Pregnancy cravings.....

With each pregnancy I've had some sort of salad obsession. With McKenna it was Chili's Chicken Cesar Salad. With Chandler it was On The Border's Steak Fajita Salad. With Maya it was Panera's Summer Strawberry Salad. With this baby it's my very own concoction that has me running to the store every week for ingredients. It's kind of a "oriental salad" of sorts with spring greens, Mandarin Oranges, Edemame beans, Garbanzo beans, red pepper, almonds, and a ginger sesame dressing. It's WONDERFUL! Add some sliced grilled chicken and you have yourself a full meal!















Some other pregnancy cravings I've had have been kinda funny because they are so "typical" pregnant girl stuff:

-Watermelon.
-Scrambled eggs and toast (almost every day!).
-Grapefruit Juice.
-Cheese....any kind!
-Steak.
-Guacamole.
-Chocolate chip cookies (homemade....only my recipe....and straight from the oven!)

It's no wonder I gain 50 lbs each pregnancy!

Memorial Day Fun!

Of course it RAINED on Memorial Day this year (when does it not rain on Memorial Day?). However, that didn't stop the kids from going out in all the sloppy, muddy, yucky-ness & playing their little hearts out.















Maya and Evely had the most fun I think!


















Remember when finding a little frog in your backyard was like winning the lottery? McKenna must have played with this little guy for two hours straight. Ah, the simple pleasures of being a kid!















By the end of the day I think I must have washed dirty little feet no less than 20 times. The kids kept wanting to come inside which meant we had to wash muddy little piggy's EVERY TIME they came in! It got to be a bit comical by the end of the day.









*All in all it was a great day. Memorial Day was also "Big Papa's" 34th birthday!! I didn't get any pictures of the birthday boy with his red velvet cake (shame on me!), but I think he had a great birthday. I'm going to enjoy this next year when I can still say I'm in my "twenties" & Jonathan is now "mid-thirties"....it's a good feeling to say the least-LOL!

**A special thanks to Tom and Karen for hosting a great party. Love you guys!

Past The Halfway Mark!

This pregnancy has gone pretty fast when I stop and think about it. Of course, it always seems like time stands still once you get closer to the third trimester. We still haven't accomplished any of the "big" home projects that are on my list, so I'm in no hurry to rush through this pregnancy. I'm still hoping for an October baby, but with the early swelling I'm already having I won't hold my breath on that one!

Here is a recent picture of my huge (or so I've been told) baby bump.















(For the record: THIS is not "huge" to me...it's normal!)


In other news.....

My beautiful Mother's Day flower garden was cursed with some very un-friendly visitors this week & I think I might have lost my sweet flowers to the Ortho spray used to kill said "visitors".













Ewwwwwwwwwwww!


Pretty sure those are termites. Figures.....only the "Whites" could have such fortune !















Stay tuned for pictures of Maya's new bed!

Crime and Punishment!

The Crime:
































Yes...that is indeed an empty laundry detergent box (that Maya pulled from the garbage can) that served as undercover "storage" for her stolen booty.

















Sneaky little thief!

















The Punishment:


The sneaky little criminal was caught red handed (or, is that yellow handed?) and had to serve some time behind bars while the kitchen floor was cleaned and disinfected.
















It's true what they say about those cushy minimum security joints...they really are pretty nice!












I don't think she "learned her lesson"...but she sure did make me laugh!

My Little Graduate!

It's official! We have a preschool graduate in our home! Last week Chandler had a "Moving On" ceremony at his school & he officially graduated from Early Childhood (sniff, sniff). I'm really going to miss his wonderful teachers & therapists from the early childhood program, but I know this is just part of him growing up. I certainly don't feel ready for him to be in Kindergarten next year, but I'm comforted by the fact that I know he will once again have fantastic teachers & it helps
that I really like my kids school.

Here are a few pictures from his little ceremony:



Receiving his certificate.













Taking a look at it.....













He was so proud!













What a cute little man!

It's a........

