house update

my workin boys









the boys painting (but the green is being up-tinted from gleeful to malange green)



master bedroom fan


boys baseball room fan


aqua tint kitchen






T minus 2 1/2 ish weeks til move in! woohoo my husband is amazing! not sure how he is managing the 70+ hour weeks but ever grateful for him busting his tail to get his family back together again (before the baby comes)!

SWEETEST BIRTHDAY BOY

i cannot believe my baby is 2 years old today! happy birthday to the sweetest little 2 year old i know! he melts my heart on a daily basis

heart torn mothers day

i have a wonderful mother, had a fabulous day celebrating together, enjoying the quality time, beach adventure, lupper, and many memories made. thanks mama, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

i have amazing little boys, who are growing up so fast. Eli is innovative, intuitive, independent, compassionate, and loving. Levi is passionate, determined, creative, cuddle bug, and sweet.

i have a little kicker & hiccupper growing each day inside my belly.

i have much to be thankful for this mothers day, and dont get me wrong I AM

however, this mothers day my heart is burdened more than any other mother's day

for my friends who are struggling with infertility and loss of children.

for the 163 MILLION kids around the world who do not have a mother to celebrate with.

for the children we will add to our family, who may already be orphaned, alone, with most likely a shortage of shelter, food, health care, love, someone to care for their needs, the ability to just be a kid. my heart aches, burns, and desires to have them home so that i can love them, feed them, hug them, put a band aid on their boo-boo, share the love of Christ with them.

i read a story about two little boys, who dont look any older than Eli who live in Uganda. they were dropped off in one of the slums by their mother, and she just walked away and left them to fend for themselves. just hours ago my boys were over tired and cried for me to just lay in bed and pat their backs and sing worship songs til they fell asleep. i cant imagine the desperation of just leaving them in filth to fend for themselves. i dont even let my kids play in the back yard by themselves let alone the streets of a major city. to read the whole story visit this awesome mama's blog

i care about the 163,000,000 children who are orphaned, alone, who do not have a mother to care for them. i want to do something. i want to bring them home and i want to place other kids in homes as well. i want to make an impact. i want to make disciples of all nations. i want to follow Him the rest of my days. i want to step out of the box and do something radical according to this society, because this is not my home! i am made for more than this life that i am living...

"once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." proverbs 24:12

"i know what i know and i cant deny it, something on the road cuts me to my soul"
-sara groves, i saw what i saw

"now that i have seen, i am responsible, faith without deeds is dead"
-brook fraser, albertine

smarty pants

Eli is really too smart for his own good... here are a few examples of conversations lately:



this song was on the radio, in the first 2 seconds of the song, he said: "when will the kids sing? mama can you put it on a cd so i can listen to it on my radio over and over again. i really like it! are those girls from africa? they have pretty voices!"

two nights ago while i was making dinner he sat at the table with a lowes weekly circular and out of the blue he said: "mama i need to talk to the plant man, because i need to show him how to put the gardenias in my new house. they are my favorite. can we get one of those mats so i dont make dirt come in the house? (he knows that when we go to columbia next week that we are going to map out our garden for Uncle Ty to help plant and meet with the landscaper friend of Chris' to choose what plants we want to buy... hoping for climbing jasmine, gardenias, hydrangeas, calla lillie's, & azaleas)

oh there are more... why cant i think of them... ill probably be back to add more later

MELT.MY.HEART

i'm not quite sure why, but quite frequently we smell the remnants of a fire burning. the outdoor kitchen smelling fire that is often smelled overseas. maybe the little hispanic community two streets over from my parents. normally we smell it early in the morning or in the evening, but today, in the middle of the day, the breeze brings us the scent my heart loves... the smell of africa! eli knows that it melts my heart for him to remind me that it smells like A F R I C A. i guess it being cinco de mayo the ladies are preparing a fiesta! well whatever the reason, i love having my senses exhilarated.

26 weeks

26 weeks, i breath a slight sigh of relief. i have made it to the "viable" nicu age. not that in any means i wish this upon my family, but at least i know that from now on, every single day counts towards making my baby, bigger, stronger, healthier, and more ready than the last to have a chance to live outside of my stomach, due to technology being so readily available, in our beyond blessed country.
reality kinda hit me the other day, 26 weeks = 10 weeks from when i delivered Levi and 11 weeks til i delivered Eli. i still have so much to do... aka MOVE and in some way or shape get us out of boxes before this little one is welcomed into this world. so all you friends who have said you want to help... believe me i will be calling each one of you for favors in the coming weeks... helping me unpack, watching my kids, or just grabbing a cup of coffee to retain my sanity. ahhh so T-10ish weeks is pretty much reality!
to answer the question in how am i feeling...
i had two really great weeks, few contractions and much more energized and less throwing up... but back to reality, back to contractions, throwing up, feeling utterly wiped out at all times of the day, gallbladder issues, acid reflux, a hernia, you name it... pretty much a complication. i go back to the dr next week for my glucose test and for an ultrasound to check the baby's kidney and ureter that are not functioning properly.
as in housing news... hardwood floors are nearly finished, cabinets and appliances get delivered tomorrow and installed this weekend, tile in the bathrooms gets installed this weekend, first coat of paint are on the walls, security system is installed... 4 weeks til closing!
truth be told, i had a little panic attack, not really but sorta when i realized it was already may... because my baby is turning 2 in the matter of days! sweet little cuddle bug is now nearly fully potty learned and gonna be 2!