Baby Fever

Seriously guys… this is the cuteness that surrounds me in my life these days:

 

These cuties are only a few that have been born this month in my social circles. Up top is my nephew Eli, then sweet Yooli was born last week, and Tenley {Chacey’s little sister} was born yesterday. I briefly met baby Luke when he was just a couple days old and my timing was off when I stopped by to see Roman last week and he was nursing. :( And then… some college friends are providing foster care for a newborn that they picked up from the hospital two-ish weeks ago.

Babies, babies, babies!!!

So, no doubt. This girl has baby fever! If you know me in real life, you’ve probably already figured that one out!! Unfortunately, my hubby doesn’t have the fever. And I’m not particularly itching to have another baby right-right now… but just sometime. Of course, this will be decided mutually with regards to jobs, grad school, etc. Here are a few of my reasons {my hubby says they aren’t real reasons} that we should have another:

1. I really like my OB and I miss going to her frequently.
2. Weight gain is encouraged!
3. But in all actuality, I don’t really gain much weight. With Belle I left the hospital smaller than when I got pregnant with her—despite eating whatever my pregnant heart desired.
4. Pregnant women aren’t judged for wearing yoga pants daily.
5. I have unused awesome baby names—specifically boy ones.
6. We would be doing this world a disservice by not blessing society with our really, really cute offspring! :)
7. And lastly, I just look really good and happy holding these little snuggle-bunnies, don’t you think??

And look at these guys—looks like they might be on board too!  

I’m completely aware that these are totally silly reasons to have another baby. But Derek’s number one reason for not having another is this, “we’d have to switch to one-on-one defense to zone defense!”… And as you can tell, we haven’t discussed this too much in serious, so it’s still up in the air whether we’ll have more or not! I absolutely love my family just the way it is, but I can’t deny that I have that newborn itch!

Moms of three {or more}… what do you say? How do you deal with the zone defense?!?

Mom’s have hobbies?

I’m still linking up with Jenna! I’ll be back to my regular posts soon! I know most of you read hoping for pictures of the kids, so I included some at the end!

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Tell us about your hobbies! What do you do in your free time? What are your favorite books, movies, music etc?
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Hobbies?? Free time?? What are those?? Haha. Just kidding. Somewhere beyond the yoga-pants, ponytail, and t-shirt with kid snot lies an actual person with hobbies, interests, and a life! :)  

And actually, I’ve found quite a bit of extra free time lately. Back during my crazy semester, we hired a babysitter to come on Thursday afternoons and I allocated that time to do all my school work for the week. My hubby has graciously offered to keep having her come over even when I don’t have school. Seriously, it’s amazing. Just four hours a week just makes me feel so human again! Awesome, right!?

My biggest “free time” opportunities are after the kids go to bed and my Thursday afternoons. Derek and I watch shows or movies together a night or two each week in the evenings. I love that time together. I blog sometimes and every once in awhile I’ll get him to play a game with me. I do like to be crafty and do some DIY projects from time to time! One of my favorite things to do on a Thursday afternoon is to find myself at Starbucks {for a smoothie because I do NOT like coffee} and completely veg out—after I run some kid-less errands of course! I’ll read a book, blogs, play a game on my tablet, text, or whatever.

I also find myself spending time reading/planning/working on things to do with the kids or around the house. Because the truth is… is that my favorite hobby is being a wife and mom, even if that sounds really cheesy. But I spent an hour at the library trying to figure out the Dewey decimal system in order to pick out a dinosaur book for Jackson and I like planning ahead for meals to provide healthy and yummy food! And I also find myself reading and doing research for my grad school stuff—not even for a grade {gasp!} but just because I enjoy it. Crazy, right!?

And because I haven’t even really addressed my hobbies yet, here they are {no particular order!}

• Movies—going to the theater is my favorite!
• Reading—my last book, Outlaw Platoon. GREAT BOOK! It’s a true story of a platoon in Afghanistan that takes place in 2006.
• Bargain shopping—garage sales, thrift stores, craigslist, Oh my!!
• Socializing—and my favorite activities include having people over for dinner and my once a month book club.
• Music—I enjoy live music and am trying to incorporate it more into my life!
• Blogging—it’d be silly not to include it, because, seriously. I spend a lot of time doing it! I enjoying writing and I love reading blogs!

