May Days

big babies

2012-01-28T08:30:00.000-05:00

One of Micah and Connor's favorite play and tv viewing spots is Logan's swing. Ironically they both HATED it when they were babies :)

rocket balloons

2012-01-27T19:55:00.004-05:00

Tuesday I ran to Babies R Us looking for a baptism outfit for Logan. I found a super cute one in about 10 seconds! Since that didn't take long and babies r us is right next door to it I ran into HomeGoods. I love that store. I bought the majority of the curtains and bedding for Micah and Connor's room and Logan's room there for great prices. I was looking for a fan but they didn't have any. On the way out I spotted this box of rocket balloons. I immediately new my fellas (including the big one!) would love them and at $5.00 I couldn't resist especially since I saw the same thing on zulilly.com for 12.99! It also came with a balloon pump and I'm about the worst balloon blower upper ever so this was exciting stuff. We sent about 10 of them up in the air that afternoon and they loved it. They go very high and then turn circles and flips all while making a funny whistling noise. And if they don't get stuck in a tree on the way down you can use them again ;)

3...2...1...

blast off!

Do you see it!?

wii

2012-01-23T18:07:00.002-05:00

Micah, Connor and Zach have had great fun playing our new/used Wii. We don't have many games yet but they are fine so far with just wii sports. There favorites are sword fighting and frisbee golf. Micah does really well by himself (for a 4 year old) and team Zach/Connor are a bit more advanced ;) I love listening to their conversations during wii time!

embrace the camera: 1/19

2012-01-19T12:19:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I attended one of Micah's preschool pals 5th birthday. I spent 3 1/2 glorious hours being able to give my undivided attention to just my first born. It was HEAVEN!

LOVED {embracing} this week!

two months

2012-01-17T21:40:00.002-05:00

Logan turned two months old on Sunday. We had his well baby check up today and he's growing like a weed...a big 'ol fat weed (read Forrest Gump voice)

* He is 22 1/2 inches long and 14 pounds 4 ounces.
* eats every 2-3 hours during the day
* usually settled in to bed by 9 each night and sleeps 5-6 hours until up again which makes for a happy mommy :)
* has not had to lay on me to go back to sleep after his second night/predawn feeding for the last two days
* is sleeping in his crib instead of the bassinet for the first time tonight
* finally got rid of his baby acne but still has one clogged tear duct
* still has tummy troubles. He is taking mylicon and gripe water likes it's going out of style.
* smiles :)
* getting better head control when you hold him upright
* talks to himself when he lays under his playmat. Micah likes to translate what he says.
* is completely adored by his two older brothers
* nickname Logi bear cause it sounds like Yogi Bear and because my nickname is bear and we share a birthday so it just seems right :)

Micah checking to see if his eyes are open

Yep he's a wakey boy!

seriously I don't think they could get closer to him

first smiles

haha big ol chubby grin

smirky smirky

shy sweet smile

reclining on daddy

embrace the camera

2012-01-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

I'm glad Emily encourages taking pics no matter how grungy you look because with a 4, 2, and 8 week old I'm averaging two showers a week :/ Thankfully the one day I see most people I know (Sunday) is one of those days! Two of my friends last week at church commented on how good I looked. My response was thanks but it's a ruse. If I look put together on the outside maybe no one will notice the complete dishevelment everywhere else :)

I took a picture first

Then it was Micah's turn

Now it's yours! {EMBRACE!}

adopt a cat

2012-01-11T20:42:00.000-05:00

For the last two months we have had two kittens show up at our house daily. I began feeding them whatever leftovers I had in the fridge and then finally broke down and have purchased some cat food to put out for them once a day. They have yet to let us near them, though they have no problem pushing their nose up to the glass of our back door to make sure we see them and bring them food! They are adorable and I feel a strong desire to help them because they look EXACTLY like our old cat Chipper and I'm afraid he just might a patriarch in their family tree somewhere ;)

The two babies chowing down

Their alleged father/grandfather Chipper

all three

2012-01-10T02:00:00.000-05:00

playset

2012-01-09T02:00:00.000-05:00

Micah and Connor's (and Logan's too) big Christmas present this year was an outdoor playset. Micah had definitely outgrown the one we got him for his first birthday and we had been wanting to get one for awhile. Zach had big plans to build one for them (and still might one day) but time is not our friend for huge projects right now. We combed Craigslist, ebay, and website after website for new ones and then Zach randomly just asked on facebook if anyone was getting rid of one and wanted to sell it. Our friend Danielle commented almost immediately that they had bought one from a friend for their new house and then their new house ended up already having one! The cost of this plus the money we earned selling the old one meant we basically spent the same amount we would have on the slide alone if we built from scratch. Score for us! Zach and our friend Zach spent an entire day putting it together while I kept the boys busy so we could keep it a surprise. They have absolutely loved playing it in. They call it their fort (or pirate ship depending on the day!). It needs to be restained desperately but that is an easy and cheap fix that will wait until spring time :) This is definitely in the top 5 of good purchases we have made!

embrace the camera: January 5th

2012-01-05T14:38:00.004-05:00

I forgot my hair dryer and straightener when we went to my inlaws for Christmas which is why I look AWFUL but I love this picture of a rare kiss from Connor so I'm showing it anyway!

My two 'zacharys'

snuggling with my sweet Logi Bear :)

{embrace}

frozen on ice

2012-01-05T01:30:00.000-05:00

After seeing George do it, Micah wanted to try and freeze some water in cups outside last night. He added a couple sweet gum balls as well. We actually put them outside yesterday morning so we wouldn't forget and he kept going and checking on them all day and kept saying "yep they're getting there." He was so excited this morning when it actually worked!

look who

2012-01-04T13:58:00.001-05:00

has started potty training!!

We are on day 6 of wearing underwear and Connor is doing really well and has earned many m&ms. He has had a few accidents of course but the majority of them are when he is either eating or playing and doesn't want to stop. I'm trying to convince him that his food and toys will still be there when he's done. Micah is super proud of him and wants to come and help whenever Connor yells (and I mean yells) "I gotta go potty!!!!! The newest slugs and bugs CD has a song on it about going potty so Connor and the rest of us are constantly singing..."Where you gonna go when you gotta go? You're gonna go on the potty!" Awwww the joys of parenthood :)

goals for 2012

2012-01-03T21:59:00.001-05:00

Last year I made a list of goals in 6 different catagories. I've marked in red the ones that I either accomplished or improved on somewhat. Looking through the list it cracks me up that my physical goals are what I accomplished the least of. After getting number 4 done it pretty much trumped all the rest of them!!

Sarah’s Goals for 2011

Spiritual
                * continue daily bible reading and prayer time
                * begin day earlier than the boys to spend myquiet times
                * read at least 6 spiritual grown books
                * make a list of the spiritual disciplines andconcentrate on one per month
                * make goals for Children’s Church andaccomplish them

Physical
                * earlier bedtime
                * eat healthier (less Dr. P and other sugars)
                * regular exercise (try for 3 times per week)
                * get pregnant and have a healthy weight gain
                * skin care regiment to get ready for turning30!
                * be diligent with taking vitamins

Financial
                * strict grocery budget
                * patient with spending $$ on wants
                * pay off car and student loans
                * better filing system

Professional/Homelife
                *keep up cleaning schedule and weekly goals list
                * refurbish piano and train table
                * try 3 new recipes per month
                * work on Micah’s writing letters andnumbers and computer skills
                * work on Connor’s colors and shapes
                * spend less time on facebook , blogs and email
                * read at least 6 fun books

Relational
                * more special dates with Zach
                * monthly hangout with Matt and Leslie
                * keep up weekly goals list
                * concentrate on words of the year Give andTake
                * listen more to others words and advice. Ask for it also.
                * reach out to the needs of others small orlarge
                * learn to make meaningful, friendly small talk
                * specific prayers for others and myself

Here are my goals for 2012. There are a lot of similar ones because I still think they are important to concentrate on and a few new ones that make more since in my current life.

