My husband TOTALLY ROCKS!!!! I rarely get any cravings when pregnant. Last night, however, I had a serious craving for a......hamburger!!! The last two days I have felt better with the nausea and now I am starving ALL THE TIME!!!!! So at 10:30 last night we were joking about how much I wanted a hamburger. I did not intend for him to actually go get one, but that is just what he did. Even though he was already ready for bed, he got dressed, went out into the cold, and got me what I wanted. A hamburger has never tasted so good. I inhaled it in record time! That was such a loving and sacrificial thing for Gabe to do for me. He takes such good care of me. I love you Gabe! (1st)
Here are a few of the 5 year old pictures taken of Isaac last Saturday.
We always go to Target Portrait Studio. They have always (well, almost always) done a great job taking our portraits. Plus there is always a coupon handy - except for this day when my laptop decided not to work and no other computer in our house was set up to print to our printer. I jumped through hoops to get a coupon. I was not going without one. I ended up having to print one at the store. Part of the exhausting and frustrating morning (see below) Funny thing is, the very next day I found a mailed coupon for Target Portrait Studio. UGH! That's what I get for not being organized.
So anyway, back to the pictures. This was the first time that I did not have to really "help" (more like redirect, bribe, and/or threaten) Isaac at all. Isaac stepped in, did his thing, and we were done in 10 minutes tops. In the past it has always been a struggle to get him to cooperate with the photographers. Guess he is growing up a little!!
Glad that it all turned out as it did because the morning leading up to our appointment, was at the very least a disaster. I was terribly sick and zapped of every ounce of energy. It was the kind of morning where everything I touched or even looked at (for that matter, even thought about looking at) broke, fell, or decided it had it out for me. Hectic morning to say the least. But we made it across town for the appointment and all ended well.
And I must add.... my boy is handsome, isn't he?! Such a cutie!
I have been tagged several times via Face book for the 25 Random things, so I thought I would add it here as well. Here are the first 25 random things about me that came to mind.....
1. I spent a month in Germany while in college. Loved it and want to go back to Europe.
2. I was a surprise baby. My sisters are 6 & 8 years older than me.
3. I can be terribly shy and a social dork sometimes.
4. I do not liketo run but want to run a marathon one day. Crazy right?! Just something big I want to accomplish one day.
5. I love teaching young children.
6. After I graduated from college I applied to teach all over Texas except San Antonio. I have been living here (SA)for 9 years now!!
7. I am married to the most wonderful man ever who happens to be my best friend.
8. I met Gabe during a time of my life when I was not looking for a relationship. God's plans are not my own!
9. Now that we are on the topic of Gabe..... we were best friends for months before we even started dating.
10. I love to read. I can get carried away in a book for hours.
11. My family owned a horse when I was little. Her name was Goldie. Loved that horse.
12. I played basketball in high school and loved it. I hated track! Told you I don't like to run.
13. I do not like to cook, but will tolerate it. Wish it was more of a joy than a chore.
14. I like to have alone time. In fact, I need alone time. Lots of activity and people wear me out.
15. I am married to a very energetic people person. (note conflict with #14!)
16. I have never lived outside of Texas.
17. I have always wanted to be a Mom and always saw myself having 3 children.
18. I survived colic with my second child. Phew!!!
19. I love cuddling up on the couch and watching a good ol' tear jerker.
20. I have no living grandparents on my side of the family. I miss them.
21. I want to go on a Missions Trip.
22. I am highly claustrophobic, just ask Gabe.
23. I am sensitive and will have nightmares if I watch something or even hear something scary.
24. I love reading CS Lewis and just ordered 2 books by AW Tozer today.
25. I will leave you with this..... I love my Lord and Savior more than life itself. Jesus, the One and Only, is central to my being. I am nothing without Him.
I am not going to tag 25 people. Frankly, not that many people read my blog. So I tag.....
Angela, Amanda, Kelly, Pat, Karen, Tarah, April (I know I already read yours on fb, but can you think of 25 different random things?!!), Nicole, and Mom.
Don't let him fool you.... he is SO faking it!!! This boy does not nap, EVER!!! He is also our early riser. He is usually up by 6 or 6:30 every morning. On this day he got out the blankets and made himself a little pallet surrounded by all his "friends". If you look close you can see the smirk on his face.
No, he is not attacking her. He was actually pretending to be "grandpa" and was rocking her. She is a little big for that now. It is such a treat to see them play so well together.
