Guessing Game

Can you guess what I'm getting ready for?

• Put on my LONG yoga pants
• Put on some socks
• Put on my slippers
• Put on my jacket
• Zip up my jacket  (Yes, it IS July here!)

Still don't know?  Here are a couple of other clues.

• Light a ring of Tiki torches
• Light the Citrinela candles 
• Get the bug spray
• Turn on the Off Clip-on Personal Repellants

I just want to go in our backyard and relax outside under the stars with my baby and sip on some tea after the kids go to bed!  Is that too much to ask?  The mosquitos are so bad in our neighborhood that we heard the 90's ZAPPER going crazy in our neighbors backyard, HA!=)

Know Where Your Organics Come From

Check out Josh's blog about the link between Malaria and Organic food/produce sold to the West.  Pretty eye-opening.  Makes you want to double check where all that Organic food you buy is coming from doesn't it.

Fun Facts For Friday

Because He Turned 3 This Week

1. I have never asked Zeke, nor shown him for that matter, how to change the toilet paper roll but every time he is the last one to use up the toilet paper on a roll he'll throw it away and change it with a new roll from under the counter.  And don't worry, when there isn't one he'll come ask me for one so he can change it.
2. He can role-play the entire movie "Cars
3. He is very sensitive to people's feelings concerning their belongings.  For example, one night when acting like a rock star he jumped off his "stage" and landed on some of my Tupperware that had been lying on the floor.  He crushed it and it broke in little pieces.  He acted devastated, knowing it was his mommies and apologized over and over=)
4. The best consequences for him right now are not spankings or time-outs.  Nope, we just have to mention that we will take one of his new cars he got for his birthday and he straightens right up and acts like an angel!
5. Zeke tells Josh on a daily basis (if not more) to "stop talking to mommy and come hewe so I can wessle you!"

All Night

The last few nights have been long nights for me.  I've not been sleeping well at all and after every trip to the bathroom it takes me FOREVER to get back to sleep.  

I've even made up a new game.  I try to guess what time it is by the lighting outside every time I have to get up to go to the bathroom.  I was WAY OFF after my first trek out of bed last night.  I thought for sure it was around 1:30am but alas...it was only 11:28!  Not even midnight!=)

Which brings me to the post at hand.  I've been sitting in bed for several hours at night lately and just thinking.  For instance, after watching/hearing days and days of Michael Jackson coverage (that seems to be the only thing going on in the world apparently) I laid in bed pondering what it would have been like to grow up knowing him, wondering how he made his body move the way he did while dancing, how he wrote his songs...you know, things like that.

Last night I stayed awake thinking, what if Micaiah came tomorrow?  Would I be ready?  I get pretty uncomfortable, as most women do, during that last few weeks of pregnancy and my short torso, numb rib cage, and lack of air supply (Josh was laughing at me while I tried to eat corn on the cob last night with my stuffy nose and lack of oxygen, HA!)  are evidently taking the brunt of this discomfort.  So, physically speaking I'm ready, and as of next week he'll be considered full term (37 weeks) so Micaiah is ready.  Areyna wanted me to just push my belly last night and make him come out so she is ready.  Josh is ready for another kid to wrestle so I KNOW he's ready.

I waited 10 months to get pregnant with this little guy.  We prayed and prayed, ultimately knowing God's timing is perfect but feeling very impatient.   God is good (even if we wouldn't have gotten pregnant again, I might add) and saw fit to bless us with Micaiah to raise to fear the Lord.  That's a big responsibility.  

These are just things I've been thinking about.

What Makes Me In The Mood

No silly... for cooking=)

If you know me at all you know that my culinary skills aren't quite my forte.  Now, I don't want you to think I never cook or make healthy dinners for my family.  On the contrary.  We actually hardly ever go out to eat and I cook filling, healthy dinners almost every night of the week, but it is not my favorite past time if you know what I mean.

But, there are those certain times that I do get "in the mood" to bake or cook something scrumptious.  Here are a few of those times...

• Rainy days
• Snowy days
• Christmas time
• Any holiday when the weather is just right
• In the afternoon when I'm all caught up on my work and it just sounds like fun

Can you tell I am swayed by the weather a lot, and today is overcast and we're on the verge of a downpour.  Plus, we had some bananas that we got for 1/2 price at ALDI that needed baking=)

So, for all of you kitchen gurus out there, here is a simple, yummy Banana Bread/Muffin recipe given to me by our dear friend Dave Krausse.  You probably have every single one of these ingredients in hand.  Your kids will love it...I know mine can't get enough of them!

• 5-6 Bananas
• 1 3/4 cups Flour
• 1 1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 3/4 Tsp Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tbsp Milk
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup chopped nuts (optional)

Bake at 350* for about 15 minutes for muffins and 20-30 minutes for a loaf of bread.

What makes you in the mood to bake a little?