Sarah’s Goals for 2012

Spiritual
                * complete bible reading plan
               * daily prayer time and journaling
                * set a good schedule for boys so that I amable to begin waking up before them again
                * read at least 6 spiritual growth books
                * join a women’s accountability group of somekind
                * make goals for Children’s Church andaccomplish them

Physical
                * earlier bedtime
                * eat healthier (more water, less Dr. P andother sugars)
                * regular exercise- complete 30 day shred atleast twice, run 2-3 5ks
                * skin care regiment
                * be diligent with taking vitamins
               * engage in physicalactivity/play with M, C and L

Financial
                * reevaluate family budgetand stick to it
                * patient with spending $$ on wants
                * pay off student loans
                * organize paper work witha filing system
               * savingsaccount/retirement account

Professional/Homelife
                * keep up cleaningschedule and weekly goals list
                * refurbish piano, coffeetable and end table
               * complete one pinterestcraft a month
                * try 3 new recipes per month
                * summer reading practice with Micah
                * work on Connor’s letters and numbers
                * limit time on facebook , blogs and email
                * read at least 6 fun books

Relational
                * more special dates with Zach
                * monthly hangout with friends our or at home
                * concentrate on word of the year limit/slow
                * reach out to the needs of others small orlarge
                * still trying to learn tomake meaningful, friendly small talk
                * specific prayers for others and myself
               * plan a fun weekendgetaway with 1) a group or girl friends 2)mother and sister in laws on eachside

sunday song

2012-01-01T15:26:00.000-05:00

After a somewhat crazyand chaotic last month (newborns and Christmas are an

overwhelming combo) I amhappy to be entering into a new year. Iam even happier that I have a God who doesn't need a date on a calendar togive me the chance to start over or change direction or stop and listen. Those of you who know me, know I have chosena word of the year the past two years and last week God totally pointed mein the direction of the next one. Ican't wait to share it and to spend this year reflecting how He wants me to useit to improve my relationship with Him and apply it to the different aspects ofmy life. It's a biggie...well for thisfamily it is. Until then read these wordsand enjoy the beginning of your 2012 as you continue to seek our Creator.


Create in me a Clean Heart
 (Keith Green)

Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me 
Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away 
From thy presence oh Lord
Take not thy Holy Spirit from me 
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

christmas in gainesville

2011-12-31T22:25:00.000-05:00

I just informed Zach that blogging events with his side of the family is an overwhelming task because we are nonstop action the whole time and if Beka gets the camera at any point there will be at least 900 pictures! We had a great time spending Christmas/post Christmas with Zach's family. All 19 of us were there together for the first time since the three new grandchildren were added to the group. We spent the days playing just dance and donkey kong on the wii, opening presents, hanging out at the park, playing games until all hours at night, staring and laughing at cutely adorable kids, and getting way too little sleep...ok maybe that last one was just me...well probably jess too...

As wonderful as our time was it is always nice to get back home. We've spent the last couple days cleaning up Christmas, catching up on laundry, and playing with our gifts. After being on the go for almost two weeks, I was glad to sit for a few days, reflect on the fun with both our families and get ready to begin a new year with our family of 5.

christmas morning

2011-12-31T15:14:00.000-05:00

I'm going to go ahead and say it, my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were not the best ever. 15 minutes after leaving my parents house on Christmas Eve I started not feeling well. I ended up throwing up on the side of Pike Road in a parking lot (blech!) and continued for the next 12 hours!! I missed our Christmas Eve service, missed making our Happy Birthday Jesus cake, missed making dinner (they ate canned ABCs), missed watching It's a Wonderful Life with Zach, and missed setting out Christmas. I just sat on the couch and watched Zach do it and went back to bed. I was quite sad and quite pitiful to tell the truth. Thankfully I felt better by the next day, not perfect but better, and was able to open presents with the boys. They each had a few things under the tree and then we took them outside to show them their big present. We bought a fort/clubhouse/swingset and they were very surprised. It was raining though so they couldn't play on it which actually was good because we had to hurry and get dressed for church and packed up to leave for Gainesville after church. I felt hurried, hectic, chaotic, overwhelmed and icky pretty much the whole day except for our time at church. I know many people didn't make it to worship at the prospective churches that morning and that's ok but I was very very very thankful for that short time where it seemed like the day stopped and I was able to rest and relax in Him and the glory of what Christmas is. It was just what I needed and I was so thankful for the amazing gift of that time.

coconuts for christmas

2011-12-28T23:19:00.003-05:00

We had a great time with my family for our time together at Christmas. We had our "Christmas" Friday the 23rd and ate our traditional prime rib dinner and then took the kids for a walk around the block while the presents magically appeared under the tree. My mom put coconuts in Micah and Connor's stockings because they are completely obsessed with Swiss Family Robinson (where they throw coconut bombs) but they had never seen a real one. Micah kept asking and asking Zach to open the coconut so he could drink the milk. When he finally did this was the face we got!

Nasty or not the coconut is one of his favorite gifts!

next generation

2011-12-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

We spent the morning with some of my friends from forever and their children. Its crazy looking at this picture when I have vivid memories of sleepovers with their mamas when I wasn't much older than Micah!

gingerbread houses

2011-12-28T20:18:00.002-05:00

During our Christmas visit to Enterprise, Christina fixed all the stuff to make gingerbread houses with all the kids. Well Abby didn't really make one but she did enjoy the M&Ms! After the houses they made reindeer food to put out on Christmas Eve. The next day they had their houses for dessert :)

Cardoza Christmas

2011-12-27T15:12:00.003-05:00

We spent the evening with the Cardozas to eat, hang out and exchange presents. Last year the kids decorated melted snowman cookies and this year they decorated cupcakes. Each of them had a very distinct way they liked to decorate. Connor wants tons of icing and whatever sprinkles William is holding, William wants tons of sprinkles especially if they are the color Connor is waiting for, Bella is careful and quite precise (very feminine!) and Micah was icing free. The rest of the evening was spent with the kids jumping on cushions and playing upstairs while the adults got to talk and be adults which doesn't happen very often :)

m & m christmas

2011-12-19T15:05:00.001-05:00

For the last 5 years we have set aside a special night in December for celebrating Christmas with the Moons. It's actually 6 years if you count the year I was pregnant with Micah and Justin was still in Korea waiting for another month before he could come home. The only difference last Thursday was one more little boy was present and a little girl was hanging out in a belly. We had a wonderful night eating yummy Chicken a la nehnie and exchanging an array of presents. It is definitely one of the best nights of the season. Tonight we get to celebrate with our other bestest friends the Cardozas for another night of fabulous friends and crazy kids!

one month

2011-12-17T22:01:00.000-05:00

For a baby shower gift I was given stickers labeling months 1-12 to use for Logan's 'month days' I didn't do this with either of his brothers but am very excited about doing this for him. My friend Tara does this with her boys in a chair next to a stuffed animal to show how big they've gotten compared to their surroundings. So here is Logan in his chair next to his cute owl pillow from Nehnie. I even made him a manly pair of baby legs to wear for each picture as well!

One Month:
* weighs 11 lbs 7 oz and is 21 1/4 inches
* eats a lot- every 2 1/2-3 hours
* likes to nap in his swing or bouncy seat. I've tried to lay him down during the day in his bassinet but he will have none of it. Which I've decided not to mind because a naps a nap right now so I'll take it however I get it. He will sleep in his bassinet at night until around the 4am-6am period when he would prefer just to snuggle instead. I've decided not to worry about this yet either since I also like to sleep and will take it anyway I can get it!
*likes warm baths
*tolerates a paci occasionally but doesn't seem to 'need' it as much as his brothers did. This may change though.

jesse tree

2011-12-15T22:47:00.001-05:00

We started a new tradition with the boys this year, the Jesse Tree. My friend Sarah told me about it last year and I found a free download with all the lessons and ornaments from Ann Voskamp. Now I have to go ahead and let you know that we haven't done it every night. With our new little Logan, life isn't exactly on a normal schedule so we've missed a few nights, but on a smooth day Zach reads the scripture and we talk about it after dinner and let the boys hang the ornament on our special tree I got this year just for this. Micah and Connor seem to enjoy it so far. They get really excited about trying to guess what the picture is on the ornament and getting to have their turn to hang it on the tree. During the reading it's hit or miss how much they pay attention but we're practicing our listening skills and trying to remember that they are 4 and 2! Regardless of how able we are to do all of it this year I am so happy we started it and can't wait to continue it every year.

embrace the camera: starting again

2011-12-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

I haven't embraced in quite sometime and I have missed it!! Especially after looking back through pictures and seeing some of just me and one of my boys playing, talking, being silly, etc. I am officially back and dedicating Thursdays to pictures of my little men before time catches up with us and they are real grown men. This mama knows way too much how fast it goes and I don't want to forget a thing, both good and bad! Here is me and with my youngest two.

Our new little Logan

Connor (#2)

now go {embrace!}

Jacob and Maximus

2011-12-13T07:44:00.002-05:00

I stand firm on my belief that you can create almost any toy for boys out of cardboard and duct tape. For example...

