Yes, I am still alive and kicking!

It's been a loooooong time since I have updated this blog. I suck big time. I have tried to keep up with everyone, but I am not doing too well at that either. It's just been a struggle finding time to do anything. My house was suffering from it too. Holy cow was it a mess. But, I think it's okay now. It's not perfectly clean, but clean enough.

So, life is good. My job is great, still enjoying it. Randall is still hard at work. Ruthie is growing like a weed and letting us know all about everything. Lil Randy is growing well too, and we only have 8 days left, YES 8 DAYS!!! Where did the time go???

We had an amazing month of March. It's Marching for the Master at our church, and we got to hear some amazing sermons from different pastors. We all really enjoyed that. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE our pastor, it was just nice to hear others preach the Word, and watch them get all worked up! Also in the month of March, was the 1 year passing of my beloved Grandma. It was hard, but there's also peace inside me knowing she's happy and loving every minute of everyday where she's at.

Everything at home is great. Ruthie got settled into a new room. She transitioned so well. I was completely amazed. The room we moved her into was in DESPERATE need of re-modeling. So, we did it all as fast as we could b/c it was for her b-day. I ordered her some new bedding (which I got an awesome deal on!), moved her into a bigger bed, painted the walls, laid down new flooring, and made over the closet. The pics I am posting are from that day, so it looks better now. ;) The room looks and feels so much better than it ever did. I can't get over it. It's smaller than her old room, but we knew we would want Randy closer to us, so that's why we moved her. Plus, we thought she'd enjoy it.

We received so many gifts for Randy; we feel so blessed. We got 3 baby showers: one at school, one at church, and a family one. They were all amazing and packing up took forever! I couldn't get over how much stuff we received! I have some amazing people in my life, that's for sure. I just can't wait to meet this little man. He's moving so much and reminding me that he's in there. I can't wait to hold him in my arms!

I do have a favor to ask of all of you. Randall is heading out on a mission trip to Honduras in June/July. Honestly, I am scared. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Lil Randy will be about 8 weeks old or so. It's going to be a hard time for all of us. We were so worried about money, but the Lord has blessed us greatly, and I am so thankful we are able to go. Money will still be an issue b/c I will be off work for 6 weeks, but I know He will help us. Randall is super excited to help others learn about God. This will be his first time in an airplane too. Just please keep our family, and this mission trip in your prayers!

Ok, now for pics!



Lil Randy's crib. We used Ruthie's old bedding, so it was bittersweet putting it all back together.
Just one of my favorite pics of her. She's such a goof!
Another one of my favorite pics. Can you tell she loves her Daddy? Randall is in the green kayak, and she is yelling, "GO DADDY GO!" I LOVE this pick! Look at her little pigtails!
Me at 33 weeks....I know....huge.
On her b-day just as happy as can be!

Ruthie on her b-day. She really wanted to be a ballerina. Crazy to me b/c I wanted nothing to do with anything girly, even at her age!

Waking up after her first night in her new room!

After pic!
My old bed and her new bed set!
Randall and I being goofy re-modeling!

Where do I even begin?

I will start with pics! I haven't shared anything in a LONG time, so here it goes! Be prepared!

Halloween-


Cousins-

Belly pic- Ruthie couldn't help but get in the pic!

Thanksgiving-

Ruthie riding the horse at Thanksgiving-


On to updates!

Things are going really good here. Randall is working hard. His plant has left off quite a few people, mostly temporary employees, and thankfully he is full-time. His department can't let anyone off b/c it's only a one man job per shift, so there is nothing they can do. Even though they cut out all the overtime, he still gets it. He's such a wonderful husband & father to work as hard as he does. He amazes me at how sweet and kind he is.

Ruthie is learning so much. She loves to play her little computer and she is doing so well with her numbers and letters. I haven't worked with her on her letters much, but she knows the letters that are in her name. She only goes to daycare 1/2 time, so I am very happy to hear she is learning a lot even though she's hardly there. She's really excited about this baby still. She's been super cuddly lately, and I have heard she may do this. I am enjoying every moment of it! She still hasn't made up her mind if it's a boy or girl yet. It changes by the hour. Today it's a baby sister though. She's excited about Christmas too. I think this year will be so much fun b/c she's learning about Santa. She tells me she's going to sit on his lap, but I doubt it.

