Happy Birthday Kevin!

Here are 27 things we love about you:

1. You love us so much and spend every available moment with us!
2. You teach Caleb how to be adventurous.
3. You never say anything about how many Sonic drinks I've had in 1 week. :)
4. You love singing along to songs even if you don't know the words!
5. You very rarely become frustrated or angry.
6. You treat others with the utmost respect and kindness.
7. You love God and are a spiritual leader for our family.
8. You love to watch sunrises and sunsets.
9. You love to tickle Caleb.
10. You are extremely handy and can do just about anything around the house.
11. You are a VERY hard worker! I'd be embarrassed to see how much you got done around the house if you were the stay-at-home parent for a while!
12. We have switched personalities on the matter of cleanliness and organization...I have become much more relaxed and you have become more meticulous.
13. You love to eat my cooking (even though I'm not a very good cook) and even prefer it to going out to eat.
14. Your frugality has worn off on me (and I have taken it to a new extreme).
15. You love to play Monopoly, but so lovingly compromise to play the card game (that takes 15 minutes) instead of the full-blown game because you know I can't stand it.
16. You are just as sentimental about memories as I am.
17. You always take time to cuddle with Caleb, no matter how much you have to do.
18. Caleb loves it when you give him a bath because you let him splash water EVERYWHERE.
19. You are extremely kind and gentle with the elderly...that is one of your many God-given gifts.
20. You are SOOOOO handsome! ;)
21. You always honor your commitments and follow through with your word.
22. You still give me butterflies!
23. You are the best flower arranger I know!
24. You enjoy being involved in every aspect of parenting and you don't even mind changing poopy diapers!
25. You are an amazing husband, father, son, brother, and friend!
26. You NEVER get jealous about ANYTHING...except when I make a meal for someone else and tell you that we're having McDonalds for dinner (again).
27. You continually honor us with your love, devotion, and desire to keep God at the center of our family!

We love you! Happy Birthday!!!!

Love: Jenae, Caleb, and Baby (Noah?) :)

No News...

We had our echo-cardiogram today. I assumed we would see the doctor afterwards, but apparently that isn't protocol. So it was just the sonogram with no additional information. My doctor's office is supposed to call me tomorrow or Monday after the specialist has reviewed the results. The sonogram tech wouldn't tell us anything at first. I asked her in the very beginning if the heartbeat looked irregular to her and she refused to comment. A few minutes later she said that our sonogram was "really boring, which is a good thing." I wasn't really impressed...she was very cold and not personable at all. Finally, at the end she told us that she didn't see anything irregular, but she isn't the expert. So...we wait to find out more information (hopefully tomorrow). Thank you so much for the prayers!

Prayers, please...

On Friday I had a "routine" check-up at my OB's office. I was supposed to see my actual doctor on Thursday, but he was going to be out of the office both Thursday and Friday, so I saw the nurse practitioner. Since Kevin had been gone so much from work due to our vacation, I told him he didn't need to come since it would probably be in-and-out since I normally don't have to wait long to see the nurse practitioner. Plus, we had just had our sonogram a week before, so I felt good that everything was fine. This was the first time in either pregnancy that Kevin has not been with me at an appointment. It was also the first time that Caleb had ever come with me. He normally stays with my mom, but again I thought we would be in-and-out. Needless to say, it did not turn out how I expected.

Caleb cried as soon as we got into the exam room (maybe he associates exam tables with the pain of shots or maybe he thought the medical aid was hurting me by taking my blood pressure???). Then the sweet nurse practitioner listened for the baby's heartbeat using the Doppler. She left it on there much longer than my doctor normally does. She then proceeded to tell me that she heard an irregular heartbeat. My heart dropped.

I immediately started crying. Caleb's on-and-off crying didn't help. I couldn't think of any questions to ask, I just kept thinking, "This is the only appointment Kevin hasn't been with me...I need him here!" My muddled memory recalls her saying that I needed to see the high-risk specialist in town to do some additional testing, and that most of the time it is nothing...they just want to be cautious and thorough. Beyond on that, I don't remember much of what she said. When I got to the elevator 15 minutes later, I embarrassingly admit that was the first time I thought about praying about it.

