Commence the Waterworks!

Oh friends! Oh readers! Anyone reading this, today was an exciting day!
  It wasn't exciting in the manner of speaking that anyone witnessing our day would have been blown away, but it was big and monumental and life-altering for my family. Let me explain:
     Noah's big boy room is ready! 
You see, friends, my amazing husband worked all this weekend and through the night last night to turn our "guest bedroom"/dog room/blemish-on-the-backside-of-my-house room into the big boy room for Noah that I've been envisioning for weeks! It's completely perfect, right down to the very last tiny detail. Except for the aquarium. Noah will have an aquarium in his room, but that will come a bit later.
    Anyways
 Instead of trying to draw all of you a mental picture, I'll show you picture pictures!

Just as I imagined, a chalk board for doodling on the walls!

The walls are buttery yellow with a bright orange accent wall. I made the valances. The basketball hoop was Stephan's find and idea.

His big boy bed. As I believe I mentioned, he'll be sleeping on the trundle, not the top bunk.

The play corner and future location of the fish aquarium. 

This secret hideaway behind his bed is one of his favorite parts.

   Now for something rare: tying the post title into my actual blog post.
Noah's room is completed, his bed is made, his clothes are hanging in the closet and folded in the drawers, heck, I even moved his diapers and wipes into his new room. Verily, Noah's room is ready for Noah. However, I'm not ready for Noah to move to Noah's room. We played with him for hours in his new room, and he clearly loves it, but tonight, he's sound asleep in his crib in his old room. Why? Well, for one, I doubt he can sleep in a big boy bed without a bed railing, which we have yet to buy. (I know for sure that he would roll right out of bed in his sleep). Also, and this is the biggie, Noah moving into his big boy room means that he's a big boy!
     Yes, yes, I realize that he is, indeed, a big boy, and that keeping him in a crib longer than necessary won't stop time's ceaseless pace, but today, as I watched him having so much fun in his room, I wanted him to stop for a moment and snuggle me. I wanted him to be my baby burrito again, that little thing Stephan and I brought home from the hospital. I wanted the little baldy-bean that only needed mommy and daddy and wasn't distracted by toys and hiding spots and stuff. My gosh, he's growing so fast and getting so big! It's wonderful yet heartbreaking at the same time.
   Alright, enough of this gooey show of emotion. I will probably always have feelings like those I vented above tucked away in my heart, but I can't dwell on them. Instead, probably tomorrow, Stephan and I will go buy a bed railing and, maybe, attempt putting Noah down for a nap in his big boy bed. Then, we'll work steadily at training him to sleep in that bed. After that, potty training. By golly, pretty soon he'll hardly need me.
   One lovely, blessed consolidation; tomorrow, I get to see my new baby boy. :)

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current
Of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to
Thy glorious rest above!

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth
never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones,
died to call them all His own
how for them He intercedeth, watcheth
o'er them from the throne!

Fall Festivities!

Before marriage and babies, Halloween was a chance to get dressed up cute and strut one's stuff. Now, as a mother, my prime objective for this holiday is to showcase my adorable boy in an outfit that will have others saying "Awe!".  Yes, that might still be rather self-oriented and self-centered and whatnot, but the way I see it, Halloween is a "holiday" that is purely for fun. There is no meaning to this day/night, it is simply a time to be goofy and gain weight from the plethora of candy that Noah is definitely not going to eat, so I must. Therefore, there will probably be no adult Halloween this year, (unless Emily decides to host the annual Jimily Halloween party two days after giving birth...) but there was, friends, a super cute bash for the babies!
                                             Pictures:

The Beautiful hostess and her adorable nun

That's as good of a group shot as you get with toddlers and babies

Noah was Bamm Bamm, Wyatt was an elf, Lucy a pirate (Kyle too), Lydia was Pebbles. 

"grabbing for apples", since bobbing would have been impossible.

The bean bag toss. Noah liked to take the tree buckets and move them farther away.

