The Big Picture

I sit here in wonderment, a bit baffled. Just when I think I understand the Lord's plan for us, BAM, we are told otherwise. And I don't write this post in a complaining manner, or a negative or ungrateful manner (because I truly see more blessings pouring forth now more than ever), just honestly in pure general wonderment, and even amazement. (and writing it out helps me clear my thoughts and see the big picture all the more clearly, so this post is mainly for me *smiles*)

These last few years have been up and down and all over the place for our little family. Not that our family has suffered in the least, we are absolutely rock solid, but meaning our plans for our future have taken complete 360 degree flips every so often.

Our plans for our future began wavering when the economy dropped, and in turn we lost our home. And as weird as it may sound, I am so grateful we did. That wasn't where we needed to be. That's not where we were at our happiest. I thought having a big home was what we wanted, what we needed to be happy, but it so wasn't.

We wound up in Rexburg in a much smaller home, living on much less money, and I can honestly say I have never been happier. This is where the Lord wants us, and we absolutely love it here. One of my favorite books describes it as the the Lord plucking you up from your garden and planting you elsewhere where you are much more needed and where you will be so much happier.

In terms of Jeremy's job, as he so eloquently states it, it's like, "being smacked upside the head with a 2X4". And believe me, he's been smacked quite a few times. And again this morning. There have been so many opportunities where he is THIS close to getting everything he wanted, just to have it fall apart at the very last millisecond and to be told, "Get your hiney back in school." The first few times we figured were coincident. Until the promptings became very clear, very loud, and honestly- very blunt. Go back to School. I won't go into details, but just to say what he's doing now- as spectacular as it sounds: fabulous job offers that would make loads of money... it's not where he needs to be.

My first thought is to become upset or angry, or out of sorts with it all. Why on earth turn down (currently two) wonderful job opportunities where we could have it all? But the decision that is ours is to either listen to the worldly ways, or listen to the Lord's plan for us. And while we don't understand it, Jeremy doesn't want to be hit in the head anymore, so we're listening!

And timing. Ooh the timing. *sigh* This must be my test in life, because man, the timing is AWFUL! Our sweet little Alex will arrive in just a few short weeks... and coincidentally we are moving... in just a few short weeks! Funny how that worked out. Many of you know it took our little monkey a bit longer than we had planned for him to come to our family. We are currently finishing up remodeling our next house, which will be ready for us to move into just days before Mr. Alex arrives. Which leaves me completely useless in terms of packing and unpacking seeing as how I can't even bend over!

I find the timing of it all a little too spot on... but by putting my trust and faith in the Lord, I know it's all part of the plan, and I'll take it without complaint. And if we have to live on student loans for the duration of Jeremy's schooling, so be it. This is what we need to be doing right now. We don't make the rules, we're just playing the game. :)

And one last final thought, it's as if the Lord knew I would need something to sweeten the deal and go along with all this. This part just worked out a little too perfectly to be coincidental as well. He knew we needed friends. That's the one thing in Idaho Falls I needed the most and didn't have. And to plop us down in a newly remodeled house to suit our needs... directly across the street from the BEST little family ever, that's just icing on the cake. With little Miss Ava to be Courtney's best friend, their brand new baby boy Sterling to be friends with Alex, and (hallelujah) a wonderful NORMAL friend for me to help keep me sane. And our husbands even get along.

So to make a long story short... and this is quite the long story already... even though we think we know where we're going, or we think we know where we want to go, or eventually wind up, listening to the Lord's plan for us (though we may not understand it... seriously, at all!) is always best. He knows what's best for us and He wants us to be happy. And I know we will be. Granted, it's not where we ever thought we would be, but I've learned not to question the package that blessings come in. :)


And because I'm a firm believer in that every blog post needs pictures, I'm throwing in these 2 random tidbits. Courtney has invented "Fashion Rocks". I was trying to take a nap, so I told her she could go do whatever she wanted for the time being. This is what she came up with! Painted rocks, glittered, feathered, and ribboned. Fashion Rocks! Pretty creative for a 3 1/2 year old! (That top one flies... ever seen a flying rock? Now you have- just stay out of it's way!)

