Half-way There!

This week I hit a pregnancy milestone - week 20. This marks the half-way point! I've been carrying this little one for 20 weeks and in 20 more weeks we will meet our little blessing!

Such an exciting time for our family!!

Gabe took this picture for me - my little photographer in training!

Tub Time!!

Just some cute bubble bath pictures -

Potty Training

Selah has been showing signs of potty training readiness for quite awhile now, so last week I bit the bullet. I told her that it is time to use the potty now and put her in her "Tinker Bell" panties. The first few days were crazy - cleaning up puddles, changing panties faster more than I could count - but we also had a lot of successes at the potty. By the 5th day, there were no more puddles and she was doing great (by the way, jelly beans are a great incentive!). We took a trip to Wal-Mart and bought the Elmo panties she has been wanting. We are now only in diapers for naps and night-time!! Yay, Selah!! To comemorate the big milestone, I found a poem to share and a little graphic! Enjoy!

Potty Training 2

Written by Thena Smith

I used to wear a diaper

When I was very little

They were held on with little tabs

And gave me a bulging middle!

I didn't know any better then

And wet them all day through

Until my mommy brought me a little potty chair

And said "This is for you!"

It took a while to like this chair

And to sit there when I had to go

But one day I learned some things

That all the big kids know!

If I sit on my special chair

And do what 's meant to be

It makes life much more fun

For mommy and for me!

I don't have to have saggy pads

Hanging to my knees

And it makes me more comfy

And my Mommy it seems to please.

Yesterday she brought me something elseI thought that I would share --

I haven't had this stuff before

She called it underwear!

Mommy Graphics

The Armor of God

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the Devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:11

"Our Soldier", Justin McCleskey, made his arrival back to the states Friday evening from Afganistan. We are so proud of him and all of the soldiers fighting for us!

In honor of my cousin's return from Afganistan last week, the kids and I studied Ephesians 6 and the Armor of God. We learned all about the Helmet of Salvation, Breastplate of Righteousness,

Belt of Truth, Sandles of Peace, Sheild of Faith, and Sword of the Spirit and that using this "Armor" we can win against sin! We made these cool "Sheilds of Faith", too.

Storytime with Gabe

Since January Gabe and I have been spening a couple of hours a day on "school work". We learn a word family, some sightwords, handwriting and some simple math. He is now reading short stories. Such fun! Here is one of his favorite books so far. (Working on the "-in" word family). Enjoy his book and a little bit of his goofiness. :)

It's A.......

Healthy Baby!!

We had our 2nd Trimester ultrasound today, but, Byron and I decided that this time around, we will wait until the baby is born to find out if it is a boy or a girl. So the kids and I braved the rain storm and headed over to the doctor's office where we were met by Daddy for the big ultrasound. The technician and doctor were great, telling us when to close our eyes or look away to keep the secret hidden. Our baby looked great! Even being my 3rd go-round, the ultrasound is almost magical to me. It is so beautiful to see the baby that is growing inside of me moving and looking like a baby! Here are pictures of our 3rd Blessing:

The baby sucking it's thumb! So precious!!
This profile shot is so precious - just look at that little button-nose! I can't wait to meet the new addition and see the details of it's features!

You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother's body. I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
Psalm 139:13-14

Donkeys!!

Margie and Jim lived across the street from Byron for as long as he can remember until we moved to Colorado. They are just like family to us. On Mother's Day, we were able to go and visit them and their animals. They have donkeys a horse, a bird, and 3 dogs. Gabe loves to go and feed the donkeys and horse carrots....and sometimes Mr. Jim even lets him ride the tractors! So fun!

Selah was pretty scared of the donkeys this time, but she found herself a little place to sit by the barn and play with dirt. Yep - my kids do not follow the gender rules. Gabe can't stand to be dirty and Selah LOVES the dirt.

Couldn't help snagging some pics in the rustic setting...

Potty Training...

With a new baby on the way, we decided to try out potty training with Selah. It has been a struggle. She will do so well, and then decided she is finished with that and wants the diaper back. I have set the timer and set her on the potty every 35 minutes, I have bribed with candy, I have even bought her Tinkerbell panties... I know it will come. She knows what to do, she just doesn't want to do it.

This is the kind of "Pot"ty training she likes!!

Cinco de Mayo

We have made it a tradition to celebrate St. Patrick's Day for mommy's ancestors and Cinco de Mayo for Daddy's....of course with 2 years of teaching Spanish, Mommy LOVES our Cinco de Mayo celebration, too!!

This year we ate enchiladas, Spanish rice and home-made salsa, and baked banana's for dessert - YUM! That day the kids and I also made home-made pinatas. Here we are bashing them to get the yummy candy and treats! Fun, fun, FUN!!

These pinatas were SUPER fun and easy to make. We took a brown paper lunch bag, filled it about a third full of candy and prizes, then filled it the rest of the way with plastic grocery sacks. We tied off the tops with yarn. Then we cut tissue paper strips into fringes and glued them around the filled sacks. Added some streamers to the bottom and voila! I think we will do it again next year!!

The Fort Worth Zoo

On the first weekend of May we decided to go to the zoo. The weather was perfect and the animals were out. Other than Selah being quite grumpy that day, it was a great family trip for us!!

I have sooooo many pictures from our day to share, I decided to split it into three posts....

For the Birds

This was Gabe's favorite part of the zoo. They have an enclosed area with hundreds of parakeets. You can buy a stick smeared with peanut butter and bird seed for $1 and feed the birds. AMAZING! Gabe smiled for at least an hour after feeding the birds!!

Favorite Animals at the Zoo

Here are some of the animals we saw at the zoo:

Selah saw him and said, "Aww...monkey sad".

Selah is a big fan of Giraffes. Not as neat as being able to feed them from the bridge at the Colorado Springs Zoo - but they were still beautiful!

Gabe has a thing for Elephants.

Soooo pretty! Wish I had my camera ready. At one time she went over to the other tiger and they played for about 10 seconds.

Our Coats of Many Colors

Each week I teach the kids a Bible story and we do activities based on the story. Last week we studied Joseph and the coat of many colors that his father gave to him. Our lesson from the story is that God can use all situations to work for good. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

These vests were our activity for the week - aren't they adorable?!?