third trimester

A few facts as I enter my third trimester:

*We've picked out a name - Raelynn which means lamb, grace

*We don't have a middle name yet

*This little girl loves to hang out on my right side, so I'm usually lopsided looking

*I still love honey nut cheerios and sparkling apple cider

*My new love is fish sticks - weird, I know.

*Our nursery is not even close to being done or on it's way to done...in fact, it's still a spare bedroom (Grandma's room is what we call it around here)

*I love to buy clothes. I have to stay away from stores because I get way too excited to buy little girl clothes

*I've decided to use cloth diapers this time around (not because I'm "going green" but because I calculated how much money I can save...I'm a budgeter)

*I've had the obsessive need to become organized. I seem to think my life is going to be completely altered with having 3 children vs. the 2 I have. I'm constantly thinking of things I need to move, buy, or redistribute to help life become easier

*My ulcerative colitis seems to be nonexistent. I've not had one scare of a flare up (thank you, Jesus, and homeopathic medicine!)

*Finally, I'm large. I'm thrilled. I'm loving pregnancy this time around

diapers no more!

I have not had to buy diapers since the beginning of December. Yup, that is right, this little man is potty trained!

He sleeps through the night without accidents, and we've been averaging about one accident a week for the last three weeks! It's fabulous! He does great when we are out and about. It's at home that he forgets. Isn't that odd? He just gets too distracted with playing and darts to the bathroom a little too late sometimes.

I'm the proud mama of two diaper free boys. This is my first diaper break in three years and eight months! I'm oh so excited to ditch the diaper stage for a bit! (okay, so it's only three months of diaper freedom, but I'm still excited!)

my hubs

I've had a tough couple of weeks. We've had a lot of sickness, I've had a lot of extra work, and I don't do well during the dreary winters. But my dear husband brightened my week with these. What a wonderful husband I have!

my boys

I just hammered out about an hour of work, and now I'm looking at my home to do list. I love making lists because I feel so accomplished as I mark stuff off through the day. Today isn't too bad, but it involves finishing laundry from yesterday and doing today's cleaning duties.

I have this overwhelming desire to organize. I think the beginning of the year always does this to me. I never make resolutions but I always think about what I can do to better. This year I definitely need to get more organized, get more motivated, and spend more meaningful time with my kiddos. They are such blessings, and some days I just find myself surviving the day until they go to bed. I love them so much, and I need to get rid of some distractions to spend more time with them.

I'm starting to see the effect of my 40 hours vs. 32 hours on Isaiah. It's weird, but he's totally acting out to get my attention. I need to figure out how I'm going to get my work done without neglecting his need for one on one time with me. I have been guilty of neglecting that these last few weeks. I'm thinking I need to take him on a date this weekend. Not sure what we're going to do, but I'll come up with something!

Elias on the other hand, is doing just fine. He's a little rascal, but he doesn't need quite the amount of attention that Isaiah does. He's perfectly happy to be sitting next to me playing with play doh while I work, but I still feel bad for not playing with him.

I'm just glad that this is a short phase of working full time. I probably will only have to work full time for maybe another month or month and a half. Until I finish, I need to come up with a better system to get my work done without sacrificing time with the boys.

what is this?!

What do you think this mess of stuff is going to be??

My little girl's mobile!
I'm very excited to get it all together, but I have no where to hang it until my dear husband gets done with the bunk beds for the boys! It's going to keep me occupied for a bit. Well, until the next project..curtains? photo frames? perhaps recovering pillows? I don't know what's next, but I'm having fun trying to be crafty!

date night!

Oh how I love date nights! I love my boys, I love my family, and I love to get away with just my husband! I actually need it to survive and stay sane. It's definitely a necessary part of our budget - seriously, date night is a permanent budgeted item. I love that.

Tonight we had dinner at the Ram, then went to a mattress store to look into the possibility of upgrading, then to Starbucks to sit and chat, to Babies R Us to look at cloth diapers (horrible selection FYI), and finally to Home Depot to look at wood for the boys' bunk beds.

I laugh at what our date nights have come to. But seriously, Home Depot is fun when it's just Bryan and I out for some good old alone time!

These last few days have been rough in my little mommy world. I'm recovering from being sick, Elias has been sick, and Isaiah is more ornery than ever because he's been locked up in the house with sick people the last week! Plus, I'm cramming in a lot of work in between hugs, disciplining, and crying.

