It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The weather is starting to get nice, and I am sooo excited about it!  I'm not the only one...the kids are now constantly asking to go outside.  The other day was so nice outside, that we decided to eat out lunch outside and play for a little while.  With summer on the way, there will be a lot more days like this. :)

This is new...she likes to "stand" on her head

Judah wants to show me that he can do it, too.

I looked over to see Eden's doll covered in dirt.  I was wondering how in the world this happened, when I saw Eden taking a small shovel with dirt and dumping it on her doll.  She would then proceed to clean her doll with a rag and then start the process all over again.  Silly girl.... 

Our Cubbie

Judah has officially completed his first year of cubbies!  We are so proud of him. :)  Since we didn't send him to pre-school this past year, we wanted a couple of activities to have him in for social interaction and fun.  Cubbies was an easy choice as it has been close to home, provides social interaction in a church environment, and (most importantly) starts to plant the seeds of God's Word in his heart.  An added bonus was that Eric was able to volunteer every other week.  Judah did a great job at memorizing his verses (although he didn't always want to practice), and he seemed to really look forward to going to cubbies every week. 

Last Thursday was the end of the year "awards ceremony".  Eden and I joined the boys at Awana to be part of the festivities.  After some gym time, the kids sang a song, the awards were handed out, and then there was a Veggie Tales movie.  We were instructed to make our own cardboard box "car" for our child, which they sat in during the "drive-in" movie.....it was super cute. 

Good job, Judah!  We hope that this is just the beginning of you growing in an understanding of who God is through His Word.

Daddy even broke out the drill for the cardboard box car...this is serious business.



Judah helping with the wheels

Now time to color the steering wheel

The finishing touches

Taking it for a test drive

Prayer time

Judah had to be forced to stand up front with all the kids...my little introvert.

Receiving his award from his favorite leader. :)

This was Judah's cubbie group

Eden enjoyed eating popcorn and watching the movie, too.

The kids with their cars....cute!

Miss Personality

These pictures capture her personality perfectly...

This is the face she makes when she is doing her funny voice

30 Weeks

Woo hoo!  Thirty weeks down...10 to go!  I call this the "home stretch" (I guess both literally and figuratively). :)  I am started to get more excited now that I feel there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I have not enjoyed being pregnant as much this time around.  I really have no major complaints, just the everyday limitations and wear that being pregnant brings.  As a matter of fact, I would so much rather be taking care of a newborn than go through a pregnancy.

But, all-in-all, this has been a fairly similar pregnancy to the other two.  Cravings have lessened a bit.  Oh, and my heartburn has swung into full effect.....like, with a vengeance (you know, shortly after my last pregnancy post where I said that my heartburn wasn't that bad).  Um, yeah.  It's as if my heartburn read my last pregnancy blog post and said, "I'll show her!".  As a matter of fact, the ol' tried and true Tums don't even help me all that much, so I am taking some over the counter stuff that is more effective.  Also, the baby's movements seem more pronounced now than they did during my last update.  It is not uncommon for me to see my belly bouncing around as he moves during the day.  His movements can sometimes be more spazmatic or sudden and quick, but nothing painful at all.  So far, he likes to be more active in the evening (no surprise there since that is when I am relaxing the most), sometimes the middle of the night, and the morning. 

Someone recently asked me if I had started "nesting" yet.  Ha-what's that!  Seriously, by the third time around, I am so laid back about preparation of any kind.  Oh, wait...there is a baby coming soon?  Hmmm...probably should start thinking about that, shouldn't I.  As a matter of fact, I just said to Eric the other day, "You know, we only have 10 weeks to find a minivan.  We should probably start thinking about that."  He was like, "Oh.....right."  We do still need to get a dresser for the baby's clothes and some little odds and ends (diapers, pacifiers, etc).  I talked to a lady at my church who just had her fourth and she told me that she didn't even start thinking about getting things ready for her baby until about a week or two before her due date, so I don't feel so bad. :) 

I am getting more and more excited to meet our little guy.  He really already feels like part of our family.  I have no anxiety about labor or even having a newborn yet (maybe I should); I am just excited to have him home with us this summer.                        

Dance Party

Our kids love to have "dance parties".  This is something that we do in the evenings (usually after dinner) to burn off some energy.  Both kids love music, so we pop in one of their cds, and they go to town jumping around, running, and rocking out. :)  One of the funniest things that they do to get ready for dancing, is they go right to my utensil drawer and each pull out a spatula of some kind to use as "guitars"....hilarious! 

Let's rock!

Classic Judah move

Airborne

Rockin' out the "guitar"

Working the hair