Catching up with the blog

It's embarrassing to see how behind I am on the blog.  I refuse to ever say I'm too busy for anything, but the fact of the matter is that life has become too good to spend down time catching up on the blog.  Between happy children, a new home I have enjoyed making ours, helping run a ministry at church (MOPS), friends, exercise, books, and just being plain ol' tired (pregnant!), it's easy to see why I'd put the blog at the bottom of the priority list.

However, I don't print pictures, so the blog is the closest thing to recording our family life, so here it is -- pictures since September:

Just a sight I enjoyed turning back to in the car.  My darling girl with her John Deere hat she enjoys so much.

I turned 31 this year, and for my birthday I requested going out dancing.

Baby bump showing!

Our friends Chris and Shannon joined us for our evening fun.

Our men.

Then cousin Ames and Ezra came to River Pointe for a few days, which meant lots of playing.

And Mexico's Independence Day rolled around mid-September and I decided to make the traditional pozole and invite a few friends to enjoy the evening fun.

Preparing our yummy bowls of pozole.

And like I said earlier, we have two darling happy children who love and enjoy each other far too well.  And here is proof -- watching a Dora cartoon, on the same chair, sharing their blanket.  

And Byron is such a good sport basically agreeing to do everything big sister tells him to.  Here he is being put "to bed" on the floor.  Why not?!?!

And dinner picnics have become a common thing for us to do.  When busy nights come along, instead of running through the drive-thru somewhere, we end up packing a picnic and enjoying it as a family somewhere.  Here we are at the church, meeting daddy before he headed to Bible Study.  It seems like we end up doing one of these about once every two weeks or so.

 And then Halloween rolled around, and Emma spotted these "Halloween cookies" at Target, which were a hit with the children, and with mommy as well since it didn't require us to make such a huge mess in the kitchen.

And then I just love this picture of me and my Little Man.

This good-looking duo enjoyed our seasonal decorations all too well.

And on many occasions, this is how they choose to spend time with each other, snuggled together in the same seat, either reading or watching cartoons together.

October 19th rolled around -- daddy's birthday -- and we celebrated it the best way ever -- in our home with our little family.  The kids each got daddy a balloon, and a few gifts.

I made breakfast for dinner -- eggs, grits, bacon, and watermelon.

For our table centerpiece, the kids and I went outside and gathered flowers and weeds.  It looked so nice!

The kids' gift of choice for daddy.

Two days after daddy's birthday we found out the sex of our third child.

A boy.  And he's being named after my dad -- Naamen.

I found this kid's doctor's kit at a yard sale for 50 cents, and you'd think I'd bought the kids the Moon.  It has provided them with hours of entertainment.

Again, how they choose to watch TV.

And this pic does not do what's going on any justice, but the kids loooooove chasing lizards around the house.  The poor lizard in this pic was terrified, and eventually met his Maker by the end of the ordeal after Little Byron stepped on it :'(  We have been working hard to tell them that lizards are our friends and that we don't kill them.  It has also been fun for the children to watch the lizards they chase around change colors before their eyes.

Behind with the blog -- a month in review part 1

This blog has been incredibly neglected over the past month.  It's not as if nothing has been going on.  We sold our beloved home, did work on both our previous and new home, lived like nomads for about a month, moved in with the in-laws for two weeks, moved into our new home almost three weeks ago.  

Much joy was sprinkled in between then.  Like getting our first ultrasound for our third baby, due March 8th, 2016.  We also welcomed our friends the Kelleys from "up North," and witnessed my BIL marry his bride last weekend.

And so the recap -- 

Emma is introduced to "tea parties" with her cousins.

Mommy and now-big-brother LB doing some after-nap snuggle time.

Move-in day!

Blessed with many helping hands.

CFA lunch to thank our moving crew.

My Byrons.

Still a slouch. 

Kelleys are in town!

Saying goodbye to our home.

Baby stuff

I am a strong believer of the following --

You will not know you lack something until you have it.

Baby stores are filled with things -- all very useful.  But here is the dirty secret:  you can probably do without them.  You will not know how much you need something until you begin using it.  Don't get me wrong, it would be wonderful to have each and every thing they had, but at the end of the day, it's just stuff that you will most likely only use for a couple of months at most.


This is why I have come up with a list of simple things that I have found to be very basic and which also have a relative long life.  (On a side note, this list does not include necessaries such as a crib, car seat, bottles, high chair, blankets, clothes, etc.)   

