TBT

Throw back Thursday for all of you! Micah's first Christmas in Plano, TX. All the cuteness in the world wrapped up in this little boy. Right now I'm sitting at my computer typing this while Micah is in the bath (he's right next to me don't worry) and he's is playing pretend and talking to all his toys. It's the sweetest thing. He has such an imagination. How much he's grown since two years ago! Now we are about to have another little baby to watch grow and learn all the ways of this world. Today my  pediatrician said the best thing for a child is a sibling. It helps them learn so much about sharing and loving. She said he will never remember being the only child after a few months. It will probably be harder for me to understand and figure it all out than it will be for him. 

I would love some prayers from you all. I am really starting to struggle with my back pain and just doing daily things. I want to do so much with Micah during the holiday season, but it seems like I may have to scale back a bit. It's 28 days now!! I know it's right around the corner, but it's way harder for me to be myself with Micah and I'm trying so hard to keep up my routine. Tomorrow we are going to see Rudolph at the Center for Puppetry Arts. I'm really excited about taking him and then we will be visiting Dad at his work for lunch....and THEN I am picking up my mom from the airport. I hope I can make it through the day without breaking my back. Mom is coming into town to watch Rachel's  boys for her while she goes on a work trip. Should be nice for everyone to get a little Nana time! 

Monday I see the doctor for my 36 wk appt and then I will be going in weekly. I can't believe she will be here soon!! I don't know where I put my bottles, so I had to order a few just in case nursing doesn't go as smoothly as I hope. I can't wait to meet our little girl. 

Love you all

Big boy

I was so scared when we were about to make this big boy bed transition, but I'm even more grateful it happened now. Micah is doing so wonderful. He is staying in his bed until his alarm light goes off. And he loves that he is responsible for himself. He comes in my room and says, "Green light came on!!" And is so excited about it. I love it so much that we are getting this down before baby NJ is here. I'm sure it will be harder for him when we have company...so I will have to prepare myself for that. However I will still get a break even if he doesn't nap because that's what family is for!!

All our decorations are up and yesterday we went a bought some cool toys at Costco for M. I went to check out while Craig walked around with him. Then we went to the dollar store and got some stocking stuffers. I'm so glad we are getting it done now so I don't have to worry if she comes early.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!!

Catch up

I thought I had posted more this week, but with Thanksgiving and all it's been a little crazy.  First off I have some cute photos of our play date last Saturday with all the cousins. We met up at a park and played. It was 55 degrees and really windy, but we survived. After that it started to climb back up to the 70's and was really pretty for Thanksgiving.

Monday I had my 35 week appt and I don't go back until December 5th. Which would be week 37. I just can't even believe it. We decided to stay in this week so we wouldn't catch any more viruses and could be healthy for Thanksgiving. I'm so happy to say that everyone was at Thanksgiving and no one threw up!! Hannah and Averie had a cold and were struggling a bit. 

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. 

 Jay brought a small card table and we fit everyone at the table. It was so fun and Micah loved looking around and seeing all his cousins.

Friday, Craig had to go to work for a little bit and then he came home and we set up the Christmas tree. Micah is so excited about it and loves all the lights. It's going to be an amazing time with a 2 and a half year old. He's so much fun and is going to have a blast this Christmas. Maybe even his sister could join us for Christmas morning??? We'll see. How exciting is this? I love this time of year and we have so much to be thankful for. I love that I can wrap presents and surprise M and I want to make it as special as I can for him. 

Here is the performance the kids did for us on Thanksgiving.

I'm not making this up either. This is what Micah says he wants for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Cute videos

Today we are staying home. Micah came down with a cold and is ready to do nothing today. I'm going to clean and get some laundry done. We need days like today. Yesterday was a rough one. We took homemade lasagna to my friend Meg who just had her little girl 2 weeks ago. She was so precious. Pretty much slept the whole time and was such a little doll. Micah got to play with Shep and was really excited about it.  I got to snap a photo of this little girl. Makes me so excited to see mine soon!

