Christmas in the Valley!

I am very excited to announce that my sister has decided once again to to put on a Christmas craft show extravaganza with the second annual Christmas in the Valley event!! Last year was fabulous, and from what I can tell from the vendors she has put together, this year is going to be even better.

If you don't remember from last year, Christmas in the Valley is a one day Christmas shopping event you don't want to miss. Every available space in my mom's house is transformed into a shopping superhighway, with vendors offering a wonderful assortment of Christmas gifts and decorations. There will be a photographer, a massage therapist, children's clothes and accessories, frames, stationary and Christmas cards, beauty products and weight loss wraps, personalized bags and clothes, Scentsy candles, decorations, casseroles to order, jewelry for children and adults, and much, much more! (click here for more details about each of the vendors) The best part of Christmas in the Valley is the fact that every vendor will be offering discounts, and some of the discounts being offered are crazy good. I can't wait to get a huge chunk of my shopping done, and I hope many of you can come as well.

oh the difference degrees make!

I don't ever remember being this excited about the drop in temperature. This past week has been amazing. Everything about our routine seems a little sweeter with the backdrop of pleasant weather behind us. Soccer practice, errand running, free time, school work, you name it! I can hardly think of something that isn't enhanced by a perfect 73 degree day outside. A day filled with no other plans besides trampoline jumping would suit the girls just fine, and in fact, they've already each asked me a handful of times this morning when the jumping can begin.

I've been trying to imagine what life would be like if the weather was permanently like this. Theoretically it seems like everyone would be healthier and happier, but then I think about it more, and I wonder if it wouldn't just be something we took for granted and didn't even enjoy. If there wasn't the heat and the cold, could we really appreciate the perfect in between? Instead, the weather, both the heat that lasted up until last week and the coolness that has just begun, has reminded me a lot of God's faithfulness. He is faithful in the extended, uncomfortable hot seasons to keep us sustained and going, and then He is faithful to bring a time of relief as well.

I've been feeling like we are in a fall season of life right now in that regard. This pregnancy has been so, so good! Everything about it has fallen in place so perfectly. There haven't been any hiccups, but the blessings have been everywhere. Every morning when I get out my cup of water and begin my six vitamin regime, I am so grateful.

To tell you the truth, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a mom period. Raising these girls right now is so incredible. The fun of it, the responsibility, the challenge, the calling to raise them as God would have me to, all of it is just incredible. I look forward to the days I have with them, and even though some are frustrating and some are hard, it is without doubt the most rewarding, wonderful thing I've ever done.

In two months those girlies will be joined by a brother, and I am sure the experience will only get better. Hard to imagine, but I know it's true! Until then, we will keep soaking up the season.

a breath of fresh air

This city has been oppressive this summer. Most days in June through August were too hot to even consider doing anything outside other than swimming, so swim we did. But now that the temps have dropped nearly 20 degrees over the past week, I feel like the world is a new place. We've been to the park, to the zoo, and tonight we took the girls on their first ever fishing outing. It's a breath of fresh air.

And what warms my heart in the middle of this summer coolness? They do.

off the radar

I feel like I've blinked twice, and a month has gone by. It wasn't until I got a comment tonight expressing worry about my extended blog absence that I even realized how extended the absence has been. 4 weeks exactly. The last post I wrote before going to the doctor for my 20 week ultrasound, and today I was back at the doctor for my next check up.

I might as well start there with my update. Baby Graham is doing great! Everything that can be seen via ultrasound has my doctor feeling very good, not only about Graham's development, but also my vertical incision. The biggest concern for this pregnancy centers around that incision, and from here on out I will be going every two weeks so that my doctor can keep a close eye on things. I feel terrific, but I'm trying to make a conscious effort not to over do things so that I can do everything in my power to make sure not to do something that would make the incision flare up. In the words of my doctor, "Just don't be stupid." So far, so good!

In other news, the little ladies in my life have had quite an eventful month of their own. If you remember, I had several big goals to accomplish before Graham's arrival in December, and many of those centered around Adrienne and Marianna. I'm very happy to report that this little ball of sunshine has some very exciting news.

She is very nearly completely potty trained!! And of virtually all her own doing. A little over a week ago, Adrienne decided that despite a shaky introduction, she very much likes the potty! Amazingly, we have had only two accidents in 10 days, and again, that has remarkably little to do with me. She also made her debut in big girl bed sleeping this past weekend, and in similar fashion to the potty training, she took to it without so much as a blink. Our trial run actually took place while we were visiting Nathan's sister in Birmingham this past weekend, but since the bed sleeping was a success, we have decided to make the official move from her crib to Marianna's room this weekend.

