Hide & Seek

It is so much fun having a 3 year old around the house. (Well, most days) We've been breaking out the good old games we used to play when Todd and I were kids. I had forgotten how much fun they were and it is renewing my inner child. Which, if you can imagine, is quite funny right now; me being 9 months pregnant. I do my best to do everything the way I used to.

One of the oldie, but goodie games we played last night was hide and seek. Of course, Haven played and she would go to a room and just stand in the middle of it. Then get real excited when you saw her. Jadon, I must say did pretty good at hiding. One of the places he chose was the top bunk of his bed where all his and Haven's stuffed animals are piled. He laid down on the bed and piled the animals on top of him. Very smart. I went to get my camera, which we have had packed for when the arrival of Jude comes, and unfortunately the batteries were dead. Better I found out now rather than later. I was a little frustrated because we had just put new batteries in. So, I didn't get to take a picture of Jadon laying on his bed with stuffed animals all around him and his legs sticking out.

Daddy was probably the best hider of us all. Jadon and Haven loved looking all over the house trying to find them. We had a great evening playing and laughing together.

Mommy Wants to Brag

Okay, I'm going to spend some time bragging on my son. I am so proud of him and wanted to take a minute just to brag on him. For the past few months we've been working on memorizing scripture. We started with John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life, and took a couple of weeks breaking it down until he could recite the entire verse. We then moved to Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, since in Puggles they have been learning about creation. He has also memorized Colossians 3:20, Children obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Now we're working on Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

One of our prayers everyday for Jadon is that he would be a lover of God's Word. He will one day not just say scripture because that's what we're teaching him, but he will love the Word of God because his love for God is so great.

The Final Day

We've hit the 3rd day in our watch of Haven. So far, so good. She even got a small cut on her foot that bled for only a short while. Which is a good sign that her blood is clotting and that she did not eat enough mouse poison to cause her blood to thin. Thank you again Lord for another answered prayer and getting us through our first experience with calling poison control. I also hope that is our last.

What Won't She Eat?

This is a question I am finding I ask myself quite often lately. What in the world won't my sweet little precious Haven eat. Yesterday, I found her in Mema's office playing with her computer, which got her in trouble first. Then I looked on the floor to find mouse poison scattered everywhere. Sure enough, check her mouth and she has eaten mouse poison! What do I do?! I yell for Todd, Todd starts yelling for the box to find the poison control number and this creates a major panic with everyone in the room.

We finally got someone on the phone with poison control (which is a frustrating story) and found out that the kind of poison she ate is a blood thinner and if she didn't get enough it shouldn't hurt her. We would need to watch her for 3 days and make sure there was not blood in her urine, excessive bruising or bloody nose. If these symptoms arose we were to take her to the ER and they would give her a vitamin K shot to help her blood clot. That was better news than I was expecting, thank you Lord!

I was picturing having to take Haven to the hospital and then I going into stressed induced labor and not being able to be there for her. Thankfully, non of it played out that way.

Why we were so frustrated with poison control. First the number they gave us on the box to call, no one was there. We got an answering service, thanks but this is an emergency and usually is when you're calling poison control. Second, we had to look through the phone book to find poison control in our area and when we called that number we had to go through a bunch of "push this number to talk to", again this is an emergency can't anyone understand this! Again, thank you Lord, it turned out to not be our worst fears.

One Week

We're all busy around the Wallace household, getting ready for the arrival of Baby Jude. And boy am I ready! It's amazing how God will let you know when you are done having kids. Up until this point I was always ready to have another one. But, now, I am definately done. My sister-in-law once told me, you just know when you're done. I now understand that feeling.

One of the major changes we made was move Haven into Jadon's room so Jude could have the nursery when he came. I was a little nervous about it at first. I pictured long, restless nights with one or both not sleeping very well. Our first night in the same room, Haven is still in the crib and Jadon has been in a big boy bed for over a year now, they liked the idea of going to bed together. To the point of at 9:00pm they were still awake. I walked in to check on them and bedroom light was on, Haven had toys in her crib and Jadon had toys in his bed. At least they were still in bed. So, momma voice came out to let them know it was definately bed time, not play time and they needed to be asleep. Todd walked in after me and asked how Haven got the toys in her bed and Jadon with a beeming smile and proudly said, "I gave them to her." How nice of him to think of her and give her toys. After that it didn't take them long to get to sleep.

