20 wks 3 days belly pic and firefighter brycen :)

Well, last night we took B trick or treating. He loved it of course! I didn't realize people gave out MONEY these days! I think he got rich off of Halloween! Which really is better for his teeth anyway! lol. He of course got a ton of candy and I think Ryan ate more of it then B did! It's fun to see Brycen try new kinds of candy... the faces he makes crack me up! We didn't go too many places, just a few family and friends (the gadberry's, the gaines', my parents, nana sandy (his preschool teacher and long time family friend that's why he calls her nana), Deputy Kent (his police officer buddy from my work and mommy and daddy's friend), Papaw Ed's (my mom's dad), and Gran and Papaw Richard (my dad's parents). I think that was it... but he got a whole bag full of candy! And it was all good candy too! haha! He got a bag of chips (regular ruffles) from my Grandpa Ed's neighbor lady... I was craving those things so bad, I kept bugging him to let me have them... finally he said "well mommy, you can't have them, but if you SHARE we can all have some!" lol... it was just a mini bag, but that was fine w/ me! Pathetic I know :) I don't even LIKE those chips normally, pregnancy makes me eat weird things! Anyway, we got home relatively early and I was thankful for that! Still plenty of time for his bath and time to relax a little before bed.

Fire Fighter Brycen before trick or treating!

My little cheeseball! I tried to make it look like he had soot or ashes or something on his face w/ my black eyeliner... it's a good thing I never tried to be a make up artist! lol

Anyway- this morning I had my 6 mo. check up at the dentist! I love how my teeth feel after a cleaning at the dentist! That went well w/ no problems! I was so thankful for that! Last year I had a mouthful full of problems and had to end up getting a root canal and a crown put on a tooth so you can imagine why I am thankful that I have nothing wrong! I scheduled B's appt. for his first time to go to the dentist. It will be in December, the week before his birthday! He really has been wanting to go to the dentist, so hopefully that will go okay! I guess we'll see! Our dentist is a super nice guy & he was like, "don't freak out if he hates it and doesn't want to, we'll just reschedule for a few months down the road, a lot of times a ride in the chair is as far as we get w/ 3 or 4 yr. olds!" I think since he is so excited he'll be okay though... HOPEFULLY!

Tonight we're getting Brycen's baby stuff out of the spare garage (brycen calls it the "dirty garage") it's where we store a lot of stuff and Ryan has a lot of junk. lol. I want to get all that stuff cleaned up (like the high chair, exersaucer, bouncer, etc...) before it gets to cold outside to be able to do it. It's all sealed up in plastic bags, but I peaked in one day a few months back and it was still dirty and needs cleaned up. I think this evening it will be nice enough to get that done! Then we went have to worry about it while it's freezing outside! My mom is so sweet and wants to buy the crib bedding for us! I got it all picked out and I think she was ordering it last night! I can't wait until it comes in! Tomorrow is house projects galore for my poor hubby, he has a long list of things that need accomplished (finish trim in family room, redo our master bath that is torn apart right now, make dresser for baby's room, make huge toy cabinet for family room so we can move b's toys in there, paint baby's room... etc!) sooo you can see why he's wanting to get all this done! lol... plus all my mom's family is coming to our house for Christmas the weekend before Christmas, so a lot of that needs to be DONE before then and I'm not a lot of help on any of those projects! haha. I'm sure B will be Daddy's big helper though :)

Hope you all have a great weekend~ I'll leave you w/ a belly picture.

20 wks and 3 days

jumping belly :)

Yesterday was my day off, as Wednesday normally is! Yay for that. I took Brycen to pre-school and then got a lot done around the house... and I did rest and finish up a book I've been trying to finish reading! I love reading, just making the time for it isn't easy, and these days I sit down with a book and fall asleep. haha. Ryan called me during the day to see if i wanted to go watch FireProof which was held over at the Washington Theater. I really did want to so we decided we would. My mom watched Brycen for us and we went to Pizza Hut and ate (our waitress was so mean to me I almost fell out of the booth!) & then went and watched the movie. I told Ryan you know you are old and married when you go to the movies on a Wednesday night! :) I really enjoyed the movie! I had watched Facing the Giants which is by the same people and I thought this one was even better! I felt kind of mean or something b/c all these people were crying during the movie and I didn't cry! I mean don't get me wrong, it was an emotional movie and if those were people in my life then I would cry, but I just didn't?! Anyway, we didn't get back home from the movie and picking up Brycen at my parents until 9:45pm. Past mine (and Brycen's) bed times! Thankfully though, praying it stays this way, I'm not as tired today as the past couple of days. That's such a relief!
On the baby front, not much news really... I've been feeling him for quite awhile, but the movements get stronger by the day. I find them amusing and quite frequently laugh out loud at them. People probably think I'm nuts! And hey, maybe I am! haha. Anyway, yesterday I was sitting on the couch reading and he was kicking/punching harder than I had felt before, so I lifted up my shirt to look at my belly and I could see my belly "jump" each time he would do it! It still amazes me that there is a little tiny human being in my belly!
Tonight we are taking Brycen trick-or-treating... I know everyone has different views of Halloween and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the whole thing. Our view so far at our house is that we don't mind him going to family/friends homes to get treats and that he has to be a "nice" thing for Halloween. I don't really see anything too evil about dressing up as a fire fighter and getting some candy. I'm glad it's not supposed to be too frigid tonight so hopefully we won't freeze to death getting in and out of the vehicle. We won't go very many places anyway! Hope everyone is having a good week, I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday! I'm always ready for the weekend! :)

Cures for being Tired??

