just playing {a Simple Moments post}

this week, we went to a game that husband was officiating, which is funny because he's never done it before {i made sure to kinda giggle about it} it was so bloody hot, the boys hair was dripping with sweat and their faces were as red as tomatoes. so i squirted them with my water bottle nice and good. they didn't like it.
but i sure did.
after the game ended, the boys begged him to give them the football. then the chasing & the throwing-over-the-head ensued. it was quite hilarious, all they really wanted was for daddy to chase them. i was ready with my trusty gal to snap those photos.
i love those moments. where you don't quite care about the blazin' sun and the sweat dripping off your forehead or your stomach grumbling. all you want to do is preserve those moments where later on you will reminiscence about how little the boys were or how young we used to look. how our life used to be.

(click image to go to page)
simple moments is about finding the small things that make up our everyday, things we want to remember and be thankful for. it's the little bits of our lives that might not be remembered when we are gray and old. so we document it, on paper, with a photo, in a journal, through a blog.
Visit Brooke at myreal.everyday.life

post signature

weekly snapshots

it's been a blessed week. very blessed. super blessed.
torrential rains. flood warnings. muddy football games. family. travels. art stores. great food. and best of all? baby.
we had our one and only sonogram in downtown houston to maybe find out the gender. yes, this baby. this baby that i already love so much and it is only about 11 ounces big. whose kicks and sputters i feel with such love. this baby who generates such hunger pains which i hate giving into. this baby that makes me realize i just went through one roll of toilet paper all by myself today. this baby that i know will make our family feel complete and whole. the one we're all waiting to welcome in 2014 with our open arms.
ugh. i try so hard to put into words the love i am feeling, and i fail so miserably. will it be enough to just say i am in love with my little family? yes? ok then. i am in love with my little family. 
the boys have taken such a liking to each other...always including and beating up one another. it fills my heart with such joy. it's even better when daddy is home to get in on the action.
and to celebrate widow-hood on friday nights, we ordered a pizza with a chi-chi on it + put on Kung Fu Panda II + i won Mom-of-the-Night award by building them an amazing fort in the living room.
the whole week was filled with beautiful grey skies above, monkeys who loved using the umbrellas at the sight of at least one raindrop, and cooler weather.
the weekend was also blessed because my in-laws came down and told us all about their amazing cruise in Alaska....ALASKA! their pictures i am sure didn't do the scenery any real justice. and they visited santa's house up there...lucky. the weekend was also for Chance's saturday football game and for the boys to get muddy and to also give me a bad hair day....
one of the boys had fun getting muddy. and racing back and forth on the sidelines saying he is super fast.
this boy is all boy. 
the boys spent saturday night with their cousins. the next morning we found them by the pool meditating for inner peace with their super hero chones...thanks Kung Fu Panda II. 
and you know what else? i can't carry my camera around anymore because it keeps digging into the belly. and it is very uncomfortable. so i handed the camera off, because how come I never get my picture taken? 
oh.
this is why. 
hope your week feels as blessed as mine! i am also thankful for no wednesday night activities this week (no awana's) because my class this year is made up of almost 20 wild animals....errr...loving kids. 
post signature

Witty baby #3

I have about three blog posts with me and pictures of a gigantic belly from Jonah, my second {check them out here, here + here}. And unfortunately none from Andrew because I started this blog after he was born.
And that's ok, because really, who wants to see me as a beached whale? I may feel good through pregnancy, but I do not look good. 
I've taken joy in telling the boys about this growing parasite, as Gary would call it. Showing them videos and pictures of what a baby looks like inside a uterus.
Jonah made a funny about the umbilical cord + keeps calling me fat in the cutest way. Both boys unanimously agree that it will be a girl. They think it will be a baby sister, they say.
They take care of me by asking me if my belly hurts (they remember my morning sickness), or if they squished the baby when we are rough housing, loving on each other, or when they sit in my lap. I love their caring nature. I love that they're a part of this.
What I don't love are these hormones. I've been feeling a lot of things lately. And thinking a lot. And praying a lot. How on earth am I supposed to do this?
Bouts of depression and anxiety attack me every.day. It takes every ounce of emotional effort and faith to choose a change of attitude. And to also remember, I know I can do this. I know it will be hard. But with His help, it will all be okay. It will all be worth it and this is where I'm supposed to be. But it still doesn't feel right unless I top it off with a good cry in the shower. And after that? WHOA. Hormones. Am I right, prego ladies?
I keep a pregnancy journal {as I did with both boys} to preserve the memories, baby-related thoughts, physical changes and so on.
But here are a few of the other things that have been bombarding my mind + well-being for these past few weeks:





Phew!
I really can't wait to find out how Andrew + Jonah behave with a new little baby in the house. In the middle of winter. Where Gary will still be teaching. Where Andrew will magically still be attending school somehow. Where Jonah will still feel like he's loved even though baby will be permanently attached to mother's chi-chi. Where I will go days without a shower + lacking sleep, asking myself how I ended up this way. I was supposed to be working in an Austin-based animation house, for goodness sake! Honestly, I could care less about that dream job, I choose these little people over and over again.
 Jonah wondered why I was photographing myself with an exposed belly. He wanted to do the same.
I don't think I'm quite big enough to bust out my maternity clothes just yet. But the above shorts with the mid-waist elastic are my so favorite shorts ever and I said what the heck...I love the material and the color, and the elastic is not that uncomfortable.
I was asked the other day what my due date was. With a quick 'err....are you expecting?' followed after that. I don't think people should be asking me about it yet. Obviously, they have never gotten this memo:
Honestly people. What if I was just fat? That happened to me once or twice. 
Source
   Hey! You're pregnant!
   Umm, no. 
   Oh.
Seeeeeee? It's embarrassing for the both of us, so just keep your mouth closed. MMkay? MMkay. If I want to announce to the real world that I am pregnant, I will do so with a waddle, ill-fitting clothes, maybe some gas, and by rubbing + itching my belly, which by no means is an invitation for you to come rub it too. Hormones, I tell ya. 
post signature

wordless: bathtub moments




Happy Hump Day everyone! 

post signature