cooking with Emily and J.D.

This is our spring break week with the kids as well as John's last week on Paternity leave. The timing couldn't be more perfect except for the fact that John might not be getting as much done as he wanted to around the house! We have a couple of outings planned but we will see how that turns out. One fun thing we did was cook some things together. Emily got a Paula Deen cookbook from baby Molly in the hospital and we have used it several times. Last night we fixed "stone soup" based on the stone soup book. It was very healthy with veggies, ham, and macaroni. The kids ate it up! This morning we fixed monkey bread. The kids cut the biscuits and rolled them in cinnamon and sugar and it was YUMMY!

Little mommy

When pregnant..I thought a lot about what the big kids would think about Molly. So far they are totally mesmerized by her. They want to kiss her and hold her ALL the time, so much that her daddy has to fight them to get his daddy time with her! John Daniel always wants to know "where that baby is?" He is sweet and holds her and talks to her and then says "I'm done" when he is finished. Emily has surprised me in that she is very protective and has really great instincts when it comes to taking care of the baby. When I first let her hold her at home she was sitting on the couch and automatically started gently swaying and rocking like us moms do when holding a sleeping baby. My dad noticed it as well. It was like she just knew what to do. She has a natural way with her and seems very at ease and not awkward like some kids when first holding a baby. This has been a relief in that I thought she might have a little jealousy due to Molly being a girl and Emily having always been a Daddy's girl and all. Things have gone well so far. The big kids love all her baby toys and I think they have played with them more than their own this week. They love to start and stop the swing, "play with her" on her baby gym mat, and the baby monitors have been their biggest love. They have used them all over the house as walkie talkies! My biggest complaint is that the days go by so fast! It is the afternoon before I know it. I feel like time is just whisking away. I can't believe we have already been home with Molly for over a week. Things like taking pictures and video have to almost be planned b/c I just don't think about it as much. By the time Molly is done eating and I have changed her diaper, the other kids need food and attention. I sat crying in the chair one day after I had fed Molly and John came in. He said why are you crying. All I could say is that I didn't want any of them to grow up anymore and that time was going by so fast and that I couldn't believe that this might be our last baby! I am so trying to enjoy every moment with them but it really is hard with laundry and bills and just day to day tasks. I just want to tuck all these great memories and things they say and things they do in my head and heart so I can remember them forever. They grow up so Fast!!!!

Molly's first bath

What an exciting first bath!!!! It took three of us to bath the poor child while daddy videotaped and took pictures. The big kids loved it. John Daniel washed her head very carefully and Emily helped with her body. Molly did really well despite the chaos surrounding her. She never even cried.

At Home

We have been home now for three days and life has changed considerably as you might imagine! Molly is a blessing and a joy and I forgot how much babies really do sleep early on like this! Since getting home from the hospital we have tried to mesh our routine with our new baby. Thank God for John and his paternity leave! He is pretty much doing everything for the big kids and I am maintaining Molly and myself. John's grandfather died the evening that I got home from the hospital so that has added another factor into our first days at home. John has been back and forth to Thomasville several times and today went to the funeral. My parents have been here on and off helping and going to get things for us and taking me to my doctors appts if John could not. I also have been a little caught off guard in the fact that I felt great at the hospital and then at home have felt a little "off". Can't quite put my finger on it, but I have had some back pain (which has subsided now), some nausea (no not nausea!!!!! still!!!!), no appetite, and just a bla feeling. John keeps telling me that this is not going to be like my other deliveries and the recovery process is going to be different and my body is just trying to regulate all the hormones etc. Anyways, I haven't been the super mom that I thought I would be once I got this baby out of me......but have felt better today! Maybe feeling better today has something to do with getting 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night. My girl slept from 11:30ish until 4 am. I had to wake her to get her to eat. I have had a terrible time with my milk coming in and being really engorged. Nursing hasn't been pleasant so far but I know it will get better! My body seems to overdue everything in the pregnancy category. I seem to make enough milk to feed twins. It has been quite painful but also seems better today! I have had to pump and then feed her to get relief. Today was Molly's first doctor's appt and she already surpassed her birth weight by one ounce and she is only 6 days old. The nurses and doctor went nutso and were so excited, I guess this doesn't happen as often as I would have thought.....she is certainly an eater! They said she looked great and that is worth the pain of nursing in the beginning! So for now we are getting into a routine, the kids fight over who gets to hold her and she is noticing them a lot more which is so sweet. Emily is quite the pro and is such a little mommy. She would sit for hours and hold her and Molly falls right to sleep in her lap. John Daniel likes holding her too but he hold her for 5 minutes or so and then says, "I'm done". He also is funny asking about her. He comes home from school and says, "where's that baby?" It is fun having older kids around...I love seeing it through their eyes. They ask so many questions. John Daniel and Emily both helped give her her first sponge bath which was hilarious and quite the undertaking! Molly was good and didn't even cry even with all the chaos around her. John Daniel gently washed her head and Emily did her arms and belly and legs. It was very cute! They love to even help change the diapers. John of course has been awesome as he always has been with babies. He is the best baby burper ever! He has been very attentive despite the loss of his grandfather and wanting to get more home improvements done. We will see what the days ahead bring.....I'm sure lots!

