Mee Mee and Kate

Will and Sam are pretty in love with my two youngest sisters, who are 12 and 14. Pretty much every day Sam asks to go to Kate's house (and get's all mopey when we don't), and Will is always saying he loves "Mee Mee" (Camryn) and Kate 25...or 118, depending on his mood. I can't say enough how wonderful it is having them so involved in my boys life. Their relationship is more than just Aunt and nephews. They truly are friends.

Their Birthdays are a month apart, and we always like to try and do something fun with the both of them. This year we went to the Strong Museum of Play, and we had lots of fun!

Mommy and Daddy had to have some fun too!

After all of our playing we had some burgers and fries at Bill Grays!

And, of course, we had to hit up the carousel before leaving.

Happy Birthday Mee Mee and Kate! We love ya!

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 30

Between having a puking kid, and still wanting to be productive on this beautifully warm and sunny day, this will be another short and sweet post. I am feeling great! When I was pregnant with Sam I was pretty achy off and on from 28 weeks til then end. It was super bad at timeS. I was worried going into this pregnancy that with each kid it would just get worse, but then I remembered Will was in his cast at this point in my pregnancy last time. Carrying around a *big* almost 2 year old in a half body cast will make anyone achy, let alone a pregnant lady! I have also been doing yoga twice a week for almost 4 weeks now, so maybe that is helping too! I am really enjoying it. I feel like I get a good workout, gettin' sweaty and all, without feeling extra achy the next day.

Here's the belly at 30 weeks! (Here I am at 30 weeks with Sam.)

Five minute Friday

I am linking up with Lisa Jo today for her 5 minute Friday!

Here’s how we do it:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat on the prompt “After” with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog’s footer}.

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes for the prompt:

After…

Before ever having children I had a whole list of worries. Fears. Fear of "What if I can't get pregnant?" Fear of the pain of birth.. It was a list I kept on adding to, even after having two children: Worried that my kid will never talk. Worries about their health. Will they ever be out of diapers?!? Dreading the transition from crib to big boy bed. Will I ever sleep again? Will they look back on their childhood and only remember the crazy mom moments? Will they grow up to really and truly know Jesus?

But do you know what is amazing? Gods grace on us mama's. So many things I was worried about, I can look back on after the fact and say, "Wow. I did it. I'm still alive, and it really wasn't that bad." I was able to deliver two babies, all natural, and after even that I am actually excited about doing it again (remind me that I said this while I am in transition). I didn't die from exhaustion, and I did eventually get to sleep through the night.  

Will broke his leg at 22 months old, while I was 6 months pregnant with Sam, and had to be in a half body cast for 5 weeks. Those first couple of nights in the hospital with him my head was full of worries and fears of what we would have to endure those next 5 weeks. But after the first few days, we all adjusted pretty well and got back to a pretty normal life. I even weaned Will and move him into his big boy bed during it all!

God gives us moms this amazing ability to sympathize for our children that you don't even skip a beat when it comes to cleaning puke off of them in the middle of the night, and it's only after the fact you realize that that worry you had? Really wasn't a big deal at all. That with God's grace you will get through it!

Confession: I definitely wrote for more than 5 minutes. What can I say, I'm a slow writer.

Easter Sunday 2013

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend! We had church in the morning, and then spent the rest of the day at my parents with a handful of my siblings. It was a nice, relaxing day just hanging out and eating. I love getting us all dressed up for Easter, so of course we had to get some pictures!

Easter 2011

Easter 2012

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 28

I'm starting off week 28 feeling pretty darn good. A few round ligament pains here and there and some occasional heartburn, but other than that I can't complain! Baby is moving a bunch. Gone are the light little kicks and flutters. It is now a full on limb fest in there. Elbows, knees, and feet jabbing me every which way. As far as I can tell his head is down, and Braxton hicks are in full swing. Not at all out the the norm for me.

When I think about how big I am feeling already, still having 12 weeks to go seems like a lot. But when I think about only having 12 weeks left to get everything done on my before-baby-to-do-list it's a little overwhelming. I cannot wait for some more consistent warm weather. I have a bunch of painting projects I want to get done, and being able to open up some windows or take things outside is a must for that. My ideas for decorating the nursery are slowly coming together. In my mind at least. In real life nothing has happened in that department. The nursery to be is still full of way to many toys I need to downsize and some boxes of random stuff.

The baby bump is definitely growing! Here it is at 28 weeks, (and here I am at 28 weeks with Sam!). And yes, I am aware that these pants I am wearing should have been packed away about 1 month ago.