Daddy-O

Happy Father's Day to one heck of a man!  

Over the past 4 1/2 years, you have really gotten the hang of this daddy thing.  I must say, you were a natural from the start, but every day that goes by, you seem to impress me more and more with your fathering ability.

You are a fun dad!  I am confident when I say, there is nothing you wouldn't do for these little ones to make them smile :)

You are a loving dad.  As far as the girls and I are concerned, you have hung the moon.  I love the way the girls light up every day when you get home from work.  I love when they talk about the silly things you do to make them laugh.  I love that you show them the proper way to love and be loved in return.  

You have such a passion for teaching the girls new things about life, the world, the church, and the list could go on and on.  

And ever since I met you, I have loved your love for children.  Here we are about to welcome our third child into this world.   What a neat thing... 

You are an amazing father!  Happy Father's Day my love!

Today, I am thankful....

for my husband - the only man who can do his job and mine, all with a smile and never complain once.  Five years ago, I knew I was marrying a good man, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I was marrying THIS good of a man.

for my mom - a second mommy to my girls.  She has such strong faith in God and is constantly positive about any situation.

for family -  we could have never chosen better parents or siblings if we had tried.  They have always been our rock through whatever life has thrown at us.

for my kids.  Every time I look into their sweet little eyes, or feel little Noah kick, I see hope.  They are pure joy to me and a sure sign that Christ is with me.

for my friends - calls, e-mails, texts, visits, food delivery, babysitters - I honestly don't know how I managed bed rest (or life for that matter) without them.  They teach me how to be a better friend to others.

AND, most importantly, for a loving God who turns even the worst situations into blessings.

I am so humbled by all the people who are here for us.
If you've ever been on bed rest, you know it's an all out mental battle with yourself.  There is nothing much I can do for myself physically, but everything I can do for myself mentally and spiritually.  Please pray that I don't lose sight of my blessings.  God is good!  

 

Sick day

Why are they just so sweet whenever they are sick?

Granted now, I do not enjoy seeing my children suffer, cleaning vomit off of the floor, or doing multiple loads of laundry on my "days off", but there is something that just brings me such joy in caring for my sick ones.

I've always thought it's God's way of slowing you down a bit, to hold that little one just a few minutes longer, to care like only a mother can.

Even though most people would think of me as crazy, I look back on today and think what a nice day it was.  Watching movies, napping, and cuddling.....sometimes that's just what being a mommy is all about.

Stay-cation

Due to my growing belly and my inability to sit in a car for too long, Josh and I decided that the best thing for us to do regarding a vacation was a stay-cation.

We thought up all the fun things we wanted to do with the girls in the area.  We started Friday morning and headed to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon.  I hadn't been since I was young, and Josh has always loved the regional history and couldn't wait to introduce it to the girls.  

Well, so much for the local history - the girls favorite part of the museum was the dinosaurs.  I think they were expecting the big lifelike kind  that are currently on display at the discovery center, but these were the skeletons.  They didn't seem disappointed, and actually asked lots of questions.

Putting together dinosaur puzzles...

We had some great food over the weekend including King and I, Jason's Deli, and The Big Texan.  The Big Texan always has a fun atmosphere.  The girls loved looking at the rattle snake in the gift shop (yuck - just gave me the shivers)!  As for the food...it was good, just way to much of it.  Texas size portions, I guess. :) 

Here's a snap shot of us leaving Jason's Deli, heading out for the movies.

To children, there is just something magical about staying in a hotel.  Nice for mom and dad too.  Cable, free breakfast, and someone to clean up after you :)  

Here's Gracie all ready for a swim!

Livi was interested in the cars down below.  She sat up on the window seal and waited patiently while I blew up her floaties.

Of course we didn't have time to do everything we would have liked, but hopefully we will be able to fit the rest of it in during the summer.

Just to wrap it up, here's a belly pic taken before Easter.  I'm about 21 weeks here.  

Everything is going well :)

IT'S A

BOY!!

This little guy did not want to give it up.  He was hiding until the very last minutes of our sono.  You can see his sweet little feet in the picture, and we were able to count all of his fingers.  It's amazing to think something so tiny can be so incredibly perfect....

The first kick

Yesterday evening was a pretty normal evening for us.  We ate supper, cleaned up, and sat down for a visit with Uncle Scott who had come over to see us and play with the girls.  As he was telling us a story, I felt a little fluttery poke in my lower abdomen.  Right away I knew it was my baby.  I was so excited!  I had been waiting for this moment for weeks!

