Baby J #2 - 28 Weeks

How far along? 28 weeks.  Third trimester.  Woohoo!
Total weight gain/loss: I honestly don't know.  I'm pretty sure my scale is broken because it says I haven't gained any weight, but I know I have.
Maternity clothes? Yup.  My mom gave me a new shirt last night and I love it!
Stretch marks?  One tiny one near my belly button
Sleep: A nap finally isn't a necessity anymore.  Acid reflux has been waking me up at night though, so my nighttime sleep is not so great.
Best moment this week: Having Joey start kissing my belly to give the baby kisses, and finding out that I don't have gestational diabetes.
Have you told family and friends: Yup.

Movement: A ton when I'm not too busy
Food cravings: Nothing really at this point.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Have you started to show yet: Yes.
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor Signs: Nope.  Not even Braxton Hicks.
Belly Button in or out? Almost flat.
Wedding rings on or off? On.  But they're starting to leave indents in my fingers, so I imagine I'll have to go down to one ring soon.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I was pretty moody this week.  Neal worked a lot, and I bit off more than I should have helping other people.  It made me cranky - may have led to a breakdown about the state of our house last night.  Haha
Missing: Being able to lay on my back

Joey - 20 Months Old

Each year, November seems like a short month, and this year was no exception.

- While Neal finished hunting, Joey and I spent a lot of one on one time together.  It was too cold to go outside, so instead we went to Chick-fil-a so that Joey could play at the play-place.  It was his first time, so he seemed a little nervous, but there were some very sweet kids there who helped him figure it out.

- He learned how to drink out of a "real" cup.  We're still using sippy cups most of the time because he has a hard time drinking enough water to keep him hydrated out of real cups.

- Joey is fascinated with the snow :)  This picture has turned into one of my favorites!

- He loves trying to be like daddy.  He likes to put on Neal's shoes, hats, and even folds his hands like Neal does for prayers.

- Joey discovered horsey-rides.  He now constantly asks Neal for a ride when Neal comes home from work.  It's been fun to watch their relationship develop as Joey's become more capable of physical play.

- We had Thanksgiving at my parents' house this year.  Neal went to play our ward's Turkey Bowl in the morning, and Joey and I watched the Macy's parade and drank hot chocolate.  Then we went down to my parents' to have dinner and see family.  Joey is becoming more comfortable with  our extended family, and it's been incredible to watch his excitement as he recognizes the people we visit.  He also really enjoyed playing with his cousin, Lucas, who was visiting from out of town.

- Joey and I went to our town's Parade of Lights.  One of Joey's favorite things this season has been all of the lights.  Every time we see Christmas lights he starts exclaiming "Lights!  Lights!"  It's one of my favorite things to hear as we're driving around at nights.  It was REALLY cold that night, but he was so fascinated by the floats going by that he didn't seem to mind.

I'm so excited for this next month as Joey learns about the magic of Christmas!!

Terrorism is winning

Let me start of this post by saying I'm angry.  My heart is aches, and sometimes feels as if it is literally breaking.  I have cried over this topic countless times in the last week, and I'm sure I will shed at least a few tears as I write this post.  I'm posting this because I need somewhere to put this, and I'm not sure where else to put it.  Let me explain:

I remember the 9/11 attacks.  I remember where I was when they happened, I remember several of my teachers leaving because they were in the military, and I remember trying to sort out my first true experience with evil (I was 11).  BUT, I was NOT afraid.  I had a teacher at school that day (one who later left to serve his duties in the National Guard) explain to our class that terrorists whole purpose in attacking was to instill fear and terror into the hearts of the people they had attacked, and in other places around the world.  Hence the name TERRORist.  He explained that no matter what happened, if we did not allow that fear to enter our hearts, as long as we did not let terror become the basis of our actions, as long as we stood with courage and did the right things, we were winning the war on terrorism.  That is something that has stuck with me for over 14 years.

