One Week

It is almost three o'clock and at this time next week my little family will be on our way to Des Moines for an overnight trip. The drive will be boring I am sure! However, the conversation will make it go fast as we will have just discovered WHO Baby B is! I am so excited for my little family of three to step into that ultrasound room and discover WHO will be making us a family of four! Will it be a another boy who will continue to add to our never ending supply of balls? Or will it be a girl who will stand at the sidelines with a pom pom cheering on her brother? I am SO excited to learn who this blessing is and I am so thankful that my God answers prayer as this baby is a direct answer to prayer!

**Please remember to vote in the poll to the right concerning baby's gender! If you are viewing from a mobile device you will need to choose to view this page as a web version so that you may participate in the vote!

Our Christmas

Once upon a time it was Christmas 2013 and this Mama was missing her camera battery charger. Because of this sad deed she did not take all the pictures she wanted with her camera and was too lazy to upload the pictures from her phone of the family opening their stockings, baking a birthday cake for Jesus or spending time with family and friends on Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning came quickly and excitement filled the air. The Christmas story was once again read, the biscuits and gravy were made and the presents were opened.
A little boy, opened the gift of music.

He opened the gift of comfort that would come in a small chair...


And his mother and father were enjoying the sense of knowing their little boy LOVED his presents this year! As the day continued on the little family journeyed to Grandpa and Grandma's house.
Much to the grandparents relief their grandson was able to help them open their presents-without him the gifts would still be in their wrapping.


His daddy was also relieved to have the help of his son as opening a present could be a tough job!

Thankfully, the challenge of opening presents is not a difficult task for a three year old.

But, it doesn't hurt to have a Grandma to play along with!

And with full tummies and full hearts this family enjoyed their Christmas from start to finish!

Merry Christmas

It's hard to believe that this will be our last Christmas as a family of 3!
So thankful for the gift that God sent in His Son-Baby Jesus!

We are blessed to personally know "The Reason for the Season!" Merry Christmas!

Pregnant Tuesdays

1. I have been craving A&W Root Beer like you wouldn’t believe. To convince you let me share my story, it was Sunday morning and time for breakfast. I went to the kitchen and desperately wanted to pour myself a nice cold glass of root beer; but I managed to instead just have my bowl of cereal. It was rough, because seriously as I ate my cereal I could only think of root beer. I just might have indulged and allowed myself a glass before church…
2. Another root beer story. The following Monday I once again had a battle of wills in the kitchen, I poured my cereal and almost poured root beer in my bowl instead of milk. Thankfully, I realized what I was doing and while I may be suffering from a severe root beer craving I really don’t think that root beer and lucky charms would mix well.
3. I looked back on my pregnancy cravings with Klayton and I realize that I craved root beer then as well. Could this be a sign that I am once again carrying a boy? Mmm…
4. When I am pregnant I have crazy dreams and sometimes, scary dreams. The other night I dreamed about Little Caesars pizza and their breadsticks. Unfortunately, there is no Little Caesars around to make this dream a reality.
5. Am I the only pregnant person that can’t tell the difference between hiccups and the baby moving?
6. I am 17 weeks and yet this pregnancy continues to feel surreal.
7. I asked Klayton once again if he wanted a girl baby or a boy baby, I was ready for him to say, “no, dog” as this was his response last time. However, he surprised me and said, “gool” which I translate to mean girl! In just a couple weeks we will see!
8. I confess that I haven’t voted in my own poll regarding the gender of Baby B. Why? Well, I am really still on the fence…some days I think boy and other days I think girl. It kind of depends on how I am feeling that day and what pregnancy symptoms are evident at the time.
9. Sometimes when I think that I feel the baby move; but I’m not entirely certain I make myself freeze and try to hold my breath so just maybe I can verify the movement. Needless to say, after all this effort I will then feel nothing…
10. Is it possible to feel like time is standing still in this pregnancy yet flying at the same time?

Happy Tuesday!

Please be sure to vote in my baby gender poll to the right. If you are viewing from a mobile device you might have to choose web version to vote!

Book Reviews 6-7

Please remember to vote on the poll to the right. And if you are viewing from a mobile device please choose to view this page through the web version for your opportunity to vote!

