Thursday 13

13 Reasons I Married This Man of Mine

1- He makes me laugh so hard- even now after 9 years of marriage.

2- He makes me feel safe.

3- His passion for life, Jesus, and me ;)

4- His wit and sarcasm; some, well, most find this offensive, but I enjoy it.

5- His love of children- even ours. LOL!

6- He is so stinkin' smart- it's disgusting how he can do anything after he reads about it.

7- I knew I could do more for Jesus with him than on my own.

8- All of the adventures we have had: roommates, almost running into a tree in the mountains, deaths of loved ones, fights with people we love, babies, world traveling, rude people who curse us in a foreign language, highs and lows of life- and it's only beginning!

9- He will fight with me- I enjoy a little passionate conversation every now and then :).

10- His boundless energy and creativity.

11- He dreams BIG!

12- He gets up quickly after he falls- and picks me up along the way.

13- He loves me the way I am, but encourages me to be better without ever saying anything.

I love you, CJ. You are my best friend and I am so thankful God gave you to me (You lucky man, you!)!

Happy Anniversary!

Sneak Peek

You can thank Leslie for this one. Don't worry, though, there will be more to come this week. We got our camera!!!!

Teaser

She has arrived!

Olivia Neil was born Tuesday morning, July 22 via c-section. She and I spent 4 lovely days in the hospital recovering and bonding. We are home now and probably won't have pictures up for another week or two. Thanks for your patience. She is beautiful- if I do say so myself ;)! The boys are absolutely in love with her and part of my daily battle is working with them on the real meaning of being gentle. They try; they just don't have it in them yet. Gentleness is a learned skill in the Jeffcoat house.

The Waiting Game

Even though my actual due date isn't until this Monday (the 21st) I was hoping my activity level throughout this pregnancy would allow for an earlier exit. That would be a no go. So, what are we to do? STAY BUSY. That is exactly what we have done despite my increasing fatigue. Keeping going is much better than leaving 3 very active little boys to themselves during too much free time. We've been enjoying Mimi and Poppy's pool a great deal as well as a sweet trip day trip to the 'Ville. We even had a short visit from some our surrogate family from California (She took all the pictures with her.). Our new found treasure has been the spray pools at the various parks around town. The boys play without getting overheated and then come home and crash for a nap- YES!!!!

Hopefully we'll a have a little girl in our midst soon!

That Cole

The boys were at my mom's for date night last night and, thanks to a generous Poppy, had a lot of junk to eat. Finally, my mom put her foot down when Cole asked for another piece of candy and said, "Not before eating some food." Cole agreed to a (what else) peanut butter sandwich. After my mom fixed it for him, he broke it in half and gave the half to Jonah and then broke his own half again and gave the piece to Judah. He asked for the candy and my mom says, "You didn't eat your sandwich, you gave it away, so no."

Cole, who is very full of expression when he talks, says, using both hands to illustrate, "The picture on my refrigerator at home with my Bible verse says I should do to others like I want done *. Mimi, I'm just trying to love my people."

I'm sure she gave in.

That Cole!

* The verse we are memorizing is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Luke 6:31

Thursday 13

13 Cravings I've Had During all 4 of My Pregnancies
(I craved good stuff too, but these were more fun to post)

Wordless Wednesday

Puddin' Boy