Lots of Pictures

So we got back last night from visiting LB. The trip there was full of heavy, heavy rain as was the trip back. Not the best driving experience, but very thankful that we made it there and back safely. The in between part however, was very enjoyable. And I was actually very thankful for the thunderstorm one day as it came right at naptime (naptime for me and the kids) which made it one of the most cozy naps in a long time. So here are the many pictures. I think I was trying to make up for the lack of pictures over the last few weeks.

These first two are of Ellie, Luke, and Ada playing in the morning. Laura Beth has come up with a little "playroom" for Ada to play in because Ada is quite the climber and can get into anything in a second. Notice in the first one how Ellie and Ada are fighting over toys. You would think because Ellie is over 2 years older, she would be a little more understanding of Ada, but not so much.

On the second day we decided to head into Atlanta. We wanted to visit the Georgia Aquarium, but since it was very expensive, we opted for the Imagine it! Children's Museum instead. It was such a hit!! If I lived close to that I would so buy a summer pass. As you can see, there were so many things for the kids to do and there was even a toddler area (very clean) for crawlers to crawl around on. They also had a show (like a three ring circus) at one point which is why Ellie is sitting still watching in one picture.

I am posting this picture mainly because I think it is cute, but also because it is one of the last pictures we took with her long hair. Ever since I knew I was having a little girl, I decided I wanted her to have long hair. But I kind of imagined it a little bit thicker than Ellie's is. And this summer for whatever reason, she doesn't like for me to pull it back much, and it is always in her face. So I decided we would cut it. I was going to take her somewhere and she flipped out. So I made a deal with her that I would cut it myself but she was going to have to sit extremely still for a little while, really more than a little while because I am no hair stylist. But I thought I could cut a straight line IF I could get her to be very still. It worked!! She did great and I have to say I didn't do so badly myself. Don't look too closely, though. So the following pictures you will see her new cut along with her prized possesions from our visit with Laura and her family in Griffin. Laura's mom was so sweet to Ellie and let her pick some eggs that the chickens had laid and also pick a carrot from the garden. She sent them back to LB's house with us and Ellie spent the next two days going back and forth from the refrigerator showing off her carrot, then her egg, then her carrot, then her egg. It was great to see Laura and little Grayson is so, so cute!

These last two pictures are just two more from the weekend, one of Luke thoroughly enjoying his ice cream and the other of Ellie and Ada. We got one more wear out of their matching Easter dresses. But as you can see they are not so excited about taking a picture. I think Ada was about to eat and Ellie just wasn't cooperating. So, that's about it. I started working on this post yesterday afternoon and kept getting interrupted, so I will go ahead and post it now.

Update

More time is passing now in between each of my blog posts. I find myself thinking that I need to post on my blog, or really just wishing that I wanted to. It's almost always been something I really enjoyed doing and looked forward to. But now it almost seems like something else I need to do. But...I really think it is a phase. Anyway, I thought I would give a brief update of what's been going on. A LOT has been going on actually. We had a great fourth spent at mom's house. My aunt Mary Ann came, Sarah came home from Auburn, and Laura Beth, Scott, and Ada were here for the weekend as well. God is so good and I really felt well almost all day. Then came dinner time and the nausea started creeping back. I have never been a huge fan of potato salad, but pregnancy made me a fan that night. It seems any type of potato has been a good thing for my stomach for all my pregnancies. It is so funny how taste buds change during pregnancy.

Things are really starting to come down to the wire for our house. Steven has been working like crazy trying to get all these last things lined up. Hopefully just a few more weeks. I will post some pictures when it's all done. I have made so many trips to Home Depot that all the employees know us. Ellie even knows one of them by name and always says "Hi, Natalie" when we see her. There are so many details I could post about the house stuff except they would probably just be boring details to most anyone unless you are building a house yourself. Except I will tell you that we found lots of mouse droppings and set out traps and caught three mice so far. (Our flooring is not in yet and the house isn't sealed). But as soon as those two things happen we HAVE to take care of that issue.

I really am excited because I think the worst of the nausea is behind me. I still throw up occasionally, but am not feeling sick every moment I'm awake. This morning I was actually feeling pretty well and starting to get hungry so I ate a little of a granola bar and something about it did not set well. I ran to the trash can in the bathroom and was on the floor over the trash and Luke came up from behind and grabbed and hugged me. Ellie immediately came and was saying over and over "Mom, are you okay? What do you need? A towel? A piece of toast? Are you okay, sweetie?" She has heard Steven say all of this and has it down. Anyway, after that I seemed to feel better.

