Precious Caleb Judson

Last Wednesday night (December 10th), we had the great joy of welcoming Caleb Judson Broome into our family!!!! He was born at 11:00 pm and weighed in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces; our biggest so far! He was 19 1/2 inches long and has more hair than his brother and sister did. We are all doing really well and as you can see from the pictures, Joshua and Anna Bell have done a great job of being sweet with baby Caleb. Caleb is extremely laid back so far; he only wakes up once at around 3:30 to eat and sleeps a lot!!! He is a champ as far as eating goes- he had already gained 6 ounces as of this past Wednesday! Anna Bell calls him "Baby Jesus!!!!" and Joshua exclaimed during a diaper changing cry "my baby brother is driving me CRAZY!!!!" ...Needless to say, life is not dull at the Broome house!!! --But we are beyond blessed and thankful for Caleb Judson Broome!!!!

Our New Floor!

...In Everything Give Thanks.

Due to the fast approaching baby arrival date (I'm 37 weeks today!!!), the Broome family stayed in Macon for Thanksgiving this year. And let me tell ya, it was a great day!!! We had a wonderful and relaxing time learning to cook new recipes and enjoying one another. Here are some pics of our fabulous spread:

Anna Bell has pink eye, so we couldn't get together with any friends...doesn't she look just pitifully sick?!!?:)

We had turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, homemade rolls, a relish tray, and pretzel jello salad...yummy!!! Joshua's favs were the rolls and turkey. Anna Bell had 4 servings of green beans and barely touched the rest of it.

I made my first batch of my mom's rolls today. They were really good and well worth the work of making them. I think that I probably called mom at least 6 times through the process! Thanks mom, they were great!!!

Needless to say, we have TONS of leftovers...good thing we don't mind eating the same thing over and over!

We also had a great devotional time today. We worked on memorizing 1 Thess. 5:16-18 together, sang and danced, and the kids shared what they were thankful for. Fred recorded their lists:

Joshua is thankful for:
*toys
*the color yellow
*the guitar
*Anna Bell
*Joshua
*Daddy and Mommy
*the whole family
*Thomas and Friends

Anna Bell is thankful for:
*Sarah
*Cortney
*bear
*Mommy and Daddy
*Joshua
*Baby Brother

...so sweet. so precious. so beautiful.

By the way: here's a picture of me at 37 weeks for those of you who commented that I "wasn't showing" earlier in this pregnancy. I'm huge now. We definitely predict that this baby will be the biggest thus far!:)

Super Daddy Goes to Lowes

As mentioned in my previous post, Fred and his buddy, Scooter have spent the weekend putting ceramic tile in the kitchen/laundry room. As I write, they are cleaning up and moving stuff back in. I am SOOOOO excited!!! I LOVE the way that it turned out; it makes a huge difference! The camera is at church, but as soon as I can, I'll post pics of our remodel. ...I had to first mention the huge fatherhood feat that my stellar husband managed earlier in the week. Some of my friends had a little baby shower get together for me on Tuesday night, so Fred was in charge of the kiddos. On his way home from work that evening, he called to say that he thought he and Scooter might start on the floor after the kids were in bed and I was home. hmm. Seems like a little too much to pack into one evening to me, but what do I know...:) The major problem with this idea was that although we had already purchased the tile and grout, we still needed to get the backer board and mortar. So...being the stud that he is, my husband made a trip to Lowes with 3 year old Joshua and 21 month old Anna Bell. While there, he purchased 22 pieces of backer board (I think that they are something like 5 by 4 feet in size and weigh about 30 pounds each!) and 6 bags of mortar (each weighing about 50 pounds). Thankfully, a really nice Lowes guy must have taken pity on him and helped him through the whole process; even with loading it in the minivan! Fred said the kids did great and it really wasn't that bad. I say, how many dads would even attempt this?!!? Good job, honey! I'm proud of you. You're such a great dad!!!:)

Let the Nesting Begin...

