Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I was going to write a "Thanksgiving Letters" addition, but after reading my friend Liz's blog about all the things she is thankful for, I thought I could hold off on my sarcasm for a while. I will do a "Holiday Letters" blog another day filled with silliness and sarcasm for the whole season. So today, here are the things I am thankful for!
1. My husband. He is a loving, hardworking, devoted, passionate man who loves Jesus. He is an incredible father to our three beautiful girls!
2. My kids! I have the three most gorgeous, fun, amazing girls! I never thought I would have three daughters, maybe because I came from a family of three girls. I really thought a boy would be in the picture by now, but God knew exactly what I needed! I love my precious girls! Taylor- you are so amazing! Ava- you make me laugh all day long! Molly Kate- I just love snuggling you! I can not wait to see what you three grow up to be like.
3. My family. My parents are the best ever. I love this stage of life. We are great friends, and yet they are still such a wonderful prayer covering and encouragers in my life. My sisters are amazing. Paige- you are my hero. The gifts inside of you are so much fun to watch come out. Kelsey- you always make my day. What a great mother you are. You inspire me with that every day. My brothers-in-law are so much fun and my niece, Madi, is the cutest! I love that she knows who I am and she smiles when she sees me.
The rest will just be a list, because I could literally go on about all of these things forever!
My church- my other family, my job- I get to do what I love and use the gifts God has given me to serve Him, my extended family- greatest in the world!, my friends- what a blessing, health- sometimes I forget how blessed my family and I are to be in such great health.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Observations

For some reason I can not seem to go to sleep just yet. Maybe it is because I have been on the computer forever. I started out watching an old episode of One Tree Hill on thewb.com. Then I checked facebook, myspace, 3 different email addresses and of course the blog. Do I really need that much social networking??? So, now I thought I would just share some random thoughts.

First, I noticed in my last post a picture of my husband with Kate. He is wearing this silly orange trucker hat that he got at Home Depot last week. He got the notion to trim up our trees a little bit, which they desperately needed. Of course by the time he was done, two entire trees are now gone from my front yard. He just didn't see any use for them anymore, or he got really chainsaw happy. Back to the hat. When he went to buy the chainsaw, apparently the hat was on a display with the kind of saw he bought. He asked the Home Depot guy if they sold the hat and they didn't. This was the only one they had, and it had just come for the purpose of the display. I guess the guy saw how sad Alan was that he would not be going home with a bright orange, Stihl chainsaw hat, that he took it off the display and let him have it. So, now Alan wears it all the time. He really likes the hat even though he looks a little redneck wearing it.

My second observation is of my new baby girl. While she is sleeping she will out of nowhere start panting like a dog. It is very loud and at first it kept freaking me out. I would jump up to go check on her in her crib, but she just lies there asleep, panting. What is that all about???

My final observation for the night. I have changed so many diapers today that I lost count. Of course the new baby needs lots of diaper changes. Ava started wearing pull ups because "she's a big kid now" and likes to go on her little pink potty instead of in her diaper! Yay, this is all very exciting, except that she doesn't understand the concept of just pulling the pull-up down and pulling it back up when she's done. She takes off every piece of clothing from the waist down (pants, socks, shoes, and pull up), goes potty, and then tries to put on a new pull up which always results in both legs in one leg hole. She then runs around the house naked from the waist down because the pull up is all bunched up around the waist. So I haven't really changed her dirty diapers, just re-pull uped her about 15 times!

Baby Kate update

I realize I have done a terrible job of documenting my sweet new baby's first few days of life! She is now 10 days old and is doing great. She is such an amazing baby. She hardly ever fusses or cries and she is sleeping pretty good at night. Here are some pictures of her trip home from the hospital and the first week at home!
Heading home from the hospital!

Proud big sister!

A visit from Aunt Paige.

Snuggling with daddy.

10 days old!

Christmas already???

I just got on to check a few blogs from my lovely friends, and three of them were blogging about putting up Christmas decorations!!! Now, I love Christmas time SOOO much. A few years ago I decorated for Christmas the first week of November. The downfall to this was that by the week before Christmas I was tired of it and was ready to take it all down. So, I've learned to wait a bit on the decorating, but I guess I didn't realize that it was already time to start decorating (unless these three friends of mine are just crazy Christmas people and have jumped the gun! I don't think this is the case.) Well, now I'm just not sure what to do. I still can't believe that Thanksgiving is a week from Thursday, so maybe I need to get it in gear and get the tree up. This all seems a bit overwhelming since I just had a baby a week ago. I will say that the baby is not the difficult part. It's the two year old who is trying to adjust to the new baby! Maybe tomorrow I will blog about the adventures of the new baby and the two year old! I am surprisingly not exhausted yet and have been making myself do things that I like to do during Ava's nap, like reading blogs or maybe putting up a Christmas tree!

So far so good!

I don't have a whole lot to write about. When you have a new baby your day pretty much consists of feeding her, changing her diapers, trying to get a little rest and this cycle is pretty much all you do on a regular 2-3 hour rotation. So, that's been my day with the occassional crazy from Ava, but that is to be expected. So here are some of my favorite pictures of my precious Molly Kate and some of her new family members!

