I feel so much better!

This has been a wonderful day for the following reasons:

~My considerate/caring/talented/sympathetic/hard-working mother come over today and helped me with my "hot spots" or whatever you want to call them. What a JOY she is in my life. sigh. Thank, ma!

~My husband wrote me the sweetest email reminding me of his love for me!

~When I tell my daughter that I love her, she says, Thank you:)

~A dear couple from our church is moving VERY close to us this week. Even if for a short period of time, I want to make the best of it. They've even discussed possibly having a Bible study. yay!! :)

~My Lord loves me! and I'm one day closer to heaven

~My 2 pounder moves like CRAZY, and I love it! So thankful all's going well with this pregnancy, as far as we know!

~My house smells good; we turned our air machine thingy on again. LOVE that smell.

WHO COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE??

night!

Quite a pleasant day

Mikayla and I were so kindly invited to a ladies' luncheon hosted by our pastor's wife. Well, today was the day, and if you have had any dealings with our daughter, you probably know that I was a bit nervous about the whole ordeal. While Mikayla is lots of fun, she's also quite energetic, lively, curious, at times rebellious, and a bit stubborn. So, what did I do?? I prayed. Prayed that Mikayla would have a good day and that I, as her mother, would be wise and loving in mothering her.

The Lord so kindly answered my prayer, and we had a delightful couple of hours together with several other women:))) I was so thrilled, as you can imagine. It took us almost an hour to get to this place. First we took a tour. It was GORGEOUS. So extravagantly decorated. Breathtaking. Then we ate a scrumptious lunch. Spanish rice with a veggie soup and (really good!) tortillas- with tea and a lime to boot. Mikayla really liked the meal along with me, and then we shared some YUMMY carrot cake. :)!

After a few moments to let food settle and relax outside (enjoying the beautiful view!), we went indoors for a most excellent Bible study given by our pastor's daughter. Mikayla actually quietly sat beside me (most of the time) with her notebook and colored pencils and was a sweetheart! Oh, this day was such a blessing for me!! To know that my God cares even to answer small prayers in my life is just so humbling. I was encouraged in the Word. ps. You know, the most attractive woman is a godly woman. There's NO doubt about it.

Coming home, I looked at Mikayla and told her that I was so proud of her and that she was SUCH A GOOD GIRL TODAY. She looked at me seriously, then just beamed. I LOVED IT. And I love her. So much.

I hope you, too, had a good day. Mine was unique and special, to be sure!

Guess who's having a birthday!

Yep, it's my dearest friend Christy- you know, Mikayla's best bud. She's finally catching up with me. So, if you know how old I am, you also know her age:) I'm sure she'll appreciate me saying that. Happy Birthday, CC!!!! LOVE YOU!

We had a sleepover with her this past Friday night while the guys went camping. I decided to let Mikayla stay up late since it was a special occasion, and I (we) regretted that. She was full force at almost midnight and when it was FINALLY bedtime, she didn't do so well. Let's just say she used to getting around 12 hours of sleep a night and she got about 4 or 5. NOT FUN. But, we did take a really good, long nap the next day. :) My mom drew some cute things on this balloon and it popped while Mikayla held it. She was SO CONFUSED. And I think b/c it was so late we thought it was hilarious. We had an enjoyable weekend, to be sure!

25 weeks today. I just read online that if the baby were to be born right now (nooooo!) that he'd have a pretty good chance of survival. Isn't that awesome??!! I think that's so neato. He's weighing in at around 1.5 pounds.

Is this weird or what? I'm the ONLY ONE in our church who can still be/get pregnant. Wild??? I think so. Granted we DO have a small chruch, but it still seems strange to me. I feel like everyone is calling it quits. and I'm NOT putting anyone down, I promise. just an interesting fact I was pondering today... I can hear it now... GUESS WHO'S pregnant! duh. And why is it that every time somebody speaks on the tongue that it's so convicting to me?? Hmmm... this morning's SSchool was such a blessing to me. Lord willing, I have/will learn from it. sigh.

I'd better be done for the night. Good night, my friends out there. It's supposed to get COLD tomorrow. I. am. excited. for. sure.

Love this verse

Right now my daily reading takes place in 1 Kings. What a book it is! This is one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible, and I'm just gonna share it with you before I get my hubby's lunch ready for tomorrow and do some more reading (The Parting):

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth?
behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee;
how much less this house that I have builded?"
~1 Kings 8:27

Isn't it so good?? I just smile when I think on it. Solomon truly was a wise man!

Good night, sleepy girls.

It's almost payday- wheeee!!!!

a fraction and dreams

3/5. That's not too far away from 5/5, right? That's how far along I am in this pregnancy. I'm terribly thankful for the Lord's mercies. Not every baby lives this long, as we know, and we don't want to take a day of life for granted. I LOVE feeling this baby move. sigh. And I washed some baby clothes today and will be putting them in a bin tomorrow for our Joseph:)

Do you like dreams? All in all, I'd be much more pleased to NOT have them. I think I like about 1 out of every 10, if that. And I dream in color- you do? It's crazy to go on adventures almost every night.

