The Party

Levi turned four last week.

 The Saturday before, my parents threw him a wonderful party full of everything he had asked for...trains, a hayride, brick oven pizzas, and roasted marshmallows.

My mom made the cake...

Levi blew out the candles...



and opened a few presents (to Sophia's amusement and delight).

Stephan's mom, Mimi to the kids, got to join in the fun!

A hayride topped it all off perfectly...

It was a beautiful way to celebrate 4 years. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for putting it all together!

Everyday Blessings

This first trimester is kicking my rear, but I am grateful for so many things...

: : My parents threw Levi a family birthday party the Saturday before his birthday. It was wonderful! I am beyond grateful that they took over and created such a wonderful day for him!

: : For the two weeks leading up to Levi's birthday party, morning sickness became progressively worse. I barely left the house. The poor kids were going stir crazy. And, it got to the point where the only thing I could eat was jello....not exactly the most nutritionally dense 'food' out there. It finally dawned on me that it was likely the prenatal vitamins. With Levi they made me so sick that I lost 8 lbs. With Sophia I refused to take them in the first trimester. I decided to give vitamins another shot with this pregnancy. Since I've stopped I've felt so much better. I still have morning any time of the day sickness, but it is way better. And, I can eat...even leafy green vegetables! Also, being able to leave the house on occasion is a nice luxury.

: : Although Stephan's mother came to visit for sad reasons (her father passed away last week), we were glad to be able to spend time with her while she was here. My kids have been blessed with good grandparents.

: : I am blessed with the best husband in the entire world. He's been cooking and cleaning and changing dirty diapers and bringing me tea and going for late night runs to the store. He is patient with our children even though they sometimes get grouchy when mama is down for so long. He is patient with me even though I get grouchy when I'm tired and feeling perpetually carsick. He's all around wonderful, and he makes the first trimester more bearable.

: : In the mornings, the kid who wakes up first climbs over us to wake up the other one. They grin big and snuggle with each other. My heart melts every single time.

: : I am thrilled that Sophia is no longer sensitive to what I eat. Nursing and being pregnant equal major egg cravings for me...a food that was once on the no list. It's so nice that she can nurse happily, and I can eat happily.

: : Last but not least, Sophia has been passing out the kisses in liberal doses lately. Big mama grin. :)

Hope y'all have a very blessed week!

Sunday

 “Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?”
 ~1 Corinthians 15:55

In memory of Stephan's grandfather who passed away last Monday. May his soul rest in peace.

Four Whole Years

It goes by fast.

Happy birthday to my sweet, imaginative little boy! It's a pleasure to be your mama.

A Not So Everyday Kind of Blessing

A couple of weeks before we went on vacation I started to feel a little off. Odd things were happening...at one point I had to talk myself out of an extreme and very strange craving for raw beef. How gross is that?! Obviously, red flags went up. I took a pregnancy test but thought there was no way it could be positive, and it wasn't. I chalked the weird craving up to needing more protein or iron and just moved right along. But, then I missed my period, so I took another test. It was negative. The night before we left for the beach I fixed Levi the only vegetable he'll eat...asparagus. I could barely finish cooking it. The smell! Ugh. That feeling was all too familiar. The next morning I took another test. Turns out that it is indeed possible to have two false negatives.

That's right. Baby number 3 is on its way! Arrival is estimated to be June 23. We are thrilled! Now if only I could get through this first trimester fatigue and sickness, so I can get to knitting! I have 9 months worth of stuff I want to make, but at this rate I may only have 6 months of time to make it in.

Sunday

                                                      Source: etsy.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Everyday Blessings

I am so very thankful...

: : that Sophia is outgrowing her allergies!!! She no longer reacts to anything from my milk, so I don't have to be on the Sophia diet anymore. What she eats is a different story, but I think it's significant that she's not as sensitive as she once was.

: : for my husband. Seriously. He is awesome....really, really awesome.

: : that Levi has the potty thing 100% figured out. When he decided to start using the potty he really didn't have many accidents, but I can't even remember a single one in quite some time. He also just walks on in and does his business with no reminders. I think that might be one of the perks of waiting until he was truly ready.

: : for Saturday's girls night out with my mama and Sophia. So much fun.

: : for Sophia's very earnest attempt at 'singing' along to the songs in church yesterday. 

: : for the crunch of leaves underfoot.

: : for a decently tidy and newly organized sewing room/office. 

: : for the feeling of relief and calm that I get when I give away excess stuff. It's a very good feeling. I'm realizing that less really may be more.

So, what's on your gratitude list today?

Sunday

 

                                       Source: cosmic-dust.tumblr.com via Please Note on Pinterest

"The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born."

~ Psalm 33:6

Weekend Loves

(She's pretty much fearless.)

Fun links:

  : : This reminds me of the cardigan that I knit for Sophia except in my size!

: : A hexagon quilt may be in my future, especially since it would be a great on the go hand stitching project.

: : A tablecloth into a rug? I am intrigued.

: : The candy fairy came to our house Tuesday morning and traded out the Halloween stash for a dump truck. The candy fairy is now loved by all...especially for her ability to thwart an all day sugar induced tantrum. (idea via Soule Mama)

: : Upsidedown Kate just finished up a cool series: 31 Days of Joy Filled Parenting.

: : Who knew that clear nail polish had such a fabulous use?

: : Last but not least, Christmas is on my mind already! Love it!

Have you found anything fabulous this week?

Halloween Weekend

Phew. We had a wonderful weekend, but this mama sure is worn out! Saturday we went to our church's Fall Festival. Before the sun went down my dad and I ushered the kiddos outside for an impromptu photo shoot. They were moving targets....

We headed back indoors to enjoy some fun games and good food. Levi...oops, I mean the Dragon, especially liked apple bobbing...

Monday rolled around at an unusually fast speed...possibly due to the incessant questions about when we would go trick or treating. Our town puts on a Halloween festival each year. I'm not a fan of crowds, so I've avoided it until now. However, my dad was volunteering there, so my mom and I took the kids around while he passed out candy. It was actually very well planned and not at all the overwhelming experience that I had imagined.

You'd think that would have been enough, but Levi wanted to do more. When we got home (well past dark and bedtime) we did some trick or treating around our block. Just as we were nearing our house Levi fell splat on the ground. After that he decided he was done. That is until we got into bed, and he cried because he realized it was all over.

Personally, I was ready for the all over part. Now for Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations to commence!

P.S. Levi is definitely going to need to learn to sew. He was insanely picky about every last detail of his costume. There were things he requested that I just couldn't even figure out how to do (at least I couldn't figure out how to do them and keep the outfit comfortable)
P.P.S. Sophia's costume was tedious, but I love it.
P.P.P.S. Sadly, Stephan never gets to do Halloween with us. Sniff. Sniff.