It's Gon Be Nice

I am alive!  I guess I will be starting every post with that phrase.  :)  My nausea was not a one time thing.  I've accomplished nothing lately.  I go from feeling awesome to wanting to sleep for days to get rid of the terrible feelings of my stomach turning over the very thought of certain foods.  Today, in particular, was terrible.  I've had a few mood swings that took everyone by surprise (it could be a girl ;), but we're good.  That aside, I do have a ton of pictures to post from the weekend, but that requires me uploading them and sorting through them from Travis' camera.  Yes, I said CAMERA.  No iphone pics.  What a concept. 

So, I thought I'd post a song that ALWAYS puts me in a good mood.  I don't know if everyone likes this kind of thing, but if not, I don't know why.  This is my style of music.  Travis says, "It's so weird.  You grew up listening to Bill Gaither, and yet when you sing, you sound just like a black girl."  (I will prob never sing a Kari Jobe song.)  Ha.  It is true, I suppose, but I don't apologize for it.  Anyway, I sing this in my house all the time.  I love Yolanda Adams.

An Abrupt Change

I had to laugh at this saying.  Story of my life with or without pregnancy.  I took a sharp turn today in my insatiable appetite and non pregnant feelings.  I started noticing it when I went to get Sage from school.  I was hot. I was cold.  I needed the air blowing on me, but then the smells of exhaust and other outside life coming through my vents assaulted my senses.  I was not feeling well.  At all.  Travis was able to get Jaggar before I took Sage to dance, which was good because I honestly wanted to focus on simply breathing.  I told myself that if I could get to Chick-Fil-A and eat something (standard for Wednesdays for us) that I'd feel better.  While I waited for Sage, I named the perfume that the girl across the room from me was wearing.  It happened.  In one day.  Pregnancy hormones in full force.  For some reason, when I'm pregnant, I have the sense of smell of a drug dog.  I remember coming out of my room with its closed door and going downstairs asking Travis why he had to cook hotdogs at 10pm when I was pregnant with Jaggar.  Anyway, Sage and I went to Chick-Fil-A, where we ALWAYS have the playground to ourselves on Wednesdays.  She didn't want to play because Jaggar wasn't with us.  What I thought would help--food--couldn't be given a chance.  I laid my head back to try to feel a breeze that wasn't happening.  I seriously thought Travis was going to have to come get me.  Deep breaths.  Drinks.  I ate a few bites of my salad and hoped it would get better.  The sight of the brownie that I love turned my stomach.  NOOOOO.  The sandwich that I knew was a great idea wasn't even opened at the restaurant.  I did manage to make it home.  I felt better in the cool air of my house where I did eat my sandwich and laid on the couch while Travis, thankfully, bathed the kids.  When Sage and I drove to church tonight, it started again with all of those terrible smells along the interstate, but this is doable.  I'm not incapable.  THANKFULLY, I'm not throwing up...just having a few waves of nausea...which I HOPE was a one time thing that started and ended today.  If not, I'm already halfway through the first trimester, right?

Bike Races

The annual bike races, AKA The Noble Street Festival, were this past Saturday, and it's something fun and different to do in this town.  Travis had to run camera for it all day, but I still took the kids later that afternoon.  Different food vendors come from all around the town, and there are also some rides and jump houses for the kids.  It's kind of a mini fair, if you will.  There were a LOT of people there, and I'm not sure if people are oblivious to strollers or just rude.  I think it's a combination of both.  I took our sit 'n' stand, which I haven't used in a LONG time, and it's a really big stroller to push.  I just could not figure out why when I could only go ONE way with that (say...up the ramp of a sidewalk) why very healthy, capable people on foot couldn't step OFF out of my way.  I did not lose my Christianity though that I remember.  :)  It was a beautiful (windy) day, and we had fun.

 Travis was on the corner thankfully removed from some of the thicker parts of the crowd, and we were able to go up where he was and talk to him in between shots.  The kids weren't as impressed at the time as they were with the thought of food and ice cream, so we left shortly after initially seeing him to eat.

 

 After they ate some hot food, they both wanted ice cream.  This picture is funny to me.  It looks like Jaggar doesn't have any, but he had a huge ice cream sandwich, which I helped him eat.

