32 weeks---only 7 more to go!

I will be 32 weeks along with this sweet baby on Thursday!  I can't believe it!  In some ways it has taken forever, but in some ways it seems to be going by fast!  I knew time would fly as soon as the anticipation of Christmas was over, now the little milestones to get through are New Year's Eve/Day, Super Bowl, and Valentine's Day!  I see the doctor on Thursday morning, and Kris and I have planned a date for Thursday afternoon/evening.  Part of our "date" is looking for a vehicle.  We sold our Honda Element (I miss it so much!) because it only seats 4 with seatbelts, and we need 5 full time seatbelts, not to mention the extra kids that we drive to/from school and church stuff sometimes.  I would really {heart} a nice used Honda Odyssey, but I am not sure if we are going to be find one we can afford.  We are looking for something with lower miles, 6 or more seatbelts, and a low payment...seems impossible, but I think it will be ok!  We will find something!  After our car searching, we're planning on having dinner at my very most favorite place to go to dinner in all of the world---Olive Garden!  Yay!  I would like to go to a couple of stores to look for some pj's for the hospital (mine are all so old and raggedy!) and get a couple more little things for the diaper bag.  We might see a movie, not really sure yet, but we're just planning on enjoying being together---alone (except for the kiddo I can't escape!)  I cannot wait!  It's been such a long time since we've gone on a date.  We need this time together, it's just so important.  I'm hoping it will be a little refresher that I need to get me through the rest of this pregnancy!

The kids have been enjoying plenty of movies on this Christmas break.  It's not been nice enough for them to play outside, they both have had runny noses and coughs.   I'm hoping that the next couple of days will be in the 50's and 60's so they can get out and run off some energy!

Christmas Week 2010!

The kiddos had a great Christmas this year!  Here are a few pictures! 

Katie started her Christmas break from school on Christmas Eve-Eve (the 23rd), so we kept busy that day while waiting on Daddy to come home from work with some painting...

And some Legos and wink-practicing...

Then on Christmas Eve we did some more waiting on Daddy to get home and then headed to Jay and Jill's house.  All of the grandkids got to have a special visit with Santa, everyone sat on Santa's lap except Asher, he wasn't about to sit on this stranger's lap who came right in the back door!  We had to settle for a group picture of all of the kids (and precious Louie-Meme's favorite grandchild!) with Santa!

Then on Christmas morning, little dreams of a Felicity Doll and  a Choo-Choo came true!

Sunday we had Christmas with my family, and Katie and Asher both had a good time playing with cousins!

We are so blessed this Christmas!  We're blessed not only because of the material things that you can see in these pictures, but because of the greatest gift that has ever been given-Jesus!  We feel so fortunate to know that his gift meant salvation for us, a chance for an eternity in Heaven!

Merry Christmas!

This mama's prayer.

I have to admit that I have been struggling a lot with anxiety and depression the past couple of weeks on and off. Some days/hours are good, and I feel calm and happy, and others it's all I can do to not just run away and scream or crawl in bed and cry.  It's so hard to admit that I am not just a perfectly chipper mom who always does the right thing. When I was younger, I had visions of what I might be as a mom, and truthfully, I am not that mom yet, but I still desire to be...I want to be full of grace, kindness and wisdom, but most of the time I find myself anxious, grumpy, and speaking/yelling too quickly. My mom had those same problems when she was a young mother, but now she says that if she could go back, she would just relax, and not worry about everything so much.  She says that now she realizes that time goes by so fast, and she feels like maybe she shouldn't have sweated the small stuff.  I want so much to learn from that, but I still struggle...I just struggle.  I know that I need to be IN THE WORD...every single day, and PRAYING every single day, but I just make excuses.

Lord, I just want to pray right here and now for YOUR grace, wisdom, patience, and goodness to permeate my very heart, my soul, everything that I am.  Lord, I just want to be filled with your love for my children, my husband, my family, and even for strangers.  Please free me from the bondages of sin, anger, anxiety, and depression.  You know me inside and out Lord, you know my comings and goings, every move I make, every thought I have, and you hear every word that comes out of my mouth.  Lord, please forgive me and cleanse me, help me recommit my life to you today, Lord, right now.  I want to be all that you want me to be, as a mother, daughter, wife, and friend.  Lord, I say yes to you today.  In your precious name I pray, Amen.

30 weeks along...only 9 weeks to go!

