Three Things {Thanksgiving Edition}

So I have gotten the idea for this blog post from a blog that I love following, Momfessionals. It is super fun to read and a great way to preserve the small moments of everyone in the family. 

I figured that there was no better time to start than now with our top three things for which to be thankful! Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Relationships. 

I am thankful for the relationship that I have with my Lord and Savior! With Him, all things are possible. He never fails us and continues to abundantly provide for us and bless our family!

My relationship with my precious husband continues to grow stronger with each new day. He has a huge heart and a giving spirit! The Lord truly blessed me and gave me my heart's desire by answering my prayers regarding this Godly man. 

My adorable and loving little boy who melts my heart on the daily! He has a sweet spirit and is always ready for fun and action (a typical boy). I love him so much! A day does not go by that I am not lifting up praises for the precious gift that I have been given. This is the closest understanding I have of God's love for his children. It is truly an amazing love!!!

I am also thankful for the new little one that we will be welcoming in February. Another darling boy will join us and we could not be more thrilled! I am looking forward to the sweet moments and relationship that we will all have with him! 

And last but definitely not least, all of my family! They are so special and precious to me. Their love and support for me and my little family is always generous and unconditional. I love them all dearly and I am so glad to love life with them all! 

2. Health. 

With so many diseases and different types of cancer, I am thankful that I have good health and that I am free of these devastating sicknesses. I am also thankful that my Daddy is free of lymphoma and that my mother-in-law is free of uteran cancer. God has blessed us in this area and we are ever grateful to Him. 

3. My Country. 

I am ever grateful for the ability to have daily freedoms that many do not have. To worship as I choose. Celebrate as my family desires. Move about my everyday life with ultimate freedom. I am thankful to all of those men and women who sacrifice their lives and time with their own families to provide a safe place for

others. We are forever indebted to you for your hard work and dedication. 

Due to lack of time and tardiness in posting this, three things from my boys will be included next time. 

A Few Favorites

-ONE-

J and I took Levi to his first dentist appointment yesterday. He was a trooper and we were super proud. He was not quite sure about the moving chair and the vibrating toothbrush. I'm sure that felt a little strange to him since he has only used a regular toothbrush; but, we have added a spinning toothbrush to our list for Santa!

-TWO-

I am currently loving every second of a week away from work as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving! Our sweet little family is SO blessed and we have a tremendous amount for which to be thankful! So today, we are heading out of town for an overnight trip with some precious friends. We are taking our littles to ride The Polar Express in Bryson City, NC. I am SO excited and Levi is beyond ready to ride the "choo choo tain!" I plan to post more about this trip soon. 

-THREE-

We have been reading a few Thanksgiving books this month. These are a few of our favorites. 

These have been very fun reads! We will read them a few more times before we begin reading our massive Christmas collection. 

-FOUR-

Christmas pillows. For some reason, I have a new love for Christmas pillows. I am in total search mode for the perfect additions to my decor for the upcoming season. I suppose this is because I am excited and SO ready for all things Merry & Bright and to revisit the sweet traditions that we have started in our home! My vision is possibly red, lime green, white, gold, and possibly a splash of burlap. We will see what pops up in my shopping cart in the near future. 

-FIVE-

As we were resting with Levi last night, we told him it was time to be quiet so we could go night-night. This obviously hurt his sweet little sensitive heart because he proceeded to say "Daddy, you making my fwy." Bless his sweet heart! This melted my heart but made me laugh at the same time. 

These are just a few happenings in our household right now and a few sweet memories to hold onto too! 

Baby G #2 {24 Weeks}

24 weeks but using a picture from 23 weeks! Ha!

Oh my goodness...I am DEFINITELY not receiving any "Mommy of the Year" awards. It has been almost 12 weeks since my last update. So much has happened since the 12 week mark and I have been very slack about documenting my pregnancy journey with Baby G #2. But...I have often felt like my life is spiraling quickly out of control with just the day-to-day. Needless to say, I am looking forward to a week (or two) away from work to relax and refocus my mind. Which really means to step away from school work and concentrate on the millions of projects that need to be done at home. Sigh. It's never ending!

How Far Along: 24 Weeks
I was measured at my 24 week appointment today and measured right on target.

