Contest! Bloggers with No Make-up :)

Steph over at Adventures In Babywearing is having a contest where you can win prizes! You just have to put a picture of you without make-up on and sign the Mr. Linky on her blog. I believe there is another way to enter but I don't think it is as fun! So without further ado here is me with no make-up on!



Exciting isn't it?!?! Now go enter the contest yourself...

Looking ahead...

This weekend we are having girls night out to celebrate our small group leader's birthday. Sunday my dad's company rented out an indoor water park that he bought us tickets to go to and it is about 3 minutes from our house. We've been wanting to check it out for awhile now and this is the prefect opportunity. Monday we have our ultrasound. I am really excited about this and I am hopeful that we will be able to find out the sex of this little one kicking inside of me. Then next weekend I am off to the women's retreat...YEAH! So many exciting things happening in the next few days I just hope I don't get overwhelmed :)

100 Days of Fitness...

The town that Jeff works in is doing a 100 days of fitness for all the employees of the town and any of their family members. So Jeff and I signed up together. You mark off shoes indicating that you have done 30 minutes of working out or have walked/biked/ran a mile. As you can guess I am on the walking track! They give out prizes too...not that I think I am going to get one. But it is good motivation to get off my behind and exercise. It started April 10th and I have been able to mark off 7 shoes so I have walked 7 miles since that date only one less shoe then Jeff! It has been so beautiful outside that walking has been a lot of fun for both me and the kids. I hope to get 20 shoes marked off by the end of May and after the 100 days so over I hope to have done at least 40 so we'll see!

"Big One"

This is Red's newest phrase! We were in the car today and J had bubble gum in his mouth. He started blowing bubbles with it and Red in the back seat says, "I see Big One bubble." Yesterday on the way home from church we passed the airport, of course, you always see planes flying over head. When they are landing they are sometimes really big! Red's in his seat screaming "Oh Daddy, I see Big One. Big One plane." Then there is the sleepy Red who yawns real big and right before he falls asleep says, "Big One." Or when he passes gas and calls it a "Big One!" He is just such a funny little person with all his "Big Ones" :) I love to hear him talk even if it is ALL THE TIME! It doesn't even seem possible that he will be 2 years old next month.

I'm so refreshed!

J and I just got back from our over night get away! It was fantastic. The room we stayed in was huge and very home-like. We had two hard parts of the trip the first was leaving our house, our oldest, GlamorGirl held on to me for dear life when I gave her a hug goodbye and was crying. The baby was napping when we left which we had told him several times we were leaving so that made leaving easier on me, especially. We got there at 3pm for check in and went to see our room. We tried to take a nap but neither one of us could. I think it was the excitement of being away that kept us awake. So we snuggled and watched cable television, we don't have cable at home. They had a cheese and wine tasting at 5pm which we tried. It was a nice spread of fresh fruit, all different kinds of crackers, three types of cheese, and party mix. They also had 4 different types of wine and sparkling grape juice that was non-alcoholic so I could feel like a grow up too! Then we took a walk around the town and walked to dinner it was a block away from where we were staying and it was tasty. We went back to the room and got in the hot tub and started watching The World Trade Center we were getting wrinkly in the tub so we got out and moved the movie to the other television and laid in bed. When the movie was over we called the kids to tell them good night. The two older ones were excited to talk to us on the phone and told us all the fun things they got to do. Then we talked to Red and he was crying "mommy." That was the second hardest part. We got off the phone and J and I almost started crying, ok mostly me but it was hard on him too to hear our baby crying for us. I went to bed at 10pm and J watched tv in bed for awhile, this is what we do at home so I am so used to falling asleep to the tv on. I was a little upset that I ended up waking up about 3 times during the night. Once I had to pee and the other times I just woke up. We ate breakfast and came back to the room. I showered and then J surprised me. He had brought two songs from our wedding with and we danced. It was really sweet. But there was more...he had brought our wedding vows with too. Last Sunday our Pastor challenged the married men to renew their wedding vows with their wives. So he read from the Bible about marriage and then we read our vows to each other. We were both crying at this point. Afterwards we prayed together. It was so awesome. Then we checked out.

Another exciting thing that happened and I don't really remember when it was but I know we were in laying down in bed and the baby was jumping around and I grabbed J's hand and placed it on my tummy and he felt the baby move for the first time!

