Welcome Little Pumpkin!

I'm hosting a baby shower for my friend Emmalee on Sunday.  I put everything together to see what it would look like today...I think it will be so cute!  My friend Charisse is making the cake, and we're having orange sherbert/pineapple juice/7-up punch.  This is their third girl, so instead of a traditional pink theme, I thought it would be fun to have a fall theme, welcoming their newest little pumpkin (she's due in November!)  She will have 3 little girls 4 and under!  You can click each photo to see more detail.  I hope she enjoys everything! 

It's another little mystery and other updates!

We had our sonogram yesterday, and the tech was not 100% sure, but said that if he were betting, he would say our sweet baby is a GIRL!  The important thing we learned is that our baby has all of it's organs and looks normal and healthy!  We feel so incredibly blessed!  Kris and Katie (and me too...honestly) are just a little disappointed that we don't know for sure, but it might be kind of fun to be surprised!  We'll just have to pack things for a little boy or a little girl to take to the hospital unless Dr. S. orders another one, and she likely will before delivery, just to make sure baby is ready for the c-section. 

We're planning to be completely moved from the other house this weekend, and I think I will feel an enormous relief.  I've been moving things back in the Honda, and I know already that we are going to have another garage sale soon!  We have way too much stuff!  We should close on our refinancing this week, too, and we're just feeling so blessed to be able to afford our home again.

We're looking forward to lots of fall fun stuff in October.  Friday night is Homecoming for IHS Bulldogs, and they are undefeated so far, playing Coffeyville!  We think we might try and go to the game.  Katie's school's Fall Fest is next Friday night, and then on Saturday, we're having a work day at Mom and Dad's with a bonfire and hay ride.  Then of course, Neewollah is coming at the end of the month and Halloween!  Asher is going to be an Alligator and Katie is thinking of being "Kris-The Wal-Mart Manager" for Halloween!  We really like visiting our neighbors on Halloween, it's just a fun time.  Lot's to look forward to!

Tomorrow is our sonogram!

Yay!  I am praying that we will be able to see if we're having a boy or a girl, but mostly I just want to see a healthy, growing baby in there!  I am really struggling with not being able to feel the baby move.  I try to feel it, I lay still, sit still, move around, rub my belly, talk to the baby, I've tried everything!  I just have very little feeling in my belly area.  I loved that experience with Katie and Asher, and it will break my heart if I never get to feel this sweet baby move.  Maybe as baby gets bigger, I will feel those sweet feet.

I will be 19 weeks along on Thursday. I feel a lot better, morning sickness seems to be over for the most part (Thank Goodness!).  I just have that full/bloated feeling now, and don't feel like eating too much. 

Katie wants to go to the sonogram with us, but we haven't decided exactly what to do yet.  I would love for her to see her new baby brother or sister, but I am afraid of how she would feel if something wasn't right.  I know I just worry too much!  We'll probably let her go, so it will be all four of us in that little sonogram room anxious to see our new baby!

Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup and My Fall Basket!

It has been a great day!  The UPS dude came this morning and brought the fall basket from Marythekay!  It's so adorable!  I haven't decided whether to keep it on the bar, or move it to the dining room table!  I love it!  Thank you again...so much for the cute basket! 

The recipe for Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup is below. I'm trying it out today, and it smells wonderful so far! It's similar to our favorite soup in the whole world, Cheeseburger Soup, but uses bacon instead of ground chuck. I've also got some bread in the bread machine, so for once in a long time, I will have a yummy dinner ready for everyone when they get home! I have just been so tired this pregnancy...we've had a lot of take out during the past couple of months. I am ready for homemade soups, stews, and chili for FALL!

Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup

Ingredients:
6 strips of bacon, diced
4 cups peeled cubed potatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 small carrot, diced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 can cream of celery soup
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup Velveeta, cubed
2 chopped green onions for garnish, if desired.

In a large sauce pan, cook bacon until crisp; drain.  Place cooked bacon, potatoes, onion, celery, parsley flakes, celery salt, pepper, and chicken broth in a dutch oven. You may need just a cup of water to make sure mixture is covered.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender.  Meanwhile, mix flour, milk, cream of celery together with a wire wisk.  Set aside.  When potatoes are tender, add milk mixture to the soup.  Simmer for 15 more minutes.  Add Velveeta cubes, heat through and serve.  Garnish with green onions if desired!  Yum!

First day of Fall!

