The Fish Tank

Jackson is really into God and what He made. Yesterday we went for ice cream and as Scott stopped to get gas our conversation went like this: Jack: Mom, did God make you? Me: Yes. Did God make you? Jack: Yeah. Me and Daddy. Me: Did God make Grady? Jack: Yes. He made your belly! I love the conversations I have with this little guy! I hope they never end!

"From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another'" John 1:16 Abundance . What comes to mind when I say that word? Material objects? Having much of something physical? I believe that when the word "abundance" is spoken our minds automatically think of the material. We are trained to do this really. We are inundated with the next best cell phone, house, car, outfit, shoes, etc. that we absolutely have to have right now or else it will be forever gone out of our reach; possession. I, however, began to think differently when abundance was said ever since we moved to Texas. Abundance to me is not about having a lot of things. Ironically, I am in a place in my life in which I have a lot of things. I don't necessarily want a lot of things nor do I care if I have a lot of things. I am just at a place where it is possible to have a lot of things. Things to me are just that; things. I cannot take them with me when I die, they are fleeting, ...

It is windy and freezing in North Dallas today so we thought we'd take a family adventure to the Dallas Aquarium. Jackson kept asking to take Daddy to the fishy place (he and I had been before) so we thought today would be a great day since everything is indoors! I guess we weren't the only family with this brilliant idea today because it was pretty crowded but we had a blast anyway! The aquarium is really cool and set up like a rainforest. It reminds me of being on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. Anyway, Jack was able to feed a bird and he thought it was so funny! The bird kept nipping at his jacket and finally took the blueberry from his hand. He saw a HUGE crocodile, tons of various fish, lots of turtles, monkeys, a sloth, flamingos, a cheetah, an anaconda, bats, rays, sharks, sea horses, and many other animals! All-in-all, we had a great family day!

Oh my gosh! I cannot stop laughing! Jackson got up from his nap and found me on the computer in the office. I decided to play with the photo booth feature on my computer and Jackson and I could not stop laughing! My stomach hurts and I have tears rolling down my face. There are all these crazy effects you can do (see last picture) and he was laughing SO hard! I guess anytime I need to entertain Jack or need a good laugh I am breaking out the photo booth!

Ah, Thursdays! Thursdays are wonderful to me because we have no where to be. We do not have any classes to rush to or school to get ready for. We can lounge in pj's all day or hang with friends. It doesn't matter because Thursdays are our free day! Today I decided that I would take Jack to see the Easter Bunny. Ever since he learned about birthdays he has been into what comes next. He keeps asking if Christmas comes next or summer (because he wants to go swimming) and knows the order of all our birthdays, including Grady's, because the sooner Grady comes out the sooner he can have his pirate birthday. So, with all that in mind, I thought I'd take Jackson to see his Easter Bunny friend that he has been talking about for weeks now (ever since he found out Easter and Spring come next). We headed out to the mall and the kid was chatty cathy the entire way because he was so excited. At one point he asked me, "Mommy, why aren't you talking to me?" when I didn...

32 WEEKS AND COUNTING! Eight more weeks. Can you believe I only have 8 more weeks left? I am very excited to meet this little guy but also a little sad that I won't feel his sweet little kicks and see his alien-type movements on my belly. I went to the doctor today and all is on target. We heard Grady's perfect little hearbeat, measured right on target, and learned that he is head down. Grady's nursery is coming along nicely. Scott painted the walls and put up chair rail and we have all his furniture set up. I also got the pictures and shelves up on the walls. It looks so cute! I LOVE that Jackson and Grady's rooms are so completely different! I will post pictures as soon as it is complete:) For now, we wait and start the countdown to meeting our new little man!

Jackson and I were at the grocery store on Monday and he was so beyond sweet! I had him sitting in the front of the grocery cart and halfway through our shopping extravaganza he began hugging and loving on my belly. He was telling Grady that he loved him so much and he was going to be a good big big brother! He wouldn't let go of my belly and gave it a million kisses. He was telling Grady things he was going to teach him and singing him songs. I am not kidding you, I began to get all teary-eyed right there in Kroger and it wasn't pregnancy hormones. I was so proud of Jackson and his kindness and love for his brother who isn't even here yet. I cannot wait to see what a great big brother he is going to be and the bond that these boys are going to have. I have been praying for that bond everyday for a few months now and I can already see the Lord's love bonding my boys! Man, am I blessed!

