Check Out my New Tickers

Thanks to Cathy I have a couple of new tickers. I couldn't decide which I liked more so I did both. I liked seeing the time left in weeks on the cartoon one and I liked the humorous comments on the other. So anyway, it hit me I only have 16 weeks left. Well, actually less than that with the fact I will be having a c-section, probably at 38 weeks, but we will know more as we get closer.

Matt's Trip to India is Cancelled

Matt called me this afternoon to let me know that he will not be going to India. Instead he will be going to Brazil later in the month of September. I guess the shots he had to get were for nothing. And all the "pain and suffering" he has had to deal with because of a minor allergic reaction. (His arm has a slightly swelled knot and is warm to the touch.)

Finding a New Church Is Hard

Since moving up here, Matt and I have tried several churches. Five to be exact, and we got frustrated and took a break from looking for a while. None of them have seemed quite right to us. Part of the problem is that we are from such different church backgrounds. I grew up in the Episcopal church and Matt grew up in the Baptist church. I have always enjoyed the litergy in the Episcopal church, for it has always been a comfort to me and it has always seemed like I was involved. Matt on the other hand does not enjoy the litergy and feels that it is too structured.

We both agree that we should be comfortable in the church home we choose. Besides the obvious of what is believed and how it is taught, I also want for the kids to enjoy the church by enjoying the lessons taught, making freinds, and all of us becoming involved in some manner. There are times that I feel like we should narrow down our expectations but then other times I feel like we should hold out until I find what we are looking for. We have enjoyed and gotten a lot out of the sermons but most of the churches seem to have very few active young families. For example Gabriel's class only had 2 other kids in it today and this is pretty normal. I really feel like we will find what we are looking for eventually, but the longer we don't have a church to call home the longer I feel disconnected in a way. Gabriel is so interested in God at the moment and I want to nurture that, and I am trying but I feel like he would get so much more from being with peers who are interested too.

Brush Your Teeth

Since the kids tend to fight over who gets to brush their teeth first I bought another step stool so they could both brush their teeth at the same time. That's one of the nice things about having two sinks in the bathroom. But will this really stop the fight? I doubt it.

Nap Was Almost Passy Free

Today at naptime Abby did not ask for her Passy so I did not give it to her. I stayed outside her room for about 10 minutes expecting her to come out looking for one. She never did. Then about 45 min. later I hear her crying so I went to investigate. She was unhappy and inconsolable not allowing me to comfort her, and starts asking for her Passy. I finally give in and give it to her. I guess this is a step in the right direction. She was able to go to sleep without it now if I can only get her to stay asleep without it. She is doing great during the day not taking it until bed and either giving it to me when she wakes up or putting it in the sink. So at least we are making some progress. But I really don't expect for her to be Passy free before the baby comes but it would be nice if she were.

Matt Goes to the Doctor

Today is Matt's day to head to the doctor to get his shots and start his pills for his trip to India. I just hope he comes back healthy and without any parasites, like his brother did.

Open House

Last night I took the kids to their preschool Open House. As we were walking through the parking lot Gabriel started waving and saying Hi to everyone he saw. In some ways I hope this never stops and in other ways it worries me. Abby on the other hand just walked along with us. Once we were dismissed to go to the kids' classrooms we headed to Abby's first. She walked right in and started playing. When it was time to leave to visit Gabriel's she didn't want to leave and cried when I picked her up. I hope she is this excited when we take her on Tuesday, but I have a feeling that when I leave her she will be crying. Though I hope I am wrong. Gabriel walked into his classroom and started exploring, introduced himself to his teachers and found his folder on the table for me. I really hope he enjoys school this year.

Today I am heading out to purchase our supplies from our supply list. Gabriel's is much longer than Abby's but I guess this is to be expected with him being in the Preschool program.

