One More Day!!!

Big Sister Practice

I heard Hope talking quietly in Noah's room yesterday, and this is how I found her. She was reading books to "Woofie." Woofie is the doggie that Hope picked out to be Noah's special friend. She is pretty sure Noah will love Woofie like she loves Ooh Ooh.

And thank you to Mimi who finished up the cushions for the rocking chair. His room is officially finished!

You're Gonna Miss This

John has talked about the lyrics to this Trace Adkins song a lot the past few days. (I think he is trying to get me to stop complaining.) I looked up the lyrics just to see exactly what they said, and they are probably very true. This is just the chorus, the rest of the song is good too, so if you aren't a country fan, google the lyrics to see what they have to say.


You're gonna miss this.
You're gonna want this back.
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.
These are some good times.
So take a good look around.
You may not know it now,
But you're gonna miss this.

Reminiscing

While we are waiting for Noah to make his appearance, we have been talking to Hope about the day she was born. November 17, 2004 was a very good day! Hope Louise arrived at 8:42 p.m. weighing in at 6 lbs 11oz, 19 and 1/2 inches long and screaming at the top of her little lungs. She screamed for an entire hour! The nurse said she had never seen such a fusspot. Yesterday, we were watching the video from the day she was born and Hope reached for the TV screen and said "I need to take care of me." After listening to the crying for a few minutes she covered her ears and said "That is hurting my ears!" I am afraid she has no idea what's coming... Here are some pics of baby Hope in her first days of life. It will be fun to compare with Noah's pics in a few days (4 days to be exact!!!)

A New Arrival

We have a new member of our family. No, it's not Noah. Sorry, that was just mean! My brother Vince and his wife Lisa will soon welcome this sweet puppy to their home. How freaking cute is she?
If you are looking for Noah news, if he is not here by next Tuesday, I will be induced. My doctor said Monday that it didn't look like I will make it until then, though. I finally heard the words I've been waiting for..."Any day now."

Play Ball!

With all the talk of cousin Clara starting Tee Ball this year and after watching Julia and Riley's softball game this week, Hope has been very interested in playing "the baseball game." Today we got her a Tee and she was so excited! I'm pretty sure she has my athletic abilities (nada.) She had a blast, but she was definitely not ready to play for real this year. Maybe next year! For now, we will stick to our own backyard baseball games! The best part is when she runs the bases (backwards) and then she touches home plate with one finger to "be safe!"

A Star is Born

I think the cousins have created a monster. Nenny and the cousins came to spend the night with us on Wednesday night. The girls put together a dramatic performance of "Little Bunny Foo Foo." Here are the cast of Characters:

• Julia-Little Bunny Foo Foo


• Clara-Field Mouse


• Riley-Narrator


• Hope-The Good Fairy

It was so funny. I have seen the big girls do many many performances, and they are all quite wonderful. If Hope is "cast" in one of their shows, she usually takes a lot of prompting from the cousins to remember her role. Not so on Wednesday night. She delivered her good fairy lines with gusto! And turned Little Bunny Foo Foo into a goon better than I have ever seen anyone else do before. (And Jennifer made fun of me for not enjoying the moment, but running around looking for my camera.) I have missed several pictures lately enjoying the moment and this was just something I wanted to remember. I do regret not getting a picture of Clara's Field Mouse Tail!

Questions

Hope has been asking some questions about God lately. Okay, A LOT of questions about God. Here are a list of some of the questions she has asked in the last 48 hours:

• Who is God?
• Who is Jesus?
• Where is God?
• Is He in the Clouds?
• Is He in my tummy?
• Are there lots of Gods?
• Did God make Target?
• Did God make Grasshoppers?
• Did God make Ms. Karen? (her teacher)
• Is God mean?
• Does God love me when I am mean?
• Is God real?
• Who made God?
• What is God?
• Is He a baby?
• Did God make Noah to be my brother?
• Did God make my cousins?
• How does God make things?

Lord, please give us the wisdom to answer her questions and lead her to a better understanding of who you are.

Now, a word from my sister

Okay, I have been telling my sister she needs her own blog. Crazy funny things are ALWAYS happening to her. Most somehow involving animals. The following is an email I recieved from her telling about her latest animal tale:

Just to let you know about one day in my life.Today I had Clara while Wes was taking the other two to softball practice. Clara and I were going to the grocery store before she had Tball practice. (Yes, 3 playing ball is too many) Clara started talking to someone and I looked in the back seat and saw Miley (Riley's cat) looking at me in the rearview mirror from a box that was sitting by Clara. Now we have a problem. I was about half way into town and decided to turn around and take the cat home. One the way back the cat starts acting crazy and jumps on Clara's lap and now Clara is now screaming because the cat is clawing her legs. I pull over and am trying to get the cat and realize that the cat is wet. I am now looking to see what she spilled because I know I'm going to have to clean it up. I look in the box and there are 4 brand new kittens in the box. OK, now I have a new problem. I get the cats home as quick as possible and start thinking about when she has gotten in my car. The last time I drove it was on Thurs. night and now it is Sun. afternoon. We have been in and out of my car, and I think I saw her yesterday while I was mowing the yard, but not for sure. Clara and I get the cats home and start checking them out and sure enough, one kitten is not moving. It has kicked the bucket. New problem. I like animals, but am not shedding a tear or anything. I think I will just bag it and get rid of it. Well Clara has other ideas. Now here I go to a spot in the yard with my gardening shovel and start diging. Clara lays it in the ground (it is in the bag and she wanted to hold the bag, go figure) and we decide we need to say a prayer. So at this point I have had a surprise cat in my car, the birth of 4 kittens, the funeral of one kitten, and am now heading to T ball practice. Well, life is certainly not boring. Hope your days are as exciting as mine. :) Jennifer

You might be hormonal when...