It's been tough, but I just love my family so much. Date nights keep me sane. They remind me why I hang out at the house all day and who I do it for. It's crazy to me how much more I love Bryan than I did almost 5 years when I married him. Never did I think that would be possible, but I do. Now I sound sappy, but hey, it's all true!

stuck in the house

The sickness has been passed back and forth through our family all winter long. I don't remember ever being sick so many times in one year! Isaiah started with a cough last Saturday then passed it to  Elias, then me, now Bryan. Elias and I are still sick. I'm not even sure we're on the mends. It's been a week, and I feel just as awful as I did when I woke up with this last Monday morning. Bryan just started feeling bad Friday afternoon. It's always easier for him to recover because he just sleeps for hours on end until it goes away. I, on the other hand, have to keep going on with life. I still have kids to take care of, laundry, a pile of work from the office, and of course feeding and caring for all the sickies.

I'm wishing I had a quiet cabin to escape to. One that doesn't have a snot faced little man named Elias who cries every 2 minutes (he doesn't handle being sick very well). One that is stocked with prepared soup that I just have to warm up. One with a fireplace and a few good books to read. One that has at least 3 kleenex boxes for me. A huge jacuzzi tub to relax in. Good music and no one but me. Yes, that is what I need to recoup right now.

That is not going to happen, so I better go get started cleaning my kitchen and breaking up the fight between Elias and Isaiah. Reality is here, and there is no such quiet cabin that I'm in desperate need of.

moving and shaking

I'm sitting here watching my large belly wiggle and shake while my little girl does flips and karate in there. It is so crazy how strong she is. I'm 25 weeks along, and reflecting on this pregnancy so far. I'm actually loving it. I feel amazing, I feel large, and I feel blessed. My previous pregnancies were not fun at all. I hated being pregnant and I felt horrible the entire time. The only reason I decided to have another baby is because I adore my boys. I couldn't imagine not having any more if God would give me more. I want a huge family and I really hope it happens! 
I'm having way too much fun growing gigantic and dreaming about our little girl. I'm very thankful and I can't wait to meet our baby!

it's here!

I was in the middle of cleaning the boys' toy room when a loud knock sounded at the door - "UPS" he literally shouted. I don't think I've moved so fast since being a bit of a heifer! I jumped up and answered the door so fast. It's a good thing the UPS man had already started stepping off the porch, otherwise I probably would have hugged him.

I was trying to figure out why I was so stinking excited for baby bedding that I can't even use until we have beds for the boys.

I came up with this - I've been dying in our blah house. We still have it on the market, so that equals empty and boring. There are no pictures on the walls, there are no fun pictures hanging up that the boys have created, and I don't want to redecorate anything because why go to that work if someone is going to buy the house?

Yup, I'm just bored with my house, so I'm so excited to have an excellent reason to buy something new and pretty for the baby's room! 

large and in charge at 24 weeks

A few random cravings I've been having include sparkling apple cider, peppermint mochas (which I've refrained from as much as possible...doesn't go so well on an ulcerative colitis diet!), strawberry shakes (currently my favorite place is dairy queen...again not part of my diet), apples, honey nut cheerios, and pepper jack cheese with crackers. None of these together, but I think about each of these food items at least once or twice a day!


I went to my doctor last week, and everything looks great with our little girl. Her organs and such are apparently right on track and she is a bit bigger than average. Made me feel better about being so large! I'm okay with large right now, though. I'm so incredibly thankful for such a healthy pregnancy so far that I'll take a few extra pounds!


Have I mentioned how excited I am to be having another baby? Very excited. I just checked the shipping status of the bedding, and it is "out for delivery". Oh man am I excited to see that delivery man!

Bryan is going to make the boys some bunk beds, so I can't get started on rearranging furniture and rooms until the boys have some beds (they both are currently sleeping in their cribs-turned-toddler beds). I've given him quite the list to get done before this little girl arrives. His list so far consists of making a bookshelf (which is the project he is working on right now), sand and re stain a dresser, and make bunk beds.

