Ooops, It's a boy!

Yesterday, just before J.D.'s funeral I had a doctor's appointment. After measuring 2 1/2 weeks ahead, the doctor wanted me to come in for another sonogram just to make sure things were going okay with the baby. During the exam and sonogram, I kept referring to the baby as a "he" as I have done for a while now. Not only is it easier to say than she (how lazy is that?) but I was feeling like it was a boy. So I guess when the doctor passes by the boy parts he decided to show me. "And here are his testicles." Both the nurse and I looked at each other. I just smiled and she let the doctor know that we were not intending to find out the sex until birth. My poor doctor felt so so so bad. I was shocked but okay with it. And honestly, it just confirmed what I was feeling.

As many of you know we do not have many boys in our families so this is a blessing. With the recent loss of my cousin, J.D. and the timing of this slip up, I feel that it was God's work. My feelings on both of recent events are still unsettled but I take comfort in knowing that God has a bigger plan for all of us.

Puppies, Puppies, and more Puppies. Oh my!

Yes, that's right. We have more puppies. And of course, a litter of 10! We must have very fertile ground here.
The puppies were born on Thanksgiving night and if you remember, that's when it snowed here. The momma is Maggie, a border collie mix, who is was a stray that I picked up and just so happened to be pregnant too. The puppies appear to be mixed with blue heeler. So if you know anyone who didn't get a puppy for Christmas...

and a Happy New Year!

For this new year, we have a new addition to our family. No, sorry, not me. At least not yet.
On December 29th, a very cold night, Penny (our jenny) finally had her baby. I had just said the other day that maybe she was in fact not pregnant but just getting fat for winter. I think the baby is female but didn't really get a good feel so I could be wrong. Pokeno is a proud papa and brother!

Merry Christmas / Tour of Homes - Christmas Tree

Christmas with a 3 year old and one on the way makes for a very busy time. We did enjoy our Christmas together. This was the first year that we stayed home on Christmas day. We felt bad for Katlynn in the previous years not being able to play with her new things. And I do have to say that most of the toys stayed in the living room floor for about a week (in my defense, it is very hard to bend over to pick things up so we had to wait for Dad to help us).

The night before Christmas morning, at about 2:30am, we had everything ready. All of Santa's gifts were under the tree, he had made his mark and ate all of his milk and pecan pie. For Katlynn's big present this year we got a awesome deal on a bunk bed that needed a little work. It has a twin bed on casters, tons of drawers, a book case, a desk, and of course a ladder that goes up to the top bunk. We have not done anything with the top yet. We are going to make that area a "play"area and maybe later (much later) she will be able to sleep up there. Needless to say that she loves it and requests to sleep in it every night. And for the most part, she does stay in there for the night. {mom dries a tear}

Most of the pictures from the gift opening frenzy were blurry but a few turned out.
Her noticing that Santa ate all of his food.
A gift from her Aunt Audrey all the way from New York.
And finally, her wearing one of her new princess dresses with make-up on and dancing with the new princess dancing DVD.

Whew! Makes me tried all over again just writing about it.

Working in my Dad's shop

After school the other day, I wanted to stay with my dad and to help him work shop building his playroom rather than go to Painted Poppy with my mom. Dad hooked me up with a tool belt and off I went to fill it up.

I filled it up with screws, tape measure, wrench, etc... I made these X's, see? Then you gotta get a screw from your tool belt...

You put your piece of sheetrock up like this over the X and hammer them in with the wrench. See? Perfect!

Snow...Snow...and more Snow!

So far we have had 3 days of snow. Katlynn has been going crazy that she can't go outside and play but with me 6 1/2 months prego, that's not a good idea for me. Dad came home today and took her out for a snow fight. Amazing how kids pick up things like how to make snowballs. Enjoy! I know we will while it lasts.

Tour of Homes: Front Door

Well here it is... In all its remodeling glory; saw dust, spray paint overspray, and a large spill from who knows what. Not to mention all the leaves and other debris my front porch is known fro collecting due to its L shape. And this big momma is saving all her sweeping powers left in her for the inside, ha.

With all that being said, I do like it. Love my rocking chairs - we sit out there many nights and watch storms, fireworks, or whatever else catches our attention. Just painted my doors red a month or so back along with my shutters changing from green to black. We plan on doing something with the green concrete someday but that will probably be a while. My mother made me the mosaic address sign and for my 30th birthday she made the picket plant stand.

Enjoy! Tagged by Lisa and now I am tagging you.