Anyone have any good pick me ups?? or Cures for being exhausted?! I'm always tired, I think I make that perfectly clear in most posts... okay maybe I whine about it too much. I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep my eyes open most days though. I fight and struggle through my day (sitting behind a computer screen most of the time doesn't help). I think my clients think I'm on drugs or something b/c my eyes probably look all glassed over! I'm getting plenty of rest and I'm still so tired I can barely stay awake! HELP!!!!

no pictures AGAIN!

Well, I went home at noon on Thursday. Friday morning I finally felt better (yah, good enough to go shopping). I wasn't up to par, but I wasn't missing out! Thursday night Ryan started getting sick and by Friday was miserable. He came home from work that morning, which NEVER happens so I know he was really really sick! I got a lot of great deals at Edinburgh! I got quite a few Christmas presents, which is good since I'm wanting to finish up Christmas shopping SOON. Brycen & Andon both got plenty of new clothes! Who can pass up great deals?! We had fun. My mom, my friend Vanessa, and I went and laughed the entire day! The only bad thing happened after we'd been shopping for about an hour... it was about 11am and I was going to town in the Osh Kosh store and started feeling not so great... um yah, I almost passed out AGAIN. I kind of forgot to eat anything that morning... whoops! We went to lunch right away and after I got some food in me I was feeling much better. We got home late Friday night and I was sooo exhausted. Of course Brycen had to get up three times during the night for breathing treatments and w/ Ryan being sick I was the only parent "on duty". Luckily, on Saturday we didn't have anything to do and Ryan was still sick so we mostly spent the day laying around and catching up on rest and trying to get healthy. I did have to run to Wal-Mart to get groceries and other stuff we had to have, but that went pretty smooth. I didn't have a chance to go at all last weekend w/ being so busy, so my bill was outrageous though! lol. Brycen had a terrible cough and his poor little chest was just killing him by the end of the day. We were up again 3 times during the night for breathing treatments on Saturday :( I felt so bad for the little guy. I felt like I already had a newborn in the house, being up so often! Also, Saturday we dog sat for our friends puppy, she was sooo cute! They live in KY and had a wedding up here and so we got to watch her. Brycen loved that. Yesterday afternoon everyone was finally feeling much better! What a relief! I hate germs, and I felt like we were sitting around in a germ filled house so I disinfected pretty much everything possible! Ryan said it smelled like a hospital after I got done :) We were able to make it to my parents for supper last night, I needed to get out of the house! My mom made Taco Soup! YUMM!! I have been on a real soup kick lately! Brycen finally slept soundly all night w/ no coughing, wheezing, or any other symptom that needed taken care of! I was so glad b/c we all needed a good nights sleep! He was still tired and not wanting to get out of bed this morning (hey, neither did I!). We did make it to work/school and I talked to Ryan earlier and he is feeling good! yayy! I hope the sickies stay away, we've had our fair share the past few weeks! This week we don't have much going on at all and I'm so thankful for that! I thought that last week, but then ended up not being able to catch up on much, sooo hopefully this week the catching up can happen! Well, I need to eat lunch- so I hope you all have a terrific Monday!
Oh yes, and we have decided on a FINAL name for baby! Andon Joseph Richard Knepp... Long, I know, but we couldn't decide on the middle name so we thought we'd just use both! Plus, it's still shorter than my name was growing up. It's only 23 letters, mine was 26, a whole alaphabet worth :) My brother & my grandpa are pretty excited, so I'm glad we decided to use both names!

sick.

So when Brycen was sick the weekend before last I was so thankful not to catch anything. I was thinking it had been quite a long time since I've been sick too. Yah, well I shouldn't of thought those things! Tuesday I had a runny nose and a stuffed up head, but figured it was just the weather changing... By Tuesday night I was just plain miserable & could barely move. Yesterday I took Brycen to pre-school and came home and slept the entire day. Each time I would wake up to use the bathroom or get a drink and I couldn't do anything but go back to sleep. It was terrible! I guess I know why I have been so tired lately... either my body has been trying to fight this off and finally just lost, or it's my bodies way of telling me to slooowwww down. Either way, I'm still miserable today... my head isn't as stuffed up as yesterday, but I still feel like I've been hit by a truck. I'm at work, probably shouldn't be. I'm not a fan of meds anyway, and I'm especially not going to take any being pregnant, so hopefully this will hurry up and go away... I'm supposed to be going shopping in Edinburgh tomorrow w/ my momma... Who knows at this point if that's going to happen or not!

name meaning

I could not find a name meaning for Andon... and it was starting to frustrate me! I wanted to make sure it didn't mean anything bad before we named him that! lol. This morning I finally found it! It means ~priceless~ or ~invaluable~. How perfect is that? Also, the name derives from Anthony, and get this, that's Ryan's middle name! I guess that seals the deal, Andon it is! We are back and forth on the middle name. We'd like to name him after my brother, whom I love soooo much. It would be Andon Joseph... but I don't want people to call him AJ. We also thought about naming him after my Papaw, but Andon Richard sounds really old. Sooo we're still up in the air about the middle name.

