Swim Lessons

Today was Eli's first day of swim lessons! He was so excited that it took him two hours to fall asleep last night, and he woke up an hour early this morning. :) Nana (my grandma) is sponsoring the little swimmer, and we are so thankful! His first class went so well. It's only 30 minutes, twice a week. It goes by really fast, probably because its so fun to watch. There are five kids in the class, one of which is a friend from church. (She's the one in the cute little pink suit next to Eli.) Today they worked on kicking, bobbing, blowing bubbles under water, floating on their backs, and their jumping/diving stance. To pass the class at the end of April, they have to be able to do most of these things on their own. It's so cute! Here is a picture...

SPRING BREAK!

Okay time for my Spring Break report. In one word, it was very productive! We got so much done. Although we wanted to get a lot of house stuff done, we also wanted it to be a time of restoration and refreshment for our family coming out of a difficult season. For that reason and for a lack of money, we didn't go anywhere. Even with two sick boys, it was pretty refreshing. So here's what we did...

Okay, I was waiting to share this and I thought I'd wait even longer than now but... we got a puppy! Yes, its true- the first day of our break. Even after our not-so-fun experience with Snyder we got another dog. I know what you're thinking- FOOLISH! In my defense, Jonny came home with him Saturday during nap time. I was blind-sided! We've talked about trying a small dog in the future, but I was sorta thinking AFTER we had our baby. :) I told Jonny we would have a trial period and not tell anyone (well, except for Becky).

As you can see he is a much smaller dog than Snyder. He's Chiwawa and Pomeranian, and will only grow to be about five pounds. So far, I must admit he is much, much easier than Snyder! Way less maintenance. He doesn't bite or knock over our kids. He is potty trained. He is kennel trained. He doesn't eat much. He doesn't take up much room. He doesn't smell as dog as Snyder did (Probably because he is less dog... and I sure hope I don't notice the dog smell as much after being pregnant!) His little doggy droppings in the yard are tiny. :) So all and all- he's okay. I'm still not saying I'm crazy about him, but Jonny and the boys are, so that makes me smile. He's terrified of Noah, but loves Eli. Oh, and his name is Zorro because we think he looks like a tiny fox.

Also we all got haircuts. But the haircut to note was Jonny's. On the first day of break Jonny decided to try shaving his head bald. (And I forgot to take a picture!) He doesn't like his receding hair line, and thought maybe he could try out the sleek bald look. I didn't like it too much. I think he looks good how he normally cuts it, buzzed really short. I don't even notice his hair line. After this week, he decided to keep doing what he normally does. Yay!

On Monday I had a doctor appointment. I haven't been writing much about pregnancy appointments because there is nothing really to report. It's just the same ole' thing. No news is good news, right? Here is a picture of me that Eli took. Photography seems to be his new hobby. :)

Monday night was great! I found my Dansko's!!! For those of you who haven't heard me whine about this, they've been missing since we moved- in July! I got these expensive shoes two Christmas's ago after thinking about getting them for a whole year before that. It's hard for me to think of spending lots of money on a pair of shoes, so when I thought I lost them I was SO UPSET! They are supposed to be great shoes for your back and just all-around comfort, so all winter I've been wishing I had them to slip on... especially when my back has been bothering me and bending over to tie a pair of shoes was getting a little uncomfortable. Yeah, so whine, whine, whine. Jonny told me to give up and forget it. I knew they just had to be misplaced somewhere in our house from the move. I really wanted these shoes... believe me, I pleaded with the Lord to let me find them. :) So yay! Praise the Lord for little things that seem so big! Thank you, God for giving me my Dansko's back!!!

Oh, I found my Dansko's in bag full of sewing stuff. You can see how much sewing I've done since July... none! I have a great sewing machine that my mom gave me when I graduated from college, but I've never learned how to use it. My friend, Rebekah, gave me a lesson on Tuesday and I made a cute, miniature (and crooked) blankie for the baby. It was really easy and fun! I have so many ideas now... We may try to make bed sheets together!

