Countdown!

I'm excited to say that I only have 4 more weeks to go...and yet I'm feeling that it is forever away. I've hit the point of being extremely uncomfortable, physically exhausted and just feeling massive. I'm not sleeping well and the contractions are really starting to hurt. It is so difficult to get around and I just feel blah most of the time. The baby has dropped, which is good for the stages of labor, but bad because I have a lot of pain when I walk. It is getting more difficult to play with Jarrett, which makes me sad. I really miss getting on the floor and playing with him. I still do, but I can't for long, and then it takes all effort just to get off the floor (so if you call and I don't answer, it's likely because I'm in a position that takes more than four rings to get there:)! Jarrett is so adorable with the baby. When I am sitting he ususally comes up and pats my belly and says "baby"... then proceeds to hug and kiss it:) He is going to make a great big brother. Sorry about the complaining earlier. I am thankful that I am blessed to have another child and to experience someone growing inside me. It really is such an incredible process. God has made mothers very special and this time and preparation in the womb is such a bonding time and the building of an amazing relationship. I fall more in love with this child with every kick and my excitement of meeting this little miracle is beyond words. This pregnancy has been very stretching (ha, no pun intended) for me and in ways has been more difficult and also at times easier than last time, but it is all well worth it. I will say it's amazing how much you forget the second you hold the baby in your arms. So hopefully this will be my last pregnancy update and the Lord will grant my many prayers of going early and the next update will be all about the baby.

Wedding Bliss

This past weekend my sister, Megan, got married. Let me take you with me while I explain everything that happened. The start of the week Jett got sick with a cold and fever (surprise, surprise) and then Thursday I got it. Note: two days before the wedding. So Friday we left to go down to the wedding to help as much as we could. Jett was feeling better, but I felt horrible. The rehearsal went well (the picture to the left is Jett and his cousin Hope - they were the ringbearer and flower girl). So after rehearsal us girls took Megan out for her bachlorette party. We dressed her up (which was fun because Megan deeply prefers not to be in the center of attention) and took her out for ice cream. Afterwards we went back to the college and had a little shower for her, played a game, went around the room and said why we love her and then prayed for her and Aaron. My sister-in-law, Becca, and I went back to our hotel room afterwards expecting to sleep...but oh no, the night was just beginning. See in order to save money we shared a room with her and my brother Lee. Greg and Lee took Jett back earlier and then we came back after the party. As I was laying my head down to sleep, Jett woke up crying. In case everyone has forgotten, I was really sick and 8 months pregnant. The first hour (1a.m.-2a.m.) I tried everything to get him to go back to sleep. So the second hour (2a.m.-3a.m.) Greg and I drove Jett around town praying that he would fall asleep. When he did, we were overjoyed, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot he woke up. So for the next hour (3a.m.-4a.m.) I tried once again to calm him and get him to go to sleep. By now I am crying myself which is not helping the situation. Finally at 4a.m. Greg had had enough and everyone in the hotel was just going to have to deal with a screaming kid and he was just going to have to cry it out. So a little after 4:30 Jett fell alseep. It was short lived because he was up at 7:00. So I started the wedding day exhausted, sick and my face swollen from crying. Not to mention that Greg, Lee and Becca weren't doing so well themselves. Thankfully, my brother Ron and his family volunteered to watch Jett for a while so we could all sleep a bit...we will be forever grateful. I got to the church just in time to get ready. Which I cried quite a few times to my sister because I felt so bad that I had missed the whole morning. Nothing like a pregnant, emotional and tired matron of honor:) Megan was so understanding and even helped me get ready, love you Megan! The wedding went great. Hope was adorable, Jett was hilarious and Megan was beautiful...oh Aaron, you were quite handsome too:) Greg played piano and did a wonderful job, but what else would we expect, he is so gifted. The reception was so much fun and great to see everyone that came. We stayed until Aaron and Megan left for their honeymoon, but couldn't stand on our feet any longer. Of course Jett fell asleep as we were pulling out of the drive and I think that Greg and I were asleep before I heads hit the pillow. Overall, it was a good weekend and we are thankful that the Lord gave us strength to get through. We were so blessed with family and friends that were willing to help us with Jarrett and getting ready. Aaron and Megan will have a wonderful life together and we are so happy that he is joining our family. Now that my sister is married, I look forward to many married/wife talks together and how we can encourage each other to be the best wives that God desires us to be. Thank you Lord for sisters:)

Better Late Than Never

So a quick post about our Christmas festivities. We had a very busy, but enjoyable December. Every weekend we had some sort of family get-together for the holidays. We usually start the month with the big Cripe (my stepdads side) Christmas. We always enjoy this one and it's so much fun to catch up with everyone. We realized this year that it will be awhile until we can really sit down and talk to family. We always meet at a church with a gym so the kids can play, but Jett is still a bit young to be unsupervised (and then we realized that when he is ready, the next won't be...it might be awhile). We also have a big Snider Christmas which is also always good to catch up with everyone (that is were the picture above is taken). Then from there all the Christmases are the "small" ones of each side of the family (exp. on the Snider side we meet with all the family and then we have a smaller one where it is just with my first cousins). We had a great Christmas with Greg's family this year. His sister Denise and her husband Andrew live in TN, so this was the year that they were home. It was great spending most of the week with them. Both Greg's sisters and I are pregnant, so it's nice to talk baby together and all have an excuse to take a nap:) Jett made out great this year with gifts. He got a lot of toys, which was also nice for Mom and Dad (we were getting tired of playing with the same toys:). Grandpa and Grandma Replogle got him a drum set...I keep thanking them for the gift for Greg...I mean Jett. Pretty sure between the two of them they have to take their turn. The Juday (my mom's side) Christmas was also so much fun (picture to the right). We have started a tradition of playing a game every year and it is hilarious. We are very blessed that every side of all our families are very funny and humor is a big part of who were are. Even though it is a long month, it is well worth the hassle to be with family, catch up on life and to share many laughs.

Up to no good

A couple of weeks ago we had our first Toddler situation with Jarrett. One evening we were letting Jarrett play in his room by himself while I cleaned up the kitchen and Greg was reading a magazine. We realized after a while that he was unusually quiet (which in Toddler world is never a good thing). Then I heard this noise that brought chills, like something scraping the walls. I run to the hallway to find every single wall decorated with crayon (we were coloring earlier that day and I must have missed one while cleaning up). Jarrett just smiles and points at his masterpiece with such satisfaction and so proud of himself. Mommy had a good laugh, Daddy not so much (I'm not the one that spent literally hours painting the hallway). We finally got it off, but you can still see a bit in the wall were we had to scrub. Jarrett also got the walls in his room, but we waited to take that off until we painted last week. We went around the room saying "NO" at each spot, to help him understand that it's wrong to color on the walls. SO, before we took it off, whenever someone would come to the house he would take them back to his room, point and smile, and then say "NO", while shaking his head! :)This picture I find hilarious because I didn't tell him to put his nose against the wall. I wanted him to stand beside it to smile, but all he would do is put his nose against the wall.

Howdy Partner

We hope that everyone had wonderful holidays. Ours were great and so much fun spending time with family. More blogs and pictures to come. Just wanted to share another priceless picture with you of Jarrett. His cousin Jonathan thought he needed to have his old Woody costume. I dressed him up and surprised Greg, I haven't heard him laugh that hard in a long time:)