So my mom and dad have taken off to Orange Beach for a much needed vacation (I say must-needed, they did not say that). On a side-note, mom has been working extremely hard to stain our stair treads for the house. She has saved us a lot of money by giving so much of her time (a lot of time-now we know why it was going to cost so much) And since Steven is spending so much time these last few weeks working on the house I thought it might be a good time to go visit LB. So tomorrow we are packing up the van with all three kiddos and heading there. We are going to go tomorrow afternoon after their naps. Mainly because my first doctor's appt. is tomorrow and I am going to try to fit that in before we leave. So, we will be gone until the beginning of next week. I am really excited because one of my best friend's from college, Laura, is from Griffin and she will be there with her 5 mo. old baby boy, Grayson. I have never met him and haven't seen Laura since I was pregnant with Luke two summers ago. I am going to do my best to take lots of pictures while I am gone and will hopefully have lots to post when I get back. Until then, if you are just dying for some pics...please refer to either Laura Beth's blog or my mom's. They have done a better job at that lately than I have.

"Flushable" Wipes

I don't have much time as is often the case these days, thus the lack of posts. However, I do have a quick story which I think is extremely blogworthy.

I think half the families in town have lived in our rental house. So I have heard from a previous owner that there have been some plumbing issues in the past. I got to see exactly what they were talking about yesterday. The night before last when the dishwasher was running I could hear some gurgly noises coming from I'm not sure where. And then yesterday when I was in the shower the water wasn't draining so well. Now, on a normal basis this grosses me out, but when I am 7 weeks pregnant, it is taking everything in me not to throw up. And you know, when you're in a rental house, you first have to call the owner, then get in touch with a plumber. I thought I would try to get to it later, until I ran the washing machine. And then I started hearing gurgly noises coming up from the toilets. And only a few minutes after that, I could hear noises coming from Ellie and Luke's tub and the shower in the master bath. So I went in each one to find standing filthy water. I am gagging now just thinking about it. God is so good and my stomach was doing okay. If it had been Sunday (which was an extra sick day) I would have been over the toilet for sure (or the trash, because the toilet would have only gurgled everything back up). Are you grossed out yet?? Anyway I called the owner and then called Mr. Rooter. When he answered I almost cried and said "Please hurry my shower is about to run over with dirty water". I felt like it was a 911 call and I was talking with a paramedic. Anyway he was there in a hurry and to make a long story short, do you know what had stopped up the system? Flushable "Kandoo" wipes I had bought for Ellie. So, apparently, they aren't so flushable after all. Maybe for a brand new system, but obviously the old rental house plumbing just couldn't handle it. So, no more "flushable" wipes for us. Also, just FYI the plumber said that Scott bath tissue is the only thing you ever should put down your toilet. You better believe that I am taking that advice. Sure enough when I bought a package today, it said on the side "septic safe". My mom was sooo great yesterday. I called and told her there was no way I could go back in those bathrooms and clean everything up and she came over and scrubbed each bathroom from top to bottom. There is no clean like my mom's clean. I also washed sheets yesterday. So last night I went to bed with the smell of clean sheets and Pine-sol. There is no better smell to a pregnant stomach!

Blog Break

I looked at someone's blog who had mine linked to theirs and it showed that my last post was five days ago. I knew it had been awhile, but didn't realize it had been that long. I normally am somewhat of a blog stalker, often checking my favorite blogs a couple of times a day to see if there is a new post. No pressure on anyone, though:) I usually really enjoy blogging every few days. Anyway, where have I been? Pretty much sleeping whenever my children sleep. I do not remember being this tired with Ellie or Luke's pregnancies. But this is also the first time I have been pregnant with two other children to take care of, so I don't know. There have been a few days that I honestly felt drugged and it was all I could do to meet their basic needs. Forget the other things-like house work. Thankfullly I am in the same place with my mom and we have almost moved in with her. My poor parents. Our dryer broke-so that's extra fun. And I have so much to do with the new house these days that I have recently let them take their naps at mom's house so I can run a few errands while they sleep (after I have slept a bit myself). Needless to say-super busy and blogging has fallen by the wayside.

As for the nausea-I have thrown up twice so far. Both times because I hopped out of bed too fast in the morning. But when your three year old is calling "mama!!"-that's just what you do, without thinking. So, now the saltine crackers have found their little home by my bed and will probably stay there for the next few months. Ellie and Luke seem to really think it's some kind of treat to eat saltine crackers first thing in the morning and have some along with their milk. I can't seem to get enough Subway sandwiches piled with crunchy veggies, especially sour ones, like banana peppers and pickles and a little vinegar as well. I decided today I can't go to Subway everyday so I bought my own stuff to make a sandwich at home. Also, last night at our favorite BBQ restaurant I finished off everyone's pickles. And although those things sound fairly healthy, unfortunately the weight gain is coming along nicely :( It makes me wonder if I'm having a girl, because no matter what I did with Ellie, it seemed the weight just came. And it seemed no matter what I ate with Luke, I did not really gain as much weight. Hmmm... That should be nice for my 10 yr. high school reunion in October. Oh well-that's life, right? Anyway, just wanted to say hey to all my blog friends and I haven't drowned in the midst of pregnancy and building a house.

