Lately...

Well Christmas has come and gone and once again I have done a terrible job of posting pictures.  I have hundreds of them probably, but I can't seem to find the energy to actually go through them and post them.  One day I will regret that, I know this is true, just like I know I will regret the fact that I've let my 5 year journal go and have somehow forgotten to take a single picture of the boys with my camera this entire month of January.  But the reality is that we are expecting baby girl Madison in 6 short days and to be honest I just haven't had the extra energy.  I've been soaking up every last minute of this pregnancy and every last ounce of time with my sweet boys and I have to say it's been such a sweet month.  There has been a lot of togetherness with cold weather, sickness and holidays, but it has been such a joy spending some slow, down time with sweet little ones that only keep growing daily.  We've had a lot of pajama days, we've started some new traditions like Friday morning breakfasts at Krispy Kreme, we've built a lot of legos this month and played a lot of games, but the gift of slowing down has been such a blessing. 

It's so hard to believe that we will meet our daughter any day now...the boys are so very excited!  Braden daily comes and touches my tummy, talks to the baby and asks me when I think she is coming out.  Asher loves to ride on my "bump" as he calls it and I find him patting me on the tummy and laying his head on his sister almost daily as we read books.  What an incredible gift to have life in your womb and I am feeling so very blessed.  I know this transition will be exhausting and grueling at times, but I pray and trust that His grace is sufficient for even this momma as she begins to learn how to care for, love, instruct and guide three little lives.  Here is our latest and probably last family picture as a family of four...it was taken Christmas day -

Christmas Programs...

The boys had their Christmas programs a few weeks ago and it was so sweet to watch them as they relived the Christmas story.  Asher was a cow this year in his program and Braden was a shepherd in his program.  Braden even had a speaking part in his program and considering that he had been sick for the two weeks prior to the show, I was a bit nervous that he wouldn't remember his parts, but he stood up in front of everyone and said exactly what he was supposed to say.  It really is so sweet to relive the story of Christ's birth through the eyes and voices of a child. 

The cutest cow I've ever seen - 

 My boys -

 So thankful that Grandparents live close by and can come and watch the boys in their school performances -

 Asher holding "Baby Jesus" -

And a cute little Shepherd...

Who was all smiles during his performance -

They rushed the kids off the stage when the performance was over so I never did get any family pictures with Braden in his costume. 

Well, hopefully I can get some of our Christmas pictures posted before baby girl arrives.  She is due in about 3.5 weeks, but I'm not sure she will be in there that long...the doctor seems to agree. 

Braden's Debut...

So Braden made his debut as a ring bearer a few weeks ago in my brother-in-law's wedding and I have to say the little man looked pretty handsome.  He actually made it down the aisle without tripping, talking, laughing or falling which in my books means that all was a success.  Sitting through the hour long ceremony with him was a different story, but his first trip down the aisle could not have been better.  Here are some pictures of him in his cute little "work suit" as he liked to call it.  He was so excited that he looked just like Austin for the day...

Here is the little man looking like, well a little man - 

 Braden, Alex (the boys newest cousin) and Asher before the wedding -

 Braden, Asher and Austin's sweet dad, known by the boys as "Coach" -

 Love them -

 Our only family shot of the day...keep in mind this was taken at 10:30pm and the boys were beyond exhausted as you can tell by Asher's face -

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!  I don't know about you, but I love Thanksgiving.  I love the simplicity of it...the whole day revolves around being with family and celebrating all that we are thankful for.  Around our home this month we have been talking a lot about the verse in I Thessalonians 5:8 which says "...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus..."  Giving thanks in all circumstances...the good, the bad and the mundane...sometimes that's hard...really hard.   However, as we have focused on that, I have come to realize how truly blessed we are.  To help the boys visualize an attitude of thanksgiving and gratitude and as a way to count down the month of November, we made a little "Thanksgiving Tree" for them.  I found the idea on Pinterest...anyway, the basic idea is that every night the boys sit down and write one thing that they are thankful for on a leaf and then we place it on the tree.  I was shocked at how much they have enjoyed this activity...Braden often reminds me at the end of the day that we need to do "our Thanksgiving leaves."  I love that their, (okay let's be honest) "our" hearts are revealed in this activity and that we are practicing what the Bible teaches us.  On our Thanksgiving Tree this month you will find written that we are thankful for anything from "our house," to "paint," to "grandparents" to "God's Sovereignty," to "baby C," (our sweet little one growing in my womb), to the fact that "batman flies," or that "F-14 planes get the bad guys," to "police" and "model airplanes" and let's not forget "the couch."  Anyway, we have lot's to be thankful for...