Hospital Stay

Tomorrow we break out of this joint!  I am so happy to be going home with my happy, sweet, healthy baby girl!  I guess I am happy to have had some rest and relaxation in the hospital but I have to admit I have been a bit bored.  Thank goodness for the Internet, facebook, my blog, TV, and lots and lots of visitors.  Molly has done great the last two days and we have got ourselves in a little routine.  She is eating about every 2-3 hours and sleeps pretty much in between feedings.  She hasn't been over fussy and seems to like being held and is easy to comfort.  She has quite the set of lungs.  When she isn't happy, she is very loud and lets out some funny loud squeals.  Her big brother and big sister are amazed and so happy with her so far.  They want to hold her and talk to her.  Today she was awake when they came to visit and she looked at them and followed them as they moved.  She had the hiccups and they thought it was so funny!  They were giggling so hard.  Their grandmother and aunt took them to Target earlier in the day and they both picked out a special toy to buy Molly with their own money.  It was neat to see their picks and special b/c they were actually buying for her since they have now met her and not some "baby" in mommy's tummy.  Molly had lost some weight as most babies do in the hospital but gained 3 oz back today.  She now weighs 6lbs and 8 oz.  The pediatrician was pleased and said she looks perfect.  I am doing great.  I feel really good.  If I lie in the bed too long I get a little stiff but I have made it a point to get up and walk.  Everyone seems pretty impressed with me and have told me to take it easy.  I think I just feel so much better with the baby out of me than I do with it inside me.  The incision and abd pain that I am having seems better to me than the nausea and vomiting that I have during pregnancy.  I got so stir crazy today in the hospital room that I asked the nurse if I could go down to the first floor and go outside to the parking lot to just feel the fresh air and sunshine.  She let me but I had to leave Molly in the room with John.  It felt so nice!  John went home to sleep tonight in our bed.  He has been scrunched up on the horrible hospital couch and has been so uncomfortable.  I told him to go home and sleep good so he can be fresh for us all tomorrow.  The nurses here have been very attentive and have taken good care of us.  I feel sure we can get through the night by ourselves.  Molly is such a blessing and we can't wait to get her home and be a family of five.  Blessings are abundant and God is good.  

Mini spa night with mommy

The week before baby molly was born was a busy one but we tried to make some special time for each of the big kids as I have said in previous posts. The night before the c-section Emily and I planned a mini spa night for just me and her. After school we got her hair cut at a "real" salon and then that night we used my friend Amy's foot spa to do pedicures on each other. It was fun to watch her sitting in the bathroom with her feet in the spa. We cut toenails, massaged lotion on our feet and legs, painted toenails and even put masques on our faces to "exfoliate". She had a blast and thought it was lots of fun. John Daniel even wanted to try the foot spa! It was a nice girlie time before the big kids left to spend the night with grandparents.

Introducing Baby Molly!

