The Nehls Family

Ki 9 Months.

2012-02-23T11:10:00.001-06:00

Well. My goals didnt work out. This is day 4 and I got on facebook and cleaned house. I realized that was way too far. I did it the first day and my house was a MESS and I had 4 people needing responses from me on facebook for early in the day. So I am back to cleaning and facebooking. However, I am more aware of how much I do both and try to make a better balance.

Anyway, this post was/is meant to be about my baby boy Ki!!!! I already put this on fb but my blog needs it too!

Look at this handsome man...

He is my sunshine! I love this boy more than my heart thought it could love another human!

It is so strange how much I love both of my kids the same but separately. They both have my heart but in different ways.

Here is what my boy is up to these days:

He is crawling realllly fast.
He is pulling up. He has just started to take 2 or 3 steps around furniture. But the he realizes what he is doing and stops.
He is eating more finger food now. He had scrambled eggs for the first time last night and LOVES them!
He claps.
He signs "more".
He wears 18 mos clothes.
He is soooooo tall. He was 31 inches last week.
He loves his sister!
He is so happy.
He takes 2 naps a day but one is usually really short.
He still drinks 4 5oz bottles a day.
He says dada all day long. Every now and then he will say mama when he is fussy.
He loves for me to read to him.
He LOVES being outside.
He can play the baby apps on my phone.
He has 6 teeth!
He loves to eat! He hasnt refused any baby food yet!
He has the cutest little laugh!
He is such a daddy's boy! When GT walks in the room, he lights up and forgets about mama!
He loves music and has started dancing some when he hears it.
He is 21 lbs!
He makes his mama proud!

Book Review. Revolutionary Parenting Chapters 1 & 2.

2012-02-17T20:39:00.000-06:00

The book I am currently reading, I will post reviews a few chapters at time. The reasons are that it is hardcore and each chapter has given me alot to think about. Plus, there are hands-on things to do at the end of the some of the chapters. I wanted to share with you guys what I plan to do and challenge you to join with me! :)

The book is Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna. Ever heard of the Barna group? To read more about it go here. But basically is it researchers whose research is based on the Christianity in the world.

So this book is based on research. The Barna group researched what they call "spiritual champions" which is young adults who are actively living for Christ. They studied the young adults as well as their parents to discover what their parenting was like and how it was different from mainstream society. And wrote the correlations in this book to help us have an idea of a direction we should go in if we want to raise spiritual champions.

Barna makes the point that there is no conclusive formula to raising children. There are many similarities in these families and the decisions they made on raising children that we can learn from. From other books I have read and from my college studies, it is believed 85% of children's personalities are developed by age 6. Barna included that he believes "that the spiritual war occurring in individual lives is pretty much won or lost by the age of thirteen." Wow.

Chapter 1 is all about society's idea of parenting vs. Biblical parenting. Barna gives alot of frightening statistics on what young people believe today about the Bible, Jesus and Christianity as a whole. He goes into lengthy discussion about how many people leave the job of spiritual training up to churches, government programs and other things outside of the home. This is not Gods intention for families. As I said in my last post, GT and I have the sole responsibility of raising our children and doing it in accordance with God's word. Going to church only adds to what we are currently doing in our home.

Chapter 2 compares parenting to being like a coach. We are the spiritual coaches for our children. We are the ones who train them, discipline them, encourage them and love them in all aspects of life. All of this is in vain if we do not have a genuine relationship with our children. I want to take a little side bar here to talk about spirituality. Christianity, spirituality, religion all have different meanings to different people. I believe all of life is spiritual. Living for Christ is our life. No matter what we are doing or where we are doing it. My relationship with Christ isnt only active on Sundays. Its all day every day, which pours over into my parenting. Its not a formal, pull out the Bible thing every time, but simple things like praying when we see the sun, singing songs, talking about God and His word. There are so many times throughout the day that I see God in things and share it with my children because EVERYTHING is spiritual.

The main conclusion made in Chapter 2 is that people who produce spiritual champions make parenting their "primary job in life". I know this can cause all kinds of controversy about staying home vs working. I think the main point is whether you work or not, your life is about your family. GT works 50 plus hours a week and I know his heart is here with us. As soon as he is home his life is all about his family. At the end of this chapter is a hands-on challenge GT and I are going to start on Monday.

Hands On Chapter 2

Lydia's list:

3 Things I will commit to do during the next thirty days that will improve my relationship with my kids:

1. Read Gods word daily.

2. Be more intentional to spend just me and Audrie time daily.

3. Take more time to sing songs to Ki and tell him how much Jesus loves him.

3 Things I will change in my behavior during the next thirty days in order to have a more positive and biblical influence on the lives of my children.

1. I will not get on facebook from 7am to 8pm. Including on my phone.

2. I will not clean any part of my house while my children are awake.

3. I will take 30 minutes a day or more to teach Audrie a Bible story (I will do one story a week)

GT's list:

3 Things I will commit to do during the next thirty days that will improve my relationship with my kids:

1. Spend more quality time with them.

2. Hold Ki more.

3. Gripe less and teach more.

3 Things I will change in my behavior during the next thirty days in order to have a more positive and biblical influence on the lives of my children.

1. Say yes more instead of no.

2. Play on my phone and Ipad less.

3. Pray for them more.

Will you join us? What are things you will commit to for the next 30 days that will enhance your ability to raise spiritual champions?

Book Review 2. Loving the Little Years.

2012-02-16T10:16:00.000-06:00

For my second review, I am going to discuss Loving the Little Years by Rachel Janvocich. I was very hesitant about reading the book because of the title. I thought it was going to be another book about how we should soak in every moment because the little years go by so quickly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seriously, how many people tell you that??? A guy told GT that in the bathroom at a restruant while he was changing Ki's diaper! HA! Really people? I mean I get it. Sometimes though in the midst of the spit up, poop, pee, tiredness, whiny children, etc...I dont feel like loving every minute of it.

The book is a short read with short chapters. I just downloaded the Kindle app on my Iphone and I love it! This was the perfect book to read on it. It was simple to read like I was having a conversation with a friend.

My favorite quote I took from this book and have read many, many times, "It is no abstract thing-the state of your heart is the state of your home. You cannot harbor resentment secretly towards your children and expect their hearts to be submissive and tender. You cannot be greedy with your time and expect them to share their toys. And perhaps most importantly, you cannot resist your opportunities to be corrected by God and expect them to receive correction from you."

Seriously, parenting makes me feel like biggest hypocrite sometimes. How in the world am I expecting my children to do things that I am not even doing. It is the biggest reminder to give them grace as the Lord shows me His grace. And also a huge reminder that I need my heart right with God to keep my heart right with my husband and children.

It is so true the state of our hearts sets a tone in our home. I dont know about you but I want my home to be one of love, security and acceptance. I know the times that I am out of sync with God, my whole house is out of sync and I hate it.

This book was also a reminder that parenting the right way takes alot of time and attention.I dont know about you but alot of times I get so exhausted. And sometime throw a pity party. Who knew that when I just wanted to have a baby it would be SO hard. So tiring. That they wouldnt stay an infant forever. Then God reminds me that He has commanded me to this job. GT and I are the people who have SOLE responsibility in raising our children. I need to get up and put my big girl panties on and get over it. I need to face it head on like I am going into battle. Because honestly, it is a battle. There is spiritual warfare going on and satan wants my children. And you know what! He aint gettin them!

Whew, I am a little heated today! Sin just really ticks me off sometimes!

I want my home and heart to be a place of love.

If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

I Corinthians 13:2-8

Book Review 1.

2012-02-07T15:21:00.000-06:00

My husband and I got into a discussion last night about reading books that further our growth spiritually. I love to read first of all. Fiction or non-fiction, I enjoy reading when I have the time. My dad is always reading 3 or 4 books at a time. He is always giving me books and telling me what he has learned.

Our discussion was why I thought it was important and what it does for me. The ultimate authority in books is of course the Bible. God gives people wisdom and experiences that they write about whichin turn teaches me. I know not everything I read is truth because it isnt the Bible. That is where the Holy Spirit and its discernment comes in. I dont always think every sermon I hear is complete truth. And of course, I think it has to be paired with reading your Bible. And should never replace Bible reading.

For me, if I am not reading then I am not spiritually growing.

Anyway, so with that-- I dont know about everyone out there, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed with what to read and I love hearing from others what they learned and if it is worth my time. So I thought I would expound a little on my previous post about books I have (and are reading) and share some good things I have learned and if I would recommend it.

The first book I will start out with is "Dont Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman.

This book could not have come to me at a better time. Like I said in my last post, I was drowning and couldnt get ahold of things when it came to discipling Audrie. This book helped me learn (and I am still learning) big time, how to probe Audrie's heart when she needs correcting. It goes into major detail about the reproof part of discipline and little about rod part. The rod is still in there of course and we do spank in our home. And it has made all the difference. Along with correct reproofing methods.

Confession: I was counting to three prior to reading this book. It taught me that Audrie and Ki eventually should obey on the first command. We dont follow this strictly, but I do expect it. And at first I thought it was impossible, but we are making way. Now, Audrie listens the first time occasionally, which used to be never!

It taught me how to use appropriate scripture when disciplining Audrie. And something my parents did that this book teaches as well is how to show your children to pray and ask for forgiveness for sins just like we do. I used to hate that my parents did this. When I was older, I used to make fun of it and thought it was so weird. But now it makes perfect sense. We are a romodel to our children and they are watching our every move even when it comes to our relationship with Christ.

It taught me to be consistent. Before reading this book, a big part of our problem was that I was lacking consistency. There are times I have to get back on track and I ask for Audries forgiveness for not disciplining her like I should and we continue where we left off. On that note, it taught me to show Audrie and Ki my humaness. I apologize to them, sometimes daily, for the sins I commit and when I do not do things that are in line with God's word.

I would recommend this book strongly. I think this is a book I will read yearly and I will learn much from each time.

There are a few things I dont do from the book and things that I think you fit into your family. We do spank but we do not spank at every act of disobedience. And as Audrie is getting older we have started using a few other types of discipline. Like taking away Diego time, etc...

**I usually only refer to Audrie because she is 2 1/2 and the only little person we discipline in this home. We have started with Ki a little, but not really and not enough to talk about.**

This is my wish list of books I want to read. Let me know if you have any for me to add!

Discipline.

2012-02-04T10:37:00.000-06:00

I really really miss blogging. And writing. A few times I have sat at my computer wanting to type but having so much to say and so much time in between post, not knowing where to start. My good friend Randi did the same on her blog. But she came back. SO I decided I could too.

Our days are full. From the second we wake up until nap time...it is go go go. Always a mouth to feed, diaper to change, toys to play with or something to clean up. Having two mobile children is twice the fun and twice the challenge. I cannot think of a bigger blessing than my children. Sure the days aren't always full of fun and some feel very stressful, but morning always comes. And when it does I can't wait to hold my sweet babies again and start the day. We start our day singing "This is the day that the Lord has made" and "Rise and Shine", something I swore to myself I wouldn't sing with my children. Now, I am so grateful my parents did and I am passing it on! So funny how all the things I said I would never do with my kids and am doing and praying I am doing it close to as well as my parents did.

The main topic and thoughts of our life right now is discipline. WhenI started out being a parent, I thought it was hard. My life was forever changed, good and bad. Now, I had this person who was totally and utterly dependent on me, night and day. THEN Audrie got older and around 18 months things started getting REALLY hard. She suddenly had this will and attitude. She was pushing the boundaries. She was being defiant. My sweet little baby was testing me! It was a little easier that I was working, little harder that I was pregnant, but we made it through. We toughed it out. I made excuses for her and me. THEN baby brother was born. What a shock to all of us. Life got hard. I had NO idea what two kids would be like. It took awhile in the beginning for me to find the joy in having two children.

So Ki was born and I was at home all day with two children. Audrie's behavior became harder for me to handle. Going out of our house was usually a disaster. But staying home felt like a disaster too. We got through those first few months too. I was tired. Audrie had enough energy for an army. I thanked God everyday for a calm baby boy who enjoyed sleeping. I counted down the days until Audrie started Mother's Day Out.

My life, well our life, changed when I started going to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). God began to work in my heart. He showed me that the discipline and stress I felt in parenting had NOTHING to do with my kids but EVERYTHING to do with me. I was trying to do things on my own. I was trying to discipline and parent the way the world tells me to. And I was failing miserably. I felt like I was drowning and taking the kids down with me. God placed a few Godly women in my life to come along me and help me.

First, my friend, Kristin recommended the book, "Dont Make Me Count to Three", by Ginger Plowman and "Shepherding a Child's Heart", by Tedd Tripp. Honestly, I didnt read the second book all the way through. I tried but couldnt. The first book I read in two days. I realized through these pages that I was trying to manage Audrie's behavior and control it instead of looking at the heart issues behind the behavior.

Secondly, my friend Amy, suggested the book, "Loving the Little Years" by Rachel Jankovic. This just added to my re-thinking discipline, as I saw Audrie in the same light as Christ sees me. I am a sinner just like our children. And just like Christ comes along side of us to gently and loving direct us in the right path, that is what we have to do with our children.

My dad gave me a book written in the 70's called "Christian Child-Rearing and Personality Development" by Paul Meier. It was quite an interesting read to say the least. My dad also gave me a sermon he preached when I was younger about discipline. I will treasure this for the rest of my life.

I asked my BSF leader, Leslie, to become a mentor to me. She is such a sweet, gentle woman. Something I am not for sure. We are starting out reading, "Dare to Discipline" by James Dobson. I have already started it but can only do a chapter a week.

God is putting the puzzle pieces together and teaching me so much about mine and His relationship that affects how I discipline and love my children. Parenting is so hard. Parenting God's way is even harder. I know the investment is worth it. I will be tired the rest of my life if it means I am teaching my children to love the Lord with all their hearts.

I have found the joy in having two children. (And of course I want more now!) Everyday I cant wait to see what God has for us. Is it perfect? Heck no. Do I still cry some days? Yes. Is Audrie's behavior perfect? No. But it has improved significantly. Do I still have alot to learn? Yes. Am I the perfect mother? No and there is not one on the planet. I am not EVEN close if there was one.

I hope to write more about my parenting journey in details as God changes my heart and grows my relationship with Him. I will end with an article Lysa TerKeurst wrote this week about parenting called "I dont want to raise a good child". Such a great reminder that we aren't called to raise a good child but a God child.

Half year with Ki.

2011-11-21T18:17:00.001-06:00

I cannot believe 1/2 year has already gone by since we welcomed Ki into our family!

It is crazy that this little baby...

is now this baby boy...

I cant imagine life without him. He is such a sweet-hearted little man. One of my favorite sounds is to hear him laugh (which is usually at his sister) and I love to watch them play together. I cannot wait to see what the next 6 months holds for us.

Shut the do'e, Keep out the devil.

2011-10-26T20:38:00.001-05:00

As a parent, one of the scariest things is realizing that you are given the life to take care of physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, etc... It is a huge, overwhelming burden at times. I dont know if you are like me, but many times I feel responsible for my children's soul. If I dont teach them the right verses or songs then they will never come to know my Jesus. I obviously know this is wrong and those thoughts are from the devil. What I do know is that we are to fight for our children, our marriages, etc... Here is what I mean.

It all starts in the garden of Eden of course. You know, the whole blame game. She did it first, he told me it was ok to eat it, etc... "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Genesis 2:15. Some versions say Adam was to tend and keep it (the garden). The word keep that is used here in Hebrew is shamar. Shamar means "to exercise great care over." God commands Adam, "take care of," "guard," or "watch over" the garden. If Adam were following God's instructions, the serpent would have never entered the garden. His job was to be a guard and watch over the garden.

In this same way, God has given us our children, spouses, friends, relationships, etc... We are to be watchmen and guard over what we let into our homes, hearts and minds. Listening to a sermon this weekend, I was reminded that we are in a war. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

Satan is always trying to get his way into our lives. I have been examining my life and asking the question, where am I letting him in? Am I fighting for my marriage? Am I fighting for my children? Because I know the devil is trying. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

This war is going on all around us. You can see it everywhere you turn. Satan hates marriage. He especially hates marriages who are focused on Christ. He wants "the world" to teach us how to parent our children. He wants our friendships to be focused on gossip and earthly things.

