Hello! What a fun filled week and weekend we have had. The boys were on Spring Break last week, so we went to the park on Monday with our neighbor and then on Wednesday we headed down to Tullahoma to spend with my parents until Friday. Matt was in NJ for business for a few days. He is in the process of meeting with one of their customers and their team about some software they bought from Matt's company. So Matt goes up there and answers questions and teaches them more about the software. He really likes doing this. The travel is not his favorite thing to do b/c he misses the boys so much, but it is not something he does very often, just every now and then.
Me and the boys had a great time in Tullahoma. I like going b/c Dad just totally entertains the kids and I get a good break. Mom and I usually go shopping or just sit around and talk about stuff. Dad took off work on Thursday and Friday to play with the boys and also to finish up putting new boards on their deck. It is time to start replacing all the boards b/c they are like 20 years old. He built new steps leading down to the pool and then made all the railings closer together so the boys or other kids wouldn't slip through them and fall down. Will and Jake really helped my dad the whole time. They love helping and learning new things. Of course they rode the go-carts and played on their bikes too! Friday as it was time to go home, my Dad suggested the boys stay for the weekend and I could go back to Franklin to be with Matt. I said "Okay!" No one had to coax me into anything like that. So I went back to Franklin on Friday afternoon and Matt and I had a nice relaxing weekend--kid free! We went out to eat Friday and Saturday night and met Paige and Lance bright and early Saturday morning at the Craker Barrel for some good eatin'. Saturday, Paige and I went to the mall to look for Easter dresses. I found a really cute one. My belly is really starting to show. I am in full maternity gear now. Paige isn't showing quite yet. She is only about 11 weeks. She can still wear most of her regular clothes. Matt worked out in the yard most of the day on Saturday. He borrowed Lance's truck to go get about 10 bags of mulch. Our yard looks so good. I just need to get out there this next weekend and plant some pretty flowers.
We went to church this morning and then right after church we went to Tullahoma to get the boys. We stayed a few hours to let the boys get some last minute energy out and then we came back home. While we were home, my uncle Ron, from California called to say that my Aunt Patricia had a mild stroke last night. She is in the hospital there in CA and will be there for a few days. She is feeling better and seems to be doing good. Patricia is my Mom's older sister. Please say a prayer for her tonight. Pray she gets better and heals quickly.
The boys were exausted when we were saying prayers and getting into bed. I have to say I am a bit tired too! I am feeling so good. Thank you so much for your prayers for me. I have gotten lots of emails and phone calls from many of you saying you are praying for me and this baby. You'll never know how much that means to me. Keep praying, though, for healing and for this condition to GO AWAY after I deliver. I believe it is possible through Christ. Keep praying for the baby as well.
Time to hit the sack! As my Mom and Dad would say!
Love,
Steph

I have to tell everyone first and foremost, thank you for all your prayers for me and this pregnancy. The Endocrinologist called me today to tell me the results of my blood work I did on Thursday of last week. He wanted to see how the PTU was doing with my Thyroid count. The results were great! He even LOWERED the dose. I have been taking 200 mg of PTU and he wants to go down to just 100 mg. I have to say that I TRULY believe this is GOD telling me that he WILL take care of me and this baby. I have always been a praying person my whole life. However, it hasn't been until recently, with the help of my church, that Ive learn HOW to pray. Don't be afraid to be very specific of your need and tell others to pray for you. I cannot wait to give God the glory of this pregnancy and the healthy baby that awaits in 4 months.
We had a great day today. My friend, Jennifer, across the street called me this morning and asked if we wanted to go to the park with her and Madeline (3yrs) and Logan (5 mo.). Of course we went and had a great time. The boys ran everywhere. We took there soccer balls and they played soccer and played on the playground. After that we just came home. I fixed them their favorite lunch....grilled cheese sandwiches, grapes and cheese puffs. It was a great day.
I got the boys enrolled in swimming lessons this year. Will is going to be going the end of May for 8 days and Jake will be going the end of June for 8 days. They are going to the YMCA.
I have also signed them up for private swim lessons from this lady everyone calls the "Swim Nazi." Apparently your child will know how to swim before the lesson is over. SHe is VERY booked and the boys may not get in until Aug or Sept. I've heared she is well worth the wait. We intend on wait and hoping they get in.
Matt came home fairly early tonight and we grilled out hamburgers. I made homemade fried potatoes like my Mom used to make. The boys loved them and ate so many of them they got full and didn't want their burgers. But we made them eat the burgers!
The boys are in bed and we are winding down for the night.
Matt goes to New Jersey on Wednesday for just one night. Me and the boys are going to Tullahoma to visit my parents and let the boys play on the go cart and all the other things to do there. I hope to visit my friend Annie while Im there. She just had a baby about 8 months ago and is also going through a pretty bad divorce. I feel so bad for her b/c she also lost her Mom to brain cancer about 3 years ago. She's been through alot. But, I have to tell you, she has been an inspiration to me so many times b/c when my day is not going good, I think of Annie and get inspired. I rarely hear her complain and all she wants is the best for her little boy, Logan. I hope to see her this week and catch up.
Well, I better go get ready for bed!
Love,
Steph

