Cute kids!

I got pictures from Texas!!

Blayne

Makenna

Brendan

*Not sure what's up with the shades*

Tiff and I have been told that we definitely share some genes. Jake and Ben also have some appearance similarities... After looking at their boys, I'm curious if Luke will look at all like Brendan or Blayne. They sure are pretty cute, so I wouldn't mind =) I think Brendan has always looked like both his dad Jake, and his Uncle Jake! Blayne looks a whole lot more like Tiffany than Brendan ever did... We'll see!

And not to leave Miss Makenna out... she's kills me, she's so freaking cute!

25 things

I've been tagged via facebook and blogger with this same thing... So I'm posting it both places:

1. I don't like early mornings but love having a FULL day to do as I need when I can get up and moving
2. Not a big fan of chocolate, or anything really sweet. However put peanut m&m's in front of me and all bets are off
3. I enjoy every season, I'd alot the amount of time for each a little different, but still really love certain aspects of each seaso4. The thing I miss the most about not being pregnant is being able to hug by husband really really close.
5. I love the smell of summer rain on hot pavement
6. I am grateful to have learned early that the best way to live is with God in control. (It just works so much better!)
7. My husband is my most favorite person in the world.
8. I don't do the bickering/picking thing... It's all or nothing, be nice or lets hammer it all out.
9. My Dad's potatos are still my favorite breakfast.
10. I wish I could stay home with Luke when he's born but also appreciate the ability to help support my little family
11. I really don't like surprises - possibly because I've never been totally surprised.. So I should say that I really don't like knowing something's coming or going to happen and not knowing what it is. It's actually really frustrating for me!
12. Really hates the new style of 'scary' movies and get semi-irritated people see them. It takes a really sick mind to come up with this latest stuff and we're just throwing money at them.
13. (pre-pregnancy) Can't fall asleep unless it's completely dark!
14. If I'm going to eat anything sweet, it's got to be with a cold Diet Coke, or it's just not worth it!
15. Even though it wakes me up, isn't always comfortable, and makes me lose sleep - I secretly love that my husband has to sleep with at least one foot touching mine.
16. As tiring as it is, I work much better under pressure. When I have too much time to complete a project it becomes boring.
17. I hate doing dishes... Give me a dirty bathroom before a sink of dishes!
18. I have crooked pinky fingers, I think it's genetic. Thanks Grammy!
19. I get really, really grumpy and (attempt to) pick stupid arguments with my husband when I miss him - thankfully we're both aware and now he knows if I snap at him, that it means I need some of his time… and a hug.
20. Am constantly working on myself and my "need" for outside approval.
21. I've recently come to appreciate the quiet and stillness that can come when alone… but only for a short period of time… like a few hours :o)
22. I love to sing very loud to music when I'm all by myself… in the car... or in the shower - but again, only when no one can hear me!
23. …I wish one of my gifts was a good singing voice =)
24. I very frequently think that God had some paperwork mishap, and gave me the life He had set aside for a better believer… but I thank Him everday for it!!
25. It took me almost 3 days to complete all 25 of these.

Almost 33!

I feel like this kid's really starting to pop out. Seriously, like he's trying to escape! He stretches himself out, what feels like sideways across my torso, and tries to push as far out of my sides as he can. It's an incredibly odd feeling while I'm sitting, but when I'm trying to walk, the muscles are being used (I'm guessing) and it's actually a bit painful. My abdomen is pretty tight now all the time, still no stretch marks =) And I'm REALLY hoping that carries through the next 2 months! Interestingly enough I can eat Hot Tamales, strawberry lemonade, pizza and even a diet coke (not all together) and not get heartburn, but bananas and water seem to be the big red buttons. Gotta have water, therefore I have a travel pack of Tums that I grab for more often than my cell phone, wallet, and chap stick combined. Sleeping has been a bit of a joke lately. Between the 3rd trimester sinus drain down my throat, lower back pains from being up and moving all day, thinking about my previous/or next LONG & draining day at work, and needing to get out of bed every 1.25 hours to empty Luke's new speed (punching) bag - formerly known as my bladder... Not much resting happens. However, I still manage to get up, out of the house, and through my days alright. Even though it doesn't feel all that rejuvenating, it must be doing the trick.

