Prepareing the Nursery!

Preparing the nursery is quite a big job!  Since we are having another boy, and have moved since having the other two, this will the first nursery room we have done.  The room began with flowery wall paper and pink curtains.  Step one:  remove wall paper!  Step two: Paint!  Step three:  Replace all the baby furniture, put up curtains (that still need to be bought!), make cover for rocking chair, buy carpet rug for floor.  Step three will be the most fun!  Step one, was two long days of spraying and peeling and scraping, and spraying and peeling and scraping, repeating many many times, until after about 9 hours it was done!  Thankfully grandma and grandpa were able to take the older boys (since it was spring break) to stay with them for a day and a half.  That gave me a day and a half of uninterrupted working time.   Being 6 months pregnant and all of that labor intensive work really took a toll on my body!  I was super sore for a couple of days after, but really relieved to have it done.

The big helper!

The little helper!

In the process

Part of the big mess!

Almost done!

Hopefully step two, painting, will get done in a few weeks.  We are planning on asking grandma and grandpa to take the boys again so we can spend a Saturday painting, and hopefully getting it done!  The theme in the nursery will be monkeys, with light green and brown for the colors.  I found this super cute quilt on www.etsy.com/shop/grammiesquiltz that gave me the inspiration. 

My inspiration for the nursery.

We have narrowed down the first name for this third boy, but the middle name is still in "negotiations".  There is so much to think about when naming a child.  Can it be made fun of, well probably.  Do the initials spell something weird?  How will it sound as an adult?  So many things to think of!!  And then there is the meaning of the name.  Is it a powerful meaning or something weird and stupid!? 

I am so thankful to be this far along in pregnancy and to be feeling so well!  Its nice to be at home and not working while pregnant.  The last two pregnancies I was working full time, in a day care!  That is not easy work!  So for me to be home with a 3 year old and have the 6 year old off at school is a total blessing!  Its wonderful to get to rest when I need to rest and do things (like cleaning, laundry, etc.) during the day when I feel pretty good instead of at night when I am super tired and sore! 

The Name Game!!

So we have begun the name picking process.  Its pretty funny that with this being our third boy, the list has gotten pretty short.  I remember with the first, we had a pretty long list but knew fairly early the name (and no arguing or anything!).

With boy number two, it took quite a bit longer, I think I was about 6 or 7 months along before we narrowed it down to just a few.  Then not until about month 8 were we sure!  In that process my husband and I talked first and then decided that we would both make out own list and go from there.  With our completed lists we realized that neither of us had the same names or even close!  So we started the process over again!  This time we did have a few of the same names (with the one that we ended up choosing on both of our lists!).  BUT we still could not agree.  Then after a few weeks of "deliberating" we FINALLY came to our conclusion! 

So now with boy number three, we each did our own list again.  But this time we each only had about 3 names on each list.  A little bit easier to decide, especially since two of the names were the same!  So now that I am almost 5 1/2 months along we are down to 2 names!  Hopefully in the next few weeks we will have a final decision! 

Now on a funny note, when asking the older two boys what they want to name the baby we got some interesting responses!  The 6 year old said we should name it "Woody".  The 3 year old said we should name it "Buzz".  I think maybe a little too much Toy Story is being watched in our house!!  

Also last week the 3 year old and I were sitting on the couch cuddling, and having some candy!  When he asked what I had in my mouth, I told him a life saver.   He then began talking about the baby and where it was.  I told him the baby was in mommies tummy, and that he could talk to the baby if he wanted to.  Then in his little 3 year old way, he asked me if I ate the baby!!  Without laughing too hard I had to try to explain the concept to him.  That didn't go very well, he really was confused when I got done.  So now we just try to do our best when talking about the baby in mommies tummy. 

More Blue!!!!

We found out last week that we will be adding another little boy to our family! This is such exciting news!! Both of our boys are super excited to have another brother to play with. The "biggest" brother, who is by nature a planner, already had everything planned out. Where the baby will sleep and and where he will sleep. Its so funny to listen to a six year old make these kinds of plans! Then there is the other "big" brother, who I am not quite sure understands what is going on. Being that is 3, this is likely to come as a huge shock to his little system.