Marianna has had her share of newness this month as well. We have been doing "school" together since she has been two, but starting 3 weeks ago, we started something a little more structured. I ordered a curriculum from A Beka Books, and we have been having fun working through that each morning. We're just working an hour a day, but it has been something we are both enjoying. School time has brought some structure to our mornings, and even more than that, I feel like the added structure has made our days more productive all the way around. Marianna has also embarked on a new adventure into the world of music lessons. We gave her the choice of which activity she would like to participate in, and without any hesitation at all, she landed on violin. Lessons have been going on for a month, but we just got the go ahead to get our real violin yesterday. She is letting me know without any subtlety that every day that goes by without one is painful for her. I'm hoping that enthusiasm holds once practice begins in earnest =).

I could keep going, but just because I've waited a month, doesn't mean you want to read a month's worth of updates in one sitting =). Instead, I'll leave you with some pictures from August. And here's to better blogging in September!

Thursday

Tomorrow is a flagship day for me. Adrienne and I will be driving to Dallas alone, which will make for the longest I've ever been behind the wheel, and the farthest I've ever traveled by car with one of the kids. I'm sure praying it goes well! Especially in this heat. Goodness gracious. I thought it was hot here (temps around 103) but in Dallas they're even hotter (108!!).

But tomorrow is also a flagship day for another very important reason. For the first time ever, Nathan and I have a very good friend running for political office! Our friend Paul Boyd is running in the Shelby County election for Probate Court Clerk, and tomorrow is election day!!! It is so wonderful to be able to really know that the person running for office is someone with integrity and ability who can be trusted to do a fantastic job while in office. I hate that politics has become a dirty business in some many areas, but that's one more reason why I'm all the more excited that Paul is running. I early voted, so I will not have to make an early dash out to the polls before we take off, but I hope that if any of you living in Shelby County have not yet voted, you will make it a priority to make it to the polls tomorrow!

Before all of that excitement begins tomorrow, we have our big 20 week ultrasound for baby Graham today. Nathan and I have decided to take Marianna with us, and I am excited to be able to experience the ultrasound through her eyes. I have already had the opportunity to see our baby on an ultrasound screen 4 times before today, but Marianna will be seeing him for the very first time. It is such an amazing thing, something that still takes my breath away every time. We are so grateful to go into today with an amazing peace surrounding us, but we continue to pray that everything today will point toward a healthy, growing baby!

my July to December list

Last Thursday we found out some big news: a baby boy is on the way! Graham Christopher Luce. I found out a wee bit early, but even so, I am 18 weeks, which means this pregnancy is getting very close to being half way over! Especially since the doctor has already told me he will need to be born several weeks early, due to my past vertical c-section. So we're looking at 4 months before he arrives, and I have a list of "want to's" that feels like it's a mile long to try and complete before then.

Here are some of the heftier items on my ever lengthening list:

1. Potty training Adrienne. If nothing on the list but this got done, I could live with that. It's always been a personal goal of mine to never have more than one child in diapers at a time, and if we can keep the dream alive, I would be a happy mom indeed.

2. Move Adrienne into her big girl bed. She and Marianna have bunk beds and will be sharing a room just as soon as the switch is made. I'm nervous because she is the greatest sleeper on the planet, and I hate to mess with something so good. But it has to be done, and Nathan says now is better than later, so we are looking at the transition taking place sometime in the next few weeks.

3. Establish an everyday routine starting in August. Summer has been fluid, to put it mildly. No two days ever look the same, and routine is something of the distant past. But starting when school starts up, I'd like for us to get on some kind of general schedule, that will include time for chores, school, playing, resting, etc. I'm hoping having this established for several months before the baby comes will make it easier to keep it up after he is here!

4. Finish all Christmas shopping by the last week in November.

5. Plan and implement Graham's nursery!

6. Sew. I haven't sewn in 6 months, and I want to get a few things cranked out for all three of the kids before our little guy gets here.

7. Work on building some age appropriate aspects of independence in each girl. There are a lot of things I do for Adrienne and Marianna that I know they could do for themselves. I do it because I can, but come December, some of those things I'm going to need the girls to take over and do themselves. I figure it's better to get them used to doing it now and ease into it, rather than throw a curve ball at them once the baby arrives.

Will it all get done? I'd be kind of blown away if it did. But I don't see anything wrong with setting the bar high and going for all the gusto. We'll see how it goes but one thing is for sure, come December, whether these things are in place or not, Marianna and Adrienne will be the proud big sisters to a new baby brother. And compared to that, none of the other things will seem all that important.

my camera makes a comeback

I'm afraid the month of June went by without a single picture snapped, and after 5 months of extensive usage, I'm sure my camera was wondering, "Why the neglect?". I think I'm going to have to blame the heat for the month long absence. I definitely prefer taking pictures outdoors, but around these parts, June was brutal. July has actually been much, much nicer, resulting in the camera's return from sabbatical.

On the 4th we went to lunch with Nathan's family, and afterwards I tried to get a shot of the girls I could use for a new 20x20 frame I got for my birthday. I'm toying with the idea of using one of the two I got of the girls together, but it's hard for me to commit to any picture that is going to be that large. Any thoughts on which one I should use? Nathan thinks one, and I think another.