    So, yes, it was a good time. We didn't think to get a good picture of Pebbles and Bamm Bamm (Lydia and Noah), which is something I'll regret a lot later in life I'm sure. Kyle was a 3-month old pirate, which was just stinking adorable. There was also a monkey and a doctor, sons of some friends of Ashley's. Also there, little Autumn Shulenburger and little bitty Ella Hyde. These tiny babies make me so excited about having Witten!
 
      Now, friends, go and enjoy your Halloween weekend, however you chose to do so. Give thanks to the Lord and rejoice in Him always!

We are weak, but He is Strong

 God makes no mistakes. His will is perfect. He has plans for all of us and everything, plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Plans to give us a hope and a future.
   Knowing that truth, and many others like it found in the Bible, is what is grounding my soul right now. If it were not for my hope in Jesus Christ, and the knowledge that He is sovereign and sufficient, I would be in a constant state of despair. More so now that ever before, I believe.
   My sister-in-law, the wife of Stephan's oldest brother, is happily expecting their third child. Now, it looks like this new life is in very real danger of ending before it can truly begin. As an aunt to her other children and an expecting mother, my heart is breaking for her. She is such a good mother to Noah's only two cousins, and she always has spoken of having as many children as God would bless her with. I was excited that Witten, like Noah, would have a cousin very close to his own age to grow up with.
    You hear about miscarriages and lost pregnancies all the time in the news or from a friend's friend, but when it's your own family that is facing such a devastating loss, and are near powerless to stop it, it's amazing how truly tragic it is.
   Friends, God is all-powerful and can make the impossible become reality. Please, if you're reading this, pray for my sister, Erin, and her husband, Paul. I'm not even sure what to ask for you to pray for besides a miracle. And also for peace, comfort, and that astounding calm in the midst of a terrifying storm that only Jesus can provide.
    God, please save that baby. Thank You for every new life You give to us. Let us never ever take simple things like health for granted. Comfort my loved one's hurting hearts. Somehow, in all of this, I pray that You are glorified, for You alone deserve all glory. Amen.

Stephan did a spit-take

a few nights ago, as the family was gathered 'round the table for dinner, Stephan took a swig of his drink, then spat it all over the table and partially on me. It was so stinking funny! It looked just like the spit takes you see in movies or on TV. Of course, my first concern was whether or not he was alright, which he was. It was just a good old case of going down the wrong tube.
   Another friend has given birth! Emily and Jim welcomed James IV this morning after what must have been a really long night for momma Emily. He's adorable and I can't wait to meet him! His birth also means that I'm the next one to pop! Not any time soon, granted, but I'm next. So now, the new baby count amongst my God-send of a group of friends is 4 new babies: 2 boys and 2 girls. Wow! Things are a lot more even this time around. Last time, Noah was the sole boy surrounded by a group of, like, 5 girls. (I'm pretty sure he loves it like that.)
    I made frosting today. And sugar cookies. The cookies were delish, the frosting, not so much.

  Praise God for healthy babies and growing families! The Lord is so good to those who love Him fervently!

My, my, Mondays.

I love colder weather! that means we get to bundle. Noah looks super cute bundled!

   Mondays are generally busier than most days for me. Since Aubrey "Legs of Steel" Skinner has returned from her exile in Missouri, we have taken up our super healthy lifestyle of vigorous morning walks on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Therefore, my Mondays start with a walk. Then, as I have recently taken to shopping for a weekly meal plan as opposed to whenever I think our food rations are too low, I now do my grocery shopping on Mondays. So, walking then shopping. After that time, it's usually Noah's lunch and nap time, and then in the evenings is BSF. It's a full day, indeed, but one I find myself enjoying a lot.

Noah clambered into my sewing seat and tried to run his cup through the machine. It didn't work.

     Today, Roxy, the dog that Stephan surprised me with over two years ago as a sweet puppy, is going to a new home. I'm not sad. I know this is the responsible thing that must be done. The priorities in our household are, and always will be, God, family, then pets and possessions. Roxy's a good girl and a fine alarm system, but she was threatening to cost us a good deal of money in regards to citation fees. (Dogs bark. Who knew?) Thusly, she must depart. I only feel bad for Stephan. The man has a heart of gold and loves animals.