Molly D'Anna Gay was born yesterday at 7:59 am by c-section at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare.  She weighed 6 lbs and 13 oz and is 19 1/4 inches long.  The c-section, which mommy was very nervous about, went very smoothly.  We got to the hospital at 5 am and spent the morning in a room while they asked mommy tons of questions and prepped me for surgery.  One of John's co-workers and friends is engaged to a labor and delivery nurse.  She volunteered to stay and do my c-section after working all night.  Beth was so sweet and it was very nice knowing someone.  I also happen to know the nurse anesthetist that did my spinal and stayed in the OR with me.  She and I graduated nursing school together.  They took me to the OR at 7:27 after we had said hello to everyone including the kids in the room.  The kids were so cute in their big brother and big sister shirts.  They were all smiles and so excited!  Once in the OR they immediately put the spinal in and I went numb.  It was a very nice warm feeling.  My heart rate was up considerable due to my nervousness so the nurse anesthetist gave me something to bring it down.  I felt better after that.  Dr. McAlpine and Dr. Franz walked in and made sure I was numb.  The did their first cut and then brought John in.  The whole c-section is a very bizarre feeling.  I did not feel any pain what so ever but felt them inside me.  It is a pressure type feeling or jiggling.  Very strange.  At one time I said to the nurse, it feels like they are in my chest and she replied well they kind of are!  The spinal also makes you feel like you can't get a deep breath, like you can't move your chest but I just kept repeating my scripture on fear in my head and taking deep breaths!  Once John got in their, I was o.k. and he was so sweet standing there at my head putting me at ease.  Then the doctors said, here she is.  She made a little cry even before they pulled her out totally.  John got that on video!  Then she cried and squealed the whole time the nurse checked her out.  She looked so tiny to me.  They took her out of the room and John went with her while they sewed me up.  By the time I ended up in recovery she was right there with me getting her bath, shots, etc.  They let me sit up and nurse while in recovery.  I still wasn't feeling a thing thanks to the spinal.  We met the rest of the family and big brother and big sister right outside by the lullaby button on the way to the regular room.  The big kids were shocked and couldn't believe there was an actual baby with me now.  John Daniel said, I didn't know you were going to have a real baby!  Not sure what he thought I was having??  Emily was in awe and seemed quietly protective already of her baby sister.  We all got settled in the new room and they eventually held Baby Molly for the first time.  They also watched while Daddy changed one of those sticky tar like diapers and they didn't like that so much!  Molly is so sweet and so cute.  She has Emily's color hair and her little petite nose and John Daniels cheeks and chin.  She seems so tiny to us.  She does have a little spunky side and will squeal really loudly if she doesn't like what you are doing.  The nurses already told me she had a temper.  We are so proud and so in love with her!

