The poor kid finally has a name...

So, after 2 weeks of knowing that we're expecting our 2nd son, Anthony and I have finally agreed on a name for the poor little guy! :o) His name is Jack Ryan Bader. :o) How cute is that?!?!!? I may be a little biased but I sure do love that name!! :o) Last week I found out that another very special thing behind the name Jack Ryan is that that is the name that my brother-in-law, Ryan and his wife, Jody were going to name their 1st son. They were never able to have children but since our kids are their kids...I figure it's only fitting that one of our kids gets the name they picked out. :o) Don't worry, I asked both of them numerous times if they were okay with us using their name and they both answered with a resounding "YES!" So, there you have it...our family will consist of Anthony, Laura, Alena, Tirus and Jack. Sounds pretty good to me!! :o)

Tonight was Alena and Tirus's first class at Awanas. Awanas is a Bible Study club thingy for kids ages 3 to ... honestly I'm not sure how old it goes up to. :o) Anyways, I'm SO glad I got my kids into it. I was a little nervous dropping them off tonight just because it was at a different church than we attend on weekends and they wouldn't know many people. I was especially concerned about Tirus so I went into his class with him for a little while. Within about 10 minutes I could tell he was warming up and I felt like it was time for me to leave. Well, when I came back to pick them up afterwards, I walked into Tirus's class without him knowing it and just watched him. He was kind of walking around aimlessly...watching what people were doing but he wasn't interacting with anyone so again I got nervous that maybe he didn't like it. I finally called out his name and he walked over to me with a sad look on his face and I could tell he was pretty upset about something. I was thinking, "Oh great...how many weeks am I going to have to fight him to come to Awanas?" He walked over to me, looking like he was on the verge of tears and said, "I don't WANT to do this!" I said, "You don't want to do what Buddy?" I thought for sure he'd start going on and on about how he was never going to come back to that class again but instead he said, "I don't WANT to go home!" I couldn't help but laugh a little as I pulled him into a big hug and said, "But, Buddy, that's a good thing! I'm glad you don't want to leave cuz that means you had SO much fun!" A few of his teachers could tell he was upset and came over to see if he was okay and when I informed them why he was upset they about melted at his feet. :o) He cried most of the way home saying that he wants his teachers and he wants to stay at Awanas. :o) I think that shows the first week was a success! :o) What do you think? Alena, of course, had a ton of fun...once we got there I was quickly reminded that 2 of her friends from Kindergarten are also in Awanas so she immediately joined them and I knew she'd be okay. And, of course, she was. She went on and on while we drove home, telling me all about what she got to do in her class and saying how excited she was that she'd get to go again next Wednesday. :o) I'm SO thankful that both of my kids are as excited about this new program as I am. They'll have weekly memory verses that they're required to have memorized and they'll even have a little bit of homework in their little workbooks that will help cement the Truths they're learning in class into their little hearts and heads. Please pray that this program would help me in helping them grow in their own personal relationships with Christ!!

Alena has now completed 2 whole days of all day school and she couldn't be more excited about it! :o) She's in school from 9:10am til 3:20pm and it seems like an eternity for me! It's not even really that I miss her...I mean, I can go that long without seeing her especially when I know she's in good hands. I'm just so used to how school was last year when she got out at 11:50am that by about 11:30am I'm already feeling like I'm late in leaving to pick her up. :o) On her first day of school I asked her what her favorite part of 1st grade was so far and I thought for sure she'd say either lunch or recess...that's what every kid says! :o) She, however, quickly answered that her favorite part was reading! She's such a good kid! I guess her whole class read her favorite little story from Kindergarten and I think she appreciated the familiarity of it. Today when I asked her what her favorite part of school was her answer was a little more predictable. :o) She said her favorite part today was seeing Henry, one of her best friends who happens to be in the OTHER 1st grade class. She was very excited to learn that she'd get to see him at lunch AND at all 3 recesses!! :o) That's like hitting the jackpot in her world! :o)

Well, this has become quite the novel! What can I say, this has been an eventful week at the Bader household! And the fun has only just begun! :o) Tomorrow we get to go in for yet another ultrasound so they can get some better pictures of Jack's spine. I sure don't mind...I'm super excited to see him again!! I'm hoping to have them check just one more time to make sure we're really having a "Jack" and not an "Olivia" or something. :o) Also, I'm hoping we get a nice technician who will print out a few more copies of profile pictures that I can give to Alena and Tirus since their mother is much to selfish to share her copies. ;o)

Until next time....God bless and peace out!! :o)

8 happy years...