Fast forward to today.  In the last week, there have been several of these terrorist attacks around the world - some, like Paris, well covered by the media; some, like Beirut and Baghdad, not so well covered.  The group has changed from Al Qaeda to ISIS, but their intent is still the same - to instill terror.  This became unmistakably clear when they sent a video saying that if any country stood with France, they would attack the hearts of that country the same way they attacked the heart of France.  

A few days later, there were people in Congress asking approval to allow a large number of refugees from Syria into the United States.  Social media turned into an uproar.  People arguing and fighting about whether or not these people should be allowed into our country.  There have been several different reasons I've seen for not allowing them to come here, but the biggest reason that I've seen floating around is because they're Muslim and they're going to attack us.  There may or may not have been one Syrian refugee involved in the attacks on Paris, so we must shut down our borders and refuse to let the naked, sick, and afraid into our country.  (If your concern is the finances of supporting them, I can understand that - I have a different opinion, but I can understand your point of view).

About an hour ago, I was on Facebook and saw a shared post that caused me to go into full-on break-down.  I refuse to share it because I find the fact that the picture is being blasted on social media despicable. The picture was of a young boy, maybe 4 to 6 years old, lying dead next to the ocean.  His family was trying to escape and they were all killed.  (I find it horrifying that it's become acceptable on social media to share a picture of someone's dead baby, no matter what the reasoning.)  Yes, I'll admit, it more than tugged at my pregnant-mommy heartstrings after I had just laid my child down for a nap and put away his new snacks from the store.

But the words of the post are what struck me more.  It was written by someone who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ (I don't know if he's agnostic/atheist/etc.), and I think he makes a valid point.  So often, as Christians, we profess that we are trying to be Christ-like - that we're trying to love, serve, and do as He would do.  But then when push comes to shove, just like it is right now with the "discussion" of the Syrian refugees, we refuse to help.  We clump all 10,000 people - the men, women, and CHILDREN - who need help, whose only desire is to live through the next day, into a terrorist category because of what might be their religion (do you really even know if every single one of them is Muslim?).  And don't try to sell me the bull crap that they're all terrorists.  I live in a city where there are many, many immigrant Muslims, and I have yet to be shot at, attacked, or honestly to even have them look me in the eyes.  From what I have PERSONALLY witnessed (translation - not been warped by stupid media that's just trying to sell a story) they're incredibly hard working people.  Many of them come from war torn countries and are so grateful to be in a place where they're not in constant terror for their lives.  Neal was actually in a dangerous situation on his mission and was offered safety by someone who was Muslim.  Saying all Muslims are terrorists is just as much crap as saying all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are homophobic morons who think that just by being around someone who is homosexual it will somehow "rub off' on you.  

This combined with the fact that the LDS Church, the church that I belong to and believe wholeheartedly in, has asked its members to do everything that they can to offer support and care for refugees (of which there are 51.2 MILLION of around the world as of February).  Don't believe me?  Go to LDS.org and search "Syrian refugees."  This article has some great information on how to get started helping.

You can disagree with me, I honestly don't care at this point.  In my heart I've decided that if somehow, one refugee that came here was a member of ISIS (even though ISIS is already here - not sure how people are blind to that) and attacked us and I died in that attack, I could look my Savior in the face and say that I wanted to and tried to help succor the 9,999 others - because I believe that He's commanded us to do so, no matter race, religion, or country of origin. (Use the Good Samaritan as an example). 

So tonight, when we're tucking our children safely in bed and sitting around with full stomachs because we actually got to eat dinner, and whining about our first world problems like our kids not having enough presents for Christmas, let's try to allow Christ to soften our hearts and allow some room for compassion.  Because even as you're reading this, people are swimming across channels of water, hiding in the dark, and praying to whatever Deity they believe in that they make it.

Because right now, terrorism is winning.  We have allowed fear to enter our hearts to the point where we forget to be decent human beings.

