pictures

Thought I'd put up some pictures from Christmas since I neglected to do so...

above: My family

below: Our Wil...I love this picture of him. He looks so handsome!

Shaun's family - his Dad, brothers, Mom and us.

It's a...

Well, to start from the beginning:
We had my ultrasound two days before Christmas so we decided to have the technician write down the sex of the baby in an envelope and we gave it to Shaun's cousin to make us a cake with blue or pink in the middle. As you can see, we are having a GIRL!! I am glad for so many reasons...although at first I think I was nervous since all I know is how to take care of boys and I know that moms and daughters dont always have the best relationships. God has given me peace over those silly fears and I am ready to embrace all the pink! I'm excited to dress her up and teach her so much. I'm excited to watch Shaun with her - I know she will have him wrapped around her finger! I'm excited to watch her big brothers protect her. I'm especially excited for my mother-in-law since she never had a girl. My husband is one of 3 boys and his dad in one of 3 boys. We broke the 'curse' of boys I guess. I'm also glad because it makes it easier to stop at 3 kids. Although I really love being pregnant and I've had wonderful births, I think I will enjoy getting my body back in shape and moving out of the baby/toddler years (I know,all you moms out there are thinking that I'll regret saying that).
It is a new year, and although I am constantly coming up with 'resolutions' all year long, I do have a few I want to try to start at the beginning of this year. One of them is to not talk about myself so much, and ask people questions about themselves and their families. I realized I have not cared enough about other people. I know this isn't an excuse but having little ones to take care makes my mind run at a hundred miles an hour - there are always things on my mind but when I'm with others, I will try my best to focus on them.

Goals

WHOA!!! 2 Posts in one day?! This is a first! In light of my last post I thought I need to take the time to write out some goals.
1) eating healthier - If Id like to eat something unhealthy, I will make sure the thing I ate before that was healthy and the thing I eat afterward is healthy. (To keep the unhealthy foods at a minimum!)
2) workout when I can - TRY to workout 3 times a week at least.
3) stick to a budget - skim through Financial Peace again with my husband Shaun and come up with a budget for December and STICK TO IT.
4) keep up with friends better - call one friend a week that I havent seen or talked to in a while.
5) Reach out to other ladies at church. Talk to someone new each week.
6) be more prepared for Praise Band practice. Listen to the songs ahead of time and practice on my own time.
7) put clothes away at the end of the day - dont let them pile up all week.
8) Pray daily! Set aside time to get quiet and just talk to God.

Hopefully by the next time I write I will be able to say I am doing well at 3 of the areas.

large and in charge

Although I'm not at the point where I should call myself large (although, yes - I am in charge - of some things I guess), I can definitely see myself fitting that description in a few months. I'm not sure how much I've talked about it on here, but at a couple different points in my recent years I've eaten extremely healthy or at least mostly. I have followed the Maker's Diet and I still try to some degree. However, I find myself eating Eggo waffles for breakfast and throwing away rotten celery and carrots and plums that I never ate. I have only gained 3 lbs this pregnancy (Im 17 weeks along so thats pretty normal I think) I feel SO out of shape! Im surprised I haven't gained more although I guess chasing kids around every day is my saving grace. Dont get me wrong, I know it's probably annoying for pregnant women to complain about gaining weight because its supposed to happen, right? But the fact is, I have nothing to complain about if I've only gained 3 lbs...I just FEEL so out of shape! And I definitely notice area's on my body that are fatty. I LOVE being pregnant and I know its possible to feel beautiful even when you have a huge belly! With Wil, my second boy, I felt so skinny even though I had a huge belly because I was working out a lot since I worked at a gym. I'm not a morning person, so getting up early to work out sound horrible to me and my boys nap at different times, not to mention I watch kids almost every day at my house, so working out while the kids nap is not practical either. by the end of the day, Im way too exhausted to work out! ugh...I guess I will have to either push through the procrastination and just find time to do it, or wait till life gets a little less crazy. I guess for now, I'll just have to make healthier choices with what I eat. How do you guys stay feeling beautiful, and healthy?

This is my story and I'm sticking to it!

^Hebrews:1 "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. ² And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe."

I'm EXTREMELY happy to announce that today was the first good day I've had in a long time! I finally confessed to the hubby that I think this (stress/depression/anxiety) is a very serious issue and he prayed over me and I asked him to remember to pray for me during the day while he's at work. I also talked to some ladies from our church last night and I'm sure some of them were praying for me today too. Have you ever felt like someone was praying for you and God was reaching down and giving you peace, or comfort or whatever you need in that moment?? It's an amazing feeling and I have really felt peace today. Not stress like I usually feel (almost every moment of the day). I can't say I have felt stressed at all today. Sure, there have been instances that didn't go the way I wanted but I didn't let it ruin my day. There have even been instances that Matthew and I have really bonded.

