Confession and Cute Stuff...

Your comments on yesterdays post...well they just made my day. Turns out, I enjoy torturing people...who knew?!? I'm kidding, I totally knew that about myself already.

Secrets. My blog friend Jamie blogged about them today. Her sweet post got me thinking...and thinking leads to confession.;)

I'm really good with other peoples secrets. As a pastors wife you either are, or you ruin your ministry. I really think it's that simple.

With my own secrets...not so much. I can hardly wait for Christmas so I can give the boys their presents that I think they'll love. Actually, maybe that has more to do with my patience/instant gratification problem rather than secret keeping...digressing...

Back to point: When I found out I was pregnant I pretty much convinced Ben we should wait till the end of the first trimester to let people know. Which we did

...sorta. I told a few select people that are close to me, our little secret. Running partners, intuitive friends, that kind of thing. It helped my to keep the secret, secret to the general public because I still had a few people to talk with about it.

And so...you should know, that there are indeed 4 other people besides myself, Ben and the ultrasound tech who know the gender of this wee baby. I cannot disclose their identities...for their protection. BUT, they are not family :) They are the close friends who actually seemed like they might explode if I did not tell them.

The reason for the secret...because surprises really are fun. For you.

PS - I do like that some of you bribed me with presents. You're good. Very good. I'm afraid it will disappoint you to know that the color scheme of everything I loved on Etsy was kelly greens, oranges, yellows and reds...otherwise known as gender neutral. They have these sort of 1930's ish prints that are so stinkin' a

dorable!!! I can't get past them.

Like this at Kimoley's on Etsy.

Seriously, let's discuss their cuteness.

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On the Brain...

I've got baby on the brain. I can't help it. The ultrasound on Monday really kicked it in gear. I've done really well so far as nesting goes. Ya'll know how I am. Remember Julie? Yeah. I had her room ready 6 months before she came. Considering that I'm half way through my pregnancy and haven't done any nesting is considerable progress...I think.

And then yesterday hit. Big blizzard, we were all snuggled in at home with nothing to do, even Ben...and I began looking online at baby stuff. And looking and looking and looking. Etsy may have ate up hours of my life last night...seriously they have THE CUTEST stuff ever. Ever.

And then I started the lists. Stuff I need for baby, stuff I want for baby, stuff I don't have anymore because I got rid of it during my "we are so done having babies" stage.

I also made a "where we're gonna put everything" list. Baby will arrive in April, Julie will leave us in early June. We've only got three bedrooms. I'll paint you a picture:

Bedroom one: 3 "brudders" as Jake calls them

Bedroom two: Julie

Bedroom three: Ben, me, baby and all the baby's stuff.

I'm good with small spaces. I just need a plan.

PS - Did I mention we know the sex of the baby?!? We do. Well Ben and I and the ultrasound tech do. For everyone else, it's a secret. Mean, aren't we?!?

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Where I Mash it All Together...

We've been enjoying the season around here.

Putting up the tree is always entertaining. Ben and I sat back and let the boys do all the work. You'll notice how they paid close attention to spacing everything out just so...or not. Since the initial decorating, they've rearranged the ornaments approximately 23 times. By my guesstimate, there are currently 3 ornaments remaining that have not been broken. Ah well. Their lucky I'm not sentimental.

We also spent some time making the following:

Kind of. The picture on the box is a dirty lie. It came out looking like this...

Which was perfectly ok, because we all knew the train didn't stand a chance of surviving more than a few hours before we picked all the candy off, leaving behind the pre-made brick like so-called gingerbread. Also, who knew that smearing green frosting in our teeth would be so entertaining?!?

Odie however, was not amused.

In other news:

Ultrasound yesterday. Amazing.

3-D version

And last but not least, we are expecting our first blizzard of the winter, which means our first snow day is likely tomorrow. The first one is all fun and games, but by the 12th one in March, weeping and gnashing of teeth follows...by me, not them.

Happy Tuesday to you!

