A Heart of Thanksgiving...

Hey everyone! I hope that all of you have been well and that your Thanksgiving week has started off well. God has really started my week off well.

We took Judah to church for the first time today and I took a picture of us as we headed off to church.I am not sure exactly how to put into words the thoughts that have been going around my head since yesterday; I hope that I can explain it clearly. Yesterday morning at church our pastor preached about the raising of Lazearus from the dead and thanksgiving. The main idea of the message was about giving thanks in the good and the bad times, which isn't really a new idea. However, as my DH and I went forward communion while holding Judah, I became overcome with thankfulness to God. We knelt at the alter as we had done so many times before. Following the miscarriage, we had prayed and asked God to heal our hurting hearts. In the two years of infertility that followed, we prayed that God would bless us with a child. From February to October, we prayed that God would keep "the baby" healthy. Yesterday as we knelt down, all we could say were thank yous to the Lord for answering our prayers and giving us the blessing of Judah.

Yesterday, different aspects of the last few years went through my mind. I remembered so many tear filled prayers that were filled with request for peace for my anxious heart whether it was from worrying about whether we would ever have children or if our second pregnancy would end as the first. All along, God has been there. So today, I thank Him for the miscarriage, the anxiousness of trying to get pregnant, and the worry of the nine months I was pregnant, because without them I wouldn't know what it means to cling to God's promise that He will be there with me providing me with His perfect peace and when I look at Judah, I don't know that I would understand exactly how much of a blessing he is to our lives.

Thank you Lord for your abundant blessings!

Oh How I Love Fall Months...

Happy November everyone! It is really here, November is really here and I can't believe it. Can you?

Okay, so for October monthly summary. On the 9th, Judah was born. Both my parents and my in-laws were able to be here for the birth. Our dads had to go home at the end of the weekend, but my mom got to stay for a whole week and my DH's mother a few days past that.

Judah is doing well. He was three weeks on Friday and I was able to get some great pictures of him. We are getting used to being new parents and I think I am starting to get Judah's schedule. The month of October has pretty much been filled by the activities surrounding the last sentence. The weather has been really nice and we have taken Judah on several walks at a local park so we can all enjoy the sunshine and fall weather.

But for November, I have BIG plans. We are having our families out for Thanksgiving and I am really excited about that. It is my first Family Thanksgiving to host and I have so many ideas I want to do. I will hopefully be sharing more on that in the near future.

I hope to get back in the swing of things this month. I miss posting and catching up with all of you.

Happy November!!!

The This and That...

Hey everybody! I hope all of you are doing well. I wanted to thank all of you for your congratulations about the birth of Judah. We are so happy that he is finally here.

Not much other than baby related stuff has been going on around here. Our little man had his two week appointment on Friday and was back up to his birth weight. (There is a long story about this, but let's just say that he wound up gaining 11 ounces between last Tuesday and last Friday.)

We have been adjusting to being new parents, mainly the lack of sleep at night. My body is starting to adjust though and I just love to have an excuse to snuggle up with my little man for an afternoon or mid-morning nap. For the time being, I have been spending my days with Judah snuggled up on my chest. I figure this time will only last so long, so I am enjoying it while I can.

One of my friends did some maternity pictures for us around 36 weeks. I thought I would share a couple of them with you.

Welcome Little Blessing...

Our little boy has arrived!

Judah
arrived on Friday evening
8 pounds 14.7 ounces.

I will post more when time is more available.

Any New News (38 Weeks)...

Hello everyone! Apparently these little two week hiatuses are just part of my life right now. I am sorry if I have left you hanging about whether or not the baby has arrived...

But, our little boy still has not made his entrance. However, since the last post I did have a false alarm that had us spending half of the day in Labor and Delivery at the hospital and got my mom on the road between here and Florida. Turns out even though I was having very regular "mini-contractions" they weren't the real deal and we were discharged. My mom did wind up coming on out here though since we weren't sure if things would kick into high gear or not. We had a great time getting to have some girl time. We mainly shopped, talked, walked around, and ate. It was nice to actually get to hang with my mom instead of us being consumed by a project around here.

Me and the tummy at 38 weeks and 3 days.

