forgot to put this on the previous blog... just some more christmas pics!

Merry Christmas to All...

Trace's first look on Christmas morning (i love how he is dragging his blankie behind him!)

we had a GREAT christmas! so many people to see and places to go, but we had a blast!

we celebrated christmas eve at meme and grandaddy's. nanny was in town from huntsville and we had fun celebrating with her. as always, there was wonderful food, great laughs with the crazy kids, and tons of presents! trace racked up... getting a monster truck, rocking chair, ninja turtle stuff, new markers and coloring sets, a hi-5 dvd, tool set, alphabet train, and lots of other things! nate and i got a great gift basket including gift cards and a free nite of baby-sitting! then we headed to the communion service at church, where i read a christmas story to the kids. trace sat in my lap for a few minutes, then sat with shannon and lala. then he decided to go behind the choir loft and jump up and down on the chairs. since i was reading the story, i tried not to look, but i heard you could just see his little head bobbing up and down, and it musta been funny b/c everyone kept laughing. he also stole the show with his loud "amen" after prayer and when poppi was helping with communion and headed back to the front of the church trace kept saying "where'd poppi go?" too cute!! we got home and put trace in christmas pj's and then read the christmas story from luke chapter 2. he also got a children's bible from meme so we read his version as well. i know he is young, but it's a tradition we started last year and i hope to continue it, to help us all remember the real meaning of christmas. even though it's so fun and we get caught up in the excitement of presents and santa, we always want trace to know and remember how baby jesus was born on christmas day, and would later die for our sins so that we could spend eternity in heaven.
christmas morning we woke trace up and let him see that santa had come. it was so fun to see his excitement over everything, even the little things in his stocking... like a blue's clues toothbrush! that kept him happy for at least an hour! we basically got him 3 gifts, since that's what the wisemen took baby jesus. he got a tonka cars set with 3 cars/tracks that he loved. he also got lots of new books to read. and i think his favorite was his horsie and cowboy hat. the horsie on the stick is almost as big as him, but he loved it! i got a new camera, woo hoo! i love it. i've already taken a ton of pics, imagine that! and i got some new fleece pj pants and a gc for a pedicure (which i used on friday!) nate got some new clothes, a gc for a massage, boxers, socks, all the typical stuff! we then went to bitsy and poppi's house for presents and brunch. it was a lot of fun, and we got to see granny, nana and papaw as well. and again, trace got tons of gifts! several toy dinosaurs (or saur saurs as trace calls them,) new cars pjs, a hermie dvd, a harmonica, clothes, a diego pillow book, and other toys i'm sure i'm forgetting. let's just say our house looks like a toy store now! nate got new cologne and the dark knight on blu ray. i got a new scrapbook for lucas, an adorable scrapbook of trace that mom has been secretly working on, and a beautiful handmade flannel christmas quilt from mom. i love it!! we ate so much after opening all the gifts that i thought i would bust!
since we already made our christmas trip to huntsville to see mamaw and pawpaw last weekend, we were able to come back home and REST on christmas day. how fun! i really used the past 3 days to get some much needed rest. i think i took a nap every day. it was wonderful! and yes, we did a little shopping friday, and of course some cleaning and cooking here and there, but it was so nice to chill out some. i took trace to walmart saturday and nate took down ALL the christmas decorations. seriously, i didn't do anything except pack up the wrapping paper and stuff. what a great hubby! i did however have to go thru several tubs of baby clothes and sort them out. that was exhausting but it really needed to be done, and soon! lucas will be here before we know it!
ok, i realize this has been a long blog... i'll wrap up by saying i hope you and your family had a great christmas as well, and truly were able to relax and remember the real meaning of the season.
so here are a few pics from our christmas fun... hope you enjoy.

trace and his blue's clues toothbrush from his stocking

my handsome lil cowboy

sitting in all the mess!

