Where in the world has time gone?

Somehow, once the school year started, life just got even crazier!  How is that possible???  So, I'll try to get us caught up.  Someone, ahem, Joel, keeps asking me when I'm going to update xanga.  So, here goes, hunnie .

Joel turned the big 3-0 in September!

We decided to forego a big ole' party and take a mini-vacation to St. Louis for the weekend.  We had a ball!  We stayed at the Hyatt in downtown St. Louis (thank-you, priceline ) and could see the arch from our room.  The boys thought it was the best thing ever!  They loved being in the "big city."  (Someday, we'll take them to New York so that they can see a real "big city", but St. Louis will do for now.)  We went to the zoo, the Magic House, and even rode on a horse drawn carriage through the city one night.  So much fun!

Hanging out at the zoo... 

I think they were turning into animals by the end of the day .

Enjoying our horse drawn carriage ride.  So fun!!!

Our trip to Tanner's!

We made our annual trip to Tanner's in September.  Bradyn's getting old enough now that he's remembering our "traditions."  He couldn't wait for our Tanner's trip this year!

Hanging out with the 3 little pigs!

Bradyn...

Bradyn is loving Kindergarten!  He's soaking everything up like a sponge and is having a great year.  He has centers two times a day, and I get to help out with center time once a week (Joel's even gotten to help a couple of times =).  I'm also able to take Luke with me, and he loves playing with the kids.  Bradyn amazes me with how much he has learned in the last three months.  He's just growing up too fast... 

Bradyn also played on a soccer team for the first time this fall.  He's pretty athletic, just not so competitive.  LOL!  It's almost like we we're trying to undo everything we've taught him the first five years of his life.  "Get the ball, take it away, chase that kid!"  Kind of funny =) 

Joel and I got to go to his class the day of the Halloween party and parade and help out a bit...

Bradyn with his friend, Gunner.  But, Bradyn is the "real" Spiderman .     Bradyn's class - a few are missing, but you get the idea =)

Luke...

Then, there's Lukey...  At first, I wasn't sure how life would be without Bradyn home to entertain Luke every day, but we have managed just fine =)  We've settled into a nice routine and enjoy our days together.  Luke hit another big milestone and started Cubbies this fall!  He's so cute saying his verses each week, and he gets so excited to see Cubbie Bear!!! 

He's also started picking up on just about any and every song he hears.  He comes home from church with a new song every week, it seems.  And, when we're driving somewhere, he has to have the radio on.  It's too cute.  Music is definitely "his thing." 

He's been sick a few times this fall with us running Albuterol treatments 'round the clock, but so far, that's been all.  Hopefully, it stays that way...

Here's a few pics of the boys from Halloween...

The boys and pumpkins...          And, I honestly had no idea there is a "good" Spiderman and a "bad" Spiderman.  But, Luke really wanted to be the black Spiderman.  LOL!  So, we got quite the comments and chuckles from our neighbors =)

Joel...

Joel loves his new job.  It's great having him home early in the evening and on the weekends.  Yea!!!  He also lives the life of a single dad on the nights I work.  He has the evening routine down to a science!  But, I think he prefers it when I'm home . 

Joel's also helping in Cubbies again this year.  We have over 300 children who attend our AWANA program each week and about 100 workers to make it all happen.  He has one little girl at his table who keeps him pretty "busy."  He's getting a taste of the life of a teacher.  At least he only has to deal with her for two hours a week . 

And then there's me and the baby...

The baby is a girl!  Just in case some of you missed it on facebook =)  We were shocked, to say the least, but we are excited!  The boys are so excited about having a sister.  Soon after we found out she was a girl, we went shopping for the boys for fall/winter clothes.  Bradyn came running up to me in the store, and said, "Mommy, you have to come look back here.  They have baby grill things that are pink, and they have little flowers on them!"  He'll definitely be making sure she is well dressed .

We also found out from that sonogram that I have a low lying placenta.  I'm having a follow-up sonogram in about a month to see if it has moved up.  There's a good chance it will; so, we're just praying that it does.  If it doesn't, we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

I've been working three nights a week.  So, sometimes, I have my days and nights mixed up a bit.  My nauseousness definitely lasted longer with this pregnancy, and I think it was due to the fact I was working nights.  I still get nauseous if I'm way overly tired, but, what can you do?  I'm actually looking forward to my maternity leave to get "caught up" on sleep .  Getting up a few times during the night to feed a newborn will be nothing compared to staying up the whole night!  LOL!  But, I am thankful for the work, and most times, I do just fine with sleeping schedules.

I've also been busy with MOPS again this year.  I'm the hospitality lead once again.  It's definitely easier the second time around.  I had the opportunity to go to the MOPS convention in Dallas in October with other members from the steering team at church.  We had a great time!  I got to see the Go Fish Guys and Jacci Velazquez (sp?), and Avalon!!!  We came away from it very thankful for our church's support of the MOPS ministry and that MOPS International lets us have the freedom to run MOPS the way we want to.  We really focus on our MOPS groups being an outreach in the community and a tool to share the gospel.  Of all the moms, only about 40% are from our church; so, it is an open door for us.

Well, that's our update in a nutshell.  Hopefully, it won't be so long before I'm able to write on here again.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

And then there were...

3!!!

Baby #3   EDD March 17, 2009