A few pictures

I have been a bad blogger lately, so I thought I'd just put a few pictures up from the past couple of weeks, along with a few updates.

Our dear friends, James and Amber, had their 2nd baby boy last week! We got to watch their oldest, Kelton (James' best buddy), while she had him, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to love on their beautiful new baby boy, Kolt, several times last week. We are so excited to have two more boys close together in age!


I just ended an incredible Beth Moore study, The Patriarchs, this past week with the girls below. This has been a huge blessing to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them, getting to listen to, learn from, and get to know each one of these girls on a deeper level. 

Jennifer, Amy, Kelly, Melissa, Nicki, me, Kimberly.  Between the 7 of us, there are 6 boys, 3 boys-on-the-way, and 1 girl-on-the-way!

James has not done so well sleeping since I last posted.  He still loves his bed, but he wakes up ALL throughout the night!  Most nights, he starts the waking up process around 11pm (before we are even asleep) and wants us in there until he falls back asleep.  Last night was a good night.  He got up at 11, Josh went in his room and slept on the floor until 2am, came back in bed with me, and then James didn't get up again until 5.  Yes, that is considered a good night these days! :)  Thankfully, James has been pretty happy during the daytime and not too affected by the getting up.  
These past few weeks have been just heavenly, because we have had some GORGEOUS weather!!  I have never been happier to see August and 100 degree weather go away.  This coolish September has been such a gift, and we have been taking advantage daily.  James is so happy to be outside exploring and running around.  Being in the 6th month of pregnancy and having a very active 2 year old in August was not exactly easy.  Pregnancy seems easier and more enjoyable (slightly) to me now that it's cooler.  I'm going to try to time that better next time around...if I can!
I have finally put pictures up on my web album from August and September for family and close friends who might want to look.  

Tomorrow I'm entering my 3rd trimester and am enjoying getting to feel much bigger and stronger movement from him.  This week they've even started to hit a nerve or two at times! It's getting harder to be comfortable and my tailbone hurts now if I sit down for a while, but my sciatic nerve doesn't seem to hurt as badly lately.

I am getting very, very excited about FALL and my favorite 4 months of the year!  We have been watching lots of football, I've started putting up Fall decorations (and I couldn't resist "decorating" my blog for Fall as well), and I've even started cooking our Fall staple...Taco Soup!  

On that note, I'll end this and wish everyone a wonderful weekend!  

First night in the big boy bed!

**Update**
Well, James made it through his first night okay. He liked being in his bed and never asked to come out, but he woke up all throughout the night and wanted one of us in there while he fell back asleep (which takes about an hour each time). So we're all tired today, but I guess this is preparing us really well for having a newborn again! :) I have a feeling it's just going to take a few weeks for him to get to where he's sleeping through the night again. We're about to go try naptime in the big boy bed. I might just go lay down with him and take a nap, too!

Last night when I went to check on him before bed, he had already scooted himself into this position above. I picked him up and put pillows between the bed and the walls. He is such a mover when he sleeps, so we definitely needed the rail and wall for boundaries.
Hope everyone is having a great start to the week!




James is tucked away right now for his first night in his big boy bed. The going to bed process went really well (thankfully!!), and he actually went to sleep within about 10 minutes of laying down. This is great, since he has been having a really hard time going to bed lately. James has been the best night time routiner since he was a baby, but every night for the past two weeks, he's taken about an hour to go to sleep and wants one of us in there, sitting on the floor by the crib. Before that, it was a five minute routine and putting him to bed awake without any problems ever. That was kind of perfect timing, though, to start messing up bedtime two weeks before moving to a new bed and starting a new routine!

Below are some pictures and a 6 minute long video of his first night going to bed like a big boy.









I'll let you know tomorrow how the night went! Say a little prayer for us to all sleep well tonight! The past three nights he has gotten up at all hours of the night (also very rare for James), so we are praying that this will reset his body to get back in good sleeping habits!

1st Day of School and Big Boy Room progress

Today was James' first day of school! James is in the 2's room now, which seems so much more grown up to me! This is the first year for him to be on a napmat instead of a crib, and they will do a letter, number, color, and shape each day, along with a Bible lesson. I wish so badly I could be a fly on the wall in there and watch him during circle time! I absolutely love his teacher (I have every year), and I have felt so excited today about him being in there this year.

Last night, we went up there for meet the teacher night, and I really enjoyed getting to be the parent for the first time and not the teacher! James was talking to his buddies like he was such a big kid. He saw his friend, Adelaide, and said, "Hey you!". I had never heard him say that before!

I also enjoyed getting to spend time dropping him off this morning and getting him settled and at ease in his classroom without have to rush off to mine. James was very clingy with me (holding on for dear life) while I was in there, but after a kiss and a hug, he let me go with no tears.

When I picked James up this afternoon, he had his just-woke-up face, and the first words out of his mouth were, "I sweep fwoor!" (I slept on the floor). I don't know how his teacher was able to do that, since I can never get him to lay down for a nap anymore. He proudly showed me the "cowerpiwar" (caterpillar) he made and wasn't in any hurry to go to me or leave!

This will be my first year to not do some kind of teaching job! My #1 goal for MDO days this fall is getting pictures developed and in albums. I plan on spending a couple of hours each time on that, and then either cooking, going on lunch dates with Josh, cleaning, organizing, running errands, or getting ready for the baby. This Spring, I am excited about the fact that I'll get to have those days to just spend with my little baby!


This morning, James actually went to the fireplace and "posed" for a picture for me without any begging or bribing! Every time I said "smile", though, he made the face in the pictures below. I finally just started snapping and got the one above.




Josh painted James' big boy room this weekend, so we are one step closer to moving James into his big boy room! It's not going to be finished and decorated for another month or two, but we are planning on moving him over next week! I can't believe how many changes my boy is going to be making over the next few months! We are moving him out of his crib next week, then after he gets used to his big boy bed, get rid of the paci. That makes me very sad thinking about it, but I want him to get used to not having or needing it before the baby comes. Then, he'll be a big brother and have to share all of the attention, THEN we'll be potty training sometime next Spring or Summer! That's a lot of changes for one little guy in a short amount of time! I'm anticipating some new, wonderful times ahead, that will also bring with it some hard time and challenges!

James was SO excited about his new room last night and was pretending to go to sleep. I think he is going to totally embrace being a big boy in his big boy bed, because he layed down last night after we set it up, asked me to cover him with a blanket, and then put his hand out to me and said, "Mommy, stay there!" He then closed his eyes (squinting them because he was pretending) and was whispering to us. He then made the fake snoring sound with his eyes still closed. I hope this excitement stays and that next week's big move will be a breeze! I'll let you know how it goes, and if you have any advise for us, please share!!

My personality

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive. Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

I have seen these on a couple of blogs and decided to do my own. I usually test ENFP, but I am probably on the Extrovert/Introvert line. I feel slightly uncomfortable in groups of people, but love to be around 1 other person. I have to have alone/quiet time and lots of just Josh, James, and me time, but I also have to have a conversation with a friend, my sister, and/or my mom every day.

Now go test yourself!