After we left the bed and breakfast we walked around the town and looked in all the different stores. It was a very neat little town. The buildings were very historic and it was so cool to walked into these stores that used to be houses. We bought a caramel apple with peanut butter pieces on it and we tried candy that looked just like rocks. Then we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that used to be a barn. It had the most wonderful food I had ever tasted. After lunch we headed home with a plan to stop at the Outlet mall. We made some purchases there and got back on our way home. We ordered pizza and it arrived as soon as we pulled in! The kids were so happy to see us as we were them. It just makes me realize how much I really do love those little burgers! Now they are in bed and I am going to go get my pj's on!

P.S. I really encourage you to go away with your husband for the night. We were both completely blessed by being with each other. We talked and talked and talked and more but I won't share that part *wink* *wink* It was really truly a time to reconnect as husband and wife and refresh as parents!

Pride

I am doing a Beth Moore Bible Study and let me just say it is a great study. I have always like Beth Moore and I'm so glad I have the opportunity to do this study with my small group. Anyways, there is daily homework and today's really stuck out to me so I thought I would share. We are talking about demolishing strongholds in our lives and today she talked about pride. This is what she wrote:

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
I cheat you of your God-given destiny...
because you demand your own way.
I cheat you of contentment...
because you "deserve better than this."
I cheat you of knowledge...
because you already know it all.
I cheat you of healing...
because you're too full of me to forgive.
I cheat you of holiness...
because you refuse to admit when you're wrong.
I cheat you of vision...
because you'd rather look in the mirror than out a window.
I cheat you of genuine friendship...
because nobody's going to know the real you.
I cheat you of love...
because real romance demands sacrifice.
I cheat you of greatness in heaven...
because you refuse to wash another's feet on earth.
I cheat you of God's glory...
because I convince you to seek your own.
My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
You like me because you think I'm always looking out for you.
Untrue.
I'm looking to make a fool of you.
God has so much for you, I admit, but don't worry...
If you stick with me,
You'll never know.

Pride is such an ugly thing to have, and I pray that God will take away any pride I have in my life and make me humble.

Back to the Daily Grind

Well Spring Break is over and the kids went back to school today. They only have about 7 more weeks of school before summer recess so that is very exciting.

This morning I went to get the 2D ultrasound done on my heart. I will know if everything is ok in about a week. I'm trying not to worry about it and lay it Jesus' feet for the most part I am able to do that but then the what if's start to creep in and I have to shut them down quickly! It's nice to know that I am in God's care.

Today right before gymnastics I went outside to get something and Sherry was showing a house a few doors down. I heard her voice and I knew it was her! She came over and the people she was showing the house to, I knew as well! They came and looked at our house not that we are selling. But we've been trying to get Sherry to come look at the house for about 6 months, just funny how it turned out.

Red News: Now this is probably only exciting to me but I'm going to share anyways. Yesterday Red had diarrhea and a clear runny nose, so I looked in his mouth and he is getting two new teeth. Well after the second diaper of diarrhea his little butt was sore looking. I was going to be giving him a bath after dinner which we were right about to sit down to eat so I put him in big boy underwear to eat. Before I put them on him he says, "potty" so I took him to the bathroom where he peed in the toilet. Then we put the underwear on ate dinner. After dinner he was running around the living room waiting for me to be ready to put him in the bath tub. All of a sudden he runs up to me "poop poop potty" remember he had diarrhea so we ran to the potty. I took off the underwear and put him on the potty. He peed again and then he diarrhea pooped in the potty. It is clicking with him. I think he is ready to really start potty training. The only problem is Jeff and I are leaving over night soon and so I think I will wait until we get back to fully start the process. I am praying he potty trains as fast and as easily as the other two did. That would be AWESOME :)

100 things about ME!

I don't have anything else to post about so I thought I would take my turn and do this list!

