Day at the Ranch

We spent the afternoon and evening at Scott's. We had some business to take care of with him and I had to do my grocery shopping (badly!), so we killed two birds with one stone. The kids were ecstatic to find out we were going to Scott's! Unfortunately it was too cold to ride, but they did get to "help" Scott feed. It was starting to get dark and I only had my phone to take pictures with, so they aren't the best (I can't believe-well I can-that I forgot my camera!!).

It got cold FAST, so Jacob and I stuck inside the barn! He got out into the pen and was pretending to be a horse. :)

There is no doubt this girl is my daughter. Even though she had to have been FREEZING, she stuck right beside Scott for a good 30 minutes. She wandered between the horses, petting them. She was so completely at ease and just looked right at home.

Her face is blurry here because she was talking so excitedly!

Mama! This horse came right up to me!! I didn't even click my tongue...he just came right over to me!!!!!

She helped Scott feed this horse-she got the grain all by herself and poured it in his bin.

Helping Scott with the water bucket.

On the way over there, Jacob asked if he could ride a tractor (he wore his John Deere socks). I told him Scott didn't have a tractor so he wanted to go to Terry's house! ha Let's just say he was a little bit excited when he walked in the barn and saw a TRACTOR!!!

I told her it was too heavy, but she tried anyway. :)

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Do What Ya Gotta Do...

To survive some days! Aaron has to work this evening & well...they're not screaming at each other so I don't care!!!
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Special Fun

When my c-section was schedule for o'dark thirty on Wednesday, I told Aaron we were getting a hotel room with his travel points & taking the kids swimming, so we wouldn't have to wake up at 2am to get the hospital on time. Then it got moved to Monday afternoon...except I'd already told the kids we were taking them swimming! So we kept the hotel room (duh....it's free!) and brought the kids this afternoon to go swimming. They had a BLAST!!!

I LOVE his face here!

Grandpa and Grandma W came Saturday evening. Before church this morning, Daddy got a great picture of the kids with Grandma!!
I'm not holding my breath for a good night's sleep tonight--I can't take Benedryl after midnight so I'm sure I'll be up itching all night long! For so many reasons, I can't wait for this little guy to be OUT!!!

Just Life

Just some random pictures...

Jacob was concentrating very hard on copying the picture of a baby on a box of diapers. Although he was torn between eating crackers and drawing ;)

She snuck into our room one night...she was pretty well hidden under pillows and bags!

Jacob's favorite thing to do when Binga's air mattress is up is to play with the lighted controls (for the heated mattress pad). He likes to hide under the blankets and turn it off and on. Sometimes he cranks it up to 6 and Binga gets a little hot at night! haha

We love Wacky Packs!! :)

I just love this picture. Jacob was very determined to get right down there with Daddy and "help"!
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My sonogram today showed that baby is still very happy and active (no kidding!) so the delivery date is still set for Monday! 4 days!!! Anna is so excited! We decided to get a hotel room (this was originally when the date was Wednesday and the check in time was 5:30am!!!) and take the kids swimming before the baby is born. Since I'd already told the kids about it before they changed the date, we kept the room (it's a free night with Aaron's reward points. Woohoo!). And even better? We don't have to check in to the hospital until 11:30am. And the kids are staying with my parents. Which means we should get some awesome sleep!!! :)

School Pictures & Pregnancy Update

The kids had their school pictures taken. They turned out cute!

I asked Anna if she smiled pretty for her picture and she said "kind of" :) My little girl is growing up! We're going to have to start a "school pictures wall" now!!

For those of you who really know Jacob, you know that THIS is Jacob! Oh my goodness. He did a really good job. At first he balked at standing in line but when he saw they got to stand on the red footprints, so he was all about it. Then he kept trying to hide his smile behind his hands. The guy finally had him put his hands in his pockets and this is the smirk he got. I love it!! :)

Pregnancy update...week 38!!! I have been having some serious itching the last couple of weeks (it feels like it's been so much longer than that!). I had some at the very end with Jacob, but not this severe. So I asked the doctor last week if there was anything I could do for it. She said Benedryl and that she wanted to run some blood work just in case it was something more serious. They had to draw blood to test my iron level again anyway, so she added that test. I didn't hear anything all week, so I assumed everything was fine. At my appointment today, she said she'd just gotten the lab results earlier that morning and it showed that my liver levels were elevated and I had a condition called Cholestasis of Pregnancy (click on the words to read details about it). It's a rare condition that happens only in pregnancy to few women. So she ordered a sonogram to check baby's movements and make sure he's still happy (he is) and I have another one on Thursday. I'm also to do kick tests twice a day at home (I lay down for an hour and count his movements-there have to be 10 in an hour). If anything changes there, or if the sonogram shows he's not happy Thursday I assume she'll opt for an earlier c-section. As it is, we moved the date up to Monday the 15th (instead of the 17th). So Benedryl and TONS of lotion it is. It always seems worse at night, of course. Now I've got to finish my to-do list before Thursday, just in case! :)

