Weekend Happenings

This weekend was pretty low-key. I still wasn't feeling completely better and Jacob was gone to rehearsals and performances from Wednesday night to Saturday night so...the kids and I didn't get out much on Saturday. I did run to the grocery store while Jacob was home for a short break. The weekend was also extremely cold - barely making it to freezing on Saturday and Sunday! 

 The kids snacking on beans. Yes, kidney beans and pinto beans.

We did buy a van on Friday! We had decided that we weren't going to get a bigger vehicle since we were able to (barely) squeeze all three carseats in the bench seat of our Highlander. The infant seat was going to have to be in the middle, which would be a pain to lift in and out over the other carseats, but we were going to make it work.

Well, long story short. The Lord just dropped the opportunity to get a van in our laps and worked out all the details! We were contacted by a dealership to refinance our Highlander, and it turned out that we were able to trade it in for a newer van for almost the same monthly payments. We are so thankful!

I learned to drive on a van, but haven't driven one for several years. I feel like I'm driving a tank and I need to practice my parking skills, but other than that, I love it!

Lily is so into singing right now. She carries around her microphone and sings Away In A Manger (her favorite song) all the time. She knows all three verses nearly perfectly too. Whenever Levi can get his hands on the microphone, he holds it against his mouth and just starts hollering. It's hilarious!

I'm thanking the Lord that I'm feeling completely better today! It was such a blessing to wake up this morning and not have tons of sinus pressure weighing me down!

Hope y'all had a great weekend!

Who Knew?

That ginormous cardboard boxes could give

so much joy and fun!

Happy Friday!

Midweek Randoms

The adult orchestra that Jacob conducts threw him a little baby shower after rehearsal last night. It was so sweet and really made us feel special.

My heart has been so burdened for a local friend who just delivered her baby at 28 weeks because of pre-eclampsia. Sweet baby Reagan weighs 1lb 15ozs and is doing as well as can be expected. They have a long road ahead of them.

Another real-life friend just delivered a precious baby boy with a heart condition. His first open-heart surgery was yesterday, at only 4 days old. You can read more about baby Martin and his family on their blog.

Everyday my children make me laugh, make me love being their mama, and completely wear me out.

Today we went to the park but only got to play a little while because it turned windy and cold. It was fun to get out of the house though!

If you had been driving past my house around 3pm you would've gotten a good laugh. I wrote a note to a friend, got the stamp on it and was about to run it out to the mailbox when I heard Lily awake from her nap. I went and got her, came back to the living room, and glimpsed the mailman pulling away from our mailbox! Of course he would be early today! I grabbed the card and bolted out of the house to chase him down. Yes, my 36 1/2 week preggo self and carrying a 2 year old was tearing across the yard. Thankfully the mailman saw me and waited...but I'm sure I was a sight to behold! HA!

I was going through my recipes looking for some more freezer-friendly ideas and both Lily and Levi wanted to help. 

I'm so thankful for my husband who works so hard to provide for me and the children!

Isaiah 41:10 was an encouragement to me today. "I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness."

Chalk and Colored Rice

Today was a pretty good day. I'm still feeling a little under the weather, but you know, mama's can't call in sick, so we just keep plugging away. Jacob's Pawpaw came to visit for a little bit this morning. He is so precious! He loved seeing Levi walking and the kids had fun doing ride little horsey with him. 

Jacob had a break for lunch, so we went out to a yummy BBQ restaurant. Levi played peek-a-boo with a lady across the room and Lily sporadically sang Away In A Manger (quite loudly) throughout the meal. There is never a dull moment with our kids! Ha.

After lunch we went to Old Navy to use a $10 off $20 coupon that was about to expire. I was planning to get some post-baby comfy clothes, but sadly, that didn't happen. They didn't have the lounge pants I was wanting to get and it's just kind of hard for me to pick out clothes when I'm in a hurry. Jacob ended up getting some workout pants and we scored Lily and Levi each an outfit off the clearance rack for this summer.