31 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Matt makes me happy for being so understanding and helpful, when he is able with work and school.
2. Gabriel makes me happy with his enthusiam for life.
3. Abby makes me happy with all those smiles she gives that are so contagious.
4. I am happy that my family and I are all healthy. With so many surgeries within the last year this is really important to me.
5. My friends make me happy because I know I can call on them whenever I need to.
6. Being pregnant right now makes me happy.
7. Having the nursery finished makes me happy.
8. Having a sister who was willing to paint the nursery to such great lenghts, makes me happy.
9. Having parents who are so open and loving. I couldn't have asked for better parents.
10. Having inlaws that I like and get along with. So many people don't have this.
11. Knowing that school is starting next week makes me happy, because I will be able to accomplish more without having them around.
12. Having such a wonderful group of women in my MOPS group makes me happy.
13. Taking time to work on the two kids scrapbooks makes me happy.
14. Not knowing for sure the gender of our baby makes me happy, though I do want to know.
15. Getting Gabriel's closet cleaned out and handing down clothes that no longer fit, makes me happy.
16. Getting my refridgerator cleaned out and scrubbed, makes me happy. Thank goodness for nesting.
17. Getting the ironing out of the way, for the moment, makes me happy.
18. Knowing that Gabriel is now looking forward to having another sister makes me happy.
19. Having started on my Christams shopping, even if it is just a list, makes me happy.
20. Knowing that Matt will be going to a UT game this year with his Dad makes me happy. Even if it is Thanksgiving weekend and I probably won't be able to go too.
21. Being able to visit and talk to my family whenever I want, makes me happy.
22. Watching Gabriel eat all of his healthy lunch without complaining, makes me happy. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, slices of yellow pepper, plums, yogurt, and a cup of milk. I was impressed with the peppers.
23. Watching Gabriel enjoy putting together puzzles and learning his letters.
24. Watching Gabriel and Abby playing together without fighting.
25. Watching Abby play with her babies.
26. Being able to meet Matt at the park on a weekday for lunch with the kids and me, makes me happy.
27. I am happy that I can and enjoy talking with all of my brother and sister in laws.
28. I am happy because I can keep people updated on our family happenings, no matter how manudane they may be, with my blog.
29. I am happy because I do not at this moment in time have any pregnancy complaints.
30. I am happy because I am fairly organized and ready for the craft activities for MOPS.
31. I am happy because we are able to provide for ourselves and our family.

First for the Family

This week starts the first of a bunch of first for our family. Matt starts his Masters program on Tuesday with an orientation lasting from 5-9. Unfortunately this conflicts with a MOPS steering meeting I have on Tuesday night, which means I have to take the kids to the church for the meeting because I have not found a babysitter yet. This is one of those times I wish I had family close by. Gabriel and Abby both have Open House for Preschool on Thursday night from 6:30-8:00, which Matt has to miss because he will be in class. And then starting on Monday for Gabriel and Tuesday for Abby both kids will be in school. This I am looking forward to because it will provide me so child free time to clean, run errands and relax, some. It will also provide me some nesting time as well. It will be interesting to see how the next couple of weeks unfold and see if we can get into a new groove.

Gabe's Feats in the Pool

Lately, Gabe has become more fearless while going underwater in the pool. For the past couple of weeks he has been trying to flip in the pool. This past week he mastered the ability to flip forward and is now working on going backwards which he does quite well most of the time. He doesn't even hold his nose. He has also started diving to the bottom of the pool for torpedos, shallow end only. My mother even threw some money into the pool for him to get. He got the money with a slight push from me. He is so happy with these accomplishments and it makes me happy to hear the pride in his voice.

The Nursery is Finished ...4 months early

As I stated in my last post my sister, her two kids and my mom were here last week to visit. Upon arrival my sister volunteered to paint the nursery for me. We headed to the paint store to pick out paint for the walls. As we were choosing colors my sister said we could do this yellow on the walls and paint the ceiling blue with clouds. It then evolved into painting grass on the walls with some dragonflies and a frog. Teasing her I asked if she was going to paint animals too. Later after painting the walls and ceiling my sister also thought it would be really cool to add a tree with some leaves. So anyway after 3 days of painting this is what my sister did with very little help for me.

Siblings and Cousins

On Sunday night my mom, sister and her two kids arrived to spend the week at our house. We have made good use of the pool this week, have shopped, watched the kids play and visited various parks in Columbus. What has been most interesting is watching the kids interact with each other. Abby is a cute little imp, taking her cousin Kaleb's toys away from him just to see him cry, she grins and runs away when she does this. She also will give Kaleb, Karoline, or Gabriel a toy and then cry when they take it, I think she is trying to get the other child in trouble in order to receive more attention. Gabriel and Karoline have been getting along so much better than normal so far. Gabriel tends to cry anytime Karoline does the smallest thing to him though. My general response is for him to talk to Karoline and try to work it out for himself first, if this doesn't work then I need to step in and help. But the bickering between the two is minimal. Maybe that's because Gabriel lets Karoline boss him around. It's been a lot of fun to watch them play and interact together. I just wish we could do it more often. But the time they have together is precious.