Symptoms: I am still feeling pretty fatigued at the end of most days. I am constantly going and often work long hours at work. I definitely look forward to bedtime every night.

Cravings/Aversions: Ugh! I would not say that I have any cravings right now...well except the occasional orange soda at night. I do, however, have a major aversion to food! Let's just say that I am pretty much sick of eating! Nothing sounds appetizing and I am tired of eating the same things over and over. Most of the time I fall back on pizza or something with tomato sauce. My precious husband feels like he is turning into a pizza and will regularly ask me if I would just like to have a jar of Ragu with a straw for dinner. Eating seems to have become a chore for me. My littlest love keeps me going and I do provide plenty of nutrition for him.

Size of Baby: You are almost 12 inches long and are about the size of an ear of corn.

Sleep: LOVING IT! I just can't get enough! I seem to have some crazy dreams but those mostly occur when I am up and down a lot going to the bathroom. I have researched it and it says something about the sleep cycle and the stage that you are in...I don't know. It was too much for me to understand at the given time so I quickly moved on to more important things! You love to move around at night and practice a combination of kick boxing, tae kwon do, Pilates, and yoga. It's definitely interesting trying to figure out what you are doing in there but SO fun to feel you moving around. I think you move regularly to keep me from worrying about you! I do have a tendency to do that from time to time.

Workouts: While I have not made ANY trips to the gym, I definitely feel that I am getting a workout daily. Speed walking up and down the hallway at work multiple times a day, playing with Levi, and lifting him (all 32 pounds of him) keeps me feeling like I have worked out anyway.

Clothing: I am wearing maternity clothes most of the time. I still wear my regular shirts and yoga pants. Jeans and dress pants are maternity along with a few shirts and sweaters that I have picked up.

I would really like to try a Piko but have been a bit hesitant. I get the feeling that it may look like a garbage sack on me but I guess I will never know until I try it. Plus, I am the queen of returns and I am quite sure that I could return it if needed. Maybe it is time to pull the trigger.

I am also in the market for a pair of booties. I have ordered several pair but have returned them all. I am just not quite satisfied. Hopefully soon, I will stumble upon the perfect pair to tuck under a pair of flares or boot cut jeans. After all, this mama does NOT do skinnies. It is a BAD look for me!

Gender: It's a BOY! We are beyond excited to be welcoming Brady Michael into our family! We cannot wait to meet our sweet addition.

Nursery: Today has been a very busy day. We have worked diligently to clean out our guest bedroom in preparation of Levi moving into a new "big boy room." We have donated multiple trunk loads of stuff to Goodwill and The Macon Rescue Mission. After this weekend we should be ready to proceed with painting Levi's new room and move him in over the next few weeks. Following this project, we will paint walls and furniture for Brady's nursery. I have chosen his bedding from Carousel Designs and it has all arrived. I am very excited to move forward with these projects. Lots of hard work but SO much fun! It is beginning to feel real! Eeeek!!!

Best Moment this Week: When you have the most precious family, it is impossible to choose one moment as the best. Levi is so incredibly sweet and loving toward Brady and it just completely melts my heart! 

*"Daddy, you wanna pet Bady? Come pet him!"

*Our sweet family of three went to my 24 week appointment today. Levi was SO excited to hear Brady's heartbeat. "It says Boom Boom!"

*Since today was Veteran's Day, J and I were both off from work. We kept Levi home and decided to have a family day. After naptime, we took Levi to see The Peanuts Movie. It was a super sweet movie and Levi loved it. He asked to watch it again and when we told him we would watch it again another day, his sweet blue eyes filled with tears. Bless his sweet little heart!

*In preparation for an upcoming trip, we went to our local monogramming shop to have some pajamas monogrammed. While there, Levi found a basket of "Fuzzies and Bing-Bings (lovies)." We told him that he could pick one for Brady. He proceeded to choose a super sweet and soft brown bear for his baby brother. He even picked out the thread color for Brady's name to be monogrammed. He chose a vibrant, fire-engine red. This precious gift will be wrapped and placed under our Christmas tree for Brady from Levi. I die!
This is not the first gift that Levi has picked out for Brady. In fact, we have several things to wrap up for Christmas. These gifts are all toys and it absolutely melts my heart to watch him choose things for his baby brother without prompting. It is completely on his own. My precious, precious boy!