Here she is. Little miss Kelly Ann

THAT wasn't the rough part. It was when we got home and Micah decided he did not want to take a nap and got out of his crib about 6 times. I started to get way too frustrated and I was so tired myself that I think I got too upset with him. He was laughing a lot and thought it was all a game. Around 4 p.m I decided to go downstairs and put the oven on and asked M if he wanted to go to the park for a bit. I was going to put the lasagna in the oven and knew we had about an hour to play. So he was having a good time on his 4 wheeler and riding around. He climbed up a hill and fell. He grabbed onto a bush that sliced his finger open. When I ran to him his finger was gushing blood. I ran and got tissues from the van and tried to stop the bleeding. It wasn't a deep cut, just bleeding a ton. At 34 weeks prego I carried Micah and the 4 wheeler back to the van. He sat on my lap and I had to hold that tissue on his finger tight so blood wouldn't get everywhere. It was a disaster. We got home and cleaned it and put a few bandaids on his fingers and as I was holding him on the couch, he fell asleep on me. He slept on the couch from 5:40 until about 6:45p.m  He was so exhausted. I was too. It was just nice to have some quiet time. When Craig got home we got to eat lasagna at the dinner table all by our selves. It was quiet.  Then M got up and finally ate dinner around 8 p.m. and we all danced to Christmas music and finally went to bed at 9:30 p.m.  Today he may not nap, but I'm changing my expectations. Also, I'm going to try and sit in his room while he's in the crib and see if it works. I can't wait till the guard rail gets here. I think he's just too excited that he can climb out. Once he can get in and out of his crib and realizes it's normal, maybe he will be more likely to sleep. who knows. LOL

When M and I went to the Children's Museum on Monday I took a few videos. You can tell he is limping in these videos, but I am happy to say that he is doing much better now. I think his foot has healed. Not sure still what he did to it, but I'm just glad he''s not struggling to walk. It was getting hard to carry him everywhere. Here's M cooking and shopping!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Big boy bed

So it happened. A month before this little girl is supposed to arrive and my little man decided to becomes a big boy.  He figured out he can get out of the crib and has been getting out all the time. Unless he falls asleep in the car and I put him in there it's been a struggle to get him to nap. Sleeping at night is still going fine.  I think since it's so dark in there he doesn't want to get out. Today I have put him back in the crib 4 times. I'm trying not to give up because I really want him to keep taking naps. And I KNOW he needs one.  So Craig ordered the guard rail to make his crib into a big boy bed. I'm deciding to dive right in and try my hardest to train him before baby N is here. Some days he may not take a nap and I may just have to deal with it...but I'm praying it all works out.

Now I feel the pressure trying to get him ready for all these changes. It's going to be alot going on at one time. Some morning's he surprises us and is right outside our door waiting. It's kinda freaky the first few times it happens because it doesn't feel right. I guess this is what I get for having a tall boy.  He can actually get out easily. He's shown us how he does it. I'm just scared I'm going to go in his room and find him sleeping on the floor Cuz he couldn't get back IN his bed. 

I'm 34 weeks today and I'm feeling really good. Still need to take a small break during the day but I don't feel like I NEED a nap. It's better if I don't and I can fall asleep quicker at night.

Micah and I had so much fun at the zoo on Friday and the museum on Monday. We are trying to do as much as possible before it all changes. It will be hard not to focus all my attention on him.

This weekend we had a birthday party at xdrenaline  (trampoline place) and we think Micah Did something to his foot. He's been limping ever since we left. He doesn't say anything hurts when we touch his foot so it's really strange. I have his 2 and a half year appt on the 30th and if it's still bad hopefully we can figure out what's wrong.

