Kelli's Dinner

So as I mentioned, today is my sister Kelli's birthday. I won't mention her age, because she's sort of in denial about it these days! :) But it's been a fun year for Kelli and I. She delivered her first baby in April, and it was so fun when we were both pregnant with our boys at the same time!! They'll be about 3 months apart, and will be the best of friends/cousins! :)

Anyways, today was her birthday, so in honor of her, we had a "Kelli dinner". Something I've never made or bought before, but it was a big hit! We had tilapia and couscous (and green beans, but that's not new obviously). I had couscous for the first time at their house, and they live in south Florida and eat all KINDS of fresh seafood that I haven't tried. Both items were on sale this week at the store, so i figured it was a good time to try it.

And they were a hit! Well, with most of us. Jacob vetoed dinner completely (not a shock). Josiah tried his bites of the tilapia, but said it wasn't his favorite (he loves tuna and shrimp though, so we'll keep trying). He was a fan of the couscous. Callie LOVED the tilapia (ate her portion and Jacob's), but didn't touch the couscous (again, not a shock. she doesn't typically care for the "grains/carbs" in a meal - but will inhale the meat and veggies. David and I loved it all. Tasted so good! Part of why it was so good for me I think was because David did it all! He grilled the fish and had the couscous almost ready by the time the kids & I got home from Sam's and Bed Bath & Beyond!!! LOVE it!!!

The boys' room

Here's what the stripes look like. David still has to do the opposite wall, but this is what it looks like - isn't it cool? The front wall (with the windows) and the back wall (where the door is) is the navy blue. The two side walls are the light blue, and then has the stripes - so cute...and it looks sort of like a bigger boy room (not that it was a baby room, but it's COOL, you know?)

Here's a battle I chose not to fight - this is where Jacob wanted to take his nap today, and I said okay. Look comfortable to anyone else? not me either...but he's been asleep for 2 1/2 hours exactly like this. Flat on the floor. With the "road map" carpet on top of him! Go figure!

My little artist

Josiah is quite the artist - and is really enjoying this whole idea of making "puppets". He's become quite creative (not like me), and I am finding him more and more at the table with paper all around him and his crayons (my favorites by the way are the Twistables - no breaking, no paper peelings everywhere....).

Callie loves to sit and draw by Josiah too. She especially loves to trace her hand, and then asks for her name (she wants her name written on the paper).

Here he is with all of his Batman puppets...

I can't tell you how much David loves this! :)

Officially Moved!

I think we must be officially moved in now - because I got my new address labels and checks in the mail. Hooray! :)

nothing to report...

I was scolded by several people yesterday for allowing the whole weekend to go by without posting anything...which led to several "wonderings" about if I'd had the baby or not. (Which I did NOT by the way). So I'll try to be better over the next several days to keep you in the loop.

I feel as though I can't hardly call anyone because I know they FREAK out as soon as they see it's me...only to have me say "this is NOT the call". It's pretty funny to me.

Not a whole lot happening around here. We met some friends at the pool again this morning and just got home a bit ago to put 2 tired little swimmers in bed. I'm getting ready to get showered and put back together and then am hoping to head to Sam's Club and Bed Bath & Beyond after naps. Getting those last few things before i'm out of commission for a few days.

Oh, and no, my dinner guests last night did NOT send me into labor. Not even any major contractions to speak of last night. My back and legs were sore though - I'm starting to wonder if this baby isn't going to be face up like Jacob was...ugh.

So I have a small window of time in the next few hours to have this baby...otherwise I've got to wait until after about 9:30 pm tomorrow night (when David is done with choir and band practice)! My sister Kelli is rooting for today because it's her birthday!!! I'm thinking it's doubtful though....

I promise to let you know....

Happy Monday!

I'll try and have some pictures to post later on this afternoon. We had a good weekend. Had the hospital tour on Saturday morning, so now we actually now where to go if this baby ever comes. We had the whole gang with us of course, which probably freaked out the first time moms that were doing the tour with us. They asked us as many questions as they asked of the doula! Pretty funny. Also got my hospital bag "packed" - well, the stuff is in a pile anyways. I haven't actually pulled the BAG out of the closet yet.

David has almost got the boys' room painted. I'll take a picture of it later on today - it's adorable. He's got to do the stripes on one more wall and then it will be all done, but it looks GREAT - the boys were so excited.

I had a couple of hours of contractions last night while David was painting. Nothing terrible and not SUPER consistent, but then they stopped. Surprisingly, I slept very well. David said he didn't - he kept waiting for me to tell him "it's time". We've got company coming over for dinner tonight, and I've got to run to the grocery store to get some things for the week. So life goes on!!! We're doing well though!

The funniest card

I forgot to post this last night. The realtor that we used to find our house here is in the choir, and his wife is an alto with me - they are hilarious. Anyways, they gave us the funniest card last night at the shower. It said:

"It smells funny, makes a lot of noise, and depends on you for everything!"

