You make plans, and God tells you why his are better!

This has become our new family motto. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, we are expecting another baby! I am 10 weeks pregnant, so we figured it was about time to share the news.

Here's the official story. One day I realized that I might be pregnant. Jason said nope, no way, he was 100% sure that I wasn't (with his baby at least! Ha!). So I waited a couple more days. Then a couple more days. Then one day while grocery shopping with Reece in Wal Mart the thought occurred to me that I should buy a pregnancy test. Then a shock went through my body as if God said, "BINGO!" and I just knew what it was going to say. I took it immediately when we got home. Now, in the past when I've taken tests, the results have been almost immediate. The box says to wait a few minutes, but I've never had to wait that long. This one took FOR-E-VER! When it finally said positive, I rushed to call Jason to tell him to come home for his lunch break. I called him probably 20 times and never got an answer! After his meeting, he called back and said he would come home. I was in a major state of panic, and he asked what was wrong. I started crying and yelled, "You should know!" and he figured it out. But when he got home, he was so thrilled at the news that I started to feel better.

I'm going to be completely honest, I'm still scared to death! I told Jason that I didn't want to tell anyone the news until I was done freaking out. I'm still waiting for that to happen. We were not planning this at all. We are building a new house which comes with a lot of expenses and started looking into another trip to Disney World this fall. I had the idea that we were done with kids, but Jason didn't want to be so I told him we would discuss it after my 10 year high school reunion (which will probably be right around my due date!). Every night we pray for three things: that God keeps us safe from evil and harm, He keeps us healthy, and that His will is done in our lives. I'm so glad that God has put me in my place and let me know that He has better plans for us than we could ever make for ourselves. I'm also glad He thinks that we have the ability to handle this. But, I guess it's been done before, so we'll make it!

On that note, judging from some of the reactions we've received, I guess having a third baby puts us up in the ranks with the Duggar family. People think we are crazy for having a third child. We've received lots of questions and even some eye rolls. So for those of you wondering: Yes, we know what causes this (obviously); Yes, we also know what prevents this (call me if you want more details on that!); Yes, we have cable; and I am *planning* for this to be the last, but you can see where *planning* has gotten us in the past. :)

On a few fun notes:
-This baby and Reece will have the same age difference as Jacob and Reece do! 2 years and 4 months. You just can not plan something like that!
-I have decided that we are not going to find out the sex of this one until D-day. We already have one of each, and since I'm *planning* for this to be our last, it's one way I can make this last one count!
-Reece has no idea what's going on, but she LOVES babies! Jacob kind of understands, but when asked if he wants a baby brother or sister, he says he wants to be a little sister. Haha!

The Adventures of Jacob and Reece......

   

Coming soon:

Some news of mass proportions and a contest for a new name for our blog.

Details to come! :)

Christmas Card time!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas: getting Christmas cards in the mail.

One of my least favorite parts of Christmas: making our Christmas card.

I like to send a card with pictures of the kiddos. But getting a good picture, deciding on a card, ordering it in time, and getting them mailed at a decent time is very difficult for me!

Well, this year I have decided to be smart about it.

I decided to leave the picture taking to someone else and we had Katie Betts from Betwixt and Between Photography take some family pictures. I warned her that Jacob is allergic to the camera and she had her work cut out for her. Well, once he saw her beautiful face he totally cheesed it up! He did wonderfully and had a big smile on his face the whole time! And she got some amazing pictures. I just may have to post some of them on here soon...

I haven’t gotten around to choosing a card, but I do know that I will be ordering them from shutterfly! Every year I spend so much time looking at a million websites, comparing designs and prices, and asking everyone I know their opinions. Last year I used shutterfly and I am never going back. I really like how easy it is to design the card on their website. And the quality of the cards is great. I enjoyed my experience so much that I used them to make a photo book for Jason for Father’s Day this year. The prices are very comparable to other places, but the quality is far better.

Here are a few cards I have considered:

Choice #1- Holly Frame

I really like cards that aren't busy and focus on the picture (especially a picture of 2 precious angels like mine!).

 

Choice #2- Scrapbook Style Sage

I really like the colors on this card, I think it would compliment our fall family pictures really well.

Choice #3- Love 2010

This card is really cool because you can list fun happenings from your year on the side.

Decisions....decisions....

PS- If you have a blog, click here for an awesome deal with shutterfly. 50 free cards! Woohoo!

Quote of the Week

Sometimes I am amazed at the things Jacob says. I tend to underestimate how much he understands and how his imagination can twist things. The other day he said the cutest thing.
We have a picture on our mantle of Reece wearing my old bonnet. I saw him staring at it and he asked, "What happened to Reece?" I told him nothing and asked why. He said, "She getting mawwied?" (We went to a wedding recently and he noticed that the bride wears a veil). So I said, "No honey, she's not getting married. Well, I guess she will one day. And so will you!" And he said:

"No. I no wanna get mawwied. I wanna be pwesident."