This week is the week though. My Lovenox injections have been switched to twice a day Heparin injections so that I can have an epidural if I want it. I had a check up today and everything seems good. The baby is still happy and he had the hiccups almost the whole time I was on the monitor today. I go in later on this week to be induced. So this is the week and I can't believe that this time next week I will be holding my own little boy, my son. I am soooo excited.

Today I zoned the nursery and my hallway. Tomorrow I am going to zone our bedroom, the kitchen, and the bathroom. On Wednesday, I am going to zone the office/dogs' room and living/dining room. I had a lot of energy this morning and I think that the adreniline of the baby coming (nesting) and the fact that both my parents and my in-laws are coming is helping me finish off my to do list.

Hopefully I will be back before I am induced because I had a couple of things I wanted to share that I am just too tired right now to write out. But, if not, then next time you here from me I will be holding my little boy. :-D

The This and That of the Last Few Weeks...

Hey everybody! I hope that all of you had a good weekend and that some autumn weather is starting to show up around your home (I guess that is if you like fall weather).

Things have been busy and not busy around here. I have been getting some stuff done, just not as much as I would like to get done. My DH keeps telling me to not worry about it and not to be expecting myself to do everything I was doing since I am 8/9 months pregnant.

Yesterday was a busy day for us; but, I God supplied me all the energy I needed. Even though on the ride back home I could feel how exhausted I was. We went to church from 10-12, then some of me dear friends hosted a baby shower for me from 2-4 (pictures and a post to come about it), then a friend of ours did maternity pictures for us from 5:30-7, then my DH's work had its annual picnic from 5-8 (which we showed up late for).

I need to gather up pictures from different people's camera and do a post on the baby shower. I had such a nice time. I also feel really glad that our maternity pictures are done. I have a few that she took on my camera to share, but all of the ones of my DH and I don't have yet. (I had to degrade the quality of them so that they wouldn't take forever to load.)
On the pregnancy front, I am in the middle of week 36. We have been going to the twice a week appointments and they tell us that the baby is happy. I don't think he really likes the heart rate monitor very much because every time he moves out from under the monitor and we lose his heart rate. The doctor recommended that I eat some protein before we come and some sugar. So we have been eating some eggs and cheese and then eating a scone or an apple fritter before we go. On the days I eat the sugar, the baby moves around a lot. It is so funny.

The doctor said that he has dropped and I have been having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contrations; but no real ones yet. So we were less than 3 weeks away from meeting our little boy. Yay!!!

The nursery is almost finished. My DH finished the shelves he was building for me on Saturday and now they are off to the refinishing guy. I will give a tour of it once I get it done, which will hopefully be next week.

From August to September...

Happy September to all of you (3 days late)!!! Is the fall weather starting to pop its head around in your area? First thing in the mornings, the weather has the slightest little hint of fall around here. I just can't wait until it gets a little cooler and the air just smells of fall.

August is now history and I am really happy with all of the productivity of it. I made a ton of progress getting things around here ready for our little boy's arrival. His nursery is almost done; but, we have hit a few potholes in regards to the shelves my husband was building for me and the refinishing of the rocking chair. I am praying it works out though.

Our childbirth classes are over with. I learned a nice amount of stuff. Next week I am attending a Breastfeeding Class and then my DH and I are attending an Infant CPR class a few weeks later.

I have worked on a few sewing projects over the last few weeks. I am currently finishing up a few nursing covers and need to accent some burp clothes. My goal is to have both of these projects done by the end of the long weekend.

This month one of my goals is to actually get my ETSY shop up and running. I have several items that I have been wanting to list for the last 6 months but I haven't gotten around to it. Hopefully this month is the month.

This week I am wanting to put away all of the random summer decorations around the house and give everything a good cleaning. Then next week I have hopes of putting out all of my fall decorations. I just absolutely love to decorate for fall and light spice scented candles.

I am pretty sure that fall (autumn) is one of my favorite seasons. I enjoy rretty much everything that surrounds fall. The apples, the pumpkins, the leaves, and smells. What about you?

Week 33 (For Lack of a Better Title)...

Happy Monday everybody! I hope that your weekend was pleasant.