1. I was born on an Air Force Base
2. My birthday is on Halloween!
3. I am the second oldest in my family
4. I have a lot of siblings 2 full, 7 half, and 2 adopted but mostly brothers the adopted ones are sisters.
5. I wanted a sister so bad growing up I used to dress my brothers in dresses then took pictures, they would totally kill me if they knew I wrote that!
6. I have one niece and…
7. two nephews so far
8. I was 4 years old when my parents got divorced and my dad got custody of the 3 of us
9. I was devastated by their divorce
10. I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 6 years old but didn’t live it until I was in H.S.
11. I love God with all my heart and want to share Him with everyone, because he loves you
12. I was a flower girl in my mom’s 2nd wedding at age 6
13. I still have the dress and my daughter uses it as a dress up
14. I fought to live with my mom when I was in 7th grade and from 8th grade on I lived with her…one of the best things that ever happened to me
15. I never went to the same school more then 3 years until High School where I refused to move
16. I don’t think I could even count how many places I have lived but it has been 3 different states
17. My first kiss was in 6th grade and his name was Mike
18. I thought the kiss was completely gross!
19. My High School mascot was a Pretzel
20. I was a Pom Pom girl for 3 years
21. I dated a guy for 2 ½ years of my H.S. career thinking he was the ONE but…
22. I met my husband the summer between my Junior and Senior year of H.S.
23. I had broken up with that boyfriend before I met J, just don’t want any confusion
24. I met J at Moody Bible Institute on a youth group conference with over 1400 students in attendance.
25. I knew I was going to marry him the moment I saw him I didn’t even know his name or age!
26. I have lots of letters from the first year of our relationship because it was long distance
27. He came to my Senior Prom and we had a blast
28. We spent the summer before I went to college together, we were totally inseparable
29. That summer he told me he loved me for the first time…we had been dating for a year.
30. I totally believed he loved me unlike other boyfriends I had in the past he waited a year to tell me that!
31. I am a year older than him
32. I went to his Junior Prom and Senior Prom but they call it Banquet
33. He proposed the night of his Senior Banquet Downtown after we took a horse drawn carriage ride
34. I got married the December of my Junior year of college
35. Our honeymoon was in Cancun…the only time I have ever left the states
36. I was pregnant 4 months after we got married
37. I was HUGELY pregnant on our first anniversary!
38. We had a baby GIRL…I was so excited
39. I was in labor with her for 4 ½ hours and used no drugs
40. The deal was if we had a girl I got to name her and if we had a boy J got to name him so I won the naming of her.
41. I still can’t believe she is now 6 years old
42. My daughter was 4 1/2 months old at my college graduation
43. I’m glad I graduated college but haven’t used my degree at all
44. My degree was Recreation Parks and Tourism it was very fun
45. I got pregnant again when my daughter was 9 months old
46. We had a son and I got to name him too…
47. J cheated at the ultrasound and knew we were having a boy so that is why I got to name him…score for me.
48. I was in labor with him a total of 1 and a half hours…he came scary fast.
49. No drugs for him either
50. I’m so thankful that I have him today he came out with the cord wrapped around his neck, we didn’t know about the cord until after he came out
51. The only thing we knew was his heart rate kept dropping with each contraction I had which they didn’t tell me until after which I am glad…didn’t need any more stress
52. We lived in my parents basement for about 10 months after J got his first job
53. We bought our first house in 2004 that was a frustrating process of looking for our house
54. I got pregnant shortly after we moved in
55. I had lost a baby 4 months before this pregnancy so I was really wanting to have another baby
56. I worked during this pregnancy at the school my two older kids went too
57. The baby broke my water 5 weeks early
58. That was the scariest labor and delivery of my life…my body didn’t want to cooperate because he was too early
59. His birth was the first time I used an epidural…but I wasn’t really in labor they had me on Pitocin, the worst stuff EVER
60. He was my smallest baby but would have been my biggest had he stayed in a few more weeks
61. I am pregnant with our 5th child but will be the 4th living
62. I am extremely nervous about the labor and delivery
63. I keep going back and forth on the epidural thing should I get one or not
64. Remember 2 of the 3 were drug free, but I just remember how much it hurts
65. I get worried about if I go in the middle of the night what we will do with the 3 kids…I tend to have very quick labor and delivery
66. The hospital is only 3 minutes away…we planned it that way!
67. I will be 28 when this baby is born but about a month later will turn 29
68. I’m not real worried about turning 30 even though it is getting close
69. I have a few gray hairs but I think that is genetic
70. My favorite food is authentic Mexican
71. I prefer vanilla over chocolate
72. My favorite place is home
73. I love to read, especially the Bible but I usually have 2 or more books going at a time
74. I love to scrapbook
75. My favorite sounds are the laughter of my children and hearing them talk for the first time
76. I am married to a police officer
77. I don’t speed just because of his job, even though I have been told I wouldn’t get a ticket
78. I have been married a little over 7 years
79. I have been with my husband for almost 11 years, wow that sounds long!
80. I have been pregnant or breastfeeding most of our marriage
81. I am a stay at home mom
82. I love my job as "the mom"
83. I love my kids with all my heart
84. I still think about the baby I lost 2 years ago
85. I hate throwing up
86. I have a hard time cleaning up puke too
87. I can’t wait to find out the sex of this baby
88. I can’t wait to hold this baby
89. I have only had midwives deliver my babies
90. I would love to have a homebirth
91. I would love for J to catch the baby instead of the midwife
92. I was pregnant at the same time as my mom with her last and my first
93. I have a brother 7 months younger than my daughter
94. I love to blog, it is a release for me
95. I like to keep busy with activities for the kids and myself
96. I lost both of my paternal grandparents within 12 days of each other that was hard
97. I still have my maternal grandma and step-grandpa, they got married around the time I was born and had their honeymoon while visiting my mom and dad to see me.
98. I never met my maternal grandpa because he had already passed away
99. I have always felt loved by my family
100.I want my family to always feel loved by me

