Update :)

First of all, I have NOT had Noah yet. I am 39 weeks 2 days pregnant. My 'official' due date is December 10th. We're just waiting right now!

Eli:
Has started jumping-like both feet leave the ground jumping! It is the funniest, cutest thing ever! He gets so proud of himself! He has also started trying to put a ball in his toy lacrosse stick and throw it up in the air and catch it like his Daddy does! Right now as I am typing he is eating an apple, like the whole thing. He doesn't want it cut up anymore, he wants the skin and all! When did he start to be such a big boy? He doesn't even want to be rocked for a few minutes before bed! He just wants his bear, and 2 blankets and he lays down by himself. John has, thankfully, taken over putting him in bed. I think that will prove VERY helpful once Noah gets here. He has said "Mamaw" when trying to Grandma (John's Mom) and has said "Mammy" when trying to say Grammie (my Mom)! I'm not very consistent in trying to get him to say names. But it's hard when they don't live close, ya know? Eli finally enjoys playing with cars too! For a while he just wanted to play with his instruments or throw/kick balls around the house/outside! He is 17 months old. And strong-willed, defiant and tests boundaries/rules EVERY day, all day. We are set on being consistent with him now-even if it means spanking him 10 times a day for doing the same thing over and over again. He still is a sweet heart though. He loves to give hugs and kisses and has started saying "HI!" to random people as we walk around a store or mall. It's awesome!

Hmm. I think that's all the updates I have. I mainly am doing this now so I don't forget when Eli started doing all of these things (not the disobeying part!)!! OH and he LOVES hats! Any and all hats, he loves them :) I'll post something after I have Noah with pictures and all that fun stuff :)

Please pray.

We received news yesterday that one of our great friends has been diagnosed with cancer. Lymphoma. Please pray for them. Candace and Stuart Smartt. Lord cover them. With peace, comfort, strength. Protect them from well-meaning, but ignorant people. Please shut the mouths of people that could use theirs words to potentially hurt rather than help. Lord, peace over the Smartt's. Wisdom for the doctors. We are thankful you are a Sovereign God and that You love us immeasurably more than we can begin to fathom.

Please pray.

Please pray for my step mom, Kristi. She is to have surgery on December 1st because 3 large cysts were found on her ovaries. Please pray God would cover she and my Dad with peace. Surround Kristi with community to love on her, take care of she and my Dad's needs while she is recovering. And that the pain she is living with daily until the surgery would subside. Please Lord, comfort, protect and love on them.

Texas Trip

Our trip to Texas was a whirlwind. Man was it SHORT. Too short for a prego and a 15 month old! But it was so awesome to see the family we were able to see and to let everyone see Eli and Noah-sort of! The wedding was simply beautiful! The place they had the ceremony was AWESOME! Typical Texas-Longhorn grazing in a field as you pulled into the Manor. It was really beautiful. Luke looked awesome, yellow shoes and all! And his wife, Amie, looked stunning! It was great! Here are a few pictures from our little trip! I (thank you JESUS) did not develop the 3rd trimester fat face syndrome prior to the wedding...so my fears of looking HUGE were silly! Well, my belly is still enormous, just not my face (YET!)! Anyways. Enjoy the few pictures! I have more that I will post later of my siblings and I! Crazy to see the 8 of us together, all grown up!


John, Eli and my Dad (Buster, as Eli will call him)



The Burke's at the wedding (Eli was NOT wanting to be photographed)


Enjoying a lil' music while he had a snack before the wedding started


After the wedding/reception, he was SO tired. It was awesome!!

SO FUNNY!

This is going to be a quick post but I had to post it! Eli was sitting, well lounging over our dog, Jasa. And just resting his head on her, I went into the kitchen to get him his after nap snack and all of the sudden he starts to cry! I mean, WAIL! His hurt cry. So I run (yes, 29 weeks-we'll say walk briskly) into the living room scoop him up and he just is sobbing. I am scouring his body looking for something bleeding, because of his cry, there HAS to be something broken or bleeding. NEGATIVE!! His foot feel asleep! I guess he was sitting on one of them when he was laying on the dog! So I started to rub his foot and he would jump around and wrap his sweet little arms around my neck REALLY tight and just sob! Poor little buddy! It was SO FUNNY!

Gosh, I wonder what it's like when that happens for the first time? I wonder what he was thinking?? Maybe he thought his foot was going to fall off or something?!? Anyways. Just a little peek into my day today!

30, 25, 14 months, 28 weeks..