I sometimes joke with Josh about how I wish we could take turns carrying and birthing our babies.  I'll take this one, but you've got the next one! :)  It's easy to wish things like this when you are exhausted, nauseous, and just plain tired of being pregnant.  However, God has given us many little moments like this to help carry us through the tough times of pregnancy, the pain of childbirth, and the sleepless nights with new babies.  Moments that I would not give away to anyone or for anything in the world.  So, here I sit, feeling the tiniest little movements, feeling completely overwhelmed by God's love and blessings... 

Here we are today at 17 weeks.  Happy, healthy, and completely blessed.

Snow Day

The girls were so excited to get out in all that snow yesterday!  I'm not sure how many inches we got here in Amarillo, but we had a six foot snow drift outside our bedroom window.  The sun was shining and there was no wind.  Needless to say, we had a lot of fun outside.  

We had a snow ball fight, made snow angels, and attempted to build a snow man, but the snow was too soft.

After about an hours worth of playing, and thirty frozen fingers later, we went inside and made the most amazing treat on a cold, cold day.  SNOW ice cream!

1 lg. bowl full of snow

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

And we crushed up butterfingers and put it in ours.

Mix with an electric blender and serve. 

It was so yummy!  Perfect end to a perfect day.

The Scissor Adventures

I'm sure there will be several more stories to come under this title.  Gracie has really been getting into cutting with scissors.  It's mostly paper, but I've been waiting for the day to come when she realizes scissors can cut more than just....paper.

It was a Sunday afternoon and I had a few errands to run.  I left Josh and the girls at home knowing they would have lots of fun father daughter bonding time.  I got back home around 3:30 to find this...

While I was bent over taking the pics, I was laughing so hard I woke him up.

Poor guy!  I think he just thought Gracie was combing his hair :)  He tends to lose consciousness when someone plays with his hair.  We can't send him to the hair dressers alone.  haha - kidding!  But, he does find it very relaxing.  That same day I also found a doll who had received the same treatment.

I would never tell her this, but I think she did a decent job.  Josh's hair didn't look half bad after she was done.  Maybe Gracie will follow in her Grandma's footsteps and become a hair dresser??

Potty time

We decided that it was time to buckle down and get serious about this potty training business.  I told myself after the holidays were over we would do it - just suck it up and do it!  And we did.  Who knew, "Let's go make tinkle noises" would do the trick!  It has been going surprisingly well.  I think she may have been pulling our leg in the past, acting like she had no idea how to use the bathroom. 

It seems the past couple of years have gone by fast.  I'm sure with every added child, it only goes faster.  She's no longer a baby that needs constant care, but a little girl that needs a helping hand every now and then.  I have to laugh every time I say, "Yay, Livi!  You're a big girl!" she always corrects me and says "No, I wittle."  Makes me thankful she's not in too big of a hurry to grow up :)

Thanksgiving 2010

We were so lucky to spend Thanksgiving day for the second year in a row, with Josh's family in Beaver, OK.  We all had a great time, but it's pretty rare that we don't have fun when we all get together :)

It was a beautiful drive up, and we were lucky to have the company of Grandpa Raef.  We had a shrimp boil that night, and a full blown Thanksgiving feast the following day.  We had to leave late afternoon so Josh could get back for Black Friday at the mall (woohoo - last one!!).  I only got a few pictures of our fun in Beaver...

My sisters-in-law (or is it sister-in-laws??) anyway, here are Shanna and Michelle with Michelle's little beauties Emma and Claire.

These are two of the coolest girls I know.  Maggie and  Lauren, sporting their blue highlights.  The girls always have lots to do and lots to catch up on when they get together.

Here's Livi all snuggled up with Grandpa watching a movie.  I didn't get a picture of her later that night snuggled up with Chuck, Gregg's dad, over at his house.  Too cute!

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we went to Nazareth to celebrate with my family.  We had a great time at my Grandma and Grandpa Ramaekers' and again enjoyed so much yummy food.  I love the holidays, because we are always garanteed lots of quality time with our families.  We are so blessed by them....

WOOHOO!!

Santa brought me and Josh a brand spankin' new computer for Christmas and this is my first time to sit down and play with it.  I'm trying to get used to the quiet of this new computer.  No noisy fan, no delayed noises of any kind, and no hanging it half way off my lap in fear of it overheating.  The best part is, I had it up and running and to my blog page in less than 30 seconds!  Our old computer would have taken at least 15 minutes on a good day :)
Needless to say, I am ecstatic and I hope to have more blog posts up soon about all the fun we had over the holidays.