A Productive Day

Since we were blessed with a beautiful day and a day off from work for Matt, we decided it was time to clean up the yard. We had been overtaken by the leaves in our gutters and in our flower beds. Matt was blowing the leaves out of the gutters, while Lee and I cleaned out the flower beds.

Lee was glad to haul off the piles we accumulated.

I don't know what we'll do when he outgrows the gator! He loves that thing!

This is a terrible quality picture, but I wanted to show the mound of leaves that came from our deck and off our house. Lee was having the best time jumping in them and making "leaf angels." We came in when it was dark, and we were all filthy. Matt claimed the first shower, and I told Lee he would be next. He looked at me with all seriousness and said, "I don't fink I need a bath." He had a layer of dirt in his hair, even with a toboggan! I guess he didn't believe me, because I heard him pleading his case with his daddy too. He loves taking a bath, so I guess he truly didn't think he needed one. I think we'll all sleep really well tonight!

He made it!

The Coffields will be home tomorrow, and I'm happy to report that we will be returning their original fish to them in good condition. Lee has had the BEST time with Katie's fish this week. The other day I heard him talking to him and showing him his soccer trophy. It was pretty cute. Maybe Lee will get his own fish one day.

Thankful

I asked my boys to make a list of things they are thankful for to share on our blog. I had no idea that they would do such a great job. Here are their lists (& mine) in their own words.

Matt-1. Stacy, my queen and wife 2. Lee, my wonderful boy 3. Boy-to-be, I love him already 4. My parents 5. Our home in Gate 3 6. My job 7. My sister, her husband, and all of my nieces and nephews 8. My beautiful wife and boys 9. My companion, Buzz 10. Our Titans tickets and our game day friends 11. Good health 12. My church and freedom of religion 13. My sons and their super mother! 14. That I get to raise my family in a place like Paris

Lee-Buzz, Mommy, Dad, Paul, my Gator, our house, my bed, myself, my preschool friends, my sweeper, my secret drawer, Miss Angie, my cousins, oh and other "fwamly", Eloise, going to Sunday School

Stacy- I am thankful for my Saviour, my salvation, and the promise of eternity with my loved ones in Heaven, the most loving husband on the planet, a child who is more wonderful than words, an angel in my tummy, who I can hardly wait to meet, the gift of memories, my parents, my parents-in-love, my brother and my 3 sisters in law, my 4 nieces and 3 nephews, who bring me more joy than I knew was possible, my camera and pictures to remind me how blessed I am, an extended family that I adore, friends who love and accept me as I am, music, a church family that is so diverse, it welcomes people from every walk of life, our new pastor and his family, who, in their short time with us, have enriched our lives immensely, our home, technology that allows me to keep in touch with old friends and get acquainted with new ones, Angie Taylor and Connie Bell, who are instilling lessons in Lee that he will keep for a lifetime, our freedom and those who are missing Thanksgiving with their families to protect it, pumpkin, our favorite football teams, our Buzz and the 5 years of joy he has brought us, the most wonderful neighbors you can imagine, and our good health.


Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thes. 5: 16-17)

Andy at 21 weeks

Lee has had a fever and sore throat today, so we were unable to get to the grocery for our weekly produce picture. The comparison on my pregnancy website says he is the size of a large banana. We know from yesterday's ultra sound that he weighs about 15 ounces. The average length is 7 inches at this point, but I believe our little peanut is longer than that. Its biggest accomplishment this week is learning to swallow. It is even beginning to digest what is swallowing.

Matt has been very busy at work this week, so maybe when we can get together for more than 15 minutes, we can decide on his name. We have many, many boy names that we love. We might just put our favorites in a hat and draw 2 (or 3) out and go from there!

Titans Win Again!

In honor of the Titans' win tonight, I thought it would be fun to post some recent pictures taken of Lee at the games. I take my little camera with me to the games, and then I usually forget to download them!
We ran into Alex on the way to the game at a rest area. Alex played flag football this year and is now a huge Titans and Colts fan! We won't hold that last part against him. It has been hard to be the most loyal Titans fan this season.

This was a 3:00 game, and by the end, Lee was wearing a coat and toboggan.

I need to point out that this was Lee's and my first home game of the season, which coincidentally, was the first win of the season for the Titans!

This was last week's game at noon. Lee wore his thinnest jersey, sunscreen and sunglasses! We won this game too. See a pattern here??

Eloise is....

NOW ANDY!!

We have retired the name Eloise and hope we haven't scarred our precious baby boy for life by calling him that for the past 5 months. Lee came up with the new nickname "Andy" today after reading a book from Toy Story. It didn't take long during the ultra sound to see that another boy was on the way. Matt and I saw it at about the same time and were pretty certain before the tech confirmed our guess. We were thankful that he was moving a lot, so that it was easy to see. I guess the sweet tea from lunch kicked in at just the right time! He was all over the place!
Here we are right after hearing the news that we are adding another boy to our family. For those keeping score, that's 4 boys (including Buzz) and 1 girl in our household! Maybe I need to get a female cat!