Since that night they've done really well and have gotten used to mornings with each other. Haven is an early riser and Jadon likes to sleep in. Haven can wake up early and it doesn't bother Jadon.

Can't wait to see what other changes we'll be making when Jude actually arrives.

Uh?

Is it possible to have Spring like weather during January in Missouri? Am I still in Missouri? Well, that's what we've had and now we're back to our normal cold days. But, the warmth while it lasted was great! It was a nice break to have 2 whole days the kids could outside and play. Especially since Haven got a play house for Christmas and they haven't gotten to play in it since bringing it home. It also gave me a nice break and seeing some sun raised our spirits. Thank you Lord for knowing what we all needed!

Haven peeking out the window to say "Boo!" She didn't really need it, but she really wanted to wear her new stocking hat.Jadon laying in the grass enjoying the sun.
They took turns making me dinner and serving it to me.

Having those beautiful days did cause some craziness in our weather and we had 7 tornado producing storms come through our area. Thankfully, in our area the damage is mostly fixable, no houses completely destroyed. In the counties next to us, though, they had major damage.

Last year at this time we were experiencing an ice storm that would cause most of our area to be without power for up to 14 days. We were spending our days and nights in one room of Pappy and Mema's house before the fireplace. We slept all together on an air matress in the living room floor.

Catching Up

I have a lot of catching up to do. I didn't realize how far behind I had gotten on here. We've been doing weekly doctor visits for the past 3 weeks now. I love my doctor and he is always so concerned and takes good care of us. So, needless to say we get to see him every week and have an ultrasound until Jude decides to enter this world. Which my mom is hoping will be on her birthday. I think that would be nice for them to share birthdays. But, as I've told her I have the last say in when this babe decides to come.

The Wallace family's Christmas holiday:

1) A new park just opened up in town, Wilson/Rutledge Farm. A family donated land with an old farmhouse and they've turned it into a working farm. It's not quite finished, but by this spring/summer it should be. It has a barn with miniature horses, cows, pigs, sheep; it will have a chicken house; two ponds to do fishing; a playground made specifically for them that looks like a huge barn.

We (me, Nana, Jadon & Haven) went to check it out on Christmas Eve and ended up having a blast. We did a hay ride with Shire horses pulling the wagon. I love these horses, they are massive, incredible beasts! Haven made a bracelet and Jadon made a bird feeder. Then we got to watch as one of the miniature horses escaped captivity and ran for all it's worth and quite efficiently dodged the workers trying to catch it. Those little horses have spunk! Jadon even tried his hand at milking a fiberglass cow. I think he got a couple of squirts to come out.

2) Our Christmas was so much fun this year. Jadon really got into the giving and receiving of presents. We got to see the Bischoff family and of course there were plenty of hugs and kisses going on between all the cousins. They love each other so much and Jadon misses them so much when they leave. This was also really the first time Haven played with her cousins. The last time they were here she just turned 1.

I finally got a picture with them all sitting and looking at the camera. You can see the progression of pictures: first, everyone looking and Haven screaming; second, I just started trying to get her in the picture when she would walk by; third, Aunt Wendy finally gave her a present to hold and she sat down for a whole minute. Great idea Aunt Wendy! Isn't Ruthie such a poser, I love taking pictures of her.

We got to go to Silver Dollar City with all the kids. Thanks to some very generous people who gave us free tickets when we got down there we ended up not having to buy a single ticket. God is so good, even in the small things!

My camera doesn't take such great pictures when it's very dark outside, but I love every one's expressions in the pic and so I had to put it in. I also like the fact that Lucas has a floating head above him. By the way, we are working our way toward a new camera. Our goal is by this summer to have it, I can't wait!

I love Christmas time and this year was better than any in the past. Seeing and being around family, having good food and watching my children enjoy themselves made this Christmas truly incredible.