38 Weeks

Our little girl is about to have a Birthday, and I couldn't be more excited!  We are down to 2 weeks until the due date and my anxiety, nerves, fears, and excitement....all wrapped up together.....is about to go through the roof.  Some days, I am calm as can be, and am well equipped with an "I got this!" attitude.  And other days?  They may not be as pretty.  But that's ok.  I continue to pray for peace, and to let go of what I can't control.

This past weekend I went on a little "Girl's Day Out" and it was so great!  It was exactly what I needed, and something I was looking forward to for over a week.  We did a deluxe pedicure (which is absolutely amazing!), late lunch, and a Target run.  I came home that day to 2 little boys who were sooo excited to scream "SURPRISE" at their Mama as she walked through the door, because they made chocolate chips cookies for me with their Dad.  From scratch, by the way.  Carl made sure I knew that detail ;)  I was so surprised, and it brought tears to my eyes as I watched these 3 boys get so excited to make something special for me while I was away.  They are all such sweethearts, and my heart swells a little bigger for each one of them.

Now that I have pretty looking toes, I feel she can make her debut at any time ;)  hehe.  

We are down to the final days, really.  Bring on her birthday, and the first sight of her precious little body.  I can't wait!!  

Crocheting

As I have mentioned before, I picked up a new "hobby" per se.  Crocheting.  It's actually a really time consuming one at the moment, and one that takes me a long time.  But only because I am new at it, and really have to focus, concentrate, watch a video while pausing it every few seconds, and take my time to get the final product I want.  And when I get that final product?  What a great feeling!  A true feeling of self accomplishment, gratification, and proud that *I* just made that.  

Lizzy, a friend of mine, is really good at crocheting.  She can whip just about anything out in a short period of time, can read just about any pattern, and is a rockstar.  She is bit more experienced than I am, as she has over 2 years under her belt, but she inspires me to create!  She willingly agreed to teach me, and I am so thankful for her, and her patience.  

It all started with the bumper pad.  I wanted the little lady's bumper pad to be crocheted.  I thought it would add so much to her room, including the colors that I had envisioned her room would be--but I struggled to find anything to buy that would be those specific colors to tie everything together.  So I did a little research.  I turned to etsy, and found that I could have a bumper pad custom made from granny squares, in the colors I wanted, for over $150.  Well, scratch that idea.  So I turned to Lizzy.  And she excitedly responded with...."Yes!  Let's make that.  It will be a great project for you to start with!"  

We got together one afternoon, and began with the basics.  How to hold the hook, a slip stitch, chain, double crochet, etc.  My mind was about ready to explode after that day, but I trusted her when she said..."it will eventually just click, and you will figure it out."  I went home, and tried my best to re-watch the same video over and over again......and just waiting for that moment it would click.  I was losing faith in myself (and her promise) as I continued to not get the same outcome that was on the video.  

.......and then, it happened.  It clicked!  I was finally taking the words from the video, and actually digesting them, and applying them to the project---instead of just doing them, because some random lady with a crazy accent was telling me to do them.  After that moment, I was still a little slow, still really having to focus on my work at hand, but my speed was starting to pick up as I understood what I was doing.  

We decided we needed to make about 25 granny squares for this project.  I eventually had a granny square down to just a little over an hour to make.  Lizzy did about 10 of them, and I did the remainder 15 needed.  After we were both done with our squares, we scheduled another time to get together, to connect them all.  She lives in Jesup, which is about a 55 minute drive from us, so just randomly getting together isn't the easiest task.  We really have to plan a time to get together.  

I worked hard to get them done in a timely manner, in hopes that we would give ourselves some time to crochet them all together, and have it ready to be placed in her bed before the very last minute.  I knew that once my due date approached, my energy would be out the window.  And, I definitely guessed that one right.  

2 weekends ago, Lizzy made the drive to Parkersburg with Madilyn, and we spent the entire afternoon and evening crocheting all of the granny squares together.  That was in between feedings, breaking up a few fights, tending to little ones, etc.  We finished attaching them all together that day, so that left me with the border.  I decided to do 2 rounds of white around the entire bumper pad.  I knew it was going to be a time consuming project, but since there was no real "stopping" and no switching colors, I could just keep going until I was done.  I took the project with me pretty much everywhere I went, and got done with it a lot sooner than I thought I would.  (Insert happy dance!)  I then had to weave in all of the ends, which I am finding is probably my least favorite part of crocheting.  Not because it is hard, or difficult.....but only because it is boring, repetitive, and time consuming.  I took the bumper pad with me on the drive to Des Moines last week as we traveled to the state basketball tournament, and finished weaving in all the ends as we drove.  Carl poked a little fun at me, as he looked over, and I was in deep thought.....with a needle and yarn in my hand :)  He calls me old fashioned about a lot of things, and I think he will add this to the list.  Ha!