Merry Christmas 2008

christmas fun

my sweet santa baby!

well we have been staying busy this past week... we went to huntsville sat to visit with nate's grandparents b/c we aren't gonna make it up there on christmas day. then we were back in town and headed to zoolight safari with the cousins sat nite but trace got sick. my poor baby threw up and was running a high fever. so we went back home for the nite, and i stayed home from church sunday with him, then we headed to my parent's house to do my granny's christmas. then it was off to the galleria and olive garden for rob's bday dinner, then we went to pick trace up and visited with some friends who were in town. wow. are you tired yet? b/c i was exhausted monday morning, and i still am!! i'll work til 2 on christmas eve, then head to meme's where hopefully they will have saved me a lil bit of food if they start lunch with out me :) then we'll do presents and such and then head to church for a candlelight communion service and i will read a christmas story to the kids. and then we will finally head home, put trace in bed, and then SANTA comes! YAY! christmas morning we will do presents at our house, then head to my parents for brunch. yummy. and for the first time since nate and i have been together, (6 years) we will go back to our house and chill on christmas day. I CAN'T WAIT! it was a hard decision to not go up to huntsville, but at some point, we have to make those decisions and hope that everyone understands. we will be making new traditions with trace and lucas too when he is here, and one thing i want is for them to be able to hang out at their house on christmas and play with their new toys, watch movies, just whatever! so although we will def. miss going to mamaw and pawpaw's house and seeing everyone, i am excited to have a more low-key day. and when we went to visit with them sat they completely understood our choice. i was relieved! anyways, low-key days... that's what i love these days, and they are hard to come by! i am taking a vacation day friday, so nate, trace and i will have 4 days together. how fun!!!! hopefully we take the tree down, get christmas stuff back up in the attic, and focus on baby stuff after that. wow. sounds like my low-key weekend has already gotten busy!!!!!! oh well. at least i won't be at work! and just to make this post more fun, here are a few new christmas pics...

LOOKING FOR SANTA (my fav pic!)

and because i can't help showing a few from last year, check these out. look how much our babies have grown!!!!

who thinks meme will need a bigger door next year? how are 6 babies gonna fit for this pose?

32 weeks...

so i went to the dr for my 32 week check-up. my blood pressure was a little high (i can't rememeber what it was though, i get it mixed up with the fetal heart tones. baby brain i guess!) but dr adcock wasn't too concerned. he just said to try and get some rest. HA. that's a joke, right? and i am still measuring a little bit ahead, but again, not too concerned. so overall i got a good report and will go back in 2 weeks for another quick check-up. 2 weeks from then will be the first of a few lovely checks to see if i'm making any progress. hmmmmm. we shall wait and see!

a side note: please pray for meme's stepmom beverly. she is in the icu in huntsville and probably will not make it too much longer. terri is up there now with her daddy. please pray for god to be merciful, and for his peace to cover terri, her brother alan, their daddy, and also for bev to be comfortable. what a hard thing to go thru around christmas, but we are trying to trust god's plan right now. thanks for praying with us and for us.

all dressed up

Here's the latest belly pics... Saturday night was Nate's office Christmas party. It was fun to get dressed up, but I had a hard time finding a cute outfit that I liked. At first I thought I could kinda hide the belly, but yeah, at 8 months pregnant, that's not so easy to do! So I ended up with a tight fitting shirt that showed off my growing baby bump :) I go to the doctor Tuesday for my next check up, wish me luck!

Prego Blues...

Well it seems these pregnancy hormones are catching up with me... I have just been very emotional the past few days. (It's bad enough when other people notice, but the fact that I admit it strait up lets you know, it's been rough!!) I don't think these dreary, rainy days have helped much. Now SNOW on the other hand would make me happy, but I doubt our area will see much, and I'm sure it won't stick if we get any. Oh well... we can always hope!