 Sage was able to finish off that whole snowcone...in about an hour.  It was a sloshy mess when she was done, and the container was literally caving in on itself because it was essentially wet paper.  Jaggar was ready to be OUT of that stroller.  Like I said, we never use it.  Ideally, I wanted SAGE out of the stroller.  She did say at one point, "Mommy, what are we going to do when the baby is born???"  I said, "YOU are going to walk, dear."  I don't think it's cruel and unusual punishment to ask a 7 year old to walk, do you?  I was pushing over half my weight around with both of them in that thing!

 Storm troopers

 And you never see a storm trooper without Darth Vader close by.  Cool looking costumes in my opinion.

 That is his Mickey Mouse in front of Jaggar's face.  He insisted on bringing it, and he actually kept up with it on his own really well.

 While most of the rides required tickets, we did find one bounce house that was free for kids 6 and under.  I was so close to letting Sage just go on in...but I didn't.  They certainly weren't carding her, but we just used that time to let her finish her snow cone.  Jaggar had a blast.  I, of course, had to climb in and pull him out kicking and screaming when I was ready for him to be done.  Always.  He's getting ready to go down the slide here, and it's nothing short of a miracle that I got this picture.

 After we had eaten, played in a few of the kid zones, and watched a singing/dancing girls' choir kind of deal, we headed back to where Travis was at the bike races.  Those riders are truly amazing.  I don't know how they didn't crash into each other.

 Travis had a little bit of a break in between races, and he let the kids get up with him.  They loved that.

 Then he headed to his lunch/dinner break before the kid races, and the kids and I headed home.

Sage's Talents

Sage has officially moved downstairs since...well really the first night she slept down there, but we've since moved (almost) all of her furniture down there.  It still feels like we're moving as her closet is still upstairs and things still seem out of place, but she loves it.  She immediately goes in there and plays the second she gets home from school.  She said that she likes it because it is like her classroom at school.  On Saturday, she was so proud of this picture that she drew that she took my phone and took multiple pictures of it.  :)  

Also, she is quite the singer.  :)  Check her out.

Say What??

Since I found out about and announced my pregnancy, I've gotten SO many responses from so many people. For the most part, it's been very good. Overwhelming majority. But there's ALWAYS a few that are a little off, right? ;) And since I want to remember it ALL, I wanted to share and CATEGORIZE some of the reactions I've gotten. You wouldn't think I'd HAVE to do that, right? But never underestimate the power of humanity. There are some amazing people out there. I personally have a lot of people that THINK they know me because they see me sing at church, so I'd say the stranger/inappropriate responses to me are from them.

Here are GOOD, APPROPRIATE reactions which are the most common I have received. If you have common sense, these won't be any kind of novelty.

"Congratulations!"
"SO happy for you!"
"When are you due?"
"How are you feeling?"
"Do you want a boy or a girl!"

etc, etc, right?

Then I get a few of these, which don't make me mad or anything (I'm not crazy hormonal--yet), but I do find myself thinking, "Huh?"

"Were you all trying?" or
"I didn't know you all were trying."
"Was this a surprise?"

I don't think the first and last one are bad or wrong, especially if we are close or friends. I would say something like that to a friend. But it's the middle one. Seriously, I know this is the world of social media where everyone shares WAY more than anyone cares or needs to know about, but "Trying for a baby" was just never going to be a facebook status of mine. WHY would you know that? Now if it came up in conversation, and someone asked me, I would say, "Yes, we want more," but really, whose business is it unless I choose to make it so? I hope that doesn't sound mean, and it doesn't make me mad...it's just an ODD question coming from someone that sees me in passing and likes my sparkly shirts.

I don't even think THOSE are bad. These last ones are the ones that I think are stupid.

"Don't you know what causes that???"
"Ohhh, I know what you all have been doing!"

