Possibly the sweetest words I've ever heard...

It's 1:45 in the morning. C.J. and I have to get up at 4:30 in order to be at the hospital by 6:00 to have our new little baby. As a last hurrah before I become a mother of 2, I decided to just have Owen sleep with me tonight so I can snuggle him and relish his sweetness one last time before my hands become more full. Well, a couple of minutes ago he started to stir a little bit, adjusted his covers, and (I kid you not) in his sweetest, softest, slowest, sleepiest voice sang just these words "mother and child, sleep in Heavenly peace." (you know, from the song Silent Night) People, you have NO idea how deeply this hit me. I wasn't really emotional until now...but I truly felt like it was God speaking to me through my precious little boy. For the most part I feel really calm and peaceful about tomorrow's events, but that doesn't change the part of me that is continually turning to God and praying for his hand of protection over our little baby. As much as I know God will take care of us no matter what, I think every mother faces the worry of "what if"...what if something goes wrong, what if he's not healthy, what if what God has planned for this baby is not what I have dreamt of for him? But people, if hearing your 2 year old in the middle of his sleep sing the simple words "Mother and Child, sleep in HEAVENLY peace" doesn't reassure you that you are in God's hands and have nothing to worry or fear, I don't know what will. I guess the point of this is to say that God spoke to me through my little boy to turn my "what if's" into "EVEN if's"....He will take care of us EVEN if something goes wrong, EVEN if he's not healthy, He will provide everything we need EVEN if what He has planned for our baby isn't what I have dreamt of for him. Right now, I rest in God's faithfulness and in the truth of who He says He is. Thank you, Lord, for that reassurance and I look forward with peace to what You have in store for us...

P.S. I know that's not EXACTLY the oder of the lyrics of the actual song, but that's how he sang them.

Baby update...

Ok, people...the end is actually in sight!!! Hip hip hooray. I went to the doctor today to find out that I am already at 3 cm.!!! She has me scheduled to be induced at 6:00 on Thursday morning if I haven't had him before then. You have NO idea how excited I am. We can't wait to meet our new little boy! And P.S. Shout out to the best doctor EVER. Seriously, she's amazing. We owe her a big one for getting the induction scheduled. So thanks, Dr. Dufault! If you don't hear from me before then, I'll be pushing out a baby on Thursday...a big baby who I absolutely can't wait to hold!

Big Boy Jammies...

Owen got his first pair of big boy jammies for Christmas courtesy of Grama and Grandpa St. Hilaire. He LOVES them. He wanted to put them on immediately after opening them and pretty much hasn't stopped wearing them since. I happen to think he looks pretty doggone cute in them (so much so that I let him wear them all day today...there's no harm in that, right?):







This one is a bit blurry, but he was having fun peeking at me upside down:



Enjoying a post nap time treat:






And finally we have an example of the 2 year old side of Owen. This is one of his favorite expressions to make when he is mad about something. We're working on putting a stop to it but he is one stubborn kiddo:

An incredibly fun day...

But one completely failed photography attempt. Today was packed with Christmas goodness. We started off the day with an awesome church service, complete with Owen's first ever public performance. His Sunday school class performed a few songs on stage at church...I was QUITE nervous about how he would do since he is really, really shy. To my surprise, he actually did REALLY well. Maybe that's because he got to hold Auntie Allison's hand the whole time...but whatever the case, instead of the screaming and protesting I expected we actually saw a little boy who did a few of the hand motions and whose mouth did utter a few words to the songs. I was quite proud of our little guy. And let me just tell you...being nine months pregnant makes it even that much harder to hold back the tears when you see your little one among a whole bunch of sweet kids singing Christmas songs on stage. It was SO sweet! See below: (ok, actually the truth is I got some pretty horrible pictures today...but I'm posting them anyway because they still make for good memories even if they aren't the best photographically)...