Are you getting a flu shot? Not me!

I'm getting some pregnancy clothes tomorrow!!! Now if you've never been pregnant, the previous sentence will leave you wondering why I'd be so excited. I'm SO thankful! And the girl loaning them to me dresses so cute. Wheee! :)

Wow, what a random post.

I think my husband's going to finally go camping soon:) I'm so happy for him. I'm planning on making him some homemade granola for breakfast for when he wakes up in the rugged outdoors. Hope he likes it!

Anyone tried a java chiller? YUMMY.

good night.

Mikayla's first haircut(e)

It's about time, right?? Tina (or Teeny, as Mikayla calls her and rightly so) so kindly gave our Miggy her first haircut. Tina did a terrific job and was extremely patient and good with her. AND, she wouldn't let me pay her! She said it was a privilege. :) Too sweet, eh?

Oh, the weather outside is nicer

Isn't the cooler weather just wonderful?? And it's only getting cooler. Awwww. I LOVE IT! Fall is my favorite time of the year. How about you? (just thought I would make this at least semi-interactive:)

We got a bid today on our home (to convert our garage to a bedroom/bathroom) and we're quite pleased. So, I think we're going to GO FOR IT. Thanks to Jody's brother who is very knowledgable about contract stuff, we got some good advice. Wouldn't it be nice to have another bathroom?? We sure think so. I'm confused though. While working on the house, are they going to be using our restroom??? Hope not, but how mean is THAT?!

Today Grannybear cooked a deliciou meal for us. She's sure not lost her touch!;)

Tomorrow I plan (maybe) to go to Kid(s?) Duds in Comanche and get some clothes for Mikayla and maybe some maternity clothes for me. AND they buy clothes. So, I've rounded up some of Mikayla's last year's winter clothes to sell. Hopefully I'll get a pretty good deal.

Enough already. Time to snuggle with lovebug (who is now emailing me from work!!!)

Good night!

Mikayla and her best buddy

Well, here you have it. Although Mikayla REALLY likes Mingus (our cat), I'd say that Christy is surely her best buddy:) And it's more of a 2-way street with her and Christy. Mingus is not especially interested in her for some reason... Anyway, here they are. This was taken on the night that CC so lovingly watched her for us so we could have date night!! (I knew you'd appreciate that, Grace)

Dodson family photo shoot

What a fun day. My mom got her new camera (finally!) and decided to break it in on us. 23 weeks pregnant today!!! :) Our little Joseph has hit his one pound mark!! Here are a few pics of our outing:

Daniel in the den

That's what my brother Dan called our little Joseph Daniel when he called last night to wish me a happy birthday. How sweet, eh? :) I loved it. In fact, get this. Boomama (yeah, I know I should link it, but I don't want to- boomama.net) and I have the same birthday!! I almost feel like I share my bday with a celebrity. I got about 4 or 5 comments while she got over 160. So, she's a little more popular than me, but 10 years OLDER. Ha! Gotcha, Boo! :)

Thank you all for your (my) happy birthday wishes. Y'all are GREAT!

Hopefully we'll be getting a bid tomorrow on getting our garage converted to a bedroom/bathroom. It would be SO nice to get that done, but the Lord knows. AND, we got a bid yesterday on getting a new AC/heating unit. Whoo hooo!

I can't believe Reva doesn't like cheesecake. Take her temp! Reva, thanks for the clothes!!! They are so cute! :)

Rats. Tonight's retainer night. I guess it's better than having to get braces again. I DON'T want that.

More later; I have a lot on my mind...

NIGHT!

Cheesecake for breakfast, anyone?

There's nothing wrong with having cheesecake for breakfast, right? Especially when it's your BIRTHDAY, and especially when you're 28!!!!!!! Whoo hoo! What better time to put an end to the silence on my blog than my bday! :) Don't you agree??

Last night was quite enjoyable for me. We had supper out with my parents and Christy. Very nice and yummy. I've gotten cards and gifts- it's been so nice.

Exactly 4 months from yesterday, our baby's due! So, today would make it less than 4 months? How fun is that?? What a great pregnancy it's been. I'm terribly grateful for how well it's gone so far. sigh.

Two weeks ago my mom and I entered some photos in a contest @ Pow-wow days in Comanche, Tx. Well, it turns out that one of mine got a blue ribbon and when I went to pick it up, there was a CASH PRIZE to be had also. WOW!! 75 buckaroos. Crazy. It was a pic if Mikayla that I wasn't going to turn in, but Jody insisted that I do. I guess he's got an eye for those things;) So, that was fun. It was my first cash prize EVER. :)

Well, I'm off to enjoy my morning with my mom and Mikayla and eventually Grannybear. I'm picking up a pizza for lunch and I asked Grannybear what she wanted for a topping and she said capers. Gak. I think.

Ok, I feel a little more mature today. Well, not really. But, it IS cool to grow older, eh? I praise the Lord for 28 years of (wonderful) life!