Sweet little Nee Nee

It's been awhile since I have done a post...honestly, because I just don't feel like it. Being pregnant the fourth time around is very hard (Michelle Duggar must have been blessed with the ultimate child-bearing body!) and I don't have much energy during the day to do much besides take care of the kiddos. Hopefully, once this little one makes his entrance into the world, I will feel like my old self again and I can blog more.

In the meantime, I wanted to post this sweet picture of our Renee, taking her afternoon nap in our bed the other day. This girl is so full of energy that it's rare to catch a shot of a gentle moment like this. LOVE this girl!

End of the season

Another season of baseball has come to a close. Zach had a fantastic year and has really improved in all areas, especially hitting. He does not require the tee much at all. The last game was this past Saturday and the players were awarded their trophies afterwards. Of course, the kids LOVE this part! Zach has now played four seasons with his cousin Jackson and this was the first season that Jeff was the head coach! Next fall, when they are six, things will change a bit as they will actually have to try out and be drafted. Guess we are moving up to the big leagues!

No, I didn't twist my ankle...

Two weekends ago, I participated in what has been my most difficult race to this point. The "Twisted Ankle 1/2 Marathon" is a 13.1 mile trail race in Summerville, Ga (shout out to Phil W.). The route is a moderately technical trail that includes one very long, very steep climb up a mountain... and then runs along the ridge. I had been doing some training particularly to stengthen my legs for the climb, and it paid off. For the first time in any race, I finished 1st in my age group. And, as an added bonus, I finished in 3rd place overall out of roughly 150 runners. My first time finishing in the top 3 overall at a race. If you enjoy trail running, I highly recommend this race next year. While the ascent up the mountain is brutal, once you get to the ridge, it is a very scenic trail and a very rewarding run.

http://rungeorgiatrails.com/twisted.html

"Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails..."

We are so excited to be expecting another BOY!! Zach has been wanting a baby brother and had high hopes that this (our last) baby would make his dream come true. The morning of my appointment, I reminded him we would be finding out that day and Zach said "Mommy, let's pray and ask God to make it a boy" and then he prayed. It was so sweet, I really hoped his prayer (and mine!) would come true! We actually had been praying for a baby boy for almost two years so it would be interesting to see what God's will was for our family.

I had been anxious all week to find out what our baby was going to be because, just like Zach, I REALLY wanted another boy (I have a weird thing about things being even and stuff) . While waiting for the appointment, Jeff and I were both pretty convinced it was going to be a girl (I have thought it was a boy with every pregnancy and was only right one time), so we talked about girl names while we waited. It seemed like we waited FOREVER to be called back for that ultrasound!

Once she started the ultrasound, the tech asked if we wanted to see what it was and, of course, we said YES! Right when she headed down south, our sweet baby immediately cooperated and we could tell before she even said it!!! We were so happy and excited and I started crying, I just couldn't believe it! It was a moment we will never forget! Everything else looked great on the ultrasound although I was off on cloud nine so I couldn't really pay much attention after the joyous news!

To announce the news to the kids, I got them each a special shirt along with a shirt that would let them know what our baby was going to be. They were all thrilled when they found out, however, Ava was a tad upset because she really had her heart set on a having a baby sister named "Julie" (that was the name she had picked out). Zach was VERY excited, to say the least and it was neat for him to see how God had answered his prayer.

We are so happy to have our boy "book ends" (as a friend called it) and cannot wait to hold our little guy in a few months! Meanwhile, we need to figure out what his name is going to be...we've got NOTHING! Any ideas???

It's clearly a BOY!

Don't be fooled by the look on Renee's face, she is very happy!

Big brother can't wait for his little brother!

Little boy trickery

Zach picked out this scary looking creature from the $1 section of Target and he immediately devised a little plan to scare Daddy:

Zach: "Mommy, what time does Daddy go to bed?"

Mommy: "Some time after you do...why?"

