Trying to fight these colds...

It is that time of year here in Georgia -when the weather gets just cold enough and then gets warm again and we get these lovely little colds beginning to linger. We are fighting them though. Even my little 2 month old is fighting a little cough. Braxton finally is on the up and up after 8 days of it. We just usually kick these things quick but this one is a toughie. I am tellin you what if I could get a quarter for every gallon of nose secretions I would be rich. (I am sure you don't hear that everyday!) Anyway we are doing great otherwise. Countin the days to go and visit the fam in FLA for some amazing turkey!! Hope everyone is doing well. By the way it was like 29 degrees here this morning-I enjoy fall but not ready for winter!!! Love to all!!

Trunk or Treat 2008

Out church had a Trunk or Treat last night. Our trunk was sports themed as you may have guessed. We had a great time!!

New Favorite Blog!!!

I came across this site from a friend of mine (thanks Lani!) and found this lady that has vowed to use the crockpot everyday this year. It is so great. It was so funny cause when I was down in Florida this past weekend my mom treated me and herself to Starbucks Iced Pumpkin Spice Lattes (decaf of course!) and it was so yummy and when we came back home on Sunday and I checked her site her crock recipe for the day was Pumpkin Spice Lattes in the CROCKPOT!! I so cant wait to try it. I thought I'd share it with ya!! I also have already tried her Candy Chicken recipe-she has them all organized by category on the side!! Check it out and let me know if you try any of them.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Family Fun.

We made a quick trip down to Florida last week to visit. We had a great time as you can see.

My kids first camp out...

This past weekend the kids and their cousins camped out..... with the fathers of course. By looking at this picture can you tell which family has done this before? (you can tell a lot about a camper by the size of their tent!!) Ha ha!!

11 years ...........5 years.............4 weeks

Well I am a little behind so I must catch up on 3 important dates that have passed in our family in the past week.

11 years-Me and my hubby celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe it has been 11 years. He is an amazing,wonderful man and my best friend. I am so thankful that I have been married to him for that long (or should it be that short?)
My MAN!!

5 years- My boy turned 5 this past week. Once again the time flies-I really can not believe he is 5-although he has the brain of a 10 year old-he is still a playful, kindhearted,active, little boy.


4 weeks- My newest one turned 4 weeks on Wednesday-I cant believe it has been 4 weeks. He is simply an adorable little man. He is growing daily. He eats,poops, cries and sleeps-so I would say everything is going just fine. (other than me not getting much sleep-but that will get better with time -I hope...............)

Here is big sister holding Brody. She is such a great helper.

And a baby makes 3 .....kids that is!!

Well I had my first two outings with just me and the kids this week. Our first outing was Tuesday to the dentist because my little man (not my littlest man), decided to lose a tooth by climbing on the fort.



So they took an x-ray and he completely knocked it out-there was nothing left up in the gums. So we just have to wait til his adult tooth comes in. Could be awhile...it just changes his whole look. Too cute!!

Then yesterday Brody has his 2 week check up. He is up to 8lbs 11 oz and is 21 inches long. Now I know he is a boy and he can grow pretty fast but an inch an half in 2 weeks is unbelievable which leads me to believe they were a little off in their original measurements at the hospital. Either way he is definitely growing!!! Just wanted to share some of our week.

Has it been a week already?

I cant believe a week ago today I had Brody. Although the nights do seem longer than the days it is still hard to believe that it has already been a week. Sorry for the lack of reply to emails and posts on facebook. I am able to read everything easily but typing w/one hand(or none sometimes) while feeding the little one will have to be a task that I learn. So right now the little guy is asleep on my chest (this is one of the best feelings in the world) so I managed to sneak in a couple pics on the computer. I wanted to mention that my mom(and my sister) made the drive up as soon as I was on my way to the hospital and my mom left yesterday. She was amazing. All of my laundry was up to date , I have enough meals in the freezer for awhile and the kids were taken care of. Unfortunately she caught Bailey's cough the last couple of days and she didn't want to share it with Brody so she couldn't hold him as much as she would like but she was amazing. Also thanks to my sister for helping out with the kids as well. Another thanks goes out to my amazing sister-in-law , once again she is helping us out so much. She watched the kids countless times for my last checkups while I was pregnant, she watched the kids while we were at the hospital until my mom arrived and she has set up some meals for us with people at the church. What an amazing help!!! I cant say thank you enough to everyone that has helped us. Also my dad, stepmom and one of my brothers made the trip up for a one night stay this past weekend to see the new guy. It was great to see them. Ok I am rambling-just trying to get in as much as possible before the eating machine arises. Oh yeah by the way here are a couple pics from the past week. Enjoy!!

