James' 5th Birthday Party: The People

This might be picture overload from James' party of all the sweet moments with sweet family and friends, but that's really the most important part of the celebration anyway. I'm thankful for so many that love and invest in our children. We were grateful to have most of James' grandparents, a great aunt, several important adults in his life from church, and several friends (and their families) from both Calera and from our new town. I know there were others that would have loved to be there, but it's difficult with family spread out in several states. Nana captured lots of sweet pictures during the party (which is such a gift to me because birthday parties can be a whirlwind) but unfortunately I didn't get one of her and Grandpa with James.

Jude and Preston

So so so thankful for my family!

My joy! (Can't imagine a world without him!)

My heart! (and the little boy that forever made me "Mama!")

Thankful for our worship leader's wife, Sarah, and the friendship that is forming. I know not everyone can understand but sometimes ministry can be so lonely because there is a certain amount of guardedness that I think that you have to have and there have been many points in our journey the last 8 years that I have needed a good friend in the place that the Lord currently had us. The Lord surely knew that I needed her in my life and I am so thankful for her whole family.

That donut frosting seriously looked like a little mustache!

I never even knew how wonderful being loved by a mama's boy could be until this little guy came along five years ago!

We aren't opposed to any of the three of our boys being betrothed to this little miracle girl!

So glad my mom and sis were able to make the trip!

We have entered a new phase of major love for the rescue bots. James want to be a policeman AND fireman these days so these transforming heros (into all different modes of transportation) were just made for this boy!

I love, love this picture of Jude with the big boys!

James' 5th Birthday Party: The Theme and Decor

We had a racing themed 5th birthday party for James today and even though I am exhausted I've been dealing with pregnancy insomnia the last few weeks. So, since I can't sleep tonight I thought I'd go ahead and post pictures from his party. He will turn five next week (and we'll celebrate him that day with just our family), but we had a great time today celebrating with close friends and family. We had the party at our church with all the foods that James requsted: hotdogs ("hotrods"), plain chips ("chippered flags"), "coolant" (water) and "gasoline" (apple juice), stoplight fruit kabobs, and a spare tire cake (made out of donuts). I always enjoy running with a theme. Birthday party planning and crafting for my kids is one of my very favorite things.
The entertainment was an inflatable ring with roller racers which I think James really enjoyed but he probably would have been just as happy running around with his friends and playing hide and seek. Jude thought the party was great and was super content trying to keep up with the big boys. He definitely thinks he is one of them. It was a great day and I hope our little man felt as special as he is!

January

Random photos from my phone in January...

I feel like I'm already nesting. One night I made a burlap door hanger for Joah and James' door (like I did for Jude before he was born). Crafting is fun for me! I love the burlap door hangers and like that I can do it myself for just a few dollars worth of burlap. 

Scraping the bowl of brownie batter...

Balloons at chickfila! 

One of the boys' Christmas gifts from us was tickets to an event at the BJCC for each one. James got tickets to Monster Jam and loved it! (Jude's event will be later in March.)

I've been preparing for James' 5th birthday party in the evenings whenever I have a minute. His party will be next Saturday (the week before his birthday). We are doing a racing theme! 

It's rare that both boys will sit in my lap at the same time and look at/read books with me,  but I hope this trend continues...

I'm really happy with how Joah's room is coming together. I wanted to fit the crib in the room with the other two boys (and have one room for just toys and play!) but it just looked way too cramped. We are keeping all the same bedding, mobile, etc. that we had with Jude but just got a few new frames and canvases for the wall. I also added a pennant banner over his crib and transportation paper lanterns. 

And this is the big boys' room! I'm really happy with how it turned out! The only real change was just the bunk bed instead of the twin bed and crib that they had before. 

Sometimes you have to get creative to get extra time with Daddy/Stephen on busy ministry days. One day he was doing some hospital visits and errands over near the zoo and since we were given a membership for Christmas I got him to drop us off while he worked (so at least we could ride over and back with him!), and we just spent an hour or two on a pretty day. We didn't get to see all the animals but the boys were happy to get out in the sunshine and optimize time with Daddy that day too!