We have a finished product!  Hello, beautiful little bumper pad that I put a lot of time and effort into, and did not, in fact, pay an outrageous amount for :)  It is ready to be put in the little lady's crib.....I just haven't done it yet.  It is going to be a 2 person job, and hopefully Carl can help me with it one of these evenings.  I am just absolutely in love with how it turned out.  All of it.  The colors, the pattern, the style, the way it looks in her crib, how much it truly adds to the room....everything.  

Since I have finished the bumper pad, I have had my eye on a video tutorial for a little hat to make for her to wear in the hospital.  I had a little spare time on Saturday morning to sit at the computer, and follow the tutorial, and came up with this little gem!  I am so thrilled with how it turned out, and I think this will be the pattern that I will use in the future for any hats I want to make.  I like the chunky design, and how easy it was.  The pom pom on top of the hat was my first go-round with pom poms.  I learn a little something every time I try something new.  This time I learned to make the strands extra long, because you can always cut them......and, to make the string to attach the pom extra long as well.  Live and learn.  Especially with this new hobby....I am finding that phrase to be coming up a lot.  But-- it's fun, nonetheless!  

I recently made the mistake of going on pinterest, and finding a million different cute crochet things that I would love to make.  I have to be realistic, because I am just a beginner yet, but I am pinning different projects and things that I would love to try and make in the future.  I still can't read a pattern very well, as it looks very foreign to me, so I am restricted to video tutorials at the moment.  I am hoping to continue to make a few things here and there for her and the boys.....as time allows.  It's a lot of fun, and I am so thankful for Lizzy, and her taking the time to teach me!  She inspires me with the different projects that she continues to make, and I hope I can continue to educate myself in this new hobby of mine.  I now am talking yarn colors with my husband, and getting his opinion.  He smiles, answers my questions, and supports my new hobby.  He will wholeheartedly admit to how much he loves the bumper pad, and the hat.  He pokes fun at me a lot, and how much of a "grandma" I am, but will also tell me how proud he is that I stuck it out (after a lot of frustration at the beginning!) how great I have done, and how much he loves that his daughter gets to wear something that her Mama made :)  

37 Weeks

Today marks 37 weeks pregnant with this precious little lady that we are getting so excited to meet.  My nerves are really started to set in as I think about what is is going to take to get her here, but I continue to pray for peace for SO many aspects in my life right now.  That seems to be what everything boils down to while I am in the middle of my prayers.  Peace.  Wash me with peace, Lord.

Here is to weekly appointments!  And keeping ourselves busy in an attempt to pass time quickly.  And calming nerves that are starting to go crazy already.  And re-organizing the baby's hospital bag one more time (because the other 14 times just aren't good enough) And truly focusing on our family of 4, before we become 5.  Oh, and finding shirts to fit the bump.  That's when you know the time is coming to an end.....when the maternity shirts don't even make the cut ;)

Boys State Basketball

Last Thursday morning, we traveled to the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines to experience the state tournament for ourselves.

The boys were completely in awe when we got there.  We arrived about an hour early, to guarantee a good spot, and we finished watching the game before us.

I am so glad we decided to go, and experience this fun event with the boys.  I remember so many memories from when I was growing up from the state basketball tournaments, and I can only hope there are more in the near future to take advantage of as well.

The boys did so good during the game, especially considering we were there an hour early, and the game ended up going into overtime!  That is a long time to sit still, but they both did great.  Wes did do a little game playing, and of course.....took some selfies.

Wes wanted to take a picture with me, so I leaned over real quick, and snapped a picture with him.  He looked at the picture, showed it to me, and said "arrrrggggh."  I laughed so hard, because I had NO idea he was taking a pirate picture of us, and I have NO idea how he even does these things!  Too funny.

Sadly, the boys ended up losing that game, and ended up playing on Friday for 3rd or 4th place.  They ended up getting 4th place, but what a true accomplishment!  4th place in the state, and A-P basketball hasn't made an appearance at the state tournament in years.  Something to be truly proud of.  And come to find out----a majority of the boys on the team were battling a nasty flu bug.  There was supposed to be a pep rally on Saturday when they would be coming through town, but that ended up getting cancelled because so many of the players had the flu.  Such a bummer!

We made some great memories with the boys that day, and all had so much fun!  Since then, Carl has made the boys their very own "basketball court" in the garage, and they have already logged many hours out there.  We also discovered it's a great "math lesson" for Carson while he is playing.  He knows where the 3-point line is, and where to only add 2 points to his score.  He starts at 0, and rattles off how many points he has; either adding 2 or 3 without even thinking!  We are impressed with his quick adding skill, especially while he is busy running around the garage shooting hoops, and chasing his ball.

I leaned over to Carson while we were at the state tournament, and said..."some day you will get to play basketball in the state tournament if that's something you choose to do!"  He looked at me with wide eyes, and then turned his head back to the court.  Dream big, little ones!  You can do anything you set your mind to.  Choose to do hard things, because you are more than capable. I am so proud of these boys already, and can't wait to see where the Lord leads them.  It makes me a little sad to think that Carson is already 5-1/2 years old, but I am also so excited to watch him bloom, and support him in his journey through his school years!