Well, it's hard to believe, but I am now 4 weeks or less away from birthing baby #3! That's right: we're still calling this poor child #3 because we have yet to decide on a name. Oh well...we have never been especially good at coming up with names and we just haven't worried too much about this one. We have some strong possibilities-- we may just need to see the boy's precious face to decide on one.
Here's what I'm wondering: is the whole nesting thing a legitimate part of pregnancy? Because I think that it truly is. Unfortunately, my "nesting" urges don't really come in the form of organizing and reorganizing baby's clothes, packing for the hospital, setting up all the baby stuff...although I do get those things done. No...my nesting takes a much more drastic form: I want to paint all the baseboards in my house, refinish furniture, and pressure wash the siding and windows. Now, don't worry; I am for the most part resisting the urge to accomplish such tasks. (However, my dear husband and one of his good friends are putting ceramic tile in the kitchen this weekend-- bless them...the old, yucky linoleum is driving me crazy!!!)
When we moved from NC to Indiana, I was 34 weeks pregnant with Joshua. Our hope was to be in a house by the time he arrived, but as the due date approached, I had to come to the realization that we probably would not be able to close on our first house before he came. This made the whole nesting thing really frustrating: we were "living" in the little suite at the church that was designated for those in ministry who needed a temporary place to stay. It was a major blessing to have such a place for us to live while we were waiting to move into our house...but not exactly where I dreamed of bringing our firstborn home to! Anyways, there was one particular night that I was really struggle with this ...and coupled with the fact that I wasn't sleeping well anymore- it must have been about 2 in the morning that I finally gave up trying to fall asleep and got up to read. My attitude was pretty bad-- I so wanted to be in our house and get all the baby stuff together. So, I began to read the Bible and pray that God would change my heart and that I would stop being so selfish. Just as I began praying, I looked down only to see the largest cockroach running under my chair! So gross!!!! Ha...not exactly helpful to my current attitude! I just had to laugh and know that things could be much worse and that God's timing is not always ours, but it's very good. We did end up bringing Joshua home to the church- where he spent his first couple of nights "home" from the hospital. We were able to move into our first house when he was almost a week old. It all worked out just fine...but it makes me grateful now as I look back that we are in our house and I have a little room for this precious one to come home to. (*I will post pics of it soon!)
So, here's my question: what "crazy" things have any of you moms done while nesting/getting ready for baby to come? ...I'm curious!

Cutie Pie

...Just some fun, random, adorable pictures of little Miss Anna Bell. I feel like I don't write as much about her as I do Joshua, but she really is developing a great little personality. Anna Bell is sweet and very affectionate. She is also quite the little pistol! She LOVES to tackle and hug her big brother and has a great adoration for her daddy. Her vocabulary is great- she'll pretty much repeat anything now. She loves to sing and can sing along to most of the songs on Praise Baby-- pretty precious to listen to her raspy little voice singing praises to Jesus!!!! She is not at all shy, but can be a little more stand-offish when it comes to trying new things than Joshua. She loves dolls, her bear (affectionately named "B") Elmo, to color (we're working on keeping it on the paper!) and Thomas the train. I would say that she's pretty girly- she loves wearing bows and will usually ask for one before we get out of the van to go somewhere. She also kind of "prances" around most of the time rather than simply walking. It's pretty cute!!! I don't think she has much comprehension as to how her little world is about to change in 6 weeks (or less!!!) with the arrival of baby brother. I remember being worried about how Joshua would adjust and then it not really being much of an issue. ...So, I'm not really concerned; I know that she will love her baby brother and may struggle with the change a little bit, but we'll get through it. We are so thankful for Anna Bell and can't imagine life without her. Our prayer is that God would grow her to be a woman of grace- who testifies of Christ with everything that she is. I already see a boldness and determination in her that excites me to think about how God will use her and who He will shape her to be. This parenting thing sure can be difficult and even a bit scary sometimes, but wow- what a privilege and blessing!!!!

What a Sweet Husband I Have!!!!

I could not go without posting some pictures of the absolutely fabulous getaway that my dear husband surprised me with last weekend!!! A week ago Friday, Fred left the house at around 7:45, saying that he had a "quick planning meeting" that he had to go to. Although I thought that this was pretty lame, being that Fridays are my husband's day off, I tried not to complain!:) At around 10:30, I got a text from Fred telling me to check under the mattress on his side of the bed. Hmmm. So...the kids and I ran upstairs and found a note that told me to get his work laptop out of the laundry room and open it and click on the video link with my name on it. Ohh....as you can imagine, I was pretty excited by this point!!!! (I ended up giving the kids suckers at the table just so they would sit still so that I could get the computer going!!!) On the video, Fred explained that I needed to go ahead and be packed and ready to leave in about an hour...that the kids were taken care of, and that just the two of us were going somewhere Friday-Sunday!!! Woooo Whooo!!!!! About an hour later, Fred came home with my mom who flew in from St. Louis to watch the kids!!!! So fun!!! Since Joshua was born, we have only gotten away for one night (...besides ministry stuff...which doesn't exactly count as quality time as a couple!) So this was really exciting!!!! I am so thankful for a husband that is so thoughtful and sees time for just the two of us as important!!! Anyways, Fred worked it out that we got to stay at a beautiful condo at Amelia Island that belongs to a middle school family for the weekend. It was so great...we really enjoyed our time together and away from everything.


