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!

"swimming on you"

Have I EVER heard those words before?? Referring to clothing? NO. Until today!

Jody, Mikayla and I (and little Joseph, of course) went to pick out our son's coming home outfit, which he will, Lord willing, be wearing in about 19 weeks. :) So, we finally decided on one (SO CUTE!) and then went to the men's section to pick out a red shirt for Jody. (We're planning on having a family pic done soon and we want to all be wearing red shirts and jeans.)

After we found Jody's shirt, we headed to the catalog section to order my red shirt to match. The sales lady tried to help us find the red color red for the particular shirt I wanted. I then said that I wasn't sure whether or not to get a large or xlarge. She then looked at me, said I was "small boned" (WHAT???) like her daughter and the xlarge would be "swimming" on me. NEVER have I heard those words. It was a hoot. Especially being 21 weeks pregnant and feeling (and looking) quite mooshy (is that a word?). Crazy stuff tonight in JCPenney, I tell you. ;)

As you can see, I didn't stay home all day. I did wait to leave the house 'til Jody got home. I had a wonderfully relaxing day at home with my girl. And just to throw this in, I did NOT get the MAYBEs done that I'd listed in my previous post. oh well. good night!

Tomorrow's plans

Get ready, friends, for an exciting post.

Tomorrow I plan to:

~sleep in
~exercise
~read
~eat
~put laundry away
~read some more
~MAYBE vacuum
~MAYBE dust
~read
~take a nap
~not go anywhere (at least not until hubby gets home)

Now doesn't that sound NICE?? To me it sure does. But, you know how plans can soemtimes go. I'll probably be gone all morning and get back home just in time to greet my lovebug. (Noooooo!)

Pregnancy continues to go well. My growing belly is definitely making its entry. Wow.

I had a nice morning walk with my dear mommy today and my dad so kindly watched and fed Mikayla for me. Isn't that GREAT?? We're going to try to walk together twice a week. Any more than that and I'm afraid of what would happen. Just joking, of course.

Grace is Mrs. Running Queen lately. Grrrr. She's just trying to make me jealous. She'll be competing in a 5k in OCT- my BIRTH month. :) Yikes, I'm going to be 28. Good job, Grace, by the way.

Off to read up on some of my favorite blogs.

11 years ago today...

The Lord so mercifully saved me. I'd wanted to write a long, well thought out post, but alas, I'm here in McKinney and am quite "busy" watching two small girls:) (while Grace and Ma go to pick up Ian from SCHOOL!). I'm so very blessed by my God's goodness to me, his faithfulness and his great grace. Such an unworthy person, and yet the Lord chose to bestow his love upon ME! Such knowledge is too wonderful for me! (isn't that verse?)

My dear brother-in-law Dean so kindly changed my pic on my blog. See it? He's great. and he told me that he even took away the blemishes. gulp. :) Thanks, Dean!

I miss my hubby. Lord willing, I'll be seeing him tomorrow.

ps. I'm 20+ weeks along!!! And am feeling terrific! :) a little heartburn, but nothing that isn't very easily remedied.

Especial

Definition of especial: special; exceptional; outstanding

Yes, after some consideration, I find that word quite accurately describes my mommy. The other day I was in desperate need of help. My poor refrigerator had definitely plummeted to the very bottom of my priority list and was a disaster! She so generously gave of her time and energies and got it back into tip top shape. And I'm SO proud of it. I dare any of you to find one bad crumb in the whole thing! Just kidding:) kinda.

Just thought I'd share that.

ps. she's...............GREAT!

My dear Joseph

We are expecting a BOY! And will be naming him Joseph Daniel (after his daddy and my brother Dan). We are thrilled. It was wonderful seeing the little guy moving around. My parents, Mikayla, and Christy all came towatch- it was sure a treat to have them there! We are thankful , we are happy, we are surprised!

While my appt was going on, a dear Christian girl (Amy Wilhoite) who had quite a struggle with cancer, went home to be with her Lord. I'm so happy for her. The timing of it is just so interesting to me. What a testimony she left!

I'm off to make some chicken salad for my lovebug so he has something to eat @ work tomorrow:)

Ps 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Guesses are free and welcomed:)

Okay, so less than 24 hours from now, we hopefully will be finding out the gender of our baby! Whoo hoo! A few more days and I will be halfway through this pregnancy. Can you believe it?? So, any guesses out there?? Jody and I are both thinking girl (I guess b/c we already have one). BUT, it makes me wonder b/c we are so set on a boy's name and kinda juggling around a girl's name. Not that that means anything, but it's interesting:)

Good night!

What might've been

Well, today marks the "due date" of our second baby we lost. We never did get a due date from the dr b/c no heartbeat was ever found. But, according to my calculations, today would have been the due date.

A girl I was reading about (on a website I frequent) had 9 miscarriages and was on her 10th pregnancy. She found out about a week ago that she miscarried again at about 17 weeks:( She said she has given up. Another woman tried to encourage her by telling her she knew of a woman who had 27 miscarriages before giving birth to healthy twins (at almost 50 years old). WOW! I canNOT fathom that. Sometimes it's easy to miss people's hurts by focusing on your own. I don't want to do that.

