Happy Halloween!

Ready for school on Friday!

Jack and his daycare friend...the two tigers!


Enjoying his juice box


We had a wonderful Halloween this year! We went to our neighbors Halloween party, which was out of this world. They had a pumpkin carving contest, amazing chili, and a hayride all around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Thank you, Deloaches!!

All the kids at the party


Helping mommy cook pumpkin rolls

A house in the neighborhood had this awesome picture backdrop
Ready for the hayride!

Sewing...

I'll have a big post on Halloween tomorrow complete with pictures from Jack's party at school today and our big trick-or-treating event tomorrow night.

But for now....some sewing projects I've been up to. I've had a hard time finding the time and energy to sew the past couple of weeks, so I'm falling behind what I hoped to accomplish. However, I have managed to get one outfit completed and I have the fabric cut for one more.



I'm finding that although sewing saves a lot of money - each outfit is costing around $6 - it just takes so much time!! It's taking about three hours over the course of a week to get an outfit done. It's enjoyable, though, so that's what matters. Also, I'm hoping to buy her everyday outfits, and then sew some of her pretty dresses, so I'm not really aiming to fill her closet over the next 20 weeks.



Tonight Clint dropped me off at Hobby Lobby while he and Jack went to Books - A - Million (Yes, I have an amazing husband) and I bought my first big-girl pattern and I found the PERFECT fabric on sale for $3/yd. I want to make the dress on the left with the hat. Won't that be precious for 4th of July next year?

Our Prince

Meet Boswanga Prince. This is our sponsored child from Rwanda. We love him so much already! We want Jack to grow up learning about international missions and how he can help people all around the world, both financially, but more importantly through prayer and sharing Christ with them. We went through Compassion International to sponsor a child. You can, too! For $38 a month, you will help send a child to a Christian-run school where they will receive an education and also learn about Jesus.

We chose Prince because he was close to Jack's age and we will be able to sponsor him and follow him for the next 13 years if he stays with the program. One of the most exciting parts of the process is that we get to correspond with him often! We got our first letter from sweet Prince this week. We were so thrilled!! We saw the letter written in Kinyarwandan, his national language, and it was translated to English. He is the youngest of 6 children (can't you see a little mischievous sparkle in his eye?) and wants to be a star football player.

We would love to travel to Rwanda one day and meet Prince and his family. What a blessing that would be!

Miracle Clothes

The month of November is usually a big clothes shopping month for us. We try to stock up on winter clothes for everyone and put up the sandals and buy some winter shoes. Tonight we were cleaning out Jack's closet and organizing his outgrown clothes for a possible little brother at some point down the road, and I came across his winter clothes from last year. The pants looked big and I remembered that they were a little large on him last year. We tried them on and THEY STILL FIT!! Can you believe it? They probably won't make it through the whole cold season, but for sure they will make it until Christmas or January. So, we just adjusted our clothes budget for November because we will only be buying long-sleeved shirts! "Count your blessings, name them one by one!"

Look at that clean closet!! Doesn't it just make you breathe better?



I had to take a picture of the bed because it's never made. I actually just made it for the picture. HA!

Jack supposedly calming down and getting ready for bed.


Funny story of the day. I was doing our weekly shopping and needed to buy two packages of Pull-ups - one for daycare and one for home. They had a package of his size within reach, and then the other 2T packages were WAAAY up on the top shelf and I wasn't about to go try and find a Walmart employee to get them down. So, I thought I would just pick up some of the same size from another brand. I found another package of 2T and threw them in the buggy without paying much attention to them. (Remember...I'm pregnant and grocery shopping....cut me some slack) I walked around Walmart for 45 minutes getting an enormous amount of things and finally made it to the checkout. I'm putting everything on the conveyor belt, including the Pull-Ups, when it hits me. I bought GIRL Pull-ups! Complete with Snow White and Cinderella!!!
Now, do you think this pregnant, exhausted, Wal-Mart weary momma was going ALL the way to the back of the store to trade them out? Absolutely not. I figured we'd just keep them at home and he could sleep in them for the next couple of weeks. Clint would have none of that, so I suppose HE will be exchanging them at Walmart this week. HA!

Dump Trucks and Projects

Wow! What a busy week this has been! Monday the men came to fix our terrible rutted driveway. We have a gravel driveway that washed out pretty bad during the summer rains and the only solution was to have it grated up and two loads of gravel put in. Jack was SO excited to see a real, live dump truck here in our very own driveway. They let him get up in the driver's seat and honk the horn. He is still talking about the truck in the driveway.



Our next project for Jack is to clean out his closet. I've been putting it off since we moved to Alexandria (yes, it's been a year and a half) because I knew at some point Baby #2 would be coming and if we were having another boy I could just move clothes to the nursery. Well, Baby #2 is a girl (YAY!), so we are in the process of organizing Jack's old clothes and getting his closet in order. Here is his wild room in the process of cleaning out!


Jack is so full of himself. When we're in the house he always wants his cowboy hat and sunglasses on. What a ham!


Now on to Sydney Kaye...the sewing has begun!!! I spent $40 on delicious fabrics at Hobby Lobby last week and I can't wait to see how many projects I can get out of that $40. I know I have enough material for 4 dresses and a blanket. We'll see how much is left over for bibs and shoes!