Here is Asher anxiously awaiting his turn to put a leaf on the tree - 

 And Braden practicing his writing on a leaf to put on the tree -

Reflecting back over this year, I found so much to be thankful for...

...like sunsets...

 ...and brothers...

...and for laps to sit on when there is clearly no more room in the house...

...and for laughter, the take-your-breath-away kind of laughter...

 ...and for Grandparents...

...and for those that are wiser and older then we are and the privilege of looking up to them -

We are also thankful for the gift of making memories with those we love most -

 ...and the big yard we have with huge trees and lots of leaves for little boys to jump in...

....and for an imperfect marriage to my very best friend whom I've walked beside for 16 years now...

  ...and for "Smores Fridays" at our house around the firepit...

 ...and for sweet friendships with those in the same stage of life as we are...

 

I am thankful for the opportunity to slow down and hold little ones while they sleep, for I know soon they will be too big to hold and too busy to cuddle...

 ...and I am thankful for huge imaginations and for little boys who love to pretend they are super heroes and fighter pilots who are practicing their survival skills in the wilderness...

 ...and I am thankful for the God-breathed life of this little girl growing in my womb...

 ...and for sweet, protective brothers who cannot wait to meet this little one...

 ...and for big messes that remind me that I am privileged to share my home with little friends and for the reminder that the days as mommas are long, but the years are short...

 ...and for a country that allows us to dream big...for this guy, that dream is to fly one of those fighter planes someday....dream big little boy, dream big...

 ...and finally, we are thankful for an empty tomb and a Risen Savior...and for innocent childlike faith that encourages me daily...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Happy Halloween

We had a sweet Halloween a few weeks ago and as always it is such a joy to see your little ones dressed up in their costumes, ecstatic about the thought of collecting way more candy then they ever need to consume.  My boys are almost always in costume, so in some ways I feel like it's Halloween almost daily in our house, but still it was such a fun night.  We even hosted what I hope will be an annual tradition in our family...our first Halloween party where we invited all our dear friends to come and eat with us and then walk down and trick-or-treat in our neighborhood.  We had a wonderful night filled with yummy food (many thanks to my momma),  about 20 of our closest friends and some really cute costumes.  Here are some pictures of our night. 

Maverick, the Fighter Pilot and his sidekick Batman - 

 Family photo attempt - 

 Um, perhaps the cutest Batman I have ever seen -

 A few of the dads, some creepier then others -

Photo of most of the kiddos -

 Batman and a Fireman, riding in style and enjoying lots and lots of candy on the ride -

 Braden with one of his best buddies, Mac -

 Surveying the loot, although much was already consumed at this point -

Now it's time to gear up for my favorite time of year, Thanksgiving and Christmas...and then baby girl's arrival in 11 short weeks. 

Oh Yeah, It's a...

