Tuesday thoughts

The weather today has been all over the place, sunshine then rain, a bit of thunder and wind, then more sun.  So I thought I'd channel that weather into my blog post today and just write out a bunch of random stuff on my mind today.

*  I just finished a cup of decaf coffee with peppermint mocha creamer and a maple donut.  I gave up caffeinated coffee while I'm pregnant but about once a week I'll make a cup of decaf, and oh how yummy it is.  And the donut?  Well, I've been trying to eat fairly decently this pregnancy but I mean come on.....a fresh maple donut after a trip to Winco?  And slightly warmed up with a cup of coffee?  No.self.control. :-)

*  We had a nice, sunny weekend and the boys loved being outside.  They play a silly game on our swingset where they tell Peter they see a tiger or a giraffe across the yard.  Peter turns around while they're swinging to 'look for the animal' and then acts like he's hurt when the swing bangs into his back.  It's adorable and the boys just die laughing every time.  I married a great man.

*  I'm meeting my girlfriends tonight for girl talk, accountability and pie at Sharis.  Sharis is the only place open late here in town, but we love, love the chance to get together for advice, encouragement, stories, etc.  Love this sweet time!

*  I made this little background for my sister's daycare to make it look like her kids were superheroes, since it was a superhero theme for them this week.  It took about 10 minutes and Ben tried it out for us.

*  Call the Midwife Season 3 starts this Sunday!!  SO excited.  Kinda odd to watch the show while you're pregnant, but a great show nonetheless.

*  Our pastor preached a great message on how we view the Bible.  And how the way we approach and see the Bible is a reflection of our relationship with God.  Do we see the Bible more as a phone book or a love letter?  For some reason it just struck such a chord with me and I felt convicted/encouraged to spend more quality time in His Word.  And to do that I need to wake up earlier, before my boys do.  So my 'schedule' and 'life' don't allow me to keep making excuses.  Really praying I can keep this desire fresh in my heart.

*  Peter is an amazing dad but as a photographer who can get the boys to look at the camera and smile??  Not so much.  So Sunday's picture with my boys kinda failed, but at least we're all there right?? :-)

*  Ben's awake from his (sort of)nap so time to get up and fold another load of laundry and get dinner started.  Why does the term stay-at-home-mom seem so off base sometimes??  Happy Tuesday!

Five on Friday

I always see this fun link-up on other blogs and thought it'd be the perfect thing for this Friday afternoon!

One

Why is it that so few stores actually have maternity sections anymore?  I understand that I can shop online but it's so hard to know how something is going to fit you without trying it on.  Maybe I'm too picky.  I just need a few things since this is the first time I will be pregnant during the summer, other than just the first trimester.  There are a few things I'm eyeing so I might have to buy online and return them if I need to....


                from Old Navy                              Old Navy                                      Kohls

Two

Peter and I have started trying to think of a baby boy name we both like.  Benjamin's name was easy to choose, Jonah wasn't too difficult to land on, and now we're a bit stuck finding something we both like.  I know we'll find the perfect name, and we tend to wait until the last month or two anyway!  Still can't believe we're having our 3rd boy :-)

Three

Yesterday morning I was really needing a breather from the whole "take care of two boys, cook 3 meals a day, loads of laundry" crazy circle that is my life (though the life I love) so I took my boys to my mom & sister's daycare for the morning and had a few hours to myself.  I got a free decaf Starbucks latte that was on our card, and did a bit of shopping, thinking, and relaxing.  It was wonderful, and a nice chance to just get out for a bit without taking care of someone else and just enjoy myself.

Four

While I was shopping, I finally found a new bedspread for our master bedroom.  I've been itching for a change but didn't want to buy all new accessories (okay so maybe Peter didn't want me to buy all new accessories, ha ha!).  So here's what our room looks like before....

In the winter we switch out the burgundy blanket for a dark green brown comforter.  But here's a packaging picture of our new quilted comforter by Cynthia Rowley that I found at Home Goods...

(minus the shams because they didn't have any in the store)

We're doing a bit of rearranging and the chair has been moved to the boys' room, the desk from their room is being moved to ours, and I'm making a few changes just to freshen things up.  This weekend I'm going to paint the room the same color we've used in the other bedrooms in our house (and never got around to ours).

The color is Latte by Sherwin Williams.

I think the subtle freshening up that the paint color and new quilt will bring to the room is just what I've been looking for.  I'm super excited to see it all come together and will take real pictures when it's all done!!