Well, they haven't all been happy, of course, but today is mine and Anthony's 8 year anniversary. I couldn't be more thankful for the amazing husband God has given me. I'm more in love with him now than the day I married him and that's impressive cuz I was completely head over heels for the guy! :o) Keep in mind though I was only 20...can't believe they let people get married that young!! Anthony and I have been VERY fortunate that as we've each changed as we've gotten older we've actually become MORE compatible with each other. I think that's a pretty rare thing. He's become better at communicating and I've become better and letting the little stuff go. Earlier this year, Anthony made an observation that I'm so glad is true. He said, "We've gotten to a point where we've just accepted each other for who are." It's just so true! I used to always get mad at Anthony for getting home an hour or 2 late. I felt it was righteous anger! Even if it was, it didn't help our marriage one bit. So, now, when Anthony tells me he'll be home at, say, 7pm I just automatically add at least 1 hour to that and figure I won't be seeing him until 8pm. Try it sometime on that "constantly late person" in your life...I gaurentee it'll improve your relationship with them! The other thing I used to always get so mad about is that he's the messy one in our relationship. Now I just pick up the mess or ask him to do it without taking it personal. I think a big key to success is keeping in mind that he doesn't do anything of those annoying things simply to make me mad or hurt me or anything like that. Like Anthony said, it's just who he is and I've come to accept it. When you get married they always tell you not to go into it thinking you're going to change the other person but I think that's exactly what most people do...I think most of us go into most of our relationships thinking, "I'll just smooth out your rough spots and THEN we can be best friends." Makes me wonder what rough spots I have that people are hoping to smooth out...hmm...

I've started feeling little Mr. Baby moving more and more lately and it's such an amazing feeling!! That's definitely my favorite part of pregnancy! I've actually been really enjoying the little movements that only I can feel because it's like my little secret with the baby...nobody else knows...just the two of us. :o) I am looking forward, though, to when Anthony can feel the baby kick and I'm SUPER excited about when Alena and Tirus get to feel some movement. It's cute, they both like to touch my tummy all the time and they'll get all excited and say, "I felt the baby move!!" and I have to say, "Yeah, no ya didn't...sorry. You'll feel it soon enough though!" I'm kind of assuming that if I didn't feel it, neither did they. :o) They're both still SO excited about their new little brother. Alena tells everyone she possibly can that she's getting another little brother...the bank teller, the grocery store cashier...pretty much everyone. :o) Tirus doesn't talk about it as much but he constantly talks to my tummy, saying hi and goodbye to the baby...good morning and good night too...it's SO cute. He kisses my tummy all the time too. :o) I can't wait for the moment that they get to first meet their little brother. I could see Alena have "happy tears" and Tirus starting out a little shy but giving him a little kiss on the forehead or something. *sigh* I can't wait...

150 and going strong

So, I had an OB appt today and everything is looking really good! Doctor Nathan said other than needing better pictures of the baby's spine that everything on my ultrasound looked great (I'm going back in on Sept 10th to get another ultrasound done in order to get better pics of his spine). I was, of course, very relieved to hear that!! I can't believe that on this Sunday I'll be 20 weeks...half way through my pregnancy already!!! Usually when someone else is pregnant time just flies by but when it's me that's pregnant time seems to stop altogether. However, this time, time is flying by like crazy! I'm sure it's cuz Alena, Tirus and I have been pretty busy this summer so I haven't had much time to just sit and daydream about little Mr Baby.