Kate is here!

My precious little one has arrived and I finally have a few moments to myself to share her pictures with the world via blog! First of all, we decided to call her Kate. I know there may be some confusion. On day one, it was Molly Kate, but as the day went on it just wasn't fitting. It's quite a big name for such a tiny little girl. I was a little freaked out since we had already turned the birth certificate papers in! So, on day two we went with just Kate and it is perfect! Kate is the name I loved all along and we put Molly with it as a first name which I still love. It was just a lot to call her, so Kate it is! Molly Kate means "pure joy" and I can not think of a better way to describe her. She is just so beautiful and content and has brought me nothing but pure joy! So, here she is world: Molly Kate Rich!

10 more hours!

I am officially in the final countdown. We are talking hours people! So what do you do the night before your baby is born? Well, I guess you blog! I'm really anxious, nervous, excited, did I mention anxious??? I'm not really sure how much sleep I'm going to get tonight. I am just so ready for her to be here!
I am going to try and get my mind off of tomorrow for a little bit, so I'm going to write about something totally off subject! This morning at church, the sermon was part of a great series we are doing on Family. Today was all about honoring your marriage and your spouse. I never thought of the two being separate, but I now see that I have to make sure I'm honoring Alan and not just honoring the marriage covenant I have made with him. Alan is so incredible. I don't think I've ever written a blog about him. I tend to write about funny things and stupid, meaningless things, but I want to share a little bit about my amazing husband. Abby really inspired me with her last blog and after today's message, I see how I need to be more intentional about honoring him sometimes.
I thought about making a list of all the things I love about him, but I think I'll just speak more from my heart. When I first met Alan in early 2002, the first thing that stuck out to me was that he was a dad. You don't see too many young, single fathers raising a daughter. He was and is still such an incredible father. I know he really wants a boy, but he is a great "girl dad." My dad is a great girl dad, so I know that these are a rare and special breed! I met Taylor when she was just about 18 months old and we have always had a special bond. Even before Alan and I ever dated or anything, Taylor and I were connected. I guess God knew what He was doing! I just loved seeing this young guy bringing his baby girl to church, loving God, serving Him in so many ways, and just having an amazing attitude about everything. I'll never forget a few years later when Alan asked me on our first date. My stomach was fluttering, my heart was pounding, just so many emotions. Maybe I'll share more of our story in another blog. Since the beginning of our relationship I have never doubted that Alan loves me. There are times when Satan tries to lie to me and tries to get my emotions all stirred up into thinking that maybe he doesn't love me anymore, but I know that's just not true. He is so faithful, so steadfast, and so wonderful. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing husband. Is our marriage perfect? Not by a long shot. We have had plenty of ups and downs and I'm sure there will be many more, but from this day on I am going to do whatever I can to honor him. With my words, my actions, and my thoughts. And tomorrow we will welcome our third little girl into this world! I am so excited to get to share a life and a family with this wonderful man!

Time for an Update!

It's been a few days since I last blogged and technically I didn't include anything of great importance in my last round of letters. Since I am such an important person with so many important things going on, I better catch you all up (please note the sarcasm, I don't really think that highly of myself). This was my first "official" week off of work. I led worship on Sunday and have taken off ever since. I have noticed a big change in myself over the past year or two. Honestly it feels really weird to be "out of the office". This week I have felt so out of the loop. There was a time when this would have greatly upset or offended me. If something is going on, I need to know! And everyone involved definitely needs to hear my opinion on it, right? This used to be my attitude but lately, I just really don't care! Not in a bad way. I do care about what's going on, but I don't feel like I need to put my two cents in anymore. Whatever gets decided is fine with me! This is actually quite a liberating feeling. My husband has pointed out on just a few occasions (sarcasm again) that I can tend to be a wee bit controlling. I have really been working on this because that's not who I want to be. I've always considered myself a very laid back person, but the last 4 or 5 years I have gotten myself a little tightly wound if you know what I mean. I'm just trying to learn to relax and stop trying to control every little thing. Whatever happens, happens. I'll do my part and sit back and just let everything else take care of itself. And I will be happy with the outcome!

Yesterday I had a slight freak out. I think it all snowballed because I decided to do too much yesterday and on top of it all, I was keeping my niece and nephew for part of the day. I won't go into a lot of detail, but this just added more to my plate than I could handle at the moment. So in typical Leslie fashion, I started a project!! I rationalized in my head that if I stayed busy I wouldn't notice the 4 screaming children in my house so much. I put the baby bassinet together and did a fantastic job if I can brag on my pregnant self for a bit. I was on a roll so I kept going. We bought a chest/trunk thing for the nursery. It has been sitting in the garage for two days now (in a box...in pieces). I decided I wanted it put together at that exact moment (this is the controlling thing I was talking about) and since Alan was not going to do it at that exact moment I would just do it myself! I'm a pretty handy girl so I got my screwdriver, wiggled the box into the house and opened it all up. I'll give you the Readers Digest version. I got most of it done, but could not finish the last piece. It really required two people, but I was impatient. So, I tried to finish it myself, messed up several times, and now Alan has to fix it for me anyways! Oh well.