I have a new tummy picture from Saturday. I am currently in the middle of week 33. The time is getting closer and I am sooooo EXCITED! I have been feeling our little boy move around a lot, even when I am standing up. Tomorrow I start with the twice a week appointments. My hospital suitcase is packed. So, we are just waiting on him now. :-D
I am hoping to get some maternity pictures taken around week 35. I want to have some cute pictures of my DH and I with the baby bump. I figure that I will be big enough by then and that I don't risk him coming before we get them taken if we get them done before week 37.

On Saturday, one of my good friends threw a baby shower for me. I don't have the pictures from it yet, but it was really nice. She did such a nice job. She decorated in blues and greens with little cars and polka dots. I will have to share some pictures when I get them. I had such a nice time visiting with the wives' of my DH's co-workers.

Not much has been happening around here. The high is only 91 degrees today. It makes me want to do something outside, like take a nature walk or something, maybe we will do that this evening. Today I am zoning the dining room, as well as doing my weekly home blessing. If I have the time, which I probably won't, I will work on a couple of nursing covers I started last week.

What is your day looking like?

The Last of the Normal...

(Photo Credit goes to my DH)

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Well, this morning I had the last of of my normal doctor's visits. Starting Tuesday, we begin our twice a week monitoring appointments. I can't believe we are getting so close to meeting our little boy.

My appointment today went well. We were able to ask a few questions and get a little better picture of what to expect in the upcoming weeks. One thing I was very curious about was what happened if the baby was found to be under stress and if that automatically meant that I would have a c-section. My doctor said depending on what kind of stress it was, I was not for sure going to have a c-section. She said that there were several factors that would result in my having a c-section. I also found out that I will not be going past my due date due to the anticardiolipin antibodies, that are the cause of my daily blood thinner injections, and concern of stress on the baby. Basically, if our sweet little boy hasn't made his appearance by the 16th of October, I will either be induced or have a c-section. My doctor is hoping he will come around week 37. We will have to see what God has planned because we aren't in control of that.

My DH and I went to our second of three child birthing classes yesterday. We learned some breathing techniques and toured the Labor and Delivery area. We also watched videos of several births and I do believe that I would have been just fine not seeing them. The whole time we were watching them I kept thinking this is really private stuff that I feel like I shouldn't be watching. I don't think that watching the actual deliveries was informative or helpful for me, instead I think it gave me mental images I didn't need. Okay, on to something else now...

I will be posting a picture on Friday of my 33 week tummy. My doctor said, based on tummy measurements, the baby doesn't seem too big or small. She said me being on the blood thinners could make him small/underweight, but she said he seems to be a normal size. Yay!!!

How is your week going???

Pecan Sandies...

Yesterday I made some Pecan Sandies from a Martha Stewart recipe. My DH is a big fan of pecans (as am I) and one of his favorite store bought cookies is the Kebler Pecan Sandies. I tried the recipe and they are delicious. I don't think I will ever think that the store bought ones taste any good now. Mine did get the slightest bit overcooked, but they are still tasty.

The recipe is very simple to make, is very fast, and has easy clean up (just one bowl plus your measuring utensils). I hope you enjoy!

Pecan Sandies
(Prep: 15 minutes
Total: 30 minutes + cooling)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in vanilla and salt. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, beating just until combined. Fold in pecans.

Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, and place on two baking sheets, 2 inches apart. With the dampened bottom of a glass, lightly flatten each ball.

Bake until cookies are golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool. (To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 5 days.)

Yield: 18 cookies

A Week of Absense and Productivity...

Hey everyone! This past week has really flown by and here were are at Monday again.

Today, my DH went back to work in his office. It was so nice to have him working here at the house this summer. I do believe I got a little spoiled having him at the dining room table all the time. Today, I have been doing chores around here and stuff, trying to keep myself occupied and trying not to feel a little lonely.

Last Wednesday was the last "official" day for me to watch the precious little kiddos I have been watching for the last 2 1/2+ years. While I may watch them here and there in the future, the multiple times a week opportunities to spend time with them is over. They have been such a joy to watch and spend time with. I am pretty sure I could fill up a whole notebook of random and funny sayings from A, she has completely cracked me up over the last few years. As that chapter of my life slowly closed on Wednesday, I must admit that I did have to fight back a few tears as A. and I sat at the table doing "crafty things" like we have done many times before. I just can't believe that over two years have past since A. and J. came into my life and brought the joy that children bring into my DH and I's home.

