and a piece of pizza.