My Saturday Morning View

This is what Saturday mornings usually look like around here. We spend some time getting the house cleaned up and then at some point it turns into wrestle time with Daddy. Today's wrestle time included costumes and stage names. I sit and drink my coffee and enjoy my front row seat.

Jack tends to get a little bored with is at some point so usually the dump trucks come out...

So thankful for Saturday mornings with my family.

Thanksgiving Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was fabulous. My mom made an amazing meal which looked beautiful and tasted even better. I might still be dreaming about the sweet potatoes... (pause to wipe drool). I am kicking myself for not getting a photo of the beautiful table too! It was almost too pretty to eat off of... yeah... almost! 

Before dinner we attempted to get a family pic for the Christmas card. We did end up with one that is passable (barely) but I thought you all might enjoy a few of the outtakes. 

Yep. We probably should have looked into professional pics. But, it seemed silly to spend the money with our family a few months away from adding a new member. So, those of you that get our Christmas card can enjoy the photo and know that it really was the best one we got that day! 

After our photoshoot kind of bombed and after we stuffed ourselves with incredible food, Jack and Sophie helped Grandma make cookies! They had a blast. And Max enjoyed watching.

I for one am thankful for a wonderful Thanksgving with our wonderful family. We are feeling extremely blessed this year.

Today was spent cozied up at home putting up some Christmas decorations, listening to Christmas music, and enjoying time with my very favorite people. Eager to post pics of my decorated house soon! 

month of {gratitude} day 19 & 20

Wow, Thanksgiving is sure sneaking up on me this year! I can't believe we are only two days away! But with that, I also need to do two days of gratitude to catch up! So here we go...

I am grateful for God's provision. I feel like we have had a lot of random/unexpected/really not fun expenses come up lately. But, God has totally provided for those ahead of time and I am so thankful for that. It is such a humbling reminder that God does not owe us a single thing and yet he loves us so much that he chooses to make sure that we are cared for.

I am also grateful for my daughter, Sophie! In my world of boys (I am going to have 3 sons soon... oh my goodness doesn't that sound crazy?) I am so thankful for my little ray of girliness. Sophie is by far one of the most girly girls I have ever met. And trust me, it is not something I have tried to accomplish. If anything, I try to tone down all of the pink and dresses and baby dolls... but it is to no avail! She is just such a blessing to our family though because in the midst of all the sword fights, wrestling matches, and building pretend explosives out of Legos, there is this precious and feminine little girl who I think helps to mellow everyone out a little. She is still in the middle of every game her brothers play but she brings her own "element" to them. Aliens find an ally in a princess or Batman has to deal with Catwoman who also has 5 daughters that need to get home for nap time and be fed their bottles. I am so thankful that God knew just what our family needed and gave us our sweet, Sophie Nichole!

The Gender Reveal

So, I realized today I hadn't done a gender reveal here on the 'ol blog yet! It was kind of funny, I got so many calls and texts the day of the ultrasound that I don't think I had to call anyone! It seemed like everyone got a hold of me first! Have I mentioned how BLESSED we are by our family and friends?

Anyhoo...A few weeks ago we got to have our big ultrasound and find out if we are having a boy or a girl! It was so neat. There is nothing quite like seeing your one kicking around and moving on that little screen.

 We decided we wanted the kids to be the first ones to find out the gender of their new little sibling. After our ultrasound we ran by Target and bought a baby blanket and a gender neutral gift bag to have the kiddos open. When the kids opened the bag they found out whether we were having a boy or a girl!

Yep... someone was a little devastated at first when she realized we are having another BOY! I can't blame the girl... she is surrounded! She had big plans for a little baby sister. But, after a chat with daddy she felt much better and has been on board ever since. She has even hung on to the baby blanket and said she will snuggle it until her baby brother gets to have it.

And of course Nick and I are thrilled! I always wanted to be a "boy mom" and there is nothing quite like having sons. I love the idea of getting to raise up "Real Men" for Jesus.

Even though I originally didn't want to find out the gender I am SO happy that I did! I immediately feel like I connected and bonded with this little guy even more as soon as I found out that he is a HE! I am so excited to meet our sweet boy and am just so thankful that God has chosen to bless us with another son! 

I am linking up today at Women Living Well!