While shopping for a birthday present for a friend Micah saw a Tommy Gun. You know those huge machine guns that gangsters used. He asked for it and I promptly replied NOT A CHANCE! When we got home he asked Zach if he would make him a huge gun. He's father promptly replied SURE and spent the next 20 minutes fashioning this huge gun out of cardboard and duct tape. Connor then decided he had to have one as well so on went more cardboard cutting and so on. Much to my heart's delight they soon grew tired of their ginormous 3D guns and began riding them around the yard like they were horses. YES! Cowboys I can handle ;) I am not kidding when I say they two of them played with their 'horses' ALL DAY. Seriously had to make them come inside after 4 when it was freezing and starting to get in to the dusk time of day. The next day they asked Zach to add a head and tail to Maximus (connor's horse) and Jacob (micah's horse) and have continued to play cowboys, jousting, and horse racing until these poor creatures are on their last leg. This is one of those days that being a mama of boys was nothing but pure joy!

3 peas in a pod

2011-12-07T21:20:00.001-05:00

My three peas...

Logan

Connor

Micah

It's been three weeks since boy number three entered the world. I just love these three pictures of them. Looking at them you think wow they are just the same but paying closer attention you can see their difference and being with them you can definitely see they each have their own wonderful and challenging personalities. That said...

The question to ask a new mama (whether it's her first or 20th each child makes you a new mama all over again) is "so how's it going" or "how are you doing". I do not mind this question at all because I know the asker is truly wanting to know how we're doing. Even those people who as the "stupid" pregnancy questions before the baby gets here wants to be helpful after they come. It's not always an easy question to answer though because to explain completely how we are all doing would take waaaayyyy too long if I was to be completely honest with my answer. My usual answer is the boys are doing great and loving him and playing really well together and I'm still adjusting to the busyness of life. Short, sweet and doesn't lie and say it's awesome but doesn't reveal to much of the nitty gritty. Even in this, my own blog where I can say what I want, I really don't want to go through the WHOLE honest answer because frankly it's exhausting to even think about. Yesterday I had my first emotional meltdown a.k.a crying fest. It was a mixture of exhaustion, holiday preparations, and the inability to be completely there for anyone in my family. I know there will be a point where I can give each of the men in my family exactly what they need from me their mother or wife but I"m definitely not there yet. The problem is I didn't realize I wasn't there yet until yesterday when I was trying and failing and finally just crying. I would say it was ironic but God is never ironic. I was praying in the wee hours that very day about the boys and my mothering and asking for His Spirit to be present with me in my relationships and caretaking of them but the whole time I was assuming I had it all covered. In 12 short hours He proved that I did not. Now while the majority of this meltdown was normal due to the season of life we have just entered there was still a valuable lesson I learned. This morning, again in the wee hours, I read these words "I can't do everything, and I'm not supposed to" Newborn or not I can not do and be everything to my baby boys and that's ok because I'm not supposed to. I'm their mama not their creator, savior or holy spirit. Thank GOD, no seriously THANK YOU, that He's got them in His hands!

My sister in law Jessica had her third child two weeks before Logan was born. She has 3 kids 3 and under. She just wrote this today...read it! I feel we will be bonding through this experience of three!

christmas tree oh christmas tree

2011-12-05T07:47:00.001-05:00

We took our traditional trip to Lowe's to pick out our Christmas tree for this year. Zach, with encouragement from Micah and Connor, picked out a HUGE tree. It seriously touches are ceiling...our vaulted ceiling!! It's beautiful though and made all my boys happy. It's up and decorated. Micah and Connor helped a lot this year.

My favorite part of having a tree is sitting in the dark and quiet and looking at it all lit up. I know it's not a biblical symbol but in the glowing quiet it's easy to reflect on the amazing miracle of Jesus's birth and the wonderment of our lives with Him in them and the infinite blessing it has brought to every aspect of my life and the lives of people around me.

written in sand

2011-12-02T12:43:00.001-05:00

On our quick visit to the beach this past summer I wrote all three of the boys names in the sand. We had just chosen Logan's name and I wanted to see how they all looked next to each other. They looked good :)

two weeks later

2011-11-30T14:30:00.001-05:00

It's been two weeks since our family grew by one and it has flown! Micah and Connor spent the first 6 days at my parents so that we could recuperate and get to know our little Logan man. Then my parents brought them up and stayed the next 6 days to help out and celebrate Thanksgiving with us. This just means that technically I am only on the 3rd day of being in charge of all three of them on a daily basis. It's quite amazing how something so little can I have such a drastic impact on your day to day life. It's also amazing how much I am able to block out from the first two experiences. Lack of sleep, days full of non stop caretaking, and the inability to go run the simplest errand are just a few things my brain is adjusting to. Thankfully it hasn't taken me long to remember these things, just need more time to adjust back to them!! I've mentally prepared myself that the next 3-6 months are going to require some flexibility on my part when it comes to household things that three weeks ago were easy to fit into the daily routine. Just pre planning the fact that things aren't going to get done has already helped immensely. This way if Zach or I are able to get even the smallest thing done it feels like a HUGE accomplishment :) I sure wish it hadn't taken me until child number 3 to figure this all out! This is not to say I won't have a 'this house is a wreck and I never have time to get anything done' freak out occasionally but acceptance is the first step right!? In the meantime all 4 of us are loving cuddling with our new baby boy/brother and doing pretty well with all the hiccups that come your way when a newborn enters your life!

p.s. could all of you please remind me of everything I just said in two + weeks when my mental preparedness could potentially fly out the window ;)

Now on to adorable pictures of my sweet Logan!

newborn photoshoot

2011-11-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

Zach took Logan's newborn pictures this past week. I officially have three of the cutest blond boys to ever have walked the earth!

pumpkin smashing

2011-11-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving is Christmas decorating day. Our pumpkins from Southern Belle were still in great shape but they don't really fit into my Christmas decor. Micah and Zach volunteered to get rid of them for me...

Their method was A LOT of fun! I wish you could have heard the screams and wows and oh grosses coming from their mouths as pumpkin guts shot all over the yard. Pretty sure this will be a yearly tradition!

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-26T14:49:00.001-05:00

We had a semi quiet Thanksgiving numbers wise but Micah and Connor made up for it in noise! They have had quite an exciting week being back home, my parents being here and loving on Logan. Justin, Stephanie and Silas joined us for our Thanksgiving meal because her family had to leave the day before and they didn't have anything else to do until later that evening. It was fun sharing the holiday with them. My older brother and his oldest daughter Haley drove up from his in-laws in Newnan for the afternoon as well which Micah LOVED! It's not often his cousins get to come here so he enjoyed showing them his home for a change. They spent the majority of the time finding sticks and leaves to throw in the fire pit and and loved every second of it. It was a fun and exhausting day which I guess is usually the case, even more so when there is a 9 day old who needs attention as well. I'm very thankful for my family and friends and the amazing blessings God continues to provide in our lives!

Our Thanksgiving table

The new little turkey

Mican and Haley on a leaf hunt
Haley just recently had surgery on her foot hence the cast and walker

Connor's leaf collection

They love how HUGE the fire gets after a fresh batch of leaves

Joining the party

Help from papa

Give Thanks

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

At Thanksgiving, the song that always comes to my mind is Give thanks with a grateful heart... I even wrote the first line on my new chalkboard. The other day I was staring at it and started wondering why did the writer add 'with a grateful heart' after Give thanks. I mean isn't that kind of implied with giving thanks? The more I thought about it the more I realized how often many of us say thank you not because we are grateful for something given to us but because we feel as if we deserve it and the thanks is just the right thing to say. Today, and all days after, I pray that my heart and mind realizes how truly thankful I should be because I am so undeserving of everything God has so graciously given me. I pray that each and every time I do give thanks it is with a full and grateful heart knowing that I've done nothing, yet still God has given me everything!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Logan's Story

2011-11-21T22:54:00.001-05:00

Logan’s Story

Whetheror not to have a 3^rd child was never a question in our hearts. We knew we were doing it, we just were waitinguntil we felt the time was best for our family. We waited a few months longer than we did before trying for a 2^ndchild because of semi selfish reasons. Ireally wanted to get through the summer with Micah and Connor without having anewborn. They were both at such fun agesthat we both wanted to have an easier summer with them before we shook up theirworld with a baby.

Aftertwo months we found out in March that we were expecting our 3^rdsweet bundle. I knew exactly what dateto watch for and ended up taking a pregnancy test three days before that andended up with a positive result. It wassuch a different feeling this time. Thereweren’t many nerves as with the first because it’s all brand new or the secondbecause wow there’s going to be more than one. This time it was more like, alright let’s do this! My pregnancy was way easier than the firsttwo times around. I was exhausted foronly a couple weeks. The worst of thesickness was gone by week 10 and while it popped up occasionally the whole timeit was so rare that it didn’t bother me a bit. I gained 10 less pounds this time around and passed my glucose test thefirst time without having to do the 3 hour test. Looking back I wonder if God designed therest of it to be ‘easier’ because he knew one part of it was going to bedifficult for me.

