It's about time...

...for an update!

It's been a crazy few weeks with the Thanksgiving holiday. We were blessed to be able to travel to Ohio for a few days to visit with my side of the family. Overall, it was a very good trip. On the trip out, the kids were great--even when we got stuck in Marietta, Ohio with a dead car battery (or something like that) when we stopped to feed Jackson. Thankfully, we weren't sitting in a remote, empty parking lot. We were at Kroger which was packed on the day before Thanksgiving. The drive home took forever. Kraig wasn't feeling great and Jackson didn't want to eat according to his normal routine. It was a blast. It's always nice that the trip to wherever we're going is good so that we can enjoy the time there, but the trip back home is never pleasant. And, to top it all off, Kate cried and said, "I wanna go back to Ohio!" It was sad.

Kate is in the midst of potty training. She's doing great, but I'm still nervous about taking her out in public. She's more prone to have accidents if she's actually wearing pants. And it doesn't help that when we're out, it's usually at church where I'm either super busy with music stuff or she's with someone else. She also got her first hair cut! Pics to come when I'm not typing one-handed!

Jackson will be four months old next week. I can't believe how fast this is going. He seems to be getting a cold now, but other than that he's great. He's huge. He's very strong. He's close to sitting up on his own. He's been rolling from his belly to his back since he was born and he's very close to doing the opposite. He's very ticklish and has the best laugh. He went for a week where he was sleeping through the night, but we're back to getting up at least once. Growth spurt? I also think he's teething (so early!), which doesn't help. He's still difficult to get to sleep, but we're settling into a decent nap routine. He's still breastfeeding like a champ. He's very interested in what we're eating, but I'm hoping to hold out til closer to six months. He also loves watching Kate play. He could stare at her for hours! So sweet:)

Kraig and I are great. Gearing up for the busy Christmas season. We're 90% done with Christmas shopping, thankfully, which will help make things easier. Kraig's in charge of the Christmas Eve service this year, which we're very excited about. We're going to be doing Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God." If you haven't heard it, you should find it. It's fabulous. I can't wait! We're starting some Christmas music this week with the praise team. Should be fun! We're using several Tomlin arrangements that seem to be a lot more instrumentalist-friendly. Anyway, that's what's up with us!

Hope you're doing well!

Pregnant? Read this:

I'm not pregnant, but it seems there are tons of ladies who are right now. During my last pregnancy, I wrote a rather lengthy series of posts called "The Things They Don't Tell You." Here's the original post and links to the others. Anything you'd like to add?

Things They Don't Tell You, part 1

Pregnancy is full of surprises for most people. Even if you read all the pregnancy related books out there, you're likely to experience something that you never read and you never heard your girlfriends talk about. Here's a few of the "things" that I've heard that can come as a surprise to pregnant ladies about the earlier parts of pregnancy:

1) All pregnant women do not get morning sickness. I've recently read statistics that said around 80% of women do, but not all. For some people, morning sickness lasts a few weeks. For others, it can last the entire pregnancy.

2) "Morning sickness" is not necessarily just a morning problem. There are plenty of women who are sick all day long or find themselves sick in the evenings. Don't let the "morning" part fool you.

3) Just because you're pregnant does not mean you can eat anything and everything. Yes, you will be hungrier than usual, but for a single pregnancy only an additional 300 calories are needed per day. That's like a yogurt and half a bagel.

4) While some women may appear "glowing" during pregnancy, others suffer from a variety of skin problems during pregnancy--teenage-like acne included.

5) Sleep will become increasingly difficult as you learn to not sleep on your back or stomach and your body becomes larger. My hips, in particular, become painful during pregnancy and make sleep difficult.

6) Though you are excited because your pregnancy test came back positive, your doctor may not want to see you for several weeks or more. With my first pregnancy, I did not see the doctor for the first time until 13 weeks. With my second, I was almost 8 weeks. This is not unusual, but it will definitely test your patience.

7) Your belly will mostly likely start to look a little fat before it starts to actually look like you're pregnant.

8) Your first ultrasound, if performed at an early appointment, will be mostly likely performed vaginally. I was completely surprised about during my first pregnancy.

9) At a typical OB/GYN office, you can literally wait for hours. This is a very sensitive practice. Doctors do everything in appointments from routine check-ups, ultrasounds and pap smears, to having to tell a woman she has cancer or may have lost her baby. These appointments take time. If you were in a sensitive situation, you would want the doctor to take as much time with you and not rush off. Remember this when you're looking at your clock, realizing your appointment should have started 45 minutes ago. It's also possible that another patient went into labor and your OB is at the hospital delivering a baby. You'd want him there if it were you! But be prepared!! Snacks and reading material are always helpful.

10) It's okay to feel like a basket case. Your hormones are crazy right now and you're adjusting to the knowledge that you're carrying a baby. It's a very emotional time. And it's very normal!

The Things They Don't Tell You, Part 2

The Things They Don't Tell You, Part 3

The Things They Don't Tell You, Part 4

The Things They Don't Tell You, the FINAL part

Enjoy!!

A whole week at home....finally!

I took the kids to Ohio for a very unexpected funeral on the 30th. It was for a very special lady at the church where Kraig previously ministered in Ohio. It was a crazy trip, but since we were going to go to Ohio, we decided to spend a few extra days and visit my family. It was great to see lots of people that we hadn't seen in a while and to get to spend a little extra time with my family. I have no intentions of going on a road trip by myself with both kids again anytime soon, however. It was a little (or extremely) stressful. We got home on Wednesday night, a full six days later, just in time for praise team practice at church. After over seven hours in the car, the kids were less than willing to be quiet during practice. It was not pretty. Our soundman, Doug, graciously took Kate to play with her. Later on in the evening, he even ended up with a screaming Jack. He was a lifesaver for my already frazzled nerves.

Thursday afternoon, we hopped back in the car again to head to Pennsylvania. Fortunately, Kraig came with us this time. We were headed to his hometown to help out with his grandparents' estate sale. It was a long, exhausting weekend, but another good visit with family. We headed home Saturday afternoon when the auction ended so that we could be back for church on Sunday. The last hour of the trip home was a literal nightmare, with both kids screaming inconsolably at times. By the time we got home, it was bedtime. Thankfully, it was fall-back weekend. Someone forgot to tell Kate, though, and she was up at 6:30 a.m. That would've been early for her without the time change. Not pleasant. We made it to church and relished in the fact that we wouldn't be getting back in the car anytime soon. Thanksgiving is still a little ways away. I'm very thankful for that.

We've spent this week recovering, doing laundry and trying to get back in the swing of things. Our routines seem to be back to normal, and Kate has adjusted to the time finally. We've got a lock-in at the church tonight. Kraig's mom and sister are headed to town to visit and help with Kate while we're at the church. I'm excited for the evening and hoping that Jack will sleep there so I can stay. I hate being away from the action!

Hope you're all having a great week!

I'm a celebrity!

Okay....not really. BUT, you should checkout my guest product review at the Playdate Crashers. It's for a great breast milk freezing/storage product. Check it out here. Did I mention they are also giving away this product and another on their site? Check it out and enter to win! You can also check out the Playdate Crashers on facebook!

If you're a parent, you'll love their website, podcasts, giveaways and more. I promise!

On the home front, I've been in the car with the kids for at least 24 hours in the last week and we're on the road again. The kids are tired and grumpy (and so is Momma), so I'm literally typing one-handed. Gotta love it! More later!

And if you're checking out my blog for the first time, I'm happy you stopped by! Feel free to subscribe!