22 Days of Thankfulness

I’m sure most of you have seen everyone doing their “22 days of thankfulness” on Facebook, but for those of you who don’t have FB, I thought I’d share mine.

These have been my FB statuses for the last 22 days.    There was absolutely NO order to these at all. 

Day 1: I am so incredibly thankful to be able to stay home with my babies! Even on the hardest days, I wouldn't trade it. My hardworking husband and God make that possible!

Day 2: I'm so thankful for my husband. He is, by far, the hardest working man I've ever known. He is incredibly patient with me & the kids, loves the Lord, and would give a complete stranger the shirt off his back without question. He is meant for me! I love you!

Day 3: My children mean so much to me. They make my life feel so full. I love them more than they will ever know. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for my sweet children. I hope I can teach them to love the Lord and follow the Word. I am thankful that God allows me to be their Mommy! They changed my life!

Day 4: I am thankful for my mom. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. She's one of my best friends! Thanks for everything you've sacrificed for me over the years, Mom! It did not go unnoticed! I'm blessed that God chose you to be my mother.

Day 5: I am thankful for my sweet sister! Who else would I talk to all day? Who else would I send pictures of my outfits to just in case one looks stupid? I love you, Audra! You know you're my best girlfriend ever! I miss you!

Day 6: Today I'm thankful that the election will be over after today and my newsfeed can start returning to normal without the political arguing. :) Also, so thankful that I have the opportunity that some only dream of! I can vote!

Day 7: I'm thankful for my church family. From Senatobia and Cleveland! I appreciate the encouragement and support that they give me. I love you all!

Day 8: I'm thankful for air conditioning and heat. Seriously, we are SPOILED to have that.

Day 9: I am thankful for my sweet mother in law. She is so sweet to my kids and they love staying with her. She is so helpful to me. I love her so much! I appreciate her treating me so much like one of her own. She's pretty awesome!

Day 10: I am thankful for my dogs! My pets kinda had to take a backseat when my kids started arriving, but I do love them. Today Duke sat right beside me while I sanded some furniture and fell asleep with his head on my leg. :) sweet puppies!

Day 11: I am thankful for my home. It feels like its taken me nearly 3 years to get it the way I like it but I feel like I'm finally there! I'm thankful for the roof over my head!

Day 12: I am SO thankful for my children's health. So many parents have to deal with sickness and diseases with their sweet babies and my heart breaks for them. I am so grateful to God!

Day 13: I am thankful for all the little helpful things most of us (including myself!) take for granted! (Washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, blow dryer, toilet, stove, oven...the list could go on forever!) Those little things that we just assume we are entitled to are so helpful, but are not necessary - and are definitely not the 'norm' in other parts of the world! I'm thankful for them because they let me spend more time with my family and less time cleaning, cooking, and getting ready for the day! :)

Day 14: I am thankful for the quiet. It's been a long night!

Day 15:  I will always be thankful for Deda. My aunt has always been another mother to me and treated me like her own. She's never failed to give me sound, godly advice when I needed it. I love her more than she'll ever know!

Day16: I am thankful for Judd having Saturday off! I'm so excited! :)

Day 17: I am thankful for family traditions. It's so fun and heart-warming to carry on traditions with my kids. Making new traditions is fun, too! :)

Day 18: I am so thankful for my Daddy. I love him so much. I know I can always call him if I need anything and he will be there for me. A daddy always holds a special place in a girl's heart. I love you!

Day 19: I am thankful that this life isn't the end!

Day 20: I am thankful (and VERY relieved) to be mostly finished with my cabinet project. It has lots of flaws, but it's good enough for me! Ha!

Day 21:  I am thankful, above all else, for my hope in Jesus.  Where would any of us be without that?  It’s almost hard to put into words the feeling that you get when decide that your life isn’t your own anymore.  I choose to live this life as a servant to my God!  I try to imagine how much I love my children (which feels infinite…) and then try to imagine how much MORE God loves me – with all of my many flaws and mistakes.  My life would be meaningless without Him. 

Day 22:  I am thankful for my family and the time that I get to spend with them.  All of them.  Judd’s side and my side – they’re all family.  I love family time.  It always lifts my spirits to be with family, just enjoying one another’s company.  I know that we won’t always be here – so I try my best to relish in the time that I have with all of them.  When my kids look back on life, I want them to always remember that we strived to have family time.  I love making these memories!

So there you go – the longest blog post ever written.    I really enjoyed finding something every single day to be thankful for.  I also love to take opportunities like this to thank the people who matter most to me. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 3 Months, Walker Man!

Walker is officially 3 months old, today!  Look at me being all on time and stuff. 

He’s getting so big!  I still can’t believe the size difference between him and the girls.  Yesterday he was 14lbs 8oz. He’s in a size 3 diaper, and mainly 6 month clothing.  He can still wear some 3-6 month stuff. 

He’s sleeping a lot better at night!  Several weeks ago I got something called a Woombie Houdini.  It’s like a swaddling sack for babies that just zips up and keeps them really tight.  One night last week I decided to give it a shot.  Before, every time we put him down, his eyes popped open and he was wide awake.  It was so frustrating!  I would spend over an hour getting him to sleep and as soon as my arms came out from under him, he was wide awake and we’d have to start over.  Anyway, so in came the Woombie.  Wow.  Seriously – the first night we used it, he slept in his crib for almost 5 hours!  It makes him feel cuddled, like I’m still holding him.  It’s so great!  Ever since, he’s started out in his own crib every night.  It helps so much.  I feel like I’m starting to get my life back with a few kid-free hours at night. 

He eats every 2 1/2-3 hours during the day and usually wakes up once or twice to eat at night.  I’m totally good with that! 

He loooooves his mama.  He’s already turning into a mama’s boy. 