Donuts and Music:
James decided instead of a birthday cake this year that he wants to have donuts (like Jude did!) So, I'm going to make them look like a stack of spare tires to fit with the racing theme. Of course, we had to try one when we went to place the order at the donut shop before we headed to music class for Jude at a nearby church. The program is like kindermusik but much more affordable and they let older siblings come for free! Each of the boys is doing a special activity this spring before Joah arrives: Jude is doing music and James will start rec league soccer at the end of February.

Pregnancy Update

I thought I'd do a little pregnancy update since I'm pretty sure that I did one weekly with James, maybe monthly with Jude (I'm not even sure?), and with Joah I haven't really done one at all. I'm trying to take a few "bump" pictures so I'll have a few for his baby book as well but it hasn't been nearly as frequent. 

I'll be 25 weeks (already!) tomorrow. This pregnancy is flying by even faster than the other two for me. Between homeschooling, chasing boys, ministry fun, etc. there is just never a dull moment and I know that Joah will be here before we know it. I still can't believe sometimes that I am going to be the mother of three boys, but I am so very happy and content with this season and the perfect gifts that he has chosen for me. It's so fun to imagine what the future looks like with my three sweet guys!

A few things pregnancy related to jot down while they are fresh on my mind:

-My food aversions were the worst of all three pregnancies this time around, and my morning sickness got progressively worse with all three pregnancies too. I definitely turned a corner not long after the first trimester, and I am not not repulsed by chicken, meat, or really any foods at this point. I don't have any major cravings this time (at least not so far) except that I really, really like ketchup on most things (chips, fries, grits, eggs, meat, etc). With James I craved cheese and crackers, turkey panini sandwiches from Atlanta Bread Company, and taco salad. With Jude I mostly liked hearty foods (meat, red beans and rice, and spicier things) and watermelon. 

- I'm wearing a combination of maternity and regular clothing now. I gained slowly in the beginning and had a growth spurt right around the half way mark just like I did with Jude. I am right on track with my growth and it looks like I will probably gain the full 35 pounds that I did with James and Jude. It humors me that some people can gain only ten pounds for an entire pregnancy, but after three pregnancies I just trust that my body does what it needs for my baby now (and for my baby in the year of nursing ahead after!). 

-I'm feeling really healthy. This is probably the best that I've felt with all three pregnancies. My heartburn is minimal (like it was with James) so I'm suspecting that this little guy will not have as much hair as Jude did at birth, I don't have any aches or pains at this point, and I have tons of energy in the second trimester. I have been working out every other day (picking and choosing from P90X videos that are doable for a pregnant person from the whole collection that Stephen got for Christmas), and I really feel more in shape now than before I got pregnant with Joah. The only physical difference that I notice with me personally is that my hair has been crazy and uncooperative this time around. I really hope the pregnancy hormones aren't loosening up my curls, because it's so nice to be able to scrunch it and go as a busy Mama.

-I am feeling lots of Joah movements now, but I'm feeling like maybe he's not as active as the other two (or maybe it's just still early!). We will see... I also predict that he's going to have some similar features to his two older brothers. One of his ultrasound profiles looks so much like one with Jude at the same age. It will be fun to see what he looks like, and all the little things that are unique to him!

Just a few "highlights" (if you can call them that) for my memory's sake. And a few belly pictures too: 

17 weeks

20 weeks

24 weeks (and baby is as long as an ear of corn!)

25 weeks! (Jude and I went to bed at 7:45 the night before (the weekend was so busy with youth/church events) so we were up early and had time to snap a picture before church!) This little man on my hip has no idea about the other little guy in my belly. He's saying lots of "my mama", "miiiiiine" (to other kids that sit on my lap at church, and answering that he's a "bebe" and not a "big boy" these days so I'm sure there will be an adjustment period when Joah arrives but I know he will grow to love him in no time at all!