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.