We Love Watermelon!

Claire loves watermelon almost as much as I do. She calls it "red cantaloupe". She can put away some watermelon.

David likes "wawamewon" too, although he doesn't eat it as much as he sucks on it. Nothing like being handed a limp piece of fruit that has been sucked dry!

We will be very sad around here when watermelon season is over!

Pregnancy Update: 32 weeks

Here I am at 32 weeks ... moving right along. August is either going to go by really slow or really fast. I'm guessing the latter. (On a side note: I know the lighting is horrible in this picture but I made Will take it late one night when I was about to download all the pictures from my camera.)

I have come to notice that many other people who blog during their pregnancies fill out this little update, so instead of rambling about how hot, tired and hungry I am, I will record my thoughts in a more organized manner.

How Far Along: 32 (almost 33) weeks

Total Weight Gain: 30 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Umm ... yeah. I have actually purchased larger tops than what I started out in.

Best Moment this week: Feeling lots of hiccups the past few weeks. I can tell exactly where the baby's head is and let's just say it's down low. One night, Will put his hand on my tummy and felt it too. We thought it was hilarious!

Gender: Boy!

Movement: Lots. Baby Luke is very active! Especially at night when I am trying to sleep. I am ready for this baby to drop because he is starting to crowd my lungs with all that moving around!

Food Craving: cereal ... sugary sweet (like Froot Loops and Captain Crunch), watermelon (I cannot get enough of this stuff) and salad ... a good salad from a restaurant (not one I make at home).

What I miss: being able to eat anything without feeling like I am having a massive heart attack from the heartburn; running.

Sleep: If I get 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I am satisfied. There have been many nights with only 3-5 hours sleep. Naps are my friend, but few and far between unfortunately.

What I am looking forward to: drinking coffee without feeling guilty and drinking a glass of wine (can you tell the end is near)

Belly Button: Stretched to the limit. It never popped out in my previous pregnancies, but I am getting there on this one.

Stretch Marks: I already had them on my belly and hips from an overweight childhood. No new ones from any of my pregnancies, which is nice I guess. After this pregnancy, I am definitely going to try some of that stretch mark cream that is supposed to reduce visibility.

Symptoms: heartburn, breathlessness, insomnia (but not much swelling, which is good considering all the heat I am having to endure this summer).

Reading List for 2010 ... in Progress

So now that this year is more than halfway over, I thought I would post my reading list for the year (so far).

In no particular order ...

(1) Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This book is great. It will make you examine your walk with God. It calls us to truly give up our plans/goals/dreams in life to pursue God by serving others. You cannot read this book without experiencing a great change.

(2) Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah. Several people recommended this book to me. I really liked it. It recorded a friendship between two girls that started in Jr. High and lasted a lifetime. It reminded me of some of my own friendships at different points throughout the story. I have already received two other books by Hannah via paperbackswap and can't wait to read more of her works.

(3) The Girls from Ames by Jeffry Zaslow. This book was like a documentary about 11 girls from Ames, Iowa who were best friends (and a clique) in high school and still remain friends today (20+ years later), despite the fact that they are now spread all over the country. I found it a little unbelievable that 11 girls would have such a tight-knit group and remain close over so many years, but this book is based on a true story ... I liked reading the chapters about each individual girl and how they intertwined with some of the other girls in the group. However, I did not really care for the male author's research and commentary about "female friendships" and the insights he had regarding same. Maybe its because I'm a female and I get this.

(4) Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. This book was a little slow going at first, but it ended up being a great story. I love historical fiction and this book was set in the 1940's during WWII when many Japanese-Americans were herded into internment camps. I feel like this little bit of our great country's history is often over-looked in the average high school history class and most of the girls in my book club group did not know a whole lot about it. I highly recommend this book!

(5) The Guersney Literary and Potato Pie Peel Society by Shaffner and Barrows. This book was another great work of historical fiction set during WWII (in Europe). It is not the typical concentration camp harrowing story that you typically associate with WWII novels, but a rather uplifting story of a group of Guersney islanders who were living under Nazi occupation. While there are certainly sad parts of the story, I love how this group of very different people draw together over books (whether it be poetry or cookbooks) to help them survive the tough times in which they found themselves.

(6) I Will Carry You by Angie Smith. Anyone who likes to read blogs has probably run across Angie Smith's blog before. She is such a moving writer, who can bring you to tears and uplift your soul in the same sentence. Even though I had read the story of Angie's Audrey on her blog, the book offers a more detailed version of that story along with biblical truths the guided Angie and her husband Todd through the journey of loving and losing their precious daughter shortly after her birth. Keep the tissue box nearby.