The new chapter of my life will be brief and busy. I have had what some people call nesting pretty severely and I am sure that it won't quit until everything on my list of to do's is done. I have managed to get about half of my list complete, so I feel like it is possible to get it all done. The next chapter of my life may start anytime now, but we are hoping for sometime after October 1st.

One of my big projects over the last week was reorganizing the laundry/sewing room. When we moved my sewing stuff into the laundry room, there was ample space yet we didn't take the time to organize it. Instead we, for the most part, haphazardly just put the stuff on the shelves and let it be. I meant to take a picture of mess before, but I forgot. Now, my fabrics are organized as well as the rest of my crafting supplies.


Last week, my sewing project was a nap pad for J. made out of a vintage cowboy print and some soft denim. I forgot to get a picture of it though before he took it home though. I think that it turned out really cute though. This week, I plan on sewing a nursing cover and embellishing some burp clothes. I am hoping that they will both be rather quick projects; but, we will have to see.

Saturday, my DH and I did some touch up painting in the nursery. There were a few places we had missed and we painted the closet doors and main door. I hope to have some pictures of the nursery up with in the next two and a half weeks, once everything is complete. For now, I will share a picture of the little hanging on his door. My mom and I found early in my pregnancy and I knew just the place for it. I love that it says "Bless This Baby".
Well, I had better get to cooking some dinner. Lentils and rice are on the menu and I think I might bake a batch of pecan sandies as a surprise for my DH. Hope that your evening is blessed!

"You Must Be Due Any Day Now"...

I went out and about today running some errands. I have been surprised by how much more talkative many women that I have never met before are. I think that it is some sort of a "mommy-bond" that makes women seem so interested in how big you are, the baby's gender, and whether or not said baby has a name yet.

To me, when I look in the mirror, I see my tummy as big, but I don't see it as humongous or about to pop. However, to the world I apparently look significantly larger. I had 4 ladies start a conversation with some variation of "your baby will be here any day now..." They look extremely surprised when I tell them that I have nine more weeks left and most of them responded with something along the lines of "you aren't going to make it that far". One lady followed her first statement with "are you having twins or triplets?" Being a part of these conversations has actually made me smile, cracked me up a little, and increased my anticipation of our little ones arrival.

I previously had the mind set that we had at least 9 weeks left; but the last few days I become more aware that 9 weeks may be the maximum and not the minimum amount of time left. I am beginning to less anxious now that I am getting things checked off of my "Things To Do Before the Baby Arrives" list.

My mom was here last weekend and worked in the nursery. We finished the little painting on the wall and I now have a plan for pulling the rest of the room together. I have completed one curtain and now I just have to finish the other curtain. My DH is going to build me a couple of shelves to put around the room. The last week of August my rocking chair, the nursing stool, and the shelves will be going to the refinishing guy and he should have them completed about a week after that. We also bought the crib mattress too. So things are starting to come together.

I have made my hospital packing list and purchased the items that I didn't have. My goal is to pack my hospital bag this weekend and have it sitting by the front door.

I have been feeling really well and have had a nice amount of energy that usually runs out about 8 or 9 pm. My shots are going well and all of my blood work came back good from my last lab. I have another appointment one week from Wednesday and then we begin the twice a week appointments. I am getting so excited just thinking about our little boy finally arriving, and I am pretty sure that I have used the word "excited" a hundred times in post about our little boy. I just can't help myself, I am so happy.

Also, one of my friends, who's due date was a week and a half before mine, had her baby this week. He is in the NICU and last I heard was in "unstable" condition. Please keep their little baby in your prayers. His name is Sean.

I hope that all of you have a very nice weekend!

A Few Things In August...

Amid the August Texas heat, there are a few things going on around here this month. None of them are paramount happenings, but they are exciting just the same.

Well, this week my DH and I are interviewing pediatricians. We interviewed one last week and we interview three more this week. Who would have thought that finding a pediatrician would be so involved and that the poor doctors still get interviewed for the job even after they are established in a practice? We are praying that one of these four will make us feel really comfortable and give us some peace of mind.