As for stuff around the house, these are some things we got done. The boys' back room- Jonny fixed this book shelf so we could actually put the paper books up on it. We also now have dressers for all three boys and a changing pad for newborn diaper changes! The other side of the room has the crib and will have Baby's name above it!!!

I cleaned and washed our new car seat for the baby. Someone tried it out...
The garage is so much better than it was!!! See the shelves and hooks Jonny put in!? He also wired the garage for four electrical outlets. We still have some more fine-tuning of organizing and sorting through to do, but everything at least has a place and we can park a car in the garage. Jonny set up and moved the play structures to the back yard until next winter. We also had some fun roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores with our new fire pit. Jonny had lots of fun. I don't know if his fascination with fire is the scientist in him or just the boy in him...
On Saturday we decided to give Eli his Easter present early since he's been waiting and asking for one for so long. It's also supposed to rain all week, maybe on Easter, so we wanted him to be able to ride it. :) He's so cute! I love giving him gifts! I can't wait to give them their little Easter baskets next weekend.
There are tons of other things we did, but I don't want to bore you with every detail. Lets just say, I had a large To DO List and we made a big dent in it. We got our Sit & Stand stroller off of Craig's List and our car seat snaps right into it. Our patio didn't get done, but the guy claims he'll finish it the first nice day we get. I'm planning to shampoo our carpets after Noah goes to bed... I'm weird I just love getting cleaned and organized!

Lastly, NOAH WENT PEE ON THE POTTY!!! He has really sensitive skin and gets diaper rash a lot more than Eli ever did, so we were letting him run around naked to let his skin breathe. He went up to Jonny and said, "Pee pee." And pointed to the bathroom. Jonny had him stand up on the stool in front of the potty and he went! Good job, Noah! It was so exciting, especially after our time at church today. Jonny and I are taking turns going in Noah's classroom because he just seems to have a really hard time being nice to other kids. I don't know why it is happening or what to do- so if we come to mind please be praying for Noah and his social skills. Also for us to know how to handle it appropriately. :) Thanks and Happy Spring!

Oh, and a quote from today- just now Eli told Jonny, "Daddy, Noah needs a time-out. He was stomping on my FACE!" Oh, just lovely. I better get back to it...

GO BECKY!!!

Okay, everyone.... a little prayer request.
My sister, Becky, is running a marathon today. It just started and she hopes to be done by noon. Pray that she'll have strength to push through and her body will be ready for this huge work-out!
Go Becky! I wish I could be there to watch you run through the finish line! Eli and I just prayed for you. Love you!

Brotherly Love

Although these boys can definitely fight with each other, they SO love each other. It's so sweet and cute to see. They have so much fun together. Here are a bunch of pictures/video from the last couple months... (sorry about the red-eye, our desk-top, which has our photo editing program, has been moved to the garage and is not yet set up. I'm so behind!)

Sloppy Joes are too sloppy

If I wanted to keep record of every funny or clever thing Eli says, I'd have to keep a daily journal. His speech is constantly causing me to turn or scratch my head. Right now I'm trying to remember what he said that had Jonny and I laughing and laughing the other night, but I can't remember! Oh, well. I do remember his funny little words from last night. We were eating Sloppy Joes for dinner and Eli said to me,
"I don't really like Sloppy Joes. I like other Joes, but not this one." He went on to explain that he likes clean Joes but these ones were too sloppy. :)

Proverbs Topic #6: Arguing

So I feel like there is some overlap on some of these verses, and you may recognize that I've used a few of them for different topics...
Here are the verses:

10:12 "Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love covers all offenses."
13:10 "Pride leads to arguments..."
17:14 "Beginning a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out."
17:19 "Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin; anyone who speaks boastfully invites disaster."
18:6 "Fools get into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating."
18:18-19 "Casting lots can end arguments and settle disputes between powerful opponents. It's harder to make amends with an offended friend than to capture a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with iron bars."
20:3 "Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling."
20:22 "Don't say, 'I will get even for this wrong.' Wait for the LORD to handle the matter."
22:10 "Throw out the mocker, and fighting, quarrels, and insults will disappear."
26:21 "A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood."

