Grateful

Well, we can all see on which one of my 2011 goals I have fallen short, can't we?  I guess when I set my goals for this year, getting pregnant wasn't necessarily one of them, and that has kind of trumped blogging.  I do have several posts planned for December, so perhaps it will help to get me back in the groove.  (?)

The last several weeks we have been celebrating Thanksgiving.  I love Thanksgiving.  I love setting aside a time to show gratitude.  I love the food.  I love watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and remembering when Jim and I marched in it sixteen years ago.  I love having a house full of people who are laughing and talking and eating and loving life.

We started preparing for Thanksgiving last week as Cora had her first ever Mother's Day Out program.  Each class stood on the stage and "sang" one song.  I don't think a single child in Cora's class actually sang (they're only two years old!), but it was good for them to practice standing up in front of people and staying put.  Of course, Cora didn't really do that, either.  She climbed up and down the bottom stair for the whole song and kept walking over to her teacher, but it was cute.  She makes me smile.

The kindergarten at Brennan's school had an adorable Thanksgiving program on Friday.  Some of the kids were turkeys, some were pilgrims, and some were Indians.  It is a big school... You can't even see all of the kids in this photo!  (There are kids dressed as turkeys on either side of the photo.)  But even though it's a big school, we really love it and it doesn't feel big.  We are so thankful for our neighborhood school!

Brennan was a pilgrim, and for the first time in his five years of life, he fully participated in a program!  He sang every word, did every motion, and really enjoyed himself.  I was so happy for him and proud of him!!

Yesterday we had some friends over for Thanksgiving Day, and it was fabulous.  I just love hosting Thanksgiving!  I love having dinner parties, setting pretty tables, and spoiling my friends and family.  Plus, Jim makes a yummy turkey!  (Actually, this year he made two so we could have extra leftovers for our friends and our freezer!)

This year we had our friends Kylie and Jesse and their sons Dylan and Ryland (they have eaten with us for the last three years!), and our neighbors / friends Jefferson and Leslie and their son Jackson.  With four kids and a baby, it was the first time we've ever had a kid table for Thanksgiving!

The company was great, the food was yummy, and everything was wonderful.  Maybe next year we'll need two kid tables!?

These pictures above make it look like my house was so serene.  It was not.  At all.  But it was fun!!

I try very hard to show an attitude of gratitude each and every day of the year, so I hope Thanksgiving is just a continuation of that.  This year, among the many things I am thankful for, I am especially grateful for our friends.  I am thankful for genuine, passionate, down-to-earth friends who walk alongside us and encourage us to live for Jesus, allow us to be ourselves (and love us just as we are), and fill our home with joy and laughter.  Even without good food or pretty decorations we have so much to thank God for.  He answers the prayers we remember to pray and even the ones we don't.

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. --Cicero

I am so grateful.

Sixteen Weeks & the First Belly Pictures!

I am now sixteen weeks pregnant.  For anyone who has never been pregnant (or for anyone who hasn't been pregnant in a really long time), this translates to being just under four months pregnant.

(Warning:  This is a little pregnancy math lesson.  If you hate math, skip this paragraph.)
This has come up many times now in the last several weeks, so I'll educate anyone who doesn't know.  Pregnancy is 40 weeks long, which means that the first and second trimesters are each 13 weeks, and the last trimester is 14 weeks long.  (13 + 13 + 14 = 40)  Technically, if every month was exactly 4 weeks long, this would mean being pregnant for ten months.  However, since each month is not 28 days (4 weeks) long, it only works out to nine calendar months.  Anyway, lots of people are under the false impression that pregnancy is only 36 weeks long, with each trimester lasting 12 weeks.  Believe me, I wish that was true, but it isn't.

Here are a few stats:
How far along: 16 Weeks

Total weight gain: 12.5 pounds

How I feel:  Pretty good, overall.  I still get nauseous for an hour or two each evening and throw up a few times a week around 10:30 PM, but compared to feeling horrible for eight hours every single day, I'll take it.

Maternity clothes:  I have been in them for quite some time.  Although I didn't visibly "pop" (at least to the rest of the world) until recently, my jeans stopped fitting pretty immediately after I found out I was pregnant.  You really do get bigger so much faster with each pregnancy!

Sleep: I am still happily side/stomach-sleeping and getting pretty good rest, except the one time each night I get up to go to the bathroom.

Best moment this week: I got five good maternity shirts at Kid to Kid for less than $40 total!

Movement:  I have felt a few faint flutters, but they are still hard to differentiate from, um, other stomach movements...

Food cravings:  Mostly red meat and potatoes of every kind.  I could eat a steak or cheeseburger every day.

Labor Signs:  Boy, I should hope not!

Belly button in or out?  In, but it's starting to flatten a little.

What I miss: Hot baths, my morning coffee routine (I gave it up because of the caffeine and the Splenda), and diet soda

What I am looking forward to:  The 20 week ultrasound.  I still want to know the gender, but Jim doesn't.  I'm hoping we'll find out on December 5th, unless I cave and let Jim win this one.  Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the baby on that screen!

What I am NOT looking forward to: Getting another c-section, especially the epidural / spinal!

Milestones: Nothing recent or very exciting that I can think of.

