Maternity picture session with Pix by Sheri

We were lucky enough to have a maternity photo session with a wonderful local photographer. As a photographer myself, I am always soooooo incredibly picky about photos taken of myself. Not only was Sheri a wonderfully sweet woman, she was great with the kids, and the photos she took were absolutely wonderful. I love them!!! :)

Here are some of the wonderful pictures Sheri took...

The whole time the kids were standing there, Ayla was resting her head on my stomach. And the whole time her head was there, Caleb was kicking! Ayla said it felt "so weird" and she couldn't wait to move...

My prissy princess in her "bis sis" tutu. She danced around in it almost the whole time...

Easter photos and an update...

I hope you all had a blessed Easter!

Myself, 33 weeks pregnant

SO, since this post, we have had an interesting few weeks. I am finished in the Sunday school class and I have closed my shop for the summer. Since that morning in the hospital, I have been resting as much as I can. It's not bed rest, but it might as well be some days.

For the past week, I have been having contractions almost everyday. Sometimes it is only a few a day and sometimes I have to spend the whole day resting because of it. Caleb is a big, healthy boy with a very strong heartbeat. My blood pressure is keeping safe and stable, so they are still planning the c-section for around the 18th of May. At my appointment this week, I was starting to dilate. The midwife told me "unofficially", that if I make it to 35 weeks (which is today!) they will no longer try to stop labor. If I keep having contractions and dilate to a 3 or more, they will take the baby by c-section then. That means that Mr. Caleb could be here anytime between now and the middle of May.

Thankfully, as you can see from the past few posts, we have been getting ready for the little guy. We have everything ready for him. I am still trying to take it easy until my next appointment on May 1st. We hope that Caleb will stay put until then. It will be easier for Bryan to take off 3 weeks in May and the kids will only have a few weeks of school left. It will be harder if Bryan has to take off his full 5 weeks, so I am just trying to convince this little boy to stay put for two more weeks.

We are so blessed to have a family friend who has come over to clean the house. She will probably come at least once more before Caleb comes, I hope. We plan on having "nanny Doris" stay with the kids if Caleb can wait until the middle of May. If he comes before that, I know Bryan's family will be able to help Bryan with Ayla and Zach. I had planned to cook several meals and freeze them before the baby comes, but I'm not sure that will happen. LOL! I can only stand in the kitchen for about 20 minutes at a time before my feel swell or I start having contractions again and I have to lie down. It's enough of a challenge to get daily meals done, let alone stockpile anything. I'm going to try though!!! There is always fish sticks, frozen pizza, and mac & cheese if I don't get around to it. :) Good thing is Bryan and the kids love that kind of food, even though I can't stand it.

I am sort of in shock over the last few weeks. I am so emotionally and mentally drained from having to spend so much time resting. I am such an active, hands-on person. It is VERY hard for me to sit around and not be able to do daily things - like cook, clean, or play with my kids. I am ready for the baby to come, but I also want him to wait just a little bit longer. Because of the bed rest, swelling, and other problems, I have gained quite a bit of weight. I am very eager to get back to eating well, exercising, and getting all that weight gone. I am prepared for the hard work and I think it will be pretty easy to get into the swing of things once we adjust to having Caleb at home.

I also look forward to being back at church and seeing all my friends and family again. It has been so hard for me to miss church the past few weeks. Between the swelling, the contractions, and everything else, I can't sit at church with the kids for an entire service. Sunday mornings, Doris is there and is able to sit with them and help me if I need it. Bryan is stuck working long hours and is also upstairs running the sound this month, so he isn't able to help. He tries SO hard to help around the house and help with the kids, but after working 70+ hours, I know it is hard on him... He worries so much about me too. I am so blessed to have him... It will be nice to see people again and not be cooped up in the house.

Anyhow, I guess that is enough ranting. LOL! I am sure you get the idea of what the past 3 weeks has been like. We are looking forward to the end of this final pregnancy and welcoming our last baby to our family. I know this summer will be crazy, but I will try to keep everyone updated.

You can also keep updated with us by friending me on Facebook. :)

Making room for Caleb...

Caleb's space is all ready for him to come home! Bryan put together the crib yesterday and I got everything put where I wanted it...

This is Caleb's side of our bedroom.