The baby and I are doing great. My job is still going good. I am bored a lot, but it's easy and fun, so that's worth it for me. We are finding out the gender on Tuesday! We are so excited and ready. I still think it's a girl, but I would say 90% of people think it's a boy. Guess we will find out Tuesday....if he/she cooperates.

Thanksgiving was nice, but it was really hard. We were missing 4 people, 3 who we lost this year. We did have 2 extra people that we haven't had in a long time, so I tried really hard to look at the positive side. It was rough, but we made it through. We all enjoyed ourselves. At Randall's Thanksgiving, we laughed a lot. Skeeter (my BIL) always puts a smile on my face. As for my SIL, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She is having a really hard time carrying babies. They think she lost another. This is about her 4th or 5th miscarriage in about 2 years. It's heartbreaking. I don't know how much more she can handle.

Well, that's about it for now. I will do my best to update the gender, but I can't make any promises. I have a lot on my plate right now. I make a yearly scrapbook that I give to Randall on New Year's Eve. Last year, I had about 60+ pages. This year, I am slacking big time. I think I have completed 15 or so. I need to get on the ball, and that's where a lot of my time will be spent!

Hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!

I have a three day weekend......

but Randall has to work. I am off Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. He works Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday. He's working some overtime. It just stinks that it's now.

Ruthie and I are trying to enjoy ourselves though. We went to the library this morning. I needed to print some stuff off for Sunday School. We got new lessons and and they are from a different company, so I got to download some new stuff. She needed some new books anyways. She loves to go to the library. She hasn't quite learning to be quiet though. Afterwards, we hit the pool for about an hour. The little sweat bees were out and ruined it for us. We both got stung. I am guessing it was a sweat bee. She wasn't fond of them. She wanted to visit with Grandmama and Pappy anyways. We had a good time.

Then, we come home to take a nap. I finished a book, that I did not like. I had a friend from work recommend it, and it wasn't my taste. I finished it though. I fell asleep only to get woke up from the phone ringing. Which always happens. I am not kidding. EVERY TIME I lay down for a nap, I wake up to the phone ringing. Why is that?

I need to do some major cleaning. Leaving Ruthie and Randall at home for three days while I worked didn't do well on our house. It's a disaster. I told myself to play with Ruthie this morning, and clean later. Tomorrow will be a lazy day b/c we have church, and I refuse to clean on Sundays. If I don't finish today, it'll just have to wait. I have mounds of laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, and much, much more. I just hope I don't wear myself out.

I have been much sicker with this baby than I was with Ruthie. With Ruthie I was only nauseated at night, and I only got sick a few times. This time, I am nauseated all day long, and I am getting sick at night. At work, I do ok as long as I keep something in my stomach. It's when I get home. I lay on the couch and I can't move. I just want to go to sleep. It's so worth it though. My mom just keeps telling me, "this just means you are good and pregnant." She never had morning sickness though. We did have a scare earlier. We rushed to the ER, only to find out that everything was ok. I just had some major cramping and I didn't know what else to do. The doctors made me feel much better. We even got to see our sweet baby! I never said when my due date was. If I calculate it on the internet with one of those due date calculators, it says April 12th. I will find out more when I go to the doctor. I am thinking it's right b/c I was keeping track of everything.

Church is going extremely well. I am enjoying teaching Sunday School. I even volunteered to teach Wednesday night classes as well. I will be teaching 5th and 6th grade. I am truly looking forward to this! I just hope I can get some more kids, b/c we don't have very many 5th and 6th graders at church. I need to find out how school/church works b/c I teach 6th graders. I wish I could recruit some.

Guess what?!?!?

Ruthie is going to be a big sister! YES, we are pregnant! YEAH! I know it's been a while since I have posted, but it's b/c I was waiting to let everyone know in the family! We are so thrilled! We had been trying since June, and our big fat positive came on Saturday, August 10th! Here's a video of Ruthie telling you!


As for the new job, I haven't posted about that either. I got the aide position at the school. I feel so blessed to get this job. The Lord is working wonders in our family. It's going very well, and I feel like I made the right decision.

I will update more later, but I need to get super going.......