So many things...

I woke this morning with so many thoughts already running through my mind. I hate when I wake up like that. I start the day off tired and overwhelmed. But I have to get up and start the day anyway, regardless of how tired I am.

My first thought was about Rhett. Can I feel him move this morning? Usually I feel him before I ever even give it a thought. Nope. Can't feel him today. Then the wondering begins. I had a routine check-up yesterday. Not a great appointment, although not a bad one either. Should have been a quick one, only measuring and checking blood pressure and his heartbeat. However, what should have been a 20 minute appointment tops turned into a 2 hour appointment. Yuk! When I go there to check in there were just a few people there so I had hopes I wouldn't have to wait long. After just a few minutes I was called up to the front desk and told I was a month behind on my payment. What? I've paid at each visit. Wouldn't you know, they had failed to mark one down. She asked me if I had a receipt from two months ago. Nope--don't make a habit of carrying around my receipt file with me. After telling her I could print off the bank statement from where I had paid by debit card two months ago she magically "found" it. By this point, my blood pressure is already a slightly higher. Then I return to my waiting chair to sit and wait and wait and wait. A family came in with two small children that were running everywhere. Now Brandon knows more than anyone when I go to the doctor I get a little uneasy and don't like to be talked to and don't like a lot of commotion around me. It adds to my nervousness. These kids were everywhere. Yelling, running, bouncing back and forth--being kids, I suppose. However, I am much better able to handle behavior like that outside of a doctors office. Blood pressure just a little higher now.

Finally an hour past my appointment time I am called back. First item of business, the dreaded scale. Yep! I knew it! BIG weight gain this month. 8 lbs in one month! Depressing, although a little expected. Rhett has really started sticking out there over the last week to two weeks. Back in the exam room, blood pressure--high. Of course! I've been accused of not paying my bill and had two kids running circles around me in the waiting room only to find out I've gained 8 lbs. Why would my blood pressure NOT be high? Rhett's heartbeat was great though at 165. His has consistently run higher than both my other boys. Nurse says he's "active". What and my other two are stoic? Don't think so. Doctor comes in (my least favorite doctor, by the way) and measures my belly and exclaims, "Hmmmm. That's strange." I'm thinking, ok...you do this for a living. Why is my situation strange? He tells me I'm dating (according to measurements) way ahead of schedule. He wants to do an ultrasound in two weeks to check for "issues". Now the word "issues" is just particularly alarming to me. It never means anything good in my experience. If someone has had "issues" with my children...if there are "issues" with a well pump..."issues" at work. All of this always indicates a problem to be dealt with. When I asked him what he could mean by "issues" he said, "Well, we just want to make sure he's not growing too big." Is there anyway to slow him from growing? Don't we WANT him to grow? I think normally I would be excited about another ultrasound and getting to see Rhett one more time before his arrival but the word "issues" has just totally taken the wind out of my sail. In my heart of hearts I know there is probably nothing to worry about. After all, there is a history of my growing a 9+ lb baby 5 years ago. I just assume Rhett is going to take after Lawson. Maybe we will even get the due date moved up and get to meet him a little sooner. I just ask for prayers that everything looks healthy and normal a week from Monday just like it did on April 2 when we saw him through ultrasound last time. Side note: I know I stated earlier in my post that I didn't feel him move this morning when I woke but he's kicking me as I type this so I know he's ok--just for those of you that may worry.

We have a busy weekend planned so those thoughts were racing as well. Everything I need to get done. The list seems to grow by the minute. We are having our Bible Class get-together at our house this weekend. It seems there is so much to do, but honestly, I just can't do it all. After all, these are my friends that we are having over and I just hope that as friends we understand and do not judge if we have an inch of dust sitting on furniture. I don't think any of them will think badly of me but as wives, mothers and women we feel the need for everything in the home to be perfect, don't we? My home is not perfect. I'm not the perfect housekeeper. Cleaning house is an uphill battle for me every time because if I start at one end of the house by the time I make it to the other end the end I've already cleaned is already messy again. What can I do? Throw my hands up sometimes, I say. My home is not spic and span, spotless. It never has been, never will be. It is home. It is where we laugh, play, love, argue, cry but are a family. It's so much more than walls and furniture that needs to be dusted. Much more than floors that need to be mopped and refrigerator that needs to be cleaned out. It is home and it is ours. Mine and my boys, big and little. It is our place and we love it dust and all. I think I know my friends pretty well and know that they can at least see it for that if they look past the dust. So all of you that are planning to be there Saturday night, leave your white gloves at home. You won't need them to find the dust this time. Ha! :)

