i just realized that my shirt has been inside-out all morning.

Knox was poking at my newly "outie" belly-button this morning, and I was explaining that there's a baby in there. While he was poking around at my belly, the baby kicked, so I told him to put his hand on my tummy where he could feel his baby brother. He looked pleased. When I started to sit down, he wanted to poke at the baby again and said, "belly brother, belly brother!" :o)

This weekend I got some pretty good finds. I have to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with Dirt Cheap. I love going there and finding really good bargains. However, I am very picky about what I buy from there for several reasons. One is you can't return anything for any reason. Another is stuff is usually pretty grimy, and you don't know where its been. And finally, because I have some sort of mental block that won't let me buy something from there if I think I could have gotten the same sale or percentage off from where ever its from originally. It doesn't matter in my mind that I don't live in a town that has a Gap or a Target, but the fact that something came from somewhere like that, and may be sold there for the same price inhibits me from buying the item. But, with that being said, I was able to make some purchases that I think were worthwhile.

4 pair of heels for $1 each. Wow.
1 gray cotton polo for Knox from Old Navy for $2. (by the way, i plan on going back today to see if i can find anymore)
1 Shabby Chic lamp base from Target for $10 (i almost didn't get the lamp, but i have been really wanting a lamp for my side of the bed, and i liked this one a lot.)
1 brown Gap Maternity skirt for $4 (originally $50, so I think this is a double bargain)
1 pair of Gap Maternity khaki pants for $4 (originally $54, so I think this is a double bargain, too, plus I had just said the day before that all i want is a pair of good fitting maternity khakis! God's good.)
1 black Gap Maternity pencil skirt (dressy) for $4 (i don't know the original price, the tag was cut. sad.)
1 little girl's green necklace for my neice for Christmas for $0.50
1 (completely sealed in the original packaging) flavored lipgloss for my neice for Christmas for $o.50

So, everything together was about $30. I have to say, I was pleased. :o)

dreams of vacation

so, for some unknown reason i've been feeling a bit gloomy today. i know this probably sounds incredibly spoiled, but i'll be honest...i probably am...anyway, the truth is, i think i'm down b/c we haven't gone on a vacation this year. we are still hoping to, but i just don't know if it'll happen before the year's out. it's been very busy so far, and doesn't look like things are going to slow down anytime soon. plus the baby's coming at the end of the year, so that'll keep us even more busy. good busy, though. i think it also has to do with the fact that we were hoping to go to visit my mom and sister this weekend out of town, but are not able to b/c she starts rush workshops this weekend. so, that leaves us bored in natchez, although it will be nice to have a weekend with nothing to do. wesley has been working on building us some bookshelves, and they are looking incredible. seriously. who knew he had a talent at carpentry? i'm sure he'll want to finish those this weekend. he's gotten one set finished and moved into the house, and he's working on the other. in addition to the bookshelves, he's decided to build a new cabinet for our bathroom (yay!!!) so that we can get rid of our old hand-me-down, k-mart special shelving system that currently is holding our toiletries. the new shelves that wesley is making is soooooooo much nicer!


the baby is kicking my right side. knox used to kick my right side more than the left, too. i'm not sure why that is, but maybe they'll resemble each other somehow in how they kick... or maybe he's starting to get cramped. that could be the case. i'm preeeetttttty sure knox got cramped in my tummy a couple of years ago.

me at halloween 2 years ago with my friend Ashley who was not pregnant, but instead had her pumpkin that she was carving inside her shirt.

So, a fair amount has happened since I last posted, though I'll only mention the highlights.
Several Fridays ago Wesley & I went to the doctor and found out that we are having another boy! :) We are very excited about this news. We would have been very excited about a girl, as well, but I am hoping that with Knox's hand-me-downs, this child will not be a source of immediate expenses. Hooray for that! And, we were kinda hoping that Knox would have a little buddy to pal around with, so this is another plus for having a boy. Our pictures are so cute! We got one of him sucking his thumb. I'll try to post it later. Sooo cute!
A friend of mine had a bridal shower, in which I gave her THIS from the Etsy shop StudioElan.
Next, my friend Nicole and I had a garage sale. Woo-hoo.... Not as exciting as the first news. But, I cleared out some junk and I made a little cash for the youth trip to Gatlinburg that Wesley & I helped chapperone last week, which leads me to our next highlight.
Wesley & I chapperoned the youth trip to Gatlinburg last week. (Real subtle intro, I know.) It was a pretty good trip. No major infractions or anything like that, pretty smooth as far as behavioral issues, so I think it was a good trip! I am worn out from it and I missed Knox a whole bunch. I have a feeling he missed us, too, judging by the voicemails he & Mom would leave us. But it's tricky to tell b/c the first thing he said when he saw Wesley & me was, "Shoot. Dang it." Which led to an immediate thumping, and crying, and nap-time. Lovely. But after nap-time, he was a joy, so I don't mind bearing the initial rebellious "cussing" (haha, in his little 1 1/2 year old way) at us if he can eventually learn from his "punishment" and be sweet & obedient.

Monday: Dinner with friends; started a movie, but the stupid tv messed up (again), so we opted to go to bed early, instead. I had grand plans of deep cleaning the entire house that got shifted instead to going to the grocery store and pricing most of the garage sale junk, er...stuff.
Tuesday: Hopes for French dip sandwiches for dinner with baked sweet potatoes and a spinach salad. Hopes for deep cleaning the house today, again. I have a good start, though b/c I got up early. I have already swept, started laundry, disinfected the counters, done the dishes (last night), picked up the trash, cleaned out some of the fridge, and gotten Knox ready and off. I still need to pick up some buckets for my plants so I can plant them into something larger. Oh, did I tell you what happened to Fred? Its sad. More later. And I need to go by Dirt Cheap again b/c Wesley liked the deoderant I found for a buck.
Wednesday: Dinner with friends? Usually, but not always. I should thaw chicken as a backup.
Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken if we don't do it Wednesday, but if so, I'll use the leftover chicken to make the Chicken Enchilada Casserole.
Friday: MY SONAGRAM!!!! Yay!!!! I have no clue what's for dinner. Leftovers? Home made pizza? That's always a good backup b/c it doesn't take that long and I always have the ingredients hanging around.

Play Days

Wednesday afternoon I spent most of the day being a highway for Little Knox. He would run his tiny yellow truck up and down my arms and legs and head. It amazes me how much he loves trucks. He will stop anything (even eating a banana) to listen to a truck. "Brmm-Brmm!"
He is growing into quite the young man. I used to think that he looked like a big baby, but more and more he is looking like a little man. He is very much a little boy. I am not quite sure when he turned into this little boy. He is learning to determine yellow from blue. He can answer correctly 3 questions from the shorter chatechism. He gets upset when the top is not on the laudry detergent correctly. He can eat with a fork.
And now we are waiting on number two. I still don't yet know if they are a girl or a boy, but by now, I'm sure it's determinable. Wesley told me he kinda hopes they are a boy so that Knox will have a little buddy. I think this is good logic. Although, a girl would be nice, too.

Seriously?

Knox is almost one. Wow. Where did this year go? It seems like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant and freaking out. Now he's here and running around. This time last year I couldn't sleep b/c little man was kicking the inside of my ribs, but I loved it. This time last year I was waddling. No, really. Look at this picture. I am pregnant. My friend has a pumpkin under her shirt.