Since there is apparently only 1 high-risk specialist in town, she is extremely difficult to get into. Before an appointment can even be made, she had to review my entire chart. Then it is usually another 2-3 weeks before she can see you. My doctor's nurse called me a couple times on Monday to update me on the status. She then called again yesterday to let me know that an appointment had been scheduled for THIS Thursday...as in 2 days from then!!! I was thrilled...that in and of itself was an answered prayer. With 2-3 weeks, I would have for sure gotten it stuck in my head the worst possible scenario was what we were facing (I've told you before, I am a worrier).

So tomorrow we go to see the high-risk specialist to have an echo-cardiogram on the baby (it's supposedly just like a sonogram where they look more intensely at the heart). I have debated whether to post this on my blog, but I finally realized that we need all the prayers we can get right now! My dad as well as my OB's nurses have tried to reassure me that some irregularity can be normal in pregnancy, but of course I will feel much better once we know for sure.

All of this long-winded story is ultimately just to ask you to PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR BABY! Thank you!

Houseguests

We have a new family that has decided to take up residence in the wreath on our front door...4 baby birds!!! We noticed the next with the eggs a couple weeks ago and then when we got back from our trip, they had all hatched. Whenevcr we open the door, they start poking their little beaks up and look so hungry! The mommy bird comes and goes as she pleases (we are just hoping that she doesn't fly into our house when we open the door one of these days).

Caleb has LOVED getting to see the baby birds and goes to the door several times a day and says, "birds, birds." We think it is pretty neat too, although I feel bad that they are in a location where they are frequently jostled by the opening and closing of our door. We are really enjoying these visitors and will be sad to see them take residence elsewhere! :)

Curious...

Caleb "pretending" to be shy with the birds!

Farmer Caleb

Caleb just looks like he should be a farmer in the overalls, especially in Daddy's truck!

Singing and Silly Words

Here is a video of Caleb singing one of his favorite songs he learned in the nursery at church. He started it and I finished it (please, please, please overlook my TERRIBLE singing voice--I definitely know how bad of a singer I am). He is talking more everyday and some words in a very cute way! :)

5 Years Ago Today...

I married my best friend and the love of my life. I am so thankful for this amazing man! I cannot imagine sharing my life without him. Every joy is even more amazing and every sorrow more bearable knowing he is by my side. I love you, Kevin. Happy 5th anniversary!!!

North and South Carolina

We took a trip this past week to see my brother in North Carolina. We traveled with my family as well as my mom's sister and her family. All together, there were 14 of us!

We watched Chris' soccer game in Charlotte on Saturday night at then drove 3 1/2 hours in the middle of the night to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We had a great time and were all exhausted by the time we came home! The highlight was definitely seeing Caleb at the beach...he absolutely LOVED the ocean (except when the saltwater got in his eyes) and couldn't get enough of playing in the sand. We had some challenging moments, but overall he was a great little traveler. Oh, and he LOVED all of the attention he got from everyone! :)

Oh, and I absolutely LOVE the houses in South Carolina! They are so beautiful, southern, and cute...every single house has shudders and window grids (without the garage sticking out in the front)! Why can't they build houses like that here???

Waiting to get on the airplane

All 14 of us after Chris' game


Getting to see Uncle Chris after his game

Giving "Winger the Eagle" a high-five

Catching a wave with Chris and Daddy

Playing in the sand with Aunt Kellie

LOVING the sand and water!

Taking a walk on the beach with Papa and LoLa

Posing with Daddy

Such a happy boy!

Getting a picture with Mama

At the hotel water park with Daddy

Caleb LOVED the slide!

It's a.....

BOY!!!! We are thrilled that we are having another little boy! Caleb and his little brother are going to grow up to be such good buddies! And I am seriously outnumbered now. :) God has answered our prayers by allowing everything to look "healthy" on the sonogram...we can't ask for more!!!

Our little boy wasn't cooperating in order to get one of those adorable profile sonogram shots, but we got the profile of his head and the boy parts (which I'm sure he will be mortified I posted in 15 years).