Stray Pet

I have no idea why this kitten still comes around, but it does! For the first couple weeks, it would show up EVERY time the kids went outside, but it would never let them touch it (I have no idea if it's a girl or boy). Last week, if Anna sat still and let the kitten come to her, she could pet it. Before long, Jacob was picking it up and holding it. He's never been mean to it and really seems to like it. I knew what was coming at the end of this clip! Aaron said "Luckily cats land on their feet!" :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pumpkins and Fairies

The kids were excited about their costumes Uncle Windell sent! Especially Anna (what little girl wouldn't be excited about this costume?!)

I thought it looked like a butterfly, but she insisted it was a fairy (like Tinkerbell). Either way, she was way cute! :)

Binga found her a pair of sparkly shoes to wear, but she hurt her toe earlier in the day and she refused to put shoes on. So she wore flip flops. And she loves having her hair curled and fixed. She's so patient to stand and wait while I fix it. She even asked if I could fix it like that the next day for school! I think I'm glad I've only got one girl...!

When the costumes came, Jacob wanted nothing to do with his. He liked Anna's, but didn't want to even try his on. Then the next day, I couldn't get him to take it off! But of course, wouldn't you know that come Sunday evening when it was time to trick or treat, he screamed his head off!!!

As soon as we got outside, he was just fine and happily went along.

The only problem after that was the first house we went to were good friends of ours, so we went inside. Then every house after that, Jacob thought we needed to go inside (he actually snuck inside one!!!). And he thought he needed to eat a piece of candy between every house! The weather was pretty nice...once the sun started setting it got pretty cold. But we all had fun (okay, I was quite worn out by the time we finally made it back home!). Several people said I should have painted my belly like a basketball & Aaron dress as a player...too much effort!!! :) The kids are now loaded with candy. Which is very much out of reach, seeing how the other morning I got out of the shower and found Jacob had eaten 2 Reece's!!

Pumpkin Time!

I got a couple of pumpkins a while back, but instead of carving them (too messy and I do all the work anyway!), I decided to let them paint! I had to laugh at how differently Anna and Jacob went about painting their pumpkins...

Jacob went to town with the paint. He mixed the colors together right away. Then he just started slapping it on. He had a blast!

And then there's Anna. She had to have a cup of water so her colors didn't mix. She sat and thought about what she wanted to paint on her pumpkin. Then she set about meticulously painting her pumpkin.

Mr. Free Spirit

Miss Perfectionist

And they're both works of art in this Mama's opinion! :)

One Week Down...

...one week to go! I think we're kind of finally in a groove (sort of). Anna has done much better the last couple of days. The wonderful Kim took the kids for the entire afternoon which meant I got a very long, uninterrupted (mostly) nap! And then we had supper with Stacey & Christian which meant 1) I didn't have to cook and 2) the kids got to play with friends! A great way to end a long, stressful week. I was talking with Stacey tonight and we both agreed that dealing with our sons' disobedience is so much easier than dealing with our normally-very-well-behaved daughters' disobedience. It's just so draining. Especially since I was not expecting Anna's reaction. At all! And not that Jacob is just naughty, but he's a boy and he's always pushed the limits and has never been as quickly compliant as Anna has been. I think just the difference between boys and girls. And honestly, when you have a child who is usually very little trouble in the discipline/behavior area, it's really hard to suddenly deal with a lot of those issues with her. Having a little grace goes a long way with her. I've found that if I simply rock with her every morning before school for as little as 5 minutes, it makes a world of difference. These poor kids are going through a lot of change in their worlds this fall! Starting school, Daddy traveling a lot, a new baby...yikes! And for a girl who hates change as much as I do, that's a lot to throw at Anna and expect her to just handle it with no hiccups. I need to remind myself of that and to try being more positive about this whole thing. Yes, it stinks that he has all this travel and that the first trip is 2 weeks long. Yes, it's really hard being 31-37 weeks pregnant while he's gone. Yes, it's exhausting to be a "single mom" for this season. BUT at least he has a job. At least that job provides enough so that I'm able to stay home with the kids. At least my mom is able to come and help during these times. God is good, all the time...not just when life is going smoothly!
Tomorrow we're going to lay low and just hang out. Definitely take a nap :) Then one more week and Daddy will be home!! Yahoo!! And a couple days before that, Lord willing, Binga will come down for a visit!!! :)

Really?? Only Day 3?!