Today is the first day of fall!  Fall is my favorite season, I just love everything about it!  I'm joining in the Fall Festival at This Blessed Nest!  There is some amazing inspiration there!  Be sure and check the previous week's Festival's too! 

This was a serving platter I created using an old ceramic urn and a stoneware platter.  I turned the urn upside down, gorilla glued it to the platter, and spray painted it glossy black.  I added a small grapevine wreath, some little leafy wreaths that I bought from Dollar General a couple of years ago, and a 1/2 price ceramic pumpkin from Hobby Lobby.   Just kind of fun fall centerpiece for our dining room table!

Just a little centerpiece for our eating bar.  Love my ceramic rooster from Hobby Lobby (from at least 5 years ago!)  I move him around all of the time!  The little pedestal bowl was made using a wooden candlestick and a small stoneware bowl.  Again, I gorilla glued them together and spray painted them with Wal-Mart flat white paint. 

Thanks for visiting!  Hope everyone has a beautiful day!



Look at this! So excited!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
I'm so excited!  I have never won anything, except a set of plastic yellow handled steak knives at a trivia contest!  This basket of goodies is adorable!  Love all of it and can't wait to decorate the basket for all of the beautiful fall and winter holidays coming up! Yay!  Thank you Marythekay! Woohoo!

More blessings and whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Today has been an excellent day!  I have had no depression today...not any at all!  What a huge relief!  I mentioned earlier that I had been having more depression with this pregnancy than with the other kiddos.  Well, it's time to tell the truth...I have been pretty overwhelmed and have had a significant amount of depression during this pregnancy.  I know most of my posts here are pretty positive and upbeat, but the reality is that almost every day I struggle with feelings of depression.  I visited with my doctor about it, and she said that there are really no safe antidepressants to take during pregnancy, and she was amazingly understanding but asked if I thought I could tough it out.  I told her I could, but honestly, there have been some days when I felt like it was nearly impossible.  Today being a depression-free day has been amazing...I'm praying for many more days like this!

I went to the clinic for my evaluation with the nurse practitioner and dietitian today, and I was so excited when she whipped out the Doppler again!  I got to hear the baby's sweet little whoosh, whoosh, whoosh (you have to say those really fast when you read this) of a heartbeat.  The BPM were 160 today, they were 145 on Tuesday.  I am in LOVE with that sound!

We've had a couple more little financial blessings happen, and I am just amazed at all of the things that have worked out just since we took our house off the market.  I think God was just waiting on us to be obedient so he could pour out some blessings!

The sweetest sound

We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat yesterday, and it was so beautiful and sweet!  We go to the hospital on the 29th for our sonogram, Downs test, and diabetes test.  We just cannot wait to see what we're having! 

Our refinancing is going really well (huge blessing!).  Our appraisal was today, and it was quick and painless!  So thankful for this!

I'm not feeling too super great today, so this is kind of just a quick update for anyone who might be following.  Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Unmerited favor...

Can I just say that God is AMAZING?  We are not deserving of his awesome power, his ability to work in our lives, and we sure don't deserve his forgiveness and grace.  But he is a God of LOVE!  Yesterday our pastor reminded us of the story of the prodigal son.  Jesus was painting a beautiful picture of how God is with us...waiting on the porch, scanning the horizon, looking for his children...ready to RUN to them and hold them when they come back to him!  I feel like that lost daughter, who has just been floundering around, trying to find my way, making wrong turns, wrong decisions, and who has finally just decided to go home to my Father, and crawl in his arms and let him handle all of my problems.  I feel so incredibly blessed this morning.  Just amazing! 

This week we have had some amazing blessings happen.  After some prayer and 6 months of waiting and wondering,we took the house off the market this week.  We visited with Marilyn about it and she was so gracious and understanding.  We visited with our realtor, and she too, was just so supportive of our decision.  We applied for a new mortgage to refinance our loan. We were approved with at 4.75% interest rate!  Our payment will go down by $200.00 beginning in December!  We were thrilled!  We also had a couple of other financial blessings that were just huge to us.  It's amazing how God works, even when we don't make good decisions.  I know he is with us, loving us, even when we make mistakes and sin. Again, I just feel incredibly blessed.

