It's a GIRL!

I cannot believe my sister in law convinced me to do this! I am so glad she did though because it was such a wonderful experience and we all got to find out the gender at the same time. We scheduled the ultrasound for March 31st @ 10:30. I was 16 weeks exactly that day. I had my best friend, Mary Beth, go with me and she actually found out the sex so she could get the cake ordered for us. The ultrasound tech was WONDERFUL and spent a good 45 minutes doing the ultrasound and made sure I could not see anything. I watched Mary Beth's face when they found out the sex thinking I might could tell by the look on her face, but she did nothing! I have been thinking this whole time (well, since the day I starting throwing up everything I ate) that is had to be a girl because I felt just like I did with Raylen. But after the ultrasound it hit me that it could possibly be a boy and I had never even considered that senario! It honestly never crossed my mind that it might be a boy. We had talked about boy names just in case but in my mind I never pictured a boy. I had no preference on what the baby was, I just KNEW it was a girl. Over the weekend I mentally prepared myself that it could be a boy so I wouldn't look so shocked if the cake turned out to be blue! The party was on Monday night April 4th with about 20 family members and it turned out to be a perfect party. We ate dinner and then immediately cut the cake. It's a girl! I am also glad it turned out to be a girl, because Raylen has said from day one that it's a "belle". She would not even consider it being a boy and I knew her little heart would be broken if it turned out to be a boy. Stephen said he wanted a boy and after we cut the cake he said "Why can't it be blue?". He always said he wanted a brother, but I really don't think he cares one bit now. He is excited to have two sisters. I think having two sisters will make him even more rotten than he already is since he is the only boy. Raylen wasn't too shocked when the cut the cake and I think it's because in her little mind it was a girl so why is everyone screaming "it's a girl!" when we have known that all along?! haha. I feel so blessed to be a mommy of 2 girls and 1 boy and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for their future. Cora Paige is going to have a lot of love surrounding her and I cannot wait to meet this little girl.

Our loooong week

Sunday night the kids were spending the night with my parents. I was suppose to get a nice long day on Monday by myself to clean the house. Mom called at 8:00 Monday morning and said that Raylen had been throwing up all night and was running a temp of 102. She said she has thrown up at least 16 times and could not hold anything down. She brought the kids to me and I took Ray to the dr. Of course the first thing the dr. says is it's a stomach virus and she just needed lots of fluids and rest. Tuesday she woke up feeling okay, but not acting very Raylen-ish. She continued to have stomach problems, but I thought it was starting to get better. That's when I started throwing up (I can't tell the difference in morning sickness and a virus anyways), but it did just turn out to be something I ate and I felt better the next morning. Raylen woke up during the night tuesday night vomitting again and did not stop by lunchtime Wed. so I took her back to the dr. She was so weak she could barely hold her head up. He wa very concerned that she was becoming deydrated so he gave me phenergan to give her to see if that would make her stop throwing up. The phenergan decreased the times she thew up but she was still not keeping much down and was still lethargic. So I called him and he told me to get her to children's. Then I hear the dog...I look over and the dog had gotten into some pieced of salad and that did not agree with her stomach. GREAT! Just my luck! I was definately freaking out a little bit that Raylen was going to have to be put in the hospital, but I knew that was the only way she would get better. Thankfully, after having fluids pumped through her IV for 19 hours, she finally starting acting like her old self. She hasn't stopped talking since about 11 this morning. I am so thankful for great friends and family that pray for one another when we need them. I know God healed her and I cannot thank everyone enough for praying for us during this time. We love each and every one of you!

"This is why I don't want a kid."

So I am in our bedroom and Stephen came running in there saying Raylen had pooped and it was all over her. She followed after him telling my it was all over her back and I needed to take her clothes off. As I take them off I realized just how bad the diaper was. It was everywhere. And of course I am right in the middle of having horrible morning sickness anyways and changing this diaper was the last thing I needed. I said "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh." And Stephen said "Oh my gosh, this is why I don't want a kid." In that moment, I knew I was going to be fine and I just needed to laugh and get through it. Of course I got through it after throwing up all over the towel I was changing her on. My kids get me through these things. I laugh at their comments every single day! Sometimes I wish I had the abilility to freeze time, because I know one day they are going be grown and will not believe all the stuff I tell them they did.

Talking with the kids about the new baby...