#3 pregnancy

So our third child, our sweet baby girl, will be born in the morning so I thought I would share my pregnancy story. This is mostly so one day maybe, my children can read it and know that I really really love them! As all my pregnancies, I knew this one would be difficult! We planned for this baby b/c we knew we wanted a third child but knew we had to be totally ready for what the pregnancy would bring. I got pregnant one month after going off my birth control but lost the pregnancy only 5 weeks into it in May of last year. I had only known I was pregnant for like 5 days. I am thankful that I had not had any symptoms yet of pregnancy but was very sad. I did not have to have any medical intervention, everything happen naturally, so that is another reason to be thankful. The doctor said I could get pregnant right away and we did. We were pregnant by July. In August at 7 weeks pregnant the sickness started. I can remember the day.....August 8th. I called the doctor and ended up with phenergan that did not work. I was in the ER before I had even stepped into the doctor's office as always! I got fluids, went back to the doctor the next day and they admitted me for dehydration. This started the long road to figuring out how to get me through the next 7-9 weeks. We decided to try something new which was a zofran pump. John would stick me with a small needle in my leg or abdomen that would then in turn give me continuous zofran subcutaneously. Zofran is a newer med that the doctors are using for hyperemesis with pregnancy. It is really a drug they use for chemo pts. We went home from the hospital with the zofran pump. It might have helped some but not much. I still could not eat or drink much, stayed dehydrated, weak, and pretty much miserable. The medication irritates the skin as well so I had huge lumps underneath my skin where the needles had been (still have a bruise on my abdomen from it to this day). When I saw Dr. McAlpine again, we decided that it was time to put a PICC line in again and give me fluids from home. I went to outpatient surgery where they inserted a PICC line. I went home with continuous IV fluids and a home health care nurse. John and I did most everything ourselves but she would check on us and change my dressing every three days. The fluids basically keep me alive and out of the hospital but do not stop the vomiting and nausea. I have to say that this time I did not vomit as much but the nausea was almost worse on me. I was nauseated every minute of the day and nothing seemed to help. I had to force myself to eat food and drink fluids gagging all the way through it. This was so hard on the kids but they got really use to me throwing up and being in bed! John was amazing and did everything from laundry, to cleaning, to cooking, to homework. Our friends and family took turns keeping kids and making food. We really could not have made it through without our friends, family and church group! When I thought we could see the light at the end of the tunnel at about 10 weeks pregnant, I became severely ill. One morning I woke up shaking and vomiting severely. I had a headache as well. I thought I felt so bad from the headache. I couldn't even make it out of bed. My neighbor came over to feed the kids breakfast. My friend Ann was called to come get J.D. and I called my Dad to come get me! I felt so horrible. I went to my parents house and my dad stayed with me all day until my brother could come watch over me. That evening when my mom got home, she said I looked terrible and took my temperature and what do you know I had a fever of 101.5! We went straight to the women's pavilion and I was admitted. To make a very long story short...after seeing my ob doctor, a hematologist, an infectious disease doctor, and a Perineonatologist...they figured out that somehow a bacteria had entered my blood stream and attacked the PICC line and I was bacterimic. I ran fevers in the hospital for three days. They did every kind of test possible and checked on the baby. Baby seemed fine so far. I was put on high dose antibiotics and the PICC line was removed. I was discharged the day before my birthday and went home with a regular IV line and was to receive IV antibiotics at home for 12 days. John stuck me everyday to replace the old IV line and catheter. It is so nice to have a husband that knows what he is doing! I felt so much better when the antibiotics finally kicked in! That was the last of the worse and when I hit about 14 weeks I started feeling better. The rest of the pregnancy has been o.k. I have pretty much vomited in the mornings for 7 months but once is all and I can handle that. The heartburn has not nearly been as bad as with the first two babies. I got some really cool ultrasounds due to all my complications! It really is crazy how I can go from feeling sooooo bad in the beginning to lying in my shower thinking that I wasn't sure if I could get through it to saying "it was only 7 weeks of pain and trouble". "I could do it again". John thinks I am crazy as probably other people do as well but there is just something about my babies :) I love them so much and the first two were so worth it and I am sure the third one will be as well!

Mommy and J.D.

Yesterday was my very last doctor's appt before the big day. It was long only because they had to give me all my pre-op instructions and orders. John Daniel went with me but was very patient. Afterwards was our lunch date together! It was a little difficult to think of something that a 4 year old little boy that loves to be rowdy and go go go and his 9 month pregnant mommy to do together but we succeeded. John Daniel got to pick where we got lunch. He picked chick-fil-a (go figure). We took our lunch complete with a oreo cookie milkshake to Lake Ella. We sat together and ate at the picnic tables and then walked around the lake once. I thought getting around the lake once was pretty good for being 9 months pregnant. We saw hundreds of turtles. It was really cool seeing all the huge soft shell ones out lying in the sun. We watched all the ducks, seagulls, and pigeons beg for food. John Daniel had forgotten how aggressive they can be when they want some food! It was a fun time together. We talked about the animals and being a big brother and how much I love him. A beautiful day!

Date with Daddy

Last night was Emily's turn with her Daddy. John decided to take her for dessert to the Melting Pot. She has never been there, has no idea what fondue is and he thought it would be a fun time and something she would remember! They left after dinner time. Emily was so pretty and all dressed up. John said at first she thought the place stunk..which it does! She ordered a "Shirley Temple" which is kind of a tradition on their dates together. They had chocolate and peanut butter fondue with all the fruit and cake. She was so surprised and so into the dipping and how it all works. John said it was fun experiencing something new with her like that. I was thinking about it as they were gone last night that everywhere John usually takes her is fancy. She thinks going on a date means you go somewhere really nice. They have gone to Bonefish twice, the father/daughter dance (basically like prom for daddies and girls) and now to the Melting pot. Her poor boyfriends in the WAY OFF future are going to have it hard...she won't think it is a date unless she gets to go somewhere fancy! Maybe that isn't so bad after all though...she will certainly know what it is like to be treated like a lady, because her daddy has always treated her to the best!

