alligators

Ellis: It's a wal-a-gator!
Parker: No, it's ar-gator. Ar ar ar-gator!
Ellis: wal-a-gator! A wal-a-gator in the water.
Parker: Ar-gator!

I just love that they were fighting over how to pronounce alligator and neither of them were saying it right. I love how they both say alligator. Too cute!

18 weeks

I figured I should go ahead and start taking pictures of my growing baby bump and since I'm 18 weeks today, I figured I should go ahead and start.

Although I had a small baby bump not too far along (since it's the 3rd time around my body knew what to do), it seems like the past week I've really started to grow.

I've been wearing maternity pants for about a month now. I mean why not they are do comfy although I can't stand the lack of adequate pockets found in most. 

One of my most consistent cravings has been grape flavored things- grape kool aid, grape snowballs, etc. I've also had cravings for fried rice. 

I've been feeling the baby move more and more. That feeling never gets old.

In a little less than 2 weeks, we find out what the gender is. I can't wait. I keep going back and forth, first boy, then girl, now boy again, so I don't have any definitive feelings as to what this baby is. Either way, I'll be happy.

Camp Family Update

I've been a terrible blogger lately. Between first trimester yuckiness, taking care of 2 kids, and having to share a computer with Paul, I just didn't get around to blogging. But I'm going to get better.

I haven't announced this on my blog, but I am expecting baby #3 due around February 14.  We hopefully will find out the gender on September 26. The morning all day sickness I had was worse this time around than with the other 2 pregnancies and lasted longer. Most of it was nausea but I did throw up many times too. I'm very thankful to be past that part of the pregnancy.

Since our family is growing, we are moving to a bigger apartment on campus. Since this will be our fourth move in under 3 years and it's such a short move, I have little motivation to pack. However, I'm making myself pack a lot of our stuff because it will make for an easier and quicker move. Paul is very busy with school, so I want to make this move as easy as possible for him. The worst part is we're moving to a 3rd floor apartment so you can imagine that alone makes moving difficult. We will be getting a great work out.

Paul started his second semester at school, and right off the bat has been swamped with lots of reading and projects. To add to the busy semester, he has been promoted to manager at Chickfila and started as the Student Pastor at our church.  He is very excited about working at First Baptist Norco. He loves working with youth, and we love our church. Paul is very busy, but he still makes time for us. We enjoyed having all the extra time with him that summer gave, but we came here for Paul to go to school.

I started homeschooling Parker. Since he's four, I'm just making my own curriculum with the help of the vast amounts of internet resources.  Ellis joins us for some of the stuff we do. There is a great homeschool group on campus. I'm really enjoying homeschooling. Although I have to admit that I haven't been the most consistent with it, but once we get moved and settled I plan on making more of a consistent routine.

We really enjoy living in New Orleans. It's such a unique place. There really is no other place like it. Home will always be South Carolina, but we have made our home here in New Orleans for now.

The Curse Of the Camouflage Pants

Me: You're going to wear THAT?

Paul: yes, is there something wrong with this? Does it match?

Me: it's camouflage pants and we're going out in public to run errands. Why would you wear camo pants?

Paul: I need to get a lot accomplished today and these pants make me feel like getting things done.

Me: whatever...if that's what it takes for you.

I'm going to take those pants and burn them. We left the house this morning to go to the DMV to register the vehicle my daddy gave us, get the inspection sticker, get groceries, and get the seminary decal for the car.

However only one of those things happened. We went into the DMV where we waited 20 mins just to get a number. Then I waited nearly FOUR HOURS to get my numbered called. Then the lady put in that I was paying cash when I was going to use my debit card, so I just got some money out of the ATM there to save the trouble and time of them getting that fixed.

