Step by Step

On Wednesday we had our final sonogram.  It was so fun to get to see more of what Ashton looks like! He was so much bigger than the last time we saw him in October.  The sonogram technician told us he already weighs 5 POUNDS!!! He was so chubby and has a full set of lips.  (I think he is going to look a lot more like my side of the family than Addy does.)  In the sonogram, he definitely resembled my brother.  We can’t wait to meet our little man in a few short weeks! Here are pictures from Wednesday.

Over the past two weeks I have had to ponder the question of the difference between cheap and inexpensive.  Andy and I LOVE to get a deal! In fact, if you ask my dad about the first comment he receives after complimenting us on an outfit, etc. he will tell you we always respond, “Thanks! I got it at ____ for $___”  We pride ourselves on being thrifty.  However, our frugality has caught up with us in the past two weeks! Two weekends ago, Andy was leading worship at Merge, our weekend service for 6th graders.  In the middle of a kick (added for emphasis to the song “Romans 16:19″ which he was singing), his pants suddenly ripped and split open.  He quickly pulled his legs together, finished the song (hoping no one had noticed), and walked off stage.  He then proceeded out the back door of the church and headed briskly to the car before anyone could see the aftermath.  Then, on Wednesday night ANOTHER pair of Andy’s jeans split as he was getting in the car to head to lunch.  So, I believe that we will be more selective on the merchandise we purchase from this point forward.  In fact, Andy headed straight to the Gap on Wednesday afternoon following the fiasco and bought two pair of jeans without looking at the price tag.  I think the art of finding a great deal will not be lost on us, but we will be investigating the quality of the merchandise more closely before making a purchase from this point forward.

Tonight was pj night at our house.  We had a fun-filled family night!!!

As Andy prepared dinner, Addy read books.

We ate breakfast for dinner.

Yeah!!!!!!!! Movie time!

Addy was so excited that one of the characters in “Horton Hears a Who” was named JoJo!

Evenings are my favorite time of day! I love everything about them!!! The evenings typically begin with a very excited Addy welcoming her daddy home from work.  As soon as she hears the garage door go up, she gets SUPER excited and usually starts whispering things to me about “surprising daddy.”  It is so cute to see her get so amped about Andy’s arrival.  As soon as Andy walks in the door, the two of them usually have several minutes of very hyper playtime.  (Stay tuned for a video of one of her favorite “games” to play with Andy in an upcoming post.) After the chaos subsides, we usually eat dinner together as a family.  This is always fun for me because we all share what has happened during our day.  It is particularly entertaining to hear Addy’s stories about “school”; although many times we are left to guess the events she is trying to relay.  Following dinner we spend more time together as a family.  Then, I usually take Addy upstairs for a bath, a story, prayers, and bedtime.  I relish this down time with her, especially climbing up into her bed for story time and prayers.  Then, after putting Addy to bed, I am able to hang out with my incredible hubby! I LOVE evenings! What about you? What is your favorite time of day and why?

Back in October, I began trying to be intentional about creating memories with our family.  I read about a friend’s idea to create seasonal activities with her son, and decided I loved the idea! We had a lot of fun in the fall doing things such as making caramel apples, going on a nature walk, packing a picnic lunch for the park, making a bird feeder, . . .  Then, December was filled with all sorts of holiday fun for our family.  We even continued my family’s tradition of making Christmas cookies and decorating them.  The experience was quite a bit different with a two year old than what I remember from the Cardinal family, but we had a great time and the cookies still turned out delicious! I am continuing this new family tradition for the winter months, and we have already begun to complete some of our activities.  I saw this fun idea on a website and we made penguin Oreo snacks after reading a book about penguins from the library.  I let Addy have complete creative control of her cookies, so many of the penguins legs ended up as the head and other body parts were rearranged according to her imagination.  She tried to sneak quite a few candy corns into her mouth as we made these too, but I think I prevented an overload of sugar intake.  Although, she did play in her bed for quite awhile before going to sleep the night that we made these.  (Maybe she ate more than I knew!) I will be posting more of our winter activities as we complete each one.  I LOVE this new way to make sure we are spending quality time together as a family and allowing Addison to see a glimpse of God’s creative genius through our attempts at ingenuity in the time we spend together as a family.