Baby J #2 - 22 weeks

How far along? 22 1/2 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +11 pounds
Maternity clothes? Until the baby comes.  And then for a little bit after ;)
Stretch marks?  Nope.
Sleep: Still can't get enough of it.
Best moment this week: Feeling super good while hiking around up hunting.  Working out is paying off.  I was also proud because I had a "mind over matter" moment when I told myself to keep hiking even though my legs hurt.  I joked with Neal that it was practice for labor.
Have you told family and friends: Yup.

Movement: He's a mover.
Food cravings: Sugar, but I've kept it most under control.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Just random things here and there.  Nothing specific though.

Have you started to show yet: Yes.
Gender prediction: It's a boy!  I was 100% wrong.
Labor Signs: Nope.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.  
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy :)
Missing: Sleeping through the night.  Already ;)

This was last week

Joey - 19 Months Old

I'm in denial that we are closer to Joey's second birthday than his first.  I can't imagine how fast time is going to go once his little brother gets here, because it is already going much to fast for my liking.

We've had a pretty eventful month!

- We started out the month by going to the Greeley FunPlex with one of my coworkers from the dispatch center.  She has a little girl that's about 6 weeks older than Joey.  Joey is starting to learn how to actually play with other kids, so it's always fun to watch him interact with another person his size.  His favorite part about the FunPlex is the slides.  Every time we go, he spends the majority of the time on the slides.  (We went to the FunPlex about a week later when Neal had the day off, too.  He thought it was even better when daddy was there to play!)

- Joey's vocabulary has been increasing daily.  He still usually only says one word at a time, but he's getting to the point where he can better communicate what he wants, which is making for less temper tantrums (thank goodness).  His favorite word is "NO."  He is definitely working on establishing his independence and trying to figure out where his boundaries are.  Luckily, most of the time he does very well at listening, and for that I am grateful.

- We went to the pumpkin patch with my grandpa, aunt, and cousin.  My aunt just moved to Colorado, and wanted to take pictures at the pumpkin patch, so we went with them.  Joey thought it was SO much fun!

- Joey got a pillow in his bed.  He was super excited.  The very first night he had it, Neal wasn't home.  When I asked Joey if he wanted to take a picture to send to daddy to show him the pillow, Joey pointed at the pillow.  It was awesome.  He also got new slippers, which he thinks they're the best.

- We are officially pacifier free!!!!  Joey had been getting his pacifier only at bedtimes for quite a while.  The last time he was sick, I got pretty tired of getting up every hour and a half to go clear his nose so he could suck on his pacifier to fall back to sleep.  After he was feeling better, his pacifiers "broke."  We showed them to him, and he threw them away in the trash.  That night, Neal put him to bed because I had a youth activity at church, and anytime Joey would start crying for his pacifier, Neal would go in and say "Remember Joey?  Your pacifiers broke and you threw them away."  It actually worked miraculously well for us.  It only took him about an hour and a half to fall asleep, and there was pretty minimal crying considering how attached he was to it.

- We carved pumpkins.  Joey thought it was the greatest thing ever when we lit them :)

"Wait.  You want me to do WHAT?  Awe, HELL no!"

- We went and stole leaves from the common area in our neighborhood.  We don't have a tree in our yard, and I thought Joey would find jumping in them really, really fun.  And I was right ;)

- I made some kool-aid salt dough that Joey LOVES.  He loves rolling it out and then cutting shapes out of it with cookie cutters.  He also loves when I roll some of it into a ball and then he gets to smash it and squeeze it between his fingers.

- Joey found out he's having a little BROTHER!!!!  He will pull my shirt up and rub my belly and say "baby."  It's pretty much the most adorable thing (that I'm sure he will not find as entertaining once his brother gets here).

- He learned how to blow raspberries on our tummies.  There have been a couple of times that he's tried to give himself one.  It literally makes Neal and I laugh out loud.

