New beginnings

Sam on his first day of preschool


It seems like here lately we've been going through a lot of "firsts" in our house. First day of preschool and tomorrow will be the first day of having "the boys" instead of "Sam". Jared and I were talking about this as we drove down to Beaumont today. I can't believe that tomorrow I'll be a mother of two boys! Just last week I turned 27 (30 is quickly approaching). Some days I feel like we're still in college dating, but alas we're in this grown up life of ours...you know: mortgage, jobs, kids, car notes, insanely high electric bills, blah blah blah. How did this happen? WHEN did this happen? It seems like I just blinked and I'm an adult. Some days I'll be honest, I hate it. I hate thinking about bills from month to month or job security or all that other grown up stuff. But most days, I wouldn't trade this stage of life that we're in for anything. I love being a mommy (granted it is one of the hardest things in this life). I love teaching him new things and also hearing the things he comes up with on his own...especially this new imagination stage he's in! I love sharing my life with Jared and it's crazy to think we've known each other for almost 10 years! We're just starting a lot of new stuff and it almost feels like a new chapter in the story of our lives (is that too cheesy to blog??? Oh well...) Either way, it's exciting all this new stuff. I can't wait to meet our newest little boy tomorrow, I can't wait to see Jared hold him, or to see Sam's brain wrap around this thing called Nate that we've been talking about for months. I'm just full of emotions right now. Ready for another new beginning.

So very blessed!

So today I woke up and my wonderful husband made me a great birthday breakfast. Then later he's going to run all the errands that I was supposed to but now can't since being put on bed rest. I have to take this moment to brag on him (I don't do it near enough)...Jared has been doing EVERYTHING around our house these days! And I don't mean like doing the things that he thinks should be done (bc we all know the list of things that women/mothers think need to be done vs. men/daddies is quite different...nothing wrong with that. They're just different). I am a planner. I've had a list posted to the side of the fridge for two weeks now of things I've been checking off that needed to get done before Nate came. Now...I can check nothing off myself. So my wonderful husband has picked up where I left off. He's not obsessive or controlling or anything close to that like I am, but being the wonderful help mate that he is, he knows it's a big deal to me...that I will even lose sleep thinking about to do lists and creating sub to do lists in my head. So he has become the list checker offer for the time being. He knows that when we go to the doctor on Monday, it's going to be go time (or at least we have to be prepared for that since we live an hour and a half away from the doctor). I feel like thank you is just not enough....surely there is a phrase that is bigger and encompasses more than just "thank you". But alas I couldn't find any words or phrases better than that so this mere blog post will just have to suffice. Jared, you are an amazing husband and daddy. Sam & I (and soon to be Nate too) would be lost without you. Thank you for sacrificing for us. Thank you for putting yourself in my shoes and trying your best to see life through my eyes (that is no easy task I tell ya!). And thank you for loving us....because we love you so much!

Lessons learned on bed rest

Well...I went back to work about a week and a half ago and I quickly could tell things weren't going so well. I was in a lot of pain and when I would get home I would be just about dead. Wednesday I went to the doctor for a check up with a lot of concern. The day before I was experiencing a lot of pain and couldn't walk. So what did I do? I wheeled myself around that day in a chair with wheels. Did I look ridiculous? Probably so, but at least I wasn't in any pain doing that. So Wednesday I was explaining all this to my doctor and since I'm 37 weeks the doctor put me on bed rest to help ensure me going a little further. We don't want Nate to come early and have to be in the NICU...so since Wednesday (and it's only Thursday!) I've been laying on the couch or bed. Here's something I've learned about myself in that short time...

This may come as a surprise to some of you but I'm a slight control freak. Yeah..like I said, this may surprise SOME of you, but not most. :) When you can't do much of anything for yourself, you have to rely on others. And for someone who wants to control everything I've had two choices to make. 1. Be that person who tries to control others or 2. Deal with the fact that others are trying to help and it's okay if it's not MY way. I've been working with #2....it hasn't been easy, but I've been so overwhelmed with all those who've stepped in to help us that I feel like the Lord is using this time of "rest" to teach me how to chill out. Chill out...something I don't do very well at all. But I'm learning...and for that I'm thankful.

Thankful Thursday

With the baby countdown under way (5 weeks to go!) it's becoming more and more uncomfortable. So I'm reminding myself of all the things I'm thankful for! Join me in counting your blessings today...even amidst trials.


1. Two great friends who've been helping me get my room packed, moved, unpacked, and set up. Without them, I probably would have already had Nate that's for sure!


2. A GREAT night's sleep! No leg cramps, no potty breaks, no contractions. It felt awesome! Thank you Lord for granting me the rest I so desperately needed.


3. My baby "sprinkle" coming up this Saturday. Mexican pot luck, couples game night...what else could be more fun?!?!


4. Getting to see Jared for a little while on Tuesday. He's been at GA Camp all week as their camp pastor and I've been missing him like crazy! I went for a visit on Tuesday, but I still can't wait for him to come home tomorrow. Our house is just not the same without him.


5. Dinner with friends last night. Love that God has blessed us with such amazing friends. I also love that Nate was wide awake and moving for them to feel! :)


I challenge you to think about and let others know what you're thankful for. It's really easy to get in a funk or to go through difficult times and not be able to see God's blessings all around. STOP and THINK right now of one thing to be thankful for today and share that blessing with someone. You never know....your perspective might be the only God-glorifying thing someone hears/sees today.