So anyway, that was kind of a long post for a pretty short question. I also like to talk… and type! :)

Here are my latest Instagram pics!

We had a dinner time picnic last week!

Seriously, her blue eyes just make me melt!

“Hey, Mom! I’m jammin’!” {yes with my pot and pan lids}

We went to a local spray ground earlier this week! So much fun!

Aunt Ashley came to play yesterday!
 

And Jackson is becoming a pro at snapping green beans from Grandpa’s garden! I know this will make you proud, Grandma Trickel! :)

My blog! {linking up with Jenna again}

I’m combining day 2 and day 3 together and linking up with Jenna again! :)

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Tell us about your blog. What do you blog about? Why do you blog? How did you start blogging? What kinds of things do you/are you willing to share with the world? Where do you find your topic inspiration?
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I first starting blogging when I was pregnant with Jackson {so, 4 years ago!}. My posts were less than monthly and merely just updates for friends and family. I began blogging with more frequency as Jackson approached his first birthday and eventually I found myself as an active blogger.
As I blogged more frequently and began to have followers that I didn’t personally know, I wanted to take our last name out of the title and began searching for a new name! At the time we were preparing for my husband’s nine month absence as he trained for the army, looking forward to hosting a foreign exchange student {yes, while he was gone!}, I was in grad school, plus doing the normal wife/mom thing… thus Wife hat, Mom hat was born and here I am! :)
My blog space is primarily just a glimpse into our lives. My favorite blogs I read are just everyday blogs and so that’s what I spend most of my time doing! I’ll share a DIY project or issue based posts every once in awhile. Mostly it’s just stuff I want to remember {and/or use against my kids some day… like this picture of Belle}.

--------------------Tell us about your social media! Where can we find you? Link to your twitter, pinterest, Facebook, instagram, or google +. If you don't use those sites, then tell us why not! Also, what are your favorite websites? Are there any that you check daily? What do you like about them?
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Do I use social media?! Uhm… one might say I have an addiction. Other than blogging, I’m on facebook, twitter, and instagram {amy_421}. I am still trying to figure out a google+ page for my blog—that will happen when I have time {ha, yeah right!}. I do have pinterest, but I barely use it.

My favorite websites. Hhmm… well, I pretty much “like” most of my favorite sites on facebook, subscribe via RSS, or follow on twitter, so I don’t visit many different sites per say, but I gather a lot of their information otherwise. I will check out videos and new stories shared by friends a lot. I do check my google reader for my favorite blogs almost daily. And Wonderwall {on facebook} is my guilty celebrity gossip indulgence. Oh, I do check slickdeals.net almost daily as well. I love stumbling across an awesome deal.

Me! {linking up: Annual Commenting Challenge}

Doing blog challenges/link-ups normally isn’t my thing! But this one {by Jenna at Jenna’s Journey} seems like a fun way to meet new bloggers, so I thought I’d give it a try. It started yesterday, so in true Amy-fashion… I’m just a little bit late. :)

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Tell us about YOU! What's your name? Where do you live? Who lives with you? Do you work outside the home? Have kids? Pets?
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For those of you who don’t already know, my name is Amy and I am married to
my college sweetheart. I’m an Army wife, stay-at-home-mom, and grad student. We have two kids, Jackson {3} and Belle {1}. I am admittedly biased, but they’re pretty cute. They keep me pretty busy, but I love being their Mama!

 
We live in a Kansas City suburb on the better Missouri side. Most people don’t even realize that KC is actually in Missouri. I know, we’re just “fly-over-country” to most, but I really enjoy this city and I have fun exploring and enjoying the things that KC has to offer… especially the BBQ.

