iPhone photo purge - Part 2

Here's the rest of the camera phone pictures that I wanted to share...

This is the only picture I have from our anniversary date to Atlanta! We had to take it in the hotel mirror! We clean up nicely, huh? I love when my husband wears his pink dress shirt! :) He did that just for me!

I ordered this necklace recently off of Etsy. I wear it every day... can't get enough of seeing my boys' names together!

This is one of my students... He wore this to school and it cracked me up! Katie, are you reading this? He definitely had on a tuxedo vest over his shirt! Precious!

A diaper cake for my friend Jennie. She's having a little girl and they decorated her room in "Tiffany Box Blue" and black! And...I love me some zebra print on ANYTHING!

Michael drew this on my phone... I may be biased, but I say that's talent! It's a picture of his daddy....

A few weeks ago, I found out that Candace Cameron Bure was in town signing copies of her new book, Reshaping it All. I randomly decided last minute to go see her. I brought Michael along with me and we sat in line for an hour! It was so much fun... glad I did it! I love meeting famous people!

It's so funny to see how random the photos are on my phone. I had some even crazier ones - like the blood pressure machine at CVS, just so I could remember what my blood pressure was - and the envelopes that we tithed in for Christmas because it said "To: Jesus"...love it!

I think I'll have to do these photo purges more often! So fun!

iPhone photo purge - Part 1

I rarely plug my phone into my computer, but I did recently and finally took off all the pictures I had on there!

A lot of times my phone is the only camera I have with me, so I capture a lot of moments on my phone. It was so fun to go through these photos that were months old! I thought I'd share just a few. There were like 150 pictures on there, so obviously I won't share them all. It was hard to narrow it down to a few! The picture quality is not the best, but it's a phone camera, what can you do?

These were taken a while back when we took a family breakfast trip to McDonalds for hotcakes! Sam and I needed oil changes in our car and McDonalds is right across the street. Michael can devour some pancakes, so he enjoyed every minute of this! He also got to play on the indoor playground... bliss!!

Michael and I were sitting on the bed one day and he kept making this face. It makes my heart melt every time I look at it!!

What's more fun than an impromptu game of baseball in the aisles at WalMart?

Michael and I attended quite a few basketball games this season. Sam is the coach, so we like to cheer him on! It's hard to keep a 2-year-old entertained for whole game, so we bring along reinforcements! LeapFrog to the rescue!

Our small group is awesome! We have church together every Thursday night. Sam and I have been a part of this group for about 6 years or so. These are our best friends and I love how we've grown and changed over the years. We actually call it our not-so-small group or "Rabbit Group" because we keep multiplying! These are just SOME of the kids from the group! We are quite large, but I love all these people that God has put in our lives! Notice Michael sitting with his good friend Kaylin on the bean bag chair...so cute!

And we will end with this: My elephant collection. Growing up, my grandmother gave me an elephant figurine for every occasion because she knew I loved them so much. I don't even know where I kept all these! I dug them out of the basement when I was going through some things and was quite amazed! Crazy!

Breakfast of Champions

So, on my new "Trying-to-eat-more-fresh-foods" kick, I've discovered the magic of smoothies!

I found this recipe the other day and it looked so simple that I had to try it! Michael and I have enjoyed Cherry-Banana smoothies 2 days in a row. This morning, it was our breakfast...so yummy!! He's 2 1/2 and can help me make them. And best of all, he thinks he gets to eat ice cream for breakfast! AWESOME!

It calls for Greek yogurt, which has less sodium than regular yogurt and has a lot of protein in it! However, plain Greek yogurt by itself is not yummy....note to self.

Cherry-Banana Smoothies:

1 cup pitted cherries (I used the frozen kind)

1 banana

1/2 lemon - juiced

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

5 ice cubes

4 drops almond extract

Mix all these ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Then, enjoy your healthy ice cream... I mean, smoothie! :)

I'm linking up for the first time to {Titus 2}sday!

Rest

A couple of weeks ago, I went in for my monthly doctor visit and discovered that my blood pressure was elevated. I was hooked up to the non-stress test to monitor the baby for a while and then sent to the hospital so they could monitor my blood pressure.

I obviously wasn't expecting anything other than the usual "Do you have any questions?", "No", "Ok, we'll see you in a month!" So, the hospital visit threw me for a loop! I had absolutely no issues with my first pregnancy and this was all new to me!

I was ordered to be on bed-rest through the weekend and was reevaluated the following Monday. At that point, I was officially put on bed-rest and told that I could not go back to work for the remainder of my pregnancy. It was crazy news to hear! I was only 30 weeks! The good news is that I do NOT have preeclampsia yet, but they are trying to prevent that from happening this early in my pregnancy. The only way to "cure" preeclampsia is to deliver the baby and we are praying that does not happen anytime soon!

