I had a baby boy :)

James Justin Rice was born on March 20, 2014 at 7:48 a.m. and weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces!

Thankful

...for another day. For friends. For loved ones. For church. For His presence.

(and for spell check)

Happy Friday!

Our Little Addition

Ava at four weeks

On Friday, December 2, 2011, we welcomed Ava LaVelle Rice into our new family. She was born at 7:46 am, weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 18 inches long.

I'd had my 39-week checkup that Tuesday, and Dr. Newcomer discovered that she was breech. So I made an appointment on Wednesday for a c-section Friday morning - everything happened so fast!

We brought her home on her original due date - Monday, December 5.

Now at over 2 months old, she's smiling and cooing, and is just getting more fun every day.

(Who knew that one day I'd be overjoyed by two gigantic mucus blobs successfully sucked out of her nose so she could eat this morning?!)

Alive & Kicking

How odd it is to get used to things banging around inside you - mainly a little human making space for itself as it grows in my belly. Kicks EVERYWHERE!

I've got some ideas for the nursery, which is a start! Definitely a light gray on the walls, and possibly some brightly painted furniture - depending on how adventurous my husband feels...

Only 97 more days to go (or so says the doctor - we'll see just exactly how close to that this child decides it's ready to meet the world).

Potstickers & Cowboy Hats

Today was a day for Asian food (hence the potstickers) and picking up earbuds for Justin, who has to work the night shift tonight painting crosswalks in our town. He worked last night too, without any music to pass the time since I'd neglected to pick him up some earbuds when he last mentioned he needed some :) Wouldn't want him to go crazy two nights in a row!

So I found myself at good ol' Walmart, which was hopping with country music festival goers in their cowboy boots and hats. Definitely the craziest week of the year in terms of who you see around town and what you see them wearing (or not wearing!).

Alas, I'm planning to join those goers tonight at Country Stampede to relax in the unreal 85 degree temperature listening to good music and surrounded by people just having a good time. (Don't worry - Justin will get to join too, just on Friday instead.)

...Learning to Endure

I have a whole new appreciation for the verse, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us - they help us learn to endure." Romans 5:3

It's hard to swallow every now and again that not everyone in the world is going to be your friend. A few reminders of that lately in my workplace have helped me to see my need to grow - hopefully far past and beyond - in my understanding why people are so different in their natures.

It's good to remember that you don't have to spend your time with those who do not fully appreciate or want your time (barring certain circumstances, of course) - there are always more fulfilling and enriching activities to fill your time with.

So I'm choosing to focus on the positive and the future - and widening my scope of just who I deem necessary and important to spend time with and pay attention to :)

Hunting for Houses

Somehow I thought this process would be different...I've been warped by HGTV!