Happy (Belated) Halloween!

Wow, time sure does fly, especially when you have costumes to make, carnivals to go to, and all the while your house is still under major reconstruction. But we made it through this holiday - whew! - and just 20 more days till the next.

This year Katlynn dressed up as a waitress and loved wearing her costume. On Saturday night, we went to her school carnival and she had a blast! We got to see all 10 of her classmates while we were there. She played in numerous jumpers, did the cake walk with her dad, road ghostly gliders with her "brother" (he is a boy from the other class that is her favorite), SpongeBob sponge throw, and best of all was the silly string battle zone. She spent most of her time in there.


On Halloween day, she had a pizza party at school and in the evening went to our church for another carnival. However, she did not like that one as much since it was outside and (of course) it turned cold that night.

All in all, I would say she had a GREAT Halloween. We hope all of you did too.

Week In Review October 8th - 14th

Last week, after Katlynn got home from school, Dad was so proud of her that he couldn't wait to give her the new toy he bought her. He told her how proud he was of her and how she was doing at school and that we had a surprise for her in the garage. It was awesome to see her anticipation of what could be in there. When he finally opened up the garage, as you can see in the photo, she was completely surprised!

She loves it! She rides all around the yard pretending that she really is driving some where, she's got tons "mommy" of stuff in it, and we have had to charge it up twice already. She's so funny, in the morning she will get herself dressed without being told and come find me to ask me, "Mom, can I go play outside?" As if this kid had a problem with going outside in the first place...


On Monday night while playing in the back yard while I was feeding, she made her first mud pie and lucky for me minus the mud. It was just dirt. But she had fun as you can tell from how dirty she got.


Finally, on Saturday, we went to the Trade Days craft show. We went with my friend Jennifer and her 3 children. Katlynn is sandwiched in age between the two older ones. Her and Jentri were inseparable and called each other sister while holding hands the whole time. After a long day of following their mothers around, they were allowed to ride the miniature ponies. They all loved it and not a one of them were scared.

At one point during the day, the girls ask me if Jentri can come over to our house to play when we get home. Both Jennifer and I said "no" (for numerous reasons, we are not just) and the girls just cried and cried. Later, once the crying stopped, I felt bad and remembered the days when I wanted to spend just a little more time with my friends. However, I don't remember doing this at 2 1/2 & 3!


Well that is all for this week. I hope everyone enjoys!

Week in Review October 1st - 7th

Monday - This week we started using a closet clothes sorter that has slots for each day of the week. We filled it up on Sunday and on Monday morning Katlynn was able to go in her closet, pick out what she wanted to wear, and get completely dressed all on her own (only being told once) including shoes and socks. Here is what she picked out on Monday.


Thursday - Katlynn went to the dentist for the first time. Shelly let her sit in the chair and counted her teeth. She said that we have been doing a great job on brushing. Katlynn then got a SpongeBob toothbrush, pencil, sticker, and little toy for being such a big girl. Next time we go, they will actually clean her teeth. They just want kids to warm up to the idea of being at the dentist. She then sat quietly in the doorway while I got my teeth cleaned. Way to go Katlynn!


Friday - At school, they had Blessing of the Animals day. Everyone at school had their parents bring out one animal to the play ground to have them blessed. It is to teach the kids that animals are God's gift too and that they need to love and care for them. This being our first year, we were quite amazed! There were two horses, a full sized goat, iguana, birds, mice, turtles, cats (and a hairless one at that!), fish, and of course any kind of dog that you could imagine. We brought Sandy, our most behaved dog. ha. Katlynn had so much fun showing off her dog and looking at all the other kid's pets. When it was time for the kids to go back in and the parents to leave, Katlynn did fantastic. Two other boys held onto their daddy's leg and cried but not our girl. While holding on to the other kids hands, she turned around to wave and yelled out, "Bye Dad!". Wow, so much different from the first week of school. I know that she loves it there.




I hope you all enjoyed this week in review as much as we did. This coming week they will be taking class photos and I can't wait to see how they turn out. Katlynn is also selling raffle tickets for their Kooky Karnival for $1 a piece and their are some really great prizes. Best of all, you don't have to be present to win. It is so cute seeing her ask people if they want to buy some tickets and collect the money. Schools gotta start them young now, ha.