How do we keep the enemy out? How do we fight the enemy? Paul tell us in Ephesians 6 to fight by putting on the full armor of God and by praying.

I have been really examining my heart and life in this matter. How am I fighting? Am I daily putting on the armor of God? Am I praying for my children, spouse, family, friends? Am I praying against what the devil throws at us? Am I making sure the serpent doesnt even get into these areas of my life?

To listen to the sermon that sparked all of these thoughts, go here.

The Sippy Cup.

2011-10-25T18:58:00.000-05:00

I am trying to do everything I did with Audrie with Ki. It is hard. Obviously, it isnt possible because life is different for us now. I still try in ways that I can.

I started giving Audrie a sippy cup at 5 months, so I did the same with Ki.

It went pretty well. And better than when I started with Audrie. And he loves applesauce. He prefers homemade over store bought.

5 months. Ki.

2011-10-24T07:25:00.003-05:00

Our little man in 5 months old! I cant believe it! It really does seem like yesterday he was born!

Here is what he is doing these days:

He is soooooo observant. He watches everything and anyone.
He responds to his name. And "brother".
He wears 12 month clothes.
He eats baby food twice a day and a bottle every 3/4 hours.
He loves to touch our faces.
He thinks his sister is really funny!
He "talks" all the time and squeals alot!
For months now, he smiles constantly and laughs out loud all the time.
He rolls over constantly. To the point where it is getting annoying because he does it in his crib and even though he can roll back he wont. So we have to go do it.
He tries to sit up on his own but he isnt quite there yet.
He loves to bounce in his jumperoo.
He is still sleeping through the night. Some nights he does to bed at 6pm. We feed him a bottle about 9:30 and he will sleep until 8 in the morning! (I know we are super lucky!)
He is getting a little better about his carseat. He still would prefer not to be in one.
I started giving him baby mum-mums. He loves them!
I also started introducing a sippy cup. He likes this too!
He will go to anyone which is a relief. I hope this doesnt change in months to come.
He doesnt really like for me to wear him.
He makes my heart go pitter patter! :)

Letter Ee

2011-10-11T18:56:00.000-05:00

This is how we have been learning the letter Ee!

I started by letter Audrie color the pages with just Ee on them. I tried to start teaching her to color in the lines. I found out it's an impossible task for a 2 year old my friends!

Then we moved on to stamping. I know, brave, right?

I got my scrapbooking stamps out and we went to town. She actually did pretty good!

Then I found these color pumpkins here. I cut them out and cut them in half to make a color matching game.

I started out giving her just 4 colors at a time, but she asked for all of them. She did really well and kept asking to match them.

Then, Audrie asked to go back to stamping. So, we stamped numbers on the back of the E color page.

Then...she got bored and crumbled her paper.

After her nap, I got some more activities.

This one, she is supposed to circle the E's in the letters. She did ok. I circled the first one for her.

As you can see, she didnt circle them, she more like scribbled on them, but she got the point.

Then, I found this cute game. I am SO bad at remembering the website!

The object is to match the peanuts with E,e to the peanut on the picture. She did really well with this but got bored pretty quickly.

Most of the things I get are from here or here. If they arent from one of those 2 places, then they are a link I found on one of those websites.

We have also been doing the power point of letter Ee from

Audrie loves it and asks to do her "letter" many times a day!

Diet Update...

2011-10-09T11:50:00.003-05:00

Diet is so far so good. I did break down and weigh myself. I think I already said that?

Anyway, I think I started my diet somewhere in the 230-235 range...and today....I was 217!!!!! YAY!!! I feel like I was stuck at 220 for a week!!!

My husband, by default, has lost about 5 pounds. AND somehow fits in jeans that he hasnt fit in in a long time! Dirty Rat!!! He still eats what he wants but I am cooking healthy, so he has no choice.

I also have had this ulcer on my tongue that has been extremely painful so I havent been able to eat much because of the pain. I am tired of it now and would like for it go away.

Still no exercise. I order a "backpack" type carrier. Hope this will do the trick and I can start a walking routine.

Somedays I want to give up...but I wont let myself. I have already come too far.

Confessions:

I ate a french fry dipped in polynesian Friday night. Just 1 though. And it wasnt as good as I was expecting.

I cooked White Cheddar Chicken Pasta last night. It wasnt healthy. But I only ate 1 serving.

I go to the doctor on the 18th and will know for sure how much I lost!!! :)

GT or Ki?

2011-10-05T19:48:00.000-05:00

4 months. Ki.

2011-10-05T18:05:00.002-05:00

HAPPY 4 MONTHS TO MY SWEET BIG BOY!

Today was Ki's 4 month doctor's appt! (He is really 4.5 months).

Weight 17lbs (79%)
Height 27 inches (97%)
Head Cir 16 1/4 (10%)

He is rolling over both ways!
He is smilings and cooing.
He follows me in a room.
He eats 6 oz every 3/4 hours and eats solid food twice a day.
So far he has had sweet potatoes, green beans, banana's, carrots and avocado's.
He sleeps through the night.
He loves to eat his hands.
He loves his bouncer. And being on his belly.
He smiles and laughs all the time!!!!
He is such a sweet baby. We are so blessed and overfilled with joy!

Comparison:

Audrie weighed 14 lb 7 oz, height 26 3/4 inches long and her head was 16.

Sometimes they look so much alike and then other times so different, its weird. Audrie's hair was alot darker. I think Ki will have my color hair as a baby/kid-strawberry blonde.

Audrie wont let me take picture of Ki without her being in one or two, or 100. :)

I love being a mama!

hands canvas.

2011-09-29T15:56:00.000-05:00

I felt crafty yesterday. Well really I felt stressed and when I craft, I disstress.

Here was the result.

I had been wanting something for my hallway. The idea is to put pics of Ki and Audrie all around.

And for me to read all the time that they are a gift and a reward. Sometimes I forget this in the stress of life.

It is really hard to get a 4 months old handprint. :)

Me and technology.

2011-09-27T16:22:00.000-05:00

So. I shouldnt be trusted with expensive technology.

First. This happened.

Well, what had happened was...I was trying to keep Audrie from playing on the laptop so I put it next to the recliner. Apparently, I shoved it a little too far and it went under the recliner. And, I rocked back on it. I worked on this computer, like this, for about a year.

Then last Friday, this happened...

When I get the kids out of the car, I put my keys and phone on top of the car. Especially if I am running in some where quick. And sometimes, I forget them there. This particular time, GT took my car right after I had gotten somewhere. And about 1/2 mile down the road, he saw it fly up in the air.

Good thing: It still works. It didnt damage the inside, just the outside. And...my contract is up for renewal and I wanted an Iphone anyway.

Bad news: they are expensive. And I hate waiting.

Diet Update No.1

2011-09-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

It hasnt quite been a week of my diet yet. But there is time for me to post right now, and since that is rare, I am going to take advantage. PLUS- I need to vent and talk. And my husband doesnt really understand, so I need my girlfriends out there! :)

The diet started out easy like last time. I ate few calories day 1 and 2. I started having trouble sleeping and getting anxiety again. I cut my adipex in half and decided I needed to eat 1200-1500 calories a day.

I just had in my mind that I wanted to do just like last time. Lose 40 lbs really fast. Then I could go back to eating whatever I want just portions. Apparently, 2 years older and another kid later, its not going to work this time. And I feel bad when I eat anything when I am on my diet. I have this all or nothing mentality. I eat, I just dont want to go over 1000 calories.

I am currently reading:

This book has really challenged me in a lot of areas of my diet and my spiritual life. She is a little more extreme than I am on my diet. But it made me step back and really think about why I want to lose weight. The real important reason is because I am unhealthy. I want to be healthy for my kids, my husband and to show God that I am taking care of this temple He has created.

So last night, came my challenge...Audrie had requested a happy meal and we wanted to get her energy out so we took a trip to McDonalds. I did my research before I went and figured a cheeseburger/fries happy meal is about the same calories as a salad/dressing/croutons. I weighed it back and forth in my mind. I love cheeseburgers. The adipex would keep me full just eating that little bit. I am still eating less calories. Ultimately, God whispered to me, "You are more." More than the cheeseburger and fries. And I knew after I ate it, I would feel guilty and gross.

The week is pretty easy for me. I am running around chasing Audrie, carrying Ki from here to there, etc...I dont have too much time to think about food. The weekend is so hard. I want to go out to eat. AND I want to eat bad stuff.

Another hard part is exercise. I enjoy the exercise, but the kids make it hard. We went Monday, Ki screamed the whole time. Audrie got in and out of the stroller the whole time, making me stop every 1/4 mile. Timing is hard too. I guess it is all excuses and if I want to exercise and it was important I would make the time. I looked up if grocery shopping was considered exercise, it wasnt in the database :( It should be!

Next weeks goal: exercise at least 3 days a week. Continue eating the same.

Now, here are some of my favorite diet treats:

Ki update.

2011-09-20T22:35:00.000-05:00

I was so much better about blogging about Audrie's life as a baby. Making up for that here is a Ki post:

Ki tried sweet potatoes for the first time:

He really liked them.

He is getting used to this person we call his "sister". He cries when she does, it is so sweet.

He is now rolling over both ways!

I made him green beans today.

He didnt care for them.

I love him so much it's insane!

He will be 4 months old tomorrow! Yay for my big boy! :)

Losing Weight. Again.

2011-09-15T11:37:00.002-05:00

I am about to start a diet, the same one I did after Audrie was born. I am going to do it a little different this time.

Not my foot or scale. Picture came from here.

1. Lose 40 lbs by Christmas.
2. My only weigh-in will be at the doctor each month.
3. Will take before/during/after pics. Only will post after it is all done.
4. Will not take my scale out of my closet. I HATE being controlled by that number.
5. First month 1,000 calories or less.
6. Walking 1 mile, then 3, then hopefully get to walking 5 miles a day.
7. Will be taking my good friend Adipex again.
8. Will measure my stomach, legs and neck this time. And maybe my boobs.
9. I will fit in size 12 @ Christmas.
10. Total goal weight 170. (With my previous diet I only got to 186 then maintained)
11. The diet will start 9/19/11.
12. Today I will go to the doctor to begin diet journey. I will ask them not to tell me my weight until next month.
13. I am going to enjoy this weekend. (eating whatever)
14. No sweets for the first month. (This is going to be hard!)
15. I can do it.
16. I am reading "Made to Crave" by Lysa Turkehurst.
17. I owe it to my husband, kids and Lord.
18. I am getting out the ole' healthy recipes.
19. AND buying fat free mayo, sour cream and cheese (yuk!)
20. I will have 98 days to lose 40 lbs. 20 the first month, 10 and 10 then next two!!!! :)

No time.

2011-09-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

AHHH! Blog world! I do so good for a few weeks then I just run out of time to blog. My oldest is sick and screaming so I only have a few seconds, so here are some pictures of that sweet girl!

Her first day of Mother's Day Out!

I got this puzzle and 4 others at Michaels for 50 cents! WHOA!

I am looking rough but Audrie is looking CUTE!

Photography by Audrie.

2011-09-02T22:12:00.002-05:00

Audrie is always running off with my camera. Today here are some shots she took:

being intentional.

2011-09-02T22:09:00.001-05:00

At Audrie's 2 year check-up we were given paperwork to tell us guidelines of raising a 2 year old. And one thing in there said they should be watching no more than 1 hour of t.v. a day. Um. Who wrote this? Oh... a man sitting in an office? Not a stay-at-home mom with a rambunctious 2 year old and a 3 month old baby. Ohhhh, ok...thats what I thought.

Needless to say, it did kinda get me in the gut thinking how much I let Audrie watch tv. Usually, it is just on in her room as background noise, but still. Its pretty much on all day while we are home.

This is my solution:

I am starting to be intentional. First thing is she is starting MDO twice a week. And during that she will be learning colors, letter, numbers, shapes...so my hope is to continue the work while she is at home the other days. I tried this before to do "tot" school. I got really overwhelmed, so now I taking it slow but still doing something.

This is what we did today:

COLORS: I printed off color cards you can find here and worked with her on match her colors. She currently knows pink, brown, blue, green, orange, yellow, white and black. She has a hard time with red and I introduced grey for the first time today.

She did good with the game at the beginning but lost interest pretty quick.

TRANSFERRING: I gave Audrie 2 big bowls and small cups to transfer water back and forth. Then did it with rice. She did better with the water because she wanted to get the rice everywhere. I think I let her do this too long because she ended up getting destructive with it.

PLAYDOUGH: Audrie's bestfriend Adalynn came over and we made playdough! The girls really liked it and it was easy to make. Plus, we got to review our colors blue, green and yellow. To see the recipe I used go here.

Last thing I did today was join Raising Rock Stars Pre-School website. It has lots of cool print-outs and power point presentations for pre-schoolers and older. We watched the pp of the letter Aa, rectangle, green and 12.

When Audrie see an Aa she says "Audrie". So...working on that. She could pick out the color and shape. She can count to 10 but not beyond.

I hope to blog about this weekly in accordance with her school "letter, color, number and shape".

Meet the Teacher.

2011-09-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

My sweet babies. And Audries baby, "baby guh".

Audrie had her meet the teacher today for Mother's Day Out. She cried for the 30 minutes they we were in the other building for a meeting. Ugh. I know she will adjust. They moved her to the older 2's class since she is potty trained. Not sure how I feel about that. She was already going to be one of the youngest in the young 2's since her birthday just happened. Oh well.

I signed up to be Room Mom. That kinda got me excited. HA!

Audrie putting her babies "night-night".

Observations:

1. Notice all the babies are on their tummy. Haha.

2. "Baby boy" is on his own pillow, because "baby boys" and "baby girls" cannot share the same pillow. She totally made this up herself.

I was trying to get Audrie to smile for me, and this is what I got:

Monday Mess.

2011-08-29T19:14:00.000-05:00

How was your Monday???

Rolling Over.

2011-08-28T21:10:00.000-05:00

When I went to get Ki from his nap, look what I found!

Things I have observed from the picture:

1. We keep our kids naked besides diaper/panties quite a bit.

2. His sheet is cute!

3. How did that pillow get in there?

4. That sure is a cute baby. I might have to have anotherone.

5. My husband just read this and said, "No"! (We willsee who wins that argument)

6. I dont want him to get a day older!!!!

Funny Audrie story:

Tonight Audrie was coloring "aka scribbling" and went overto GT and said "Daddy, draw a bumble bee". He replied, "No baby,I dont want to draw a bumble bee." And she came back with, "Come ondaddy, do it." Ha. So he did. I HAVE NO IDEA where she gets this sassinessfrom???? Is sassiness a word?

Minnie Mouse Party Part II

2011-08-28T17:42:00.000-05:00

These are pictures of Audrie throught her year of being 1. I got the picture frames from target and attached a 1 inch minnie mouse head to some of them. I got the number 2 from Hobby Lobby. Painted it red with white polka dots, then of course the center piece.

I ordered the cupcake wrappers off of Ebay and printed out the cupcake toppers I purchased from Etsy. Napkins came from target. And cookies came from a good friend who sells them! So cute!

Arent these darling? Thank you Jaime Rhinehart! :)

This was on the front door. It turned out ALOT bigger than I had planned. I made 2 of these last year for Audries party but alot smaller. Basically is scrapbook paper, folded like a paper fan, stapled together to make a circle.

And lastly, the birthday banner I made! :)

Messy Eater.

2011-08-27T11:30:00.002-05:00

We started feeding Ki a little rice cereal. He loves it! He kicks his legs and waves his arms when I give him a bite! Sometimes he even cries if I take too long to give him another bite!

He is going to be a big boy and a good eater! :)

Loving Two.

2011-08-27T00:11:00.000-05:00

We had planned to have Ki before we even had Audrie. I knew I wanted multiple children and for them to be close in age but not too close. So...our plans were achieved. We had a precious baby girl then we were having our sweet baby boy.