Nothing really new with us, just staying busy and watching my babies grow so fast (Yes, I mean Trace AND Lucas!) My belly just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Hopefully I can make my clothes stretch a little more and they will fit til I deliver this boy :-) Not too much longer and we will meet our little man! I can't WAIT! And Trace is also growing and just becoming so smart. He talks non-stop, and even though sometimes we can't understand him, more and more things are making sense. And the boy LOVES to sing, I think he is gonna be just like his Daddy in so many ways! He loves singing Jesus Loves Me, but knows the chorus best. Some other favs are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You're Happy and You Know It (his fav verse is "Say AMEN!" and he throws his arm in the air and yells "Ah-MENNNN!" It's soooo ADORABLE!!!!!!) OH, and he knows his ABC's! He can't say all of them, but he def knows the song. Actually, I think he really does say all of them, b/c if you start him out, then stop, he'll pick up where you left off. I love to hear him rush thru HIJKLMNOP. It's so funny. And if you say W, X, he shouts Y AND Z! I'm telling you, he amazes me! He can also count to 10. The best part is I know he picks most of these things up from Caden and Kenley. We work with him and sing, count, etc, but when he burst out singing Twinkle Twinkle while eating dinner the other night, Nate and I both were like "We didn't teach him that!"

He keeps me laughing, even if I am laughing through the tears these days! ;-) I love Trace so much and find myself at a loss for words when praying and thanking God for my sweet sweet baby boy!

We have a few Christmas things this weekend... Saturday night is Nate's work Christmas Party. Bitsy and Poppi are watching Trace for us so we can party the night away. HA! I am looking forward to getting all dressed up (well as dressed up as this Lil Mama gets these days!) and eating some good food and hanging out with our good friends Mandy and Bobby. I doubt I'll get out on the dance floor or be too wild and crazy, I'm just hoping to stay awake thru it all! LoL. Then Sunday we have our Christmas Program at church at 9 & 11 AM, which always proves to be a great performance. The kids choir will sing and I always love to watch them. Hard to believe the boys will probably be up there next year! WOW!

I'll try and remember to take a few pics before we go to Nate's party and post them this weekend! Hope you all are having a Merry Christmas Season! Stay safe and Warm, maybe we'll see some snow later on today!

LUCAS in ACTION!

so lucas is on the move... sometimes i wonder if he is trying to break out of my belly!! when i lay on my back he goes nuts! i took this video a couple weeks ago but was having trouble loading it. i know it's a wierd angle, but obviously i did what i could! i was just laying in bed and thought it would be a cute little video to help me remember these days of pregnancy. hopefully you can get past my heavy breathing and horrible nararation, and see lucas moving around like crazy! only 8 more weeks of this, time is flying by!

Goodnight Mom

ok... does anyone have the kids book "goodnight moon?" well it is one of our favs at the house, we read it at least 5 times a week if not more. trace loves it, and flips the pages faster than we can try and spit out the words! well when we went for our 30 week doctor visit today, nate was reading a parenting magazine and came across this HILARIOUS version of the book. it's probably funny to any mom/parent, but we found it especially funny since we have memorized that book from reading it so much!

OH, before i share the revised version, does anyone wanna know what the dr said? he said everything looks GREAT but i am measuring 2 cm ahead... i am 30 weeks and should measure at 30 cm but measured at 32 cm. so what does that mean? WHO KNOWS!! i hope it means lucas is coming a lil early and not that he's gonna be 10 pounds! maybe he just had a growth spurt in the last month (it was thanksgiving ya know... and i did eat a lot!) but i go back in 2 weeks and we'll see how he measures up then!! i am hoping and PRAYING that lucas comes early, at least a week or so. :) the main reason is b/c nate's dad leaves feb 1 for honduras and i'd hate for him to miss out and see lucas by email pics for the first time! my official due date is feb 8. so dr adcock said we'll just see how things go, and he can probably induce on jan 30 if things are progressing. and if he's on call. so please join me in praying that either i will have lucas on my own before feb 1 (i think i will) or that dr adcock will be on call and will agree to induce on friday jan 30! ok. sorry for the rabbit trail! just wanted to share the lucas update.

so here's the poem:

Goodnight Mom
(with apologies to Margaret Wise Brown)

In the messy green family room
There was a telemarketer ringing the telephone
And a crying toddler because
His brother just popped his red balloon
And a picture of --

The cow jumping over the moon
(which someone colored on with permanent marker)
And there was a missing teddy bear,
And a girl with gum in her hair