Zach: "I'm going to sneak in your room when Daddy is asleep and put this spider on his pillow. When he wakes up, he is going to scream like a girl!"

Mommy:"You are probably right buddy!"

I really didn't think he could pull it off because he doesn't normally wake up at night. Imagine my surprise when at about 4:45am, when I got up to use the bathroom, I heard something hit the floor. I looked down and there was the spider! He had forgotten that Jeff and I had switched sides of the bed awhile back so he put it on my side by accident. I smiled to myself and placed the nasty little creature between Jeff and I's pillows.

At 7am, Zach came in and whispered in my ear: "Mommy, I came in at 4:00 and put the spider in your bed but I forgot you switched sides!" I smiled at him and pointed at the spider laying near Daddy's head. Then I nudged Daddy, he opened his eyes, and lo and behold, he screamed like a girl! We all had a good giggle! We couldn't believe Zach actually woke up in the middle of the night to enact his plan!

(P.S. I did give Daddy a bit of a head's up...didn't want to scare him too much!)

Renee has something to say...

Well, she still has 5 months to go but she is getting lots of practice with her baby dolls!

Buddies

I love that Zach and Ava are so close in age, only 14 months apart. They play so well together (not all the time, of course) and they are so creative and imaginative. Thankfully, Ava is tomboy enough to play boy stuff...like army. Here they are as "snow" army guys. Ava of course has to throw in some girly poses though :)

Church Easter Egg Hunt

Our church had it's annual Easter Egg hunt and brunch on Saturday, April 3rd. Renee was very excited because this was her first REAL egg hunt that she could participate in! We started off with some great food, then the Resurrection Egg story told by our Children's Pastor and then it was off on the hunt! You will notice I went heavy on the pics of Renee in this blog...that's because Zach and Ava ran so fast, I couldn't get any pictures! Renee was a little slower paced, thank goodness! The weather was great and we had a very fun time!

Praying after the Resurrection Egg story

Some of those eggs were a challenge, good thing he's a tall boy!

They were determined not to let sticks in the eye hinder them at all!

Nee Nee LOVED her first egg hunt!

Daddy and Nee Nee

Our big girl

Mommy and Nee Nee

Trying to get a good family pic but the kids wouldn't smile, I think they were worn out!

My kids and their buddies we see every week at Covenant Group (their mom's are my good friends Stephanie and Leanne)

Stone Mountain

Last Friday, we headed to Stone Mountain for a day of fun. It was Jeff's birthday, Good Friday and beautiful weather, just perfect. I borrowed a backpack carrier from my friend Stephanie so Jeff could carry Renee up the mountain (she was VERY excited about riding in this!) and we started our trek up. As we were walking, Jeff and I realized it had been 11 years since the last time we climbed the mountain...boy how our lives have changed since then!

My mom and Zach led the way, Jeff and Renee were in the middle, and Ava and I brought up the rear. There was a lot of stopping and waiting by those in front because, as we have learned with Ava, she is in NO hurry. Climbing the mountain was not the main goal for her...not when there were rocks and sand to touch and play with and shove in her pockets!! (Our very girly girl is also a tomboy who loves to play in dirt and sand and collect things in her pocket...rocks, feathers, potato chips, etc.)

It was probably good that she was slow because it gave Jeff time to rest carrying our littlest monkey on his back...especially because he ended up carrying Ava about half way up too! Yes, he is Super-Dad!!

We finally made it to the top and enjoyed the beautiful view (although the Atlanta skyline was hard to see because it was a bit hazy...or maybe it was just pollution) and rested our feet awhile. Then it was time to head down and find the nearest playground so we could have our picnic and let the kids play. It was a fun-filled day!

Super dad!

A perfect place to do our poses!

**Our favorite conversation of the day:

"Zach, you've been to Stone Mountain before, right?"

Zach: "Yeah, I remember it has a picture of some of Jesus' disciples on the front"

Skip spring, bring on summer!