Loves:  Woombie, cuddling, being held, talking, eating, Caroline making him smile, his THUMB. 

Likes:  Baths (until the hair washing part), the paci (he just can’t decide), the playmat, diaper changes, the swing.

Hates:  THE CAR.  Oh my word.  The kid screams from the moment you buckle him in.  There is nothing he hates worse than the car.  We did put him in a convertible carseat instead of the infant carrier and he is happier in it.  But he still just isn’t a fan of car rides in general.  He also hates a bottle.  He’ll take one, but he doesn’t want it and he has to be really hungry to accept it.  He also HATES to be sleepy.  He becomes really, really cranky when he’s ready to go to sleep.

Here he is sucking his thumb.  He’s really getting in to it lately.  Part of me really dreads that being his comfort thing because I can already see how difficult it will be to break that habit.  But it’s SO CUTE that I can hardly bring myself to care! 

Here he is cuddling with 2 of his great grandmothers.  They love him! 

Bless his heart.  He acts a lot like Amelia, just not as bad.  Ha!  He’ll be sitting there perfectly fine and decide he’s mad and just start screaming.  The difference between him and Amelia is that he’s not too terribly difficult to calm down.  Amelia just….didn’t calm down.  We joke that he has two moods:  Happy and Really Ticked Off.   

Overall, he’s waking up a lot more.  He spends a lot more of his time awake and looking around at things than he was before.  He purposely swats at toys on his playmat and enjoys watching the swing mobile.  He can roll onto his side from his back but that’s about all he’s interested in doing.  He really isn’t a huge fan of tummy time – he’ll tolerate it for 3-4 minutes. 

I love his sweet smile.  He is such a precious little boy. 

He has the cutest, chubbiest, little cheeks.  I love them.  I just want to squish them!

I really think he favors Judd, but I’m terrible at guessing who a baby looks like.  Ha! 

Little man, we sure do love you! 

Lately…

We really haven’t been “busy” but my days feel full!  I don’t have a lot of actual computer time anymore.  What I do is usually done from my phone!  But today I finally uploaded a few pictures that have been sitting on my camera for weeks months.  I figure my family will enjoy these!

Caroline’s little party that we did for her on her actual birthday.  She woke up from her nap and had her present from us and cake and balloons!  She (and Amelia!) loved it!

Not gonna lie.  I didn’t have time to make a cake.  Give me a break, Walker was 2 weeks old!  So we got a rainbow Walmart cake…and it was actually REALLY good!  My big girl *loves* all kinds of cake.

And balloons….

And like every kid…she loves unwrapping presents!

Amelia just woke up.  Caroline is pretending to have “fever.”  She needed a pillow and a blanket!

Oma got the girls dancing outfits!  Caroline had a peanut butter face.

A huge mudhole!  Thanks to their daddy!

Look how deep the hole was!

Filthy.  I honestly didn’t want to let them in the door.

Go Bulldogs!

Family pictures are really hard to come by.  This is reality, folks.

This post was incredibly picture heavy.  I know my family loved this!  Sorry if you aren’t family and this totally bored you. 

Walker 2 Month Update!

Well, I’m almost a week late but better late than never, right?    Walker is 13lbs 4oz, and at his 2mo check up he was 22 1/2 inches long.  He fits comfortably in a 3 month outfit and in some he can wear a 3-6mo.  He’s still in a size 2 diaper, although sometimes they feel snug. 

He HAS been sleeping better!  He actually had one night where he slept through the night.  It was glorious!  He hasn’t done that again, but it was nice when it happened! 

He is acting like he might be trying to stretch out his feedings just a little.  Yesterday he went 3 hours before eating one time and the day before he went 4 hours one time.  His nighttime feedings are definitely stretched out more, but I can’t tell you how far because I don’t look at the clock anymore.  I’m too tired.  Ha!

He’s a sweet baby.  He loves his mommy, his sisters (he thinks they’re funny), his paci most of the time, his swing, his blanket, nursing, and his mobile. 

He hates his bath, getting his diaper changed, and a cold wipe. 

He’s seriously the sweetest baby.  I love him so much and he really is a great addition to our family!  We love you, Walker!

Walker Smiling!

(Deda, press play!  That’s a video!) 

Living Room Makeover (Again…)

Before pics of LR – Please excuse the mess – it’s always like this.  HA!

AFTER!

Seriously – BIG difference!  Yes, I need some new pillows and matching knick knacks – but the curtains themselves made a huge difference in the room.  I’m so happy with them!

The curtain rods are from Lowes (Allen Roth – Walnut Stain) and the fabric for the curtains is Wildwood Jubilee by Richloom.  I ordered mine from Maryjos.com.  She had the cheapest price I could find anywhere!

This picture is a good representation of the actual color of the fabric!

Love the fabric!

These curtains definitely have a lot of mistakes and I can’t sew a straight stitch to save my life.  But HEY – not that many people are gonna be checking out my stitches.  They were a labor of love – because I love them.  A lot.  I used THIS tutorial to make my curtains.  I used it more as a guide than anything.  Mine are lined and I wanted to make sure I did that right.  Two panels can be lined from 1 king size flat sheet.  My curtains needed to be 90” long and 54” wide, and it worked perfectly.  It took about 2hrs to make 1 panel.  It could just be that I’m slow, though.   

I think it made a huge difference in my living room.  Now I gotta talk Judd into a new couch (I’m thinking leather to break up the throw up of beige) and I’ll be pretty content with my living room.  The big cabinet from my MIL is coming along!  Pictures coming soon! 

I know you’re all tired of hearing about my living room so I’ll try to keep these posts to a minimum from here on out.   

Now, back to the regular programming…

Nakey baby!  (Washcloth for modesty.)