Lee is holding the proof!

After the initial shock wore off that he is not getting a sister, he was pretty excited. He has already given me a list of things he wants to teach him and games he wants to play with him.The ultra sound was so much fun. We had a wonderful technician, who was very thorough and was especially sweet to Lee. She included him when telling details about the baby and spent more time than usual trying to get the perfect pictures for us. We were there over an hour. He weighs 15 ounces and measures to be due April 5th. He looked perfect and round and like we could take him out now and play with him. I'm certain the next 18 weeks will drag by since we are so ready to have him with us now.

Thanksgiving Feast

Lee got to celebrate Thanksgiving at preschool this morning. It was the most precious program, where the kids sang songs about Thanksgiving, and then each kid told what they were thankful for. I held my breath just knowing that Lee would hang his head and not say a word when it was his turn. Much to my surprise and delight, he said he was thankful for his dog. Next, they went to their designated tables for their feast. Lee must have been starving, because he ate most of what was on his plate and even tried a few new things!

I'm certain that the original Pilgrims and Indians were not this darn cute!
This is Lee's best girl friend, Marly Kate. He absolutely adores her and wants to sit by her at school and at church. She must be pretty fond of Lee too, because she came and grabbed his hand and said, "C'mon Lee, let my mommy take our picture." You can see that they're still holding hands here. So precious! She asked her mommy the other day to borrow her cell phone. When her mom asked what for, she said she needed to send Lee a text message. How cute is she?!? She also has a new baby brother who will be in our baby's class. It looks like our families will have double the fun with the kiddos.

Here is Lee's place card. I thought it was precious how each child wrote his own name.

This is Mrs. Connie, one of Lee's teachers. She made a beautiful Indian. You can see how much the boys adore her.

Lee is pretending to be Mrs. Connie here.

Last, but certainly not least, this is Mrs. Angie. She is a ray of sunshine and has a knack for making every person she comes in contact with feel like the most important person in the room. We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and we will certainly be thanking our Lord for the wonderful opportunity afforded to us to send Lee to such an amazing preschool with the most gifted and caring teachers imaginable. Not only are they teaching them the skills to get ready for Kindergarten, but they are imprinting God's Word in their precious little hearts. We couldn't ask for more!

Thanksgiving Fun

Nam had lots of Thanksgiving fun planned for the kids today, so she asked that they wear play clothes. I told Lee he could choose what to wear, and this is what he chose. I love that the straps are twisted on his overalls and that he is still wearing his dress socks from church with his crocs!

One of the activities was making turkey coasters. The kids were very creative and loved making their own turkeys.

Even Hope got to use the color a turkey.

Lee loved getting to use the "grown up markers."

Here is the collection of finished turkeys.

Shelby gets the award for most creative!

So Long Soccer Season!

Saturday was our 10th and final soccer game of the season. I was looking forward to the end, until it was actually time. Lee has had so much fun, that I'm really not ready for it to end yet. Of course, it will be nice to have our Saturday mornings back and be able to go and do what we want. As of right now, Lee says he can't wait to play again next year. He has really learned and improved so much over the past few weeks that I think he could be really great next year.

Look who was first on the field and ready to play!

During the quarter change, Lee put on a show for us.

He was really getting down!

The game ended in a tie, and Lee scored 1 of the 4 goals for our team.

Here is his team saying goodbye.

He was beyond thrilled to get a trophy.

He raced off to show it do his Daddy and Pa.

Lee's First Job

Our friends, the Coffields, are off to spend Thanksgiving with their family in Florida for the week. Katie asked Lee to take care of her fish, while they're gone. He has been counting the days until Big Red came to stay with us. Now that he's here, Lee wants to feed him every hour, and not more than 30 minutes goes by without him going to see what he's doing. Since we have not had the best luck with fish in the past, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Big Red makes it through the week with us.

20 Weeks=Halfway There!

Eloise is 20 weeks today, which is halfway through a full term pregnancy. If everything goes according to plan, we will actually have her/him at 39 weeks, so technically, we're more than halfway there! Eloise is about 6 1/2 inches long and weighs about 10 1/2 ounces, which is comparable to a large banana. While at Kroger today, I could not find a banana that fit the measurements, so I tried an eggplant. It was the perfect weight, but I couldn't find one long enough. I tried several vegetables and finally spotted sweet potatoes. As luck would have it, after weighing 4, I found the perfect one. I was only slightly embarrassed when the produce manager came to see if he could help. I didn't bother to explain my reasoning for weighing 1 of nearly all his larger vegetables. I wonder what he was thinking as he watched me weigh 1 eggplant, then 1 squash, then 1 avocado, etc. Then I left with 1 sweet potato. I laughed later when thinking about him watching me.

