Baby Bump and other Random Pics

Weather in our area had been crazy. Last week it was rainy and cold all. week. long. I thought the kids we're going to turn on me. :) On Saturday it was like someone flipped a switch. It's now hot and muggy. It feels more like August than May. :)I'll take it! It's so nice to be outside and let the kids run and play and burn off lots of energy!

Yesterday we beat the heat and headed out for an early morning walk/ride. I had Ty snap this picture. Becca took one of Ty and I, but my lens didn't auto focus right. It's not as hard to get him to pose for the camera though. ;)

*Please excuse the fact that my belly is showing. Nothing fits!*

A few weeks ago, the kids wanted to paint and I didn't feel like cleaning up the mess. I clipped some paper to the garden fence (Doug put this fence up to keep the dogs out of the garden) and they painted a mural. Or a Welcome home sign. Look who the sign is for!

Play Time

I am finally getting around to the pictures on my camera!

It seems a though a bear has moved into our house. At least from my perspective. It's definitely female. About 5'4" and rather large around the middle. :)

Going through these pictures has been good for me. Sometime I feel like the only thing I get done successfully has no real meaning. Then I get grouchy and feel like the worst mom ever. Looking at the pictures from the last few weeks was fun. It reminded me of why we laugh so much. And why my kids still want to hug me at night. Maybe the bear is bigger in my mind then in reality. :)

The end of the school year was so much fun. The last day we had gorgeous weather. Doug brought home some water balloons and the kids had a blast. They never actually got a direct hit, but they had fun trying.

Hope never threw a balloon, but she loved and hugged the ONE she held for about twenty minutes.

We made a cake to celebrate their hard work. The kids had a blast putting sprinkles on it. I was trying so hard not to laugh at their deep concentration. They wanted to have an equal number of each color of sprinkles on the cake. I think more sprinkles rolled off the cake than ended up on top. :)

Ignore the pile of outgrown clothes on the piano behind them. It makes me sad to see how much they have outgrown this year. *sniff *sniff*

Of course pregnancy has nothing to do with my sentimentality

Becca has been begging me to get her hair cut at a "real" place. So far, only Mom or I have cut it. I told her we would go get our hair cut soon.

We headed out last week for some girl time. It was fun to watch her be so excited.


Bubbles are always good for a laugh. I love how everyone had so much fun with these.Thanks Dad B. for these massive bubble blowers! They made a rather gloomy day so much fun. Tyler and Doug were so intent on getting HUGE bubbles to come off the wand without breaking. Becca and Hope just wanted to chase them down. The first picture of Ty holding Hope away from the bubble makes me laugh.



Tomorrow I will post some more pictures. Including a baby bump one for Laura. :)

Top Ten Ways You Know Baby Is Due

I'm getting big.

Really big.

I'm no longer cute pregnant. I've reached the stage of pregnancy where pretty much anyone feels free to comment on my growing midsection. Here are some of my favorites.

10. A friend from church says, "You look like you stuck a basketball up your shirt."

9. A women in the Walmart parking lot says, "You're just about due any day now aren't you." (Unfortunately, this was about a month and a half ago. )

8. A waitress at a restaurant rubbed my belly. (I consider myself blessed that it was a first...in all my pregnancies. :)

7. More friends from church comment, "You're not near as big as you were last time."

6. My chiropractor says, "Do you still fit or do you need a pillow." Referring to whether or not my belly will fit into the section she dropped out of the table for me.

5. My children begin offering to do more housework.

4. The gentleman at the meat counter looks at me and my three children and says, "You're hands are already full. Now they're going to be even more full."

3. When grocery shopping alone or with the kids I get offers to help load the van.

2. Doug, "Hi, Breeley" As he notices my shirt moving from across the room.

I have to admit this last one is my favorite.

1. Mother's Day at a restaurant as I stood to leave the table, an elderly gentleman says to me, "My word! You's due! Happy Mother's Day!"

Nesting and Blogging Don't Go Together

I'm having major blogging brain block. I can't figure out what to write about. What's worth sharing; what's best kept to myself. So I've been avoiding it.

And nesting.

