August 2010 - New Year of Preschool

August has started with a bang! This month has FLOWN by and I cannot believe that it is almost the end of August already!!

Jonathan started a new class in preschool this fall and it has been absolutely wonderful. He loved his old teacher and class, but I think he is feeling pretty special being in the "big boy" class. The only down side is that he is not with the same kids. He skipped a class and quite a few of his friends did not, unfortunately. But, the teacher is wonderful and I know that he will make some new friends quickly. He comes home almost every day telling me the new things they have done and what they are going to do tomorrow, etc. Mark and I are sooooo very thankful that he likes preschool. It makes it so much easier for me to go to work knowing that he is happy. (I have enough Mommy guilt as it is, don't need an unhappy baby making it worse!). I bought him a new shirt to wear to the first day of school. I went to Gymboree planning to buy ONE shirt. Just one.... Well...of course they were having a sale....and it was Gymbucks time....and there was cute stuff for the new baby.... Let's just say that I now have two Gymbucks and quite a few new clothes for Jonathan and for the new baby. I fully admit to a spending problem when it comes to things for my children. Children, wow, that's a new word in my vocabularly and I'm loving it!! Oh, stopped and got a double doozie cookie at Great American Cookie in the mall too. Love being pregnant and not worrying too much about calories/fat. That puppy was good!!!!

Anyway, preschool is going great. The Kinders came for a show at the end of the first week. They are a husband/wife team who have written quite a few kids cd's and do concerts for big events around town. Jonathan and the rest of the kids had a blast listening to the music.

Here is the next prego pic. This one is 17 weeks. We had our 18 week ultrasound the next week with the High Risk OB Clinic. We had done a nuchal translucency test at 13 weeks and they were thinking we might be having a boy. Well, our 18 week ultrasound confirmed it. IT'S A BOY!! I am now completely outnumbered at my house! But also completely blessed beyond compare. Even more importantly, there were no problems noted at the ultrasound. The baby appears to be completely healthy and there were no problems. I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a relief that is. Mark and I had both felt that this baby was ok, but it was wonderful to have some confirmation. Thank you Lord for our

many blessings. We have another appointment scheduled at 24 weeks with the High Risk OB's for an echocardiogram to look specifically at the heart. They think all is well, but this will give us more information. After that, it will just be regular OB appointments and waiting for the baby to get here. Come on January!! My friend, Michelle, at work is having a girl as is my cousin Athena. Plus, also found out that three of the ladies that I've gotten to know from Holy Sews are pregnant as well. One is due in November with a boy and the other two are due about two months after me. It is baby mecca around here. Pour on the blessings Lord!!

Thanks for checking in on us. Here's hoping I can stay a little more caught up....well, at least I'll try!!

July 2010

We started off July with a little Christmas time! Christmas in July is always a plus for me!! I had bought a kit to make rice crispie snowmen last December. Unfortunately, with so many other things going on, we never got around to making the snowmen. Well, Jonathan found the kit in the pantry and wanted to make it. So, we did! It was so silly but we all had fun. The kit came with edible paints to paint the snowmen with. Jonathan loved that part the best. We ended up making Christmas trees to go with the snowman which was fun as well.

I usually buy Jonathan a new t-shirt for the Fourth of July but just didn't get around to it this year. Plus, the ones that I did see were just not what I wanted for him. So, instead, I dressed him in a cute red polo shirt and khaki shorts to wear to church. He was so handsome and we had a nice day at home, just the three of us.

I stopped at a local Farmer's Market one afternoon and got some beautiful looking tomatoes. I decided to try and make something that I have never dared to do before. I got out my Vicksburg cookbooks and braved the infamous Vicksburg Tomato Sandwiches. Now, if you're not from Vicksburg, then you wouldn't understand, but they are kinda a big deal! It was the one must have item, food wise, for our wedding, for my wedding shower, my baby shower in Vicksburg, and pretty much any other important event I can think of. I am not saying that these were up to that caliber, but they were good! I didn't do the homemade mayo as it has raw eggs in it (not a good thing for a prego) but I did the variation one. (Of course, now with all the egg drama recall thing going around, I'm glad I didn't do the raw egg thing). Mark will not eat raw tomatoes, but Jonathan seemed to like my sandwiches. Yum, yum, yum!! Now, if only I can convince my SIL Kim to have them at her wedding in January then life will be good! I mean, seriously, we can drive them from Vicksburg down to Hattiesburg right!?!?!?!?

Jonathan's preschool had an end-of-the-year "fair" at school to celebrate the end of the summer. They had mini-corn dogs, juice, snow cones, read books, went fishing for prizes, bobbed for ducks, played with bubbles, saw a 'fortune' teller, and had just an all-around good time. He had a blast with all of it. Oh, and they did temporary tattoos. He picked Spiderman, that was probably the highlight for him. And that silly thing lasted for 4-5 days. Took us forever to get that silly thing off.

I love this picture of Jonathan and my Daddy. My parents came up to visit at the end of the month and Jonathan just loves spending time with the both of them. He sat down with my Daddy to watch the tv and they just looked too cute sitting there together. And that is a good end to July!