By the time we left it was close to 3 o'clock so we decided to go to Golden Corral for a big lupper. Parker wasn't eating very much and said he needed to go poop. Paul took him to the bathroom and Parker's tummy was upset. He was still complaining his tummy hurt and ended up throwing up all over the bathroom floor. Of course Paul's appetite was gone but he waited with Ellis to finish while I took Parker to the car. We ended up coming home with only one of our to do items done and the day is nearly done. Now Ellis is in her "mean I want to destroy everything mood" because she didn't take a nap. So much for Paul's camo pants helping him get things done. Like I said, I'm going to burn those pants.

So you know you're not alone

I've been terrible lately about keeping the house clean. The other day I opened the cabinet door and there was one, ONE cup left, and the only reason we had clean plates was because we had been eating off of paper plates. There were piles and piles of dirty dishes that had been waiting for days to be washed. My excuse was I am almost out of dish detergent, but really I just hate to wash dishes. There are times Most of the time I'm stepping on leftover bits of cereal, noodles, or other bits of leftover food from the day. Forget about the floor actually being mopped. Walking through the living room or the kid's rooms is like walking through a field of land mines.  There are only a few places where some kind of toy, blanket, book, clothing, or shoes aren't laying for you to place your foot. I can get clothes washed and dried, but put away is a whole other story.
It's terrible. I know that it makes life more chaotic and takes away from the home being a place of comfort and rest. I struggle with my own self-esteem. As a stay-at-home-mom, shouldn't I have everything perfectly organized and the kids on a perfect schedule so they never get bored and start acting out and destroying things?
Part of the reasoning behind the mess is it's just the season of life. With two little ones, there is bound to be mess. However, I have to take most of the blame here. The fact is I lack self-discipline or to put it bluntly, I'm lazy. I really am an organized person. I know you think I'm kidding you after reading all this, but it's true. I am also a perfectionist. Again, I'm not kidding. However, I have this flaw that keeps me from being perfectly organized. I have this "it's overwhelming, and it can't be perfect so I might as well throw in the towel and just let it all just go" mentality.
I'm bearing my flaws here, so if your in the same boat or a similar one, you can know you are not alone. There is another mama out there struggling. I would surmise that there are a lot of mamas out there that at the end of the day they are just proud that they kept the kids alive even if all the Pinterest boards and pins would suggest otherwise.

Feel free to leave a comment so I know I'm not alone.

In the span of about 15 minutes...

Ellis threw up all over Parker's floor. I clean up the chunky bits (I know the joys of motherhood) and spread baking soda over the floor. I put the dirty towel and clothes in the wash and vacuum up the baking soda. After vacuuming Parker yells that Ellis is outside. I run to go get her and about two feet from the door I step on something painful. I look down and there are bits of broken glass in the doorway with a piece stuck in my foot. I carefully pull out the piece in my foot, grab my flip flops by the door, and gingerly walk outside to retrieve Ellis. I lock her in her room with a baby gate. Then I administered first aid to my foot which, thankfully, was only minor. I swept  then vacuumed up the glass which turned out to be a lightbulb that Parker had gotten and dropped. I finished vacuuming up the baking soda and disinfecting the whole house. Yes, all this happened in approximately fifteen minutes! Yep, I took a nap this afternoon, and I didn't feel guilty about it one bit.

Candy thieves

The other day I was in the back of the house gathering dirty clothes when I heard Ellis humming. Ellis hums when she eats especially if she really enjoys it.  Since I hadn't given her anything to eat, I knew this meant trouble. I found Parker and Ellis crouched under the kitchen table munching happily on some jelly beans.

Today I was in the bathroom while Ellis was finishing her bowl of cereal when I heard her say, "I want candy Parker." Again, I knew this meant trouble. I went to the kitchen and found this. 

Yep, that's chocolate. A Reese's peanut butter egg to be exact. Parker's breath smelled of peanut butter.

I'm going to have to find a higher place to stash the candy and Parker needs to find a new partner in crime.

Easter Pictures

My family was looking pretty good on Easter Sunday. Although that's far from what Easter is about, I wanted to share our pictures for our friends and family far away. Plus, I had excuse to take boogoodles of pictures of us all dressed up looking cute. Normally, Paul doesn't tolerate such things.

Getting a picture of a 3 year old and a 20 month old together is nearly impossible.