Um what? The first is usually said by goofy guys to Travis, who to their own credit, reach maximum maturity in 7th grade and never go beyond that. Yeah. The 2nd one was said from an older lady in the choir. She's half crazy anyway, but I just looked at her. I've been married almost 9 years, honey. Been doing it a while now. Jennifer said, "Way more than I have kids to show for." lol. SO, if you stick to the simple "congrats!" you'll be good. :)

Catching Up

I am a terrible blogger lately, I know, but there are things that have taken priority over this. I can narrow it down to about 3 specific things: my kids, food and sleep. That is not in any particular order either. It all changes. I have been SO hungry with this pregnancy, and it's a little scary. I'm trying to maintain my current weight because I don't consider a baby that is the size of a sweet pea now to put much weight on me, but my appetite is pretty crazy to me lately. I want REAL food--meals--several times a day. I'm sure that's normal to people that aren't pregnant, but I'm more of a light meal/snack-all-day kind of person. Not possible at this time. Anyway, one of the things that I LOVE are Chick-Fil-A's chicken biscuits. If you've never had this, do yourself a favor and get that AND their new brownie. THAT thing is out of this world. If you don't like pure fudge richness, then you're weird anyway, but it's truly amazing. Gotta give a shout out to them for taking those walnuts away and upgrading that baby. Look at my beautiful boy when we shared breakfast from there one morning.

On Friday, Jaggar and I went to Georgia to see my friend from college, Randi, who just had her first baby girl, Mikayla, 3 weeks ago. So tiny and pretty. Even though I know it's true, I could not connect that I will have my own tiny babe before the end of this year. This is almost a good thing though because, aside from being hungry and tired, I don't FEEL pregnant. And the only way at this stage to do so is to be sick, so I'll pass on that and just remind myself that I am.

Jaggar wasn't nearly as impressed with the baby as he was with Randi's dog, who tried to stay in hiding. :) I honestly don't mind that he didn't seem to care. I try to imagine how he will be as a big brother, and I think disinterest rather than being TOO interested or jealous is WAY better. Jaggar is a very go-with-the-flow kind of boy.

In other news, Jaggar will be turning 3 next month, and EVERY day, many times a day (like all day), he is now saying, "It's ALMOST MY THOMAS BIRTHDAY!" You can guess what kind of cake he will be getting. Here he is talking about it a little. And if you don't think he is the cutest thing ever, you have a problem.


I'm so far behind that I forgot to post him reading. I think the sound is kind of low on it, but he read this whole book until he realized we were watching him. You can see that here.

Preparing for Baby

I know that I have a lot of time before this baby arrives...but is 9 months REALLY a lot? NO. Jaggar will be 3 next month. Sage is 7. Need I say more? So, after I reveled in my excitement for a day or two, it was time to make my "to do" list. First on the list? Where exactly am I going to PUT all of these children? When Sage came down a bit from her elation over the news, she said, "WHERE will we all sleep?" I said, "I guess Jaggar will just have to sleep outside." She loved that.

I always thought that I'd move Sage downstairs to what is now the playroom/guestroom when necessary. But with a 3rd child now the reality rather than a dream, I had second guesses. I didn't think she'd do it. So I started planning who'd share a room. I looked at Sage's and Jaggar's rooms and saw how set they were and then walked in the playroom. Sage would be much better off in there, but I worried about nighttime. I have a difficult time sleeping anywhere other than my bed. When I mentioned the idea to her of moving to the playroom, she was...THRILLED. We'd talked about it before when it was my original plan, but I really didn't think she'd do it. I stand to be corrected. She has been sleeping down there and playing in there since the day after we found out I was pregnant. NO problems.

This room was the original family room of the house before what is NOW our family room was converted from a garage. It also has its own bathroom with a shower and jacuzzi tub. I don't know what kid would NOT love it. Now all the toys that have been in there for YEARS are suddenly new because "it's her room." She and Jaggar played in there for HOURS on Saturday. I can't wait to make it more hers by moving her furniture in and cleaning out what I don't want that's in there now, but for now...she is sleeping there. And Travis already took the swinging door off (the house was advertised with 2 master suites, and they put a swinging door on it??) and has the new one with a lock ready to be installed. I know my mom will be sad that the kids can't just march in when she visits now, but she'll get over it.

Here she is on her first night. Proud of my big girl. She DID have only one big concern about moving down here: Santa Claus comes down the chimney, and the fireplace is in there. SO, on Christmas Eve, she will sleep upstairs. Problem solved.

