Just Call Me Taz.

This space is being used for the first time since we've lived here. Countless hours have been poured into this room and we're finally benefiting from our effort. Do you remember when it looked like this? 

We've been having people over every chance we get, even in the midst of harvest. I've literally told people to come over if they're needing a place, even when we're not home. Seriously come over, it's too nice for us not to share. 

This was our first night with carpet and furniture, so we celebrated with our friends. 

We've still got a long ways to go. Furniture to make, purchase, and refinish, decor to arrange, and more painting. Most of which will be on hold now that we're making room for baby. 

We've been busy farming like it's our job. We wrapped up harvest last week and now we're looking forward to slowing things down and enjoying time together. 

I ran down the road after them to get this picture. Moments like this are worth it. 

There's no way I could be sad if we added another boy to this picture.

You can't tell where the corn stops and his hair starts. "Mom it matches!" 

I'm truly grateful for farm life. Trevin has spent many hours with James in the tractor and it's been fun to watch their bond grow as they work together growing crops.  

All of my family got together a couple weeks ago to get some Christmas card pictures. 

And I was lucky enough to take engagement pictures for my brother and his soon-to-be bride, Kristin!

They said they only wanted 3 good ones. I told them they chose the wrong person; I'm known to take way more than I ever need. I'm still editing their shoot. They were good sports and even posed weird just for me.

Fall days are some of the best days. 

Trevin's been busy farming and playing in the last couple weeks. 

-We started taking him to our Wednesday night activities at church, and he's loved it. 

-He continues to ask questions about the baby, "When is it coming?" "Do we get to keep it?" "Is it a boy?" "Can I play with it?" 

-As I was dancing with him one evening in the kitchen, he grinned at me and said, "Mom, are I handsome?" He melts me. I whispered to him, "You are the most handsome." 

-While walking through JC Penny's we walked past the bra section and he noted, "Ooo those are pretty! Mom, you have those at home!" Yes, yes I do. So that happened. 

We were able to spend an evening with our sweet friends, the Bartek's! Alyssa has always wanted to "make the blog" so I had to make sure I included our fun time at the park. ;) Trevin is now obsessed with being a pirate-robot. 

These two crack me up. They are the best of friends and always enjoy their time together. 

James taught Trevin how to play checkers. Somehow they ended up without shirts and now Trevin thinks that's part of the game. Gotta play shirtless. For your information, I don't play checkers anymore.

Ashton gave Trevin her old point-and-shoot camera. He's been hilarious with it and I've added a few of his photos for all of you to enjoy. My biggest laugh of the day comes when I check the camera after he goes to bed to see all the pictures he's taken. He's got quite an eye for it. If you can't tell, I'm rolling laughing. 

 It's been hysterical listening to him "pose" people. It's obvious where he's picked up on that. "Mom. Mom. Look here, mom. Mom, look at the camera. Ok, now smile. Let's go to the kitchen and take one. Mom, look. Mom, look at the camera. Ok, now stand right there. And hold this. Oh that's a nice one!" 

For the past couple months, I've been helping out with the Jr/Sr High youth group at church. This includes eating popcorn, generating discussion, challenging them, and laughing a lot. They're a good group of kids. 

Last Saturday we hosted a lock-in for them. I've been to several lock-ins in my glory days, so I knew what was in store. Games, pop, movies, singing, laughter, food, and staying up until you're miserable. We had a lot of fun, including a couple games of Sardines and an impromptu YouTube request hour. Good times. 

I was actually terrified to help sponsor the lock-in. I don't do well without sleep normally, but I'm pregnant, so the exhaustion was compounded. I ended up with about 3 hours of sleep from 3:30-6:30 AM and had just enough time to get the place cleaned up and breakfast served to the kiddos in time for church. Coffee kept my eyes half-open through service and I was able to make it to a bridal shower right after for a good friend. Nap time betrayed me and I was lucky if I had 30 minutes. I could tell my body was about to shut down for good. I bawled, half-asleep, beginning to cough, gag and eventually about throw up. I had no appetite and my emotions were in high-gear. I followed Trevin to bed at 8PM and got a 12-hour night, followed by another nap. Hoping that I'm caught up now and I'm not planning another all-nighter any time soon. This pregnant body can't take much more of that. 

Trevin and I got to spend a day at the pumpkin patch with our friends, Nicole and Lux!

We decided to try out the corn maze. Nicole and I were convinced it would end disastrously with a lost child (or adult), a tantrum, or starvation, but we went in anyway! The first thing Trevin does is grab a corn cob off the stalk and check the corn. (Dad has a big influence on him.) Then he led us right to the finish. No wrong turns, no dead ends, no hesitation. We were out within a couple of minutes. We couldn't believe what had happened. He definitely doesn't get his sense of direction from his mom. 

Oh these two...

I officially hit 12 weeks!

- I've been fairly fatigued and find myself napping with Trevin a couple times a week. (I'm incredibly grateful that he still naps!) 

-Sleep hasn't come terribly easy for me, up multiple times in the night, finding it hard to get settled. 

-The gagging is ridiculous. Gross story, 2 gags. Toothpaste in the sink, 4 gags. Cough too hard, 6 gags. Taking out the trash, 8 gags. Beef, 10 gags. Cleaning out the fridge, infinity gags. 

-Beef has been a complete disgust to me lately. (Except for fast food burgers. Explain that one?) We recently got a 1/8 beef, our own home grown! I can't even look at it. We've tried the burgers, steaks, and roasts, all of which leave me gagging and with no appetite. Generally I can choke it down when it's fresh, but if there's any for leftovers, I can't even open the container. There's something about that real beef flavor that is way too much for this gut right now. 

-I try not to watch commercials because any time I see fast food, sweets, or generally any food, it consumes me to the core. I can't rest until I've had that donut, or sweet tarts, or french fries, or coleslaw, etc. I basically turn into Taz the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes. 

-The emotional waves haven't really passed yet. (Refer to my lock-in recovery.) I still find myself crying over nothing quite often. James and I had a date night a couple weeks ago. We had a great evening and on the way home a certain Alan Jackson song came on the radio. As soon as I heard the first notes I announced half-jokingly, "Oh man, I'm going to cry. This song always gets me." James smiled and then I actually started bawling. As soon as the song was over, I was done and pretended like nothing happened. We've both accepted the new me and don't make a big deal out of these episodes anymore. 

-James has been claiming for weeks that I'm "nesting". I've told him several times that nesting doesn't happen until you're close to labor. And then I realized that I'm totally nesting. I gave Trevin's bedroom a fresh coat of paint, flipped his bed from canopy to loft (it's way awesome now), and found hard wood floors under 4 rooms (our bedroom, the new nursery, hallway, and bathroom). My brain is swarmed with plans for these rooms since we'll likely be refinishing all the floors at the same time before baby. The most exciting of which is the new nursery! I'm already prepared to paint, and know exactly what furniture is going where. I also have hopes to paint the laundry room, and give the living room a fresh coat as well. And finishing up things in the basement. Yeah, I might be overestimating my abilities in the next 6 months. 

Baby is looking great and growing right on track. It was fun to be able to watch it grab at its face while we had our last ultrasound. There's not much that beats those emotions. My next appointment is November 11, and hoping to be able to find out the gender in December. 

Sleeping for two, growing on the farm...