Pics of my new little man!!

I havent had a chance to upload any pics from my camera but my mom is in town and I jumped on her computer for a second and am using a couple of hers. The first one is of my mom and the baby. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes. I really appreciate it!!

It's a boy!!

Brody arrived Wednesday, September 3 at 5:38p.m. He is just beautiful. I will post pictures soon when I am up to it. Just wanted to let everyone know. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Due Date-NO LABOR DAY!!!

Well this is my actual due date and I thought I would wait until the 24th hour to let you know nothing happened. A couple of weeks ago I was not thinking it would be cute to have this baby on labor day because I was wanting it to happen early, but this morning I was thinking otherwise to go into labor on Labor Day-but no such luck. O'well. Still had a great day with the fam. We will see what tomorrow holds. My son thinks I will have the baby August 25 of next year......not funny at all!!!

Ok ...another update.

Well went to the doctor today and no progress. So I have a scheduled induction for next Friday if nothing happens before( I am due on Monday-Labor Day-appropriately- so I would love to go on my own before next weekend!!) If nothing happens before next Wednesday I will have a sonogram then to make sure everything is looking ok. So the clock ticks on....so it is in God's hands until next Friday ...then it's in my dr's hands. Either way this could be my last weekend with only 2 children (unless I go tonight!) So that is the scoopage.

Oh the mystery number ...................the winner is Ms. Layton-you are crazy girl if you think my due date got pushed back....NOT.....just kidding. In all serious.....one thousand and twenty-eight are the amount of diapers I received as gifts from 2 baby showers. Can you believe it?? I was just looking at the stacks of packs of diapers and began to add up and just couldnt believe it. That should get me through a few weeks right??

1028..................

What do you think this number means?

New blog design

Just wanted to share the resource where I got my new blog design-I happened to be checking out a friend of mine's blog and she had posted about http://leeloublogs.blogspot.com/. So there you go -I can't take credit for creating it myself.

Olympic Fun!!

One great thing about homeschooling you can adapt your curriculum to current events, so this week we had a mock Olympics in our front yard with the cousins. They participated in a torch run, opening ceremonies (they each made a flag of their own design), and 5 events which included: discus (paper plate converted into a discus), shot put(big blog of wet paper towels), marshmallow on the spoon relay, standing on one leg endurance competition and water balloon toss. All of the kids received medals too!! The kids had a great time. Here are a couple pics from the afternoon.

Horse sighting....

Just had to share. We had this horse wander onto our property this week.

Due Date??

I am in total denial of my due date and I am not sure why. With my 2 children I was not like this at all. I was totally patient (to a point) and did not expect any action until that time. With this one it has been different as I have already mentioned to a few of you. So I just need to relax and let the next 11 days go by as if it is something that has to be done. I went to the Dr again today and no real news-so the journey continues on. I just have to remember to be patient-it's all in God's timing. Thanks for all your support!!! Hope my family and friends in Florida are making it through all this rain from Fay. Love you all!!

Prego Update.

Nothing happening. Went for another check-up today. He said I was 1-2 but nothing much else.

Anxiously waiting!!!!! Was hoping would be a little early and have this one on the 20th for my dad's birthday-who knows!!

I am officiallly from the south.

Well it happened yesterday. I fried something. I dont think I would ever say that I have fried anything after losing weight several years ago and trying to eat somewhat healthy. Now I eat fried things occasionally when I go out to eat of course, but never in my kitchen had anything been fried. When hubby and I got married I thought it was so cool that we got one of those little fry daddy things as a gift and those honeymoon pounds sure came on quick. Well this one time was purely experimental. There is this amazing couple at our church that has just blessed us beyond belief with produce from their garden. Well when I went over this Sunday to get some tomatoes, apples, and pears, she also gave me a bag of okra. I have only had okra fried and that was just on occasion, so I thought I would try to fry it. It actually wasnt too bad-I only had a few pieces. I also roasted some too with olive oil and salt and pepper but that wasnt quite as tasty of course. Oh to add to the southern cooking I also stewed some apples (made like a chunky homemade applesauce). So that concludes my southern living cooking for middle Georgia for today-now back to your regulary scheduled programming!!!