The one on {Marriage}

Those of you who have read this blog for a little while have probably noticed one thing about me... I tend to gush about my hubs a little bit. It might be a touch annoying, but, I promise you one thing, it isn't just for show. The hubs really is my absolute favorite. But, it isn't just because of his hunky good looks or the fact that he makes me laugh so hard I can't stop crying (although those are certainly perks). The hubs is my absolute favorite person because I intentionally make sure of it.

Moms live in a dangerous world where kids can quickly become the center of everything. Date nights are replaced by family movie nights and weekends away are exchanged for a family trip. And, that is to be expected to some degree. But, at the same time, we need to be protecting our marriages and making them our #1 priority. It isn't easy, but I believe with all of my heart that it is the best gift I can give to my kiddos. Marriages are forever, our kiddos are with us for just a short time.

I am by no means a marriage expert. I have been married 7 short years. But, I feel that I have learned a lot in those years and am happy to pass on any wisdom I might have started to attain!

In my life, practically, making my marriage a priority looks like, making sure that at least once or twice a year we get away overnight together. Even if it is just for a night (it usually is). I also try to make sure we get at least one date out once a month. It can be hard (and we are super blessed to have my amazing parents who are willing to watch the kiddos), but try to find a way to make it work. That time out, out of the house, not in your mom/dad roles can be such a sweet time in marriage and can really build your relationship up. It also says to each other, and to our kiddos that our marriage is a high priority. And hopefully, will teach our kids to do the same in their own marriages. Life is stressful, kids are a handful, and housework never stops. Get away from it all and focus on each other. I always come back totally revitalized and remembering "why" I do it all everyday. After our little date day on Saturday I have seriously had Super Woman energy around my house!

We also try to have a date night in at least once a week. We try to make this different from a normal night where we might be getting some stuff done or sitting watching a show together. A lot of times we will feed the kids early and then get take-out after they are in bed. We usually have a little picnic at our coffee table and talk and then play a board game or watch a movie together. This regular time is awesome. If the week is getting crazy and life is feeling out of control I can look forward to that night to talk to the hubs and I always know I will walk away feeling all better. We also make sure to tell our kids when we are having date night in. They know that this is special time for Mommy and Daddy.

Other ways that I make my husband my favorite person is by constantly pursuing our relationship. I do everything I can to avoid "room mate mode" (or friend mode). I have found that pursuing my husband probably does more for me than it does for him (although I think he likes it!). It keeps my heart focused... and love flows out from there. Here are some silly things I do (I am sad the hubs reads my blog and I am letting all of my secrets out! Ha!)

• I try to plan at least one or two dinners a week that I think the hubs will love. (And if the kids hate it, it is just one more way to show them that they are not the center of the world!)
• I e-mail, text, or call my husband at least once a day to let him know I love him, I am thinking of him, I miss him, or I appreciate him (or honestly, something less appropriate... just keepin' it real)
• I try to look nice when he gets home. Not really because he doesn't think I look great in sweats and no make-up, but making an effort to be loving towards someone else does more for you than them.
• When I do my husband's laundry or something else for him I use that as an opportunity to pray for him. Whenever I am hanging up his work shirts I am thinking God for how hard he works for our family.
• I let things go (I am really learning on this one). Every once in awhile he will say something that hurts my feelings, or annoys me, or something along those lines... It happens! When possible, I let it go! I don't say anything, take a deep breath, and the moment is over! 99% of the time I know he didn't mean anything by what he said and it came out wrong or was me being sensitive. Avoid an argument and let it go!
• I try to only speak highly of my husband (thankfully, he makes it easy). But, a wife complaining about her husband usually ends up just hardening her heart towards her husband, and honestly, it makes her look bad.

I am blessed to have a wonderful marriage. But, we have definitely had our hard times. And I have no doubt we will walk through more. But, doing my part to make my marriage great and a priority is all I can do. And never underestimate the impact that simply changing your own heart can have!

 and also linking up at Women Living Well!

Every Season Looks Different

Our maple tree in our backyard turned bright red about a week ago and now has already lost about half of its leaves. It looks so different than it did even a few weeks ago full of bright yellow trees and then of course this summer it was all green!

I think parenting is often very similar to my maple tree. You can be going along, feeling like you have the knack of handling all of your kiddos at their various ages and then a few weeks later everything is different. Someone has hit the terrible twos and someone else has outgrown wanting to take a bath with his younger siblings... all of the sudden your life starts to look terribly different.