This dresser holds his blankets, burp cloths, towels and washcloths, robes, bibs, hats, socks, extra bed sheets, extra boppy cover, and a few miscellaneous items. On top the dresser are his shoes, a few toys, a nightlight (for middle of the night business), the baby monitor, and his stuffed toys (in the basket). I love the sign above the dresser. One of Bryan's aunts gave it to me for my birthday and I loved how the colors went in our room... :) All of Caleb's clothes (size newborn through 3 months) are kept in one side of my dresser (3 drawers full!). We also have his bumbo, rocking horse, large playmat, and some other items tucked away in our closet.

His bed is all ready for his first night! One of my aunts bought the bedding items for us and we LOVE it! The crib quilt sort of covers the back of the crib, but you can sort of tell that it curves. Ayla and Zach love the mobile!

Diaper stacker, stocked and ready, and the diaper pail.

Stash of diapers and wipes from our baby shower! I think we might have enough for his first month... You can also see our Ergo backpack carrier and the striped bag holds a tummy mat and Caleb's books.

AND because of Mr. Caleb's recent stubbornness (post coming soon), I have my bag and his bag packed and ready to go. All I have to do is grab the last minute things as we walk out the door... I also have an extra diaper bag packed and stored in our car (just in case).

So, we are ready for the little guy to come home. We thought his birthday would be May 18th, but we aren't so sure anymore... But that's a story for the next post. :)

Making things for Caleb...

I have been busy making some things for baby Caleb...

Burp cloths

Tabby blanket

Tabby blanket

Tabby blanket

Boppy pillow cover (I made one in the blue dot fabric too)

Crinkle pillow

I plan on making some more things, but it has been slow going because of Caleb's stubbornness... but more about that in an upcoming post... :)

A thought provoking vocabulary lesson...

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day...

This friend has no children of her own, but she often babysits for her cousin. As we were talking, she tells me the following story and asks if I think she did the right thing...

She was watching her cousins children. The boy is about 9 years old and the girl is about 6 years old. They were playing nicely in the middle of the room with a video game. Suddenly, my friend hears them start fighting. She walks up to them and hears the 9 year old boy call his sister an unpleasant (and inappropriate) word and then shove her over.

My friend separated the two of them, took the game away, made sure the girl was alright, and sat down with the boy to find out what had happened.

"Why did you do that?" She asked.
"Do what?"
"Why would you call your sister that word and then push her over like that? You could have hurt her, pushing her that hard. Plus, we don't use words like that when we talk to people. What happened?" My friend calmly asked.
"She made me mad."
"I'm sorry she made you mad, but that's not how we are supposed to act when we get mad."
"Daddy does."
"Your daddy does what?" My friend tells me she was a little scared at this moment for what the answer would be...
"Daddy says that when he gets mad at people in the car."
"Did he say that it was okay for you to say it?"
"No."
"Did he say it was okay to push people or hurt them?"
"No, but he does it with his friends all the time."
"He hurts them?" My friend is trying not to panic at this point...
"They fight. They push each other and hit each other and wrestle and stuff..."
"But your dad never told you that it was okay for you to do it, did he?"
"No."
... My friend is a little lost now. What does she tell this kid? Should she step in and say something or let it go and leave it to the parents?
"Look. I don't like it when people use words like that around me. Okay? And I don't think your sister liked it when you called her that. I know you like your sister most of the time, right? (Boy nods). Well, it's not okay for us to try to hurt people that we love, like our friends and family. Okay? (Boy nods). I know it's hard when you see your daddy do stuff and then we tell you that you can't do the same thing. Sometimes grown-ups do things that they shouldn't do. And sometimes there are things that grown-ups do, that kids shouldn't do. You should talk to your mom and dad when you get home tonight and let them know what happened and see what they want you to do. For now, I think it would be good for you to tell your sister you're sorry. And let's not act like that any more today. Okay?"
"I'm sorry. I'll go tell her..."

So my friend tells me all of this, (which I had to copy and paste from her message to make sure I got it right) then she asks me if she did the right thing. I told her I think she handled it pretty well...

She says - "Well, I wasn't sure. These little sponge monkeys always seem to have something new to throw at me."

WAIT! What did you say? What on Earth is a "sponge monkey"???

She explains to me that she often calls kids she sees "sponge monkeys". Kids see what grown-ups do. They see how we act, how we behave around others. They hear what we say and what we tell them to do or not to do. So often, we act one way and tell them to act a different way. They are like little monkeys. Monkey see, monkey do. Monkey hear, monkey say. They don't understand why we adults tell them that they should be a certain way but we don't act that way ourselves. It's no wonder kids these days are so screwed up. They are too busy copying their parents and then getting in trouble when they do...