- Joey started getting ALL FOUR of his canine teeth in at the same time.  Only one has broken through so far, but I can feel the other three just under his gums.  He's been a chewy, drooly mess.  The only thing he will chew on are his hands.  He literally shoves his entire hand in his mouth and just chews.  His poor fingers get so red and sore :(

- Joey woke up in the middle of the night with a fever of about 103 degrees.  I thought it was teething, but after looking back at all the symptoms, I'm pretty sure he had a GI virus of some sort.  He ended up in our bed that night because he would only sleep if I was holding him.  I felt so bad :(

- We didn't get any pictures of Halloween because Joey was still running a fever and obviously not feeling well, but we did take him trick or treating for a little bit.  Once he figured out that if he went and stood at people's door, they would give him candy, he thought it was pretty awesome.  He was a candy corn (I was pretty proud...I made the costume myself).

- He spent his first night away from both Neal and I...or should I say 4 nights.  Neal and I went up hunting, and Joey stayed with my mom and sister.  I didn't have a tag for an animal, but I know I'm not going to be able to go next year, so I wanted to go up and enjoy it.  Hunting is a HUGE part of me, and I don't want to lose that.  My mom said that Joey did really well, especially since he was running a fever, teething, and it was DST switch.  I was thankful to know he was in good hands, but I was still a nervous wreck for the first 36 hours or so.  After I came home, it took him about a week to believe that I wasn't going to be leaving him again (at least in the near future).  He's finally getting to the point where he's not clinging to me like I might disappear any second :)

Joey is really turning into a little rock star.  We are so grateful for him, everyday, and love who he is already developing into!

Intentional Parenting

Joey and I have been going through an interesting transition the last couple of months.  He's getting to the age where giving him a new toy to play with when he gets bored doesn't keep him entertained for long.  I realized this a couple weeks ago, and I went through one of the many adjustments that I think all moms go through at some point - I realized I had to actually plan and prepare activities for us to do instead of just having free play all the time. I didn't (and still don't) want to have every single moment of the day scheduled, but it became very obvious that we needed more structure.

I borrowed a couple "toddler play idea" books from the library, and they gave me some good ideas for different activities to help him develop.  I started praying for help in knowing how to be more intentional in my activities with Joey.

It's been a very positive experience.  Joey seems happier - not only does he enjoy having specific activities to do, but I think he's also enjoying having my undivided attention.  I'm a lot happier. I've discovered that when we had a lot of free time, I jumped to new "entertainment" at even the slightest sign of him losing interest because I was bored of what we were doing, so my day seemed slower because I ran out of ideas for things to do by the time his first nap rolled around. So now, my days go much faster.  Joey and I are both happy when Neal gets home (most days) so we're able to spend enjoyable time together as a family before Joey goes to bed instead of Neal just picking up the pieces as I throw my hands up when he gets home.

I'm definitely not perfect at it, but being intentional by planning activities throughout the day has made a huge difference in both Joey's happiness and my happiness.  So it's made me curious - what do you do to be "intentional" with your kids?

Baby J #2 - 17 weeks

How far along? 17 weeks exactly
Total weight gain/loss: +5 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yes.  I got to buy new shirts this month :D
Stretch marks?  Nope.
Sleep: Finally have to sleep on my side.  I actually wake up at night because I've rolled onto my back and "feel funny."
Best moment this week: Finding the exact shirt that I wanted on clearance at Target.
Have you told family and friends: Yup.

Movement: Yes :D I get a couple a day.  It's exciting to finally feel the baby.
Food cravings: French fries.
Anything making you queasy or sick: It's getting better.  I can't think of anything right now that makes me want to lose my lunch.

Have you started to show yet: Yes.
Gender prediction: Girl.  We find out the 26th.
Labor Signs: Nope.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.  
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy :) just tired most of the time still.
Missing: Not having heartburn.