I'm not quite sure why he thinks you can't be married and be president. Actually, I don't even know how he knows about the president period! Good stuff.

Go Tigers Go!

Recently we took the kids to their very first Tigers game. Despite a sudden windstorm, severe drop in temperature, and terrible defense by the home team, we had a great time! Here are some pictures:

Noone can make this girl laugh like her Dada!

Reece in her Tigers gear...Dada representing both favorites! :)

Walking from the tailgate to the game with one of our favorite families/zoo pals, the Fullers! I'm pretty sure that is Stephen on the right taking one girl away and telling Jacob, "one at a time".

When we walked into the stands the kids were mezmerized! I guess they are destined to be U of M students someday!

(Take note of the wind!)

Hopefully we can post some pictures of our first Tigers basketball game soon!

*Pictures courtesy of Katrina's iPhone!

Flashback Friday: Jacob's first birthday

The night before Jacob turned one, Jason and I looked at each other and said, "Holy crap...we have a one year old!" The year had flown by, but at the same time, I felt like Jacob had been in our lives for so long. I think it's because so much happens in the first year. By the time we got used to one way of doing things, it was time to adjust his schedule, feedings, car seat, etc. When I looked at Jacob when he was born, I couldn't believe that what I was holding only took 9 months to create. Don't get me wrong, 9 months of pregnancy seems like an eternity when you're the one that's pregnant! But if you really think about all that takes place in those 9 months....it is simply amazing. I felt the same way looking at my one year old baby. I couldn't believe that what I was looking at only took one year (or technically one year and nine months) to happen.

For Jacob's first birthday party, we invited our family to our house to celebrate. When the time came to sing "Happy Birthday," we all gathered around the table with our cameras and Jacob watched us all like he was in a state of shock. Jacob has always been scared of loud, abrupt noises. So when the song was over and everyone clapped and yelled "yay" he got a big frown on his face and started crying! It was so sad!

"I don't think I like where this is going...."

"Yep! Too Loud!"

Luckily he was not too traumatized to have some cake. He hated having stuff on his hands (he got that from me!) and after poking at the cake a few times realized that it was too messy to touch. So he decided to just cut out the middle man and dive in face first!

"Hmmm....How am I going to manage this?"

"Lady. I need a napkin. Pronto."

"That's better!"

I could seriously talk your ear off about how amazed I am with how God works. I've always felt this way. But experiencing pregnancy, giving birth, and watching a baby grow has made me appreciate it so much more. Having kids has been by far the best thing I have ever done. And getting to that first birthday with hair left in my head is by far the biggest thing I have ever accomplished! I get so sad thinking about how fast they are growing, but I'm excited to see all that God has in store for us in years to come. I'm just happy that with each year that comes, they grow a little slower!

Reece is 1!

I cannot believe our baby girl is 1 year old! I know it sounds cliche, but time sure has flown by and she has grown so fast! Reece's first year has gone by so much faster than Jacob's. With Jacob, we had time to sit and savor every moment. With Reece it's different because she has a big brother to keep up with! 

For Reece's party, we had a flower theme. I tried to tie in some cheesy expression about how she's "blossomed" or "bloomed" into one-dom....but I was already overdoing it with everything I had planned.

My wonderful and creative friend Jenny helped me make a banner. THANK YOU JENNY!

We also made flowers with pictures of Reece showing how she's grown each month.

The kids got fun party favors: watering cans, pot/seed/soil kits, and pinwheels. 

I had to take a picture of Reece's party hat because she sure didn't wear it long!

Reece had a ladybug cake and everyone else had "dirt cake."

We had a wonderful time celebrating with family and close friends. We did, however, have to keep with the Sells family tradition of making cake time traumatic for the one-year-old (I'll have a Flashback Friday to tell the story of Jacob's first birthday). Here is the sad tale of what happened to Reece:

We strapped her into a booster seat at the table, put on her party hat, lit the candle, and proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday." After the song I pushed the cake a little closer to her and reached over to bring Jacob to the table so he could help her blow out the candle. As I was bringing Jacob over, Reece decided she'd waited long enough and reached over and PUT THE CANDLE OUT WITH HER BARE HAND! There was a loud gasp from the audience, a few moments of silence, then a scream from the poor birthday girl....

Yep, that's right, Mom of the year right here! I was extremely upset, but happy to see no burn or mark on her hand. So Reece didn't have the typical cake experience that most one-year-olds do...she was too scared to touch it! Bless her heart! So Dada stepped in and fed some to her.

Happy Birthday Sissy! We love you!