I am so excited that we were able to find out what we are having so soon. This makes the planning process so much easier. Since we got rid of most of the baby stuff, it will be nice to be able to replenish it with the right type of things. I can't wait for garage sale time to get here! Its getting closer everyday!

It's been a long time!!

Well its been a super long winter for us. We have had a couple of "blizzards" here in our town and that has really been stressful for us. With so much snow it was really hard to take the boys outside to play in it, because it was so deep! BUT I am so happy that it is now March and we can start to begin to see spring coming! The boys are ready and so am I!! My 6 year old keeps asking me when its going to be a no school day all the time, aka: SUMMER!! I have to keep telling him that it will be a few months before its summer time.

I am so happy that in the last few weeks my 3 year old is FINALLY getting this potty thing. He is able to tell me when he has to go and is staying dry all day. This is a huge blessing in our house, because we will be having another little one coming in August. With that new little one we wanted the 3 year old to be well trained and ready for when this baby arrives.

With this new little baby coming we will be going through a ton of changes (as with every child that we have added to our family). We don't know what we are having yet, so its hard to prepare anything at this time. We have done a little shopping for baby items and with the generosity of some friends we will be able to borrow most of the stuff we need. Since we thought we were finished having children after number two we got rid of most of the baby stuff. So with the exception of the crib we really had nothing for this new baby! We also figure though that after two kids it would probably be time to replace some items anyway.

Gettin' Crafty!

Lately I have been feeling a little bit antsy! Not sure where to put all of this "crafty" energy, I have run across some fun websites. I realized that I could totally use my craftiness to get myself and our family organized. Through my MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) group here I learned how to develop a Family Notebook.

Our family notebook consists of a 3 ring binder with pocket tab folders for dividers. In our notebook I have placed spots for:
Daily and Weekly To Do's
Menu and Grocery Lists
Coupons
Bills
Family/School
Church
Craft Ideas/ Home projects
Vacation

I have been shown some great websites for learning how to put together this family notebook. The first one is www.theprojectgirl.com and the second one is www.organizedhome.com. There are a ton of printable pages that I am using for my notebook. I also got the idea to do a holiday notebook. There are a ton of great ideas on those sites for this one as well. I like that I can go and just print off the pages and not have to come up with the ideas on my own!!

With this getting organized craze that I have been going through I have done a project to organize our magazines. I like to keep the ones that have ideas or recipes in them. So instead of spending $7 for a magazine holder. I used an old cereal box and some contact paper that I bought at Wal-Mart for about $6! I can't wait until we empty more cereal boxes so I can make more! This was a really fun project, mostly because it didn't take a lot of time and it was really inexpensive! Probably less than $0.50 per magazine holder!

Last week I make cork boards for my boys. I painted their names on them and hung them in the kitchen. This is going to be a great way to hang up all the art work that is brought into our house daily! They were so excited about it and can't wait to get started making stuff to hang on them!

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you But to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Summer comes to an end...

Summer is now coming to an end. School starts next week and I will be the mother of a Kindergartner! That is the craziest thing I can think of! It seems that only yesterday I was carrying him around on my hip and now he is going to get on the school bus and be off to school! We are both very excited about it though. He can't wait to ride the bus! I can't wait to see him flourish under a great teacher. I am a little worried though about how little brother will handle it. They have been wonderful playmates this summer, although there was a lot of sibling rivalry.

Summer was so much fun this year. We were able to take a few day trips throughout the summer. We went to a local State Park and had a picnic and went hiking to a beautiful waterfall. We took another day trip to the St. Louis Zoo, that was so much fun (even though it was the HOTTEST day of the year!). We also did a lot of fun family things like go mini golfing and swimming in the back yard. I feel as though the summer flew by but I am so blessed to have these wonderful memories with my young boys.

