Family Days

A few snapshots from the last couple days... 

The week in AR was very tough and it's taken a few days to get back into our 'normal jive' but the house is finally kind of 'normal' and the laundry's caught up, Joe had some time to rest and Emily got to go have coffee with Hannah and get some much-needed adult social time. 

As always, we love doing life together and we're blessed to be able to share snippets with you!!

Rhea got a onesie out of her hamper and wore it around the house like this : )
Future nun?!?!

Helping Mommy make eggs for Daddy's breakfast

Can you say "YUM!!" ~ Yogurt for breakfast!
Makes a big mess, but she loves it!

A special breakfast treat this morning, we went out to Hy-Vee
for the 10 cent donut hole sale...

Reading Mommy's Bible (and crinkling my bookmark)

Another marvelous fireside evening, helping us pick a name for her new
sister... tonight's suggestion was that we name her "no"

Wow, lots of posts made in October : ) We'll see what November has is store for us...

Home away from home?!?!

Watching some Blues Clues

Flashcards with her bear

Trying on Daddy's boots

Field trip to see the drawbridge the Joe coordinates

Bridge is up for the oncoming barge

nap time

The funnest toy we brought : )

Goofy girl!

Thankful Friday

Thankfulness.... 

a house to be inside and out of the cold wind

going to be welcoming a new baby girl into our lives

the way Rhea said 'Baby Gabry' this morning at playdate : ) sounded like 'Baby Gooky'

Joe's continued hard work to provide for us

Joe's Father-Heart, he's a great Daddy

being 'close' with our extended family so that we desire to connect whenever possible

God's grace and mercy on us as we walk through this life

fruit snacks

flashcards

new baby's frequent kicks and wiggles, LOVE getting to feel/know her

the freedom to dream 

baby wipes

** kind of a short list today, lots on my mind but I don't want to always share thankfulness for the same things.

Drumroll please.....

Our ultrasound today went very well! 

We're having another girl! She was very active and photogenic : ) 

All things are going well with baby, growing and healthy!!

Rhea did very well during the appointment and kept saying "Hi baby", 

she is going to be a great big sister!

In all honesty, we haven't even really discussed names yet so we have no idea... 

and once we do figure it out we still won't tell until she arrives : )

Oh the blog...

I am SO thankful for the technology we have today! Blogging is great for sharing our experiences with family and friends who live far away from us. Thank heavens I am not having to hand write all of our updates, or process all our photos (LOVE the digital age). I know there's a herd of horses somewhere that are glad I don't have to use the Pony Express. And the sad thing is... there is SO much more that I want to share on this blog than what I already do. 'Computer time' just isn't a huge part of my day and our beloved laptop is quite possibly on it's last leg so things don't always work as quickly as I'd like. BUT I will share as often and as much as I can : )

I have a complusive photo dissorder which I have reclaimed as ligitimate by calling it 'photo journalling' for our family. The last 3 months have averaged about 1,000 photos/mo. (yes, I have already filled up 1 external hard drive) I don't know if our pace will slow come winter time since we'll be indoors more.... ???

I am 4 wishful posts behind...

A weekend with Grandma

Last boat ride of the season : (

Sleepover with Alie

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

... and tomorrow I'll hopefully have pictures of our new baby to share! (never did come up with a 'womb name')

Anyways, just know that we are loving life and if you ever what to see pictures, we have LOTS! Some day I know I'll be thankful we have them!!


Check back tomorrow for the pink/blue announcement!!!

~ Screen Door ~

Rhea loves to paint, here's a few pictures of her working on some "fall art" to send to her great grandparents.

After the extremely windy spring we had this year... our screen door was in need of some 'love'. The wind had whipped the door open so many times that the hinges were bent up pretty bad, making it rather difficult to open and close the door. We shopped a little for new screen doors but after observing the prices of new doors... Joe went online to find replacement hinges at a fraction of the cost : ) Here is our picture-replay of the door-fixing project. It took about an hour and a half but was well worth the effort!

Daddy's helper

Adding a chain to prevent further wind damage : )

A job well done!

Bedtime stories with Daddy's girl

]

Thankful - week 6

5 minutes of thankfulness....