Nothing Much

I don't really have much to say... we had a pretty quiet evening at home last night. Ryan mowed the yard & B and I played outside. I played catch up w/ laundry. The house seemed to be a mess after I wasn't home at all this weekend except to sleep! I'm saving my cleaning for Wednesday b/c I can get more done w/ no one else at home. Anyway, I was too tired last night for much cleaning! I took a few pictures of B that I wanted to put on here.

Friday night at the rehersal dinner/weiny roast, listening to my buddy Jacob play guitar and sing to us--what a treat :) Brycen was def. impressed, lol. Anyone who knows him knows how much he lovesss his guitar!

Yesterday while we were playing outside Brycen asked me to take a picture of him and Izzie :)

here they are again... they are so sweet together! (those boards in the background are what he was "working" with!! he calls himself a "worker man"). i love his imagination.

B w/ his farm all set up- I love to watch him play w/ it, he is such a little farmer :) The bad look he is giving me is b/c I made him stop playing to take a picture, haha.

Tiring Weekend!

I am so tired this morning! Friday after work I had to go home and get ready for the rehersal. I did that... it was a longggg rehersal. My feet and back were aching! lol. After the rehersal I went home and picked up Ryan & B and we went to the dinner (actually a weiny roast!). It was fun to catch up w/ people that I don't get to see too often, but I was just worn out! We didn't get home until 11:30pm. I got in bed right away!

My friend Melissa and I at the rehersal

Had to be up early on Saturday to go get our hair done. I was lucky enough to get to play catch up w/ the girl doing my hair! She was a grade ahead of me in school & I hadn't seen her in forever. She is expecting a baby girl in Dec. so it was fun to chat while getting my hair all pretty in an updo! (and come on what girl doesn't like having her hair done?!). After we all got our hair done it was back to the church to wait a little. We all got ready and then pictures started. The wedding was pretty & I was just hoping to not pass out up there, w/ all the activities I didn't eat so great during the day. I made it though! :) Chelsey is now Mrs. Chelsey Houchin, or Cha Che as B calls her! The meal didn't get started until 7:30pm, I was starving (as you can see I'm really worried about food at this point, I feel like I eat ALL the time!). It was fun and the reception was very pretty. Brycen had a blast shaking his little booty on the dance floor! He cracked us up! We got home from it about 10:30-11. It took forever for me to get in bed though b/c I had to take all those hair pins out!

Taryn (the groom's sister) and I before the wedding, yah I know I look wayyy pregnant in this dress!

Yesterday we were up bright and early again for church. I needed it yesterday... I mean I always "need" it, but yesterday I really really did! Last week was just hard and like I said I was just emotionally exhausted. It was so nice just to soak up God's words yesterday. After church we went to Ryan's parents for pizza for lunch & then my mother in law and I went to a baby shower. Sonya called me in the middle of it and I had to pretend Brycen was sick so that I could get her to leave. When we got back to her house and she had a driveway and yard full of cars, she was surprised! Her 50th birthday was Saturday & we had her a surprise party on Sunday! It was so funny! On the way up their road she saw the cars and was like, "Chels, are you sure Brycen is sick?" All I could do was laugh! We got home yesterday evening & I was so tired. I didn't take a nap though b/c I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep last night. Ryan's grandma Knepp and I share books back and forth & she gave me four of them to read :) I started one of those while B took a longggg nap- the weekend wore him out too! We had soup out of a can for supper and sandwiches. Something quick and easy, glad my husband is pretty easy to please! They came and got our pool table, but didn't take the couch I thought I had sold :( Kinda bummed about that since we already got our new furniture! So if you know anyone that would want a Lane 4 pc. sectional for their ummm basement or something let me know :) It's a good brand, the downfall is... it's mauve. lol. Also, we have a mini fridge, brand new, never used, that we are wanting to get rid of. We are making Ryan's "man family room" into "our family family room". :) Poor guy! He is being a good sport about it though! I think I fell asleep last night as soon as my head hit the pillow! I actually slept well too for once, except for getting up 3 times to go pee! Go figure! Yesterday Andon must of been excited about something because he kicked ALL day long! It was so sweet! Except for those couple times when he kicked me right in the bladder and I thought I was going to pee on myself! haha.

Sonya & I at the suprise party

Brycen being silly :)

Hopefully, this week is going to be slower & more relaxed than last week! I need a break! I'm looking forward to Friday b/c my mom and I are going to Edinburg (h)? shopping! Yayy!!