That is how old we are. John is 30, I am 25, Eli is 14 (1/2) months old and Noah has been forming for a mere 28 weeks! PHEW! Incubating another human for 28 weeks. I don't think that will ever sound normal to my ears. We are getting ready to head to Texas in a couple of weeks! My little brother, Luke, is getting married to his long time girlfriend, Amie. So we are making out way there, via bird in the sky, to join in the celebration of their life starting together! I will be 30 1/2 weeks pregnant by the time the wedding gets here. So the last wedding we attended I was 27 weeks pregnant with Eli-John's brother James' wedding. And now this one I'll be 30. Dang. Why do people want to get married when I'm knocked up? Don't they realize I don't want to look like that gargantuan whale in the pictures?!?!? Because you know, it's ALL about the pictures, right?!? (Yes, you do sense quite a bit o' sarcasm in those sentences)

I am a LITTLE nervous about how Eli will behave during the ceremony. The ceremony which is expected to last about 45 minutes. Yep, I said it, 45 minutes. Almost an hour. I love my brother and his fiance. I am so excited they are getting married and I cannot wait to see where God takes them and how many children they have...etc. HOWEVER, I think that wedding ceremonies that last longer than 20 minutes are a bit ridiculous! I mean, aside from Catholic weddings, I hear those last quite a while. But, seriously. I remember when John and I were talking with our pastor about the length we wanted to the ceremony to be it was decided as quick as possible without leaving out any of the important parts...Jesus, love, communion, a song, a short talk about a scripture that is the crux of our marriage...and the ever important walking back down the aisle song-"More Than A Woman" by the BeeGees! I think it ended up lasting 20 minutes because my Mom forgot to put the communion sacraments on stage and Kris (our pastor) thinks it is far too important to not be the first thing a couple does after they say their vows. So he stopped the ceremony, looked in the congregation and said, "This is far too important of a thing to miss out on. Can someone please get us a couple of crackers and some grape juice from the cafe?" So out goes my older brother, Les and a friend of ours, Damien...and they come back with a large plastic container of crackers and a styrofoam cup with juice in it! It was pricelessly amazing! A little disappointed that no one seemed to take any pictures during that time! I think they were worried I was going to be upset that it didn't go 'perfectly'...but I just thought it was hilarious! At my sister's wedding the same thing happened, the sacraments were forgotten, but they just kneeled at the little bench thing (we didn't do that, we stood and prayed together with Kris) and pretended. It took all that was within me not to burst into laughter while standing in spikey high heeled shoes. Anyways. Eli...ceremony. Too long. And it's at 11 in the AM! So we'll see how the little buggar does!

Okay. I kind of digressed. It happens often these days with an ever present pregnancy brain! I'll post pictures from the wedding once we return home! Oh...Eli is wonderful and is so NOT a baby anymore. It's kind of sad and exciting at the same time. He tries to talk all the time. He gets frustrated when I don't understand him. And he yells in the car when the radio dj's talk rather than play music! He is amazing and is going to be such an awesome big brother! :)

So it's been a pretty long week here in the Burke home. It started out with my monthly check up at the doctor. This appointment was especially important because it was the Gestational Diabetes test...and I failed. That doesn't necessarily mean I have GD, but I had to go for further testing. *sigh* The further testing was the 'Fasting Glucose Tolerance" test. People have that test to check for hypoglycemia as well. Anyways, the 3 days leading up to the test I had to 'sugar load.' Now it sounds nice, eh. Well, let me tell you, it was NOT! Someone making you eat an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting, just as ONE of the FOUR snacks you have to eat per day, in addition to your 3 regular meals! It was disgusting. So I had to have 4 snacks a day and those snacks entailed 2 snickers bars, 2 Mr. Goodbars, 5 figs, 1/2 cup of raisins (which by the way has more sugar than 2 Mr. Goodbars). That is the 4 snacks you could have in one day. Then there were the 8-10 oreos, 10 chocolate chip cookies, PB&J, slice of pie...those were my choices. ACK! Now most of you are saying, "Oh, I thought all pregnant women would LOVE that kind of diet." Well, yes, in theory. But when someone is telling you that you HAVE to eat like that, it's no fun anymore! How terrible, I know :)

Okay, so after the 3 day sugar loading diet, at 8PM on the third day, you have to stop ALL FOOD/WATER INTAKE. Not even brushing teeth. Until after the appointment the next day. So, for me, that meant I went 18 hours without food/water. 18 whole hours. Oh, I did have to drink this disgustingly sugar filled drink-8 oz (in less than 5 minutes). Now, I am NOT a chugger. I would be the WORST competitive drinker in the world! (They have competitive eating, I'm sure somewhere there is competitive drinking) And then they drew my blood 4 times in 3 hours. 3 of those 4 times the blood was taken out of the same vein. By the 3rd stick, the vein started to pop out of my arm-kind of like the people that work out a lot and their veins stick out, that is what it looked like. So the final stick they used one of my other veins. But the needles used were NOT the same that my doctor's office uses. They were really thick needles. I can still see where each needle went into my arm. 4 visible holes. So that was a fun day! NOTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So much.

