It's a....

SURPRISE! In a moment of vulnerability and excitement, we almost gave in and found out what we were having but I held firm (much firmer than Jacob) and said we would wait. I still remember the excitement of Jacob announcing "It's a Girl!" when Dakota was born and I look forward to that same excitement again. The good news is...Cricket is healthy and perfect...exactly the way he/she should be. The bad news is...I gained 6 lbs this month. Guess I better lay off the chick-fil-a. Mmm...just the mentioning of that makes me wanna run out and buy one. Enjoy some ultrasound photos from our appointment.

I'm pretty sure he/she is praying. We've got another saint on our hands. :) Cricket's face/chin in much pointier than Dakota's (more like Jacob maybe??) but it could just be that he/she still has some meat to put on the bones.
Cricket doesn't look anything like Dakota here.

Here is a comparison of our two little buddies. I think the mouth area looks really similar but Dakota's nose looks rounder. We'll see in 4 months! (Gosh...that sounds like no time at all!)

Hiker Babe

You can decide whether I'm talking about Dakota or myself...
Jacob, Dakota, Siler and I headed to the Ozarks in Arkansas this past weekend for a family mini-vacation which was MUCH needed. We've been spending too many weekends at home lately and we were getting a little stir crazy. We left Friday evening and heading to Razorback country to a nice area called Richland Creek. We set up our tent on a sandy area along the creek but in the morning we were told that we had to move because the campground was closed. We moved to an "approved" area and then went on a nice hike to Twin Falls. The area has gotten a lot of rain (haven't we all??) so the falls were beautiful. The hike going to the falls was an adventure thanks to poor trails and a landslide last year. It tooks us several hours for a so-called 2.5 mile hike. Thankfully on the return we had an easier way finding the trail and made it back in less than an hour. We appreciate the kind soul who put pink ribbons on the trees! Dakota did amazing and didn't even fuss when it rained on us :). She's such a trooper!! Siler had an amazing time too and was such a good dog on the whole trip. Enjoy the pictures (in no particular order)! Next hiking adventure...SD/ND highpoints over July 15. Can't wait!

Dakota LOVES Siler!
Mommy and Dakota
Snackin' at the falls.

Twin Falls

"I don't think we are on the trail anymore."

Hiking can be tiring!

I love that little girl!

Kandi's Quilt of Many Colors

My friend Kandi asked me if I would make a t-shirt quilt for her out of her sorority shirts. I said, "sure, sounds fun." 3 years and lots of jokes later...Kandi has received her quilt on her 30th birthday...also the week of her first home purchase. So happy 30th birthday Kandi and congrats on the new home!! Sorry you had to wait 1/10th of your life to get it...I hope it keeps you warm this winter...er I mean summer!

Old Navy Coupon Fun

Click on the Old Navy Link here and play the coupon search. It's fun and you just might find a good coupon. They add new coupons daily but I can't seem to check at the right time to find the $60 off coupon. I'll keep trying. I did find the 25% off coupon last week and bought Dakota and myself a few items on Friday. Once you find one you can save it but you can only have one coupon emailed to you per week. So pick wisely before you hit "make coupon." I would tell you where the coupons are but that would ruin your fun...so you have to find them yourself :). They update with a new search weekly too. Happy Hunting. Let me know if any of you finds the $60 off coupon!

Date Night

Saturday night Jacob and I were able to go on a very nice date together. Thanks to S&N we got free tickets to see The Fiddler on the Roof with Topol (in their suite seats). Topol was the original actor in the movie and this is his farewell tour. He has performed in over 2500 shows so he is quite the veteran. I had never seen Fiddler on the Roof and didn't know much about it but the music was amazing and the storyline was good too. We had a great time. Prior to the theater we enjoyed a very nice dinner at Cafe 1912 which is a little French restaurant in Midtown. I had french onion soup, roasted lamb loin with spinach & pinenuts and some type of mac & cheese but I can't remember/pronounce the type of cheese. It was all delicious and it was a special night since Jacob and I haven't been out just the two of us in a while.

Growing up my dad used to take me to the plays at the Peace Center in Greenville. He has always gotten season tickets so I got to be his date. I have seen most of the great broadway plays and enjoy them all so much. I told Jacob that I would much rather spend $100 for a night at the theater then $20 for a night at the movies. In June, Jacob and I are going on a double date with an LRK friend to see Wicked...which is one of my favorites.

Anyway, we had such a nice weekend and I appreciated my date very much. Thank you Jacob :).