It really got me thinking. Such a strange phrase as "sponge monkey", yet the idea behind it held so much truth.

As a parent, I teach my kids how to act and how to treat others. I teach them how to take care of themselves and teach them how to react when they get upset about something. So many times, we think that the things we actively teach them are what is important.

We forget that our kids are watching us. They are looking up to us. They are depending on us to show them how to do the things we expect them to do. Are we providing them with the right model? Or are we being hypocrites (a word a lot of people have been using lately)? Do we act one way and tell them to act another? Do we say "Do what I say, not what I do?" and expect them to obey? Do we tell them to do something "Because I said so" and never provide them with a reason for their behavior?

I have seen many "sponge monkeys" in my day. Kids who have an attitude toward their parents, teachers, or other adults, only because they see their role models acting the same way. Children who say things that they do not even know the meaning of, only because an important adult in their life says the same thing. Kids who lash out when they are upset, because that is what they see adults doing...

I know I am no where near the parent I should be, but I pray that I do not act like this. I never want to see inappropriate behavior from my children toward someone else, because they saw it in me.

I try to live my life by very simple ideas and I pray my children can grow to see these ideas in me and apply them to their own lives.
LOVE - Love God. Love the people around you. Love the people who are not nice to you just as much as the people who are. Love people you don't know as much as people you know very well. Do not hate anyone - no matter what they have done. If you love them, you may be the one person to help them.
LIVE - Live your life for God. We do this by helping those around us whenever we can. It can be something as simple as a hug, or saying a prayer for someone who we think may need it. We can ask how someone is doing and really care about their answer. We can ask ourselves - "What can I do for that person?" and then we do our best to do it. Simple things often mean the most. Donating clothes to a shelter, putting a small gift basket together for someone who has been sick, sending a greeting card to someone just because they made you smile. We shouldn't ask ourselves what we get out of a gift, we should focus on how much we can put in to it. The more we can live our lives to help others, the happier we will be. (I know this first hand!) This is a hard lesson to "teach" a child, we have to live it out for them to witness. Nothing makes me happier than to see my kids offer to donate something to someone in need, or ask me if they can write a card to someone who has been very sick.
LAUGH - This lesson is even harder for adults than to live for others. As adults, our lives are filled with worries and stress and things that children do not understand. Kids don't understand the boss nagging us for a report, or the bill collectors calling for payments, or whether or not there will be enough in the budget to buy groceries. These are adult concerns. And many adults let these concerns overwhelm them. I have been all too guilty of this myself. You know what though? Kids don't understand why we are stressed and upset. They are too busy enjoying the little pleasures in life. Do you know that most kids enjoy a Dollar Store toy as much as a more expensive toy, sometimes more so. They can go outside and marvel at a kite in the sky. They can look at decorations at Christmas time and be in complete awe. Why can't we adults let go and enjoy the little things in life. Listen to a child tell you about something wonderful that happened at school. Take them outside for a walk and talk about all the amazing things God has created around us. Have them help you with a chore and explain to them how blessed we are for dirty laundry (it means we have clothes), dirty dishes (it means we have food), and cleaning dirty rooms (it means we have a roof and toys to play with). Be thankful for the smiles and the laughs. Enjoy the coloring books, Barbies, and toy trucks. Play pretend! Tell stories! Let yourself go and enjoy life through the eyes of your children because before you know it, they will grow up and you will miss those little moments.

I know the "LOVE, LIVE, LAUGH" thing has been done before, but it is still so true. If more people could follow those rules, and project them for our children to see, I wonder how much things would change. If we have so many "sponge monkeys" showing us our bad behavior, couldn't we turn it around and show the "sponge monkeys" how to be better people?

... Just a thought... Oh, and go give your little "sponge monkeys" a hug, just because!

An update...

Wow. As usual time slipped away from me and I failed to blog about what has been going on again... and now there seems to be so much for me to say.

The Basics -
Bryan is still working hard at his job, sacrificing himself for the sake of myself and the kids.

The kids are both growing up fast. They continue to do very well in school and their classmates and teachers tell me how much they are missed when they are not in class. They both went to the dentist recently. They both had some small cavities to be filled and they handled it much better than I anticipated. They have found a new love in brushing their teeth 3 times a day and flossing. :) It makes me realize that as adults, we should try to find the excitement in things like that. Although, I have to admit, I am not dying to brush my teeth when I get up in the morning...