I think one of the biggest challenges in parenting is learning to change and adapt as the seasons in parenting change. Realizing that what used to work wonderfully is not going to work anymore. It can be hard to keep up. I think especially the more children you have the more changes seem to be happening constantly with someone.

Last night the hubs and I realized we needed to make a change in our home. The way we had been doing things was just not working anymore. Up until now we have put all our kiddos to bed pretty early and at the same time. Usually between 7:15 and 7:30. It was a huge sanity saver for us with having lots of young kiddos. And it was nice to put everyone down at the same time. But, last night we chatted and realized it wasn't working so well anymore.

The hubs doesn't get home until a little after 6 every evening. So, our evenings had become eat dinner, do a quick clean up time, give the kids a quick bath, family worship, and then everyone in bed. Each night it felt like a race to get it all done in time. But, with Max and Sophie being older they really need to be able to have more time in the evening when their dad is home. And we feel as a family our evenings do not need to be so rushed. We want to enjoy that sacred family time.

So, we came up with a new game plan. Jack will still go to bed at the normal time 7:15/7:30, after family worship. And then we will have some quiet time where we can talk, snuggle and read books, draw together, or sometimes even watch a short movie or show together before Soph goes to bed at 8 and Max at 8:15. We also realized it was important for Max to get to stay up a little later than his younger siblings. He has a little more responsibility being the oldest and has to work hard to get along with little kids all day who take his toys and mess up his Legos... he needs to also see some benefit to being the oldest.

I am excited about our new plan... while realizing soon it will need to be tweaked and changed too.

But, being a parent means figuring out what is best for your kids and what works for your family in your current stage in life and making it work!

Weekend... come back! {Please}

Happy Monday from me and my little bff...

Our weekend seemed to fly by despite its slow pace. It was wonderful. On Friday night we had a get together with our small group from church. It was supposed to be an outdoor thing at our new church property but the cold and rain made for changed plans. A wonderful lady, Tawnya, in our group offered up her home and it was great. The guys got to watch the Cards game and we ate delicious soups (um... pretty sure I am still dreaming about Tawnya's chicken fajita soup... I might have had 2 huge bowls of it) and played games. It was so much fun. I love our small group!

Saturday morning Max had a soccer game but it was super cold. He basically refused to play the whole game (awesome) so the little kiddos and I left at half time. We spent the rest of the day hanging around the house. I made some amazing Cranapple Turkey Wraps for lunch, apple butter, my favorite Sweet Potato Chili, and apple crisp. It was the perfect kind of fall day!

Yesterday we went to church (an awesome message! Listen to it here) and then headed home. In the evening we celebrated Max's birthday with my parents and grandma. We went to Red Lobster for dinner (Max's choice) and then went back to Grandma June's for cake and ice-cream. Then we made a quick run to Target with my parents to exchange some boots my mom got Sophie and so Max could use his birthday money from Grandma June to pick a toy. Max kept telling me it was the "best birthday" he has ever had!

I will say that the ONLY good thing about the weekend being over is that tomorrow is our big ultrasound! We have decided to go ahead and find out the gender and I am really excited! There were a lot of factors that went into that decision and I feel total peace about it! 

I thought I would leave you with some Instagram pics from the last week.

Sister Bear "helped" me make brownies

We love our Scout

We made it to the end of the trail at Fantastic Caverns

Sophie holding 2 caterpillars she found at big cedar. She loves bugs!

Me at 19 1/2 weeks

Amazing sweet potato chili in the crock pot

Is there anything better than a fire with these cooler temps? 

I added some apple butter to my pancakes Sunday morning. YES!

I got some new make-up and hair products this week and it made getting ready for church on Sunday very exciting!

Sophie girl hosting a tea party on Sunday afternoon

P.S. I really need a new book to read! I really love to read Christian non-fiction more than anything. Anything on womanhood, parenting, marriage, etc. Does anyone have any recommendations? I recently finished 7 by Jen Hatmaker and absolutely adored it! What have you all been reading?

Branson Vacation 2012

Our family got to get away for 2 nights and 3 days on a little getaway to Branson, MO. We had a blast and I realized when we got home I took almost 550 pictures! So, while this post is very picture heavy please keep in mind... it could be worse! Ha!

