My Babies and Me...

I am shocked and slightly embarrassed by the

number of self-portraits of

just myself or the kids and I

found on my phone!

Sometimes James will bring me the phone

and request we take pictures together!

It is pretty cute.

He loves watching himself make silly faces...

then we always have to look through the pictures

and pick out a few to text to Daddy while he is working!

 I always think that someday,

when James is a teenager and wont

even think about being in a picture not to mention hug his mother,

these pictures will all be pretty special!

 And now you know my secret hidden talent...

I can make my tongue touch my nose!

Who would have guessed I possessed such a special talent!?

It is a family thing.

My dad can do it too...

Sadly, both my kids have short fat tongues that don't even come close to their noses!

 All 3 of us!

Wonder how we will manage to fit 4 in the screen before long?

Not sure if Elsie was flashing some kind of gang signals, or what she was doing!

 Surprised faces...

 We are happy...

Love these pictures...

I am linking up with

The Anderson Family today for

Embrace the Camera...



Our Sunday...

A peek into our Sunday Afternoon...

~

Sunday morning started a bit too early.

James woke us all up by 8am happily

announcing the sun was up and we all needed to get up.

He wakes Elsie up every morning with his happiness.

And Elsie is not a morning person!

Since Sunday was Jon's only full day off this week,

we decided to be nice and let him sleep in.

So, we cuddled on the couch before

making pancakes for breakfast.

 Every Sunday Jon and Elsie go to church together.

It is the cutest thing.

It's like their little Father/Daughter outing.

This week, I could have gone...but didn't.

I kinda think Jon doesn't want James and I to go

and "mess up" their little thing!

So, James and I stayed home and read stories.

And I promised James we would all go as a family next week.

 

 After Church,

it was tickle time with Daddy.

Both kids love rough-housing with Daddy.

 Elsie and Jon sometimes have a difficult time "connecting"...

but since I have had to let Jon take the lead so I can rest,

I have watched Jon and Elsie become closer.

I like that.

I love watching them together.

I love that Elsie willingly calls herself a daddy's girl.

 James turn for tickles...

James think his daddy is amazing...

He waits for daddy to get home every weekend...

then follows him around all weekend long!

And I love that out of the blue James has

started calling Jon by his name,

not daddy!

Elsie went through that same phase.

 A moment of relaxing after all the tickles.

Daddy brought the kids to the park to play.

Then to Grammies to get Elsie's bike so they could go on a bike ride.

Daddy is good at wearing the kids out with plenty of

fresh air!

 Because I don't think Jon is quite ready to relinquish

all this weekend tasks,

he volunteered to go grocery shopping.

He has been into buying bulk...

like 3 bottles of ketchup when 1 was on the list.

So our pantry is certainly very full right now!

Though, I won't complain, saves me

from lots of trips to the store!

One thing I will complain about though is the squash.

I only buy Buttercup...

because that's all my mom cooks.

Jon bought butternut and spaghetti.

They don't taste as sweet.

and I don't know how to cook the spaghetti kind.

Next time I better go squash shopping myself!

 After dinner the kids kept busy playing.

Now that we are back at home,

all their toys are new again and they keep busy for hours!

And yes, my son loves playing dolls.

He gently puts them to sleep,

feeds them, changes them...

then put them in the stroller for a ride from hell!

He isn't one bit gentle when it comes to pushing strollers.

It's more of "see how fast we can go"

and "oh look 2 wheels"

and "oops, baby fell out and I ran her over"

not to mention that he must make a

super loud reeving up noise while pushing the stroller...

like a giant pick up with no muffler of something.

And he does it all while wearing pink high heel dress up shoes.

He makes us laugh.

 And Elsie is becoming quite the little lady.

She saw a basket of laundry waiting to be folded

and announced that she would fold it all!

She did a pretty good job of folding!

Today she told me she needs some chores to do,

but we need to call her chores

"jurisdictions"

because that's what the Dugger's call their chores!

Her mind is always spinning...

 As I cleaned up the kitchen from dinner

Daddy read the kids plenty of bedtime stories!

Both kids love stories.

James loves boy books, Elsie loves girl books.

Surprisingly enough they do a perfect job

of taking turns reading

one of Elsie's and one James...

back and forth...

until our voices are raw and our eyes are going crossed eyed.

These kids would read books all day!

We had a perfect Sunday afternoon...

the "doing nothing of importance",

yet doing the most important thing of all...

Enjoying being a Family.

Shopping...

I have been on the count down for

weeks to be able to go shopping.

Ceara and I wrote it on our calendars the day I was

free from the couch to go shopping!

We planned on traveling over an hour to

the "big city" with better shopping...

but in the end we just shopped local.

It was probably a good idea.

It felt SO good to get out and shop again.

Jon has done an amazing job with keeping up on household

things like the shopping, he even went

clothing shopping for new pants for James!

~

Jon and James had a

daddy/son day and had fun visiting

Grandma B and going on bike rides and walks...