So that is 100 things about me I hoped I didn't bore you!

Spring...Where are you????

It SNOWED today. I mean it snowed to the point that the kids can go outside and make snowballs. I just don't understand this weather. We didn't let the snow get to us! We took the kids to PUMP IT UP with the huge inflatables. Red was funny he got scared when we walked in and then once he realized it was fun he didn't want to leave when it closed. These days are going by fast and soon they will be back at school. I can't wait for summer break!

We went to the store today and I was looking at baby clothes daydreaming about what type of clothes I will get to buy. I am really bad in the fact that I really want a girl. I have to watch myself in the things I say. I love my boys with all my heart and I wouldn't trade them for the world but I had so much fun with GlamorGirl. Maybe because she was my first and I enjoyed every little detail of her growing up. Getting to dress her all cute and pretty. Last night we went to church and in the van J says, "You know we are having a girl." Now the kids were with us and hearing this. I said,"Why do you think that?" He said, "Because it is your hearts desire to have another girl." This is so true but I just don't want to set myself up for disappointment if we have a boy because I will be happy if we have another little boy. Ok I have rambled on about my baby issues enough. We will find out in 19 days!

Easter Program

This one cracks me up! Notice he isn't looking at J who is recording this video :)


This is where he clams up on us!

I did it...the kids were good or I'm getting fast!

Where to Begin!

We are now on our 4th day of Spring Break and it snowed today, not cool. Friday we met our friends Belinda and her three girls, Amy, my mom and her friends for lunch. Then Belinda and the girls came over to play. It was a lot of fun. Saturday we dyed Easter eggs. Don't worry I have tons of pictures! I'm hoping to get them on here sometime soon. Sunday we the Easter program at church and Red clammed up and didn't say his line. But he did get the place to laugh a few times with his "Hi Daddy!", "Hi Monkey!" and "Hi GlamorGirl!" Of course he used their real names! I have a little video of that, too. We came home and did the Easter baskets and lunch then headed over to my dad's for dinner.

I want to elaborate a little more on their Easter baskets. We don't have much candy in the house so we tend to buy gifts for celebrating Jesus' rising from the dead. This year was really special because my friend had given me an idea that I just think it to cool not to share. We bought GG a crown and to go with it a Little Princess Devotional Bible. The reason behind the gifts is that she is a princess of the King of Kings. Jesus is her father in heaven which makes her royalty as a princess. The crown sits on her dresser to remind her who her Father is. The devotional was an added bonus I found and it just happened to have the crown on it. Now that she can read she should start to have quiet times with God so that she can grow in her understanding of who He is and in her relationship with Him. Of course, I am going to come alongside of her and help explain things!

Monkey's basket had a book about God's Mighty Worrier, we told him he is also a prince but that he in God's army, too. Same goes for the other two kids, they are all in God's army. It was a really good book explaining how we battle the evil in our hearts. Red's basket had a book about the Easter Story. They also got a few other little dollar items but the main gifts were the ones about Jesus.

The kids are being good so I am going to try and get the pictures on a slide show! But I make no promises :)

P.S. I had my EKG done and it was normal but they want to do an ultrasound on my heart to make sure it is structural right. What a headache! I had my 16 week appointment today in which Brae came with me. We got to hear that little heart beating strongly at 156! I also made my ultrasound appointment to find out the sex only 3 more weeks and we will be able to start the naming process!!!

Heart Broken...

I as sit here I am just completely heart broken over a little boy in Monkey's class. His mom started having seizures and was admitted to the hospital. They found out she has a brain tumor and upon further investigation found that it is cancerous. All of this within a weeks time. I know I am hormonal and tend to cry easily but I just find myself sobbing for this little boy, his baby sister who isn't even a year old and her husband. A note was sent home today in regards of helping the family with meals and getting them a cleaning service. They have shared with the class that this little boy's mom is sick but no details of how serious it is and they have prayed for her everyday in class. I just look at my Monkey and can't imagine not being here to see him grow up. But my main reason for writing this is for prayer for this family. Please pray for them they need all the prayer they can get.

