Then she turned three...

This week has been one long celebration of Natalie's third birthday. This year we took her to the store and let her pick out the theme for her party. She chose Minnie Mouse~ which was fun for all of us.

For a birthday supper, we had Minnie Mouse pancakes (well she and daddy had pancakes, my blood sugar went up just watching them.) Something about this picture makes me realize how grown up she really is:












Natalie helped me make cupcakes for her day care class to eat on her birthday. She is big enough to actually help, which made it fun for both of us. She can now crack an egg in the bowl and not drop any shell. I still don't do that well.







We went in with some other family members and bought a swing set for her this year. Chris and several friends spent all day Thursday putting this bad boy together. She LOVES it. We wanted to show it to her on Friday, the day of her party. We managed to keep her from seeing it all night Thursday night. Then, before we had cameras ready, Natalie sees it Friday morning and says, "look Mommy a new slide."














Her party was Friday afternoon. Chris made the Minnie Mouse cake. He did awesome. (this time my blood sugar went up because I had a tiny piece, I couldn't resist after smelling it all day.) :-) It was so delicious.













Natalie had a great time with friends. The highlight? KK and Papaw surprised all of us and drove here from WV. They arrived about on hour before the party. It was so much fun.

So as a repeat of last year: I love you baby big girl. Here are a few things that make you who you are at three:

1. Why? We have entered the world of why? You usually ask me endless why's despite all of my answers, you have more whys. When Daddy answers you, your response is usually, "oh."

2. You are more assertive and independent now then ever. And you've always been both.

3. I keep telling people that I think you've lost your ability to hear. You are now of the opinion if you pretend you don't hear us, then you don't have to listen. I think we are all learning more about grace and mercy at this point.

4. You LOVE to color. You are staying in the lines most of the time. You can trace your name and really love having us color with you.

5. You can "read" a lot of your letters. You know how to spell your name and can count to 20. (you skip number 17 occasionally). You can also count to ten in Spanish. When I asked who taught you that, you said, "Dora."

6. Speaking of Dora, you haven't watched her as much lately. You have turned into quite the Max and Ruby fan.

7. You are still a Daddy's girl.

8. You and Mocha are almost inseparable these days.

9. You are very excited for the new baby. I was still wavering on what his name would be. We kept debating Micah, Caiden, something else. Then, you came home from VBS with a picture you made of a boat. Micah was written on the boat because you asked for it to be. I asked you if we could name the baby Caiden instead of Micah. You laughed for a long time and said, "no mommy, that's silly, Micah can't turn into Caiden." So, Micah, whenever you are reading this, Natalie really finalized what your name would be.

10. You are sweet, kind, and usually nice. You act much older then three and everyone is shocked when they hear your age.

11. You tell us God lives in your heart. You also tell me He doesn't have a mouth to talk. Our daily prayer, is that one day, your little ears will hear his voice for the first time and you'll spend all of your life in awe of who He is and captured by His love.

12. Know I have treasured each day with you. Even when we have been rushed, busy, and running, I still love you. Even when you throw yourself down on the floor in a scream, I walk away because I love you. Even when you throw yourself in my arms with a big hug and kiss, I love you. Even when you tell everyone no at church and act like a crazy kid, I love you. Even when you are nice and smile and say thank you, I love you. Even when you mark on the walls, I love you. Even when you color perfectly in the lines on a page, I love you. Even when you are at your worst, I love you. Even when you are at your best, I love you. Never will there be a moment of your life that I don't love you.

13. I told you this morning on the way to church: "Natalie, I like you." You laughed and said, "Mommy, you are so weird."

14. Even when you think I'm weird, I love you.

30

I turned 30 last week. I had a great day, Chris, Natalie, and everyone spoiled me a bit. That's always fun. Chris drew me an awesome picture of tulips and framed it to match our room. (plus he and Natalie gave a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure- I can't wait.) I am more then impressed with him all of the time. We went out last night and had a date. I love that we still have fun. Here are a few pictures~ enjoy the very preggo belly. :-)






And my goal for this year, well, it's a big one. My goal for my thirtieth year on this earth is:

I want to finish peeing before the toilet automatically flushes and splashes my butt.

Let's pray that I can make that happen.

To my patient

I am so sorry.

I'm sorry that your death was as chaotic as your life.

I'm sorry that despite all of our efforts, your parents made life miserable for you up till your last breath.

I'm sorry that it all went down the way it did last night.

I'm sorry that you felt like your mom was "finally being a mom" simply because she was present.

I'm sorry that your family continued to steal your medications.

I'm sorry you died last night without anything for pain, because of their decisions.

I'm sorry you didn't have anything for pain because I feel like somehow, being the destroyer of your narcotics, makes me to blame as well.

I'm sorry that we weren't there.

I'm sorry that the law wouldn't let us go later.

