little ones

J and I had the joy of spending the weekend with these little ones. We watched Miss Ainsley while her parents took some time away to celebrate their anniversary. She is just 4 months younger than Trip. Her little brother is due just a month after our baby girl. We know there will be many more fun family weekends in our future!

Christmas Outfit Photo Shoot

Trip's Grandma Cupcake bought him this adorable Christmas outfit and wanted me to send her some pictures of him wearing it. He was also wearing his dad's red shoes from when he was a 2 year old, which I thought added nice sentiment.

The red shoes were NOT Trip's favorite, as they did not provide good traction for running around the backyard. After multiple falls, our photo shoot took a turn for the worse.

By the end of our little photo shoot, Trip was in full fit-throwing mode - a talent he has become quite the expert at.

Cry ... cover face ... bend to the ground ... repeat.

Please note that he was not injured, hungry or tired. He was just plain mad about those red shoes!

New Home, Lots of Boxes & 3rd Trimester

(playing in our new backyard!)

I have been away from my dear friend the computer for a couple of weeks now and feel like there is a ton to update on ...

In a fairly short period of time, we found a new home, moved, traveled to Missouri and suddenly found ourselves surrounded by boxes and entering the third trimester of pregnancy! We moved out of our beloved (but tiny) rental home and bought a home with room to grow ... just in time for our baby girl!

The best part of the house is the 1+ acre of land that Trip has to run around on. This couldn't have come at a better time. He constantly wants to be outside, and the weather in South Texas is perfect this time of year - between 60 - 75 degrees most days.

The second best part - a regular sized kitchen and dishwasher! In our rental house, we had a half size dishwasher, something I had never seen before and hope to never see again! It seems backward, but a bigger kitchen is much easier to keep clean and definitely easier to cook in.

We are finally feeling settled, despite a garage full of boxes to unpack. We are having fun getting to put our own personal touches on our new home and I can't wait to decorate Anna Kate's nursery. Only a few short months left before she joins us!

Thankful

pictures

I decided to start a separate blog for some of my favorite pictures.

The site is depthofgrace.wordpress.com for anyone who wants to check it out.

I have had so much fun learning how to use my camera and exercising my creativity. Today I took some family pictures for a good friend and a few of my favorites are posted on the new site.

[Here's a sneak peak]

23 weeks

Anna Kate is the size of a large mango and weighs just over a pound! For some reason, this weight struck me as an important milestone. Keep packing on those pounds baby girl!

5 Years

With grand intentions, J and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary last weekend by going to his aunt and uncle's cabin on the river in Junction. I had visions of sipping hot chocolate and romantically discussing the last five years around a camp fire.

Unfortunately, after falling asleep in his contacts and waking up in the middle of the night and tearing them out in pain, our romantic weekend took a turn for the worse. J tried to tough it out before making the decision to drive back into town, but woke up the second morning in a lot of pain and unable to see.

Alas, I became the nurse and designated driver and brought J back home to see a doctor. He was diagnosed with a pretty major tear to his cornea, but no permanent damage, given a high dose of Vicodin, and sent home to rest.

Is anybody really surprised by this story? Because I am not. After 5 years married to my sweet husband, I have come to expect the unexpected. (Although I am typically the injury-prone one in this relationship.)

Needless to say, J and I decided that if we've learned anything over the past 5 years, it is that God's will is perfect. We are not in control, and we praise Him for that. We could not have predicted or planned the path we would take when we got married, and we rest knowing that our future years together are perfectly planned by our Heavenly Father.

Silly Giraffe

Trip was a giraffe for Halloween this year. He thought he looked as cute in the costume as we did, and kept grinning at himself in the mirror.

her name

Many have asked if we have chosen a name for our little girl, so I thought it was about time we announce it. Her full name will be Anna Kathleen Kuper, and she will go by Anna Kate.

Anna is a family name on my side. My sister, aunt, second cousin, and great grandmother are all named Anna. Kathleen is J's grandmother. We wanted to honor all of these amazing women. They are truly women we hope our little girl will emulate!

Anna - Hebrew; Gracious, "Full of Grace"

"The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.'"

Luke 1:28

Kathleen - Irish; Pure, "Treasured"

"May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 115:15

we may have a problem

Trip has discovered our secret.

Monkey, fondly referred to now as "Botey", has multiplied from one to four. Now that Trip knows about all of the "Backup Boteys" he wants to sleep with more than one at a time, which leaves me little time to give the monkeys a bath in the washing machine.

Botey from left to right in the picture above: original monkey, monkey #2, monkey #3, monkey #4. There are also backup monkeys at both grandparents' houses - making a total of 6!

Rediculous.
Adorable.
Necessary.

We may have a Botey addict on our hands, but at least he is sleeping.

Lesson Learned

Don't leave the chair pulled out from under the table.

Or else ...
Trip can climb up onto the desk
Play with his dad's pocket knife
Record a few videos on the Flip camera
and Send a few emails

Pumpkin Patch 2010

"You've Got a Friend in Me"

This is Zachary, Trip's best friend. Every day, Trip asks for "Dattery" and Zach frequently says, "Trip is my best friend."

Here they are sitting on the coffee table watching Toy Story and the song "You've Got a Friend in Me" is playing.

Precious!

one step forward, two steps back

This has been my day.

While attempting to fold laundry and straighten our room, Trip pulled all of the clothes out of my drawers.

[I could lie and tell you that typically my drawers are color coded and organized, but I would not get away with it - so ultimately, dumping everything back into the drawers only took a few seconds.]

Trip also found a box of shotgun shells and was running around with one in his mouth. J would be proud and would probably say, "Safety Second."

Coloring & Trucks

Trip loves to color and to play with his trucks. He makes pretty cute sound effects for trucks and cars. Sometimes he eats the crayons and has colored on both the furniture and walls - Good thing Crayola makes washable crayons!

Lately here are the phrases I hear all day long ...

(Trip Language with translation)

"Di yuu?" - Can we color?
"Woody?" (my response - "No, we're not watching Toy Story right now.") "Buzz?" (me - "No, Trip, I said we're not watching Toy Story right now)
"Dee Dee. And Deyond!" - To Infinity. And Beyond! (from Toy Story)
"Dee Trow Daddy!" - Great throw Daddy! (This is a new phrase, but it is my favorite!)

Baby Sister

That's right - We are having a baby girl and Trip is going to have a little sister!

We are so excited to experience the opposite gender, buy pink frilly things, and watch Trip become the protective older brother. We already have a few items for our baby girl. In this picture, Trip is giving her pink Teddy Bear "love" ... and yes, holding a fly swatter with his opposite hand.

Busy Boy

I took Trip for a long walk this morning. We threw rocks in the creek, kicked the soccer ball at the Main Square, and walked down Main Street looking in a few of the shops. I love this last picture ... He is trying to put the cap on my camera lense. It's like he is saying, "Mom, put down the camera and come play with me!" He makes a good point. Playing is definitely more important than pictures!

family hunt

J's Mimi celebrated her 85th birthday a couple of weeks ago, and so all of the family gathered over her birthday weekend to spend some quality time together and celebrate. A group of us went dove hunting on Saturday. This was my first time hunting, and I actually shot a bird!

Here are some pictures from the day ...

From left: J's brother, Collins, sister, Georgia, and Dad

Georgia also shot her first bird! This must be a celebration face :)

Taking a break after my big kill!

J's sister, Clara. This was not her first hunt - she is a pro.

My manly hunter husband.