Spring is Here

Spring is here, and that means 70-75 degree gorgeous weather. Sage wants to be outside ALL day long, and I don't blame her. So outside is where we are most of the time lately. Yesterday, she opted to wear her hair down, which NEVER happens. It was a rare but adorable sight.Little Diva
When I first put these shorts on her, she said, "I'm not wearing those. Those are for a boy." I had to show her that they have bows on the pockets and that they MATCH the shirt, which she was okay with because it says, "A is for adorable." She is REALLY into letters and their sounds right now. We constantly hear, "B. buh, buh, buh...ball." Or "C, cuh, cuh, cuh...cat." She is all the way to the letter Q and can write some of them too.
She's pretty.

A little late, but...

That's better than never. A few weeks ago...you know, it could have even been a month or more... but Travis and Sage went to Kentucky for a quick trip to deliver some furniture to my brother for his new apartment. Of course, he took his camera with him, but I'm just now looking at them. Sorry. It was a quick trip, but they had fun.That's Duke, my mema's dog. Sage loves him.
Mom and Mema
This is Sage's newest love: sticks. Her teacher said that she brings sticks and rocks back into the classroom all the time when they go outside. Oh, and FLOWERS, which we all know that DANDELIONS were the prettiest as a child.

7 months/30 weeks

Okay, TECHNICALLY 7 months is 28-31 weeks, but I figured I could slide. It's been a while since I've done the ole "how fat" (or not so fat--SUCKAS!) am I now pictures. I have to say that I can't complain at all about being uncomfortable. I have really enjoyed this pregnancy and will really be sad to see it end. Thankfully, I've still got a few precious weeks left. I had my last 4 week appointment (I'll go every 2 now) on Thursday, and all is still going well. Dr. Collins flatters me every time with how "amazing" I look. ha. What can I say? I love flattery. He said, "I bet people are just starting to ask if you're pregnant." And it's actually true. One guy that I see EVERY week asked me on Sunday, "Julie, are you pregnant?"

My blood pressure is low. I've gained 14 lbs in 30 weeks, which hey, is pretty darn good...let's just pray it stays on the low end. He even said we'd talk about induction at the 38/39 week mark, which is EIGHT to NINE weeks away. WOAH! Not ready for that. Anyway, this is "us" now. Warning: these pictures get weirder as they go on. hahaha.


This picture is so funny to me. Don't you just love pregnant bellies? Where's my bikini?!

cool/weird
Cause I'm gangsta! :) Kidding
Travis liked this because he said you can "see the baby." My belly button ring is still not hurting and is pretty loose, surprisingly. With Sage, it looked like a burn, and I knew it was time to take it out.
*By the way, we have a name. We've actually had one for a long time now. Some may know; most don't. Sage asked me the other day if we had a name (she knows we do), and I said "yes.'' She said, "Then why do you keep telling people that we don't?" ouch, caught lying again by the 4 year old. I said, "I guess I should say 'it's a secret, huh?'" She thought that was much better.

So if you don't know, don't ask because we're not telling! I hadn't planned on doing that, but the more people asked, the more I wanted it to be mine until he's here. Maybe part of me has always felt like I may change it too. It's nothing crazy or off the wall. There's just so few things you get to keep to yourself. The people we have told seem to love it (unless they're lying--haha). So if you ask me again (one lady literally asks me at LEAST once a week), I'm saying "Barack." Until the end of May, it's our's to know and your's to find out.

More Fashion Design

I apologize for slacking on this. Travis takes his camera with him a lot for work purposes, but not on this particular day! Sage came running downstairs (mornings and evenings are her finest for this) in THIS lovely ensemble. I know...isn't that great? Can you guess what her make-shift one shoulder top is?If you guessed PANTIES, you are correct. I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw her. These have NEVER fit her, and they are a 3-4. At least she put them to use one way or the other.

His First Photo Shoot

Yes, that's right. It was 4D ultrasound day. I have to admit that I was a bit reluctant to do this because it just seemed....intrusive? Seeing your baby before they're born? What if I didn't like what I saw? I have to say that my first reaction was, "Awwww!....wait...why does his eye look swollen or puffy?" HA. Ahem, I'm serious. Travis just shook his head. She said that his face was almost pressed to the side of my uterus, causing what I saw on his eye. Hey, it's MY baby! I need to be sure of these things. It's so odd: seeing him move, swallow, FROWN, hide...we think he's pretty cute. Travis seems to think he looks like Sage. I'm not sure, but I do think he's cute. And that's being honest. My mom asked Sage who she thought he looked like. Her answer: "He looks like Julie." That child.

One of my favorites. Hands always by his face.
That is the cord in front of his arm.
Heeey!



Little bitty hand. She said he was measuring to weigh 2.4 lbs right now, which was right on my due date.

Okay, I'm getting tired of this.
SERIOUSLY.
DONE. (pouty face)

Sage's Interview

One of my friends did this interview with her son on facebook. I thought it would be really interesting to see what Sage's answers were to these questions. I asked her and typed just what she said, whether they made sense or not. they are interesting and hilarious.