Here he is being ushered on stage. He's looking a bit reluctant, but he didn't freak out:


Believe it or not, he's actually doing the motions here:



And now came the best part of the day...The St. Hilaire Christmas Celebration. Seriously, we had SUCH a great day. We all (and by all I mean all of the St. Hilaire siblings, their families, and C.J.'s parents) got to spend the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We, of course, ate tons of delicious food, had plentiful play time with the cousins, opened presents, visited and just enjoyed a wonderful day together. Shout out to Sherrie for hosting! She always provides such a wonderfully relaxing atmosphere, great food, and somehow manages to make our time together soooo enjoyable. So, thank you Sherrie! I tried to take a few pictures and pretty much failed. But you know what, we enjoyed the day with the family and that's what matters, right? Nonetheless, here are a couple of pics from the day:

Grant giving Owen a horsey ride:





And here is Baby Eliana making her debut on the blog. She is Brian and Samantha's new little girl, and she is SO stinking sweet! I'm hoping to get a few more pictures of her some time soon when the lighting is better. Until then, you can enjoy her cuteness via these two:

Oh the joys of life...

Just so I don't forget...

You know how kids say some pretty awesome stuff and you think to yourself, I should write that down so I don't forget? Well, I'm doing exactly that...because these are worth remembering.

So the other day, we were driving through town when Owen spotted a big blow up Santa in a grocery store parking lot. He then asked, "Mama, were you kissing that guy?" C.J. and I about died laughing. Apparently the little guy is listening to the words of our Christmas music a little closer than we thought (you know, "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus").

Another one regarding Christmas music: We were playing tractors one day when "We wish you a Merry Christmas" came on in the background. I started singing the words and Owen asked, "Can you sing the one about Piggie Pies?" I was quite confused...until I realized he was referring to the "Figgy Pudding" part.

Also, as I was changing Owen's diaper the other day, I asked him if he wanted his pants back on or if he wanted to be Diaper Boy (a term we use when he is running around sans pants.) His response, "No, I want to be Penis Boy." Ummmmm.....I have NO idea where he came up with that one or even what he meant by it, but it sure made me laugh. Don't worry, though. I told him it would probably be best to just stick with Diaper Boy.

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On a different note, today Jamaica and Geneva came over to help Owen and me decorate our gingerbread house. It is SOOO fun to enjoy this time of year with kids. Owen, as expected, ate about 7 times more candy/frosting than he actually put on the house...but hey, that's how it's supposed to go, right?







Hmm...I wonder what happened to the window.


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Lastly, I leave you with this: Owen's first time ever trying on dress-up clothes. I was thoroughly amused!



Just FYI, I am LOVING his chubby little face in this pic!

Happy Thanksgiving (a tad late) and Merry Christmas Tree Day!

The only decent photo we managed to capture from Thanksgiving day:

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And now for our Christmas tree excursion this morning:

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Owen was fascinated by the blow up Santa...I had a hard time tearing him away from it:

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Owen and Daddy choosing the tree. Too bad Owen's eyes are closed...oh well.

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And finally we have a little photo of Owen's snack of choice for the ride home. He's a silly one, that's for sure!

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A Coyote Bluff update...

Well, we sort of have a house now. Or at least a structure that resembles a house. While the framing is not totally complete and there is nothing on the roof yet, the house is starting to take shape...and we're pretty excited about it. It's fun to see since up until this point it has pretty much just been an idea in our heads. Obviously, these pictures don't totally depict what it will look like in the end since some of the windows aren't completely cut out, door heights are not yet decided, porches have not been added, etc....but it gives you a pretty good idea. We are in the middle of trudging through decision making...and I've officially decided that making a decision is about 100 times more difficult while pregnant. Thankfully, I am married to an incredible man. There's nobody else I'd rather be making decisions with, especially since there are literally hundreds of things we some how have to agree on. But, we're tackling it step by step and learning a lot in the process. I've heard it said that you should not only get to build one but two houses in your lifetime since you learn SO many things the first time around that you would do differently the second time. I'm beginning to agree with that. However, since we won't be doing this again, EVER, we are soooo thankful for the opportunity and are trying our best to get it as close to what we want as possible. Anyhow.... here are a couple of pics of the latest:






P.S. When you see it from afar, it definitely sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm thinking some substantial landscaping will help with that. Too bad you can't just plant a yard that is already mature. Patience, patience...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

At least in our house it is. And yes, I know it's a smidge early. It's just that I wanted to make sure we took full advantage of the fun that the holiday season brings before we bring a newborn home from the hospital and I lack the energy it takes to do fun Christmas activities with Owen. So, our house is now officially decorated and we're all set to get our tree the moment Thanksgiving is over. Yesterday, Owen and I put some gingerbread men on the tree in his room and he desperately wanted to eat them. Problem was, I think Alli and I made them 3 years ago, so eating them was out of the question. So this morning, Owen asked if we could make some more to eat. We did. He loved it. And they are delicious. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year!!!!