The more I read through these proverbs the more I'm seeing what a problem our mouths can be! Whether its complaining, spouting off a sarcastic or unnecessary comment, gossiping, giving advice or arguing, our mouth can stir up so much trouble! I am so convicted! And Luke 6:45 tells us that out of the abundance of our heart, our mouth speaks. Yikes! What condition does that mean my heart is in?

The last eight weeks were really, really hard with Jonny's schedule and him being gone so often. My attitude was not always pretty.... in fact it was pretty ugly a lot of the time. I think the enemy can use our busyness, exhaustion and weakness to creep in and stir up bitterness within our hearts... and then where does it overspill? For me, at least, its my mouth. I feel like all these verses about our words are hardest to tame in harder seasons with our spouses than with other people. Anyway, just doing a little self-reflection. I can see that I need His strength and forgiveness each day!!! :)

My letter to Baby

Dear Baby,

Although I haven't met you yet, I wanted to write you a letter. I want you to know I already love you and am so excited to be your mommy. I'm REALLY EXCITED to hold you in my arms for the first time and memorize the little face whose been bouncing around in my belly so much.

God has a plan for your little life and I'm praying I will be a good shepperd and help in making you the man God wants you to become. I pray that I can be a good example and teacher for you, and that God will cover my mistakes and weaknesses. I believe God has made you specifically for our family. I think He has made your personality unique and made you as our third son for a reason. It's all a part of His great plan for your life and who you will become. I'm looking forward to getting to know your personality and how you will fit into our family. I can say now, with certainty, that you will be loved. From inside my womb, there are surely times where it may sound like we live at a circus, but you have two really incredible brothers. They are going to love you so much! They will be your best friends and playmates. There is so much fun to be had!

More than anything, our prayer for you is to know and love God. We have been praying for your salvation since we found out you were growing inside of me. As much as your Daddy and I will love you- and trust me, we will SO SO MUCH!- God will love you even greater than we can. He will never fail you. He will never leave or forsake you. We pray that from an early age you will know the truth about sin- of right and wrong and your need for a savior. We pray that you will come to personally know and fall in love with the Savior. Our prayer is that you will have the wisdom and discernment to make the right choices in life and the conviction to repent when you make the wrong ones. We pray that God will give you a soft heart that is yielded to Him. We pray that you will become a strong, mighty man hard after the things of God. We also pray that God will give us the wisdom to lead you by example, raise you and teach you according to His ways.

Here are some thing I want to remember about you or my pregnancy with you:

~You are so wiggly!
~At my 2o week ultrasound, you put on quite a bouncy show for us- using my bladder as your own personal trampoline.
~You got the hiccups about two weeks ago and just like your brothers, you have them almost every night. Unlike your brothers, you wake me up with your hiccups.
~I'm a lot more uncomfortable carrying you in my belly than I was with your brothers. But we can blame that on them... they stretched out all my muscles and I have none left to hold you up! :)
~I weigh less with you, but feel a lot more heavy. Again we can blame that on the muscle thing.
~I hope you're not really big; I'm a little afraid you're going to be 9lbs.
~Your brother, Eli, loves to sing to you and feel you wiggle. He can't wait to hold you.
~Your brother, Noah, blows raspberries on 'you' (my belly) but can also be a little rough on you. That may not change after you're born, but we'll protect you. And I'm sure he'll learn to be gentle. :)
~Be warned- your Daddy gives LOTS and LOTS of kisses. I try to tell him to ease off, but just ask Eli and Noah and they'll tell you Daddy is a big kisser.
~It wasn't my plan to have you, but God knows best so I know my life will be better with you in it!

Love,
Mama