Reality Check

I have read several blogs lately about struggles and the things that the Lord is doing in people's lives. One of them being my sister's blog. You should check it out (All Things Ada), it will bless your heart-it always does mine. And she is an excellent writer! She has her masters to teach English, so I am always wondering if she is secretly critiquing (sp?) my writing. J/K, LB-she isn't like that at all! Anyway, she was talking about how she is dealing with some surfacing bitterness (that she didn't even realize was there) over the things she has given up as a mom. I can certainly relate to that! I don't want to repeat everything she has said, but do want to echo that same thing that I certainly have/and continue to struggle with at times.

I feel very strongly that God has called me to stay at home with my children. Let me say that I absolutely feel more satisfied and fulfilled in my role as wife and mom than anything else I have ever done. But it is hard. Very hard. It requires more than any job I have ever had-BY FAR! It demands physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual strength-often on the spot. And so much wisdom-way more than I have. Which should always, always make me desperate for Christ and His Word. But here is the constant battle-I'm desperate for Him one minute and the next the flesh and pride creep in. I will often find myself going about my day without really examining my heart. I will often subconsciously think "I'm doing a pretty good job" and bam, Steven says something that didn't set well with me, or the kids are flipping out, and my reaction is not Christ-like, to say the least. And instantly the ugliness of my heart is revealed. Or maybe it's not so obvious. Things are going well on the surface and then I read something from His Word and the sin in my heart is not so subtle anymore. Steven often teaches that God's Word is like a road sign that reveals you are headed in the wrong direction-from 2 Tim. 2:16 "All Scripture is...profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."

This very thing happened just the other day as I was reading from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. The verse is "You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting." -Daniel 5:27 He then writes, "It is good to regularly weigh ourselves in the scale of God's Word. You will find it a holy exercise to read some Psalm of David, and as you meditate upon each verse, to ask yourself, "Can I say this? Have I felt as David felt? Has my heart ever been broken on account of sin, as his was when he penned his penitential psalms?...Then turn to the life of Christ, and as you read, ask yourself how far you are conformed to His likeness. Then take the epistles, and see whether you can go with the apostle in what he said of his experience. Have you ever cried out as he did, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Have you seemed to yourself the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all the saints? If in this way we read God's Word as a test of our spiritual condition, we will often have good reason to pause and say, "Lord, I feel I have never yet been here. O bring me here!

I read it several times. I just thought he put it so well. So this is when my not-so-great writing skills really show up. I am trying to wrap all this up and am having trouble. But basically, I am thankful for His grace and mercy and that He is patient with me and that He is doing a sanctifying work in my life. And although I don't feel that I give this impression, I would never want anyone to think from this blog that I "have it all together". I am so extremely grateful for the life God has entrusted me with and I want to enjoy it to the fullest, BUT I am a sinner, and so are the other three people that live in my house :) We do not live in a fairytale, but I will not hesitate to say that my prayer is for Christ to be seen and exalted in me and my family. And that He will continue to bring me to the end of myself as a mom, because it is so true what LB said-that this life isn't about us, it is about bringing Him glory. And she's right, my life is His. And the less of Ann there is and the more of Christ there is, then the more the people around me are going to enjoy me.

I know this is the second post in one day, but you might really thank me. On Friday Ellie, Luke, a few of our friends from church, and I all went to Bridgestreet and let the kids play in the splash pad (isn't that what those are called?) We also stopped by Bath and Body Works for their 75% off sale. It ends today! I got those wallflower plug-ins for $5 (normally $12.50). Now my house smells like pink grapefruit. (2 refills are also $5) I also love, love their moisturizing handsoap! It is my favorite because it is antibacterial and it really does leave your hands much softer than regular handsoap. And it smells so good. How could you not love that stuff? (5 for $15)

And here a few pictures of Ellie and Luke in the water. They loved it!

Haircuts & Scissors

Ellie has recently taken a big interest in haircuts and scissors. So far, I haven't taken her anywhere, because I would like it to be long and all it has required is a little trimming on the ends. But as I wrote about in a recent post, I take Luke to get his haircut, so Ellie has now seen what a "real" haircut is. As for the scissors, I'm not sure if she used them this year at preschool or not, but that isn't something we've ever done at home. I have thought a few times that she's probably ready for a child's pair (supervised, of course). Anyway, the other day I got out of the shower and things were very quiet. Luke was napping, and I really don't worry about Ellie anymore if things are quiet. But I went to check on her and she had found the haircutting scissors (extremely sharp) and had cut some paper into lots of little pieces. I gave her the schpill about not ever using those scissors and we would get her some of her own soon. So then this morning I was getting ready for church and heard her giving Luke instructions to sit in the chair so she could cut his hair(she only had pretend scissors). Then she instructed him to give her a haircut. I snuck in and took a few pictures. All that to say, I'm anticipating the dreaded moment when you realize your child has cut a huge chunk out of their hair (probably right in the front). I just feel it coming. I am trying to avoid that, but the signs are all there. Of course, I will let you know if that happens and pictures would definitely be included.