It's time to come out of the closet

We've been hiding some news for a few weeks now. But, I am ready for it to be out there.

We are having another baby!

Baby #3 is due to arrive just before Christmas. I've held off sharing till I could hear the heartbeat, but I've pulled out my handy doppler twice now, and there was that beautiful, fast swish swish swishing of the newest member of our family.

Hoping in Pink

Today we are hoping in pink. Kylee is decked out in a fuscia t-shirt and her pink tutu. She refused her pink shoes and opted for the purple instead, but hey, she is her mother's daughter! Today we are hoping for April Rose. If you don't know the story, go here and check it out!

If you take a picture in pink, email it to hopinginpink@gmail.com

Nick took this picture of us last night during some great cuddle time.Not a fabulous pic of me, but hey, it's got two great kids in it!

First attempt at our Hoping in Pink photo. This is what she does when we say "Give us a pretty smile!"

Even though we don't do boys in pink at our house, I had to take a picture in his boyish Handy Manny jammies! He's just too cute not to take a picture!

And from one day last week, a on of my favorite daddy/daughter pictures!

I think I'm a bit strange

I am not a hugger. Not with most people anyway. I tense up when most people hug me. I don't mind it when it's my close family, like my parents, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, etc. or my really close friends. But most other people, I get really tense. It makes me very uncomfortable. I hesitate to say anything because I know some people will say something along the lines of "Well, I'm a hugger, so you'll just have to deal with that." But I don't think I should have to. I don't think I should have to hug people I don't want to hug. I don't like it when random people at church do it either. There are very few church people I like to be hugged by. What's even stranger, is on every Love Language test I've taken, physical touch is my top one. I LOVE to be hugged, held, snuggled by my husband. I love it when it's my kids. But most other people, I just don't like it. It feels fake and insincere a lot of the time. And it's people touching me.

I don't like most other people touching me. When I was pregnant with Kylee and Elijah, I HATED when people would touch my belly. I started putting music folders there when I was at church (I worked in the music department when pregnant with Kylee), or I'd carry Kylee on my belly when I was pregnant with Elijah. I hate it. First of all, it's me your touching, not the baby. It's MY belly. Second, I just think it's plain rude to assume it's ok to touch pregnant belly's. There were very few people that I let touch my belly. In fact, I think there were about three after Nick.

When a friend is upset, my first instinct is not to hug them. Is that wrong or bad? Because I don't like to be hugged, especially in a bad situation (because usually it makes me both uncomfortable AND it can turn on the water works) I tend to not do that for others. There are a few that I am close enough to that I KNOW they want a hug, so I do.

Does it make me weird that I don't want most people to touch me? Touch is a very intimiate thing to me. It's a symbol of closeness to me. The problem is what if someone thinks they are close to you, but you don't feel the same way? I have a feeling there are people in my life like that too. I often avoid sharing any time of news with people as much as possible because I don't want to be hugged! Is it wrong? I personally don't think so, but maybe that's because it is who I am. I am who I am. I have a lot of other good qualities. I just don't like to be touched.

Requests

I come with a request today...or maybe more. We are really needed to find a bigger place to live. We aren't currently in a position to buy, and all the 3 bedroom rentals we've seen lately are no pets. I really don't want to have to get rid of Barrett, so that is definitely a last resort. The other is some of the 3 bedrooms are so stinking expensive. We looked at one and the rent was pretty high for how dumpy it was! Please just be praying with us and for us that we find something bigger and affordable in the coming months.

Honestly, I'm getting so tired of this place. Our landlord is great, but it's small and I think what we pay is good considering some of the other duplexes down the street are $100 less and they are all the exact same size. She's also raising our rent. I just don't want to pay much more for a 750 sqare foot, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, no dishwasher place. Like I said, she's great, but I don't want to pay any more for something so small. We still have boxes we can't unpack because there isn't enough space for it. So please just pray for us to find something else. I think Nick is calling about a place today, but it says no pets. He just wants to see if they are willing to negotiate at all.

Other prayer requests: April's mom, Chelsey and Brian, and I'm sure there are others out there.

Storms!

I'm a big fan of thunderstorms. I am not, however, a big fan of wind, hail or tornado watches or warnings. I like the thunder, the lightning and the rain. Not the wind. Please, Lord, keep the tornadoes away from us! We have a tornado watch till 11 pm. I especially don't like them when Nick is out delivering in it. So far, it hasn't even stormed while he's been working tonight, but it's gotten windy. Hopefully, if it's going to get bad, it will wait till he is home with us! I'm praying hard the tornadoes stay away. I'm not sure how I'll get both kids and the dog in the bathroom (our only interior room) if the sirens go off. Last to trap in the bathroom is the dog. My kids are my top priority, and I think that's the right order! Thankfully, weather.com gives the projected path, so I can see if it's far south or north. Our sirens go off even if it's at the other end of the county though.

I am trying to get things cleaned up. I have this crazy notion that we'll be safe if everything is picked up. My brain knows a tornado can pull my dishes out of the cupboard, but my mind doesn't believe it. I'm a crazy woman. So, while I'm putting dishes away and vacuuming the floor (I'm tired of stepping on Cheerios) Dora is entertaining my children. Incidentally, this episode is "The Big Storm." How fitting.

What do you tell toddlers that are scared of thunder? The first time Kylee asked, I said it was God bowling. I got a blank stare since she's never been bowling and has no clue what it is. So I changed my answer to God is bouncing soccer balls. She knows what soccer balls are and she knows what bouncing is. That seemed to suffice for the time being and she hasn't acted scared since. Elijah asks "What noise?" Translation=what's that noise? I just tell him thunder and that works for him. Ah my sweet babies. I think I need to finish my vacuuming and put the dishes away so I can cuddle them on the couch with books. I like to keep them close during storms and who doesn't need a good book every now and then?

It's hard to believe I went through a brief phase in middle school where I wanted to be a meteorologist. While it still intrigues me, I don't think I want to do that now.

Check it out!

While I am very content and prefer to deliver my babies in a hospital (with an epidural please!), I am very supportive of a woman's right to choose her delivery. Some friends created this video. It is informational and shares their stories. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC0UZShzIHw

Not Me! Monday!

Not Me! Monday is BACK! Yay! First of all, we are happy that Stellan is finally home, and just as happy his mama has started Not Me! Monday again!

Hmmm...what did I not do last week.

I did not wear the same clothes all week last week because I was not sick. I did not stick to my navy blue jogging pants and a tank top for five straight days. I would never do that. (I did not shower and change my undies everyday!)

I did not feed my kids pizza three different times last week. I would never do that. I also did not give them fast food on the days I didn't give them pizza. I am not that mom. I still cook when I'm sick! I would not give my children so much junk food.

I did not do something totally stupid last week. I did not comment to my dear husband that I should save it and use it when not me! Monday returned. I did not forget what it was. Boo. All I remember is it would have made everyone laugh (like all four people who read this). Maybe I won't remember for next week!

I did not get all freaked out by two bugs this week. I did not call my husband in both times to kill said spiders. No way. I'm an adult, I could do it myself!

Well, those are it. I can't remember much else at the moment. Maybe I'll think of more for next week...or maybe I'll just do more stupid things!