The hardestpart of the pregnancy happened at 20 weeks. We had two precious boys and in my heart of hearts I wanted a sweet girlto add to the mix. I wanted theopportunity to be the mommy of a girl, to share in all the different aspectsthat would come along. I tried toprepare myself to be ok if it were a boy and thought I had until the ultrasound. The moment she told me it was a boy I had thereaction that I soo did not want to have…I cried. I was not sad it was a boy because I knew Iwould love him unconditionally and think he was the cutest, sweetest, most handsomething just like his brothers. I was sadthat all the scenarios that come along with a girl suddenly were dashed and myheart didn’t know how to handle it. Ittook some serious prayer time and trust in God’s always perfect plan to getused to the idea and even in the next months situations would pop up that wouldsend my brain back to square one and my heart asking God for complete joy. He brought me that joy and then somethroughout the rest of the pregnancy.

My duedate was set for November 16, the day after my 30^th birthday, and Ihoped hoped hoped he would come before that so that I could still be in my 20swhen he was born. The only thing I didn’twant was for him to be born on my birthday. Glad I had my plan all straight so that when it happened completelyOPPOSITE of that I was given a big reminder of God is in control and notme. I woke up several times Tuesdaywhich just happened to be the morning of my 30^th birthday. By 4:30 very mild contractions had startedbut they were very frequent at 5 minutes apart. When Zach’s alarm went off at 5:30 I told him what was going on and thathe might not want to drive into Atlanta. I’m pretty sure he was ok with that because he went back to sleepimmediately. I tried to sleep a littlebut gave up by 6:30 and went to take a shower because if this was ‘it’ Iatleast wanted to be clean before I went! Zach woke up, fixed me a birthday breakfast, and helped me get the boysready for school. I was STRUGGLING. The contractions were still coming every 5minutes and getting more intense but I was trying to not let it show too muchbecause the first time I closed my eyes and made a face during one of themMicah got really nervous! I had alreadycalled my parents, Stephanie and Leslie to let them know what was going on andthat I was planning to call the doctor’s office as soon as they opened. By the time Zach was leaving to take the boysto preschool the contractions were really strong and still coming 5 minutesapart so I let him know I wanted to go to the hospital as soon as he gotback!! We finished packing the rest ofour stuff, dropped the boys’ car seats off with Steph and headed to the hospital.

I wentto triage so they could monitor my contractions but due to an emergency it tookover an hour for them to check for any progress. I was at 4 cm before they even moved me intoa real room. From then they movedquickly to start an IV, get the fluid going, and watch the INSANELY BORINGepidural video so that I could get my epidural as soon as possible. By 1:30 the anesthesiologist came and hookedme up J The next 2 hours were quite nice as I waspain free. Zach and I sat and talked andwaited for our family to get there, hoping it was it time to meet him. Some point they had to start pitocin becausemy contractions had died down a bit but it didn’t take long to get them going again. Unfortunately around 3:15 I got a hot spotwhich basically means there was a part that the epidural was no longerreaching. They tried getting me to lieon my side but it was not working so Zach asked them to call back theanesthesiologist. The nurse came in andchecked me before she called and then let me know that I was at a 9-10 andinformed me she knew a sure fire way to get the pain to stop. I was not excited about her way! Regardless of my feelings, it was time. Dr. Cowthorn came in and the pushing processstarted. It took all of about 5 minutes. Crazy! When they laid that sweet boy on my chest my heart burst. He was PRECIOUS!! We were both shocked to see he looked exactlylike his two big brothers. He had thesame sweet nose and lips and same beautiful blonde hair. I sat staring at him the whole time they wereweighing him and cleaning him up and thinking how amazing it will be to raisemy three boys. Knowing in that momentthat God of course knows what is perfect for me and whether or not I ever havea daughter, my heart is unbelievable full and blessed to have three preciousboys that I pray will grow to become amazing men of God just like their daddy!

Zachwent to the waiting room and got Micah, Connor, my parents, his mom, Leslie andStephanie who were all anxiously awaiting to meet and learn the name of our 3^rdson. Micah had done such a great jobkeeping the secret the whole time and we wanted him to be the one to shareit. He got a little shy though so it wasup to me. I started my sentence this isLogan and stopped. I couldn’t say hismiddle name without crying so I had to gain some composure before I finished. This is Logan Zachary May. His brothers, while nervous during the visit,didn’t take long to become completely infatuated with him. I have to say the best part of the day waswatching Micah and Connor hold their brother, knowing this was just thebeginning of a brotherhood and friendship that will last their whole lives!

Logan Zachary May

2011-11-20T10:40:00.001-05:00

Well we've definitely been busy the last few days :) Our sweet 3rd son, Logan Zachary May, was born on my (now our) birthday. Tuesday, November 15, 2011. He was our 'runt' at 8 lb 7oz and 20 inches long. He is beautiful and looks exactly like his brothers! What a handsome threesome they will be one day! I will share all the news, story, name decision, etc soon but for now here are some pictures of our day.

waiting

waiting
(and seriously I feel like some sort of robot with all this mess attached to me!)

He's here :)

brand new baby boy

8 lbs 6.6 oz. They rounded him up to 8 lb 7 oz

meeting his big brothers

micah drew a picture of our family :)

Connor showing off Micah's picture. On the left side you can see Zach. Our one and only brunette.

3rd time parents

Nana and Mimi with Logan

Proud big brother #1

Proud big brother #2

Papa and his 3 grandsons

Our attempt at our first family of 5 picture

Micah is already loving him!

My (crazy) men!

Seriously the cutest!

We had a few extra visitors on our first night in the hospital.

Logan with Morgan Pye
She's actually known the May family since their Columbus days and now goes to church with us!

Logan with Leslie

Logan with Nana and Poppy

Logan and Aunt Beka

Logan and Nehnie

We only had to stay in the hospital for one night! WOO HOO!!! We were discharged at 8 pm on the 16th and took our baby boy home!

sunday song

2011-11-13T15:08:00.002-05:00

As we were singing this song this morning Micah looked up at me with a big smile and told me he knew how to hum along to this one! It's one of mine and Zach's (and apparently Micah's!) favorites :)
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

best bellies

2011-11-12T14:55:00.003-05:00

This is the 2nd time Steph and I have been pregnant together. The first time was with Silas and Connor. Connor is 2 months and 3 days older. This time around we've got a boy and a girl coming. Baby brother will be about 3 1/2 months older than their little girl. We took belly pictures the night before I went into labor with Connor so last Thursday night we took some pictures of these two before there is only one belly left :)

joust

2011-11-12T14:47:00.004-05:00

Yesterday the movie A Knight's Tale was on and I let Micah and Connor watch some of it. They LOVED the knights, horses and jousting. After the movie they each grabbed a 'lance' and spent the afternoon jousting in the backyard. They did a good job being gentle and took turns knocking the other one off their horse.

chalkboard

2011-11-12T14:37:00.004-05:00

This is the new decoration in my living room :) I've wanted a chalkboard for awhile but was waiting patiently until I found a cute, big frame. Our small group at church had garage sale to raise money for a local homeless shelter and I was able to get an awesome frame from it. There was even a canvas inside that I will be repurposing some day. I already had the turquoise paint from the oops section at Lowe's, the chalkboard paint from a Christmas present I made my niece last year, and some leftover plywood from a bookshelf Zach made. This is actually the frame we used in our family pictures. Leslie suggested not putting the chalkboard inside it until after the photoshoot. I'm so glad she did!

This was my inspiration. I love random gallery walls. They can showcase so many things you love in a cute chaotic/organized fashion! Obviously my wall is not there yet, but it will be fun adding to it over time.

welcome to babyland

2011-11-06T15:20:00.006-05:00

OK so it's not even close in size to the room from F of the B two and probably only cost as much as one of their stuffed animals ;) but I am sooo happy with how the baby room turned out. After 3 kids this is the first nursery I've completed. We didn't know if Micah was going to be a boy or girl (even though I had my suspicions) so I was planning on finishing it after he was born. That pretty much never happened. Then with Connor we had just put the house on the market and assumed (quite wrongly!) that it would sell soon so we didn't have a room for him at all. He ended up sleeping in a pack n' play for a year until we finally put up a crib in the guest room for him. For some reason this time it was really important to me to make a finished space that would be useful and comfortable and cute for both our baby and any guests we have.

Enter our Woodland getaway :) I wanted a semi mature feel for guests, a vintage feel for me, and a a playful woodland feel for baby boy. There is technically still one thing I need (bed skirt) and one thing I want (cute woodland animals shaped pillow), but other than that here is my baby's room...

