Update on Life from the iPhone

I've been snapping away on my phone the last few weeks. Most of the pictures are just every day moments, but I'm feeling the end of the pregnancy drawing near and I'm just trying to soak up life as we know it as much as possible. I'm not sad (I'm so excited and ready!), but I still know that life and the dynamics of life with two kids is about to change. There are four more weeks until my due date, but just like my last two pregnancies the doctor is predicting we will not make it that far... we'll see! Either way, I'm washing clothes and (washing everything! Nesting is so real.) getting ready for Joah.

I love this boy. He is all about costumes, pretend play, and dressing up right now. James marches to the beat of his own drum. It's one of the things that I love about him, and I hope nothing (or no one) ever changes that.

I asked Stephen to paint my toenails for the first time in our marriage the night before Easter. The boys had never seen a sight like this before so they stood around and watched the whole process (between glances at Monster Jam for Jude!)

We have a new playground in our neighborhood about a half mile from our house. We've been enjoying walking down there and using it especially since our yard (and the whole area) is completely saturated with rain (turned mud!) and we have nine more straight days of it in the forecast starting today. I'm praying it dries up for summer.

Jude got in on the dress-up action...

Thankful for kind of being able to see my toes and the newborn sleepers I washed and folded that a third boy will wear. 

I used to be able to make cinnamon rolls or orange rolls from a can for a special breakfast for the boys before we had to change our diet and cut out artificial color. I'm thankful that I'm finding more and more products without dyes and preservatives every day so that I  don't have to do everything from scratch. Even Walmart has a line now (Wild Oats!) and it's sometimes cheaper than other brands.
This particular day I found a recipe for homemade-ish cinnamon rolls using some dye-free crescent rolls I had stocked up on while they were BOGO. And they were the best cinnamon rolls I'd ever have. 

James was playing church. He and his build-a-bear dog, Buddy, were leading worship. We asked him to come brush his teeth and he said "Really? I should have done that before church!" The conversation continued when Jude got on the chair and he told Jude he was the pastor but it's "not your time yet. You will be after this song... Then you can get your papers in position and tell everyone about Jesus!" ha!

22 months old. Still my baby.

 We made a build-a-bear dog for James when he was a baby. Before Jude was born, we took James to build one for Jude to get him excited and prepared for his brother. And this weekend, we took both boys to build a dog for Joah. I'm pretty sure Jude thinks it's his... 

They picked a black and white dog and named it "Sunny" which was the name of our old neighbors' black and white dog that they loved. We let the boys pick out one item for their dogs too. James found a police officer outfit on clearance and was so excited! 

Washing Sunny

We let them ride the carousel before we left too!

We also decided to go to the zoo on a pretty day, because we knew they would be stuck inside all week long with this crazy rain. We also had a long weekend (a little comp time) for Stephen working basically two weeks straight between the youth trip and all the easter prep that had to get done. They squealed and squealed over this river otter that kept swimming up to them!

James and Buddy in their matching police uniforms. 

I waas 36 weeks on Sunday. I'm thankful for every Sunday now that I stand at the door and take these pictures, and I am definitely breathing a sigh of relief at this point that we are getting to a safer place. My prayer is for Joah's health, his lung development, and us all being able to come home from the hospital together. I don't want to think about leaving a baby in the hospital in the NICU while I come home, and then leaving my other two all day while I visited a baby in the NICU...I pray we are past that point now at 36 weeks. The doctor just keeps saying "he'll probably be here soon.." and all signs seem to point that way but we'll see... 

5 years old. Still my baby. (This boy is such a Mama's boy!)

The boys sang in church again today. My friend Maegan stood behind Jude (so he wouldn't jump off the stage) and he sang and participated in the whole thing. I'm definitely not the most musically talented or trained person in our church, but I have a heart for these sweet children and was so thankful for the opportunity to teach them the last few months. I'll be excited to get back to it in the fall after Joah is born. 

We took a walk before dinner while the sun is still out. Any second I don't see a raindrop in the next few days I'm going to push them out the door to run. Boys and indoors all the time do not mix. James drove his power wheel in his "unmarked police car" with Buddy the police dog. :)