Super Green Masked Hero to the Rescue!!! I didn't think the super hero phase would ever get here, but alas it has arrived. Isaac doesn't watch super hero cartoons, but he sure knows how to play the part. He was running around on this day saying that he got a call and people needed him to save them. So cute!
I just woke up from one of the best naps I have ever had. I slept for an hour and a half with two children just a few rooms away who don't think they need to sleep. How did I possibly accomplish a nap so great? I give all credit to Honeywell, Isaac's fan. We have had these fans in the kids rooms for a long time now as a noise barrier. (thanks to Amanda for your bright idea) When Julia does fall asleep for a nap, which is a rare occasion lately, she sleeps so soundly that she will not wake up until I turn the fan off. Being in the first trimester, I need sleep. I have been so tired with this pregnancy, more so than with the others. So I set that fan to high and didn't move a muscle for over an hour. I woke up to such stillness in the house that I thought both kids must have fallen asleep. As soon as the fan was off, I heard the little noises of both playing in their rooms. So thank you Honeywell for the rare opportunity to catch some great zzz's in the middle of the day.
Found this site the other day. Thought it was fun to compare the size of the baby to fruit. Last week it was a blueberry, this week..... raspberry!!! From The Bump.com: Your baby is growing like mad, putting on about a millimeter every day and continuing to straighten out in the trunk. Though you can't feel it yet, baby is moving those little arms, legs and (now only slightly) webbed fingers and toes like crazy.
Not that anyone cares, but just be prepared this pregnancy will be very well documented. We kind of dropped the ball on taking all the prego pictures when I was pregnant with Julia. I made Gabe promise he would take a picture of me every month. So here is Month 1....
And Today, Month 2
I am definitely showing just a little. I didn't start showing with Isaac until 4 or 5 months along. With Julia it was around 3 months. I guess it is true that most women show earlier after having several pregnancies. Regardless of the not so fun pregnancy symptoms, I am enjoying this pregnancy as much as I possibly can. I rejoice in the blessing of this wonderful gift from God.
So I thought there for awhile that I was going to have it easy with this pregnancy. Not so. Besides being EXTREMELY fatigued, I am now nauseated ALL DAY LONG!!!!! Makes it hard to get much done around here and I am falling way behind on tons of chores and to do lists. My sense of smell is off the charts. Everything seems to turn me green. So, earlier I was getting something for Isaac to eat and I came across some old guacamole in the fridge. We all know what old guac looks like don't we?!!! The sight and the smell combined had me over the sink in 2 seconds flat. Isaac came to my rescue. He took me by the hand, led me to the hall, and told me to sit down. Then he placed his small little hand over my nose. Awwww.... again, he is great at taking care of his Momma. After my stomach settled and I realized that I was sitting in the hall with my son's hand over my nose, I just busted out laughing. What a sight I must have been. I hugged Isaac and thanked him for helping me. Before returning to the kitchen, he scoped it out to make sure the smells were all gone. What would I do without my Isaac?!!
Wow, we have had such a busy and fun week. Last Wednesday Isaac turned 5!!!We started out the day with our traditional birthday muffin.You see the idea is to wake up the kids on their birthday with a muffin and song. Of course, Isaac, being our early riser, beat us up that day. We had to send him back to his room and come in later with the "surprise". He still loved it! We read Dr. Suess' "Happy Birthday to You!" and Gabe gave Isaac his first gift.... his very own carabiner, because Isaac is now an official rock climber!! We spent the rest of the day at the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels with some friends. Lots of fun. Then that evening we took the family to the Rainforest Cafe. Isaac had gone to one before but he was too young to remember. So this was like his first experience with Rainforest Cafe,and what a wonderful experience it was. This place does not skimp on the decor!! All the animals come to life every 15 minutes and there is a lightning and thunderstorm every 30 minutes. Isaac was in awe. Julia, not so much. She hid her eyes from most of the animals except the butterflies and she made us cover her ears when the storm started. We enjoyed a great dinner and then shared the volcano dessert. WOW!!! It was four large wedges of brownie leaned together to form the volcano shape. The inside was filled with ice cream and the top was whip cream. The whole thing was drizzled with hot fudge and carmel. YUMMY!!! Isaac even let the staff sing him 'Happy Birthday'!