The kids are so excited about having a baby brother or sister. I try not to talk about it too much since it will be a very long road until we meet this little one. But we do talk about it every once in a while and the kids give their opinion on what they think the baby will be. Last night, while eating dinner, Stephen said he wanted the baby to be a girl. I pointed to Raylen and said "Another one of these??" and laughed. He said in his serious voice "No, not a crazy one." Of course our little angel girl is precious and fun and we would love to have another girl..but apparently Stephen thinks she's a little crazy!

Our new little bean

We found out a couple of weeks ago that we are expecting baby #3! Derek and I have always known that we wanted three kids and we didn't want them to be too far apart in age. When Ray turned 2 we talked about how it would be nice to have our last baby when she is three. I think everytime a person gets pregnant is can be a bit of a surprise even when planned. We have both been really excited and wanted to wait until our first ultrasound to sit down and tell the kids. Well, today was the day. And they are THRILLED! As soon as we told them they started telling me everything we need for the new baby (a little overwhelming for mommy). Stephen was naming things and then he said "and diapers...to change the poo poo. But mommy will have to change the diapers because daddy is allergic to changing diapers." haha I don't know where he got that because Derek has been an excellent diaper changer from day one. And Raylen said that she wanted to get the tiny baby pink bottles...and she made Derek print her a copy of the ultrasound so she can keep it with her. I am so excited for them and I think Raylen is going to enjoy being a little mommy to this little one.

little boy + green sharpie = roller coaster tattoo

Wow! What a day. Life has been rather calm lately until this morning. I really thought that when I got in the shower this morning the kids would continue playing quietly in their rooms. They were quiet alright....they covered their entire bodies with a green sharpie! I know exacly whose idea it was too. My precious little boy. He LOVES sharpies and can find them no matter how high we put them. After my shower, I went to check on them. Here is how the conversation went "STEPHEN, what in the world are ya'll doing??" "Mom, it's just a sharpie." "Um, I know that and why is your sister COVERED from head to toe in green sharpie?" He replied "Well, it's a roller coaster tattoo!" Yep, a roller coaster tattoo. Then he proceeded to tell me that they were just about to draw moustache's on each other. I asked him why he wanted to do that and he said "because that's what cooker's have!" Of couse I asked him what a cooker was and he said
"a person that cooks food!" Duh.

A friend and I were just talking the other day about how we are so sure that our kids are going to turn out to be great kids and never get in any kind of trouble. About 10 seconds later our two boys ran up to us saying "Look mom! It's a tattoo." Again, they used sharpies to tattoo themselves! Oh, joy.

So apparently I created a blog a very long time ago and totally forgot about it. I was just thinking about creating a blog to keep my family updated...so....here it goes. I am no writer so bare with me.

My life is currently more busy than I ever imagined it to be. I stay at home so I'm sure you all assume that I lay around on my couch all day doing absolutely nothing. WRONG! I am crazy busy and my kids keep my on my toes all day everyday. When I was younger my dream job was 1) Dolphin Trainer and 2) Stay at home mom - Obviously I did not go into dolpin training, but my dream job of becoming a stay at home mom became true on December 11, 2006. My little boy Stephen Derek Hodges changed my life and I learned the true meaning of love when I saw him for the first time. Eighteen months later, June, 9, 2008, my little Raylen Joy entered this world. She is the most amazing-free spirited child I have ever seen and I love her so much. I always wanted three boys, but thankfully, God knew I needed a little girl.

I will mostly be using this blog to share the quotes that my kids say. They are hilarious and I think everyone in the entire world should meet them at least once. So I will start with a couple of stories...

Yesterday I was running around like crazy and of course the kids were right up under me asking about 83 billion questions about life in general. Finally I threw my hands in the air and said " I DON'T KNOW!" Stephen said "Momma, I'm putting you in the yard sale!" Thanks Stephen. I love you too.

Raylen and Tucker go to mom's day out and are in the same class together. This can be good and bad. Tuesday, Tuck bit her on the nose....It happens. They have a love/hate brother/sister relationship and it is pretty awesome because they are so close. Today her teacher said that Raylen was talking to Tucker and had her hands on each side of his face...she said "Wook my eyes, don't bite. You in time out you bite!" She said Tucker just stood there and listened to what she had to say...and then they moved on. Mrs. Brandy said she was just going to go ahead and add Ray to the payroll!