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Just so you know, I LOVE the milk dripping off his chin. You have no idea how much I love being this little guy's Mama.

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P.S. C.J.'s brother Brian and his wife Samantha had their little girl this past weekend!!! We are SO incredibly excited for them. I don't have any pics of her yet, but believe me...I will post some as soon as I take them. She is a beautiful little girl, that's for sure!

A really BIG pregnancy update...

And by big, I don't really mean monumental. I just mean that I'm pretty sure I'm going to give birth to a giant. No joke. I had yet another ultrasound today and let's just say that this little guy is HUGE. So technically I am 31 weeks 6 days (let's just call it 32) today. That means I still have 8 weeks to go. Not long you say? Well try carrying this little dude around. Today, his 32 week old head measured 36 weeks old! The bones in his arms and legs measured at smallest 34 weeks, and that's not even counting how fat he will be yet, that's just his actual size. Oh yeah, and he already weighs 5 pounds. People, seriously!!! I'm a little concerned. There are LOTS of women who give birth to 5 lb. babies at full term....that means I am as pregnant right now as lots of women are at 40 weeks. Yikes. (Ok, maybe the comments I get in public actually ARE merited....but still, they should not be voiced.) I guess this shouldn't really surprise me considering that gigantic babies tend to run in the family (i.e. C.J. and his siblings were all at least around 10 lbs or bigger, Owen was 9 lbs. 3 oz., my sister Allison's first baby was 9 lbs 3 oz, and C.J.'s sister Leah's first two boys were 9 lbs. 6 oz and 9 lbs. 15 oz.). So it's not really that odd that this little guy is looking to be a big one. It's just that I a) don't really want to give birth to a 12 lb baby and b) don't really think I can handle carrying him full term (Really, if his head already measure 36 weeks, by the time I'm full term his head will be as big as a month old baby...who can really push that out their vagina without incurring major damage? Probably no one...and I certainly don[t want to be the first). As of right now, my doc says that they won't be able to take him any more than a week early....but things might change. If he is still measuring huge as things get closer, doc says they might have to take him c-section. After watching Hilary's c-section, that wouldn't be my first choice, but I also don't want to labor for hours trying to get a giant baby out and then still have to have the section, so I'm thinking scheduling one a bit early might be a good option. I've decided that I'd like to have him on Dec. 15. Doesn't that sound like a good date? I mean, it's well before the holidays and 3 weeks before my actual due date. Sounds perfect to me since they are technically full term at 37 weeks anyway. So if any of you have any self induction techniques or advice that actually WORK, please send them my way. They would be greatly appreciated. At this point, I'll do just about anything to avoid having a baby over 10 lbs. Wish me luck!

P.S. Things at Coyote Bluff are really coming along! We now have exterior walls with holes for doors and windows and today they were working on framing the interior walls of the first floor. I'll take pics to post ASAP. The problem with that is, I don't really want to take pics while the guys are there working. And by the time they are done, it's too dark to take any...so that really only leaves the weekends for picture taking opportunities. Hopefully this Saturday. Stay tuned...

P.S.S. I don't think I've ever mentioned on here that we call our property "Coyote Bluff." It kinda started as a joke but then it just stuck. I'm hoping that once we actually live there we'll start calling it "home" instead.

A visit from one stinking cute baby...

Today we were lucky enough to have Jamaica and Geneva over for a visit (Avery came too, but that wasn't until later in the day). It was really nice to just lay low, visit, and enjoy a cup of tea for most of the day. Owen and I both had a blast. While they were here, I couldn't help but snap a few shots of baby Geneva. She has got to have the prettiest eyes I have EVER seen on a baby. Is she not gorgeous?

From Jamaica and Baby

From Jamaica and Baby

From Jamaica and Baby

From Jamaica and Baby

From Jamaica and Baby

From Jamaica and Baby

From Jamaica and Baby

Avery, Jamaica, and Geneva....thanks for coming out to visit. It was SOOO good to see you guys!