And Elsie, Ceara and I shopped till we {I} about dropped!

{Well, really we only went to couple stores.}

Target was top of the list...

Elsie was happy because she was in desperate need of

new clothes...

socks, shirts, pants, pj's...this girl needs to stop growing!

So, she picked out her clothes and we headed to the fitting room.

 This was the purchase that made Elsie the happiest...

and makes me laugh the most!

I have never bought my kids fuzzy Pj's.

I think they are silly.

But last Christmas James received a pair...

as a joke I put them on him before returning them.

Joke on me...

He loved them!

Which inspired Elsie to want a pair.

I figured since she begged and begged for them,

we would give in this year.

She was over-the-moon happy!

She now is debating cutting the feet off though...

and she wakes up in the middle of the night to unzip them.

Silly.

But happy!

 By the time we made it to Kohl's

my belly needed rest so I didn't give birth in the

home good isle.

That would have been too embarrassing for me.

So, after picking Elsie out more clothes we headed for the

fitting room again.

I lounged on the floor.

Elsie tried on clothes.

And somehow Ceara slipped her wooden

Turkey under the door with the

statement of, "guard my turkey"

{Because I am sure everyone else in the store was coveting

that one turkey!?}

 I guarded the turkey well.

Elsie got plenty of new clothes.

We had a fun day...

We probably laughed too much,

people watched too much

{and made of fun of people}

Ate too much junk

Spent too much money...

But it was all worth it!

 And my big purchase of the day...

{or rather what I was most excited about}

A bun thing from Clair's!

{I am sure there is better name for it?}

Elsie and I each got one.

We are stylin' now!

I may have been coveting my sister's since the

end of August.

Well worth the wait!

* I discovered my phone has nearly 2,000 pix on it.

And since I hardly get around to doing my

Friday post anymore,

I am dedicating this week to

all phone pix!

Sorry if it gets a little random and boring!*

Soon...

37 weeks...

When will baby make her

grand appearance?

This week, next week...

dare I say it,

3 more weeks or more?

All weekend Jon pestered me with,

"well, when do you think?"

If only I knew...

Soon, soon...

{we hope anyhow!}

Bath Time...

My kids slightly love bath time.

I am also embarrassed to say baths have become a

not so regular thing around here!

It's a little tough to give nightly baths while on bedrest!

Elsie is more of a shower person,

which is nice because then she do her own hair!

~

Last weekend Jon gave the kids not just a regular bath...

but a Bubble Bath!

They had a ton of fun!

And I am happy to say that James climbed out of the tub

and peed in the potty all by himself!

Elsie has never peed in the tub,

and I think just maybe James will follow in her footsteps!

I think that my kids spend just as much time

out of tub as in the tub

during bath time.

The floor is always drenched with water!

James kept getting out of the tub

to give Elsie room to "float"

as soon as she would get relaxed,

James would reach over and tickle her belly and giggle!

Every time it would catch Elsie off guard.

Glad they know how to have a good time and

laugh together!

He was giving me the

Evil Eye look

because I didn't want him to throw

bath scrubbies full of water at me!

Bad mom, I know!

Happy kids in the tub.

It was after getting out of tub that the un-happiness started.

We washed James hair in the kitchen sink.

I am sure the neighbors could hear his cries

and screams of terror!

I know this too is just a phase.

Elsie used to act the same way...

now she calmly has her hair washed

in the shower, the tub or the sink with no tears!

Of course after the hair washing comes the fun part...

the blow drying!

James and Elsie took turns blow drying each others hair...

so cute!

36 Weeks!!

That's right...

You read that correct...

I am now 36 weeks!!

Actually I am 36 and a half weeks!

Which means I am off bedrest...

and the baby is technically full term and

can be born any day she so chooses!

I had a Dr. apt yesterday...

I have dilated a little more...

but she gave me the all clear for our big shopping day this Saturday!

I have a list of several stores I need to go to...

but, in all truth I will probably barely make it through one

before feeling like I may give birth right then and there!

Most days I can barely walk from the living room

to the kitchen without stimulating contractions...

so we'll see how shopping goes!

Now that I am off Bedrest we are back to living at home

while Jon is working out of town all week.

It is so nice to be back at home...

and attempting to get all those little

"nesting" things done.

Yesterday the kids and I washed all the baby clothes,

and laid out the special outfit, hat, blankets and hairbow

Angelina will be coming home in...

We are all just slightly excited!

~

When I was prego with Elsie we had been living down south,

but due to the pre-term labor

I moved up north with my parents so they could

"take care of me".

So, Jon was left working 4 hours away.

Thankfully I went into labor on a weekend when he

was up north with me!

~

With James, Jon was again working out of town...

like 6-8 hours away.

When I thought I was going into labor

I called Jon and he started for home.

When I called him to say we were headed to the Hospital

he was 2 hours away still...

but he made it to the hospital with an hour to spare!

~

This time I am hoping for a weekend again...

but if not, at least he is only working a couple hours away

at most...so hopefully he will make it again!

