a hallie update

ohhh, these final days have arrived!

the days when i can smile and agree when a well-intentioned gentleman says, "it'll be any day now!" (vs. having to break the news that no, i still have 3 more months to go...)

the days when a phone call to friends or family triggers their "she's-in-labor" reflexes.

and of course, the days when i see my due date on the milk carton.


that always gets me just a tad bit giddy.

and in these final days, i am so thankful to report that i am getting more rest than i've had in months. i am no longer waking up multiple times a night with back pain, which is a huge huge praise! i shouldn't get too used to celebrating 4 and 5 hr. intervals of uninterrupted sleep, i know... but right now, i will take whatever i can get.

i am definitely nesting, and it has taken the form of butchering our azalea bushes in the back yard (and i mean butchering), making sure i have all of our homeschool curriculum ready to go for um, august, and then the usual.... where doing the dishes turns into scrubbing every bit of grime from around my sink with a toothbrush. totally necessary to bring a baby home, you know. i am also doing laundry way more often than usual.... but that is not really a nesting thing. that's just because i seriously only have 5 shirts that really fit me.

the kids' excitement about their new baby sister is growing. i'm trying to convince ethan and caroline that changing diapers is so much fun... they are not convinced yet, but i am not giving up. and i just had a thought: m&ms worked for potty training... maybe it would work for diaper changing training!

caroline is full of questions about everything these days, from "why are there hills on the road?" and "why don't restaurants have mailboxes?" to "how do they make american flags?" and then the other day, she asked, "how do they get the baby out of you?" (insert daddy's eyes as wide as saucers.) so i told her-- the G-rated version with no vocabulary words to say too loud in the middle of target. and then her eyes got as wide as saucers. i was just thankful that she was wondering how the baby came out and not how the baby got in. but it was a great opportunity to talk about our awesome Creator.... how intricately God made babies-- for their skulls to be soft so they could come out... and then we changed the subject as quickly as possible.

last saturday morning, caroline rode with me to pick up donuts, and the sweet lady at the drive-thru window asked me, "how much longer do you have?" i told her a couple of weeks, and we chatted for a minute about pregnancy. as we drove away with our (mouth-watering iced blueberry cake) donuts, caroline sweetly asked me, "how do they know?!"

this is how they know, precious child....


ya just can't miss my belly. this is me and hallie at 38 weeks (taken last sunday). oh, i forgot about this top. ok, i have 6 shirts that fit me.

i went to the doctor today, and she totally made me smile when she walked in with her calendar. she is on call all around my due date, so we went ahead and scheduled an induction date for sunday, may 6. i am dilated 3 cm (and have been for a week or so), so she is hoping i go into labor before then. i've never gone into labor before my due date, so i'm not real hopeful... but i've also never had contractions since 33 weeks before. SO God knows when this sweet girl will make her entrance, and if it's not before may 6, then that will be her birthday. we are praying for another successful vbac, and we cannot wait to hold sweet hallie in our arms!

11 days and counting!

a seaside kind of day

we took a little day trip over to seaside today... my sweet friend mara had the day off and wanted to spend it there with some of us and our kids. she had me at "sno-cones"...


and not just any sno-cones. she is carrying my wedding cake sno-cone in her right hand and her key lime pie sno-cone in her left hand. mmmhmmm...

she also had me at "grits a ya-ya", which i devoured so quickly that no camera had a chance of documenting the delight of that dish. thanks to google, here's what i'm talkin' about...


while hallie did somersaults after my yummy lunch and dessert, the kids did this...


and this...


and oh yeah, they had some ice cream too...


thanks to my zoom lens, i sat way back on a bench in the shade and spied....


not sure what caroline was saying, but they were listening!


when our shade disappeared, we headed to our other favorite spot...


we enjoyed this beautiful day with beautiful family and friends! (and brandy, you too! you are becoming a pro at evading my camera!)

starting off smiling...

happy monday! if these silly cousins won't make you smile on this monday morning, i think you should just go back to bed. :)

and here's one with ethan in there for nana.


have a great week!

easter 2012

after a big breakfast with our church family and a beautiful worship service on resurrection sunday, we spent easter lunch at the home of our friends, paul and brandy. brian's parents and my mom joined us for the wonderful lunch and just as wonderful fellowship. (and we were missing jeff, kristie, and karina, who were out of town!) thank you, paul and brandy, for blessing us with your hospitality and friendship!!!

i don't have many pictures from easter because this very pregnant mama is big. and. tired. but i did manage to snap a few of my kiddos in their sweet easter clothes. i am so very thankful for these three precious blessings... and to hear them sing, "Christ the Lord is risen today!" is an even greater blessing!


i only took a few of ethan before he ran off to play football with daddy, so this sleepy-eyed one of my 6 year old is the best i have from that day. he really needs to stop growing.


caroline was itching to swing, but she humored me as i snapped away for a few minutes. i love this beautiful dress on my sweet 5 year old!


there is never a dull moment with this 3 year old. amelia surely keeps me on my toes, but she also keeps me laughing at her latest phrases and ideas. her most recent creation is her ipod made out of play-doh. :)


and caroline finally got to swing.... i am in love with this spot in my friend brandy's backyard. i think i've snapped pictures of somebody on this swing every time we've been there.


my mom got some good baby-holding practice with brandy's sweet baby, naomi. isn't she a beautiful baby?? i'll give you $10 if you see this baby without a bow in her hair. :)


speaking of babies, these kids are so ready to meet their baby sister! easter weekend marked 1 month to go till sweet hallie's due date... praying april flies by at mock speed!

resurrection rolls: an easter breakfast

it's been a few years since i shared one of our favorite easter traditions: making resurrection rolls for breakfast! we usually make these on the saturday morning before easter since sunday mornings almost always find us running late... we also enjoyed a huge easter breakfast with our church family this morning, so making our resurrection rolls the day before worked perfectly. here's a peek into our morning:

these kids are just a little excited about resurrection rolls! the ingredients are simple: crescent rolls, marshmallows, butter, cinnamon, and sugar.


each child gets a triangle of crescent roll dough. the dough represents the linen cloths that Jesus was wrapped in.
dip a marshmallow in butter. the marshmallow represents Jesus and his sinless life, and the butter represents the oils of embalming. (this year, we brushed the butter on the dough, and it was a lot easier. you'll see the marshmallows in a minute...)


sprinkle on some cinnamon & sugar. this represents the spices used to anoint the body.


there's the marshmallows! (i highly recommend the order you see pictured... much simpler for little hands.)


don't worry-- everybody got a turn!


when you're making two batches of these things, mommy jumps in to speed things along.


but i let them help with the marshmallows. :)


wrap the marshmallow TIGHTLY in the crescent roll. make sure you bring the sides up & seal the marshmallow inside. this represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

and keep a close eye on that 3 yr old.


time to go in the oven! (it's a lot more fun if you have a big 'ole flower in your hair, by the way....)


place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 mins. the oven represents the tomb. pretend like it was three days!

when the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN! the marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty. (see top picture.)

in theory, the rolls are supposed to look like this one...


but a lot of ours came out of the oven like this... with melted marshmallow stickiness oozing all over the pan...


it's ok, though... the marshmallow (Jesus) is still gone. and the kids are still amazed. :)


(and these big kids reminded me of some little children i once knew...)

this is such a fun and delicious hands-on reminder of Jesus' glorious resurrection!
i pray your resurrection sunday was a blessed one! stay tuned for pictures from today.