Well the boys are fast asleep. We put them in the bed about 10 minutes ago and they are out like a light! They were exausted! Especially Will. He doesn't nap during the day, so going to bed at 9:15 is late for him. We went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse with Paige and Lance tonight. It was good to visit with them for a while. Paige was "on call" with her work. She got called in as soon as we paid our ticket. She had to go check on a patient at Centennial. She works for a company called Medtronics. She programs pacemakers and defibulators in heart patients. Every now and then she is on call. Once the baby is born, she hopes to stay at home for a year with it. Her job will hold her position for one year. Hopefully it will all work out for her.
We had a good Saturday today. Matt woke up before me and fixed blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon with the boys. He's such a good dad and hubby! Everything was wonderful. I told him I am going to expect this every Saturday! After breakfast we went to Lowes to get some stuff for the yard. We had to go run several other errands and then we came home. Will helped Matt plant a new bush in our yard. The old one died for some reason. Will loves to help. It was cold outside today, so not much was accomplished in the yard today. Maybe tomorrow.
I went to my Endocrinologist on Thursday and then I went to my OB right after that appointment. Both appointments went very well. My endocrinologist said that I would be able to breastfeed my baby! I was so happy about this. Thank you for all your prayers. He did say that the baby would have to be monitored closely (blood work) when I am breastfeeding b/c they didn't want the PTU to affect the baby. He said many women do this and have healthy babies. He took some blood work from me that day to see if the PTU is working on me or if he needs to adjust the dose. We should find out Monday the results. Hopefully we won't have to increase the dose. Let's pray that we don't.
My OB visit went well too. We heard the baby's heartbeat. It was going about 140 bpm. That is very normal and it sounded great. I will have to have ultrasounds more regularly b/c of the Graves Disease. They want to make sure the baby is growing normally and not too small. Please pray the baby is growing good and will be healthy and safe! I felt the baby kicking around for the first time a few days ago! It was amazing! It felt like little butterflies going crazy in there. No matter how many times Im pregnant, the feeling of the life inside you moving around is still so wonderful. I'll never forget this feeling.
Well, I will go so that I can get some rest. Talk later...
Steph

Spring Program at school. Jake is in the back row with Green shirt.
Jake is done and waiting for brother to come out!
Here comes Will!
Will singing, "Im a star!"
Such a great performer...He gets it from me! Ha Ha!!!
Playing by the water!
The boys LOVED having picnics everday!

Jake splashing with a stick.

Mimi and Pop Pop with the boys!

Will loves to throw in the biggest rocks he can find to make a BIG splash!

Matt and his boys take a break from the hike to pose by the water.

Matt and the boys playing inside the camper.