My mom and sisters Lisa, Laura and possibly Marissa

plan to be in the room also.

We also told Elsie she can come in the room and watch too...

she said so long as it isn't the middle of the night!

I would like to hope this will be my last belly post.

However, I know babies have a mind of their own.

My due date is the 4th of November

So I could still have a whole month left...

though I hope not.

I think we are all ready to meet little

Angelina Viviana!

Afternoon at the Park...

These pictures were taken quiet some time ago...

I was on strict bedrest, but Ceara and I loaded the kids up anyhow

and went into town.

Grandma B's boyfriend

{that sounds funny...they have been together since Jon and I first started dating!}

was having surgery to remove his cancer infected kidney the next day...

and the kids wanted to bring him a little card they made

and some treats.

When we got into town the kids were hungry,

so we stopped and got Tacos

and ate them in the park first.

This park is always a favorite because of the huge

Water Fountain!

And there are 2 play grounds

and lots of sidewalks for walking.

Since I was already sneaking away from bedrest,

the kids only got to play at one play area and the fountain...

thank goodness Ceara was with though to

do all the "child chasing" while I sat at the picnic table!

Before we headed into town Elsie borrowed

the aunties Nerd Glasses...

and she wore them the whole time...

seriously though, can ya get any cuter?

I don't have many good pictures of the two kids together.

So I asked James to stand by his sister

so I could get a good picture of them...

They both look so cute...

Happy and both smiling at the camera...

...and Just like that it was over.

Elsie didn't even know the sweet little photo shoot was over!

James had just noticed that his little friend Braylon

had dared to pick up a pinecone and toss it into the fountain.

I mean, I am sure he must have known James had

wanted that exact pinecone...

never mind that there were dozens and dozens

of pinecones on the ground!

The picture makes me laugh every time...

Ceara quickly jumped in and assured

James there were plenty more pinecones laying around.

So happiness and tranquility

were restored once again to our little afternoon outing!

We did give the kids coins to toss into the fountain...

but at the rate those boys wanted to toss things in,

we would have been out of coins in 10 seconds flat...

so pinecones were the next best thing...

My little water~lovin' boy.

I am sure he would jumped at the chance to

swim in the fountain had we let him.

But sometimes we use manners and stay out of

fountain swimming...

Love this picture...

It's like the boys are having a little conversation.

I would imagine the conversation had something to do with seeing

how wet they could get!

James and Braylon are often a deadly combination together!

I think he was trying to get his

coins back...

he didn't succeed.

My more dignified girl...

playing at the park area.

Love those nerd glasses!

In the end we had a fun little afternoon outing.

When we got home the kids were pooped out.

James had one melt down after another.

First he took a spoon and was digging where I told him not to.

And we got a massive amount of black dirt in both eyes.

It took both my mom and I to hold him down and

wash his eyes out with eye wash.

A few hours later he still had chunks of dirt coming out

of his eyes.

And the boy is a puker...

he gets worked up and he pukes.

So he puked as we were trying to wash his eyes out.

Lovely.

After that incident he had another huge melt down

and even my dad couldn't control him!

After a l.o.n.g time of serious crying

{and running, gaging, puking, screaming...}

he calmed down enough to read a book...

and he fell asleep.

Needless to say, I think the park

and no nap

wore him out!
{In this last pix he is all cuddled up under the bed...

that was where he finally calmed down then came out and

cuddled for a book like all was fine!}

Kids are weird sometimes!

Zoned Out...

I have always said how much I wished my

kids would just zone out

for a little while in front of the tv.

Well, we have finally discovered a show that James

will completely zone out in front of...

giving us 30minutes of {almost} pure peaceful bliss.

I say almost because the show is Cailou.

yep, that beyond annoying whiny, bald boy.

Love that James goes from watching

Nitro Circus

to the little bald boy!

My parents have 9 Cailou shows recorded on DVR for James...

so we can turn a show anytime we needed!

Being that we have chosen not to have TV at our house,

I am not sure what we will do when we go home

for that lovely 30minutes of bliss.

We may have to buy a video or two...

though Elsie has been begging to get tv again...

{but Jon and I are holding our ground and saying

no way, so our kids don't become regular tv zombies!}

I will admit though,

during those lovely 30min of bliss...

I completely understand why people stick their kids

in front of the tv!

Chicken Boy...

James is quite the little

hobby farmer...

He loves going out to help feed and water and chickens!

Almost every morning James

dons his mud boots and treks out to help with the chores.

In his mind, he doesn't quite know

the kids will possibly manage all those chores

without him!

For now my parents just have chickens

and dogs and cats...

and Jon and I have a strict rule of

No Animals

at our house.

We did allow a frog to live in a jar on the kitchen

counter over night though.

Everyone just laughs at our

"rule"

and assures us with a boy like James it isn't going to last.

But I can stand my ground when need be!

Gotta love a little

Farmer boy...

especially in cowboy boots!