Mommy Brain!!

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm a fairly intelligent person (masters degree, graduated with honors from high school and college), but sometimes "Mommy Brain" takes over and I lose whatever smarts I used to have. Two (funny) examples:

*Sunday morning as I'm showering to get ready for church, I reached for what I thought was shampoo! Nope! Half-way through washing my hair, I realized that I was actually using body wash. Yeah, you can tell that I'm pretty tired these days!!

*It wasn't this pregnancy--must have been when I was pregnant with Joshua. I went to brush my teeth (I do make time for that even when I'm tired!!) but instead of using toothpaste, I accidentally reached for the Desitin (diaper rash cream, for those of you without children in the diaper stage) that we had left on the countertop after that night's bath. Desitin is absolutely awful!!! Needless to say I gagged and almost threw up and had to throw away my toothbrush and brush my teeth with real toothpast several times to get the taste out! ICK!!!

No matter how difficult it is to be pregnant, I have loved each pregnancy (minus the nausea)!! And especially the end result--my boys are fabulous and I can't wait to meet the newest Avery Baby Boy!!! Less than two months to go!

Our Family

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So many cute pictures!

Fall is by far my favorite season!! I love fall pictures and I have tried so hard to get cute pictures of Joshua and Jackson doing all sorts of fall activities. This afternoon we went for a ride in the wagon and got some super pictures! I can't even pick my favorite, so I'm posting several. Joshua and Jackson were somewhat cooperative--it was great!

All in perspective

Tonight was quite stressful for me! I had a meeting after school, then got the boys, got dinner started, and tried to hold off the dinner-time meltdowns for Joshua and tried to sneak in some fun with the boys and play with trains before Daddy got home. It was just all too busy, with no down time and I was starting to feel overwhelmed at how much there was to do. Well, we were upstairs and I was just so frustrated at the toys everywhere and the fact that my house just never looks clean anymore. Jackson then turned to me and said just so sweetly, "Mama, it's okay. God is with you!" How can I feel overwhelmed when I had just been snapped back to reality by my 3-year-old?? Of course, God is with me--no need to stress about the little things. Thanks, love, for reminding mom of the things that really matter! He's been learning Bible verses at his preschool and they talk about Jesus during circle time and prayer time every morning, so apparently it is starting to sink in. It's wonderful and it was just what I needed to hear this evening!

Baby Update

So, I had my 30-week appointment today! Hooray! We are 75% of the way done with this pregnancy, which means only 10 more weeks or so until we meet the newest little Avery boy! We are excited! At my appointment, the doctor told me that I had only put on 17 pounds so far, which is pretty good at 30 weeks (I won't tell you what I started out at!!!). She also mentioned that since this is baby #3 in three years, my muscles are all stretched out and that's why people are making all their fun comments on how big I look. She said I looked great, and that baby is doing quite well. He's got a strong heartbeat and is moving around so much these days! He started out slowly and it made for some stressful moments for me several weeks back, but he's definitely making up for it now! The one bad thing about the appointment is that my doctor found that I have a hernia, which might have to be corrected after the baby arrives. She's not too concerned now, because it hasn't really been bothering me, but she mentioned surgery as a possibility down the road! Ick!! We're praying that's not necessary!!

Pumpkin Carving, Part 2

Grandpa Avery (who lives in South Africa) wanted to carve pumpkins with the boys, so that's exactly what we did yesterday after church. Grandpa has an unexpected stay in the States due to a blockage the doctors found last week and we are praying that he gets better quickly! Our boys are just excited to have him here. So, after church we got three huge pumpkins and set out for the fun adventure. We had to put Joshua down for his afternoon nap, so Jackson got some undivided attention. Jackson still didn't want to touch the slimy seeds, but he did put his hand inside the pumpkin several times and pulled out the pieces that fell in from the carving and he also did some scraping with his fancy scraper tool!! He really enjoyed carving pumpkins!! This time we tried using some templates and they turned out great!! Enjoy all the pictures!! Joshua eventually woke up and was able to partake in some of the fun! Glad you woke up and could have some fun with us, Joshua! Yay, Joshua!!

Three generations of Avery men, enjoying the fun of pumpkin carving!
Grandpa can do all the slimy work!
Jackson reached in to pull out the pieces that fell in! Good job, Jackson!! Jackson liked using the scraping tool to work on the pumpkin.
Here's one of the finished pumpkins! Isn't that so cool?! Cute Pumpkin! Great job!
Joshua woke up and enjoyed being a part of the fun activities! Hello, Sleepy Boy Joshua!

Apples!

The fall fun continues, although the weather feels more like summer! Today we took the boys apple picking and had a great time! Auntie Rachel and cousin James came with us--Jackson and Joshua loved riding on the tractor with James! The apples were so good--we snacked in the orchard! YUM! Our boys loved riding the tractor, running around the hay bales, playing on the tractors, riding around on bikes, eating lunch, and just having a fun time!! Fall is by far my favorite season and I am trying to do as much as possible and make some fun memories for all of us. I had the best compliment the other day. My sister-in-law told me that she thought I was a great mom and she's so impressed by all the fun activities I do with the boys. I will not let working full time get in the way of having fun with my boys. I am totally exhausted after they go to sleep, but we have lots of fun during the day. This evening after seeing Grandpa, we went to a cute train diner--the food is delivered to your table by trains! Do I even need to mention how great the boys thought that was!! They were so excited every time the train went by!! Sadly, no pictures from dinner!

Carving Pumpkins

This evening we tried our hand at carving pumpkins. What fun! And what a mess!! Joshua just wanted to draw on his pumpkin, so we gave him a marker and let him have fun! Jackson watched mom carve the pumpkin and take out the seeds in the inside--he did not want to put his hand in there and get slimy! They both loved putting the candle on the inside and watching the pumpkin smile on our kitchen table! It was a fun activity!

Pumpkin Pickin' 2008

What a beautiful fall day!! We took advantage of the gorgeous sunny day and went to a pumpkin farm. Our day started out with tantrums and a bunch of grumpies, but we managed to get out the door and have a great time at the farm. The boys loved the tractor ride out to the pumpkin field and they both chose a little pumpkin. We got to feed a llama, which was pretty funny--they really tickle when they eat from your hand! We saw lots of farm animals, played on some hay bales, tried out a maze, ate some great food, and had lots of fun! Enjoy the pictures! We took 115 of them today, just to try and get that "perfect shot" which didn't really happen! But, we did get lots of good pictures!

Jackson running through a corn stalk house. Check out that huge smile! Beautiful!!

Joshua loved trying to keep up with his big brother in the corn stalk house!

Daddy and his boys on the ride out to the pumpkin field--the boys loved the tractor!!

Mama and her boys with one of the pumpkins they chose!

Joshua loved running on the hay bales--he wanted to do it all by himself!

Jackson had such a great time running around and climbing on top of these hay bales!

Jackson fed the llama, several times--he thought it was pretty cool!

That's the one!! Jackson has found his perfect pumpkin.

Here is Joshua's perfect pumpkin!! A bit heavy for him, but he wanted to carry it!

Mama and Baby J (by the way, we have a name for him, but we're not telling quite yet!)