Well, the boys and Matt made it back safe and sound on Sunday from their weekend of camping with their MiMi and Pop Pop Hawkins. Matt said the boys didn't sit down the entire weekend. They parked the camper near a playground and the boys were playing there the whole time. Will and Jake brought their bikes and I believe Will rode his alot. They went walking on a hike on Saturday to a nearby waterfall where they got to rest and throw some rocks in the water. It was a perfect weekend to camp outside. Matt said the weather was beautiful. I'm so glad they had a chance to spend a weekend together with Matt's parents!
I had a wonderful weekend too! I didn't do a darn thing. I slept in both days and went shopping on Saturday to some shops in the downtown Franklin area that I had never had time to go to before. I went out to dinner on Saturday night with my parents and Paige and Lance to an Italian restraunt called Buca Di Peppo in Cool Springs. My Dad LOVES to go here. He loves the wine and garlic bread. He won't eat any red meat so, we always have to order something with Chicken or Fish. It is a family-style restruant so you order about 3 entrees and share it all. It's yummy food. I could tell my parents missed having the boys there. My Dad kept saying..."It's awful quiet without those crazy boys!" But I was quite happy about that! Ha!!!
Matt and the boys got in about 4pm on Sunday. We all rested awhile and headed over to Paige and Lance's house to cookout some burgers and hot dogs. The boys played with their dog Maddox. We hung out their for a while and then headed home.
Monday night I met some of my girlfriends at Carrabbas for dinner. These are some girls I have been good friends with since college and since we have all started families we haven't gotten together as often. But we had a great time talking about everything from how to handle our children to liposuction! It was fun. We vowed to get together monthly. All of our husbands are good friends and they get together often too. So there's no reason why we shouldn't as well.
Last night, Tuesday, was Will and Jake's preschool Spring Program. They got up on stage and sang Bible songs and danced to cute songs. It was great! Will did a GREAT job! He really paid attention and remembered all the words to the songs and followed along great. Jake on the other hand, just stood up there with his thumb in his mouth! He saw me one time and took it out and smiled a big smile and said.."Hey Mommy!" I have to remember he is only 2 and Will did the same thing when he was two too!
Jake came into our room last night around 1 am crying and saying there was bugs in his bed. So, we cuddled him right up and he slept between us all night long. There were no bugs in his bed, if some of you might be wondering.... He and Will have got a phobia of bugs right now b/c we have been outside lately and they are buzzing all around. I keep telling them that bugs are smaller than they are and that the bugs are afraid of you more than you think! I even pick some of them up and let them know they won't hurt you. But It's not working so far. This is becoming somewhat embarrasing especially when the little girls next door come over and play outside and they are comforting my "rough and tough" little boys about bugs! Ha!!!
Well, I better go. Laundry is calling. The boys are dying to play with me.
I go to the doctor tomorrow. Endocrinologist at 10:00am and OB at 11:00. Please pray that everything goes well!
Love,
Steph

What's this? No sound of crazy kids wanting my everlasting attention? No one saying, "Mommy, can you get me something to drink?" or "Mommy, can you play candyland with me?" or "Mommy, Will pushed me!" Yes...Matt has taken the boys on a camping adventure for the weekend with his parents. His parents have bought a small camper that they pull with their truck. They LOVE doing this kinda thing and I think it will be great fun for them and for us as a family! I didn't go b/c I want to wait until it warms up a bit and I also still feel like I need a good nights' rest. That is priceless these days. So, I sent them off with Matt. Matt absolutely loves to go camping. I think that if we had just a tent and a campfire on about 20 acres he would be in 7th heaven. He was born to camp. The boys have never camped out before so this should be interesting. I think they will be fine. Matt's parents are great at making everyone feel comfortable and they always take such good care of the boys. They went to Davy Crocket State Park over in Lawrenceburg, TN. About an hour away from here. They are supposed to stay Friday and Saturday night, but they are calling for scattered showers tomorrow afternoon so they may come back early.
Our friends, Jay and Alexis had their little boy's 4th Birthday party today. So the boys and I went to the party today from 10am-noon. It was at a place called Pump-it-Up. It's an indoor arena with huge inflatable slides and bouncy things and obstacle courses. It wore them out! I stopped and got us a hamburger for lunch and we ate lunch and rested a while until Matt got home around 3:30 and then they headed out around 3:45.
Paige, Lance and I are going to go out to eat tonight at a place called The Mellow Mushroom. It is the best pizza place ever. It is located downtown Franklin in one of the old buildings down there.
Paige said that I could go ahead and tell people that SHE IS PREGNANT!!!!! We are so excited! Particularly b/c she and I will only be 8 weeks apart! We have always dreamed this for each other, to have children at the same time, and here it is! I will cherish these days FOREVER! It is so great to talk to her about pregnancy and I love to answer all the questions she has. She's the nurse, but I'm the Mom! Funny how she comes to me with some of these questions...maybe she's trying to make me feel needed! Ha!!!!
My parents are so excited too! Paige is about 8-9 weeks. Everything is going great for her and Lance. They heard the baby's heart beat yesterday. What a wonderful feeling! I still remember the day I saw Will and Jakes heartbeat. I will never forget the feeling of carrying another life inside of me. Please pray for me and Paige and our pregnancies and for the lives we are carrying inside of ours.
Most of you may know, but I was diagnosed with a condition called Grave's Disease. It is an autoimmune disorder that affects my thyroid. Apparently my body thinks my Thyroid is a foreign object. It's basically a Hyperthyroid. My thyroid is producing too much of this certain hormone. The Docs found this out about a month ago, so I had to go see an Endocrinologist and he gave me some medicine to take. It is called PTU and is safe during pregnancy. The hyperthyroid makes my heartbeat very fast and makes me feel extreamly anxious. This condition could be just a pregnancy thing and may go away after I deliver or it could get worse after I deliver and I may need to take a Radioactive Iodine pill to kill my thyroid. If I do this, I will not be able to breastfeed the baby and will need to be away from my children for a while until the medicine gets out of my system. This all sounds very scary and I was scared at first, but I have been praying and talking to other people who have this disorder and I feel much better about it. This is a completely treatable condition. I just ask anyone that is reading this to please say a special pray for me and this baby. Please pray that this condition goes completely away after deliver or even before. Please pray for the baby's health and that it is completely healthy and safe during all this. Please pray for me and to give me strength to deal with the rapid heart rate and anxiety. I (and my family) would greatly appreciate your continued prayers. I will keep you updated on this.
Anyway.....enough about that....I go back to the Endocrinologist on Thursday, March 15 and I also see my OB/GYN that day for routine checkups. We will be finding out the sex of the baby on April 5! Can you believe that? I will be almost halfway through with the pregnancy! We will also keep you posted on that.
Well, I better start getting ready to meet Paige and Lance! I smell pizza.......
Later,
Steph

