The best laid plans....

It has occurred to me several times this past year that the plans you make for yourself don't always pan out! I know that this should've occurred to me a whole lot sooner, but I'm slow I guess :)

Well first of all, after having two beautiful boys, Corey and I decided that we had our plate full for the moment and if we decided to have a third child it would be a few years in the future. Well, that plan was changed when two little pink lines appeared on a stick in February. I dealt with the fact that my plan wasn't playing out perfectly, but we were just as thrilled to be adding to the family now instead of in the future.

Our second plan was that we would wait until the birth of our third child and be surprised to see if it was a boy or girl! We assumed he/she was healthy and were very laid back about the whole thing, being that we'd "been there, done that". Unfortunately, we were all too naive and when we went for our 20 week ultrasound we discovered that the baby had several cysts on the brain. When we went to the specialist to get things checked out, it was all too obvious that our surprise was in fact a BOY!!! I guess hoping for a surprise on the gender front seems all too unimportant now that we are faced with "complications". While we are more than thrilled to have another sweet boy to love, we are definitely focused first and foremost on him being born as healthy as his brothers!!

So the point of this entry is not to dwell on the plans that didn't pan out, but to be glad that they didn't and to know that there is a reason for that. I'm so glad that we didn't wait a few years to have a baby, and I'm thrilled that we are going to have a chance to raise three HEALTHY boys. I guess it is true that if you want to make God laugh, then tell him your plans!

Beach Bums!

We finally made it back from our beach vacation! This year was so much fun, because not only did Jax have a blast, but Cash was also able to enjoy it now that he's older. We had a variety of activities planned all of which included some sort of water feature being that it was a million degrees outside!!!

We started off most of our days with a trip to the pool. The chlorine and hot sun was enough to get the boys to take a good 2-3 hour nap daily! Jax practiced his swimming skills and got better everyday! He very rarely wears swimmies anymore, but he is still a little wary of the "deep water". The pool where we stayed didn't have steps and was less than 4 feet deep throughout, so Cash was even able to stand almost everywhere! I braved the maternity bathing suit shame and spent most of my days in the pool as well :)

Jax got a few opportunities to play putt-putt, and managed to beat everyone as always. He also got to ride in his very first go-kart!! He and Corey rode on two different tracks, and were the fastest car out there of course! As if we didn't have enough fun, we made a last minute boat trip on our last day. We went around the harbor and into the gulf to watch dolphins!! Jax was mesmerized and even got to drive the boat! All in all I'd say we had an awesome time!

Meet me halfway....

In looking at my calendar, I discovered that I am 19 weeks pregnant TODAY!!! That means that by the time I get back from the beach I'll be halfway done with pregnancy!!!!!!!!!!! This makes me SO HAPPY and SO TERRIFIED! While I hate the backaches and the indigestion, I don't think I'm quite ready to get this baby out. This is probably a good thing since halfway through is not the best time to give birth :) I'm getting really nervous about being a mother of 3 and the fact that I don't have anything done. I not only have a nursery to do, but I also have to move my other 2 children into their new rooms. I try not to think about all of the things that need to be done and instead spend time with the boys before their world is rocked just as much as mine!


On a less stressful note, I am going for my ultrasound today!! I'm hoping this will give me and the boys a chance to see the baby and know that he/she really exists :) Jax is so excited and has a million questions about the baby. I'm doing my best to answer, but somethings will have to wait until he's a little older! I probably won't post ultrasound pictures until we get back from Destin, but until then here is a dreaded belly shot........







Seriously, I might need a forklift to carry me around by week 40 :)

Lucky Number 7

In the midst of tantrums, diapers, indigestion, sciatic nerve pain, etc., I realized that a special day was coming up fast....my anniversary!!! That's right, Corey and I have been married for 7 years on Monday!!! It's hard to believe how much different our life is now compared to years ago on the beach in St. Lucia. While I wouldn't trade one second of our life, it is fun to think about what it was like when we were a family of 2. I can certainly tell you that if you told me then that we would have 3 kids in 7 years time I would've laughed in your face :)

To celebrate our big day we decided to go have a kid-free dinner-and-a-movie date! Corey is having to work a little late, so hopefully our plans won't be completely changed! Corey was allowed to pick the movie, so I'll let you all know how "The Hangover" turns out. I'm sure it will be an Oscar worthy performance :)

On a different note, we are headed to Destin next weekend! We are going to spend an ENTIRE WEEK on the beach and eating yummy seafood! I know I'll have a ton to write about, so don't expect too much from me before then (not that you did anyway!). I'm also having an ultrasound before we leave, so I'll make sure to post pictures of Baby #3 too!

My big boy!!!

I know, the second blog post in one day!!! We've had a lot going on, so blogging multiple times it is :)

Yesterday was Jax's end of the year program at preschool. He has practiced very hard for this and was so excited to show off! They all got up on the big stage and sang 3 songs. I just don't know if there is anything cuter than a bunch of three/four year olds singing! Jax was of course the loudest one and not shy about it one bit. Cash was desperate to get on stage, but he'll have to wait until next year for that. Here is a video to show off Jax's amazing talents...

Memorial Day Fun!!!

This past weekend we were lucky enough to get away for a few days. We left Friday evening for Gatlingburg, TN with our friends, the Huffmans. We rented a condo, which was a brilliant idea considering all the kids we had in tow :) Then we spent the majority of the day on Saturday at an indoor water park called Wild Bear Falls. The boys had a blast and the park was perfect for little kids! Cash got a little tired and managed to sleep through the chaos for over an hour!!! After we'd exhausted the water park fun we walked the "strip" in downtown Gatlinburg and had dinner and a yummy desert of fudge and funnel cakes! I never knew Gatlinburg could be so much fun. I guess the last time we went it was just Corey and I and the possibilities of things to do was not so vast :)

After our trip to TN was over we headed to mom's cabin in Ranger, GA. My whole family was there and it was nice to spend some time with my brothers whom I don't get to see very often! The kids were out of control as usual, but the fam didn't seem to mind :) It was a very long and eventful weekend, so we were happy to be back home on Monday! I've posted a few pics of the trip for you to enjoy :)

I think the park was a bit much for him :)

A Redneck Afternoon!

I was lucky enough as a child to always have a pool around during the summer. My grandparents had a very nice in ground pool complete with a diving board, and when I was very young my parents also built an in ground pool right in our backyard! I have to admit that I was a bit of a snob about the whole thing and secretly laughed at others who didn't have access to a pool or were forced to enjoy (gasp) an above ground pool! I guess this was all before I understand the value of money and how expensive pools really are to build and maintain :)

Well, I'm sad to say that in our efforts to provide different entertainment options in our own backyard for our kids, we were not able to fit a nice pool into the budget. However, I was able to go to Target and spend less than $20 on a sprinkler toy and a baby pool! Lucky for me, my kids didn't seem to notice the difference in this and a full size pool :) I guess we are all rednecks at heart! Here's a few pics from our redneck afternoon!