Here is the view from our balcony....a little too cold to swim, but great scenery!!!

We went out to a way nice restaurant on Saturday...I even wore a dress...which is something that rarely happens...even when I'm not 7+ months pregnant!!!!

Here's a view of the downtown atmosphere...it was really fun to just walk around and look at the little shops!

We spent quite a bit of time sitting outside and reading...something that you really appreciate when the majority of your days are typically consumed with caring for little people!!!!

We walked on the beach several times as well...it was absolutely beautiful!!!!

*The only bummer of the weekend was that I had some really strange pregnancy symptoms that started as soon as Fred and I got to the condo. I started seeing spots and then pretty much lost all peripheral vision for about an hour. My arms were kind of numb/tingly and I had trouble putting words together!!! It was really scary!!!! After I rested, it seemed to pretty much go away (except for a headache) and I woke up on Saturday feeling great again. Unfortunately, it happened again once on Saturday afternoon and then again on Sunday on the way home. We were afraid that I was developing preeclampsia or something and I went in to see the doctor on Monday. They couldn't find anything wrong with me, and it hasn't happened since, praise God!!!! The doctor thinks that the baby may have been putting pressure on some nerve or blood vessel, which caused my blood pressure to bottom out and have such weird symptoms. Whatever it was, I'm glad it hasn't happened again!!! Other than the strange blindness episodes, Fred and I had a great time together. I am so thankful for my husband!!!! Fred is an incredible hubby, daddy, and leader of our family. I love him soooo much and could not imagine that marriage would be so wonderful!!!! Thank you, Fred Broome for being my husband!!!!! I am so blessed and proud to be your wife!!!!!

I've Been Tagged...

My good bud, Tasha tagged me and because I love her SO much and am always SO impressed by her faithfulness to blog, I am participating!

THE RULES::

* Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

...Here you have it, folks: 7 Random Facts about me:

1. I don't have any cavities, still have one baby tooth, and have never had braces...unfortunately the money we save on my teeth, we have to spend on my blind eyes!!!!

2. I take ridiculously long showers on a regular basis. This is a habit that I have tried to break myself of because I know it's a huge waste of time and water but can't seem to do it. Oh well.

3. Excessive background noise drives me CRAZY!!!! ...I cannot stand to have the TV on while trying to have a conversation or read a book. Whining children are like fingernails on a chalkboard. -And if that little wiener dog around the corner doesn't stop barking...well...I don't know what I'll do...

4. I love Sodoku puzzles and any other kind of number game. My dad's a CPA...I guess I've got some math nerdiness in me (love you dad!:))

5. My absolute favorite way to start the day is with a hot drink (tea, coffee, french vanilla cappuccinos (sp?) have been my pick lately) and reading the Bible. Ideally this happens before the kids are up but more often than not it's while they eat breakfast and watch Praise Baby.

6. The older I get the more introverted and homebodish I seem to become. I used to be soooo social but now crowds stress me out just a little bit. My favorite people in the world to be around are Fred and the kids.

7. Being a wife and mom are my favorite jobs in the world and (most days!) I wouldn't trade it for anything. ...But down the road when the kids are grown I think that I'd like to go back to school and get my doctorate to teach a women's studies sort of curriculum in a college setting. I don't know if that's what God has for us but it sounds pretty exciting!

Okay, there you have it. I tried to get as random and unknown as possible. I am now tagging:

*Kelli

*Shelly W.

*Shelly H.

*Constance

*Rhianna

*Erin

*Sandy

Pumkin Painting Parties...Georgia Style

We had some of our good buddies over for a pumpkin painting party a couple of weeks ago. It was so fun to see how their different little personalities came out during the activity. Some were diligent to paint the actual pumpkins...others were more interested in painting each other (ummm...both of my children would fall into the latter of the two categories...thankfully their mammas all love my children and are pretty laid back when it comes to that sort of thing!!!!) Anyways, we had a GREAT time of messiness and play...I am so thankful for great friends!!!!