When I was pregnant with Ki, I knew I would love him, and I knew it would be like I loved Audrie...but I didnt know how. I thought I loved Audrie so much that I couldnt possibly love more.

But I did and I do.

Its like my heart grew bigger to make more love for Ki. But I dont share the same love that I have for Audrie. But I love them the same amount. I know this probably doesnt make sense and is something you have to experience to understand.

I guess I felt the need to share this because I love him so dang much! I cant get enough kisses and lovin from the sweet boy. And for those out there contemplating having another one...DO IT! It is hard. Really hard. And its stressful. And expensive. BUT WORTH ALL OF IT!

Seriously. Dont you want to eat him up????

And then there is this one:

She looks so old in this picture to me! She is sooooo funny! Everyday she is saying some new phrase or doing some new trick. She blows my mind with how much she remembers and catches on to things we dont even notice.

I look forward to times we play together and being silly. Like dancing around the room listening to Hakuna Matata on Pandora.

Life is crazy. Somedays, most days I want to pull my hair out. They are so worth every second. I am blessed beyond any dreams I ever had. I ALWAYS have wanted to be a mother and am so grateful God has given me the desires of my heart. I pray I am vessel for Him to parent through me because I know I will fail time and time again, but He never will! Thank you Lord!

My Safe Haven

2011-08-24T22:15:00.002-05:00

I am sure this blog will stir controversy. Many of my blogs do. I dont know, I just cant keep my mouth shut once I have something on my mind.

Topic of Discusion: Co-Sleeping

**Disclaimer** I could care less if people let their children sleep with them. I am a firm believer that each family is different and what works for some doesnt work for others and vice versa. With that...

This is what has worked with our 2 kids: They sleep next to me in the basinet until they are fully sleeping through the night (ab 3 months) then we transition them to the crib. When Audrie was 18 months old we transitioned her to a twin bed.

We dont chose co-sleeping because our bed is the only thing we have that is ONLY ours after 8pm (minus the two boston terriers). It is a sacred place for my husband and I to come together and watch movies, have pillow talk and be intimate. The rest of our lives we share with our children. We eat with them. We play with them. They go to the bathroom with us. I feel a sense of relief when my children are in bed and I can go to my safe haven...my bed where no kids are allowed after 8! :)

As my disclaimer states, I think if co-sleeping works for your family then thats awesome! What I cant stand is when people chose to co-sleep but complain about it. You see, I am all about the parents being the authority and laying down the law. **Note: my child is only 2, I might change my story in years to come** But at this point, her door gets locked if she wont go to sleep and tries to escape. To the point, where we changed her door handle so it locks on the outside. Some think this is cruel. However, this is how I keep my sanity. I need alone time. I need time just me and my hubs. I WOULD go NUTS if I never got a break.

I was watching GMA this morning and they had a segment about co-sleeping where 2 of the anchors were complaining about their children still sleeping with them. I wanted to tell them, it is nobody's fault but your own.

Edit: If she wakes up crying in the middle of the night, I do go and check on her because it usually means she is sick or had a bad dream. At this point, I lay in her bed until she falls back asleep. There have been times she has slept in my bed when she is sick or when we have been on vacation.

Changes.

2011-08-22T15:52:00.000-05:00

I got a new computer!!!! HALLELUJAH PRAISE THE LORD!

Seriously. I am so excited. I have been transforming my ETSY. And been playing on pinterest too much. GT beat angry birds. Now, its time blog more.

Some changes are taking place in the Nehls household:

I decided not to cloth diaper Ki. I just dont have the energy or time to do it. I know what your thinking it isnt that much extra. when you have 2 kids, 2 years apart, it is alot extra.
We moved Ki to his room 2 nights ago. It is always a bittersweet thing to do. Glad we can speak in a normal tone and watch tv in the bed again. Sad he is so far away.
Ki has started sucking his thumb. He doesnt even want the paci anymore.
I am working on getting ready for Audrie to go to MDO "school". I am calling it school because Audrie doesnt understand MDO. Her backpack and lunchbox are being monogrammed and I am planning her lunches :)
GT's sister went to college. Makes me miss it. Thought I would NEVER say that.
GT is taking fall off from softball. He is replacing it with fantasy football.
I am getting up when GT leaves from work and brushing my teeth, if I have more time I might make breakfast or read my Bible. **success!**
I try to do my bible study in the mornings, but one child usually wakes up.
I love being a mom! Thats not a change, but somedays I forget I love it. :)

Not-so-funny thing Audrie did today:

I had Ki in my room in the vibrating chair and told Audrie to come with me to get dressed. I assumed she followed me as she usually does. I was in her closet picking out an outfit then heard Ki scream. She was putting a finger nail file down his mouth. UGH. He is ok. Not the pointy kind. My mom would freak out if she reads this. Sorry, I left him unattended. He really is ok.

Not-so-funny thing mommy did today:

After that incident, I got Ki and propped him on Audries bed with her pillows to get her dressed. Then I look over and Ki is rolling off the pillow onto the floor. Good thing her stuffed penguin was right there and he did not get hurt. Seriously, poor baby. Between me and sister, he is having a rough day!

Funny thing Audrie did last night:

She had one of my old insurance cards and was acting like it was a credit card (not sure how she learned that, hehe!) We said, Audrie, what are you going to buy? She replied, "Chips" and "Hot dogs". Not toys. Food. Yes, it is confirmed, she belongs to us. :)

Minnie Mouse Birthday Part 1

2011-08-21T21:38:00.002-05:00

Its no surprise that I love to have a fun birthday party for my kids, full of color and cute crafts! For Audrie's first birthday I did just a general polka dot theme. This year, it was a no-brainer, to do minnie mouse. Audrie used to have a constant love for anything "Mouse". However, I didnt want to have the typical minnie mouse party. I decided the first thing would be to pick a base color. Minnie mouse now wears a pink dress which I LOVE pink, but everyone does pink MM now, so I chose to go vintage Mickey, red and white polka dot! As I was starting the decor, I felt like it needed one more color so I added a hint of yellow. The yellow comes from Minnie Mouse's shoes when she wore red/white.

Below I was share the different crafts and things I did for the party! It was so fun to prepare for!

I probably spent more time collecting stuff for the goody bags than anything else. I went to a few dollar stores, wal-art and target to find the treasures for the goody bags. Everything inside was mouse of some sort. There were penciles, notepads, plastic disc, candy, a small puzzle, a magnet head of minnie or mickey, stickers...and I bought crayons for them too but they melted. I also had extra ballons I didnt use so I threw those in too.

I bought the goody bags 2/$1 @ Party City in Shreveport. I purchased the ribbon and polka dot tissue paper @ Hobby Lobby. I ordered the die-cut minnie mouse heads off of ebay.

A wonderful lady, Cheryl Coats, made Audrie this cute minnie mouse dress. She loves it and so do I!

I had left over ribbon from the wreath ribbon so I made a rag wreath. I printed out a 2 on scrapbook paper and cute it out and attached it with ribbon.

This is one of my favorite crafts I did for the party. I used this tutorial. It was so easy and fun to make! I will be making more of these for the holidays.

I made 2 of these for centerpieces.

How to make the minnie mouse head-

Materials:
2 Small styrofoam balls
1 Large styrofoam ball
2 toothpicks
1 Can of Black Spray Paint
Ribbon (if doing minnie)
1 dowel rod

Spray paint styrofoam balls. Place toothpicks in smaller ones and stick them in large one. Make bow out of ribbon, hot glue or stick in with toothpick. Stick dowel rod in bottom and place in container.

I bought the bucket half off at hobby lobby then did white polka dots. Put a large styrofoam disc in bottom. Cute fake flowers to fit. GT cut dowel rod with a key hole saw. Put tissue paper in to fill in space. And there ya go! :)

I had bought my styrofoam balls in a pack so I had enough to make 3 heads, so my third one I used on the favor table.

Used a small clear bowl I had. I filled it up with these little decorative foam balls from Hobby Lobby. Stuffed tissue paper in the top then hot glued some yellow stringy stuff.

More decor to come...

Audrie or Ki?

2011-08-18T13:56:00.000-05:00

Brother is getting to the rolling around stage. He isnt doing it quite yet, but he is on his way. As Audrie and I were playing with him this morning, I told her I had a video of her rolling over. I got out the computer and we watched it. Then I came across some pictures of her in the bath tub and couldnt believe how much her and Ki look alike! Well, I started looking at them side by side, and not so much. They have different head shapes, Audrie had darker hair and more of it, Ki is alot bigger...Ki is way more happier and smiles more. He has even been laughing a little! Hard to believe Audrie was that small and now she is talking and being sassy! :)

Bath Time w/ Ki!

2011-08-17T20:56:00.002-05:00

I could eat this boy up! Like really. I never thought I could love a child as much as I love my sweet Audrie Kate. I do! Its like my heart just grew bigger and made room to love him just as much!

Easy Way or Hard Way?

2011-08-17T13:26:00.001-05:00

As I have been blogging and writing on facebook, I have mentioned our interesting life as Audrie has hit the 2 year old mark. I feel like we have been in terrible twos for sometime now but it doesnt seem to get better, just more defiant. More tiring. More discipline. More time-outs. More spankings. More corrections. I do know that it is worth it. She will one day, hopefully, not need as much correction since we are starting to set this foundation of discipline and boundaries.

Something I have started recently is telling Audrie we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can let me brush your hair while sitting still and it will be over alot faster and it wont hurt as much. But if you pull away and scream it will take longer and hurt more. And this is with everything I am finding with her. Of course, she usually picks the hard way and I have found 2 year olds arent really logical thinkers.

I started attending a Bible study last week, "A Woman's Heart" by Beth Moore. God has really spoken to my heart about how I am just like my two-year old. Gods word is showing me the easy way but oh so often I choose that hard way. He is saying. Lydia, if you would listen to me the first time, it would be the easy way, you wouldnt be so hurt. But because you chose the hard way, it hurts and it takes you longer to learn the lesson, sometimes I have to teach it to you a million times.

I found it interesting as I was reading the story of the Tower of Babel in our study how much it relates to this. After the flood, God tells Noah and his sons (Shem, Ham, Japeth) to multiply and scatter among the earth. Well, the people start building this tower and they want it high enough to reach the heavens. I thought this was why God confused the languages and scattered the people, but it wasnt. The people were building this tower so they would all be in one place and not be scattered around the world.

Easy Way: Be fruitful. Multiply. Scatter among the earth.
Hard Way: God made it happen by confusing languages.

Another lesson is this, Gods will is going to happen. The question to me is, Am I going to be part of His will? Am I going to be used by Him or is He going to have to use someone else because of my disobedience?

Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’
11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
what I have planned, that I will do.

Isaiah 46:9-11

A. List. Of. Life. Lately.

2011-08-16T22:31:00.001-05:00

I miss blogging. I just dont have the time or brain space to have deep thoughts and if I do, I sure dont have time to type them on my cracked computer screen macbook. :(

So...I will make a list. A life list. A list of life. You get it...

Im pretty sure I have announced it to the world already. BUT in case you havent heard, Audrie is potty trained! She really did most of it herself. We still have accidents almost daily. But they are most rebellious accidents. My child is quite strong-willed (nice way to put it)

Ki is the sweetest thang ever. I cant get enough of his sweet sugars and fat rolls! :)
I am SO ready for it not to be over 100 degrees. I would even take 95. Seriously.

I just joined pinterest. And I really like it. I wish my computer screen would allow me to fully enjoy it.

My husband is a wonderful man. He keeps me sane. Him and lexapro. Thank God for both!

September 6th is 21 days. That is the day Audrie starts Mother's Day Out. I am obviously counting down the days. Those who have had a wild 2 year old understands. And those of you who have had kids 2 years apart with the oldest being wild is having bad flashbacks.

I am so glad I am not pregnant anymore.

I need to lose about 50 pounds. I ate half a bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar Lays today. And I just ate 4 chocolate chip cookies. Dang.

Today Audrie put Desitin all over herself. Including all private areas. Note to readers: It is hard to wash off and to get out of carpet.

I should blog about all the not-so-funny but funny things Audrie does.
Most days I brush my teeth and put on deodorant for the first time at 9pm.

My couch is piled high with clean laundry. Atleast its clean.

My hubs had a softball game tonight, when he came home he asked, "What have you been doing?" Like I hadnt been doing anything? And my reply was I took a shower and washed my hair. These days that is very productive. And I washed bottles. So....there!

I leave you with apic of my cute boy:

I would have one of my sweet girl, but she runs from the camera. :(

Ki is 2 months old!

2011-08-08T09:44:00.002-05:00

Ki really turned two months when we were on vacation a few weeks ago, but he just had his 2 month well check-up. He is 14 lbs 2 oz (85%) 25 inches (94%) and his head was 15 1/2" (22%). I went back a read Audries 2 months post. She weighed 12 lbs 3 oz (87%), 23 inches long (74%) and head was 15 inches (59%). Meaning Ki is going to be bigger than his big sister! :)

He is such a sweet happy boy! He is eating 6 oz every 3-4 hours. He has been sleeping through the night for 2 weeks now. We usually feed him about 10 and he sleeps til 7 or 8. He smiles and coo's alot more than Aufrie did at this age. However, Audrie could pull toys and loved playing on her playmat and Ki is not quite there yet.

He has just started to like his bath. Last night he was kicking in it so hard, water got all over the counter and floor! But he was having such a good time, I couldnt stop him! He is wearing 6m clothes and filling those out really good.

Here are so more pictures I recently took of the big boy:

Audrie is a BIG GIRL!

2011-08-07T23:37:00.002-05:00

Wow, I cant believe Audrie is 2. We have had a whirlwind of a year. I went back to work part time and Audrie stayed with a sitter 3 days a week. Which was good for the both of us. I was pregnant with Ki most of the year so that took a toll on how active I could be with Audrie. Then Ki was born and it has changed my relationship with Audrie. I feel like it has made it stronger and more special. And I am so glad she now has a brother for the rest of her life!

Here is a pic fron Audries 1st bday morning, then her 2nd bday morning. What a difference a year makes!

Now I have been home with the sweet girl since a month before Ki was born. It is good to be back home with her everyday but I know she needs some socialization and to learn things that I just cant teach her. So in a month she is going to start going to Mothers Day Out. I am really looking forward to it, mostly for her but for me too! I am excited about having time with just my precious Ki!

Audrie had her 2 year old well check-up this week. She is 27 lbs (56%) 35 1/2 inches (89%) and her head circumfrence is 19" (71%). Skinny and long! :)

And to top it off she is potty trained! Or should I say potty training??? No more diapers. She only wears a pull p at nap time (which every day it has been dry) and at night (its usually not dry but not soaked either). She has had an accident everyday, 3 of the days were my fault. Not bringing her when she asked...because we just sat on it 2 minutes ago and she did nothing!!!! or just not paying attention to the time in between pottying. She has done great pooing! I was scared that would be the hardest part!

We had her 2nd birthday party yesterday which was SOOOO much fun! I had as much fun preparing the decor too! It was minnie mouse themed with red/white polka dots. I will do a whole blog on that later.

It occurred to me tonight that I have been a sucky blogger and the biggest reason is the big crack in our MAC laptop screen. I pray everyday for a new computer or even a used one. I dont care. I just want to blog more and maintain my ETSY more...so here is a post for now. Hopefully when do one on little brother's 2 month! :)

Post Partum Anxiety Update

2011-08-02T21:33:00.001-05:00

About 2 weeks after Ki was born, I posted this about my experience with post-partum depression and anxiety. For some reason facebook imported it like 5 weeks later! Crazy! Anyway, this is my first time to sit down and share an update.

At my 6 week appt, I told my doc I will still having some anxiety and he raised my dosage from 10 mg to 20mg. It has certainly helped. My doc thinks I will be able to wean off of it in the next few months. I hope so because it makes me really hungry. Like extremely, eat as much as my husband hungry. And for someone who just had their 2nd child, and that child was 9 lbs 3 oz, means I am not losing the baby weight. Instead, I am sure I have been gaining. But the scale is in the closet, so I have no idea.

Life with 2 kids under 2!