Days off, Field Trips, Bad News, and Busy Wk/End Ahead

Wednesday is my normal day off, but since I had to miss so much work this I came in for the morning to get some stuff accomplished, namely getting my court cases ready for Thursday. B had pre-school anyway so it wasn't a big deal. After he got out of pre-school at 11:30 I picked him up and we went to Jasper w/ my mom. She had to get a dress for a wedding on Saturday & I wanted to look at baby stuff :) I'm quite baby happy right now. We ate lunch and did our shopping & then went home and B and I took a much needed nap! I am just worn out this week. I think a lot of it's emotionally worn out though.
Yesterday was Brycen's field trip to Lark Ranch w/ his pre-school class. I love that I have a job that I can take off whenever I need to b/c I don't want to miss out on those things! He was pumped about his field trip and it proved to be a fun time! We rode there w/ his bestest buddy Joey and his mom Jenny and their new baby Jessa! It was so funny to listen to them on the ride there and Jenny & I love getting in some girl talk too! :) Again, we got home from the field trip and took a nap.

Joey & Brycen "best buddies" on their field trip to Lark Ranch! They were sooo excited!

B going down the slide- he LOVED this and wants daddy to build him one at home! lol

Shelby & Brycen were in deep conversation about the goats~ the kiddos just cracked me up!

Me, B, Joey, Jenny, and Jessa (under the blanket) on the hay ride

Brycen's preschool class- Ashlyn (his cousin), Payton, Alaina, Shleby, Paige, Hannah, Willow, Delaney, Joey, Brycen, Jeremy, Jayden, Max, and Triptyn

I actually had a migrane all day and it kept getting worse as the evening wore on. I was to tears last night and felt bad for Ryan, he even asked if I needed to go to the emergency room. I hate that I get migranes, they are such a bummer. I have gotten them since high school & pregnancy always makes them worse or at least more often. My dad said that his went away when he turned about 30 so I'm hoping.... maybe that could happen to me too?! Anyway- we did get our new furniture last night for the family room! I am so excited! I will take a picture of all the changes in the family room when it's done, but the pool table and old couch are still in there too b/c the lady has to come pick them up this weekend! I really love the new furniture and the fact that we got a GREAT deal on the sofa and love seat both! They are so comfy too!
Yesterday brought two things of bad news to our family... this week has already been hard w/ the twins passing away and the funeral and yesterday my Grandpa's doc called a hospice nurse for him. :( This is hard news to swallow, but I also know that it's help my grandma needs. Our family met w/ the hospice yesterday and the lady was WONDERFUL. While they were there at my grandparents house & Aunt Renee called to tell us after Tucker & Tillie's funeral she went to get a spot on her throat checked out and it came back malignant. She is a nurse, has been for like 30 years and she doesn't get upset about things too easily and she was BAWLING. My mom and grandma went over to be w/ her last night for awhile which I think was good for them. I marvel at the fact that all of this has happened this week. I know God won't give us more than we can take, but this week is sure tough on our family. That's what I was talking about when I said I was just emotionally tired. I layed in bed and cried last night, not over one thing in particular, but just all of it. I think I just needed to cry. (okay i know the migrane probably made my mindset a lot worse then it would of been normally)... but sometimes a girl just needs to cry out to the Lord. I know He heard me and I woke up this morning with NO headache at all, Praise God for that b/c I have a busy weekend ahead. I am at work all day & then tonight I have dress rehersal for the wedding I am in tomorrow. After the dress rehersal they are having a weiny roast at the groom's parent's house. I love weiny roasts so I am looking forward to that :) So is B & Ryan for that matter! Tomorrow we get our hair done at 9am and then straight to the church to get ready and start pictures... It's going to be a long day, the wedding doesn't start until 4pm and then the reception and all that! Plus, my dress makes me look like a house, eww! Ryan will have B all day tomorrow and then they will be coming to the wedding. I hope that goes okay, neither of them are very fond of weddings, haha. Sunday we are busy busy busy all day w/ church, a baby shower, and a surprise party... I'll have a lot of updating to do on Monday! :) Hope you all have a great weekend.

It's a....

BOY!!!! We are SOOO excited! He doesn't really have a FOR SURE name yet... Ryan is stuck on Andon... and I just want him to have a name, so I'm thinking it will probably be Andon. Ryan also likes Gage for a middle name... so Andon Gage. I'll let ya know if that changes :) lol. I don't think I will be able to talk him into changing it. I have said every name in the name book and he wrinkles his nose or gives a flat out NO! lol. It's okay though, Brycen & Andon go good together.

This is a picture of a picture so it's bad quality. I forgot the cd today so I could put them on the computer though!

The sleeper Brycen picked out last night :)

The sweet little outfit B picked out too. (it has tools and tractors and trucks!)

18 weeks and 1 day

Weekend Update & TODAY!