It's been a looooong 3 days. We all feel like Daddy has been gone for a month (Daddy included)! Anna is having the hardest time, which surprised me. Jacob has become Daddy's little man the last couple months so I figured he would have the hardest time. He's been pretty good. Anna reacts by being very naughty (disobedience, torturing her brother) & sassy :( which makes Mama very tired & grumpy! Which makes it all worse!! So we're working on it. I think she just needs lots & lots of cuddling. We've still got 9 days! As an act of desperation, I got the Moon Sand out for the kids. That stuff is so messy!!! But they really have fun with it. I figured the floor needs swept anyway, why not add some Moon Sand to the mix?! ;)
Onward we go!
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Day 1

Well, travel season has started. And it's starting out with a bang-Aaron's first trip is 2 weeks long! :( The day started okay since both kids had school this morning I got an extra nap in. Which is good because I never sleep very well when Aaron is gone and add to that the multiple bathroom visits...not much sleep!! After school both kids were just whiny & grumpy. I figured naps would take care of that, but they woke up in even worse moods! They finally agreed on a movie & after it was over they were in much better moods. Jacob loves to play at the sink so that's where he went. Soon sister joined him & they played there for over half an hour! Now for supper...hmmmmmm.
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Toys? What Toys?

I'm serious, we should just get rid of ALL our toys! They've been playing on the couch and with the cushions all day today! Evidently this arrangement (Mom & I rearranged the living room while she was here a couple weeks ago.) is perfect for playing "Ice Berg" as they can hop from cushions to chairs to couch. I love that they're playing so well together and staying so entertained!

A Day in the Life

Seriously, who needs toys?! They honestly played in this stroller for over 30 minutes the other day. And have played off and on with it since. I told Anna I was going to sell all their toys and just give them the stroller and a cardboard box. She kinda panicked! haha

For some odd reason, she ended up sleeping in front of the door for naps one day. I have no idea why. She usually stays in her bed even if she doesn't sleep.

He dressed himself. What can I say?! He refused any pants, was adamant that he wear his Lightening shoes and camo John Deere socks. Alrighty then!

She's getting really good with her bike! She also named it Abby. Alrighty then!

I've officially reached the "shelf stage". :)

Fair Twins

Anna wanted to match today for the fair and she chose the John Deere shirts. Of course I had no trouble convincing Jacob to wear his!! And he loves his JD hat. Anna is quick to point out that she likes John Deere, too! :)

Fair

She's patiently waiting for the rides! She was okay for a while looking at all the equipment, but got tired of it. And she was hot. Then we got to the rides and she didn't want to ride anything!! Jacob wanted to ride the cars (which he LOVED last year), so he got on...the only kid...and did NOT like it. The guy was kind enough to stop the ride and give our tickets back. Crazy kids! So we all rode the Ferris wheel, looked at the animals, and made our way back to the van for supper at Bogey's! The kids were worn out (so were Mom & Dad!), but Jacob still didn't want to leave. He informed us several times that he did NOT like the Ferris wheel. We had a great time. Unfortunately the day we went was probably the hottest day of the week but oh well!

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Fair

A fire truck!! The HCC fire school had a fire truck & ambulance there. The kids loved both! They didn't want to get out of the ambulance, which was fine--I sat in the shade for a while! :)

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Fair

He found the John Deeres! I don't know how many times people commented "He's a John Deere boy huh?" (could have been the JD hat and shirt that gave it away...) :) He sat on every single piece of John Deere equipment they had. He really is a John Deere boy--he sat on a few others, but John Deere was the only place he wanted to sit on ALL of them!


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State Fair!!

I can't believe I forgot my camera!!! So I'll be posting a picture at a time from my phone. To say the kids are excited is the understatement of the century!!! He enthusiastically said "HI!!" to everybody we met coming in. It was too cute. Jacob is in heaven seeing all the tractors & combines. This one only costs $262K!


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Labor Day Weekend

Aaron was in a wedding over the holiday weekend, so Papa & Binga kept the kids for us. It was fabulous to get away without kids for the weekend...two nights without kids!! Although the constant bathroom trips didn't lend themselves to full nights' sleep. But it was still relaxing.
While we were gone, they took the kids to the farm to visit Grandpa Elmer & Grandma Mary.

Of course, Jacob found dirt to play in right away!

Don't interrupt my playing!!!

Great Grandpa and Grandma with 2 of their 16 (soon to be 18!!) great grandchildren!

Boy is a crazy sleeper!

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The wedding was at LaSada Sporting & Hunting Inn. It was a beautiful setting and the weather was perfect!

I loved the colors...vibrant yet still mixed with earthy accents.

My chariot awaits! ;) The walk to where the actual wedding was held was about 1/2 mile down the path. I made that walk for the rehearsal and was rewarded with huge blisters. So I was very relieved to hear they had a "carriage" to take elderly and pregnant guests down!

Such a beautiful setting.

There were three flower girls and one ring bearer...and this is how the adorable little guy walked all the way down the isle. It was like he was saying "I can't believe they're making me walk with all these girls!"
A beautiful wedding, a wonderful weekend away, and we're so happy for Nathan and Joy!