Praise God for a healthy baby...

The boys wanted to announce the latest addition:

Can't wait to add a third handsome monkey to my brood:-) My cup runneth over!

A Perfect Snow Day

What a beautiful way to wake up on Saturday morning to a snow covering! Even better temps were above freezing so the roads were safe to travel. I ran to a quick exercise class in the morning called Zumba. Its an hour of dancing to Latin music. I don't have rhythm to begin with but adding in an 18 week pregnant belly made for tons of laugh. I decided that I can either move the top part or the bottom part of my body at once, I unfortunately don't have the brain waves to do both at the same time. Ah humbling, but the necessary work out was DONE for the day.

The boys were still cozy in pjs when I got back home so I decided it was time to make our own paper snowflake ornaments inside. To keep Colin involved, we got out some paint since he's not quite to the cutting with the scissors stage yet.

Before long we heard the giggling of the neighborhood kids outside enjoying the first good snowfall of the year. So we all got dressed in outdoor gear, seemed like it took forever and ran outside to join the festivities.
Here's an action shot with Grant being pulled in the snow, Daddy building a snowman and Colin throwing snowballs. I was proud of my Georgia man's ability to make a snow man like an ol' pro.

The afternoon was filled with cookie making time. Grant did a great job of making sugar cookies and then decorating them. It was so nice to reflect on how last year Grant was captivated for oh maybe 3 minutes, but his attention span is so much longer now and really was a big help. I am so thankful for this! And finally our at home day was capped off with a movie night. We all snuggled on the couch with popcorn and enjoyed a quiet ending to our day at home. A wonderful quiet day spent with my family while the craziness of the holidays swirled around us:-)

See ya later...

"Colin, thats not an appropriate place for your gum when you are done with it..."

Sweet baby Colin has been replaced with the into everything and it must be MY way Colin. That's okay, thankfully his older brother showed me that around the age of 4 (earlier would be great too) that a less devious child emerges again - at least most of the time.

16 Weeks!

Okay, for my own memories I'm going to record some of the latest with my 3rd pregnancy.

Am I showing? Oh yeah, I'm showing but I'm not sure how much is due to the baby. I've had more problems with weight gain this time. BUT, it has forced me to eat healthier and I'm back in the gym and I am really enjoying the classes. A girlfriend joined the gym with me and between her and Kurt the extra accountability has been just what I needed to stay dedicated in the gym. Still in normal clothes but wearing my bella bands everyday. Love the bella bands!

Energy level. Wow, this one has been hard. I'm a little shocked at how tired I have been. I'm over the first trimester complete zonk out but I can already see that I have slowed down with how much I chase the kids and when they are done for the night I am usually out for the count too. I have struggled with getting my thyroid level right though so I suspect this has a lot to do with it. I'm still praying to truly have a "feel good" trimester.

Good points of pregnancy: I think just having so much joy with the two children I have. Children are truly such a gift and I love mine dearly. Although I feel stressed adding a third on, I feel extremely blessed to have this opportunity. I know whether this third one is a girl or boy, God has it planned perfectly and I am so thankful to be a part of it!

Cravings. I have NEVER had cravings in pregnancy before. So it took me by surprise when I have so many this time. Pickles have become my new best friend. Oh my gosh, who knew they were so good? Of course jalapenos too! I always love how food takes on a new meaning when pregnant.

Thats it for now, but I'm sure it won't be the last post for this pregnancy:-)

A day at the Falls

Kurt and I had different plans for a mini family vacation that we were supposed to leave on today. But when Colin got up too many times to mention last night we knew a night away at a hotel was NOT going to work. Just for the record, he is absolutely healthy, I took him to the pediatrician to be checked for ear infections or something else that maybe I was missing. Praise God for his health, but baby Colin, please sleep for your Mommy and Daddy! Thankfully (and hopefully), last night is a very rare event for him.

Anyway, to make a little lemonade out of our lemons we decided to take the family to Clifty Falls in Madison, IN. It was so beautiful and turned out to be a wonderful trip for the family. If you haven't been, its worth the short one hour drive.

Colin in the new Ergo carrier. I bought it for baby #3 but it came in real handy today. Colin did okay in it for awhile but I hope the new baby is content in for for longer periods of time:-)

This was great, you travelled say, oh about 100 feet on a PAVED trail, to see. Perfect for a family of little ones.

Its amazing how much harder these stairs are when you have a 30lber strapped on your back and in your first trimester. But we did it and loved it, well at least when I got my breath back again:-)

I asked Grant what his favorite part of the day was expecting to hear the beautifully colored trees or maybe the waterfalls. But nope, it was the tire swing that Daddy pushed him on. I asked why the waterfalls didn't win and his response was, "I would have liked for them to have more water." Seriously, out of the mouth of babes right??