I’m getting my Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and my passion is military psychology. Someday I’ll finish. I’m only taking a class or two at a time. One, because it’s expensive. And two, my biggest priority is my family. Sometimes I just really want to be done and take a million classes, but then I know I don’t want to miss out on these short years at home with my little ones. There’s time for a career after they grow up, right?

So this is me in a nutshell! If you’re a regular, thanks for continually reading! And if you’re new—thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you around! :)

Conversations with Belle

It was a month ago that I posted about Belle’s first words. She is increasing her vocabulary almost daily and it’s cute. However, she has a favorite word… “no”. This is how our many daily conversations go:




If I ask if she wants a bite, she will say “no” yet open her mouth. Likewise to wanting to be held, holding her baby, wanting a drink etc.

Once “no” became a favorite part of her vocabulary, Derek and I have tried to be diligent to avoid using that word as much as possible. Unfortunately, big brother isn’t on board. He will walk up to her and say, “no!” and then Belle follows through with a chorus of “no’s” and then Jackson tattles… OR… When Belle says “no” over and over {which is often how she talks to herself} Jackson will say “yes”. And a shouting match erupts between the two, most often in the van, of “yes’s and no’s'”. Bring on the sibling fighting. Ugh.

I’ve been mostly trying to ignore this little phase. But if I never hear the word “no” from her little mouth, I’d be okay. She sure is a cute little thing though, isn’t she? {And at least I have proof that she denied parental financial support for her college education.}

Cousin time, take 2

Back in the beginning of the month, my nephew Gabe stayed with us for several days. I shared a quick post when he first got here, but I wanted to share the rest! The cousins had a great time together!

Gabe was here for 9 days before his parents came over from St. Louis. We crammed in lots of fun!

The park

Gabe got to join us on our weekly pilgrimage to McDonalds with Great Grandpa. 

 

The boys slept peacefully together and never ever fought over the same toy. {ha, yeah right! They did good sharing a bed. Sharing toys, eh, not so much}

We got pretty good at getting three kid plates together at meal times!

And loading up three kiddos to go places. 

Like, to Burger King on a certain day when I realized that taking care of three kiddos is hard work—let along preparing a meal to feed five people. Whew. Thank goodness for that BK giftcard! {and seriously, this is the face Jackson gives me when I said, “say cheese!”.}

Then, Aunt Mary and Uncle Brad came over to Kansas City to visit. And they brought this guy! He’s saying, “Hi Aunt Amy!” Isn’t he cute!?

We got all the cousins together to take a picture—which was not an easy task, but we did it!

Apparently, I need to do a better job of actually taking pictures of Brad and Mary—not just their kiddos. Though I only have one picture to show for it, Jackson and Belle loved playing tackle with Uncle Brad.

We celebrated Gabe’s third birthday

And we had a big family get together at Ryan’s—like 20 of us! 

It was a crammed-packed two weeks full of lots of fun and playing! The boys loved riding bikes together and throwing year old “popper” fireworks in the garage. And it's really nice to visit with Brad and Mary when they come visit. I’m working really hard to nag them to death convince them to move to Kansas City. Maybe someday!

College Summers: San Diego

I spent my college summers doing Summer Missions— China, Myrtle Beach, Kanakuk Kamps, and one full summer in Colorado Springs at the Focus Leadership Institute. These opportunities were ways to serve others, yet as is often the case, these were major blessings in my life and made an impacting change in my life. I still have solid friendships with people that I met during these adventures.

My sister, Laura, is a part of a summer mission project in San Diego right now. It’s crazy to think that she’s even old enough to be in California without an adult, but more so to hear her talk about her faith in such an adult manor. Since when did my little sister (seven years younger!) become so mature in relationship with Christ?
 
I want to share with you what Laura has written about her summer. Her willingness to follow the Lord’s calling is amazing—even when it meant not spending her summer with her niece and nephew, not traveling with friends on fun road trips and vacations, and to potentially cease involvement in her much loved sorority simply to pay for her trip. It’s kind of long, but I condensed it a little bit—there is just too much good stuff and I’m just really proud.