It's not the most usual was for bro's to watch a game, but it makes for a funny picture.

   Speaking of cutie patooties, Mr. Witten Allen has come of size where I can almost detect body parts as they scrape against the inside of my belly. I sometimes feel a hard little bump protruding from my tummy that I assume is either his head or bo-bo, so I rub it and talk to Witten like he's already here. What's super sweet and mildly sad is that I can remember very clearly doing the same thing when it was Noah in my belly. I pledge to you, readers and friends, and to my precious unborn baby, that I will try my absolute hardest to treasure every moment of Witten's tiny infancy. I thought I had done a good job of doing so with Noah, but suddenly, he's a toddler and I don't know where my baby went!
   Okay, changing keys before I start to cry.
I have to go shower. Congratulations to the Hydes and welcome to the world, Ella! Emily, you're next!

Day 1

Quick update before I do laundry, shower and feed Noah lunch:
  Day one of operation: wean Noah off the pasi (WNOP) was just as I expected. It was tough goings for Noah and Mommy. His nap was the worst part. He started crying before I even put him down in his crib. He cried himself to sleep for the first time in over a year. (That's crazy to think about). Just like when he was an infant, I prayed for perseverance and hid under the covers in my own bed. After he finally fell asleep, he slept for about two hours, so it wasn't a terrible nap per say, just different. Then, last night, he cried again, but not nearly as long as for his nap. He woke up once early morning, but we let him put himself back to sleep, which he did very well. The he woke up at 6-something and wouldn't go back to sleep, so I changed his diaper and put him back in bed, where he fussed and cried until I got him up at 7:20. I think we're making progress?
  
  Prayers are being sent to the Hyde family today as their clan is expanding by one baby girl! God bless you, Meredith!

tired of it!

    Friends, I thought a reasonable thought this morning. Starting at about 6:20-ish, Noah woke up to fuss a bit. Now, usually, Stephan or myself will get up when Noah wakes up before he's supposed to and go hunt down Noah's pasi (wherever he tossed it during the night) and give it to him. He'll then lie back down and, for the most part, go back to sleep. Or at least be quiet for a while. Every once in a while, Stephan and I will stay put to see if Noah can get himself back to sleep. Sometimes, he does. Sometimes, he doesn't.
      The point of the above introduction paragraph was to illustrate why I decided to act upon the thought I thought this morning at around 6:20. I, Colette M Du Toit, shall henceforth wean my child of pacifiers. Now, Noah is no where near as hooked on pasi's as I have seen other babies/children be. He only takes his when he's in bed and he knows to hand it to Mommy or Daddy when he gets out of bed. Also, several times has Noah fallen asleep without the use of a pasi. Therefore, I deduce that weaning Noah will (hopefully) not be too difficult a task to undertake. My only concern is his inability to go back to sleep without one. His pasi is the only thing that will soothe him back to sleep should he wake up mid-nap or during the night. I can foresee several days and nights of Noah reliving the old, cry-himself-to-sleep scenario.
     Similar to my other recent pledge to enforce the eating of what Mommy makes for dinner as opposed to whatever Noah feels like snacking on, I realize that this new development will cause stress and feelings of annoyance towards this boy I love so much. With prayer for patience and wisdom, I will remember that being the "strict mommy" in some issues is for his greater good and will profit the whole family in the long haul.
     Now, friends, Noah is super stinky and I must mentally prepare myself for our first attempt at a pasi-free nap. Prayers would indeed be appreciated.

      God bless you and your households! 

Apples are so difficult for me to eat

Noah's napping peacefully, my beef roast is simmering in its delicious smelling juices in the crock pot for our French dip sandwiches tonight, and I've already swept and vacuumed, so I think I should update my blog.
  Our weekend started off with a bang, and then coasted by kindly. On Friday morning, Noah and I met up with Lydia and Wyatt and their mommies for a rockin' trip to the zoo!

 As you can see, Noah started off super excited and, by all appearances, eager to see the animals.