I know it's Wednesday but I am pregnant and have been really tired lately and Jackson has not been napping so you get this today:) Plus, I just had to share this and be transparent as a mommy! "The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love." Psalm 145:8 I can sit here and give you many excuses for my actions lately. Trust me, they are all listed in my head ready for me to justify my behavior. However, instead of giving you all my excuses I am going to come before you and be honest and raw. I have been really short tempered lately. Scott was out of town from Thursday to Sunday and for some reason I lost all my patience with Jackson. He was not throwing tantrums or being malicious. No. He was just being a boy; a two and a half year old. He enjoyed hiding in the clothes racks at Old Navy (which I TOTALLY remember doing as a kid), didn't sleep as late as I'd like, blah, blah, blah. Silly stuff really but for some reason it just erked me the wr...

Oh my goodness what a fun morning we had! My friend, Jen, put together a "playdate" at our fire department and it was incredible! Thank you, Jen! The fire fighters were AMAZING with the kiddos! They took about a dozen 2-4 year olds on a complete tour of the fire house and engines! The guys were GREAT with the kids! Jackson was out of his body excited and so into learning everything the fire fighters had to teach him. His face was priceless the whole time! The kids got to see where the fire fighters lived, ate, slept, and, most importantly, watched movies! They had a great media room and all the kiddos jumped into the recliners and laid back. It was pretty funny! Next, we were off to see the engines. They got to see and go into an ambulance and a fire truck. So cool! Jackson LOVED every second! Enjoy the pics!

I cannot even begin to fully describe to you the amazing relationship that Scott and Jackson have. Jackson is mesmerized by his Daddy. From the moment Scott comes home from work Jackson is attached to him, literally. He loves everything that is Daddy. Daddy truly is his hero. And Scott is such an incredible dad. He teaches Jackson every chance he gets and is the only one who can make Jack laugh this incredible laugh where he can't breath. I absolutely LOVE watching them together. It blesses my heart like no other. I like listening to their little conversations and when Jackson tells me, "That's how daddy does it." One of my favorite things to do is watch and listen to them on the video monitor before bed. Scott reads Jack a story and tucks him in and Jackson is just so safe and content. Grady is already blessed to have the best Daddy in the world! Thank you, Scott, for being an incredible father! You will never know the priceless impact you have on our son.

There was NOTHING on TV last night so Scott and I decided to rent "Fireproof." I have heard about this movie and knew it was something I wanted to watch with Scott. We all need a little "marriage message" from time-to-time and you can't beat a Kirk Cameron movie. Can I just say that I loved this movie and I highly recommend it to ANYONE who is in a relationship, plans to get married, or is married. The movie showed me how easily we take our spouses for granted, lose sight of one another, get used to each other in a way that we begin ignoring one another, forget how to communicate, easily begin to disrespect each other, and, most importantly, forget how to love. Even though the problems this couple faced were not issues that Scott and I are dealing with at the present time, the message was the same: love your spouse as Christ loves you-unconditionally without limits or expectations. So easily we love expecting something in return. The husband was challenged to lo...

I realized that I have posted a lot about Grady and other stuff so I thought I'd give the star (for now) of our family a little love too! Jackson has been so cute wanting to help Scott put Grady's room together. I'm sure Scott may disagree at how "cute" he's being at times but I digress. He is loving seeing Grady's room come together. Last night he had to help Daddy put Grady's crib together. I just love his face expression in the first picture! He is so annoyed that I stopped him from his "work" to take a picture. I'm such a mom!

I cannot believe that I am already thirty weeks. I must admit that I feel thirty weeks pregnant and can't imagine getting much bigger! However, I cannot believe how quickly my second trimester went. I think I blinked and it passed. I am feeling great! I get a little tired in the late afternoon and don't have much room for food anymore, but, other than that, I am doing great. Grady is moving and shaking and I am beginning to feel limbs and feet instead of swift quick movements. He definitely likes to snuggle up on my right side a lot. We have started the nursery. The paint is done thanks to the awesome work of my husband and the crib and chair are built. We are just waiting for the dresser. We are all getting excited, especially Jackson. He helped Daddy with the nursery and is very excited to meet Grady and share his toys with him. He brought his ni-night blanket and pillow to Grady's room last night so he'd have one too. So, in ten short weeks we will be meeting this ne...