I'm sorry you died there, you told me you didn't want to be there.

I'm sorry you were younger then me.

I'm sorry you never really knew what a mom was supposed to be about.

I'm sorry your dad was as he is.

I'm sorry that the entire system failed you from the day you were born until this morning, the day you died.

I'm sorry that for the first time in my life, it was your death that made me believe there are some people who really cannot be helped.

I'm sorry that it will take me a few days to sort through this and know we did make your life better.

I'm sorry all we could offer were bandages for physical wounds, hands to check you over, and an ear to hear only a piece of who you were.

Most of all, I'm sorry that you were never, ever, ever, given a chance to discover who you were.

Really.

I am so very sorry.

A much needed update

Here is a much overdue update from our household. Between work, church, vacations, Natalie, house remodeling and just pure exhaustion, this blog has definitely taken a back seat. But, here we go.

Momma duck is still sitting on her eggs. We are trying to determine the best way to tell her they are likely not going to hatch. Any ideas?

We all ventured to Disney World last weekend. We met up with Chris' Mom, Grandmama, and other family for the Magic Kingdom last Friday. Then my parents came down for the weekend and we went with them to Animal Kingdom on Saturday. Natalie was fairly impressed this time around with the all the activity. The whole weekend she just really, really, really, wanted to see Minnie Mouse. Late Saturday, she had her chance. Mickey and Minnie were together. She totally by passed Mickey, who offered her a high five, and ran to Minnie, and gave her a hug and kiss. Here is the cute picture of the event.



Then back to real life this week. Work has been busier then I could ever explain. I've got far more patients on a caseload then I should, but it changes so fast. They are trying to get our numbers back down, which will be nice.

And, the pregnancy is going well. I do have gestational diabetes again. :-( Very distraught about this. I had pretty well convinced myself that I didn't have it with Natalie, but the three hour test here confirmed it all. My numbers were pretty high. So I'm back on a strict diet of lots of protein and not so much of anything that I like. My blood sugar is being a little more unpredictable this time around too. It's either pretty low or a little high. I see the doctor again this week and am curious to see what they say. I'm being good though, so it's frustrating. As for the baby, he's bouncing and moving and seems quite active. Natalie is enjoying singing to him and feeling him kick her. Pray for her though. I don't think she is grasping that he will be out of my belly one day. :-)Here is a good prego pic while I'm convincing Natalie to stand with Jimminy Cricket.



We are starting to plan for my baby girl's third birthday party in a few weeks. I still can't wrap my mind around that. I look at her with her new hair cut and know there is no baby left in that child. She's independent, feisty, bold, hysterical, and quite loving. If this boy is laid back I'm afraid he won't stand a chance against her.



Well, that's all for now, we are off for groceries and all that is Saturday. Have a great weekend!

Congratulations!!!

Dear Doctor DJ,

We are so very proud of you (and Sarah). We love you and will miss you dearly while you are in Minnesota. I hope you love it there, but want to move closer in three years only because of the weather. :-) Congratulations!

All of us.

Let's rub bellies

The rounder my belly becomes, the more fascinated Natalie is becoming with it. Tonight, she decided our bellies should touch. I can't believe I'm about to post these pictures, but they are really cute of her. Have a great weekend!

Momma Duck Part Five

I've not written much about "momma duck" lately because, well, she hasn't done much lately.

She's been eating, drinking water, and sitting around on her eggs. I feel for her. :-) Except, the sitting on her eggs, I just feel like a nice round egg these days.

But, yesterday she and I had another chat. EVERYONE has been telling us to give Momma Duck water. This has made me laugh because I'm quite sure she is capable of getting her own water. But, after enough people have asked, told, begged, and called to check, we have given in and started giving this dumb duck water. I mean, she's the one who chose to nest next to my front door.

Anyways, I've digressed. Back to yesterday. I knelt down to fill up her bowl and she pecked me!!! She, pecked my hand!!!!

I reacted like any other normal sane person. I told her "no!" Just like I talk to my dogs. She tilted her head sideways in a very Mocha like fashion. I think she was trying to figure out what no meant.

I said, "listen hear momma, I've let you sit at my door for weeks now, I've let my daughter feed you, I've even gone so far as to check on your sixteen eggs every night at 8 pm because I know that's when you are gone. I've made other ducks leave and held my dogs back. I've listened to lectures given on your behalf about how I should purchase food for you and provide you water. But, this my fellow momma is it. I have a line and congratulations you just found it. No more pecking my hand...and no more pecking any other male ducks around here, you have enough eggs!!!"

Feeling much better, I bent down, poured her water and left for church. She still looked a little wide eyed when I came home today. I think, I possibly taught a duck what the word "no" means.

I wonder when I'll finally get Natalie to understand?

A few beach pictures

Here are a few pictures from yesterday at the beach. We escaped for a few hours, I do love living in Florida. :-)