 However, he spent the majority of the trip mildly interested in the animals in the cages. His biggest response to an exhibit was saying "bear" when we got to the black bears. 

 I love Wyatt's face in the above picture. He's clearly thinking, "Are you seeing this??"

 Yeah, this picture just about sums up each babies' response to the animals at the zoo. Noah looks bored, Wyatt can scarcely control his excitement, and Lydia waffled between wonder and apathy.

 One highlight of the zoo for me, personally, was this little guy. This box turtle was wedged hiney-up between that rock/log thing and the glass wall of his terrarium. His little hind legs flailed helplessly as Meredith and I watched in dismay, for he looked stuck good. Our response was, of course, to take pictures. Gladly, before I ran off to find a zookeeper to save the little trooper, he found some footing with his front legs and started to slowly correct himself. It was a traumatic experience for all.
     As I said, Noah was only kind of intrigued by the zoo. That is, however, until we got to the petting zoo. I don't know if it was the freedom he had once he was let out of his stroller, the chance to run around and squeal excitedly with his buds, or the actual presence of goats to pet that made him so happy, but that kid went nuts! He hugged, climbed on, and petted the fat little goats to his heart's content. Then, he ran wildly around the sandy pen as goats watched idly by. Then, he slipped and fell face-first into a large puddle of what I really hope was just mud and covered himself nose-to-toes with yuck! As a result, Noah drove home in the following sate of undress:

  It was a fun morning. As you can tell, it was tiring for the little guy. He very soon lost a sock and fell fast asleep.

   As for the rest of the weekend; Rangers won and Cowboys lost, I took an epic nap, and Stephan continued to be an amazing and handsome husband. Praise God for weekends!
   Wow, that roast is smelling amazing!

Through Christ who Strengthens me!

Stephan and I did it!
We successfully completed everything we wanted to have done to/in our house and then, with lots of help from my dear friends, Crisi and Sheryl, and out new friend Kat, I hosted a fun baby shower for Meredith and Baby E!
   My hard work was all in the cleaning and decorating and food preparation, so I really didn't have that much to do. (Especially since Sheryl and Crisi are so amazing and did so much!) It was my amazing husband who did all the hard labor. I'll try to remember a basic run-down of all the tasks he accomplished. (and he's probably gonna be mad at me for tootin' his horn so loudly. I can't help it, he's so good! Yay God!)
        On the days before the shower, my true love finished these:
           rebuild the soffets,
           fix the laundry room floor,
           paint the whole exterior of the house,
           sand, textured and paint the patches in the living room,
          and stain and seal the fence!
All of this was completed in one week.
    Of course, Stephan did have some help.

   And Kyle the Mailman played a big part in painting the front of our home. (Thank you, Kyle the Mailman!)

 At the shower, I was so happy to see Meredith be blessed with tons of gifts and friends to pray over her and her family. The food was amazing and Sheryl was sinister in leaving a few of her super-decadent cake balls here for me to eat. All in all, I'd check it off as a pretty successful party. Now, we get to wait for Baby E to get here! And James IV! They're due within a week and a half of each other, and both mommies are feeling about ready to pop, so we'll see who arrives first.
    Such an exciting time! It makes me so very thankful to God for my sweet friends and for precious babies! And my family. My sister and brother came into town for the weekend and I gots to see 'em. That was fun.
    To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Adventrues in Learning!

Noah discovered today that climbing onto couches and chairs is fun! Surprisingly, he has never been one to climb onto stuff, which has probably kept him from hurting himself as much as he could have been for the past few months. So today, when Boogie Boy figured out how to haul himself onto the ottoman, and from there, the couch and/or chair, he thought it was awesome!

Check out that mouth full of chompers!

 Noah is also working on saying "help, please" instead of whining when he needs mommy or daddy's assistance. Heck, I'd be okay with "help". Anything but the "uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh!" that he's using now. So far today, I've heard something close to "help" once and a lot of drawn out "pweeeeze"s. 

