Practicing restraint

It's gotten to the point in this pregnancy that I can't put just anything on and feel fabulous. I love fashion. I don't buy much but I would if I had more money. At least I think I would. I was given some maternity clothes, but they were given to me from tiny people. I am not tiny. I can wear a few things. I just want to be cozy and somewhat cute. Not too much to ask huh? Well a few months ago I went shopping and actually found some really cute clothes but didn't buy anything because I knew I would be getting bigger and wanted to make sure I had stuff to wear when I was huge. Plus the fact that clothes are darn expensive! This has been the month where I have gained a bunch of weight and like I said above, can't just throw anything on. Dilemma. Just a small one though. ;) 

My kids spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's last night so I had a little time on my hands. I went shopping and I prayed. I prayed God would allow me to find a good deal. I was specifically on the hunt for a skirt I had tried on a few months ago. I loved it but didn't know if it would work for me through pregnancy and it was expensive. So like I said, I prayed and guess what?!! I found it on the clearance rack!!! Woohoo! Thank you Jesus for a new skirt! On sale! That fits! 

I tried on a bunch of other clothes and was contemplating just charging it but I knew I really didn't want to do that. I have been praying to get out of debt and knew God really wouldn't bless that decision. ;) 

So in the end, I purchased one item and am really thankful! 

Practicing restraint is good. Now to apply it to desserts. :) 

Bikes and scooters and bubbles, oh my

Zade gets really serious when the camera gets brought out. Not sure why. I reassured him that it was OK to smile. :)

Sometimes adventures around the block will land you in a patch of goat heads. You just have to wipe them off and be on your merry way.

Not sure how I even got a picture of him on his bike! He zooms right on by without a care in the world.

 Sister taught herself how to blow bubbles. I explained how to do it months ago with no luck of them getting it. Such is life. Come back to it in a little while and it all makes sense. She kicked a goal in soccer while blowing a bubble! Needless to say, she is pretty enamored with this new skill she has learned!

It feels like Fall! Lovely cool mornings and evenings. We are back to walking and it feels so good. Grace asked Daddy to come with us and I could hear him from the other room say, "Walking? Why would I want to go walking?" I cracked up!!! The man runs and unloads a full semi truck 4 times a week. The last thing he wants to do is walk when he gets home! Now swimming is another story. That guy would swim everyday if he could.

So thankful for these days and nights. Kind of feels like the calm before the storm.

30 week catch up

So apparently when you eat dessert every day, stop exercising, enter the third trimester and baby has a big growth spurt, you can gain 10 pounds in one month. I'm not saying this happened to me, but just that it can happen. Crap. Who am I fooling? Yeah, I gained 10 happy pounds this month.  That has never happened in all of my pregnancies!! I am trying to decide if I pull a Jessica Simpson and just go for it, or if that would be such a good idea, since I don't have a trainer or any enthusiasm for working out most days. It's a tough decision since I have just pinned about 15 new fall dessert recipes. Who am I becoming?

On other happy moments, my midwife is amazing. I have never had 2 hour long appointments. I don't usually have too many questions as I am a take it as it comes person, but she can really keep a conversation rolling and I love it! From the moment we step into her home, she talks about the news, nutrition, babies, families, government, religion, and so much more!! She takes the time to place Grace's hands inside hers for Grace to feel the baby's head and bottom. She makes sure Grace sees how we measure the tummy and explains what she is doing while doing it. She is a fantastic teacher. She has bold opinions and I love hearing them. Usually I agree. She took us into her garden and showed us all her animals. She gave us cucumbers and carrots and made the kids promise they would eat the whole thing. :)
I am one of the last girls she will be helping, as she is planning on retiring. I feel so blessed she agreed to help us. This has been such a great pregnancy and she has made it all the more wonderful.

I made a list of things we need to buy. I checked one off. Socks. Micheal actually sat down and got serious with me on names last night. The kids came up with Phoenix, Casino, Hulk, Charlie, Emily, Lucy, and so many other wacky ones, I changed the subject at dinner!! I think we have agreed on a girl name and have NOTHING, as usual, for a boy. I told Micheal we must be having a girl then! We got online and looked up boy names and were cracking up at some of them! Marnin. Micheal said he could never say it without an Irish accent! The girl name we have is so southern sounding, I told him I may talk southern to the baby and she end up having an accent while living in Idaho!

I have been craving bananas, which is so weird to me. I don't usually like them.  Bananas and anything I don't have to cook. ;)
Also, I'm nesting like crazy. I think it is a mixture of the changing seasons and nesting. I vacuum everyday and am keeping up on clutter and dishes. The kids are helping SO much too. I love their loving and helpful attitudes. Micheal cooks with me a lot and I love that too. It is way more fun to cook with him beside me. For some reason I get really overwhelmed with fixing dinner. My family does not expect a lot but I don't have the brain to put meals together right now. All I want is soup and sandwiches, dutch pancakes or tacos. And bananas and anything I don't have to cook!

I want to soak up every day of this pregnancy. The movements inside of me. The hiccups. The peeing all the time. The lack of brain power. The kids kissing my belly goodnight. Grace getting hurt and resting her head on my tummy, then cracking up. The baby moving to the sound of Daddy's voice. The living for another person, taking care of myself better than I normally would.

What a wonderful thing to plan a pregnancy and really be there in mind and spirit through it all. It truly is a miracle and I praise God I have been able to experience this amazing aspect of being a woman.

I have been so giggly lately. Micheal loves it as I am laughing all the time at his random antics! 

 Well, Fall is here! Full of wonderful goodness and busyness. Winter will be here soon enough and there will be a different kind of wonderful and busy!