And one to be scolded
And laundry to be folded
And a very hungry spouse
And something stinky in the house
(that no one else seemed to smell)

And a comb and a brush and a colicky
Baby who just won’t shush
And a frazzled mommy screaming #*%#@

Goodnight messy room
Goodnight scribbled-on moon
Goodnight cow getting out while she can
Goodnight telemarketers and the popped balloon
Goodnight long-gone teddy bear
Goodnight cereal bar smeared all over the dining room chair

Goodnight spitup
And goodnight leaky sippy cup
Goodnight much-too-little- house and
Goodnight grumpy spouse
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
And goodnight to a certain 4 year old
Who just needs to hush right now I mean it

Goodnight Elmo
Goodnight toys we’ll pick up tomorrow,
Or the next day
Hello chardonnay and TiVo--
“me” time finally

-Sarah Jio (Parenting Magazine, Nov. 08)

so can you moms relate to this or what?? I LOVE IT! nate read it out loud to me and we were both CRACKING UP! of course i would replace hello "chardonnay" with hello "TYLENOL PM!!!" :-)

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!!!

it's become a tradition for us to put the tree up the day after thanksgiving. we have so many decorations and stuff that we try and make the most of it by putting it up and keeping it up a while :-) bless nate's heart, he got EVERYTHING down from the attic and put the tree up, fixed all the lights, and decorated half of it by himself. he was a man on a mission! i love him :-) and i really do love christmas but was so tired from thanksgiving traveling and being sick that i was not looking forward to decorating! nate was such a trooper, and trace was all up0 in the middle of the chaos! he was amazed by all the lights and ornaments, i LOVE the look on his face, such a look of wonder, so excited by the tree. and that was before there were even presents underneath :) since nate did so much, all i basically did was finish decorating the rest of the tree and then nate transformed the rest of the house into a winter wonderland while i was wrapping a few presents! so christmastime is officially here. and i love it!!! i've done most of my shopping but still have a few more gifts to buy. i knew that this big belly would really keep me tired and i am so thankful i started shopping early! i tend to do things way ahead of time, and i am very glad i have already braved a lot of the crazy crowds, parking lots and shopping malls. so starting monday, we already have a busy busy busy december lined up... christmas parties, zoolight safari, pictures with santa (if trace cooperates!!) all sorts of family get togethers, i can't wait! i'm sure there will be more christmas pictures and updates soon. hope you are having fun with the beginning of all the christmas festivities as well! and may we all remember the real reason for the season... i write this to remind myself as well. too many times i get caught up in all the gifts and parties and whatnot and i get so stressed out. but i doubt that is what god wants! so may we give to those who are in need, spend quality time with family and friends, and truly find joy in the small things this christmas season.

SO Thankful!

well it has been a rough few weeks... but still i have so much to be thankful for! terri (meme) got sick with pneumonia 2 weeks ago, so we have been out of schedule as far as who's been keeping trace. thanks to mom and dad, aunt nae nae and uncle josh, and my work for being understanding, and most of all god for getting us thru! then my great grandmother mama ott got very sick (she was 97) and passed away. then trace became sick, and we took him to the dr a week ago sunday and he had pink eye, an ear infection, and a horrible cough! they loaded him down with 2 medicines and EYE drops. yes, eye drops for a 20 month old. NOT FUN! then monday i finally decided to give in... i had been fighting what i thought was just a head cold for about a week, and everyone knows to just take tylenol sinus when you are prego for a cold. well after 7 days it was obvious that didn't work. and after going to the dr on monday, i found out i had bronchitis, sinusitis, and pharyngitis. basically, 3 infections in my head, throat, and chest. i was lucky they gave me an antibiotic, which is helping to fight the infections, but it makes me feel very yucky thru out the day. soooo YEAH, it's been a looonnng and trying week. but again, i am so thankful for my wonderful family who has helped take care of trace while i was sick and also take care of me! we finally made it to thursday and traveled all of thanksgiving day. we went to see my granny in warrior then to see nate's mamaw, pawpaw, nanny, and cousins in huntsville. again, it was a very very long day but we made it thru! it was great to finally see meme too, we are so thankful that she is feeling much better, and i know she is thankful for that as well! so that's what's been keeping us busy the past couple of weeks. all in all, i'm aboslutely exhausted. trace has been the biggest mama's boy EVER this week, esp while he's been sick. and with mama being 30 weeks pregnant and sick too, i'm just whooped. but when i look around me, i realize how blessed we really are, and no matter what, god is right here with us every step of the way. life has been crazy here lately, but i think it's only trying to prepare me for what's to come in the very near future :)
so here are a few pics from thanksgiving... i didn't take many at all, i guess i was too busy wiping snotty noses and giving medicine to trace. and oh yeah, eating! i'm thankful for all the wonderful food that was prepared by family. i think thanksgiving might be my new fav holiday!!
"GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD. HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!!!!"

