Breathing treatments

Because Max was born early (even though it was just a little bit) he has had issues with respiratory problems since he was a baby. So, throughout his life we have often had to give him nebulizer treatments to help him. He was recently diagnosed with reactive airway disease which doesn't mean much except he gets coughs easily! He is SO good about getting his breathing treatments!

Last night was so sweet. We were doing our family prayer time and I asked Max if he wanted to say the prayer. Somewhere in the middle of it he thanked God that he got to watch movies during his breathing treatments! It really cracked Nick and I up (later of course... because you don't laugh at someone's heartfelt prayers!). I guess our boy already knows that all good things come from above!

This post will probably be pretty random because I have a lot going on in my little head:-)

Today was the last day of Friend2Friend today which was a real bummer! I LOVE going to Friend2Friend on Wednesday mornings. It is totally my me time and my me and God time and my me and friends time and all of that! I will really miss it over the summer!

I realized while sitting at Friend2Friend this morning what a crazy journey God has had me on these past few years as far as friendships go. Moving from Springfield was really hard for me because I had my best friends there and was very comfortable. Moving here it took me a really long time to make new friends. And honestly, a lot of the time I still feel like "the new kid" in class. But, I really see where God has used the time to change and transform me. I feel like the move allowed me to "grow up" in so many ways and become my own person. I felt A LOT of pressure in Springfield to be a certain kind of person. And I felt the most pressure to be a certain kind of mom. Moving here and having a time without very many friends allowed me to figure out what I really believed about life and parenting outside of what others thought I should believe about those things. It also gave me the opportunity to make friends with people who accept me for who I am. And of course I am still friends with my good friends from Springfield, it just looks different! But, I really am just so thankful for the journey God allowed me to go on. Even though at times it was the loneliest place, I have grown so much because of it.

On another note, I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and it went very well! Jack is getting bigger and sounding great! Next time I go will be my last one month appointment and then I will start going every 2 weeks. I can't believe how fast it is flying by! Our family is SO ready and excited for this little man to join the craziness!

Well, I guess I should try to get some housework done. I am way off of my routine and it is kind of a disaster area around here right now!

Have a great day!

My Big Project for the Day

Sometimes in order to avoid the routine housework that needs done I make up projects to do instead. Well, today's project absolutely needed to be done. But, it was quite a task! Especially since bending over to pick things up is one of my biggest challenges this day. But, Max P.'s room had gotten REALLY out of hand! I tend to let his room go because it is upstairs and at the end of the hall and few people ever really see it. Plus, he has a TON of toys. But, today, I decided to tackle the beast! Here are my before and after photos!

Yep, it was bad. And this is probably just a few days worth of damage. The kid can create a disaster fast!

And then... after only a little over an hour of work (but it was HARD work!, ha!)

The next two are his closet. The big closets in this house are one of the number one reasons I wanted it after living in our last house with zero storage!

(His bed isn't on a frame yet since we didn't want him to get hurt if he fell of and those rails annoy me!)

I feel better now!

And of course this is less than 2 minutes after I finished...

Oh how I love that little boy... lucky for him ;-)

Love & War

I haven't blogged lately but I have certainly thought about it. I almost always have something on my mind to say! My husband thinks I am very opinionated. I'm not sure :-)

Anyway, I don't really have anything to say.

I would like to give a shout out though to my favorite new book and the absolute best marriage book I have EVER read and I have read LOTS of them! I am pretty passionate about my marriage being the absolute best it can be so I read several marriage books a year in my efforts to pursue that. I plan on being the same way when I have been married for 60 years. I believe that you can always be working towards improvement in every area of your life and should never "settle".

But, anyway, the book I am reading is "Love and War: Finding the Marriage You Have Always Dreamed Of" by John and Stasi Eldredge It is phenomenal! It is totally different from any marriage book I have ever read. I love "The 5 Love Languages", "His Needs, Her Needs", "The Sacred Marriage", etc. But this book is truly in a league of its own and I only wish I had read it sooner!

If you are married read this book as soon as you get a chance! I can't put it down!