Advantage of living in the south: ending a fall craft activity with a good 'ol hose down of all the painted children. It sure beats trying to get them cleaned off inside...:)

BIG THREE YEAR OLD

I can't believe that Joshua turned three last week. I know that everyone says it, but seriously, how do they grow up so fast?!!?? We had the best birthday celebration. We went back and forth about having a party and finally decided against it for at least one more year. We spent the day playing outside with Joshua's new bike and art set, had Joshua's requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, ate cake, and then made a quick trip to Wal-Mart where Joshua got to spend some of his birthday money on Thomas trains. All-in-all, a fabulous day in the life of a three year old!!!

Thanks for the bike, Grandpa and Grandma!!! Doesn't Joshua look like such big stuff on it??!!

I am so very thankful and blessed to be Joshua's mom. ...And as I say that, I have to laugh and be honest in saying that I just had to take a break from writing this post to discipline him for getting out of his bed during nap time (this is a CONSTANT battle at our house right now...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!) Joshua is not the perfect kid. I am very very far from being the perfect mom towards Joshua. We are a lot alike in that we're both stubborn, strong-willed and a little bit "too full of life" at times! Joshua is constantly teaching me and reminding me of my need for God's grace and strength. He also makes me laugh a ton! He is such a funny little kid with such a big personality. He does such a great job of being polite and conversational with adults. He has become a great little helper around the house and I know will help me so much when his brother arrives. Joshua has a great memory; he does a better job of remembering names at church than I do! He has memorized quite a few Bible verses and is even learning how to apply them to his life. Like the other day: we had some friends over and the mom said something about obeying, so Joshua piped in with Ephesians 6:1 and how we obey because God says so! I overheard him playing with his trains the other day and he told Thomas "You need to obey. Do you understand? If you do not obey, you will get a spankin'. Yes mam? I need to hear you say 'yes mam."...HA!!!! Oh what great accountability their little hearts and voices are!!! I don't know what God has in store for Joshua. Our prayer is that he would be strong and very courageous and obey the Word of the Lord. I am confident that God is able to do great things in and through him! I am excited to see those plans unfold. Sometimes I loose perspective with Joshua and get caught up in the daily frustrations of discipline and training, but he really is such a blessing. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the privilege of being his mom. Thank you, Lord for our precious three year old!!!!

Now I Could Get Used To This...

Some of the sweet families at our church wanted to bless us and help me out with this whole ankle injury thing, so they sent a cleaning lady to our house yesterday!!! It was amazing! I didn't feel guilty or embarrassed that someone else was cleaning my toilets because 1. She was getting paid to do it and 2. I don't know the lady and will probably never even see her again! I can't remember the last time my house was totally clean ALL at the same time. You know how it goes-- one day you tackle a bathroom, the next dusting...I never have a large enough block of time to knock it all out at once anymore! It was great. I felt like I could really rest my foot once my house was clean. It was such a blessing! ...So; if any of you ladies read this: THANK YOU!!!!

FYI...

Just in case any of you were wondering:
If you ever find yourself painting a room when you are 6 months pregnant, there are some things that you should try to avoid. One of those things is using a printer as a step ladder. NOT a good idea. Printers are not necessarily stable pieces of equipment to stand on. They tip over easily when weight is disproportionately placed upon them. ...And when that weighted object happens to be a pregnant lady, ankles will likely be twisted. ...Especially when bellies are needing to be protected.
...Yep: I've learned my lesson. My ankle is thankfully recovering: it could have been a lot worse. I could not bear any weight on it until yesterday and already today I've been able to hobble around without crutches. I guess that it was just a good ol sprain. I've had tons of help from friends and church family and Fred's mom came last night to help. I'm so thankful for such great help and that it wasn't any worse!

What Does Sanctification Really Look Like?

...I know, TWO posts in ONE day...somebody stop me.
Here's what I read today from Holiness:
It's from the chapter on sanctification. I've been chewing on it all day:
"A truly sanctified person may be so clothed with humility that he can see in himself nothing but infirmity and defects. Like Moses, when he came down from the mount, he may not be conscious that his face shines."
WOW!!!! That's what I want to be like: so Christ-like that I actually radiate His presence, yet so humbled by His awesomeness that I don't even realize it!!!!

Could it Be The Broome Family Television Debut???