Baby giant?? I had my "big" ultrasound yesterday and this baby is measuring about 1 week ahead of my due date & even a little "chubby" at that (10 oz)! The tech asked me how big my biggest baby was & when I told her 8 lbs, she kinda paused...then we told her our 8 pounder was a month early! She kinda laughed and then didn't say anything else. I'll be sure to thank my husband (who was a 10 lb, 4 oz baby) this October when I give birth to this giant without an epidural!

Other than this baby being "impressive" in size, everything else looked great! We saw the face, belly, heart, hands, feet, liver, lungs...all that cool stuff! We brought McKenna with us to the ultrasound, and she thought that it was so cool to see the "baby x-ray's".

Oh, and we saw one other thing too............................................
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IT'S A BOY!

We are thrilled that Channy will finally get the brother he has been asking for! It will also be kinda fun to have two of each, since we are really, REALLY done after this baby. Oh, and just in case you are wondering, this baby will continue to be called "baby" until after it's birth since my husband seems to have some sort of baby naming aversion that causes him to act juvenile when the mention of naming our child comes up. He pretty much mocks the naming process by offering suggestions like "Larry, Daryl, and Daryl", "Stevie Ray", "Cletus", and "Percival". He does this every single time we have a baby! Unfortunately, this will most likely continue until the hospital hands us the birth certificate papers and makes us fill them out! So, wish us luck on the whole "naming" thing...because we are gonna need it!

This is me a few days ago, at 18 weeks :-).

Happy Mother's Day!

It's no secret that for the past 6 years Mother's Day has been my least favorite holiday. I referred to it as "Grandmother's Day" instead. That's because for my first 6 years of being a Mother I spent the entire day running around to both of the grandma's homes to pay homage to them (which usually meant me cooking some sort of side dish for a meal, and buying them the "perfect" Mother's Day gift). Don't get me wrong...I love our Mother's, but I was not so in love with the "special" day that put so much pressure on me. It was anything but special for me & I began to despise the holiday. It was much like Christmas...but the stakes were even higher!

SOOOOOO, this year my loving husband worked really hard to change all that. We managed to show our Mom's we loved them, without having to run all over the city on Sunday. For my first Mother's Day ever I got to sleep in, have a fun day with my kids, and actually relax for once! Imagine that!! It was a really great day & I owe it all to my wonderful hubby who worked so hard to make things fun.

I'm such a nerd that I actually asked for PIZZA on Mother's Day. It's a good thing that I have such unrefined taste, because do you know how unpopular pizza joints are on Mother's Day? We had the whole restaurant to ourselves & the kids behaved beautifully. It was a dream come true!

After a tasty and satisfying lunch we went to Home Depot to buy my gift..........

I asked Jonathan for flowers for Mother's day...and he delivered!









I spent a few hours in the afternoon planting flowers with Jonathan and the kids, and then we had a cookout in the evening. It was the perfect day! I guess I have some planning to do for Father's day now.............

Financial Peace & lessons on giving!

Well, Jonathan and I just completed the 13 week Dave Ramsey course called "Financial Peace" & I can say for sure that the last 13 weeks really have been life-changing! It's one of the best things we have done as a married couple & I finally have some hope that we really can change our family tree. I don't want to bore anyone with all the details about what "Financial Peace University" is, so I'll just say that the curriculum title says it all...you really will find financial peace if you choose to adopt the principals this course teaches.

This past Wednesday was our final class and the last lesson was on "giving". I really do think it was the best lesson out of all 13 lessons because it is at the heart of why I really desire to be debt free. Sure, I want to alleviate financial stress & be able to do things that my family never got to do (like take vacations!), but I would not say that is what drives me to seek being out of debt.

As many of you know I did not grow up with any sort of financial stability in my home. In fact, there were times where if it were not for the grace of God, we would have been homeless. That's my family history in a nutshell. When I grew up I vowed NEVER to let that be the legacy that I passed down to my children.