By the way-can you belive that ticker is at 20 days. I went to the dr. last Friday and they did a sonogram and they estimated the baby is already 7lbs 4 oz. Both of my other children were 7-12 and 7-13, so this one could definately pass them both up. I think I am ready. I am ready to get some consistent sleep-I will even take 2 hours at a time. My sleep at night for the past 3 weeks has been nil. I cant sleep laying down until around 3am so that means I lay sitting straight up which is nothing too exciting. I am thankful that I can sleep sitting up though-it's just not the dream sleep that I was hoping for these last weeks before baby comes, but as I have heard this is God's way of getting me used to those crazy nights. If that's all I have to do to gain a miracle of life then by golly I will be a restless sleeper in a heartbeat.

Baby Shower Pics!!

I am blessed.....

As you know I am less than 4 weeks away from my due date of child number 3. There will be 5 years difference between number 2 and number 3. I got rid of every piece of baby equipment that I had for the first 2 kids and a dear friend, my hero gave me just about everything I needed for this baby. Well on Tuesday night my dear sister-in-law gave me a baby shower. It was so much fun. Let me first tell you that we switched churches this summer. Our old church was just great and we really loved the people there-but it was a 30 minute drive and it was the same drive that hubby takes everyday to go to work and with the new baby coming I really wanted to be a little closer to church so we could still be involved despite having a newborn to adjust to. So for about 2 months we have been going to this church that is less than 10 minutes (8 to be exact) and we have just been welcomed with open arms. We love the pastor and his family and everyone there has just been amazing. Ok so back to the baby shower-my sil decided to have the shower at our new church-so when she approached someone about using a room for the shower they took on the task of throwing a shower for me as if I had been one of their own for years. It was absolutely beautiful. I am still learning names so even as I was opening gifts, a dear lady that helped plan the shower was having to point people out to me-it felt kind of awkward but at the same time I was just truly humbled and blessed by their love and support. On top of this my mother and grandmother drove up for the event and that made it even more special. Also my mom's best friend from high school happened to be in the area for a wedding so she surprised me and came along too. It was a great time and I want to thank my s-i-l for making it possible. I AM TRULY BLESSED!!! (pics will be on here soon!)

Ironic isn't it?????????????

Ok ....at what other point in your life is it ok to put on a lot of weight in such a short amount of time-when you are Pregnant , right? Well I went to my check-up yesterday and to my surprise I lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks. Isnt that crazy? The baby is measuring well and everything looks good so I was just cracking up because I thought-this is the only time in my life and especially at this point in the pregnancy -when you are expected to put on the weight. I think it all evens out-cause at my last check up I think I may have put on a pound or two too much. Anyway just had to share that bit of irony with you. Can you believe only 32 days til my due date? I go to the doctor now every week, so it could really happen at any time. All of my stuff is packed and by the door after Sunday night. I had some minor contractions Sunday night and so hubby thought we ought to have everything ready, since I never had any minor "stuff" with the other two. Have a great day everyone!!

Tea Party Time.

On Wednesday, Bailey had a tea party for her closest friends here (actually so close they walked over-and they are not only her friends but her cousins!!) Anyway they had a great time and also had a special visitor paint faces!!

Wow under 40 days....