Tonight is our last lifegroup meeting for our 6-week series.  It's been alot of fun and I've enjoyed getting to know these couples. We may try to split off and do women and men separate for a bit so we can hold off on getting a babysitter for awhile. It's been fine just nice not have to pay anyone.

We are having Thanksgiving here at my house and I'm so excited about it! I decided to host bc it seemed easier with Micah's naptime and all but now I'm rethinking it...haha
Rachel is going to host Christmas in her new house and I think she's excited about that! Maybe we'll have a baby by then. How fun would that be!!

Hope you all are having an awesome week. I get to see Meg's baby tomorrow and bringing her homemade lasagna!! Which means we get lasagna tomorrow night too!!yum. Thanks to grandma Schaver for the awesome recipe!!

Where is the LOVE?

Ever since waking up on Wednesday morning at 2 a.m. and watching the new president elect Donald Trump's speech, life has been different. Not in my house, but outside these walls. It feels different out there. No one is feeling the love these days. I mean, I was surprised at the outcome of the new president but never thought people would react like this. So much hate toward Trump and for those who voted for him. Good thing is I don't believe a president makes a country who it is. I don't believe he will be the deciding factor of how we love one another and treat our neighbors. I don't think he can control the way we talk to one another and give back and serve our area. One man does not have as much power as we are all giving him. I was hoping when Wednesday came to a close everyone would realize the world wasn't ending...but looks like people want our country to go down in flames. Literally people are protesting the streets and rioting. It's so sad. I can't believe they put so much of their faith in ONE person.

Here's the thing. I'm choosing Faith over Fear. I don't think I fear the future as much as some do right now, but I'm always fearful of what could happen. Especially with so much hate going on right now I am fearful of how our nation is reacting. It's so reassuring to know our God, who is more powerful than any ONE person or anything, already knows the future. He has written the end of all of our stories. He gives us the only hope we have is for after this world. Our time here is not the end, it's just the beginning. I'm so glad I can teach my son and daughter about the one and true King of their future. He's got this. We don't have to have fear. Choosing faith is the only way to bring peace back into our lives.

I'm so happy I have young babies right now. They are the best. Living in their own world without regard of the hate around them. Micah reminds me daily of how people shut out others without giving them a chance. M comes with me every 2 weeks to my doctor appointment. He knows the routine. It's really cute. Every time we sit in the waiting room he wants to make friends with everyone. To my surprise many people won't even make eye contact with him. They are so closed off and on their phones or in their own world they forget that our children are the future. How you treat them is how they will treat others when they are older. It makes me so sad when Micah tries to talk to others and they ignore him. Through his eyes...he doesn't see race, color, religion, or even care about any of that. It's so amazing to see how we should treat others....by imitating toddlers. He teaches me so much about how to live. You would never think that about a 2 year old, but it's true!!

Also, here's a funny story from the doctor on Wednesday. Micah is really good at saying his full name now. He knows that my last name is the same as his. So when we went to the bathroom so I could give my urine sample in a cup (like always) I asked him what name I should put on the cup. He responded with full confidence, "Momma Hooker." I was so proud!! And it was the cutest thing I had heard. The other night at the dinner table he was saying, "I'm a Hooker, (pointing at daddy) You a Hooker, (pointing at me) You a Hooker"...as you can imagine it's pretty darn funny.

I was supposed to go out last night for a moms night out with my MOPS group, but I just couldn't. I was not ready to go out at 8 p.m. So I decided to hang out with my moms group here int he neighborhood. It's so much easier on my to get some mom time and let Micah play. He got to play with Victor's little sister Eliana (who he loves) and I love watching him with her. It's like my future is playing in front of me. I know he's going to love having a little sister soon.

I had a few plans today, but I think I've decided to head to the Zoo with Micah. I want to go while it's in the 70's, but not too cold out. I also just want him to run around and do whatever he wants without an agenda. I'm not taking a stroller and going to see how well he does. Hopefully I don't get stuck carrying him to the car at the end (which is likely to happen). I hope you all have a great weekend planned. 

