...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!!!!!