Triple Threat

In case you missed the end of my last post...here it is much more clear. We are Eric and Brie + Three! We are expecting our third child. I'm super super early and wasn't really ready to get it "out there" but a.) I'm showing (according to my dad and Terry I've been showing for about 2 months now. I'm blaming my previous pregnancies on this one and my Dr. Pepper consumption). And I'd rather be seen as "pregnant" than "fat"!:) b.) There have been lots of postings on Facebook about it. So to not withhold it any longer and so that I can explain it all myself, I'm pregnant.
Today I had an ultrasound because my pregnancy brain has already kicked in and I'm not really sure the first day of my last period. The pregnancy looks good so far. There were no signs of it being a molar pregnancy, which was and always is a concern. But after having a healthy pregnancy (Eleri), it feels much more safe. As you can see there is clearly a little bitty baby there. I'm still too early to see a heartbeat though. The sonographer was thinking that I was probably about 5 1/2 weeks. So we still don't have a due date but probably end of February or beginning of March. This baby will also be born via c-section which will mean #3's birthday will be about 10-14 days before my due date, whenever that is.
Now to my feelings that I so want so share. Before I was pregnant with Eleri, I felt that God just put it on my heart that we would not just have two children; a boy and girl and be done with it. Eric also has felt the same way. We both had decided that we would not prevent pregnancy after Eleri and just have our third as soon as possible. We didn't really want to be completely out of the baby stage and also felt like it would be easier this way. Not in a negative way, but we could have our last child and could just get on with our family. The pregnancy and baby stage just takes so much out of me. Back in early May sometime, we were driving down Soncy and Eric said that he felt that God had told him that it was time for #3. I was quiet for a minute and my heart rate probably increased exponentially, and I replied that I had felt that same thing from God. So, a month later we were pregnant. We are pretty much 100% sure that this sweet baby was conceived while we were on a marriage intensive in early June and will some how have a name in tribute to that weekend that has changed our marriage and our family forever.
Am I worried about having a third child? Absolutely. I'm not sure I do a good enough job with #1, and #2, but I have no doubt that God put this on our hearts and allowed this baby to be conceived. I feel such a peace with this baby. I would have loved to see a heartbeat today, but I have peace. I've had bleeding again, but I have peace. We only have a 3 bedroom house, but I have peace. Plus, I've also felt that if we had two same gender children that they should share a room. I think that it creates a humble spirit and diminishes the egocentrism, as in "that's mine, MY room, MY toys." God knows that at least our oldest certainly needs that spirit! I do, however, wish we had a sunroom/playroom/toy storage room. I'm excited about this though. It feels good remembering pregnancy and not being so far withdrawn from it (4 years between Mali and Eleri), but on the flip-side, didn't I JUST stop nursing and JUST start running diligently again??? My room is now stocked with Palmer's Stretch Mark cream and prenatal vitamins and I need to go ahead and make a trip to the attic to retrieve my freshly put away maternity clothes. There is just an excitement knowing this is our last baby and I just want to enjoy this pregnancy. Granted, I haven't started throwing up yet. I've had lots of people ask how I'm feeling. I haven't started throwing up but have been nauseous and just had food aversions. I have a huge chicken aversion and really starch and carbs are about all I'll eat. Decaf sweet tea is pretty good too. I've completely kicked my caffeine. I think I drank enough in the first few weeks for entire trimester before I knew! I'm pretty exhausted. That is how that I knew I was pregnant, or rather what prompted me to take a pregnancy test. I had drunk two large Dr. Peppers and taken a nap two Sundays ago and still could not shake the tiredness, so my $1 worth of peace of mind pregnancy test from Dollar Tree was purchased. I didn't think it would be positive. I took it really quick while Eric was gone and glanced at it. It didn't show up as positive right away. I heard the garage door and stashed it away. I didn't want Eric thinking I was silly for taking one, although he had thought I was pregnant any way and so had Mali (that weekend she had told my in laws I was. I said I wasn't I just had a fat tummy from having babies and drinking Dr. Pepper). Later that evening I remembered it and checked and sure enough it was positive. Eric was taking a final for grad school and I rushed my majorily disheveled girls and self (I had been cleaning all day) to Kohl's and bought a "Little Brother" onesie. I presented that and the pregnancy test to Eric. Eric was pretty happy and is very hopeful that this will be a boy. The onesie will remain with its tags on and will be given as a gift if #3 turns out to be a girl. I really wanted to tell Eric in a big way, but when he had got home he told me he needed help spraying weeds in the garden and that it was pretty toxic so the girls needed to be in bed. I thought that I needed to tell him before he made me spray weeds, otherwise he would have had more of a surprise and exciting way of being told. We told the grandparents this past weekend with the girls' "I'm the Big Sister" shirts. I think they were excited. My dad and Terry as mentioned before have "known" for about 2 months although I'm only 5 weeks pregnant. Eric's parents also inervertdendly found out when Eric texted his sister and unknowingly texted them.
I feel full and feel complete. We are living in God's plan for our family! This is still super early and the first trimester is a risky one. I'm fully aware that my blog posts about this pregnancy could go either way at this point. Even though it is early, and we haven't seen a heart beat, it is out there now...and I have peace.
So here we are....Eric and Brie + 3
"He gives childless couples a family, gives them joy as the parents of children. Hallelujah!" Psalm 113:9