Today, as I was organizing the kids clothes (putting away some of the heavy winter stuff in hopes that spring is here!), they caught sight of their bathing suits. Of course, they wanted to put them on and then went on a hunt through the house for their sunglasses and flip flops. Next thing I know, I hear chanting coming from my bathroom: "WE WANT WATER! WE WANT WATER!"


How could I resist?

Snow day

Daddy/Daughter Dance

A few weeks ago, Ava and Daddy attended their first Daddy/Daughter dance. It was put on by the city of Acworth, and was held at North Cobb High School. Ava was very excited leading up to the dance, and she was always asking Daddy to practice dancing with her to make sure they knew how to dance when it came time. We both dressed in our finest that night and headed out (Much to the dismay of Renee, who was very sad she couldn't come along. We placated her by letting her pick out a dress and getting her picture taken with Daddy and Ava). At the dance, Ava headed straight for the dance floor. We definitely have a dancer on our hands. Several times, Daddy wanted to sit down and take a rest, but Ava wouldn't sit still for more then two minutes before saying, "Daddy, lets go dance". How could I resist? She did the twist, the electric slide, and had Daddy sliding her through his legs and lifting her in the air... she had a blast. She took her shoes off and slid around the dance floor with all the other girls without any hestitation or trepidation. She also was able to try a rootbeer float for the first time. She was a big fan of the rootbeer, but didn't want the ice cream (she said it tasted sour...?... so Daddy had to eat it for her :-). After all was said and done, Daddy had his tie off, sleeves rolled up, drenched in sweat... and Ava was one tired girl. And... she is already making plans for our next dance together.

Reading is FUNdamental!

Back in August, I determined that one of my goals for the year was to teach Zach to read. I knew once he mastered this important skill, learning would be alot easier in all areas. Only one problem...I have never taught anyone to read before! I struggled a lot with self-confidence and questioned if I could really do it.

One program that I had read a lot about and had received some recommendations for was Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. Fortunately, my mother happened to come across this book at a garage sale for a DOLLAR (I may have mentioned that my mom is a master bargain finder...thanks MIMI!) so I didn't have to spend any money!! So, back in August, Zach and I started with Lesson 1.

Fast forward to February and we are on Lesson 78! Zach has done excellent and with the help of learning sight words (thanks to materials my mother-in-law gave me...thanks GAGA!) he has done very well! It is very exciting to see how far he has come in only a few months. Just the other week, he completed his first book called "Floppy Mop" which is part of a BOB Books collection. (I have to mention that my mom found a set of these at a garage sale for a DOLLAR too!) Zach read this book by himself with very minimal help! He was very excited and couldn't wait for Daddy to get home so he could read it to him! I am so proud of my boy and I hope he (and the girls) have the love for reading that Jeff and I have!

Fashionista

My sweet Ava was not a very girly girl the first few years of her life. She preferred playing with Zach's toys and was never into baby dolls, dressing pretty or doing other "girly" things. My how things have changed!

This past year has seen a big change in our big girl. Ava now cares about what clothes she wears, loves to accessorize and has been dusting off those baby dolls! She loves to create outfits and usually comes out of her room in the morning completely dressed. I usually let her wear whatever she wants, as long as its the correct season (no bathing suits in winter!) and it has to somewhat match if we are going out in public! :)

Ava gets some of her clothes as hand-me-downs from her cousin Brenna, who is not too much older than Ava, and this is always a highlight! Recently, we inherited several pairs of shoes, including two pairs of boots, and a fancy skirt. This has become part of Ava's signature outfit along with the tops and tights that she added. Seriously, she wears this outfit at least once a week if not more! I now call her my "Fashionista" (after the "Fashionista Barbie" she got for Christmas). My how she has changed...and grown!

Miss Fannie's Hat

Or "Miss Fancy's Hat" as Ava refers to it. This is our new favorite book and it might just be the sweetest book we have ever read. I love how this story shows respect for the elderly and acknowledges the wisdom and experience they still have to offer. I think you and your little ones will love it faster than you can say "doodley squat"!