22 weeks. And other things.

Here I am at 22 weeks.

The picture is crooked. Sorry.

I feel like such a cheese ball taking pictures of myself.

Sarah is grounded from spaghetti.

The little man helping me making daddy's birthday cupcakes. He ate his weight in frosting.

Last weekend Brittany, Bonnie and I went to Albuquerque for a girls day. It was wonderful.

Have you ever had a latte at The Grove? If you haven't, you must. You simply must.

Going anywhere with two photographers is fun.. and I always feel silly pulling out my little snap and shoot camera that basically doesn't work anyway.

In other news I have been reading through Leviticus.. the idea of holiness has been running around in my brain. Read THIS definition.. I think it will get your head going. It did mine. I mean.. 16 years of being a Christian and I'm only figuring out holiness? Lawsie. I may write more about this later.

Happy weekend!!

Simply Nesting: Week 1, The Afters

Here we are! I did it! Thanks for the challenge, Ruth! I am really enjoying my newly organized pantry. I only had two criteria for the the clean up:

1.) I wanted to get rid of as much stuff as possible (a trend in my life right now).

2.) I wasn't going to spend any money on crates, bins, whatever.

Yep, that's it! HERE are the before pictures. And here are the afters:

Hop on over to Gracelaced to see how Ruth did! Also, Ruth, would you please move on to the hall closet for next week? :)

Miah's 28th.

Never in my life have I met a kinder, more steadfast and loyal person than you, Mr. Hayes. Simply put: You're the best. I'm so glad you were born. Happy Birthday!!

The switcharoo. Part 1

Nineteen weeks (probably more like 21 or so!) until #3 makes his or her debut. It's looking like my big brother is going to be staying with us for awhile and so we are in full swing in preparing the rooms for our little ones. Here is the plan. Right now Mo's room has all of his furniture.. the convertible bed, changing table and whatnot. We still want to have a place for guests (as in my brother!) to stay, and since his room is the largest we are turning his room into a nursery/guest bedroom. The current guest bedroom is being switched into a new big boy bedroom for Moses. I hope he loves it! He kinda loves his current room.. but I hope we can make the switch fun for him.

I tried to get pics of the guest bedroom before we took out the bed.. but the camera just wasn't cooperating. Here is the room as of this morning.

And for heaven's sake. What was I thinking when I picked out the fabric for the blackout shade? Eww! Kat is going to fix it for me this summer!

Here is Mo's current room. We gave Kat the bed from the guest bedroom and she gave us her bunk bed. That horrible rocking chair will hopefully be finding a new home... but it may just be put in Mo's room. It is nice to have a place to cuddle sick little people, after all.

Take two!

The thing I'm dreading the most? The closet switch. Oh man. Perhaps it will be a good opportunity to clean and organize! Speaking of which, the pantry is done! I will post pictures on Friday!

Simply Nesting: Week 1

Ruth over at Gracelaced has invited us all to join her as "organizes and simplifies" before the arrival of her newest little one. I have a lot more time than Ruth does to get things ready, but I'm always up for a cleaning challenge! Want to join in the fun? Click HERE to read all about it!

Here are the before pictures of the pantry!

And another!

I will post the after pictures later this week!

Happy organizing!

Dangling the Carrot

Dear Sarah Bo,

You are over 10 months old. Crawl.. okay??

Love,

Mama

Fun in the sun.

The weather has been lovely..

and we've been headed outside!

Moses is serious about his water table.

She is cute as can be..

Crazy-hair-thing...

Such a sweet pair!

20 Week Ultrasound and Thomas the Train

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and I somehow managed to emerge without finding out if we are expecting a boy or a girl. Oh man. I cannot wait!

The little sweetie pointed at us the entire time.

Precious profile.

Stretch, stretch, stretching!!

Both of my little sweeties are under the weather. We headed off to Walmart today to pick up some supplies and Moses spotted some Thomas the Train pj's. Normally I would say no.. but they were cheap and, well, they're pajama's. As in he will only sleep in them. As soon as we were in the car he snuggled them until we got home and he could wear them. So silly.

Here he is, modeling. He may look upset.. but he just really wants Sarah to be in the picture, too.

As he requested....

Happy weekend!

Things I love: Ruby Reds.

Ruby Reds are a vitamin, enzyme, and probiotic blend made from red fruits and veggies. I mix it with some orange juice and it is really, really yummy. Moses drinks it, I mix it in with his and Sarah's yogurt.. we are all hooked on the Ruby Reds! (And for all you nursing mama's out there, stir in some barley greens and it will really help keep your milk supply going!) Normally one of these containers would be about $35, but they are having a spring special and you can get one jar for $19.95 with .99 cent shipping. I'm pretty sure you have to call customer service and mention the spring add to get the discount! You can check out the website HERE.

Your Daily Hayes.

Sufficiency.

Today I have come face to face with my insufficiency as a mother.

Tired, frustrated, short sighted.

And trying, trying, trying to surrender to the Father and allow him to do through me what I cannot do on my own. Trying to remember that I want to sow the seeds of grace, tenderness and my time in my children. Knowing, also, that it is God himself that provides these seeds.

"Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness...."

2 Corinthians 9:10

Moses comes and leans against me as I play with Sarah on the ground.. I look at him and say, "Moses, I am sorry I'm not a better mama."

And my sweet boy looks at me and smiles, wraps his hands around my neck and kisses me. And I squeeze that little boy and thank God for his goodness to me.

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.'"

2 Corinthians 12:9

"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:3

How we roll.

Some days it feels like we're drowning in toys. Toys, toys, toys. In the toy box. Under the couch. Under the beds. Ev-er-y-where.

I mean, really.

So I have come up with a plan. I bought some crates from Walmart for $3 a piece and I divvy up the toys.

Here, we are divvy-ing.

The cutest divvy-er ever.

I hide the extra toys in the closet and every few days I pull out a new crate and, voila!, "new" toys!

Happy Tuesday!