Eleri's laughter is contagious

Here is a video of Eleri's love for popcorn and love of laughing!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cow Appreciation Day

Today is Cow Appreciation Day at ChickFilA. If you dress like a cow from head to toe you get a free meal. Both girls were dressed up and each got a kids meal. I printed off cow ears, nose, spots, and tail from the ChikFilA website and got my free combo meal. The girls and I had so much fun. After eating and all the excitement indoors, the girls got to ride in the cow train outside. They had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave. Eleri could've rode the train all day I think!

He gently leads those with young

For once in the past week, I have not wanted to just crawl into bed. It could have been the effect of adrenaline coursing through my body from trying to catch a thief who had stolen a blower off of a landscaper mowing our neighbors yard early today, or it may have been because I just wanted to write and rest in what God spoke to me today.
There are two main reasons that I blog (which I’m sure I’ve referenced on several occasions whether for my own purpose or to defend my immense posts). The first reason is to vent and to share. I love sharing what God has shown me or even new things that I’m learning in hopes that I can just help others out there…other tired moms or women going through difficult times. I know so many times that I read other blogs that in just a sentence draw me closer to God, convict me and teach me. I want that for my blog. But this is where I’ve fallen by the wayside probably since Eleri’s birth. I don’t have the blogging time that I used to…pause for major interruption from my 5 year old (see what I mean? Even the quiet hours of the night don’t provide solace to blog.) And let me tell you, I’m so distracted. I can’t blog with any semblance of noise or interruptions from previously mentioned 5 year olds. I completely loose all train of thought. So with great sadness, this is what has been missing from my blog, but it hasn’t been missing from my life. This past year God has continued to speak to me and guide me in mothering. I have to strive much much more to find those quiet moments so that I can be with him and hear him, but I long for those moments. And, I’ve experienced God’s grace too. He knows where I am in life…not that its an excuse and I don’t want to use it as an excuse, but its His grace evident in my life and that loving Him and seeking Him is what matters to Him. I even told Mali today that God doesn’t care how we talk to Him just that we do talk to him. My second reason to blog has been to document the girls. I’ve even slacked in that area.
Tonight I came across a wonderful blog. It really encouraged me and has so many great quotes that just free me as a mom. One of my huge fears is failure and even before getting married I knew that I was terrified to get married and to have kids because I was terrified to fail but knew that I would fail. It was so gripping. And even though I was afraid of failing, it was love that has motivated me not to fail not that fear. I had that fear of failing because I love Eric and I love my girls and I love being married and love being their mommy and I don’t want to fail at it. I want to do my best and give my best and love them all through out their lives and leave them with legacies of love. Having a loving family and being a loving mom is success to me. But I feel bogged down and don’t believe that I’m succeeding too many times when my nights end with counting down the minutes until bed time and frustration with Mali not going to bed. Today I read this quote: "I tell myself this, that I can't go to jail over toilet bowls and there is grace and a smile behind all the ethereal veil and I can just rest. That God's will for a day is never to shoulder a burden but to come rest on His shoulder". I felt encouraged and hopeful and saw a fullness of God’s grace. And of course since this post was sooo good I kept reading the new blog I stumbled across. I won’t tell you that I was captivated by the blog and finding my place of rest while my girls were in the bath splashing every where and making a water slide. But don’t worry, Mali was holding Eleri while they slid down the side of the bathtub. Nope I didn’t do that, or maybe I did. And if I did, I was sitting right next to the bathtub and might or might not have the wet clothes to prove it.I read some one’s Facebook status the other day that said something to the effect of bathtime being a great babysitter.
After reading on , I read through this post. Can I tell you how much even more it encouraged me? Now this is what led me to write this post to begin with
"Isaiah 40:11….he gently leads those that have young.
I felt the strangling terror give way to realization. Motherhood does not require, thankfully, perfection. It simply requires commitment and humility.
He was not leading this Mother to be a Hallmark version of perfection.