Thankfully, the Lord has been so kind to us in giving us another baby to look forward to! He has indeed given strength to us and blessed us with peace! We praise Him for that:) I am growing like crazy and Lovin' it! I officially got back into exercising again. Phew! It's about time. I'm getting a bit soft. ha!

Mikayla had her first dentist appt yesterday. It was pretty funny, actually. The dentist held her, she screamed, and he then declared that she had no cavities (or sugar bugs, as Grace calls them). Yay! Then she got a toy. And he told me to get her off the bottle. It's NOT going well. ANY tips??

Almost 19 weeks along! WHEEE!! I must get housework done at some point today:) Toodles!

Last words

I've been reading (off/on) a book called All the Last Words of Saints and Sinners by Lockyer. It's SUCH a good book and as you can imagine- very sobering. I would highly recommend it to anybody. ( I believe it's my mom's book) I want to share an excerpt that I liked.

Constantina Bellone was a martyr of Roman Catholicism. Because she refused to go to mass, a priest ordered slices of flesh to be cut from various parts of her body. Finally the priest ordered a company of musketeers to fire upon her, and as they raised their muskets, the brave Protestant said:

"I was brought up in a religion by which I was taught to renounce the devil, but should I comply with your desire and go to mass, I should be sure to meet him there in a variety of shapes. What horrid and lasting torments will you suffer in hell for the trifling and temporary pains which I now endure."

WOW. What boldness. what faith. There are MANY more that really touched me. I'll problably share a few more in the near future.

17 weeks pregnant!! Priase the Lord all is going so well. I'm looking forward feeling the baby move. Maybe tonight! :)

Oh yeah. It's Luke EArnest Risse. In my previous post, I left out the a. oops.

Mister Luke Ernest Risse

Yes, my nephew was born today to Michael and Misty Risse, weighing in at 6 lb. 13 oz. and is 20 inches long. Whoo hoo!! I'm SO thankful to the Lord for a good delivery that (I hear from Mike) went very well. I know Misty is happy and relieved and is probably flooded with so many emotions right now.

The Lord is so good!

Just had to share!

Happy Birthday, Gracie Girl!

Yeppers, it's my dear sissy's birthday today!! She (finally) turned 25. Wow, is she ever OLD! She's certainly a huge joy in my life; I thank the Lord that I have her as a sister- I couldn't ask for a better:)

Well, our family fun weekend was SO great and here are some of the highlights:

• a clean, (a DEFINITE requirement) very comfy hotel room
• my absolute favorite meal @ Abuelos (shrimp with jalapenos and cheese wrapped with bacon and grilled- YUM- with cheese sauce, steamed broccoli and rice). My PRECIOUS husband insisted on it for me :) (yes, CC, this time Mikayla got her own side of fries with her own dipping container and LOVED IT!)
• We got to see Dan Edwards!! (anyone know who that is??) and didn't talk to him- rats! we had so much to say...
• we didn't get TOO much rain, but we did go through some very deep water while driving around and going to the mall
• I GOT SOME NEW MATERNITY CLOTHES! and my Joseph was extremely patient and kind as I tried on clothes and then tried on more clothes
• we saw a good air show and it was LOUD; we had to cover Mikayla's ears- it really scared her:( but they had yummy cheeseburgers, so that made up for it (kinda)

Ok, enough on that. It's good to be home. We had a terrific Lord's day, for which I'm so grateful for. The men decided next Sunday after morning services that they'll be cooking for us women!!! Grilled steaks, baked potatoes, beans, salad and bread. Who knows if they'll remember drinks or dessert or anything like that, but who cares, right? :) How fun.

16 weeks now!! 3 more weeks till we (hope to) find out the gender of baby D #3. PLEASE pray for Misty! If she doesn't go into labor on her own by Friday, they'll induce. WHEEE!

Goin' shoppin'

Tomorrow evening we're planning on staying the night in Abilene where we want to:

• Relax and have fun
• Shop for MATERNITY clothes- yay!
• Eat @ Abuelos (our favorite restaurant)
• go to the zoo
• watch the air show on Saturday

Now doesn't that sound nice?? I sure think so. I know it's close to home, but it will still be nice to get a night away with my little family :)

On September 10 @ 4pm, we're hoping to find out if I'm carrying a boy or girl!!! I'm so excited. Less than 4 weeks away! And we've invited my dear mommy and sweet CC to be there. :)

AND, my in-laws are coming for a visit this coming up week. Does it get any better than that?? Maybe Jean will (once again) try to teach me to crochet. I really want to make a blanket for this precious life inside of me. I've never made more than a row:(

So, it's off to Wal-Mart today for a few things we're needing. milk. chocolate. You know, the norm.