Fun Day!

Courtney had quite the fun today! She started off with having her cutie little friend Ava come over to play for a while. I took them to Spray Park... where they played for 9 minutes, then decided they would much rather have ice cream. Yep. So we packed up and came home and had ice cream for lunch.

Then they wanted "Veggables" for a snack:

And then they wanted to play dolls...

and puzzles...

And dress up.

Aren't these two too stinkin' cute together?!

Then, they wanted mac-n-cheese and cereal. I told them to give me a cute smile- to which both of them growled and gave me a grimace. Enough with the pictures already, hint taken!

After Miss Ava went home, Courtney's cousins had a play date back at Spray Park again.

I call this "Fatty fat pregnant Face". *sigh* 7 more weeks and I'll start looking more like myself again!

It's been a fun day! Courtney's been blessed with such good little friends to play with :)

Ups and Downs

Today has been so full of ups and downs. I finally was able to get into the dentist to stop this excruciating pain...UP.... come to find out I needed a root canal and crown...DOWN... they told me my insurance ought to cover it because I'm pregnant...UP.... come to find out, oh no no no, fooled you, none of the $1500 is covered, that's all you... DOWN....we don't have $1500...DOWNER....

I'm pregnant, emotional, poor, in pain, distraught, and did I mention poor? DOWN DOWN DOWN.... I went to my friend Katy's house, who was watching Courtney for me, and who just happens to be amazingly smart with big words and intimidating people on the other side of the phone, who while I sat on her couch and had my pregnant break down, she called every insurance person, medical office involved, this person and that, all the run arounds with the phone numbers they kept giving her to call (seriously like 2 hrs she was on the phone for me!) Up Up. Though even with all the magic she was working, they were still unable to find any loopholes to pay for this crappy root canal and crown, Down Down...

And then this fabulous amazingly wonderful Katy, with her bag of tricks, somehow managed to get them to take off 10% of my total bill (yes, she's that awesome!) UP UP UP.

Then Jeremy calls, telling me he doesn't think he got this house he bid that would've kept our bills paid for like... the rest of the year... DOWN.... Just for him to call me back later saying, lo and behold he did get it, UP! ... but man, my mouth freakin hurts, and i've still got to go in next Friday and have the second half done, DOWN.... But at least Courtney is having the greatest day ever playing with her friend Ava all day (while I fall apart on their couch!) UP.... but in the midst of falling apart, I now have zero make up left and look like a puffy swollen albino rat...DOWN.... hmmm....

*sigh* That was fun to read about, right? Me whining.

Anyway. On to the happier part of the post. Courtney has been riding this itty bitty teeny tiny little bike for quite a while now where her knees hit the handle bars and she's just way to big for it. And with Jeremy getting paid today, he told Courtney we were going to the store for a surprise. So we got there, (and she's BEYOND excited for her surprise)...and took her back to the bike section. We let her pick out her favorite bike and a helmet. Then we told her that her surprise for today was the helmet to ride with her little bitty bike at home, and that some day we'd come back for the bike.

I took Courtney up front and purchased the helmet, and she and I went and waited in the truck. Sneaky Sneaky Jeremy came out 10 minutes later with the bike and put it in the truck while I kept her occupied. It was sad and cruel in a way to get her so excited for the bike, and let her think she was only going home with the helmet, but you know... funny for us :)

So we got home and Jeremy got the bike ready for her in the back yard and told her to come out and see something. TA DA! At first she was so so mad that "Daddy didn't get me the bike in the store!" and that he tricked her. But then she was super happy, and we took off to try it out.

Blackie is all strapped in in the back and ready to go...

Courtney getting hooked up with her new fairy princess helmet...

And she's off!

And boy, can this girl cruise! I think she was amazed at how much faster it goes than the tiny bike with even tinier little wheels.

So while today was a crap-filled emotional up and down rollercoaster for my poor pregnant hormones, at least we ended on a good note!

Happy 4th of July!!