I won't find out until next week sometime if I have Gestational Diabetes or not. If I do have it, the only thing that really changes is the kind of food we eat. I'll be sent to a dietician to make out a meal/exercise plan to control it. My doctor has not had to put anyone on medication in 12 years to control GD! Such a relief in this day in age when people are given pills/antibiotics to fix x,y,z. So for that, I am thankful.

In Eli news he just gets funnier and funnier by the second! We were walking down the street (2 houses down) to our friend's house and Eli picks up every stick he can physically hold in between here and there. He hits the street with it, the fire hydrant, the fence...you name it he swings the stick at it! He is SUCH a boy! But we were coming home and he picked up a stick and walked it over to our neighbor (who we rarely speak to) and handed it to him, "here." And the sweet man took it, said thank you. And I informed him that he had a friend for life now! It's really sweet how children can break the uncomfortable silence between 2 adults. Just by a kind gesture as Eli sharing a stick with Mr. Earley! It kind of made me tear up...and then I snapped back to reality and realized that Eli was about to eat some kind of flower bud that falls out of neighbors tree! So the near tears subsided, quickly! Eli also looked at me and said, "love you." This morning we were all sitting in my bed (waking John up) before church and Eli was laying back on my pillow and sat at the foot of the bed and he looked at me and said it! I looked at John thinking I was hearing things and John grinned! I didn't freak out on the outside like I was freaking out on the inside! I don't want to freak him out of talking! It was a wonderful day!

For dinner we had our great friends, the Martz's, over. John made chicken friend steak (aka country fried steak) and gravy! I made mashed potatoes and corn on the cob...oh it was heavenly! Good food, good company (the Martz's ALWAYS having us at their house for dinner-so we thought we'd be hospitable)! It was a crazy week, but ended really well! Tomorrow is Labor day so no work! And I get to sleep late! John said he'd wake up with Eli :) YAHOOO!!!!!!!!! OH! Noah is great. He is growing, moving a TON! 14 weeks to go till his hopeful arrival (hoping I don't go late)!

Our weekend!

Eli said his first, audible words this weekend! And yes, I said "wordS" as in more than one! On Friday, he mimicked John after he hung up the phone and said, "BYE!" (in a pretty high pitched voice). I was not there, but John told me and then Eli said it for me too! Then he was eating dinner in his chair in the kitchen while I finished cooking mine and John's dinner and he pointed to this key and said, "That." I said, "Key. That is a key." He looked at me and said, "Key. Key. Key." And then clapped for himself!! Then we went to lunch and he was telling every waiter that passed us, "HI." AND last but certainly not least he said, "Cu" pointing to his CUP!

I am SO proud of him! He is not even 14 months old yet! I have this strange sense of pride that my boy can says words already! I am SO PROUD OF HIM! As we watch the Olympics and I see Michael Phelps mom in the audience sobbing as her son wins a race I swell up with tears because I feel like I get it. Because I too have a son, well I now have 2 sons! I don't know if that makes any sense at all! But, I feel like I am kindred spirits with Mom's of boys.

In accomplishing news...I painted our front window yesterday, THEN painted the inside trim, THEN began painting the trim/baseboards in the living room (didn't finish cause my pregnant back was killing me) and started painting the mantel! I just have a fire lit under my rear end to 'get things finished' before Noah gets here. And it could also be coined as, NESTING!

We also had an enjoyable evening with our great friends the Martz's on Friday night! Eli and Harley (2 1/2) played in a bucket of water on the back deck for at least an hour! I never knew that such a small amount of water could make two children so happy!

A picture of Eli from Friday night :)


Hope you had a great weekend too :) Oh...Noah is great! Moving like crazy and growing like crazy too :)

23 weeks

I like to say, 6 months! It gives me comfort knowing that I only have 4 months left! YIKES!