Our God

Instead of surfing facebook and playing Word Scramble on my phone, I opened up my bible tonight where I had some pictures stuck in. First of all, FINDING my bible was a huge goal met. I realized I hadn't seen it in...oh, quite a while. But I found it and God just picked up right up where we left off like a good conversation, and I wanted to share a bit.

Psalm 116

I love God because He listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy. He listened so intently as I laid out my case before him. Death stared me in the face, hell was hard on my heels. Up against it, I didn't know which way to turn, then I called out to God for help. "Please, God!" I cried out. "Save my life!" God is gracious--it is He who makes things right, our most compassionate God. God takes the side of the helpless, when I was at the end of my rope, He saved me.

I said to myself, "Relax and rest. God has showered you with many blessings. Soul, you've been rescued from death. Eye, you've been rescued from tears. And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling."

I'm striding in the presence of God, alive in the land of the living!

Wonderful, yes?

So is this song. I love it. Enjoy.

A Longing Fulfilled

I've wanted to be able to write this for over a year now, but timing is everything and it's also not mine. It's a hard lesson to learn, and it's one I can't seem to learn. I always knew when I was growing up that I wanted 3 pregnancies. I was/am always planning my life out. When I was pregnant with Jaggar, I knew I was not finished with having children. I told Travis while we watched my growing belly twitch in spastic jerks with Jaggar's kicks that this wouldn't be it for me. I would have one more. And the argument wasn't that he didn't want more children, it was his age. He wanted to live life not raising children. Understandable. So we both came to the realization that I was younger and he was older and I'd have one more child. I'd cut it off at 3 pregnancies, and that would be that. So our plans were set. Jaggar got a little older, and in January of 2011, we began to try for a baby.

It didn't happen that month, and I cried. Silly, I know. I am not known for my patience. When I set my mind to something, I can get it done, but oh well...just because we were one hit wonders with Sage didn't mean it had to be that way every time, but it sure would have been nice. I did not want to go through months of being unsuccessful. A year went by. I was heartbroken. I almost wrote about it a few times on here, but I just couldn't bear my emotions when I didn't have a happy ending to it. And I knew that, in life, people don't always get happy endings so it was something that I chose to keep pretty private. But it was nonetheless devastating, especially towards the end of last year and beginning of this one. I think what made it worse is that EVERY month, I just KNEW that was going to be the month I was pregnant. I'd have symptoms. I'd google. I'd take a test. It would be negative and that would be confirmed. I couldn't believe my instincts were so far off. I was angry. And Sad. Everyone surrounding me "got pregnant when they talked about it." Meagan got pregnant. And I was not jealous of anyone having children...I just...desperately wanted my own. What was wrong with ME? My body went haywire in November/December. I tried fertility pills in January. I KNEW that would work. My rational mind fought with the crazy part of me who was losing perspective. Dr Collins said I needed to give myself a break and that there's only like a 17% chance of conceiving a month. I felt surrounded by everyone in the top percentile. People that knew said, "Oh, it WILL happen. I believe it. I think it's soon." While that was nice, I thought, "Well of course, they'd say that, but the fact is, it does NOT have to happen." I would say, "God you know I want a baby. I'm here. Waiting. If it's not gonna happen, could you stop letting me get my hopes up month after month with crazy symptoms that have nothing to do with pregnancy?" He seemed silent. He would comfort me, but I never got a, "You will have another child" type of answer.

In January of this year, I got a fortune cookie that said, "Your fondest dream will come true within this year.' I remember thinking...okay. I sure do hope so. And even though it was a cookie, I believed God had that for me...and I believed Him. And there was something about that...the word WITHIN that made me believe I would give birth by the end of the year. The thing was though on the flip, every month, after TRULY believing I was pregnant and it not being so, I was like DONE. I was somewhat schizophrenic. I didn't want to go through it anymore. I'd cry for days and not talk to anyone outside of our household for days. But it's like my hope would return the very next month. It would not die. I just could NOT let it go even though it would have been easier. Perhaps it wasn't letting ME go.

