Our Next Big Goal!!

With baby number three on the way and coming soon we have been praying about what we are going to do for his birth.  We had such a wonderful experience with our midwife with our youngest(soon to be middle) that we have been seeing her for our prenatal appointments and would love to have her deliver our next little bundle.  So now the clock is ticking for us to raise money for baby boy's birth!!  
We have started by posting a few things on Craig's List that we don't really need anymore.  I think that a garage/rummage sale is in the books in the next few weeks.  I am also going to try to do a little babysitting for the next few months.
So if you could be in prayer with us that we continue to trust in God's provision and perfect plan we would be extremely grateful!!  I will be updating in the coming weeks and months!! 
For those whose glass is half empty, we do have a few alternatives as backup so we will not be left in a lurch!! Thanks for being there for us and praying!!

Dressing Up Should Always Be Fun!!

I love dressing up for church.  Since my uniform tends to be jammies or whatever is the most comfy, dressing up is something I look forward to a few times a week.  Even date nights I try to dress up.  I think it's nice to look your best for your favorite person!!

Recently, in the past few months, my oldest son has been asking to wear ties to church because he wants to be like his daddy(awww!!)  He's only three and there really isn't that many options for him other than the the children's suit sets that cost an arm and a leg!!  This pattern made two ties, a small short one and a thinner larger one.  The total cost per tie was about $2, give or take some change.
I utilized my friend, Pinterest, and found a great tutorial on the making of children's ties. Click here to see how!!  This one tells you how to make it from an old shirt, but they also give you the measurements so any comparable fabric will work. I only had the woman at the fabric store cut about 1/4 a yard and was able to make two ties from it.  A very small one for my one year old and a little bigger one for my three year old.  I think next time I will use the same amount only cut them evenly so the ties are similar sizes.   I took my three year old to the fabric store and let him pick out the fabric.  He really liked that. I would advice a pattern that is small as the end result could hide the design on a lot of the bigger patterns.  Lesson learned.  It still worked out, I just had to adjust the way I folded the fabric.  I actually started out buying children's tie clips on amazon super cheap(.95 each!!).  He are some pictures of my progress.

Those are pictures of the steps I took to make the ties.  I didn't take any of the tying part, because I had to Google tying a tie to a tie clip.  Click here to watch the how to on putting a finished neck tie onto an empty tie clip.  I tried to do it with the measurements in the tutorial but it was very difficult to attach to the tie clip.  The second tie I made was much longer and thinner and I like the way it turned out better then the first.  

So make sure to get enough fabric to account for an extra tie if you don't like the first.  It's definitely a learning process as the second was much easier and I made it a lot faster than the first.  The second one I made was longer than the first and has a "tail" on it, or just like a non clip-on tie, it has the small, thin part in the back.

Here is the finished ties!! 

My favorite is the one on the right.  The one on the left was the first one I made and it's a little too wide for my liking and it was extremely difficult to attach to the clip.  The corner of the clip is still showing on the left side, but I kept it as the collar on Titus' shirt covered it up.

So there you have it!! It's not a step by step, but I have included the links for you to have the step by step.  I have more empty clips so I may have to run to the fabric store in the near future.  Be sure to check them out on a munchkin near you!! Thanks for tuning in!!

Were You Trying For a Girl This Time??

 It's official!! Our third little blessing from God is a......BOY!!!!  

Even before we knew the gender of this new little one we got so many friends and even strangers asking if we were trying for or hoping this is a girl.  My response was either, "I would really love to have another boy." or "we were trying for a baby".  The latter a little more sarcastically than I should admit.  

This time around we had the blessing of having several ultrasounds.  At just under fifteen weeks the tech couldn't tell because of the baby's position.  The next week she had us come back and a different tech couldn't quite tell but was leaning toward a girl!! She wanted to be completely accurate so she sent us to a different location where the tech was more experienced.  She had to shake and wiggle my belly to get cooperation but finally said that it is a boy!!  Well, because of the conflicting announcements we didn't put too much stock and when I was twenty weeks we went to the clinic my midwife recommended and got the confirming, "It's a boy!" It was so much fun having family there!! My parents and niece got to be there for the announcement!! 