We are in full swing of painting, organizing, 'to-do' lists coming out of my ears! But, I like those because I can look at it, know what needs to be done and cross them off as I finish the task! It makes me feel like I am being productive (outside raising/chasing Eli)! I did the same thing when I was pregnant with Eli, I made a list and nearly completed it before he was born! So, I am aiming on completing this one! Fun things like, organizing closets, shelves, hanging curtains, touching up paint in the boys room, painting our bedroom that has been neglected COMPLETELY since we moved in. It's kind of sad, really! I just want a painted bedroom with curtains hiding our nasty mini-blinds! Anyways, I must go! It's "suicide hour" in my home right now. (Suicide hour is the hour before Eli goes to bed...he is FUSSY, CLINGY and all around CRAZY!!!!!!!)

Eli is officially 'paci' free! HALLELUJAH! I took it away about 10 days ago. I was down to just ONE pacifier that he would use in our whole house. It was DISGUSTING too. I think we'd had it for about 6 months and it was gnarly! So I put him to bed one Sunday night without it and he cried, like he usually does, but stopped. AND slept through the ENTIRE NIGHT! He had just started waking up in the middle of night because he would wake up and realize he had lost it somewhere. So he would feel around his crib, fussing until he found it. And since I took the paci away he has been sleeping straight through the night! My older brother, Les, inspired me. He told me when they took Carter's away (my niece) that she cried for 3 days and then was done. I DID NOT want to get to the point where Eli could ask for it, he would point to it if he wanted it, but he had yet to start saying 'paci' or some derivative of it. So my goal was to get rid of it before he could ask for it! I did it! YAHOO! Now we just have to work on the bottle. He REFUSES to drink milk out of anything other than a bottle. He throws the cup and says, "Uck." And throws his tongue out of his mouth in disgust! It's kind of funny! So, that's my next challenge. I'd like for him to be bottle free by his 15 month doctor's appointment, which gives me about 2 months to start taking it away :) I'll let you all know how it goes!

The real reason I am writing tonight is because Eli woke up due to the dog barking at something outside and I usually just let him cry. But he was going crazy in there. His 'scared' cry was ensuing so I went in there, changed his diaper, and sat in the glider and just was holding him. Well he just started making silly noises and I started laughing, silently, but I can't stop my belly from moving when I giggle! So, Eli looked up at me and he started to laugh at me, mind you it is pitch black in his room, so all he could see of me was my profile, and that was if he was acclimated to the dark room! So, he started laughing at me, and I started laughing at him and we just sat in there and giggled so hard that we both had tears coming down our cheeks! He gets like his Mommy does when she is tired! Goofy! I get delerious when I am tired, everything is funny and nothing can keep me from laughing. I even crack myself up more when I over tired. And I guess Eli is the same way! I have NEVER seen him like that in his 13 months of living! It made my heart smile. SO MUCH! I just keep thanking God for such a happy little boy! Seriously, he is SUCH a joy to be around! He waves at everyone, says 'Hey' to people as they pass us in the grocery store. Sticks his hand out to give them 'high fives' and things like that! Oh I just love him! And to think, I have one more, just like Eli coming in December! God must REALLY think John and I are capable, huh?!?! HA!

Noah Lee Burke to be exact. He is kickin' it pretzel style in my belly. And when I say pretzel, I mean breech (head up and butt first), with his arms by his face and his legs folded up with his knees to his mouth! Well, I guess he takes turns sucking on his knees and then his hands! He was REALLY CUTE! I could tell already. I think he's going to look like Eli. His profile looks JUST like Eli's did. I WISH I had a scanner! We have some of the coolest ultrasound pictures I have ever seen! They are so intricate! We don't have one of his, ahem. But, John and I both saw, very visibly that this is another little Burke man! I couldn't be happier! Eli and Noah! They will be best friends!

The doctor I saw today (different from the doc that will deliver Noah) said he was in the 15th percentile with his size. So he could be small little man, but it's too early to say! I sure wasn't a tiny baby, and John would not have been either had he not been born 4 weeks early! I am SO HAPPY! ELATED! ECSTATIC! FULL O' JOY! NOAH LEE BURKE!

Praise God for healthy babies! And for more boys!!!

ARGH!

3 days till we find out!!!!!!!! And it couldn't come quick enough!