Door side wall

* 5 frames from Hobby Lobby with scrapbook paper.

They might possibly reveal something very important or they might just hold pictures.

You just never know ;)

* IKEA shelf
* dresser from my parents' neighbors after they moved away

* green basket is from Hobby Lobby and holding diapering essentials

bed wall

* shelves are IKEA spice racks. Idea via Pinterest

* chair is a vintage brown velvet swivel rocker from Antiques and Stuff in Covington, GA

* white end table from my parents'
* vintage alarm clock from Sadie's Antiques in Conyers, GA

* lamp from Target

*pillow made by me

* shhhh sign from a store in Blue Ridge. It was originally in Micah's nursery.

* three woodland prints were made by me from Target dollar spot canvases

* mobile made by me via pinterest idea

closer look

The guest bed :)

* mattress and box spring were an awesome deal at Ocho in Covington.

* headboard is a barn door from my parents' shed

* window was in Micah's nursery and pretty sure was stolen from the side of the road

* curtain panels, brown accent pillows, green rectangular pillow and sheets are from Homegoods

* bedding is from Overstock

* navy leaf pillows I made with fabric from Ocho

These two little gals came from the garden department at Lowes. I was wandering around and got so excited when I spotted them. They had an owl friend but he was broken :(

Hope you enjoyed the tour. In 10 +/- days there will be a little boy who lives inside it!

maternity and family photo shoot

2011-11-02T11:03:00.008-04:00

Last Tuesday night we went to Porterdale, GA to take some maternity and family pictures. There are tons that I love but here are a few of my favorites!

Me and my "could not have done it without her" assistant Leslie :)

TWO WEEKS TO GO!!!! 38 weeks according to babycenter.com...Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and is over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

halloween activities

2011-11-01T15:19:00.006-04:00

We had lots of fun activities this past weekend for Halloween.

On Friday Connor got to have a bonus day at preschool for his halloween party and Micah trick or treated with his class.

On Saturday we celebrated William's third birthday with a costume party. Micah decided to make his own costume for Capt. Hook instead of dress like Mario again.

On Sunday our church hosted our very first Trunk n' treat for the community. It was a huge success. My little Mario Bros. were there to cheer on our trunk themed Mario World. It was a fun and exhausting afternoon.

On Monday I woke up with a horrible stomach virus and was in my room ALL DAY LONG. It was seriously awful :( Thanks to Zach who stayed home from work, went to Micah's Halloween Party at school and took the boys trick or treating last night. Micah starting getting sick last night so it's been a pretty pitiful couple days in our home. Overall lots of fun, but it was nice saying good bye to October and HELLO NOVEMBER (think tom hanks voice in You've got mail!) because it will be a very special month :)

10 years ago

2011-10-31T07:02:00.002-04:00

Halloween has never been a holiday I've enjoyed. Mainly because it's overall purpose is to be scary and I am a big fat chicken. However, 10 years ago today I found a reason to love it. My sophomore year at Auburn I dressed up in overalls and a plaid shirt to go to a Halloween Party last minute with some friends. There was a guy there that I had met in choir and he was good friends with one of my friends so we were going to make an "appearance'. After getting to the party it didn't take long for my fickle self to forget him completely because standing on the porch in a leisure suit playing guitar and singing was a HOTTIE! After I saw him sit and play the piano as well I knew he was something special. Thankfully he noticed me too and a little romance started that has lasted 10 years and is still going strong.

The funny thing is that technically we met 11 days before this night. Zach remembers me from a birthday part I attended with some guy friends and he says we were introduced that night. It wasn't until after we had been dating for a few weeks that I knew this and I still don't have vivid memories from it. I am so thankful that he remembers me though and so beyond blessed that a third of my life has been spent with this amazing guy!

I was listening to a song the other day that made me think of us together. It is of course a Sara Groves song because I swear she's inside my head writing my thoughts and life!

TWICE AS GOOD
Sara Groves

when I am down and need to cry till morning
I know just where I am going
when I'm in need of sweet commiseration
to speak out loud

raise a glass to friendship and to knowing
you don't have to go alone
we'll raise our hearts to share each others burdens
on this road

with every burden I have carried
with every joy it's understood
life with you is half as hard
and twice as good

with my good news your dancing on the table
babies born to celebration
the joy of life oh what a sweet communion
shared with you

I know we're growing older
can you imagine what that will bring
it's all a mystery to me now
but this one thing

will be half as hard, and twice as good

sunday song

2011-10-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and pow’r.
- Refrain:
  I will arise and go to Jesus,
  He will embrace me in His arms;
  In the arms of my dear Savior,
  Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.
Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.
View Him prostrate in the garden;
On the ground your Maker lies;
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?
Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.
Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.

'glow'timate

2011-10-29T02:11:00.000-04:00

A large group of YoungLifers play ultimate frisbee on Thursday nights and Sundays for fun and outreach. Zach plays most Sunday afternoons but has only played on Thursday one other time. Last night they had a special ultimate that they called "glow"timate. The field was pitch black due to the shorter days coming and all the players were wearing glowsticks and throwing a lit up frisbee. Zach could not resist being a part of the game so the boys and I went to watch them for a bit. Their favorite part was getting to play with the glowstick necklaces and bracelets. Micah was quite good at spinning them :)

jack o lantern

2011-10-28T07:59:00.004-04:00

We carved our very first jack o'lantern this week. Micah and Connor helped pick it out from their pumpkin patch at school. Micah drew up the design. I somehow got the task of cleaning the majority of it out. Zach got all horror movie with his knives and carved away. Two little boys LOVED the experience :)

37 weeks

2011-10-26T08:13:00.003-04:00

According to babycenter.com...

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier.)

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

In 3 weeks (more or less) our 3rd son will enter our family in a more tangible way :) In many ways we're ready, in many more we're not! There is so much that is 'almost' done. Which isn't the easiest thing for me. I am one that likes things completed! My list is officially made for all the little things left to do, but lots of little things add up to a lot of time. I am quite sure it will get done though so I'm trying to just ignore the "have to have it done now" part of my brain.

In pregnant lady news, I'm actually feeling pretty good. Except for the normal things like being a little sore whenever I'm walking or standing up a lot and needing/liking help being hauled up off the floor, that miserable feeling isn't present yet and hopefully I can get away without it at all.

Last night we took Maternity/Family pictures. Leslie came with us to help keep an eye on the boys whenever Zach was taking a picture of me and then to take the pictures whenever Zach was in them. They turned out great! Zach is not done editing but here is one picture to give you a preview. I can't wait to share them :)

sunday song

2011-10-23T20:18:00.002-04:00

Satisfy Us

Mike Kinnebrew

Satisfy us Lord

with your tender mercy

that we may rejoice

that we may be glad

all our days

For in your presence

is fullness of joy

and in your hands

are pleasures forever

the flash

2011-10-20T06:13:00.001-04:00

Last night Micah put on one of his costumes that he calls his Flash outfit. His amazing daddy told him he was going to take a picture of him running and then set the camera so that when he ran by he was nothing but a blur. I have never seen a face that excited!! He could not believe he was that fast! He must have run in and out of the room 30 times and each time he asked if we could see him. So cute!

Of course Connor needed a turn too!

lil pumpkin's shower

2011-10-18T17:08:00.007-04:00

Sunday evening my awesome friends here in Conyers through baby brother and I a shower. It was fall/pumpkin themed :) The food was delicious, the fellowship wonderful and the friendship overwhelmingly awesome! The majority of the pictures are me eating or smiling at a cute gift. We got some great stuff and I've already made my list of the little things I need to get before he comes. Which isn't far!

So just to let you know, I almost cried after I opened my first gift because it kind of hit me that I'm having another baby in 4 weeks. Obviously I knew that but I hadn't had the opportunity to really stop life and focus on him. Opening his first gift definitely put it on the forefront of my mind. I thought I was ready. I'm not ready yet. I can't wait for him to be here and to meet him and see what he looks like but my mind hadn't quite gone to the taking care of a baby and two big boys thing and for that I'm not ready. Of course I don't think there's any way to prepare for that change. In the meantime I'm praying for each of us to have an easy transition to a family of 5 and ask that if I ever pop into your mind you'd pray for us too!

pumpkin patch

2011-10-18T16:07:00.007-04:00

On Saturday we took our annual trip to Southern Belle Farm for their pumpkin patch extravaganza. It's not really called extravaganza but I added it because it's oh so fun and there's so much to do! This is the 4th year we've visited and it's always so much fun. This year I was particularly thankful that baby brother wasn't due for another month because it was great being able to enjoy it with Micah and Connor without having a newborn to care for as well. The Cardozas, Millers and Moons joined us and it was seriously one of my favorite trips yet!

