Oh yeah, I have this thing called a blog.

Ye Old Blog needs a little dusting off. Any readers left out there? Not that there were that many to start with, but anywho.

So... what's new with y'all?

Me? Oh I've just birthed a new human into this world. Not much.

For real guys, life has happened and this blog has been knocked way down on the priority list. I've missed my little interweb community though. And I'm going to try to get back in a little at a time. I think I can handle one to two short little posts a week. So, to start off, I'm going to try to get y'all up to speed on what has been going on around our home. Please note that the following are in chronological order.

-I was laid off from my little part time job in October. Although it was a scary time, it has worked out really beautifully for my family. Being home is exactly where I'm supposed to be right now.

-Jackson turned 3 in November. 3 stinking years old. Where has my baby gone? 3 is proving to be an interesting age. Jackson is fun, smart, sensitive, playful, kind, and helpful. His cognitive/ motor skills are simply amazing. But 3 is quite the sassy age as well! I sometimes think Jackson is 3 going on 13. But he is such a joy. Here he is at his school birthday party. Precious!
-December was a great month. We had such a wonderful Christmas. It was so fun and laid back. Exactly what this girl needed. We took it all in, knowing it would be our last Christmas as a family of three.
-Our New Year's celebration was relatively laid back. We went out to eat at the Kani House with some of our dear friends and then came back home for dessert and fireworks. My pregnant self was in bed by 10pm. But fun was had by all. Here is Jack all bundled up to watch the firework show.-Of course, January held a pretty big event for us. Our sweet Bennett "Ace" was born on January 22. The condensed birth story is as follows:

I went in for my week 39 appointment suspecting that my water was leaking. My midwife checked me and told me I was 4cm dilated, but no, my water was not leaking. She stripped my membranes, telling me that labor was soon. She thought I would be back at the hospital within hours to have the baby. My mom and I went to the mall to walk and try get some contractions started. No dice. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I went to bed that night. I know it wasn't going to happen, but I just felt like I was going to be pregnant forever! The next morning I woke up and decided to go walk some more with Kyle. While we were at the mall, I just started feeling lousy. I was freezing cold, and just had zero energy. We came home and I tried to get some rest. I took my temperature and had a very low grade fever. I called the midwives office and they told me to come in and they would get me checked out. I saw a different midwife an d she decided that yes, my water was acutally leaking and that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP so they could start IV antibiotics and get my labor started. Even though I felt horrible, I was so glad that our baby was on his way. The entire labor I had a high fever and my bloodpressure was dangerously low. I recently read on another blog that you have to walk very close to death to bring a new baby into this world, and I think that is so true. Even though there were issues during labor, it was relatively easy. I had my epidural at around 7 centimeters, and pushed for about 45 minutes and Mr. Bennett "Ace" Van Nus arrived on January 22 at 1:29 in the morning. He was beautiful and a very healthy 8lbs 15.5oz.

Ace was put on antibiotics shortly after birth to try to prevent infection, since I was feverish when he was born. Unfortunately, he did get an infection that caused him to be in the NICU for several days. His breathing was very rapid and shallow, so they wanted to watch him very closely.They determined his infection stemmed from my water leaking for a long period of time before he was born. But finally, after 5 days, we were able to bring our little man home. God was so faithful to us during this time, and poured His grace and love out on us. I truly do feel we are divinely favored.


-February... was I around in February? It really does just seem like a huge fog. We were all adjusting to our new life and to the lack of sleep. February pretty much consisted of: breastfeeding, some doctor's appointments, laundry, breastfeeding, burping, afternoon naps... you get the point. Here's some sweet pictures from that crazy month!


(end photo taken by Heartstrings Photography. So gorgeous!!!)

-March has been wonderful so far. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying this, but we finally seem to be falling into our new pattern of life. Ace is sleeping very long stretches at night. He eats on a schedule. And he is taking a great morning and afternoon nap every day. Generally, he is a very happy baby. Jackson is an AMAZING big brother. He helps me with anything he can, and he adores his little brother. I have seen no real signs of jealousy at all.

So, stick with me here. I have some new pictures to upload from my camera, so you should be seeing them very soon. I hope you are all doing well!!!

