Fun Times

Joshua pulled out a bunch of Fred's fishing worms last week and had a blast! He must have played with these things for an hour. He enjoyed sorting them by type and color and then taking them one-by-one to the sink for a "bath." Unfortunately, Fred did not have as fun of a time putting them away, so we kept out a little baggy full that are now just for Joshua to play with.

I think that Caleb is going to pass his
big sis up in size before we know it!

Nothing beats running by Sonic for a route 44 slushy
(only 99 cents before 11!) on our way to the park!

Caleb is one sweet, precious baby!!!

Hmmmm.....

....I wonder who got a hold of the camera today...

Yee Haw

I love it when we discover new, fun, and free things to do in Macon. This is our latest find: Wesleyan College has an equestrian program and it is open to the public. Joshua and Anna Bell love looking at all of the horses. They are beautiful and enormous!!! One of the girls in the program helped with middle school for a while and she said that she would love to meet us up there sometime. She could get the horses out and the kids could even feed them! Does anyone have any other ideas of fun and free activities for families with little ones?

Crazy is Fun

Some may speculate that spending the weekend with 5 children 3 and under would be quite chaotic...and...well...just so you know-- it is! Our dear friends from seminary, the Vias, came to visit and lead worship for several events at Ingleside over the weekend. They did a camp preview on Sunday morning, since they will be leading worship for our summer camp in June. It was so great having them here! Josh and Tasha spend a lot of time on the road traveling to different places to lead worship. Josh sings and plays guitar and Tash plays the violin. It was great having a few days to hang out and visit. It was really encouraging to see how God is blessing their ministry and how they are such a team in both leading worship and parenting. Tasha is such a wonderful wife and mom-- here are just a few tid bits of wisdom/encouragment that I gained from their visit:
*Areyna and Zeke share a room and do a great job of sleeping right beside eachother; this has given me the confidence to do this once Caleb is sleeping consistently through the night.
*Tasha is a master at using coupons and cutting down on grocery expenses; I'm going to start getting the Sunday paper delivered and give The Grocery Game another shot.
*Tasha (and probably Josh too) ask the kids a great question when they say something that is unkind/disrespectful. They stop their children and ask "Was that kind or was that rude?" (and then discipline as needed) ...as simple as that sounds, it's a great way to help them realize that how they speak effects others.
*I am always encouraged by Tasha's commitment to be a vital part of their ministry. She not only leads worship alongside Josh, but she also handles most of the office/organization stuff that goes along with it. I was reminded of how important it is for us as wives to not only be workers at home but to support our husbands in their ministry as well.
*Tasha has a lot of little songs that she sings with the kids...some of them that she picked up from other places and others that she made up. Whether it's for picking up or having a happy heart, for some reason songs seem to motivate kids.
...I'm sure there are other things that I learned, but these are just a few that stuck out. I'm so thankful that God created us in a way that we learn and grow from community with one another. So...thanks for coming, Vias! We had a blast!

This is the only picture that I took while the Vias were here. Areyna was so sweet with Caleb! She was very concerned whenever he was crying and really enjoyed holding him.

We LOVE our cousin, Maddie Grace!!!

My parents, Laura, Ashley, and Madelynn all came to visit this weekend. We had a great time. Laura and Maddie met Caleb for the first time. Maddie is so sweet with babies and is going to be an incredible big sister to her little Ethiopian brother(s)/sister(s!). Joshua and Anna Bell had so much fun playing with their cousin, grandparents, and aunts. They were both bawling and begging to go with them as they pulled out of the driveway yesterday afternoon!

Does this mean that I'm not sentimental?

Anna Bell got her first official hair cut last weekend (I had trimmed it a couple of times...only because it was looking way too mullet-ish). I forgot the camera in the van, so I don't have any pics of the actual hair cutting experience. Bummer. She did a wonderful job sitting perfectly still in the over-sized chair with the huge cape around her little body. I was so amazed at how she looks so much older with her new cut.

Whenever I see your smilin face...

...I have to smile myself- because I love YOOOUUUUU!!!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Anna Bell!

Our precious little girl turned 2 last Sunday!!! And although Sundays are not the best days for birthday celebrations in our house (early church, late lunch and naps, Fred has evening activities at church...many of you know exactly what I mean!) we had a great day of being thankful for Anna Bell. She is such a joy in our family. She is expressive and adorable in just about everything she does. (Fred and I both have to remind ourselves that her "bit of sassiness" won't be quite as cute in a couple of years if we don't discipline her for it now!!!) I am so thankful for Anna Bell and love to watch how God is shaping her. These are just a few of the reasons I am grateful to be AB's mommy:
*She is so affectionate! There are moments that I have to remind myself that laundry and cleaning can wait...there will come a day when she will not want to sit and cuddle in my lap for hours on end!
*In Anna Bell's own words: "I'm FUNNY!!!!" ...and she really is!
*She ADORES her older brother, who she now refers to as "Josh"...even though we never call him that!
*She is quickly becoming a second little mommy to Caleb. Her most used expressions when referring to him are "Awww...how cute!!" "Oh no...mommy; baby cryin'!!!" "I wanna hold it" & "Hi Caleb!!!"
*Anna Bell is the best greeter I have ever met. She will yell your name and run to the door with her arms open wide for a big hug whenever Fred or I come home. She also does this for good friends or family...grandma is a sucker for this one!!!
*She is tenderhearted yet she can hold her own even with kids twice her size (she's quite the small fry; she weighed 18 pounds at her last checkup at 18 months!)
*She gives the BEST HUGS!!!!
*Anna Bell's voice is really raspy. I don't know where she got this, but I definitely need to record it more often.
*She is getting more into girly toys like her kitchen, dress up and baby dolls but also loves playing with trains and cars with Joshua.
*Her favorite song is "Jesus, You are near to me" and asks me to sing it before going to bed.
*She is undeniably a daddy's girl. I love that.
*Often times when I pray for her, I pray that God would develop in her a gracefulness that Anna in Luke 2 displayed. I see this character in her and am confident that as the Lord grows and shapes her, that she will be a woman of grace someday!
I love you so much Anna Bell!!! I cannot imagine our family without you!!! I am so thankful that God saw fit to place you in our family!!!!
Fred's dad and Terry came down for the weekend; it was great to be able to see them and celebrate with them. Thanks for coming, Dad & Terry!!! Unfortunately, Anna Bell woke up from her nap with lots of coughing and a slight wheezing on her birthday...I finally took her to the doctor on Wednesday morning and sure enough, we have had to do breathing treatments again. The doctor said that it was viral, so we are stuck at home until next Wednesday. I am getting a little stir crazy and I think that the kids are too! I took some sweet pictures of Caleb Judson smiling today. I will try to post them tomorrow...we'll see...:)

sleep in heavenly peace

I cannot believe that our sweet little Caleb Judson will be a month old next weekend!!! As you can see, our third spends the majority of his little life sleeping! When he is awake, he is really making eye contact and looks like he is about to begin smiling in response to us (and not just in response to gas!:))
This Christmas was unlike any other for me. To hold in my arms a brand new baby as we celebrated and pondered the wonder of Christ's birth was amazing. I thought a lot about what Mary may have experienced. I was also in awe more than ever of the great sacrifice that God the Son took upon Himself as He clothed Himself in flesh and came as a helpless little baby. How amazing and beautiful the incarnation is!!! Thank You, Jesus, for coming in such a humble way!

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!