"Lord, protect these children and help the family deal with whatever happens. Be there comfort and source of strength through this tough time."

We're Booked and I'm registered!

Today I called and booked a bed and breakfast for J and I. I have never been to one of those places and have always wanted to try one. This place is running a special and we get the best room for $100 cheaper then normal and they are giving us a $25 gift certificate for dinner. I'm so excited. This is also very out of character for me, but I feel like it is very needed. We are leaving the kids over night and it is a school night! We have never been away for a night by ourselves (except our honeymoon) and we have been married 7 years and 4 months. I wanted to go away before we have our next baby because the chances of getting away is going to be lessened at least for a while, having a nursing baby.

Secondly, I registered, well I have filled out the paperwork but haven't paid yet, for our women's retreat at church. Once again so out of character for me but I am also so excited. J actually took off work so he could be with the kids and I could go, I know what a great husband. Don't forget he is leaving us for 8 days to go FISHING! Anyways, I leave at 9:30am on Friday and don't get back until sometime Sunday. I have heard great things about this retreat and can't wait to go and be refreshed, grow in my relationship with God through the seminars, and get to know some women from our church better. I have a feeling I am going to want to do more things than I am going to have time for, like I have a few books I've wanted to read. I'm not going to stress about it because it is suppose to be relaxing.

The last thing is from my quiet time today. This verse really stuck out to me.
Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

Wow, I don't want to be decay to my husband's bone. I want to be a women of noble character. I want to grow in my marriage to my husband which means I need to make time to be with him, just him. This bed & breakfast is a special opportunity and I'm thankful to my friend for pushing me until I made the commitment, I believe Jeff and I's marriage will be blessed and strengthen for getting away to reconnect. I also want to grow in my relationship with God, which helps build noble character and having the women's retreat I feel is also going to be a huge blessing. So be a crown to your husband and not decay to his bones.

What Busyness we have had...

I am so glad that I woke up feeling good on Friday because we had a busy weekend. Friday night the kids and I went to the Variety Show at their school. We had bought tickets in advanced so I'm glad we got to use them. My sis-in-law sang a song from the Little Mermaid. Now just for those of you that don't know but that is Red's *favorite* princess. He loves to watch the movie and it was the only princess he would sit next to at Disney. A lot of people say it is because she has red hair like him...I really don't know why he likes her so much but he does. When Liz was on stage singing Red yelled "Ariel" it was really cute! We didn't even stay for the whole show but we were there for 2 1/2 hours.

Saturday morning I had a Tea Party to attend. J had the kids while I went and had a relaxing time with the women from my small group. It was a really neat Tea Party. Ok I really have nothing to compare it too but I thought it was cool. We each brought our favorite mug and then we were able to tell why it was our favorite, we ate, did a devotional, and then ate some more. It was GREAT!

As soon as I got home I got the kids ready and we left for one of Monkey's friends birthday party. Two of my friends from the Tea came with us so it was fun. We dropped Monkey off then we took GG and Red for some ice cream. After the party J called saying that he was driving the *new* squad and wanted to meet us if we could. I hadn't seen him hardly at all so I was totally for it! The new cars are nice. We got home around 4:30 and I got dinner ready. After dinner we took a walk and after the walk I started not to feel so good. I think the walk pushed my body over the edge of what it could handle. I had only felt good for a day without throwing up. Saturday night I threw up again. I'm not sure if it was pregnant sickness or the flu still? Either way I went to bed hoping I would feel better for Sunday because we had another busy day.

Sunday we went to church and after church we went to J's cousin's house for his Aunt Judy's birthday party. It was an hour drive so we didn't get there until 1pm and we left around 4:30 getting us home around 5:30 just in time for dinner and bedtime routine. The kids had a blast at his cousin's house she has 4 kids and the youngest is GG's age. Then his other cousin has 4 also but the baby boy (only 6 days old) didn't come, his girls are 5 (almost 6), 4 and 2, so GlamorGirl had plenty of girls to play with! The boys had fun too playing air hockey. Monkey was stuck to that game!!

Today the kids have gymnastics after school only 2 more weeks, including this one. They only have 4 days of school this week and then Spring Break. I am so excited about all the fun we have planned I am just hoping that the weather cooperates with us.