Trains

Luke can make up his own Thomas stories now:

Adventing

Last year, my Advent efforts mainly consisted of making an Advent wreath (late) and packing a few boxes for Operation Christmas drop. This year Luke is much more aware of what is going on, so I really tried to get my act together.

Orthodox Advent begins 40 days before Christmas, so we have been at it since the 15th. It kind of snuck up on me again, but not entirely.

I wanted to make a traditional advent wreath that included activities that Luke could understand and enjoy, and that could be transported. This year, like we have done for all our Texas years, are traveling to see family at Christmas. Moving right into Christmas is one of the problems that we usually run into when we travel. Who can resist with all the family around?

I took the boy and the girl (I call them by those names in an affectionate sort of way) to Hobby Lobby to see what we could find. I got the information for the wreath from my friend's blog and found all the supplies that I needed. I decided to make a felt wreath (so it could be folded up and taken on the plane with us to CA), and decorate it with pictures that helped us prepare for Christ's birth. We had all of the nativity characters, pictures of fasting foods, money (for almsgiving), and pictures that related to St. Nicholas. Here are a couple of pictures:

Felt wreath with the little girl next to it. She is happy if she can see me while I work.


Here are our candles and pictures. On the backs of the pictures I wrote a short explanation. Everyday, the plan is to let Luke pick out a picture and talk about what is represents. On Sundays we talk about the candles and what each one of them signifies. Luke has really enjoyed this! He asks me to sit with him, pick out a picture and "Glorify Him."

Yet Another Sibling Video

I just love watching these two play. Here is another video of siblings at play:

Christmas Preview

I've been busy with my Christmas projects, advent projects, etc...

Here's a peek:
It is not easy to get both of your children to smile at the same time- especially when one is 4months old, and the other is rather obstinate :)

Oh, and aren't these adorable shoes? $1, yes just $1. If anyone needs a personal shopper, I'll send you my portfolio :)

Picaboo

So sweet. I love watching my kids play together!

Hoppy Ball

For Luke's birthday, some of my family sent him some birthday money. I was looking for something to wear him out inside the house when the weather was bad. Here is what I found:

Pictures that make me happy

Luke smiling after eating a big bowl of oatmeal:Baby Rebekah smiling in her bouncy seat. Could there be a happier baby? Honestly, I think not. :) (Thanks to our friends, the Neacsu's for letting us borrow the seat!)A flower cake. Do you see the big yellow center and the pink petals around? This week was my dear friend Miss Clare's birthday. She turned 83 and we had to celebrate! Sorry the picture is sideways?

Finally a video. Do you see how active this little one is? She kicked around for an hour last night and another hour this morning :)

Rebekah Grows!

Rebekah is growing so fast! A couple of days ago I noticed that she was getting too big for her 6 month onesies! Also, her legs are so long that her feet now stick out of the infant car seat. I had hoped to keep her in it longer than I think I will be able to. Next Monday is her next Dr. appointment. We will see how big she has grown over the past month.

Here are some recent pictures:

In her little watermelon outfit:
A nice close-up:
Sleeping on Daddy (she likes sleeping on someone's shoulder best of all)
On Grandpa:Oh, and we can't forget Luke!

How Poo Saves the Day

The scene: It is just before 7am and Rebekah wakes up for the day. I am groggy after 2 night feedings and Luke up 3 times screaming- first a nightmare, next his covers are not just so, third time- he runs into the bedroom holding up a finer and says, "Daddy, I have a boogie." (Nathan handled the Luke wakings, I handled Rebekah and heard Luke's screams from afar.)

Back to Rebekah- I see her smiling at me as I go to pick her up out of the crib. I picker her up and notice that my hand is wet.... Oh no, a leaky diaper. I set Rebekah down to change her.... Oh no, worse than a leak- its a poo. A big poo that is in her hands, up her back, soaking through the blanket, in the crib. Now I have poo on me too.

I realize that if I wash her up in the bathroom, it will probably wake Nathan up. Nathan has already had his share of waking ups (bless him) during the night, so plan B is the kitchen sink.

I quickly wash out the sink with the hand that has no poo on it, and hold dirty Rebekah with the other. Then I wash Rebekah up and hear Luke screaming in the background. That is how he wakes up these days. So I rush to finish with Rebekah and Luke comes flying into the living room. He is emotional and so I decide to cheer him up by telling him about Rebekah's colossal poo.

L: sobbing
M: It was all over the place!
L:Giggle.
M:She had it all over her back and hands and everywhere!
L: Giggle, Giggle.
M: (to Rebekah)- Oh you little stinky winky! :)
L: Laughing and now in a good mood.

Luke thinks Baby Rebekah is the funniest little girl ever.

I am in a good mood because Rebekah is clean once again and Luke is happy.

That is how poo can save the day.

3 Years Old!

My big baby turned three last week. I really can't believe that he is three already! We had a pretty big group over to the house on Sunday to celebrate. Since it was 100+ degrees outside, we just set up lots of water toys and and it was lots of fun. Here's the proof:A special thanks to Aunt Bethany for ALL her help corralling the kiddos.

In CA

We have been visiting in CA for the last week (and escaping the horrible, horrible heat!). Luke has gotten very tan and enjoyed many hours of outdoor time with Grammy. We have had visits from good friends, and my dad even drove down from Stockton to see us.