My mom is coming out on Friday!!! We are going to work on the little mural for over the crib and hopefully we will get in some fun out and about time too. My poor mom always works, works, works while she is out here. So, the plan is to be finished with the mural by noon on Saturday and then have the rest of the weekend to do whatever other stuff jumps into our heads.
My DH and I start our child birthing class this month. It should be interesting. I hope I learn a lot, but not too much information so that I get worried about the whole thing.

This month I have two doctors' appointments. Then on the 1st of September I start the twice a week visits. I will keep the pictures coming of my growing tummy. I just marvel at God's little creation inside of me and all of our little boy's movements. I like to just lay on the couch and watch him move around.

My DH's semester starts at the end of the month. He is getting his courses prepared and tying up a few loose ends from his summer work.

I have a few sewing projects that I really want/need to get finished before the end of the month. I am wanting to make a couple of nursing covers and accent some of the burp clothes with coordinating fabric. I also have a nap pad that I to make and the curtains for the nursery. I will have to post pictures of the finished products when they are done. My goal is to have all of these projects finished this month so that I can work on some other projects next month.

What about you? What all do you have going on? Are getting ready for school to start back this month?

The July Now Past...

How quickly July flew right on by. For us it was a month that was packed pretty full. We had a lot of stuff going on, but seemed to have survived all of the "busy-ness" and traveling unscathed. I know that I haven't consistently done monthly summaries recently, but I really like looking back and seeing what all happened in the months past. So, here it goes...

We started of the month in Florida. We spent a week with my DH's family and then a week with mine. Both my MIL and my mom hosted a baby shower for us. The one at my MIL's was a couples shower. We had a great time and it was fun to have my DH there as we opened all the cute little baby things. Below are a few pictures from that shower.

(The yummy food table)
(Cloth diaper cake and petite fore table)
(Visiting with family)
(Me and Matt's Aunt who co-hosted the shower)

The next Sunday, my mom hosted a baby shower for me. She invited all of the ladies form my church back in Florida. It was so nice to see all of them and get to visit with them. Below are a few pictures from that shower. (The food table)

(The pregnant lady at the food table)

(Group picture from the shower)

The following Thursday, we went to my mom's work for a birthday lunch for her. Turns out, it was a surprise baby shower/birthday lunch. It was a complete surprise and was such a thoughtful thing for the people my mom works with to do for us. Below are some pictures from that shower.(Very tasty cake, made by one on my mom's co-workers)(Opening up little baby things)

(Group picture)

We spent the rest of our days in Florida just hanging out. I never knew how much I missed the beach until this trip home. We wound up going to the beach two or three times and I managed not to get sunburned. Yay!!! We went to the gardens that are near where my parents live. It is always so fun to go through them and actually see flowers. (Out here in Texas, at least where we live, botanical gardens are mainly cactus and ornamental grasses and I miss hydrangeas and hibiscus.) We also went to a Naval museum and several other local museums and just wandered around. I don't really have any other pictures from our trip home, which I am disappointed about. I need to get better about documenting our trips.

I managed to get us unpack and back to normal within a week of returning home. Thank the Lord I have been pretty energetic for a large part of the day, so I have been able to keep up the house and my FlyLady cleanings. I even managed to make the curtains for the office. I have been needing to make them for several months now and I finally got around to them. The picture of them isn't really that good though.
One of the projects that my DH and I wanted to have completed before our little boy arrives is a fenced area for us to use. Our yard is occupied by three dogs and with three dogs comes a lack of being able to play in the grass (enough said). So, we decided that we wanted to fence in a portion of our yard that would have clean grass and be puppy-free. My DH put then fence up a couple of weekends ago. This isn't the best picture, but at least you can see what a nice, large area we will have to play in.

I really can't think of anything else that went on this month. I am sure that I will think of it later, but for now that's it.

The Beginning of the End...

Well July has come to a close and with the end of the month, the anticipation of meeting our little boy grows. As of today, I am 29 weeks along and am now definitely in my third trimester. Yay!!!