Kisses from Joe when he comes home in the morning

Rhea's fluffy bedhead

My mom

My Mother-in-Law

Extended family

Sweet niece and nephew

spellcheck

rain

the comfort of being with family

new babies in the lives of close friends

our new baby growing - I can feel the swimming more and more

space heaters

Rhea's laughter

Kisses from Rhea

coffee filters (morning hats)

crayons & stickers

being at home with my husband and child(ren)  - I am SUPER grateful for this! I cannot imagine anything else! I know it's a great privilege and high calling and I never want to take it for granted. Hear my heart, I feel like the most blessed woman, even on the hard days. I am increasingly thankful for all of Joe's hard work so that we can make this choice for our family. He's my hero!

More kite fun!

Can't just let a good sunny windy afternoon go by....

Helping Daddy get set up

Kite in the canal

Out by the lake, maybe there's more wind here

Go kite go!!!

Kite repair

Attempted dock flight

Don't worry Daddy, I'll help!

Hmm, I don't know why they won't work?!?!

We 'processed' 3 kites from the Dollar Tree, but it was an afternoon well spent : )

Mommy's reflections...

Babies aren't babies forever, we know this. Often times when I look at Rhea I am amazed at how much she grows and develops each day. Peeking into her crib last night and seeing that beautiful sleeping angel.... I cried.  I cried because when she sleeps I can still see the outline of her little round baby cheeks, but she isn't a baby anymore. I cried because the last 20mo. have flown by. Some days are much longer than others, but the months(years) pass without much warning. She's a toddler now, independent and always on the move. I love when she runs up and hugs my legs, or beeps my nose, pushes a chair over to the counter because she wants to help me with whatever I am doing, she thinks playing 'peek' over the back of the couch is the most hilarious game... but these days won't last forever either. 

I love motherhood more than anything! I can't imagine giving my life away to anyone other than my husband and kids (God first, of course). Maybe it's just pregnancy hormones welling up inside or maybe the constant internal wrestle inside wondering what others think and critique of our parenting or just being a Mommy the best way I know how to each day at a time, or maybe it's just a moment to be sad and happy all at the same time.

Thankful - week 5

I didn't forget! Setting the timer for 5 min this time to hopefully express a broader scope of how amazingly blessed I am.....

breath in my lungs

winter clothes

slippers

Rhea's feetie pajamas

abundant humor my husband and I share

Rhea's ever expanding vocabulary

felt new baby move on the outside last night! so sweet

grace

laughter

autumn leaves (autumnal foliage- for Reesa)

special friends God gives us for special seasons of our lives

milk

feeling secure in the love of my family

drying racks for the laundry

Joe's ability to fix the cars on his own

Joe's appreciation of my cooking

ok, just plain real thankful for my sweet husband!!

warm chocolate chip cookies

friends

neighbors

the freedom to dream

Goodwill stores

so my list grew some.... I love forcing myself into the thankful frame of mind, makes me do a lot of reflecting. Some days my world seems so small because I am at home 90% of the time and I can get caught up in how disconnected I feel from the 'outside world' but really.... I live in a huge world of little blessings every day here inside our home!

And I love fall, it's my favorite season! I can now relate to how Joe feels on all those hot sticky summer days ; )

p.s. thanks Amanda for the collage maker site!!

Good?morning Dixson Style!

Coffee filter hat! 

 Who needs fancy toys??

 

 Unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened : ( 

I tend to accidentally clink the bottoms against the sink, 

which isn't a very forgiving surface. 

But go without coffee? Heavens no. We improvise : )

Then in the afternoon Great Grandpa and Grandma were in town before picking up 'Merle Knight' from the airport. Can't be this close and not connect! We went to lunch at the Olive Garden then a little shopping!

You don't have to say it, I know this makes her look like a big girl!

Studying the menu, serious business
(Mom, now I know where you get it from)

Shopping with GGma [bling!]

Shopping with Great Grandpa ; )  [toys!]

And I had to add this one for fun, she was playing with the
potato peels while I worked on supper. She kept hopping up
off the chair to reach more peels and move them from one
side to the other, silly girl!