Micah and Natalie tag teaming the goat feeder

Micah and Bella checking out the chickens

Connor swing on the horse swing

Zach and Connor staring at the field of corn.

I can only imagine what they were talking about.

In line for the tunnel slide.

Our family picture on the hayride.

The pigs swam during the pig race this year.

Micah FINALLY rode the cow train. Every other year he's been too scared/nervous!

Connor's face started the ride like this but ended quite smiley :)

Connor didn't like the big jumpy pillow because "the big kids bounce too high". Instead he bounced on the inflatable horse.

Bounce, bouncing away!!!

My favorite thing about all the pictures is that in most of them there are friends in it somewhere. So blessed to have amazing people to make memories with!!!

sunday song

2011-10-16T14:42:00.003-04:00

I've been singing this song since I was a little girl. Today our worship team closed with this song and my uber talented husband jazzed it up a bit. Straight or jazzy it's still TRUTH!

Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy holy spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/k/keith_green/create_in_me_a_clean_heart.html ]
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
Take not Thy holy spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
Take not Thy holy spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me.

wedding weekend

2011-10-13T02:47:00.005-04:00

The first weekend of October we traveled to Charlotte, NC to go to one of Zach's cousins weddings. It was a quick one night trip but oh so worth it because we hadn't see that part of his family in awhile. They are some of my favorite people. We were able to attend the rehearsal dinner and hear tons of fun and sweet stories about David and Anna. Micah and Connor stayed with a babysitter with their cousin Piper. Micah pretty much fell in love with Bethany (babysitter) and has asked about her multiple times in the past couple weeks.

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was delicious :) Micah and Connor's favorite part was seeing all the soldiers. David graduated from the Naval Academy and is a Lieutenant in the Navy. His grooms men were all in the Navy as well except for Zach's other cousin who is in the Marines. They were seriously overwhelmed with excitement at seeing so many soldiers in one place. It was so cute. During the ceremony Micah even leaned in to tell us he wanted to be a soldier when he grew up. This immediately made Zach teary eyed with pride and me teary eyed with fear! Either way it was wonderful to see him notice that it is a great "grown up" choice :)

Introducing David and Anna Guthmann

Micah chatting it up at the reception

Dancing with my sweet boy

Aunt Krista and Connor

Michael and Piper

Katie and Elodie

auburn game

2011-10-12T02:46:00.003-04:00

We took the boys to the Auburn game two weeks ago when they played Florida Atlantic. It was Connor's first game and Micah's second. We got to Auburn 3 hours before the game started so that we could walk around for a bit. We took the boys to Toomer's Corner to see the trees, Samford Hall to play on the lawn for awhile, met up with a few friends to say hello and then went to the University Bookstore to buy them new Auburn shirts. They loved the game. The band is their favorite thing and Micah also likes to point out all the different numbers that are playing. We left halfway through the 3rd quarter and had a quiet drive home with two worn out little tigers!

braves game

2011-10-11T02:46:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago we took Connor and Micah to the Braves game. Sadly it was our only game this season. It was just too hot or too late for this preggo mama and her baby boys most games but we found the perfect game on a Saturday at 4:00 late in the season and asked the Cardozas if they wanted to come along with us. Micah and Connor talked about it constantly before hand and practiced their tomahawk chop! We let the boys pick out Braves shirts outside the stadium. Micah got a #16 shirt and Connor got #22. They had a great time at the game. It went really quickly though due to strike outs but it finally got exciting around the 6th inning so they finally played "the chop". At the bottom of the 7th we walked over to the kids area so that the four of them could run the base. The Millers were there too and met us over so Natalie could see her friends. The Braves won, the kids did great and we made some fun memories!

rainy day play

2011-10-10T14:51:00.006-04:00

Silas was over this morning and he and Connor had some fun play time together. First they played with all the toys I have set aside for baby brother and then decided the best part was just hiding under his crib.

We also went outside to play in the rain. They both had a blast!

fall decorating

2011-10-03T13:30:00.005-04:00

Though Christmas is my favorite holiday hands down I honestly enjoy the decorating for fall more. Mainly because it's simple, easy and lasts for three months!! As soon as September hits, even if it is still 95 in Georgia, I break out all the fall decor. I don't do a lot. Let's face it there's not that much house to decorate. I usually change up the mantle, add a few extra things here and there, and stock up on fall scented wall flowers from bath and body works. Even these small things seem to immediately warm/cozy up the house enough to make you feel comfortable and ready to enjoy cooler weather, football and all the other fun things the fall has in store!

stoplight

2011-09-30T05:45:00.000-04:00

This is our behavior chart courtesy of Micah May. They have a stoplight at school and you have to move your clip to yellow if you're having a "rough" day and to red if you're having a "bad" day. I have no idea if those are the terms his teacher uses but they are what he tells us when he has to move our clip. Occasionally he'll move one of us if we do something he doesn't like like telling him no for instance ;) We might have to talk about not using his stoplight as revenge if it keeps up!

embrace the camera: swinging

2011-09-29T07:48:00.003-04:00

I haven't embraced the camera in a long time...well I haven't posted in a long time, we still take tons of pics! I wanted to share a shot of Zach and Connor that my sister took at my nieces 5th birthday party. They are some cute and studly folk!

{embrace the camera}

man night

2011-09-29T03:24:00.000-04:00

Every Wednesday night I go to bible study and leave the three men in my life alone. It's always been quite entertaining to find out what they did while I was gone. Recently they started a new tradition. Every Wednesday after Zach gives them a bath they watch Bear. I'm not talking about Little Bear I'm talking about Bear. As in Bear Grylls. Mr. Manly himself! They absolutely LOVE watching all of the weird and disgusting things he does to survive. They have many favorites but the top ones are anything that has to do with eating nasty things. Micah will wake up on Thursday mornings with stories from whatever worm, snake, pig, bug, etc Bear ate and if he cooked and what sound he made when he ate it. I have high hopes that if any of our boys are ever stranded they will be able to survive due to this early training!

I-12

2011-09-28T03:20:00.001-04:00

Ever since seeing it on Curious George (yes he still loves it!) Micah has been wanting to make a robot costume. After buying diapers and wipes we finally had a couple boxes available. After a little help from Zach and myself here it is. Meet I-12...

elodie jo

2011-09-27T14:35:00.001-04:00

We have a new niece! She was born on August 25th. Zach and I were able to drive up the next weekend and he (of course!) took some newborn pictures. She makes niece #6 (including both sides) and is the 5th grandchild on Zach's side with two more being born in the next two months! It is so exciting to have another set of parents in his siblings. Congratulations Katie and Jered!!

sidewalk chalk

2011-09-24T14:35:00.000-04:00

Fun with sidewalk chalk...

YL

2011-09-20T17:38:00.004-04:00

I realized not too long ago that I blog about my kids a ton (as it should be) and myself occasionally (which is ok because I'm the one writing) but about the ministries I am involved in hardly ever. Today I plan to rectify that situation a little with talking about this one...

I have been on the committee for Rockdale YoungLife for 3 1/2 years now and I love it. A few years ago I would not have planned on saying that. In fact I would have said the exact opposite. Not because I don't like the ministry but because it didn't seem like it would fit me. Here's how it all started.

After Zach and I moved to Conyers and found a church we were invited out to dinner by newish friend (now great friend) Michael Edwards. He was the regional director for YoungLife in Rockdale County. Neither Zach nor I had ever heard of YL so we spent the evening learning the basics of the ministry. I immediately knew there was NO WAY I was doing it. Not that I didn't think it was a great concept but because the idea of hanging out with high school girls and playing silly/weird/gross/ games pretty much terrified and repulsed me. I am just not that kind of girl and wasn't in my teenage years either. (sorry if you already thing I am a boring person!) Zach of course that it was awesome and decided to start helping as their music guy and quickly was entrenched in camps, hangouts, games, etc.

After a couple years of giving monthly and donating food at certain events I felt led to give a little more so I asked about joining the committee. I have now been on the committee for 3 1/2 years and have loved being a part of it. Planning and organizing is definitely a better fit for me! Our job is to be the driving force behind the business end of the ministry so that the director and volunteer leaders can have as much available time as possible to build relationships with teens in the community.

Right after I joined committee we lost our regional director due to lack of funds and have been running on a volunteer basis only. It's been a difficult time but we have seen God's hand in the ministry still. Our volunteer leader numbers have grown and more and more kids keep coming to club as God uses our small attempts to do big things. We've also finally worked ourselves out of our debt and have a positive balance though there is a long way to go before we are able to have a staff member again.