I went to the dermatologist yesterday for the first time ever! It was the first doctor I have ever been to that I wasn't nervous going into the appointment. Maybe that is the beauty of having a 1 year old with me, I didn't have the chance to get nervous I was too busy trying to keep him from flipping his stroller over! Anyways, I needed to get a couple of moles looked at that seemed a bit off to me. And an old boss of mine (from the tanning/hair salon I worked at when I was a senior in high school) told me to get one looked at then...and now 8 1/2 years later, I did. AND, she was right. It was one that needed to be checked. So they gave me a shot of lidocaine in my shoulder, and then scraped a hole in my skin to have it sent off to have a biopsy. I am not sure what to think. I am not really worried about it though. I just kept thanking Jesus that I have the ability to pay $20 to have something looked at that seems suspicious. Whereas in different parts of the world they don't even know what a dermatologist is. So, I guess with the mindset of thankfulness I haven't yet began to worry! PHEW! Plus if it is something that is going to need surgery, I am not too sure if it can happen while I am pregnant (correct me if I am wrong) and if it does, I am pretty sure it's just a little deeper of a scrape they do to get it out and then a little stitch.

The only downer to it all, the place on my shoulder (deltoid to be exact) where the molly the mole is, just happens to be where my tank tops like to sit and my bra as well. So that's pretty annoying. But the bandaid that is being kept on it is pretty cool! NOT! I think I am going to get some 'fun' band aids today! If I have to wear them, why not have fun with it, ya know?!

Oh, Eli is still a little under the weather. I am taking him to the doctor. The last time he exhibited all of these symptoms, I waited about 10 days before deciding to take him to see Dr. Koenig (who I adore) and he ended up having a double ear infection. And we had trouble with antibiotics for the poor man. All the antibiotics with penicilian in them made him break out in hives. So he ended up getting a "Z Pack" and was done with it in 3 days! EASY! But that was his first time to ever really be sick! He was...9 months old. The only reason I remember that is because I was in the process of weaning and had just found out I was pregnant!

In other family news, John was stung by yellow jackets on Sunday. Yes, I meant to make it plural. He was stung in the left sideburn (I KNOW, RANDOM), also twice in the left ankle. Last night when he got home from work his ankle was more like a 'cankle' and it was RED RED RED. And his sideburn is a bit swollen too! Poor guy! He was just playing some frisbee golf for his BFF's birthday with some guys and he was attacked by the yellow jackets!

Alright, that's all for now. I am sitting at work, PRAYING Eli goes back to sleep to finish off his morning nap with a bang!

19 weeks today :)

19 weeks! ALMOST 1/2 way done!



I am obviously NOT one of the women who wear big, flowy shirts when pregnant! I LOVE showing off my growing belly! (In case you couldn't tell) To me it's just the coolest thing to watch my belly grow at alarming rates, all in order to incubate Baby Yoyo. BTW, we find out July 25th if we're having a Libby or a Noah! I will totally let you all know!

Well, just wanted to update with a belly pic! Haven't done it in a while!!!!!

Happy Birthday Eli :)

This is a tribute to my son, Elijah Mack Burke's first year of life! I had to go through over a thousand pictures to find 'the perfect' ones and still think I could have uploaded 20 for each month! He has been a joy since the day he was born, well, expect for that week where he didn't want to sleep at night and just cried. That was NOT fun! But, he has been happy, smiley, joyful, social...the list goes on since the day he was born! He brightens up the days of everyone he sees by saying, "Hey!" and waving to them. And he giggles after they walk away! I could not have dreamed up a more perfect little man! God is good! So good! We are blessed! So very blessed!! Enjoy the pictures that follow!



2 DAYS OLD!
We were in the hospital, and he already loved just laying on me to sleep! Still has not changed to this very day!




ONE WHOLE MONTH OLD!

He was already smiling, which I thought was unbelievable. And trying to giggle! He has always been happy. Thank you Jesus!





2 MONTHS OLD
He is in my all time favorite onesie (from our friends, the Large's)! We were getting ready to leave for church!




3 MONTHS OLD!
He turned 3 months old this day!! He has always been the joy of our hearts, since the first day he was born. Goodness gracious.




4 MONTHS OLD!
The beginning of Eli realizing he would rather have no clothes on!! Gosh, he has always been such a joyful baby! He melts my heart.




5 MONTHS OLD!
Eli at the park! He was getting ready to get in a swing for the first time :)




6 MONTHS OLD!
He is SO OLD! This is Eli and his Grandma (John's Mom)! Eli's first Christmas was spent with John's family in Charleston, SC!




Eli with Grandpa at Christmas!!!