semi lazy weekend!

we had a nice weekend... we had small groups at church friday nite and enjoyed a steak dinner as a thank you for helping with d-now a few months ago. we played the best game ever, called boxers or briefs. anyone ever played it?? it was lots of fun! then saturday morning, trace and i went to walmart... obviously we were out of eggs and other things! after walking around the store for 1 1/2 hours, i was more than ready to be home and rest! we put trace down for a nap, then i actually went to get a massage! THANKS BONNIE!!!!!! a friend of ours from church is a massage therapist at the blue orchid in trussville... if anyone is interested, she makes a GREAT gift. 1/2 hr, 1 hr, just tell her what you want and she'll do it. i can get you her info if you are interested! anyways, she has the coolest wedge thing that allows me to lay on my big belly and get a massage while i'm pregnant. oh it was HEAVENLY! i am hurting a little from it now, b/c i was so tense and had a few knots in my neck/shoulders. but i'm telling you what, i could def. use one of those weekly! i told nate i would buy him one for christmas if he would buy me one in return. sounds like a good deal to me!

once i got home, i decided that when trace woke up from his nap that i would let him play outside. the weather has been so nice lately... and trace LOVES to be outside! rain or shine, hot or cold, he is a roll-in-the-dirt kind of boy! he loves to chase the leaves and let the wind blow in his face!! so when i got home from my massage, josh and shannon were at the house during the ball games, and i took caden and trace outside to play. i love the picture above, but it looks like trace is peeing to me :) and the ones below are the boys just having a good ol time! we took trace's john deer tractor and his dumptruck outside and they had so much fun. a few of the pictures really crack me up. like this one, look at trace's face! he looks scared to death but he was really having a great time!but this one might just be my favorite... it cracks me up too! caden was pushing trace and i was trying to chase them... i tried to get caden to slow down but before i knew it, he had tried to push trace up the hill. it was hilarious. they almost tumped over but i got to them just in time!

and this one makes me laugh too... b/c this is a SAND toy that trace thinks is a RIDING toy. he always gets on this dump truck and rides it around. silly boy!!

the kids were wearing me out so we came in and let them play in trace's room. they had a good time but it was hard to keep them contained! they wanted to run in and out of the living room where the boys were watching multiple ball games... yeah, we ended up putting the baby gate up which made all the babies mad! sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do :) florida state and bama both won though, so the grown ups were happy!

sunday we went to church, then nate had to go out of town with a few guys from his work. he is in toccoa, georgia and will be back tuesday nite. we miss him already!! so after trace's nap the 2 of us went to terri's for a tupperware party. now i know why you don't take kids to parties like that... trace saw a disney/pixar CARS sippy cup and snack bowl set and HAD to have it. i'm talking he grabbed it off the table and started sucking on the juice cup like it was his. so i ordered a new set for the tupperware lady and she let me take that set home. trace was happy!! btw, i am having a FUND-RAISER tupperware party this sunday, 40% of the sales will go to our church's (Argo Christian Fellowship) building fund. if you are interested in, you can join the fun on sunday, 11/16, at 3 pm in the fellowship hall at ACF.

well that wraps up our semi-lazy weekend... hope this finds all of you doing great.

there's no use crying over... no eggs?