My Baby Girl Shower

Yesterday was such a blessing in that one of my best friends through me a baby shower. This doesn't happen very often when you are having your third kid especially when you already have a boy and girl but it was such a sweet time! She invited my closest friends and family and we just celebrated life! That is really what it is all about isn't it! The blessing that God gives us in bringing a new creation into this world. I also get to tell this precious baby girl that even though she is number three in the family, she is/was still celebrated! It was a necessity type of shower so I got lots of diapers and wipes but you know that everyone could not help but buy those baby girl clothes! So I have lots of new clothes as well! They all comforted me about having to have a c-section, prayed for me, ate yummy food, and told baby stories. We even watched the FSU basketball game! We also passed around the two babies that were there...little Ellie and little Ashlyn. These two will probably be my little girl's first girlfriends. I was very blessed to have both my mom and John's mom there as well as my grandmother. I also had four wonderful helpers...Katie, Olivia, Emily and Mackenzie. It was very special having Emily be apart of her baby sister's party! Thank you Ann for a wonderful time and making my day very special!

Boy Time

The arrival of our little one is just 5 days away and John and I thought we might take this last week to make the first two children feel, well, extra special! They have been such a big part of helping us get through this pregnancy, getting ready for baby, and redoing our house! It has been a kind of crazy 9 months to say the least. Saturday was John's Date with John Daniel. The men in Mine and John 's Sunday School class had decided to do a very low key father/son fishing tournament. There were about 25 guys that met down at St. Marks and got on all different boats for a 5 hour day of fishing. John decided to take John Daniel. This was John Daniel's first official fishing trip on the big water. He has been fishing off of docks and out of canoes but never in the ocean. They set off at 5:30 am. John said J.D. was a little nervous at first but got the hang of it and loved it. He fell asleep on the boat after awhile (I don't think he has ever been up that early). They all ate lunch together and talked about their catches. John's boat (he was with another father and son) pulled out the prize for most fish caught! John Daniel was the youngest fisherman out there!

A God Thing

Tonight at church our Sunday School teacher gave us a testimony from a family in our church. This family just had a freak accident happen. I am only sharing this b/c our Sunday School teacher said that he got permission from the mom and she didn't mind having the story passed on. This family has two girls, age 6 and age 8, that were playing on their swing set on Sunday when the large beam from the top of the swing set collapsed and fell on the 6 year old's head. The beam is a LARGE wooden beam. The sister quickly moved the beam off of her sister and ran in to get her mom. The six year old ended up having two hair line fractures of her skull, one behind her eye. She stayed for two days in the Peds ICU. She did not require surgery and is o.k. now. Mom was talking to the older sister and trying to get more of the story. She told her mom that she thought that her sister was dead because she wasn't moving. Her mom asked her, "wasn't the beam heavy?" She replied, "no, it was as lite as a feather." Today, days later, dad went out in the yard to clean up and move the beams and it ended up taking three grown men to move the large beam that the 8 year old had moved off of her sister by herself!

Menu planning...What's For Dinner

I am one of those people that have some Type A personality traits in me but don't always succeed. I really admire people that are super organized! One thing that I would love to be organized in is meal planning but I get lazy or bored. I actually have a nine week listing of menus for our family but don't always follow it. I added a section to my blog this morning called what's for dinner....in hopes that others that read my blog (Ann! who I know posts on my blog) would also do the same and maybe we could be inspired. Sometimes just knowing what someone else is having is an inspiration for something new! I tend to get lazy and then we eat out and that makes us spend money and frustrates John and well life just goes better if we are organized and we eat at home as a family!