~Elizabeth

Nate update/random ramblings

One of the biggest questions I get about being pregnant (after the whole...go through the heat of the summer business) is "Is Sam ready to be a big brother?". And I always respond the same way..."He doesn't know what's about to hit him!" It's true. He has no clue what Nate means. He knows that Nate is in Momma's tummy, but he also thinks that Nate is in his tummy, and Daddy's tummy, and a lady from our church's tummy too! It's been really sweet here lately because my belly is getting SOOOO big and at random times Sam will come up and give Nate a gentle kiss or he'll say "tickle tickle tickle" and tickle my belly. He's just now starting to realize how to be easy and gentle and it just melts my heart. In my head I wonder...what does he really understand? There's no way he could possibly fathom a baby growing in my belly. But I wonder, what is he going to think when he meets Nate for the first time? He is going to think to himself..."THIS is Nate???? Boy did I have it all wrong!" Haha. I kid around, but at the same time I'm serious. We've got seven weeks left to get into gear as I've been telling myself and it just doesn't seem real. Summer is completely flying by and before you know it, the school year will start back up again. Ugh. Not ready for that, but I know with a new year comes a new baby! I'm so ready. I can't even begin to explain how ready I am. I just wonder if Sam is too.

Goals for the Week:

I'm hoping that by posting my goals for the week that it will increase my chances of them actually being accomplished so here goes:

1. Clean out spare bedroom closet/get Sam moved into new room. We've really been talking it up with him and we got the new mattress delivered today. Every time he walks by it he says "big bed". Fingers crossed he loves his new room/bed.

2. Get a pedicure. :) I've had a gift certificate since two weeks before my last day of school from one of my students and I have yet to use it. Jared's day off is on Thursday and EVERY Thursday since we've been out for summer we've had doctor's appointments or something. I'm looking forward to some mommy time ALONE. :) Can you tell I'm excited????

3. Practice making Sam's birthday cake...again. I made a trial run cake on July 4th and while it tasted GREAT, it looked awful. I'm attempting to make a baseball cake and it keeps sticking to the pan. I put plenty of shortening inside but no such luck. Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated.

4. Print out Sam's bday invitations. My amazing husband created invitations based on what I saw a lady selling them on etsy design. I told him how she could make them for us and he said "oh I can do that". And what do ya know??? He did! He's very creative when it comes to computer stuff...and that saved us a lot of cash too so we're both happy. :)


Well....happy goal meeting! Good luck with your goals for the week! Hopefully both of ours will get done

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I blogged last, but for good reason! Sam and I have been quite busy with each other lately. Lake days? No. Shopping? No. Just hanging out around the house and trying to stay cool that's all. He's kinda thrown his Momma & Daddy a curve ball since transitioning into a toddler bed. No more sleeping until 8 am anymore. He wakes up at least once a night and his new wake up time is anywhere from 6-7 am....sometimes earlier. So needless to say this summer dream of sleeping late has faded fast. But tomorrow we get his big mattress delivered and I think that should help his sleep habits more. He did great sleeping at my dad's house on their full size mattress so I'm hoping that this transition will help. We'll also been getting him new bedding and redoing his room (everything but paint thankfully). I can't wait to get it all fixed up and then move on to Nate's nursery. Crazy how everything is happening so fast! I'm ready though....We went this past week for Sam's ear checkup and for my regular checkup and 3d ultrasound. What a day that was! Sam's hearing is now ABOVE normal (praise the Lord!) and baby Nate is weighing in at 3 lbs. 12 oz so far! I started having some contractions this past week and have been pretty miserable since. It's getting harder for me to sleep or should I say fall asleep and stay asleep. My legs are cramping up a lot this go round, which didn't happen with Sam at all, and I wake up listening for Sam to be up and about. So overall...sleep isn't great with me right now. We put a safety lock on the door so Sam couldn't get out of his room at night, but the little stinker has already figured it out. He does pretty good most of the time about not getting out of bed. When he wakes up in the mornings he'll either come in our room (and we put him back in bed) or he'll knock on his door until someone comes to get him. Either way, whenever he leaves his room he ALWAYS shuts the door behind him! Jared and I were laughing about that yesterday bc we don't really know where he picked that up from except that we close doors to keep him out of our room I guess. He's growing up so fast and becoming so silly everyday. In fact, a friend from church has taught him to refer to himself as Silly Sam. I think the title fits him to a t. I think that's about it for us....we've just been relaxing at home. I've gone up to the school a couple of times and gotten most of the stuff moved out of my classroom and into my new one, but I can't work anymore this week bc the school is closed. After that I hope to get my room set up and work on writing some mini lessons to teach writing in fourth grade (I had already done 1-3rd 6 wks for third grade before they told me I was moving grades). I'm getting more okay with teaching a new grade, however the anxiety of teaching two tested subjects is a little bit scary for me....especially since it's a new test that I don't know much about. I know that it's going to be a different kind of year for me taking eight weeks off for maternity leave then coming back full swing, but I'm excited at the chance to do something new and different. Teaching never gets boring that's for sure!

Anyway, I hope all of you are enjoying your summer...whether you have it off of work or just a little vacation time!