But rather a committed, humble, real one.

Lord...let me sing the refrain this Mother's Day: Relationships cost. It is not that I won't blow it. It is what I do with it afterwards."

God will gently lead those that have young…He will gently lead me with my young…my young 5 year old that looks so big, my young 17 month old that didn’t stay a baby for long, and my young baby that is growing inside of me. Even though I will blow it, and have already blown it, even though I’ve blown it with my first, and my second, and I’m still having a third….God’s grace remains and he will gently lead me.

And I hate to end this blog on this note. I had intended to write ahead of time all that I was feeling about #3…but this will do for today.

4th of July

We had a fantastic Fourth of July this year.  We went up the cabin as always and just enjoyed breathing in the mountain air.  When we got there, Mali showed her daddy and Grandpa the fort we had built and the girls just played outside.  We ate dinner on the patio of the Dog Bar that night and just took in the fourth of July atmosphere.  Saturday the girls and I took a little walk and then Brandon, Eric and Mali all headed into town to get fishing licensees.  Before lunch, we packed lunches and went up to a lake to fish.  Brandon caught the first fish.  By that time Eleri was ready for her nap so I took her home and then came back to bring the guys some fishing supplies they had forgotten.  While I was gone, Mali had “gotten stung by a bee” and Eric had taken her back to the cabin.  After tracking her down, I found out it wasn’t a bee but maybe stinging nettle or some other bug.  At any rate, with no fish caught, Mali was done too.  We went back to the cabin and rested in the hammock.  Then Mali decided she wanted to show Daddy and Grandpa the skeleton bones we had found the last time we were up there.  Grandpa was busy with helping Brandon cut down a tree, so we took the four wheeler just as a family.  Just as we were pulling up to the spot, there was a large brown bear right in front of us.  I couldn’t get my camera out fast enough and missed snapping a good picture of him. We are pretty sure that is why the skeleton was there.  Brandon actually saw the same bear in about the same place last weekend. That night we got to enjoy family time with Chris, Megan, Liza, Brandon, Grandpa and Nana.  Chris cooked a good meal and Uncle Rodney and Aunt Alice came over too.  It was  a lot of fun and enjoyment.  I really enjoy when my family gets together like this.  It doesn’t feel like it happens for often and so I really treasure when it does happen.  That night, Eric managed to drag me out to the Dog Bar for about an hour and a half.  My tired eyes wouldn’t stay open and so I called it a night early.  Sunday we enjoyed blueberry pancakes made by Grandpa and rushed to get ready for the parade that at the last minute we realized was about 3 hours later than what we had thought. So, our little family drove down to the town to make sure of the time, then up to Bear and Blue Lake hoping that the very fussy Eleri would get a nap.  After her nap in the car and some relaxing time at the cabin, it was finally time for the parade.  Mali lived for this day.  She staked out her spot and camped there.  She wouldn’t move for anything and she wouldn’t smile for my pictures…I guess she had her game face on.  The parade was fun and hot.  We missed seeing the guys in it this year but I think that they enjoyed the year off, although we heard several comments about people that had seen them in the parade the previous years and were looking forward to seeing them again. After the parade, Chris cooked a big bbq meal and we watched the girls play with Uncle Rodney and Aunt Alice’s beagles (Katy’s too).  Then it was time to head home.  We gave Brandon a ride home to Dalhart so that Liza could take their car to Denver to see her mom who flew in from Nepal.  She hadn’t seen her in two years, I’m so excited for her and the time they will get together.  On the way home, we got to watch a huge rotating cloud and encountered some serious hail in front of us that looked like snow.  We stopped in Dalhart for Mali to pop firecrackers with Mimi and Papa and then finally headed back home (late).  We got caught in another huge, very scary storm. It was hailing really bad and cars were pulled over on the side of the road every where.  We were pretty worried that it was tornadic.  About that time we realized we had forgot to get gas in Dalhart! And we were on empty!!!  Thankfully, we stopped at a pay at the pump and filled up and as we made our way into Amarillo we were able to watch several fireworks shows.