Thank you, ladies, for your sweet comments. It sure helps to make my day extra special reading them:)

Be still and know that I am God. ~Psalm 46:10 (love this verse)

A truly beautiful sound

I had my 2nd appt today and heard a heartbeat!! I love it, and we're so thankful for a good report from the dr. The scale was off, so they thought I lost 7 pounds. I told them no. I'd gained 3. Then the nurse said she'd put a ? by the weight. How funny. Then the dr said he wasn't concerned about the weight loss. Ok. Makes me laugh just thinking about it. :)

Christy watched Mikayla for us- great girl she is! We're pretty fond of her. And very thankful for her help and sweet attitude.

All in all, a terrific day. Praise the Lord!

night.

15/40 weeks

We had such an enjoyable evening with my dear brother/sister-in-law and our niece and nephew. We got to SWIM, which is very unusual for our family. It was really nice. I asked Jamie if I was the first one to ever wear capri pants in their pool :) Kinda funny. (Grace would appreciate that!) They cooked yummy hamburgers for us with corn on the cob, potato salad, and chips and dips. In other words, they spoiled us;-)





I'm hoping this link I'm going to try will work. I want to show ALL of you how the baby looks right now @ 15 weeks. It's truly AWESOME! Just click here. (???)

So soon? Yeah, I had to

So, we had a nice Friday evening with Christy and my dear parents coming over for fajitas. Although it was HOT, everyone was very gracious concerning the temp in the house and the lack of ice for tea. NOT a good combination. Lord willing, we'll be getting a new air/heat unit soon. That will be so nice. What we have right now certainly meets our needs, but it would be great to have central h/ac. We'll see how the Lord leads and provides.

The good news is that Christy got a great pic of Mikayla with bloomers on her head. (I love it!)

My girl

Thanks to Christy for taking this photo, I have a current pic of my girl. I love her like crazy!!!! She's a HUGE blessing in my life. I love being a mommy and the fun times we have together. I love kisses on her nose (I think she does, too!), I love holding her hand a walking together, I love her toes that are webbed together, I love her chubby, sweaty hands and feet. I love waking her up in the mornings and having her milk ready for her:))) I love to watch her play quietly, pull Tiger's tail and think that he enjoys it (??). I love that it's hard for me to type this post right now b/c she'd rather sit in my lap than play with her toys. She's great. I thank the Lord for the blessing of my precious daughter, a true answer to prayer.

ps. Almost 15 weeks. No more nausea. Feeling terrific and GROWING. Maternity clothes, here I come!

Peach and PEACHES

It's peach season! At 13 weeks along in this wonderful pregnancy, the baby is the size of a peach. sigh. AND, we've got several visuals of our baby. A sweet lady at church gave us many pounds of peaches. A Wal-Mart sack full of them. yummmmy! I'm wanting to make some cobbler and smoothies and I'm trying to decide what else. I'll probably end up freezing lots of them b/c there are so many. After she gave them to me, I (nervously jokingly, kinda) laughed and said that maybe I ought to share the peaches with others in the church. She reassuringly told me that there were more. Phew. :) (and my mom thinks I'm not a humorous, witty writer- ha!)

TWO nights ago, I started showing. Unbelievable! I looked down and there it was. Yay! It did come at me fast, though, taking me by surprise. The lady at the bank told me I was looking small (NOT my body, my belly) and that very night, it made its appearance. On a serious note, I'm very thankful for how well this pregnancy has gone. The Lord is good.

And then I got a hankerin' (is that a word??) for Twizzlers. They sure hit a spot. I NEED TO START EXERCISING AGAIN. Mom? CC? Anybody want to walk with me??

Well, wait. How was YOUR weekend?? Let me know, if you'd like. :) Night!

Ledbetter photo session

The Ledbetter family- dressed in white. All in all, I was pretty pleased with the outcome. I've yet to get a positive response from Grace (she's too hard on herself!) - oh well. Here goes:

Coming soon to a computer near you...

A new post from Sarah!!

but, not tonight. Hopefully tomorrow.

Quick highlights-

~Abby turned 1!
~Dear Jamie loaned me a book which came in the mail today!
~12 weeks pregnant!
~No more nausea!
~Jody and I made an apple/blueberry curmb pie tonight- yummy!
~It's slumber party time!
~Since I'm feeling so much better, it's time to start walking again...

Night!

One sweet Saturday

Awww, what a nice, restful, relaxing day it's been. I love the weekends where we can spend lots of time with Daddy and get good rest. We enjoyed a (fly-filled) picnic @ Coggin Park, and then Mikayla got to run around, swing, and slide a bit. Oh, we love that girl!

11 weeks along today, priase the Lord! Finally the size of a large lime. How fun. My mom and I spent some time together last night. At Bahama Bucks, I spotted a basket thingy with limes and lemons and smiled :o)

What do sour patch kids and skittles have in common? You can only eat so many without absolutely needing to stop AND needing a drink of water. I bought some spk last night - sour then sweet (then cavity, then trip to dentist).

For supper tonight? Marie Callender's chicken pot pies. I know, I know, I took the easy way out, but Jody and I are actually looking forward to it. Mmm good.

Hope you all have a good weekend!