Apologies to You

Time is flying by but I am sure those few of you who check up on us through this blog are wondering what has happened to my commitment. I slacked off is what happened. I guess I was thinking that not many people actually check this, but I have gotten word that there are a "few" of you who do. So, for those friends/family I will continue to "try" to keep it up better.

UPDATES:


We are due with #3 in a week! Yikes. We are excited to meet this little one and introduce him/her to all of you when that time comes.  I am feeling great and just hoping that he/she stays put for another 5 days or so.  Matt is working a lot because he is taking off for a week around when the baby is due and my mom comes in on Friday. So, please baby..enjoy your nice warm, comfy place for a little while longer.

M1:
She turned 5 in Feb and is already talking about when she is turning 10.  She is still as busy as ever running circles around us. We just try to keep up. She bought herself a fish with her birthday money; her name is Dorathy. She is taking good care of her so far. She wants magical hair and has her mommies' addiction to ice cream.  She is ready for the baby to come and wants a girl very badly. I am sure she will love a brother too because she loves M2 so much. They are starting to fight a lot more and that makes the days long sometimes. But overall they play well together and love to see each other after bing apart for a time.

M2: 
The "little Matt" is doing great too. He will be 2 on my due date (the 9th). He is our comedian in the family and is always doing something to make us laugh.  He seems to have gotten my hair (which I am very happy about). I will have to learn to cut it myself..Matt doesn't even go to a professional to get his done. We shall see how I do.  Someone asked me recently if I am just going to buzz it off...are you kidding me?? I can't live without those curls!
He still isn't saying much; actually really nothing at all. He says, "mama, da (for dog)" and the is about it. He "talks" a lot but we just aren't sure what he is saying.  He loves dogs, being outside, and sleeping.

Matt: 
He is really enjoying his job in the ER (most of the time).  I am very happy for him because he was able to buy a new car (3 yrs old) for the first time. It is an audi (my dream car from collage) and it is so nice that he has a nice/fast car to drive to work now. If you know Matt you know this was not something he just jumped into. I was kind of shocked myself when he brought it up a few months ago that he wanted something newer and nice. I am very happy that he was able to do it though and get something nice for himself because he NEVER does.  Anyways..he loves the time he gets at home because of his job. It is wonderful that he gets so much time with the kids at this stage of their lives. God has blessed us tremendously.
We also got word this past month that he got excepted into the Air Force Reserves. This has been in the works for the last 10  months and we are excited about the opportunity. He will still keep his current job and will just be committed to one weekend a month and two weeks out of the year. He will be working out of Scott Air Force Base just thirty minutes from us.
He also just became a deacon at our church. What a great opportunity for him to serve our church and for us to be more involved.

Yes, we have a lot going on but we are trusting God and His timing.
Here are some recent pics of the kids: (what I am sure you really wanted to see). :)

Art Hill where we love to picnic. 

Her ice cream birthday cake. Not completely done but she enjoyed helping me this year.

Busy Time of Year

 These last few months have seem so full. Full of little ones running around and full of us planning, planning and planning. We are now in N.C with my family to celebrate the birth of Jesus. What a great time to be around family. M1 had been counting down for what seemed like months to when she got to see her cousins. The last week was torture for her..she just wanted to go. I had been very busy and 3/4 of us where all sick the week before we were leaving. Matt working plus me and M1 throwing up the same time was not very fun.  The only thing got me through that night was the mommy strength..you know what I am talking about.  That strength that comes out only when it has to. Thank goodness it was a 24 hour bug but WOW that bug was rough.  I was also busy running around wrapping and making gifts because I did not want to have to shop for anything once we got down south. I wanted it all done.

We finally got down here last Sat. night after a whole day of driving (12 hours). It was amazing how well the kids did. I think we only stopped 3 times in 14 hours.  I am already praying that this next child is as great as the first two in the car.

*Matt and I got to go on a trip together a day after we got into NC...more on that later.*

M1 went to the dentist (for the 2nd time). She was not too happy about them cleaning them but she did good. 

She even got a x-ray..I wondered why I can't get x-rays like this. 

This is what M2 was running around in while M1 and I were on the couch. 

He wore it almost all day..it was pretty cute. 

She loves her some ice cream..she gets it honestly. :)

Turned Around

I turned M2's car seat around the other day. I was not sure how he would react but he seemed to be okay with it. He was content with facing backwards and now they are "recommending" to keep them rear facing until 2 years but I thought I would give it a shot now. It is nice being able to turn around and see his happy face.

He has a goofy good, but still my cute little man.

Wordless Wednesday

Life Seems to Just Happen

Life seems to be going by without me even noticing right now. Wasn't it just the beginning of September? Our life seems to getting more "normal" for us.  Normal for us has been Matt working two 24 hour-shifts a week along with a 12-hour one as well.  Every week if different, every month is different and October has been one of those months that I think to myself.."what the h _ _ _ are we doing?" He has worked almost every other day for the whole month. November is going to look a lot different.  Thank goodness I am into my second trimester and in a coma state most of the time.  More on pregnancy later. For now here are some pics which I know is what you really want to see anyways.

He is loving to get inside of this and her and sissy fight over it often. 

First day of school..yes, I realize this was in September. Forgive me.  She was so excited and loves
going. She is there three half-days a week. She practically runs in and won't give me a kiss unless I go get one. 

We are blessed to get to see some friends who have been overseas for over 3 years (they are back for a few months).
We spent the whole afternoon with them..eating, at the zoo and hanging out. What a surprise this was. 

We got to go to the stingrays and pet them..M1 loved it; she did not want to touch the little sharks though. 

One day I looked over and M2 had gotten this tomato off of a window and ate the whole thing. 

Gran got to come for a visit as well. It was wonderful to have her. I can't believe I did not get more pictures of her and the kids.  Christmas will have a lot more I am sure. 

Wordless Wednesdays

Right of Passage

M1 had a one Right of Passage checked off her list yesterday.  I was in the kitchen cleaning and she was in the dinning room and asked if I could give her a haircut.  I was shocked bc she has not wanted me to cut it for the sole reason that she wanted it to become "magical." So, I said "sure, give me a few minutes to finish up in the kitchen." A minute later she came into the kitchen with scissors that were about to cut her hair. I raised  said in a reasonable voice "NO, don't do it yourself." She knew right away that she was almost in trouble, but then I noticed a bit of her hair looked cut. Then I saw she was holding her hands behind her back..he had a clump of hair back there. I was shocked but I was able to keep my cool. She felt really bad and I did not want her to remember this for ever like I do when I cut mine when I was little.
My mom was not happy when I chopped my hair a couple of days before Easter.  She was not happy and I still remember her voice from that day.  I don't blame her....b/c if M1 had done this the day before Easter I probably would have freaked out too.
M1 actually did a pretty good job by herself ( I was impressed).  I wish I had a picture of what I looked like after I cut mine back in 85'/86' to compare the two of us.

This is almost all of what she caught. 

This is so cute. She didn't so bad, right?

This is my favorite. 

Not the best picture, but I will take a better one soon.

Thanks to my friend, Eraka who got her in on short notice.