Nesting in a defrost the deep freeze and wash it all down, wash all the kids bedding, sort kids clothes and decide what to keep and give away, clean out the cabinets, teach the kids to clean the bathroom, make meals I've never made in my life just to have something to do, vacuum all the cracks and crevices of our home, and have a "To Do" list three pages long kind of way.

Sitting in my broken computer chair that hurts my back and blogging just seems unproductive by comparison.

But.

I miss you all. You 5 people who read my blog and leave sweet comments. You who make my day when I take a deep breath and sit down on the very front edge of my broken chair so I'm sure I can heave baby and me back up again. Your thoughtful comments and emails are a wonderful encouragement to me and my swollen feet.

And speaking of blogging friends, Amanda is once again hosting the Awesomest Bloggy Awards. My bloggy friend Mimi is up for Awesomest Overall Blog. If you don't read this lady's blog, you should. She takes awesome pics, writes the most encouraging posts and has the best sense of humor. She's a bright spot in the blogging world and I'd love to see her win. Go vote for her will you? Thanks. :)

Once school is over (TWO MORE DAYS!!!) I should have a little more time to edit and post the many pictures sitting on my camera. And come see all of you a little more. Until then, you'll find me sniffing laundry that I just washed in Dreft.

It's so tiny.

And cute.

And pink.

Perspective

It's what God's been teaching me lately.

So this is what it feels like.

Four.

I'm still wrapping my mind around that fact. Breeley's getting bigger -and more active- everyday. So am I...bigger, not more active. :)

As I begin to pull the teeniest of clothes out of boxes to see what I need (this is our first summer baby), I have been thinking back through each pregnancy.

With Tyler, we were in shock about the first half of it. He was not planned. Far from it. Finding a sitter for our newborn on our first anniversary was not in our wildest dreams. But there I was pregnant, huge, and trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I was going to be some one's mommy soon. I slept and ate at will. I worked a few days a week and mostly just enjoyed myself. Although I was occasionally sick and somewhat uncomfortable, I was able to sleep, eat, watch TV, shop and do pretty much what I wanted when I wanted. Ty was born almost two weeks late. We left the hospital thinking somebody would track us down and take back the baby we'd gotten away with.

With Becca, I thought I was a seasoned pro. I felt great until the six week mark. Then I began my hourly trek to kneel before the porcelain throne. Tyler got so used to it, he would come in and crouch down beside me and make gagging sounds while I did what I desperately wanted to not do. Morning sickness lasted all day, every day, for 18 weeks, left for 8 and returned as true morning sickness for the rest of the pregnancy. I ate what Becca let me (PB&J -still her favorite food), slept when Tyler let me, and rarely left the house.

Hope was her own story. Although I was sick much of the time, I didn't have the luxury of heading to the bathroom when I needed to. With two potty trained kids and one bathroom things were a little trying in that department. I learned the art of self talk. I rarely got a nap. Tyler and Becca had started to not nap, so why should Mommy need to. I ate whatever I fixed for the kids and prayed it stayed down. I was too tired to try to figure out what I wanted let alone try to fend off the always hungry children who would eat it before I could anyhow.

Breeley has been a dream pregnancy for most of it. I'm a little sore and a lot tired. But, I feel blessed beyond measure after two very hard pregnancies.

I am still wondering what four is going to look like. We pray daily that God will develop love between our children and help a strong bond grow in our family. I wonder how Ty will feel as the only boy, how Becca will feel as our quietest girl, how Hope will feel being moved from baby to big sister. I wonder how my marriage will change and how the house is going to get clean, groceries are going to be shopped for, school is going to be accomplished. As the day our five becomes six get closer, I'm excited. Just like I was with Tyler, I'm a little nervous. Like with Becca, I'm feeling a a slight bit of confidence. Like with Hope, I'm tired and can get overwhelmed. But what I know for sure is...

I have no idea what this is going to feel like. I have no idea how I'm going to do it. But I do know the One who has blessed me with four children. And I'm sure He has some great advice. :)

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Ring around the rosey

Pocket full of posies

Ashes, ashes

We all


Fall down!