My list isn't as difficult and probably a lot more fun than Bryan's! I get to make curtains, make a mobile, rearrange rooms, paint the baby's room, and go shopping for twin bedding for the boys. See? My list is way more fun! Although Bryan might think his list is fun, I definitely get the better projects!

the lack of organization

I should be working. I should be cleaning. I should finsih my Bible study for tonight (I still have 2 days left to do!). I should shower. I should fold the three loads of laundry I piled on my bed this morning. BUT here I sit, taking a few minutes to write. Does it count that I'm multi-tasking? I'm eating lunch with the boys while I write.

I feel so unoraganized, but I'm not sure if it's organization problems or putting too much on my plate problems? I dropped one of my Bible studies on Tuesday mornings to help out with my tiredness and scheduling, but I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed. I have a hard time taking advice from stay at home moms because we really are in different places. Yes, I stay home, but I also have 32 hours of work to fit in along with all of my other duties as a stay at home woman. But you know what? I'm willing to take all the help and advice I can right now.

I am by no means complaining at this moment. I'm contemplating. I'm trying to figure out what needs to change in order to get this chaos under wraps. I have started a cleaning schedule. I figure rather than anticipating spending my Saturday mornings whipping this place into shape, I'll do a little every day and keep my Saturdays free for my family (or the bit of work I need to finish for the week). I did a cleaning schedule before I got pregnant, but all my sleeping got in the way of cleaning so it went out the window!

What else can I do? I could quit my job, but Bryan and I have been praying about this for a few months. Last week we both received a peace about staying on, and I've decided I'm going to keep working. We are so blessed to both have jobs right now with good companies that take care of us.

All this contemplating started because last night Bryan made a comment (he was totally kidding just to throw that out there) about what I'd been doing all day to not get a shower in. So I started listing my fulfilled duties. It was a lot! It included 4 hours of work, 5 loads of laundry, organizing a whole lot of papers, and more. But in between I should have added get the boys a snack, help Elias in the bathroom, break up a fight, deal with an attitude problem, put Isaiah in time out, put Elias in time out, refold the entire load of laundry I'd already folded after Elias decided to jump on all the clothes, fix lunch, clean up lunch, fix dinner, clean up dinner....you catch the drift...whole lot of caring for children goes into the day.

I think I need to just focus on the caring for my children part and fit in my "duties" the rest of the day. I will get my work done. I will have a clean house, not perfect, but clean. It just may mean staying up late to get it done. But hey, it will all get done!

oh my

This little guy is just too darn funny. This is how Bryan found Elias when we had friends over on Saturday night.

Christmas Day

We spent a few hours at home on Christmas morning and opened up gifts. Then we packed up the kiddos and headed to Salem to celebrate at my brother's house with his family and my mom.

Have I mentioned there are five children under the age of 3.5 years old? So much chaos, but it's so fun. It's exactly how I imagined someday spending Christmas - with my siblings with all of our children. Maybe a little more loud than I anticipated, but I love it! I love it so much that I am adding a little girl into the mix for next Christmas! Hopefully next year we'll be able to add my older brother, Ben and his family to the celebrations. I miss having them close to join us.

Little Zeekers was sleeping, and didn't wake up until the rest the kids went down for a nap! We didn't get a picture with all five of them...I'll have to make getting a picture with all of them my new mission!

Christmas Eve

We had Christmas Eve at our house this year. Bryan's parents, grandparents, sister and brother-in-law came over all day. We played games, went to Christmas Eve service, made homemade pizzas, and opened presents. It was a lot of fun, but the pictures are more fun than my writing!

The boys with Great Grandpa Ray

Making pizzas

The boys playing with their fun new toys

Elias singing us Christmas songs

So difficult to get a picture with 3 cameras going off! This is the cutest one even though we're all looking different directions!

holiday festivities

Some of our pre Christmas celebrations included baking cookies with Grami and Auntie Wendy. I forgot to take pictures so there is only one, but it's pretty cute!

Helping Auntie Wendy make powdered sugar/chocolate covered peanut butter cookies...yeah..they were delicious!

That night the boys had hot chocolate for the first time! We made it at home, and took it with us to go look at Christmas lights. It was so much fun, and now the boys ask for hot chocolate almost everyday! They are water boys. They rarely get anything other than water to drink, so it was a huge treat for them.

Yummy hot chocolate!

Jammies and hot chocolate - Ready to look at Christmas lights!