My mom is coming next weekend and we are going to work on the nursery. I have been working on a valance for the nursery, but I am not sure that it is going to work. I have bought four different rugs for the nursery, but so far none of them have been "it" so they have gone back to whence they came. I think after mom and I paint the mural above the crib, I will hopefully be able to get the finishing touches in the nursery in place.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and it went well. The doctor checked our little guys heart-rate, measured my belly, and gave me another Rogam injection. I had the glucose test done to check for gestational diabetes and some other blood work done. The doctors office was getting the results back today and they told me to go by the "no news is good news" if I didn't hear from them today. I didn't hear anything from them, so I guess that things are good.

I have two more appointments that are two weeks apart and at 32 weeks I start having appointments twice a week until the little boy's arrival. My doctor wants to keep an eye on the baby to make sure that he doesn't start getting stressed. The presence of the anticardio lipins in my blood (one of the main reasons for my having to do the Lovenox injections) is making my doctor want to take extra precautions for our little boy's safe arrival and I am in complete agreement with her.

Now, we are just counting down the days.

Cinnamon-Oat Panckaes...

Happy Monday to you! I hope that your weekend was nice and enjoyable. We had a pretty relaxing weekend around here. We started watching Cleopatra (which I have never seen but always wanted to), but I fell asleep about an hour or so into it. I guess it will take us a while to watch it at the rate I am going.

Last week discovered a recipe for some pancakes and yesterday morning I gave them a try. We really liked them, so I thought that I would share the recipe with you. It is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. The recipe was featured in the Freeze It section and I must admit I never thought of freezing pancakes before. I have made up a big batch of waffles before and put them in the freezer, but the thought of doing the same for pancakes never entered my mind. The recipe uses rolled oats as part of the batter and I really like the constancy and flavor it gave them.

Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for skillet

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and 1 cup oats and pulse a few times to coarsely grind oats. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and oil. Add dry ingredients and 1 cup oats and whisk just until moistened.

Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast-iron) or griddle over medium. Lightly oil skillet. Using 2 to 3 tablespoons for each pancake, drop batter in skillet and cook until a few bubbles have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until browned on undersides, 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with more oil and batter.

They are great served with butter and syrup or bananas and powdered sugar.

Yield: 20 pancakes, 5 servings of 4 pancakes each.

To freeze: Cool pancakes on a wire rack, then arrange in a single layer on a baking shheet. Freeze them until firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer pancakes to a resealable plastic bag and store in the freezer up to 3 months.

To reheat from frozen: For a single serving, warm pancakes in the toaster or toaster oven. For larger batches, arrange pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Cover with foil and heat at 350 degrees F until warm, 10 minutes.

Being Rich in Faith and Not Afraid...

At our church, we are just starting a study on the seven churches in Revelations. Last week our pastor preached on the church in Ephesus. This week he preached about the church in Smyrna.

"Do not fear! Be faithful to God in your tribulations and even your death!"

The above charge that was given to the church of Smyrna hundreds of years ago is still a great charge for us today. In some countries Christians are persecuted for their faith and for them this charge screams relevance. For those of us that are not facing persecution the relevance can seem minute. However, fear plays a large role in many of our lives. When we fear we are worrying more about the problem or situation at hand than we are trusting the One who is in control of it all. We should continue our faith in God no matter what our circumstances are; we are RICH in Christ.

Rescued from sin and death
Inherited the riches of the Kingdom of Christ (I Peter 1:4)
Chosen by God to proclaim His excellence (I Peter 2:9)
Hope that cannot be shaken (Jer. 14:22, Titus 1:2)

A Reintroduction...

Hi, I would like to reintroduce myself. My name is Charree. I was once not too long ago pretty good about regularly posting on this blog. However, as of late I have been less than reliable. I have hopes that I will once again become regular about posting the things that are going on around here.

Things have been pretty busy around here. My DH and I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Florida visiting our families and then I spent last week unpacking and getting things back to normal. I have pictures from the showers in Florida that I want to share, but that will have to wait until I get them all organized.

On Friday I started my 27th week of pregnancy. The official countdown in on, 87 days left until our little boy's due date. I can feel myself getting more and more excited with each passing day. I had a doctor's appointment last week and everything is going well. In fact, I have started my every two week doctor's visits and I have to do the blood sugar test next week. The picture below is of me at 27 weeks and 3 days.
I hope that your day is blessed and I look forward to catching up with all of my blogging friends soon.

Being 21 Again...