Embroidery Lesson 1

Audrey came across a site that has 6 weeks of lessons for learning how to embroider and this is something I have always wanted to try my hand at. So I thought I would invite anyone else who is interested to do the lessons along with me. I will post my finished "homework" on Monday's so that everyone can see how things are going.
Lesson 1

The Game of Tag about your MAN

The Game of Tag about your MAN:

Recent photo of John taken by my mother

1. Who is your man? John

2. How long have you been together? 11 years this December, 4 years of that married

3. How long dated? We dated a little while I was in high school and met up again while we were in college together and didn't take long to know that we were supposed to be together.

4. How old is your man? 32

5. Who eats more? uh, well I AM eating for two right?

6. Who said "I love you" first? John and sadly I don't think I said it back the first time, I was just really scared in my defense

7. Who is taller? ha ha ha, who isn't taller than me?

8. Who sings better? neither of us

9. Who is smarter? I say we are both very smart in our own ways.

10. Whose temper is worse? My temper is short but his takes a while then watch out!

11. Who does the laundry? me...except when I have fallen down on the job and he needs fire department clothes for the next day

12. Who takes out the garbage? Me, unless I leave it on the front porch for him and usually it will sit there for a while.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me

14. Who pays the bills? me, again.

15. Who is better with the computer? ha ha defiantly me.

16. Who mows the lawn? I guess John now that our guys who used to cut it doesn't work for us anymore

17. Who cooks dinner? Me...I don't think John has ever cooked us dinner unless it was for a party and he just grilled the meat.

18. Who drives when you are together? John but I constantly tell him how to do it.

19. Who pays when you go out? John

20. Who is most stubborn? He is, even when he is wrong he will not say he is sorry. I think in our whole time together he has said sorry twice and one of those times was for hitting me in the face by accident.

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? do we ever admit that we are wrong? I would say I am the first to get over something.

22. Whose parents do you see the most? His.

23. Who kissed who first? Oh I am sure he did first, I am not that kind of girl.

24. Who asked who out? He did, again I am not that kind of girl.

25. Who proposed? Uh, John. And on bended knee in front of both of our parents.

26. Who is more sensitive? If I have to chose one of us I guess it would be me but I am pretty thick skinned.

27. Who has more friends? John. Gotta love those fireman buddies.

28. Who has more siblings? He has two sisters, I have just one.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? John wears the pants but I carry veto power.

Enjoy!

Tag, you're it (and only if you want to): Grannie, Audrey, Trish, Lori, Lisa, Wendy

Enjoying the Fall Evening Weather

Tonight we decided to take a evening walk since the evening weather is so nice. Katlynn rode her bike with her new ladybug helmet, Mom put on her maternity belly support belt, Dad brought us a jug of water, and we set off to walk to Pradon's to check out what's new with his animals.

First we came to the deer type animals and one was really interested in us. We made another stop at the Wallabies and had fun watching them groom themselves.

Finally we went around to the other side and watched the zebras for a really long time and all have the mosquito bites to prove it. There was a momma, daddy, and new little baby. They all came up to the fence and let us feed them grass. I felt so bad for the momma too, she looks like she is either expecting with another or is having a hard time dropping her "baby weight". The last picture is one that Katlynn took. These are another deer type animal but very friendly.

We all had fun and got in a little exercise too, which is something that this momma needs. So glad that the weather is cooling off. Happy fall ya'll!

Happy Harvest

Another good harvest, I got a little of everything today.
My first large tomato and I would have left it on there a little longer but Katlynn had other plans. I only have 2 other tomatoes total on that plant so the large tomatoes are a treat. My first red bell peppers look lovely, I can't wait to roast them. And of course plenty of cherry tomatoes and okra.
And all of this with no watering, thank God for the rain that he has been giving us lately.

First Baby Pictures

On Thursday, we went to get the baby's 20 week sonogram. The baby is doing well and growing like a weed. He/She weighs about 7 ounces now. Only 20 more weeks to go! (ha ha ha, ugh.)

What Flower are you?

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

I think that hits the nail on the head. Ha.

Kit's 3 year old Photos

Well, they are finally here! Katlynn's 3 year old photos and only a little late, ha. We went to our favorite photo place (since they do not copyright their photos) but they do not have one locally so we have to wait till we go out of town.

This time was the easiest by far. We were in there a total of maybe 10 minutes. I think Katlynn liked the posing they did. She keeps showing me how to cross your legs for pictures now.

I have some 5x7 printed out but will also be printing out some smaller ones. Please let me know which you would like and I will get them to you. Enjoy!
#1 (mom's favorite!)
#2 #3
#4 #5
#6