Sorry that it seems like I am posting only weekly which is so not fair to some of you because I love reading your daily posts and I only give you a glimpse of my life once a week. I will try and do better. So anyway we are starting school next week and will try to get back to some sort of routine again. We take summers off since hubby is a teacher, so he starts back next week and so do we. Looking forward to see my little man really take off with school-I have to brag about him-he is only 4 and is reading like you would not believe and I really wish I could tell you of some great curriculum I am using or some secret powder I put in his food but I can't-he just simply learned on his own. I guess from working so much with my daughter he just has soaked up everything like a sponge. He just makes me so proud and to think that he really wouldnt even be starting Kindergarten this year-he would have to wait another year. I could not imagine him having to wait another year-and we will probably be starting first grade after the first of the year. Ok enough of my bragging-can you believe I have 39 days-actually I have a feeling it will be less. I never had that feeling with my first two-I actually felt like it would be after my due date-just didnt feel like the bird was done in the oven, but with this one I feel like I could go at anytime now. I cant wait to see what this one looks like. Maybe I am just nervous and just hoping it happens soon-only God knows when it's going to make it's grand entrance into the world!!!!

Double Doctors!!!

Today was a busy day. I had a specialist appt and a reg ob appt today. We had another sonogram and got to see the little one. This is going to be a short review but everything is well and the baby is looking good. I can't wait to see her/him in person very soon. Where the doctor is at the hospital is in the same building and it was so cool to walk in there and get to see the babies in the nursery and know that we will be there with our little one right around the corner. I know this my third but the emotions are there like it's my first all over again!!
CAN ANYONE SPEED UP THAT LITTLE TICKER THINGY ON THE LEFT????????????????????

Loving the summer trips.....

I know it seems like we are going to Florida every other week, but with the baby due in less than seven weeks we are trying to get down there as often as possible because we know we wont be traveling for awhile after the little bundle arrives!! So we had an amazing WEEK in Florida. We hung out a couple days at my dad's to celebrate my little brother's 13th birthday. Then we took my grandmother to my mom's beach house for a week. (my mom is in Cape Cod!!) So we just absolutely relaxed and just did nothing. It was wonderful. It was so nice to get some spend some great quality time with my grandmother and for my kids to get to hang out with her as well. Chad and Brax went one day with Rod to go fishing and had a great time. A friend of Chad's from Harmony drove over to visit us as well and we were also able to have lunch with Chad's dad. It is hard not to get to see everybody I want to when we go back but the family time has become a priority-not to take away from spending time with anyone else but it's important for the kids to keep those bonds with their grandparents. So I hope you enjoy the vacation pics.....once again.

Guess what-another vacation to Florida!!!!

No Seriously Folks...........

With my due date being September 1-which just happens to be Labor Day this year(not funny!!) I have been getting a little anxious and making sure I have all my stuff together. Thanks to my amazing friend who has given me just about everything but the baby I really havent had to stress out about too much. We did need a crib and that was something I was just feeling like I wanted to have new -so low and behold I have been researching and trying to find just what I wanted. My hubbie (along with my superior supervision) assembled the crib last week and here it is.


It is set up in our room for now and will be for the first several months or so.

I went yesterday and met up with my best friend(Thanks Mar!!) from high school for lunch and shopped some outlets and found my baby girl and baby boy outfit to have the baby wear home from the hospital. I was so excited to have this done. With less than 2 months (I'll take even a little less) I think I am doing pretty well.

You Wanted Pregnancy Pics??? Well here you go...

I know there has been some requests for some prego pics and I have been really putting it off til I could get just the right shot. Can you believe only 60 days on my counter to go??

Well here you go..................


I'll give you the just out of bed look.................



Then the out shopping and that crazy paparozzi just got my picture so I must show my best side look..........................




It is just amazing what a little make up and styling products will do these days!! Love you all!!!

Quick Trip to Visit the Fam!!

Bike Parade 2008!!!

I just had to share pictures of the the bike parade I witnessed this evening right off of my very own front porch. It was a sight to be seen. One of a kind performers paraded their bikes. It was a great time had by all.

Happy Father's Day!!!

I know this is a little late in the day but wanted to say Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there. Just wanted to say thanks to my dad for being such a great role model. He really taught me so many things through the years............ a few things that I remember him saying to me that I always remember are:

* If you are on time you are late.

* If ****** doesn't wear their seat belt are you not going to.
(this started when I about 15)

* Always say please and thank you. (the thank you part has really been an important part of my life -I always try and send thank you notes)

* Remember that you are always representing the family.


Thanks dad for instilling these things in me.

Also thanks to my husband for being an amazing father to our children. I am so thankful to have such a dedicated husband and father to our family.

Memorial Day Weekend.

