A getaway

This past Thursday our family got away for the evening with another family from our small group who have a little girl Isabel's age. If you are ever looking for a place to go, not too far away, quaint, and homey, I'd highly recommend The Clifty Inn in Madison, IN. You can get special rates in the winter too. Lee and I had gone there once before when Isabel was little and loved it. It was nice to go back and have another great experience. Even though it was just one night away, it was so refreshing. I must admit we were exhausted when we got home, I think from just all the non-stop fun, but it was all worth it. We swam, ate delicious food, talked, and just enjoyed each others company. So blessed by this family and glad to have gotten to know them a little better. Of course my little fish, iBel, couldn't get enough of the swimming pool. She only got out when she was so cold she was shivering and her lips were turning blue.:) It was really nice that we went on a Thursday because we missed the weekend rush and had the whole pool to ourselves.

Buddies

They have a fun lounge area with different stuffed animals the girls enjoyed looking at and naming.

This wolf was named "Tucker"

He got swarmed by little girls

An amazing shot...especially considering she just had major back surgery.

My little big girl

Ana is quite possibly one of the happiest little girls ever. Maybe it's me and I'm her mom and I love her, but she is just such a joy to be around. She just LOVES life. Now, when she is grumpy, she's grumpy, but really that's only about 5% of the time. She gives the best hugs! She'll just squeeze you so tight and say, "Huuuggggg." At times she still seems like a little baby and then other times she is so grown up, which of course she now claims of herself, "big girl." This past week I tried putting pigtails in her hair. It seemed like instantly she went from little girl look to big girl look.
Now it's just time to get rid of that paci...

In other news, we are looking into preschools for Isabel...really preschool? We aren't really sure what we are going to do at this point and Lee and I left it at, "let's pray about it."

So that's life. Everyone is growing up.

the trivial...

Today, on Valentine's Day I found out a close friend from college just lost her 5 month old baby girl. It seems so trivial to think of what our world has made Valentine's Day out to be - flowers, chocolates, jewelry, etc. when we have such a greater Love that we can celebrate...Jesus Christ!

My friends words:

On this Valentines Day, my Heart is FILLED with LOVE! I Love my God for sending us His son so that ALL who believe might have the Best Life Ever in Heaven!!!! I Love my Husband who has been my strength, my support, and my best friend through this unimaginable trial! I Love my Beautiful Daughter who is my JOY and My Inspiration....I am SUCH A PROUD mommy! And I Love everyone of YOU, our friends and family, who have shared in our passionate prayers, deep deep sorrow, and UnExplainable JOY!!!! Thank You for Allowing our Great God to use You and move in You during these last couple weeks, and may it not end here! Continue to allow his Amazing Love to enter your heart and fill it to the brim! I know that I am!! I LOVE U ALL :) THANK YOU SO MUCH :)

Eggs???

So last week or maybe it was two weeks ago now I was having morning sickness and decided to make myself some eggs and toast for breakfast, something I rarely do, but I thought the protein would help me feel better. The next day I was terribly sick. To me, flu sick or food poisoning. It was a bad week none the less. I got over it. Life went on. I had several days where I felt really good. Then this past Thursday night we had french toast for dinner and I made some scrambled eggs to go with it. They were yummy, but the next two days I felt awful again...not nearly as bad as the first time though, thank goodness. So now I'm wondering...is it coincidence or is it the eggs? Is it in my head? Is it just the pregnancy? So today we had a small group brunch after church and I loaded up on egg type dishes. I'm testing my theory. So either I'll be perfectly fine or could feel awful the next few days...here's to hoping for being fine. And if not...I guess I won't be eating eggs, at least for awhile.

And then there were 3

Yesterday, I had my first OB appt. The Dr. and nurse kept telling me, "oh this is #3, you're a pro." The nurse handed me a prescription and said, "here's your prescription." I was quickly trying to figure out what in the world it was for...oh blood work...ok, it's starting to come back to me. The Dr. couldn't find the baby's heartbeat yet, so ended up doing an ultrasound, which I was secretly hoping for. It was adorable seeing the baby and it was waving it's tiny little hands. The Dr. said, "It's saying hi to you." I always think it's nice to see the baby when I'm not very far along. It's nice to know there really is something in there and all the tiredness and nausea I am feeling is not for nothing. So here's baby Nordine's first photograph, not the greatest, but here it is none the less.
This picture is specifically for Lolo. Ana will sometimes do this: grab her blankies, her "bobby," and go lay down on the cool floor in the kitchen. Reminds us of Lolo every time and his cold/hard floor siestas.
Then there is Isabel. My creative, fun, energetic 3-year-old. This is what happens when I let her pick out her clothes, which isn't too often, but I do let her every now and then if we aren't going anywhere. You can't really tell, but she has on a princess shirt, a long sleeve shirt, her Japanese outfit, and her poncho. After I took this picture she added another poncho and a hat.

Yep, those are our 3 kiddos.

Conversation with a 3-year-old

A conversation between Lee and Isabel (told to me by Lee) about us needing to get a bigger vehicle:

Lee: Isabel, mommy and daddy are going to need to get a bigger car for when the baby comes.

Isabel: Well dad, mommy and the baby could just ride in our other car.

Lee: Well, what if we all wanted to ride in the same car?

Isabel: Well dad, see this little space right here between me and Ana? The baby could go right here.

Lee: Well it's not really big enough to fit the baby's car seat.

Isabel: Well dad, maybe we could just ride on a cloud.

Lee: Hmm...I've never really thought of that before.