Friday morning Brycen woke up w/ a fever. I hate when he is sick, I just feel so terrible about not being able to do anything. He really acted fine though and was pretty mad at me for making him stay home, but we can't be giving sickies to the kids at daycare! I think that's where he caught it, b/c one teacher and two kids had been sick during the week. He had a sore throat and not much of an appetite on Friday. On Saturday he seemed to be better during the day, but worse after naptime. I think he was just happy to have Daddy at home on Saturday too :) lol. Sunday his fever finally broke! I was so glad! He was kind of whiny and still not himself on Sunday and napped quite a bit during the day. We went to my parents for supper & that cheered him up. Thankfully I was off for Columbus Day yesterday & so he was at home an extra day. His appetite was back in full force, plus some, yesterday & you could tell he felt better for sure! He was a mess! I was just glad he was feeling better! I got all my house work done yesterday except for mopping the floors... I do it the old fashioned way, down on my hands and knees, and my back just wasn't up to it. My back gets sore quite easily anyway (i think from too many years of gymnastics) & pregnancy makes it 10x worse. Oh well, they will get done sometime, I was just too worn out after everything else yesterday to get them done. Ryan got all of our trim painted Saturday & yesterday! I will be excited for him to get it hung up! I have to get around to picking out the new furniture for the family room. I have a picture in my mind of what I want it to look like... now I just have to find it! lol.

So today is the day- we find out if we're having a boy or a girl! I honestly don't care, as long as they say it's healthy and there aren't any complications I will be perfectly content! I'm a little nervous about the ultrasound and that they are going to say something is wrong with the baby... so if you can say a little pray for me today. I spent a lot of time w/ my Bible this weekend, getting peace from God... somehow the devil tries to steal my peace though. I really have no idea what the baby is. All along I have said boy and Ryan & Brycen have said girl. Now, I just have no idea and every other second I change my mind. lol. Brycen now says it's a boy, but also that he doesn't care what it is, he loves it :) Awww, how sweet! Ryan still thinks girl and when I asked him why he thought girl he said it was just a "feeling." So I asked him if he had a "feeling" w/ Brycen and he said, "Yep, I thought he was a girl." haha, okay, so we won't trust his "feeling" this time! Guess we just have to wait until 3:10pm (our time) 2:10pm (eville time) to find out for sure (hopefully he/she will cooperate)!! Brycen is going with us so I was showing him ultrasound pictures of him yesterday so he would at least sort of know what to expect. He seemed okay with it, so I guess we will see how that goes today!

Our Angels are Playing in Heaven

Just to update everyone, Kayla had the babies today (Sunday) and they were able to hold them & have a couple of hours with Tucker & Tillie before they passed. I am amazed by Todd & Kayla and their faith in their decisions that I'm sure were so hard to make. Please continue to pray for them and for our family members who are all mourning the loss of these precious babies. We know they are in a better place and Todd & Kayla are at peace with God's Will.

Update On The Babies :(

I just got a call w/ some very bad news. The dr. went in and tried to stitch her cervix shut, but the lining was not thick enough. She was still dilating and was also seeping fluids. They have to let the babies go at this point.

I think right now I'm in shock & I don't know that I will ever have the right words to say to them. Please, now more than ever keep them in your prayers. I can only imagine a little part of what they are feeling after having a miscarriage myself.

They will get to hold them and stuff before they take them away. They will be having a funeral as well... I don't know, this all sounds so morbid and I feel like I'm talking about someone else's family this is happening to. Please keep them in your prayers. We know the babies our w/ in Heaven now and God does have a plan for Todd & Kayla and their lives, please pray that they find comfort in the knowledge their babies will be held forever by our awesome Creator.

Prayers Needed & My Little Scarecrow!

Okay, first off, and most importantly, I once again need to ask for everyones prayers. My cousin and his wife (i mentioned in a post awhile back) are having twins. She is due 6 weeks ahead of me (exactly 6 wks). She went to the dr. on Tuesday for a normal routine appointment and when they checked her she was dilated to a three. She is only 23 three weeks, so as most of you know, this is NOT good. They immediately sent her straight to Deaconess Women's Center (where she will be delivering) and put her on bedrest until the babies are born. She is cathed and everything so she will not even be getting out of bed to use the restroom. Please pray for these babies and for their parents to. Todd & Kayla are the parents and Tucker & Tillie are the babies. They have started the babies on steroids for their lungs to hopefully develop sooner. The dr's said if they are born now there is little to no chance of survival, born in 3-4 weeks the chance goes up to 50% and in 7-8 weeks it goes up to 90-95%. Of course we'd love for them to be born after that even, but right now they are shooting for AT LEAST 7-8 weeks. They have been on my mind constantly since I found out on Tuesday. I know that being pregnant myself is probably compounding all my thoughts and stresses for them. They have to take one day at a time and each day in their mommy's womb is one more day that they can grow and get stronger. They have also started her on magnesium sulfate to try and hold off any contractions. At this point she is not having any contractions (at least none are showing up on the monitors). Mag sulfate is bad bad bad and will probably make her very sick, so please pray for that as well. Todd works at Hoosier Energy in Petersburg and will be driving back and forth to the hospital so please pray for his safety as I know he is tired and worn out and worried about his wife and babies. I know this is all over the place, but I feel like I've been in constant prayer for them since I found out on Tues. afternoon when I got home from work. I spoke w/ Todd yesterday & he said he would keep me updated on any changes, but no phone calls and no changes is good news at this point.