It's nice to have a picture of just me and my love. Thanks Elise!

MiMi and Poppy came to visit.

My precious babies!

God provides

I know that God will always provide. He may not provide in the way I think He will, but He always shows me that He's in control and He is all I need. Isn't that what God's provision is....Himself?

We've never been rich, but being in seminary, we are very tight financially. I'm not complaining. I actually think it is a blessing. God is using this time to mold us more into the image of Christ.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to Paul that I'm not sure that I will be able to get everything on my shopping list because the list was getting longer and the funds in the bank were getting lower. Later on in the day, a few men from Gulfport, MS showed up on our door step and asked if there was anything they could do for us. They were on a deacon retreat and wanted to reach out to the seminary students. They prayed with us and handed us a $25 gift card to Walmart. I was able to get everything on my list when I went shopping.

Today, I had told Paul that the checking account is getting very low, so we need to be very careful until the next payday. When I checked the mail a couple hours later, we had a couple of cards with money in them. What a blessing that God provides for us financially! What a blessing that we have people in our lives praying for us and being obedient to answer God's call on their lives to lend us a helping hand! And these are not the only times this has happened.

I can't wait until the day when God has placed us in a place where we are stable enough to be able to bless others the way people have blessed us. God's blessings are beyond financial. I'm just blown away by who He is. I get what God was telling Moses when God told Moses to tell the Israelites that "I am" sent him. I am is all I need.

When God speaks to Parker

Me: Parker, why did you pee in the trash can?
Parker: my penis
Me: No, not how you did it. Why did you do it?
Parker: obey God
Me: Son, I don't think God told you to pee in the trash can.


I must have missed the verse in the Bible that says, "Thou shall pee in thy trash can."

Throw me something, Mister!

We got to celebrate our first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and boy, it was exciting and fun. I've never been to Mardi Gras celebrations anywhere else, but I can't imagine that anyone can do it better. If you're like me when you think New Orleans and Mardi Gras, you think indecent exposure, inebriation, and all things not meant for families with young children. However, that's not the case. Sure, if you found yourself in the middle of the French Quarter strolling down Bourbon Street, then Mardi Gras would be rated R. There are soooo many parades that are great for families, and now my children may never enjoy another parade outside of NOLA again.

Mardi Gras is a huge deal in NOLA. The carnival season begins on January 6th, 12th night of Christmas, and from that time until Fat Tuesday the evidence of the celebration is all over. King cakes in stores, aisles at Walmart devoted to all kinds of Mardi Gras decor, and houses decked out in purple, green, and gold. The two and half weeks (although this year it was three weeks because the Super Bowl fell in between) before Mardi Gras day are packed full of parades. Each Krewe has their own parade and there are a lot of Krewes.

I had the chance to go to some parades with some other ladies the Thursday before Fat Tuesday. We went mainly for the Krewe of Muses parade, but enjoyed a couple others that rolled before. The Krewe of Muses is more of a PG-13 parade so that's why I went without the kids plus it was past their bedtime. The Muses have a special throw of sparkly, decked out shoes. You have to work really hard beg a Muse to hand you a shoe and make sure that the throngs of other people around you don't get what was intended for you. I didn't get a shoe, but got some other neat throws and had a lot of fun on my girls night out.

There was a lull in the parade so people just filled the street and started dancing. I learned the wobble (I know I may be a little late on that).

 



My throws from the Muses, not including a few magnetic dry erase message boards and some doubloons.

 

 

 

 

The Saturday before Fat Tuesday the whole family went to some parades. Our original intentions was to go to the Krewe of Iris and stay for the parade that followed, the Krewe of Tucks. We ended up skipping out on the Krewe of Tucks as it was delayed for a while and made our way to the Krewe of Endymion. Endymion is a very popular parade. It has a lot of riders that send out a lot of throws. Having some cute kids and getting the attention of the riders is key to getting some good throws.

People get to the parade route and set up there spots early hours before it is scheduled to roll. Many people have retrofitted ladders with seats on top for the kids to sit in for ultimate parade watching and throw catching.

