We did it!

After months of preparing and thinking and trying not to worry, Jessica and I did it!!! We spoke at my church’s Mom’s group on spending quality time with your children! By no means are we experts, {and by NO means do I enjoy getting up in front of big groups of people to speak} but we had a great time compiling all of our ideas and sharing them with the young mommies. And, believe it or not, it was FUN! I am so thankful that God gave me the opportunity…and led me to Jessica so that I didn’t have to do it alone! The mommies made a “fun lunch” for their kids (pretending it was “Bug Day”)…and they also got to make their own “Rainy Day Basket”…full of TONS of fun and easy ideas of things to do with your kids during those “rainy day moments!” It’s always fun to go home with STUFF!!!...and they loved it!   
I wish you could have seen how hilarious it was for us to try to get this picture! Everyone had left, and since we both forgot our cameras, we tried again and again to hold out Jessica’s iPhone to get a decent shot! This was the best one! :) Thank you, Sweet Jessica, for standing beside me as we taught these Mommies. I can’t imagine doing it without you…and the fact that you have inspired me to be a better Mom made me so very honored to have you there! I look forward to “stealing” your ideas in the future…and sharing our lives as we raise our sweet little ones!!!

Big Brother Moments: Part 2

Soon after we found out that the baby was a boy, Quinn and I ran to Target.
I said, “Let’s look at the baby stuff for your baby brother!”
Quinn said, “I want to look at the toys…{pause}…but, let’s look at the baby stuff first!” Sweet love!

Shannon got Quinn this precious book when we found out we were having a boy! When we read it, he was amazed with a few of the pictures. One showed a drawing of the baby with its umbilical cord. Even though I explained what it was, Quinn stared at it for some time and said, “Mommy, why is his dinkus so big?!” Bless him! He also is SUPER concerned with the fact that the baby can get hiccups in my tummy! We’ll cross that bridge when we get there!

We have had a few moments where Quinn is just enamored with talking to my belly. He pretends that he can see him through my belly button and says things like, “loooook! He’s SOOOO cute!!!!” One day he sang a song. It’s those moments that I cherish. I look forward to many more.

When the baby was kicking the other evening, we had Quinn come over to try and feel. He was drumming his fingers on my belly and said, “Those are finger kisses!” Oh, I LOVED it!!!! And, the fact that he made it up all by himself made it even sweeter.

On our way to Hobby Lobby the other day, I told Quinn that we were going to look at stuff for the baby’s room.
He said, “We could look for stuff for my room too!”
And, I said, “Well, your room has LOTS of cool stuff already!”
Quinn’s precious reply was, “Yeah…it’s his turn!”
I have a feeling there’s going to be lots of taking turns in his future! :)

Dear Half-Way Mark,

Dear Half-Way Mark {a.k.a. 20 weeks},

OH….HOW I LOVE YOU!!! Not because we’re closer to the end, but because we’re further away from the beginning! You are what I remember! You are what I love! And, you are why I’m one of those rare, crazy people that LOVE being pregnant! Seriously, I think I could be a surrogate!!

Because of you, I now know that there is a sweet baby BOY in my belly and I know that my precious Quinn is going to have a baby brother!

Because of you, I am feeling our sweet boy move EVERYDAY! And, it makes me smile…and laugh. I am reminded of the miracle that growing a baby truly is and am often brought to tears at the opportunity I am given! I still think it’s crazy that I can go about my {fairly} normal life while GROWING A PERSON at the same time!!! You’d think it would completely knock you out! But, it doesn’t! And, it’s amazing!

Because of you, I’m ready to decorate and plan a sweet nursery! It seems to consume me…but, it’s OH so fun! Because of you, my real jeans are ALL the way out…and it’s maternity all of the way! They feel so good! And, why did I not know how fabulous it was to have the band that goes ALL the way over your belly when I was preggo with Quinn!? I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to the others!

Because of you, I am more in love with Quinn that ever before. I’m cherishing him and our “just us” time. Every day, I think he understands a little bit more about the babe growing inside of me. He asks questions, we read stories, and he sings to my belly. He’s a dream! And, I’m praying that his baby brother holds many of his precious qualities!

Because of you, I’m craving less…but I can’t pass up a good salad and baked potato…full of butter, cheese, ranch and salt & pepper! My microwave has helped me cook about a dozen in the pass month!

Because of you, I’m a little less careful about my diet coke intake! Sometimes I convince myself that I need one more! Does that mean I have a problem!? I promise to be better when the baby comes…because the caffeine that I drink could effect his sleep!!! And, that effects MY sleep!!! So, I’ll cut back, I’m sure of it! :)

Because of you, I am happy! I am excited! And, I am thankful! In one hand I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever, and in the other, I can’t believe that we’re half-way to meeting our sweet Mr. Man. (I’ve decided that I want that to be his nickname!…we’ll see if it sticks!)

Letter of the Week{s}: N

Due to numerous birthdays, not-so-fun sickness, news about our baby BOY and a nervous Mommy preparing to speak at Mom’s group at church, N week lasted a few weeks longer than expected! So, it looks like we’re going to have to double up to get though all of the letters before the baby gets here! :) But, without further adieu…

  is for

nurse*nap*night*new*nickels
newspapers*numbers*nuts

And, {hint, hint}…Quinn’s baby

brother’s name!!! Wanna guess!?!?

