Happy Halloween!

We celebrated another fun Halloween with family. We always have such a great time, and the kiddos think they are just so big around all of their older cousins.

Superman and Rapunzel

All of the cousins together.

The sweetest first cousins (Ella Beth, Kaitlin, Landon, and Hayden).

Ella Beth and Landon adore Kaitlin.

Love these "are we done taking pictures yet???" smiles. :)

Muscles with daddy!

Photo op.

Last stop before calling it a night. 

It was a lot of fun trick-or-treating this year. It was quite chilly (hence the toboggans, mittens, and coats), but we are already looking forward to doing it all over again next year. With a baby in tow. :)

Multitudes on Monday

606. restful Sundays

607. children's mittens

608. kiddos sleeping in "tents" on their beds made from their comforters and over-sized chairs

609. first, warm morning hugs

610. apple pie

611. homemade shrimp chowder

612. hot soups before trick-or-treating (because it's going to be chilly tonight!)

613. sweet costumes

614. fun with family

615. taking the kiddos to Toys R Us for the first time and seeing their eyes pop :)

616. reminding our children that Christmas is much more than just getting gifts - it's about giving and celebrating Jesus

617. the generosity of our church

Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be thankful!"

Pregnancy So Far - 13 weeks

I had another ultrasound today, and it was another GREAT appointment! The baby looked great and healthy...

and the hemorrhage is completely gone!!!!!! Words can't express the relief and gratefulness!!! God is SO good! The sonographer today was so sweet. There was a huge difference in the heart rate from 10 weeks. At 10 weeks, the heart rate was 140 beats/minute. Today, the heart rate was 168 beats/minute. The baby has been fighting hard, and look at the strength its heart has gained in just a month! Such a blessing. :)

--
I am 13 weeks pregnant. (The baby is measuring small...all of my babies have measured small...so they moved my due date back to May 6.)

Sick? Not as much these days, thank goodness. I am sick typically 3 out of 7 days a week. I'll take that improvement.

Maternity clothes? Not yet. I can still fit into everything I normally wear, but fitted shirts definitely show the baby bump.

Showing? Yes, if I wear any shirt that is fitted. No, if I dress "smartly" and layer with a cute jacket. Thankful for cooler weather so people don't just think I'm getting chubby. ;)

Weight gain? A total of 5 pounds. And two of those pounds were gained in the last 9 days. Eeeeekkk! But, the doctor had gotten on to me about my weight and threatened me with these horrible drinks to make me gain weight (I had to drink them with Ella Beth). So, today they were NOT on my case.

Cravings? Apples - cold, crisp apples. Yum! And, SweeTarts. Oh my word. I can't get enough of them. I eat them until my tongue starts to get irritated. Yum! Yum! Yum! Oh, and still Taco Bell hot sauce...and bean burritos. Is that totally gross?!? I can't help it!

Tired? Yawn. Yes.

Names picked out? Yes. But I keep going back and forth over two girl names. One I have had picked out forever, and I worry that I'll regret not using it. But the other is just so sweet and pretty, too, that I don't know which to choose. Of course, the kiddos like the "new" name...so that does twist my arm a bit.

Are we going to find out the gender? Oh yes. And, we almost did today...but the cord was right there. So, we saw the area, but the sonographer wouldn't let me get my hopes set.

Gender guess? I am so torn. Now, the heart rate is fast...just like Ella Beth's was. And when I think about the baby, I always think girl. However, if someone pins me down and asks me what I really think??? I always say boy. But, the ultrasound pictures are more similar to Ella Beth's as well. So, who knows! Just healthy is a blessing!

Favorite pregnancy moment so far? Definitely, today's ultrasound. The baby was just so stinkin' cute, and we got such a good report! And the baby is showing that it is going to be a hand-full because................it's a thumb-sucker. Oh no! I need to start buying pacifiers by the dozens now to make sure we can break that habit fast!

And now, pictures!

The baby:

Sweet little profile. :)

Sucking its thumb. Naughty little pickle!!! ;)

The belly:

So there is a second month of me remembering to document this blessed pregnancy. We'll just cross our fingers for next month. And, I need to make sure to take belly pics BEFORE Thanksgiving dinner!

Backyard Camp-out

Last weekend we had a camp-out in our backyard. The kids thought it was the grandest thing ever! And, I guess it was pretty grand...even if it did mean this preggo mama had to "go" outside in the middle of the night.

So excited!

And, a camp-out isn't a camp-out without a campfire and s'mores. Now, don't let Scott's outfit fool you...

...it got super chilly once the sun started going down!

You must always carefully watch your marshmallows so they don't burn or fall off. :)

 Love these sweet, sticky faces!

And, then, Ella Beth wanted to have her picture taken:

 We DO try to be modest in our family, but this little girl has a hard time keeping her pants up. ;)

Of course, she never has trouble posing. Such a HAM!

About 9 p.m. we finally turned in for the night. Landon slept with 2 complete layers on, and he was under a "below 0" sleeping bag. He was snug as a bug.

Ella Beth slept with one layer on and her most favorite present from her birthday - her princess sleeping bag. 

