Michael, Claire, and I participated in the Fort Worth Cowtown this weekend. We walked the kids 5K and had so much fun doing it. The weather started out cold in the shade but quickly became beautiful! The Cowtown is a HUGE competition between all the Aledo schools to see who can get the most participants, so I was glad that our family could add to the Coder total! There was a small glitch in the police system and one officer thought that he knew the correct route and redirected a large majority of us down a road which cut off about a mile - to technically we didn't finish a 5k, but it was still fun. Claire would turn around and say "Weeeee! Mommy, this is fun!" So she really enjoyed it also!
Claire and I before the race - It took us an hour to find parking! With over 20,000 participants I think I know why.
We were about 1/2 way back from the start line. Here is the crowd in front of us.
Our family! The cute blond in the left corner is one of my sweet students!
Claire's favorite book right now is the 3 Little Pigs. I love that she can retell the story - sometimes she even reads it to us. This is a video of Claire and Daddy reading The 3 Little Pigs. Enjoy!
I am just past the half way point! I can not believe that I am half way done with this pregnancy! It feels like just yesterday we found out I was pregnant! A lot has happened this month!!! Morning sickness/ nausea- as long as I don't have a coughing fit in the mornings I do not throw up!!! I have not felt sick to my stomach in a while - I feel very blessed.
Weight gain - 0!!! I lost a lot of weight with Claire, almost to the point of being seriously bad for me. So, although I am supposed to have gained weight by now my doctor is pleased that I am not in the situation I was in last time around.
Maternity Clothing - all the way. I have recently come to realize that all my maternity clothes are winter clothing, which is good for now, but I am going to need to shop for some spring and summer clothing soon - unless this crazy snowy weather keeps coming back.
Movement - yes, and I love it! I have had to realize that this baby is different from Claire. Claire moved CONSTANTLY unless I was up teaching. But if I was sitting still she was moving. This baby comes to life at night (he is his father's child) and pretty much moves all night and is very still all day. He was even very still during our sonogram which made me a little worried, again Claire was all over the place turning flips and waving her arms. This baby would wiggle and move his arms slightly but was pretty much asleep for the entire sonogram. The tech reassured me that everything was fine and that he was just sleeping. Gender - BOY!!! His name will be William Cole, and he will go by Cole. William is a family name - Michael's dad's name is William, Michael's first name is William, my dad's middle name is William, my uncle and cousin also have the name William - so it will cover a lot of ground!
Cole! He is measuring right on track in every way but one...He is 2 ounces heavier than most babies are at this point - this did not surprise me one bit!
I swear that this picture looks JUST like the one we have of Claire - however, Claire's said girl instead of boy. But several nurse friends have looked at it and have again confirmed that it is a boy!
Here is the belly progression for this month. I am struggling with major allergies right now so please excuse the tired look on my face!
On a totally different note, Michael and I are asking for your prayers as we wait on the school districts decision of how they will be letting teachers go. I teach in a small school district, and they are projecting letting go 40 to 60 staff members. I will find out in the beginning of April if I will have a job next year. The Lord has been teaching me so much this past month. Through Brett's sermon series in Malachi I have been hearing about complete surrender. It is easy to see the immediate things He wants you to lay at His feet, it is however, hard to see the big things and the things that if you give Him complete control of might not work out how you have had planned. This past week He has shown me that surrendering to Him means EVERYTHING! He has given me promise after promise in His word that He will never forsake me, and that He only has my best interests in mind. I know that come April - job or no job, I will be right where the Lord wants me to be. We do ask for your prayers, that God would continue to give us a peace that surpasses all understanding, and that we would continue to lean on Him. Thanks for your prayers and support
Claire, you are 23 months old!! We can not believe that you have been in our family for that long! You bring us so much joy and love everyday, and we can not imagine or remember life without you! Things you can do-
Sing tons of songs! Sometimes in the car if you don't know the words you make them up!! My favorite song you sing in BINGO because of the way you say name-o!
You can now jump with both feet off the floor! You have been working on that for a while.