Friday was Andy’s birthday, so Addy and I prepared for a full-out birthday surprise (for the three of us.)  We went shopping and got Andy a few presents, we made him a birthday cookie which we decorated, we put up a “Happy Birthday” banner, and I even made dinner (a rare occasion since Andy usually cooks meals at our house.)  I was so excited about all that we had accomplished without him knowing about it.  So, Thursday night when Andy got home from work, everything was set out for his birthday celebration.  I had both cookie cakes on the table (the one I had decorated and the one Addy had “decorated”, the presents were wrapped and on the table as well, dinner was completed, and Addy was standing in the kitchen to shout “Suprise!”  Andy walked in and as he began to unwrap his first present, Addy shouted out ” There’s a coat in there, Daddy!”  At this point my heart sank. . . You see, I am HORRIBLE at surprises! I never am able to pull something off without giving it away.  I thought I had finally conquered a surprise, and then Addy totally gave it away.  Oh well! Andy still enjoyed the gifts and the cookie, and we have had several laughs about Addy’s inability to keep a secret.  What more can you expect from a 2 year old?!

Over the past month or so my prayer life has become so much more abundant, and I am relishing the refreshment of a renewed relationship with Christ! I have been a Christian since I was nine years old and by God’s grace I have “lived the life” for the most part for the past 22 years.  I have kept a journal since I was in seventh grade and almost daily recorded my prayers and what God has taught me from His Word.  However, I wasn’t “praying continually” as I Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to do and I certainly wasn’t holding up my dutyto pray for others as I should.  In the past month I have started using two different resources, though, that have really helped me in both of these areas.  The first is a book by my friend, Lisa , The Busy Mom’s Guide to Prayer.  It is fabulous!!! It breaks down my prayer life into the categories “Praise, Self, Husband, Children, Personal Influences, and Beyond.”  For each day, Lisa lists a scripture reference and prayer outline for each of these categories.  I love it! It has reminded me of things for which I should be praying that I wasn’t necessarily thinking about on a regular basis (such as Addy and Ashton’s future spouses!)  It has been a wonderful tool for me! I also found out about a website, Echo Prayer through a friend of mine.  It allows you to set up an on-line prayer list and then gives you the options to set up reminder emails for those requests.  I put all of my family, friends, acquaintances, etc. in my account and then set my reminders for 3 daily emails.  Each day I get random requests from my queue and I am reminded to pray for those people.  It has been amazing to see how God has used this simple tool to lay people on my heart and pray for them.  I am so thankful for both of these new-found tools that have brought me closer to Christ and helped me be obedient to Him in my prayer life!

Ever since July when we took Addy to visit Disney World, she has been absolutely infatuated with everything Mickey! We allow Addy to watch the 30 minutes a day of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel (which of course we record on DVR so as not to miss an episode.)  We even use it as  a form of discipline when needed.  (When Addy doesn’t take her nap, she isn’t allowed to watch “Minnie” that day.)  So, when Andy and I started thinking about Christmas presents, we naturally thought of Disney “stuff.”  I need to rephrase that. . . Andy is the gift-giver in our family.  He LOVES thinking about what people enjoy and always picks the perfect gift for each person in our lives.  So, when ANDY started our Christmas shopping for Addy, he had a brilliant idea.  This is what we ended up getting.  I know. . . enormous, outrageous, frivolous. . . these are some of the adjectives that probably ran through your mind when you saw it.  However, the sheer joy on Addy’s face when she came down the stairs on Christmas morning to see a bounce house blown up in the living room was worth it! We have already enjoyed countless “bounce times” on her new gift and look forward to sharing the enjoyment with those of you who live close to us!