I read this list in my Parenting magazine. I had to share it! Top Ten Things You'll Probably Never Say... 1. "No more arugula. You'll get a bellyache." 2. " Gosh, I wish I could keep pumping forever-it's such a gratifying experience and makes me feel like a real woman." 3. "After my second pregnancy, I just couldn't keep the weight on!" 4. "Honey, let's play Barbies again and I'll be the bad sister. Again." 5. "You know, I'm actually sharper when I'm awake every two hours." 6. "All I want to do after a long day with the kids is have sex with my husband." 7. "Why don't you try on something pink? You don't have enough pink clothing." 8. "My new favorite song is 'Fruit Salad.' Totally downloading it!" 9. "I regret getting the epidural." 10. "Thank you so much for the advice about everything I'm doing wrong with my kid. I found it really helpful...

I couldn't choose just one story this week so you get three:) Enjoy! Story 1: Jackson went with us to our ultrasound appointment. Because Grady wasn't moving, the tech asked me to walk around and drink a Sprite. When we came back Jackson told me it was his turn and he climbed up on the table and lifted his shirt ready to go. She was so sweet and let him see what was in his belly. It was hilarious! Story 2: Another belly story...My friend came over Sunday to do some belly pictures. She did some shots of my laying on my bed. When we finished he climbed up, layed down, lifted his shirt, and once again said "my turn." Crazy kid! Story 3: We were all playing in the playroom last night. Jack came running up to me and gave me a huge hug! He then told me, "God is happy when I give hugs!" I must say, mommy was happy too!

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

We had a 4D ultrasound appointment Saturday morning but Friday had to come first. Friday came and Jack and I had a great day. Scott and I even went on a date Friday night. We toured the beautiful hospital that I may deliver in and went to dinner. The cool thing about this hospital is that there is a webcam so all my Cali friends and family can see us after Grady is born. Anyway, I wasn't feeling well when we got home so I went straight to bed. Then 1am came and ugh! I woke up and just knew I had food poisoning. I was up from 1am to 4:30am sick. I finally fell asleep and woke up Saturday morning feeling a tad better. Of course I still wanted to go to the appointment if, for anything, to make sure Grady was okay. So we went to the appointment and it was incredible. Grady wasn't being all that cooperative, probably because I was so sick, but we still got to see him. He was all nuzzled up to my placenta and wouldn't turn his head for her to get a good shot of his face. We did g...

You have sucked me in Texas. When I first moved here I did not like sweet tea, you wouldn't catch me listening to any country song, and I swore I wouldn't be that Californian who moved to Texas and all of a sudden said "y'all". Well, somehow someway I got sucked into the vortex of Texas. I said my first y'all a couple of weeks ago out of the blue (it really is easier to say than you all). I couldn't believe how easily it slipped out of my mouth:) Then, about a month ago I decided to give sweet tea another whirl. Not only did I like it this time around, I became addicted! I think it's a pregnancy thing:) On top of all that there was nothing on the radio the other day so I began flipping through stations and landed on a country music station and left it there. So,Texas, it has taken you a year and a half but you've got me. Bring on the sweet tea! Yee-haw!

We don't usually have candy in the house but with me being pregnant all bets are off! I have chocolate malted eggs in a bowl on the counter out of my little munchkins reach. Or so I thought. Yesterday Scott and I hear Jackson wake up, come down stairs, and push his large plastic dump truck around the downstairs. We thought he'd come into our room to get us up but he apparently had other plans. "Clink, clink, clink." I asked Scott if he could see Jackson getting into the candy and he said no. A few minutes later Jackson came into our room with chocolate on his breath. Scott asked him if he ate a candy and he said the following: "Ya. I was a good boy and slept all night in my big boy bed so I get a candy!" Well, he was right. He was a good boy and slept in his bed all night so I guess he deserved that piece of candy. Oh yeah, he got the candy by standing in the back of the dump truck.