You can identify shapes, colors, and count to 5 with out help and 10 with a little help. You really want to count to 20 every time but those teen numbers throw you off!
Because of the Olympics you have been figure skating around our house. You twirl, jump, stand on one foot and even take a bow! It is about the cutest thing I have ever seen.
You now really talk to people on the phone. You answer questions with out prompting and you love to take the phone away from mommy and daddy and hold it on your own and start telling whoever you are talking to what is going on in your life at that moment.
You are amazing with a fork and a spoon now! Although if dinner is really good you still forgo the fork so you can shovel food into your mouth with your hands.
You still love to read. You have certain books that you have read so much that we have overheard you "reading" them to yourself in the right order! Your favorite book right now is the 3 Little Pigs.
You love to play cook in your kitchen. You even say "it's hot!" when putting things in your oven, because you have heard mommy say it.
You LOVE to pray!!! You pray every night before bed, and some times randomly through the day. At night you always pray for daddy, mommy, Claire bear, and now Cole, and you usually add in Bubba (Randy), and either what we had for dinner or the book you just read!
But most of all you make us laugh all the time! You are always coming up with quirky things that make mommy and daddy look at each other and burst out laughing. You are amazing and we love you so very much!!!
Our Valentines Day was spent worshiping at church and spending a quiet and restful day at home! Michael got both Claire and I a Valentines Day surprise - Claire got a bear and some candy and I got beautiful flowers and some candy! It was perfect!!! We were also treated to some Sonic gift cards from my parents and some of my mom's famous truffles!!! Claire got a book, a card - which she loves, and a beautiful new spring dress that we can't wait for her to wear! Tomorrow, Claire is going to give her friends at school their Valentines cards that we made. We were going to give them to them on Friday but we were snowed in! Better late than never!!
This picture was actually from yesterday but I thought it was too cute not to share!
Claire's cards to her friends - not very valentiney but they will work!
Tomorrow is the big day! We shall find out if we are having a boy or girl!! Most people seem to think boy - I have absolutely no feelings either way! Look for a blog update tomorrow night!!!
The first video is of Claire counting to 5. The second video is Claire being super silly! We had the camera turned to where she could watch herself and she is having way to much fun!
We woke up again this morning to beautiful snow!! My school district canceled classes - which I was so thankful for - and we got to spend the snow day as a family! Claire loves the snow, and when we took her to the window this morning she started asking where the oh-man (snowman) was. After lunch we decided to bundle up and go out and play. The Christmas Eve snow had a lot of wind with it and it hurt to play in. This snow was perfect and it actually didn't feel that cold outside! We probably played outside for 30 minutes or longer, and we had to drag Claire in! I'm thinking we may go out again!!
Trying to throw a snowball
helping daddy make a oh-man
catching snowflakes on her tongue!
venturing out into deeper snow
Claire and daddy with the finished product! Claire's sunglasses and a bow to top it all off!
Claire and her oh-man! Adding arms
snowball fight!!!
Throwing snow at daddy!
She was actually pretty good :)
Claire making her snow angel...she looks a little worried about the process! Claire's snow angel
We caught Claire laying in her floor reading books to herself the other night! Some of the books she was actually retelling the story in mostly the correct order! I love that I have a little reader!
The other day when I picked Claire up from school she had her hair pulled up in a very sassy ponytail! I thought she looked pretty cute - and so did she!!
Richie McDonald, former lead singer of Lonestar, is coming to Bear Creek! He has written #1 hits such as "I'm Already There" and "My Front Porch Looking In." As one of best song writers in country music, Richie is now touring as a solo artist promoting his upcoming album "Slow Down." Join us Saturday, February 13 at 7pm. Tickets are $25 and in limited supply for this intimate setting. Proceeds from the concert will go directly to Bear Creek's Puerto Rico mission trip during Spring break. Tickets may be purchased by email (ethan@bearcreek.cc), by phone (817-396-4304), or stopping by the church office. You can also visit www.bearcreek.cc for more information!