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Baby Bump

I decided to be weird and document my decreasing lap as my belly grows. It entertains me...I can't help it.

At 15 1/2 weeks it looked like this.

And at 18 1/2 weeks:

Ultrasound on Monday *smile*

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Recap...Sorta.

Days seem to be getting away from me. Do you have those weeks that are so full of stuff that you just go into survival mode?

I am there.

Part of the reason I blog is so that I can keep a record (that I can find and not lose in a pile somewhere) of our everyday life. All I have to do is click on my sidebar of my blog, pull up the month I'm looking for and say, Oh yeah...that's what we were doing last year! I love that part of blogging.

Let's recap.

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin...

Preggo sisters.

Julie sticking her stomach out...

Actually, I think that's enough recapping for today :)

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Just Between Us...

Just between you and me, I have get something off my chest....

The other day I heard some one say (about someone else's character) What's in the past, is in the past. It's a familiar saying, one which most of us like to believe is true...but the more life experience I gain, the more I realize that most of the time, what's in the past is most definitely not actually in the past, but very much in the present.

I've often heard Dr. Phil say something to the effect that the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. I think he's right. Time alone does not fix our personality/character flaws. Time alone does not change us. Without genuine repentance and effort to be different, we are exactly who we were in the past. I don't think we do ourselves or anyone else any favors by leading them to believe otherwise.

I've often felt that changing myself was impossible. I've even more often thought that other people changing is impossible. And in ministry, you soon realize that many who say they've changed, have in fact not. And those who say they want to change are often telling the truth...however the hidden truth is that they don't want to do the work needed to change. Sounds depressing, no? Sometimes...it is. But there are those, those people who you see the change. They don't have to convince me, or anyone else because it radiates from them. It's visible. It's undeniable. They can say, I once was this and now I'm this. And no one disputes it.

That's when the past is truly in the past.

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It Gets Me Every Time...

It's Tuesday.

My house is a mess.

The laundry is overflowing.

Tomorrow night we leave for Thanksgiving in Wisconsin.

I haven't packed.

Even my van is a mess. I'm gonna have to empty that thing before we can load up all 6 of us and our stuff.

And once again, I've waited till the last minute. Always. I always put off stuff like this till the last minute. And *big surprise* it always makes me a little crabby...and slightly annoyed with my family that all they have to do it look forward to the trip.

Poor, poor pitiful me.

What a fantastic Thanksgiving attitude ;) On Sunday, Ben spoke on how anxiety robs us of the ability to be thankful. I hadn't ever thought of it like that before. During his sermon I thought, yeah...that's true. And then this week God took that lesson one step further...by nailing it to my heart. (Pastor's love when He does that ;)

Every other year we travel to WI to spend the night at my Aunt and Uncle's for Thanksgiving. The whole crew is there and I love it. And without even being aware of it, I've let my anxiety over the messy house, my distaste for packing, and the fact that I hate all of my maternity jeans (don't even get me started) to rob me of the joy and thanksgiving that I should be enjoying.

Sounds ridiculous, no? It is. My ability to wallow in self pity is enormous. Got. To. STOP.

So here's my Thankful list. I know, a bajillion other bloggers are saying what they're thankful for, and you've read it all before...but this list, it's for me.

Time to remember that I'm thankful...

• That we have family to "go home" to. Wonderful people.
• that my neighbors are willing to come over and let Odie out so that we can even go to WI.
• that I have a family I adore. All the laundry and all the packing means I have people whom I love, to do that for.
• It's Thanksgiving and I'm eating for two. Hip hip hooray!
• The only thing I'm required to bring to Thanksgiving dinner is three 2-liters of pop. Score.
• That God loves me enough to not ignore me.
• for my new bathtub/shower that a guy from church has spent a lot of time installing.
• for all the wonderful groceries that our church family gave us on Saturday night...especially the Captain Crunch.

Okay...now I should really go get some stuff done while my attitude is still good. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

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