2011-06-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

I get asked alot what it is like having 2 kids less than 2 years apart...so here is my take right now:

It is hard. The end.

Just kidding, but it is hard. It is easier having a newborn this time around because I have already been through it before. I know things I didnt know the first time. I worry less. It comes more natural. BUT it is extremely more difficult because I have a toddler.

Its hard because 1) I cant sleep when the baby sleeps. I can only nap when Audrie naps, and thank God Ki is a good sleeper! 2) Audrie is going through the transition of having a new sibling. She is hitting and pushing other children. She pushes boundaries even more. 3) I have to feed Ki a bottle every 3 hours which takes about 30 minutes minimum. So while I am doing this, Audrie does alot of things she knows she isnt supposed to do because she knows I am not going to stop feeding him to chase her. 4) We are still in beginning stages of potty training. Very hard to do w/ a newborn. 5) Audrie wants to help alot. And sometimes it really is helpful. She brings me diapers, wipes, burp rags. Sometimes its not so helpful. Trying to pick up Ki, trying to shove the paci in his mouth, taking out the bottle or paci just because. 6) Audrie has regressed to how she was at about 13/14 months. Very clingly. Whining while I am cooking to hold her, always wanting help to do things she has been doing independently for months, etc... 7) It takes us a LONG time to get ready. Between getting both kids ready, feeding Audrie, feeding Ki, getting myself half-way decent, we dont leave the house earlier than 9! Today we didnt leave til 10!

I know Audrie is just adjusting and it will be better over time. It seems to get better each day actually. But that is my answer when people ask. I will keep updating what it is like. I am sure as Ki and Audrie both get older it will bring different challenges and bring different positive things.

So the positive things: 1) She loves her brother. 2) When Audrie wakes up, she asks where the baby is. 3) She gives him kisses all the time. 4) I love having a little boy. 5) He is sooooo sweet. 5) I love having a newborn again. 6) I could hold Ki all day and give him kisses. :) 7) I am really really enjoying a child that cant move anywhere on his own. Ha!

Ki is 2 weeks old!

2011-06-08T19:24:00.000-05:00

Ki had his 2 week appt Monday!

He is 9lb 10 oz. (74%) 22 inches (88%) and his head circumference is 14 in (19%).

He is a big boy with a small head! :)

He is such a good baby. He doesnt cry too much as long as he being held, in the moby or asleep in the bassinet. (on his tummy, I know, I am bad mommy!--but one that gets some sleep!) He goes a 4 hour stretch at night usually from 11-3. Then a 3 hour stretch. I am definitely looking forward to him sleeping longer but grateful for how much he sleeps!

The hardest part is having a toddler too. Audrie is making the adjustment for sure. She is acting out more as expected and we have to work harder to show her attention. I do plan to put her MDO for the fall but for the summer it is the three of us! She is a really good helper, sometimes too much! I am sure in a month or so she will be well adjusted and realize baby brother isnt going anywhere!

Post-Partum Anxiety

2011-06-06T14:31:00.000-05:00

These past few days have been rough to say the least. It really started Tuesday night. I fed Ki and laid down in the bed and couldnt turn my mind off. I had all these negative thoughts running through my mind. Like, why in the world did we decide to have 2 kids so close in age? How can I do this? How can I breastfeed him every 2-3 hours for an hour at a time and keep up with a toddler? Etc... It was horrible. I didnt sleep at all in between those feedings. I told GT about it and just kind of shrugged it off. **Alot of this came from going to the lactation consultant. She told us that Ki needed to have 3 poo diapers before 3 the next day. If not, I was going to have to pump and give him an ounce of breastmilk by a bottle. This gave me super super anxiety. I couldnt imagine breastfeeding him for 45 minutes then pumping??!?!? All the while keeping Audrie busy. And I knew Thursday GT would be going back to work and I would be alone with the kids.

Then Wednesday, I cried off and on all day. We had a few visitors which made me feel better. Then when it was time to go to sleep, I couldnt sleep. I called my mom at 2:30 in the morning. We talked for about an hour and decided to stop breastfeeding. It was causing me too much anxiety and I needed to be a mommy. I fed him his first bottle at 3:30 am. It lifted a big anxiety and I was able to sleep for an hour. When I was up for the day, I couldnt stop crying. I couldnt even get a sentence out without crying. I called my dad and asked him to come get me and the kids. I called my doc and told his nurse what was going on and she called me in Lexapro. As soon as I took the first pill I stopped crying. I feel bad for the pharmacist. When he was explaining the medicine to me, I broke down crying. So, I stopped crying after I took the first pill, but I still had strong anxiety.

That Thursday night I knew I needed to sleep. I took 2 tylenol p.m., a hot bath and still didnt sleep well. I couldnt get into a deep sleep. The next 3 days, I spent sleeping some, still having anxiety and not sleeping well. The doc called in some vistaril for anxiety and ambien. I finally slept 2 nights with the ambien. And by Sunday, I was able to go to the grocery store. Between Thursday and Sunday morning, it was like I couldnt function. I couldnt eat. I couldnt take care of Audrie or Ki. I couldnt even feed him his bottle. My mom spent all of those nights getting up with him. My mom and GT took turns feeding him. It was horrible. I felt like I would never be normal again and be able to take care of kids.

After Sunday, each day got a little better. I slept Monday and Tuesday night without an ambien and started taking care of the kids Monday at my moms house to make sure I could do it by myself. We came home on Wednesday. I am no longer taking the ambien and only taking the vistaril if I am having strong anxiety, but it makes me sleepy. I am taking the Lexapro until my 6 wk appt then going to talk to the doc about weaning off of it.

It was an experience for sure. I am so grateful for my family and friends. I know alot of people were praying for me. I dont think I would be as well today without those prayers. I wanted to write about this because I realize from talking to other moms about it that I am not alone. Many women experience this and it is very scary but it does make it better to talk to someone who has gone through it.

Ki's Birth Story

2011-05-24T20:49:00.000-05:00

**Disclaimer: If you do not care to read the details of a natural birth, then stop reading. There are details you might not care to read.**

GT and I decided with the advice of our doctor to be induced by breaking my water. We decided this for a few reasons, my main one was that I was sick of waiting and planning each day as if it were the "day". This is really the first variation from having a "natural" birth. Anyway, so at my doctors appt on 5/19 we decided to induce on 5/21. I was already 5cm and 70-80% effaced.

We decided to use a different hospital this time to save money. We got to Longview Regional at 8:00. We registered at the front desk then went to our L&D room. I peed in a cup then put on the gown. The nurse came in and we answered a bunch of questions. She had spoken with my doctor so she knew kind of what my birth plan was. We talked about intermediate external fetal monitoring (efm), having a saline lock, being mobile in between the efm, sitting on birth ball, etc... We came to a understanding of what she needed during the labor and I told her what I needed.

The doctor didnt show up until about 10:30. He broke my water and checked me. Still 5cm and between 70-80% and station was -2. The nurse put me on the efm for 20 minutes. Once that 20 minutes was up, I got up and walked around the room for 30 minutes. Nothing really happened once my water was broken. I felt a little cramping but that was about it. I walked around the room alot. I sat on the toilet alot. And nothing.

The doc came in a little before 1 and told me we would need to start pitocin. At 1, the pitocin drip was started on a low level (6). I felt contractions right away. 30 minutes into the pitocin drip they got really intense. The nurse said I had to be on the EFM (strapped in the bed) the whole time I was on pitocin. She came in and I asked her to check me. I was at 6cm. I told her that I needed to pee. She took me off the efm. Once I got on the toilet my contractions were very very painful. At this point, I told GT I wanted an epidural. I told him I couldnt do it if I had to get back and lay in the hospital bed. BTW, the efm wasnt even picking up that I was having contractions!!! And the nurse wanted to up the amount I was getting!!!! GT told her no. Thank goodness! The nurse said to get an epidural I would have to get 2 bags of saline in my system before they could do that. (so really, I wouldnt have had time to get one, but I didnt know that at this point)

My doc came in and told me I really didnt want one. I told him I couldnt be strapped down to the bed and on pitocin drip without one. He said they could hook up the efm to me standing up and I laid across the bed on my birth ball. This whole time while contracting, I was moaning. Before I had this experience I would watch shows and think women were being weanies. Oh no, my friend. I couldnt control the sounds coming out of my mouth! It was so painful! Then I told them I really felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. Dr. didnt want me to because he thought I would deliver on the toilet. Well, I ribbed off all the monitors and went myself. The doctor told the nurse I went "radical". Haha. Then I got on the bed on all 4's. and thats when I felt the urge to push. The doc checked me and I will a 8. He said my cervix was really elastic so as I pushed it would widen.

I pushed for about 15 minutes in the beginning. It wasnt real serious. Just light pushes when I wanted. Then he checked me and all I had was a lip on my cervix left. Then the pushing got intense. It was so hard. I didnt think he would ever come out. I pushed about 25 minutes then decided I wasnt making any progress. I told the doc and nurse I needed a pep talk. They gave me one and my doc helped me find where to push. Once he did that, I pushed him out! His head came out first, and 30 seconds later came his shoulders. That was THE hardest part. It hurt more than anything I have ever felt.

So about 3 1/2 hours of labor he was out, I was exhausted. GT was elated! He even cried! :) Everyone kept saying how big Ki looked, then the nursery nurse said 9lbs 3 oz. I was like WHAT??? I thought I was supposed to have a 7lb baby!!! I had a 2nd degree tear that I didnt feel. The doc gave me a local before he stitched me up. I got to feed Ki shortly after and he latched on!

We got to come home on Sunday evening. We had lots of company that night. Sunday night was rough on sleep because my milk wasnt in yet and little guy was hungry. My milk came in Monday night and that night was much, much better. Breast feeding is tough. I am so thrilled Ki has latched and we will make it through, I understand why more people do not do it. It really is tough, especially having another child who is a toddler. I am determined though!

The baby blues hit me today. We had a meeting with the lactation consultant. Then made a little target run while my parents were keeping Audrie. When we got home, they left. Audrie cried, I cried. And I couldnt stop crying. And really havent stopped. I know it will go away. All these crazy hormones and not as much sleep as normal! :)

End of Pregnancy List

2011-05-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

The end of the pregnancy has not been fun. Here is the end of pregnancy list:

I have gained 50 lbs. My face is fat. My legs are fat. My arms are fat. And of course my stomach...
I have new stretch marks. This time on the top of my belly, with Audrie they were below my belly.
I have like 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants that fit.
I pee every 10 minutes. No, really. And like every hour during the night.
I have been waiting for my water to break for 3 weeks now. Or to go into labor. Neither have happened.
Everyone is asking me why I am not in the hospital if I am 5 cm. The answer: I am not in labor.
I am sooooooooo hungry. All the time.
I have back pain. So much that I had a knot in my back the other night from carrying around this large belly.
I eat ice all day. GT has to stop and buy bags of it because our ice maker cant keep up.
I think Audrie senses what is going on, she has not been easy to handle.
My husband and I are not sleeping in the same room until Ki is born. We both have had weeks of sleepless nights due to my getting up to pee every hour and him snoring like a freight train. I do miss him but man, I have been sleeping better.
I cant stop cleaning the kitchen. And of course smelling the cleaning products. Oh, and doing laundry. Its like I dont want one piece of dirty laundry in our house when we come home. Ha!
I watch Baby Story everyday. And Bringing Home Multiples. Sometimes A Baby Story makes me really mad and I have to turn it off. Every time I watch BHM, I think to myself, I can do this, I am only bringing home one! My heart goes out to the families. Whew.
I am starting to feel a little nervous about how Audrie is going to adjust.

I know all of these negative things will fade the minute Ki is in my arms. I know the other things will work themselves out. I cant wait to kiss his face! I cant wait to see GT hold his little boy. I cant wait for Audrie to meet her baby brother we have been talking about for what seems like forever. I am so excited to have a baby again. Hopefully, this time I will cherish it even more knowing how quickly they turn into a toddler. Maybe next time I blog, these things will have happened! :)

Mother's Day and Painting!

2011-05-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

For the past 2 weekends, Audrie has been visiting grandparents so GT and I can have some alone time before we are a family of 4!

The first weekend was Mother's Day. My family got together for a mother's day dinner. Here is a pic of me, my mom and my sweet niece Claire!

Me and my hunny. I am 37 wks 2 days in this pic.

For my mother's day gift, GT got me this cute necklace with Audrie and Ki on it.

Other than that I have been keeping myself busy (or trying to). I have been painting alot of canvases.

Now, I am working on Audrie's 2nd birthday party! I figured the more I get done before Ki is here, the better! :)

Potty Training...Sorta

2011-05-15T16:40:00.000-05:00

We have entered into the world of going to the potty. We have had an attachment seat for a few months now. We put Audrie on it a few times probably around February to let her know this is your potty. The first time she peed on the potty was on March 27 with my mother-n-law. After that, it was a few weeks before she peed on the potty again. Every time we just happened to put her on the potty when she needed to go.

I had decided that I would wait until Ki was born to focus more on the whole potty training ordeal. Well, Audrie thought different. In the past 2-3 weeks, she has been asking to go to the potty alot. Many times though, she just wanted to sit on the potty and play. I am not one for patience in this area. I am like pee or get off the pot. Ha! So...I thought, we need a reward system. My child LOVES candy. Really anything sweet, just like her mama. I got some M&M's and put them in a clear bowl in the bathroom. It didnt take her long to learn that if she pee's in the potty, she gets a piece of candy. This has worked in getting her to go to the potty alot more and actually doing something when she is on the potty.

Frustrating things:

Wasting diapers. I have been really bad about not doing cloth diapers. Being so pregnant, I just dont have the energy. Anyway, I feel like we are wasting so many diapers by going to the potty all the time. If her diaper is dry, I will put on the same one, but I have a hard time putting one with pee back on, even if it is just one time.

There are still many times Audrie says she needs to potty and she doesnt actually potty. I dont think she quite has the sensation down yet. I think she tells me alot of times when she is peeing in her diaper or right after she pees in her diaper.

She cant do it herself. Our step-stool is not tall enough for her to get on and off the potty herself. Again, being 9 months preggo, this is no fun. I hope to get a taller one soon along with starting training panties/big girl panties, so she can do it more herself. She is a good wiper though! :) And I also plan on not being pregnant too much longer!

Audrie has not pooed on the toliet yet. Last weekend, she stayed with my mother-in-law and finished a poo in the toliet. I feel like we will have to "catch" her about to poo and show her that its FUN to poo on the toliet! HA!

Fun things:

She gets SOOOOOOO excited for herself and anyone else that pees on the toilet. It is really cute and funny!

I love watching her learn new things and becoming more independent.

The end of diapers for her is closer than it has been! :)

The PLAN:

I bought her Elmo potty DVD and a few potty books. Once Ki is here and things settle down a little, I am going to try hardcore. Fill her full of juice/milk, take her to the potty every 15-30 minutes, talk about the potty all day, watch the potty DVD all day/read the books...etc...

I feel like she really is ready, I just have to do the hard work for a few days. And if it doesnt work then thats ok. I just hate sitting on the fence at this point. If we are gonna potty, then we are gonna potty!

38 weeks!

2011-05-14T07:13:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:38 Weeks

Size of baby: Im feeling like I am gonna have another 8 pounder.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Around 50 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes. Some of my maternity clothes do not fit anymore :(

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene.

Movement: Still alot.

Sleep: Some nights good, some nights bad. Mostly bad at this point.

What I miss: sleeping through the night

Cravings: Ice, ice, ice!

Symptoms: Most of them still.

Best Moment this week: My MIL kept Audrie for the weekend. GT and I went on a date and went to the movies, then for chocolate cake at Cheddars! :) Saturday we slept in, got donuts, worked on our flower bed (made it a rock bed) then went to eat with family for mother's day. It was a great, relaxing weekend.

Things to Note: We had a doc appt on Thursday (exactly 38 weeks). I was 5cm and 80% effaced. The doc said Ki was still pretty high and at a -2 and was posterior. For some reason, I was thinking posterior was just another name for how high he was. Then I realized it means his head his facing the wrong way. He is supposed to be looking at my spine but instead he is looking at my belly button. From what I have read, this is super common and the baby almost always turns their head during labor. I have a feeling this might be why I am not going into labor. Because, seriously, I am 5 freakin cm. What is he waiting on????