Five

We picked up Frozen from the redbox today so the boys can watch it tonight.  Jonah of course won't sit through any show more than 15 minutes, but I'm curious as to whether or not Ben will like it.  He sometimes doesn't like things that he deems 'too girly'.  Peter and I have already seen it when we took our nieces and nephew over Christmas so we're excited to belt out some "Let It Go" with our boys tonight

Happy Friday everyone, sooo excited there's sunshine in our weekend forecast!!

It's a Boy!!

Tuesday afternoon was the big reveal, the ultrasound that would show us whether we were expecting another boy or another girl.  I had only scheduled it about 2 weeks earlier which was kind of nice because I didn't have to spend months painstakingly waiting for that day.  And as the day got closer, I got more and more excited, but also more and more nervous.  I'm not one to always dwell on the 'what-if's' that could happen, but I was definitely wanting to see a healthy baby on that ultrasound screen!!

It's always so amazing to see your baby through an ultrasound.  It wasn't even a 4D ultrasound but it's just so cool.  The fact that you can see the heart beating, see the brain, see the limbs....awesome.  So we just fully enjoyed looking at our little baby (even more so after the ultrasound tech let me go empty my bladder, ha!!) and waited for the shot that would tell us boy or girl.

Right away it was pretty obvious that we were indeed having another boy!!  My reaction to the news was funny, because I wasn't super disappointed that we weren't having a girl after having two boys previously.  My reaction was sort of like, hmmmm, okay, it's not a girl.  Okay, it's not a girl.  It's a boy, we know boys.  We love our boys, this is great!

Especially after I was able to go home and just sit for an hour after the appointment, it was just so fun to think about the crazy chaos that 3 sweet, lovable brothers are going to bring to our household.  People's reaction to our 3rd boy news has been mixed.  Some people were just excited, some seemed a bit disappointed because they were hoping we were having a girl, some said to keep trying for a girl, some didn't seem to believe that I was okay with having 3 boys.  But really, Peter and I are more than okay with it and spent that evening just watching Benjamin and Jonah and smiling at each other imagining another little tackler in the mix.

I would have been okay with either a boy or a girl, and I am so, so, so grateful to have seen a healthy baby.  We really are blessed to be able to have children easily and I count it a great privilege to be able to do my best to raise 3 godly boys who will love Jesus and love their mama :-)

And although our grocery bill is going to be out of this world crazy big, just think of the money we are going to save on weddings!!!  Now the tough part of finding another boy name we like.....

Sunday best

My boys love going to church on Sunday and I love torturing them by trying to get a picture of them before we leave in the morning.  Most of the time they fight me, but I am relentless and know that some day I'll love looking back at my handsome men in their Sunday best!

Bunkbeds

Soon after Jonah turned two, we lost our minds for a second.  Okay, not really.  But we did determine to put our bunkbeds together, say goodbye to our great sleep, and let our boys sleep together in the same room.  Which if you think about it, is kinda the same thing as losing your mind :-)

Peter had the day off for Veteran's Day so we decided to bite the bullet and get the transition done.  Ben has already been sleeping in what we call the 'playroom' since my Mom and sister have been with us, but he's been on a futon.  We had a set of bunkbeds that we got for a steal of a deal ($30) at a garage sale last summer, so we decided to combine our playroom with the boys' bedroom.  It's the biggest of the rooms upstairs and will allow us to still have a guestroom and nursery upstairs too!

It was quite a bit of effort to move all the toy shelves, bookshelves, etc all around in order to put the bunkbeds on the biggest wall away from the windows, but we got it done!  I forgot to take before and after pictures of the whole room, but I will do that soon.  It's probably my favorite room in the house because it's so cheerful on a sunny day and just the right size.

The boys have looooved being in their bunkbeds and together in the same room.  Jonah had never been out of his crib and neither one had ever shared a room.   So all things considered, they have done great!  Of course, the first week they both woke up super duper early and naptimes were really short.  But they were getting used to sleeping with new noises, and learning how to wake up without waking the other one up.

Now, they've learned how to sleep through each other talking/crying and have learned how to wake up and quietly get out of their room without waking the other one.  We still have our moments of course, but it's gone really smooth and their back to normal sleeping and normal naps, it took about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks for this to happen.

And watching them bond even more as brothers?  Ahhhh, be still our hearts.  Seriously, Peter and I just smile so big when we see them laugh and tickle each other and talk to each other in their bunkbeds.  It melts our hearts every time and we feel so, so blessed to have our boys.