What is this stuff?

I don't know if y'all heard, but Texas got a bunch of this white fluffy stuff on Christmas Day ... it kinda looked like cotton balls. And marshmallows. And whipped cream. All at the same time.

We were told it was snow. I'm not sure if you know but the only "snow" Texas usually sees is either flocked on Christmas trees or pumping out of some machine during a Christmas production.

Needless to say, once we all realized what was going on, we spent a good amount of time playing in it on Christmas and the day after. C was NOT shy as you can tell ...













("What? Is this not how it works?") He literally just stopped and threw himself into the snow.












(This what happens when daddy lays down and asks you if you can do snow angels too. He wasn't ready for the cold on his head, apparently.)



(Playing with our neighbor, sweet B! Have I mentioned we have the best neighbors EVER? Our boys LOVE each other!)



(Sliding down the icy steps with daddy = pure JOY)



(And suddenly? He went to the front door and was OVER. IT. He and Frosty both look a little "deflated" dontcha think?)

I'll post some pics from Christmas Day later, we had a great day with family and C got more trains (or I should say things with wheels) than I think any toy store has in stock.

I hope your Christmas was just as merry and, if you were lucky, just as WHITE!

from our home to yours ...



Playing Photographer

Two posts in one week?  I guess that's what happens when you are forced to relax.  Get excited y'all, I'm about to annoy you to DEATH with posts for the next 2 months.  But don't get too used to it because we all know (if you followed my previous blog you know, that is) that I fall off the planet after my babies are born. 

Anywho.  Back to playing photographer.  Y'all, I am by NO MEANS saying I know, at all, what I'm doing.  All I know is I asked for a nice camera right before C was born and I know how to use the preset settings on it.  That's all.  And one of my closest friends asked if I'd take some pictures of her darling family for her Christmas card.  We picked a date and location, prayed her kiddos would cooperate (she has two darling girls, one in Kindergarten the other is 22 months) and went for it.  This is what we came up with, I thought they turned out great!  But it helps when you have such precious "subjects" ...

 

 

There are SO many more good ones however Blogger and my computer have teamed up to be slow as Christmas and C is waking up from his nap (has been for 10 minutes, sorry C!) so I have to wrap this post up pretty quick-like.

 

Hope y'all enjoyed the pics and hope everyone's having a great week!  We're getting SO close to Christmas and I'm even MORE excited than usual this year because it's one of my "allowed outing" days.  Yee haw!

Home Rest.

Well here we go again.

For those of you that followed my previous blog (before I went all privacy crazy and shut 'er down) you know that I went in for a routine checkup at 34 weeks with C and ended up spending the night in the hospital having my BP monitored every few hours and (sorry if this is TMI) my urine tested for protein for 24 hours. Thankfully I never had protein in my urine or any other symptoms of preeclampsia so I was sent home on strict bed rest that, after 2 weeks at home, turned into 8 days in the hospital of bed rest and finally ending with C being born at 37 weeks 2 days healthy and perfect.

Welp, this time it's started earlier. I was 28 weeks on Sunday and yesterday at my appointment my BP went over to the dark side again resulting in my doctor putting me on "home rest". That basically means I can do all I need to (in moderation meaning I should avoid picking up my 34 lb linebacker of a toddler as much as I can, rest and take it easy and relax) at home but that's it. No leaving. Until either A) my BP goes down and stays down consistently or B) baby comes which no one is hoping for for at LEAST another 8-9 weeks.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe BIG things in my God. BIG. Hello, is it not the holiday season? Sending His son to be born as a baby to save mankind? Big things. I know He can bring this BP down. But I also know that sometimes He teaches us things that are hard for us. Like, oh I don't know, patience maybe? I'll admit, I'm not the most patient person in the world. When your son grunts and says "ugh!" on a constant basis because he hears his mommy do it ... well, you could have a problem with patience.

So I will use this time to snuggle with my boy, rest before I'm no longer able to after this next little boy gets here and talking to my Jesus.

The difference this time? I choose not to whine. YES it sucks not to be able to leave the house or drive a car for 10 weeks. To miss my silly's girls night bday celebration, the Christmas production at church, my family's big White Elephant party and the Christmas Eve service.

But this time? I choose to look at the positive. Like the fact that my doctor said I could still attend Christmas Day with our families, that my husband is IN TOWN this time and working at a job that's allowing him flex hours so he can be home to help with C almost as soon as he gets up from his nap, that 10 weeks, in the grand scheme of things, is NOTHING (there are moms that are on chemo, in the hospital for other illnesses and so on and so forth that cause them to be away from their families for long periods of time, I get to BE HOME with my baby) and I have family and friends that are willing to do everything from take care of C to bring me food to just keeping me company, so much so that I could probably fill up the next 10 weeks with their generosity.

It's all about how you look at things folks. Last time, I felt very alone, very "woe is me" and very scared. This time I refuse to let fear get the best of me. Because God has commanded me to do so.

These were the verses in my Jesus Calling devotional yesterday. I thought they were appropriate ...

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
—Isaiah 41:10

Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
—Psalm 139:10

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
—James 1:2

So if you think about it, throw up a little prayer for my BP to stay where it is or come down at least until I'm 37 weeks.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the most important part, baby boy looks perfect and is measuring a week ahead! I mean, check out this precious profile!

2012 Family Pictures

Y'all.

We had our family pictures the weekend before Thanksgiving and honestly?  I was worried we weren't going to get one. single. picture.  Um, HELLO have you ever tried to get a two year old to focus, smile or pose let alone do all three of those things?  I'm pretty sure the word "smile" or "look at the camera" translated to C as "chase the birds" or "THROW A GIANT FIT".  At the end I finally ended up giving him a sucker to entice him to smile and, of course, those ended being some of the cutest ones of the bunch. 

But then, after anxiously awaiting the results from our amazing photographer (who I would LOVE to promote here on the little ole' blog but in keeping with my trying to keep this blog as private as possible in regards to location, family info, etc I'm going to keep that to myself) I got THESE beauties.  She did our family pics, C's two year pics and my maternity pics all wrapped into one sesssion.  And may I say she did an amazing job.  I'm SHOCKED we got as many as we did.

PS - Sorry the pictures look so blurry.  Apparently blogger has a size limit in pictures (like it wouldn't even let me post ONE, anyone else know when this happened?) so I had to save them from my facebook page to my phone and post them through the blogger app.  If you click on them they are a little clearer but not near as clear as they are from the photographer.  If anyone knows how to fix this problem (without buying extra storage cause LIKE that's happening) let me know okee dokee?  Mmkay thanks. 










































































































Hope y'all enjoyed as much as I do! I'm so thankful we got so many good ones!