Saturday we had Isaac's birthday party: An Outer Space theme! I think it was by far my favorite party so far. I had so much fun!!! Our rule for birthday parties is that the kids can only invite one child per year of age. This year Isaac insisted that there only be "big boys" at his party. So including Isaac we had 6 little (er um, I mean BIG) boys training to be astronauts in the backyard with a rocket landing, comet toss, and the moon walk(bouncy house).Once thoroughly trained, Gabe and I took all the astronauts on a space adventure. Gabe built a rocket with a control panel for each child. We hung a sheet up in front of the rocket and used the 3D space projector Isaac got for Christmas to project some pretty cool images of outer space. It was so fun listening to their dialog and how they added to the role play. One little boy kept saying, "Beep, beep, beep. The button of mass construction is going off!!" Boy that got a laugh! After an eventful flight in outer space, all the boys put on the jet packs I made them and we flew over to Mars. I turned Isaac's room into Mars with red everything. We played with Mars sand(moon sand - that stuff is cool) and then saved the planet from an incoming meteorite. (huge foil ball with candy within each layer) They all got to take turns unwrapping the meteorite until it was all gone. Then we flew over to the moon (Julia's room) Everything was white, silver and blue. I made "moon rocks" for the kids to find. They were little astronaut toys hidden within a baking soda rock. Once each boy found one we took it to our "lab" to investigate the moon rock. The lab consisted of a bowl full of vinegar. They enjoyed watching their rocks sizzle and fizz to expose the toy inside. After this, we flew back to our rocket and came in for a landing on Earth. SO MUCH FUN!!! The party ended with cake and gifts. Isaac decided that he wanted all of his friends to help him open gifts so it was just one big frenzy of laughter, excitement, and whirls of wrapping paper. Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to add. Gabe made an astronaut cut out. All the kids (and Gabe and I) posed behind the cut out for a genuine astronaut photograph. Big hit with the kids!(and the adults!!) So that wraps up our celebrations of Isaac's 5th birthday. Probably more than you wanted to know, but it was so fun I HAD to give you all the nitty gritty details! Enjoy the pictures!!
**Let me clarify: The gift to Billie from Gabe was a walking stick unipod, not a new camera!!
I was blessed this morning to see my baby's strong and healthy heart beat. For those just joining, I am about 7 weeks along in my 3rd pregnancy. It was a huge relief and joy to see a healthy baby. I am not sure if other Mothers feel this way, but that first sonogram makes it more REAL. And being my third, it doesn't get any less exciting either. Knowing that this is most likely our last baby, this pregnancy is different. I am relishing everything, including the down times. Having to wait so long for this child has created in me a heightened appreciation for the glorious gift of pregnancy. Tears sprang to my eyes this morning as I saw the tiny little heart beating. The Doc gave me the sono pictures and not wanting to bend them I tucked them safely down inside my Bible that I keep in my purse. When I got home, I discovered that the picture was between the pages containing Psalm 139: 13 - 16. Fitting huh?!
"For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (NIV)
"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you , High God - you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration - what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day." (The Message)
Yesterday (posted 1-15-09) we celebrated five years of life for our son, Isaac. What a wonderfully blessed five years it has been. As I pulled some of these pictures together I realized how it seemed that they took place just days ago. Times like this, when we look back, it is shocking how fast the time flies by. The time seems to have flown by even faster with the addition of Julia to our family. Can't imagine what will happen with the addition of Baby #3!! When I have thoughts like this of how fast time goes by, it makes me even more appreciative of being able to stay home with my kids. God has blessed us greatly through our decision for me to stay at home and not work.
So here's to Isaac. My sweet, inquisitive, loving, talkative, kind, busy, generous little (big) boy!!
This morning Julia was taking care of her baby dolls, one of which is a bathtub baby and at the moment was striped down bare!! She started to examine the doll and turned it over to discover the drain hole in the dolls "area". Her eyes opened wide as she said, "Look Mommy she has a peanut"!! Meaning, well you know what she probably meant!! I could not help but laugh. Once I laughed, she kept right on at it. "Peanut, peanut. My baby has a peanut" So funny!
Last week we had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with some great friends. We took them to shoot rockets with us. They have a son the same age as Isaac and he was beside himself with excitement. Even Paul and Christi got into the fun!! What made me laugh that day is the choices my children made with their wardrobe. You've just got to see it to understand.
Isaac chose the cowboy hat from the dress up box. He explained that he needed the "shade". I will give him that one. It is hard to spot the rocket in the sky when you are squinting from the sun. What made it even funnier is that it is a tad bit too small.