Joey - 18 Months

Now that I'm finally getting caught up, here's what happened for the last month of Joey's life.

- We had a garage sale, and Joey was super helpful.  He loved the tricycle that one of our cousins had, so he may be getting one over the next year ;)

- Joey loves playing outside.  One of my favorite parts of our house is that we have a window in the kitchen that allows me to see the entire backyard.  It allows Joey to play out back while I cook dinner.  It helps me AND him out a lot.

-  On Sundays, Neal has started watching church videos with Joey while I get ready for church.  He loves it (well, the both love it).

- Joey has become obsessed with babies since we've been talking about a baby so much.  One of his favorite toys at Neal's parents' house is the baby doll.  We walked upstairs and discovered that Joey had placed the baby doll in his grandpa's arms while he was napping.  The cutest part is that the way he placed the baby doll is EXACTLY how I cuddle with Joey when he ends up taking a nap with me.  It made my heart sing.

- Canine teeth started.  Blegh.  I'm so ready to be done with teething.

- We started using a chore chart with Joey.  It has Thomas the Tank Engine on it.  I honestly didn't think it would do much, but he is SO motivated by getting the stars put on his chart!  It's been INCREDIBLE to watch how driven he can be just by us saying "Joey, do you want to get your star?  Please help me ____________."

- We made and decorated sugar cookies for Halloween.

- Joey watched his first general conference (he's slept through the other three because of how young he was at the time).  He did really well (obviously we had realistic expectations of him).

Joey - 17 Months

Joey' 17th month was pretty chill.  We mostly hung out since mommy didn't feel great for a lot of the month.

- Joey got to try his first popsicle.

- Joey got to take his first "big brother" picture to announce we were pregnant on social media.

- He started copying his dad in every way that he could.  His favorite was to help Neal "pull weeds" every evening after Neal got home from work.

- Our neighborhood supermarket has little "Junior Shopper" carts.  When we stopped by one day to pick up something for dinner, Joey asked to push the cart.  I realized that day that he's growing up quickly, and felt joy and sadness at the same time as I watched follow me around the supermarket with the cart.

- We went and saw the new temple.  Joey LOVES the temple, and loves pointing out the Angel Moroni at the top.  We drive by as often as we can.

- He discovered "upside-down" world.

- We went camping over Labor Day.  You can read about that fun adventure here.

Joey has been such an incredible help to me these last few months.  He loves saying "hi to baby" by rubbing my tummy.  He loves to cuddle when I'm not feeling well, and is doing so well at listening.  For that, I'm incredibly grateful. 

Debt sucks, so we're kicking it out the door

When we got married, Neal and I were given a book called "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey by one of my family friends.  I had heard of Dave Ramsey, but we weren't in a "financially bad" place, so we put it in a book shelf and forgot about it.

In November, Neal and I had a pretty large financial stumble that put us into more credit card debt than we had ever been in.  We had just bought our house less than 6 months previous, and we didn't have any way to pay for the issue besides our credit card.  We had just gone down to one income when Joey was born, so we were still adjusting to our new means.  It scared us.

One day, when Joey was taking a nap, I found Dave Ramsey's book on our book shelf and figured it wouldn't hurt to read it.  I was amazed by what I found.  Although we had never been in a financially unstable place before, I learned that we also hadn't been making financially wise decisions.  As I was reading the book, I especially loved that the majority of the plan followed the financial counsel our church leaders had given our church. 

After I finished the book, I told Neal some of the principles I had learned while reading, and we decided to implement parts of what I had learned, but we didn't fully implement the plan.  A couple months into us working on paying off our debt, Neal's friend and his wife who had followed the program came to stay at our house.  We had several discussions with them about finances and where we were at, and they later graciously offered to put us through Dave Ramsey's class "Financial Peace University."