We see Dr. S. tomorrow morning.  I am praying to hear that strong beautiful heartbeat with the Doppler.  We're praying that everything is ok.  I can't feel too much movement yet.  I have a lot of numbness in my belly area where nerves may have been damaged during Asher's c-section, so I'm hoping that's the reason I'm having trouble feeling the baby move.  We'll have our sonogram next week to find out if we're having a girl or boy.  My morning sickness is getting so much better, I'm still hoping for that burst of energy in the 2nd trimester, I have a lot to do!  Baby nesting here I come!

16 weeks pregnant and other stuff...

We're 16 weeks pregnant this week!  It's amazing that we're almost half way to baby already!  My due date is February 24th, but we'll have the c-section about 7-10 days before that.  I'm kind of hoping for a Valentine's Day baby on the 14th!  :o)  We see Dr. S. again next week, and then our sonogram is the following week!  I just can't wait to find out what we're having so I can start baby nesting.  :o)  I'm feeling better, but still having lots of tummy trouble some days.  My energy is slowly coming back.  I've struggled with depression a little more with this pregnancy than with Kate or Asher, but I think it's just a giant combination of reasons.  My belly is growing, but because I am already a big girl, it's hard to tell.  No pants fit, though, so I know it's solid baby in there, no squishing the chubbiness! Our baby is the size of an avocado,  but feels more like a cantaloupe already!

We're starting to feel some clarity and peace about our house situation.  We are just having the feeling that we should take our home off the market and just tough it out until springtime.  We know that God is going to take care of us...he is always faithful.  By June, our financial situation will look very different than it does now, and if we can make it through these months, we'll be OK.  We are so blessed that we just have 10 months of tough financial times, some people don't know when their situation will be better, if ever.  We are so blessed, even though the road is rocky sometimes.

Katie is loving school, and was so disappointed that there was a Labor Day holiday!  She loves her teacher, and seems to really thrive with a structured schedule and expectations. 

Asher is doing good...he's growing into such a big boy.  He just amazes me the things he knows and words he can say now.  It's like he's preparing to be a big brouther!  He loves babies, and points them out everywhere we go.  He's a sweet little dude...we are so blessed...

His grace is enough...

It's enough to cover my sins, every single day.
It's enough to get me through this pregnancy.
It's enough to free me from the anxiety I have today.
It's enough...it's all I need...God's unfailing love and grace.

We have internet again!  Yahoo!  We were able to get internet only for $14.95 without a phone line, and I am just so thankful.  I have been lost...I didn't realize how much I used the internet, for checking the weather, for looking up recipes, for balancing the checkbook, paying bills, and most importantly, for connecting with other people...I missed it so much this past month.  Anyway, I'm back, and just feel so happy to be blogging again!

My sister posted on facebook that this was the first day of her favorite months...the "ber" months...and I agree!  I am so happy that fall is on it's way and August is over!  Katie started 5th grade today!  She loves her new teacher, and is so happy to be back to school.  She loves it, and I love it that she's learning more about God as she learns regular school stuff.

Asher seemed to enjoy having Mom and Dad all to himself today...he is cute and is putting lots of words together.  He now says "Lub you Mama"...it completely melts my heart!  He is able to tell us pretty much everything using real words now, even though it's just Alexander language apparently, because lots of people can't understand what he's saying!  He is a cheeseball...and just growing so fast.

We are heading into week 16 of growing this sweet baby!  We'll have our sonogram to find out if we're expecting a girl or boy the week of September 20th, cannot wait to find out!  I'm looking forward to doing some thrifting and sewing to get ready for this sweet new arrival.  We've decided that a boy would certainly be easier, because of bedrooms and baby supplies already on hand, but a girl would be an amazingly fun surprise too!  Whatever happens, we are blessed!  I can instantly think of 10 families that are desperately trying to get pregnant or adopt a baby, and why God chose us to bless with this little one is beyond me...it's so humbling, and so amazing.  I've been praying extra hard for people that I know that want a baby so badly.  I know that it's heartbreaking to want someone in your life so much and not have it happen

Our house is still on the market, but I'm almost wondering if God wants us to stay here.  It's been such a confusing thing.  I don't understand it, but I know God knows the reasons, and his plans are perfect.  I just have to keep reminding myself of this and trusting in it completely.  Letting anxiety go is the hardest part for me.  I've begged God to release me from it, but I just don't know how to "physically" let go of the anxiety in my heart.  Pregnancy hormones+Anxiety= me an emotional fruitcake sometimes...poor Kris.  It will all work out...for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, plans not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future...Jeremiah 29:11