Joo Joo Jesus

We've been saying the same basic prayer with Caleb before he goes to sleep at night for some time now. He even knows the drill...after we change his diaper, brush his teeth, and turn on the fan, it's time for "pairs," as Caleb calls them. In the last few weeks, he's been able to repeat little phrases after us, which is really precious. It goes something like this:

Us: Dear God
Caleb: Dear God
Us: Thank you for mommy
Caleb: joo joo mommy
Us: Thank you for daddy
Caleb: joo joo daddy

joo joo Jesus

...and so on.

We're not sure why he doesn't say "thank you" correctly when he prays since he knows how, but it's pretty cute!

This week he's been able to say his nightly prayer without much prompting from us. Last night he even added a new one to our list all on his own:

"joo joo Levi."

Melt my heart. He's gonna be a great big brother.

In other news, we went to the airport this morning. That was hard. Caleb did fine since he doesn't know how long his Daddy will be gone; he just thinks he's going to work (which he is), but it was especially hard for Justin. He feels so guilty for leaving us, especially at this point in my pregnancy. I'm going to stay with my mom for a week, against the wishes of my doctor (who's really strict about travel during the 3rd trimester). We appreciate your prayers for us.

It's Just One of Those Days

...where I feel like everyone has it together but me. I know they don't ('cause I know that's what you're gonna say in the comments), but I have it so "not together" these days that it's pitiful.

The last two days Justin has worked approximately noon-midnight, so I've been asleep when he gets home. Today I saw him for about 30 minutes before he had to go to work, and I'm not sure when he's coming home. Oh, and I did mention that he's leaving in a few short days and will be gone for a month? I did? Well, it's worth repeating.

I'm stressed, I'm sad, I'm overwhelmed, and I'm so very tired. I pretty much stay teary-eyed at the thought of being by myself. I know God will get us through this; I'm just not looking forward to it. AT ALL. After enduring the year-long on and off separation with Justin's last project, this should seem like a piece of cake. But we didn't have a child then. And I wasn't pregnant. Oh, wait...yes I was. *sigh*

But, I am excited that my sister's moving here! And my parents are coming in tonight to watch Caleb while Justin and I attend a wedding tomorrow night and attempt some sort of three-weeks-early-5th-anniversary-celebration since he'll be gone on the actual date. (in 5 years, we've only been in the same STATE/COUNTRY on our anniversary 3 times. Isn't that just sad?) I remember hearing when Faith Hill and Tim McGraw got married that they promised to never spend more than 3 days apart (or something like that). I've decided that's only possible if you have a bajillion dollars and a nanny. Or your husband has a job where he doesn't have to travel. EVER.

I'm not sleeping well. I think it's about 50% due to stress and 50% due to this I CAN'T GET COMFORTABLE pregnancy loveliness.

And then there's Caleb, who one minute is sweet as can be with his big blue eyes looking at me saying, "I love you, mommy," and the next minute is bringing me a bowl full of water-soaked dog food that he's been playing with for who knows how long because I fell asleep on the couch during "Caillou." It's amazing I don't have slight heart attacks every other day with that boy around. :-)

Ok, I'm sorry y'all had to endure this depressing post and my little pity party, but I feel better after getting it out. Thanks for indulging me. Oh, and please, please keep praying for us.

Well, Caleb's napping and my hips hurt too bad to go lie down, so I'd better take a shower. (Those are my options during nap time...rest or shower. Priorities, people. Justin will be glad that today's a shower day.) ;-)

She's Moving!!!

My sister finally announced it on her blog, so I'm free to announce it here...she's moving closer to me!!! Kurt got a new job, and they will be living about 25 minutes from our house instead of 3 1/2 hours. I'm so giddy I can hardly stand it. :-) We're excited that our kids will be able to grow up together and our parents won't have to divide their time between two different parts of the state.

We haven't lived in the same place since we were in college (ok, not all that long ago...), and I can't wait to spend more time with her!

And...they'll be here in time for the baby to be born. What could be better?


(If you know where I live, please refrain from mentioning that in the comments section. Texas is a big state, and I try to be as vague as possible about our actual whereabouts to protect my family from the crazies. Thanks.)

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Since you were born, I've been a proud big sister.

(I mean, you really can't fake this kind of smile...) :-)



I'm still so proud of you, and I love you very much!