We've made some other changes in our normal routine and the kids are really taking to it. We have started having a study/story time at night. I read a Bible story and we talk about it together. It has helped me a lot. I take my own time to read, study, and pray, but it is just as important that I share some of that with my children. They should learn and grow to enjoy that time as much as I do. With their spring break coming up next week, so many of their friends and our family are on vacation - I have decided to take time each day next week to do special activities with them. They love arts and crafts, so each day next week we are going to learn a new story, talk about the meaning, and do a craft to go with the lesson. :) I am always surprised at how much they learn from these moments...

Last week, Bryan's family threw a baby shower for me! It was a lovely evening with family and a few very close friends. We got a lot of wonderful gifts. I am so blessed to have such caring people surrounding me down here. :)

I have been working on some baby projects (clothes, wipes case, burp cloths, blankets, and boppy covers) and I will try and post on those projects later.

I have been doing fairly well, health wise. We had a small hiccup the other evening/morning. I spent several hours in pre-term labor. They were able to give me two shots of medication and stop the progression. I am now planning on taking it VERY easy for the next 5-7 weeks. We have almost everything we need for baby Caleb, but we definitely want him to wait a little longer before trying to make his debut. It has been hard lately for me to relax. I struggle with trying to take care of the house, the kids, the dog, my hubby, and myself. I have had to step back a lot. We have a lovely family friend who is coming to clean the house until the baby comes. The dog has adjusted to waiting for Bryan to come home to have someone to play with. She is very well behaved for a 10 month old puppy. The kids are able to do quite a lot for themselves, but they are having a hard time adjusting to the idea that Mommy cannot do certain things anymore. They often give me a difficult time with attitude and fighting one another, but I know it will pass. This Sunday will be my last day in the Sunday school class at church. I will miss it SO MUCH! I know I need some time to rest though. There has been a lot of stress outside of our house lately. Drama between family and friends and problems with Bryan's work... It breaks my heart. I know the last thing I need right now is stress, so I have had to step back from the situations and put my health and the safety of the baby first. I love the people involved, but I know if I let the problems get to me it will just stress me out. I have to step back and just leave it up to God. I'll be praying for everyone and the situations, but I will not let myself get sucked into the drama...

I have my last day of work for Home-2-Home (my business) today. I have two short photo sessions to shoot and then edit. After I am done with them, I will close up the shop until we get settled in to a routine with the baby.

Hopefully, after this week, my life will calm down and I can relax and keep myself healthy and calm while we wait for May 18th to come. That is most likely the day we will go to the hospital for our planned c-section and welcome baby Caleb into our lives.

I have several posts I plan on writing in the next few days. We will see if I get to them or if I get carried away again... ;)

Fairy Tale : A birthday post

So today is my birthday. I am now 27 years old... I look around and, to be honest, I am a little shocked. I never thought I would be where I am now. Maybe I should explain a little better...



I grew up in a rough home. Both my parents were alcoholics who fought all the time. My father was abusive (to my mother, myself, and my sister) and had psychotic issues that kept us moving around a lot - like 30+ times before I turned 12 years old. Because we moved so much, I never seemed to have any friends. I was often sick - allergies, asthma, respiratory problems and who knows what else. I suffered from bi-polar disorder and depression when I was a teen. Life was hard...



To cope with "life", I buried myself in books. I was an honors student from the start and used every spare moment I had to read. YES, I was and still am a nerd! I think I was the only 4th grader who was optionally reading Shakespeare and I know I was the only 8th grader reading Thoreau for pleasure. I spent most of my time reading fantasy and historical fiction.



When my parents divorced, I was 12. I took on a lot of household duties to help my mom while she worked 2-3 jobs and took care of myself and my sister. I got my first job at 14 and worked the whole summer. I got my first part-time at 16 and was a store manager my senior year of high school. I worked hard at my jobs. I worked hard at school. I worked hard at home. Still, every spare moment I had, I read books, wrote, and drew pictures.



I always thought of myself as a modern day Cinderella. Working away, waiting for my prince to come rescue me. I was the maiden trapped in a horrible tower called 'life' and I needed my knight in shining armor to storm the tower and save me. I battled dragons and wizards and spent more time with imaginary creatures and characters than real people. I always thought that someday things would be better. My wonderful hero would come and we would live happily ever after... But everyone says that dreams like that never come true...


You know what though... I have spent the last week or so looking around and thinking about the past few years of my life. As cliche as it sounds, I do feel like my fairy tale came true. Really! There is a handsome prince, a long and troubled journey, battles with horrible foes, heartache and sorrow and loss, and many amazing treasures and wonderful characters...