Also, wanted to post some pictures of my little scarecrow. They got to dress up as scarecrows for pre-school today and they are going to get their faces painted & take pictures! He was so excited about this! He is normally very hard to wake up in the morning, but when I mentioned getting his scarecrow clothes on he sat straight up and popped out of bed... hmm, I'm wondering how I could get him to do that EVERY morning.

It looks like he is pouting, but he is trying to be a "scary" scarecrow :)

another scary one :)

I made him do a smile for me, and I love it!!

I Was Tagged :)

Okay, so here I go, posting twice in one day again... I was tagged though and figured I better do this before I forget. lol. Jamie T. tagged me and I have to post six random facts about myself... do I know myself that well?! haha.

okay here i go.

1. My right foot is a half size BIGGER than my left foot... it's VERY noticeable and sometimes causes problems when I try to buy shoes... somehow they always notice when I put different sizes in the box though ;) j/k, i never really tried that, but have thought about it! maybe i could join the circus....

2. The only time I've ever weighed over 100 lbs is when I was pregnant w/ Brycen and I got up to 112, before you all go hating me though, it's b/c I'm only FOUR FEET NINE INCHES TALL. that's almost a legal little person!

3. I laugh at totally random things during movies. My husband gets sooo embarrassed to go to the theater w/ me or very annoyed watching movies at home w/ me b/c I don't actually laugh that much at the REALLY funny parts but somehow double over w/ laughter at the parts other people just chuckle at or don't even smirk! haha. I have no idea why this is, guess it's just how I'm wired. Ryan actually got up and went to the bathroom at the theater once b/c I could not stop laughing and he was so embarrassed! The harder I try to stop the more I laugh!

4. I remember dates and phone numbers like it's my job, but I'm not too good at math... I remember phone numbers of people I haven't called since 3rd grade and everyone's birthday I think I've ever known! Sometimes I wonder why this totally useless information is still taking up space in my brain (when I really need that space these days!).

5. I always wanted to be a nurse, from the time I was a little girl all through school and I completed a year and half of nursing school... I was a semester away from being done when I quit... Now I realize how stupid that was! I should of finished but decided for some reason that I wanted to do something else. I now have my degree in Criminal Justice/Paralegal and actually really love my job, but would like to finish up my last semester sometime b/c I still love nursing and would actually like to do something to combine my law & medical knowledge!

6. I love love love to read and get totally into the books! My family always called me a nerd b/c I loved to read so much & Ryan still makes fun of me! It's okay though, I really feel like I have learned a lot from reading so much! Since my senior year in high school I've been reading inspirational fiction. There was a girl in my class who also loved to read, we didn't have much else in common but we always talked books and she introduced me to Beverly Lewis and my love for inspirational fiction has grown from there! I love Karen Kingsbury and a few others, but am always looking for new books or authors so leave me your suggestions :)

I Tag... Brianne D., Courtney O., Kristen D., Tera K., Desiree K., and Shannon Smith (sorry, I know your blog is about cooking, but I still want you to do it :))

Forgiveness

Did anyone watch Oprah yesterday? I'm not normally a big Oprah fan, but yesterday it got turned on while I made supper and I quickly became absorbed into it. It started out by talking about this wonderful little family of four. It consisted of the two parents (married for, I believe 26 years) and two brothers. It described them as a close family & their house being the house to hang out at for all the neighborhood kids. Sounds like your ideal little American family... It then went into the eldest son was graduating from college and they all went out for a family dinner & his parents gave him a Rolex for his graduation gift they all come home and when they walk in the front door there were 4 shots fired. Each family member was hit by one shot. The eldest boy called 911 saying he had been shot. The mother and youngest son later died at the hospital. The father and eldest son survived. (I promise I'm going somewhere w/ this!). The father, that very night, after learning his wife and son didn't survive, vowed to forgive whoever had done this. WOW. That's a pretty big statement to make when you're amidst a crisis like that. Those are also easy words to say, not as easy to live out. Anyway, to make a long story shorter, come to find out, the eldest son had been the mastermind behind killing his family. That gives me chills just thinking about it. They did not say that he was guilty until about (don't quote me on this) a year after the murders. He lived w/ his father for seven months after it took place. He was arrested and found guilty of both the murders of his mother and brother. Now remember, his father had vowed the very night of the murders to forgive whoever had done this... not knowing it could be his very own son that had plotted and planned and been behind this. I can't imagine and don't really want to how tough that would be on the dad. He said that of course he went through the stages of grief and that he was angry at his son after he found out, but ultimately he was a man of the Lord and he knew that God CALLED HIM to forgive whoever it was, yes, even his son. I just thought this was such a powerful message. I know that we all struggle with forgivness and holding grudges at times and I just think that if this man can forgive his son, who murdered his wife and other son, why should I be mad at the person who cuts me off in traffic or a family member who hurts my feelings... those things are so trivial, even if at the time, it seems like a big deal. This dad was right, God does call us to forgive each other and not to hold grudges. I'm not sure if I'm making a lot of sense in this post... His story just really touched me, b/c I can't imagine if someone murdered my son or my husband how I could forgive the person. He also stated that he didn't forgive him on his own that only w/ God's help was he able to forgive. I think that is where we get off track a lot of times is when we try to solve the problem on our own or take all the hurt and hide it inside ourselves instead of just giving it all to Him, handing it over to God and letting him deal w/ it and asking for His help. I want to be the person who can give it ALL to Him. I know that I want and need and should do this, but I also know that I catch myself pulling certain things back and trying to solve problems on my own. Daily, hourly even I have to remind myself to give things to the Lord. This man is such an awesome example of that. He does have a book, titled "Murder by Family" and his name is Kent Whitaker. His last comment on the show was something like, "I had to forgive him b/c there is freedom in forgiveness. While I'm still here, I have living left to do, and I'm excited about life!" That was such a powerful statement. We never know when our last moment here on Earth so I challenge you, that if you have forgiveness to give to someone, do it today! There was also a statement made on the show about how forgiveness is actually for the person doing the forgiving, it's how they find the freedom they need. It's not about saying you agree or what the person did was right, but it's just about saying you forgive them and you're free of that burden now.