Even when we tell them we are having a boy we get the question, "are you going to try again for a girl?" or the sympathetic response of, "that's too bad.  Boys are easier anyway"

When did the perfect family have to have one of each gender?  I'm so glad that God knows what our family needs more than what we humans think we want!! Whether God blesses us with another and it's a forth boy is not up to me or even my husband.  It's completely up to God!! Even the gender and the order of the gender of our children!!  If God chooses to bless us with a girl down the line, it doesn't make all of the children after number one to be mistakes or not good enough.  If we have five, six or seven children(no I'm not announcing a preferred number, just an example) and they're all boys, I will be the happiest mamma to be blessed with exactly what God intended!! I think to want anything different, even the gender of children, is discontentment and if you're not content with God's BLESSINGS then spend some time with Him and ask God to give you contentment and see why you're not happy.  Are you comparing yourself with "the Jones"?  Are you wanting a "mini-me"?  I look at my nieces from my younger sister and, even though they are girls, I can see the ones that resemble their dad more than their mom.  I can see in my own boys how my oldest has more physical features taking after my husband and my current youngest after my side of the family.  So many just assume any boys take after their dad and any girls after their mom.  I would get a chuckle if God blesses us with a girl and she strongly resembles my hubby!! I'm sure I would get told a lot that she would look just like me!! 

In my own heart I pray to continue to be content with the plans God has for me.  I will admit to a little disappointment when the ultrasound tech said the words, "It's a boy!!"  When the first tech said she leaned toward a girl and we were en route to the second office to confirm I was also a bit disappointed as the name I liked would have to wait.  Talk about discontentment!! So when we got a confirmed gender, I also had to really pray and trust that God has a special reason for assigning me the title of Boy Mommy.  

I remember house/babysitting for a good friend several years ago.  She has four boys and three were at home at the time.  Sometime during the week I was there I remember thinking, 'I am in waaay over my head!! I bet God's going to give me all boys!!'  Little did I know I would be right!!  There might be a mom of one or two boys that feels overwhelmed that I could encourage.  That is all I need to know that it's worth it!!  So for all you fellow "boy moms" or "girl moms" There's a special reason God is assigning you the task!! Ask God to show you what it is!!  He may not right away, but at least in the mean time you will save a lot in clothes!!

Some moments I will not treasure...

There's the old saying, "treasure all the moments because the go so fast"  I'm sorry but when there are tantrums and naughtiness going on, I will not treasure them!! I love my boys but I am wholeheartedly looking forward to the time when I don't have to worry about being hit or kicked by flailing three-year-old hands and feet.  I'm glad that my almost two year old isn't at that stage...yet.  Right now he's at the I-want-mommy-to-hold-and-carry-me-all-day phase.  I'm actually thankful, even if my back and tummy aren't, for that.  

The moments I will cherish are the ones of Josiah hugging and kissing me at the store when I wasn't feeling well and leading me to my bed telling me I need to go to sleep when I told him I wasn't feeling well.  The moments that I will never forget are the ones where Titus pulls up my top and kisses the "baby" and says, "Hi Baby!!" with a huge smile on his not quite understanding face.

The struggles over bedtime or cleaning up toys I look forward to forgetting and moving on from.  Potty training and accidents will be ancient history.  I will probably miss the diapers and super long nursing sessions, but the spit up and blow out clean-ups I won't miss.    

I am so thankful God has blessed me with these two boys and third one not here yet.  Just like I don't miss the arguments and spats I have with Matthew, I know I learn and grow from them and move on.  I pray that I am continuously growing as a mom and learning how to raise these young men to love the Lord and others above themselves!!