January and February were particularly tough. I took the fertility pills in January, and they were not successful. February was just sad because..well, time was just taking longer and longer. And Travis said, "You know eventually we have to have a cut off." Not for me obviously, but for him. *See above statement about not wanting to raise children his entire life. So that was what was kind of feeding my desperation. I didn't have YEARS of trying left. So I told Chrissie that I would have to get pregnant in March for that fortune to be true...and it was just a stupid cookie. Who was I kidding? She said, "You don't have to give birth this year, idiot, you just have to get pregnant. You're gonna have another kid."

The Daniel fast was coming up in March. I had HIGH hopes that I would be pregnant and not have to participate. Lo and behold that did NOT happen. Surprisingly, I didn't fall apart. I just said, "I'm kind of done with this idea and ready to move on." (I kind of said that all the time, but I wasn't crying this time.) I started the fast and as I said, the first day was painfully difficult...but I was going to lose weight and I figured, "Heck, if I'm not pregnant, I'm getting skinny." But by the end of the first week, I thought, "This is a lot harder for me than it was last year." I was so hungry, and I was eating all the time, but the food just didn't sustain. I was eating peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. But I started dreaming every night, and I"m not typically one that dreams and remembers anything. One night, I dreamed I took a positive pregnancy test. I thought, "Oh...that's nice." But I also dreamed I ate hamburgers and each of those dreams were wishful thinking at the time.

As I still could not sustain my hunger, the week before the fast ended, I just kind of suddenly made a decision that I was done with it. I ate some cupcakes at Nick and Emily's and I thought..."you know, I'll get back on it tomorrow," but on Monday, I was done. And I was glad about it. I felt like I'd done a good job with two full, strict weeks of it. My attention started to turn towards any possible symptoms that I had that could indicate pregnancy for me, even though I willed myself not to. I'd done it a million times and sometimes they were really there. But the fact is PMS mirrors pregnancy symptoms. I did notice that my skin wasn't as horrid as usual, nor did I crave sugar like a crack addict. I kept rationality in that the Daniel fast allowed me to detox myself. My back ached, which is very normal, but I went to Birmingham on Friday to celebrate with Chrissie for her birthday. I asked her, "Did you have any symptoms or feel pregnant before you took a test?" With having 4 she would know, and she said no. But with Sage AND Jaggar I felt like I did know...but I guess it could have just as well been negative for them until I was. So we went out and celebrated. I was ready for what I felt was inevitable and refused to buy anymore tests. They are expensive, and the negative results are too painful to see when I don't need to. So we did Easter things Saturday, which was fun. Easter Sunday...I started to wonder, even against my will...could I be??? Really??? But I wouldn't do it. Travis asked me...and I said it was still POSSIBLE but not necessarily probable. I refused to even think about testing and expected the possibility for pregnancy to be ended on Monday just like I did on Saturday and Sunday. Monday came and went and there was still an open door. I had familiar feelings that I'd had with my other pregnancies, but I'd thought that before. See what it was like??? lol Tuesday...I had talked myself into thinking I was not pregnant. It was the fast that had thrown me off, I said. Even so, I bought some tests Tuesday evening. I didn't know if I could take them. I felt frozen like...I just can't. I'll just wait. I can use them eventually. I had been up for hours Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night playing numbers and scenarios and cycles...could it be this time? Probably not. My cycles are kind of all over. But there was another part that felt like I WAS....I HAD to be, but I couldn't let myself go there emotionally. I couldn't be happy or excited until I knew if I was or not. I finally said, "I just need to take it. If it's not, I can get over and on with it and move on with life." I woke up at 3:45 am on Wednesday, April 11th. I wanted to go back to sleep. But if I was taking it that day, it also would be nice not to be rushed and interrupted, and I could grieve alone if need be. So I did it then. I watched the hourglass spin. I'd done this so many times. I could feel my heart beat in my chest and ears as I did EVERY time I took one of these. Months and months where they spun for what felt like eternity only to flash "NOT PREGNANT." I stood there thinking I'd have to leave the room and come back as I'd done SO many times to come back to see NOT PREGNANT, but I didn't have time to leave. It wasn't even a full minute when this showed.

