Monday, March 26, 2012

My Handyman

I was mentioning the other day that I needed to take down Hadassah's crib, now that she is in her big girl bed.  Not 15 minutes later I heard the power drill going in the girl's room.
What a guy!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Bubba's Woodworking


Caleb has been so excited to learn how to make wooden pens.  His papa makes them and was using them as an example to show Caleb how to make money grow.
Stephen explained to him that he could have five dollars OR he could take five dollars,buy a pen kit, make a wooden pen on the lathe and then sell it for fifteen dollars.
Then he could buy 3 pen kits . . . . . .etc.
Well Caleb definitely "got it".  He had a couple customers lined up before he even had his product.  Since he was excited about it and investing his money in it; we bought a few pen kits for his birthday as well.  
He has already made a couple truly beautiful ones and sold them.
He is truly his Papa's little entrepreneur.
 
 
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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Pictures of the Peanut

Remember I have said that this Papa really spoils his girls!
 Well, I was doing Isabella's nails and Hadassah loves getting hers done also so she just asked her daddy.
He did a great job :)
 
 
 
She seems to always have wild, crazy hair.
 
 
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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Almost There!

We are getting there . . really!  I am officially 33 weeks along and if I have my baby in my normal time frame I have 5 weeks to go!  In fact we are praying for that because in a huge answer to prayer my mama and daddy are flying here!  The "plan" is for my mama to deliver Gabric Hosea as long as he complies and it is in God's timing.
Just this week my nesting instinct kicked in *sigh*; it is a beautiful thing.
Things are getting scrubbed,purged and organized.
I even got my room rearranged today for baby :)
I am feeling HUGE but I have gained just my normal weight.
Stephen says this is my only pregnancy, other than Caleb's, where it is all in my belly though.
Not a bad thing to hear
One of my dear friends had her baby today and it is making me realize how soon it will be before mine is here.  She is my pregnancy/baby shower buddy.  We had our babies 2 years ago within 6 weeks of each other too.


Other catch up . . Hadassah is officially in a big girl bed.  We had one horribly no-good night and then it has been a breeze.  We had been finding her in the middle of the night in her sister's bed sleeping.  For some reason she decided she did not like her crib anymore and was waking up and crawling out.  After some discussion we decided this was not really a fight worth having when we could just have her trained to sleep in a big girl bed.  She does a great job.
For those of you who follow our difficulties with Stephen's shoulder - It came back out a few weeks ago.  This has been so hard on Stephen and the whole family.  Because he is in the middle of a medical discharge now they have decided to wait to perform another surgery until after he is out of the military.  That is big blessing in that he will get to see a civilian specialist but means he will be on major pain killers for the next 6 months and not fully functional.  Please be keeping him in your prayers.
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Discovering Our First Born

I was taking a walk down memory lane

Stephen and I got married planning on waiting to have children.  We were told by everyone that you have to wait a few years to have children to build a foundation in your marriage.  So we did what we thought was responsible at the time and did what we could to prevent getting pregnant. 

After we were married for a few months we had a quiet evening working around our little home and with a slip of a hand our wedding glasses were broken.  I found myself bursting into tears.  What was wrong with me!  Stephen stood there looking at me compassionately and awkwardly giving me a pat on the shoulder.  I had a doctor's appointment the next day and Stephen tactfully suggested that maybe I should just have them give me a pregnancy test - just in case. 
      The next day I sat in the doctor's office laughing at the idea that I could be pregnant - I had told the doctor like Stephen said but of course I wasn't . . .
Then the doctor walked in and said " Well you are" 
And I replied " no, I am not, I just had you take the test in case."
 She said " No, I mean I ran the test and you are pregnant" 
 WOW
   I could never fully describe the feelings I had that day.  I walked home from the doctors giggling the whole way.  I sat around our home and then paced and sat and then paced - waiting in anticipation for Stephen to come home.  I plotted all the ways I was going to tell him.  How could I surprise him?!  After many ideas I decided to hide the pregnancy test in the cabinet and when he came home weary and ready for a rest I would send him to the cabinet to get a plate while I would get the food.  
Well he came home, wiped out and grungy, having worked a good man's day of hard labor.
 I threw open the door to him, gave him a hug and said "come in, come in let me get you a snack!" 
" W e l l   l e t  me take off my boots ", He drawled.  by now I am hopping up and down in one spot about to explode.  " You can get the plate"  I said.   " Oh I w i l l   in a minute"  as he bent over and unlaced his other boot.  I could stand it no longer!  I bent at the waist so I was upside down , all my hair standing on end and looked at him and said "YOU ARE GOING TO BE A DADDY!"  
That brought a spark of life back into him :D   He jumped up and said  " I am?".  Then as I nodded my head he grabbed me around the waist and swung me in circles and we danced around the dining room.  I never will forget that moment.

Well, that baby is now 11! years old!  How time flies! We had a fun day celebrating our gift of him.
In our home one of the favorite birthday traditions is that the birthday boy/girl gets to pick all the meals of the day.  We had waffles with whipping cream, strawberries and blueberries for breakfast.  Chili for lunch (boy, do I have a story about his love of chili) and then a big adult size steak from Outback. 



WOW, look at that girl go ;)






Caleb's tank cake




Caleb got to pick out two picks from the Focus on the Family bookstore. (The one on the left is now ours till a later date and he gets to pick another- just a disclaimer)






Next post - what are those things he is holding and what did he turn them into?

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Have I Fallen Off The Planet

No, I really haven't!  This year started off with a bang for our family.  For a few wonderful months my sweet sister-in-law moved in with us and we got very busy with last minute wedding preparations.   Everyday was filled with planning and church meetings, processing everything emotionally, purchasing and plotting . . .   In the end the wedding went wonderfully and Vanessa was one of the prettiest brides I have ever seen.



Bailey was the ring-bearer and his hand never did come out of his pocket ;)

Isabella was one of the flower girls and loved being in the limelight.

Some more of my beautiful sister-in-laws.   Have I ever mentioned that my husband has 9 siblings . . . .

We so admire Clayton and Vanessa and are so excited to watch them journey through life together.
The ceremony was beautiful with God as the focus the whole time.

Some of the Smith family :D



The Big Brother Dance - The first half Ross danced with her and the second half (here) my honey did.


Our Peanut





and success!  . . . . .
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