Preparing for Baby

After nap on Thursday I started talking to Gabe about his possible baby sister. I was telling him that the doctor is thinking the baby is a girl. He takes one look at me and starts crying. He says, "I want a brother not a sister." Trying to calm him down I start telling him he will be the only boy and that he and Daddy will be able to do boy things together, boys version of girls night out. He begins to calm down. Then I also remind him that it wasn't anyones choice on wether we had a boy or girl except for GOD. And that GOD was giving us a girl because that is what he thought this family needed most. I hope he stills feels like everything will be okay. I have started thinking that I need to get some books about new siblings to read to both the kids. If anyone has any suggestions I am planning on heading to the library in the next week or two to check out what they have. Now Ijust have to figure out a way to prepare Abby for the new baby. She is already showing jealousy when Gabe sits with one of us so it's going to be interesting to see how she reacts to the baby. I keep wondering if she will act like Cathy's oldest daughter, Sarah, when her brother Noah was born. Sarah's comment to her mother was, "Put it back!" I guess I can only prepare so much and let nature take it's course.

Gabe Says

Gabriel: Mommy, when you cough does the baby cough too?

Mommy: No.

Gabriel: Well, when does the baby cough?

Mommy: When she needs too.

Putting together a recipe book for 40 people

Does anyone have any ideas on a cheap way to put together a recipe book for 40 people. One of the requests from my MOPS group was to have more recipes. As a the steering group we decided it would be nice for everyone to donate some recipes to put into a book. I would recieve the recipes via email and then have them printed. My original thought was to have everyone just pick up each page and put into some kind of folder or notebook. Whatever I do though has to cost about 3.00 total for the book/folder and the copies. Thanks for any ideas. I also need to find a good way to decorate the cover.

This is counting as one of my crafts for MOPS. It has to be something that the other women in the group put together and possibly decorate.

Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen

Just a reminder.

Tomorrow, August 10th is Miracle Treat Day at your local Dairy Queen. With every Blizzard purchase proceeds will be donated to your local Children's Miracle Network Hospital to help sick and injured children. So be sure to go enjoy a cool treat tomorrow. I'm sure we will.

Update: And just so everyone knows all the proceeds from your purchse of a Dairy Queen Blizzard will be donated to the Children's Miracle Network.

What gender is baby?

Strictly for my enjoyment I would love it if everyone would take a guess on the gender of our third child. Our doctor's appointment is tomorrow and if the baby cooperates we should know the gender of our third child. You will only have bragging rights that's why it is for my enjoyment only. Thanks for participating.

August Challenge

Okay, so for the past three days it looks like I have been failing the August Challenge but I have found many things to be happy about.

Sunday I was happy because we spent the day together as a family doing family activities.

Monday I was happy because both kids took naps without any trouble.

And today I am happy because I got several more pages done in Abby's scrapbook.

So there are my happy moments for the past three days. I will have a new one for you tomorrow.

Today I am happy because....

I had a wonderful prenatal massage. It felt great and I feel very relaxed right now. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Today I am happy because....

I have two beautiful kids and another one on the way.

Today I am happy because....

I was finally able to arrange a playdate for Gabriel and Abby to play with some of their friends. Everyone has been so busy that it has been almost impossible.

Ice Cream Social

Yesterday, the neighbor to the right of us knocked on the door with an invite to a neighborhood ice cream and lemonade social for that evening. A little after 6:00 we joined several other families from the neighborhood in the Hartman's front yard for ice cream, lemonade and socializing. It was really a lot of fun and we met some of the neighbors we hadn't met yet. Gabriel and Abby had a blast playing with the Hartman's 7 year old son. They rode bikes, chased each other and wrestled in the yard together. It was fun seeing Gabriel wrestle with someone older with him and not having to worry about him hurt the other person as much, especially since he usually wrestles with Abby. The Abby across the street came over as well but was shy so she didn't join in this time. It was a lot of fun and there were a few times I wish I had my camera. It was also fun to see the reaction to Gabriel's announcement that we are having a baby. Nancy looked at me for conformation and when I told her it was a December due date she did a double take, saying that I didn't even look pregnant. In some ways this was fun but in other ways I find this frustrating. Anyway they are palnning another neighborhood get together in October with a pancake breakfast.

Today I am happy because....

Matt and I have been married for 9 wonderful years. We have had our ups and downs during those years but we are still fgoing strong. I can't imagine my life without him in it. And of course I wouldn't have the two beautiful children I have and the one on the way. Thanks Matt for dealing with all of my moods. I love you very much!!!!

Gabe Says

Gabriel was watching the cat lick himself. He commented on it to me and I explained that that is the way that cats clean themselves. I went on to say that cats don't take baths like people do. Gabriel then says, "I want to try that."
Mom says: "No, people take baths."
Gabriel says(while licking his arm), "I like this better."

Today I am happy because....

my kitchen is clean (for the moment).