so this morning i was scheduled for my 26 week glucose test. i have been very nervous the past few weeks and especially the past few days that i would not pass. seriously, i eat SWEETS all the time and had it in my head that i had "given" myself gestational diabetes. so i usually eat something sweet for breakfast - poptarts or captain crunch. those are both on the no-no list of stuff to eat before this test. no problem i thought, i'll just have some scrambled eggs and toast. well come to find out, at 6 am, when i opened the fridge to get my eggs... WE'RE OUT OF EGGS!!! so i casually mentioned to nate, "great, we're out of eggs. and i was gonna eat eggs and toast this morning b/c that's the only 2 things we have here with no sugar!" he was just kinda like, ummm sorry. sooo, ok, it should have been NO BIG DEAL! but i guess i'll blame it on hormones b/c after finding out that we were out of eggs, i just lost it. i started crying and could not stop. i think i was so worried about my appt, just nervous that i would A) have gestational diabetes or B) get fussed at for all the weight i've gained and C) kinda upset b/c nate couldn't get off work to go with me... i mean i had a 45 minute cry fest!!! i tried to get myself together. i started reading my daily scripture passage and couldn't see b/c of the TEARS that would not stop coming! so then i just prayed "dear God PLEASE help me quit crying and get myself together!" i was already running late and knew i would have to fight down-town traffic to get to the dr. and all you women out there know that there is no use in putting on makeup when you have tears streaming down your face that don't seem like they will stop anytime soon! poor nate, he even came in the bedroom and offered to go get some eggs, but i tried to explain it wasn't really about the eggs. i think he ate the last of them and really felt bad when i had a come-apart when i found out they were gone! so he eventually left, and went to work... so anyways, i finally quit crying, finished getting ready, and ate 2 pieces of toast. with no eggs :)

come to find out after my blood sugar test, all is well! the # needed to be under 139 and mine was 115! WOO HOO!!! i was praising god that everything was fine, just like nate and mom and terri had assured me it would be! i guess i haven't cried in a few WEEKS, which for me, esp. being pregnant, is a long time to go without crying! i really hope it's another few weeks before i have another meltdown. and maybe it won't be over something as stupid as NO EGGS!!!!

good news: i heard lucas's heart-tones and everything sounds great. dr. adcock said i am measuring "right on track." he always says that, so today i asked him why. and his reply was "so you know your son is normal sized and you aren't growing a 10 pounder!" i told him i was glad to hear that but always hope he will say, "looks like he's gonna be a few weeks early!" he just laughed! then they took more bloodwork to check for anemia and stuff and i was finally on my way.

i'm proud to say i haven't cried since this morning, and can actually laugh about the egg thing now. but you can bet i'll be sure to buy some next time i buy groceries though, just in case nate or i get a craving for some eggs!

tRiCk ~oR~ tReAt

My Little Monster!

so halloween is over! i have to say it, but i'm kinda glad... we had so many fun things leading up to the actual day that by time it was here and gone, it was ok with me! trace wore his scary (not really!) halloween shirt on friday at meme's. they had lots of sugar, i mean, a party, with all sorts of goodies! then nate picked trace up early and brought him to my work to show off our cute lil monkey. let's just say he was in no mood to be shown off. he was cute, but threw a few fits at my office. i think nate got embarrassed, so we made a quick exit! then we took him to nana and papaw's for a halloween hello, then off to the house to rest before the big nite! the kids were cute of course... but i think they were just as ready to retire the costumes as we were. i didn't get that many good pics, but i am prefectly ok with that. like i said, just glad it's over with :)

Trick -Or-Treating* Just US *after we trick or treated, the kids all got in their pj's and were playing in caden's room. btw, we all go to josh and shannon's on halloween, eat chili and hand out tons of candy (they live in misty pines....) then trick or treat. i guess i forgot to say where we all hang out! so anyways. the kids were playing and i was in the living room when i heard someone say "j, get your camera!" when i went to caden's room, this is what i saw!