Weekly Wisdom:  Write down everything because your brain can't hold squat and it will calm you down.  Make a list of all the things you need to do, but remember that when you need a nap and have an opportunity, take it!  Most things can wait.

Halloween Fun

Last Tuesday our family took an impromptu after-school trip to Walden Farm to soak up a little pre-Halloween fun.

We took a beautiful hayride and enjoyed a lot of the farm that I had never seen before.  It is beautiful, rustic Tennessee at its best.

After our hayride and a few pumpkin pictures, I thought it would be fun to get a family photo in front of this awesome wagon display.  Jim and I were so focused on helping his mom figure out our camera and making sure everyone was situated that no one noticed Brennan's silly face.  Don't tell Brennan, but I think it makes the picture just perfect.

For whatever reason, Cora is absolutely obsessed with scarecrows this year.  She points out every single one she sees, and believe me, there are a lot more out there than you realize.

Just before it got dark, Brennan climbed to the top of these hay bales and shouted that he was king of the mountain.  

On Friday we went trick-or-treating at Jim's work after school.  It required tremendous work to get everyone there on time, in one piece, and happy.  I had to gather costumes, snacks, dinner stuff for Cora, trick-or-treat buckets, my camera, wake Cora from her nap, and go pick up Brennan from the car line (the bus would have made us too late).  By the time we got there, I realized I had forgotten Cora's tutu.  :-(

Nonetheless, she and her little friend Myla made perfect ladybugs.

It amazed me how bold Cora was.  Brennan used to have to be pushed and urged to approach people, and saying trick-or-treat scared him.  This year he was over that, but Cora didn't share any of Brennan's reservations from years past.  She just marched up to anyone and everyone that might offer her treats and gladly took them.

On Halloween morning, Cora got to wear her costume to Mother's Day Out.  She was so excited!

I told her she made a cute ladybug and asked her what a ladybug says.  She replied, "Ummmm...  Maybeee.....  Trick or treat!"  :-)

Together Brennan and Cora were the characters from Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, one of our favorite books.

We had to make a few adjustments.  First of all, Bumblebee Boy doesn't have anything that makes him look like a bumblebee except his striped shirt, so we made more of an effort with Brennan.  For Cora, I went with a black shirt instead of red, and although we tried to find the boots (they do exist!), they were all sold out and we had to settle for Mary Janes.  Nonetheless, another little trick-or-treater said, "Hey!  You guys remind me of a book called Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy!"  Mission accomplished.

Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Going Fishing

This morning when I looked at my facebook page, I had to laugh.  My recent posts include photos of my hike in Fall Creek Falls, a comment about a four-foot snakeskin that Jim found in our backyard on Saturday, and photos of our family's first fishing trip.  We are definitely Tennessee folks now!

For years Brennan has been begging to go fishing, and this weekend we went on our first ever fishing trip with our sweet friends, the Warfels and the Boyds.  Byron Boyd is an avid fisherman, and he helped show us the ropes fishing line.  

We had six adults and seven kids all gathered at a perfect little fishing spot on Percy Priest Lake, only 20 minutes from our house.  It's a wonder we didn't scare away all of the fish (especially with all of the rocks the kids kept throwing in the water), but we did actually catch a few.  

I think Jim ended up enjoying fishing more than he thought he would.  While everyone else sat around in camping chairs eating a picnic dinner, Byron and Jim wolfed down their food and headed back to the water to fish some more.  

Jim caught four fish with one worm, and Byron joked that even for a Dave Ramsey guy, that is pretty extreme and frugal!  :-)

Brennan was a little surprised at how much time had to be spent untangling lines, putting on worms, and preparing to fish, as opposed to just fishing.  But he was pretty patient for a five-year-old, and I think he would enjoy going again.  

I have no interest in touching fish or worms, but I wouldn't mind going again just to see the beautiful lake and watch my family having fun.

It is definitely more fun with friends...

... and Hope and I are already hoping to plan a joint family weekend trip for next fall so our six seven(!) kids can spend more quality time together in the great outdoors.

Fall Creek Falls

I love the outdoors, and I love transitional seasons.  There is something incredibly comforting about fresh air and trees.  You've probably heard me say it before, but I don't know how I lived for eight years in concrete city, with a near absence of trees.  It isn't enough to have a well-placed tree or two in my yard.  I need lots of trees - forests, really, with canopies of leaves and colors and light filtering through in sunny patches. And I need access to forests and hills and streams in order to stay healthy.  Maybe it is the fact that I was born in western New York and went to college in PA.  Maybe it is the fact that I was a camp counselor for years.  Maybe it's just the way God made me.  Whatever the reason, I need nature.

Last Saturday, three friends and I escaped to nature at Fall Creek Falls State Park.  Oh my word.  That is seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.  The minute I got home, I wanted to go back.  I kept trying to think of excuses to justify the 2.5 hour drive with my kids very soon.  The fact of the matter is, our lives are busy and our weekends are full until the weather gets cold, and in the spring we will welcome another baby.  But as soon as I can get back there, I will.

I spent thirteen hours away from my family last Saturday, and five of those hours were spent on the road.  It was totally worth it.  I came back refreshed, revitalized, and recharged, and I was a better wife and mother, at least for a little while.

I am so thankful that God is creative and loves us enough to give us beautiful things that money can't buy.