My last two doctor visits have been great! My blood pressure is lower and Isaac is measuring right on track! I'm feeling good and not feeling any symptoms of high blood pressure. However, that's what makes bed-rest hard. I feel lazy when I lay around all day. But I know that's what's best for Isaac and me, so that's what I do - lay around all. day. long.

Bed-rest can be a bummer, but I am thankful for this:

• Parents and in-laws that are incredible at helping! My mom has come up a couple of times and brought tons of food. My in-laws take Michael for the day and make sure he's entertained! My dad is taking Michael for a weekend soon! I am blessed so much by the parents in my life!

• Devouring my stack of books... finally!! I just finished reading Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure and Life of the Beloved by Henry Nouwen. Both great reads! Now I have about 8 more in my stack.

• Having more time to read my Bible and pray. I serve a healing God and I know that He is why my blood pressure has been down lately! Thank you Jesus!

• I get weekly ultrasounds to look at my baby boy! LOVE this!

• I was forced to eat healthier and I'm glad! I cut out my two loves - Coca Cola Classic AND sweet tea. No more fast food. I've become very aware of the sodium in the foods I eat. I'm eating more fresh foods, etc...

• I've caught up on all my DVR'd shows and I've learned more about what's happening in the world by watching FOX news. I don't watch the news - ever - so, it's all new to me!

• I'm saving gas money by not driving anywhere but the doctor. And, with prices rising, we're saving a lot of money!

I will post updates if anything changes. Please pray that Isaac will continue to grow and that all my levels will stay somewhat normal to prevent a pre-term delivery!

Ok- back to resting. I also have some pictures from a while ago that I need to blog about. Another positive to bed-rest... catching up on blogging!

Catching up...

It's been a while since my last post, so here's what you've missed in our lives:

-Sam and I celebrated our 8th anniversary in Atlanta! He got me tickets to see West Side Story and made reservations at Ruths Chris Steak House...YUM! We spent the night in a hotel and enjoyed sleeping in the next morning! With it being the busiest time of year for us (basketball season), it's hard to find even a day to spend with each other and celebrate our anniversary. I was so thankful for Sam to be off on a Saturday night! I'm thankful for him and for our marriage and I pray for many more years together!

-I tried to dye my hair a light brown and it turned a little reddish. It's lightened up a lot, but that's why you may notice my hair isn't quite as blonde. I know it's a little vain of me to talk about my hair, but I'm pretty sure I was made to stay blonde, no matter my "natural" color hair... ha! I plan on making a hair appointment before Baby Isaac gets here so he can see his mama the way she's supposed to look! :)

-I'm 28 weeks along in my pregnancy! Time has really gone by fast, but I feel like these last 12 weeks are the longest to get through. I still continue to feel great and Isaac is growing right on track. I'm getting larger and larger by the minute these days. These are some things I've heard over the past week:

-"Are you sure you're not having twins?"

-"How far along are you? You look like you're about to pop!"

-"Your belly is bigger than mine!" - said by a girl who is 36 weeks

Wow... sure makes a pregnant lady feel great!!

On another note, I am one of four women in my small group expecting a baby. We've really enjoyed going through this time together! It's fun to share stories and anticipation with each other. We threw a shower for my friend Jennie last weekend and were able to capture the four of our bellies together. Jennie is on the far left and she is due in just a few weeks!

My Baby Can Read!

Have you heard of the "Your Baby Can Read" program? Yeah, the informercial comes on TV when nothing else is on.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing.... But I do know that when I would watch these informercials, I would feel these pangs of guilt.

I would think thoughts like

"Is Michael behind his peers if he isn't reading at 9 months?"

MAN!! Seriously? WHY would those thoughts cross my mind?

Anyway.... We did not invest in the program, but I have noticed that Michael IS in fact reading (or recognizing logos...whatever)...

These are the words he can read:

-Kroger (his first word to read)

-McDonalds

-Burger King

-Chick-fil-a

-Wendy's

-Chili's

-Target

-WalMart

Can you tell how we spend our days?

Mr. Snow-tato Head

The snow did indeed ice over last night and made for some great snowman making. Sam headed out during naptime and started the snowman all by himself so that Michael would only have minimal work to do. I stood by (looking out the window) for moral support!

We didn't prepare for our snowman's face by stocking up on carrots and coal, so we improvised! We have a large Mr. Potato Head and we used his facial parts to complete our snowman... We've named him Mr. Snow-tato Head! Isn't he handsome?

I'm sure you noticed the new blog design! I'm a little bit proud that I created it all by myself! I took advantage of naptime today by doing some research on how to make my blog a little cuter... I also learned how to make pictures larger! I was a little hesitant in doing the whole *pink* theme with me being the only girl in a house full of boys. Most of my blogs are about my boys, but I needed to express myself in the background (sounds silly) and I love all things pink, so that's just what it's going to be! :)