7 MONTHS OLD!

It's as if the dog and Eli were both making sure it was okay to be touching, sniffing, licking each other. It, unfortunately, is.



Eli discovering Jasa, our old lady Rotweiler! And I realized Eli will stink like Jasa as long as she is alive...it was a sad day for me.




8 MONTHS OLD!
And he discovered the dogs water bowl. He arrived at the bowl, and instantly looked at me because somewhere in that little mind of his he knew he was not supposed to splash in it! Oh, but he did anyways. Little stinker. This was when I realized i needed baby gates :)




9 MONTHS OLD!
He had just recently figured out how to stand up on his own and maneuver around things! It was an awesome day to see the joy in his face in this accomplishment!




10 MONTHS OLD!
He was taking a breather by resting his cute little booty on that basket of toys, but not without something sturdy to hold onto (in comes Andrew-the little boy I used to Nanny, 10 weeks older than Eli)!! He was shirtless, because frankly, the kid loves to be in his diaper, sans clothing!




11 MONTHS OLD!
Eli LOVES water! This was his first time in a pool and, of course, he did NOT want to be in a kiddie raft, he wanted to be on the adult one playing with his 'Da-da' and it was awesome! He cried when he had to get out of the pool to eat dinner :)




12 Months Old! Officially a TODDLER!
My sister and I took Eli to eat lunch at Willy's and Eli had his first chicken taco! And yes, he ate it like a grown up! It was so strange watching him eat it too! He's so big, already :)





Eli after his birthday party was over and the sugar rush kicked in! He would SMASH his face into the netting of the water slide and then pull back to make sure we were watching him and then he would laugh at himself! SO FLIPPIN' CUTE!

Update :)

Finally! It has been nearly a month since I last updated this...and I have no excuses. But...things are pretty great here in ATL! Eli turned ONE on June 28th (soon there will be a post dedicated to him-with pictures documenting every month up until he turned one!)! He started walking on his birthday and now he is walking more than crawling and it has only been about 10 days! So, that is pretty exciting! It couldn't happen at a better time either because he is getting heavier and harder to carry on my hip (that is diminishing due to the child I am incubating)!

Eli is hilarious! He loves to sing, dance and listen to music! He also is REALLY into putting thing together and then taking them apart. For his birthday he received 'gears' from one of my girlfriends and it seriously keeps him busy forEVER! He takes the gears off, and puts them back on, and takes them off and puts them back on! I love it!! He is just an awesome kid! He is VERY strong willed, already, but I think God equipped John and I to handle it. I just have to remind myself to be consistent and not give in, not even one time. I don't want a monster of a child!

My new job is AWESOME! Max is getting BIGGER! He is 4 months old and already weighs about 17 lbs!! I feel like he is going to catch up with Eli soon!! Eli gets really jealous though if I am sitting on the floor holding Max of playing with them both. Eli tries to squeeze in between Max and I and sit in my lap or hug me or knock me over and kiss me! So, we are having to work on that. Oh and gentleness. He is SO rough with the baby. I don't think he realizes that he is being rough, he just tries to hug him and kiss him and put his bibs on Max or give Max his binky. So it's a GREAT learning experience for him! GREAT!

Baby Yoyo (that is what John calls baby #2 for some reason) is growing! I am 18 weeks as of today! And am feeling pretty darn great! I think I just remember being 10 months pregnant last summer and how miserable I was so comparatively speaking, this is AWESOME! This pregnancy is COMPLETELY different than my last one. For instance, it's not looking like I am going to gain over 50LBS this time! Praise God! And I feel healthier, it MIGHT have something to do with the fact that I am chasing/playing/crawling around on the floor with a one year old all day long! Or that I crave caesar salad ALL the time! But, it's just different, I am carrying differently (straight out in front of me, as opposed to ALL OVER!)! Anyways, pregnancy is good!

We find out the sex of the baby on July 25th. We have the anatomy screen at 3PM that day! So, pray that baby is perfect...AND spread eagle! I think I had you pray that when I was preggers with Eli! Oh well, it worked with him!

Life is wonderful. Hope it's great for you and your families too! Love from ATL!

Sorry for the neglect :)

I have not been updating, at all this blog. I apologize. I have been busy. Busy chasing after a near one year old :) But here are some new pictures of my sweet little boy. OH, I AM 14 WEEKS TODAY! Yipee! Into my 2nd trimester!!!!

Okay, pictures of Eli :)

He is in a BABY bouncy seat at my work...he sees Max in it all the time and I guess he decided he wanted to test it out! He seriously laid there forever! And you can also see his 2 front teeth coming in :) He so big!