You're a great mom to Ava and it's so exciting to see you in that new role.

You are not only my sister, but a cherished friend.


Happy Birthday, Sis!

(And you know I had some awesome pictures of our awkward years--where we didn't know we had naturally curly hair so we permed and blow-dried it to a fuzzy mess--that I could have used here. You're welcome.)

I Won Something!

I'm so excited to get this CD in the mail!! I won it because of the giveaway BooMama talked about on her blog. I'll be sure and let you know all about it when it arrives. :-)

5 Questions Meme

Laura wanted to know (sorry it took me so long!!)...

1. How often do you get your hair professionally done?

If by "professionally done" you mean cut, then 2-3 times a year. This is merely a shadow of my former self, where in high school I would get my hair permed and/or highlighted every few months. There was lots of gel and hair spray involved in daily maintenance. Now I opt for a simple cut, natural highlights (read: gray hairs everywhere!), and little or no product. However, we do live in a very humid place and my hair tends toward the curly side, so by the end of summer, I'm usually putting in some sort of product to tame it!

2. Where’s your favorite vacation spot (already taken, in the planning process or simply a dream)?

I loved Germany and Switzerland when I visited there and would love to return some day. The beaches of Phuket, Thailand are simply the most beautiful I've ever seen. Hubby wants to take me to Italy one day since he loved it so much when he visited. I'd also like to see Australia.

3. What’s your favorite family tradition?

This is a hard one. We're a pretty close family, so it's hard to pick one thing. Probably Christmas. My mom makes an awesome spice tea that we drink on Christmas morning, and we always have roughly the same foods to eat that day. We open our stockings first (my mom still does stockings for us!), then open presents. We rotate who we spend Christmas with now, my parents one year, hubby's the next, since the two families live nowhere near each other and we can't "share." Hubby's family is equally as excited about Christmas as mine, which makes me happy.

4. Your tickle bone was tickled. What/who did it and how?

Probably my husband by saying something no one else would think was funny. We crack ourselves up a lot. :-)

5. Do you dream in color or black & white? Color. And very vividly, especially when I'm pregnant. Last night I had a HORRIBLE dream which I will not recount because I'm trying desperately to forget it.

30-Week Check-Up

I took Caleb with me to my doctor's appointment today, so I'm tired. :-) The nurse asked how old he was and then said, "Wow, you have your hands full." Yep, thanks for noticing!

Everything is still looking good. I didn't gain any weight, again, but the doctor isn't concerned because my belly is measuring well (32 cm) and the baby's heart rate is very good (140). She said I'll probably come out of this pregnancy feeling better than I went in--YAY for me! She does expect me to gain weight at the end, though, which I'm fine with since I'm still at -6 pounds for this pregnancy at 30 weeks pregnant.

Oh, and I passed my gestational diabetes testing with flying colors so I don't have to endure the 3-hour test!!!

I guess that's about it. Things are pretty routine now; I'm going every two weeks for the next 6 weeks and then every week. She said we might be able to schedule my surgery at my next visit, so I'm looking forward to getting some things nailed down and schedules synchronized.

*I hesitated to post this, but our little family is really going to need some prayers soon. Justin's going overseas for a month very soon. (I have really good neighbors, two dogs, and an alarm system, so crazy people stay back!) He was gone for most of my first pregnancy, but I didn't have a toddler to take care of back then! Would you say a prayer for us during the month of August? And please pray that this baby does not decide to come early because his daddy just wouldn't make it back in time!*

THE Name

We finally decided on the baby's name.

Levi

I was actually kind of surprised none of you suggested it when I asked for suggestions. It fits all the criteria (one that can't be shortened, means something significant, is not trendy, isn't the name of someone either of us has bad memories of, and it's a Biblical name).

And, no, we don't have a middle name yet. :-)

Am I On Candid Camera?

The same day the baby book incident happened, so did all of these things:

1) closed Caleb's hand in the van door, the crying of both of us ensued
2) dropped ice cream on the front seat of the new car while rescuing Caleb, more crying (I cried because I was tired and hormonal and Caleb cried because I was crying)
3) as I'm changing Caleb's diaper and talking to my sister on the phone, heard Caleb saying, "dirty diaper" as he was wiping his poop-covered hand on the wall behind the changing table
4) cleaned up an entire glass of lemonade Caleb dumped on the living room carpet

all in a day's work for a mommy, right?