Looking ahead I have something very special to look forward to. On Tuesday, June 3 I will have been married to my college (and current) sweetheart for 8 years! 8 years! Wow. It doesn't seem like it's been that long but in other ways I don't know what life was like without him. I don't want to know what I'd do without him. He goes unmentioned in much of my blogging--not intentionally or because he is less significant--quite the opposite. I think a mother just tends to talk more about her kids. But the love of my life is at home each morning taking care of his boys and at work in the evenings providing for us as a family. No one loves his family more, I'm convinced, than he does. I'm so thankful that out of all the people he could have chosen he picked me. I'm thankful for anniversaries and how they remind us and take us back to memories of that special wedding day. I think through life, kids, etc. we lose that feeling or the memory slips a little further back in our minds but this special day helps remind us of why we chose each other and why we are still choosing each other every day.

See...just what I told you. My mind is all over the place today. Maybe it's hormones today. I'm not sure what it is! Whew! I need a break though. :) Sorry for all the randomness in this posting today. Just one of those days. Just some thoughts I think I needed to get out there. Luckily for everyone, reading this blog is entirely optional and your personal choice so if you've been bored to tears you have no one to blame but yourself. Ha. :)

Today I'm thankful for little kicks that remind me a baby is growing inside of me...for two little boys that wouldn't let me leave for work this morning without "hugs and kisses"...for my husband of 8 years and sweetheart forever...for family (mom and dad in particular) that are helping me to get ready for the weekend..for another day I've been blessed with to have random thoughts racing through my head.

A Memorable Memorial Weekend

We were blessed to have Brandon's parents (Lawson and Jagger's Pappy and Mammy) and cousin Shane visit over the long weekend. Well, it was supposed to be a long weekend but long weekends are anything but long, right?

The boys enjoyed their visit so much as did we. Lawson even agreed to let Pappy eat a Catfish Cabin on Sunday but Pappy chose to let the boys eat at Cracker Barrel instead. That sure made my two little ones happy--except when Jagger didn't seem to realize that Cracker Barrel was actually where we had eaten. On the way home he kept telling us he wanted to go to Cracker Barrel! He refused to believe us when we would tell him we were just there eating. Silly boy--or STUBBORN boy! :)

Sunday night after church we enjoyed a cookout. My mom and dad joined us and we enjoyed each others' company. We don't get to see nearly enough of the Young side of the family but we definitely take what we can get. We are just so thankful that they used their time away from work and spent it with us. It is not an easy trip to make and we have made fewer and fewer since having kids--it's just not quite as easy as it used to be! But thanks, mammy and pappy for spending your weekend with us! We love you!

Here are some pictures we took over the weekend. Enjoy!

The boys and Mammy

The boys and Pappy

Brandon and his mom

Lawson and his Pappy

Lawson and his Mammy (Lawson's new favorite thing is climing trees now!

Jag and his Pappy (I think this picture is so sweet!)

Perfect evening!

Yesterday was a beautiful day here! The weather couldn't have been more perfect! It was only after we had already eaten lunch that Lawson asked if we could have a picnic outside. This is something my little boys love to do! We told them since we had already eaten, we would have a cookout and picnic outside for supper after church. They looked forward to it the rest of the day. Brandon grilled "delicious, yummy crabby patties" as my kids say and we enjoyed our picnic supper. (Let me just throw in there that this picture is not the greatest, but it's the best I could do! I have a hard time getting all three of my boys to look in the same direction and smile at the same time. I can only imagine what throwing another into the mix is going to do!) Still, we enjoyed our meal, enjoyed our company (mom joined us as well) and enjoyed the perfect night.

I might add to this post that I was very proud of my Lawson yesterday. He did something that I am not so great at myself. He went with his dad to visit the nursing home and help conduct church services there. I was told that he helped "Pop" (Carter and Laura Beth's granddaddy) pass out the songbooks for services and then helped collect them when services were over. Brandon said he was very well behaved and very respectful. He came home very excited and proud of himself for being a helper. He sometimes clams up around older people so we had been talking with him to explain that mommy and daddy would one day be old, too and that these men and women in the nursing home can't live with their families and are sometimes sad, but when they see little children coming to visit with them, it makes them smile and makes them happy. I wish I practiced more of what I preached. It is really something that I need to work on. But Lawson went and came back so happy for having been there. I know it was a blessing and hope his enthusiasm carries over for many years to come. I know he made me want to be a better Christian today and I am so thankful that I can see Christ-like things in him already. :)

Sorry, but mama just had to share that story!