9 weeks 1 day

And the evolution of my belly begins, again :)




i think it is one of my favorite things. Watching my belly grow when there is a baby inside. It's fascinating to me. I did not look like this when I was pregnant with Eli until I was about 14 weeks. So, we'll see!!!

So, we have a due date. DECEMBER 10th. But I am preparing myself to be pregnacious for 42 weeks. Just in case I do go past my due date...I won't be wanting to die. Well, I probably will want to. But, it's all good! We are hoping for a VBAC with this baby. (google it) So, that is why I say I am preparing myself to go late! I found an amazing doctor who trusts that God made women's bodies to birth babies. And he just lets the baby come when he/she is ready (as long as Mom and baby are healthy, of course). So, I am really excited. I wish I had a picture of my new doctor. He is such a funny little Jewish man! Seriously, he wears a Yamaka all the time. His wife and daughters work in his office and all wear hats to cover their heads. I love it! It's like I am walking into their living room every time I have an appointment! The wife, Judith, walks around cussin' about how behind he is on his appointments, he walks out of a room with a patient and says, "Blame my wife, it's her fault!" Of course, while laughing. Oh man. I love it. Not the point of my post. My due date...December 10th. We find out the sex of the baby the last week of July. *sigh* So forever away. But well worth the wait! Okay...I'll start posting belly pics as soon as I take one. Yes, I am 8 weeks and already showing. Awesome. I know :)

So I realize the title of this blog says, "Always Keeping You Up To Date..." and that is kind of a lie! I rarely visit this one. I don't know why either. I just don't. But, I guess I'll start being a bloggy bloggerson again about this pregnancy and Eli's growth and our house and just our life as our family grows!

I am 6 1/2 weeks pregnant (I think) and Eli is 9 1/2 months old. You do the math. I know the exact day I was 'knocked up' it was the same way with Eli. Is that a little odd? I guess I am just fertile myrtle, like my Mom. All I know is that after I have this baby, we are going to do something about birth control. Dear Jesus help me! I can't begin to imagine having 3 children under the age of 3! Oh mercy. Okay. Not the point. Eli is totally going to talk so early. Maybe even walk before he turns 1 too! This morning I was trying to get a wriggly baby dressed so I gave him cell phone to hold and look at and then, BAM! It hits me right on the top of the head and crashes to the floor. I tell him, "Eli, that is NOT NICE. It is not kind to throw things at people. No sir." So, I put the phone to my ear and say, "Hello?" I then put the phone to Eli's ear and he proceeds with, "EYYO?" I mean, clear as day that he was copying me! I wanted to fall on the floor! I instantly called John and did the phone thing again, (kind of wanting to know i am not crazy) and John said, "Are you kidding me? Did he just copy you and say "Hello?" I said, "Yes, yes he did copy me."

I can't believe that my little man is getting so big! In 10 weeks he will be ONE YEAR OLD! That is mind blowing to me. MIND BLOWING. I remember this time last year still feeling cute pregnant! Wearing super cute dresses and loving that it was warming up! Oh man...I guess come Fall this year I will hopefully be feeling cute pregnant! I am just so thankful not to be GIANT pregnant in the midst of summer heat in Atlanta. Oh thank you Lord!

WIth my last pregnancy, I gained, hold on to your britches folks, 56lbs! I remember the instant I found out I was pregnant with Eli it's as if I started gaining weight. I think that in the first week after I found out I was pregnant I gained 5 lbs! Ridiculous. But, I had no morning sickness, nausea or anything like that. Not an excuse for eating the way I did. If I had a craving, I fulfilled it. Whoppers every night for dinner for 4 or 5 nights in a row. Not only the Whopper from Burger King (not the candy) but a large sweet tea to go with it oh and the french fries, which I didn't eat because they made my stomach hurt! I also craved Mexican food like no body's business! It was amazing how I could put away some La Parilla or Monterey!

I was on my way to getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight and then found out I was pregnant. I had lost 11lbs in about 4 or 5 weeks...and then found out I was pregnant. I haven't gained a single pound. I have actually lost 2! But I am experiencing some serious nausea. Headaches. But I am not complaining! I am starting out 14lbs heavier with this pregnancy than I started out when I was pregnant with Eli. CRA-ZAY! But, I am excited to see what unfolds. One of my very close friends is pregnant and we are due within days of each other. And with her first 2 kids she gained like I did. So we are going to hold each other accountable and keep each other active, walking together at night...and stuff like that. Anyways. This was not meant to be an unload about weight gain/loss. But, oh well.