...Long time no post: many apologies to all you faithful bloggers out there...I have some catching up to do!
In the meantime, here's the CRAZY thing that happened at our house this afternoon:

HGTV producer, Matt (Okay, I don't even know his last name) came over and interviewed us for a show that will begin airing sometime in late October!!!! That's right, the Broome family may just become famous...at least in the world of home and garden television!! Ha!! Isn't that so crazy!!! Here's basically what happened: Our friend Shae went to college with Matt and just began his own major renovation project (Shae and his wife, Katie are totally remodeling their kitchen). Matt thought that Shae's project sounded like a good fit for this new show, so he decided to come on down to Macon and check it out. Since he was making the trip, he asked Shae if he knew of anyone else who would be good candidates for the show. So Shae set up for us to have an interview as well. Here's the idea of the show: Matt described it as a very "raw" production depicting the real life "drama" of home remodeling. Fred and I would be knocking out a wall in the familyroom/hallway and laying down hardwood floors throughout the downstairs. Here's the tricky part: the remodel has to all take place in one week and Fred and I would be doing most of the work ourselves! ...Yeah...I don't know if that's even possible. Particularly with me being pregnant and Joshua and Anna Bell around. We most likely will not even be considered for the show and even if we are, I really don't know if Fred and I would attempt it. You get paid to have the crew there filming: obviously that's the big upside for us, but even so- the stress of trying to swing it sounds a little unrealistic! Regardless, it was pretty cool to interview! I'll keep you posted on what we hear back from HGTV...CRAZY!!!!!

First Day of School!!!!

After much prayerful consideration, Fred and I decided that we would put Joshua and Anna Bell in Mother's Morning Out this year. Fred was extremely supportive of the idea all along, but I really struggled with it. Many of you can relate I'm sure: it is such an incredible blessing and privilege to be able to stay home with the kids that I feel guilty paying for this time "all to myself." However, this time of rest and productivity is such a blessing as well! The kids leave with Fred a little bit before 9 each Wednesday morning and come home with him at around noon. Today was our first day and I really did not know what to do with myself!!!! I had planned on running some errands, but woke up to a VERY rainy, dark, cool morning. These are some of my favorite kinds of days, but not so much for running errands. Although resting and reading the entire 3 hours would have been amazing, I didn't want to waste such valuable time. Instead, I read and sipped some Chia tea for about 30 minutes and then got to work on some house projects. My prayer is that I will be a good steward of this time and not let it go to waste. When the baby comes, I'm sure that I'll use it for rest, but until then and as long as I'm up to it- I want to get things done that are challenging to do with the kids at home. I was able to paint some frames for the upstairs bath and almost finish touching up trim work in the downstairs bath. It was really fun to have this solid block of time to work!
Another "goal" that I have for my Wednesday mornings is that I would spend some time reading books that challenge me both spiritually and intellectually. I have read so few "seminary type" books since I finished up at Southeastern. One of my favorites that I read while in school was Holiness by JC Ryle. I remember reading it for Systematic Theology and wishing that I had more time and mental energy to process the great truths that Ryle writes about. SO: I read the first chapter this morning. It is a greatly convicting chapter on sin and how we can in no way have a right view of God's holiness until we have a both cognitive and spiritual understanding of our sin. Very good stuff. Here is my favorite quote from today's reading: "We shall do well to remember that when we make our own miserably imperfect knowledge and consciousness the measure of our sinfulness, we are on very dangerous ground. A deeper study of Leviticus might do us much good." Oh woe is me!!! Praise God for His loving grace and faithful refining!!!!!

*On a totally different and random note, here are some cute pictures of my wonderful family!!!:)
Both kids hopped onto Fred's lap before bed the other night wanting him to read a book!

Here is a picture of Anna Bell's first pigtails. Her hair isn't quite long enough for it to stay up for very long, but it sure looked adorable while it lasted! (Mom: aren't you proud of me-- that I was sentimental enough to capture this "first" on camera...:))

Thank You, Ellen!!!!

We had a little "photo shoot" at a friend's house last week. Here are some of my favorite pics!!!

The Atlanta Aquarium

We made a trip to the aquarium in Atlanta last Friday. We have been wanting to go since we moved to Georgia, but feared that our money would be wasted if the kids weren't into it. However, being that it costs 20 dollars for kids 3 and up, we figured we better go before Joshua turns three in less than two months. For those of you who aren't aware, this aquarium happens to be the largest in the world...which is pretty impressive. Some of the really cool attractions include Beluga whales and Whale sharks...both are pretty massive beasts. The kids had a great time and although it was MUCH TOO crowded, we're really glad that we made the trip. Here are some pics of our day...mostly of the kids because you all know what fish look like.