We made it to 30 weeks!  I had my clinic appointment yesterday, and three blessings happened--I passed my glucose test, and my blood pressure was perfect--126/76, and our sweet baby's heartbeat was perfect!  Those are just huge blessings for all of us!  I talked to nurse about scheduling the c-section, and she said we would schedule it at my 36 week appointment, and it would most likely be scheduled for Thursday, February 17th!  We're so excited to meet our little 5th Alexander...we just cannot wait!  Unless my blood pressure goes back up, we will most likely not have another sonogram, so it looks like we won't know *for sure* that we have a girl in there until the birth...it might be kind of exciting!  I have been sorting baby clothes for both, and did little pink and blue laundry, so we will see!  I just feel so blessed that things are going ok...I was so worried there for a while, but God is so faithful!

We have been keeping pretty busy with Christmas stuff.  It seems like we just have a ton of church activities right now...I'm having trouble keeping up with everything!  I think the thing  I am most looking forward to this Christmas is Christmas Day, just hanging out here at home, just the 4 (5!) of us, in our PJ's for the day.  I told Kris that I just want to sit on the floor and play with toys with the kids, and not worry about laundry, dishes, or cleaning...I just want to savor the time with Katie on one of her probably last "toy" Christmas's, and listen to both of them talk and laugh and play.  Lord, please just help me relax in you for the day...just help me to stop and breathe and play this Christmas...please help me recognize these beautiful gifts are from YOU, because of YOU, and for YOU!

Asherisms...

Asher and Kris were just eating leftover pizza for lunch, and Asher kept asking for "or ee-huh," "more pizza".  It made me think of all of the cute things he says, the way he pronouces things, and I wanted to write a few of them down so I don't forget them someday.  He pronouces ice cream, "i-heam", which is funny, because I remember Katie saying "hi-ki" for ice cream.  He says, "ding-ding" for thank you...have no idea where that came from, but it sure is adorable, and he says it A LOT--he is very courteous! He has started saying "all aboard" when he's playing trains or lining up dining room chairs for a train...he says it pretty clearly though!  He loves trains!  Santa "might" be bringing him THIS for Christmas, and I can't wait to see the look on his face! He seems to be getting more to the "terrible two's" stage, and is into dumping toys, just to hear the crashing sound and see my frazzled reaction!  Being 7 months pregnant and chasing a big toddler aren't mixing too well, but we're making it...a day at a time.  I'm so thankful for this little two and a half year old blessing...he really is amazing and wonderful...even on his difficult days!  I love you little Asher Pea!

28 Weeks and Christmastime!

We're 28 weeks along this week!  We have about 10 weeks until we get to hold our new baby in our arms!  I go to the clinic tomorrow morning, hoping to have good blood pressure and a good blood sugar test.  I have eaten WAY too much during the last week with Thanksgiving and pre-tasting Christmas Reese's Bells, so I'm hoping all of those turn out ok.  I am feeling the baby move so much.  Today I could feel BIG kicks in my ribs and tiny fingers wiggling down low in my belly at the same time...so amazing!  Kris and I STILL cannot believe we've been blessed to have another baby.  It's more than we ever imagined!

We're getting ready for Christmas around here.  We have the tree and inside decorations up, Asher loved putting the Christmas tree up this year.  There are about 15 ornaments hanging on one bottom branch of our tree that he decorated himself, and I just love it (but our tree seriously is leaning a bit on that side!)  I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done.  I did a lot of it online this year, just to avoid too much stress of being in the stores.  I have been wrapping things and putting them under the tree already...so far Ash has only unwrapped one, and it was Katie's---he picked the wrong one! 

I have been working on planning the grocery lists and menus for Christmas food.  So far I'm planning on bringing Jalepeno Popper Spread and Buffalo Chicken Dip to celebrate Christmas Eve with Kris's family, Christmas Morning brunch will be Amish Breakfast Casserole and French Toast Souffle, and we'll probably have munchies and soup throughout Christmas Day.  It will be just the four of us...I'm really looking forward to the whole day of playing with new toys and relaxing!  We're celebrating Christmas with my family on Sunday afternoon, and I'm thinking we'll have even more munchies/snacks/appetizers that day. I'm trying to kind of cut down on all of the candies/goodies I'll be making this year, just to save a little stress and money.  I'm planning on making two kinds of Velveeta Fudge, chocolate and peanut butter (it sounds weird, but is SO good and SO easy!), my Mom's caramels, and maybe cinnamon stained glass candy.  We'll make cut out cookies to leave for Santa too.  I always looked forward to caramels, cinnamon candy, and sugar cookies when I was growing up, I use my mom's recipes for all three of these and I think that makes it kind of special.

Hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas this year!