Thank you God for surrounding me with your presence and peace today! I love you!

Stress

Well the stresses of having kids, or really having a 3 year old, is really catching up to me. Something I haven't thought about till now is how all this stress is affecting the baby growing inside me. That is my real motivator for trying to have more patience. I'm sure part of the stress is not being able to keep up with cleaning the house. I feel guilty about it, and I really don't enjoy having it messy. I wrote out a time to clean every day, depending on what we have going on, but I haven't been good at looking at it. When I have free time cleaning is that last thing I want to do. I know it makes me feel better so I just have to force myself to do it. Am I the only one that has a hard time keeping a clean house?

Another thing I have to be better at is reading in my Bible and praying. I know it would help my morning to go better if I could just peel myself out of bed a little early. I'm really not a morning person so this is hard to do. I occasionally am good at reading and praying in the afternoon when the kids are napping but I've already lost my patience and had a negative attitude all morning. Maybe I also need to only focus on the positives and humor in life instead of always complaining. Which I must add that I've NEVER been a complainer. If I complain about something, I've probably already forgot an hour later what it was about.

There are also stresses with my family. Mostly with my older sister and sometimes with my little sister. My brother is really the only one without issues, haha. I think I could also use a weekend getaway with Shaun. I think we will try over Thanksgiving break when he'll be off of teaching. To be honest, I've been sleeping well though. I fall asleep on the couch around 10 give or take go up to bed around 10:30 or 11 and usually I get up around 6:45 or 7 to get ready for the kids coming over that I babysit. That's 8 hours give or take. I think my body would prefer 9 hours but 8 is pretty average for what they say the adult body needs.

Anyways, I'll try to make the next blog more positive. I just had to get that all out of my system.
Hope you all are doing well! :)

ooops!

Wow, it has been a while, hasn't it?! I've been super busy with the boys, getting over a cold, watching kids almost everyday at our house, enjoying time with family. Did I mention we are expecting baby #3 around May 4th?!?! Yup, it's true. Wil and baby#3 will be 18 months apart which is my minimum for being sane. Anything less than that and I would be stressing out! We are planning on this being my last pregnancy and we would like to adopt when our kids are older. Maybe when Matthew turns 13, baby#3 will be 9. We think we will adopt a toddler. I like the 3 year old age even though its difficult, they say the funniest things and toddlers aren't adopted as much as babies. Anyways, on a personal note I'm very torn about what to do to prevent getting pregnant again. I obviously get pregnant pretty easily. Any suggestions? I have my opinions but didn't want to go too personal and turn you all away from reading my blog ever again :) Maybe I'll open up if anyone else has input.

I've really been enjoying the boys lately. Its really funny how Matthew likes soccer and karate even though my husband and I have never been into those sports. We drove past a soccer game yesterday and Matthew was shouting "SOCCER!". First of all it was impressive to us that he knew that's what they were playing and second of all it's pretty interesting that he is so into it when we have never talked about it or watched it. My hubby is into football, basketball, baseball and tennis, and I would like our boys to be into any of those (no more than 2 sports - don't want to overwhelm them). If I had to pick a sport for our boys to play that neither me or Shaun were into, I think I would pick hockey. I don't know why, I just see it as still being a 'manly' sport with potential of being successful. I don't think it's too dangerous, is it!?
Wil has been fun to watch now that he is almost one. His personality is really coming out, in good ways and bad ways. Today I noticed if he doesn't get what he wants he throws himself on the floor. The tantrums are being already. But he is a lot of fun too. He has this cheesy smile he does which just makes me crack up! And he loves to be tickled and is climbing on everything. I just love him to pieces. Matthew has been harder to love lately. He has really been a brat lately and is always trying to wrestle with me. Sometimes I would just like my space, especially with being pregnant again, I don't want him jumping on me and when I was going through my nauseous phase I didn't even want him sitting on my lap. He is just so loud too, and always shouting commands at me. Like at this exact moment he is demanding "drink, momma!" He always asks me for things as soon as I sit down. He sure is a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. He says the funniest things and I love when he want to cuddle with me. I love when he kisses his brother and shares things with him and I sure do wish I had his energy!
Anyways, just wanted to catch everyone up on what's going on since I know it was a while. Hope you all are doing well!