Birthday Blog

April 17 was my birthday. Happy 27 to me! Dad, Brad and Martha came out for their yearly birthday visit and we had a GREAT time. For my birthday dinner we went out for sushi because it is one of my favorite foods and one of my biggest pregnancy cravings...both this go around and with Dakota. I could seriously eat it everyday but I can't afford it :). Since I'm pregnant, I can only eat the cooked stuff so we let Dakota try it too. She ate like 4 or 5 pieces and LOVED it. I'm so proud of my multicultural eater. Anyway, enjoy the photos from my birthday weekend.

My 3rd annual Strossner's cake straight from Greenville. YUM!
Grammy & Dakota

Poppy and Dakota.

MMMM...LOVE some sushi. Look at my little sushi buddy! Now I'm hungry.

Chowing down...this was after she had already eaten some shrimp, broccoli and sweet potato tempura and some seaweed and cucumber salad and edamame.

My beautiful table that Clarence made for my birthday. I've been needing one for this awkward space in our guest bedroom for quite a while. Thankfully, my custom carpenter was able to fill the spot perfectly. And the cool camel came from Carie & Chris when they went to Kuwait a couple of years ago.

Yay for my WiiFit...even if it does tell me I'm overweight.

We don't want to leave Jacob out. He got a nice present too! 12 cases of his favorite beverage. Martha said she should make him sign a waiver that he won't sue if he gets diabetes from drinking all of this. I bet they got better gas mileage on the return drive since they weren't loaded down with Cheerwine!

Saturday was a fun day for the park.

Silly banana eating girl.

Spring Cleaning??

Dakota does funny things. She makes me laugh. When I first interrupted her shoe organization spree, the shoes were all perfectly lined up and heaven forbid one of the high-heels get knocked over. By the time my closet was empty, I'm pretty sure she was just throwing shoes left and right.

The Babies were Born!!

I'm reminded by God's creation of the verse in Matthew that says, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Easter Weekend

We had a nice Easter weekend which started Thursday night with a Maundy Thursday service at church that was great. They used our chapel which is very intimate and beautiful. Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt and then a birthday party. Dakota got her sugar fix for the day so for dinner I fed her a big bowl of spinach (she loves it). Sunday was Easter and we had a nice service at church and then had friends over for a potlock of ham, deviled eggs, fried okra, bread, green beans, corn casserole, potatoes, berry cobbler, ice cream...yum! We then played a few rounds of Mexican Train. What a nice weekend of fellowship to celebrate our risen LORD.

New life to Come!

Check out my loot!

Hey Sutton, I think I found where they are hiding the burgers and dogs.

Gymnastics Birthday Party...Happy 3rd Birthday Emerson! Dakota liked the balance beam.

What a professional! Ok, she was really saying, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" because she wanted off the bouncy thing.

After a long weekend, nothing beats a good nights sleep on her new monkey pillow mommy made for her.

Advice

Always Watch Your Child While She Eats Applesauce!

So...Dakota wanted a "nak" and chose "sos". I was busy making deviled eggs for our Easter lunch and when I turned around...this is what I found. She was laughing so hard, knowing that a majority of her "sos" had become hair gel. We took a second bath for the day (hey, sometimes she is lucky if she gets two a week!) and she continued to rub her head and tell me all about the "sos" in her hair. It was quite funny. Now I'm scared to let her eat applesauce again because she knows I thought it was funny.

Cricket

That's what we're calling the baby this go round. Why not? Crickets are cute and cuddly right? I had my 12.5 week appointment today and everything is great! Heartbeat is 170...maybe another girl? Who knows but we are fat and happy and doing good. Ok...not fat yet just a little poochy. Have a great day!

Big Sis!

Our God is good and we Praise Him for life. Jacob, Dakota and I would like to announce the expectancy of our next sweet baby. I am humbled by God's love for our little family and thankful for allowing it to grow with more children.

I am currently 10 weeks and due October 18. Please pray for our family over the next 7 months as we prepare for this little one and that he/she will grow perfect and healthy.

Dakota is already excited about the baby in mommy's tummy (although I'm sure confused). She gives the baby kissies and sticks things in my belly button (for the baby she says!). She amazes us daily and we can't wait to see what God has in store for this next child.

We'll keep you updated! Oh, and we will not be finding out the sex of the baby this time either.

Happy Spring!

We celebrated the first day of Spring with a trip to the dog park. Dakota LOVES going and is in awe that SO many puppies would be in one place. Beautiful weather brought a lot of people to the park. There were 4 puppies (less than 10 weeks old) at the park that Dakota was especially fond of. We would let her pet them and she kept saying "More! More!" SOOO Cute. She LOVES animals.

