tick tock

This week brings me to 6 months pregnant.
I can't believe that I'm over half-way through with this pregnancy. 

I feel like I just found out yesterday that I was expecting.

Baby Girl is kicking and grooving up a storm these days.

Thankfully, she settles down at night and I'm still able to get a good night's sleep.

(Except for the 5 times a night I have to get up to pee!)

We have decided on a name (no, I'm not telling)
and it's fun to talk to/about her like a real person now,

instead of referring to her as "the baby."

Sam is getting used to the idea of another sister...
although he's still praying that she will come out a boy!

And Ava, she's totally clueless.

However, she is very, very interested in her newborn cousin.

And wants to be touching and playing with her whenever she can reach the baby.
So, I'm sure once her little sister arrives, Ava will be all over her!

Speaking of Ava...

she is walking all over the place now
and tries really hard to keep up with her big brother.

Her favorite questions are, "What's that?" and "Who's that?"...

questions she asks a hundred times a day!

She also says, "WOW!" about anything that catches her eye.

She has perfected the temper tantrum,

and looks up at us out of the corner of her eye
to see if we're watching her do something she knows is wrong.

She is obsessed with cell phones and, if there is one in a 20 ft. radius,
she will have it in her hands in 1.6 seconds.

The moment music hits her ears, she wiggles and jiggles like she's dancing for her life.

And she manages to wrap everyone around her little finger in a matter of moments.

I'm just wondering...what happened to my newborn? 

a reminder from the Lord

Things are tough right now.

There are unanswered questions.

The path is not well marked

and the way is not clear.

It could be is easy to get discouraged and wonder

"why, Lord?"

But I am reminded of this verse,

"And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you."

Psalm 9:10 

And what is His name?

Protector

Joy-Giver

Provider

Counselor

Strength

Comforter

Healer

Friend

just to name a few.

He says, "I AM."

So I will remember His promises.

In the storm

He says, 

"I AM your Shelter."

In the drought,

"I AM your Refreshing."

In the confusion,

"I AM your Wisdom."

In the fear,

"I AM your Consolation."

I have expereinced Him to be all these things.

So I will trust Him once again

to be who He says He is.

After all, He is Good.

how is it

that I got a little girl that loves everything girly?

At 13 months, she is completely smitten with babydolls

and jewelry

and fixing her hair.

She crawls around most days with a beaded necklace (or three) around her neck.

She feeds and pats and rocks her babydolls like a pro.

Not that I think there's anything wrong with this...at all.
I love that she loves all these things.

It's just that I was so, so different growing up.

Instead of dolls, I loved drawing.

Instead of baubles, I loved books.

There were no frills or lace or pink (gasp!) around me if I could help it.

And now, I have a daughter, who at a very early age
is showing serious signs of girliness.
This is definitely a stretch for me.

God has such a sense of humor!

pumpkin patch fail

All I wanted were a few cute pumpkin patch pictures.

Is that too much to ask?

Apparently my charming children thought so.

They were bound and determined not to look my way.

It was like they had plotted before we even got to the pumpkin patch,

"Ok, here's the plan: if mommy calls your name, look away.

Anywhere is fine, as long as it's not at her!"

"Like this?"

"How 'bout this?"

"Yep, that's great! Looking down is always good too!"

(Man, is she gonna be frustrated, or what?)

"Uh oh. There's that look. We better cooperate or bad things might happen..."

"Sucker...you fell for the 'ugly face'?

I'm still not looking!"

"I'll just pretend to be distracted by this pumpkin stem."

Oh well.

There's always next year, right?

And adding a 7 month old to the mix is bound to make it easier...or not.

raw(e) little

This week's theme over at Sailor & Company is

little.

And since it's officially fall here in the south,

I thought it would be fitting to take a photo

of my itty bitty pumpkins.

Aren't they adorable?

If you love the little stuff, take a few baby steps over to Sailor & Company to see all the other itty bitty cuties.

take a look

at these incredible chalk drawings!



Yesterday I grabbed my camera and headed to the downtown Chalk Festival. 

A city block was closed off and over 250 street painters from around the world

gathered to display their amazing talents!

The theme this year was 'halloween' (not a fan!)

but I figured there would be a huge variety of interpretations on the theme.

And I was right!

I love the 3-D quality of these two.

In person it seemed as if you could actually step down into them.



I think my favorite part though, was watching all the artists at work.

What incredible talent!



What a groovy way to spend an afternoon!