We learned SO much going through that class!!  We learned about a lot of lies we had been taught about finances, how to get out of debt and STAY out of debt, how to fortify our marriage by eliminating financial distress in our marriage, and how to truly build wealth so that we can do what we'd like to and give like we'd like to.  We learned that we had to "live like no one else, now, so that later we could live like no once else."

So here we are now.  We've had to say "no" to a lot of fun things, a lot of things we've wanted but couldn't afford, and we've had some people question our sanity.  BUT, we are so close to being out of debt.  We are currently saving up to pay for what we will owe in medical expenses IN CASH when the baby is born.  We are hoping to have enough to pay off the last of our debt once the baby is born.  Then, the ONLY debt we will have is the mortgage on our house, and we will be able to pay off our house early following the plan that we have made.

How would you feel if you had zero consumer debt payments?  How would you feel if you KNEW you could pay your house off early?  How would you feel if you could give every time you thought to yourself "Oh I would be willing to give if only I had the money."  What if you had the money?

I'm telling you, our end is in sight, and I already feel FREE.  Our marriage feels FREE - free of fights, arguments, and fear.  We're able to be open and honest with each other because there is zero dishonesty about our finances with each other.  All of our needs are met every month because we actually sit down together and THINK and TALK about what we all need instead of spending and spending and hoping we have enough to cover what we realize we need half way through the month.  I feel empowered.  I feel excited.  I feel like I can dream again.

So why am I posting this?  Two reasons: 1 - to let you know what's going on in our lives so that when we say "no" to something you've invited us to do, it's not because we are being stuck up or we don't want to spend time with you or because we don't think its fun, etc., etc., etc..  Its because we have a goal, and we are trying to do whatever we can to reach it because it's important to us. 2 - because I have talked to so many people who feel weighted down, in bondage, and afraid of their finances.  I want you to know there is a way out.  It is possible.  We've found a way that works for us and I'd be glad to talk to you, in more detail, about what has worked for us and why I think it would work for you.

Labor Day 2015

We were lucky enough this year to spend Labor Day at a lake that I spent a lot of time at as a kid.  We went up to Delaney Buttes with my parents, brother, and sister's family.

Neal was able to take the Friday before Labor Day off of work, so we drove up Friday morning.  We got up to Walden mid-day, and had lunch at a restaurant we ate at as a kid.  Then we went to the lake and set up camp.  After we got camp set up, we cooked dinner and waited for my parents and siblings to get up there.

The difference between me and Neal when it comes to figuring out how to roast hot dogs: 

Joey refused to eat his hot dog with a fork.  He would only eat it with a knife.

Getting ready for bed:

 My parents and siblings got up there after dark, so we spent a little bit of time getting them set up, and then we headed to bed.

Saturday we spent a lot of the day fishing, exploring, and playing.  Joey learned how to fish, how to put his hands in his pockets when his hands were cold, and enjoyed spending time with his cousin and grandparents.

In the evening, we sat around the fire and ate smores while the guys fished.  Neal caught a 20 inch fish and brought it to shore so Joey could see a fish.  Joey thought it was pretty cool.

That night, Joey spent most of the night in bed with us because he couldn't breath because of his allergies.  So Sunday, Neal and I had to go to town to get allergy medicine for him.  It unfortunately didn't help a ton, so Joey spent his nap next to me, and Sunday night in bed with us, too.  But we learned that we need to bring his nebulizer with us just in case he gets wheezy.  I felt so bad because I remember how much it sucked to not be able to breathe well, and not be able to do anything about it.  I think this kiddo's going to end up following his mom and being an asthmatic :(

On a happier note, Joey did enjoy playing with his cousin, Lucas, and daddy even let him drive ;) (Which kind of terrified mom).  My sister's family left Sunday night, so Joey got some one-on-one grandma time.

Monday was pretty cold and windy, so we packed up pretty early.  I think Joey was ready to go home though.  He was pretty tired :)

We had a really enjoyable time.  We love being outdoors, and we are so excited to be able to teach our children about the joy of spending time in nature.