This week, the baby will begin establishing a sleep pattern. If this is accurate, we're in trouble! It is pretty still all day long and then moves all night long, beginning around 10:30! Of course, there is still plenty of time to change those sleep habits. We can hope anyway. The biggest news of Week 20 will be from the ultra sound. We will get to see it and make sure it is healthy and find out if it is a boy or girl. That will be on Monday at 1:00. Please join us in praying that Eloise looks good and is healthy. We can't wait to share our news with you, if you don't already hear our squeals from the hospital.

Precious Memories

Lee told me he was going to listen to music today in his room while I vacuumed. When I was done, I went to check on him and found the sweetest scene. He was sitting in his rocking chair, holding my first baby doll that he had wrapped in his Thomas blanket, and he was rocking it and singing to it. I stood there for a few seconds before he saw me. When he did, he smiled so sweetly and said he was practicing rocking Eloise. Before the tears could make their way from my eyes, he said, "I'll only rock her as long as she doesn't poop." Moment over.

Tonight as I was putting him to bed, he was complaining of being too hot. I told him to pull the covers back and see if that helped. He said, "That didn't help. I fink I need to pull my pant sleeves up too."

He told his teachers at church last night that he was naming the baby Eloise McGraw Hayes, whether it is a boy or girl. They got a kick out of telling me that when I picked him up. Today, we were talking about it, and I told him we needed a boy name and a girl name. He immediately said that our boy name is Eloise McGraw, and our girl name is Trixie. After I stopped laughing, I looked up to see his most serious face, and he said, "You don't like Eloise anymore?" I think it was the closest I have ever come to wetting my pants. Oh how this silly boy makes me laugh!

No Kindergarten for Lee

Today when I picked Lee up from preschool, he didn't start telling me details from his day, like he normally does. He was a little quieter than normal. When I quizzed him on his day, he got so animated and said, "Did you know that when you go to Kindergarten you have to take a nap?" It was almost as if he was accusing me of withholding information from him. I said that I did know that. He said that someone (He couldn't remember who it was that told him.) told him that today, and now he doesn't think he should go to Kindergarten. When I tried to point out the fun things he would do in Kindergarten, he completely tuned me out and kept saying, "But you still have to take a nap...every day! I'm just not going." I finally got him to change the subject. It was a really funny conversation.

Confidence Boost from a 4 Year Old

Tonight as I was getting ready for Bunko, Lee came in the bathroom with me and said, "Mommy, your hair is a compwete disaster." To be fair, it was wilder than normal, because I had it pinned up while I was cooking. When I took it down, it was kind of a mess. But, I was working on it!

Then I changed shirts to a non-maternity shirt that was a little clingy in the tummy area. Lee didn't miss a beat. He said, "Mommy, Eloise sure is making your tummy poke out."

I asked him if he wanted to try to feel Eloise move tonight, and even after performing something similar to the Heimlich on me, he still wasn't able to feel it.

It's a handful @ 19 weeks!

If all goes well, we will know if Eloise is a girl or boy on the 23rd. It will be so nice to be able to say "he" or "she" instead of "it." Of course, there is always a chance the baby won't move the right way, and we won't be able to tell. Wouldn't that be torture? I think I'll have a nice, big Diet Coke right before I go, just for an added boost! Lee was not very cooperative at our first ultra sound with him. It took a very long time for the big reveal. Luckily, we had a great technician, who took her time and was very patient.

Eloise is full of tricks this week. She is 1/2 pound and 6 inches long. I weighed this squash at the grocery, and it weighed exactly 1/2 pound. So, if she were here right now, this squash is almost exactly true to size. I'm pretty sure next week Lee will need to use both hands!

It has been very active this week and has shown us that it is a night owl, just like mommy! So, if you want to get a turn feeling the circus act going on in my tummy, you'll have to drop in during The Golden Girls around 10:30. We have just in the past few days been able to feel it moving with our hands. Again, this is only at night. Of course, my hysterical laughing at my favorite foursome might be triggering all the movement. Perhaps I should try finding an episode during the day to see if it gets the same reaction.

Best Game Ever

Lee had his best soccer game ever today. He really got in the action and hustled. He scored 2 goals and had the best time.

Ready to go!
He's in front.

Outta my way Wesley!

Going to the goal...

...and it's in there!

Did you see that? He could not stop smiling.

He's on his way to goal #2!

More Fall Pictures

These are just some random pictures I have taken the past week. Lee is wearing red in all of them. I have always put him in fall colors for fall pics, but a friend recently suggested red. She was right. It shows up great and looks perfect against the fall colors.