Then you open it up, and it reads:

"But enough about your husband. Congratulations on your baby!"

It was a riot - David thought it was hilarious! And sort of a funny departure from the "normal" baby shower cards, you know! :)

He is SOOOOO loved!

Tonight, we were showered with love and gifts from our choir. As I sit here looking at these pictures and thinking about the evening, I am overwhelmed with how loved and supported and encouraging this body has been for us. They have completely embraced David and are behind him 100%. They have been SO precious to me and have been a joy to get to know. They have offered to come and stay with my kids if I go into labor in the middle of the night (which I always do). And tonight after rehearsal, they gave us a baby shower! They are amazing.

I love seeing his name in print!!! (And for all you northerners that have never had the priviledge of shopping at Publix, you are missing out! This cake was delish!)

David picked Callie & the boys up from their classes and brought them in to eat cake during the shower. Callie helped me open ALL of my presents and kept exclaiming "for the NEW baby" and "how cute!" She cracks me up. It's going to be strange to see her as the BIG sister!

Part of the choir - it's the ALTO side! :) (the very FUN side) I am enjoying being back in a choir with ladies that are, for the most part, at a different stage of life than I am. It's such a priviledge to be encouraged by women who have gone before me, have made it through, and are able to be the Titus 2 women for me.

I was surrounded by gifts! :)

Jacob was so cute - he helped me bring them all in from the van, and wanted to open them all up to see what Caleb got. He was SO cute! And since one of my favorite things is to come home from a shower and "relive" the whole experience, I was happy that I had an audience! (after all, David was still at band practice!)

Jacob playing with one of the toys we got - it's a little bean bag toss game. Very cute!

Is little Caleb LOVED or what?!?!

And we got our first "Gamecock" paraphenalia!! It has been quite eye-opening moving down here into a college football town. A totally new experience for us. Neither David nor I really follow college sports - love pro football, but don't really get into college. Well, down here, it's SERIOUS business. And I mean SERIOUS! We are VERY close to the University of South Carolina, and they are VERY serious about their gamecocks!!!

I've said before that we first found out I was pregnant the day we found out that the church was eliminating David's service, and therefore his job. I mentioned to David that we really needed to pray for protection over this baby - that he would be protected for the stress and anxiety and craziness that we were about to go into. My very godly and wise husband said "no, we are going to pray that we will not be fearful, or stressed, or anxious about anything! And then we will also pray for the baby's health, growth, etc." He was right. God has so walked us through these last 9 months. My mom has jokingly said that this pregnancy was almost the "forgotten" one - and I don't mean that in a bad way. But we had SO much other stuff going on - the job search, the interviewing and candidating, the house selling, the house HUNTING, David moving first, me being on my own with all the kids, starting with a new OB, moving, new job, new church. It's been crazy! BUT - I have never once "forgotten" about this pregnancy. He has been at the forefront of my mind and heart this whole time. He has always been a bright spot - even in the midst of the crazy or hard stuff - it has been SUCH a job to carry this child.

I know people think I'm crazy when I say how much I love being pregnant. But I do. I'm blessed to have very normal pregnancies and deliveries. Other than being sick 95% of them and getting big as a house, they are very run-of-the-mill. I love it. I always miss the feeling of them moving around inside of me. And I have really loved this pregnancy. It has NOT been a blur to me. And I'm thankful for that. I'm so thankful with the outpouring of love that we have been overwhelmed with. And so thankful for the many people that barely know us that love us and love our Baby Caleb. God is SO good. and SO faithful!

I LOVE our church!!!

Look what David got at work yesterday? Jacob's class made this for him. (Beth, Jackson's hand is on it too - I think it was made last week when Jackson was in Jacob's class with him...ask him about it!) I LOVE our church!!!

Easy Lemon Bars

One of my favorite summer recipes. Very refreshing. Dangerous though - seriously - I've already eaten 4 of them today!!!!! YUMMY!

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1/3 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. pecan halves, chopped
1 pkg (3 oz) lemon cook & serve pudding and pie filling (NOT instant)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 lemons
1 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix and butter; mix until crumbly. Stir in pecans and mix well. Reserve 1 cup of the crust mixture for crumb topping. Press remaining crust mixture evenly over bottom of Pampered Chef Bar Pan (it's a jellyroll size - you can do this in 9x13 if you have to - the bars will just be a bit thicker).

Whisk pudding mix and sweetened condensed milk together until smooth. Zest one lemon. Juice lemon to measure 2 T. juice. Add zest and juice to pudding mixture and mix well. Pour filling over crust, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with reserved crust mixture.

Bake 25-28 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Juice remaining lemon to measure 3-5 tsp. juice. Combine powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to mae a thick glaze; drizzle over crumb topping. Cool completely and cut into bars.