Turtle, it's what's for dinner.

While I was driving home on Friday afternoon, Kyle called my cell phone. He frantically asked me where the camera was. He needed the camera! Where is the camera?!!? Please don't say the camera is in your purse!!

Guess what? The camera was in my purse.

When I received the call, Kyle was sitting in his truck on the side of the road that runs just outside of our neighborhood. He had seen something about to cross the road and being the inquisitive man that he is, he had to get a better look. Turns out, it was this lovely creature that he found.

Obviously, I got to the scene with my camera, thus the picture. It is a giant snapping turtle. Here is Kyle touching the thing with a shovel.
I was about to run back to the car after I saw that thing snap at him. It was pretty quick too, as far as turtles go. Kyle was debating what to do with the thing. He didn't want it to get ran over on the road, but really, what do you do with a snapping turtle?


Something tells me this little love wouldn't be a good pet for Jackson. (Do you see that tail? It looks like an alligator.)

Thank goodness, the rightful owner of the turtle lives in a house that is about 30 yards away from where Kyle found it. He saw the flash from my camera and knew that we must have found his turtle! The man was seriously overjoyed.
Here is Rightful Owner, with his 25 pound turtle. And the best part of this entire story is this: He was fattening the turtle up so he could use it in a STEW. Yum yum. He even invited Kyle and me over to enjoy some delicious turtle stew. Unfortunately, we had plans.

It's captivating stuff, really

BooMama is hosting a Before & After thingy at her blog. I wanted to join in but, to be honest with you I wasn't feeling up to doing anything major! So I decided to tackle my unbelievably messy bathroom cabinets. Y'all, I had enough mostly empty bottles of lotion to grease down a whale. I combined some, and threw out a lot. I also got rid of a ton of old makeup. I think I had about 7 bottles of crusty foundation that I trashed. I'm sort of ashamed to show these pictures to the world, but here it is!

THE BEFORE'S

THE AFTER'S

Thanks so much to BooMama for the inspiration. Now if I could only transform the old office/spare bedroom/storage space/catchall room into the nursery!

Praise Jesus for rocking chairs, beautiful views, cabins in the mountains, re-reading old favorite books, convertible Mustangs, Shrimp and Grits (mmmmmmmmmm), inside jokes with your husband (yo love salsa!!!), mini wedding cakes, and 5 wonderful years of marriage. We had an amazing weekend!



Run, don't walk to your local grocery store and get the ingredients for these Shrimp & Grits. These were on the menu at our wedding, and I was a little intimidated to make them myself, but they turned out so wonderfully. It really is a pretty fool proof recipe.

And I never looked back

Edited to add: Our wedding anniversary is actually September 20. But, we will be in a cabin far, far away from any internet connection. Even if there is an internet connection, I'm not taking my laptop. So, here it is. A day early, but the sentiment holds true every day of my life.


Five years ago today, I woke up to a gorgeous early fall morning. It was a perfect day! Sunny, cool, and breezy.

Five years ago today, I sneaked over to the house that would soon be mine and my husbands for a hug and quick talk with my fiance. He gave me a beautiful diamond necklace to wear that afternoon.

Five years ago today, I went with my best friend for a leisurely afternoon at the beauty salon. We had our hair done and I headed home.

Five years ago today, I put on my makeup in the tiny little bathroom at my parent's house. I made sure that it was perfect with lots of waterproof mascara.

Five years ago today, I got in the car with my momma & daddy. My nervous daddy drove me to where my wedding was to take place and didn't say a word the whole time. He just kept his steady 50 mph down I-85. As I was screaming on the inside for him to HURRY UP!

Five years ago today, I sipped champagne and ate strawberries with my bridesmaids. We got dressed and headed out for pictures.

Five years ago today, my mother zipped up my gown for me. She adjusted everything until it was just right. She stood back and looked at me and somehow managed to hold back tears. She knew that if she cried, I would just fall apart!

Five years ago today, I hugged my grandmother and silently prayed for a long a beautiful marriage like she had with my grandfather.