4 lil MONKEYS jumping IN the bed! can we say TOO MUCH SUGAR??????
since the whole family was already all together, and things are so busy these days, we decided to go ahead and celebrate my bday (which is actually today... ) a few days early, on halloween. mom made a delicious 4 layer cake, with my favorite icing (rainbow chip) in b/w each layer. it was soooo sweet and yummy! thanks everyone for a great birthday and fun presents too. being 26 isn't so bad after-all :)

this morning nate had several sweet gifts on the bed waiting for me to open when i got out of the shower. i can't believe i forgot to take pics... maybe b/c it was 5:30 AM! anyways. he gave me a very thoughtful card, his cards always make me cry! and i got a picture of the 3 of us in a very pretty "family" frame with scriptures on it, my fav B&BW lotion that i had been out of for a few days, and 2 new willow tree figures to add to our collection. we LOVE willow tree, i counted this morning and i think we have 11 of them, (not to mention almost the entire christmas nativity!) the ones he gave me this morning were 2 precious little babies, he said that was my gift from trace and lucas. the other one was my favorite of all, a mama bending down kissing her little boy on the head, and he was holding onto her shoulders. i think it was called "a child's touch." i LOVE IT!!!!! so thanks baby for the wonderful birthday presents. yes, you went overboard, but thank you! i love you so much! i can't wait til we go out to eat tonite for the last of my birthday celebrations! Thank you Lord for my sweet, loving, wonderful husband, and the rest of my family too! We are so blessed.

oh yeah, and i have my 26 week appointment in the morning at 8:10... i have to do the glucose test. YUCKY! NO FUN! i can't believe i made the appt the day after my birthday, and a few days after halloween. i am addicted to SUGAR these days so i am praying for good test results, that i don't have gestational diabetes!! i plan to take a good book, and hopefully the hour will fly by. i'll give a lucas update once i know something either tomorrow or in a few days.

TAG

ok, so Lisa tagged me and i'm so bored i think i'll play :) btw, thanks for the fun tag! the tag is for me to list 7 random things you may or may not know about me. here goes...



1. i am so not a night person, i hate to stay up late... and to me, anything past 9:00 is late! but i am a morning person, once i get my hot shower i am good to go!



2. i am a very picky eater... i do not eat most vegetables. especially nothing green, including salads of any type. i HATE the thought of something crunchy like that in my mouth. so my diet is very unhealthy, def. not balanced AT ALL. i could live off starches, my favs are mac n cheese or pasta of any type, rice and mashed potatoes. i know, i'm wierd. i like things PLAIN, as in ketchup only, that's the only condiment i like. again, WIERD, i know!



3. i have a few crazy night time habits that i do before bed EVERY night... i make sure i have laid out our clean towels for the next morning, i fix a small cup of apple juice and put it on the bed-side table, i have to make sure the alarm is set and the rain (our noisemaker) is turned on. and last, i always always always use chapstick and then b&bw "moonlight path" body cream on my hands before i get in the bed. now is that too crazy? nate says i am anal, maybe he is right? :)



4. i NEVER thought i would drive a mini-van at the age of 25. BUT we came across a GREAT deal back in april and every since then, i drive it proudly! it is so comfortable and spacious, esp with 3 carseats in the back. (shannon and i carpool and so i have not only 1 for trace, but caden and lala as well.) soon there will be 4!!! aauuggh!! i guess nothing's wrong with a mini-van, i just never thought i'd want one. now i can't see living without it! (and btw, nate is the coolest dad i know when he drives it! HA!!!) i love my momma van!



5. i love SWEETS! i can hardly check out at wal-mart without throwing something extra in the buggy when i get to the check-out line. 9 times out of 10, there are already several sweets already in my buggy though! now i CRAVE sweets all the time, again, i know... not good for my health, or baby lucas. i bet he will be just fine though. coldstone creamery is one of my biggest weaknesses, i LOVE sweet cream ice cream with heath bar and caramel syrup mixed in. YUMMMMY



6. i think i have un-diagnosed A.D.D. wow, that must come as a surprise to any of you reading this blog. YEAH RIGHT! maybe it's worse when i am pregnant, but my mind just goes in 900 directions and so you may have a hard time following me. sorry! i usually try hard to get the point across though. in fact i usually do, sometimes more than once b/c i am repetitive.