I know this is getting long, but when you can't sleep and have nothing else to do but lie here and be assaulted by the growing baby inside of you...you keep blogging! My plans for the next few days include:
1. finishing the chest for the baby's room (this is actually on Alan's list)
2. put the double stroller together (again, this is really on Alan's list)
3. find a few more things to put on Alan's list.
Sounds like a good last 3 days of pregnancy to me!

Letters for the last week of pregnancy

Dear Ben at Star Nails,

Thank you for the fabulous pedicure you gave me today. I should probably be thanking Abby who gave me the gift certificate for the pedicure on my birthday in August, but today you were the one with magic hands my friend, so the thanks goes to you. Let me also say thank you for not making me bleed. The last two pedicures I have gotten have come with a fair share of pain and blood. You however drew no blood today. Kudos to you, Ben! And by the way, is that your real name? Ben? I'm just wondering because our favorite chef at O'Hana is named Kevin. Well, I would hear other people talking to him and his name was obviously not Kevin. Perhaps this is just an easier name to pronounce than his given Asian name. You see, Kevin left a few months ago. After a few sub-par O'Hana chefs we have found another fantastic one, and would you believe it, his name is also apparently Kevin! Maybe they just call their best chef at the time Kevin. Ok, I know this has nothing to do with you, Ben. I was just wondering. Anyways, thanks for the great pedi experience. I am loving my "Dutch Tulip" toes!



Give me ten!

Leslie





Dear Texas Tech football team,
Great game Saturday. You nearly put me into labor. I'm not sure if I can watch the Oklahoma State game this week if it's going to be as nail-biting as the Texas showdown. I just can't take the chance that another last minute amazing Harrell to Crabtree pass won't push me over the edge and send me to the hospital early. I'll see what I can do, but I may have to step out if it gets too exciting!

Wreck 'em!
Leslie


Dear registered voters,
Go vote tomorrow. If I can waddle my way to the voting polls, so can you. Maybe without the waddling. VOTE!!!

Leslie


Dear maker of the baby sling I bought yesterday,
I am slightly doubtful that your product will be a success. The problem is that I will not know for sure until the baby arrives. Your sling is not much more than a glorified pillowcase (albeit a very cute pillowcase. Your design was by far the cutest, which is of course why I bought it). Part of me thinks that I could have made this very sling in 8th grade Home Ec. I am going to give it a try, but do you have some kind of guarantee that my baby isn't going to slip out? I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'll let you know how things go after I watch the instructional DVD and try it out on a real baby.


Dear high heels in my closet,
I have not forgotten about you. I see you everyday, and I still know you are there. Hopefully, very soon we will reunite. I am slightly concerned that my foot may have grown a bit more with this pregnancy and some of you may be cleaned out of the closet and I will have to find new homes for you. Please know that this saddens me as much as it does you. We've had some great times in the past, and I am ready for a reunion tour. Thanks for you patience as I have shown extreme partiality to my flats over the past several months.

Missing you,
Leslie


Dear elastic waist jeans,
I wish I could forget about you. You have been there for me the last few months, but I am ready for our relationship to take on a new look. I can't stand the way you fold under my belly anymore. I can't stand the fact that you have to be tugged at and pulled up an average of 56 times a day. It is time for buttons and zippers again. My fear is that this will not happen as quickly as I like, so I will still wear you from time to time. I'm sorry if I don't sound grateful for all that you have done for me lately, but it's time to move on. I'm just not that into you anymore.

Stretched out,
Leslie

and finally....

Dear gray hairs,
Enjoy your last few weeks. You have come on very strong the past two months. Well, your reign of terror and aging are about to be over! When this baby gets here, you are out. I will do whatever I can to look like a 27 year old again. I realize that your texture is totally different than the rest of my hair, but I don't care. As long as I can be a brunette again, I'll take the wiry, crazy little hairs that have taken over my hairline. Just say no to salt and pepper!

Push it!
Leslie

2 Posts for the Price of 1

I have been meaning to put up pictures of the girls "new" room for quite some time now. I finally moved the pics over from my camera, so here they are!

New bunk beds, paint and bedding. The girls especially love the top bunk!

Ok, now onto Halloween. Taylor decided to be a cheerleader this year and Ava was a bee. If you asked her she said "Just like the Bee Movie." She is really into this movie right now, and I must say I enjoy watching it with her. It is pretty funny. We started the night out with a visit to my grandparent's house. They just love it when the girls come over, and of course they wanted to see them in their cute costumes. Here are Taylor and Ava with Mema and Pepa.

We then went to Hallelujah Night at church!

Ava and Madison, the flower and the bee.


Taylor got her face painted. The other side said "Go Crabtree." Originally she wanted to go as "Crabtree's girlfriend" for Halloween. I didn't even know she knew who Crabtree was. And I wasn't sure how to dress up as a college football player's girlfriend. She is such a funny kid sometimes!

My niece and nephew, Bella and Karson.

Ava's favorite thing was the jumper and the big blow up slide.

We had a great time!