With fall fast approaching it is time to figure out a new schedule. There will be a lot of adjustments being made for our family this upcoming year. With a new school schedule, soccer schedule, and church schedule. It will be really fun to learn how to juggle everything. I am going to put up a "rough" sketch of our new fall schedule. I am sure it will need to be adjusted once we get a feel for how school, soccer and choir all work.

FALL 2010
7:00 Boys wake up and get dressed
7:10 Breakfast
7:30 Brush teeth/ comb hair
7:45 Get backpacks ready and prepare to leave for bus stop
7:58 Get picked up by bus
8:05 Mommy and little brother start chores
8:45 Morning activity (Bible study, or play date)
9:15 Snack time
9:45-10:30 Play time
10:30-10:45 Clean up and prepare for lunch
11:00 Lunch
11:45 Get settled down for nap/ read books and cuddle
12:00 Nap
2:30 Snack time for little brother
3:00 Leave to pick big brother up from bus stop
3:15 Snack time for big brother
3:45-4:30 Mommy and boys play time/ homework time
4:30 Mommy starts dinner prep
5:15 Dinner
6:00 Daddy playtime with boys or Evening activies (church, soccer)
6:30 Bath time
7:00 Prepare clothes and backpack for the next day
7:15 Boys play time
7:45 Clean up
8:00 Bible story and prayer time
8:10 Lights out!

Hopefully this will not have to change too much. I have found that the more busy I am the better the day goes. I am really looking forward to fall and enjoying some cooler weather and more fun times with my little boys.

I have been learning so much lately about the importance of being totally focused on my faith. The more I look to God for help and reassurance the better my outlook on life is. I am so encouraged by recently formed friendships. A Bible verse that has spoken to me this summer and I was really able to apply to my life is...

Deuteronomy 31:8
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

This verse means that no matter what has or will happen in my life God was there before me and has it all under control! I know that His will for my life is not to harm me or hurt me, but to allow me to prosper and be strengthened in him!

Joy comes in the morning...

It has been 2 weeks since implementing our summer schedule, and I have to say that it has gone awesome! My kids have taken to the schedule like troopers! They love to do their chores in the morning and picking up toys has become a natural thing to do as opposed to something that is foreign to them.

I have been so pleased with being able to keep them busy, we have done so many cool things already. They have been so happy to play in their pool in the back yard, help mommy in the garden and play in their sandbox! Summer time is the best time!

My 5 year old is beginning to learn more responsibility and we are teaching him about the value of money. Something that we feel our parents did not do a very good job teaching us. He loves learning about what each of the coins is worth. He has his own bank with 3 different places to put his money. One for "the bank", one for the "store" and one for "church". I think its so important that he learns to "tithe" his money, so we make sure he puts a little in the church one every time he earns money or receives it from someone. He is saving for a Lego Pirate ship and we told him that if he earned the money to pay for half of it we would pay for the rest for his birthday (which is in September). The pirate ship costs $100!! So he has a lot of work to do, but we feel if he really wants it he will appreciate it more knowing that he paid for it with his hard earned money!

With the 2 year old we have started the dreaded phase of "Potty Training"!!! With my older one he was in day care so they worked really hard with him and he was pretty easy (for a boy!). This one I feel will not be so easy. He is kind of stubborn and not really interested. He wants to sit on the potty but then he gets up and down off of it a thousand times! I have started the sticker chart which I did with the older one and we talk about the potty all the time. So I think within a few weeks he will be more interested and ready to go for it! Wish me luck!

For a family update we are once again working our budget. Our family is truly living pay check to pay check (but not really even making it to the next pay check!). My husband and I have talked and think it might be time to talk to a financial counselor about maybe consolidating our debt. Its quite large and we have been trying to eliminate it on our own but its just not happening as fast as we feel it should.

My title for this segment was "Joy comes in the morning" because I truly believe we are in a valley of darkness. BUT I also believe that with prayer and faith we can come out singing with joy at the faithfulness of Jesus Christ! Our faith is being tested right now with so many uncertainties and so many unanswered questions, that we have no choice but to put our trust fully in the plans of our Heavenly Father!

In closing here are some verses that I have been meditating on lately:

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.


1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.


Isaiah 26:3
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.