I asked Justin to bring home dinner that night because I really couldn't take any more. :-)

...and what's the fascination with kids and the dog's food & water bowls? I can't keep Caleb out of them if the laundry room door is open. He wants to put things in the water (like dog food or himself) or throw dog food everywhere.

Trip to the Library (or What Was I Thinking!)

This morning, after laying on the couch for an unknown amount of time trying to recover from a poor night's sleep, I told Caleb it was time to go to the library. I needed to pick up a couple of books on preparing for a c-section that I had requested, and I wanted to get him a few books as well. "Let's go read some books at the library!!" We were both excited at the prospect of getting out of the house and staying in the air-conditioning.

I had visions of reading and sitting and quietness and reading and bonding and reading in my head as we drove the few miles to the library. It must be the pregnancy-induced mental craziness that made me think any of those things might happen. Anyone who's spent, oh, two seconds with my almost 22-month-old could have given me a big whack on the forehead for even envisioning such peace and tranquility.

So.

I underestimated the pandemonium that is the children's section of the library before noon in the middle of the summer. I'm so naive.

I spent the 30 or so minutes we were at the library chasing Caleb and trying to keep all the books on the shelves on the shelves. The three most exciting things to him were 1) the balloon behind the desk (oh.the.obsession.with.balloons!!), 2) the soccer ball sitting atop of the shelf of sports books, and 3) the turtle pillows in the back corner. When we found the turtle pillows, I was just glad to have a moment where I wasn't trying to pry him off a shelf or run faster than him to prevent any mishaps. You can see that the visions of reading and bonding and peace were dismissed as soon as we opened the library door.

I tried to walk him back over to the board books and attemp to find a few books that would interest him, but he would have no part of that. He wanted to touch all the babies and play with the toys other kids were playing with.

I decided that was enough, um, reading, and quickly grabbed a Thomas train book on our way to the reservation shelves. I found the two books I had requested and then attempted to wrangle Caleb into STANDING.IN.LINE for 5 or 50 minutes (what's the difference when you're almost two years old?).

I'll just hold to the fact that it's good for him to even be exposed to the library, right?

Reading? Maybe another day.

The Fruit of the Spirit

I'm humbled that someone nominated this blog to receive The Fruit of the Spirit graphic.

Trish at An Ordinary Life Artist says this about the graphic: "There are many blogger and non-bloggers alike who have agreed to partner with me in recognizing and honoring those whose writings, postings and lives exemplify how God works in and through His people. When we recognize Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit resides within us. It is the Holy Spirit who produces fruit in our lives ~ but He has also given us the honor and the duty of recognizing the fruit in other believers."

This girl (and this blog) are definitely a work in progress...God is refining me every single day. I'm honored that you choose to come here and see what He's doing in our lives.

I'm so blessed.

Belly Pic-29 Weeks

17 weeks:

29 weeks:

I had Justin take another picture of me yesterday. They don't do justice to how big my belly is getting. The shirt and skirt I'm wearing sort of hide things.

Signs

Joy asked what kind of signs we have around our house. I love having Scripture on the walls to encourage our family and anyone else who comes into our house. I'm hoping to have a friend of mine paint a Scripture on the nursery wall later this summer (once we actually get the room painted!).

These two hang above our cabinets in the kitchen:



This one is on the wall beside our dinner table:


On a shelf in our entryway:


By the computer, above our "The Voice of the Martyrs Prayer Map":

Breathe, breathe, breathe

Like a good mother of a first child, I have spent a lot of time and energy making sure that Caleb's baby book is up-to-date, complete with pictures, progress sheets from the doctor, and lots of handwritten milestones and anecdotes. Just the other day I recorded his last two teeth that broke through and updated a few other things. I gave myself a little pat on the back for being so on top of things and imagined the day when I would pass that book on to Caleb to look back on when he has his own children, as my mom and Justin's mom did for us.

Caleb walks in the room a few minutes ago saying, "happened, mommy?" holding the "4 Month Check-up" sheet that had been taped into his baby book.

I scurried to the living room where I had left the baby book safely tucked into the coffee table cubby hole to find this:


*sigh*

Thankfully, he didn't rip apart the actual pages of the book or remove any photos. I've learned that if Caleb says, "happened?" he has broken something and can't for the life of him figure out why it now won't work.