All in all the most annoying thing is the sinus issue. I've read that it can feel like you have a cold during the 3rd trimester, unfortunately for me my sinuses are tipped or something because whenever I'm sick - it doesn't quite make it to the front of my face to drip out the nose, just flows right on back down the throat. TMI? Sorry, it's so gross, It's also not really new because of pregnancy for me. I was once told I had overactive glands in my sinuses and given a steroid nasal spray to shrink them. It worked after a few weeks, but you have to keep taking it... I'm not much of a medicine taker unless it's really necessary. I couldn't see the benefit of shooting steriods up my nose for months only for it to inevitably destroy all the tissue up there and cause other problems... Certainly don't think I can take any now anyway. Enough about that!

Otherwise, we're doing really well. Ben is gone this weekend for HIS LAST DRILL!!!!! I'm so excited! As proud of him as I am for serving, I'm ready to be done with this phase of our life. YAY!!

SO much to talk about...

So little time to post! Work's been crazy, tax season has come a bit early this year, and my IT responsibilities are in full force - so it's made for frequent 11-12.5 hour days already. Here's the rundown:

• 2 weeks ago we traded Ben's Wrangler in for a Grand Cherokee... He's officially a 'big boy' now. I pointed it out to him that evening while driving up to Kelly's wedding. He had been kind of 'strutting' while driving his nice new car, until I said something and then every wrangler that passed by he let out a little sigh... just to tease me of course for making him trade his dirty, lifted, rock crawler (that never did quite make it out to crawl many rocks) for a responsible "Daddy car".


• Kelly's wedding was beautiful and she was just absolutely gorgeous! I got to see some friends from high school and catch up, which was really nice.


• This past weekend I had 2 awesome baby showers thrown for me, one by my mom & Chris, and the other by my Aubrey. I am still in total awe about all the wonderful goodies I brought home. We are so lucky to have such an amazing support base. I told Ben that we'll have to get up and get fancy everyday until Luke's 2 so that he can wear all of the clothes he got :o)


• Over the last couple weeks Laurece has been painting the nursery and she finished last night! It's so stinking cute - I love it!

• Aubrey, Brandon and the kids have been on town for a while too - unfortunately my poor friend has had a heck of a time with her sick little boy and his asthma :( It's so nice having them closer, even if I don't see her everyday - I still hate that Moses Lake is 'Home' for her!

• Cut about 5 1/2 inches off my hair and died it brown with some red undertones... but the lady didn't believe me when I said that my hair takes to red REALLY well, and left it in a little too long, so it's a little more red than I wanted - supposedly it'll fade 'soon'.

• Had my 32 week appointment today and he's still doing really well! I've been a bit more uncomfortable these last few weeks, but I've been expecting that. My doctor said she can restrict my hours to no more than 8/day and 40/week and I just laughed at her - not during tax season! That might be more stressful for me. He's sticking out a little bit farther the last week or so, she said we're measuring at 34, but that she really doesn't think he's a big baby or that he'll come early - just that my body's run out of internal space and finally starting to try and accommodate the busy tenant. She laughed at him because he kept kicking the doppler thing that she pushed into my stomach to get a heart rate. It needs to register 8-10 thumps to give her an accurate reading and we'd get to 5 and he'd kick it. (Literally, right where she was pushing it in, not near, right on - the kid's got great aim so far)

I don't have pictures of either shower, or the new car yet... but to make up for it, I do have pictures of his new room! :o) It's not all put back together yet - and Restoration Hardware still hasn't sent out his bumper yet (from 2 months ago!!) but here's Laurece's handy work!

