And at last...Levi!

Levi and I did not have a special picture date.  We have a special date everyday when the kids go to school!  So I have not yet has a photo "session" with him.  But here are some of the pics that we took this week that I might like just as much.

The sun is a bit bright but his sweet smile makes me melt.

This?  This is real life.  He looks like this 90% of the time.  There are many siblings to boss.

LOVE.

Poor little orphan.  Look how dirty he is! 

Awwwww.  But he's so sweet!

This is what you get when you let a water gun and a trampoline do your hair for pictures.

Funny boy!  I don't think I could do a better session with my two-year-old.  This is all him!  Dirt, water guns and grins.  I am a happy mama.  Pretty soon I will be able to post pictures of our new girl!

Jolie's turn!

So my sweet daughter and I got to have our photo date this morning.  It was a perfect overcast morning and she, a very willing subject, did great!

Awwww, my baby girl.

This is the look she gives her brothers.  :)

Gotta jump! 



Asher is a natural.

It was Asher's turn this morning.  He really did a great job and was comfortable with the camera!  I have such a sweet and loving boy.

Mr. Cool

Awwww.

Here comes the crazy!

They must get it from somewhere.  (Daddy!)

Hee hee hee.  :)



He did take some sweet ones...

Zaddok and I had at photo date this morning.  We had so much fun and got some sweet shots.  He is such a silly and happy boy.  I am blessed to be his mommy.

Precious face.

Oh those eyes!

He was getting tired of smiling here.  :)

Maniacal laughter?  Yep, that's Zaddy.

We can't be serious all of the time!

You are such a joy you crazy little man!

Because you asked...

Ready to be afraid?  Remember, I still have 6 weeks left.  Seriously.  6 weeks.  But lots of you have asked to see the belly and I WILL NOT post it on Facebook.  Those who are really interested can visit here.  :)  Thanks in advance for not making any, "Oh my gosh!!" comments.  You may also keep the, "Are you having twins?" comments to yourself.  I'm glad you all love me...

Photo courtesy of Jolie!

Matt made me take another one to see if a different angle would help.  NOPE!  Even bigger this way.

Yep.  That's real life!  I am so happy and thankful to have this giant belly.  God has blessed us more than I can even say.  Thank you Jesus for my body and it's ability to stretch to such mammoth proportions.  :)

You know you're a mom of a girl when...

you have to say, several times a day, "Just take a deep breath."

you have resorted to hiding your  "important" jewelry.

there is a real fear that you will lose the opportunity parent your newest baby due to older sister ownership.

there was a period of time when pink and fluffy was the only acceptable state for any purchase. 

you still have to avoid the strong smells.  These just come in spray bottles.

you always check your lipstick before you use it.

you get that, "I totally disapprove of your behavior." look and it's not from your mom.

everything is better with sparkles

your sons won't fully believe you about anything until they have checked with their sister.

you frequently try to put on socks or underwear that are several sizes too small.

you cannot hide any emotion.

there has never been so much glitter in the world, EVER, until now.

you think you have had a private conversation only to find out she, somehow, has heard every word.

you have lost ownership of most of your high-heeled shoes.

you no longer have to ask your husband's opinion about an outfit or nail polish color.

there is inspiration for a real reflection of your own hormonal highs and lows.

you are amazed at how far eyes can actually roll back into a head.

there are brushes and hair things in every room of the house.

you have formed an alliance against stinky smells coming from the boys in the last post.

kitties and best friends are the most wonderful thing to happen to humanity.

you are so happy to see your husband give his and love attention to another female.

you are amazed that one human could be so sweet, silly, goofy, sassy and spunky all at the same time.

there is a friendship and a love that cannot be described that you know will be there forever.


I love you Jolie Kay.  We will have a new list of things to write when your baby sister gets here.

 

IT'S A...?

Precious Father we thank you for giving us the blessing of children.  Please make us good stewards of that blessing.  Keep us captivated by these little treasures so that we will never forget how important this time is or how fortunate we are.  Thank you most of all for hearing the prayers of a little girl who desperately wanted a baby sister.  You are truly a God who sees hearts.  

Asher's big performance!

I need a telephoto lens.  I miss so many moments by being too far away.  Regardless, I had to take a few pictures of my son playing the hand bells at his school play.  It was great!

I had only one problem.  It is something that normally doesn't bother me.  But on this day, it did.  The kids were asked to wear dress clothes or red and green for the performance.  My son decided that he would have nothing to do with nice clothes.  He just wouldn't do it.  I even tried to make a deal with him and have him take a nice shirt to put on before the play and then he could take it off right after.  He refused. 

 He had chosen an old red t-shirt and a red fleece hoodie.  He looked like he would on any normal school day.  But this mama wanted him to look handsome in his dress shirt.  I got very frustrated with him. 

I had to walk away and take a minute to decide if I wanted to make this a fight or if I wanted to let Asher be Asher.  I decided that my need for him to "look like the other kids" was not as important as his need to be independent and decide how he was comfortable.  In the big picture, it really didn't matter. 

It turns out that he was pretty much the only one who was not dressed up.  I kept wishing he had worn the shirt that I wanted him to wear.  My motivation?  I wanted him to look like the other boys in his group.  Shame on me. 

But you know what, it did not phase Asher in the least.  He was quite happy to be just who he was.  He didn't care that he looked different.  So instead of seeing it as an annoyance, I decided to see it as a blessing.  I pray that he always feels that way.  That he is okay being different.

 Forgive the photo quality. 

Here is the group.  Aren't they cute?  Asher is holding a blue bell and he is almost in the center.

See how handsome he is!  Even if he is wearing regular old clothes.

I love you son.  You are the best darn hand-beller ever!

The crew.  A bunch of crazies!

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Snowday!!!

This is what my yard looked like today.

Mommy!  Can we have a snow day?  PLEASE!!!!

Sure baby.  Lets make a snowman.  An indoor snowman. Cause mama doesn't really do freezing cold snow fun.  Party pooper!

I want this in my home forever.  Chubby baby fingers rock my world.

My niece sent us a Flat Stanley.  So we let him make cinnamon rolls with us.

Beautiful.

Before the icing.

The kids finally decided to go outside.  I didn't let Levi go so we pulled a chair up to the backdoor and let him watch.  Of course he became a target for many snowballs.

Much to his delight!

I love to catch these times.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Stanley! :)  Love you Ava Grace!