Hello! I am spending my summer in San Diego on a Summer Project through the campus ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ! I have decided to give you a better glimpse of what I am doing here, how God is using me, and what will this trip look like long-term in my life! 

I have experienced in-depth Bible teaching through the preaching of the staff here on project. The staff  directing the project are some of the most respectable, God-centered, faithful, and intelligent leaders I have been blessed to grow with so far this summer. At each meeting, we start with a devotion to center or hearts and minds on our purpose for being here on project. We are constantly filled with the Word and are blessed with leaders who we can look up to to understand what it means to surrender our lives to Christ. 

The opportunities to not only influence Americans, but people from numerous other nationalities here in San Diego are tremendous. As we go sharing at San Diego State University, there are more than 1,900 international students from more than 95 countries*. God has already placed me in spiritual conversations with an undergrad girl from the Philippines, a Muslim girl with a Political Science major, and a girl going on a college tour planning on moving to the States in the fall from Germany. Those are just to name a few! While on the beach I have been able to share the Gospel with a 19 year old boy from France; also, a high school boy at a bus stop about my faith, whose family still lives in Mexico and has an uncle who just started taking him to a Christian church! 

While gaining new experiences of different types of evangelism and just simply sharing with all different types of people, I can feel the Holy Spirit changing not only the way I want to live my life glorifying God when I get home, but also placing in me such a life-long, deep desire to use these skills and experiences to lead others to an understanding of what it means to live a life, not just filling up with the Good News, but also pouring out the beautiful redemption we have received through faith! I am so excited to see how God will use me when I am back in my ‘comfort zone’ of school, familiar friends, and family! 

I have felt a calling for ministry for the rest of my life throughout this past school year; with this, I know that my summer spent here is not just preparing me for my next 2 years at Missouri State, but for a lifetime of professing my faith in Christ throughout the world. God is growing me and preparing my heart to take the Good News to the numerous unreached peoples of this world. 

While on the San Diego Summer Project, we will be living the last 4 ½ weeks without the project staff here. During this time, students will be given the chance to take over the many leadership roles and gain the experience of being a leader in a big way! These leadership positions will not only influence us now, but will be an experience that will help shape us as we continue to live our lives God-centered.
Something unique about the state-side Summer Projects, is that we have the chance to get jobs or volunteer and begin to live life here, proclaiming the Gospel, as we will when we get back home. We have a weekly meeting called Friday Night Live where we are encouraged to invite our fellow employees and students we meet on campus so that they may hear the gospel and see what a Christ-centered community truly looks like. 

I am still short on my support, God placed it on my heart to be here this summer and that He is using me and growing me in ways I could not expect He would. Please read through and consider, through prayer, helping me reach my final support goal! I have about 10 days to raise $1400. Thank you! Again, I encourage you to consider, through prayer supporting me; and to remember that you are giving for me to be here, but I am here to further the glory of God!
If you would like to help me financially, you can donate through this site.

Whew. Don’t you wish you had the guts to talk about your faith to a boy at a bus stop? There is great stuff happening over in San Diego this summer. There are over 100 Campus-Crusade-for-Christ-ers there with her.

I wanted to share this, regardless of if you can contribute or not! But if you’re at a place in life where you can spare some funds to help—it will definitely help change lives. She misses home and covets encouragement too! Leave a comment and I’ll be sure to pass it along to her!

And here are a few pics that I borrowed from her friends off facebook!

Girl time—Laura is in the black tiger sweatshirt.

Yes, that’s my sister acting all ghetto in front. I’m holding onto this one to show her future children!

Not sure what’s going on here—but then, she probably doesn’t either…

Fire Station Tour

Last week, Jackson and a few friends took a tour of our local fire station. It was on my list of field trips for the summer and it was super fun!

To start the tour, we watched a short cartoon.

And then we took a tour of the facility. We got to see the bedrooms, weight room, dining room, the TV area. Of course our kiddos were most amazed by the THREE refrigerators.

 

And then came the REALLY fun part—checking out the fire trucks! There are so many compartments on the truck and lots of big tools and gadgets! 