Motorized Cooler-cycle. You never know what you are going to see.

We are so going to have to get one of these for Parker and Ellis.

Ellis and I worked together to get some great throws.

Paul and Parker made a great team. Paul is such a good dad. He had some very sore shoulders at the end of the day.

This one is just for Uncle Michael.

Isn't she cute with her beads?

People were everywhere.

Budweiser Clydesdales



The parades are not just floats, but there are sooo many marching bands and other groups mixed in.

In the parades that roll at night or into the night, they have the city's homeless carry flambeauxs as a way to pay tribute to how the parades used to be lit. The homeless take tips from the revelers as they pass.

 

This guy just stopped at this man and took the spoon from him and helped himself to a bite of jambalaya. I would have thrown it away after that, but he kept on eating his supper.

Endymion has such pretty floats.

Our beads- approximately 60 lbs of them! Yes, there are some unopened bags of them that they would just chunck at you. And yes, you have to watch out because they are chuncked at you and do hurt if you get hit with them.

The toys we got- plush animals, balls, frisbees, cups. Some toys didn't make it in this picture. That's what happens when you have little ones.

More of the throws. Notice the light saber, Parker's favorite. Sadly, it has already broken. We also got a t-shirt that's not pictured. You never know what you're gonna get.

Not all the beads are the generic kind. There are some special beads and these are what we got.

 

 We were planning on taking in some parades on Fat Tuesday, but since both cars were broken down and Ellis was sick we watched some of the parades on tv. We had so much fun. We look forward to many more years of celebrating the carnival season in New Orleans.

Where Food Goes

Parker: My food goes in my throat.
Me: Yes then it goes into your belly.
Parker: Then in my leg.
Me: No, it stays in you stomach and your body gets the good stuff it needs and the rest goes out in your pee or poop.

We've had conversations about where food goes in our bodies when we eat at least one meal a day. He just very interested in the whole digestion process. Usually it's accompanied with a lot of whys.

A couple of days ago we had this conversation over Sunday lunch.

Parker: My food goes in my throat (He puts in a bite and shows me how he swallows.)
Me: Yes, it does.
Parker: It goes in my belly
Me: Uh huh
Parker: It goes in my penis and my bottom.

At that point, Paul and I lost it. The boy is right.

My baby boy is growing up

Part of me wants Parker to stay little forever and the other part enjoys watching him grow up. Tonight when he was getting ready for bed I was just watching him in amazement at what he can do on his own. I recently realized I was doing way too much for him. I was doing things for him that he could do himself. Therefore, I was taking the chance for him to build his self-confidence.

During our bedtime routine, he told me he wanted to sleep in his underware instead of a pull up. We talked about if he felt his body telling him that he needed to go pee pee then he needed to get up and go potty and go back to sleep. Since his room was a landmine field of toys, I told him we needed to make a clear path for him so he wouldn't get hurt. I planned on just sweeping the toys to the side and straightening up his room tomorrow, but he decided he wanted to clean his room all the way. I watched as he put toys in containers in no particular way. No like toys together. Just a jumbled mess of toys. He worked so hard at finding a place for each container. I tried to convince him just to push it to the side, but he had to find the perfect place. He wanted his floor clear, and he worked hard to do it. I just watched in amazement.

I've been the one who cleans his room. I put like things in their correct containers and tuck them away on the shelves or wherever they belong. I like things organized and in their place. I like things to look neat. So watching Parker clean his room wasn't so easy because he didn't do it the way I would have. But I kept my mouth shut and just watched him work so hard. He did it by himself. In the end, his floor was clear just like he wanted. The best part of all was he was so proud of himself. He squealed, "I did it!" Yes, he did. I'm so glad I let him take on this big task by himself, even if it meant a little later bedtime and not so perfectly organized toys. I'm so glad that I didn't take this moment for him to fill good about himself and what he can do.  I'm learning.

