Its a boy!

Its a boy!!

 

Once upon a time I bought this outfit on a great clearance sale. You don't see that many adorable boy clothes compared to girls so I snatched this great deal up thinking I would give it away at the next baby boy shower I went to. Well lots of baby boy showers came and went but for some reason I just could never part with it. So I thought of it pretty quickly this week when I found out we would be having a little baby boy of our own. To be honest part of me hoped that this baby would be a girl for Ava to have a sister close in age, because we have girl things already and because I had a name I was leaning toward but the minute we heard it was a boy it felt somehow very right. While we don't have any boy clothes besides this, no name yet and so many other unknowns as we begin this adventure, I can't help but feel excited and ready for this next chapter!

First Dance Class

 

While we enjoy lots of free style dance parties around this house, at last week's play group at church Ava got to do her first dance class with actual instruction. It was a fun time by all, especially watching her buddy Izzy do her own thing. (Thanks AM for this great video of our girls) It was a fun day!

Hello again!

 

Well as most of you know by now, we are expecting baby #2 this spring! If you missed our announcement video you can find it here: https://vimeo.com/52978836

 



Ava's been getting use to the idea of a new baby.



Which didn't take her long to get excited about the idea of being a big sister!

I am finally starting to come out of the sick/tired phase. Thus my lack of blogging the past few months. Glad to be getting back in the swing of things. So here's the highlights so far:

• I'm due May 2nd, So today I'm 16 weeks
• Ava keeps telling me she wants "a girl or a sister"
• Showing sooner this time, already had to breakout some materinty pants
• Dec 4th is hopefully when we find out if its a boy or a girl
• I have a girl name I love but no ideas for a boy's name (notice I said I, I haven't gained Ryan's consenus on that just yet but hey thats how things went down last time too).
• We've heard the hearbeat several times and got to see the little one on screen a few times.
• My doctor was running behind the other day, I felt like to make up for it (we weren't upset or anything) but she offered us a quick ultra-sound peek again, we could see little arms and legs moving about. I like my doctor, mainly because the reason she was running late she said was that she had a new patient that had lots of questions. My doctor never leaves the room without checking in to see if you have any questions and actually waits patiently for the response.

Expect some catch up posts to follow. We are preparing for a fun weekend of out of town friends comming to stay, Aunt Amy's birthday, Christmas pictures and lots more. Hope your weekend if great too! 

Last of summer...

Today feels like winter but just a few weeks ago it was pretty hot when we went to the state fair. Its fun to go to these annual events and see the new ways she can enjoy them and take them in now that she's another year older.

 

Petting a baby chick



Shopping at the farmers market

pig races

Not a fan of the noise at the pig races.

Pretty safe to say that was the last summer weather we will have for the season. Although living in Oklahoma maybe thats not that safe to say. Either way we are enjoying the change of season around here with warm layers, candles, hot soup and snuggle time on the couch today. I love summer but I love fall too!

House updates!

Slowly but surely, we are making more progress on settling into this house and making it a home. Here's a few pictures of summer updates: 

After about 5 months of actively searching on Craigslist for a dinning room table, we found a good one for our family right now, not too formal and just the right size. So this is a pretty cool deal, we bought this table and a buffet table that went with it for $450 from sweet old man named Larry who was down sizing. The buffet was beautiful but too big for the dinning area and I couldn't find anywhere else it looked right due to its large scale. So back on Craigslist it went and Ryan sold it for $375. So this table with six chairs and a leaf cost us only $75 when it was all said and done. Ryan will be telling this story for generations to come. This is a picture of our first meal at it when grandma came to town last week to watch Ava while Ms. Laura was on vacation.

Daicia this picture is for you! Daicia asked for a playroom update picture over a month ago with the new rug we added.  I am in love with the fun ikea rug that gives some much needed pop of colors to the play room. Our big picture window here is on our second floor and great for watching Oklahoma rain and thunder storms roll in. (Don't worry moms we don't watch Tornadoes roll through, we go to our safe place when they are in the area).

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do on the mantel. With some inspiration from pinterest and help from a friend I finally put together a display that I'm really liking.

Also finished my plate wall in the kitchen, I found these beauties on clearance at Target this summer. Wish you could see the dainty pretty details around the edge of the places. Nice to have something dimensional on the wall.

First slip and slide

Ryan went grocery shopping with me last weekend. 

He found a slip and slide on the summer clearance aisle that wound up in our cart, not sure which of these two had more fun with it: 

Hard to believe summer is coming to a close. Happy Holiday Monday!

Hello there!

Well I'm back! So my ground rules for this fast was no facebook, blogs or really much recreational use of the internet at all and no TV. So in all honesty, I cheated some and ended it a day sooner than I originally planned but defiantly reduced my consumption in this area by about 90-95%. This was inspired by the book Seven by Jen Hatmaker. I have done some other fasts since reflecting on that book and will do more, I am realizing the was great wisdom in the fasting examples from the new testament. 

So as I reflect on this fast it surprises me that it was easier, actually enjoyable, at first and then was harder. What I realized about media consumption is how much I let it suck away the precious gift of time God has entrusted to me. The hours I spend each week watching TV or being on the internet can really distract from living a purposeful and  missional life that I want too. The first few days felt freeing and liberating, then a feeling of loneliness and at times boredom crept in. A good side of the internet has become a way to stay in touch and be connected with those we don't get to see in our everyday lives. I hope as I let media back in my world again, I find a better balance with it.  Beside scripture I read a lot from the book 1,000 gifts during the past few weeks. The writing is amazing, deep and maybe even a little too advanced for me but it was the perfect read for this time. Its about noticing all the gifts/blessing we overlook daily, we check out or get focused on tragedy and hurt and miss all gifts God gives us each moment of each day. Living presently with a grateful heart for each moment is another spiritual task of self discipline to work toward in my life. Here's some pictures of the last few weeks of things I felt more present with and grateful for.

A new found love for TuTu's

Ava loves to look at the "bubbles" on the sunroof after it rains. 

Ice cream date, just me and my girl

back seat giggles

watching the way he loves her

Geese in our back yard

Her, "I did it by mself" smile

Conquering new challenges

After dinner family walks