Home, The 4th, New Baby, 3 and Other Baby News

First of all, I think Josh gave me his jet-lag=)  I have hardly been able to keep my eyes open since he got home as my body has finally allowed itself to let down.  I've decided that the next trip Josh takes will need to be minus the super-prego wife and the emotions that come with it, HA!  This was def. the hardest trip on me just because I'm getting more and more immobile and tired while having to keep up with the kids=)

HOME

Josh made it home.  The kids have been like static cling to his side, not even allowing him to get up and go to the bathroom without them, literally!  We all missed him so much but are so thankful to have a daddy/husband who loved Jesus more than anything and is willing to go and be a mouthpiece for the Lord in other countries.  You can read the recap of his trip HERE!  God is SO good.

The 4th

The kids had started hearing the prelude to fireworks by the neighborhood kids all week long. They also knew that daddy was coming home on fireworks day so you can imagine how excited they were to get their daddy home and head to Monroe for the light show. The parking lot that our church's Monroe campus is in is a GREAT place to watch the fireworks. They had set out bouncy fun houses and had live music and BBQ. It was a fun night. This is the first year Areyna watched the fireworks without covering her ears because of the noise=)

New Baby

My sister and brother-in-law had their 3rd little baby girl on the 4th so we figured, hey since "this is just what we do" we hopped in the car to go visit little Karis and the rest of the family=)  Now I'm REALLY ready to have Micaiah, I'm next in line!

3

Zeke turned 3 yesterday!  I can't believe how quickly time flies.  He is such a big boy now.  Here are some things he is into...

• Sneaking food out of the pantry
  
• "Cars" - He LOVES Lightning Faqueen=)
• Super Heroes
• Acting like a rockstar!
• Food
• He can now get up and go potty all by himself at night...although he hasn't quite mastered putting his jammy bottoms on alone=)
• Playing air guitar, air piano, air drums...
• Wallets - he loves to put things in them, out of them, just plain carrying them around
• He ALWAYS has to have a guitar pick
• Eating
• Swimming
• Buttons - Anything that has knobs and buttons to push
• Have I mentioned that he loves food?!

We all went to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate and he had a blast!

Other Baby News

I made it to another baby appointment on Monday.  Micaiah is down and ready.  She also said I was measuring right at 36 weeks and was a fingertip dilated which I know doesn't mean a thing except it's nice to know things are heading in the right direction!

So now, we are home.  I love my house, my family, my God and the life He has given me!

Fun Facts For Friday - Ready For Daddy

The Adventures of:

1 Mommy, 2 Kids, and A VERY Preggo Belly 

who are all more than ready for daddy to 

come home TOMORROW MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Past 2 weeks have been quite adventurous to say the least.

1- We headed to my best bud's house and hung out with her family for a few days.  Areyna absolutely LOVED having a princess buddy.  Their imaginations ran wild as they literally played for hours together.  "Flying Mermaids" and "Princess Fairies" were a couple of favorites.  Zeke didn't mind a little male company.  Little Ezra kept us all on our toes and we had a GREAT time.  Each night ended catching fireflies and/or baby frogs=)

2- We went to the Durham Museum Of Life And Science.  It was SO cool.  The kids LOVED the interactive learning centers.  

3- We came home for a day to recoup and do laundry before packing up and heading to my friend Emily's house in Greenville.  We were all packed up and ready to go.  I was in the kitchen fixing a quick lunch before hitting the road when I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from Zeke.  He had a massive run-in with the corner of our bed frame that sent us to the Pediatric ER for the afternoon...and early evening.  Apparently Super Heros still need to obey their mommy's and NOT jump from stools to beds, because they may not make it on TOP of the bed=)  The kids were so sad we didn't make it to our other friends house but we made up for it with lots of swimming and a trip to the library the next day!  (Don't worry, Zeke is MUCH better)

This picture is for his daddy.  He's saying "I'm Being Bwave!"

4- Josh made the kid's incentive charts before he left for Africa.  Every night before bed we sat down and evaluated our "happy hearts" and attitudes from the day.  If they have a certain amount of stickers by the time their daddy gets back they get to go on a date with him to "Chuck E Cheese"!

5- On the way to the Library the car started feeling like it was dragging and then 2 little, green, plug-looking lights showed up off and on.  I don't know much about car maintenance, but I'm guessing this isn't a good sign.  Then the NOISE started.  Thankfully we made it back home without breaking down. 

It's time for daddy to come home before anyone else ends up in the ER or the car breaks down completley=)

Ladies And Gentlemen, We Have A Name

Micaiah Joel Via

Micaiah means "Humble" and "Who is Like to God"

Joel is Hebrew meaning "God's willingness" and "Jehovah is Lord"

Micaiah was a prophet in the old testament.  King Ahab wanted him to prophesy only the good but he refused by saying he would prophesy ALL that God told him.

You can read more about Micaiah HERE.

Words Of Wisdom

Areyna:  "When are we going to go see Cousin Ella again?"

Me:  "Maybe next week after daddy leaves for Africa."

Areyna:  With hands up in the air and a silly grin on her face..."But we just got home?!"

Me:  "I know."

Areyna:  "Why do we always leave?"

Me:  "That's just what we do."=)

Areyna:  "OK.  But that's silly=)"