In case you can't see that...it says......!!!!!!!!!!

I gasped and a million pounds were lifted and I felt the most joy I'd felt in a long time. ALL the stress and heartache of that past year was instantly lifted. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my children. And I was never going to be miserable the rest of my life and not be grateful for them and enjoy what I DID have. How selfish and stupid would that be? My friend Ramey, who tried for 6 1/2 years to have a baby (and he's HERE now), told me when I said, "I don't know what it was...I just couldn't let go of having another." She said, "That's because there WAS another one for you." She hit the nail on the head. I was unable to say WHY exactly I was so determined for another child(3 children is EXCESSIVE in our culture), but since she went through WAY worse than I did, she knew exactly what it was. I didn't WANT another baby. Another baby wanted ME! Travis told me month after month, "Julie, YOU don't create life. There is a divine time for every soul to get a body. But you can do us all a favor and have a better attitude." Ouch. I don't know that I ever did have the best attitude. We did pray that God would give us the desires of our heart. Sage prayed. Friends (who knew) prayed. Mom and Mema prayed. God answered.

I took that positive test down at 3 something in the morning, threw the lights on and held it in front of Travis to read. lol He was so out of it, but he knew. He said, "SO...what are we gonna do?" Ha. He later didn't recall saying that at all. I said, "Um I think we'll keep it." :) I went back upstairs and rather than go to sleep, I laid there, staring at that test (because I took those with my other kids and the results disappeared after one hour. That's why I woke up Travis then. AFTER that, I read the box and saw they have upgraded them to read results for 24 hours. OOPS. :) I held it. I read it over and over. I took pictures like this right after I got my result.


And I prayed for my newest blessing and thanked God for finally giving me the desires of my heart, even though it wasn't "finally," it was at the exact time it was supposed to be. One year. Three months after I thought it should be. The year before, I refused to try in February and March because I didn't want a Thanksgiving or Christmas baby. My due date? December 16th. Do I even care? NO WAY. It could be December 25th for all I care. What's also so amazing about this is that the month I conceived was the only month left that I was able to have a baby "WITHIN" this year, as the fortune cookie read. I knew what God meant, and He did what He said He'd do. I am so thrilled to get to experience pregnancy one more time when our family is at peace. I called and contacted individuals who I wanted to hear it from me personally and eventually posted it on facebook later that day. I was so overwhelmed with the genuine reactions of pure joy and excitement from everyone FOR us. Some knew what we went through. Most didn't, but the reactions were the same. But sweet Sage....she took me by surprise with HOW excited she was. I told her in the car after school. She literally screamed and NEEDED to tell someone. She cannot wait. Jaggar? Well, he can't possibly understand, but he did say when I asked him if he wanted me to have a baby, "NO." I said, "Well I'm going to have a baby." He said, "YOU have a baby! I don't want a sister!" I busted out laughing. We are thrilled. We are blessed. For all the heartache I went through and the emotion, hope consistently deferred made my heart sick....but a longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul. How sweet it is. Get ready, I will be chronicling this way more than anyone cares to read. :)

Exhibit A: I am 4 weeks and 3 days and I want to remember my body as I know it to be. :) I WILL be this again fyi... Sage did say after her ecstasy wore off and questions formed, "If you're having a baby, why are you still skinny?" :)
I wanted Travis to take some of me where I didn't look like I rolled out of bed, so he did. :)
A few actually :)
I told you I was going to be annoying. I do not care. I have already downloaded like 3 pregnancy apps on my iphone. Baby is the size of an orange seed now, btw.
Me and the proud papa. We are both SO excited and relieved that this moment is our's. People have asked me, "So was this a surprise?" And my answer is, "Yeah, it's a surprise that it finally happened."
And my babies. Sage is already planning pregnancy pictures and names. She wants a girl and to name her Elizabeth. :) Jaggar? Well, he's still Jaggar. I asked him today, "Are you going to be a big brother?" He said, "Umm...no, I Jaggar." How am I so blessed that I could have more just this sweet? I had my worries with Jaggar because I only had Sage at the time that I wouldn't love him as much. THIS time, my heart is already full. I cannot wait to experience this joy everyday for MANY months to come.