Oh, I have these pictures too! Jared hung out with Ben during Sunday's shower, so Emily and Kaelyn came home with me and we hung out for a bit. No pics of Jared, Emily, Ben or me... Kaelyn was kind of the 'star':

GREAT story!

I heard this on my way into work this morning. Every morning the radio show I listen to reads a 'good news story'. I thought it was just way too cool and had to share. It may not change the course of these kids' lives much, and it doesn't change what they've done to get themselves where they are... but it's got to be one of the coolest ways to show God's love to troubled kids that I've ever heard of! ...It just might work!

tagged again

Got tagged in the "3x4"... We already did the 4x4 picture post...

Seeing as this is actually pretty fun, I thought I'd share again. Here's Brendan and Makenna, Halloween 2005.

30 weeks

Well, not for another 26 hours, but I've been meaning to take one of these for a while now. 

...As of just moments ago, here's what my very, very close to 30 week baby belly looks like:

You think New Yorker's are tough...

Don't mess with their birds!

I had my normal appointment this morning, Dr. Hanlon got called out for a C-section a few minutes before I got there and then had an emergency one call her back moments after she walked in the door, so I didn't get to see her. I did see another doc in the office and with a few of the occurances this last week that I told her about, she felt it was best to get an idea of how the boy was doing. I got hooked up to a fetal monitor for about 40 minutes to check on him.
He 'looks' good according to the monitor output... She said from whatever they can tell from that little print out he's looking like that of a 32-33 week baby. Let's hope not - I need to go to the END of March! Ben's out of town from March 8-12, and I'm really not interested in having this little boy while his Daddy's gone! However, I'm no longer measuring a week ahead, I'm back on with 30 weeks, so hopefully that means something! I was a bit freaked out yesterday (and Ben called during this freak out so he got really concerned) so it was really nice to find out this morning that they're not worried and he's doing well! I do have some new 'rules and restrictions' to adhere to if these 'instances' occur again, but they're more to be on the safe side, than they are things to panic about. :o)

almost worked...

My 'aunt' Laurece is an amazing artist. She free hands these awesome murals and they just come out incredible! Such a talent! Anyway, she's offered to paint Luke's room for us and is going to be stopping by to get some ideas. I don't know if it's because my Mom always decorated with such beautiful pictures and shelves with candles and greenery, but we never used paint anywhere as part of the decor process. So last year when we owned our condo I was always a little hesitant to paint walls. (Except my red wall above the fireplace - I knew I wanted that) 

Now that the house is brand new and pro painted, I'm even more hesitant! If I screw it up and want to go back, it'll never look the same! I know I want Luke's room to really 'pop' so I've decided that as long as Laurece is doing it, I'm comfortable. However I'm a bit of a wuss and take no chances, which does nothing for her mural abilities. I mentioned this to Aunt Cindy and she surprised me by jumping on the mural wagon!?! She sent me these and I absolutely LOVE them!! We've decided to not use them, as the room won't allow one whole open wall to be furniture free, and you just can't cover this up. It's my favorite, but now I'm trying to get my little brother to put it in his room, so at least I'll be able to enjoy it on occasion.

I would've had her make a couple changes: 

6 lockers (2 baseball, 2 football, and 2 soccer)

probably only 2 shades of blue for the lockers and alternate them - but I love the look that the shaded red gives, so somewhere red would be in there (are you noticing I'm into that darker red?) Maybe even use the browns and dark reds to add a more vintage look to them...

I don't know, I love it but it's just not going to work this time. Rest assured I did find something. Something still absolutely adorable, and a little less dramatic for us wimps over here... Ben likes the one we'll use much better, he's not into the sports stuff like I am. I'm not into the team type stuff, but this stuff above is just so BOY to me, I love it!

I've decided to wait to share what we've found until after I see Laurece and go over it with her, but you'll probably even have to wait until it's all done - I want to wait and give you the full effect! :)

(Click 'awesome murals' above to see her work website, Rustic Painting - it's also on my blog list to the right)