After that pat on the back, I should have put that book in a very special place where little toddler hands can't reach. Lesson learned.

San Antonio Trip

We went to San Antonio this past weekend and met up with some of Justin's family we had not seen in a long time. Here are a few pictures:

Caleb with his new suitcase that Mimi (Justin's mom) gave him. He was SO.EXCITED.TO.HAVE.HIS.OWN.SUITCASE!!! I keep telling him he's going to have to "carry his own weight" when the baby gets here, so this just helps things along! ;-) I can't tell you how happy he is to have a suitcase with a basketball on it. Sheer joy. And watching him pull it through the hotel lobby all by himself was priceless.

Caleb and Daddy feeding the dolphins at Sea World. By the time Caleb decided it might be okay to reach down and touch one, they were gone because so was the food. :-) He loved seeing all the fish!

Caleb and his cousin, Landrye (with their daddies) at the Riverwalk. She and my niece, Ava, are about 5 days apart. I would say that bow couldn't be any bigger, but it really could. ;-)

Daddy, Caleb, and Mimi at the Riverwalk:

Caleb had a good time at Sea World, and he LOVED that Shamu jumped up and touched a ball during the show. He was still talking about it 2 days later. We had a good time, ate some good Mexican food (and some not-so-good!), and enjoyed spending time with Justin's side of the family. Now if we can just get Caleb to remember which of Justin's brothers is Uncle Scott and which one is Uncle Josh, we'll be good.

Honoring Your Husband

Several of the blogs I read are taking part in the Honor Your Husband Challenge. I'm not "officially" participating, but reading their posts has definitely made me think about our marriage, and, mainly, my attitude about certain things.

I have a BAD attitude about what time Justin gets home from work. BAD attitude. I have mastered the whole "pity me because I'm pregnant, have a toddler to take care of, need to have dinner ready, and want to eat at 6:00 sharp" thing down to an art form. It's sad, really.

I've been harboring a lot of bitterness about this for some time now. I sometimes treat Justin like it's his fault that his job is really stressful, he's in charge of 20+ people, and there are deadlines to meet. (I'm definitely not living up to that part in our vows where I said I would serve him with patience and love. Patience really is my weakness.)

And don't get me started on how I feel when other people's husbands are home in time to help with prepping dinner or to take care of the kids while dinner is being made. Bitter comes to mind.

So, I really need to work on this. It doesn't do me any good to be bitter about it or get angry with Justin when he's not home when I want him to be home. It's the way things are, and I can't change the facts. I can, however, change my attitude, which needs a serious adjustment.

I'll be working on my attitude and actually being an encouragement and support to Justin instead of being bitter and counting the number of hours he's been gone.

That and actually going to the grocery store and cooking dinner several nights in a row for a change.

A Royal Priesthood

Much-needed inspiration and motivation for today's mothering tasks...

“But you are… a royal priesthood…that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Ann writes today at Christian Women Online:

"So a mother consciously chooses to live out her priesthood as a believer, so that her children might be taught ‘divine things.’ As the Old Testament priest’s days carefully stepped to the beat of His expressed laws, so the New Testament everyday priest thoughtfully orders her days to the divine rhythms of Father’s heart. While the Old Testament High Priest wore the apron-like ephod, the New Testament ministering mother wears apron and holy habits. Holy habits of communing with God, reading and memorizing His Word, prayer, fasting, service, worship. Holy habits of putting on the garment of Christ (Gal 3:27 NEB).

The domestic priest cannot forcibly dress her children in holy habits, for these are not outward mantles of routines and checklists, but the interior attire of the heart. One can only clothe one’s own soul. What is a mother to do? She can faithfully adorn herself with her own ardor for Christ, her own daily, holy habits stirring the desires of her children, all the while thoughtfully laying out threads for young souls to take up in their own life’s tapestry. She prays and fasts and sings hymns and serves and loves and meditates on Scripture before her children. Then she creates space, stillness and opportunity for her children to also enter in. She lives so that each child feeds not on her devotionals, prayers or worship, but from his or her own. She kneels beside her child and helps him gather his own spiritual food with his own hands, rather than simply eating from hers."

May my own daily, holy habits stir the desires of my children to know and love Him.

Read the full article here.