Girls Just Love to Talk

I've always been told that girls learn to talk before boys, and although I know each child is different, that has been true with my children. Ellis quickly started talking and her vocabulary just keeps expanding. She copys what we say, puts sentences together, and just contantly jibber jabbers all the time. I wanted to record some of what she is saying so when I'm old and she asks me how she talked when she was a baby I can look back here and tell her.

Some of the things she says:

• baaabee (baby)
• pay (play)
• I eat
• miiilllk -she draws it out like a true southern girl
• caa-ker (crackers)
• I unnn... ( I want ....)
• I unnn dat (I want that)
• kitty (cat or squirrels or anything small and furry)
• I wing (I swing)
• I unn owt (I want out)
• wa wa (water)
• choo choo (train)
• chiiiiyups (chips)- notice the nice southern draw she has
• no - one of her favs; it's her answer to almost every question
• mine - another toddler fav
• ca-car (Parker)
• ca (car)
• no (nose)
• i-ya (eye)
• eh-r (ear)

She will say more, but that is just what she uses most. I just love when she looks me in the eye and just jibber jabbers away like I know exactly what she's saying or when she has "conversations" with other little kids her age. She is soaking up so much of the world around her.

Family Update

I just wanted to give a little update for our family and friends far away. We are pretty much settled in. Boxes, with the exception of a few, are unpacked. Things are put in a place, and our home is livable. I still need to go through and really get things organized, but that will come with time.
  After the first couple of weeks of rainy days, we finally were blessed with some sunshine. The weather has been amazing, 70s and sunny. Therefore, we have spent a lot of time outside playing. I figured the home organing can wait until it's raining or during the hot and humid summer days, so for now will soak up all the lovely weather.
   Paul started classes last week. He's taking 3 classes, all psychology classes. He has a lot reading to do and memorizing. If he's not in class, he's working. If he's not working, he's studying. The psychology stuff is new to him since he was a Youth Ministry major in college, so he's working really hard. Things are going well for him at Chickfila. At some point in time, he will be able to move up into a management position and will be able to use the skills he learned as a manager before we moved. He is learning how this store works and getting to know the people he works with. He's even seen some of the NO Saints players come through.
   Parker also started "classes" last week too. There is a home school group on campus, and they offer classess like P.E., art, storytime, and science for the young ones. They also go on field trips once a month. Parker has been really enjoying them as well as Ellis who gets to tag along (they have something for younger ones to do, too).
   I have started working for First Baptist New Orleans for their Wednesday night's child care. I will also have the opportunity to provide childcare for their women's Bible studies and other special occasions. I'm so excited about this because it provides us with a little extra income, and I get to bring the kids along with me.
   We have enjoyed getting to know the families around us. We have all made friends and enjoy the great community here on the seminary campus.
   The city of New Orleans has a lot going on with Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl. We are so excited about being part of our first Mardi Gras. Paul actually has Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday) off from both work and school. It's so crazy that the whole city shuts down. Everyone is off. The schools are closed for the whole week. There have already been parades going on, but we haven't been to any yet. I finally ventured out and drove on my own. I didn't go anywhere I hadn't been to already, but I'm just so proud that I did it.
  We are so thankful for all the prayers that have been made on our behalf. Keep them coming. It's hard being away from family and what is familiar. But that being said, it is exciting to be here, living on faith as the Lord makes our way. It has quickly began to feel like home.
 

