It's a girl!

We just had our ultrasound yesterday and are so excited about having a girl! Sweet girl was hoping for a sister this time and I am thrilled about the prospect of lots of frills and ruffles. I'm already hard at work on a very cute crochet blanket pattern full of flowers.
Everything else on the ultrasound looked normal so she is also healthy as far as we can tell (which is the real reason for the ultrasound the tech reminded us.) Praise God!

I love being a mom!

I really love being a mom! Everyday is not perfect of course but over all I'd say its the most fun job I've ever had. Little boy fills up my day with lots of cuddles and smiles and Sweet girl has so much to say everyday and the way her mind works amazes me sometimes. Sweet girl is about to turn 8 in a couple of weeks and I think I enjoy the kids birtdays more than my own! Maybe because its not as much fun to turn thirty something as it is when your a kid. We have been telling her for a couple of years that she had to wait until she was 8 to get her ears pierced so she has been counting down for the last few months. Sunday we were discussing the where and when and even though she knows it will hurt she isn't backing down. Its funny she can be so scared of new unknown things (not unlike myself) but when she sets her mind on something there is no turning back. The trick is getting her to set her mind on the right things!
I can't believe she is about to turn 8! I want to stop the clock or at least slow it down for a while because the older she gets the less I know what to do and the more challenging the growing up issues. When I first met her she was just a tiny little thing who could barely string together a sentence! Jeff and I were dating when she turned 2 and I gave her this book called "Where is spot?" with little flaps you lift to see if spot the dog was underneath. We must have read that book a million times! Now she is reading chapter books to me at night and I am truly amazed at the girl she is becoming.
Now I should end this because I'm becoming all weepy and nostalgic - must be the pregnancy hormones.

Recent photos

 
Usually Maddie (the spoiled dog) prefers to ride on my shoulders in the front seat but on this rainy day the windsheild wipers were freaking her out and so she decided to put a little distance between her and the offending wipers. Sweet girl was thrilled to be the chosen seat and I was glad to for once be able to drive with out my furry friend!
 
This one is Little boy rocking in the little rocker - I think he may end up like his daddy and not be able to sit still in a chair!

Women's Bible Studies

I am starting a new study with a group of women from our church. I don't know any of them which doesn't really bother me much but I do have a tendency to blab my whole life story at these things and I hate that about myself! It is a Beth Moore study on the book of Esther and I'm really looking forward to her teaching- I get a lot out of it. One of things that makes them so great is that the teaching section is about 45- 1 hour long and then you have the "share" portion. I say that is good because I can be assured that it won't turn into a two hour session of a bunch of women sitting around saying "I feel...., or I think...". Don't get me wrong I like getting to know people and see how the scriptures are applying to their life but I really like to actually study the Bible at a Bible study. Maybe I will find some new undiscovered truth in one of my favorite Bible books. I can't wait to get started!

Holy Cow!

Did you know that the inauguration is costing 170 million dollars!!!!! Bush's inauguration cost 40 million and that I thought was a ridiculous amount of money but 170 million? Where is all this money coming from?

Mancala!

Have you ever played mancala? It has become Sweet girls new favorite game and we play it continuously- just like the good old days in college when we avoided homework and "just one more game!" was uttered repeatedly. Except now my seven year old has become really good at it and beats me slightly more than half the time! Maybe I should find a Dutch Blitz game I bet I could beat her at that one!

The mother of all garage sales is coming soon...

I am so tired of all my cram packed closets and drawers and garage! I must be "nesting" early but I can't take it anymore. I am afraid someone is going to have to stop me because I may possiblly be dangerous. The thought of adding another person and their stuff to this house makes me want to really pair down to basics. Do I really need 3 sets of sheets or even 2? How many towels does a family really need? My cook books are out of control and if one more kitchen cabinet falls open and spills its contents I am going to scream. Solution: garage sale and hopfully make enough for a new double jogging stroller or a shed to store the lawn a equipment so I can walk through the garage. We are scheduling it for March 21st so if you want to come buy stuff - your welcome!

I hate football.

I haven't always hated it. I was fairly indifferent to it for a long time. Then I got married and over the last five years I have grown to loath it. Not all games- I don't mind going to a live game because usually there is someone to talk to, snacks to buy and spirit groups who entertain you- oh yeah and the game. I do absolutely hate games on t.v. The announcers voices grate on my nerves because they talk incessently over every play and every timeout and every thing. They must have an army of people working for them feeding them all those statistics..."so and so holds the record for ...." " he is only the 8th person to have ever kicked the ball that far...". The game drags on for hours! Maybe I could take it if it was over in one or two hours but how do they drag it out for three and four hours? Then sometimes I realize its not the same game. They switch over to another game before the first was over either because the first was so boring or they are helping husbands trick their trusting wives into thinking they are still watching that all important game. The season drags on for ever too. Preseason must start in like June and they keep pushing back the super bowl farther so now it ends sometime in February but there is probably a post season and then March Madness starts!
Why is every game important? WE don't have to only watch the teams he likes but also the ones he doesn't just to see who will make it to the play offs. AAAAAGGHHH! I have tried not to complain much this year and just learn to occupy myself with other things but this is mostly my blog and I can complain if I want to! I wish I was one of those cool wives who loved football too and could get into the games and look forward to football season but I'm not so don't tell me why I should love it or how I should try watching I might learn to like it- I doubt it and am not willing to give up months of my life to try.
I feel a little better now.

Baby Names

We have been tossing around names at our house and so far have not come to a consensus. There are all the names I can not use because as a teacher I know some names will doom your children to a life of trouble and possible crime. There are the names Sweet girl likes and then the ones Jeff has developed an attachment for that I am not so attached too. I even bought a name book. Some names I like but I want the name to mean something and I names like Jackson just mean son of Jack. So I guess if its a boy we could name him Jefferson. It's hard to ask for suggestions because people have strong opinions about names and what they like or don't like. I hate it when you have a name you like and then people say rude things or make a face! Anyway random thoughts....

Happy New Year!

I hardly ever make new years resolutions because they are usually the same things I keep trying to resolve to do month after month and year after year. Instead I've started setting goals which isn't much different except for me they tend to be more specific. For example one of my goals for the new year is to clean out one room a week for the next month and build my garage sale pile up to a decent level. (Maybe because I'm pregnant but I am serious about getting rid of some of this stuff I'm surrounded by!) I will have a garage sale by March.
Goal #2- Walk at least four days a week until the baby is born and then be running again by August. A 5K by October a 10K in November and a 1/2 marathon by January 2010.
Goal #3- retype and organize my recipes better.
Now that I wrote them down I hope it will help me stick to it better.
The other thing about New Years is saying goodbye to another year. The years seem to be going by so much faster then they did when I was young. The kids are growing so fast and fill our lives with so much joy! The other day I was thinking that I really have everything I always wanted : a husband I love and kids I adore. Life doesn't get much better! (However I didn't realize how many dishes and loads of laundry the kids and husband would produce, somebody should have warned me about that.)