Day 1: We left bright and early in the morning and headed out. 

We upgraded Jack to Max's bigger car seat so that he would have a cup holder for the trip! (And he can climb in and out of this one by himself which will really help my back!) I thought he looked so little in his big boy seat!

We got to stay at Big Cedar Lodge (ah-mazing!) but check-in wasn't until 4. So, we decided to stop first at Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, MO. Nick had been as a kid and thought our group would enjoy it. And we did! It is a ride through cave which was great for having little kiddos with us. 

Of course we had to check out some cool stuff at the gift shop first.

The kids did great going through the cave and we really enjoyed it. Obviously, I think our little scientist, Max, enjoyed it the most. But, Jack thought he was riding a train so he had a pretty great time too.

Afterwards we went on a little nature hike around the cave and then we got in the car and headed to Big Cedar. We have stayed there in the past and always have the best time. Everything is so nice and there is so much to do at the resort too. After arriving and getting settled we went on a little nature hike and then grabbed dinner at the Devil's Pool Restaurant at the resort. 

When we got to the restaurant I was a little nervous because they advertised themselves as "casual dining" but it was super nice! I was hoping the kiddos would do well after such a big day. Thankfully, they were on their best behavior and we had a wonderful time.

After dinner we took the kiddos swimming (I forgot to take my camera) and then it was time to enjoy the delicious cookies delivered to our room and watch a movie we rented from the front desk. J fell asleep pretty quickly!

The next morning we got out early and headed to the Branson Scenic Railway. We knew our little guy who loves trains so much would love it. The train runs out to Arkansas and back. It was about an hour and 45 minute train ride. I think we chose a great time of year to go because all of the fall leaves were gorgeous. We started out in the dome car and then switched to the dining car where we bought some snacks and sat at tables which the kids thought was really cool. We had the only little kiddos on the train so they got a lot of special attention which was fun.

The train depot is right next to Branson Landing so after our ride we grabbed lunch and then walked around by the waterfront. We had some Cheeze-it crumbs we fed to the ducks.

After we got back to the hotel we let the kids rest for a little bit and then it was back to the pool! They had a great little kiddie pool that was heated and the kids had a ball!

After swimming we decided to walk around the resort some more and let the kiddos play (read: wear themselves out so they would sleep well again!)

I think this giant fish on the putt-putt course at Big Cedar is too cool.

Everything was so beautiful!

After playtime we went back to the room and I made dinner. We had a kitchenette in our room which was awesome. We were able to save quite a bit of money by having breakfast in our room every morning and dinner one night. During our trip we only ate out one meal everyday which was awesome. 

Although, we did go out for ice-cream after dinner Tuesday night. I remembered an ice-cream place Nick and I went to with friends when we were engaged. I didn't know what it was called but I remembered it being cute and a super fun atmosphere. Nick found it! So, we got to take our kids there which was neat!

The next morning we got packed up and ready to head to Silver Dollar City! This is a picture of Jack in a hand towel after taking a shower. I thought he looked cute!

We were so excited to go to Silver Dollar City. We parked and rode the tram into the park. Sophie and Max got to sit right up front next to the driver so they thought they were really big stuff. (They did on the way back too and it ended up being the same driver and he remembered them from the morning so that was cute)

We got to Silver Dollar City before it opened and stayed until 4:30! And the kids did great! We had so much fun! I couldn't believe Jack did so well considering he hadn't napped in a few days and was so busy all day but he was a champ! The weather was absolutely perfect and we never had to wait in line.

Max's favorite ride was the Flooded Mine. Actually, everyone liked it! And Max loved hearing about how it was Daddy's favorite ride when he was little too!  So, we ended up riding on it 7 times that day!

We also ate REALLY well! Oh my goodness... I would go back just for the food alone...

After we left Silver Dollar City we headed to Springfield to have dinner with some of our very dearest friends who life in North Africa and are home for a few months. They made us a wonderful dinner and our kiddos all got to play together. It was such a wonderful evening being with friends. Even though we hadn't seen them in a long time it felt like no time had passed at all! It was such a sweet time and the perfect way to top off our trip...unfortunately I left my camera in the car :-( We left around 8 and headed home.

We could not have asked for a better family getaway. It was so good to be together as a family and just be able to play! I feel so refreshed coming home. I think it was just what our little fam needed!