Caleb went with us to the sonogram (I know he didn't really understand anything, but we wanted him to be there anyway). Thanks to 3 suckers...he made it through! We were trying to get him to say "brother" and he says "bruda" (the same word he uses for burger and booger). :)

Now, the hunt for a name begins. We have absolutely NO CLUE. With Caleb, we knew the minute the sonogram technician told us he was a boy what his name would be. This one is a different story. Any suggestions???

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him." -Psalms 127:3

Ultimate Diaper Savings

I ventured all the way out to our west-side K-mart this morning to snag some great deals on diapers (and a few other good deals). They are having their "Double Coupons" week going on through Saturday where they double all coupons up to $2.00 (so you can save $4 off 1 item). I had some Huggies coupons on hand and bought 2 papers this past Sunday because they had $2.00 Pampers coupons (as well as asked Kevin's mom and my grandma for theirs). So, all-in-all we left with 9 packages of diapers...2 packages for the baby's stockpile, 1 package of swim diapers, and the remaining 6 for Caleb. With the exception of the swim diapers, all packages were under $3.00 a piece (normally $9.99)!!! Click here to find out how. We are still using our cloth diapers when we are home, but take disposables when we go out or we are traveling. I can also submit all of my Huggies diapers and wipes in to the Caregivers Marketplace for an additional $0.75 off each package. I also got 3 huge deals of Pantene shampoo for free, a package of toilet paper and a package of paper towels for $0.44 total, and some All Free & Clear for $2.50.

On a side note, I wasn't impressed with this K-mart. It was dark, dingy, and dirty...but hey I saved $80.00 overall! I now have about 6 $5 off coupons, so if anyone is heading to K-mart, call me first to get one!!!

Final Price for all of these items: $63.06

What I would have paid full price: $143.70

A wonderful feeling that I got a good deal: Priceless! :)

a 4th full of fun, food & fireworks

We had a great 4th of July at Table Rock! We celebrated with my family (minus Brad & Chris). Caleb is absolutely obsessed with being in the water...anytime someone would be finished wakeboarding, he wanted in! He also really loved the fireworks...I thought they would scare him, but they didn't at all. We let him stay up both Friday night and Saturday night until around 10 or 10:30 (I know, shame on us). Thankfully, we are back into our routine of an 8:00 bedtime. My mom made so much yummy food (as usual) that I think we all came home 5 lbs. heavier! :)

Our little family on July 4, 2009

Kevin wakeboarding

Caleb tuckered out after a couple hours on the boat!
(And Mama with no makeup and a lovely maternity swimsuit...)

Wearing Papa's hat

Watching Daddy and Jaydan do some "small" fireworks (Mama wouldn't let him get too close...)

Enjoying the hay bale in Eureka Springs

Loving every minute of being in the water!

Watching the Shell Knob fireworks...usually they have a wonderful show, this year it wasn't as great but still lots of fun!

Caleb's look of amazement while watching the fireworks

Me "trying" to take a time-delayed photo of the fireworks...the lights below are all of the lights from the boats on the lake. :)

I hope everyone else enjoyed this past holiday weekend!

water park pictures for daddy

Today was the third time that Caleb and I have been to the new Y water park. They have toddler time every MWF from 10-11:30 with just the "little people" attractions open (which is great because you don't have to worry about your baby being trampled by the super-excited elementary school kids). Every time we go, Kevin asks, "Did you take any pictures???" Between getting both of our swimsuits on (which involved me trying on different swimsuits to find one that fit until I finally broke down and bought a maternity swimsuit), sunscreen applied, sippy cup filled, and gathering towels...getting the camera wasn't my first priority. But today I remembered! So, these pictures are for you Kevin. They aren't great because I couldn't get Caleb's attention away from the water attractions and other kids, but at least it is something! :)

We only have 2 weeks left of our "free" entrances to the water park. I canceled our membership because we never used it (minus our 3 water park outings). So, we will enjoy it while we can!!! "Ewww...this is fun!"

"I'm off to find more adventures."

This kid makes friends with everybody!

He looks bored, but he totally wasn't!

"This water is kinda cold at first..."

Caleb loved waiting for the big bucket to dump out all the water and then running back and forth on the cement and splashing in the puddles.