My doctor has told me that if I make it until my next appt (Thursday May 19), he will intervene and induce me by breaking my water. At first, I thought this was something I would want him to do, but I have changed my mind. I know without starting labor on my own I am more likely to need pitocin. Getting pitocin leads to an epidural...and so on. The only way I might take him up on this is if I am dilated at a 7 or higher. I actually dont think he will let me dilate past a 7 without inducing me. I read last night that getting on all 4's and doing alot of pelvic rocking will help move the baby down and get him to turn his head, so I will be scrubbing the floors and baseboards today! :)

Follow-Up from my last post...

2011-05-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

I feel like my last post needed a little clarification on a few things I said.

When I said I am worried about the hospital staff when giving birth is because they can really help or really hinder your birth experience. They have certain protocols they follow: internal/external monitoring, IV, not eating and drinking during labor, etc... I know I will be going against the grain. I had a WONDERFUL nurse when I was in labor with Audrie. I know I didnt have the natural experience, but she was great. My bestfriend, however, had a nurse that was not so helpful. After 13 hours of pitocin induced labor (with no pain medication), the doctor came in to find the nurse had her pitocin as high as it could go, allowing her to struggle to breath. She wouldnt help her go to the bathroom. And all sorts of other issues. The hospital I am giving birth at, and really Longview in general, is a little behind time. As my doctor explained to me, alot of the doctors in this area think they invented child birth and always do things by the text book.

Secondly, in the end of my post, I said, "They could care less about us as people, women and mothers. They want our money and to do as little work as possible to get it." The previous post came from watching the documentary "Pregnant in America" and from the email I got from the hospital. In the documentary, it talks about a group of doctors in practice together that have a 80% c-section rate! And how this one doctor told a woman her pelvis was too small to give birth so she would need a c-section. She then finds out he had a vacation scheduled the day after he wanted her to have c-section, she did end up giving birth vaginally with another doctor. There are many many more stories like this is in the documentary. Of course, I know not all doctors are like this.

I was told something in my Bradley method classes that really stuck with me and I think I have even said it on here before. The nurses, doctors, etc... will not remember my birth, but I will. Forever. And it is mine and my husbands job to be educated and advocate for our birth the way we want. Will it turn out exactly how we want it? It might not, but we know what we want in all circumstances. Even if I was using a midwife, GT and I are ultimately responsible for our birth. This goes for any couple or woman giving birth. Even if she knows she wants a c-section or epidural. She should still be able to make decisions about what she wants or doesnt want.

Lies from a Hospital

2011-05-10T17:49:00.000-05:00

I have learned from my first birth experience not to talk to much about natural child birth. Alot of times it feels pointless. Sometimes like you are speaking a different language most people do not understand. This pregnancy, being a total different experience, we are going to do natural. We have a great doctor who is backing us up 100%, the only set back will be the hospital staff. I have been praying for our birth experience and the nurses we will have. I do not have an "I know it all attitude" because I certainly do not know it all.

What I do know is:

My pregnancy has been perfectly normal up to this point. Ki has been fine and I have been fine.
I do not need an I.V. for any reason known right now. My doc agrees with me and says I can have a saline lock where I can still be mobile and not hooked up to an IV pole.
I do not need internal heart monitoring.
I do not need a catheter.
I do not need any drugs...pitocin, cytotec, epidural, spinal tap, etc...
I do not need to be stuck in a bed.

I get these weekly emails from my hosptial, similar to the ones from baby center. Just an update on the baby and myself. You know the typical, average, whats going on in the development. Well, today, for my 38 week email, it says this:

News about epidurals

It has been thought in the past that epidurals given during labor may slow a fetus's heart rate. A recent study of nearly 500 women showed, however, that epidural analgesia does not have a negative effect on the baby's heart rate. The pain-relief medications commonly in use today do not cross the placenta.

I did have an epidural with Audrie. I really didnt have a decision in this, but if I did, I wouldnt say that I regretted it. I know my situation was different and had medical concern. Do I wonder all the time if all the drugs I was given during labor caused her not to latch on, therefore making breastfeeding almost impossible? Yes, I wonder this everyday. Do I wonder if she gets sick most then the average child because I couldnt breastfeed? Yes, I do. I know it is pointless, because nothing can be changed at this point, it is what is, but I cant help but wonder.

It is RIDICULOUS for anyone especially a hospital to say that pain-relief medicine does not cross the placenta. THAT IS A FLAT OUT LIE! It really has my blood boiling. This is the reason our c-section rate is SO high. The fear and lies that big hospital corporations and pharmaceutical companies tell women.

I am cautious to write this blog because I know all the controversy this topic causes. I know c-sections save lives. I agree. I know medicine saves lives. I agree. I know technology saves life. I agree. I want women to be educated. I want women to know they have a choice. I want women to not have fear of a natural process of life. And to realize this fear is mostly coming from people who just want our money. They could care less about us as people, women and mothers. They want our money and to do as little work as possible to get it.

Two documentaries I would highly recommend are "Pregnant in America" and "Business of Being Born". Both on netflix.

37 weeks!

2011-05-06T13:48:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:37 Weeks

Size of baby: Im guessing around 6 lbs or 7 lbs?

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Around 50 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes. Some of my maternity clothes do not fit anymore :(

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene.

Movement: ALOT!

Sleep: Some nights good, some nights bad.

What I miss: not being pregnant

Cravings: Ice, ice, ice!

Symptoms: Most of them still.

Best Moment this week: This week was my first week home full-time. Audrie and I have had alot of ffun. I have been cleaning alot and staying busy to keep my mind off having Ki!

Things to Note: We had a doc appt on Wednesday (36 wks 6 days). I was 4 cm and 80% effaced. Doc said he would be surprised if I made it to next week without going into labor on my own. That night I started having irregular contractions at about 7pm. They continued until 11:30 when I went to sleep. They were like menstrual cramps. And very irregular in time apart and in intensity. At 2:30 am, I woke up and they were a little more intense. I tried counting them but they were too irregular. A few were quite painful and I thought for a time it was it...but it wasnt. Went back to sleep at 5:30 am and then they wre no more. Since then, I have continued having these contractions off and on throughout the day and night. Who knows what this all means. I have accepted the fact that it could be in hours, days, or weeks. I am trying to enjoy the little rest I get and spending time with Audrie. I am nervous but excited. I know our family will never be the same, in a total good way. I am also hoping all these contractions are doing something dow there and my labor will be quick and easier to do natural! :)

The Anticipation

2011-05-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

I have this crazy, cant wait to deliver anticipation that I didnt get to experience with Audrie. At this point in my last pregnancy, Audrie was here. I am now 36 weeks and 6 days. I totally understand now why so many women choose induction. It would feel so much relief to know the day Ki is coming. Even if it is past his due date, that would be fine, I just want to know when!

Last Tuesday, when I found out how far progressed I was, I kind of let my mind play tricks on me. I really thought in the next few days I would go into labor. Then I re-read parts of my Bradley method book and was reminded that it doesnt matter how effaced or dilated I am. He is going to come when he is ready to come. It could be days, could be weeks. It kind of helped me calm down and wanting him out so bad! I just cant wait to meet the little guy. And I am kind of ready to get it over with and start life as a family of 4. I know I will be regretting saying that at times.

I am trying to enjoy my time with just Audrie. We have been sleeping in! (until 8am!) Then eating bad things like powder sugar donuts for breakfast. We have been playing, playing, playing. Then napping together in the recliner. It has been so much fun, Audrie is so sweet. I cant wait to see her with her baby brother.

Today is my weekly doctors appt. I am looking forward to it. Have alot more questions to ask him. Only downside, we have to bring Audrie with us. And its right at 2, nap time. I keep going back and forth on if I want him to check me again. He might not give me a choice this time. And I find out if I have group B. I will update later! :)

36 weeks!

2011-04-28T20:31:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:36 Weeks

Size of baby: Im guessing around 6 lbs? Who knows!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Goodness. Not counting. The doc tries to make me feel better and says its all fluid. I know he is lying!

Maternity Clothes: Yes. Some of my maternity clothes do not fit anymore :(

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene.

Movement: Everything I read says he will start moving less because of no room to move, Well, Ki does not understand this concept! ANd now, sometimes when he moves real low on my bladder, I pee a little. I cant help it!

Sleep: Some nights good, some nights bad. Hopefully, I will get to nap every day next week!

What I miss: energy, sleep

Cravings: Nothing in particular. I just LOVE food. Still craving/eating lots of ice.

Symptoms: Most of them still.

Best Moment this week: The doc appt. It made it seem so real that this baby will be here soon!

The end is near!!!

2011-04-26T18:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday while at work, my back started hurting really bad. Like it just started all of a sudden. When I got home, I cleaned out the refrigerator, then laid on a heating pad. It seemed to help and I fell asleep. This morning I woke up about 5:00 to pee and couldnt breath (due to a sinus infection). I decided it was a good time to clean the kitchen. First of course, I had to check facebook. As I was sitting there, I kept feeling funny. And then a contraction came. Really low and to the right. I have continued to have back pain and contractions since. I dont think they are really consitistent. Some of them have been weenie and some have been really strong. It is a month until my due date so I am hoping it isnt really labor. I feel like I still have alot to get done before I am ready for his arrival. And I REALLY REALLY want to breastfeed and I know he is less likely to latch on if he is this early. I have MOPS this morning then a doctors appt at 2. Hopefully, the doc will say they are nothing :)

After a short nap this morning, the contractions stopped and the back pain continued. We went to the doctor at 2. He did the strep B test and checked me. I am 3cm and 70% effaced. Same that I was with Audrie at 36 weeks only they induced me that day. He thinks I will go in to labor on my own about 37/38 weeks, of course you never know, i could go to 40. I sure hope not! This back pain is killer, hope is doesnt last until I deliver. Ugh.

I freaked out some this morning because the kitchen wasnt clean, the floors werent vacuumed the car seat was still in pieces because I washed all of it, ha. Those contractions were intense. I thought it was time. Relieved that it wasnt.

In other news: After much prayer and talking, GT and I decided it would be best for me to stay home again full time. I LOVE working at Hannah House and what the ministry has taught me. I hate that I have only been there a few months, but I know that it is clear God is closing the door and has made a way again for me to stay home. My last day will be Friday so I will hopefully have some time to get all the little things in order before Ki is here :) and maybe a day to get my hair done and a pedicure! I do plan on continuing to be involved in the ministry as a volunteer.

Updates to continue...

Opinions from Facebook

2011-04-20T14:21:00.000-05:00

I think this pregnancy is making me super opinionated these days. I have written a few facebook statuses, that I normally probably wouldnt open that can of worms, but these days, I am like who cares.

Examples:

FB Status: "What would the world be like if people got as excited about Jesus as the do Brittney Spears"
This came from watching GMA one morning, I watch it most mornings. And to see all these people at one of her concerts and people crying for her and standing in line for days to see her. Really? I have never been a big fan of Brittney. I certainly dont care if people like her, but to go to those lengths? What if we went to those lengths for the cause of Christ? When is the last time these people cried over their sins? Or their lost loved ones? Or the fact that Jesus died on the cross for us so we could have LIFE??????? And when is the last time (myself included), did I seek him so passionately for hours? days? even minutes? When is the last time I made real time for him, not just giving him my left-overs? Whew, Im turning red. Ha!

FB Status: "I could care less about the royal wedding"
I do think this is interesting to some degree. Like, if there was nothing else on tv and there was a documentary about royal weddings, I might watch it. HOWEVER, every day for like 3 months that is all people are talking about on tv/news. What about the real things happening in the world? What about real life????? I really really dont care to speculate who is making her dress or if she will spend a last wild night as a bachelorette...because I live in reality where I have my child(ren) and husband to care for and think about.To me, the prince and kate are just normal people getting married and spending wayyyyyy tooooo much money doing it. Money that could go to a much better cause.

Lastly, not a FB status, but an article that has been going around FB. Here is the link.
Basically, the writer is talking about how he saw an inappropriately dressed 10 year old, then goes into discussion of popular clothing brands creating clothes that are too mature for the age they target. He goes on to say dont blame the clothing brand however, blame parents, because someone is buying it or it wouldnt be produced. I totally agree with his whole article. I do take a step further. It isnt just when they are kids, its for the rest of their lives. We should be training our children to see the point of wearing modest clothes. Which ties to purity, which ties to marriage. We should be training our children about how precious marriage is and one day they will be able to have a great marriage and lots of great sex, and they can run around the house naked all day if they want to! Honest truth- most of my friends know this--at home, I am not modest at all. I have no idea why. I will change in front of any of my friends, I just somehow dont care. However, in public, I feel modesty is extremely important. Of course, like any other teen, I fought with my parents over this issue constantly, but I am so glad my mom put her foot down. I feel like it starts now with Audrie, at 20 months old, teaching her about it.

Man, these pregnancy hormones have me crazy! :)

Life Update!

2011-04-18T14:22:00.000-05:00

Whew. Life has been busy! Here a few pictures of what we have been up to:

Baby shower for Ki at my Mother-in-Laws!

Audrie and her Auntie!

Audrie took this picture of herself! Haha!

Cupcakes from the shower at my grandma's! SO cute!

Audrie and Grammie!

Seriously, I am the worst person at remembering to take pictures! :( These are the only ones I got from my showers. Oops.

Sometimes I cant believe we only have 5 weeks left! AH! GT and I had a lengthy conversation about it last night. He is least looking forward to Audrie's attitude/jealousy. I am least looking forward to not being able to do things I could do with just 1 and trying to balance my time between the two.

There are many many times I think that I am so glad we are having another one so soon. I am glad for Ki and Audrie. I pray that they are close and are "buddies". I know there will be fighting and jealousy which is normal. Audrie already loves babies and I think she will enjoy being a big sister. I will be sure to keep yall updated, i am sure reality will be much different! :)

2011-04-16T00:33:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:34 Weeks

Size of baby: Approx 4.75 pounds.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Over 40. but it did slow down some.

Maternity Clothes: Yes. Some of my maternity clothes do not fit anymore :(

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene.

Movement: For entertainment, GT and I sit and watch my belly move for forever!

Sleep: Between peeing all the time, horrible heartburn and pregnancy insomnia..not good.

What I miss: Normalcy

Cravings: Nothing in particular. I just LOVE food.

Symptoms: Most of them.

Best Moment this week: Buying Ki some cute clothes from the boardwalk! :) And Audrie too!

Things to Note: We had a doc appt this week. Highlights: He thinks Ki will be around 7 lbs when born. That would thrill this mama! :) He thinks I can do it natural. I sure hope so. He said I could deliver the baby with my own hands!!!! WHAT???? I got so excited. GT got a little grossed out! My bp was great! My blood sugars have been low! Yay for a good pregnancy! At 34 weeks with Audrie we were being put in the hospital on bedrest!

Ruston, Potty Training and the Brocato!

2011-04-06T14:36:00.000-05:00

I could kick myself for not taking any pictures this weekend! GT, Audrie and I went to Ruston for the weekend to spend time with my BFF Allison, her husband Daniel, her mom and brother/sister-n-law.

The weekend included: swimming in the indoor pool, eating at Monjunis, Dawg House, El Jarrito. ANd Maggie Moo's--yes, Ruston has a Maggie Moos! Who knew??? Then shopping at the bookstore, Childrens Shoppe, Beehive, Fabric Store, and of course a little coffee from Frothy Monkey.

We had wanted to go walk around on campus, but due to a high fever and ear infection we couldnt. Audrie has had like 5 ear infections this year! :( Or since winter. So, this time we are going back in 2 weeks to possible discuss tubes. I vote yes for the tubes. My dad had ear problems all his life and GT had to get tubes, I say go ahead and do it now because I am sure we will have to eventually. She has been such a trooper.