I know I am a little behind in catching up but Memorial Day weekend we had a huge family reunion here at our place. It was so much fun. I think we had 20 total (16 of which stayed at our house!!)We had a great time. It was all of my in-laws-the furthest of which of which one of my sis-in-laws came from California. We had a great time just hanging out and talking. sorry for the delay in getting the pics up.
Don't worry family I have doubles and will be getting them to you soon.

Catchin up.....

Sorry for the slackage..........

It has been awhile since my last blog. It has been busy around here. Just wanted to make a note that my pregnancy is doing well-I am getting large and I will not be posting pics of myself.

On another note.....can you believe summer is not offically here for another 11 days and it was 92 here today??? It is going to be one hot summer!!

Trip to Indiana.

We go every year and visit my grandparents in Indiana. So last week we drove about 10 hours to visit these amazing people once again. They have been married for 58 years and act like they are newlyweds. They are the most loving,giving couple I have had the privilege of meeting, much less being the granddaughter of. We stayed for 5 nights and although they were part of the devastating flooding that hit Indiana last weekend. My grandparents town was evacuated although we didn't cause they have the pumps for the basement to prevent flooding. On Friday we went to a park we always visit (as you see in the pics) They on Saturday morning the rain came and we laid low until we left Monday morning. It was a great visit. It is so important to me for my kids to know my grandparents.

Indiana Trip 2008!!

Fun Weekend!!

A wonderful weekend!!

On Thursday of last week my mom, sister and her son came up to visit. We had a great time. They came to visit me of course but also because we had Bailey's birthday party this weekend. It was a great time. Her birthday actually isn't until the end of the month but this coming weekend I think we will have 19 plus ourselves here at the house for Memorial Day/my father in law's birthday/sis-in-law coming in town from California/family reunion....OK you get the point-we are going to have a million other things going on and didn't want to add one more w/a birthday party. So we had a great time. I was so sad to see my mom, sis and nephew leave yesterday morning. Bailey had a great time w/her Bee Bee and her friends at the party. (as you will see in the pics)

Happy Belated Mother's Day.

I had total intentions of posting yesterday to wish everyone an amazing Mother's Day, but we had no power for like 14 hours......if you have heard or seen the news you know of the devastating storms that affected so many states Saturday and Sunday. Well yesterday morning we got some doosies and Macon was affected tremendously. We were without power from like 4:30ish (I was up so I know-we have a weather radio and we all moved downstairs to sleep to be safe) til about 8 o'clock last night. Luckily we had a generator so Chad plugged in the fridge. But we have a well so we had no water all day. I can get very creative with wipes, bottled water and antibacterial gel!! I still had an amazing mother's day with my family.

OK enough about my day.....I just want to give some humongous bloggity love to my mom. She is an awesome woman. She has taught me so much throughout my life. She loves me unconditionally and supports me and my family with every decision we make. I miss her terribly and am so excited that she is coming to visit this week for Bailey's birthday party. (I am saving it as a surprise for the kids-my sister and her little boy are coming too!! I can't wait!!) Anyway I hope my mom and everyone else had a great mother's day!!

2 Little Monkeys.....

hanging from their fort!!

Keepers at Home Banquet.

Here is the entire group of girls in Keepers at Home.


Here is my pride and joy!!The maroon sash is where the girls put the pins
they earn.


Here is little brother. Sister's number one fan!!



As most of you know we are a homeschooling family. We belong to a group of other homeschoolers that organizes different field trip and leads many different groups. One of these groups is called Keepers at Home. I like to think of it as a Christian based girl scouts.The girls range in age from Kindergarten to 12th grade. They meet once a month to work on a craft or skill that can be useful to them as they get older. Also throughout the year they have a handbook they can work out of to earn pins. They can earn pins for such things as different homemaking skills,learning bible verses and many others for craft skills. The end of the year banquet was last week when the girls received their pins for their hard work throughout the year. Bailey earned pins for memorizing Psalm 100, candle making,Insects, Scrapbooking and she also received a pin for commitment(attending the meetings) and her outstanding achievement pin which she received for completing the skills she said she would complete at the beginning of the year. I am so proud of my sweet little girl who will be 7 in just weeks. She is such a joy in my life!!