(7) Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore. This book was a nice and quick read. A good vacation read as I would call it. The story had some unexpected twists and turns and was intriguing enough that I read the entire book in two days (and I wasn't even on vacation). It is about a girl growing up in small town, Georgia who dreams of being anywhere but that small town ... you can probably figure out the rest.

(8) Feathers From My Nest by Beth Moore. I read this with my Wednesday night group of girls at church (we "hang out" while our kids are in choir). This book was just a collection of stories from Beth about bringing up her girls and then letting them go. I love Beth Moore as a writer and a speaker. She made me laugh and made me cry. She made me realize that my children are only young once and I need to cherish every moment of their little lives.

(9) Stop Dressing Your Six Year Old Like a Skank by Celia Rivenbark. I read this book while we were driving to Orlando last week and I cannot count the number of times of laughed out loud. Poor Will, who was stranded in the car seat next to me, had to listen to me read sections of the book to him that I thought were funny. Rivenbark is a southern humorist who shares her thoughts on child-rearing, marriage, celebrity and other such humorous topics. This was a fun easy read that is such to produce a few chuckles from anyone.

(10) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. I am almost finished with this book. I have stayed up way to late reading it the past few nights. I read a good chunk of it while we were driving home from Orlando. (I love reading in the car ... thanks to my sweet hubby for driving all the way home.) I like this book so much that I have already ordered the other two books in the series to read next. The characters in this book are great and Larsson does a good job of making them come alive on the page.

10 years!

Will and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary earlier this month. Here is a picture from our wedding day. Ah ... we both look so young and in love. And look how thin my arms were!

Here we are 10 years later ... 2-1/2 kids, three residences and many jobs later ... older and wiser I think. We didn't do anything very spectacular to celebrate, but we did enjoy a nice, quiet, child-free dinner thanks to my parents. We spent most of the night talking about some of the fun things that have happened in the past 10 years and wondering what we did with all of our free time before we had children.

God did a lot of work to bring us together, but I don't have a shadow of a doubt that he is the perfect one for me. I don't know that I love him more after 10 years of marriage than I did on the day we married (because I loved him a WHOLE LOT then), but I certainly love and respect him in different ways after seeing him grow and mature into the husband and father that he is today. I am so thankful to be married to a man that has his priorities straight ... God first, me second and our family third.

Happy Anniversary Will.

My week at Saddle Ridge Ranch aka "VBS"

Last week, the kids and I headed to VBS. I helped my friend Jennie, who was teaching one of the 4-year-old classes. Claire got to be in my class, which was fun. Since I was working at VBS, David got to go too. (Normally, it's for children 4 and up.) I took oodles of pictures that are shown below.

It was a fun week, but I was pooped! And it only lasted from 9-12 every day. I seriously have never been so tired in my life. Who knew it would be so hard to keep up with 24 4-year-olds for 5 days (4 of which were the teacher's or helpers' kids).

We had the kids for about 30 minutes in the morning and then they went to recreation/snack/missions in another part of the church. Then they went to music in another place and then came back to the room for crafts and the bible story (for about an hour). Then it was time to go home. Whew! It makes me tired all over again just talking about it! Oh, and did I mention that Will was out of town all week and I worked 15 hours at the office too. Thankfully, my mom came and helped me out most of the week ... and I'm pretty sure that she was more tired than I was!

Note to self ... kids love to search for buried treasure in dry rice and grains. This was by far, the most popular activity!

Giddy up cowgirl Claire!

Recreation.

Note to self ... although very fun and entertaining for the kids, the rice/grain treasure hunt can get very messy!

My Office Assistant

David really likes to hang out under the desk in our home office. He got pretty comfy there the other day while I was trying to finish up some work on the computer. He has his two blankets (his "meeps") with him at all times and his favorite stuffed animal "ribbet".

Menu Plan Monday: July 26-August 1

We were in Orlando all last week, so it will be nice to get back to a more normal routine this week!

Monday: My mother-in-law is fixing dinner for us on this night, which is always a treat. She is keeping the kids all day while our regular sitter in on vacation.

Tuesday: Ham & cheese quiche, muffins or blueberry coffeecake, fruit

Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls

Thursday: grilled pork chops, corn on the cob, lima beans, rolls

Friday: pizza out with our supper club group.

Saturday: Mango tilapia, rice pilaf, steamed broccoli

Sunday (lunch): leftover quiche, muffins/coffeecake and fruit

Sunday (dinner): grilled hamburgers, tater tots

Check out other menu plans here.