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Boo-Boo"

2. What makes mom happy? "Not doing nothing wrong."

3. What makes mom sad? "when I do something wrong or when I don't see you."

4. How does your mom make you laugh? "something that I do funny like jumping in the fish tank."

5. What was your mom like as a child? "I didn't see you." (lol)

6. How old is your mom? "16"

7. How tall is your mom? "I don't know. I gotta measure you."

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "watch tv"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "go to bed"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "well, it'll be like you're in the movie and that means that you can't go into tv."

11. What is your mom really good at? "You're really good at playing and keeping your baby in your belly."

12. What is your mom not very good at? "Are you good at going fishing?...um, you're not very good at turning the fan on...you're not very good at writing letters that you don't know."

13. What does your mom do for her job? "You paint." (I even asked, "Mommy?" and she said "yes"...interesting.)

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "vegetables"

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "Riding a bigger scooter and riding on a skateboard."


16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "You'll be Julie."

17. What do you and your mom do together? "We be in a commercial."

18. How are you and your mom the same? "We grow our hair longer."

19. How are you and your mom different? "We just are different, but we're just the same color (as she points to my skin which we've NEVER had conversation about skin color) see pink and pink. What color are we?"

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "I love you with all my heart."

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? "Hey Daddy!! What does Mommy like about you?"

22. What's your moms favorite place to go? "Toys R Us"

Making the Most of it

This week has been stressful, to say the least. It seems that nothing we've planned on for the past 2 weeks has worked the way we've planned it...not even a little. It was frustrating, and it was stressful, as I said. Anyway, after worrying, getting frustrated, back to worrying, questioning, praying (and the prayers were like this: "God WHY aren't you doing what I ask? I'm believing. What's the problem here? What am I doing wrong?"), I got some news late Wednesday that a lady's husband from our old church passed away. I can't even picture what he looked like. I don't know if I ever had a conversation with him. Most likely I had because his wife was in the choir, and I just loved her. She is one of the sweetest people, and I know that she and her husband really loved each other and had probably been married a long time. Then it hit me again for the millionth time: what is important and what is not. I felt guilty. I said some prayers for that family before I went to bed.

The next morning when I woke up, I had the same feeling of worry that I'd had for the past 2 weeks, but something was different. What did it REALLY matter? Honestly, in the scope of things, it was petty. I just decided that I was going to enjoy the life I have because, you know what? It's pretty awesome. I've got it going on. And for me to act like God was ignoring me was really ignorant, immature and downright selfish and stupid on my part. I can look around and see that. OR I could call the Newsomes up and ask them.

So I kept Sage out of school and decided to take her to the park. I'm not one that thinks you have to have activities planned for your kids each day like summer camp, BUT you need to do those things enough that they remember them. She was THRILLED when I told her what we'd do. I made a decision for that day: no wasting the day on myspace, facebook, or the computer period. No sitting, no worrying, no stopping. And you know what happened? It was one of the best days we've had.

There was NOTHING unpleasant about it. She was so great. I didn't even take my camera for the blog. I just wanted to be with her and enjoy her. The weather was just gorgeous. She even got tired of the playground (which is not my favorite part) and wanted to go walk around the lake. We had a blast. We were just talking. She asked me about the ducks, the fish and the moss. She picked flowers and threw them in the lake. We found a bridge, which was great, because she asks me about bridges all the time. We got on the rocks that go out into the lake. We spent 2 hours there, and when we were getting in the car, she hugged me and said, "Mommy, this was so fun. Thank you." Is that not worth a million bucks? Then I took her to Chick-Fil-A per her request, but I wanted Subway. No problem, drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A to eat that at Subway. Then she said it again, "Mommy, this was a wonderful day. I had so much fun with you." So, I'm going to make a conscious effort to do more of that: to make memories for my family, to enjoy every second with them, and to love them in action, not just words. It made what was really important be that way and the things I had worried about not even a thought.

More Snow

We had to play in it. It was MUCH colder outside than from when the first pictures were taken. When we were about to go outside, Sage said, "I got my gloves!" She had an oven mitt on. hahaha.
In front of the snow covered woods behind our house.
I let him come along too, which I regretted since I wasn't on a sled. He almost pulled me over more than once.

Look at boo boo.
We tried to build a mini-snowman, and the snow was actually good for it. It stuck really well. I just couldn't find any gloves. The weather was 65 yesterday, so you can't blame me.
Before my hands were too numb to try anymore.
Snow is joy for a child.


as "snow covered" as you'll ever see our house.

When Dogs are Dumb

Here is Chanel. Sitting OUTSIDE of her doghouse. With snow piling up on her. A cat would NEVER do that.

What a difference

a year makes. This was "winter storm 08." :) Look how LITTLE she looks.January 08
And then today.

Snow??!

Believe it or not, it is SNOWING here in Alabama as I write this. It is Sunday, so I had to be at church at 8. Originally it was a 7:30 practice (which is rare), but I got a last minute text that it was 8. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, the parking attendant informed me that church had JUST been canceled. Oh well. So I turned right around and went home. By the time I got home, the snow was REALLY coming down, so I grabbed Sage for some pictures! She thought it was awesome.
Best picture ever!