On to more business...Potty Training. Audrie is now telling me when she needs to potty, however, she is either in the process of it or we are in the car, or in a store. She has only peed 1 time in the toilet and it was with her NaeNae (GT's mom). Now, when I put her on the toilet she strains and toots alot, so I feel like this is a good step in the right direction. My plans are to start really training when Ki is born and I am home for 6 weeks. We will see if this is possible.

Pregnancy...I will be 33 weeks tomorrow. His room is semi-ready. When GT gets paid next I will be buying mini-blinds, curtain rod, hanging canvases and working on some more art projects for his room. Then it will be completed and I will post pictures. I got the diaper bag I wanted! And I got it like 60% off! :)

And lastly...What Mama Wants....

Brocato Vibrastrait Oscillating Flat Iron Straightener

Lets go through the history of Lydia and hair straighteners.

I got my first one in high school. It was big and gold from Sally's and it pulled my hair like whoa.

Then I heard about the Chi. At this time you could only get it if you were a beautician. So, one of my classmates had a grandma who could get them. Oh, how my life changed. That one broke in college.

Then I got a pink one. It broke too. I think I went through a few more...but the one I have now has made it through alot. I know many hair dressers would try to get me to try another kind, but I was faithful to my Chi.

Until...

My good buddy pal Allison had the Brocato. And I used it. AND IT WAS AMAZING! My hair has never been so straight and shiny...and it stayed that way for 3 days! 3 days people! I didnt have to re-straighten!

Bad news..Its expensive. The hubs said I can only get it if my Chi breaks. Now I am praying for my Chi to break! Ha! Seriously, if you have thick, unruly hair and you think the Chi is amazing, try this. Oh my!

32 weeks!

2011-04-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

Oops. I just realized I missed my 32 weeks post! My B! So no pic, but here are the highlights!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:32 Weeks

Size of baby: 3.75 pounds approx, Im guess 4ish, although this week at the doctor he was measuring 29 weeks. The doc said it was because he wasnt stretched out...I would be thrilled to have a small newborn!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Remember last week when I said it was slowing down? HA! We wont go there but its not good. The doc re-weighed me because he thought the nurse wrote my weight down wrong. Yes, that is bad.

Maternity Clothes: Again, a change from last week. Due to the skirt and dress wearing, plus the weight gain= thighs that rub together. Not good. Ugh.

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene. My grandmother informed my mom today that we need to change our minds because he wont be able to spell his name until junior high! HAHA! And she said he would hate me for it. HAHA! She is funny! But his name is still Hezekiah.

Movement: Still Constant. He gets the hiccups alot and that is always fun.

Sleep: The past 2 nights I have been sleeping in a hotel bed with sucky pillows with a sick child in the room and a snoring husband. Oh, sleep, I miss you.

What I miss: I miss normal size ankles and hands.

Cravings: Nachos with queso topped with shredded chicken and sour cream. AND ICE! I can get enough ice. My iron levels are fine. I double checked.

Symptoms: I hate the third trimester.

Best Moment this week: Hearing his heartbeat. And Audrie showing people where baby brother is and now when we say "What is his name?" She says "Ki" in the sweetest voice.

Things to Note: We had a doc appt this week. Our doctor likes to talk. ALOT. About useless crap. I made an early appt this time (9:15) hoping we were just in and out. I was wrong. We finally see the doc at 10 am. But before that the nurse checks my blood pressure and she says its a little high, and I immediately say, "Is their protein in my urine?" and she says a little. I start freaking out (not really but kinda)...Like, here we go again with pre-ecclampsia. I need to work this next month. What would I do with Audrie...all these thoughts going through my head. He comes in like its no big deal. Doesnt mention protein in my urine and said my blood pressure really wasnt that high. But they were concerned I gained 12 lbs in 3 weeks. :( Apparently I am retaining ALOT of fluid. Anyway, overall good appt, I go back in 2 weeks. Blood sugars are still good to go.

31 Weeks!

2011-03-25T15:31:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:31 Weeks

Size of baby: 3 pounds (or more)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I think I have gained around 31 pounds...It seems to be slowing down, I sure hope so!

Maternity Clothes: I have been wearing alot of dresses and skirts, due to the heat!

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: Constant. i have a video I took with my phone, I am not sure how to share it or I would...its of my belly moving.

Sleep: Sleep has been ok. I get up at 2am and 6 am to pee. I guess I am on a 4 hour schedule???

What I miss: I miss sleeping on my tummy.

Cravings: Everything!!! Especially everything sweet!

Symptoms: New ones: swollen feet and fingers :(

Best Moment this week: Getting prepared....and getting the diaper bag I wanted for more than half off!!!! WHOOP!

10 things about being Preggo

2011-03-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

Just a little pregnancy note...

1--Ki constantly moves. Like, I can see him move in my belly sitting up, laying down, standing...it is constant. I think the child wants out. I keep telling him, he has 9 more weeks. And I want him to stay in there all 9 of those weeks!

2nd thing to note- I have started having braxton-hicks contractions. I had like 3 the whole pregnancy with Audrie, and I think today alone I have had like 5...I heard they were more prone to happen 2nd time around.

3rd- I am getting to the "I feel like a beach whale stage"

4th- I have lost my mega appetite. I usually eat a big lunch and a small dinner.

5th- I cant stop nesting.

6th- I pray for 2 things every night...1) Breastfeeding will be successful this go round 2) Ki will sleep through the night early on like Audrie did

7th- Ki's nursery is painted (before and after pics to come) but we are waiting until they lay the new carpet before we decorate and set everything up. I CANT WAIT!

8th- I am having a hard time finding cute, modest gowns. I got one from motherhood and I LOVE IT, but they are like $40 (I got this one sale) b/c they come with a robe...anyone got advice for this??? I mean, I would like for it to be a nursing one too, but its ok if it isnt. Pajama sets make me too hot.

9th- My blood sugar has been good thus far! I am so glad..I really do not want to go through gestational diabetes again!

10th- I have an amazing, wonderful husband. He puts up with my pregnant craziness while caring for our toddler the majority of the time he his home. I am so proud of the man he is. I am looking forward to seeing his relationship with Ki. It is already fun to see him and Audrie interact, she loves her dada!

30 Weeks! AH!

2011-03-18T08:47:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:30 Weeks

Size of baby: I would say approx 3 pounds

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Ok, ok...I think I have gained about 30 total. Now my goal is to stay under 40.

Maternity Clothes: I forget what it is like to wear pants that button and zip!

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: He moves more than Audrie did. And that makes me nervous he will be more active once out of the womb...How can this happen? I thought if the first child was wild the second is calm????

Sleep: Sleep has been pretty good, it was kinda hard getting adjusted to the time change, but I like it!

What I miss: I miss being able to stand longer than 20 minutes without feeling insane amounts of pressure!

Cravings: Donuts, Coke

Symptoms: Last week I said, "All the above. I dont think their is pregnancy symptom I am not experiencing." Well, last night I was reading a pregnancy book and decided I am for sure not experiencing ALLLLL the symptoms.

Best Moment this week: Painting Ki's nursery. Note to all the preggos: I got the Olympic brand paint from Lowes, you cannot even smell it at all! It is safe to use!!

29 Weeks!

2011-03-11T12:53:00.000-06:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 29 Weeks

Size of baby: Monday he was 2 lbs 14 oz...

Total Weight Gain/Loss: This is the point where I am over my goal. So I am not even weighing anymore.

Maternity Clothes: I am in everything maternity. I just got some new Bermuda shorts and love them!

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: He moves quite a bit!

Sleep: Sleep has been good. Minus the Charlie horses I have been getting!

What I miss: My thighs not rubbing together!

Cravings: Chick-Fil-A, Ice Cream or Shakes

Symptoms: All the above. I dont think their is pregnancy symptom I am not experiencing.

Best Moment this week: Seeing Ki in a sonogram. We couldnt really see his face but its still exciting to see him! (And he is still a boy!)

28 wk sonogram!

2011-03-07T21:00:00.000-06:00

Today we got to see Ki again! I am sad to report I have no pictures to share. Well...I do, but you cant tell what anything is. See, the child has his head super low and to the left with his arms and legs covering his face.

Good news: He is head down! And will probably stay that way the remainder of the pregnancy!

OK news: He is approx 2 lbs 14 oz, the average at this point is 2 lbs 4 oz...so, hes a big boy, what can I say? He has a big mama and daddy!

Good news: Everything looked great. He is healthy! We are so grateful for this!

Bad news: We have 12 weeks left and sooooooo much to do!!!!!

To do list for next few weeks: Pick out and purchase paint. Begin painting his room. Pick out and purchase carpet. Get carpet installed. Clean couches (or pay someone to :) ) ...trying not to overwhelm myself so that is the short list.

List of Life

2011-03-06T18:20:00.000-06:00

No weekly update from last week, obviously. But it is a monumental week because I have entered the third trimester!!!! So due to no weekly update, I decided to write out a list of what we have been up to.

Audrie and I went to my parents house on Wednesday because my mom had foot surgery.
Audrie and her pappy played and played and ate and played.
I got alot of painting done!
We came home Friday and completely finished her big girl room (pictures to come!)
It makes me a little sad, because its not a cute baby room anymore. It is hard to fit all her toys plus furniture. But we have to make a room for Ki, and I dont think he would appreciate her large rocking horse in his room!
Saturday we had a baby shower for GT's step-sister! She is having a little girl named Gracelyn. It made me a little sad we are having a boy. Girl stuff is just SOOOOOO cute! I mean not really sad, but you know.
Last night, Lynzie and I had a girls night at Shogun. We talked for like 7 hours straight.
Today we volunteered in the early 2's sunday school class.
I have had a sinus infection for like a month now. Last week it went into my ears. Today I am running a fever. I will be going to do the doctor tomorrow, hopefully.
GT is going to get me a chocolate shake right now. I love that man. And he took Audrie with him. I REALLY love that man.
Tomorrow we have a sonogram! I hope my sickness doesnt keep me from going. I am really looking forward to seeing Ki!
I think thats it for now. I am tired! And burning up. Oh, and I had the worst Charlie Horse of my life last night. My muscle still hurts today.
Thats all.
I promise.
I only have 3 more months...AHHH!!!!

The Big Girl Bed Saga

2011-02-25T11:02:00.000-06:00

Re-Cap of bed transition week 1:

Monday night was Audrie's first night in her twin bed. I thought I would just go in there read her a book, sing a few songs, pray with her, then leave. Well that didnt work. As soon as I got up, she came to the door screaming, opened the door (which she has never done before)...so GT went in and laid down with her until she fell asleep. He has so much more patience with that kind of thing then I do. And she slept all night. Until about 7:30, I heard her whimper and went in to get her.

Tuesday nap- she was exhausted so I thought I could just put her in the bed...I was wrong. I laid down with her about 5 minutes, she fell asleep, but only slept 1 hour :(

Tuesday bedtime- GT laid down with her. Took about 5-8 minutes and she was out, slept all night.

Wednesday bedtime- (naptime-I work, so she napped at the sitter's) same ordeal as the night before and she slept until 8am!

Thursday nap- I put her down kinda earlier than usual because I had some cleaning to do! She also was pretty tired. I laid down with her, and it didnt take long for her to fall asleep, but only she slept an hour again! I am not sure if this is coincidence and she is changing her sleep pattern or if its the bed.

Thursday night- went well, GT put her down. This morning when I went to get her at 7:45 she was awake, not crying, just sitting in her bed. I think this was a good sign!

Overall, I think it is going good. I do wish she would go to sleep without us laying down with her and I am sure in a few weeks that will happen. I didnt realize how much her crib provided her with security. Another challenge will come when we move her toys out of the playroom into her bedroom.

27 weeks!

2011-02-24T20:58:00.000-06:00

This is mama keeping it real! I have been cleaning all day...for real. I think this is the first time I have sat down all day for longer than 5 minutes and its 9:00!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 27 Weeks

Size of baby: About 2 pounds, length: approx 14 1/2 inches

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 20 lbs :(

Maternity Clothes: I am in everything maternity.

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: He has been doing some crazy flips!

Sleep: Sleep has been better this week. Its crazy how I can go to sleep at 10 pm, wake up at 8 am and still be tired!

What I miss: being thin

Cravings: Spaghetti with easy cheese on it, it was so delicious. And donuts (I always crave those preggo or not)

Symptoms: This week every pregnancy symptom decided to hit full force...lower back pain, syatic (sp?) nerve pain, leg cramping, etc...

Best Moment this week: Sunday taking Audrie to the park and getting her new furniture!

Big Girl Room Part 1

2011-02-21T09:47:00.000-06:00

We are in the process of turning Audrie's nursery into a big girl room. Our original plan was to give her pieces of our current furniture (which was mine growing up) and buy new furniture for us. We decided to hold off on buying us new furniture until we see how much Ki's birth will cost. We would rather pay that in full instead of having to pay monthly payments, and there is nothing wrong with our current furniture. I would just like a new set.

So...we got my old twin bed from my parents and it needs stained. Then I thought I would paint it white. Then yesterday we went to Big Lots to buy Audrie a new twin mattress and ended up buying her new furniture!

This is what we got:

This is one piece but I couldnt find the picture that showed it as one piece.

Originally, we were going to get this for her dresser:

Our store was out of it, but they thought the Marshall store would have it. So I called them and they said they would hold it for me. Last night we went to pick it up, but they didnt have one in stock only the display. GT went and looked at the display and said it was broken. He then asked for the bigger more expensive dresser at a discount and they knocked $50 off! WOOHOO! So we got this one instead:

I plan to paint the knobs the green color of her room to give it a little color. We tried to get it all together last night, but we couldnt get the crib out of her room, so gt will have to take it apart to move it unto the now play room and future room of Ki's.

Here is the bedding I got for Audrie:

Only difference is I got hot pink sheets instead of the blue in the picture.

I will post before and after pics as we get her room set up!

What I want...Pack N Play

2011-02-18T13:44:00.000-06:00

We did get a normal pack-n-play for Audrie which is currently at the sitter's house for her to nap in. However, I will be bringing Ki to work and I use it as a bassinet for the first few months.

So this time, I dont want a normal one. I was a good one. Because he will be in it way more than Audrie was in hers.

From the little research I have done, this is the one I like:

Graco Silhouette Pack n Play - Crawford

These are the functions I love: The cozy, oval bassinet embraces your baby with carefully applied details like Graco Signature quilting. Unlike traditional quilting methods which create holes in the fabric allowing leaks and spills to seep through and dirty the padding beneath, Graco signature quilting is ultrasonically quilted to prevent seepage, ensuring a cleaner, neater nap-time. The baby basics organizer with built in wipes case and diaper organizer blends practical baby care with style and flair. The innovative squeeze latch adds graceful detailing and natural folding motion. Your little one can sleep peacefully under the full slumber dome canopy which shades the bassinet with a calm, charming influence. If your little one needs a little extra soothing, the deluxe electronic mobile allows you to use 2-speed vibration which is mounted under the mattress pad so your baby will receive the full soothing benefit, or try one of the five tranquil nature sounds or calming songs.. And with a timer that has 4 settings there's no need to disturb your little one once he or she has drifted off to dreamland. But if you do want to take a peek, there's a built in night light.

I dont love the price... $170.00. Boo.

Hannah House FAQ's

2011-02-18T12:22:00.000-06:00

I had blogged a few months ago about Hannah House and how God had led me to the ministry. I dont think I have written much about it since. I started working 3 days a week in November when our house opened on November 16 (I think).

Here are some commonly asked questions:

What is Hannah House? A maternity home.

What is a maternity home? A maternity home is a residence for pregnant women with unplanned pregnancies.

How many girls can live at your home? Currently, we have 4 girls at a time. And let me tell you, 4 pregnant girls is plenty!

Do you make them place their baby for adoption? No we do not. We do have an adoption agency we work with called Chosen Child, but we do not coerce them or make them do anything. We give them alot of information on adoption and parenting, we trust God to lead them in the right direction for His will.

Do you make them go to church? Yes. The ministry was vision from God, therefore, all learning materials, our program and staff use scripture to teach the girls. They are told before coming into our program what our rules and expectations are, which they have to sign an agreement to.

