it finally happened

Joseph (20 months) finally caught up to his sister Mikayla (3 1/2)in the weight department. They are officially tied. Is that CrAZy?? Today I put them both on the scale and they weighed in at a whopping 31.8 pounds. wow. I'm sure Joseph will pass her up in no time. He eats plenty more in a typical day than she does. I love my babies!!

Our new comforter set

Thanks to my mom and dad, we have a new comforter set! After showing it to Jody this evening, he quickly went into our room and got to work putting it on our bed. We REALLY like it :o) !!!

Surprise!!

My mom insisted that I go to Coleman today. Boy, am I ever glad I made it! A dear friend Mary planned/hosted a surprise birthday party for me!!! And I was super surprised :o) We had a lovely lunch together - chicken tortilla soup, spanish rice, and wraps. AND, banana split cake for dessert- SO GOOD!! To top it all off, I got GIFTS. unreal. Lots of things to help our home and me smell better- yay!

Thank you, dear ladies, for all you did to make it such a special time for me.

30's not looking so bad...

Tomorrow I will be...

Isn't this exciting?? Well, it certainly is for me! I know the picture is kind of odd, but I thought it'd be a fun way to document how far along I am. :o) 30 weeks along. sigh. Only 10 more weeks (give or take), Lord willing, 'til we meet our newest addition. Yahoo!!

Folks, we have a prediction

A dear lady at church today asked me what I thought I was having. I told her I thought a girl. She nodded and said she agreed because, " your bobo (sp??) is bigger." So, her guess is a girl. What can we learn?

A bigger "bobo" = a girl
A smaller "bobo" = a boy

There you have it ;o)

2nd best

I'm 29 weeks pregnant today and just felt the baby move ;o) I had a 3-d ultrasound done yesterday, but alas, I have no pics to prove it. Something went amiss :o( But, as Misty requested I took a pic of my belly about an hour ago. So, that's almost as good, right? I know it's not. oh well. Thank the Lord, the baby seems to be growing and doing great! Of course that makes me happy.

Jody broke out his old GI Joes yesterday for Joseph. All we had were a bunch of girls and princesses. I guess the guys in this house had had enough of that!

What a storm last night. The sky was gorgeous!! But, the storm did some damage to our swing set and our fence.

Happy Fall!!! This weather makes me extraordinarily happy. :o)

around the house in 8 minutes

So, here's the challenge for all you who like to take photos- who doesn't? Walk around the outside of your house with a camera and look for beauty in the small/everyday/normal things that you'd find outside. Make a collage or post a series of pictures, and leave me a comment telling me you did that very thing :o) I'd love to see what you come up with. You up for the challenge? Hope so!

If you know the Lord...

"If you know the Lord, you know the greatest thing mortal man can know".

-Bro. Bill Dodd (my pastor)

How true it is!! Today it has been 13 years since the Lord Jesus Christ was merciful in saving my soul. How VERY grateful I am for that. Thirteen years later, I love my Lord and Saviour more and yearn to live a life pleasing to Him. I've seen how the things the world has to offer so pales in comparison to life in Christ. Truly it does!

Thank you, Lord, for my salvation. For reaching down and having compassion on my desperate, sinful life. For being faithful and continuing to provide for me in so many ways. For loving me and forgiving me when I fail so often. For being my rock and strong tower. For eternal life!

Blessed be the Lord,

who daily loadeth us with benefits,

even the God of our salvation. Selah

~Psalm 68:19

Happy Birthday, Jean!

Today is my dear mother-in-law's birthday. She is a most beautiful, godly, kind woman. How I love her! She's so fun :o)

my walking buddies

Camping out is so much fun!

Even if it IS in your own backyard. Last night we attempted to camp with our kiddos. It was great to be so close to home- a few feet, actually. Although the night ended early, we made some good memories. As you can see from the pics, Mikayla was a big help to her daddy setting up the tent. Even Joseph got in on hauling around the sleeping bag. Fun times!

Why I love staying home with my children

10. I rarely have to say good-bye to my children
9. I have the privilege of cooking/baking for my (very appreciative) family
8. I can work/rest (mostly!) at my own pace
7. There is no specific time that we HAVE to wake up by
6. My husband LOVES it and totally supports it
5. I'm able to watch my children grow/mature/learn
4. I know I'll have no regrets (as far as missing anything in my children's lives)
3. I feel totally and 100% fulfilled.
2. I can teach our children the Word of God throughout the day. What an awesome privilege/responsibility!
1. I believe I'm right where God wants me to be

And although I don't receive an actual paycheck, I have every single need met and actually most of my wants. God has ALWAYS provided for us, and we trust that He always will. He is faithful! I'm so thankful to be able to be at home. I love my family!!

the ones that I love!