For Sale by Owner

Contact us if you are interested in a showing! We'd love to make our home yours!

The Man with the Mill

As I hinted in the last post…we bought 5 acres of land that we plan on building a home on. Jacob has already cleared the trees where the driveway and house will be going and we are almost ready to have it graded. Some of the trees that he cut down were these hugemongous cedar trees. They were such nice trees that we couldn’t bear to waste them so Jacob hired a man with a portable saw mill to come out and mill the trees. We ended up with a good big of wood that we can use to line some of our closets (especially the ones with Jacob’s smelly shoes). It was a pretty cool and fairly inexpensive process. If you take a deep breath…you might even get a whiff of the wonderful cedar smell.

And while I’m rambling…here’s a little info about our property:

It’s 5 acres of rolling/wooded land on Cayce Rd in Byhalia, MS (that’s about as southern sounding as it gets).
It has a pond.
Our neighbor, Mr. Lee (a little Korean man) has 200+ acres with all sorts of animals…cows, sheep, horses, etc.
It’s a 30 minute drive to Jacob’s work.
It’s a 15 minute drive to my new job.
There are some REALLY old oak trees that line the entrance to the property and are just BEAUTIFUL.
Byhalia’s violent crime rate is .08% compared to Memphis’ 2%.
The mayor of Byhalia’s name is Scooter (thought that would make you laugh).

I hope to get some good pictures of it one day and I’ll post them on here. Enjoy the wood pictures for now.

A Rambling or Two

So…

Looks like I owe you guys a rambling or two. First of all, I apologize for being so slack. Between the job loss/no internet/Christmas/vacation/new job/etc. I have put blogging on the back burner. If it weren’t for Jacob, you wouldn’t have gotten any pictures…so you can thank him for the posts that were put. Let’s see if I can do a quick run down of what’s been going on over the past several months since my last actual rambling…I think I’ll pick up in November.

November
Mid November Jacob and I went to SC to see Oliver, our nephew, dedicated to the Lord. That was a fun time with family and since I was unemployed I was able to stay a little longer. Dakota and Oliver had pictures taken together to give to Sally for Christmas. She loved them. I even made them coordinating outfits. A dress for Dakota and a jumper for Oliver. They turned out great and hopefully I can put a few of the pictures up one day (one thing at a time).

End of November we went on our annual trip to PA to visit my family. Jacob hiked for several days while I spent time with family. We had great food and a great time. Dakota got her first hair cut by my aunt Bonnie. She didn’t really need one but because Bonnie gave me my first haircut, I wanted her to give Dakota hers…and I knew by the time Thanksgiving came around again her mullet would be even worse. So she had a little trim off the back. Dakota had a blast playing with cousin Harlie.

December
I spent a lot of December making things. I was very productive. Let’s see what all I made…a tree skirt, 4 scarves, 5 hats, 1 fleece jacket, 4 heating pillows, 2 dresses, closet hangy tags and an ad for our church for the newspaper. Some of that might have been in November, but needless to say, there were a lot of home-made gifts this year.

By mid-December I had a new job which deserves a post of its own. God certainly is good and I love seeing how He works things out in my life. I worked 1 week before heading to Greenville for Christmas.

We spent a week in Greenville enjoying time with family. We got some great gifts and had a wonderful 2nd Christmas with Dakota. She got a big girl chair, a wagon, some other toys, books, puzzles, snacks, etc. I got a Wii!! Jacob got some gift cards, a new fleece, etc.

We then left for Hawaii which was a blast. We were able to get the highest point in HI (#41!!) even though there was snow! The Hawaiians drive to the top of Mauna Kea just to fill the bed of their trucks with snow and take it back down. We went to a luau one night and Dakota danced and ate crab legs. Jacob and I also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary while there. He took me on a date to a romantic restaurant right on the water. The waves crashed right into the base of the building we were sitting at (that was actually January but same trip).

January
I started my job for real and have been working ever since. Not much has been going on other than work. Oh…except Jacob has been working hard on our property (yea, we bought 5 acres of land…that also deserves its own post) clearing the trees, having bonfires and getting ready for us to build a home. If only I could find time to finish the plans. We’ve also been working on getting the current house ready to sell. Recently we hung crown moulding and painted the trim and walls in the living room.

So…I think that catches us up and I’ll try to do much better now that I have internet access daily.

P.S. I'm not going to edit this so I apologize for any typos/spelling errors.