We started our day by walking to Smith Park to watch the parade. Notice how I said 'we' and 'walking' in the same sentence, yes I walked!! I shoved my fat swollen feet into a pair of flip flops and we WALKED!

See Courtney's little 'parade purse' (Those are also her 'parade clothes'... she's into labeling things lately) ... That purse was packed full of candy by the time we left! She raked in the goods!

The Rexburg parade was AWESOME!!! I can truly say this with a smile on my face because it was at 10 am, and it was a little bit over cast, the sun didn't fry me, we had the best seats ever, and the weather was PERFECT. We totally lucked out. Maybe I was being blessed for actually walking there.

This float was funny. That is one huge shopping cart! And here comes Brouly...

Remember my shy timid little girl who usually wants nothing to do with anything unfamiliar? She saw Brouly coming, jumped up, and gave him a high five! (She knows how to get the candy, ha!)
After the parade was over, we noticed someone had left their purse next to us, but they were no where to be found. We opened the purse and saw at least a couple hundred dollars in cash stuffed in there, plus a bunch of prescription meds. So what do we do? Yep, I slung that purse over my shoulder and waddled on down to the police station. (Keep in mind I'm in the middle of month 8 of pregnanthood, I now have no ankles, it's about 137 degrees outside, my face is melting off my skull, and that this little detour was a little bit in the complete opposite direction of our house!) For this I should be blessed with a healthy pain-free birth 3 weeks early!

After all that, we headed out to Menan and did the usual there, then came back to Rexburg for Miriam's baptism. And yes, I left my camera elsewhere nowhere near me, so I have no pictures, but Miriam was beautiful and the baptism was perfect. We enjoyed a nice refreshments and visit afterwards, and then headed back out to Menan for their fireworks.

And my camera was locked inside the house during this time as well. So no pictures. Of course.


But I did get this little lovely after the fireworks at Oma's house. Courtney in Jeremy's jacket. Kind of reminds me of E.T..

I hope you all have a fabulous, fun, and safe 4th of July!!

Girls Day!

Since Mallena is here visiting from Washington, we thought we'd throw together a girl's day and do some crafting, some eating, some shopping, and some hanging out.

Oma got the cousins each their own little puzzle to color and put together. Thanks Oma!

Shay, Courtney, and Jaz coloring their wooden puzzles.

A color-coordinated Miriam and Brigham

Melina and Mallena... the two girls I refuse to stand next to because they're both so dang little and skinny. It's not good for my self esteem at this point!

My Beautiful Mom. Look at that smiley smile! I heart this picture.

Katy the Seamstress.
(Thank you Katy, for helping me figure out my sewing stuff! You're a life saver!)

Katy's Gorgeous Baby Gemma. I don't know where Chubby Chancers is...must've missed him somehow. But he also so stinkin' squishy adorable! I didn't get Jake, either. But that's because he is one quick little boy and, let's face it, I move slow these days.

After crafts (Which mine is nowhere near finished. I'm making a stroller/diaper bag, and it literally took me like 5 hours just to get the pieces cut out because it hurt so much to stand there and bend over and do it! I'll post pics in the next post when I finish it. It's gonna be cuuuute!!)...

Anyway, after crafts, the kiddos got left behind and the ladies went to Olive Garden, where my self esteem took another hit. They sat us in a corner booth that I did NOT fit in... I could wedge myself in there, but then I couldn't budge. In my defense, everyone else didn't have much room either, it was a small booth! So I take comfort in that. I had to get a free standing chair and pull it up to the table because sitting in that booth...I couldn't breathe!

After dinner, we did a lil' bit of shopping.

And here I am. Don't recognize me? That's because I'm huge. And puffy. And swollen. And 3X my normal body weight. Not quite, but feels like it! (9 more weeks!) And see that smile? That's big fat fake. See the 'handicap' sign above my head? This chair was designated for me.

I was a bucket-load of fun most of the day. (Said with heavy sarcasm!) I think yesterday was one of the most painful days of this pregnancy. I couldn't walk, sit, stand, or breathe without being in extreme excruciating pain. (I was seriously contemplating taking a gander on over to the E.R. at one point.) It was all I could do not to curl up in a ball on the dressing room floor and just bawl! I think Mom felt sorry for me, so she bought me a new shirt. Thanks Mom! haha! I also got some fat shorts so I won't cook this summer. So some good did come out of this!