The Weekend

So I'm not big on posting twice in one day, but if I don't then I'll probably forget what we did over the weekend! Some days I think the baby is sucking my brains out! :) Friday night Ryan's sister and her husband and their three kids came over. We had pizza & just hung out. The kids love playing together. Miss Mya Faith is 6 1/2 months old now and she is too cute! She's a petite little thing and she looks so cute crawling and sitting up! I love my nieces and nephew so much! Saturday morning we got up and Ryan was determined to get something done around the house (which I was fine with, but just nervous about what he had up his sleeve!). I had bought the paint like two months ago for our family room and it's just been a project we've put off and put off b/c we didn't want to tackle it, I knew it was going to be a mess... The room is a disaster now b/c everything is in the middle of it & Brycen played out there while we were painting sooo... anyway, we got it painted.... Ryan decided in the middle of our project that we need new trim and crown. I'm all for this, b/c what is in there is dated, BUT, I also know how my wood working projects always get put LAST, since I'm the non-paying customer! This one is going to have to get done soon though, b/c we can't put everything back in place until it's put back up! ANyway, I love love love the color of the paint! It makes the room look more homey & it really needed it! I want to get it all done b/c poor Brycen is getting kicked out of his toy room & since we find out what we're having next week I want to get the baby room started! I'm getting so excited to start on it! Anyway, the painting and everything was an all day project! That evening we went to my mom's to tell my Uncle Dan & Aunt Barb bye. They've been here for over a month, but it never seems long enough! Brycen was really sad to see them go! He says we have to go to Arizona soon to see them! :) Yesterday we went to church & then to eat at Mr. Gatti's (I was craving Taco Bell, but I was out voted!). After that we had to go to Wal-Mart... Ewww! I know, I say that EVERY week! We came home and all took naps and then just hung out last night. The weather was beautiful and it was fun to just sit outside and watch B play.

Sad news from the weekend is that our dog, Aggie (the one I ran over and then was fine...) yah, well she got ate by a coyote.... poor thing. Poor Brycen has been so upset. The got the corn out of the field Thursday night and that's when it happened. We knew those dumb coyotes came up really close to our house, and Aggie was the fiesty one of the two dogs, but it's just so sad :(. Izzie, is really a "clingy" dog now. She was already the quiet one & now she is terrified to be left alone and will hardly leave the front porch. Brycen has been giving her extra loving though!

Oh How He Makes Me Laugh!

So, as we were sitting on the couch on Saturday looking at Brycen's VeggieTales coloring book and talking about the stories each picture portrays and talking about all the characters on VeggieTales. We have a couple of the movies and he always really likes them... Either I'm deaf or I've just never noticed what he has been calling them. I said, "Brycen do you like the VeggieTales?" And Brycen said, "Yes, Mama, I loooovvvvveeeeee the WedgieTales!" I thought to myself, surely I heard him wrong. So I said, "You love the what?" And he said, "THE WEDGIETALES!" Oh, trying to contain my laughter was hard work! I said you mean the V-V-Veggie tales? And he said, "That's what I said!!" Soooo sweet! :)

How Do We Get To Heaven? And My Book Reviews...

On the way to school this morning Brycen asked me, "How do we get up to Heaven?" While I was thinking about what he meant, he answered his own question.... He said, "Hey Momma, I bet God has a big huge race car that goes really fast and a hundred people can fit in it, and that's how we get up to Heaven!" All I could say was, "Wow... you think so?!" while I hid my smile.

P.S. The new books last night were a hit! One is called "The New Bear At School." It was really good, fun to read, and great pictures, but it also had a great story line. It was about a new bear coming to class and how the kids treated him not very nice, b/c he was different, but in the end they all ended up being great friends b/c they gave him a chance. This story was great to talk about w/ Brycen b/c a couple new kids started at his pre-school and has made some comments like, "Me & Joey, or Me and whoever are already friends and play together so we didn't want ____(insert new kids name here) to play." I tried talking to him about how this wasn't very nice, but I think the book did more good for him to see how that hurt the new kids feelings (it had a picture of the big bear crying!). The other one is "Three Little Fishies and The Big Bad Shark"... we didn't order this one but they were out of the one we did so this was the replacement. It's a different version of The Big Bad Wolf! Brycen liked it and it had good pictures! Okay, enough of my book reviews! Hope ya'll have a great weekend!