P.S. My dear brother Nic...don't really want to know what you are having for dinner....Lean Cuisines every night would really get old :)

Chores, chores, chores

I think one thing that parents wrestle with a lot is how to grow responsible children that will do things for themselves, help out with family chores, and do it with a good attitude! John and I have wrestled with this a lot over the years especially since Emily is at an age where she can really help out around here. We have done chore charts (only to last for one week or so), we have done stickers as rewards, we have made them do it just because, we have read scripture to show them why it is necessary. I think the thing that we struggle with is do you reward your children for doing things around the house or should things be done just b/c they are part of this family too! I know that I never got paid an allowance (at least I don't remember it) for doing my chores. John said he didn't either. John knew how to do his laundry in elementary school. I on the other hand learned in college :) but mom did make us do other things like clean the bathroom. So John and I have once again been thinking about it. We have one child (J.D.) that loves to work. He actually got a vacuum for Christmas and uses it most days. He loves to dust mop since we got our new floors, loves to help sort laundry, etc. Not sure if it is just b/c of his age but he always seems pretty helpful except where his room is concerned sometimes. Emily on the other hand is our princess and can be a bit lazy (like her mother I have to admit). She would rather dance, read, draw or talk! She is actually a very obedient child but you have to ask her to do everything....she will not normally offer to be of help except if something is new to her. John has struggled with the idea of asking them to do things that aren't neccesarily their responsibility like when the baby comes, watching her or helping with baby tasks (changing her etc)...he has said before that it isn't there job to take care of the baby, it is our baby but he also realizes that this is a family unit and there is a line and a balance.

John and I have been following Dave Ramsey's Money plan for awhile and really like his ideas. Another thing we want to teach the children is money management. We have read a little bit about this from Dave Ramsey. He does not believe in rewarding children for doing everyday chores but does believe that you can teach them really good money management skills in making them work on commission for things that they want. He suggest having them write a list of things they want (the list can change numerous times). He then suggest having a list of things (chores) that they can do when they want for the most part to earn money. I like this in that I cannot possibly make Emily do chores everyday b/c of school, homework, different activities etc. But on the weekend she could do several. He suggests assigning an amount of money to each task. Most in our house will be 50 cents. Then he suggests doing the envelope or jar system. Basically 10 percent to give, 10 percent to save and 10 percent to spend. This helps in counting money, teaching the child the importance of giving and saving and working for a living all at once. John is huge into you work hard for what you what. We have noticed that Emily has gotten a little bit into the "I wants" and the "please, please, please please, can I have this" which is probably our fault and we so want her to be appreciative for the things she has and the things people spend their hard earned dollar to buy her. One of the most important lessons my mother and father ever taught me was to say thank you no matter what, act excited and happy for whatever someone gives you, and always write a thank you note! I really do appreciate this lesson.

So we started our little commission system yesterday. We have a list of things that the kids must do just because they are "part of this family". This lists include things like putting their dirty clothes in the hamper, picking up trash on the floor or putting snack trash in the trash can, picking up dishes after they eat, putting their shoes in the garage, picking up wet towels and helping feed the dog. Most of these things are literally things that I think if I have to say one more time to do, I might go insane. These are those pet peeve kinds of tasks that I really do not think I should have to do. The kinds of things that make me yell :) This list is posted on their bathroom mirror so every night they can run through the list and it can help them remember the things that should be done. If I have to do these tasks then money gets taken away! The other is a list of chores that I normally do and don't mind doing but think they should be learning and would be a great help to me and daddy if they did. Putting folded laundry away is worth a dollar and it is worth every dollar to me for them to do it (this means mine and John's laundry too). Emptying the dishwasher is 50 cents. I like this b/c I can't sometimes wait for Emily to be around to empty the dishwasher but if it is something that needs to be done and she is available then great and she can earn some money. There is a list of 13 chores that they can make money for.

Now this is all well and good but does take some time and effort from mommy and daddy and that is where we have lacked in the past...and it has to keep Emily's attention so we are going to have to work really hard to make her see the that she is reaping reward for her labor. We will see how it goes.


Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.

Proverbs 14:23 In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

My husband and his projects.