Matt made Saturday morning cinnamon rolls and the boys are watching them rise!

Jake helping Mom clean after supper.


Matt took the boys for a super-short haircut.








Will rolling down one of the big hills at the park!






Jake and Dad on the big go-cart at Pop Pop and Na Na's house!
Will is riding his own go-cart that Pop Pop and Na Na got him for Christmas! You should see him drive it! Look out Dale Earnhart, Jr!!!!




Happy 61st Birthday Na Na! Jake wanted to help blow out the candles!




Sorry it's been a while since I blogged, but I must say, Ive been a little tired these past few weeks. So bear with me! This may not be a daily writing, but I will at least shoot for a weekly writing. How's that?
Matt has been traveling alot lately with his job. He was in NJ last week and then Denver this week. He got back late last night from Denver. Only gone for one night. THat was good. He has been very busy at work...I keep telling him that's good work security!
Matt worked from home today. Although that sounds really nice (and it is), he was actually working all day until 4:30 or so. He had to facilitate 4 trainings today via phone. He told me that one of the ladies that listened in heard how "wonderful" he was at this and asked if he could do all 4 of them tomorrow too! I told him that's what he gets for being so knowledgable and easy to get along with. He is such a hard worker and I appreciate his hard work he does at GHX and then comes home and plays with these boys and tucks them in at night after a hard days work! Gotta love him.
It was such a beautiful day today, me and the boys couldn't resist going to the park! Will wanted to take his soccer ball and go play at the "real field." So we did that first and then went and played on the playground. We stopped and got lunch and brought it back home. After lunch, it is Mom's favorite time.....NAP time! So the boys and Mom rested for a few hours and then I started making supper. Matt was done with work by now so we made hamburgers on the grill. They were delicious! After a long winter and not using your outdoor grill, you really miss the taste of a grilled burger (and hotdogs for the boys). Actually they ate a hot dog AND a cheeseburger. These boys are growing more and more everyday. Lately, I have been getting lots of comments on how tall Will is getting. It is really amazing. I'll bet he's grown 3 inches since Christmas! Jake is growing too! He's no longer wearing his 2T clothes. 3 T's are where he's at. My babies are growing up!
Last night, as I was tucking Will into bed...he starting crying really hard.. I asked what was wrong. He said "Mom, when am i going to get BIG? Am I going to be big when I get 6 yrs old?" I asked him who he wanted to be big like and he said, "I want to be big like Jack and Owen." (these are his two older cousins, ages 8 and 5). I told him that Daddy used to be small and then he ate all his veggies and milk and he started growing real fast. He just smiled and said, "I can't wait to be big."
I am also posting some pics of when we all went home to Tullahoma a few weeks ago to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We rode go garts and played until the boys literally passed out in the car on the way home.
There are some pics when we went to the park too and when the boys got their hair cut. Hope you enjoy all of them!