Little Eleri

I really loves this age that Eleri is.  She can start doing more big girl things, like sitting on the couch and eating popcorn with us. Eleri LOVES popcorn! She will sign "popcorn" and say something that sounds like "pop pop".  She gets sooo excited about it.  Another cute thing that Eleri does is when you say "blow kisses", she actually blows out her nose.  I haven't corrected her because I just think it is too cute and makes her Eleri.  Eleri loves to smile and pose for pictures with her big smile.  She also loves to laugh.  If she hears someone laughing, she lets out a big cackle too.  Today we went to eat donuts and some old men started laughing, and Eleri got a big grin on her face and laughed along with them.  Eleri also has a temper.  She has started to just hit Mali when Mali makes her mad.  And Mali is not the only one.  Eleri will hit any one and everything in her way when she is mad.  She also has fits like none we have ever seen. You'd never know with that cute little smile though!  Eleri still has four teeth on bottom and top but is working on getting two bottom molars in.  I'm attributing her fussyness/fit throwing to those big ole teeth trying to come through.  Eleri can say several words, like popcorn, mama, daddy, papa, mimi, Granpa, Nana, Chris, doggie, bird, duck, milk, drink,bye bye, uh oh, bubble, ball, football, eat eat, go, poo poo, baby, bee, and probably a few others I haven't remembered.  Her favorite word by far, is uh uh.  As in, do you want to take a nap, "uh uh". Do you want to eat this, "uh uh".  We need to work on "yes". Eleri loves to be outside.  She also loves to just play and figure things out.  She is very good at playing by herself, as sad as that sometimes makes me.  But she still loves to sit in my lap when I'm still enough and she's still enough.  Eleri loves to look at books and have them read to her.  I really love this age and all the learning and exploring she is doing.  But at times this is such a trying age too.  The other night I went to bed almost dreading the next day and all the messes I would be cleaning up.  Eleri can be a mess.  She wants to be so independent, like drinking water from a cup without a lid and will throw a fit to do this, but then water ends ups every where.  This pretty much happens with everything (like the bottle of bubbles in the first picture that ended up empty in a matter of minutes).

Oh My Mali

Mali is just growing like a weed daisy!!! It seems like she has grown a foot this summer.  I'm not really sure of her actual measurements but it is close to 4' and she is several inches taller on the wall of the garage at the cabin since she was last measured at the cabin at Thanksgiving. This summer, Mali has started to read and write several more sight words.  I know she is so ready for kindergarten and for reading.  I love watching her write and her little brain work.  Mali has also started chores this summer.  She makes her bed and unloads the silverware from the dishwasher.  She also has extra little chores when neccessary too, like cleaning base boards.  Yesterday she helped me clean my bathroom.  Towards the end she wanted to finish it on her own and this is what she did.  In case you can't tell, she got items out of our baskets and put them in a line all the way around our sink.  It was pretty cute! Mali also loves to sit and color.  Yesterday alone she colored about 50 coloring pages and we had spent the entire morning at the Discovery Center!  Guess that is what happens when you don't nap anymore!  Mali also loves to pose for pictures and dress stylish. Mali has really been a delight lately.  I just look at her and see a big girl!

Just as an aside...blogger's editing has totally changed, and I am not a fan.