Well, I am 21 again, though this time I will only be this way for a week instead of a year. Corny joke I know.

My DH and I took some self-portraits this weekend of the two of us and the baby bump.

I had my five month appointment today and everything seems to be going well. I am past halfway there. BIG YAY!!!! My shots are going well and I don't have anything to complain about. I have really been able to feel our little boy moving around the last week or so. Last night my DH was able to feel a big kick for the first time. I am so excited that he was able to feel our little one moving around.

I think that it is really starting to set in that we are going to have a baby and the more I think about the more excited I get. I am just being remind constantly of the years I prayed that God would bless us with a little one. I am trusting God to lead me as I bring this little one into the world and as we raise him to fear the Lord.

I have been feeling the urge to prepare myself for raising our little boy. I want him to become a godly man. For my summer reading I am wanting to read Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson and Wild At Heart by John Eldredge. After talking to one of my dear friends who is currently raising two boys, the thoughts that I had about preparing myself for our little boy were reinforced. I do believe that I will be reading those two books once a year from now on.

Have any of you read a book on raising boys that you found to helpful or enlightening?

A Good Book and Some Time Together...

Hello there to all of you! I hope that your week is off to a good start.
This weekend my DH and I started a Bible study together called Dust to Glory. The study is an overview of the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. We have decided to set aside Sunday evenings to watch the next DVD lesson and discuss what we learned over the last week. This week we covered Genesis 1.

Have any of you gone through this study?

Retro Quick Coffee Cake...

When I was younger, my sister had the American Girl's Molly Cookbook. We made several things from it. One thing that we made time and time was the Coffee Cake. I made it recently and was reminded of my sister and I cooking it. It is a really simple and easy recipe based on a WWII recipe, so I thought that I would share it with you. I hope you enjoy it.

Quick Coffee Cake
Shortening to grease the pan
1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening (butter)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Use paper towel to grease the baking pan with the shortening.

Put the sifter into a medium mixing bowl. Measure the flour, baking soda, and salt into the sifter and sift them into a bowl.

Measure 3 tablespoons of shortening (butter) into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Slowly add the sugar to the shortening and beat until fluffy. Turn off the mixer. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Crack the egg into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk. Beat well with the electric mixer. Scrape the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula.

Add dry ingredients to the large mixing bowl. Stir them with a spoon just enough to completely wet. Pour the mixture into the greased baking pan.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir in the melted butter.

Sprinkle the mixture over the batter in the baking pan. Bake coffee cake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

The May Past and the June Ahead...

Goodness gracious, May just flew right on by and now June is here. I can't believe that it is June; but, I do feel like a lot of stuff happened and was accomplished in May.

May started off great with a visit from my sister for a few days. Her visit was followed very shortly by my birthday and my DH and I's third anniversary. It was a great week and I was sad that all of the excitement ended so quickly.

My DH and I have almost completed our intermediate ballroom dance class. We have had a lot of fun and it is definitely exercise. When we finish our two hours class I feel like I have been doing a Cardio workout. We did have to miss class a couple of time because my feet were too swollen to fit into my dance shoes. But, we managed to learn what we missed last week, so we aren't behind.

We did have a foster dog that wandered up to our house last November. He (Jackson) was a sweet dog, but four was just one too many, especially with our little boy on the way. Well, I had a yard sale several weeks ago and I posted a "Free Dog to Good Home" sign. We found a good home for him and both Jackson and the little girl that took him both looked so happy to have found each other. As they drove off with him, I started to cry. It was sad to see him go, but a blessing that we were able to find him a good home and didn't have to take him to the humane society.

The month of May was a big preparation month for us. We found out on the 19th that God is blessing us with a little boy! So, let the preparation begin, and begin it did. Our nursery furniture came in and I am really pleased with it. Below is a picture of my DH putting together the dresser.
The house switch-a-roo is pretty much complete. We have managed to switch our former bedroom and my former sewing room into our new bedroom and the nursery. We even painted the rooms and put up some crown molding. Our room took a little bit of finagling around with to get our king size bed and all of our furniture into it. We are liking the result though. (Click here for the before picture of the room.)
We have got the nursery set up, but it is lacking most of the details in it. Below is a picture of my DH putting together the crib. As you can see from the picture below, the walls are blue and the furniture is an espresso color. I will show more pictures of the nursery when it is completed (but that will be a while).
This month we have a pretty busy, but yet laid back month (is that possible???). I will not be watching the children I keep for the next six weeks. I do have a long list of things I would like to do or accomplish before this little break from working is over with. This week I am hoping to make a maternity skirt for myself and a maternity dress. We will have to see how the end results turn out.