And we made it ALL NIGHT! No camp-out is complete without a pillow fight...

We had a blast! The kiddos are already asking to do it again, so I know this mama better get used to "going" outside. Eeeeeeekkkk!

Multitudes on Monday

589. hot green tea

590. a new school table

591. homemade chocolate chip cookie bars

592. baking with my children

593. SweetTarts - this pregnant mama is HIGHLY addicted right now

594. finding money in pockets

595. new slippers for the kiddos

596. a good doctor's appointment

597. comparing ultrasound pictures from three pregnancies

598. hearing Ella Beth and Landon say our chosen baby names

599. changing my mind about what to name the baby if it's a girl based on HOW sweetly the kiddos say it

600. colorful leaves painting a majestic mountainside

601. a very full and very fun day spent with the best of friends

602. looking out on "top of Georgia" and seeing for hundreds of miles in all directions

603. being used for the Glory of God - even when you'd rather not be

604. wiping tears from my eyes after the close of a church service, and seeing others do the same as we are leaving

605. knowing that we have a God who will never let go

2 Corinthians 4:15 "All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God."

Go Ahead...I dare you!

I found this AWESOME idea here.

==
As a full-time-stay-at-home-homeschooling-mama I have found that boredom is more often present than I anticipated. Especially on those out-of-the-blue-freezing-days, or raining days, or days when we just get a little tired of the same ol' thing. So I found this Boredom Jar, and I just had to share.

Grab any old jar - I, of course, chose a mason jar. I've said it before, we're a lil' bit country 'round these parts. ;) Cut out the "I'm Bored" label and fasten it to the jar with a hot glue gun. (I found after trial and error, that putting two large globs of glue on each end of the label and wrapping it around the jar worked best.)

Then, print out the "suggestions" on fun paper. Next, cut out all of the "suggestions." There are some truly GREAT ones!

 Nice!

Sigh. A grammatical error. So, I added the apostrophe. However...this was my FAVORITE boredom buster. I don't think you'd hear, "I'm bored," for a while after this one. :)

Another one of my favorite suggestions. Especially around this time of year!

Then, Ella Beth and I folded all of the strips and put them in our jar.

The finished project:

And, my favorite part - the lid. It's just daring you to say it.  

Go Ahead...I dare you to say "I'm bored!"

Put it in a safe place, and break it out any time it's needed. :)

Hey, Baby!

I had a doctor's appointment today, which included an ultrasound. I know I'm not the only one out there, but I just l-o-v-e having ultrasounds. And, I'm lucky enough to have another one next Friday, too. :)

Today was the first time since this pregnancy started that I walked away from a doctor's appointment content, happy, and with a smile on my face. We had a really good appointment. :) We had to wait a few minutes (shocking at a doctor's office, I know) - and this preggo mama was hungry. Lucky for me, I packed a snack! I ate a big granny smith apple while we waited, and it was just what the baby ordered. When it was time for the ultrasound, the little booger was very active - I'm talking moving and kicking and waving all over the place.

It. Was. Amazing.

The baby looks great. Heart looks great. And my uterus seems to be starting to absorb the hemorrhage. So, all in all, it was a great appointment. Three months in the waiting, but worth waiting for.

This ultrasound picture isn't the clearest, but since this sweet baby was doing gymnastics the entire time, it's actually pretty good! The two little white "dots" above the belly are actually the feet kicking. (They are attached to legs, but they were moving SO fast that they seemed to disappear here!) The baby looked to have really long legs and feet...obviously taking after its mama. ;) There was one time when the baby actually stopped moving for about 3 seconds and seemed to wave at us, and then started back doing somersaults. Silly little pickle. :)

Thank you for your continued prayers. I am still considered "high risk" at this point, but like I said earlier...I left the doctor feeling confident and really happy. And that was a really good feeling. :)

Multitudes on Monday

573. cheeseburgers

574. pickles

575. delicious smelling body wash

576. going to bed early

577. working out early in the morning

578. beautiful fall weekends

579. pumpkin farms

580. good friends

581. hay rides

582. allergy medicine after said hay rides ;)

583. hearing Ella Beth sneeze in her sleep

584. kiddos' new pajamas

585. Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits - yum!

586. successfully camping in the backyard as a family

587. making lasting memories

588. starting new traditions

Psalm 69:30 "I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."

Landon's Lizard Friend

Landon loves lizards. And the boy can catch them! If you know how fast lizards can run, then you know how impressive this talent of his is. ;)

The other evening while we were playing outside, Landon caught a little lizard. We don't know if it was from the shock of being caught or what, but this little guy decided to hang around for a little while. Landon was tickled to death!

Caught it!

Now the lizard caught Landon!

And then it decided to hang out for a while.

Landon l-o-v-e-d it!

Ella Beth thought about getting in on the action. But as soon as the lizard tickled her hand, she dropped it.

So, Landon just picked him back up and the lizard resumed it's position. And it stayed here for a very long time. Landon walked all over the yard and played in the sand and rode his bike - all while toting around his new little friend. :)

Now, I'm not a lizard fan...but this one is kinda, a little bit, maybe a tiny bit cute?!?

The joys of having a little boy who is all BOY!