The kids got to climb up in the trucks

And practice driving!
 

They LOVED playing with the gadgets and levers! 

The got to explore the back of the ambulance too! 

Jackson was super excited to wear his fire helmet that day. But then he got to try on a real fire helmet! It was really heavy! And it had a flashlight—Jackson’s favorite part!

And right after we took this picture of the kids on the truck…

  

They got a call about a brush fire. So the kids got to watch the fire fighters suit up, load up, and take off!
 

And in case you didn’t notice the kids in the above pictures… this is what they looked like. The sirens were very loud.
  

The idea of touring a fire station came by a local cable guy who was very friendly about Jackson oohing-and-aahing over his work truck. {all you mothers of boys—you understand this!}. The man was a former fire fighter and he told me just to call and set up an appointment to go visit! That was almost 18 months ago. I was super nervous, but it was totally easy. I didn’t have to have a group {though we did go with a few friends} and I didn’t need a specific reason or anything. They were happy to do it… and apparently they do it often enough because they were total pros at letting the kids look/climb/talk. This would be a fun birthday party idea. {I read somewhere that October is Fire Safety month so it fills up quickly.}

Destination: Fire Station
Location: Local
Cost: Free!!
Pros: High interest!! It’s educational, introduces kids to the people who might need to help them, and a way to discuss fire safety.
Cons: There is always a possibility that the team may be called out during your scheduled appointment.
Time: We spent about an hour at the station.
Bring with you: camera!

Jackson still talks about going to the fire station. I’ve checked out several books about fire trucks/firemen/emergency vehicles from the library and so he’s really learning about how they can help people. I’m so glad we set this up! You should too!

Father’s Day

My kiddos have the best Daddy.

And I do too!

We enjoyed a nice Father’s Day up at my parents house. We celebrated with my parents, Derek’s parents, and Great Grandpa {Linda’s dad}. I love it when our families come together! We’re so blessed.

I asked Jackson about his favorite thing about Daddy and then he asked me what my favorite thing was. {I said that Daddy works really hard to provide for our family and protects us to keep us safe.} Then, Jackson turns to Derek and says, “What’s YOUR favorite thing about you?!” Haha. Derek replied, “my awesome good looks…”

These are Jackson’s favorite things:

• Daddy: Playing tackle {and demonstrated what looked like a sit up}
• Great Grandpa: Going to McDonalds and shooting baskets
• Papa Forrest and Papa Johne: something about fixing tractors. {no clue!}

Like I said before, we’re just super blessed with lots of great father’s in our family!

Our week in photos

We’ve been pretty busy lately and I have a TON of stuff to blog about! We had a garage sale this weekend and I’m just exhausted, so a simple “our week in photos” blog post will have to do for now!

I got a new phone! And it’s awesome…which makes capturing moments so much easier! Here my kiddos are helping me figure out the front facing camera!

Check out my cute Mizzou fans!!

We took our kids out to celebrate our anniversary last week. We all had fun!

Cousin Gabe came and played with us a week or so before his parents came over from St. Louis. My kiddos got to meet their new baby cousin, Eli.

And I got to soak up baby Eli snuggles!

I took Jackson to tour the fire station the other day. He was excited, can’t you tell? {I can’t wait to share about it!}

  

This is garage sale… only half of what my garage looked like when we set it all up the day before we started. So much stuff!

Jackson was my big “helper” all week as I sorted and priced stuff. 

This was what my last three days have looked like… I need a break from math.

Belle climbed up on the tractor about a bazillion times. Not to be surprised, a fascination of all things John Deere runs in the family.

We went out to our community festival last night. I love funnel cakes!

And this morning we walked to main street to watch a parade.

Which was really just a moving political platform, but the kids enjoyed the candy! Jackson was literally covered from head to toe {socks} in stickers!

I’m looking forward to a lazy day tomorrow! I’m excited for the kids to give Daddy their Father’s Day present. {And I’m just as eager to give my dad his present too!}. But for now, I think I want to go to bed—and it’s still daylight!