Get Ready, They're Coming!

I have been TERRIBLE at posting things to the blog recently. The reasons? I'm 17 weeks pregnant now - the first trimester had me on the couch resting when I wasn't chasing a one year old :-), and since I got my energy back - well, some of it at least - I've been organizing my coupon world, doing yardwork, cleaning out closets, decorating for Christmas, Christmas shopping, chasing a one year old, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, doing the dishes, and well, you get the point. I don't get to the blog very often - it's just not at the top of my list.... All that to say, I'm going to try to sit here and catch up on some blogs today. Good luck to me.

I'm Thankful

I'm thankful for Jesus.

I'm thankful for my husband.

I'm thankful for my children - the one who runs me ragged and the one being formed inside me.

I'm thankful for family.

I'm thankful for friends.

I'm thankful for health.

I'm thankful for food, clothing, shelter, transportation.

I'm thankful for my church.

I'm thankful for this country.

....and these days....

I'm thankful for Grandparents.

I'm thankful for toys.

I'm thankful for big brown eyes.

I'm thankful for playgrounds.

I'm thankful for smiles.

I'm thankful when it's not my turn to push.

I'm thankful for Aunts who will play chase.

I'm thankful that my son gets to know and love all our family members.

I'm thankful when there's somebody else around willing to pull the wagon.

I'm thankful that there's nobody Carter would rather play with than his Daddy.

Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to live this life, in this place, with these people.

Big News!

We've got some BIG news in our family - BIG BROTHER news to be exact! That's right, C-man is going to be a big brother in May of 2012 (we are due the 16th). We are so very blessed!!!

The second pregnancy is nothing like the first.

1. I can't remember how far along I am half the time (I did figure out for this post that I am almost 10 weeks though).
2. C-man is RIGHT THERE to cheer me on when I get sick (quite literally, but thankfully not often)!
3. I'm tired, but I can't rest because I have a 1 year old tornado (who graciously takes some naps).
4. It's FLYING BY already!

But it is the same in that my housework has taken a turn for the worst! Also, and more importantly, we cannot wait to meet this new precious part of our family, and we couldn't be more excited!!! C-man has NO idea what's coming :-)

More Than Enough

Kevin's been working and helping friends move this morning. While he was out, I got sucked into blogland again.....you know how it is. You find a cute craft on Pinterest which links to a blog, which links to another blog, and so on and so forth.... I spent the morning looking at other people's beautiful blogs.

These blogs tell the tales of their seemingly professionally decorated houses which they actually did themselves (for only $5!). On top of that, their perfect house is being lived in by their wonderfully behaved and boutique dressed children (no "hideous" baby gates necessary)! They eat at their table which of course has a beautiful seasonal decoration on it and on which no processed foods are ever served and everything looks garnished and fresh from the organic section of the grocery store. And somehow they still have time to dry and style their hair and go shopping for fashionable clothes.

Yes, I've been looking at pictures of the "beautiful people" out there again today feeling insufficient, overwhelmed, and like I somehow need to catch up in life... Then my loving God whispered in my ear that he's enough....I don't need any of that stuff. So I am logging off the blogs and facebook (no, not deleting my accounts....just logging off so I have to make an actual effort to get on there next time), and I'm going to go enjoy my Saturday which will probably NOT be picture perfect, and I'm ok with that. I have a neon tunnel in my living room (a MUCH loved toy in our home), a laundry basket turned toy bin spilling over with less than "attractive" but FUN toys, dog hair on my floor (which I'm going to try to lessen today), baby gates everywhere because my boy loves to CLIMB, I have to run to the store today (and I shop at Wal-Mart because I don't have time to figure out couponing), and we're probably going to eat hotdogs and Kraft macaroni and cheese at some point this weekend. But here is what I'm choosing to rejoice in:

1. I have a GOD who thinks my life is special!

2. He has richly PROVIDED for us! - we have food, clothing, shelter, and MORE!

3. We are (relatively) HEALTHY!

4. We have FUN in our less than perfect home!

5. My messy husband and rambunctious 1 year old and I LOVE each other more than words could say!

I'll leave you with those thoughts and the chorus to Jeremy Camp's song "Enough":

More than all I want
More than all I need
You are more than enough for me.
More than all I know
More than all I can see
You are more than enough for me.

Milestones

We've been checking in on some milestones in our family recently.

Fischer turned 2 last Friday! We celebrated by giving him a HUGE bone from Publix.

He LOVED it, and there's actually not much left of it! I am hoping that this milestone will mark the beginning of him calming down some and not licking everything in sight, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Afterall, he is a lab!

Today marks another milestone - Carter is 14 months old!

I can't believe our little man is already 14 months. It seems like just yesterday that he was a baby. Now he's such a big boy. He's been getting dangerously close to walking - he's taking connected steps and getting really brave - letting go of things all by himself and walking away from them! The one thing that made him still seem like a baby is soon to be gone, and I'll have a big walking boy on my hands! I couldn't be prouder of my lil' man! He's such a tremendous blessing!

CARTER'S 14 MONTH MILESTONES:

- He has 8 teeth!

- He is learning the correct times to wave and say "hey" or "bye-bye."

- He is getting good at climbing up into chairs and couches.

- He starting to reach for things on top of counters.

- He is starting to take connected steps, but crawling is still the primary mode of transportation.

- He claps and cheers for himself :-)

- He points to a few things in his books when we ask where they are....mostly dogs (of course)!

- He is very curious. He points to everything and says "eh" as if to say "what is that, mommy"

- He "talks" all the time.

- He is saying, dada, dog, hi/hey, mama, bubu (bubbles), bye-bye, uh-oh, and ha (hot). Every now and then he will say another random word (or phrase) - but those are the repeated words.

One Year Pictures

My sister took Carter's 1 Year Pictures. I love, love, love them! Here are some of my favorites!

We are blessed to have such a wonderfully joyful little one year old boy in our lives!

Party, Party!

Here are the things that I made for Carter's 1st Birthday Party. Yes, I know it was more than a month ago - goodness, it was almost 2 months ago!!! What can I say, I have a 1 year old!

The outfit....

I even made it reversible so that he could wear it after his big day!

The banner...

The hat & high chair banner....

It was so fun to add my handmade touches to his 1st Birthday Party! I really enjoyed making these things, and plan to use (some of) them again!

DISCLAIMER: Please don't think I'm a supermom who has it all together though. On the morning of his party, I got so wrapped up in greeting the grandparents/getting ready for the party - I TOTALLY FORGOT TO PUT ON MAKEUP!!!! Yes, I had 40 people at my house - and not a stitch of makeup on my face. We also went out to eat to Logans on his "real" birthday because I was so tired from the party :-) I remembered to wear makeup to Logans!

I am a real mom.