Our wonderful mother's helper came for several hours this afternoon. She played with the kids outside nearly the entire time! Levi obviously loved the chalk and got himself completely covered in it. Lily had a good time "cooking" with her colored rice.

We are already looking forward to spending many spring and summer days outside enjoying the beautiful weather!

Rough Weekend

First off - Yes, I'm getting a blog makeover, but it's not finished yet. I really like it so far and I can't wait until it's done!

We had a pretty crazy weekend. On Friday night, I started having sinus pressure (after struggling on and off all week with a cold) and my right ear got clogged up. Within an hour, I was in horrible pain and felt like my eardrum was going to burst. I tried a bunch of home remedies, and got mild relief. Jacob got home from symphony rehearsal around 11:00 and put garlic oil drops in my ear, massaged it, got the heating pad to put on it, basically took really good care of me! Around midnight he went to Walgreen's and got some earache drops. They helped some - enough for me to be able to sleep a few hours. I woke up around 3:00 and couldn't go back to sleep because of the pain. At 4:00 I put some colloidal silver in my ear and (on a whim) a whole garlic clove. Within 30 minutes I had no more pain! Amazing! I went back to sleep til about 6:00. 

I felt pretty good all day Saturday. Jacob was gone a good part of the day, so the kids and I played a lot. Lily wanted to color so let Levi try coloring for the first time. He did such a good job! I was really glad he didn't try to eat the crayons too much.

Sunday morning I was feeling ok, but as the day went on, the sinus pressure started getting really bad. By afternoon I felt like my head was going to blow up. My midwife called in an antibiotic for me and I've been feeling so much better today. I am so thankful!

Levi is such a mess! He's wearing an outfit my brothers wore when they were little. 

Today we've had a good day at home. We just got out the legos that the kids got for Christmas. They have spent so much time playing with them! It's so fun watching them learn and play.

Hope y'all had a great weekend!

Life Today

I thought Lily was in her room playing late this afternoon, but when I went in to check on her about 30 minutes later, I found her sound asleep in her rocker. So sweet.

Levi's been extremely emotional the last couple days. I don't know if he senses that something big is about to change in our home, or what. I think he's teething, and he's getting over a cold, but he has just been very clingy to me. If I even begin to leave his sight, he melts into tears and runs after me as fast as he can...usually falling and ending up crying worse. I'm hoping this is just a little phase he's going through - not that I don't love the extra snuggles, but a little less crying would help this mama's nerves! ha.

We usually go out to eat once a week, either lunch or supper, depending on Jacob's schedule. We rotate between Panera, Five Guys, and Mexican because we can get our food quickly and it's not expensive. The last few weeks when Lily hears us talking about going out to eat, she'll start begging to go to Five Guys. It is her favorite place ever. So tonight we ate there and then went to a frozen yogurt joint for a special treat. It was so fun! There was nobody else there and we let the kids run around and play on the fun chairs. They had a blast! Jacob and I sat watching them and talking about how we can't believe that we're going to have another baby in just a few weeks. Haha.

Have a great weekend!

25 months

Lily is growing up so quickly! She is such a big helper to me. Here are a few things I want to remember -

• We were reviewing Lily's catechism questions the other night while getting her jammies on - Me: "Where did God put Adam after he made him?" Lily: (very matter of factly) "In the bathroom."

• A few nights ago while I was rocking Lily before bed, I told her that she needed to go right to sleep so mama could get in bed and sleep to grow the baby in her tummy. Last night, out of the blue, Lily said that she needed to get to sleep and grow the baby in her tummy. 

• She loves to listen to music! We really want to get a cd player for her room so she can listen to music during quiet time.
• She loves playing with her dolls, play kitchen, and dress up stuff.
• Helping me kitchen is one of her favorite things. Whenever I'm in the kitchen she comes and pulls up a stool and starts helping.

• Lately she's enjoyed playing with play-doh.
• She's getting molars, so she chews on everything.

This picture was at one of my little brother's basketball games. She insisted on wearing her necklaces and crocs. Such a stinker!