Baby Shower

This past Saturday afternoon, my friend Caryn put on a baby shower for this precious little girl who will hopefully be joining us in the next few weeks.

The shower was absolutely perfect.  It was a "tea party" theme, and everything was great!  Her mother-in-law helped her with the food, and everything was delicious.  Peach tea, chicken salad croissants, fresh fruit, and homemade individual cheesecakes.  So yummy!

Another fun thing that Caryn did was had an entire table set up to make the baby a headband.  She had a bunch of different accessories, elastic strands, bows, flowers, etc. and 2 hot glue guns plugged in so people could make a hairbow/headband for the baby.  Then, after they were done, they could attach a little note to it, and write who it was from.  I thought this was such a neat idea, and I loved looking through the basket of "pretties" and seeing the different creative ones that people put together!  So much fun, and such a creative/practical gift.  I can't wait to see little girl Brouwer display some of these headbands :)

We are so blessed with such generous family and friends who are already spoiling our little girl!

I of course was busy at the shower, and didn't get near as many pictures as I would have liked to.  I also made the mistake of not asking someone to take pictures for me.  Such a bummer!

I feel so spoiled, and extremely thankful for this special Saturday event.  Especially since this is our 3rd child, I did not expect a shower....at all!  So it was a very sweet and special surprise.

36 weeks

We are sitting at 36 weeks pregnant with the little lady, and not much has changed this week for me!  I don't feel the best, I can't breath, I can't bend over or see my toes, I can't sleep or get comfortable, and I am getting sick almost every morning again.  All very fun stuff!  haha.  I am only documenting these "negative" things so I can look back, and remember them for myself :)

In all reality, I am so thankful for this little life growing inside of me, and I do see the end in sight!  Spring like temps are here, I am wearing flip flops, I have an extremely active and healthy babe cooking, and the weeks are dwindling down quickly!  All happy things to be thankful for :)

Basketball

.....it's a word used a few hundred thousand times a day at our house, as of late.  Carson is constantly trying to form a 'team' and play basketball in his room with that little plastic basketball hoop that I am so thankful we decided to get him.  If he isn't successful in forming a team, he will usually resort to shooting around by himself.  But he will eventually get you into the room, and do an instant replay of his shot.  Slow motion, narrating everything.  You stand and act extremely interested (because you are) but then kind of scratch your head when he ends up half the time on the floor.  What is it with little boys, and rolling around on the floor?  I mean, we are playing basketball (or any other sport) and he is constantly sliding/falling/crawling/rolling all over the floor.  We laugh, and just look at each other with a puzzled look, as we continue to watch his instant replay that is still taking place.

I have decided that I think I need to just be done watching all of the boys in the house play basketball.  At first, I thought Carson had some pretty interesting ideas or moves up his sleeve.  But now?  I am pretty sure their Daddy is not a good influence.  That is him, on all fours, on the floor, encouraging them to do some sort of sweet jump shot off his back.  Seriously?  I think my blood pressure (or stress level) is going to go through the roof one of these days!

Now that the weather is getting nice (hello 50+ degree weather!!  Hallelujah!!) the basketball game has moved outside to the garage.  The space is much larger than that of the bedroom, and there is so much more room to slide all over the garage floor ;)  ha.  Carl modified a hoop for the boys, and they have been loving the fresh air, and nice weather so far.

Speaking of basketball----the A-P Boys Basketball team played their first game down at the state tournament last night, and won!  They won by 15 points, and are now moving on to the semi-finals game, which will take place on Thursday at 2:00.  Last night's game didn't start until 8:15, and although Carson wanted to go, we decided to stay home and watch it on the computer/tv.  I think we will be attending Thursday's game, and I am excited to watch them play, and see Carson's reaction to it all.  I remember going to the state basketball tournament with my Dad when I was younger, and I hope these are the memories that Carson holds on to, and stores away forever!

That little Weston, he is quite the little stinker these days.  The boys were so tired, that they didn't get to see much of the game before we put them to bed.  They are early risers, and combine that with a long day, and some fresh air----and they just can't hang ;)  But have no fear....little Wes man was up about 1/2 hour after we put them to bed.  Carl says I am way too much of a softy, and I give in all too easily.  Of course the first thing I asked was if everything was ok, and if he just needed a little extra snuggle time.  He responded with an extremely pathetic and whimpering "yes."  I scooped him up, and we snuggled for a little while.  I quickly figured out that he was totally working me over, and he knew it.  He was clearly wide awake, and just didn't want to go to bed.  He was bouncing all over the couch, had his sunglasses on, was making funny faces/noises, and was giggling away.  He wasn't ready for bed----silly us for thinking that.  ha!  I thought it was kind of fun to have the one-on-one time since we were up, and watching the game anyway.  Carl, as you can tell, wasn't all that impressed.  

Good Luck to the A-P Boys Basketball team!  I doubt we will get any high fives from the players this game, but I am anxious to experience this exciting game with the boys!