A few weeks ago Leslie and I were able to go to one of the YL camps for Committee Weekend. The weekend is designed to give us a taste of the experience teens get as well as having different sessions available to give ideas to help your committee run smoother and build up the ministry. We started off the day a bit overwhelmed not only with the amount of information given but the amount of work our area still needs to do to improve. However God took those fears and turned them into encouragement as we realized how many people and resources there are available to accomplish it. The largest resource we found was HIM. The whole time we felt prayer being an overwhelming theme in our needs. Were we praying for every aspect of the needs in our ministry before, after and during? Were we praying for what decisions to make? Were we praying for guidance? The answer was inevitably not nearly like we should be. We came home from the weekend and shared our findings and after prayer decided that our first course of action is to pray. We've planned a monthly prayer night to pray for YL and seek God's guidance it what are the next things to come.

I am asking you to set aside some time Tuesday evening October 11 to pray. If you live near Conyers we are meeting at LightHouse Village. If you live elsewhere please just spend some time lifting up the people and future of this ministry we call YoungLife.

If you want more information about how to give financially please visit this page to set up an account and choose Rockdale County area # GA132.

my crazy heroes

2011-09-17T03:38:00.002-04:00

baby book

2011-09-16T15:01:00.004-04:00

I purchased a baby book for baby brother a.k.a baby boy #3 a.k.a we can't tell you cause it's a surprise.

I am slightly obsessed with memory keeping. You might have noticed this if you paid attention because I blog and scrapbook and baby book it all. I scrapbook so my kids can see real pictures of what we and they did plus I like the artistic part, I blog because my family and friends can't see the scrapbooks and there are other day to day things that pop up that aren't worth their own page and I baby book so I can look back and compare my kids plus I really liked looking back at my own baby book with Micah so I could see how similar the two of us were when I was a new mama. Recently I read this post that made me feel much better about my memory keeping OCD :)

31 weeks

2011-09-14T03:21:00.000-04:00

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy. ~babycenter.com

The weather is changing and it is amazing! I finally feel comfortable in shorts and a tank top while everyone else is donning their jeans and/or hoodies. I'm feeling really good right now since I'm in the not yet miserably uncomfortable stage. I feel huge however because I can't bend over at all and have to be hauled off the floor. It's seriously amazes me how big a body can get during this process. I won't share how much weight I've gained but I've only got 16 pounds to go until I match the weight gain from Micah and Connor. Hopefully I only tie and don't feel the need to beat any records! I can't believe there is only nine weeks (plus or minus) to go until we meet our 3rd son. 90% of me is fine with him staying in until necessary since I know what is to come when I can't just carry him around inside wherever we go. There is that little 10% that is just so curious about who he will be and what he will look like and how Connor will feel about being a big brother that I'm ready to just dive in to the craziness. However that is just 10% so hang in their buddy!

I was listening to my Sara Groves playlist the other day when this song came on. I've heard it tons of times but apparently I HEARD it this time and if I hadn't been driving it would have stopped me in my tracks. I felt like I it was releasing my hearts thoughts. Hope you enjoy and understand :)

I do not know how I am to pray for this child
as a mother I don't want my baby denied
but in the waiting in the waiting
I learned

every instinct in me wants to shield him from pain
take the arrows of misery, heartache and blame
but in the sorrow in the sorrow
I learned to hold on

I only have two eyes - be all seeing
I only have two hands - be everywhere
I do not know enough - to be all knowing
I give this baby up into your care

I do not know how, how to pray for this child
I want to guard her from everything wicked and wild
but in the trial in the trial
I learned to hold on
And in the trial, in the trial
I learned to hold on to the heart of God

my little crafter

2011-09-13T14:59:00.008-04:00

If I would take the time to stop and make a list I could find numerous ways how Micah and Connor are like Zach and numerous ways how they are like me. This is actually a cool idea...hmmmm...

Anyway one way I know Micah is like me is he is a crafting/coloring/art making machine!! He goes through phases (as all us crafty types do) of not only what he likes to make but of how often. He is on a binge right now and has been coloring, drawing, gluing, stickering and cutting up a storm in his room and in the kitchen. He has a jar in his room full of random stuff I've collected like pompoms, clips, stickers, pop sickle sticks, etc. The idea is from the art jars that many stores sell except that they are way more expensive then the actual stuff is separately. I used an old container from some animals Connor got for Christmas and just began throwing stuff in occasionally. The jar is almost empty! The past two days has been a flurry of creativity. He has mostly been working on book marks. They are not for him either. He has a specific person he makes each one for and I have been enlisted to pass them out. He's also made a toy robot, a picture frame, poster, patch, watch, wrist band, mario costume, a psp and ds and a variety of other things. I love that he can and will make anything that pops into his head!!

(this is the bin on his desk where all his creations are collected.

It is OVERFLOWING right now!)

tiger time

2011-09-08T08:14:00.004-04:00

Football season has started again and Micah and Connor are really excited about watching this year. Micah has already gone to a high school game with Zach and spent the whole time picking out all the numbers which is pretty much what he did during the Auburn game except added a few go tigers and war eagles this time :) My parents were in town for the first game helping get things organized for the nursery and bringing up a carload of awesome goodies (will share that later).

Micah and Connor parked their tiger chairs in front of the TV and we all enjoyed and stressed over another game. Our players sure do like to make it heart pumping interesting!

robin of christian woods

2011-09-07T01:55:00.000-04:00

Micah has become quite fond of Robin Hood the last week or so and has really gotten into pretend play aspect of it. Micah likes to be Skippy. He's the rabbit at the beginning of the movie who has his birthday money stolen by the mean old sheriff and then gets a new bow and hat from Robin Hood himself. He and Zach 'play' Robin Hood every night and act out that whole scene. It's beyond adorably cute.

This weekend Zach made Micah a Robin Hood hat out of paper and then a bow and arrow set out of sticks and a kite string. That bow could seriously make those arrows fly. Micah was pretty good at it! Zach even made a 'target' for Micah to shoot at. Look closely at the pictures to find out who that bad guy was ;) It is so much fun watching his mind work to try to really connect to things he sees and watches!

rearranging

2011-09-06T13:29:00.002-04:00

At least one room of my house has been in complete disarray for almost a month now and if you know me you know there's a good chance it's driving me crazy :) My brain just tends to work better in an organized environment. Making room for baby brother has proven to be a time consuming task. One reason is because if I want to actually be a good mother to Micah and Connor I have to work in small time frames and the other is because there has been A LOT to do. It's kind of like the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. One thing requires something else to be done which means something else has to be done which means...you get the picture.

It started with Connor and Micah moving into the room together. This required a hand me down dresser/desk to be painted, bunk beds found and in our case painted, toys to be gone through and condensed so they'd fit, walls to be painted, new bedding to be purchased, closets to be cleaned out and shelves to be hung, then there were the couple of crafty projects to do for the cute factor of course.

Next was the new nursery/guest room. This required walls painted, closet cleaned out, new bedding purchased, mattress purchased, crib being put together, room rearranged a thousand times until it all fit without being cluttered, a dresser and bookshelf painted, and there are still projects to be done to make it 'finished'.

Still to be done is to get the piles of stuff that came out of the closets and is currently sitting in Zach and my room gone. I have an overwhelming desire to clean out the junk from my attic to sell, donate, organize and put back (I blame my cousin in law Hannah for this because she did it to hers and it just inspired me!), the consignment sell I do twice a year is in the beginning of October so I need to go through the boys clothes and toys to see what we don't need and price it, and then there's getting all the baby equipment back down and cleaned and put in place.