Here are some pictures:

Faces

I took some pictures today as Rebekah was waking up from a nap. She was making quite interesting faces. You might notice the chubbiness of her face too- she was 10lbs 6oz. and 22 inches long at the Dr. today. Her head also grew almost an entire inch to 15 inches.

And here is Grammy, Luke and Rebekah:

I took some pictures today as Rebekah was waking up from a nap. She was making quite interesting faces:

More of Luke and Rebekah

Here is a cute video from this morning. I am amazed that my wild boy can be so sweet with his little sister:

No Baby News, But Here is a Cute Luke Video

I went to the yard sales this morning. (Why not? No contractions yet :) )

One sale had all the things that Luke would love. We got an easel with a chalkboard for $3, a HUGE set of tinker toys for $3 and this lovely tent/house for $2.

When you live through Texas in the summer time, you begin to realize how important it is for kids to have indoor play items. And after rearranging the playroom, everything fit again too.

What we have been doing

Here is a list of some things that we have been busy with lately:

1. Today marks 38 weeks of pregnancy. We have been busy getting the final things in order before our little girl comes. Diapers, wipes and other little things are all here. The room is all set up, the baby's bag is packed. I have appointments every week and the midwives have continued to say that everything looks good.

2. I have been working with Luke on a new routine since he has decided that he no longer needs a nap. Now he has a rest time at about 1:30 for about an hour. He stays in his room and listens to Winnie-the-Pooh, Peter Rabbit, or Dr. Seuss. His favorite is Pooh and it has been fun to hear his new vocabulary.

I wish that he would have waited a little longer before dropping the nap since it does make him cranky, but Nathan and I are enjoying the earlier bedtime. Also, if I get really desperate to get him to rest, I can usually take him for a short ride in the car and he will sleep for a little bit.

3. Nathan has been working away on all of his work projects and took a trip to Ohio last week. That was the last trip before the baby comes, and hopefully for a while after that. We have been discussing baby names and still have reached no conclusions. I think that we will just take a list to the hospital and decide when we see her.

4. My dad visited last week and spent countless hours playing with Luke. They went outside and they played with Luke's Thomas the Tank Engine Lego set that I found at yard sale (score!).

We also celebrated Father's Day early with a trip to a BBQ place. It was definitely a Texan way to celebrate. :)

5. Most of my free time has been taken up with selling things on Amazon, Ebay, and Craigslist. We continue to find things that are just taking up space around here and it feels good to see them gone.

Also, selling off stuff is part of our larger plan to pay off debt. We have recently been turned on to Dave Ramsey and his getting out of debt plans. We don't have a whole lot to get rid of, but it would be really nice to finish up paying off Nathan's student loan and a couple of other things. At first, I thought that Dave Ramsey was kind of a used car salesman, but after listening to the testimony of others that I knew and reading The Total Money Makeover, we decided to try it out. It is really motivating to have someone encourage you not to spend money when everything else tells you to buy, buy!

That is about all for now. I'll try to be posting more often and will definitely post when the big event occurs.

Swim Class

Here are some pictures and a video of Luke's last swim class:

1. Floating on his back with Ms. Brittany


2. Standing on the tower in the middle of the pool, getting ready to jump. Jumping off the tower was one smart way that the instructors got the kids to get comfortable going completely underwater.
3. Into the water with a big splash!
4. Having fun at the end of class on the mat:
And a video:

34 Weeks and Outdoor Play

Well, here I am at 34 weeks. We are getting close! She should be about 5 and 1/2 lbs right now and I can feel all sorts of feet, elbows, and knees.
Also, I took a few pictures of Luke playing in his water and sand play table. He plays in it about an hour at least everyday and loves it. We find all sorts of things to pour water and sand around with. The current favorites are matchbox cars and the plastic eggs from Easter.
Happy kid:
Oh, yes, and another shot of the garden. So far we have taken in about a dozen cherry tomatoes and 5 beefsteak tomatoes. There are many many more on the vine too!

Our weather has been downright gorgeous- which is really saying something for Houston in mid-late May. Last year, it was already unbearably hot and muggy and the mosquitoes were out in force.

Stick Horse Riding

These arrived in the mail today:

Birth is Messy

Luke: You have a big baby in your tummy
Me: Yes, I do here she is (put hand on belly)
Luke: And she isn't going to pop out yet. She is still growing.
Me: Yes, she is growing bigger and bigger.
Luke: (covering his face) Then she's gonna pop out your belly and its going to get all over my head.
Me: (Where in the world did he get that from?)

He has also told me on a few occasions that "You gonna need a new shirt mommy, when the baby pops out."

We haven't shown him any birth videos (and won't). Where does he get this? :)

New Room

On Monday, I had a baby shower for our new little one (thanks Bethany and Kathy!). It was a lot of fun and I was excited to receive some things for the nursery. So... Luke and I have been working on turning his little jungle room into a cowboy/cowgirl themed room.

The idea for the room began forming in my mind when I came across two cool old cowboy pictures that I picked up at a yard sale a few months ago. I love them, Luke loves them, and they were only a $1 for the pair.


Part of putting together the nursery included moving Luke to a true big boy twin sized bed (so I could have the crib mattress again. Nathan has the wood for the bed frame, but for now, Luke is learning to sleep on his new mattress alone. It is much softer than his crib mattress and he loves it.
We also repainted and repositioned Luke's name:
Here is the crib transformed by pink. I haven't painted letters for our little girl yet because we are still wavering about a name. I am now pretty sure that I have settled on what I would like it to be, but Nathan is not sure. :)