We have been doing major home improvements in our home. I guess it is the upcoming birth of our little one that has spurred some of it. The carpet in our house was gross (people before us had a dog and who knows what it looked like underneath all those stains)! Our paint from 5 years ago was looking yuck, we have always disliked the bathroom tile, and John has despised the wallpaper in the dining room and the wall in between the kitchen and the dining room for 5 years now. He has wanted to tear down that wall and has talked about it forever! Now I am the careful type, not wanting to take on too much, not wanting to jump into a big project etc. We decided to get new carpet in the bedrooms after a little leak in our closet, then John started pulling up carpet elsewhere and found a leak near the hot water heater and some old termite damage (nightmare to say the least), so that made us move onto getting wood floors in the rest of the house (after the leak and termite damage was fixed of course). Well then that led to the decision about what to do with the ugly tile in the kitchen and whether to remove it or leave it until we could do more in the kitchen like cabinets, counter tops, and knocking down that obnoxious wall! It seemed silly to have the tools here to remove the tile and just leave the kitchen and then not continue the wood flooring in there. That wall was just driving John nuts! So one day while I was at work John and John Daniel started knocking it down. John Daniel said he got to "kung-fu" the wall! They had hammers and saws and the shop vac. It was crazy! I love my husband b/c he has guts and he is also very determined. When he makes up his mind to do something, well it is going to be done! He is also very meticulous in that he wants everything perfect, it has to be done the right way, cleaned up perfectly, he is very symmetric (comes in handy when he is laying tile) and he is a neat and clean freak. This is so awesome b/c I am so not detailed oriented! He has done a great job and now our house looks so much bigger. The wall is down, the holes are 1/2 way patched and floors are in. It looks awesome and I am so glad John had the guts to do it. Now we just have to finish the rest of the many projects that we have in mind! Oh the quest of owning your own home!!!

Things I can't wait to do when I am NOT pregnant!

This is one of those posts for my mom or any girlfriend that has ever been pregnant....

I cannot wait to sleep on my belly! I am a stomach sleeper (got this from my dad) and I snuggle down in those covers on my belly and fall right to sleep. Well this doesn't happen when I am pregnant of course and I miss it so much!

I can't wait to be able to bend over to tie my shoes!

I can't wait to be able to walk around without my pants falling down!

I can't wait to be able to shave my legs without having a big belly in the way!

Cabineering with Pop Pop and Nee Naw

My dad calls going to cabins in the woods "cabineering" which is close to camping I guess. February and March have lots of family birthdays for my family. Emily's, my cousin Mark, my Aunt D'Anna, my grandfather were all born in either February or March. My grandparents cannot really camp anymore. My grandfather is 87 but still loves the feel of it. They love nature and being outdoors and camping has always been a part of our families traditions and memories. So the past couple of years, for my grandfather's birthday, my Dad's side of the family goes cabineering together over by the Suwanee River and White Springs. They have super nice cabins for $100 a night. This past weekend was the weekend to go and my doctor, more like CHP, wouldn't let me go b/c I am 37 weeks pregnant and I sure don't want to deliver in the woods or at some small hospital without my doctor. So my Dad and Mom (pop pop and Nee Naw) took my kids for the weekend. They got to spend time with extended family such as their second cousins, great Aunts and Uncles, Great Grandparents, and other friends of the family. They left Friday and came back Sunday. Apparently they were very well behaved and I know they had a blast! They have talked about it since they got home and have told us all kinds of things they have learned. There is just something about being in the woods and not being able to watch TV etc that kids just love. They soak up all kinds of information. I love that they learned so much from their elders and extended family members. They went on a three mile hike, pushed dead trees over, found a bat house and listened to the noises they were making, climbed on sand dunes, watched the Suwanee river, played in the dirt, collected rocks, told stories, had coloring contests, rode bikes, and ate great food! They told John and I how the water was so low in the river and they said "before I was born, you and mommy were born, before pop pop and nee naw were born and even before Granny and Granddad were married the water was way up here (pointing to our ceiling) and above our house and the crocodiles liked it because they lived in the holes on the bank." They were so into telling the story. My parents said John Daniel was so dirty on Saturday that he needed to be washed in the river. It is great to be a kid! This morning when they woke up and I was getting them ready to go to school, John Daniel looked at Emily and said with a big smile, "remember how we went to the Suwanee River?" as if it had been days ago and he just wanted to remember the good times. I can't wait until our little girl gets old enough to go camping. John and I are eager and want to go spend some time in the outdoors...there is something about Florida's spring weather!

John and I on the other hand had a nice time. We ate out together, spent time watching movies at home, and got more home improvements done and I took lots of naps:)