Can you tell I'm ready to be over and done with being pregnant? So ready. I think Alex is ready to get out, as well. We're running out of room FAST!

All in all, yesterday was great. It was fun to get to spend some time together!

June Funnies

Me- (sniffing with wrinkled nose) "Did you toot?"
Courtney- (sly look on face) "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't!"

Courtney- (anytime she secretly toots) *mischievous look on face* "What does it smell like in here?"

(Eating bacon)
Courtney- "Well...this sure is crunchy and scrumptious!"

(Outside in windy weather)
Courtney- "My this sure is a blustery day!"

(Courtney twirling around in dress-up dress and shoes, singing, trips on a toy and falls over)
Courtney- "Ow... Mom, say 'Are you okay, Most Beautiful Princess?'"

Courtney- "I drink too much juice and eat too many gummies, and Daddy drinks too much pop."
Me- (7+ months pregnant) "What do I do?"
Courtney- "You just go potty all the time."

(Me setting her lunch in front of her)
Courtney- "Wow, my salad looks nutritious!"

(Courtney comes into my room, sleepily, first thing early morning)
Me- "Good morning, Honey."
Courtney- "Good morning, Mommy."
Me- "Did you have good sleeps?"
Courtney- "MmmHmm"
Me- "I love you."
Courtney- "And I love gummies."

(Courtney playing in someone's sprinkler on their sidewalk while we waited for Jeremy...runs right up to it and drenches her dress.)
Courtney- "Guess I don't need a BAF tonight!"

(Jeremy and I endlessly mocking/teasing Courtney over something she said)
Courtney- "Okay, okay. That's enough!"

All Set!

Last weekend was a good one for me, deal wise. I got the leappad, I got the car seat/stroller combo, and I got this fabulous little find at a garage sale across the street from us. A garage sale $5 DVD player! (to go with my garage sale $5 little tv/vcr combo from last summer). This DVD player was still sealed up in the box, which I thought the owners had just resealed, but when I opened it, the actual player, manual, remote control, cords, everything...were still completely sealed, never opened. Woo Hoo!

So I raced home (more of a quickened pregnant waddle) and hooked it up, and wonder of wonders, everything works perfectly! As Courtney is so wonderfully demonstrating, ha! (This is now where Courtney watches her movies when the other t.v. is in use, or we want the living room quiet!)

She's all set with her fruit snack gummies and bug juice...

Has her "Princess and the Frog" movie going...

And then she got bossy. She requested I:

1. Light a candle
2. Bring her popcorn
3. Turn off the lights
and
4. Shut the door

Sure. Why not.

So I've come to the conclusion that either we're super creative and fun... or we're just THAT redneck. Either way, she's a happy girl, and that makes me a happy Mommy. (And plus, like I'm going to turn down any opportunity to shut my child in bathroom for over an hour just for the sheer sake of peace and quiet, and not get in trouble for it!)

Today's Fab Find #2

I'm pretty excited about this. I found this lovely lil set on craigslist today, and it just so happened that the girl selling it had been stood up several times. I was the third person scheduled today to come see it, and I'm the only one that even showed up! Plus there were about 7 other people who had scheduled to come previous days this week and flaked out without telling her. Which works out perfectly for me, because this is nearly brand-spankin new at a next-to-nothing price because she just wanted to get rid of it!



Can I just tell you how "real" this is becoming? This is only my second purchase for our little one (the first being the craigslist nursery set... thank heavens for craigslist!!). But having actual tangible things for him, and the fact that he's been kicking the living daylights out of my belly lately, and that (2 months later) we finally have printouts of our 20 week ultrasound.... It's all starting to sink in. Before I was just fat and uncomfortable. Now it's like..."Holy crap, a baby is coming in 11 weeks!" (They're inducing me a week early.)