It was great to spend a day in God's beautiful nature sharing it with my special little family. This is always true, but today it was much more obvious how blessed beyond measure I truly am.

Early Halloween Fun

Now that the boys are getting older, Halloween is taking on such a fun meaning again. We had great fun getting the boys dressed up in their outfits and some shots taken. We had some wardrobe malfunctions along the way, but I think my boys "roarin" spirit was caught.

The obligatory family pic...

Husband Brag

I stole this from a cousin in Atlanta. Kurt is truly a gift that I didn't deserve so its great fun for me to talk about the relationship God has blessed us with.

♥ What are your middle names? Edward and Michelle

♥How long have you been together? I moved to N Ky in spring 2000, we started dating in the fall. I guess we are celebrating our 9th anniversary together - crazy, but wonderful!

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? Very casually for a few months. I had the weirdest thought when I first met Kurt. I assumed he had a very happy wife at home. I had never thought that before, but he just cared about different things than the typical partying. I could tell the first time we met he wanted to be a husband and father. So thankful and happy that wife ended up me and yes, I am very happy!!

♥ Who asked whom out? Kurt, it was so cute. My roommate played matchmaker on a work trip. It was the middle of the day. He dropped his bag at his desk and ran over to ask me out to a concert.

♥ Who made the first move? Kurt

♥ How old are each of you? Kurt is 32 and I am 31

♥ Did you go to the same school? nope, not even close

♥ Are you from the same home town? nope, he grew up in the city and I.... didn't;-)

♥ Who is the smartest? Definitely Kurt but he's not consumed by it. I just found out a couple of years ago that he was 2nd in his high school class (only because he didn't take an addt'l AP class).

♥ Who majored in what? Kurt is a industrial engineer from Georgia Tech (my family, from the North wandered if GT was similar to ITT Tech. Hmm, not so much;-) I got my bachelor's in Business

♥ Who is the most sensitive? Me, me, me. But he does a good job of being supportive when I'm being extra sensitive.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Skyline Chili!! Hello, its quick, and kids eat free. Sounds perfect to me!

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? We went on a mission trip to Czech Republic together. We have also travelled to the Caribbean several times. Independently we have lived in Europe for a semester, spent summers in Alaska, and Australia. International travelling is put on hold for a quite as we raise our young family:-)

♥ Who has the worst temper? Kurt's because its quick and then over, but mine can burn for a long time:-(

♥ How many children do you want? At least 3, but I'm not opposed to 4.

♥ Who does the cooking? Pretty much me and he does a great job doing dishes behind me.

♥ Who is more social? It used to be Kurt but I think we are equal now.

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Neither one thankfully.

♥ Who is the most stubborn? Its a tie.

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Kurt, Kurt, Kurt. He needs about two hours less of sleep a day than I do.

♥Where was your first date? We went to a wonderful restaurant in Covington called De Felice. He scoped it out and did a great job!

♥ Who has the bigger family? Tied. Both sides are big and rowdy. We hate to live so far away from both sides but LOVE the visits we make to each family several times a year.

♥ Do you get flowers often? Nope. They die. Its much more romantic for him to say, go have some time to yourself after a long day with the kids.

♥ How do you spend the holidays? Travelling. Either to mine or his. Good thing its so fun when we arrive. Also, another blessing is that Kurt gets a lot of vacation time to make the visits possible.

♥ Who is more jealous? Me, Kurt's mind just doesn't work like that and I love that about him

♥ How long did it take to get serious? Hmm, we were probably serious before our first real date.

♥ Who eats more? Him.

♥ What do you do for a living? Kurt is an assistant manager for Toyota. He works with parts suppliers to improve their system. He does a great job of balancing work and family - which is not always easy to do at his company. I am blessed to stay at home with my boys.

♥ Who does the laundry? Both, but Kurt is great on doing it a lot on weekends, PLUS he does all the ironing. Now that is sexy;-)

♥ Who’s better with the computer? Umm, Kurt. Its embarrassing how much I don't want to learn about ways to make working on the computer easier.

♥ Who drives when you are together? Kurt, he gets nervous with me behind the wheel, and that makes me nervous;-)

♥ What is "your" song? we love to sing worship songs together, Kurt has learned to play the guitar and we have rocking family worship time. So special to praise the Lord with my hubby!

When I met Kurt, I had stepped away from my faith and could have made long term decisions that I would have regretted. But God graciously introduced Kurt and I couldn't be more thankful. Being married, is such a gift and I'm so thankful my boys have him in their life as their role model. Love you babe!