We started the week with a fun activity using a clothes pin bag. I found items from around the house that start with N and put them inside. Quinn pulled them out one at a time and told me what they were. He really enjoyed it…we’ll do it again with other letters, for sure!

We had a necklace, a nickel, a nose (from Mr. Potato Head), a number 9 from a puzzle, Noah and a nut! …

I got this little book for some fun coloring pages about people/stories in the Bible that start with each letter. We spent some time reading stories about Noah and playing with his cute little ark. This lasted longer than I expected! :) …

Quinn did his fun art project and his little worksheet! He got a little color happy with the black! :) Quinn sorted noodles by color and helped me cook them! …     And he, of course, had his “special lunch” full of N’s! He gets SO excited when he sees me working on the trays!!! He knows what’s coming… My favorite part was the nest made out of granola…

Mammer also got Quinn these fun alphabet cards that go with his Frog Street Press songs. And, this week it was all about Nellie Nurse! The song was cute! We ended our N activities with a field trip to the grocery store to look for N words. (since the only places I could come up with were Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus….didn't think Quinn would find that very fun!!!) With a little guidance, he found some great N’s!!! Check out the pictures he took! …

 

And, since we couldn't resist, we came home with all of these things! But, the Nutter Butters and Nemo snacks helped us with our number game that we played!  It was a fun few weeks! (minus the fact that the most precious “n” word…nap…has been few and far between at our house!!!!…My little guy CAN NOT be dropping his nap already!!!!!) I look forward to the next one! I think we’re going to do “A!”

A joyful heart is GOOD…

  Remember this little activity that we did over a year ago?! Well, we pulled it out again to really review Quinn’s favorite verse…
A joyful heart is good medicine. But a

broken spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

I’d say that this was Quinn’s first Bible verse and the one that we reference the most often.  If he’s grumpy or acting “like a 2 year old,” we’ll tell him to find his joyful heart, and he seems to soon straighten up. Oh how I love the power of God’s word! This is also his VERY favorite song on his Steve Green CD. He wants to sing it OVER and OVER. And, he has lately been doing the most precious thing. … He wants me to turn on the music in his room, and then he quickly runs to find the monitor so that he can lay on the floor in the living room or our bedroom and listen to his music through the speaker.

Also, this morning (ignore the jammies, bed head and dirty breakfast face!), I pulled out my “diaper bag camera” and recorded Quinn reviewing all of his verses. I’m sure this is one that only the grandparents will love…because it’s a little bit long…but, his sweet words and heart are priceless. I’m amazed at how he retains and is able to apply their meaning throughout our days!

And, when I see THIS face, how could I not have a JOYFUL HEART! He melts me! …

Celebrating LOVE!

I must admit that Valentine’s Day has never really been a holiday I’ve cared that much about. I guess since my birthday is so close by!? But, since Quinn was born, I get giddy when I see the pink and red pop up in stores!!! It’s so happy…and, who cares if it’s a commercial holiday!?!? I think we need more reasons to celebrate our loves!

So, that’s exactly what we do!!! Shortly before Valentine’s, we had our Valentine’s playgroup at Cara’s. She outdid herself with precious decor and fun snacks! The boys had a BLAST! …and the sugar overload didn’t hurt! :) Since we gabbed too much, we saved our Valentine’s bag to open at home! The next day, Quinn had TOO much fun going through and seeing all of the amazing treats from his little buddies! The creativity was TOO MUCH!!! …and, my personal favorite was this precious plaque that Alli made!!!! Is it not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen!?!?… And, blaming the gabbing once again, we didn’t have time to make the craft that Cara planned. So, Quinn and I spent the next afternoon painting and construction this precious Valentine holder that now hangs on our fridge! He LOVES seeing his cards and taking them on and off! Thank you, Cara, for such a precious idea! …and for the supplies to do it…

Then, the day before Valentine’s Day, while we were still in Abilene, Slickpaw took Quinn to Lowe’s to make a special gift for Mommy…

And, he couldn’t have been prouder to give it to me on Valentine’s Day! I love my new jewelry holder! :) …

Matt and I got to celebrate too. We got to see this cute movie…I’m still amazed at the cast…

…and went shopping afterwards to pick out some fun new clothes! … Matt also got me a great cover for my new Bible and a gorgeous picture frame. I got him a subscription to Relevant Magazine. He was really excited…it’s a cool magazine.

Quinn even got a special Valentine from Mammer and Slickpaw…this amazing Lightning McQueen car wash! He has already played with it for HOURS on end. He loves it!

On the way home, we stopped at a convenient store and Q got this fun heart sucker! He was so precious and happy eating it in the backseat. What a love!

And, the celebrating didn’t end there! Nana & Pawpaw came into town and brought lots of fun Valentine goodies. My favorite thing had to be these cool straws! They’re plastic…so we can use them again and again! We’re always stealing handfuls of good, big straws from certain restaurants, and now we don’t have to! :) …

Overall, it was a great…spread out…Valentine’s! And, just think…next year I’ll have THREE guys to LOVE!