However, in the midst of being poor and destitute I was able to witness something pretty amazing from my parents...they were givers! Not with monetary gifts, but with their time and talents! My entire life I saw my Dad pick up hitch-hikers and buy them a meal, take in guys who were fresh out of prison, and down on there luck, & teach them how to write a resume & help them find a job. He also started several prison ministries were he would have worship bands come in and play for these guys & then hold a Bible study afterwards. Even today my Dad goes to a local prison to hold a monthly Bible study. He has mentored several of these guys when they got out & even found AA mentors for them so that they would stay on the straight and narrow and not end up back in prison.

These are just a few things I saw my parents do despite the fact that we were pretty destitute in our own way. There were Christmas's where we didn't get gifts, and months when the only food we ate was that which came out of our own garden or from the farm we lived on. Yet, my parents still had a heart for others. I didn't grow up with much, but I did grow up with parents who placed a high value on hard work and charity of the heart.

But...you know what I think is sad? My parents had a very hard time not feeling guilty about not "giving" to the Church in the "right" way. You all know what I mean. If you grew up in the Church, you heard the yearly "giving" sermons & maybe wrote a check or two out of guilt. However, I've never been at peace with that idea. I have to ask myself, "Is that really what God means when he says to give". I'll be honest here and tell you I never have bought into that & I never will.

What I am about to say next is not very popular...but this is my blog, so I get to say what I think... right or wrong! I said earlier that I wanted to become debt free so that we could be "givers", and by that I do mean giving MONEY (not just time and talents)! However, I do not think I'll ever be at peace with my soul if I write out a check to a Church building every month for 10% of my gross income. Why? Because, in my heart I believe God has called us to raise our heads up and out of the four walls of a Church building to see the world of needs all around us. He called us to "look after the orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27) & I take that very seriously.

What I'm saying right now is only to my Christian friends: Please think about what I am saying. Please consider that God has called you to give in more than one way. I find it very discouraging when most of my Christian friends do not have time for anything outside of their "Church Ministries". I do not think that speaks very highly of Christians. When you can't make time for programs like "Big brothers/Big sisters", when you don't have time to do a charity walk to raise money for cancer, stroke, autism, March of dimes, etc...what are you saying? Here is just one example that comes to mind : My Dad has asked, begged, and pleaded with many of his Christian buddies to come to the prison with him once a month and do a Bible study with these prison inmates, and he has yet to get a "yes" from any of his friends. They are all too busy with "Church stuff". What does that say??

OK....stepping down off my soap box. What I want from this post is to help others think outside the box. What I beg of you is this : Please understand that Christian or not, we should all be givers. I believe we were all created in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, and he was a giver in the biggest sense of the word (For God so loved the world that He GAVE his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16). If you really believe that giving the biggest chunk of your monetary gifts to a Church building so they can crank the heat and A/C, turn on the lights, and pay staff salaries, is what God has called you to do...well, I'll not argue with you then. But, promise me that you will remember that God has called us to see the whole world....his world...a world full of needs.

Please do not forget that somewhere across the street, or across the world there is a single mother who is struggling to feed her children & she still needs help. Somewhere, there is a man laying in a prison cell that needs to know that someone thinks he is worth more than the sum of the wrongs he has committed. Somewhere, there is a family with a young child that is dying of cancer, and their only hope and encouragement comes from a local not-for-profit charity that is funded by people like you and me. Please...DO NOT forsake these people! You simply cannot ignore the world around you because you are "too busy". We are capable of so much more than we realize, we just need to step out of our tiny little worlds to see it sometimes.

I'm saying this as much to myself as I am to anyone else. I do not want to forget where I came from, or where I'm going. I want to live this life with purpose and meaning. I want my children, and my children's children to have a rich heritage filled with great examples of generous givers. I hope my name is NEVER carved in a cement park bench at some multi-million dollar Church complex, because my money was used to build a useless courtyard for people who already have a courtyard in their own backyards! I DO hope that some day a poor family with three little girls will receive an anonymous package filled with gifts and food on Christmas Eve, just in time to give those little girls hope that this Christmas will not pass once again with no gifts (that was me many years ago...)!

I'm sure that I've sufficiently bored many of you to death with this long, grammatically incorrect, self-righteous tirade...but it was sure therapeutic for me ;-). If you did read this, I hope it gets you thinking about what you want for your future, and your family tree.

Peace!