Julia choice in fashion consisted of "princess" clothes over her day clothes while wearing sunglasses. Stylin'!!! Whatever works!!
Here are few more pictures from our day with the Dunlaps...
So my number one pregnancy symptom is fatigue. I have great mornings but by noon I am DONE! I am not usually a napper. Not the case when pregnant. Yesterday I slept for 2 hours. I woke up on the couch to find that Isaac had made a pallet on the floor beside me. He was just lying there wide awake. He said that he thought I needed some company. Awwww.... so sweet and a little disobedient. He was supposed to stay in his room for quiet time. Felt it was good to look past that due to the fact that he did have good intentions!! He is definitely in the business of taking care of his Momma! I love my boy!
Better get these on here before too much time passes in the new year. We had a wonderful Christmas at home and in Coleman. I could write a novel on all the wonderful memories created this year, but really that would only be for my benefit and would most likely bore you to death. So you will have to just enjoy the pictures instead!!
Oh the joy of having children. They make me smile. How about you?
So tonight we were praying together as a family before bedtime and I asked Isaac who he would like to pray for. His answer, "I want to pray for you Mommy to have twins" Huh?! Ok, what would you like to thank God for? "I will thank God for the twins in your belly". YIKES!! Later I asked Isaac why he wanted twins. He told me it was because he wanted Julia to have one to take care of too. He would take care of one and Julia would take care of one. Sounds good so far, until he finished with..... "well, you could change all the diapers and I could feed the babies" He apparently does not remember the screaming nightmare of Julia's infancy. He is just doubling the odds of that little scenario replaying itself!!
As I mentioned in the post before, Isaac has been so affectionate lately with the new baby in our lives. He decided to talk to the baby tonight. He snuggled down beside my belly tonight and shared his "wisdom and advice"...
#1 Always make good choices #2 Never go down a big slide without Mommy or Papa
Both lessons learned the hard way!!! I adore these little conversations I have with my children.
And to end this post with a smile, here are a few more silly pictures of Isaac and Julia in the monkey costume I got at Good Will for $1!! So cute!
Now that most of you have seen our little video below, you know that we are indeed expecting Baby #3!!!!! It has been a long journey. We have been waiting for this baby for a year and a half now! Lots of tears, frustrations, questions, unknowns, and on and on and on. But alas, God's timing is PERFECT!! I never doubted God's timing. I never doubted God. I knew the deep down desire within me, and Gabe as well, to have another child was placed there by God. I also knew deep down that God would fulfill that desire one way or another, be it naturally or through adoption. It was the not knowing which path to take that was about to drive me insane. Great lesson in patience and trust.
So I am only 5 weeks along. We didn't waste any time telling the good news. I took my first test last Sunday and told Gabe that evening after the kids went to bed. He had no idea!!! So fun that I could surprise him. I bought a card and placed it under the Christmas tree. I told him that I had one more gift to give him for Christmas. He later told me that he thought I had bought tickets to something or found a great deal on a new TV. He was completely caught off guard. It was a great moment, of which I did manage to capture on video. (just haven't had time to get the video together to put on the blog - maybe later)
Tuesday we took Isaac and Julia to Enchanted Rock for a day of hiking, rock climbing, and a picnic. After the picnic we told the kids that we had a surprise for them. We had made a frame that had a picture of Isaac, a picture of Julia, and a picture of my belly. When we revealed the "surprise" Isaac was initially upset because he had it in his mind that the surprise was a special dessert!! After regrouping, the news of a new sibling sank in for both of them. Isaac broke out in a huge smile then (possibly remembering when I was pregnant with Julia) looked at me and said, "But your not fat Momma" Then he put his little hand on my tummy and said, "Well maybe just a little bit!" Thanks Isaac!! It was a funny and sweet moment. Julia had a million questions. Where is that baby? When will that baby come? She now understands that after Mommy's tummy gets really big, then the baby will come. Isaac, of course, wants a little brother and Julia wants a sister. We'll See!!
Wait for it.......
SURPRISE!!
Isaac got up this morning and asked me how my night was with the baby! He likes to get down by my belly and "snuggle" with the baby. He is being so affectionate and protective. Neat to see how he is reacting to all of this. Julia kind of forgets there is a baby on the way. It will be fun to see how she grasps all the changes as we go along.
So thank you to all for all the wonderful words of congratulations and well wishes. Thank you to those that have been our prayer warriors through the last year and a half. I know that you will continue to be our prayer warriors for the next 8 months and beyond!!