I hope everyone is having a happy Tuesday!

I just love watching The Duggar family on TV! I know some people have issues with them and while I don't agree with them on EVERYTHING I just love them! Everytime I watch I am so ispired by Michelle Duggar's love for the Lord, positive attitude, gentle spirit, and adoration of her husband. I am always just in awe. I think she is amazing even though I know she says she is not and is quick to give all of the glory to God for what she does. While I myself have no plans of having that many children I really look to her and women like her for direction.

Before really surrendering my life to the Lord I used to think my goals for rearing children would be to raise children who were really successful, smart, etc. And while I still consider those goals and do have them they really have taken a back seat in my parenting. At the end of the day the only goal I have that matters is to raise my children to love and fear the Lord. In the end they will have to decide for themselves whether or not they will choose Jesus as their King but it is my job to do all within my power to lead them in that direction. I like the way The Message translates one of my favorite Bible verses,

Deuteronomy 11:18-19, "18 -21 Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you'll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth. "

The Word says that we are to live our faith in front of our children and to talk to them about our own beliefs. I love that.

Just today I had a long list of things I wanted to accomplish during Sophie's nap. Max usually plays really happily by himself during this time so I was pretty confident I could get it all done. But, as I was in my room folding laundry Max came up to me with his little children's Bible and said, "let's read one about Jesus!" As horrible as it sounds a part of me wanted to say, "not right now". But, I am so thankful I didn't! We spent almost a half an hour reading Bible stories and Max talking about Jesus and asking questions. Now, he is only three so one of his favorite parts of our reading time was learning that John the Baptist ate bugs and honey. So, ever since he has been running around the house pretending to eat bugs and honey! But, I am so thankful for the time to just chat and learn about God with my son. I pray that I will have many memories like this one with all of my children and that they will remember their parent's talking about God a lot while they were growing up.

I am sometimes totally taken aback by the responsibility God gives us in raising our children. I am SO thankful that God gives us wisdom and direction if we ask for it!

Happy Birthday to my husband!!

Today is my very handsome and (obviously from the picture) very manly husband's 28th birthday!!

I love him so much and am so grateful for his life and that he chooses to spend it on this crazy journey with me and all of our little R's.

Happy Birthday, Babe! I love you!

Easter Recap

I have been meaning to do an Easter post all week and it just wasn't happening. But, today is the day! We had a FABULOUS Easter! It was wonderful! We filled the whole weekend with new traditions and activities and just really enjoyed being together.

Friday night we dyed eggs and had hot cross buns as a reminder of Good Friday

Sunday morning we made Ressurection Rolls for breakfast with the kids and then went to church

Sunday afternoon we had my parents and Grandma over to open Easter baskets, have Easter dinner, and have the kids first egg hunt!

I loved every minute of it! Easter is quickly becoming my favorite holiday! I LOVE Christmas so much but to be honest Christmas has become filled with SO much stress. There are so many demands on our time and we are never able to make everyone happy. But, we get to spend Easter however we want as a family and I treasure that so much. I felt like I was really able to reflect on the meaning of Easter and just enjoy the time with our children. It was priceless.

Big Ultrasound!

Nick and I went to our big ultrasound on Thursday! It was AMAZING! 

And we were so excited to find out that we are having a boy! I secretly wanted a boy ;-) I would have been thrilled either way! I just thought it would be neat since Sophie is in the middle for her to be the only girl. Plus, what's not to love about little boys!? They are so fun! Here is a shot of his little foot:

I was shocked at the quality of the ultrasound machine. When I had ultrasounds with the other two I could kind of pick out what things were but in this machine it was crystal clear. Plus they had a big monitor I got to watch! He was such a cutie wiggling around the whole time!

I love the one of him sucking his thumb! It will be SO fun to see if that is something he does when he is born or not!

I was also super excited to find out that at 36 weeks I get to have a 3-D ultrasound. I didn't have one with the other two but always REALLY wanted one! So, I am stoked!

I think these two will make a great older brother and older sister to this new little guy!