donettes and life

so these little donettes are my favorite thing to eat during this pregnancy. joel thinks that they taste too much like plastic. when i was describing what kind of chocolate donuts i eat constantly to a friend, she said "oh, the kind that leave the waxy film on the roof of your mouth? those are good." yes, they are- waxy film, plastic-y chocolate and all. yum.

joel's mom came for a visit during her easter break. we had a good time and she was a lot of help. one day, i locked myself in my room and embarked on a sewing career, because i want to be like michelle. well, maybe not a sewing career, but i sewed 3 blankets that day and felt very proud and crafty. usually when i get these ideas in my head (hey- i know- i will buy a sewing machine and teach myself to sew, that will be fun! kind of ideas) they usually turn out to be disasterous, leaving me very frustrated and the sewing machine in the closet for years. with many calls to michelle and her gracious affirmation, it ended up being a success. i forgot to take pictures of the blankets, so you will just have to believe they were pretty and there were no crooked stitches. oh, easter was fun.

we have moved lane into a big boy bed in the same room with davis. it has been a good thing. we are in the process of completing ellen's room, pictures to come.

physically, i am really struggling. emotionally, i am losing it. the last two days have been really difficult all around, really. you know those days where you wonder what you have done RIGHT as a parent, because all of the wrong things are very obvious and that is all you see? well, parenting is really kicking my butt these days. i really do parent in my own strength, just to be honest. not consiously, i guess, it just happens that way. well, that is going out the window. i know the answer is to allow the Lord to parent thru me, but some days figuring out how to do that baffles me. i have really been convicted to know Him more, know His word and His character more. this is a start to be sure, not just with parenting , but with living my life to bring him glory. as angie, not just mommy. say a prayer, if you think about it. joel is going to be in boston until tomorrow night (he feels bad for leaving). i fell like this is the worse possible time to be here w/o help at my physical and emotional breaking points, but my God knew. i don't want to miss out on what He is trying to teach me in all of this. joel says he will bring me back a boston baked bean. that will make all things well. well, probably not. a box of donettes, maybe.

fun

last night i had some sweet friends throw me an unconventional mommy-to-be shower. i had the best time! my friend vicki (who has 8, yup, 8 really great kids) decided that by baby #3 the mom could use a little spoiling, so she and my friend joelle planned a fun time for me and some friends. we drove to charlotte (about and hour away) to a huge mall. each person had picked a store for me to shop in and a designated amount of money that i could spend on myself in each store. i got to shop in motherhood maternity, a chocolate shop, bath & body, victoria's secret and the gap. it was really fun to get treated to so many nice things from such sweet friends. we all went to on the border for dinner. these are my Bible study ladies and friends, and i am blessed to know them. thanks so much vicki, joelle, hannah, julia, cindy, becky, linda, and rachel.

just a short shout-out to my wunnerful husband, joel. when i came home to show him all of my goodies, he had cleaned the house for me and put together the bookshelf that i just had to have. right. now. this was no small feat (the cleaning part). having 2 kiddos and not being able to bend over make for a pretty big mess- so thanks, babe. i wish that i could give you the week off, but you know, the no bending over thing won't be going away for a little while. :)

here are my guys, since i don't have a prego picture of me-

my dad is number 1

another ten miles

so, last night joel and i got to go to a caedmon's call concert right here in our lovely little town. (thanks, julia and hannah!!!) it made me feel old. i thought about the first time i saw them when tripp walmsly opened for them in a small room in the tac. i remembered riding with some guys to see them and watching said guys hit on the chick singer after the concert. it made me miss shane and aub and dan and dave. i remembered that time 2nd mile tried to sing that "hope to carry on" song. it was the worst thing i think we ever did. i remembered having SO much fun singing "not enough" with those guys.

we had a very fun time and it was funny for me to think of the ways things were different this time compared to the last time we saw them (at tech) here are some of the contrasts.

then- i stood the whole time, probably danced around
now- i sat the entire time, but so did the whole audience for every song for 3 hours minus the encore. (there was one song that two or three people stood for and it was just so awkward that it was distracting for me, you know these people stood and thought "if we stand, everyone else will!" well, we didn't, and not just those of us that are a million months pregnant. )

then- walked to the tonk
now - we arrived in our mini-van after contemplating getting a hot chocolate at starbucks

then- probably planned "cool" clothes to wear (am i the only one who used to do this kind of thing?)
now- wore comfortable shoes

then- laughed when they sang "april showers" because michelle thought they were saying "sexy mint"
now- laughed when they sang "april showers" because michelle thought they were saying "sexy mint"

then- thought that i was a little (very little) like them, you know, because i was in a band that covered their songs
now- realized that i lived in a fantasy world while i was in college

then- would not have been phased by what band members said
now- cringed a little when derek webb said things like whore and talked about a bong because i had middle school aged kids and their parents sitting next to me

then- thought joel was super cute, wanted to marry him one day
now- still think he is super cute. am now his crazed, knocked up, hormonal wife.