2nd Tuesdays on hold

How to begin... Greetings! Thanks for not giving up on me :o) Tomorrow I will be 26 weeks pregnant- wowzers! I'm so thankful that this pregnancy has gone so well. I'm just now starting to get heartburn, which is not the greatest feeling, but that's about the worst of it. Thankfully the weather is starting to get a bit cooler *yay*. I get SO HOT about 5pm-ish. And of course, that's about supper time for us. I'm glad to have a good air conditioner- phew!

It's SO nice having my parents live closer. I'll take Coleman over Winters any day! We were able to go there last night and have blueberry pancakes and bacon with them. Yum! I sure love my parents; they just celebrated their 34th anniversary. I'm so thankful to have parents who are still together and NEVER want to take that for granted!

2nd Tuesday are now on hold. The one little faithful "member" has started a Tuesday school, so we will, Lord willing, start up again sometime after the baby comes. I totally enjoyed the sessions we did get to have!

I finally got to start our study on Joseph in our Sunday school class this past Sunday. I absolutely LOVE the story of Joseph. and I love the name. In fact, all the guys in my house have the name ;o) We're getting to closer and closer to meeting our newest little baby. I'm getting kinda excited. I even found 2 blankets at IKEA that will work for a boy or girl. On the 21st of Sept we have a 3-D ultrasound scheduled. I'm stoked to see pics of our baby! You know how I love pics! :o)

Our vehicle is back with the mechanic. HOPEFULLY he can find the problem promptly. I always miss when I don't have a vehicle. Somehow, though, I tend to get more done around the house... go figure. I guess that's the latest around here. I LOVE my family. The Lord is SO GOOD to us!

Between photos being taken of our family, I spotted this beautiful "weed." I never cease to be amazed at God's creations!

I'm in awe

I'm in awe of the family the Lord has blessed me with. We had a fun photo shoot tonight. One of our dear friends had a wonderfully patient attitude and did some family photos for us. THANK YOU! This is a very special "batch" of pictures for me. I look forward to putting them into a neat collage frame that I got from a newly married young lady :o)

Ethan Henry- 3 months

Christy and fam came to keep me company today. I've been a bit lonely having no vehicle and having to stay home b/c of the new roof being done. So, I definitely welcomed the visit. We decided to do a little photo shoot of the cutest baby in town. Well, at least that's MY opinion ;o)

rainy day pics

I'm back to blogging! Wow, it's been a while, eh? I thought this collage would be a good way to get back into the swing of things. Isn't it funny how life gets in the way of me blogging about my life?? Unreal. I love my family!

21 weeks pregnant!

Oh, I'm so excited. I'm over halfway finished with this pregnancy- what a great feeling. I LOVE feeling the baby moving around in my tummy. Yesterday I had an appt and got a sonogram done. We've decided to NOT find out the gender. Jody wants to, but I don't. Since I'm the one carrying this baby, I won :o). I'd say that's fair. right?

This past weekend we visited some dear family in Seguin. They were super sweet to us and very hospitable. Other than Joseph's continual whining when I got one foot out of his sight, a great time was had by all. We'd hoped to be able to see some of our best friends in San Antonio, but alas, it didn't work out :o( Sunday morning we attended church with them. I really enjoyed it! The SSchool teacher shared this verse and now it's our memory verse:

"Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever:
for they are the rejoicing of my heart."
-Psalm 119:111

I love that verse!! I think it's awesome that at different times in my life, God sends "new" verses to encourage me to memorize and hide in my heart. Thank you, Lord!!

My dearest mother-in-law sent us a package the other day. She picked out a really pretty maternity shirt for me. :o) She also sent the kids a green t-shirt each. How sweet, eh?? I love her!! "Poor" Jody felt left out. He was so funny. What a great actor he is! ;o) Thank you, Jean!!

My parents are moving CLOSER to me. I'm thrilled with this news!! And very soon. Yay! I'll get to visit them more often, and that can only be good...

Do you have a special memory verse you're working on right now that has significance in your life? If you'd like to share, I'd love to know! :o)