Time is slowly running out for me to cross things off my bucket list. I haven't kept up with it like I wanted to and things I don't get accomplished will automatically shift to next years bucket list. However, I am crossing off books from the list and have a few reviews to share with you today. In advance I apologize for no direct links or pictures of the book covers-our keypad is not working correctly and I really don't want to deal with the hassle of it all today.

Book 6: The Upside Down Marriage by, Jim Keller

"One of our biggest challenges in marriage is to communicate through conflict in a productive manner..."

"It's interest to me that what we most want from others is sometimes so easy not to give in return."

"You are always on a slippery slope if you begin to compare your faults to the faults of your own spouse. Own what you need to own and stop the comparison game."

...if the marriage is suffering, parenting will also suffer or at best be extremely challenging."

"Having children is one of the biggest privileges we are afforded by God, but it is a total marriage makeover. Those beautiful babies are heavenly intruders, demanding of both parents' time and sacrifice.

To be honest, I don't know why I chose to read this book; but I did. It was a free book on my Kindle and I just like to read non-fiction books that just might have some helpful tips. I also realize that when a book doesn't necessarily line up with what I believe i need to be careful with what I take from it and while this book has many good points, I do NOT recommend it.

Book 7: The 7-Day Prayer Warrior Experience by, Stormie Omartian

"The Bible would not have told us to take up the whole armor of God in order to withstand evil if evil could have been withstood without doing that."

"Some people think that because Jesus accomplished everything on the cross, we don't have to do anything at all. But if that's true, why did Jesus teach us to pray..."

...we must choose to live God's way. We cannot be protected if we deliberately walk outside the ways and will of God."

Our obedience to God is evidence that we are in alignment with His will. The most important thing is not to get what we want in prayer, but to accomplish what God wants."

In the past I have read other books by Stormie Omartian, one of them being "The Power of a Praying Wife which I thought was excellent! So, I thought a short 7 day Bible reading supplement would be great. The title says 7 days, however, the closing chapter should have been day 8 because it was just as long as the other chapters. I know its petty; but its in my nature I guess to be annoyed with that long 'closing' chapter. A good book; but I am on the fence as to whether or not I would recommend it!

There we have it folks, two books to cross off the good ole bucket list and 5 more to go!

Pregnant Tuesdays-16 Weeks

16 weeks!
Please vote in my poll for baby gender to your right! Thanks! On a side note, if you are visiting this page from a mobile device please choose to view the web version so you can vote!



Total weight gain/loss: As of last appointment I had lost 2 lbs! Woohoo! So, I’ve only gained 2 lbs so far!
How much does baby weigh? About 3.5 oz, the size of an avocado
Maternity Clothes? All my bottoms are maternity. I am still getting away with some regular tops!
Stretch marks? Not yet.
Sleep? Pretty good!
Best Moment this week? Again technically last week; but hearing baby’s heart beat of 140!
Food cravings? Root beer and corn dogs!
Food aversions? Not really; but when something does not sound good it really doesn’t sound good and there is no way I will be eating it.
Pregnancy Symptoms: Back aches, dry skin-literally I am so itchy…Tenderness
Gender: Will know in a few weeks! Yay!
Labor signs? Very early for that!
Belly button in or out? In
What I miss? Nothing!
What I am looking forward to? Finding out the gender on January 3rd! And then taking an anniversary trip to shop for baby!
Milestones? Made it to 16 weeks!

Looking like Christmas

We FINALLY set up our tree. Usually, we do it the day after Thanksgiving; but since we were gone and then I had to recover from our trip...
The day we set up our Christmas tree is one of my favorite days of the season. We made it feel like Christmas inside, enjoyed a nice dinner, watched a Christmas movie and snacked the entire evening! This Christmas season has already been so much fun because my little guy is getting into the excitement of it all as well-he even helped decorate the tree!

Klayton has already spotted a few presents under the tree and I can tell is already having a difficult time refraining from opening the presents himself! So, now the big question is-when do I put his presents under the tree? Will they make it until Christmas without any pokes or tears in the wrapping?!

Or just maybe he will stick to rearranging the ornaments on the Christmas tree? Mmm..