• Cloth wipes.  These are wonderful to have, whether you cloth diaper or not.  I keep them near my changing table with a squirt water bottle.  I use them to catch unexpected urine when changing a diaper, to wipe her dirty face or body, or drying her bottom before putting her diaper back on.  I like them so much, I made extra to give away at showers.  As Emma grew older and began eating, I began using them as napkins.  Forget about paper napkins, we now use cloth.  We go through so many napkins these days, it's just not worth it to buy them anymore.  We use them to wipe her face, hands, high chair, floor, etc.  Byron and I use them as well when we eat. 
• Cloth diapers.  I must confess, I was nervous leading up to using them, but once I did, I loved them!  I wish it was required for all parents to at least give them a try.  For the first few months, as long as you are exclusively nursing, you don't even have to rinse them -- straight to the washing machine.  Now that Emma is eating more solid foods, all I do is pick the poo up with a cloth and toss it in the toilet.  Every once in a while I have to rinse them, and when I do, I use rubber gloves.  No problem!  The money you save by using them is unreal.  Even if I worked, I would still cloth diaper.  It's that simple.
• Breast pump.  I mostly use a Medela manual pump.  It costs $40 and is very portable and easy to use.  I normally pump at least once a week and I currently have about 10 fl oz in the freezer for back up.  Enough for a bottle when needed.  If you will be working, an electric breast pump will be the way to go.
• Baby carrier.  This is a wonderful thing to have if you wish to be able to hold your baby and still be hands free.  I own the Baby Bjorn and have used it since Emma was two weeks old.  I didn't even own a stroller.  If I had to go somewhere, I just wore her.  I used it to go out on walks with her, grocery shop, and even do chores around the house.  I did eventually get a stroller someone gave me and have enjoyed it as well, but a baby carrier is wonderful in it's own way.  I will say that if you choose to get a carrier, don't get a cheap one!  You get what you pay for.  The one I got was expensive, but worth every penny.  The cheaper ones will strain your shoulders and not give good back support.
• Pacifier.  I know, I know, people have strong opinions about them, but this is mine: they serve their purpose, which is to help your baby soothe himself.  Emma carried hers around for the first 8 months of her life.  She eventually lost it.  We thought it would be a great time to wean her off of it since she wasn't interested in any other ones, even if they were identical to the one she used to have.  But I was pretty persistent, and would literally shove it in her mouth until she took the new one.  She now only gets to use it when she naps or goes to bed.  I will eventually wean her off of it, but I am still not ready for it.
• Stroller.  My only tip on this one is that there is no need to buy a new one.  They are sold in perfect condition for a fraction of their price at yard sales, consignment sales, or on Craigslist.  I just purchased a jogging stroller last weekend at a yard sale with a $99 value, and got it for $20.
• Floor fan or a white noise sound machine.  This is wonderful to have in your baby's room to block out noise from outside and help her sleep better.  We just use a floor fan.
• Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  No other sleep book is as accurate and as reliable as this one.  The author of this book is a doctor who specializes in sleep.  In it he walks you through each sleeping stage of your child, informing you of what you can expect in each one of them.  Other sleep books will try to suggest techniques to follow which your child may not be ready to undertake, and will eventually lead to a frustrated mama.  HSHHC is a long book, not intended to read all at once, but to use as a resource throughout your child's life.  One a side not, I have asked three different pediatricians in town what sleep book they recommend to their patients.  Two of them said HSHHC, the third one said none.
• Your Baby's First Year.  This book was given to us by Emma's pediatrician on our first visit with him.  We have used it as a resource on countless occasions.  It has answered questions related to nursing, eating solids, nails, ears, eyes, rashes, etc.

Before closing, I will add that I have very much enjoyed other baby related items as well.  Items such as the baby swing, walker, baby gym, etc.  I did not put these on the list above because they have a short baby life.

Baby food

Mashed sweet potatoes... in ice trays. Yum!

Being thankful

In this season of thanksgiving, yes, I am thankful for my wonderful husband and for my little Emma girl, but let not this day go by without giving thanks to the most wonderful invention ever...

the baby swing!

Emma waking up from a 3 hour long nap yesterday afternoon.

Million dollar crib

The crib Emma sleeps in is a 60 year old crib that was passed down to us by Byron's grandmother. What seemed to be a good idea at the time turned into a several hundred dollars project. We jokingly baptized this crib as the "million dollar crib."

It took about five months worth of Saturdays and multiple trips to Lowes to complete this crib. I am thankful that not once did Byron get upset or resentful over this project I made him embark. I married a good man :)

But take a look for yourself. Didn't my man do a great job?

Before

After

Baby stuff

Byron came back from Bible study tonight with the following items:

1. A bouncy chair (you can tell i'm new at this... i am not sure what the official name for it is) -


2. And an infant car seat with a stroller that attaches to it -


Our friends Nate and Julia have an almost 1 year old daughter who no longer uses these items. I am so happy we get to borrow them b/c it means we don't have to store them somewhere when our little girl grows out of them. We will still need to get an "older infant" car seat, though, which we are registered for :p

All i can say is YAY! Thank you guys :)

The crib

Our little girl is going to get to use the same crib her Memma used when she was a little girl and the same crib her daddy used when he would spend the night at his Grandmother's house. The crib our little girl is going to get to use is about 60 years old and has been passed down to us by B's grandmother.

The catch? It has 4 coats of paint!

Even though my sister-in-law has offered us the crib she used with her children, i would really like to use this particular crib. So my loving husband has agreed to spend countless hours (and a little more money than i had hoped for) to get this crib to look exactly like i want (natural wood color).

B began to work on it this past Saturday. After about 4 hours of intense work, this is how far he had gotten:

As you can tell, not very far. B then went to Lowe's a SECOND time, got some stronger stuff, and was able to get this far:

I am thankful for my husband who is more than willing to do this silly project that my heart so much desires. I know our little girl will love it :)