We have a birthday party tomorrow morning for 3 kids in the neighborhood and the a chili cook off party for the neighborhood too. It should be a fun weekend. 

Here's a quick video of Micah the guitar player. 

Baby Noelle

Finally I took a video of her room. It's all set up and just needs a few more things. I'm so excited about getting everything together and ready for her.

Yesterday was an amazing day. Filled with friends, fun, food and baby clothes!! I got some really cute stuff and excited to get it all washed and put in her drawers. We had my shower at a place called Amelia's French Bakery in Atlanta. It was surprisingly huge inside with a massive room for us. We had so much great space and took some awesome photos. I can't believe it's over already. It all feels real now. Especially because I'm waking up at 6 a.m. unable to fall back asleep. It's really annoying.  I'm thinking this pregnancy glow might be coming to an end soon with the lack of sleep I'm about to get. Here are some of the photos from the shower. I was so happy everyone got to come except for my friend Meg who had her baby this past Friday! So happy for her.

I've decided not to get maternity photos...so this is as good as it gets. It's perfect. I don't need much. I know once she's here my big belly doesn't matter anymore! 51 more days. That's what my baby bump calendar is telling me. The fun part is that whenever I see a count down for Christmas it's practically the same amount of days. So everyone is counting down with us :)

At the grocery store today Micah noticed an older man walking with a cane. He said look mommy he has a big stick. I said yes it's called a cane. Then when we got home he grabbed a stick and started saying he was like Grandpa. I'm not sure which Grandpa he's referring too, but both Grandpa Pete and Grandpa Hooker use canes. It was just too cute so I took a video.

We called Grandpa Pete last night to wish him a Happy Birthday and Micah kept saying he wanted to go to his house. Of course Craig told him we could go and he should go get his shoes on. ((sometimes I want to smack him for thinking he can joke with a two year old!!!)) So M decided to get all of our shoes and get his on so we could go. I had to explain to him that they lived too far for us to drive to them tonight. So this morning when he woke up, again he went for his shoes and said, "Let's go to Grandpa's house." Then he wanted to go to Grandma's house. It became a lot for me that I started feeling really sorry for him. I wish he could go see his family. I so wish I could drop him off at grandma's house. Oh how I long for that day. It may never come, but I know we would all love it.

We all went out to dinner or Saturday night to Maggianos. Rachel gave Craig and I a gift card for our anniversary in September and I felt like it was burning a hole in my wallet. haha We took M and he took amazing. We haven't been out to dinner in a while so I think he was excited too. He ate his ravioli and Craig and I got the dinner for 2. It was crazy! It came with an app, 2 pasta meals, a dessert and 2 pasta meals to take home. I was excited we got some lunches for the next day. 

When we got home Micah was running around playing and accidentally bumped his head on the wall. I didn't see it, but he started crying and Craig and I both tried to coddle him. He finally looked at both of us and said, "I need some candy (while crying)" so I guess that's going to be something that happens now. LOL

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Make sure to go out and Vote tomorrow! Craig and I early voted and I'm so glad I don't have to worry about it anymore. I also know it doesn't matter who wins because ultimately God is in control. As Micah's memory verse says, "God's way is Perfect." Amen

Funny quotes

As we were driving home the other day from a play date Micah looked out the window and saw Panda Express. He then said to me, "Mom I want to go in there." I said why? He then said, "there's bears in there!!!" I started laughing so hard. I told him he would be really disappointed if we went in there because there are no animals. It's very deceiving but it's a restaurant. It did however make me want come Chinese food!!

Micah has had a little puppy that was given to him by his grandpa Pete a year ago. He still loves it and brought it into the car. I asked him if he remembered who gave him that puppy. When I told him he said, " Yes, grandpa Pete! Can we go see him?" My heart sank. Wish he could see them again soon and praying he will!