7. and last... i HATE using correct grammar, capitalization, spelling, ETC! and i truly do apologize b/c i know several of you reading this are ENGLISH FREAKS! i just get to typing so fast and again, my mind is in a million directions, so it just comes out like it does. i guess a lot of it is laziness. but i'm out of school, don't plan on going back and hope that noone judges my character by this flaw of mine :) sometimes i try hard to be all correct and stuff, but i probably don't succeed even then :) also, i'm sure you've noticed but i use "..." WAY TOO MUCH! another sign of my A.D.D.?? i think so.



ok. so that's it. 7 new interesting facts about me. funny thing is, i bet there were way more than 7 b/c i'm thinking my A.D.D. kicked in A LOT the last few minutes! anyways, THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG! hope you learned a little about me that you didn't know, and maybe laughed a little too! so now i tag these people: PAGE, KRISSY-B & SILENA



Have Fun!

Halloween Festivities

CARVING PUMPKINS!

so we got together last week and carved our pumpkins! it was chilly, but fun! mom had everyone over and decided to keep things outside. what a good idea, b/c boy those pumpkins were messy!! we had the firepit to keep us warm... and we also roasted marshmellows in it and made smores! YUMMY!!! nate did a GREAT job carving our pumpkin, i will admit he did ALL the dirty work. i watched and of course, took pics! we had a great time and i love the way our pumpkin turned out so cute.

bitsy and caden roast marshmellows above, and meme and trace stay warm while eating smores in the pic below! how fun

we bought a $4 pumpkin carving kit from walmart... i think it was worth the money. i chose this cute little design and nate did all the carving. i think he did a great job... he couldv'e handled a much harder design but we were kinda pushed for time, it was getting close to trace's bedtime!
OUR LIL FAMILY :-)

NEXT, the FALL FESTIVAL!!
we enjoyed another fall festival at the church on sunday. by now trace is used to his monkey costume and he loves it! he even kept the hat on, which i thought he would hate. his velcro tail kept coming off, so i finally put it in the candy bucket so we wouldn't lose it.

trace loved running to all the different booths. we tried to get him to play each game, but instead he would go strait to the prize box and start digging through them. it was so funny! he managed to pick out a tiny little matchbox car from each box, he dug deep down to the bottom and wouldn't you know, he'd have a huge smile on his face and pull out a car! he'd show them to us like he had found a million bucks! he also got a toy "saur-saur" (dinsoaur) that he was pretty impressed with. while he was digging thru the prize box, i was going strait for the good stuff - THE CANDY :) surprise surprise!! he also rode the train with daddy, ate a hot dog and cotton candy, jumped in the jumpy thing with caden, and went down the inflatables! long, but fun day! oh, and he was cracking me up b/c at poppi's basketball booth, he wanted to get IN the booth and roll around with all the basketballs! what a nut! chris and lacy also had their cute lil puppy sundance at the church and trace LOVED him... he was rolling around getting all kinds of kisses!

digging for prizes and riding the train with daddy...


I LOVE THIS PICTURE! how cute is he???

BATH TIME!

i guess by now i should be used to the fact that after trace plays outside for even 5 minutes, he stinks!! i always say he smells like a dog!! ( i know, he's just a BOY!!!) so as soon as we got home from the fall festival, he got a bubble bath! he LOVES to play in the tub. i got a few cute shots of him... i love the one above where is he cheesing so big! and i couldn't help but take the hiney shot below!! love this baby, esp. when he's clean! do you ever wish you could bottle the scent of your baby when he's fresh out of the tub? if i'm lucky, he still smells so sweet and clean the next morning too :-) gotta love Johnson's bath time products!

and LAST but not LEAST... after his bath, nate had some fun spiking trace's hair. WHAT A WILD MAN! i love trace and his big ol' smile... no matter what's been going on, or how my day has been, i can always look at him, or just a pic, and it puts a smile on my face!
Psalm 118:24 " This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Looks like Trace has the rejoicing down to a T!