then- thought that the concert was really cool and loud
now- couldn't really hear joel or my friends talk for about 30 minutes after the concert was over. wondered if i had done permanent damage to mine or ellen's ears.

then- would've gone to the coffee shop after the concert to hear caedmon's unplugged
now- hurried home to relieve my wonderful baby sitters

then- thought it would be nice to have enough money to sponsor a compassion international kid
now- we have the priviledge to sponsor little doudlyn from haiti


caedmon's call then...



caedmon's call now...

rock star

today i was on the phone with a friend and davis walked up to me with his sunglasses on. i brushed his hair out of his eyes and he said in a 15 year old voice that he uses sometimes:

"mom, you don't touch a rock star."

cara tagged me.

cara tagged me. check out her quirks at http://vontress5.wordpress.com/

6 Quirks About You
Rules:
1: Link to the person that tagged you
2: Post the rules on your blog
3: Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4: Tag at least 3 people at the end of your post and link to their blogs
5: Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
6: Let the fun begin!

1. i am a beauty consultant. this is sometimes humorous to those of you that knew me before i wore makeup. i am only a beauti consultant in name (not in practice) because i sell beauticontrol products. i am a big fan and i like the discount. don't ask me the best way to apply eyeshadow, because i don't really know.

2. i would love to be on the amazing race with joel. i wouldn't even mind being the token Christian couple. i am sure that i would prove to be all kinds of crazy under all of that pressure, but i would love it.

3. i like to read (i used to love it) but for the last several years i find it hard to complete a book. i have a slew of books that live on/in my bedside table and after one or two chapters are read, they eventually make it to the bookshelf. please note that this 'quirk' does not prevent me from purchasing books, even though i know their fate before i even purchase them.

4. i love fun notebooks, journals, paper, and office supplies. i especially look forward to 'school supply' time in the fall because i can get cheap notebooks, folders and colored pencils at wal-mart. i mean, 10 cents for a single-subject notebook? i'll take 20, thank you.

5. i really, really don't like cutters. i am talking about people who cut in line. i don't think anything else on this planet sends me more than someone cutting.

6. i don't do caffiene any more. we tried to get pregnant with davis for 2 years and during that time i gave it up. ( i am aware that chocolate has some caffiene in it, but we won't count it ) i have intentionally had it on the days that i have had sonograms to hop up my babies, but other than that, i am done.

i am tagging these people, even if they have done this before.

jada http://www.xanga.com/mezzogirl1974/
ashley http://www.ashleytsears.blogspot.com/
lee http://thesimmonsspot.blogspot.com/

week 26 (of my pregnancy, that is)

lane and my belly

this pregnancy is kicking my tail. it doesn't really take much for me to be completely wiped out. a friend at church once said of her pregnancy that she could get winded chopping a carrot. it is so true! a normally pleasant walmart trip (ha! is there such a thing?) has turned into me debating if davis could actually help me push the cart, hoping i don't burst into tears before we reach produce due to sheer exhaustion, wondering if the box of oreo cakesters will add enough weight to the cart that it will be hard to make it to the car. my sweet husband has been going with me to grocery shop (which is such a blessing) but some weeks it doesn't work out that we can make it a fun-filled family trip, and this week was one of them.

i was able to wrench my engagement ring off of my finger a couple of months ago, but i am yet to pry my wedding band off. we have tried every trick we have heard of, even wrapping floss around my finger - a method i don't recommend, i mean, when your finger shrivels up and dies due to lack of blood flow, the ring is easy to remove, but is that the outcome i'm going for? so we are going to have to cut my ring. this is hard for me for many reasons, i am sure you can figure them out- i am getting bored with this paragraph so i am moving on.

i also gained waay too much last month - cakesters, anyone? the nurse practitioner last visit, very kindly told me to try to watch my weight, and i nod and mumble something about sugary cereals being so yummy. i am offically a loon.

i am returning the bedding we have purchased for sweet ellen and getting another set that will be more fun for me, i think. they are very similar, with pink and tulips, but one set has burgandy accents, the other has chocolate brown accents, and you know, hey, i am all about chocolate these days and burgandy (no offense to the two of you reading) is just not a sweet baby girl color. so this change makes me happy.

please know that i don't take for granted for one second the wonderful gift that sweet, heavy ellen is. i am thankful that our great God has chosen to expand this crazy-tail family we have. i just have had a pity party this week and this will count as therapy.

(no, we don't dress like this often, this was back from the nat'l championship game)

snow

we had snow last week. (not as cool as kansas snow, but still fun for us :) ) davis and joel loved it and played for a long time. they built a snow man and an igloo that d could climb in. lane had a hard time getting around in his marshmallow man suit. he did like to sled, however. when i brought him in he smushed his face to the glass in the front door and cried and cried. then i gave him ice cream and he was happy. when weighing my mother of the year award against a happy boy, this time having a happy boy won out. (by the way, i was out of the running for that mother of the year award a few weeks ago, anyway.)