This commercial makes you tear up.
http://www.pampers.com/en_US/unicef_video_commercial.do

Take it easy

We have scheduled an induction for Noah's arrival. April 29th! Of course we are hoping he arrives on his own before that, but it is also nice to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Also, with John's traveling schedule it gives us the opportunity to know that he will be here on that day. I have been way stressed thinking he won't make it home in time. I am not on bed rest, but I am supposed to "take it easy." This has put a damper on the whole cleaning like a crazy woman thing. Now, I just have several projects to work on! This is a picture of letters I made for his room today. I also have plans to work on Hope's scrapbook...you know, the one from her first year of life. As John says, I am not a finisher. I have worked on it at several different times, but never finished. I also have everything for a Christmas scrapbook that I want to finish. I have a canvas that I want to paint for Noah's room too. I have a few more drawers and closets I want to get organized too...not sure if those fall in the take it easy catergory or not, but it has to be better than the massive scrubbing of the tubs I was up at 11:00 last night taking care of!

We're almost ready!

Noah's bag is packed, his carseat is ready, his coming home outfit is laid out. Tomorrow's goal is to pack my own stuff. I probably should have done that first, but his stuff was way more fun. I also got the rest of his things washed and put into the drawers. How cute are tiny blue socks in a drawer?!

Hope-isms at 3 years & 4 months

Our little girl continues to keep us on our toes. Here are a few little things that make Hope, Hope.

*When we sit down to eat, she reminds us to say "God is Grace." (I love that she says Grace. Please don't correct her!)

* She begins a lot of her statements by saying "When I was a little baby last week"

* She love to "celebrate" after school on days that she takes a nap (a rarity.) To celebrate could mean anything from seeing the cousins to getting a piece of gum.

* She is counting down Noah's due date by how many more times she gets to go to Gymboree

* She gets a sticker on the mornings she has slept in her own bed. It took her over a month to get the 5 required to go to Chuck E. Cheese. We went this weekend. Now she is working on getting 10 to go to the zoo.

* She and her best friend at school tell everyone that they are twins. I'm not sure where it came from, but Hope is convinced. When I take Hope to school her friend greets us at the door with "my sister is here!" Her friend is precious, but they don't look a lot alike. Friend has Curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, is tall...Her dad is really funny. He says sometimes he gets confused and almost takes Hope home with him instead of friend.

* On mornings that Mimi takes her to school she has come to expect one of two things; breakfast cooked by Papa Paul or donuts from the donut shop. I tell Mimi that it's okay to tell her no, but you know how Mimi's are!

*She loves to sneak into her bathroom, bring her tea set, climb up on her stool and fill everything with water. She has spent many minutes in time out for this. I am just about to take away her tea set, but it is her favorite toy.

I'm having a pitty party, and you are invited!

So is it possible to love being pregnant and be completely miserable at the same time? I say yes. I really do enjoy being pregnant. For one, I know what a blessing it is to even be pregnant. After months of fertility treatments, this is definitely a miracle baby. I also enjoy his little movements, especially in the morning when I try to poke him to get him to move. I am always anxious to feel those first movements of the day. When he finally gets moving, it's these little stretches. A little elbow push here, some nobby knees rolling around there. I really do love it. And I also know that just as with Hope, as soon as he is born, I will miss being pregnant.

Now for the fussy part. I have been sick for 5 weeks now with asthmatic bronchitis. In the last week I have seen the Dr. twice, and spoke to him 2 other times, spent $200 on copays and medicines, and I am still wheezing and coughing. Then today, I have also been vomiting. Sorry, I know it's gross, but it's true. Add to that just the fact that I am 36 weeks pregnant and as big as a house, I am just not feeling good at all. I have had many a break down in the last few days. Oh, and I also have the whole nesting thing going on where I want everything in my house crazy clean and organized, but am just too exhausted to do much about it. I haven't packed my bags or put Noah's little things in his drawers because I don't feel like I can do that before the house is clean. Does it make sense, no. Oh, also, John is out of town again.

I do realize that I have much to be thankful for. I just needed to whine fo a minute. I'll get over it! Only 2-4 weeks left (hopefully more like 2!) Hope is being a good trooper and is sooo ready for Noah to be here. My mom has been staying with us when John is gone and has been giving Hope a bath and putting her to bed and taking her to school on the mornings I don't work. Thank you Mimi!

God is good

John survived a terrible car crash today. Not just survived, but walked (or ran!) away completely unharmed. He hydroplaned and spun 8 times until his car became locked up facing oncoming traffic (on the highway in terrible rain.) He thought quickly enough to get out of the car seconds before it was hit by a truck with a trailer carrying 3 SUVs. The car is a total loss, but the car seems very insignificant at this point. If John had remained in the car, it doesn't seem possible that he would have survived. He is pretty shaken up, but thankful. We are all so so thankful.

Hope for President

This picture is from 2006 when Hillary was at our church for our 175th anniversary celebration. I thought this was an appropriate time to repost this! We used to call this picture "Us with the future president...and Hillary Clinton" but, who knows, now it could be a picture of us with 2 future presidents.

My favorite Picture of Ross

I stole this picture off of the baby brother's myspace page. It's my favorite! Love you, Ross!