 The above picture is from the other day when daddy got home from work and really had to focus on typing up official papers for work. Of course, it's then that Noah wanted his father's attention the most. So, he crawled onto daddy's back and proceeded to alternate between "ride little pony" and grabbing Stephan's hair to nuzzle his head. Stephan loved it, even if he didn't get his work done as quickly.
 
   And finally, friends, Witten news. I had my 25 week appointment today. Everything checked out nice and normal and Witten has a steady, confident heartbeat. Next time around, I get to drink that nasty syrup-juice and have more blood drawn. (yay). I will say that the bad will be far outweighed by the good, as I'm also getting another sonogram on that visit to see my baby! (Actually, the doctor wants to check and make sure that pesky placenta previa has scooted over a bit. I'm praying that it has. But I still get to see my baby!)
    Tomorrow, I gets to dress up fancy and go to a wedding! I love weddings! Congrats to the bride and groom! This is going to be one of your most favorite days in your lives!

Buff 'n stuff

I have mentioned this before in this here blog; about how I get mildly anxious whenever events are planned to be held at my house. And just as before, I realize there is no reason for me to be anxious at all. Not only does God urge us to not be anxious about anything (Phil. 4:6-7), but also, this house that God has blessed my family with is a beautiful, perfectly lovely house. My hostessing skills might not be on par with the likes of some of my incredibly gifted and gracious friends, but that what those sweet friends are for: moral support and actual assistance when needed. The only thing I truly should be concerned about it getting this house thoroughly clean before this Sunday, a very do-able task. (Especially with Stephan Du Toit as a husband. When that man wants this house clean, he cleans!) Therefore, I pledge to stop being irrationally concerned about a busy weekend and instead, look forward to the joy of having a super fun baby shower for a super sweet new friend at my super nice house.
   
     In completely unrelated news; Noah is a funny boy.

 Uncle Kevin and Auntie Aubrey treated us to dollar sloppy joe's from Bodacious Barbecue tonight. While here, Noah turned the tables on Lydia Marie and loved and loved and loved on her! It was funny mostly because sometimes, when he grabbed her and pulled her close to lay some hugs and sugars on her, he did it while smiling mischievously at Kevin, as if to say, "he he! I'm kissin' on your daughter and you can't do anything 'cause I'm a cute baby!" 

 Anyways, these pictures are the result of Kevin randomly deciding to do pull ups on Stephan's pull up bar/ my clothes rack. When he was done showin' off, Lydia was hoisted up to see if she would like to try it. She, like most dainty little girls would, declined. Noah, however, took this as an opportunity to strut his baby-stuff!

Isn't he so cute???!

 No, we didn't take his shirt off just for these adorable work out pictures. The shirt came off after nap/before dinner. Yup, needless to say, I'm pretty sure Lydia was very impressed with Noah's 5 or 6 pull ups. (With some assistance form Uncle Kevin, of course). 

    Now, I'm off to bed. I just needed to update 'cause I feel like I've been leaving ya'll hanging for a little bit. Sorry, readers. I actually do have a life outside of internet writing. Now go and enjoy your nights, friends! Tomorrow is Bunco!!

16

I get to make 4 dozen pinwheels!
By pinwheels, I mean the edible kind, not those little fans on sticks that spin when you blow on them.
I'm excited. This afternoon, my friends and I are throwing Mrs. Emily Evans a baby shower in honor of James "Quad" Aurthur Evans IV. My part in co-hostessing is to supply finger foods; hence the pinwheels. I was going to make all 48 of them little sandwich pinwheels, but last night, my handsome, manly, kind and loving husband went to get me the last two ingredients I needed for said pinwheels and found two little tubs of flavored cream cheese. He proceeded to make a small platter of super easy and delightfully tasty pinwheels out of spinach and artichoke cream cheese, showing me that I didn't need to put way to much effort into these party snacks. He's awesome.
   Therefore: I shall make 16-ish of each kind. Aubrey's on her way to assist. I'm already dressed and made up, so All we have to do is make rolled tortilla snacks. It's good to be back to normal life.
    
God is so good. God is so good. God is so good, He's so good to me!