Five years ago today, I waited in a small bedroom with my sister and peaked out the window to see people filing into the beautiful tree lined ceremony area.

Five years ago today, I clutched my daddy's arm and walked down to the man who was waiting to become my husband.

Five years ago today, I married my best friend.

Kyle,

You are the fixer of all broken things, the maker of the best pot of coffee & grilled cheese sandwiches, the calm in the storm, the laugh through tears, the Daddy to my babies, the strong and gentle leader for our family, the logical one, my sanity. I love you with everything that is within me. You bless me and our family on a daily basis. Thank you.

I love you,

S.

We are expecting....

Yesterday Kyle and I went to our 20 week ultrasound. Our appointment was scheduled for 1:20 in the afternoon and that was the latest 1:20 that I've ever experienced! To say that I was anxious is an understatement! I not only wanted to find out the sex of the baby, but I wanted to see that the baby was healthy and progressing along just as it should.

We arrived at the doctor's office at 1:15 (which was all the way out in Tucker. A good 45 minutes from our house) and I wasn't taken back until about 1:43. Y'all my bladder was about to burst! The precious ultrasound technician could immediately see on the machine that I needed to "relieve" my bladder and let me go on to the bathroom. So after that was taken care of she started doing all the routine ultrasound stuff. The baby's heart was beautiful and we could see the 4 chambers, brain looked great, spine was all there, both femur bones, etc. Praise the Lord! I was filled with such wonder and awe just laying there looking in on a great mystery. My sweet baby is not a mystery to God, and I feel like I was snooping around on His handiwork. I have said it before, but I just don't understand how someone can see something like that and not believe in God. It was a beautiful and precious moment that I will never forget.

Finally we got around to the gender part. Brenda, our ultrasound technician kept turning around and smiling at Kyle. She asked us what our first child was. I was staring at the screen trying so hard to figure out why she was smiling and giggling. AND then it was quite obvious... we are expecting a little BOY! A little boy who has already figured out that he has a penis and he likes to play with it. I'm not even kidding you. I have the pictures to prove it. But for posterity's sake, I will refrain from posting them! Let's just say that it was very easy to tell that he is definitely a boy!

I'm thrilled. A little girl would of course have been just as lovely, but I am so glad that Jackson is getting a little brother. Daddy is just as tickled and proud as he can be. Our only hurdle now is figuring out a name! We have a middle name picked out, but we are torn between a few different options for the first name.

Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments and prayers that were lifted up on our behalf. Y'all are really the best!

Pregnancy brain...

Edited to add the acutual awards. I must have been in lala land yesterday!

I totally forgot the reason why I even started the last post. I'm calling pregnancy brain on that one. Anyhoo... I received 2 awards and I need to pass them on. I am honored to get the "Kind Blogger" and "Friendship" awards.
About a year or so ago I had really just started reading blogs, and knew a few ladies from church who kept up with them. I had gone to Carol's blog through someone's else's link and really enjoyed reading. Then one night at choir I saw her, and kept thinking to myself, how in the world do I know that woman? It was about to drive me crazy until it dawned on me that I had visited her blog! I finally decided that I just had to talk to her and tell her that I had found her blog. Y'all, she is like a blogging super star. She had an article printed in the P31 magazine and everything! Her writing is so heart felt and humorous and always glorifies God. She really is just as sweet in person. Thanks so much for the award, Carol! Go and visit her over at Sheep to the Right! Now, I would like to pass these awards to...........

*My sweet sister, Megan. Seriously, the person who is ultimately responsible for bringing me to Christ. She was such an amazing role model as we were growing up. Love you!
*A friend that I have known forever, and one of my bridesmaids, Stephanie.
*This lady just found out that she is expecting her first baby, and she was my boss for one summer. (An amazing boss, by the way!) Donna.
*I met Lauren during one of the most stressful times of my life! Dr. Aiken's Anatomy and Physiology I & II would not have been the same without her. She is a registered nurse now and has worked so hard to get through school!
*And finally, Robyn who is also expecting her first little baby! She is only a few weeks behind me. I met Robyn at NGCSU and she is going to be the best mama ever!

So thanks again, Carol! I really am honored to get those awards from you!