Zach and I were talking last night about all of the things I needed to do and wanted to do before baby brother gets here. I shared that my goal is to POWER THROUGH the month of September and use every available time I have so that the last month and a half of this pregnancy are spent resting and enjoying our last weeks as a family of four.

just a thought:

I am aware that some people just wouldn't care about some of this and that's ok. I am quite aware that I'm picky and like things to look a certain way and I honestly I think that's ok too as long as I don't obsess or put 'looks' above the important things in life like my relationship with the Lord and the time I spend caring for and being with my husband and children. I pray that the time and effort I spend making things comfortable and beautiful for my family will enable them to feel at peace and protected in their home and help make our times of play and rest more enjoyable :)

teddy bear picnic

2011-08-31T07:07:00.000-04:00

Friday Micah had a Teddy Bear Picnic at school and the parents/siblings were invited as well. He informed me on Thursday that his teacher told them they could bring any animal so George got to go :) They sang a couple of songs and he actually sang and did the moves with a smile on his face. BIG DEAL! After we sat on our picnic blankets and ate pizza. Connor was so excited to watch Micah sing and watching the two of them sit and eat together cracked me up. Pretty much because one (connor) is a nut and the other (micah) sets him up to be one.

crafting and catapults

2011-08-30T17:52:00.004-04:00

Since Micah has started going to pre K every morning for school I've missed him. It's strange having him not here which just means Kindergarten next year might put me in some kind of miniature depressive state ;) Of course there will be a 9 month old around to take up a lot of time so maybe it won't be all bad. Anyway, on the days that Connor goes to school also I make sure Micah and I have a fun one on one activity to do together. I had gone to Michaels this morning and found some cool wooden models to paint and put together so today he painted what would become a catapult while I sat with him and made magnet letters to mark their 'school' stuff. We just sat and talked and had the best time :)

Crafts In Progress

Catapult in action

Our 'school' magnets

chocolate joker

2011-08-19T14:03:00.003-04:00

rocket man

2011-08-18T07:34:00.000-04:00

Micah and I spent the afternoon turning his box play house into a box rocket ship! It's amazing what you can do with cardboard and packing tape :) He had a blast playing and even added some personal touches of his own. Like...

a rocket ship nose like an airplane has

a transformer button that changes the rocket into any kind of transportation

a flight log (my term he called it a piece of paper) to right down where you're going. It's covered in tape so he can you a dry erase marker on it which he thought was amazing!

And there's the cute, imagintative pilot!

fireman

2011-08-17T07:32:00.001-04:00

Just because he's so darn cute :)

connor's first day

2011-08-16T19:21:00.003-04:00

Connor had his first day today. He will be going on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It started out as we expected, with tears, but thankfully our friend Rebekah works at the school and he knows her from church so she was able to calm him down. Apparently he threw himself into her arms! When he got home he told me, "I cried to Beka." bless him! Otherwise they said he had a great day until he had a stinky diaper and didn't want them to change him. He told them "No change britches!" They did anyway of course and we I picked him up the first thing he said was "Mama change britches, no they change britches!" Mercy me!

Before you think I spent the day eating bon bons think again. My Tuesday and Thursdays from now until boy #3 are already pretty booked with doctors appointments, dentist appointments, grocery shopping and every other errand I have to do so that all my other time is completely free for fun with my fellas. For example today I spent the whole time putting the first coat of paint on the baby boy's room. I do hope I can get some craftiness ESPECIALLY SCRAPPING done so that I'm all caught up before I add another book in to the mix.

pre k

2011-08-15T10:48:00.003-04:00

Micah started Pre K today at First Methodist in Covington (same school as last year). He will be going 5 days a week from 9:00-12:45. I seriously can not believe he'll be in Kindergarten next year! Yesterday was Open House and Micah was very nervous. He was holding up fine until we actually walked in the room and then he burst into tears. After about 10 minutes I was able to calm him down enough to tell him I was going to the bathroom and I'd be right back. Technically it was a big fat lie but he let me out of the room and then was fine. Today he said he was a little bit ok but once we got there he put his stuff away, walked right in and gave us a wave. Big brave boy!

p.s. I got the idea for the first two pictures from pinterest. I'm planning to take a pictures of him holding his 'grade' every year. Once we get to high school he'll probably complain but he'll get over it!

bunkbeds!

2011-08-09T07:54:00.002-04:00

The bunkbeds were put up last night so now the boys are officially sharing a room. Zach estimated an hour and it ended up taking us 2 1/2. geez louise! Those things are STURDY though so we did a good job! Both boys climbed right in and were super excited. The look on Connor's face was oh so cute. It took them awhile to settle down last night but since it was late and new I understood. As long as it's not a common occurrence :) I still have some more to do on the room (hang stuff on the walls, curtains, costume storage) so I'm not going to share pictures until I'm all finished. Be waiting though :)

handkerchief baby blanket

2011-08-08T14:09:00.003-04:00

For a baby gift I made my sister in law Katie a baby blanket of vintage handkerchiefs. I am very proud of it because it's a semi original idea. I say semi because I made it up on my own without seeing it anywhere else but I'm sure someone else has done something like it at some point. I don't have a tutorial per say but I can share the steps I followed. Please know this are coming from a very non professional seamstress!

1) Buy handkerchiefs, flannel, and that soft fabric with the circles. I got the handkerchiefs on a shopping trip to Scott's Antique Mart and then filled in with two I found on ebay and bought everything else at Joanns with a coupon.

2) lay out handkerchiefs in a square and sew together.

3) sew handkerchiefs on top of a larger square of flannel. I did this because I was afraid it would be too small.

4) sew right sides of flannel/handkerchief and the soft stuff and then turn inside out and sew up the hole.

5) sew "in the ditch" to adhere the two pieces together firmly and sew around the edge.

It is definitely not perfect because I can't sew perfectly but I LOVED how it turned out :)

highlands, nc: 4

2011-08-08T08:54:00.008-04:00

Thursday afternoon we climbed Whiteside Mountain. Which is the mountain we stared at the entire week. It's summit is referred to as Monkey Face. If you look in the picture you can see that it kind of looks like the outline of a monkey's face (or Iron Man's face if you ask Micah). Nana (linda) stayed home with Leah, Connor and Eli and the rest of made the hike. Micah had been looking forward to climbing the mountain all week. He did great! I on the other hand brought up the rear the majority of the time. Seriously hiking with a belly is not an easy task! The views were gorgeous though and it was a fun time of course. Difficult or not I love hiking. I love being out in creation enjoying it and resting in the awesomeness of who created it!

We ended the evening with dinner, smores for dessert and after the kids were in bed the old kids went to Sunset Rock while Nana and Poppy monitored the children. We got there too late to see the actual sun but made it for the after effects :) This was our last night there so we wanted to make the most of it.

The next morning we went to Dry Falls again so that Andrew and Krista could see it and we packed up and headed home while everyone else enjoyed the cabin for another day.

sunday song

2011-08-07T22:05:00.000-04:00

At The Foot Of The Cross (Ashes To Beauty)
At the foot of the cross
Where grace and suffering meet
You have shown me Your love
Through the judgment You received

And You've won my heart
Yes You've won my heart
Now I can

Trade these ashes in for beauty
And wear forgiveness like a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross

At the foot of the cross
Where I am made complete
You have given me life
Through the death You bore for me
Lyrics www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/kathryn_scott/

I'm laying every burden down
I'm laying every burden down

bleach shirts

2011-08-05T20:44:00.004-04:00

Recently on pinterest I saw this idea to bleach shirts. There are lots of them out there and they are all cute but I thought this was a cool idea for Micah and Connor. We tried it out this afternoon. I printed out intials and words then cut them out then traced them on contact then cut those out and put them on the shirt. By the end of that I decided a silhouette is DEFINITELY in my future! Anyway we hung them up outside and bleached away. I really like the end result except that 1) I need to leave it on a little longer. I was so worried about it eating into the shirt that I might have washed it out to early and 2) I didn't stick Connor's initial on firmly enough so it didn't show up. Micah loved his initial shirt and the big brother shirts I made the boys are great too! I will definitely be trying this again with some different items too!

highlands, nc: 3

2011-08-04T08:43:00.006-04:00

Wednesday morning we hiked down to Glen Falls. It ended up being QUITE a hike. Mainly because the whole beginning was downhill so we were done there was nothing but uphill to look forward too :( Regardless, the falls were beautiful. Micah hiked by himself with his own personal "hiking stick" and he and Nana found every mushroom on the trail. He and Leah also picked up tons of sticks, rocks and leaves for their "collections" Kids seriously are so fun to watch and talk to!

During rest/nap time the guys (minus Poppy) went to Bust Your Butt Falls. They said it was awesome but during the escapade Zach ended up losing his wedding ring :( That's another post to come. When they got home we spent some time playing horseshoes and badminton outside and glancing at the amazing view some more.

highlands, nc: 2

2011-08-04T02:16:00.000-04:00

Tuesday morning we went to the Highlands Botanical Gardens. Our favorites were the beautiful lake covered in lily pads, blackberry bushes, gigantic turtle and the nature center. Micah loved touching all of the bones, skins, shells, nuts, leaves, etc that they had on display. I really wanted to take him back during nap time one day but we never had the chance.

That afternoon we headed out to Sliding Rock. Seriously fun! I didn't slide for fear I would fall in a hole or do something else to my unborn child. Jess was braver than I was and tried it a couple times anyway. She's braver than I am period though! Micah and Connor took turns sliding down with Zach and they both LOVED it! I had just as much fun watching as they did sliding. Between turns I made sure whoever wasn't going had fun throwing rocks in the water, digging in the sand and of course taking pictures of the sliders. Definitely want to go there again on our next visit!