The finished product

Well, here is our finished project for baby Rhett. This is what Nana and the boys and I worked so hard on. The boys painted and mom and I got them all hung up last night--with no men around to help. We women can be pretty good with a hammer, too! :) The boys are quite proud of how this turned out and proud that they had a hand in it. Of course, they thought they should have been able to help with the hammer, too, but we convinced them that was a job for grown ups. :)

I will admit, though that hanging these almost made me lose my religion! Each airplane had two brackets on the back so we had to level, etc. Then, trying to tie the ribbons where the letters all hung evenly was hard, too. But overall, I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I'm posting pictures below where you can see how it looks over his bed. Things are moving right along in his room--now if we can just hold out until August!

Old man on a Ferris Wheel????

I'm sure that my title to this post makes no sense to anyone. It barely makes any sense to me and I know the story behind it! I'll share:

Yesterday was a rainy day and the boys were stuck inside. Since mom has the summer off, she's been watching the boys at our house rather than me taking them over to her at her apartment. She said that the boys had wanted to go out an play on their new play set all day long but the weather was just too yucky. Lawson told her in his "grumpy" voice that he HATED this rain! He wished it would GO AWAY! Staying inside all day made him feel like an old man stuck on a Ferris Wheel! Now I'm not sure how you'd feel if you were an old man stuck on a ferris wheel, but apparently, to a 4-year-old, he would imagine that it wouldn't feel very good! :) I am laughing again even as I type this! I don't know where he gets some of the things that he says but I am never for a moment un-entertained!

As luck would have it, again, it is raining today. Not sure what he feels like today, but I do know that Nana helped them make a "tent" in the living room late yesterday afternoon and that at least made being stuck in the house bearable. They've spent a lot of time again today in the tent. Maybe tomorrow will be a nicer day and the old man can come down from the ferris wheel! :)

A project for baby brother...

Today both the boys assisted me with project for their baby brother. I remembered that before Jagger was born we painted wood letters of his name and hung them on the wall of his nursery. I always loved the way it looked and wanted to do the same thing for Rhett. I already had the wood letters but wanted wood pegs to hang them from. Hobby Lobby was the place to go and we found AIRPLANE pegs! As we painted Jagger's letters a few years ago, Lawson really wanted to help. I had an old piece of scrap wood and we gave him some paint and let him go. He made a painting (abstract art, of course! Ha) of blues, greens and yellows. On the front I wrote, "To Baby Jagger--From Big Brother Lawson and dated it 9/05. We still have in on display in the boys' room. I'm sure Jagger doesn't fully appreciate it and its meaning right now but am just as sure that he will some day. Lawson still remembers painting it for his little brother (before he even knew what getting a little brother meant!)

I wanted the boys to have a similar experience with the third child. So, I decided to let them help me paint the airplane pegs and letters. We set everything up outside (less of a mess to clean up that way) put on some old clothes, covered the table with a disposable $.75 plastic table cloth and the boys had a BLAST! They enjoyed "helping" to get baby Rhett's room ready. They are getting more and more excited and that makes me so happy. I just hope it lasts. I'm attaching a few more pictures of them carefully working on our painting project. Last night and today they are still drying, but we hope to get them hung on the wall tonight and I'll try to post pictures of the finished project real soon.

Nana had to help Jagger a little although I don't think he really appreciated it! :) He's rather independent!

Lawson working very carefully! He did a GREAT job!

Jagger doing it on his own.

Lawson finishes the first one up.

24 Weeks!!!

Well, here we are! 24 weeks! Only 15 left! Normally it would be 16 weeks left but since my c-section will be scheduled one week earlier than my due date, I only have 15 left to go! I am getting very excited but feel extremely large! I have a knack for producing big boys and I am already assuming that this one will be no different. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that I still have to make it all the way through August but I know somehow, I'll survive. :)

I love the honesty of my kiddos! A couple of days ago I was greeted home from work by Jagger's large eyes and him saying, "WOW! Mommy!!! Your belly is getting BIGGER AND BIGGER!!!" I keep trying to convince myself that he's just excited because he knows that because mommy's belly is getting larger means Rhett is getting more and more ready to make his appearance. At least it makes me feel better! :)

Well, this is just a quick post. I am heading out today and taking some time off this afternoon to spend with my boys. They have been gone for a couple of nights and I am missing them terribly! We plan to meet up in Jackson and spend the afternoon piddling and doing a little shopping. I am VERY read to see them. So with that, I'm outta here! :)