Anyway, like I said, thank heavens for craigslist, we have found quite a few amazing deals on there, which is always nice when you're low on money :)

The Awesomeness of a Yard Sale

My sis-in-law across the street from me let her friend do a yard sale in her yard today, so I thought we'd take a gander on over and see what they had. And check out my awesome find! ((huh... i just said 'gander'....))

*Drum Roll* dundundundun..ba DUN! LeapFrog LeapPad!

And not just the LeapPad, this bad boy comes conveniently fully loaded with everything on Courtney's level, or just above so she has room to grow.



Yes, there are six books, and five game cartridges (one of the books doesn't require a cartridge). And the best part? It works, and they're fabulous! Courtney loves them, and between everything included, we've got every subject covered. (And it cuts down on the whining while on the road, always a plus!)

And also a great find: New laminated flash cards to add to our preschool lot! (well, new for us, haha). Courtney was so excited that she could 'read' all the cards. But they're great for being able to see the word and connect it to the picture and letter sounds and such.

The best part is that I got this amazing lot for super super cheap. Like pennies almost. Am I a nerd for getting so excited for such a great find for such a great deal? Possibly. Am I a nerd for actually doing a blog post about it? Absolutely. Do I care? No!

Pinics at the Park

Smith Park has started their free summer picnics program, and it's FABULOUS!! We went for our first time yesterday and Courtney loved it! You stand in a line for a few minutes and they dish you up a delicious lunch, you go sit on your blanket and eat, and then off you go to play! (Sadly it's only for kids 11 and under.. I was stuck eating my cold homemade pb&j with cheetos.)

Courtney was in heaven.

Though, at such an event, the kids tend to pile up. It was pretty busy.

It kills me how old Courtney looks in this picture. Her little legs are so long! Maybe it's because she's next to a little chubby baby. Maybe it's because I refuse to believe she's growing up. *sigh* I should go take some pics of her standing next to 'big' kids to make myself feel better, that she's still my 'little' girl!



If anyone would care to join us, it's at Smith Park M-F 11:30-1. It's so nice to get out of the house everyday for some outdoorsy picnic play fun!

What a Weird Post

So it's been one of those days. In the 10 hours that my gimpy laid up post-surgery husband has been laying on the couch playing video games, I have been running around like crazy. I'm in that stage where you just can't sit still. You always have to be "doing" something.

And after a day of running around, taking Courtney to the library, signing up for a new card, signing her up for the summer reading program, and checking out more items than my pregnant body could carry (I swear what we brought home weighed more than Courtney herself), and then READING every. single. book. we had checked out, doing all the meal planning, doing all the grocery shopping for all the meal planning, (and experiencing another one of those 'pregnancy stupids' moments at the cashier counter *sigh*) coming home and organizing everything I had just bought according to shape, size, content, color, and alphabetizing manner (I kid you not) and nesting like crazy in a house that we will just be moving out of in a month or so, cleaning out the fridge, and taking the bags of all things undesirable to the dumpsters... I finally sat down. And boy did it feel good! (and lets not forget the making and serving of breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner to Gimpy #1 ...being Jeremy, {I myself am Gimpy #2}... and to Princess Picky Eater~who's dinner finally ended up consisting of Scooby Doo Snacks, Phineas and Ferb fruit snacks, and chocolate nutella on vanilla wafers. I will happily take my 'Mother of the Year' award now, thank you!)

And in my moment of "finally sit down and breathe", Courtney decided to decorate my belly. I am so tired at this point, (sleepless nights are a whole other story) that anything is funny. She could've brought in a dead rat, laid it across my belly, and I would've said, "Let's take a picture!!"

Now you're thinking, "Did she really just take a picture of her boob?" Yes, I surely did. And I also just wrote about it on my public blog for all to see and hear. "Where's the other one?" you may ask? No worries, not lopsided just yet :) ... just the way I was sitting.



See, ta da--- Even Steven. There are two. And why am I still talking about it? Because I am THAT tired. I am THAT exhausted. It's like my body says, "Would you freakin' sit down for 2 minutes so I can chill?" but my brain says, "Go go go!!"

I think tonight calls for a bubble bath accompanied by a good movie. And a popsicle.