We are totally excited and I feel supremely blessed ( I think I have said that a million times). I love watching/feeling my body change to accommodate a growing baby. It's SO amazing. God is so amazing. God is so AWESOME. Man, I am blown away.

Here is a random recent picture of Eli...
This is my favorite outfit...how could it not be! The front of it says "Lil Pirate"...


And my sweet sleeping baby! He comes in bed with me in the morning because he is waking up at like 6am WIDE AWAKE...and there is no way I am going to get up that early right now! Thankfully he goes back to sleep with me and John. He puts his back up against John's back and he puts his hands on my face! I love it!

And...he's pulling up! On Monday morning he pulled up on a toy, but just to his knees! I beamed with pride! Then on Tuesday he pulled himself up to his feet! Now, he has had more spills and the knockin' of his noggin more than I would like to count, but he is figuring it out! I am working with him on sitting back down once he is up! He is kind of getting the hang of it!

He stood up for the first time on March 18th, 2008! Mine and John's 2 year wedding anniversary! I will remember it forever! The first day he stood! Now, he still can't figure out how to stand in his crib (thank you Jesus)! But I am more than happy for that to take him a HECK of a lot longer to figure out :)

Alright. Just wanted to give an update, he's growing so dang much it is crazy!

He actually crawled today! On his 8 month old birthday...he crawled!!!!!!!!! It was about 3 feet worth of crawling, but it was totally crawling! I forget how cute babies are when they crawl! Oh...gosh. I thought about tearing up, I am SO emotional right now, but I didn't. I was busy trying to get two babies in the car and go pick two more kids up from car pool!

Anyways, just a quick post to let you all know that Eli has crawled, and will hopefully realize it's a better time than scooting on his belly! Oh...he's awesome!

Here are just a few pictures of Eli from the last month or so! He's so awesome, and SO happy! It's great!

Do they ever sleep, consistently?

So, Eli has had a rough few days. Poor guy. I don't know what in the world is going on but we are back to not sleeping very well. It's funny how we get so 'used' to getting a certain amount of sleep and it is only a week of getting consistent sleep and when it changes, because it always does, I feel like I have been run over by a Mack truck and have the 'woe is me' attitude. "Oh, remember the good ol' days John when I would sleep 6 hours straight? You know, a few weeks ago." Ha. Anyways, my little man is not feeling so great, has a really sick cough, I feel like he has snot coming out of his mouth it flows so rapidly.

He is almost 8 months old! Can you believe it? It's crazy to think that I had him that long ago! Life flies by when children are involved, because you measure time by the little milestones they hit! I love it! I'll post pictures later of sweet Eli!

So, maybe I'm a liar and not always keeping you up to date. My bad. I could say life has been 'SO' busy but that would be a lie. I just feel too tired to even think about writing something witty or listing all the amazing things Eli has done. So, I have no excuse. But, today is a new day! Right?!?!

Eli. He crawled for the first time yesterday. Pulled up onto a basket of toys today. Ate REAL green beans and broccoli too! He is amazing. I totally teared up when as I watched him crawl. It felt like a flood full of memories from the moment he was born up until now, 7 months 3 weeks old. I wish I could have had a video stream from my brain to my computer. He is full of attitude. Pitches fits when we take something away that he is not supposed to have. Wakes up from night time sleep and just wants to sit with us as we watch our nightly show. I really am convinced that he knows that fussy babies go to bed. Because if John does get him up, because it is always John that says he can't listen to him cry, as soon as he crosses the threshold of his bedroom door Eli is SILENT! It's hilarious. He is such a little stinker.

Maggie (my boss) just bought the 'My First Signs' DVD for Eli and Andrew to watch. I am hesitant to teach him because I don't want him to refuse to use his words once he can. I just don't know. Work is going well. I feel like I am working for a friend, so it's nice. I really feel so blessed to have a job that I can bring Eli with me. I won't lie and say it's been all puffy hearts and candy corn, but it's a learning experience. I feel like God is forever showing me that my will is NEVER His own. That He is forever refining me. Sometimes I get sick of it, and just would like a break. But then quickly realize that it's not about me. It's NEVER about me. It's always about Him. I just need to remind myself that. Maybe that'll be my next tattoo "It's NOT about YOU" right across my chest. (Yeah, that would hurt)

Well, I must go, children are waking.