 So along with most of my posts, I'm behind on my blogging.  It seems to take the back seat most days, but I do hope to one day look back on this blog and hope that it stirs some memories of mine, so for that reason I continue to post even when things happened, well let's say almost two months ago.  One of those sweet memories, that I want to always remember is the day we found out that this sweet baby growing in my womb was a GIRL!  Sometimes it's weird for me to even write that...my brain is so wired for boys..it's all I've known for the past 5 years.  My world consists of blue and dirt and mud puddles and trucks and fighter planes and superheroes and wrestling and loud, wild voices and endless hours of pretending to be good guys who lock up the bad guys.  All I know is talk of guns and shooting and baseball and super powers.  I could tell you anything you wanted to know about F-14 aircraft or Lego Police.  Part of me just assumed we would always have boys, even though in my heart I wanted a house full of boys and at least one girl.  On my 10 year anniversary (more about that in a separate post), God blessed me with this sweet news...that I get to be the mother of a baby girl.  I cannot even begin to tell you how blessed I feel!  Honestly, I feel blessed beyond words that God is so good that He gave me two amazing little boys who are such good friends and are so close with each other and now a sweet little girl whom my boys and I get to love and protect!  When I heard the news, I literally sobbed.  Tears of shock yes and tears of joy, absolutely!  So thankful for this precious gift that even now kicks from inside.  Oh and ps...I thought I should mention that ever since we found out that we were pregnant with "baby C" as my boys call her, Braden has been wanting a sister.  Asher (my wilder child) wanted a brother...(why not, it's one more person to wrestle with), but Braden has been wanting a sister.  In fact, last summer, he and I were outside swinging one day when he told me he wanted a baby sister.  If you know Braden, then you know his heart and his faith and he immediately prayed to God in a sweet innocent prayer that simply went "Dear Jesus, Please put a baby girl in mommy's tummy next summer.  And please name her Sally because that's a really nice name for a lady.  Amen."  And sure enough, God answered that prayer because this summer, God did just that and put a baby girl in my tummy!  I can assure you, her name will not be Sally, but this was such a sweet prayer from a little 4 year old.  Anyway, here are some pictures from our day -

Here we are on our 10 year anniversary, on our way to dinner.  The boys stayed with a sitter while Austin and I went to dinner.  We had had the ultrasound earlier in the day and took the boys with us so that they could see the baby and hear the heartbeat.  Wish you could have seen their faces when they heard the heart of this sweet baby girl beating!  Anyway, we chose to find out the sex of the baby over dinner instead of at the ultrasound -

Here is the card Austin and I opened over dessert...I honestly was speechless when I read this surprise.  The tears started to fall and I couldn't even get the words to come out of my mouth to tell Austin that we were having a daughter -

The next morning we told the boys that in order to find out whether they were going to have a baby brother or a baby sister, they would have to bite into a cupcake and see what color icing was in the middle.  They absolutely loved this.  Here is Braden showing his cupcake...

And Asher showing you his...

A sweet little surprise for all of us!  We are so excited to meet this little one...only 14 weeks left!!!! 

Fall Fun...

Fall is here in all it's splendor and I must say that I love it...the leaves, the cooler weather, the fun decorating and all the excitement of the upcoming holidays!!!  The boys are so excited too which makes it even more fun and we've found so many fun ways to enjoy the fall.  Earlier in the week we made a visit to the local pumpkin farm with my mom...here are some pictures from our day!

The boys in the tee-pee

Fun on the tire swing...Asher could literally sit on here all day long...and Braden actually enjoyed the pushing more then the riding so it worked out lovely...for a few minutes :)

 So this is what happens when you have a tired three year old who decides to have a melt down about who knows what in the middle of a tunnel in the straw maze...it was a bit interesting for this pregnant momma to get him out of there...

 Toto, me and the boys before the tractor ride -

Speaking of fall, this has become our favorite fall weekend activity!  We bought a fire pit recently and every weekend now we spend our evenings sitting by the fire and roasting marshmallows.  My boys don't really like the taste of roasted marshmallows, (just the cold ones as Braden would say) but the dog sure does, so he eats the majority of their labor and that keeps all parties happy if you know what I mean.  It's been such a fun family thing for us and the boys will literally sit for an hour next to us and just watch the fire and talk with us...this is pretty amazing if you have little active boys like I do! 

Speaking of fall, it hit me today that November is just a few short weeks away which means that Thanksgiving, Christmas and baby girl's birth are just a few months away.  15 weeks is all we have left till my due date...time is flying and we have so much to do get ready for a little one again!