June 2010

Here's the update on June! We didn't take a lot of pictures this month as we didn't get out and do much. Pregnancy has this love-r-ly effect of nausea and vomiting and profuse tiredness on me! But, here is a run-down of what did happen!

The month started off with a fun start. We had our first doctor's appointment where we got to see the heartbeat of our sweet little baby. Nice and strong! We also had a fun surprise while we were there. We ran into one of my coworkers Michelle and her husband, Brian. We knew they had been trying but did not know that she was pregnant. Nor did she know that I was pregnant! So it was a fun surprise in the waiting room to run into them. We decided that we needed to plan something special to tell everyone at work. After trying several different ideas, we finally came up with this.

We decided to take a picture of the two ultrasound pictures up against our respective bellies. I'm the one in the peachy-orange shirt. We had a lot of fun showing the picture to everyone and having them try to figure out what was going on. Then, when they finally figured it out, we all had plenty of laughs and hugs to go around. Michelle is due December 29th and I'm due January 11th. VERY close! Will be a little low on PT's at the beginning of the year with us both out on maternity leave too! About a month later, we found out that one of the OT's at work is also expecting...with twins! It is baby central around our work. Don't drink the water!!!!

My cousin Athena is also expecting another little one! She is due January 30th, so just a few weeks behind me. Her little boy, Preston, is about 6 months younger than Jonathan, so it is pretty exciting to have our newest little ones coming so close together again. Thank you for all your prayers for our sweet baby and we ask you to please remember the other little babies on the way as well. We know that God hears all of our prayers and that he will be with us and guide us always.

The other BIG news of June is that Mark and his Dad were able to finish Jonathan's playground. This structure is big and soooo much fun for Jonathan to play on. He is so very happy to have his very own swing, slide, fort, etc. The only problem is that it has been so unbearably hot here this summer that he has not had much of an opportunity to play on it. Mostly late at night, which unfortunately means mosquitoes. Here's hoping that it will cool down soon! He has been asking and asking for friends to come over to play with him, so we are hoping for some cooler weather.

Here is one of the first prego pics that we've taken. I was ten weeks here in this shot. Look more pregnant than that I know, but remember, this isn't my first baby!

I know more happened in June, but I honestly can't remember what it is, so I'll just have to leave you with this! Here's hoping that maybe it's in my calendar or that Mark remembers so that it isn't lost for all time!! But unfortunately, there is not pictorial evidence of whatever it was!!

May 2010

Well, things are going a little better at our house, so I figured it was about time to try and get (slightly) caught up. At least finish May! Then maybe next time I have a few minutes I can do June!!

At the beginning of May was the annual Preschool Art Show and fundraiser to raise money for the preschool and for the PTA. They display art from each classroom, which is judged, and also have tables for silent auctions of classroom art, donated baskets, etc. Jonathan won a First Place ribbon for his ladybug art and a Third Place ribbon for his Thanksgiving turkey placemat. I made a scrapbook page of Jonathan's class that was auctioned off as well. Of course, I spent MUCH more money that my page raised buying his classroom's art! It was a fun week as always.

We made our first and only trip to the AR Traveler's baseball game in May as well. It has just gotten waaaayyyyy too hot to be outside for a game, which is unfortunate as we all love to go to the ball game. The game was a blast. Mark got us fantastic seats behind the visitor's dugout two rows back. Jonathan was super excited as he "caught" a baseball in his hat. Actually someone caught it and gave it to him, but all he saw was it landing in his hat, which is all that really matters. He was so excited and kept a tight hold on the ball the rest of the night. The game was also part of my Mother's Day present. A great present I might add! My sweet boys also gave me some beautiful flowers for Mother's Day. I love a pretty bouquet of flowers.

We made a trip to Madison to see my parents near the end of May. They decided to surprise Jonathan with a Slip and Slide! It was hilarious. I think Mark had as much fun as Jonathan did. Jonathan really liked when someone pushed him down the slide.

The last weekend of the month, my MIL and SIL came up to go wedding dress shopping!!! We went to Lowe's in Brinkley, AR, which trust me, is one massive wedding dress mecca. We were there ALL DAY long, but it was well worth it as we found THE dress. Obviously can't put any pics up, but trust me, it is gorgeous. We are all looking forward to the wedding in January.

Speaking of January, we are looking forward to another BIG family event to happen that month. We are expecting another baby!! We are so excited and so blessed beyond belief. Mark and I have prayed long and hard before deciding this was the path we wanted to take. We truly feel that God has not closed this door for us. And while we know that we are not promised a good outcome, we are promised that God will hold us and be with us through all that will come, good and bad. In the mean time, though, we are just excited about a little brother or sister for Jonathan and a new baby for us and our family! We would like to ask for prayers for this precious baby and for the Mommy, that he or she will be happy and healthy and safe and that the Mommy will stay well during the time to come.

Of course, we found out about the baby right after we found out Kim's wedding date. Which, of course, was planned for the same weekend. Wanting her family to be able to be there and be a part of her big day, she graciously moved the wedding back a few weeks. So hopefully we all be there! Mark and Jonathan are in the wedding and we are all very excited for the big day.

Well there is the condensed version of May 2010! Time to put a happy little boy to bed, but hopefully I can catch up June and July soon!!