Also, Craig told Micah his Grandpa called and can't wait to give him lots of candy (since we are mean parents and made a video prank) Micah was so excited and said, "I want to give him a hug."

I am hoping to get on here and write down things that happen Right away or maybe start making a note about them on my phone and keeping track. This guy says the cutest things these days. Some things crack me up and others melt my heart.

He was eating his avocado yesterday and I told him how much I love avocados. He then replied, " I love water." What toddler loves water?? Haha Micah does!! He's starting to drink some regular milk mixed with chocolate milk.

He's been such a little sweety lately and loves talking about his sister and going into her room. We will be getting everything put up this weekend and I will take a video of the room so you can all see!!

My shower is on Sunday too!! I can't wait to celebrate this little girl.

Trick or Treat

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. What is it that we are celebrating? Hmm.. not sure about this holiday, but I do like the candy. Of course, Micah saw a ton of monsters around this time which isn't helping him sleep. The shadows are scaring him a bit at night and he has decided there are monsters on one side of his bed. So he sleeps all the way up against the front side of the crib. I purchased some "Monster Spray" from a friends that sells Pure Haven Essentials. It's a Lavender essential oil spray to help them sleep, but you can also use it as a "get rid of monster's spray." Seems like I could use it right now.

Trunk or Treat was so much fun with Micah's cousins on Saturday. We had a blast walking around to each trunk and getting candy. It was way easier than walking around our neighborhood. However, M did a lot better than I thought he would. It was a game to see if we could find the houses with the porch lights on. We went out by Hannah and Rachel to a church called North Metro Baptist. They had food trucks, petting zoo, and tons of jumpy houses....all free (except the food). So nice! I love when you can have a good time without spending a fortune. Liam, Riley and Caleb were the characters from PJ Masks. Which you will only know if you have a toddler and watch the show. Same thing with Averie, she was a viking from "How to Train Your Dragon" which I have never seen. She still looked really cute. And Micah.. well... He was a cute Pirate. I mean he really loved being a pirate, and we got a picture with a guy who had his trunk set up as a pirate theme. There were some really creative trunks there. I was pleasantly surprised.

On Sunday, I volunteered at church in the childcare playhouse for 3 and 4 year olds.  It gave me a new appreciation for all those workers. It's not easy at all. I think I could be really good at it though. 

When I got home Micah and I painted his pumpkin outside on the deck. Then he took a nap. On that note...I put him down about an hour ago in his crib. He acted like he couldn't take life anymore and was crying hysterically and just acting so incredibly tired and now he's been playing in there for AN HOUR. What's wrong with him? He's acting perfectly fine. I just want him to SLEEEEP!!!!! Anyways, so Sunday night we got to play with Isabella and Parker at Maggie's house. He now asked to go over Bella's house all the time. It's really sweet.

Here's me on Sunday at 31 weeks.

Monday Craig got home a bit early since it was Halloween and I was able to run out and vote! I didn't realize it was going to take an hour and a half of standing in line to get it done, but I'm so glad it's over with. I'm happy that everyone is trying to get out and vote, but sheesh!! Took forever. 

Last night we got Micah to eat his salmon, broccoli and rice (which I was super grateful) before trick or treating. My neighbor Betsy had a little fire going in her front driveway where you could roast marshmallows and make s'mores. I'm not going to lie...it hit the spot!! So yummy. We had a great time trick or treating. I thought we might get to a few houses, but we went pretty far and a lot of people were home. 

  stopping at Victors house to play trains in the garage while mommy got a s'more!

Look at that LOOT. He woke up this morning and told his daddy he needed his candy bucket. HELP! I like that I can get him to eat his food with him wanting candy, but it's all I hear right now. Candy...Candy...Candy.  Craig and I played a little prank on M. IT wasn't very nice, but Jimmy Kimmel has a segment on his show every halloween where parents do this and I always wanted to try it. I'm so mean!!!

Love you all