We are taking a short trip home this month to see family. We are excited that we will get to see all of them. I will post some pictures of the visit when we go.

I hope all of you are off to a good start in the month of June! May your month be blessed!

Pay It Forward Challenge/Giveaway...

At the beginning of the month, my blogging friend Brittany over at Sweet Nothings hosted a Pay It Forward challenge/giveaway. Brittany chose me to be a part of her challenge and so now I am hosting one on my blog. The way this giveaway works is that I will send homemade gifts to three other bloggers, hence the name "pay it forward". The winners from my challenge then host the challenge on their blog and "pay it forward" to at least three other bloggers. One important detail is that you have 365 days to send the homemade item to the winners and the winners have 365 to pass on their items.

If you like to participate in the challenge you need to comment on this post before midnight on Thursday. I will draw three names and if you win, I will send you your handmade gift.

Just to give you an idea of what you could get in the mail:
Homemade Candles
Homemade Cookies
Some Embroidered Napkins
or even something else!

Don’t forget that if you are chosen, you are agreeing to host the challenge on your blog and reciprocate to three other bloggers. Please don’t enter if you aren’t willing to do that step.

I’ll announce the winners on Friday.

A Little Bit of News..

The last few weeks of pregnancy have gone really well. I have been feeling really well and have had a nice amount of energy. Below is a picture of me at 18 weeks and 2 days.


Yesterday my DH and I went for an ultrasound. I was surprised by all of the stuff that they look at. We were able to see the heart, the little toes and fingers, and the face. It was sooo fun.

I wanted to share a picture with you of our sweet little BOY!!!!
You read right, IT'S A BOY!

Let the Craziness Begin...

I am sorry that I have been absent for the last week. I have managed to keep up with reading others' blogs, but posting on my own blog did not happen. I hope that all of you had a nice Mother's Day weekend and a good start to your week.

Well, within the last week we have started setting the wheels in motion for the "getting ready for baby" almost complete house rearrangement. This weekend, my DH cleaned up his desk so that I could move into it too. After spending at least an hour reorganizing the drawers and combining the office supplies, I am quite happy with the result. I actually have all of the bills in their folders in a hang file instead of in their folders in a pile on my desk and a little stationary/correspondence section a desk drawer.

This weekend we also moved all of my sewing and craft supplies to their new home in the laundry room. It is kind of tight in there, but I think that it will work. It will be a place where the baby can hang out with me and I won't have to worry about the dogs being around or their hair mixing with my current project.

On Monday, along with watching the kiddos, I finished cleaning all of the odds and ends out of my old sewing room. All that is left in the room is stuff for the yard sale I am having this weekend. After I price all of it, I am going to start prepping the room to be painted. My goal is for us to have the room painted and have all of our bedroom furniture moved into the freshly painted room by next Friday.
Yesterday one of my goals was to alphabetize all of our CD's and putting them into the baskets on top of the new shelving. I also made some cute little labels for the front of the baskets so that we would know what CD's the baskets held. I had some leftover scrapbook paper that matched the accent fabric from the shelves that I used to make them look a better than plain white paper with letters printed on it.
Today, I went to the intro class for a Bible study I am getting to attend this coming fall. The program is called Bible Study Fellowship (or BSF to a lot of people). I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the program last spring and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am so excited that God has opened the doors for me to participate next year to study the book of John.

So, what has your week looked like? I am also curious if any of you are a part of a BSF study?

Three Years and Counting...

On this day three years ago, I was fortunate enough to marry the man of my dreams and the man I had been praying God would bring into my life.
These three years have seen us through several things, mainly health issues and a miscarriage. But God used the trying times to reinforce His love and my DH's love for me.Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary since we have dance class tonight.
This morning I woke up to breakfast in bed and the beautiful flowers below.
I look forward to many more year with the wonderful man God has given me for a husband.