Our Week So Far...

This week has been pretty relaxed around our house! It has been a nice slower pace for a change! We have been playing outside every evening, for most of the evening. Brycen lovesss riding his battery powered Hummer so he's been getting a lot of that in! Tuesday night I made supper for my friend Megan at work. She had her baby last Thursday and got home from the hospital on Monday. Ryan mowed and then we went to take them supper. I got to love on Baby Aaron a little bit while the guys talked hunting :) Brycen surprised us while we were there, by saying, "We live in the United States of America, and other people live in Mexico." (his first week of pre-school they did a unit on Mexico). His teacher is a huge on missions and she goes to Mexico quite a bit, he learned so much! He then started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance! Of course he doesn't know the whole thing, but he does know quite a bit! I was giddy w/ excitement, that yes, he is actually learning something at school! When I push him and try to get out of him things they have learned he is very open and doesn't seem to want to talk about it, I was beginning to wonder if he was learning anything at all! Lately, it seems if I just don't ask him too much, later on in the evening he starts sharing a lot more! I love it! I get all excited over everything he tells me! I'm just sooo proud of him! I think Ryan thinks I'm a bit of a nut at times! Anyway- I haven't been putting much on here about what B is learning at school and his funny stories so I want to do that more! At school they also earn a toucan bird when they can spell their name audibly and then they earn feathers on it for learning other things such as birthday, phone number, counting to 12, shapes, colors, address, etc... They just started on the bird last week and focus on one thing a week I think... (adjusted for each child's pace, b/c some of the kids are only 3 and some are 4 and some are even 5!). Brycen got a feather this week for knowing his birthdate! He should earn his fairly quickly b/c he already can count to 12, knows his shapes, colors, and phone number... it's the address and writing his name we have to work on! He has no interest what so ever in actually writing his name! I've tried to work w/ him, but he just doesn't want to do it at all! I asked his teacher what she thought and she said, "Let him be a kid, he's only 3, he will learn it by the time he needs to!" She made me feel much better about it, knowing she thought I was doing the right thing by not pushing him... kids already have to grow up so fast! Of course we want him to do well and excel, but I want him to ENJOY learning too. Yesterday was my day off. I didn't get too much done... just some laundry & then I ate out for lunch at the Chinese restaurant w/ a friend. Actually, Brycen's best friend, Joey, his mom. She is having a baby on Saturday, so we wanted to eat lunch out together one last time before the baby makes her debut! Then I went shopping for a baby gift for little Jessa Marie and also had to get Joey a monster truck... we'll call that, "a big brother gift!". I'm glad that him and Brycen will get to share the whole "being a big brother" thing too! They are like twins I think. They are only 2 1/2 weeks apart and they are inseparable! They go to daycare/preschool together every day and if one of them misses the teacher said the other one mopes around all day like a lost puppy! Yesterday I also pulled out the maternity clothes. Not sure I'm real happy about that, being able to wear them at only 4 months along, but I guess it does give me a bigger wardrobe then what I've had the past month or so! Ryan started calling me "mommy butt" b/c he said maternity pants give you a "mommy butt".... he isn't nearly as funny as he thinks he is! haha. Oh yah, and Tuesday Brycen poked my back (guess I'm getting back/hip fat, eewww) and said "hey mommy, you're getting a baby back here too." Yah, not what I wanted to hear at 7am! It was so innocent, but man, hard on my self esteem! haha. Last night mostly consisted of playing, playing, and playing some more w/ Brycen! It was fun and relaxing, he never fails to make me laugh! Today was picture day at B's school. When I went to take something by there this afternoon before lunch they said he did good for his pictures! Also, his books came in from scholastic so I was able to pick those up. I'm looking forward to reading those w/ him tonight! I'm a huge fan of reading, but I get tired of reading the same books to him all the time! Hopefully, he will like the new ones he picked out and we can read them for awhile! I'm looking forward to tomorrow being Friday. Tomorrow night my sister in law and her hubby and my nieces and nephew are coming to visit, that will be fun! We don't see them nearly as much as we'd like to and B has been missing his cousins! The rest of the weekend is pretty open and I'm hoping to get stuff done around the house... we'll see! haha.

Update On My Papaw

I have a longer post coming to update you on our week so far, but wanted to let everyone know that my Papaw is doing better. He did get released last night and made it home safely. The found out that the bleeding was being caused by a bleeding ulcer. They were able to get it stopped and will just continue to monitor that. The poor guy just can't seem to catch a break! We are thankful that he is already feeling much better after a blood transfusion (he had lost quite a lot of blood). Thank you all so much for your prayers! If I can ever return all the favors for all the praying you guys have done for me (i.e. baby, papaw, etc...) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know!