Handprints

Last night was a rough night for Ellis and therefore me as well. Ellis woke up just as I was getting ready for bed (I admit that it was really late like 1:30. I was waiting on Paul to go to bed.) She would not go back to sleep. She screamed and screamed when I put her back in her crib. I finally gave up and put her in the bed with me which meant I "slept" with Ellis on top of me practically all up on my head. At 3 am, I had enough of the uncomfortable sleeping condition and I put her back in her crib. Again, she screamed. I angrily told Paul, who had gotten some sleep during all this, "it's 3 o'clock and I haven't gotten any sleep if you don't want to hear her scream then you can go get her because I'm done." He groggily goes to get her and claims that she has a poopy diaper and angrily asks where all the diaper changing stuff is. So I angrily get up, get Ellis from him, get the diaper changing stuff, and change what turned out to be just a pee pee diaper. I hand her screaming back to him. Two minutes later he brings her into the room to try to get her to sleep in the bed with us. As he walks into the room, I angrily think to myself, "I know how this will go. I guess I will be sleeping with a baby on my face." Sure enough. Ellis ended up on me all nuzzled up on my face. At 4 o'clock, she was finally restful enough to lay her beside me in the bed to sleep. So, I got about 3 hours of sleep, but the kind of sleep where you feel like you are sitting on pins and needles because your nervous about the child in the bed with you.

You may be thinking, "what does this story have to do with handprints as the title suggests?" I said all that to understand the fatigued state this mama and her husband were in this morning. After feeding the kids, because you have to keep your children alive no matter how tired you are, I crawled back in bed. Paul got up and was taking care of the children. I don't know what happened the next couple hours, but at some point in time Paul came and crawled back in bed with me for a few minutes. Just a few minutes. That's when it happened because a few minutes later we had two precious children come in our room proudly showing off their colorful hands. Parker's hands looked like he had smacked a smurf and Ellis hands were black (although after further exploration, they were actually a deep purple). That's enough to spring a fatigued mama into action. I jumped up looked down the hall the finger paints looked untouched. I was just thinking, "did he get ahold of a marker and break it?" Then, it hit me. I let out a gasp and ran into the kitchen and found it. There lay a puddle of food coloring where four bottles of color had been emptied and mixed. Paul got to work on that clean up, and I put the kids in the bath tub really just to contain them to a single spot. After getting them in the bath, I noticed that Parker must have tried cleaning his hands off because my pretty hand towel had blue stains all over it. I got to work using the trusty rubbing alcohol to get the hand print marks off the walls. It really could have been worse. The hand prints were mostly contained to the bathroom and the sheets of our bed. For the most part the evidence has been wiped away, although a few marks still remain. I guess we are going to have to do a handprint art project so I can show the children the proper way to leave their mark.

Ellis's handprints on my bed. I was in panick mode so I didn't think to take pictures until I got to this.

What I've Learned So Far

Life is a learning experience. We are constantly learning. However, when we face big changes, it seems that our learning experience is brought to a whole new level. Because of that, I've been learning a lot of new things and I decided to share some with you.

1. Moving 600 miles is a lot of work and it is very helpful to have wonderful in-laws coming alongside to help. (Thanks Arden and Elise! We couldn't have done it without you.)
2. Even though you get rid of a lot of stuff before you move, you still have too much stuff.
3. Pocket shoe organizers are wonderful little organizers and space saving solutions.
4. Seminary families are wonderful. It is such a great community. When we pulled up with the moving truck, people just came out and started helping unload the moving truck.
5. I'm going to have to learn to love washing dishes. With no dishwasher and little counter space, washing dishes after every meal is a must.
6. Changing timezones even just with one hour difference is not easy especially for little bits.
7. New Orleans may just be the new Seattle. It has rained or been a misty, cloudy day almost every day since we have been here.
8. Waiting in line a while to check out at any store is the norm.
9. I really kind of like living in an apartment. I like being able to hear children playing outside and seeing people walk by.
10. I've never been so excited about getting plastic beads. I'm excited about going to the Mardi Gras parades. I never thought that I would be a part of Mardi Gras in NO, but I've learned that it's not all like what you see on tv.
11. I'm going to have to learn how to drive in city traffic. I still have not braved driving on my own, but since Paul is starting classes in a week, that will soon change.
12. I've learned that when classes start it will be like kissing my husband goodbye until the end of the semester. Please pray for Paul and for us as Paul works, goes to school, and studies and for us as we adjust to having only small amounts of time with him.

I could sit here all night and think of more things that I've learned, but I'm not going to bore you. Thanks everyone for your prayers! I can't put in to words how much it means to us for people to take the time to lift us up in prayer.