My Beautiful Day

This past Sunday, our Iain boy turned 11.  He started off the day waking up in a tent at Lake Carlos State Park (our family was camping this past weekend).  He ate some breakfast, he fished, he played with his cousin and he got to ride home in the truck.  He then invited the neighbor boys over for a baseball game, pizza and cake.  He also got this awesome jersey for his birthday present from dad and me: Iain is a big Phillies fan ... not so much a Twins fan! Then on Monday we went to his aunt Connie's house where we enjoyed delicious burgers, potato salad and corn on the cob .. followed by some more fabulous birthday cake.  I think we have a happy 11-year-old on our hands, and a very successful birthday indeed! Iain, my prayer is that you will always walk in God's love and keep the beautifully sensitive and loving heart that you have.  I'm so proud of the boy that you are and love you very much! -- * Don't forget to visit my review blog for your ...

Good news came my way yesterday!  The news: I absolutely do NOT have gestational diabetes and can continue to enjoy my Special K bars as frequently as I would like to have them! :)  Now that I'm back on a more regular eating schedule (considering that fasting before my appointment completely threw my system off), I'm really enjoying the thought of preparing meals for the weekend and baking goodies for Iain's birthday (which comes up on Sunday).  Yesssssss .... 'tis a good day! So, today consists of the kids and I heading out to do some school shopping, along with preparing some goodies for the weekend.  I may be out of touch for awhile again, but I promise that I am going to be back more consistently very soon! -- Don't forget to visit my review blog for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card (sponsored by BlogHer and Kellogg's).

Sometimes I feel as if I am on a whirlwind ride that is going so fast that I will miss everything if I blink; other times I wonder if I will ever move forward in this pregnancy!  It seems like so long since I wrote this post when I was only 21-weeks along, yet here I am at 27 weeks and I'm feeling completely amazed at how much has changed! The biggest change, aside from the size of my belly, is the fact that I have switched OB's.  I know it's not common to change doctors in the middle of your pregnancy, but Dr. T. (the OB I was previously seeing) only delivers at a hospital that is roughly an hour drive from my home in good traffic.  Imagine a traffic jam or a snowy November day and I all-of-a-sudden wasn't so comfortable going so far away from home to have this little guy.  So, regretfully, I talked to Dr. T. about how I was feeling and informed him that I would like to transfer to an OB who is closer to my home.  I say "regretfully" because I truly love...

Hello hello!  I know that I have been terrible at keeping up with blogging lately - and you really do have my apologies for that!  Life has been just completely crazy with keeping up with pregnancy, my kids, preparing for school and hosting guests in our home.  Regardless, I do promise to post an update tomorrow, complete with pictures! I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my review blog and let you know that this is the third week that I am giving away a $100 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by Kellogg's and BlogHer.  All you have to do to enter to win is go to my blog post and leave a comment! More to come tomorrow ... I promise!! :)

Life is busy.  This is no secret to any of you, I'm sure.  The thing about life being so busy is that it makes it extremely difficult to find time to get online and update my blog as frequently as I would like to.  There are often many blogging topics running through my head that I want to write about, but finding the time to do it seems to be almost impossible!  The irony of not updating my blog is that it's almost like cutting off communication with some of my dearest friends - the result of which is people oftentimes growing concerned or wondering if they can help you out in any way. Yes, keeping up with a blog is a very difficult thing, especially during summer vacation.  I feel like I'm taking time away from my kids when I spend time online trying to get a blog post up.  Like right now, my oldest three are outside playing baseball together and Colin is standing in front of me doing a dance to the song that his lullaby lamb is playing.  Is that a...

I have been selected to participate in a review program sponsored by BlogHer and Kellogg's.  The exciting part of this review is that I get to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card to one of my readers!  To enter, visit my reviews blog here .

Tonight, after eating more than my (and the baby's) fair share of dinner, I sat back in my chair and said, "oooohhhhhh .... my belly feels big and fat" to which Colin looked at me with a very serious expression and replied: "Because it is." Oh the things that come out of that boy's mouth!!

It's no secret that a road trip, while often quite enjoyable, can also get to be quite long.   Especially on the drive back home, when all of the anticipation of where you're going has diminished and you're just longing to be in your home again.  A few years before I married Monte, my brother Tory introduced me to a road trip game that sounded completely bizarre, but I have to admit it: I'm hooked!  The game is "I Spy a Cow".  The basic concept is that you want to spy cows along the drive before any other passengers in the car see them.  The catch is that, while you may spy an entire herd of cows, it only counts as one cow - in other words, you may not count more than one cow in the same pasture.  On top of that, if anybody happens to spy something that is NOT a cow (i.e. a horse) and mistakingly calls it a cow, they go back in points by one cow.  The big catch, however, is that you can clear all other players of any cows they had earned by simply...

For those who are unaware, MWOP (MckMama Without Pity) is a blog that was created to "expose the lies" that blog readers feel MckMama is telling.  While I have never been a follower of this blog, I have been directed to it a couple of times, as a few of my friends had mentioned via email that I was being discussed in the comments by readers of MWOP.  Today, after the birth of MckMama's fifth child, I was horrified at some of the things that were being said, and thus, this letter was formed. Dear MWOP Readers, I don't know you, and it's very likely that you don't know me, but considering the fact that the topics of your discussion have involved me and have involved things that are dear to my heart, I'm feeling that it's time to speak up and set some things straight.  In the few times that I have visited your blog I have witnessed countless attacks against MckMama for things she has said or done that don't line up in your mind.  While I would pre...