What do yall do all day? We are not a shelter or just a place for pregnant girl to live until she gives birth. We are a program. Like I mentioned before, we help them with a plan. We have various classes they go through, such as Life Skills, Parenting, Marriage, Finance, Sewing, GED (if they have not completed it), Birthing. They also attend individual and group counseling as well as weekly Bible Study in addition to going to church and attending a small group at church. They cook home-cooked meals every night as a family and live as an average family would.

What happens after they have the baby? From the time they enter our program, we help our residents with a plan. This plan usually changes throughout the course of their time here, but we try to help them come into the real world and get out of fantasy land. If they chose to parent, then we have a plan of where they are going once the baby is born. Sometimes this is relatives, another program, friends, their own housing, etc... If they chose to place, they can stay here for up to 6 weeks, or be in our aftercare program (Mary Hannah House) which helps them get a job, go to school, counseling, etc.. After each girl has their baby, no matter their choice of parenting, we have a celebration of life ceremony at the house with a pastor. We are not licensed to have babies in our home.

How can I help? We are a non-profit completely funded by individual and church donations. The only government assistance we allow is for the girls to have Medicaid, since we cannot afford insurance for them. We try to teach the residents about getting off of government assistance. Therefore, we need money.

When most people hear of maternity home, they want to donate baby stuff. We do not take baby items. There are a few reasons: 1. No room for them 2. We want the residents to really consider the options they have for their child so we would rather wait until the end of their pregnancy before they know what they want to do 3. Not all girls in the program are parenting. We have to be sensitive to all the girls. This does not mean we leave the girls with nothing. Towards the very end, if a girl has decided to parent or place, we do let them pick out some outfits, blankets for the baby. Also, if the mother is parenting and needs baby items such as a crib, car seat, etc...we will send out an email to our local donors and contacts and believe me, we have no problem getting these items.

We do accept maternity clothes donation. Many of our girls come into our program with little or no clothing. We have a closet of clothes that stays at the home, we allow the girls to go through and wear the clothing while they are here.

How can I find out more information? We have a website: www.plministries.org . Also, we do a quarterly newsletter which you can find on our website or if you would like one emailed/mailed to you, you can email me: lydia at plministries.org

I know people usually have alot of questions because maternity home are few and far between. Not because their isnt a need. There is a HUGE need. We are always full. And usually have a waiting list.

I thought I would do this posts too because our first Hannah House baby was born last night or this morning, I guess at 2:14 am!

This is A'Miyah La'Nae! We are so excited and grateful for a healthy baby and mama!

26 weeks!

2011-02-17T16:26:00.000-06:00

No pic this week! :(

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 Weeks

Size of baby: About a pound and 2/3, length: approx 14 inches, knowing our child probably 18!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 18 lbs :(

Maternity Clothes: I am in everything maternity.

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: He has finalllllyyyy moved up!!!! Praise the Lord! I can feel him move around my belly button when I lay flat. When I am upright he is still really low, but I will take what I can get!

Sleep: Sleep has been sucky! If I wake up for any reason (husband snoring, dogs, pee, etc..) I am awake and cannot get back to sleep. And last night Audrie woke up every 2 hours or so from running fever from her 18 mo vaccinations.

What I miss: my energy

Cravings: Pound cake

Symptoms: The usual. Still lots of pressure, cant stand for too long.

Best Moment this week: spending time with my husband talking over dinner Monday night...without a toddler interrupting!

Being Realistic about Parenting

2011-02-12T08:27:00.000-06:00

I have this fear of raising my children wrong. I guess it all started when they put Audrie in my arms at the hospital and this wave of humility rushed over me. I remember thinking, I cant believe God has given this gift to me...now what do I do?

After a month or two, I begin getting the hang of things and we got a routine. I figured out what advice worked for us and what didnt. I began thinking, oh this isnt going to be as hard as I thought. Until she became a toddler. And not only was her mobility a challenge, but the fact that I had to start real discipline. It is a scary thing to me.

One of my favorite shows of all time is Intervention. It just sucks me in. I love watching the character develop over time and figuring out why they are the way they are. But then I think of my sweet little Audrie and how all of these people were babies at one time. How does this sweet child grow into a drug abuser or alcoholic. Usually, they have experienced a parental divorce, some have experienced abuse and some have parents who were drug abusers themselves. So I think ok, if I dont get a divorce, beat my kid or do drugs then it will be ok. Ha! Seriously, it is a scary tasks set before us as parents. No one wants to screw up their children, so to speak.

The book I am reading currently, "What the Bible Says about Parenting", by John MacArthur offered me some relief. Every child is born a sinner. We come into the world with sin in our hearts. It is a very hard concept to wrap my mind around at times, because you want to think that this child you have is so innocent. AND I know she is not innocent. I figured that out long ago, but I sure hate to think of her a sinner. But she is. It is her nature. Just like it is mine. So basically, we dont have to DO anything to "screw" up our kids, it starts from the moment they are born. Sin is the problem.

Oh, but there is hope! The same hope we have found in God through our salvation. We cannot just sit back and bring our children to church weekly and hope they turn out ok. We have to raise our children in the grace and admonition of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:7 says it best,
"Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

It is not about what parents DO that matters, it is about what parents DONT DO. We are sinners and cannot possibly be perfect parents, but we do have a responsibility to parent our children according to scripture.

More on this to come...I am only chapter 2...this is some good stuff!

25 Weeks

2011-02-10T19:54:00.000-06:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 25 Weeks

Size of baby: About a pound and 1/2...Length: 13 1/2 inches. Size of an average Rutabaga. What is a rutabaga?

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 16 lbs :(

Maternity Clothes: I am in everything maternity.

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: He loves moving at night, of course!

Sleep: Sleep has been great this week!

What I miss: Being able to hold pee.

Cravings: Taco Bell Mexican Pizza, Captain Crunch (with Crunch Berries)

Symptoms: The usual. Lots of pressure, cant stand for too long.

Best Moment this week: Listening to Ki's heartbeat. I love him! :)

And some fun pics while we were trying to get a good belly pic!

Trying to get a pic of Audrie kissing baby bro, we just arent fast enough!

Some sweet mama love!

Audrie, give mama a kiss! Audrie: No!

I'm gonna get one anyway!

What I want...Audries bedding

2011-02-09T09:36:00.000-06:00

We are moving Audrie to a twin bed very soon. Which means I have got to find new bedding for her! Here is the situation: I love her room color and I dont want to change it. It is a green color. AND I am not a fan of characters. Here is what I like so far:

This has the matching green! And it is cute. I just feel likes its too popular. And it does have characters somewhat. There is alot of decoration I can do with it. I dont know, its an option.

I like this one minus the green circle in the middle that says green peace.

I might just get a pink/green plain comforter and make cute decor.

I just found this from BB&B, I love it!!!!!!!This might be the winner!

2011-02-08T15:43:00.000-06:00

I had my monthly doctor's visit yesterday! Here are the details:

BP: 110/60 good!
Belly: Measuring 24, perfect!
Weight gain: Not so good- 16 lbs total.
Blood Sugar: 88, great!
Ki's heart rate: 150

All in all was a good visit. In Longview, the OB/GYN does the circumcision not the pediatrician, so we had a talk about that. I dont know why it makes me nervous. Then we talked about the amount of pressure I have been feeling, he concluded it was just because Ki is so low. Then when I was leaving, I talked to the nurse about our financial agreement.

With Audrie we were soooooo so so so fortunate. I worked for the state and had BCBS insurance through them and my husband had insurance through his work, which I was on both. My final hospital bill was around $62,000.00. Whoa. And we didnt have to pay a penny. Thank you God!!!! This time we do have insurance and are so grateful for it, but we will have to pay some. I did throw myself a little pity party about how expensive it is to have a baby. Then God reminded me all He has done for my family. Not just the one I have now, but my family growing up. There were tough times, times I didnt know about it until my parents told us later....but He was always faithful. And He will be again! :)

Some fun news...Im gonna have another sonogram in a month! I wasnt really expecting to have another one, so I am excited to see little Ki's sweet face again!

What I Want...Mei Tai

2011-02-06T12:56:00.000-06:00

When Audrie was about a month old, maybe a little older, I got a Moby Wrap. And it changed our lives forever!!!!

Aw, this picture made me tear up. I miss Audrie being this tiny! Although, I feel sorry for myself in this picture, so tired, so clueless...

Anyway, I feel like Baby Wearing is kinda like Cloth Diapering. You just want to try them all. There is nothing wrong with the Moby. I do plan to use it with Ki. But I want to try different kinds. When Audrie was about 8 months old and too big for the Moby, I bought a ring sling. And it never really worked for us. I dont know if she was too heavy or if I was putting it on wrong. I did save it and will try it out with Ki as well.

What I want is....a Mei Tai...and my friend Charity, said her favorite was a Freehand Mei Tai.

She prefers this wearer because of less fabric left over. Which I dont have that problem due to my weight, I pretty much us most of the fabric in the moby :) I LOVE that it is cuter! And the baby seems more snug in it than the Moby.

They run about $72, but I heard a new maternity store here, Babies N Bellies are going to sell them and I won a $50 gift card to there at MOPS...so if they do, I believe I will be getting one!

What I want...

2011-02-05T12:40:00.000-06:00

I listen to Kidd Kraddick every morning on my way to work. Jenna does this segment, I think its called "What Jenna Wants"...anyway its usually designer clothes, shoes and really expensive make-up. The idea is that its stuff she wants but cant neccessarily afford. And listeners get to comment on the things she wants on her blog.

Being 4 months away from child #2, there are alot of things "I want" for him and me. And some for Audrie. Just like Jenna's list, some things I wont get and cannot possibly afford, but its fun to want. Some things I do hope to save up money to buy.

Item #1 Diaper Bag

This is the kind of bag I want: has backpack capabilities as well as should carrying and stroller straps. Has a hard shell...meaning not just cloth. Something sturdy I can wipe off easily. Has lots of room. We are going to be doing cloth diapers and they take up lot of room. And last but not least something CUTE. Most of the backpack diaper bags actually look like backpacks. And I dont want that.

My bestie and I were looking around a local boutique here...which I never buy anything from because I cant afford it! And I was looking at their Kalencom diaper bags. Which I like the look of them, but no backpack feature and that is key for me. Especially with two. Now, I use a small backpack diaper bag for Audrie and love it. Anyway, and then I saw, Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy Backpacks.

I fell in love. It has every feature I dreamed of. The bags are a little more fancy then I would design them, but I love it none the less. Then I saw the price tag, $167.00. Ugh. No wonder it is everything I want.

They come in three different fabric types: My fav is the glazed because it has the wipe off/sturdy affect.

And, they just put out their spring collections. Here are my favorites:

These are really small...and I dont know how to make them bigger! I am not in love with either of these patterns, I am going to keep looking for sells!

Next item...baby wearers!

24 Weeks and Audrie is 18 Months!

2011-02-03T18:59:00.000-06:00

This is a my child has the flu and we have been inside for 3 days so mommy is comfy clothes picture!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 24 Weeks

Size of baby: Over a pound and the length of an ear of corn.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 15 lbs :(

Maternity Clothes: I am in everything maternity.

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: He is moving ALOT! Today, Audrie and I took a nap together in the recliner and he kept moving. Not sure if it was like get off of me or hello sister of mine! :)

Sleep: Sleep is hit or miss. Last night I woke up at 3 am wide awake and didnt go back to sleep until about 5:30.

What I miss: Jeans that are somewhat attractive.

Cravings: Raisin Bran Crunch, Apples in Peanut Butter, Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

Symptoms: Heartburn

Best Moment this week: Audrie has had the flu and I have enjoy rocking her to sleep and even napping with her some. That really has nothing to do with Ki or my pregnancy but I have enjoyed it. Secondly, God is really teaching me alot and I LOVE IT! :)

Audrie is 18 months old!!!!

Here is the wild woman:

I am not going to lie 14-18 months have been the most challenging months, but OH SO MUCH FUN! I am not going to start potty training like I had thought. Audrie has sat on the potty a few times but nothing happened. Hopefully, we will be moving her to a twin bed as making room for Ki begins!

Audrie has a wide vocabulary and repeats most everything we say. Her favorite toys are her babies. She likes to push them around in their strollers or the shopping cart. She can point to and say most of her body parts. She knows the name of alot of animals and what sounds they make. Her favorite song is the "Itsy Bitsy Spider". She has started eating less and become more picky. She could care less about colors. She can count somewhat. I say 1, she sayd twwwooooo, then who knows what comes next. Usually five or six. Ha! One of my favorite things is she says Bless you when we sneeze and she is starting to say thank you without being prompted!

Usually GT makes a silly face when I make a serious one. So this time, I thought I would do silly and what does the man do? :)

How to Control the Monster

2011-02-02T21:35:00.000-06:00

The day after I posted "The Monster Inside of Me", my Bible study was about uncontrolled emotions. I guess the monster has a name! :)

I decided I wanted go into a little more detail of the monster. Do you ever feel sometimes you cant control your emotions? Or they are so out of control that you dont even realize it? That is what is usually going on when my "monster" appears. And the thing is...emotions are good. God created them. And He created women with many of them :) but sometimes we let them control us. And we let them decide how we treat others.

For me, it wasnt until pregnancy/newborn phase/ toddler phase that I had such strong emotions. Mixed with being a newlywed. Mixed with working for CPS and my husband losing his job...etc...etc...That will all bring on ALOT of emotions.

So the question isnt how to get rid of emotions. Like I said, I believe they are a good thing. I would HATE not being able to feel. The quest is to find out how to not let them get out of control and how to have a healthy release of emotion like my friend reminded me in my previous post.

Here are things that are helping and have helped me on this journey:
Praying (I have to do this ALOT)
Reading Scripture
Reading Books (Some Christian, some just an escape)
Late night talks with my GT
MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers)
Bible Study
Church (I cant tell you how 2 hours of worship/sermon help my monster)
Working Part-Time
Date Night
Painting
Play Dates
Etc...

How do you control your emotions from becoming a monster???

I need MOM advice!

2011-02-02T11:06:00.000-06:00

I need advice from mom's of two or more children, preferably if you had them close together and they were using baby items at the same time.

1. Double Stroller. Do I need to invest in an expensive one or should I just get an umbrella type double stroller? My thoughts: I plan on wearing Ki as much as possible for the first 6 months of his life. The only time in those 6 months I think I will need a stroller is if we go somewhere that will be a lengthy amount of time, (i.e. the zoo, day of shopping, etc...)

The two I like are:

$99 at Target. I really like the side by side strollers.

Which can do all sorts of cool things and is $199 at Target. I really love this stroller. I just cant decide if it is worth the money.

I dont really even use a stroller that often with Audrie anymore. I used to when I walked with my girlfriends, but since I am working I wont be doing that.

Baby Monitors

Am I still going to want one in Audries room after Ki is here? I mean she sleeps through the night even when she is sick. I think the only reason I will is because she will be in a toddler bed and sometimes I might want to see what she is doing. We have video monitors and LOVE them!

I really thought I had more questions but cant think of them at the moment. I will welcome any advice as I start preparing to have 2 little ones! Also, if you have brought your infant to work with you, I will take any advice on that as well. The plan as of now is to take Ki to work with me until he is atleast 6 months old! AH! :)

The Monster Inside Me

2011-02-01T09:44:00.001-06:00

The "monster" really came unleashed during my first pregnancy. I became this hormonal mess of a woman. I treated my husband worst than I would treat my dog. When I look back at it, I think WHO was that woman? I get embarrassed by how I acted and even though we laugh about it now, I still tell GT how sorry I am for being that way. What I hate the most is I thought it was ok. I blamed it on the pregnancy and my job. Even though they did contribute a big deal, it was not ok.

Then, Audrie is born. I wish the monster went away. But she didnt. She really got worst. And my husband had some monster come out in him. Of course we couldnt take it out on our newborn, so we took it out on each other. We blamed it on lack of sleep and the exhaustion only a new baby could bring. I dont remember even feeling a bond with my husband during that first 3 months of Audries life. We were only surviving.

Things got better. We attended a marriage retreat and God really did a work in our marriage which in turn affected our patience with each other and with a baby...