Next week we are taking "school" pictures! I am really excited about what Micheal and I have planned!

Note to self

Relax. 

While I am a pretty darn relaxed person, I am learning to really live it out right now. 

No worries. Just take life as it comes. Sure, I have more on my plate right now than I ever have. 

I can do it. One day or one moment at a time. 

I bought baby socks today. Oh my goodness!! How cute are they! And they will be even cuter 

when tiny little baby feet are in them!! 

Our bedroom is blue and yellow with some browns and whites thrown in. 

It is quite perfect as we don't know what this little thang is inside of me.
The baby will be in our room for awhile. Crib and everything. Grandpa is making the crib and
I can't wait to see it! 

My good friend bought me the "relax" sign. I love when people really know you! 

Baby things! Just a few. Almost all thrift store finds or hand me downs. Socks are the only exception. 

As mothers we pray
for a world of peace.
We pray for a world of joy.
We pray for the nourishment and safety
of our children.
We pray for wonder, enthusiasm,
goodness and truth,
for compassion, love and kindness.....

We pray for discipline.
We pray for maturity.
We pray for courage and strength.
And we give thanks.
The way we live is the way we give thanks.
Our life is a dance of prayer and thanksgiving. 

~Ingrid Goff-Maidoff

That last line pretty much sums it up. :)

Sunshine

I call our Auggie our sunshine. He smiles all the time. You wake him up from a deep sleep. He smiles. He loves sugar. Way more than our other two. He lights up when dessert is even talked about. From the moment he wakes up, he is ready to eat and run and play and talk and talk and talk. He never stops talking. "Mom, watch this." "Hey look!" "What if......" All day long. I won't say that it is always easy. Sometimes I just can't listen anymore. He sure is fun though. He keeps up with his big sister and brother just fine. He is looking forward to being a big brother himself. As I look at these pictures I am amazed it has been four years since his birth!! His hands are still big. He feet too. He is fitting into clothes Zade has worn just months ago. No more baby hair. I was looking at pictures from last year and he is so much bigger. The way he talks is so much older. He still loves motorcycles. He asks for one almost every day. He wants to save money for one. He is active, active, active and yet will snuggle like the best of them. He still comes into bed with us in the middle of the night. He just finds his way in the dark, snuggles in and goes right back to sleep. It will be interesting to see how that works when the baby is born. It was such a surprise finding out I was pregnant with him. He has been such an amazing blessing. I could not imagine not having this light in our life. He has crooked baby teeth. He points with his middle finger. He puts the letter A all over the place. He fights hard. He can tackle his older brother and most of the time his sister. He has been talking about Jesus a lot lately and remembers stories he has been told. "Remember when that guy hit the rock and all the water came out?" "Jesus left all the other sheep and "goed" and got the one." He rarely says "went." We are working on that. He says, "I know."
a lot. We are working on that too. ;)

And now for a bunch of cute pictures... He is such a fun kid to take pictures of because he likes it!
I told him to get his clothes on and we were going to go take pictures. He dropped all his toys and with enthusiasm asked where we were going and jumped in the van! See, his our sunshine!

I love his hands! 

His squinty eyes make me happy too! 

It was extremely bright and I said to look away from the sun. He put his head in his hands! By the way, he is wearing his brother's shoes. He loves shoes! That was the other thing he asked for for his birthday! He is easy to please. I love that!

Full

It's my birthday!! Yay! 

This is what I am thinking on today. I love this verse and it comforts me. 

God's presence is the fullness of joy. The true pleasures of life come from my Savior. 

I praise God He has shown me the path of life and continues to show me the way. 

I pray this verse over baby too. 

It's a good day. Feels like Autumn. Nothing to do but enjoy the little pleasures of the day

with my family. 

I am a happy and blessed girl. 

Apricot tree

It's the 4th day of September and I have taken 19 pictures. 

That's a bit below average! 

I have been so busy and have gotten consumed with the to-do's. 

Last night my daughter called Daddy and I out to see her creation. 

I glanced out  the window real quick, saw the gorgeous light, grabbed my camera and 

ran outside to see what she wanted to show us. 

I love the "work" of kids!! She dedicated quite a bit of time to make this. 

The first thing she did this morning was run outside and see if it was still there. 

Yep! No wind last night. 

Our big apricot tree yielded us no fruit this summer, but the kids

have played under that tree for 2 1/2 years now. Memories have been made and I hope kept forever

in their hearts and minds. Childhood is sweet and I really try to let them live it to the fullest. 

They have asked what the bad words are. I told them I will not tell them because then those words will 

be in their minds and they will be tempted to use them. They hear the words sometimes from

neighbor kids but I really believe God has closed their ears to understanding that those are the bad words. It makes me happy. 

It's been a little cold the last few mornings. The perfect cold though. Not the freezing kind. 

Not yet. We will enjoy the last days of summer. Riding bikes, taking walks, playing, 

maybe even a picnic and reading on the front porch. 

And of course, the kids will be swinging.

Baby

Last trimester! Life has been busy. More so than I am used to, 

but all in good ways. 

I am tired though and find I need more rest. 

I thought I was having a girl and now the last few weeks, 

I am leaning more towards a boy. 

Not sure why. We only have a girl name. Boy names are hard for us. 

I keep thinking though about having three boys. When we started having

babies, we never thought about what we would have in the end. We have just

taken them as they come and have thoroughly enjoyed them all. 

I would love to have another girl, but think three brothers is special too. 

It's making me giddy, not knowing. I get it now. What people have told us

all along. Waiting is so fun! I have picked up a couple things from the thrift store and

I guess we will keep things very simple until this little person is born. 

Looking forward to the next 13 weeks and then the after!!