Safari videos

Here are a couple of our favorite videos from our mini getaway. The drive through safari was fun and a little scary at the same time!





No animals were harmed in the filming of this video.

This is for you cous...

Okay Amanda, you wanted to know how it turned out and here's the result. I got a treatment called Brazilian Blowout. My hair feels great! Its supposed to last 3 to 4 months. I'll let you know how it does in the following months. Pass on to Katie too:-)

Colin's reaction was priceless. He just cocked his head to the side when I walked in (similar to what a dog would do). Kind of like, it looks like Mommy but then again it doesn't!

Summer shots on a muggy night!

Early Signs of Summer

Grant informed me that this is the way big boy's leg should look - bruised and grass-strained. He loved every minute of getting them to look like this

Yard sale bargains -my kids have loved getting a "new" toy each week. Here is $3 marble run set that has already gotten hours of use at our house.

My first ever homegrown tomato plant. This is Grant and I's project this summer. He is responsible for watering it and when the time comes picking the fruit.
Peek inside and we already have a tomato that has made its appearance. Its not even June!

April Adventures

Can't I have a bad hair day?

Poppa and Papaw loving is some of the best lovin'...

Grant thought Nana needed a little "sugar".

I "heart" these men.

On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again...

The Sexton Clan has logged quite a few miles on the road lately. A few weeks ago, the kids and I spent a week in the DC burbs. We had a great time visiting with the kids only cousin, Caroline. Grant and I spent a couple of fun days by ourselves at the Baltimore Harbor. We had some photojournalstic style shots taken while we were out there. We figured trying to pose a 3, 2, and 1 year old outside was more than what we were up to. We ended up with some cute shots of the cousins together:-)
Big cousin Grant liked to "explain" everything to the littler cousin

Just a swinging...
Grant's headshot, he looks way too old here. They grow up so quick! I am realizing more and more each day that I have to slow down and enjoy my time. More pics of our other travels to follow soon.

Wheelbarrow ride kind of day

The forecasters had it wrong and for once I'm so thankful! Temps were supposed to only make it to the mid 50s but instead it was closer to 70 with plenty of sunshine.

Kurt took advantage of the nice weather and got some yard work done. We hired some cheap labor.

Payment was a wheelbarrow ride back up the hill from the dump site.

Colin kept us laughing all afternoon. He decided he needed to be a pirate.

And finally I had to show off Grant's latest obsession - building! He got the blocks for Christmas but really didn't play with them much. But now that all the flashy toys from Christmas have worn off, he can't get enough of this oldy but goody. Here he made a pretty spectacular race track for his cars that both boys love using!

Rookie Mommy Mistake #1

Do not leave Sams size Craisin bag within reach of an unsupervised 16 month old. Let's just say he got plenty of fiber that day...

A fun Cincy weekend!

This was a great weekend for the Sexton family! On Friday, Grant and his best friend Josh went to the circus. They were both in awe. Tigers, motorcycles, elephants, horses, clowns (although the clowns were a little underwhelming) kept the kids on the edge of their seats for over 2 hours!

I promise, we did not plan to all wear green.... Though it is March...

We usually only get this level of focus during Veggie Tales!

Grant loved watching the tigers jumping and waving! For some reason, they don't ever do that at the zoo!

Speaking of the zoo, with temps in the mid 70s, Kurt took the boys on Saturday for some Daddy time. However, they ran into our friends the Richmonds and Alexanders while there! Grant and Maleah love each other, so that made the visit even more enjoyable! Colin had a great time, too! Maleah even helped rescue Colin from his brother a couple of times!

These two are peas in a pod. They held hands and walked around for about the first 30 minutes after we met up!



These smiles were easy to get after watching the polar bear swim by! Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera ready when they hugged and kissed after this moment!
Grant even got to feed a giraffe! Usually Grant is pretty timid about these things, but since Maleah wanted to do it, there was no stopping him! Thanks for letting us hang with you, Alexanders!

Though Colin had to spend most of the time in the stroller, he didn't seem to mind!

In the evening, it was time to wash the winter off the van! No more salt and winter road grime! While Kurt usually likes to do this himself, the neighborhood kids all decided to join in! Not the driest of activities, but it sure was fun!

Here the kids scatter as they realize that 15 mph winds and water hoses don't mix all that well!

Everybody is in on the action. I'm going to have to get more sponges for next time! As you can see, car washing for us is a contact sport, thus Kendall's protective headgear!
Even Colin got in on the act. He loved using the brush! With all the short guys helping, I didn't even have to bend over!