Then Audrie became a toddler. And my monster returned. I have a hard time explaining the frustration that a toddler brings. It is so much fun and I love her more than I could ever imagine loving someone, along with it comes a different kind of exhaustion and frustration. I would never have thought I would get so worked up over a 18 month old getting in dog food. And of course I blame it on being pregnant again and Audrie being so strong-willed. Again, both of those did contribute, but I hate who I become at times. This is not the example God wants me to pass on to Audrie.

I have been struggling with this for a few months now. It comes and goes, some days are worst than others. Then God spoke...

And He said, Lydia...come to me. Pray to me for the patience and the wisdom. You are trying to be a parent on your own and this is never how it is supposed to be. On your own, you are a monster because you're broken come to me and I will make you whole.

I cannot tell you the relief and peace I feel now. Will the monster still come out? More than likely. But the fact that God is on my parenting team makes me rest assured that things will be ok. Part of this has come from reading the book "What the Bible Says about Parenting" by John McArthur. I am only on the second chapter and it has been life-changing. I will share more later...

23 weeks!

2011-01-28T09:25:00.000-06:00

Sorry no belly pic this week. Will try better next week!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 23 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby is about the size of a large mango. Hence the picture.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 12 lbs :(

Maternity Clothes: I am in everything maternity. I have a few maternity shirts that are getting too short. It isnt because my belly is so large, it is because I am 6 ft tall with a growing belly!

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: I feel like he has been moving alot more this week. This morning when ~~I woke up~~ Audrie woke me up, he was doing flips. It was like good morning, mama! :) I CANT WAIT to see him!

Sleep: This week sleep has been rough. GT is sick which means he snores very loudly. Which wakes me up. Then I cant go back to sleep. So I go sleep in the guest bed in which Audries room is right next door. AND for some reason she has woke up at 6am for the past 2 mornings! UGH!

What I miss: Pooing regularly.

Cravings: Anything sweet. This week I wanted onion rings and peach cobbler. Not together...but those were my 2 cravings.

Symptoms: Constipation, heartburn and my back started hurting this week, but it comes and goes. OH and my sinuses, I blow my nose so much.

Best Moment this week: Audrie kissed my belly. It was so sweet. She is going to be a great big sister! AND onion rings from Whataburger, they were delicious!

22 Weeks!

2011-01-20T20:11:00.001-06:00

I stole this from one of my friends...so maybe I will be better at keeping up with this pregnancy plus taking a weekly picture!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 22 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby is about a pound and 11 inches!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 10 lbs :(

Maternity Clothes: The shirt in the picture above is not maternity and it is too short! I am basically in all maternity especially pants.

Gender: Boy. Hezekiah "Ki" Eugene

Movement: He moves reallllllyyyy low. All the time. Once I felt him higher when I was laying down. He does not seem to be as active as Audrie was. I felt Audrie really high, like by my rib cage so this is different.

Sleep: Sleep is good. I wake up about once to pee during the night.

What I miss: I miss feeling skinny. I mean Ive never been really "skinny" but for me, I was at my ideal weight prior to getting preggo again!

Cravings: Anything sweet. All the time. Milkshakes especially.

Symptoms: Hm. I dont really have any besides the fact I could sleep at any moment if given the chance.

Best Moment this week: Audrie is finally pointing to my belly (occasionally) when I ask her where baby brother is. I think she is starting to understand somewhat. Maybe not, I dont know.

Only 4 1/2 months left?

2011-01-14T11:29:00.000-06:00

It just hit me the other night. Im having another baby...in 4 1/2 months!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!! I feel like I have made no preparations so far...all I have done is buy a few onesies...and ask some friends who have boys for whatever they dont want anymore! I know some people might be thinking...4 1/2 months is a long time, then my friends who have kids are like, she better get to it! I know, right? So here is a list of what needs to be done before I will feel ready for little baby Ki!

Make Audrie a toddler room. Get Audrie adjusted to sleeping in her new room and bed.
Start potty training Audrie.
Find somewhere for all her toys in the playroom which will soon be her new room or baby brothers room.
Figure out who gets what room.
Paint room.
Buy Ki's bedding.
Paint canvas's for Ki's nursery.
Paint canvas's for Audries new room.
Find somewhere for all my scrapbooking/painting/gift wrapping supplies.
Buy new bedroom furniture so Audrie can have our furniture.
Re-carpet or put down laminate wood flooring.
Paint all baseboards.
Get new playpen. I will need 2 since I will be bringing Ki to work and Audrie uses hers at the sitter.
Get more NB/small cloth diapers. Learn how to do pre-folds.
Research and purchase double stroller.
Get boy clothes.
Get boy blankets, towels, etc..

Oh my, the list could go on. And on. Hope GT is ready to work!

Here is the bedding I have decided on for little Ki:

I Love this soooo much. I have been looking forever for a bright colored patterned bedding and here it is! I am very picky about bedding/room decor...so I am so excited to find something perfect!

GT isnt tooooo thrilled about it, but he knows how crazy I am! I promise him it will look good once its all said and done. I am trying to decide what color to paint the nursery? The bedding has ALOT of yellow in it so I dont think I will go that route. I LOVE the blue color in it. Not too baby...very modern blue. The red and green are too dark.

Lets take a poll: What color should I paint Ki's nursery?

To see the bedding in more detail (because I am sure everyone does!ha!) you can go here.

I love feeling him move around. He is very active just like his sister...hope that doesnt mean he will be as wild as she is..I need a calm child next! :)

2011-01-08T03:46:00.000-06:00

Oh, the joys of pregnancy. It is 3:30 am here. I just ate 2 twinkies and couldnt taste either of them...but kept eating them anyway.

I thought it was time for a preggo post. I typed out some stuff the other day, but now its all irrelevant.

We had a doc appt this week. We just talked about my lab work/sono...everything came back negative which is great. I was scared I would be anemic again and have to take iron pills...I HATE iron pills. Not that I really took the with Audrie, but I was supposed to.

I thought I would share some differences in my 2nd pregnancy vs. my first. Some of these might be gross to others out there so just dont read it.

Ligament pain. You know when your pregnant and you get those stretching pains. Well I have them all the time. Like when I sneeze, and when I get up too fast..when I am just sitting still. I had them the first time they are just way more frequent.

I pee on myself alot. When I sneeze, cough hard, laugh hard, you name it. Its just a little bit, but still so annoying.

I feel Ki move really low. Really low. The doc said this is because after your first everything kinda sinks down. Wonderful doc. Tell me something I dont know!

I wasnt near as nauseous with Ki, but I am not sure if its because it is my second time around or because he is a boy.

I have only gained 5 pounds so far, this was not the case with Audrie. Not sure how much I had gained at this point, but im sure it wasnt pretty.

I still love feeling the baby kicks. I thought this time wouldnt be as exciting, but it is. I lay in bed at night with my hand on my belly feeling him move. I am pretty sure he had the hiccups yesterday because the movements were rhythmic and in the same spot.

I have been sick twice. I dont get sick too often on a normal basis, but this time twice. With Audrie I got a sinus infection in the very beginning but it wasn too bad and then a stomach virus. This time two really bad sinus infections/cold.

Thats all I can really think of at this point. I feel like I look similar as far as how my belly is growing. It is a little lower but growing the same.

The doc said my uterus is the size of a basketball. But Ki is only about 10 oz. He explained it like we have got to to grow the house for the baby to grow in. That makes sense, I had never heard of it like that.

Having a boy is very exciting. I love that it is going to be somewhat new. Even though I have had a baby, this time its a boy! It is a little overwhelming at times thinking of all the new stuff we need. We will be making Audries room into a big girl room soon. With a big girl bed. And I might start introducing the big girl potty. Not so sure on that one yet. And for Ki, obviously clothes, bedding, etc...

The benedryl is kicking in now! Yay for sleep! :)

2010-12-23T21:37:00.000-06:00

IT'S A BOY!

We had the gender sonogram on December 21. My parents and GT were there, we left Audrie at the sitter's house. The first thing the technichian (Evelyn) did was look at his private parts to tell us he was boy! Which of course is something I knew all along! :)

We are naming him Hezekiah Eugene Nehls. We are going to calling him Ki. Hezekiah is my grandfather's middle name, great grandfather's middle name and great great great grandfather's name. And Hezekiah was a great King in the Bible!

Eugene is GT's middle name as well as his dad's and grandfathers.

Right now, Ki is 8 ounces (so 1/2 pound)...and my due date is May 26th. It was so strange when the tech did the 4-D sono at times I thought he looked like Audrie. How in the world can a 8 ounce baby already look like Audrie? I dont know but he did, my dad even thought so!

My dad had a dream the night before about my sonogram. He wouldnt tell us what the gender was in his dream, until after, and it was boy! :)

16 weeks

2010-12-14T07:53:00.000-06:00

I missed my last doctor's office posts. These holiday's keep me busy! :)

I went to the doctor on December 7th (I was 15 weeks). We listened to the heartbeat again, 162...made me doubt my boy prediction a little. Audrie was there this time and she had no clue what was going on of course. She was like, what are they doing to my mommy??? Then I had a test for Chlamydia and Gonherria (sp?), I think...I assured them I didnt have either, but of course, procedure...blah.

So to the fun stuff...well, maybe not too fun. I really started showing about 3 weeks ago (so 13 weeks). It was like one day I woke up and had a belly. I am back to the weight I started when I found out we were preggo. I need to start taking belly pics each week or so! I have fully turned in my normal clothes to maternity. Ugh. Well except a few shirts I can still wear, but I am in all maternity pants.

We have an ultrasound on December 21 to find out if its a boy or girl! I really think its a boy. Like, if she tells me its a girl, I might fall out. I would love to have either. I LOVE having a girl. I think it is so much fun! I have heard boys are fun too and easy. I cant believe we are going to have 2! Sometimes, I think we are NUTS! :)

I will try to post on the 21 when we find out!

Day 9: Pictures with Friends

2010-11-10T13:17:00.000-06:00

Day 8: Travel

2010-11-10T12:50:00.000-06:00

Favorite places I have traveled!

Well, I have only been out of the country twice. Once for a mission trip, second for our honeymoon.

My favorite memories of traveling was with Centri-Kid!

The first summer we went to:

San Marcos, TX
Pineville, LA
Marion, IN
Bolivar, MO
Pass Christian, MS
Clinton, MS
Leesburg, FL

And the second summer:

Campbellsville, KY
Flagstaff, AZ
Hannibal, MO
Newport, TN
Jackson, TN
Hattiesburg, MS
Maryville, TN
Bluefield, VA

Day 7 Movies

2010-11-10T12:27:00.000-06:00

I already said this in my interesting facts, but my top 2 favorite movies of all time:

and...

Some close contenders:
Count of Monte Cristo
Any Tom Hanks Movie (Philadelphia, Splash, Joe vs the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle, etc...)
Rent
Walk the Line
Harry Potter
SO many more...but those are some of my most favorites!

Doctor's Appt No. 2

2010-11-09T21:03:00.000-06:00

Today was my 2nd doctors appointment. I am 11 weeks and 3 days. GT couldnt come due to work, so I was by myself. Which makes me sad, but I know GT is making a sacrifice for us...because he really wants to be there too!

Basically, we just listened to the baby's heart beat...I keep say Ki's heartbeat, because I think its a boy and because I want to name him Hezekiah :) but GT corrects me!

Then we went over my blood sugar levels, which have been good. And I have lost 2 pounds! :) Not because im not eating, I guess the baby likes to eat too :)

I feel like I am already showing, but I am not sure if its just fat. I mean, I have lost 2 pounds, so I shouldnt look fat, right? Well, I say its "showing", sounds alot better than just a fat belly.

Next appt is Dec 7, then hopefully we will find out the sex before Christmas!!!!

Day 5 and Day 6

2010-11-07T09:15:00.000-06:00

Well, I am a little behind. I was the maid of honor in my bestfriends wedding this weekend, so I was a little busy!

Day 5: Favorite Recipe

I have quite a few of them, but I will post a favorite Chocolate Chip recipe!

Ingredients

2-¼ cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda

½ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Butter
½ cups Sugar
¾ cups Brown Sugar
1 package Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 whole Egg
½ packages Chocolate Chips
½ cups Nuts (optional)

Preparation Instructions

1. Stir baking soda, flour and salt; set aside.
2. Combine butter, sugars and pudding mix, beating until fluffy.
3. Add vanilla and egg; beat until smooth.
4. Add dry ingredients; mix well.
5. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
6. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes.

And, day 6: Picture of Something that Makes Me Happy

What? I am pregnant... I mean my husband and daughter makes me happy too. BUT I love a sonic cheeseburger and onion rings!

Day 4: My Parents

2010-11-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

This is my dad...Larry P

There is so much to say about what a wonderful man he is. He is a pastor and has been my whole life. God has used him in a unique way to go into broken churches and restore them for a new pastor. It just kinda worked out that way. So, we moved every few years growing up. Before I was born, my mom and him started 2 churches. He has also been a principal, singles minister, director of a retirement home, and im sure many more things. He is the hardest working man I have ever met. A week after he got out of the hospital for blood clots, he was cutting the grass at church! He loves to read book that continually make him a better man and closer to the Lord. This is something I have always admired about my dad. Even though he is the most wise man I know, he still continues growing and learning more. I could say alot more about my dad. I am so blessed to be given such a wonderful father on Earth, I know I am very fortunate.

This is my favorite picture of my dad and me at Disney World:

And here is my mom, Leslie:

I dont even know where to begin to describe my mom. She has been a teacher for most of my life and in the past 3 years she has been a coordinator of a elementary school. She is also a very hard worker and has always made it important to provide for us through working, no matter the sacrifice. I didnt realize this until I was older and began working a "real" job myself. She has always been a cheerleader and teammate with my dad through all of our moves, hard times and good times. She has always been my rock. I can be pretty emotional and dramatic and my mom can always bring be down to earth. She has taught me since I was a child how to be a Godly mother and wife. We did have some tough teenage years and now are bestfriends. We talk on the phone at least once a day if not 3 or 4 times. Again, there is not enough time or room to talk about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful mother.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of us:

Seriously, how cute is she?

And then I could get started on how great they are as grandparents...but I wont, just know I am very thankful for them!!!!

Day 3: My First Love

2010-11-04T12:21:00.002-05:00

This is a hard one to answer, because there are so many different "loves" that I have experienced.

My first teenage/crush love was in 8th grade. I wont say his name, but funny to think about how "in love" I was at 13! Haha,yeah right! Where is reality when your 13?

My first family love was my parents and brothers of course. I am so grateful for the example my parents taught us of love.

My first real deep passionate love has been for GT. I never knew love could be like this between humans. It is hard to explain until you experience it. It is a committed, unconditional, dont care what you look or smell like love.

My first mommy love obviously came from having Audrie. Again, a different love than is only explainable to someone who has experienced it. It is the I never thought I would touch someones poop, spit-up and snot and it just be a fact of life love. I never knew someone could need me 24/7 and make me so exhausted but still there is a outpouring of love.

Lastly, the best love, the ultimate love is from my Savior. Becoming a mom, I have understand more His love for me. It is His love that continues me going, instead I would have given up a long time ago. His love is there when I feel like I am not loved by anyone else. His love also brings mercy, grace and peace. His love is why you exist and I exist. His love is why Jesus died on the cross so that we are able to spend eternity with him. I am Sooooooooo grateful for His love!

Day 2 Blog Challenge

2010-11-02T14:41:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I am behind on the 30 day blog challenge since yesterday was the 1st! So today will be 2 blogs!

Day 2: Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

Well, this wont be too interesting. I started the blog to keep family update on my pregnancy with Audrie...then it turned into a fun outlet just to write about random things. I have never been good at journaling, but I found that I blogged better. Now, it is has turned into a sort of keepsake. I try to write about things Audrie is doing and about this pregnancy so I can look back and read them, and possibly even print them off and give them to Audrie (and future children) one day.

Anyway, that is why the web address is www.babynehls....however the title on the page is The Nehls Family. So original! I have thought about changing it, but I didnt have anything cute to change it too, I will take suggestions!