Earlier this week, near Valentines, I was thinking about how Bryan and I met and our first "date". If you ever want to see me blush, ask me to tell you about it sometime... :) Although neither of us ever actually asked the other one out, we were together from that night on... I remember thinking how different he was from all the other guys that I had dated. There was one night in particular that made me feel like he was "the one"... I suffered from bi-polar disorder. I had episodes bad enough that only a few friends truly knew what my life was like. The others simply didn't hear from me for a few days until it passed and then I was suddenly back in the picture... One night, I had a severe depressive episode. I had two friends call me and ask me to hang out and I told them, in tears, not to bother me. Then Bryan called. I told him the same thing. EVERY guy in my life until that point would have left me alone, but within about half an hour Bryan was at my side asking me to explain what was going on. I don't think I ever told him, but from that moment on, he has been my knight in shining armor.



We had our ups and downs, but we stood by each other and we married in August of 2003. We had MORE ups and downs during our first year of marriage, but we made it through. In 2005, we welcomed our first treasure, Ayla Marie. In 2006, we made the week-long journey of moving from Montana to Georgia. We went from Great Falls to Yuma and Tucson to Covington. We saw more ups and downs and went through more battles. In 2007, our second treasure, Zachary Wilson, joined us. More trials passed and in 2010 we added a treasure to Heaven through a miscarriage at 10 weeks. There have been many more battles and trials and many little rewards along the way...



Now it is 2012. Bryan and I will celebrate 9 years of marriage this August. Ayla will be 7 years old in June. Zachary will turn 5 in July. Our furry treasure, Angel, will be a year old in May. We will also be welcoming our third treasure, Caleb Anthony, in May. I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends and family. I sit back and think about the things that God has given me over the years - health, home, and hope. I might not have a 'castle' of my own yet, but I am sure in a year or two (if we are all still here) it will be a reality also...

Even without my castle, I still feel like a princess... And I am living my happily ever after...

What a week...

So...

Random updates since last time...

Angel is now about 37 pounds, is spoiled rotten, barks at my neighbors when they are outside, and loves to try to chase birds.

Ayla and Zach are still doing great!

We won't be moving this year. Things just didn't work out for it to happen like we planned. We will be in the same place until 2013. Hopefully then we can buy our own home.

The church youth banquet is coming up and for the first time in a while I have been fussing over what to wear and how to do my hair and how to dress the kids... I'm not sure how to dress the basketball that is my stomach these days, so I am focusing on cute hair and accessories.

Baby Caleb is still a pain in my back, hips, and other parts. I have an appointment coming up on Tuesday of next week to see how things are going. Hopefully the ultrasound will show his position and how big he is. We are hoping the ultrasound will help the doctor plan a date for the c-section as well as help me figure out how to cope with the pains and problems I have been having.

I plan on trying to update the blog a little more (for the sake of boredom and such). I am also going to start posting reviews on local restaurants and trying different ideas from Pinterest and posting my results here... Hope you guys tune in... :)

Life sure carried me away...

I said in my last post that life might just carry me away...

BOY has it!!!

Since that post in July, so much has happened...

Both my kids went off to school in August, leaving me at home with the puppy, Angel. Ayla and Zach have both done amazing in school. Ayla was student of the month in her class for September and is in the accelerated reading program. Zach was student of the month in his class for October. He is doing great and his teacher says he is the sweetest and most polite of her students.

Angel is now almost 9 months old and about 25-30 pounds! She is very well behaved most of the time and even knows several tricks. She has wrapped the whole family around her paw...

After a long time trying, we are finally expected baby #3! We found out in December the baby is a little boy. Caleb Anthony Hembree should be joining us in the middle of May. It has been a bumpy pregnancy - morning sickness, kidney infection, sinus infection, acid heartburn, horrible back pain, and most recently, partial-bed-rest. I hope a month or two of rest will help and then I can go back to a lighter-but normal routine.

We were going to try and move soon, but decided to stay put until this summer. This way we can build our credit so we can buy a new place. Plus, I won't have to move while pregnant.

I can't say this blog will get updated too much before Caleb gets here, but I might try...
I'm pretty sure there won't be much posting this summer since I'll be busy with a new baby, a year old doggy, a seven year old daughter, a five year old son, a hubby of almost 9 years, buying a new home and moving into it, and trying to maintain what little sanity I have... :) See ya around, sometime... maybe...