First project is a Snuggly Wrap blanket. You can see the picture out of the book in one of the below posts. Tonight I got it finished! I can't wait to bundle Sydney Kaye up and snuggle!

Movies and Makeovers

Today was a very fun Saturday. Everyone slept until 7:30, which is a real treat! Then Clint cooked a great breakfast of French Toast. I headed to Hobby Lobby to shop for fabric for some upcoming baby projects (another post for later). I am so excited about sewing this week!

This afternoon we took Jack to the movies for the first time. He had a great time! We saw Where the Wild Things Are and he would shout "Oh NO!" when something scary would happen. He ate an enormous amount of popcorn and drank way too much fruit punch. I love being a mom and getting to see all the "firsts" and Jack's first time to the movies was unforgettable!


Also, today we started the process of getting the nursery ready. The nursery contains our computer desk and my sewing table and that stuff must GO before Sydney Kaye gets here! Our desk was a flea market find over a year ago for $35.00. It's solid wood, but needed some freshening up and new knobs and drawer pulls. We also moved the computer to the living room.

It's a......

GIRL!!!

Sydney Kaye Iles

It was such a fun doctor's appointment! The ultrasound tech did all of her measurements, then brought Clint in for the big reveal. I really thought it was another boy, but when I saw the screen, I instantly knew it was a girl. She never said anything...just kept looking and looking.

Finally she stopped and said, "Now what do you have already?"

I said, "We have a little boy and THAT is a GIRL!!!" She laughed and confirmed what I saw.

I screamed!

I grabbed Clint's arm and shook it and screamed!! We both just died laughing and explained to her that this was the first girl in a long time on Clint's side of the family. Clint was grinning from ear to ear. It thrilled my heart to see him that happy. He has told me over and over that he would love a little girl this time around.

We went to pick up Jack and told him he was getting a sister. He still has no idea what that means. Oh, but wait, little Jack! We then went to Target and bought some pink essentials. Onesies, blankets, and bibs.

I am on Cloud Nine and I still cannot believe it!

Ready to Know!

I'M SO READY FOR WEDNESDAY AT 3:15!!

I remember the day I was going to find out if Jack was a boy or a girl like it was yesterday. I made 10 pumpkin rolls that morning just to keep myself busy! I cleaned the house from top to bottom and drank a whole 20 oz Sprite and a bag of Skittles to get my blood sugar up and get the baby moving so we could see movement on that ultrasound!

I still really don't have a preference for a boy or girl. Seriously....I don't! I LOVE having a little boy and I would love for Jack to have a brother. On the other hand, girls are beautiful and fun and to-die-for in a ballerina outfit.

I'm so ready to sew for new baby that I can hardly contain myself!! I bought this fabulous book when I first found out I was pregnant, but I can't seem to find any gender-neutral fabrics that I like, so I haven't sewn anything yet! Oh, but you wait. I have $50 burning a gaping hole in my pocket, and Wednesday I am going straight to Hobby Lobby and losing my mind (well, at least $50 of it).

Also, fun friends....we still need a boy name. HELP US! I would really like to use John as a first name (that's Clint's and his grandfather's first name), but we cannot seem to decide on a middle name, which is what he would go by. Any ideas?


The fabulous book



A snuggly wrap for those cold March days!



Kimono PJs...maybe too feminine for a boy



Oh my goodness such a precious hat....definitely too feminine for a boy



Shoes that would be SO cheap and easy to make and they are gender neutral!

Fish in the Classroom

This year I signed up for the Native Fish in the Classroom project. This summer we built fish tanks, then in the fall we put in some native Louisiana fish, and in the spring we will get 100 paddlefish eggs to raise into baby fish and release into the wild! When I signed up for this, I had no idea that I would be having a baby in March, so I won't be there for the grand final project. My supervisor of the project was NOT happy to hear that today.

She'll get over it.

I promise my heart is not broken that I won't be dealing with 160 students and 100 fish eggs at one time. Maybe next year.

Clint, Jack and I went to pick up our bluegill fish this morning and put them in the tank in my classroom! Here's hoping that my "too cool for school" high school students don't poison them!

Look at 'em go! I hope they're still living Monday morning.



Jack watching the fish swim



Here's my Biology classroom! Yes, all of those desks are filled almost every class period....Whew!!

16 weeks!

Wow! This pregnancy is FLYING BY! I know March is still a ways off, but I haven't even begun to prepare for Baby Iles and I feel like time is slipping by!

The second trimester is so fun. The fatigue is fading and my belly is growing! In just 10 days we find out if Baby Iles is a boy or girl. I can hardly wait! The next week is pretty busy at school and at home, so that should make it go by faster.

Second trimester update:

Best thing: This pregnancy was hoped for and prayed for for a year, so I am just daily praising God for his timing and faithfulness. Also, I never had a day of morning sickness!!

Cravings: Ranch dip. Especially with fried cheese sticks, but I try to stick with carrot sticks and salad!

Biggest complaint: None right now! The first trimester I had to take extra hormones (Prometrium) to help my body realize that it was pregnant and needed to stay that way. Those pills were NO FUN. So glad that's over!

Weight gain: 4 pounds.....so far. Don't worry, it will pack on later.