Easter and Hunting Eggs

Easter Sunday was just as busy as I imagined it being. I had to be at church at 7:30 in the morning and sing through the end of both services, so Travis drove separate. Sage was in a dance and had to be there early as well, so she rode with me. She was SO excited about doing it and even more excited that she'd been moved to the front row. I was so proud of her. They all did a wonderful job, and I personally think they should be incorporated into our services even more. There's our girl. She said there were so many people in the crowd that she couldn't smile because she was nervous. I was a little upset that she had to wear a spring colored shirt and jeans for this, but we just changed her into her dress when we got home for some pictures.

This would be the only picture of me from Easter. Why? Because I had to wear a Thrive shirt and jeans, and that just didn't feel special to take family pictures in. Regardless of my lack of style, our services were wonderful.

Here she is in her new dress that she picked out.

And here's my 2 little easter bunnies together. I didn't get out of church until after one, so cooking was out. I was SO hungry, so we just went out to Fuji, and it was good. When we got home from lunch, the kids were ready to hunt the eggs we'd dyed the day before. How pretty are they? Jaggar got to look snazzy at church, too.

Here they go. I was impressed with the eggs that Jaggar found. Travis put a lot all in the yard in plain sight for him, but he was able to find some that were pretty obscure. He loved it and would scream, "Egg! I see another egg!"

She's a pro and was very kind to leave some behind for her brother. He was not returning that favor by any means. Sage is the giver of the two of them for sure. :)

I'm sure Travis got better pictures with his camera, and one day, I may sort through them. :)

Beautiful, sweet girl

I'm not sure what his look of disdain was. We hunted them about 4 or 5 different times, and it got to the point where he'd take his back out of his basket and hide them again. He'd throw them in bushes and in holes in the ground, and he'd get mad if I tried to get them back out.

Hunting together.

We took naps and hunted some more, making for a very long but fun Easter weekend. More importantly, it is the Resurrection weekend. I watched some of Passion of the Christ the night before Easter and was reminded how numb I can be to what Jesus did for me.. For my children. For you. As tears rolled down my face, I said a simple thank you...realizing that even if I DID do things right and live my life for Him the way that I should...it still wouldn't be enough. But He did it anyway knowing all of these things. Because we are a joy to Him. WE were the joy set before Him to endure the cross. That is the beauty of it all and the reason we celebrate because now, WE win. He's alive!

Mahna Mahna

Since we've watched The Muppets, we cannot stop singing this song.



I think it's hilarious. So I randomly started singing it today, and this happened. Hilarious.

Coloring Eggs

It's every child's favorite Easter tradition: coloring Easter eggs. I remember last year that I had way more bowls on the table than I could stand, so I found these egg shaped cups with dye that I got on clearance last year after Easter. They're a little too small and tip easily with a spoon resting in them, and someone tipped one right away. Guess who that was...just you wait.

So it began. Look at Jaggar's face. He was so excited.

There's his little hand with an egg. He threw one on the table and cracked it pretty quick, but he didn't slow down. He kept asking for one right after another. And look what he called them here. Notice Sage wants to blow the egg out of the shell like her talented father. I've showed that on here, right? You can see him at his finest doing that here. Now you all know what won me over.

Sage loves this, and she and Travis have probably eaten a dozen hard boiled eggs since we did these.

Beautiful girl. I can't believe how long her hair has gotten.

Travis isn't smiling because he's the culprit. I did it. I knocked it over within 5 minutes of the start of dyeing them. He was thrilled with that--that it was me and not him. :)

Jaggar and his "yes egg" and dinosaurs. Those were in his basket, and he knows if one is missing at all times. He carries them by the handfuls all through the house. We've had to issue a few mass search parties when one turns up missing because it's a total meltdown on his part.

Then we broke out the wax crayon. I still remember the egg I did for him when I was pregnant. I wrote "no name" because we couldn't find/agree on a name.

Sage's Auburn Egg. I think she colored this one herself actually.

And some of our final product. Next year I will buy a separate dye pack because the pink in this pack wasn't vibrant at all, and we know we need good pink eggs.